BOU 



3G5 



B O U 



an obstruction of the liver, which, though it resisted 

 the power of medicine, still permitted him to continue 

 liis studies. He laboured hard to complete hit Tmiif 

 <i'(>i>/i<ii<t', which lie had just time to finish. A d-w 

 days before his death, he went in :t coach to his prin- 

 ter, and delivered the MS. into his hands. Exhaust- 

 ed with disease, he died on the 15th of August 1758, 

 at the age of 60 years ; a time of life when much was 

 expected from his industry and talents. 



The character of Bouguer was distinguished by- 

 modesty and simplicity. The truths of religion were 

 instilled into him along with the first principles of 

 geometry, and had made such an impression upon his 

 mind, as to regulate and adorn his moral conduct. 

 On his death-bed he cherished the same views which 

 liad thus guided him through life, and he closed his 

 existence with the most philosophical fortitude, and 

 with a piety and resignation truly Christian. 



In the year 178't, a very singular book was published 

 at Paris, entitled, Relation dc la conversion, ct dc 

 la mart dc Buiigiier, par P. La Berthonie Domin'uuin, 

 which must contain some curious information respect- 

 ing the life and death of our autlior. We have 

 searched diligently, but in vain, for this curious pro- 

 duction, which we have seen mentioned only by La 

 Lande, in his Bibliographie Aslronomique, with the 

 following singular observation, " Ce confesseur," 

 says La Lande, " assure que illustre academicien 

 mourut dans les sentimens d'une piete excmplaire. 

 Le devotion de Newton est une preuve de ce que 

 pen vent 1'habitude et la Crainte stir les plus grands 

 csprits." In this passage La Lande seems to admit 

 the fact of Bouguer's conversion, and to ascribe it, 

 as he does the piety of Newton, to the influence of 

 custom and fear. We cannot stoop even to express 

 our detestation of the contemptible sneers which this 

 atheistical astronomer has so profusely heaped upon 

 every thing like piety and religion. Had he reasoned 

 against.our faith, it might have been a duty to re- 

 fute him. But we have only to say, that if any of 

 our readers should for one moment think lightly of 

 religion, because such a character as La Lande has 

 dared to attack it, we can assure them, upon the 

 evidence of an eye-witness, that this very man 

 thought differently in the decline of life, and was 

 even seen strewing his house with flowers in honour 

 of some Romish saint. 



Beside the works of Bouguer, which we havff had 

 occasion to notice, he published Xviivfaii Traite de 



Navigation, contenant la Throne iiu Pilotage. Paris, 

 1753, 4-to. An Abridgment of this work by De 

 La Caille appeared in 1769, and it was reprinted in 

 1769 and 1781, and in 1792 with the notes of La 

 Lande. Traite dti Narire, Paris, 1756. Operations 

 f idles far I'ordrc de 1'Acailemir lit) '/ale da Sciences, 

 j'ot/r la verification dit ilegre compris en'.re Paris et 

 Amiens, pur M. M. Bwgucr, Cumus, Cassini, De 

 T/tiiri/, it Pingrc. This memoir, composed by 

 Bouguer, was also published in the Memoirs of the 

 Academy for 1754'. The papers on various subjects 

 f physics and navigation which Bouguer communi- 

 cated to the Academy, will be found in their Me- 

 moirs for 172G, 1731, 1732, 1733, 1734-, 1735, 

 1736, 1739, 17M, 174.5, 17)6, 17-17, 1748, 1749, 

 1750, 1751, 1752, 1753, 1751, 1755, 1757. (.3) 

 BOUJEIAH. SeeBitiiA. 



BOVINO, a city of Naples, in the province of Ca- U 

 pitanata, and the see of a bishop. Its situation i> B " u ^ * 

 very lofty, on the bouth bide of the romantic river *' ^ 



Cervaro. The valley <>J' Iliii'/no, which derives its 

 name from this city, consiliences between Savignano 

 and Greci, two small towns, which are loftily situa- 

 ted on each side of the defile. On one side of this 

 valley are ranges of corn fields, adorned with clumps 

 of trees, and occasionally interrupted with precipi- 

 tous and rugged masses of calcareous rock ; on the 

 other side, pasture grounds and fields of corn and 

 hemp appear, at first, among the trees, till the 

 whole surface is covered with the extensive forest of 

 Bovino. The Cervaro runs through this picturesque 

 valley, which terminates at the bridge of Bovino, 18 

 miles from Ariano. The road through this forest \ 

 made in 17-13 by the king, who often indulged, in 

 this delightful vale, his passion for the chase. >' The 

 present king," says M. Ulysses, who travelled 

 through Naples in 1789, " has never visited this fo- 

 rest, but has permitted all his subjects to hunt there, 

 and granted a general liberty to clear away the wood, 

 and put as much of the ground into tillage as the 

 husbandman shall think proper. Since this permis- 

 sion, the forest has afforded pasture to all kinds of 

 cattle." " The inn at the bridge of Bovino," says 

 Mr Swinburne, " is placed in a cheerful situation ; but 

 from the lowness of its position, and the proximity 

 of the woods and water, in the summer season it is 

 subject to malignant fevers." E. Long. 15 20', N. 

 Lat. 41 15'. See Ulysses' Travels through Naples, 

 translated by Mr Aufrere, p. 16,229; and Swin- 

 burne's Travels, v. i. p. 135, 1S6. (J) 



BOUK, BUKE, or BOOK MUSLINS, known also by 

 the name of Wire Muslin, from the transparency of 

 the fabric, is the lightest and most flimsy species of 

 all the varieties of Indian manufacture. The British 

 imitation originated in Scotland about the year 1785, 

 since which time it has been prosecuted to great ex- 

 tent. In England it has been attempted without 

 much success, for the excessive lightness of the fa- 

 bric, and consequently the great care which is requi- 

 red to preserve the warp from breaking, requires 

 great delicacy, both of pressure in opening the warp, 

 and nicety of hand in striking it equally home in the 

 cloth. The lightness of the fabric being so great, it be- 

 comes impossible, even for the nicest and most expe- 

 rienced weaver, to regulate the motion, or oscillation 

 of his lay, so as to bear sufficiently light, were the 

 reed firmly fixed between the shells, as in stouter fa- 

 brics. To remedy this, it becomes necessary that 

 the reed should be fitted so as to yield easily to a 

 very slight pressure, and return to its position as soon 

 as that pressure ceases to act upon it. For this pur- 

 pose, in weaving all the light fabrics of muslins, the 

 reed is placed so as to yield easily. In the jacconett ' 

 fabrics, an instrument, known by the name of a pair 

 ofjlijers, is used. This is exactly an inverted lay of 

 a very light construction. It consists of two perpen- 

 dicular arms or swords, like the common lay, but 

 constructed very light and thin, so as to bend easily 

 like a spring. The horizontal part torms the upper 

 shell for the reed ; and thus the groove for receiving 

 it is inverted, being placed ;il>o\e iikUad of being be- 

 low. The upper extremities of the arms are tacked 



