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(he county of Monaghan, and, havinjj paflecl tlirough Lough 

 Ramor, unites its waters to t'liofe ot the Bo\ne atNavan. 



There arealfo fmall rivers of this name, one in tlic comity 



of Longford, which joiiu the Shannon near Lantfborough, 

 and one in the county of Wexford, which flows into St. 

 George's channel at the place where Bannow fornrerly 

 ftood. Smith's Cork. Beaufort's Map. Holmes's Tour 

 in tlie South, &c. 



Blackwater Town, a fmall town in tlie county of Ar- 

 magh, ill Ireland, on the river Blackwater, which has c li- 

 nen market. Dillance from Dublin 66 miles. 



BLACKWELL, Thomas, in Biography, was the fon 

 of one of the minifters at Aberdeen, and born in that city 

 in the year ryoi. He was educated at the grammar fchool 

 and marifchal college of his native place, of which, in 1723, 

 he was appointed Greek profeflbr , and in this office he con- 

 tributed in no fmall degree to promote Greek literature, and 

 the ftudy of the clalfics in general. In 1735, his " En- 

 quiry into the Life and Writings of Homer," 8vo. was pub- 

 lifhed without his name; and by its popularity ferved to 

 ellablilh his reputation for learning and ingenuity. Of this 

 work, difcufiiii ;■ a variety of topics without any very ob- 

 vious conneiftioii. Dr. Bcntley is faid to have remarked, 

 " that when lie hnd gone through half, he had forgotten the 

 beginning ; a;iJ that when he had fmi(htd the perufal of it, 

 he had forgottiii the whole." It is reckoned, however, the 

 author's principal performance, and is both curious and en- 

 tertaining. His " Letters concerning Mythology," 8vo. 

 were pubUfhcd ni 1748 ; and they were intended to eftablifh 

 a regular fyllem of ancient fable, as an allegorical reprefen- 

 tation of the religion, law, and philofophy of early times. 

 The work is learned, fanciful, and defultoi-y. In this year 

 Dr. Blackwell was appointed principal of the Marifchal col- 

 lege, and allowed his office of Greek profeffor. In 17JI, 

 he announced to 'the public his defign of publifhing a new 

 edition of Plato's works ; but this defign was never exe- 

 cuted. The fiift volume of " Memoirs of the Court of Au- 

 guftus," 4to, was publifhcd in 1753 ; the fecond in 1755 ; 

 and the third, after the author's death, in 1764. The ob- 

 ]cSt of this work is to exhibit, in an elegant and popular 

 form, the principal fads of Roman hillory, at the com- 

 mencement and during the period of tiic public life and reign 

 of Augullus. It is written with vivacity, and was at firft 

 well received ; but the affected cafe and familiarity of the 

 ■ftyle, united with a confiderable degree of that pompous 

 kind of pedantry, which difplays not only erudition but a 

 knowledge of the world, has contributed to lower its' repu- 

 tation. This work manifclls alfo a republican fpirit, not 

 altogether free from party prejudice. The author's affefted 

 mode of writing increafcd as he advanced in years ; and 

 though it mud be acknowledged, that he poffeffes genius 

 and fancy, and had a relilh for the beauties of ancient au- 

 thors, he never acquired that fimplicity of talle, which leads 

 to the true cafe and elegance of compofition. This peculiar 

 ftyle and manner of compofition have been attributed to an 

 injudicious imitation of Inrd Shaftefbury. Some years be- 

 fore his death Dr. Blackwell's health declined ; and his dif- 

 order being of the confumptive kind, which he is thought 

 to have increafed by his abllemious mode of living, he was 

 under a necefllty of remitting his ftudies, and advifed to tia- 

 vel : but with this view he could proceed no farther than Edin- 

 burgh, where he died in 1757, the 56Lh year of his age. 

 His temper was fingularly mild and equable ; and he retained 

 his natural vivacity and chcarfulnefs through the whole pe- 

 riod of his illnefs, and till the hour of his death. In con- 

 verfation he was inllruftive and entertaining ; and he blended 

 2 confiderable knowledge of the world and urbanity of man- 

 ners with an exteufive acquaintance with ancient and modern 



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authors. But it was his foible, that he was apt to aflume 

 the appearance of uuiverfal knowledge ; and this wcaknefs 

 betrayed him into conveifation on philofophical and mathe- 

 matical fubjcfts, with which his acquaintance was very im- 

 perfeft. Among hrs friends and correfpondents were ma-.iy 

 perfons of htcrary eminence ; and it is faid, that his patrons 

 propofed to introduce him into the profeffordiip of modtrii 

 hilloiy at Cambridge, if he had not died before a vacancy 

 occurred. Biog. Brit. 



^ Blackwell, Elizabeth, widow of Alexander Black- 

 well, M.D. author of " A New Method of improving cold, 

 wet, and clayey ground," 1741, London, 8vo. Rejedting 

 dung and other manures, he depended entirely on repeated 

 ploughing and turning the ground. He died a miferable 

 death in Sweden. His widow, being left in indigence, 

 undertook, by the advice of her friends, to publifh an ac- 

 count of 500 medicinal plants, to be drawn, engraved, and 

 the greater part of them coloured by herfclf. The plants 

 were furniftied by Rand and Miller, from the botanical gar- 

 den, belonging to the company of apothecaries, al Chelfea. 

 They are, in general, Haller fays, faithfully delineated. In 

 fome parts, however, (he has failed. Not well inftrucled in 

 the Linnsan fyftem, (he has not delineated the fibres or fila- 

 ments of the flowers with the accuracy now required. A 

 fhort account is annexed of the medicinal virtues of each of 

 the plants, fome of which are extremely rare. The firft vo- 

 lume of this work was firft pubhfhed in 1737, and the fe- 

 cond in 1739, when the whole was pubhfhed in 8 vols. fol. 

 under the title of " A curious Herbal, &c.;" and it is cre- 

 ditable to the authorefs to fay, that this bulky and expenfive 

 work paffed through feveral editions. The laft, which came 

 out in 1760, in 5 vols, folio, at Nuremburg, is furnifhed 

 with a preface and confiderable additions by James Trew. 

 After his death, in 1769, a fupplemental volume, condufted 

 by Ludwig, Bofc, and Boehmer, was printed in 1773. 

 This work has been in a great meafure fuperfeded by Dr. 

 Woodville's SS. Medical Botany,, in 4 vols. 4to. Haller. 

 Bib. Bot. Pulteney's Hift. and Biog. Sketches of the Pro- 

 grefs of Botany in England, vol. ii. p. 254. 



BLACKWOOD, Adam, was bora at Dumferline, in 

 Scotland, in IJ39, and educated at Paris under Turnebu3 

 and Dorat. He was particularly patronized by Mary queen 

 of Scots ; and when he had finifhed his law ftudies at Tou- 

 loufe, he obtained the office of counfellor to the prefidial of 

 Poifticrs, which was Mary's dowry -town. In this place he 

 fettled and married ; and, during the imprifonment of Mary, 

 took fevtral jonrnies to England with a view of feiving her. 

 He died in 161 3. His rehgious and political f;" timents 

 may be deduced from the titles of his works, which were 

 written liotli in verfe and profe. Of thefe the principal were, 

 " Caroli IX. pompa funebris verfibus expreffa," Paris, 1754; 

 " De vinculo rcligionis et imperii, et de conjunftionum infi- 

 diis, religionis fuco adumbratis," 1575 ; " Adverfiis G. 

 Buchanani dialogum de jure regni apud Scotos, &c." Poi- 

 tiers, 1581 ; " Martyre de Marie Stuart, reine d'Ecoffe," 

 &c. &c. His account of the execution of Mary Stuart is a 

 virulent inveftive againft queen Elizabeth, her parentage, 

 her right to the crown, her government, &c. His works 

 were collefted and publifhed in a 410. volume by Gabriel 

 Naudc, in 1644, with an eulogy of the author prefixed. 

 Morcri. Gen. Biog. 



BLADDER, in Anatomy, is a membranous bag, ferving 

 as a rcfervoir for fome fecreted fluid. That which is confi- 

 dered as the chief receptacle of this kind, is the urinary 

 bladder. As the anatomy of thefe parts, in general, wiU 

 be defcribed with that of the organ which prepares the fluid 

 which they are intended to contain ; therefore, for the fake 

 of uniformity of method, the defcription of the urinary 



bladder 



