B L A 



and 327, 111 the year 17 10. It contains an accarate de- 

 fcription of the probofcis and its mufcles, and confirms, 

 Hallcr fays, the opinioi) formerly given, that the elephant 

 has no gail-bladdcr. In a fiibfeqiient number ol the Tranf- 

 a^'tions, he gives a defcription of the olficiila auditus, ac- 

 companied with engravings. In the rcbeilion, in 1715' 

 being fi.fpeClcd, on account of his religions principles, of 

 hoilility to government, h(i was for a fmall time confined. 

 He came afterwards to London, where he re-pnbli(hed Ins 

 " A:i.ilomy of the Elephant," in 4to. ; and, in 1718, pub- 

 lirtied a volume of" Milctllaneous obfervations on the prac- 

 tice of phyfic, anatomy, furgery, and botany," in Svo. 

 This was foil >wid, in 1720, with " Botanical Effays," in 

 two parts, alfo Svo. with figures, in which he treats of the 

 fexes of plants, confirming the arguments adduced in proof 

 of them by found reafoning, and fome new experiments of 

 the manner of fecundation, of the circulation of the fap, 

 &c. This work ftill retains its credit among botanifts, al- 

 though fome of the author's opinions are abandoned. 

 About the fame time, he gave an account of the afheftus, 

 found in the county of Angus, in Scotland, printed in the 

 Phil.Tranf. N^ 333 ; and of the difTeftion of an emaciated 

 child, in which he could find no vedige of the omentum. 

 Id. N^ 353 ; and alfo of a boy, who lived a confiderable 

 time without food. Id. N'364; and in the fame number is 

 alfo a dilTertation on the means of difcovering the medicinal 

 properties of plants from their external figure. He foon 

 after fettled at Bofton, and pnblifhed " Pharmaco-botano- 

 logia," or an alphabetical and claffical diflertation on all the 

 Britilh indigenous and garden plants of the London Difpen- 

 fatory, in feven decades, 410. 1723 and 1728, introducing 

 fome plants, which he had firli difcovered grownng near 

 Bollon. The work only proceeded to the letter H. The 

 time of his death is not known. Haller. Bib. Anat. et Bo- 

 tan. Pulteney's Sketches, vol. ii. p. 134, &c. 



Blair, Jamec, an epifcopalian divine, was born and 

 educated in Scotland, where he was ordained and beneficed ; 

 but meeting with fome difeouragements in that country, he 

 quitted his preferments, and removed to England, about the 

 latter end of the reign of king Charles II. Being intro- 

 duced to Dr. Compton, then bidiop of London, he prevailed 

 on him to go, about the year 1685, as a mifTionary to Vir- 

 ginia, where by his condud and minifterial labours he was 

 eminently ferviceable in promoting the caufe of religion. In 

 1689, he was appointed by the fame prelate as his commif- 

 fary for the province. Intent upon doing good in the office 

 with which he was entrufted, he obferved with concern, 

 that the want of proper feminaries for religion and learning 

 ob!\ru(fled every attempt for propagating the gofpel in this 

 colony ; and he therefore formed the benevolent defign of 

 erefting and endowing a college at Williamfburg, the capi- 

 tal of Virginia, for profetfors and ftudents in academical 

 learning. With this view he raifed a confiderable fum of 

 money by voluntary fubfcription ; and, in order the more 

 effeciually to accomplifli his purpofe, he came over into 

 England in 1693, to folicit the concurring aid of govern- 

 ment. King William and queen Mary very much approved 

 the defign, and accordingly a patent was ifrued for ereding 

 and endowing a college, which was to be denominated from 

 Its founders, " the college of William and Marj-." Mr. 

 Blair, who firft piojefted the fcheme, was appointed prefi- 

 dent of the college. (See Wii-liamsburgh.) He was 

 alfo reftor of Wilhamfburg and prefident of the council in 

 thit colony. Having faithfully and honourably difcharged 

 the duties of his office as prefident of the college for about 

 50 years, ai.d thofe of his minifterial function for above 

 60 years, he iuifiied his courfe of laborious and ufeful fer- 



B L A 



vice in the year 1743. -^'^ works, comprifing " Our Sa- 

 viour's divine Sermon on the Mount explained, and the 

 practice of it recommended, in divers fermons and difcourfes, 

 with a' recommendatory preface, by the Rev. Dr. Water- 

 land," were pnblilhed "11740, 4 vols. Svo. Watciland's Pre- 

 face. Burnet's Hift. of his own Times, vol. iii. p. 165. 8vo. 

 Blair, Hugh, a diRinguifhcd preacher and write'-, the 

 defeendant of an ancient fiimily of AyrlTsire, in Scotland, 

 and the fon of a refpeftable merchant at Edinburgh, was 

 born in that city, April 7th 1718. As his views were at an 

 early period direfted towards the church, he entered the 

 univerfity of his native place in 1730, and fpcnt eleven years 

 in the afTiduous profecution of thofe literary and fcientific 

 ftudies which the church of Scotland prefcribes to fuch as 

 profefs thcmfelves candidates for the miinlleria! office. Dur- 

 ing this period his application and proficiency gained re- 

 peated teflimonies of approbation from the profeflbrs under 

 whom he ftudicd. One of his performances at this time, in- 

 dicating- the bent of his genius towards polite literature, was 

 an effay ITsfi rn xxXh, or " On the Beautiful," which afforded 

 fuch fatisfaction to profeffbr Stevenfon, that it was appointed 

 to be publicly rer.d at the conclufion of the feffion. This ho- 

 nour, without doubt, Simulated his emulation, and proved the 

 earneft of his future fame. The method of ftudy, which he 

 commenced at college, and which he occallonally praftifed in 

 his maturer years, contributed in a confiderable degree to 

 the accuracy and extent of his knowledge. It confilled in 

 making abilracls of the moil important works which he read, 

 and in digefting them according to the train of his own 

 thoughts. This was the method in which he ftudicd hiftory 

 in particular ; and with this view, aided by fome of his 

 youthful aflbciates, he conilrufted a comprehenfive feries of 

 chronological tables, in which was infcrted every important 

 faft that occurred. In conformity to this plan, his learned 

 friend Dr. John Blair formed his valuable work already no- 

 ticed under his article. In 1739, Mr. Blair took his degree 

 of mafter of arts ; and on this occafion he printed and de- 

 fended, in elegant Latin, a thefis, " De Fundamentis et 

 Obligatione Legis Naturx." Having completed his aca- 

 demical courfe, he pafTed through the cullomary trials be- 

 fore the prefbytery of Edinburgh, and was iicenfed as a 

 preacher, Oftober 21ft 1741 ; and in the following year he 

 was prefented to the pariih of Coleflie in Fife, where he was 

 ordained Sept. 23d 1742. Such at this time was his efta- 

 blifiied reputation as an eloquent preacher, that when a va- 

 cancy occurred in the Canongate church of Edinburgh, he 

 was chofen at a conttfted eledtion to fupply it ; and accord- 

 ingly he returned to his native city in July 1743. I" '^'* 

 fituation he continued for eleven years, exhibiting fpecimens 

 of thofe talents for pulpit-compofitions, which have fmce ob- 

 tained diftinguifhed teltimonics of public approbation. In 

 1754, he was tranflated from the Canongate to lady Yefter's, 

 one of the city churches ; and in 1758, he was promoted to 

 the High Church of Edinburgh, the moll important ecclc- 

 fiaftical charge in North Britain. To this honourable rank 

 he was advanced at the requefl of the lords of council and 

 feflion, andi of other diftinguifhed perfons holding public 

 offices, who attend that church ; and the wifdom of their 

 choice was amply juftified by the prudence, abiUty, and fuc- 

 ccfs, with which his minifterial labours were conduttcd for 

 a period of more than 40 years. Previoufly to his advance- 

 ment to this ftation of public fervice, Mr. Blair's attention 

 feems to have been almoil wholly devoted to the attainment 

 of profclTional excellence, and to the regular difcharge of 

 his parochial duties. Of the produftions of his pen, we 

 have only two fermons, preached on particular occafions ; 

 fome tranflations, in verfc, of paftages of Scripture for the 



pfalmody 



