B L A 



In ancient times, the crown-rents were mariy times re- 

 ferved to be paid in " libris albis" called blanche fermes : in 

 vvhicb cafe the buyer was holdcn dealbare Jirmam ; viz. his 

 liafe money or coin, worfc than ftandard, was melted down 

 in tlie exchequer, and reduced to the finenofs of ilandanl 

 filvtr ; or inilead thereof he paid to the king i 2d. in the 

 pound, by way of addition. In Scotland, this kind of 

 fmali payment is called " blanch holding," or " rcditus 

 albre firmK." 



BLAN'CH-Z.j'on Purfuivatit of Arms. This officer took 

 liis title from the arms and fupport^rs of the Mowbray's, 

 dukes of Norfolk (being ruby, a lion rampant, pearl). 

 Thomas Howard, duke of Norfolk, inllituted the office of 

 blanch-lvon purfuivant 29 Hen. VI 11. and he attended at 

 the funeral of qi^een Jane. EUinch-lyon was alfo a name 

 to an ofUcer of the crown in the reign of Edward IV. 



Blanch i2c_/J Purfu'roant of Anns, was a purfjivant 

 created by Edward IV. and fo denominated from the dilUn- 

 gulihed badge of the h.oufe ol York. 



Blanc n-5(7n^f//ir Purfuivant of Arms. This cfTice was 

 inftitutcd by Richard duke of Glouccller during the reign 

 of his brother Edward IV. in allufion to his badge or cogni- 

 zance being a white boar. 



BLANCHARD, WiLLiAMjiniJ/c^rj/Z^, an advocate in 

 the parliament of Paris, was admitted to the bar in loy-j., 

 and much employed. Notwitliftandmg his profeffional la- 

 bour, he found leifure fur literary refearches, and in 1687, 

 pifblifhed a chronological table of the ordinances of the 

 French kings of the third race ; which was republi(hed, with 

 improvements, under the title of " A Chronological Com- 

 pilation, containing a colleftion of the ordinances, edifts, 

 declarations, and letters patent of the kings of France, re- 

 lative to public jullice, police, and the finances, from the 

 year 987 to the prefent time," 2 vols. fol. 17 15. The 

 work abounds with accurate refearches ; and a fiipplement 

 to it was preparing by the author, when he died in 1724. 

 Moreri. 



BiANCH ARD, Jaqjjes Or James, a painter of hiftory and 

 portrait, was born at Paris in 1600, and having been in- 

 ftruiled in the fii ft principles of painting in his own country, 

 he travelled into Italy, where he lludied for fonie time at 

 Rome and Venice, and acquired, from particular attention 

 to the works of Titian and of the Venetian fchool, diilin- 

 guiflied excellence in the art of colouring, fo as to have ob- 

 tained the flattering appellation of the " French Titian." 

 He was employed a confidcrable time at Turin by the dukes 

 of Savoy and afterwards painted feveral pieces at Lyons. 

 Upon his return to Paris he was much engaged, and by his de- 

 fcent of the Holy Spirit, and a St. Andrew kneeling, gained 

 high reputation. Colounngwashis peculiar excellence, and he 

 was diliinguifhed for his judicious management of lights and 

 (hades. His principal works, befidcs thofe already men- 

 tioned, are a gallery at the hotel de Bouillon, of fubjccls 

 from the heathen mythology, and the bacchanals in the 

 faloon of M. Morin, with fome pieces at Verfailles and 

 Trianon. To Blanchard is afcnbed the good tafte for 

 colouring which obtained in France. He is faid to have 

 etched feveral plates from his own compofitions. He died 

 at Paris in 1658, and left a fon Gabriel, who was alfo a 

 painter of eminence. D'Argenville. Strutt. Pllkington. 



BLANCHE, in Ornithology. Sonnini defcribcs a kind 

 o^ tern, or hironilelle de mer, under this name, in his additions 

 to Bnffon's Hittory of Birds. The piumnge is entirely 

 wliite; with the legs and bill black. It inhabits the cape 

 of Good Hope, and may be placed in the Indian and 

 fouthern feas. Latham Ctdls this h\ri\ fienia alba. 



Blanche Carte. See Carte. 



Blanche-Co^, or Bl-incue-Co^V; in Ornithology, '\%i)x^ 



B L A 



corinis cayanus of Gmelin and Latham,- in BufTon's Hiftory 

 of Birds. It is likewife called in the fame work ^ifay de 

 Cayenne, and by Latham the Cayenne jay. 



BLANCHE-/^a/r, fynonymous with clGurneau des terres ma- 

 ^cUcniques, names given in BufTon's Hillorj' of Birds to the 

 LlnnKan_y?«/-n.vj' mdibaris, a native of Falkland ifland. 



Blanche, Fr. for a minim, in Afufic, or a white note 

 with a tail to it. See Musical CharaBcn, and Time- 



TARLE. 



BLANCHERS, a name given to mechanics employed in 

 bla:;ching, i. e. the art or manner of bleaching or whiten- 

 iii<r. 



o 



BLANCHET, Thomas, in Biography, a painter of 

 hidory, pcrfpeflive, and portrait, was born at Paris in 1617, 

 and firlt manifeiled a genius for fculpture ; but on account 

 of the weaknefs of his conftitution he was advifed to 

 direct his attention to painting. Accordingly, having 

 praclifed for fome time at Pari.s he travelled for further im- 

 provement into Italy. By the counfcl and affiftance of 

 Pouffin and Andrea Sacchi, he apphed to hiftory painting; 

 and on his return to Paris, he painted feveral pieces, parti- 

 cularly a pitlure at Notre Dame, much admired. At 

 Lyons, where he afterwards fettled, he became direflor of 

 an academical fchool. During his abfence from Paris, he 

 was admitted, in 1676, into the academy of painting. 

 Blanchet dcfigned well, and undcrftood the principles of per- 

 fpetlive and architefture. His compofition was rich, and 

 his colouring natural ; and though he was not always correft, 

 his deficiency in this refpeft is imputed more to the fire of 

 his genius and the rapidity of his execution, than to want 

 of fl<!U. His mafter-piece was the ceiling of the great hall in 

 the hotel de ville at Lyons, which was unfortunately con. 

 fumed by fire ; and the accident is laid to have affeftcd him 

 fo deeply, as nearly to have coft him his life. The niagif- 

 trates of Lyons rewarded him with a penfion, and with 

 apartments in the hotel de ville. Flis charafter was amiable, 

 and his converfation lively and interefting, fo that his com- 

 pany was much fuua;ht and valued. He died at Lyons in 

 1689. Some few of his pieces have been engraved. D'Ar- 

 genville. Pllkington. 



Blanchet, in Ichthyology, the familiar French name of a 

 fort ot falmon that inhabits the American feas ; falmo fatens 

 of LinnKus. 



Blanchet, in Zoology^ V Amphijbene blanchet, a kind of 

 amphilbxna known among the French naturalifts of the 

 prefent day by this name. The fpecies is defcribed as being 

 of a white colour, without any fpots ; the body a» confifting 

 of 230 annulations, and the tail of i(j : on the head are fi.K 

 large fcales, and about the vent eight vei7 fmall tubercles. 

 The length is 18 inches, exclufive of the tail, which mea- 

 fures an inch and an half. This is a native of South Ame- 

 rica, where it feeds on ants and other infeds. — Bofc, from 

 whom the above detad is copied, we are convinced, can mean 

 no other than the amphifhana alia of I^iniiaeus, when he de- 

 fcribcs this fpecies. The Linnaean charafter ftates ii,-. nLiin- 

 ber of rings on the body of this kind at 223, in whicii par- 

 ticular alone the two dcfcriptions feem to be at variance ; 

 and the inconftancy of that character is too well known to 

 juftify the opinion of their being dillinct, for that reafon 

 only. 



BLANCHING, in Gardening, is the art of rendering 

 the leaves and ftems of various forts of plants, as endive 

 (cichorium), cilery (apium), &c. white, tender, and efcu- 

 lent. It conllfts in producing a kind of vegetable dtoility 

 or difeafe, by depriving them of the ftimulant effefts or 

 influence of light, and is acconipliflied either by earthing 

 them well up, or completely covering thim, when pertcCiiy 

 dry, by boards, tiles, or other iimilar means, as will be ■• "re 



fully 



