B L A 



14 liiTlv-S N. N. E. of Meiifthate!, and 20 miles E. of 



]5L ANGY, a town of Fiance, in the department of the 

 Calvados, and chief place of a cjnton, in tlic dillrift of Pont 

 I'Evcque; the place contains 771 ptrfons, and the canton 

 J0,9^l. T!ie extent of the territory includes 140 kilio- 

 nietrcs, and 23 commnnes ; S leagues E. of Caen, and It 

 league, S. E. of Pont I'Eveqiie. — Alfo, a tov/n of France, 

 in the department of the (Iraits of Calais, and chitt phice of a 

 canton, in thedillrirt of J.Iontreuil, 2 leagnts N.E. of tkfdin. 

 BLANK, or Blanc, in a general f-nfe fig li'ies vhite; 

 and BLANCUS, or blanca, is n-.ore p:irticu a.rly ufed for a 

 k'nd of wliite, or filver money, of bafe .lUoy, coined by 

 Henry V. in thofe parts of France then fiibject to England, 

 valued r.t Sd. Ilerlmg. They were forbidden by liis luccef- 

 for to be current in this realm, 2 Htnry VI. c. 9. In fome 

 ancici)t charters tlitv w^re called " foliJi blanci, or white 

 niilhngs." 



Blank a'.fo denotes a fmall copper coin, formerly current 

 in France, at the rate of live daiitn; Tournois. 



'I'hey had alfo great blanks or pieces of three blanks, and 

 others of fix in rcfpeft wliereof the fingle fort were called 

 little blanks; but of late they are all become only monies of 

 account. 



Blank, or Blanl-licKet, in Lotteries, that to wliicli no 

 prize is allotted. The French have a game, under the de- 

 nomination bLwqiic, anfwering to our lottery. 



Blank, in Coinage, z plate, or piece of gold, or filver, cut 

 and Ihaped for a coin, but not yet (lamped. See Coining. 



BLANK-^nr, in Liiiu, is ufed for the fame with what \ve 

 call a " common bar," and is the name of a " plea in bar," 

 which, in an action of trefpafs, is put in to oblige the plaintiff 

 to afiign the certain place where the trefpafa was committed. 

 2 Cro. 594. 



Blanks, in judicial proceedings, certain void fpaces fome- 

 times left by miilake. A hhink (if fomething material be 

 omitted) in a declaration, abates the fame; 4 Ed. IV. 14. 

 20 H. VI. 18. and fuch a blank is a t;ood caufe of de- 

 murrer. Blanks in the imparlance-roU aided "after verdicl" 

 for the plaintiff. Hob. 76. 



BLANK-wr/^. See Verse and Rhyme. 

 Blank-/io/«/. SttVoitiT -Hani. 



BLANKENBERG, in Geography, a fea-port town and 

 fortrefs of Flanders, frtuate near the lea-coaft, between Of- 

 tend on the ,S. W. and Cadfand ifland to the N. E. N. lat. 

 51° 18'. E. long. 3° 24'. — Alfo, a fmall town of Germany, 

 feated on a mountain, in a preftfturate cf the fame name, in 

 the circle of Wtftphalia, and duchy of Berg, 20 miles S. E. 

 of Cologn. 



BLANKENBURG, a principality of Germany, in the 

 circle of Lower Saxony, belonging, finccthe year 173 1, to 

 the reigning houfe of Brunfwick-Wolfenbuttel, for which 

 he holds a feat at the diet of the empire, and pays 12 rix- 

 doUars a month. This principality lies partly on and partly 

 near the Hartz mountain, and is about 20 miles long and 

 about 8 wide. The northern part, without the Harta, con- 

 fifts of very good corn-land, but that which lies on the 

 Hartz abounds in woods, quarries of marble and mines of 

 iron ore. A confiderable part of the country is watered by 

 the Bode. The capital town is of the lame name ; in which 

 are held tiie courts of judicature and the contiftory, with 

 the fuperintcndance of the principality. Near the town, on 

 an eminence, is the ducal palace. It is 7 miles dillant from 

 Halberlladt. 



BLANKENHAYN, a fmall town in the circle of Up- 

 per Saxony, and principality of Alteuburg, belonging to a 

 lordfhip ot the fame name, which is a fief of the electorate 

 of Mentz, 17 miles E. S. E. of Erfurt. 



B L A 



BLANKENHEIM, a fmall town in Germany, and 

 capital of a county of the fame name, in the circle of Wclt- 

 phalia, and archbuliopric of Treves. The prince, rcfident 

 here, pays 64 florins a irontb, and 72 ru-doUars, and 545- 

 kreutzers to the imperial chiimber: 36 miles N. N.E. of 

 Treves. In the French arr=ngtmer.t, it is the principal 

 pljce (>f a canton in the diftiiclof Frum, and department of 

 S irre. The pi^p'dation of the place includes 5C0 perfons, 

 and the canton 303-'). Its territory compvcher.di 19 coui- 

 rnunes. 



BLANK ENSEE, a lake of C-erm.ar.y, ia the circle of 

 Upper Saxony, and Lii.ldle mark of Brandenburg, 6 iniics 

 E. of Belitz. 



BLANKENSTEIN, a town of Germany in ?. prcftc- 

 turate of tlie fame name, in the circle ot Wcflp'.'.^iLa, ami 

 county of Mark, feated on an eminence near the Rhur, 19 

 miles E. N. E. of Dufl'ddorp. 



BLANKET, in Commcrcf, a warm woolly fort of ftufT, 

 light and loofe woven ; cidefiy uftd i:i, bedding. The manu- 

 facture of blap.kets is principally confined to Witney in Ox- 

 fordfhire, where it is r.dvanccd to that height, that no other 

 place comes near it. Some attribute a great part of tiic 

 excellency of the Witney blankets to the abfterfive nitrous 

 water of tiie river V.'indrufli, wherewith they are lcour!:<i ; 

 others think they rather owe it to a peculiar way of Icoic 

 fpinning, which the people have about that place. Be this 

 as it will, the place has ingrofled almoft. the whole trade of the 

 nation for this commodity ; infomuch that the \\ ooi fit for 

 it centres here, from the farthermoft parts of the kingdom. 

 Plott. Hill. Oxf. chap. ix. ^ 163. 



Blankets are made of felt wool, i. e. wool from off flieep- 

 fl^ins which they divide into feveral forts. 



Of the head wool, and bay wool, they make blankets of 

 twelve, eleven, and ten quarters broad ; of the orduiary and 

 middle fort, blankets of eight and feven quarters broad ; 

 of the belt tail wool, blankets of fix quarters broad, com- 

 monly called cuts, ferving for feamcn's hammocks. See 



HVKES. 



Blanket, tqffing hi a, a ludicrous kind of punilhment, 

 of which we find mention in the ancients, under the denomi- 

 nation fagailo. Martial defcribes it graphically enough, 

 " Ibis ab excuflb, miiTus ad allra, fago." 



A late writer reprcfents it as one of Otho's imperial de- 

 lights. But this is turning the tables ; that emperor's diver- 

 fion, as related by Suetonius, was not to be the fubjedt, but 

 the agent in the affair; it being liis prattice to llroll out in 

 dark nights, and where he met with a helplefs, or drunken 

 man, to give him the diiciplineof the blanket. 



BLANKOF, John Teunisz, in Biography, a Flemifh 

 painter, was born at Alkmaar in 1628. After having Ipcnt 

 fome years in receiving inflruiflion from Arcnt Ticrhng, 

 Peter Scheyenburg, and Cselar van Everdingen, he went to 

 Rome, where he diligently copied the works ot th- bed 

 malUrs, and was admitted into tlie fociety of Flemifli p?.ir.- 

 ters, called Bentvogcls, by wh.om he was dillinguifhed by 

 tlie appellation of Jan Maat, fignifying, in Dutch, mate or 

 compiiuion, and Huder which appellation he is moft gene- 

 rally known. His fubjefts were landfcape?, with views of 

 rivers, or fea-(horts, havens, or ports, which he executed 

 with alight, free pencil ; and in the reprefentatiors of ftorms 

 and calms, he particularly excelled. Ttiofe of his pitturcs 

 that are principally co.mmendcd, are the Italian fea-ports, 

 with velfeh lying before them. And his molt capital per- 

 formance is a view of the fea-diore, with the waves retiring 

 at ebb-tide ; which Houbraken defcribes as admirably beau- 

 tiful and natural. His imagination was lively, and his exe- 

 cution rapid. He died in 167a. Pilkington. 



BLANQUEFORT, in Geography, a town of France, 



6 iu 



