B L E 



B L E 



?ind confined in prifon for eight years. Releafed at length 

 iVom his confinement, he went and fettled at Avignon, 

 where he csintinued to the time of his death, about the yew 

 1722, being 70 years of age. Halier. Bib. Chirurg. Anat. 

 et Med. E'.oy Dift. Hill. 



BLEICHERODE, in Geography, a town of Germany, 

 in the circle of Upper SaXony, county of Hohrnftein, and 

 iorjfhip of Lora ; though fmall, it is populous and tliriving, 

 has fome manufactures, and carries on a good trade ; 20 

 miles north of Mnlhauien. 



BLEIDENSTATT, a town, or large village of Ger- 

 many , in the circle of the Upper Rhine, and principality of 

 NaiTau-Saaibruck-Ufingcn, fcated on the Aar, 9 miles 

 N.N.W. of Mentz. 



BLEISTEIN, or Pl£stai>«, a town of Germany, in the 

 circle of Bavaria, and principaHty of Newburg, with an an- 

 nexed lordfhip, a fief ot the kingdom of Bohemia ; 22 miles 

 E.N.E. of Ambcrg. 



BLEKEDE, a fmall town of Germany, in the circle of 

 Lower S^iony, and principality of Luntburg-Zell, feated 

 on the Elbfe; to which belongs a toll on the river of coniider- 

 able produce ; so miles E.N.E. of Luntburg. 



BLEKINGEN, called by the Swedes BUhlngh, by the 

 Danes Bkg'ind, and by the inhabitants Blegen, a province of 

 Sweden, bounded on the north by Smoland, on the foutli 

 and eaft by the Baltic, and on the well by Scania, Schonen, 

 or Skone, is about 100 Enghlh miles in length, and about 26 

 in breadth. It is a mountainous countiy, but various parts of 

 it are more pleafant than any other provinces of the kingdom. 

 It abounds with forells of oak, beech, pine, and birch trees, 

 and carries on a coniidcrable trade in pot-a(h, tar, tallow, 

 hides, leather, beams, deal-boards, and mads. The inhabit- 

 ants alfo employ themfelves in fifhing and hunting. The 

 fl r.llow foil dees not admit of much tillage, but the paflures 

 afford the bell cheefe in Sweden ; the cattle, however, are of 

 a fmaller fize than thole of Schonen. This countrj- has 

 feveral lakes and fix principal rivers, which furnilh good 

 fahnon. Its iflands belonging to this jurifdidlion are nu- 

 merous, a::d the whole province contains 29 parifhcs. The 

 clergy are fubje6t to the fee of Lund. As to its political 

 divifion it confill-i o! four harads, or diftrifts, and its princi- 

 pal town is CarHcrona, which fee. 



BLEMISH, in Horfe Healing. By this term, among the 

 venders of horfts. is undtrftood any appearance by which the 

 I'.orfe is disfigured, as broken knees, a blind eye, l<:ars of va- 

 rious kinds, &c. The term blemifh,. by fome, may be ex- 

 tended even to any unfightiy natural markings of the horfe. 

 Thefe bkmilhes. however, for the moll part are confidered as 

 in no wife of themfelves conftituting an unfoundnefs. 



Blemish, a term in Hunting, ufed when the hounds, or 

 beagles, finding where the chace has been, make a proffer to 

 enter, but return. 



BLEMMYES, or Blemyes, among the yjnc'tent Geo- 

 graphers, a fabulous fort of people, fui)pofcd without 

 heads ; having eyes and mouths on their breads ; faid 

 to have inhabited part of Ethiopia, on the borders of 



Some authors inragine, that this fable had its origin in 

 a cuftom which prevailed amon^ this people of depreffing 

 their heads between their fliouMers, wliich they forced up- 

 wards, fo that their necks were very Ihort, and their heads 

 were concealed partly by thtir (boulders, and partly by their 

 long andtliick hair. To this purpofe it is alleged, that the 

 Egyptian, or bearded Bacchus, has the head funk in his 

 bread. Welearis fronfi Vopifcus, that fome Biemmyan cap- 

 tives, takea prifoner^ by Frobus, in an expedition againfl 



them, about tlieyear of Chrift 278, made a very odd appear- 

 ance at Rome. But at this time they could not be quite 

 unknown at Ronie, as fome of them had appeared there be- 

 fore, on occafion of Aurelian's triumph. In the time of 

 Dioclefian, the num.ber of the Blemmyes, fcattered between 

 the ifland of Meroe and the Red fea, was very inconfiderahle, 

 their difpofition was unwarlike, and their weapons rude andin- 

 offeiifive ; yet, in the pubhc diforders, thefe barbarians, v>hoin 

 antiquity, fhocked with the deformity of their figure, had 

 almofl excluded from the human fpecies, prefumed to rank 

 themfelves among the enemies of Rome. With a view of' 

 oppofing to the Blemmyes a fuitable adverfary, Dioclefian, 

 in his attack on the rebellious Egyptians, A. D. 296, per- 

 fuaded the Nobatx, or people of Nubia, to remove fnm 

 their ancient habitations in the deferts of Lybia, and refigned 

 to them an estenfive but unprofitable tenitor)' above Syene, 

 ai;d the catarafts of the Nile, with the llipulation, that th;y 

 fhould ever rcfpect and guard the frontier of the empire. We 

 find, however, theit at a fubfequent period they fent ambaffa- 

 dors to the court of Conftsntine. The Blemmyes were 

 fubdued by Florus, the lieutenant of Marcian, A. D. 



45c- ' r L ■" 



Bochart derives the vrord Blemmyes from '72' ^^l'''^''- 

 implies a negation, and HI 2' l"'^'" > in which fenfe, the 

 Blemmyes Ihould have been people without brains. Sec 

 Strabo, 1. xvii. p. t. 172. Pomponius Mela, 1. I. c. 4. His 

 words, in defcribing thefe favages of Ethiopia, are curious ; 

 " Intra, fi credere libet, vix homines magifque femiferi ; 

 .figipanes, et Blemmyes, et Satyri." 



BLENAU, in Geography, a town of France, in the de- 

 partment of the Yonne, and chief place of a canton in the 

 diftriCl of loigny, containing 1065 perfons ; the number of 

 people in the canton amounts to 5976: the territory com- 

 prehends 290 kiliometres and 9 oommunes ; 2 leagues N.W. 

 of St. Fargeau. 



BLENCH, in Law, a fort of tenure of land; as to hold 

 land in blench is by payment of a fugar-loaf, a couple 

 of capons, a beaver-hat, &c. if the fame be demanded 

 in the 'Yiame of blench, i. e. nomine alba jirme. See Alba 



FiRMA. 



BLENDE, in Mineralogy, called alfo black-jack, or 

 pfeudo-galena, the native fulphuret of zinc. See Zinc, 

 ores of. 



BLTiiD-melal iron, a coarfe fort of iron from the Staffbrd- 

 Ihire mires, ufed for making nails and heavy ware ; in fome 

 places alfo for horfe-lhoes. 



BLt^D-zuater, a diftemper incident to black-cattle, which 

 comes -feveral ways. i. From blood. 2. From the yel- 

 lows, which is a ringleader of all difeafes. And 3. From 

 the change of ground : for being hard, it is apt to breed 

 this evil, which if not remedied in fix days, will be pall 

 help. 



BLENHEIM, in Geography, a village of Germany, tn 

 the circle of Bavaria, and principality of Newburg, 2 mile* 

 N.E. of Hockiledt, famous for a viftory obtained there by 

 the Englillt and their allies over the French and Bavarians, 

 Augull 13th 1 704. For an account of the battle, fee 



HoCKSTEDT. 



Blenheim, a new town of America, in the ftate of New 

 York, in Schoharie county, incorporated in 1797. 



BLENNA, or Blena (Sx-.tx) in Medicine, a term ufed 

 by Hippocrates, and fubfequent medical writers, to denote a 

 plilegm or mucus excreted from the noftrils. This fort of 

 excretion occurs not unfrequenily in acute difeafes, and is 

 generallv a favourable fymptom. 



BLENNIUS, in Ichthyology, a Linnaian genus of jugular 

 4 G 3 fillies. 



