B L I 



B L I 



juilous to grain crops in wet L-afons ; hence, principally, 

 ihc icarcity and a.lvanced price ot whtat after fiich feafoni. 

 It is alio remar'ied to afFciil the north iide of fields, much 

 more than the fjiuh, and that the effeft is governed by the 

 flate of ripenefi ; co".f:?q'.iently, a few days of forwardnefs 

 may be fufliLitnt to prevent the efFeft, It is evident, that 

 the forward wheats are lead liable to bt blighted ; for, 

 having paflT.-d fome certain ftage of maturation, they become 

 invulnerable to the aitack of this mifchievous enemy ; at 

 leall, no obvious injury is incurred. It is alfo obfervable, 

 that no perceptible blight takes place while a dry ftafon 

 coiitinues. Tlie only guard a farmer has againft the 

 attack of this fccrct enemy, appears to be that of fowing 

 early. 



Blight of lorn is called Smut. 



BLIGNY-SUR-OUCHES, in Geography, a town of 

 France, in the department of the Cote d'Or, and chief place 

 of a canton, in the dillrift of Beaune, 3 leagues N. W. of 

 Beaune, containing 1x69 inhabitants; the canton contains 

 6^98 ; and comprehends 265 kiliometres, and 23 com- 

 munes. 



BLIKOOSKOI, a fmall ifland in the Frozen fea. N. 

 lat 71" 30'. E. !ong 125^14'. 



BLIND. See Blindness. 



Bli sD, Porc^ or Pu>\ denotes only a great degree of ihort- 

 fightednefs. Phil. Tranf. N" 37. p. 731. 



Blind, is alfo ufed for occult, or imperceptible. Hence 

 blind rampa.t, cacum •vallum, among the ancients, was that 

 bcfct wit!i Iharp Hakes, concealed by grafs or leaves growing 

 over them. 



Blind tejlimomcs, caca lejilinonia, thofe given by abfeut 

 perfons in writing. 



Blind is alio ufed in fpeaking of bodies without aper- 

 tures. 



Hence. 



Blind 'wall, circus paries, that without windows. In a 

 like fcnfe we meet with iZ/'ni/chamber, c(tcum eubiculum. 



Blind is alfo ufed in fpeaking of veifcls which are not 

 perforated. In this fenfc the chemifts fay a blind alem.bic. 

 A tube is fiid to be blind, v/hen it is clofed a-top. Some 

 anatomills alfo call the third cavity of the ear coecum, as 

 having no iffue ; but it is more ufuaily denominated laby- 

 rinth, which fee. 



Blind harbour, or Murderer's lay of Tafman, in Geogra- 

 phy, a deep bay at the N. W. part of the fouthern ifland of 

 New Zealand, having two fmall iflands near the bottom of 

 it on the v/eft fide'; 6 leagues to the eaft of cape Farewell. 



Blind, in the Military Art, fignilies, generally, every 

 material which fci ves to cover and proteft the befiegers from 

 the fire of the enemy ; as wool packs, fand-bags, earth- 

 badvets, &c. Blinds fometimes confill only of canvas 

 ftretched, fo as to intercept the view of the garrifon from 

 the walls. Sometimes they are planks erefted, and in this 

 cafe are more properly called mantlets. They are alfo oc- 

 cafionally conftrudcd with a number of bafleets or barrels. 



More particularly taken, blinds denote wooden frames 

 of four pieces, cither round or flat. Two of them are fix feet 

 long, and pointed at the extremities ; the others, about 

 three or four feet in length, ierve as fpars, to fatten the two 

 former toajethcr. Thefe blinds are lixed upright in the 

 ground againft the fides of the faps, to hinder the earth 

 from falling in, and to fallen fafcincs upon the upper part. 

 They are likewife of uie in covering the faps, and fupport- 

 ing a roof of falcines to fecure the troops from Hones and 

 granadcs. 



Blinds, of another fort, are commonly made of oziers, 

 or branches interwoven and laid acrofs between two rows of 



ftakes, about the height of a roan, and four or five feet 

 afunder. 



Blinds are of cfTential fervice at the heads of trenches, or 

 faps, when they arc extended in front towards the glacis ; 

 and when, from the fuperior elevation of the enemy's works, 

 he may overlook, and pour his lire in upon the befiegers. 

 They are alfo indifpenfable, in cafe the nature of the ground 

 (hould oblige the approaches to be carried on in a lliaight 

 direction, and the workmen and the guard to be necelTarily 

 expoled to the batteries of the garrifon. But in this cafe, 

 the fap.? can only be carried on in the night, as the lofs of 

 men would otherwife prove extremely fcrious. 



Blind is alio fometimes ufed for Orillon. 



B L 1 N D ^/-(7/;a«/o, that which does not light or take fire. 



Blind_/;/;V^. See Faith. 



Blind ^u/. See Coecum. 



Blind ivorm. See SLOW-i£;crm. 



BLINDING, a fpccies of corporal punifhment anciently 

 infliCted on thieves, adulterers, perjurers, and others ; and 

 from which the ancient Chrlllians were not exempt. Some- 

 times lime in vinegar, or barely fcalding vinegar, was poured 

 into the eyes, till their balls were confumed ; fometimes a 

 rope was twitted round the head till the eyes ftarted out. 

 Holin. Polyhill. c. 4. Lamprid. in Alex. Sev. c. 17. Va!. 

 Max. lib. vi. c. 5. Lattant. de Mort. Perfec. c. 36. 



In the middle age, they changed total blindnefs for 

 a great darkneis, or diminution of fight, which they pro- 

 duced by holding a red hot iron diili or bafon before the eyes, 

 till their humours were dried, and their coats flirivelled up. 



The inhabitants of the city Apollonia executed it on their 

 watch whom they found afleep. Democritus, according to 

 Plutarch, Cicero, and A. Gellius, put out his own eyes, 

 that he might be lefs difturbcd in his mental contemplations, 

 when thus treed from the diftraftion of the objects of light. 

 Herodot. lib. vi. c. 92. Aul. Gell. Nod. Att. hb. x. 

 c.71. Cicero Tufc. Qu. 5. 



Blinding, olcacatio, in the Blach Art, denotes a fpecies 

 of necromancy, whereby a vifible body may be concealed, or 

 h:dden by an invifible power. See Necromancy. 



Blinding of a cafemate, fignifics eretling a battery againft 

 it, in order to dilmount its cannon and render them ufclcfs. 



BLINDNESS, in Surgery, the privation or want of 

 fight. This defetl may arife from 3 variety of caufes, ex- 

 itting either in the organ of fight, or in the circumftances 

 necefiary to produce vifion. See Optics, and Eye. Blind- 

 nefs will be complete, when the hght is wholly excluded ; or 

 partial, when it is admitted into the eve fo imperfeftly as to 

 convey only a confiifed perception of vifible objcdls. Blindnefs 

 may again be diftinguiihed into periodical or permanent, 

 tranfient or perpetual, natural or accidental, &c.; but thefe 

 diftinftions do not ferve to communicate any idea of the 

 caufes of blindnefs, which are to be (lightly mentioned in 

 the prcfcnt article. For a more particular account of the 

 caufes and remedies of blindnefs, the reader will cor.fult the 

 articles which give an account of the dodtrine of vifion, and 

 the difeafes of the eye. 



The ordinary caufes of blindnefs are as follow : 



1. In the eyelids and mufc/es. By a cohefion of the eve- 

 lids ; by an clonixation of the upper eye-lid ; by a paralytic 

 ftate, which difables the patient from raifing it fufficiently ; 

 by an irregular or defeftive aftion in the mufcles which are 

 attached to the eye-ball. 



2. In the membranes of tl'e eye. By their opacity, fo as to 

 exclude the rays of light ; by their cxquifite fenfibiHty, fo as 

 to render vifion intolerable ; by their blood-veflels alTuming 

 a morbid aftion, and effufing a fluid (fuppofe pus, for ex- 

 ample) into any of the cavities of the eye. 



I- In 



