B L U 



Bl«e, Pnijfian. See Prussic jic'td. 



Blue, Saxon, a folution of indigo in fulphuric acid. See 

 Indigo. 



For an account of the procefles for obtaining blue liquors 

 from oak.-du!l and vitriol, fronn logj-wood and vt;rdignfe, 

 from log-wood and blue vitriol, from an efTential oil and vo- 

 latile fpirit ; fee Dr. Lewis's Commcrcium Philofophieo- 

 Teclinicum, ed. 410, ann. 1773, p. 3S2. 407. 456. 



Blue, Stone, or PoivJer, lifcd in waibing of linen, is 

 the fame with fmalt, either in the lump, or powdered. 



When the fnialt is taken from the pot, it is thrown into 

 a large vciTcl of cold water ; this makes it mofe tradlable 

 and eafily powdered. Afterwards, wlitn examined after 

 cooling, it is found to be mixed with a greyifli matter re- 

 fembling aflies, which they call cfcheL This grey matter 

 it feparated by wadimg, and then the blue fubllance is 

 powdered and fifted through fine fievee, to bring it to 

 what we c-a\\ poiuder-LIue. Phil. Tranf. N° 396. See Co- 

 balt. 



Blue, turnfol, is a blue ufed in painting on wood, made 

 of the feed of that plant. It is prepared by boihng four 

 ounces of turnfol in a pint and a half of water wherein lime 

 has been flacked. See Turnsol. 



Blue, ultramarine. SccLazulite. 



There is a blue fubftance, fomething like what Kentman 

 mentions under the name of cteruleum patavinum. It was 

 difcovered in a peat-mofs in Scotland. This earth is at firft 

 of a white colour, and only grows blue by being expofed to 

 the air. It has alfo fome rtfemblance to what Mr. de Cofta 

 in his Nat. Hift.of Folf. p. 103. ca\\% ochria friabilis caruka. 

 It is defcribed very minutely by Mr. Douglas, who gives 

 an account of his various experiments upon it, and recom- 

 mends it as a cheap paint in gum water, particularly as it is 

 levigated and prepared by nature. See Phil. Tranf. vol. Iviii. 

 N° 27. an. 1768. 



Many fimilar fpecimcna of blue earth have been difco- 

 vered in England and Ireland, and feveral parts of the con- 

 tinent. 



Blue-W/, a name given in fome countries to the Cone- 

 AVhe.\t. 



^hvz-lottle, in Botany. See Centaurea. 



BtuE-Ca/i, in Ichthyology. See Ble\v-C<;/. 



Blue yohn, the common appellation, among the Derby- 

 fhire miners, of Fluop.-Spar. 



Blue Mantle Purju'want of Arms. This ofScer is by 

 patent a member of the corporation of heralds. Sir Henry 

 Spelman conjeftures, that the title was taken from the co- 

 lour of the mantle of the French kings. This office is faid 

 to have been inftituted by Henry V., and probably might be 

 coeval with that of Garter, and erected with reference to 

 that order ; but although the catalogues place John Wrex- 

 worth and others by this title under the reign of Henry V. ; 

 Anthony Wood afcribes the creation of this office to 

 Henry VI., in whofe 26th year Bluemantle Purfuivant 

 waited on Bruges, Garter king of arms, into France, and 

 alfo on the bilhop of Chichefter and others, ambafiadors 

 thither. Previous to that date there are not any entries on 

 record relating to this officer ; but from thence to the pre- 

 fent time the fucceffion hath been carried on without any in- 

 terruption. 



Blue Nuns, files Hues, thofe of the order of the An- 

 nunciation. 



BLUEFIELD's Bay, in Geography, a bay in the ifland 

 of Jamaica, lying S.E. of Savannah-la-Mar, and having good 

 anchorage for large velfels. N. lat. 18° 10' jo". W. lono-. 

 78°. 



Bluefield's, or BkivJUld's Bay, a bay on the weftern 



B L U 



coaft of Nicaragua, in New Spain, into which a river of 

 the fame name is difcharged. N. lat. 11° 40'. W. long. 



BLUEHILL, a town(hip of America, in Hancock 

 county and diflriil of Maine, on the weft fide of Union 

 river, 344 miles N.E. of Bofton, and ij E. of Penobfcot ; 

 havnig 274 inhabitants. 



Bluehill Bay, a bay of America, formed by Naflteag 

 point on the weft, and Mount Dtfart ifland on tlie eaft, and 

 extending northerly to a mountain on the eaft of Penobfcot 

 river, wliich, from its appearance at fea, is called " Blue- 

 hill." Union river difcharges itfelf into this bay. 



Blue Hills, a range of mountains in New England, the 

 firft ridge of which in New Hampffiire pafles through Ro- 

 chtfter, Barrington, and Nottingham. 



Blue Mountains, are mountains of America, in Nor. 

 thampton county, and ftate of Pennfylvania, extending from 

 S.W. to N.E. and through a fmall interval acrofs the Dela- 

 ware. — Alfo, a range of mountains, which run from S.E. 

 to N.W. through Surry county, in the ifland of Jamaica. 

 Blue mountain peak is faid to rife 743 1 feet above the level 

 of the fea ; and the precipices are interfperfed with beauti- 

 ful favannahs Alfo, a mountain in RufCa, part ofthe Al- 



tay mountains. See Sinnaia Sopka. 



Blue R'ulge, or South Mountain, is the firft ridge of 

 the Alleghany mountains in Pennfylvania, Virginia, and 

 North Carohna, diftant from 130 to 200 miles from the fea, 

 and, meafurtd from its bafe, about 4000 feet high. Be- 

 tween this and the north mountain is a large fertile vale. 

 The paflage of the Potowmack river through this ridge is 

 one of the moft ftupendous fceres in nature. See Alleg- 

 hany Alountains, and Potowmack River. 



Blue Licks, lie on the main branch ofthe Licking river 

 in Kentucky, and are fituated about 8 miles wefterly from 

 the Upper Blue Licks. Both of them are on the N.E. fide 

 of the river ; and the latter is about 15 miles N.E. of 

 Millers. 



Blue Spring, lies between Big Barren and Little Barren 

 river, fouthern branches of Green river, in Mercer's county, 

 Kentucky, about 22 miles fouth-wefterly from Sulphur 

 fpring, and 1 3 foutii of Craig's fort, on the north fide of 

 Green river. 



Blue Stone Creel, a fmaU weftern branch of the Great 

 Kanhaway. 



BLUENESS, that quality which denominates a body 

 blue, depending on fuch a fize and texture of the parts that 

 compofe the furface of a body, as difpofe them to refleft 

 the blue or azure rays of light, and thofe only, to the 

 eye. 



With refpeft to the bluenefs of the (]<y, M. de la Hire, 

 after Leonardo da Vinci, obferves, that any black body 

 viewed through a thin white one, gives the fenfation of blue ; 

 and this he affigns as the reafon of the bluenefs of the fliy, 

 the immenfe depth of which being wholly devoid of light, 

 is viewed through the air illuminated and whitened by the 

 fun. For the fame reafon, he adds, it is that foot mixed 

 with white makes a blue ; for white bodies, being always a 

 little tranfparent, and mixing themfelves with a black be- 

 hind, give the perception of blue. From the fame principle 

 he accounts for the bluenefs of the veins on the furface of 

 the ilvin, though the blood they are filled with be a deep 

 red ; for red, he obferves, unlefs viewed in a clear, ftrong 

 light, appears a dark brown, bordering on black: being 

 then in a kind of obfcurity in the veins, it muft have the 

 effea of a black ; and this, viewed through the membrane 

 of the vein and the white fliin, will produce the perception 

 of blueuefs. ■ 



In 



