B O I 



B O I 



and recompofed and polifhed, about half a century afterwards, 

 by Lud. Domenico and Fr. Benii. The work of the latter 

 is fo well executed, that it has almoft fuperfeded the original. 

 The bell edition of Boiardo's own performance n that of 

 Venice in 1544- This work ferved as the model and 

 groundwork of Ariofto's " Orlando Furiofo ;" wliich is 

 properly a continuation of it, with new adventures. Boiardo's 

 lonnets bear the chaTafter of a much purer ftylc than his 

 Orlando. Moreri. 



BOIARKI, in Geography, a town of Poland, in the pala- 

 tinate of Kiov, -^8 miles S.S.E. of Bialacerkiew. 



BOICININGA, or, more properly, Boiciningua, in 

 Zoology., the Brafilian name of the moft common kind of 

 rattle-fnake that is found in South America: — Crotale lo'iguira 

 of Bofc. 



BOICUAIBA, a kind of Peruvian ferpent, fuppofed to 

 belong to the Did genus. It is defcribed as beinjj twenty 

 feet loii'j black on the anterior part, the reft yellow. 



BOIGA, the name of an- American fnake, called by Lin- 

 nxus Coluber ahaetuUa. 



BOIGUACU, the name of a fort of ferpent, called alfo 

 'iibo'ia, and by the Poituguele Colra de -veado. The relations 

 of thofe writers who fpeak of this extraordinary creature par- 

 take rather of the marvellous, infomjch that we cannot but 

 entertain confiderable doubt as to the identity of the fpecies ; 

 that it is of the boa tribe there can be no difpute. Perhaps 

 it is no other than the ibiloboca and boiguacii of Seba, which 

 Dr. Shaw defcribes under the name of Boa regla; a fpecies 

 fomewhat allied to coiidriclor, and of which the hiftoi7 has 

 probably been confounded with that of the latter kind. The 

 boiguacu is reprefented as the largelt of all the ferpent tribe, 

 in which it agrees with conftrictor. It grows, we are told, 

 to the length of four and twenty feet, and more. The mid- 

 dle of the body very thick, but becoming fmaller at the head 

 and tail. Down the middle of the back runs a chain of black 

 fpots, a hand's breadth diftantfrom one another, each having 

 a fpot of white in its middle ; and below thefe are two other 

 rows of fmaller black fpots, towards the belly. Each jaw is 

 faid to be furniibed with two rows of (hai-p teeth white as 

 pearl. The head veiy broad, with two protuberances over 

 the eyes, and, in fome of this fpecies, two claws, like thofe of 

 birds, behind the anus, towards the tail. The laft particular 

 of which muft evidently be an abfurd miftake, arifing from 

 the inattention of the defcriber. 



We are further told, that the boiguacu is a terrible crea- 

 ture, one that preys upon the larger animals, and will feize 

 upon a man. That it either lies in ambuib in the thickets, 

 or on the branches of large trees, from which it throws itfelf 

 upon its prey. It has no venom in its bite ; and its flelli is 

 eaten, and efteemed a delicacy. This fort is common in the 

 Brafils. The fize to which it attains fometimes is aftoni!bing. 

 Borritus preferved the lliin of one (fuppofed to be the fame) 

 which had been killed by himfelf, that was twelve yards long ; 

 and he relates, that there was a ferpent of this kind deftroyed 

 in Java, that meafured thirteen yards and a half in length, 

 and had, when killed, a boar in its belly. And de Laet re- 

 lates, that in Rio de Ic Plata there are fome of this kind of 

 ferpents fo large, that they will fwallow a whole ftag.the horns 

 not excepted. This is probably exaggerated. It is affirmed 

 of the boa conftriftor, by others, that when the enormous 

 creature has gorged an animal of this kind, the horns remain 

 flicking out of the mouth of the ferpent, till the digeftion of 

 the flefh takes place, and the horns drop off. The boiguacu 

 is eaten by the natives of Brafil. 



BOII, in Ancient Geography, a people, who, according to 

 Caefar (lib. vi. c. 24.), %vere a Gaulilh nation, but from Gaul 

 pafled into Germany, and, fettling in the prefent Bohemia, 



continued there till they were expelled by the Marcomanni . 

 Strabo calls them at different times Celtes and Gauls ; and 

 M. Pelloutier is of opinion, that they were a tribe of the 

 Celtce, who inhabited Thrace and lUyria. Some of thefe, 

 he fays, occupied the Hernician foreft en the other fide of 

 the Danube, and migrated into Bohemia ; others were mixed 

 among the inhabitants of 1 hrace ; and others remained in 

 lilyria, between the Danube and the Drave. Of thefe Boii 

 there were, therefore, feveral dillincl tribes. After BcUo- 

 vefus had made an irruption into Italy through the country 

 of the Taurini, the Boii and Lin^ones entered it by the Pen- 

 nine Alps. Thefe Boii occupied the .'r.ore fouthern part of 

 Gallia Cifpadana, or Cifalpine Gaul, and were feparated from 

 Etruria by the Apennines, and from the Senones by the Ru- 

 bico. Their principal city was Boronia. In the year of 

 Rome 395, they advanced in Italy as far as the plain of 

 Pra;nelle, and were defeated there by tlie dictator C. Sul- 

 picius. Purfued by the Romans, they retired over the Da- 

 nube, and inhabited the co':fines of Paimonia and lilyria, 

 along with the Taurifci and Scordifci. In this country they 

 contended with Boerebiftas, king of the Getae, and were de- 

 ftroyed by his troops. Their country afterwards remained 

 defert and uncultivated, and was called the " defcrt of the 

 Boii." The Romans in procefs of time built here the towns 

 of Scarabantia and Sabaria. Csefar is fuppofed to have re- 

 ferred to thefe Bo-.i, when he fays, that the Boii who had 

 remained on the other fide of the Rhine, and who had de- 

 fcended irom Noricia, where they laid fiege to the town of 

 Noreia, were fummoned by the Helvetii to unite with them 

 in an irruption into Gaul. Another body of the Boii hav- 

 ing entered into Gcrmaiiy, fettled on the north of the Da- 

 nube, in an exteniive country, almoft wholly furrounded by 

 mountains, and having on the weftern part the Hercynian 

 mountains. This country was afterwards occupied by the 

 Marcomanni, and is now called Bohemia. Thefe Boii were 

 blended by degrees with other nations ; but retainincr fome 

 kind of importance, they preferved an imperfetl trace of their 

 name in that of Boioarii, whence proceeded Bavaria. The 

 Boii, who joined the Plelvetii on their attack of the Gauls, 

 were overpowered by Caefar; but after their defeat, the MAm 

 prevailed with Caefar to allow them a fettlement, on account 

 of their diftinguifhed valour, in a fmall dillrift of their terri- 

 tory. It is faid that he built for them a fmall town called 

 " Gergovica," of which no trace now remains. M. d'Anville 

 places thefe Boii in a kind of peninfula, formed by the rivers 

 Liger and Elaver, before their re-union. Another body ot 

 the Boii, denominated by Aufonius " Picei," occupied the 

 weftern part of Gaul, comprehended in Novem-Populana, 

 fouth-weft of the Bituriges Vivifci, upon the fea-coaft. 



BOIL, or Furuncle, in Surgery, is a painful, circum- 

 fcribed, and inflammatory tumor, feldom larger than a 

 pigeon's egg, generally of a conical figure, feated in the fub- 

 cutaneous adipofoie membrane, and proceeding from an in- 

 ternal caufe. Its apex or central point is but flightly raifed 

 above the ikin, and commonly tends to fuppuration. No part 

 of the furface of the body is exempt from the attacks of tliis 

 diforder, but thofe parts are more liable to boils which abound 

 with cellular fubftance. The purulent fluid they contain 

 is ufually inclofed in one or more cyfts or facculi, and is veiy 

 flow in coming to a ftate of full maturation ; fo that it is re- 

 quifite to aid the formation of matter by warm ftimulating 

 apphcations, and at the fame time to fupport the conftitution 

 by ftrengthening remedies, nutritious diet, and falubrious 

 air. 



Several boils will often appear at the fame time, and after 



■they have healed, new ones may arife ; in which cafe, we 



may fufped the patient to be of an ill habit of body, and re- 



4X2 quire 



