BON 



;gmfhed tliemfeUes in writing " Alia Paleftrina" for tlie 

 •church ; ftcular mufic was then but httle cultivated, and 

 lefs rcfpefted there, till operas and oratorios had made fome 

 prcgrefs in polifhing melody, and in the jull accentuation 

 and exprefllon of words. 



BONTIA, in Bolatiy, (in honour of Jacobus Bontius, a 

 ■phyfician at Batavia, author of atreatife " De Medicina In- 

 dorum"). Linn, fpecies Soo. Syft. 579. Reich. ,3. 200. 

 Willden. 120S. Schreb. 1062. juffleu 127. Clafs, tliily- 

 nnmia angiujperm'ia. Nat. Ord. pcrfonais — allied to the 

 folaneiz ? Jufl*. 



Gen. Char. Per. calyx one-leaved, five-parted ; fegments 

 obtufe, ercft, permanent. Cor. one-petalled, ringent ; 

 tube long, cylindric ; border gaping ; upper lip ereft, re- 

 flexed near the end, emarginate ; lower femitrifid, the fize of 

 the upper. Slum, filamcntb fubulatc, bending to the upper lip, 

 the length of the corolla ; anthers hmple. Pijl. germ ovate ; 

 llyle Cmple ; lligma bifid, obtufe. Peiicarp, drupe ovate, 

 with an oblique apex. Seed, nut oval, one-celled, germi- 

 nating. 



Eff. Char. Cal. five-parted. Cor. two-lipped ; lower lip 

 three-parted, revolute. Drupe ovate, one-feedcd, with an 

 oblique apex. 



Species, Hj. daphnoides, Barbadoes wild olive. ( La Marck 

 Illuft. Tab. $46.) " Leaves alternate ; peduncles one- 

 fiowered." Linn. A Ihrub four or five feet high ; leaves 

 rather ftiff, lanceolate, fmooth, green on both fides, lower 

 ones ferrate, upper ones entire. Flowers ycllowilh, with a 

 line of dullcy purple acrofs the lower lip ; axillary fingle, or 

 in pairs ; tube and lower lip hairy. It was cultivated by 

 Mr. Bentick. in 1690, and flowered with Dr. Shcrard in 

 June 172,;. 



PropagaUnii ami Culture. It is cultivated in Barbadoes for 

 making hedges, and may be raiftd in England from feeds 

 fown on a hot-bed early in the fpring. It muft afterwards 

 be tranfplanted into a fmall pot filled vv-ith light earth, and 

 plunged into a moderate tanner's bark hot-bed, with a large 

 allowance of air and water in hot weather, but fliould always 

 remain in the iiove. It may alfo be propagated by cuttings 

 in the fummer. Being evergreen, and growing in a pyra- 

 midal form, it makes a pretty variety in the ftove. 



BoNTiA, (Brown Jamaic.) See Avicennia germi- 

 tians. 



BoNTiA, (Pet.). See Epidendron carlnatum. 



BoNTTA, in Coiichology, a fpecies of Helix, of which 

 feveral varieties are defcribed by Chemnitz. This (hell is 

 fomewhat conic, ventricofc, perforated, and pellucid, with 

 the tip black ; on the firll whorl three ytllowifh bands ; 

 aperture ovate. HefiK botitia is a native of Bengal ; the (hell 

 is extremely fragile. 



BONTIUS, James, in Biography, a native of Leyden, 

 was educated in philofophy and medicine, under his father 

 Gerard ; and being fcnt to the Eaft Indies, pradifed phyfic 

 at Batavia about the middle of the feventejnth century. On 

 his return to Europe he wrote feveral valuable works on the 

 difeafes and praftice of medicine of India. Thefe are, " De 

 confervanda valetudiue, ac dicta fanis in India obfervandis ;" 

 *' Methodus medendi, qua oportet in India oricntali uti ;" 

 " Obfervationes feleftx ex ditlettione cadaverum ac autopfia 

 defcriptK." He alfo publifhed curious obfervations relating 

 to the botany and natural liillory of thofe regions, more cU 

 pecially the vegetables ufed in medicine and diet in his work 

 entitled " De Medicina Indorum," in 1642, and afterwards, 

 with Alpinus's work " De Medicina ^gyptiorum," 4 to. 

 171S. He alfo publifhed " Hilloria Nat. et Med. Indis ori- 

 cntalis," fol. in 1658. His brother Regnier v.-as many years 

 profeflor of medicine at Leyden, and rcclorof the univerfity. 

 He died in 162 5. Haller. Bib. iSled. PraA. et Botan. 



Vol. IV. 



BON 



EOKTORY, in Geography, a town of Poland, in the 

 palatinate of Braclaw, 20 miles eail of Braclaw. 



BONVINCINO, Alessandro, called Le Moretio, in 

 Biography, an eminent painter of hillory and portrait, was 

 born at Rovate in 1514, and (ludicd for fome years under 

 Titian ; but he was enamoured with the defigns of Raphael, 

 which he accidentally faw ; and devoting himfelf to the affi- 

 duous iludy of thofe mafter-pieccs of art and genius, he be- 

 canie an exceeding good painter. His works are eagerly 

 bought, and n:uch admired for the tendernels of the pencil- 

 ling, the correttnefs and fpirited exprefllon of the figures, 

 the neatnefs of the finidiing, and the rich variety of the dra- 

 peries, confiding of velvets, damaflcs, or fatins, copied after 

 nature, and wonderfully imitated. He was equally excellent 

 in portrait, and placed by fome perfor.s in competition with 

 Titian. He died m Ij64. Pilkington. 



BONUS Henricus, in Botany, (Bauh. &c.) See Che- 



NOPODIUM. 



BONZES, or BoNZUs, a name given to the priefis and 

 rehgious of China, Jcipan, and Tonquin. This is the ap.. 

 pellation under which the priefts, who are attached to the 

 worfhip of Fo (fee Fo), are generally known among Euro- 

 peans. They are called "Talapoins" by the Sianiefe, " La- 

 mas" by the Tartars, " Ho-fliang" in China, and " Bonzes" 

 in Japan. They generally live in a fort of comnninity, in 

 places apart, or configncd wholly to them. 'J'he illand 

 Pou-to, near Chufan, is a famous feat of bonzes, being 

 wholly inhabited by them, to the number of joco, all of 

 the fetl of Hofhang, or unmarried bonzes. 



They live a kind of Pythagorean life, and have not lefs 

 than four hundred pagodas, or temples, in this little ifland. 

 They have alfo females, called bonzefles, a fort of nuns, 

 who dedicate themfelves to the worfhip and fervice of fome 

 temples or idols. They are obliged to abltain from all con- 

 verfe with men, and on that account are cloillcred in large 

 rnonafteries, hke thofe of the Romifh and Greek church. 

 For incontinency thefe bonzelTes are condemned by the man- 

 darins to a kind of pillory called Ranghi, which fee. 



Thefe bonzes, or Chinefe prieils of Fo, worfhip him 

 under the forms of feveral animals, through which they 

 pretend that he had tranfmigrated before he was deified ; 

 and ingroffing the worfiiip of this imaginary deity to them- 

 felves, in the Chinefe temples, they fupport and propagate 

 it, with a view to their own perfonal emolument and in- 

 fluence, by the moll unwarrantable impoftures. They ad- 

 mit, however, the dillinftion between good and evil ; and 

 they declare, that, after death, rewards will be bellowed on 

 the good, and punifliment^. inflicted on the wicked, in places 

 defliined for the fouls of each. They teaeh, that the god 

 Fo appeared on earth for the purpofe of faving mankind, 

 and of relloring to the patlis of falvation thofe who have 

 ftraycd ; that it is bv him their fins are expiated ; and that 

 he alone can procure for them a happy regeneration in a fu- 

 ture life. They enjoin the ilrid obfervance of five precepts ; 

 of which the firit forbids the killing of any living creature, 

 of whatever nature it may be ; the fecoiid, the taking away 

 of the goods of another ; the third forbids men to pollute 

 themfelves by unclcannefs ; the fourth, to lye ; and the 

 fifth to drink wine. They, above all, recommend the prac- 

 tice of certain acts of mercy ; fuch as, treating their bonzes 

 well, building monalleries aiid temples for them, and lup- 

 plying them with every thing neceffary for their mainte- 

 nance, as the moll eff.;clual means of pHrticipatin;- th- bene- 

 fit of their prayers, mortifications, pen niecs, and ot'ier me- 

 ritorious actions towards t!)C atonem;nt of their own fins 

 and for obtaining a happy tranfmigrition in another life. 

 On the other hand, they terrify thole wlio withh;)ld their 

 benefaftionsfrom them with menace,: alluring them, that thev 

 5 F llvuli 



