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name bcin^ accidentally mcnlioncd to tlie emperor in the 

 ptcfencr cf the pope's nuncio, he was deinantleJ as an here- 

 ticul offender, and deHvercd up by the emperor on condition 

 that hishfe Ihould be prefervcd. Upon his arrival at Rome, 

 he was fertcticed to abjure his errors, to do public penance, 

 »nd to be imprifontd for life. In prifon he was vlfitcd by 

 feveral peifons of rank, who reforttd to him in confiquence 

 of the fame of his adventures ; and having perfonncd a cure 

 on the dnkcd'Etrt'e, the IVenc'i nmbafl'ador, who had been 

 jjiveu over by fcviral phyficiaiis. he obtained fomc dei^rf c of 

 J'bertv, and at length a removal to thecalUe of St. Angclo, 

 w here he was allowrd to prolccutc his chemical txpeiiments, 

 and where he died in lrt<,j. Some writings were attributed 

 to him, »nd printed at Geneva in |6S| ; one, entitled "La 

 Chieve del Gabinclto ;" i.e. the key of the cabir.et, being 

 a feries of letters relative to alchemy and- the Roficnxian 

 philofophy ; and the other, '• lllruzioni Pcliticlie," or a 

 let of political aphorifms, with a commentary addreffed to 

 the kiiiR of Denmark. The IJibliothfca Mediconim men- 

 tions alio two of h'S letters, priiited at C'pcnhagen in 1669, 

 and written to Bartholine ; one, " De ortu cerebri tt ulu 

 medico;" the other, " De artiticio ocuknum humores rc- 

 llituendi." Koni;; attributes to him another piece, entitled 

 •* Notitia gentis Burrhorum." 



Borri combined a coni'idenible portion of cunnin:^ and 

 artifice with his enthufiafm, and thus became capable of 

 praitifing more fuccefsfully on the credulity of mankind. 

 His fancies with re>;ard to the new celeilial kingdom, which 

 tie pretended a commilTion to e'.labhfli, and the downfal of 

 the Roman pontiff, \vl;ieh he threatened to accompliili, are 

 fo extravagant, cliildiftl, and abfiird, that ihey can be viewed 

 by fober pcrfons in no other light tlian as the crude reverits 

 of a difordered brain. In his condiitt he manifellcd, on 

 various occifions, the grcatell vanity and levity, accompany- 

 in^ that fpirit of impofture which is ufnally dilplaycd by 

 quacks and mo'.intcbanks; and, indeed, fays Mofheim, 

 ♦ in the whole of his behaviour, he feemed delUtute of fenfe, 

 integrity, and prudence." Gen. Diet. Moflicim's Eccl. 

 Hill, vol.v. p. 240. 



BORRIANO, in Geography, a town of Spain, at the 

 mouth of the river Millas, in the gulf of Valencia ; 7 leagues 

 N. of Valencia. 



BORRICHIUS, OtA'JS, in 'Biography, tlie fon of a 

 Lutheran minlikr at Ripen in Jutland, was born April 6th 

 162^). At the age of 1 8 he was fent to Copenhagen, where 

 he applied with fo much afliduity to his ttudies, as to gain 

 him the fricndlhip of the fiiporiors of the college, by the re- 

 commendation of whom he obtained the canonry of Lnnden. 

 By continuing this conrfe of life, his reputation for learning 

 and diligence was fo eflablifhed, that in 1654, when he was 

 only zS years of age, he was invited to accept tb.e regency of 

 the academy at Htrlow. But as he had determined to dedi- 

 cate his lime to the acquirement of the knowledge of medi- 

 cine, he refufed this ofler, purpofing to Ipend a few years in 

 vifiting foreign academies, and hearing the moll celebrated 

 profeffbrs in the different branches of tliat art. The execu- 

 tion of this projetl was, however, poftponed, at the inlliga- 

 tion of M. Gerllorff, the prime miniltcr of Denmark, who 

 entertained him at his houfe as preceptor to his fons. Here 

 he continued five years, at the end of which time, as a proof 

 of the fatisfaclion he had given, and of the opinion the mi- 

 niller had conceived of his various endowments, he was at 

 once created profeffor in philofophy, poetry, chemiftry, and 

 botany, in all of which he eminently excelled. Before he 

 entered on the duties of hvs offices, he was permitted, 

 agreeably to his original intention, to vifit the different 

 fcbools of Holland, England,' France, Germany, and Italy, 



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accompanied by the two fons of the mini-ler, his pupils. 

 Having fpent fix years in his tour, and florcd his mind witli 

 the knowledge of all that was cnrio.-s or ufeful, in the 

 countries he paded through, and taken his degree of doaor 

 in medicine at Angers, he returned in October 1666 to 

 Copenhagen. He now undertook the duty of Icdurer in 

 chemilby and in botany ; and by th.e excellency of his 

 difcourfes on thefe fubjcds, confirmed his countrymen m the 

 high opinion they had entertained of his talents. Though 

 the time neceffarily fpent in this employment, and in pre- 

 paring his numerous publications, left him, one would have 

 thoui^ht, but little leifnre for the pra'-.tice of phyfic, yet 

 from the great number of valuable obfervatlons furnifhed by 

 him to the Ada Hailnienfia, he mull have had no incon- 

 fiderable fliare of bufintfs in that way. In 1686, he was 

 made counfellor in the fupeiior court of juitice ; and, in 

 16.S9, connfellor in the royal chancery. He died the 3d of 

 Oclobcr, in the following year, three weeks after having 

 undergone the operation for the flone in the bladder. As 

 Borrichius had never been married, he left a conliderablc 

 part of the large pofTelfions he had acquired by his pratlice, 

 for erefting and endowing a college for poor Undents in 

 medicine. His principal medical produdlions conlill of 

 obfervatlons publilhed in the Afta Haffnienlia, and other 

 iimilar collections, and of the letters fent by him while on 

 his travels, to F. Bartholine, under whom he had been edu- 

 cated. The letters, Haller obierves, are the mod valuable 

 of thofe publiilied by Bartholine in his " Epillolx Medicx ;" 

 but the works by which he acquired his principal celebrity, 

 were " De ortu et progrefTu chemix," publiihed in 1668, 

 4to. ; and his " Hermctis iEgyptiorum et Chemicorum 

 fapientia, ab H. Conringio vindicata," 1674. In this very 

 learned and elaborate work, the author defends the charac- 

 ter of the ancient Egyptians, againll the ilrictures of Con- 

 ringiiis : attributing to them the invention and perfection 

 of chemiftry, and even of alchemy ; perfuading himfclf that 

 among their fecrets they pofTeffed the art of tranfmuting 

 metals. But either from infatuation, or a dcllre of vi61ory, 

 he cites feveral manufcripts, fince known to be fpurious, 

 as genuine, and fome written fince the time of our Saviour, 

 as of much higher antiquity. Notwith Handing thefe ble- 

 miflies, the works have great merit. He (hews from un- 

 doubted authority, that the Egyptians were early acquainted 

 with the medical properties of feveral of their plants ; that 

 they ufed faiine, and even mineral preparations, fome of them 

 preparec by chemillry ; that incubation, or the method of 

 hatching eggs by artificial heat, was firll uied by them ; in 

 fine, that the art of medicine, invented by them, paffed from 

 them to the Grecians. Borrichius was alfo author of 

 " Confpeftus prsftsntiorum fcriptorum lingux Latinae ;" 

 " Cogitationesde variis lingua: Latinxietatibus;" " A.^ialefla 

 philologica, et judicium de lexicis Latinis Grascifque," 

 and various other philological works. Eloy. Didl. Hift. 

 Gen. Dift. and Haller's Bib. Med. Pracl. where will be 

 found the titles of the difTertations, and an analyfis of the 

 principal works. 



BORROMEAN Islands, in Geography, two ifiands 

 fituate in the bay of the lake called " Lago Maggiort," or 

 " Lago di Locarno," in the Milanefe, fo denominated from 

 their having belonged to the Borromeo family. One of 

 thefe iflands is called " Ifola-BcUa," and the other " Ifola- 

 Madre." They are about a league dillant from one ano- 

 ther, and derive the various beautiful fcenes and objefts 

 which they prefcnt from the talle and liberality of the 

 counts Renatus and Vitahan Borromeo. They were origi- 

 nally barren rocks ; but, with immenfe labour and expence, 

 they were fwrnifhcd with numerous terrace;, grottoes, gar- 



vienSj 



