B O U 



pertrnftit of the Aude, and chief place of a canton, in tlie 

 dillric\ of hi-Orane ; .5 leagues S. W. of I3 GralTc. 



1U)VISTA, ill Bohiny. See Lycoperdon. 



liOVIUM, in /Incient Geogrnphy, a place in the fecond 

 rout of Antonine's itinerary, pl.iced by fome antiquaries at 

 Bangor-MoLiacliorum ; by others at Bovcrton, and by Mr. 

 Horfley fomcwlicrc near Strctton, at the dill .nee of about 

 10 miles from Cheller. But its true fituation is unknown. 



BOVIUS. Thomas, in Biography, an empiric of a 

 noble family in Italy, lived in the middle a.id at the end of 

 the l6th century. He called himftlf Zephirielem, the name 

 he gave to a tutelar fpirit, who, he pntended, watched 

 over and affitlcd him. He was well llorcd vvit'i general 

 Uarninjr, but applied parliculariy to the iUiJy of the law, 

 of medicine, and of chymillry. He wrote againft the re- 

 gular phyfieians, and boalU of the fuccefs of his prnAice. 

 He contrived an elaborate and concentrated preparation of 

 mercur) and gold, firll dilTolvcd in a kind of aqua regia, 

 which he called his Hercules. With this he profeffed to 

 cure malignant and pellilcntial fevers, the plague, and the 

 lues venerea. Ht condemned the method ufed in making 

 the decoftion of the woods, by which their volatile parts, 

 in which he contends their virtue rcfidc, weredillipated. He 

 cured tpilepfieswith a preparation of antimony, and fupprelTed 

 menfes with hellebore. He ^xpclled a tape worm from one 

 of his patients, meafuring, he fays, fifty yards in length. 

 He condemns bleeding, except in certain afpefts of the 

 heavens. He prepared " aurum potabile," with which he pre- 

 tended to have performed great cures. He laughs at Capi- 

 vaccius, who had difmifled a patient as incurable, whom he 

 afterwards reftored to health. He was addifted to alchemy, 

 and acknowledges he was indebted for much of his know- 

 ledge to Arnold de Villanova. He pretends to have 

 cured upwards of jooo patients. But notwithllanding his 

 boafting, Claudius Gellus, who undertook to refute him, 

 in a fmall traft, fince joined to Bovius's works, (hews he was 

 no phylician, and that he was very little confulted. The 

 titles of his works are, " Flagcllo contro de medici communi 

 dctti rational!," 410. Venet. 15S3; " Fulmine contro de 

 medici putatitii rationali," 410. Verona, 1592 ; " Melam- 

 pygo, overo confufione dc medici fofifti e del Claudio Gelli," 

 Verona, 1,^95, 410. He difcovered that a difeafc, affefting 

 the- inmaies of a monaftery, was occafioned by their cooking 

 their food in copper velTclB, not well tinned. His works, 

 which fc-parately paffed through fevcral editions, were col- 

 lefted and pr'iiied at Venice, in 1626, izmo. Haller. Bib. 

 Med. PraCtica. 



BO UK A, in Geography, an ifland of the Pacific ocean, 

 fo called by Bougainville, from the frequent ufe of this term 

 among the natives, feparated by a narrow channel from 

 Bougainville illand. It is fometiines called lord Anfon's 

 illand. The vail plantations of cocoa-nut trees which adorn 

 its fliores, indicate a numerous population. The natives are 

 dextrous in the ufe of their canoes : they feem to be ac- 

 quainted with the method of barter ; and from the value 

 which they affix to nails and other articles of hard-ware, 

 they indicate a knowledge of the ufe of iron. They are 

 addifted to gaiety, and palilonately fond of mufic, efpecially of 

 the mod briik and noify tunes. The colour of their iliin is 

 blacklfli ; they are of a middling (lature ; and their mufcles, 

 diftmdtly feen as they are naked, indicate great ilrength. 

 Their figure, though not very agreeable, is very expreffive. 

 Their heads are very large, their foreheads broad, hke the 

 other parts of their faces, which are very flat ; their chins 

 large and prominent, their cheeks full, their nofes flat, their 

 mouths very wide, and their lips thin ; their ears are loaded 

 with large rings made of fkeUs, by which they are very 



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much extended. Some have red and white ftreaks traced 

 upon then- bodies; and fome have bracelets formed of the 

 fibres of the cocoa-nut hun<. Their hair is curled, thick, 

 and bulky; and they pluck the hair from every other 

 part of the body. Tliev handle the bow with much 

 addref? ; and their induftiy feems to be particularly direft- 

 ed to the fabrication of their arms. Their canoes are form- 

 ed of fevcral planks, ingcnioufly conarufted, .ind adapted for 

 a quick motion. The nortii point of Bouka is in S. lat. 

 5° 5' ',()", and 154° 29' E. long. Labillardiere's Voyage 

 in fearcii of La Peroufe, vol. i. p.. 375, &c. 



BOULAC, BouLAK, or Bulak, a large, irregular,"and 

 pleafant town, about 2 miles long, but not very wide, built 

 on the call fide of the harbour of Grand Cairo, and about 

 half a league diftant from it. The road leading to it ap- 

 pears to be one of its ftreets ; and the crowd and buftle of the 

 place indicate the entrance of a populous and commercial 

 city. Boulac is the port of Lower Egypt, as well as of 

 Cairo, as Mifi-el-Attike is of Upper Egpyt ; and here all 

 the merchandize is landed which comes from Damietta and 

 Alexandria. It contains magnificent public baths, and large 

 " Okals," which are fquare buildings, round a great court 

 with a portico, that fupports a winding gallery. The 

 ground floor is compofed of fpacious warehoufes ; and the 

 next floor contains apartments without furniture and without 

 ornament. Thefe okals are inhabited by ftrangers, who 

 there depofit their merchandize. One fingle gate, like that 

 of the citadel, fecures them from infult at the time of the 

 revolts. Thefe khans are the only inns to be met with in 

 Egypt. The traveller is obliged to furnifii them, and-drefs 

 his viftuals there; for in this country a dinner is not to be 

 had for money. The okal built by Ali Bey the great, and 

 called the Alexandrian okal, is equally extenfivc and con- 

 venient, and chiefly ufed for goods brought from that city. 

 From all the houfes at Boulac thoufands of boats may be 

 feen at anchor, of every fliape and of every fize. Some of 

 them are ftrong and fohd, and have two mads, and are em- 

 ployed in tranfporting merchandize. Thefe have ufually 

 a large chamber for the pafl"engers. Others, lighter and 

 without deck, only ferve to convey the people trom one 

 fliore to the other. Thofe which are ufed in voyages of plea- 

 fure are adorned with painting and fculpture, and have hand- 

 fome apartments covered with carpeting, and (heltered from 

 the fun. In thefe the rich amufe themfelves by breathing 

 that cool air, which is inceflantly fupplied by the Nile. 

 With a favourable wind, and when the fail is fpread, thefe 

 light veflels feem to fly upon the water ; but when the wind 

 is contrary, a number of robufl; men row them with great 

 rapidity. Cleopatra, who knew the charms of thefe water- 

 parties, and the variety of landfcapes which diverfify the 

 verdant banks of the Nile, engaged Cxfar in one of them, 

 and carried him even into Upper Egypt. Gardens, occu- 

 pying the fertile grounds between the houfes of Boulac, and 

 between this port and Cairo, afford an ample fupply of fruits 

 and vegetables. In the middle of the river, nearly over- 

 againft Boulac, is an ifland, where Murad Bey has a kind 

 of profpeft houfe, or place of retirement, and here are alfo 

 feveral gardens. Oppofite Boulac, upon the weft bank of 

 the Nile, is the fmall village of " Embabe," or " Emba- 

 bil," compofed of wretched round huts of earth under the 

 fycamore trees, by which they are propped. Some few 

 houfes of brick hardened in the fvm, and a fmall mofque, 

 lofe themfelves at a dillance, among the foliage of date and 

 tamarind trees. This village is famous for the excellent 

 quality of its butter, with which it fupplies the inhabitants 

 of Cairo ; and, indeed, it is the only place in Egypt where 

 butter can be eaten frelh ; every where clfe, in that country, 



it 



