fo4 B L E 
in the common way from barley-malt, and put them clofe 
together into a veffel, tub, calk, or cittern, for the pur- 
pofe of turning them four. In hot weather they will be¬ 
come four in about fix days; in cold weather they will be¬ 
come four in about eight days. When the grains are four, 
I put two, three, or four, Winchefter bulhels of them into 
a common-fized calico-printer’s dying copper pan, nearly 
full of boiling water. Into this mixture I put four pieces, 
containing about twenty-one or twenty-eight yards each in 
length, of printed calicoes, cottons, or linens, and work 
them quickly out of and into the mixture, by turning them 
over a winch or reel, as before defcribed, placed over 
and acrofs the pan. 1 continue this operation from five to 
ten minutes, during which time I let" the mixture gently 
boil. 1 then take out the pieces and walk them immedi¬ 
ately, either in hot or cold water, and afterwards treat 
them in the fame manner as is ufually done with printed 
goods by calico-printers, when fuch printed goods have 
been cleared with bran. After I have tiled this mixture 
for clearing twelve or fixteen pieces, I put one additional 
bulhel of fuch four grains as laft mentioned into the pan, 
and fill the pan up with additional water; when it boils, 
I repeat the operation with other printed calicoes, cottons, 
and linens, as before. In witnefs whereof, &c.” 
BLEAK, adj. \_blac, blcec, Sax.] Pale; cold; chill; 
cheerlefs.—Her defolation prefents us with nothing but 
bleak and barren profpedts. Addifon. 
Say, will ye blefs the bleak Atlantic fhore, 
Or bid the furious Gaul be rude no more ? Pope. 
BLEAK, f. [ alburnus , from his white or bleak colour.] 
A fmall river fifli. See Cyprinus.—T he bleak, or frefli- 
water fprat, is ever in motion, and therefore called by 
forne the river fwallow. Bleaks are excellent meat, and 
in beft feafon in Auguft. Walton. 
-BLEAK'NESS, f. Coldnefs; chilnefs.—The inhabi¬ 
tants of Nova Zembla go naked without complaining of 
the bleaknefs of the air ; as the armies of the northern na¬ 
tions keep the field all winter. Addifon. 
BLEAK'Y, adj. Bleak; cold; chill: 
On fhrubs they browze, and, on the bleakly top 
Of rugged hills, the thorny bramble crop. Dryden. 
BLEAR, adj. [blacr , a blitter, Dut.] Dim with rheum 
or water; fore with rheum.—It is a tradition that blear 
eyes affedl found eyes. Bacon. —It is no more in the power 
of calumny to blaft the dignity of an honed man, than of 
the blear-eyed owl to caft lcandal on the fun. VEf range. — 
Dim; obfcure in general, or that which makes dimnefs: 
Thus I hurl 
My dazzling fpells into the fpongy air, 
Of power to cheat the eye with blear illufion, 
And give it falfe prefentments. Milton. 
To BLEAR, v. a. To make the eyes watery, or fore 
with rheum.—All tongues fpeak of him, and the bleared 
fights are fpeftacled to fee him. Shakefpeare. 
When I was young, I, like a lazy fool. 
Would blear my eyes with oil to ftay from fchool. Dryden. 
To dim the eyes.'—This may ftand for a pretty fuperficial 
argument, to blear our eyes, and lull us afleep in fecurity. 
Raleigk. 
BLEAR’EDNESS, f. The ftate of being bleared, or 
dimmed with rheum.—The defluxion falling upon the 
edges of the eyelids, makes a blearednefs. Wifeman. 
To BLEAT, v a. \blcztan , Sax.] To cry as a Iheep.— 
What bull dares bellow, or what fheep dares bleat, within 
She lion’s den. Dryden. 
BLEAT, f. The cry of a Iheep or lamb : 
Set in my Ihip, mine ear reach’d, where he rode. 
The bellowing of oxen, and the bleat 
Of fleecy Iheep. Chapman. 
BLEB, f. Iblaen, to fwell, Ger,] A blitter. 
B L E 
BLECHING'LEY, a fmall ancient town in the county 
of Surry, five miles from Ryegate, and twenty from Lon¬ 
don. It is a parliamentary borough by prefcription, having 
enjoyed that privilege ever fince parliaments had a being. 
The right of voting is burgage-tenure, and the lord of the 
manor’s bailiff was the returning-officer; but, by a refolu- 
tion of the houfe of commons in 1723, he was deprived of 
that office ; and the borough has now the Angularity of 
fending two members to parliament, without a mayor, 
conftable, or any other legal officer, who can claim the ex- 
clulive exercife of that authority. We have feveral in- 
ttances of boroughs without electors, but this is the only 
one that prefents itlelf without a returning-officer. Though 
this place fends two members to parliament, it has no 
market; but has fairs on June 22 and Nov. 2. The town 
Hands on a hill, on the fide of Holmfdale, with affine prof- 
pedl of the fouth downs in Suffex : and from fome ruins 
of its cattle, which are ftill vifible, though overgrown 
with coppice, there are profpedls into Kent, and into 
Hamplhire. Here is an alms-houfe, and a free-fchool. 
Its handfome church had a fpire, which is 1606 was con- 
fumed by lightning, and all the bells melted. 
BLECH'NUM,y". In botany, a genus of the cryptogamia 
Alices, or ferns. The generic character is, fructifications 
difpofed in two lines approaching to the rib of the frond, 
and parallel. 
Species. 1. Blechnum occidentale, or South American 
blechnum : fronds pinnate; pinnas lanceolate oppofite 
emarginate at the bafe. This rifes by a Ample undivid¬ 
ed ftalk to the height of thirteen or eighteen inches. 
Leaves long and narrow. Pinnas many, with two fmall 
auricles at the bafe. Native of the Weft-lndia iflands, 
and the continent of South America. Introduced here 
about 1777. 
2. Blechnum orientale, or Chinefe blechnum : fronds 
pinnate ; pinnas linear alternate. Frond three feet long. 
Stipe covered at the bafe before with large grey briftles ; 
the anterior fide of it fcored longitudinally with three 
grooves. Leaflets linear-lanceolate, feffile, fmooth, en¬ 
tire, ftreaked at an acute angle, the length of the finger. 
Found in China by Ofbeck : alfo in the Society Ifles. 
3. Blechnum aufirale, or Cape blechnum: fronds pin¬ 
nate; pinnas fubfeffile cordate-lanceolate quite entire, the 
loweft oppofite. Stipes a foot long, green. Fronds quite 
entire, rugged about the edge : the barren ones have 
broader pinnas, a little truncate at the bafe : the fertile 
fronds have lanceolate pinnas, heart-Ihaped at the bafe. 
There are only two lines of frudlification, longitudinal, 
and diftant both from the edge and rib. Native of the 
Cape of Good Hope. Introduced here in 1774, by Maffon. 
4. Blechnum Virginicum, or Virginian blechnum: 
fronds pinnate ; pinnas multifid. This has the ttature of 
the male-fern. It is a native of Virginia and Carolina. 
Cultivated in 1774, by John Fothergill, M. D. 
5. Blechnum Japonicum; or Japonefe blechnum: frond 
bipinnatifid; pinnules ovate, obt.ufe, ferrated. Native of 
Japan. 
6. Blechnum radicans, or rooted-leaved blechnum: 
fronds bipinnate ; pinnas lanceolate crenulated ; the lines 
of frudlification interrupted. Native of Virginia and Ma¬ 
deira, where it was obferved by Koenig. Introduced in 
1779, by Maffon. 
Propagation and Culture. Thefe are ferns from warm or 
hot countries; the fourth alone will abide the open air in 
England. The firft mutt be kept in the bark-fto.ve : the 
reft require only the protection of the dry Hove or confer- 
vatory. They are increafed by parting the roots.. 
BLED, preterite and participle ; [from To bleed. J 
7 b BLEED, v. n. pret. I bled ; I have bled. [ bledan % 
Sax.] To lofe blood; to run with blood ; 
Bleed, bleed, poor country ! - 
Great tyranny, lay thou thy balls fure; 
For goodnefs dare not check thee ! Shakefpeare. 
To die a violent death : 
The 
