B

lack, William, Scottish novelist: b. Glasgow, 13 Nov. 1841; d. Brighton, England, 10 Dec. 1898. He first studied art, but eventually became connected with the Glasgow press. In 1864 he went to London, and in the following year joined the staff of the Morning Star, for which he was special correspondent during the Austro-Prussian war of 1866. His first novel, 'Love or Marriage (1868), was only moderately successful, but his In Silk Attire (1869), Kilmeny (1870), The Monarca of Mincing Lane,' and especially A Daughter of Heth (1871), gained him an increasingly wide circle of readers. For four or five years he was assistant editor of the Daily News, but in 1874 his connection with journalism practically ceased. His other works include: The Strange Adventures of a Phaeton' (1872), containing descriptions of scenery much praised by Ruskin: A Princess of Thule' (1873); The Maid of Killeena' (1874); Three Feathers' (1875); Madcap Violet' (1876); Green Pastures and Piccadilly) (1877); Macleod of Dare' (1878); White Wings, a Yachting Romance (1880); 'Sunrise' (1880); The Beautiful Wretch' (1881); Shandon Bells' (1883); Judith Shakespeare' (1884); White Heather' (1885); Sabina Zembra' (1887); The Strange Adventures of a House-boat' (1888); ‘In Far Lochaber (1889); The New Prince Fortunatus (1890); Wolfenberg' (1892); Highland Cousins' (1894); Briseis' (1896); and 'Wild Eelin' (1898). Black's novels have enjoyed much popularity, especially in the United States. His subjects are drawn from many lands, but it is in dealing with the Scottish Highlands that he is at his best. He also wrote a 'Life of Goldsmith' for the English Men of Letters series. See Wemyss Reid, 'William Black, Novelist' (1902).

Black Acts. Acts of the Scottish Parliaments from 1424 to 1594, so called from their being printed in black-letter. The term "Black Act" is also applied to an act of George I. with reference to the "Blacks," a body of armed deer-stealers and poachers, who infested Epping Forest.

Black and Tan Terrier. See TERRIERS. Vol. 3-I

Black Apple, Sideroxylon australe or Achras australis, a tree of the natural order Sapotacea, native of New South Wales and Queensland. Its hard, close-grained wood is valued in cabinet-making, and also for carving, and its fruit, which is about as large as a plum, is used for food.

Black Art, the art or pretended art or practice of producing wonderful effects by the aid of superhuman beings or of departed spirits or the occult powers of nature. The reason why it was called black was that proficients in it were supposed to be in league with the powers of darkness. A large proportion of magical rites are connected with the religious beliefs of those using them, their efficacy being ascribed to supernatural beings. There is, however, a non-spiritual element in magic which depends on certain imagined powers and correspondences in nature, that can be utilized in various ways. In savage countries the native magician is often sorcerer and priest, and sometimes chief of the tribe. Among the ancient Egyptians magic was worked into an elaborate system and ritual, and it was regularly practised among the Babylonians and Assyrians, as well as in Greece and Rome. Alexandria, from the 2d to the 4th century, became the headquarters of theurgic magic, in which invocations, sacrifices, diagrams, talismans, etc., were systematically employed. This system, influenced by Jewish magical speculation, had a strong hold in mediæval Europe, and many distinguished names are found among its students and professors. The magic which still holds a place among the illiterate and ignorant classes has come down by tradition in popular folk-lore. The name natural magic has been given to the art of applying natural causes to produce surprising effects. It includes the art of performing tricks and exhibiting illusions by means of apparatus, the performances of automaton figures, See ALCHEMY; ASTROLOGY; CHARM; DIVINATION; LEGERDEMAIN; WITCH

etc.

CRAFT.

Black Ash. See SODIUM.

Black Assize, a judicial sitting of the courts held at Oxford in 1577, and rendered historical by the pestilential and deadly fever

which was introduced into the court from the jail, and swept away judges, jurymen, and counsel, and extended itself into the town and neighborhood. The superstitions of the age invested it with a special character, and it was remarked that no women nor poor people died of it.

Black-bellied Plover, or Black-breast, one of the largest of the American plovers (Charadrius squatarola), also known throughout the northern parts of the Old World, where it is known as "gray" or "Swiss" plover, and whence it goes in winter to all parts of the southern hemisphere. It breeds in the Arctic regions, and is known in the United States only in its spring and fall migrations which are carried along the coasts, so that the bird is rare throughout the interior. Great flocks sometimes visit England in autumn, spreading over cultivated fields, and remaining until the coming of frost. It is about 11.50 inches in length, and has a large round head, and large eyes, whence the gunner's names, "bullhead," "beetlehead," and "ox-eye." In general form it resembles the golden plover (q.v.), but has a distinct though small hind toe. The general aspect is gray, dusky on the back, with the throat, breast, and a large part of the abdomen black, and the tail barred with black; bill and feet black. It is a favorite object of sport, and the young migrants in autumn are delicious eating; but it is not as easily shot as most of the shore-birds. It breeds along the shores of the Arctic Ocean.

Black Belt, an agricultural region of Alabama; 70 miles wide, extending entirely across the State, between 33° and 31° 40'; so called from the fact that the negroes greatly predominate in numbers, raising vast quantities of cotton from the richest of lands. It includes 17 counties, with over 500,000 inhabitants.

Black-cap, the name of various birds having the crown of their head black. In the United States it is given most often to the common titmouse, the chickadee (q.v.); and to a small fly-catching warbler, Sylvania pusilla, an olive and yellow bird with the top of the head crested with black. In England the common "black-cap" (Curruca atricapilla) is a small warbler, closely related to the nightingale, and one of the sweetest of European song-birds, which is frequently kept in cages.

Black Cat, an American fur-bearing animal. See FISHER.

Black Cockade, a badge first worn by the American soldiers during the Revolution, and later, during the hostility toward France occasioned by the X. Y. Z. Correspondence (q.v.), adopted by the Federalists as a patriotic emblem and as a rejoinder to the tri-colored cockade worn by the Republicans as a mark of affection toward France.

Black Co'hosh. See CIMICIFUGA.

Black Death, The, was an Oriental plague, marked by inflammatory boils and tumors of the glands, such as break out in no other febrile disease. On account of these boils, and from the black spots (indicative of putrid decomposition) which appeared upon the skin, it has been In England generally called the black death. the plague first broke out in the county of Dorset, whence it advanced through the counties. of Devon and Somerset to Bristol, and thence reached Gloucester, Oxford, and London. From England the contagion was carried by a ship to Norway, where the plague broke out in its most frightful form. The period during which the black death raged with destructive violence in Europe was (with the exception of Russia, where it did not break out until 1351) from 1347 to 1350; from this latter date to 1383 there were various pestilences, bad enough, indeed, but not as violent as the black death. Ireland was much less heavily visited than England, and the disease seems scarcely to have reached the mountainous regions of that land; and Scotland, too, would perhaps have remained free from it had not the Scotch availed themselves of the discomfiture of the English to make an irruption into England, which terminated in the destruction of their army by the plague and the sword and the extension of the pestilence through those who escaped over the whole country. It may be assumed that Europe lost by the black death some 25,000,000 of people, or about one fourth of her entire population. Consult Boccaccio. 'Decameron';: Hecker, 'Epidemics of the Middle Ages' (1849) and The Black Death' (1890); Creighton, History of Epidemics in Britain' (1892); Gasquet, The Great Pestilence (1894). See BUBONIC PLAGUE; PLAGUE.

Black Dose, or Draught, a common purgative medicine consisting of sulphate of magnesia and infusion of senna, with aromatics to make it palatable. See SENNA.

Black Duck. See DUSKY DUCK.

Black Earth, a deposit in South Russia, extending over the steppes that border on the of the Caspian, with a breadth from north to Black Sea, and the depressed area to the north south of from 200 or 300 to nearly 700 miles. It varies in color from dark brown to black, and in thickness from a foot or two up to six or seven yards, occasionally reaching, it is said, even to 60 feet. It is composed chiefly of siliceous sand (about 70 per cent), alumina and other ingredients (23 per cent), and organic matter (about seven per cent). It appears to be unfossiliferous. It bears the same relation to the glacial accumulations of Russia that the loess of the Rhine, the Danube, etc., does to those of central Europe, and is probably the fine-grained silt derived from the torrents and flooded rivers that escaped from the melting snows and glaciers of the glacial period. According to some geologists, however, it may

owe its origin to the action of the wind. It is supposed by them to be simply an accumulation of wind-blown dust-the finely sifted material being fixed by the abundant grasses of those steppe regions.

once It ap

Black-eyed Susan, the name of a popular comedy by Douglas Jerrold. peared in 1829 and was founded on Gay's ballad Sweet William's Farewell to Black-Eyed Susan.>

Black Flags, an organization of Chinese rebels who established themselves in the Red River valley in Tonquin, after the suppression of the Taiping Rebellion in southern China (1850-4). From their warlike character and desperate deeds they were called Black Flags as distinguished from the peaceable Yellow Flags. They assisted the Tonquinese and Chinese in opposing the French wars (1873, 1882, and 1885), with signal results. Their principal object was plunder. They were responsible for the appalling massacre, in 1884, of French missionaries and native Christians, to the number of 10,000.

Black Fly, a species of the genus Simulium, the common black fly of northern New England, Canada, and Labrador probably being S. molestum. In this tormenter of travelers and fishermen the body is short and thick, the labrum is free, sharp as a dagger, and the proboscis is well developed and draws blood profusely. It is black, with a broad silvery ring on the legs. The species are numerous.

The cylindrical larva is furnished with short antennæ, and near the mouth are two flabelliform appendages. The pupa has eight very long lateral flaments on the front of the thorax, and the posterior end of the body is enclosed in a semi-oval membranous cocoon, open in front, and posteriorly attached to some submerged plant such as eel-grass. The fly leaves the pupa beneath the water. She deposits her eggs on the rocks in a compact layer a few inches above the surface of the water. The eggs of the Hungarian or "Columbacz midge" are enveloped yellowish-white slime and deposited at the end of May or early in June upon stones or grass over which water flows, or in the brooks of the more elevated regions. The number laid is variously estimated at from 500 to 5,000. The food of the larva of the buffalo-gnat has been proved to be carnivorous, and it is supposed that the larvæ of all the species live on animal matter, though possibly in some cases on dead leaves. On hatching the larvæ become attached to plants, etc., or to

in a

each other, by a silken thread, forming long floating strings. When the fly issues from the submerged pupa-case she rises to the surface, then being protected by a fine silky covering of

hairs. The adult fly in central New York issues about the first of April, and those apparently of a new brood the first of June; after this there is a succession of generations throughout the season; the development of a single brood occupying about two months. The larva hiber

nates.

While the black fly of Maine, and presumably of Labrador, is of the species S. molestum, that of the St. Lawrence valley has been named S. invenustum, and is said to be different from that of Lake Superior. A remarkably large species is known as S. pictipes; its larvæ

and pupa were found in the rapids of the Au Sable River, and also similar ones on the north shore of Lake Superior.

The black fly is mostly active in the bright sun-light, mostly disappearing on cloudy days, but it is known to crawl under one's clothes and to bite in the night. The bite is often severe, the creature leaving a large clot of blood behind it. The best preventive is oil of tar, and the use of various ointments.

Black Forest (German, Schwarzwald), a chain of mountains in the grand-duchy of Baden and the kingdom of Würtemberg. It runs almost parallel with the Rhine, from south to north, often only from 15 to 20 miles distant; is about 85 miles long, and from east to west in the southern part about 30 miles wide; in the northern about 18. The Danube, as well as many other rivers, rises in these mountains. Those on the west side run into the Rhine; those on

the east side into the Danube. The Black For

est is rather a chain of elevated plains than of isolated peaks. The highest summit, the Feldberg, measures 4.900 English feet. Except from June to September, these mountains are generally covered with snow, and even during this period are not entirely free from it. Among the many valleys of this chain, the Murgthal is particularly celebrated for its beautiful scenery. The whole chain consists of primitive mountains: its skeleton throughout is granite; its higher points are covered with sandstone, and other layers of less consequence. On the western side, at the foot, appears gneiss. Porphyry and clayslate are found on several heights, as likewise silver, lead, copper, iron, cobalt, and other min

erals.

mostly of pines and similar species. The raising The forests are extensive, and consist carried on in this district. The ground is not of cattle is the principal branch of husbandry fertile, and the inhabitants scattered over the mountains live very frugally, and are very industrious. The vast quantity of timber growing here has long been a considerable source of

revenue. The timber of the Black Forest was

always highly prized by the Dutch, and the export to Holland is still largely carried on, the trees being conveyed down the Rhine in the form of rafts. Many saw-mills are kept at work cutting up the timber; and the forests also give employment to charcoal-burners, potash-boilers, etc. The manufacture of the well-known wooden clocks, toys, etc., is another important branch of industry, in which many persons are employed. Watches are also made, as well as or

chestrions and other musical instruments. Neustadt, Friberg, Hornberg, and Furtwangen are central points of the manufacture of wooden wares, the commerce in which embraces all

Europe, and extends to America and Australia.

Black Friars, friars of the Dominican order: so called from the color of their habit. See DOMINICANS; ORDERS, RELIGIOUS.

Black Friday, the name given in the United States to two days that ushered in financial panics. First, Friday, 24 Sept. 1869, when the attempt of Jay Gould and James Fisk, Jr., to create a corner in the gold market by buying all the gold in the banks of New York city, amounting to $15,000.000, culminated. For several days the value of gold had risen steadily, and the speculators aimed to carry it from 144 to 200. Friday the whole city was in a ferment,

the banks were rapidly selling, gold was at 1622, and still rising. Men became insane, and everywhere the wildest excitement raged, for it seemed probable that the business houses must be closed, from ignorance of the prices to be charged for their goods. But in the midst of the panic it was reported that Secretary Boutwell of the United States treasury had thrown $4,000,000 on the market, and at once gold fell, the excitement ceased, leaving Gould and Fisk the winners of $11,000,000. The second was 19 Sept. 1873, when numerous failures on the New

York Stock Exchange precipitated the panic of

1873.

The term was first used in England, being applied in the first instance to the Friday on which the news reached London, 6 Dec. 1745, that the young pretender, Charles Edward, had arrived at Derby, creating a terrible panic; and finally to 11 May 1866, when the failure of Overend, Gurney & Company, London, the day before was followed by a widespread financial ruin. Good Friday is also known as Black Friday in some countries, because of the use of black vestments and draperies in the churches.

Black Gum, Sour Gum, or Pepperidge. See TUPELO.

Black Hawk, chief of the Sac Indians: b. Kaskaskia, Ill., 1767; d. near Fort Des Moines, 3 Oct. 1838. He was made chief of the Sacs in 1788; and in 1804 repudiated the first agreement made by the Sacs and Foxes with the United States to give up their lands east of the Mississippi. The possession of the territory was disputed for a number of years; in 1823 the majority of the two tribes moved across the river, and a treaty with the United States, ceding the disputed territory, was signed in 1830. Black Hawk, however, objected to the whites occupying the vacated territory, and in June 1831, he began the Black Hawk war by crossing the Mississippi with a small force and attacking some Illinois villages. Driven off by the militia under Gen. Gaines, he returned in the spring of 1832 with a larger force and began

to massacre the white settlers. The Indians were however defeated by United States troops in two battles near the Wisconsin River, 21 July 1832, and near the Bad-Axe River, 1-2 Aug. 1832. The war was brought to an end by the surrender of Black Hawk in the latter part of August. He was kept a prisoner till 1833, then rejoined his tribe on their reservation, near Fort Des Moines.

Bibliography Drake, 'Life of Black Hawk'; Patterson, Life of Black Hawk'; Snelling, 'Life of Black Hawk'; Thwaite, Story of the Black Hawk War (Wisconsin Historical Society 'Papers' Vol. XII.).

Black-Hawk War. See BLACK HAWK.

Black Hills, a region in South Dakota, extending into Wyoming. It was purchased from the Indians in 1876, for whom it had been one of the finest hunting grounds in the West. In 1877-8 thousands of miners went there, and in 1880 there had already sprung into existence three towns, Deadwood, Central City, and Leadville. Around these lay also groups of smaller towns and villages. From 1880 the gold mines yielded about $4,000,000 annually, and the silver mines about $3,000,000 annually. The region is also rich in copper, lead, iron and mica. The

soil is fertile and the hills have abundant facilities for the grazing of cattle. Thrifty farmers have settled there, and many of them have good farms and fine improvements. Good schoolhouses have also been built in different settlements. See SOUTH DAKOTA.

Black Hole of Calcutta, a small chamber, 20 feet square, in Fort William, Calcutta. On the capture of Calcutta by Surajah Dowlah, 20 June, 1756, the English garrison, consisting of 146 men, under the command of Mr. Holwell, dungeon of the fortress, a strongly barred room, were locked up for the night in the common

finement of more than two or three men at a 18 feet square, and never intended for the conjecting veranda outside and thick iron bars time. There were only two windows, and a prowithin materially impeded what little ventilation there might be, while conflagrations raging in different parts of the fort gave the atmosThe unhappy phere an unusual oppressiveness. creatures, exhausted with previous fatigue, were packed so tightly in their prison that it was with difficulty the door could be closed. A few moments sufficed to throw them into a profuse perspiration, the natural consequence of which was a raging thirst. One of the soldiers stationed in the veranda was offered 1,000 rupees to have He went away, them removed to a larger room. but returned saying it was impossible. The bribe was then doubled, and he made a second attempt with a like result; the nabob was asleep, and no one dared wake him. By nine o'clock several had died, and many more were delirious. A frantic cry for water now became general, and one of the guards, more compassionate than his fellows, caused some to be brought to the bars, where Mr. Holwell and two or three others received it in their hats, and passed it on to the men behind. In their impatience to secure it nearly all was spilt, and the little they drank seemed only to increase their thirst. Selfthe room struggled to reach the window, and control was soon lost; those in remote parts of

a fearful tumult ensued, in which the weakest were trampled or pressed to death. They raved,

fought, prayed, blasphemed, and many then fell exhausted on the floor, where suffocation put an end to their torments. About II o'clock the prisoners began to drop off fast. At length, and ordered the door to be opened. Of the 146 at six in the morning, Surajah Dowlah awoke, only 23, including Mr. Holwell (from whose narrative, published in the Annual Register for 1758, the account of this event is partly derived), remained alive, and they were either stupefied or raving. Fresh air soon revived them, and the commander was then taken before the nabob, who expressed no regret for what had occurred, and gave no other sign of sympathy than ordering the Englishman a chair and a glass of water. Notwithstanding this indifference, Mr. Holwell and some others acquit him of any intention of causing the catastrophe, and as cribe it to the malice of certain inferior officers, but many think this opinion unfounded. Holwell and three others were sent prisoners to Muxadavad; the rest of the survivors obtained their liberty, and the dead bodies were carelessly thrown into a ditch. The Black Hole is now used as a warehouse, and an obelisk, 50 feet high, was erected in memory of the victims.