sure on it will stop all bleeding in the parts below, as in a cut wrist or cut hand. Pressure on the femoral artery in the groin will control all bleeding below the point of pressure. As pressure by means of the finger is difficult to maintain, an improvised apparatus may be made of a knotted napkin or large handkerchief. This may be placed about the arm or leg, the knot brought to press on the artery and then by means of a short stick the whole may be made to tightly compress the entire limb. (See TOURNIQUET). Pressure of this kind should not be too prolonged, or serious damage to the parts may result. Venous bleeding is usually controlled by direct pressure of the limb on the side away from the heart and by direct pressure of antiseptic gauze. In oozing, direct pressure of antiseptic gauze or direct application of hot water, 118-120° F., is most effective. Powders, cobwebs, iron, alum, etc., are not advisedly used. Internal hemorrhage is extremely important, since the blood cannot be seen, and one has to rely on the symptoms solely. These are usually a beginning sense of faintness or weakness, and perhaps some nausea. The extremities commence to get cold and white, the face becomes pale and anxious, and the patient may commence to have air-hunger. He desires the windows to be opened wide, thinking thereby to get more air. Thus the beginning symptoms are very similar to those of a severe fainting spell. But as the bleeding continues there is increasing restlessness with increased air-hunger; there may be cold, clammy sweat over the patient's body; there is sighing to gasping respiration, and the heart-beat is hard to hear and it may be impossible to feel the pulse beat. The patient may, die in convulsions, the face becoming deeply cyanosed, and the respirations spasmodic or convulsive in type. If the patient does not die he will have a long, tedious convalescence. Prompt medical or surgical aid is imperative in all such cases. The best temporary stimulant is an enema of hot (118-120° F.) salt solution, one teaspoonful to the pint, which is allowed to run in and out of the rectum, a quart or two at a time.

Bloodletting.- This procedure was one much in vogue in former years, and while still a most desirable operation to perform for certain types of disease, the conditions brought about by its use are now largely induced by other means. In conditions of poisoning, some cases of pneumonia, and in some apoplexies, bleeding is still performed by competent medical practitioners, and is advocated in most manuals of practice. It is its indiscriminate use for all ills that has fallen out of favor.

Bleeders.- Certain individuals have a ten

dency to bleed inordinately from even the slight est wound. They are called "bleeders," and are frequently found in families, most of the members of which have like traits. The pulling of a tooth is often followed by continuous hemorrhage. The causes for this idiosyncrasy are not all known. In some an insufficient quantity of calcium salts in the blood has been thought to be the most important cause.

Bleeding Heart. See DICENTRA. Bleeding Heart Yard, a squalid locality in London, mentioned by Dickens in Little Dorrit.' The origin of the name is unknown.

Bleek, Friedrich, fréd'riн blāk, German biblical scholar and critic: b. Arensbök, Holstein, 4 July 1793; d. 27 Feb. 1859. He was appointed professor of theology at Bonn, 1829, and spent the remainder of his life there. He was the author of much esteemed commentaries and expository books, valuable Introductions to the Old and New Testaments (1860-2), his most important work being one on the Epistle to the Hebrews' (1828-40).

hělm hin'riн im-män'oo-ěl, German philoloBleek, Wilhelm Heinrich Immanuel, vil’gist, son of Friedrich Bleek (q.v.): b. Berlin, 8 March 1827; d. Cape Town, 17 Aug. 1875. In 1855 he went to South Africa and devoted himself to the study of the language, manners, and customs of the natives. In 1860 he was appointed public librarian at Cape Town, and his researches were rewarded with a pension from the civil list. He was principal author of the Handbook of African, Australian, and Polynesian Philology) (1858-63), his other chief productions being Vocabulary of the Mozambique Languages (1856); Comparative Grammar of South African Languages) (1862); 'Hottentot Fables and Tales' (1864); and 'The Origin of Language) (1868).

Bleibtreu, Georg, gå-ōrн blip'troi, German artist: b. Xanten, Rhenish Russia, 27 March 1828; d. Berlin, 16 Oct. 1892. His first important picture was the 'Destruction of the Kiel Turner-Corps at Flensburg) (1852) and his subsequent works are also battle pieces. Among them are Episode from the Battle of Waterloo (1858); Battle of Königgratz'; Surrender of Napoleon after Sedan'; Attack of Saxon Corps at Saint Privat' (1880).

Bleibtreu, Karl August, kärl ow'goost blip'troi, German poet and novelist: b. Berlin, 13 Jan. 1859. He is one of the foremost representatives of the youngest German school in literature, and a pronounced realist. All his views are radical, as shown by the very titles of his works; for example, Revolution in Literature' (1885); 'Literature's Struggle for Life.' He also wrote 'Dies Iræ'; 'Napoleon at Leipsic); Cromwell at Marston Moor.' His dramas are: 'Lord Byron' (1888); The Day of Judgment'; 'The Queen's Necklace'; etc.

Bleichröder's, blih'rė-dėrz, a celebrated banking house in Berlin, established by Samuel Bleichröder, who died in 1855, continued by his son, Gerson Bleichröder, who died in 1893, and subsequently by the two sons of the latter. Under the patronage of Bismarck it entered into commercial relations with the Prussian government, rendering material assistance in 1866 raised to the hereditary peerage in 1872. and again in 1871. Gerson Bleichröder was

Blemmyes, blěm'í-ez, or Blemyes, a people of ancient Ethiopia, who for several centuries after Christ gave much trouble to the Romans during their occupation of northern Africa. Their influence extended to a period as late as the 7th century.

Blende (German, "to blind," in allusion to the fact that the mineral is easily mistaken for galena, and yet yields no lead). A native sulphide of zinc, having the formula ZnS, and known also as sphalerite. It crystallizes in tetrahedral forms belonging to the isometric

system, and has a very perfect cleavage. It is commonly brown, black, or yellow, but may have other colors also, and may be nearly colorless when pure. Its hardness is from 3.5 to 4, and its specific gravity is about 4.00. It usually occurs massive, with dodecahedral cleavage, and is found commonly in connection with galena, and also in deposits of considerable extent in cavities in limestone. It is a valuable ore of zinc, and is mined near Joplin, Mo., in Cornwall (England), and in various parts of the United States, notably in Kansas, Illinois, and Colorado. The miners of Cornwall call it "mock lead" and "black-jack."

Blenheim, blěn'im, or Blindheim, a Bavarian village about 23 miles from Augsburg, the theatre of a great battle, fought 13 Aug. 1704 (also called the battle of Höchstädt, from another village of this name in the vicinity), in which Marlborough and Prince Eugene, commanding the allied forces of England and the German empire, gained a brilliant victory over the French and Bavarians. The latter armies were drawn into the engagement under the most unfavorable circumstances. Both these armies amounted to 56,000 men, while the forces of Marlborough and Eugene were about 52,000. The first had thrown their troops chiefly into the two villages of Blenheim and Kinzingen, which they considered as points of support for their wings, though at too great a distance in front of their main position. A large proportion of cavalry was in the centre, since each army, the Bavarian as well as the French, had their horse on their wings, and in this way those of two wings must necessarily join each other. Both the commanders would undoubtedly have perceived and corrected this mistake, as Tallard, the French general, had in Blenheim alone 27 battalions of infantry; but they expected so little to be attacked, that when the line of the allies began to move, 13 August, at two o'clock in the morning, they supposed them to be marching off. The greatest part of their cavalry was sent to forage. Even at seven o'clock, when the heads of the eight columns with which Eugene and Marlborough advanced toward the Nebelbach were to be seen, Tallard thought the whole a stratagem intended to cover the retreat; but he soon saw his error. The dispersed troops were recalled in the greatest hurry, and the cannon were drawn up in line. The French and Bavarians made every exertion to prevent the passage of the enemy over the small stream of Nebelbach, and the capture of the two villages, the conquest of which was considered by Marlborough and Eugene as decisive. Their line of attack was commonly long, about four and a half miles. Marlborough, in order to secure his right wing, attacked Blenheim, but without success; he then changed his plan, and threw himself with his principal forces into the wide interval between the right wing and the centre of the enemy, leaving only as many troops before Blenheim as were necessary to check the body which occupied this position. At five o'clock in the afternoon he succeeded, after great efforts, in passing the Nebelbach, by which his victory was decided. Tallard himself was among the pris

un

oners; his son was killed. The consequences of the battle were decisive. Bavaria, as Marlborough had anticipated, fell into the power of Austria.

Blenheim Dog. See TERRIERS.

Blenheim House, the name of the seat of the Duke of Marlborough, in the parish of Woodstock, and county of Oxford. The estate having been given by Queen Anne_to_Marlborough for his eminent services, Parliament granted the sum of half a million sterling to erect a suitable family seat. The building was intrusted to Sir John Vanbrugh, and called Blenheim, from the village where the Duke gained his great victory. In this park once stood the royal palace of Woodstock, where Alfred is said to have resided, and which was the favorite residence of Henry II., who erected a house in the park for his favorite mistress, Rosamond Clifford, whence the well-known legend of Woodstock-bower, Queen Eleanor, and the Fair Rosamond. Edward III. was also much attached to this palace, in which his eldest son, the illustrious Black Prince, was born, as well as his youngest son, Thomas, Duke of Gloucester, usually called Thomas of Woodstock, from that event. Richard II. likewise kept his court here, at which time the poet Chaucer resided at Woodstock, in a house which stood near the present entrance to the park. During the civil wars of the 17th century it was for some time defended for the king; but it ultimately surrendered, and was much injured and dilapidated by the parliamentarians. The usual approach to Blenheim from Woodstock is through a triumphal arch or portal. In front of the building stands a sculptured column 130 feet high, surmounted by a statue of the duke, whose victories and achievements are recorded on tablets round the base. The front of the house measures 348 feet from wing to wing, and although architectural critics find many faults in detail, the general effect is in the highest degree noble and commanding. The interior is extremely magnificent; the hall, supported by Corinthian pillars, is 67 feet high; and the ceiling was painted by Sir James Thornhill, the design representing Victory crowning the Duke. The gallery and bow-window room abound in portraits by the most eminent masters, both foreign and English. On the tapestry of the latter are figured the various battles gained by the same great general, and more especially that of Blenheim. The saloon, a noble and spacious apartment, communicates with the hall, and occupies the entire breadth of the centre. The lower part is lined with marble, and six of its compartments are decorated with pictures by La Guerre, representing the inhabitants of the different nations of the world in appropriate costume. On the ceiling is a representation by the same artist, of the victorious Duke arrested in his career by Peace and Time. The remaining principal subjects of admiration are the library, theatre, state drawing-room, blue and green drawing-room, grand cabinet, the dining-room, etc. In the chapel, which forms one of the wings, is a fine marble monument by Rysbrack, to the great Duke and his almost equally celebrated duchess, Sarah. The gardens and grounds,

which are exceedingly spacious, were laid out by Brown, who contrived to make a most admirable use of the small river Glyme in the formation of a lake, or piece of water, which is justly deemed one of the greatest beauties of the place. It is crossed by several arches, and at the middle or grand approach is a magnificent bridge, the span of the centre arch of which is 10 feet.

Blenker, blenk'er, Louis, German-American soldier: b. Worms, Germany, 1812; d. 16 Oct. 1863. He took an active part in the revolutionary movement of 1848 in Germany and was forced to leave his native land, emigrating to the United States. He organized the 8th regiment of New York Volunteers at the outbreak of the Civil War, and was its colonel. He was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general at the first battle of Bull Run, and engaged in the battle of Cedar Keys in 1862. He died of wounds received while at Warrenton, Va.

Blennerhas'sett, Harman, English emigrant in America: b. Hampshire, England, 8 Oct. 1764; d. on the island of Guernsey, 2 Feb. 1831. He sprang from a wealthy and highly connected house which traced its ancestry back to Edward III.; was educated at Westminster School, London, and Trinity College, Dublin, graduating 1790. The youngest of three sons, he studied for the law, but the death of his brothers soon after made him head of the family. Early in 1796 he privately married his sister's daughter, Margaret Agnew, a beautiful and highly accomplished girl of 18, also of excellent family, her father having been lieutenant-governor of the Isle of Man, and her grandfather an English officer killed at Germantown. This incestuous union brought its ultimate punishment from nature in a family of physical and moral wrecks; but a more immediate one was entire social ostracism, which soon drove him to break his entail and sell his estates, except some reserved incomes, and come to America with his wife and a library and philosophical apparatus. Arriving I Aug. 1796, he finally, in 1798, settled on a small island in the Ohio River a few miles below Parkersburg, W. Va., and spent $60,000 on a house and grounds, pictures, and statuary. This was for years the show place of America west of the Alleghanies, and drew a stream of notable guests, whom he entertained with elaborate hospitality. Here he read, made music, which was his chief passion, and dabbled in feeble absent-minded scientific experiments. In 1805 Aaron Burr (q.v.) was one of his guests, and then or next year induced him to join in the scheme for a southwestern empire, to include Mexico; Blennerhassett was to be prime minister and a duke, and perhaps ambassador to England. He was a timid, dreaming, futile, unadventurous man, but, like many such, may have fancied himself a great statesman and hero in posse. He may, perhaps, have consented because Mexico was farther from Great Britain than the Ohio, and the canker of his life was fear lest chance should disclose his secret to his friends and children. His wife, much the stronger nature of the two, was certainly ambitious for him, and he would not have embarked in such a

Vol. 3-3

venture without her approval. Anyway, he advocated Burr's "colonization" plan in the papers, and invested a great sum in arms, ammunition, provisions, boats, etc., on the faith of obligations from Burr's son-in-law Allston, which were largely defaulted. The scheme fell through; Blennerhassett was twice arrested, imprisoned and tried for treason, but discharged in 1807 on the acquittal of Burr. His place, however, had been wantonly injured by the militia, and was seized by his creditors and turned into a hemp field. The mansion was converted into a granary and was finally burned by accident. Blennerhassett now settled in Natchez, and soon after bought a 1,000-acre cotton plantation on the Mississippi, a few miles above Port Gibson, which he called La Cache. It was unsuccessful, and the War of 1812 injured his Commercial speculations; and in 1819 he sold it for $28,000 and removed to Montreal, practising law in hope of obtaining a judgeship through his old schoolmate, the Duke of Richmond. This failing, he returned to England in 1822 in hope of winning back his property by a reversionary action, and then of obtaining employment through an influence which no longer existed. In 1824 he came back after his family. Everything failed him, though he and his wife were decently treated; at last his health gave way, and he died at Port St. Pierre on the island of Guernsey. He was generous with his money while he had it, and helped out of financial difficulties several of the musicians he consorted with. His wife, though disinherited, had always had an income paid her by her sisters; and in 1838 received a property by the will of her husband's maiden aunt. In 1840 she came to the United States to push a claim before Congress for the island property, and indemnity for the ravages of the militia. Henry Clay favored it, and its passage was probable; but before it came up she died in New York, 16 June 1842. The story of her being left penniless with a dependent family (the youngest was 19 at his father's death), and of her dying in poverty and being buried by sisters of charity, are fictions. She had some literary ambitions, and while in Montreal wrote two volumes of verse, "The Deserted Isle' (1822), and The Widow of the Rock, and Other Poems' (1824).

Bibliography.-Thérése Blennerhassett-Adams, The True Story of Harman Blennerhassett,' in the Century) (Vol. 62 1901); The Blennerhassett Papers (1864); Safford, Life of Blennerhassett (1835); Pidgin, Blennerhassett,' a romance (1902).

Blenny. These small fishes of the spinyrayed marine family Blennidæ, frequent rocky coasts and shallows, in seas of all parts of the world. Their elongated bodies, some of which are scaleless, are remarkable for the abundance of slimy matter with which they are covered. These fishes are extraordinary in possessing but one dorsal fin, which in some species is deeply divided; and in having the faculty of using their ventral fins to aid them in moving about among the rocks and sea-weed. They are frequently deprived of water, by the ebb of the tide, when they are capable of subsisting for some hours. Small

crustaceans form their main food. In some species the eggs are retained in the oviduct until they hatch, so that the young are produced alive.

Blenorrhoea, an old term signifying a muco-purulent discharge from any mucous membrane. This discharge is usually creamy white and consists usually of water, mucus, epithelial cells, white blood cells, or pus cells, and bacteria. At the present time a blenorrhagic discharge is definitely named according to the structure involved. Thus a blenorrhoea of the eyes is termed a purulent conjunctivitis; of the vagina, leucorrhoea; of the urethra, gleet or urethritis; if a urethritis of infectious origin, gonorrhoea, etc. Treatment is usually local and general. Tonic stimulating applications may be locally applied, and the general health built up as thoroughly as possible.

Blepharitis, an inflammation of the margin of the eye-lids and hair follicles. It may consist of a very slight hyperæmia or redness that causes itching and discomfort. This form may be due almost entirely to eyestrain and proper glasses will usually cure it. The disease may be more extensive, involving the margin and the follicles, with redness and swelling and whitish scales. The eyelashes may drop out, but usually are regrown, and there is much itching and discomfort. This form may also result from refractive errors, or may be the index of a bad constitutional state from poor food, bad surroundings, or it may follow the infectious diseases, notably measles. A more persistent form is associated with ulceration and loss of the eyelashes. This is usually a very chronic type and resistant to treatment. In the management of all forms, all errors of refraction should be corrected by properly adjusted glasses, not on opticians' prescriptions, and the local treatment by stimulating oint

ments.

Bléré, blā-rā, a French town, in the department of Indre-et-Loire, on the Cher, 15 miles east-southeast of Tours. It contains a notably fine 16th century chapel. Pop. (1896) 3,269. In the vicinity is the Château Chénonceaux, built in the time of Francis I., and still in excellent preservation. It was given by Henry II. to his mistress, Diana de Poitiers, who was dispossessed on the death of Henry by Catherine de Medici. In the latter part of the 18th century it was frequented by Fontenelle, Voltaire, Rousseau, and all the wits of the time, who were drawn together by the then owner of the château, Madame Dupin, widow of a fermier-général who died in 1799. See Cook, 'Old Touraine.'

Bles, Henri, on-re' bles, Flemish painter: b. probably at Dinant, about 1480; d. 1550. Very little is known of his career, and the Adoration of the Magi' in the Dresden Gallery is his only signed picture. He is known to have been a very prolific artist, and almost all the European galleries contain paintings ascribed to him.

Blesbok, bles'bok, one of the African hartbeests, now rare, which was distinguished by the violet color of its coat. See HARTBEEST.

Blessing, or Benediction. The expression of wishing one well soon gave rise, in early ages, to a solemn act, accompanied, like other solemnities of those periods, by symbolic signs; this was the blessing or benediction. In patriarchal times, when the authority of the head of a family included that of the priest and the civil ruler, the blessing of course appertained chiefly to him, on account of his venerable character, and when the priests began to form a separate class, became, in certain cases, a prerogative of theirs. As the authority of the father, in the infancy of every nation, is extremely great, the idea soon sprung up that his prayers, invoking the favor of the Deity, were more effectual than those of others, and that whatever he blessed would be likely to receive the favor of God. The same importance was soon attributed to blessings conferred by a priest. The heathens, the Jews, and many Christian sects, have cherished this idea. By the Jewish institutions, certain benedictions were reserved to the priest; the same is the case in the Roman Catholic Church, in which different benedictions are appropriated to different degrees of the clergy. We shall mention only a few of them. The Roman Catholic bishops alone can confer those benedictions which are connected with unction, and are called consecrations, as, for instance, the consecration of kings and queens, of the cup and patera, the church and altar. To them also is confined the benediction of abbots and abbesses, of knights, and the holy oil. For the benediction of the holy vestments, etc., they may employ a substitute. Every Roman Catholic clergyman may confer the benediction on the occasion of betrothment; also the marriage benediction; may bless the fruits of the earth, and the holy water. The benediction of a bishop is eagerly sought for by a faithful Roman Catholic, as contributing peculiarly to his spiritual welfare; and the Catholic clergy, in general, use the benediction as a salutation or reward for a service, etc. When the Pope rides or walks out the Roman Catholics kneel to receive his blessing, which he gives by a motion of his hand. In his ante-chamber are often seen things of different kinds, rosaries, etc., in large quantities, which he blesses in passing by. The Roman Catholic Church blesses things animate and inanimate, and this is believed by many to preserve them from sickness, injury, etc. Among most Protestant bodies there is a blessing pronounced upon the people at the close of a religious service, that of the Church of England being contained in the Prayer Book. Roman use the consecrated Catholics in many cases water in giving the benediction.

Blessington, Margaret (CoUNTESS OF): b. Knockbrit, near Clonmel, Ireland, I Sept. 1789; d. Paris, 4 June 1849. She was the daughter of Edmund Power, and at the age of 1817. A few months after his death she mar15 was married to a Capt. Farmer, who died in ried Charles John Gardiner, Earl of Blessington. In 1822 they went abroad together, and continued to reside on the Continent till the Earl's death in Paris, in 1829, when Lady Blessington returned to London and took up her abode in Gore House, Kensington, which had been bequeathed to her by her husband. Here for many years she held those celebrated reunions and soirees, at which the most distinguished literary characters in London were wont to assemble. The