The following table gives the results of the average composition of human
blood in man and woman, according to the analyses of Becquerel and Rodie:
Male. Female.
Specific gravity of defibrinated blood 1·0600 1·0575
" " of serum 1·0280 1·0274
Water 779·00 791·00
Fibrin 2·20 2·20
{ Serolin } { 0·02 } { 0·02
{ Phosphorised fat } { 0·49 } { 0·46
Fatty Matters { } 1·60 { } 1·62 {
{ Cholesterin } { 0·09 } { 0·09
{ Saponified fat } { 1·00 } { 1·05
Albumen 69·40 70·50
Blood-corpuscles 141·10 127·20
Extractive matters 6·80 7·40
------- -------
1000·10 1000·02
------- -------
{ Sodium chloride 3·10 3·90
Salts { Other soluble salts 2·50 2·90
{ Earthy phosphates 0·33 0·35
Metallic iron 0·57 0·54
----- -----
6·50 7·69
The blood also contains, in solution, oxygen, nitrogen, carbonic acid, as
well as a free alkaline carbonate, urea, and small traces of alcohol have
also been detected in normal blood.
The following report of a commission composed of MM. Mialhe, Mayel,
Lefort, and Cornil, appointed to devise the best method for the
examination of blood stains, was published in 1873. The following
translation of the report appeared in the 'Chemical News' of December 5th,
1873.
1st. When the stain is of recent date, or supposed to be so, the red
corpuscles should be particularly examined, and every care taken to
preserve them without change. The stains must not be washed with water, so
that the hæmatin may not be altered. After insisting on the microscopic
characters of the blood stains, isolated or compared with those of various
animals, the commission enumerates with care the fluids which are
destructive or preservative of blood-corpuscles. Among the first, water,
and particularly hot water, acetic, gallic, hydrochloric, and sulphuric
acids; and of alkalies, potash and soda, even in weak solution, and ether
and chloroform, also many other reagents, so alter the blood-corpuscles as
to cause them to entirely disappear. Alcohol, chromic and picric acids,
and bichromate of potash, preserve the corpuscles, though they alter their
form. The preservative fluids are those whose composition approaches
nearest to serum, such as the iodised serum of Schultze, an excellent
preparation made with amniotic fluid, to which are added a few drops of
the tincture of iodine, so as to give it the colour of white wine; or,
better, a fluid composed thus; white of egg, 30 grams; distilled water,
270 grams; and chloride of sodium, 40 grams; or even a fluid containing
0·5 per cent. of chloride of sodium, or 5 or 6 per cent. of sulphate of
sodium. If the stains be wetted and softened by these fluids, and then
examined, white and red corpuscles and fibroid particles will be observed.
2nd. In more difficult cases, when the microscope, owing to the
alterations which time has effected in the hæmatin, can give but vague
information, examination by the spectroscope and chemical analysis enables
us to arrive at precise results. The use of these means being less known,
and also more delicate, requires special study.
1. _Spectrum analysis._ Colouring matters have the power of absorbing
certain coloured rays of white light--the same always for the same
substance. This is the principle upon which spectroscopic examination is
based. If into any analysing tube filled with water a few drops of
solution of hæmoglobin be introduced, till it has the colour of
peach-blossoms, the luminous rays of the spectrum passing through this
fluid present two bands of absorption, in the lines D and E of
Frauenhofer, in the yellow and the green. The same fact would be observed
if a few drops of blood were substituted for hæmoglobin in the analysis.
In a case of doubt the hæmoglobin of the blood could be reduced by adding
to this latter a reducing body. Destroyed hæmoglobin has a different
spectrum from oxygenated hæmoglobin, a single absorption band as large as
the two former bands united, and a little to the left of Frauenhofer's
line D.
2. In blood in a state of decomposition, or which has been treated with
acids or caustic alkalies, hæmoglobin is changed into a new substance;
hæmatin is formed, which, combined with hydrochloric acid, gives definite
crystals.
In order to obtain them we must proceed thus:--A small fragment of dried
blood is placed on a glass slide; it is dissolved in a drop of water, and
a minute portion of sea-salt added. It is covered with a thin slide, and
pure acetic acid is made to pass between the two slides, and it is heated
over a spirit-lamp to boiling-point; acetic acid is again added, and it is
heated afresh; and this is repeated till the crystals are obtained.
They are rhomboidal, of a dirty brown colour, quite characteristic, and
require to be seen with a magnifying power of three hundred or four
hundred diameters. With the smallest quantity of blood these two reactions
can always be produced--the spectrum examination and the crystals of
hydrochlorate of hæmatin; and they are so certain that the existence of
one alone enables one to affirm the presence of blood.
3. The third process, though not so exact as the preceding, ought,
nevertheless, never to be neglected. If to a very small quantity of blood
dissolved in a little water be added a few drops of tincture of guaiacum
and of binoxide of hydrogen, a persistent blue colour is immediately
produced; but this very sensitive reaction can be obtained with other
organic matter, such as nasal mucus, saliva, &c.; it therefore only gives
a probability. We must proceed in the following manner:--A tincture of
guaiacum is prepared with alcohol at 83 degrees, and guaiacum resin; a
mixture of sulphuric ether and binoxide of hydrogen is also made, and
enclosed in a stoppered bottle, and kept under water in the dark. This
preparation is less liable to change than pure oxygenated waters. The
object stained with blood, if it be white, is put into a little cup, then
moistened with water to dissolve out the blood stain, and washed in
distilled water; this water is then submitted to the action of these
reagents.
If the thing stained be coloured, and the stain little or not at all
visible, it must be moistened, and then pressed between two or three
sheets of white blotting-paper, and tried first with the guaiacum. If the
stain be of blood a reddish or brown spot will form on the paper.
One of the sheets should be treated with ammonia, and the stain will
become crimson or green. A second sheet treated with tincture of guaiacum
and ozonised ether will give a blue colour more or less intense, according
to the quantity of the blood.
To recapitulate:--1. If the stains or scales of blood appear recent, the
corpuscles may, after the necessary precautions, be examined under the
microscope, and their presence, diameter, &c. observed, which will enable
one to diagnose the origin of the blood, whether human or animal. 2. If
the stains be old and the blood changed, the reaction with the tincture of
guaiacum would make the presence of blood probable; but its actual
presence cannot be affirmed without spectrum examination or the production
of crystals of hydrochlorate of hæmatin; one of the two is sufficient. It
is unnecessary to add that these reactions do not show whether the blood
is human or animal.
Bullocks' blood has of late years, more especially in France, come into
use as a remedy for anæmia and pulmonary phthisis. A correspondent,
writing from Paris to the 'Medical Times and Gazette' in 1872, says: "It
is a curious sight to see the number of patients of both sexes and of all
ranks and ages, who flock to the slaughter-house every morning to drink of
the still fuming blood of the oxen slaughtered for the table. I was struck
with the facility with which young ladies take to it, and I have heard
many say that they prefer it to cod-liver oil."
In a paper read in 1872 before the Academy of Sciences in Paris by M.
Boussingault, detailing his researches into the composition of blood, the
author expressed his surprise that bullock's blood was not more generally
used as a food, as it contains all the constituents of a perfect aliment.
According to the above chemist, of all nutritive substances the blood of
animals contains the largest amount of iron. In man, Boussingault found in
100 grammes of blood 51 milligrammes of iron; in that of the ox, 55
milligrammes; of the pig, 59 milligrammes; and in that of the frog, 42
milligrammes. But it was not only in red blood that iron was found,
Boussingault detected it in white blood also; and he found the blood of
snails to contain as much iron as that of the ox or calf.
A simple and ingenious method for the therapeutic administration of the
serum of the blood of sheep and oxen has been lately devised by Dr Francis
Vacher, the medical officer of Birkenhead. Dr Vacher takes the blood of
these animals, allows it to stand until it clots, removes the clot, and
dries it at a gentle heat in a hot-air chamber. By this means he obtains a
nearly odourless and comparatively tasteless powder, which is ten times
the strength of fresh serum. To this preparation he gives the name "_serum
sanguinis exsiccatum_." He believes that his dried serum will prove a
valuable nutrient in consumption, scrofula, diabetes, and loss of flesh.
_Uses, &c._ That of bullocks is employed for the clarification of wines
and syrups; also in the preparation of adhesive cements, as the vehicle in
coarse paint for outdoor work, as a manure, as a bleaching powder, to make
pure animal charcoal, and for several other purposes. The blood of sheep,
pigs, and bullocks, mixed with flour or oatmeal, and seasoned, is eaten by
the common people, but it is rather indigestible, and apt to induce
disease. Gut-skins stuffed with this mixture form "black puddings."
Bullock's blood, dried by exposure in thin layers to a current of air, at
a heat under 125°, and then reduced to powder, is exported in large
quantities to the colonies, where it is used, as a 'clarifier,' in the
sugar-works. Dried at a temperature ranging between 212° to 220°, then
coarsely powdered, and the dusty portion sifted off, it is much used by
fraudulent dealers to adulterate grain-musk. See CHARCOAL (ANIMAL),
GLOBULIN, HÆMATOSIN, PLASMA, SERUM, STAINS, VISION, &c.
=Blood-purifying Tea, Gout and Rheumatic= (Franz Wilhelm, Neunkirchen).
Equal parts of senna leaves, sarsaparilla root, liquorice, rad. tritici,
red sandalwood, bittersweet stalks, cut small and mixed. (Hager.)
=Blood-purifying Tea= (F. Köller, Graz). Senna leaves, 32 parts; guaiacum
wood, 10 parts; juniper wood, restharrow root, rad. tritici, dandelion
root, chicory root, of each 8 parts; alder bark, 3 parts; sassafras, 2
parts; star-anise, 5 parts, dirty and worm-eaten, roughly chopped, and
mixed. (Hager.)
=Blood, Spit'ting of.= See HÆMOPTYSIS.
=Blood, Vom'iting of.= See STOMACH DISEASES.
=BLOOD'-ROOT.= _Syn._ RED'-ROOT, PUCCOON'; SANGUINA''RIA, L. The
_sanguin[=a]r'ia Canaden'sis_ (Linn.), a papaveraceous plant of North
America; also its root (SANGUINA''RIA, Ph. U. S.), which is the part used
in medicine. Juice, blood-red, used in dyeing. In small doses (3 to 5 gr.)
it is stimulant, diaphoretic, and expectorant; in large ones (10 to 20
gr.), narcotic, emetic, and purgative. The powder is sometimes used as an
escharotic. See SANGUINARINE.
=BLOOD'STONE.= A hard compact variety of hæmatite used to form burnishers.
The name is also applied by lapidaries to the heliotrope.
=BLOOM.= In _perfumery_, &c., a name given to several calorific
skin-cosmetics, of which the following are examples:--
=Bloom of Almonds= (ah'-m[)u]ndz). _Syn._ AL'MOND-BLOOM. _Prop._ Boil 1
_oz._ of ground Brazil-wood in 2-1/2 _pints_ of soft water for 30 minutes,
adding the juice of two lemons towards the end; strain, and add 3/4 _oz._
of isinglass, 1/4 _oz._ of powdered cochineal, 1 _oz._ of alum, and 1/2
_oz._ of borax; boil again for 4 or 5 minutes, and strain through muslin.
Glass or earthenware vessels must be used, as metals injure its colour.
=Bloom of Roses.= _Prep._ 1. Dried red rose leaves, 1-1/2 _oz._; boiling
water, 1 _pint_; infuse in glass or earthenware for 2 hours, press out the
liquor, and add the juice of 3 large lemons; the next day filter, or
decant the clear portion. Both the above should be kept in a cool place,
otherwise they soon spoil. A little spirit of wine (3 or 4 _fl. oz._ to
the pint) is sometimes added to them to remove this objection. They are
greatly inferior to the following:--
2. Carmine, 1/4 _oz._; strong liquor of ammonia (not weaker than ·900), 1
_oz._; put them into a stoppered bottle, set it in a cool place, and
occasionally agitate it for two or three days, to effect a solution; then
add of rose-water, 1 pint; and, after admixture, further add of esprit de
rose, 1/2 _fl. oz._; pure rectified spirit, 1 _fl. oz._; again well
agitate, and set the whole aside for a week; lastly, decant the clear
portion from the dregs (if any), for use or sale. Very fine. A cheaper
article is made by omitting a portion of the carmine, and the whole of the
esprit and spirit; and a still inferior one by substituting 1-1/2 _oz._ of
silver-grain cochineal (in powder) for the carmine, with digestion for a
week in the ammonia previously diluted with one half of the water.
=Bloom of Youth, or Liquid Pearl= (G. W. Laird, New York). A colourless
liquid holding in suspension 34 per cent. of zinc oxide entirely free from
lead. (Chandler.)
=BLOTE.= To prepare or cure by drying and smoking; now only applied to
fish.
=BLO'TER.= _Syn._ BLOAT'ER. A bloted fish; appr., a herring slightly
salted, and only very slightly dried and smoked.
=BLOW'PIPE= (bl[=o]'-). _Syn._ CHALUMEAU, Fr.; LÖTHROHR, Ger. An
instrument by means of which the flame of a candle or lamp, or a gas-jet,
is directed upon any substance placed to receive it, which is thus
subjected to an intense heat. The blowpipe is to the artist and the
experimentalist what the wind-furnace is to the artisan; but it is
proportionately more powerful, convenient, and economical.
Beginners are usually unable to maintain a continued stream of air from
the jet of this instrument, although the doing so is really a very simple
affair. The operation merely depends on a little artifice in using it,
which is more difficult to describe than to acquire. The effect intended
to be produced is a continual stream of air for many minutes, if
necessary, without interruption, even for an instant. This is done by
simply applying the tongue to the roof of the mouth, so as to interrupt
the communication between the mouth and the passage of the nostrils; by
which means the operator is at liberty to breathe through the nose, at the
same time that by the muscles of the lips he forces a continued stream of
air from the anterior part of the mouth through the blowpipe. When the
mouth begins to be empty it is replenished by the lungs in an instant,
while the tongue is withdrawn from the roof of the mouth, and replaced
again in the same manner as in pronouncing the monosyllable tut. In this
way the stream of air may be continued for a long time without fatigue,
provided the flame be not urged too impetuously; and even should it be so
urged no other inconvenience will be felt than that of slight fatigue of
the muscles of the lips.
The hottest portion of the flame produced by the action of the blowpipe is
at the tip of the outer white flame, which has also the property of
rapidly burning or oxidising substances placed in it which are susceptible
of such a change; and it is hence commonly called the OXIDISING FLAME. The
interior blue flame is, for a like reason, called the DEOXIDISING or
REDUCING FLAME, as it possesses the property of extracting oxygen from
most bodies capable of being so affected.
Substances to be submitted to the action of the blowpipe-flame are placed
on a support, which is either a piece of charcoal, or a wire or small
spoon of platinum, gold, or silver, as the case may require. Sometimes a
plate of cyanite is used. Pine-wood charcoal is preferred for this
purpose; and the sides, not the ends of the fibres, are presented to the
flame. When a very intense heat is required, the substance operated on
should not exceed the size of half a peppercorn.
Several characteristic colour reactions may often be obtained in the
examination of a substance for analysis, by fusing a small portion of it,
with a bead of microcosmic salt, and exposing it for some time to the
outer flame of the blowpipe. If the substance dissolve readily in the salt
and rather copiously to a clear bead _whilst hot_, and is of a blue colour
by candle light inclining to violet, it denotes COBALT. If it be green,
upon cooling blue; in the reducing flame after cooling, red--COPPER. If
green, particularly fine on cooling, unaltered in the reducing flame,
CHROMIUM. If brownish red, on cooling light yellow or colourless; in this
reducing flame, red whilst hot, yellow whilst cooling, then
greenish--IRON. If reddish to brownish red, on cooling yellow to reddish
yellow or colourless; in the reducing flame unaltered--NICKEL. If
yellowish-brown, on cooling light yellow or colourless; in the reducing
flame almost colourless, and blackish-grey on cooling--BISMUTH. If light
yellowish to opal, when cold, rather dull; in the reducing flame
whitish-grey--SILVER. If amethyst-red, especially on cooling; colourless
in the reducing flame, not quite clear--MANGANESE. If the bead remains
clear on cooling, ANTIMONY, ALUMINA, ZINC, CADMIUM, LEAD, LIME, and
MAGNESIA are indicated, the latter five when added in somewhat large
proportion to the microcosmic salt, give enamel white beads. The bead of
oxide of LEAD saturated is yellowish. If the bead becomes enamel-white on
cooling, even where only a small portion of the powder has been added to
the microcosmic salt--BARYTA and STRONTIA are indicated.
If the substance dissolves in the microcosmic salt slowly and only in
small quantity, the bead being colourless and remaining so after cooling,
the undissolved portion looking semi-transparent, and if upon the addition
of a little sesquioxide of iron it acquires the characteristic colour of
an iron bead--this denotes SILICIC ACID.
For producing extreme degrees of heat the flame is blown with a jet of
oxygen gas, the instrument being then called an OXYGEN BLOWPIPE; or a
mixture of oxygen and hydrogen is burned, when it is called an
OXY-HYDROGEN BLOWPIPE. The heat produced by the last is so great that no
substance can stand exposure to it, even the most refractory native
compounds being immediately fused. Gold is volatilised, and iron is
rapidly consumed the instant it is placed in the flame.
[Illustration:
1. Hemming's safety-jet for the oxy-hydrogen blowpipe.
_a_, Pipe conveying oxygen gas.
_b_, " hydrogen gas.
_c_, Ball
stuffed with fine wire-gauze.
_e_, Jet (internal diameter 1-80th of an
inch).
2. Black's blowpipe.
3. Bergman's "
4. Pepy's "
5. Wollaston's "
6. Oxy-hydrogen blowpipe.]
The principal varieties of the blowpipe in general use are figured in the
engravings above.
Beside the above there are several other varieties of the blowpipe
occasionally employed; one in which the air is expelled by the pressure of
a column of water, and hence called the HYDROSTATIC BLOWPIPE; another, in
which the flame is blown with the vapour of boiling alcohol, is named the
SPIRIT-BLOWPIPE.
=Blowpipe, Herapath.= For sealing and bending glass tubes and constructing
glass apparatus of various forms, it is convenient to have the blowpipe
mounted on a fixed support, and when a flame of considerable power is
required, the blast must be supplied by bellows worked with the foot. A
very convenient form of blowpipe for these purposes is that invented by
Herapath, and represented in the following figure, _a_ is a flexible tube
attached to a stop-cock (_b_), which communicates with a tube (_c d_),
bent at right angles at _d_, where a T-shaped tube (_e f g_) slips on by
means of the piece _f_. The blow-pipe jet (_h i_) passes into the longer
arm of the T-piece, and fits somewhat tightly; _k l_ is a second piece of
flexible tube, terminating in a mouthpiece, or connected with a blowing
apparatus. On turning on the gas, it passes in the direction marked by the
arrows, and is to be inflamed at _e_. On blowing with the mouth, or by
means of a pair of bellows, into the tube _k l_, the ignited gas takes the
form of a blow-pipe flame of great power, the nature of which is entirely
under control by means of the stop-cock _b_, and also by regulating the
quantity of air supplied through the tube (_k l_). The T-shaped piece is
movable at _f_, so that the jet may be directed to any position. The
apparatus may be mounted on a heavy foot, and connected with the
gas-supply, by means of the flexible tube, so that it can be placed in any
required position on the laboratory table; or it may be permanently fixed
on a table specially devoted to the purpose, and having beneath it a pair
of bellows worked by a treadle.
[Illustration]
A simple and inexpensive apparatus for supplying a continuous blast of air
for blowpipe or other purpose is figured below.
It consists essentially of a tin tube (to which is fixed a branch tube
open to the air), through which water may be driven from a supply tap into
a properly fitted bottle. Air becomes thus entangled with the water in its
course through the tube, and carried with it into the bottle. The water is
then got rid of by means of a syphon, and the air is conducted by an
elastic tube to the blow-pipe.
[Illustration:
_A_, _B_, Tin tube, eighteen inches long, half-inch diameter.
_C_, _D_, Tin tube, three inches long, one third-inch diameter, inserted
at right angles.
_E_, _F_, Tin tube, long enough to reach the level of A, one third-inch
diameter, inserted at an angle of 45°.
_G_, _H_, _I_, Siphon, half-inch diameter.
_K_, _L_, Air tube, one third-inch diameter.
_M_, India-rubber tube to convey away the air.]
To set the apparatus in action, connect the tube C D with a water tap by
means of a piece of elastic tubing, and turn on the water; pinch the tube
M for a few moments between the thumb and finger until the syphon has
begun to act. A blast of air will at once be felt at the extremity of M.
=BLUB'BER.= _Syn._ AD'EPS BALÆNA''RUM, L.; GRAISSE DE BALEINE, Fr. The
soft fat of whales, and of other large sea-animals, from which the oil
(TRAIN' OIL, WHALE' OIL) is obtained by heat.
=Blubber, Sea.= The popular name of several species of marine animals of
the genus _medusa_, having a body resembling a large mass of jelly. They
are very plentiful in some parts of the coast of England, and are said to
form a rich and cheap manure for pasture and arable land. They are used at
the rate of about 1 _ton_ to every 20 or 30 loads of mould, together with
a chaldron of lime, per acre. In 3 or 4 months the land is usually found
in prime condition. Pilchards, and other fish that swarm upon our coasts,
and for which there is not a ready market, may be used in the same way,
and are much richer, being, when properly managed, but little inferior to
guano.
=BLUE= (bl'[=o][=o]). _Syn._ CÆRU'LEUS, L.; BLEU, Fr.; BLAU, Ger. Of the
colour of the clear sky, or of any shade of it, whether lighter or darker;
subst., a blue colour, blueness (COL'OR CÆRU'LEUS, L.); or a blue,
colouring material or pigment (CÆRU'LEUM, L.).
=Blue Dye=. _Syn._ TEINTE BLEUE, Fr.; BLAU FARBE, Ger. The most permanent
blue is that given by indigo, and particularly by what is called the
'indigo-vat.' A variety of shades, of great beauty, and considerable
permanence, may also be given by the 'Prussian-blue process.' Cheaper
blues are commonly dyed with logwood. Each of these is noticed at length
under their respective heads. The following are also employed, and are
well adapted for common goods, on the small scale and for domestic use.
1. Give the goods a mordant of alum, or of acetate of alumina ('red
liquor'), then rinse them well, and boil them in a bath of logwood, to
which a small quantity of blue vitriol has been added; lastly, rinse and
dry.
2. Boil the goods for a short time in a bath of logwood; then add to the
liquor tartar and verdigris, in the proportion of 1 oz. of each to every
lb. of logwood employed; and again boil for a short time.
3. Give the goods a mordant of tartar; lift, add a little chromate of
potash; again work for 15 or 20 minutes, and rinse; next boil in a bath of
logwood, adding towards the last a few grains more of the chromate; again
boil, and finish. The whole quantity of chromate used should not exceed
1/4 oz. to each lb. of logwood taken for the bath. Very dark.
4. Bilberries, elder-berries, mulberries, privet-berries, and several
other like vegetable substances, may be used to dye blue, as above,
instead of logwood.
_Obs._ By increasing the proportion of alum or red-liquor the colour
verges on purple; and by employing a little acetate of iron or green
copperas, the darker shades of blue are produced. Verdigris, blue vitriol,
and alkalies, turn it more on the blue; whilst a mordant of tin imparts a
violet cast. If much more chromate be used than that ordered the result is
a blue-black. See DYEING, INDIGO, LOGWOOD, MORDANTS, PRUSSIAN BLUE, &c.
=Blue Pig'ments=. _Syn._ CÆRU'LEA, &c., L. The preparation of the
principal blue pigments of commerce is described under their respective
names. In the following list those for which directions are given are of a
miscellaneous and less usual character.
=Az'ure.= _Syn._ Azure Blue. A name frequently given to smalts. That of
the oil-painter is ultramarine; that of the ancients is noticed below. See
ULTRAMARINE, &c.
=Blue, Barth's=. See INDIGO, SULPHATE OF.
=Blue, Berlin.= Prussian blue.
=Blue, Bice.= Native blue carbonate of copper, prepared by grinding and
elutriation. That of the shops is generally a factitious compound made
from smalts.
=Blue, Carmine.= See CARMINE and INDIGO, SULPHATE OF.
=Blue, Char'coal.= Carbonised vine-stalks are triturated with an equal
weight of salt of tartar or pearlash, the mixture put into a crucible, and
heated over the fire until it ceases to swell, the mass being kept well
stirred all the time; when cold, it is dissolved in water, and the excess
of alkali saturated with dilute sulphuric acid. The liquid becomes blue,
and a dark precipitate falls down, which turns of a brilliant blue colour
when dried and cautiously heated.
=Blue, Chi'na.= _Syn._ Roy'al Smalts. The crude oxide of cobalt, or
zaffre, is ground with an equal weight of potash, and about eight times
its weight of felspar, the mixture submitted to fusion in a crucible, and
when cold reduced to an impalpable powder. Used to paint pottery, and as a
blue pigment.
=Blue, Co'balt.= _Syn._ Cobalt'ic Az'ure. This is commonly prepared by one
or other of the following formulæ:--
1. Zaffre, 1 lb., is dissolved in nitric acid (diluted with an equal
weight of water), 3/4 lb., by digestion for some hours; the solution is
evaporated nearly to dryness, and the residuum redissolved in warm water;
to this solution, after filtration, a solution of phosphate of soda is
added as long as a precipitate forms; this last is collected on a filter,
washed with cold water, and mixed, whilst still moist, with 8 times its
weight of fresh-precipitated hydrate of alumina; the paste is then dried,
and exposed to a cherry-red heat in a crucible, after which the mass is
cooled and reduced to a very fine powder.
2. A solution of nitrate of cobalt is precipitated with ammonia-alum, and
the precipitate washed, dried, and exposed to a cherry-red heat, as
before. The products of the above formulæ are very beautiful and
permanent. See COBALTO-ULTRAMARINE.
=Egyp'tian Az'ure.= Alexan'drian Frit, Azure of the Ancients. A mixture of
carbonate of soda, 1 _lb._; calcined flints, 1-1/2 _lb._; copper filings,
1/4 _lb._ (all in fine powder); fused together in a crucible for 2 or 3
hours, and when cold, reduced to an impalpable powder. A beautiful and
unchangeable sky-blue colour. Used in both oil and fresco painting; and as
a substitute for smalts, of which, indeed, it is a variety.
=In'digo= (which _see_).
=Blue, I'ron.= Fer'ric blue. Ordinary phosphate of iron prepared by
precipitating a solution of protosulphate of iron with another of
phosphate of soda, the resulting powder being washed, and dried at a
gentle heat. A lively sky-blue colour, but without much depth or body.
=Blue, Lake.= See LAKES and INDIGO, SULPHATE OF.
=Blue, Molybde'num.= From sulphuret of molybdenum, dissolved in nitric
acid, and some tin filings and a little muriatic acid added. After
digestion for some time the clear liquid is poured off, and evaporated to
dryness. The resulting powder is then mixed with moist hydrate of alumina
(as in making cobalt blue), heated to a very dull red, and when it has
again become cold, reduced to powder. Used both as a paint and an
enamel-colour.
=Blue, Moun'tain.= Native carbonate of copper, mixed with more or less
earthy matter, reduced to fine powder. That of the shops is often
factitious.
=Blue, Par'is.= Prussian blue.
=Blue, Pow'der.= Smalts.
=Blue, Prus''sian= (which _see_).
=Blue, Queen's.= See THUMB-BLUE (_below_).
=Blue, San'der's.= Ultramarine-ashes.
=Blue, Sax'on.= Saxon Az'ure. A compound of hydrate of alumina and
Prussian blue, prepared as follows:--
1. To sulphate of iron, 1 _oz._; and alum, 8 _oz._; dissolved in water, 1
gall.; add, simultaneously, separate solutions of prussiate of potash and
common pearlash, until they cease to produce a precipitate; after repose
collect the deposit, wash it well with water, and dry it.
2. A solution of sulphate of iron is precipitated with another of
prussiate of potash, and instantly mixed with the precipitate which has
just been obtained by treating a solution of alum with a solution of
pearlash; the mixed precipitates being finally treated as before.
=Smalts= (which _see_; also CHINA-BLUE and EGYPTIAN AZURE, _above_).
=Blue, Thénard's.= See ULTRAMARINE (Cobaltic).
=Blue, Thumb'.= Cake'-blue, Crown'-blue, Fig'-blue, Knob'-blue,
Mech'lenburg-blue, (m[=e]k'-), Queen's-blue, Stone-blue, &c. Names given
to the lump-blue used in laundries, which vary according to the quality
and the particular form given to it.
_Prep._ 1. A mixture of powdered starch with sufficient indigo (in
impalpable powder) to give the necessary colour, made into a stiff dough
with starch-paste, and then formed into lumps or cakes of the desired size
and shape, and dried. This forms the ordinary 'washerwoman's blue' of the
shops.
2. As the last, but substituting cæruleo-sulphate of potassa or blue
carmine[226] for the 'powdered indigo' ordered in the last formula. Very
fine.
[Footnote 226: See INDIGO (Sulphate of).]
3. As No. 1, but substituting whiting for the powdered starch and weak
size, or a decoction of Irish moss for the starch-paste. Inferior.
_Uses, &c._ Employed by laundresses to impart a faint blue tinge to linen,
in order to increase its apparent whiteness. The common forms given to it
are that of small balls of about 3/4 to 1 inch in diameter; the same, but
rather larger, and pinched with the thumb and finger in three directions,
so as to leave corresponding depressions (THUMB-BLUE); and cakes, which
are cut out of the mass, previously rolled into a sheet, by a suitably
shaped cutter.
=Blue, Turnbull's.= Ferridcyanide of iron (which _see_; also TURNBULL'S
BLUE).
=Blue Verditer.= See VERDITER.
=Ultramarine'= (-r[=e]ne'), _U.-blue._ See ULTRAMARINE.
=BLUSH'ING.= _Syn._ RU'BOR, RUBE'DO, L. In _physiology_, &c., the red glow
on the cheeks or face occasioned by confusion, bashfulness, surprise, or
shame.
Blushing is caused by a sudden increase in the quantity and velocity of
the blood in the capillaries, occasioning their turgescence; and,
consequently, a heightening of the natural pale-reddish hue of the skin.
It is referable to sudden mental emotions of an exciting character, such
as surprise, confusion, consciousness of slight, injury, or indignity, and
the like. Emotions of a depressing character frequently produce an
opposite effect. This is termed pallor, and depends on the rush of blood
from the skin and surface of the body upon the internal organs. The first,
though often unpleasant, is never dangerous; the last always so. The cure
of the habit of blushing consists in persisting efforts to maintain a
sufficient degree of presence of mind and self-confidence to permit of
reflection, or a calm view of the exciting circumstance, instead of
sinking into a state of temporary mental imbecility and helpless
confusion.
'=BLUTANDRANG UND LUFTROHREN-VERSCHLEIMUNG=' (remedy for congestion and
obstruction of the air-vessels), manufactured and sold by the inventor, C.
Tänzer, 18, Kesselstrasse, Berlin,' is the title of a twelve-page
pamphlet. For cold in the head, the apparatus, which consists of a small
linen cushion to bind over the mouth, is moistened with 10 to 15 drops of
the fluid. The fluid (150 grammes) is a mixture of spirit of wine and
acetic ether, in which some arnica, milfoil, &c., have been macerated.
(Hager.)
=BLUTHENHARZ--FLOWER RESIN= (Kwizda, Kornenburg). Against barrenness in
domestic animals. A mixture of 9 parts powdered Bergundy pitch with 1 part
pine pollen, 3/4 oz. (Hager.)
=BOARDS, to make White.= Boards may be rendered white and clean by
scrubbing them, instead of with soap, with a mixture composed of one part
of freshly slaked lime and three parts of white sand.
=BOCKBIERESSENZ=, for the artificial imitation of bockbier. A tincture of
1 part lupulin, 2 parts pyroligneous acid, and 8 parts spirit of wine.
(Hager.)
=BOG SPAVIN.= In horses, a distension of the bursa or sheath of the true
hock joint. Mr Finlay Dun prescribes rest; high-heeled shoe, fomentation,
cold water, spring truss, counter-irritation, firing-iron; seton.
=BOIL= (boyl). _Syn._ FURUN'CULUS, L.; FURONCLE, Fr.; BEULE, EITERSTOCK,
Ger. In _surgery_, a well-known inflammatory tumour, of a superficial and
more or less temporary character, which generally terminates by
suppuration.
Boils (_furun'culi_) generally attack the healthy and robust during the
period of youth and early manhood, and seldom trouble persons who have
arrived at the middle age of life.
_Treatm., &c._ When boils begin to appear, and exhibit persistency by
daily enlargement and increasing pain, suppuration should be promoted by
warm poultices of bread and linseed-meal, to which a little fat or oil may
be added, to prevent their getting hard. If poultices are inconvenient,
warm and stimulating embrocations, or exposure to the vapour of hot water,
or the application of stimulating plasters, may be adopted instead. When
the tumour is sufficiently 'ripe,' the matter should be evacuated by
gentle pressure, and the wound dressed with a little simple ointment
spread on a piece of clean lint or linen. The diet may be full and liberal
until the maturation of the tumour and the discharge of the matter, when
it should be lessened, and the bowels kept gently open by saline
purgatives, as Epsom-salt or cream of tartar. When there is a disposition
in the constitution to the formation of boils, the bowels should be kept
at all times regular, and tonics, as bark or steel, had recourse to, with
the frequent use of sea-bathing when possible. An occasional dose of the
Abernethy medicines (which _see_) also often prevents their recurrence. A
course of sarsaparilla may be likewise taken with advantage. See ABSCESS,
TUMOURS, &c.
Dr Sydney Ringer prescribes a 1/16th grain of sulphide of sodium, mixed
with sugar of milk, three or four times a day on the tongue; but this
should only be administered under medical supervision.
_Treatment_ for HORSES and CATTLE.--Fomentations; poultices containing
belladonna, cold water, carbolic acid dressing, counter-irritants,
laxatives, sulphites, and chlorates.
=BOIL'ERS.= See INCRUSTATION and STEAM.
=BOIL'ING.= In _cookery_, the operation of dressing food in water at the
point of ebullition, or one very closely approaching it. The practice of
cooking animal food by boiling, although exceedingly simple, and often
most convenient, is neither judicious nor economical when the broth or
liquid in which it has been dressed is to be rejected as waste; as in this
way the most nutritious portion of the flesh of animals, consisting of
soluble saline and other matter required for the formation of bone, and
the nutrition of the muscular tissues, &c., is to a great extent lost.
This particularly applies to small pieces so dressed, and to those
presenting a large surface to the action of the water in proportion to
their weight. Large pieces of meat suffer less in proportion than smaller
ones, for the same reason; but even with them the outside should be
rejected, as it is both insipid and innutritious compared with the
interior portion. To reduce the solvent and deteriorating action of the
water to the lowest possible point, the articles to be boiled should not
be put into the water until it is in a state of full ebullition, which
should be maintained for 5 or 6 minutes afterwards, by which time the
surface and the parts lying immediately beneath it will have become, to a
certain degree, hardened, and will then act as a protective shield to the
inner portion of the mass. The boiling being continued for 5 or 6 minutes
cold water is added, until the temperature becomes about 150° F., and the
cooking of the joint is carried on at this heat until the meat is done:
meat loses nearly a fourth of its weight in boiling, salt meat, which is
intended to be eaten cold, should be allowed to cool in the water in which
it has been boiled. The practice of dressing meat by putting it into cold
water, which is then gradually raised to the boiling-point, cannot be too
much censured. A 1/4 of an hour per lb. for dressing young meat, poultry,
and small pieces, and 20 minutes per lb. for old, tough, and larger ones
are the usual times allowed by cooks for the purpose. See BOUILLI, FOOD,
&c.
=BOIL'ING-POINT.= See EBULLITION.
=BOIS DURCE= (bwah d[)u]r-s[=a]). [Fr.] The substance invented in France,
and to which this name is given, is made from sawdust, which, under the
influence of a high temperature and the enormous pressure of 600 tons,
acquires a degree of hardness very much exceeding that of ordinary wood.
It has a very fine grain, and is unaffected by atmospherical variations;
but its principal merit is its adaptation to moulding, so that by the most
economical processes forms and impressions are given to it which it would
require, in any other way, considerable labour and workmanship.
=BOLAS.= Sweet light cakes which, according to Mrs Rundell, are prepared
as follows:--Into flour, 2 lbs., pour of warm milk, 3/4 pint, a small
teacupful of yeast, and 6 eggs; make a dough, add of butter 1 lb. (by
degrees), and set it in a warm place to rise for an hour; then mix in of
powdered sugar 1 lb.; and make the mass into cakes; put these into cups or
tins previously well buttered, and ornament the top with candied orange or
lemon peel; lastly bake them. See CAKES.
=BOLDO= (nat. ord. Monimiaceæ). A shrub growing in the Chilian Andes. The
bark is used in tanning, and the wood makes a good charcoal. It is
reported to be useful in affections of the liver and digestive organs. It
has been employed as a tonic in cases where quinine is inadmissible. In
large doses it provokes vomiting. The powder of the dried leaves is a
sternutatory. See a paper by M. Claude Verne, translated into the 'Pharm.
Journ.,' 3rd series, v, 405.
=BOLE.= _Syn._ BO'LUS, L.; TERRE BOLAIRE, &c., Fr. The name of several
argillaceous minerals, varying in colour from white to yellow, red, and
brown, which they owe chiefly to iron. See OCHRES and RED and BROWN
PIGMENTS.
=BOLOG''NA PHI'AL= (-lawn'-y[)a]). See PHIALS.
=BO'LUS=, [L., Eng.] _Syn._ BOL, Fr. Boluses, in _pharmacy_ and
_medicine_, are small, roundish masses of medicinal substances, which are
taken in the same manner as pills, which they resemble, except in their
larger size. Those persons who object to swallowing them in their common
state may wrap them in soft paper, or introduce them into the emptied
husks of raisins or grapes.
Boluses (bo'l[=i], L.) are prepared with the same ingredients, and in a
similar manner to pills (which _see_).
=Bolus, Guaiacum= (HORNE). Guaiacum resin 1/2 drachm, elder rob, enough to
make into a bolus. Formerly given in quinsy.
=Bolus for Ague.= (The _bolus ad quartanum_ of the French Hospital).
Peruvian bark 1 ounce; carbonate of potash 1 drachm; tartarised antimony
15 grains; syrup, a sufficient quantity, one to be taken every four hours
during the intermission.
=Bolus, Vermifuge= (Dr Campbell). Basilie powder one scruple, conserve of
wormwood, a sufficient quantity to make into one bolus for an adult.
(FOY.) Powdered pomegranate root 1 drachm, assaf[oe]tida half a drachm,
croton oil 3 or 4 drops, syrup sufficient. Divide into 15 boluses; 5 daily
for tapeworm. (FRENCH HOSPITAL.) Wormseed 1 scruple, calomel 5 grains,
camphor 15 grains, syrup sufficient. Make into 3 doses; one, two, or three
in the day.
=BON'-BON= (b[=o]n_g_'-b[=o]n_g_). [Fr.] A sugarplum. See CONFECTIONERY
and SUGARPLUMS.
=BONBONS VERMIFUGES OF GAROZ.= A bonbon containing 15 centigrammes of
scammony, and 2 centigrammes of santonin. (Reveil.)
=BONE.= _Syn._ Os, L., Fr.; BEIN, KNOCHEN, Ger.; BÁN, Sax. The hard
substance forming the interior skeleton of animals, or any single part of
it.
_Comp._ According to Berzelius:--
Human bones. Ox bones.
Animal matter soluble in
boiling water 32·17} 33·30