The actual bleaching of wool may be effected in two ways, viz. by treating the material either with sulphurous acid or with hydrogen peroxide. Sulphurous acid may either be applied in the gaseous form or in solution as bisulphite of soda. In working by the first method, which is technically known as “stoving,” the scoured yarn is wetted in very weak soap containing a small amount of blue colouring matter, wrung or hydro-extracted and then suspended in a chamber or stove. Sulphur contained in a vessel on the floor of the chamber is now lighted, and the door having been closed, is allowed to burn itself out. The goods are left thus exposed to the sulphur dioxide overnight, when they are taken out and washed in water. For piece goods a somewhat different arrangement is employed, the pieces passing through a slit into a chamber supplied with sulphur dioxide, then slowly up and down over a large number of rollers and ultimately emerging again at the same slit. Wool may also be bleached by steeping in a fairly strong solution of bisulphite of soda and then washing well in water. Wool bleached with sulphurous acid or bisulphite is readily affected by alkalis, the natural yellow colour returning on washing with soap or soda. A more permanent bleach is obtained by steeping the wool in hydrogen peroxide (of 12 volumes strength), let down with about three times its bulk of water and rendered slightly alkaline with ammonia or silicate of soda. Black or brown wools cannot be bleached white, but when treated with peroxide they assume a golden colour, a change which is frequently desired in human hair.
The actual bleaching of wool may be effected in two ways, viz. by treating the material either with sulphurous acid or with hydrogen peroxide. Sulphurous acid may either be applied in the gaseous form or in solution as bisulphite of soda. In working by the first method, which is technically known as “stoving,” the scoured yarn is wetted in very weak soap containing a small amount of blue colouring matter, wrung or hydro-extracted and then suspended in a chamber or stove. Sulphur contained in a vessel on the floor of the chamber is now lighted, and the door having been closed, is allowed to burn itself out. The goods are left thus exposed to the sulphur dioxide overnight, when they are taken out and washed in water. For piece goods a somewhat different arrangement is employed, the pieces passing through a slit into a chamber supplied with sulphur dioxide, then slowly up and down over a large number of rollers and ultimately emerging again at the same slit. Wool may also be bleached by steeping in a fairly strong solution of bisulphite of soda and then washing well in water. Wool bleached with sulphurous acid or bisulphite is readily affected by alkalis, the natural yellow colour returning on washing with soap or soda. A more permanent bleach is obtained by steeping the wool in hydrogen peroxide (of 12 volumes strength), let down with about three times its bulk of water and rendered slightly alkaline with ammonia or silicate of soda. Black or brown wools cannot be bleached white, but when treated with peroxide they assume a golden colour, a change which is frequently desired in human hair.
Bleaching of Silk.
In raw silk, the fibre proper is uniformly coated with a proteid substance known assilk-gum, silk-glueorsericinewhich amounts to 19-25% of the weight of the material, and it is only after the removal of this coating that the characteristic properties of the fibre become apparent. This is effected by the process of “discharging” or “boiling-off,” which consists in suspending the hanks of raw silk over poles or sticks in a vat containing a strong hot soap solution (30% of soap on the weight of the silk). The liquor is kept just below boiling point for two or three hours, the hanks being turned from time to time. During the process, the sericine at first swells up considerably, the fibres becoming slippery, but as the operation proceeds it passes into solution. It is important that only soft water should be used for boiling-off since calcareous impurities are liable to mar the lustre of the silk.
The silk is now rinsed in weak soda solution and wrung. In this condition it is suitable for being dyed, but if it is to be bleached, the hanks are tied up loosely with smooth tape, put into coarse linen bags to prevent the silk becoming entangled, and boiled again in soap solution which is half as strong as that used in the first operation. The hanks are now taken out, rinsed in a weak soda solution, washed in water and wrung.
The actual bleaching of silk is usually effected by stoving as in the case of wool, with this difference, that the operation is repeated several times and blueing or tinting with other colours is effected after bleaching. Silk may also be bleached with peroxide of hydrogen, but this method is only used for certain qualities of spun silk and for tussore.
Ornamental feathersare best bleached by steeping in peroxide of hydrogen, rendered slightly alkaline by the addition of ammonia. The same treatment is applied to the bleaching ofivory. If peroxide of hydrogen could be prepared at a moderate cost, it would doubtless find a much more extensive application in bleaching, since it combines efficiency with safety, and gives good results with both vegetable and animal substances.
Ornamental feathersare best bleached by steeping in peroxide of hydrogen, rendered slightly alkaline by the addition of ammonia. The same treatment is applied to the bleaching ofivory. If peroxide of hydrogen could be prepared at a moderate cost, it would doubtless find a much more extensive application in bleaching, since it combines efficiency with safety, and gives good results with both vegetable and animal substances.
(E. K.)
1Besides being used for cotton goods, plate singeing is also employed for certain classes of worsted goods (alpacas, bunting, &c.), and for most union goods (cotton warp and worsted weft).2A machine working on this principle has been constructed by F. Binder, and the makers of the machine (Messrs Mather & Platt, Ltd.) claim that it does better service than the machines constructed on the older principle.
1Besides being used for cotton goods, plate singeing is also employed for certain classes of worsted goods (alpacas, bunting, &c.), and for most union goods (cotton warp and worsted weft).
2A machine working on this principle has been constructed by F. Binder, and the makers of the machine (Messrs Mather & Platt, Ltd.) claim that it does better service than the machines constructed on the older principle.
BLEAK,orBlick(Alburnus lucidus), a small fish of the Cyprinid family, allied to the bream and the minnow, but with a more elongate body, resembling a sardine. It is found in European streams, and is caught by anglers, being also a favourite in aquariums. The well-known and important industry of “Essence Orientale” and artificial pearls, carried on in France and Germany with the crystalline silvery colouring matter ofthe bleak, was introduced from China about the middle of the 17th century.
BLEEK, FRIEDRICH(1793-1859), German Biblical scholar, was born on the 4th of July 1793, at Ahrensbök, in Holstein, a village near Lübeck. His father sent him in his sixteenth year to the gymnasium at Lübeck, where he became so much interested in ancient languages that he abandoned his idea of a legal career and resolved to devote himself to the study of theology. After spending some time at the university of Kiel, he went to Berlin, where, from 1814 to 1817, he studied under De Wette, Neander and Schleiermacher. So highly were his merits appreciated by his professors—Schleiermacher was accustomed to say that he possessed a specialcharismafor the science of “Introduction”—that in 1818 after he had passed the examinations for entering the ministry he was recalled to Berlin asRepetentor tutorial fellow in theology, a temporary post which the theological faculty had obtained for him. Besides discharging his duties in the theological seminary, he published two dissertations in Schleiermacher’s and G.C.F. Lücke’sJournal(1819-1820,1822), one on the origin and composition of the Sibylline Oracles “Über die Entstehung und Zusammensetzung der Sibyllinischen Orakel,” and another on the authorship and design of the Book of Daniel, “Über Verfasser und Zweck des Buches Daniel.” These articles attracted much attention, and were distinguished by those qualities of solid learning, thorough investigation and candour of judgment which characterized all his writings. Bleek’s merits as a rising scholar were recognized by the minister of public instruction, who continued his stipend asRepetentfor a third year, and promised further advancement in due time. But the attitude of the political authority underwent a change. De Wette was dismissed from his professorship in 1819, and Bleek, a favourite pupil, incurred the suspicion of the government as an extreme democrat. Not only was his stipend asRepetentdiscontinued, but his nomination to the office of professor extraordinarius, which had already been signed by the minister Karl Altenstein, was withheld. At length it was found that Bleek had been confounded with a certain Baueleven Blech, and in 1823 he received the appointment.
During the six years that Bleek remained at Berlin, he twice declined a call to the office of professor ordinarius of theology, once to Greifswald and once to Königsberg. In 1829, however, he was induced to accept Lücke’s chair in the recently-founded university of Bonn, and entered upon his duties there in the summer of the same year. For thirty years he laboured with ever-increasing success, due not to any attractions of manner or to the enunciation of novel or bizarre opinions, but to the soundness of his investigations, the impartiality of his judgments, and the clearness of his method. In 1843 he was raised to the office of consistorial councillor, and was selected by the university to hold the office of rector, a distinction which has not since been conferred upon any theologian of the Reformed Church. He died suddenly of apoplexy on the 27th of February 1859.
Bleek’s works belong entirely to the departments of Biblical criticism and exegesis. His views on questions of Old Testament criticism were “advanced” in his own day; for on all the disputed points concerning the unity and authorship of the books of the Old Covenant he was opposed to received opinion. But with respect to the New Testament his position was conservative. An opponent of the Tübingen school, his defence of the genuineness and authenticity of the gospel of St. John is among the ablest that have been written; and although on some minor points his views did not altogether coincide with those of the traditional school, his critical labours on the New Testament must nevertheless be regarded as among the most important contributions to the maintenance of orthodox opinions. His greatest work, his commentary on the epistle to the Hebrews (Brief an die Hebräer erläutert durch Einleitung, Übersetzung, und fortlaufenden Commentar, in three parts, 1828, 1836 and 1840) won the highest praise from men like De Wette and Fr. Delitzsch. This work was abridged by Bleek for his college lectures, and was published in that condensed form in 1868. In 1846 he published his contributions to the criticism of the gospels (Beiträge zur Evangelien Kritik, pt. i.), which contained his defence of St John’s gospel, and arose out of a review of J.H.A. Ebrard’sWissenschaftliche Kritik der Evangelischen Geschichte(1842).
After his death were published:—(1) HisIntroduction to the Old Testament(Einleitung in das Alte Testament), (3rd ed., 1869); Eng. trans. by G.H. Venables (from 2nd ed., 1869); in 1878 a new edition (the 4th) appeared under the editorship of J. Wellhausen, who made extensive alterations and additions; (2) hisIntroduction to the New Testament(3rd ed., W. Mangold, 1875), Eng. trans. (from 2nd German ed.) by William Urwick (1869, 1870); (3) hisExposition of the First Three Gospels(Synoptische Erklarung der drei ersten Evangelien), by H. Holtzmann (1862); (4) hisLectures on the Apocalypse(Vorlesungen über die Apokalypse), (Eng. trans. 1875). Besides these there has also appeared a small volume containingLectures on Colossians, Philemon and Ephesians(Berlin, 1865). Bleek also contributed many articles to theStudien und Kritiken. For further information as to Bleek’s life and writings, see Kamphausen’s article in Herzog-Hauck,Realencyklopadie; Frédéric Lichtenberger’sHistoire des idées religieuses en Allemagne, vol. iii.; Diestel’sGeschichte des Allen Testamentes(1869); and T.K. Cheyne’sFounders of Old Testament Criticism(1893).
After his death were published:—(1) HisIntroduction to the Old Testament(Einleitung in das Alte Testament), (3rd ed., 1869); Eng. trans. by G.H. Venables (from 2nd ed., 1869); in 1878 a new edition (the 4th) appeared under the editorship of J. Wellhausen, who made extensive alterations and additions; (2) hisIntroduction to the New Testament(3rd ed., W. Mangold, 1875), Eng. trans. (from 2nd German ed.) by William Urwick (1869, 1870); (3) hisExposition of the First Three Gospels(Synoptische Erklarung der drei ersten Evangelien), by H. Holtzmann (1862); (4) hisLectures on the Apocalypse(Vorlesungen über die Apokalypse), (Eng. trans. 1875). Besides these there has also appeared a small volume containingLectures on Colossians, Philemon and Ephesians(Berlin, 1865). Bleek also contributed many articles to theStudien und Kritiken. For further information as to Bleek’s life and writings, see Kamphausen’s article in Herzog-Hauck,Realencyklopadie; Frédéric Lichtenberger’sHistoire des idées religieuses en Allemagne, vol. iii.; Diestel’sGeschichte des Allen Testamentes(1869); and T.K. Cheyne’sFounders of Old Testament Criticism(1893).
BLEEK, WILHELM HEINRICH IMMANUEL(1827-1875), German philologist, son of Friedrich Bleek, was born in 1827 at Berlin. He studied first at Bonn and afterwards at Berlin, where his attention was directed towards the philological peculiarities of the South African languages. In his doctor’s dissertation (Bonn, 1851),De nominum generibus linguarum Africae Australis, he endeavoured to show that the Hottentot language was of North African descent. In 1854 his health prevented him accompanying Dr W.B. Baikie in the expedition to the Niger; but in the following year he accompanied Bishop Colenso to Natal, and was enabled to prosecute his researches into the language and customs of the Kaffirs. Towards the close of 1856 he settled at Cape Town, and in 1857 was appointed interpreter by Sir George Grey. In 1859 he was compelled by ill health to visit Europe, and on his return in the following year he was made librarian of the valuable collection of books presented to the colony by Sir George Grey. In 1869 he visited England, where the value of his services was recognized by a pension from the civil list. He died at Cape Town on the 17th of August 1875. His works, which are of considerable importance for African and Australian philology, consist of theVocabulary of the Mozambique Language(London, 1856);Handbook of African, Australian and Polynesian Philology(Cape Town and London, 3 vols., 1858-1863);Comparative Grammar of, the South African Languages(vol. i., London, 1869);Reynard the Fox in South Africa, or Hottentot Fables and Tales(London, 1864);Origin of Language(London, 1869).
BLENDE,orSphalerite, a naturally occurring zinc sulphide, ZnS, and an important ore of zinc. The name blende was used by G. Agricola in 1546, and is from the Germanblenden, to blind, or deceive, because the mineral resembles lead ore in appearance but contains no lead, and was consequently often rejected as worthless. Sphalerite, introduced by E.F. Glocker in 1847, has the same meaning (σφαλερός, deceptive), and so have the miners’ terms “mock ore,” “false lead,” and “blackjack.” The term “blende” was at one time used in a generic sense, and as such enters into the construction of several old names of German origin; the species under consideration is therefore sometimes distinguished as zinc-blende.
Crystals of blende belong to that subclass of the cubic system in which there are six planes of symmetry parallel to the faces of the rhombic dodecahedron and none parallel to the cubic faces; in other words, the crystals are cubic with inclined hemihedrism, and have no centre of symmetry. The fundamental form is the tetrahedron. Fig. 1 shows a combination of two tetrahedra, in which the four faces of one tetrahedron are larger than the four faces of the other: further, the two sets of faces differ in surfacecharacters, those of one set being dull and striated, whilst those of the other set are bright and smooth. A common form, shown in fig. 2, is a combination of the rhombic dodecahedron with a three-faced tetrahedrony(311); the six faces meeting in each triad axis are often rounded together into low conical forms. The crystals are frequently twinned, the twin-axis coinciding with a triad axis; a rhombic dodecahedron so twinned (fig. 3) has no re-entrant angles. An important character of blende is the perfect dodecahedral cleavage, there being six directions of cleavage parallel to the faces of the rhombic dodecahedron, and angles between which are 60°.
When chemically pure, which is rarely the case, blende is colourless and transparent; usually, however, the mineral is yellow, brown or black, and often opaque, the depth of colour and degree of transparency depending on the amount of iron present. The streak, or colour of the powder, is brownish or light yellow, rarely white. The lustre is resinous to adamantine, and the index of refraction high (2.369 for sodium light). The substance is usually optically isotropic, though sometimes it exhibits anomalous double refraction; fibrous zinc sulphide which is doubly refracting is to be referred to the hexagonal species wurtzite. The specific gravity is 4.0, and the hardness 4. Crystals exhibit pyroelectrical characters, since they possess four uniterminal triad axes of symmetry.
Crystals of blende are of very common occurrence, but owing to twinning and distortion and curvature of the faces, they are often rather complex and difficult to decipher. For this reason the mineral is not always readily recognized by inspection, though the perfect dodecahedral cleavage, the adamantine lustre, and the brown streak are characters which may be relied upon. The mineral is also frequently found massive, with a coarse or fine granular structure and a crystalline fracture; sometimes it occurs as a soft, white, amorphous deposit resembling artificially precipitated zinc sulphide. A compact variety of a pale liver-brown colour and forming concentric layers with a reniform surface is known in Germany asSchalenblendeorLeberblende.
A few varieties of blende are distinguished by special names, these varieties depending on differences in colour and chemical composition. A pure white blende from Franklin in New Jersey is known as cleiophane; snow-white crystals are also found at Nordmark in Vermland, Sweden. Black blende containing ferrous sulphide, in amounts up to 15 or 20% isomorphously replacing zinc sulphide, is known as marmatite (from Marmato near Guayabal in Colombia, South America) and christophite (from St Christophe mine at Breitenbrunn near Eibenstock in Saxony). Transparent blende of a red or reddish-brown colour, such as that found near Holywell in Flintshire, is known as “ruby-blende” or “ruby-zinc.” Přibramite is the name given to a cadmiferous blende from Přibram in Bohemia. Other varieties contain small amounts of mercury, tin, manganese or thallium. The elements gallium and indium were discovered in blende.
Blende occurs in metalliferous veins, often in association with galena, also with chalcopyrite, barytes, fluorspar, &c. In ore-deposits containing both lead and zinc, such as those filling cavities in the limestones of the north of England and of Missouri, the galena is usually found in the upper part of the deposit, the blende not being reached until the deeper parts are worked. Blende is also found sporadically in sedimentary rocks; for example, in nodules of clay-ironstone in the Coal Measures, in the cement-doggers of the Lias, and in the casts of fossil shells. It has occasionally been found on the old timbers of mines. In these cases the zinc sulphide has probably arisen from the reduction of sulphate by organic matter.
Localities for fine crystallized specimens are numerous. Mention may be made of the brilliant black crystals from Alston Moor in Cumberland, St Agnes in Cornwall and Derbyshire. Yellow crystals are found at Kapnik-Bánya, near Nagy-Bánya in Hungary. Transparent yellow cleavage masses of large size occur in limestone in the zinc mines at Picos de Europa in the province of Santander, Spain. Beautiful isolated tetrahedra of transparent yellow blende are found in the snow-white crystalline dolomite of the Binnenthal in the Valais, Switzerland.
(L. J. S.)
BLENHEIM(Ger.Blindheim), a village of Bavaria, Germany, in the district of Swabia, on the left bank of the Danube, 30 m. N.E. from Ulm by rail, a few miles below Höchstädt. Pop. 700. It was the scene of the defeat of the French and Bavarians under Marshals Tallard and Marsin, on the 13th of August 1704, by the English and the Austrians under the duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene. In consideration of his military services and especially his decisive victory, a princely mansion was erected by parliament for the duke of Marlborough near Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England, and was named Blenheim Palace after this place.
The battle of Blenheim is also called Höchstädt, but the title accepted in England has the advantage that it distinguishes this battle from that won on the same ground a year previously, by the elector of Bavaria over the imperial general Styrum (9-20 September 1703), and from the fighting between the Austrians under Krag and the French under Moreau in June 1800 (seeFrench Revolutionary Wars). The ground between the hills and the marshy valley of the Danube forms a defile through which the main road from Donauwörth led to Ulm; parallel streams divide the narrow plain into strips. On one of these streams, the Nebel, the French and Bavarians (somewhat superior in numbers) took up their position facing eastward, their right flank resting on the Danube, their left in the under-features of the hilly ground, and their front covered by the Nebel, on which were the villages of Oberglau, Unterglau and Blenheim. The imperialist army of Eugene and the allies under Marlborough (52,000 strong) encamped 5 m. to the eastward along another stream, their flanks similarly protected. On the 2nd-13th of August 1704 Eugene and Marlborough set their forces in motion towards the hostile camps; several streams had to be crossed on the march, and it was seven o’clock (five hours after moving off) when the British of Marlborough’s left wing, next the Danube, deployed opposite Blenheim, which Tallard thereupon garrisoned with a large force of his best infantry, aided by a battery of 24-pounder guns. The French and Bavarians were taken somewhat by surprise, and were arrayed in two separate armies, each with its cavalry on the wings and its foot in the centre. Thus the centre of the combined forces consisted of the cavalry of Marsin’s right and of Tallard’s left.
Here was the only good ground for mounted troops, and Marlborough followed Tallard’s example when forming up to attack, but it resulted from the dispositions of the French marshal that this weak point of junction of his two armies was exactly that at which decisive action was to be expected. Tallard therefore had a few horse on his right between the Danube and Blenheim, a mass of infantry in his centre at Blenheim itself, and a long line of cavalry supported by a few battalions forming his left wing in the plain, and connecting with the right of Marsin’s army. This army was similarly drawn up. The cavalry right wing was in the open, the French infantry near Oberglau, which was strongly held, the Bavarian infantry next on the left, and finally the Bavarian cavalry with a force of foot on the extreme left in the hills. The elector of Bavaria commanded his own troops in person. Marlborough and Eugene on their part were to attack respectively Tallard and Marsin. Theright wing under Eugene had to make a difficult march over broken ground before it could form up for battle, and Marlborough waited, with his army in order of battle between Unterglau and Blenheim, until his colleague should be ready. At 12.30 the battle opened. Lord Cutts, with a detachment of Marlborough’s left wing, attacked Blenheim with the utmost fury. A third of the leading brigade (British) was killed and wounded in the vain attempt to break through the strong defences of the village, and some French squadrons charged upon it as it retired; a colour was captured in themêlée, but a Hessian brigade in second line drove back the cavalry and retook the colour. After the repulse of these squadrons, in which some British cavalry from the centre took part, Cutts again moved forward. The second attack, though pressed even more fiercely, fared no better than the first, and the losses were heavier than before. The duke then ordered Cutts to observe the enemy in Blenheim, and concentrated all his attention on the centre. Here, between Unterglau and Blenheim, preparations were being made, under cover of artillery, for the crossing of the Nebel, and farther up-stream a corps was sent to attack Oberglau. This attack failed completely, and it was not until Marlborough himself, with fresh battalions, drove the French back into Oberglau that the allies were free to cross the Nebel.
In the meanwhile the first line of Marlborough’s infantry had crossed lower down, and the first line of cavalry, following them across, had been somewhat severely handled by Tallard’s cavalry. The squadrons under the Prussian general Bothmar, however, made a dashing charge, and achieved considerable temporary success. Eugene was now closely engaged with the elector of Bavaria, and both sides were losing heavily. But Eugene carried out his holding attack successfully. Marsin dared not reinforce Tallard to any extent, and the duke was preparing for the grand attack. His whole force, except the detachment of Cutts, was now across the Nebel, and he had formed it in several lines with the cavalry in front. Marlborough himself led the cavalry; the French squadrons received the attack at the halt, and were soon broken. Marsin’s right swung back towards its own army. Those squadrons of Tallard’s left which retained their order fell back towards the Danube, and a great gap was opened in the centre of the defence, through which the victorious squadrons poured. Wheeling to their left the pursuers drove hundreds of fugitives into the Danube, and Eugene was now pressing the army of Marsin towards Marlborough, who re-formed and faced northward to cut off its retreat. Tallard was already a prisoner, but in the dusk and confusion Marsin slipped through between the duke and Eugene. General Churchill, Marlborough’s brother, had meanwhile surrounded the French garrison of Blenheim; and after one or two attempts to break out, twenty-four battalions of infantry and four regiments of dragoons, many of them the finest of the French army, surrendered.
The losses of the allies are stated at 4500 killed and 7500 wounded (British 670 killed and 1500 wounded). Of the French and Bavarians 11,000 men, 100 guns and 200 colours and standards were taken; besides the killed and wounded, the numbers of which vere large but uncertain—many were drowned in the Danube. Marsin’s army, though it lost heavily, was drawn off in good order; Tallard’s was almost annihilated.
BLENNERHASSETT, HARMAN(1765-1831), Irish-American lawyer, son of an Irish country gentleman of English stock settled in Co. Kerry, was born on the 8th of October 1765. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and in 1790 was called to the Irish bar. After living for several years on the continent, he married in 1796 his niece, Margaret Agnew, daughter of Robert Agnew, the lieutenant-governor of the Isle of Man. Ostracised by their families for this step the couple decided to settle in America, where Blennerhassett in 1798 bought an island in the Ohio river about 2 m. below Parkersburg, West Virginia. Here in 1805 he received a visit from Aaron Burr (q.v.), in whose conspiracy he became interested, furnishing liberal funds for its support, and offering the use of his island as a rendezvous for the gathering of arms and supplies and the training of volunteers. When the conspiracy collapsed, the mansion and island were occupied and plundered by the Virginia militia. Blennerhassett fled, was twice arrested and remained a prisoner until after Burr’s release. The island was then abandoned, and Blennerhassett was in turn a cotton planter in Mississippi, and a lawyer (1819-1822) in Montreal, Canada. After returning to Ireland, he died in the island of Guernsey on the 2nd of February 1831. His wife, who had considerable literary talent and who publishedThe Deserted Isle(1822) andThe Widow of the Rock and Other Poems(1824), returned to the United States in 1840, and died soon afterward in New York City while attempting to obtain through Congress payment for property destroyed on the island.
See William H. Safford,Life of Harman Blennerhassett(Cincinnati, 1853); W.H. Safford (editor),The Blennerhassett Papers(Cincinnati, 1864); and “The True Story of Harman Blennerhassett,” by Therese Blennerhassett-Adams, in theCentury Magazinefor July 1901, vol. lxii.
See William H. Safford,Life of Harman Blennerhassett(Cincinnati, 1853); W.H. Safford (editor),The Blennerhassett Papers(Cincinnati, 1864); and “The True Story of Harman Blennerhassett,” by Therese Blennerhassett-Adams, in theCentury Magazinefor July 1901, vol. lxii.
BLERA(mod.Bieda), an ancient Etruscan town on the Via Clodia, about 32 m. N.N.W. of Rome. It was of little importance, and is only mentioned by geographers and in inscriptions. It is situated on a long, narrow tongue of rock at the junction of two deep glens. Some remains of the town walls still exist, and also two ancient bridges, both belonging to the Via Clodia, and many tombs hewn in the rock—small chambers imitating the architectural forms of houses, with beams and rafters represented in relief. See G. Dennis,Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria, i. 207. There was another Blera in Apulia, on the road from Venusia to Tarentum.
BLESSINGTON, MARGUERITE,Countess of(1789-1849), Irish novelist and miscellaneous writer, daughter of Edmund Power, a small landowner, was born near Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, Ireland, on the 1st of September 1789. Her childhood was made unhappy by her father’s character and poverty,—and her early womanhood wretched by her compulsory marriage at the age of fifteen to a Captain Maurice St Leger Farmer, whose drunken habits brought him at last as a debtor to the king’s bench prison, where, in October 1817, he died. His wife had left him some time before, and in February 1818 she married Charles John Gardiner, earl of Blessington. Of rare beauty, charm and wit, she was no less distinguished for her generosity and for the extravagant tastes which she shared with her husband, which resulted in encumbering his estates with a load of debt. In the autumn of 1822 they went abroad, spent four months of the next year at Genoa in close intimacy with Byron, and remained on the continent till Lord Blessington’s death in May 1829. Some time before this they had been joined by Count D’Orsay, who in 1827 married Lady Harriet Gardiner, Lord Blessington’s only daughter by a former wife. D’Orsay, who had soon separated from his wife, now accompanied Lady Blessington to England and lived with her till her death. Their home, first at Seamore Place, and afterwards Gore House, Kensington, became a centre of attraction for whatever was distinguished in literature, learning, art, science and fashion. After her husband’s death she supplemented her diminished income by contributing to various periodicals as well as by writing novels. She was for some years editor ofThe Book of BeautyandThe Keepsake, popular annuals of the day. In 1834 she published herConversations with Lord Byron. HerIdler in Italy(1839-1840), andIdler in France(1841) were popular for their personal gossip and anecdote, descriptions of nature and sentiment. Early in 1849, Count D’Orsay left Gore House to escape his creditors; the furniture and decorations were sold, and Lady Blessington joined the count in Paris, where she died on the 4th of June 1849.
HerLiterary Life and Correspondence(3 vols.), edited by R.R. Madden, appeared in 1855. Her portrait was painted in 1808 by Sir Thomas Lawrence.
HerLiterary Life and Correspondence(3 vols.), edited by R.R. Madden, appeared in 1855. Her portrait was painted in 1808 by Sir Thomas Lawrence.
BLIDA,a town of Algeria, in the department of Algiers, 32 m. by railway S.W. from Algiers, on the line to Oran. Pop. (1906) 16,866. It lies surrounded with orchards and gardens, 630 ft. above the sea, at the base of the Little Atlas, on the southern edge of the fertile plain of the Metija, and the right bank of the Wad-el-Kebir affluent of the Chiffa. The abundant water of this stream provides power for large cornmills and several factories, and also supplies the town, with its numerous fountains and irrigated gardens. Blida is surrounded by a wall of considerable extent, pierced by six gates, and is further defended by Fort Mimieh, crowning a steep hill on the left bank of the river. The present town, French in character, has well-built modern streets with many arcades, and numbers among its buildings several mosques and churches, extensive barracks and a large military hospital. The principal square, the place d’Armes, is surrounded by arcaded houses and shaded by trees. The centre of a fertile district, and a post on one of the main routes in the country, Blida has a flourishing trade, chiefly in oranges and flour. The orange groves contain over 50,000 trees, and in April the air for miles round is laden with the scent of the orange blossoms. In the public gardens is a group of magnificent olive trees. The products of the neighbouring cork trees and cedar groves are a source of revenue to the town. In the vicinity are the villages of Joinville and Montpensier, which owe their origin to military camps established by Marshal Valée in 1838; and on the road to Medea are the tombs of the marabout Mahommed-el-Kebir, who died in 1580, and his two sons.
Blida,i.e. boleida, diminutive of the Arab wordbelad, city, occupies the site of a military station in the time of the Romans, but the present town appears to date from the 16th century. A mosque was built by order of Khair-ed-din Barbarossa, and under the Turks the town was of some importance. In 1825 it was nearly destroyed by an earthquake, but was speedily rebuilt on a site about a mile distant from the ruins. It was not till 1838 that it was finally held by the French, though they had been in possession for a short time eight years before. In April 1906 it was chosen as the place of detention of Behanzin, the ex-king of Dahomey, who died in December of that year.
Blida is the chief town of a commune of the same name, having (1906) a population of 33,332.
BLIGH, WILLIAM(1754-1817), English admiral, was born of a good Cornish family in 1754. He accompanied Captain Cook in his second expedition (1772-1774) as sailing-master of the “Resolution.” During the voyage, the bread-fruit, already known to Dampier, was found by them at Otaheite; and after seeing service under Lord Howe and elsewhere, “Bread-fruit Bligh,” as he was nicknamed, was despatched at the end of 1787 to the Pacific in command of H.M.S. “Bounty,” for the purpose of introducing it into the West Indies from the South Sea Islands. Bligh sailed from Otaheite, after remaining there about six months; but, when near the Friendly Islands, a mutiny (April 28, 1789) broke out on board the “Bounty,” headed by Fletcher Christian, the master’s mate, and Bligh, with eighteen others, was set adrift in the launch. The mutineers themselves settled on Pitcairn Island (q.v.), but some of them were afterwards captured, brought to England and in three cases executed. This mutiny, which forms the subject of Byron’s Island, did not arise so much from tyranny on the part of Bligh as from attachments contracted between the seamen and the women of Otaheite. After suffering severely from hunger, thirst and storms, Bligh and his companions landed at Timor in the East Indies, having performed a voyage of about 4000 m. in an open boat. Bligh returned to England in 1790, and he was soon afterwards appointed to the “Providence,” in which he effected the purpose of his former appointment by introducing the bread-fruit tree into the West India Islands. He showed great courage at the mutiny of the Nore in 1797, and in the same year took part in the battle of Camperdown, where Admiral Duncan defeated the Dutch under De Winter. In 1801 he commanded the “Glatton” (54) at the battle of Copenhagen, and received the personal commendations of Nelson. In 1805 he was appointed “captain general and governor of New South Wales.” As he made himself intensely unpopular by the harsh exercise of authority, he was deposed in January 1808 by a mutiny headed by Major George Johnston of the 102nd foot, and was imprisoned by the mutineers till 1810. He returned to England in 1811, was promoted to rear-admiral in that year, and to vice-admiral in 1814. Major Johnston was tried by court martial at Chelsea in 1811, and was dismissed the service. Bligh, who was an active, persevering and courageous officer, died in London in 1817.
BLIND, MATHILDE(1841-1896), English author, was born at Mannheim on the 21st of March 1841. Her father was a banker named Cohen, but she took the name of Blind after her step-father, the political writer, Karl Blind (1826-1907), one of the exiled leaders of the Baden insurrection in 1848-1849, and an ardent supporter of the various 19th-century movements for the freedom and autonomy of struggling nationalities. The family was compelled to take refuge in England, where Mathilde devoted herself to literature and to the higher education of women. She produced also three long poems, “The Prophecy of St Oran” (1881), “The Heather on Fire” (1886), an indignant protest against the evictions in the Highlands, and “The Ascent of Man” (1888), which was to be the epic of the theory of evolution. She wrote biographies of George Eliot (1883) and Madame Roland (1886), and translated D.F. Strauss’sThe Old Faith and the New(1873-1874) and theMemoirs of Marie Bashkirtseff(1890). She died on the 26th of November 1896, bequeathing her property to Newnham College, Cambridge.
A complete edition of her poems was edited by Mr Arthur Symons in 1900, with a biographical introduction by Dr Richard Garnett.
A complete edition of her poems was edited by Mr Arthur Symons in 1900, with a biographical introduction by Dr Richard Garnett.
BLIND HOOKEY,a game of chance, played with a full pack of cards. The deal, which is an advantage, is decided as at whist, the cards being shuffled and cut as at whist. The dealer gives a parcel of cards to each player including himself. Each player puts the amount of his stake on his cards, which he must not look at. The dealer has to take all bets. He then turns up his parcel, exposing the bottom card. Each player in turn does the same, winning or losing according as his cards are higher or lower than the dealer’s. Ties pay the dealer. The cards rank as at whist. The suits are of no importance, the cards taking precedence according to their face-value.
BLINDING,a form of punishment anciently common in many lands, being inflicted on thieves, adulterers, perjurers and other criminals. The inhabitants of Apollonia (Illyria) are said to have inflicted this penalty on their “watch” when found asleep at their posts. It was resorted to by the Roman emperors in their persecutions of the Christians. The method of destroying the sight varied. Sometimes a mixture of lime and vinegar, or barely scalding vinegar alone, was poured into the eyes. Sometimes a rope was twisted round the victim’s head till the eyes started out of their sockets. In the middle ages the punishment seems to have been changed from total blindness to a permanent injury to the eyes, amounting, however, almost to blindness, produced by holding a red-hot iron dish or basin before the face. Under the forest laws of the Norman kings of England blinding was a common penalty. Shakespeare makes King John order his nephew Arthur’s eyes to be burnt out.
BLINDMAN’S-BUFF(from an O. Fr. word,buffe, a blow, especially a blow on the cheek), a game in which one player is blindfolded and made to catch and identify one of the others, who in sport push him about and “buffet” him.
BLINDNESS,the condition of being blind (a common Teutonic word),i.e.devoid of sight (see alsoVision; andEye:Diseases). The data furnished in various countries by the census of 1901 showed generally a decrease in blindness, due to the progress in medical science, use of antiseptics, better sanitation, control of infectious diseases, and better protection in shops and factories. Blindness is much more common in hot countries than in temperate and cold regions, but Finland and Iceland are exceptions to the general rule.1In hot countries the eyes are affected by the glaring sunlight, the dust and the dryness of the air. From statistics in Italy, France and Belgium, localities on the coast seem to have more blind persons than those at a distance from the sea.
The following table gives the number of blind persons as reported in the census of each country. Unless otherwise stated, it refers to the statistics of 1900.
Causes and Prevention
There are many cases of complete or partial blindness which might have been prevented, and a knowledge of the best methods of prevention and cure should be spread as widely as possible. Magnus, Bremer, Steffen and Rössler are of opinion that 40% of the cases of blindness might have been prevented. Hayes gives 33.35% as positively avoidable, 38.75% possibly avoidable, and 46.27% as a conservative estimate. Cohn regards blindness as certainly preventable in 33%, as probably preventable in 43%, and as quite unpreventable in only 24%. If we take the lowest of these figures, and assume that 400 out of every 1000 blind persons might have been saved from such a calamity, we realize the importance of preventative measures. For the physiology and pathology of the eye generally, seeVisionandEye.
The great majority of these cases are due to infantile purulent ophthalmia. This arises from inoculation of the eyes with hurtful material at time of birth. If the contagious discharges are allowed to remain, violent inflammationOphthalmia.is set up which usually ends in the loss of sight. It depends on the presence of a microbe, and the effective application of a weak solution of nitrate of silver is curative, if made in a proper manner at an early period of the case. In Germany, midwives are expressly prohibited by law from treating any affection of the eyes or eyelids of infants, however slight. On the appearance of the first symptoms, they are required to represent to the parents, or others in charge, that medical assistance is urgently needed, or, if necessary, they are themselves to report to the local authorities and the district doctor. Neglect of these regulations entails liability to punishment. Eleven of the United States of America have enacted laws requiring that, if one or both eyes of an infant should become inflamed, swollen or reddened at any time within two weeks of its birth, it shall be the duty of the midwife or nurse having charge of such infant to report in writing within six hours, to the health officer or some legally qualified physician, the fact that such inflammation, swelling or redness exists. The penalty for failure to comply is fine or imprisonment.
The following weighty words, from a paper prepared by Dr Park Lewis, of Buffalo, N.Y., for the American Medical Association, show that laws are not sufficient to prevent evil, unless supported by strong public sentiment:—
“When an enlightened, civilized and progressive nation quietly and passively, year after year, permits a multitude of its people unnecessarily to become blind, and more especially when one-quarter of these are infants, the reason for such a startling condition of affairs demands explanation. That such is the fact, practically all reliable ophthalmologists agree.“From a summary of carefully tabulated statistics it has been demonstrated that at least four-tenths of all existing blindness might have been avoided had proper preventative or curative measures been employed, while one-quarter of this, or one-tenth of the whole, is due toophthalmia neonatorum, an infectious, preventable and almost absolutely curable disease. Perhaps this statement will take on a new meaning when it is added that there are in the state of New York alone more than 6000, and in the United States more than 50,000 blind people; of these 600 in the one state, and 5000 in the country, would have been saved from lives of darkness and unhappiness, in having lost all the joys that come through sight, and of more or less complete dependence—for no individual can be as self-sufficient without as with eyes—if a simple, safe and easily applied precautionary measure had been taken at the right time and in the right way to prevent this affliction. The following three vital facts are not questioned, but are universally accepted by those qualified to know:—“1. The ophthalmia of infancy is an infectious germ disease.“2. By the instillation of a silver salt in the eyes of a new-born infant the disease is prevented from developing in all but an exceedingly small number of the cases in which it would otherwise have appeared.“3. In practically all those few exceptional cases the disease is absolutely curable, if like treatment is employed at a sufficiently early period.“Since these facts are no longer subjects of discussion, but are universally accepted by all educated medical men, the natural inquiry follows: Why, as a common-sense proposition, are not these simple, harmless, preventive measures invariably employed, and why, in consequence of this neglect, does a nation sit quietly and indifferently by, making no attempt to prevent this enormous and needless waste of human eyes?“The reasons are three-fold, and lie—first, with the medical profession; second, with the lay public; third, with the state.“For the education of its blind children annually New York alone paysper capitaat least $350, and a yearly gross sum amounting to much more than $100,000. If, as sometimes happens, the blind citizen is a dependent throughout a long life, the cost of maintenance is not less than $10,000, and the mere cost in money will be multiplied many times in that a productive factor, by reason of blindness, has been removed from the community.“If, therefore, as an economic proposition, it were realized how vitally it concerns the state that not one child shall needlessly become blind, thereby increasing the public financial burden, there is no doubt that early and effective measures would be instituted to protect the state from this unnecessary and extravagant expenditure of public funds.“Eleven states have passed legislative enactments requiring that the midwife shall report each case to the proper health authority, and affixing a penalty for the failure to do so. As has been intimated, however, it is not by any means always under the ministration of midwives that these cases occur, and, like all laws behind which is not a strong and well-informed public sentiment, this law is rarely enforced. A more effective method must be devised. Every physician having to do with the parturient woman, every obstetrician, every midwife, must be frequently and constantly advised of the dangers and possibilities of this disease, the necessity of prevention, and the value of early and correct treatment. They must then have placed in their hands, ready for instant use, a safe and efficient preparation, issued by the health authorities as a guarantee as to its quality and efficiency.“An important step was taken in this direction when a resolution was passed by the House of Delegates at the annual meeting of the New York State Medical Society, requesting the various health officers of the state to includeophthalmia neonatorumamong contagious diseases which must be reported to the local boards of health.“The second essential, in order that the cause of infantile ophthalmia be abolished, is that a solution of the necessary silver salt be prepared under the authority of somebody capable of inspiring universal confidence, and that it be distributed by the health department of every state gratuitously to every obstetrician, physician or midwife qualified to care for the parturient woman. The nature of the solution, together with the character of the descriptive card which should accompany it, should be determined by a committee, chosen by the president of the American Medical Association, which should have among its members at least one representative ophthalmologist, one obstetrician and one sanitarian. The conclusions of this committee should be reported back to the House of Delegates, so that the preparation and its text should carry with it, on the great authority of this association, the assurance that the solution is entirely safe and necessary, and that its use should invariably be part of the toilet of every new-born child. The solution, probably silver nitrate, could be put up either by the state itself or by some trustworthy pharmacist, at an insignificant cost; its purity and sterility should be vouched for by the board of health of the state. It should be enclosed in specially prepared receptacles,each containing a special quantity, and so arranged that it may be used drop by drop. These, properly enclosed, accompanied by a brief lucid explanation of the danger of the disease, the necessity of this germicide, the method of its employment, and the right subsequent care of the eyes, should be sent to the obstetrician on the receipt of each birth certificate.“I have said that responsibility for the indifference that is annually resulting in such frightful disaster lies primarily with the state, the public and the medical profession.“The state is already aroused to the necessity of taking effective measures to wipe out this controllable plague. Bills have been introduced in the legislature of Massachusetts and of New York, providing for the appointment of commissions for the blind, one of whose duties will be to study the causes of unnecessary blindness and to suggest preventative measures.”
“When an enlightened, civilized and progressive nation quietly and passively, year after year, permits a multitude of its people unnecessarily to become blind, and more especially when one-quarter of these are infants, the reason for such a startling condition of affairs demands explanation. That such is the fact, practically all reliable ophthalmologists agree.
“From a summary of carefully tabulated statistics it has been demonstrated that at least four-tenths of all existing blindness might have been avoided had proper preventative or curative measures been employed, while one-quarter of this, or one-tenth of the whole, is due toophthalmia neonatorum, an infectious, preventable and almost absolutely curable disease. Perhaps this statement will take on a new meaning when it is added that there are in the state of New York alone more than 6000, and in the United States more than 50,000 blind people; of these 600 in the one state, and 5000 in the country, would have been saved from lives of darkness and unhappiness, in having lost all the joys that come through sight, and of more or less complete dependence—for no individual can be as self-sufficient without as with eyes—if a simple, safe and easily applied precautionary measure had been taken at the right time and in the right way to prevent this affliction. The following three vital facts are not questioned, but are universally accepted by those qualified to know:—
“1. The ophthalmia of infancy is an infectious germ disease.
“2. By the instillation of a silver salt in the eyes of a new-born infant the disease is prevented from developing in all but an exceedingly small number of the cases in which it would otherwise have appeared.
“3. In practically all those few exceptional cases the disease is absolutely curable, if like treatment is employed at a sufficiently early period.
“Since these facts are no longer subjects of discussion, but are universally accepted by all educated medical men, the natural inquiry follows: Why, as a common-sense proposition, are not these simple, harmless, preventive measures invariably employed, and why, in consequence of this neglect, does a nation sit quietly and indifferently by, making no attempt to prevent this enormous and needless waste of human eyes?
“The reasons are three-fold, and lie—first, with the medical profession; second, with the lay public; third, with the state.
“For the education of its blind children annually New York alone paysper capitaat least $350, and a yearly gross sum amounting to much more than $100,000. If, as sometimes happens, the blind citizen is a dependent throughout a long life, the cost of maintenance is not less than $10,000, and the mere cost in money will be multiplied many times in that a productive factor, by reason of blindness, has been removed from the community.
“If, therefore, as an economic proposition, it were realized how vitally it concerns the state that not one child shall needlessly become blind, thereby increasing the public financial burden, there is no doubt that early and effective measures would be instituted to protect the state from this unnecessary and extravagant expenditure of public funds.
“Eleven states have passed legislative enactments requiring that the midwife shall report each case to the proper health authority, and affixing a penalty for the failure to do so. As has been intimated, however, it is not by any means always under the ministration of midwives that these cases occur, and, like all laws behind which is not a strong and well-informed public sentiment, this law is rarely enforced. A more effective method must be devised. Every physician having to do with the parturient woman, every obstetrician, every midwife, must be frequently and constantly advised of the dangers and possibilities of this disease, the necessity of prevention, and the value of early and correct treatment. They must then have placed in their hands, ready for instant use, a safe and efficient preparation, issued by the health authorities as a guarantee as to its quality and efficiency.
“An important step was taken in this direction when a resolution was passed by the House of Delegates at the annual meeting of the New York State Medical Society, requesting the various health officers of the state to includeophthalmia neonatorumamong contagious diseases which must be reported to the local boards of health.
“The second essential, in order that the cause of infantile ophthalmia be abolished, is that a solution of the necessary silver salt be prepared under the authority of somebody capable of inspiring universal confidence, and that it be distributed by the health department of every state gratuitously to every obstetrician, physician or midwife qualified to care for the parturient woman. The nature of the solution, together with the character of the descriptive card which should accompany it, should be determined by a committee, chosen by the president of the American Medical Association, which should have among its members at least one representative ophthalmologist, one obstetrician and one sanitarian. The conclusions of this committee should be reported back to the House of Delegates, so that the preparation and its text should carry with it, on the great authority of this association, the assurance that the solution is entirely safe and necessary, and that its use should invariably be part of the toilet of every new-born child. The solution, probably silver nitrate, could be put up either by the state itself or by some trustworthy pharmacist, at an insignificant cost; its purity and sterility should be vouched for by the board of health of the state. It should be enclosed in specially prepared receptacles,each containing a special quantity, and so arranged that it may be used drop by drop. These, properly enclosed, accompanied by a brief lucid explanation of the danger of the disease, the necessity of this germicide, the method of its employment, and the right subsequent care of the eyes, should be sent to the obstetrician on the receipt of each birth certificate.
“I have said that responsibility for the indifference that is annually resulting in such frightful disaster lies primarily with the state, the public and the medical profession.
“The state is already aroused to the necessity of taking effective measures to wipe out this controllable plague. Bills have been introduced in the legislature of Massachusetts and of New York, providing for the appointment of commissions for the blind, one of whose duties will be to study the causes of unnecessary blindness and to suggest preventative measures.”
One of the most common diseases of the eye is trachoma, often called “granular lids,” because the inner surface of the lid seems to be covered with little granulations. The disease sometimes lasts for years without causingTrachoma.blindness, though it gives rise to great irritation. It is generally attended by a discharge, which is highly contagious, producing the same disease if it gets into other eyes. Want of cleanliness is one of the most important factors in the propagation of trachoma, hence its great prevalence in Oriental countries. Trachoma is very prevalent in Egypt, where those suffering from total or partial blindness are said to amount to 10% of the population. During Napoleon’s Egyptian campaign, nearly every soldier, out of an army of 32,000 men, was affected. During the following twenty years the disease spread through almost all European armies. In the Belgian army, there was one trachomatous soldier out of every five, and up to 1834 no less than 4000 soldiers had lost both eyes and 10,000 one eye. It is a disease which is very common in workhouse schools, orphan asylums and similar establishments. Unlike ophthalmia of new-born children, it is difficult to cure, and a total separation of the diseased from the healthy children should be effected.
About one-half of those who are blinded by injuries lose the second eye by sympathetic ophthalmia. It is a constant source of danger to those who retain an eye blinded bySympathetic inflammation.injury. Blindness from this cause can be prevented by the removal of the injured eye, but unfortunately the proposal often meets with opposition from the patient.
Glaucoma is a disease which almost invariably leads to totalGlaucoma.blindness; but in most cases it can be arrested by a simple operation if the case is seen sufficiently early.
Myopia, or “short-sight,” makes itself apparent in children between the ages of seven and nine. Neglect of a year or two may do serious mischief. Short-sight, when not inherited, is produced by looking intently and continuouslyShort-sight.at near objects. Children should be encouraged to describe objects at a distance, with which they are unacquainted, and parents should choose out-door occupations and amusements for children who show a tendency to shortsightedness.
A report was issued in 1906, by the school board of Glasgow, as to an investigation by Dr H. Wright Thomas, ophthalmic surgeon, regarding the eyesight of school children, which includes the following passage. Dr Wright Thomas states that the teachers tested the visual acuteness of 52,493 children, and found 18,565, or 35%, to be below what is regarded as the normal standard. He examined the 18,565 defectives by retinoscopy, and found that 11,209, or 21% of the whole, had ocular defects. The proportion of these cases was highest in the poor and closely-built districts and in old schools, and was lowest in the better-class schools and those near the outskirts of the city. Defective vision, apart from ocular defect, seems to be due partly to want of training of the eyes for distant objects and partly to exhaustion of the eyes, which is easily induced when work is carried on in bad light, or the nutrition of the children is defective from bad feeding and unhealthy surroundings. Regarding training of the eyes for distant objects, much might be done in the infant department by the total abolition of sewing, which is definitely hurtful to such young eyes, and the substitution of competitive games involving the recognition of small objects at a distance of 20 ft. or more. An annual testing by the teachers, followed by medical inspection of the children found defective, would soon cause all existing defects to be corrected, and would lead to the detection of those which develop during school life.
History of Institutions
Although there is a record of a hospital established by St Basil at Caesarea, Cappadocia, in the 4th century, a refuge by the hermit St Lymnee (d.c. 455) at Syr, Syria, in the 5th century, and an institution by St Bertrand, bishop of Le Mans, in the 7th century, the first public effort to benefit the blind was the founding of a hospital at Paris, in 1260, by Louis IX., for 300 blind persons. The common legend is that he founded it as an asylum for 300 of his soldiers who had become blinded in the crusade in Egypt, but the statutes of the founder are preserved, and no mention is made of crusaders. This Hospice des Quinze-Vingts, increased by subsequent additions to its funds, still assists the adult blind of France. The pensioners are divided into two classes—those who are inmates of the hospital (300), and those who receive pensions in the form of out-door relief. All appointments to inmates or pensions are vested in the minister of the Interior, and applicants must be of French nationality, totally blind and not less than forty years of age.
From the time of St Louis to the 18th century, there are records of isolated cases of blind persons who were educated, and of efforts to devise tangible apparatus to assist them.
Girolamo Cardan, the 16th-century Italian physician, conceived the idea that the blind could be taught to read and write by means of touch. About 1517 Francesco Lucas in Spain, and Rampazetto in Italy, made use of large letters cut in wood for instructing the blind. In 1646 a book, on the condition of the blind, was written by an Italian, and published in Italian and French, under the title ofL’Aveugle affligé et consolé. In 1670 a book was written on the instruction of the blind by Lana Terzi, the Jesuit. In 1676 Jacques Bernoulli, the Swiss savant, taught a blind girl to read, but the means of her instruction were not made known. In 1749 D. Diderot wrote hisLettre sur les aveugles à l’usage de ceux qui voient, to show how far the intellectual and moral nature of man is modified by blindness. Dr S.G. Howe, who many years after translated and printed the “Letter” in embossed type, characterizes it as abounding with errors of fact and inference, but also with beauties and suggestions. The heterodox speculations contained in his “Letter on the Blind” caused Diderot to be imprisoned three months in the Bastille. He was released because his services were required for the forthcomingEncyclopaedia. Rousseau visited Diderot in prison, and is reported to have suggested a system of embossed printing. J. Locke, G.W. Leibnitz, Molineau and others discussed the effect of blindness on the human mind. In Germany, Weissembourg had used signs in relief and taught Mlle Paradis.
Prior to the 18th century, blind beggars existed in such numbers that they struggled for standing room in positions favourable for asking alms. Their very affliction led to their being used as spectacles for the amusement of the populace. The degraded state of the masses of the blind in France attracted the attention of Valentin Haüy. In 1771, at the annual fair of St Ovid, in Paris, an innkeeper had a group of blind men attired in a ridiculous manner, decorated with peacock tails, asses’ ears, and pasteboard spectacles without glasses, in which condition they gave a burlesque concert, for the profit of their employer. This sad scene was repeated day after day, and greeted with loud laughter by the gaping crowds. Among those who gazed at this outrage to humanity was the philanthropist Valentin Haüy, who left the disgraceful scene full of sorrow. “Yes,” he said to himself, “I will substitute truth for this mocking parody. I will make the blind to read, and they shall be enabled to execute harmonious music.” Haüy collected all the information he could gain respecting the blind, and began teaching a blind boy who had gained his living by begging at a churchdoor. Encouraged by the success of his pupil, Haüy collected other blind persons, and in 1785 founded in Paris the first school for the blind (the Institution Nationale des Jeunes Aveugles), and commenced the first printing in raised characters. In 1786, before Louis XVI. and his court at Versailles, he exhibited the attainments of his pupils in reading, writing, arithmetic, geography and music, and in the same year published an account of his methods, entitledEssai sur l’education des aveugles. As the novelty wore off, contributions almost came to an end, and the Blind School must have ceased to exist, had it not been taken, in 1791, under the protection of the state.
The emperor of Russia, and later the dowager empress, having learned of Haüy’s work, invited him to visit St Petersburg for the purpose of establishing a similar institution in the Russian capital. On his journey Haüy was invited by the king of Prussia to Charlottenburg. He took part in the deliberations of the Academy of Sciences in Berlin, and as a result a school was founded there.
Edward Rushton, a blind man, was the projector of the first institution for the blind in England—the School for the Indigent Blind, Liverpool. In 1790 Rushton suggested to the literary and philosophical society of which he was a member, the establishment of a benefit club for the indigent blind. The idea was communicated to his friend, J. Christie, a blind musician, and the latter thought the scheme should also include the instruction of young blind persons. They circulated letters amongst individuals who would be likely to give their assistance, and the Rev. Henry Dannett warmly advocated the undertaking. It was mainly due to his co-operation and zeal that Messrs Rushton and Christie’s plan was carried out, and the Liverpool asylum was opened in 1791. Thomas Blacklock of Edinburgh, a blind poet and scholar, translated Haüy’s work on theEducation of the Blind. He interested Mr David Millar, a blind gentleman, the Rev. David Johnston and others in the subject, and after Blacklock’s death the Edinburgh Asylum for the Relief of the Indigent and Industrious Blind was established (1793). Institutions were established in the United Kingdom in the following order:—
Many of the early institutions were asylums, and to the present day schools for the blind are regarded by the public as asylums rather than as educational establishments. With nearly all these schools workshops were connected. In 1856 Miss Gilbert, the blind daughter of the bishop of Chichester, established a workshop in Berners Street, London, and since that date workshops have been started in many of the provincial towns.
After the beginning of the 19th century, institutions for the blind were established in various parts of Europe. The institution at Vienna was founded in 1804 by Dr W. Klein, a blind man, and he remained at its head for fifty years. That of Berlin was established in 1806, Amsterdam, Prague and Dresden in 1808, Copenhagen in 1811. There are more than 150 on the European continent, most of them receiving aid from the government, and being under government supervision.
The first school for the blind in the United States was founded in Boston, Mass., chiefly through the efforts of Dr John D. Fisher, a young physician who visited the French school. It was incorporated in 1829, and in honour of T.H. Perkins (1764-1854) who gave his mansion to the institution was named the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts Asylum (now School) for the Blind. Aid was granted by the state from the beginning. In 1831 Dr Samuel G. Howe (q.v.) was appointed director, and held that position for nearly forty-four years; being succeeded by his son-in-law Michael Anagnos (d. 1906), who established a kindergarten for the blind at Jamaica Plain, in connexion with the Perkins Institution. Dr Howe was interested in many charitable and sociological movements, but his life-work was on behalf of the blind. One of his most notable achievements was the education of Laura Bridgman (q.v.) who was deaf, dumb and blind, and this has since led to the education of Helen Keller and other blind deaf-mutes. The New York Institution was incorporated in 1831, and the Pennsylvania Institution was founded at Philadelphia by the Society of Friends in 1833. The Ohio was founded at Columbus in 1837, Virginia at Staunton in 1839, Kentucky at Louisville in 1842, Tennessee at Nashville in 1844, and now every state in the Union makes provision for the education of the blind.
Statistics
In England and Wales the total number of persons returned in 1901 as afflicted with blindness was 25,317, being in the proportion of 778 per million living, or 1 blind person in every 1285 of the population. The following tableEngland and Wales.shows that the proportion of blind persons to population has diminished at each successive enumeration since 1851, in which year particulars of those afflicted in this manner were ascertained for the first time. It will, however, be noted that, although the decrease in the proportion of blind in the latest intercensal period was still considerable, yet the rate of decrease which had obtained between 1871 and 1891 was not maintained.—
The following table, which gives the proportions of blind per million living at the earlier age-groups, shows that in the decennium 1891-1901, as also in recent previous intercensal periods, there was a decrease in the proportion of blind children in England and Wales generally; it thus lends support to the contention, in theGeneral Reportfor 1891, that the decrease was due either to the lesser prevalence, or to the more efficient treatment, of purulent ophthalmia and other infantile maladies which may result in blindness.
In 1886 a royal commission on the blind, deaf and dumb was appointed by the government, and, after taking much valuable evidence, issued an exhaustive and instructive report. Following on the practical recommendations submitted by this commission, the Elementary Education (Blind and Deaf Children) Act 1893, was passed, under which the education of the blind became for the first time compulsory. In terms of this statute, the school authorities were made responsible for the provision of suitable elementary education for blind children up to sixteen years of age, and grants of £3, 3s. for elementary subjects, and of £2, 2s. for industrial training, were contributed by the state towards the cost of educating children in schools certified as efficient within the meaning of the Elementary Education Act 1876. The principal aim of the Education Act of 1893 was to supply education in some useful profession or trade which will enable the blind to earn their livelihood and to become useful citizens; but the weak spot was that no provision was made therein for the completion of their education and industrial training after the age of sixteen.
In England and Wales, in 1907, there were twenty-four resident schools and forty-three workshops for the blind. In many of the large towns, day classes for the education of blind children have been established by local education authorities. There are forty-six home teaching societies, who send teachers to visit the blind in their homes, to teach adults who wish to learn to read, to act as colporteurs, to lend and exchange useful books, and to act as Scripture readers to those who are aged and infirm. All the home teaching societies for the blind and many public libraries lend embossed books. The public library at Oxford has nearly 400 volumes of classical works for the use of university students.
A society was instituted in 1847 by Dr W. Moon for stereotyping and embossing the Scriptures and other books in “Moon” type. The type has been adapted to over 400 languages and dialects. After Dr Moon’s death in 1884 the work was carried on by his daughter, Miss Adelaide Moon, and the books are much used by the adult blind.
In 1868 Dr T.R. Armitage, being aware of the great improvements which had been made in the education of the blind in other countries, founded the British and Foreign Blind Association. This association was formed for the purpose of promoting the education and employment of the blind, by ascertaining what had been done in these respects in various countries, by endeavouring to supply deficiencies where these were found to exist, and by attempting to bring about greater harmony of action between the different existing schools and institutions. It gave a new impetus to the education and training of the blind in the United Kingdom. At that time their education was in a state of chaos. The Bible, or a great part of it, had been printed in five different systems. The founders took as an axiom that the relative merits of the various methods of education through the sense of touch should be decided by those and those only who have to rely on this sense. The council, who were all totally or partially blind, spent two years in comparing the different systems of embossed print. In 1869 and 1870 Dr Armitage corresponded with Dr J.R. Russ in regard to the New York Point. No trouble was spared to arrive at a right conclusion. The Braille system was finally adopted, and the association at once became a centre for supplying frames for writing Braille, printed books, maps, music and other educational apparatus for the blind. All books printed by the association are printed from stereotyped plates embossed by blind copyists. About 3000 separate works, varying in length from 1 to 12 volumes, have been copied by hand to meet the requirements of public libraries and individuals. About 700 ladies, who give their services, make the first Braille copy of these books, and they are recopied by blind scribes, chiefly women and girls, who are paid for their work.