Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 02.djvu/153

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.
LEFT
131
RIGHT

BOUCHER 131 BOXTGHTON BOUCHER, FRANCOIS (bo-cha'), a French painter, was bom in Paris, Sepf. 29, 1703; studied at Rome, and became a member of the Academy (1734), and painter to J.ouis XV. (1765). He was an artist of much ability, and equally facile in the production of figure or land- scape pictures. The number of his pic- tures and drawings is said to have ex- ceeded 10,000; he also executed engrav- ings. At his death, May 30, 1770, he was Director of the French Academy. BOUCHER DE CRt:VECCEUR DE PERTHES, JACQUES (bo-sha de krav- ker de part'), a French anthropologist and writer, born in Rethel, Sept. 10, 1788. Through his father, an active botanist, he came under the notice of Napoleon, and was employed in numerous missions to Italy, Germany, Austria, and Hungary. From the Restoration he lived at Abbe- ville and there he died, Aug. 5, 1868. Only his works on the archaeology of man are of consequence now. The first, "On the Creation" (5 vols., 1839-1841), already brought him some reputation, but his long investigations on stone weapons and other remains of early human civilization in the Tertiary and older Quaternary Diluvial strata made him fa- mous. Other works of great value are "Celtic and Antediluvian Antiquities" (3 -ols., 1846-1865), and "Antediluvian Man and His Works" (1860). B0UCHES-DU-Rh6nE (bosh-du-ron; "Mouths of the Rhone"), a department of the S. of France, in ancient Provence. Chief town, Marseilles. Area, 1,971 square miles. The Rhone is the principal river. The climate is generally very warm; but the department is liable to the mistral, a cold and violent N. E. wind from the Cevennes ranges. Much of the soil is unfruitful, but the fine climate makes the cultivation of figs, olives, nuts, almonds, etc., very successful. The manu- factures are principally soap, brandy, olive oil, chemicals, vinegar, scent, leather, glass, etc. The fisheries are nu- merous and productive. Pop. about 806,000. BOUCICAULT, DION (bo-se-ko'), a dramatic author and actor, born in Dub- lin, Dec. 26, 1822; educated at Lon- don University. He produced his first dramatic work, "London Assurance," be- fore he was_ 19 years old. Its great suc- cess determined his career in life. Once embarked in the profession of a play writer, Boucicault produced piece after piece in rapid succession. "Old Heads and Young Hearts," "Love in a Maze," "Used Up," "Louis XL," "The Corsican Brothers," "The Streets of London." "Flying Scud," "After Dark," "The Shaughraun," "Kerry," and "Colleen Bawn" are the most popular of his works. As a comedian, especially in his own plays, he was highly successful. From 1853 to 1860 he was in the United States, where his popularity was scarcely less than it had been in England. He died in New York City, Sept. 18, 1890. BOUDINOT, ELIAS (bo'di-not), A distinguished American patriot and phil- anthropist, born in Philadelphia, May 2, 1740; was President of the Continental Congress (1782), and first President of the American Bible Society (1816-1821). He wrote "The Second Advent of the Messiah," "The Age of Revelation," a re- ply to Thomas Paine, "The Star in the West," an attempt to identify the Ameri- can Indians with the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. He died in Burlington, N. J., Oct. 24, 1821. BOUGAINVILLE, LOUIS ANTOINE DE (bo-gan-vel'), a French navigator, born in Paris, Nov. 11, 1729. At first a lawyer, he afterward entered the army and fought bravely in Canada, under the Marquis of Montcalm, and it was prin- cipally owing to his exertions, in 1758, that a body of 5,000 French withstood successfully a British army of 16,000 men. After the battle of Sept. 13, 1759, in which Montcalm was killed and the fate of the colony decided, Bougainville returned to France and served with dis- tinction in the campaign of 1761, in Ger- many. After the peace he entered the navy, and became a distinguished naval officer. In 1763 he undertook the com- mand of a colonizing expedition to the Falkland Islands, but as the Spaniards had a prior claim the project was aban- doned. Bougainville then made a voyage round the world, which enriched geog- raphy with a number of new discoveries. In the American War of Independence he distinguished himself at sea, but with- drew from the service after the Revolu- tion. He died in Paris, April 31, 1811. BOUGAINVILLE ISLAND, an island in the Pacific Ocean, belonging to the Solomon group (area, 4,000 square miles). It is separated from Choiseul Island by Bougainville Strait. BOUGAINVILLAEA (from Bougain- ville, the French navigator), a genus of nyctaginacese (nyctagos). They are na- tives of the tropics and sub-tropics of both hemispheres, although they have been transplanted to hothouses and gai'dens in the milder temperate climates. BOUGHTON, GEORGE HENRY, an English-American landscape and genre nainter, born near Norwich, England, in