BLACKSTONE RIVER BLACKWELL 685 the common pleas until his death. His " Com- mentaries on the Laws of England " were pub- lished in 4 vols., at Oxford, 1765-'9. Before the publication of this work there was no modern treatise presenting as a whole the system of English jurisprudence. Blackstone was compelled to collect his materials from an immense mass of statutes, reports, digests, abridgments, old charters, and ancient treatises. He succeeded in weaving out of this incongru- ous mass so methodical a whole, set forth in so easy and perspicuous a style, that his work continues, both in England and America, to be the first text book placed in the hands of the student of law. In parliament Blackstone was a uniform supporter of the government. Sev- eral American editions of the " Commentaries " have been published, the most noted being those by Prof. Tucker of Virginia, Judge Shars- wood of Pennsylvania, and Judge Cooley of Michigan. Prof. Tucker's was accompanied with an elaborate exposition of his views of the constitution of the United States. BLACKSTONE RIVEK, a stream which rises in Paxton and Holden townships, Worcester co., Mass., and flows S. E. into the state of Rhode Island, where it is called the Pawtucket. It affords abundant water power, and for a great part of its course flows through an almost con- tinuous village of manufacturing establishments. The scenery of the narrow valley is attractive. The Blackstone canal, extending through it from Worcester to Providence, was completed in 1829, but was superseded by the introduction of railroads, only portions of it being now in use for water power and irrigation. BLACK. VOMIT, the last vomiting, in many cases of yellow fever, of a dark mucous-looking fluid, like coffee grounds. It is regarded as a fatal symptom. The disease itself is sometimes called by this name. The blood is blackened and partially coagulated by a free acid, perhaps acetic and hydrochloric acids, which form in the system. BLACKWALL, a suburb of London, at the junc- tion of the Lea with the Thames, 4 m. E. S. E. of St. Paul's. It has founderies, ship yards, and the India docks. An elevated railway connects it with the city. BLACK WALNUT. See WALNUT. BLACK WARRIOR, a river of Alabama, rises in the N. E. part of the state, flows S. W. and S., and empties into the Tombigbee just above Demopolis, Marengo co. Its course is through the valuable Warrior coal field; iron is found along its banks. In the S. E. corner of Walker county it receives its principal tributary, Mul- berry fork. Above this point it is also known as Locust fork. The river is navigable for steamboats to Tuscaloosa, at which point the water during floods rises to a height of 50 feet. The length of the main stream is nearly 150 m. BLACKWATER, a river of Ireland, rising in the N. E. part of county Kerry, flows E. across county Cork and the 8. W. part of county Waterford, and enters the sea at Youghnl harbor. Its course of 100 miles is through a carboniferous limestone basin, amid beautiful scenery. It abounds in salmon. BLACKWELL, Alexander, a Scottish physician, born in Aberdeen about the beginning of the 18Eh century, executed in Sweden, Aug. 9, 1748. He practised medicine in London, set up a printing establishment, and becoming bankrupt in 1734 was supported by the pro- ceeds of the "Curious Herbal," which he pub- lished in 1737-'9, illustrated by his wife. He subsequently published a work upon the im- provement of barren and sterile lands and the drainage of marshes, which attracted the at- tention of the Swedish government. Having been summoned to Sweden, he was engaged for some time in putting his theories into practice, but was convicted of conspiring against the royal family, and beheaded. BLACKWELL, Elizabeth, an American physician, born in Bristol, England, in 1821. Her father emigrated with his family in 1831, and settled in New York, but removed in 1837 to Cincin- nati, Ohio, where he died a few months after- ward, leaving a widow and nine children al- most destitute. Elizabeth, then 17 years old, opened a school, which she conducted success- fully for several years. Having resolved to be- come a physician, she obtained a situation as governess in the family of Dr. John Dixon of Asheville, N. 0., where she remained a year, having access during that time to a medical library, and receiving from Dr. Dixon some direction as to her reading. At the end of the year she removed to Charleston, S. C., still acting as a teacher of music, but pursuing her studies. She next went to Philadelphia, and passed six months in study under Dr. Allen and Dr. Warrington of that city. During that time she made formal application to the med- ical schools of Philadelphia, New York, and Boston, for admission as a student. In each in- stance the request was denied, on the ground of a want of precedent for such an admission, and of the impropriety of such an innovation upon established custom. She was finally, however, admitted to the medical school at Geneva, N. Y., where she took her degree of M. D. in regular course in January, 1849. During her connec- tion with the college, when not in attendance there upon lectures, she pursued a course of clinical study in Blockley hospital, Philadelphia. The spring after her graduation she went to Paris, and remained six months as a student in the Materuite hospital, devoting herself to the study and practice of midwifery. The next autumn she was admitted as a physician to walk the hospital of St. Bartholomew in Lon- don. After nearly a year spent there she re- turned to New York, where she has since prac- tised her profession with success. In 1852 she published a treatise entitled "The Laws of Life." In 1854, with her sister Emily, she opened the New York infirmary for women and children, and in 1859 again visited London, and delivered a course of medical lectures.
