Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 02.djvu/121

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BOltlBAZINE 99 BONAPABTE tected by embankments, to prevent which substantial walls have been constructed. After Madras, Bombay is the oldest of the British possessions in the East, hav- ing been ceded by the Portuguese in 1661. Fop. about 1,000,000. BOMBAZINE, a mixed silk and woolen twilled stuff, the warp consisting of silk and the weft of worsted. Black bomba- zine has been much in use for mourning garments. BOMBID.^, a family of hymenopterous insects, containing the humble or bumble bees. BOMB LANCE, a harpoon used in whale fishing which carries a charge of explosive material in its head. In one form of the weapon the arrangement is that when the harpoon strikes the fish, the bar, which is pivoted obliquely in the head of the instrument, shall serve to release a spring acting on the hammer, which then explodes the cap and bursts the charge chamber. BOMBON, a large, fresh water lake in Luzon, Philippine Islands, about 50 miles S. of Manila. It is 105 square miles in area. There is a small island in the cen- ter, from which rises the volcano of Taal, the lowest in the world, its height being only 850 feet. The waters of the lake find an outlet to the sea through the Pansipit river. BOMBYX, the genus of moths to ■which the silk worm moth {B. mori) belongs. BONA FIDES, literally, good faith; honesty, as distinguished from mala fides (bad faith). The law requires all per- sons in their transactions to act with good faith; and a contract, when the parties have not acted bona fide, is void at the pleasure of the innocent party. BONAPARTE (pronounced in Italian in four syllables; in French and Eng- lish in three), the name of a famous family, which was spelt Buonaparte by the Emperor Napoleon and his father till 1796. As the name of Bonaparte oc- curs in Corsica as early as the 10th cen- tury, it is probable that the island may have been their original home. In the 16th century mention is again found of the Bonapartes in Corsica, where in Ajaccio they occupied a respectable po- sition as a patrician or leading family. In the 18th century this family was rep- resented by three male descendants, all residing at Ajaccio; the archdeacon, LuciEN Bonaparte; his brother, Napo- leon Bonaparte; and his nephew, Charles. Charles Bonaparte, father of the Emperor Napoleon, was born at Ajaccio in 1746; studied law at Pisa; and mar- ried, in 1768 — without the consent of his uncles — a beautiful young pati-ician lady, named Letizia Ramolino. In 1768 he removed with his family to Corte, in order to assist General Paoli in defend- ing the island against the French inva- sion. As the French prevailed, and further resistance was useless, Charles Bonaparte attached himself to the napoleon BONAPARTE French interest, and in 1771 was in- cluded by Louis XV. in the election of 400 Corsican families to form a nobility. In 1773 Charles Bonaparte was ap- pointed royal counselor and assessor of the town and Province of Ajaccio. In 1777 he was a member of the deputa- tion of Corsican nobles to the Court of France. In this capacity he resided for some time in Paris, where he gained for his son Napoleon, through the interest of Count Marbceuf, a free admission into the military school at Brienne. In 1779 he returned to Corsica, and in 1785 went to Montpelier, dying the same year. By his marriage with Letizia he left eight children : Joseph Bonaparte, King of Spain; Napoleon (q. v.), Emperor of the French; LuciEN Bonaparte, Prince of Canino; Maria Anna (afterward named Elise) , Princess of Lucca and Piombino, wife of Prince Bacciochi; Louis Bonaparte, King of Holland;