magazines. At the same time he wrote poetry which showed great power and beauty. Poetical Sketches, Songs of Experience and Songs of Innocence are among his best works. Most of his other poems are strange and mysterious, and are valuable chiefly because of the wonderful way he had of illustrating and printing them in various colors, which he said had been revealed to him. Among these quaint and now rare editions are Book of Prophecies, Gates of Paradise, Vision of the Daughters of Albion and America. During his life, Blake's genius was little recognized, but many now believe that England has not produced his superior in force and originality. He died in London, Aug. 12, 1827.
Blanc (blän), Jean Joseph Louis, a noted French socialist and historian, was born at Madrid in 1811. He studied at Paris and wrote for several newspapers, and in 1839 founded the Review of Progress, in which he brought out his chief work on socialism, the Organization of Labor. This work, which proposed to establish social workshops connected with the government, and witn an equal profit ti the laborers, was at once widely popular among the French workmen. His next work, The History of Ten Years, was aimed at the royal government. It was followed by his History of the French Revolution. In the revolution of 1848 Blanc took some part, but was soon after accused, without reason, of participating in the civil disturbances which took place in Paris, and he escaped to England. Here he remained many years, engaged in writing, and on the fall of the empire, in 1871, he returned to France. He was elected to the national assembly, and later became a member of the chamber of deputies. He died at Cannes, Dec. 6, 1882.
Blanc, Mont. See Alps.
Blarney Stone, a famous stone in the ruins of old Blarney castle, near Cork, which is said to give to one who kisses it the power of saying agreeable things. From this story comes the word Blarney, a term for complimentary or flattering talk.
Blast Furnace, a furnace in which the burning of fuel is increased greatly by a blast blown from a bellows or by means of fans or other blowing-engines. Blast furnaces are used mainly for smelting iron, copper and lead ores. See Metallurgy.
Blasting, the method of loosening or breaking in pieces masses of rock by means of the explosion of gunpowder or dynamite. It is used in sinking shafts, cutting tunnels, building roads and railroads and clearing channels. Formerly a form of slow burning gunpowder was used, but in 1868 nitroglycerine was used for the first time in boring the Hoosac tunnel. Now similar high explosives are universally used for blasting. Nitroglycerine is an explosive chemical compound made by treating glycerine with nitric and sulphuric acids. It is often mixed with an absorbent material, as sawdust, and dynamite is a general term for high explosives of this kind. The explosive is placed in holes which are drilled in the rock by hand or power drills, and exploded either by slow burning fuses or more generally by an electric spark. The removal of Flood Rock at Hell Gate in the East River, New York, October, 1885, was done by this method, and was the largest blast ever made. The rock covered about nine acres, 21,669 feet of tunnel were made, over 40,000 pounds of high explosives were used, and 80,232 cubic yards of rock excavated.
Blavatsky (blä-vät′ski), Madame Helena Petrovna, a Russian theosophist and founder of the Theosophical Society, was born in Russia in 1831. She was of noble descent and married a Russian councillor of state, from whom, however, she separated early in her married life. Fond of travel, she found her way to Tibet, where she claims she received the theosophical doctrines connected with her name. From 1873 to 1879 she was a resident of New York, when she founded the Theosophical Society and published Isis Unveiled. Her other writings include The Key to Theosophy, The Secret Doctrine, The Voice of Silence, etc. She died in London, May 8, 1891.
Bleaching (from the Anglo-Saxon blaec, pale), the process of whitening textile fabrics (cotton, linen and silk, also wool) by removing coloring matters and substances naturally present, or adhering to them in the course of their manufacture. In early days it used to be the custom to send Scotch linens to be bleached in Holland, and the latter name is still used for a kind of unbleached linen. The term lawn, which continues in use, received its name from being spread on lawns or cultivated grass fields for bleaching purposes. Besides linen and cotton, wool, silk, jute, paper and now even wood are submitted to the bleaching process. The term bleaching is moreover applied to the decolorizing of castor-oil, bees-wax and other fatty materials by exposure to sunlight. Scouring and bleaching are now largely effected by the use of chemicals and volatile liquids, soda ash, resin soaps and more or less caustic alkalis being utilized in place of baths of lime, lye and sulphuric acid. For the bleaching of silk, after scouring, sulphur dioxide is used, or, better still, hydrogen peroxide. As a bleaching agent, chloride of lime or bleaching powder is resorted to for the removal of metallic and other colors in calico-printing.
Bleak House, a novel written by Charles Dickens during 1852-3. This novel
