BLACKSNAKE. 147 BLACKSTONE. Objects of s])ecial animosity are tlie copper- head and rattlesnake, wliose trail it follows by scenting, like a doj;; and having overtaken one of these sluggish re[)tiles it leaps upon it, avoiding the stroke by its swiftness, catches it by the back of the neck, and wrap])ing itself about it, crushes, bites, and shakes the life out of it, after which it swallows it whole. "The con- stricting power of the blacksnake," according to Cope (Report United States Xational iluseum, 1898, p. 795), "is not sufficient to cause incon- venience to a man, but might seriously oppress a child. The pressure e.xercised by a strong indi- vidual wound around the arm is sufficient to cause the muscles to ache, but it is easy to unwind the snake with the free hand and arm. The blacksnake is harmless, and its bite, which it rarely inflicts, only amounts to a seri- ous scratch. . . . It is courageous, and will sometimes attack, moving forward with the head raised one to two feet above the ground. It, however, quickly turns about and runs if the enemy preserves a bold front." Large ones are easily killed by quite small dogs, and among its enemies are all the camivora, especially, per- haps, the skunk and badger. It is inclined to frequent a limited area continuously. THE BLACKSNAKE. a, top of head: b, under side; c, profile; d, face; e, ar- raDgement of body-scales. These serpents hide away in hollow stumps and underground dens at the approach of cold weather, where often several will entangle them- selves into a ball for mutual comfort and remain torpid imtil spring. They breed during the sum- mer, the female — which is larger and darker than the male — laying 15 or 20 eggs in a hollow in a sunny bank, or amid the dry dust of a decaying stump, or perhaps within an old dungheap, and remaining near until the young hatch, when she takes charge of them and defends them until they have reached a considerable size. This snake is tamable, but individuals difl'er in tem- perament and docility, some showing much in- telligence and kindliness, while others are irasci- ble. Several other species of the genus belong to the .Southwestern United States, Mexico, and the West Indies, and the Texan whipsnake (q.v.) is a near relation. The chain-snake is sometimes called 'mountain blacksnake.' Other blackish serpents known as blacksnakes include a colu- brine of .Jamaica {Uci/ophis atcr), the death- adders (q.v.) of .ustralia and Tasmania, and some others, notable for dark hues. BLACK SNAKEROOT. See Cohosh. BLACK'STONE'. A town in Worcester County, Mass., 2 miles northwest of Woonsoeket, R. I.;" on the Black.stone River and on the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad (Map: Massachusetts, D 3). It has a public library •nd extensive manufactures of cotton, woolen. rubber, and felt goods. The government is ad- ministered by town-meetings held three times a year to pass on matters relating to appro- priations, bridges, highways, etc. Settled about 1700, Blackstone was separated from Mendon in 1845, and named in honor of William Blackstone, the first settler on the site of Boston. Popula- tion, in 1890, G138; in 1900, 5721. Consult History of Worcester County (2 vols., Boston, 1879). BLACKSTONE, William ( ? -1C75). An early colonist in New England. He was the first white man to settle on the site of Boston, Mass. (1G23), but sold his land in 1034 and be- came the first white settler within the limits of the present Rhode Island. Consult Winsor, Memorial History, Vol. I. (Boston, 1880). BLACKSTONE, Sir William (1723-80). A celebrated conuiientator on English law. He was the son of a silk mercer in London, and was born there .July 10, 1723. At the age of 15, having obtained a scholarship from the Charterhouse School, where he was educated, he was sent to Pembroke Hall, Oxford. There he was fortunate enough to obtain a second scholarship, and re- mained till, in 1744. he was admitted a fellow of All Souls' College. During this period he divided his time between Oxford and London, attending the courts of law with the view of qualifying himself for his future profession. In 1746. at the age of 23, he was called to the bar, but failed to attract either notice or practice. In 1749 he was appointed recorder of Wallingford, in Berk- shire; but in 1753 he went to Oxford, where he delivered a course of academic lectures upon the law of England. A few years later, a Mr. Viner, himself a legal author, having left a sum of mone.v to endow a chair of English law in the University of Oxford, Blackstone was in 1758 appointed first Vinerian professor. The follow- ing year Blackstone retui-ned to Westminster; and as the doctrines which he had taught as a lecturer had been such as to commend him to the notice of the Tory Government of that day, he obtained its patronage, and in 1761 was made a King's Counsel. Shortly after he was appointed principal of New Inn Hall, Oxford. Other hon- ors followed fast, and he became successively member of Parliament, bencher of the Middle Temple, and Solicitor-General to the Queen. In 1765 Blackstone published the first volume of his lectures, and the remaining three volumes be- tween that date and 1769. These lectures form his celebrated Commentaries on the Laics of England. His practice continuing to increase, he resigned, in 1706, his Oxford appointments. Four years later he was offered the solicitor-gen- eralship, and after declining it was knighted and made a justice of the Court of Common Pleas. The remaining years of his life were spent in the discharge of his duties as a judge. He died February 14, 1780, at the age of .57. The fame of Blackstone rests entirely upon his Commentaries. His other literary works were inconsiderable, and his merits as a pleader or judge were not such as, of themselves, to have made his reputation outlive hira. As a com- mentator he had many excellences. His style was in general clear and gracefully ornate, and his illustrations pleasing and felicitous. So long as he confined himself to exposition — to the accurate statement in scholarlike English of
