Natural Resources of Indiana (Indianapolis, 1895-1900).
BLATH′WAYT, William (c.1649-1717). An English statesman. He was born at Saint Martins-in-the-Fields. He accompanied James II. and his army to Salisbury in the capacity of Secretary of War, in November, 1688, and seems to have conducted nearly all the affairs of the army. Owing to his linguistic attainments he became a favorite with William III., whom he accompanied on his campaign in Flanders. He was a member of Parliament almost uninterruptedly from 1685 to 1710.
BLAT′TIDÆ (Lat. blatta, cockroach, moth). A family of cursorial Orthoptera, including the ordinary cockroach. The Blattidæ are the oldest known insects, being found as fossils in the Middle Silurian of France. See Cockroach.
BLAUBOK, blou′bōk, or Bluebuck (Dutch blauwbok, blue buck). A large hippotragine antelope (Hippotragus leucophæus) of South Africa, distinguished by its glaucous hue. Its long, stout horns sweep back from its forehead in a sabre-like curve, and are effective weapons. Closely related are the magniticent, jet-black sable antelope (Hippotragus niger), the equine antelope (Hippotragus equinus), and Baker's antelope (q.v.) (Hippotragus Bakeri). All have been growing rare, and it is feared that since 1900 the blaubok has been extinct.
BLAURER, blou′rēr, or BLARER, Ambrosius (1492-1564). A German religious reformer. He was born at Constance, and studied at the University of Tübingen. In 1515 he entered the Benedictine monastery at Alpirsbach, where he afterwards became prior. In consequence of his advocacy of the doctrines of Luther, however, he was deposed in 1521. He then became a Protestant preacher at Constance, and was sent to regulate the ecclesiastical affairs at Memmingen (1528) and Ulm (1531). In 1534 Duke Ulrich summoned him to Württemberg, where, during a period of four years, he introduced the principles of the Reformation into the Church, his sphere of activity embracing 62 towns and 450 villages. In consequence of his leaning toward Zwingli, however, he was, at the instigation of the extreme Lutherans, dismissed from his office. Afterwards he expounded the new doctrine in Isny, Lindau, and Augsburg. In addition to numerous letters, which are valuable as historical documents, he left a number of writings bearing upon the Reformation. For his biography, consult: Keim (Stuttgart, 1860); Pressel (Elberfeld, 1861).
BLAUVELT, blou′vĕlt, Lillian (c.1870—). An American singer, born in Brooklyn, N. Y. She early appeared as a violinist, subsequently studied vocal music with Bouhy in Paris, and appeared at the Théâtre de la Monnaie, Brussels, in Faust and other operas. Afterwards she sang in concert and oratorio, and has continued solely in those fields. Her début in England was made in 1898 at the Queen's Hall symphony concerts. She has sung throughout Europe, in the United States, and in Canada.
BLAVATSKY, blȧ-väts′kê, Helena Petrovna Hahn-Hahn (1831-91). A Russian traveler and theosophist, born in Ekaterinoslav, Southern Russia. She traveled widely, penetrated to Tibet, and originally dealt much in spiritism and the occult. In 1873 she came to the United States, where, with H. S. Olcott, she in 1875 founded the Theosophical Society. In 1879, under her direction, a branch of the society was organized at Bombay, India, and the official journal, The Theosophist, was established. She met numerous 'adepts' in India and elsewhere, and did somewhat to popularize the content of Buddhist philosophy alike among foreigners and native Indians; but the imposture of her miraculous pretensions has been adequately demonstrated by V. S. Solovyoff in his work, A Modern Priestess of Isis (trans. by W. Leaf, London, 1895), and by the investigations of the Society for Psychical Research in 1884. Although but slightly acquainted with Sanskrit, she wrote voluminously on the ancient esoteric doctrines of India. The accredited text-book of her disciples as her Isis Unveiled (1876), which displays the subtitle, "A Master Key to the Mysteries of Ancient and Modern Science and Theology." Consult Olcott, Old Diary Leaves (New York, 1895). See Theosophy.
BLAY′DON. A coal-mining town in Durham, England, on the right bank of the Tyne, 4½ miles west of Newcastle (Map: England, E 2). Its municipal life is active; it owns its water-supply, maintains a technical school, and has fine modern public buildings. Population, in 1891, 13,200; in 1901, 19,600.
BLAZE DE BURY, blȧz′ de bụ′rē̇′, Ange Henri (1813-88). A French author. He was born in Avignon, and was a son of the author Castil Blaze. In 1839 he published his first comedy in verse, Le Souper chez le commandeur, the first of a series of contributions to the Revue des Deux Mondes, with which publication he was associated for forty years. Under the influence of the Romanticists he devoted himself to the study of German literature, and in 1840 published his translation of Goethe's Faust (14th ed. 1880), a work which obtained a wide circulation. His other works on the German poets include Ecrivains et poètes de l'Allemagne (1846); Les poésies de Goethe (1862); Les écrivains modernes de l'Allemagne (1868). His wife, Madame Pauline Rose Stewart Blaze de Bury, was well known as a writer under the pseudonyms 'Arthur Dudley' and 'Maurice Flassan.' She also published, under her own name, Voyage en Autriche, en Hongrie et en Allemagne (1851).
BLA′ZONRY. See Heraldry.
BLEACHING (AS. blæcan, to grow pale, Ger. bleichen, to whiten; cf. E. bleak, Ger. bleich, pale, AS. blāe, blæc, pale, shining). The art of removing coloring matters from animal and vegetable substances, leaving the material uninjured but of a light or white color, so that, as in the case of fabrics, they may be readily dyed to some desired shade. The origin of bleaching is unknown, but the art is believed to have been practiced before the Christian Era, and the 'fine linen' mentioned in the Bible is supposed to have been bleached. It is thought to have been practiced by the ancient Babylonians, Egyptians, and other Eastern peoples, and was for the most part applied to vegetable fabrics, such as flax, hemp, and cotton, or the cloths made from them, although the bleaching of silk has long been known in China. Originally, the atmosphere and the sun's rays alone were used for bleaching, and the plan followed was to spread the cloth on a grass-field
