BLENHEIM. 170 BLENNT. of Bavaria, Au^rust 13, 1704. The battle, how- ever, did not actually take place here, but at a villaue in the vicinity called Hochstiidt. about a mile nortl of the Danube, and is knowni to the Germans by that name. Tlie French had massed their forces on their rin;ht and left wings, thinkinjr the centre sufficiently protected by a iiarniw stream in front. Jlarlborough per- <-eived the weak point in their line, and ordering an assault on the enemy's wings, to hide his real 7)urpose, he with the mass of his army forded the stream, broke the French centre, took them in tlank. and utterly destroyed the hostile army. Of .50.000 French and Bavarians, 14.000 were taken prisoners and 25.000 perished by the sword or in the Danube. The loss of the victors amounted to about 5000 killed and SOOO wounded. Xear Blenheim the French defeated the Aus- trians, .June 19. 1800. BLENHEIM DOG, or JIahlborough Dog. See Spa.mei.. BLENHEIM HOUSE. The seat of the Duke of jMarlliorough. erected near Oxford at the pub- lic expense in the reign of (,iueen Anne as a testi- mony of gratitude to the victor of Blenheim (q.v.). For this purpose £500,000 was voted, but that sum did not sutlice for the completion of the work. The royal estate of Woodstock, in which it stands, was granted at the same time. The building was designed by Sir John Van Brugh, and is a grand monument, picturesque in a heavy way. Tlie length of the j)rincipa! front from wing to wing is 348 feet, with advancing wings and a projecting perron brought to- gether with insweeping curved lines toward the centre. The interior is proportionately mag- nificent, and the collection of paintings is one ot the most valuable in Great Britain. In the grounds are a triumplial arch, and a column 130 feet high, surmounted by a statue of Marlbor- ough. An inscription on the pedestal, written by Bolingbroke. recites the public services of the hero. The ilanor of Blenheim Park embraces a circuit of about 12 miles. BLENKER, blenk'er, Louis (1812-03). A German- American soldier, born in Worms, Ger- many. He was one of the leaders of the German Revolutionary party of 1848, and as commander of the Freischaren (Free Corps), took Budwigs- hafen (Jlay 10. 1840), occupied the city of Worms, and made an unsuccessful attack on Lan- dau. When the Prussian troops entered the Pal- atinate, he fought in several of the engagements in Baden, but after the suppression of the revolu- tion was compelled to flee to Switzerland, whence he emigrated to the United States. Ujion the out- break of the Civil War he organized the Eighth Regiment, New York 'olunteers, of which he became <'olonel. For his gallantry in the first battle of Bull Run he was raised to the rank of brigadier-general of volunteers-. In 1802 he com- manded a division in Western Virginia, and took an active y)art in the battle of Cedar Keys: but soon afterwards was sujierseded by General Sigel. He was mustered out of service March 31, 1803, and died in October of injuries sustained while with his command at Warrenton, Va. BLENTIERHAS'SETT, H.vRMAX (1764- 1831). . wealthy British emigrant to America, accidentally conspicuous through his connection with the ispiracy of Aaron Burr (q.v.) He was born in Hampshire, England ; was educated for the law at Trinity College, Dublin; married liis niece, xdeline Agnew. then only 18 years of age, in 1700; and, in consequence of the social ostracism he thus brought upon himself, broke the entail upon the extensive Blennerhassett es- tates and emigrated to America in 1797. In the following year he bought the island later knowni by his name, in the Ohio, a few miles below Parker^burg, W. Va., where he built a large nuui- sion, and amid luxurious surroundings dispensed a generous hospitality. A man of scholarly tastes, he spent much of his time in sttidy and in the making of original experiments in the natural .sciences. . He was visited bj" Burr in 1803, and was by him involved in the ambitious schemes which, v.ithin the next two years, brought about their ruin. For his conii)licity in these schemes he was twice arrested, but was free from criminal prosecution after Burr's acquittal at Richmond. A large part of his extensive prop- erty, however, passed to his creditors. He was thereafter engaged as a cotton-planter, with lit- tle success, near Port Gibson, Miss. ; removed to Montreal in 1819: practiced law there until 1822, when he returned to Ireland; and, after a few uneventful and unsuccessful years, died on the island of Guernsey. February 1. 1831. His wife was a woman of considerable literary t;ilent, and pu'.lish.cd The Deserted Isle ( 1822), 'and The Widow of the Rock, and Other Poems (1824). She returned to America in 1842 and presented a claim to Congress for a reimbursement of her htishand's losses at Blennerhassett Island, butshe died in New York before final action could be taken. Consult: Sall'ord. Jjife of narmnii lilen- nerhassett (Cincinnati. 1853), and also Safford (editor). The Blennerhassett Papers, Emhodijing the Prirate Journal of Harman lilennerh^ssett (New York. 1S04). An article, "The True Story ot Harman Blennerhassett," by Therese Blenner- hassett-Adams, in Vol. IjXII. of the Century Magazine (New York, 1001), gives for the first time, on the authority of family papers, the real cause of Blennerhassett's emigration to America, together with some details concerning the Blen- nerhassett family. BLEN'NOE.RHCE'A (Gk. /SX^yra, blenna, thick mucous discharge -f- poia, rhoia, a flow, (lux). A t<'rm applied to an unusually copious discharge from any mucous membrane. The term is now but seldom used. In discharges called blennorrhceal, a mixture of epithelial scales is shed in large quantities from the nuicous membrane ( mucous cells ) , and occasion- ally pus-cells. In blennorrhea of the lachrymal sac. or what is called 'watery eye,' if the inner corner of the eye be ))r<'ssed by the fingers, an opaque, milky fluid will appear between the lids, instead of the transparent tears which are pres- ent when the lachrymal apparatus is in health. After intlammation of the genito-urinary mucous membrane, a gleety discharge frequently occurs, and continues for a long iieriod. The treatment consists in establishing a robust state of health by tonies, fresh air, and careful regimen, with •■istringent lotions applied directly to the mucous membrane, to lessen the secretion, and occasional caustic stimuhinls, as the nitrate of silver, to alter the condition of the secreting membrane. See GoNORRiiacA. BLENNY (Lat. hiennius, hicndius, Gk. p^y- voi, blouKis, from pXivva, ft/cd"';. slime, mucus) . A representative of a genua (Blennius) of spiny-
