BLISTEB-BEETIiE. 182 BLOCH. ture, and sufficient to cause death. Externally, they are employed as a blistering anient. There are' various medicinal preparations of blistering- flies, such as ceraie of cnnthariJcs. which con- tains 320 parts of cantharides to ISO parts yel- low wax, ISO parts of resin, 220 parts of lard, and 150 parts of oil of turpentine; tincture of cuittharidcs, procured by digesting blistering- fiies in proof-spirit, etc.; but that most com- monly emploved is plaster of cantharides, or hhs- teriny-ylaster, obtained by heating and strain- ing SO parts of cerate of cantharides, and melting 1000 parts of Burgundy pitch with the strained liquid. See Blisters; Meloid.is (for bibliog- rapliy); and illustration on Colored Plate of Beetles. BLISTERS (akin to 0. Dutch Uuyster, blis- ter- cf Must, blow). Medicinal agents which, when applied to the skin, raise the cuticle into small vesicles filled with serous fluid. They are applied either in the form of plasters or m a fluid state, as suits the convenience of the per- son or part, and have for their object the estab- lishing of a counter-irritation or diversion of morbific action from a part in which it cannot be reached by remedies, or from some organ where it may do permanent mischief, to some more superficial part of the body. The most com- mon blister in use is made of cantharides (see Blister-Beetle) mixed with a convenient pro- portion of lard and wax to form the blistering ointment of ordinary use. If applied too long it produces distressing afl'ection of the urinary blad- der, and may produce sores which are diflicult to heal Four "hours are generally requisite to pro- duce the desired effect. Mustard (^inupis nigra) is frequently used, but seldom left on sufficiently lonf to produce blistering. Its effect may be limited by applying white of egg to the blistered suvfacfe. C'roton-oil. strong liquor amnionuT. tar- tar-«ftetic ointment, and many others, are used in practice. If the occasion for the blister passes off, the vesicles should be opened freely, and thelr fluid contents allowed to escape, the vesicated surface being then dressed with some cold cream or lard. But if it should appear desirable to promote a discharge from the skin, the raised cuticles may be snipped oti, and the blister either applied again at intervals, or some stimulating ointment, as savine ointment, should be used. Blisters are especially useful in inflammations of serous membranes." as pleurisy, in glandular tumors, in ind(dent ulcers, and for the relief of muscular pain, as well as for ohl joint alloctnms. The term blisters is also commonly applied to elevations of the cuticle filled with serum or blood. BLISTEB-STEEL. Sec Iron and Steel. BLITHE'DALE BOMANCE, The. Haw- thorne's novel on Uie Brook Farm experiment, wOiich is rciiarded by :lr. Uowells as in some re- spects the finest of "the author's w^orks. BLIZZABD. A severe, blinding storm of fine dry snow, with a freezing wind. This word is popularly said to have originated in the United States, and is in fact on record there as early as 1830 or 1S40; but more recent investigations have shown that it is used in analogous senses in the local dialect of Lancashire, England, where it can be traced back for several centuries and is usually spelled hJeasard. It came to be widely employed in 1880-81 in connection with the severe storms in the Western States, and has been- in almost universal use since tiie great storm of March, 1888, when snow fell to the depth oi three feet over the Atlantic States and New England, and was drifted by gales of wind for several days into drifts of five, ten, and twenty feet deep, causing a general suspension of tratTic. A simi- lar storm occurred in eastern Virginia and Jlary- land in Feliruary, 1898. and one is also recorded for the neighborhood of Norfolk, Va., in the early part of the last century. The most destructive- blizzards, because of the intense cold, occur in the region between D.ikota and JSlissouri and Ohio. Similar storms of snow and wind are also fre- (]uent in (ireat Britain. These storms correspond very nearly to the purf/a of Siberia and the hiiraii of Russia."^ They are due essentially to the rapid southward flow "of a mass of cold air pushing out- ward from a large region of high barometric pressure. They have a well-defined front edge, which advances with great regularity, the rate of progress being by no means so rapid as that of the wind itself, "whence we infer that the wind at the front must be rising upward and flowing- over. The general rate of progress is therefore due, not to the wind as such, but to the differ- ences of density and pressure prevailing in the atmosphere on either side of the front. On this account it has become possible for the officials of the United States Weather Bureau to forecast the advance of a blizzard with considerable accu- racy, and very few cases occur in which the citi- zens are not abundantly forewarned. BLIZZABD STATE, South Dakota. See States, Popular Names of. BLOAT (Icel. hlotna, to become soft, UautTy soft, wet). HovEN, or Tympanites, A con- dition in cattle or sheep, in which, owing to- the formation of gas in the rumen, or first stom- ach, this organ becomes painfully distended. The trouble frequently occurs from eating too much green alfalfa, clover, or other legumes. Eating undue quantities of grain sometimes produces the same efi'ect. Cases of bloat are most fre- quent among animals that are unaccustomed to grazing on green legumes. Relief may usuall.v be attained in niild eases by administering liberal doses of cathartics. One pint of linseed-oil or a pound of Epsom salts w-ou!d be a suitable dose for a cow ami about one-fifth that amount for a sheep, if simple remedies fail, the breathing be- comes distressed, and the animal stupid, the gas may with safety be allowed to escape by air ex- ternal opening made with a canula and trochar, or with a large pocket or tabic knife, at a ])oint intermediate between the last rib. the lumbar vertebra-, and the prominence of tlic haunch. BLOCH, bloG, Jean de ( 1830-1902) . A Polish financier, economist, and writer on military affairs. He was horn at Raduiii. of .lewish par- ents. He was administrator, under (iovernment appdintment. of the entire railway svsteni con- necting the Black Sea and the Baltic, and holder of the concessions for numerous lines. He was active in promoting an industrial movement in Poland. This he furthered by his large interests in the lumber and sugar trades, of which he be- came the actual head. He was constantly en- gaged in scienlilic and philanthropic enterprises among the poorer i-lasses. He first Ijecame known til the world at large, however, as a ])ropagandist of universal peace, partly by hia articles in
