BODENSTEIN. 218 BODIlf. BODENSTEIN, iKydrn-stln. See Carlstadt. BODE'S (bo'ikz) LAW. An arithmetical rela- tion whioli is supposed to establish a connection between the distances of the planets from the sun. It may be thus stated: Write, in the first instance, a row of fours, and under these place a geometrical series beginning with 3, and in- creasing by the ratio 2, putting the 3 under the second 4 ; and by addition we liave the series 4, 7, 10, etc., which gives nearly the relative dis- tances of the planets from the sun. 4 12 i 24 i 48 4 96 4 192 4 384 4 7 10 16 28 62 100 196 388 Thus, if 10 be taken as the distance of the earth from the sun, 4 will give that of Jlereury, 7 that of Venus, and so forth. The actual rela- tive distances are as follows, making 10 the dis- tance of the earth : Asteroids 26.5 Mercury 3.9 Venus 7.2 Earth 10 Mars 15.2 Jupiter 62.0 Saturn 95.4 Uranus 191.8 Neptune 300.5 Close as is the correspondence between the law and the actual distances, except in case of Nep- tune, no phvsical reason has been given to ac- count for it,' and there is little probability that such exists. Bode's law, therefore, in the pres- ent state of science, is purely empirical. Kep- ler was the first to perceive the law, and Bode argued from it that a planet might be found be- tween Mars and Jupiter, to fill up the gap that existed at the time in the series. The discovery of the asteroids has proved the correctness of this prediction. Similar relations, though expressed in different numbers, are found to subsist in the distances of the satellites of Jupiter and Saturn from their primaries: but these also are doubt- less mere coincidences. BODHISATTVA, bo'd'hS-sat'va. In Bud- dhist theology, a person who is approaching the state of perfect knowledge. BOD'IE, or BOD'YS ISLAND. A sand strip in Dare County, N. *'.. bctwieii Albemarle and Roanoke sound's and the Atlantic Ocean (Map: North Carolina. G 2). The sand is shifting in character, inlets from the ocean appearing and disappearing from time to time. Naghead, a popular seaside resort, is buill upon the site of a former inlet of that name. There is a first order light in latitude 35° 49' N., and longitude 75° 33' W., at a height of 150 feet above sea- level. BODIERON, bo'dl-e'ron (origin obscure). The green rock-trout (Erx(i(iramrmts laqocepha- his) of Puget Sound and northward, known to the Cape Flattery Indians as tsebarqua. It re- sembles other rock-trout, e.specially the boregat, but its flesh is greenish. See Rock-Trout. BODIN, b(Vd,-iN', .Tean (l.-SSO-OO). A French writer on politics, born in .Angers. He was a lecturer on law in Toulouse, and subsequently practiced as an advocate of the Parlenient of Paris, before he devoted himself to the study of political theory. His excteptional talents, and the positive attitude he assumed in support of the doctrine of absolute monarchy, gained him the good will and protection of Henry III., and of his brother, the Due d'Alencon. With all his leanings toward conformity in politics and religion, Bodin was an enemy of persecution, and his antagonism to the course adopted by the ultra-Catholics cost him the favor of bis rovai patrons. At the States-General of Blois in 1576, Bodin, as a representative of the Third Estate from Vermandois, succeeded in securing an in- terim of peace and toleration for the adherents of the Reformed religion. After the assassination of the Duke of Guise in J588, Bodin joined the League, but was expelled not long after for his lukewarm Catholicity, and spent the rest of his life in retirement, lie died in Laon in 15IHi. In his Methodus ad Fucilcm HiKtoridnnii Cufinitio- »,<■*», ]niblished in 15(i0. Bodin already gave evi- dence of a philosophical spirit and a deep store of learning; the appearance, ten years later, of his nix livres de la reptibliijue a.ssured him al- most from the first the leading place among the political writers of the Renaissance, not even excepting Machiavelli. By his vast erudition and bold grasp on the principles underlying historical fact, Bodin, in the estimation of modern authori- ties, deserves a place with Aristotle and Montes- quieu as one of the three greatest iiolitical phi- losophers in history. His most valuable contri- bution to the science of society and statecraft is the conception of sovereignty which he was the first clearly to formulate and to develop. Start- ing with tiie family as the unit of society, Bodin defines the State as a collection of families united by common interests and common possessions living under the right authority of a sovereign. This sovereign is described as power 'supreme and perpetual, absolute, and subject to no law.' The kinds of government are three: democracy, aristocracy, and monarchy or despotism, accord- ing as the sovereign power reposes in the mass of the people, in a few, or in one ; mixed govern- ments there can be none, since in the nature of things the sovereign is one j<nd indivisible. Of the three forms of government Bodin much pre- fers monarchy, and inasmuch as he endows his ruler with all the gifts of Plato's philosopher- king, he finds it easy to bestow on him the iiill attributes of sovereignty. Custom, law, the will of the people as expressed through their parlia- ments and magistrates, are undoubtedly of great importance; but in the last instance, the King is subject to no restraint save that of his own con- science. Equally celebrated with his theoiy of sovereignty is Bodin's analysis of the effect of climate on society and government. In general he finds that the iiations of the north are charac- terized by the predominance of physical strength, those of the south by mental power, those of the temperate zones by a hapjiy mixture of the two. Ill the north, the dominant force is brute will; in the south, superstition: in the central regions, reason. The ideal commoiiwealtli would embrace the entire world, in which the northern peoidea should supply the workers iind figliters, the southern peoples the jiriests, poets, and artists, and the inhabitants of milder climates the leg- islators, magistrates, and judges. The ro//o- quiinn Heptnidnmcn'S, published only in 1847, is a plea for toleration. Seven men — a Roman Clatholic. a Lutheran, a Zwinglian, a ,Tcw, a Mo- hammedan, an Epicurean, and a Theist — debate on the subject of what is the true religion, and arrive at the conclusion that it is best for each man to live in aceordiince with his own belief, provided his creed be not ojiposed to puldic mo- ralilv and the welfare of the State. Far aliead of his times in !iis liberality of view with regard
