Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 03.djvu/257

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BOER. 225 BOETHItTS. stern tenets of early Calvinism, a belief wliieh coloreil their whole life. When, in 1S14, Capa Colony was ceded by Holland to England, the Knglish administrators failed entirely to under- stand the people with whom they bad to deal, and they increased the hostility which the Dutch natu- rally felt for the English by their drastic legis- lation against practices which were a part of the religion as well as the life of these simple people, possessing many of the faults as well as many of the virtues of a primitive state of society. As a result there was a series of treks or emigrations, by which the more determined Boers sought to free themselves from British control. The first considerable movement of this kind was the 'great trek' of 1836. The Boers at first attempted to establish themselves in Natal, but they came into collision with the native Kaf- firs, who were under British protection, and when Natal became an English colony they removed be- yond the Drakenberg Mountains, taking posses- sion of an extensive region on both sides of the Vaal, the principal affluent of the Orange River. Here they founded two states, the Transvaal or South African Republic, in the north, and the Orange Free State in the soiith. The Boers be- lieved in their right to enslave the natives, and the abolition of slavery under English rule was one of the grievances that led to the trek. This attitude of the Boers won them the hatred of the native peoples. The Sand River Convention of 1852 between commissioners for the Cape Gov- ernment and for the Boers gave autonomy to the Transvaal, with a reservation against the practice of slavery. The convention of Bloem- fontein two years later brought the Orange Free State into being. The Boers have continued to be, for the most part, farmers clinging with the utmost conservatism to their antiquated re- ligious ideas and their primitive mode of life. Their tenacity of purpose and stubborn inde- T^endence in opposition to the British power in South Africa have won respect for the rugged virtues of their character, although the rudeness of the mass of this people seems to separate them from modem currents of life. The original roughness of the Boer character, however, has been greatl.y modified in the towns and among those Afrikanders who remained in the more cosmopolitan Cape Colony. For the later and more detailed history of the Boers, see Cape Colony ; Or.vxge Rit:e Colony ; Socth Africa ; and Tbansv.val. Consult also: Theal, Histort/ of the Boers in South Africa (London, 1888) : David Livingstone, The Transvaal Boers (Edinburgh, 1881) ; F. W. Chesson, The Dutch Boers and Slavery in the Transvaal (London, 18C9). BOEBHAAVE, biior'hii've, Hermann (1GG8- 1738). A Dutch physician. He was bom atVoor- hout. near Leyden. In 1082 he went to Leyden to become a clergyman, and studied Greek, Lat- in, Hebrew, Chaldee, ecclesiastical and secu- lar history, and mathematics. In 1689 he was made doctor of philosophy, and in 1600 began the study of medicine. Though mainly self-edu- cated in medicine — as in chemistry and botany — he gained his doctor's degree at Harderwyck, 1693, and returned to Leyden, where, in 1701, he was appointed lectirer on the theory of medi- cine. In his inaugural lecture he recommended to the students the ancient method of Hippocrates in medicine: but in 1703 his views had become greatly enlarged, and he elaborated various mechanical and chemical hypotheses to explain the diseases of the body, especially in the case of the fluids. In 1709 he was elected professor of medicine and botany in the place of Hotton. .^bout this time he published the two works on which his great fame chielly rests: Institutiones iledic(F in Vsus Annuce I'xercitationis Domesti- cos (1708), and Aphorismi de Cognoscendis et Cnrandis ^forJJis, in Usum Doctrinw Mediew (1709), both of which went through numerous editions, and were translated into various Euro- pean languages, and also into .rabic. In the first work — a model of comjjrehensive and methodical learning — he gives a complete outline of his system, including a history of the art of medicine, an account of the preliminary knowl- edge necessary to a physician, and a description of the parts and functions of the body, the signs of health and disease, etc. : in the second, he gives a classification of diseases, with their causes, modes of treatment, etc. Boerhaave also rendered important services to botany. Of his best lectures are those delivered on his resigna- tion of the office of rector of the university, De Comparando C'erto in Physicis (Leyd., 1714), and De Honore Medici, Servitute (1736). To com- bine practice with theory, he caused a hospital to be opened, where he gave clinical instruction to his pupils. Though so industrious in his own profession, he undertook, in 1718, after Lemort's death, the professorship of chemistry, and pub- lished in 1724 his Elementa Chemiw, a work which did much to render this .science clear and intelligible, and one that will always occupy a high place in the history of chemistry. His fame had meanwhile rapidly increased. Patients from all parts of Europe came to consult him. Peter the Great of Russia visited him : and it is even said that a Chinese mandarin sent him a letter, addressed 'Boerhaave. celebrated physician. Eu- rope.' Consult: Burton. Account of the Life and Writiriijs of Boerhaave (London, 1743) ; Johnson, Life of Boerhaave (London, 1834). BOESWILLWALD, bPs'vIl-valt. Emile (1815- 96). A French architect, born in Strassburg. He felt very early the reaction in favor of a re- turn to the old French architecture, and joined Viollet-le-Duc and Lassus in their endeavor to restore the ancient models. So strong was the prejudice against anything Gothic that his drawings were refused at the Salon of 1840, but his talent was too evident to be long ignored. Three years afterwards he became one of the commission for the care of historic monu- ments, and as inspector-general of the commis- sion was in charge of the excavations in Algeria and Tunis. His principal works are the restora- tion of the Cathedral of Liu.on. and, with Danban and Lassus, the restoration of the Sainte Chapelle. He was, in company with Viollet-leDuc and Lassus, one of the inspectors of Xotre Dame. Amcmg his designs are tho.se for a number of churches and public buildings in France and Spain. He was a memlier of the Institutes of London and Vienna. He received the cross of the legion of Honor in 18C5 and was made com- mander of the Order in 1880. BOETHITTS, b.Ve'thl-tis, or BOETIUS, bfi-e'- ehi-us. See Boece.