BISULNUGGUR-BLACKBURN.

lower nouse to the new military organisation, B. the campaign of 1866, he was intrusted with the was recalled, to take the portfolio of the ministry for occupation of Saxony, and then with the command Foreign Affairs, and the presidency of the cabinet. of the army which advanced from Saxony into Not being able to pass the re-organisation bill and Bohemia, and co-operated with that of Prince the budget, he closed the chambers (October 1862), Frederick Charles in the advance on Gitschin. He announcing to the deputies that the king's govern- contributed largely to the brilliant victories of ment would be obliged to do without their sanction. Hünerwasser, Gitschin, Münchengrätz, and KönigAccordingly, the army reorganisation went on; and gratz; and stands in the highest favour both with the next four sessions of parliament were closed or the people and the sovereign, who has conferred on dissolved in the same way, without the government the aged hero the order of the Black Eagle. obtaining, or even caring to obtain, the sanction of BLACKBURN, an inland town of Lancashire, the house. The people were now looking for a coup England, 21 miles north-north-west from Manchester, d'état, and the government for a revolution. At and 12 miles by railway east-by-south from this crisis, the death of the king of Denmark Preston. It stands on a stream, from which it opened up again the Slesvig-Holstein question, and appears to derive its name, a branch of the Ribble, excited a fever of national German feeling, which B. The surrounding district, formerly known as Blockwas adroit enough to work so as to aggrandise burnshire, or Blagbornshire, was long very wild and Prussia by the acquisition of the Duchies, and re- dreary, but is now very populous. Coal and lime concile his opponents to his high-handed policy by abound in it. B. had acquired some importance as being able to point to the success of the newly-mo- a market-town in the 16th century. Its manufac delled army. Throughout the events which ended turing prosperity can be traced back at least to the in the humiliation of Austria and the reorganisation middle of the 17th c., when it was noted for the of Germany under the leadership of Prussia (see GER-production of a kind of linsey-woolsey known by the MANY in SUPPLEMENT), B. was the guiding spirit; name of Blackburn Checks, afterwards superseded by and such is the magic of success, that from being the Blackburn Grays, so called from their being universally disliked, he has become the most popular printed unbleached. In the course of the 18th c., man in Germany. What is perhaps still stranger, the cotton manufacture became the chief industry the man who, of all others living, has been the most of the town, which is now one of the chief seats strenuous upholder of absolutism, and has all along of it, the number of cotton factories being very manifested the strongest contempt for public opinion, large, and many of them employing from 1000 to recently (May 1867) received the thanks and con- 2000 operatives. The value of the calicos and gratulations of the extreme democrats of Great other cotton goods annually produced was estimated Britain for giving to North Germany a constitution some years ago at nearly £2,000,000 sterling, and based on universal suffrage. The truth probably is now certainly much more. The steam-power is, that B. never cared for the unification of Ger- employed in the works for spinning and weaving many, on which his popularity among Germans rests; cotton has been more than doubled within the last it is more than suspected that he even disliked it. 20 years. Many improvements in machinery for What he did care for was the aggrandisement of the cotton manufacture have been made in B, Prussia; and the national aspiration for union pre- among which the first place in importance as well sented itself as the only means to attain his end. as in date must be assigned to the invention of the But in order to give this national feeling a fair field spinning-jenny, by James Hargreaves (q. v.), a native of action, it was necessary to swamp the obstructive of the town, in 1767. His invention, however, was 'particularism' of the aristocrats and bureaucrats regarded with so much popular dislike, that he was in the petty states by the votes of the people, and compelled to remove from the town, and it was not hence the democratic constitution of the new Ger- till the beginning of the present c., that it came man parliament. B. probably saw that thus, and into general use in the cotton-works of Blackburn. not otherwise, would the leadership of Prussia be The pop. of B. in 1851 was 46,536; and in 1861, it B.'s personal appearance is that of a man had increased to 63,126. It is now (1867) probably of energy; in social life, he is genial and witty; about 75,000. A range of hills on the north of the in the discharge of his public duty, earnest and town shelters it from the coldest winds. Many of stern; he possesses a great deal of personal cour the streets are spacious, and the town is generally age, and has shewn himself cool and fearless in well built. A park of 50 acres, known as the battle. Corporation Park, has recently been laid out for public recreation. The most elevated part of this park is about 700 feet above the level of the sea, and commands a very extensive view. The parish church, St Mary's, is a very beautiful Gothic building, erected between 30 and 40 years ago. are numerous other places of worship, both of the Established Church, and of various denominations of dissenters. The Grammar-school was founded

real.

BISULNU'GGUR, or BISANAGAR, a town of India, in Guzerat, in the territories of the Guicowar. It is situated on the route from Mhow to Deesa, 82 miles north-west of Mhow, and 44 miles south-east of Deesa. It has a considerable transit trade, in sending iron and other heavy goods to Marwar. The manufacture of cotton cloths is carried on to a considerable extent. Pop. 18,000.

BISULPU'R, a town of India, in the British district of Bareilly, North-west Provinces. It is 24 miles south-east from Bareilly. It has a good bazaar, and is abundantly supplied with water. Pop. 7245.

BITTENFELD, HERWARTH VON, a Prussian general, one of the three leaders that commanded the invasion into Bohemia in 1866. B. was born in 1796, and gained his first martial laurels in the War of Liberation, especially in the battle of Leipzig. In the year 1848, he commanded the first regiment of the Guards. In 1863, raised to the rank of general, he acquired great fame through his daring crossing of the Sund, and capture of the isle of Alsen. In

There

by Queen Elizabeth in 1567; and there are many other educational establishments, and many bene volent and religious institutions. The finest building in the town is the new Exchange, recently erected, in the Gothic style, and containing a magnificent room, 40 yards by 20. The town-hall is also worthy of being mentioned. B. is supplied with water from capacious reservoirs, which have been constructed in the neighbourhood. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal, passing on the south side of the town, affords important facilities for the conveyance of goods; and B. is connected by several railways with all the neighbouring towns, and so with all parts of the kingdom. B. is governed by a mayor, 12 aldermen, and 36 common-councilmen. It sends

BLACK DEATH-BLOWING-MACHINES.

two members to parliament, a privilege which it obtained under the Reform Bill of 1832.

BLACK DEATH, THE RECENT, is the title commonly given to a very fatal disease which occurred in Ireland, in an epidemic form, in the years 18661867. It is described under the title of EPIDEMIC CEREBRAL MENINGITIS.

BLACKPOOL, a flourishing town in the township of Layton-cum-Warbreck, in the county of Lancaster, is now a very considerable place, lying on the coast of the Irish Sea, between the estuaries of the Ribble and the Lune, distant from Poultonle-Fylde 4 miles, and from Preston 18 miles. The pop. in 1861 was 3506, and since that period it has very considerably increased; but the numbers who resort here during the bathing-season far exceed the permanently resident inhabitants. Upwards of 100,000 visitors annually come from East Lancashire, Manchester, Yorkshire, and other parts

but it was afterwards found that the double-bellows secured a still more uniform blast. This machine, shewn in fig. 1, is merely the common bellows with

of the kingdom. B. is one of the most frequented Fig. 1.-Section of Double-bellows for a Portable Forge. bathing-places in the west of England, the sands being excellent. It has a branch railway connecting it with the Preston and Wyre Railway, which affords easy access from Preston, Liverpool, Manchester, and all parts of the kingdom. There is also another railway connecting it with Lytham, another favourite bathing-place on the Ribble, about 7 miles to the south. B. has a fine pier stretching out into the sea about 500 yards, which cost £15,000; also another pier, now (1867) in the course of construction, which, when finished, will extend further. There are three established churches, a Roman Catholic chapel, and five other chapels for the Wesleyans, Independents, &c. Besides excellent streets and terraces of houses elegantly built, it has many large hotels (one of which, recently erected, cost upwards of £12,000); there is also a theatre, libraries, news-rooms, &c. There is no trade or manufactures; the lodging-house keepers depend solely on the large concourse of visitors. Fishing is the employment of many during the winter months. BLANC, LE, a town of France, in the dep. of Indre, on the Creuse, 33 miles west-south-west from Châteauroux. It is beautifully situated, and is a neat and well-built town. It was formerly strongly fortified, but the fortifications are dismantled. Its principal industries are the manufacture of coarse woollen cloths, and tanning. Vinegar is also made here; and there is a considerable trade in the wine of the district, and in iron, fish, wood, and pottery. There are several iron-works in the vicinity. Pop. (1866) 4584.

a third board of the same shape as the other two placed between them, so as to form two chambers instead of one. The middle board is fixed, and both it and the lower one have valves placed in them opening inward. A weight on the lower board keeps board is raised by a lever or otherwise, the air which the under chamber filled with air; and when this it contains is forced into the upper chamber. The exit-pipe is attached to the latter, and a weight is placed on the upper board sufficiently heavy to press the air out in a continuous stream, the continuity being maintained by the large quantity of air always present in the upper chamber, and the uniform pressure of the weight. Sometimes a spring is used instead of a weight to press out the air. Even with the double-bellows, however, the constant refilling of the upper portion from the lower prevents the blast from being quite regular.

BLOWING-MACHINES. The earliest blowingmachine was, doubtless, some form of the common bellows, the idea of which is supposed to have been derived from the lungs. A very primitive form of this instrument is still in use in some Eastern countries, consisting simply of the skin of some animal sewed into a rude bag with a valve and nozzle. The older forms of domestic bellows are all constructed on the same principle-viz., a chamber formed of two boards with flexible leather sides, having at one end a nozzle with a narrow mouth; and in the lower board, a valve of considerably larger area for the adinission of air. When the bellows are distended by drawing the boards apart, air is sucked in by the valve, to replace the vacuum which would otherwise be formed; and then, when the boards are being closed, the valve, which only opens inwards, is shut by the compressed air; and the latter, having no other escape, is forced out at the nozzle.

The great fault of the common bellows is, that it gives a succession of puffs, and not a continuous blast. One remedy for this was to use two bellows, so that one was blowing while the other was filling;

For such purposes as the supplying of a continuous stream of air to a flame for glass-blowing or soldering, a very convenient form of apparatus has been constructed by Mr P. Stevenson of Edinburgh, which the diagrams (figs. 2 and 3) will explain. By means of the common bellows worked by a treadle,

air is blown into the lower portion of a small cylinder containing a quantity of water, and having a diaphragm in the middle of the height, with a wide pipe reaching nearly to the bottom. When the apparatus is at rest, the water remains below the diaphragm, as shewn in fig. 2; but when air is blown in, it gradually rises through the pipe to the position shewn in fig. 3. The water as it descends then presses out the air in a steady stream by the exitpipe, as a valve prevents it returning to the bellows.

BLOWING-MACHINES.

Bellows made entirely of wood except the nozzle, first made in Germany in the 16th c., are in use in some continental countries. They are usually of large size, and the contrivance consists in having two boxes, of which the sides of the upper enclose those of the lower, so that the former can move up and down on the latter without admitting air except by a valve, as in the common bellows, of which, in fact, they are only a modification.

The Chinese have a very simple form of bellows, shewn in fig. 4, which is not only interesting in

Fig. 4-Chinese Bellows.

itself, but also because its action is almost the same as the blowing-engine. It is merely a square chamber of wood, with a close-fitting piston, which, when drawn from the nozzle, opens the valves v, v, to admit air, and when pushed in the opposite direction, shuts these valves, and forces the air out by the nozzle.

For blowing a domestic fire in a chimney, the most effective contrivance is a metal screen to close the front of the aperture above the grate, so that the supply of air must all pass through the fire. This kind of blower, however, will only act when the fire is already producing as much heat as to cause a sensible draught up the chimney.

valves at G. The air is conducted by the pipe M into a receiver of large capacity, which serves to equalise the blast before it passes to the tuyeres. See IRON, fig. 1.

A blast-engine at Shelton Iron-works, of which the blowing-cylinder is 8 feet 4 inches in diameter, and has a 9-feet stroke (represented in fig. 5), working with 186 horse-power, and making 32 single strokes of the piston per minute, inhales 15,700 cubic feet of atmospheric air per minute; but this is compressed by the blowing-cylinder to a pressure of 3 lbs. per square inch above the atmosphere, which reduces the volume supplied by the cylinder to 13,083 cubic feet. Its volume, however, is largely increased again, when raised to the hot-blast temperature, before entering the furnace. Much valuable information respecting blowing-engines and blast apparatus will be found in Dr Percy's large

X

X

X

works, Stoke-upon-Trent.

M

M

For smelting and refining furnaces, where a blast with a pressure of 3 or 4 lbs. per square inch is required, blowing-engines of large size are usually employed. In our article IRON, this kind of engine is referred to, and a small figure of one given; but we shall here describe the blowing apparatus itself more in detail. A blowing-engine consists, as shewn in fig. 1, article IRON, of a steam-engine, with the ordinary steam-cylinder at one end, and a blastcylinder at the other end of the beam. Such, at least, is the construction preferred for the largersized engines; but sometimes a horizontal arrangement of the cylinders is adopted for those of smaller size. The blowing-cylinder, X, shewn in fig. 5, is of cast-iron, with an air-tight piston, P, which, as it ascends and descends with the motion of the engine, alternately inhales and expels the air at each end. To effect this, a series of valves are provided, and these are arranged as follows: Inlet valves are placed on the top of the cylinder at A, and also on Fig. 5.-Section of a Blowing Cylinder, Shelton Ironthree sides of the box at B, but on the fourth side of this box there are two outlet valves at C. These valves consist of numerous openings, against which leather flaps lie when they are shut. Valves of a similar nature are placed at the bottom of the cylinder; those for the inlet of air at D, E, and F; and those for outlet at G. When the piston descends, it would create a vacuum in the upper portion of the cylinder, provided there were no openings in it; but the external air pressing on the inlet valves, opens them, and fills the space above the piston; at the same time, the outlet valves at C, which only open outwards, are tightly closed by the air pressing inwards from the pipe M. Again, when the piston ascends, it compresses the air above it, and exactly reverses the action of the valves; that is to say, it shuts the inlet valves at A and B, opens the valves at C, and allows the compressed air to pass along the outlet pipe M, which is made of large size, so as to offer as little resistance as possible to the passage of the air. The valves at the bottom of the cylinder work exactly in the same way, the inlet valves, D, E, and F, opening when the piston ascends, and shutting when it descends, thus compelling the inhaled air to pass into the pipe M by the lower outlet

work on Metallurgy, vol. ii., from which the above figure is taken.

In the Catalan forges of Spain and the south of France, there is a very ingenious water-blowing machine in use called a Trompe; but it can only be advantageously employed where a fall of a few yards of water is available. Its construction will be understood by an inspection of fig. 6. A strong wooden cistern, C, to act as a reservoir for the water; wooden pipes, P (generally two in number), through which it descends; and a wind-chest, W, to allow the air and water to separate, constitute the essential parts of the apparatus. It is put in operation by lifting the wedge v with a lever; this allows the water to rush down the pipe, and in doing so, it draws in air through sloping holes, a, a, called aspirators, at the throat of the pipe. A continuous current of water and air is thus supplied to the wind-chest, which is provided with an opening at o for the escape of the water, while the air passes out in a regular stream by the nozzle-pipe at . The height from which the water falls determines the tension of the blast; but the height seldom exceeds

BLUEFISH-BODE.