Encyclopædia americana. A popular dictionary of arts, sciences, literature, history, politics and biography, a new ed.; including a copious collection of original articles in American biography; on the basis of the 7th ed. of the German Conversations-lexicon. Ed. by Francis Lieber, assisted by E. Wigglesworth ...

BORACIC ACID —BORDELAIS WINES. 197
article has fallen in France from five shil- America, to determine the longitude and
lings and ten pence the pound, to two latitude of several coasts, isles and shoals,
shillings and two pence. The process and to try the utility of several astronomlwhich they adopt is to dissolve 1200 ical instruments. In 1774, he visited the
pounds of carbonate of soda in 1000 Azores, the cape Verde islands, and the
pounds of water, to which is added, by 20 coast of Africa, for the same purpose. In
pounds at a time, 600 pounds of Tuscan the American war, he was very useful to
boracic acid. This is done in a leaden the count d'Estaing, by his knowledge of
boiler, of double the capacity requisite to navigation. In later times, he visited
contain the materials, in order to provide a second time the Azores, the cape Verde
for the effervescence which takes place. islands, and the coast of Africa; but the
The heat is kept up for 30 hours, when observations which he made in this voythe clean liquid is drawn off into leaden age have not been published. B. was the
coolers, a foot in depth, where the first founder of the schools of naval architectcrop of crystals deposits itselfin three days. ure in France. He invented an instru100 pounds of the best Tuscan boracic ment, of a very small diameter, which
acid produce about 150 of borax. —Borax measures angles with the greatest accuappears in crystalline masses of a mode- racy, and which has been used in inmeasrate size, or in distinct hexagonal prisms, uring the meridian; the reflecting circle,
terminated by three or six-sided pyra- which has made his name immortal;
raids; is of a white color, and transparent. besides an instrument for measuring the
It requires 20 parts of cold and 6 of boil- inclination of the compass needle, and
m-ng water for its solution. Exposed to many others. On the establisrhment of the
heat, it swells up, boils, loses its water of national institute, he became one of its
crystallization, and becomes converted in- members, and was occupied, with other
to a porous, white, opaque mass, commnon- men of science, in firaming the new sysly called calcined borax. A stronger heat tem of weights and measures adopted in
brings it to the form of a vitreous trans- France under the republican government.
parent substance, in which state it is Amnong the latest of his labors was a series
known under the name of glass of borax. of experiments to discover the length of
Borax forms one of the best fluxes known. a pendulum which should vibrate secondsa,
It is used in the analysis of minerals by in the latitude of Paris. Among his writhe blow-pipe, in melting the precious tings are Recherches sur la Resistance des
metals, in forming artificial gems, and in Fluides; Niouvelle i3/ithode pour observer
soldering.-Another native combination la Longueur du Pendule; Nobuveaue Ssof boracic acid is that with magnesia, teme de Poids et.lfesures, adoptM par les
known, in mineralogy, under the name of Etats Gn'neraux, &c. The principal are
boracite. It is found in small crystals, his Voyage, published in 2 vols, in 1778,
imbedded in gypsum, near Lunenburg, and his Tables Trigonomletriques De'ciin Lower Saxony, and at Segeborg, in males, which have been edited by DeH-olstein. Their form is that of a cube, lambre. B. died at Paris, in 1799.
with the edges and four of the solid anll- BORDEAux. (See Bourdeaux.)
gles truncated. They are remarkable for BORDELAIS WINES. The finer red
their electric properties, becoming, when wines of the Bordelais (country round
heated, negatively electrified at their per- Bourdeaux) are the best which France
fect angles, and positively so at their trun- produces. They contain but little alcohol,
cated angles. keep well, and even improve by removal.
BoRAn AL. (See SJlborak.) As the original fermentation is complete,
BORDA, Jean Charles; born at Dax, in they are, if judiciously managed, less
the department of Landes, in 1733; an subject to disorder and acidity than
engineer, and afterwards a captain in the the Burgundy wines. None of the very
French marine, famous for his mathemat- best quality, however, is exported pure: a
ical talents. In 1756, he was chosen a bottle of the best Chdtleaux-Mlargaux, or
member of the academy of sciences, and Hauzt-Brion, is a rarity hardly to be prooccupied himself in making experiments cured in Bourdeaux itself, at the rate of
on the resistance of fluids, the velocity of six or seven francs a bottle. For export,
motion, and other topics relating to dy- the secondary growths of M6doc are miinamical science. In 1767, he published gled with the rough Palus. The red
a dissertation on hydraulic wheels, and wines of the Bordelais are known in Engafterwards one on the construction of land and North America under the name
hydraulic machinery. In 1771, with Ver- of claret. They have less aroma and
dune and Pingr6, he made a voyage to spirit, but more astringency, than the Bur17 *