and may be seen forty miles round the country. The architecture of the whole is light, yet magnificent. The interior is furnished with a good organ, a clock with chimes, and eight bells. The market-place is spacious, and is ornamented by a handsome market cross, in which is a good chamber appropriated to the purposes of corporation meetings, card assemblies, &c. Here is also a handsome theatre, with generally a good company of actors. Among the charitable foundations are, a free grammar-school, two charity schools, a general dispensary, and two national schools on Bell and Lancaster's plan. It has also a neat theatre. Here are, besides, several places of religious worship for dissenters; the town, of late, has been much extended, and considerably improved by lighting, paving, and cleansing the streets, deepening the river, and enlarging the harbour. The public libraries and news-rooms are well supported and furnished; the market-place is spacious, and is ornamented with a handsome cross, and commodious assembly-room. In the reign of Henry I. a gang of desperadoes, who came to the fair in the disguise of monks and priests, set fire to Boston; but by its thriving trade it soon recovered the damage sustained. The Hans-Towns established a guild for wool here, but when the prohibition on the importation of wool was passed, the trade gradually declined however, the enclosures of late years, and its navigation, have again revived its consequence. In 1772 the corporation built a good fish-market, by which the town is well supplied with both sea and river fish. Besides a considerable export of oats and other grain, it has a growing trade to the Baltic for hemp, tar, timber, &c. The neighbouring country being rich marsh land, it feeds vast numbers of sheep and oxen, remarkable for their size and fatness: and the fens have been largely enclosed of late, and yield noble crops of oats. The town was first incorporated by Henry VIII.; and Elizabeth gave the corporation a court of admiralty over all the neighbouring sea-coasts. It is governed by a mayor, recorder, twelve aldermen, and eighteen common council, with a judge-advocate, town-clerk, &c. The members are elected by the resident freemen, who pay scot and lot. Boston was the birth-place of John Fox the martyrologist. It is thirty-six miles S.S.E. of Lincoln, and 116 N. of London.

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BOSTON, the metropolis of Massachusetts, and one of the most flourishing of the Eastern States of North America, was founded in 1630, and is situated in Suffolk 'county, in a peninsula of about four miles in circumference, at the head of Massachusetts Bay. Here originated that resistance to the British authorities which terminated in the independence of the United States. The isthmus which connects this peninsula to the main land is at the S.S.W. end of the town. It is not very regularly built, but lies in the form of an amphitheatre on a rising ground, around the head of the bay, which gives it an agreeable appearance in sailing up the harbour. This is one of the best in the United States, safe from every wind, and accessible at all seasons for vessels of the greatest burden. Five hundred vessels may ride at anchor here; yet the entrance, defended by two

forts, is so narrow, that but two ships can get in a-breast. About eighty wharfs face the harbour; the amount of shipping arrived here in 1815, was 143,420 tons, the greatest amount belonging to any part of the Union, except New York. The neighbourhood is fertile and populous, connected with the capital by noble roads, while the Middlesex canal opens a wide communication with the interior. Charlestown, but one mile to the north, is connected with this canal, by a bridge over the river Charles. The public buildings of Boston are a state-house, courthouse, work-house, a council-chamber, a treasurer and secretary's office, a bridewell, and a powder magazine, besides seven public schools, and eleven churches for congregationalists, episcopalians, baptists, quakers, and Roman catholics. Several humane and literary societies are also incorporated, for benevolent purposes, and supported with great liberality. On the west side of the town lies the Mall, a handsome public walk, ornamented with several rows of trees. Beacon Hill has an elegant monument erected in commemoration of some of the most important events in the Revolution. Although now so flourishing, no town in the United States has been more retarded in its progress than Boston. In 1676 a fire consumed forty-five houses, a church, and several storehouses. In 1697 another fire destroyed eighty houses, seventy warehouses, and several ships. In 1727 it was much damaged by an earthquake. In 1747 the court-house and public records were burnt. In 1760 houses and property to the amount of 444,000 dollars were destroyed by fire, which also did much damage in 1761 and 1764. During the siege of 1775 upwards of 400 houses were destroyed by the British troops. In 1787 above 100 houses were burnt; and July 30th, 1794, forty houses, seven rope-works, and several storehouses, were entirely consumed, to the amount of 200,000 dollars. In consequence of these disasters, an order was at this time made by the town authorities, that no houses should hereafter be built of wood to the height of more than two stories.

BOSTON, EAST, or what may be called the O'd Town, consists of numerous streets, lanes, and alleys, having little regularity or convenience; but they are clean, and for the population contained, and the business conducted here, preserved in good order. There are, however, some spacious streets, such as State and Common Streets, and a few others. The former being on a line with Long-wharf, where strangers usually land, exhibits a flattering idea of the town. Several new streets, consisting of large stores and warehouses, connect it with India wharf.

Franklin Place, adjoining Federal Street theatre, is a great ornament to the town. It contains a monument of Dr. Franklin, who was a native of this town, and is encompassed on two sides with buildings, which, in point of elegance, are not exceeded in the United States. Here are kept, in capacious rooms, given and fitted up for the purpose, the Boston library, and the valuable col lections of the historical society. Most of the public buildings are handsome, and some of them are elegant. A magnificent new state-house, of which the foundation stone was laid in 1795, has

been built upon the south side of Beacon Hill. The lower part is constructed in a plain and simple style of architecture, with red brick. The extent of the front is 173 feet, and over the centre rises a spacious dome, terminated by a circular lantern, 100 feet above the foundation. The prospect from this is magnificent, surpassing everything else of the kind perhaps in the United States. The town, with its numerous buildings, the harbour, islands, shipping, a fine country interspersed with villas, and about twenty flourishing towns, are to be seen here. Other important improvements have also been executed. On the south side of State Street, stands a very lofty and extensive hotel, under the direction of one of the principal merchants in the town. The house is seven stories high, and occupies a large extent of ground.

An extensive range of lofty warehouses has been erected upon India wharf: they are built of red brick, with much neatness and uniformity. Offices for the merchants are below, and the upper part of the building is appropriated to the reception of goods. A short distance from these warehouses, to the northward, is Long Wharf, or Boston Pier, which extends from the bottom of State Street, upwards of 1750 feet into the harbour. Its breadth is above 104 feet. On the north side of this wharf is a range of large warehouses, extending the whole length of the pier. Most of the old buildings have been pulled down, and handsome warehouses, similar to those on India Wharf, erected on their sites. The ground floors of these warehouses are occupied by wholesale or retail stores, merchants' offices, &c. The upper parts are appropriated to the warehousing of goods. At the end of this pier there are upwards of seventeen feet of water at ebb tide.

BOSTON, WEST, contains the dwelling houses of the principal merchants. A number of elegant buildings have been erected here within these few years, and wide spacious streets, consisting of handsome private houses, are still forming throughout that end of the town. Boston is well paved, and has excellent foot-paths of flagstones. The markets are situated near each other, close to the water side, and are supplied with every description of provisions in the greatest plenty. Besides its connexion with Charlestown, it is also united by a bridge 3,840 feet long, with the town of Cambridge; both bridges are kept in good order by the produce of a cent. toll. The population, in 1800, was 24,937; in 1820, 43,000. It is 252 miles northeast of New York; 347 north-east of Philadelphia, and 500 north-east of Washington

BOSTON (Thomas), a pious divine of the church of Scotland, who flourished about the end of the seventeenth century. He wrote many books on divinity, which were long extremely popular. Among these, his illustration of the Assembly's Catechism, his Treatise on the Covenant, his Human Nature in its fourfold State, and his Crook in the Lot, have gone through a vast number of editions.

BOSTRICHUS, in entomology, a genus of coleopterous insects, whose distinguishing cha

racters are the antenna clavated, the club solid; thorax convex, with a slight margin; head inflected, and concealed under the thorax.

BOSWELL (James, Esq.) of Auchinleck, the son of the Hon Alexander Boswell, lord Auchinleck, was born at Auchinleck in 1740, and studied the civil law at Edinburgh. In 1760 he visited London, for which place he ever retained a partiality; and was desirous, at this period, of a commission in the guards; but was withheld by parental authority. In 1763 he went to Utrecht, and proceeded through Switzerland to Italy, where he contracted an intimacy with Paoli of Corsica. He returned to Scotland in 1766, and, being admitted an advocate, was employed in the celebrated Douglas cause, the particulars of which he published in a pamphlet. In 1768 he printed An Account of Corsica, of which Dr. Johnson spoke in high terms. The year following he married Miss Mary Montgomery, his cousin, who, at her death in 1790, left him two sons and three daughters. In 1782 he lost his father, on which he removed to London, with a view to professional practice, but never succeeded; the only appointment he obtained was that of recorder of Carlisle. In 1785 he published A Journal of a Tour to the Hebrides, which met with a favorable reception; as likewise did his more important work, The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL. D. which appeared in 1790, in 2 vols. 4to, and forms one of the most exquisite and amusing delineations of character in our language. Mr. Boswell was also the author of Two Letters to the People of Scotland, printed in 1783; the Hypochondriac, a series of papers in the London Magazine, and several Miscellaneous Pieces in various periodical publications. He died in London in 1795.

BOSWORTH, a market town of Leicestershire, on a high hill, memorable for the decisive battle fought near it between Richard III. and the earl of Richmond, afterwards Henry VII. The church is spacious, with a very beautiful spire. Various fragments of sundry lances, &c. are shown as having been ploughed up at Redmore or Bosworth Field. It has a market on Wednesday, and fairs May 8th, and June 10th. It is 13 miles north-east of Leicester, and 106 N.N.W. of London. Long. 1° 18′ W., lat. 52' 40° N.

BOTAGIUM, in middle age writers, a fee paid for wine sold in butts.

BOTALE FORAMEN, in anatomy, an aperture in the heart of a foetus, whereby the blood circulates, without going into the lungs, or the left ventricle of the heart.

BOTALLUS (Leonard), physician to the duke of Alençon, and to Henry III. was born at Asti in Piedmont. He introduced at Paris the prac tice of blood-letting, which was condemned by the faculty; though soon after his death it came into rather too general practice. He wrote, 1. De Curandis Vulneribus Sclopetorum, 1560, 8vo 2. Commentarioli duo, alter de Medici, alter de Egroti, Munere, 8vo. 3. De Curatione per Sanguinis Missione, 1583, 8vo. His works were collected and published at Leyden in the year 1660.

BOT'ANY, Gr. Boravn, a herb, herbBOTANIST, age; relating to herbs; skilled BOTANICAL, in herbs; a part of natural BOTANICK, history which relates to vegeBOTANOLOGY. tables; the science of plants. Botanist, one who studies the various species of plants. Botanology, an oration or discourse upon plants.

Some botanical criticks tell us, the poets have not rightly followed the traditions of antiquity, in metamorphosing the sisters of Phaeton into poplars.

Addison, The uliginous lacteous matter, taken notice of by that diligent botanist, was only a collection of corals. Woodward.

Then spring the living herbs, beyond the power Of botanist to number up their tribes. Thomson. While botanists, all cold to smiles and dimpling, Forsake the fair, and patiently-go simpling.

Goldsmith.

1. BOTANY, considered in its details, treats of the elements, of the immediate principles, of the internal and external structure, of the functions, of the organs, and of the similitudes and dissimilitudes of the almost infinite multitude of beings of which the vegetable world is composed.

2. Chemistry explains the constituent elements and the immediate principles of vegetables; anatomy and physiology indicate the structure of their system and the uses of their parts; botany, properly so called, teaches us to compare, to describe, and to name plants, and to class them according to the mutual affinities which are indicated by their external characters.

3. In this article it is not proposed to enter into any investigation of chemical botany, which has no practical relation to the study of the science, and which more properly forms a part of the science of chemistry. The heads into which the following remarks will be divided are, 1. The analogy of the science; or of the differences which exist between vegetables and other animated beings, and of their resemblances. 2. The history of the science. 3. The anatomy and physiology of plants. 4. Pure botany, comprehending the theory and principles of the science, its terminology, and its classifications.

I. OF THE ANALOGY OF THE SCIENCE. 4. Among the multitude of beings which cover the surface of our planet, man only is possessed of the intellect which raises him above other animals. The latter are the mere slaves of their feelings, or of instinct; but man, whose only laws act upon his own free will, by the operations of the mind, is divested of the mere sense of necessity or of want, and directs his intelligence to the examination and knowledge of the other beings which constitute that glorious nature which has been formed for his advantage. The infinite variety of forms, and the imposing appearance of those objects which surround him, not only offer him matter for admiration, but carry him yet further; he is induced to study the laws

by which they act or live, the qualities, whether useful or injurious, which they possess, and the affinities which they bear to himself and to each other. God, mind, and matter, are the subjects of the meditation of man. But if he would devote himself to all the departments of knowledge, which are included under these three great names, his natural weakness would compel

his mind to sink under the exertion.

5. Hence the origin of sciences, into which all nature is divided by certain limits. By the aid of analysis, the fruit of intellectual observation, all knowledge is separated into different branches; and though the boundaries of the sciences are confined in appearance, that limitation has been the means by which each has been brought to its present state of perfection, and by which the knowledge of one science has been made to bear upon that of another.

6. On the one hand, intellect has given rise to what are called the intellectual or moral sciences; on the other hand, observation has created the natural or physical sciences; and these are divisible under three heads, that is to say, PHYSICS, medically considered, CHEMISTRY, and NATURAL HISTORY. The physician directs his attention to the properties and maladies of matter in general; the chemist considers the action of its elements; and the naturalist studies the phenomena of particular parts.

7. The district of the naturalist is confined to what are called the three kingdoms of nature; and no limits can appear more certain or decided than those within which these kingdoms are confined. The mineral kingdom is composed of brute matter, and is only susceptible of increase, by the juxta-position of the substances which combine in its formation. Vegetables are furnished with organs, by means of which they assimilate and adapt to their purposes the elements which surround them; but, fixed by the hand of nature to one spot, they are incapable of other movements than those which are peculiar to their organisation, or than those which are communicated by neighbouring bodies. But animals which are endued with similar properties in many respects, and which are propagated in like manner by peculiar organs, are also furnished with instinct, which teaches them how to distinguish their aliment, and to move from place to place. But do these limits absolutely exist in nature, or are they the imperfect creatures of the mind of man? And is not all nature connected by an inconceivable and inextricable multitude of affinities, crossing and interlacing each other in all directions, in such a manner as to render it impossible for us to circumscribe any one of her works within bounds so absolute that she will not be found overleaping them in some corner or another? It will probably be found that the affirmative is the answer to these suggestions, and that the deeper becomes our knowledge of the productions which occupy our minds, the more numerous the exceptions will be found to every law by which man in his ingenuity has