BONUM — BRAHMA
wrote on insects and plants, and became
correspondent of the French Academy before
he was thirty. Having weakened his eyes
with the microscope, he devoted himself to
more general subjects : to psychology and
philosophy. He was one of the pioneers of
physiological psychology (cf. Külpe, Einl.
in die Philos., 63).
Bonum [Lat.] : see Good.
Boole, George. (1815-64.) An Eng¬
lish mathematician and logician, professor
of mathematics in Queen’s College, Cork.
His work, An Investigation into the Laws of
Thought, was the first elaborate treatise in
mathematical or symbolic logic.
Botany. The special division of the Bio¬
logical Sciences (q.v.) which deals with
plants. (j.m.b.)
Literature : Ch. Darwin, Variations in
Plants and Animals under Domestication ;
Sachs, Lehrb. d. Botanik (1873), aud
Hist, of Botany (1890); A. P. de Candolle,
Physiol. Végétale (1832); A. de Candolle,
Origin of Cultivated Plants (1884); G. Hen-
slow, Origin of Floral Structures (1888);
Bailey, The Survival of the Unlike (1896);
S. Vines, Textbook of Botany (1895). (e.s.g.)
Bounty [Lat. bonitas, goodness] : Ger.
Prämie; Fr. prime] Ital. premio. A sum
paid by the Government to the producers of
some particular commodity or service ; pre¬
sumably one which they would not be pre¬
pared to undertake for the sake of its probable
commercial results, in the absence of some
special inducement of this kind.
In England, the line of industry most
systematically encouraged by bounties has
been the production of wheat. For the effects
of this policy, see Smith, Wealth of Nations,
Bk. IV. chap. y. In most other countries,
and especially in recent years, the sugar
bounties have formed the most conspicuous
application of this method of encouraging
industry. For bounties to shipping, see Sub¬
sidy. There is no sharp line of distinction
between the terms Bounty and Subsidy. The
former is the more general; the latter is
mainly applied to bounties in aid of trans¬
portation enterprises of various kinds. (A.t.h.)
Bourignon, Antoinette. (1616-80.) A
Flemish mystical missionary who professed
to receive divine revelations, and exerted a
marked influence over fhe French mystics,
especially over Pierre Poiret.
Bouterwek, Friedrich. (1766-1828.) A
German philosopher. Educated as jurist and
littérateur in Göttingen, he began lecturing
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there in 1791 upon the Kantian philosophy.
He was made assistant professor in Göttingen
in 1797, and full professor in 1802. Besides
philosophical works he wrote poetry and a
much-praised History of Poetry and Elo¬
quence.
Bowen, Francis. (iSh-qo.) An
American writer in philosophy, history, and
economics. Born in Charlestown, Mass., he
was educated at Harvard University. Editor
of The North American Review, 1843-54.
Became Alford professor of natural religion,
moral philosophy, and civil polity in Harvard
University in 1853.
Boyle, Bobert. (1627-91.) A cele¬
brated Irish chemist and natural philosopher ;
son of Richard, the first earl of Cork. He
was educated as an investigator in natural
philosophy at Eton and Geneva. He later
mastered Hebrew and Greek in order the
better to defend Christianity. He was one
of the founders of the Royal Society ; improved
the air-pump, and made important discoveries
in pneumatics. He repeatedly declined a
peerage. Through his liberality and effort
Eliot’s Indian Bible was published, and the
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in
New England established. He endowed the
Boyle Lectures.
Brachy- [Gr. ßpaxvs, short] : Ger. kurz- ;
Fr. hr achy- ; Ital. brachi-. A prefix used in
combination with various terms to indicate
shortness or smallness of the part denoted ;
thus a brachycephalic skull is a relatively
broad and short one ; brachydactilia indicates
shortness in the fingers ; brachyrrhinia, a
short nose. &c.
For illustration see Index (cephalic), and
Craniometry. The opposite of Brachy- is
Dolicho-, as in Dolichocephalic (q. v.).
Used first by G. Retzius. (e.m., j.j.)
Brahma and Brahmanism. The prin¬
cipal deity of the Hindu pantheon. As
originally conceived, Brahma may be com¬
pared to Spinoza’s Substance. He was the
one self-created and self-subsisting being.
This conception being, in its purity, too
remote and abstract for the people, the older
gods of the Vedic pantheon, especially Vishnu
and Siva, tcok their places alongside of
Brahma, thereby constituting a triad of deities
relatively coequal; cf. Oriental Philosophy
(India).
Literature : Monier Williams, Hinduism
and Indian Wisdom; Barth, Religions of
India ; Max Müller, Hibbert Lectures ; and
art. Brahmanism in Encyc. Brit., 9thed. (r.m.w.)
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