Blast

[A. S. blæst; O. Ger. blast, from blasan, to blow. A gust or puff of wind. "They that stand high have many blasts to shake them." - Shaks . - The sound made by blowing any wind-instrument. "The Veline fountains and sulphurous Nar, Shake at the baleful blast , the signal of the war." -Dryden. -Violent explosion made by gunpowder when splitting rocks, or by inflammable gases in mines. - A gale; a rush; a storm. -Pernicious or pestilential influence, as of wind; blight. "By the blast of God they perish." - Job iv. 9. (Metallurgy.) The current of air forced into furnaces by bellows, or air-engines, for the purpose of reducing the ores to a merchantable form. There are two kinds of blasts in use in the iron manufacture, the hot and the cold blast. The hot blast is obtained by forcing the air through a series of hot pipes, and its effect is to facilitate the fusion of the metal, at the same time that the quality of the latter is deteriorated; the cold blast requires a greater quantity of fuel to reduce the same quantity of ore, and it yields a firmer and more even quality of metal than the hot blast. - See IRON. (Farriery.) A disease in the stomach of cattle. Blast, v . a . To strike as with a blast, or with a sudden gust or destructive wind. "Oh! Portius, is there not some chosen curse, Some hidden thunder in the store of heaven, Red with uncommon wrath, to blast the man Who owes his greatne to his country's ruin." - Add is on. blight; to strike with some sudden plague, calamity, . "To his green years your censures you would suit, Not blast that blo om, but expect the fruit." Dryden. the common law, open blasphemy was punishable by - To make to wither by some pernicious influence; to fine and imprisonment, or other infamous corporeal punishment. The kind of B. which was thus cognizable is described by Black stone to be "denying the being or providence of God, contumelious reproaches of our Saviour Christ, profane scoffing at the Holy Scriptures, or exposing it to contempt and ridicule." (Commentaries, b. iv. c. iv.) All these heads, except the first, seem to spring immediately from the root-sense of the word B. , -To confound; to strike with terror. as they are of that hurtful and insulting speech which the word denotes. And we suspect, that, whenever the com -To injure; to destroy; to make infamous. "He is malicious, if he knows I deserve credit, and yet goes about to blast it." - Stilling fleet. "Trumpeters, IMG:content-0649.png:[blocks in formation] mon law was called into operation to punish persons -To blow up or split by gunpowder. guilty of the first of these forms of B. , it was only when -v. n. To be struck as with a blast; to wither; to be the denial was accompanied with opprobrious words or gestures, which seem to be e ential to complete the true crime of B. Errors in opinion, even on points which are of the very e ence and being of religion, were referred in England in early times to the ecclesiastics, as falling under the denomination of heretical opinions (see HERESY), to be dealt with by them as other heresies were. There is nothing in the statute book under the word B. till we come to the reign of King William III. In that reign an Act was pa ed, the title of which is "An Act for the more effectual suppre ion of B. and Profanene ." It states that "many persons have of late years openly avowed and published many blasphemous and infamous opinions, contrary to the doctrines and principles of the Christian religion, greatly tending to the dishonor of Almighty God, and may prove destructive to the peace and welfare of this kingdom;" and enacts that if any person or persons having been educated in, or having made a profe ion of the Christian religion within this realm, "shall by writing, printing, teaching, or advised speaking, deny any one of the persons of the Holy Trinity to be God, or shall a ert or maintain that there are more gods than one, or shall deny the Christian religion to be true, or the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be of divine authority, shall, for the first offence, be adjudged incapable of holding any office or employment, ecclesiastical, civil, or military; and, on a second conviction, shall be disabled to sue, prosecute, plead, or use any action in any court of law or equity, and shall also suffer imprisonment for three years." The main provisions of this Act remain still in force; but by 53 Geo. III. c. 160, those who deny the doctrine of the Trinity are exempted from its penalties. In 1841, the law against blasphemy was enforced upon Mr. Moxon for publishing an edition of Shelley's "Queen Mab;" but the sentence was merely nominal. In Scotland, blasphemy was, by Acts of the Scottish parliament blighted. Blast'ed, p. a. Affected by some pernicious or destruc tive influence, as of wind; blighted; injured; destroyed; split by gunpowder.