Bombasine

See BOMBAZINE. Bombast, (bum'bast,) n. [It. bambagia, cotton, from L. Lat. bombax, the cotton-tree.] Originally, a stuff of soft, loose texture, used to stuff garments; specifically, and in a figurative sense, high-sounding words; an inflated style of speech; fustian. "Are all the flights of heroic poetry to be concluded bombast , because they are not affected with their excellences?" Dryden. -a. High-sounding; big without meaning. "He. evades them with a bombast circumstance, Horribly stuff 'd with epithets of war. Staks. Bombastic, a . Distinguished by bombast; high sounding: swelled; inflated; turgid; as, "A bombastic phraseology." - Burke . Bombastically, adv . With an inflated turgid style. Bom'bastry, n . Fustian; bombastic language. Bom'bate, n. (Chem.) A salt resulting from the combination of bombic acid with a base. Bombax, n. ( Bot. ) A genus of plants, order SterculiThe species are native of S. America and India. ace a. They are usually large trees, with broad deep-green leaves, and flowers of considerable size. Technically, they differ from Malvacer , in having two cells to their anthers, which are often doubled down upon themselves; in their calyx opening in an irregular rather than a valvate manner, and in their stamens being usually collected into five parcels. Their anthers are often described as having only one cell; but this is an in ace urate mode of speaking of them, inasmuch as they are formed upon the common two-cell type, and merely have the cells united at the point of the connective. This group contains some of the most majestic and beautiful trees that are known, but nothing of much medical or economical importance is furnished by them. Their wood is light and spongy; the long cottony substance found within their fruit, and which has gained for some of them the name of cotton - trees , is too short in the staple to be manufactured into cloth; and the slightly acid or mucilaginous qualities that occur in the group are altogether inferior to those of many Malvacer . Several American species spread enormously near the ground, forming huge buttre es with the angles of their trunks The American tree, B. crib a , and the Indian tree, B. pent and rum , are remarkable for their prodigions height. Bombay, formerly a Presidency , now a province, and one of the nine great divisions of British India, between Lat. 14° 18' and 28° 30′ N., and Lon. 67° and 76° 25' E. having W. the Indian Ocean and Eeloochistan: N., Gun dava and the Punjab; E., the Nizam's dominions; and S., Mysore and the pres. of Madras. Area , 142,043 sq. m. This presidency is divided into the four great territorial divisions of Poonah, Surat (or the N.), Scinde, and the S. division, (Belgaum, .) Desc. The N.W. parts are more level than the S.E. and E.; Ahmedabad, Kaira, and Baroach are well watered, and are, in some parts, among the best cultivated and peopled lands in Hindostan; Surat is more undulating, with its E. part hilly and jungly; Candeish is diversified with hills, fertile patches, and jangle; Ahmednuggur abounds in rocks, hills.and streams; Poonah is mountain ons and irregular, but with many fertile valleys; Darwar is an elevated table-land, and the Khokan a large narrow tract stretching for 225 m. along the sea-coast. The principal mountain ranges are a spur of the W. Ghauts in the S.; the Sydaree and Saut poor a, in Candeish, and the Nerbudda in the N., a branch of the Vindhyan chain. Chief Rivers. The Nerbudda, Taptee, Mhye, ., falling into the Gulf of Cambay. in the N.; in the central parts, the head waters of the God a very and Beemah; and in the S. the Kistna and To ombu ddr a. Min . Basalt, amygdaloid, yellow porphyry, and green clay-stone. A black soil, well suited to the culture of cotton, is widely diffused throughout the centre of this presidency. Clim . The mean temp. at Bombay, about the centre of the pres., is between 81° and 830 Fahr. The climate of the N. district is reckoned among the worst in India; the thermometer in the hot season rises, sometimes, to 116° Fahr., and Europe ans are affected with fever, ague, and other tropical complaints. Zool. Wild elephants, tigers, leopards, panthers, hyenas, buffaloes, boars, deer, ., and many varieties of birds. Veg . Prod . Teak of very good quality is plentiful, and the dist. of Surat abounds with poon, wild dates, and babool. Cocoa palms are equally abundant. In the N. parts, a great variety of fruits flourish, and the mango is found in great perfection. Agric . Rice and cotton are the staple articles of culture, and the latter forms an important and yearly increasing object of export. Sugar, indigo, and the mulberry-tree, are also extensively cultivated; and wool is largely shipped to foreign countries. The cattle of Gujerat are of a remarkably large size, and command a good market throughout India, Sheep have been of late years imported into the pres., where they are reported to be doing well. Inhab. Besides Hindoos, Mohammedans, Parsees, Jews, and Europe ans, many distinct tribes (for the greater part aboriginal) inhabit this country. Among these are found Bheels, Coolies, Ramooses, Catties, Dhooblas, . Nearly all the Parsees in Hindostan have settled within the limits of B. presidency. Rev. The revenue is principally derived from three sources, viz.: the land-tax, opium, and customs. Com . (See BOMBAY CITY.) In 1617, B. was oreated a regency, and made supreme over all the East India Company's establishments in India; but, in 1707, Calcutta was declared independent of it. In 1813, Baroach and Ahmednuggur districts were acquired by the English, and the latter, with Poonah and Ahmedabad, were formally ceded to them in 1817. Khokan, Darwar, Candeish, and the residue of the Peishwa's dominions, fell to the British in 1818. The seat of govt. was transferred from the city of Surat to that of Bombay, 1686. Pop . , 1891, 18,826,820. BOMBAY, (Pg. Buon Bahia , "good harbor,") a maritime city prov. Aurungabad, and cap. of the above pres., is, after Calcutta and Canton, the greatest commercial emporium of the East. It is built at the S. extremity of a small island of the same name, contiguous to the Khokan coast, 650 m. N.W. of Madras, 150 S. of Surat, and 1,050 S.W. of Calcutta: Lat. 18° 56′ N., Lon. 72° 53E. The city consists of two portions, the old town, or fort, and the new town, or Dungaree. It bears no external resemblance to Calcutta or Madras, and its best streets scarcely equal their suburbs. There is no Asiatic magnificence to be seen; everything has an air of age and economy, though the shops and warehouses are built on an extensive scale. The government-house, arsenal, courts of law, cathedral, Elphinstone institute, college, and the town-hall are the leading public buildings The most remarkable structure in the new town is a pagoda, the largest in B , dedicated to the worship of Momba Devi. Ground in this city is very valuable, especially within the fortre . The Parsees (q. v.) form the most numerous. wealthy, and powerful section of the population. The harbor of B. is one of the largest, safest, and most commodious in India; and the rise of the tides here makes it the only port in Hindostan permitting wet-docks to be constructed. The commerce of B. is principally with Europe and China. The imports from the latter country consist principally of raw silk, silk piece-goods, sugar, treasure, .; on the other hand. the exports from B. to China are, raw cotton, optum, pear is, sandal-wood, . The leading exports to Europe comprise immense quantities of cotton, raw silk, pepper and spices, coffee and wool, and the total imports for the year 1891 were 653,716,000 rupees, or about $235,000,000, Exports nearly the same. B. is, next to Madras, the oldest of the British po e ions in the East, having been ceded by the Portuguese in 1661 as a part of the dowry of Catherine, queen of Charles II. In 1668 the city and island were transferred by the crown to the East India Company. At present B. rules the whole N. W. coast of India, and its influence is felt along the shores of Persia and Arabia. Pop ., 1891, 804,670. Bombay', in New York, a post-township of Franklin county, on Little Salmon River, 20 miles N.W. of Malone.