Boerhaave, Hermann

( boor'hav,) the great physician, was B. near Leyden, 1668. He was educated at the University of Leyden, and was destined by his father for the church; but at the age of 22 he applied himself to the study of medicine under Drelincourt. He began lecturing in 1701, and was, eight years later, appointed Profe or of Medicine and Botany. The chairs of Practical Medicine and Chemistry were afterwards a igned to him, and he filled them with the greatest distinction He became rector of the University, and was admitted to the French Academy of Sciences, and, in 1730, to the Royal Society of London. He enjoyed a reputation almost unparalleled; his system was generally adopted, and patients went, or wrote, to him from all parts of Europe. His character was without a stain, and the esteem of his fellow-townsmen was strikingly shown on his recovery from a serious illne , in 1723, by a general illumination. His fame rests principally on his Institu tiones Medica, published in 1708, translated into all European languages and into Arabic, and commented on by Haller; and his Aphorism i de Cog no scend is et Cur and is Morbis, also translated by Van Swiéten. D. 1738. Boers, [Dut. boer, a countryman.] The descendants of the Dutch colonists of S. Africa. In 1880-81 they made themselves conspicuous by their succe ful resistance to British domination. See SOUTH AFRICAN REPUBLIC. Boethius, ANICIUS MANLIUS TORQUATUS SEVER IN US, (boe'the-us.) a Roman philosopher, whose virtues, services, honors, and tragical end, all combine to render his name memorable, was born A. D. 470; he studied at Rome and Athens; was profoundly learned, and filled the highest offices under the government of Theodoric the Coth. He was three times consul, and was long the oracle of his sovereign and the idol of the people; but his strict integrity and inflexible justice raised him up enemies in those who loved extortion and oppre ion, and he at last fell a victim to their machinations. He was falsely accused of a treasonable correspondence with the court of Constantinople, and after a long and rigorous confinement at Pavia, was executed in 524. His Consolations of Philosophy, written in prison, abounds in the loftiest sentiments, clothed in the most fascinating language. This treatise was one of the most widely-read books in the Middle Ages, and has been translated into many languages. Alfred the Great translated it into English. Bættcher, or BöTTGER, ( but'ker,) ADOLPH, a German poet, B. at Leipzig, 1815, was educated there, and, in 1836, entered its university, where he devoted himself to philological pursuits, particularly in the modern languages, and to the study of the German and English poets. Among his numerous poetical productions, his translations of the English poets occupy a conspicuous place. In addition to the works of Shakspeare and Byron, he has translated the poems of Goldsmith (1843). of Pope (1842), of Milton (1846), and of O ian (1847). Among this author's general works are, Agnes Bernauer, a drama (1845); Songs of Midsummer (1847); On the WatchTower (1847); A Tale of Spring (1849); Till Eulenspiegel (1850); The Pilgrimage of the Flower -Spirits (1851); and Shadows (1856). He also published a collection of smaller lyrics. Died in 1870.