in music, the third note in the modern scale. See Scale and Music.

B MOLLARRE, or Molle, one of the notes of the scale of music, usually called soft or flat, in opposition to b quadro. See B Quandro.

Boa, in zoology, a genus of serpents, belonging to the order of amphibia. The characters of this genus are, that the belly and tail are both furnished with scuta. The species are ten, viz. 1. The contortrix, has 150 scuta on the belly, and 40 on the tail; the head is broad, very convex, and has poison-bags in the mouth, but no fang, for which reason its bite is not reckoned poisonous: The body is ash-coloured, interspersed with large dusky spots; and the tail is about a third of the length of the body. This serpent is found in Carolina. 2. The canina, has 203 scuta on the belly, and 77 on the tail; it is greenish, and variegated with white belts. It is a native of America, and lodges in the hollow-trunks of trees, and is about two feet long. The bite of the canina is not poisonous. 3. The hispale, is of a dull yellow colour, and is found in Asia. It has 179 scuta on the belly, and 120 on the tail.—4. The constrictor, has 240 scuta on the belly, and 60 on the tail. This is an immense animal; it often exceeds 36 feet in length; the body is very thick, of a dusky white colour, and its back is interspersed with 24 large pale irregular spots; the tail is of a darker colour; and the sides are beautifully variegated with pale spots. Besides, the whole body is interspersed with small brown spots. The head is covered with small scales, and has no broad lamina betwixt the eyes, but has a black belt behind the eyes. It wants the large dog-fangs, and of course its bite is not poisonous. The tongue is fleshy, and very little forked. Above the eyes, on each side, the head rises high. The scales of this serpent are all very small, roundish, and smooth. The tail does not exceed one eighth of the whole length of the animal. The Indians, who adore this monstrous animal, use the skin for cloaths, on account of its smoothness and beauty. There are several of these skins of the above dimensions preserved, and to be seen in the different mu-

To dye skins Blue. Boil elder-berries or dwarf-elder, then smear and wash the skins therewith, and wring them out; then boil the berries, as before, in a solution of alum-water, and wet the skins in the same manner once or twice; dry them, and they will be very blue.

Dyers Blue is one of their simple or mother-colours, used in the composition of others. It is made of woad, indigo, and a pastel brought from Normandy. Some dyers heighten their blue, by adding Brazil and other woods.

A Blue for painting or staining of glass. Take fine white sand twelve ounces, saffron and miumin of each three ounces; reduce them to a fine powder in a bell-metal mortar; then putting the power into a very strong crucible, cover it and lute it well, and, being dry, calcine it over a quick fire for an hour; take out the matter and pound it; then to fifteen ounces of this powder add fourteen of nitre powder; mix them well together, and put them into the crucible again; cover and lute it, and calcine for two hours on a very strong fire.

Prussian Blue. This blue is next to ultramarine for beauty, if it be used in oil: This colour does not grind well in water.

Blue bice is a colour of good brightness, next to Prussian blue; and also a colour of a body, and will flow pretty well in the pencil.

Saunders Blue is also of very good use, and may serve as a shade to ultramarine or the blue bice, where the shades are not required to be very deep, and is itself a pleasant blue, to be laid between the light and shades of such a flower as is of a mazarine blue.

A fine Blue from Mr Boyle. Take the blue leaves of rue, and beat them a little in a stone mortar with a wooden pestle; then put them in water, juice and all, for fourteen days or more, washing them every day till they are rotten; and at last beat them and the water together, till they become a pulp, and let them dry in the sun. This is a fine blue for shading.

Indigo-Blue. This makes the strongest shade for blues of any other, and is of a soft warm colour, when it has been well ground, and washed with gum-water, by means of a stone and a muller.

Lacmus, or Litmus Blue. This is a beautiful blue, and will run in a pen as free as ink. It is made of lacmus, and prepared thus: Take an ounce of lacmus, and boil it in a pint of small-beer worst, till the colour is as strong as you would have it; then pour off the liquor into a gallipot, and let it cool for use. This affords a beautiful colour, has extraordinary effects, and is a holding colour; if it be touched with aqua-fortis, it immediately changes to a fine crimson, little inferior to carmine. feums of Europe, particularly in the library and botanic garden of Upsal in Sweden, which has of late been greatly enriched by count Grillinborg. The flesh of this serpent is eaten by the Indians, and the negroes of Africa. Piso, Margraave, and Kempfer give the following account of its method of living and catching its prey. It frequents caves and thick forests, where it conceals itself, and suddenly darts out upon travellers, wild beasts, &c. When it chuses a tree for its watching-place, it supports itself by twisting its tail around the trunk or a branch, and darts down upon sheep, goats, tigers, or any animal that comes within its reach. When it lays hold of animals, especially any of the larger kinds, it twists itself several times round their body, and, by the vast force of its circular muscles, bruises and breaks all their bones. After the bones are broke, it licks the skin of the animal all over, besmearing it with a glutinous kind of saliva. This operation is intended to facilitate deglutition, and is a preparation for swallowing the whole animal. If it be a stag, or any horned animal, it begins to swallow the feet first, and gradually sucks in the body, and last of all the head. When the horns happen to be large, this serpent has been observed to go about for a long time with the horns of a stag sticking out from its mouth. As the animal digests, the horns putrify and fall off. After this serpent has swallowed a stag or a tyger, it is unable for some days to move; the hunters, who are well acquainted with this circumstance, always take this opportunity of destroying it. When irritated, it makes a loud hissing noise. This serpent is said to cover itself over with leaves in such places as stags or other animals frequent, in order to conceal itself from their sight, and that it may the more easily lay hold of them. See Plate LII. fig. 1.—5. The murina, has 254 scuta on the belly, and 65 on the tail. The colour of it is a light blue, with round spots on the back. It is a native of America, and its bite is not poisonous. 6. The seytae, has 250 scuta on the belly, and 70 on the tail. The body is ash-coloured and bluish, with round black spots on the back, and black lateral rings edged with white. This serpent is a native of America; and, like the constrictor, though not so long, twists itself about sheep, goats, &c., and swallows them whole. 7. The cenchria, has 265 scuta on the belly, and 57 on the tail. It is of a yellow colour, with white eye-like spots. It is a native of Surinam, and its bite is not poisonous. 8. The ophrias, has 281 scuta on the belly, and 64 on the tail; the colour is nearly the same with that of the constrictor, but browner. The place where this serpent is to be found is not known; but its bite is not venomous. 9. The enydris, has 270 scuta on the belly, and 105 on the tail. The colour is a dusky white, and the teeth of the lower jaw are very long; but its bite is not poisonous. It is a native of America. 10. The hortulana, has 290 scuta on the belly, and 128 on the tail. It is of a pale colour, interspersed with livid wedge-like spots. It is a native of America, and its bite is not poisonous.—For the nature and qualities of serpents in general, their method of propagation, &c. see NATURAL HISTORY.