or BORCH, OLAUS, one of the most learned men of his age, was born in 1626, at Borchern in Denmark. He studied medicine at Copenhagen, and began to practise during a terrible plague which ravaged that city. He was appointed professor of botany and chemistry; and in 1660 he visited Holland, England, and France; was received as doctor at Angers; and visited Rome in 1665. In the course of his travels he attended the most celebrated schools, and was selected by Queen Christina as her master in chemistry. He returned to Copenhagen in 1666, and discharged the duties of his office with great assiduity, as his works abundantly testify. He was made a member of the supreme council of justice in 1686, and counsellor of the royal chancery in 1689. He died of the operation of lithotomy in 1690.

The following are the principal works of Borrichius:—1. Dei minera Metallicae, Copenhagen, 1650, 8vo; 2. De Orin et Progressis Chemicis Dissertatio, Ibid. 1658, 4to; 3. Hermetis, Egyptianorum, et Chemicorum Secreta, Ibid. 1674, 4to; 4. Lactuca Plantarum Commentarii, Ibid. 1675, 4to; 5. De Medicamentis Animalium, Ibid. 1676, 4to; 6. De Canis diversitatis Linguarum, Ibid. 1675, 4to; 7. De Sonno et Somniferis, Francofort, 1689, 1683, 4to; 8. De Usu Plantarum Indigenarum in Medica, Copenhagen, 1688, 1690, 8vo; 9. Dissertatio V. de Partibus Graecis et Latinis, Ibid. 1675; 10. Conspicua Chemicorum Scriptorum Illustrissimorum, Ibid. 1696, 4to; 11. De Antiquis Urbis Romae Fucis, Ibid. 1697, 8vo; 12. De Urbis Roma Primordiis, Ibid. 1697, 4to; &c., &c.

BORROMEOAN ISLANDS, a group of four small islands on the western side of Lago Maggiore, in Continental Sardinia. Up to the middle of the seventeenth century these islands were mere barren rocks. About this time Vitaliano, Count Borromeo, master-general of the ordnance to the king of Spain, directed that they should be covered with earth from the neighbouring banks of the lake; and, at an enormous expense, the islands were converted into pleasure gardens. The most celebrated of these are the Isola Bella, and the Isola Madre. The others are called the Isola S. Giovanni or Isolino, and the Isola Superiore or de' Pianatori, which contains a small fishing village of about four hundred inhabitants, with a parish church. Isola Bella Borromeo appears in ten successive terraces, rising one hundred and thirty feet above the level of the water, each regularly decreasing in size from the base to the summit, which is an oblong surface, seventy feet by forty in extent, paved and surrounded by a balustrade. The whole are environed by gigantic marble statues of gods, goddesses, and horses, or other figures; and the walls are clothed with the finest fruit-trees and evergreens, many of which belong to the southern climates. There is, besides, a magnificent palace towards the western end of the island, close to the lake, which almost washes its walls. It is built on arches, which are formed into grottos, with a floor of mosaic, representing various objects, and decorated also with shell-work and marble. The palace itself contains a profusion of marbles and paintings; and some flower-pieces executed on marble, have been particularly admired, as also busts and statues.

At the angles of the garden, which has a southern exposure, there are two round towers with lofty chambers adorned with red and white marble; and in the vicinity are groves of laurels, orange-trees, lofty cypresses, and other odoriferous plants, rendering it a delightful retreat. Isola Madre, which is the largest of the islands, is between one and two miles from Isola Bella; it consists of a superstructure of seven terraces, apparently lower, but not less beautiful, than the other. It is, however, of equal height in reality, the base being a perpendicular rock, rising considerably out of the water, and on that account not requiring so much covering. Here also there is a palace embellished with paintings and different ornaments; and in the gardens are groves of citrons, cedar, and orange-trees, besides a summer-house close to the lake. All the decorations are necessarily on a limited scale; and it excites the wonder of the spectator, that in a space so small so much has been done. When any foreign prince visited these islands in the night, or resided upon them, they were illuminated with various coloured lights. The expense of keeping them in the same state since 1674, about which time they seem to have been finished, has of course been very great. They are frequently called the "Enchanted Islands." "If anything," says Coxe, speaking of the Isola Bella, "justly gives this island the appellation of enchanted, it is the prospect from the terrace. The gradual diminution of the mountains, from the regions of eternal snow to the rich plain; the sinuosity of the lake; its varied banks; the bay of Marzocco, bounded by vast hills; the neighbouring borough of Palanza, and more distant view of Laveno, the numerous villages, the Isola Madre, and another island sprinkled with fishermen's huts, form a delightful assemblage."