I've been serving my country like a patriot, goin' to town-meetings, hurraing my daylights out, and getting as blue as blazes.-J. C. Neal.

All the hair was off his head, and his face was as black as the very old blazes. — Chron. of Pineville, p. 49.

BLAZING STAR. (Aletris farinosa.) A plant, the root of which is greatly esteemed by the Indians and people of the West for its medicinal virtues. It is also called Devil's Bit. Both names are also applied to other and very different plants.

BLICKEY. (Dutch, blik, tin.) In New York, a tin pail.

TO BLIND A TRAIL. To conceal a person's foot-prints, or to give them the appearance of going in a different direction; and, figuratively, to deceive a person by putting him on the wrong track.

BLIZZARD. A poser. This word is not known in the Eastern States.

A gentlemen at dinner asked me for a toast; and supposing he meant to have some fun at my expense, I concluded to go ahead, and give him and his likes a blizzard.- Crockett's Tour, p. 16.

BLOCK. A term applied in America to a square mass of houses included between four streets. It is a very useful one. The term is used in the London Quarterly Review, Vol. 88, p. 477, in an article on "Sanitary Consolidation."

Such an average block, comprising 282 houses and covering nine acres of ground, exists in Oxford street. It forms a compact square mass, or "insula," to borrow a term from the Romans, favorably situated for military engineering.

BLOOD ROOT. (Sanguinaria canadensis.) The plant is so called from the blood-red juice which exudes from a fresh root when broken. See Puccoon.

· BLOOD-TUBS. A set of rowdies in Baltimore.

BLOODED. Blooded cattle, or stock, is a term applied to horses, horned cattle, swine, etc., of choice breeds.

BLOUSE. (French.) A loose frock, made of brown linen, fastened round the waist with a belt; worn by men and boys in France, and lately introduced partially into this country.

TO BLOW. To boast, brag; to "talk big."

but dare not say any thing to my face."

"You blow behind my back,

BLOWER. 1. A plate of sheet iron, used to partially stop the opening of a grate or furnace, and thus increase the draft.

2. A braggart; a teller of incredible anecdotes, feats, and hairbreadth escapes.

BLOW OF COTTON. In the South, the bursting of the pods.

TO BLOW OUT. To talk violently or abusively. The pious Uncle Tiff, as related by Mrs. Stowe, wonders how people get to heaven among the conflicting doctrines:

Dere's de Methodists, dey cuts up de Presbyterians; de Presbyterians pitch into de Methodists, and both are down on de Episcopals; while de Baptists tink dey none on dem right; and while dey's all blowing out at each other dat ar way, I's wondering whar 's de way to Canaan.-Dred, Vol. I., p. 276.

BLUE. Gloomy, severe; extreme, ultra. In the former sense it is applied especially to the Presbyterians, to denote their severe and mortified appearance. Thus, beneath an old portrait of the seventeenth century, in the Woodburn Gallery, is the following inscription:

A true blue Priest, a Lincey Woolsey Brother,
One legg a pulpit holds, a tub the other;
An Orthodox grave, moderate Presbyterian,
Half surplice cloake, half Priest, half Puritan.
Made up of all these halfes, hee cannot pass
For any thing entirely but an ass.

In the latter sense it is used particularly in politics.

The bluest description of old Van Rensselaer Federalists have followed Col. Prentiss (in Otsego county).-N. Y. Tribune.

BLUE. A synonyme in the tippler's vocabulary for drunk. To drink "till all's blue," is to get exceedingly tipsy.

BLUE-BERRY. (Vacinium tenellum.) A fruit resembling the whortleberry in appearance and taste.

BLUE-BOOK. A printed book containing the names of all the persons holding office under the government of the United States, with their place of birth, amount of salary, etc. It answers to the Red-Book of England. This distinction in color was made at the suggestion of Peter Force, Esq., of Washington.

BLUE CURLS. (Trichostema dichotomum.) From the shape and color of its flowers. A common plant resembling pennyroyal, and hence called bastard pennyroyal.

BLUE-FISH. (Temnodon saltator.)

A salt-water fish of the mackerel order, but larger in size. It is one of the most voracious fishes on the Atlantic coast. It bites readily at any object drawn rapidly through the water; as a bone squid or metal spoon, a minnow, white rag, and in fact any conspicuous bait. On the Jersey coast, they are called Horse-Mackerel; and in Virginia, Salt-water Tailors. Another name is the Skipjack. On the Jersey coast, the name Blue-fish is applied to the Weakfish, or Squeteauge.

BLUE-GRASS. The name of the grass of the rich limestone land of Kentucky and Tennessee. It affords pasture for ten or eleven months in the year, and flourishes in the partial shade of the woods in which there is no undergrowth. The change from the fertile soil upon which this grass flourishes to that which is poorer is sudden and well marked. Hence the term "Blue-Grass" is applied both to the region and its inhabitants. Grape-vine," for similar reasons, is used in opposition to "Blue-grass," although not with equal propriety, as the vine does grow well on either soil, while the blue-grass does not. Sometimes, in opposition to "Bluegrassmen," we have "Mountain men." See Owen's Geological Survey of Kentucky.

BLUE LAWS. Where and how the story of the New Haven Blue Laws originated is a matter of some curiosity. According to Dr. Peters, the epithet blue was applied to the laws of New Haven by the neighboring colonies because these laws were thought peculiarly sanguinary; and he says that blue is equivalent to bloody. It is a sufficient refutation of this account of the matter, to say, that if there was any distinction between the colony of New Haven and the other united colonies of New England in the severity of their punishments, New Haven was the last of the number to gain this bad preeminence. Others have said, that certain laws of New Haven, of a more private and domestic kind, were bound in a blue cover; and hence the name. This explanation has as little probability as the preceding for its support. It is well known, that, on the restoration of Charles II., the Puritans became the subject of every kind of reproach and contumely. Not only what was deserving of censure in their deportment, but their morality, was especially held up to scorn. The epithet blue was applied to any one who looked with disapprobation on the licentiousness of the times. The Presbyterians, under which name all dissenters were often included, as they still dared to be the advocates of decency, were more particularly designated by this term; their religion and their morality being marked by it as mean and contemptible. Thus Butler:

For his religion, it was fit

To match his learning and his wit;

'T was Presbyterian true blue. -Hudib. Canto I.

That this epithet of derision should find its way to the colonies was a matter of course. It was here applied not only to persons, but to customs, institutions, and laws of the Puritans, by those who wished to render the prevailing system ridiculous. Hence probably a belief with some, that a distinct system of laws, known as the Blue Laws, must have somewhere a local habitation.-Prof. Kingsley's Hist. Discourse. BLUE LAW STATE. Connecticut.

BLUE LIGHTS. During the war of 1812, while the British fleet lay off New London, blue lights were often seen at night near the shore, which were attributed by Commodore Decatur (whose vessels lay there for security) to persons who were friendly to the British, and hence traitors. The conclusion was an unjust one, as no American was ever discovered or even suspected of burning them. Hence, says Mr. Goodrich, "Blue lights, meaning treason on the part of Connecticut Federalists during the war, is a standard word in the flash dictionary of democracy." "Even to this day," he says elsewhere, " Connecticut Blue Lights are the grizzly monsters with which the nursing fathers and mothers of democracy frighten their children into obedience-just before elections!"— Recollections, Vol. I., p. 439 and 484.

Horace Greeley, and a train of real blue light Clayites from your State, have arrived this morning, and make their head-quarters at the Franklin. Horace has fastened on his armor with rivets and hammer, and the Taylor men will find him a regular "barnburner!"- New York Herald.

BLUE-NOSE.

The slang name for a native of Nova Scotia.

"Pray, sir," said one of my fellow passengers, can you tell me why the Nova Scotians are called 'Blue-Noses?""

"It is the name of a potatoe," said I, “which they produce in great perfection, and boast to be the best in the world. The Americans have, in consequence, given them the nickname of Blue-Noses."- Sam Slick.

Do you know the reason monkeys are no good? Because they chatter all day so do the niggers, and so do the Blue-Noses of Nova Scotia. Sam

long, Slick. After a run [in the steamer] of fourteen days, we entered the harbor of Halifax, amid the hearty cheers of a large number of Blue-Noses. - Sir George Simpson's Overland Journey, Vol. I. p. 19.

BLUE PERCH. See Burgall.

BLUE-SKINS. A nickname applied to the Presbyterians, from their alleged grave deportment.

BLUE-STOCKING. The American avocet (Recurvirostra americana.) A common bird in the Northern States.

BLUETS. (Oldenlandia cærulea.) A delicate little herb, producing in spring a profusion of light-blue flowers fading to white, with a yellowish eye. Gray.

BLUFF, n.

A high bank, almost perpendicular, projecting into the sea. Falconer's Marine Dic.

In America it is applied to, 1. A high bank, presenting a steep front along a river, in the interior of the country. Hence it is also used as a

geological term to denote the lacustrine formation where these high banks

occur.

Here you have the advantage of mountain, bluff, interval, to set off the view. Margaret, p. 282.

2. A game of cards.

BLUFF, adj. Steep, bold; as a hill.

Its banks, if not really steep, had a bluff and precipitous aspect, from the tall forest that girded it about.- Margaret, p. 7.

To BLUFF off. To put off a troublesome questioner or dun with a gruff answer; to frighten a person in any way, in order to deter him from accomplishing his ends.

"I goes you five dollars, this time," says Jim, posting at the same time the tin.

"I sees dat, and I goes you ten better," said Bill; "you ain't agoin' to bluff dis child, no how you can fix it."

"I sees you again," said Jim, "and goes you forty better; dis Orleans nigger won't stay stumped, dat I tells you, sartin."-N. Y. Spirit of the Times.

In the course of the dispute Jim let out some offensive remark, which brought a rejoinder from Joe. The former tried the bluffing system; but Joe said he had stood enough, and would put up with no more insults from his bullying neighbor. -Southern Sketches, p. 137.

BLUMMECHIES. (Dutch.) This Dutch word for small flowers is still preserved in the New York markets.

BLUMMIES. (Dutch.) Flowers. In the State of New York, and particularly in the city and along the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers.

A gentleman, ruralizing along the banks of the Hudson, stopped to pick some wild flowers near where sat an aged man, and said:

"These flowers are beautiful, it is a treat for one from the city to gaze on them!"

"Flowers?" replied the old man, with an air of bewilderment. be they?"

"Why, these!" replied I, stooping and picking some.

"Flowers! what

"O, the blummies! Yes, the blummies be very thick hereabouts!" he replied.

Newspaper.

BOARDS. In the South-west, boards are strips of wood from two to four feet in length riven from blocks, and differing only in size from shingles. All sawed stuff, which at the North is called boards, is here called plank. BOATABLE.

Navigable for boats or small river-craft. -Webster. This useful word has only recently been adopted into the English Dictionaries.

The Seneca Indians say, they can walk four times a day from the boatable waters of the Alleghany to those of the Tioga. — Morse's Geography.