BONER (or BONERIUS),

See also:

• ULRICH

ULRICH (fl. 14th

See also:

• CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century)  , German-Swiss writer of fables, was born in Bern . He was descended of an old Bernese family, and, as far as can be ascertained, took clerical orders and became a monk; yet as it appears that he subsequently married, it is certain that he received the " tonsure " only, and was thus entitled to the benefit of the clerici uxoriati, who, on divesting themselves of the clerical garb, could return to secular life . He is mentioned in records between 1324 and 1349, but neither before nor after these dates . He wrote, in Middle High German, a collection of fables entitled Der Edelstein (c . 1349), one hundred in number, which were based principally on those of Avianus (4th century) and the Anonymus (edited by I . Nevelet, 161o) . This work he dedicated to the Bernese patrician and poet, Johann von Rinkenberg, advocatus (Vogt) of Brienz (d. c . 1350) . It was printed in 1461 at Bamberg; and it is claimed for it that it was the first book Bone oil, also known as Dippel's oil, was originally produced by the distillation of stags' horns; it is of interest in the history of chemistry, since from it were isolated in 1846 by T . Anderson pyridine and some of its homologues.printed in the German language . Boner treats his sources with considerable freedom and originality; he writes a clear and simple style, and the necessarily didactic tone of the collection is relieved by touches of humour . Der Edelstein has been edited by G .

F . Benecke (

Berlin, 1816) and Franz Pfeiffer (Leipzig, 1844) ; a translation into modern German by K . Pannier will be found , in Reclam's Universal-Bibliothek (Leipzig, 1895) . See also G . E . Lessing in Zur Geschichte and Literatur (Werke, ix.); C . Waas, Die Quellen der Beispiele Boners (Giessen, 1897) . BO'NESS, or BORROWSTOUNNESS, a municipal and police burgh and seaport of Linlithgowshire, Scotland . Pop . (1891) 6295; (1901) 9306 . It lies on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth, 17 M . W. by N. of Edinburgh, and 24 M. by rail, being the terminus of the North British railway's branch line from Manuel .

In the 18th century it ranked next to

Leith as a port, but the growth of Grangemouth, higher up the firth, seriously affected its ship-ping trade, which is, however, yet considerable, coal and pig-iron forming the principal exports, and pit props from the Baltic the leading import . It has an extensive harbour (the area of the dock being 74 acres) . The great industries are coal-miningsome of the pits extending for a long distance beneath the firthiron-founding (with several blast furnaces) and engineering, but it has also important manufactures of salt, soap, vitriol and other chemicals . Shipbuilding and whaling are extinct . Traces of the wall of Antoninus which ran through the parish may still be made out, especially near Inveravon . Blackness, on the coast farther east, was the seaport of Linlithgow till the rise of Bo'ness, but its small export trade now mainly consists of coal, bricks, tiles and lime . Its castle, standing on a promontory, is of unknown age . James III. of Scotland is stated to have consigned certain of the insurgent nobles to its cells; and later it was used as a prison in which many of the Covenanters were immured . It was one of the four castles that had to be maintained by the Articles of Union, but when its uselessness for defensive purposes became apparent, it was converted into an ammunition depot . Kinneil House, 1 m. south of Bo'ness, a seat of the duke of Hamilton, formerly a keep, was fortified by the regent Arran, plundered by the rebels in Queen Mary's reign, and reconstructed in the time of Charles II . Dr John .Roebuck (1718-1794), founder of the Carron Iron Works, occupied it for several years from 1764 . It was here that, on his invitation, James Watt constructed a model of his steam-engine, which was tested in a now disused colliery .

Though Roebuck lost all his

money in the coal-mines and salt works which he established at Bo'ness, the development of the mineral resources of the district may be regarded as due to him .