ntry in the 13th century. There are large colonies of
Armenians and Jews.

BO-TREE, or BODHI-TREE, the name given by the Buddhists of India and
Ceylon to the Pipul or sacred wild fig (_Ficus religiosa_). It is
regarded as sacred, and one at least is planted near each temple. These
are traditionally supposed to be derived from the original one, the
Bodhi-tree of Buddhist annals, beneath which the Buddha is traditionally
supposed to have attained perfect knowledge. The Bo-tree at the ruined
city of Anuradhapura, 80 m. north of Kandy, grown from a branch of the
parent-tree sent to Ceylon from India by King Asoka in the 3rd century
B.C., is said to have been planted in 288 B.C., and is to this day
worshipped by throngs of pilgrims who come long distances to pray before
it. Usually a bo-tree is planted on the graves of the Kandy priests.

BOTRYTIS, a minute fungus which appears as a brownish-grey mould on
decaying vegetation or on damaged fruits. Under a hand-lens it is seen
to consist of tiny, upright, brown stalks which are branched at the
tips, each branchlet being crowned with a naked head of pale-coloured
spores. It is a very common fungus, growing everywhere in the open or in
greenhouses, and can be found at almost any season. It has also a bad
record as a plant disease. If it once gains entrance into one of the
higher plants, it spreads rapidly, killing the tissues and reducing them
to a rotten condition. Seedling pines, lilies and many other cultivated
plants are subject to attack by _Botrytis_, Some of the species exist in
two other growth-forms, so different in appearance from the _Botrytis_
that they have been regarded as distinct plants:--a sclerotium, which is
a hard compact mass of fungal filaments, or mycelium, that can retain
its vitality for a considerable time in a resting condition; and a
stalked _Peziza_, or cup-fungus, which grows out of the sclerotium. The
latter is the perfect form of fruit. The _Botrytis_ mould is known as
the conidial form.

BOTTA, CARLO GIUSEPPE GUGLIELMO (1766-1837), Italian historian, was born
at San Giorgio Canavese in Piedmont. He studied medicine at the
university of Turin, and obtained his doctor's degree when about twenty
years of age. Having rendered himself obnoxious to the government during
the political commotions that followed the French Revolution, he was
imprisoned for over a year; and on his release in 1795 he withdrew to
France, only to return to