Bowles Vbolz\, Chester (Bliss) (b. April 5, 1901, Springfield, Mass., U.S.—d. May 25, 1986, Sussex, Conn.) U.S. advertising executive and diplomat. A graduate of Yale University, he and William Benton established the Benton and Bowles advertising company (1929), which became one of the largest in the world. After selling his interest in 1941, Bowles served as director of the Federal Price Administration (1943—46). Elected gov¬ ernor of Connecticut in 1948, he was defeated in 1950 because of his lib¬ eral stand on civil rights. He was ambassador to India (1951-53), served in the U.S. House of Representatives (1953-61), and returned to India as ambassador (1963-69).
Bowles, Paul (Frederic) (b. Dec. 30,1910, New York, N.Y., U.S.—d. Nov. 18, 1999, Tangier, Mor.) U.S.-Moroccan composer, writer, and trans¬ lator. Bowles studied musical composition with Aaron Copland and wrote music for more than 30 plays and films. He moved to Morocco in the 1940s. He set his best-known novel, The Sheltering Sky (1948; film, 1990), in Tangier. His protagonists, in that novel and other works, are often Westerners maimed by their contact with traditional cultures that bewilder them, and violent events and psychological collapse are recounted in a detached and elegant style. His wife, Jane Bowles (1917— 73), is known for the novel Two Serious Ladies (1943) and the play In the Summer House (1953).
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bowling Game in which a heavy ball is rolled down a long, narrow lane to knock down a group of 10 wooden objects (called pins). Versions of the game have existed since ancient times. Ninepin bowling was brought to the U.S. in the 17th century by Dutch settlers; it became so popular and so associated with gambling that it was outlawed in several states. The game grew to enormous popularity in the 20th century, both as a recreational activity and (since 1958) as a professional sport. If all the pins are knocked down with the first ball, a strike is recorded (10 points). If pins remain standing but the second ball knocks them down, the player is awarded a spare (10 points). If a strike is thrown in a frame (turn), the number of pins knocked down by the next two balls bowled count in that frame. After a spare, the score of the next ball counts in the spare’s frame. Thus, the maximum point total for a single frame is 30. Each game is divided into 10 frames, and each player is allowed to deliver up to two balls per frame (except in the final frame, in which two addi¬ tional deliveries are permitted following a strike [one additional follow¬ ing a spare]. A perfect score is 300, or 12 strikes in a row. Versions of the game include candlepins, duckpins, and skittles.
bowls or lawn bowls or lawn bowling Bowling game similar to the Italian boccie and the French boules played on a green with wooden balls (called bowls) that are rolled at a target ball (the jack). The object is to roll one’s bowls so that they come to rest nearer to the jack than those of an opponent, sometimes achieved by knocking aside an oppo¬ nent’s bowl or jack. One point is awarded for each winning bowl. Depend¬ ing on the game, players use four, three, or two bowls, and games end at 18 or 21 points.
Bowman Vbo-monV Sir William (b. July 20, 1816, Nantwich, Cheshire, Eng.—d. March 29, 1892, near Dorking, Surrey) English sur¬ geon and histologist. His studies of organ tissues with his teacher Robert Todd led to major papers on the structure and function of voluntary muscle and of the kidneys and on the detailed anatomy of the liver. In the kid¬ neys, he found that the capsule (Bowman capsule) surrounding each glom¬ erulus (ball of capillaries) in the nephrons is a continuous part of the renal duct. This was of prime importance to his filtration theory of urine for¬ mation, key to understanding kidney function. Bowman and Todd pub¬ lished The Physiological Anatomy and Physiology of Man (2 vol., 1845— 56), a pioneering work in both physiology and histology. Turning to the eye, Bowman became one of the world’s foremost ophthalmic research scientists, London’s outstanding eye surgeon, and the first to describe several eye structures and their functions.
box In botany, an evergreen shrub or small tree (genus Buxus) of the box family (Buxaceae), best known for the ornamental and useful boxwoods. The family comprises seven genera of trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants, native to North America, Europe, North Africa, and Asia. The plants bear male and female flowers, without petals, on separate plants. The leathery, evergreen leaves are simple and alternate. Fruits are one- or two-seeded capsules or drupes. Three species of the genus Buxus provide the widely grown boxwood: the common, or English, box ( B . sempervi- rens), used for hedges, borders, and topiary figures; the Japanese box ( B. microphylla)\ and the tall boxwood tree (B. balearica).
box elder Hardy and fast-growing tree ( Acer negundo ), also called ash-leaved maple, of the maple family, native to the central and eastern U.S. Its compound leaves (rare among maples) consist of three, five, or seven coarsely toothed leaflets. The single seed is borne in a samara (dry, winged fruit). Because of its rapid growth and its drought resistance, it was widely planted for shade by early settlers in the prairie regions of the U.S. Maple syrup and sugar are sometimes obtained from the box elder. Its wood is used for crates, furniture, paper pulp, and charcoal.
box turtle Any of several species of terrestrial turtle (genus Terrapene) found in the U.S. and Mexico. Box turtles have a high, rounded upper shell (carapace) that grows to a maximum length of about 7 in. (18 cm). The lower shell (plastron) is hinged across the center and can be drawn very tightly against the cara¬ pace to form a protective “box” that completely encloses the turtle’s soft parts. They feed on earthworms, insects, mushrooms, and berries.
Box turtles are often kept as pets.
boxer Smooth-haired breed of working dog named for its manner of “boxing” with its sturdy front paws when beginning to fight. Developed in Germany, it includes strains of bulldog and terrier in its heritage.
Because of its reputation for cour¬ age, aggressiveness, and intelli¬ gence, it has been used in police work; it is also valued as a watchdog and companion. Trim and squarely built, it has a short, square muzzle; a black mask on its face; and a shiny, shorthaired coat of reddish brown or brindle. It stands 21-24 in. (53-61 cm) high and weighs 60-70 lbs (27-32 kg).
Boxer
SALLY ANNE THOMPSON/EB INC.
Boxer Rebellion Officially sup¬ ported peasant uprising in 1900 in China that attempted to drive all for¬ eigners from the country. “Boxer” was the English name given to a Chinese secret society that practiced boxing and calisthenic rituals in the belief that it would make its members impervious to bullets. Support for them grew in northern China during the late 19th century, when China’s people were suffering from growing economic impoverishment and the country was forced to grant humiliating concessions to Western powers. In June 1900, after Boxers had killed Chinese Christians and Westerners, an international relief force was dispatched to quell the attacks. The empress dowager, Cixi, ordered imperial forces to block its advance; the conflict escalated, hundereds of people were killed, and the matter was not resolved until August, when Beijing was captured and sacked. Hos¬ tilities were ended with a protocol (1901) requiring China to pay a large indemnity to 11 countries. Britain and the U.S. later returned much of their reparations, the U.S. using its portion to further Chinese higher edu¬ cation. See also U.S. Open Door policy.
boxing Sport involving attack and defense with the fists. In the mod¬ ern sport, boxers wear padded gloves and fight bouts of up to 12 three- minute rounds in a roped-off square known as the ring. In ancient Greece fighters used leather thongs on their hands and forearms, while in Rome gladiators used metal-studded leather hand coverings (cesti) and usually fought to the death. Not until implementation of the London Prize Ring rules in 1839 were kicking, gouging, butting, biting, and blows below the belt eliminated from the boxer’s standard repertoire. In 1867 the Queens- berry rules called for the wearing of gloves, though bare-knuckle boxing continued into the late 1880s. The last of the great bare-knuckle fighters was John L. Sullivan. From Sullivan on, the U.S. became the premier box¬ ing venue, partly because immigrants supplied a constantly renewed pool of boxers. Boxing has been included among the Olympic Games since 1904. Today there are 17 primary weight classes in professional boxing; straw weight, to 105 lbs (48 kg); junior flyweight, to 108 lbs (49 kg); fly¬ weight, to 112 lbs (51 kg); junior bantamweight, to 115 lbs (52 kg); ban¬ tamweight, to 118 lbs (53.5 kg); junior featherweight, to 122 lbs (55 kg); featherweight, to 126 lbs (57 kg); junior lightweight, to 130 lbs (59 kg); lightweight, to 135 lbs (61 kg); junior welterweight, 140 lbs (63.5 kg); welterweight, to 147 lbs (67 kg); junior middleweight, 154 lbs (70 kg); middleweight, to 160 lbs (72.5 kg); super middleweight, 168 lbs (76 kg); light heavyweight, to 175 lbs (79 kg); cruiserweight, 190 lbs (86 kg); and heavyweight, over 190 lbs. A bout can be won either by knocking out or felling one’s opponent for a count of 10 (a KO) or by delivering the most solid blows and thus amassing the most points. The referee can also stop the fight when one boxer is being badly beaten (a technical knockout, or TKO) or he can disqualify a fighter for rules violations and award the fight to his opponent.