. It freezes more readily and is not affected by the Mediterranean
current.

See N. Andrusov, "Physical Exploration of the Black Sea," in
_Geographical Journal_, vol. i. p. 49.

FOOTNOTE:

[1] The early Greek navigators gave it the epithet of _axenus_, i.e.
unfriendly to strangers, but as Greek colonies sprang up on the
shores this was changed to _euxinus_, friendly to strangers.

BLACK SEA (Russ. _Chernomorskaya_), a military district of the province of
Kuban, formerly an independent province of Transcaucasia, Russia; it
includes the narrow strip of land along the N.E. coast of the Black Sea
from Novorossiysk to the vicinity of Pitsunda, between the sea and the
crest of the main range of the Caucasus. Area, 2836 sq. m. Pop. (1897)
54,228; (1906, estimate) 71,900. It is penetrated by numerous spurs of
this range, which strike the sea abruptly at right angles to the coast,
and in many cases plunge down into it sheer. Owing to its southern
exposure, its sheltered position, and a copious rainfall, vegetation, in
part of a sub-tropical character, grows in great profusion. In
consequence, however, of the mountainous character of the region, it is
divided into a large number of more or less isolated districts, and there
is little intercourse with the country north of the Caucasus, the passes
over the range being few and difficult (see CAUCASUS). But since the
Russians became masters of this region, its former inhabitants (Circassian
tribes) have emigrated in thousands, so that the country is now only
thinly inhabited. It is divided into three districts--Novorossiysk, with
the town (pop. in 1897, 16,208) of the same name, which acts as the
capital of the Black Sea district; Velyaminovsk; and Sochi. Novorossiysk
is connected by rail, at the west end of the Caucasus, with the
Rostov-Vladikavkaz line, and a mountain road leads from Velyaminovsk (or
Tuapse) to Maikop in the province of Kuban.

BLACKSTONE, SIR WILLIAM (1723-1780), English jurist, was born in London,
on the 10th of July 1723. His parents having died when he was young, his
early education, under the care of his uncle, Dr Thomas Bigg, was
obtained at the Charterhouse, from which, at the age of fifteen, he was
sent to Pembroke College, Oxford. He was entered in the Middle Temple in
1741. In 1744 he was elected a fellow of All Souls' College. From this
period he divided his time between the university and the Temple, where
he took chambe