BOI'I, the name of a Celtic people who at a very remoteveriod seem to have inhabited either the southern part of Belgium. or a portion of France in its immediate vicinity, whence they emigrated to Italy. Having crossed the Po, they established themselves in the territory of the Umbrians, lying between that river and the Apennines. and for some hundreds of years war•ed a fierce war with the Romans. They were defeated at the Vadimonitin lake in 283 n.c. at Telamon, In Etruria, in 225 B.C., during the great Gallic war, of which they were the original cause; rushed into rebellion on hearing of Hanni bal's march,.joined him at the battle of the Trebia in 218 n.c., destroyed the entire army of the consul Postumius in 216 11.c., tock a prominent part in the revolt of the Gauls tinder llamilear, and in the destruction of Placentia, 200 B. C.; but at length, in 191 they were completely subdued by Scipio Nasica, who, besides killing a vast num ber, took from them nearly one-half of their laud. At a later period, they were dispos sessed of the whole, and driven ao•oss the Alps. • Their subsequent history and geo graphical position•are not very clear. Those who settled s. of the Danube were, after a century, exterminated by the Dacians; those who returned to Gaul, were destroyed by Cfesar. The most important migration of the B., however, was that to the n. of the Danube, where they founded the extensive kingdom Boioh C11311111, which was overthrown by the Marcomanni under Marbod. But though the dynasty of the 13. was thus destroyed, the kingdom retained the name 13oioliemum—i.e., home of the B., whence comes the modern 136hinen, or Bohemia.
BOIL (allied to Lat. bulk, a bubble) is a hard painful swelling of the skin. It begins as 0 small hard point of a dusky red color, which is hot. painful, and throbbing. This point extends, and these symptoms increase in Severity till about the sixth to the ninth (lay, when it ceases to enlarge, is of a conical form, with a. broad firm base, and on the apex a whitish blister, which contains a little matter; this opens, and after a few days more there is. discharged a core or slough of cellular tissue, and the small cavity ]eft
beak rapidly, leaving a white depressed scar.
Many kinds of boils have described, but they may, like other diseases of an inluninatory nature, be divided into those which are acute and run a rapid course, as al,ove described; and the chronic, which take three or four weeks to "come to a head." Boils are most common in the spring, and in young and plethbric persons, and their appearance is quite consistent with robust health. Men in training for boat-races, or others who have suddenly changed their diet and daily habits, are said to be very sub ject to them. There is a form of 13. which generally occurs on the back of the neck, after some disorder of the stomach, in elderly people, hence it is called " Ohl People's Boil." In some, boils continue to succeed each other for a length of time; others are attacked during the night, after having experienced feelings of nausea and languor, by pustules, which are called night-boils (epinyctis).
The treatment of boils varies ;with -the subject of them: in many, they are merely critical-4n other words, a natural effort "to relieve some function of the body by a Peculiar inflammation of the skin." The intestinal canal should be cleared out by laxa tive medicines, and the digestive powers improved by tonics and antacids. The skin should be kept healthy by frequent washing, while the inflamed spot should be poultieed with poppy-heads or hemlock, mixed with other materials. \Vet lint is a sufficient application after the core has been thrown off. If the patient chooses to submit, how ever, to a momentary pain, he will have the greatest, most permanent, and immediate relief from a cut carried quite through the boil. .Tolin Hunter, the great surgeon, got rid of habitual boils by taking repeated doses of soda in milk.