BURNS 252 BURR ceptibLe. An attachment formed by the poet for a local belle, Jean Armour, ren- dered his position so uncomfortable that he determined to emigrate to Jamaica, and engaged himself as assistant over- seer on a plantation there. To obtain the funds necessary for the voyage, he was induced to publish, by subscription, a volume of his poetical effusions. It was printed at Kilmarnock in 1786, and Burns, having thus obtained the assist- ance he expected, was about to set sail from his native land, when he was drawn to Edinburgh by a letter from Dr. Blacklock to an Ayrshire friend of his an J the poet, recommending that he should take advantage of the general ad- miration his poems had excited, and pub- lish a new edition of them. This advice was eagerly adopted, and the result ex- ceeded his most sanguine expectations. After remaining more than a year in the Scottish metropolis, admired, flattered, and caressed by persons of rank, for- tune, or talents, he retired to the country with the sum of some £500, which he had realized by the second publication of his poems. A part of this sum he advanced to his brother, and with the remainder took a considerable farm (EUisland) near Dumfries, to which he subsequently added the office of exciseman. He now married Jean Armour. But the farming at EUisland was not a success, and in about three years Burns removed to Dumfries and relied on his employment as an exciseman alone. He continued to exersise his pen, particularly in the composition of a number of beautiful songs adapted to old Scottish tunes. But his residence in Dumfries, and the so- ciety of the idle and the dissipated who gathered around him there, attracted by the brilliant wit that gave its charm to their convivialities, had an evil effect on Burns, whom disappointment and mis- fortune were now making somewhat reckless. In the winter of 1795 his con- stitution, broken by cares, irregularities, and passions, fell into premature decline, and, on July 21, 1796, a rheumatic fever terminated his life and sufferings at the early age of 37. His character, though marred by imprudence, was never con- taminated by duplicity or meanness. He was an honest, proud, warm-hearted man, combining sound understanding with high passions and a vigorous and excursive imagination. He was alive to every species of emotion; and he is one of the few poets who have at once ex- celled in humor, in tenderness, and in sublimity. BURNS and SCALDS, injuries pro- duced by the application of excessive heat to the human body. They are gen- erally dangerous in proportion to the ex- tent of surface they cover, and a wide- spread scald may cause serious conse- quences on account of the nervous shock. Congestion of the brain, pneumonia, in- flammation of the bowels, or lockjaw may result from an extensive burn. Hence, the treatment requires to be both local and constitutional. If there is shivering or exhaustion, hot brandy and water may be given with good effect, and if there is much pain, a sedative so- lution of opium. The local treatment consists in dredging the burn with fine wheat flour, and then wrapping it up in cotton wool. An application of equal quantities of olive oil and lime water, called carron oil, is much recommended by some, the part being afterward cov- ered by cotton wool. The main thing is to keep the air from the injured part, and, therefore, when a blister forms, al- though it may be pricked, the loose skin should not be removed. BURNSIDE, AMBROSE EVERETT, an American military officer, born in Liberty, Ind., May 23, 1824; he gradu- ated from West Point in 1847. He left the army as First Lieutenant, in 1852, but returned as Colonel of Volunteers, in 1861, commanded a brigade at Bull Run, and, in February, 1862, captured Roanoke Island. Having rendered im- portant services at South Mountain and Antietam, he, in November, reluctantly superseded General McClellan. On De- cember 13, he crossed the Rappahannock, and attacked General Lee near Fred- ericksburg, but was repulsed with a loss of over 10,000 men, and was soon after transferred to the Department of Ohio. In November, 1863, he successfully held Knoxville against a superior force, and, in 1864, he led a corps, under General Grant, through the battles of the Wilder- ness and Cold Harbor. Resigning in April, 1865, he was elected Governor of Rhode Island (1866-1868), and United States Senator in 1875 and 1881. He died in Bristol, R. I., Sept. 13, 1881. BURR, AARON, an American states- man, and third Vice-President of the United States, born in Newark, N. J., Feb. 5, 1756. His father was the Presi- dent of Princeton College. He entered Princeton College at the age of 12 and graduated at 16. While in his 20th year, before he had completed his prepara- tion for the bar, to which he had deter- mined to devote himself, he joined, in 1775, the American army, under Wash- ington, at Cambridge. His ardor in be- half of the Revolutionary cause was such that he was induced to join Arnold as a volunteer in the expedition against Quebec. After his arrival there he was
