BLACK DROP

black drop, in astronomy, an apparent distortion of the planet mercury or venus at the time of internal contact with the limb of the sun at the beginning or end of a transit. it has been in the past a source of much perplexity to observers of transits, but is now understood to be a result of irradiation, produced by the atmosphere or by the aberration of the telescope. blackfoot (_siksika_), a tribe and confederacy of north american indians of algonquian stock. the name is explained as an allusion to their leggings being observed by the whites to have become blackened by marching over the freshly burned prairie. their range was around the headwaters of the missouri, from the yellowstone northward to the north saskatchewan and westward to the rockies. the confederacy consisted of three tribes, the blackfoot or siksika proper, the kaina and the piegan. during the early years of the 19th century the blackfoots were one of the strongest indian confederacies of the north-west, numbering some 40,000. at the beginning of the 20th century there were about 5000, some in montana and some in canada. see jean l'heureux, _customs and religious ideas of blackfoot indians in j.a.i._, vol. xv. (1886); g.b. grinnell, _blackfoot lodge tales_ (1892); g. catlin, _north american indians_ (1876); _handbook of american indians_ (washington, 1907), under "siksika." black forest (ger. _schwarzwald_; the _silva marciana_ and _abnoba_ of the romans), a mountainous district of south-west germany, having an area of 1844 sq. m., of which about two-thirds lie in the grand duchy of baden and the remaining third in the kingdom of wurttemberg. bounded on the south and west by the valley of the rhine, to which its declivities abruptly descend, and running parallel to, and forming the counterpart of the vosges beyond, it slopes more gently down to the valley of the neckar in the north and to that of the nagold (a tributary of the neckar) on the north-east. its total length is 100 m., and its breadth varies from 36 m. in the south to 21 in the centre and 13 in the north. the deep valley of the kinzig divides it laterally into halves, of which the southern, with an average elevation of 3000 ft., is the wilder and contains the loftiest peaks, which again mostly lie towards the western side. among them are the feldberg (4898 ft.), the herzogenhorn (4600), the blossling (4260) and the blauen (3820). the northern half has an average height of 2000 ft. on the east side are several lakes, and here the majority of the streams take their rise. the configuration of the hills is mainly conical and the geological formation consists of gneiss, granite (in the south) and red sandstone. the district is poor in minerals; the yield of silver and copper has almost ceased, but there are workable coal seams near offenburg, where the kinzig debouches on the plain. the climate in the higher districts is raw and the produce is mostly confined to hardy cereals, such as oats. but the valleys, especially those on the western side, are warm and healthy, enclose good pasture land and furnish fruits and wine in rich profusion. they are clothed up to a height of about 2000 ft. with luxuriant woods of oak and beech, and above these again and up to an elevation of 4000 ft., surrounding the hills with a dense dark belt, are the forests of fir which have given the name to the district. the summits of the highest peaks are bare, but even on them snow seldom lies throughout the summer. the black forest produces excellent timber, which is partly sawn in the valleys and partly exported down the rhine in logs. among other industries are the manufactures of watches, clocks, toys and musical instruments. there are numerous mineral springs, and among the watering places baden-baden and wildbad are famous. the towns of freiburg, rastatt, offenburg and lahr, which lie under the western declivities, are the chief centres for the productions of the interior. the black forest is a favourite tourist resort and is opened up by numerous railways. in addition to the main lines in the valleys of the rhine and neckar, which are connected with the towns lying on its fringe, the district is intersected by the schwarzwaldbahn from offenburg to singen, from which various small local lines ramify. black hawk [ma'katawimesheka'ka, "black sparrow hawk"], (1767-1838), american indian warrior of the sauk and fox tribes, was born at the sauk village on rock river, near the mississippi, in 1767. he was a member of the thunder gens of the sauk tribe, and, though neither an hereditary nor an elected chief, was for some time the recognized war leader of the sauk and foxes. from his youth he was intensely bloodthirsty and hostile to the americans. immediately after the acquisition of "louisiana," the federal government took steps for the removal of the sauk and foxes, who had always been a disturbing element among the north-western indians, to the west bank of the mississippi river. as early as 1804, by a treaty signed at st louis on the 3rd of november, they agreed to the removal in return for an annuity of $1000. british influences were still strong in the upper mississippi valley and undoubtedly led black hawk and the chiefs of the sauk and fox confederacy to repudiate this agreement of 1804, and subsequently to enter into the conspiracy of tecumseh and take part with the british in the war of 1812. the treaties of 1815 at portage des sioux (with the foxes) and of 1816 at st louis (with the sauk) substantially renewed that of 1804. that of 1816 was signed by black hawk himself, who declared, however, when in 1823 chief keokuk and a majority of the two nations crossed the river, that the consent of the chiefs had been obtained by fraud. in 1830 a final treaty was signed at prairie du chien, by which all title to the lands of the sauk and foxes east of the mississippi was ceded to the government, and provision was made for the immediate opening of the tract to settlers. black hawk, leading the party in opposition to keokuk, at once refused to accede to this cession and threatened to retaliate if his lands were invaded. this precipitated what is known as the black hawk war. settlers began pouring into the new region in the early spring of 1831, and black hawk in june attacked several villages near the illinois-wisconsin line. after massacring several isolated families, he was driven off by a force of illinois militia. he renewed his attack in the following year (1832), but after several minor engagements, in most of which he was successful, he was defeated (21st of july) at wisconsin heights on the wisconsin river, opposite prairie du sac, by michigan volunteers under colonels henry dodge and james d. henry, and fleeing westward was again decisively defeated on the mississippi at the mouth of the bad axe river (on the 1st and 2nd of august) by general henry atkinson. his band was completely dispersed, and he himself was captured by a party of winnebagoes. at fort armstrong, rock island, on the 21st of september, a treaty was signed, by which a large tract of the sauk and fox territory was ceded to the united states; and the united states granted to them a reservation of 400 sq. m., the payment of $20,000 a year for thirty years, and the settlement of certain traders' claims against the tribe. with several warriors black hawk was sent to fortress monroe, virginia, where he was confined for a few weeks; afterwards he was taken by the government through the principal eastern cities. on his release he settled in 1837 on the sauk and fox reservation on the des moines river, in iowa, where he died on the 3rd of october 1838. see frank e. stevens, _the black hawk war_ (chicago, 1903); r.g. thwaites, "the story of the black hawk war" in vol. xii. of the _collections of the state historical society of wisconsin_; j.b. patterson, _life of ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak or black hawk_ (boston, 1834), purporting to be black hawk's story as told by himself; and benjamin drake, _life of black hawk_ (cincinnati, 1846).