within a few years been customary for the students, disguised and
painted black, to ride across the college-yard at midnight, on
horseback, with vociferations and the sound of horns. _Black
riding_ is recognized by the laws of the College as a very high
offence, punishable with expulsion.


BLEACH. At Harvard College, he was formerly said to _bleach_ who
preferred to be _spiritually_ rather than _bodily_ present at
morning prayers.

'T is sweet Commencement parts to reach,
But, oh! 'tis doubly sweet to _bleach_.
_Harvardiana_, Vol. III. p. 123.


BLOOD. A hot spark; a man of spirit; a rake. A word long in use
among collegians and by writers who described them.

With some rakes from Boston and a few College _bloods_, I got very
drunk.--_Monthly Anthology_, Boston, 1804, Vol. I. p. 154.

Indulgent Gods! exclaimed our _bloods_.
_The Crayon_, Yale Coll., 1823, p. 15.


BLOOD. At some of the Western colleges this word signifies
excellent; as, a _blood_ recitation. A student who recites well is
said to _make a blood_.