157 



BIQUADRATIC.! 



BIRDLIME. 



JB8 



undertaken with the view of supplying the deficiencies and correcting 

 the errors of Moreri, but which, in the course of preparation, soon 

 assumed the form and character of an independent work, appeared in 



2 vols. folio, at Rotterdam, in 1697. A second edition, enlarged to 



3 vols., followed in 1702 ; and a third in 1722, after the death of the 

 author, at Geneva, in 4 vols., the last being a supplementary volume 

 consisting of additional articles which he had left ready for the press. 

 The best of the old editions of Bayle is the fourth, published at 

 Rotterdam in 4 vols. folio, in 1720, under the superintendence of 

 Prosper Marchant, and often called the ' Regent edition,' from being 

 dedicated to the Regent of France, Philip, Duke of Orleans ; but an 

 edition in 17 vols. 8vo., recently appeared at Paris, which, from the 

 annotations it contains in correction of the original text, is now the 

 most complete and valuable. Bayle's Dictionary, though it contains 

 only a selection of names, is almost exclusively biographical. A very 

 indifferent translation of it into English was published soon after the 

 appearance of the original ; but one much better executed was produced 

 some years after by Peter Des Maizeaux, in 5 vols. folio, London, 

 1734-7. To Bayle's Dictionary should be added the Supplement to 

 it by Chaufepie, published in 4 vols. folio, Amsterdam, 1750. The 

 valuable ' Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mytho- 

 logy,' edited by Dr. W. Smith, 3 vols. 8vo, 1844-49, may also be 

 mentioned here. 



The first ' English General (exclusively) Biographical Dictionary ' 

 appeared in 1762, in 11 vols. 8vo. " It is understood " (says the writer 

 of an article ' On Universal Biographies ' in the ' London Magazine," 

 No. XII. third series) " to have been projected and principally written 

 by the Rev. Dr. Heathcote, who, assisted by the late Mr. Nichols, 

 brought out a second edition of the work in 12 vols. in 1784. A third 

 edition in 15 vols. appeared in 1798, under the superintendence of 

 Mr. Tooke, the author of the ' History of Russia.' It is the last edition 

 of this work which goes by the name of Chalmers's ' Biographical 

 Dictionary,' which, having been begun to be published in 1812, was 

 completed in 1817, in 32 voln. 8vo. Chalmers's ' Dictionary ' is merely 

 a hurried and tasteless compilation, and without any pretensions to be 

 regarded as an authority. It is a better book, however, than the 

 'General Biographical Dictionary' of Drs. Aikin and Enfield, in 10 

 vols. 4to., begun in 1799, and finished in 1815. Of smaller English 

 works of thia description there have been several, but none of much 

 merit : the best perhaps is that by the late Mr. John Gorton, published 

 in 2 vols. 8vo. in 1828. The most exhaustive attempt at a ' Biogra- 

 phical Dictionary" was made by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful 

 Knowledge in 1842, but it was discontinued in 1844, when only the 

 letter A was completed. That portion occupied seven 8vo. volumes, 

 each volume containing considerably more than one of the ' Biographic 

 Universelle.' In this the names of the contributors of the articles 

 were given. Another ' Biographical Dictionary ' is that of H. J. Rose, 

 in 12 vols. 8vo., of which a second edition was published in 1848. 

 The ' Biographical Division of the English Cyclopaedia ' is more than 

 equal to any of the foregoing in extent, and has the advantage over 

 them of containing memoirs of living personages. 



Of foreign biographical works the most remarkable was the great 

 French work, the ' Biographic Universelle,' begun in 1810, and com- 

 pleted in 52 vols. 8vo. in 1828. To every article in this work the 

 name of the writer is affixed ; and the list of contributors, who are in 

 all considerably above 300 in number, comprises the names of Biot, 

 Delambre, Lacroix, Malte-Brun, Walckenaer, Sylvestre de Sacy, Sis- 

 mondi, De Barante, Guizot, Cuvier, Victor Cousin, Chateaubriand, 

 Benjamin Constant, Laplace, Madame de Stael, Delille, and many other 

 of the then most eminent living French writers. This work has been 

 reprinted with additions. A new general biographical dictionary begun 

 in 1852, is now (1859) in course of publication, under the title of 

 * Nouvelle Biographic Ge'nc'rale,' and is a work of considerable merit. 

 In French there are also the ' Biographic des Hommes Vivantes,' in 

 8vo. ; and the ' Biographic Nouvelle des Contemporains," in 

 20 vols., neither of which is of any great authority. A very remark- 

 able and important oriental biographical and bibliographical dictionary 

 in the ' Lexicon Encyclopsedicum et Bibliographicmn ' of Haji Khalfa, 

 in 7 vols. 4to, Leipzig, 1835-59. It is in Arabic and Latin, and has 

 been edited by Professor G. Fliigel at the cost of the Oriental Trans- 

 lation Fund of the Royal Asiatic Society, and is stated in the society's 

 report for 1 1 ",!), to have cost the society nearly 4000?., and Prof. Fliigel 

 nearly twenty-five years of labour. 



In Germany, the various editions of the ' Conversations Lexikon,' 

 contain a large body of biography, on the whole executed with great 

 care and correctness. 



BIQUADRATIC, an algebraic term, meaning of the fourth degree, 

 or which contains the fourth power of any letter. Thus, to find the 

 value of x in 



x* + 3 2* = x + 100 



i 



is the solution of a biquadratic equation. 



The term means " twice as high as a quadratic." [QUADRATIC.] 

 Among the older algebraists, the fourth power was also denoted by the 

 terms qwtdrato-quadratum, plano-planum, suetolidum, zenzizcntic (cor- 

 ruption of an Arabic word), Ac. The word biquadratic wore out of 

 use, and it became customary to say " of the fourth degree " instead. 

 It is now proposed to say yuartic instead of biquadratic, and to call an 



expression of some definite algebraical degree a quantic. We think the 

 proposal a very good one. 



BIRCH ; ECONOMICAL USES. The birch is extremely valuable 

 among our forest trees, from the variety of materials which it furnishes 

 to the manufacturing arts. The timber, without possessing any one 

 quality in an eminent degree, possesses many qualities in moderate 

 extent. It is employed in France for the felloes of wheels, and in 

 Russia for the construction of small rustic carriages. On many parts 

 of the Continent it is used for divers articles of furniture, cooperage, and 

 turnery, and for sabots or wooden shoes. The Highlanders of Scotland 

 use birch for so many purposes that they are said to " make everything 

 of it : " they frequently build their houses of it ; make their chairs, 

 tables, dishes, and spoons of it ; construct their mills of it ; make their 

 carts, ploughs, barrows, gates, and fences of it ; and even manufacture 

 ropes of it. The above uses apply to the white birch. The black or 

 canoe birch is also of great value ; it flourishes in North America, and is 

 there applied to numerous purposes. Some specimens of this timber 

 are so beautifully grained that they are cut into veneers and used in 

 cabinet work. The wood of the tall or A merictm birch is used iu the 

 United States and Nova Scotia for yokes of cattle and frames of sledges, 

 for hoops of casks, for articles of furniture, and for many other pur- 

 poses. The wood of the pliant birch has a fine and close grain, and a 

 considerable degree of strength, and takes a brilliant polish. It is used 

 in the United States for tables, bedsteads, arm-chairs, sofas, coach- 

 panels, shoe-lasts, and a great variety of purposes. 



The bark of all the species of birch is of considerable value, especially 

 in cold northern countries, where it is applied to a great variety of 

 uses. It is very durable, and little acted on by air or water. In some 

 countries it is used as a coping for walls and a covering for roofs. The 

 bark of large trees is cut by the Laplanders into pieces large enough to 

 form capes or short cloaks. It is also employed for boots, shoes, bas- 

 kets, boxes, mats, cordage, harness, and thread. In Kamtschatka the 

 inner bark is dried and ground, and mixed with oatmeal to form an 

 article of food ; and the same people eat the bark in small pieces with 

 the roe of fish. It is much used for tanning leather ; and a yellowish- 

 brown dye which it yields is employed in some countries for dyeing 

 woollens and rein-deer skins. The bark of the canoe birch is used in 

 America for roof coverings, baskets, boxes, portfolios, paper, and inner 

 soles of shoes; but it is more extensively employed in making the 

 canoes of the voyageurs engaged in the fur trade of Canada : such a 

 canoe, capable of accommodating four persons, will weigh no more 

 than 40 Ibs. Tents are also made of this bark. The bark of the tall 

 birch is used in tanning ; that of the pliant birch is stripped while in 

 the green state by the Kamtchatkadales, cut into narrow strips like 

 vermicelli, and stewed with caviare. 



The branches and young shoots are also of much value. They are 

 made into hoops, brooms, faggot-ties, baskets, hurdles, cream-whisks, 

 and similar articles, including the well-known rod of our old-fashioned 

 schoolmasters. The Alpine mountaineers make torches of them. The 

 Laplanders construct tents with birch branches covered with turf. In 

 the Scottish Highlands the branches are employed as fuel in the distil- 

 lation of whiskey, being found (or at least reputed) to impart a flavour 

 to it which enhances its value. They are similarly employed for 

 smoking hams and herrings. The young branches of the dwarf birch 

 furnish beds and fuel to the Laplanders ; and those of the black birch 

 are employed in the United States for making hoops for rice-casks. 



The leaves, catkins, and other green parts, have also their value. The 

 leaves are eaten by goats and rabbits. A yellow colour is obtained 

 from them, useful in painting and dyeing. The Finlanders use the 

 dried leaves as tea. The buds and catkins afford a substitute for bees' 

 wax. A bed stuffed with birch leaves is said to be useful to rheumatic 

 persons by promoting perspiration. The leaves of the dwarf birch 

 yield a peculiar kind of fungus, from which the substance called 

 moxa or amadou, is prepared, and which the Laplanders employ as a 

 medicine in many painful diseases ; and its seeds afford nourishment to 

 the ptarmigan, or white partridge, a very important bird in Lapland. 



The sap of the birch is made to yield beer, wine, spirit, vinegar, and 

 sugar, according to the mode of treatment ; the tree being tapped to 

 allow the sap to flow or ooze out. Birch beer is" made by fermenting 

 the sap with yeast, hot water, and hops. Birch wine is made by boiling 

 the sap with sugar or honey, and fermenting, clarifying, and flavouring 

 in various ways. Birch spirit is made by distillation ; birch vinegar, 

 by allowing the acetous fermentation to supervene on the vinous ; and 

 birch sugar, by boiling and evaporating the sap. 



To complete the catalogue of the vise of the birch, we have to 

 mention the fml, the ashes, and the oil. The wood gives a bright and 

 ardent flame, and is much employed for smelting iron in France, 

 Russia, and Sweden ; its charcoal burns a long time, and is in much 

 demand for making gunpowder and black crayons. The ashes are 

 rich in potash. An oil, much used in Russia, is obtained by burning 

 birch bark in close receptacles. 



BIRDLIME. When the middle bark of the holly is boiled for 

 several hours with water, and then placed in a moist situation, as 

 under moist earth, it enters into fermentation and becomes a viscid 

 mass, from which birdlime may be prepared by bruising, washing, and 

 kneading it to remove extraneous matters, and lastly leaving it again 

 to ferment hi earthen vessels. It may also be made from mistletoe 

 and other plants. Birdlime owes its peculiar property to the presence 



