BIS 



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BIT 



oxygen to one of the other, the 

 result is a binoxide, or dentoxide. 



BI'OTITE. A mineral, called also 

 Magnesia Mica, a variety of mica, 

 containing from 10 to 25 per cent, 

 of magnesia, and only 12 to 20 of 

 alumina. 



BIPARTITE, (from Us and partitus, 

 Lat.) Having two correspondent 

 parts; an epithet for the corolla, 

 leaf, and other parts of plants, 

 when divided into two corres- 

 pondent parts at the hase. 



BIPE'NNATE. j (bipennis, Lat. Having 



BIPE'NNATED. ) two wings. 



BIPE'TALOTTS. (from Us, Lat. and 

 TreVaXoi/, Gr.) Consisting of two 

 flower leaves ; having two petals. 



BIPI'NNATE. (lipinnatum, Lat.) Doub- 

 ly pinnate ; applied to a compound 

 leaf, having a common petiole, 

 which produces two partial ones, 

 upon which the leaflets are inserted. 



BIPINNA'TIFID. Having pinnatifid 

 leaves on each side the petiole. 



BIRA'DIATE. j (from Us and radiatus, 



BIRA'DIATED. ) Lat.) Consisting of 

 two rays. 



BIBHOMBOI'DAL. Having a surface of 

 twelve rhombic faces. 



BIRO'STRATE. (from binus and rostrum, 

 Lat.) Having a two-beaked prom- 

 inence ; two beaked. 



BIROSTRI'TES. A fossil bicornuted 

 bivalve with conical umbones. 



BI'SMTJTH. (lismut, German, bismuth 

 and bismut, Fr.) A metal of a 

 reddish- white, or cream colour. It 

 is neither malleable nor ductile, its 

 specific gravity is 9-8, it fuses at a 

 temperature of 476 Fahrenheit. 

 In hardness it is intermediate 

 between gold and silver. Bismuth 

 unites with most metals, rendering 

 them generally more fusible, and 

 in some cases remarkably so. Eight 

 parts of bismuth, five of lead, and 

 three of tin, constitute what has 

 been called Sir I. Newton's fusible 

 metal, which liquefies at the temp- 

 erature of boiling water, 212, and 

 may be fused over the flame of a 



candle in a piece of stiff paper. 

 Bismuth was discovered in the 

 early part of the sixteenth century, 

 and is mentioned by Bermannus. 

 It occurs in veins in primitive 

 rocks, as gneiss, granite, mica-slate, 

 and clay-slate, in Saxony, Bohemia, 

 France, Sweden, and Cornwall. 

 One part of bismuth with five of 

 lead and three of tin form the soft 

 solder used by pewterers ; it is also 

 used in the manufacture of printer's 

 types. It is with a compound 

 of two parts of bismuth, one 

 of lead, one of tin, and four of 

 mercury, the whole being fusible 

 at a temperature under that of 

 boiling water, that glass globes are 

 silvered on the inside ; a piece of 

 this compound being placed within 

 the globe, the latter is plunged 

 into hot water, the metallic com- 

 pound readily melts, and the globe 

 being turned round, the fluid metal 

 is spread over the internal surface. 

 BISTJ'LCATE. | (lisulcus, Lat.) Cloven 

 BISUI/COUS. ) footed, as the ox, or 



the pig. 



BITTER SPAR. See Lolomite. 

 BITTJ'ME, i (bitumen, Lat. litume, It 

 BI'TUHEN, ) Utume, Fr, matiere 

 liquide, epaisse, noire et inflammable, 

 qui se trouve dans le seine de la terre, 

 et dont on pretend qrfon se servoit 

 autrefois au lieu de ciment.) The 

 term bitumen is applied to a num- 

 ber of inflammable substances 

 found in the earth, or issuing from 

 the earth's surface, and these are 

 knownundertheirnamesof naphtha, 

 petroleum, mineral tar, mineral 

 pitch or maltha, asphalt, elastic 

 bitumen, jet, mineral coal, amber, 

 and mineral tallow. These, how- 

 ever, may perhaps be more correctly 

 called bituminous varieties Bitu- 

 men is a substance of a peculiar 

 kind, seeming to partake both of 

 an oily and resinous nature, and is 

 found either buried in, or proceed- 

 ing from, different parts of the 

 earth, in different states of consis- 



