BIT 



141 



BL A 



BIT'TERN. 1. A species of heron, the 



srdt.i steHaris, a native of Europe. 2. 



The mother-water which remains after 

 the crystallisation of common, salt from 

 sea- water. 



BITTER PRINCIPLE. Applied to certain 

 results of the action of nitric acid upon 

 organised matter, of an intensely bitter 

 taste. 



BIT'TERSWEET, a species of nightshade, 

 the solanwn dulcamara, a slender climbing 

 plant, whose root, when chewed, prqduces 

 first a bitter, then a sweet taste. 



BIT'TERIVORT, a name common to all 

 the British species of the Gentian. See 

 GENTIANA. 



BITTS, a plural word used to denote a 

 frame of two pieces of timber, fixed per- 

 pendicularly in the forepart of a ship, on 

 which to fasten the cables when she rides 

 at anchor. There are several other 

 smaller bitts, as the topsail-sheet-bitts, 

 paul-bitts, carrick-bitts, &c. 



BITU'MEN, a generic name for a num- 

 ber of inflammable mineral substances 

 known under the names of naphtha, pe- 

 troleum, mineral tar, mineral pitch, mal- 

 thu or sea- wax, asphalte, elastic bitumen, 

 or mineral caoutchouc, jet, mellilite or 

 honey-stone, mineral coal, amber, and 

 mineral tallow or adipocire. The four 

 rirst are liquid, the others are solid at or- 

 dinary temperatures. All the varieties 

 of bitumen seem to partake, more or less, 

 both of an oily and resinous nature, and 

 are composed, in a great measure, of car- 

 bon and hydrogen, but their origin is not 

 known; the tar-like substance which 

 oozes out of coal when on fire, is a good 

 example of bitumen. 



BITU'MINOUS CEMENT, ) a factitious sub- 



BITU'MINOUS MASTIC, } stance which 

 has of late been much used in France for 

 covering roofs, lining water cisterns, &c. 

 It is made by boiling asphaltum, and 

 when hot mixing it with chalk or brick- 

 dust. Boiled coal-tar treated in the same 

 way is equally good. 



BITO'.MINOI,S LIMESTONE, a limestone of 

 a lamellar structure, more or less charged 

 with bitumen. It is found near Bristol, 

 and abundantly in Galway, hence called 

 Galway marble. 



BITV'MINOUS SPRINGS, properly springs 

 impregnated with petroleum and analo- 

 gous nominal substances; but the .name 

 is commonly used to designate those foun- 

 tains of almost pure petroleum, so very 

 numerous, especially in Persia, where 

 some of them yield from 1000 to 1500 Ibs. 

 of petroleum a day, and seem to be quite 

 inexhaustible. 



BI'VALVE, Lat. bitalvit, two-valved 

 shells. 



BIVALVES, one of the three Linnean 

 of shell-fish, the shells of which 

 composed of two pieces or valves 



joined together by a hinge. The oyster 

 is an example. 



BI'VOCAC, Ger. bitvacht. The name 

 given to the modern system by which 

 the soldiers in service lie in the open air 

 without tents, in opposition to the old 

 system of camps and cantonments. 



BIX'A, the arnotto-tree or roucou, a ge- 

 nus of two species, one of which, the B. 

 orellana, common to both Indies, pro- 

 duces the terra orllana" or arnotto of the 

 shops. Class, polyandria ; order, mono- 

 gynia. 



BIX'ACEJE, a natural order of plants of 

 which the genus bixa is the type. 



BLACK. ACTS. In England, the statutes 

 of 9 George I. and 31 George II. In Scot- 

 land, the acts or statutes of the five 

 Jameses, with those of Mary's reign and 

 of James VI., down to 1587, all of which 

 were printed in the old English charac- 

 ter, or black letter. 



BLACK'AMOOR'S-HEAD', a chemical vessel 

 of a conical form, named from its sup- 

 posed resemblance to a negro's head. It 

 is now rarely used. 



BLACK' BAR, a plea obliging the plain- 

 tiff to assign the place of trespass. 



BLACK'-BIRD. In England, the turdus 

 merula, Lin. In America, 1. The gracula 

 guiscula, Lin. This is called the crow 



black-bird. 2. The stttrnus predatorius, 



Wilson; oriolus phoenicus, Ian. This is 

 called the red- winged black-bird. 



BLACK'-BOOK. 1. A book kept in the 

 Exchequer of England, and containing 

 the orders of that court, its officers, their 

 ranks and privileges, wages, perquisites 

 and jurisdiction, with the revenues of the 

 Crown in money, grain, and cattle. It is 

 supposed to have been composed in 1175, 

 by Gervais of Tilbury. 2. A book com- 

 piled by order of the visitors of monas- 

 teries under Henry VIII., containing an 

 account of the enormitie spractised in 



those houses. 3. Any book which treats 



of necromancy or the black art. 



BLACK-CAP, a little bird, the motacilla 

 atrtcapilla, Lin.; called otherwise the 

 mock nightingale; it has obtained its 

 name from the fine black crown on its 

 head. 



BLACK. CATTLE, a general name for all 

 cattle of the bovine genus, reared ex- 

 pressly for slaughter, in distinction from 

 dairy-caftie. 



BLACK COCK, the heath cock, tetrao te- 

 trix, Lin., named from its black plumage. 

 In some places it is called black grouse, and 

 in others black game. 



BLACK DTE, the principal ingredients 

 of black dye are logwood, Aleppo galls, 

 verdigris, and sulphate of iron or green 

 vitriol, but the process is intricate, and 

 varies with the stuff to be dyed. 



BLACK FISH, the tautog, a dark coloured 

 species of labrut (q.v.). Fish newly 



