B I A 



creation of the world, to the deftruftion of the great AfTy- 

 vlaii empire, and is held in high eftimation for indiiflry of 

 refearch, and ingenuity of difquifition with regard to the 

 genuine monuments of antiquity. The fucceeding parts 

 Were never written. Oi occaGon of the reform of the ca- 

 lendar, Bianc'Mui wrote two learned and fcier.tific treatifes, 

 psibliilicd in 1703, and entitled " De Calendario et Cyclo 

 C efiris ac de canone Pafchali Sanfti Hippolyii Martyri--, 

 Diflertationes duae." Of his aftronomical (]<iil and labour 

 in tracing tlie meridian line, in the church of the Chartreux 

 at Rome, he publifhed an account in a difiertation " De 

 nummo et gnomone Clementine'." In 1727, he publifhed 

 " Camera ed Infcrizioni Sepolcrati di Libei-ti, Servi ed Of- 

 ficiali della Cafa di Augufto, &c." on occafion of the dif- 

 covery of a fubterraneous fepulchral building, in 1726, on 

 the Appian way. His obfervations on Venus, were publifhed 

 in 1728, under the title of " Hefperi et Phofpliori Nova 

 Phenomena, five Obfervationes circa Planetam Veneris." 

 The refults of his obfervations on the rotation of Venus, 

 and thepofition of its axes, though very interefUng to ailro- 

 nomers at the time of their publication, have not, however, 

 been confirmed by thofe of a later date, made by Herfchel 

 and Schroeter, with inftruments of much greater power 

 than any which were known in his time, and inferted in the 

 Philofophical Tranfaftions. The caufe of this difference 

 has not yet been afcertained, and dcferves invetligation. 

 (See Venus.) Bianchini was employed for eight years in 

 preparatoiy meafures for tracing a meridian line through the 

 whole extent of Italy, but his death prevented the commence- 

 ment of this enterprife. His edition of " Anaftafius's Lives 

 of the Popes," in 4 vols, folio, with notes, differtations, pre- 

 faces, &c. difplavs much genius and erudition ; but it is 

 faid to abound with typographical errors. He left an un- 

 edited differtation in Latin, on the three kinds of mutical 

 inlfruments of the ancients, which was publifhed at Rome 

 1742, in 4to, under the following title: " Francifci Bian- 

 chini Veronenfis utriufque fignaturre referendarii, & prelati 

 domeftici, de tribus generibus inftrumentorum muficx ve- 

 terum organicoe differtatio." In dividing ancient mufical 

 inftruments into three claifes, namely, wind inflruments, 

 Jtringed inilruments, and ir.ftruments of percuflion, the firft 

 clafs includes fiutes, trumpets, horns, the fyrinx, and hy- 

 drauHcon ; the fecond, the monochord, the lyra trichordis, 

 tetrachordum, the feven-flringed lyre, thechelys, the cithara, 

 pfaltry, harp, C<c. ; the third clafs comprifes the tym- 

 panum, cymbalum, crotalum, fy flrum, and the tintinnabalum. 

 Of all thefe, the author has given defcriptions and repre- 

 fentations well engraven on plates. Fontenellc Eloge des 

 Academiciens. Nouv. Dift. Hift. 



B I AND RATE, in Gcogr^-iphy, a town of Piedmont, in 

 the Novarefe, 6 miles N. W. of Novara. 



BIANDRONA, a town of Italy, in the duchy of Milan, 

 15 miles W.S.W. of Como. 



BIANOR, \n Entomology, a fpecies of Papilio, nearly 

 ailied to P. Paris, and a native alfo of the Eall Indies. 

 The wings are above and beneath of the fame black colour, 

 with five rufous lunules on the pofterior pair. Fabricius, &c. 

 It may be doubted whether this is a diilinA fpecies from 

 Paris ; perhaps only a fe.xual difference. 



BIAR, a fniall town of Valencia, in Spain, feated on a 

 river which runs into the Elda, on the confines of New 

 Caftile. It is chiefly remarkable for its honey, which is di- 

 ilinguifhed by its whitenefs and folidlty, unaffetted by any 

 change of weather ; dillant two leagues eaft of Villena. 



BIARCHUS, formed from /Sic;, aimona, viJuah, and 

 •'-^;i'i) chief, an officer in the court of the cmperoriS of Con- 



B I A 



ftantinople, intnifted with the care and infpeaion of the pnV 

 vifions of the foldiery. The biarchus was the fame with 

 what the Latins call prtfeeius annona. His fundion was 

 called bim-chin ; by the Latins, prafeaura rei cibaria: He 

 belonged to t\\'; fcholia agcntium in rebus. See Agentes. 



BIARMIA, in Geography, a name given by the Scandi- 

 navian navigators, in the Middle ages, to the whole country 

 between the White fea and the UraL See Permia. 



BIARUM, in Botary, a name by which the people of 

 Egypt at this time call the root of the nilufar, ox f aha 

 JEgyplia, growing on the Nile. 



BIAS, or BiAss, in a g:eneral fcnfe, denotes the ten- 

 dency or propenfity of a thing towards one fide more than 

 the other ; particularly the deviation of a bodv, or a plane, 

 from itsreaihnear courfe, or its level. See I'nclikation. 

 It fignifies alfo the inclination of a perfon's mind to one 

 thing more than to another. The word is French, biais, 

 which fignifies the fame. 



Bias of a bowl, is a piece of lead put into one fide, to 

 load and make it incline towards that fide. 



Bias, in Biography, one of the feven wife men of Greece, 

 was a native of Priene, in Ionia, and flourifhed in the reign of 

 Alyattes 11. king of Lydia, about 608, according to fome, 

 but according to Blair's tables, about 565 years before Chrift. 

 He was eminently diflinguifhed not only by his wifdom, but 

 by his generofity and public fpirit, and for thefe qualities 

 held m the highefl veneration by his countrymen. Alyattes 

 was obliged by a ilratagem of' his contrivance to raife the 

 fiege of his native town, when it was reduced to the utmofl 

 diftrefs by famine. He firil fent two fattened mules into 

 the enemy's camp ; and the king, obfernng with aftonifh- 

 ment their good condition, fent deputies into the city under 

 a pretence of off^ering terms of peace, but with a real inten- 

 tion of obferving the ftate of the town and of the people. 

 Bias, fufpefting their defign, ordered the granaries to be 

 filled with large heaps of fand, and thefe heaps to be covered 

 with corn ; upon which, when the deputies returned, and ' 

 reported the plenty of provifion with which the citv was 

 furnifhed, the king no longer demurred, but concluded a 

 treaty, and raifed the fiege. As an inftance of his genero- 

 fity,_ it is related of him, that when fcveral young female 

 captives were brought from Meffene to Priene, he redeemed 

 them, educated them as his own daughters, and then re- 

 ftored them with a dowry to their parents. As an evidence 

 of the low eftimation in which he held the gifts of fortune, 

 compared with the endowments of the mind, it is faid, that 

 when Priene was once threatened with a fiege, and the inha- 

 bitants were leaving it, loaded with their moft. valuable ef- 

 fefts. Bias took no pains to prcfcrve any part of his pro- 

 perty, alleging as a reafon of his conduft to one who ex- 

 prefl'ed his fnrprife at it, " I carry all my tteafnres with 

 me." The following maxims of wifdom are afcribed to 

 him. " It is a proof of a weak and difordered mind to de- 

 fire impolTibilities." " The greattft infelicity is, not to be 

 able to endure misfortunes patiently." "' Great minds 

 alone can fupport a fudden reverfe of fortune." " The moll 

 pleafant ftate is to be always gaining." " Be not unmind- 

 ful of the miferies of others." " If you are hnndfome, do 

 handlome things; if deformed, fiipply the defects of nature 

 by your virtues." " Be flow in undertaking, but refolute 

 in executing." « Praife not a wortlilefs man for the fake of 

 his wealth." " Whatever good you do, or do all the good 

 you can, and afcribe the gloiy of it to the gods." " Lay 

 in wifdom as the ftore for your journey from youth to old 

 age, for it is the moft certain poffeflion." '« Many men 

 are dilhoneft ; theitfore love your friend with caution, for 



be 



