B 1 E 



Maxeres, a citv in France, where he pr?.aifcd f.irgery with 

 fiKh iuccds, ':r. to uttraa the notice of Ins iovcieign, 

 Lewis XIV., by whom lie was made furgeon to the army in 

 Flanders. He aequiied great reput.ition,_ Haller fays, by 

 introduc' 



iiiij the future of tlic tendon, and by curing a punc- 



B I E 



with th<: latter in 1382 ; in confequence of which union it 

 became a member of the Helvetic coiJederacy. This alliance 

 between the cantons and tlie town of Dieiuie was paramount 

 to that of the fame cantons with the bilhop of Ballc : lor 

 the town enjoyed the right of fending deputies to every ge- 

 neral diet, ordinary or txtraordinaiy, a privilege not poflclK-d 

 by the bilhop. 1'he language of the country is a provincial 

 German ; but, as the territory borders on the principality 

 of Neufchatel, tlie inhabitants fpeak alio a corrupt Fiench. 



turc of the brachial artery in a young nobleman. Ht gives 

 txc.lh.nt cautions, on tiking up the artery, after ampntat'iig 

 a limb, to avoid inchiding the nerve in the ligature. He 



Dcrfornicd the paracentdis of the thorax fiicCLlsfully, and .. 



ap ^s to ha^x. been a bold and expert operator, and The extent of the town and temtory of B.enne ., ellimatLd 

 app.ar. _.ia e Dee _ j^ ,^^„ J ;„ j^, ^^t. He at .44 Iquare geographical miles, and its population at 5,500. 



' uj.lc are very active and lu- 



nportant pais into the Svvifs 



territories; accordingly, it was occupied by the Freneh on 



to liave made confiderable improw... - — , - ^c - -.^ , 



died 168., aged 80 years. A few years after his death, or nearly 6000 perlons ; the peoj 

 - "■ work was publilhcd, containing duftrious. Bienne forms an imp( 



viz. in 1688, a poflhumous work was p 

 a.i account of thefe operations, under the title of " Opera 

 tioiis deCliirurgie, par une mcthode courte et facile," I2mu. 

 Pari>. Halier Bib. Anat. Eloy. Dift. Hili. 



BIENENBUTTEI., in Geography, & town of Germany, 

 in the circle of Lower Saxony, and principality of Lunen- 

 burg, 10 miles S.S.E. of Lunenburg. 



lilENNE, A fmall dillrid of Swiflerland, lies between 

 a lake of the fame name and a chain of the lura mountains. 

 It is furrounded by the cantons of Berne and Soleure, the 

 bifhoprlc of Baflc'and the principality of Neufchatel. The 

 biihup of B:ifle is the fovereign of this little ftate, but his 



the 8th of February 1798, and annexed to France as fub- 

 jecl to the bilhop of Bade, whole rights they afTumed in 

 confequence of having fcized his territories. 



BiENNE, called by tlie Germans Biely the capital of tht 

 above dillrid, is fituated at thefoot of mount lura, andat a ht- 

 tlediftance from the lake of the fame name. Between the town 

 and the lake is a plain, which the fovereign council, by a 

 kind of Agrarian law, that was honourable to the legillature, 

 allotted, by Jiilina portions, to each burgher for his own 

 dillinel ufe : and it is entirely laid out in fmall kitchen gar- 



power, even before the Freneh revolution, was exceedingly dens. Several manufa«ures have been eftabhnied in the 

 hmited • and its conllitutiou was neither a limited monarchy town, which, confidermg its fize, carrKS on a tolerable trade, 

 nor an independent republic, but a kind of mixed govern- The government, by adopting the hberal pohcy of conferring 



ndepcndent rep 

 meat, partaking in fome degree of both. The bilhop of 

 Biiile, upon his promotion to the fee, received the homage 

 of the citizens and militia of the town of Bienne, with at- 

 tendant tokens of abfohite fubmiffioii, but at the fame tiir.e 

 he confirmed, in the llrongell manner, all their privileges and 

 franchifef.. The mayor appointed by him was his reprelen- 

 tative, to whom it belonged to convoke and prelide in the 



the burgherlhip at an eafy rate, has contributed to increale 

 the population ot the town, and to extend its commerce. 

 N.lat. 47'^ 8'. E. long. 1° 4'. 



BiENNE, lake of, lies to the north-eaftofthatof Neufchatel, 

 with which it isconncflcdby the Thielle, which feparatcs the 

 country of Neufchatel Irom the canton of Berne. It is about 

 y miles long, and 4 bioad ; its borders are plealing and pic- 



hltle council, as the chitf court of jullice, to colleft the fnf- turefquc, as it is ikirtcd with agreeable walks and country 



frages, and to declare the fcntcnce ; but without giving any houfes; and the town of Nidau forms a very beautiful object 



vote himfelf. Although juHice was carried on, and executed upon its eallern IJde. Towards the foulhern extremity of 



in the name of the bilhop, yet neither that prince, nor the this lake is thejfland of St. Peter, fometimes called the 



mayor, had the prerogative of pardoning criminals, or of ifland of La Motte, and fometimes Roulleau's ifland, from 



mitigating the fentcnce. All caufes, civil and criminal, its having been the place of Rondeau's retirement and rcfi- 



were brought before the council in tlie firft inllance ; and 

 in more important proceedings, an appeal lay to the fovereign 

 council. In both cafes, each party chofe a member of the 

 .council to aft as his advocate, which office he difcharged 

 \vithout fee or recompence. The fovereign' s revenue amount- 

 ed only to about ;50cl. a year; nor did he poffefs the leaft 



dence, when by the violence of tlie populace he was obliged 

 to withdraw from Moitier, where Frederic king of i-'iulha 

 had enfured to him proteftion. Mr. Coxe, when he vifited 

 this ifland, landed on the fouth fide of it, and paffed through 

 an agreeable meadow, Ikirted with vineyards, to a large farm- 

 houfe, formerly a convent, and feculariicd at the reformation. 



ftiare in the adminillration. The legiflattve authority rtfided but inhabited, at the time of Mr. Coxe's vifit, by the Reward 

 m the great and little councils combined : the former con- of the general hofpllal at Berne, to which the ifland belongs, 

 filling of 40 members, and the latter, to which the executiv-; " The ifland," fays Mr. Coxe, "is about 2 miles in cir- 

 power belonged, being corapofed of 24 ; and it was required cumference, and richly wooded with various flirubs and trees, 

 that the members of each council fhould be married men. particularly with large oaks, beech, and Spanilh chefnuts. 

 •Both councils elected their rcfpeftive members ; and there- Its furface is gently undulating ; the fouthem (hore, cover- 

 fore the conftitution was altogether arillocratical. The cd with hetbage, forms a gradual Hope to the lake ; the 

 burgo-maller, or chief of the regency, was chofcn by the remaining borders are deep and rocky ; in a few places their 

 two councils, and prelided at their meeting, and retained fummits are thinly fringed with (lirubs ; in others their per- 

 his office during life ; but it was neceilary that he, as well pendicular fides are clothed to the water's edge with hang- 

 at the feveral magillrates, fhould be confirmed annually by ing woods. The views from the different parts of the ifland 

 the two councils. The falaries annexed to thefe potts were are beautiful and diverfified ; that to the north is the mod 

 fmall, and the general expeiiccs of government fo inconfider- extenfive and pleafing. It commands the lake of Bienne, 

 able, that the revenues of the Hate were fufficiently ample- which is of an oval form ; its cultivated borders fpotted with 

 This republic, though a Protellant one, under the fove- villages and catties, with the towns of Nidau and Bienne 

 reignty of a Catholic bilhop, enjoyed in the fulktt extent {landing on the further extremity. Agreeable walks are 

 the power of impofing taxes, contrafting alliances, declaring carried through the woods, and terminate at a circular pa- 

 war and peace; and, in Ihort, of exercifing every other aft vilion placed in the centre of the ifland. During vintage, 

 of abColute and independent legiflation. Its fingular confti- particularly, and on Sunday, which is the ufual day of fetti- 

 tution was guaranteed by Berne, Friburg, and Soleure, vity, the ifland is filled with parties, who take refrefliment at 

 with which the town was clofely allied, having connefted it. the farm-houfe, ttray about the woods, or dance in the cir- 

 fclf With the former in 1352, with the fccond m J496, and cular building, and animate thefe romantic but folitary 



6 fcents." 



