B 1 L 



Dr Shaw, deduce it from Bla'id el jtrhh, en- tlic " dry coun- 

 try." Tlie whole province of Biledulgcrid, hordcrinyc to 

 the fouth on Sahara, or the Great Dcfert, is mountainous, 

 fandy, and barren, producing little or no fiiftenance but 

 dates, which riow in fiich abundance, that various parts of 

 it are covered with pa!m-trces bearing this fruit. Ihe 

 climate is hot and unhealthy ; the people arc meagre, fwarthy, 

 and Ihrivclled in their complexions, and their eyes are in- 

 flamed by the rcfledion of the fun-beams, from the white 

 hard foil, and by clouds of dull and fand driven by the 

 liigh winds at fome feafons in fuch abundance, as to bury 

 men and cattle under their colkftcd malTes. They are alfo 

 fubjett to a fcorbutic complaint, of which they can alTign 

 no probable caiife, but fo inveterate, that their teeth drop 

 out, and their bodies become loathfonie. In other refpefts 

 they are healthy and vigorous, and live without ficknefs or 

 difeafe to a great age. The plague of Barbary is fcarcely 

 ever heard of in this province, notwiihllanding the contiguity 

 of the two countries, and the frequent intercourfe of their 

 inhabitants. Biledulijerid, properly fo called, has few 

 rivers and towns. The natives of Biledulgeiid are repre- 

 fented as a lewd, treacherous, thievilh, and favage people, 

 that delight in murder, blood, and rapine. They are, in 

 general, a mixture of old Africans and wild Arabs ; the 

 former of whom lived with fome degree of regularity and 

 civil order, in a kind of villages compofed of a number of 

 little hut-s whilll the latter inhabited moveable tents, and 

 ranged from place to place in quell of food and plunder. 

 Thefc Arabs value themfelves on their fuperiority with re- 

 gard to birth and talents above the primitive inhabitants ; 

 and whiUl they are wholly independent and free, they occa- 

 fionally hire themfelves to fcrve in the wars of the neigh- 

 bouring princes, and hence arifes the chief part of their 

 public revenui. ; the reil purfue no other occupations befides 

 plundering and hunting, and particularly hunting ollriches, 

 the fle(h of which they drefs for food, and the feathers they 

 barter for corn, pulfe, and other neceflaries. The other 

 parts of thefe birds they ufe in their religious rites, as orna- 

 ments of drefi, or as pouches and knapfacks. Befides dates 

 and oftriches, they likewife fubfift on the fledi of goats and 

 camels; and for their drink, they ufe either the broth in 

 which the flefli is boiled, or the milk of their camels, for 

 they fcldoni talte water, which is not only fcarce, but 

 brackidi and unwholefome. For the character and manners 

 of thofe who inhabit that part of Bileduljjcrid, taken in its 

 former extent, and bordering on the Atlantic ocean ; fee 



MONSKLI MINES and MoNOFARTS. 



BILEFELD. See Bielkeld. 



BILGE. See BiLOGE. 



BILGUER, John Ulrick, in Btograp!<ii,\)om at Coire, 

 in the countrj- of the Griions, in Swidcrland ; after paf- 

 fing through the nfual courfc of education, praftifed furgery 

 at Berlin, where he foon acquired fiich reputation, as to en- 

 gage the attention of king Frederic the Great, who made 

 him furgeon to one of his regiments, and, m progreflion, 

 fiirgeon-gencral to the PrulTian army. In the courfe of an 

 extenfive praiflice in this poll, he had an opportunity of 

 obferving how very fmall a proportion of the men recovered 

 from fratlures, where tlie foft parts were greatly bruifed, 

 and the bones (liattercd, when the limb had been amputated, 

 which in fuch cafes was the general practice. This induced 

 him to try more lenient methods, wiiich he praftifed with 

 fuch fuccef^, as to enable him to reduce the cafes in which 

 amputation fhonld be declared to bt necelTary to a very 

 fmall number. In 1 761, he was admitted to the degree of 

 doftor in medicine, by the univerfity of Hall, in Saxony, 

 when he read for liis thtfis " De nitmbrorum amputatione 



B I L 



rariflime adminiftranJa, aut quafi abrogandn." This work 

 was tranllated into French, and highly commended by TifTot, 

 then in the zenith of his reputation, which gave the work 

 fuch credit, and fo quick a circulation, that it was foon 

 naturalized in every country of Europe, and its difFufion 

 has been attended with the mod beneficial confequences. 

 The methods recommended by the author for prcferving 

 fraftured limbs, even in cafes that have been before thought 

 hopetefs, fucceedcd fo often, as very much to diminilh the 

 frequency of the operation. He alfo publilhed at Glogau, 

 in 1763, " Inftrudions for Surgeons of Hofpitals," in 

 Gcr;nan, In this work, he further defends and illullratcs 

 the doctrine contained in the thefis. in cafes where amputa- 

 tion cannot be avoided, he advifes leaving a portion of the 

 integuments, a pradice now become general. There are 

 alfo other works publifhed by this author on the praftice of 

 furgei-)-, for the titles and accounts of which, fee Haller'u 

 Bib. Chirurg. Eloy. Did. Hill. 



BILGHY, in Geography, a town of Hindoflan, in the 

 My fore counfy, and in that di(lri£l ceded to Britain in 1 799, 

 58 miles W.S.W. from Harponully, and 35 N.N.W. f;om 

 Bednore. N. lat. 14° 8'. E. long. 74° 50'. 



BILIARY Calculi. Some of the concretions found in the 

 gall bladder or dufts, and which are generally of an oval form, 

 are compofed of a white fubftance like fpermaceti, cryftal- 

 li/.ed in brilliant plates or ftrise. Thefe concretions float in 

 water, and are inflammable. They diOTolve ii> heated alco- 

 hol, in oil of turpentine, and in alkalies ; in the latter cafe, 

 the folution has the properties of a foap. 



Other biliary concretions are of a polygonal form, and 

 generally very numerous j they are of a brownifti colour, 

 and are formed of concentric layers, of a fubftance refembling 

 infpiffated bile. 



In fome biliary concretions, there is a mixture of both 

 the fubftances above defcribcd. 



There are alfo fometimes found in the gall bladder dark- 

 coloured fmall brittle concretions, which are infoluble iu 

 alcohol, or oil of turpentine, and which are not inflammable. 

 (See Gall-Stones.) For a detail of experiments relative 

 to Bile and thefe calculi, confult Cadet, Mem. Par. 1797. 

 Fourcroy, Ann. de Chimie. Gren & Vauquelon, ibid. 

 Ram fay in the Thefaur. Med. Edin. and Maclurg. See 

 Calculi, Biliary. 



BiLIARII Pori, the eiccretory dafts of the liver, now 

 commonly termed vafa biliarla. See Liver. 



BILICH, atown of Siberia, 8 miles S.E. of Vcrcholenfk. 



BILIHAN, a town of Perfia, in the province of Irac, 

 100 miles S.S.W. of Amadan. 



BILIKOWKN, a town of Poland, in the palatinate of 

 Kiov, 50 miles well of Kiov. 



BILIMBI, in Botany, a fpecies of the Averrhoa (fee 

 Averrhoa); which is carefully cultivated in the gardens 

 of the Eaft Indies, where it flowers throughout the vear. 

 The juice of the root is drank as a cure for fevers. The 

 leaves boiled, and made into a cataplafm with rice, are 

 famed in all forts of tumors, and the juice of the fruit is 

 ufed in almoll all external heats, dipping linen rags in it, 

 and applying them to the parts. It is drank, mixed with 

 arr«ck, to cure diarrhoeas ; and the dried leaves, mixed with 

 betel leaves, and given in arrack, are faid to promote delivery. 

 The fruit is pleafant to the tafte when fully ripe, and is 

 commonly eaten j when Imaller, and uuripe, it luakcs a very 

 pleafant pickle. 



BILIN, in Geography, a town of Bohemia, in the circle 

 of Leitmeritz, 14 miles well of Leitmeritz. This place has 

 a fine citadel, and a fpring of acid water ; and holds animal 

 fairs. 



BILt. 



