B I L 



trul-.rit?e3 in die bills of birds ; particularly of a raven, wboCe 

 mandible? crofTed each other, the Wer chap tnrnmg up- 

 wards, a;id the upper downwards. Plott's Nat. Hii. btat- 



fovd. ch. vii. § 4. , . • J r 



RILL A VERA, the hill is tnif. The grand jury indorUag 

 a bill whcrcbv a;.y crime puuifhahle in that conrt, is pre- 

 fcnted to them, with the words billa i-ern, f.gnify thereby, 

 that the prefeiitcr has fnrninied his prelentment with pro- 

 bable evidence, ;ind worthy of farther confidcration ; where- 

 upon the pirty prefented is faid to Hand indided of the 

 crime, and bound to make anfwer thereto, either by cou- 

 fefling or traverfmg the indiftmcnt. See Bill hi Z-rtw, 



BILLANCOURT, in Geography, a town of France, 



4 miles S. W. from Paris. . , , , , r- in. 



BILLARD, or Billet, in Ichthyology, an Enghfh 

 name, in fome places, for the young coal-fi(h, gadus car- 

 bonnrius, when a year old ; meafuring at that time from 8 

 to 10 or 15 inches in length. ^ ., . ... 



BILLAU, in Geography, a river of Silefia, which runa into 

 the Nevfs, near the town of Neyfs. 



BILLE', a town of France, in the department of the 

 Ille and Vilaine, and the chief place of a canton, in the 

 dillrid of Foiigeres, I i league fouth of Fougcres. 



BILLEIvA, a town of Poland, in the palatinate of 

 Lemberg-, 10 miles call of Lemberg. 



BILLERCEECK, a town of Germany, in the circle 

 of Wellphalia, and bilhopric of MunHer, 5 miles N.N.E. 



from Coesfeld. 



BILLE RICA, a towndiip in Middlefex county, Malla- 

 chufetts, in America, incorporated in 1655, containing 12C0 

 inhabitant?, lying 20 miles north of Bollon, and watered 

 bv Concord and Shawdieen rivers, which run noith-eafterly 

 into Merrimack river. 



BILLERICAY, in Geography, a market-town of EfTex, 

 England ; is built on a fine eminence, commanding a view 

 of a rich vale between the town and the river Thames. 

 Though enjoying the advantage of a weekly market on 

 Tuefdavs, it is only a hamlet in the parifh of Great Bur- 

 ftead, the church of wliich is fituatc about one mile and a 

 half fouth of this place. For the accommodation of the in- 

 habitants, a chapel is endowed and fupportcd in the town. 

 Here are two annual fairs : and the wliole parifh contains 

 1,0 houfes, and 1472 inhabitants. Billericay is 23 miles 

 N.E. from London. Morant's hiftory of Effex. 

 BILLESDON. See Bilstos. 

 BILLET. See Hatborough. 



Billet, or Billetti^e, in Heraldry, fignifies a figure 

 whofe length exceeds its breadth ; w hen the arms are charged 

 with feveral of them, they are then called Biilettee. The 

 royal arms of Naffau, prince of Orange, is Jupiter Biilettee 

 fbi, a lion rampnnt of the lajl. Autl-.ors differ much in regard 

 to the antiquity of the billet, which was evidently a piece 

 of wood cut in the form of a parallelogram, and retains that 

 name and fliape to this day. 



Billet, BiUetle, in the French Cuflom.', a little fign in 

 form of a cafk, hung up at places wliere toll is to be paid, 

 to advertife paffengers and carriages, that before they ad- 

 vance farther, the dues are to be paid to the king, or the 

 lord who is charged with the care of repairing the high- 

 ways. 



Billets for fuel, are fmall pieces of wood, which mud 

 be 3 feet 4 inches hmg, and 7^ in compafs, &c. Juftices 

 of peace ft>all enquire, by the oaths of fix men, of the allize 

 of billets ; ami thofe which arc under fize are forfeited to 

 •the poor. Stat. 43. Eliz. c. 14. 9. Ann. c. LJ. :c. Ann. 

 ji, 6. See Fuel. i 



B I L 



B11.LETS of gold, denote wedges or ingoU of gold, men- 

 tioned in the ftat. 27. Ed. 3. c. 27. 



BILLETING of foldiers, in MiliUry Lnguttge, is the 

 lodging or quartering of them in the houfes of the inhabi- 

 tants of a place. This is done by a ticket, called a billet, 

 which entitles each foldier, by a£t of parliament . to candles, 

 vinegar, fait, ar.d eilh-r fmall beer or cydtr, not exceeding 

 five pints per day, gratis ; w ith the ufc of fire, and the ne- 

 cen"ary utenfils fur drLfiing and eating their meat. 



BiLLtTiNC, among Sparlfmeii, denotes the oidure and 

 dung of a fox. 



BILLETINS. Sec Brothers of Charily. 

 BILLI, James de, in Biography, a French Jefuit, was 

 born in Compiegne in 1602, and entered the fociety of 

 Jefuits in 161 9. He taught philofophy for three years, 

 and was a preacher for more than twenty years. He was 

 redfor of Chalons, Langres, and Sens ; but he isbeft known 

 by his mathem.^tical writings, which are as follow : " Nova 

 Geometrise Clavis Algebra," Paris, 1643, 4to. ; " Tabulr 

 Lodoicx dc doftrina eclipfeon," Dijon, 1658,410.; " Tumu- 

 lus Aftrologije Judiciarise," Paris, 1659, 4to. ; " Diophan- 

 tus Geometra," Paris, 1660, 4to.; "Opus Allronomicuiii, 

 &c." Dijon, j66i, 410. ; " Decours de la Comete qui a 

 paru Pan 1665, au mois d'Avril," Paris, 1665, 410. ; 

 " Crifis Adtonomica de motu Cometarujn," Dijon, 1666, 

 8vo. ; " Doclrinas analytics inventum novum," Touloufe, 

 fol. Moreri. 



BILLIARDS, an ingenious kind of game played with 

 two fmall ivory balls, on an oblong table, covered with 

 green cloth, and placed exaftly level ; which balls are driven, 

 by fticks made on purpofe, alternately againft; each other, 

 with a view to pu(h the paflive ball into hazards, or holes, 

 on the edges and corners, according to certain laws or con- 

 ditions of the game. 



The word comes from the French billiard, of bile, the ball 

 made ufe of ; and that from the Latin pila, a ball. 



This game was invented by the French, and pradlifed by 

 the Germans, Dutch, and Italians ; and is now a favourite 

 diverfion among perfons of the firft rank in many parts of 

 England. The table on which it is played is about 1 2 feet 

 long, and 6 wide ; and not only covered with green cloth, 

 hut furrounded with cufhions to prevent the balls from roll- 

 ing oft", and to make them rebound. It has fix holes, nets, 

 or pockets, which are fixed on the four corners, and in the 

 middle, oppofite to each other, for receiving the balls, which, 

 when put into thefe holes, are called hazards. The making 

 of a hazard, or putting the advtrfary's ball into the hole 

 at the ufual game, is reckoned for two in favour of the 

 player. 



The game is played with fticks, called maces, or with 

 cues. The mace is a long ftraight ftick, with a head at 

 the end, and is the moll powerful inftrument of the two : 

 the cue is a thick ftick decrcafing gradually to a point of 

 about half an inch in diameter : this inftrument is played 

 over the left hand, and fiipported by the forefinger and 

 thumb. This is the only inftrument in vogue abroad, and 

 is uftd with aftoiiifhing addrcl's by the Italians, and fome of 

 the Dutch ; but in England the mace is the prevailing in- 

 ftrument, though regarded with fome degree of contempt 

 by foreigners, as the ule of it does not require fo much ad- 

 drefs as the cue ; however, the mace is ufcdfor the pecuhar 

 advantage of "trailing," as it is called ; or of following the 

 ball with it to fuch a convenient diftance from the other ball 

 as to make it an eafy hazard. The feveral degrees of trail- 

 ing are varioully denominated by the connoilTeurs ; e. g. the 

 Ibove, the iweep, the long ftrokc, the trail, ajid the dead 



trail 



