B I R 



vool, Or flax. Mr. Kuckahn (ubi infra), and Dr. Lett- 

 fom (Naturalill's C'Jtnpanion, p. 12, &c.), who approve 

 of this method as one of the moft compleat and leaft trouble- 

 fome, diretl, that after opening the bird by a longitudinal 

 inciGon from the brtaft to the vent, feparating the flefhy 

 parts from the bones, and removing the entrails, eyes, brain, 

 and tongue, the cavities and the infidc of the flcin fliould/be 

 ■fprinkled with the powders (as below) ; the eyes to be ni- 

 ferted, for which purpole wax may be ufcd, or glafs-cves of 

 any f'Zt^ or colour may be cheaply procured ; and the head 

 to be lluiT-.d with cotton or tow. When this is done, a 

 wire fhould be made to pafs down the throat, through one 

 of the noftrlls, and fixed into the breall-bone. Wires 

 (hould alfo be introduced through the feet up the leg3 and 

 thighs, and ir.ferted into tlu; fame bone ; and then the 

 body (hould be filled with cotton to its natural fize, and the 

 fkin fewed over it. The attitude (hould alfo be regarded ; 

 for, in V hatever pofidan the fubject is placed to dry, the 

 fame pofuion will be afterwards retained. The powder 

 ■which he recommends is compofed of i lb. of corrofive 

 fublimate, \ lb. of prepared or burnt laltpetre, i lb. of 

 burnt alum, { tb. of floAers of fulphur, 5 lb. of camphor 

 or mufiv, I lb. of black pepper, and i lb. of tobacco ground 

 coarfe. The whole (hould be mixed together, and kept in 

 a glafi veffcl {lopp;d clofe. 



This method is particularly defcribed by Mr. Kuckahn, 

 Phil. Tranf. vol. Ix. p. 311, Sec. When the above-men- 

 tioned procefs is finilhed in the manner which he has mi- 

 nutely detailed, he adviir s to bake the birds ictetxled for 

 prefervation in an oven of a due degree of heat ; and he ob- 

 ferves, that baking is not only ufeful in fuch prefervatioas, 

 but will alfo be of very great fervice to old ones, as it dc- 

 ftroys the eggs of infetls. And it fliould be, he fays, a 

 conftant practice once in two or three years to bake them 

 over again, and to fre(k wafh the cafes with a liquid made 

 by diffolving o:ic pound of camphor in half a gallon of fpirit 

 t)f turpentine. 



Others have put them into vefFcls full of fpirit of wine, or 

 Ilrong brandv ; againft v.hich it has been objeftcd that 

 fpiritunus liquors change the colours of the feathers 4 but 

 M. Reaumur concludes from many e.\periments, that this 

 objection is groundlcfs ; and he has given fevei-al minute 

 directions for preferving and conveying them in this way. 

 Others again, efpecially in countries where fpices are cheap, 

 have embalmed dead birdc. Reaumur obfer\es, that pow- 

 dered alum or lime will ferve the fame purpofe. Another 

 method which has been fomctimes ptaclifed, is that of dry- 

 ing birds for prefervation in a heated oven. It is of import- 

 ance, however, that dncd birds (hould be fecured in boxes 

 or barrels fufliciently clofed, that infed-s may not (lip in 

 during the voyage or journey ; and all the empty fpaccs 

 loft in the barrel thould be filled up with hemp, fla.x, cot- 

 ton, &c The fame ingenious naturalift informs us, that 

 quadrupeds, fi(hes, reptiles, and infects, may be preferved 

 in the fame manner with birds. For Reaumur's diieftions 

 to this purpofe, fee Phil. Tranf. Abr. vol. xi. page 891, 

 &c. 



Mr. Chaptal recommends the following method of pre- 

 paring all kinds of animals for cabinets, as exceedingly 

 limple, and fo certain in it;. cffec\ that he never found it to 

 fail in a lingle inllance. The matter contained in the bowels 

 of the animal muil be evacuated, cither by gradually prcffing 

 the body towards the reCluni, or by injecting iome liquid 

 which may remove every thing that (lauds in its wav. Af- 

 ter this operation, the end of the redtum (hould be lied with 

 a thread, and ether ihould be injedted with a proper iuftru- 

 ment into the body, through the mouth or bill ; and when 

 the bowels have been filled with it, the animal is to be hung 



B I R 



up by the head. One of the eyes muft then be fcooped 

 out, and the brain extracted ; after which the head is alfo 

 filled with ether, which muil be prevented from efcaping 

 ^y P'ug5'"^g up the eye hole. On the fecond or third day 

 the injection of ether is to be repeated ; and this procefs is 

 to be contiuutd till the animal is completely dried. While 

 it istgrad'ially dr)ing, care muil be taken to give the body 

 its proper pofition ; and as f^on as it is completely defic- 

 cated, it may be put up witiiout further care or any other 

 preparation. Ether is preferable to fpirits of wine, be- 

 caufe, by its evaporation, it carnes with it not only its own 

 aqueous particles, but thofe alfo which it abforbs from the 

 body. Befidcs, this method neither dcftroys the form of 

 the animal, nor tarnidics the fplendoiir of the feathers or 

 hair, and is very cheap ; one ounce of ether being in gene- 

 ral fuffitient fur a fn;all bird. The proccfs of drving, lays 

 Mr. Chaptal, might perhaps be a little fiiortened by the ap- 

 phcation of artiticial heat. The theoiy of this procefs, as 

 this ingenious chemill thinks, is, that the ether, while it 

 evaporates, volatilifcs the moifture in the animal body, and 

 by thefe means etlccls a gradual deliccation, and thus re- 

 moves the oiJy canfe of corruption. 



The method of preferving birds in Guiana, defcribed by 

 Bancroft (p. 184.), is as follows; The birds intended for 

 prefervation, and for being conveyed to the cabinets of 

 Europe, are depufited in a proper veffcl, and covered with 

 high wines, or the firll running of the dilliUation of rum. 

 In tliis fpirit they remain for 24 or 48 hours, or longer, 

 according to their Cze, till it has penetrated every part of 

 their bodies. When this is done, the birds are taken out, 

 and the leathers, which are not at all changed by this im- 

 raerfion, are placed fmooth and regular. They are then put 

 into a machine, made for the purpofe ; and the head, feet, 

 wings, tail, &c. are placed exactly agreeable to life. In this 

 pofition they are put into an oven, very moderately heated, 

 where the) arc (lowly dried ; and they will ever after retain 

 their natural pofition, without danger of putrefadion. 



Birds, ^n^m^, are the nightingale, blackbird, darling, 

 thru(h, linnet, laik, throftle, canary bird, bullfinch, gold- 

 finch, &c. See Song of birds. 



BIRDAMA, in jinc'unt Geography, a town of India, oa 

 this fide the Ganges, which, according to Ptolemy, wa« 

 the capital of a people called Porvari. 



BIREMIS, from Hi, double, and retnut, car, in jinli- 

 quily, a velfcl with one or more rows of oars, ranged, as 

 Iome think, in two (lages over each other ; or a vefTel hav- 

 ing two ranks or rows of oars placed over, and afide of each 

 other. But the particular fabric of thefe veffels fcems far 

 from being a fettled point among the learned. The Roman 

 birem'u is the fame with what the Greeks call oucfara, and 

 (lands contradilUnguifhed from liiremis, quadriremis, &c. 



BIRINGOCCTO, or Biringucci, Vasnuccio, in 

 Biography, a mathematician of Sienna, was dcfcended of a 

 noble lan-.ily, and flourillied about the i6th ccnturj-. Alter 

 having been employed by the dukes of Parma and Ferrara, 

 he entered iiito the fervice of the Venetians. He is faid to 

 have been the firll Italian author who wrote on the art of 

 fufing and calling metals ; particularly for the purpofe of 

 making cannon. His woiL, entitled, " Pirotcchiiia, f:c." 

 was printed ■at Venice in 1540, 410; at Bologna, in 1673, 

 Svo ; and at the lame place ;n 1550, 155*), and 1559, 410. 

 A Latin trnnflation of it appeared at Parii in 15-2, 4to; and 

 at Cologne, 1658, 410. A French tranllation, by Jacob Vin- 

 cent, was publilhed at Paris in I J56, and 1559, 4to ; and at 

 Rouen in 1627. As a metallurgic writer, who detailed his 

 own obfervations and experiments, and gave a clear and con- 

 nected account of the chief proctfles in metallurgy, Biringoc- 

 cio is highly commended by profedor Bcckmau. Gen. Biog. 

 3 M 2 BIRKAN, 



