B r R 



B I R 



♦o dilate the external orifice, or to emergf, it is faid to be 

 in the birth. 



BtRTH, h'nfural, when the head of the foetus prefentiiig 

 to the uterine orifice, the labour is completely et^eCied by 

 the pains, without the interference of art. See Labour, 

 Natural. 



BrRTH, Piematun, when by any acc'de.it or derange- 

 ment of the lu-alth of the woman, or of the foE'us, pains are 

 excited, and the foetus is expelled before it has at'alned its 

 maturity. See Abortion, and alf; L.veour, Premature. 



Birth, Prcternalnral, or acrofs, when, in laDi.ur, the 

 arm, (houlder, fide, breech, or any other part thin the head 

 of tiie foet'.is pnlenl to the uterine orifice. See Labour, 

 Preternaiural, and CROSS-iirll: 



Birth, Laborious, when in I ibour the head of the fojtus 

 prefeuting, yet on account of the llraitnefs of the pelvis, 

 the paiiis are infufficicnt for its expulfion, whence recourfe 

 is necefiarily had to the alfiftance of the laver, furceps, 

 crochtt, &c. Set Laborious Birth, or Lab: UR. 



Bi?.TH, Monjlrotis, wh^n the foctuj is deformed or mif- 

 haped, and has more or fewer organs than is natural. See 

 Monster. 



Births, Seven Months, partus fcptimeftris, children born 

 at the end of the feventh month, or 210 days from the 

 time of conception, being now complete in all their mem- 

 bers, and having acquired a certain degree of ftrength and 

 firmnefs ot conllitution, are not unfrequently reared or 

 brought up. 



Births, Eight Months, partus oflin-eftris, that is chil- 

 dren born at the end of the eighth month, or after complet- 

 ing 240 or 242 days in the womh. Thefe were fi'ppofed 

 by the ancients, but erroneoully, to be Icfs vivacious, and 

 confequently lefs likely to be preferved alive, and to grow 

 up to manhood, than ftven months children. This opinion, 

 founded on a miftaken idea of the upright poiition of the 

 foetus in utero during the former months of pregnancy, 

 and of the neceffity of its making an evohitiou, about 

 the end of the feventh month, to prepare it f^r the birth, 

 is confidered under the article Pojition of the fatus in Utero, 

 which fee. 



For the number of births, fee Marriage ; under which 

 the proportion of births to marriages, of births to burials, 

 and of male births to females is computed. See alio Mor- 

 tality. 



Birth, ^fter. See Placenta. 



Birth is alfo ufed for a perfon's defcent ; and it is 

 tither high or low according to the circumllances of his 

 anceftry. 



Birth, Berth, or Birthing, among JV^.'nen, denotes 

 the due diitance oblerved between (hips lying at an anciior, 

 or under fail. A convenient place a-board for a mcfs to 

 put their chefts, fleep, &c. is alfo called a birth. — There is 

 ufually one of thefe in (hips of war between every two guns. 

 And a proper place to moor a lliip in is called by the fame 

 name, as is alfo the ftation in which a (hip rides at anchor. 

 To take a good birth, is to remove to fome diftance off any 

 point, rock, or other thing which the feamcn would avoid 

 or go clear of. 



Birth, Expofition of, among the Ancients, was where a 

 new-born infant was expofcd or caft away, and left to the 

 mercy of the tirll-comer, who might either take and bring 

 it up, or futfer it to pen(h. See Exposing of Children. 



Birth, Suppofition of, partus fuppofitio, in the Civil Lav), 

 is a crime for which acculation may be intented by thofe 

 who hive intcreft therein, and is puni(hed with death, like 

 the crimen falft, or forgery. 



BiaTH, Sjpprtjfion of, partus fuppofitio. See Abortion. 



BiRTB-Z>ay, the anniverfary ret'.im of the day on which 

 a perfon was born. This anUvers to wliat ti.e ai.ciLnt: cal- 

 led yEviSXio*, genethlion, naialiiius dies, nataiuia, and, in the 

 miJdle age, genetalius. The ancients made much of their 

 rc'igion to confill in the celebration of birth-days, and 

 took omens from thence oi the felicity of the coming year. 

 We meet with birth-days of the goda, emperors, great men, 

 poef^, and even private perfons ; and belldes, the Lirth-day» 

 of cities, as Ron:e and Conllantinople, were celebrated with 

 great pomp by the inhabitants. Virgil's birth day was 

 held very Itriftly by the wit^ and potts who fucceedtd him. 

 Pliny (Epiih lib. hi. ep. 7.) a(fure9 us, that SiHus kept it, 

 with UiorL- foltmnity than he did his own. 



The manner of ctlebratii.;; birth-days was by a fplendid 

 drefs ; wearing a fort of rings pecuhar to that day ; offeiv 

 ing facriSces, the men to their g.nius, of wne, fnnkin- 

 cenfe ; the women to Juno ; giving fuppers, and treating 

 thtir friends and clients ; who, in return, made thtm prefents, 

 wrote and fung their panegyrics,, and olfired vows and good 

 wilhtb for the frequent happy returns of the fame day. The 

 birtli-days of emperors were alfo c.Icbr.itcd with public 

 fports, feads, vows, and medals (Iruck on the occalioiv But 

 the ancients, it is to be obfervtd, had other d rts of birth- 

 days befides the days on which thty were bom. The day 

 of their adoption was always reputed as a birth-day, and 

 Celebrated accordin;r!y. 



The empernr Adrian, we are told, obferved three birth- 

 days ; viz. the dav of his nativity, of his adoptioii, and of 

 his inauguration. (Fab. B:b. Graec. torn. xii. lib.vi. cap. 6.) 

 In whofe times it was held, that men were not bom only 

 on thofe days when they firll came into the world, but on 

 thofe alio when they arrived at their chief honours and 

 command in the commonwealth, i.gr. the confulate. Hence 

 that of Cicero in his oration Ad Qui'ites, afrer his return 

 from exile : " A parentibus id quod nectffe erat, parvus 

 fum procreatus, a vobis natus lum conlularis." Befides, 

 thofe who returned from banilhment, were alfo confidered 

 as being born again, renati, and ever after called the day of 

 their return th<ir birth-day. Thus Cicero to Atticus : 

 " Diemque natalem reditus meicura ii in tuis jedibus amae- 

 niffimis agam tecum, & cum meis." Cenfoinus has a trea- 

 tife De Die Natali, addrelTed to Q. Certllius j, as a complin 

 ment on his birth-day. 



BiRTH-Z>i;jj of the Saints and Martyrs, natales fanSorum, 

 denote the days of their deaths. 



In reality, natalit among the ancients, was not reftrained 

 to birth-days, but extended to all feaft-days. 



Hence it is we meet with natalisfolis, natalis callcit, natalis 

 ecclefix, natalis reliquiorum, iifc, 



BiRTH-A'n, in7"/jfo/o^^',the fame with or/^/'na//rn,whichfee. 



BiKT H-ll'^ort, in Botany. See Aristolochi A. 



BIRTH A, in /indent Geography, Tchrit, a town of Alia, 

 in Melopotamia, on the Tigris, fouth ot the confluence of the 



Zabus Minor with this river Alfo, a town of Arabia 



Delerta, feated on the Euphrates, according to Ptolemy. 



BIRTHAMA, or Bit h aba, a town of Afia, in Affy- 

 ria, according to Ptolemy. 



BIRTHIN, in Geo^^raphy, a river of Monmouthihire, 

 which runs into the Uik, near the town of Udc. 



BIRU, a town of South America, in the empire of Peru, 

 diftant 10 leagues from Truxillo, and inhabited by about 

 ■70 families of Spaniards, Indiars, Mulattoes, and Meftizos. 

 About half a league to the north of it is a rivulet, from 

 which are cut fcveral trenches for watering the grounds, 

 which of courfc are equally fertile with thofe in the vici- 

 nity of Trtixillo. S. lat 8° 24' 59". W. long. 69° 17'. 



BIRUCKPOUR, a fortrds of Hindoftan, in Malva 

 3^ country^ 



