B I S 



an idand in the river Wefenitz, the principal commerce of 

 which is in white thread ; it has two churches; 20 miles eall 

 of Drcfden. 



BISCHOFSWERDER, a town of Pmni^, in the pro- 

 vincc of Oberland, 80 milts S.S.W. of Koni;rfterj;. 



BISCMOFZELL, a town of SwifTcilaii.), in the Thur- 

 gaw, feated at the confluence of thi- rivers Sitter and Tluir, 

 1 1 miles fo'.ith of Conftance. This town has a caftle, in 

 which refiJi.s the bailiff of the bilhop of Conftance, who 

 exeicifes jurifdidion over the Catholics, and receives a moiety 

 of the fines. N.bt. 47" 25'. E. long. 9^ 13'. 



BISCHOP, or BiSKOP, John de, in liioj^mphy, zn ex- 

 cellent artift, was born at the Hague in 1 646, and is much 

 commended as a painter; and his drawings, in which he 

 imitated with great exadnefs the llyle of tbe bed maOers, 

 are much eitctmed and fought after by the curious. But 

 he is moll generally known as an engraver. His works :'.rc 

 chiefly etchings, harinoiiizcd with the graver; and tliou^h 

 flight, yet free, fpiritcd, and plcafing. He gives a richr.efs to 

 the colour, and a roundncfs to the figures, far beyond what is 

 ufuallv done with the point, fo little affilKd by tlie gravt-r. 

 His figures are generally well drawn, more in a mannered 

 than a correft flyle ; but his extremities are not always well 

 marlicd, nor his heads equally cxprcfTive and bfautiful. His 

 excellence was owing chiefly to his own gen'u=, as he never 

 ftudied under any mailer. He worked chiefly at Amder- 

 dam, and died in 1686. The following piints are worthy 

 of notice : viz. " Chrift and the Samaritan woman," from 

 Annibalctaracci ; " Jofeph dillributing corn to the Egyp- 

 tians," from B. Breenberge ; " The Martyrdom of St. Lau- 

 rence," from the fame. Strutt. 



Bjscmop, or BiSKOP, CoRNELiL's, a painter of portrait 

 and hiilory, was born at Antv/erp, fay fome, or, accordmg to 

 others, at Dort, in 1630, and was tiie difeiple of Ferdinand 

 Bnl, whofe pencil, tint of colouring, (lyle, and manner, he 

 rcfcmbltd, and to wliom he has been thought by forne com- 

 petent judges not to be inferior. He died in 1674. A 

 painting by this mailer, confilHng of a ftw figures by candle- 

 light, was To much admired by Lou'sXIV., that he p'.ir- 

 chafcU It at a high price, and placed it in the royal colitc- 

 tion. The king of Denmark alfo admitted his works among 

 thofe of the be!l malUrs. It is obferved, however, that 

 they are not worthy of that high commendation which is be- 

 ftowed npon the-n by the Fleir.iili writers. Pilkington. 



BISCHWILER, in Gtr.graphy, a town of France, in the 

 department of the Lower Rhine, and chief place of a canton 

 in the di'.lrcl of Stralburg, featcd on the Motte near the 

 Rhine, and defended by a caiUe, flanked with towers, and 

 guarded by ditches; 10 miles north of Strafburg. The 

 tov/n contains 3449 inhabitants, and the canton M,968. 

 Its territorial extent comprehends 265 kiliomctres, and 2 I 

 communes. 



BISCIA, in Iththyologj, one of the fynonymous names 

 among old writers fur the pipe-fiih, tobacco-pipe-fifh, needle- 

 fifh, or trumpet-filh ; and fyngnalbus acu: of Linnseus and 

 Gmclin. 



BTSCOPSVAARE, in Geography, a town of Norway, 

 48 miles eaft of Bergen. 



BISCROMA, I'tal. for a dtmiferaiquaver, in Muftc. If 



fingle, it has thre< 



:c hooks 5 fe ; if 



two or more, they have 



ihr<e ties 



See TiME-TABLI. 



B I S 



BISCUIT. See Bisket. , • , 



Biscuit, w ?o>.tcn, a name given to porcelain, when 

 baked and not glazed; and this is more or lels bc^utiUU, 

 according to the naf.ire of iu compolition. bee Force- 

 LAIS, and Pottery. r ■ r t • i. 



DISCU FA, in Entomoh^y, a fpecies nt 1-ormica, wi-ti 

 a bidentated thorax ; and a double petiole fcalc. I'nhabits 

 Cayenne. FaHrlcius Spec. Inf. , ,. . . . 



BISCUTELLA, formed of b\s, and the diminutive of 

 fcutum, th^ fruit refembling a d.nible fliield, in B;tany, Bud- 

 icr muprd, or hajlard Mithriilate mujlanl. Lin. gen. 808. 

 Rwh. 872. Schreb. 1084. JufT. 239. Ga:itn. t. 141. 

 Thlafpidium. Tournef. loi. Clafs and Order, tctrndy 

 namia fdicukf.t. Nat. 0\^.Jdu-,tnf<t, cruci/onnrs. or cru'if,-ra. 

 Gen. Char. Cal. perianth four leaved ; leaflets ovate, acnmi* 

 nate, gibbons at the b ife, coloured, deciduous. 6V. fonr- 

 petallcd, cruciform; petals oblong, obtufe, fprcading. Stam. 

 filaments fix, the len:^tn of the tube of the corolla ; two op- 

 p.;fite fliorter; anthers fimple. P/,'?. germ comprcfFcd, or- 

 biculate, emsrginate; ftyle iiinple, permanent; lligma ob- 

 tufe. Per. filicle erecT;, comprflTcd, flat, femibifid, with 

 roundilh lobes, two-celled ; partition lanceolate, ending in a 

 rigid llylc ; cells two valved, affixed to the partition, on its 

 fl:- aight margin. Seeds, folitary, roundiih, comprefTed, in the 

 middle of the cell. Obf. The two outer leaflets of the calyx 

 in fome fpecies have a tubular -concave melliferous prominent 

 bafe. 



Etr. Char. S'dkle comprefTed, flat, rounded above, and 

 below two-lobed. Cnl. leaflets gibbous at the bafe. 



Species, I. B. auricidata, ear-podded buckler-muflard.. 

 Thlafpi. Bauh. pin. 107. n. 3. prodr. 49. n. 8. Raii hift,. 

 837. n. 4. Leucoium montanum fl. pedato. Col. ecp'ir. 2. 

 59. t. 61. Jondraba Barr. ic. 230. " Calyxes gibbous on 

 each fide with the ntftary, filicks run-iing into the llyle." 

 In a wild Hate this plant rifes about a foot in height, but in 

 gardens neariy two feet, dividing into feveral branches; the 

 flowers are produced at the ends of the branches in loofc 

 panicles, and are of a pale yellow colour. The nettarious 

 ffland is very large, and the calyx bagged out very much at 

 the bottom. A native of the fo'th of France and Italy. 

 Cultivated in Kew garden by Mr. J. Sutha-land in l6-;3, 

 and flovvering in June and July. 2. B. apula, fpear-leav^d 

 buckler-mufl:ard. B. d;dvm.>. Lin. fpec. 91 1. Hort. Cliff. 

 329.2. Upi". 185. Thialpi. Rail hiiL 837. n. 3. Cly- 

 peatum. Cluf hill. 2 133; Jondraba. Col. ecphr. i. 283. 

 t. 285. f. I. " Siliclcs fcahr JUS ; haves lanceolate, feffile, 

 ferrate." A native of Italy. Cultivated in 1759, by 

 Mr. Miller. Flowering in June and July. 3 V>. lyrata, 

 Thlafpi bifcutatum, &c. Bocc. fie. 45. t. 23. Rail hift. 

 8^7. n. 6. " S holes fcabrous ; le--ives lyrate" A native 

 of Spain and Sic:lv. 4. B. coroniptfolia. " Silcles fmooth ; 

 leaves toothed, rough with hairs." AUioni thi:'ks this a 

 variety of the fecond, proceedi g from a dryncfs of foil ; 

 for it is found in very dry barren olices in Spain, Italy, and 

 Germany. Oouan is of opinion that this and the fecond, 

 third, and fourth are one fpecies. ^. B. Idi'igata, fmooth 

 buckler-muftard. B. didyma. Sco;). Cdrn. n. S04. Clyptola 

 didyma. Crantz. Auftr. 20. Leucoium. Col ecphr. i. 283. 

 t. 285. f. 2. Rail hill. 836. n. 2. " Sit clcs fmooth ; leaves 

 lanceolate, ferrate." The whole plant is acrid ; the root 

 perennial, according t<> Jacqui , but, according to others, 

 annual. A native of Itaiy and Anftria. Fou.id at very 

 different heights in the mountains, with variation of ilature, 

 from half a foot to a f ot and a half. Flowen^g in lower 

 fituations in April aid May ; in lii^her ones in July and 

 Augull ; in ourgardens ir Ju'ie anJ [ulv. Intr duccd here 

 in X777 by M. Thouin. 6. &.fimpervirem, flirubb; buckler- 



mullard. 



