B I S 



B I S 



mudard. Tlilafpi bifcutdlaUim, &c. Barr. ic. t. 841. 

 Bocc. muf. 197. t. 122. " Silicles fomewhat fcabrous ; 

 leaves lanceolate tomcntofe." A native of Spain. Intro- 

 duced into Kew garden in 1784 by MefTrs. Lee and Ken- 

 nedy. 



Propngat'ion and Culture. Thefe are all annual plants, ex- 

 cept the laft, and perifh foon after they have perfe£led their 

 feeds. They Pjouid be fown in fpiing or autumn, upon a 

 border of light earth, in an open fituation, where they are to 

 remain. Thofe lown in autumn will come up in about three 

 weeks, live througli the wintt-r, ar.d flower early in the fol- 

 lowing fummer, and thus ;Tood feeds may be always ob- 

 tained ; but thofe that are fown in the fpring decay Ui bad 

 feafons before the feeds are ripe. The autumnal plants 

 flower in June, and the fpring plants in July, and their feeds 

 ripen in about fix week?, and if they are permitted to fcatter, 

 young plants will be produced without any care. They re- 

 quire only to be kept free from weeds, and to be thinned 

 where they are too clofe, leaving them eight or nine inchei 

 afunder. They have no great beauty to recommend them. 

 Martyn's Miller. 



BISDORF, in Geography, a town of Germany, in the 

 circle of Upper Saxony, and principality of Anhalt-Cothen, 

 2 miles nonh of Cothen. 



BISECTION. See Bissection. 



BISELLIARII, or Bisblliari, in yfntiquiiy, thofe 

 who enjoyed the honour or privilege of the bifcUium. 



The word occurs in ancient infcriptions. Cn. Plae- 



TORIO VlVlRO AuGUSTALI BiSELLIARIO. GfUttr. lufcr. 



p. 1099. 



The honor bifeUil appears to have been much the fame with 

 what in France is called droit de fauteu'd ; and the bifelliarii 

 thofe who in public aflembliei enjoy this diftinftion of 

 the fauteud, while other perfons are obliged to ftand, or fit 

 on benches, ftools, or ordinary chairs. Scaliger, in hit 

 index to Gruter, millook the bifeUiarii for artificers who 

 made thefe feats. 



BISELLIUM, from lis zndfeda, a chair, a kind of feat 

 or chair, larger and richer than ordinary, big enough to hold 

 two perfons, wherein to fit in courts, theatres, and other 

 public affemblies 



BISEPTEMGUTTATA, in Entomology, a fpecies of 

 CocciNELLA, of a pale yellow colour, with fourteen white 

 fpots. Schaller. Co\mt-.y unknown. 



BIS-ERGOT, in OmithAngy, a name given by BufTon to 

 the Gmelniian tetra bicalcaratus. 



BISERRULA, fo named from the fruit " bifcrrato 

 frudlu," in Botany. Lin. Gen. 893. Reicli. 966. Schrcb. 

 1209. Juff. 358. Gxrtn, t. 154. Pclecinus, Tournef. 234. 

 Clafs and order, diadelphia decandria. Nat. Ord. Papili- 

 onacex or legmninofs. Gtn. Char. Cal. perianth, one-leav- 

 ed, tubular, eriA, femiquinquefid ; teeth fubulate, equal, 

 the two upper ones more remote. Cor. papihonaceous ; 

 banner larger, reflefted on the lidfs, afcending, roundilh ; 

 wings ovate-oblong, free, fhorter than the banner ; keel the 

 length of the wnigs, obt':fe, afctnding. Stam. filaments 

 diadclphous (fiinple and nine-cleft), afcending at tb.eir tips, 

 inclofed within the keel ; anthers fmall. Pijl. germ oblong, 

 comprefTed ; Itvlc tubul;ite, afcending ; ftigma fimplc. Per. 

 legume large, linear, flat, two-celled ; partition contrary 

 to the valves. Seeds verv many, kidney-form, comprefled. 



EfT. Char. legurre tsvo-cclled, flat ; partition contraiy. 



Species. I. 2. Pelccinui, ballard hatchct-vetch. Allra- 

 gal'is. Mor, hift. 2. 107. f. 2. t. 9, f. 6. Securidaca. 

 B^uh. Pin. 349. 3. Cluf. hilt. 2. 238> Ger. cmac. 1234. 

 f. 6. Psr!:. Thtat'. 10*^9. f. 5. Kaii hift. 939, n. 16. Lu- 

 naria radiata Robini. Bauh. hill. 2. 348. f. 2. An annual 



plant, growing naturally in Italy, Sicily, Spain, and the 

 fouth of Fiance. Cultivated in Kcw garden in 1640. 



Propagation and Culture. It is propagated by feeds, fown 

 in this country in autumn, on a bed of li ^ht earth, where 

 the plaiits will come up in about three weeks, and live well 

 in the open air. They (liould eit'r.er bj fown where they 

 are to remain, or tranfplanted when very young. After 

 the plants are come up, they will only require to be kept 

 free from weeds, and to be thinned to the diftance of a foot 

 from one another. They flower in June, and the feeds 

 ripen in September. Thty may be alfo fown in fpring, and 

 treated in the fame manner. Two or three of thefe plants 

 may be cultivated for the fake of variety, but they have not 

 much beauty. Martyn's Miller. 



BISERT, in Geography, a town of Ruflia, fcated on a 

 fmall liver which runs into the Upha, in the government of 

 Perm, 80 miles S.S. E. of Perm. 



BISERTA, or BizERTA, a fea-port town of Africa, in 

 the kingdom of Tunis, pleafantly filuaied upon a canal be- 

 twixt an extenfive lake and the fea, at the bottom of a large 

 gulf, about 8 miles to the fouthward of Cape Blanco. N. 

 lat. 37° 5'. E. long. 10'' 15'. It is about a mile in cir- 

 cuit, defended by feveral caltles and batteries, the principal 

 of which are towards the fea. Bizerta is a corruption of 

 the " Hippo-Diarrhytus" or " Zaritus" of the ancients ; 

 though the prefent inhabitants derive its name from their 

 own language, and fuppofe it to be the fame with " Ben- 

 fliertd," i, e. the offspring of a canal or rivulet. The lake 

 upon which Bizerta is feated has an open communication 

 with the fea ; and, according to an obfervation of the 

 younger Pliny (Ep. xxxiii. 1. 9.), is cither continually re- 

 ceiving a frefli ftream from the fea, or elfe difcharging one 

 into it ; fo that the water loll by the lake by exhalations is 

 foon fupplied by the fea, which in hot feafons runs into it 

 with a very briflc current, in order to maintain the equili- 

 brium, in the fame manner as is obferved between the At- 

 lantic ocean and the Mediterranean. The millets of this 

 lake are reckoned the befl; in Barbary. Great quantities of 

 their roes are dried and made into " Botargo," and fent 

 from hence to the Levant, where they are cfteemed a great 

 dainty. The channel of communication betwixt the lake 

 and the fea is the port of " Hippo-DiarrhvtAis," which ftill 

 receives fmall vefieis ; though it mull have been fcrmcrly the 

 fafeil as well as the moil benutiiul haven of this part of 

 Africa. There are ftill remaining the tracer of a large pier, 

 that was carried out into the fea, to break off the N. E. 

 winds ; the want of which, together with the dilinclination 

 of the Turks to repair it, will in a fhort time make the 

 haven ufclcfs, which, in any other country, wculJ be in- 

 ellimable. Scylax calls it only " Hippo," and Diodorui 

 Siculus gives It the name of " Hippouacra." By the di- 

 rtftion of Scipio's marches it feems to have been the rich 

 anonymous town mentioned by Livy (l.xxix. 2?.). If the 

 Turks encouraged trade and induftry it would deferve this 

 appellation, becaufe, bcfides fifli and fruit of all Jiinds, it 

 abounds with corn, pulfe, oil, cotton, and a variety of other 

 valuable productions. The gulph of Bizerta, the " Siaus 

 Hipponeiifis" of the ancients, is a beautiful fandy inlet, 

 nearly four leagues in breadth. As its bottom is low, it 

 affords a delightful profpeft, through a variety of groves 

 and plantations of olive trees, to a great diftarce into the 

 country ; but to the callward, the view is bounded by a 

 high rocky (hore, extending as far as cape Zibeeh. Bizerta 

 vi'as formerly a large town, and is faid to have contained 

 6000 houfes ; whereas now the town, and its dependent 

 villages, fcarcely contain the fame number of inhabitants. 

 It has, neverthelefs, two capacious prifons for flaves, a large 

 3 P 2 magazine 



