B I S 



B I 5 



t>Tnrtii ;" and from hence we have derived the name tiiTex- 

 tiie. 



By the (lat'Jte tie anr-) h'ljjexule, 21 Hen. III. to prevent 

 iTiifundcrftandins;s, the inttrcalary day, and that next before 

 it, are to be accounted as one day. 



The aflronomers concerned in refoiining' the calendar, by 

 order of pc^pe Gregory XIII. in 1582, obfer\'ing, that the 

 I.ilTextilc in four years at'ded 44. minutes more than the 

 fu,i fpent in retuming to the fame point of the zodiac ; and 

 computing that thcle fMpernumerary minutes in 133 rears 

 j v.ould fcin a day ; to prevent any changes b;ing thus in- 

 fenfihly introduced i';to the fs-afons, direcled, that, in the 

 courfc of 400 years, there (hould be three bilTcxtiles re- 

 trenched ; fo that every centcfiimal year, which, according 

 I to tho Julian account, is biifextile, or le?.p-year, is a common 

 year in the Gregorian account, unlefs the number of cen- 

 turies can be divided by 4, v.ith.out a remainder. Thus 

 1600 end 20CO are bilTextile ; but 1700, i8co, and 1900 

 arc common. 



The GrcJ'orian computation was received in mod foreign 

 countries ever fince the reforming of the calendar ; and by 

 aft of parliament, paiTed anno 1 751, it comm.enced in all the 

 dominiortS under the crown of Great Britain, in the year 

 following, ordering that the natural day following the 

 fecond of September, fhould be accounted the fourteenth ; 

 omitting the intermediate eleven days of the common ca- 

 lendar. See Calendar. 



BISSINGEN, in Geography, a town of Germany, in 

 the circle of Swabia, and county of Pattingen W'allcrftin, 

 4 miles S. S. W. of Haarburg. 



BISSOOLY, a principal fort of Hindoftan, lying at »r 

 near the entrance of the hills, 42 cofies S. E. from Jummoo. 

 Major Rennell places it in his map on the north bank of the 

 Rauvee, 6 or 7 cofles above Kullanore, or 41 § above La- 

 hore, or, in other words, about 1^9 geographical miles 

 E. 30° N. from Lahore. N. lat. 32"- 30'. E.long. 75°. 



BISSOWIE, a town of Kindoftan, in the countiy of 

 Oude, and circar of Rohilcund, 25 miles well of Bereilly, 

 and %-^ E. S. E. of Delhi. 



B16TAM, a fmall city of Peifia, in the province of 

 Comis, on the north of the Great Salt Defert, rarely 

 vifiU'd by tiayfllers- N.lat. 35^ 30'. E.long. 54° 30'. 



BISTER, a town of Swifferland, in the Upper Vallais, 

 near the fouth bank of the Rhone. N.lat. 46^19'. 

 E.long. 7° 52'. 



BISTI, a fpecies of PerCan money, valued at fixtecn or 

 eighteen French demers. Some reprefent the bifti as an 

 ancient filver coin ; others, as Chardin, make it only a 

 E^.oney of account, and call it dinar bifti. 



BISTONES, in Ancunt Geography, the name of a people 

 who inhabited that part of Thrace, which was bounded on 

 rhe north by nwunt Rhodope, on the eaft by the Hebrus, 

 on the weft by the NelTus, and on the foiith by the .^gean 

 fea. Its capital was Tinda. Thefe people were fubdued 

 iirft: by the Macedonians, and at length by the Romans. 

 JKcrxes, according to Herodotus, travc rfed their countiy in 

 marching againll Greece. Hence " Biftonius tyrannus" is 

 »ifed by Lucan to denote Diomedes, king of Thrace, who 

 fed his horfcs .vilh human flefli ; and '• Biftonius turbo," 

 exprcfli.ig a wind blowing from Thrace. 



BISTON'IS, a lake ca the fouthcrn coaft of Thrace, 

 N. E. of Abdera. 



BiS'I'Ol^T, or Snakeweed, in Botany. See Poly- 

 gonum. 



lUSTORY, or BiSTOUBX, in Surgery, is a cutting in- 

 tlrument, formed like a Imall knife. Jt may be either 

 llraight Or curved, double-edged or v. ith a lingle edge, (harp 

 Vol. IV. 



pointed, round pointed, or with a piobe point, Sec. Some-. 

 times it is made to (luit v.ichiii a har.dle ; at other t'lr.t? toe 

 blade is fixed and in-.movcable. Foi particular purpofc^, 

 the blade is concealed, fo as to project only at the rro- 

 ment when the inftr'jment is iifed by the furaecn ; oh ' 

 which account it is culled by tl;e French h'ljiouri cache. 

 On fonie cccafions, it \i found convenient to tn-.ploy a 

 director, or a crnula, at tlie fame time we introduce 

 the billory : for example, when it is intended to pafi 

 the cutting inftrument along ?. narrow finiiR, or under the 

 prepuce, up to a certain fpot before we make any incifion, 

 (fee the articles Phvmosis, and Sinus); but wherever 

 there is room for the introduction of a fore-tinirer, that mode 

 is preferred by modern furgeons as a guide to the biftoi-y, 

 being m.tich more convenient and fecnre than ,iny artificial 

 director. The precife form of a bifiory muft be regulated 

 according to the nature of the operation required, and the 

 end to be obtained. S.-e the article Scalpel, and confulc 

 the engravings of chiriirgical inllrumenls attached to this 

 Cyclopxdia. 



BIST R A, in Gcvgrcpby, a town of Bohemia, in the circle 

 of Chrudim, 6 miles S. S. E. of Politzka. 



BISTRAIA, a town of Ruffian Tartary, on the weft 

 fide of the Donetz, 70 miles N. N. E. of Azof. — Alfo, a 

 river of Ruffian Tartaiy, which runs into the Donetz, 64 

 miles N. E. of Azof. 



BISTRE, among Painters, a compofition made of t!ic 

 moft glolTy and highcft burnt foot, pulverized, and paffid 

 through a fine fieve, then baked in a little gum- water, 

 and made into cakes : or it is the burnt oil, extracted 

 from the foot of wood. It is a brown tranfparent colour, 

 and has much the fame effect in water painting, where 

 alone it is ufed, as brown pink in oil. 



The beft is prepared from the foot cf dry beech wood, 

 by grinding it with urine or water, into a fmooth parte, and 

 then diluting it with more water; after the grofier f;ib- 

 ftance has fubfidcJ, the liquor is poured off into mother 

 refle', and left to fettle three or four days ; the fine matter 

 that remains is biftre. 



That the biftre of our colour fliops has been prepared bv 

 a procefs of tliis kind, and not, as fome have fufpected, by 

 evaporating the infufion of foot to an exttaft, may be pic- 

 fumed, fuvs Dr. Lewis (Com. Epift. Phil. Techn. p. 340.), 

 both from its appearance and its qualities. He oblerves, 

 that different parcels of bill re difi"er confiderably in their 

 colour, on account, probably, of the different qualities of 

 the foots from whicti they were made. 



In the Handmaid to the Arts, vol. i. p. 126. we have the 

 foilov.-ing recipe fi;r preparing it. Put the foot of dr->- 

 wood (of beech when it can be procured) into water, in the 

 proportion of 2 pounds to a gallon, and boil them half tn 

 hour. Then, after the fluid has Hood fomc time to fettle, 

 but while yet hot, pour off the clearer part from the earthy 

 fediment at the bottom \ and if on Itanding longer it fomi 

 another earthy fediment, repeat the fame method ; but this 

 ihould be done only while the fluid remains hot. Evnaorate 

 the flutd to di-ynefs ; and what remains will be good billre, it 

 the foot was of the proper kind. That which is good it 

 tranfpr.rent, when mciftened with water, and of a warni; 

 deep brown colour. 



Inrtead of this, fomc ufe the hatches cf a pea, with a 

 little Indian ink, others red chaik, others black lead, &c. 

 See AVashixg. 



BISTRIANKA, in Grognphy, a town of Ruffian 

 Tartary. on the fouth fide of the l)oa, ico miles E. N. E. 

 of Azof. 



BISTRIATA, in Entomolofry, a fpecies cf Cicada (/)#. 



3S" /..v^7) 



