B I T 



thing will awaken a dull mouth, and bring it to life and 

 feeling, fo foon as this bridle. If the mouth be hard and 

 callous, the iron fhould be fo twilled as to have a fort of 

 edjje, which will fearch the lips, and when they will per- 

 mit, the bars alfo ; and if gently moved, or drawn from 

 fide to fide, keep the mouth frefh and cool. If the twilled, 

 or rough fnaffle, be thought too harfh, and the hand not 

 flvilful enough to moderate its etFtfts, a fmooth fnaffle may 

 be ufed ; or if a bit of linen be wrapt round the twilled 

 fnaffle, it will make it eafy and fmooth ; and the mouth, 

 once made fine and delicate, will be true to its feelings, 

 will obey the fnaffle, and follow the hand with as much 

 exadlnefs and precifion as the bit knows to demand, but 

 with more freedom and boldnefs that it ever can allow." 



Such are the properties and merits of the fnaffle, which 

 lo'.ig obfervation, and not a little experience, have taught 

 the writer of this article ts think preferable (generally 

 fpeaking) to thofe of the bit ; and which he has been 

 therefore induced to point out and recommend with due 

 deference to others, but with a greater deference to truth 

 and juilice : 



" — Dctrahcre aufus, 

 Hrerentem capiti multa cum laude coronam." 

 Berenger's Hill, and Art of Horfemanlhip, vol.ii. p. 221, &c. 



Bit is alfo ufed for a little tool, fitted to a Hock or handle, 

 for the purpofe of boring. In this fenfe, we fay, the bit of 

 a piercer, an augre, or the like ; meaning that iron part of 

 thofe tools wherewith the holes arc bored. 



The bit ufed by the block-makers, refembles the (hank 

 of a gimblet, from fix to twelve inches long, and from 

 half an inch to an inch in diameter, and has at its end either 

 a fcrew, a Iharp point, or edge, for the purpofe of cutting 

 or boring holes. The centre-bit is a bit, having in the mid- 

 dle of its end, a fmall fteel point, with a fiiarp edge on one 

 fide to cut horizontally, and a (harp tooth on the oppofite 

 fide to cut vertically. Holes bored with this inflrument, 

 are not liable to fplit. The counterfunh-l'u is a bit having 

 two cutting edges at the end, revcricd to each other, which 

 form an angle from the point. Gouge-bit is a bit fmaller 

 than a centre-bit, with a hollow edge at its end, like a 

 gouge. Nofc-lit is a bit fimilar to a gouge-bit, having a 

 cutting edge on one fide of the end. 



Bit of a Key, is that part fitted at right angles to the 

 (hank of the key, wherein the wards are made. SeeLocK, &c. 



Bit is alfo ufed in Commerce, for a piece of coin current 

 in Jamaica, and valued at 74 d. 



Bits, or Bitts, in a fliip, denote a frame compofed of two 

 upright pieces of timber, called the pins, and a crofs-piece 

 fallened horizontally on the top of them ; ufed for belaying 

 cables and ropes to. Boivline and brace bitts are fituatcd near 

 the mafts ; the fore jeer, and top-fail-Jlieet bitts are fituated 

 in the fore-cadle, and round the fore-mad ; the main jeer, 

 and top-fail-Jhcet bitts tenon into the fore-niaft beam of the 

 quarter-deck ; the riding bitts are the largeft bitts in the (hip, 

 and are thofe to which the cable is bitted, when the vefl'el 

 rides at anchor. The cable is bitted, or confined to the bitts 

 by one turn under the crofs-piece, and another turn round 

 the bitt-htad. In this pofition, it may be either kept fixed, 

 or it may be veered away. 



^n-Stoppers, are thofe (toppers that are ufed to check 

 the cable. See Stopper. 



BITAZA, in yincieiit Geography, a town of Afia, in 

 Aria, acording to Ptolemy. 



BITBOURG, in Geography, a town of the Netherlands, 

 in the duchy of Luxemburg before the revolution, but now 

 a principal place of the canton of the fame name, in the 

 department of Forcts, containing 1638 inhabitants; the 



B I T 



populatron 'of the canton confiding of 7160 perfons. Its 

 territorial extent includes 225 kiliometres, and 12 com- 

 munes. N. lat. 50° o'. E. long. 6° 43'. 



BITCH, in Zoology, is the female of the canine fpecies, 

 in contradidindton to dog. (See Canis.) It is fometimes 

 ufed in a fimilar fenfe with refpeft to foxcs, the female 

 being termed a " bitch-fox ;" though the more common 

 appellation among fportfmen is a " vixen." Bitches are 

 fometimes fpayed, to prevent their farther propagation ; the 

 bed time for which operation is about after the heat is gone 

 off. 



BITCHE, in Geography, a town of France, and principal 

 place of a didricl, in the department of the Mofclle, con- 

 taining 2310 inhabitants ; the number of thofe in the can- 

 ton being 10,441. Its territorial extent is 312' kiliome- 

 tres, and it includes 23 communes. It is feated on a river 

 at the foot of the Vofges mountains, on the frontiers of 

 Deux Fonts. It was taken by Lewis XIV. and fortified 

 by Vauban ; afterwards difmantled and redored to the 

 duchy of Loraine. In 1740, it was again fortified. Be- 

 fore the revolution, it was the capital of a country-, includ- 

 ing 50 villages. N. lat. 49° 5'. E. long. 7° 44'. 



BITCHU, or Bitsiu, a province of Nipon, in the 

 idands of Japan, between about 34° 30' and 35° N. lat. 

 and about 134° 30'. E. long. 



BITCHYS, a tribe of Tartars, vifited by La Peroufc 

 in 1787, and defcribed by him. See Orotchys. 



BITE is defined to be a folution of the continuity 

 of a foft part, caufed by the imprelfion of an animal's 

 teeth. 



^n^ oi Mad-dog. See Hydrophobia. 



Bite of Serpents. See Poison. 



Bite o{ Raltlc-fnake. See Poison. 



Bite of the 1 arantula. See Tarantism. 



Bite is alfo applied, in a lefs proper fenfe, to the im- 

 prelfion of other (harp or pungent bodies. Thus a file is 

 faid to bite the metal ; aqua fortis bites, or eats into cop- 

 per. An anchor is alfo faid to bite, when it holds fad in 

 the ground. 



BITERLAGH, or Bitherlage, the ancient Danilh 

 mihtary or camp law. 



The word is compounded from lithe, mulR, and lagh, law ; 

 q. d. the law of mulds, or ivites. 



Among the laws of the Danes, there are two peculiarly 

 eminent ; viz. the hird Jlraa, or court la-w ; and the bither- 

 lage raett, made by Canute the Greet, about the year 1035 ; 

 of which an edition has been given by Refcnius. 



BITETO, in Geography. See Bide to.. 



BITHABA, in ylncienl Geography, called alfo Birthama, 

 a town of Afia, in AlTyria, accordinix to Ptolemy. 



EITHER, a city of Judaea, called bv St. Jerom, Betho- 

 ron, which was the place of retreat of the iinpoftor Barcho- 

 chebas, fortified by him, and made the capital of his new 

 kingdom. It was befieged by the Romans under Julius Se- 

 verus, A. D. 134, and after an obdinate refillancc, com- 

 pelled to furrender. See Barchochebas, and Bethoron. 



BITHEREMAN, a town of Phoenicia, according to 

 Sozomen, fituate at the extremity of the temtory of Eleu- 

 theropohs. 



BITHIA, a town of Afia, placed by Ptolemy in 

 Media- 



BTTHIAS, a town of Afia, in Mefopotamia, according 

 to Ptolemy. — Alfo, a river of Thrace, accord. ng to Ap- 

 pian. 



BITHIGA, a town of Afia, in Mefopotamia. Pto- 

 lemy. 



B1THY.£, a people of Thrace, who, according to 



Steph. 



