B Y S 



Icfs common. To fpiii this byiTiis, they leave It fome days 

 ill a cclhir to moilUn and grow loft : after this thty comb 

 it to get out the impurities, and, lalUy, fpiii it as they 

 do I'llit. Golner, Hill. Anim. 1. 4. c. 6. Acad, des Sc. 

 Ann. 1712, M. p. 204: otiiers tliiiik that the byirus figni- 

 fies a kind of very line flax, vvliich grew in Egypt or J'.ida;a. 

 Bochart, Phaleg. l.iii. c. 4. Others again are of opinion 

 that it is cotton, or a mixture of li'ieh and cotton. Tlie 

 prohabihty of its being cotton is llreiigtliciied by the de- 

 fcripiion given of the byfTiis by Poilnx, which cannot be 

 iipplied to any th'ng but cotton. This writer fays (1. vii. 

 c. 17), that this material came from a kind of nut which 

 grew in Egypt, and alfo in India ; that they opened the nut, 

 txt'-afted this fubllance, fpun it, and wove it for garments. 

 Philollratus (de Vit. ApoUon. 1. ii. c. 10) dcferibcs it much 

 in the lame manner. Thefe cliaraiSeriftics agree very well 

 with ciitton. Arrian, Ttrtulli.in, and Mela, concur in re- 

 prefenting the garments worn by the Indians as confifling 

 of flax or wool, which was produced by the trees. 



It is found in a kind of brown nut, which grows on a 

 fmall flirub. Befides it feems evident from the analogy of 

 languages, that the word ufed by Mofes in defcribing Jo- 

 feph's garment (Gen. xli. 42.) mull mean cotton. This 

 is the opinion of fome ot the moll learned interpreters and 

 commentators. We learn farther from profane authors, 

 that robes of cotton were very ancient in Egvpt, and that 

 they were worn only by perfons of the greatclt diftinclion. 

 Phn. H. N. 1. xix. § 2. It is no lefs certain that robes of 

 linen were alfo ufed in very ancient times ; and it appears 

 from the tcftimony of Mofes, that flax was cultivated in 

 Egypt from time immemorial. Exod. ix 31. D;ut. xxii. 

 1 1. Hence fome have fuppofed that the ancient byflfus was 

 either a very fine fort of cotton, or a mixture of linen and 

 cotton. Forfler " de Byflo Antiquorum." Lond. 1776, 

 8vo. This ingenious writer, in an elaborate dilfertation on 

 the fubjcdl, cites a variety of paffagcs from ancient authors, 

 from which he concludes that the byfTus was a kind of flax, 

 if it may be fo called, which was obtained from plants and 

 trees in India, Arabia, and Egypt, denominated by the 

 barbarians " Goffipion," and correfpondmg to the 

 modern cotton. He adds, that the ancients were 

 acquainted with two fpecies of cotton trees, the " bom- 

 bax" and " golTypium," both belonging to the Linnsan 

 clafs of moiuiilflphia polyandria. The byflus of which Pliny 

 fpeaks (1. xix. c. i.) and which he extols for its foftnefs 

 and whitenels, was the KoflTypium, or white cotton ; and 

 that of which Philoltratui ipcaks (ubi fnpia), the colour of 

 which was red, (paiof T^i/Juv, was obtained from " bombax." 

 Ofbcck, in his " Travels" (vol. I. p. 38J) informs us, 

 that the true flax was unknown in India and in Egypt, and 

 yet in both thefe countries the fame veeetahles were culti- 

 vated and the fame arts praftifcd. We olten read, how- 

 ever, of flax (limim) in works pertaining to the Egyptians, 

 as compofing the vcftrres of the priefts and others, particu- 

 cularly when they celebrated the myfteries ot Ifis. What 

 this fubllance was is explained by Pliny, when he fays 

 that garments of cotton v>'ere much valued by the Egyptian 

 priells, " Veftes inde (Xylinae) facerdotibns gratilfimse." 

 The " velles xylinse" were fynommous with the " vclles 

 byffinEE." Moreover, Plutarch (in Ifide and Herodotus, 

 1. ii. c. 86) inform us, that the religion of the Egyptians 

 enjoined their wrapping up dead bodies in (lulls v oven with 

 byffus. That this byffus was our cotton is evident from 

 the authorities to which Mr R. Foller refers ; and it may 

 be alio inferred from the fillets which were bound round 

 their mummies. Authors ufually dillingullh two forts of 

 byffue, that of Elis, and that of Judea, which vi as the 

 fineft. Of this latter were the prielUy ornaments made. Bon- 



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frcrius notes, that tlirrc mull have been two forts of byfTus-, 

 one finer than the ordinary, by reafon there ae two Hebruw 

 words uled in Jjcriptuie to denote byfl'iis, one of which is 

 always ufed in fpeaking of the habit of the priefU, and 

 the other of that of the I.,evites. See Luke Kvi. 19. 



Byssus montmus. See Amianthus. 



B^ S TRICZA, in Geography, a town of Poland, in the 

 palatinate of Volhynia; So'm.'es N. E. of Lucko. 



BYSTROPOGON, in Botany, (from /?•.->;, ohturo. and 

 n-ayw, burha ; the mouth being clofed by a fort of beard.) 

 THe-rit. Sert. Angl. t. iz, 2.;. JulT. 449. Vent. 2.3,^4. 

 Willd. no I. Bofc Noiiveau Did. Clafs and order, 

 Jiilynatma gymnnfpermia. Nat. Ord. Fertici/Lla, Linn. La- 

 bhilie, JulT. 



Gen. CIl. Cal. one-leafed, generally with five awns, clofed 

 by a beard at the opening. Cor. one-pttalled, ringent ; 

 upper lip biiid ; lower thiee-lobed ; middle lobe the largeft. 

 Suim. filaments four, dillant:, anthers incumbent. Pijl. 

 genu fnp-,-rior, four-parted ; llyle awl-fliaped ; lligma fim- 

 pie or bifid. Peric. none. Calyx clofed with a beard, and 

 containing the feeds. SccJs four. 



Eli. Ctiar. Cal. bearded. Cor.upper lipbifid ; lower three- 

 lobcd. Stamens didant. 



Species. 1. B.f>ec1iiiatum,\'li<:vh. [nepda pedinata, Linn.) 

 " Panicles compaft ; flowers direftcd one way; leaves ovate."' 

 Root perennial. Stem five or fix feet high, four-cornered, 

 even ; branches in pairs ; each pair at right angles with the 

 next, fcarccly fraiirant. Leaves petioled, heart-fliaped, 

 veined, naked, ferrated. Spikes terminal, interrupted, fcarcely 

 foliaceous, in pednncled whorls. BraSes brilUe-fhaped, nu- 

 merous, the length of the flowers. Calyx five-parted, 

 brillle-fliaped. Corolla yellow, fcarcely the length of the 

 calyx ; border five-cleft ; four fegments equal, acute, fpread- 

 ing; the fifth, or lip purplilh, rather round. (Such is the 

 delcription of the corolla in AVilldenow, with which that of 

 profeffor Martyn in Miller agrees ; but if any regard is to 

 be paid to the effential generic charafter, two of the equal 

 fegments conftitute the upper lip, and the other two, with- 

 the intermediate larger fegment, belong to the lower lip.) 

 Style purplifli. Stigma Ample. A native of Jamaica and 

 Peru. 2. B. Jidjfolium, I'Herit. "Panicles very loofc ; 

 peduncles in whorls, filiform ; leaves heart-lhaped." A native 

 of Peru ; difcovered by Dombey. ,5. B. fuaveoL-ns, I'Herit. 

 (Ballota/uaveolens, Linn. Melijfa yumaicana, Pluk. tab.Jo6. 

 f. j. Spicata, Plum. tab. 16.;. f. 1. Mentajlrum maxi,rum, 

 Sloane, tab. 102. f. 2. Mcfofpherum hirfutum, Browne^ 

 tab. 18. f. 3.) " Peduncles axillary, folitary ; calyxes trun- 

 cate, awncd ; leaves heart-fliaped." Root annual. Stem 

 upright, fiirubby at the bottom, bi-anched, hiriute. Leaver 

 oppofite, roundifli, crenatc, nerved, villous ; petioles long, 

 {lender, lax. Peduncles axillary, three or five-flowered. 

 Flowers approximating, blue ; calyx ten-llreaked, villous, 

 vifcid ; teeth awned, upright, villous ; tube of the corolla 

 narrower at the bafe ; filaments, from the bottom of the 

 tube, (landing up above the opening of tiie corolla, pubef- 

 ceit ; anthers blackilh. Gfrm ovate ; ftyle fhorter than the 

 ttamens ; (ligma liniple, blunt. Seeds two, feldom four, 

 naked, ovate, black, (lightly comprelTed. A native of South 

 America and the Well Indies. It is called by the Portu- 

 guefe er-va cidreira, from its fmelling like a citron ; in Ja- 

 maica, fpikenard, from its pleafant fmell. It is one of the 

 moil grateful cephalics and alexipharmics ; and may be uled 

 in diforders ot the nerves a id vifcera, whe'-e fiich warm me- 

 dicines are required. Martyn from Swartz, Sloane, and 

 Browne. 4. B. /i/umo/um, I'Hent. {Mentha plumofa, l^wn. 

 Sup.) " Panicles dichotomous ; calyxes feathered ; leaves 

 ovate, fomewhat ferrated, tomentofe beneath." Panicles 

 terminal aod axillary, fcveral times dichotomous, deriving a 



round 



