B 1 S 



ibiell chemifts, &c. Col. 20, 1. 26 from the bottom, deh 

 as in mammalia. Col. 31, 1. 22 from the hotXom,- dele 

 bronchix, &c. to cells, and infert — and the branches of the 

 air-tubes. Col. 32, 1. 28, for facks r. facs. Col. 35, 1. 1 1, 

 for of r. off. Col. 36, 1. 7 from the bottom, r. like the air 

 contained in the fvvimming bladder of fifhes, with refpeft 

 to the water. Col. 47, 1. 17, r. quadrupeds. The trunk, 

 &c. Col. 51, 1. 13 from the bottom, dele from urine to 

 the end of the paragraph. 



Bird, in Geography, a townfhip of Adams county, in the 

 diftricl of Ohio, containing 1442 inhabitants. 



BIRMINGHAM. Add— In 181 1, the town of Bir- 

 mingham contained 16,653 houfes, and 85,753 perfons ; 

 40,518 being males, and 45,235 females: 589 families em- 

 ployed in agriculture, and 17,294 in trade and manufac- 

 tures. 



Birmingham, a townfhip of Delaware county, in Penn- 

 fylvania, having 586 inhabitants. — Alfo, atownftiip in Chef- 

 ter county, of the fame ftate, having 200 inhabitants. 



BISHOP'S Castle, 1. ult. r. The borough, in iSii, 

 contained 288 houfes, and 1367 perfons; 651 being males, 

 and 716 females. 



Bishop'j Storlford, col. 2, 1. 36, 1: Tlie parifh contains 

 479 houfes, and 2630 perfons ; 1255 being males, and 1375 

 females. 



BISLEY, 1. ult. for 922 r. 1022 ; and for 4227 r. 



4757- 



BISMUTH, in Chem'ijlry. There feems to be, but one 

 ox)d of this metal. What was formerly termed the magif- 

 tery of bifmuih, and confidered as a peroxyd, has been 

 demonftrated by Bucholz to be a compound of the oxyd of 

 bifmuth and nitric acid. 



Dr. Thomfon has determined 88.75 '"^ ^^ ^' combining 

 weight or weight of the atom of bifmuth. According to 

 this determination, the oxyd of bifmuth will confifl of 



Bifmuth 100 \ ,. , ff 89-87 



O, V or P^'' cent. 01 -! , ^ . ' 

 xygen 1 1.2672 j ^ (.lO-'S 



From the above number, and from tlie known weights of 

 the different acids, the compofition of all the falts of bif- 

 muth can be accurately afcertained. See Proportions, 

 Dejinite, and Atomic Theory, Addenda. 



BISON, in Zoology. See Bos and Urus. 



BISSEXTILE, col. 2, 1. 22, r. 1752. 



BISTAM, infert— or BisTAN. Add— See Sumnum 

 and SnARUT. 



BISTINE AU, in Geography, a lake of Louifiana, formed 

 by the agency of Red river, which has raifed a bank of 

 earth and fand acrofs the lower extremity of a valley that 

 ferves to confine the waters between the hills at all feafons, 

 and to produce this lake. The land along its banks rifes 

 into hills from 100 to 200 feet of elevation, clothed with 

 pine, oak, and various other trees, that afford agreeable 

 profpefts. The eaftern range, more broken than the 

 weftern, abounds more with petrifaftions ; and along the 

 margin of the water, are found the white-thorn, hawthorn, 

 and other dwarf trees, which form an elegant natural bor- 

 der. Many fmall prairies, eight or ten acres in extent, 

 fpread themiclves over the projefting banks, and diverfify 

 this wild, uncultivated, but romantic fcene. This lake fur- 

 nifhes evidence of the continual change effefted in thefe 

 alluvial regions, by the flow but uncealing aclion of water. 

 The average depth of the water is from fifteen to twenty 

 feet ; and in the deepeft part of the lake prefents to view 

 cyprefs-trees of various fizes that are dead, and the remains 

 of which, refilling the aftion of air and water,_atte(l the 

 ancient iituation of the country. Darby's LouiJJana. 



B 1 V 



BIT, in Commerce. Add — 1 bit being worth 5,V Aer- 

 ling, as 10 bits and ^d. currency make a dollar. 



BITTER Principle, Natural and Artificial, in Che- 

 m'ljlry. This name has been given by cliemills, and Spe- 

 cially by Dr. Thomfon, to different principles, extracted 

 from various vegetables, particularly from quajia, cocculus 

 indicus,fquills, and fome others. Though the charatteriilic 

 property of tlicfe fubftances be their bitter tafte, yet this 

 appears to be almoft the only particular in whicli they all 

 agree. The bitter principle of quafTia, according to Dr. 

 Thomfon, is of a brownifli-yellow colour, fomewhat tranf- 

 parent, of an intenfely bitter tafte, foluble in water and 

 alcohol, has no effedl on vegetable blues, and is little 

 affefted by re-agents ; the nitrate of filver, and acetate of 

 lead, being the only ones that precipitate it from its folu- 

 tion. It may be obtained by digefting quadia for fome 

 time in water, and evaporating the folution formed to 

 drynefs. The bitter principles extrafted from colocynlh, 

 brionia alba, and from wheat-flour, feem to pofFefs properties 

 analogous to the above. The bitter principle from cocculus 

 indicus, which has been named Picroto-XIN, is defcribed 

 under that article. 



The bitter principle of fquills is white and tranfparent. 

 It is foluble in water and alcohol, and rapidly attrafts 

 moiflure from the atmofphere. Its tafte is intenfely bitter ; 

 though it ufually retains a little faccharinc matter with 

 great obilinacy. It v\'as obtained by Vogel by evaporating 

 the juice to drynefs, and heating it with alcohol ; the tannin 

 taken up by the alcohol was feparated by the acetate of lead, 

 and thus the bitter principle, obtained in the ftate above 

 defcribed, combined with a little fugar, from which it was 

 found impoffible to entirely free it. The bitter principle 

 of coffee principally differs from the preceding by the pro- 

 perty it poffefles of flriking a green colour with iron, and 

 of precipitating that metal from concentrated folutions. 



According to the experiments of Bouillon la Grange, a 

 fubftance not much unUke the above esifts in the flowers cf 

 the arnica montana, abfinthium vulgare, juniperus fabinus, 

 ruta graveokiu, anthemis nobilis, and achillea millefolium. 



The artificial bitter principle feems to have been lirll formed 

 by HaufTman from indigo, though he miftook its nature. 

 Welther afterwards obtained it from filk, afcertained its 

 properties, and gave it the name of yellow bitter principle. 

 It was afterwards obtained by Bartholdi from the wliitc 

 willow. Mr. Hatchett formed it, during his experiments 

 upon artificial tannin, by heating indigo witli nitric acid ; 

 and about the fame time Fourcroy and Vauquelin pro- 

 cured it by the fame means, and examined its properties. 

 M. Chevreul fuppofes it to be a compound of nitric acid 

 and a vegetable fubftance, probably of an oily nature. Its 

 colour is deep yellow, and its tafte intenfely bitter. It )» 

 foluble in water and alcohol. It ci7ftallizes in elongated 

 plates, and pofTeffes many of the properties of an acid, 

 combining with alkahne fubftances, and forming cryftal- 

 lizable falts pofTeffing peculiar properties. 



The artificial tannin itfelf is by fome chemifts conlidered 

 as little better than a variety of the bitter principle. t>cc 

 Tannin, Artificial. 



BITTERN. See Water. 



BITUMINOUS Mark Slate. See Mi.neralogv, 



Addenda. „ r ,„. j 



BIVOUACKE, BiHOUAC, or Bigvac, tr. tormed 

 from the German ".vay-wacht, a double watch or guard, 

 denotes a night-guard, or a detaclimcnt of the whole army, 

 which, during a fiege, or in the prefence of an enemy, 

 marches out e°very night in fquadrons or battalions, to h^ 

 the circumvaUations, or to take poft in front of tl^ canp. 



