4 3 BIO 
German, by M. Grolkurd ; Leipfic, 17791 in ortavo, and 
a continuation of thefe letters in 1781, alio in ortavo. 
BIO'GLIO, a town of Italy, in the lordfliip of Vercelli: 
fifteen miles north of St. Ja, and twenty-three north-weft 
of Vercelli. 
BIO'GRAPHER, f. [j 3 i©'and y^fa.] A writer of 
lives j a relater not of the hiftory of nations, but of the 
actions of particular perfons.—Our Grub-ftreet biogro.phf.rs 
watch for the death of a great man, like fo many under¬ 
takers, on purpofe to make a penny of him. Addifon. 
BIO'GRAPHY, f. [of ps©-, the life, and de- 
feription.] A fpecies of hiftory which records the lives 
and characters of remarkable perfons. This is a very en¬ 
tertaining and inftrtirtive kind of hiftory. It admits of 
all the painting and paffion of romance ; but with this ca¬ 
pital fuperiority, that our paffions are more keenly inte- 
refted, becaufe the characters and incidents are not only 
agreeable to nature, but ftriCtly true. No books therefore 
are more proper to be put into the hands of young people. 
BIOLYCH'NIUM,/! [j 3 i©‘, life, and A vyjiov, a lamp.] 
The vital heat, or natural temperature of the body. 
BI'ON, a bucolic poet, native of Smyrna, lived at the 
fame time with Ptolemy Philadelphus, whofe reign reach¬ 
ed from the fourth year of the 123d olympiad to the Se¬ 
cond year of the 133d. He was an incomparable poet, if 
we may believe the lamentations of his difciple Mofclnis. 
His few pieces which are left do not contradict this tefti- 
mony. See Moschus. 
BI'ON, of Borifthenes, difciple of Crates, afterwards 
cynic, addicted himfelf to poetry and mufic ; and pro¬ 
nounced a great number of maxims, fome of them inge¬ 
nious, and others void of fenfe. Bion quitted the cloak 
and the wallet of the cynics to follow the lelTons of Theo¬ 
doras, fur named the Atheift, and afterwards thofe of 
Theophraftus, with whom he learnt to ftrew flowers along 
the path of philofophy. He was fond of oftentation and 
applaufe. It is reported, that, being at Rhodes, hedreffed 
the failors as fcholars, and paraded the ftreets with this 
brilliant train. Bion flourifhed 276 years before the vul¬ 
gar era. We mu ft not miftake him for another Bion, of 
the feCt of Democritus, and mathematician of Abdera. 
This latter was the firft who conjeCtured that there were 
certain regions where the days and nights lafted fix months. 
BIONCOU'RT, a town of France, in the department 
of the Meurte, and chief place of a canton, in the diftrirt 
of Chateau Salins : two leagues weft-fouth-weft of Cha¬ 
teau Salins, and three north-eaft of Nancy. 
BION'DI (Francis), born in Liefena, an ifland in Dal¬ 
matia, in the gulph of Venice, was introduced by the ce¬ 
lebrated Sir Henry Wotton, ambaflador there, to the no¬ 
tice of James I. He was by that prince fent with fecret 
commiffions to the duke of Savoy, and was afterwards 
made a gentleman of the bedchamber, and received the 
honour of knighthood. His elegant Hiftory of the Civil 
Wars betwixt the Ploufes of York and Lancafter, which 
was written in Italian, and tranflated into Englifh by 
Henry Carey, earl of Monmouth, gained him great repu¬ 
tation. It fhould be obferved, that, like other foreign 
writers of our Englifh ftory, he has made wild work with 
proper names. 
BIOR'KO, a town of Sweden, in the province of 
Upland. 
BIORN'EBORG, a town of Sweden, in the province 
of Finland, on the eaft fide of the gulph of Bothnia, fitu- 
ated on a lake : eighty miles north of Abo. 
BIORN'SE, a fmall ifland of Denmark, near the fouth 
coaft of the ifland of Funen. 
BI'OT, a town of France, in the department of the 
Var, and chief place of a canton, in the diftrirt of Grade : 
three miles north of Antibes. 
BIOTHA'NATI, f. [from / 3 i«, violence, and GaraT©', 
death.] In fome medical writers, denotes thofe who die a 
violent death. The word is alfo written, and with more 
propriety, biathanati ; fometimes biceothanti. In a more 
particular fenfe, it denotes thofe who kill themfelves, pro- 
B I R 
perly called autothanati. In this fenfe the word is ufed 
both by Greek and Latin writers. By the ancient difei- 
pline of the church, they were punifhed by denying them 
burial, and refilling' all commemoration of them in the 
prayers and offices of the church. It was alfo a name of 
reproach given by the heathens to the primitive chriftians, 
for their conftancy and forwardnefs to lay down their lives 
in martyrdom. 
BIOTH'AN ATOS, is ufed in fome writers of the bar¬ 
barous age, for wicked, damnable, or accurfed. 
BIO'VAC, Biho'vac, or Bi'vou AC,yi [French, from 
wey wadi. Germ, a double guard.] A guard at night per-- 
formed by the whole army ; which either at a liege, or 
lying before an enemy, every evening draws out from its 
tents or huts, and continues all night in arms. Not now 
in u fe. 
BIOUX'LE, a town of France, in the department of 
the Lot, and chief place of a canton, in the diftrirt of 
Montauban : feven leagues fouth of Cahors, and three 
north-eaft of Montauban. 
BI'PAROUS, adj. [from binus and pario, Lat.] Bring¬ 
ing forth two at a birth. 
BIPAR'TIENT, adj. Is a number that divides another 
into two equal parts without a remainder. So 2 is a bi- 
partient to 4, and 5 a bipartient to 10. 
Bl'PARTITE, adj. [from binus and partior, Lat.] Ha¬ 
ving two correfpondent parts; divided into two. 
BIPARTl'TION, f. The art of dividing into two; 
or of making two correfpondent parts. 
BI'PED, f. [bipes, Lat.] An animal with two feet— 
No ferpent, or fillies oviparous, have any ftones at all ; 
neither biped nor quadruped oviparous have any exterior¬ 
ly. Brown. 
BI'PEDAI., adj. \_bipedalis , Lat.] Two feet in length; 
or having two feet. 
BIPEN'NATED, adj. [from bis, twice, and pinna, a 
wing.] Having two wings.—All bipennated inferts have 
poifes joined to the body. Dcrham. 
BlPEN'NIS,y. A two-edged axe, ufed anciently by the 
Amazons in fight ; as alfo by the feamen, to cut afunder 
the ropes and cordage of the enemy’s veilels. The bipen- 
nis was a weapon chiefly of the oriental nations, made like 
a double axe, or two axes joined back to back, with a 
Ihort handle. Modern writers ufually compare it to our 
halberd or partizan; from which it differed in that it had 
no point, or that its fhaft or handle was much Ihorter. 
BIPE'TALOUS, adj. [oi bis, Lat. and 77 cto.aoi>, Gr.] 
A flower confifting of two leaves. 
B IPIN'NULA, f. in botany. See Arethusa. 
BIQJJA'DRATE, or Biquadratic Power, is the 
fquared fquare, or 4th power of any number or quantity. 
Thus 16 is the biquadrate or 4th power of 2, or it is the 
fquare of 4 which is the 2d power of 2. 
BIQUADRA'TIC EQUA'TION. See Algebra, 
vol. i. p. 295, &c. 
BIQUA'LAR,/! in the cuftoms of the Algerines, a 
cook of the divan. The janizaries, whom the Algerines 
call oldachis, after ferving a certain term as common fol- 
diers, are preferred to be biqualars, or cooks of the divan, 
which is the firft ftep towards arriving at higher prefer¬ 
ment. Biqualars have the care of furniffiing the officers 
and commanders of the Algerine foldiery with meat and 
drink in the camp, in garrifon, &c. From biqualars they 
are made odobachis; that is, corporals of companies, or 
commanders of fquadrons. 
BIQUIN'TILE, f. An afpert of the planets when they 
are 144 degrees diftant from each other. It is thus called, 
becaufe they are diftant from one another by twice the 
fifth part of 360 degrees. 
BIR, or Biraidschix, a town of Afiatic Turkey, in 
Mefopotamia, fituated on a mountain, near the eaft coaft 
of the Euphrates, in a very fertile country, the refidence 
of a bey: 100 miles fouth-weft of Diarbek. 
BIR-AL-C ADHI, a town of Perfia, in the province 
of Sergeftan : eighty miles weft of Zareng. 
BPRAGUE 
