B I T 
BIT'TERLY, cdv. With a bitter tafte. In a bitter 
manner; forrow-fully ; calamitoufly: 
Bitterly haft thou paid, and ftill art paying 
That rigid fcore. Milton. 
Sharply ; feverely.—His behaviour is not tocenfure bitterly 
■ the errours of their zeal. Sprat. 
BIT'TERN, f. in ornithology. SeeARDEA. 
JBIT'TERN, f. in the falt-works, the brine remaining 
'after the fait is concreted : this they lade off, that the fait 
may be taken out of the pan, and afterwards put in again ; 
when, being farther boiled, it yields more fait. See Salt. 
BIT'TERNESS,yi A bitter tafte.—The idea of white- 
nefs, or bittcrncfs, is in the mind, exactly anfwering that 
power which is in any body to produce it there. Locke .— 
Malice; grudge; hatred; implacability.—The bitternefs 
and animofity between the commanders was fuch, that a 
great part of the army was marched. Clarendon. —Sharp- 
nefs ; feverity of temper. Satire ; piquancy ; keennefs of 
reproach.—Some think their wits have been afleep, except 
they dart out fomewhat piquant, and to the guick : men 
ought to find the difference between faltnefs and bitter¬ 
nefs. Bacon. —Sorrow; vexation; affliction.—Moll purfue 
the pleafures, as they call them, of their natures, which 
begin in fin, are carried on with danger, and end in bitter* 
nejs. Wake. 
BIT'TERS >u /l What is the nature of the fubftances 
called bitters, in a chemical view, we cannot determine ; 
therefore the nature of bitters cannot be explained. How¬ 
ever, medicinally they are to be confidered as aftringent 
and tonic; and they are often united with an aromatic 
principle. Their general effects are, to conftringe the 
fibres of the ftomach and inteftines, to warm the habit, 
and to promote the natural evacuations, particularly of 
fweat and urine. In weaknefs of the ftomach, lofs of ap¬ 
petite, indigeftion, and the like diforders, proceeding from 
the laxity of the fibres, or a coldnefs of the habit, medi¬ 
cines of this .tribe do lingular fervice. On the contrary, 
when the fibres are too tenfe, or when the heat of the con- 
ftitution exceeds what health requires, bitters very fenfibly 
increafe thefe diforders ; and, if their ufe is perfifted in, 
the confequences may be fatal. Strong bitters are the 
moft diaphoretic ; and agreeable ones, the mod ftomachic : 
as ftomachics, bitter infufions (hould not be ftrong, but 
light and agreeable. They are alfo diuretic, deobftruent, 
refolving vifceral obftrudtions, and of great fervice in in- 
termittents, and preventing their return ; they are con¬ 
fidered alfo as emenagogues, and large dofes as laxative. 
Bitters are fuppofed to be powerful anthelmintics, but 
warms live longer in an infufion of aloes than in rofe-wa- 
ter ; hence they do not feem likely to deftroy them in our 
bodies. As bitters neutralize acids, their ufe, when acidi¬ 
ties prevail in the ftomach, is obvious. In fuch cafes they 
may be confidered as indicated on a double account, viz. 
to correct the difeafe when prefent; and, by their bracing 
and corroborating effedts, to remove the caufe of it. When 
given with fuch intentions, they fhould be infufed in bran¬ 
dy, or in fome of the ftrongeft wines. It is generally faid, 
that bitters are adminiftered as a fubftitute to the bile; 
but though with this diredt view they are improperly em¬ 
ployed, as being antifeptic, retarders and moderators of 
fermentation, and confequently oppofite in their effedts to 
the bile ; yet, in diforders where the bile is defedtive, 
they are adminiftered with confiderable advantage, as they 
check the general tendency to fournefs in the firft paffages, 
which is fo conftantly an attendant on a defedtive bile ; 
and alfo tend to allay the troublefome ferment there, which 
is fo injurious by producing flatulencies. Bitters lofe 
their bitternefs by the addition of alkaline falts; and yield 
their virtues both to watery and foirituous menftrua : they 
yield very little of their tafte by diftillation, either to water 
or fpirit ; nay, the bitternefs is fo tenacioufly detained,.as 
to be improved in many extradts, 
BIT'TER VETCH, J. in botany. See Orobus. 
.BIT'TER WORT,/. in botany. See Gentiana, 
Vol. III. No. u7, 
BIT 73 
BITU'MEN, f. [from pitch ; orTrflvp.ee, from 
a pine, becaufe it flows from the pine tree. Min- 
fliews fays it is fo called, quod vi tuneat , e terra , from its 
burfting forth from the earth.] This word is ufed with 
fome latitude by chemical writers. By fome it is applied 
to fuch mineral fubftances as are of an oily nature, whe¬ 
ther they be found in the folid or the fluid ftate ; others 
apply it only to the folid inflammable fubftances of this 
kingdom, excepting only fulphur. It may perhaps be 
molt convenient to ufe this term in denoting all mineral 
inflammable fubftances, found in the folid or fluid ftate, 
not coming under the denomination of earths, falts, acidifi- 
able bafes, or metallic ores. Kirwan, to whofe arrange¬ 
ment we (hall principally adhere, obferves that the folid 
bitumens never exceed 2-5 in fpecific gravity. In the 
following thort enumeration, we (hall include inflammable 
air, hepatic air, fulphur, phofphorus, and plumbago; 
by which means it will exhibit a tolerably complete feries 
of mineral inflammables. The articles themlelves may 
be confulted for a fuller account of their refpedtive pro¬ 
perties. The inflammable fubftances found in the mineral 
kingdom, are—1. Inflammable air, called fire damp in the 
mine. 2. Hepatic air, which abounds in many hot-baths, 
in mines, and in the neighbourhood of volcanos. 3. Naph¬ 
tha ; a fine white, thin, fragrant, colourlefs, oil, which if- 
fues out of white, yellow, or black, clays in Perfia and 
Media. This is highly inflammable, and is decompofed 
by diftillation. It diffolves refins, and the effential oils of 
thyme and lavender; but is not itlelf foluble either in 
fpirit of wine or ether. It is the lighted: of all the denfe 
fluids, its fpecific gravity being 0-708. 4. Petroleum, 
which is a yellow, reddifh, brown, greenifh, or blackifh, 
oil, found dropping from rocks, or i(Tiling from the earth, 
in the duchy of Modena, and in various other parts of 
Europe and Afia. This likevvife is infoluble in fpirits of 
wine, and feems to.confift of naphtha, thickened by ex- 
pofure to the atmofphere. It contains a portion of the acid 
of amber. 5. Barbadoes tar, which is a vifeid, brown, 
orblack, inflammable, fubftance, infoluble in fpirt of wine, 
and containing the acid of amber. This appears to be the 
mineral oil in its third ftate of alteration. 6. Afphaltum, 
a fmooth, hard, brittle, inflammable, fubftance, which 
melts eafily, and burns without leaving any afnes, if it be 
pure. It is (lightly and partially acted on by fpirit of 
wine and ether. 7. Mineral tallow, which is a w-hite 
fubftance of the confidence of tallow, and as greafy, al¬ 
though more brittle. It was found in the feaon thecoafts 
of Finland, in 1736 ; and is alfo met with in fome rocky 
parts of Perfia. It is—near one-fifth lighter than tallow ; 
burns with a blue flame, and a fmell of greafe, leaving a 
black vifeid matter behind, which is more difficultly con- 
fumed. 8. Jet, which is much harder than afphaltum ; 
fufceptible of a good polifti, and giofty in its fradture. It 
is highly eledtrical, fufible in a moderate heat, and info- 
iuble in fpirit of wine. 9. Pit-coal. Of this there are 
many varieties; they appear to confift of petroleum, con- 
folidated with an earth, chiefly of the argillaceous kind. 
10. Peat is a black inflammable earth, which is of a vifeid 
confidence when frefh, but hardens by expofure to the 
air. 11. Turf conlifts of mould interwoven with the 
roots of vegetables. 12. Amber is infoluble in water, 
and in fpirit of wine ; and no other acid but the vitriolic 
diffolves it. By diftillation, it affords a final 1 portion of 
water, an oil of the nature of petroleum, and a peculiar 
acid. 13. Sulphur is very abundant in the mineral king¬ 
dom. 14. Phofphorus has not hitherto been found in 
the mineral kingdom, except in combinatiqn with lorne, 
and fome of the metals. 15. Plumbago, or black-lead. 
When we attend to the inflammable fubftances found 
in the earth, or in the mineral kingdom, we may perceive 
that very few, and moft probably none of them, can be 
truly faid to belong to it, but have been elaborated in the 
bodies of animals or vegetables. From the turf that is 
pared from the furface of the earth, and owes its inflam¬ 
mability to the roots of vegetables that are mixed with 
U itj 
