$6S B Y S 
mod oval ; the ground colour black", but the under part 
of the abdomen appears ahnoft entirely white, owing to 
an infinite number of minute fcales of that colour with 
which it is covered. The head is (inall, and often drawn 
back under the thorax, which latter is broad, covered 
with white and reddifh icales, through which the black 
ground in lotne places appears. The elytra are bent in, 
and even rather inclofe the Tides and under part ot the 
body. They are black, with white and red fcalcs, which 
form a kind of embroidered work. Firft:, there is obfer- 
vable a white tranfverfe ftripe, fomewhat broad on the top 
of the elytra ; at the bottom of them, there are two white 
diftinft (pots near the future, one upon each elytrum. 
The ruddy colour occupies chiefly the lower end of the 
future of the elytra, and the upper part of them, near 
their connection with the thorax. This fpeciesis common 
in gardens. If rubbed, the fmall coloured fcale comes 
off, and the infett appears almott entirely black. The 
byrrhus verbafci is much fmaller than the preceding fpe- 
cies ; its figure and form are however the fame; only 
that the fcales which cover the elytra are more numerous 
and clofer fet, io that the black colour, which confiitutes 
the ground of the elytra, is no where to be feen. The 
fcales form three (tripes, white, tranlverfal, and undu¬ 
lated, between which intervene flripes of a reddifh brown 
fhaped in the fame manner. They are fometimes to be 
met with (tripped of part of their fcales, which renders 
them fo different as not to be known for the fame creatures. 
The larvx of this infedt, as well as thofe thofe of the 
preceding fpc-cies, are extremely voracious, and much re- 
iemble thofe of the dermeftae. 
BYR'SA, [Gr. a hide.] A citadel in the middle of 
Carthage, on which was the temple of /Efculapius. Af- 
drubal’s wife burnt it when the city was taken. When 
Dido came to Africa, (lie bought of the inhabitants as 
much land as could be encompafled by a bull’s hide. Af¬ 
ter the agreement, flie cut the hide in fmall thongs, and 
inclofed a large piece of territory, on which (he built a 
citadel, which (lie called Byrfa. 
BYRSODEP'SICON,/. [front Cvfva, leather, and 
to tan or curry.] A name given to fumach, becaufe it is 
chiefly employed in the making and tanning of leather. 
BY'SAK,/'. The firft month of the Bengal year, begin¬ 
ning in April. 
BYS AU'CHEN,y. [from Svev, to hide, and av^r,^ the 
neck.] One who, by lifting up his (houlders, hides his 
neck; or who is naturally round-(houldered. Alfo any 
one who has a morbid fliffnefs of the neck. 
BYS'CHIZ, a town of Bohemia, in the circle of Bole- 
flaw : fix miles end of Melnik. 
BYS'SUS, j. [Gr. from ro buz , Heb.] In botany,' a 
genus of the cryptogamia alga;, and the laft in the fcale 
of vegetation in that clafs. The fpecies in Linnaeus are 
fourteen, but there are certainly many more of them. 
They appear in form of threads or a kind of meal on rot¬ 
ten wood, the bark of trees, rocks, damp banks, and 
walls, efpecially of damp cellars. Htidfon and Withering 
enumerate nineteen Britifh fpecies, and Lighlfoot four¬ 
teen. One fort is common on wine-calks, at firft is like 
flakes of (now, but turns yellow, and at lad like a moufe’s 
(kin: in this date it has black grains at the bafe like gun¬ 
powder, rots the calks, and is excellent to daunch blood. 
The green paper byffus is a farina concreting on the fur- 
face of the water, and forming a wide thin film on the fur- 
face. Weis denotes it to be a vegetable. Withering is 
of opinion that it is a conferva. 
BYS'SUS, or Byssum,/ A fine thready matter pro¬ 
duced in Iiidia, Egypt, and about Elis in Achaia, of 
which the richeft apparel was anciently made, efpecially 
that worn By the prieds both Jewidt and Egyptian. Some 
interpreters render the Greek ( 3 vccr'&' y which occurs both 
in the Old and New Tedament, by fine linen. But other 
verlions, as Calvin’s and the Spanidi printed at Venice in 
1556, explain the word b vjil/i ; and yet byffus mud have 
been different from our (ilk, as appears from a multitude 
BYS 
of ancient writers, and particularly from Jul. Pollux. M 
Simon, who renders the word by fine linen, adds a note to 
explain it, viz. “ that there was a fine kind of linen very 
dear, which the great lords alone wore in this country as 
well as in Egypt.” This account agrees perfectly well 
with that given by Hefychius, as well as what is obferved 
by Bochart, that the byffus was a finer kind of linen, which 
was frequently dyed of a purple colour. Some authors 
will have the byffus to be the fame with our cotton ; others 
take it for the linum ajbejlinum ; and others for the lock or 
bunch of filky hair found adhering to the pinna marina, 
by which it fattens itfelf to the neighbouring bodies. Au¬ 
thors ufually didinguidi two forts of byffus; that of Elis; 
and that of Judaea, which was the fineft. Of this latter 
were the priedly ornaments made. Bonfrerius notes, that 
there mud have been two forts of byffus, one finer than 
ordinary, by reafon there are two Hebrew words ufed in 
Scripture to denote byffus ; one of which is always ufed in 
(peaking of the habit of the prieds, and the other of that 
of the Levites. 
BYS'SUS ASBES'TINUS,/ A fpecies of albedos or 
incombudible flax, compofed of fine flexible fibres paral¬ 
lel to one another. Sec Asbestos, vol. ii. p. 251. 
BYSTR 1 CZA, a town of Poland, in the palatinate of 
Volhynia : eighty miles north-ead of Lucko. 
B YSTROPO'GON,/. [from /Sva, to clofeup, and <rra~ 
yans a beard ; the calyx being clofed by a fort of beard.] 
In botany, a genus of the clafs didynamia, order gymnol- 
permia, natural order verticillata?. The generic charac¬ 
ters are—Calyx ; perianthium one-leafed, divided into 
five awl-fhaped fegments, clofed by a beard at the open¬ 
ing. Corolla: monopetalous, ringent; upper lid bifid, 
lower trifid, the outer fegmeut mod produced. Stamina: 
filaments four, didynamous, didant; antherae incumbent. 
Piftillum: germ fuperior, four-parted; ttyle fubulate; 
digma bifid. Pericarpium : none; calyx clofed with a 
beard, and cheriflting the feeds. Seeds: four .—EJfential 
Char abler. Calyx, five-lubulate, bearded at the opening; 
corolla, upper lip bind, lower trifid ; ftamens didant. ’ 
Species. 1. Byftropogon pedtinatum, or balm-leaved 
bydropogon: panicles compact, flowers directed oneway, 
leaves ovate. Stem fuffrutefeent or herbaceous, generally 
five or fix feet high or more, but varying in height. Seeds 
roundifh, black, glofly. This plant is found in Sloane’s 
Herbarium, but the figure in his hiftory does not correfpond 
with it. Native of Jamaica, in all thedow lands and dry 
favannahs about Kingdon and Spanidi Town. It has alfo 
been found in Peru by Dombey. It flowers in December 
and January, and was introduced here in 1776 by Mr. 
Gilbert Alexander. 
2. Bydropogon fidasfolium, or fida-leaved bydropo°-on : 
panicles very loofe, peduncles in whorls, filiform, leaves 
cordate. This alfo is a native of Peru, and was difeovered 
there by Dombey. 
3. Byftropogon fuaveolens, or fweet-feented byftropo¬ 
gon: peduncles axillary, folitary; calyxes truncate, awn- 
ed ; leaves cordate. Stem upright, becoming (hrubby at 
bottom, branched, hirfute. It is an annual plant, and 
the whole of it has a very drong fmell like that of its con¬ 
geners. The Portugueze call it erva cidreira , from its 
fmelling fomewhat like a citron. In Jamaica, where it is 
common about Kingdon and Old-harbour, it is known by 
the name of jpik.ena.rd , on account of its drong but plea- 
fant fmell. It is one of the mod grateful cephalics and 
alexipharmics; and may be ufed in diforders of the nerves 
and vifcera, where Rich warm medicines are required. It 
is a native of the continent of South America, as well as 
the iflands of the Weft Indies. 
4. Bydropogon phunofum, or woolly-flowered byftro¬ 
pogon : panicles dichotomous, calyxes feathered ; leaves 
ovate, fubferraie, tomentofe beneath. This and the nex,t 
fpecies conneft the two lad with the foregoing ones. It 
is a native of the Canary idands, where it was found by 
Malfon. Introduced here in 1779, and flowers in June 
.and July. 
5. By- 
