BI'SHOP'S WA'LTHAM, a town of Hampshire, about 10 miles east-north-east of Southampton. Pop. of parish (1871), 1939. Corn, leather, and malt form the chief trade of the town. It has been immemorially the property of the see of Winchester. There are the remains of a bishop's castle, built in 1135 by Henry de Bloisking, King Stephen's brother, and which was reduced to ruins during the civil wars of the 17th c. A gang of Waltham Blacks,' or deer-stealers, infested the forest in this vicinity in the early part of the 18th c. The Black Act (q. v.) was passed in 1723, to put them down.

BISIGNA'NO, a town of Italy, in the province of Cosenza, is situated on a hill near the junction of the Mucone with the Crati, about 15 miles north of the town of Cosenza. It has a cathedral, a castle, and a trade in silk, and gives the title of prince to the existing branch of the Sanseverino family. Pop.

4096.

BI'SLEY, a town of Gloucestershire, 11 miles south-east of Gloucester. Pop. of parish (1871), 4985. The chief manufacture is coarse clothing. The church contains some interesting monuments, a cross-legged knight in armour, and an ancient stone font. There is also an ancient octagonal stonecross in the churchyard. The canal uniting the Severn and the Thames passes through the parish, the highest part being 370 feet above the sea level.

BIS'MUTH is a brittle metal of a crystalline texture, and of a white colour tinged with a faint red hue. It is found native in Cornwall, Germany, France, and Sweden, where it occurs in veins or fissures passing through other rocks. The principal natural source is an impure metal; but it is likewise found in combination with oxygen, sulphur, and arsenic. The pure metal is generally obtained by heating the impure native B. in iron tubes in a furnace, when the metal volatilises, and the vapour, condensing into a liquid in a somewhat cool part of the tube, runs into a receiving-vessel, and is ultimately transferred to moulds, where it solidifies with a crystalline texture. B. is represented by the chemist by the symbol Bi; has the atomic weight or equivalent of 213, and has the specific gravity of 9783 to 9833 (water = 1000). The metal B. is seldom employed by itself in the arts. The

a

Bismuth:

a, example of native bismuth from Redruth, in Cornwall; b, crystal of bismuth.

alloys of B. are of considerable commercial importance. In combination with tin, B. forms an alloy possessing great sonorousness, and therefore suitable for bells. The alloy of 8 of B., 5 of lead, and 3 of tin, readily fuses at 202° F., and therefore melts in boiling water; and the alloy of 2 of B., 1 of lead, and 1 of tin, at 200-75° F. Either of the latter alloys is entitled to the term fusible alloy, and when mixed with some mercury, becomes still more fusible, and may then be used in forming moulds for toiletsoaps, and in taking casts.

B. forms several compounds of service in the arts and in medicine; it combines with oxygen to form

several oxides, of which the teroxide (BiO) is the most important. It may be prepared by evaporating the solution of the ternitrate of B. (BIO,3NO,) to dryness, and then heating, when the nitric acid (3ÑO) escapes, and leaves the teroxide of B. (BiO1) as a yellowish powder. It is employed in the porcelain manufacture as an agent for fixing the gilding, and for increasing the fusibility of fluxes, at the same time neutralising the colours which are often communicated by them. The ternitrate of B. is prepared by acting upon the metal B. with a mixture of one part of commercial nitric acid and one part of water, and applying heat. The subnitrate or basic nitrate of B. receives the names of Pearl White, Pearl Powder, Blanc de Fard, Blanc d'Espagne, Majestery of B., and Perlweiss and SchminkIt is used as a cosmetic, but is weiss (German).

apt to become gray in tint, and even brown or black, when sulphuretted hydrogen, often evolved from sewers, cesspools, and drains, comes in contact with it.

The subnitrate of B., the only medicinal preparation formed from this metal, acts as a local irritant and caustic poison on animals. On man, when given in small doses, it acts locally as an astringent, diminishing secretion. On account of the frequent relief given by it in painful affections of the stomach, where there is no organic disease, but where sickness and vomiting take place, accompanied by cramp or nervous disorder, it is supposed to act on the nerves of this viscus as a sedative. It has also been denominated tonic and antispasmodic. Vogt says, that when used as a cosmetic, it has been known to produce a spasmodic trembling of the face, ending in paralysis.

BI'SON, a name given by the ancients to an animal of the same genus with the ox (q. v.), still called the B., or the European B. (Bos Bison of some naturalists, Bos Urus of others); also known as the Aurochs (Germ., wild animal, or wild ox). This animal at one time abounded in most parts of Europe, but is now found only in the forests of Moldavia, Wallachia, Lithuania, and Caucasus. Herds of bisons, carefully protected by the emperor of Russia, and believed to amount to about 800 in all, roam through the great forest of Bialowieza, in Lithuania. The B. differs from all varieties of the common ox, in the arched line of the back, which rises in a sudden elevation behind the neck; the hump which is formed not consisting, however, of mere fat, but in great part of the very thick and strong muscles which support the large head. It is remarkable for strength in the fore-parts, and trees of five or six inches in diameter cannot withstand the thrusts of old bulls. It is capable of repelling all the attacks of the wolf or bear, rushing upon, overthrowing, and then trampling an adversary. Its horns are short, tapering, very distant, spreading, a little curved inwards at the point. They are affixed not at the extremities of the most elevated salient line of the head, as in the ox, but considerably in front of it. The figure of the forehead differs also from that of the ox in its greater breadth, and in its convex profile. Another important anatomical difference is in the number of ribs, of which the B. has fourteen pair, whilst the ox has only thirteen; and the vertebræ of the tail are fewer, being only nineteen instead of twenty-one. The hair of the forehead is long and shaggy; that under the chin and on the breast forms a sort of beard; and in winter the neck, hump, and shoulders are covered with long woolly hair, of a dusky brown colour, intermingled with a short, soft, fawncoloured fur. This long hair is gradually cast in summer. The legs, back, and hinder-parts are covered with short dark-brown hair. The tail

terminates in a large tuft. The females are not so large as the males, nor do they exhibit the same shagginess of the fore-parts. The B. is the largest quadruped now existing in Europe, although within the historic period there appears to have existed along with it an ox exceeding it in size; and it appears to have been this ox, and not the B., which was called Urus (q. v.) by the ancients, although their Bonasus (or Bonassus) was probably the same with the bison. The food of the B. consists of grass and brushwood, and the leaves and bark of young trees. Its cry is peculiar, resembling a groan or a grunt, more than the lowing of an ox." It does not attain its full stature till after its sixth year, and lives for about thirty or forty years. The period of gestation appears to be the same with that of the OX. The B. has never been reduced to subjection by man, and the domestication even of individuals taken young, has been very partial. It generally shews a great aversion to the domestic ox. The common statement, however, that the B. calf invariably refuses to be suckled by the domestic cow, is contradicted on the excellent authority of the master of the imperial forests in the Russian government of Grodno.-The B. is generally very shy, and can only be approached from the leeward, its smell being very acute. It is easily provoked, and is not approached without danger. It runs very swiftly, although it cannot long continue its flight, galloping with its head very low, so that the hoofs are raised higher than the head.

There is no historical evidence that the B. ever existed in Britain; but remains of this, or of a very closely allied species, are found in pliocene freshwater beds in several parts of England, as well as on the continent of Europe. The size of these B. bones is, however, so great as of itself to cause a doubt of the identity of the species, and the horns are longer in proportion. The fossil B. has been called Bison priscus; Bison being by some naturalists separated as a genus from Bos, upon the ground chiefly of the osteological differences in the head.

The American B. (Bos Americanus of some naturalists, B. Bison of others) is interesting as the only species of the ox family indigenous to America, except the Musk Ox (q. v.) of the subarctic regions. It is commonly called Buffalo by the Anglo-Americans, although it is very different from the Buffaloes (q.v.) of the old world. It is found in vast numbers in the great prairies between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains; it occurs as far north as the vicinity of Great Marten Lake, in lat. 63° or 64°; extensive level and marshy tracts there affording it suitable food, although it is nowhere else to be met with in so high a latitude. Its southern limit appears to be in New Mexico. It is comparatively rare to the west of the Rocky Mountains, and appears to have been rare to the east of the Appalachians, even on the first settlement of Europeans. Within the present century, however, it was found in the western parts of the State of New York, and in large numbers in that of Ohio; but it has now disappeared from the whole region east of the Mississippi, and it is necessary to advance about one hundred miles to the westward of that river before considerable numbers are anywhere to be found. In the western prairies, enormous herds still congregate; great plains are sometimes spotted and darkened with them as far as the eye can reach; 'countless thousands' are described as coming to refresh themselves in stagnant pools; and their paths are said to be, in some parts of the wilderness, as frequent and almost as conspicuous as the roads in the most populous parts of the United States.

About 300,000 Indians are supposed to subsist almost entirely on the flesh of the B. The spear and the bow and arrow are still much employed by them in hunting it, although many of them also use firearms. They frequently pursue it on horseback; but the hunter, whether on horseback or on foot, has often much difficulty in getting within shot, upon account of its keenness of scent, and the speed with which it runs. The chase of the B. is also very dangerous, as it is apt to turn upon an adversary, and even a fleet horse cannot always escape it. Great numbers, however, are sometimes killed when the hunters can succeed in throwing the herds that are scattered over the plains into confusion, so that they run wildly, without heeding whither. Another expedient of the Indians is to set fire to the grass of the prairies around them, when they retire in great consternation to the centre, and are easily killed. A sort of pound or enclosure is sometimes made, with a long avenue leading to it, and an embankment of snow, such that when the animals have descended over it they cannot return, and by this means great numbers are often captured and killed. Livingstone describes a similar expedient as in use for killing wild animals in South Africa. Sometimes, also, the Indians contrive to throw them into consternation, and to make them run towards a precipice, over which many of the foremost are driven by the crowds which throng up behind.

The American B. is very similar to the European. In general, it is of rather smaller size, but this does not appear to be always the case, and it is said sometimes to attain a weight of 2000 lbs. Its limbs and tail are shorter, and the tail consists of fewer vertebræ. The horns are shorter and more blunt. The fore-parts are still more shaggy, and retain more of their shagginess in summer. The ground upon which many naturalists have rested their chief confidence of specific difference has been, however, the presence of an additional pair of ribs, the

American B. being said to have fifteen pair; but Mr Vasey has recently ascertained that, like the European B., it has only fourteen. The more gregarious habit may perhaps be accounted for, like that of the American beaver, by difference of circumstances.

The wolf is quite unable to contend with the B., but many wolves often hang around the herds, to devour calves which may stray, or aged animals which have become too weak to keep up with the rest. These have sometimes been seen assailed by whole packs of wolves, and dealing death to many of their assailants, before they were compelled to yield to numbers and hungry pertinacity. The only American animal that is singly capable of overcoming the B. is the grisly bear. See BEAR

The flesh of the B. is very good, and differs from

miles east-south-east of Sarreguemines. Its citadel, which is built on a precipitous and isolated rock, in the middle of the town, is well supplied with water, defended by 80 cannon, has accommodation for a garrison of 1000 men, and is considered all but impregnable. The Prussians under the Duke of Brunswick attempted to surprise it in 1793, but failed. Pop. of town, 2456, who are engaged in the manufacture of paper, glass, and porcelain.

BITHOO'R, a town in India in the district of Cawnpore, and lieutenant-governorship of North-west Provinces, stands on the right bank of the Ganges, about 12 miles north-west of Cawnpore itself. B., particularly devoted to the worship of Brahma, has numerous pagodas. It is, of course, a favourite resort for pilgrims, who here, as at Benares and Bindraban, have access to the sacred stream for purposes of ablution, by means of elaborately constructed ghauts. During the mutiny of 1857, B. acquired an unenviable notoriety as the stronghold of Nena Sahib. Here also Havelock more than once exacted retribution, however inadequate, defeating the Nena in the field, and burning his fort. B. in 1871 contained 8322 inhabitants.

BITHY'NIA, an ancient division of Asia Minor, was separated from Europe by the Propontis (Sea of Marmora) and the Thracian Bosporus (Strait of Constantinople), and was bounded N. by the Euxine, and S. by Galatia, Phrygia, and Mysia. Its eastern limits were not very clearly defined, but they at least extended as far as Paphlagonia. It contained the famous Greek cities or colonies of Chalcedon, Heraclea, &c.; and at later periods, Nicomedia, Nica, and Prusa, were flourishing cities of Bithynia. The inhabitants of B. were supposed to be of Thracian origin. The country was subdued (560 B. C.) by Croesus of Lydia, and five years later, fell under the Persian dominion. But about 440 or 430 B. C., it became an independent kingdom under a dynasty of native princes, who made Nicomedia their capital. The last king, Nicomedes III., made the Romans his heirs, and with a large addition from the Pontic kingdom, B. became a province of the empire (74 B. C.). Under Trajan, B. was governed by Pliny the Younger, whose letters to the emperor on the administration and condition of the province contain the well-known passage respecting the Christians. The Emperor Diocletian made Nicomedia his habitual residence. In 1298, Osman the Turk broke into the country; and in 1328, Prusa, or Brusa, then the chief town of B., became the capital of the kingdom of the Osmanli.

BITLI'S, a town of Asiatic Turkey, in the pashalic of West Van, in lat. 38° 24′ N., and long. 42° 5' E., about 120 miles south-east from Erzrum. It is situated at an elevation of 5156 feet above the level of the sea, in a deep ravine traversed by the river Bitlis, one of the head streams of the Tigris. B. is a straggling, irregular place, covering a large surface of ground, and surrounded by bare limestone mountains, rising to a height of about 2000 feet above the valley, which is filled with orchards and gardens, and watered by numerous streams and springs. It has 3 mosques, about 12 convents belonging to the howling dervishes, who appear to have made B. their head-quarters, several well-stocked bazaars, and extensive manufactures of cotton cloths, which are celebrated for their bright red dye. It has also a very extensive trade. The import of British goods is small. The population consists of about 2000 Mohammedan, and 1000 Armenian families. The Persians defeated Solyman the Magnificent near B. in 1554.

BITO'NTO (ancient Butuntum), a town of Italy, in the province of Bari, and 10 miles west-southwest of the city of Bari. It is situated in a fruitful plain about 5 miles from the sea, is well built, is, conjointly with Ruvo, the see of a bishop, and has a fine cathedral, monasteries, and a nunnery. Pop. 16,000, who carry on an extensive trade in a wine called Zagarello, which is largely cultivated in the environs. B. is the birthplace of Giordani, the mathematician. In its vicinity, the Spaniards, under Count de Montemar, gained a splendid victory over the Austrians on the 25th of May 1734, the result of kingdom of Naples. which was that Spain re-obtained possession of the

BITTER CRESS. See CRESS.

BITTER KING (Soulaurea ama'ra), a shrub or small tree of the natural order Polygalacea (q. v.), a native of the Indian Archipelago, which has received its name from its intense bitterness. The genus differs from the usual structure of the order in its regular flowers. The B. K. has large oval leaves and axillary racemes of flowers. It is used medicinally in fevers and other diseases.

BITTER SPAR, a name given to Dolomite (q. v.), from the magnesia contained in it, which the Germans call Bitter Salt.

BITTER VETCH. See OROBUS.

BITTERN (Botaurus), according to some modern ornithologists, a genus of the Heron (q. v.) family (Ardeida); but regarded by others as a mere subgenus of Heron (Ardea), and not a very well defined one. Bitterns are indeed chiefly distinguished from herons by the long, loose plumage of the neck, which they have the power of erecting at pleasure, along with the rest of their clothing feathers, so as greatly to increase their apparent size. The back of the neck, however, is merely downy, or almost bare, the long feathers being on the front and sides. Bitterns also differ from herons in the greater length of their toes, the middle toe being as long as the shank. They are almost all solitary birds, inhabiting reedy and marshy places, where they lie hid during the day, and will almost allow themselves to be trodden upon cre they take wing; they feed during the night, and then, also, often rise spirally to a great height into the air, and emit loud resounding cries. Their food consists chiefly of frogs, and partly, also, of fish, lizards, water-insects, &c., and even of small birds and quadrupeds. The claw of the middle toe is serrated on the inner edge, probably to aid in securing slippery prey.-The COMMON B. (B. stellaris, or Ardea stellaris) is a bird very widely diffused over the old world, being found in almost all, at least of the temperate, parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, which are sufficiently marshy for its manner of life. It is now rare in Britain, owing to drainage; but was formerly more common, and in the days of falconry, was carefully protected by law in England, on account of the sport which it afforded. Its flesh also was in high esteem, and is not rank and fishy, like that of the herons generally. In size, it is rather less than the common heron; the bill is about four inches long, the feathers on the crown of the head are greenish black, and the plumage in general of a dull yellow colour, beautifully and irregularly marked and mottled with black. The B. makes a rude nest of sticks, reeds, &c., in its marshy haunts, and lays four or five greenish-brown eggs. It has a peculiar bellowing cry, which has obtained for it such English provincial names as Mire-drum, Bull of the Bog, &c., and many of its appellations in other languages, perhaps even its name B. (Bitour, Botur, Botaurus). Some naturalists used to assert that the booming cry of the B. I was produced by the bird inserting its bill into a

reed; that notion, however, has long since been exploded. When assailed, it fights desperately with bill and claws; and it is dangerous to approach it incautiously when wounded, as it strikes with

BITTERS are prepared from an infusion of herbs containing bitter principles. The plant generally used for the purpose is Archangelica officinalis, or the Garden Angelica. See ANGELICA. The roots or seeds, or both, are placed in water, and the whole is left to simmer for several days, when the infusion will be strong enough. The B. from Angelica are not much used by physicians, having been superseded very much by infusions of gentian, &c.; but they are still used as a household medicine in town and country by elderly people. The chemical composition of the root is:

Common Bittern (Botaurus stellaris).

The

its long sharp bill, if possible, at the eye.-The LITTLE B. (B. minutus, or Ardea minuta) is common in some parts of Europe, but rare in Britain. Its whole length is only about thirteen inches.The AMERICAN B. (B. lentiginosus, or A. lentiginosa), a species almost equal in size to the common B., and very similar to it in habits and voice, has occasionally been shot in Britain. It is common in many parts of North America, migrating northward and southward, according to the season. crown of the head is reddish brown, and the colours and markings of the plumage differ considerably from those of the common B.-The LEAST B. (B. or A. exilis) is another North American species, of very small size, which is also migratory, and somewhat social in its habits. The AUSTRALIAN B. (B. or A. australis) is generally diffused throughout Australia, wherever marshes or sedgy rivers occur. In habits it closely resembles the B. of Europe. The head and upper parts generally are purplish brown, except the wings, which are buff, conspicuously freckled with brown; the throat, breast, and belly mottled brown and buff.

The medicinal properties of B. are mainly those of a mild tonic and pungent aromatic stimulant, and hence they are serviceable as a stomachic in cases of weakness of the digestive organs. The taste is at first sweetish, rapidly becoming hot, aromatic, and bitter, and the odour is rather pleasant. The Angelica root yields a larger amount of the bitter principle than Angelica seeds. Camomile flowers, coriander-seeds, and other vegetable tonics and stimulants, are occasionally employed in the preparation of bitters.

BITTERSWEET, or WOODY NIGHTSHADE (Solanum Dulcamara), a plant found in hedges and thickets in Britain, and in most parts of Europe, also in Asia and in North America. The root is perennial; the annual stems climbing and shrubby,

The B. at our salt-works is generally run into tanks, and during winter, it is employed as a source of Epsom salts. The B. is treated with a little sulphuric acid, which converts the chloride of magnesium (MgCl) into sulphate of magnesia (MgOSO,), and on the liquid being allowed to cool, the crystals of Epsom salts (or sulphate of magnesia) separate.

Bittersweet (Solanum Dulcamara):

many feet in length; the leaves ovate-heart-shaped, the upper ones spear-shaped; the flowers purple, in drooping corymbs, much resembling those of its congener, the potato, but much smaller, followed by ovate red berries of tempting appearance, which, being poisonous, are not unfrequently the cause of serious accidents, particularly to children. The