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ing to Dissenters. St. Martin's church has a fine lofty spire, with a peal of 12 bells, and a set of chimes. B. is distinguished for its charitable institutions, and has various schools, and several libraries, one of which contains 10,000 volumes. The town has the benefit of several canals, which enable it to carry on an easy intercourse with foreign countries. It has three weekly markets, and two annual fairs. The soil about the town is dry, and the climate is considered remarkably healthy. The average mortality of B., for six years, ending 1801, was only 1 to 59; of Manchester, 1 to 37; and of London, 1 to 31. BIRON, Charles de Gontaut, duke of; son of marshal Armand de Gontaut, baron Biron, born about 1562. Educated as a Calvinist, he had twice changed his religion before he reached the 16th year of his age. In his 14th year, B. was made colonel of the Swiss regiment, and served Henry IV with much zeal and courage. By the king's favor, he was, in 1592, raised to the rank of admiral of France. Though distinguished at court as well as in the field, always feared and praised, he was violent, obstinate and presumptuous. At the retaking of Amiens, in 1598, B. served under Henry IV, and, in the same year, was made a peer and duke. He thought himself, however, not sufficiently rewarded. The Spanish party, which, after the peace of Vervins, could injure Henry only by secret intrigues, took advantage of the duke's discontent. Henry appointed him his ambassador at the court of Brussels, to receive the oath of the archduke to the peace of Vervins. The Spanish court seized this opportunity to dazzle him with festivals, spectacles and honors; the female arts of seduction were put in practice, and the weak B. promised to join the Catholics, whenever they should rise again. 1599, he concluded an agreement with the duke of Savoy and the count of Fuentes, by which he pledged himself to take up arms against his benefactor. Meanwhile, war being declared against the duke of Savoy (1600), B. saw himself reduced to the necessity of attacking him. For fear that his understanding with the duke should become visible, he possessed himself of almost all the towns in the duchy, which was the easier because Emanuel had expected some forbearance on his part. Fuentes and the duke ventured to propose to B., that he should deliver the person of the king into their hands; but he refused. Their suggestions, however, were not without effect upon

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him, and, while engaged in the siege of the fort St. Catherine, in the vicinity of Genoa, having reason to believe that the king would come to inspect the trenches, he sent word to the governor to dispose harquebussiers so as to fire on him at a certain signal. At the decisive moment, however, he prevented the king from going to the fatal spot. In 1601, peace was made with Savoy. So many negotiations had not, however, escaped the eye of the king, nor could he remain ignorant of their object. He therefore interrogated the marshal as to his designs, with promises of pardon. B. made a partial confes sion, and continued his intrigues as before. Notwithstanding this, Henry sent him, in the same year, to queen Elizabeth of England, to inform her of his marriage with Maria of Medici. In the mean time, B.'s confidant Lafin, having become suspected by the count of Fuentes, and beginning to fear for himself, discovered the whole plot. A frank confession and repentance would have saved B., since Henry was inclined to forgive him. He, however, persevered in his denial, rejected the offers of pardon, and was, therefore, at the urgent entreaties of the queen, at last surrendered to the rigor of the laws. Upon leaving the king's room, he was arrested, carried to the Bastile, tried before the parliament, and beheaded, July 31, 1602.

BIRTH. (See Labor.)

BISCAY; a province in Spain, bounded N. by the bay of Biscay, E. by France and Navarre, S. by Burgos, including the three following subdivisions or provinces: Sq. M. Pop. Capitals.

B. Proper, 1375 112,731 Bilboa.
Guipuscoa,. 653 104,479 St. Sebastian.
Alava, 1138 71,396 Vittoria.
3166 288,606

B. is a mountainous country, containing much wood, and has mines of lead and · iron. It abounds in apples, pears, lemons, oranges, figs, nuts and currants, but produces little wine. The air is mild and more temperate than the rest of Spain. The country is well cultivated, and the houses clean and convenient. The inhabitants call themselves Euscaldunac, boast of their descent from the ancient Cantabri, and preserve strong traces of the character of that high-spirited and independent people. They are robust, brave, active, industrious; at the same time, haughty and irritable; have open, animated countenances, and handsome persons. Their language is supposed to be

a dialect of the Celtic, and nearly allied to the Armorican. (See Basques.)-B. forms a kind of separate state, distinct from the rest of Spain, governed according to its ancient laws and usages. The king of Spain, who is simply styled lord of Biscay, has no right to impose taxes; and no custom-houses were allowed, till lately, within the province.

Biscay Proper is bounded N. by the bay of Biscay, E. by Guipuscoa, S. by Alava, and W. by Santander. The coast is inhabited by seafaring people and fishermen; in the interior, great quantities of iron are extracted from the ore, and wrought into different articles. The richest mines are in the vicinity of Bilboa and Somorrosto.

Biscay, bay of; that part of the Atlantic which lies N. of the province of Biscay, between the projecting coasts of France and Spain, extending from Ushant to cape Finisterre.

Biscay, bay of; a large bay on the south coast of Newfoundland, between cape Race and cape Pine; lon. 53° 6′ W.; lat. 46° 50' N.

Biscay, New, or Durango; a province in Mexico, bounded N. by New Mexico, E. by New Leon, S. by Zacatecas, and W. by Culiacan; 600 miles long, and 400 broad; pop. 159,000. The country is, in general, mountainous, and watered by a great number of rivers and brooks: it has some mines of silver and lead. Durango is the capital.

BISCHOFSWERDER, John Rudolph von, a Prussian general and minister, born in Saxony, in 1756, entered the university of Halle, was admitted into the Prussian service in 1760, and appointed major in 1779. Under Frederic William II, he exercised an unlimited influence at the court of Berlin. The attachment which he had shown Frederic William, while yet crown-prince, procured him the lasting affection of this short-sighted and prodigal monarch. As plenipotentiary, he took a great part in the congress at Sistova. He afterwards effected the interview with lord Elgin, at Pilnitz. After the king's death, he was dismissed, and died at his country-seat, in the neighborhood of Berlin, 1803. His views, as a statesman and a man, were very limited. His propensity to mysticism had consequences in the highest degree injurious. B. belonged to the society of the Illuminati.

BISHOP, in the New Testament, is the instructer and spiritual superior of a Christian congregation. The bishops who were installed by the apostles themselves, or,

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according to the apostolic idea of the office, chosen by the congregations, were the assistants and successors of the apostles in their labors for the propagation of Christianity. They had the supervision of the whole congregation, and its officers. the presbyters and deacons, but without claiming, in the first century, any preëminence or rights of diocesans, which they afterwards acquired, as the church-government was gradually established. When the system of ecclesiastical rule was matured, the almost absolute authority which they exercised over the clergy of their dioceses; their interference in the secular concerns of governments, to which they soon rendered themselves necessary, by their superior information and their elevated rank; the administration of the church-revenues; the maintenance of their ecclesiastical prerogatives, and their extensive ecclesiastical as well as criminal jurisdiction, occupied them too much to leave them any time or inclination for the discharge of their duties as teachers and spiritual fathers. They therefore reserved to themselves only the most important functions of their spiritual office, as the ordination of the clergy, the confirmation of youth, and the preparation of the holy oil. In the middle ages, they attached to themselves particular vicars, called suffragans, bishops in partibus, or coadjutors, for the performance even of these functions, which they had reserved to themselves, and for the inspection of all that concerned the church. Bishops who have preached themselves, and attended to the spiritual welfare of their congregations, have been rare since the seventh century. The episcopal office being such as we have described it, the nobility, and even the sons of princes and kings; strove to obtain a dignity which was as honorable as it was profitable; and which, moreover, permitted festivals and sensual enjoyments of every description. These applications, which were aided by rich donations made to the churches, and, in the case of the German bishops, by the influence of the emperor, gave to the bishops of Germany, particularly, a high degree of dignity. The German pishops became princes of the empire, and their influence upon all public affairs was important. The reformation, however, lessened their number, and although, in some of the Protestant countries of the north of Europe, the higher clergy have retained the title of bishop, yet they have lost the greater part of their former revenues and privileges. The Swedish bishops constitute one of

the estates of the kingdom, like the English, but have little influence. The English church has left to its bishops more authority than the rest, and, for this reason, has received the name of the episcopal. In Protestant Germany, bishoprics were abolished by the reformation, but they have been restored, in Prussia, within the last 10 years. The church of Rome early lost many bishoprics by the conquests of the Mohammedans; hence the great number of titular bishops, whose bishoprics lie in partibus infidelium, that is, in countries in possession of the infidels. The Roman see, however, honors with this title only ecclesiastics of a high rank. In consequence of the cession of several German countries to France, 23 bishoprics were abolished; but, by particular agreements with the Roman court, they have been reëstablished in several German states. (See Concordat, and German Church.) The former subjects of the German bishops remember their mild government with gratitude, and the proverb "It is good to dwell under the crosier" proves that the episcopal power was not prejudicial to the prosperity and happiness of those subject to it. (See Clergy, and Church of England.)

BISHOP'S HOOD. (See Mitre.) BISHOP'S STAFF. (See Crosier.) BISMARK, Frederic William, count; general of cavalry in the service of the king of Würtemberg, and, since July 1825, his ambassador in Dresden, Berlin, Hanover; born at Windheim, in Westphalia, in 1783. He is distinguished as a writer on cavalry, and also as a practical officer. He was esteemed by Napoleon. The reigning king of Würtemberg, on his accession to the throne, purposing an entirely new organization of his army, committed to count B. that of the cavalry. Here he established a new system. It must be confessed that the Würtemberg cavalry acquired, from his rules, much facility in manoeuvring. The objections which have been made against his system are refuted by the practical demonstration which B. has given of its utility in his regiment. His views on cavalry are explained at large in his Vorlesungen über die Taktik der Reiterei (Lectures on Cavalry Tactics), 1818, which is considered a standard work, and has been translated into French. Of his Felddienstinstruction für Schützen und Reiter (Instruction in the Field-service of Riflemen and Cavalry), four editions have been published within the space of two years. He has published, also, several other military works.

It

BISMUTH is a metal called, by artists, tin glass, a name obviously derived from the French étain de glace. It is found both pure and mineralized by sulphur, oxygen and arsenic.-Native bismuth occurs in the veins of primitive mountains, and is accompanied by ores of lead, silver, and sometimes of cobalt and nickel. It exists in reticulated, lamellar, or amorphous masses; is soft, and of a white color, occasionally tinged with red. Specific gravity, 9. It is found in many countries,-in France, England, Sweden, Bohemia and the U. States, but its chief locality is at Schneeberg, in Saxony, from whence the supply of bismuth, in commerce, is principally derived. To procure the metal, the ore requires merely to be reduced to convenient fragments, and heated in furnaces, when the bismuth separates from the earthy matter in which it is engaged, and flows out into cast-iron moulds prepared for its reception.-Bismuth, when pure, has a reddish-white color, is harder than lead, and is easily broken under the hammer, by which it may even be reduced to powder. melts at 470° or 480°, and crystallizes, on cooling, with great regularity, in the form of cubes. When kept in a state of fusion, at a moderate heat, it is covered with an oxyde of a greenish-gray or brown color; at a higher temperature, it enters into a feeble combustion, forming a yellow powder, called flowers of bismuth.—It combines, by fusion, with a great number of metals, communicating to them brittleness and fusibility. The mixture discovered by Newton, and produced by melting together 8 oz. bismuth, 5 oz. lead and 3 oz. tin, fuses at 202°. From it are made toy spoons, which melt on being employed to stir very hot tea. A still more fusible compound was invented by Mr. Dalton, composed of 3 parts tin, 5 lead and 103 bismuth, which melts at 1970. The addition of a little mercury renders it even more fusible, and fits it to be used as a coating to the inside of glass globes. An alloy of equal parts of tin and bismuth melts at 280°; a less proportion of bismuth adds to the hardness of tin, and hence its use in the formation of pewter. Equal parts of tin, bismuth and mercury form the mosaic gold, used for various ornamental purposes. 1 part of bismuth, with 5 of lead and 3 of tin, forms plumbers' solder, a compound of great importance in the arts. Bismuth is also used by letter-founders in their best type-metal, to obtain a sharp and clear face for their letters. Bismuth combines

with sulphur, and forms a bluish-gray sulphuret, having a metallic lustre. The same compound is found native in small quantity, and is called, in mineralogy, bismuth glance.-Nitric acid dissolves bismuth with great readiness. The solution is decomposed on the addition of water, and a white substance, called magestens of bismuth, is precipitated, which consists of a hydrated oxyde, united to a small proportion of nitric acid. This precipitation, by the addition of water, being a peculiarity of bismuth, serves as an excelÏent criterion of this metal. The magestens of bismuth, from its whiteness, is sometimes employed to improve the complexion, as well as the pearl powder, a similar preparation, differing only by the mixture of a little muriatic acid with the nitric acid in effecting the solution of the bismuth. The liberal use of either, however, is highly prejudicial to the skin. They are, besides, liable to be turned black by the vapors evolved from nearly all putrefying substances.-The chloride of bismuth, formerly termed butter of bismuth, is formed by pouring bismuth, in fine powder, into chlorine gas, or by depriving the muriate of bismuth of its water of crystallization by heat.

BISON (bos Americanus, Gmel.); a species of ox found only in North America, peculiarly distinguished by a great hump or projection over its fore shoulders, and by the length and fineness of its woolly hair. The hump is oblong, diminishing in height posteriorly, and gives a considerable obliquity to the outline of the back. The hair over the head, neck and fore part of the body is long and shaggy, forming a beard beneath the lower jaw, and descending below the knee (wrist) in a tuft. The hair on the summit of the head rises in a dense mass nearly to the tips of the horns, and, directly on the front, is curled and matted strongly. The numbers of this species still existing are surprisingly great, when we consider the immense destruction annually occurring since European weapons have been employed against them. They were once extensively diffused over what is now the territory of the U. States, except that part lying east of Hudson's river and lake Champlain, and narrow strips of coast on the Atlantic and Pacific. At the present day, their range is very different. They are no longer found except in the remote, unsettled regions of the north and west, being rarely seen east of the Mississippi or south of the St. Lawrence. West of lake Winnipeg, they are found as far

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north as 62°; west of the Rocky mountains, it is probable they do not extend north of the Columbia river. The bison, on his native plains, is of savage and formidable appearance, uniformly inspiring dread when beheld for the first time. His ponderous head, rendered terrific by its thick, shaggy hair and streaming beard, is supported upon a massive neck and shoulders, whose apparent strength is more imposing from the augmentation produced by the hump and the long fell of hair covering the anterior parts of the body. Nevertheless, the bison is not known to attack man, unless when wounded and at bay. The difference between the summer and winter dress of the bison consists rather in the length than in other qualities of the hair. In summer, from the shoulders backwards, the surface is covered with a very short, fine hair, smooth and soft as velvet. The tail is short, and tufted at the end. Except the long hair on the fore parts, which are, to a certain extent, of a rust color, or yellowish tinge, the color is a uniform dun. Varieties of color are so rare among this species, that the hunters and Indians always regard them as matters of special wonder.-The bison bull is poor, and his flesh disagreeable in the months of August and September. They are much more easily approached and killed than the cows, not being so vigilant, though the cows are preferred both on account of their finer skins and more tender flesh. The cow is much less than the bull, and has not so much of the long hair on the shoulders, &c.; her horns are not so large, nor so much covered by the hair. The sexual season begins towards the end of July, and lasts till near the beginning of September; after this time, the cows separate from the bulls in distinct herds. They calve in April; the calves seldom leave the mother until a year old; cows are sometimes seen with calves of three seasons following them.Bison beef is rather coarser grained than that of the domestic ox, but is considered by hunters and travellers as superior in tenderness and flavor. The hump, which is highly celebrated for its richness and delicacy, is said, when properly cooked, to resemble marrow. The Indian method of preparing this delicacy is the following:-The hump is cut off the shoulders, the bones removed, and a piece of skin is sewed over the denuded part. The hair is then singed off, and the whole is now ready for the oven. This is a hole in the earth, in and over which a fire has been