BIOT-BIRCH.

BIRCH (Betula), a genus of plants of the natural order Amentacea (q. v.), sub-order Betulineæ, the natural order Betulaceae of some botanists. In this order, or sub-order--which contains only the two genera, Birch and Alder (q.v.)-the flowers have merely small scales for their perianth; the ovary is two-celled, but the fruit-a small achenium (q. v.)— is by abortion one-celled; the fruits and scales united form a sort of cone; and the leaves have stipules

physicist and astronomer, was born at Paris 21st surrounded by a strong wall flanked with towers; April 1774. He at first entered the artillery, but its streets are narrow, but clean; it has several forsook the service for science; and in 1800 became mosques with tall minarets, a caravansary, a bazaar, Professor of Physics in the Collége de France. and a ruined citadel and castle. Travellers and He was made a member of the Institute in 1803; caravans from Aleppo to Diarbekir, Bagdad, Persia, and in 1804, it was solely through him that the &c., cross the Euphrates at this point. From B. Institute voted against making Napoleon emperor. Colonel Chesney proposed to navigate the Euphrates Along with Arago, he was made a member of the by small steamers to its mouth in the Persian Bureau of Longitude, and (1806) sent to Spain to Gulf, a distance of 1143 miles. B., which signifies carry out the measuring of a degree of the meridian,well,' is also the prefix of several other small preparatory to the introduction of the present French towns in Arabia. system of weights and measures. On his return, he devoted himself to physical researches and to lecturing. In 1815, the Royal Society of London elected him one of their 50 foreign members. In 1817, he visited England, and went as far north as the Shetland Islands, in order to make observations along the line of the English arc of meridian, which had been extended by Colonel Mudge. His most valuable contributions to science are on the polarisation of light; and his researches connected with ancient astronomy are also very valuable. Of his numerous writings may be mentioned Traité Elémentaire d'Astronomie Physique, 3 vols. (Paris, 1805); 3d ed., considerably augmented (1850), 6 vols., with vol. of plates-translated into English. Traité de Physique, 4 vols. (1816); Précise de Physique, an abridgment of the former in 2 vols. (1817), often republished; Recueil d'Observations Géodésiques, &c. (1821). B. also contributed many excellent biographies of scientific men to the Biographie Universelle. Among the most important of his later works are Recherches sur l'ancienne Astronomie Chinoise (1840); Mémoire sur la Constitution de Atmosphere Terrestre, in the Connaissance des Temps (1841); and Etudes sur l'Astronomie Indienne (1862). In 1849, B. was made a commander of the Legion of Honour, and he was also a member of most of the learned societies in Europe. He died Feb. 3, 1862.

BIOT, EDUARD CONSTANT, son of the former, a distinguished Chinese scholar, was born at Paris 2d July 1803. He was one of the first to promote the introduction of railways in France; but his health failing, he retired from the public service, and devoted his leisure to the study of Chinese, and the history of the social organisation of the Celestial Empire. He died March 1850. He wrote a Dictionnaire des Villes, &c., de l'Empire Chinois (1842), and a multitude of Mémoires on Chinese subjects of scientific and social interest, printed in the Journal Asiatique, &c. His interesting work, De l'Abolition de l'Esclavage Ancienne en Occident (1840), was awarded a gold medal by the Institute.

BI'PED (Lat.), two-footed, a term sometimes applied, as descriptive, to man, more frequently to birds, and which scarcely admits of application to any other animal except a very few species of reptiles, some of which are batrachian (see BATRACHIA and SYREN), and some saurian (see SAURIA). The two-footed saurians may be regarded as forming a link between that order and serpents, the two-footed batrachians as connecting batrachians with fishes, other characters of resemblance being in both instances associated with this.

BIPENNIS, a double-headed axe, the weapon which, according to ancient historians and artists, particularly distinguished those fabulous female warriors, the Amazons.

BIQUADRA'TIC. See EQUATIONS.

BIR (ancient Birtha, Turkish Birch-jik), a town of from 1800 to 2000 houses of Asiatic Turkey, in the pashalic of Diarbekir. It is situated on the east bank of the Euphrates, in lat. 37° 3′ N., long. 38° E., on a steep hill above the river, the passage of which is here commanded by a castle. B. is

Common Birch (Betula alba).

which soon fall off. They are all trees or shrubs, natives of temperate and cold regions.-The genus Betula is distinguished by 10-12 stamens, and winged achenia.-The COMMON B. (Betula alba) has small ovato-triangular doubly serrated leaves. It is a very beautiful forest-tree, abounding in the North of Europe and of Asia, often forming large groves by itself. In the south of Europe, it is found only upon mountains of considerable elevation. It is a tree of rapid growth. In favourable situations, it attains the height of 60 or even 70 feet, with a diameter of 1 or 2 feet; whilst on the northern, or utmost alpine limits of vegetation, it only appears as a stunted bush.

The bark is smooth and silvery white, and its outermost layers are thrown off as the tree advances in age. The smaller branches are very slender and flexible, and in a particularly graceful variety called the WEEPING B. (B. pendula of some botanists), they are still more slender, elongated, and pendulous. Some of the finest Weeping Birches in Britain stand on the banks of the river Findhorn, near Forres, in Morayshire; they are 60 feet high, and exhibit pendent masses of spray 10 feet

BIRCH-PFEIFFER-BIRD-CATCHING SPIDER.

towards the mouth, of a fine white semi-transparent tissue, like muslin, in clefts of trees or hollows among rocks and stones. From this it issues only at night, to prey upon insects, and, it is said, upon humming-birds. It does not construct a net for the capture of its prey, but takes it by hunting, as do other large species of Mygale, natives of the warm parts of America, the East Indies, and Africa. It is probably a species of this genus that Dampier mentions as found in Campeachy, the fangs of which,

black as jet, smooth as glass, and, at their small end as sharp as a thorn,' are said by him to be worn by some persons in their tobacco-pouches, to pick their pipes with; and to be by others used as toothpicks, in the belief of their having power to expel the toothache. The bite of the large species of this genus is said to be dangerous.

It appears that spiders of the genus Epeira feed

BIRD-CHERRY-BIRD OF PARADISE.

upon small birds caught in their webs, which have even been described as in some cases large enough to arrest the flight of a bird the size of a thrush, and to impede the traveller in tropical forests.

BIRD-CHERRY (Padus), a subdivision of the genus Cerasus (see CHERRY), itself very generally regarded as a sub-genus of Prunus (see PLUM). The Bird-cherries are distinguished by racemes of small flowers and deciduous leaves.-The COMMON B. (Prunus or Cerasus Padus), called in Scotland Hagberry, is a tall shrub or small tree, sometimes reaching the height of 40 feet, growing wild in moist woods in Britain, and in most parts of Europe and the north of Asia. Its younger branches are of a very dark or reddish-brown colour. The drupes are small, of a sweetish subacid taste, combined with a degree of what many regard as nauseous bitterness; but to some palates they are not disagreeable. A well-flavoured spirituous liquor is prepared from them in the north of Europe. In Siberia, the juice expressed from the ripe fruit is drunk either alone or mixed with milk, and the remaining mass is kneaded into cakes, and used as food.-Very nearly allied to this species is the VIRGINIAN B. (P. or C. Virginiana), a tree of 80-100 feet in height, found from Tennessee to Upper Canada, and now frequent in Britain as an ornamental tree, although never attaining the size which it does in the United States. The wood is compact, fine-grained, takes a fine polish, and is much used in America by cabinet-makers. The bark is used in the United States as a febrifuge. The fruit is not agreeable; but a cordial is made from it by infusion in spirits with sugar, and, when dried and bruised, it forms an esteemed addition to pemmican (q. v.).

BIRD ISLAND, the north-west island of the Sandwich Archipelago, in lat. 22° 20′ N., and long 160° W. It is, as its name implies, a mere haunt of sea-fowl-the links of the chain increasing pretty regularly in size and elevation from B. I. on the

north-west to Hawaii on the south-east.

BIRD-LIME is a viscid and adhesive substance, which is placed on twigs of trees or wire-netting, for the purpose of catching the birds which may alight thereon. A common practice is to place a decoy or tame bird in a cage near where the B. is spread; the wild birds, attracted to the spot by the song of the tame bird, get entangled with the birdlime. The substance is generally prepared from the middle bark of the holly, misletoe, or distaff-thistle, by chopping up the bark, treating it with water, boiling for several hours, then straining; and lastly, concentrating the liquid by evaporation, when the B. assumes a gelatinous consistence resembling that of moist putty. It mainly consists of a substance named by the chemist viscin. A second mode of preparing B., is to employ ordinary wheat-flour; place it in a piece of cotton cloth; tie up the ends, so as to form a bag; immerse the whole in a basin of water, or allow a stream of water to flow upon it; and repeatedly squeeze the bag and its contents. The result is, that the starch of the wheat-flour is pressed out of the cloth bag, and an adhesive substance named gluten is left on the cloth. This substance resembles that prepared by the previous process in its properties; but the former mode of preparing B. is a much cheaper plan, and is that generally followed.

BIRD OF PA'RADISE, the common name of a family of birds, Paradiseida of ornithologists, found chiefly in New Guinea and neighbouring islands, and remarkable for splendour of plumage. In all other respects, however, they are very closely allied to the crow-family, Corvida (q. v.), to which

they exhibit a great similarity, not only in the characters of the bill, feet, &c., and in general form, but also in their habits, and even in their voice. They have been the subject of many fables. The state in which their skins are usually exported from their native islands, gave rise to the notion that they were destitute of feet; and free scope being allowed to fancy, it became the prevalent belief that they spent their whole lives floating in the air, except when perhaps they suspended themselves for a little by their long tail-filaments from the uppermost branches of trees. As for their food, it was supposed to be either mere dew and vapours, or nectar obtained from the flowers of trees, climbers, and plants growing on the branches of trees, in the high regions of bright sunshine above the shade of the tropical forests. Antony Pigafetta, indeed, who accompanied Magellan in his voyage round the world, described them as having legs, and stated that these were cut off as useless in the preparation of the skins; but his statement was not credited, and Aldrovandus went the length of accusing him of an audacious falsehood. It would seem that the fables concerning the Birds of P. are in part to be ascribed to the desire of the inhabitants of those islands in which they are found to increase the value of their skins as an article of merchandise; and a sort of sacred character being attached to them, they were employed not merely for ornament, but as a charm to secure the life of the wearer against the dangers of battle. The people of Ternate call them Manuco-Dewata, or Birds of God; which name Buffon modified into Manucode. In different languages they are known by names signifying Birds of the Air, Birds of the Sun, &c.

The males alone are birds of splendid plumage, colours nor remarkable development. The plumage that of the females possessing neither brilliancy of of the males is not only characterised by great brightness of tints, but by a glossy velvety appearance, a metallic lustre, and a singularly beautiful play of colours. Tufts of feathers generally grow from the shoulders, and these, in some of the kinds, are prolonged so as to cover the wings; in the species sometimes called the Common B. of P., and sometimes the Great Emerald B. of P. (Paradisea

BIRDE-BIRDS.

been supposed that they may be of use to the creature in enabling it, with less exertion of wing, to float in the air, but this notion is perhaps sufficiently confuted by the total absence of them in the female. -In other species, there are elongated feathers on the back of the neck, which the bird can erect, and even in some measure throw forward at pleasure; and these, in the genus Lophorina, assume a form resembling that of a pair of outspread wings, and rise far above the head. The tail is, in general, not unlike that of a crow in its shape; but in many species there arise, from the rump, at the sides of the tail, two very long feathers, or rather filaments, covered with a sort of velvety down: of these, the Common B. of P. affords an example. In the King B. of P. (Cincinnurus regius), these long tail-filaments terminate in a sort of disk, as the tail-feathers of the peacock do.

from all other classes of animals. To this class belong all animals, except Bats (q. v.) alone, which have an internal skeleton, and are capable of true flight. The anterior extremities of B. serve them only as wings or organs of flight, and never in any degree as arms or legs; those few birds in which the wings are too small to raise the body in the air, generally employ them to aid their swift running upon land, as the ostrich, or for swimming under water, as the great auk and the penguins. The body is covered with feathers (q. v.), and this is one of the characters in which all birds agree, and by which they are distinguished from all other animals. The general form is adapted to motion through the air, and the trunk is compact, and somewhat boat-shaped. The vertebral column possesses little flexibility; indeed, the vertebræ of the back generally become ankylosed or firmly united Birds of P. are, in general, more or less gregari- together by cementing bone, the solidity which is They sometimes pass in flocks from one island thus acquired being of evident use for the support of to another, according to the change of seasons, the ribs, and these also are proportionately stronger Owing to than is usual in quadrupeds; each of them is profrom the dry to the wet monsoon. their plumage, they fly more easily against than vided in the middle with a flattened bony process, with the wind, and by high winds they are some-directed obliquely backwards to the next rib, so times thrown to the ground. They are lively and active, and in confinement pert and bold. They bestow great care upon their plumage, and sit always on the perches of the cage, so that no part of it may reach the floor, or get in the It has seldom been found least degree soiled. possible to bring them alive to Europe, and they seem very incapable of enduring any other than a tropical climate. In confinement, they are easily fed on rice, insects, &c. In a wild state, their food consists in great part of the fruit of the teaktree, and of different species of fig, and also of the large butterflies which abound in their native islands.

ous.

that they support one another, whilst instead of being united to the sternum, or breast-bone, by cartilages, as in quadrupeds, they are continued to it in the form of bone; all these things combining to give strength to that part of the body in which it is particularly needed, both in order to the powerful action of the wings, and the perfect freedom of respiration during flight. In those birds, however, which do not fly, the vertebræ of the back retain some power of motion. The hinder part of the vertebral column exhibits a solidity even greater than the anterior part of it, the lumbar vertebræ (q. v.) being consolidated into one piece with the pelvis (q. v.), which furnishes attachment to strong The Papuans kill Birds of P. by shooting them muscles for the support of the trunk upon the legs, with arrows, and employ various other means of and for the motion of these organs. The vertebral The column, however, terminates in a number of small taking them for the sake of their skins. skins are dried in smoke, and fumigated with sul- movable (coccygeal) vertebræ, the flexibility of this phur, to preserve them from insects; and in this part being necessary to the motion of the tail, which way the brilliancy of the colour is impaired, so is itself supported by a short and generally much ever elevated bone, regarded as consisting of ankylosed that the most gorgeous plumes which are seen in Europe are inferior, in this respect, to those vertebræ, called the rump-bone, or, from its peculiar of the living bird. The skin, to which great part form, the ploughshare-bone. of the flesh is allowed to remain attached, is always much contracted by this drying process, and a very erroneous notion is therefore often formed of the size of the bird. The common B. of P. is as large as a jay. It is of a cinnamon colour, the upper part of the head and neck yellow, the front and throat emerald green, the shoulder-tufts yellow. The whole length to the extremity of these is not less than two feet. Another nearly allied species (Paradisea rubra) has these long feathers of a brilliant carmine colour.

BIRDE, WILLIAM, a distinguished ecclesiastical composer, was born about the year 1540, and educated at Edward VI.'s Chapel. In 1563, he was appointed organist in Lincoln Cathedral, and twelve years afterwards organist to Queen Elizabeth. He published numerous compositions exhibiting great musical learning, and contributed many pieces to Queen Elizabeth's Virginal Book; but his fame rests on the canon, Non Nobis Domine, which, amid all changes in musical taste, has retained its popularity, and still continues to challenge admiration.

B. died in 1623.

BIRDS (Aves), the second class of Vertebrated (q. v.) Animals, and the first of oviparous vertebrated animals, including all the oviparous animals which have warm blood. B. exhibit great similarity in their general structure, and are sharply distinguished

In contrast to the general stiffness of the vertebral column in the trunk, it is remarkable for great flexibility in the neck, enabling a bird to make ready use of its bill, or to bring its head into such positions as suit the adjustment of the centre of gravity in flying, standing, &c.

The number of vertebræ in the neck varies from ten to twenty-three, the smallest number being greater than is found in any quadruped. The head, also, is so articulated to the neck, by a single condyle, or pivot, that a bird can turn its head round in a The skull manner impossible to the mammalia. itself is formed of bones corresponding with those of man and quadrupeds; but they can only be distinguished when the bird is very young, soon becoming gated, so as to form the bill, the organ chiefly consolidated together. The jaws are much elonemployed in seizing food, as well as for fighting, instead of a hand for every purpose which bird-life nest-building, dressing or preening the feathers, and requires. The upper mandible of the bill is so connected, however, with the bone of the skull, by elastic plates, that it possesses some power of motion, and any shock which it may receive is much deadened before reaching the skull. The bill affords many of the most important distinctive characters of B., differing very much according to the mode of life of different orders and tribes. See BILL.

The following illustration will serve to indicate

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