If to adore an image be idolatry, To deify a book is bibliolatry. Byron. BIBLISTÆ, or BIBLISTS, an appellation given by Romish writers to those who profess to adhere to Scripture alone as the sole rule of faith, exclusive of all tradition, and the supposed authority of the church. In this sense, all Protestants are, or ought to be, biblists. The word among Christians, answers nearly to caraites or textuaries among the Jews. But it arose more particularly from the doctors being divided, towards the close of the twelfth century, into two classes, viz. the biblici, and the scholastici; the former were called doctors of the sacred page, because they explained the doctrines of Christianity in their manner by the sacred writings; their reputation, however, declined, and the scholastic theology prevailed in all the European universities till the time of Luther.

BIBLUS, ßißλoç, in botany, an aquatic plant in Egypt, called also papyrus, of whose skin the ancient Egyptians made paper. Hence the Greeks gave the denomination of ßßlog to books. BIBRACTE, in ancient geography, a citadel of the Edui, according to Strabo; but Cæsar describes it as a town well fortified, large and populous, and of the greatest authority among that nation Some consider it to be Autun, others, Beurect, or Bevray, four miles northwest of Autun, in the department of the Saone and Loire.

BIBROCI, an ancient people of Britain, who inhabited that part of Berkshire, now called the Hundred of Bray.

BICANERE, a principality in the northwest of Hindostan, the precise dimensions and limits of which are scarcely ascertained. It extends from about 27° 40′ N. lat. to 29° 45′, and from 72° 10′ to 74° 15′ E. long.; and its superficial area probably amounts to about 17,000 square miles. It is bounded on the north by the country of the Batties; on the east by the territories of Hurrianah and Shekhawuttee, in the province of Delhi; on the south-east by Jeypour; on the south-west by Jesselmere; and on the west by Bahawulpoor. This country is, in general, a sandy plain, and water extremely scarce; but, as this circumstance constitutes a means of defence against invaders, it is tolerably well cultivated, and produces camels and sheep. The rajah is of the Rajpoot tribe, tributary to the Jondpore rajah, though his subjects are principally Jauts. Vast tracts are occupied with hills and valleys of loose heavy sand; the former from twenty feet to 100 in height, shifting their position and altering their shape according to the influence of the wind; and, during summer, the moving sand frequently exhibits the phenomenon of the mirage, or threatens to overwhelm the exhausted traveller. But in the midst of arid tracts, the water-melon, a juicy fruit, grows in profusion, attaining the remarkable size of three or four feet in circum

ference. The seeds are sown by the natives, and also grow wild. Water seems to be obtained only at immense depths.

The wild ass, famous for its speed and shyness, is often found here in herds. Antelopes and foxes are also seen in some parts. Of domesticated animals, horses, bullocks, and camels, are in great abundance; especially the last. The population is very scattered and uncertain. The rajah's military force amounts to about 10,000 men.

BICANERE, the capital of the above district, is spacious and well built. It is surrounded by a wall and encompassed by a broad and deep ditch. Long. 73° 30′ E., lat. 28° 55′ N.; from 270 to 280 miles north-west of Delhi.

BICALCARATUS, in zoology, a species of pavo; color, brown; the head slightly crested, and two spurs on each leg. This is pavo Chinensis of Brisson; l'eperonnier of Buffon; petit paon de Malacca of Sonnerat; and iris peacock of Latham.

BICARINATA, in zoology, a species of lacerta, with a tail compressed, and carinated above; and four rows of carinated scales on the back, of a gray color, and is found in South America and India.

BICAUDA, from bis, double, and cauda, tail, in ichthyology, the name of a well tasted fish of the genus of xiphias. It is five feet long, or more, and a foot and a half broad at the breast, tapering gradually towards the tail: covered with a thick and rough skin, brown on the back and sides; and has three short bony prickles. Its belly is white; its fins of a brownish gray, and the back one has several beautiful black spots.

BICAUDALIS, in anatomy, an appellation given by some to a muscle of the external ear, on account of its having two tails; but which is subject to great variety, having sometimes only one, and sometimes three tails; in which cases it is called intricalis and tricaudalis.

BICAUDALIS, in ichthyology, a species of ostracion, of a triangular shape, with two subcaudal spines and ten rays in the dorsal fin.

BICE', n. s. The name of a color used in painting. It is either green or blue.

Take green bice, and order it as you do your blue bice; you may diaper upon it with the water of deep green. Peacham.

BICE, or BISE, in painting, is a color prepared from the lapis armenus. It bears the best body of all bright blues used in common work, as house-painting, &c. but it is the palest in color. It inclines to be a little too sandy, and therefore requires good grinding. Next to ultramarine, which is too dear to be commonly used, it lies best near the eye of all other blues.

BICEPS, the name of several muscles; as the biceps humeri or cubiti, biceps tibiæ, &c. See ANATOMY.

BICESTER, BISSETER, or BURCHESTER, a well built and ancient town of Oxfordshire, on the road between Oxford and Buckingham, about twelve miles from each, and fifty-five from London. It is noted for its good malt-liquor, and its lace. It has a market on Friday, and several sheep fairs. Inhabitants about 2600.

BICHAT (Maria Francis Xavier), a French

in its duties until his death in 1772. He was the author of several learned treatises, among which are, De Latinitate Maccaronicâ; Acta Scholastica, in eight volumes; and Selecta Scholastica, in two; De arte Obliviscendi; De Insolentiâ Titulorum Librariorum; De Religione Eruditorum, &c.

BIDDEFORD, a port of entry, and post town, of the district of Maine, North America, situated in York county, at the mouth of Saco river. It is 105 miles from Boston, and 452 from Philadelphia.

BIDDEFORD, a sea-port and post town of the United States of America, in the province of Maine, containing above 1000 inhabitants, and 105 miles from Boston.

BIDDEFORD, OF BIDEFORD, a market and seaport town of Devonshire, seated on the river Torridge, near its junction with the Taw, over which there is a good stone bridge of twenty-four arches. It is a large and populous place, and carries on a considerable trade, principally to the West Indies and America; it is also engaged in the Newfoundland fisheries. The custom-house is a good building, opposite a noble quay, where ships of large burden may unload. Oak bark is exported here in considerable quantities. Carpet, woollen, and earthenware manufactures are established in the town, and the neighbourhood abounds with fine timber. The church was twice enlarged during the last century, aud here are two respectable dissenting chapels. It is governed by a mayor, recorder, seven aldermen, and ten capital burgesses, who, in the reign of Edward I, and II., sent two members to parliament; but the poverty of the place shortly after induced the inhabitants to decline this burden. The market is on Tuesday, and well supplied with corn, cattle, and provisions. It is thirty miles north of Exeter, and 201 west from London. BIDDING is also used for proclaiming or notifying. In this sense we meet with bidding of the bands, the same with what is otherwise called asking.

BIDDING, or OFFERING, denotes the rising price of a thing at a sale or auction. The French call it encherir. It answers to what the Romans call licitari; they used to bid by holding up the hand or finger.

BIDDING OF THE BEADS. See BEADS. BIDDING PRAYER. It was a part of the office of the deacons in the primitive Christian church, to be monitors and directors of the people in their public devotions. To this end they used certain forms of words, to give notice when each part of the service began. This was called by the Greeks KnPUTTEL, and by the Latins prædicare: which therefore do not ordinarily signify to preach, as some suppose, but to perform the office of a crier (novž, or præco) in the assembly: whence Synesius and others call the deacons LEPOKOUKLE, the holy criers of the church, appointed to bid or exhort the congregation to pray and join in the several parts of the service of the church. Agreeably to this ancient practice is the form, Let us pray, repeated before several of the prayers in the English liturgy.

BIDDLE (John), one of the most eminent writers among the English Socinians, was born

at Wotton-under-Edge in Gloucestershire, and educated in the free school of that place. He was here particularly noticed by George Lord Berkeley, who allowed him an exhibition of £10 a year. While at school he made a translation of Virgil's Bucolics, and of the first two Satires of Juvenal. At thirteen he was sent to Oxford, and entered a student in Magdalen-hall. In 1641 the magistrates of Gloucester chose him master of the free school there, and where he was much esteemed; but contracting some opinions concerning the Trinity different from those commonly received, and expressing his thoughts with freedom, he suffered various persecutions and imprisonments in the time of the Commonwealth. During one of these confinements, which lasted for several years, being reduced to great indigence, he was employed by Roger Daniel of London, to correct the impression of the Greek Septuagint Bible, which that printer was about to publish. In 1651 the parliament published a general act of oblivion, which restored him to liberty. He was however afterwards imprisoned on account of his tenets; and the Protector, in October, 1655, seems to have doomed him to he confined for life in St. Mary's castle, in the Isle of Scilly. Soon after, he was allowed 100 crowns a year for subsistence. But in 1658 he was again at liberty. After the Restoration, he was fined £100 for preaching, and each of his hearers £20, or to lie in prison till the fines were paid; which being put in execution, Biddle contracted a jail distemper, of which he died 22d Sept. 1662, in the forty-seventh year of his age. His life was published in Latin in 1682, by Mr. Farrington, who represents him as possessed of extraordinary piety, charity, and humility. He would not discourse, we are told, of those points, in which he differed from others, with those that did not appear religious according to their knowledge; and was a strict observer himself, and a severe exacter in others, of reverence in speaking of God and Christ. He had so happy a memory, that he retained word for word nearly the whole New Testament, not only in English, but in Greek.

BIDE, Sax. bidan. To endure; to sufBI'DING. fer commonly to abide; to dwell; to live; to inhabit; to remain in a place; to continue in a state. It has probably all the significations of the word abide.

Certes your strife were easie to accord, Would ye remit it to some righteous man, Unto yourselfe, said they! We give our word To bide what judgment ye shall us afford. Spenser. And they also, if they bide not still in unbelief, Romans, xi. 23.

shall be grafted in.

Safe in a ditch he bides, With twenty trenched gashes on his head, The least a death to nature.

Shakspeare, Macbeth. Who of all ages to succeed, but feeling The evil on him brought by me, will curse My head? Ill fare our ancestor impure, For this we may thank Adam; but his thanks Shall be the execration; so besides Mine own that bide upon me, all from me Shall with a fearful flux on me redound; On me as on their natural centre light, Heavy though in their place.

Milton.

The wary Dutch this gathering storm foresaw, And durst not bide it on the English coast. Dryden. BIDENS, in botany, water hemp-agrimony: a genus of the polygamia æqualis order, and syngenesia class of plants; ranking in the natural method under the forty-ninth order, compositæ oppositifolia. The receptacle is paleaceous; the pappus with erect scabrous awns; and the calyx imbricated. Of this genus Linnæus enumerates thirteen species, none of which appear to merit much notice, except the tripartita, found by the sides of rivulets, ditches, and lakes, both in Scotland and England. It grows to the height of two feet, and has its leaves divided into three or often five, lanceolate serrated lobes, with yellow flowers. A decoction of it with alum, dyes yarn of a yellow color. The seeds have been known sometimes to destroy the cyprinus auratus, or gold fish, by adhering to their gills and jaws.

BIDENS, in conchology, a species of mytilus, dentated and slightly curved, having the posterior margin inflected, and the hinge bidentated. A native of the Mediterranean and Atlantic. Also a species of nerita, smooth, and inner lip bidentated. This shell is black, reddish, or sometimes yellow, clouded with whitish, with three

black bands.

BIDENTALES, in Roman antiquity, priests instituted to perform certain ceremonies when thunder fell on any place. Their office was the sacrificing a sheep of two years old, which in Latin is called bidens; whence the place struck with thunder obtained its name of bidental.

BIDENTATA, in entomology, a species of apis inhabiting America. The abdomen is brown, with five whitish belts; vent bidentated. Also a species of phalana noctua. A native of Europe; wings brown; a bidentated streak in the middle. Also a species of chrysis, a native of Europe. Color shining blue; thorax armed with two teeth, and at the vent also are three short teeth.

BIDENTATUS, a species of bostrichus; color black and testaceous, and armed at the extremity with two hooked spines. Also a species of cryptocephalus crioceris. A native of Africa. Also a species of cerambyx found in South America. The thorax spinous; wing-cases bidentated and brown. Also a species of ich

neumon that inhabits Europe. Color black, and on the thorax are two teeth. Also a species of cimex spinosus, found only in France. Color brown; thorax armed with two teeth on the anterior part beneath.

BIDENTES, in middle age writers, denotes two-yearlings, or sheep of the second year. The wool of these bidentes, or two-years-old sheep, being the first shearing, was sometimes claimed as a heriot to the king, on the death of an abbot. Among the ancient Romans, the word was extended further to any sorts of beasts used for victims, especially those of that age; whence we meet with sues bidentes.

BIDET, a nag or little horse, formerly allowed each trooper and dragoon, for his baggage, &c It has lately been applied to a convenient washing basin, across which the operator sits.

BIDIEI, an order of magistrates at Sparta, five in number, whose business was to superintend the ephebi, and be present at their exercises, wrestlings, &c.

BIDI-BIDI, in zoology, a name of the rallus Tamaicensis of Latham.

BIDIS, in ancient geography, a small city of Sicily, near Syracuse, whose ruins are still seen about fifteen miles to the south-west, with a church called S. Giovanni di Bidini.

BIDLAKE (Dr. John), was born in 1755 at Plymouth, and brought up at the grammarschool there, of which, having completed his education at Christ Church, Oxford, he was afterwards the high master. Three years before his death, he was seized with an epileptic fit in the pulpit, while delivering the Bampton lecture at St. Mary's, which terminated in the total loss of sight. In addition to the lecture above mentioned, he published an Introduction to Geogra phy, 12mo.; The Sea; The Country Parson; The Summer Eve; The Year; and Youth; poems, separately printed in octavo, &c.

BIDLOO (Godfrey), author of several treatises in anatomy, was born at Amsterdam, March 12th, 1649. In 1688 he was professor of anatomy at the Hague, and in 1694 at Leyden, when king William III. of England appointed him his physician; which he held with his professorship. He published in Latin, 1. The Anatomy of the Human Body, demonstrated in 105 cuts, explained by the Discoveries of the Ancient and Modern Writers. 2. An Oration upon the Antiquity of Anatomy. 3. A Letter to Anthony Leuwenhoeck on the Animals sometimes found in the Livers of Sheep, &c. 4. Two Decades of Dissertations in Anatomy and Chirurgery; and other pieces. He died at Leyden in April, 1713.

BIDON, a liquid measure, containing about five pints of Paris, that is, about five quarts English wine measure. It is seldom used but among ships' crews.

BIDREAP, an old feudal service, by which a tenant was obliged to reap his landlord's corn.

BIE (Adrian de), an eminent painter, wa born at Liere in 1594. After learning the rudiments of the art from different masters, he travelled to Rome, where he spent six years in studying the best masters. His industry was then rewarded with proportionable success; for he found encouragement among the most honorable