BHEL-BIALYSTOK. water, an irreclaimable desert either of hard dry clay, or of loose shifting sands. Besides beasts of chase, such as tigers, boars, &c., B. abounds in domestic animals, such as camels, kine, buffaloes, goats, and broad-tailed sheep. In few parts of the world are provisions finer or cheaper. The principal exports are cotton, sugar, indigo, hides, drugs, dye-stuffs, wool, ghee or butter, and provisions in general. The principal imports are the wares of Britain and India. The khan and a great majority of his subjects are Mohammedans. But Hindus are treated with much toleration. The annual revenue is about 1,500,000 rupees, or about £150,000. BHEL, or BAEL. See AEGLE. BHOOJ, the capital of Cutch, in India, situated at the foot of a fortified hill of the same name, where a temple has been erected to the cobra da capella, in lat. 23° 15′ N., and long. 69° 44′ E, about 35 miles from the sea. It contains about 20,000 inhabitants. Its mosques and pagodas, interspersed with plantations of dates, give to the town an imposing appearance from a distance. In 1819 it suffered severely from an earthquake. It is celebrated over India for its manufactures in gold and silver. BHOPAL, the capital of the territory of the same name, in India, lies in lat. 23° 14' N., and long. 77° 33′ E. It is surrounded by a dilapidated stone-wall of about two miles in circuit. The fort, which is the residence of the nawab, stands on a huge rock outside the town. B. is worthy of notice mainly in connection with two immense tanks in the immediate neighbourhood-one of them being 2 miles in length, and the other measuring 4 miles by 14. As each sends forth a river, they have most probably been formed by the embanking and damming up of their respective streams.-The territory of B. is a protected state, under the immediate superintendence of the governor-general. It is situated within the basins of the Ganges and Nerbudda, in lat. 22° 32-23° 46′ N., and long. 76° 25′—78° 50′ E.; its area being estimated at 6764 square miles, and its population, on an assumed average for Central India, at 662,872. Though the vast mass of the people are Hindus, yet the government is Mohammedan, and is understood to be more popular in its character than any other in India. oligarchy. The Dherma Rajah, the nominal head, is treated rather as a god than as a sovereign; while the Deb Rajah, the actual head, is controlled in almost everything by a council of eight. Polyandry and polygamy equally conspire to keep down the numbers of the population. state of the same name in India, is a large town, BHURTPO'RE, the capital of the protected measuring about eight miles in circuit, and containing, it is said, about 100,000 inhabitants, in lat. 27° 12' N., and long. 77° 33' E. It is worthy of 1805 and 1825. The strength of the place lay in a notice chiefly on account of its two sieges in mud-wall, which was practically shot-proof, and a surrounding ditch, which might at any time be filled with water from a neighbouring lake. On the first occasion, Lord Lake's assaults were all baffled by this trench thus flooded. On the second occasion, however, Lord Combermere, having arrived in time to cut off the communications of the garrison with the lake above mentioned, overcame his principal difficulty; but even then the mud-wall would yield only to mining.-2. The protected state of B. is situated in lat. 26° 48'-27° 50′ N., and in long. 76° 54'-77° 49′ E.-its area being estimated at 1978 square miles. The population has been assumed to average 300 to a square mile, giving a total of about 600,000. The country suffers from want of water, having only three perennial streams, of which two, however, are mere rills in the dry season; and yet, in many parts, the soil is rendered highly productive by means of irrigation. The principal crops are grain, cotton, and sugar. In the height of summer, the climate has been compared to the extreme glow of an iron-foundry, the thermometer having been known to stand at 130° F. in the shade. The rajah's revenue is stated at £170,000 a year; and his military force is said to amount to 5400 men of all arms. BIA'FRA, BIGHT OF, a large bay of the Atlantic Ocean, on the west coast of Africa, at the head of the Gulf of Guinea, between Cape Formosa (which divides it from the Bight of Benin) on the north, and Cape Lopez on the south. Its extreme width between these two points is nearly 600 miles, its depth, to the mouth of the Old Calabar River, about 250 miles. The northern shores of the Bight, comprehended under the general name of the Calabar coast, and the eastern coast, south of Cape St John, are low and flat. Near Old Calabar, the country becomes hilly, and opposite Fernando Po, it rises into The principal the lofty range of the Cameroons. rivers flowing into the Bight are the Niger, or Quorra, the New and Old Calabar Rivers, the Rio del Rey, the Cameroon, and the Gaboon. The lined with dense thickets of mangrove, which somecreeks and estuaries of the rivers are generally times grow in the water, their lower branches covered with oysters. In the Bight of B. are the three islands of Fernando Po, St Thomas, and Prince's Island. BHOTA'N, or BOO'TAN, a territory in the north-east of India, said to be partly dependent on Tibet, in lat. 26° 18′-28° 2′ N., and long. 88° 32′ -92° 30′ E., being bounded on the N. by the main ridge of the Himalaya, on the E. by Assam, on the S. by Bengal, and on the W. by Sikkim. With an area of 64,500 square miles-more than equal to that of England and Wales-it is said to contain only 1,500,000 inhabitants. The whole surface may be described as mountainous, with a gradual slope from north to south. Generally speaking, the middle ranges are the most productive. While the south presents but a scanty vegetation, and the north rises far above the limit of perpetual snow, the central regions, at an elevation of 8000 or 10,000 feet above the sea, are covered with the finest forests of oak and pine. Nearly all sorts of BIALYSTOK, a fortified town of Western Rusgrain-wheat, barley, rice, maize, and buckwheat—sia, in the government of Grodno. It is situated on are here and there cultivated on favourable spots; but much grain is still imported from Bengal, being obtained, as well as sugar and tobacco, in return for native cloths, rock-salt, rhubarb, Tibet goods, mules, and ponies. The religion is Buddhism, the monastic endowments of its priests absorbing a large part of the national property. The government, almost purely ecclesiastical, is in the hands of an The chief European stations on the coast are Duke Town, in Old Calabar, where there is a flourishing missionary station, and Naango, or George's Town, a small commercial town on the estuary of the Gaboon. the Bialy, an affluent of the Narew, 45 miles southwest of Grodno, in lat. 53° 8' N., long. 23° 18′ E. B. is well built; lime-trees border several of the streets, and give it a very pleasant aspect. It has a palace and park, now belonging to the municipality, but formerly belonging to the Counts of Braniski, and called the Versailles of Poland,' a commodious market, and several churches. It has manufactures BIANCAVILLA-BIBLE. of woollens, hats, leather, soap, tallow, &c. 11,467. Pop. BIANCAVI'LLA, a town of Sicily, in the province of, and about 14 miles north-west of the city of Catania. It is about 10 miles distant from Mount Etna, on the south-west declivity of which mountain it is situated. It has a trade in grain, cotton, and silk. Pop. about 6000. BIANCHINI, FRANCESCO, celebrated for his antiquarian and astronomical investigations, was born December 13, 1662, at Verona, where he received his early education in the Jesuits' College. At Padua he studied theology, mathematics, and above all, botany; and then proceeded to Rome, where he became intimate with the most distinguished savans of the day, and devoted himself to the study of jurisprudence and foreign languages. Alexander VIII. bestowed upon him a rich benefice, and Clement XI. appointed him secretary to the commission for reforming the calendar. B. was employed to draw a meridian line in the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli, in Rome, which he successfully accomplished. After travelling through France, Holland, and England, he returned to Italy, with the design of drawing a meridian line from the Adriatic to the Mediterranean like that drawn by Cassini across France. The operations connected with this project occupied him eight years; but a variety of other labours, as well as want of means, prevented its completion. Besides several memoirs and dissertations on antiquarian and astronomical subjects, we may mention his Istoria Universale Provata coi Monumenti e Figurata coi Simboli degli Antichi (Rome, 1694), and his fine edition of the work of Anastasius, De Vitis Romanorum Pontificum, which was completed by his nephew Giuseppe B. (4 vols., Rome, 1718-1734). B. died in March 1729, and a monument was erected to his memory in the cathedral of Verona. BIARD, AUGUSTE FRANÇOIS, a French painter, known in almost every department of his art, but chiefly distinguished for his animated and often comical representations of ordinary life and manners (peinture de genre). B.'s merits, and the school to which he belongs, will be sufficiently understood when we mention that his countrymen have styled him the Paul de Kock of painting! He was born at Lyon in 1800, and was at first destined for the church; but subsequently educated at the School of Art of his native city. He travelled in early life in Malta, Cyprus, Syria, and Egypt, where he made sketches, and stored his memory with images which he used in after-years. In 1839, he visited Greenland and Spitzbergen, and of this journey one of the fruits was his famous picture of a battle with polar bears. The first picture which gained him distinction was his 'Babes in the Wood' (1828); and one of his best is the "Beggar's Family,' exhibited in 1836; both of which pictures were purchased by the town of Lyon. Many other continental galleries possess examples of B.'s pictures, and in England they have always been much sought after. BIARRITZ, a maritime village of France, in the department of the Basses-Pyrénées, about 5 miles south-west of Bayonne. The French emperor and empress, attracted by its pleasant situation and salubrity, have, within recent years, made it a summer residence; and the presence of the court has of course tended to increase greatly the fame of its baths and singular grottoes. Pop. 1928. BI'AS, one of the seven sages of Greece, lived in | the time of the Lydian king, Alyattes, and his son, Croesus, about 570 B. C. He was generally employed as a political and legal adviser in difficult questions. At the overthrow of Croesus, when the Ionians BIB, POUT, or WHITING POUT (Gadus luscus or Morrhua lusca), a fish of the same genus with the Cod (q. v.) and Haddock (q. v.), pretty common on many parts of the British coasts, found also on those of Norway, Sweden, Greenland, &c. It is seldom more than a foot long, but remarkably differs from all other British fishes of the same family (Gadida, q. v.) in the great depth of its body, which equals at least one-fourth of the entire length. The back is arched, and the nape exhibits a rather sharp ridge. The eyes and other parts of the head are invested with a singular loose membrane, which the fish can inflate at pleasure. There is a dark spot at the origin of each of the pectoral fins, as in the Whiting (q. v.). The names Bib and Pout, both originally local English names, were at one time supposed to belong to distinct species (called G. lusca and G. barbata), but it appears now to be pretty certain that these are really one. In Scotland, this fish is generally called Brassy. It is well known in the London market, is in best condition in November and December, and is much esteemed for the table. BI’BERACH, a town of Würtemberg, in the circle of the Danube. It is situated on the Reiss, in the charming valley of the same name, about 23 miles south-south-west of Ulm; and is surrounded by a ditch and by walls flanked with towers. It has manufactures of paper, linen, and fustians, leather, children's toys, &c. Pop. about 5000. In October 1796, Moreau won a great victory over the Austrian general Latour at B., the latter losing 4000 prisoners and 18 pieces of cannon. also, in 1800, Moreau again defeated the Austrian general Kray. B. fell into the possession of Baden in 1802, but four years afterwards, was ceded to Würtemberg. Wieland the poet was born in the immediate vicinity. Here BI'BERICH, a village in the duchy of Nassau, on the right bank of the Rhine, and about 4 miles south from Wiesbaden, is noted for its splendid palace. The views of the river-scenery from B. are unrivalled. Pop., including Mosbach, about 3000. BI'BIRI, BI'BIRI BARK, AND BI'BIRINE. See GREENHEART. BIBLE (Gr. Ta Biblia, 'The Books '-see Book) is the name given by Chrysostom in the 4th c. to that collection of sacred writings recognised by Christians as the documents of their divinely revealed religion. Both as regards language and contents, they are divided into two parts the Old and New Testament, or rather, the Old and New Covenant; for the word testamentum is only a translation into the later Latinity of the 2d c. of the Greek diatheke, 'covenant.' The history of the Old Testament is connected with that of the New by a series of writings not received by Protestants as canonical, and collectively styled the Apocrypha (q. v.). The OLD TESTAMENT is a collection of 39 books, written partly in the Hebrew, and partly in the Chaldaic language, and containing all the remains |