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published at the same time as vol. 5, and in which the same care has been taken to make the work correspond with the most recent investigations of hieroglyphic scholars. It was by the particular desire of Bunsen, as expressed on his death-bed, that B. undertook the revision of his work on Egypt. B. became universally recognized as the foremost Egyptologist in Gt. Britain. In 1844, upon the retirement of Mr. Barnewell from the office of assistant-keeper in the department of antiquities, B. was appointed his successor. In 1861, upon the retirement of Mr. Hawkins from the post of keeper of the antiquities, that department was divided into three separate and independent departments, viz., the department of oriental, mediæval, and British antiquities, and ethnography; the department of Greek and Roman antiquities; and the department of coins and medals. B. was appointed keeper of the first-named collections; but afterwards, a fourth department was constituted out of these collections, viz., that of British and medieval antiquities and ethnography, so that B. became the keeper only of the Egyptian and oriental antiquities. In 1862, B. received the honorary degree of LL.D. from the university of St. Andrews and from Cambridge in 1874, in which year B. was president of the great London congress of orientalists. B. was a corresponding member of the Institute of France (académie des inscriptions et des belles-lettres); also of the academy of Berlin, of the academy of Herculaneum, and of the archæological institute of Rome. B.'s principal publications are as follow: Gallery of Antiquities selected from the British Museum by F. Arundale and J. Bonomi, with Descriptions by S. Birch (1842); Views on the Nile, from Cairo to the Second Cataract, drawn on Stone, from Sketches taken by Owen Jones and J. Goury, with Historical Notices of the Monuments by S. Birch (1843); Catalogue of Greek and Etruscan Vases in the British Museum (1851), drawn up in conjunction with Mr. Newton; An Introduction to the Study of the Egyptian Hieroglyphs, for Gardner Wilkinson's Egyptians (1857), and a new edition of Wilkinson's work (1879); History of Ancient Pottery (2 vols., 1858); Description of the Papyrus of Nas-khem, Priest of Amen-ra, discovered in an Excavation made by direction of H.R.II. the Prince of Wales in a Tomb near Gournah at Thebes (1863); and the Rhiud Papyri (1866). In addition to Egyptian and classical labors, B. also studied Chinese, and in that direction is author of the following brief contributions, viz., Analecta Sinensia, short stories from the Chinese (1841); The Friends till Death, a tale translated from the Chinese (1845); and Chinese Romance-The Elfin Foxes (1863). B. has likewise contributed papers to the Archalogia, to the Transactions of the Royal Society of Literature, the Revue Archéologique, the Archäologische Zeitung, and the Zeitschrift für Acgyptische Sprache und Alterthumskunde. He also furnished many articles for the English Encyclopædia, principally on subjects connected with Egyptian antiquities. He died 1885.

BIRCH CREEK, formerly Brick Creek; a magisterial dist. in Halifax co., Va. Pop. '90, 4904..

BIRCH, THOMAS, D.D., an industrious historical writer, son of a coffee-mill maker, a Quaker, b. at Clerkenwell, Nov. 23, 1705, was at first an usher in different schools. Having taking priests' orders in 1731, he was presented in 1732 to a living in Essex, and in 1734 became chaplain to the earl of Kilmarnock, who was beheaded in 1746. Appointed in the latter year rector of St. Margaret Pattens with St. Gabriel, Fenchurch street, London, B. was elected in 1752 one of the secretaries of the royal society, a history of which he published in 4 vols. 4to, in 1756-57. In 1761, he was preferred to the rectory of Deepdene, Surrey. His first literary undertaking, in which he was assisted by others, was The General Dictionary, Historical and Critical, 10 vols., 1734-41, founded on Bayle's celebrated work. He next edited the collection of state papers of Thurloe, secretary to Oliver Cromwell, 7 vols. folio, 1742. His other works are Life of the Hon. Robert Boyle, 1744; Lives and Characters of the Illustrious Persons of Great Britain, the engravings by Houbraken, Gravelot, and Vertue (London, 1743-52); Inquiry into the Share which King Charles I. had in the Transactions of the Earl of Glamorgan, 1747; Historical View of the Negotiations between the Courts of England, France, and Brussels, 1592 to 1617, 1749; Life of Tillotson, 1752; Memoirs of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, 2 vols. 1754; Life of Henry, Prince of Wales, 1760; etc. He likewise edited the works of sir Walter Raleigh, Bacon's works, and various others. He was killed by a fall from his horse in the Hampstead road, 9th Jan., 1766. He left an extensive MS. collection, with his library, to the British museum, of which he was a trustee. From these MSS. were compiled The Courts and Times of James I. and Charles I., 4 vols. 8vo (London, 1848).

BIRCH-PFEIFFER, CHARLOTTE, a German actress and writer of plays, was b. at Stuttgart in the year 1800. Her passion for the stage displayed itself so strongly, that after encountering much opposition on the part of her parents, she made her debut at Munich at the age of 13, and afterwards played with great success at Berlin, Vienna, and Hamburg. In 1825, she married Dr. Christian Birch of Copenhagen, and afterwards performed at Petersburg, Pesth, Amsterdam. and other places. In 1837, she undertook the direction of the theatre at Zurich. At a later period, she acquired even greater renown as a writer for the stage than as an actress. Her principal theatrical pieces are Pfefferrösel; Hinko; Die Günstlinge, perhaps her best piece: Der Glöckner von Notre Dame; etc. 1843, Madame B. resigned the direction of the Zurich theatre, and after visiting profes sionally most of the cities in Germany, made an engagement with the theater-royal at Berlin. The chief productions of what may be termed her later manner are-Die Mar quise von Villette (1845), Dorf und Stadt (1848), Eine Familie (1849), Anna von Oesterreich

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(1850), Ein Billet (1851). In 1862 was published a complete edition of her dramatic works, which are about 70 in number, and a collection of her novels and tales. D. 1868.

BIRD, EDWARD, an English genre painter of considerable celebrity, was b. at Wolverhampton in 1772. He having early displayed a strong inclination for drawing his father thought he was consulting his son's taste when he apprenticed him to a Birmingham tea-board manufacturer, his duty there being to paint flowers, shepherds, etc., on the boards. On the expiration of his apprenticeship, B. established himself as a draw. ing-master in Bristol; and two of his pictures, the Choristers Rehearsing," and "The Will," having been bought by the duke of Clarence, afterwards William IV., and the marquis of Hastings, his reputation was secure. He was elected a royal academician, and soon obtained some good commissions. The Field of Chevy Chase the Day after the Battle," is generally considered his masterpiece. His "Death of Eli" obtained the British institution prize of 300 guineas. In 1813, B. was appointed painter to the princess Charlotte. He now became ambitious to excel in Scripture subjects, and painted several, none of which, however, added to his fame. He died in 1819.

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BIRD, FREDERICK MAYER, b. 1838; son of Robert; graduated at the university of Pennsylvania; minister in the Lutheran church, which he left in 1868 to join the Protestant Episcopal; professor of psychology and Christian evidences in Lehigh university; contributed frequently to cyclopaedias and periodicals, and in 1891 became the editor of Lippincott's Magazine. He wrote much on hymnology, and edited in whole or in part the Lutheran Hymn Book and Hymns of the Spirit. He is the foremost American authority in hymnology.

BIRD, GOLDING, 1814-1854; an English physician, proficient in botany; lecturer on natural philosophy and materia medica in Guy's hospital. He was author of Elements of Natural Philosophy, being an Experimental Introduction to the Physical Sciences, Lectures on Electricity and Galvanism in their Physiological and Therapeutical Relations, and some other works.

BIRD, ISABELLA; now Mrs. Bishop; b. Eng. about 1831. For the benefit of her health she took long journeys through various parts of the world, and published A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains, 1879; Unbeaten Tracks in Japan, 1880; The Golden Chersonese, 1883; Among the Tibetano, and Six Months among the Palm Groves of the Sandwich Islands, 1894. She married Dr. Bishop, 1881. She was made a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society.

BIRD, ROBERT MONTGOMERY, 1805-54; b. in Delaware; practiced medicine in Philadelphia, and wrote for magazines. He wrote The Gladiator for Edwin Forrest, and afterwards wrote several historical romances. In his Peter Pilgrim, there is a careful description of the Kentucky mammoth cave. He was also editor of the North American.

BIRD-BOLT. Stevens, in his note on Much Ado about Nothing, says the B. is “ a short, thick arrow, without point, spreading at the extremity so much as to leave a broad flat surface, about the breadth of a shilling. Such are to this day in use to kill rooks with. and are shot from a cross-bow."

BIRD-CATCHING SPIDER, a name originally given to a large spider, mygale avicularia, a native of Cayenne and Surinam; but which is now more extensively applied, being equally appropriate to a number of large species of mygale (q.v.) and epeira (q.v.), perhaps also of other genera. It has indeed been denied by some observers that the name is truly appropriate, but the positive evidence is too strong to be easily set aside by evidence merely negative. The mygale avicularia is nearly two inches long, very hairy, and almost entirely black; its feet, when stretched out, occupy a surface of nearly a foot in diameter. The hooks of its mandibles are strong, conical, and very black. This great spider forms a tube-shaped cell, widening towards the mouth, of a fine white semitransparent 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 hummingbirds. 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 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 traveler 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 ft., growing wild in moist woods in Britain, and in most parts of Europe and the n. of Asia. Its younger branches are of a very dark or reddish-brown color. 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 flavored spirituous liquor is prepared from them in the n. 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 to 100 ft. 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.).

BIRDE, WILLIAM, a distinguished ecclesiastical composer, was b. 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.

BIRD ISLAND, the n.w. 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 n. w. to Hawaii on the s.e.

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 bird-lime. The substance is generally prepared from the middle bark of the holly, mistletoe, 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.

BIRD OF PARADISE, the common name of the family of birds, paradisida of ornithologists, found chiefly in New Guinea and neighboring islands, and remarkable for splendor 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, etc., 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 vapors, 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, etc.

The males alone are birds of splendid plumage, that of the females possessing neither brilliancy of colors nor remarkable development. The plumage of the males is not only characterized by great brightness of tints, but by a glossy velvety appearance, a metallic luster, and a singularly beautiful play of colors. 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 apoda), the prolongation of these shoulder tufts is so great that they extend far beyond the body, and even far beyond the tail. They constitute the magnificent part of the well-known B. of P. plumes. See illus., BIRDS. These delicate tufts, it has been supposed may be of service to the creature in enabling it, with less exertion of wing, to float in the air, but this notion is perhaps suf ficiently confuted by the total absence of them in the female.-In other species, there

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BIRDS.-I. Wren (Troglodytes parvulus). 2. Oriole (Oriolus galbula). 3. Yellow cockatoo. 7. Head of bittern. 8. Agami (Psophia crepitans). 9. Bullfinch (Pyrrhula vulgaris). of flamingo. 14. Head of avocet. 15. Tawny owl (Syrnium aluco). 16. Head of whi of pelican. 20. Head of black woodpecker (Picus marticus). 21. Stork.

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