The Nuttall Encyclopaedia Part 73

BILLAUD-VARENNES, JEAN NICOLAS, "a grim, resolute, unrepentant"

member of the Jacobin Club; egged on the mob during the September ma.s.sacres in the name of liberty; was president of the Convention; a.s.sisted at the fall of Robespierre, but could not avert his own; was deported to Surinam, and content to die there rather than return to France, which Bonaparte made him free to do; died at Port-au-Prince (1756-1819).

BILLAUT, ADAM, the carpenter poet, called "Maitre Adam," born at Nevers, and designated "Virgile au Rabot" (a carpenter's plane); _d_.

1662.

BILLINGS, ROBERT WILLIAM, architect, born in London; delineator of old historical buildings; his great work "Baronial and Ecclesiastical Antiquities of Scotland," richly ill.u.s.trated; was engaged in the restoration of old buildings, as well as delineating them (1813-1874).

BILLINGSGATE, a fish-market in London, below London Bridge; also a name given to low, coa.r.s.e language indulged in there.

BILLINGTON, ELIZABETH, _nee_ WEICHSEL, a celebrated singer, born in London, of German descent; kept up her celebrity to the last; died at Venice in 1817.

BILNEY, THOMAS, martyr, born in Norfolk, a priest who adopted the reformed doctrine; was twice arraigned, and released on promise not to preach, but could not refrain, and was at last burned as a heretic in 1531.

BILOCATION, the power or state, ascribed to certain of the saints, of appearing in two places at the same time.

BIMETALLISM, the employment of two metals (gold and silver) in the currency of a country as legal tender at a fixed relative value, the ratio usually proposed being 1 to 15.

BIMINI, a fabulous island with a fountain possessed of the virtue of restoring youth.

BINET, a French litterateur, translator of Horace and Virgil (1732-1812).

BINGEN, a manufacturing and trading town on the left bank of the Rhine, in Grand-Duchy of Hesse Darmstadt, opposite which is the tower a.s.sociated with the myth of Bishop Hatto.

BINGHAM, JOSEPH, an English divine, born at Wakefield; author of "Origines Ecclesiasticae," a laborious and learned work; lost his all in the South-Sea Scheme and died (1668-1723).

BIOGENESIS, name of the theory that derives life from life, and opposed to ABIOGENESIS (q. v.).

BIOLOGY, the science of animal life in a purely physical reference, or of life in organised bodies generally, including that of plants, in its varied forms and through its successive stages.

BION, a Greek pastoral poet of 3rd century B.C., born at Smyrna; a contemporary of Theocritus; settled in Sicily; was poisoned, it is said, by a rival; little of his poetry survives.

BIOT, JEAN BAPTISTE, an eminent French mathematician, astronomer, and physicist, born at Paris; professor of Physics in the College of France; took part in measuring an arc of the meridian along with Arago; made observations on the polarisation of light, and contributed numerous memoirs to scientific journals; wrote works on astronomy (1774-1862).

BIRAGUE, RENe DE, cardinal and chancellor of France, born at Milan; charged, especially by contemporary historians, as the chief instigator of the St. Bartholomew Ma.s.sacre (1507-1583).

BIRCH, SAMUEL, archaeologist and Egyptologist, born in London; keeper of Oriental antiquities in the British Museum; had an extensive knowledge of Egyptology, wrote largely, and contributed articles on that and kindred archaeological subjects (1813-1885).

BIRCH, THOMAS, antiquary, born in London; wrote a history of the Royal Society (1705-1765).

BIRCH-PFEIFFER, CHARLOTTE, actress, born in Stuttgart; acted in Berlin; wrote dramas (1800-1868).

BIRD, EDWARD, an English _genre_ painter, born in Wolverhampton, settled in Bristol; among his works are the "Choristers Rehearsing," the "Field of Chevy Chase," and the "Day after the Battle," p.r.o.nounced his masterpiece (1772-1819).

BIRD, GOLDING, M.D., a great authority in kidney disease, of which he himself died (1815-1854).

BIRD, WILLIAM, a musician in the time of Elizabeth, composed madrigals; "Non n.o.bis, Domine," is ascribed to him (1563-1623).

BIRD'S NEST, the nest of a species of swift, formed from a marine plant that has been first digested by a bird, and esteemed a great luxury by the Chinese.

BIREN, DUKE OF COURLAND, son of a peasant, favourite of the Russian Empress Anne; held the reins of government even after her death; ruled with great cruelty; was banished to Siberia, but recalled, and had his honours restored to him, which in six years after he relinquished in favour of his eldest son (1687-1772).

BIRKBECK, GEORGE, M.D., a Yorkshireman, a zealous promoter all over the country of mechanics' inst.i.tutes, was founder of the London Inst.i.tute, in consociation with Brougham and others interested in the diffusion of useful knowledge (1776-1841).

BIRKENHEAD (100), in Cheshire, on the Mersey, opposite Liverpool and a suburb of it; a town of rapid growth, due to the vicinity of Liverpool; has large shipbuilding-yards and docks.

BIRKENHEAD, SIR JOHN, a political writer, several times imprisoned during the Commonwealth for his obtrusive royalism (1615-1679).

BIRMINGHAM (478), in the NW. of Warwickshire, 112 m. NW. of London by rail; is the chief town of the Midlands, and celebrated all over the world for its metal ware. All kinds of engines and machinery, fine gold, silver, copper, and bra.s.s ware, cutlery and ammunition are made here; steel pens, b.u.t.tons, nails, and screws are specialties. It is a picturesque town with many fine buildings, libraries, art gallery and museums, educational inst.i.tutions, a cathedral, and a great town-hall, where the triennial musical festival is held. Of this town Burne-Jones was a native, and Priestley, George Dawson, and Dale were dissenting ministers.

BIRNAM, a hill near Dunkeld, in Perthshire; contains part of a forest mentioned in "Macbeth."

BIRON, a madcap lord in "Love's Labour's Lost."

BIRON, BARON DE, marshal of France, born at Perigord; served bravely under Henry IV.; though a Catholic, favoured the Huguenots; narrowly escaped at the Ma.s.sacre of St. Bartholomew; was killed at the siege of epernay; carried a note-book with him everywhere, and so observant was he that it pa.s.sed into proverb, "You will find it in Biron's note-book"

(1524-1592).

BIRON, DUC DE, son of the preceding; served also bravely under Henry IV.; but being a man of no principle and discontented with the reward he got for his services, intrigued with the Duke of Savoy and with Spain against Henry; was arrested and sent to the Bastille, where, after trial, he was beheaded (1562-1602).