Bilma – Bird Lime
Bilma
a town of the Sahara, central Africa, situated in 18° 40′ N. lat., 14° E. long., on an oasis called the Wady Kewar. It is the capital of the Tibu country, important as a resting-place of caravans crossing the desert, but is a poor place.
Binary Logarithms
a system of logarithms devised by Euler for facilitating ing musical calculations. Instead of having, like the common system of logarithms, 1 as the logarithm of 10, and 0.43429448 as the modulus, it had 1 as the logarithm of 2, and the modulus 1.442695.
Binary System
in zoölogy, a system of classification by which each sub-kingdom, class, order, etc., is perpetually divided into two, the one with a positive and the other with a negative character, till genera are reached. For instance, on this system, the animal subkingdom is divided into vertebrata and invertebrata, that is, animals which have, and animals which have not, vertebræ.
Bingham
MAJOR-GENERAL SIR CECIL EDWARD, a British soldier; born Dec. 7, 1861. He entered the military service in 1882 and rose through the various grades until he reached the rank of Major-General. In the Boer War he served with distinction, being frequently mentioned in dispatches, and in the World War commanded the First Cavalry Division.
Binnacle
corrupted from bittacle, a wooden case or box in which the compass on board a ship is kept to protect it from injury. A light is placed within it at night to insure that its indications are seen. It is placed immediately in front of the wheel or steering apparatus, and secured to the deck, usually by metal stays.
Bion
a Greek pastoral poet, born near Smyrna in the 3d century B. C.
He appears to have passed the latter part of his life in Sicily. Still extant is his "Lament for Adonis," often imitated by subsequent poets. Besides this there remain of his works only short pieces, short pieces , many of them fragmentary.
Biotite
a hexagonal and an optically uniaxial mineral, formerly called magnesia mica, hexagonal mica, and uniaxial mica; named after Jean Baptiste Biot. It exists in tabular prisms, in disseminated scales, or in massive aggregations of cleavable scales. Color: silvery-white, rarely bottle green, and by transmitted light often fiery red.
Biquadratic Equation
in algebra, an equation raised to the fourth power, or where the unknown quantity of one of the terms has four dimensions. An equation of this kind, when complete, is BIRD of the form x²+Ax³ + Bx²+Cx+D=0, where A, B, C and D denote any known quantities whatever.
Bird Cherry
a small tree (the prunus padus, etc.). It has pendulous racemes of white flowers, which appear in May, and are succeeded by small, black, drupaceous, cherry-like fruits.
Birde
or BYRD, WILLIAM, an English composer, born about 1543; was educated at Edward VI.'s chapel; became organist at Lincoln Cathedral in 1563, and of the Chapel Royal, London, in 1569. He is best known by his fine canon, "Non Nobis Domine," and a volume of "Sacred Songs." He died in London, July 4, 1623.
Bird Lice
the common name given to the small parasites so frequently seen infesting birds. Naturalists place them in the insect order mallophaga, in imin the insect order mallophaga, in im- mediate proximity to the anoplura, which contains the human pediculi.
Bird Lime
a substance whitish and