Bissagos Islands
a group of small volcanic islands, about 30 in all, off the W. coast of Africa, opposite the mouth of the Rio Grande. The islands are inclosed by a reef, and, with a few exceptions, are thickly wooded; many of them are densely peopled. There are several fine ports, but the climate is excessively dangerous for Europeans. The principal islands belong to the Portuguese, whose governor resides at Bolama. 4-Vol. II-Cyc BISSÃO (bis-ä'ō), an island and Portuguese station closer to the African coast than the Bissagos.
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Bissing
BARON MORITZ FERDI- NAND VON, a German general and administrator, Governor-General of Belmin gium during first three years of the war; born in Bellmannsdorf, Silesia, Jan. 30, 1844. He entered the army at the age of 19 and served during the war between Prussia and Austria in 1866, and the Franco-Prussian war, 1870-1871. He retired in 1908, at which time he held the rank of General. He was recalled into the service after the war broke out, and in November, 1914, was made Governor- General of Belgium, then in German possession. He ruled the people with an iron hand.
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Bistineau
a navigable lake in N. W. Louisiana; 25 miles long by 2 miles wide; discharges into the Red river.
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Bistort
the English name given to a sub-genus or subdivision of the genus polygonum. Two well-known weeds fall under it the polygonum bistorta (common bistort or snakeweed), and the P. viviparum, or viviparous Alpine bistort. Each has a simple stem, and a single terminal raceme of flowers. The former has flesh-colored flowers, and is common; the latter has paler flowers, and is a mountain plant. It is sometimes called Alpine bistort. BISTOURY (from Pistoja, anciently called Pistorium, a city in Italy, 20 miles N. W. of Florence, where these knives were made at an early period), a surgical instrument used for making incisions. It has various forms-one like a lancet, a second called the straight bistoury, with the blade straight and fixed in a handle; and a third the crooked bistoury, shaped like a half moon, with the cutting edge on the inside.
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Bistre
a pigment of a transparent brown color, derived from the soot left after beechwood has been burned.
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Bite
To adhere to; to hold fast; as a set screw bites a shaft. The eating of metal by means of acid.
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Bithynia
A district of Asia Minor, bounded on the west by Mysia, on the north by the Pontus Euxinus, on the east by Paphlagonia, and on the south by Phrygia Epictetus.
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Bitlis
town of Asia Minor and capital of the former Turkish vilayet bearing the same name, situated on the Bitlis Chai, a tributary of the Tigris. The beginnings of the town date back to the time of Alexander the Great, to whom is attributed the building of a castle now in ruins that dominates the town. It is situated about 5,000 feet above the level of the sea, and is a place of considerable strategic importance. The inhabitants are composed of Turks and Armenians, the latter having most of the trade of the district of which the town is the commercial center. The principal articles of trade are fruits, manna, gum, spices, arms, wool, and tobacco. In the course of the World War it was occupied by the Russian armies on March 2, 1916. It has been the scene of terrible massacres of the Armenian inhabitants, a large number of whom have been exterminated or deported. It is included within the territory of the new Republic of Armenia created by the decision of the Peace Conference. Before the war it had a popиlation of about 36,000.
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Bitru
Otherwise called Sytry, a great Prince of Hell , according to the demonographer Wierius. He appeared in the form of a leopard with the wings of a griffin. But when he adopted a human appearance for the nonce it was invariably one of great beauty. It is he who awakes lust in the human heart. Seventy legions obey his commands.
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Bitter
KARL THEODORE FRAN- CIS, an American sculptor; born in Vienna, Austria, in 1867. After studying at the Vienna Academy he came to America in 1889, where he soon rose to eminence as a sculptor. The work on the main buildings at the Chicago Exposition was executed by him, and he supervised similar work at the Expositions of Buffalo, St. Louis, and San Francisco. He has decorated many notable buildings in New York and other large cities. Equestrian statues have been made by him which have elicited high praise, such as those of General Franz Sigel and Carl Schurz in New York. He received many medals and decorations and was a member of a number of Art Societies. He died April 10, 1915.
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Bitter Almond
the bitter variety of amygdalus commünis, or common almond.
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Bitter Apple
a name applied to the bitter gourd.
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Bitter Ash
a tree, simarūba amāra, a native of the West Indies, the bark of which is used as a tonic. Others of the same genus have also the same name, S. excelsa of Jamaica having wood almost as bitter as quassia, and being called Jamaica quassia.
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Bitter Gourd
a plant, citrullus colocynthis, called also colocynth.
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Bitter King
the soulamea amāra, a tree of the quassia order peculiar to the Moluccas and Fiji Islands, the root and bark of which, bruised and macerated, are used in the East as an emetic and tonic.
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Bitter Lakes
salt lakes on the line of the Suez canal.
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Bitter Nut
a tree of North America, of the walnut order, the carya amāra, or swamp hickory, which produces small and somewhat egg-shaped fruits, with a thin, fleshy rind; the kernel is bitter and uneatable.
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Bitter Root
lewisia rediviva, a plant of Canada and part of the United States, order mesembryaceæ, so called from its root being bitter though edible, It bears a solitary rose-colored flower. The plant appears above ground for only about six weeks. California bitterroot (echinocystis fabacea) and Natal bitter-root (gerrardanthus macrorhiza) both belong to the gourd family.
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Bitter Root Mountains
a range of the Rocky Mountains, in Montana, deriving its name from a plant with rose - colored blossoms, whose slender roots are used by the Indians for winter food. The chief summits are Lolo Peak and St. Mary's Peak.
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