Birney (WILLIAM an American lawyer)
WILLIAM, an American lawyer, born in Madison co., Ala., May 28, 1819; was educated in Paris; took part in the Revolution of 1848; and was appointed, on public competition, Professor of English Literature in the College at Bourges, France. In 1861 he entered the United States army as a private, and was promoted through all the grades to brevet Major-General. In 1863-1865 he commanded a division. He was attorney for the District of Columbia, and after 1874 practiced law in Washington. He wrote "Life and Times of James G. Birney," "Plea for Civil and Religious Liberty," etc. He died Aug. 14, 1907.
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Biron
CHARLES DE GONTAUT, DUC DE, born in 1562, was Admiral and Marshal of France, and is noted for the friendship which Henry IV. entertained for him, and for his treason toward that monarch. He made his first essays in war under his father, and covered himself with glory at the battles of Arques and Ivry, and at the sieges of Paris and Rouen, by which he acquired the surname of ""Thunderbolt of France." The King loaded him with honors, saved his life at the fight of Fontaine Française, and made him ambassador to England. Biron entered into a conspiracy with Spain and Savoy against his sovereign; and the plot being revealed by Lafin, who had been its instigator, he was beheaded in 1602.
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Birraark
Australian necromancers. (See Necromancy .)
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Birrell
AUGUSTINE, an English essayist, born in Wavertree, near Liverpool, Jan. 19, 1850. He graduated from Cambridge and was called to the bar. He is author of charming critical and biographical essays on literary subjects, collected in the two series of "Obiter Dicta" (1884, 2d series 1887) and "Res Judicatæ" (1892), really the third of the same series. "Men, Women and Books" (1895) is a collection of short newspaper pieces. In 1885 he published a "Life of Charlotte Brontë"; in 1897 edited Boswell's "Life of Johnson," "Life of Sir Frank Lockwood" (1898); "Collected Essays" (1900); "William Hazlitt" (1902); "In the Name of the Bodleian" (1905). President Board of Education, 1905; Chief Secretary for Ireland, 1907-1916. The Irish Rebellion which broke out in Dublin in April, 1916, led to his resignation in May of that year.
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Birs Nimrud
a famous mound in Babylonia, on the W. side of the Euphrates, 6 miles S. W. of Hillah, generally identified as the remains of the Tower of Babel.
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Birth
or LABOR, in physiology, is the act by which a female of the class mammalia brings one of her own species into the world. When the fœtus has remained its due time in the womb, and is in a condition to carry on a separate existence, it is extruded from its place of confinement, in order to live the life which belongs to its species, independof ently of the mother. The period he period gestation is very different in different animals, but in each particular species it is fixed with much precision. At the end of the 39th or the beginning of the 40th week, the human child has reached its perfect state, and is capable of living separate from the mother; hence follows in course its separation from her, that is, the birth. An artificial birth is that which is accomplished by the help of art, with instruments or by the hands of the attendant. Premature birth is one which happens some weeks before the usual time, namely, after the seventh and before the end of the ninth month. Late birth is a birth after the usual period of 40 weeks. Although this is considered the usual time for legitimate births, the practice of the English law courts is to allow a longer time when the opinions of the faculty, or the peculiar circumstances of the case, are in favor of a protracted gestation.
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Birth Control
a movement supported by many physicians, publicists, and social workers whose aim is to bring about an enlightened control of conception for the purpose of preventing undesirable and undesired families. The principles of the American Birth Control League are that every woman should possess the power and freedom to prevent conception when she feels that conditions are not such as would make the
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Birthday Stones
gems considered particularly appropriate for birthday gifts. Any precious or semi-precious stone is considered appropriate as a setting in an article of jewelry intended for a birthday present. A preference for certain stones for certain months of the year has grown up, perhaps unconsciously. It would be difficult to trace the association between the month and the stone deemed appropriate. The popular list is: January Garnet February Amethyst March Bloodstone April Diamond May Emerald June Lapis Lazuli July Ruby August Moonstone September Sapphire October Opal November Topaz December Turquoise 2026 Editor's Note: The entry catches this custom just before it was standardized: in 1912 American jewelers agreed an official birthstone list, and it differs from the one here — June became pearl (later alexandrite) rather than lapis. The list is a commercial invention of no great antiquity, periodically revised, most recently to add new stones like tanzanite. (Ed: BR 2026-06-22)
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Birthright
any right or privilege to which a person is entitled by birth, such as an estate descendible by law to an heir, or civil liberty under a free constitution. See PRIMOGENITURE.
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Birthroot
a name of trillium erectum and other American plants of the same genus, having roots said to be astringent, tonic, and antiseptic.
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Birthwort
the English name of the plant genus aristolochia. Both the scientific and the English names arose from the belief that the species are of use as a medicine in childbirth.
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Biru
a kingdom of the Sudan, western Africa, bounded on the E. by the Niger. The capital is Walata.
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Bisbee
a town of Arizona, in Cochise co., 30 miles S. of Tombstone. It is served by a branch line of the El Paso and Southwestern railroad, a feeder of the Southern Pacific, with which it connects at Benson. Its interests are mineral, chiefly copper, gold, silver, and lead. It has a public library and two hospitals. Pop. (1910) 3,266; (1920) 9,205.
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