Biscar, Jeanette
A sorceress of the district of Labour in France , who was transported to the witches' Sabbath by the Devil in the form of a goat. As a reward she was suspended in mid-air head downwards.
Only in An Encyclopaedia of Occultism
Single-source entries: B (81)
These 11 listings are so strange that each appears in only one of the 7 encyclopedias we compared. They include such classics as Biscay, Biscay, Bischoff.
Biscay
or VIZCAYA, the most northerly of the Basque provinces of Spain, is bounded N. by the Bay of Biscay, E. and S. by its sister provinces, Guipuzcoa and Alava, and W. by by Santander. It has an area (very mountainous in the S.) of 836 square miles. Chief town, Bilbao. Pop. (1917) 380,668.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Biscay
BAY OF, that portion of the Atlantic Ocean which sweeps in along the N. shores of the Spanish Peninsula in an almost straight line from Cape Ortegal to St. Jean de Luz, at the W. foot of the Pyrenees, and thence curves N. along the W. shores of France to the island of Ushant. Its extreme width is about 400 miles, and its length much about the same. The depth of water varies from 20 to 200 fathoms, being greatest along the N. shores of Spain. The whole of the S. coast is bold and rocky, and great parts of the population French shores are low and sandy. The bay receives numerous unimportant streams from the mountains of Spain, and, through the rivers Loire, Charente, Gironde, and Adour, the waters of half the surface of France. Its chief ports are Santander, Bilbao, and San Sebastian, in Spain; and Bayonne, Bordeaux, Rochefort, La Rochelle, and Nantes, in France.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Bischoff
MOUNT, a post-town of Tasmania, 60 miles W. of Launceston, which owes its existence to the discovery here in 1872, by James Smith, of some of the richest tin mines in the the world. Between 1884-1886 more than 20,000 tons of tin ore had been mined. The yield of pure tin from the ore is from 70 to 80 per cent. The mount takes its name from the chairman of a land company (1828). There is railway communication with Emu Bay, 45 miles distant.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Bisclaveret
The name of the were-wolf (q.v.) in Brittany. It is believed to be a human being, transformed by magic into a fearsome man-devouring beast, which roams about the woods, seeking whom it may slay.
Only in An Encyclopaedia of Occultism
Biscuit
in general language, thin flour cake which has been baked in the oven until it is highly dried. There are many kinds of biscuits, but the basis of all is flour mixed with water or milk. In fancy biscuits, sugar, butter, and flavoring ingredients are used. Plain biscuits are more nutritious than an equal weight of bread, but owing to their hardness and dryness, they should be more thoroughly masticated to insure their easy digestion. In pottery, articles molded and baked in an oven, preparatory to the glazing and burning. In the biscuit form, pottery is bibulous, but the glaze sinks into the pores and fuses in the kiln, forming a vitreous coating to the ware.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Bisharin
a race inhabiting Nubia, between the Nile and the Red Sea, somewhat resembling the Bedouins, and living by pasturage. They are Mohammedans by religion; in character they are said to be cruel and treacherous. Personal property does not exist among them, the family or the tribe having the ownership.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Bishop
literally an overseer, from the Greek episcopus. In the Greek, the Catholic, and the Episcopal churches, the name is given to those priests of the highest order who are held to be the successors of the twelve apostles. In Russia the bishops are appointed by the czar who is the head of the church. In Catholic countries the practice varies. The bishops are named, however, either directly by the pope, or by an agreement between the pope and sovereign. In the Church of England bishops are named by the sovereign. Of twenty-eight English bishops twenty-six are entitled to a seat in the House of Lords . In the United States the title is used in the Catholic, Episcopal, and Methodist churches. In general the bishop is supposed to travel and visit the various churches in his charge, examining into and settling difficulties, confirming members, and advancing the interests of his congregations. His home church in which he has a pulpit, a chair, or cathedra, is called a cathedral. See Archbishop 2026 Editor's Note: The office has changed in a way this entry would have found unthinkable: women now serve as bishops across much of the Anglican Communion, beginning in 1989 and reaching the Church of England in 2015. The question of women's ordination remains one of the sharpest dividing lines between the churches listed here. (Ed: BR 2026-07-20)
Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia
Bishop
SIR HENRY ROWLEY, an English composer, born in London in 1780; was trained under Bianchi, composer to the London Opera House. From 1800, he composed about 100 works for the stage-among others the music of "Guy Mannering," "The Slave," "The Miller and His Men," "Maid Marian," "The Virgin of the Sun," "Aladdin," "Hamlet," versions of operas by Rossini, Meyerbeer and others, "Waverley," "Manfred," etc. From 1810 to 1824 he was musical composer and director to Covent Garden Theater. He also arranged several volumes of the National melodies. In 1841 he became Professor of Music in Edinburgh University, and in 1848 in the University of Oxford. He died in London, April 30, 1855.
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Bishop (II)
ISABELLA BIRD, an English author and traveler, born in Yorkshire about 1832; made her first trip abroad 1855, when she visited Prince Ed ward's Island and United States, and has since circumnavigated the globe three times. She spent much time in Japan, and in 1894-1895 made her third trip to Korea. She was in Seoul when the war broke out, 1894, and was the first person whose war correspondence reached London. Her publications include "Six Months in the Sandwich Islands" (1873); "A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains" (1874); "Unbeaten Tracks in Japan" (1880); "Journeys in Persia and Kurdestan" (1892); 2); "Among the Tibetans" (1894); "Korea and Her Neighbors" (1898); "The Yangtze Valley" (1899); etc. She died in 1904.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Bishop (III)
MAJOR WILLIAM AVERY, a Canadian aviator, born in 1885. He was a member of the Canadian military establishment in 1911, and went to France with the first expeditionary force at the outbreak of the World War. He joined the aviation arm, and soon became known as one of the most daring and successful airmen on the Allied side. He had numberless hairbreadth escapes and brought down a larger number of German machines than any other aviator who served in the war. He won the Victoria Cross by his exploits. He wrote "Winged Warfare; Hunting the Hun in the Air" (1918).
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia