Encyclopaedia Britannica > Volume 3, Athens-BOI

665
BIC—BID
the organs were arranged according to his peculiar classi¬
fication of their functions, under the title of Anatomie
Descriptive, but he lived only to publish the first two
volumes. It was continued on the same plan, and com¬
pleted in five volumes by his assistants MM. Euisson and
Roux. His death was occasioned by a fall from a stair¬
case at the Hotel Dieu, which threw him into a fever.
Exhausted by excessive labour, and enfeebled by constantly
breathing the tainted air of the dissecting-room, he sank
under the attack and died on the 22d July 1802, attended
to the last by the widow of his benefactor, from whom he
had never been separated. His funeral was attended by
above six hundred of his pupils, and by a large number of
the physicians of Paris. His bust, together with that of
Desault, was placed in the Hotel Dieu by order of Napoleon.
BICYCLE. As the derivation of the term implies, the
chief component parts of this machine consist of two
wheels. The word is applied to those two-wheeled machines
which have been brought to their present state of perfection
for human locomotion during the past five years. Shortly
after the close of the great Continental war in 1815, the first
bicycle was introduced into England from France. It was
at the best an awkward affair, composed of a couple of
heavy wooden wheels of equal diameter, one behind the
other, and joined together by a longitudinal wooden bar on
which the rider’s seat was fixed, the mode of propulsion
being the pushing the feet against the ground. That such
a cumbersome method of locomotion soon died a natural
death is not to be wondered at. For the next fifty years
no real progress was made, as various kinds of levers and
other attempted appliances were found too intricate. In
1869 M. Michaux of Paris conceived the idea of making
the front or driving wheel much larger than the hind
wheel; and very soon afterwards, M. Magee, another
Parisian, still further improved bicycles by making them
entirely of steel and iron. The principle of crank action
attached to revolving axles having also become developed,
the pastime of bicycling was entirely revolutionized. India-
rubber tyres and strong beaks were brought into requisition
to relieve jolting; and now-a-days a crack racing bicycle
with a driving-wheel from 55 to 60 inches diameter does
not exceed 50 lb in weight, or about half the weight of one
of the old wooden machines. Tricycles have been tried,
but no great amount of speed will ever be got out of them
until the friction and v/eight can be materially reduced.
The diameter of the front or driving wheel of the modern
bicycle varies from 2| to 5 feet, according to the length of
the rider’s legs. When it is meant for racing, most of the
component parts are lighter, and the rest for relieving the
legs when going down hill is dispensed with. The rider
sits astride a small saddle, and the motive power is obtained
from the feet working the crank treadles attached to the
revolving axle of the driving-wheel. There being no
lateral support to the machine, the first thing to be learnt
is balancing, after which it is best to begin riding down
a gentle gradient without using the treadles. Steering,
which is managed by a transverse handle attached to the
driving-wheel and placed in front of the rider, should be
mastered in the same manner, after which the feet and
legs may be brought into play on the treadles and speed
gradually acquired. Falls are inevitable at first, and they
are best avoided by slightly turning the driving-wheel in
the direction the machine is inclining, not the contrary
way. Care must be taken to keep all bearings, &c., oiled
from time to time, in order to prevent friction and so
lessen speed. With the exception of skating, bicycling is
the quickest means of locomotion that man possesses. A
fair bicyclist can outstrip a horse in a day, whilst an expert
can do so in an hour. Bicycling has rapidly grown
in favour during the past two years; and long tours are
now made with the greatest ease. Where the roads are
fairly level, and in a tolerably good state of repair, the
bicycle is unsurpassed as a means of self-locomotion. In
hilly and mountainous countries, where there are no made
roads, or where they are much broken up and heavy, it is
next to useless, although india-rubber tyres to a certain
extent relieve the jolting over rough ground. Lightness,
great strength, and the best of workmanship are necessary
in the manufacture of bicycles in order to prevent serious
accidents. It is in the two former requisites that steel and
india-rubber have such an advantage over iron and wood.
As a proof of the perfection to which bicycle-riding has now been
brought, the following best performances on record, over a prepared
cinder path, may be mentioned, viz. :—
Hours.
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
Min.
1
2
3
6
9
13
16
20
24
28
31
Sec.
32*
19|
0
31
58
19f
41
55
23
5
2
Miles. Hours. Min. Sec.
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
106
34
12
52
31
9
11
56
46
42
33
58
41
38
48
48
21
24
35
48
21
43
54£
The last of these, as one of the London daily journals remarked,
fairly ranks as “the most extraordinary performance on record of
any man, animal, or machine.” The distance from Tunbridge to
Liverpool, 234 miles, has been accomplished in 18 hours 35 minutes.
A hundred miles a day, over fair roads, has often been achieved for
several days together, and many such journeys are recorded. A
ride of 800 miles, from London to John O’Groats, was made inA4
•days, over unexceptionally hilly and heavy roads, in June 1873.^
BID A, an inland town of Africa, situated in about If.
lat. 9° 5' and E. long. 6° 5', sixteen miles N. of the River
Niger or Quorra, and lying N.N.Y/. of the town of Egga.
Bida, which was visited by Dr Baikie in 1862, is a large
town, the capital of the kingdom of Nupe.
BIDDLE, John, frequently called the father of English
Unitarianism, was born in 1615 at Wotton-under-Edge in
Gloucestershire. He was educated at the grammar school
of his native town, and then proceeded to Magdalen Hall,
Oxford. He graduated as bachelor of arts in 1638 and as
master in 1641, and was then appointed to the mastership
of the free school in the city of Gloucester. While con¬
ducting this school in an admirable manner he diligently
prosecuted his theological studies; and the results he
arrived at were of such a nature as to draw down upon him
the reprobation of the civic authorities. He circulated
privately a tract called Twelve Arguments drawn out of
Scripture, wherein the commonly-received opinion touching
the deity of the Holy Spirit is clearly and fully refuted;
and towards the close of 1645 he was summoned before the
Parliamentary committee then sitting at Gloucester. By
them he was committed to prison, though he was at the
time labouring under a dangerous fever. He was released
on bail after an imprisonment of some duration, and was
then called before the Parliament, which desired to inquire
into his views. After .tedious proceedings Biddle was
committed to custody, in which he remained for five years.
During that time the Assembly of Divines at Westminster
had discussed his opinions, and in defence he published his
Twelve Arguments. The book was at once ordered by
Parliament to be seized and burned by the hangman.
Notwithstanding this, Biddle issued two tracts, one a
Confession of Faith with regard to the Holy Trinity, the
other Testimonies of Irenaeus, &c., concerning the one God
and the Persons of the Holy Trinity. These were sup¬
pressed by Government, and the Assembly of Divines
eagerly pressed for the passing of an Act by which heretics
like Biddle could be put to death. This, however, was
resisted by the army, and by many of the Independent
Parliamentarians; and after the death of the king, Biddle
III. — 84