BIRNEY 40 "The Philanthropist," etc. He was can- didate of the Liberty Party for President in 1840 and 1844. He wrote "Ten Let- ters on Slavery and Colonization," "Ad- dresses and Speeches," "American Churches the Bulwark of American Slavery." He died at Perth Amboy, N. J., Nov. 25, 1857. BIRNEY, 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, Pro- fessor of English Literature in the Col- lege at Bourges, France. In 1861 he en- tered the United States army as a pri- vate, 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 Colum- bia, 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. BIROIT, CHARLES DE GONTATJT, DUG DE, bom in 1562, was Admiral and Marshal of France, and is noted for the friendship which Henry IV. enter- tained for him, and for his treason to- ward that monarch. He made his first essays in war under his father, and cov- ered 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 Fon- taine Frangaise, and made him ambassa- dor to England. Biron entered into a conspiracy with Spain and Savoy against his sovereign; and the plot bein^ re- vealed by Lafin, who had been its insti- gator, he was beheaded in 1602. BIRRELL, AUGUSTINE, an English essayist, born in Wavertree, near Liver- pool, 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 Judicatse" (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 Bronte"; in 1897 edited Boswell's "Life of Johnson," "Life of Sir Frank Lockwood" (1898) ; "Col- lected Essays" (1900); "William Haz- litt" (1902) • "In the Name of the Bod- leian" (1905). President Board of Edu- cation, 1905; Chief Secretary for Ire- land, 1907-1916. The Irish Rebellion which broke out in Dublin in April, 1916, BIRTH-RATE led to his resignation in May of that year. BIRS NIMRUD, a famous mound in Babylonia, on the W. side of the Eu- phrates, 6 miles S. W. of Hillah, gen- erally identified as the remains of the Tower of Babel. 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 foetus has re- mained 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, independ- ently of the mother. The period of ges- tation is very different in different ani- mals, 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 be- fore 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 circum- stances of the case, are in favor of a protracted gestation. BIRTH-RATE, the proportion of births in a given number of inhabit- ants. For some years it has been evi- dent to students of vital statistics that the birth-rate was steadily decreasing in nearly all European countries. Table No. 1 gives the births and birth- rates in the birth registration area of the United States from 1915 to 1918, in- clusive. The registration area includes only those States in which such records are kept. Table No. 2 gives the birth- rate in the United Kingdom for the years 1913, 1917, and 1918. These years are selected in order to show the effect of the World War on the birth-rate in Great Britain. Birth-rates for other countries since the end of the World War are not available, but it may be stated in gen- eral that the effect of the war was to reduce greatly the rate in all countries which participated in it. Births and rates per 1,000 population in the birth registration area of the United States for the years 1915 to 1918*
