BICttAf
BIERSTAOT1
translated into Greek, in which language were written the other New Testament books, as the Greek tongue was read and understood throughout the Roman world. In modern times translations have been made into all spoken languages. The first English version was Wiclifs Bible (1382). Tindale's New Testament was the earliest printed version, and Miles Coyerdale brought out the first complete English Bible in 1535. Other editions followed: the Great Bible, brought out through the efforts of the Protector Cromwell; the Geneva Bible, through the English refugees at Geneva in the reign of Mary; the Bishop's Bible, superintended by Archbishop Parker; the New Testament at Rheims, and the Old Testament at Douai, by the English Catholic College. The King James or Authorized Version appeared in 1611, the work of six committees of scholars. The Revised Version, the joint work of English and American scholars, appeared, the New Testament in 1880, and the Old Testament in 1884. The most famous version in a foreign language is the German Bible of Luther, finished in 1534.
Bichat (be'sha'), Marie Francois Xa-vier (1771-1802), a very talented anatomist and physiologist who made an epoch by studying the tissues and thereby founding modern histology (q. v.). He is regarded by Buckle as a greater man than Cuvier. He died at the age of thirty-one, worn out by too severe application to study and research.
Bicycle (bi'st-kl), a machine, as the name shows, for riding with two wheels, moved by pressing the feet on pedals. The first two-wheeled "cycle" was called the "dandy horse/' and was moved by kicking the feet, one after the other, into the ground, and then holding them up until the dandy horse stopped, when the process was repeated. The first practical bicycles were made in England in 1869, of wood and iron, and were
BICYCLE
fitly called "bone-shakers." The invention by an Englishman soon after of the rubber tire and steel frame made the modern bicycle. The old high-wheeled bicycle, with its tendency to "headers" was soon laid aside for the convenient " safety/' which is now in most common use. The pneumatic tire, ball bearings, which greatly reduce friction, the evolution of the chainless wheel
and other improvements, together with a large reduction in cost, made the bicycle a popular and expeditious means of travel and recreation for old and young of both sexes and all classes. "Cycling clubs" became popular and long tours were made with ease. While bicycling as a sport has largely died out, the wheel is still widely used as a practical and convenient means of locomotion. Biddeford, Me., a town in York County, Me., on the Saco River, and opposite Saco Falls, six miles from the Atlantic and 15 miles southwest of Portland. The town was settled early in the i7th century, was incorporated in 1718, and became a city in 1855, The city has excellent water power, and as a result is a manufacturing center. Among the leading products are lumber, boots, shoes, machinery and also the extensive manufacturing of cotton cloth for export trade. The vicinity of the city is rich in
food granite, and the export of this fine uilding stone adds considerably to the industrial wealth of its people. Biddeford has an excellent school system and a high school building erected at a cost of $50,000, a fine public library and daily, weekly and monthly papers. Population, 17,079.
Bien' nials, plants which endure through two growing seasons. See DURATION.
Bienville (byan've'l'), Jean Baptiste, Sieur de, French governor of Louisiana, was born in Montreal, Canada, in 1680, and died in France in 1768. With his brother, Iber-ville and a few settlers from old and new France, Bienville erected a fort in 1699 at the mouth of the Mississippi, and was for many years director of the colony, and subsequently governor of Louisiana. Quarreling with La Salle, the royal commissioner, Bienville was for a time deposed from office and recalled to France; but was afterward reinstated. When Law's Mississippi company was formed, Bienville moved his headquarters to New Orleans in 1718, and founded the town. Later on, having undertaken unsuccessful expeditions against the Chickasaw Indians> he was removed from the governorship, and in 1743 returned to France. He published the code noir (black code), which remained in force in the colony until Louisiana was purchased by the United States. The code was rather vigorous in its provisions, as not only did it regulate the condition of the slaves, but banished Jews from the colony, and banned evei;y religion save that of the Roman Catholic Church.
Bierstadt (ber'stat), Albert, an eminent American artist, was born near Dtis-seldorf, Germany, in 1830. His parents emigrated to the United States when he was two years old, but he returned when older and spent several years in study in his native city. In 1858 he visited the Rocky Mountains, and the first result of his visit was his sketch of Lander's Peakt
