BISCHOFF. 116 BISHOP. of Giesson, and in 1855 to that of Munich. He •devoted himself especially to embryology, to which he made many contributions. His Fnt- wickehiiiyKycscliichte dcs Kaniiicheueies (1843) received the prize from the Berlin Academy. Of his numerous writings in Mailer's Archiv, and published separately, may be singled out the Beioeis der voii d'cr Begattung iinabhiiiigiyen periodischen Rcifung iind LosWsuiig der Eier der Saugctitre ii/irf drs Mcnscheii (Giessen, 1844), in which he establishes the important doctrine of the periodic ripening and detachment of the ova in mannnalia and man. independently of genera- tion. Bein« called upon in 1850, together with Liebig, to give his opinion in the famous Giirlitz trial (q.v.). which involved the question of the possibility of spontaneous combustion, he took occasion to publish a dissei-tation on the subject. Ueber die Svlbstrerbrennung (demonstrating the impossibility of spontaneous combustion), which appeared in Henke's Zeitschrift fiir die Staats- <irz)trH:ii:idc (1850). BISCUIT (for older E. lisket ; Fr. biscuit, twice-baked, from bis, twice + cuire, to bake; cf. Ger. Zirieback). A kind of hard, dry bread baked in small, thin cakes. In the United States this kind of bread is usually called crackers, the name biscuits being applied to small, round, soft cakes made from dough, raised with yeast or soda, sometimes shortened with lard, etc. Bis- ■cuits or crackers are usually made of flour, water or milk, and salt, to which are added, for special varieties of biscuits, sugar, spices, butter, eggs, ■dried fruits, prepared meats, etc. The varieties of biscuits now made are very numerous, but practically the same mode of procedure is adopted in making them all. The ingiedients are first mixed by machine to form a dough, and this ■dough is mechanically kneaded, rolled out thin, and cut into squares or disks, which arc carried through the ovens on traveling frames or belts, and baked in about fifteen minutes. The baked biscuits are next dried for several days, and finally packed in one of a variety of forms for shipment. (See Bke.d.) BISCUIT. A term applied in pottery to porcelain and other earthenware after the first firing, and before it has received the glaze and -emljellishments. (See Porcelain and Potteuv.) In this condition the ware is very porous, and allows water very slowly to percolate through its pores. BISCUIT ROOT. .V Inilbous plant belong- ing to the natural order Liliaceae. See Quamash. BISERTA, b*-zer'ta. A medieval term for the classical Utica, in Africa, used by Ariosto in his Orliindo Furioso for the capital of ICing Agramant. BISHARIN, be'sha-ren' (Ar. plur. of Bish- ari). The designation of a group of tribes liv- ing between the Kcd Sea, the Nile, and Abyssinia. Properly they form the northern division of the Beja, while the southern members of the group are called lladendoa. The Bisharin are nomadic herdsmen, and are nominally Mohammedans. Those living near the borders of Egypt have the reputation of being sturdy beggars. They pre- sent physically a line Caucasian type, and they speak a highly developed Hamitic language, of which there are grammars by Almkvist (Upsala, 1881-85) and Rcinisch (Vienna, 1893). For an account of the Bisharin, consult Munzinger, Ost- ofrikatiische Htudien (SchatThausen, 18()4). BISHOP. The title of the highest order of clergy in the Christian Church. The name is in the Saxon biscop, and comes from the Greek etriaKOTrog, episkopos, an overseer, from £ffi, epi, upon + dKoirelv, skopein, to watch. The Athe- nians used to send officers called e-inKO~oi, epi- skopoi, to their subject States. The word was adopted by the Romans, and Cicero speaks of himself as an cpiscopiis in Campania; it was also applied by them to the officers who inspected the provision-markets. There are two theories as to the functions of a bishop in the primitive Church, which may be described as the Episcopalian and the Presbyterian theories. The question between them is whether the episcopate is necessary to the very existence of a churcli or only to its orderly regulation; in other words, to its esse or to its bene esse. According to the former, the first bishops in the Church of Christ Avere His apostles: "for the office whereunto Matthias was chosen is termed (Acts i. 20) episcopc — i.e. an episcopal office, which being spoken expressly of one, agreeth no less unto them all : and therefore Saint Cyprian, speaking generally of them all, calls them bish- ops." The form of" government at first established by the Apostles was that the laity or |)eople should be subject to a college of ecclesiastical persons appointed fiu" that purpose in every city. These, in their writings, they term sometimes ■presbyters,' sometimes 'bishops.' Thus Saint Paul to the elders at Ephesus says: "Take heed to the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers" — i.e. bishops. This explains the Presbyterian view of the oflice. But as the A])os- tles could not themselves be present in all churches, and as in a short time strifes and con- tentiims arose, they appointed, after the order lie- gan at . Jerusalem, some one president or governor over the rest, who had his authority established a long time before that settled difference of name took jilace whereby such alone were called bishops : and therefore, in the Book of Revela- tion, we find that they are entitled 'angels.' Saint Irena'us, martyred about the beginning of the Third Centuiy, says: "We are unable to numl)er uj) them who by the .-Apostles were made bishops. ' In Kome, he tells us. they ajipointed Linus; and in Smvina, Polycarp. Saint Ignatius witnesses that they made Evodius Bishop of Antioch. Saint .lerome says: "All bishops are the .poslles' successors"; and Saint Cyprian terms bishops "prcrpositos qui apnstolis vicaria or- dinatione snccediint (presidents who succeed to the .postles by vicarious ordination). Hooker says, in his usual judicious manner: "Such as deny a[)oslles to have any successors at all in the oflice of their apostleship, may hold that opinion withciut lontradicticin to this of ours, if they will explain them.selves in declaring what truly and properly apostleship is. In some things, every presbyter, in some things only bish- ops, in some things neither the one nor the other, are the Apostles' successors." And he adds, what fairly states the Episcopal theory on this sub- ject:" "The Apostles have now their trui' succes- sors, if not in the largeness, surely in the kind of that episco])al function wherel)y they had power to sit as spiritual ordinary judges, both over laity and over clergy, where churches Chris- tian were established." We find, also, that
