with very effective patterns. By dry distillation the bark yields an empyreumatic oil, called diogott in Eussia, used in the preparation of Russia leather ; to this oil the peculiar pleasant odour of the leather is due. The bark itself is used in tanning ; and by the Samoiedes and Kamchatkans it is ground up and eaten on account of the starchy matter it contains. A sugary sap is drawn from the trunk in the spring before the opening of the leaf-buds, and is fermented into a kind of beer and vinegar The whole tree, but especially the bark and leaves, has a very pleasant resinous odour, and from the young leaves and buds an essential oil is distilled with water The leaves are used as fodder in northern latitudes The species which belong peculiarly to America (B. lenta, excelsa, nigra, papyracea, &c.) are generally similar in appearance and properties to B. alba, and have the same range of applications. The largest and most valuable is the black birch (B. lenta}, found abundantly over an extensive area in British North America, growing GO to 70 feet high, and 2 to 3 feet in diameter. It is a wood most extensively used for furniture and for carriage building, being tough in texture and bearing shocks well, while much of it has a handsome grain, and it is sus ceptible of a fine polish. The bark, which is dark brown or reddish, and very durable, is used by Indians and back woodsmen in the same way as the bark of B. alba is used in Northern Europe. Concerning the canoe or paper birch (B. papyracea), which some regard as a variety of the white birch, Mr Bernard R. Ross, of the Hudson s Bay Company, writes : "The canoe or paper birch is found as far north as 70 N. on the American continent, but it becomes rare and stunted in the Arctic circle. It is a tree of the greatest value to the inhabitants of the Mackenzie River district in British North America. Its bark is used for the con struction of canoes, p.nd for drinking-cups, dishes, and baskets. From the wood, platters, axe handles, snow-shoe frames, and dog sledges are made, and it is worked into articles of furniture which are susceptible of a good polish. The sap which flows in the spring is drawn off and boiled down to an agreeable spirit, or fermented with a birch-wine of considerable alcoholic strength. The bark is also used by the Christianized American Indians as a substitute for paper." A species (B. Bhojputtra) growing on the Hima layan Mountains, as high up as 9000 feet, yields large quantities of fine thin papery bark, extensively sent down to the plains as a substitute for wrapping-paper, for covering the " snakes " of hookahs, and for umbrellas. It is also said _ to be used as writing paper by the mountaineers ;
and in Kashmir it is in general use for roofing houses.BIRCH, Thomas, historical and biographical writer, and one of the early trustees and benefactors of the British Museum, was born in London, November 23, 1705. He was the son of a coffee-mill maker, and was to have followed his father s business; but his active mind and ambition of higher pursuits led him into the paths of literature. His parents were members of the Society of Friends, and therefore he had not the advantages of a university training. But by persevering application to study and to teaching he qualified himself for the ministry of the Church of England. In 1728 he obtained a curacy, and in the same year he married. His wife died in the following year. He was ordained priest in December 1731, and was soon after recommended to the favour of Philip Yorke, then attorney-general, afterwards Lord Chancellor and earl of Hardwicke, to whom he owed his successive preferments in the church. His first benefice was the vicarage of lilting in Essex. In 1734 he was appointed domestic chaplain to the earl of Kilmarnock, who was beheaded for his share in the rebellion of 45. He afterwards held successively benefices in Pembrokeshire, Gloucestershire, and the eity of London. His last church preferment was to the rectory of Depden in Essex, to which he was presented in February 1761. In his latter years he was appointed chaplain to the princess Amelia. His literary attainments procured him election as a fellow of the Royal Society in February 1735, and in the following December he was chosen a member of the Society of Antiquaries. He held the office of Secretary to the Royal Society for thirteen years 1 752-1 7G5. From the university of Aberdeen he received the degrees fm r of M.A., and afterwards (1753) of D.D. The degree of D.D. was also conferred on him about the same time by the archbishop of Canterbury. Dr Birch was engaged in a large number of literary undertakings. His appetite and his capacity for hard work were extraordinary. Besides his diversified labours of compilation and editing, he transcribed many volumes in the library of Lambeth Palace, and carried on an extensive correspondence with literary men. He was an early riser ; and amidst all his labours he found time to take part in social enjoyments. He was only in his sixty-first year when he was killed by a fall from his horse in Hampstead Road, January 9, 1766. He bequeathed his books and manuscripts, with part of his pictures and prints, to the British Museum. The rest of his property, in value about 500, he gave to be invested in Government securities, the interest to be applied in augmenting the salaries of the three assistant librarians.
His principal publications were 1. The General Dictionary, His torical and Critical, including a new translation of Bayle, and inter spersed with several thousand new lives, in 10 volumes fol., 1734- 1741. 2. Thurloe s State Papers, 7 vols. folio, 1742. 3. Dr Ciul- u-orth s Intellectual System, improved from the Latin edition of Moshcim ; his Discourse on the true Notion of the Lord s Siqipcr ; and two Sermons, with an Account of his Life and Writings, 2 vols. 4to, 17/3. 4. The Life of the Honourable Robert Boyle, 1744, prefixed to an edition of that philosopher s works. 5. Tlic Lti<.s of Illustrious Persons of Great Britain, to accompany the engrav ings of Houbraken and Vertue, 1747-1752. 6. An Inquiry into the Share which King Charles I. had in the Transactions of the Earl of Glamorgan, 1747, 8vo. 7. An edition of Spenser s Faery Queen, 1751, 3 vols. 4to, with prints from designs by Kent. 8. The Mis cellaneous Works of Sir Walter Raleigh, with his Life, 1751, 2 vols. 8vo. 9. The Theological, Moral, Dramatic, and Poetical Works of Mrs Catherine Cockburn, with a Life, 1751, 2 vols. 8vo. 10. The Life of Dr Tillotson, Archbishop of Canterbury, compiled chiefly from his Original Papers and Letters, 17C2, 8ro. 11. Milton s Prose Works, 1753, 2 vols. 4to, with a Life. 12. Memoirs of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, from the year 1581 till her death; illustrated from the original papers of Anthony Bacon, Esq., and from other MSS., 1754, 2 vols. 4to. 13. The History of the Royal Society of London, 1750 and 1757, 4 vols. 4to. 14. The Life of Henry Prince of Wales, eldest son of James I., compiled chiefly from his own a per s and other MSS., 1760, 8vo. 15. The Letters, Si)ccchcs, <i-c., of Lord Chancellor Bacon. His numerous communications to the Royal Society may be seen in the Philotophical Transactions.
BIRD, William, an English composer, and one of the best organists of his time, was born about 1540, and died at London, 4th July 1G23. He was appointed organist of Lincoln cathedral in 1563 ; and in 1575 he and his master Talk s were gentlemen of the chapel royal, and organists to Queen Elizabeth. Bird was the earliest English composer of madrigals, and some of his numerous sacred composi tions are still much esteemed. Most of them were pub lished during his lifetime under a patent from Queen Elizabeth, which secured to him and Tallis the sole right to print and sell music. Between 1575 and 1611 there were issued under this patent eight different collections of his w r orks, with such titles as Cantionts Sacrce ; Gradualia ; Psalmcs, Songs, and Sonets, <fcc. The vocal canon Non nobis Domine, generally attributed to him, is well known, and often sung. He also wrote a number of pieces for Queen Elizabeth s Virginal Book, and other similar collec tions. In his compositions there is a freedom and elegance rarely found in the music of his period. A full account of Bird s life by E. F. Rimbault is prefixed to one of his Masses, published by the Musical Antiquarian Society.
