Paris, France, 1896; by an amateur, 339 miles, by E. S. Edwards, 1897, over a square course, from Elizabeth through Springfield to Westfield and Rahway. Edward Hale holds the record (1896) for six days, in which he rode 1,910 miles.

The B., as an aid to military evolutions, is in use in the U. S. army, also in many of the European armies and in the Japanese. B. police patrol are in service in most of the large cities.

B. riding, while dangerous in affections of the aortic valves, is often of great service in uncomplicated mitral disease. Of course it must be riding in moderation. Hill climbing and fast riding are peremptorily excluded, as is also riding which causes an approach to breathlessness. The great point for the beginner in such cases is that he should spend adequate time and money in preliminary tuition, and not be in too great a hurry to be off on his Own account.'

No less an authority than The British Medical Journal, in prescribing the use of the B. by women, says: 'The prescription of a bicycle, and the recommendation to use it wisely and well, works like a charm in all cases of indisposition arising from biliousness and in all the symptomatic ailments which arise from too much "acid" in the system. Bicycling sometimes has the effect of thinning the obese and fattening the thin; this may partly be explained by Murchison's observations that excessive leanness, as well as excessive corpulence, is often caused by inaction of the liver, and the stimulus of regular exercise, setting the functions of that organ right, causes the disappearance of what was only a symptom.'

In cases of breakdown of the nervous system from overwork and anxiety, cycling will be found a valuable adjunct to the rest necessary for recovery. In the anemia of young girls, steel in the form of the wheel is even more effectual than as "drops," and the action of the flat muscles of the abdominal walls on the subadjacent organs being much increased by the movements necessary to retain the balance and drive the machine, has a marked effect. Many sufferers from sick headache, neuralgia, and hysteria, both male and female, have reaped much benefit from regulated B.-riding, and many cases of so-called pal pitation has been cured. Insomnia has frequently been found to yield to the proper use of the B. when every other soporific had been defied, and many cases of persistent nocturnal cramp have been relieved. It is necessary, how. ever, again to warn every one who is not an experienced rider against the abuse of this fascinating exercise. See CYCLING: WHEELMEN'S ASSOCIATIONS. TRICYCLE, n. tri'sik-l [tris, three, and cycle]: a vehicle somewhat resembling the bicycle, but having three wheels, variously ar ranged, and propelled in the same way: it holds one or two persons.

BID, v. bid [AS. beodan; Ger. bieten, to offer; Dut. bieden, to put forth]: to tell to do, to command; to request; to offer a price; to wish; to desire; to invite; in OE., to

BIDASSOA-BIDDING PRAYER.

pray; to offer; to bring forward. BADE, pt. båd. BIDDEN, or BID, pp. bid'n. BIDDING, imp. bid'ding: N. an invitation, an order. BIDDER, n. one who offers a price. BID, n. bid, an offer at an auction. BIDABLE, a. bid'u-bl, that may be bidden; obedient; submissive. BID THE BANNS, to bring forward to public notice the purpose of a marriage. BID BEADS [AS. bede, a prayer]: to mark or distinguish each bead by a prayer; to pray prayers. BID FAIR, to offer or show good promise of success. BID WELCOME, to offer welcome. BID DEFIANCE, to offer defiance. Note.BID [AS. biddan; Dut. bidden, to pray]: to pray, as in the reduplication bidding a prayer, that is 'praying a prayer'; and BID (AS. beodan, Goth. biudan, to command: to command, are really two distinct words. Their meanings, however, have become so intermingled that it has been judged better to allow them to stand as one entry: see BIDDING PRAYER.-SYN. of 'bid, v.': to call; invite; summon; request; offer; propose; proclaim; direct; enjoin; command.

BIDASSOA, be-dás-80'á: river which, rising in Spain, forms the boundary between that country and France, and falls into the Bay of Biscay at Fuenterabia. The treaty of the Pyrenees was concluded on an island in its mouth, 1659. The B. was the scene of several conflicts during the Spanish campaign. In 1793, the Spanish crossed the river, and defeated the French in three successive encounters. In July of the following year, the French captured the intrenched camp of the Spaniards. In 1813, Aug., the French under Soult were defeated at San Marcial, on the B., by the allies; and in Oct. of the same year, Wellington surprised and drove the French from their strongly fortified positions on its n. side.

BIDDEFORD, bid de-ford: city of York co., Me.; on the s. side of the Saco river, by which it is separated from the town of Saco. It is 6 m. from the sea, and 15 m. s.w. of Portland. Two parallel railroads pass through the city connecting it with Boston and Portland. Its inhabitants are engaged chiefly in trade and manufactures of cotton and woolen goods. Principal exports are lumber and cotton goods. A fall of 42 ft. in the river affords inexhaustible water-power. The city has 10 or 12 churches, 4 banks, several newspapers, and large saw-mills. The fine beach near the mouth of the river is a pleasant summer resort. Pop. (1880) 12,652; (1890) 14,418

BIDDING PRAYER: a form of exhortation, always concluding with the Lord's Prayer, enjoined by the 55th canon of the Anglican Church, 1603, to be used before all sermons and homilies. Except in cathedrals and the university churches, it is now seldom used. The term 'B.' is from the Saxon Bede,' signifying a prayer. The form is of extreme antiquity, and a simila. one is in the Apostolical Constitutions (q.v.), the original of which was probably that used in the Church of Antioch. It was anciently used for the communicants or believers after the dismissal of the catechumens, and was pronounced by the deacon,

BIDDLE.

each petition beginning with the words:

Let us pray for ,' and the people responding at the end of each with 'Kyrie Eleison,' or some such words. There is another very ancient example in the Ambrosian Liturgy; and St. Chrysostom alludes to such a form in one of his sermons. It must have been, and even now in its abridged shape still is, very impressive, allowing each individual to supply from his own thoughts special cases of necessity under the different heads. There is some resemblance between these Bidding Prayers and the Litany, and prayer for the church militant, now used in the Anglican Church.

BIDDLE, bid' dl, CLEMENT: military officer: 1740, May 10-1814, July 14; b. Philadelphia. He was a member of the Society of Friends; nevertheless he led a company of Quakers against an attack on Philadelphia by a band of outlaws called 'Paxton boys.' In 1775 he helped form a company of Quaker volunteers, and was present at important battles in Penn. and N. J. After the revolution he was politically prominent, was appointed U. S. marshal of Penn. by Washington 1787, and was attached to the expedition against the Whisky Insurrection.-His son CLEMENT CORNELL B. (milit. officer: 1784, Oct. 24-1855, Aug. 21), served in the war of 1812 as capt. and col., and afterward became an authority in political economy, and a prominent advocate of free trade.

BID'DLE, JAMES: naval officer: 1783, Feb. 28-1848 Oct. 1; b. Philadelphia. He became a midshipman 1800, and was on the frigate Philadelphia when she ran ashore at Tripoli 1803. After release from the captivity which followed, he continued in the naval service; 1812 was on the sloop-of-war Wasp when she captured the Frolic, and took charge of the prize, but was captured by the British 74, Poictiers. He was exchanged, promoted to master commandant 1813, and commanded the Hornet in her successful engagement with the British brig Penguin 1815, Mar. 23. He was promoted to post-capt., and congress voted him a gold medal. B. acted for the United States in the Oregon boundary question under the treaty with Great Britain 1818, and negotiated a commercial treaty with Turkey 1826. was gov. of the naval asylum at Philadelphia 1838-42, flag officer of the E. India squadron 1845, when he negotiated the first treaty with China; and commanded on the Pacific coast during the Mexican war.

He

BIDDLE, bid'dl, JOHN: 1615-62, Sep.; b. Wotton-underEdge, Gloucestershire: founder of English Unitarianism. In 1632, he entered Magdalen College, Oxford, where he took his degree of M.A. In 1641, he was elected master of the free school in the town of Gloucester, where he did good service; but having embraced certain opinionsprinted for private circulation-in regard to the personality of the Holy Spirit, at variance with those held by the majority of Christians, he was thrown into jail, 1645, Dec. Summoned to trial before the parliament at Westminster, on account of his heresy, he was condemned to imprisonment for five years. The famous Westminster Assembly

BIDDLE.

of Divines undertook to 'settle' B.'s case, but unfortu nately their arguments-as is usual in disputation-had the effect only of strengthening his previous convictions. In 1648, while still in prison, he published a Confession of Faith concerning the Holy Trinity, etc., which was followed by another tract containing the opinions of the Church Fathers on the same question. In consequence of this attempt to combat the orthodox doctrine, the Westminster Divines called upon the parliament to pass an act declaring the denial of the Trinity a crime punishable by death. The army, however, strange to say, proved on this occasion less cruel than the church, for it manifested such strong opposition that the act remained a dead letter; and under the liberal rule of Cromwell, B. was released. He now commenced to gather a congregation of those whom he had converted to his opinions-namely, that there was but one person, as there was but one nature, in the Godhead. The members were first called Bidellians, then Socinians, and finally assumed for themselves the name of Unitarians. Twice, however, after this, during the Commonwealth, B. suffered severely for his creed, and even the iron-willed Protector himself, in order to save his life, was compelled to banish him to one of the Scilly Isles. Three years of imprisonment having elapsed, he was permitted to return, and continued to preach in London till after the restoration; but 1662, June, he was again apprehended and fined £100; and being unable to pay, was committed to jail, where he died in the following Sep. Hischaracter was estimable.

BIDDLE, NICHOLAS: naval officer: 1750, Sep. 10-1778, Mar. 7; b. Philadelphia. He ran away from home at the age of 13, went to sea, was wrecked, and lived two months on a desert island with two companions. He was appointed midshipman in the Brit. navy 1770, and was on the same ship with Nelson 1773. When the revolution broke out, B. returned home, and was one of the original 19 naval officers appointed by congress 1775, Dec. 22. He was assigned first to the brig of war Andrea Doria; and 1776, June 6, congress appointed B. to command the 32-gun frigate Randolph, the first U. S. frigate ever launched, and on his first cruise he captured 4 prizes. After bringing them in, he sailed from Charleston, in command of a small squadron, of which the Randolph was flagship. In an engagement 1777, Mar. 7, with the Brit. 64-gun ship Yarmouth, the Randolph blew up, and B., with the crew of 310 men, perished.

BIDDLE, NICHOLAS: financier: 1786, Jan. 8-1844, Feb. 27; b. Philadelphia. He entered the Univ. of Pennsylvania 1799, and afterward Princeton Coll., where he gradu ated 1801. He studied law; and was sec. to John Armstrong, U. S. minister to France, 1804, and afterward sec. to James Monroe, U. S. minister to England, and on his return 1807, began to practice law. B. was elected to the Penn. legislature 1810, and to the senate 1812. In the legislature he was the champion of popular education, and out of his strenuous efforts in that direction eventually grew the Penn. school system. In 1815 his statesman-like abilities were shown in his course concerning the Hartford convention,

BIDDY-BIDPAI.

B. advocated renewing the charter of the U. S. Bank, and his speech on the subject in the legislature was highly commended by Chief-Justice Marshall. He was appointed govt. director of the U. S. Bank 1819; and later its pres., holding that position, which gave him public repute as the leading financier of the country, at the time of the removal of the govt. deposits by Pres. Jackson, 1833. He resigned the office 1839. B. was prominent in the arrangements for establishing Girard Coll. under the will of Stephen Girard, and was generally esteemed as an active and public-spirited citizen. He edited the Port- Folio (1806-23); and prepared for publication the account (2 vols.) of Lewis and Clarke's explorations of the Columbia river; indeed it has been credibly stated that the work was B.'s direct compilation.

BIDDY, n. bid di [F. bidet, a little horse]: a domestic fowl, especially a chicken; a servant-girl (a corruption of Bridget).

BIDE, v. bid [AS. bidan; Dut. beiden; Icel. bitha, to wait, to remain]: to suffer; to endure; to live; to remain in a place; to continue in a state; to wait-as to bide one's time. BIDING, imp. bi'ding, dwelling; remaining. BIDE BY IT, in OE., to continue in the same state; to adhere to it.

BIDEFORD, bid'e-ford: seaport town of Devonshire, Eng., on both sides of the Torridge, near its confluence with the estuary of the Taw, 30 m. n.w. of Exeter. A bridge of 24 arches, and 677 ft. long, unites the two divisions of B., which has manufactures of ropes, sails, earthenware, and leather. These it exports, together with oakbark, corn, flour, linens, woolens, iron, and naval stores. In 1880, 1,052 vessels, of 44,291 tons, entered, and 1,064 vessels, of 45,807 tons, cleared the port. Vessels of 500 tons can go up to the quay. Four m. away, on the coast, is the new and popular health resort, Westward Ho, named after Kingsley's novel. Pop. (1881) 6,512; (1891) 7,908.

BIDELLUS, n. bi-děl us: see BEDELLUS.

BIDENS, n. bi'denz [L. bi, two; dens, a tooth]: genus of plants, ord. Composite. Our species include Bur Marigold, Beggar-ticks, etc.; the seed-hooks catch on dress.

BIDENTAL, a. bi-děn'tăl [L. bis, twice; dentem, a tooth]: having two teeth. BIDENTATE, a. bi den-tāt, in bot., applied to leaves that have their marginal incisions or teeth edged by smaller teeth.

BIDERY, n. bi ́dër-i [from Bidar in Hyderabad in the Deccan]: an Indian alloy of copper, lead, and tin, of which many beautiful articles are manufactured.

BIDET, n. bid et [F. bidet; It. bidetto, a nag, a pony]: a small horse; an article of bedroom furniture.

BIDPAI, bid pi, or PILPAI, pil'pi: reputed author of a collection of fables and stories widely current in Asia and Europe for nearly 2,000 years, passing as a compendium of practical wisdom. Scarcely any book except the Bible has been translated into so many languages; and its history is part of the history of human development. The re