BINGEN-BINGHAM.

with BIN 1]: a heap; a miner's term for a heap of ore or other mineral of a certain size.

BINGEN, bing'én (ancient Vincum or Bingium): town in the grand-duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany; in a charming country on the left bank of the Rhine, and on the right of the Nahe, here crossed by a bridge, generaliy supposed to have been built by the Romans and called the Bridge of Drusus. The people are busied chiefly in the manufacture of fustian, leather, flannel, and tobacco. The vine is extensively cultivated in the surrounding country. The celebrated Scharlachberger wine is produced in the vineyard of that name, near the village of Rüdesheim. In the vicinity of the town is the Rochusberg, with a chapel, to which annual pilgrimages are made. On the declivity of the hill are still the ruins of the old castle (blown up by the French, 1689), in which the emperor Henry IV. was detained a prisoner by his son in 1105. On the other side of the Nahe is the Rupertsberg, with the ruins of a monastery, in which St. Hildegarde resided in the 12th c. Below the town is the celebrated Bingerloch, formerly a very dangerous point in the navigation of the Rhine, on account of the sunk rocks which, with the exception of a narrow passage through which the waters rushed loud and furious, stretched across the river; but, 1834, these rocks were blown up. In the middle of the river stands the tower in which Bishop Hatto (q.v.) was said to have been devoured by rats. Pop. (1885) 7,215; (1890) 7,654.

BINGHAM, bing'am, HIRAM: missionary: 1789, Oct. 30 --1869, Nov. 11; b. Bennington, Vt. He graduated at Middlebury Coll. 1816, and at Andover Theol. Seminary 1819, where he was ordained to the Congl. ministry. He immediately applied for an appointment as missionary, and was sent to the Sandwich Islands 1819. Here he remained for 20 years, preaching and teaching indefatigably, and obtaining strong influence with the Hawaiian rulers. Soon after B.

was stationed on the island of Oahu, the cap., Honolulu, was established there, and this port was frequently visited by whalers and trading-ships, giving him a most favorable reputation at home. He returned 1841 to the United States. BING'HAM, JOHN A.: lawyer and diplomat: 1815

-; b. Mercer, Penn. His early education was limited, and he was employed two years in a printing office, and though he studied at Franklin Coll., Ohio, he left without graduating. He gave some time to the study of law, was admitted to practice 1840, and was district atty. for Tuscarawas co., Ohio, 1845-49. In 1854 he was elected to congress as a republican, and held his seat till 1863. During this period he was placed in charge of the report on the contested Ill. elections, and was chairman of the managers in the impeachment of Judge Humphreys for high treason. Pres. Lincoln appointed him judge-advocate in the army and solicitor of the court of claims 1864, and he was special advocate in the trial of the assassins of Lincoln. He was U. S. minister to Japan 1873-85,

BINGHAM-BINGHAMTON.

BING'HAM, JUDSON DAVID: military officer: 1831, May 16; b. Massena Springs, St. Lawrence co., N. Y. He graduated from the Milit. Acad. at West Point 1854, and his first experience in active service appears to have been in the suppression of John Brown's raid at Harper's Ferry 1859. Later, and till 1862-3, he had charge of supplies and trains in Md., and in connection with the army of the Tennessee. He was at the siege of Vicksburg, and in the march through Georgia. He was made brev. brig.gen. 1865, Apr. 9. After the war he held important positions, reaching the rank of lieut.col. U. S. A., and chief quarter-master of the division of the Missouri 1886, June 4.

BING'HAM, WILLIAM: senator: 1751-1804, Feb. 7; b. Philadelphia. He graduated at Philadelphia Coll. 1768, He was a delegate from Penn. to the Old Congress 1787-8, and senator 1795-1801. He gave strong support to Pres. Adams. B. had great wealth for those times, and purchased (1793) 2,000,000 acres of land in Maine. He died in Bath, England.-His wife, ANNE (WILLING) B. was noted in Philadelphia society for her personal charms and her generous hospitality. Her portrait was painted by Gilbert Stuart. His eldest daughter, ANNE LOUISA (B.) married (1798) Alexander Baring, afterward Lord Ashburton, negotiator of the Webster-Ashburton treaty. She died 1848.-His 2d daughter, MARIA MATILDA (B.), was married three times, her first husband being James Alexander, Comte de Tilly; her second, Henry Baring, bro. of Lord Ashburton; and her third, the Marquis de Blaisel.

BINGHAMTON, bing'am-ton: county seat of Broome co., N. Y.; pleasantly situated on both sides of the Susquehanna river at the mouth of the Chenango. Lofty hills confine the valleys of both rivers so that Indian paths, turnpikes, and railroads have each in turn been obliged to cross at this spot. B. has in consequence become a great railroad centre. The Chenango canal, 97 m. long, built 1834-36 at a cost of $2,782,124, connects it with Utica and the Erie canal. B. is on the Erie railroad, 215 m. n.w. of New York, 208 m. s.e. of Buffalo. Other railroads connect it with Syracuse, Albany, and Wilkesbarre (Pa.). This place, first settled by William Bingham of Philadelphia, 1787, and named after him, was incorporated as a town, 1818, and as a city, 1867. The abundant water-power afforded by both rivers gave manufacturing enterprise a great impulse, and when this was superseded by steam, B. again found decided advantages in its nearness to the Pennsylvania coal-fields. It has considerable flour and lumber trade, and manufactures various kinds of machinery, leather, boots and shoes, carriages, and combs. Its streets are wide and well-paved, and its rivers spanned by half a dozen bridges. Gas is supplied by a private corporation. The city has a park s. of its limits and within 4 m. of the Pennsylvania line, a state asylum for the insane, an orphans' home, a home for the indigent, two Rom. Cath. parochial schools, 17 churches, 11 national and state banks, and 13 periodicals of all kinds. The property valuation was (1894) $19,152,208; public debt, $326,500; annual expenses, over $100,000. Pop. (1880) 17,317; (1890) 35,035.

BINGLEY-BINOCLE.

BINGLEY, bingle: town and township in the West Riding of Yorkshire, 15 m. w.n.w. of Leeds; on an eminence in a well-wooded district. It consists chiefly of one long street. It has worsted, cotton, and paper manufactures. Pop. (1881), town, 9,465; (1891) 10,023.

BINNACLE, or BINACLE, n. bin'a-kl [formerly written BITTACLE, n. bit'ă-kl-from Port. bitacola; F. habitacle, an abode-from L. habitaculum]: a wooden box or case for containing a ship's compass, with other apparatus (especially a lamp) essential to its use. In large ships, there are generally two binnacles, one for the steersman, and one for the officer or seaman who 'cons' or superintends the steering. Sometimes a lamp is so placed as to illuminate two compasses at night, sometimes only one. Many improvements have recently been made in bin nacles. See COMPASS, MARINER'S.

BINNEY, bin'ni, AMOS: naturalist: 1803, Oct. 18-1847, Feb. 18; b. Boston. He graduated at Brown Univ. 1821. His Terrestrial Mollusks of the United States, 3 vols. (1847-51), was the first great work on the subject. His tomb at Mount Auburn is notable for its beauty.. WILLIAM G., his son, pursued the same line of investigation, and works by him have been issued by the Smithsonian Institution.

BIN'NEY, HORACE: eminent jurist and mem. of congress: 1780, Jan. 4-1875, Aug. 12; b. Philadelphia. He is known by his reports of Penn. supreme-court decisions, his Inquiry into the Formation of Washington's Farewell Address (1858), and his defense of Pres. Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus writs.

BIN NEY, THOMAS, D.D., LL.D.: 1798-1874; b. Newcastle, Eng.: one of the most distinguished modern preachers of the Congregationalists in England. After officiating as a clergyman in Newport, Isle of Wight, he removed to London, 1829, where he acquired extensive popularity. The hall in which he preached becoming too small for his congregation, Weigh-house Chapel, near London Bridge, was erected for him by his hearers, 1833. Here he continued with great success for 40 yrs. Among the most popular of his religious works are: Conscientious Clerical Nonconformity, The Practical Power of Faith, Service of Song in the House of the Lord, Money, and Is it Possible to Make the Best of Both Worlds? See Memorial of B., edited by John Stoughton, D.D., 1875.

BINOCLE, n. bin ō-kl or bi-no'kl [L. binus, double; oc ulus, an eye]: a telescope fitted with two tubes for both eyes. BINOCULAR, a. bi-nok'u-ler, having two eyes; employing both eyes at once-as binocular vision. BINOCULAR GLASSES, opera or field glasses made double for both eyes,

BINOMIAL-BIOBIO.

BINOMIAL, n. bi-no'mi-ăl [L. bis, twice; nomen, a name]: in alg., a quantity consisting of two terms connected by the sign plus (+), or minus (-): ADJ. pertaining to; or BINOMINOUS, a. bi-nōm'i-nus. BINOMIAL SYSTEM, in bot. or zool., the system according to which every plant or animal receives two names, the one indicating the genus to which it belongs, the other being its own specific nameas Erogonium purga, the jalap plant; Canis familiāris, the domestic dog. BINOMIAL THEOREM, in math., that remarkable series or analytical formula by which any power of a B. can be expressed and developed. Thus, the 8th or any other power of a+b can be at once written down without going through the actual multiplication of a+b by itself for the given number of times. The older mathematicians were acquainted with this theorem in the case of integral exponents, though the actual discoverer is unknown. Newton was the first to demonstrate its truth for all exponents-fractional and negative, as well as integral. It is one of the finest of his discoveries, and is engraved on his tomb. Among its many applications, it affords the means of finding any root of any number much more conveniently than by the usual method of extraction.

BINONDO, be-non'do: town of the island of Luzon, Philippines, on the right bank of the Pasig, opposite Manila, with which it is connected by a magnificent stone bridge, 411 ft. in length. This bridge is regarded as the greatest structure erected by Europeans in the East. B. is chiefly inhabited by natives of the Philippines, but is also the residence of some Europeans. It is the seat of govt. of the province of Tondo. Pop. 26,458.

BINOT, n. bi-not': a kind of double mold-board plow. BINOTONOUS, a. bi-nõt'ō-nŭs: consisting of two notes, as the song of some birds.

BINOUS, a, bî'nŭs [L. bīni, two by two]: double; in a pair, as leaves.

BINOXALATE, n. bin-õks'ǎl-āt [L. bis, twice; Gr. oralis, a kind of sorrel-from Gr. oxus, acid]: a combination of two equivalents of oxalic acid with one equivalent of a base. BINOX IDE, n. -oksid [L. bis, twice, and oxygen]: the second degree of oxidation of a metal or other substance -better written dioxide.

BINTANG, bin'tăng: island of the Dutch East Indies, about 40 m. s.e. of Singapore; lat. 1° 5' n., long. 104° 29' e.; 454 sq. m. It is calculated that not less than 4,000 tons of the astringent gum called gambir are obtained here annually. This, with rice and pepper, forms its chief ex-· port. Pop., including that of small adjacent isles, 18,000.

BINTURONG, bin'tu-rong (Ictides): genus of quadrupeds nearly allied to Raccoons (q.v.), from which the chief distinction is in the smaller and less tuberculated back molar (grinder) teeth. Only two species are known, natives of Malacca, Java, Sumatra, etc.

BIOBIO, bè'o-be'o: largest river of Chili; it has a w.n.w. course from the Andes to Concepcion on the Pacific, being

BIOCELLATE-BIOGRAPHY.

2 m. wide at its mouth, and navigable for boats from the sea to the mountains. Its lower stream separates the province of Concepcion on the n. from independent Araucania on the s.

BIOCELLATE, a. bi-ds'ěl-lit [L. bis, twice; ocellatus, having ocelli-from ocellus, a little eye]: having two ocelli on its wings.

BIODYNAMICS, n. bi-ō di-năm'iks [Gr. bios, life; Eng. dynamics (q.v.)]: the dynamics of life; the doctrine of vital forces or activity.

BIOGENESIS, n. bi'ō-jěn'ě-sis [Gr. bios, life; genesis, generation]: term expressing the generation of living forms from pre-existing life, or cells from cells; opposed to abiogenesis [Gr. prefix a, privative-negative]. See GENERATION, SPONTANEOUS.

BIOGRAPHY, n. bì-òg ́ră fi [Gr. bios, life; grapho, I write]: the written history of the life and character of a particular person. BIOGRAPH'IC, a. -ō-grafik, or Br'OGRAPH'ICAL, a. -i-kăl, pertaining to the written life of any one. Br'OGRAPH'ICALLY, ad. -i-kali. BIOGRAPHER, n. bi-g'ră-fer, a writer of lives.

BIOGRAPHY: department of literature which treats of the lives of individuals. The mode of treatment, especially in modern times, is far from uniform. In some cases, B. approaches the sphere of philosophy; in others, that of history; while in the majority it assumes, to a large extent, the character of analytic or descriptive criticism. To none of these modes, theoretically considered, can there be any valid objection; everything depends on the judiciousness of the biographer. The great points which he must keep perpetually in view are the personality and characteristics of his subject. If these are buried under a load of digressive dissertations, his book, however valuable or interesting, ceases to be a B., except in name. Anciently, B. was more of a mere curriculum vite than it is now; the leading incidents of a man's life were narrated in their historical sequence, without any elaborate attempt to analyze the character from which they emanated. Like ancient history, it had a simple greatness, a stately dignity of narrative, colored here and there but sparingly with grave eulogy or censure. Modern B., on the other hand, like modern history, is full of elucidations, criticism, and disquisition; and though wanting in the severe grace of its classic predecessor, it is much more lively, acute, and expansive.

Biographical literature appears to have existed from a very early period. The oldest historical books of the Jews abound with beautiful examples of it, such as the lives of the patriarchs and the story of Ruth. But what, indeed, are the mythologies of all ancient nations except a chaos of heroic or divine biographies written not on walls of stone or rolls of parchment, or leaves of papyrus, but on the tablets of the memory? Of purely biographical works, the most valuable that has come down to us from the Greeks is the Parallel Lives of Plutarch, a composition of the 2d. c. after Christ. Roman literature also possesses an