BILDERDIJK

bilderdijk, willem (1756-1831), dutch poet, the son of an amsterdam physician, was born on the 7th of september 1756. when he was six years old an accident to his foot incapacitated him for ten years, and he developed habits of continuous and concentrated study. his parents were ardent partisans of the house of orange, and bilderdijk grew up with strong monarchical and calvinistic convictions. he was, says da costa, "anti-revolutionary, anti-barneveldtian, anti-loevesteinish, anti-liberal." after studying at leiden university, he obtained his doctorate in law in 1782, and began to practise as an advocate at the hague. three years later he contracted an unhappy marriage with rebecca woesthoven. he refused in 1795 to take the oath to the new administration, and was consequently obliged to leave holland. he went to hamburg, and then to london, where his great learning procured him consideration. there he had as a pupil katharina wilhelmina schweickhardt (1776-1830), the daughter of a dutch painter and herself a poet. when he left london in june 1797 for braunschweig, this lady followed him, and after he had formally divorced his first wife (1802) they were married. in 1806 he was persuaded by his friends to return to holland. he was kindly received by louis napoleon, who made him his librarian, and a member and eventually president (1809-1811) of the royal institute. after the abdication of louis napoleon he suffered great poverty; on the accession of william of orange in 1813 he hoped to be made a professor, but was disappointed and became a history tutor at leiden. he continued his vigorous campaign against liberal ideas to his death, which took place at haarlem on the 18th of december 1831. a picture of the bilderdijk household is given in the letters (vol. v., 1850) of robert southey, who stayed some time with bilderdijk in 1825. madame bilderdijk had translated _roderick_ into dutch (1823-1824). for his work as a poet see dutch literature. his many-sided activity showed itself also in historical criticism--_geschiedenis des vaderlands_ (1832-1851, 13 vols.), a conservative commentary on wagenaar's _vaderlandsche historie_; in translations from sophocles (1779 and 1789), of part of the _iliad_, of the hymns and epigrams of callimachus, and from the latin poets; in philology--_taal en dichtkundige verscheidenheden_ (1820-1825, 4 vols.); and in drama--the tragedies, _floris de vijfde_ (1808), _willem i. van holland_ (1808), and others. his most important poetical works are the didactic poem, _de ziekte der geleerden_ ("the disease of the learned"), 2 vols., 1807; a descriptive poem in the manner of delille in _het buitenleven_ (1803); and his fragmentary epic, _de ondergang der eerste wereld_ (1820). other volumes were _mijne verlustigung_ (leiden, 1781), _bloemtjens_ (1785), _mengel-poezij_ (1799, 2 vols.), _poezij_ (1803-1807, 4 vols.), _mengelingen_ (1804-1808, 4 vols.), _nieuwe mengelingen_ (1806, 2 vols.), _hollands verlossing_ (1813-1814, 2 vols.), _vaderlandsche uitboezemingen_ (leiden, 1815), _winterbloemen_ (1811, 2 vols.), &c., in some of which his wife collaborated. his poetical works were collected by i. da costa (haarlem, 1856-1859, 16 vols.), with a biography of the poet. see also "mijne levensbeschrijving" in _mengelingen en fragmenten_ ... (1834); his _brieven_ (ed. 1836-1837) by i. da costa and w. messchert; dr r.a. kollewijn, _bilderdijk, zijn leven en werken_ ... (2 vols., 1891). bilejik (byzantine _belocome_), chief town of the ertoghrul sanjak of the brusa vilayet in asia minor, altitude 1900 ft., situated on a hill 21/2 m. from its station on the ismid-angora railway. pop. 10,500 (moslems, 7200; christians, 3300). it is an important centre of the silk industry, and has several silk-spinning factories. bilfinger (buelffinger), georg bernhard (1693-1750), german philosopher, mathematician and statesman, son of a lutheran minister, was born on the 23rd of january 1693, at kanstatt in wuerttemberg. as a boy he showed great aptitude for study, and at first devoted himself to theology, but under the influence of wolff's writings he took up mathematics and philosophy on the lines of wolff and leibnitz. returning to theology, he attempted to connect it with philosophy in a treatise, _dilucidationes philosophicae, de deo, anima humana, mundo_ (tuebingen, 1725, 1746, 1768). this work, containing nothing original, but giving a clear representation of wolff's philosophy, met with great success, and the author was appointed to the office of preacher at the castle of tuebingen and of reader in the school of theology. in 1721, after two years' study under wolff, he became professor of philosophy at halle, and in 1724 professor of mathematics. his friends at tuebingen disapproved his new views, and in 1725, on wolff's recommendation, he was invited by peter the great to lecture in st petersburg, where he was well received. his success in winning the prize of a thousand crowns offered for a dissertation on the cause of gravity by the academy of sciences of paris secured his return to his native land in 1731. in 1735, largely on account of his knowledge of military engineering, duke charles alexander (1733-1737) made him a privy councillor, but his hands were tied owing to the frivolous atmosphere of the court. on the death of the duke, however, he became a member of the regency council, and devoted himself with energy and success to the reorganization of the state. in the departments of education, state-religion, agriculture and commerce, his administration was uniformly successful, and he became in a real sense the head of the state. he died at stuttgart on the 18th of february 1750. after his return from russia, he won the highest respect at home and abroad, and frederick the great is recorded to have said of him, "he was a great man whom i shall ever remember with admiration." beside the _dilucidationes_, he wrote:--_de harmonia animi et corporis humani commentatio_ (frankfort and leipzig, 1735; tuebingen, 1741); _de origine et permissione mali_ (1724), an account of the leibnitzian theodicy. for his life and times see tafinger, _leichenrede_ (stuttgart, 1750); prof. abel in moser's _patriot. archiv._, 1788, 9, p. 369; spittler, _verm. schriften_, 13, p. 421; g. schwab in _morgenblatt_ (1830). for his philosophy, see r. wahl, "bilfinger's _monadologie_" (_zeitschrift fuer philos._ vol. 85, pp. 66-92, 202-231 (leipzig, 1884), e. zeller, _geschichte d. deutsch. philos. seit leibnitz_, pp. 283 foll., 294). bilge (a corruption of bulge, from fr. _bouge_, lat. _bulga_, a bag, deriving probably from an original celtic word), the "belly" or widest part of a cask; the broad horizontal part of a ship's bottom above the keel; also the lowest interior part of the hull; hence "bilge-water," the foul water which collects in the bilge. "bilge-keels" are pieces of timber fastened to the bottom of a ship to reduce rolling (see shipbuilding). bilharziosis. in various parts of africa the inhabitants are liable to suffer from a form of endemic haematuria caused by the presence of a parasite in the mucous membrane of the urinary passages. this parasite was discovered in 1852 by bilharz, and hence is generally known as bilharzia, though it has been more scientifically named schistosoma haematobium. the condition to which it gives rise is that of bilharziosis. (for description and life history of the parasite see trematodes.) in man the parasites and ova have been found in the minute veins of the bladder, ureter and pelvis of the kidney (more rarely in other organs), where they infest the mucous and submucous tissues. in an affected bladder the mucous membrane presents swollen vascular patches of varying size, or warty prominences on which the urinary salts may be deposited. the ova often serve as a nucleus for urinary calculi. similar changes may take place in the ureter, and the consequent swelling lead to obstruction to the passage of urine, and if left untreated to pyelitis and pyonephrosis. if the rectum be affected the mucous membrane becomes thickened, polypoid growths form and large submucous haemorrhages may take place. as to the mode of entrance of this parasite opinion is divided. some authorities favour the view that the entrance is through the skin, urethra or rectum, the result of bathing in infected water; others that it is taken by the mouth in water or uncooked fish. the symptoms to which it gives rise are haematuria, pain in the perineal region and a greater or less degree of anaemia through loss of blood. if the disease continue, cystitis and its consequent train of symptoms ensue (see bladder and prostate diseases). if the rectum be affected there is considerable discharge of mucus, and later prolapsus ani may be the result. but the symptoms vary to a remarkable extent, from the slightest producing but little discomfort, to the most severe resulting in death. the liquid extract of male fern is the only drug used with much success. the symptoms caused by the parasite must be treated as they arise. polypoid growths of the rectum must be surgically treated. bilin (czech _bilina_), a town of bohemia, austria, 90 m. n. of prague by rail. pop. (1900) 7871, chiefly german. it is a very old town situated on the biela, and contains a 17th-century castle, belonging to prince lobkowitz. in the vicinity of the towns are extensive lignite mines. bilin is famous for its mineral springs, the _biliner sauerbrunnen_. they have a temperature of 45.6 deg. f., and contain a large proportion of bicarbonate of soda. about 4,000,000 bottles of water are exported annually, and another article of export is the salt recovered from the water by evaporation. about 5 m. to the s. of the sauerbrunnen lies the boren or biliner stein (1763 ft.), a large mass of phonolite or clinkstone, with rare flora and fine view. the town is indeed surrounded by basaltic rocks, the largest of them being the radelstein (2460 ft.), from which a fine view is obtained. bill. there are three words in english with distinct meanings and derivations. (1) a written, originally sealed, document. the word is derived from the early english _bille_, anglo-latin _billa_, from latin _bulla_, in the medieval sense of "seal." it is a doublet, therefore, of "bull." (2) a common teutonic word for a long-handled cutting weapon (o. eng. _bil, billes_, sword or falchion, o. sax. _bill_, m.h.g. _bil_, mod. ger. _bille_, a pickaxe; no connexion with ger. _beil_, an axe), of which the name and shape is preserved in the hedging-bills used for pruning hedges and lopping the branches of trees. for an account of the weapon see (2) below. (3) the beak of a bird. this may be connected with (2), but it does not appear in any teutonic language other than english. (1) in the sense of a document the word is used in various connexions in law and commerce. in the english parliament, and similar legislative bodies, a bill is a form of statute (q.v.) submitted to either house, which when finally passed becomes an act. the modern system of legislating by means of bill and statute appears to have been introduced in the reign of henry vi., superseding the older mode of proceeding by petitions from the commons, assented to by the king, and afterwards enrolled by the judges. a bill consists of a preamble, reciting the necessity for legislation, and clauses which contain the enactments. (for procedure see parliament.) a _bill in chancery_, in former days, in english law, was a written statement of the plaintiff's case whereby he complained of the wrong upon which the suit was based and prayed for relief. by the judicature acts 1873 and 1875 its place was taken by a writ and statement of claim (see pleading). a _bill of indictment_ is a presentment against a prisoner, charging him with an offence, and presented at quarter sessions or assizes to the grand jury (see indictment). a _bill of costs_ is an account setting forth the charges and disbursements incurred by a solicitor in the conduct of his client's business. the delivery of a bill of costs is by statute a condition necessary before the solicitor can sue upon it (see costs). a _bill of exceptions_ was formerly a statement in writing of objections to the ruling of a judge, who, at the trial, had mistaken the law, either in directing the jury, or in refusing or admitting evidence or otherwise. the bill of exceptions was tendered at any time before the verdict by counsel of the dissatisfied party, who required the judge to seal it. the case proceeded to the jury, and judgment being given, the point raised was brought before a court of error. bills of exceptions were confined to civil cases. they were abolished by the judicature act 1875, and a "motion for a new trial" substituted (see trial). a _bill of health_ is a document given to the master of a ship by the consul or other proper authority of the port from which he clears, describing the sanitary state of the place. a bill of health may be either "clean," "suspected" or "touched," or "foul." a "clean" bill imports that at the time the ship sailed, no disease of an infectious or contagious kind is known to exist, a "suspected" or "touched" bill, that no such disease has as yet appeared, but that there is reason to fear it; a "foul" bill, that such a disease actually exists at the time of the ship's departure. bills of health are necessary where the destination of the ship is a country whose laws require the production of such a bill before the ship is allowed into port, and where, in default of such production, the ship is subjected to quarantine. a _bill of mortality_ in england was a weekly return issued under the supervision of the company of parish clerks showing the number of deaths in a parish. during the tudor period england suffered much from plague, and various precautionary measures became necessary. quarantine or isolation was the most important, but to carry it out successfully it was necessary to have early warning of the existence of plague in each parish or house. for this purpose searchers--usually women--were appointed, who reported to the clerk the cause of each death in the parish. he, in turn, sent a report to the parish clerks' hall, from whence was issued weekly a return of all the deaths from plague and other causes in the various parishes, as well as a list of those parishes which were free from plague. bills of mortality are usually said to date from 1538, when parish registers were established by cromwell (lord essex), but there is extant a bill which dates from august 1535, and one which is possibly even earlier than this. it is certain that they first began to be compiled in a recognized manner in december 1603, and they were continued regularly from that date down to 1842, when under the births and deaths registration act 1836 they were superseded by the registrar-general's returns. it was not till 1728, when the _ages_ of the dead were first introduced, that bills of mortality acquired any considerable statistical value. it was on the data thus furnished that the science of life insurance was founded. a _bill of particulars_ was, in law, a statement in writing, informing each party to a suit the precise nature of the case they had to meet. it contained the plaintiff's cause of action or the defendant's set-off. particulars are now usually indorsed on the pleadings (see pleading). a _bill of peace_ is, in equity, a suit brought by a person to establish and perpetuate a right which he claims, and which from its nature may be controverted by different persons at different times and by different actions; or where several attempts have already been unsuccessfully made to overthrow the same right, and justice requires that the party should be quieted in the right if it is already sufficiently established. bills of this nature were usually filed where there was one general right to be established against a great number of persons, or where one person claimed or defended a right against many, or where many claimed or defended a right against one. thus, a bill might be filed by a parson for tithes against his parishioners; by parishioners against a parson to establish a _modus_; by a lord against tenants for an encroachment under colour of a common right; or by tenants against a lord for disturbance of a common right. bills were also filed in cases where the plaintiff had, after repeated and satisfactory trials, established his right at law, and yet was in danger of further litigation and obstruction to his right from new attempts to controvert it. actions in the nature of bills of peace are still maintainable. a _bill of sight_ is a document furnished to a collector of customs or other proper officer by an importer of goods in england, who, being unable for want of full information to make a perfect entry of goods consigned to him, describes the same to the best of his knowledge and information. the goods may then be provisionally landed, but perfect entry must be made within three days by indorsing on the bill of sight the necessary particulars. in default of perfect entry within three days the goods are taken to the king's warehouse, and if perfect entry is not made within one month and all duties and charges paid, they are sold for payment thereof. see the customs consolidation act 1876. a _bill of store_ is a license granted by the custom-house to re-import british goods into the united kingdom. all british goods re-imported into the united kingdom are entered as foreign, unless re-imported within ten years after their exportation and unless the property in the goods continues and remains in the person by whom they were exported. but in such case they may be entered as british goods, by bill of store, with the exception of corn, grain, meal, flour and hops. a _bill of victualling_ or _victualling bill_, in its original meaning, is a list of all stores for shipment, but now an order from an export officer of the customs for the shipment from a bonded warehouse or for drawback of such stores as may be required and allowed with reference to the number of the crew and passengers on board a ship proceeding on an oversea voyage. it is made out by the master and countersigned by the collector of customs. its object is to prevent frauds on the revenue. no such stores are supplied for the use of any ship nor any articles taken on board deemed to be stores unless they are borne upon the victualling bill, and any such stores relanded at any place in the united kingdom without the sanction of the proper officers of the customs will be forfeited and the master and owner will each be liable to a penalty of treble the value of the stores or l100. a victualling bill serves as a certificate of clearance when there is nothing but stores on board the ship. see also adventure, attainder, indemnity, letter of credit, bill of exchange, bill of rights and bill of sale; for a _bill of lading_ see affreightment. (t. a. i.) (2) in the sense of a weapon, the primitive forms of a bill suggest short scythe-blades or hedgers' bill-hooks mounted on tall staves. in such shape it is found in the hands of the english before the conquest. english medieval documents make much confusion between the bill and the halbert and other forms of staved weapons with cutting heads. before the 15th century the bill had been reinforced with a pike head above the curved blade and another jutting at a right angle from the blade's back. in this form it became a popular english weapon, the "brown bill" of many ballads. billmen are not found in the king's host at crecy and calais, the bowmen carrying malls or short swords, and henry vii.'s contracts for troops do not name the bill, which may be regarded rather as the private man's weapon. but when, in the middle of the 15th century, walter strickland, a westmorland squire, contracts to raise armed men, it is noticeable that more than half his horsemen carry the bill as their chief arm, while seventy-one bowmen are to march on foot with seventy-six billmen. in the 16th century the bill, with the halbert, fell out of use among regular troops, the pike taking their place on account of the longer staff, which made it a better defence against cavalry. it remained during the 17th century as a watchman or constable's weapon, although rudely-fashioned bills were seen in sedgemoor fight. (o. ba.)