Prop.,  Sfo.  Colour  between  that  of  pewter
and  zinc;  does  not  corrode  by  exposure  to  air
or  damp ;  yields  little  to  the  hammer,  and  can
only  be  broken  by  extreme  violence.  It  pos-
sesses a  convenient  degree  of  fusibility,  above
that  of  zinc  and  tin,  but  much  lower  than  that
of  copper.  For  the  turner  it  is  usually  cast  in
moulds  of  baked  clay  ;  but  otherwise  in  moulds
of  iron  or  other  hard  metal.  The  beautiful
black  colour  which  the  finished  articles  pos-
sess is  imparted  by  dipping  them  into  a  solu-
tion of  sal-ammoniac,  saltpetre,  sea-salt,  and
blue  vitriol.  See  Beass,  Beonze,  Pewtbe,
&c.
BIDET'  (bid-ef;  -a'— Fr.).  An  article  of
bedroom  furniture  conveniently  formed  for
laving  the  lower  part  of  the  body.  Besides
the  value  of  its  use  as  an  instrument  of  per-
sonal cleanliness  and  health,  it  oflcrs  a  ready
means  of  medicating  the  parts,  often  highly
serviceable  in  piles,  prolapsus,.affections  of  the
scrotum  and  prostate  gland,  strangury,  ischuria,
suppressed  or  difficult  menstruation,  &c.  See
Ablution,  Baths,  &c.
BIELEFELDEE  TEOPfEN  — BIEIEFIEL-
DEK  DROPS  (Bansi).  A  spirituous  extract  of
wormwood,  unripe  oranges,  rhubarb,  casca-
rilla,  cloves,  and  gentian.     (Hager.)

BIEN'NIAL  (bi-en'-y'al).  St/n.  Bien'nis,
L.;  BlENKAI,,  BiSAHNUEl.,  DB  DETJX  AKS,
Fr. ;  ZwEiJAHEia,  Ger.  Occurring  once  in,
or  lasting,  two  years.  In  lotam/  and  garden-
ing, applied  to  plants  that  do  not  produce
flowers  and  seed  until  the  second  year  or  season
of  their  growth,  and  which  then  die ;  subst.,  a
biennial  plant.
The  existence  of  the  biennials,  like  that  of
the  annuals,  may  be  prolonged  by  art ;  indeed,
many    of  them,  by   carefully   removing    the

1  These  are  very  nearly  the  proportiona  which  Dr
Hamilton  says  he  saw  used  in  ladia.
