BILGE. 69 injury in the bilge, she is said to be bilged. The upper side of the floor-tinil)ers in a wooden ship, and of the inner bottum in a modern vessel, form, near the midship line, natural drainways for any water wliioh may leak into or be formed in the ship, and are called bilges. The largest circumference of a cask is called the bilge. Bilge Blocks. A series of blocks on which the bilges of a ship rest when she is in a dry- dock. Bilge Iveel. A '-shaped keel riveted to a ship's bottom near the turn of the bilge for the purpose of checking her rolling. These keels are very efl'ective, and few large ships are now built without them. A comparison of the behavior of two 15,000-ton British battle-ships, one fitted with bilge keels and one without them, showed that the gain in a rough sea was very great; at one time the ship without bilge keels was rolling 28 degrees each way, while lier sister ship with keels 30 inches deep only rolled 11 degrees. Bilge Keelson. .
internal longitudinal
stiffening plate or timber inside the bilges. Bilge-Water. The water which collects in the bilges. It has a peculiar fetid odor which is very strong if the bilges are not kept as clean as possible. In the ships of the nay bilges are pumped out at least once a day and carefully cleaned once a week. In wooden ships it is very difficult to keep the bilges clean, and sickness on board has often been ascribed to their foulness. BiLGEWAys. A series of timbers on the launching ways. The cradle, which supports the body of the ship in launching, rests on the bilgeways. BILGUER, bil'gwer, Paul Rudolf ton (1815-40). A German chess-player, born at Ludwigslust. He was at an early age one of the most accomplished players of his day. He frequently gave exhibitions of memory feats, such as playing two games simultaneously, without watching the board. His Handbuch des Scharh- spiels (completed by Von Heydebrand and Von der Lasa. 1891) is regarded bj- many as the au- thority on the subject. BILHANA, bel-ha'na. An Indian poet of the Eleventh Century. He was born in Kash- mir and is supposed to hae died in the Deccan. His most celebrated work is the Caunsurata- pa)icu(;ik(i, a lyric poem of about fifty strophes, of which several versions have been preserved. Consult Hijfer's metrical translation in the In- dische (lediclife (Leipzig, 1844). BILIMrBI. See Carambola. BILIN, b4-len' (Bohem. Bilina, from the river Bielo, wliite). A town of the Austrian Crown- land of Bohemia, beautifully situated in the val- ley of the Biela. about ti miles southwest of Tep- litz. It has important agricultural industries and is famous for its alkali springs. Over one million bottles of the water are exported annual- ly. Population, in 1890, 6000; in 1900, 7800. In the vicinity rises the remarkable isolated clinkstone rock, called the Borschen, or Biliner Stein. BILIN. The language of the Bogos (q.v.). BILIO'SO. A character in The Malcontent, a tragi-coniicly by Marston (1004). BILL, or BEAK. Sec Bird. BILL (l.l,at. billii. for Lat. bulla, anything rounded; sealjStamp; edict, bull). In legislation. BILLET. the common name for a proposed legislative act. It was found a more convenient form of enacting laws than the old Parliamentary method of petition to tlie sovereign. Bills are" of two kinds, public and private, according as they by their terms atlect the particular interest of any per- son or persons, whether private individuals or corporations, or the interests of the people at large. In the United States Congress bills for raising revenue must originate in the Lower House, but the Senate may propose and make amendments. See Legislation; Congress; Bill of Attainder, etc. In the Law of PLEAniNO. A general term descriptive of various forms of pleading by which actions are instituted, both at common law and in equity. In criminal law, the written accusa- tion or presentment of a grand jury is known as a bill. See Indictment; Grand Jury: Bill in Equitv, etc. BILLAUD-VARENNES, bs'v6' va'ren', Jean Nicolas (1756-1819). A French revolution- ist. He was a member of the Xational Con- vention in 1792, voted for the execution of Louis XVI. within twenty-four hours and for the death of the other members of the royal family, and favored in every way the most violent measures. He was subsequently president of the Convention and a member of the Committee of Public .Safetv. Though he assisted in the overthrow of Robes- pierre, he ultimately shared the fall of the Ter- rorists and was transported to Cayenne in 1795. He visited New York in 1S16. but was coldly received and v.ent to Haiti, where he died, 1819. BILLBOARD. See Anchor. BILLET (Fr. billet, a ticket, dimin. of biUe. bill, note). A naval term denoting the station or employment of an individual. A sleeping billet is the numbered space assigned to a member of the crew in which he is required to swing his hammock. A station billet is a memorandum of his station and duties furnished to each member of the crew; one is given to him when he first comes on board, and if he be afterwards changed to another division or part of the ship, his station billet is changed accordingly. Billet-Head. A scroll-head of a 'ship at the end of the timbers underneath the bowsprit. It replaced the old figurehead in vessels of the- middle and latter part of the Nineteenth Cen- tury. Billet. In architecture, an ornament con- sisting of a series of short cylinders spaced along a straight line and formed by cutting a molding — generally a round molding — into notches, so that the parts left resemble billets of wood. When used in several rows, the billets and empty spaces are placed interchangeably. It is fre- quent in Norman buildings. BILLET. See Heraldry. BILLET, b^'ya'. FfiLix (1808-82). A French physicist, born at Fismes (Marne). He became professor of physics at the University of Dijon in 1845, and dean of the faculty in 1873. His name has become associated with the apparatus known as the "Bilentilles de Billet." His numer- ous important works include the following: Sur les ehangcmcnts de roliime dex eorps par le pas- sage de Vital solide d I'ftat liquide (1845); Condensations ilectriques de deuxivme et de troi- sihne eapice (1851) ; Traiti d'optique physique
