The fourteen orders of the Carinatae are further congregated into four “Legions”:—I. COLYMBOMORPHAE =Ichthyornithes+Colymbiformes+Sphenisciformes+Procellariiformes.II. PELARGOMORPHAE =Ciconiiformes+Anseriformes+Falconiformes.III. ALECTOROMORPHAE =Tinamiformes+Galliformes+Gruiformes+Charadriiformes.IV. CORACIOMORPHAE =Cuculiformes+Coraciiformes+Passeriformes.These four legions are again combined into two “Brigades,” the first of which comprises the first and second legions, while the second brigade contains the third and fourth legions.Thus the whole classification becomes a rounded-off phylogenetic system, which, at least in its broad outlines, seems to approach the natural system, the ideal goal of the scientific ornithologist. The main branches of the resultant “tree” may be rendered as follows:—The Odontolcae seem to be an early specialized offshoot of the Colymbo Pelargomorphous brigade, while the Ratitae represent a number of side branches of early Alectoromorphae. The Ratitae branched off, probably during the Eocene period, from that still indifferent stock which gave rise to the Tinami + Galli + Gruiformes, when the members of this stock were still in possession of those archaic characters which distinguish Ratitae from Carinatae. It follows that new groups of Ratitae can no longer be developed since there are no Carinatae living which still retain so many low characters,e.g.configuration of the palate, precoracoid, pelvis, intestinal convolutions, copulatory organ, &c. Loss of the keel is co-ordinated with the power of using the forelimbs for locomotion; although a “Ratite” character, it is not sufficient to turn aNotornis, CnemiornisorStringops, not even aPhororhacosinto a member of the Ratitae.Another branch of the Alectoromorphae, in particular of the Galliformes, when these were still scarcely separated from the Gruiformes, especially rail-like birds, leads through Opisthocomi to the Cuculiformes. These are, again in an ascending direction, connected with the Coraciiformes, out of which have arisen the Passeriformes, and these have blossomed into the Oscines, which, as the apotheosis of bird life, have conquered the whole inhabitable world.
The fourteen orders of the Carinatae are further congregated into four “Legions”:—
I. COLYMBOMORPHAE =Ichthyornithes+Colymbiformes+Sphenisciformes+Procellariiformes.II. PELARGOMORPHAE =Ciconiiformes+Anseriformes+Falconiformes.III. ALECTOROMORPHAE =Tinamiformes+Galliformes+Gruiformes+Charadriiformes.IV. CORACIOMORPHAE =Cuculiformes+Coraciiformes+Passeriformes.
I. COLYMBOMORPHAE =Ichthyornithes+Colymbiformes+Sphenisciformes+Procellariiformes.
II. PELARGOMORPHAE =Ciconiiformes+Anseriformes+Falconiformes.
III. ALECTOROMORPHAE =Tinamiformes+Galliformes+Gruiformes+Charadriiformes.
IV. CORACIOMORPHAE =Cuculiformes+Coraciiformes+Passeriformes.
These four legions are again combined into two “Brigades,” the first of which comprises the first and second legions, while the second brigade contains the third and fourth legions.
Thus the whole classification becomes a rounded-off phylogenetic system, which, at least in its broad outlines, seems to approach the natural system, the ideal goal of the scientific ornithologist. The main branches of the resultant “tree” may be rendered as follows:—
The Odontolcae seem to be an early specialized offshoot of the Colymbo Pelargomorphous brigade, while the Ratitae represent a number of side branches of early Alectoromorphae. The Ratitae branched off, probably during the Eocene period, from that still indifferent stock which gave rise to the Tinami + Galli + Gruiformes, when the members of this stock were still in possession of those archaic characters which distinguish Ratitae from Carinatae. It follows that new groups of Ratitae can no longer be developed since there are no Carinatae living which still retain so many low characters,e.g.configuration of the palate, precoracoid, pelvis, intestinal convolutions, copulatory organ, &c. Loss of the keel is co-ordinated with the power of using the forelimbs for locomotion; although a “Ratite” character, it is not sufficient to turn aNotornis, CnemiornisorStringops, not even aPhororhacosinto a member of the Ratitae.
Another branch of the Alectoromorphae, in particular of the Galliformes, when these were still scarcely separated from the Gruiformes, especially rail-like birds, leads through Opisthocomi to the Cuculiformes. These are, again in an ascending direction, connected with the Coraciiformes, out of which have arisen the Passeriformes, and these have blossomed into the Oscines, which, as the apotheosis of bird life, have conquered the whole inhabitable world.
(H. F. G.)
1Treviranus,Biologie oder Philosophie der lebenden Natur, vol. ii. cap. 4, § 2 (Göttingen, 1803).2F. Tiedemann,Anatomie und Naturgeschichte der Vögel, vol. ii §§ 127-255 (Heidelberg, 1814).3L.K. Schmarda,Die geographische Verbreitung der Thiere(Wien, 1853).4P.L. Sclater on the general geographical distribution of the members of the class “Aves,” 2.Linn. Soc.ii. pp. 130-145, 1858.5A.R. Wallace,The Geographical Distribution of Animals, with a study of the Relations of Living and Extinct Faunas as elucidating the Past Changes of the Earth’s Surface, 2 vols. (London, 1876).6T.H. Huxley, “On the Classification and Distribution of the Alectoromorphae,”P.Z.S., 1868, pp. 313-319.7The following old-fashioned rough computation may serve as an indication of the relative size of the orders and suborders of recent birds:—Ratitae20Gruiformes250Colymbiformes20Charadriiformes650(incl. Columbae 350)Sphenisciformes15Cuculiformes600(incl. Psittaci 400)Procellariiformes90Coraciiformes1600(incl. Trochili and Pici)Ciconiiformes150Passeres Clamatores1000Anseriformes150Passeres Oscines5000Falconiformes360———Tinamiformes40Total about10,300speciesGalliformes370
1Treviranus,Biologie oder Philosophie der lebenden Natur, vol. ii. cap. 4, § 2 (Göttingen, 1803).
2F. Tiedemann,Anatomie und Naturgeschichte der Vögel, vol. ii §§ 127-255 (Heidelberg, 1814).
3L.K. Schmarda,Die geographische Verbreitung der Thiere(Wien, 1853).
4P.L. Sclater on the general geographical distribution of the members of the class “Aves,” 2.Linn. Soc.ii. pp. 130-145, 1858.
5A.R. Wallace,The Geographical Distribution of Animals, with a study of the Relations of Living and Extinct Faunas as elucidating the Past Changes of the Earth’s Surface, 2 vols. (London, 1876).
6T.H. Huxley, “On the Classification and Distribution of the Alectoromorphae,”P.Z.S., 1868, pp. 313-319.
7The following old-fashioned rough computation may serve as an indication of the relative size of the orders and suborders of recent birds:—
BIRD-LOUSE,any small flat degenerate wingless neuropterous insect of the group Mallophaga, parasitic upon birds and mammals and feeding upon dermal excretions or upon the softer parts of hair and feathers. The term “biting-lice” is sometimes given to these parasites, in allusion to the mandibulate character of their mouth-parts, which serves to distinguish them at once from the true lice of the order Rhynchota in which the jaws are haustellate.
BIRD’S-EYE,a name applied to various small bright flowers, especially those which have a small spot or “eye” in the centre. The primula is thus spoken of, on account of its yellow centre, also the adonis, or “pheasant’s eye,” and the blue veronica, or germander speedwell. The word is also applied to a sort of tobacco, in which the stalks (of a mottled colour) are cut up together with the leaves. From a similar sense comes the phrase “bird’s-eye maple,” a speckled variety of maple-wood, or the “bird’s-eye handkerchief” mentioned in Thackeray’s novels.
BIRDSNESTING,a general term for the pursuit of collecting and preserving birds’ eggs, with or without the nests themselves. The nests and eggs of wild birds are nowadays protected by local laws almost everywhere in both Great Britain and the United States. By law they may be taken for scientific purposes only, by special licence. In order not to interfere seriously with breeding it is customary to take but one egg from a nest, and, if the nest itself be taken, to wait until the young birds have left it. Every egg, unless “hard-set,” should be blown as soon as removed from the nest. This is done by opening a small hole in its side by means of a drill with a conical head, manufactured for the purpose, a minute hole for the insertion of the drill-head having first been made in the shell with a needle, which is then used to stir up the contents, so that they shall flow easily. A blow-pipe with a curved mouth is then inserted, the egg is held hole downwards, and the contents blown out. The old-fashioned method of making two holes in the egg is thus superseded. Should the egg be “hard-set” a somewhat larger hole is made and its edges reinforced with layers of paper pasted round them. Minute forceps are then introduced and the embryo cut into pieces small enough to pass through the hole. The inside of the egg is then rinsed out with clean water, and also before being placed in the cabinet, with a solution of corrosive sublimate, which prevents decay and consequent discoloration of the inner membrane. Finally the egg is placed with the hole downwards upon a sheet of white blotting-paper to dry. The authentication of the eggs is the most important duty of an egg-collector, next to identifying the specimens. According to some the best method is to mark with a fine pen on the egg itself the variety, scientific name, locality of nest, date of taking and the initials of the collector, as well as a reference to his note-book or catalogue. Others advocate keeping the authentication separate with only a numbered reference on the egg itself. Eggs should not be transported in bran or sawdust, but in strong wool-lined boxes. The best cabinets are fitted with drawers, pulled out to inspect the eggs, but at other times closed to preserve them from the light, which is injurious to their delicate colouring. When an entire nest is taken it should be disinfected with hyposulphite of soda or insect-powder.
SeeBirdnesting and Bird-Skinning, by E. Newman (London, 1888);The Young Collector’s Handbook of British Birds’ Nests and Eggs, by W.H. Bath (London, 1888);Birds’ Nests, Eggs and Egg-Collecting, by R. Kearton (London, 1890);British Birds’ Eggs and Nests, by J.C. Atkinson (London, 1898);Nests and Eggs of North American Birds, by Ernest Ingersoll (1880-1881).
SeeBirdnesting and Bird-Skinning, by E. Newman (London, 1888);The Young Collector’s Handbook of British Birds’ Nests and Eggs, by W.H. Bath (London, 1888);Birds’ Nests, Eggs and Egg-Collecting, by R. Kearton (London, 1890);British Birds’ Eggs and Nests, by J.C. Atkinson (London, 1898);Nests and Eggs of North American Birds, by Ernest Ingersoll (1880-1881).
BIRDS OF PARADISE,a group of passerine birds inhabiting New Guinea and the adjacent islands, so named by the Dutch voyagers in allusion to the brilliancy of their plumage, and to the current belief that, possessing neither wings nor feet, they passed their lives in the air, sustained on their ample plumes, resting only at long intervals suspended from the branches of lofty trees by the wire-like feathers of the tail, and drawing their food “from the dews of heaven and the nectar of flowers.” Such stories obtained credence from the fact that so late as the year 1760, when Linnaeus named the principal speciesapoda, or “footless,” no perfect specimen had been seen in Europe, the natives who sold the skins to coast traders invariably depriving them of feet and wings. The birds now usually included under this name belong to the familyParadiseidae, closely allied to the crows. The largest is the great emerald bird (Paradisea apoda), about the size of the common jay. Its head and neck are covered with short thick-set feathers, resembling velvet pile, of a bright straw colour above, and a brilliant emerald green beneath. From under the shoulders on each side springs a dense tuft of golden-orange plumes, about 2 ft. in length, which the bird can raise at pleasure, so as to enclose the greater part of its body. Thetwo centre tail feathers attain a length of 34 in., and, being destitute of webs, have a thin wire-like appearance. This splendid plumage, however, belongs only to the adult males, the females being exceedingly plain birds of a nearly uniform dusky brown colour, and possessing neither plumes nor lengthened tail feathers. The young males at first resemble the females, and it is only after the fourth moulting, according to A.R. Wallace, who has studied those birds in their native haunts, that they assume the perfect plumage of their sex, which, however, they retain permanently afterwards, and not during the breeding season only as was formerly supposed. At that season the males assemble, in numbers varying from twelve to twenty, on certain trees, and there disport themselves, so as to display their magnificent plumes in presence of the females. Wallace in hisMalay Archipelago, vol. ii., thus describes the attitude of the male birds at one of those “sacaleli,” or dancing parties, as the natives call them; “their wings,” he says, “are raised vertically over the back, the head is bent down and stretched out, and the long plumes are raised up and expanded till they form two magnificent golden fans striped with deep red at the base, and fading off into the pale brown tint of the finely-divided and softly-waving points; the whole bird is then overshadowed by them, the crouching body, yellow head, and emerald green throat, forming but the foundation and setting to the golden glory which waves above.” It is at this season that those birds are chiefly captured. The bird-catcher having found a tree thus selected for a “dancing party,” builds a hut among the lower branches in which to conceal himself. As soon as the male birds have begun their graceful antics, he shoots them, one after the other, with blunt arrows, for the purpose of stunning and bringing them to the ground without drawing blood, which would injure their plumage; and so eager are those birds in their courtship that almost all the males are thus brought down before the danger is perceived. The natives in preparing the skins remove both feet and wings, so as to give more prominence to the commercially valuable tuft of plumes. They also remove the skull, and the skin is then dried in a smoky hut. The great emerald bird, so far as yet known, is only found in the Aru Islands. The lesser bird of paradise (Paradisea minor), though smaller in size and somewhat less brilliant in plumage, in other respects closely resembles the preceding species. It is also more common, and much more widely distributed, being found throughout New Guinea and the neighbouring islands. Its plumes are those most generally used as ornaments for ladies’ head-dresses. Both species are omnivorous, feeding voraciously on fruits and insects. They are strong, active birds, and are believed to be polygamous. The king bird of paradise (Cicinnurus regius) is one of the smallest and most brilliant of the group, and is specially distinguished by its two middle tail feathers, the ends of which alone are webbed, and coiled into a beautiful spiral disk of a lovely emerald green. In the red bird of paradise (Paradisea rubra) the same feathers are greatly elongated and destitute of webs, but differ from those in the other species, in being flattened out like ribbons. They are only found in the small island of Waigiu off the coast of New Guinea. Of the long-billed paradise birds the most remarkable is that known as the “twelve-wired” (Seleucides alba), its delicate yellow plumes, twelve of which are transformed into wire-like bristles nearly a foot long, affording a striking contrast to the dark metallic tints of the rest of its plumage.
(A. N.)
BIRDWOOD, SIR GEORGE CHRISTOPHER MOLESWORTH(1832- ), Anglo-Indian official and writer, son of General Christopher Birdwood, was born at Belgaum, in the Bombay presidency, on the 8th of December 1832. He was educated at Plymouth grammar-school and Edinburgh University, where he took his M.D. degree. Entering the Bombay Medical Service in 1854, he served in the Persian War of 1856-57, and subsequently became professor at the Grant Medical College, registrar of the university, curator of the museum, and sheriff at Bombay, besides acting as secretary of the Asiatic and Horticultural societies. His work on theEconomic Vegetable Products of the Bombay Presidencyreached its twelfth edition in 1868. He interested himself prominently also in the municipal life of the city, where he acquired great influence and popularity. He was obliged by ill-health in 1868 to return to England, where he entered the revenue and statistics department of the India Office (1871-1902). Whilst engaged there he published important volumes on the industrial arts of India, the ancient records of the India Office, and the first letter-book of the East India Company. He devoted much time and energy to the encouragement of Indian art, on various aspects of which he wrote valuable monographs, and his name was identified with the representation of India at all the principal international exhibitions from 1857 to 1901. (SeeJournal of Indian Art, vol. viii. “The Life and Work of Sir George Birdwood.”) His researches on the subject of incense (Trans. Linn. Soc.xxvii., 1871;Ency. Brit.9th ed., “Incense,” 1881; revised for the present edition by him), a good example of his mastery of detail, have made his historical and botanical account of this subject a classic. Nor can his lifelong association with journalism of the best sort be overlooked. From boyhood he was a diligent contributor of special information to magazines and newspapers; in India he helped to convert theStandardinto theTimes of India, and edited the BombaySaturday Review; and after his return to London he wrote for thePall Mall, Athenaeum, Academy, andTimes; and with Chenery, the editor ofThe Times, and others he took the initiative (1882) in celebrating the anniversary of Lord Beaconsfield’s death as “Primrose Day” (April 19). He kept up his connexion with India by constant contributions to the Indian press; and his long friendships with Indian princes and the leading educated native Indians made his intimate knowledge of the country of peculiar value in the handling of the problems of the Indian empire. In 1887 he was created a K.C.I.E.; and, besides being given his LL.D. degree by Cambridge, he was also made an officer of the Legion of Honour and a laureate of the French Academy.
BIREJIK(Arab.Bir; classical,Apamea-Zeugma), a town of North-West Mesopotamia, in the Aleppo vilayet, altitude 1170 ft., built on a limestone cliff 400 ft. high on the left bank of the Euphrates. Pop. about 10,000, three-quarters Moslem. It is situated at one of the most important crossings of the Euphrates, where there was, in ancient times, a bridge of boats, and is now a ferry on the road from Aleppo to Urfa, Diarbekr and Mosul. Birejik corresponds actually to Apamea, which lay opposite Zeugma, and commanded the bridge with its strong castle (Kala Beda) now much ruined. The place seems to have had a pre-Seleucid existence asBirtha, a name which revived under Roman rule (we hear of the emperor Julian resting there on his march into Mesopotamia,A.D.363), and is preserved to this day. The ferry over an unusually deep and narrow part of the Euphrates has been used from time immemorial in the passage from North Syria to Haran (Charrae), Edessa and North Mesopotamia, and was second in importance only to that at Thapsacus, by which crossed the route to Babylon and South Mesopotamia. Birejik was the scene of an unusually cruel massacre and persecution of Armenians in 1895.
BIREN(orBühren),ERNST JOHANN(1690-1772), duke of Courland, was the grandson of a groom in the service of DukeJacob III. of Courland, who bestowed upon him a small estate, which Biren’s father inherited and where Biren himself was born. He received what little education he had at the academy of Königsberg, from which he was expelled for riotous conduct. In 1714 he set out to seek his fortune in Russia, and unsuccessfully solicited a place at the shabby court of the princess Sophia Charlotte, the consort of the tsarevich Alexius. Returning to Mittau, he succeeded in gaining a footing at court there through one of his sisters, who was the fancy of the ruling minister, Peter Bestuzhev, whose established mistress was no less a person than the young duchess Anne Ivanovna. During his patron’s absence, Biren, a handsome, insinuating fellow, succeeded in supplanting him in the favour of Anne, and procuring the disgrace and banishment of Bestuzhev and his family. From henceforth to the end of her life Biren’s influence over the duchess was paramount. On the elevation of Anne to the Russian throne in 1740, Biren, who had in the meantime married a Fräulein von Treiden, came to Moscow, and honours and riches were heaped upon him. At the coronation (19th May) he was made grand-chamberlain, a count of the empire, on which occasion he is said to have adopted the arms of the French ducal house of Biron, and was presented with an estate at Wenden with 50,000 crowns a year. He soon made himself cordially detested by Russians of every class. He was not indeed the monster of iniquity he is popularly supposed to have been. His vices were rather of the sordid than of the satanic order. He had insinuating manners and could make himself very agreeable if he chose; but he was mean, treacherous, rapacious, suspicious and horribly vindictive. During the latter years of Anne’s reign, Biren increased enormously in power and riches. His apartments in the palace adjoined those of the empress, and his liveries, furnitures and equipages were scarcely less costly than hers. Half the bribes intended for the Russian court passed through his coffers. He had landed estates everywhere. A special department of state looked after his brood mares and stallions. The magnificence of his plate astonished the French ambassador, and the diamonds of his duchess were the envy of princes. The climax of this wondrous elevation was reached when, on the extinction of the line of Kettler, the estates of Courland, in June 1737, elected him their reigning duke. He was almost as much loathed in Courland as in Russia; but the will of the empress was the law of the land, and large sums of money, smuggled into Courland in the shape of bills payable in Amsterdam to bearer, speedily convinced the electors. On her death-bed Anne, very unwillingly and only at his urgent entreaty, appointed him regent during the minority of the baby emperor, Ivan VI. Her common-sense told her that the only way she could save the man she loved from the vengeance of his enemies after her death was to facilitate in time his descent from his untenable position. Finally, on the 26th of October 1740, a so-called “positive declaration” signed by 194 dignitaries, in the name of the Russian nation, conferred the regency on Biren.
Biren’s regency lasted exactly three weeks. At midnight of the 19th of November 1740 he was seized in his bedroom by his ancient rival, Field Marshal Münnich. The commission appointed to try his case condemned him (11th of April 1741) to death by quartering, but this sentence was commuted by the clemency of the new regent, Anna Leopoldovna, the mother of Ivan VI., to banishment for life at Pelin in Siberia. All Biren’s vast property was confiscated, including his diamonds, worth £600,000. For twenty-two years the ex-regent disappeared from the high places of history. He re-emerges for a brief moment in 1762, when the philo-German Peter III. summoned him to court. He was now too old to be in any one’s way, and that, no doubt, was the reason why Catherine II. re-established him (1763) in his duchy, which he bequeathed to his son Peter. Misfortune had chastened him, and the last years of his rule were just and even benevolent, if somewhat autocratic. He died at Mittau, his capital, on the 28th of December 1772.
See Robert Nisbet Bain,The Pupils of Peter the Great(London, 1897); Christoph Hermann von Manstein,Memoirs(Eng. ed., London, 1856); Claudius Rondeau,Diplomatic Dispatches from Russia(St Petersburg, 1889-1892).
See Robert Nisbet Bain,The Pupils of Peter the Great(London, 1897); Christoph Hermann von Manstein,Memoirs(Eng. ed., London, 1856); Claudius Rondeau,Diplomatic Dispatches from Russia(St Petersburg, 1889-1892).
(R. N. B.)
BIRETTA(Ital.berretta, Med. Lat.biretum, birettum, dim. ofbirrus, “a hooded cloak”; from the Fr. formbarretteis derived the Eng. “barret-cap”), a cap worn by the Catholic clergy. It is square and stiff, being made of a framework of cardboard covered with cloth or silk; on the top, along the sutures of the stuff, are three or four raised, board-like, arched ridges, at the junction of which in the centre is a knob or tassel (floccus). Its colour varies with the rank of the wearer, that of the pope being white, of the cardinals red, of bishops purple, and of the lower clergy black. It is not in the strictest sense a liturgical head-dress, its use not being confined to liturgical functions. In these functions, moreover, its use is strictly limited;e.g.it is worn at low masses by the priest only when he goes to and from the altar, at high masses also when the celebrant sits during the singing of theKyrie, Gloriaand Creed, and at processions when these take place outside the church and are not sacramental, and so on.
Though the form of the biretta, devised in the 17th century, is peculiar to the Roman Church, it is but a variant of the originalbiretum, which developed in various countries into head-coverings of different shapes and significance. At the outset there was little to distinguish thebiretumfrom thepileusorpileolus(skull-cap), a non-liturgical cap worn by dignitaries of the Church under the mitre and even under the biretta. When the wordbiretumfirst appears in the 13th century, it practically means no more than “cap,” and is used as a synonym ofpileus. As an ecclesiastical vestment the cap can be traced, under the name ofpileus, to the 12th century; under that ofinfula, to the end of the 10th. It would seem to have been worn by the cantors as a protection against cold. The same utilitarian reason led to its introduction among the clergy generally. Thus in 1243 Pope Innocent IV. granted leave to the Benedictines of St Augustine’s at Canterbury, and to those of Winchester, to wear thepileusin choir. With the extension of its use, too, the custom grew up (c.1300) of investing clerks with thebiretumas the symbol of the transfer of a benefice, a custom which survives, in Roman Catholic countries, in the solemn delivery of the red biretta by the head of the state to newly created cardinals, who afterwards go to Rome to receive the red hat. This red biretta is called thezucchetto.
This use of thebiretumas a symbol of office or dignity was not confined to the clergy. With various modifications of form it was worn by all persons of standing,e.g.barons, judges, and doctors and masters of the universities. Thebiretumwas also used in the investiture of laymen with office,e.g.a duke or the prefect of the city of Rome (Du Cange,Gloss.s.v.birretum). The “cap of maintenance” or “cap of estate,” still borne before the British sovereign on state occasions, is a barret-cap of the type of the 14th and 15th centuries; it is of crimson velvet, turned up with ermine. By the 16th century the barret-cap had become the common head-gear of all people of substance, men and women. It was flat, square or round, sometimes with edges that could be turned up or down according to convenience, and was often elaborately decorated. By the 17th century it had given place in ordinary civil life to the brimmed hat; but in various shapes it still survives as official head-gear in many European countries: theBarett, worn in church by the Lutheran clergy, in the courts by German lawyers, and by the deans and rectors of the universities, thebarretteof French judges and barristers, the “black cap” of the English judge, and the “college cap” familiar in English and American universities, and vulgarly known as the “mortar-board.”
a,Pileusof Archbishop Warham (d. 1532).
b, Square cap of Archbishop Cranmer (d. 1556).
c, Square cap of Archbishop Parker (d. 1575).
d, Square cap of Archbishop Whitgift (d. 1583).
e, Square cap of Archbishop Laud (d. 1645). All these are from portraits at Lambeth.
f, Square cap of George Morley, bishop of Winchester (d. 1684).
g, Modern college cap.
Meanwhile the ecclesiastical developments of thebiretumare not without interest and significance. Originally this had been a round cap, low or moderately high, slightly bulging out at the top, and ornamented with a round knob. By the 16th century, both in England and on the continent, a tendency had begun to emphasize the ridges of the sutures and thus produce a square shape. Henceforth the evolution followed different lines. In England, in the 17th century, the square flat top began to beenlarged, forming a rim of thick stuff projecting beyond the close-fitting cap. This was the “square cap” so virulently denounced by the Puritans as a symbol of High Church Erastianism. With the triumph of High Church principles at the Restoration it was natural that a loyal clergy should desire to emphasize this squareness, and the consequent exaggeration of the square top of the cap necessitated a further stiffening. In the 18th century, accordingly, the top began to be made of a board of wood or card covered with cloth, the close-fitting cap proper retired farther from the edges, the knob developed into a long tassel, and the evolution of the modern “college cap” was complete (see fig. 1).
On the continent, meanwhile, in the Roman Catholic Church, thebiretumhad also developed into its present characteristic form, and by a very similar process. By the end of the 16th century the square shape was everywhere prevalent; at the beginning of the 17th century cardboard was introduced to stiffen the sides and emphasize the squareness, and the actual form of the biretta, as described above, had become fixed (see fig. 2). Only in Spain has the biretta continued to be worn without the raised ridges.
a, Brandenburg (1281).
b, Augsburg (1342).
c, Bamberg (1483).
d, Regensburg (1550).
e, Würzburg (1521).
f, Regensburg (1564).
g, ib. (1605?).
h, Bamberg (1626).
The use of the Roman biretta has been introduced by a certain number of the clergy into the Anglican Church. It is clear that there is no historical justification for this; for though both college cap and biretta are developed from the same “square cap,” the biretta in its actual shape is strictly associated with the post-Reformation Roman Church, and its actual ceremonial use is of late growth. Braun (Liturgische Gewandung, p. 513) thinks that the symbolism of the cross may have had some influence in fixing and propagating the square shape, and he quotes a decree of the synod of Aix (1585) ordering the clergy to wear a biretta sewn in the form of a cross (biretum in modum crucis consutum, ut ecclesiasticos homines decet). So far as the legality of the use of the biretta in the Church of England is concerned, this was pronounced by Sir R. Phillimore in the Court of Arches (Elphinstonev.Purchas, 1870) to be legal “as a protection to the head when needed,” but this decision was reversed on appeal by the judicial committee of the privy council (Hebbertv.Purchas, 1871). Of late years the old square cap of soft padded cloth or velvet has been revived in the Anglican Church by some dignitaries.
See J. Braun, S.J.,Die liturgische Gewandung(Freiburg-i-B., 1907);Hierurgica Anglicana, part ii. (London, 1903); H. Druitt,Costume on Brasses(London, 1906).
See J. Braun, S.J.,Die liturgische Gewandung(Freiburg-i-B., 1907);Hierurgica Anglicana, part ii. (London, 1903); H. Druitt,Costume on Brasses(London, 1906).
(W. A. P.)
BIRGER(?-1266), Swedish statesman, nephew of Birger Brosa, and the most famous member of the ancient noble family of the Folkungeätten, which had so much to say for itself in early Swedish history, was created jarl of Bjälbo by King Erik Eriksson in 1248 and married the king’s sister. On Erik’s death (1250) Birger’s son Valdemar was elected king while his father acted as regent. During the sixteen years of his sway Sweden advanced greatly in fame and prosperity. In 1249 he led an expedition to Finland, built the fortress of Tavastehus, and thus laid the foundations of Sweden’s oversea empire. He also built Stockholm, and enriched it by making it the chief mart for the trade of Lübeck, with which city he concluded a commercial treaty. As a lawgiver also Birger laboured strenuously in the interests of civilization. In his old age he married the daughter of King Abel. There is a fine statue of the great jarl in the Riddarholm church at Stockholm, erected by Fogelberg at the expense of the Stockholm magistracy in 1884. He is also the central figure of Fr. Hedberg’s dramaBrollopet på Ulfåsa(1865).
SeeSveriges Historia, vol. i. (Stockholm, 1879-1883).
SeeSveriges Historia, vol. i. (Stockholm, 1879-1883).
BIRIBI,orCavagnole, a French game of chance, prohibited by law since 1837. It is played on a board on which the numbers 1 to 70 are marked. The players put their stakes on the numbers they wish to back. The banker is provided with a bag from which he draws a case containing a ticket, the tickets corresponding with the numbers on the board. The banker calls out the number, and the player who has backed it receives sixty-four times his stake; the other stakes go to the banker. In the French army “to be sent to Biribi” is a cant term for being sent to the disciplinary battalion in Algeria.
BIRJEND,the capital of Káïn, a sub-province of Khorasan in Persia, in 32° 53′ N. 59° 10′ E., and at an elevation of 4550 ft. Pop. about 25,000. It is situated 328 m. from Meshed by the direct road, in a fertile valley running east and west, of which the southern boundary is a lofty range of barren hills known as Kuh i Bakeran. Through the valley runs the Khusp river, which loses itself in the desert towards the west; it is, however, generally dry. The water-supply of the town and of the 70 or 80 villages under its jurisdiction is very scanty. On the east of the town at the foot of a hill stands a dilapidated fort. Birjend has six good caravanserais, a college and some mosques; post and telegraph offices were established there in 1902.
BIRKBECK, GEORGE(1776-1841), English physician and philanthropist, was born at Settle in Yorkshire on the 10th of January 1776. He early evinced a strong predilection for scientific pursuits; and in 1799, after graduating as doctor of medicine, he was appointed to the chair of natural philosophy at the Andersonian Institution of Glasgow. In the following year he delivered, for the benefit of the working-classes, a gratuitous course of scientific lectures, which were continued during the two following years and proved eminently successful. He removed to London in 1804, and there he endeavoured to prosecute his philanthropic schemes, at first without much encouragement, but ultimately with marked success. In 1823 he contributed to found the Mechanics’ Institute, the name of which was afterwards changed to Birkbeck Institution or College, in honour of its founder. He was appointed director of the institute, which he had originally endowed with the sum of £3700, and held the office till his death on the 1st of December 1841. The sphere of usefulness of the institution was gradually enlarged, and an enlargement of the buildings was carried out in 1883-1885. The college now holds day and evening classes in many of the sciences, in literature, languages and art.
BIRKENFELD,a town of Germany, capital of the principality of the same name, on the Zimmerbach, 25 m. S.E. of Trier and on the main line of railway from Bingerbrück to Neunkirchen. Pop. 2500. Close by, on an eminence, lie the ruins of the castle of Birkenfeld, dating from the 14th century, once the residence of the counts palatine of Zweibrücken. The town has an Evangelical and a Roman Catholic church, a grand-ducal high school and a hospital. Besides brewing and tanning, its industries include the manufacture of tobacco and chicory. There is also a considerable trade in cattle.
ThePrincipality of Birkenfeldis hilly and well-forested; agriculture prospers on the cleared lands, and fruit is grown in the valley of the Nahe, the principal stream. Ironstone and roofing slates are quarried, and there is some industry in agate-polishing and the manufacture of trinkets. The principalityhas an area of 312 sq. m. and a population (1900) of 43,409, chiefly Protestants. It is formed out of the former lordships of Dachstuhl and Oberstein, of part of the ancient countship of Sponheim, and sections of the duchy of Jülich, which were granted to the grand-duke of Oldenburg by the congress of Vienna in 1815. It is entirely anenclavein Prussian territory, and though it is represented in the Oldenburg diet, it is governed by a separateRegierungskollegium, consisting of a president and two members, who are responsible to the Oldenburg ministry.
BIRKENHEAD,a municipal, county and parliamentary borough, and seaport of Cheshire, England, on the river Mersey, 195 m. N.W. of London. Pop. (1901) 110,915. It lies opposite Liverpool, on the east shore of the peninsula of Wirral, and is served by the Birkenhead (London & North-Western and Great Western joint) and the Wirral railways. It is wholly of modern growth, although the name of Byrkhed is traced to the forest which is believed to have extended between the mouths of the Dee and the Ribble in Lancashire. A Benedictine monastery was founded (c.1150) by Hamon de Mascy, third baron of Dunham Massey, and dedicated to St Mary and St James. It drew its main revenues from tolls levied at the Mersey ferry; and its prior sat in the parliament of the earls of Chester, enjoying all the dignities and privileges of a Palatinate baron. A fine crypt, along with remains of the prior’s lodging, refectory and chapel, may still be viewed, as the priory was purchased by private subscription and handed over to the municipality in 1896.
The rise of Birkenhead, from a hamlet of some 50 inhabitants in 1818 to its present importance, was due in the first place to the foresight and enterprise of William Laird, who purchased in 1824 a few acres of land on the banks of a marshy stream, known as Wallasey Pool, which flowed into the Mersey about 2 m. west of the village. Among other engineers, Telford and Stephenson favoured the project of converting Wallasey Pool into a great basin for shipping; but, largely owing to the fears of Liverpool lest a formidable rival should thus be created, it was not until 1843 that parliamentary powers were obtained, and the work entrusted to James Rendel, who finished it in less than five years. The docks, which covered an area of 7 acres, were opened in 1847, and after thrice changing hands were made over in 1858 to the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board, a body created by act of 1857, to control the harbourage on both sides of the river.
Meanwhile, the town itself grew rapidly. In 1833 an act was passed for paving, watching, cleansing and improving the streets; as well as for the regulation of police, and the establishment of a market. The Improvement Commissioners constituted by this act included the mayor, bailiffs and four aldermen of Liverpool, under whose care the main streets were laid out on a regular plan, intersecting one another at right angles; and the first iron tramway in England was laid down. Electricity was subsequently applied to the tramway system. Noteworthy public buildings are St Aidan’s College, a large brick building in Tudor style, for the use of Anglican students in theology; the market hall (1843); town hall, a free library with branches, borough hospital, built at the cost of Sir John Laird; and many schools both public and private, including the industrial schools built as a memorial to Albert, prince consort, at the cost of Sir W. Jackson, and the school of art, given by Sir John Laird. There are many handsome modern churches, all built since 1821. Roman Catholics are especially numerous, owing to the presence of a large Irish population. The town is well furnished with open spaces. Birkenhead Park was opened in 1847, Mersey Park in 1885; while a tract of moorland 6 m. distant in the township of Thurstaston, was allotted to the borough of Birkenhead in 1887; and Meols Common, comprising over 50 acres of pastureland on the shores of Liverpool Bay, was made over to the corporation in 1900.
The increase of railway accommodation has been swift. In 1878 the old Monks Ferry station on the Great Western system was superseded by the opening of the Woodside passenger station, and a few years later the Birkenhead town station was opened. In 1886 the Mersey tunnel, connecting Birkenhead with Liverpool, was opened by the prince of Wales. The system extends from Rock Ferry and Park stations on the Cheshire side to the low-level at Central Station in Liverpool, and has connexions on the Cheshire side with the Great Western, North-Western, Wirral and various local lines. The Wrexham, Mold & Connah’s Quay railway, which was taken over by the Great Central company in 1905, helped to bring the mineral wealth of Flint and North Wales generally into the Birkenhead docks.
Woodside Ferry may still be regarded as the principal entrance to Birkenhead and the Wirral from Liverpool. The exclusive right of ferryage was granted to the priory in 1332. In 1842 the Birkenhead Commissioners purchased it, under an act of parliament, from the lord of the manor, Mr F.R. Price. In 1897 the corporation further acquired the rights over the Rock Ferry and the New Ferry at the southern end of the town. Despite competition from the Mersey tunnel, these ferries continue to transport millions of passengers annually, and have a considerable share in the heavy goods traffic.
Though at the outset a mere commercial offshoot of Liverpool, Birkenhead has acquired a large export trade in coal and manufactured articles, importing guano, grain and cattle in return. Iron foundries, breweries, oil-cake and seed mills also exist side by side with such immense engineering and shipbuilding works as the Britannia Works, Canada Works, and, above all, Laird’s shipbuilding works, where several early iron vessels were built, and many cruisers and battleships have been launched. Huge warehouses and sheds have been erected along the quays for the storage of freight. In 1847 the Birkenhead Dock Warehousing Company opened its first warehouse, capable of holding 80,000 tons of goods. A line called the Dock Extension railway was carried round the whole, and the company erected, for their workmen, the Dock Cottages. This entire property is now under the authority of the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board. The pile of buildings known as the corn warehouses are traversed by a canal which gives access to its several departments, and are provided with mechanical grain-elevators. There are also extensive lairages for live-stock, and cold storage for dead meat. On the north and north-east, and partly on the east, Birkenhead is bounded by its docks, which extend, for a distance exceeding 2 m., from the landing-stage at Woodside Ferry to the Wallasey Bridge. Of these the principal are the Egerton, Morpeth, Morpeth Branch and Wallasey Docks; while the Alfred Dock, with its three entrances, nineteen pairs of lock-gates, 8 acres of water, and 460 lin. yds. of quay-space, fulfils the part of an entrance-lock to the whole system. The great Float, now occupying the site of Wallasey Pool, separates Birkenhead from Poulton-cum-Seacombe in the parish of Wallasey. It forms an immense dock of 120 acres, with a quay-space of about 5 m.; and communicates on the E. with a low-water basin of about 14 acres and with the Alfred Dock; on the S.E. with the Morpeth, Morpeth Branch and Egerton Docks. The Morpeth Dock (about 11 acres, quay-space 1299 lin. yds.) is in communication with the Morpeth Branch Dock (about 3½ acres, quay-space 600 lin. yds.); both being set apart for the use of steamers. The total water-space of these docks amounts to 165 acres, and the lineal quay-space is about 9½ m. The entrances to the Birkenhead Docks are capable of docking the largest class of steamers afloat. The massive iron bridges across the dock entrances are opened and closed by hydraulic power, which is likewise applied to the cranes, coal-hoists, warehouse-lifts and other machinery about the docks. At the extreme western end of the West Float are three large graving docks, two about 750 ft. in length, and 130 and 80 ft. respectively in width; while the largest measures about 900 ft. in length and 130 ft. in width.
In 1861 Birkenhead was created a parliamentary borough, returning one member. In 1877 it received a municipal charter, the boundaries of the borough including the suburban townships of Tranmere, Claughton, Oxton and part of Higher Bebington. The borough is under a mayor, 14 aldermen and 42 councillors. Area, 3848 acres.
BIRMINGHAM,a city and the county-seat of Jefferson county, Alabama, U.S.A., in the north-central part of the state, 96 m. N.W. of Montgomery, at an altitude of 600 ft. It is served by the Southern, the Louisville & Nashville, the Seaboard Air Line, the Central of Georgia, the Alabama Great Southern (of the Queen & Crescent Route), the Illinois Central, the Atlanta, Birmingham & Atlantic, the Birmingham Southern (for freight only), and the Kansas City, Memphis & Birmingham (Frisco system) railways. Pop. (1890) 26,178; (1900) 38,415, of whom 16,575 were of negro descent, and 1776 were foreign-born; (1910) 132,685. Birmingham is situated in Jones Valley, between two mountains which lie south-east and north-west of the city. Its streets are wide and well constructed, and there are sixteen public parks, three of which, East Lake, Lakeview and Capitol, are particularly attractive. Among the principal buildings are the First National bank, the immense Union station and the Saint Vincent hospital; besides several fine office and school buildings (including the beautiful manual training high school) and churches. Although the state constitution restricts municipal investments, a Waring or “Separate” sewage system has been established. The most important educational institutions are the Birmingham medical college and college of pharmacy; the Birmingham dental college; a school of art and a conservatory of music. At East Lake station, in the north-east of the city, is Howard College (Baptist; founded at Marion, Perry county, in 1841 as an academy; granted first collegiate degrees in 1848; opened in East Lake in 1887); and 2 m. west of the city is the North Alabama Conference College (Methodist Episcopal South), opened in 1897.
Birmingham, situated in an immensely rich iron, coal and limestone region, is the principal manufacturing centre in the state, and the most important centre for the production and manufacture of iron in the southern states. In the decade 1890-1900 the value of the products of Birmingham’s manufactories increased 78.9% from $7,064,248 to $12,581,066; in 1900 establishments under the “factory system” produced goods valued at $8,599,418, in 1905 at $7,592,958, a decrease of 11.7%.
Immediately outside the city limits in 1905 there were many large manufactories, including the repair shops of the Southern railroad; iron and steel, car wheels and cotton-oil were among the products of the suburban factories. In Jefferson county there were in 1900 more than 300 mining and manufacturing establishments, engaged, chiefly, in the production of iron, coal and coke, and a majority of these are in Birmingham and its suburban towns. A short distance south of the city is Red Mountain, 25 m. long and about 225 ft. high, rich in hematite iron ore; valuable limestone deposits are found some 30 m. distant, and in the vicinity are three great coalfields, the Warrior, the Coosa and the Cahaba. These natural advantages make possible the production of pig iron at an unusually low cost. In 1900 the Birmingham district produced six-sevenths of the total pig iron exported from the United States, and in 1902 nine-tenths of Alabama’s coal, coke and pig iron; in 1905 Jefferson county produced 67.5% of the total iron and steel product of the state, and 62.5% of the pig iron produced by the state. The first steel plant in the southern states was established at Birmingham in 1897; in 1902, at Ensley, one of the suburbs, there were 10 furnaces controlled by one company. The city has also a large trade in cotton, the annual receipts averaging about 100,000 bales. Among the manufactures are cotton goods, cotton-seed oil, yarn, furniture and machinery. Birmingham also has important lumber interests.
The city is a product of the industrial transformation in the southern states since the Civil War. In 1870 the site was a cotton field, where two railways, the South & North, and the Alabama & Chattanooga, now part respectively of the Louisville & Nashville and the Southern System, met, 2 m. from Elyton. In 1871 a land company, promoted by railway officials, founded Birmingham. Within four months the population was 1200; by 1873 it was 2500; in 1880 it was 3086; and in 1890 it had reached 26,178.
BIRMINGHAM,a city and a municipal, county, and parliamentary borough, the metropolis of one of the greatest industrial districts in England. Pop. (1901) 522,204. It lies in the north-west of Warwickshire, but its suburbs extend into Staffordshire on the north and west, and into Worcestershire on the south. It is 113 m. north-west from London by the London & North-Western railway, lying on the loop line between Rugby and Stafford; it is also served by the northern line of the Great Western, and by the north and west (Derby-Bristol) line of the Midland railway.
Site.—Birmingham, built upon the New Red Sandstone, is situated in the valleys of the Rea and other small feeders of the river Tame, near their sources, and upon the rising ground between these valleys. The site is, therefore, boldly undulating, varying from 200 to 600 ft. above sea-level, steadily rising towards the north and west, while the well-marked line of the Lickey hills skirts the site on the south-west, extending thence south-eastward. From the high ground to the south-east Birmingham thus presents the appearance of a vast semicircular amphitheatre, the masses of houses broken by innumerable factory-chimneys; the whole scene conveying a remarkable impression of a community of untiring industrial activity. The area of the town is nearly 20 sq. m., the greatest length from north to south 7 m., and the greatest breadth about 4 m. Yet Birmingham is a fraction only of an industrial district, of which it forms the south-eastern extremity, which itself resembles one vast city, and embraces such famous manufacturing towns as Dudley, Wolverhampton, Walsall, Wednesbury and many others. This is the district commonly known as the “Black Country,” which forms part of the South Staffordshire industrial district. Birmingham, however, does not lie actually within the “Black Country” properly so-called.
Streets and Buildings.—The plan of the town, as dictated by the site, is irregular; the streets are mostly winding, and often somewhat narrow. In the centre are several fine thoroughfares, containing nearly all the most important buildings. New Street, Corporation Street and Colmore Row are the chief of these. At the western end of New Street is a fine group of buildings, including the council house and art gallery, the town hall and post office. The council house and art gallery, begun in 1874 and completed in 1881, is in Renaissance style, and the material is Darley Dale, Spinkwell and Wrexham stone. The entrance is surmounted with a pediment filled with groups of excellent sculpture. The erection of that part which forms the art gallery was the work of the gas committee, to whom the council granted the site on condition that they would build such a gallery over their own office, the council having no powers at the time to raise the required funds. The art gallery contains a fine collection of modern paintings, including masterpieces of David Cox, Millais, Hunt, Henry Moore, Albert Moore, Briton-Riviere and Burne-Jones. In the industrial hall are rich stores of Oriental metal work, Limoges enamel, English and foreign glass and Japanese ceramics. In the side galleries are various textiles, and Persian, Rhodian, Grès de Flandres and other pottery. There is a remarkable collection of Wedgwood. Notable also is the collection of arms, which is probably the most complete in existence. The purchase of pictures has been made from time to time by means of an art gallery purchase fund of £12,000, privately contributed and placed under the control of the corporation. Many valuable works of art are the gift of individuals. In 1906 plans were obtained for additional municipal offices and another art gallery on a site on the opposite side of Edmund Street from the council house. The town hall, completed in 1850, is severely classic, modelled upon a Greek temple. The lower stage consists of a plinth or basement, 23 ft. high, upon which is reared a facade of peripteral character, with eight Corinthian columns (36 ft. high) at the two principal fronts, and thirteen columns on each side. These columns (imitated from those of the temple of Jupiter Stator at Rome) support a bold and enriched cornice, finished at each end with a lofty pediment and entablature. The exterior of the hall is built of Anglesea marble. The interior consists chiefly of a regularly-built room,designed specially for meetings and concerts, with an orchestra containing a fine organ. The hall seats upwards of 2000 persons, but when cleared of benches, as is the case at great political meetings, over 5000 may find standing room. The Midland Institute, adjacent to the town hall on the west, has a fine lecture theatre. To the south lie the post office, the inland revenue office and Queen’s College. To the north is the Gothic building of Mason College, an institution merged in the university. The Central free library, adjoining the Midland Institute, was rebuilt in 1879, after a fire which destroyed the fine Shakespeare library, the Cervantes collection, and a large series of books on, and antiquities of, Warwickshire, known as the Staunton collection. The Shakespeare series was as far as possible replaced, and the whole forms one of the largest reference and lending libraries in England. Edmund Street and Colmore Row are fine thoroughfares running parallel in a north-easterly direction from either side of the council house; in the first the principal building is the school of art, in the second are several noteworthy private buildings. Both terminate at Snow Hill station, that of the Great Western railway. New Street station, that of the London & North Western and Midland railways, lies close to the street of that name, fronted by the Queen’s hotel. The station is nearly a quarter of a mile in length. The roof of the older portion consists of a vast arch of glass and iron, carried on pillars on each side, and measuring 1100 ft. in length, 80 ft. in height, and 212 ft. in width in a single span. The building of the Royal Society of Artists fronts New Street itself with a fine classic portico; here are also the exchange (Gothic) and the grammar school of King Edward VI., a Perpendicular building dating from 1840, designed by Sir Charles Barry. Corporation Street was the outcome of a great “Improvement scheme” initiated in 1875, with the object of clearing away a mass of insanitary property from the centre of the town and of constructing a main thoroughfare from the centre to the north-eastern outlet, starting from New Street, near the railway station to Bull Street, and thence continuing to the Aston Road. The scheme received parliamentary sanction in 1876, and was finished in 1882 at a cost of £1,520,657. This led to an almost total extinction of the residential quarter in the centre of the town. The finest building in this handsome street is the Victoria assize courts. The foundation stone was laid by Queen Victoria in 1887, after Birmingham had been created an assize district; the building was completed in 1891. There is a handsome entrance, and within is a great hall, 80 ft. by 40, with a series of stained-glass windows. The exterior is red, and highly ornamented in the style of the Renaissance.
Among other noteworthy buildings are the county court, education offices and military drill hall. Among a fine series of statues and monuments may be mentioned the statue of Nelson by Richard Westmacott, in the Bull Ring; those of Joseph Sturge, at the Five Ways, and of Thomas Attwood, the founder of the Political Union, in Stephenson Place, both by J.E. Thomas; James Watt, a singularly beautiful work, in Ratcliff Place, by Alexander Munro; Sir Robert Peel, in New Street, by Peter Hollins; Albert, prince consort, in the council house, by J.H. Foley; and Queen Victoria, by Thomas Woolner; Sir Rowland Hill, in the hall of the post office, by Matthew Noble; and Dr Priestley, in New Street, by F.J. Williamson. There is also a fountain behind the town hall, commemorative of the mayoralty of Mr Joseph Chamberlain, and flanked by statues of Sir Josiah Mason, and George Dawson, who took active part in the municipal reform movement previous to Mr Chamberlain’s years of office. Sir Francis Chantrey’s famous statue of James Watt is in a special chapel at Handsworth church.
Suburbs.—The principal streets radiating from central Birmingham to the suburbs are served by electric tramways worked by the corporation, and also by motor omnibuses. The principal suburbs are as follows. Edgbaston and Harborne lie south-west of the centre of the city, being approached by Broad Street. These form a residential district principally inhabited by the richer classes, and owing to the enforcement of strict rules by the ground landlord, retain a remarkable semi-rural character, almost every house having a garden. Here, moreover, are Calthorpe Park, the botanical gardens, and the large private grounds attached to Edgbaston Hall, also the Warwickshire county cricket ground. To the south of Edgbaston, however, are the growing manufacturing districts of Selly Oak and Bourneville, and south of these, Northfield and King’s Norton, in Worcestershire. The districts to the east of central Birmingham are Balsall Heath, Sparkbrook, Small Heath and Saltley. On the south-east is the residential suburb of Moseley, and on the east that of Yardley. Between Moseley and King’s Heath to the south, is Highbury, the seat of Mr Joseph Chamberlain, whose active interest in the affairs of the town, both during his mayoralty (1873-1876) and at other times, was a principal factor in such works as the municipalization of the gas and water supply, the Corporation Street improvement, and the foundation of Birmingham University. On the east side the transition from town to country is clearly marked. This, however, is not the case on the west side, where the borough of Smethwick adjoins Birmingham, and the roads through West Bromwich and towards Oldbury and Dudley have the character of continuous streets. On this side are Soho and Handsworth, which gives name to a parliamentary division of Staffordshire. To the north lies Aston Manor, a municipal borough of itself, with Perry Bar beyond. To the north-east a populous district extends towards the town of Sutton Coldfield. Aston Hall is a fine Jacobean mansion standing in an extensive park. Aston Lower Grounds is an adjacent pleasure-ground. Besides these and the Edgbaston grounds the chief parks are Summersfield Park, towards Smethwick; Soho Park; Victoria Park, Handsworth; Adderley Park, towards Saltley; and Victoria Park, Small Heath. There is a race-course at Castle Bromwich, 3 m. east of the town.
Churches and Religion.—Birmingham is not rich in ecclesiastical architecture. It became a bishopric under the Bishoprics of Southwark and Birmingham Act 1904, including the archdeaconry of Birmingham and the rural deanery of Handsworth, previously in the diocese of Worcester. Before 1821 it was in the diocese of Lichfield. There were formerly a religious house, the priory of St Thomas the Apostle, and a Gild of the Holy Cross, an association partly religious and partly charitable, having a chantry in the parish church. The possessions of the priory went to the crown at the dissolution, and the building was destroyed before the close of the 16th century. The lands of the Gild of the Holy Cross were granted by Edward VI. to trustees for the support of the free grammar school. Until 1715 there was but one parish church, St Martin’s, a rectory, having the tithes of the entire parish of Birmingham. St Martin’s was erected about the middle of the 13th century, but in the course of ages was so disfigured, internally and externally, as to present no traces, except in the tower and spire, of its former character. In 1853 the tower was found to be in a dangerous condition, and together with the spire was rebuilt. In 1873 the remaining part of the old church was removed without disturbing the monuments, and a larger edifice was erected in its place. St. Philip’s, a stately Italian structure, designed by Archer, a pupil of Wren, was the next church erected. It was consecrated in 1715, enlarged in 1884, and became the pro-cathedral on the foundation of the diocese. It contains a rich series of stained-glass windows by Burne-Jones. Then followed St Bartholomew’s in 1749, St Mary’s in 1774, St Paul’s in 1779, St James’s, Ashted, in 1791, and others. St Alban’s is a good example of J.L. Pearson’s work, and Edgbaston church is a picturesque Perpendicular structure.
Under the Commonwealth Birmingham was a stronghold of Puritanism. Clarendon speaks of it and the neighbourhood as “the most eminently corrupted of any in England.” Baxter, on the other hand, commending the garrison of Coventry, says it contained “the most religious men of the parts round about, especially from Birmingham.” The traditional reputation for Nonconformity is maintained by the town, all varieties of dissenters being numerous and influential. The Unitarians, theoldest body established here, have among their chapels a handsome structure in Bristol Road, the Old Meeting, which in 1885 replaced the building in which the congregation was formed on the Presbyterian model by a number of ministers ejected under the Act of Uniformity. Another chapel, the New Meeting, in Moor Street, is memorable as having been the place of Dr Joseph Priestley’s ministerial labours from 1780 onwards. In 1862 the Unitarians removed from this place to a new Gothic edifice, called the church of the Messiah, in Broad Street, where they preserve a monument of Priestley, with a medallion portrait in profile, and an inscription written by Priestley’s friend, Dr Parr. The first meeting-house of the Society of Friends dates from about 1690. Among Independent chapels, that of Carr’s Lane had John Angell James and Robert William Dale as ministers. The Baptists first erected a chapel in Cannon Street in 1738. The Wesleyan Methodists were established in Birmingham by John Wesley himself in 1745, when he was roughly handled while preaching on Gosta Green. In 1903 a very fine central hall, with lofty tower, was opened by this body, in the style of the Renaissance, fronting upon Corporation, Ryder and Dalton streets. The Presbyterians have also places of worship, and the Jews have a synagogue. From the revolution of 1688 until 1789 the Roman Catholics had no place of worship here; but Birmingham is now a Roman Catholic bishopric. The cathedral of St Chad was built from the designs of A.W. Pugin. At Erdington, towards Sutton Coldfield, is a large Benedictine Abbey (1897) of the Beuron congregation, founded as a monastery in 1876; and in the vicinity, at Oscott, is St Mary’s College, where the chapel is a fine example of Pugin’s work. Cardinal Newman was superior of the Oratory of St Philip Neri from its foundation in 1851.
Administration.—The government of the town resided originally in the high and low bailiffs, both officers chosen at the court of the lord of the manor, and acting as his deputies. The system was a loose one, but by degrees it became somewhat organized, and crown writs were addressed to the bailiffs. In 1832, when the town was enfranchised, they were made the returning officers. About the beginning of the 19th century, however, a more regular system was instituted, by an act creating a body of street commissioners, who acted for the parish of Birmingham, the hamlets outside its boundaries having similar boards of their own. The annoyance and difficulty caused by these bodies, thirteen in number, led to a demand for the incorporation of Birmingham as a borough; and a charter was accordingly granted by the crown in 1838, vesting the general government in a mayor, sixteen aldermen and forty-seven councillors. The powers of this body were, however, unusually restricted, the other local governing bodies remaining in existence. It was not until 1851 that an act of parliament was obtained, abolishing all governing authorities excepting the town council, and transferring all powers to this body. Another local act was obtained in 1862, and in 1883 these various acts were combined into the Birmingham Corporation Consolidation Act. In 1889 Birmingham was created a city, and a grant made of an official coat of arms carrying supporters. The title of lord mayor was conferred on the chief magistrate in 1897. The city council consists of eighteen aldermen and fifty-four councillors, selected from eighteen wards; it is divided into seventeen committees, most of which consist of eight members. The corporation is the largest employer of labour in the borough, and is also a large landowner.
The gas, electric and water supplies are in its hands. The gas supply was taken over in 1875, and the electric in 1900 for £420,000. The local sources of water-supply are the rivers Bourne and Blythe, the Plant Brook and the Perry Stream, and eight deep wells. These works can provide 20 million gallons daily in dry weather. A large area outside the city boundaries is supplied, and in 1891, the demand having risen to nearly 17 millions a day, new sources had to be considered, and it was determined to seek an entirely new supply in Wales. By an act of 1892 power was given to acquire the watershed of the rivers Elan and Claerwen, tributaries of the Wye, lying west of Rhyader in Wales, and to construct the necessary works, the capital authorized being £6,000,000. About £5,900,000 had been spent when, on the 21st of July 1904, King Edward VII. formally opened the supply. Two reservoirs on the river Elan, formed by masonry dams from 98 to 128 ft. above the river-bed, were then completed, the construction of the three planned on the Claerwen being deferred until necessity should arise. Nearly a mile below the confluence of the rivers the great Caban Coch dam, 122 ft. high, and the same in thickness at the base, and 600 ft. long at the top, holds up the water for over 4 m. in the Elan, and over 2 in the Claerwen, having a capacity of 1500 million gallons. A series of thirty filter beds is included in the original scheme; and the water travels 73.3 m. from the source to Birmingham by gravity alone with a fall of about 170 ft. The area of the gathering ground is 45,562 acres, the mean annual rainfall in the district being 63 in. The complete scheme provided water for fifty years in advance, and a maximum of 75 million gallons a day was taken into account, in addition to 27 million gallons for compensation water to the river. The part of the works opened in 1904 provided about 27 million gallons of supply daily to the city. The corporation is obliged by the act to supply towns within 15 m. of the line of the aqueduct. A village for the accommodation of workmen was established near the Caban Coch dam; and the corporation adopted a modified form of the Gothenburg system in respect of the supply of intoxicating liquors, permitting no publican to open a licensed house.
The administration of the poor-law is vested in a board of guardians of sixty members for the parish of Birmingham. The parish of Edgbaston (wholly within the borough) is in the poor-law union of King’s Norton, and that part of the parish of Aston included in the borough is in the Aston Union. There are three workhouses—that for Birmingham parish, situated at Birmingham Heath, is capable of receiving over 2000 inmates. In 1882 a superintendent relieving officer was appointed, and a system of cross-visitation started for the purpose of checking abuses of outdoor relief. Workhouses, infirmaries and cottage homes are managed by the board, on which women first sat in 1880. The administration of justice was performed from 1838 to 1884 by a court of quarter sessions, with a recorder, and a court of petty sessions. In 1884 Birmingham was made an assize district of Warwickshire. In 1905 a special juvenile offenders’ court was initiated. The borough gaol is at Winson Green towards Smethwick. The drainage system is managed by the Birmingham, Tame and Rea District drainage board, constituted in 1877, and consisting of members from the city council and from districts outside the municipal area.
Birmingham was enfranchised in 1832, when two representatives were assigned to it, and Thomas Attwood and Joshua Scholefield, leaders of the Political Union, were elected. In 1867 three members were assigned, and in 1885 the number was increased to seven, and a corresponding number of parliamentary divisions created, namely Bordesley, Central, East, Edgbaston, North, South and West. By the Provincial Local Government Board Act of 1891 four local board districts were added to the city of Birmingham for local government—Harborne (Staffordshire), Balsall Heath (Worcestershire), Saltley and the rural hamlet of Little Bromwich (Warwickshire). These districts were by the act declared to be in the county of Warwick, though still remaining in their respective counties for the exercise of freehold votes. By this act the boundaries of the city were made conterminous for parliamentary, municipal and school board purposes. The area is 12,639 acres.
The population of Birmingham in 1700 was about 15,000. In 1801 it was 73,000, and it increased rapidly through the century. In 1891 it was 478,113 and in 1901, 522,204.
Education.—The oldest educational institution is the grammar school of King Edward VI., founded in 1552 out of the lands of the Gild of the Holy Cross, then of the annual value of £21. The endowments now yield upwards of £37,000. The principal school included in the foundation is the boys’ high school, held in the building in New Street. It has a classical and a modern side, and educates about 500 boys. Adjoining it, in a new building opened in 1896, is a large high school for girls, with 300pupils. There are also on the foundation seven middle schools, called grammar schools, four for girls and three for boys, situated in different parts of the city, and containing about 1900 pupils altogether. The schools have numerous scholarships tenable at the schools as well as exhibitions to the universities and other places of higher education. Queen’s College, founded in 1828 as a school of medicine, subsequently embraced other subjects, though in 1882 only the medical and theological departments were maintained. In 1882 a large part of the scientific teaching, hitherto done by special professors in Queen’s College, was taken over by Mason College, and in 1892 the whole medical department was removed to the same institution under an order from the court of chancery. This change helped to advance the Birmingham medical school to a position of high repute. The theological students (Church of England) of Queen’s College are few. The idea of developing Queen’s College into a university had long existed. But it was destined to be realized in connexion with Mason College, founded by Sir Josiah Mason in 1870. Subsequent deeds (1874 and 1881) added Greek and Latin to the practical, mechanical and artistic curriculum of the original foundation, and provided that instruction may be given in all such other subjects as the trustees may from time to time judge necessary, while once in every fifteen years the provisions of the deed may be varied to meet changing needs—theology only being definitely excluded. In 1897 a new act was passed at the instance of the trustees, creating a court of 180 members, and removingUniversity.the theological restriction. A measure of popular control is given through the appointment by the city council of five out of the eleven trustees. In 1898 a public meeting carried a resolution in favour of creating a university. It was estimated that a quarter of a million was needed to endow and equip a university on the scale proposed. Including £50,000 offered by Mr Andrew Carnegie, an equal amount from an anonymous donor, and the rest from local subscribers, in the autumn of 1899, £325,000 had been subscribed, and the privy council was at once petitioned for a charter, which was granted. The draft provided for the incorporation of the university of Birmingham with faculties of science, arts, medicine and commerce, with power to grant degrees, and for its government by a court of governors (of which women may be members), a council and a senate. Mason College was merged in the university. The faculty of commerce constitutes a distinctive feature in the scheme of the university, the object being to bring its teaching into close touch with the industrial life of the city, the district and the kingdom. In 1905 Sir Edward Elgar (who resigned in 1908) became the first occupant of a chair of music, founded owing to the liberality of Mr Richard Peyton. From the same year great strides were made in the development of the scientific departments of the university. A site at Edgbaston was given by Lord Calthorpe, and the erection of a complete and costly set of buildings was undertaken.
The Municipal School of Art was formed by the transference to the corporation in 1885 of the then existing school of art and the society of arts, and by the erection of the building in Margaret Street, the site having already been given and a portion of the cost provided by private donors. There are one central school and two branch schools. Evening classes are also held in some of the provided schools. The Midland Institute, the building of which was founded in 1855, and enlarged subsequently, includes a general literary and an industrial department. A marked development took place in 1885, when, fresh room having been provided by the removal of the school of art hitherto held in the building, the industrial department was greatly enlarged, resulting in the creation of one of the best metallurgical schools in the kingdom. The Municipal Technical School was established in 1893 in the building of the Midland Institute, and in 1895 was housed in a fine building of its own, in Suffolk Street, whither the whole of the scientific teaching of the institute was transferred. It contains metallurgical and engineering workshops and laboratories, lecture theatres for the teaching of chemistry and physics, a women’s department, and rooms for the teaching of machine drawing and building construction. Among other educational foundations may be mentioned a number of industrial schools, reformatories and private schools of a good class.