ington; and of President
Arthur in Madison Square, New York City.

BISSEXT, or BISSEXTUS (Lat. _bis_, twice; _sextus_, sixth), the day
intercalated by the Julian calendar in the February of every fourth year
to make up the six hours by which the solar year was computed to exceed
the year of 365 days. The day was inserted after the 24th of February,
i.e. the 6th day before the calends (1st) of March; there was
consequently, besides the _sextus_, or sixth before the calends, the
_bis-sextus_ or "second sixth," our 25th of February. In modern usage,
with the exception of ecclesiastical calendars, the intercalary day is
added for convenience at the end of the month, and years in which
February has 29 days are called "bissextile," or leap-years.

BISTRE, the French name of a brown paint made from the soot of wood, now
largely superseded by Indian ink.

BIT (from the verb "to bite," either in the sense of a piece bitten off,
or an act of biting, or a thing that bites or is bitten), generally, a
piece of anything; the word is, however, used in various special senses,
all derivable from its origin, either literally or metaphorically. The
most common of these are (1) its use as the name of various tools, e.g.
centre-bit; (2) a horse's "bit," or the metal mouth-piece of the bridle;
(3) in money, a small sum of money of varying value (e.g.
threepenny-bit), especially in the West Indies and southern United
States.

BITHUR, a town in the Cawnpore district of the United Provinces of
India, 12 m. N.W. of Cawnpore city. Pop. (1901) 7173. It is chiefly
notable for its connexion with the mutiny of 1857. The last of the
peshwas, Baji Rao, was banished to Bithur, and his adopted son, the Nana
Sahib, made the town his head-quarters. It was captured by Havelock on
the 19th of July 1857, when the Nana's palaces were destroyed.

BITHYNIA ([Greek: Bituvia]), an ancient district in the N.W. of Asia
Minor, adjoining the Propontis, the Thracian Bosporus and the Euxine.
According to Strabo it was bounded on the E. by the river Sangarius; but
the more commonly received division extended it to the Parthenius, which
separated it from Paphlagonia, thus comprising the district inhabited by
the Mariandyni. On the W. and S.W. it was separated from Mysia by the
river Rhyndacus; and on the S. it adjoined Phrygia Epictetus and
Galatia. It is in great part occupied by mountains and forests, but has
valleys and districts near