Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 02.djvu/60

LEFT BITTER trade are fruits, manna, gum, spices, ai-ms, wool, and tobacco. In the course of the World War it was occupied by the Russian armies on March 2, 1916. It has been the scene of terrible massacres of the Armenian inhabitants, a large num- ber of whom have been exterminated or deported. It is included within the ter- ritory of the new Republic of Amienia created by the decision of the Peace Con- ference. Before the war it had a popu- lation of about 36,000. BITTER, KARL THEODORE FRAN- CIS, an American sculptor; bom in Vienna, Austria, in 1867. After study- ing at the Vienna Academy he came to America in 1889, where he soon rose to eminence as a sculptor. The work on the main buildings at the Chicago Exposi- tion was executed by him, and he super- vised similar work at the Expositions of Buifalo, St. Louis, and San Francisco. He has decorated many notable buildings in New York and other large cities. Equestrian statues have been made by him which have elicited high praise, such as those of General Franz Sigel and Carl Schurz in New York. He received many medals and decorations and was a mem- ber of a number of Art Societies. He died April 10, 1915. BITTER ALMOND, the bitter variety of amygddlus communis, or common almond. BITTER APPLE, a name applied to the bitter gourd. BITTER ASH, a tree, simaruba amdra, a native of the West Indies, the bark of which is used as a tonic. Others of the same genus have also the same name, S. excelsa of Jamaica having wood almost as bitter as quassia, and being called Jamaica quassia. BITTER GOURD, a plant, citrullus colocynthis, called also colocynth. BITTER KING, the smdamea amdra, a tree of the quassia order peculiar to the Moluccas and Fiji Islands, the root and bark of which, bruised and macer- ated, are used in the East as an emetic and tonic. BITTER LAKES, salt lakes on the line of the Suez canal. BITTERN, the English name for the birds of the genus botataiis, and espe- cially for the common one, botaums stcU laris. The bitterns are distinguished from the herons proper, besides other characteristics, by having the feathers of the neck loose and divided, which makes it appear thicker than in reality it is. They are usually spotted or 46 BITTER NUT striped. The species are widely distrib- uted^ the best known being botauiixs lenttgonosus, B. stellaris, and B. minutus, inhabiting the temperate portions of both hemispheres. B. stellaris is in some localities named the "mire drum" or the "bull of the bog," etc., in allusion to its BITTERN bellowing or drumming noise about Feb- ruary or March, during the breeding season. It is about 2V2 feet long. The general color of its plumage is dull, pale yellow, variegated with spots and bars of black. The feathers of the head are black, shot with green; the bill and legs are pale green; the middle claw is ser- rated on the inner edge. It is nocturnal. It frequents wooded swamps and reedy marshes. B. minutus is much smaller. B. lenttgonosus is common in this coun- try. BITTERN, a name given to the mother liquid obtained when sea water is evaporated to extract the salt (NaCl). Bittern contains sulphates of magne- sium, potassium and sodium, also bro- mides. It is used as a source of bro- mine. Uitder the name of oil of salt, it is sometimes used to relieve rheumatism. BITTER NUT, a tree of North Amer- ica, of the walnut order, the carya amdra, or swamp hickory, which pro- duces small and somewhat egg-shaped