Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume II.djvu/650

 630 BIERNACKI BIGELOW BIERNACKI, Alolzy Prosper, a Polish agricultu- ral reformer, born near Kalisz in 1778, died in Paris in August, 1856. lie devoted himself to scientific agriculture, and established on his estates a school of mutual instruction on the Lancasterian method. He improved the breed of sheep by introducing into Poland merinos of a superior quality, and to his indefatigable exertions Poland is greatly indebted for agri- cultural improvements. His estate, Sulislawice, near Kalisz, was the earliest model farm in Poland, established at his own cost, long before the existence of any other similar institution. He was one of the leaders of the constitutional party under Alexander I. and Nicholas, and du- ring the revolution of 1830-'31 was for a short time minister of finance. After the suppression of the revolution he emigrated to Paris, where he lived in studious occupation till his death. His elder brother JOZEF, also of high mental accomplishments, a fervent and devoted patriot, fought in the French revolutionary army in Italy against the Austrians and Kussians, and after participating in the Polish revolution of 1830-'31, and in some subsequent movements, he died in 1836, a state prisoner in Russia. BIERSTADT, Albert, an American artist, born in Dusseldorf, Germany, in 1829. When he was two years of age his family emigrated to Massachusetts, and finally settled in New Bed- ford, where his youth and early manhood were passed. He soon discovered a talent for draw- ing, and in 1851 began to paint in oils. Two years later he went to Europe and entered upon a course of study at Dusseldorf. For four years he labored assiduously at his art, spending the summer months in sketching tours in Germany and Switzerland, and passing one winter in Rome. In 1857 he returned to the United States, and in the succeeding spring accom- panied Gen. Lander on his expedition to survey and construct a wagon route to the. Pacific coast. From this and subsequent visits to the great plains and the Rocky mountains he obtained the materials for a series of large landscapes, on which his reputation as a painter mainly rests. They comprise "The Rocky Mountains Lander's Peak" (which was ex- hibited in the United States and Europe, and received marked attention in the Paris exposi- tion of 1867), " The Domes of the Yo-Semite," "Looking down the Yo-Semite," "Storm in the Rocky Mountains," " Laramie Peak," " Emigrants Crossing the Plains," and " Mount Hood," besides a number of smaller works. For several of the larger pictures he obtained very high prices for this class of works. They are eifectively painted, and in many points re- call the general style of the Dusseldorf school, though his works are executed with greater boldness. He has lately been on the Pacific coast, engaged upon new pictures relating to that region. In 1871 he was made a member of the academy of fine arts of St. Petersburg BI US-BOSCH, a marshy lake of the Nether- lands, between the provinces of South Holland and North Brabant, comprising about 75 sq. m. It is very shallow and contains numerous islands. The Maas flows into it, and issues from it under the name of Holland's Diep. The lake was formed Nov^ 18 and 19, 1421, by an inundation, which is said to have submerged 72 villages, drowning 100,000 people. BIGAMY, the wilfully contracting a second marriage with knowledge that the first is still subsisting. If the first marriage was void or has been dissolved by the death of one party, or by a divorce from the bonds of matrimony, the oft'enee is not committed ; but a divorce from bed and board is no defence. By the English statute a person whose husband or wife shall have remained absent for seven years without being heard from is excused from the penalties of bigamy ; and in some of the Amer- ican states there are similar statutes. In pros- ecutions for bigamy strict proof of the mar- riages is required ; they cannot be made out by reputation. BIG BLACK RIVER, a river which rises in Choctaw county, Miss., and after a S. W. course of about 200 m. enters the Mississippi through two mouths, one of which is in Warren county, and the other in Claiborne county, at Grand Gulf. It is bordered throughout most of its course by rich cotton plantations. BIG BOSE LICK, a salt spring in Boone county, Ky., especially interesting to geologists and naturalists, on account of the deposits of fossil bones of the mastodon and several species of mammalia found there. The soil containing the deposit is dark-colored and marshy, gener- ally overlaid with gravel, resting on blue clay. BIGELOW, Erastns Brigham, an American in- ventor, born at West Boylston, Mass., in April, 1814. He was intended for a physician, but his father having failed in business, he was unable to pursue his studies, and turned his attention to mechanical inventions. Before he was 18 he had invented a hand loom for weav- ing suspender webbing, and another for making piping cord. In 1838 he obtained a patent for an automatic loom for weaving knotted coun- terpanes, and contracted to build three of the machines ; but having seen some imported counterpanes which would supersede those to be produced by his loom, he consented to the cancelling of the contract, and in a few months invented a loom capable of producing the new fabric. In 1839 he entered into an agreement with the Lowell manufacturing company to construct a power loom for weaving two-ply ingrain carpets, heretofore woven exclusively by the hand loom, which could only produce 8 yards a day. Mr. Bigelow's first loom pro- duced 10 or 12 yards a day, and it has since been greatly improved by the inventor. In the mean time he had invented a loom for weaving coach lace. In 1862 he proposed a scheme of uniform taxation throughout the United States, and published " The Tariff Ques- tion considered in regard to the Policy of Eng- land and the Interests of the United States."