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 BINGHAM BINNEY 645 bishop Hatto of Mentz, who used it as a gran- ary for speculative purposes during times of famine, was gnawed to death there by mice in 969. According to another tradition, the original name of the tower was Mauththurm, or toll tower. This tower was in a very dilapidated condition till 1856, when it was restored. The picturesque aspect of Bingen is enhanced by the adjoining Rupertsberg, with the ruins of a convent, and the Rochusberg, upon the summit of which stands a chapel, an- nually visited by pilgrims, as well as the ruins of an ancient castle, where in 1105 the German emperor Henry IV. was imprisoned by his son. In the time of the Romans the town formed part of Belgic Gaul. The castle built by the Romans upon the Rochusberg bore in the mid- dle ages the name of Klopp castle. The name of its principal tower is Drususthurm. Hence the name of Drususbrucke applied to the beau- tiful bridge over the river Nahe. The Nibe- lungenhort, or the treasure of King Nibelung, which gave the name to the celebrated Nibe- lungenlied, was, according to tradition, sunk in the Rhine not far from Bingen. IJIM.imi. Joseph, an English scholar and divine, born at Wakefield, Yorkshire, in Sep- tember, 1668, died Aug. 17, 1723. An unfor- tunate controversy, in which he took a prom- inent part, forced him to resign his fellowship at Oxford ; he was, however, presented to the rectory of Headbourn-Worthy, in Hampshire. There he began his famous " Origines Ecclesi- asticse, or Antiquities of the Christian Church " (10 vols., 1708-'22). In .1712 he was present- ed to the rectory of Havant, near Portsmouth. In 1720 he was one of the many that were ru- ined by the South sea bubble. BINGHABITON, a city and the capital of Broome county, N. Y., situated at the junction of the Chenango and Susquehanna rivers, about 8 m. from the Pennsylvania boundary, and 118 m. W. S. W. of Albany; pop. in 1870, 12,962. It is on the Erie railway, at the terminus of the Albany and Susquehanna, Syracuse and Binghamton, and Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western railroads, and also on the Chenango canal. It is handsomely laid out ; is well sup- plied with water power by the Chenango river ; has numerous manufactures and an extensive flour and lumber trade ; and contains 15 schools, 11 churches, 2 newspaper offices, and several banks. The state inebriate asylum is located here. Binghamton was settled in 1787 by William Bingham of Philadelphia, and incor- porated as a city in 1867. BINGTANG, or Bintang, an island of the Rhio- Linga group, in the Malay archipelago. Mt. Bingtang, its highest peak, 1,368 ft. high, is in lat. 1 4' K, Ion 104 28' E. Rhio, the Dutch free port, is in lat. 1 54' N., Ion. 104 26' E. Area of the island, about 450 sq. m ; pop., with Rhio, situated on Tanjong Pinang, an adjoin- ing islet, about 20,000. Iron and tin are found, but not extensively mined. The gam- bier plant (imcaria gambir), which produces terra japonica, is the chief product of the isl- and. A large number of gambler plantations, yielding about 4,000 tons a year, are cultivated by Chinese colonists, who raise black pepper at the same time. Other productions are cocoa- nuts, durian fruit, much prized by the natives, caoutchouc, gutta percha, and damar. The native Malays are outnumbered by the Chi- nese. The island is subject to the sultan of Johore, on the peninsula. BINNACLE (formerly spelled bittacle ; Fr. ha- bitacle, a little habitation), a case or box in which the compass and lights are kept on board ship. It is sometimes divided into three compartments, the two sides containing a com- pass, and the middle division a lamp. In order that the needle may not be affected, the bin- nacle is put together without nails or any iron work. On board iron steamers, it is an object of the first importance to isolate the binnacle as completely as possible. BIMEY, Amos, an American savant and pat- ron of art and science, born in Boston, Mass., Oct. 18, 1803, died in Rome, Feb. 18, 1847. He was educated at Brown university and studied medicine, but engaged in mercantile pursuits, and devoted a great deal of time to science, especially mineralogy and conchology. He was one of the founders of the Boston so- ciety of natural history, and its president from 1843 to 1847, a member of all the scientific so- cieties in the country, and active in the for- mation and promotion of the American asso- ciation of geologists and naturalists, of which he was the president elect at the time of his death. When a member of the state legisla- ture he used his influence to sustain the geolo- gical survey of the state, and succeeded in having attached to it a commission for the zo- ological and botanical survey also, which re- sulted in the important volumes of Harris on insects injurious to vegetation, Emerson on forest trees, Storer on fishes, Gould on inverte- brata, &c. He wrote many valuable papers in the proceedings and the journal of the Boston society of natural history, devoted many years to the study of the terrestrial mollusks of the United States, and fitted out several expedi- tions to Florida, Texas, and other unexplored regions, to collect materials. He employed the best artists to delineate and engrave figures for his work on this subject, " Terrestrial and Air-breathing Mollusks of the United States and adjacent Territories of North America," which was published after his death, under di- rection of his friend Dr. A. A. Gould (2 vols. jof text and 1 vol. of plates, Boston, 1851). BIMEY, Horace, an American lawyer, born in Philadelphia, Jan. 4, 1780. He was long one of the leaders of the Philadelphia bar, and has published "Reports of Cases in the Su- preme Court of Pennsylvania from 1799 to 1814" (6 vols., Philadelphia, 1809-'15), and a number of legal pamphlets, addresses, &c. He was for many years director in the first bank of the United States, and acted as trustee in