Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/144

* BICE. 124 RICH. BICE, LuTHEB (17831836). An American clergjiuan, born at Northborough, Mass. He graduated at Williams College in 1810 and, after Btudying theology at Andover Seminary, sailed for India aa a missionary in 1812. Soon after his arrival lie left the Congregationalists and joined the Baptists, as his friend Adoniram Judson had done a few weeks before. He soon returned to the United States and devoted himself to organ- izing missionary societies and raising funds among the Baptists. Largely through his ef- forts Columbian University, at Washington, was founded, and for many years he was its treasurer and devoted much energy to its welfare. Rice was a preacher of unusual power and left a deep impress on the Baptist denomination. BICE, TnoMAS D. (1808-60). An American comedian, born in New York City. He was ap- prenticed to a wood-carver, but was attracted to the theatre, where for a time he served as a supernumerary. Soon, however, he turned to negro minstrelsy, in which he became famous in both America and Great Britain. By many he is held to be without equal in his peculiar branch of comic acting. Among his popular perfor- mances were the burlesque tragedy Othello, the farces Jumbo Jum and The Virf/inia Mammy, and Boiic Squaih Diavolo. a travesty on Fra Diurolo. Many of his songs, such as "Lucy Long," "Jim Crow," and "Sich a Gittin' Up Stairs," held a place among the songs of the people in his day. At the height of his success Rice was noted for his eccentric extravagance, but he died in poverty. BICE, William North (1845 — ). An Amer- ican educator, born at JIarblehead, Mass. He graduated at Wesleyan University in 1865 and received the degree of Ph.D. from Yale in 1867. From that year he was professor of geo- ology at Wesleyan. He was an assistant to the United States Fish Commission in 1873-74, pres- ident of the American Society of Naturalists in 1891, and assistant geologist to the United States Geological Survey in 1891-92. He wrote: Geology of Bermuda (1884) ; Science Teaching in the Schools (1889), and Twenty-five Years of Scientific Progress and Other Essays (18941. BICE-BIBD. The name in the Gulf States of the bobolink (q.v. ). BICE INSECTS. The rice weevil (Calandra oryzce) is a cosmopolitan insect, which probably originated in India and has been diffused by com- merce until it is found in most grain-growing countries. In the Southern United States it is known as 'black weevil.' It feeds upon the grain of rice, wheat, corn, barley, rye. oats, and sor- ghum, and also infests such breadstuffs as crack- ers and cakes, and is frequently found in flour and meal. It was originally bred from rice, whence its specific name; and it is amenalile to the same bisulphide-of-carbon treatment ordinar- ily applied for other insects injuring stored grain. The rice grub of the Southern United States is the larva of a scarabaeid beetle (Ch-alepvs trachypygus), which looks like the ordinary white grub. It feeds upon the roots of upland rice, but in fields which are frequently over- flowed it cannot exist. The so-called ' 'water weevil' {Lissorhoptrus simplex), however, does exist in overflowed fields. The rice-stalk borer is the larva of a crambid moth {Chilo plejadellus) . The moth lays its eggs in the early summer upon the rice stalks, and the young larv.'B bore into the stalks, working their way gradually toward the roots. It transforms to the pupa stage within the stalk, and after five or six daj's the moth emerges. It is of a very pale yellowish or straw color, with golden fringes to the front wings, and expands about one inch. Stalks inhabited by the borer turn white, and this insect is responsible for a certain amount of the so-called 'white blast' of rice fields. The chinch bug (q.v.) also feeds upon the rice heads, but is seldom abundant enough to do much damage; while in the periods between the overflows the 'grass-worm' ( larvie of Laphygina frugiperda), when occurring in large numbers, may ravage a field. See Grass-W'ORM. Consult Annual Report, United States De- partment of Agriculture (Washington, 1881-82). BICH, Barnabe (1540?-1620?). An Eliza- bethan writer. He served in the war with France (1557-58) and thereafter, through most of his life, with the army in Ireland. During his leisure he learned French and Italian and acquired a knowledge of the classics through translations. He claimed to have written thirty-six books, of which the best known is a series of short stories entitled Riche his Farewell to Militarie Profes- sion ( 1581 ; reprinted by the Shakespeare Society, London, 1846). From this collection Shakespeare drew the plot of Twelfth Night. Afterwards Rich issued many romances in the style of the Euphues. military reminiscences, and pamphlets against the Papists and tobacco. Consult .Jusse- rand. TIic Novel in the Time of Shakespeare (London and New York, 1890). BICH, CL.rDius James (1787-1827). An English traveler and Orientalist. He was born at Dijon, France, of English parents. His early j'ears were spent in Bristol, where he was edu- cated. He showed a remarkable aptitude for Oriental languages, and through friendly influence he received a cadetship in the East India Company service in 1803, but when his linguistic attain- ments became officially known he was transferred to the Bombay civil service as a writer. He was ordered to proceed via Egypt as secretary to the Consul-General to that country, but the vessel in which he traveled was burned in the Gulf of Rosas. Spain. He managed to escape, and, after many adventures in Malta, Italy, Constantinople, Smyrna, and the interior of Asia Minor, every- where familiarizing himself with the vernaculars, he spent some time in Egypt. Disguised as a Mameluke, he traveled through Palestine and Syria, and, sailing from Basra, reached Bombay -n 1807, where he was welcomed by the Governor, Sir .James Mackintosh. Four months later he married the Governor's daughter and was appoint- ed Resident at Bagdad, where be remained six years. He made a valuable collection of coins, gems, manuscripts, and material for a history of the region, in 1811 visited the site of Babylon, in 1813 sought recuperation from illness at Constan- tinople, and in 1814 journeyed through the Bal- kans and visited Vienna and Paris. After his re- turn through Asia Jlinor to Bagdad, he revisited Babylon, and for his health traveled through Kurdistan in 1820. He definitely established the site of ancient Nineveh (q.v.). He died of cholera at Shiraz. in Persia, while assisting the sick. His published writings include two Memoirs on The Ruins of Babylon (1815 and