The  rendering  in  A.  V.  of  the  Hebrew  word
Kippod,  the  one  contracting  or  rolling  itself
together ;  an  animal  frequenting  ruins  (Is.
xiv.  23;  xxxiv.  11),  which  ascended  to  the
top  of  ruined  doors  or  to  window  sills,  and
thence  made  its  voice  heard  (Zeph.  ii.  14).
The  bittern  (Botaurus  steUaris)  is  a  long-
necked  and  long-legged  wading  bird,  habit
ually  frequenting  pools  of  water,  but  not
likely  to  be  heard  giving  voice  from  a  ruined
window.  The  R.  V.  considers  the  animal  to
be  the  porcupine,  while  Tristram  identifies  it
as  probably  the  Scops  Owl  (Scops  giu),  a  mi
grant  in  Palestine  for  the  summer  months,
breeding  in  the  walls  of  old  ruins  and  in  hol
low  trees.
Bi-tu/men.
Mineral  pitch.  There  are  three  varieties
of  it :  (1)  Earthy  bitumen  ;  (2)  elastic  bitu
men,  elate  rite  or  mineral  caoutchouc ;  (3)
compact  bitumen  or  asphalt,  asphaltum,  or
Jew's  pitch.  In  its  appearance  it  resembles
common  pitch.  It  sinks  in  water,  is  easily
melted,  is  very  inflammable,  and  when  set
on  fire  burns  with  a  red  smoky  flame.  It  is
produced  in  the  chemistry  of  nature  by  the
•enclosure  of  vegetable  matter  in  the  crust  of
the  earth,  so  that  it  is  in  immediate  contact
with  water,  while  atmospheric  air  is  quite
shut  out.  There  is  a  pitch  lake  in  Trinidad.
Bitumen  or  asphalt  exists  at  or  near  the  Dead
Sea.  called,  in  consequence,  by  the  Greeks
and  Romans,  Lake  Asphaltites.  It  is  found
also  at  Hit,  on  the  Euphrates,  above  Babylon,
and  in  other  places.  Bitumen  was  the  slime
with  which  the  bricks  used  for  the  erection
of  the  tower  of  Babel  were  cemented  (Gen.
