BELLEROPHOF-BELLINI. BELLE ROPHON, a genus of univalve shells, known only as a fossil. Montfort, who established the genus, placed it among the chambered Cephalopoda. It was subsequently associated with the living Argonaut, but is now generally considered as a genus of De Blainville's Nucleobranchiata (q. v.), having as described. Bellerophon tangentialis. department of the Seine, forming a suburb of Paris, and enclosed by the new fortifications. It has manufactories of cashmeres, varnished leather, articles of polished steel, chemical stuffs, &c. There are springs at B. which have supplied Paris with water from a very early date, and it has tea-gardens and other places of amusement much resorted to by the Parisians. Pop. 56,833. BELLEY, a town of France in the department of Ain, is a place of great antiquity, and was at one time strongly fortified. The finest lithographing stones in France are procured here. Pop. about 4000. BELL-FLOWER. See CAMPANULA. senate. He was a His eldest son, BELLI'NI, the name of a Venetian family which its nearest ally the genus Atlanta; from which, how-produced several remarkable painters. The earliest The shell was JACOPO B., who died in 1470. ever, it differs in having a strong shell. of the B. is symmetrically convolute, with few and pupil of the celebrated Gentile da Fabriano, and one occasionally sculptured whorls, globular or discoidal, of the first who painted in oil. GENTILE B., born 1421, died 1501, was distinguished and having a dorsal keel, which terminates in a deep notch in the sinuous aperture. It is a palæozoic as a portrait painter, and also as a medailleur. organism, extending from the lower silurian to the Along with his brother, he was commissioned to carboniferous series. Seventy species have been decorate the council-chamber of the Venetian Mohammed II., having by accident seen some of his works, invited Gentile to Constantinople, employed him to execute various historical works, and dismissed him laden with presents. The Preaching of St. Mark is his most famous achievement. His more celebrated brother, GIOVANNI B., born 1422, died 1512, was the founder of the older Venetian school of painting, and contributed greatly to its progress. His works are marked by naiveté, warmth, and intensity of colouring. His best works are altar pieces. His picture of the Infant Jesus slumbering in the lap of the Madonna, and attended by angels, is full of beauty and lively expression. His Holy Virgin, Baptism of the Lord, and Christ and the Woman of Samaria, are also much admired. Among his numerous pupils the most distinguished were Giorgione and Titian. BELLE ROPHON (originally called HIPPONOUS) was the son of the Corinthian king Glaucus, and Eurymede, daughter of Sisyphus. Other accounts make Neptune his father. Having accidentally killed his brother, B. fled to his relative Protus, king of Argos, by whom he was hospitably received and protected; but Anteia, the spouse of Protus, having become enamoured of him, and he, like Joseph, having declined her overtures, she revenged herself after the manner of Potiphar's wife. This induced Protus to send his guest away to Iobates, king of Lycia, to whom B. carried a sealed message. After being entertained nine days at the court of Lycia, B. delivered the letter, which contained a request that lobates would cause the youth to be slain. This, however, Iobates was reluctant to do in a direct way, as B. was his guest. He consequently imposed upon B. the seemingly impossible task of slaying the formidable Chimæra (q. v.). B., mounted on the winged steed Pegasus (given to him by Pallas), ascended into the air, and succeeded in slaying the monster with his arrows. Afterwards, he was sent by king Iobates against the Amazons, whom he defeated. On his way home he destroyed an ambuscade of Lycians, which lobates had set for his destruction. That monarch now thought it useless to attempt his death, and as a sort of recompense, gave the hero in marriage his daughter Philonoë, by whom he had three children-Isander, Hippolochus, and Laodameia; such at least is the story as told by Apollodorus, who here concludes. Homer relates that he at last drew on himself the hatred of the gods, and wandered about in a desolate condition through the Aleïan field. Pindar relates that B. on Pegasus endeavoured to mount to Olympus, when the steed, maddened by Jove through the agency of a gadfly threw his rider, who was stricken with blindness. B.'s adventures were a favourite subject of the ancient artists. Sculptures have recently been discovered in Lycia, which represent him vanquishing the Chimæra. BELLES-LETTRES, a term adopted from the French into the English and various other languages. It is generally used in a vague way to designate the more refined departments of literature, but has in fact no precise limits. In English usage it is synonymous with another vague expression, polite literature, including history, poetry, and the drama, fiction, essay, and criticism. BELLEVILLE, a town of France, in the Another BELLINI, VINCENZO, one of the most popular modern opera composers, was born at Catania, in Sicily, November 1, 1802, and died at Puteaux, near He received his early Paris, September 24, 1835. education at the Conservatory of Naples, and was subsequently instructed in composition by Tritto and Zingarelli. After making some attempts, without much success, in instrumental and sacred music, he brought forward, in 1825, the opera Andelson e Salvina, which was played in the small theatre of opera, Bianco e Gernando, was given in the theatre the Royal College of Music (Naples). St. Carlo (1826) with such success that, in 1827, Bellini was commissioned to write a piece for La Scala at Milan. This opera, Il Pirata, was the first which carried the composer's name beyond Italy. It was followed with equal success by La Straniera, 1829, and by I Capuletti ed i Montecchi, written for the theatre of Venice, 1830, which was the culmiexhausted his productive powers. nation of the fame of B., though it by no means and Norma appeared in 1831, and Beatrice di Tenda La Sonnambula in 1833. In the same year the composer went to Paris, where he became acquainted with other forms of music beside the Italian. He was received with great applause in London, and after his return to Paris, wrote his opera I Puritani, which shews the influence of the French school of music, but without servile imitation. At an early age the career of B. was interrupted by death, before the composer had fully developed his powers. He was the most genial and original of all the followers of Rossini, and though inferior to his master in exuberance of fancy, is superior in carefulness and finish, especially in the due subordination of instrumental decorations to BELLINZONA-BELLS. vocal melody. In private he was highly esteemed for the purity and affectionateness of his character. BELLINZO'NA, or BELLENZ, a town of Switzerland, in the canton of Tessin or Ticino, on the left bank of the river of that name, and the seat of the provincial government, alternately with Lugano and Locarno. It is guarded by three old castles, and completely commands the passage of the valley in which it is situated. In former times, it was considered a place of great military importance, and was the scene of frequent conflicts between the Italians and Swiss; the latter of whom finally made themselves masters of it about the beginning of the 16th c. As an entrepôt for the merchandise of Germany and Italy, it is now a place of considerable commercial importance, though the population is but small-about 2000. BE'LLIS. See DAISY. BELLO'NA, the goddess of war among the Romans, was described by the poets as the companion, sister, wife, or daughter of Mars; she was also represented as armed with a bloody scourge, and as inspiring her votaries with a resistless enthusiasm in battle. In the war with the Samnites, the Consul Appius Claudius vowed a temple to B., which was erected afterwards on the field of Mars. In this temple the senate gave audience to embassies from foreign powers, and also to consuls who had claims to a triumph which would have been nullified by entrance into the city. The priests of the goddess were styled Bellonarii, and practised sanguinary rites; such as cutting their own arms or feet, and offering (or even drinking) the blood in sacrifice. This was especially done on the dies sanguinis (day of blood), March 24. time by M'Clintock on his crowning voyage. It To the BELLOY, PIERRE LAURENT BUIRETTE, one of the first French dramatists who ventured to introduce on the stage native, instead of Greek, Roman, or other outlandish heroes. He was born at St. Flour, in Auvergne, 17th November 1727, and died 5th March 1775. His father having died while B. was young, his uncle took him under his protection, and educated him for the law: but the seductions of the drama proved irresistible, and the opposition which he encountered in the cultivation of his theatrical talent ultimately determined him to leave his adopted home. Under the name of Dormont de B. he performed on various northern board, and was much esteemed for his private worth. For some years he resided at St. Petersburg, where the Empress Elizabeth interested herself in him. In 1758, he returned to France, to superintend the bringing out' of his tragedy Titus, trusting that its success would reconcile his family to him. In this, however, he was disappointed, for the piece proved a failure, being only a feeble imitation of Metastasio, and he returned to St. Petersburg. After the death of his uncle, he again visited France, and obtained a decided success by his tragedy of Zelmire. BELLOT, JOSEPH RENÉ, a lieutenant in the French navy, who perished in the arctic regions, in search of Sir John Franklin, was born in Paris, 18th March 1826, and educated at Rochefort, in then 1765, appeared Le Siége de Calais, which was Naval School. In the French expedition against Tamatave, in 1845, he gave proof of so much courage and presence of mind, that the Cross of the Legion of Honour was conferred on him before he had attained his twentieth year. In May 1851, he joined the expedition then preparing in England for the Polar regions, in search of Sir John Franklin, and sailed in the Prince Albert, Kennedy com immensely popular, and is even yet held in estisecured for him an entrance to the French Academy. mation; and in 1771, Gaston and Bayard, which But of all his productions, the one which has longest retained a place in the répertoire of the stage, though it was far from popular at first, is Pierre le Cruel. B.'s dramas are not by any means wanting in theatrical effectiveness, but are marred by great incorrectness. They have been collected and edited by Gaillard (6 vols., Par. 1779). mander, sent out by Lady Franklin. Distinguished by his noble daring and spirit of enterprise, he took part in several explorations. In one of these BELLS, on shipboard, is a term having a peculiar he made an important geographical discovery, to meaning, not exactly equivalent to, but serving as which his name was given-Bellot Strait (q. v.). a substitute for time or 'o'clock in ordinary On his return, he was promoted to the rank of navy land-life. The day, or rather the night, is divided lieutenant. In the expedition fitted out by the into watches or periods, usually of four hours British Admiralty, under Captain Inglefield, he duration each; and each half-hour is marked by sailed as a volunteer, in H.M.S. Phoenix; but never striking on a bell. The number of strokes depends, returned, having been carried by a violent gust of not on the hour, according to ordinary reckonwind, 21st March 1853 into a deep crack in the ing, but on the number of half-hours which have ice on which he was travelling. A considerable elapsed in that particular watch. Thus, three bells' sum was subscribed in England for a monument is a phrase denoting that three half-hours have to his memory. His Journal of a Voyage to the elapsed, but it does not in itself shew to which Polar Seas made in Search of Sir John Franklin particular watch it refers. Captain Basil Hall, in in 1851-1852, edited, with a notice of his life, by his Fragments of Voyages and Travels, while treatM. Julien Lemer, 2 vols., was published at Paris in ing of Sunday usages on board ships of the Royal 1854. English translation. London 1855. Navy, mentions one or two phrases illustrative of BELLOT STRAIT, the passage which separates this mode of time-reckoning. While the sailors North Somerset from Boothia Felix, and connects are at breakfast on Sunday morning, 'the word Prince Regent's Inlet with Peel Strait or Sound, is passed to "clean for muster," and the dress is or, in M'Clintock's new nomenclature, Franklin specified according to the season of the year and Channel. Its east entrance was discovered by climate. Thus, at different seasons is heard: "Do Kennedy during his search for Franklin, and he, you hear there, fore and aft! clean for muster at assuming the continuity of the opening, classified five bells! duck-frocks and white trousers!"—or, it accordingly, naming it after his lamented com- "Do you hear there, clean shirt and a shave for panion Bellot. After four unsuccessful attempts, muster at five bells!" A ship's bell is usually it was explored for the first and perhaps last hung to the beam of the forecastle, but occasionally BELLUNO-BELSHAZZAR. to a beam near the mizzen-mast. Sometimes, in foggy weather, as a warning to other ships, the bell is struck to denote that the ship is on a starboard-tack; leaving the larboard-tack to be denoted by the beat of a drum. See WATCH ON SHIPBOARD. BELLUNO (the ancient Bellunum), a city of Venetia, Northern Italy, on the right bank of the Piave, and 51 miles north of the city of Venice. It is walled, is the seat of a bishop, has a handsome cathedral, hospital, public library, fine aqueduct, &c. It has a trade in timber, and manufactories of silks, hats, leather, and earthenware. Pop. 10,000. BE'LOMANCY (Gr. belos, an arrow; manteia, prophecy), a mode of divination by arrows, prac tised among the Arabs and other nations of the east. A number of arrows being shot off with sentences written on labels attached to them, an Indication of futurity is sought from the inscription on the first arrow found. This is only one of many ways of divining by arrows. See AXINOMANCY. DIVINING-ROD. though perhaps more rugged route through Afghanistan into the Punjab-a preference strengthened by Alexander's direful experience in returning from the Indus along the coast. The surface is generally mountainous, more especially towards the north, the peak of Takkatu being said to be 11,000 feet high. Even the bottoms of some of the valleys have an elevation of 5700 feet: and the capital, Kelat, situated on the side of one of them, is 6000 feet above the level of the sea. The rivers are inconsider able, unless after heavy rains: even the largest of them, the Dusti, after a course of about 1000 miles, has been found to be only 20 inches deep, and 20 yards wide at its mouth. The pastures, as may be and goats, however, are numerous. supposed, are poor, so that there are few cattle: sheep The dromedary is the ordinary beast of burden; and it is only in the north-west, towards Kerman, that horses are bred. Wherever there is a sufficiency of water, the soil cotton, indigo, and tobacco; and the higher grounds, is productive-the lowlands yielding rice, sugar, wheat, barley, madder, pulse, and European fruits. In the sandy waste of Mekran, where Alexander's BELON, PIERRE, a celebrated French naturalist, army suffered its severest hardships and privations, was born in 1517 at Soulletière, in the department the only valuable product is the date. The minerals of Sarthe. He studied medicine at Paris, and sub-are copper, lead, antimony, iron, sulphur, alum, and sequently travelled through Germany. In 1546 he sal-ammoniac; and the manufactures are skins, left France, and visited Greece, Asia-Minor, Egypt, woollens, carpets, and tent-covers of goat's and and Arabia. He returned in 1549, and in 1553 camel's hair, and rude fire-arms. B. has but one published the results of his travels, in a work seaport, Sonmeanee, near the frontier of Sinde. The entitled Observations on several Singular and Memor- trade is insignificant, being, such as it is, chiefly able Things discovered in Greece, Asia, Judea, monopolised by Hindus. The inhabitants, however, Egypt, Arabia, and other Foreign Countries. Charles are, as a body, Mohammedans, of the Sunnite sect, IX. gave him apartments in the Château of and consequently opposed to their neighbours of Madrid, a sumptuous edifice which Francis I. had Persia, who are Shiites. Most of the east provinces, constructed in the Bois de Boulogne. Here he which alone come into contact with British India, resided till his tragic death in April 1564. He was are under the authority of the Khan of Kelat, who, murdered by robbers when gathering herbs at a with a revenue of about £30,000, maintains an late hour of the evening in the Bois de Boulogne. army of 3000 men. This petty sovereign having acted treacherously towards the British during the Afghan campaign of 1839, his royal city was taken by storm in the same year. In 1840, it was abandoned; but, in 1841, it was again captured, for temporary occupation, by the British. Besides the valuable work already mentioned, B. published in 1551, A Natural History of Strange Sea-fish, with a correct Representation and Account of the Dolphin, and several others of that Species, which contains, among other things, an exact description of the dolphin, and the earliest picture of a hippopotamus in any European book; in 1555, A Natural History of Birds, which is often quoted by Buffon, and acknowledged to be the most important treatise on ornithology of the 16th c.; in 1558, an elaborate and interesting work on Arboriculture, in which he gave a list of the exotic trees which it would be useful to introduce into France. Besides these, B. wrote several other treatises of trees, herbs, birds, and fishes. BE'LONE. See GARFISH. BELSHAM, THOMAS, one of the ablest expounders of the Unitarian system of theology, was born at Bedford in 1750. He was educated in the principles of Calvinism, and for some years officiated as pastor of the dissenting congregation and head of the theological academy at Daventry. These offices he resigned in 1789, on embracing Unitarian views, and shortly after received the charge of a new theological academy at Hackney, which in a few years collapsed for want of funds. his pastoral charge, and in 1805 removed to London Before its extinction, he succeeded Dr. Priestley in till his death in 1829. as the successor of Dr. Disney, where he continued Most of his works are · BELOOCHISTA'N, a country of southern Asia, bounded on the north by Afghanistan, on the E. by Moultan and Sinde, on the S. by the Arabian Sea, and on the W. by a maritime dependency of Muscat in Arabia, and by the Persian province of Kerman, controversial: his doctrine regarding the person B. corresponds in general with the ancient Gedrosia, view, as distinguished from the more nearly Arian of Christ represents the purely humanitarian' excepting that the latter name appears to have extended to the Indus, while the former nowhere sentiments of men like Channing. He published reaches that river. B. stretches in N. lat. between also a work on mental and moral philosophy, fol24° 50′ and 30° 20′, and in E. long. between 57° 40' lowing Hartley, and a memoir of his predecesand 69° 18', giving, with a population of half a sor, Theophilus Lindsey. His brother, William million, an area of nearly 200,000 square miles, or writer of history and political tracts on the side (b. 1752; d. 1827), was an active and voluminous fully double that of Great Britain. Though it was of the Whigs. anciently a part of Persia, yet its modern relations connect it rather with India, more particularly since Sinde and Moultan have fallen under the dominion of the English. In the bygone ages of the overland invasions of Hindustan, the Gedrosian or Beloochee Desert formed, as it were, a barrier for the Lower Indus, constraining every assailant, from Alexander downwards, to prefer the less barren, BELSHAZ'ZAR, or BELSA'ZAR, was the last king of the Chaldean dynasty in Babylon. The name occurs only in the Old Testament, where it indicates either the person who is called by Herodotus Labynetos, or his son. For an account of the circumstances attending his overthrow, see the Book of Daniel, Herodotus, &c. BELT-BELTEIN. BELT (signifying Girdle), the name given to two straits, the GREAT and the LITTLE B., which, with the Sound, connect the Baltic with the Cattegat. The GREAT B., about 70 miles in length, and varying in breadth from 4 to more than 20 miles, divides the Danish islands, Seeland and Laaland, from Fünen aud Langeland. The LITTLE B. divides the island of Fünen from Jütland. It is equal in length to the Great B., but much narrower. Its greatest breadth is about 10 miles, but it gradually narrows towards the north, until at the fort of Frederica it is less than a mile wide; thus the passage from the Cattegat into the Baltic is here easily commanded. Both the Belts are dangerous to navigation, on account of numerous sandbanks and strong currents; and therefore, for large vessels, the passage by the Sound (q. v.) is preferred. BE'LTEIN, BE'LTANE, BEI'LTINE, or BEA'LTAINN, the name of a heathen festival once common to all the Celtic nations, and traces of which have survived to the present day. The name is derived from tin or teine, fire, and Beal or Beil, the Celtic god of light or Sun-god, a deity mentioned by Ausonius (309-392 A.D.) and Tertullian (who flourished during the first half of the 3d c.), as well as on several ancient inscriptions, as Belenus or Belinus. B. thus means 'Beal's fire,' and belongs to that sun and fire worship which has always been one of the most prominent forms of polytheism. The great festival of this worship among the Celtic nations was held in the beginning of May, but there seems to have been a somewhat similar observance in the beginning of November (the beginning, and the end of summer). On such occasions, all the fires in the district were extinguished (while the system was in full force, even death was the penalty of neglect); the needfire (q. v.) was then kindled with great solemnity, and sacrifices were offered-latterly, perhaps, of animals, but originally, there can be little doubt, of human beings. From this sacrificial fire the domestic hearths were rekindled. The earliest mention of B. is found by Cormac, Archbishop of Cashel in the beginning of the 10th c. A relic of this festival, as practised in some parts of the Highlands of Scotland about the beginning of the 19th c., is thus described: The young folks of a hamlet meet in the moors on the 1st of May. They cut a table in the green sod, of a round figure, by cutting a trench in the ground of such circumference as to hold the whole company. They then kindle a fire, and dress a repast of eggs and milk in the consistence of a custard. They knead a cake of oatmeal, which is toasted at the embers against a stone. After the custard is eaten up, they divide the cake in so many portions, as similar as possible to one another in size and shape, as there are persons in the company. They daub one of these portions with charcoal until it is perfectly black. They then put all the bits of the cake into a bonnet, and every one, blindfold, draws out a portion. The bonnet-holder is entitled to the last bit. Whoever draws the black bit is the devoted person, who is to be sacrificed to Baal, whose favour they mean to implore in rendering the year productice. The devoted person is compelled to leap three times over the flames.' The leaping three times through the fire is clearly a symbolical sacrifice, and there was doubtless a time when the victim was bound on the pile, and burned. See SACRIFICE, HUMAN. It has been usual to identify the worship of The Celtic Beal with that of the Baal (q. v.) or Bel of the Phoenicians and other Semitic nations. It is unnecessary, however, to go beyond the family af nations to which the Celts belong (see ARYANS), order to find analogies either for the name or the thing. J. Grimm (Deutsche Mythologie, i. 208, 581) identifies the Celtic Beal not only with the Slavonic Belbog or Bjelbog (in which name the syllable bel or bjel means white, and bog, god), but also with the Scandinavian and Teutonic Balder (q. v.) or Paltar, whose names appears under the form of Baldag (the white or bright day), and who appears to have been also extensively worshipped under the name of Phol or Pol. The universality all over Europe in heathen times of the worship of these personifications of the sun and of light through the kindling of fires and other rites, is testified by the yet surviving practice of periodically lighting bonfires (q. v.). The more marked turning-points of the seasons would naturally determine the times of these festivals. The two solstices at midwinter (see YULE) and midsummer, and the beginning and end of summer, would be among the chief seasons. The periods of observance, which varied, no doubt, originally, more or less in different places, were still further disturbed by the introduction of Christianity. Unable to extirpate these rites, the church sought to Christianise them by associating them with rites of her own, and for this purpose either appointed a church-festival at the time of the heathen one, or endeavoured to shift the time of the heathen observance to that of an already fixed churchfestival. All over the south of Germany, the great bonfire celebration was held at midsummer (Johannisfeuer), [see JOHN'S (ST) EVE]-a relic, probably, of the sun-festival of the summer solstice: throughout the north of Germany, it was held at Easter. It is probable that this fire-festival (Oster- 、 feuer) of Ostara-a principal deity among the Saxons and Angles-had been originally held on the 1st of May, and was shifted so as to coincide with the church-festival now known as Easter (q. v. ; see also WALPURGIS NACHT). The seriousness and enthusiasm with which these observances continued to be celebrated in the 16th and 17th centuries began afterwards to decline, and the kindling of bonfires has been mostly put down by the governments; the earlier interdicts alleging the unchristian nature of the rites; the later, the danger occasioned to the forests. In Great Britain, St John's Eve was celebrated with bonfires; and Easter had its fire-rites, which, although incorporated in the service of the Roman Catholic Church, were clearly of heathen origin. But the great day for bonfires in the British islands was the 1st of November. Fewer traces of this are found in other countries, and therefore we must look upon it as more peculiarly Celtic. While the May festival of B. was in honour of the sungod, in his character of god of war-who had just put to flight the forces of cold and darkness-the November festival was to celebrate his beneficent influence in producing the fruits which had just been gathered in. Hence it was called Samhtheine (peace-fire). If we may judge from the traces that still remain or have been recorded, the November observances were more of a private nature, every house having its bonfire and its offerings, probably of fruits, concluding with a domectic feast. The B. festival, again, was public, and attended by bloody sacrifices. Although the November bonfires, like B., were probably of Celtic origin, they seem to have been adopted by the inhabitants of the British islands generally. About the end of last century they were still kindled in various parts of England, and to this day (1860), over whole districts of Aberdeenshire, every rural dwelling has its Hallowe'en bonfire lighted at nightfall in an adjoining stubble-field. The Anglo-Saxon population of England had their own characteristic May-day rites; but there BELUGA-BELZONI. exist traces also of the observance among them of this stands a granite pillar (Menhir) 6 or 7 feet ་ The time, the place (looking east), the mystic pillar, and the ram, surely bear some evidence in favour of the Ram Feast being a sacrifice to Baal.' Additional notices of this sun and fire worship will be found under YULE, CANDLEMAS, LAMMAS, and the other heads referred to in this article. BELU'GA, a genus of Cetacea (q. v.), of the family of Delphinidae or Dolphins (q. v.), differing from the rest of that family in the blunt and broad head, which has no produced snout; the smaller number of teeth, the greater part of which often fall out before the animal is far advanced in age; and Beluga. the want of a dorsal fin. The only species found in the northern parts of the world is B. arctica (for which name there are unhappily many synonyms, as B. leucas, &c.), the White Whale and White Fish of whalers, often called by English writers the B., and the Round-headed Cachalot. The form of the B. is remarkably characterised by the softness of all its curves, and adapts it for rapid and graceful movements; its skin is usually of a clear white colour, and not very strong, so that it often fails to retain a harpoon. The B. attains a length of more than thirteen feet. The female brings forth two young ones at a birth, and displays the greatest solicitude for them. The food of the B. consists of fish, in pursuit of which it often ascends rivers to some distance. It is gregarious, and may be seen in herds of forty or fifty, which often gambol around boats; it abounds in most parts of the arctic seas, and sometimes, but not very frequently, visits the British shores. One was killed in the Firth of Forth in 1815, and one in the Medway in 1846. The Greenlanders take the B. with harpoons or with strong nets. Its flesh affords them a valuable supply of food, and is eaten by most of the inhabitants of arctic coasts; it affords also a considerable quantity of the very finest oil, and the skin is made into leather. Some of the internal membranes are also employed for various purposes.- Another species of B. is found in the southern hemisphere. It is called B. Kingii. BE'LUS. See BAAL. BELVEDERE (It.) was originally an erection on the top of a house, for the purpose of looking air, in which sense it is still understood in Italy. out on the surrounding country, and enjoying the A part of the Vatican (q. v.) in Rome is known as the B., and gives name to the famous statue of Apollo. In France, and with us, the word has come to signify any kind of summer-house or place of refreshment. BELVEDE'RE (Kochia scoparia, Chenopodium scoparium, or Salsola scoparia), an annual plant of the natural order Chenopodiaceæ (q. v.), a native of the middle and south of Europe, and of great part of Asia, which has long been very familiar in British gardens as an ornamental annual, not upon account of its flowers, which have no beauty, but of its close, pyramidal, rigid form, and numerous narrow leaves, which make it appear like a miniature It is sometimes called SUMMER cypress-tree. CYPRESS. BELVI'SIA (also called NAPOLEO'NA), a genus of exogenous plants, the type of the natural order Belvisiacea, of which order only a very few species have yet been discovered, natives of the tropical parts of Africa. They are large shrubs, with smooth, simple, leathery leaves. The flowers grow in threes, sessile in the axils of the leaves, and are beautiful The calyx is a thick, and extremely curious. leathery cup, divided into five ovate segments. The corolla consists of three distinct rings; the outer one 5-lobed, and furnished with ribs, by means of which it is strongly plaited, turning back over and hiding the calyx when full blown; the second, a narrow membrane, divided into numerous regular segments like a fringe; the third, an erect cupshaped membrane. The stamens are erect like another cup; the ovary 5-celled, with two ovules in each cell; the style short, thick, and 5-angled, with a broad, flat, 5-angled stigma. The fruit is a soft berry, crowned with the calyx, with large kidneyshaped seeds. The wood is soft, and contains numerous dotted vessels.-The pulp of the fruit of the best known species is mucilaginous and eatable, the rind very full of tannin; the fruit is as large as a pomegranate, and the seeds 1 inch long.-The position of this remarkable order in the botanical system is not yet well determined. Lindley regards it as most nearly allied to Rhizophoraceae (Mangroves, q. v.). It is supposed by some that the two inner rings of the corolla should be regarded as sterile stamens, and the place of the order is thus fixed near Barringtoniacea (q. v.). BELZO'NI, GIOVANNI BATTISTA, the son of a poor barber, was born at Padua in 1778, and was educated at Rome, for the priesthood, but soon displayed a preference for mechanical science, especially hydrau lics; and when the French republican troops took possession of the pontifical city, he quited his religious studies altogether. About the year 1800, he visited Holland, and in 1803 came to England. For a time he gained a living by exhibiting feats of strength in theatres. At Astley's, he played the part of Hercules, but he also continued his mechanical studies, and even gave numerous hydraulic representations in the most populous towns of the kingdom. After a sojourn of nine years in England, he went to Spain and Portugal, in his capacity of theatrical athlete. From the peninsula, he passed to Malta, and thence to Egypt in 1815, on the invitation of Mehemet Ali, who wished him to construct a hydraulic machine. After succeeding in |