the letters of the Greek alphabet, in their order, and according to the order of magnitude of the stars in each constellation. By means of these marks the stars of the heavens may, with as great facility, be distinguished and referred to, as the several places of the earth are by means of geographical tables; and as a proof of the usefulness of this method our celestial globes and atlasses have ever since retained it; and hence it is become of general use through all the literary world; astronomers in speaking of any star in the constellation, denoting it by saying it is marked by Bayer, «, or ß, or y, &c. Bayer lived many years after the first publication of this work, which he greatly improved and augmented by his constant attention to the study of the stars. At length, in the year 1627, it was republished nnder a new title, viz, "Calum Stellatum Christianum, that is, the Christian Stellated Heaven, or the Starry Heavens Christianized:" for in this work, the Heathen names and characters, or figures of the constellations, were rejected, and others taken from the scriptures were inserted in their stead, to circumscribe the respective constellations. But this was considered too great an innovation, and we find in the later editions of the work that the ancient figures and names were restored. BAYONET, in the military art, a short broad dagger, formerly with a round handle fitted for the bore of a firelock, to be fixed there after the soldier had fired; but they are now made with iron handles and rings that go over the muzzle of the firelock, and are screwed fast so that the soldier fires with his bayonet on the muzzle of his piece, and is ready to act against horse. BAYS, in commerce, a sort of open woollen stuff, having a long knap, sometimes frized, and sometimes not. This stuff is without wale, and is wrought in a loom with two treddles like flannel. It is chiefly manufactured at Colchester and Bocking in Essex, where there is a hall called the Dutch bay hall, or raw hall. BEACON, a public signal, to give warning against rocks, shelves, invasions, &c. The corporation of the Trinity-house are empowered to set up beacons wherever they shall think necessary, and if any destroy or take them down he shall forfeit 1001. or be ipso facto, out-lawed. There are other beacons put up to give warning of the approach of an enemy; these are made by putting pitch barrels upon a long pole, to be set upon an eminence so as they may be seen afar aff; for the barrels being fired, the flame in the night-time, and the smoke in the day, give notice, and in a few hours may alarm the whole kingdom upon an approaching invasion, &c. BEADS, in the arts, are small globules chiefly used for necklaces, and are made of pearl, steel, garnet, coral, diamond, amber, crystal, paste, glass, &c. There is a large trade chiefly of coral, amber, and glass beads, carried on with the uninformed inhabitants of the coast of Africa and the East India islands. Roman Catholics make use of beads in rehearsing their prayers, and they are applied to the same use among the dervices and other religious sects in the East. BEAD, in architecture, a round moulding commonly made upon the edge of a piece of stuff, in the Corinthian and Roman orders, cut or carved in short embossments like beads in necklaces. Sometimes a plain bead is set on the edge of each fascia of an architrave, and sometimes likewise an astragal is thus cut. A bead is often placed on the lining-board of a door-case, and on the upper edges of skirting-boards. BEAK, or BEAK-head, of a ship, that part without the ship, before the forecastle, which is fastened to the stem, and is supported by the main knee. This name is appropriated to ships whose forecastle is square or oblong, a circumstance common to all vessels which have two or more tiers of guns. In smaller ships the forecastle is generally shaped like a parabola, the vertex of which lies immediately above the stemThe strong projecting pointed beaks used by the ancients in time of battle are entirely disused since the invention of gunpowder. BEAKED, in heraldry, a term used to express the beak and bill of a bird. When the beak and legs of a fowl are of a different tincture from the body, we say beaked and membered of such a tincture. BEAM, in architecture, the largest piece of wood in a building, which lies across the walls and serves to support the principal rafters of the roof, and into which the feet of these rafters are framed. No building has less than two of these beams, viz. one at each end. Into these the girders of the garret roof are also framed; and if the building be of timber the teazle tenons of the posts are framed into them. The proportion of beams in or near London are fixed by statute. BEAM compass, an instrument consisting of a square wooden or brass beam, having sliding sockets that carry steel or pencil points they are used for describing large circles where the common compasses are useless. BEAMS of a ship, are the great main cross-timbers which hold the sides of the ship from falling together, and which also support the decks and orlops: the main beam is next the main mast, and from it they are reckoned by first, second, third beam, &c. the greatest beam of all is called the mid-ship beam. BEAM, or Roller, among weavers, a long and thick wooden cylinder, placed lengthways on the back part of the loom of those who work with a shuttle. That cylinder on which the stuff is rolled as it is weaved is also called the beam or roller, and is placed on the fore part of the loom. BEAN. See VICIA. BEAR, in astronomy. See URSA. BEAR, in heraldry. He that has a coat of arms is said to bear in it the several charges or ordinaries that are in his escutcheon. BEAR, in gunnery. A piece of ordnance is said to come to bear, when it lies right with, or directly against the mark. BEAR'S Breech, in botany. See ACAN THUS. BEARD, the hair growing on the chin, and adjacent parts of the face, chiefly of adults and males. Various have been the ceremonies and customs of most nations in regard of the beard. The Tartars, out of a religious principle, waged a long and bloody war with the Persians, declaring them infidels, merely because they would not cut their whiskers, after the rite of Tartary: and we find, that a considerable branch of the religion of the ancients consisted in the management of their beard. Ecclesiastics have sometimes been enjoined to wear, and at other times have been forbid the wearing, the beard; and the Greek and Romish churches have been a long time by the ears about their beards. To let the beard grow, in some countries, is a token of mourning, as to shave it is the like in others. The Greeks wore their beards till the time of Alexander the Great, that prince having ordered the Macedonians to be shav ed, for fear it should give a handle to their enemies: the Romans did not begin to shave till the year of Rome 454. Nor did the Russians cut their beards till within these few years, that Peter the Great, notwithstanding his injunctions upon them to shave, was obliged to keep on foot a number of officers to cut off, by violence, the beards of such as would not otherwise part with them. :: BEARD of a comet, the rays which the comet emits towards that part of the heaven to which its proper motion seems to direct it in this the beard of a comet is distinguished from the tail,which is understood of the rays emitted towards that part from whence its motion seems to carry it. BEARER of a bill of exchange, the person in whose hands the bill is, and in favour of whom the last order was made. When a bill is made payable to the bearer, it is understood to be payable to him in whose hands it is after it becomes due. BEARERS, in heraldry. See SUPPOR TERS. BEARING, in navigation and geography, the situation of one place from another, with regard to the points of the compass; or the angle which a line drawn through the two places makes with the meridians of each. The bearings of places on the ground are usually determined from the magnetic needle, in the managing of which consists the principal part of surveying, since the bearing or distance of a second point from a first being found, the place of that second is determined; or the bearings of a third point from two others, whose distance is known, being found, the place of the third is determined instrumentally. But to calculate trigonometrically, there must be more data. BEARING, in the sea language. When a ship sails towards the shore, before the wind, she is said to bear in with the land or harbour. To let the ship sail more before the wind, is to bear up. To put her right before the wind, is to bear round. A ship that keeps off from the land, is said to bear off. When a ship that was to windward comes under another ship's stern, and so gives her the wind, she is said to bear under her lee, &c. There is another sense of this word, in reference to the burden of a ship; for they say a ship bears, when having too slender or lean a quarter, she will sink 100 deep into the water with an over light freight, and thereby can carry but a small quantity of goods. BEARING of a piece of timber, among carpenters, the space either between the two fixed extremities thereof, when it has no other support, which they call bearing at length, or between one extreme and a post, brick wall, &c. trimmed up between the ends to shorten its bearings. BEAT, in music, a transient grace note, struck immediately before the note it is intended to ornament. The beat always lies half a note beneath its principal, and should be heard so closely upon it, that they may almost seem to be struck together. -BEAT of drum, in the military art, to give notice by beat of drum of a sudden danger; or that scattered soldiers may repair to their arms and quarters, is to beat an alarm, or to arms; also to signify, by different manners of sounding a drum, that the soldiers are to fall on the enemy; to retreat before, in, or after an attack; to move, or march, from one place to another; to treat upon terms, or confer with the enemy; to permit the soldiers to come out of their quarters at break of day; in order to repair to their colours, &c. is to beat a charge, a retreat, a march, &c. BEATING gold and silver. See GOLD BEATING. BEATING time, in music, a method of measuring and marking the time for performers in concert, by the motion of the hand and foot up and down successively, and in equal times. Knowing the true time of a crotchet, and supposing the measure actually subdivided into four crotchets, and the half measure into two, the hand or foot being up, if we put it down with the very beginning of the first note or crotchet, and then raise it with the third, and then down with the beginning of the next measure; this is called beating the time; and by practice a habit is acquired of making this motion very equal. Each down and up is sometimes called a time, or measure. The general rule is, to contrive the division of the measure so, that every down and up of the beating shall end with a particular note, on which very much depends the distinctness, and, as it were, the sense of the melody. Hence the beginning of every time or beating in the measure is reckoned the accented part thereof. If time be common, or equal, the beating is also equal; two down and two up, or one down and one up: if the time be triple, or VOL. I. unequal, the beating is also unequal; two down and one up. BEATINGS, in music, those regular pulsative heavings or swellings of sound, produced in an organ by pipes of the same key when they are not exactly in unison, i. e when their vibrations are not perfectly equal in velocity; not simultaneous and coincident. BEATS, in music, are certain pulsations of two continued sounds, as in an organ, that are out of tune, occasioned by warring vibrations that prevent coincidence in any two concords: This phenomenon Dr. Smith has made the foundation of a system of temperament. In tuning musical instruments, especially organs, it is a known thing, that while a consonance is imperfect it is not smooth and uniform as when perfect, but interrupted with very sensible undulations or beats, which while the two sounds continue at the same pitch succeed one another in equal times, and in longer and longer times, while either of the sounds approaches gradually to a perfect consonance with the other, till at last the undulations vanish, and have a smooth and uniform consonance. These beats are of use in tuning an organ to any degree of exactness. The beats of two dissonant organ pipes resemble the beating of the pulse to the touch: and like the human pulse in a fever, the more dissonant are the sounds the quicker they beat, and the slower as they become better in tune, till at length they are lost in the coincident vibrations of the two sounds. BEATS, in a watch or clock, are the strokes made by the fangs or pallets of the spindle of the balance, or of the pads in a royal pendulum. To find the beats of the balance in all watches going, or in one turn of any wheel. Having found the number of turns which the crown-wheel makes in one turn of the wheel you seek for, those turns of the crown-wheel multiplied by its notches give half the number of beats in that one turn of the wheel. For the balance or swing has two strokes to every tooth of the crown-wheel, inasmuch as each of the two pallets hath its blow against each tooth of the crown-wheel; whence it is that a pendulum that beats seconds has in its crownwheel only 30 teeth. See WATCH-WORK. BEAVER, in zoology. See CASTOR. BEAUTY, a general term for whatever excites in us pleasing sensations, or an idea of approbation. Hence the notion annexed to beauty may be distinguished into ideas and sensations: the former of which occupy the mind; Kk the latter affect the heart: thus, an object may please the understanding with out interesting the sense; and on the other hand, we perceive agreeable sensations, excited by some objects, whose ideas are no way related to any thing that is praiseworthy. It is, on account of these distinctions, that the difficulty lies of fixing an universal characteristic of beauty, in regard that the persons vary, according to their different turns of mind, and habitudes of body, and consequently the relations of objects to those ideas and sensations do in like manner vary; whence arise the different opinions of beauty in painting, women, &c. Beauty, in its most extensive sense, may perhaps be properly defined, that quality or anion of qualities in the objects of percep tion, whether they be material, intellectual, or moral, which is best calculated to excite emotions of pleasure in the minds of intelligent creatures. We say calculated to produce these effects in the minds of intelligent creatures, because, although beauty is, like truth, unchangeable in itself, it is only in proportion to the measure of our intelligence, that we are capable of perceiving and enjoying it. Hence the distinction between beauty and taste: the former, the object, ever existing, ever the same; the latter, the power of perception, fluctuating and changing, in proportion to the perfection of our organs of sense and the improvement of our reasoning faculties. That the organs of sense vary in their degrees of perfection in different men, experience every day demonstrates: that the eye of one, the ear of an other, the palate, the smell, or the touch of a third, is by nature formed with more exquisite workmanship than in others, no one can doubt; and that these organs of sense can be again rendered still more correct by their particular education or frequent practice, is equally certain. Thus the man whose eye has been long accustomed to measure distances, shall seldom be under the necessity of recurring to the rule; the accomplished artist shall in a moment discover the various colours, and the proportions of each required to produce any complex tint, or, like Apelles, draw the line marking the scarcely perceptible distinction between excellence and perfection. Beauty, as opposed to deformity, is as goodness to evil, as truth to falsehood, or as right to wrong, and may therefore be considered as an outward demonstration vouchsafed by the Almighty, to bring us, by analogy, to the contemplation of those divine attributes by which we are bound to regulate our lives in this material world, that we may be fitted for that state of purity and happiness which we are promised in the world of spiritual existence. If this conclusion be admitted, it is no longer a question why beauty gives us pleasure, it is sufficient that it does so. But if mankind are not by nature equally endowed with the powers of discriminating or judging of beauty, what is the standard or rule by which we are to ascertain what is really beautiful, much less the different degrees of beauty which any given object presents? for will not each man say, my judg ment is right; your's, inasmuch as you differ from me, wrong. To this, and similar objections, we should not hesitate to reply thus: Although no individual can properly be considered a competent and unerring judge, mankind, in the aggregate may; and we can therefore safely rest satisfied, that what the wisest, the most virtuous, and the most contemplative men of all ages have agreed to sanction by their approval, is right. Taste may be, for a time, perverted by fashion, meritricious charms may usurp the rank of beauty, ostentation may personate virtue; but truth and justice will at length prevail, whilst the frivolity or caprice of a day will be soon forgotten. The surest method, therefore, nay perhaps the only means by which we can expect to perfect our taste so as to be enabled to relish the higher beauties which either the productions of nature or art present, is by an early and close application to the study and contemplation of those works which have proved impervious to the shafts of criticism, and which have been the admirations of ages. Such are the writings of the best ancient authors, whether in prose or verse, such the astonishing remains of Greek art, which, long hidden in the bowels of the earth, were. restored to light under the happy auspices of Lorenzo de Medici and Leo the Tenth. Next to these, as authorities, we may class the best established works of modern date; and particularly those which appeared soon after the revival of letters and arts; mankind having had, in cases of this description, more leisure and opportunity to correct the er rors and prejudices to which contemporary opinion is subjected, than can have been possible with respect to very recent productions. Inquiries concerning beauty have em ployed the pen of many ingenious and learned authors of all ages; the subject however is, like nature, inexaustible, and, like her, perhaps, beyond the reach of human talents fully to comprehend, or satisfactorily to explain. Dr. Hutchinson's theory of beauty ascribes it to " uniformity amidst variety," (see "Hutchison's Inquiry") but another writer (see “Reid's Essay on the Intellectual Powers of Man," ch. iv.) observes that beauty is found in things so various and so very different in nature, that it is difficult to say wherein it consists, or what can be common to all the objects in which it is found. Hogarth, in his "Analysis of Beauty," considers the elements of beauty to be fitness, variety, uniformity, simplicity, intricacy, and quantity: whereas Mr. Burke in his "Inquiry respecting the Sublime and Beautiful," excludes from the number of real causes of beauty, the proportion of parts, fitness, or that idea of utility which consists in a part's being well adapted to answer its ends, and also perfection. Opinions so contradictory may well justify the hypothesis that beauty is more readily felt than described; and we may set down contented that we receive light and heat from the sun, although ignorant whether it proceeds from a burning orb or a huge stone. As the attainment of beauty is a principal aim of the fine arts, the subject will necessarily again fall under discussion as connected with each of them in particular. See ARTS, Fine, POETRY, PAINTing, DrawING, SCULPTURE, ENGRAVING, DANCING. BECHERA, in botany, a genus of the Pentandria Digynia class and order. Calyx five-cleft, superior, with a globular tube; coral five-petalled; capsule two-celled, twovalved. One species. BECKETS, in sea language, any thing used to confine loose ropes, tackles, or spars in a convenient place; hence beckets are either large hooks, or short pieces of rope with a knot on one end, and an eye in the other; or formed like a circular wreath; or they are a sort of wooden brackets. BEE. See APIS. BEES, management of. It is agreed by the most judicions observers that the apiary, or place where bees are kept, should face the south, and be situated in a place neither too hot nor too much exposed to the col; that it be near the mansion-house on account of the convenience of watching them; but so situated as not to be exposed to noisome smells, or to the din of men or cat tle; that it be surrounded with a wall, which, however, should not rise above three feet high; that, it' possible, a running stream be near them; or if that cannot be, that water be brought near them in troughs, as they cannot produce either combs, honey, or food for their maggots, without water: and that the garden in which the apiary stands be well furnished with such plants as afford the bees plenty of good pasture. Furze, broom, mustard, clover, heath, &c. have been found excellent for this purpose. Hives have been made of different materials, and in different forms, according to the fancy of people of different ages and countries. Not only straw, which experience now proves to be rather preferable to every thing else, but wood, horn, glass, &c. have been used for the construction of them. Single box lives, however, when properly made answer very well, and when painted last long. They have several advantages above straw hives, they are quite cleanly, and always stand upright; they are proof against mice, and are cheaper in the end than straw hives, for one box will last as long as three of them. They are, however, rather colder in winter; but a proper covering will prevent all danger from that quarter. Straw hives are easiest obtained at first, and have been used and recommended by the best of bee-masters. If the swarm be early and large it will require a large hive, but if otherwise, the hive should be proportionably less. If the bees appear to want more room, it can easily be enlarged by putting a roll or two below it; but if it be heavy enough for a stock hive it will do, although it should not be quite full of combs. Any person (says Mr. Bonner) who intends to erect an apiary must take particular care to have it filled with proper inhabitants. He must be peculiarly attentive to this, as all his future profit and pleasure, or loss and vexation, will, in general, depend upon it. He must, therefore, pay the utmost attention to the choice of his stockhives; for the man who takes care to keep good stock-hives will gain considerably by them; but he who keeps had ones, will, besides a great deal of trouble and little or no success, soon become a broken bee-master. In September every stock-bive ought to contain as much honey as will supply the bees with food till June following; and as many bees as will preserve heat in the hive, and therefore resist the severity of a'cold winter, and act as so many valiant soldiers to defend the commer2 |