Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "Bent, James" to "Bibirine" by Various
1698. His second marriage, with Anne Bulkeley, took place in 1700. As a
7447 words | Chapter 40
lieutenant-general he served in the campaign of 1702, after which he
became naturalized as a French subject in order to be eligible for the
marshalate. In 1704, he first took command of the French army in Spain.
So highly was he now esteemed for his courage, abilities and integrity,
that all parties were anxious to have him on their side (_Eloge_, by
Montesquieu). His tenure of the command was, however, very short, and
after one campaign he was replaced by the Marshal de Tesse. In 1705 he
commanded against the Camisards in Languedoc, and when on this expedition
he is said to have carried out his orders with remorseless rigour. His
successful expedition against Nice in 1706 caused him to be made marshal
of France, and in the same year he returned to Spain as
commander-in-chief of the Franco-Spanish armies. On the 25th of April
1707, the duke won the great and decisive victory of Almanza, where an
Englishman at the head of a French army defeated Ruvigny, earl of Galway,
a Frenchman at the head of an English army. The victory established
Philip V. on the throne of Spain. Berwick was made a peer of France by
Louis XIV., and duke of Liria and of Xereca and lieutenant of Aragon by
Philip. Thenceforward Berwick was recognized as one of the greatest
generals of his time, and successively commanded in nearly all the
theatres of war. From 1709 to 1712 he defended the south-east frontier of
France in a series of campaigns which, unmarked by any decisive battle,
were yet models of the art of war as practised at the time. The last
great event of the War of the Spanish Succession was the storming of
Barcelona by Berwick, after a long siege, on the 11th of September 1714.
Three years later he was appointed military governor of the province of
Guienne, in which post he became intimate with Montesquieu. In 1718 he
found himself under the necessity of once more entering Spain with an
army; and this time he had to fight against Philip V., the king who owed
chiefly to Berwick's courage and skill the safety of his throne. One of
the marshal's sons, known as the duke of Liria, was settled in Spain, and
was counselled by his father not to shrink from doing his duty and
fighting for his sovereign. Many years of peace followed this campaign,
and Marshal Berwick was not again called to serve in the field till 1733.
He advised and conducted the siege of Philipsburg, and while the siege
was going on was killed by a cannon-shot on the 12th of June 1734. Cool,
self-possessed and cautious as a general, Marshal Berwick was at the same
time not wanting in audacity and swiftness of action. He was a true
general of the 18th century, not less in his care for the lives of his
men than in his punctiliousness and rigidity in matters of discipline.
The _Memoires_ of Marshal Berwick, revised, annotated and continued by
the Abbe Hooke, were published by the marshal's grandson in 1778.
Montesquieu made many contributions to this.
BERWICKSHIRE, a county of Scotland, forming its south-eastern extremity,
bounded N. by Haddingtonshire and the North Sea; E. by the North Sea;
S.E. by the county of the borough and town of Berwick; S. by the Tweed
and Roxburghshire, and W. by Mid-Lothian. Its area is 292,577 acres or
457 sq. m., and it has a coast-line of 21 m. The county is naturally
divided into three districts: Lauderdale, or the valley of the Leader,
in the W.; Lammermuir, the upland district occupied by the hills of that
name in the N.; and the Merse (the March or Borderland, giving a title
to the earls of Wemyss), the largest district, occupying the S.E. The
Lammermuirs are a range of round-backed hills, whose average height is
about 1000 ft., while the highest summit, Says Law, reaches 1749 ft.
From these hills the Merse stretches to the S. and E., and is a
comparatively level tract of country. The coast is lofty, rocky and
precipitous, broken by ravines and not accessible, except at Eyemouth
Harbour, for small vessels, and at Coldingham and Burnmouth for fishing
boats. St Abb's Head, a promontory with a lighthouse upon it, rises to
310 ft. The Eye is the only river of any size which falls directly into
the sea. The others--the Leader, the Eden, the Leet and the Whiteadder
with its tributaries, the Blackadder and the Dye--all flow into the
Tweed. Of these the largest and most important is the Whiteadder, which
has its source in the parish of Whittingehame on the East Lothian side
of the Lammermuirs, and, following a sinuous course of 35 m., joins the
Tweed within the bounds or liberties of Berwick. There are small lochs
at Coldingham, Legerwood, Spottiswoode, the Hirsel, near Coldstream,
Hule Moss on Greenlaw Moor, and tiny sheets of water near Duns and
Mersington.
_Geology._--The north portion of the county embraces that part of the
Silurian tableland of the south of Scotland which stretches from the
Lammermuir Hills east to St Abb's Head. The strata consist mainly of
grits, greywackes, flags and shales, repeated by innumerable folds,
trending north-east and south-west, which are laid bare in the great
cliff section between Fast Castle and St Abb's Head. This section of the
tableland includes sediments, chiefly of Tarannon age, which form a belt
10 m. across from the crest of the Lammermuir Hills to a point near
Westruther and Longformacus. In the Earnscleuch Burn north-east of
Lauder representatives of Llandovery, Caradoc and Llandeilo rocks,
together with the Arenig cherts, appear along an anticlinal fold in the
midst of the younger strata. Again in the extreme north-west of the
county near Channelkirk and to the north of the Tarannon belt
radiolarian cherts and black shales with graptolites of Upper Llandeilo
and Caradoc age are met with. The Lower Old Red Sandstone rocks, which
rest unconformably on the folded and denuded Silurian strata, appear at
Eyemouth and Reston Junction, and at St Abb's Head are associated with
contemporaneous volcanic rocks which are evidently on the same horizon
as the interbedded lavas of Lower Old Red age in the Cheviots. The
intrusive igneous materials of this period are represented by the
granitic mass of Cockburn Law and the porphyrites of the Dirrington
Laws. The Upper Old Red Sandstone, consisting of conglomerates and
sandstones, rest unconformably alike on the Silurian platform as at
Siccar Point and on the lower division of that system. The age of these
beds has been determined by the occurrence of remains of _Holoptychius
nobilissimus_ in the sandstones at Earlston and in the Whiteadder north
of Duns. On the Black Hill of Earlston these strata are traversed by a
sheet of trachyte resembling the type of rock capping the Eildon Hills
(see ROXBURGHSHIRE: _Geology_). Overlying the strata just described
there is a succession of volcanic rocks extending from Greenlaw
southwards by Stichil and Kelso to Carham, which, at several localities,
are followed by a band of cornstone resembling that near the top of the
Upper Old Red Sandstone in the midland valley of Scotland. Next in order
comes a great development of the Cementstone group of the Carboniferous
system which spreads over nearly the whole of the low ground of the
Merse and attains a great thickness. At Marshall Meadows north of
Berwick-on-Tweed, thin bands of marine limestone occur, which probably
represent some of the calcareous beds above the Fell sandstones south of
Spittal.
_Climate and Agriculture._--Owing to the maritime position, the winter
is seldom severe in the lowland districts, but spring is a trying season
on account of the east winds, which often last into summer. The mean
annual rainfall is 30-1/2 in. and the average temperature for the year
is 47 deg. F., for January 37 deg. F., and for July 58.5 deg. F. The
climate is excellent as regards both the health of the inhabitants and
the growth of vegetation. The soils vary, sometimes even on the same
farm. Along the rivers is a deep rich loam, resting on gravel or clay,
chiefly the former. The less valuable clay soil of the Merse has been
much improved by drainage. The more sandy and gravelly soils are
suitable for turnips, of which great quantities are grown. Oats and
barley are the principal grain crops, but wheat also is raised. The
flocks of sheep are heavy, and cattle are pastured in considerable
numbers. Large holdings predominate--indeed, the average size is the
highest in Scotland--and scientific farming is the rule. The labourers,
who are physically well developed, are as a whole frugal, industrious
and intelligent, but somewhat migratory in their habits. This feature in
their character, which they may have by inheritance as Borderers, has
admirably fitted them for colonial life, to which the scarcity of
industrial occupation has largely driven the surplus population.
_Other Industries._--Next to agriculture the fisheries are the most
important industry. The Tweed salmon fisheries are famous, and the
lesser rivers of the Merse are held in high esteem by anglers. Eyemouth,
Burnmouth, Coldingham and Cove are engaged in the sea fisheries. Cod,
haddock, herring, ling, lobsters and crabs are principally taken. The
season for herring is from May to the middle of September and for white
fish from October to the end of May. Coal, copper ore and ironstone
exist in too small quantities to work, and the limestone is so far from
a coal district as to be of little economic value. Earlston sends out
ginghams and woollen cloths. At Cumledge on the Whiteadder, blankets and
plaids are manufactured, and paper is made at Chirnside. The other
manufactures are all connected with agriculture, such as distilleries,
breweries, tanneries, &c. The trade is also mainly agricultural. Fairs
are held at Duns, Lauder, Coldstream and Greenlaw; but the sales of
cattle and sheep mostly take place at the auction marts at Reston, Duns
and Earlston. There are grain markets at Duns and Earlston. Berwick,
from which the county derives its name, is still its chief market. There
is, however, no legal or fiscal connexion between the county and the
borough.
The North British railway monopolizes the communications of the county.
The system serves the coast districts from Berwick to Cockburnspath, and
there is a branch from Reston to St Boswells.
_Population and Government._--The population of Berwickshire was 32,290
in 1891 and 30,824 in 1901, in which year the number of persons speaking
Gaelic and English was 74, and one person spoke Gaelic only. The only
considerable towns are Eyemouth (pop. in 1901, 2436) and Duns (2206).
The county returns one member to parliament. Lauder is the only royal
burgh, and Duns the county town, a status, however, which was held by
Greenlaw from 1696 to 1853, after which date it was shared by both towns
until conferred on Duns alone. Berwickshire forms a sheriffdom with
Roxburgh and Selkirk shires, and there is a resident sheriff-substitute
at Duns, who sits also at Greenlaw, Coldstream, Ayton and Lauder. In
addition to board and voluntary schools throughout the county, there is
a high school, which is also a technical school, at Duns, and Coldstream
and Lauder public schools have secondary departments. Duns school is
subsidized by the county council, which pays the expenses of students
attending it from a distance.
_History._--Traces of Roman occupation and of ancient British settlement
exist in various parts of the Merse. Edin's or Etin's Hall, on Cockburn
Law, 4 m. north of Duns, is still called the Pech's or Pict's House, and
is one of the very few brochs found in the Lowlands. After the Romans
withdrew (409) the country formed part of the Saxon kingdom of
Northumbria, and the inhabitants were converted to Christianity through
the missionary efforts of Modan in the 6th, and Oswald, Aidan and
Cuthbert (traditionally believed to have been born in the vale of the
Leader) in the 7th centuries. The Northmen invaded the seaboard, but the
rugged coast proved an effectual barrier. The Danes, however, landed in
886, and destroyed the nunnery at Coldingham, founded about 650 by Ebba,
daughter of Aethelfrith, king of Northumbria, after whom the adjoining
promontory of St Abb's Head was named. After the battle of Carham (1018)
the district, which then constituted part of the division of Lothian,
was annexed to Scotland. Birgham (pron. Birjam), 3-1/2 m. west of
Coldstream, was the scene of the conference in 1188 between William the
Lion and the bishop of Durham, which discussed the attempt of the
English church to assert supremacy over the Scottish. Here also met in
1289 a convention of the Scots estates to consider the projected
marriage of Prince Edward of England to the Maid of Norway; and here was
signed in 1290 the treaty of Birgham, assuring the independence of
Scotland. During the long period of international strife the shire was
repeatedly overrun by armies of the English and Scots kings, who were
constantly fighting for the ancient frontier town of Berwick. It was
finally ceded to England in 1482, and the people afterwards gradually
settled down to peaceful pursuits. The ford at the confluence of the
Leet and Tweed near Coldstream gave access to south-eastern Scotland.
Edward I. crossed it with his army in 1296, encamping at Hutton the day
before the siege of Berwick, and it was similarly employed as late as
1640, when the marquess of Montrose led the Covenanters on their march
to Newcastle, although James VI. had already caused a bridge to be
constructed from Berwick to Tweedmouth. There are several places of
historic interest in the county. Upon the site of the nunnery at
Coldingham King Edgar in 1098 founded a Benedictine priory, which was
one of the oldest monastic institutions in Scotland and grew so wealthy
that James III. annexed its revenues to defray his extravagance, a step
that precipitated the revolt of the nobles (1488). The priory was
seriously damaged in the earl of Hertford's inroad in 1545, and Cromwell
blew up part of the church in 1650. The chancel (without aisles) was
repaired and used as the parish church. The remains contain some fine
architectural features, such as, on the outside, the Romanesque arcades
surmounted by lancet windows at the east end, and, in the interior, the
Early Pointed triforium. On the coast, about 4 m. north-west of
Coldingham, are the ruins of Fast Castle--the "Wolf's Crag" of Scott's
_Bride of Lammermoor_--situated on a precipitous headland. From Sir
Patrick Hume it passed to Sir Robert Logan of Restalrig, who is alleged
to have been one of the Gowrie conspirators, and to have intended to
imprison James VI. within its walls (1600). Four miles west is the Pease
or Peaths bridge, built by Thomas Telford in 1786 across the deep pass
which was of old one of the strongest natural defences of Scotland. The
bridge is 123 ft. high, 300 ft. long and 16 ft. wide. Near it are the
ruins of Cockburnspath Tower, once a strong fortress and supposed to be
the "Ravens wood" of the _Bride of Lammermoor_. In the south-west of the
shire besides Dryburgh Abbey (q.v.) there are, at Earlston, the remains
of the castle that was traditionally the residence of Thomas the Rhymer.
Hume Castle, the ancient seat of the Home family, a picturesque ruin
about 3 m. south of Greenlaw, is so conspicuously situated as to be
visible from nearly every part of the county. Coldstream and Lamberton,
being close to the Border, were both resorted to (like Gretna Green in
the west) by eloping couples for clandestine marriage. In Lamberton
church was signed in 1502 the contract for the marriage of James IV. and
Margaret Tudor, which led, a century later, to the union of the crowns
of Scotland and England.
See W.S. Crockett, _Minstrelsy of the Merse_, (Paisley, 1893); _In
Praise of Tweed_ (Selkirk, 1889); _The Scott Country_ (London, 1902);
J. Robson, _The Churches and Churchyards of Berwickshire_ (Kelso,
1893); F.H. Groome, _A Short Border History_ (Kelso, 1887); J. Tait,
_Two Centuries of Border Church Life_ (Kelso, 1889); Margaret
Warrender, _Marchmont and the Humes of Polwarth_ (Edinburgh, 1894);
W.K. Hunter, _History of the Priory of Coldingham_ (Edinburgh, 1858).
BERWICK-UPON-TWEED, a market town, seaport, municipal borough and county
in itself, of England, at the mouth of the Tweed on the north bank, 339
m. N. by W. from London. Pop. (1901) 13,437. For parliamentary purposes
it is in the Berwick-upon-Tweed division of Northumberland. It is the
junction on the East Coast route from London to Scotland between the
North Eastern and North British railways, a branch of the company first
named running up the Tweed valley by Coldstream and Kelso. The town lies
in a bare district on the slope and flat summit of an abrupt elevation,
higher ground rising to the north and south across the river. It has the
rare feature of a complete series of ramparts surrounding it. Those to
the north and east are formed of earth faced with stone, with bastions
at intervals and a ditch now dry. They are of Elizabethan date, but
there are also lines of much earlier date, the fortifications of Edward
I. Much of these last has been destroyed, and threatened encroachment
upon the remaining relics so far aroused public feeling that in 1905 it
was decided that the Board of Works should take over these ruins,
including the Bell Tower, from the town council, and enclose them as
national relics. The Bell Tower, from which alarms were given when
border raiders were observed, is in fair preservation. There are slight
remains of the castle, which fell into disrepair after the union of the
crowns of England and Scotland. There are no traces of the churches,
monasteries or other principal buildings of the ancient town. The church
of Holy Trinity is a plain building without steeple, of the time of
Cromwell. Of modern places of worship, the most noteworthy is Wallace
Green United Presbyterian church (1859). The chief public building is
the town hall (1760), a stately classic building surmounted by a lofty
spire. Educational institutions include an Elizabethan grammar school
and a blue-coat school; and there is a local museum. Two bridges connect
the town with the south side of the Tweed. The older, which is very
substantial, was finished in 1634, having taken twenty-four years in
building. It has fifteen arches, and is 924 ft. long, but only 17 ft.
wide. A unique provision for its upkeep out of Imperial funds dates from
the reign of Charles II. The other, the Royal Border Bridge, situated a
quarter of a mile up the river, is a magnificent railway viaduct, 126
ft. high, with twenty-eight arches, which extends from the railway
station, a castellated building on part of the site of the old castle,
to a considerable distance beyond the river. This bridge was designed by
Robert Stephenson and opened by Queen Victoria in 1850.
The reach of the river from the old bridge to the mouth forms the
harbour. The entrance to the harbour is protected by a stone pier, which
stretches half a mile south-east from the north bank of the river mouth.
The depth of water at the bar is 17 ft. at ordinary tides, 22 ft. at
spring tides, but the channel is narrow, a large rocky portion of the
harbour on the north side being dry at low water. There is a wet dock of
3-1/2 acres. Principal exports are grain, coal and fish; imports are
bones and bone-ash, manure stuffs, linseed, salt, timber and iron. The
herring and other sea fisheries are of some value, and the salmon
fishery, in the hands of a company, has long been famous. A fair is held
annually at the end of May. There are iron-works and boat-building
yards.
The custom of specially mentioning Berwick-upon-Tweed after Wales,
though abandoned in acts of parliament, is retained in certain
proclamations. The title of "county in itself" also helps to recall its
ancient history. The liberties of the borough, commonly called Berwick
Bounds, include the towns of Spittal, at the mouth, and Tweedmouth
immediately above it, on the south bank of the river. The first is a
watering-place (pop. 2074), with pleasant sands and a chalybeate spa;
the second (pop. 3086) has iron foundries, engineering works and
fish-curing establishments. Berwick-upon-Tweed is governed by a mayor, 6
aldermen and 18 councillors. Area, 6396 acres.
Very little is known of the history of Berwick before the Conquest. It
was not until the Tweed became the boundary between England and
Scotland in the 12th century that Berwick as the chief town on that
boundary became really important. Until the beginning of the 14th
century Berwick was one of the four royal boroughs of Scotland, and
although it possesses no charter granted before that time, an
inquisition taken in Edward III.'s reign shows that it was governed by
a mayor and bailiffs in the reign of Alexander III., who granted the
town to the said mayor and the commonalty for an annual rent. After
Edward I. had conquered Berwick in 1302 he gave the burgesses another
charter, no longer existing but quoted in several confirmations, by
which the town was made a free borough with a gild merchant. The
burgesses were given the right to elect annually their mayor, who with
the commonalty should elect four bailiffs. They were also to have
freedom from toll, pontage, &c., two markets every week on Monday and
Friday, and a fair lasting from the feast of Holyrood to that of the
Nativity of St John the Baptist. Five years later, in 1307, the mayor
and burgesses received another charter, granting them their town with
all things that belonged to it in the time of Alexander III., for a
fee-farm rent of 500 marks, which was granted back to them in 1313 to
help towards enclosing their town with a wall. While the war with
Scotland dragged on through the early years of the reign of Edward
II., the fortification of Berwick was a matter of importance, and in
1317 the mayor and bailiffs undertook to defend it for the yearly sum
of 6000 marks; but in the following year, "owing to their default,"
the Scots entered and occupied it in spite of a truce between the two
kingdoms. After Edward III. had recovered Berwick the inhabitants
petitioned for the recovery of their prison called the Beffroi or
Bell-tower, the symbol of their independence, which their predecessors
had built before the time of Alexander III., and which had been
granted to William de Keythorpe when Edward I. took the town. Edward
III. in 1326 and 1356 confirmed the charter of Edward I., and in 1357,
evidently to encourage the growth of the borough, granted that all who
were willing to reside there and desirous of becoming burgesses should
be admitted as such on payment of a fine. These early charters were
confirmed by most of the succeeding kings, until James I. granted the
incorporation charter in 1604; but on his accession to the English
throne, Berwick of course lost its importance as a frontier town.
Berwick was at first represented in the court of the four boroughs and
in 1326 in Robert Bruce's parliament. After being taken by the English
it remained unrepresented until it was re-taken by the Scots, when it
sent two members to the parliament at Edinburgh from 1476 to 1479. In
1482 the burgesses were allowed to send two members to the English
parliament, and were represented there until 1885, when the town was
included in the Berwick-upon-Tweed division of the county of
Northumberland. No manufactures are mentioned as having been carried
on in Berwick, but its trade, chiefly in the produce of the
surrounding country, was important in the 12th century. It has been
noted for salmon fishery in the Tweed from very early times. There was
a bridge over the Tweed at Berwick in the time of Alexander and John,
kings of Scotland, but it was broken down in the time of the latter
and not rebuilt until the end of the 14th century.
See _Victoria County History, Northumberland_; John Fuller, _History
of Berwick-upon-Tweed_, &c. (1799); John Scott, _Berwick-upon-Tweed:
History of the Town and Guild_ (1888).
BERYL, a mineral containing beryllium and aluminium in the form of a
silicate; its formula is Be3Al2Si6O18. The species includes the emerald
(q.v.), the aquamarine (q.v.) and other transparent varieties known as
"precious beryl," with certain coarse varieties unfit for use as
gem-stones. The name comes from the Gr. [Greek: baeryllos], a word of
uncertain etymology applied to the beryl and probably several other
gems. It is notable that the relation of the emerald to the beryl,
though proved only by chemical analysis, was conjectured at least as far
back as the time of Pliny.
Beryl crystallizes in the hexagonal system, usually taking the form of
long six-sided prisms, striated vertically and terminated with the basal
plane, sometimes associated with various pyramidal faces (see fig.). It
cleaves rather imperfectly parallel to the base. The colour of beryl may
be blue, green, yellow, brown or rarely pink; while in some cases the
mineral is colourless. The specific gravity is about 2.7, and the
hardness 7.5 to 8, so that for a gem-stone beryl is comparatively soft.
Whilst the gem-varieties are transparent, the coarse beryl may be
opaque. The transparent crystals are pleochroic--a character well marked
in emerald.
[Illustration: Crystal of beryl.]
Beryl was much prized as a gem-stone by the ancients, and Greek
intaglios of very fine workmanship are extant. The Roman jewellers,
taking advantage of the columnar form of the natural crystal, worked it
into long cylinders for ear-pendants. It was a favourite stone with the
artists of the Renaissance, but in modern times has lost popularity,
except in the form of emerald, which remains one of the most valued
gem-stones. It is notable that English lapidaries of the 18th century
often included the sard under the term beryl--a practice which has led
to some confusion in the nomenclature of engraved gems.
Beryl occurs as an accessory constituent of many granitic rocks,
especially in veins of pegmatite, whilst it is found also in gneiss and
in mica-schist. Rolled pebbles of beryl occur, with topaz, in Brazil,
especially in the province of Minas Geraes. Crystals are found in drusy
cavities in granite in the Urals, notably near Mursinka; in the Altai
Mountains, which have yielded very long prismatic crystals; and in the
mining district of Nerchinsk in Siberia, principally in the Adun-Chalon
range, where beryl occurs in veins of topaz-rock piercing granite. Among
European localities may be mentioned Elba, good crystals being
occasionally found in the tourmaline-granite of San Piero. In Ireland
excellent crystals of beryl occur in druses of the granite of the Mourne
Mountains in Co. Down, and others less fine are found in the highlands
of Donegal, whilst the mineral is also known from the Leinster granite.
It occurs likewise in the granite of the Grampians in Scotland, and is
not unknown in Cornwall, specimens having been found, with topaz,
apatite, &c., in joints of the granite of St Michael's Mount.
Many localities in the United States yield beryl, sometimes sufficiently
fine to be cut as a gem. It is found, for example, at Hiddenite and
elsewhere in Alexander county, N.C.; at Haddam and Monroe, Conn.; at
Stoneham and at Albany, in Oxford county, Maine; at Royalston, Mass.;
and at Mt. Antero, Colorado, where it occurs with phenacite. Beryl of
beautiful pink colour occurs in San Diego county, California. Coarse
beryl, much rifted, is found in crystals of very large size at Grafton
and Acworth, N.H.; a crystal from Grafton weighing more than 2-1/2 tons.
A colourless beryl from Goshen, Mass., has been called Goshenite; whilst
crystals of coarse yellow beryl from Rubislaw quarry in Aberdeenshire,
Scotland, have been termed Davidsonite.
Beryl suffers alteration by weathering, and may thus pass into kaolin
and mica. (F. W. R.*)
BERYLLIUM, or GLUCINUM (symbol Be, atomic weight 9.1), one of the
metallic chemical elements, included in the same sub-group of the
periodic classification as magnesium. It was prepared in the form of its
oxide in 1798 by L.N. Vauquelin (_Ann. de chimie_, 1798, xxvi. p. 155)
from the mineral beryl, and though somewhat rare, is found in many
minerals. It was first obtained, in an impure condition, in 1828 by
A.A.B. Bussy (1794-1882) and F. Wohler by the reduction of the chloride
with potassium, and in 1855 H.J. Debray prepared it, in a compact state,
by reducing the volatilized chloride with melted sodium, in an
atmosphere of hydrogen. L.F. Nilson and O. Pettersson (_Wied. Ann._
1878, iv. p. 554) have also prepared the metal by heating beryllium
potassium fluoride with sodium; P.M. Lebeau (_Comptes rendus_,
1895-1898, vols. 120-127) has obtained it in lustrous hexagonal crystals
by electrolysing the double fluoride of beryllium and sodium or
potassium with an excess of beryllium fluoride. It is a malleable
metal, of specific gravity 1.64 (Nilson and Pettersson) and a specific
heat of 0.4079. Its melting-point is below that of silver. In a fine
state of division it takes fire on heating in air, but is permanent at
ordinary temperatures in oxygen or air; it is readily attacked by
hydrochloric and sulphuric acids, but scarcely acted on by nitric acid.
It is also soluble in solutions of the caustic alkalis, with evolution
of hydrogen a behaviour similar to that shown by aluminium. It combines
readily with fluorine, chlorine and bromine, and also with sulphur,
selenium, phosphorus, &c.
Considerable discussion has taken place at different times as to the
position which beryllium should occupy in the periodic classification of
the elements, and as to whether its atomic weight should be 9.1 or
13.65, but the weight of evidence undoubtedly favours its position in
Group II., with an atomic weight 9.1 (O=16) (see Nilson and Pettersson,
_Berichte_, 1880, 13, p. 1451; 1884, 17, p. 987; B. Brauner, _Berichte_,
1881, 14, p. 53; T. Carnelley, _Journ. of Chem. Soc._, 1879, xxxv. p.
563; 1880, xxxvii., p. 125, and W.N. Hartley, _Journ. of Chem. Soc._,
1883, xliii. p. 316). The specific heat of beryllium has been calculated
by L. Meyer (_Berichte_, 1880, 13, p. 1780) from the data of L.F. Nilson
and O. Pettersson, and appears to increase rapidly with increasing
temperature, the values obtained being 0.3973 at 20.2 deg. C., 0.4481 at
73.2 deg. C. and 0.5819 at 256.8 deg. C.
Beryllium compounds are almost wholly prepared from beryl. The mineral
is fused with potassium carbonate, and, on cooling, the product is
treated with sulphuric acid, the excess of which is removed by
evaporation; water is then added and the silica is filtered off. On
concentration of the solution, the major portion of the aluminium
present separates as alum, and the mother liquor remaining contains
beryllium and iron sulphates together with a little alum. This is now
treated for some days with a hot concentrated solution of ammonium
carbonate, which precipitates the iron and aluminium but keeps the
beryllium in solution. The iron and aluminium precipitates are
filtered off, and the filtrate boiled, when a basic beryllium
hydroxide containing a little ferric oxide is precipitated. To remove
the iron, the precipitate is again dissolved in ammonium carbonate and
steam is blown through the liquid, when beryllium oxide is
precipitated. This process is repeated several times, and the final
precipitate is dissolved in hydrochloric acid and precipitated by
ammonia, washed and dried. It has also been obtained by J. Gibson
(_Journ. of Chem. Soc._, 1893, lxiii. p. 909) from beryl by conversion
of the beryllium into its fluoride.
Beryllium oxide, beryllia or glucina, BeO, is a very hard white powder
which can be melted and distilled in the electric furnace, when it
condenses in the form of minute hexagonal crystals. After ignition it
dissolves with difficulty in acids. The hydroxide Be(OH)2 separates as
a white bulky precipitate on adding a solution of an alkaline
hydroxide to a soluble beryllium salt; and like those of aluminium and
zinc, this hydroxide is soluble in excess of the alkaline hydroxide,
but is reprecipitated on prolonged boiling. Beryllium chloride BeCl2,
like aluminium chloride, may be prepared by heating a mixture of the
oxide and sugar charcoal in a current of dry chlorine. It is
deliquescent, and readily soluble in water, from which it separates on
concentration in crystals of composition BeCl2.4H2O. Its vapour
density has been determined by Nilson and Pettersson, and corresponds
to the molecular formula BeCl2. The sulphate is obtained by dissolving
the oxide in sulphuric acid; if the solution be not acid, it separates
in pyramidal crystals of composition BeSO4.4H2O, while from an acid
solution of this salt, crystals of composition BeSO4.7H2O are
obtained. Double sulphates of beryllium and the alkali metals are
known, e.g. BeSO4.K2SO4.3H2O as are also many basic sulphates. The
nitrate Be(NO3)2.3H2O is prepared by adding barium nitrate to
beryllium sulphate solution; it crystallizes with difficulty and is
very deliquescent. It readily yields basic salts.
The carbide BeC2 is formed when beryllia and sugar charcoal are heated
together in the electric furnace. Like aluminium carbide it is slowly
decomposed by water with the production of methane. Several basic
carbonates are known, being formed by the addition of beryllium salts
to solutions of the alkaline carbonates; the normal carbonate is
prepared by passing a current of carbon dioxide through water
containing the basic carbonate in suspension, the solution being
filtered and concentrated over sulphuric acid in an atmosphere of
carbon dioxide. The crystals so obtained are very unstable and
decompose rapidly with evolution of carbon dioxide.
Beryllium salts are easily soluble and mostly have a sweetish taste
(hence the name Glucinum (q.v.), from [Greek: glukus], sweet); they
are readily precipitated by alkaline sulphides with formation of the
white hydroxide, and may be distinguished from salts of all other
metals by the solubility of the oxide in ammonium carbonate. Beryllium
is estimated quantitatively by precipitation with ammonia, and
ignition to oxide. Its atomic weight has been determined by L.F.
Nilson and O. Pettersson (_Berichte_, 1880, 13, p. 1451) by analysis
of the sulphate, from which they found the value 9.08, and by G. Kruss
and H. Moraht (_Berichte_, 1890, 23, p. 2556) from the conversion of
the sulphate BeSO4.4H2O into the oxide, from which they obtained the
value 9.05. C.L. Parsons (_Journ. Amer. Chem. Soc._, 1904, xxvi. p.
721) obtained the values 9.113 from analyses of beryllium
acetonyl-acetate and beryllium basic acetate.
For a bibliography see C.L. Parsons, _The Chemistry and Literature of
Beryllium_ (1909).
BERYLLONITE, a mineral phosphate of beryllium and sodium, NaBePO4, found
as highly complex orthorhombic crystals and as broken fragments in the
disintegrated material of a granitic vein at Stoneham, Maine, where it
is associated with felspar, smoky quartz, beryl and columbite. It was
discovered by Prof. E.S. Dana in 1888, and named beryllonite because it
contains beryllium in large amount. The crystals vary from colourless to
white or pale yellowish, and are transparent with a vitreous lustre;
there is a perfect cleavage in one direction. Hardness 5-1/2-6; specific
gravity 2.845. A few crystals have been cut and faceted, but, as the
refractive index is no higher than that of quartz, they do not make very
brilliant gem-stones.
BERZELIUS, JONS JAKOB (1779-1848), Swedish chemist, was born at
Vafversunda Sorgard, near Linkoping, Sweden, on the 20th (or 29th) of
August 1779. After attending the gymnasium school at Linkoping he went
to Upsala University, where he studied chemistry and medicine, and
graduated as M.D. in 1802. Appointed assistant professor of botany and
pharmacy at Stockholm in the same year, he became full professor in
1807, and from 1815 to 1832 was professor of chemistry in the Caroline
medico-chirurgical institution of that city. The Stockholm Academy of
Sciences elected him a member in 1808, and in 1818 he became its
perpetual secretary. The same year he was ennobled by Charles XIV., who
in 1835 further made him a baron. His death occurred at Stockholm on the
7th of August 1848. During the first few years of his scientific career
Berzelius was mainly engaged on questions of physiological chemistry,
but about 1807 he began to devote himself to what he made the chief
object of his life--the elucidation of the composition of chemical
compounds through study of the law of multiple proportions and the
atomic theory. Perceiving the exact determination of atomic and
molecular weights to be of fundamental importance, he spent ten years in
ascertaining that constant for some two thousand simple and compound
bodies, and the results he published in 1818 attained a remarkable
standard of accuracy, which was still further improved in a second table
that appeared in 1826. He used oxygen--in his view the pivot round which
the whole of chemistry revolves--as the basis of reference for the
atomic weights of other substances, and the data on which he chiefly
relied were the proportions of oxygen in oxygen compounds, the doctrines
of isomorphism, and Gay Lussac's law of volumes. When Volta's discovery
of the electric cell became known, Berzelius, with W. Hisinger
(1766-1852), began experiments on the electrolysis of salt solutions,
ammonia, sulphuric acid, &c., and later this work led him to his
electrochemical theory, a full exposition of which he gave in his memoir
on the _Theory of Chemical Proportions and the Chemical Action of
Electricity_ (1814). This theory was founded on the supposition that the
atoms of the elements are electrically polarized, the positive charge
predominating in some and the negative in others, and from it followed
his dualistic hypothesis, according to which compounds are made up of
two electrically different components. At first this hypothesis was
confined to inorganic chemistry, but subsequently he extended it to
organic compounds, which he saw might similarly be regarded as
containing a group or groups of atoms--a compound radicle--in place of
simple elements. Although his conception of the nature of compound
radicles did not long retain general favour--indeed he himself changed
it more than once--he is entitled to rank as one of the chief founders
of the radicle theory. Another service of the utmost importance which he
rendered to the study of chemistry was in continuing and extending the
efforts of Lavoisier and his associates to establish a convenient system
of chemical nomenclature. By using the initial letters of the Latin
(occasionally Greek) names of the elements as symbols for them, and
adding a small numeral subscript, to show the number of atoms of each
present in a compound, he introduced the present system of chemical
formulation (see CHEMISTRY). Mention should also be made of the numerous
improvements he effected in analytical methods and the technique of the
blowpipe (_Uber die Anwendung des Lothrohrs_, 1820), of his
classification of minerals on a chemical basis, and of many individual
researches such as those on tellurium, selenium, silicon, thorium,
titanium, zirconium and molybdenum, most of which he isolated for the
first time. Apart from his original memoirs, of which he published over
250, mostly in Swedish in the _Transactions_ of the Stockholm Academy,
his remarkable literary activity is attested by his _Lehrbuch der
Chemie_, which went through five editions (first 1803-1818, fifth
1843-1848) and by his _Jahresbericht_ or annual report on the progress
of physics and chemistry, prepared at the instance of the Stockholm
Academy, of which he published 27 vols. (1821-1848).
BES, or BESAS (Egyp. _Bes_ or _Besa_), the Egyptian god of recreation,
represented as a dwarf with large head, goggle eyes, protruding tongue,
shaggy beard, a bushy tail seen between his bow legs hanging down behind
(sometimes clearly as part of a skin girdle) and usually a large crown
of feathers on his head. A Bes-like mask was found by Petrie amongst
remains of the twelfth dynasty, but the earliest occurrence of the god
is in the temple of the queen Hatshepsut at Deir el Bahri (c. 1500
B.C.), where he is figured along with the hippopotamus goddess as
present at the queen's birth. His figure is that of a grotesque
mountebank, intended to inspire joy or drive away pain and sorrow, his
hideousness being perhaps supposed actually to scare away the evil
spirits. In his joyous aspect Bes plays the harp or flute, dances, &c.
He is figured on mirrors, ointment vases and other articles of the
toilet. Amulets and ornaments in the form of the figure or mask of Bes
are common after the New Kingdom; he is often associated with children
and with childbirth and is figured in the "birth-houses" devoted to the
cult of the child-god. Perhaps the earliest known instance of his
prominent appearance of large size in the sculptures of the temples is
under Tahraka, at Jebel Barkal, Nubia, at the beginning of the 7th
century B.C. As the protector of children and others he is the enemy of
noxious beasts, such as lions, crocodiles, serpents and scorpions. Large
wooden figures of Bes are generally found to contain the remains of a
human foetus. In the first centuries of our era an oracle of Besas was
consulted at Abydos, where A.H. Sayce has found graffiti concerning him,
and prescriptions exist for consulting Besas in dreams. It has been held
that Bes was of non-Egyptian origin, African, as Wiedemann, or Arabian
or even Babylonian, as W. Max Muller contends; he is sometimes entitled
"coming from the Divine Land" (i.e. the East or Arabia), or "Lord of
Puoni" (Punt), i.e. the African coast of the Red Sea; his effigy occurs
also on Greek coins of Arabia. It is remarkable also that, contrary to
the usual rule, he is commonly represented in Egyptian sculptures and
paintings full faced instead of in profile. But the connexion of the god
with Puoni may have grown out of the fact that dwarf dancers were
especially brought to Egypt from Ethiopia and Puoni.
See K. Sethe in Pauly-Wissowa, _Realencyclopadie, s.v._; A. Wiedemann,
_Religion of the Ancient Egyptians_ (London, 1897), p. 159; E.A.W.
Budge, _Gods of the Egyptians_, ii. p. 284 (London); W. Max Muller,
_Asien u. Europa_ (Leipzig, 1893), p. 310. (F. Ll. G.)
BESANCON, a city of eastern France, capital of the department of Doubs,
76 m. E. of Dijon by the Paris-Lyon railway. Pop. (1906) town, 41,760;
commune, 56,168. It is situated on the left bank of the river Doubs, 820
ft. above sea-level at the foot of the western Jura, and is enclosed by
hills in every direction. The Doubs almost surrounds the city proper
forming a peninsula, the neck of which is occupied by a height crowned
by the citadel; on the right bank lie populous industrial suburbs. The
river is bordered by fine quays, and in places by the shady promenades
which are a feature of Besancon. On the right bank there is a fine
bathing establishment in the Mouillere quarter, supplied by the saline
springs of Miserey. The cathedral of St Jean, the chief of the numerous
churches of the town, was founded in the 4th century but has often
undergone reconstruction and restoration; it resembles the Rhenish
churches of Germany in the possession of apses at each of its
extremities. Several styles are represented in its architecture which
for the most part is the work of the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries; the
eastern apse and the tower date from the reign of Louis XV. In the
interior there are a "Madonna and Child" of Fra Bartolommeo and a number
of other paintings and works of art. The archiepiscopal palace adjoining
the cathedral is a building of the 18th century. The church of Ste.
Madeleine belongs to the 18th and 19th centuries. The Palais de
Granvelle, in the heart of the town, was built from 1534 to 1540 by
Nicolas Perrenot de Granvella, chancellor of Charles V., and is the most
interesting of the secular buildings. It is built round a square
interior court surrounded by arcades, and is occupied by learned
societies. The hotel de ville dates from the 16th century, to which
period many of the old mansions of Besancon also belong. The law-court,
rebuilt in recent times, preserves a Renaissance facade and a fine
audience-hall of the 18th century. Some relics of old military
architecture survive, among them a cylindrical tower of the 15th century
near the Porte Notre-Dame, the southern gate of the city, and the Porte
Rivotte, a gate of the 16th century, flanked by two round towers. The
Roman remains at Besancon are of great archaeological value. Close to
the cathedral there is a triumphal arch decorated with bas-reliefs known
as the Porte Noire, which is generally considered to have been built in
commemoration of the victories of Marcus Aurelius over the Germans in
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