BEKES-BELEMNITES. BEKES, or BEKESVAR, a town of Hungary, Mongolian invasion. He died in 1270, his last years capital of the county of the same name, and situated having been embittered by an attempt at rebellion at the confluence of the Black and White Körös. on the part of his son Stephen. Pop. (1869) 22,547, who do a trade in cattle, corn, and honey. BEKKER, IMMANUEL, a German philologist, distinguished by his recensions of the texts of Greek and Roman classics, was born Berlin, 1785; studied in Halle, 1803-1807, and was the most eminent pupil of F. A. Wolf. Afterwards, he was engaged at Paris on the Corpus Inscriptionum Græcarum. The results of his researches in the libraries of Italy (1817-1819) appear in his Anecdota Græca (3 vols., Berlin, 1814-1821), and his numerous recensions of texts derived solely from MSS., and independently of printed editions. The writers included in these recensions are Plato, the Attic orators, Aristotle, Sextus Empiricus, Thucydides, Theognis, Aristophanes, &c. He became professor at Berlin in 1810, and died in 1871. BEL AND THE DRAGON, an apocryphal book of the Old Testament. It does not seem to have been accepted as inspired by the Jewish Church, nor is there any proof that a Hebrew or Chaldee version of the story ever existed. Jerome considered it a 'fable,' an opinion in which most modern readers will coincide. It is, nevertheless, read for edification both in the Roman Catholic and AngloCatholic churches: in the former, on Ash Wednesday; in the latter, on the 23d of November. According to Jahn, the aim of the writer was 'to warn against the sin of idolatry some of his brethren who had embraced Egyptian superstitions.' BELA, the name of four Hungarian kings of the family of Arpad.-B. I. (1061-1063) energetically suppressed the last attempt to restore heathenism, and by the introduction of a fixed standard of measures, weights, and coinage, virtually founded the commerce of Hungary. He was also the first to introduce the representative system into the diet, by appointing, in lieu of the collective nobility, two nobles only from each of the different counties.-B. II., surnamed 'the Blind,' 1131-1141, was entirely under the guidance of his bloodthirsty spouse, Helena, and after her decease, drank himself to death.-B. III., 1174–1196. Educated in Constantinople, he introduced Byzantine customs and culture into his own country, which was certainly favourable to its social development, though, on the other hand, his evident devotion to the Greek emperor Emmanuel threatened its political independence.-B. IV., 1235-1270, son of that Andreas from whom the nobles extorted the 'Golden Bull,' Hungary's Magna Charta. His chief aim was to humble the nobility, and restore the royal power to its former proportions; and he thus roused a spirit of universal discontent, which led to a party among the nobles calling in the Austrian duke, Frederick II., to their aid; but, in the year 1236, he was conquered by B., and forced to pay tribute. Before long, however, the king had to seek a refuge with his discomfited foe; for the Mongols, who invaded Hungary in 1241, defeated him on the Sajo, and put him to flight. It was only after robbing him of all the treasure he had managed to save, and extorting from him three of his counties, that Frederick II. granted the royal fugitive a shelter in Austria, where he remained till the Mongols, having heard of the death of their khan, left the country they had devastated. B. now made it his especial care, by rebuilding the destroyed villages, and inviting new settlers thither, to do away with the tokens of that terrible invasion; and he so far succeeded as to be able, in 1246, to repay Frederick's inhospitality by defeating him at Vienna, and to repulse a second attempt at BELAYING, one of the many modes of fastening ropes on shipboard. It is effected by winding a rope, generally a part of the running rigging, round a piece of wood called a cleat or a kevel, or else round a belaying-pin, which is an ashen staff from twelve to sixteen inches in length. BELBEY'S (ancient Bubastis Agria), a town of 5000 inhabitants, situated on the east arm of the Nile, Lower Egypt, and 28 miles north-north-east of Cairo. It is enclosed by earthen ramparts, has numerous mosques, and is one of the stations on the route from Cairo to Suez, and from Egypt to Syria. BELCHER, SIR EDWARD, a distinguished English naval officer, born in 1799, entered the navy in 1812 as a first-class volunteer, was soon made a midshipman, and in 1816 took part in the bombardment of Algiers. In 1825, B. was appointed assistant-surveyor to the expedition about to explore Behring's Strait under Captain Beechey; in 1829, he was raised to the rank of commander. 1836 saw him in command of the Sulphur, com. missioned to explore the western coasts of America and the Indies. He was absent six years, in which time he had sailed round the world. During this voyage he rendered important services in the Canton river to Lord Gough, whose successes over the Chinese were greatly due to B.'s soundings and reconnaissances pushed into the interior. On his return, he published a narrative of the voyage; and in 1843, in consideration of his services, he was made a post-captain, and knighted. After being employed on surveying service in the East Indies, he was, in 1852, appointed to the command of the expedition sent out by government to search for Sir John Franklin. B. published The Last of the Arctic Voyages (Lond. 1855); Narrative of a Voyage to the East Indies in 1843-1848; and other works. In 1861 he became rear-admiral of the Red, in 1866 vice-admiral, in 1867 K.C.B., and rear-admiral in 1872. He died 18th March 1877. BELCHI'TÉ, a town of Spain, in the province of Saragossa, about 22 miles south-south-east of the city of that name, celebrated as the place where, in | June 18, 1809, the French, under Suchet, completely routed the Spanish under General Blake, capturing all their guns, 10 in number, with a loss of only 40 men. BELE'M, a town of Portugal, on the right bank of the Tagus, 2 miles south-west of Lisbon, of which it may be said to form a fashionable suburb. It has an iron foundry, a custom-house, and quaran tine establishment, a tower defending the entrance of the river. It is historically interesting as the place from whence Vasco da Gama set sail on his November 1807 by the French, the royal family of voyage of oriental discovery. Portugal embarking from its quay for Brazil as they entered. In 1833 it was occupied by Dom Pedro's troops. It was taken in BELE'M, or PARA', a city of Brazil, on the right bank of the Para, the most southerly arm of the estuary of the Amazon. See PARA. BE'LEMNITES (Gr. belemnon, a dart or arrow), an interesting genus of fossil cephalopodous Mollusca, the type of a family called Belemnitida, to the whole of which the name B. is very generally extended, closely allied to the Sepiade, or Čuttle (q. v.) family. No recent species of B. is known: fossil species are very numerous, and are found in all the oolitic and cretaceous strata, from the lowest lias to the upper chalk, some of which are filled with myriads of their BELFAST-BELFRY. remains. These remains are generally those of the shell alone, which is now known to have been an internal shell, entirely included within the body of the animal, like that of the cuttle. The shell, as Belemnites pistiliformis. seen in the most perfect specimens, is double, consisting of a conical chambered portion (the phragmocone), inserted into a longer, solid, somewhat conical or tapering, and pointed sheath. The space between the phragmocone and sheath is occupied either with radiating fibres or conical layers. The chambers of the shell are connected by a tube (siphuncle), so that the animal probably had the power of ascending and descending rapidly in the water. Its arms are known, from some singularly perfect specimens, to have been furnished with horny hooks; and these it probably fixed upon a fish, and descended with its prey to the bottom, like the hooked calamaries (q. v.) of the present seas. Remains of an ink-bag, like that of the cuttle, have been found in the last and largest chambers of the B.; but remains of this chamber, which must have contained all the viscera of the animal, are very rarely preserved, the shell having been very thin at this part. The part most commonly found, and generally known by the name of belemnite, is the solid mucro, or point into which the sheath was prolonged behind the chambered shell. These have received such popular names as Arrowheads, Petrified Fingers, Spectre-candles, Picks, Thunder-stones, &c., from their form, or from the notions entertained of their nature and origin. B. appear to have been of very different sizes; in some of the largest, the mere mucro is 10 inches long, and the entire animal, with its arms outstretched, must have been several feet in length. BELFAST, the chief town of the county of Antrim and province of Ulster in Ireland. This great seaport stands at the embouchure of the Lagan, at the head of Belfast Lough, 12 miles from the Irish Sea, 101 north of Dublin, 36 north-east of Armagh, 130 south-west of Glasgow, and 150 north-west of Liverpool. The site is chiefly on an alluvial deposit not more than 6 feet above the sea-level, and reclaimed from the marshes of the Lagan. On the land-side, it is picturesquely bounded by the ridges of Divis (1567 feet high), and Cave Hill (1185 feet). The general aspect of B. is indicative of life and prosperity, exhibiting all the trade and manufacture of Glas gow and Manchester, with far less of their smoke and dirt. Many of the streets, especially in the White Linen Hall quarter, are well built and spacious. The mercantile quarter lies chiefly near the extensive and well-built quays. The manufactories are mostly on the rising-ground on the north and west of the town. Numerous villas sprinkle the northern shores of the bay, as well as the elevated suburb of Malone to the south. The chief public buildings Queen's College, a beautiful structure in the Tudor style, opened in 1849, with a revenue of £7000 from the consolidated fund; Royal Academical Institution, incorporated in 1810, affiliated to the London University, and comprising an elementary and collegiate department, and a school of design; Museum, Linen Hall, Commercial and Corn Exchanges, churches, and banks. The fine Botanic Gardens of the Natural History Society occupy 17 acres. B. is the chief seat of the trade and manufactures of Ireland, and is second only to are Dublin as an Irish port. The staple manufactures are linen and cotton. The linen manufacture dates from 1637. Cotton-spinning by machinery dates from 1777, and linen from 1806. The other chief branches of industry are linen and cotton weaving, bleaching, dyeing, calico-printing, and iron founding. There are many flour and oil mills, chemical works, breweries, alabaster and barilla mills, saw-mills, ship-building, rope, and sail-cloth yards. The iron ship-building yard on Queen's Island employs upwards of 2000 hands. The inland trade is carried on by the Lagan, by the Ulster Canal, and by three railways. The harbour is undergoing very extensive improvements, which, when completed, will make B. one of the first-class ports of the United Kingdom. Before the recent improvements there were only 2 tidal docks; between 1866 and 1872, 5 new docks and a tidal basin, with about 25 acres of water area, were opened. On these a sum of £279,968 was expended, making the total assets of the commissioners charged with the improvements amount to £823,655. The imports of B. were, in 1866, valued at £12,417,000; the exports about £11,915,000. In 1874, 8010 vessels, of an aggregate tonnage of 1,413,822 tons, entered the port; and 4242, of 1,015,720 tons, cleared. The most important branch of commerce is the Channel trade. Pop. (1821) 37,000; (1851) 103,000; (1871) 174,412. B. is governed by a corporation of 10 aldermen-one being mayor-and 30 councillors. It returns 2 members to parliament. B. was destroyed by Edward Bruce in the 14th c., but became an important town since 1604, receiving a charter in 1611. In the great civil war, the inhabitants at first joined the parliament, but afterwards became royalists. BELFORT, or BEFORT, a town of France, till It now 1870 in the department of Haut-Rhin. gives its name to a small territory (234 sq. m.) (Territoire de Belfort), consisting of those portions of Haut-Rhin which, seized by Germans during the war of 1870-1871, were restored to France by the preliminaries of peace arranged at Versailles 26th February 1871. The strategical importance of B. was recognised by France on its cession by Austria in 1648, and it was fortified by Vauban. At the outbreak of the war between France and Germany in 1870, B. was a fortress of the first rank; and as such maintained, from 3d December 1870 till 16th February 1871, a gallant defence against the German troops. It then capitulated, the defenders being permitted to march out with all the honours of war. B. was also besieged by the allies in 1814. B. has a brisk trade. Pop. (1872) 7910; of territory (1872), 56,781. BE'LFRY (Fr. beffroi), a word of doubtful origin; a bell-tower, or turret, usually forming part of a church, but sometimes detached from it as at Evesham and Berkeley, in England, and still more Where a frequently in Italy. See CAMPANILE. church was built in a deep glen, the belfry was perched on a neighbouring height, as at St Feve and elsewhere in Cornwall, and at Ardclach and Aldbar in Scotland. At this last place, the bell was hung upon a tree, as was common enough in Scotland at the close of the 17th c. Where the B. consists of a mere turret, it is often called a bell-gable or bellcote, and is always placed on the west end of the church; a smaller one being sometimes placed at the east end, which is for the sanctus bell, for which reason it is placed over the altar. Municipal belfries are more common on the continent than in this country. When the burghs began to rise into importance after the 12th c., they asserted their right to have bells to call the burghers together for 823 BELGE-BELGIOJOSO.X council or for action. Thus detached belfries arose in the heart of towns. At a later date, they often became part of the maison de ville, or town-house, as Belfry or Bell-gable, Idbury, Oxfordshire. at Glasgow and Aberdeen, in this country; at St Quentin and Douai, in France; and at Brussels, in Belgium. BE'LGÆ, the name given by Cæsar to the warlike tribes which in his time occupied that one of the great divisions of Gallia which embraced part of the basin of the Seine, the basin of the Somme, of the Scheldt, of the Maas, and of the Moselle, which itself belongs the basin of the Rhine. Their country was level, containing no mountains of any height, except the Vosges in the south. The name seems to have originally designated several powerful tribes inhabiting the basin of the Seine, and to have been afterwards used by Cæsar as a general 824 appellation for all the peoples north of that river. These B. were, in all probability, chiefly of Celtic origin, but within their territories were to be found both pure and mixed Germans. When South Britain was invaded by Cæsar, he found that B. from the opposite shores of Gaul had preceded him, and were settled in Kent and Sussex, having driven the aborigines into the interior. The B. in Britain resisted for nearly a century the Roman power, but were finally forced to yield to it. Cæsar regarded them as German, but they rather seem to have belonged to the Celtic portion of the Gallic Belgæ. Certainly, none of the names of their three chief towns are Germanic. Aqua Solis (Bath) is Latin; Ischalis and Venta (Ilchester and Winchester), British. BELGAU'M, the chief city of a district of the same name in the presidency of Bombay, situated to the east of the dividing ridge of the West Ghauts, at a height of about 2500 feet above the sea. Its lat. is 15° 50' N., and long. 74° 36' E., its distance to the north-west of Dharwar being 42 miles. B. possesses a fort, which, in 1818, was taken from the Peishwa by the British. Under its new masters, the place has made considerable progress. It has a superior institution for the education of native youths, which is supported at once by the neighbouring princes, the British government, and private individuals. The average annual rainfall at B. is about 36 inches. In 1848, the citizens spontaneously subscribed a considerable sum for the complete reconstruction of their roads and lanes-a liberality which, besides drawing forth a supplementary grant of public money, roused the emulation of adjacent towns and villages. B. is one of the principal military stations of the presidency, and as such it was, in 1857, the scene of plotting, if not of mutiny, in common with Kolapore, Poonah, Satara, &c. Area of B. district, 4591 sq. m.; pop. (1872) 938,750; pop. of town, 26,947. BELGIOJO'SO, a town of Lombardy, North Italy, pleasantly situated in a fruitful plain between the Po and the Olona, 9 miles east of Pavia. It has a fine aqueduct and castle, in which Francis I. spent the night previous to the disastrous battle of Pavia, in which he was made prisoner. The Austrian general Gyulai made B. his head-quarters after his defeat at Magenta, June 4-5, 1859. Pop. 4000. END OF VOL. I. Edinburgh: |