Bell
Bell names 8 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below. 1 of them is described by more than one encyclopedia.
Bell an open, cup-shaped
Described by 2 of the 6 encyclopedias.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
an open, cup-shaped, percussion instrument which yields a single dominant note. A bell is suspended usually mouth downward. A clapper usually hangs from the center and strikes first one side of the bell and then the other as the bell swings to and fro. Bronze bells have been found in the ruins of Nineveh. They were in use in India and China before they found their way into Europe. The Romans used bells for a number of purposes. Bells were carried and rung in processions, and were used to summon the public to the baths. One ancient author mentions a bell which rang in connection with a water clock to announce the passing of the hours. Church bells are mentioned in Rome as early as 400; in France 550; in England 680. Some of the oldest bells in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales are quadrangular and are made of iron plates riveted together. A four-sided bell of this sort is still shown at the old monastery of St. Gall, Switzerland. Bells were brought to their present shape and stage of perfection in Holland by the middle of the seventeenth century. First class bell metal is composed of copper and tin, in the proportion of four to one. The thickness of the lips should be one-fifteenth of the bell's diameter, and the height of the bell should be twelve times the thickness of the lip. Thus the proper proportions of a bell may be two inches for the thickness of the lip, thirty inches for the diameter of the bell, and twenty-four inches for its height. These proportions, as well as the graceful, inward curve and trumpet mouth, were all worked out by careful experimenting. The casting of a large bell is an art in itself. A drawing must first be made giving a cross section of the bell. A pair of compasses with two crooked legs is then made. The curve of one leg must correspond to the inside of the bell and the curve of the other leg must exactly fit the outside. A stake is then driven in the center of the so-called bell pit, and a small quantity of wood is piled around it. A hut of brick is built around the wood, outside of which a puddling of clay mixed with hair is plastered on. The wooden compass before mentioned is pivoted on the top of the stake, and the leg which corresponds to the inside of the bell is swung around and around until the plaster core, as it is now called, is brought into perfect shape to fit the inside of the bell. This core is well smeared with grease, and a false clay bell, shaped by the outer leg of the compass, is fitted around its outside. If inscriptions are desired, they are moulded in wax on the outside of the clay bell. The clay bell is then greased as was done with the core. Fine clay is sifted on the grease, and then coarse clay laid on and troweled to the shape desired. This outside and last covering is called the mantle. A fire is now lighted in the center, as in a brick kiln, and is maintained until core, clay bell, and mantle are baked thoroughly into the semblance of pottery or tiling. During the firing process the grease between the core and clay bell, and between the clay bell and mantle is absorbed, which, together with the shrinking, makes the three pieces fit together rather loosely. The outside mantle is now lifted away and the false clay bell is lifted off or broken up. The mantle is let down again into its former position, inclosing a space between itself and the core, the exact shape of the proposed bell. In other words, two patterns have been made, one fitting the inside of the bell, the other fitting the outside. The molten metal is now poured in at the top, between the two patterns, where the head of the stake was before the fire was built. The metal is allowed to cool for several weeks. To get the bell out, it is only necessary to lift away the mantle and then lift the bell from the core. If the proportions are perfect, and the casting is without flaw, the bell will be in perfect tune. The maker tests his bell by tapping it just on the curve of the top, about one-fourth of the distance from the top, and again about the rim where the clapper strikes. If the bell be too thick in either of these three places, it may be filed slightly and brought into tune, but if, unfortunately, either of the three critical zones to be too thin, nothing can be done to remedy the defect. If the fault be too noticeable, the bell is worth nothing, except for metal to be melted and cast again. A maiden bell is one that is in tune without filing. Such a bell is prized highly. The note of a bell depends upon its weight. The larger and heavier the bell, the deeper the note. A bell weighing 22 1/2 tons sounds C of the bass clef and costs about $18,000. A bell sounding C an octave higher weighs nearly three tons and is worth about $2,400. The law of notes runs to the effect that vibrations are in inverse ratio to the cube roots of the weights. Some of the great church and tower bells of the world are a twenty-five ton bell in Cologne Cathedral; Big Ben in Westminster Clock Tower, thirteen tons; Great Tom at Oxford, seven tons; Great Peter in York minster, ten tons; one at Rotterdam, seventeen tons; the great bell at Pekin, China, fifty-three tons. The largest bell in the world in actual use is at Moscow. It weighs eighty tons. The Great Bell of Moscow, reputed to be the greatest ever cast, was never hung. It now stands on a raised platform in the middle of the square. It is estimated to weigh one hundred ninety-eight tons. A bell in Kioto, Japan, is said to be still larger. It is twenty-four feet high and sixteen inches thick at the rim. The Japanese excel in casting sweet-toned bells. The first bell rung in the New World was swung in a church built early in 1494 by Columbus on the island of San Domingo. This bell is of bronze, eight inches high and six and a half inches wide. The bells referred to by Longfellow in Evangeline, Distant and soft on her ear fell the chimes from the belfry of Christ Church, are chimes which peal forth every Sunday morning from the steeple of old Christ Church, Philadelphia. These bells were brought from England, a present from Queen Anne. When the Quaker City was in danger of falling into the hands of the British, the precious bells were taken down and sunk in the Delaware by some patriotic members of the old church, who feared that if the enemy got possession of them they would be melted and cast into cannon balls. Afterward they were drawn up from their watery bed, and when the war came to a close were hung again in the old belfry. Modern uses of bells are almost too numerous to mention. Electrical bells are rung by a hammer attracted and released by a temporary magnet. Gray's famous line, And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds, is a reminder of the custom of placing bells on the leaders of the flock. Bells are a help not only in finding the cattle, but they enable the other members of the flock to keep with their leaders. Bells also frighten away wild animals. Horses passing along the narrow mountain roads of Switzerland are furnished with bells to give notice of their approach so that their drivers may meet in a widened portion of the road. In many cities, sleigh bells are required to give notice of the otherwise noiseless approach of sleighs. A series of bells of different weights and consequently of different notes constitutes a peal, the ringing of which is a well known practice. Eight bells form an octave for the ordinary peal. At present no one knows how to mend a cracked bell without melting it down and recasting. Many an attempt has been made to file out a crack and fill in the gap with new metal but without success. See Copper ; Alloy ; Liberty Bell
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
a hollow, sounding instrument of metal. The metal from which bells are usually made (by founding) is an alloy, called bell-metal, commonly comparts of copper and 20 of tin. and 20 tin , The proportion of the copper, according to the sound re- hours. quired, the size of the bell, and the impulse to be given. The depth of the tone of a bell increases in proportion to its size. A bell is divided into the body or barrel, the ear or cannon, and the clapper or tongue. The lip or sound bow is art where the bell is struck by the that part clapper. Bells were used very early in the form of cymbals and hand bells in religious services. They were used in the early monasteries to announce the hours of prayer. Generally they were made of tubes, struck with a hammer. They are said to have been first introduced into Christian churches about 400 A. D., by Paulinus, Bishop of Nola ir. Campania (whence campana and nola as old names of bells); although their adoption on a wide scale does not become apparent until after the year 550, when they were introduced into France. The oldest of those existing in Great Britain and Ireland, such as the "bell of St. Patrick's well" and St. Ninian's bell, are quadrangular and made of thin iron plates hammered and riveted together. Until the 13th century they were of comparatively small size, but after the casting of the Jacqueline of Paris (62 tons) in 1400, their weight rapidly increased. Among the more famous bells are the bell of Cologne, 11 tons, 1448; of Danzig, 6 tons, 1453; of Halberstadt, 72, 1457; of Rouen, 16, 1501; of Breslau, 11, 1507; of Lucerne, 7½, 1636; of Oxford, 7½, 1680; of Paris, 124/5, 1680; of Bruges, 104, 1680; of Vienna, 17%, 1711; of Moscow (the monarch of all bells), 193, 1736; three other bells at Moscow, ranging from 16 to 31 tons, and a fourth of 80 tons, cast in 1819; the bell at Lincoln (Great Tom), 52, 1834; of York Minster (Great Peter), 10%, 1845; of Montreal, 132, 1847; of Westminster (Big Ben), 152, 1856; (St. Stephen), 132, 1858; the great bell of St. Paul's, 172, 1882. Others are the bells of Ghent (5), Görlitz (10%), St. Peter's, Rome (8), Antwerp (714), 01mütz (18), Brussels (7), Novgorod (31) , Pekin (532). See BELL, LIBERTY. Bells, as the term is used on shipboard, are the strokes of the ship's bell that proclaim the hours. Eight bells, the highest number, are rung at noon and every fourth hour afterward, i. e., at 4, 8, 12 o'clock, and so on. The intermediary periods are indicated thus: 12:30, 1 bell; 1 o'clock, 2 bells; 1:30, 3 bells, etc., until the eight bells announce 4 o'clock, when the series recommences 4:30, 1 bell; 5 o'clock, 2 bells, etc. The thellas from one-third to one-fifth of the weight nounce hours, the odd numbers half
Bell LIBERTY, a famous bell which was rung when the
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
LIBERTY, a famous bell which was rung when the Continental Congress LEVXXVX PROCLAIM LIBERTY TIN PHILAD BY ORDER OF THE PASS AND STOW PHILADA MOGGERI THE LIBERTY BELL, INDEPENDENCE HALL, PHILADELPHIA, PA. declared the independence of the United States in 1776. The order for founding it was given in 1751. The State House of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia , work on which had been suspended for a number of years, was then approaching completion. The lower floors were already occupied by the Supreme Court in the Chamber, while in the other assembled the Freemen of the Province of Pennsylvania, then consisting of one body. A committee was appointed by the Freemen, with Peter Norris as chairman, and empowered to have a new bell cast for the building. The commission for the bell was, in the same year, awarded to Robert Charles, of London, the specification being that the bell should weigh 2,000 pounds and cost $100 sterling. It was to be made by the best workmen, to be examined carefully before being shipped, and to contain, in well shaped letters around it, the inscription: By order of the Province of Pennsylvnia, for the State House in the City of Philadelphia, 1752." An order was given to place underneath this the prophetic words from Leviticus xxv: 10: "Proclaim liberty throughout the land and to all the inhabitants thereof." The reason for the selection of this text has been a subject of much conjecture, but the true reason is apparent when the full text is read: It is as follows: "And ye shall hallow the 50th year and proclaim liberty throughout the land and to all the inhabitants thereof." In selecting the text the Quakers had in memory the arrival of William Penn and their forefathers more than half a century before. In August, 1752, the bell arrived, but though in apparent good order, it was cracked by a stroke of the clapper while being tested. But it was also defective. It was again recast and a success, and was placed in position in June, 1753. On Monday, the 8th of July (not the 4th), at noon, true to its motto, it rang out the memorable message of "Liberty throughout the land and to all the inhabitants thereof." For 50 years the bell continued to be rung on every festival and anniversary, until it eventually cracked. Subsequently, it was placed on the original timbers in the vestibule of the State House, and, in 1873, it was suspended in a prominent position immediately beneath a larger bell, presented to the city in 1866. In 1893 it was taken to Chicago and placed on exhibition at the World's Columbian Exposition, and in 1915 to the Pan-Pacific Exposition, San Francisco.
Bell ALEXANDER GRAHAM, inventor of the telephone
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
ALEXANDER GRAHAM, inventor of the telephone, was born in Edinburgh, March 3, 1847. He was educated in Edinburgh and in Germany, and settled in Canada in 1870. In 1872 he ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL went to the United States and introduced for the education of deaf mutes the system of visible speech contrived by his father. He became Professor of Vocal Physiology in Boston University, and at the Philadelphia Exhibition, in 1876, exhibited his telephone, designed and partly constructed some years before. He was also the inventor of the photophone in 1880, of the graphophone in 1887, and of kindred instruments. He made many improvements to tetrahedral kites and in aerial locomotion for the Aerial Experiment Association (1903-1908). Gold and silver medals and degrees from the leading scientific associations and universities of Europe and the United States have been awarded to him. In 1887 he founded and endowed the Volta Bureau for Relief of the Deaf, in 1900 the American Association to Promote the Teaching of Speech to the Deaf. Regent of Smithsonian Institution since 1898. In 1904 he brought to the U. S. the remains of James Smithson from Genoa, Italy.
Bell JOHN, an American statesman
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
JOHN, an American statesman, born near Nashville, Tenn., Feb. 18, 1797; was admitted to the bar in 1816; member of Congress from 1827 to 1841; Speaker in 1834, and Secretary of War in 1841. During this period he changed from an ardent free trader to a protectionist and supporter of the Whigs , and favored the reception of petitions for the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia; afterward (1858) he vigorously opposed the admission of Kansas as a slave State. He sat in the United States Senate from 1847 to 1859, and, in 1860, was nominated for the Presidency by the "Constitutional Union " party, but received only 39 electoral votes, cast by the States of Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia. He died at Cumberland Ironworks, Sept. 10, 1869.
Bell LIBERTY Honor
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
LIBERTY Honor. From 1906 to 1910 he was Chief of Staff of the United States Army , and from 1911 to 1914 he was commander of the Philippine Division. He commanded the 2d Division of the United States Army in Texas from 1914 to 1915 and from the latter year until 1917 was commander of the Western Department. He was appointed commander of the 77th Division in the National Army in 1917 , and for a time commanded this division in France. He died in 1919.
Bell JAMES FRANKLIN, an American coldier
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
JAMES FRANKLIN, an American coldier, born in Shelbyville, Ky., in 1856. He graduated from West Point in 1878 and for several years served in the West with the 7th Cavalry. He fought in the Spanish-American War and in the Philippines, and in 1889 was awarded the Congressional Medal of
Bell Currer, a pseudonym of Charlotte Bronte
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
Currer, a pseudonym of Charlotte Bronte. Belladonna (Italian, beautiful lady). See Nightshade
Bell Alexander Graham
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
Alexander Graham. See Telephone
What Has Changed in the Last Century
Aiton's 1910 account of bell founding still describes the trade fairly: bells are cast in loam or resin-bonded sand moulds between a core and a mantle, in roughly four parts copper to one of tin. What has moved is tuning: rather than filing by hand and hoping for a maiden bell, founders since the work of Canon Arthur Simpson and Taylor's of Loughborough have machined bells on a vertical lathe to bring the hum, prime, tierce, quint and nominal into true harmony. The great bells named here are mostly still where they were, the Tsar Bell of Moscow unhung on its platform in the Kremlin and Big Ben recast and ringing, though Big Ben fell silent for several years of tower repairs in the 2010s. The trade itself has thinned badly: London's Whitechapel Bell Foundry, which had cast bells for nearly 450 years, stopped work in 2017, and many churches now use electronic chimes or amplified recordings instead of hung metal.
Written for this edition, 2026.