More than one of these 7 encyclopedias carries each of the following subjects — but every one of them treats it in a sentence or two and then moves on. They are gathered here so the different accounts can sit side by side.
Bessemer Steel
Collier's New Encyclopedia: steel made from pig iron, from which practically all the carbon, etc., has been removed by exposing the molten mass to a current of air. The Bessemer process, that of Sir Henry Bessemer was patented in 1856. Bessemer's first idea was to blow air through molten pig iron till practically the whole of the carbon was oxidized when malleable iron was required, and to stop the blowing when a sufficient degree of decarburization was effected in steel has been produced ranging from 1.00 per cent. carbon to .08 per cent. carbon, the former being a steel suitable for springs, and the latter a soft material replacing wrought iron, rail steel usually containing 4 to 5 per cent. carbon. The production of Bessemer steel in the U. S. in 1918 was 9,376,236 long tons, compared with a production of 10,- 479,960 tons in 1917.
The Encyclopedia of Founding: This process of making steel was patented in 1856 by the inventor, Henry Bessemer, and consists in converting the pig-iron into malleable iron, as a preliminary operation, by blowing air through the mass of molted metal, previously introduced into a converter, until all the carbon, silicon, sulphur, and phosphorus has been burned out, and then converting this into steel by the addition of a small quantity of a peculiar cast iron of known composition, called Spiegeleisen. See CONVERTER; SPIEGELEISEN; CAST STEEL; OPEN-HEARTH STEEL.
Covered by Collier's New Encyclopedia and The Encyclopedia of Founding
Biennial
Aiton's Encyclopedia: . See Herb Big-endians, big-end'i-anz, in Swift's Gulliver's Travels , a religious sect in Lilliput. They are represented as regarding it a matter of duty to break egg-shells at the big end. The Little-endians broke eggs at the little end, and considered the Big-endians heretics. The Big-endians stood for the Catholic church, the Little-endians for the Protestants. See Gulliver'S Travels It is computed that eleven thousand persons have at several times suffered death, rather than submit to break their eggs at the smaller end. Many hundred large volumes have been published upon this controversy.-A Voyage to Lilliput. 2026 Editor's Note: The squabble Swift invented on this page had a strange afterlife: computing adopted his warring sects wholesale. Whether a machine stores the big end or the little end of a number first is called its "endianness," and engineers still speak of big-endian and little-endian systems — a satire on religious wars turned into standard technical vocabulary. (Ed: BR 2026-06-14)
Collier's New Encyclopedia: a plant that requires two seasons to come to maturity, bearing fruit and dying the second year, as the turnip, carrot, wall flower.
Covered by Aiton's Encyclopedia and Collier's New Encyclopedia
Big Trees
Collier's New Encyclopedia: the sequoia gigantea, See SEQUOIA. BIHÉ (bē-hā), a fruitful district of South Africa, E. of Benguela, and under Portuguese influence. Bihé is an important caravan center, as the only route across the continent passes through it. Area, 2,500 square miles. Pop. 95,000.
Aiton's Encyclopedia: . See Sequoia
Covered by Collier's New Encyclopedia and Aiton's Encyclopedia
Bitumen
Collier's New Encyclopedia: a mineral substance, re-mercial and political importance till 1892, when the French Government began converting it into a magnificent naval port. It is now large enough to accommodate at one time all the navies of the world. A canal was also constructed through the Isthmus of Zarzana, connecting the lake with the Mediterranean. GEORGES BIZET), a French composer, born in Paris, Oct. 25, 1838; studied with Halévy and at the Paris Conservatory. His operas include "Vasco de Gama" (1863); "The Pearl Fishers" (1863); "The Fair Maid of Perth" (1867); "Djamileh" (1872), and "Carmen" (1875), his most famous composition. He also completed Halévy's opera "Noe." He died near Paris, June 3, 1875.
The Encyclopedia of Founding: Besides coal there is found in the earth a class of inflammable bodies--liquids, semi-liquids, and solids--which possess properties very similar. The purest and most fluid of these hydrocarbons is naphtha; when of the consistence of oil it is termed petroleum; slightly thicker it is pitch; after which we have elastic bitumen, and in its hardened state it is called asphaltum. Naphtha dissolves bitumen and caoutchouc. See PETROLEUM; ASPHALTUM.
Aiton's Encyclopedia: . See Asphalt ; Petroleum
Covered by Collier's New Encyclopedia and The Encyclopedia of Founding and Aiton's Encyclopedia
Black Friars
Aiton's Encyclopedia: in the history of London, a name given to the mendicant monks of the Dominican order. These monks were so called from the color of their garb. They settled in Holborn, London, about 1221. In 1285 an old tower was given them for a monastery. When the older city walls were torn down, a large space thus cleared was given to the Black Friars. The monastery grew to be an extensive affair and played no small part in London affairs. It had the privilege of asylum; culprits who sought shelter within its precincts were secure from pursuit, unless handed over to the officers by authority of the monks. Henry VIII's suit for divorce against Catharine of Aragon was heard by Cardinal Wolsey and his colleague at Blackfriars. The old monastery disappeared long ago, but the name has been retained by the locality in which it formerly stood and by Blackfriars Bridge . 2026 Editor's Note: The friars are long gone but their name is everywhere in London — Blackfriars Bridge, Blackfriars station, the district itself. Their precinct also housed the Blackfriars Theatre , the indoor playhouse where Shakespeare's company performed in winter, and whose candlelit intimacy shaped his late plays. (Ed: BR 2026-06-09)
Collier's New Encyclopedia: friars of the Dominican Order: so called from their costume.
Covered by Aiton's Encyclopedia and Collier's New Encyclopedia
Blende
Collier's New Encyclopedia: a native sulphide of zinc (ZnS). Composition: Sulphur, 32.12- 33.82; zinc, 44.67-67.46; sometimes with small amounts of iron and cadmium. It occurs in regular tetrahedra, dodecahedra, and other monometric forms; it is found also fibrous, columnar, radiated, plumose, massive, foliated, granular, etc. Its color is either white, yellow, or brown black. Varieties of it exist in many places in this country; in Derbyshire, Cumberland, and Cornwall, England; as well as on the continent of Europe, etc. One variety is called by the miners blackjack. Blende is called also sphalerite. Dana divides it into (1) ordinary (containing blende or sphalerite, little or no iron); (2) ferriferous (containing 10 or more per cent. of iron); (3) cadmiferous (containing cadmium). In mining, the word is applied to the above mentioned blackjack, treated by roasting and destructive distillation in combination with charcoal in a vessel from which the air is excluded. By access of air the metal burns and passes off in vapor which condenses as the white oxide, which is collected and forms a pigment known as zinc white.
Aiton's Encyclopedia: an ore of zinc. See Zinc
Covered by Collier's New Encyclopedia and Aiton's Encyclopedia