Berenson
BERNHARD, an American writer, born at Wilna, Russia, in 1865. He graduated from Harvard University in 1887, and has since then lived near Florence, Italy. He was one of the best known authorities in art criticism. Among his writings are: "Venetian Painters of the Renaissance" (1894); "The Study and Criticism of Italian Art" (1902, 1915); "The Drawings of the Florentine Painters" (1903); "The Fifteenth Century" (1916); "Essays on Sienese Paintings" (1918). He was a frequent contributor to art magazines in the United States and foreign countries.
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Beresina
or BEREZINA, a river of European Russia; rises in the district of Dissna, government of Minsk, which it traverses from N. to S.; after receiving various affluents, and being joined by a canal with the Don, it falls into the Dnieper, near Ritchitza, after a course of 200 miles. This river has been rendered famous on account of its disastrous passage by the French army during the retreat of Napoleon I. from Russia in 1812.
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Berg
a Norwegian explorer and lecturer, born in Christiania, in 1864, his mother being English and his father a Scandinavian. He went to sea at an early age, but returned to go to college. In 1898 he went to Australia, joined the Survey Department, and scaled Mount Lindsay. In 1894-1895 he was in Antarctic waters, a region fully explored by him in 1897, when he attempted to reach the South Pole without success. In 1899 (Feb. 17) he had, however, reached Robertson Bay. Returning to London in 1900 he reported having reached lat. 78.- 50 S., long. 195.50 E., the farthest point S. ever reached by by man. Consult his book, "First in the Antarctic Continent."
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Bergamo
a town of north Italy, capital of the province of Bergamo (1,076 square miles, about 550,000 inhabitants), consists of two parts, the old town, situated on hills, and the new town, almost detached and on the plain. It has a cathedral, an interesting church of the 12th century, a school of art, picture gallery, etc. It trades largely in silk, silk largest annual goods, corn, etc., has the fair in north Italy, and extensive manu factures. Pop. about 60,000.
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Bergerac
SAVINIEN CYRANO author, born in Paris in DE, a French nch 1619, distinguished for his courage, and for the number of his duels, more than a thousand, most of them fought on account of his monstrously large nose. He ngs, which are 1655. His writings, died in 16 often crude, but full of invention, vigor, and wit, include a tragedy, "Agrippina," " and a comedy, "The Pedant Tricked," from which Corneille and Molière have freely borrowed ideas; and his "Comical History of the States and Empires of the Sun and the Moon." He was made the hero of a drama bearing his name, written by Edmond Rostand.
a town in the French department of Dordogne, on the Dordogne, 60 miles E. of Bordeaux by rail. Most of its inhabitants are employed in the surrounding iron works and paper mills. The wines of the district, both white and red, are esteemed. During the wars with the English, Bergerac was a fortress and an entrepôt of trade; but after siding with the Calvinists, and, consequently, suffering greatly in the religious wars, the place was dismantled by Louis XIII. in 1621, while the revocation of the Edict of Nantes drove many of its citizens into exile. Pop. about 17,000.
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Bergson
HENRI LOUIS, a French philosopher, born in Paris in 1859. He was educated in the public schools of that city, graduating in 1881 from the Ecole Normal. Following some years of teaching he was appointed to the chair of philosophy in the Collège de France. In the following year he was elected to the Institute and was elected a member HENRI LOUIS BERGSON of the Academy of 1914. He delivered in 1913 a series of lectures in Columbia University and at the same time received the degree of Litt. D. from that institution. His writings became widely popular and many of them were translated into English. Among these were "Time and Free Will," "Matter and Memory," "Laughter," "Creative Evolution,' n, " "An Introduction to Metaphysics."
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Berhampur
the name of two Indian towns: (1) A town and military station in the N. E. portion of Madras presidency, the headquarters of Ganjám district, with a trade in sugar and manufactures of silks. Pop. about 30,000. (2) A municipal town and the administrative headquarters of Mur- Shidábád district, Bengal. It was the scene of the first overt act of mutiny in 1857. Pop. about 25,000.
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Berigard of Pisa
Alchemist. (1578 ? - 1664). Owing to his residing for many years at Pisa, this alchemist is commonly known by the appellation given above; but in reality he was not an Italian but a Frenchman, and his name was Claude Guillermet de Bérigard, or, as it is sometimes spelt, Beauregard. The date of his birth is uncertain, some authorities assigning it to 1578, and others placing it considerably later; but they are agreed in saying that Moulins was his native town, and that, while a young man, he evinced a keen love for science in its various branches, and began to dabble in alchemy. He appears to have studied for a while at the Sorbonne, at Paris; and, having acquired some fame there on account of his erudition, he was appointed professor of natural philosophy at the University of Pisa. This post he held until the year 1640, whereupon he was assigned an analogous position at Padua, and it was probably in the latter town that his death occurred in 1664. His most important contribution to scientific literature is Dubitationes in Dialogum Ealilæi pro Terræ immobilitate, a quarto published at Florence in 1632; but he was likewise author of Circulus Pisanus, issued at Udine in 1643, wherein he concerns himself chiefly with commenting on Aristotle's ideas on physics. Bérigarde's writings are virtually forgotten nowadays, but they are interesting as documents illustrating the progress of scientific knowledge throughout the seventeenth century.
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Bering
or BEHRING, VITUS, a Danish explorer, born in Jutland, in 1680. After making several voyages to the East and West Indies, he entered the service of Russia; became a captain-commander in 1722; and was sent by the Empress Catharine in charge of an expedition, whose object was to determine whether Asia and America were united. Crossing Siberia he sailed from the river of Kamchatka in July, 1728; and reached lat. 67° 18' N., having passed through the strait since called after him, without knowing it. Discovering that land trended greatly to the W. he concluded that the continents were not united, and returned; without, however, seeing America. In another voyage, in 1741, he touched upon the American coast, in lat. 58° 21′ N.; and gave name to Mount St. Elias. In returning, his ship was cast upon an island, since named after him, an outlier of the Aleutian group, and here himself and many of his crew perished, in December, 1741.
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