Bernhardt, Sarah
bern'hart, Sarah (1844-), a French actress. She was of Jewish descent-her father, French, her mother, Dutch. She was born in Paris, but spent most of her childhood and youth in Amsterdam. Before Sarah was twenty years old she had won prizes for both tragedy and comedy at the Paris Conservatoire. Her career has been a brilliant one. She has acted in many European capitals, in the United States , South America , and Australia. Bernhardt is especially notable in roles requiring nervous tension and the display of passion.
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Bernheim
(See Hypnotism .)
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Bernina
a mountain of the Rhætian Alps, 13,290 feet high, in the Swiss canton of Grisons, with remarkable and extensive glaciers. Its summit was first attained in 1850. The Bernina Pass, which attains an elevation of 7,642 feet, and over which a carriage road was completed in 1864, leads from Pontresina to Poschiavo.
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Bernstein
HERMAN, an author born in Neustadt-Scherwindt, Poland, 1876; came to the United States in 1893. From 1908 to 1912 he traveled in various countries of Europe as correspondent of the New York Times," securing interviews with notables, especially one with Tolstoi that attracted wide attention. In 1915 he again visited Europe to investigate the condition of the Jev's in the war-stricken countries of eastern Europe. From Russia in 1917 he secured the "Willy-Nicky" correspondence between the Kaiser and the Czar. He was editor-in-chief of the "American Hebrew" from 1916.
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Berosus
a genus of beetles belong ing to the family hydrophilidæ. They have prominent eyes, a narrow thorax, a dusky yellow hue, with dark metallic bronze markings. They swim in ponds, often in an inverted position.
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Berquin
LOUIS DE (ber-kan'), the first Protestant martyr in France, born in 1490. He was a gentleman of Artois, savan a friend of Badius, the the savant. When, When , in 1523, the police began to seize Luther's works, with a view to suppressing Protestantism, they found among Berquin's books some manuscripts of his own writing that were pronounced heretical. As he refused to retract, he was thrown into prison. Francis I., whose counselor he was, obtained for him his freedom; and Erasmus, always his friend, tried in vain to prevent him from exposing his life in a useless
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Berry
CANAL DE, one of the most important canals in France as regards the amount of its traffic; begins at Montluçon on the Cher, the chief trading center of the coal fields of the Allier; descends the Cher valley to St. Armand, proceeds E., and soon after branches, then one branch going N. E. and joining the lateral canal of the Loire about 9 miles N. W. of Nevers, the other branch proceeding N. and rejoining the valley of the Cher, and ultimately entering the Cher itself near St. Aignan, below which point the canalized Cher continues the line of navigation to Tours. Length of navigation 200 miles, of which 36½ miles belong to the canalized Cher. Constructed 1807-1841.
a succulent fruit, in which the seeds are immersed in a pulpy mass inclosed by a thin skin. Popularly it is applied to fruits like the strawberry, bearing external seeds on a pulpy receptacle, but not strictly berries.
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Bersaglieri
a of riflemen or sharpshooters, introduced into the Sardinian army by Gen. Della Marmora, about 1849. They took part in the Russian War and also assisted at the battle of the Tchernaya, Aug. 16, 1855. They were likewise employed in the Italian Wars of 1859 and 1866, and in the World War, where they performed heroic service.
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Berseem
an Egyptian forage plant. It is known as the Egyptian clover. In Egypt it is valued because it grows readily in lands that are only partly reclaimed from the sea, and is not drowned out easily by overflow. It has been suggested as a forage crop to be raised in the southwest during the reclamation of strongly alkali lands, that is, before the alkali has been leached out of the soil by continued irrigation.
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Berserker
a redoubtable hero, the grandson of the eight-handed Starkader and the beautiful Alfhilde. He despised mail and helmet, and, contrary to the custom of his time, went always into battle unharnessed, his fury serving him instead of defensive armor. By the daughter of King Swafurlam, whom he had slain in battle, he had 12 sons, who inherited the name of Berserker along with his warlike spirit.
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Bertha
the name of several famous women of the Middle Ages, half historical, half fabulous. ST. BERTHA, whose day is kept on July 4, was the beautiful and pious daughter of Charibert, King of the Franks, who, having married (560 A. D.) Æthelbert, King of Kent, became the means of his conversion, and of the spread of Christianity among the Anglo-Saxons. In the romances of the Charlemagne cycle, there figures a BERTHA, called also Berthrada with the Big Foot, as the daughter of Count Charibert of Laon, wife of Pepin the Little and mother of Charlemagne. In the romances of the "Round Table," again, BERTHA is the name of a sister of Charlemagne, who makes Milo d'Anglesis the father of Roland. Better known is BERTHA, daughter of Burkhard, Duke of the Allemanni, and wife of Rudolf II., King of Burgundy beyond Jura, who, after Rudolf's death (937), acted as regent for her infant son, Konrad; she afterward married Hugo, King of Italy; and died toward the close of the 10th century.
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Berthelot
PIERRE EUGENE MARCELLIN (ber-tel-ō'), a French chemist, born in Paris, Oct. 25, 1827; early studied chemistry, and in 1859 was appointed Professor of Organic Chemistry in the Superior School of Pharmacy. In 1865 a new chair of organic chemistry was organized for him in the College of France. In 1870 he was elected president of the scientific committee of defense, and during the siege of Paris was intrusted with the manufacture of ammunition and guns, and especially dynamite and nitro-glycerine. In 1878 he became president of the committee on explosives, which introduced smokeless powder. His labors also led to the discovery of dyes extracted from coal tar. He received the decoration of the Legion of Honor in 1861; Commander in 1879, and Grand Officer in 1886. In 1889 he was elected Permanent Secretary of the Academy of Sciences. His works include "Chimie organique fondée sur la synthèse" (1860); "Leçons sur les principes sucrés" (1862); "Leçons sur l'Isomérie" (1865); "Traité elementaire de chimie organique" and "Sur la force de la poudre et des matières explosives" (1872-1889); "Les Origines de l'alchimie" (1885); "Collection des anciens alchimistes grecs" (1888); "Chimie des anciens" (1889); etc. He died March 18, 1907.
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