Berthier
ALEXANDRE (bertya'), Prince of Neuchâtel and Wagram, born in Versailles in 1753. He served as officer of a regiment of dragoons in the American Revolutionary War. During the French Revolution he became comm commandant of the National Guard at Versailles, and exerted himself to check the excesses of the populace. During the Reign of Terror he served under Lafayette, and afterward under Bonaparte, in his first Italian campaign. From this time he accompanied Napoleon in all his campaigns as chief of staff. In 1803 he married a Bavarian princess. In 1805 he was created a marshal of the empire, grand huntsman of the empire, and chief of the first cohort of the Legion of Honor. In 1806 he became Prince of Neuchâtel, and in 1809 Prince of Wagram. In 1810 he officiated as Napoleon's prox Napoleon's in the 1 proxy marriage of Maria Louisa. On the restoration of Louis XVIII. he accepted the situation of captain of one of the companies of the gardes-de-corps. On the return of Napoleon he retired to Bamberg, where he died March 20, 1815.
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Berthollet
CLAUDE LOUIS, COUNT, a French chemist, was born in Savoy, Dec. 9, 1748, and studied medicine at Turin. He afterward settled in Paris, was admitted a member of the Academy of Sciences, and made a professor at the Normal School. He accompanied Napoleon to Egypt; and, during the empire, was made a Senator and an officer of the Legion of Honor. He deserted his patron in the days of misfortune and received the title of Count from Louis XVIII. His principal work is "Essai de statique chimique" (1803). He died Nov. 6, 1822.
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Bertholletia
named after Count Berthollet, a genus of plants belonging to the order lecythidaceæ. The only species is a large tree, growing growing 100 feet high, with a diameter of two feet, found in the forests which fringe the Orinoco. It has yellowish white flowers. The fruit is the size of a man's head, with four cells and six or eight nuts. These are called Brazil, or, from the place where they are shipped, Para nuts. They are eatable and furnish a bland oil used by watchmakers and artists. At Para the fibrous bark of the tree is used in place of oakum.
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Berthome du Lignon
called Champagnat, a sorcerer brought to trial at Montmorillon, in Poitou, in 1599. He confessed that his father had taken him to the Sabbath of the sorcerors in his youth, that he had promised the Devil his soul and his body, that His Satanic Majesty had shown him marks of his favour, and that he had even visited him in prison on the previous night. He further confessed having slain several persons and beasts with the magical powders given him by the Enemy of Mankind. Bertrand, Alexandre-His Traite du Somnambulisme et du Magnetisme Animal en France : (See Hypnotism; Spiritualism .)
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Bertillon
ALPHONSE (ber-têyôn'), a French anthropologist, born in Paris in 1853; is widely noted as the founder of a system of identification of criminals. In 1880, while Chief of the Bureau of Identification in the Prefecture of Police, he established his system of measurements which has given results ALPHONSE BERTILLON marvelous for their precision. The system has since been adopted by the police authorities of the large cities of Europe and the United States. He was author of numerous works bearing upon his system, including "Identification anthropometrique" (1893).
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Bertrand
HENRI GRATIEN, COUNT, a French military officer, born in Châteauroux in 1773, and early entered the armies of the Revolution as engineer. He accompanied the expedition to Egypt, and directed the fortification of Alexandria. He distinguished himself at Austerlitz, and became Napoleon's adjutant; and, after the battle of Aspern, in 1809, for his share in saving the French army by bridges, he was created count and governor of Illyria. He retired with the Emperor to Elba, was his confidant in carrying out his return to France, and finally shared his banishment to St. Helena. On Napoleon's death, Bertrand returned to France, where he was restored to all his dignities, and, in 1830, appointed Commandant of the Polytechnic School. He died in Châteauroux, Jan. 31, 1844.
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Berwyn
a city of Illinois, in Cook co. It is on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy and the Illinois Central railroads. The city is entirely residential. Pop. (1910) 5,841; (1920) 14,150.
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Beryllium
a rare white malleable metal, the same as glucinum. It occurs as a silicate in phenacite, also in the mineral beryl along with aluminum silicate.
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Besant, Sir Walter
Sir Walter (1836-1901), a British novelist and critic. He was born at Portsmouth. He received his degree at Cambridge. He went out to the island of Mauritius as a professor of mathematics, but returned later to London and entered upon a literary career. In a literary partnership with James Rice, a number of novels were produced, including The Seamy Side. After the death of Mr. Rice, Besant wrote on alone. All Sorts and Conditions of Men stirred men's minds and gave a powerful impetus to settlement work in East London and indirectly to work of the sort on this side of the Atlantic. In calling attention to the need of reform in existing social and industrial conditions, Besant in his day did a work not unlike that of Charles Dickens. In 1895 he was knighted by Queen Victoria. Other stories of Besant's well known in America are: All in a Garden Fair, The World Went Very Well Then, The Alabaster Box, Dorothy Foster, and Beyond the Dreams of Avarice.
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Beside the Bonnie Briar Bush
a collection of sketches by Dr. John Watson (Ian Maclaren), published in 1894. These stories, illustrative of Scottish life and character, are held together by no plot, but present the same characters repeatedly. The book made its author famous. It ranks with Barrie's A Window in Thrums and Auld Licht Idylls. This is the class of fiction that has earned the name, "Kailyard School." Barrie, Watson, and Crockett are its chief representatives. See Watson ; John
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Bessarion
JOHN, a Greek scholar, born in Trebizond in 1395, one of the most eminent restorers of learning in the 15th century, and founder of the library of St. Mark at Venice; was a monk of the Order of St. Basil. He was drawn from his monastery in the Peloponnesus, to accompany the Emperor John Palæologus to the great council of Florence, where he effected, 1439, a union of short duration between the Greek and Roman Churches. He was made a Cardinal by Pope Eugenius, and had afterward the title of Patriarch of Constantinople given him by Pius II. He spent the last 30 years of his life at Rome, devoting himself to the promotion of literature, and discharging several important embassies. He wrote a work in defense of Platonic philosophy. He died in Ravenna, Nov. 19, 1472.
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