Belin, Albert
A Benedictine, born at Besançon in 1610. His principal works are a treaty on talismans and a dissertation upon astral figures, published at Paris in 1671, and again in 1709. He also wrote Sympathetic Powder Justified, an alchemical work, and Adventures of an unknown philosopher in the search for and the manufacture of the Philosopher's Stone. This latter work is divided into four books and speaks very clearly of the manner in which the stone is made. (Paris, 1664 and 1674). Bell, Dr.: (See Spiritualism .)
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Belize
or BRITISH HONDURAS, a British colony, washed on the E. by the Bay of Honduras, in the Caribbean Sea, and elsewhere surrounded by Guatemala and Mexico. It forms the S. E. part of the peninsula of Yucatan, and measuring 80 by 60 miles, has an area of 8,592 square miles. The river Belize traverses the middle of the country, and the Rio Hondo and the Sarstoon form respectively its N. W. and its S. boundary. The Cockscomb Mountains (4,000 feet) are the highest eminences, the land all along the coast being low and swampy. The country has a general tropical fertility; its chief exports are mahogany and logwood, besides sugar, coffee, cotton, sarsaparilla, bananas, plantains, and india rubber. The early settlers were buccaneers, then logwood cutters, who were frequently attacked by the Spaniards, but since 1798, when they repulsed a fleet and a land force, their occupation has been formally acquiesced in. Since 1862 Belize has ranked as a British colony, with a lieutenant-governor, whose rank was raised, in 1884, to that of governor. Pop. about 42, 42,000. Belize, the capital, is a depot for British goods for Central America. Pop. about 11,000.
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Belknap
GEORGE EUGENE, an American naval officer, born in Newport, N. H., Jan. 22, 1832; was appointed appointed mid- midshipman in the navy in 1852; became Lieutenant-Commander in 1862; Commander in 1866; Captain in 1872; Commodore in 1885, and Rear-Admiral in 1889; and was retired in 1894. He took part in the capture of the Barrier Forts on the Canton river, China, in 1856; and in the Civil War was present at the bombardment of the forts and batteries in Charleston harbor, and in both of the attacks on Fort Fisher. In 1873, while North Pacific Ocean, he made discoveries engaged in deep sea sounding in the concerning the topography of the bed of the ocean that found high favor : mong scientists. He was appointed Superintendent of the United States Naval Observatory in 1885, and, among other works, published "Deep Sea Soundings." He died April 7, 1903.
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Bell
Alexander Graham. See Telephone
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Bell
Currer, a pseudonym of Charlotte Bronte. Belladonna (Italian, beautiful lady). See Nightshade
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Bell
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
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Bell
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.
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Bell (JOHN an American statesman)
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.
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Bell (LIBERTY Honor From to he)
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.
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Bell Rock
or INCH CAPE, a dangerous reef surmounted by a lighthouse , situated in the German Ocean, about 12 miles from Arbroath, nearly opposite the mouth of the river Tay. The lighthouse was erected in 1808-1811 by Robert Stevenson from Rennie's plan at a cost of upward of £60,000. It arises to a height of 120 feet; has a revolving light showing alternately red and white every minute, and visible for upward of 15 miles. It also contains two bells which are rung during thick weather.
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Bell-founding
The founding of bells is practically the same as for any other similar object, as pans, kettles, domes, etc. Large ones are usually made in loam by first striking a core, by means of a centre-spindle and sweep-board, the latter corresponding to the inner dimensions and form of the bell to be cast. When this has firmly set, another sweep-board answering to the outer contour of the bell is secured to the spindle, and a thickness of sand formed on the core; after which such ornamentation as may be required is secured thereon and a cope is built around, of such strength as the magnitude of the bell demands. The subsequent operations consist of lifting of the cope, taking away the thickness, finishing the moulds, drying, and closing in the pit as for any other casting. For the common run of bells a more ready way is provided. These are invariably made in perforated cast-iron casings, which enable the founder to strike both core and cope separately, closing them together when dry, binding and casting without any subsequent labor of ramming. The core-casing should be small enough to allow a wrapping of straw before applying the loam. The rope burns away and leaves ample room for contraction. See CASINGS; KETTLES; SPINDLE.
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