Benzene
an aromatic hydrocarbon, also called benzol, or phenyl hydride, discovered in 1825 by Faraday in the liquid condensed during the compression of oil gas. In 1849, it was found in coal tar by C. B. Mansfield, who lost his life while experimenting ing with it on Feb. 25, 1855. Aniline is produced from it, which again is the source of the the celebrated modern dyes. It is obtained from the more volatile portion of coal tar oil. It is also formed by distilling benzoic acid with lime. Benzene is a thin, colorless, strongly refracting liquid; it boils at 82°. It dissolves fats, resins, iodine, sulphur, and phosphorus; sp. gr., 0.885.
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Benzoate of Soda
a preservative used in the manufacture of food products. The use of it in a quantity not greater than one-tenth of 1 per cent. is permitted by the Federal Government, but its use among packers of food has gradually been abolished.
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Benzoic Acid
a vegetable acid obtained from benzoin and other resins and balsams, as those of Peru and Tolu. It forms light feathery needles; taste pungent and bitterish; odor, slightly aromatic. The salts of benzoic acid are known as benzoates.
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Benzoic Ether
a colorless, oily liquid, with a feeble aromatic smell and a pungent aromatic taste, obtained by distilling together four parts alcohol, two of crystallized benzoic acid, and one of concentrated hydrochloric acid.
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Benzoil
or BENJAMIN, in botany and commerce, as benjamin, a kind of resin, obtained from a tree, the styrax benzoin, which belongs to the order ebenacea (ebenads). It grows in Sumatra, Borneo, and the adjacent islands. It is used as a medicine in chronic diseases of the lungs, as an ingredient in perfumery, and in the incense of Roman Catholic and Ritualist churches. In botany, as benzoin, a genus of plants belonging to the order lauraceæ (laurels). The species are found in North America and in Nepaul. The berries of benzoin odoriferum yield an aromatic stimulant oil. In chemistry (C14H12O2) a polymeric modification of benzoic aldehyde, which remains in the retort when the crude oil is distilled with lime or iron oxide to free it from hydrocyanic acid.
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Beotia
a division of ancient Greece, lying between Attica and Phocis, and bounded E. and W. by the Eubœan Sea and the Corinthian Gulf respectively, had an area of 1,119 square miles. The whole country is surrounded by mountains, on the S. Mts. Cithæron and Parnes, on the W. Mt. Helicon, on the N. Mt. Parnassus and the Opuntian Mountains, which also closed it in on the The N. part is drained by the Cephis- E. sus, the waters of which form Lake Copais; the S. by the Asopus, which flows into the Eubean Sea. The inhabitants were of the Æolian race; most of the towns formed a kind of republic, of which Thebes was the chief city. Epaminondas and Pelopidas raised Thebes for a time to the highest rank among Grecian States. The term Bœotian was used by the Athenians as a synonym for dullness, but somewhat unjustly, since Hesiod, Pindar, the poetess Corinna, and Plutarch were Bœotians. Pop. about 70,000, mostly Albanians.
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Berande
A sorceress burnt at Maubec, in France , in 1577. She was confronted by a damsel whom she accused of sorcery, which the girl denied, whereat the beldame exclaimed, "Dost thou not remember how at the last dance at the Croix du Paté, thou didst carry a pot of poison ? The damsel at this confessed, and was burnt along with her accuser. ور
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Beranger
PIERRE JEAN DE (bā-rôn-zhā'), a French poet, born in Paris, Aug. 19, 1780. His father took him to Paris in 1802; but they soon quarrelled and he began life in that garret which became famous. In 1804 Lucien Bonaparte helped him out with a clerkship in the University. Meanwhile he had composed many convivial and political songs, but never wrote them down until 1812. When his poems were published, in 1815, he was recognized as the champion of the faction opposed to the Bourbons. His popularity with the working classes was immense, and he made the song a powerful political weapon. His republicanism and enthusiasm for Napoleon suited the multitude. Two volumes published in 1821 led to his imprisonment; and another in 1825 caused a second incarceration. "New Songs," appeared in 1830, and his "Autobiography" in 1840. In 1848 he was elected to Parliament, but begged to be released. His songs are full of wit, light-heartedness, and musical grace. Among the best are the "King of Yvetot," "The Old Flag," "The Old Corporal," "Roger Bontemps," "My Grandmother," "Little Red Man," "Little Gray Man," and "The Marquis of Carabas." He died in Paris, July 16, 1857.
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Berar
otherwise known as the Hyderabad Assigned Districts, a province of India, in the Deccan, under the British Resident at Hyderabad; area, 17,718 square miles, consisting chiefly efly of an elevated valley at the head of a chain of ghauts. It is watered by several affluents of the Godavari, and by the Tapti, and has a fertile soil, producing some of the best cotton, millet, and wheat crops in India. The two principal towns of Berar are Amráoti and Khamgaon. Pop. about 3,250,000. Coal and iron ore are both found in the province. Berar was assigned by the Nizam to the British Government in 1853, as security for arrears due. In 1902 the province was leased to Great Britain in perpetuity and attached to the Central Provinces administration.
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Berat
a town of Albania; on the Ergent river, here bridged; 30 miles N. E. of Valona. It is the seat of a Greek archbishop, and has a cathedral and a number of mosques, and several Greek churches. Pop. 15,000.
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Berber
a town of Nubia, on the right bank of the Nile, below the confluence of the Atbara. It is a station on the route from Khartum to Cairo. Since the railway was opened in 1906, taking the place of the caravan route, the traffic to the Red Sea has been diverted. Pop. about 10,000.
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Berbera
a seaport of British Somaliland, eastern Africa, with a good harbor, on a bay of the Gulf of Aden. It was conquered by Egypt in 1875, but in July, 1884, the British Government took possession of it, and a small Indian force is now stationed here. It is the scene of a large annual fair, which brings over 30,000 people together from all quarters in the East. Coffee, grains, ghee, g ghee, gold dust, ivory, gums, cattle, ostrich feathers, etc., are brought hither from the interior, and exchanged for cotton, rice, iron, Indian piece goods, etc.
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