See W.S. Crockett,Minstrelsy of the Merse, (Paisley, 1893);In Praise of Tweed(Selkirk, 1889);The Scott Country(London, 1902); J. Robson,The Churches and Churchyards of Berwickshire(Kelso, 1893); F.H. Groome,A Short Border History(Kelso, 1887); J. Tait,Two Centuries of Border Church Life(Kelso, 1889); Margaret Warrender,Marchmont and the Humes of Polwarth(Edinburgh, 1894); W.K. Hunter,History of the Priory of Coldingham(Edinburgh, 1858).
See W.S. Crockett,Minstrelsy of the Merse, (Paisley, 1893);In Praise of Tweed(Selkirk, 1889);The Scott Country(London, 1902); J. Robson,The Churches and Churchyards of Berwickshire(Kelso, 1893); F.H. Groome,A Short Border History(Kelso, 1887); J. Tait,Two Centuries of Border Church Life(Kelso, 1889); Margaret Warrender,Marchmont and the Humes of Polwarth(Edinburgh, 1894); W.K. Hunter,History of the Priory of Coldingham(Edinburgh, 1858).
BERWICK-UPON-TWEED,a market town, seaport, municipal borough and county in itself, of England, at the mouth of the Tweed on the north bank, 339 m. N. by W. from London. Pop. (1901) 13,437. For parliamentary purposes it is in the Berwick-upon-Tweed division of Northumberland. It is the junction on the East Coast route from London to Scotland between the North Eastern and North British railways, a branch of the company first named running up the Tweed valley by Coldstream and Kelso. The town lies in a bare district on the slope and flat summit of an abrupt elevation, higher ground rising to the north and south across the river. It has the rare feature of a complete series of ramparts surrounding it. Those to the north and east are formed of earth faced with stone, with bastions at intervals and a ditch now dry. They are of Elizabethan date, but there are also lines of much earlier date, the fortifications of Edward I. Much of these last has been destroyed, and threatened encroachment upon the remaining relics so far aroused public feeling that in 1905 it was decided that the Board of Works should take over these ruins, including the Bell Tower, from the town council, and enclose them as national relics. The Bell Tower, from which alarms were given when border raiders were observed, is in fair preservation. There are slight remains of the castle, which fell into disrepair after the union of the crowns of England and Scotland. There are no traces of the churches, monasteries or other principal buildings of the ancient town. The church of Holy Trinity is a plain building without steeple, of the time of Cromwell. Of modern places of worship, the most noteworthy is Wallace Green United Presbyterian church (1859). The chief public building is the town hall (1760), a stately classic building surmounted by a lofty spire. Educational institutions include an Elizabethan grammar school and a blue-coat school; and there is a local museum. Two bridges connect the town with the south side of the Tweed. The older, which is very substantial, was finished in 1634, having taken twenty-four years in building. It has fifteen arches, and is 924 ft. long, but only 17 ft. wide. A unique provision for its upkeep out of Imperial funds dates from the reign of Charles II. The other, the Royal Border Bridge, situated a quarter of a mile up the river, is a magnificent railway viaduct, 126 ft. high, with twenty-eight arches, which extends from the railway station, a castellated building on part of the site of the old castle, to a considerable distance beyond the river. This bridge was designed by Robert Stephenson and opened by Queen Victoria in 1850.
The reach of the river from the old bridge to the mouth forms the harbour. The entrance to the harbour is protected by a stone pier, which stretches half a mile south-east from the north bank of the river mouth. The depth of water at the bar is 17 ft. at ordinary tides, 22 ft. at spring tides, but the channel is narrow, a large rocky portion of the harbour on the north side being dry at low water. There is a wet dock of 3½ acres. Principal exports are grain, coal and fish; imports are bones and bone-ash, manure stuffs, linseed, salt, timber and iron. The herring and other sea fisheries are of some value, and the salmon fishery, in the hands of a company, has long been famous. A fair is heldannually at the end of May. There are iron-works and boat-building yards.
The custom of specially mentioning Berwick-upon-Tweed after Wales, though abandoned in acts of parliament, is retained in certain proclamations. The title of “county in itself” also helps to recall its ancient history. The liberties of the borough, commonly called Berwick Bounds, include the towns of Spittal, at the mouth, and Tweedmouth immediately above it, on the south bank of the river. The first is a watering-place (pop. 2074), with pleasant sands and a chalybeate spa; the second (pop. 3086) has iron foundries, engineering works and fish-curing establishments. Berwick-upon-Tweed is governed by a mayor, 6 aldermen and 18 councillors. Area, 6396 acres.
Very little is known of the history of Berwick before the Conquest. It was not until the Tweed became the boundary between England and Scotland in the 12th century that Berwick as the chief town on that boundary became really important. Until the beginning of the 14th century Berwick was one of the four royal boroughs of Scotland, and although it possesses no charter granted before that time, an inquisition taken in Edward III.’s reign shows that it was governed by a mayor and bailiffs in the reign of Alexander III., who granted the town to the said mayor and the commonalty for an annual rent. After Edward I. had conquered Berwick in 1302 he gave the burgesses another charter, no longer existing but quoted in several confirmations, by which the town was made a free borough with a gild merchant. The burgesses were given the right to elect annually their mayor, who with the commonalty should elect four bailiffs. They were also to have freedom from toll, pontage, &c., two markets every week on Monday and Friday, and a fair lasting from the feast of Holyrood to that of the Nativity of St John the Baptist. Five years later, in 1307, the mayor and burgesses received another charter, granting them their town with all things that belonged to it in the time of Alexander III., for a fee-farm rent of 500 marks, which was granted back to them in 1313 to help towards enclosing their town with a wall. While the war with Scotland dragged on through the early years of the reign of Edward II., the fortification of Berwick was a matter of importance, and in 1317 the mayor and bailiffs undertook to defend it for the yearly sum of 6000 marks; but in the following year, “owing to their default,” the Scots entered and occupied it in spite of a truce between the two kingdoms. After Edward III. had recovered Berwick the inhabitants petitioned for the recovery of their prison called the Beffroi or Bell-tower, the symbol of their independence, which their predecessors had built before the time of Alexander III., and which had been granted to William de Keythorpe when Edward I. took the town. Edward III. in 1326 and 1356 confirmed the charter of Edward I., and in 1357, evidently to encourage the growth of the borough, granted that all who were willing to reside there and desirous of becoming burgesses should be admitted as such on payment of a fine. These early charters were confirmed by most of the succeeding kings, until James I. granted the incorporation charter in 1604; but on his accession to the English throne, Berwick of course lost its importance as a frontier town. Berwick was at first represented in the court of the four boroughs and in 1326 in Robert Bruce’s parliament. After being taken by the English it remained unrepresented until it was re-taken by the Scots, when it sent two members to the parliament at Edinburgh from 1476 to 1479. In 1482 the burgesses were allowed to send two members to the English parliament, and were represented there until 1885, when the town was included in the Berwick-upon-Tweed division of the county of Northumberland. No manufactures are mentioned as having been carried on in Berwick, but its trade, chiefly in the produce of the surrounding country, was important in the 12th century. It has been noted for salmon fishery in the Tweed from very early times. There was a bridge over the Tweed at Berwick in the time of Alexander and John, kings of Scotland, but it was broken down in the time of the latter and not rebuilt until the end of the 14th century.SeeVictoria County History, Northumberland; John Fuller,History of Berwick-upon-Tweed, &c. (1799); John Scott,Berwick-upon-Tweed: History of the Town and Guild(1888).
Very little is known of the history of Berwick before the Conquest. It was not until the Tweed became the boundary between England and Scotland in the 12th century that Berwick as the chief town on that boundary became really important. Until the beginning of the 14th century Berwick was one of the four royal boroughs of Scotland, and although it possesses no charter granted before that time, an inquisition taken in Edward III.’s reign shows that it was governed by a mayor and bailiffs in the reign of Alexander III., who granted the town to the said mayor and the commonalty for an annual rent. After Edward I. had conquered Berwick in 1302 he gave the burgesses another charter, no longer existing but quoted in several confirmations, by which the town was made a free borough with a gild merchant. The burgesses were given the right to elect annually their mayor, who with the commonalty should elect four bailiffs. They were also to have freedom from toll, pontage, &c., two markets every week on Monday and Friday, and a fair lasting from the feast of Holyrood to that of the Nativity of St John the Baptist. Five years later, in 1307, the mayor and burgesses received another charter, granting them their town with all things that belonged to it in the time of Alexander III., for a fee-farm rent of 500 marks, which was granted back to them in 1313 to help towards enclosing their town with a wall. While the war with Scotland dragged on through the early years of the reign of Edward II., the fortification of Berwick was a matter of importance, and in 1317 the mayor and bailiffs undertook to defend it for the yearly sum of 6000 marks; but in the following year, “owing to their default,” the Scots entered and occupied it in spite of a truce between the two kingdoms. After Edward III. had recovered Berwick the inhabitants petitioned for the recovery of their prison called the Beffroi or Bell-tower, the symbol of their independence, which their predecessors had built before the time of Alexander III., and which had been granted to William de Keythorpe when Edward I. took the town. Edward III. in 1326 and 1356 confirmed the charter of Edward I., and in 1357, evidently to encourage the growth of the borough, granted that all who were willing to reside there and desirous of becoming burgesses should be admitted as such on payment of a fine. These early charters were confirmed by most of the succeeding kings, until James I. granted the incorporation charter in 1604; but on his accession to the English throne, Berwick of course lost its importance as a frontier town. Berwick was at first represented in the court of the four boroughs and in 1326 in Robert Bruce’s parliament. After being taken by the English it remained unrepresented until it was re-taken by the Scots, when it sent two members to the parliament at Edinburgh from 1476 to 1479. In 1482 the burgesses were allowed to send two members to the English parliament, and were represented there until 1885, when the town was included in the Berwick-upon-Tweed division of the county of Northumberland. No manufactures are mentioned as having been carried on in Berwick, but its trade, chiefly in the produce of the surrounding country, was important in the 12th century. It has been noted for salmon fishery in the Tweed from very early times. There was a bridge over the Tweed at Berwick in the time of Alexander and John, kings of Scotland, but it was broken down in the time of the latter and not rebuilt until the end of the 14th century.
SeeVictoria County History, Northumberland; John Fuller,History of Berwick-upon-Tweed, &c. (1799); John Scott,Berwick-upon-Tweed: History of the Town and Guild(1888).
BERYL,a mineral containing beryllium and aluminium in the form of a silicate; its formula is Be3Al2Si6O18. The species includes the emerald (q.v.), the aquamarine (q.v.) and other transparent varieties known as “precious beryl,” with certain coarse varieties unfit for use as gem-stones. The name comes from the Gr.βήρυλλος, a word of uncertain etymology applied to the beryl and probably several other gems. It is notable that the relation of the emerald to the beryl, though proved only by chemical analysis, was conjectured at least as far back as the time of Pliny.
Beryl crystallizes in the hexagonal system, usually taking the form of long six-sided prisms, striated vertically and terminated with the basal plane, sometimes associated with various pyramidal faces (see fig.). It cleaves rather imperfectly parallel to the base. The colour of beryl may be blue, green, yellow, brown or rarely pink; while in some cases the mineral is colourless. The specific gravity is about 2.7, and the hardness 7.5 to 8, so that for a gem-stone beryl is comparatively soft. Whilst the gem-varieties are transparent, the coarse beryl may be opaque. The transparent crystals are pleochroic—a character well marked in emerald.
Beryl was much prized as a gem-stone by the ancients, and Greek intaglios of very fine workmanship are extant. The Roman jewellers, taking advantage of the columnar form of the natural crystal, worked it into long cylinders for ear-pendants. It was a favourite stone with the artists of the Renaissance, but in modern times has lost popularity, except in the form of emerald, which remains one of the most valued gem-stones. It is notable that English lapidaries of the 18th century often included the sard under the term beryl—a practice which has led to some confusion in the nomenclature of engraved gems.
Beryl occurs as an accessory constituent of many granitic rocks, especially in veins of pegmatite, whilst it is found also in gneiss and in mica-schist. Rolled pebbles of beryl occur, with topaz, in Brazil, especially in the province of Minas Geraes. Crystals are found in drusy cavities in granite in the Urals, notably near Mursinka; in the Altai Mountains, which have yielded very long prismatic crystals; and in the mining district of Nerchinsk in Siberia, principally in the Adun-Chalon range, where beryl occurs in veins of topaz-rock piercing granite. Among European localities may be mentioned Elba, good crystals being occasionally found in the tourmaline-granite of San Piero. In Ireland excellent crystals of beryl occur in druses of the granite of the Mourne Mountains in Co. Down, and others less fine are found in the highlands of Donegal, whilst the mineral is also known from the Leinster granite. It occurs likewise in the granite of the Grampians in Scotland, and is not unknown in Cornwall, specimens having been found, with topaz, apatite, &c., in joints of the granite of St Michael’s Mount.
Many localities in the United States yield beryl, sometimes sufficiently fine to be cut as a gem. It is found, for example, at Hiddenite and elsewhere in Alexander county, N.C.; at Haddam and Monroe, Conn.; at Stoneham and at Albany, in Oxford county, Maine; at Royalston, Mass.; and at Mt. Antero, Colorado, where it occurs with phenacite. Beryl of beautiful pink colour occurs in San Diego county, California. Coarse beryl, much rifted, is found in crystals of very large size at Grafton and Acworth, N.H.; a crystal from Grafton weighing more than 2½ tons. A colourless beryl from Goshen, Mass., has been called Goshenite; whilst crystals of coarse yellow beryl from Rubislaw quarry in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, have been termed Davidsonite.
Beryl suffers alteration by weathering, and may thus pass into kaolin and mica.
(F. W. R.*)
BERYLLIUM,orGlucinum(symbol Be, atomic weight 9.1), one of the metallic chemical elements, included in the same sub-group of the periodic classification as magnesium. It was prepared in the form of its oxide in 1798 by L.N. Vauquelin (Ann. de chimie, 1798, xxvi. p. 155) from the mineral beryl, and though somewhat rare, is found in many minerals. It was first obtained, in an impure condition, in 1828 by A.A.B. Bussy (1794-1882) and F. Wöhler by the reduction of the chloride with potassium, and in 1855 H.J. Debray prepared it, in a compact state, by reducing the volatilized chloride with melted sodium, in an atmosphere of hydrogen. L.F. Nilson and O. Pettersson (Wied. Ann.1878, iv. p. 554) have also prepared the metal by heating beryllium potassium fluoride with sodium; P.M. Lebeau (Comptes rendus, 1895-1898, vols. 120-127) has obtained it in lustrous hexagonal crystals by electrolysing the double fluoride of beryllium and sodium or potassium with an excess ofberyllium fluoride. It is a malleable metal, of specific gravity 1.64 (Nilson and Pettersson) and a specific heat of 0.4079. Its melting-point is below that of silver. In a fine state of division it takes fire on heating in air, but is permanent at ordinary temperatures in oxygen or air; it is readily attacked by hydrochloric and sulphuric acids, but scarcely acted on by nitric acid. It is also soluble in solutions of the caustic alkalis, with evolution of hydrogen a behaviour similar to that shown by aluminium. It combines readily with fluorine, chlorine and bromine, and also with sulphur, selenium, phosphorus, &c.
Considerable discussion has taken place at different times as to the position which beryllium should occupy in the periodic classification of the elements, and as to whether its atomic weight should be 9.1 or 13.65, but the weight of evidence undoubtedly favours its position in Group II., with an atomic weight 9.1 (O = 16) (see Nilson and Pettersson,Berichte, 1880, 13, p. 1451; 1884, 17, p. 987; B. Brauner,Berichte, 1881, 14, p. 53; T. Carnelley,Journ. of Chem. Soc., 1879, xxxv. p. 563; 1880, xxxvii., p. 125, and W.N. Hartley,Journ. of Chem. Soc., 1883, xliii. p. 316). The specific heat of beryllium has been calculated by L. Meyer (Berichte, 1880, 13, p. 1780) from the data of L.F. Nilson and O. Pettersson, and appears to increase rapidly with increasing temperature, the values obtained being 0.3973 at 20.2° C., 0.4481 at 73.2° C. and 0.5819 at 256.8° C.
Beryllium compounds are almost wholly prepared from beryl. The mineral is fused with potassium carbonate, and, on cooling, the product is treated with sulphuric acid, the excess of which is removed by evaporation; water is then added and the silica is filtered off. On concentration of the solution, the major portion of the aluminium present separates as alum, and the mother liquor remaining contains beryllium and iron sulphates together with a little alum. This is now treated for some days with a hot concentrated solution of ammonium carbonate, which precipitates the iron and aluminium but keeps the beryllium in solution. The iron and aluminium precipitates are filtered off, and the filtrate boiled, when a basic beryllium hydroxide containing a little ferric oxide is precipitated. To remove the iron, the precipitate is again dissolved in ammonium carbonate and steam is blown through the liquid, when beryllium oxide is precipitated. This process is repeated several times, and the final precipitate is dissolved in hydrochloric acid and precipitated by ammonia, washed and dried. It has also been obtained by J. Gibson (Journ. of Chem. Soc., 1893, lxiii. p. 909) from beryl by conversion of the beryllium into its fluoride.Beryllium oxide, beryllia or glucina, BeO, is a very hard white powder which can be melted and distilled in the electric furnace, when it condenses in the form of minute hexagonal crystals. After ignition it dissolves with difficulty in acids. The hydroxide Be(OH)2separates as a white bulky precipitate on adding a solution of an alkaline hydroxide to a soluble beryllium salt; and like those of aluminium and zinc, this hydroxide is soluble in excess of the alkaline hydroxide, but is reprecipitated on prolonged boiling. Beryllium chloride BeCl2, like aluminium chloride, may be prepared by heating a mixture of the oxide and sugar charcoal in a current of dry chlorine. It is deliquescent, and readily soluble in water, from which it separates on concentration in crystals of composition BeCl2·4H2O. Its vapour density has been determined by Nilson and Pettersson, and corresponds to the molecular formula BeCl2. The sulphate is obtained by dissolving the oxide in sulphuric acid; if the solution be not acid, it separates in pyramidal crystals of composition BeSO4·4H2O, while from an acid solution of this salt, crystals of composition BeSO4·7H2O are obtained. Double sulphates of beryllium and the alkali metals are known,e.g.BeSO4·K2SO4·3H2O as are also many basic sulphates. The nitrate Be(NO3)2·3H2O is prepared by adding barium nitrate to beryllium sulphate solution; it crystallizes with difficulty and is very deliquescent. It readily yields basic salts.The carbide BeC2is formed when beryllia and sugar charcoal are heated together in the electric furnace. Like aluminium carbide it is slowly decomposed by water with the production of methane. Several basic carbonates are known, being formed by the addition of beryllium salts to solutions of the alkaline carbonates; the normal carbonate is prepared by passing a current of carbon dioxide through water containing the basic carbonate in suspension, the solution being filtered and concentrated over sulphuric acid in an atmosphere of carbon dioxide. The crystals so obtained are very unstable and decompose rapidly with evolution of carbon dioxide.Beryllium salts are easily soluble and mostly have a sweetish taste (hence the name Glucinum (q.v.), fromγλυκύς, sweet); they are readily precipitated by alkaline sulphides with formation of the white hydroxide, and may be distinguished from salts of all other metals by the solubility of the oxide in ammonium carbonate. Beryllium is estimated quantitatively by precipitation with ammonia, and ignition to oxide. Its atomic weight has been determined by L.F. Nilson and O. Pettersson (Berichte, 1880, 13, p. 1451) by analysis of the sulphate, from which they found the value 9.08, and by G. Krüss and H. Moraht (Berichte, 1890, 23, p. 2556) from the conversion of the sulphate BeSO4·4H2O into the oxide, from which they obtained the value 9.05. C.L. Parsons (Journ. Amer. Chem. Soc., 1904, xxvi. p. 721) obtained the values 9.113 from analyses of beryllium acetonyl-acetate and beryllium basic acetate.For a bibliography see C.L. Parsons,The Chemistry and Literature of Beryllium(1909).
Beryllium compounds are almost wholly prepared from beryl. The mineral is fused with potassium carbonate, and, on cooling, the product is treated with sulphuric acid, the excess of which is removed by evaporation; water is then added and the silica is filtered off. On concentration of the solution, the major portion of the aluminium present separates as alum, and the mother liquor remaining contains beryllium and iron sulphates together with a little alum. This is now treated for some days with a hot concentrated solution of ammonium carbonate, which precipitates the iron and aluminium but keeps the beryllium in solution. The iron and aluminium precipitates are filtered off, and the filtrate boiled, when a basic beryllium hydroxide containing a little ferric oxide is precipitated. To remove the iron, the precipitate is again dissolved in ammonium carbonate and steam is blown through the liquid, when beryllium oxide is precipitated. This process is repeated several times, and the final precipitate is dissolved in hydrochloric acid and precipitated by ammonia, washed and dried. It has also been obtained by J. Gibson (Journ. of Chem. Soc., 1893, lxiii. p. 909) from beryl by conversion of the beryllium into its fluoride.
Beryllium oxide, beryllia or glucina, BeO, is a very hard white powder which can be melted and distilled in the electric furnace, when it condenses in the form of minute hexagonal crystals. After ignition it dissolves with difficulty in acids. The hydroxide Be(OH)2separates as a white bulky precipitate on adding a solution of an alkaline hydroxide to a soluble beryllium salt; and like those of aluminium and zinc, this hydroxide is soluble in excess of the alkaline hydroxide, but is reprecipitated on prolonged boiling. Beryllium chloride BeCl2, like aluminium chloride, may be prepared by heating a mixture of the oxide and sugar charcoal in a current of dry chlorine. It is deliquescent, and readily soluble in water, from which it separates on concentration in crystals of composition BeCl2·4H2O. Its vapour density has been determined by Nilson and Pettersson, and corresponds to the molecular formula BeCl2. The sulphate is obtained by dissolving the oxide in sulphuric acid; if the solution be not acid, it separates in pyramidal crystals of composition BeSO4·4H2O, while from an acid solution of this salt, crystals of composition BeSO4·7H2O are obtained. Double sulphates of beryllium and the alkali metals are known,e.g.BeSO4·K2SO4·3H2O as are also many basic sulphates. The nitrate Be(NO3)2·3H2O is prepared by adding barium nitrate to beryllium sulphate solution; it crystallizes with difficulty and is very deliquescent. It readily yields basic salts.
The carbide BeC2is formed when beryllia and sugar charcoal are heated together in the electric furnace. Like aluminium carbide it is slowly decomposed by water with the production of methane. Several basic carbonates are known, being formed by the addition of beryllium salts to solutions of the alkaline carbonates; the normal carbonate is prepared by passing a current of carbon dioxide through water containing the basic carbonate in suspension, the solution being filtered and concentrated over sulphuric acid in an atmosphere of carbon dioxide. The crystals so obtained are very unstable and decompose rapidly with evolution of carbon dioxide.
Beryllium salts are easily soluble and mostly have a sweetish taste (hence the name Glucinum (q.v.), fromγλυκύς, sweet); they are readily precipitated by alkaline sulphides with formation of the white hydroxide, and may be distinguished from salts of all other metals by the solubility of the oxide in ammonium carbonate. Beryllium is estimated quantitatively by precipitation with ammonia, and ignition to oxide. Its atomic weight has been determined by L.F. Nilson and O. Pettersson (Berichte, 1880, 13, p. 1451) by analysis of the sulphate, from which they found the value 9.08, and by G. Krüss and H. Moraht (Berichte, 1890, 23, p. 2556) from the conversion of the sulphate BeSO4·4H2O into the oxide, from which they obtained the value 9.05. C.L. Parsons (Journ. Amer. Chem. Soc., 1904, xxvi. p. 721) obtained the values 9.113 from analyses of beryllium acetonyl-acetate and beryllium basic acetate.
For a bibliography see C.L. Parsons,The Chemistry and Literature of Beryllium(1909).
BERYLLONITE,a mineral phosphate of beryllium and sodium, NaBePO4, found as highly complex orthorhombic crystals and as broken fragments in the disintegrated material of a granitic vein at Stoneham, Maine, where it is associated with felspar, smoky quartz, beryl and columbite. It was discovered by Prof. E.S. Dana in 1888, and named beryllonite because it contains beryllium in large amount. The crystals vary from colourless to white or pale yellowish, and are transparent with a vitreous lustre; there is a perfect cleavage in one direction. Hardness 5½-6; specific gravity 2.845. A few crystals have been cut and faceted, but, as the refractive index is no higher than that of quartz, they do not make very brilliant gem-stones.
BERZELIUS, JÖNS JAKOB(1779-1848), Swedish chemist, was born at Väfversunda Sorgard, near Linköping, Sweden, on the 20th (or 29th) of August 1779. After attending the gymnasium school at Linköping he went to Upsala University, where he studied chemistry and medicine, and graduated as M.D. in 1802. Appointed assistant professor of botany and pharmacy at Stockholm in the same year, he became full professor in 1807, and from 1815 to 1832 was professor of chemistry in the Caroline medico-chirurgical institution of that city. The Stockholm Academy of Sciences elected him a member in 1808, and in 1818 he became its perpetual secretary. The same year he was ennobled by Charles XIV., who in 1835 further made him a baron. His death occurred at Stockholm on the 7th of August 1848. During the first few years of his scientific career Berzelius was mainly engaged on questions of physiological chemistry, but about 1807 he began to devote himself to what he made the chief object of his life—the elucidation of the composition of chemical compounds through study of the law of multiple proportions and the atomic theory. Perceiving the exact determination of atomic and molecular weights to be of fundamental importance, he spent ten years in ascertaining that constant for some two thousand simple and compound bodies, and the results he published in 1818 attained a remarkable standard of accuracy, which was still further improved in a second table that appeared in 1826. He used oxygen—in his view the pivot round which the whole of chemistry revolves—as the basis of reference for the atomic weights of other substances, and the data on which he chiefly relied were the proportions of oxygen in oxygen compounds, the doctrines of isomorphism, and Gay Lussac’s law of volumes. When Volta’s discovery of the electric cell became known, Berzelius, with W. Hisinger (1766-1852), began experiments on the electrolysis of salt solutions, ammonia, sulphuric acid, &c., and later this work led him to his electrochemical theory, a full exposition of which he gave in his memoir on theTheory of Chemical Proportions and the Chemical Action of Electricity(1814). This theory was founded on the supposition that the atoms of the elements are electrically polarized, the positive charge predominating in some and the negative in others, and from it followed his dualistic hypothesis, according to which compounds are made up of two electrically different components. At first this hypothesis was confined to inorganic chemistry, but subsequently he extended it to organic compounds, which he saw might similarly be regarded as containing a group or groups of atoms—a compound radicle—in place of simple elements. Although his conception of the nature of compound radicles did not long retain general favour—indeed he himself changed it more than once—he is entitled to rank as one of the chief founders of the radicle theory. Another service of the utmost importance which he rendered to the study of chemistry was in continuing and extending the efforts of Lavoisier and his associates to establish a convenient system of chemical nomenclature. By using the initial letters of the Latin(occasionally Greek) names of the elements as symbols for them, and adding a small numeral subscript, to show the number of atoms of each present in a compound, he introduced the present system of chemical formulation (seeChemistry). Mention should also be made of the numerous improvements he effected in analytical methods and the technique of the blowpipe (Über die Anwendung des Löthrohrs, 1820), of his classification of minerals on a chemical basis, and of many individual researches such as those on tellurium, selenium, silicon, thorium, titanium, zirconium and molybdenum, most of which he isolated for the first time. Apart from his original memoirs, of which he published over 250, mostly in Swedish in theTransactionsof the Stockholm Academy, his remarkable literary activity is attested by hisLehrbuch der Chemie, which went through five editions (first 1803-1818, fifth 1843-1848) and by hisJahresberichtor annual report on the progress of physics and chemistry, prepared at the instance of the Stockholm Academy, of which he published 27 vols. (1821-1848).
BES,or BĒSAS (Egyp.BēsorBēsa), the Egyptian god of recreation, represented as a dwarf with large head, goggle eyes, protruding tongue, shaggy beard, a bushy tail seen between his bow legs hanging down behind (sometimes clearly as part of a skin girdle) and usually a large crown of feathers on his head. A Bes-like mask was found by Petrie amongst remains of the twelfth dynasty, but the earliest occurrence of the god is in the temple of the queen Hatshepsut at Deir el Bahri (c.1500B.C.), where he is figured along with the hippopotamus goddess as present at the queen’s birth. His figure is that of a grotesque mountebank, intended to inspire joy or drive away pain and sorrow, his hideousness being perhaps supposed actually to scare away the evil spirits. In his joyous aspect Bes plays the harp or flute, dances, &c. He is figured on mirrors, ointment vases and other articles of the toilet. Amulets and ornaments in the form of the figure or mask of Bes are common after the New Kingdom; he is often associated with children and with childbirth and is figured in the “birth-houses” devoted to the cult of the child-god. Perhaps the earliest known instance of his prominent appearance of large size in the sculptures of the temples is under Tahraka, at Jebel Barkal, Nubia, at the beginning of the 7th centuryB.C.As the protector of children and others he is the enemy of noxious beasts, such as lions, crocodiles, serpents and scorpions. Large wooden figures of Bes are generally found to contain the remains of a human foetus. In the first centuries of our era an oracle of Besas was consulted at Abydos, where A.H. Sayce has found graffiti concerning him, and prescriptions exist for consulting Besas in dreams. It has been held that Bes was of non-Egyptian origin, African, as Wiedemann, or Arabian or even Babylonian, as W. Max Müller contends; he is sometimes entitled “coming from the Divine Land” (i.e.the East or Arabia), or “Lord of Puoni” (Punt),i.e.the African coast of the Red Sea; his effigy occurs also on Greek coins of Arabia. It is remarkable also that, contrary to the usual rule, he is commonly represented in Egyptian sculptures and paintings full faced instead of in profile. But the connexion of the god with Puoni may have grown out of the fact that dwarf dancers were especially brought to Egypt from Ethiopia and Puoni.
See K. Sethe in Pauly-Wissowa,Realencyclopädie, s.v.; A. Wiedemann,Religion of the Ancient Egyptians(London, 1897), p. 159; E.A.W. Budge,Gods of the Egyptians, ii. p. 284 (London); W. Max Müller,Asien u. Europa(Leipzig, 1893), p. 310.
See K. Sethe in Pauly-Wissowa,Realencyclopädie, s.v.; A. Wiedemann,Religion of the Ancient Egyptians(London, 1897), p. 159; E.A.W. Budge,Gods of the Egyptians, ii. p. 284 (London); W. Max Müller,Asien u. Europa(Leipzig, 1893), p. 310.
(F. Ll. G.)
BESANÇON,a city of eastern France, capital of the department of Doubs, 76 m. E. of Dijon by the Paris-Lyon railway. Pop. (1906) town, 41,760; commune, 56,168. It is situated on the left bank of the river Doubs, 820 ft. above sea-level at the foot of the western Jura, and is enclosed by hills in every direction. The Doubs almost surrounds the city proper forming a peninsula, the neck of which is occupied by a height crowned by the citadel; on the right bank lie populous industrial suburbs. The river is bordered by fine quays, and in places by the shady promenades which are a feature of Besançon. On the right bank there is a fine bathing establishment in the Mouillère quarter, supplied by the saline springs of Miserey. The cathedral of St Jean, the chief of the numerous churches of the town, was founded in the 4th century but has often undergone reconstruction and restoration; it resembles the Rhenish churches of Germany in the possession of apses at each of its extremities. Several styles are represented in its architecture which for the most part is the work of the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries; the eastern apse and the tower date from the reign of Louis XV. In the interior there are a “Madonna and Child” of Fra Bartolommeo and a number of other paintings and works of art. The archiepiscopal palace adjoining the cathedral is a building of the 18th century. The church of Ste. Madeleine belongs to the 18th and 19th centuries. The Palais de Granvelle, in the heart of the town, was built from 1534 to 1540 by Nicolas Perrenot de Granvella, chancellor of Charles V., and is the most interesting of the secular buildings. It is built round a square interior court surrounded by arcades, and is occupied by learned societies. The hôtel de ville dates from the 16th century, to which period many of the old mansions of Besançon also belong. The law-court, rebuilt in recent times, preserves a Renaissance façade and a fine audience-hall of the 18th century. Some relics of old military architecture survive, among them a cylindrical tower of the 15th century near the Porte Notre-Dame, the southern gate of the city, and the Porte Rivotte, a gate of the 16th century, flanked by two round towers. The Roman remains at Besançon are of great archaeological value. Close to the cathedral there is a triumphal arch decorated with bas-reliefs known as the Porte Noire, which is generally considered to have been built in commemoration of the victories of Marcus Aurelius over the Germans in 167. It is in poor preservation and was partly rebuilt in 1820. Remains of a Roman theatre, of an amphitheatre, of an aqueduct which entered the town by the Porte Taillée, a gate cut in the rock below the citadel, and an arch of a former Roman bridge, forming part of the modern bridge, are also to be seen. Besançon has statues of Victor Hugo and of the Marquis de Jouffroy d’Abbans (b. 1751), inventor of steam-navigation.
Besançon is important as the seat of an archbishopric, a court of appeal and a court of assizes, as centre of anacadémie(educational division), as seat of a prefect and as headquarters of the VIIth army corps. It also has tribunals of first instance and of commerce, a chamber of commerce, a board of trade-arbitrators, an exchange and a branch of the Bank of France. Its educational establishments include the university with its faculties of science and letters and a preparatory school of medicine and pharmacy, an artillery school, the lycée Victor Hugo for boys, a lycée for girls, an ecclesiastical seminary, training colleges for teachers, and schools of watch-making, art, music and dairy-work. The library contains over 130,000 volumes, and the city has good collections of pictures, antiquities and natural history. The chief industry of Besançon is watch- and clock-making, introduced from the district of Neuchâtel at the end of the 18th century. It employs about 12,000 workpeople, and produces about three-fourths of the watches sold in France. Subsidiary industries, such as enamelling, are also important. The metallurgical works of theSociété de la Franche-Comtéare established in the city and there are saw-mills, printing-works, paper-factories, distilleries, and manufactories of boots and shoes, machinery, hosiery, leather, elastic fabric, confectionery and artificial silk. There is trade in agricultural produce, wine, metals, &c. The canal from the Rhône to the Rhine passes under the citadel by way of a tunnel, and the port of Besançon has considerable trade in coal, sand, &c.
As a fortress Besançon forms one of a group which includes Dijon, Langres and Belfort; these are designed to secure Franche Comté and to cover a field army operating on the left flank of a German army of invasion. The citadel occupies the neck of the peninsula upon which the town stands; along the river bank in a semicircle is the townenceinte, and the suburb of Battant on the right bank of the Doubs is also “regularly” fortified as a bridge-head. These works, and Forts Chaudanne and Brégilleoverlooking the Doubs at the bend, were constructed prior to 1870. The newer works enclose an area more suited to the needs of modern warfare: the chain of detached forts along the ridges of the left bank has a total length of 7½ m., and the centre of this chain is supported by numerous forts and batteries lying between it and the citadel. On the other bank Fort Chaudanne is now the innermost of several forts facing towards the south-west, and the foremost of these works connects the fortifications of the left bank with another chain of detached forts on the right bank. The latter completely encloses a large area of ground in a semicircle of which Besançon itself is the centre, and the whole of the newer works taken together form an irregular ellipse of which the major axis, lying north-east by south-west, is formed by the Doubs.
Besançon is a place of great antiquity. Under the name of Vesontio it was, in the time of Julius Caesar, the chief town of the Sequani, and in 58B.C.was occupied by that general. It was a rich and prosperous place under the Roman emperors, and Marcus Aurelius promoted it to the rank of acoloniaasColonia Victrix Sequanorum. During the succeeding centuries it was several times destroyed and rebuilt. The archbishopric dates from the close of the 2nd century, and the archbishops gradually acquired considerable temporal power. As the capital of the free county of Burgundy, or Franche-Comté, it was united with the German kingdom when Frederick I. married Beatrix, daughter of Renaud III., count of Upper Burgundy. In 1184 Frederick made it a free imperial city, and about the same time the archbishop obtained the dignity of a prince of the Empire. It afterwards became detached from the German kingdom, and during the 14th century came into the possession of the dukes of Burgundy, from whom it passed to the emperor Maximilian I., and his grandson Charles V. Cardinal Granvella, who was a native of the city, became archbishop in 1584, and founded a university which existed until the French Revolution. After the abdication of Charles V. it came into the possession of Spain, although it remained formally a portion of the Empire until its cession at the peace of Westphalia in 1648. During the 17th century it was attacked several times by the French, to whom it was definitely ceded by the peace of Nijmwegen in 1678. It was then fortified by the engineer Vauban. Until 1789 it was the seat of aparlement. In 1814 it was invested and bombarded by the Austrians, and was an important position during the Franco-German War of 1870-71.
See A. Castan,Besançon et ses environs(Besançon, 1887); A. Guénard,Besançon, description historique(Besançon, 1860).
See A. Castan,Besançon et ses environs(Besançon, 1887); A. Guénard,Besançon, description historique(Besançon, 1860).
BESANT, SIR WALTER(1836-1901), English author, was born at Portsmouth, on the 14th of August 1836, third son of William Besant of that town. He was educated at King’s College, London, and Christ’s College, Cambridge, of which he was a scholar. He graduated in 1859 as 18th wrangler, and from 1861 to 1867 was senior professor of the Royal College, Mauritius. From 1868 to 1885 he acted as secretary to the Palestine Exploration Fund. In 1884 he was mainly instrumental in establishing the Society of Authors, a trade-union of writers designed for the protection of literary property, which has rendered great assistance to inexperienced authors by explaining the principles of literary profit. Of this society he was chairman from its foundation in 1884 till 1892. He married Mary, daughter of Mr Eustace Foster-Barham of Bridgwater, and was knighted in 1895. He died at Hampstead, on the 9th of June 1901. Sir Walter Besant practised many branches of literary art with success, but he is most widely known for his long succession of novels, many of which have enjoyed remarkable popularity. His first stories were written in collaboration with James Rice (q.v.). Two at least of these,The Golden Butterfly(1876) andReady-Money Mortiboy(1872), are among the most vigorous and most characteristic of his works. Though not without exaggeration and eccentricity, attributable to the influence of Dickens, they are full of rich humour, shrewd observation and sound common-sense, and contain characters which have taken their place in the long gallery of British fiction. After Rice’s death, Sir Walter Besant wrote alone, and inAll Sorts and Conditions of Men(1882) produced a stirring story of East End life in London, which set on foot the movement that culminated in the establishment of the People’s Palace in the Mile End Road. Though not himself a pioneer in the effort made by Canon Barnett and others to alleviate the social evils of the East End by the personal contact of educated men and women of a superior social class, his books rendered immense service to the movement by popularizing it. His sympathy with the poor was shown in another attempt to stir public opinion, this time against the evils of the sweating system, inThe Children of Gibeon(1886).
Other popular novels by him wereDorothy Forster(1884),Armorel of Lyonesse(1890), andBeyond the Dreams of Avarice(1895). He also wrote critical and biographical works, includingThe French Humorists(1873),Rabelais(1879), and lives of Coligny, Whittington, Captain Cook and Richard Jefferies. Besant undertook a series of important historical and archaeological volumes, dealing with the associations and development of the various districts of London—of which the most important wasA Survey of London, unfortunately left unfinished, which was intended to do for modern London what Stow did for the Elizabethan city. Other books onLondon(1892),Westminster(1895) andSouth London(1899) showed that his mind was full of his subject. No man of his time evinced a keener interest in the professional side of literary work, and the improved conditions of the literary career in England were largely due to his energetic and capable exposition of the commercial value of authorship and to the unselfish efforts which Sir Walter constantly made on behalf of his fellow-workers in the field of letters.
See alsoAutobiography of Sir Walter Besant(1902), with a prefatory note by S.S. Sprigge; the preface to the library edition (1887) ofReady-Money Mortiboycontains a history of the literary partnership of Besant and Rice.
See alsoAutobiography of Sir Walter Besant(1902), with a prefatory note by S.S. Sprigge; the preface to the library edition (1887) ofReady-Money Mortiboycontains a history of the literary partnership of Besant and Rice.
BESENVAL DE BRONSTATT, PIERRE VICTOR,Baron de(1722-1794), French soldier, was born at Soleure. He was the son of Jean Victor Besenval, colonel of the regiment of Swiss guards in the pay of France, who was charged in 1707 by Louis XIV. with a mission to Sweden, to reconcile Charles XII. with the tsar Peter the Great, and to unite them in alliance with France against England. Pierre Victor served at first as aide-de-camp to Marshal Broglie during the campaign of 1748 in Bohemia, then as aide-de-camp to the duke of Orleans during the Seven Years’ War. He then became commander of the Swiss Guards. When the Revolution began Besenval remained firmly attached to the court, and he was given command of the troops which the king had concentrated on Paris in July 1789—a movement which led to the taking of the Bastille on the 14th of July. Besenval showed incompetence in the crisis, and attempted to flee. He was arrested, tried by the tribunal of the Châtelet, but acquitted. He then fell into obscurity and died in Paris in 1794. Besenval de Bronstatt is principally known as the author ofMémoires, which were published in 1805-1807 by the vicomte T.A. de Ségur, in which are reported many scandalous tales, true or false, of the court of Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette. The authenticity of these memoirs is not absolutely established.
BESKOW, BERNHARD VON,Baron(1796-1868), Swedish dramatist and historian, son of a Stockholm merchant, was born on the 19th of April 1796. His vocation for literature was assisted by his tutor, the poet Johan Magnus Stjernstolpe (1777-1831), whose works he edited. He entered the civil service in 1814, was ennobled in 1826 and received the title of baron in 1843. He held high appointments at court, and was, from 1834 onwards, perpetual secretary of the Swedish academy, using his great influence with tact and generosity. His poetry is over-decorated, and his plays are grandiose historical poems in dramatic form. Among them are “Erik XIV.” (2 parts, 1826); and four pieces collected (1836-1838) asDramatiska Studier, the most famous of which is the tragedy of “Thorkel Knutsson.” His works include many academical memoirs, volumes of poems, philosophy and a valuable historical study,Om Gustav den Tredje såsom konung och menniska(5 vols. 1860-1869, “Gustavus III. as king and man”), printed in the transactions of the Swedish Academy (vols. 32, 34, 37, 42, 44). He died on the 17th of October 1868.
See also a notice by C. D. af Wirsen in hisLefnadsteckningar(Stockholm, 1901).
See also a notice by C. D. af Wirsen in hisLefnadsteckningar(Stockholm, 1901).
BESNARD, PAUL ALBERT(1849- ), French painter, was born in Paris and studied at the École des Beaux-Arts, winning thePrix de Romein 1874. Until about 1880 he followed the academic tradition, but then broke away completely, and devoted himself to the study of colour and light as conceived by the impressionists. The realism of this group never appealed to his bold imagination, but he applied their technical method to ideological and decorative works on a large scale, such as his frescoes at the Sorbonne, the École de Pharmacie, the Salle des Sciences at the hôtel de ville, the mairie of the first arrondissement, and the chapel of Berck hospital, for which he painted twelve “Stations of the Cross” in an entirely modern spirit. A great virtuoso, he achieved brilliant successes alike in water-colour, pastel, oil and etching, both in portraiture, in landscape and in decoration. A good example of his daring unconventionality is his portrait of Madame Réjane; and his close analysis of light can be studied in his picture “Femme qui se chauffe” at the Luxembourg in Paris.
BESOM(Old Eng.besema, a rod), originally a bundle of rods or twigs, used for sweeping, &c.; a stiff broom.
BESSARABIA,a government of south-west Russia, separated on the W. and S. from Moldavia and Walachia by the Pruth, and on the E. and N. from the Russian governments of Podolia and Kherson by the Dniester; on the S.E. it is washed by the Black Sea. Area, 17,614 sq. m. The northern districts are invaded by offshoots of the Carpathians, which reach altitudes of 800 to 1150 ft., and are cut up by numerous ravines and river valleys. Here, however, agriculture is the prevailing occupation, the soil being the fertile black earth. The crops principally raised are wheat and maize, though here, as well as in other parts of the government, barley, flax, tobacco, water-melons, gourds, fruit, wine, saffron and madder are grown. The middle of the government is also hilly (850-1000 ft.), and is heavily timbered, chiefly with beech, oak and mountain-ash, and, though to a smaller extent, with birch. The districts south of the old Roman earthworks which link the Dniester with the Pruth along the line of the Botna, just south of Bender, consist of level pasture-land known as the Budjak steppes. Here stock-breeding is the predominant calling, the people owning large numbers of sheep, cattle and horses, also goats, pigs and buffaloes. Lagoons fringe the lower course of the Pruth and the coast of the Black Sea, and marshy ground exists beside the Reuth and other tributaries of the Dniester. The climate is rather subject to extremes, the mean temperature for the year, at Kishinev, being 50° Fahr., of January 27°, and of July 72°. The rainfall amounts to over 25 in. annually. Salt, saltpetre and marble are the principal mineral products. Manufacturing industry is only just beginning, wine-making (17,000,000 gallons annually), cloth-mills, iron-works, soap-works and tanneries being the principal branches. Both the Dniester and the Pruth are important waterways commercially, the former being navigable up to Mogilev and the latter to Leovo (46° 30′ N. lat.). Down the Dniester come timber and wooden wares from Galicia, and grain and wool from Bessarabia itself. Three branches of the railway from Odessa to Poland penetrate the government and proceed towards the Carpathians. The population numbered 988,431 in 1860 and 1,938,326 in 1897, of whom only 302,852 were urban, while 942,179 were women. In 1906 it was estimated at 2,262,400. It consists of various races, nearly one-half (920,919 in 1897) being Moldavians, the others Little Russians, Jews (37% in the towns and 12% in the rural districts), Bulgarians (103,225), Germans (60,206), with some Gypsies (Zigani), Greeks, Armenians, Tatars and Albanians. The Germans, who form some thirty prosperous colonies in the Budjak steppes west from Akkerman, have been settled there since about 1814. The government is divided into eight districts, the chief towns of which are Akkerman (pop. 32,470 in 1900), Bender (33,741 in 1900), Byeltsi (18,526 in 1897), Izmail (33,607 in 1900), Khotin (18,126), Kishinev (125,787 in 1900), Orgeyev (13,356), and Soroki (25,523 in 1900). The capital is Kishinev. Kagul, on the Pruth, and Reni on the Danube (the place to which Alexander of Bulgaria was carried when kidnapped by the Russians in 1886), are small, but lively, river-ports.
The original inhabitants were Cimmerians, and after them came Scythians. During the early centuries of the Christian era Bessarabia, being the key to one of the approaches towards the Byzantine empire, was invaded by many successive races. In the 2nd century it was occupied by the Getae, a Thracian tribe, whom the Roman emperor Trajan conquered in 106; he then incorporated the region in the province of Dacia. In the following century the Goths poured into this quarter of the empire, and in the 5th century it was overrun one after the other by the Huns, the Avars and the Bulgarians. Then followed in the 7th century the Bessi, a Thracian tribe, who gave their name to the region, and in the 9th the Ugrians, that is to say the ancestors of the present Magyars of Hungary, the country being then known as Atel-kuzu. The Ugrians were forced farther west by the Turkish tribe of the Petchenegs in the 10th century, and these were succeeded in the 11th century by the Kumans (Comani) or Polovtsians, a kindred Turkish stock or federation. In the 13th century Bessarabia was overrun by the irresistible Mongols under the leadership of Batu, grandson of Jenghiz Khan. In this century also the Genoese founded trading factories on the banks of the Dniester. In 1367 Bessarabia was subdued and annexed by the ruling prince of Moldavia. During the 16th century it was in the possession alternately of the Turks and the Nogais or Crimean Tatars. From early in the 18th century it was a bone of contention between the Ottoman Turks and the Russians, the latter capturing it five times between 1711 and 1812. In the latter year it was definitely annexed to Russia, and in 1829 its frontier was pushed southwards so as to include the delta of the Danube. After the Crimean War, however, Russia ceded to Moldavia not only this later addition, but also certain districts in the south of the existing government, amounting altogether to an area of 4250 sq. m. and a population of 180,000. By the treaty of Berlin (1878) Russia recovered of this 3580 sq. m., with a population of 127,000.