Chapter 12

In the United States army, since April 29, 1898, a battalion consists of four companies, and three battalions form a regiment. The term is also applied to two or more batteries of artillery combined into a single command.

Bat"tle range`. (Mil.) The range within which the fire of small arms is very destructive. With the magazine rifle, this is six hundred yards.

Battle ship. (Nav.) An armor-plated man-of-war built of steel and heavily armed, generally having from ten thousand to fifteen thousand tons displacement, and intended to be fit to meet the heaviest ships in line of battle.

Bau`mé" (?), a. Designating or conforming to either of the scales used by the French chemist Antoine Baumé in the graduation of his hydrometers; of or relating to Baumé's scales or hydrometers. There are two Baumé hydrometers. One, which is used with liquids heavier than water, sinks to 0° in pure water, and to 15° in a 15 per cent salt solution; the other, for liquids lighter than water, sinks to 0° in a 10 per cent salt solution and to 10° in pure water. In both cases the graduation, based on the distance between these fundamental points, is continued along the stem as far as desired. Since all the degrees on a Baumé scale are thus equal in length, while those on a specific-gravity scale grow smaller as the density increases, there is no simple relation between degrees Bé. and Sp. gr. However, readings on Baumés scale may be approximately reduced to specific gravities by the following formulæ (x in each case being the reading on Baumé's scale) : (a) for liquids heavier than water, sp. gr. = 144 ÷ (144 - x); (b) for liquids lighter than water, sp. gr. = 144 ÷ (134 + x).

||Ba`var`dage" (?), n. [F.] Much talking; prattle; chatter. Byron.

Ba*ya"mo (?), n. (Meteor.) A violent thunder squall occurring on the south coast of Cuba, esp. near Bayamo. The gusts, called bayamo winds, are modified foehn winds.

Ba`yeux" tap"es*try (?). A piece of linen about 1 ft. 8 in. wide by 213 ft. long, covered with embroidery representing the incidents of William the Conqueror's expedition to England, preserved in the town museum of Bayeux in Normandy. It is probably of the 11th century, and is attributed by tradition to Matilda, the Conqueror's wife.

Bay"man (?), n. (Nav.) In the United States navy, a sick-bay nurse; -- now officially designated as hospital apprentice.

Bay"ou State` (?). Mississippi; -- a nickname, from its numerous bayous.

Bay State. Massachusetts, which had been called the Colony of Massachusetts Bay; -- a nickname.

Beach comber. [Written also beach-comber.] (Naut.) A vagrant seaman, usually of low character, who loiters about seaports, particularly on the shores and islands of the Pacific Ocean.

I was fortunate enough, however, to forgather with a Scotchman who was a beach-comber.

F. T. Bullen.

Bear"ing ring`. In a balloon, the braced wooden ring attached to the suspension ropes at the bottom, functionally analogous to the keel of a ship.

Bear State. Arkansas; -- a nickname, from the many bears once inhabiting its forests.

Bear"-trap` dam. (Engin.) A kind of movable dam, in one form consisting of two leaves resting against each other at the top when raised and folding down one over the other when lowered, for deepening shallow parts in a river.

Beat, n. 1. One that beats, or surpasses, another or others; as, the beat of him. [Colloq.]

2. The act of one that beats a person or thing; as: (a) (Newspaper Cant) The act of obtaining and publishing a piece of news by a newspaper before its competitors; also, the news itself; a scoop.

It's a beat on the whole country.

Scribner's Mag.

(b) (Hunting) The act of scouring, or ranging over, a tract of land to rouse or drive out game; also, those so engaged, collectively. "Driven out in the course of a beat." Encyc. of Sport.

Bears coming out of holes in the rocks at the last moment, when the beat is close to them.

Encyc. of Sport.

(c) (Fencing) A smart tap on the adversary's blade.

Beau"fort's scale` (?). (Meteor.) A scale of wind force devised by Sir F. Beaufort, R. N., in 1805, in which the force is indicated by numbers from 0 to 12.

The full scale is as follows: -- 0, calm; 1, light air; 2, light breeze; 3, gentle breeze; 4, moderate breeze; 5, fresh breeze; 6, strong breeze; 7, moderate gale; 8, fresh gale; 9, strong gale; 10, whole gale; 11, storm; 12, hurricane.

Beau`mon"ta*gue (?), n. A cement used in making joints, filling cracks, etc. For iron, the principal constituents are iron borings and sal ammoniac; for wood, white lead or litharge, whiting, and linseed oil.

Bea"ver State. Oregon; -- a nickname.

Be*bee"ru (?), n. [Written also bibiru.] [Native name.] (Bot.) A tropical South American tree (Nectandra Rodiœi), the bark of which yields the alkaloid bebeerine, and the wood of which is known as green heart.

||Be"bung (?), n. [G., lit., a trembling.] (Music) A tremolo effect, such as that produced on the piano by vibratory repetition of a note with sustained use of the pedal.

Bec"chi's test (?). [After E. Becchi, Italian chemist.] (Chem.) A qualitative test for cottonseed oil, based on the fact this oil imparts a maroon color to an alcoholic solution of silver nitrate.

Bech`u*a"nas (?), n. pl. A division of the Bantus, dwelling between the Orange and Zambezi rivers, supposed to be the most ancient Bantu population of South Africa. They are divided into totemic clans; they are intelligent and progressive.

Beck's scale (?). A hydrometer scale on which the zero point corresponds to sp. gr. 1.00, and the 30°-point to sp. gr. 0.85. From these points the scale is extended both ways, all the degrees being of equal length.

Becque`rel" rays" (?). (Physics) Radiations first observed by the French physicist Henri Becquerel, in working with uranium and its compounds. They consist of a mixture of alpha, beta, and gamma rays.

{ Be*cui"ba (?), n., Be*cui"ba nut` (?) }. [Native name.] (Bot.) The nut of the Brazilian tree Myristica Bicuhyba, which yields a medicinal balsam used for rheumatism.

Beg"ohm` (?), n. (Elec.) A unit of resistance equal to one billion ohms, or one thousand megohms.

||Be*ju"co (?), n. [Sp., a reed or woody vine.] Any climbing woody vine of the tropics with the habit of a liane; in the Philippines, esp. any of various species of Calamus, the cane or rattan palm.

Bel (?), n. [Hind., fr. Skr. bilva.] A thorny rutaceous tree (Ægle marmelos) of India, and its aromatic, orange-like fruit; -- called also Bengal quince, golden apple, wood apple. The fruit is used medicinally, and the rind yields a perfume and a yellow dye.

Bel"gi*an (?), a. Of or pertaining to Belgium.

Belgian block. A nearly cubical block of some tough stone, esp. granite, used as a material for street pavements. Its usual diameter is 5 to 7 inches.

Bel"lar*mine (?), n. A stoneware jug of a pattern originated in the neighborhood of Cologne, Germany, in the 16th century. It has a bearded face or mask supposed to represent Cardinal Bellarmine, a leader in the Roman Catholic Counter Reformation, following the Reformation; -- called also graybeard, longbeard.

Bel*leek" ware (?). A porcelainlike kind of decorative pottery with a high gloss, which is sometimes iridescent. A very fine kind is made at Belleek in Ireland.

Bell process. (Iron Metal.) The process of washing molten pig iron by adding iron oxide, proposed by I. Lowthian Bell of England about 1875.

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Bell's palsy. Paralysis of the facial nerve, producing distortion of one side of the face.

Bell system of control. (Aëronautics) See Cloche.

Bench mark. (Leveling) Any permanent mark to which other levels may be referred. Specif. : A horizontal mark at the water's edge with reference to which the height of tides and floods may be measured.

Benefit society. A society or association formed for mutual insurance, as among tradesmen or in labor unions, to provide for relief in sickness, old age, and for the expenses of burial. Usually called friendly society in Great Britain.

||Ben"thos (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; depth of the sea.] The bottom of the sea, esp. of the deep oceans; hence (Bot. & Zoöl.), the fauna and flora of the sea bottom; -- opposed to plankton.

{ Ben`zo*naph"thol (?), n. Also Ben`zo*naph"tol }. [Benzoin + naphthol.] (Chem.) A white crystalline powder used as an intestinal antiseptic; beta-naphthol benzoate.

Ben"zo*sol (?), n. (Pharm.) Guaiacol benzoate, used as an intestinal antiseptic and as a substitute for creosote in phthisis. It is a colorless crystalline pewder.

||Ber`ceuse" (?), n. [F.] (Mus.) A vocal or instrumental composition of a soft tranquil character, having a lulling effect; a cradle song.

Ber`e*ni"ce's Hair` (?). [See Berenice's, Locks, in Dictionary of Noted Names in Fiction.] (Astron.) See Coma Berenices, under Coma.

||Berg"schrund` (?), n. [G., lit., mountain gap.] (Phys. Geog.) The crevasse or series of crevasses, usually deep and often broad, frequently occurring near the head of a mountain glacier, about where the névé field joins the valley portion of the glacier.

||Berg"stock` (?), n. [G., lit., mountain stick.] A long pole with a spike at the end, used in climbing mountains; an alpenstock.

Be"ring Sea Controversy (?). A controversy (1886 -- 93) between Great Britain and the United States as to the right of Canadians not licensed by the United States to carry on seal fishing in the Bering Sea, over which the United States claimed jurisdiction as a mare clausum. A court of arbitration, meeting in Paris in 1893, decided against the claim of the United States, but established regulations for the preservation of the fur seal.

Ber*mu"da lil"y. (Bot.) The large white lily (Lilium longiflorum eximium, syn. L. Harrisii) which is extensively cultivated in Bermuda.

Ber*seem" (?), n. [Ar. bershm clover.] An Egyptian clover (Trifolium alexandrinum) extensively cultivated as a forage plant and soil- renewing crop in the alkaline soils of the Nile valley, and now introduced into the southwestern United States. It is more succulent than other clovers or than alfalfa. Called also Egyptian clover.

Ber`til`lon" sys"tem (?). [After Alphonse Bertillon, French anthropologist.] A system for the identification of persons by a physical description based upon anthropometric measurements, notes of markings, deformities, color, impression of thumb lines, etc.

Bes"ti*a*ry (?), n. [LL. bestiarium, fr. L. bestiarius pert. to beasts, fr. bestia beast: cf. F. bestiaire.] A treatise on beasts; esp., one of the moralizing or allegorical beast tales written in the Middle Ages.

A bestiary . . . in itself one of the numerous mediæval renderings of the fantastic mystical zoölogy.

Saintsbury.

Be"ta (?), n. [Gr. bh^ta.] The second letter of the Greek alphabet, B, &beta;. See B, and cf. etymology of Alphabet. Beta (B, &beta;) is used variously for classifying, as: (a) (Astron.) To designate some bright star, usually the second brightest, of a constellation, as, &beta; Aurigæ. (b) (Chem.) To distinguish one of two or more isomers; also, to indicate the position of substituting atoms or groups in certain compounds; as, &beta;-naphthol. With acids, it commonly indicates that the substituent is in union with the carbon atom next to that to which the carboxyl group is attached.

{ Be"ta*cism (?), ||Be`ta*cis"mus (?) }, n. Excessive or extended use of the b sound in speech, due to conversion of other sounds into it, as through inability to distinguish them from b, or because of difficulty in pronouncing them.

Be"ta rays (?). (Physics) Penetrating rays readily deflected by a magnetic or electric field, emitted by radioactive substances, as radium. They consist of negatively charged particles or electrons, apparently the same in kind as those of the cathode rays, but having much higher velocities (about 35,000 to 180,000 miles per second).

||Bez`po*pov"tsy (?), n. [Russ.; bez without + popovtsy, a derivative of pop priest.] A Russian sect. See Raskolnik.

{ Bhees"ty, Bhees"tie (?) }, n. [Written also bhistee, bhisti, etc.] [Per. bihisht lit., heavenly.] A water carrier, as to a household or a regiment. [India]

{ Bhis"tee (?), Bhis"ti (?) }, n. Same as Bheesty. [India]

Bi*an"nu*al (?), a. [Pref. bi- + annual.] Occurring twice a year; half-yearly; semiannual.

||Bi`be*lot" (?), n. [F.] A small decorative object without practical utility.

Her pictures, her furniture, and her bibelots.

M. Crawford.

{ Bick"ford fuse or fuze, or Bickford match (?) }. A fuse used in blasting, consisting of a long cylinder of explosive material inclosed in a varnished wrapping of rope or hose. It burns from 2 to 4 feet a minute.

{ Bi*dar"kee (?), Bi*dar"ka (?) }, n. [Russ. baidarka, dim. Cf. Baidar.] A portable boat made of skins stretched on a frame. [Alaska] The Century.

Bie"la's com"et (?). (Astron.) A periodic coment, discovered by Biela in 1826, which revolves around the sun in 6.6 years. The November meteors (Andromedes or Bielids) move in its orbit, and may be fragments of the comet.

Bie"lid (?), n. (Astron.) See Andromede.

Bi*fo"cal (?), a. [Pref. bi-+ focal.] Having two foci, as some spectacle lenses.

Big Bend State. Tennessee; -- a nickname.

Bil"la*bong` (?), n. [Native name.] In Australia, a blind channel leading out from a river; -- sometimes called an anabranch. This is the sense of the word as used in the Public Works Department; but the term has also been locally applied to mere back-waters forming stagnant pools and to certain water channels arising from a source.

Bil"let, n. Quarters or place to which one is assigned, as by a billet or ticket; berth; position. Also used fig. [Colloq.]

The men who cling to easy billets ashore.

Harper's Mag.

His shafts of satire fly straight to their billet, and there they rankle.

Pall Mall Mag.

{ Bil"ly*cock (?), n., or Bil"ly*cock hat` (?) }. [Perh. from bully + cock; that is, cocked like the hats of the bullies.] A round, low-crowned felt hat; a wideawake. "The undignified billycocks and pantaloons of the West." B. H. Chamberlain.

Little acquiesced, and Ransome disguised him in a beard, and a loose set of clothes, and a billicock hat.

Charles Reade.

Bi"me*tal"lic, a. Composed of two different metals; formed of two parts, each of a different metal; as, bimetallic wire; bimetallic thermometer, etc.

Bi"mo*lec"u*lar (?), a. [Pref. bi- + molecular.] (Chem.) Pertaining to, or formed from, two molecules; as, a bimolecular reaction (a reaction between two molecules).

||Bin*bash"i (?), n. [Turk., prop., chief of a thousand; bin thousand + bash head.] (Mil.) A major in the Turkish army.

Bind"ing post`. (Elec.) A metallic post attached to electrical apparatus for convenience in making connections.

Bind"ing screw`. A set screw used to bind parts together, esp. one for making a connection in an electrical circuit.

{ Bi`o*dy*nam"ic (?), Bi`o*dy*nam"ic*al (?) }, a.} (Biol.) Of or pertaining to biodynamics, or the doctrine of vital forces or energy.

Bi`o*dy*nam"ics (?), n. The branch of biology which treats of the active vital phenomena of organisms; -- opposed to biostatics.

Bi`o*ge*og"ra*phy (?), n. [Gr. bi`os life + E. geography.] The branch of biology which deals with the geographical distribution of animals and plants. It includes both zoögeography and phytogeography. - - Bi`o*ge`o*graph"ic (#), a. -- Bi`o*ge`o*graph"ic*al*ly (#), adv.

Bi"o*graph (?), n. [Gr. bi`os life + -graph.] 1. An animated picture machine for screen projection; a cinematograph.

2. [Cf. Biography.] A biographical sketch. [Rare]

Bi`o*pho"to*phone (?), n. [Gr. bi`os life + photo + fwnh` sound, voice.] An instrument combining a cinematograph and a phonograph so that the moving figures on the screen are accompanied by the appropriate sounds.

Bi`o*plas"tic (?), a. (Biol.) Bioplasmic.

{ Bi`o*psy"chic (?), Bi`o*psy"chic*al (?) }, a.} [Gr. bi`os life + psychic, -cal.] Pertaining to psychical phenomena in their relation to the living organism or to the general phenomena of life.

Bi"o*scope (?), n. [Gr. bi`os life + -scope.] 1. A view of life; that which gives such a view.

Bagman's Bioscope: Various Views of Men and Manners. [Book Title.]

W. Bayley (1824).

2. An animated picture machine for screen projection; a cinematograph (which see).

Bi"plane (?), n. [Pref. bi- + plane.] (Aëronautics) An aëroplane with two main supporting surfaces one above the other.

Bi"plane, a. (Aëronautics) Having, or consisting of, two superposed planes, aërocurves, or the like; of or pertaining to a biplane; as, a biplane rudder.

Bi"prism (?), n. [Pref. bi- + prism.] 1. A prism whose refracting angle is very nearly 180 degrees.

2. A combination of two short rectangular glass prisms cemented together at their diagonal faces so as to form a cube; -- called also optical cube. It is used in one form of photometer.

Bird"man (?), n. An aviator; airman. [Colloq.]

Bird"wom`an (?), n. An airwoman; an aviatress. [Colloq.]

{ Bis"ka*ra boil`, Bis"ka*ra but"ton }. [Named after the town Biskara, in Algeria.] (Med.) Same as Aleppo boil.

Bis"sell truck (?). A truck for railroad rolling stock, consisting of two ordinary axle boxes sliding in guides attached to a triangular frame; -- called also pony truck.

Bit, n. In the British West Indies, a fourpenny piece, or groat.

{ Bi"to (?), n., Bi"to tree` }. [Etym. uncertain.] (Bot.) A small scrubby tree (Balanites Ægyptiaca) growing in dry regions of tropical Africa and Asia.

The hard yellowish white wood is made into plows in Abyssinia; the bark is used in Farther India to stupefy fish; the ripe fruit is edible, when green it is an anthelmintic; the fermented juice is used as a beverage; the seeds yield a medicinal oil called zachun. The African name of the tree is hajilij.

Bi*tu"men proc"ess. (Photog.) Any process in which advantage is taken of the fact that prepared bitumen is rendered insoluble by exposure to light, as in photolithography.

Black"bird, n. 1. Among slavers and pirates, a negro or Polynesian. [Cant]

2. A native of any of the islands near Queensland; -- called also Kanaka. [Australia]

Black"bird*er (?), n. A slave ship; a slaver. [Colloq.] F. T. Bullen.

Black"bird*ing, n. 1. The kidnaping of negroes or Polynesians to be sold as slaves.

2. The act or practice of collecting natives of the islands near Queensland for service on the Queensland sugar plantations. [Australia]

Black"-eyed` Su"san. (Bot.) (a) The coneflower, or yellow daisy (Rudbeckia hirta). (b) The bladder ketmie.

Black Flags. An organization composed originally of Chinese rebels that had been driven into Tonkin by the suppression of the Taiping rebellion, but later increased by bands of pirates and adventurers. It took a prominent part in fighting the French during their hostilities with Anam, 1873-85.

Black Friday. Any Friday on which a public disaster has occurred, as: In England, December 6, 1745, when the news of the landing of the Pretender reached London, or May 11, 1866, when a financial panic commenced. In the United States, September 24, 1869, and September 18, 1873, on which financial panics began.

Black Ham"burg (?). A sweet and juicy variety of European grape, of a dark purplish black color, much grown under glass in northern latitudes.

Black Hand. [A trans. of Sp. mano negra.] 1. A Spanish anarchistic society, many of the members of which were imprisoned in 1883.

2. A lawless or blackmailing secret society, esp. among Italians. [U. S.]

Black Spanish. One of an old and well-known Mediterranean breed of domestic fowls with glossy black plumage, blue legs and feet, bright red comb and wattles, and white face. They are remarkable as egg layers.

Black"wa`ter State. Nebraska; -- a nickname alluding to the dark color of the water of its rivers, due to the presence of a black vegetable mold in the soil.

Blade, n. The flat part of the tongue immediately behind the tip, or point.

"Lower blade" implies, of course, the lower instead of the upper surface of the tongue.

H. Sweet.

||Blanc (?), n. [F., white.] 1. A white cosmetic.

2. A white sauce of fat, broth, and vegetables, used esp. for braised meat.

Blan"chard lathe (?). [After Thomas Blanchard, American inventor.] (Mach.) A kind of wood-turning lathe for making noncircular and irregular forms, as felloes, gun stocks, lasts, spokes, etc., after a given pattern. The pattern and work rotate on parallel spindles in the same direction with the same speed, and the work is shaped by a rapidly rotating cutter whose position is varied by the pattern acting as a cam upon a follower wheel traversing slowly along the pattern.

Blan"ket clause`. (Law) A clause, as in a blanket mortgage or policy, that includes a group or class of things, rather than a number mentioned individually and having the burden, loss, or the like, apportioned among them.

{ Blanket mortgage or policy }. One that covers a group or class of things or properties instead of one or more things mentioned individually, as where a mortgage secures various debts as a group, or subjects a group or class of different pieces of property to one general lien.

Blanket stitch. A buttonhole stitch worked wide apart on the edge of material, as blankets, too thick to hem.

Blast lamp. A lamp provided with some arrangement for intensifying combustion by means of a blast.

Blath"er (bl"r), v. i. & t. [imp. & p. p. Blathered (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Blathering.] [Written also blether.] [Icel. blaðra. Cf. Blatherskite.] To talk foolishly, or nonsensically. G. Eliot.

Blath"er, n. [Written also blether.] Voluble, foolish, or nonsensical talk; -- often in the pl. Hall Caine.

Blaz"er (?), n. 1. Anything that blazes or glows, as with heat or flame.

2. A light jacket, usually of wool or silk and of a bright color, for wear at tennis, cricket, or other sport.

3. The dish used when cooking directly over the flame of a chafing-dish lamp, or the coals of a brasier.

||Bleph`a*ri"tis (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; eyelid + -ilis.] (Med.) Inflammation of the eyelids. -- Bleph`a*rit"ic (#), a.

Blet (?), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Bletted (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Bletting.] To decay internally when overripe; -- said of fruit.

Blind reader. A post-office clerk whose duty is to decipher obscure addresses.

Block, n. 1. In Australia, one of the large lots into which public land, when opened to settlers, is divided by the government surveyors.

2. (Cricket) (a) The position of a player or bat when guarding the wicket. (b) A block hole. (c) The popping crease. [R.]

Back blocks, Australian pastoral country which is remote from the seacoast or from a river.

Block chain. (Mach.) A chain in which the alternate links are broad blocks connected by thin side links pivoted to the ends of the blocks, used with sprocket wheels to transmit power, as in a bicycle.

Block signal. (Railroads) One of the danger signals or safety signals which guide the movement of trains in a block system. The signal is often so coupled with a switch that act of opening or closing the switch operates the signal also.

Block system. (Railroads) A system by which the track is divided into short sections, as of three or four miles, and trains are so run by the guidance of electric, or combined electric and pneumatic, signals that no train enters a section or block until the preceding train has left it, as in absolute blocking, or that a train may be allowed to follow another into a block as long as it proceeds with excessive caution, as in permissive blocking.

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Blol"ly (?), n. (Bot.) (a) A shrub or small tree of southern Florida and the West Indies (Pisonia obtusata) with smooth oval leaves and a hard, 10-ribbed fruit. (b) The rubiaceous shrub Chicocca racemosa, of the same region.

Blue-grass State. The Sate of Kentucky; -- a nickname alluding to the blue-grass region, where fine horses are bred.