BERYL 339 



On adding water and then a few drops of solution of chloride of lime, the purplo 

 colour indicative of aniline is immediately produced. Hofmann. The v,-riter of this 

 article has by this process detected minute traces of benzole in mixtures consisting 

 almost entirely of homologues of defiant gas. C. G. W. 



BENZOLINE. See BENZOLE. 



BERGAIVIOT. (Bergamotte, Fr.) The Citrus bergamia, a citron cultivated in the 

 centre and south of Europe. By distillation from the rind of the fruit is obtained 

 the well-known essence of bergamot. See OILS, ESSENTIAL. 



The ottoes, or essential oils, from fruits such as the bergamot, the lemon, and the 

 orange, may all be procured by distillation, but these products thus procured are not 

 valued by the manufacturing perfumer so much as when they are obtained by rasp- 

 ing the peel of the fruit and collecting the essence thus disengaged, and finally filtering. 

 The rasps employed for this purpose are hollow cones filled with spikes, in which the 

 fruit is dexterously revolved by hand. All essences that are distilled are modified 

 in their composition by the presence of the watery vapour and high temperature. 

 S. P. 



BERGAMOT. A coarse tapestry, said to have been invented at Bergamo, in Italy, 

 made of ox and goats' hair, with cotton or hemp. 



BERLIN BliACX. A black varnish, drying with almost a dead surface, used 

 for coating the better kinds of iron-ware. 



BERLIN BLUE. A fine variety of the Prussian Blue. 



BERLIN 1 CASTINGS. Delicate ornamental objects cast in a very fluid iron, 

 smelted from bog-ores, and containing much phosphorus. These castings were 

 formerly imported from Prussia, and used for personal decoration. 



BERRY. The term is commonly applied, not only to small fruit, but in some cases 

 to seeds. The following is Professor Lindley's definition of a berry : ' A succulent 

 or pulpy fruit containing naked seeds, or, in more technical language, a succulent or 

 pulpy pericarp, or seed-vessel without valves, containing several seeds, which are 

 naked, that is, which have no covering but the pulp and rind. It is commonly round 

 or oval. But in popular language, berry extends only to smaller fruits, as strawberry, 

 gooseberry, &c., containing seeds or granules. An indehiscent pulpy pericarp, many- 

 celled and many-seeded ; the attachment of the seeds lost at matiirity, and the seeds 

 remaining scattered in the pulp.' 



Berries are used in some of the processes of manufacture, but they are not of much 

 importance. 



Bay Berries. The fruit of the Laurus nobilis, or the sweet bay. Both the leaves 

 and the fruit are employed as flavourings. A volatile oil, the oil of sweet bay, is 

 obtained by distillation with water ; and a fixed oil, by bruising the berries, and 

 boiling them for some hours in water ; this oil, called also Laurel fat, is imported 

 from Italy. See BAYS, OIL OF. 



Turkey Yellow Berries. The unripe fruit of the Rhamnus infeetorious. They are 

 used in calico-printing, producing a lively but fugitive yellow colour. 



Persian Yellow Berries. These are said to be produced by the same species of 

 plant ; but the colour is considered more permanent, and they fetch higher prices. 



Berries of Avignon. Another name given to the Turkey and Persian berries. 



Juniper Berries. The fruit of the Juniper us communis. They are chiefly used for 

 flavouring gin and some spirituous cordials, and in the preparation of some pharma- 

 ceutical articles, as the oil of juniper and the compound spirits of juniper. 



Bear Berry. The fruit of the Uva ursi. The leaves only are used medicinally. 



Myrobolans. The fruit of a tree which grows in India. It has a pale-yellow colour 

 when new, but becomes darker by age, and then resembles dried plums. It contains 

 tannin, and has hence been used in dyeing. See JUNIPER BERRIES, &c. 



In 1871 we imported of Myrobolans 146,450 cwt., of the value of 100,6957. 



BERTHOLLETI A. A plant of the natural order Lecythidete. The Bertholletia 

 excelsa is a tree of large dimensions, forming extensive forests on the banks of 

 the Orinoco. The Portuguese of Para have for a long time driven a great trade with 

 the nuts of this tree, which the natives call luvia, and the Spaniards Almendron. 

 They send cargoes to French Guiana, whence they are shipped for England and 

 Lisbon. These are the common BRAZIL NUTS. The kernels yield a large quantity of 

 oil well suited for lamps. Humboldt and Bonpland. 



BERYL. (Beril, Fr. ; Beryll, Ger.; Berillo, Ital.) A beautiful mineral or 

 gem, usually of a green colour of various shades, passing into honey-yellow and 

 sky-blue. 



Beryl and emerald are varieties of the same species, the latter including the rich 

 green transparent specimens which probably owe their colour to oxide of chrome ; 

 the former those of other colours produced by oxide of iron. Gmclin gives the 

 composition of a Swedish beryl as: 



z2 



