BET 



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The Risorgiracnto ' was reprinted at Milan in 

 .Is. 12mo. 1819-20. Among BeUinelli's other works 

 ty mention ' L'Entusiasmo,' which is a treatise on the 

 nature and character of enthusiasm, especially with respect 

 1 1 the fine arti : ' Ixrtlcre Yirgiliano,' in which the author 

 shows a great deficiency of taste and critical judgment, ac- 

 companied by much flippancy and dogmatism, especially 

 v, here he speaks of Dante in contemptuous terms. Gaspare 

 Gozzi replied to Bettinelli in his * Difesa di Dante.' Betti- 

 ni-lli. however, persisted in his judgment, which he repeated 

 v.licn eighty-two years of age in his ' Disscrtazionc Acade- 

 mica iopra Dante,' in which, among other things, ho elevates 

 Bembo and Delia Casa above Dante in poetical merit In 

 consequence of this strange perversity of taste bordering on 

 barbarism, the wits of Verona nicknamed the Rev. Father 

 Bettinelli, ' Father Totila.' One of Bettinelli's latest works 

 is, ' Dellc Lettcre e delle Arti Mantovane,' a book which con- 

 tains much local and municipal erudition concerning Mantua. 

 He wrote also a vast quantity of verses of little or no merit. 

 He left two poems in MS., one, ' L'Europa punita o il Secolo 

 XVIII.,' in twelve cantos, and the 'Bonaparte in Italia,' in 

 four cantos. In the latter he extols Bonaparte, whom he 

 had reviled in the former. In this he followed the example 

 of other literary men of his age, but he has been luckier 

 than they, inasmuch as both his poems have remained in- 

 edited. They exist in MS. in the library of Mantua. (Ugoni, 

 Delta Letteratura Ilaliana.) 



BETULA, or the birch, a genus of hardy trees or shrubs, 

 some of the former of which are among the most useful 

 plants of northern latitudes. It gives its name to the 

 natural order Betulinece, of which it is the principal genus ; 

 and is characterized by its flowers growing in catkins, the 

 scales of which are thin and three lobed, and by the scales 

 subtending three flat fruits, each furnished with two styles, 

 and expanded into a thin wing on either side ; these fruits 

 are what are vulgarly called birch seeds. The species are, 

 with one exception, found beyond the tropic in the northern 

 hemisphere ; the species of the southern hemisphere is a 

 little evergreen plant called B. antarctica, of which little is 

 recorded except that it inhabits Tierra del Fuego. 



As birches are of considerable importance in cold climates, 

 we shall briefly notice all the more remarkable species, 

 which may be conveniently disposed according to their pre- 

 vailing geographical distribution. 



* EUROPEAN BIRCHES. 



1. Betula Alba, the common birch ; branches erect, when 

 young covered with a short close down, never smooth, anc 

 warted : leaves with a somewhat rhomboidal form, ovate 

 generally doubly serrated, with downy footstalks, acute, bu 

 not tapering to the point : catkins pendulous. A native o 

 Europe from the most northern to the most southern coun 

 tries, in the latter, however, not appearing except on moun 

 tains at a considerable elevation ; on .(Etna it does not occu 

 below 4762 feet above the sea, according to Philippi. It is 

 also found eastward in Asia, as far at least as the Alta 

 Mountains. Although this species is not much valued fo 

 its timber, it is extremely useful for many other purposes 

 lt.:-sia skins are said to be tanned with the empyreumatic 

 oil of its bark, from which the peculiar odour of such loathe 

 is derived. Cordage is obtained from it by the Laplanders 

 who also prepare a red dye from it ; the young shoots servi 

 to nourish their cattle, and vinegar is obtained from th 

 fermented sap. The inhabitants of Finland use the leave 

 for tea, and both in Lapland and Greenland strips of the 

 young and tender bark are used as food. From the timbe 

 aro manufactured hoops, yokes for cattle, bowls, wooden 

 spoons, and other articles in which lightness without mucl 

 durability is sufficient ; baskets and hurdles are often made 

 of part of its shoots ; and from its rising sap, extracted b 

 meant of openings cut into its alburnum in the spring, am 

 fermented, a kind of wine is obtained which is of an agreeabl 

 quality, but will not keep. During the siege of Hamburg 

 by the Russians in 1814, almost all the birch trees of the 

 neighbourhood were destroyed by the Bashkirs and othe 

 barbarian soldiers in the Russian sen-ice, by being tapped 

 for their juice. 



The birch naturally grows in poor, sandy soil, on which i 

 thrives fully a well as in that of a more fertile kind. It i 

 ' to attain sometime* the height of seventy feet, with 



' "f two feet ; in England it does not acquire nucl 

 considerable dimensions ; as it approaches both iu nortlun 

 and southern limits it gradually decreases in size, conform 



[Hetula alb*.) 



1. The iniiile of a barren cnlc, with the anlhrra attached. 9. Iniide of a 

 fertile cale. with the ovnrici attached. 3. An ovary cut through perpenilicu- 

 Inrly. 4. Iniiile of a scale, with three ripe fruit* 5. A ri)K' fruit of the 

 natural i.:c. 6. The tamo magiiitii.il. 7. A trantverte ; and 8. A perpcu- 

 dicular si-ction of the same. !>. A rip seed. 10. An embryo. 



ably to the laws which regulate vegetable development. Its 

 bark is said to be very durable. 



2. Betula pendula, the weeping birch ; branches droop- 

 ing, when young perfectly smooth, and marked with little 

 pearly specks ; leaves with a somewhat rhomboidal form, 

 ovate, either doubly or singly serrated, acute, but not taper- 

 ing to the point, 'sometimes slightly hairy ; catkins pen- 

 dulous. Very common in different parts of Europe, along 

 with the last, in the properties of which it appears to 

 participate, and with which it is often improperly con- 

 founded. It differs from the common birch not only in its 

 weeping habit, but also in its young shoots being quite 

 smooth, bright chestnut brown when ripe, and then covered 

 with little white warts. The Betula pontica of the nurseries 

 is a slight variety, with a few strangling hairs on the leaves 

 and leafstalks, and a less drooping habit. 



3. Betula pubescent, the downy birch ; branches erect, 

 covered all over with very close down ; leaves heart-shaped, 

 ovate, taper-pointed, doubly and sharply serrated, very 

 downy. A smaller species than the first, found in the bogs 

 of Germany ; a variety of it is called Betula urlicifoiia in 

 gardens. 



4. Betula nana, the dwarf birch ; leaves orbicular, cre- 

 nated, with strongly marked veins on the under side ; cat- 

 kins upright. A small bush, found in Lapland and the 

 mountainous parts of other northern countries ; it even 

 stretches across the whole continent of Asia as far as Una- 

 laschka. To the people of the sout h this plant has no value, 

 but to the Laplanders it affords a large part of their furl ; 

 and its winged fruits are reported to be the favourite food of 

 the ptarmigan. The place of this is occupied in America 

 by a species called Betula glandulosa. 



* * ASIATIC BIRCHES. 



5. Betula Bhnjpatlra, Indian paper birch ; leaves oblong, 

 acute, with nearly simple serratures, somewhat heart- 

 shaped at the base : their stalks, veins, and twigs hairy ; 

 ripe catkins, erect, cylindrical, oblong ; bracts smooth, woody, 

 two-parted, blunt, much longer than the fruit, which has 

 narrow wings. A tree found on the Alps of Gurwal and 

 Kumaon, where it was discovered by Dr. Wallich, who in- 

 forms us that its thin delicate bark furnishes the masses of 



