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350 



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usual rapidity, and mentions an instance of a plant which 

 in nineteen yean grew to the height of forty-five feet eight 

 inches. It it rarely seen in thu country, although it is 

 perhaps one of the best suited to our climate. The thinness 

 of it* leaves, combined with their oblong figure, distinguishes 

 this from all the other species. 



All the species of birch, except the common and the 

 weeping, oru multiplied by layers in the usual way. The two 

 others are propagated by their seeds, which may be procured 

 in this country in great abundance. It is only necessary to 

 sow them thin in beds as soon as gathered, covering them 

 with not more than a quarter of an inch of light earth. The 

 seedling plants should be bedded out when one year old, 

 and after the second year, if properly managed, they will be 

 fit to remove to the plantation. When old they are trans- 

 planted with considerable difficulty. 



HKTU LA'CE.K, a natural order of Apetalou* Dicoty- 

 ledonotu plants, named after the subject of the preceding 

 article. It was formerly comprehended, along with other 

 groups, in what were called Amentaceee, because it bears 

 its flowers in amenta, or catkins ; but it is distinguished from 

 an those which agree with it in this particular, by its flat, 

 one-seeded, two-celled membranous fruit, and pendulous 

 ovules. A just idea of the general nature of the plants of 

 this order will be obtained from the study of the common 

 birch ; all the species are either trees or shrubs, with the 

 fertile flowers in one catkin and the barren in another, and 

 they have, in general, the main lateral veins of their lr:i\ i-s 

 running straight from the midrib to the margin, without 

 curving inwards. They are found in the colder parts of the 

 world, or in mountainous regions in hot countries. 



BETU'VVE, a large and fertile district of Holland, enclosed 

 between the Waal, the Northern Rhine, or Rhine of Ley- 

 den, and the Lek, which joins the Rhine to the Waal, and 

 thus forms an island, which occupies part of the country of 

 the antient Batavi, or ' Insula Batavorum. 1 [See BAT AVI.] 

 The name of Betuwe is supposed to be derived from that of 

 Batavi. The length of the district of Betuwe from the 

 separation of the Waal from the Rhine near Doornburg, to 

 the junction of the Lek with the Waal, here called the 

 Maas, below Papendrecht, is nearly sixty miles from E. to W. 

 Its breadth is very irregular, owing to the great sinuosities 

 of the Waal and the Northern Rhine, which form its boun- 

 daries : the breadth is greatest at its western extremity, be- 

 tween Vianen and Gorkum, where it is about thirteen miles. 

 The principal towns of the Betuwe are Gorkum (8000 inha- 

 bitants), and Thiel (4000). The river Linghe, which falls 

 into the Waal at Gorkum, crosses the Betuwe through the 

 greater part of its length. The eastern and largest part 

 of the Betuwe belongs to the province of Gelderland, whose 

 capital is Arnhcim, and the western part to the province of 

 South Holland, whose capital is S 'Graven hage. The 

 Betuwe is altogether one of the most fertile and best cul- 

 tivated districts in Holland: it produces corn, vegetables, 

 and fruit in abundance. A great quantity of butter and 

 cheese is also made in this district. 



BEY KL AND, a district of the province of Zceland in tho 

 kingdom of Holland, consisting of the islands of Noord 

 Beveland and Zuid Beveland, with a smaller island called 

 Wolfaartsdijk, situated between tho two. These islands 

 lie in the great actuary of the river Schelde, and between 

 two branches of that river, the East Schelde, or more properly 

 North Schelde, which divides them from the islands of 

 Tholcn and Schouwen, and the Hond, called also West 

 Schelde. but which ought to be called rather South Schelde, 

 which divides them from the main land. A channel of the 

 sea separates them from the island of Walcheren which lies 

 west of Beveland. South Beveland is by far the largest 

 and finest of the three islands ; its length is twenty-five 

 miles from E. to W., and its greatest breadth is between 

 eight and nine miles from N. to S. It produces corn, 

 abundance of fruit and vegetables and madder. Fish is 

 also caught in great plenty near the coast. South Beve- 

 land has suffVrcd fmm inundations, especially in the great 

 flood of 1332, by which a considerable portion of the east 

 side of the inland was destroyed. On this part of the 

 island stood the rich town of Romerswaal, which the flood 

 of 1532 separated from Beveland; the town was gradually 

 encroached upon by the sea, till in the beginning of the 

 seventeenth century all the inhabitants had deserted it. 

 Some of the land which was inundated has been since re- 

 covered. The great floods of Jan. 1-1 and 15, 1808, did this 

 island immense damage ; whole districts which had been 



gained by the greatest patience and industry were over- 

 whelmed ; the beautiful village of Kruiningen was nearly 

 destroyed ; and but for the assistance of the whole country 

 of the Netherlands, the devastation could not have been 

 repaired. The capital, Goes, with a town of above 4800 

 inhabitants, is situated on the N. coast of South lievcland; 

 there are besides many villages scattered about the island. 

 Noord Beveland is a much poorer country, being low and 

 marshy ; it was formerly a fine island, hut was swamped in 

 the dreadful inundation of 1532, when a large part of the in- 

 habitants perished. It remained covered by the waters for 

 many years after, until the ground becoming raised by the 

 alluvial deposits, it was again embanked and inhabited. 

 The length of Noord Beveland is about thirteen miles, and 

 its greatest breadth about four miles. It has a few villages 

 or hamlets, the principal of which ore Wissenkerkc ami 

 Kortjyn. Wolfaartsdijk is a small fertile inland, which con- 

 tains two villages and about 700 inhabitants. (Kampen.) 



BEVERIDGE, WILLIAM, an eminent prelate and 

 theological writer, was born at Barrow, in the oounty of 

 Leicester, in the year 1638. He was admitted of St. John's 

 College, Cambridge, in 1653; and during his residence 

 there was remarkable for close attention to his studies, for 

 his piety, and the general regularity of his conduct. So 

 assiduous was his application, and more especially in the 

 learning of tilt- Oriental languages, that he published at 

 the early age of twenty a treatise in Latin, ' De Linguarum 

 Orientalium, prosertim HebraTctc, Chaldai'av, Syriacic, 

 Arabics, et Samaritans;, pncstautia et usu, cum Gramma- 

 tics Syriaca, tribus libris tradita,' a work held in 

 esteem. He took his degree of bachelor of arts in 1656, 

 and that of master of arts in 1660, in which latter year he 

 was ordained both deacon and priest. Soon af'trr, I 

 presented by Sheldon, bishop of London, to the vii-araye of 

 Baling in Middlesex, where he wrote his work on chrono- 

 logy, published in 1669, and intit'led ' Inatitutionum 4 

 nologicarum libri duo, una cum totidem Arithmetices i 

 nologica? libcllis.' This treatise is considered to be a very 

 useful introduction to the study of chronology. In tho 

 former part the nature and terms of chronology are staled 

 and explained ; and in the latter is offered a short system 

 of characteristic arithmetic, by which chronology may be 

 the better and more fully understood. In lfi/-J he was 

 elected by the lord mayor and aldermen of London to the 

 rectory of St. Peter, Cornhill, on which occasion he re- 

 signed the vicarage of Baling; and in the same year he 

 published, in two volumes folio, his learned and laborious 

 work, ' Swolucov, sivo Pandectas Canonum S.S. Apostolo- 

 rum et Conciliorum ab Ecclesia Gra;ca receptorum; nee 

 non Canonic-arum S. S. Patrum Epistolarum, &c.' The 

 first volume contains the several canons which are attributed 

 to the apostles, those of the councils, of the first of Nice, the 

 first of Constantinople, of that of Ephesus, of Chalcedon, of 

 the sixth in Trullo, of the second of Nice, of the first and 

 second of Constantinople holden in the church of the 

 apostles, of that of Constantinople holden in the church of 

 Sancta Sophia, of those of Carthage, Ancyra, Neooa-sarca, 

 Gangra, Antioch, Laodicea, Sardica, and Carthage ; toge- 

 ther with the arguments of Joseph the Egyptian, on the 

 canons of the four general councils. The contents of tho 

 second volume comprise the canons of Dionysius Alexan- 

 ilrinus, of Petrus Alexandrinus, of Gregory Thaumaturgus, 

 of St. Athanasiua, St. Basil, St. Gregory Nyssenus, the 

 canonical answers of Timothy, bishop of Alexandria ; tho 

 canons of Theophilus, archbishop of Alexandria ; the Ca- 

 tholic epistles of Cyril, likewise archbishop of Alexandria ; 

 verses of St. Gregory the Divine, and Amphilochius ; a cir- 

 cular letter of Gennadius, patriarch of ( onsULntuwplft; a 

 letter of Farasius, patriarch of Constantinople, to Pope 

 Adrian; a synopsis of the canonical letters of Alexius 

 Aristenus ; and an alphabetical index. 1>> Matthew BluMaris, 

 of all the canons; of the synod which restored the patriarch 

 Photius to the see of Constantinople, and the acts of the 

 eighth synod of Constantinople. The editor fink-hud his 

 work with copious notes, which show an extensive and inti- 

 mate acquaintance with tl.. matter. In his nstea 

 he had sharply re! I re tod on an opinion urged by John 

 l):ii lie, De PMudcpigraplm ApoMolicis,' that the apos to- 

 ll.-, il canons were an imposition of the fifth century. Be- 

 vc-ridgc placed the date of them at the end of the second 

 ami lic^mniiiL' n|' the third. Upon this, an anonymous 

 writer disputed the correctness of his opinion ; and in conse- 

 quence of it appeared Bcvcridgc's ' Codex Canonum Ecclesiw 



