4B6 



BELL. 



canonic<r, that is, to the hours for singing ami pray- 

 ing. In 610, Clothair l>esieged Sens, when Lupus, 

 bishop of Orleans, ordered the Ix'lU of St Stephen to 

 be rung. The sound so frightened Clothair, that he 

 gave up the siege. In die eighth century, the cus- 

 tom ot baptizing And naming In IS !>egan. (See 

 Baptism.) Church bells were probably introduced 

 into Britain soon after their invention. They are 

 first mentioned by Bcde, alxwt the close of the 

 M". fiith century. In the Kast, tliey came into use 

 in the ninth century; in Switzerland, in 1020; at 

 what jMTiod they were brought into Germany is un- 

 certain. In the 1 1th century, the cathedral at Augs- 

 burg had two bells. The same spirit which induced 

 people t<> build immense minsters, and to apply their 

 wraith in ornamenting the places of worship, made 

 them vie with c;ich oilier in the size of their bells. 

 The great bell of Moscow, cast in 1653, in the reign 

 of the empress Anne, is said, by Mr Clarke, to be 

 computed to weigh 443,772 Ibs. A bell in the 

 church of St Ivan, in the same city, weighs 127,836 

 Ibs. ; another, 356 c\vt. ; and the one cast in 1819 

 weighs 1000 cwt., the clapper alone weighing 18 

 cwt. On the cathedral of Paris a bell was placed, 

 in 1GSO, which weighed 340 cwt., and measured 25 

 feet in circumference. In Vienna, a bell was cast, 

 in 1711, of 354 cwt. In Olmntz is one of 358 cwt. 

 The famous bell at Erfurt, in Germany, which is 

 considered'to be of the finest bell-metal, having the 

 largest proportion of silver in it, and is baptized 

 Susanne, weighs 275 cwt., is more than 24 feet in 

 circumference, and has a clapper of 4 feet, weighing 

 1 1 cwt. Great Tom, of Christ church, Oxford, weighs 

 17,000 Ibs. ; of Lincoln, 9894 Ibs. ; the bell ot St 

 Paul's, London, 8400 Ibs. ; a bell at Nankin, in 

 China, is said to weigh 50,000 Ibs. ; and seven at 

 Pekin, 120,000 Ibs. each. The inscriptions on old 

 bells are curious, and, in some cases, have even his- 

 torical value ; and, at this time, when curiosities of 

 all kinds are eagerly sought for, a collection of these 

 inscriptions would not be uninteresting. The differ- 

 ent uses of bells have given rise to many poems, 

 some of which are inscribed on the bells themselves. 

 One of the most common is the following : 



Funera plango, fulgura frango, sabbata pango ; 

 Excito lentos, dissipo ventos, pace cruentos. 



Perhaps the finest poem which has ever been written 

 on bells is Schiller's poem, Die Glocke (The Bell), in 

 which he describes the casting of the bell, and all its 

 nses, in a highly poetical manner. This has been 

 translated into many languages, and lately into Greek 

 and Latin, by a professor at Liege. (For the metal 

 of which bells are made, called bell-metal, see Cop- 

 per.) A bell is divided into the body or barrel, the 

 clapper, and the ear or cannon. The word bell is 

 usea in many arts and sciences for instruments simi- 

 lar in form to church bells. 



BELL, Benjamin, an eminent surgeon, was born at 

 Dumfries in 1749. He early made choice of medi- 

 cine as a profession ; and after serving an appren- 

 ticeship to Mr Hill, surgeon in Dumfries, he repaired, 

 in 1766, to Edinburgh, for the further prosecution 

 of his studies. In 1770, he visited Paris and London, 

 the two great schools for surgical practice. Before 

 doing so, however, he passed the examinations at 

 surgeon's hall, and was admitted a member of the 

 royal Edinburgh college of surgeons. In those great 

 cities he remained nearly two years, assiduously im- 

 proving himself in surgery. He had now prepared 

 himself for the exercise of his profession with the 

 utmost diligence ani care, and, accordingly, return- 

 ing to his native country in 1772, he commenced 

 business in Edinburgh. Few came better prepared 

 than he did, for the practice of surgery, and few rose 



| into general practice so rapidly, lx>th as an operator 

 ami ii consulting surgeon. Mr Hell had early formed 

 the plan of composing a system of surgery and this 

 he at last accomplished. He did not publish the 

 whole work at once. But in the year 1778, about 

 six years after he had finally settled in Edinburgh, 

 and become established in practice, the first volume 

 was given to the world. The remaining volumes 

 appeared from time to time, until the work was com- 

 pleted in six volumes 8vo, in 1788. It has had ;i 

 very extensive sale; the last edition, being tin: 

 seventh, considerably improved, was published at 

 Edinburgh in seven volumes. In 1793, appeared his 

 " Treatise on Gonorrhoea," and in 1794, another 

 " Treatise on Hydrocele," which is understood to ! 

 the least popular of his works. Mr Bell married, in 

 1776, Miss Hamilton, daughter of Dr Robert Hamil- 

 ton, professor of divinity in the university of Kdin- 

 burgli, by whom he had a numerous family. Hi 

 died, April 4, 1806. 



BELL, Henry, the first successful applier of steam 

 to the purposes of navigation in Europe, was born at. 

 Torphichen in Linlithgowshire, April 7, 1767. After 

 receiving a plain education at the parish-school, he 

 began, in 1780, to learn the handicraft of a stone- 

 mason. Three years after, he changed his views in 

 favour of the other craft of the family, and was ap- 

 prenticed to his uncle, who practised the art of a 

 mill-wright. At the termination of his engagement, 

 he went to Borrowstounness, for the purpose of being 

 instructed in ship-modeling, and, in 1787, he en- 

 gaged with Mr James Inglis, engineer at Bell's 

 Hill, with the view of completing his knowledge of 

 mechanics. He afterwards went' to London, where 

 he was employed by the celebrated Mr Rennie ; so 

 that his opportunities of acquiring a practical ac- 

 quaintance with the higher branches of his art, were 

 altogether very considerable. About the year 1790, 

 he returned to Scotland, and practised for several 

 years, at Glasgow, the craft of a house-carpenter. In 

 1808, he removed to Helensburgh, on the firth of 

 Clyde, where his wife undertook the superintendence 

 of the public baths, and at the same time kept the 

 principal inn. He continued here to prosecute his 

 favourite task of mechanical scheming, without much 

 regard to the ordinary affairs of the world. 



The application of steam to navigation was first 

 attempted by the late Mr Miller of Dalswinton, who, 

 in 1788, at the suggestion of Mr James Taylor (q. v.), 

 a preceptor in the family, erected a vessel, which he 

 propelled by this means, upon a loch on his own pro- 

 perty in Dumfries-shire. Some further experiments 

 were made by this gentleman and others, and al- 

 though they did not tail to establish the practicabi- 

 lity of steam navigation, yet the scheme lay dor- 

 mant for several years; when Henry Bell, of He- 

 lensburgh, turned his attention to the subject, and ir. 

 January, 1812, produced a vessel of forty feet in 

 length, which was found in a great measure to an- 

 swer the purpose contemplated. This vessel could 

 make way against a heat! tide, in the river, at the 

 rate of seven miles an hour ; and it is due to the 

 memory of the projector, that, though he did not 

 obtain a patent, his invention has been found suscep - 

 tible of very little improvement by later and more 

 skilful engineers. The multitude and incalculable 

 use of steam vessels are so well known, and every 

 person of intelligence is so fully alive to the probable 

 extension of their numbers and use over tin; world, 

 that it is unnecessary to dwell upon the great honour 

 which is due to Bell, as the first to exhibit their 

 powers in this hemisphere. It may l)e mentioned, 

 that Mr Robert Fulton, an American engineer, had 

 launched a boat upon this principle in 1 807, and that 

 it performed long voynges upon the Hudson river ; 



