492 



HELLISLE BELT. 



orated disciples, namely, Titian and (7iorgione. As 

 their instructor, lie is sometimes called the founder 

 cfthe I'enetian school. 



!!' i i i-i K. See Belle- 1 sir. 



BELLMANN, Charles Michael, the most original 

 among the Swedish poets, was born nt Stockholm, in 

 1741, and grew up in the quietude of domestic life. 

 The first proofs which In- a\c <>l his poetical talents 

 were religious and pious effusions. The dissipated 

 life of young men, at Stockholm, devoted to plea- 

 sure, was afterward* the subject of his poems. By 

 these his name was spread over all Sweden. K\rn 

 the attention of (.u^;i\tis III. was attracted to him, 

 and he received from the king an appointment, which 

 enabled him to devote himself almost entirely to 

 poetical pursuits, in an easy independence, until his 

 death, in I 7!'.>. His songs are truly national, princi- 

 pally describing scenes of revelry. 



BKLLONA ; the goddess of war ; daughter of Phor- 

 cys and Ccto. She was called by the Greeks Enyo, 

 and is often confounded with Minerva. She was 

 anciently called Duelliona, and was the sister of 

 Mars, or, according to some, his daughter or his 

 wife. She prepared his chariot when he was going 

 to war, and drove his steeds through the tumult of 

 the battle with a bloody scourge, her hair dishevel- 

 led, and a torch in her hand. The Romans paid 

 great adoration to her; but she was held in the 

 highest veneration by the Cappadocians, chiefly at 

 ( om: ma, where she had above 3000 priests. Her 

 temple at Rome was near the Porta Carmen tal is. In 

 it the senators gave audience to foreign ambassadors 

 and to generals returned from war. At the gate was 

 a small column, called the column of war, against 

 which they threw a spear, whenever war was de- 

 clared. The priests of this goddess consecrated 

 themselves by making great incisions in their bodies, 

 and particularly in the thigh, from which they re- 

 ceived the blood in their hands to offer as a sacrifice 

 to the goddess. In their wild enthusiasm, they often 

 predicted bloodshed and wars, the defeat of enemies, 

 or the besieging of towns. 



BELLOWS ; a machine for blowing fire, so formed 

 as, by being dilated and contracted, to inhale air by 

 a lateral orifice, which is opened and closed by a 

 valve, and to propel it through a tube upon the fire. 

 As soon as men began to make use of fire, the im- 

 portance of bellows was felt, since the natural bellows, 

 if we may give this name to the lungs, could not be 

 applied to any great extent. The invention of bel- 

 lows is ascribed to Anacharsis the Scythian, though 

 probably it took place in different countries. The first 

 deviation from the ancient, and still common form of 

 the bellows, was made by the Germans, about 100 

 years ago, and the forms at present are very various, 

 as many attempts have been made for the improve- 

 ment of this highly important machine, which be- 

 comes necessary wherever a powerful flame is re- 

 quired in the arts. As mining is carried on exten- 

 sively in Germany, and great heat is required in 

 smelting the ores, and working the metals, many 

 new kinds of bellows have been invented in that 

 country, of which we only mention that of Mr von 

 Baader, in Munich (known as the inventor of a new 

 kind of rail-roads). It consists of an empty box, 

 which moves up and down in another, partially filled 

 with water. Between the bottom of the empty box 

 and surface of the water is a space filled with air, 

 which is driven out by the descent of the enclosed 

 box. Bellows of very great power are generally 

 called blwcing-machines (q. v.) One of the largest is 

 that recently erected in England, at the smithy in 

 the king's dock-yard, at Woolwich. It is adequate 

 to the supply of air for forty forge fires, amongst 

 which are several for the forging of anchors, iron 



knees, and many other heavy pieces of smithery. 

 The common Chinese bellows consist of a box of 

 wood about two feet long, and one fool square, in 

 which a thick, square piece of l>oard, which exactly 

 fits the internal cavity of the box, is pu>hcd back- 

 wards and forwards. In the bottom of the box, at 

 each end, there is a small conical or jilujj valve to 

 admit the air, and valves above to discharge it. 



BKLLOV, Pierre Laurent Buirette de, the fir-t I'rcnch 

 dramatist who successfully introduced native heroes 

 upon the French stage, instead of those of (i; 

 and Home, or the great men of other nations, was 

 born at St Flour, in Auvergne, in 1127. He went 

 to Paris when a child, lost nis father soon after, and 

 was supported by his uncle, a distinguished advocate 

 in the parliament of Paris, who designed him for the 

 same profession. He applied himself to this profes- 

 sion with reluctance, while he showed much genius 

 for the drama. His uncle opposed this taste, and 

 the young man secretly left his house. He now 

 made his appearance at several northern courts, as 

 an actor, under the name of Dormant de Belloy. 

 Everywhere his character gained him love and es- 

 teem. He spent several years in Petersburg, where 

 the empress Elisabeth showed him much kindness. 

 In 1758, he returned to France, with the intention of 

 having his tragedy Titus represented. His uncle 

 obtained a warrant of imprisonment against him, in 

 case he should appear on the stage. B. had hoped 

 to reconcile his iiunily to him by the success of Titus, 

 but this hope was disappointed by the failure of the 

 piece ; and the author went once more to Petersburg. 

 Shortly after, his uncle died, and B. returned again 

 to France, where he brought out his tragedy Zebnire, 

 which was acted with the most complete success. In 

 1765 followed his Siege de Calais, a tragedy which 

 produced a great sensation, and is still esteemed, 

 though it owes the applause bestowed on it rather to 

 its subject than to its poetical merit. He receivt d 

 the medal promised by the king to those poets who 

 should produce three successful pieces, and which 

 has been awarded only on this occasion. On account 

 of the great applause with which the Siege of Calais 

 was received, it was counted as two, it being, in fact, 

 only the second successful piece of B. The city of 

 Calais sent him the freedom of the city, in a gold 

 box, with the inscription Lauream tulit, civicam red- 

 pit. B. has written sundry other dramatic pieces, of 

 which Gaston et Bayard procured his reception into 

 the Academic Francaise. Upon the whole, he was 

 not happy in the expression of tragical pathos. He 

 died in 1775. 



BELOOCHISTAN. See Belujistan. 



BELSHAM, William, a miscellaneous writer of some 

 eminence, who died in 1827, aged seventy-five. He 

 published, in 1789, " Historical, Political, and Liter- 

 ary Essays," 2 vols. 8vo ; and he subsequently wrote 

 on the test law, the French revolution, parliamentary 

 reform, and other subjects ; but his principal work is 

 a " History of Great Britain, from the Revolution to 

 the Treaty of Amiens," 1793-1806, 12 vols. 8vo. 



BELT, the Great and Little ; two straits of Den- 

 mark, connecting the Baltic with the Cattegat. The 

 former runs between the islands of Zealand and 

 Funen, and is about fifteen miles in width, where it is 

 crossed from Nyborg, in Funen, to Corsoer, in Zea- 

 land. The greatest breadth of the strait is twenty 

 miles. The navigation is very dangerous, on account 

 of the many small islands and sand banks, by which 

 the channel is impeded. Vessels sailing through this 

 strait pay tribute at Nyborg. The little Belt is be- 

 tween the island of Funen and the coast of Jutland, 

 and the narrowest part of the strait is not more than 

 a mile in width. At this place stands the fortress 

 Fredericia, where the tolls are paid. The fortress 



