BELL 678 



which entitled him to rank as an authority on 

 that subject. His inventions, besides that for 

 which he is chiefly noted, include the photo- 

 phone, in which sounds are conveyed by a 

 vibratory beam of light; the graphophone, the 

 forerunner of the phonograph; and the tele- 

 phone probe, which detects bullets in the 

 human body. 



BELL, JOHN (1797-1869), an American 

 statesman, prominent in all the vital move- 

 ments that preceded the War of Secession. He 

 was born near Nashville, Tenn., was graduated 

 from what is now the University of Nashville 

 in 1814, was admitted to the bar at the age 

 of nineteen, and when but twenty was elected 

 to the state senate. So able did he prove 

 himself in that body that in 1827 he was sent 

 to Congress, where he served until 1841, becom- 

 ing known for his outspoken support of a pro- 

 tective tariff. In 1832 he vigorously supported 

 Jackson in his campaign for the Presidency, 

 and two years later was made Speaker of the 

 House. President Harrison appointed him to 

 his Cabinet in 1841 as Secretary of War, but 

 at Harrison's death and the succession of 

 Tyler, Bell and the others of the Cabinet 

 resigned. 



From 1847 to 1859 he was in the United 

 States Senate, where he favored Clay's com- 

 promise measure of 1850, voted against the 

 Kansas-Nebraska Bill and opposed the repeal 

 of the Missouri Compromise. The Constitu- 

 tional Union party (which see) nominated him 

 for President in 1860, and in the ensuing elec- 

 tion Tennessee, Virginia and Kentucky gave 

 him their electoral votes (see electoral map, in 

 article LINCOLN, ABRAHAM). For a time he 

 opposed the secession of Tennessee, favoring a 

 policy of armed neutrality for that state, but 

 later he actively supported the Confederate 

 cause, though he took no part in the war. 



BELL , ROBERT (1841- ) , a Canadian geolo- 

 gist who made the first surveys of many of the 

 rivers and lakes of Western Canada, including 

 Great Slave Lake, Lake Nipigon and part of 

 Lake of the Woods, Lake Winnipeg, and the 

 Athabaska, Slave, Nelson and Churchill rivers. 

 After studying at McGill University, he joined 

 the staff of the Geological Survey in 1857, when 

 he was only sixteen years old. For half a cen- 

 tury thereafter the reports of his geological 

 and topographical surveys were the chief 

 sources of information about the West. He 

 was geologist on an exploring expedition to 

 Hudson Bay in 1884, and in 1897 surveyed the 

 south coast of Baffin Land and reached the 



BELLADONNA 



great lakes in the interior. The value of Bell's 

 work was recognized by his appointment as 

 director of the Dominion Geological Survey, 

 by the award of honorary degrees from McGill, 

 Cambridge and other universities, and by mem- 

 bership and office in many honorary scientific 

 societies. 



BELLACOOLA, bel' la koo' la, a tribe of In- 

 dians which has suffered much from contact 

 with white settlers. Their home is now in 

 British Columbia. They were once a strong 

 and important tribe, extending their range into 

 the Northern United States, displaying unusual 

 skill as fishermen and building great houses 

 which were marvels of strength and ingenuity. 

 Diseases introduced by the white men, however, 

 have killed them off until now but a few hun- 

 dred remain. 



BELLADONNA, bel' la don' a, or DEADLY 

 NIGHTSHADE, a bushy herb of the night- 

 shade family and a native of Europe and Asia, 

 poisonous in all its parts, but cultivated ex- 

 tensively because of its healing properties. In 



BELLADONNA 

 (a) Branch; (6) fruit. 



the United States the plant is grown in gardens 

 because of its showy flowers as well as for use 

 in medicine. The roots and leaves yield a 

 drug known as belladonna, that is widely used 

 for the relief of asthma, bronchitis, and whoop- 

 ing cough, colic and other intestinal troubles, 

 while plasters or liniments made from bella- 

 donna are applied externally to soothe the 

 pains of inflammation and neuralgia. Bella- 

 donna is also valued highly by oculists because 

 of its paralyzing effect on certain muscles of 

 the eye, which causes the pupil to expand and 

 greatly aids the doctor in his examination and 

 treatment of the eye. No one but a competent 

 oculist should ever apply belladonna to the 

 eye, and the use of this drug by persons who 

 hope to add beauty to the eye by increasing 



