BENTS. 



BENTS. The withered stalks of grass 

 standing in a pasture after the seeds have 

 dropped. It also sometimes signifies a species 

 of rush (Juncus squarrosus), which grows on 

 moorland hills. 



BERBEREN. A yellow bitter principle 

 contained in the alcoholic extract of the root 

 of the barberry tree. 



BERBERRY (Berberis). See BARBERRY. 



BERE (Goth, bar,- Sax. here). The com- 

 mon name for a species of barley, which is 

 also frequently termed big, bear, and square 

 barley. Thus, in Huloet, an old writer, we 

 find " beer-corn, barley-bygge, or moncorne." 



BERGAMOT (Fr. bergamotte). A species 

 of citron, the fruit of the Citrus bergamia (Ris- 

 so). This tree is cultivated in the south of 

 Europe. It is a moderate-sized tree with ob- 

 long, acute, or obtuse leaves, with a pale un 

 derside, and supported on winged footstalks. 

 The flowers are small and white ; the fruit is 

 pyriform, of a pale yellow colour, and the rind 

 studded with oil vesicles ; the pulp is slightly 

 acidulous. The oil, which is procured from 

 the rind, is imported from the south of Europe, 

 under the name of oil or essence of bergamot. It 

 is of a pale greenish colour, lighter than water, 

 and used merely as an agreeable perfume. A 

 species of mint, having a highly at:: 

 odour (Mentha odurata, Smith), is popularly 

 called bergamot in the United States. 



BERRY (Baccu). A succulent pulpy fruit, 

 which contains one or more seeds, or granules, 

 imbedded in the juice. 



BETHLEHEM, STAR OF (Ornithngalum). 

 Smith points out four varieties of this flower : 

 the yellow star of Bethlehem, O. luteum the 

 common star of Bethlehem, 0. umbellatum, 

 (commonly called ten o'clock); the tall star of 

 Bethlehem, O. pyrenaicum / and the drooping 

 star of Bethlehem, 0. nutans. The first is met 

 with sometimes, but not very frequently, in 

 grove pastures. The second is found in mea- 

 dows, pastures, and groves in various parts of 

 England. The last is found mostly in fields 

 and orchards, probably naturalized. All are 

 elegant spring flowers. The last is common 

 in country gardens, whence it may have 

 escaped into the fields. Yet the plant may as 

 well be a native of England as of Denmark, 

 Austria, or other parts of Europe and America, 

 where it is found in similar situations. One 

 of the species, commonly called ten o'clock 

 (Ornithogahun umbellatum), Dr. Darlington 

 says, is a foreigner that has escaped from gar- 

 dens, and has become a nuisance on many 

 farms in the Middle States. Although it rarely 

 perfects its seed, it propagates itself with great 

 rapidity by means of lateral bulbs. These 

 bulbs are extremely difficult to eradicate. (Flor. 

 Cestrica.) An American species of the star of 

 Bethlehem (0. virens) was found by Lindley 

 on the Delaware Bay. The sea-squill, so ex- 

 tensively used in medicine, belongs to this 

 bulbous-rooted family of plants. (Smith's Eng. 

 Flora, vol. ii. p. 141145.) 



BEVER (Ital. bevere.- old French, btivre). 

 To drink: a word now almost obsolete, but 

 from which we derive beverage. The provin- 

 cial term amongst labourers for the meal be- 

 tween dinner and tea. 



23 



BIND- WEED. 



BIENNIAL (Lat. biennis). Any thing that 

 continues or endures two years. This term is 

 usually applied to plants which grow one year 

 and flower the next, after which they perish. 

 They only differ from annuals in requiring a 

 longer period to fruit in. Most biennials, if 

 sown early in the spring, will flower in the au- 

 tumn and then perish, thus actually becoming 

 annuals. (Brandt's Diet, of Science.) 



BIG. A term sometimes applied in Eng- 

 land to bere or square barley. 



BILBERRY, or BLEABERRY. See WHOR- 

 TLEBERRY. 



BILL (Bille; Sax. tibile, a two-edged axe). 

 A kind of hatchet with a hooked point, and a 

 handle shorter or longer, according to the par- 

 ticular uses for which it is intended. It is 

 mostly employed by husbandmen for cutting 

 hedges and felling underwood; and Johnson 

 tells us it takes its name from its resemblance, 

 in form, to the beak of a bird of prey. 



BILLET (Fr. bilot). A small log of wood 

 for the chimney. 



BI.\ (Sax. bmne). A small box or other con- 

 trivance in which grain of any kind is kept. 

 It is sometimes written binn. Bin also signi- 

 fies a sort of crib for containing straw or other 

 bulky fodder in farm-yards. 



BIN, CORN-. A sort of convenient box or 

 chest fixed in the stable for the purpose of con- 

 taining grain or other provender for horses. 

 We have also hop-bins, wine-bins, &c. 



BIND-WEED (Lat. convolvulus). A trouble- 

 some genus of weeds, of which there are in Eng- 

 land three species, the smaller, the great, and the 

 sea bind-weed. The climbing buckwheat (Poly- 

 g'inum convolvulus) is also known by the name 

 of black bind-weed. The first or smaller bind- 

 weed (C. urvensis), frequently called gravel 

 bind-weed, is very common in hedges, fields, 

 and gardens, and upon dry banks and gravelly 

 ground in most districts, and is an almost un- 

 conquerable weed. Its presence is generally a 

 sign of gravel lying near the surface. Its 

 branching, creeping roots penetrate to a great 

 depth in the soil. The flowers are fragrant like 

 the heliotrope, but fainter, very beautiful, of 

 every shade of pink, with paler or yellowish 

 plaits, and stains of crimson in the lower part; 

 sometimes they are nearly white. They close 

 before rain. The second kind, or great bind-weed 

 ( C. sepium), is also an equally troublesome and 

 injurious weed to the husbandman. It grows 

 luxuriantly in moist hedges, osier holts, and 

 thickets. In an open, clear spot of ground, when 

 the plants are kept constantly hoed down for 

 three or four months, it may sometimes be effect- 

 ually destroyed ; as when the stalks are broken 

 or cut, a milky juice exudes, by which the roots 

 are exhausted and decay. Every portion of 

 the root will grow. The roots of this species 

 are long, creeping extensively, and rather 

 fleshy; the stems twining, several feet long, 

 leafy, smooth, and slightly branched. Flowers 

 solitary, large, purely white for the most part, 

 occasionally of a uniform flesh or rose colour. 

 It is a perennial, flowering in July and August 

 in England, and a month earlier in Pennsylva- 

 nia, where it is occasionally found. It is so 

 injurious to crops that farmers should try aJ I 

 means to get rid of it The black bind-weed, 



177 



