BELL-WETHER. 



BENT-GRASS. 



was given to it by the Italians, because the 

 Italian ladies make a cosmetic of the juice. 



The belladonna, although perennial in re- 

 ference to the root, is annual in its herbage, 

 which is of quick growth, branching, and 

 shrub-like. The leaves are lateral, generally 

 two together, ovate, acute, entire, smooth, and 

 clammy. The flowers are solitary, stalked, 

 rising in the axillae of the leaves, bell-shaped, 

 and of a lurid purple colour. The fruit is a 

 shining, black, sweetish berry, seated in the 

 permanent calyx, about the size of a cherry. 

 The plant is poisonous, having a peculiar al- 

 kali, named atropia, which, in combination with 

 malic acid, is found in every part of the plant. 

 Its influence is chiefly exerted on the brain and 

 nervous system, causing delirium, movements 

 of the body resembling intoxication, confused 

 speech, uttered with pain, and other symptoms 

 of narcotic poisoning. Buchanan, the Scotish 

 historian, informs us, that the Scots under 

 Macbeth intoxicated the Danes under Sweno 

 by mixing their wine with the juice of the ber- 

 ries of belladonna during a truce, which en- 

 abled Macbeth readily to overcome them. 

 Shakspeare alludes to it in the interview be- 

 tween Macbeth and the witches, when the for- 

 mer says 



Or have we drank 



Of the insane root which takes the reason prisoner? 

 Macbeth, Act 1. 



The beauty of the berries frequently entices 

 children to eat them ; and, although not often 

 fatal, they cause very distressing effects to the 

 little sufferers. In such cases, the stomach 

 should be quickly emptied by an emetic, and 

 afterwards vegetable acids and decoction of 

 nut-galls should be given. Belladonna is an 

 excellent medicine ; but it should not be en- 

 trusted to the ignorant. 



BELL-WETHER. A sheep which leads the 

 flock, with a bell on his neck. 



BELT. To belt, in some districts, signifies 

 tr shear the buttocks and tails of sheep. 



BELT. In planting, a strip or portion of 

 land planted with trees for the purpose of or- 

 nament, or warmth and shelter. Much advan- 

 tage may be derived in this way in improving 

 the climate of the district. (See PLANTATION.) 



BENE PLANT (Sesamum arientule). The 

 bene or sesamum has been introduced into Ja- 

 maica and other West India islands, where it 

 is quite extensively cultivated in many places. 

 It is commonly called Vangln or oil-plant, from 

 the oil which it yields to pressure. The seeds 

 are frequently used in broths, and by some in- 

 troduced into cakes. Many of the Oriental na- 

 tions look upon the seed as a hearty and 

 wholesome food, and express an oil from them, 

 not unlike, or inferior to, the oil of almonds. 

 Attempts have even been made to manufacture 

 oil from it in England, but with little success. 



Sesamum orientale, or bene, is frequently 

 cultivated in the eastern parts of the Mediter- 

 ranean as a garden vegetable. The seeds have 

 been introduced into the Carolinas, and other 

 Southern States, by the African negroes. The 

 seeds are used by the blacks for food ; they 

 parch them over the fire, then mix them 

 with water, and then stew them up with other 

 'ngreuients. A kind of pudding is also made 

 176 



of them, similar to such as are made of rice or 

 millet. The oil pressed from the seeds will 

 keep many years without acquiring any rancid 

 taste, but in two years becomes quite mild, so 

 that the warm taste of the oil when first drawn 

 is worn off, and it can be used for salads and 

 all the ordinary purposes of sweet oil. In Ja- 

 pan, China, and Cochin-China, where they have 

 no butter, they use the oil for frying fish, and 

 preparing other dishes ; as a varnish, and for 

 some medicinal purposes. Nine pounds of 

 seed are said to yield upwards of two pounds 

 of fine oil. 



The sesamum is an annual plant. It grows 

 like cotton, from three to six feet high, bearing 

 numerous square pods about an inch and a 

 half long, filled with seeds about the size of 

 flaxseeds. In its growth it requires no sticks, 

 or other support. The product of seed is 

 about twelve or fifteen bushels per acre, and 

 the proportion of oil yielded to pressure has 

 been estimated as equal to one-half the mea- 

 sure of the seed, and some estimate the propor- 

 tion as far greater. The oil may be extracted 

 by bruising the seed and immersing them in 

 hot water, when the oil rises on the surface 

 and may be skimmed off. But the usual mode 

 of extraction is similar to that practised in the 

 expression of linseed oil. In the Southern 

 States many planters cultivate the bene 

 largely, sowing in drills about four feet apart, 

 in the month of April, and gathering the crop 

 of seed in September. The pods ripen suc- 

 cessively, and not all at one time. Bene has 

 been raised in Virginia, Maryland, and the 

 lower part of the peninsula between the Dela- 

 ware and Chesapeake Bays, just as far north 

 as cotton admits of cultivation. In higher lati- 

 tudes, even in the vicinity of Philadelphia, the 

 plant will grow, but seldom ripens its seed. 

 The leaves of the plant are in great repute as 

 a remedy in dysentery, and especially the 

 cholera infantum or summer complaint of 

 children. The freshly gathered leaves are 

 merely dipped into a tumbler of cold water, 

 which immediately becomes ropy, without 

 losing its transparency or acquiring any un- 

 pleasant taste, on which account it is readily 

 and even gratefully received by the little suf- 

 ferers, who are allowed to. sip it in moderate 

 quantities instead of other drinks. Sesamum 

 is indeed a valuable plant, and should be cul- 

 tivated wherever it will grow, for its medicinal 

 and domestic uses, if not for its oil ; which 

 ! last, however, must, under proper management, 

 j prove a profitable product of the soil. 



BENT, or STARR. Names applied in Eng 



land to the common reed (the Arundo prag- 



i mites of Dr. Darlington, and the A. arenaria 



of some other botanists). Sinclair calls the 



! upright sea lyme grass, starr, or bent. (See 



I Plate 7, 1.) One of the chief uses this coarse 



I grass is made to subserve in the United States, 



as well as in European countries, is to protect 



! banks and sea-dykes exposed to the wash- 



; ings of waves and currents. See AUUXDO 



ARENAIUA. 



BENT-GRASS. A species of Agrostis very 

 common in pasture grounds, the bent or creep- 

 ing stems of which are very difficult to eradi- 

 cate. (See AGHOSTIS.) 



