BES 



BET 



hJow-pipe it is difficultly fusible without 

 addition, but with borax it melts easily : 

 it is composed of 



Silica 68.0 



Alumina .... 15.0 

 Glucine .... 14.0 



Lime 2.0 



Oxide of iron . . 1.0 

 100.0 



It becomes very electrical by rubbing : 

 is found in primitive rocks, accompanied 

 with quartz, felspar, garnet, mica, fluor 

 spar, and topaz. The most beautiful 

 specimens are brought from China and 

 the Brazils. They are also found in the 

 tlralian mountains, in France, and in Sax- 

 ony. When pure, it is cut into stones for 

 rings and necklaces. Its plenty renders 

 it of no great value. It was well known 

 to the ancients, who procured it from se- 

 veral places where it is now found. It is 

 mentioned by Pliny and others : the blue 

 varieties were denominated sapphire, the 

 green aqua marine, and the yellow topaz. 



The 2d variety is denominated schor- 

 lous beryll, which is of a straw colour, 

 passing to white, green, and yellow. The 

 crystals are large, middle sized, and hard, 

 but yielding to the file ; it is brittle, and 

 very easily frangible : specific gravity 

 about 3. 5. It melts with borax into a pure 

 transparent glass, and consists of 

 Silica .... 50 

 Alumina . . . 50 

 100 



* It is found embedded in quartz and 

 mica, in many parts of Germany : it is 

 the link that unites the precious beryll 

 with schorl. 



BESANT, or BEZANT, a coin of pure 

 gold, of an uncertain value, struck at By- 

 zantium, in the time of the Christian em- 

 perors ; from hence the gold offered by 

 the king at the altar is called besant, or 

 bisant. 



BESANTS, in heraldry, round pieces of 

 gold, without any stamp,jfrequently borne 

 in coats of arms. 



BESLERIA, in botany, a genus of the 

 Didynamia Angiospermia class of plants. 

 Its flower consists ofasingleringent pe- 

 tal. Its fruit is a berry of a globose 

 ibrm, containing only one cell, in which 

 are several seeds, very small, and of a 

 roundish figure. There are six species. 



BESORCH, a coin of tin, or some al- 

 loyed metal, current at Ormus, at the 

 rate of 7J- parts of a farthing sterling. 



BETA, in botany, a genus of the Pen- 

 tandria Di^ynia class and order. Natural 

 order ot Holoracex ; Atriplices, Jussieu. 

 Essential character : calyx five-leaved ; 

 corolla none ; seed kidney-form, within 

 the substance of the base of the calyx, 

 There are four species, of which B. vul- 

 garis, red garden beet, has large thick 

 succulent leaves, which are for the most 

 part of a dark red or purple co'our. 

 The roots are large and deep red, and 

 on these circumstances their goodness 

 depends ; for the longer they grow, 

 the more tender they will be ; and the 

 deeper their colour, the more they are 

 esteemed. Native of the sea coast of the 

 southern parts of'Europe. B. cicla, white 

 garden beet, seldom grows larger than a 

 man's thumb ; the stalks grow erect, and 

 have oblong, spear-shaped leaves, grow- 

 ing close to the stalk ; the spikes of the 

 flowers are axillary, long, and have nar- 

 row leaves placed between the flowers. 

 The lower leaves are thick and succulent, 

 and their foot-stalks are broad. For 

 these it is cultivated ; the leaves being 

 boiled as spinach, or put into soups, and 

 the stalks and midrib of the leaf being 1 

 stewed and eaten as asparagus. 



A large variety of this has lately been 

 introduced from abroad, under the title 

 of root of scarcity. It is much cultiva- 

 ted in many parts of the continent, not 

 only in gardens, but in the fields ; being 

 much more in esteem, and perhaps really 

 better than with us, where it seems to de- 

 generate. The leaf and root are said to 

 be excellent food for man and beast : it is 

 affirmed not to be liable to destruction by 

 insects ; nor to be affected by drought. 

 The leaves are recommended as equal in 

 quality to spinach, and, being from thirty 

 to forty inches long, and from twenty -two 

 to twenty-five broad, exceed it greatly in 

 quantity. They may also be gathered 

 every twelve or fifteen days during the 

 season. We are told, in the Gentleman's 

 Magazine, that three varieties appeared 

 from seeds procured from Dr. Lettsom. 

 1. With leaves and stem dark green, 

 which was the most common. 2. With 

 stem and leaves of a lighter colour, which 

 he takes to be the white beet. 3. With 

 stem and veins of the leaves red, which 

 he says is the red beet. All of them have 

 flowers in clusters, from two to three ; 

 pistils from two to five ; a leaf growing 

 from the base of the flowers ; the seg- 

 ments of the calyx equal, hunched, and 

 membranaceous at the edge ; few plants 

 flowering the first yeaiv he concludes it to 

 be biennial, as indeed all the garden sort? 



