B ^ T 



ftiort. Sfam. filaments five, very (hort, in the niidJle 

 of the tube ; antliers heart-ftiaped. Pi^. germ glo- 

 bofe, half-fuperior ; ftyle cylindric, very fliort, permanent ; 

 ftigma obtufc, tuberculated. Per. berrv globofe, fomewliat 

 drj-, oiie-cdlcd, growing to the calyx. 'fcA fevcral, angu- 

 lar, affixed to a columnar receptacle in the bottom of the 

 berry. 



Species, licahotrys nemoralis. Forft. Flor. Auft. 97. A 

 native of the ideof Tanna, in the South feas. 



B^20N'ES, in Geography, the name given by Arrian to 

 an iHand in the Indian ocean, on the other fide of the river 

 Ii:di:s. 



BAER, and Weisse Baer, in Zoology, the names of 

 the Unci: bear, and Polar bear, in " Ridinger's Animah " 



B^RENBEISSER, the Bull Dog, Ridinger. Can}, 

 mol'i[fiis, (Imel. 



BAER.S1US, or Vekesstil, Henry, in Bhgmphy, a 

 mathematician, flonrifhed in the begiiming of tlie fixtteiith 

 century. He was a printer at Louvain, and the author 

 of the following curious mathematical treatifes ; " Tabula 

 perp.'tua Longicudinum acLatitudinum Planetnrum," 1528; 

 " De compofitione et ufu Decretorii Planctaruni," 1530 ; 

 •' De compofitione et ufu Quadrantis," 1537. Moreri. 



BaERS FRAT, a painter of fea-ports, fea-fliores, and 

 fifh, was an eminent mafter, whofe works were much 

 efteemed, though the place and time of his nativity are 

 unknown. His pictures are eafily diftinguilhtd bv a 

 general brightnefs diiFufcd through the whole, and particu- 

 larly in his llvics. His drawing was correft, and his perfpec- 

 tive true ; he copied every objeft from nature, and was exaft 

 in his reprefcntations of fea-ports, (hips of war, and vef^jls 

 of a fmalltr fize, which he diftributed with judgment, fo as 

 to produce a very pleafing efFeft. His pencil is light and 

 clean, his touch fpirited, and his colouring always tranf- 

 parent ; and he- generally finifhed his piCiures vei-y neatly. 

 He died in 1687. Pilkington. 



ByERUS, in Ancient Geography, a town of Macedonia. 

 Ptolemy. 



B^SAMPSA, a town fituated in the Arabian g\\\i, 

 fuppofed by fome interpreters to be the fame with the 

 Bcth-Shemefh, or the houfe of the fun, mentioned by 

 Jodina. 



BjESIPPO, a town of Spain, fituate about twelve miles 

 from B.clon, and at a fom.ewhat lefs diftance cailward from 

 the promontory of Juno. Anton. Itin. 



B/ETANA, a town of India, on this fide the Ganges, 

 feattd on the river Nauaguna, and faid by Ptolemy to be 

 the capital and refidence of the Siropokmii. 



ByETERRiE, Beziers, a town, which was a Roman 

 colony, fituite in Narbonnenfis Prima, a fouthern province 

 of Gaul, at a fmall diftance northeaft from Narbo. It 

 was the llation of the veterans of the I'cventh legion, who 

 built two temples, one dedicated to Auguftus, and another 

 to his daughter Julia. Tiberius alfo adorned this city ; and 

 in the fourth century it was one of the moll confiderable in 

 Gaul. But in the fifth century it was taken by the Vifi- 

 gochs, who demolifhtd its fplendid edifices. It was after- 

 wards re-cllablinied ; but taken pofrefiion ot by tlie Saracens 

 in 736. In the next vtar Charles expelled them, and de- 

 ftroyed the city, fo that they mlight not be able to re-fortify 

 it. 



B^THAUTA, a town of Afia, in Mefopotamia. Pto- 

 lemy. 



B7ETIC A, a province comprehending the fouthern part 

 of Spain, and covrefponding to the prcftnt Andalufia and 

 Gruiada. This was one of the three provinces into which 

 Augullus divided Spain } the other two being Lufitania 



B SL T 



and Tarraconenfis. It derived its name from the river 

 Batis, fince called TarteflTus, and now Guadalqni\ir, or 

 the great river; and was bounded on the \vt(l fide by 

 Lufitania, on the fouth by the Me iterrarean and gulf of 

 Gades, and on the north by the Caniabric fea, now the fca 

 ofBifcay. Its limits towards the north-eaft were flufluat- 

 ing, and cannot be eafily afcertained. The Ba:ti5 divided 

 this province into two parts ; on the one fide of which, 

 towards the Anas, were fituate the Turdetani, whence the 

 kingdom was called Turdctania, but it was better known 

 by the name of B::turia. On the other fide were fituated 

 the Baftuli, Baflitani, and Conteftani, along the Mtditcr- 

 ranean coafts. It was the richeft and the bcil known pro. 

 v:nce of Spiin. It was famous for its wool ; and its ferti- 

 lity was fuch, that its produce, according'to Pliny (1. xviii. 

 c. 10.), was an hu-dred fold. It is well known that the 

 Phoenicians were long ago eftali^llhed on thtfe coafts, zr.d 

 that the Carthaginians had ftltlements in this countrj-. 

 Polybius fpeaks in high terms of the wealth of Bsctica, and 

 of the magnificence of the court of one of its fovereigns. 

 Ba-tica, according to this author, contained 175 cities; of 

 of which eight w re colonies, eight municipal, twenty-nine 

 enjoyed the jus Latii, four were allied, fix free, and 120 

 ftipendiai y or inch as paid taxes. The chief mountains were 

 Marianus, now Sierra Morena, and Orofptda being a part 

 of the prefent Sierra Nevada. The principal rivers were 

 the Anas and Ba;tis ; and the chief towns were Balli, Acci, 

 Eiiberis, Callulo, Corduba, Aftigi, Hifpali>, and Gaccs. 



B7ETIS, now GuADALQj iviR, a river of Spain, in 

 Bstica, which had its fource, according to Pliny, in the 

 mountains called Saltus Fngicnfis ; or to the north-eaft of 

 Orofptda, purfued its cq,urfc towards the well, walhing 

 Collulo, Corduba, and Hifpalis, and difcharged itfclf br 

 many outlets or mouths into the fca. The inhabitaiits of 

 the country called it Cirtium and Certis, and the -Arabs 

 Ciritus, derived, according to Mariana, from the oriental 

 term Lirlath, a town, and denoting the river of towns, on 

 account of the number of thofe which it watered. See 



GuADALCiyiVIR. 



B^ETIUM, the name of a town of Macedonia. 



B.£TIUS, a river of Arabia Felix ^Alfo, a mountain 



of Afia, in Drangiana. Ptolemy. 



BjETULO, a town of Spain, belonging to the Laletani, 

 at a fmall dillance louth-cafi from Barciuo ; now Baddona. 



BiETURIA. See BxTicA. 



BvETUS, in Ichihyology, a name given by Ariilotle and 

 ether of tiie ancient Greeks, to the fi!h called by fome 

 Lntin writers cotlus ; and particularly to one kind fuppofed 

 to be that defcribcd by Linnxus under the name of gobio ; 

 and called the hull-head, or miller^s thumb, in England. 



BiETYLOS, or B^TYLIOK, in ytntiqtlty, a kind of 

 ftones worlhipped among the Greeks, Phrygians, and other 

 nations of the Eail ; inppolcd by fome modem naturalilts 

 to be the fame with our ccraunia, or thundcr-llone. 



The priells of Cybcle carried a bsetylos on their brcaft, 

 reprcfcnting the mother of the gods. 



According to Damafcius, cited by Photius, thcv had many 

 of thcfe b£ct\lia, which were confecrated to diflcrent gods, 

 as Saturn, Jupiter, the fun, &c. Bochart (Chanaan. 1. ii. 

 c. 2. vol. i. p. 70S.} derives the origin of this fuperflitious 

 practice from the ilone which Jacob crcA-d at Bethel. 

 Wlicncefoever the practice was deduced, it was very cxten- 

 five and prevalent ; for in the tallcrn countries no idol was 

 more common than oblong lloncs, which were denominated 

 bv the Greeks xisir,-, pillars. In fome parts of Egypt, 

 they were planted on both fides of their roads. In the 

 temple of Heliogabalus, in Syria, there was oue which they 

 3 M 2 pr«tcr.dcd 



