BEL 



tite : it is remarkable, however, that Deluc { Journal de 

 Iliyliq. vol. hi. p. 360.) altogether denies the exillciice of 

 this perforation. Every paries in the alveolus fei-ves as the 

 bafe of a conoidal lamina ; the number of thefe laft, there- 

 fore, is equal to that of the cells of the alveolus. 



It often happens that the alveolus of the belemnite is found 

 detached from the other part of the foffiii and in tliis ftate it 

 has been confidered as a peculiar fpecies of orthoceratite ; 

 while the conoidal cale, deprived of this charafteriftic part, 

 has been fuppofed to be a mere Ualaftite, or a petrified tooth 

 of the grampus, or a fpine of a fpecies of echinus, or even of 

 vegetable origin. 



M.Deluc, denying the perforation of the alveolus, confiders 

 the belemnite as a bone belonging to an unknown aninial 

 analogous to the fepia, or cuttle-fifh, apparently, however, 

 without much reafon. 



The belemnite has never been met with but in a fuflil ilate ; 

 it occurs not unfrequently in marble, limcltone, and chalk 

 ilrata, together with other marine remains ; and detached 

 fragments are often found in the gravel beds that cover or 

 adjoin thtfe Ilrata. 



The fmeft Englilh fpecimens have been procured from the 

 chalk pits of Oxfordlhire ; the quarries of Meudon near Paris 

 contain^ many perfedl and beautiful varieties ; but the largcll 

 fpecies come from the Margraviate of Anipach in Pruflia. 

 Philof. Tranf. for i 764. Jonrn. de Pliyllque, vols. li. lii. liii. 

 Sehroter's Lithologilches real und Verballenkon, &c. vol. i. 



BELENUS, or Bel in us, in Mythology, a name whicFi 

 the Gauls gave to the fun, which they alio cA\t:^M'tthra ; and 

 as feme fuppofe the fame with the Bual of Scripture, and 

 the Beliis of the AlTyrians. 



Belenus, latinized by the Roman authors, according to 

 Toland, (ulji infra) from " Beal" or " Bealan", was under- 

 ftood by the Gauls and their colonies to denote the fun ; and 

 according to J. Capitolinus (Maximin. c.22), and Herodian 

 (1. 8. c. ^), he was the fame deity with the Apollo of the 

 Greeks and Romans. He was attually denominated Apollo 

 in the infcriptions found at Aquileia, where he was honoured 

 with a peculiar worHiip, under the figure of a young man 

 vithout beard, with rays about his head, and an open wide 

 mouth for uttering oracles. TertuUian (Apolog. c. 23), 

 informs us, that Belenus was the idol-deity of the Norici, 

 and among the Illyrians, Vopifeus fays (Aurelian apud init.) 

 his forms and ornaments were the fame with thofe of the 

 Mithra of the Orientals. The fun, indeed, feems to have 

 been the moll ancient and univerial objedl of idolatrous wor- 

 fhip ; inlomr.ch that perhaps tliere never was any nation of 

 idolaters which did not pay fome kind of homage to this 

 glorious luminary. Accordingly, he was worfliipped by the 

 Gauls and ancient Britons with great devotion under the va- 

 rious appellations of Bel, Belinus, Apollo, Graunius,&c. names 

 winch in their language were expreflive of the nature and 

 propel ties of that viiiblc fountain of light and heat. 'l"o this 

 jllultrious worfhip, thofe finnous circles of Hones, called cairns, 

 or earns, of which there are not a few ilill remaining, feem to 

 have been chiefly dedicated ; where the Dryids kept the fa- 

 crtd fire, the fyuibol of this divinity, and from whence, as 

 they were feated on eminences, they had a full view of the 

 heavenly bodies. The firll day of May was, in the Dniidical 

 litesof worfhip, a great annual feftival in honour of Belenus^ 

 or the lun. On this day prodigious fires were kindled in all 

 their facred places, ar.d on the tops of ail their cairns, and 

 many facrifices were offered to that glorious luminary, which 

 now began to fliine upon them with great warmth and luflre. 

 Of this felUval there are IHU fome vefliges remaining, both 

 in Ireland and in the highlands of Scotland, where the firlt 

 of May, is called " Belttin," i. e. the fire of Bel or Behnus. 



Vol. IV. 



BEL 



Two fuch fires, fays Toland, were' kindled near on? ano- 

 ther on May-eve in every village of the nation, as well 

 throughout Gaul, as in Britain, Ireland, and the adjoin- 

 ing leffer iflands, between which fires the men and bcafts 

 to be facrificed were to pafs ; from whence came the pro- 

 verb " between Bel's two fires," ineaning a ptrfon in a 

 great ftrait, not knowing how to extricate himfelf. One 

 ot the fires was on the cairn ; the other on the ground. 

 On the eve of the firfl day of November there were alfo 

 fuch fires kindled, accompanied with facrifices and feailing. 

 All the people of the country on this eve extinguiPiied their 

 own fires entirely ; and every mafter of a family was reli- 

 gioufly obliged to take a portion of the confecrated fire 

 home, and to kindle the fire anew in his houfe, which for the 

 enfuiug year was to be profjierous. The Celtic nations alio 

 kindled other fires on Midfummcr eve, which are ftill con- 

 tinued, fays Toland, by the Roman catliolics cf Ireland, 

 making them in all their grounds, and carrying flaminc; 

 brands about their corn-fields. This is done hkewife in 

 France, and in fome of the Scottifli ifles. Thefe Midfum- 

 mcr fires and facrifices were intended for obtaining a bleu- 

 ing on the fruits of the earth, now ready for gathering ; 

 as thofe of the firft of May, that they might profperoiifly 

 grow ; and thofe of the laft of Oftober were a thankfgiv- 

 ing for finifhing their harveft. But in all of them regard 

 was had to the leveral degrees of increafe and decreafe 

 in the heat of the fun. Toland's Hift. Druids in his 

 \Vorks, vol. i. p. 69, &c. Henry's Hiih vol. i. p. 156, 

 &c. 



BELERIUM, (Diod.Sic. I. v. c.22,) or Bcler.um. 

 (Ptolem. 1. ii. c. 3,) called alfo by Ptolemy " Antiveflxum" 

 in ylih-ii-nt Geography, is tlse promontory formed by the 

 mofl weflern point of Britain, now known by the name 

 of " Land's End." 



BEI^ESTA, or Bflestat, in Geography, a town of 

 France, in the department of the Aude, and chief place 

 of a canton, in the dillrift of Qnillan, 10 miles well of 

 Q^iillan. 



BELETTE, in Zodogy, a name under which Buffbn 

 defcribcs the common weefel, vmjlelhi iflrca of Gmelin. 



BELEZ, in Geography, a town of South Americ, in 

 Terra Fiima, and province of New Grenada. — Alfo, a 

 river of Spain, which runs into the Mediterranean, between 

 Barcelona and Tarragona. 



BELFAST, a confiderable town of Ifeland, in the county 

 of Antrim, and province of Ulfter, fituate at the mouth of the 

 river Lagan, which feparates it from the county of Down. 

 The town, t>:cept a fmall portion of it, is not elevated more 

 than fix feet above high water mark at fpring tides. Belfafl 

 lough, or the bay of Carrickfergus, into which the Lagan 

 flows, is a fpacious xftuary, a great part of which is left 

 dry every tide, which is the cafe likewife with Straiigford 

 lough, another great xllnary, the neartfl extremity of which 

 is diilant about b> miles S. E. Between Bclfaft and Lough 

 Neagh, which is about 12 miles weft of it, there is a chain of 

 mountains, tlie highefl of which, called Devis, is about 

 1580 feet high. The roots of thefe mountains extend to the 

 neighbourhood of the town. Mr. Arthur Young found tliem 

 to confiflof verv good loam to their fuinmits, and complains 

 of their being neglefted. As tillage, however, is improving 

 in that neighbourhood, it may be fuppolcd that there is no 

 longer caiifc for fuch comjilaint. There was formerly a caftic 

 at Ijelfaft, which fcems to have been a poft of importance, 

 as it was twice taken and dellroyed by the carl of Kildare, 

 lord deputy, in 1503 and 15 12. After the complete reduc- 

 tion of Ireland at the beginning of the 17th century, Belfaft 

 became the property of Sir Arthur Chichefter, afterwards 



T lord 



