BEL 



fentery, to cover the intcftines from tlieir influence. Hence 

 appears to be a caufe for the frequent iiidigcillons in thefe 

 animals, often fpeedily terminating in death, to which their 

 capacity alfo greatly contributes by receiving too large a quan- 

 tity of food at once. See the article Gripes of Horfts. 



The abdomen of the horfe and ox, and other quadrupeds 

 of this dcfcription, from its vaft fize, hang's below the pa- 

 tella or knee, which occafions the thifh of the horfe to be 

 jnoftly overlooked or taken for fome other part ; the patella 

 or ilifie being the real termination of the thigh in thefe 

 animals. 



In the horfe, the volume of the abdomen is formed by the 

 vaft magnitude and length of the inteftincs, and ajingle fto- 

 mach not very large ; in the cow, on the contrary, the fwel- 

 ling bulk of the abdonien is occafioned hy four large fto- 

 machs, and the inteftinal canal is prrportionably fmall and 

 fliort. The fheep with four ftomachs pcflefTes alfo a vaft 

 length of inteftine. 



Bellv of a 3'Iufcle,\n ^r.nlomy, Aciotes the body thereof, 

 as contradiftingui(hed from the two extremities, or tendons. 

 From the conditions of this, mufcles are divided into mono- 

 gaftric, or fingle-bellied ; and digallric, or double-btllied. 

 Phil. Ti-a.'.f. N^ 258. 



Lower will have all the mufcles to be digaftric, or double- 

 beUied ; in which he is feconded by Hoffman and others. 



BELLY-a'A-TyW, a name given in America to a fpeciesof 

 the Jatropha. 



Belly, Dragon's, venter draconis, is ufed by fome Jljlro- 

 nonars to denote the point in a planet's orbit, wherein it has 

 its greatell latitude, or is fartheft diAant from the ecliptic ; 

 more frequently called its hmit. 



BELMONT, in Geography, a town of France, in the 

 department of the Rhone and Loire, and chief place of a 

 canton, in the diftrict of Roanne, 14 miles ncrth-eaft of Ro- 

 anne. — Alfo, a town of France, in the department of the 

 Aveyron, and chief place of a canton, in the dillricl of St. 

 Afrique, containing about 3000 inhabitants, 9 leagues eaft 

 of Alby. 



BELMONTE, a town of Italy, in the kingdom of Na- 

 ples, and province of Calabria citra, having a caftle on an 

 eminence near the fea, 11 miles W.S.W. of Cofenza. N. 

 lat. 39° 20'. E. long. 16" 50'. — Aifo, a fmall town of Por- 

 tugal, in the province of Beira, and juriidiclion of Correi- 

 930 de Caftello Branco, containing about 1 140 inhabitants, 

 two churches, and a diftrict of two parifhes. 



BELO, or Belon, in Ancient Geography. See B;e- 



LON. 



BELOAR, a name given by fome to a ftone, otherwife 

 called WiDURis. 



BELOMANCY, Belomantia, a kind of divination by 

 ineans of arrows, praftifed in the Eaft, but chiefly among 

 the Arabians, among whom it continued till Mahometanifm 

 prevailed, which abfolutely forbids it. The word is of 

 Greek origin ; compounded of /SsAo;, arroiv, and fj.y.;riiy., 

 dlflnatlon. Beloraancy has been performed in different ways; 

 one was, to mark a parcel of arrows, and put eleven, or 

 more of thsm, into a bag ; thefe were afterwards drawn out ; 

 and according as they were marked, or not, they judged of 

 future events. Thefe arrows rtfem.bled thofe with wl-.ich 

 they call lots, being without heads or feathers, and were 

 kept in the temple of fome idol, in whofe prefence they 

 were confulted. Seven fuch arrows were kept in the tem- 

 ple of Mecca. Another wav was to have three arrows, 

 upon one of which was written, " My lord hath commanded 

 me ;" on another, " My lord hath forbidden me ;" and upon 

 the third, nothing at all. Thefe were put into a quiver, 

 out 01 which tliev drew one of the three ;;t random ; if it 



BEL 



happened to be that with the firft infcription, the thing they 

 confulted about was to be done ; if it chanced to be that 

 with the fecond infcription, it was let alone ; and if it proved 

 to be that without infcription, they drew over again. Thefe 

 divining arrows were generally confulted before any thing of 

 moment was undertaken ; as v\-hen a man was about to many, 

 or to go a journey, or the like. 



Belomancy is an ancient practice, and probably that which 

 Ezekiel mentions, chap. xxi. ver. 21. At leaft St. Jerom 

 underftands it fo, and obferves, that the praftice was fre- 

 quent among the Affyrians and Babylonians. Something 

 hke it is alfo m.entioned in Hofea, chap. iv. only that ftaves 

 are there mentioned iuftead of arrows, which is ratiicr rhab- 

 domancy than belomancy. Grotius, as well as Jtrom, 

 confounds the two together, and fhews that they pre- 

 vailed much among the Magi, Cha!da;ans, and Scythians, 

 whence they paffed to the Sclavonians, and thence to the 

 Germans, who, as Tacitus obferves, made ufe of belo- 

 mancv. 



BLLON, Peter, m Biography, born in the province of 

 Maine about the year 15 18, was an induftriousand ingenious 

 naturalift, efteemed for his learning and talents by Henry 

 II. and Charles IX. of France, and patronifed by the cardi- 

 nal de Tournon, at whofe expence he travelled over Italy 

 and Greece, a great part of Germany, France, England, 

 Paleftine, and Egypt, collefting and examining ever\' where 

 the plants, animals, and minerals properto the places through 

 which he journeyed. On his return, he pubiiflied, in fuccef- 

 fion, the refults of his obfervations and inquiries. The prin- 

 cipal of his works are, " Les Obfervations de plufieurs fin- 

 gularites, et chofes memorables trouvces en Grece, en Afie, 

 Judee, Egypte, Arable, &c." Paris, 1553, 4to. ; an ex- 

 cellent work, Haller favs, and the firft of the kind that had 

 been publifhed from adtual obfervation ; no one before him 

 having travelled fo extenfively for the purpofe of improving 

 natural hiftor)-. It has been frequently reprinted, and a La- 

 tin verfion of it given by Clufius, in 1589. " De arboribus 

 coniferis, refiniferis, aliifqae nonnuliis fempiterr.a fronde vi- 

 rentibus, &c." Paris, 155S. The defcriptions are in ge- 

 neral juft ; the engravings indifferent. He had feen the true 

 cedar of Lebanon. He alfo gave a treatife " On the Me- 

 thod of embalming praftifed by the ancients ;" " On the 

 Defefts in Agriculture ;" " 0:i the Management of Gar- 

 dens," and recommends the introduction of many foreign treei 

 into them, pointing out thofe moll congenial to the climate 

 of France ;" " On Birds ;" and " On Filhes ; with their 

 figures. More he had done ; but he was ftabbed by a rob- 

 ber in 1563, being only about 45 years of age. Haller. 

 Bib. Botan. 



BELONE, in Ichlhyohgy, a fpecies of Esox, having both 

 jav.'s long and fubulate. Linn. This is acus p'jc'ts of Salvian; 

 aetts vulgaris, Ray; and fea-piie, or gar-jijh, oi X.\ii Enghlh. 

 It is fometimes called alfo the fea-need/e. 



The fea-pike inh;ibits all great fcas, and was kr.o\«n both 

 to the Greeks and Romans. It keeps in deep water part 

 of the year, and vihts our coafts in immenfe ihoals in the 

 beginning of the fummer, juil before the mackerel make 

 their appearance. The length of this lifti is ufually from a 

 foot and a half to three feet ; but if the relation of Renard 

 may be depended upon, they are found of the length of 

 eight feet in the eaftern parts of the world. A fi(h of this 

 fpecies has been taken in the Mediterranean, on the 

 coaft of Lifbon, weighing fourteen pounds. In fome coun- 

 tries the filhery for the fea-pike is very conliderable ; in Eng- 

 land they are not inuch efteemed, although the flefh is fcarcc- 

 ly inferior to that of the mackerel. The bone of the back, 

 when the fifli is boiled, is of a bright green colour, from 

 Y 2 which 



