BEN 



The alms-lioufe was built and amply endowed by Sir Juhn 

 Strode of Paniham, knt. 



In this town are one annual fair, a weekly market on 

 Thurfday, and two annual public Tales for cattle, cheefe, &c. 



About one mile fouth of B;miiifter is Parnham, an ancient 

 manfion belonging to Sir William Oylander, bart. At Eaft- 

 AxnoUer, in this neighbourhood, is a hill of the fame name, 

 whence iiTue three fprings, which are the fources of the 

 rivers Axe, Birl, and Simene. Hutchins's Hiftory of Dor- 

 fetfhire, vol. i. 



BEMMEL, William Va\, in BiogrnpLv, a painter of 

 hndfcapes, was born at Utrecht in 1630, and after having 

 been a difciple of Herman Sachtleven, vifited Rome for the 

 improvement of his tafte and knowledge. His colouring is 

 lively and natural, but fometimes inclining too much to green ; 

 his figures, fuch as boats, barges, and other vefiels, intro- 

 duced on the rivers or llationed near the banks, are well dc- 

 ligned, and touched with fpirit. The lights and Ihadows of 

 his landfcapes are diftributed with fingular (l<ill, and his (Icies 

 are ufually clear, warm, and natural. He died in 1703. Pilk- 

 ington. 



BEMNASIR, in Geography, a town of Perfia, in the 

 province rf Kerman ; 140 miles S. E. of Sirgian. 



BE^fOL, Fr. B-molle, //<;/. in Gimdo's Scale of 

 Miifc, implies B flat, the 4th of the key of F natural, and 

 the moUe hexachord. 



In early times of counterpoint, before tranfpofed kevs were 

 ufed, i. e. keys difterent from the authentic and plagal 

 modes, (fee Ecclesiastical Modes), the 4th of a ma- 

 jor key, defcendiiig, and 6th of a minor key, were under- 

 llood to be flat, and the 7th, afcending, fliarp, w itliout be- 

 ing marked. And though two of the modes are in tlic ktv 

 of D minor, and two in F major, all which require one flat at 

 the clef, and two in E minor, and two in G major, each 

 requiring a (harp at the clef, they were left to the divination 

 of the finger, without charadtcrs of indication. See Hexa- 

 chord and Mode. 



The Abbe Feyton, in fpeaking of thefe mvfteries, mud 

 be allowed to have exercifed fcience and ingenuity, yet, it 

 is to be feared, that the young ftudent will be more puzzled 

 and perplexed than enlightened by his fubtilities in this 

 article. 



BEM-PosTA, in Geography, a fmall town of Portugal 

 in the province of Tras-los-Montes, containing about 400 

 inhabitants. 



BEN, Been, or Behen, Oil of, is a fine inodorous and 

 jnfipid fixed oil, procured from the Ben nut, (Glans Unguen- 

 tarius, Balanos Murepfiki) the fruit of the Guilandina 

 Blor'inga. 



The oil of Ben is prepared in the Levant, in Egypt, Svria, 

 and alio in Italy, by txprtflion of the nut. GtofFroy gives 

 the quantity of oil procured to be 30! ounces from about 8 

 pcninds of the nut. The o\\ is valuable on account of its 

 great purity, and freedom fi-om fmell andtaite; hence it may 

 be kept for a long time witliout altering, or becoming in any 

 degree rancid and acrimonious. On this account it is not 

 difpofed to become diying, like fo many of the other fixed 

 oil?. It is uicd very largely in perfumery as a bafis or ve- 

 hicle into which the art of the perfumer is able to infufe the 

 fine fragrant fcent of various delicate flowers, that do not 

 of themlclves retain a fufficient bafis in which to fix their 

 fcent. Thus a great proportion of the oily eflences of the 

 ftiops are only perfumed oil of ben, and the fcenting matter 

 (which is probably a very minute quantity of eflential oil) 

 may be again fcpaiated from the oil of ben, bv means of al- 

 cohol. The method of preparing this perfumed oil we have 

 defcribed under the article Aroma. 



Tlie unaltcrability of this oil would render it the moll va- 

 VOL. IV. 



BEN 



luable fubftance for cerates or liniments in pharmacy, were 

 it lufficicntly common. It is aftually employed for this pur- 

 pofe in many parts of Italy. 



Ben Dubh, in Geography, a mountain of Ireland, fitvate 

 partly in King's county, and partly in the county of Tip- 

 perary ; 16 miles weft: of Kilkenny. 



Ben Cruachnn, a fohtary mountain of Scotland, in Ar- 

 gylefhire, the elevation of which is 3300 feet above the fea. 



Ben Levagh, a mountain of Ireland, in the county of 

 Galway ; 4 miles S. W. of Rofs, 



Ben Lames, Ben Lcdy, Bin Lomonif, Ben More, Ben 

 Verlich. See Grampian Hills. 



Ben h'evis, or Benevie, a mountain of Scotlandin the 

 Highlands, reckoned to be the higheft mountain in Great Bn- 

 tain, being eftimatcd at 4370 feet above the level of the fea, 

 and yet not much above the quarter of the height of Mount 

 Blanc. It is fituated in the parifh of Kilmalie, Inverncff- 

 fliire. This extraordinary mountain has never been fuffi- 

 ciently inveftigated by any mineralogifl ; but Mr. Williams 

 fays, that it confifts molily of porphyry "of a reddifli caft, 

 in which the pale rofe, the blueifh, and yellowifli white co- 

 lours are finely blended, and fliadcd through the body of 

 the fl;one." Many fpecimens of green porphyry are alfn 

 intermixed, with angular fpecks of white quartz. A red 

 granite alio prevails, which contains a vein of lead ore 

 impregnated witii filver. On the north-ea!\ fide this moun- 

 tain prefents a precipice nearly perpendicular, and of a 

 prodigmus height, being by fome accounts 1 500 feet. The 

 view from the i'ummit is gra:id, exhibiting mofl. of the well- 

 ern iflands, froni the paps of Jura to the hills of CuUen in 

 Skey; 011 the eaft it extends to Ben Lawres in Pcrthlhire, 

 and tlie river Ncfs ; and the extent of view is r.'.jout 80 

 miles. The fuperior half of the mountain is almoll defl:itute 

 of vegetation. The fummit is flat, with a gentle acclivitv. 

 Snow remains in the crevices throughout the year ; but 

 here are no glaciers, nor other magnificent Alpine features. 

 Drumalban, the " Dorfum Britannia, "^ of the old wiiter., 

 feems to be Ben Nevis, with the high defert moor of Ra- 

 naal, extending 20 miles to the eaft of that mountain. To 

 the north-weft of Ben-nevis is the lonj; mountain of Coi-ria- 

 rok, near fort Auguitus, over which a military road has been 

 formed in a zigzag direftion. Near the foot of this moun- 

 tain arifes the rapid river Spey, and various other ftreams, 

 all running to the weft. Sinclair's Account of Scotland, 

 vol. viii. Williams's Natural Hiftory of the Mineral King- 

 dom. 



Ben IVev'is, a mountain of Scotland in the Highlands, oa 

 the weft of Rofsfliire, eftimated at 3720 feet in height. 



Several other mountains of Scotland are diftinguiflied by 

 the appellation B.:i, in conjunAion with foir.e other word. 



BENABARRI, or Benavarri, a valley, and a place 

 of the fame name, feated among the Pyrenees in the province 

 of Aragon, in Spain, on the frontiers, of Catalonia. N. lat. 

 41° 55 ■. E^ long. o°4o'. 



BENAC, a town ot France, in the department of the Ille 

 and V'illaine, and chief place of a canton in the diilrirt of 

 Redon ; 84 leagues S. of Rennes. 



BEN-A1>I, a populous town of Egypt, between Mon- 

 falat and Affiiit, or Sic.;;t. Thefe three places, with Girgc, 

 conllitute the chief marts of the trade of Upper Egypt. 



BEN A MEN IL, a town of France, in the department 

 of the Meurtc, and chief ))lace of a canton in the diftriel 

 of LnneviJle ; ii leagues eail of Luiieville. 



BENARES, a foubah or province of Hindoftan, bounded 

 on the nortli and norlh-weft by Oude, on the eaft by Bahar, 

 and on the fouth and weft by Allahabad. Thisdiftrift is 

 about i2omiles long, and 100 broad; and contains, wit li itsde- 

 jicndencies, 12,761 Iquart Britiflt miles ; its foil is fertile, and 

 Z the 



