BEL 
B E Z 
times of a white colour variegatedwlth yellow; and, 
at others, of a yellow ftreaked v/ith black lines, 
after the nnanner of fnails, 
BEL-LOWS-FISH. This animal, to which 
fome naturalifts give the r^ame of the trumpet-fifh, 
is about four inches long, and an inch and a half 
broad; it is covered with rough fcales, and has a 
long fnout almoft equal to a third part of it's whole 
body; the eyes are large, and their irides white; and 
on the back rifes a very fcrong fpine of a great 
length, to which there is a correfpondent furrow 
on the back part. 
BELLU^. The fixth order of the mamma- 
lia; the characters of which are, that their fore- 
teeth are obtufely truncated, their feet hoofed, their 
Hvalk heavy, and their food vegetables. The ge- 
nera of the horfe, hippopotamus, hog, and rhino- 
ceros, belong to this order. 
BELUGA, A large fifh of the fturgeon kind, 
called by Artedi accipenfcr tuberculis carens. This 
fifli greatly refembies the flurgeon in fhap-e, except 
that it's fnout is fliorter and thicker; and from it's 
roe or Ipawn that delicious compofition called ca- 
viar is made. In the Wolga, this fifh is very com- 
mon, as well as very large; particxilarly near the city 
of Aftracan, where fome Belugae have been caught 
meafuring thirty-fix feet in length and eighteen in 
circumference, and have yielded two hundred weight 
of caviar. It is alfo found in the Don and other 
rivers ; and likewife in the Baltic and Cafpian feas. 
This fifh is farther remarkable for producing a 
calculus, or ftone, called the Beluga ftone, which 
is found in both fexes, but moH commonly in the 
male: however, it is far from being common; for 
in a thoufand fifhes there is not fometimes found a 
fingle ftone. In what part of the fifh this ftone is 
fituated, is uncertain; but it is very evident that it 
is no natural part of the animal, but only a morbid 
concretion, like the bezoar ftone, in the animal 
■which produces them, or the calculus in human 
bladders. This ftone is of various fhapes and fizes, 
which is probably owing to it's fituation, as well as 
to other external caufes; but it is ufually either 
globular or oval: it is of a yellowifti white co- 
lour; of a linooth and naturally-polifhed fur- 
face ; generally from the fize of a pigeon's egg to 
that of a goofe ; tifually compaft, ponderous, and 
folid; not friable, but requiring confiderable 
ftrength to break it; and alfo eafily yields to the 
law, though this inftrument defaces it's internal 
texture, which is naturally very elegant and regu- 
lar. The Beluga ftone confiiis of feveral concen- 
tric coats, firmly adhering to each other, and in- 
clofing a nucleus, which generally appears to be 
fome heterogeneous fubftance. Being compofed 
of regular and even ftrije, running from the centre 
to the circumference, and reprefenting, both in co- 
lour and form, the flakes of the terra foliata tar- 
tari, or the ftriated fpiculze of antimony ; it is, on 
thefe accounts, very different from ail other ftones 
of the kind. 
If the Beluga ftone be fcraped to a powder, anjd 
fprinkled on hot iron, it emits a faint urinous fmell, 
and calcines into a light, infipid, greyifti earth. 
The natives on the banks of the Wolga efteem it 
very highly for it's many falutary qualities, parti- 
cularly that of promoting delivery ; and by them it 
is conft-antly prefcribed in cafes of the ftone and 
diforders of the urinary parts. 
BELULA BOS. A name given by Paulus 
Jovius to that fpecies of the ray-fifh called by the 
ancient Greek and. Rcoaan writers bos marinusj 
and, by the moderns, raia oxyn^nchus ; and is diftirt- 
guiflied by Artedi under the name of the variegated 
ray with ten prickly tubercles on the middle of the 
back. 
BELSEBUL. a fpecies of the fimia, with a 
bearded black tail." 
BEMETRE. a name given by the Brazilian 
Portuguefe to a greenifh black-bird of the ftaiiing 
kind, which is very common in that country, and 
called by the natives pitangua-guacu. 
BENLOIA. a name by which tlie Swedes, 
diftinguifli that fpecies of the cyprinus whicii we 
call the bleak ; and is the aiburnus of naturalifts. 
BENNET-FISH. This fifli is a native of the 
African feas, and is frequently caught near the 
Cape of Good Llope: it is nearly as long and 
thick as a man's arm ; and v/eighs from fix to eight 
pounds. It makes a very beautiful appearance, 
having large fcales of a deep purple colour, ftreaked 
with gold J the eyes are red; the mouth is fmall, 
and without teeth ; near the gills there are tw,a 
fins of a gold-colour ; the tail is red, and looks like 
a pair of fciffars when opened ; the fcales are tranf- 
parent, the flcin, Vviien they are removed, appearing 
of a fine Ihining purple colour; the flefli is red, 
and divided into flakes by a fort of membrane; and, 
though fomewhat dry and hard, it is nevcrthelels 
well-tafted, and eafily digefted. 
BERFISCH. A German name for the com- 
mon perca, or perch. 
BERGANDER. An appellation given by 
fome naturalifts to the flieil-drake, or buiTOugh.- 
duck, a very beautiful fpecies of that fowl comm.on 
on the coafts of Lancaflnire ; but it's flefli is by no 
means palatable. 
BERLUCCIO. A fmall bird of the hortula, 
nus kind, ftrongly refembling the yellow-hammer, 
but fomewhat fmaller and longer-bodied. 
BEROE. A marine animal found on the Bri- 
tifti coafts, of a gelatinous, tranfparent nature, and 
of an oval or fpherical form, from half an inch to 
an inch in diameter, divided like a melon into lon- 
gitudinal ribs, each furnifhed with rows of minute 
fins, by means of which this creature, like the ani- 
malia infliforia, can fwim in all diredtions with 
great facility. 
Linn^us has joined the Beroe to the volvox, one 
of the animalia infuforia. 
BERUS.. A fpecies of the coluber. 
BEZOAR GOAT. An animal found in Afia 
Minor, and feveral other countries; to which 
Buffbn gives the appellation of the pafan, and 
makes it a fpecies of garelle. It has fmooth black 
horns, fharply ridged on their upper parts, and 
hollowed on their exterior fides; thefe horns, v\'hich 
are clofe at their bafes, are about a foot diftant in their 
wideft parts, and their length is about three feet: 
on the chin there is a large dulky beard, mixed 
v/ith chefnut; the fore-part of the head is black, 
the fides being mixed Avith brown ; and the reft of 
the animal is grey, or grey mixed with ferruginoi.is. 
From the neck to the tail, along the ridge of the 
back, there is a black lift; and the tail is likewife 
black. 
Though this animal, in form and agility, re- 
lembles the ftag, Monardus compares it to the he- 
goat; and aflTerts that it's feet are the fame with thole' 
of the goat. 
The Bezoar Goat is one of thofe animals which 
yields that once valued alexipharmic the Bezoar- 
ftone, a concretion formed of many coats encruft- 
ing a nucleus of heterogeneous matter found in 
the 
