E E T 
35 i G 
There is a spruceness in its general appearance 
in summer; and in winter its bark often ex- 
hibits, in its variegations of red and white, no 
inelegant object. Were it not so commonly 
seen upon poor soils, and applied to so many 
mean and degrading purposes, the birch 
might well claim a place among the ornamen- 
tal trees. * - 
2. Betula alnus, the alder-tree, will grow 
to a large timber tree, d he aider is of strag- 
gling inelegant growth ; and hacked and dis- 
figured in the manner in which they gene- 
rally are, they have but little effect in effa- 
cing the unsightliness of a swamp, which is 
their natural soil. M herever tire soil is or 
can be made pasturable, the alder should by 
no means be permitted to gain a footing. 
Its suckers and seedlings poison the herbage ; 
and it is a fact well known to the observant 
husbandman, that the roots of the alder have 
a peculiar property, of rendering the soil tiiey 
grow in more moist and rotten, than it would 
be if not occupied by this aqueous plant. 
Plantations of alders should therefore be 
confined to swampy, low, j'.npasturable 
places. In this case the native species ought 
to give place to its more ornamental varieties, 
of which Hanbury enumerates five ; vff. 1. 
the long-leaved, 2. the white, 3. the black, 
4. the hoary-leaved, and 5. the dwarf alder. 
3. Betula lenta, the Canada birch, grows 
to sixty or more feet in height. 'I he leaves are 
heart-shaped, oblong, smooth, of a thin con- 
sistence, pointed, and very sharply serrated. 
They differ in colour; arid the varieties ot 
this species are, 1. dusky Canada birch ; 2. 
white paper birch ; 3. poplar-leaved Canada 
birch, ; 4. low-growing Canada birch, See. 
4. Betula nana, the dwarf birch, w ith 
roundish leaves, grows naturally in the 
northern parts of Europe and on the Alps. It 
seldom rises above two or three feet high. 
It has slender branches with round leaves, 
but seldom produces flowers here. It is pre- 
served in some curious gardens for the sake 
of variety, but is a plant of no use. 
5. Betula nigra, the black \ irginia birch- 
tree, will grow to upwards cf 60 feet in height. 
The branches are spotted, and more sparingly 
set in the trees than the common sorts. The 
leaves are broader, grow on long footstalks, 
and add a dignity to the appearance of the 
tree. As it is naturally of an upright and 
swift growth, and arrives at so great a magni- 
tude, Hanbury thinks it ought to have a share 
among our forest trees, and to be planted for 
the standards in open places, as well as to 
be joined with other trees of its own growth, 
in plantations more immediately designed for 
relaxation and pleasure. There are several 
varieties of this species, differing in the co- 
lour, size of the leaves, and shoots ; such as, 
1. the broad-leaved Virginian birch, 2. the 
poplar-leaved birch, 3. die paper birch, 4. 
the brown birch, &c. 
One method of propagating the foreign 
sorts of birch is from seeds : but they may 
also be propagated by layers ; and this is the 
way to continue the peculiarities in the va- 
rieties of the different sorts. In autumn the 
young shoots should be plashed near the stools, 
and they will strike root, and become good 
plants by the autumn following. 
In some of the northern parts of Europe the 
wood of the w hite birch is much used for mak- 
ing carriages and wheels, being hard and of 
long duration . In France it is generally used 
Y ql. L 
BEZ 
for making wooden shoes, and in Britain for 
making women’s shoe-heels, packing boxes, 
brooms, hoops, &c. It also makes very good 
fuel, and is planted along with hazel to make 
charcoal for forges. 1 he bark ot the birch 
seems in a manner incorruptible. In Sweden 
the houses are covered with it, and it lasts 
manv rears. It frequently happens that the 
wood is entirely rotten, when the bark is per- 
fectly sound and good. In Kamtschatka it 
is used for making drinking cups. It abounds 
with a resinous matter, to which its durability 
is certainly ow ing. In consequence ol this, 
it is highly inflammable: and in the northern 
countries torches are made ot this bark 
sliced and twisted together. The bark itseit 
consists of two dirierent substances ; a 
thick brittle brownish red one ; and several 
very thin, smooth, white, transparent mem- 
branes ; in which the inflammable property 
resides. The thi k part is less resinous, and 
has a roughish taste. It has been thought 
to possess some medical virtues, But concern- 
ing these experience lias as Vet 7 determined 
nothing certain. Upon deeply wounding or 
boring the trunk of the tree in the beginning 
of spring, a sweetish juice issues, sometimes 
in so large a quantity as to equal the weight 
of the whole tree and root; one branch will 
bleed a gallon or more in a day. This juice is 
recommended in scorbutic disorders, and other 
foulnesses of the. blood. Its most sensible 
effect is to promote the urinary discharge. 
By proper fermentation, with the addition of 
sugar, this juice makes a pleasant wine, i he 
bark of the Canada birch is very light, tough, 
and durable; and the inhabitants of America 
use it for canoes. 
BEVEL, among masons, carpenters, join- 
ers, and bricklayers, a kind of square, one 
leg w hereof is frequently crooked, according 
to the sweep of an arch or vault. It is move- 
able on a centre, and so may be set to any 
angle. The make and use of this in- 
strument is pretty much the same as those 
of the common square and mitre, except 
that those are fixed, the first at an angle of 
ninety degrees, and the second at forty-live ; 
whereas the bevel being moveable, it may in 
some measure supply the place of both, 
which it is chiefly intended for, serving to 
set off or transfer angles, either greater or 
less than ninety or forty -five degrees. 
Bevel-angle, any angle except those of 
ninety or forty-five degrees. 
BEVELLING, in ship-building, the art of 
hewing timber with a proper and regular 
curve, according to a mould which is laid on 
one side of its surface. 
BEVILE', in heraldry, a thing broken or 
opening like a carpenter’s rule: thus we say, 
lie beareth argent, a chief bevile, vert, by the 
name of beverlis. 
BEY, among the Turks, signifies a gover- 
nor of a country or town. r i he M urks 
write it begh, or bek, but pronounce it bey. 
BEZANS, cotton cloths, which come 
from Bengal : some are white, and others 
striped with several colours. 
BEZOAR, originally meant an antidote, 
or mqdicine intended to prevent the fatal ef- 
fects of poison. 
Bezoar, oriental, a moderately hard arid 
heavy stone, very variable and uncertain in 
size, shape, and colour. It is generally of a 
round form ; and its size is between that of a 
horse-bean and that of a small walnut, though 
Ec. 
21 / 
there arc some larger, and others smaller 
than peas. The ordinary colour is a duAisli 
olive, or greenish brown. It is always smooth 
and glossy on the surface; and, when broken, 
is found to consist of a great number of coats 
or crusts of stony matter, laid one over an- 
other ; and often formed upon a piece of 
stick, or seed of a fruit, or some such article, 
for a nucleus or basis. r i his is' a drug ot very 
great price, and of very great fame ; but it is 
not of the number of those things that have 
been proved to deserve the repute they stand 
in. It is brought to us from Persia, and many 
parts of the East Indies : it is to be chosen 
entire, not in scraps or fragments; ot a 
greenish or olive colour, with some mixture 
of grey in it ; and such as, when rubbed on 
paper, ’before whitened with ceruss, gives a 
vellowish colour. There is also an occidental 
bezoar, which comes from Mexico. 
Bazaars are generally supposed to be con- 
cretions formed in the stomach or intestines 
of different graminivorous animals ; but it is 
not completely ascertained in what animal 
they are found, or how many species may 
yield them. Dr. Pearson analysed one spe- 
cimen, and found it entirely composed of 
vegetable matter. Several w riters attribute 
very great virtues to the oriental bezoar .; 
but it is probable that if it lias any action at 
all, it is merely that of an absorbent earth, as 
chalk or magnesia. 
BIA, in commerce, a name given by the 
Siamese to those small shells witch are 
called cowries throughout almost all the 
other parts of the East Indies. See Cowrie. 
BICE, or bise, among painters, a blue 
colour prepared from the lapis armenus. 
Bice bears the best body -of all bright blues 
used in" common work, as house-painting, 
&c. but it is the palest in colour. It works’ 
indifferently well, but inclines a little to san- 
dy, and therefore requires good grinding. 
Next to ultramarine, which is too dear to- 
be used in common w oik, it lies best near the 
eve of all other blues. 
BICEPS, in anatomy, the name of se- 
veral muscles. See Anatomy. 
BIDENS, a genus of the syngenesia poly- 
garnia aequalis class and order, and in the na- 
tural method ranking under the 49th order, 
composite oppositifolise.. The receptacle is 
paleaceous ; the pappus has erect scabrous 
awns ; and the calyx is imbricated. Of this 
genus there are fourteen species ; but none of 
them appear to merit notice, except the 
Bidens tripartita, frequently found by the 
sides of rivulets, ditches, and lakes, in Eng- 
land. It grows to the height of two feet; 
and has its leaves divided into three, or often 
five, lobes, with yellow flow'ers. A decoc- 
tion of this plant with alum, dyes yarn of a 
yellow colour. The yam must be first 
steeped in alum-water, then dried and steep- 
ed in a decoction of the plant, and afterw ards, 
boiled in the decoction. 
BIDON, a liquid measure, containing 
about five pints of Paris, that is, about five- 
quarts English wine-measure. It is seldom 
used but among ship’s crews. 
BIENNIAL plants, are those that have' 
two years duration, or that are in their prime 1 
the first and second summers. They consist 
both of esculent and floweiing: plants. 
BIGAMY, in the canon law, is when a. 
person either marries two women succes- 
sively, or only marries one. woman who had; 
