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BER 
yellowness is owing to its admixture with 
oil. This acid is contained in styrax and 
balsam of Tolu, giving them the characters 
of true balsams. It is likewise met with, 
but more sparingly, in several fragrant 
barks, resins, and other vegetable matters. 
It generally appears in its proper character 
when these substances are moderately heat- 
ed; or it may be extracted with lime. Ben- 
zoic acid, or, as it is called in the shops, 
flowers of Beniamin, is the chief ingredient 
of the celebrated “ pomade divine,” of which, 
according to Dr. Beddoes, the composition 
is as follows : 
oz. 
Beef marrow... 12 
steeped in water ten 
days, and afterwards in 
( rose-water 24 hours. 
Flowers of Ben-') 
jamin..... i 0 f eac jj i an ounce. 
Pounded storax [ 2 
Florentine orris J 
Cinnamon \ ounce. 
Clove & nutmeg \ ditto. 
The whole to be put iu an earthen vessel, 
closely covered down to keep in the fumes, 
and being suspended in water made to boil 
three hours. After which the whole is to be 
str ained and put in bottles. 
BERBERIS, barberry, in botany, a genus 
of the Hexandria Monogynia class and or- 
der. Essential character : calyx six-leaved ; 
petals six, with two glands at the claws ; 
style none ; berry two-seeded. There are 
four species, of which B. vulgaris, is a shrub 
rising to the height of eight or ten feet. It is 
a native of eastern' countries, and found in 
most parts of Europe, in woods, coppices, 
and hedges. In England, chiefly in a chalky 
soil, as particularly about Saffron Walden in 
Essex. The leaves of this shrub are grate- 
fully acid. The smell of the flowers is of- 
fensive when near, but pleasant at a certain 
distance. The berries are so very acid that 
birds seldom touch them. They are pickled, 
and used for garnishing dishes ; and being 
boiled with sugar, form a most agreeable 
jelly. The roots boiled in lye yield a yellow 
colour; and in Poland they dye leather of a 
fine yellow with the bark of the root. The 
inner bark of the stems also will dye linen 
of a fine yellow with the assistance of alum. 
Insects of various kinds are remarkably fond 
of the flowers of barberry. Linnteus ob- 
served long since, that when bees in search 
of honey touch the filaments, the anthers 
approximate to the stigma, and explode the 
pollen. Dr. Smith has given the following 
particular account of this curious phenome- 
BER 
non. The stamens of such flowers as are 
open bend back to each petal, and shelter 
themselves under their concave tips. No 
shaking of the branch has any effect upon 
them ; but if the inside of the filaments be 
touched with a small stick, they instantly 
spring from the petal, and strike the anther 
against the stigma. The outside of the fila- 
ment has no irritability, nor has the anther 
itself any; as may easily be proved by 
touching either of them with a blunt needle, 
a fine bristle, a feather, or any thing which 
cannot injure the structure of the part. If 
a stamen be bent to the stigma, by means 
of a pair of scissars applied to the anther, 
no contraction of the filament is produced. 
From all this it is evident, that the spring of 
the stamens is owing to an high degree of 
irritability in the side of the filament next 
the germ, by which, when touched, it con- 
tracts, that side becomes shorter than the 
other, and consequently the filament is bent 
towards the germ. This irritability is per- 
ceptable in all ages ; in flowers only so far 
expanded as to admit a bristle ; and in old 
flowers ready to fall off. If the germ be 
cut off, the filaments will still contract, and 
nothing being in their way, will bend over 
quite to the opposite side of the flower. 
After irritation, the stamens will return to 
their original place. On being touched, 
they will contract with the same facility as 
before ; and this may be repeated three or 
four times. The purpose which this contri- 
vance of nature answers is evident. In the 
original position of the stamens the anthers 
are sheltered from rain by the concavity of 
the petals. Thus probably they remain, till 
some insect coming to extract honey from 
the base of the flower, thrusts itself between 
the filaments, and almost unavoidably 
touches them in the most irritable part : 
thus the impregnation of the germ is per- 
formed ; and as it is chiefly in fine sunny- 
weather that insects are on the wing, the 
pollen is also in such weather most fit for 
the purpose of impregnation. 
BERCKHEYA, in botany, a genus of the 
Syngenesia Frustranea class and order. 
Receptacle chaffy; seeds hairy, crowned 
with chaff ; calyx imbricate ; florets of tire 
ray hermaphrodite, with the stamina cas- 
trate. There are more than 20 species na- 
tives of the Cape. 
BEREANS, in church history, a sect of 
Christians who profess to follow the example 
of the ancient Bereans, in building their 
faith and practice upon the scriptures alone, 
without regard to any human authority 
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