B E R 
quite to the oppofite fide of the flower. After irritation, 
the ft aniens will return to their original place. On being 
touched they will contrail; with the fame facility as before: 
and this may be repeated three or four times. The' pur- 
pofe, which this curious contrivance of nature anfwers, is 
evident. In tiie original pofition ot the ftamens, the an¬ 
thers are ftieltered from rain by the concavity of the pe¬ 
tals. Thus probably they remain, till Come infeit, com¬ 
ing to extrait honey from the bale of the flower, thrufts 
it (elf between the filaments, and almoft unavoidably touches 
them in the molt irritable part: thus the impregnation of 
the germ is performed ; and, as it is chiefly in fine funny 
weather that infeifs are on the wing, the pollen is alfo in 
fuch weather moll fit for the purpofe of impregnation. 
This Ihrub lias lately acquired an ill name for a very mi(- 
chievons eft'eit, which, if true, fnoujd induce every huf- 
bandman to extirpate it from the vicinity of his corn-lands. 
It is affirmed, that ears of wheat which grow near it never 
fill, and that ils influence in this refpeift has been known to 
extend three or four hundred yards. Mr. Macro, a very 
refpeftable farmer at Barrow in Suffolk, planted a bar¬ 
bel ry bufti in his garden, .on purpofe toafeertain tiie faff. 
He fet wlieat round it three fuccceding years, and it was 
all fo completely mildewed, that the bell of-the little grain 
it produced was only about tiie fize.of thin rice, and that 
without any flour. He adds, that fovne, which he fet on 
the oppofite fide of his garden one of the years, produced 
very good grain, although tiie ftraw was a little mildewed. 
There are other accounts from practical men correfponding 
with this of Mr. Macro’s. We can fcarcely however yield 
otir affent to an appearance fo ftfange and lo wholly unac¬ 
countable, till the fact has been examined more accurately. 
The barberry is fo common in the hedges about Saffron 
Walden in Effex, and-many miles round that place, where 
corn grows frequently up to the very edge, that we can 
fcarcely fuppofe fuch an interefting effeft to have efcaped 
obfervation. The celebrated Duhamel long fince looked 
upon the mildewing power of barberry as totally void of 
foundation ; and M. Brouflonet, who has bent his atten¬ 
tion particularly to agriculture, allures us of the fame 
thing, from his own obfervation. 
2. Berberis cretica, or Cretan or box-leaved barberry : 
peduncles fubumbelled ; fpines triple. This never rifes 
more than three or four feet high in England. It fends 
out many ftalks from the root, which are ftr'ongly armed 
with fpines at every joint; the leaves are produced with¬ 
out order, and are fhaped like thofe of the narrow-leaved 
box-tree ; the flowers come out front between the leaves, 
each upon a flender peduncle, but thefe are not fucceeded 
by fruit in England. Native or the ifland of Crete or Can- 
dia, and alfo of Japan. Cultivated in 1759, Mr. 'Mil- 
ler. It flowers in April and May. 
3. Berberis ilicifolia, or holm-leaved barberry : leaves 
obovate, ferrate-fpinous ; pedicles elongated, cymofe ; 
fpines digitate. Leaves ftiff, on very fliort petioles, quite 
entire at the bafe, but having two or three ferratures on 
each fide towards ‘the middle, and terminated by a (pine, 
as is alfo the point of the leaf, very fmooth, and more glau¬ 
cous beneatlu Found in the Terra del Fuego by Sparr- 
rna.n. The inhabitants there ufe the wood for bows, on 
account of its great elafticity. 
4. Berberis Sibirica, or Siberian barberry : peduncles 
one-flowered, folitary, nodding ; fpines palmate. This is 
a final 1 fhrub, fcarcely a fpan in height. Branches nume¬ 
rous, ftiff, upright, covered with a grey or dirty yellow 
bark, except at the ends, which are green. Native of 
Siberia, where it was obferved by Pallas. 
Propagation and Culture. The common fort is generally 
propagated by fuckers, which are put out in great plenty 
from the root; but thefe plants are very fubject to fend 
out fuckers in greater plenty than thofe which are pro¬ 
pagated by layers; therefore the latter method fhould be 
preferred. The beft time for laying down the branches is 
in the antum’i, when their leaves begin to fall; the young 
fhoots of the fame year are the beft for this purpofe; thefe 
VO ly. II. No. UO, 
B E R 90l 
will be well rooted by the next autumn', when (hey may 
be taken off, and planted where they are deiigned to re¬ 
main. Where this plant is cultivated for its fruit, it 
fhould be planted Angle, (not in hedges, as was the old 
practice,) and the fuckers every autumn taken aw 
and all the grofs fhoots pruned out: by this method the 
fruit will be much fairer, and in greater plenty,, than up- 1 
on thofe .which are fullered to grow wild. A few of thefe 
fit rubs may be allowed to have place in wilderneffes, or 
plantations of (limbs, where they will make a prettv va¬ 
riety, and the fruit will be food for the birds; but they 
(Would not be planted in great quantities, near walks which 
are much frequented, becaufe their flowers emit a very 
ftrong difagreeable odour. The Canada fort was more 
common in the Englifh gardens fome years paft, than at 
prefent. This may be propagated in the fame way as the 
common fort, and is equally hardy. The box-leaved fort 
is at prefent very rare in England; and while young, the 
plants, being fomewhat tender, are killed by fevere frofl. 
This fort may be propagated by laying down the branches 
in the fame-manner as the (irft; but when the young plants 
are taken off, they fhould be planted in pots, and (heltered 
undera frame in the winter, till they have obtained ftrength, 
when they may be turned out of the pots, and planted iu 
a warm fituation. 
BER'BI, a town of Africa, on the Ivory coaft. Lat. 4. 
30. N. Ion. t 2. 30. W. Ferro. 
BER'BICE, a river of South America, in the country 
of Surinam, which gives name to a Dutch fettlement, in 
which are cultivated cotton, indigo, &c. This fettlement 
was taken by the Englifh in 1781 ; but it was foon after 
retaken by the French, and reftored to the Dutch. In 
179 6 it was again taken by the Englifh. The river runs 
into the Atlantic, lat. 6. 30. N. 
BERBU'DA. See Barbuda. 
BER'BURG, a town of the Netherlands, in the duchy 
of Luxemburg: twelve miles north-eafl of Luxemburg. 
BER'C AD, a town of Poland, in the palatinate of Bra- 
claw, near the Bog : fifty-two miles fouth-fouth-eaft of 
Braclaw. 
BERCA'RIA, Berqjjeria, or Bericeria ,_/1 [The 
word is abbreviated from berbicaria ; of berbex, detorted 
from vervex. Hence alfo a fhepherd was denominated ber~ 
bicarius and berquarius.~\ In middle-age writers, denotes a 
- ftieep-fold, fheep-cote, fheep-pen, or other inclofure for 
the Cafe keeping, a flock of fheep. 
BER'CHEM, a town of Brabant: four miles fouth-weft 
of Raveftein. 
Berchem, or Bergen, a town of Germany, in the 
circle of Weftphalia, and duchy of Juliers: nine miles 
eaft of Juliers. 
BERCHEROI'T, or Bericoits,/ A weight ufed at 
Archangel, and in all the Ruffian dominions, to weigh 
fuch merchandizes as are heavy and bulky. It is about 
3641b. Englifh averdupois weight. 
BER'CHETT (Peter j, an eminent hiftory-painter, born 
in France in 1659, and at the age of eighteen was employed 
in the royal palaces. He came to England in 1681, and 
was fent by king William to the palace he was building at 
Loo, where he was employed fifteen months. We are 
informed by Mr. Walpole, that he painted the ceiling of 
the chapel of Trinity-college, Oxford, the (lair-cafe at the 
duke of Schomberg’s in Pall-mall, and the iummer-houfe 
at Ranelagh. His drawings in the academy were much 
approved. Towards the clofe of his life he retired to 
Marybonne, where he painted fmall pieces of fabulous 
hiftory, and died in January 1720, 
BERCH'TOLDSDORF, or Petersdorf, a town of 
Germany, in the archduchy of Auftria : fix miles fouth- 
weft of Vienna. < ,* 
BERCHTOLDSGA'DEN, or Berchtesgaden, a 
provoflfhip and principality of Germany, in'the circle of 
Bavaria, environed in the archbifttopric of Salzburg, but 
exempt from the jurifdiflion of that fee, and only (object 
to the pope. It is wholly mountainous, and contains two 
io U towns 
