BESSEMER STEEL.

but by the Thomas-Gilchrist modification of the Bessemer process impure ores can now be employed. See IRON.

The various steps in the Bessemer process, as at present conducted, are as follows: Pig-iron is melted either in a cupola or reverberatory furnace, and run in the liquid state into a converting vessel, such as is shown in section in the figure. This converter, or 'kettle,' as it is called in Sheffield, is of wrought-iron, lined either with fire-brick or with a siliceous material called 'ganister,' and is suspended on trunnions, so as to admit of its being turned from an upright to a horizontal position by means of hydraulic apparatus. The capacity of a converter varies from three to ten tons. In the bottom there are seven tuyères, each with seven holes of one half-inch in diameter, through which atmospheric air is blown with a pressure of from 15 to 20 lbs. per square inch by a blowing-engine. The molten iron in the converter is therefore resting, from the first, on a bed of air, the strength of the blast being sufficient to keep it from falling through the tuyères into the blast-way. During the blowing off of the carbon at this stage, a striking and magnificent effect is produced by the roar of the blast, and the volcano-like shower of sparks and red-hot fragments from the mouth of the converter, as well as by the dazzling splendor of the flame. In 15 or 26 minutes, the whole of the carbon is dissipated. This first blow,' being over, the converter is lowered to a horizontal position, and presently a red stream of molten spiegeleisen is run into its mouth, till it amounts to from 5 to 10 per cent. of the whole charge. As already stated, the spiegeleisen restores the proper amount of carbon to produce steel; and after it is added, the blast is again turned on for a few minutes to secure its thorough incorporation. There is a circular pit in front of every two converters, with a hy. draulic piston in its centre, and on its counterpoised arm a large ladle is hung, so that it can sweep the whole circumference. Round this the ingot-molds are arranged, and the hydraulic machinery is so conveniently planned that, simply by moving levers, a man standing on a small platform can empty the contents of the huge converters into the ladle, raise or lower the ladle itself, and turn it round from point to point so as to fill the molds by means of a plug in its bottom. Steel made in this way is not sufficiently dense, and accordingly the molds are lifted off the ingots by means of a hydraulic crane, and the latter removed while still hot, and condensed under heavy steam-hammers. After this, they are rolled into rails, tires, plates, and other heavy objects, for which this steel is suitable. Although, as already said, Bessemer steel will not do for tools and cutting instruments, nor even for such comparatively coarse objects as the springs of railway wagons, yet the great value of the invention is shown by the fact that 800,000 tons of steel are annually made by this process in Great Britain, the number of converting vessels in use being about 120. (For the Thomas-Gilchrist process, see IRON.) Large quantities are manufactured also in Sweden, Russia, Prussia, Belgium, and France. It is likewise extensively

BESTRADDLE-BETAKE.

bě-stöd. BESTOW'AL, n. the act of bestowing; disposal BESTOW'MENT, n. the act of giving or conferring. BESTOW'ER, n. one who.

BESTRADDLE, v. bě-străď'dl: to bestride.

BESTREW, v. bě-stro or bě-strō [AS. be, streówian, to strew: be, and strew]: to scatter or sprinkle over: see STREW.

BESTRIDE, v. bě-striď' [AS. be, stridan, to stride]: to stand with the legs open; to extend the legs across; to stride or step over; to have between one's feet. BESTRI DING, imp. BESTRID, pt. bě-strid', or BESTROD, pt. bě-strōd'. BESTRIDDEN, pp. be-strid'n.

BESTUD, v. bě-stŭd' [be, and stud]: to adorn with studs or shining points. BESTUD'DING, imp. BESTUD, pp.

BESTUSCHEW, běs-tő' shěf, ALEXANDER; abt. 1795-1837, June: Russian novelist; captain in a dragoon regt.; and adjutant to Alexander, Duke of Würtemberg. Having been involved with his friend Rylejew in the conspiracy of 1825, he was degraded to the ranks, and exiled to Yakutzk, but, after long entreaty, permitted to enter the army of the Caucasus as a private, 1830. He was killed in a skirmish with the as yet unconquered mountaineers. Two years before his exile he, together with his friend Rylejew, who was put to death 1825, had published the first Russian almanac, he Pole Star. His later works, consisting chiefly of novels and sketches, written under the name of Cossack Marlinski, excel in depicting the wilder aspects of nature and the excitements of a soldier's life, but fail in the delineation of character, and are often exaggerated, and sometimes absurd. His principal works are the tale of Mullah Nur, and the romance of Ammalath Beg. Several of his novels were translated into German by Seebach (Leipsic, 1837), and his collective works appeared at St. Petersburg in 1840, under the name of Marlinski's Tales. BESURE, ad. bě-shor: certainly.

BET, n. bět [AS. bad; Goth. vadi, a pledge: Scot. wad or wed, a pledge, a bet-from abet, in the sense of backing]: money pledged to be given on an event or circumstance as it may fall out; a wager; that which is pledged on a contest: V. to lay a wager. BETTING, imp. BET'TED, pp. BET TING, a. in the habit of making bets: N. the proposing or laying of a wager. BETTOR, n. one who bets. Note.-BET may be connected with Icel. both, an offer: Scot. bode, a proffer-see Skeat.

BET, a.: see BETT.

BETA, n. bā'tă [Gr.]: second letter of the Greek al phabet.

BETA, n. be'tă [L. bēta, the beet-said to be from a Celtic word, bett, red, in allusion to the red color of the roots]: a genus of plants; the beet-root, or Beta vulgāris, ord. Chenopodiacea.

BETAKE, v. bě-tāk' [AS. betæcan; AS. be, and Icel. taka, to take, to deliver]: to take one's self to; to have

BETANZOS-BETEL.

recourse to; to apply. BETAK'ING, imp. BET OOK, pt. bằ túk'. BETAKEN, pp. bě-tā kn.

BETANZOS, ba-tan' thōs (anciently Brigantium Flavium): town of Spain, province of Corunna, 10 m. s.e. of the city of Corunna. Ancient granite gateways still defend its narrow streets. It has manufactures of linen, leather, and earthenware. Pop. (1877) 8,000; (1887) 8,157.

BETEEM, v. bě-tem [in some senses, be, and teem, to pour forth: in others, Dut. taman or betrman, to become, to be fitting: Icel. tima, to happen]: in OE., to give; to bestow; to afford; to allow; to deign; to endure.

BETEL, or BETLE, n. bet'l [Port. and F. betel: Sp. betle: Sks. patra]: a narcotic stimulant, much used in the east, and particularly by all the tribes of the Malay race. It consists of a leaf of one or other of certain species of pepper, to which the name of betel-pepper is indiscriminately applied, plucked green, spread over with moistened quicklime (chunam), generally procured by calcination of shells, and wrapped around a few scrapings of the areca-nut (see ARECA), Sometimes called the betel-nut, and also known as Pinang. This is put into the mouth and chewed. It causes giddiness in persons unaccustomed to it, excoriates the mouth, and deadens for a time the sense of taste. It is so burning, that Europeans do not readily become habituated to it, but the consumption in the East Indies is prodigious. Men and women, young and old, indulge in it from morning to night. The use of it is so general as to have become matter of etiquette; a Malay scarcely goes out without his betel-box, which one presents to another as Europeans do their snuff-boxes. The chewing of B. is a practice of great antiquity, and can certainly be traced back to at least B.C. 5th c. It gives a red color to the saliva, so that the lips and teeth appear covered with blood; the lips and teeth are also blackened by its habitual use, and the teeth are destroyed, so that men of twenty-five years of age are often quite toothless. There is difference of opinion whether the use of B. is to be regarded as having any advantages to counterbalance its obvious disadvantages. Sir James Emerson Tennent, in his work on Ceylon, expresses the opinion that it is advantageous to a people of whose ordinary food flesh forms no part, and that it is at once the antacid, the tonic, and the carminative which they require.

The name B. is often given to the species of pepper of which the leaves are ordinarily chewed in the manner just described, which are also called B. -PEPPER or PAWN. Some of them are extensively cultivated, particularly Chavica Betle, C. Siraboa, and Č. Malamiri, climbing shrubs with leathery leaves, which are heart-shaped in the first and second of these species, and oblong in the third. They are trained to poles, treliises, or the stems of palms, and require much heat with moisture and shade; upon which account, in the n. of India, where the climate would not otherwise be suitable, they are cultivated with great attention in low sheds, poles being placed for their support at a

BETHANY-BETHESDA.

few feet apart. Hooker mentions in his Himalayan Journal, that these sheds are much infested by dangerous snakes, and that lives are therefore not unfrequently lost in the cultivation of betel.-The genus Chavica is one of those into which the old genus Piper (see PEPPER) has recently been divided. The requisite qualities of B. are probably found in the leaves of numerous species not only of this but of other genera of the same family. The leaf of the Ava (q.v.) is sometimes used.

BETHANY, beth'a-ne: a villaga of Brooke co., W. Va., about 12 m. n.e. of Wheeling, on Buffalo creek, a tributary of the Ohio river. It has several churches, and is the seat of Bethany College, with six to nine professors and over 100 students. This institution was established 1841 by Alexander Campbell, the founder of the sect of Baptists known as 'Disciples.'

BETHANY, beth'a-ne, meaning a boat-house;' called 'Lazariyeh,' or 'Town of Lazarus,' by the natives of Palestine, in reference to the event narrated in Scripture (John xi.): a retired spot, beautifully situated on the s. slope of the Mount of Olives, 3 m. from Jerusalem; pop. about 500, principally Latins. There is nothing remarkable about the village except some ruins, among which are some which are said to have been the house of Martha and Mary, and the cave or grave of Lazarus; the descent into which is effected by 26 steps cut in the solid rock, leadi ig to a small chamber, about 5 ft. square, also excavated. Near the cave are the ruins of a fort built by Queen Melisinda, 1132, to protect the nunnery founded by her in honor of Martha and Mary.

BETHEL, beth'el, called Betein by the natives: about 10 m. from Jerusalem, mentioned in Scripture as the scene of Jacob's dream. Here also Abraham pitched his tent. It is now a heap of ruins, entirely deserted, except by a few straggling Arabs.

BETHELL, beth'el, The RIGHT HON. RICHARD (BARON WESTBURY): 1800-1873, July 20; b. Bradford, Wiltshire; son of a physician at Bristol: English lawyer. From Bristol grammar-school, he went, at the age of 14, to Wadham College, Oxford, where he was first class in classics, and second class in mathematics, and took his degree of B.A. at the early age of 18. After being a private tutor at Oxford, he studied law, and was called to the bar at the Middle Temple, 1823, Nov. In 1840, he was made a queen's counsel. Elected, 1851, Apr., M.P. for Aylesbury, on the formation of the Aberdeen ministry (1852, Dec.) he was named solicitor-gen. and shortly after knighted. From 1856, Nov., to 1858, March, he was attorney-gen. In 1861, he was made lord chancellor, and at the same time raised to the peerage. He resigned the great seal, 1865. B. was conspicuous for his exertions in the cause of law reform, in improving the system of education for the bar, and in abolishing the ecclesiastical courts, etc.

BETHESDA, be-thez'da, PooL OF, meaning 'House of Fity' scene of Christ's cure of the impotent man (Jn. v.