BETIDE-BETONY.

an account of his travels in central Asia, says the Oxus is here 650 yards broad and 25 to 29 ft. deep.

BETIDE, v. bě-tid' [AS. be, tidan, to happen]: to hap pen; to come to; to come to pass; to befall. BETIDED, pp. bě-ti' děd.

BETIMES, ad. bě-time', or BETIME', ad. -tim' [AS. be or bi, by; tima, time]: before it is too late; seasonably; early;

soon.

The

BET JUANS, or BECHUANAS, bet-cho-a'naz: an extensive nation of s. Africa, occupying the country between 23° and 29° e. long., and extending from 28° s. lat. northward beyond the tropic of Capricorn. The B. are generally of a peaceful, indeed cowardly, disposition, and are divided into many tribes under the government of chiefs, who exercise a kind of patriarchal anthority over them. According to Dr. Livingstone, the different tribes take their names from certain animals, showing probably that in former times they were addicted to animal worship. term Bakatla means, "they of the monkey;" Bakuena, they of the alligator; " Batlápi, "they of the fish;" each tribe having a superstitious dread of the animal after which it is called. They also use the word "bina," to dance, in reference to the custom of thus naming themselves, so that when you wish to ascertain what tribe they belong to, you say, What do you dance?" It would seem as if that had been part of the worship of old.' Many tribes formerly existing are extinct, as is evident from names that have now no living representatives. The B. have a vague notion of a Supreme Being, but no intelligent idea of his attributes. In all agricultural matters they are very acute. They have a superstitious reverence for a class of impostors calling themselves 'rain doctors,' who profess to be able to bring down rain in dry seasons by a specific composed of disgusting substances.

BETLIS: see BITLIS.

BETOKEN, v. bě-tō'kn [AS. geticnian, to signify, to betoken-from ge, tácen or tácn, a token]: to show by tokens or signs; to point out something future by a thing known; to indicate; to foreshow. BETOKENING, imp. bě-tok'ning, showing by a sign. BETOKENED, pp. bě-to'knd.-SYN. of 'betoken': to mark; note; indicate; presage; portend; foreshow; augur; forebode; prognosticate.

BETON, bet un, F. ba-tawng' [OF. betun, rubble]: French concrete; concrete made after the French manner; called also béton Coignet. It is prepared by mixing intimately with hydraulic mortar some inert material as gravel, broken brick or stone, shells, etc. In mixing, every particle of gravel, etc., must be imbedded in mortar; as much water is used as suffices to produce a stiff paste when rammed, without forming a scum on the surface.CONCRETE: STONE (ARTIFICIAL)

BETONY, n. bet'd-ni, or BETONICA, n. bē-ton'i-kă [originally VETONICA, said to be from the Vettones, a people of Spain, who discovered it]: a Linnæan genus of plants, of

BETRAY-BETTERTON.

of various species The European is B. officinalis, family Labiata, medicinal. The Wood Betony of N. Amer. is Pedicularis Canadensis, family Scrophulariaceœ.

BETRAY, v. bě-trā' [Ger. betrügen, to deceive: AS. be; OF. trair; F. trahir-from L. traderě, to give up or surrender]: to deliver up what ought to be kept; to give into the hands of an enemy by treachery; to be unfaithful to a friend; to violate trust or confidence; to mislead; to entrap. BETRAY'ING, imp. BETRAYED, pp. bě-trād'. BETRAYAL, n. act of betraying; breach of trust. BETRAY ER, n. one who betrays.

BETROTH, v. bě-troth' [AS. be, treowth, troth, truth]: to pledge or promise in order to marriage; to contract with the view to marriage. BETROTH ING, imp. BETROTHED, pp. bě-trotht'. BETROTHAL, n. be-troth al, and BETROTH'MENT, n. a contract or agreement with a view to marriage.

BETROTHMENT, be-troth ment: a mutual engagement by a man and woman with a view to marriage. This anciently in England consisted in the interchange of rings, kissing, joining hands, and the testimony of witnesses; and the ecclesiastical law punished the violation of such B. by excommunication; but such a spiritual consequence was abolished in the reign of George II. A previous B. had also been regarded as a legal impediment to marriage with another. It was not,' says Mr. Macqueen, in his Treatise on the New Divorce Jurisdiction, 1858, p. 73, 'by the axe that the promoter of the English Reformation extinguished his marriage with Anne Boleyne. He first carried her into the Ecclesiastical Court, and there obtained a sentence, on the ground of her alleged precontract with Northumberland.' The aggrieved party has the only remedy of an action for breach of promise. In Scotland, when the B. or engagement can be shown to have been a clear, free, and deliberate present consent on the part of both the man and woman to form the relationship of husband and wife, such a contract may be enforced against the recusant party; and indeed it constitutes marriage itself. See MARRIAGE: PROMISE: HUSBAND AND WIFE.

BETRUST, v.: to intrust; to give in trust.

BETT, or BET, a. bět [AS. bet]: in OE., better.

BETTER, a. better, compar. of good [AS. betéra; Dut. bat; mod. Dut. beter, better, more: Goth. batiza, better]: good in a higher degree; more advanced: AD. with greater excellence; more correctly: V. to improve; to raise higher in the good qualities of. BETTERS, n. plu. bet terz, superiors in social rank. BETTERING, imp. BETTERED, pp. bet térd. BETTERMENT, the operation of making better.SYN. of better, v.': to ameliorate; improve; correct; mend; amend; promote; advance; rectify; emend; reform.

BETTERTON, bet'ter-ton, THOMAS: 1635-1710, b. and d. London: celebrated actor, for about half a century the chief ornament of the English stage. The best contemporary judges, such as Addison, Cibber, etc., bear ad

BETTING-BETWEEN.

miring witness to his dramatic powers, which overcame the natural disadvantages of a low voice, small eyes, and an ungainly figure. His private character was highly estimable, cheerful, modest, and generous. After a retirement of many years, it became known that his circumstances were very straitened, and it was determined to give him a public benefit. The spirited veteran (then in his 74th year) appeared, 1709, Apr. 6, with immense éclat in the youthful part of Valentine in Congreve's Love for Love. He acted several times again. Mrs. B. took the same rank among contemporary actresses as her husband among actors.

BETTING, OR WAGERING: a contract by which two parties or more agree that a certain sum of money, or other thing, shall be paid or delivered to one of them on the happening or not happening of an uncertain event. At common law, wagers are not, per se, void, but statutes prohibiting betting have been passed by many of the states. When one loses a wager and gets another to pay the money for him, an action lies for the recovery of the money. Wagers on the event of an election laid before the poll is open, or after it is closed, are illegal. In horseracing, simple bets upon a race are unlawful both in England and the United States. In the case even of a legal wager, the authority of a stakeholder, like that of an arbitrator, may be rescinded by either party before the event happens. See POOL: BOOK-MAKING: GAMBLE.

BETTOLA: town of n. Italy, province of Piacenza, about 20 m. s. w. of the town of Piacenza; on the river Nure, in a fertile district. Pop. 5,668.

BETTOR: see under BET.

BET'ULA: see BIRCH.

BETULACEÆ, bet-û-lā'sê-ē, or BETULI'NEÆ: see AMENTACEE and BIRCH.

BETULINE, n. bět u-lin [L. betula; Eng. -ine]: a resinous substance obtained from the bark of the Black Birch, Betula nigra. It is also called Birch Camphor.

BETWAH, bět wa: river of India, which, after a n.e. course of 340 m., joins the Jumna on the right, about 30 m. to the e.s.e. of Calpee. It rises in the Vindhya Mountains, which, uniting the West and the East Ghauts at their n. extremities, form the dividing ridge between the basins of the Nerbudda and the Ganges. It runs through beds of iron ore, and waters the towns of Bileah and Jhansi. The source of the B. is in lat. 23° 14' n. and long. 77° 22' c., and its mouth in lat. 25° 57′ and long. 80° 17'. It is described as a great river, being, even in the dry season, half a mile wide at its junction with the Jumna. It is, however, not navigable in any part of its course.

BETWEEN, prep. bě-twen' [AS. betweoh, in the middle of two-from be, by; tweoh, two]: in the middle; intermediate; from one to another; noting difference or distinction of one from another. Between decks, among seamen, the space contained between two decks. BETWIXT, preр.

BEUKELZOON-BEVER.

betwixt [AS. betweox or betwuxt, by two]: between; in the midst of two.

BEUKELZOON, WILLIAM: d. 1397: a man in humble life, belonging to the small town of Biervliet, Holland; the first who succeeded in salting and preserving herrings in a satisfactory manner. This improvement, said to have been made in 1386, gave great impetus to the fisheries of Holland. It is related that the emperor Charles V. made a pilgrimage to the tomb of B., and there ate a herring in token of remembrance of the inventor. The derivation of pickle from B.'s name, also written Beukels, Bökel, efc., is fantastic.

The

BEUTHEN, boy' ten, or BUTOM: town of Prussian Silesia, 50 m. s.e. from Oppeln, near the Polish frontier. It has manufactures of woolen cloths and earthenware. language generally spoken is Polish. Pop. (1891) 36,905. BEVEL, n. bev'èl [OF. bereau, an instrument like a pair of compasses; buveau, a kind of carpenter's rule: Sp. baivel, a square rule]: an instrument like a square for drawing angles, consisting of two flat slips moving on a pivot; any slope or inclination (see SPLAY): ADJ. angular; crooked; sloped off; slant: V. to siant to any angle other than a right angle. BEVELLING, imp. bev'èl·ling: ADJ. curving or bending from a straight line-said of timber: N. the operation of cutting to a bevel-angle; in shipbuilding, the curv ing or bending of a timber, etc., agreeably to directions given from the mold loft. BEVELLED, pp. běv ́ěld: ADJ. formed to a bevel-angle. BEV ELMENT, n. a name used for certain edges or faces formed in mineral bodies. BEVELGEAR, -ger, in mech., a species of wheel-work where the axis or shaft of the leader or driver forms an angle with the axis or shaft of the follower or wheel driven: see GEARING. BEVEL-WHEEL, a wheel having teeth to work at an angle either greater or less than half a right angle.

BEVELAND, bev'e-land, NORTH and SOUTH: two islands in the estuary of the Scheldt, Netherlands, province of Zeeland. South B. is the largest and most fertile, containing 84,000 acres. The chief town, Goes (Hoos), near the n. side, is well built; pop. 5,000. Making salt, leather, beer, candles, oil, chocolate, weaving cottons, and book-printing are the chief industries. South B. produces wheat and other grain, colza, madder, potatoes, and fruit abundantly. Fish are plentiful. Pop. of South B. 23,000. North B. is low and marshy, has an area of 15,250 acres; pop. 6,000, employed with agriculture. Both islands have suffered dreadfully from inundations. In 1532, North B. was completely covered with water, many of the inhabitants perishing; and it remained submerged for several years. At the same time, the flourishing town of Romerswaal was separated from South B., and afterwards so encroached on by the sea, that the whole of the inhabitants had to leave it. The islands also suffered considerably from inundation in 1808. Within recent years, much good has been effected by drainage.

BEVER, n. běv'èr [OF. bevre; It. bevere—from L. biběrě,

BEVERIDGE-BEVERLEY.

to drink]: in OE., any refreshment taken between regular meals; refreshment of drink: V. to partake of refreshments between meals. BEV'ERING, imp. BEVERED, pp. bev'rd. BEVERAGE, n. běv'er-új [F. beuvrage: OF. bovraige, drink, a beverage]: a liquor for drinking; an agreeable drink.

BEVERIDGE, bev'er-ij, WILLIAM, Bishop of St. Asaph: 1638-1708, Mar. 5; b. Barrow, Leicestershire. He entered St. John's College, Cambridge, at the age of fifteen, and was noticeable for devotion to the study of oriental lan guages, a treatise on which he published at the age of twenty. In 1660, having obtained his degree of M.A., he was ordained both deacon and priest. After many excellent preferments he was, 1704, appointed to the bishopric of St. Asaph, having previously refused to accept that of Bath and Wells, on the deprivation of Dr. Thomas Kenn, for not taking the oaths to the government of William III. At his death he left most of his property to the societies for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge, and the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. B., who had great learning, showed through life diligence, faithfulness to duty, and a devout piety. His works, which include one on chronology, a collection of canons from the time of the apostles to that when the synod of Constantinople restored Photius, and various sermons and works of a religious kind, were, with his biography, collected and published in 9 vols. 8vo, 1824, by the Rev. Thomas Hartwell Horne.

BEVERLAND, bev'er-lánt, ADRIAN: b. abt .the middle of the 17th c., at Middelburg, Zeeland; d. soon after 1712.: Dutch scholar who, by several of his writings, but more especially by his unorthodox interpretation of the Fall, caused great excitement among the theologians of his day. Having studied law, visited Oxford Univ., and settled as an attorney in Holland, he published, 1678, his pamphlet, Peccatum Originale, which was not only burnt at the Hague, but led to his own imprisonment, and to his expulsion from Utrecht and Leyden. On his return to the Hague, he wrote De Stolata Virginitatis Jure (The Hague, 1680), which gave still greater offense. Soon afterwards, going to England, he found a supporter in Isaac Vossius, and probably received his degree as doctor of civil law in Oxford. His virulent attacks against several dignitaries of the English Church indicate that he met with much theological opposition in England also. Probably it was the death of his benefactor, Isaac Vossius, 1689, that led him in 1693 to repudiate his earlier writings. He became insane, and appears to have died in England. works are now mere bibliographical curiosities.

His

BEVERLEY, bev'er-li: chief town of the E. Riding of Yorkshire, Eng., 1 m. w. of the river Hull, with which it communicates by canal, and 10 m. n. n.w. of the city of Hull. Its trade consists in corn, coal, and leather, and there are several whiting and agricultural implement manufactories. In B. is the superb Gothic minster or the Collegiate Church of St. John, ranking next to York min