Bath`y*graph"ic (?), a. [Gr. &?; deep + graphic.] Descriptive of the ocean depth; as, a bathygraphic chart.
Bat*tal"ion (?), n. (Mil.) An infantry command of two or more companies, which is the tactical unit of the infantry, or the smallest command which is self- supporting upon the battlefield, and also the unit in which the strength of the infantry of an army is expressed.
In the United States army, since April 29, 1898, a battalion consists of four companies, and three battalions form a regiment. The term is also applied to two or more batteries of artillery combined into a single command.
Bat"tle range`. (Mil.) The range within which the fire of small arms is very destructive. With the magazine rifle, this is six hundred yards.
Battle ship. (Nav.) An armor-plated man-of-war built of steel and heavily armed, generally having from ten thousand to fifteen thousand tons displacement, and intended to be fit to meet the heaviest ships in line of battle.
Bau`mé" (?), a. Designating or conforming to either of the scales used by the French chemist Antoine Baumé in the graduation of his hydrometers; of or relating to Baumé's scales or hydrometers. There are two Baumé hydrometers. One, which is used with liquids heavier than water, sinks to 0° in pure water, and to 15° in a 15 per cent salt solution; the other, for liquids lighter than water, sinks to 0° in a 10 per cent salt solution and to 10° in pure water. In both cases the graduation, based on the distance between these fundamental points, is continued along the stem as far as desired. Since all the degrees on a Baumé scale are thus equal in length, while those on a specific-gravity scale grow smaller as the density increases, there is no simple relation between degrees Bé. and Sp. gr. However, readings on Baumés scale may be approximately reduced to specific gravities by the following formulæ (x in each case being the reading on Baumé's scale) : (a) for liquids heavier than water, sp. gr. = 144 ÷ (144 - x); (b) for liquids lighter than water, sp. gr. = 144 ÷ (134 + x).
||Ba`var`dage" (?), n. [F.] Much talking; prattle; chatter. Byron.
Ba*ya"mo (?), n. (Meteor.) A violent thunder squall occurring on the south coast of Cuba, esp. near Bayamo. The gusts, called bayamo winds, are modified foehn winds.
Ba`yeux" tap"es*try (?). A piece of linen about 1 ft. 8 in. wide by 213 ft. long, covered with embroidery representing the incidents of William the Conqueror's expedition to England, preserved in the town museum of Bayeux in Normandy. It is probably of the 11th century, and is attributed by tradition to Matilda, the Conqueror's wife.
Bay"man (?), n. (Nav.) In the United States navy, a sick-bay nurse; -- now officially designated as hospital apprentice.
Bay"ou State` (?). Mississippi; -- a nickname, from its numerous bayous.
Bay State. Massachusetts, which had been called the Colony of Massachusetts Bay; -- a nickname.
Beach comber. [Written also beach-comber.] (Naut.) A vagrant seaman, usually of low character, who loiters about seaports, particularly on the shores and islands of the Pacific Ocean.
I was fortunate enough, however, to forgather with a Scotchman who was a beach-comber.
F. T. Bullen.
Bear"ing ring`. In a balloon, the braced wooden ring attached to the suspension ropes at the bottom, functionally analogous to the keel of a ship.
Bear State. Arkansas; -- a nickname, from the many bears once inhabiting its forests.
Bear"-trap` dam. (Engin.) A kind of movable dam, in one form consisting of two leaves resting against each other at the top when raised and folding down one over the other when lowered, for deepening shallow parts in a river.
Beat, n. 1. One that beats, or surpasses, another or others; as, the beat of him. [Colloq.]
2. The act of one that beats a person or thing; as: (a) (Newspaper Cant) The act of obtaining and publishing a piece of news by a newspaper before its competitors; also, the news itself; a scoop.
It's a beat on the whole country.
Scribner's Mag.
(b) (Hunting) The act of scouring, or ranging over, a tract of land to rouse or drive out game; also, those so engaged, collectively. "Driven out in the course of a beat." Encyc. of Sport.
Bears coming out of holes in the rocks at the last moment, when the beat is close to them.
Encyc. of Sport.
(c) (Fencing) A smart tap on the adversary's blade.
Beau"fort's scale` (?). (Meteor.) A scale of wind force devised by Sir F. Beaufort, R. N., in 1805, in which the force is indicated by numbers from 0 to 12.
The full scale is as follows: -- 0, calm; 1, light air; 2, light breeze; 3, gentle breeze; 4, moderate breeze; 5, fresh breeze; 6, strong breeze; 7, moderate gale; 8, fresh gale; 9, strong gale; 10, whole gale; 11, storm; 12, hurricane.
Beau`mon"ta*gue (?), n. A cement used in making joints, filling cracks, etc. For iron, the principal constituents are iron borings and sal ammoniac; for wood, white lead or litharge, whiting, and linseed oil.
Bea"ver State. Oregon; -- a nickname.
Be*bee"ru (?), n. [Written also bibiru.] [Native name.] (Bot.) A tropical South American tree (Nectandra Rodiœi), the bark of which yields the alkaloid bebeerine, and the wood of which is known as green heart.
||Be"bung (?), n. [G., lit., a trembling.] (Music) A tremolo effect, such as that produced on the piano by vibratory repetition of a note with sustained use of the pedal.
Bec"chi's test (?). [After E. Becchi, Italian chemist.] (Chem.) A qualitative test for cottonseed oil, based on the fact this oil imparts a maroon color to an alcoholic solution of silver nitrate.
Bech`u*a"nas (?), n. pl. A division of the Bantus, dwelling between the Orange and Zambezi rivers, supposed to be the most ancient Bantu population of South Africa. They are divided into totemic clans; they are intelligent and progressive.
Beck's scale (?). A hydrometer scale on which the zero point corresponds to sp. gr. 1.00, and the 30°-point to sp. gr. 0.85. From these points the scale is extended both ways, all the degrees being of equal length.
Becque`rel" rays" (?). (Physics) Radiations first observed by the French physicist Henri Becquerel, in working with uranium and its compounds. They consist of a mixture of alpha, beta, and gamma rays.
{ Be*cui"ba (?), n., Be*cui"ba nut` (?) }. [Native name.] (Bot.) The nut of the Brazilian tree Myristica Bicuhyba, which yields a medicinal balsam used for rheumatism.
Beg"ohm` (?), n. (Elec.) A unit of resistance equal to one billion ohms, or one thousand megohms.
||Be*ju"co (?), n. [Sp., a reed or woody vine.] Any climbing woody vine of the tropics with the habit of a liane; in the Philippines, esp. any of various species of Calamus, the cane or rattan palm.
Bel (?), n. [Hind., fr. Skr. bilva.] A thorny rutaceous tree (Ægle marmelos) of India, and its aromatic, orange-like fruit; -- called also Bengal quince, golden apple, wood apple. The fruit is used medicinally, and the rind yields a perfume and a yellow dye.
Bel"gi*an (?), a. Of or pertaining to Belgium.
Belgian block. A nearly cubical block of some tough stone, esp. granite, used as a material for street pavements. Its usual diameter is 5 to 7 inches.
Bel"lar*mine (?), n. A stoneware jug of a pattern originated in the neighborhood of Cologne, Germany, in the 16th century. It has a bearded face or mask supposed to represent Cardinal Bellarmine, a leader in the Roman Catholic Counter Reformation, following the Reformation; -- called also graybeard, longbeard.
Bel*leek" ware (?). A porcelainlike kind of decorative pottery with a high gloss, which is sometimes iridescent. A very fine kind is made at Belleek in Ireland.
Bell process. (Iron Metal.) The process of washing molten pig iron by adding iron oxide, proposed by I. Lowthian Bell of England about 1875.
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Bell's palsy. Paralysis of the facial nerve, producing distortion of one side of the face.
Bell system of control. (Aëronautics) See Cloche.
Bench mark. (Leveling) Any permanent mark to which other levels may be referred. Specif. : A horizontal mark at the water's edge with reference to which the height of tides and floods may be measured.
Benefit society. A society or association formed for mutual insurance, as among tradesmen or in labor unions, to provide for relief in sickness, old age, and for the expenses of burial. Usually called friendly society in Great Britain.
||Ben"thos (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. &?; depth of the sea.] The bottom of the sea, esp. of the deep oceans; hence (Bot. & Zoöl.), the fauna and flora of the sea bottom; -- opposed to plankton.
{ Ben`zo*naph"thol (?), n. Also Ben`zo*naph"tol }. [Benzoin + naphthol.] (Chem.) A white crystalline powder used as an intestinal antiseptic; beta-naphthol benzoate.
Ben"zo*sol (?), n. (Pharm.) Guaiacol benzoate, used as an intestinal antiseptic and as a substitute for creosote in phthisis. It is a colorless crystalline pewder.
||Ber`ceuse" (?), n. [F.] (Mus.) A vocal or instrumental composition of a soft tranquil character, having a lulling effect; a cradle song.
Ber`e*ni"ce's Hair` (?). [See Berenice's, Locks, in Dictionary of Noted Names in Fiction.] (Astron.) See Coma Berenices, under Coma.
||Berg"schrund` (?), n. [G., lit., mountain gap.] (Phys. Geog.) The crevasse or series of crevasses, usually deep and often broad, frequently occurring near the head of a mountain glacier, about where the névé field joins the valley portion of the glacier.
||Berg"stock` (?), n. [G., lit., mountain stick.] A long pole with a spike at the end, used in climbing mountains; an alpenstock.
Be"ring Sea Controversy (?). A controversy (1886 -- 93) between Great Britain and the United States as to the right of Canadians not licensed by the United States to carry on seal fishing in the Bering Sea, over which the United States claimed jurisdiction as a mare clausum. A court of arbitration, meeting in Paris in 1893, decided against the claim of the United States, but established regulations for the preservation of the fur seal.
Ber*mu"da lil"y. (Bot.) The large white lily (Lilium longiflorum eximium, syn. L. Harrisii) which is extensively cultivated in Bermuda.
Ber*seem" (?), n. [Ar. bershm clover.] An Egyptian clover (Trifolium alexandrinum) extensively cultivated as a forage plant and soil- renewing crop in the alkaline soils of the Nile valley, and now introduced into the southwestern United States. It is more succulent than other clovers or than alfalfa. Called also Egyptian clover.
Ber`til`lon" sys"tem (?). [After Alphonse Bertillon, French anthropologist.] A system for the identification of persons by a physical description based upon anthropometric measurements, notes of markings, deformities, color, impression of thumb lines, etc.
Bes"ti*a*ry (?), n. [LL. bestiarium, fr. L. bestiarius pert. to beasts, fr. bestia beast: cf. F. bestiaire.] A treatise on beasts; esp., one of the moralizing or allegorical beast tales written in the Middle Ages.
A bestiary . . . in itself one of the numerous mediæval renderings of the fantastic mystical zoölogy.
Saintsbury.
Be"ta (?), n. [Gr. bh^ta.] The second letter of the Greek alphabet, B, β. See B, and cf. etymology of Alphabet. Beta (B, β) is used variously for classifying, as: (a) (Astron.) To designate some bright star, usually the second brightest, of a constellation, as, β Aurigæ. (b) (Chem.) To distinguish one of two or more isomers; also, to indicate the position of substituting atoms or groups in certain compounds; as, β-naphthol. With acids, it commonly indicates that the substituent is in union with the carbon atom next to that to which the carboxyl group is attached.
{ Be"ta*cism (?), ||Be`ta*cis"mus (?) }, n. Excessive or extended use of the b sound in speech, due to conversion of other sounds into it, as through inability to distinguish them from b, or because of difficulty in pronouncing them.
Be"ta rays (?). (Physics) Penetrating rays readily deflected by a magnetic or electric field, emitted by radioactive substances, as radium. They consist of negatively charged particles or electrons, apparently the same in kind as those of the cathode rays, but having much higher velocities (about 35,000 to 180,000 miles per second).
||Bez`po*pov"tsy (?), n. [Russ.; bez without + popovtsy, a derivative of pop priest.] A Russian sect. See Raskolnik.
{ Bhees"ty, Bhees"tie (?) }, n. [Written also bhistee, bhisti, etc.] [Per. bihisht lit., heavenly.] A water carrier, as to a household or a regiment. [India]
{ Bhis"tee (?), Bhis"ti (?) }, n. Same as Bheesty. [India]
Bi*an"nu*al (?), a. [Pref. bi- + annual.] Occurring twice a year; half-yearly; semiannual.
||Bi`be*lot" (?), n. [F.] A small decorative object without practical utility.
Her pictures, her furniture, and her bibelots.