Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 1.djvu/301

 BET

BET

EESAILE, in the common law, a writ that lies where the great- grandfather was feifed the day that he died of any lands or tenements in fee-fimple ; and after his death, a Gran- ger entered the fame upon him, and keeps out the heir. F. N. B. 222. Terms of Laiv. Blount. The word is French, befaile, or bifayeul^ a great-grandfather.

BESANT (Cjcl.) — Some reprefent the bejimt as equivalent to the folidus aureus of Conftantmople Ragucau makes it equal to fifty French fols ; though, in fcveral feudal inftruments, it is only rated at twenty fols. Paul. Mantijf. ad Beverin. p. 231, feq.

The ranfom of St. Louis, according to Joinville, was two hundred thoufand lefants, which amounted to five hundred thoafand livres.

Thirteen befants, or befantins, are prefented at the mafs at the coronation of the kings of France. Henry II. had that num- ber coined on purpofe. Corn. Diet, des Arts, p. 107. Trev. Diet. Univ. T. 1. p. 998.

Divers conjectures have been formed by antiquaries concern- ing the reafon of a foreign coin's being ufed by kings of France on fuch occafions : fomc fuppofe, that this ufage was intro- 'duced at the time when no gold coin was ftruck in thefe parts; but this will fcarce hold, in regard we find mention of feveral gold coins from the time of Hugh Capet. Le Blanc rather imagines, that the name befant was antiently given to all gold coin, as that of florin was afterwards given to all fpecies of gold, though not ftruck at Florence. What feems to confirm this fentiment is, that the Saracens called their gold money befant, though not coined at Conftantinople. Trev. Diet. Univ. loc. cit.

Besants, or Bezants, in heraldry, are reprefentations of round, flat pieces of money or bullion, without {lamp or im- prefs, introduced into cout-armour by thofe who were at the holy war.

Bejants are ever of metal, and when blazoned, fhould be ex- prefly faid to be of or, or argent. 7 he Englifh heraldry knows only the gold ; but foreigners have alio the fdver kind. When a field or charge contains above eight bezants, fo placed as to fill the fame equally on all fides, and reprefenting a pro- mifcuous ftrewing of pieces over the whole. Some blazon the field or charge bczantcd, bezant V 'e : but if there be ten, twelve, fifteen, or more, confined to any particular form or pofition, the number and form muft be particularly mentioned. Coats, Herald. Diet. p. 49, feq.

■Crofs Besanted, bezantee, denotes a crofs made up of be/ants, or pieces of money. Coats, ibid. p. 50. This amounts to the fame with what Upton calls a crofs ta- lented, crux tahntata, or made up of talents.

BESBASE, in the materia medica, a name given by the Arabian writers Scrapio and Avifenna to mace ; but as the names mads and mac'ir are very much alike in found, though different in fenfe, they have confounded thefe two things under the fame term besbafe j the one meaning the covering of the nutmeg, and the other the bark of a tree ufed as an aftringent ; fo that this word befiafe is to be underfiood as meaning the one or the other of thefe, according to the virtues afcribed to it.

BESD, a term often ufed by Arabian writers for the plant called tnargina. See Margina.

BESLERIA, in botany, the name given by Plumier, and after- wards Linnasus, to a genus of plants ; the characters of which are thefe : the perianthium is erect, and lax, and confifts of one leaf, divided into five {harp fegments : the flower confifts of one petal, and is of the ringent kind : the tube is cylmdric, and of the length of the cup ; and its verge is divided into five unequal fegments, the Ioweft being the largeft, and the others all larger than the upper two : the ftamina are four filaments, two of which are fomewhat longer than the other two ; and they are all placed within the tube of the flower : the anthene are fmall : the germen of the piftil is oval : the ftyle is Tu- bulated, and very fmall : the ftigma is acute : the fruit is a globofe berry, having only one eel), in which is contained a great number of roundifh and very fmall feeds. Linneei, Gen. Plant p. 296. Plumier, p. 5.

BESSIS (Cycl.)— Bessis centefima, denotes two-thirds of cente- fimal intereft, or ufury at eighty cent. Bingh. Orig. Ecclcf. 1. 6. c. 2. §. 1. 6.

BESTARCHA, a dignity In the courts of the emperors of Con- ftantinople, fuppofed to anfwer to that of mafter of the ward- robe among us. Aauln. Lex. Milit. T. 1. p. 128. The word bejtarcha feems to have been formed from vejlarcha, by a change of the v into b.

BETA, the beet, in botany. See Beet.

BETEL, in botany, an Indian plant, in great ufe and efteem throughout the Eaft, where it makes a confiderable article of commerce.

The betel bears fome refemblance to the pepper tree. Its leaves are like thofe of ivy, only fofter, and full of a red juice, which, among the Orientals, is reputed of wonderful virtue for forti- fying the teeth, and rendering the breath fweet. The Indians are continually chewing thefe leaves, which renders their lips fo red, and teeth black, a colour by them vaftly preferred to the whitenefs affected by the Europeans. The confumption of betel leaves is incredible, no body, rich or poor, being without their box of betel, which they prefcnl Suppl. Vol. I.

to each other by way of civility, as we do fnuff. Savor* Diet. Comm. T. 1. p. 32.1. See Betj l.

BETH, in literary hiftory, makes the title of a multitude of books in the Hebrew language ; e. gr. beth avoth, or the houfe of the fathers ; beth Elobi?n, or the houfe of God ; beth Ifael, or the houfe of Ifrael, &c. Wolf, Bibl. Hebr.T. 2. 1. 8. p. r z6x.

BETHLEHLiMITES, or Bethlemites, in church hiftory, a fort of monks antiently in England, habited like the domi- nicans, except that, on their brcaft, they wore aftar with five rays, in memory of the ftar or comet which appeared over Bethlehem at the nativity of our Saviour. Matth. Par', ann. 1257. Du Cange, Glofl'. Lat. T. I. p. 543. There is alfo an order of bethlehemhes ftill "fubfifting in Peru, who have convents at Lima ; one called of the incurables, the other of our lady of mount Carmel.

Thefe bcthlchemhcs came originally from the city of Guatimala in Mexico, where they were inftituted by the venerable Peter Jofeph of Betaneur for the fervice of the poor. Innocent XI. in 1697, approved the inrtitute. They have already nine convents in Peru.

The bethlemites, though outwardly of great fimplicitv, pafs for the moft refined politicians ; infomuch as to be called the quin- teflence of the Carmelites and jefuits. They are all friars. For their almoner they chufe a fecular prieft, whom they hire, and who has no vote in the chapter. They are cloathed like the capuchins, except that, under the chin, they wear a bib point-wife, a quarter of an ell in length. Their founder is faid to have been accompanied eleven years by our Saviour, bearing his crofs vifibly. The other apparitions and revela- tions they afcribe to him are of the fame importance. Fabric. Lux. Evangel, c 49. p. 780.

BETLE, in botany, a plant of the fcandent kind, much cele- brated in the Eaft Indies. The leaves are the part in ufe. and are eftcemed beft when full-grown, and of a yellowifli colour. In the Molucca iflands, the betle bears a kind of fruit wreathed like a lizard's tail ; and this is eaten by the inhabitants, and is of a very agreeable tafte. The natives plant it as we do vines, and place props and fupports for it to run and climb upon ; and it is a common practice to plant it againft the tree which bears the areca-nut. It grows naturally wild on all the fea-coafts of the Eaft Indies ; but is not found in the in- land phces, unlefs it has been planted there. Irome authors have confounded the betle with the malabathum, but they are extremely different, the malabathrum being the leaf of a tall and large tree, Garcias, Hift. Ind.

Betle is chewed by all the people of the Eaft Indies, as tobacco is by many in Europe; but it is not ufed alone, but mixed with calcined /hells, lime, the indian-nut, and other cheap ingredients, by the meaner fort, and by the rich with camphire, aloes-wood, musk, and ambergreafe. Thus prepared, it is of an agreeable tafte, and gives a fweetnefs to the breath. Bent. Med. Ind.

In many places they chew the areca nut, either alone or mixt with the betle leaf and lime, and the leaves of this plant are fomctimes chewed alone ; but they are too fharp, and ufually injure the teeth, and it is not uncommon to find men of twenty- five wholly toothlefs in this part of the world, merely from their having chewed this plant to an exceflive degree. The prepared betle is a very common prefent among the poorer fort; and, on taking leave of a friend, it is always the cuftom to make him a prefent of a purfe of the leaves prepared for ufe. When the poorer fort are to appear before the rich, they al- ways chew a large quantity of betle, to i:ive them a fweet breath ; and the women, on certain occafions, never fail to take large- ly of it as a provocative. On all vifits, the company is re- galed with prepared betle. The principal time of uimg it is after dinner, at which time, they fay, it prevents ficknefs of the ftomach ; and they never abftain from it, except on the ^folemn occafions of the funerals of their relations, and their

days

of faftinrr.

Moderately ufed, it ftrcngthens the gums, corroborates the heart and ftomach, difcufl'es flatulencies, and purges both the ftomach and braia. If chewed after breakfaft, it makes the breath fweet for the whole d-y. The Portuguefe women are as fond of the betle as the Indians themfelves, and cannot live a day without it- Rax, Hift. Plant. BETONY, betonica, in botany, the name of a genus of plants j the characters of which are thefe : the flower confifts of one leaf, and is of the labiatcd kind : the upper lip is erect, imbri* cated, and bifid ; and the lower is divided into three fegments, the middle one being larger than the reft, and bifid : the piftil arifes from the cup, and is fixed in the manner of a nail to the hinder part of the flower : this is furrounded by four embryos, which afterwards become as many feeds, of an ob- long form, to which the flower-cup ferves as a capfule. The flowers of betony ufually grow vert i dilate !y in fhort fpikes on the tops of the {talks.

The fpecies of betony, enumerated by Mr. Tournefort, are thefe :

1. The common purple flower'd betony. 2. The beautiful red-flower'd betony. 3. The white-flower'd betony. 4. The great Danim betony. ^. The fmall mountain betony of Helve- tia. 6. The yellow -flowefd, great, broad-leav'd, hairy, al- pine betony. 7. The annual field le'ony, with yellowifli white 4 R flovversj