Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 3.djvu/569

Rh superiority of this rotary blower of Baker, inter alia, as regards durability, little pulsation, absence of internal fric tion and of the need of lubrication, suitability for blowing either hot or cold air, and less power required for the amount of air discharged. A fuller account of it will be found in the American Artisan for March 1875. For the arrangement of bellows in organs see the article.  BELLUNO, the ancient Belunum, is the capital of a province of Northern Italy, and the seat of a bishop, situated at the confluence of the Piave and the Ardo, in long. 12 8 46&quot; E. and lat. 46 3 7 46&quot; N. Besides the cathedral, which was built by Palladius, there are fifteen churches, a theological seminary, a gymnasium, a theatre, and a library. A society of arts and sciences and a cham ber of commerce have their meetings in the city. Water is supplied from the neighbouring hills by a remarkable aqueduct. The principal industries are the manufacture of silk, wax, leather, and pottery; and a considerable trade is carried on in wood. Population, 15,509.  BELON,, French naturalist, was born about 1517 at the hamlet of Soulletiere, in Maine. He studied medicine at Paris and took the degree of doctor. He after wards travelled in Germany, and heard some lectures at the famous University of Wittenberg. On his return to France he was taken under the patronage of the Cardinal de Tour- non, who furnished him with means for undertaking an extensive scientific journey. Belon started in 1546, travelled through Greece, Asia Minor, Egypt, Arabia, and Palestine, and returned in 1549. A full account of his travels, with illustrations, was published in 1553. It passed through several editions, and was translated into Latin and German. Belon, who was highly favoured both by Henry II. and by Charles IX., was assassinated one evening in April 1564, when coming through the Bois de Boulogne. Besides the narrative of his travels he wrote several scientific works of considerable value, particularly the Histoire Naturdh des Estranges Poissons, 1551, and L llistoire de la Nature des Oyseaux, 1555.  BELPASSO, a town of Sicily, on the slopes of Etna, in the province of Catania, and about 8 miles from the city of that name. In 1669 it was destroyed by an eruption. The inhabitants rebuilt their town on a new site at Mezzo Campo, but, finding the locality unhealthy, they afterwards returned to their original position. Population, 7620.  BELPER, a market-town of Derbyshire, situated on the banks of the Derwent, which is here crossed by a stone bridge. It is 7 miles north of Derby, on the Midland Railway. For a considerable period one of the most flour ishing towns in the country, it is principally indebted for its prosperity to the establishment of cotton-works by Messrs Strutt in 1777. It also manufactures linens, silks, hosiery, nails, and earthenwares ; it has three churches, several chapels for Independents, Methodists, Baptists, &c., a mechanics institution, and a subscription library. In the neighbourhood are the remains of a mansion where John of Gaunt used to reside. Population (1871), 8527.  BELSHAM,, a Unitarian clergyman, was born at Bedford in 1750. He was educated at the Dissenting Academy at Daventry, where for seven years he acted as assistant tutor. After three years spent in a charge it Worcester, he returned as head of the Daventry Academy, a post which he continued to hold till 1789, when, having adopted Unitarian principles, he resigned all connection with the institution. He superintended during its brief existence a new college at Hackney, and was then called to the charge of the Gravel Pit congregation, which had been formerly held by the famous Priestley. In 1805 he was appointed to the Essex Street chapel, where he remained till his death in 1829. Belsham s first work of importance, Review of Mr Willerforce s Treatise entitled Practical Vieiv, 1798, was written after his conversion to Unitarianism. His most popular work was the Evidences of Christianity ; the most important was his translation and exposition of the Epistles of St Paul. He was also the author of a work on philosophy, Elements of the Philo sophy of the Human Mind, 1801, which is entirely based on Hartley s psychology. Belsham is one of the most vigorous and able writers on the Unitarian side.  BELSHAM,, brother of the preceding, was born in 1752, and died in 1827. His productions were mainly historical and political writings, advocating thf* politics of the Whig party. Several detached historical treatises were collected together, and published in 1806 under the title, History of Great Britain to the conclusion of the Peace of Amiens in 1802, 12 vols.  BELSHAZZAR, the name of a Babylonian prince mentioned in the book of Daniel. According to the account in the fifth chapter of Daniel, Belshazzar was king of Babylon at the time of the capture of the city by the Medes and Persians, and was slain when the city was surprised during a festival. No ancient historian mentions the name of Belshazzar among the successors of Nebuchad nezzar, and there has been considerable controversy as to the identity of the unfortunate monarch. The successors of Nebuchadnezzar, according to the copyists of Berosus, were as follows : Evil-merodach, two years, son of Nebuchadnezzar ; Neriglissar, or Nergalsharezer, four years, son-in-law of Nebuchadnezzar ; Laborosoarchod, nino months, son of Neriglissar ; Nabonidus, seventeen years, not of the royal family. Niebuhr and some others identified Belshazzar with Evil-merodach ; other scholars with Nerig lissar ; and a third section, incl/uding Ewald and Browne, identified him with Nabonidus. There is no necessity now to argue against these and similar views, as they are set aside by the Babylonian cuneiform inscriptions, which show that Bel-sar-uzur, or Belshazzar, was the name of the eldest son of Nabonidus, the last king of Babylon. In some of his latter inscriptions Nabu-nahid or Naboiiidus mentions his eldest son Bel-sar-uzur in such terms as to lead to the impression that the young prince was associated with himself on the throne ; and this explains several difficulties between the historians and the book of Daniel with respect to the capture of Babylon. After the defeat of the Babylonian forces Nabonidus fled to Borsippa, while the young prince Belshazzar was left in charge of Babylon, the capital, which was closely besieged by the Medes and Persians. The historians all say that Nabonidus, the last king of Babylon, submitted to the conquerors at Borsippa after the taking of his capital, while the book of Daniel states that Belshazzar was slain on the night of the capture of Babylon. These two statements have been supposed to contradict each other, but we now know that they refer to two totally distinct princes whose fates were quite different. The inscriptions of Nabonidus which mention Belshazzar are found on clay cylinders from Mugheir and other Chaldean sites, and they were first discovered and published by Sir Henry Rawlinson, to whom we owe this rectification in ancient history. One of these passages in a prayer reads : &quot; Me Nabu-nahid, king of Babylon, from sin against thy great divinity, do thou save me, and health and long days numerous do thou multiply. And of Bel-sar-uzur, my eldest son, the delight of my heart in the worship of thy great divinity, his heart do thou establish, and may he not consort with sinners.&quot; The other texts are after the same form, and give no new details as to Belshazzar, the account in the fifth chapter of Daniel containing all that is known of his history. The numerous works written on this subject before the discovery of the cuneiform inscriptions are <section end="BELSHAZZAR"/>