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BAYEUX TAPESTRY

three beautiful sculptured porches. Here was kept for a long time the famous Bayeux tapestry.

Bayeux Tapestry, a roll of linen cloth about 230 feet long and 20 inches wide, on which is embroidered a panorama-Ike picture of the conquest of England by Wi!liam the Conqueror. It is now preserved in the public library of Bayeux, Normandy, France. It is divided into seventy-two scenes, most of which have Latin inscriptions. The panorama begins with a picture of Harold taking leave of Edward the Confessor before setting out for Normandy, and ends with the battle of Hastings, the death of Harold and the flight of the English. It has usually been supposed that the tapestry was embroidered by Matilda, wife of William the Conqueror; but others believe it to have been worked for the Bayeux cathedral under the direction of Otho, bishop of Bayeux and a half-brother of William the Conqueror. It was discovered in the Bayeux cathedral in 1728, Lancelot having described an illuminated drawing of part of it in 1724. It is very valuable as a record of the customs and costumes of the period, and nearly fifty books have been written about it.

Bayonne (ba'yon"), N. J., a thriving town in Hudson County, adjoining Jersey City, on the tongue of land that separates New York and Newark or Raritan Bays. It is traversed by the Central Railroad of New Jersey, and is separated from Jersey City by the Morris Canal and from Staten Island by the Kill-yon-Kull. It has, moreover, excellent railroad communication with New York city. It possesses many important industries, the chief of which are oil refineries, color and paint works and chemical works. At its docks there is usually great activity in coal-shipping. Population (1910), 55,545.

Bayreuth. See BAIREUTH.

Bay Tree, a name given to a number of trees and shrubs resembling the laurel. The large-leaved evergreen, common in shrubberies, called the common or cherry laurel, is sometimes called bay laurel. The true bay leaves are used for flavoring. Bay rum, used by perfumers, is a liquid got by distilling rum in which bay leaves have been boiled. The leaves were also used to decorate houses at Christmas and at weddings.

Bazaine ('bd'zdn'), François Achille', a French general, born in 1811. He enlisted as a private and served in Algiers and Morocco, in the Crimea and in Italy. In the French invasion of Mexico, he became commander-in-chief of the French forces. In the Franco-Prussian War he was commander of the main French army, and after the bloody battles of Mars-le-Tours and Gravelotte he was shut up in the city of Metz, where he surrendered on October 27, 1870. He was tried by courtmartial and sentenced to death, which was afterward mitigated to twenty years' imprisonment. He escaped and fled to Madrid, where he died in 1888.

Beaconsfield, Lord. See DISRAELI, BENJAMIN.

Bear, a large animal, omnivorous as to food, found in both warm and cold climates. The stout body, with thick legs and very short tail, is covered with long, shaggy fur; the whole sole of the foot rests upon the ground, and the claws are adapted for digging and climbing. Bears are found in urope, Asia and America; those in cold climates being more fierce and less content with vegetable food than those in warmer regions. Bears generally are very fond of fruit, honey, nuts and roots, and when berries and green food are plentiful will often pass animal food untouched. The latter includes mice as well as elk and bison steak, and of ants they are very fond. Bears swim with ease, and some climb. In cold countries, at the beginning of winter, they hunt caves or hollows and sleep there until spring. The young bears are born during the winter, usually two in a litter, very small and helpless at first and almost hairless. Bears are very playful animals, have a great sense of humor, and generally are good-tempered and cheerful. Brown bears are plentiful in Europe and Asia. Comparatively recently new American bears have been described; one, the glacier bear living about Mt. St. Elias, and an enormous brown bear of Alaska which perhaps is the largest of living bears. Other varieties

BROWN  BEAR

of bears live in Syria, the Himalayas, Russia, the Malayan region and the Andes. Bears of North America are the polar bear of the far north; the big brown bears of Alaska; the grizzly bears, ranging from Mexico to Alaska; and the black bears, found generally in our forest regions.

The white or polar bears of the Arctic regions are very large, often measuring nine feet in length, and are very strong. They