Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume II.djvu/433

 BEAGLE BEAM 413 of heat in some other mode. At Murano a mixture of fine sand and charcoal, to prevent the pieces from fusing together, is stirred with them, when they are agitated in a red-hot iron pan which rounds them. The core of sand is then easily removed. BEAGLE, a small, well proportioned hound, not more than 10 or 11 inches in height at the shoulder, with long pendulous ears, smooth hair, and color either black or dark brown with white spots, or pure white, or white with black and tan ears and eye patches. By careful breed- ing the animal has been reduced in size, and the smallest are known as lapdog beagles. It Beagle. is distinguished for its fine scent and perseve- rance. Formerly it was a favorite in England for hare hunting ; its small size and slow but sure movements prolonged the pleasure of the chase, and, though distanced at first, its per- severance made it sure of killing the hare at last. The chase with beagles could be followed on foot. In this sport, however, the beagle is now almost entirely superseded by the harrier. BEALE, Lionel S., an English physiologist, born in London about 1825. He graduated at the university of London in 1851, and is profes- sor of general physiology and morbid anatomy at King's college. He established in 1857 the "Archives of Medicine," contributed actively to the " Lancet " and other periodicals, and has written " How to Work with the Microscope " (3ded., 1866); "Microscopism in its Application to Medicine" (3d ed., 1867) ; "Kidney Diseases, Urinary Deposits, &c." (3ded. enlarged, 1868); " Protoplasm, or Life, Matter, and Mind " (en- larged ed., 1870) ; " Disease Germs, their Sup- posed Nature" (1870); " Physiological Anat- omy; " "Anatomy of Man," &c. BEALE, Mary, an English artist, born in Suf- folk in 1632, died Dec. 28, 1697. She be- came noted as a portrait painter in 1672, for the beauty of her coloring, which she had at- tained by copying the paintings of Correggio, Vandyke, and others. She studied with Sir Peter Lely, and painted the portraits of the bishop of Chester, the earl of Clarendon, and other distinguished persons. She worked in oils, water colors, and crayons, and received largo prices for her pictures. Her husband was a painter and color-maker, but had no rep- utation as an artist. Mrs. Beale was well edu- cated, and wrote some poetical pieces. BEAM (Sax. learn, a tree), in architecture, a piece of timber or iron, long in proportion to its breadth and thickness, used either to sup- port a superincumbent weight, or to bind to- gether the parts of a frame as a tie, by resist- ance to extension, or to hold them apart as a strut, by resistance to compression. The term is applied particularly to the largest piece of timber in a building, that which lies across the walls and supports the principal rafters. Im- portant improvements have been introduced within a few years, in various departments of practical construction, by the use of iron beams, especially in the building of fire-proof structures and bridges. Prior to their intro- duction the only method of securing safety from fire was by massive and cumbersome constructions of masonry. This system of groined arches involves great loss of room, the most solid foundations and heavy walls and piers to sustain their weight and thrust, and often an inconvenient arrangement and divi- sion of the interior of the edifice. It is not only not adapted to the purposes of business, but its expense is such as to preclude its use for ordinary warehouses, offices, and dwellings. The introduction of cast-iron beams and light segmental arches to some extent obviated these inconveniences ; but experience has shown that wrought iron is much better adapted to resist transverse strains, and the testimony of eminent engineers and architects is unanimous in preferring it for this purpose, as both more trustworthy and more economical than cast iron. The first instance on record of the con- struction of a building with cast-iron beams is that of a fire-proof cotton mill erected in Man- chester by Boulton and Watt, in 1801. It was not, however, until after the elaborate experi- ments of Mr. Hodgkinson, in 1830, upon the strength and properties of cast iron, that the best form of section was determined, or that iron beams were used for spans exceeding 14 feet. He found the resistance of cast iron to compression to be about six times as great as its resistance to extension, and that equal strength could be obtained with half the weight of ma- terial formerly used, by giving the proper pro- portions to the parts subjected to these re- spective strains. Much, however, was still to be desired on the score of security and econ- omy, and numerous accidents have justified the general want of confidence in beams of cast iron, unless great precautions are observed in casting them and properly proportioning their parts ; and even when these precautions are observed, and iron of good quality is selected, security can be obtained only by making the most ample allowances for unequal shrinkage in cooling, and for hidden imperfections not apparent on the surface, or to be detected only