Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume II.djvu/504

 484 BELEM whole building stands on piles of pine. Belem was formerly a separate town. It contains a Gothic church, in which is the tomb of the royal family of Portugal. It has also an old Tower of Belem. fortress, of singularly picturesque appearance, called Torre de Belem, which rises from the bank of the Tagus, and with its batteries com- mands that river. This quarter of the city contains a royal palace and the residences of many persons of note. BELEM (commonly called PARA), a city and seaport of Brazil, capital of the province of Grao Para, on the bay of Guajara, right bank of the estuary of the Rio Para, 75 m. from the Atlantic, and 1,500 m. N. N. W. of Rio de Ja- neiro ; lat. 1 28' S., Ion. 48 30' W. ; pop. about 35,000, of whom in 1871 2,500 were slaves. It was founded in 1616 by Francisco Caldei- ra Castello Branco, is the fourth commercial city in the empire, and one of the best built, and remarkable for the number and magnifi- cence of its public edifices, especially the ca- thedral, the church of Sao Joao Baptista, the governor's palace, and some others. The houses, mostly of stone, are very neat, and many of them even handsome ; but the streets, though regular, are with few exceptions badly paved. The city is divided into two parts, the old and new, the latter having long streets planted with palms or mangabeiras. From July to November high winds prevail, tinging people and buildings with the red dnst from the macadamized thoroughfares, and violent thunder storms are of frequent occurrence. Yet the climate is not regarded as unhealthy ; the thermometer ranges from 76 to 86 F., and the beat is tempered by refreshing sea breezes. The prevailing maladies are intermit- tent fevers, and certain affections of the stom- ach and liver, produced by the water used in BELEMNITES the city from wells containing deleterious mat- ter proceeding from animal and vegetable de- tritus. The meat and vegetables are also of very inferior quality. The harbor is defended by several forts ; though capable of admitting vessels of any draft, it is difficult of approach, and the bed is said to be gradually silting up. The surrounding country is extremely fertile, yielding abundant crops of rice, coffee, cotton, tapioca, &c., which, with sarsaparilla, cacao, balsam copaiba and other drugs, isinglass, Maranhao chestnuts, india rubber, hides and leather, form the principal exports. Of these india rubber is by far the most important. The exports for 1870 amounted to $7,643,394 60, $6,000,000 of which were of india rubber alone ; but the precedence is likely to be taken before long by cacao. The imports did not exceed $5,000,000. Belem bids fair to become before many years the chief commercial city of northern Brazil. Nine lines of steamers ply fortnightly between it and the upper Ama- zon and intermediate points ; two lines of ocean steamers touch here monthly to and from Europe, and one to and from New York ; and there is besides a prosperous coast- ing trade. Belem has six banks, a university and lyceum, many public and private schools, a scientific club, a public reading-room, a large public library, a botanic garden, and a theatre. BELEMNITES (Gr. pefapvlrTK, from fitte/ivov, a dart or arrow), a class of extinct molluscous animals, belonging to the same division as am- monites, termed cephalopods from the organs of motion being arranged around the head. The fossil remains of the animal are met with in the rocks of the upper secondary, and are particularly abundant in the strata of the green- sand formation in New Jersey. The part pre- served, often detached from the loose strata, is B. urnula. B. digitalis. a pointed cone sometimes eight inches long, of brown color and stony material, resembling in shape the head of a dart or javelin, whence their name. The larger end is hollow, the cavity being of similar shape to that of the whole specimen. They are found by millions in the formations to which they belong, and