Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume II.djvu/505

 BELEMNITES BELFAST 485 from 80 to 90 species of them have been recog- nized. They early attracted the attention of scientific men as well as of the common people ; and it appears from the memoir of M. de Blain- ville that no fewer than 91 authors, whose names he gives, beginning with Theophrastus, have written on this subject. The ancient in- habitants of Asia Minor are represented by some writers to have designated these fossils by the term dactyli Idcei, fingers of Mount Ida, which, however, according to other au- thorities, was very differently applied, some describing these unknown Dactyli as divine persons worthy of worship, as having nursed and brought up the god Jupiter ; and others, Belemnites restored, after D'Orbigny. as Sophocles, making them to be the inventors of the manufacture of iron. Popular modern names for them are thunder stones, devil's fingers, and spectre candles. By the researches of Dr. Buckland and Prof. Agassiz the true nature of the belemnites has been fully established. The hollow pointed body is composed of carbonate of lime, part of which was the original fibrous shell, and the remainder introduced by infiltration. Thus the fossil became crystalline and nearly solid. The cavity was the receptacle of the animal, but, as in the genera bulla and sepia, and the coralline zoophytes, it by no means covered the fleshy portions ; these, on the contrary, extended outside of the shell, and enclosed pelemnites it, very much as a skeleton is en- vf*ovTii closed and covered with the softer portions of the body. Within this cavity was the apparatus of the air chambers and siphon, common also to the ammonite, nautilus, and other chambered shells, by means of which the animal could rise or sink at will. But the belemnites also were provided with the ink-bag apparatus of the modern sepia; an important protection for their soft bodies, unguarded as they were by any outer shell. These ink hags were noticed in a communica- tion by Dr. Buckland to the geological society of London in 1829, as found by him in a fossil state, which he supposed, from comparison with known molluscous animals furnished with them, must have belonged to dibranchiate or two-gilled cephalopods connected with belem- nites. Subsequently Prof. Agassiz met with specimens retaining the ink bag within the cavity ; and the fact being thus established, the name belemnosepia was thereupon given to the family in the class of cephalopods comprising all the species of belemnites. From the im- mense numbers of these animals, and also of the still more abundant varieties of ammonites, which flourished during the periods of the for- mation of the oolite and cretaceous groups, Dr. Buckland infers that these extinct families filled a larger space and performed more im- portant functions among the inhabitants of the ancient seas than are assigned to their few living representatives in our modern oceans. BELESTA, a town of France, department of Ariege, 17 m. E. S. E. of Foix; pop. in 1866, 2,545. It is noted for the intermitting spring of Fontestorbes, which rises in a natural grotto or cavern, and forms the principal part of the river Lers, a feeder of the Garonne. The stream which flows from the cavern is 18 or 20 ft. wide and a foot or more deep, and runs very rapidly ; yet in the summer and autumn, and whenever there is a drought, it becomes inter- mittent. The intermission takes place at equal intervals twice in the 24 hours. BELFAST, a city, port of entry, and the cap- ital of Waldo county, Maine, situated on a broad bay of the same name, on the W. side of the Penobscot river, opposite Castine, 30 m. from the ocean and 110 m. N. E. of Portland ; pop. in 1870, 5,278. The harbor is deep and spacious, and always open, so that it is the win- ter port of the Penobscot. The Passaggassas- sawakeag empties into the Penobscot at this point, and furnishes water power, which is used in the manufacture of lumber. There is considerable ship building and commerce. The valuation of property in 1870 was $2,660,879 ; in 1860, $1,802,307. During the year ending June 30, 1871, 19 vessels of 9,098 tons were built here. There are 24 public schools, 6 churches, a well endowed academy, 2 evening newspapers, a national bank, a state hank, and a savings bank. The Belfast and Moosehead Lake railroad (now consolidated with the Maine Central) connects Belfast with the Maine Cen- tral at Burnham. Belfast was founded in 1770 by settlers from Londonderry, N. H. It was incorporated in 1773, and in 1797 the first church was established. In 1815 the town was invested by the British. The city charter was adopted in 1853. BELFAST, a seaport town and parliamentary borough of Ireland, county Antrim, on the