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 BENNETT BENNINGSEN 531 olic faith, receiving the last sacrament from Archbishop McCloskey. He bequeathed the " Herald " to his only son, JAMES GORDON BEN- SETT, jr., who is now its editor and proprietor. BENNETT, John Hughes, an English physician, born in London, Aug. 31, 1812. He studied surgery under William Sedgwick and medicine in the university of Edinburgh, where he took his degree in 1837, receiving a medal for the best surgical report, while Sir Charles Bell highly commended his thesis on the "Physi- ology and Pathology of the Brain." He after- ward studied two years at Paris and two years in Germany. In 1848 he was appointed pathol- ogist to the royal infirmary, Edinburgh ; and in 1848 he succeeded Dr. Allen Thomson as pro- fessor of the institutes of medicine in Edinburgh university. He was (1841) the first in Great Britain to advocate the use of cod-liver oil for the cure of consumption, scrofula, and kindred diseases, and to deliver lectures on histology. He discovered a disease of the blood which he called leucocythaornia or white-cell blood. He also proved that the hemlock of the present day is the same drug by which Socrates was poisoned. His publications include " Inflam- mation of the Nervous Centres," "Treatise on Inflammation," "Cancerous and Cancroid Growths," " Pathology and Treatment of Mo- lecular Consumption," "Treatment of Pulmo- nary Consumption," " Lectures on Molecular Physiology, Pathology, and Therapeutics," "Principles and Practice of Medicine," and "Pneumonia." His most important work, "On Clinical Medicine" (1856), has passed through many editions in both hemispheres, and has been translated into many languages. BENNETT, Sir William Sterndale, an English composer, born in Sheffield, April 13, 1816. He is the son of Mr. Robert Bennett, for many years organist of the parish church at Sheffield. At the age of eight he was entered as chorister at King's college, Cambridge, where his mater- nal grandfather, James Donn, was curator of the royal botanical garden, and two years later commenced his musical studies at the royal academy of music. He at first chose the violin as his instrument, but soon abandoned it for the piano. His studies in composition were begun early under the direction of Dr. Crotch ; and while still at the academy his first sym- phony, in E flat, was produced, and this was speedily followed by his pianoforte concertos. At the academy his master in pianoforte in- struction was Cipriani Potter, but after leav- ing it he became the pupil of Moscheles. In London he met Mendelssohn, to whom he be- came ardently attached, and whose influence upon his method of composition is very marked. Under Mendelssohn's advice he determined to continue his musical studies in Germany, where he could have the benefit of the counsel and instruction of that celebrated composer; and the years 1836-'8 were passed at Leipsic. At the Gewandhans concerts in that city his over- ture to the Naiades, his concerto in C minor, and other works were performed under the personal direction of Mendelssohn. Returning to London, Bennett commenced his career as musical instructor, director of concerts, and composer. In 1856 he was appointed profes- sor of music at the university of Cambridge, and received the degree of Mus. Doc. the same year. In 1869 he received the degree of M. A., and in 1870 he was created D. C. L. of the uni- versity of Oxford. From 1856 to 1868 he con- ducted the philharmonic concerts, and in the lat- ter year was made principal of the royal acad- emy of music. In 1871 the honor of knight- hood was conferred upon him. The principal works of this composer are his operas, " The Wood Nymphs " and " Parisina ;" his cantatas, "The May Queen" and "The Woman of Sa- maria ;" and several concertos for piano and orchestra. He has composed many minor works for the pianoforte in connection with stringed instruments, and for that instrument alone ; also a number of songs ; and he has written a treatise on harmony, and one en- titled " Classical Practice for Pianoforte Stu- dents." BEN NEVIS, a mountain of Inverness-shire, Scotland, the highest summit in Great Britain. It rises abruptly from the narrow plain which separates it from Loch Eil to a height of 4,406 ft. Its outline is well defined ; its circumference at the base exceeds 24 m. The lower portion consists of granite, and is usually covered with rich grass ; while the upper part is a mass of porphyry. In places near the summit snow lies the year round. When the atmosphere is clear the summit commands a view of 25 m. in every direction, extending from sea to sea. BENNINGSEN. I. Levin August Theophil, count, a Russian general, born in Brunswick, Feb. 10, 1745, where his father served as colonel in the guards, died Oct. 3, 1826. He was a page at the Hanoverian court of George II., and after- ward a captain in the Hanoverian army, re- signing his commission to marry the daughter of the Austrian ambassador at Hanover. Hav- ing squandered his fortune and lost his wife, he entered the Russian service, and under Catha- rine II. distinguished himself as a cavalry officer, and was richly rewarded. Disgraced by Paul I., he entered into Count Pahlen's con- spiracy, and led the way when the assassins broke into the czar's bedchamber. Paul hid himself in the chimney. Benningsen dragged him down, and when the conspirators hesitated untied his own sash, rushed upon the czar, and with the help of the others succeeded in stran- gling him. Benningsen expedited the murder by striking Paul on the head with a heavy sil- ver snuff box. From Alexander I. Benningsen received an important military command. In the war of Russia, Austria, and England against France in 1806, he repulsed Lannes and Berna- dotte at Pultusk, and extricated the Russians from a critical position into which they had been brought by Marshal Kamensky. Soon after he was made commander-in-chief of the