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BEECH. of a walnut. They contain in largo quantity a bland fixed oil, along with starch, a little sugar, and an astringent substance. A volatile, nar- cotic, poisonous principle, called fcigiite, is also found in them, but more in the husk than in the kernel; and when not only the smooth,, leath- ery, outer husk, but also the thin brown inner pellicle have been removed, they constitute a •wholesome food. They are, liowever, more gen- erally used for feeding swine, poultry, etc., and are much employed in France and other parts of Europe for the manufacture of brcrh oil. When expressed without the application of heat, and well clarified, this oil has an agreeable taste and is used for food; it keeps long without be- coming rancid. Beech forests anciently abound- ed in England, and great herds of swine were fed in them. The beech is not, in general, found in Europe north of latitude 59°, although it occurs two degrees fartlier north in the Scan- dinavian Peninsula and in the temperate parts of Asia. In gardens and pleasure-grounds a variety is very frequently to be seen, the leaves of which have a blood-red color. The same color appears also in some degree in the leaves of the Ijeech of North America {Fagus fer- ruginea), which is distinguished by ovate, coarsely serrated, and much acuminated leaves. It forms extensive forests in the northeastern United States and the adjoining British Pos- sessions; and its wood, which is of a somewhat red or rusty color, is more valued than that of the white beech. Several species of the beech are natives of the more elevated parts of the south of Xew Zealand ; others belong to the south of South America. Tlie genus is, in fact, more characteristic of the colder latitudes of the Southern than of the Xorthern Hemisphere. Fagus Cunniiighamii is the 'myrtle-tree' of the mountains of Tasmania — a very large tree, with evergreen leathery leaves, in form much resem- bling those of the birch. Fagii/t betuloidea is the evergreen beech of Tierra del Fuego, where it forms forests of which the dark-green foliage contrasts strikingly in winter with the dazzling snow. The wood is too heavy and brittle for masts, but makes tolerable planks, and is car- ried to the treeless Falkland Islands for roofing houses. Fogwi antarctica ascends higher on the mountains about the Strait of Magellan. It has deciduous leaves, and much resembles the common beech. Fagus proccra grows in the Andes of Chile, and attains a majestic size. It is a valuable timber tree. In the United States, Carpinus Carnliitia)ia, a small tree, is called Blue Beech and Water Beech.

BEECH DROPS. See Cancerboot.

'''BEECH'ER, (1800-78). An American philanthropist and writer, distin- guished for her elTorts to advance the education of women. She was born at Easthampton, L. I., the daughter of Lyman Beecher (q.v. ), and at the age of 19 years was betrothed to Professor Fisher, of Yale, who shortly after lost his life at sea. She never married, liut dedicated herself to the advancement of female education, opened a school at Hartford in 182-2, and in 1832 one for young women in Cincinnati. Though she gave this up in 1S34, on account of ill-health, she continued to organize societies and schools for training women to social service, and to this end published numerous books, among which may be enumerated True litiiicdy for the "Wrongs of Women (1851); Letters to the People on Health and Happiness (1855); Common Sense Applied to Religion (1857); and Religious Training of Children in the School, the Family, and the Church (1864). She was a brilliant, rather eccentric woman, the sister of Henry Ward Beecher and of Harriet Beecher Stowe.

'''BEECHER, (1815-1900). An American Congregational divine. He was born at Litchfield, Conn., the fourth son of Lyman Beecher; was fitted for college at the Boston Latin School and at Lawrence Academy, Groton, and graduated at Bowdoin in 1834. He studied theology at Lane Seminary, and officiated as pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church, Fort Wayne, Ind., from 1844 to 1851; of the First Congregational Church, Newark, N. ,1.. from 1851 to 1854; of the Congregational Church, Georgetown, Mass., in 1857. From 1870 to 1877 he resided in Florida, and was for two years superintendent of public instruction. In 1885 he became stated supply at Wyso.x, Pa., and died at Haverhill. Mass., April 21, 1900. He aided Henry Ward Beecher in the compilation of The Plymouth Collection, and Mrs. Stowe in Sunny Memories of Foreign Lands, and published The Incarnation (1849); Pen Pictures of the Bible (1855); Spiritual Manifestations (1879); Eden Tableaux (1880) ; and edited his father's auto- biography and correspondence (2 vols., 1804).

BEECHER, Charles Emerson (1850-1904). An American paleontologist, born at Dunkirk, N. Y. He graduated at the University of Jlichi- gan in 1878, and obtained the degree of Ph.D. from Yale in 1889. His early work in paleontology was done under the direction of Prof. James Hall, at Albany, N. '. In 1888 he received an appointment at Yale University, was made pro- fessor of historical geology in 1892, and after the death of Professor Marsh he became the curator of the geological collections and profes- sor of paleontology. Beecher's most important contributions have been to the knowledge of the development and structure of the trilobites and brachiopods. Several papers on the ontogeny and phylogeny of these and other classes of ani- mals were collected in one volume entitled Studies in Evolution (1901), and appeared as one of the Y'ale Bicentennial publications. He also published "Brachiospongida>: A Memoir on a Group of Silurian Sponges," Memoirs of the Peabody Museum of Yale University, Vol. II., Part I. (1889). He became a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1899.

BEECHER, Edward (1803-95). An Ameri- can Congregational divine, born at East Hamp- ton, L. I., the second son of Lyman Beecher. He graduated at Y'ale, 1822, and in theology at An- dover; was pastor of Park Street Congrega- tional Church, Boston, from 1826 to 1830; presi- dent of Illinois College from 1830 to 1844. He officiated as pastor of the Salem Street Church, Boston, from 1846 to 185C, and of the Congrega- tional Church at Galesburg, 111., from 1856 to 1872 ; then removed to Brooklyn, N. Y., where he engaged in literary and missionary work, and was pastor of the Parkville Congregational Church from 1885 to 1889. He was for six years senior editor of The Congrcgat ionali.it, and was for several years on the editorial staff of The Christian Union. Dr. Beecher wrote much on