Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/803

BELCHER. BELCHER, Jonathan (1081-1757). A colonial Governor of Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and afterwards of New Jersey. He was born in Cambridge, Mass., graduated at Harvard in li'i'Jd, and afterwards spent six years in Europe. In 1730 he was appointed Governor of Massachusetts and New Hampshire; but he soon became embroiled in disputes with the colo- nial legislatures concerning the payments of the Governor's salary, questions of colonial cur- rency, and the [jrotracted boundary dispute be- tween Massachusetts and New Hampshire, and in 1741 was removed, in deference to the popu- lar outcry against him. He has passed into history as perhaps the most unpopular of all the royal Governors of Massachusetts. Some time after his removal he again visited England, where he succeeded in restoring himself to favor, and in 1747 he was appointed to succeed Morris as Governor of New Jersey. His administration of affairs in this province was for the most part wise and satisfactory to the people, and he re- mained in office until his death. As a governor, especially in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, he was arbitrary and opinionative, reckless in invective against his opponents, not above the arts of cajolery and flatteiy, inordinately fond of display, and ostentatiously pious. He has been spoken of as 'the most perfect example of a New England courtier in a corrupt age.' On the other hand, he was a good administrator, rigidly enforced the laws, and seems for the most part sincerely to have desired to jimmote the public welfare. In 175G he gave his library of 400 vol- umes to the College of New Jersey (now Prince- ton ), and it was he who chose the name for Nas- sau Hall. Many of Belcher's letters, written between 1730 and 1741, were published in the NeiD Encjland Historical and Genealogical Reg- ister for 1SG5, and The Belcher Papers, with a biographical preface, were published by the Mas- sachusetts Historical Society in 1S93. Consult Collections of the Massachusetts Historical So- ciety, Vol. VI. (Boston, 1893).

BELCHITE, bel-che'ta. A to^^•n in the Prov- ince of Saragossa, Spain, on the Aguas, a tribu- tary of the Ebro, 25 miles southeast of Sara- gossa (Map: Spain, E 2). It is celebrated as tile scene of the battle of June 18, 1800, in which the French under Suchet completely routed the Spaniards under General Blake, cap- turing all their guns, with a loss of only 40 men to themselves. Population, in 1807, 3409.

BELCIKOWSKI, bel'tse-kov'ske, Adam (1830 — ). A l>(jlish writer, bom at Cracow. He graduated in 180.5 at the universit5' there, and in 1808 was appointed an instructor in Polish literature at the University of Cracow. He has written much, chielly drama and literary criticism, his publications including: Adam Tarlo (1809); Hmiyndi (1870); Francesca da Rimini (1873); King BoJeslav the Bold (1882); and several essays m /<• tStiidyoir nail lAteratura Polskq, edited by Chmielowski (1886).

BELCK, WALDEM.VR (1802—). A German traveler and archaeologist, born in Danzig. He studied chemistry, in 1884 accompanied the ex- pedition which founded the German West Afri- can possessions, and after 1888 became connected as an electro-chemist with various commercial establishments. In 1891, and again with Fried- rich Lehmann, in 1898-99, he traveled extensively throughout Armenia, studying the remains of the primitive Turanian Civilization, collecting a large number of new inscriptions, and making geographical observations.

BELED-EL-JERID, bel'ed-el-jf-red'. A re- gion of North Africa, between Algeria and the Great Desert, east of Morocco. It contains a number of oases, noted for their extensive pro- duction of dates.

BELEM, bu-laN'. A city of Brazil. See PaeA.

BELEM. A suburb of Lisbon (q.v.).

BELEM'NITES (Gk. pAe^.-o./, belemnon, dart, javelin). A genus of dibranchiate cephalopods of the extinct order Belemnoidca, allied to the modern squid. That portion of the shell usually found is the 'rostrum,' or 'gruird,' a solid, cigar-sliaped organ, more or less pointed at one end, and pierced at the other extremity by a conical cavity called the 'alveolus.' In "perfect specimens there fits into this alveolus a conical chambered shell, the 'pliragmocone,' which' seems to be homologous with the similarlv chambered shell of the Nautiloidea and Ammoiioidea. This phragmocone, which is provided with a siphun- cle, has an initial chamber which closely re- sembles that of the primitive Ammonoidea, nota- bly the genera Bactrites and Mimoceras, and even more closely the modern dibranchiate genus Spirula, thus indicating the affinities of bl-lem- nites. Above the phragmocone, and developed as an anterior extension of its dorsal wall, is the 'proijstracum,' a more or less calcified plate that becomes the 'pen' in the modern squid and cuttlefish, and which probably served to protect the vital organs and to give rigidity to the for- ward portion of the body. The entire shell was internal.

Some traces of the soft parts of the animal have been found, so that it lias been possible to restore the outline of the body and the form of the fins. The general structure seems to have been quite like that of the modern squid, with its long posteriorly pointed body, provided with fin-like marginal expansions of the mantle. There were ten arms, and these were furnished with strong horny hooks that assisted the crea- ture to seize its prey. Mandibles, and. most interesting of all, the hardened contents of the ink-bag have also been, in a few rare cases, pre- served. The belemnites are, together with the Ammonoidea, the most characteristic of Mesozoie fossils, and they are found commonly in rocks of Lower Lias (.Jurassic) to Upper Cretaceous age, in Europe. North America, and Asia. A single slab of Liassic rock from Whitby, England, now in the geological collection of the museum in Paris, has about 900 specimens on a surface 20 inches square. .Some 3.50 species are known, and they range in form and size from elongated delicate kinds to short, stout varieties.

Belemnites is one of the earliest known fossils, and its hi.story is quite interesting. It has received many names that have expressed various ideas regarding its form, nature, and origin. The shell is supposed to liave been known to Pliny, but the name belemnites was first applied to it by George Agricoja in 1.540. Previous to that time it had been called 'lingurium,' and was supposed to be the urine of a lynx petrified into amber. Popular names were 'devil's-finger' and 'thunder-stone,' and they were used in early times as