hook over the upper flanches, and the smaller rods parallel with the beams be laid upon the inter-ties. A flat centring is placed against the bottoms of the beams, and broken bricks or other refuse materials suitable for concrete are put upon the centring, and plaster of Paris being poured in, the whole mass soon becomes sufficiently set to allow the centring to be removed, and the concrete to be sustained by the iron framework between the beams. In some cases the plaster concrete fills up the whole space between the beams, and flooring tiles are laid directly upon it; in others the depth of the concrete is less than that of the beams, and wooden strips are laid across the beams perpendicular to their length, to which ordinary flooring boards are nailed. A finishing coat of plaster put directly on the concrete forms the ceiling below. Hollow potteries placed upon the iron lattice work, with the interstices filled with plaster, are frequently used instead of concrete. A very light and superior floor is thus made, and the rigidity of the whole system considerably increased. The load to be sustained by the floors for dwellings, offices, and buildings other than manufactories and warehouses for the storage of heavy goods, is assumed at 150 pounds per square foot. In a crowded room each person will occupy not less than 24 square feet, and will have an average weight of 150 pounds, and adding 15 pounds for the weight of the floor itself, the total load will be 75 pounds per square foot. The estimated load of 150 pounds per square foot is obtained by taking double the actual load to allow for vibration from walking, dancing, and accidental shocks. The following table gives the spans, weights, and depths of the joists used in the floor of the Louvre, the load being taken at 150 pounds per square foot, and the condition maintained that the deflection at the middle of any beam shall not exceed of an inch. A chamber is given to the beams sufficient to prevent any deflection below a horizontal line.

On testing these floors it was found that a much greater load than 150 pounds per square foot could be applied without straining the beams beyond the elastic limit of the iron, and that consequently any additional deflection they might take under such load would disappear upon its removal. For spans of greater length than 25 feet, riveted beams are made with two T bars, to form the flanches, and two plates of boiler iron of the requisite width riveted one on each side of the stems of the bars. Plane plates of iron have also been used for beams with the system of inter-ties, and concrete, or potteries, above described. A much greater weight of iron is required to obtain the same

strength than when I bars of equal depth are employed, and the system has been abandoned on account of its greater cost and inferior efficiency.-The use of plaster for the filling in between the beams has not been adopted in England or America, because of the greater cost and inferior quality of the plaster that can be obtained. The system known as that of Fox and Barrett has been used extensively in England. Light strips of wood with narrow spaces between them are supported on the bottom flanches of the beams, and reach from beam to beam. On these strips is spread a layer of coarse mortar which is pressed down between them. Concrete, made with cement, is filled in between the beams, and a tile or wooden floor is laid immediately upon it. A rough and a finishing coat of plaster are put directly on the cement to form the ceiling below. Floors have also been made by the use of arched plates of wrought-iron or of corrugated sheet-iron supported upon the lower flanches of the beams, with a filling of concrete above the arched plates or corrugated iron on which the floor is Îaid. The system of light segmental brick arches springing from the lower flanches of the beams and levelled up with concrete is that most generally employed in this country and in England. It is more strictly fire-proof than any other, and much more economical than the use of arched plates or corrugated sheet-iron, and, except in France, where plaster is cheap, than the French systems. The weight of the floors themselves with a filling of solid concrete or brick arches forms a much greater part than in the lighter French systems, of the total load to be carried by the beams; but on the other hand the arches and concrete add materially to the strength and rigidity of the beams, not only by preventing lateral deflection, but by adding to some extent the resistance to compression of so much of the arches or concrete as is above the neutral line to that of the upper parts of the beams, whereby they become in fact an integral part of the beams themselves. The neutral axis is thus brought nearer the upper side of the floor, and the lower parts of the beams act with greater leverage to resist extension. Only so much of the filling in as is above the neutral line thus adds to the strength of the beams, and in order that this additional strength may be obtained, the filling must not slide along the beam, as it suffers deflection under the load. The weight of the floor is not only less with arches than with solid concrete, but the filling also contributes more effectually to the strength of the system. Long beams should be supported in the middle of their length by wooden scantlings until the cement of the arches or concrete is set, in order to get the full advantage of this additional resistance, which in many cases amounts to 25 per cent. of that of the beams. The arches should have a rise of not less than one inch to the foot of span, and are generally the width of a brick in thickness, unless the spans exceed 6 or 8 feet, when they

should be 8 inches at the soffit and 4 inches at the crown. If a wooden flooring is to e used, wooden strips parallel with the beams re laid in the concrete filling above the arches, to which the flooring can be nailed. To form the ceiling below the beams wooden strips may be secured to the lower flanches of the beams, to which ordinary furring, lathing, and plastering can be nailed; or the plaster may be put directly upon the arches, so as to show the system of construction, and thus with suitable mouldings a good architectural effect can be obtained. The thrust of the arches on one side of the beams is counteracted by the thrust on the other side, except for beams next the walls or openings. It is usual in order to counteract the thrust on these beams to connect together several of the beams next a wall or opening, by tie rods perpendicular to their length. In some cases also the ceiling and floor have been formed by blocks of stone resting upon the lower flanches of the beams with ornamental designs cut upon the lower face. The strength of various forms and dimensions of beams may be determined by the ordinary formulæ of resistance. For spans of less than 25 feet solid rolled beams 9 inches deep are usually employed, or often for small spans beams 7 inches deep. The beams are placed at such distances apart as may be necessary to give the requisite strength for the load and span required. For beams of greater span than 25 feet solid rolled beams of sufficient depth cannot yet be obtained, but the increasing demand will probably soon lead to their manufacture. For larger spans, riveted beams are used, and floors with wrought-iron beams and brick arches have been constructed for clear spans of 60 feet. Where the width of the building is great, it is more economical to divide the width into two or more spans by the introduction of columns and girders. I beams may be used for girders, but in most cases hollow box girders are to be preferred.

BEAN, an annual plant of the natural order of leguminosa, and sub-order of papilionacea, of which the principal species is the faba vulgaris, the bean commonly cultivated in England, America, and also on the continent of Europe. The French haricot, or kidney bean, is the only other kind cultivated, though there are wild species in India and South America, which are important articles of diet to the natives. The generic characteristics of the common bean are a straight simple stock from 1 to 2 feet in height, leaves formed of 4 thick, entire, ovate-oblong leaflets, white flowers with a dark silky spot in the middle of the 2 lateral petals, pods divided into partitions and containing 5 or more seeds or kernels, whose size, shape, and color differ considerably in the different varieties of the species. Of these varieties, the mazagan is the earliest and has the smallest seeds, the Windsor has the largest and almost orbicular seeds. There is also the highly esteemed dwarf bean, with a very small seed, and the horse-bean, with a long and cy

lindrical seed, designed chiefly for the food of cattle. Beans love a rich strong loam, but they do not exhaust the soil, and are often planted advantageously in company with other seeds, particularly with maize. They make a very nutritious food, containing 84 per cent. of nutritive matter, and are healthful to those whose stomachs are strong and able to digest them. Baked beans are a favorite dish throughout New England. There is said to be no other food on which men can do so hard work. Hence they are especially esteemed by farmers, during the laborious haying season, and are the most popular article of diet among the lumberers of Maine and Wisconsin.-The bean is a native of Persia, and of the borders of the Caspian sea. According to Diodorus Siculus, the Egyptians were the first to cultivate it, and to make it a common article of diet, yet they conceived religious notions concerning it which made them at length refrain from eating it. Their priests dared not either touch it or look at it. Pythagoras, who was educated among the Egyptians, derived from them their veneration for the bean, and forbade his disciples to eat it. He taught that it was created at the same time and of the same elements as man, that it was animated and had a soul, which, like the human soul, suffered the vicissitudes of transmigration. Aristotle explains the prohibition of Pythagoras symbolically; he says that beans being the ordinary means of voting on public matters, the white bean meaning an affirmative, and the black a negative, therefore Pythagoras meant to forbid his disciples to meddle with political government. The Roman priests affirmed that the bean blossom contained infernal letters, referring to the dark stains on the wings, and it is probable that all the superstitions on the subject sprang from the blossom and not from the fruit.

BEAN GOOSE (anas segetum), a variety of the common European wild goose, neither of the species being known to America. Some persons have believed the bean goose to be the origin of the common domestic goose; but that distinction is generally assigned to the gray lag goose, or common wild goose, which closely resembles the ordinary domestic fowl, except that the ganders are plain gray, like the geese, which, in the wild birds, are never pied; the white mottling being the effect of domestication.

BEAR (ursus). "The family of bears are classed," says an agreeable writer, Robert Mudie, in his "Gleanings from Nature," "by the late truly illustrious Baron Cuvier, among those carnivorous animals which are plantigrade, or walk upon the soles of their feet. They differ from the more typical carnivora in many respects. In the first place, they do not confine themselves to animal food, but eat succulent vegetables, honey, and other substances which are not animal; in the second place, they do not kill the animals which they eat in what may be called a business-like manner, by attack

ing them in some vital part, but, on the contrary, hug or tear them to death; and, in the third place, those of them that inhabit the cold elimates, which are their appropriate places of residence, often hibernate during the winter, or some part of it, which is never done by the characteristic carnivora. There are bears in almost all latitudes, from the equator to the pole; but those which inhabit the warmer latitudes are tame and feeble as compared with the natives of the cooler ones; and, therefore, we must regard them as being, in their proper home and locality, animals of the colder regions of the globe. The whole genus has, in fact, a polar rather than an equatorial character, and may thus be considered as geographically the reverse of the more formidable of the strictly carnivorous animals-the lion and tiger in the eastern, and the jaguar in the western hemisphere. These are all tropical in their homes, habitually ardent in their temperaments, and, though they can endure hunger for considerable periods, they feed all the year round, and thus have no season of repose. The bears, again, are seasonal animals, retiring during the winter, and coming abroad in the spring. But it is not from the storm that the bears retire; it is from the cold serenity-the almost total cessation of atmospheric, as well as of living action-which reigns during the polar winter; the storm is both seed-time and harvest to the bears. During its utmost fury, they range the wilds and forests, accompanied by the more powerful owls and hawks, which, like the bears, are equally remarkable for their strength and their impenetrable covering. At those times, many of the smaller animals are dashed lifeless to the earth by the storm, or shrouded in the snow, and upon these the bears make an abundant supper-a supper of days, and even of weeks-before they retire to their long rest. So also, when the storm begins to break, they find a plentiful collection of the carcasses of such animals as have perished in the snow, and been concealed from sight and preserved from putrefaction under it." -The polar bear (U. maritimus), is the largest, strongest, most powerful, and, with a single exception, the most ferocious of the five species of the bear which have been distinguished by naturalists. Its distinguishing characteristics are the great length of its body, as compared with its height; the length of the neck; the small ness of the external ears; the large size of the soles of the feet; the fineness and length of the hair; the straightness of the line of the forehead and the nose; the narrowness of its head, and the expansion of its muzzle. It is invariably of a dingy white hue. The size varies considerably. Some are mentioned as long as 13 feet; but this is probably an exaggeration. Captain Lyon mentions one of 8 feet 7 inches long, weighing 1,500 pounds. The domestic habits of these powerful animals are not much understood; and the fact of their hibernating or not is no very well ascertained, although it is believed that the male, at least, is not dormant so

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long as the land bears of the north. mirable work of the late excellent Kane seems to plac it in doubt whether either sex absolutely hibernates, as we find she-bears with their cubs visiting his winter quarters during the midnight darkness. The pairing season is understood to be in July and August; and the attachment of the pair is such, that if one is killed, the other remains fondling the dead body, and will suffer itself to be killed rather than leave it. The same wonderful affection of the female to her cubs has been noticed, from which neither wounds nor death will divide her; and all the arctic navigators, from Dr. Scoresby to Dr. Kane, have recorded their sympathy with, and regret for the poor savage mothers, vainly endeavoring to persuade their dead cubs to arise and accompany them, or to eat the food which they will not themselves touch, although starving-even when compelled to slaughter them in order to supply their own necessities. The habits of the polar bear are purely maritime; and, although their system of dentition is the same with that of the other bears, their food, from necessity, is wholly animal. The polar bear is comparatively rare in menageries, as it suffers so much from the heat, even of our winters, and from the want of water, that it is not easily preserved in confinement. In the reign of Henry III., of England, however, it is curious to record that a white bear was among the collection of wild beasts in the tower of London, for which the sheriffs of the city were ordered to provide a muzzle and an iron chain, to secure him when out of the water, and a long and stout cord to hold him when fishing in the Thames. The words italicized seem to identify the species beyond the possibility of error; but one would like to know whence the polar bear was brought, at that early day, so long previous to the commencement of arctic exploration.-The next bear, in all respects, to the polar species, and superior to him in ferocity and tenacity of life, is the grisly bear (C. horribilis) of America. This terrible and powerful animal, which is to the American fauna what the Bengal tiger is to that of Hindostan, and the lion to that of central Africa, is of comparatively late discovery, having been first distinguished by Lewis and Clark in their western explorations. Its geographical range is from the great plains west of the Missouri, at the foot of the Rocky mountains, through Upper California, to the Pacific ocean. characteristics are strongly marked and clear. "The line of its forehead and muzzle is straighter than in any other species; and its claws, especially those of the fore-feet, are much more produced, and far more crooked, though its general habit is not that of a climber. The snout is black and movable, the central furrow being distinct; the lips are partially extensile; the eyes very small, having no third eyelid, and the irides being of a reddish brown. The ears are short and rounded, and the line of the forehead thence to the eyes is a little convex;

Its

but it continues straight to the point of the snout. The hair on the face is very short; but on the body, generally, it is long and very thickly set. The hair, in the adult, is a mixture of brown, white and black. The tail is short, and, in the living animal, completely hidden by the hair. On the fore paws, the claws are rather slender, but long, as well as crooked and sharp at the tips, though the sharpness is rather that of a chisel, by being narrowed at the edges, than a point. This structure gives the tips of them great additional strength, and accounts for the severe gashing wounds which are inflicted by their stroke. The soles of the hind feet are in great part naked, and the claws on them are considerably smaller than those on the fore-paws, though much more. crooked; and their trenchant points form very terrible lacerating instruments, when the animal closes with its enemy in hugging. They are sufficient to tear the abdomen, even of a large animal, to shreds, while the fore-paws are at the same time compressing the thorax to suffocation." The grisly bear is the most savage of all his race. If it be not certain that he will voluntarily attack a human being, it is certain that he will not turn out of his way to avoid him, and that if attacked he will pursue the assailant to the last, nor quit the conflict while life remains. He is, also, the most tenacious of life of all animals. One shot by Gov. Clark's party, after receiving 10 balls in his body, 4 of which passed through his lungs and 2 through his heart, survived above 20 minutes, and swam half a mile, before succumbing to his wounds.-Beside these species, we must also mention the European brown bear (U. arctos), and the American black bear (U. Americanus). These 2 species are closely allied and are very similar in habits, although the European brown bear is fiercer and more sanguinary, especially as he grows old, when he will, though rarely, attack men; particularly if he have once tasted human blood, when, like the man-eating tigers and lions, he acquires a taste for it, and makes man his especial prey. They are both excellent climbers; passionately fond of honey; great devourers of roots, green wheat, and, in America, green maize; and especial enemies to hogs and young calves; which amiable propensities draw them the marked vengeance of the backwoodsman. The brown bear is distinguished by the prominence of his brow, above the eyes, which is abruptly convex, with a depression below them-the black bear, by the regular convexity of its whole facial outline, from the ears to the muzzle. It never attacks man, except in selfdefence, and then only when hard pressed and cornered. The flesh of the black bear is very good, resembling pork with a peculiar wild or perfumed flavor.-The Asiatic bear (U. labiatus), so called from its long lips, is a timid, inoffensive creature, ordinarily-though it, too, will fight fiercely, when wounded, or in defence of its young. It inhabits the high and mountainous regions of India, burrows in the earth,

on

feeds on ants, rice, and honey, and lives in pairs, together with its young, which, when alarmed, mounts the back of the parents for safety. The habits of this bear are well described in the "Old Forest Ranger," by Maj. Walter Campbell, an English officer; although the ferocity of the animal appears to be somewhat exaggerated in his accounts, notwithstanding that it is represented as fighting in defence of its young.

Three or four other species of bears, principally Asiatic, have recently been distinguished, but all of very inferior interest to those above specified, and one, at least, of extremely doubtful authenticity as a distinct species. This is the Siberian bear (U. collaris), which is so nearly identical with the common black bear (U. arctos), as to be distinguished from it, only, by a white or grizzly collar encircling its shoulders and breastwhich may be, and probably is, a mere casual variety. It is said to be peculiar to Siberia.The spectacled bear (U. ornatus), a native of the Cordilleras of the Andes, in Chili. Its fur is smooth, shining, and black, with the exception of a pair of semicircular marks over the eyes, whence its name, and the fur on its muzzle and its breast, which is of a dirty white color; little or nothing is known of its habits.-The Thibetian bear or Isabel bear (U. Thibetanus). Its characteristics are the shortness of its neck and the straightness of its facial outline. Its color is black, with a white under lip, and a white mark in the shape of a letter Y, the stem lying on the middle of the breast, the arms diverging upward on the shoulders. It is a small-sized, harmless, and purely vegetable-eating animal.The Malay bear (helarctos Malayanus). A small bear, jet black, with a lunar white mark on its breast, and a yellowish muzzle. It has a long, slender, protrusive tongue, unlike that of the bears. It is perfectly inoffensive, feeding on honey and the young shoots of the cocoanut trees, of which it makes extreme havoc. When domesticated it becomes exceedingly tame, is sagacious, intelligent, and affectionate, and will not touch animal food. -The Bornean bear (H. euryspilus). It differs from the above, by having a large orange-colored patch on the chest. It does not exceed 4 feet in length, and has the same long, slender, protrusive tongue of the species last described, fitting it especially to feed on honey, which, with fruits and vegetables, is its sole food. There has always existed a doubt as to the existence of any species of bear in Africa. Pliny mentions that, in the consulship of M. Piso and M. Messala, 62 B C., Domitius Enobarbus exhibited 100 Numidian bears, and as many Ethiopian hunters, in the circus, but at the same time asserts that there are no bears in Africa. Herodotus, Virgil, Juvenal, and Martial all speak of Libyan bears, as a well-known animal. Yet Bruce distinctly insists that there is no bear in any part of Africa. Ehrenberg and Forskäl both, recently, speak of a black, plantigrade animal called by the natives kawai or karrae, with a lengthened muzzle,

which they both saw and hunted, but in vain. It is, however, a good rule in natural history to adopt no animal on hearsay, or until a specimen is produced. On this view it must be held that there is no African bear-although there is no reason why there should not be until one shall be produced and described.-Bear-baiting with mastiffs was formerly a favorite and even royal amusement in England; and the readers of Kenilworth will remember the characteristic scene, in which Essex is represented as pleading, before Elizabeth, the cause of the bear-warden against the stage players, Raleigh defending the latter, and quoting the passage of Shakespeare, personifying the queen as "a fair vestal throned in the west," on which she suffers the bearward's petition to drop unheeded into the Thames-although, in truth, it may be doubted whether the royal virago would not have in her heart preferred a tough match of "pull dog! pull bear!" to all the "wood notes wild" that Shakespeare ever warbled. In the north of Europe the brown bear is hunted in the winter, with snow shoes, and shot without the aid of dogs. In the west and south-west of the United States, he is systematically chased with packs of hounds bred for the purpose a cross generally of the large slow foxhound with the mastiff-and the sport is described as highly exciting, and by no means devoid of danger, when Bruin turns to bay, and it becomes necessary to go in with the knife, to close quarters, in order to save the lives of the bear-hounds.

BEAR, GREAT (ursa major), a brilliant constellation of the northern hemisphere of the heavens. It must have been, from its noticeable character, one of those clusters which early attracted the attention of star-gazers. It is a constellation which, in the latitude of 45° N., never passes below the horizon. The most remarkable stars in it are 7 (marked by astronomers with the first 7 letters of the Greek alphabet), which, from their peculiar arrangement, have long been designated collectively by some name. They have been called the ". wagon," "Charles's wain," and the "dipper." Four of them are arranged in an irregular square, constituting the body of the "dipper," while the other 3 are nearly in a straight line, and form the handle. Two of the stars in the body of the dipper range nearly with the north star, and are therefore called the "pointers.' Mizar, in the handle, is a double star. Benetnasch is a brilliant star of the first magnitude, according to some maps; in others it is set down at 11.-The LESSER BEAR (ursa minor) is a constellation of the northern hemisphere, having in it a cluster somewhat resembling the dipper in Ursa Major. In Ursa Minor there are no stars larger than the third magnitude.

BEAR (BERE) ISLAND, an island about 6 miles long by broad, in Bantry bay, on the S. W. coast of Ireland. It is separated from the mainland, on the N., by a narrow frith, over

against which stands a spur of the Caho mountains. The surface of the island is rough.

BEAR LAKE. This body of water (called Great Bear lake) is so named on account of its situation directly under the arctic circle, and therefore under the constellation Ursa Major. It is of very irregular shape, having 5 arms projecting out of the main body. Its greatest diameter is 150 miles. Its depth is not ascertained. Two hundred and seventy feet of line gave no bottom near the eastern shore in M'Tavish bay. The principal supply of the lake is Dease river, which enters it from the N. E. Its outlet is, on its south-western extremity, at the bottom of Keith bay, through Bear Lake river, which empties into Mackenzie river. The surface of Bear lake is not more than 200 feet above the Arctic ocean; consequently, its bottom must, like many of the north-western lakes, lie considerably below the level of the sea. Great Bear lake abounds in fish of many varieties, among which the herring-salmon is noted. The 2d land expedition, under Franklin, in 1825, wintered on the western shore of this lake, near its outlet, where they built Fort Franklin. Dr. Richardson, a member of the expedition, mentions a curious circumstance concerning the singing birds of this lake, that when they first appeared after the long arctic winter they serenaded their mates at midnight, and were silent during the day. The waters of the lake are so clear that a white substance can be distinctly discerned at the depth of 90 feet. This lake is situated about 250 miles E. of the Rocky mountains, about the same distance S. of the Arctic sea, and 400 miles N. W. of Slave lake. It is in lat. 66° N. and long. 120° W. (Gr.), and 4° S. and 23° W. from the magnetic pole, as determined by Ross, in 1831. It is the basin of a water-shed of about 400 miles diameter.

BEAR MOUNTAIN, a mountain in the N. E. corner of Dauphin co., Penn. at the foot of which runs the creek and valley of the same name. This valley is one of the famous localities of the anthracite coal, and belongs to what writers on this subject designate as the first or southern coal district of Pennsylvania.

BEAR RIVER. Two rivers bear this name, deserving of mention. I. A river in Utah territory, about 400 miles long, which rises in a spur of the Rocky mountains, about 75 miles E. of Great Salt lake, takes first a north-westerly and then a south-easterly direction, forming nearly a letter V, of which more than half the entire length is in Oregon territory, and finally empties into the Great Salt lake. Its valley is about 6,000 feet above the sea level. At the bend of the river in Oregon, and about 45 miles from Lewis river, are found the famous Beer and Steamboat springs, which Col. Fremont describes in his expedition to Oregon and California (1842-3), and near which he encamped. These springs are highly impregnated with magnesia, and other mineral substances. The valley of Bear river is narrow through most of its extent, but is described by Col. Fremont as ex