Chapter IV: Part 4

When the thermometer and barometer rise together in summer, with rain in large drops, a wholesome state of the atmosphere is at hand.

A great and sudden rising of the barometer, that is to say, a great accession of atmospherical pressure, will, in some persons, occasion a slight temporary difficulty of hearing and tingling in the ears, similar to that which is experienced in descending from high mountains, or from the air in balloons.—_Foster._

BARREL, _s._ A round wooden vessel to be stopped close; a vessel
containing liquor; anything hollow, as the barrel of a gun; a
cylinder.

_Barrel-making_ has occupied the attention of gun manufacturers from the first invention of fire-arms to the present time. Experiments in the material as well as the construction of barrels, have been extensively tried by the artists of every country. A gradual and progressive improvement was the result, until the _slub-barrel_ of the present day has superseded every other kind, and seems to have reached the utmost perfection that human ingenuity can accomplish.

The peculiar formation of barrels at different periods, and by different artists, will be interesting to sportsmen generally.

_Spanish barrels_ have always been held in great esteem, as well on account of the quality of the iron—which is generally considered the best in Europe—as because they possess the reputation of being forged and bored more perfectly than any others. It should be observed, however, that of the Spanish barrels, those only that are made in the capital are accounted truly valuable; in consequence of which a great many have been made at other places, especially in Catalonia and Biscay, with the names and marks of the Madrid gunsmiths. They are also counterfeited at Liege, Munich, &c.; and a person must be a good judge not to be deceived by these spurious barrels.

These barrels were formerly in such high repute, that the price of them was enormous. Those of Belen, Fernandez, and Bez, sold in France for a thousand livres, or 43_l._ 15_s._; while the barrels of artists of lesser name produced three hundred, or 13_l._ sterling.

After the barrels of Madrid, those of Bustindui and St. Olabe, at Placentia, in Biscay, and of Jean and Clement Pedroesteva, Eudal Pous, and Martin Marechal, at Barcelona, are the most esteemed; these usually sell in France for eighty French livres, or 3_l._ 10_s._ sterling.

Almost all the barrels made at Madrid are composed of the old shoes of horses and mules, collected for the purpose. They are all welded longitudinally, but instead of being forged in one plate or piece, as in other countries, they are made, like the English twisted barrels, in five or six detached portions, which are afterwards welded one to the end of another, two of them forming the breech or reinforced part of the barrel. We may form some idea of the very great purity to which the iron is brought in the course of the operation, when we are told, that to make a barrel, which, rough from the forge, weighs only six or seven pounds, they employ a mass of mule-shoe iron, weighing from forty to forty-five pounds; so that from thirty-four to thirty-eight pounds are lost in the heatings and hammerings it is made to undergo before it is forged into a barrel.

Notwithstanding the great reputation of the Spanish barrels, however, they are little used in France, and still less in England, their awkward form and their great length and weight being strong objections to them, especially since they have begun to make their pieces so very light and short in these countries; and from our own experience of the Spanish barrels, we are convinced that the avidity with which they are sought after by some persons, and the extravagant prices that are given for them, proceed more from a fancied than from any real superiority they possess over those made in this country.

* * * * *

The Spanish gunsmiths pique themselves upon the very high polish they give to the inside of their barrels. We have our doubts about the advantage derived from this, and are still of opinion that if a barrel is so smooth as not to lead, it is better to take it as it comes from the hand of the manufacturer, than allow the gunsmith to practise any farther operation upon it. In support of this opinion, Mons. de Marolles informs us, that he has seen a barrel rough from the borer throw a charge of shot deeper into a quire of paper, than another barrel that was highly polished within, although the length, the bore, and the charge, were the same in both.

* * * * *

The _canons a ruban_, or _riband barrels_ of the French, very much resemble the English twisted barrels. The process pursued in their formation is very troublesome, and seems to possess no countervailing advantage. A plate of iron about the twelfth part of an inch in thickness is turned round a mandril, and welded its whole length in the same manner as a plain barrel: upon this small and light barrel, which is called lining, a stripe or plate of iron, about an inch in breadth, and bevelled off at the edges, is rolled in a spiral direction, by means of successive heats—this spiral is termed the riband, and its thickness must correspond with the part of the barrel it is to constitute. As a riband of sufficient length to cover the lining from one end to the other would be very difficult to manage, it is formed in several pieces, and so soon as one piece is nearly rolled on, another is welded to the end of it, and the operation continued until the whole of the lining is covered. The edges are bevelled so much, that one edge overlaps the other about a quarter of an inch. When the riband is all rolled on, the barrel is heated by two or three inches at a time, and the turns of the spiral united to each other and to the lining, by being welded in the same manner as a twisted or plain barrel, but requiring more care and accuracy in the operation. It is afterwards bored, so that almost the whole of the lining is cut out, and scarcely anything left except the riband with which it was covered.

* * * * *

_Lazarini Barrels_, so called after the maker, were formerly celebrated throughout the greatest part of Europe. They were very long, and of a very small calibre. Lazarini lived at Brescia, about a hundred and fifty years ago. He did not forge these barrels himself, but he finished them with great accuracy, and ornamented them in a rich and elegant manner. At the time, however, when these barrels were in high estimation, there were numerous counterfeits bearing the name and mark of Cominazzo, and it requires some acquaintance with the genuine barrels not to be deceived by the spurious ones. The true Lazarini are now to be found only in the repositories of the curious.

The vanity of possessing something that is singularly curious, the false idea that whatever is expensive must necessarily be good, and sometimes, though rarely, the laudable desire of improvement, have all in their turns been the causes of a variety of experiments made in the manufacture of barrels. An artist in London, who wrought a great deal of Spanish iron, forged barrels from old scythes, from wire, from needles, and a great many other articles suggested by the whim of the customers—who made barrels with a lining of steel, and formed others with a double spiral of steel and iron alternately—confessed after these numerous trials, that “stub iron wrought into a twisted barrel is superior to every other.” Whenever steel was employed, he found that the barrel neither welded nor bored so perfectly as when iron alone was used.

* * * * *

The _English stub barrels_ are deservedly celebrated for their superior elegance and strength, as well as for the accuracy with which they throw their ball or shot. The iron employed in them is formed of stubs, which are old horse-shoe nails, procured from country farriers, and from poor people who gain a subsistence by picking them up on the great roads leading to the metropolis. These are originally formed from the softest, toughest iron that can be had, and this is still farther purified by the numerous heatings and hammerings it has undergone in being reduced from a bar into the size and form of nails. They cost about ten shillings the hundred weight, and twenty-eight pounds are required to make a single barrel of the ordinary size. A hoop of iron about an inch broad, or six or seven inches diameter, is placed perpendicularly, and the stubs, previously freed from dirt by washing, are neatly piled in it, with their heads outermost on each side, until the hoop is quite filled and wedged tight with them, the whole resembling a rough circular cake of iron. This is put into the fire, until it has acquired a white heat, when it is hammered either by the strength of the arm, or by the force of machinery, until it coalesces, and becomes one solid mass of iron. The hoop is then removed, and the heatings and hammerings repeated, until the iron, by being thus wrought and kneaded, is freed from every impurity, and rendered very tough and close in the grain. The workmen then proceeds to draw it out into pieces of about twenty-four inches in length, half an inch or more in breadth, and half an inch in thickness.

* * * * *

_Damascus barrels_ are thus described by _Hawker_:—“I saw the process of making them, the mixture of iron and steel for which is beat out in long bars, and then, previously to being wound round the anvil, twisted by a kind of turning lathe, (similar to wringing clothes when wet), and then beat flat again. Although these are by far the dearest barrels that are made, yet the price of one in Birmingham is very trifling, viz.:—

Forging £1 10 0
Boring and grinding 0 5 0
Filing and patent breech 0 11 0
Proof 0 1 6
————————
£2 7 6

The stub barrels, which are generally used for best guns, cost about sixteen shillings each.”

The Damascene barrels are now unfashionable, and never had anything to recommend them, but as being a pretty novelty.

* * * * *

_On boring of barrels_ there has been much diversity of opinion; and if Colonel Hawker’s theory be correct, the bore should not be perfectly cylindrical.

With respect to the common sized guns, which are usually made for the sports of the field, there are two good ways of boring; the one is, to leave a cylinder for about three-fourths of the barrel, (always taking care, however, to preserve a tightness for a little friction just where the shot first moves), and let the remaining part be gradually relieved to the muzzle. For instance; suppose a barrel to be two feet eight inches long, we would say (beginning at the breech end) about six inches tight, twenty-one inches a cylinder, and the remaining five inches relieved to the muzzle. All this must be done with the most delicate possible gradation, and in so small a degree, that even some gun-makers could scarcely discover it. How natural, then, is it, that many sporting authors should be so far deceived, as to fancy the best guns are bored a true cylinder, and therefore, argue in its favour. This relief has the effect of making the gun shoot as close as it can do, compatibly with the strength and quickness required, which should, however, be increased as much as possible by the best constructed breechings.

The other plan is, to make the barrel regularly tighter all the way down, so that, in firing, the shot goes progressively easier as it approaches the muzzle. All this relief must be given in a very trifling degree, because, should the barrel be too much opened in any part, it would admit of the powder escaping between the wadding and the sides of the calibre, by which the shooting of the gun would be rendered weak. For this reason, I should even object to having a hole through the wadding that covers the powder, which many do to prevent the confined air from resisting the ramrod.

* * * * *

The imperfections to which a barrel is liable in forging, are of three kinds, viz., the _chink_, the _crack_, and the _flaw_. The _chink_ is a solution of continuity running lengthwise of the barrel. The _crack_ is a solution of continuity more irregular in its form than the chink, and running in a transverse direction, or across the barrel. The _flaw_ differs from both; it is a small plate or scale, which adheres to the barrel by a narrow base, from which it spreads out as the head of a nail does from its shank, and, when separated, leaves a pit or hollow in the metal.

With regard to the soundness of the barrel, the chink and flaw are of much greater importance than the crack, as the effort of the powder is exerted upon the circumference, and not upon the length of the barrel. In a sword or bow, the very reverse of this takes place, for if a crack, though but of a slight depth, occurs in either, it will break at that place, when bent but very little, because the effort is made upon the fibres disposed longitudinally, whereas, if the fault be a chink, or even a slight flaw, the sword or bow will not give way. The flaw is much more frequent than the chink, the latter scarcely ever occurring but in barrels forged as above, in which the fibres of the metal run longitudinally. When external and superficial, they are all defects in point of neatness only, but when situated within the barrel, they are of material disadvantage, by affording a lodgment to moisture and foulness that corrode the iron, and thus continually enlarge the excavation, until the barrel bursts, or becomes dangerous to use.

* * * * *

Colonel Hawker says, “that a barrel may be pretty good, and perfectly safe, and yet not able to bear the scientific inspection of a first-rate maker or judge. That is, to hold the barrel up to the window, and gradually raise it, till the shade from above the window runs along its surface, by which inspection you will easily discover the most trifling want of finish.”—_Essay on Shooting._

BASILICON, _s._ An ointment; called also tetrapharmacon. It is now
called ointment of yellow resin; it is a digestive.

BASIN, _s._ A small pond; a part of the sea enclosed in rocks; a
dock for repairing and building ships.

BASKET-HILT, _s._ A hilt of a weapon, so made as to contain the
whole hand.

BASSET, _s._ A game at cards.

BASTARD, _s._ Any thing spurious.

BASTARD, _a._ Spurious, supposititious, adulterate.

BAT, _s._ A heavy stick; an implement used in playing cricket; an
animal having the body of a mouse, and the wings of a bird; not
with feathers, but with a sort of skin which is extended. It
brings forth its young as mice do, and suckles them.

Bats flitting about late in the evening, in spring and autumn—at which seasons they are most commonly seen—foretel a fine day on the morrow; as do door-beetles, and some other insects. On the contrary, when bats return soon to their hiding-places, and send forth loud cries, bad weather may be expected.—_Foster._

BAT-FOWLING, _s._ Bird-catching in the night time.

This sport we call in England, most commonly bird-batting, and some call it _low-belling_; and the use of it is to go with a great light of cressets, or rags of linen dipped in tallow, which will make a good light; and you must have a pan or plate made like a lantern, to carry your light in, which must have a great socket to hold the light, and carry it before you, on your breast, with a bell in your other hand, and of a great bigness, made in the manner of a cow-bell, but still larger; and you must ring it always after one order.—If you carry the bell, you must have two companions with nets, one on each side of you; and what with the bell, and what with the light, the birds will be so amazed, that when you come near them, they will turn up their white bellies: your companions shall then lay their nets quietly upon them, and take them. But you must continue to ring the bell; for if the sound shall cease, the other birds, if there be any more near at hand, will rise up and fly away.—This is an excellent method to catch larks, woodcocks, partridges, and all other land-birds.—_Burton._

BATH, _s._ A bath is either hot or cold, either of art or nature; a
vessel of hot water, in which another is placed that requires a
softer heat than the naked fire.

BATHE, _v._ To wash in a bath; to supple or soften by the outward
application of warm liquors; to wash with any thing.

Both the warm and the cold bathings of dogs are attended, in many cases, with the happiest effects. When a _warm bath_ is used for a dog, the _heat_ should be regulated according to the case. In inflammations it should be considerable, and in rheumatisms also; but it must be remembered that, from habit, many persons can bear, without inconvenience, a heat that would be most distressing to a dog; consequently, when it is attempted to ascertain the heat by the hand alone, this circumstance should be considered.

The water bath should come all over the animal, except the head; and when any one particular part is more especially affected, that part ought to be rubbed during the bathing, with the hand. The dog being removed from the water, the utmost care should be observed to avoid his taking cold by exposure. He should be first rubbed as dry as may be by a change of cloths, and then be put into a clothes-basket, wrapped up in a blanket, and there confined till thoroughly dry.

_Cold bathing_ is also, in some instances, very useful, particularly in the spasmodic twitchings that succeed distemper; and in some other cases of habitual weakness, as rickets, &c.: but for dogs in health, I am convinced that bathing is not so salutary as is often supposed.—_Blaine._

* * * * *

_In Falconry._—Hawks should bathe every five or six days, in a clear stream, or pool, of water, that is shallow at the edge; but when these are not at hand, eyesses may be made to bathe in pans sufficiently large for the purpose.

A moderate quantity of food is to be given to the hawk, before he is taken to the stream; a creance is to be tied to the leash, and fastened to the ground; he is then to be unhooded, and placed near the water. The falconer must then retire to a distance. When the hawk has bathed, he should be left to plume himself on the beach, as long as he remains quiet, but he must be cautiously taken up the moment he shows signs of uneasiness, lest he should _bait in the creance_ with a full crop, which is always to be prevented by every possible precaution.—_Sebright._

BATOON, _s._ A staff or club.

BATTLE-DOOR, _s._ An instrument with a round handle and a flat
blade, to strike a ball or shuttlecock.

BATTU, _s._ The shooting of preserved game by a numerous company.

Those huntsmen who are so fond of unnecessarily getting blood and wasting foxes, would doubtless have been much gratified at the hunting match given by the Prince Esterhazy, Regent of Hungary, upon the signing the treaty of peace with France—a day’s sport that bids fair to vie, in point of blood (if the King of Naples’ slaughter be excepted), with any of those recorded in modern history; as there were killed, 160 deer, 100 wild boars, 300 hares, and 80 foxes. The king had a larger extent, and a longer period for the exercise of his talents, and it was proved that during his journey to Vienna, in Austria, Bohemia, and Moravia, he killed 5 bears, 1820 boars, 1960 deer, 1145 does, 1625 roebucks, 1121 rabbits, 13 wolves, 17 badgers, 16,354 hares, and 354 foxes; the monarch had likewise the pleasure of doing a little in the bird way, by killing, upon the same expedition, 15,350 pheasants, and 12,335 partridges.

* * * * *

After leaving Lucknow, we directed our course towards Baraeech; our kafeela consisted of about 40,000 men, and 20,000 beasts, composed of 10,000 soldiers, 1000 cavalry, and near 150 pieces of cannon; 1500 elephants, 3000 hackeries, and an innumerable train of camels, horses, and bullocks; a great number of ruts, filled with the Nawalis women; many large and small boats carried on carts, drawn by fifty, forty, thirty, or twenty bullocks; tigers, leopards, hawks, fighting-cocks, quails, and nightingales; pigeons, dancing-women, and boys; singers, players, buffoons, and mountebanks. In short, his excellency had everything, every object which could please or surprise, cause a smile, or raise a sneer, attract admiration, fix with wonder, or convulse with laughter; captivate the eye, lull the ear, or tickle the palate. Above five hundred coolies were employed to carry his shooting apparatus, guns, powder, shot, and et ceteras; he had above a thousand double-barrelled guns, the finest that Manton and Nock could make, and single-barrels, pistols, swords, and spears, without number.

After a gay scene of every species of oriental amusement and dissipation, we returned to this place, having killed in our excursion eight tigers, six elephants, and caught twenty-one. To enumerate the other kinds of game would require a sheet as ample as the petition which was presented to Yenghis Khan, and might perhaps be treated by you in the manner that conqueror treated the petition.—

* * * * *

Ashbridge Castle, Hertfordshire, the seat of the Earl of Bridgewater, was lately a scene of great gaiety. The sports of the field, on the three days of the Duke of York’s sojourn, were never before equalled. The Duke of Wellington’s double-barrelled gun brought down everything before it. During the last four days, a party of gentlemen killed 623 head of game. Killed from eight guns, in three days, 1093 head of game:—

1st day, 7 guns, 627 shots, 326 killed.
2nd .. 9 .. 956 .. 511 ..
3rd .. 8 .. 388 .. 251 ..

The best shots were, the Duke of York, the Duke of Wellington, Lord Bridgewater, and Lord Verulam. The Duke of York killed, on the first day, forty-seven head of game.

* * * * *

In October, 1807, at Up Park, Sussex, the seat of Sir H. Featherstonhaugh, the extraordinary quantity of five hundred and one brace of game was shot, from Wednesday morning, the 7th, to Saturday night, the 10th instant, by a party visiting at the above mansion.

* * * * *

Lord Rendlesham and party killed three thousand seven hundred and seventy-five head of game, during the last week in the season of 1807.

* * * * *

On the day before one of the annual parties at Clumber broke up, two sets went out, each consisting of three persons, and a bet was laid which should kill most game. It was computed that, on an average, each man of the six got sixty shots; total, three hundred and sixty. The winning triumvirate killed three birds! The shooters were, Lord Lincoln, General Philips, Captain (afterwards General) Lascelles, Reverend Mr. Lascelles, Mr. Cotton, and Lieutenant Colonel Stricland. Here the game had a complete triumph over their adversaries.—_Daniel_—_Sporting Anecdotes._

BAWREL, _s._ A kind of hawk. _Obs._

BAWSIN, _s._ A badger. _Obs._

BAY, _a._ A colour.

Of the bays, there are many varieties, and they include the very best of our horses of every description. The bright yellow bay, although very beautiful, and especially if his mane and tail are black, is the least valuable, because the lightness of his colour seems to give him some tenderness of constitution. The proper bay, with no white about him, and black from the knees and the hocks to the feet, is the most desirable of all colours; he has generally a good constitution, naturally good feet, and, if his conformation is not faulty, will turn out a valuable horse for almost every purpose.—_The Horse._

BAY, _s._ An opening in the land; the state of anything surrounded
by enemies; a tree.

BAY, _v._ To bark, as a dog, at the moon; to shut in.

BAY SALT, _s._ Salt made of sea water, which receives its
consistence from the heat of the sun, and is so called from its
brown colour.

BAYARD, _s._ A bay horse.

BEACH, _s._ The shore; the strand.

BEADLE, _s._ In _forestry_, is an officer that warns all the courts
of the forest, executes process, makes all proclamations, &c.
&c.

BEAGLE, _s._ A small hound, with which hares are hunted.

This is the smallest of the dogs of the chase which go under the general denomination of hound; meaning that kind which have the innate property of finding their game and pursuing it by what sportsmen call scent, which seems to be an impregnation of the atmosphere with certain effluvia issuing from the pores of the skin, and acting upon the olfactory membrane of the dog’s nose.

Although the beagle is far inferior in point of speed to the harrier, yet his sense of smelling a hare is equally exquisite, and he pursues her with indefatigable vigilance, energy, and perseverance. Every winding and all the mazes are traced by him with a degree of exactness which must be seen to be properly understood and justly estimated, while the soft and melodious tones of his voice afford ecstatic pleasure to the lovers of the chase, and is thus finely described by Somerville:—

“Hark! from yon covert, where those towering oaks
Above the humble copse aspiring rise,
What glorious triumphs burst in every gale
Upon our ravish’d ears! The hunters shout,
The clanging horns swell their sweet winding notes,
The pack wide opening load the trembling air
With various melody; from tree to tree
The propagated cry redoubling bounds,
And winged zephyrs waft the floating joy
Through all the regions near.
The puzzling pack unravel, wile by wile,
Maze within maze.”

Much emulation prevailed in former times among sportsmen in the breeding of beagles, and it was then the greatest merit to rear dogs of the smallest growth. Amongst amateurs of hunting, beagles were so carefully selected in point of size, that they seldom exceeded ten or eleven inches in height; and they were so well matched with respect to speed, that during the chase a good pack might be covered with a sheet. This is with all kinds of hounds a sure mark of excellence.

Although beagles are slow in speed, they are uncommonly eager; for, if the scent lies well, a hare has little chance of escape from them. Their slowness, however, is the principal reason of their being almost totally discontinued in packs, and that they are now seldom to be met with beyond a few couples, used in some of the southern counties of England to ensure finding more certainly in greyhound coursing.

Hunting with the beagle was admirably adapted for ladies and gentlemen up in years; and, besides, afforded much amusement to rustics, and other pedestrian hunters; for there were few male persons of any activity who could not keep up with them.

The late Colonel Hardy once had a pack of beagles amounting to ten or twelve couples, and so diminutive in size, that they were always carried to and from the sporting field in a large pair of panniers slung across a horse. This curious pack was lost to the colonel in a rather singular manner. It was kept in a barn which was one night broken open, when all the hounds and the panniers were stolen; and, notwithstanding the most diligent search, no trace of either could ever be discovered.—_Brown._

BEAK, _s._ The bill or horny mouth of a bird.

BEAN, _s._ The common garden bean; the horse bean.

Beans contain but five hundred and seventy parts of nutritive matter, yet they add materially to the vigour of the horse. There are many horses that will not stand hard work without beans being mingled with their food, and these not horses whose tendency to purge it may be necessary to restrain by the astringency of the bean. There is no traveller who is not aware of the difference in the spirit and continuance of his horse if he allows or denies him beans on his journey. They afford not merely a temporary stimulus, but they may be daily used without losing their power, or producing exhaustion. Two pounds of beans may, with advantage, be mixed with the chaff of the agricultural horse, during the winter. In summer, the quantity may be lessened, or the beans altogether discontinued. Beans are generally given whole. This is very absurd; for the young horse, whose teeth are strong, seldom requires them; while the old horse, to whom they are in a manner necessary, is scarcely able to masticate them, swallows many of them whole which he is unable to break, and drops much corn from his mouth in the ineffectual attempt to break them. Beans should not be merely split, but crushed; they will even then give sufficient employment to the grinders of the animal. Some postmasters use chaff with beans instead of oats. With hardly-worked horses they may possibly be allowed; but in general cases, the beans, without oats, would be too binding and stimulating, and would produce costiveness, and probably megrims or staggers.—_The Horse._

BEAN GOOSE, _s._

This species differs very little in its general appearance from the grey lag goose, the chief distinction between them being in the bill; which in this is small, much compressed near the end, whitish, and sometimes of a pale red in the middle, and black at the base and nail: the latter is shaped somewhat like a horse-bean, from which it has obtained the name of Bean Goose.

These birds arrive in the fen counties in the autumn, and take their departure in May. They are said to alight in the corn-fields, and to feed much upon the green wheat while they remain in England.

They are reported to breed in great numbers in the Isle of Lewis, and no doubt on others of the Hebrides, and also at Hudson’s Bay.—_Bewick._

BEAR, _s._ A rough savage animal.

BEARWARD, _s._ A keeper of bears. _Obs._

BEARD, _s._ The hair that grows on the lips and chin; sharp prickles
growing upon the ears of corn; a barb of an arrow.

BEAST, _s._ An animal distinguished from birds, insects, fishes, and
man; an irrational animal, opposed to man. In _forestry_, there
are five beasts which are properly beasts of forest, or venery;
_viz._ the hart, hind, hare, boar, and wolf.

BEAT, _s._ A stroke, or a striking. In sporting phraseology, it
means the place or country a man passes over in pursuit of game.

BEAT, _v._ To move in a pulsatory manner; to dash, as a flood or
storm. To look for game.

BEATER, _s._ An instrument with which any thing is beaten; a person
attending a sportsman, as in pheasant or cock-shooting, to beat
the covers and flush the birds.

BEE, _s._ The insect that makes honey.

BEE-EATER, _s._ (_Merops apiaster_, LINN.) A bird that feeds upon
bees. Of this genus only one species is British.—_Montagu._

BEE-HIVE, _s._ The case or box in which bees are kept.

BEES-WAX, _s._ Much used in forming ointment.

BEECH, _s._ A tree. _Beechen_, _a._ Consisting of the wood of the
beech.

BEEF, _s._ The flesh of black cattle prepared for food; an ox, bull,
or cow.

BEER, _s._ Liquor made of malt and hops; a useful vehicle for tonics
and cordials. When good it is an excellent restorative for a
fatigued horse. Heated with spirits and ginger it relieves
colic, gripes, &c.

BEET, _s._ The name of a plant.

BEETLE, _s._ An insect distinguished by having hard cases, or
sheaths, under which he folds his wings; a heavy mallet. Beetles
flying about late in an evening often foretel a fine day on the
morrow.—_Foster._

BELLADONNA, _s._ Nightshade; a powerful narcotic.

Mr. Youatt considers this to have some prophylactic powers against rabies, but particularly when in union with the scutellaria, or skull-cap. He begins “with a drachm ball to a moderate-sized dog, containing two scruples of the scutellaria, and about two and a half grains of the belladonna, to be given night and morning: on the second week two balls are given; on the third, three; and this continued for six weeks.” The nightshade is also a general sedative.—_The Horse._

BELLMETAL, _s._ The metal of which bells are made.

BELLOW, _v._ To make a noise as a bull; to make any loud and violent
outcry.

BELLWETHER, _s._ A sheep which leads the flock with a bell hung on
his neck.

BELLY, _s._ That part of the body which reaches from the breast to
the thighs, containing the bowels.

BELLY-BOUND, _a._ Costive.

BELT, _s._ A girdle; a cincture.

BENZOIN, _s._ Called also GUM BENJAMIN. It is a yellow resinous
substance, and from it _Flowers of Benjamin_ are extracted. It
is used as an ingredient in Friar’s Balsam and Paregoric Elixir.

BERNACLE, _s._ A bird like a goose, fabulously supposed to grow on
trees.

The Bernacle, (_Anas Erythropus_, LINN. _La Bernacle_, BUFF.) weighs about five pounds, and measures more than two feet in length, and nearly four and a half in breadth. The bill, from the tip to the corners of the mouth, is scarcely an inch and a half long, black, and crossed with a pale reddish streak on each side; a narrow black line passes from the bill to the eyes, the irides of which are brown; the head is small, and, as far as the crown, together with the cheeks and throat, white; the rest of the head and neck, to the breast and shoulders, is black; the upper part of the plumage is prettily marbled or barred with blue, grey, black, and white; the feathers of the back are black, edged with white, and those of the wing coverts and scapulars, blue grey, bordered with black near the margins, and edged with white; the quills black, edged a little way from the tips with blue grey; the under parts and tail coverts white; the thighs are marked with dusky lines or spots, and are black near the knees; the tail is black, and five inches and a half long; the legs and feet dusky, very thick and short, and have a stumpy appearance.

In severe winters these birds are not uncommon in this kingdom, particularly on the northern and western parts, where, however, they remain only a short time, and depart early in the spring to their northern wilds, to breed and spend the summer.—_Bewick._

BETTER, _s._ One that lays bets or wagers.

BEVY, _s._ A flock of quails.

BILE, _s._ A thick, yellow, bitter liquor, separated in the liver,
collected in the gall bladder, and discharged by the common
duct; a sore angry swelling.

BILL, _s._ The beak of a fowl; a kind of hatchet with a hooked
point.

BILLIARDS, _s._ A kind of play upon a flat surface, with cues,
maces, and balls.

In order to play billiards well, attention must be given at first to the method of holding the mace; to the position in which the player should stand, and the manner of delivering the hall from the mace; but these are much more easily acquired by observation or by the direction of a good player, than by any possible written rules. A person who plays with his right hand must stand with his left foot foremost; and on the contrary he who is left-handed must stand with his right foot foremost, by which he will stand more steady and firm. Immoderate bursts of passion, and even fretting at trifling disappointments in the game, are usually found very prejudicial to the player; his nerves, being affected, it is impossible for him to make the stroke with that steadiness and nicety the game requires.

The games usually played till lately were the white winning and the red winning carambole games, but the winning and losing carambole game is now very fashionable.

The different games of billiards are—

_The white winning game_, played with two white balls, is twelve in number, when two persons play, and fifteen when four play; scored (independently of forfeitures) from winning hazards only.

_The white losing game_, also twelve in number, played with two white balls, is the reverse of the winning; the points being scored from losing and double, or winning and losing hazards.

_The white winning and losing game_ is a combination of the two preceding; all balls put in by striking the adversary’s ball first, reckon towards the game.

The preceding games should be introductory to the knowledge of those with three or more balls, which are more complicated and difficult.

_Choice of balls_, in which the player chooses his ball each time, an incalculable advantage, generally played against the losing and winning game.

_The bricole game_, signifies, being required to strike a cushion, from whence the ball is to rebound so as to hit that of the adversary, reckoned equal to giving eight or nine points. When both parties play bricole, the game is ten, scored from bricole hazards, and forfeitures.

_The bar-hole game_, so styled because the hole which the ball should be played for is barred, and the player strikes for another hole. When this is played against the common game, the advantage to the last-mentioned is calculated at six points.

_One-hole_, in which all halls that go into one hole are counted, and the player who best lays his ball at the brink of that particular hole, has the advantage. The lead should be given from that end of the table where the last hazard has been made.

_Hazards_, so styled as depending entirely upon making hazards, no account being kept of the game. Many persons may play at a table with balls that are numbered, though to avoid confusion seldom more than six play at once. The person whose ball is put in pays a fixed sum for each hazard to the player, and he who misses pays half the same to him whose ball he played at. The only general rule is not to lay any ball a hazard for the next player, which may best be done by always playing upon him whose turn is next, and either bringing his ball close to the cushion, or putting it a distance from the rest.

_The doublet game_ is ten in number, played with two balls, most commonly against the white winning game, and no hazard is scored unless made by a reverberation from the cushion, calculated as equivalent to giving five points.

_The commanding game_, where the adversary fixes upon the ball which the striker is to play at, reckoned equal to having fourteen points out of twenty-four: usually given by a skilful player against the common game of an indifferent one.

_The limited game_ is very seldom played. In it the table is divided by a line, beyond which, if the striker pass his ball, he pays forfeit.

_The red or winning and losing carambole game_ consists of twenty-one or twenty-four points, reckoned from caramboles, and from winning and losing hazards, equally; both white and red. Each of the white hazards and the carambole counts two; the red hazard three points.

_The winning carambole_ (or red) game is sixteen or eighteen in number, obtained (independently of the forfeitures which every game has peculiar to itself), by winning hazards and carom only.

_The losing carambole_ is nearly the reverse of the winning, and consists of sixteen or eighteen points, made by caramboles, losing and double hazards; counted as in the winning and losing game.

N.B. The simple carambole is only a trifling variation from the above.

The carambole games are played with three balls; one red which is neutral, and termed the _carambole_: the other two white: one of them allotted to each player. The _carambole_ is placed upon a spot on a line even with the stringing nail at the bottom of the table, and after leading from the upper end the striker is either to make the winning or losing hazard, according to the particular game, or to hit with his own ball the other two successively; for which stroke, called a _carambole_ or _carom_, he obtains two points.

The _Russian carambole_ varies from the common carambole in the following particulars:—

The red ball is to be placed upon the usual spot; but the player, at the commencement of the game, or after his ball has been holed, is at liberty to place it where he pleases. The leader, instead of striking at the red ball, should lay his own gently behind the same, and the opponent may play at either of them; if the said opponent play at and hole the red ball, he scores three; then the red ball is to be replaced upon the spot, and the player may take his choice again, always following his stroke till both balls are off the table; he gains two points for every carambole; but if in doing that he hole his own ball, then he loses as many as otherwise he would have obtained; and if he strike at the red ball, and should carambole and hole that ball and his own, he loses five points; and when he holes all three balls he loses seven, which respective numbers he would have won had he not holed his own ball.

_The caroline_ or _carline game_ is played either on a round or square table with five balls, two white, one red, another blue, and the caroline ball yellow. The red ball is to be placed on its usual spot, the caroline ball exactly in the middle of the table, and the blue ball between the two at the lower end of the table. The striking spot is at the upper end, in a parallel line with the three balls. The game is 42, scored from caramboles and hazards; the red hazard counts three, the blue two, and the yellow, when holed in the caroline or middle pocket, is reckoned at six points.

_The four game_ consists of two partners on each side at any of the common games, who play in succession after every winning hazard lost.

_The cushion game_ consists in the striker playing his ball from the top of the baulk cushion, instead of following his stroke upon the table, and is generally played in the winning, or winning and losing game, reckoned equal to giving six points.

_Fortification Billiards_, for an account of which see Hoyle.

As the _red_, or _winning and losing game_, is that most commonly played, and as its regulations are, with trifling exceptions, applicable to all the others, the following will be found a correct code of the general laws of billiards. For tables of the odds, and a description of particular games, the reader is referred to the later editions of Hoyle.

_Rules &c. in the winning and losing carambole game._—1. The game commences by stringing for the lead and choice of balls.

2. In stringing, the striker must place his ball within the striking ring; and, if his adversary desire it, must stand within the limits of the corner of the table.

3. He who, after playing at the bottom cushion, brings his ball nearest to the cushion, at the upper or baulk end of the table, wins the lead, and chooses his ball.

4. After the first person has strung for the lead, if the adversary who follows should make his ball touch the other, he loses the lead.

5. By holing his own ball, either in stringing or leading, the player loses the lead.

6. Should the leader follow his ball, with either mace or cue, beyond the middle hole, it is no lead; and his adversary may make him lead again.

7. The leader must place his ball within the ring, between the striking nails or spots at the upper end of the table: and the same must be observed after every losing hazard has been got.

8. The red ball is to be placed on the lower of the two spots, at the bottom of the table.

9. When either of the white balls has been holed, &c., it must be replaced in, and played from the striking ring, as at the commencement of the game.

10. When the red ball has been holed or forced over the table, it must be replaced on the same spot as at the beginning of the game, and the present striker is bound to see it thus replaced, otherwise he cannot win any points while it is off the spot, and the stroke he may make is deemed foul.

11. If the striker do not hit his adversary’s ball, he loses one point; and if by the same stroke he pocket his own ball, he loses three points and the lead.

12. If the striker force either of the balls over the table, he loses the lead.

13. If the striker force his own, or either of the other balls over the table, after having made a carambole or hazard, he gains nothing, and also loses the lead.

14. If the striker hit both the red and his adversary’s ball with his own ball, this is called a _carambole_ or _carom_.

15. If the striker with his own hole his adversary’s ball, he wins two points.

16. If the striker hole the red ball, he wins three points.

17. If the striker hole his own off his adversary’s ball, he wins two points.

18. If the striker hole his own off the red ball, he wins three points.

19. If the striker hole both his adversary’s and the red ball, he wins five points.

20. If the striker, by playing at the red ball, hole his own and the red ball, he wins six points.

21. If the striker, by hitting the white ball first, hole both his own and the adversary’s ball, he wins four points.

22. If the striker, by striking at the red ball first, hole both his own and his adversary’s ball, he wins five points: three for holing his own ball off the red, and two for holing the white ball.

23. If the striker play at his adversary’s ball first, and hole his own ball and the red, he wins five points: two for holing his own ball off the white, and three for holing the red ball.

24. If the striker play at his adversary’s ball, and hole it, at the same time that he pockets both his own ball and the red, he wins seven points: two for holing his own ball off the white, two for holing his adversary’s, and three for holing the red ball.

25. If the striker play at the red, and hole his own ball off the same, and the red ball, and his adversary’s ball, by the same stroke, he wins eight points: three for holing his own ball off the red, three for holing the red, and two for holing the white ball.

26. If the striker make a carambole, and by the same stroke pocket his adversary’s ball, he wins four points: two for the carambole, and two for the white hazard.

27. If the striker make a carambole, and pocket the red ball, he wins five points: two for the carambole, and three for the red hazard.

28. If the striker should carambole, and hole both the red and his adversary’s ball, he gains seven points: two for the carambole, two for the white, and three for the red ball.

29. If the striker make a carambole by striking the white ball first, and hole his own by the same stroke, he wins four points: two for the carom, and two for the white losing hazard.

30. If the striker make a carambole by striking the red ball first, and by the same stroke pocket his own ball, he wins five points: two for the carambole, and three for the red losing hazard.

31. If the striker play at the white ball first, and should make a carambole, and also hole his own and his adversary’s ball, he wins six points: two for the carambole, and two for each white hazard.

32. If the striker play at the red ball first, and carambole, and should likewise hole his own and his adversary’s ball, he gains seven points: two for the carom, three for the red hazard, and two for the white hazard.

33. If the striker should carambole by playing first at the white ball, and also hole his own and the red ball, he wins seven points: two for the carom, two for the white losing hazard, and three for the red winning hazard.

35. If the striker should carambole by striking the white ball first, and hole his own and his adversary’s, and the red ball, he wins nine points: two for the carambole, two for each of the white hazards, and three for the red hazard.

36. If the striker should carambole by striking the red ball first, and by the same stroke hole his own and the red, and his adversary’s ball, he gains ten points: two for the carambole, three for red losing, three for the red winning, and two for the white winning hazard.

37. After the adversary’s ball is off the table, and the two remaining balls are either upon the line, or within the stringing nails or spots, at the upper end where the white balls are originally placed in leading, it is called a _baulk_; and the striker, who is to play from the ring, must strike the opposite cushion, to make his ball rebound, so as to hit one of the balls in the baulk—which if he do not, he loses one point.

38. It sometimes happens, after the red ball has been holed or forced over the table, that one of the white balls so occupies its place, that it cannot be put upon its proper spot without touching the same. In such a case, the marker must hold the red ball in his hand, while the striker plays at his adversary’s ball, and immediately afterwards replace the red on its proper spot, so that it may not prevent a carambole, &c.

39. If the striker play with the wrong ball, it is a foul stroke.

40. If the striker be going to play with the wrong ball, no person ought to discover it to him, except his partner, when they are playing a double match.

41. If the striker play with the wrong ball, and his adversary should not discover it, he may reckon all the points gained by the stroke, and the marker is obliged to score them.

42. If the striker, after having made a hazard or carom, move with his hand or stick either of the balls which remain upon the table, the stroke is deemed foul.

43. If a ball be found to have been changed during the game, and it is not known by which player, the game must be played out with the balls as they then are.

44. No one has a right to take up or otherwise move a ball, without permission of the adversary.

45. If a striker touch his ball with the instrument twice, the stroke is foul.

46. If a striker be impeded in his stroke by his adversary or a spectator, he has a right to recommence the stroke.

47. If the striker should accidentally move his own ball, without intending at the time to make a stroke, he loses no point; but the adversary may replace the ball.

48. If the striker touch his ball, and make his mace or cue go over or past it, he loses one point.

49. If either of the players, in the act of striking, happen to move his own, the adversary’s, or the red ball, from the place it occupied on the table, it is a foul stroke.

50. When the striker’s, and either of the other balls are so close as to touch, and in playing the former off, the latter is moved from its place, the stroke is considered foul.

51. If the striker, in attempting a stroke, do not touch his ball, it is no stroke, and he must strike again.

52. If, when the balls are very near each other, the striker should make his ball touch the other, it is to be considered a stroke, though not intended as such.

53. If the striker play upon a ball which is still running, the stroke is foul.

54. Whoever stops a ball when running, loses the lead; if his adversary do not like the ball he has to play at the next stroke.

55. Whoever retains his adversary’s cue or mace, when in the act of striking, makes the stroke foul.