B E A
when they buy it by the ftrongeft lead-proof, as the grand mark of the beft ; for being a proof of the brandy containing a large quantity of its oil, it is, at the fame time, a token of its high flavour, and of its being capable of bearing a very large addition of the common fpirits of our own produce, with- out betraying their flavour, or Iofmg its own. We value the French brandy for the quantity of this effential oil of the grape which it contains, and that with good reafon ; as it is with us principally ufed for drinking as an agreeably flavoured cordial : but the French themfelves, when they want it for any curious purpofes, are as careful in the rectifications of it, and take as much pains to clear it from this oil, as we do to free our malt fpirit from that naufeous and foetid oil, which it originally contains.
No judgment can be formed of brandies by the bead-proof as to their mixed or adulterated, or their pure Hate, further than that they are likely to be moll pure, when they have the irreat- eft proportion of this oil, in regard to mixtures of other fpirits. There are many occaficns where we want fpirit, merely as fpirit, and where any oil, whether fweet or (linking, muft be equally improper. Shaw, EfTay on Diftillery.
BEAGLES, a fmall fort of bounds or hunting dogs. Cox, Gent. Recr. P. i. p. 16.
Beagles are of divers kinds ; as the fiuthern beagle, fomethim* lefs and fhorter, but thicker than the deep-mouthed hound" the fleet northern, or cat-beagle, fmaller, and of a finer fhape than the fouthern, and a harder runner. From the two, by crofling the {trains, is bred a third fort, held preferable to either.
To thefe may be added a ftill fmaller fort of beagles, fcarce bigger than lap-dogs, which make pretty diverfion in hunting the coney, or even fmall hare in dry weather ; but othcrwife unferviccablc, by reafon of their fize.
BEAK, (Cycl.) rojlrum, properly denotes the nib or bill of a bird.
In falconry, beak is the upper part of the hawk's bill, or the part that is crooked. Ruft. Diet. T. 1.
The word comes from the barbarous Latin becewn, or the old French becco, which fignifies the fame. Du Conge, T. 1. p. 514, feq.
Si habuent aceipitrem, perelat beccum cif ungues pedum IS caudam Brail. Trad. 2. I. 3. c. 28. §. I.
The beat of the rinoceros-bird is reputed an antidote againft all poifons. Grew, Muf. Reg. Societ. P. 1 . §. 4. c. 1 . p. 59. Falconers have an operation called in French rajfurer le bee, or reftoring the beak, when a hawk has broken, disjointed, or otherwife dcmolifhcd his beak, it being then apt to rot, or fall away in flakes through the negligence of his feeder. Did. Trev. T. 4. p. 1027.
Beak, called by the Greeks ijiSoto, by die Latins rojlrum, was an important part in the antient (hips of war, which were hence denominated naves rojlrata. The beak was made of wood : but fortified with brafs ", and fattened to the prow, ferving to annoy the enemy's veffels. Its invention is attri- buted to Pifaeus an Italian. The firfl beaks were made long and high ; but afterwards a Corinthian, named Arifto, con° trived to make them fhort and ftrong, and placed fo low, as to pierce the enemy's veffels under water. By the help of thefe great havock was made by the Syracufians in the Athenian fleet b — [ ■ Pitifc. Lex. Antiq. T. 1. p. 711. b p otu A> chseol. I. 3. c. 17. p. 135, feq.]
Beak was alfo ufed for one of the antient battalias, or forms of ranging an army for battle, particularly ufed by the Macedo- nians. Aquin. Lex. Milit. T. 2. p. 249.
Beak is alfo applied to the (lender crooked prominences of di- vers bodies bearing fome analogy or refemblance to the leaks of birds.
In this fenfe we meet with beaks of (hoes, rojlra calceorum, for long peaked toes, in ufe of old. Du Cange, Gloff. Lat. T. 4. p. 630.
Among farriers, beak denotes a little horfe-lhoe, turned up, and faftened in upon the forepart of the hoof. Farr. Dift P-57-
Its ufe is to keep the (hoes faft, and not liable to be (truck off by the horfe, when by reafon of any itch, or being much dif- turbed with the flies in hot weather, he (lamps his feet violent- ly on the ground.
BEAKED, Beequc, in heraldry, is ufed when the beak or bill of a fowl is of a different tindfure from the body. In this cafe, they fay beaked and membered of fuch a tin£lure. Coats, Herald. Die}, p. 45.
BEAKING, in cock-fighting, expreffes the fighting of thefe birds with their bills, or holding with the bill, and (Irikino- with the heels. Ruft. Dia. T. r.
BEAM (Cycl.) — Beam of a Plough, a name given by our farmers to the great timber of the plough, into which all the other parts of the plough-tail are infixed.
This is ufually made of afh, and is (trait, and eicht feet long in the common plough ; but, in the four-coultercd plough, ft is ten feet long, and its upper part arched. The head of this foam lies on the pillow of the plough, and is raifed higher, or funk lower, as that pillow is elevated or deprelled by being (lipped along the crowftaves. Near the middle, it has an iron collar, which receives the tow-chain from the box, and the Suppl. Voi. I.
B E A
bridle-chain from the ftake or gallows of the plough is fixed into it a little below the collar. Some inches below this, there is a hole, which lets through the coulter ; and below that there are two other fmall ones, through which the heads of the retches pafs. Thefe are tile irons which fupport the (beat, and with it the (hare. Farther backward ftill is a large perforation, through which the body of the (heat panes ; and behind that, very near the extremity, is another hole, through which the piece called the hinder (heat paffes. T^Husb. See Plough. hEAN, Faba, in botany, the name of a genus of plants ; the charaaers of which are thefe : the flower is of the papiliona- ceous kind, and from its cup there arifes a piftil, which finally becomes a huge pod, containing large, flatted, and in fome degree kidney-fhaped feeds. To this it is to be added, that the (talks are firm and eletf, and the leaves (land by pairs on a middle rib, which is terminated by an odd one. The fpecies of bean enumerated by Mr. Tourne'fort are thefe*
1. The bean with white flowers, marked with black fpots.
2. The bean with blackifh purple flowers. 3. The fens with very long and thick pods, with the feeds protuberating in the middle. .;. The W with a middle-fized pod, and feed flat- ted and ridged on both top and bottom. 5. The bean with very fhort pods, and with very large and thick feeds. 6. The fmaller, oblong, cylindric podded bean, or the white horfe- i'f"\ , 7 'r The rmalkr oblon g> cylindric podded lean, or the black horfe heart. 8. The little, oblong, cylindric podded bean, with five or fix pods on every (talk. Tourn. Inft. p. 39 r . We have four forts of leans commonly fowed in our gar- dens. I. The fmall Liibon. 2. The Spanifh. 3 The Sandwich. And, 4. The Windfor leans.
The firft and fecond forts are to be planted in Oaober and November, under warm walls and hedges, where if they (land through the winter, they produce leans early in the fprinc. 1 hey may alfo be raifed very clofe in beds, and covered with hoops and mats in the winter, and in fpring planted out ; but there is fome hazard in the tranfplanting, and they will be a fortnight or more later than thofe, which have flood the win- ter abroad.
The Lisbon lean is preferred to the Spanifh ; and the curious ought to have frelh feed every two years from abroad, for they are apt to degenerate, tho' not in goodnefs, yet in their earli- nefs.
The Spanifh and Windfor leans are not to be planted till Chriftmas ; but efpecially the Windfor, which are fubieel, more than any other kind, to be hurt by the cold. Thefe leans fhould have an open ground, and be planted at the dif- tance of two feet and an half row from row, and four inches from one another in the rows ; but if the place is clofly fur- rounded with hedges or walls, the diftance muft be greater, elfe the (talks will run high, but they will bear very little fi uit. '
The Sandwich beans are hardier than the Windfor, and may be planted to come in between the early crops and them ; and tho' not much regarded at prcfent, they are a very good bean. I he firft plantation of Windfor leans fhould be made in the middle of January ; and after that, a new plantation fhould be made every three weeks till the middle of May, that there may be a fucceffion of crops. Miller, Gard. Dkft. There is fcarce any plant, whofe feed fo well ferves the pur- pofe of the inquirer into the nature and ftruflure of feeds in general, as the lean.
In this feed, befide the two coats, there are three conftituent parts within. The main body is divided into two lobes, and two other parts : thefe are appendant to the bafe of the lean. One of thefe is called by Grew, and others fince his time, the radicle, and the other the plume. The radicle is what after- wards becomes the root of the plant ; and the plume becomes its trunk, bearing leaves and flowers. This plume is, at its end, divided into feveral pieces, which are finely and nicely laid together, and are fo many leaves already formed, but not yet explicated. Thefe are to be the real leaves of the plant in its growing ftate, and are in the feed folded up in the fame plicature in which they are to appear out of the earth at the firft (hooting up from the feed.
Thefe organical parts of the lean are diftinguifhed from the reft of the bean, and are compofed of thefe fimilar matters. 1°. The cuticle, extending itfelf over the whole lean, and herein diftinguifhed from the coats, that whereas thefe, on the planting of the lean in the earth, do only adminifter the firft fap, and then die, thofe, on the other hand, are inlarged, and the cuticle nouriilied and co-extended with the lean. 2 °- The parenchyma itfelf, having fome refemblance to the pith, while foft and pappy, in the trunks of plants,- common to, and the fame in the lobes, the radicle, the plume, and the lean.
3°. The inner body diftributed throughout the parenchyma, but withal eflentially different from it, called by the author, the feminal root, and diftinguifhed from the radicle, in that the former is the original root within its feed, the latter is the plant-root, which the radicle becomes in its growth ; the pa- renchyma of the feed being in fome fort, that at firft to the feminal root, which the mould is afterwards to the plant-root ; and the feminal root being that to the plant-root, which the plant root is to the trunk.
4 M The
