_Bell, Sir Charles_, a celebrated surgeon, who was born in Edinburgh, in the year 1778. He commenced his career in London, in 1806, as a lecturer on Anatomy and Surgery. In 1830, he received the honors of knighthood, and in 1836 was appointed Professor of Surgery in the College of Edinburgh. He died near Worcester, in England, April 29, 1842. His writings are very numerous, and have been much celebrated. Among the most important of these, to general readers, are, his Illustrations of Paley's Natural Theology, (which work forms the second and third volumes of the larger series of 'THE SCHOOL LIBRARY,' issued by the Publishers of this volume,) and his treatise on 'The Hand, its Mechanism, and Vital Endowments, as evincing Design.' _Bergamot_, a fruit, which was originally produced by ingrafting a branch of a citron or lemon tree, upon the stock of a peculiar kind of pear, called the bergamot pear. _Biased_, cut diagonally from one corner to another of a square or rectangular piece of cloth. _Bias pieces_, triangular pieces cut as above mentioned. _Bituminous_, containing _bitumen_, which is an inflammable mineral substance, resembling tar or pitch in its properties and uses. Among different bituminous substances, the names _naphtha_ and _petroleum_ have been given to those which are fluid; _maltha_, to that which has the consistence of pitch; and _asphaltum_, to that which is solid. _Blight_, a disease in plants, by which they are blasted, or prevented from producing fruit. _Blond lace_, lace made of silk. _Blood heat_, the temperature which the blood is always found to maintain, or ninety-eight degrees of Fahrenheit's thermometer. _Blue vitriol_, sulphate of copper. See _Sulphate_. _Blunts_, needles of a short and thick shape, distinguished from _Sharps_, which are long and slender. _Bocking_, a kind of thin carpeting, or coarse baize. _Boston Academy_, see _Academy_. _Botany_, (from a Greek word, signifying an herb,) a knowledge of plants; the science which treats of plants. _Brazil wood_, the central part, or heart, of a large tree which grows in Brazil, called the _Caesalpinia echinata_. It produces very lively and beautiful red tints, but they are not permanent. _Bronze_, a metallic composition, consisting of copper and tin. _Brulure_, a French term, denoting a burning or scalding; a blasting of plants. _Brussels_, (carpet,) a kind of carpeting, so called from the city of Brussels, in Europe. Its basis is composed of a warp and woof of strong linen threads, with the warp of which are intermixed about five times the quantity of woollen threads, of different colors. _Bulb_, a root with a round body, like the onion, turnip, or hyacinth. _Bulbous_, having a bulb. _Byron_, (George Gordon,) _Lord_, a celebrated Poet, who was born in London, January 22, 1788, and died in Missolonghi, in Greece, April 18, 1824. _Calisthenics_, see page 56, note.