Bessel, dismissal from Greenwich, xi, 156; instruments and methods, ii, 16, 55; on genius and instruments, 93; prediction of, 124; study of stellar parallaxes, 311-12, 313 Bessemer Converter, v, 319, 320, 322, 380, viii, 159; invention, xvi, 175 Bessemer Steel, ore for, iii, 356 Besson, Dr. Louis, i, 181; nephoscope, 86, 85 (fig.) Beta Aurigæ, ii, 123 Beta Rays, i, 143, viii, 185 Betelgeuse, angular diameter, ii, 151, 322-3; chemical study of, 114; color, 297; name, 39 Betel Nut, xiii, 254-5 Bevel Gears, v, 30-1; primitive, 27-8 Beverages from various plants, xiii, 213, 219, 227-35 Bharal, xii, 326 Bianchini, ii, 99, 227 Bias, psychological effects, xi, 103, 208-9, 216 Biberthal, Switzerland, xiv, 186 Bible, account of man in, xv, 69; Anglo-Saxon passage from, 157; emotions depicted in, xi, 131; "Great Sea" of, xiv, 358; rice and sugar not mentioned, xiii, 214-15; weather proverbs, i, 67 (see also New and Old Testaments) Bicarbonate of Soda, medical uses of, x, 12, 322 Biceps, ix, 76-7 (fig.) Bichat, x, 117 Bicycle Pump, i, 26-7 Bicycle Races, energy expenditure in, ix, 297 Bicycles, equilibrium maintenance on, iv, 62; gyroscopic action, v, 343; pedal invention, 380; riding of, ix, 155-6, 158-9 Biela's Comet, ii, 280, 286 Biennials (plants), roots of, xiii, 16, 18 Bifocal Lenses, ix, 112; invented by Franklin, x, 104 Big Creek Power Plant, v, 79, 81 Bigelow, Henry J., x, 125 Big Horn Sheep, xii, 326 Bigourdan, astronomer, ii, 358-9 Big Trees, Californian, age and size, xiii, 26; branches, 86; climatic changes seen in rings, i, 199, 200, xiv, 362; former wide distribution, iii, 256, xiii, 352 (see also Sequoias) Bihar, India, hailstorm, i, 120 Bile, ix, 237, 243, 275-6, x, 325-6, 329-30 Biliousness, x, 330 Billfish, xii, 152 Billings, John Shaw, xvi, 186 Billroth, Theodor, xvi, 183 Binary Stars, ii, 122-4, 334-5; distance, 319-20; orbit eccentricity, 377; origin, 378-9; periods, 319; relation to Galaxy, 327; variability, 326-7 (see also Double Stars) Binding Machines, v, 247-8 Binoculars, principle of, xi, 180 Binomial Nomenclature, x, 84 Binturongs, xii, 353 Biochemistry, viii, 205, 348 Bioclimatic Law, i, 256, 367-8 Biology, defined, xvi, 36, 42; history of development, 118, 142, 144-58; medicine and, x, 369; modern, due to Darwin, 134-6; remarks on science of, 368 Biometry, science of, xvi, 153-8 Biot, balloon flights, i, 18; meteor studies, ii, 284-5 Biotite, iii, 334 Birch Trees, antiquity of species, xiii, 324-5; family, 193; fertilization, 148; in landscaping, 271-2; seed dispersal, 343; in U. S., 368, xiv, 372 Bird-catching, by Australians, xv, 224 Bird-catching Spiders, xii, 97