venture. Then the scene changes, and the Palace of Hrothgar rises before us. Here the Danish King has assembled his warriors, and holds a feast unconscious of his deadly peril. Grendel, a mighty hunter of the marshes, malignant and cruel, hears the sounds of revelry, and stealing into the palace after dark, when the feast is over, he seizes and destroys thirty of the sleeping thegns. Twelve years pass before the outrage is avenged. Beowulf has heard of the crimes of the monster and comes with his Geats (Jutes) to inflict punishment. The inevitable feast follows his arrival, and that night, when the shadows of darkness have fallen, Grendel comes swiftly to the palace from the misty moors and assails Beowulf. A fierce struggle ensues, but the monster is baffled and obliged to flee. Next day a second feast is held in honor of the hero's success, and that night the mother of the monster secretly enters and destroys one of the king's dearest thegns. Beowulf undertakes to avenge him, and with the help of a magic sword, which came into his grasp, he first slays the mother and then destroys Grendel. Beowulf then returns home, and eventually succeeds to the throne on the death of his kinsman, Higelac.

Berbers are tribes inhabiting the mountainous regions of Barbary and the northern portions of the Great Desert. They were originally a branch of the Semitic stock, and notwithstanding the fact that in consequence of having been conquered in succession by the Phoenicians, Romans, Vandals and Arabs they have become to some extent a mixed race, they still retain, in great part, their distinctive peculiarities. It is estimated that there are between three and four million of these people. They are of medium stature, sparely but strongly built, and their complexion varies from a red to a yellow brown. They live in clay huts and tents, but in the larger villages they have stone houses. They practice agriculture, and have herds of sheep and cattle. They work the mines of iron and lead in the Atlas Mountains, and they manufacture rude agricultural implements, as well as swords, guns and gunpowder. They formerly professed Christianity, but are now followers of Mohammed. In disposition they are cruel, suspicious and implacable, and are usually at war among themselves or with their neighbors. The name by which they call themselves, and which was known to the Greeks and Romans, is Amazigh, or Mazigh, Mazys, Amoshagh, Imoshagh, etc., according to the locality, and whether singular or plural. They formed the larger portion of the population inhabiting the southern coast of the Mediterranean from Egypt to the Atlantic Ocean till the eleventh century; but on the great Arab immigrations, which then took place, they were driven to the Atlas Mountains and to the desert regions, where they now live.

Berchta. According to German mythology, Berchta was the name given in the south of Germany and Switzerland to a spiritual being who was apparently the same as the Hulda of North

Germany. Originally she represented one of the kindly and benign aspects of the unseen powers, but eventually she became an object of terror and a bugbear to frighten children. The last day of the year is ascribed sacred to her, and as she has the oversight of spinners, she destroys any flax that she finds left on the distaff on that day. Oatmeal gruel or pottage and fish is the prescribed fare with which her festival is kept. If she catches any person eating other food on that day she cuts them up, fills their paunches with chopped straw and other such agreeable stuffing, and then sews up the wound with a plowshare for a needle and an iron chain for a thread. She is also in some places the queen of crickets. She is represented as having an immensely large foot and an iron nose. It is probable that the numerous stories of the "White Lady" who appears in noble houses at night, rocks and nurses the children and acts as the guardian angel of the race have their origin in the ancient heathen goddess Berchta. Berchta is the original form of the name Bertha, and is from the same root as the English name bright, and means shining," "white."

Bible, English Translations of.-Between the eighth and tenth centuries portions of the Bible were translated into Anglo-Saxon by Aldhelin, Egbert, Bede, and others. In 1290 an English version of the Psalms was made. Wycliffe's version of the New Testament was finished in 1380, and a little later he completed the Old. The seven penitential Psalms were apparently printed in 1505. Before 1526 William Tyndale had completed an English translation of the New Testament. In the beginning of that year they were secretly conveyed to England from the Continent, where the translation had been made, where they were bought up and burned. The excellence of his translation is evidenced by the fact that in our present version a very large portion of the New Testament is taken verbatim from Tyndale's translation. In 1535 the first English version of the whole Bible was published by Miles Coverdale, a friend of Tyndale's, and was dedicated to Henry VIII. Between that year and 1557 several versions of the Bible were printed, but they were in the greater part revisions of Tyndale's previous work. The Geneva Bible, or, as best known, the Breeches Bible, appeared in 1557. It was translated by several English divines who had fled to Geneva to escape from the persecutions of Bloody Mary, and received the name of Breeches Bible on account of the rendering of Genesis iii, 7: “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig-tree leaves together and made themselves breeches." The Bishops' Bible was published in London in 1568. The text of this was compared with the original by eight bishops and seven other scholars of reputation, who appended their initials to their respective tasks. In 1582 appeared, at Rheims, in France, an English version of the New Testament prepared by several Roman Catholic exiles, and in 1609-'10 a similar version

of the Old Testament at Douay. They form the standard English Scriptures of the Roman Catholics, being generally known as the Douay Bible. In July, 1604, King James appointed fifty-four scholars to prepare a new version of the Bible. Only forty-seven accepted the appointment, and the result of their labors was the publication in 1610 of the version known as "King James' Bible," which has been in common use from that time to this, slightly modified by the revision prepared by the most learned English and American scholars a few years ago.

Billings, Josh, the nom de plume of Henry W. Shaw, who was born in Lanesborough, Mass., in the year 1818. He first became known as a humorous writer and lecturer in 1863, and since that time his comic sketches have been extensively published in the journals of the United States and England.

Black Death is believed to have been an aggravated outburst of the Oriental plague, which from the earliest records of history has periodically appeared in Asia and Northern Africa. It ap peared in great virulence in 1348-49, and was brought from the Orient to Constantinople, and then appeared in Sicily and several coast towns of Italy. It shortly broke out at Avignon, advanced then to Southern France, Spain, and Northern Italy. Passing through France, and visiting but not yet ravaging Germany, it made its way to England, cutting down its first victims at Dorset in August, 1348. Thence it traveled slowly, reaching London early in the winter. Soon it embraced the entire kingdom, penetrating to every rural hamlet, so that England became a mere pest-house. The utter powerlessness of medical skill before the disease was owing partly to the physicians' ignorance of its nature, and largely to the effect of the spirit of terror which hung like a pall over men's minds. The havoc wrought by the disease in England was terrible, as it is believed that at least 2,500,000 souls perished. The ravages of the pestilence over the rest of the world was no less great. Germany is said to have lost 1,244,434 victims; Italy, over half the population. On a moderate calculation it may be estimated that there perished in Europe during the first appearance of the black death fully 25,000,000 human beings. To add to the horrors of that dreadful time a fearful persecution was visited upon the Jews, who were accused of having caused the pestilence by poisoning the public wells, and they were killed by fire and torture wherever found. The chief symptoms of the disease are described as "spitting, in some cases actual vomiting, of blood, the breaking out of inflammatory boils in parts or over the whole of the body, and the appearance of those dark blotches upon the skin" which suggested its most startling name. The prevalence and severity of the pestilence at this time is ascribed to the disturbed conditions of the elements that preceded it, as for a number of years Asia and Europe had suffered from mighty earthquakes, furious tornadoes, violent floods, and clouds of locusts darkening the air and poisoning it with their corrupting bodies.

Black Forest.-A noted wooded mountain chain, situated in Baden and Wurtemberg. Two of its passes, the Kniebis and the Halle, acquired considerable celebrity during the wars of the French Revolution. The first, situated on the borders between Baden and Wurtemberg, at the source of the Murg, was taken by the French in 1796 and in 1797. The Halle is known in connec. tion with Moreau's retreat in 1796. The Black Forest attains its greatest elevation in the bare and round-topped Feldberg, which rises near the source of the Wiesen. The great mass called the Kaiserstuhl (Emperor's chair), sit ated near Breisach, is quite isolated. Among its numerous valleys the Murgthal is the most famous for its natural beauties. Summer rye, oats and potatoes are cultivated in some parts of the Black Forest, but it is with difficulty, and the rearing of cattle is prosecuted with much greater success. The manufacture of wooden clocks and other kinds of time-pieces and music-boxes is an important industry of the inhabitants. The Black Forest is rich in mineral waters, as the baths of Baden-Baden and Wildbad.

Black Friday. The term "Black Friday" was first used in England, and was applied to the Friday on which the news reached London that Charles Edward, the young Pretender, had arrived at Derby. This created a terrible panic. On May 11, 1866, the term was again used in London, when the failure of Overend, Guerney & Co., on the previous day, was followed by a wide-spread financial ruin. In September, 1869, occurred the celebrated Black Friday in the United States. The cause of the panic was the attempt made by Jay Gould and others to create a corner in the gold market by buying all the gold in the banks of New York City, amounting to $15,000,000. For several days the value of gold rose steadily, and the speculators aimed to carry it from 144 to 200. On the Friday following (September 24th) the whole city was in a ferment, the banks were rapidly selling, gold was at 162 1-2 and still rising. Men became insane, and everywhere the wildest excitement raged, for it seemed probable that the business houses must be closed from ignorance of the prices to be charged for goods. But in the midst of the panic it was reported that Secretary Boutwell of the United States Treasury had thrown $4,000,000 in gold on the market, and at once gold fell and the excitement ceased. It is estimated that the profits of Gould and his partners were at least $11,000,000.

Blackmail. In the beginning of the eighteenth century the Scottish Highlands, and part of the Lowlands bordering on the Highlands, were in an extremely barbarous state, enjoying but an imperfect protection under the law. Theft and robbery were not then regarded as they are now; to carry off the cattle of a neighbor was perhaps only wreaking out an old family feud or clan dispute. In these circumstances a class of men rose up who proposed to take upon themselves the duty of protecting the property of individuals on the payment by them of a percentage on their

rents, generally four per cent. This was known as blackmail. Notwithstanding the fact that the men engaged in this business were nearly all of them of good Highland families, there was only too good reason to suspect that they encouraged and profited by robberies, in order to make the blackmail a necessity About 1730 the celebrated Rob Roy was a notable levier of blackmail in the southern Highlands. The levier of the import held himself bound to pay an equivalent for all cattle which were lost by the payers of blackmail which he was unable to recover. Blackmail ceased to be heard of after the breaking out of the rebellion under the young Pretender in 1745, and the word was gradually identified with the blackmail of modern society.

Blind, Education of the.-The main end to be sought in the education of the blind is to fit them to compete in as many ways as possible with the more fortunate who can see, and take them out of their despondency and give them a worthy object to accomplish in life. The first institution for the blind was founded in Memmingen by Weef VI in 1178, the second in Paris by St. Louis in 1260, and the first for the employment of the adult blind in Edinburgh by Dr. Johnson in 1793. The work in a school for the blind is about equal to the ordinary high-school course. Pupils are classified as in other schools; but persons who become blind at the age of twenty, for instance, must begin with the alphabet, as little children do. Writing is taught by tracing with a pencil letters sunk into a stiff card. This manner of writing can be read Ly seeing-persons only. The point systems-Braille's and Waite'sare generally used by blind persons to communicate with each other. In the Illinois Institution for the Blind the use of the typ writer is being taught, and it is said that some excellent work has already been done by the pupils. In the study of music the notes are read to the pupil, who writes them down in the Bra Waite systems, and then studies them at the instrument un hey are memorized. In most schools books in raised print or "sed. The first book of this character was printed in Paris in 1693 by M. Valentine Hauy.

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Blood, Circulation of.-The true theory regarding the circulation of blood was discovered by the celebrated English physiologist, William Harvey, about 1616. He received his diploma as Doctor of Medicine from the University of Padua in 1602, and in 1615 was made Lecturer at the College of Physicians in London, an appointment which he held for forty years. It is generally supposed that he expounded his views regarding blood circulation în his first course of lectures. He died at London June 3, 1657.

Bloody Statute was six articles having for their object the compelling of all the subjects of the Crown to a uniform profession of certain doctrines. It was passed January 7, 1541, in the thirty-third year of the reign of Henry VIII, and at first was enforced with great severity; but it was somewhat mitigated in 1544, and was finally repealed in 1549. The doctrines were: 1.