Beads

arc found in the most ancient Egyptian tombs, and were sometimes of enormous value. Since the 14th century the manufacture of gla B. has beer, more or le a Venetian monopoly, taking its rise ir. the silica deposits of Murano; but, of course, Birmingham has imitated the original In old English a bede meant * prayer,’ and the name w'as transferred a to the balls on the rosaries, etc., by which ‘prayers’ were counted. the smallest kind of hound, and are famed for their keen scent and perseverance. were regarded as sacred by the Greeks and Romans, and were used for voting by ballot. They grow best on heavy land, and their long roots prefer the deep soil of an alluvial country like Egypt. Their use for voting has survived in the curious " Bean King's Festival” on Twelfth Night. generally content with vegetable food, to get which they can show extraordinary activity both in swimming and in climbing. In Greece they were sacred to a Diana, and they figure prominently in the folk-lore of Northern Europe. They are w-idely distributed in cold and temperate regions, and the commonest kinds are the brown, which was found in Scotland up to the end of the nth century the black, which is a native of North America; the; grizzly, which is much more fierce and carnivorous and a much le active climber than any of the others, the sloth of Southern Asia, and the Polar. B. baiting by dogs has been a favourite * sport ’ in many countries, especially in England from the time of Henry II. to that of the Stuarts. It was finally made illegal in 1835. but there are instances of women with real beards, e.g. Margaret of Parma. They are generally luxuriant in the Keltic and Slav races, and almost absent amongst the Red men. All Moslems, who swear by the golden beard of the Prophet, are very particular about their B., which are often dyed red to imitate the' colour recommended by Mahomet, from hatred of the Persian black B. The fashion of soldiers not wearing a beard originated in an order 01 Alexander the Great, whose soldiers were often caught by their beards by enemies in battle. Among the Teutons the lo of the beard was the sign of degradation till the 12th century, and the Normans compelled the conquered English to shave, but afterwards began to wear beards themselves. In the time of the Tudors beards were worn of all sorts of shapes, and were satirized by the Water-poet Taylor: The latter is perpetuated in Vandyke’s portraits of Charles I. Among the clergy there has been great diversity of custom about beards. For instance, all the popes from 1523 to 1691 wore beards, and the Eastern Church clergy still wear them but the Anglican Church clergy have largely discarded; them, though the more rigidly Protestant Churches retain them almost universally. Side-wliiskers are peculiarly English. bom murdered in 1546 for having burnt Wishart, the celebrated Protestant preacher. He was a determined foe of England and Protestant ism, and a great in Europe in the reign of Henry V. He was also an enlightened, merciful, and patriotic statesman, and did much to help the nation in the troublous days of the House of Lancaster. August us Caron, who was the greatest French conuc dramatist next to Moltere. Born in Paris in 1732, son , of a watchmaker, taught the harp to the daughters of