bdellometer

[From Gr. βδέλλα ( bdella ) = a leech, and μέτρον (metron) = a measure.] Surgery: A cupping-gla , to which are attached an exhausting syringe and a scarificator. It was introduced as a substitute for leeches, and shows the amount of blood drawn. bē, *bī, * běn (pr. par. beang , beeing, be ynge (Eng.); * be and (O. Scotch) (pa. par. been , *ben, be), v.i. [A.S. be on, beonne to be, to exist, to become. It is thus declined: ic beo I am; thu beost , best , byst thou art; he byth, bith , we beoth , beo, . Gael. bi to be; Ger. ich bin Iam; O. H. Ger. bun, bin = to be; Goth. ban an ; Slav. byti ; Lith. but i ; Sansc. bhú = to be. Compare also Lat. fui = I was; Gr. φύω (phuō) = to bring forth, to produce.] The substantive verb. It is used L. As a copula connecting the subject and its predicate in which case it denotes existence in relation to that predicate; existence, the character of which is to be explained by the word with which the substantive verb is connected; to be; to continue, to remain; to be present in a place; to happen in a particular way; to happen according to ordination or appointment; to become; to aim; with various other shades of meaning. Ranking as a copula or apposition verb, now technically viewed as one of incomplete predication (see Bain's Higher Eng. Gram.), it is followed by a nominative in apposition with it, and not with an objective as would be the case were it a transitive verb. Thus in the example from Acts xii. 15, given below, "It is his angel," the noun angel is in the nominative and not in the objective case. Be is defective, the omi ions being supplied by parts from other verbs not in the least resembling it in sound, as am , art, are (from A.S. com to be), were , was (from A.S. wesan to be). [BE AND, Is.] 1. In a general sense, in which case it may be joined with an adjective, an adverb, a substantive, a pronoun, . "... I was envious at the foolish."-Ps. lxxiii. & ."- Mark xiii. 21. lo, he is there "... it is his angel."- Acts xii. 15. "... Lord, is it I?"- Matt . xxvi. 22. 2. Specially: As an auxiliary verb, used (a) Before a past (properly a perfect) participle, so as to constitute the pa ive voice. "Ble ed shall be thy basket and thy store."-Deut. xxviii. 5. (b) Before the present (properly the imperfect) participle, so as to constitute a form of the active, implying that an action has commenced to be performed, that the doing of it is in progre , but is not yet completed. beside them."- Job 1 14. the oxen were ploughing, and the a es feeding II. In an abstract sense denoting simple existence. This is the reason why it is called the substantive verb. If the being existent be a living one, then the substantive verb denotes to live. "To be or not to be, that is the question." Shakesp.: Hamlet , lii. 1. IIL Special phrases: 1. Be als mekil = forasmuch. "Alle so it is ordeyned, be on a ent of the brethren, be als meckil as the lyght fornseide ne may nout be meyntened in the tyme for to come."-English Gilds (Ear. Eng . Text Soc .), pp. 49, 50. 2. Be it so let it be so. A phrase used (a) by one giving authority to do anything which he has the power to permit or refuse to have done, or (b) by one conceding what an opponent in argument has demanded. "My gracious duke, Be't so she will not here, before your grace, Consent to marry with Demetrius." 3. Let be Shakesp.: Mids. Night's Dream, ii. 1. let alone, leave unmeddled with. " Let be , said he, my prey."-Dryden. The following examples illustrate how interchangeably be , bi , and ben were once used: ( a ) Be , used where been would now be em ployed. "Fenyeand ane oblatione, as it had be For prosper returnyng hams in thare cuntré." Doug.: Virgil , 39, 10. (b) Ben (= be on) for be. "A manly man, to ben an abbot able." Chaucer: C. T. , Prol 167. Be was also used where we now employ are. " Be they better than these kingdoms?"-Amos vi. 2. It was also used in O. Scotch for let or let be = not to mention, not to speak of, to except. (Jamie son.) (a) Crabb thus distinguishes between the verbs to be , to exist , and to subsist :- "To be is applicable either to the accidents of things, or to the substances themselves; to exist only to substances or things that stand or exist of themselves. We say of qualities, of forms, of actions, of arrangement, of movement, and of every different relation, whether real, ideal, or qualificative, that they are ; we say of matter, of spirit, of body, and of all substances, that they exist . Man is man, and will be man under all circumstances; he exists under every known climate, . Of being and existence as nouns, the former not only designates the abstract action of being, but is metaphorically employed for the sensible object that is the latter is confined altogether to the abstract sense. Hence, human beings ; beings animate and inanimate; the supreme Being ; but the existence of a God, of innumerable worlds, of evil. Being may in some cases be indifferently employed for existence, particularly in the grave style; when speaking of animate objects, as the being of a God; our frail being ; and when qualified in a compound form is preferable, as our well-being. Subsist is properly a species of existing; it denotes temporary or partial existence. Every thing exists by the creative and preservative power of the Almighty; that which subsists depends for its existence upon the chances and changes of this mortal life. To exist therefore designates simply the event of being or existing; to subsist conveys the acce ory ideas of the mode and duration of existing. Man exists while the vital or spiritual part of him remains; he subsists by what he obtains to support life." (b) To be, to become, to grow , are thus discriminated:-" Be is positive; become is relative: a person is what he is without regard to what he was ; he becomes that which he was not before. We judge of a man by what he is, but we cannot judge of him by what he will become. To become includes no idea of the mode or circumstance of its becoming ; to grow is to become by a gradual proce : a man may become a good man from a vicious one, in consequence of a sudden action on his mind; but he grows in wisdom and virtue by means of an increase in knowledge and experience." (Crabb: Eng. Synon.)