Bem'bo, Pietro

a noble Venetian poet, and miscellaneous writer, B. 1470. He was secretary to Leo X., and promoted to be bishop of Bergamo and cardinal by Paul III.; and author of a history of Venice, an important and extensive work on the Italian language, . D. 1547. Bem'bridge Beds. ( Geol. ) A group of upper eocene strata, resting on the Osborne or St. Helen's series, and capped by the Hempstead beds. It is principally developed in the Isle of Wight. Beginning at the bottom, the B. limestone is at first seen, consisting of a pale-yellow, cream-colored limestone, interstratified with clay or crumbling marl, and from 20 to 25 ft. thick. Upon this comes the oyster-bed, a few feet of greenish sands, containing oysters (Ostræa vectensis) in great abundance capped by a band of hard septerian stone. Resting on this are unfo iliferous mottled clays, alternating with fo iliferous laminated clays and marls. The latter contain the characteristic shell Cyrena pulchra . Lastly come the marls and laminated gray clays containing Melania turriti ima . Immediately above this is the black band , forming the base of the Hempstead series. Be'ment, in Illinois , a post-village of Bement township, Piatt county, 21 miles east-north-east of the city of Decatur.