Be it allah

[Ar., "house of God."] The name of the temple at Mecca, which contains the KAABA, q. v. Beja, ( baizh'ah,) a town of Portugal, 36 m. from Evora. It stands on a hill and is surrounded by walls flanked by forty towers. Pop. about 6,000. Bejapoor, ( beja - poor ,) a large prov. of the Deccan, Hindostan, comprised partly in the British dom. and partly in those of the Rajah of Sattara and the Nizam, and containing the Portuguese territory of Goa. It ex tends from 15° to 18° N. Lat., and between 730 and 780 Belay'ing-pin, n. (Naut.) A wooden pin, made of ash, and turned in a lathe, 16 inches long and 136 inch in diameter at the upper end; used for belaying a rope. Bel'bend, in Pennsylvania , a post-office of Luzerne co. Belbeys, ( bel'bez ,) a town of Lower Egypt, on the E. bank of the Nile, 28 m. from Cairo, pop , abt. 5,000. Belch, ( belsh,) v. a. [A. S. bealcan , from bælc , the stom- ach; allied to bulge, bilge .] To swell or heave out; to eject, as wind from the stomach; to eructate. "And, when they're full, They belch us." - Shaks . The Ramooses, a tribe resembling the lower castes of the Mahrattas, with the thievish habits of the Bheels, but -v.i. To eject wind from the stomach. Black sands as from a forceful engine throw."-Dryden. Belch, Belching, n. The act of throwing out from the stomach, or violently from within; eructation. Bel'cher, SIR EDWARD, F.R.S., an English naval officer and explorer, в. 1799. In 1836 he was commi ioned to explore the western coasts of America and the Indies, and was absent six years; during which time he had sailed around the world. On his return he published a Narrative of his voyage. In 1852, he commanded the expedition in search of Sir John Franklin, and brought home the crews of the ice-bound ve els, Oct. 1854. He afterwards published The Last of the Arctic Voyages, (London, 1855, D. 1877. Bel'cher, in New York , a post-office of Washington co. Belcher town, in Ma achusetts , a thriving post- township of Hampshire co., 70 m. W. by S. of the city of Boston. Belch'ité, a small town of Spain, 22 m. S.S.E. of Sara- go a; pop . 2,878. Here, on June 18, 1809, the Spanish, under General Blake, were completely routed by the French under Suchet. Bel'dam, Bel'dame, n. [Fr. belle , fine, or handsome, and dame .] Originally, a good dame; now, by corruption, an old woman; an old witch, hag, or weird-like woman. "I weep for woe, the testy beldam swore."-Dryden. father. (Poet. and R.) Belair', in Georgia , a post-village of Richmond co., 10 m. W. of August a. Bel Air, in Illinois , a village of Clarke co. Belair', in Illinois , a village of Crawford co. Belair', in Maryland , a town, the capital of Harford co., 22 miles N. E. of Baltimore. Pop . in 1891, 1,416; in 1897 (est.), 1,696. Belair', in South Carolina , a village of Lancaster co. Belair', in Vermont , a village of Orleans co., on Barton "Her snowy brows like budded belamours ." Spenser. Bel and the Dragon. ( Eccl . Hist .) The name of an apocryphal and uncanonical book of Scripture. It was always rejected by the Jewish church, and is extant neither in the Hebrew nor Chaldee language, nor is there any proof that it ever was so; hence St. Jerome terms it "the fable of Bel and the Dragon." Belat'ed, a. Late in time; benighted; too late. Belatedne , n. A being too late. Belaud, (bě-lawd',) v. a. [be and laud.] To laud, or praise highly. Belay', v. a. [ be and lay .] ( Naut .) To make a rope fast by turns round a pin or coil, without hitching or seizing it. co., 14 m. E. of Pre scott. Beleaguer, (be-le'gér,) v. a. [Ger. belāgern , be , by, and lagern, to lay.] To surround with an army; to blockade, or block up; to besiege. "The Trojan camp, then beleaguered by Turnus and the Latins."-Dryden. Belea'guerer, n. One who beleaguers; one who be- sieges a place. Belect'ure, v. a. [be and lecture .] To administer a lec- ture to; to bore with unwelcome advice or reproof; to lecture frequently. Belee', v . a . [be and lee.] To place on the lee, or in a po- sition not exposed to the wind. Belem, ( be'lem ,) a town of Portugal, 2 m. from Lisbon. It is historically interesting as the place from whence Vasco de Gama set sail on his voyage of Oriental dis- covery. It was taken in November, 1807, by the French, the royal family of Portugal embarking from its quay for Brazil as they entered. In 1833, it was occupied by Dom Pedro's troops. Pop . about 5,000. Belfast', the chief commercial and manufacturing city of Ireland, in the counties Antrim and Down, at the con- fluence of the river Lagan with Carrick fer gus Bay, 102 m. N. of Dublin, and 78 S.E. of London derry. It is after Dublin the largest and most important town in Ireland. The houses, mostly of modern construction, are of brick; the streets are wide, airy, well-paved, and flagged. There are many fine religious edifices here, while of educa- tional establishments the principal is Queen's College, opened in 1849. Numerous literary and scientific in- stitutions flourish, and everything about betokens a wealthy and prosperous state of things. B. is the nu- cleus of the Irish linen manufacture. This trade is now in a flourishing condition, and rapidly increasing. The other chief branches of industry are linen and cot- ton weaving, iron founding on an extensive scale, and bleaching. There are also print and chemical works, oil, alabaster, and barilla mills, tanneries, felt manufac- tories, ship-building yards, . B. has railway communi- cation with nearly the entire country, and steamship traffic with London, Liverpool, Glasgow, and Fleet wood. The bay is peculiarly favorable to the purposes of com- merce, being safe and easy of acce , and permitting ve els drawing 16 ft. water at neaps, and 18 ft. water at spring-tides, to reach the quays. The imports into B. annually average $40,000,000 and the exports $37,000,000. Pop . in 1895, 255,950. Belfast', in low a , a post-village of Lee co., on the Des Moines River, 18 m. W.S.W. of Fort Madison. Belfast', in Maine , a sea-port, and seat of justice of Waldo co., 30 m. S. of Bangor, and 30 m. from the ocean, at the head of Penobscot Bay. The town, pleasantly situated but indifferently built, is divided into two parts by the Paasagga a a wakeag River, or stream. Ve els of the largest cla may enter the harbor, and the town is extensively engaged in coastwise commerce and to some extent in the fisheries and other industries. Pop. (1890) 5,294; (1898) 5,350. Belfast', in New York , a post-township of Alleghany co., 60 m. S.E. of Buffalo, on the Gene see River. Belfast', in Ohio , a post-office of Clermont co. -A village of Highland county, 72 m. S. by W. of Co- lumbus. Belemnite, n. One of the BELEMNITES, q. v. Be'lemnites, n. [Gr. belemnon, an arrow or dart.] - A post-office of North amp ton co. ( Pal . ) A genus of fo il mollusca. - See BELEMNITIDE. consists of an internal horny pen, as in other dibranchiate cephalopods of a spatuliform shape, broad in front, narrow posteriorly, and provided later- ally with two small wing-shaped ex- pansions, which unite posteriorly, and form a large conical cavity, at the bot- tom of which are transverse partitions, separating the whole into numerous small chambers pierced laterally with a siphon, and containing air. This pos- terior portion receives externally a cal- careous deposit of a regular conical shape, more or le thick, and some- times of considerable length. It is this terminal portion that is generally called the Belemnite. It is sometimes 10 inches long, which indicates that the entire animal, with its arms out- stretched, must have been several feet in length. The spatuliform part with the wings is called the guard , and the chambered conical cavity is called the phragmo-cone, (a septum or division.) The object of this structure is evi- dently to support the body of the ani- mal when it was alive, and give solidity to it, while at the same time, being di- vided into chambers filled with air, it was light, and thus well adapted for supporting it in the water. It was lodged in the middle of the fleshy body of the animal, which in structure must BELEMNITES