Beacons field, Lord

See DISRAELI. Bead, ( bēde,) n. [From A. S. bead, gebed, a prayer.)] A little perforated ball of gla , ivory, or other substance, worn by women in necklaces, head-dre es, .; and used also in the ornamentation of purses, slippers, and a variety of fancy articles. - Beads strung on a thread (the French chapelet ), are used among Roman Catholics for reciting the prayers forming the devotion called the ROSARY, q. v. ( Ind .) The manufacture of beads is carried on principally in the small island of Murano, near Venice, and at Birmingham, England. Gla tubes, of different colors, are first drawn out to various sizes; they are then chipped into small cylindrical pieces, which are put into a mixture of sand and charcoal, and stirred about until the holes in them are filled; they are then placed in a pan heated to a dull redne , and stirred about till they a ume a rounded form from their edges becoming partially melted. When cool, the sand and charcoal, which have prevented them from collapsing, is cleared out. Bugle-beads are simply cylinders of gla 4 or 5 times their diameter in length, which are cut from a long tube, and used without any further preparation. Beads are also made of various hard seeds by drilling a hole through their centre. They are also turned from coral, ivory, bone, amber, and hard woods. Beads of all kinds are much used as articles of commerce in trading with savage nations, by whom they are much sought after for purposes of ornament. They were anciently much used as ornaments, and are, at least, as old as the Egyptians. -A small pip or piece of metal on a fowling-piece or other fire-arm, whereby to take aim; hence the expre ion "to draw a bead ," - i. e. take aim. (Arch.) A moulding of a circular section, stuck on the edge of a piece of stuff, by a plane of the same name. В. are of two kinds, one of which is flush with the surface, and the other raised; the former is called a quick - bead , and the latter a cock -bead. - Bead and Butt work is a Fig. 324. BEAD AND BUTT WORK. piece of framing having the panels flush with the framing, and stuck or run upon the two edges, which have the grain of the wood in their direction. (Chem.) A bubble rising to the surface of spirituous liquors: formerly the word, used in the plural, was applied to gla globules numbered according to their specific gravities, and serving for trying the strength of spirituous liquors. v. a. To decorate or distinguish with beads. Bead'-house, n . See BEDE-HOUSE. Beadle, ( be'dl .) n. [A. S. bydel , from the root of bid ; beodan. A me enger or crier of a court, who bids. worship, the punishment of petty offenders in the parish stocks, . "Thou rascal beadle hold thy bloody hand." - Shaks. Bea'dleship, n . The office or function of a beadle. Bead'-proof, a. A term applied to spirituous and alcoholic liquors of such a degree of proof, that, when shaken, a series of beads or bubbles will remain for some time on the surface.