Bean, Algaro′ba. See Algaroba.
Bean, Earth. American earth-nut.
Bean, French; Horse-bean; Kidney-bean; &c. See Bean (antè).
Composition. (Einhof.)
| Kidney beans. | Field beans. | |
| Water | 23·0 | 15·6 |
| Albumenoid bodies | 23·6 | 11·7 |
| Starch, sugar, gum, &c. | 44·7 | 58·3 |
| Oil and fat | 0·7 | 2· |
| Husk | 7·0 | 10·0 |
| Salts (ash) | 1·0 | 4·4 |
| ——— | ——— | |
| 100· | 100· |
Bean, St. Ignatius’s. The poisonous seed of the fruit of Igna′tia amār′a, Linn.; stry̆̆ch′nos Igna′tii, Berg.; a tree indigenous to the Philippine Islands.—Prop., Uses, &c. Similar to those of nux vomica. Contains Strychnine (which see).
BEAR (bare). Syn. Ur′sus, L.; Ours, Fr.; Bär, Ger.; Bera, Sax. In zoology, a Cuvierian genus of the ‘plantigrade carnivora,’ of several species, found both in the Old and New World. Those generally known under the name are omnivorous or frugivorous. The skin of the American black bear (ursus America′nus, Pallas) was formerly highly prized, and fetched an extravagant price. The brown bear (u. arc′tos, Linn.) supplies the Kamschatkans, and some other northern races, with many of the necessaries, and even the comforts of life. The fat or grease (BEAR’S GREASE; AD′EPS UR′SI, L.) of all the common species has long been highly esteemed for promoting the growth of the human hair; but apparently without sufficient reason. The mass of that sold under the name in England is simply hog’s lard or veal fat, or a mixture of them, variously scented and slightly coloured. The quantity annually consumed in Great Britain, and exported, is estimated at many tons; being a larger quantity than all the bears at present procurable in Europe would supply, if slaughtered and stripped of their fat.
BEAR′BERRY, Bear’s Bil′berry, &c. See Uva Ursi.
BEAR’S GREASE. See Bear (above), Hair Cosmetics, Marrow, Pomades, &c.
BEARD (bēerd). [Sax., Eng.] Syn. Bar′ba, L.; Barbe, Fr.; Bart, Ger., Dan.; Baard, Dut. The hair of the lips and chin; but appr., only the last—that on each lip being distinguished, in toilet-nomenclature, by a separate name. In popular botany and zoology, any beard-like appendage; the ‘awn’ of corn or grass; the ‘gills’ or breathing organs of oysters and other bivalves, &c.