| Old Testatment | New Testament | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Books | 39 | 27 | 66 |
| Chapters | 929 | 260 | 1,189 |
| Verses | 33,214 | 7,959 | 41,173 |
| Words | 593,493 | 181,253 | 774,746 |
| Letters | 2,728,100 | 838,380 | 3,566,480 |
The shortest chapter is Psalm cxvii; Ezra vii, 21, contains all the letters of the alphabet except j; Esther viii, 9, is the longest verse; John xi, 35, is the shortest verse. There is no word of more than six syllables in the Bible.
Bi-Metallism.—A monetary system in which gold and silver are put on the same plane as regards mintage and legal-tender.
Birth Stones.—January, garnet; February, amethyst; March, bloodstone or jasper; April, diamond or sapphire; May, emerald or carnelian; June, agate or chalcedony; July, ruby or onyx; August, sardonyx; September, chrysolite; October, opal or beryl; November, topaz; December, turquoise.
Blind.—In the United States there are about 65,000 blind persons, a little more than half of whom are totally blind. Of this number about 37,000 are males, and about 28,000 females.
Blood-heat.—The normal temperature of man is about 98-1/2° Fahrenheit. This temperature is maintained with a variation of not more than two degrees, whether one lives on the Equator or in the Arctic regions. Any great deviation is likely to prove fatal. Animals have about the same temperature as man, while the blood of birds is from eight to ten degrees warmer. Reptiles, fishes, and all invertebrates maintain temperatures about the same as that of their environment.
Blue-Grass Region.—An undulating plateau in the north-central part of Kentucky, covering about 10,000 square miles, is known as the Blue-Grass Region. The underlying rock for 150 or more feet is blue limestone, very rich in phosphate of lime. This rock crumbles on exposure to the air and enriches the soil. Tobacco and hemp have two crops a year and grow to a great height. Meadow grass grows continuously. The Blue-Grass Region for many years has been the centre of the blooded stock of America.
Boxers.—A Chinese secret society supposed to be semireligious and semipatriotic. The Boxers originally believed that they were immune from death or physical injury, and that they could, with safety, attack any foreign foe.
Brain.—As the action of the brain has not, as yet, been seen by man, no one, at the present day, knows just what it is, beyond its merely physiological or mechanical substance. It is said that the brain of the normal man contains over 300,000,000 cells, and that about 3,000 are destroyed every minute. If this is the case, then a new brain appears once in 60 days. The normal brain has a volume of from 58 to 105 cubic inches. The brain of the Anglo-Saxon and German, and of other civilized nations, averages the larger number, while the negro brain occupies a space of about 96 cubic inches, and some Australian natives have brains of only about 58 cubic inches. The male brain is about ten per cent. heavier or larger than that of the female. The most intelligent animals have only about 16 ounces of brains. The size of the brain, if it is not below normal, does not appear to influence the intellectuality of its possessor. Men with small brains may have larger mind capacity than some of those possessing brains weighing several ounces more. It would appear, then, that the size of the brain, unless it be unusually small, has little to do with its quality.