[Berthe] "au Grand Pied" (i. e. Long Foot), wife of Pepin the Short, and mother of Charlemagne, so called from her club foot.
[Berthelier], a Swiss patriot, an uncompromising enemy of the Duke of Savoy in his ambition to lord it over Geneva.
[Berthelot, Pierre Eugène], a French chemist, born at Paris; professor in the College of France; distinguished for his researches in organic chemistry, and his attempt to produce organic compounds; the dyeing trade owes much to his discoveries in the extraction of dyes from coal-tar; he laid the foundation of thermo-chemistry; b. 1827.
[Berthier, Alexandre], prince of Wagram and marshal of France, born at Versailles; served with Lafayette in the American war, and rose to distinction in the Revolution; became head of Napoleon's staff, and his companion in all his expeditions; swore fealty to the Bourbons at the restoration of 1814; on Napoleon's return retired with his family to Bamberg; threw himself from a window, maddened at the sight of Russian troops marching past to the French frontier (1753-1815).
[Berthollet, Count], a famous chemist, native of Savoy, to whom we owe the discovery of the bleaching properties of chlorine, the employment of carbon in purifying water, &c., and many improvements in the manufactures; became a senator and officer of the Legion of Honour under Napoleon; attached himself to the Bourbons on their return, and was created a peer (1744-1822).
[Berthoud], a celebrated clockmaker, native of Switzerland; settled in Paris; invented the marine chronometer to determine the longitude at sea (1727-1807).
[Bertin] "l'Ainé," or the Elder, a French journalist, born at Paris; founder and editor of the Journal des Débats, which he started in 1799; friend of Châteaubriand (1766-1841).
[Bertin, Pierre], introduced stenography into France, invented by Taylor in England (1751-1819).
[Bertin, Rose], milliner to Marie Antoinette, famed for her devotion to her.
[Bertinazzi], a celebrated actor, born at Turin, long a favourite in Paris (1710-1788).