Bear, or Bere, a species of barley (Hordĕum hexastichum), having six rows in the ear, cultivated in Scotland and the north of England.
Bear, Great and Little, the popular names of two constellations in the northern hemisphere. The Great Bear (Ursa Major) is situated near the pole. It is remarkable for its well-known seven stars, by two of which, called the Pointers, the pole-star is always readily found. These seven stars are popularly called the Wagon, Charles's Wain, or the Plough. The Little Bear (Ursa Minor) is the constellation which contains the pole-star. This constellation has seven stars placed together in a manner resembling those in the Great Bear.
Bear-baiting, the sport of baiting bears with dogs, formerly one of the established amusements, not only of the common people, but of the nobility and even royalty itself. The places where bears were publicly baited were called bear-gardens. Butler gives a description of bear-baiting in his Hudibras. Bear-baiting was prohibited by Act of Parliament in 1835.
Bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi), an evergreen shrub of the heath family growing on the barren moors of Scotland, Northern Europe, Siberia, and N. America. The leaves, under the name of uva ursi, are used in medicine as an astringent and tonic.
Beard, the hair round the chin, on the cheeks, and the upper lip, which is a distinction of the male sex and of manhood. It differs from the hair on the head by its greater hardness and its form. Some nations have hardly any, others a
great profusion. The latter generally consider it as a great ornament; the former pluck it out; as, for instance, the American Indians. The beard has often been considered as a mark of the sage and the priest. Moses forbade the Jews to shave their beards. With the ancient Germans the cutting off another's beard was a high offence. Even now the beard is regarded as a mark of great dignity among many nations in the East, as the Turks. Alexander the Great introduced shaving among the Greeks, by ordering his soldiers to wear no beards; among the Romans it was introduced in 296 B.C. The custom of shaving came into use in modern times during the reigns of Louis XIII and XIV of France, both of whom ascended the throne without a beard. Till then fashion sanctioned divers forms of moustaches and beards. In the reign of Henry VIII of England, the authorities of Lincoln's Inn prohibited wearers of beards from sitting at the great table unless they paid double commons. Taxation of beards was introduced in the reign of Elizabeth, beards of above a fortnight's growth being subject to a yearly tax of 3s. 4d. This impost was copied by Peter the Great in Russia. It is only in comparatively recent times that beards and moustaches have again become common.—Cf. Philippe, Histoire philosophique, politique, et religieuse de la barbe.
Beard-moss (Usnea barbāta), a lichen of grey colour, forming a shaggy coat on many forest trees.
Beardsley, Aubrey Vincent, artist in black and white, born 1872, died 1898; took up art as a profession at the age of nineteen, and executed a large number of drawings for books and periodicals, showing great technical skill, originality, and disregard of conventionality, with sometimes a tendency towards the repulsive or morbid. Consumption had marked him as its victim from the first. Collections of his drawings were published under the titles A Book of Fifty Drawings, The Early Work of Aubrey Beardsley, The Late Work of Aubrey Beardsley, &c. Under the Hill, with his letters and poems, was published in 1904. Cf. G. Derry, An Aubrey Beardsley Scrap-book.
Bearer Securities. See Stock Exchange.