(38 cm) and weighing about 30 lbs (13.5 kg). Beagles generally excel as rabbit hunters and are typically alert and affectionate.
Beagle Channel Channel, extreme southern South America. Separating the main islands of Tierra del Fuego from smaller islands in the archipelago, it is about 150 mi (240 km) long and 3-8 mi (5-13 km) wide. The eastern portion forms part of the Chile-Argentina border, while the western portion lies entirely within Chile. It was named for the British ship HMS Beagle, in which Charles Darwin explored the area.
beak or bin Stiff, projecting oral structure of birds and turtles (both of which lack teeth) and certain other animals (e.g., cephalopods and some insects, fishes, and mammals). The term bill is preferred for the beak of a bird, which is composed of upper and lower jaws covered by a horny sheath of skin, with the nostrils on top, usually at the base. The shapes and sizes of bills are adapted for obtaining food, preening, building nests, and other functions; they range from the long, slim bills of nectar-sipping hummingbirds to the sturdy, curved, nut-cracking bills of parrots.
Beaker culture Late Neolithic and early Bronze Age culture of north¬ ern and western Europe. The people are known for a group of distinctive bell-shaped earthenware beakers decorated with toothed stamps, probably used in rituals of consumption. The Beaker people buried their dead in simple graves but also in megalithic tombs in western Europe. They used the bow and arrow as well as copper daggers and spearheads. As they searched for gold and copper, they spread metallurgy into other parts of Europe. They eventually mixed with the Battle-Ax culture and spread from central Europe to eastern England.
beam In building construction, a horizontal member spanning an open¬ ing and carrying a load. The load may be a wall above the opening (see post-and-beam system) or it may be a floor or roof. Beams may be of wood, steel or other metals, reinforced or prestressed concrete, plastic, or even brick with steel reinforcement. For weight reduction, metal beams are I-shaped, having a thin vertical web and thicker horizontal flanges where greater stress occurs. A joist is any of a series of small parallel beams supporting a floor or roof. See also girder, spandrel.
bean Seed or pod of certain leguminous plants (see legume). The mature seeds of the principal food beans, except soybeans, are similar in compo¬ sition, though they differ widely in eating quality. Rich in protein and providing moderate amounts of iron and vitamins B 1 and B 2 , fresh or dried beans are used worldwide for cooking. Varieties differ greatly in size, shape, colour, and tenderness of the immature pods. The common string, snap, or green bean ( Phaseolus vulgaris ) of Central and South American origin is the dominant edible-podded bean in the U.S., second to the soy-
Beagle
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Bean ► Beat movement I 183
bean in importance. Third in importance is the broad, or fava, bean ( Vicia faba ), the principal bean of Europe. The lima bean ( P. limensis ), of Cen¬ tral American origin, is commercially important in few countries outside the Americas. The scarlet runner bean (P. coccineus) is native to the New World tropics and is grown in Europe for its attractive flowers and fleshy immature pods. The mung bean, or green gram (P. aureus ), is native to India and grown extensively in the Orient for food.
Bean, Roy (b. 1825?, Mason county, Ky., U.S.—d. March 16, 1903, Langtry, Texas) U.S. justice of the peace and saloonkeeper. He left Ken¬ tucky in 1847 and moved from town to town, killing at least two men in duels, before settling in Texas. During the American Civil War he first served with Confederate regulars and then was a blockade runner in Texas, becoming so prosperous that he was able to live at ease in San Antonio for some 16 years. In 1882 he moved to a site on the lower Pecos River that he named for Lillie Langtry, opened a saloon, and dispensed hard, commonsensical, and prankish rulings as an unofficial magistrate, styling himself the “law west of the Pecos.”
bear Generally massive, short-legged mammals constituting the family Ursidae. Bears are the most recently evolved carnivore, found in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. Closely related to the dog and the raccoon, most bears climb with ease and are strong swimmers. As a family, they are omnivores, but dietary preferences vary among species (the polar bear feeds mainly on seals, the spectacled bear on vegetation, etc.). Though they do not truly hibernate, bears often sleep fitfully through much of the win¬ ter. They live 15-30 years in the wild but much longer in captivity. They have been hunted as trophies, for hides, and for food. See also black bear; brown bear; sun bear.
bear cat See lesser panda
Bear Flag Revolt Short-lived rebellion in 1846 by American settlers in California against Mexican authorities. In June a small group captured Sonoma, a settlement north of San Francisco, and declared independence, raising a flag that featured a grizzly bear. Capt. John C. Fremont soon arrived to give his support and was elected to head the “republic.” In July U.S. forces occupied San Francisco and Sonoma and claimed California for the U.S. The bear flag later became the state flag.
bear grass Either of two species of North American plants that make up the genus Xerophyllum, in the lily family. The western species, X. tenax, also known as elk grass, squaw grass, and fire lily, is a smooth, light- green mountain perennial with a stout, unbranched stem and grasslike, rough-edged leaves at the bottom. It flowers at five to seven years, bear¬ ing a large cluster of small, creamy white flowers at the top of the stem. The turkey beard (X. asphodeloides ) of southern North America is a simi¬ lar plant that grows in dry pine barrens. In the southern and southwest¬ ern U.S., the name bear grass is given to various kinds of yucca and to the camas ( Camassia scilloides ) and the aloelike Dasylirion texanum.
bear market In securities and commodities trading, a declining mar¬ ket. A bear is an investor who expects prices to decline and, on this assumption, sells a borrowed security or commodity in the hope of buy¬ ing it back later at a lower price, a speculative transaction called short- selling. See also bull market.
bearberry Flowering, prostrate, evergreen shrub {Arctostaphylos uva- ursi) of the heath family, growing widely throughout North America in rocky and sandy woods and open areas. It has woody stems that are often 5-6 ft (1.5-1.8 m) long. Roots develop from stem joints, and the plant spreads, forming a broad, massive ground cover. The foliage turns bronzy in winter. The white, pink, or pink-tipped flowers are shaped like a narrow-mouthed bell. The berries are red.
Beard, Charles A(ustin) (b. Nov. 27, 1874, near Knightstown, Ind., U.S.—d. Sept. 1, 1948, New Haven, Conn.) U.S. historian. Beard taught at Columbia University (1904-17) and cofounded New York’s New School for Social Research (1919). He is best known for iconoclastic studies of the development of U.S. political institutions, emphasizing the dynamics of socioeconomic conflict and change and analyzing motiva¬ tional factors in the founding of institutions. His works include An Eco¬ nomic Interpretation of the Constitution of the United States (1913), claiming that the Constitution was formulated to serve the economic inter¬ ests of the founders; The Economic Origins of Jeffersonian Democracy (1915); and, with his wife, Mary R. Beard (1876-1958), The Rise of American Civilization (1927).
Beard, James (b. May 5, 1903, Portland, Ore., U.S.—d. Jan. 23, 1985, New York, N.Y.) U.S. culinary expert and cookbook author. In 1945 he became the first chef to demonstrate cooking on network television. Through his Greenwich Village cooking school he influenced such future chefs as Julia Child and Craig Claiborne (b. 1920—d. 2000). He champi¬ oned simple American and English dishes and wrote one of the first seri¬ ous books on outdoor cooking. His more than 20 cookbooks include James Beard’s American Cookery (1972) and Beard on Bread (1973).