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out regard )* ..ny human authority whatever. For farther particu-lars respecting the Berean doctrines we must refer the readers tothe v.orks of \fessrs Barclay, Nicol, Rrooksbank, M’Rae, &c.
BERECYNTIIIA, one of the names of Gybele, the mother ofthe gods, in the Pagan theology.
BERENGAIUANTSM, an appellation given by ecclesiasticalwriters to the opinion of those w ho deny the reality of the bodyand blood of Christ in the eucharist. The denomination took itsrise from Berengarius , who, about A. D. 1035, maintained, thatthe 'oread and wine, after consecration, do not become the truebody and blood of our Lord, but only a'ligure and sign thereof.
BERENICE, queen of Ptolemy Kuergetes king of Egypt , cutoff her hair in pursuance of a vow, and consecrated it in the templeof Venus. This deposit being afterwards lost, Conon the mathe-matician, m compliment to her, declared that the queen’s lockshad been conveyed to heaven, ajid composed those stars near thetail of the bull, called to this day coma Berenices, or Berenice’shair.
Berenice, in ancient geography, the name of several cities, par-ticularly of a celebrated port-tow n on the Sinus Arabicus; nowcalled Suez.
Berenice’s Hair, Coma Berenices. See Berenice.
BERE-REGIS, a town in Dorsetshire , 12 miles E. by N. fromDorchester . Lon. 2. 15. W. Lat. 30. 44. N.
BERESOW, a division of the province of Tobolsk in Siberia .
BERG, a duchy of Germany, in the circle of Westphalia .
BF.RGAMASCO, a province of Italy, in the territory of Venice .
BERGAMO, anciently Bergomum, a large and strong town of Italy, in the 1 :te Venetian territory, capital of Bergamasco. Itis 20 miles N. W. of Brescia , Lon. 9. 47. E. Lat. 43. 40. N.
BERGAMOT, in commerce, a coarse tapestry, manufacturedw ith flocks of silk, wool, cotton, hemp, ox, cotv, or goat’s hair,and supposed to be invented by the people of Bergamo in Italy .
Bergamots are a species of citron, produced at first casuallyby an Italian’s grafting a citron on the stock of a bergamot pear-tree, whence the fruit produced b\ T this union participated both offile citron and the pear. The fruit has a tine taste and smell, andits essential oil is in high esteem a- a perfume.
BERGAKAC, or BERGERAC, a town of France , 30 milesE. of Bourdeaux. Lon. 0. 42. E. Lat. 45. 0. N.
BERGAS, or BEIIGASK, a town of Romania in EuropeanTurkey , and the see of a Greek archbishop, seated on the Larisaa.Lon. 27. 30. E. Lat. 41. 17. N.
BERGEN, anciently Bergi, a city of Norway , and capital ofBergenhus. It is the see of a bishop, and has a strong castle andand a good port. It is 200 miles N. W. of Gottenhurg, and 350N. by \V. of Copenhagen . Lon. 5. 45. E. Lat. 60. 11. N.
Bergen, capital of the Isle of Rugen . Lon. 13. 0. E. Lat. 54.30. N.
Bergen, a county town of New Jersey .
BERGENIIUS, a province of Norway , very mountainousand barren.
BERGEN-OP-ZOOM, a territory and town of Dutch Bra-bant.
BERGERA, a genus of the decandria monogynia class andorder. Calyx five-parted; petals five; berry sub-globular, one-celled; seeds two. It has one species, B. koenigii, a very leafytree. It is a native of the East Indies.
BERGIA, in botany, a genus of the decandria pentagynia classand order. Natural order, Succulents . Calyx five-parted;petals five ; capsule globular with swellings, five-celled, five-valv-cd ; valves resembling petals; seeds very many. There are twospecies, natives of the East Indies, and the Cape.
BERGMAN, Sir Toref.rn, the celebrated chemist and naturalphilosopher, was born in 1733 at Catharineberg in W. Gothland,f I is first studies were confined to mathematics and physics: andthe efforts that were made to divert Iiim from science having pro-ved ineffe- tual, he was sent to Upsal with permission to follow thebent of his inclination. He now applied himself to the study ofinsects, and made several ingenious researches into their history ;among others into that of the genus of Tentheredo, so often and socruelly preyed on by the larvs of the ichneumons, that nestle intheir bowels and devour them. He discovered that the leech isoviparous; and that the coccus aquaticus is the egg of this animal,from whence issue ten or twelve young. Linna-us, wiio had atfirst denied this fact, was struck with astonishment when he saw it
proved. Udi et obstupui! were the words he pronounced, andwhich he wrote on the memoir when lie gave it his sanction. Mr.Bergman soon distinguished himself as an astronomer, naturalist,and geometrician; and in 1767 obtained the chemical professor-ship. lie did not follow the common tract in the study of che-mistry. As he had received the lessons of no master, he wasfainted with the prejudices of no school. Accustomed to precision,and having no time to lose, he applied himself to experiments w ith-out paying any attention to theories: he repeated those often,which lie considered as the most important and instructive, andreduced them to method ; an improvement till then unknown.He first introduced into chemistry the process by analysis, whichought to be applied to every science; tor there s'honld he but onemethod of teaching and learning, as there is hut one of judgingwell. The continual application which Mr. Bergman bestowedon his studies having affected bis health, he was advised to inter-rupt them if he wished to prolong his life: lnit he found happinessonly in study, and wished not to forfeit his title to reputation by afew years more of inactivity and languor. He exhausted 'hisstrength, and died in June 1784. The university of Upsal paidthe most distinguished honours to his memory 1 and the academyof Stoekolm consecrated to him a medal, to perpetuate the regretof all the learned in Europe for his loss. Two volumes ot hisPhysical and Chemical Essays have been collected and translatedby Dr. Edmund Cullen, and published in 8vo. Three vols.more were translated and published at Edinburgh in 1701, towhich the translator prelixed the following summary of his cha-racter: “No name is more illustrious in the annals of chemistrythan Bergman:—None has contributed more than he, to the rapidadvancement whicli this science has made in the present century.Nor has any other philosopher applied the principles of Lord Ba-con with greater skill or attention, in the investigation of nature.Ardent enthusiasm, and patient assiduity in the pursuits of science ;candour, modesty, dearness of judgement, and comprehension ofmind; qualities the union of which constitutes the true philoso-pher, appear to have been happily conjoined in this great man.The number and the accuracy of his experiments, the simplicityand ingenuity of his processes, the beauty ami plausibility of bistheories, command the admiration and respect of every intelligentreader of his works.”
Bergmannian Society, an institution for promoting the fa-vourite sciences of Bergman, viz. chemistry, geology, natural his-tory, mineralogy, and electricity. It consists of about 150 mem-bers of whom one-third may be foreigners. No person can beadmitted to this institution unless he be of just celebrity in thesesciences.
BERG-ZABERN, a town of France , 5 miles S. of Landau.Lon. 7. 53. E. Lat 4y. 4. N.
BERING’S STRAITS, the name of that narrow divisionof theOld and New World, where the breadth between Asia and Ame-rica is only 13 leagues. They are so named from Captain VitusBering, who was employed by the emperor of Russia , on the sameplan of discovery in these parts as our great country-man Oook wasin his late voyages.
BERKLEY, George, Dr. the celebrated bishop of Cioyne,was born at Kilcrin, in Ireland , in 1684. He was educated firstat Kilkenny, and next at Trinity-college, Dublin , of which he w aschosen fellow in 1707. The same year he published Aritlnnetieaabsque Algebra—aut Euclide deinonstrata. In 1709 he publishedhis Theory of Vision. In 1710 appeared the Principles of HumanKnowledge, and in 1713 the Dialogues between llylas and Phi-lonus, the object of both being to disprove the common notion ofthe existence of matter, and to establish the hypothesis that mate-rial objects have no other existence than in the mind. Howeversingular his opinions were, there was so much beauty in his w rit-ings that the greatest men courted his friendship, among whomwere Steele and Swift. For the former he wrote several papers inthe Guardian, and by his means became intimate with Pope.—Swift recommended him to the earl of Peterborough, who tookhim abroad in quality of his chaplain. In 1714 he returned toEngland, hut soon afterw ards set out again tor the continent, witha son of Dr. Ashe, bishop of Clogher, and continued on his tra-vels four rears ; he returned in 1721, and became chaplain to.theduke of Grafton, lord lieutenant of Ireland . At this time he to<ikhis degree of D. D. and a fortune was Bequeathed to him by a ladyof Dublin . In 1724 he was promoted to the deanery of Derry