A Treatise on Domestic Economy; For the Use of Young Ladies at Home and at School

on 'The Hand, its Mechanism, and Vital Endowments, as evincing Design.' _Bergamot_, a fruit, which was originally produced by ingrafting a branch of a citron or lemon tree, upon the stock of a peculiar kind of pear, called the bergamot pear. _Biased_, cut diagonally from one corner to another of a square or rectangular piece of cloth. _Bias pieces_, triangular pieces cut as above mentioned. _Bituminous_, containing _bitumen_, which is an inflammable mineral substance, resembling tar or pitch in its properties and uses. Among different bituminous substances, the names _naphtha_ and _petroleum_ have been given to those which are fluid; _maltha_, to that which has the consistence of pitch; and _asphaltum_, to that which is solid. _Blight_, a disease in plants, by which they are blasted, or prevented from producing fruit. _Blond lace_, lace made of silk. _Blood heat_, the temperature which the blood is always found to maintain, or ninety-eight degrees of Fahrenheit's thermometer. _Blue vitriol_, sulphate of copper. See _Sulphate_. _Blunts_, needles of a short and thick shape, distinguished from _Sharps_, which are long and slender. _Bocking_, a kind of thin carpeting, or coarse baize. _Boston Academy_, see _Academy_. _Botany_, (from a Greek word, signifying an herb,) a knowledge of plants; the science which treats of plants. _Brazil wood_, the central part, or heart, of a large tree which grows in Brazil, called the _Cæsalpinia echinata_. It produces very lively and beautiful red tints, but they are not permanent. _Bronze_, a metallic composition, consisting of copper and tin. _Brûlure_, a French term, denoting a burning or scalding; a blasting of plants. _Brussels_, (carpet,) a kind of carpeting, so called from the city of Brussels, in Europe. Its basis is composed of a warp and woof of strong linen threads, with the warp of which are intermixed about five times the quantity of woollen threads, of different colors. _Bulb_, a root with a round body, like the onion, turnip, or hyacinth. _Bulbous_, having a bulb. _Byron_, (George Gordon,) _Lord_, a celebrated Poet, who was born in London, January 22, 1788, and died in Missolonghi, in Greece, April 18, 1824.