BEAUTY BEAVER 433 pointed chief of his department. In 1815 he made a complete survey of the coasts of France, one of the most valuable works of his life. The works above named are those by which he is best known ; the remainder of his life was de- voted to their constant revision and improve- ment, and to the duties of his department. He also edited Le pilote francais, the sixth vol- ume appearing in 1844. He was called in Eng- land "the father of hydrography." BEACTY. See ^ESTHETICS. BEAUVAIS (anc. Casaromagwi), a city of France, capital of the department of Oise, sit- uated on the Therain, 40 m. N. by "W. of Paris; pop. in 1866, 15,307. When the Romans in- vaded Gaul, it was the chief town of the Bello- vaci. It became early the seat of a bishopric, the holder of which was one of the 12 peers of France under the Oapetian kings. The English made an unsuccessful assault on the city in 1433, but they held the surrounding country, and it was Pierre Cauchon, bishop of Beau- vais, who pronounced the sentence of death upon Joan of Arc. In 1472 the city, being be- sieged by Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy, was courageously defended by its inhabitants, among whom a woman, Jeanne Lain6, cele- brated under the name of Jeanne la Hachette, distinguished herself by her intrepidity. Her statue was set up in the city in 1851. The an- cient ramparts have been partly levelled and converted into promenades. The cathedral is one of the largest in France, and ite choir is a masterpiece of Gothic architecture ; the church of St. Etienne is a fine specimen of the re- naissance style, and contains famous sculptures and stained windows. The abbey church, prior to the revolution, contained statues of all the Merovingian kings. The city has important manufactures, especially in silks, carpets, and tapestries. BEACVAIS, Charles Theodore, a French gen- eral, born in Orleans, Nov. 8, 1772, died in Paris in 1830. He entered the army as a pri- vate, rose rapidly to the rank of adjutant gen- eral, went to Egypt with Bonaparte, but re- signed on account of some disagreement with his chief, and while returning to France was made prisoner by a corsair and taken to Con- stantinople, where he was detained for 18 months. He reentered the army in 1809, served in Spain, was afterward sent to the Rhine, commanded at Bayonne in 1815, and was dismissed on the second return of the Bourbons. He then dvoted himself to liter- ary pursuits, compiled a popular publication, Victoires et eonquetes Ae Franfais (28 vols., 1817 et ieq.), and edited the Correspondence ojficielle et confidentielle de Napoleon Bona- parte avec lea court etmngeres (7 vols. 8vo, 1819-'20). 1:1: VI U , de, an ancient French family of Anjou. RENE aided Duke Rene of Anjouinthe conquest of Naples, and was mortally wounded at the battle of Benevento in 1266. Louis co- operated in the reconquest of Normandy from the English, 1449-'50, and died in 1462. BEB- TEAND, who died in 1474, was one of the coun- sellors of Charles VII. and Louis XI., and was frequently employed in diplomatic missions. RENE FEANQOIS, born in 1664, was bishop of Tournay, and during the siege of that city by Prince Eugene was distinguished for his char- ity. He was president of the states of Langue- doc over 20 years, and patronized many learn- ed publications relating to that part of France. He died Aug. 4, 1739. CHARLES JUSTE, born at Luneville, Sept. 10, 1720, distinguished him- self at the siege of Prague in 1742, and in various subsequent engagements, especially at Corbach in 1760. He became a member of the academy, governor of Provence, and mar- shal, and was for five months in 1789 a member of the cabinet of Louis XVI. He died May 2, 1793. BEAUVOIS, Ambrolse Marie Francois Joseph Pall- sot de. See PALISOT. BEAl'ZEE, Nicolas, a French grammarian, born in Verdun, May 9, 1717, died in Paris, Jan. 23, 1789. Declining employment under Frederick the Great, he succeeded Dnmarsais in prepar- ing grammatical articles for the great Encyclo- pedie, which, together with those of Marmon- tel, were separately published in 1789 (3 vols., Liege), under the title of Dictionnaire de gram- maire et de litterature. In the latter part of his life he was professor at the royal military school in Paris. His most important work is Grammaire generale (2 vols., 1767; new ed., 1819). Among his other works are translations of Sallust (1770) and of the " Imitation of Jesus Christ "(1788). BEAVER {castor, Cuv.), a fur-bearing amphib- ious animal, of the rodent or gnawing order (rodentia). The beaver has the head com- pressed, with an unbroken line of profile from occiput to muzzle; 2 large incisors and 8 molars in each jaw, with large and powerful muscles regulating the movements of the in- ferior jaw ; eyes disproportionately small and vision of short range ; ears small, but hearing very acute ; sense of smell powerful ; body short between the fore and hind legs, broad, heavy, and clumsy ; length when full grown, from tip of nose to end of tail, 3 ft. 6 or 8 in. ; weight from 30 to 60 Ibs. ; color reddish (in some localities yellowish) brown, in rare instan- ces black, and a few albinos or white beavers have been found. The fore feet of the beaver are digitigrade, and the hind ones plantigrade. The paws are small in proportion to the animal, and compared with the hind feet ; in swim- ming they are not used, and are folded under the body ; but they are capable of some rotary movement, which enables the beaver to handle and carry sticks, limbs of trees, mud, and stones, and to use his paws as hands while sit- ting up or walking on his hind legs. The hind legs are the propelling power in swimming, and the feet are fully webbed to the roots of the claws. The most conspicuous organ, the tail, is from 10J to 11-J in. long, 6$ in. broad,
