BECCARI'A, GIAMBATTISTA, Or GIOVANNI BATTISTA, 1716-81; an Italian astronomer and electrician. He was professor of experimental physics at Palermo, Home, and Turin. In 1775, he was elected a fellow of the royal society of London. In 1759, he was com missioned to measure an arc of the meridian in the neighborhood of Turin. His prin cipal work was Electricity, Artificial and Natural.
the common French name for different species of birds of the family- of sylciachp, or warblers (q.v.). It is sometimes to be met with in English books.
or TREPANO, an article of luxury among the Chinese, consisting of the dried bodies of several species of holothuria (q.v.), or sea-cucumber, which are found in great abundance in the shallow waters of lagoons, and on reefs, from the s.e. coasts of Asia to New Holland. The traffic in bkhe-de-tner is very extensive, and the Malays catch the animals, and prepare them in large quantities for the Chinese market. They are usually about 8 or 9 in. long, lint some are 2 ft. in length, and 7 or 8 in. in girth.
They are often found nearly buried in the coral sand, their feathered tentacula alone floating above it. The larger ones are sometimes speared in shallow water; but most of them are taken by divers in depths of from 3 to 5 fathoms. An expert diver will bring up 8 or 10 at a time. They are split down one side, boiled, pressed flat with stones, dried in the sun, and afterwards in smoke, and packed in bags, in which state they are bought by the Chinese, and conveyed in junks to China. Fleets of Malay prows are employed in the search for this curious production of the sea. Macassar is the great staple-place of the trade, and from it above 8000 cwt. of bkhe-de-mer are annually sent to China, the price varying according to the kind and quality, from 30,t. to :£10 per cwt. There is also a considerable export of bkhe-de-mer from Manilla. 130che-de-mer is ex tremely gelatinous, and is very much used by the Chinese as an ingredient in rich soups.