Part 4

The events of Benton's political life are associated primarily with three things: the second United States Bank, westward expansion and slavery. In the long struggles over the bank, the deposits and the "expunging resolution" (i.e. the resolution to expunge from the records of the Senate the vote of censure of President Jackson for his removal of the government deposits from the bank), Benton led the Jackson Democrats. His opposition to a national bank and insistence on the peculiar virtues of "hard money," whence his sobriquet of "Old Bullion," went back to his Tennessee days. In all that concerned the expansion of the country and the fortunes of the West no public man was more consistent or more influential than Benton, and none so clear of vision. Reared on the border, and representing a state long the farthermost outpost across the Mississippi in the Indian country, he held the ultra-American views of his section as regarded foreign relations generally, and the "manifest destiny" of expansion westward especially. It was quite natural that he should advocate the removal westward of the Indian tribes, should urge the encouragement of trade with Sante Fe (New Mexico), and should oppose the abandonment in the Spanish treaty of 1819 of American claims to Texas. He once thought the Rocky Mountains the proper western limit of the United States (1824), but this view he soon outgrew. He was the originator of the policy of homestead laws by which the public lands were used to promote the settlement of the west by home-seekers. No other man was so early and so long active for transcontinental railways. But Benton was not a land-grabber, whether in the interest of slavery or of mere jingoism. In the case of Oregon, for instance, he was firmly against joint occupation with Great Britain, but he was always for the boundary of 49 deg. and never joined in the campaign-jingo cry of "Fifty-four Forty or Fight." It was he who chiefly aided Polk in withdrawing from that untenable position. He despised pretexts and intrigues. Both in the case of Oregon and in that of Texas, though one of the earliest and most insistent of those who favoured their acquisition, yet in the face of southern and western sentiment he denounced the sordid and devious intrigues and politics connected with their acquisition, and kept clear of these. For the same reason he opposed the Mexican War, though not its prosecution once begun. In the Texas question slavery was prominent. Toward slavery Benton held a peculiarly creditable attitude. A southerner, he was a slaveholder; but he seems to have gradually learned that slavery was a curse to the South, for in 1844 he declared that he would not introduce it into Texas lands "where it was never known," and in 1849 proclaimed that his personal sentiments were "against the institution of slavery." In the long struggle over slavery in the territories, following 1845, he was for the extreme demands of neither section; not because he was timorous or a compromiser,--no man was less of either,--but because he stood unwaveringly for justice to both sections, never adopting exaggerated views that must or even could be compromised. The truth is that he was always a westerner before he was a southerner and a union man before all things else; he was no whit less national than Webster. Hence his distrust and finally hatred of Calhoun, dating from the nullification episode of 1832-1833. As the South under Calhoun's lead became increasingly sectional and aggressive, Benton increasingly lost sympathy with her. Though he despised political inaction Abolitionists, and hated their propaganda as inimical to the Union, he would not therefore close the national mails to Abolition literature, nor abridge the right of petition. No statesman was more prescient of the disunion tendencies of Calhoun's policies, and as early as 1844 he prophetically denounced the treason to the Union toward which the South was drifting. He would not drift with her for the sake of slavery, and this was his political undoing. In 1851 Missouri rejected him in his sixth candidacy for the Senate, after he had been an autocrat in her politics for thirty years. In 1852 he was elected to the House of Representatives, but his opposition to the repeal of the Missouri Compromise caused his defeat in 1854. An unsuccessful campaign for the governorship of Missouri in 1856 ended his political career. He died at Washington on the 10th of April 1858.

Benton's entire career was eminently creditable, and he is, besides, one of the most picturesque figures in American political history. His political principles--whether as regarded lobbying, congressional jobbing, civil service or great issues of legislation and foreign affairs--were of the highest. He was so independent that he had great dislike for caucuses, and despised party platforms--although he never voted any but the Democratic ticket, even when his son-in-law, J.C. Fremont, was the Republican presidential candidate in 1856; nor would he accept instructions from the Missouri legislature. His career shows no truckling to self-interest, and on large issues he outgrew partisanship. Although palpably inferior to each of his great senatorial colleagues, Webster, Clay and Calhoun, in some gifts, yet if character, qualities and career be taken in the whole his were possibly the most creditable of all. Benton was austere, aggressive and vain; besides, he had a fatal deficiency of humour. Nevertheless he had great influence, which was a deserved tribute to his ability and high character. An indefatigable student, he treated all subjects capably, and especially in questions of his country's history and the exploration of the West had few equals--in the latter none. He acted always with uncalculating boldness, and defended his acts with extraordinary courage and persistence. Benton wrote a _Thirty Years' View ... of the American Government_ (2 vols., 1854-1856), characteristic of the author's personality; it is of great value for the history of his time. He also compiled an _Abridgment of the Debates of Congress_, 1789-1850 (16 vols., 1857-1861), likewise of great usefulness; and published a bitter review of the Dred Scott decision full of extremely valuable historical details--_Historical and Legal Examination of ... the Dred Scott Case_ (1857). All were written in the last eight years of his life and mostly in the last three.

The best biography is that by W.M. Meigs, _Life of Thomas Hart Benton_ (Philadelphia and London, 1904). See also Theodore Roosevelt's _Thomas Hart Benton_ (Boston, 1887), in the "American Statesmen" series, which admirably brings out Benton's significance as a western man; and Joseph M. Rogers's _Thomas Hart Benton_ (Philadelphia, 1905) in the "American Crisis" series.

BENTON HARBOR, a city of Berrien county, Michigan, U.S.A., on the Saint Joseph river, about 1 m. from Lake Michigan (with which it is connected by a ship canal), near the S.W. corner of the state, and 1 m. N.E. of St Joseph. Pop. (1890) 3692; (1900) 6562, of whom 795 were foreign-born; (1904) 6702; (1910) 9185. It is served by the Pere Marquette, the Michigan Central, and the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago & St Louis railways, by electric railways to St Joseph and Niles, Mich., and South Bend, Indiana, and for a part of the year by steamboat lines to Chicago and Milwaukee. One mile south-east of the city are a sanitarium and the Eastman mineral springs; within the city also there are springs and bath-houses. Near the city is a communistic religious community, the Israelite House of David, founded in 1903, the members believe that they are a part of the 144,000 elect (Revelation, vii, xiv) ultimately to be redeemed. Benton Harbor has a large trade in fruit (peaches, grapes, pears, cherries, strawberries, raspberries and apples) and other market garden produce raised in the vicinity. The city's manufactures include fruit baskets, preserved fruits, cider, vinegar, pickles, furniture, lumber and stationers' supplies, particularly material for the "loose-leaf ledger" system of accounting. Benton Harbor, which was known as Bronson Harbor until 1865, was incorporated as a village in 1869, was chartered as a city in 1891, and in 1903 received a new charter.

BENUE, a river of West Africa, the largest and most important affluent of the Niger (q.v.), which it joins after a course of over 800 m. in a general east to west direction from its source in the mountains of Adamawa. Through the Tuburi marshes there is a water connexion between the Benue (Niger) and Shari (Lake Chad) systems.

BEN VENUE, a mountain in south-west Perthshire, Scotland, 10 m. W. of Callander. Its principal peaks are 2393 and 2386 ft. high, and, owing to its position near the south-eastern shore of Loch Katrine, its imposing contour is one of the most familiar features in the scenery of the Trossachs, the mountain itself figuring prominently in _The Lady of the Lake_. On its northern base, close to the lake, Sir Walter Scott placed the Coir-nan-Uriskin, or "Goblin's Cave." Immediately to the south of the cave is the dell called Beal(ach)-nam-Bo, or "Cattle Pass," through which were driven to the refuge of the Trossachs the herds lifted by the Highland marauders in their excursions to the lands south of Loch Lomond. The pass, though comparatively unvisited, offers the grandest scenery in the district.

BENZALDEHYDE (oil of bitter almonds), C6H5CHO, the simplest representative of the aromatic aldehydes. It was first isolated in 1803 and was the subject of an important investigation by J. v. Liebigin 1837 (_Annalen_, 1837, 22, p. 1). It occurs naturally in the form of the glucoside amygdalin (C20H27NO11), which is present in bitter almonds, cherries, peaches and the leaves of the cherry laurel; and is obtained from this substance by hydrolysis with dilute acids:

C20H27NO11 + 2H2O = HCN + 2C6H12O6 + C6H5CHO.

It occurs free in bitter almonds, being formed by an enzyme decomposition of amygdalin (q.v.). It may also be prepared by oxidizing benzyl alcohol with concentrated nitric acid; by distilling a mixture of calcium benzoate and calcium formate; by the condensation of chlor-oxalic ester with benzene in the presence of aluminium chloride, the ester of the ketonic acid formed being then hydrolysed and the resulting acid distilled:

C6H6 + Cl.CO.COOC2H5 = C6H5CO.COOC2H5 + HCl, C6H5CO.COOH = C6H5CHO + CO2;

by the action of anhydrous hydrocyanic acid and hydrochloric acid on benzene, an aldime being formed as an intermediate product:

C6H6 + HCN + HCl = C6H5CH : NH.HCl, Benzaldine hydrochloride

C6H5CH : NH.HCl + H2O = NH4Cl + C6H5CHO;

and by the action of chromium oxychloride on toluene dissolved in carbon bisulphide (A. Etard, _Berichte_, 1884, 17, pp. 1462, 1700).

Technically it is prepared from toluene, by converting it into benzyl chloride, which is then heated with lead nitrate:

C6H5CH2Cl + Pb(NO3)2 = 2NO2 + PbCl.OH + C6H5CHO,

or, by conversion into benzal chloride, which is heated with milk of lime under pressure.

C6H5CHCl2 + CaO = CaCL2 + C6H5CHO.

E. Jacobsen has also obtained benzaldehyde by heating benzal chloride with glacial acetic acid:

C6H5CHCl2 + CH3COOH = CH3COCl + HCl + C6H5CHO.

Benzaldehyde is a colourless liquid smelling of bitter almonds. Its specific gravity is 1.0636 (0/0 deg. C.), and it boils at 179.1 deg. C. (751.3 mm). It is only slightly soluble in water, but is readily volatile in steam. It possesses all the characteristic properties of an aldehyde; being readily oxidized to benzoic acid; reducing solutions of silver salts; forming addition products with hydrogen, hydrocyanic acid and sodium bisulphite; and giving an oxime and a hydrazone. On the other hand, it differs from the aliphatic aldehydes in many respects; it does not form an addition product with ammonia but condenses to hydrobenzamide (C6H5CH)3N2; on shaking with alcoholic potash it undergoes simultaneous oxidation and reduction, giving benzoic acid and benzyl alcohol (S. Cannizzaro); and on warming with alcoholic potassium cyanide it condenses to benzoin (q.v.).

The oxidation of benzaldehyde to benzoic acid when exposed to air is not one of ordinary oxidation, for it has been observed in the case of many compounds that during such oxidation, as much oxygen is rendered "active" as is used up by the substance undergoing oxidation; thus if benzaldehyde is left for some time in contact with air, water and indigosulphonic acid, just as much oxygen is used up in oxidizing the indigo compound as in oxidizing the aldehyde. A. v. Baeyer and V. Villiger (_Berichte_, 1900, 33, pp. 858, 2480) have shown that benzoyl hydrogen peroxide C6H5.CO.O.OH is formed as an intermediate product and that this oxidizes the indigo compound, being itself reduced to benzoic acid; they have also shown that this peroxide is soluble in benzaldehyde with production of benzoic acid, and it must be assumed that the oxidation of benzaldehyde proceeds as shown in the equations:

C6H5CHO + O2 = C6H5.CO.O.OH, C6H5CO.O.OH + C6H5CHO = 2C6H5COOH.

Further see G. Bodlander, _Ahrens Sammlung_, 1899, iii. 470; W.P. Jorissen, _Zeit. fur phys. Chem._, 1897, 22, p. 56; C. Engler and W. Wild, _Berichte_, 1897, 30, p. 1669.

The oxime of benzaldehyde (C6H5CH:N.OH), formed by the addition of hydroxylamine to the aldehyde, exhibits a characteristic behaviour when hydrochloric acid gas is passed into its ethereal solution, a second modification being produced. The former (known as the [alpha] or benz-anti-aldoxime) melts at 34-35 deg. C.; the latter ([beta] or benz-syn-aldoxime) melts at 130 deg. C. and is slowly transformed into the [alpha] form. The difference between the two forms has been explained by A. Hantzsch and A. Werner (_Berichte_, 1890, 23, p. 11) by the assumption of the different spatial arrangement of the atoms (see STEREO-ISOMERISM). On account of the readiness with which it condenses with various compounds, benzaldehyde is an important synthetic reagent. With aniline it forms benzylidine aniline C6H5CH:N.C6H5, and with acetone, benzal acetone C6H5CH : CH.CO.CH3. Heated with anhydrous sodium acetate and acetic anhydride it gives cinnamic acid (q.v.); with ethyl bromide and sodium it forms triphenyl-carbinol (C6H5)3C.OH; with dimethylaniline and anhydrous zinc chloride it forms leuco-malachite green C6H5CH[C6H4N(CH3)2]2; and with dimethylaniline and concentrated hydrochloric acid it gives dimethylaminobenzhydrol, C6H5CH(OH)C6H4N(CH3)2. Heated with sulphur it forms benzoic acid and stilbene:

2C7H6O + S = C6H5COOH + C6H6CHS, 2C6H5CHS = 2S + C14H12.

Its addition compound with hydrocyanic acid gives mandelic acid C6H5CH(OH).COOH on hydrolysis; when heated with sodium succinate and acetic anhydride, phenyl-iso-crotonic acid C6H5CH : CH.CH2COOH is produced, which on boiling is converted into [alpha]-naphthol C10H7OH. It can also be used for the synthesis of pyridine derivatives, since A. Hantzsch has shown that aldehydes condense with aceto-acetic ester and ammonia to produce the homologues of pyridine, thus:

R R | | ROOC.CH2 CHO CH2.COOR ROOC.C-CH-C.COOR | + + | = || || + 3H2O. H3C.CO NH3 CO.CH3 H3C.C-NH-C.CH3

On nitration it yields chiefly meta-nitro-benzaldehyde, crystallizing in needles which melt at 58 deg. C. The ortho-compound may be obtained by oxidizing ortho-nitrocinnamic acid with alkaline potassium permanganate in the presence of benzene; or from ortho-nitrobenzyl chloride by condensing it with aniline, oxidizing the product so obtained to ortho-nitrobenzylidine aniline, and then hydrolysing this compound with an acid (_Farben fabrik d. Meister, Lucius und Bruning_). It crystallizes in yellowish needles, which are volatile in steam and melt at 46 deg. C. It is used in the artificial production of indigo (see _German Patent_ 19768).

Para-nitrobenzaldehyde crystallizes in prisms melting at 107 deg. C. and is prepared by the action of chromium oxychloride on para-nitrotoluene, or by oxidizing para-nitrocinnamic acid. By the reduction of ortho-nitrobenzaldehyde with ferrous sulphate and ammonia, ortho-aminobenzaldehyde is obtained. This compound condenses in alkaline solution with compounds containing the grouping -CH2-CO- to form quinoline (q.v.) or its derivatives; thus, with acetaldehyde it forms quinoline, and with acetone, [alpha]-methyl quinoline. With urea it gives quinazolone

CH /\ / \\N | | | | | CO , \/ \ / NH

and with mandelic nitrile and its homologues it forms oxazole derivatives (S.S. Minovici, _Berichte_, 1896, 29, p. 2097).

BENZENE, C6H6, a hydrocarbon discovered in 1825 by Faraday in the liquid produced in the compression of the illuminating gas obtained by distilling certain oils and fats. E. Mitscherlich prepared it in 1834 by distilling benzoic acid with lime; and in 1845 Hofmann discovered it in coal-tar. It was named "benzin" or "benzine" by Mitscherlich in 1833, but in the following year Liebig proposed "benzol" (the termination _ol_ being suggested by the Lat. _oleum_, oil); the form "benzene" was due to A.W. Hofmann. The word "benzine" is sometimes used in commerce for the coal-tar product, but also for the light petroleum better known as petroleum-benzine; a similar ambiguity is presented by the word "benzoline," which is applied to the same substances as the word "benzine." "Benzene" is the term used by English chemists, "benzol" is used in Germany, and "benzole" in France.

Benzene is manufactured from the low-boiling fractions of the coal-tar distillate (see COAL-TAR). The first successful fractionation of coal-tar naphtha was devised by C.B. Mansfield (1819-1855), who separated a benzol distilling below 100 deg. from a less volatile naphtha by using a simple dephlegmator. At first, the oil was manufactured principally for combustion in the Read-Holliday lamp and for dissolving rubber, but the development of the coal-tar colour industry occasioned a demand for benzols of definite purity. In the earlier stages 30%, 50% and 90% benzols were required, the 30% being mainly used for the manufacture of "aniline for red," and the 90% for "aniline for blue." (The term "30% benzol" means that 30% by volume distils below 100 deg.) A purer benzol was subsequently required for the manufacture of aniline black and other dye-stuffs. The process originally suggested by Mansfield is generally followed, the success of the operation being principally conditioned by the efficiency of the dephlegmator, in which various improvements have been made. The light oil fraction of the coal-tar distillate, which comes over below 140 deg. and consists principally of benzene, toluene and the xylenes, yields on fractionation (1) various volatile impurities such as carbon disulphide, (2) the benzene fraction boiling at about 80 deg. C., (3) the toluene fraction boiling at 100 deg., (4) the xylene fraction boiling at 140 deg. The fractions are agitated with strong sulphuric acid, and then washed with a caustic soda solution. The washed products are then refractionated. The toluene fraction requires a more thorough washing with sulphuric acid in order to eliminate the thiotolene, which is sulphonated much less readily than thiophene.

Benzene is a colourless, limpid, highly refracting liquid, having a pleasing and characteristic odour. It may be solidified to rhombic crystals which melt at 5.4 deg. C. (Mansfield obtained perfectly pure benzene by freezing a carefully fractionated sample.) It boils at 80.4 deg., and the vapour is highly inflammable, the flame being extremely smoky. Its specific gravity is 0.899 at 0 deg. C. It is very slightly soluble in water, more soluble in alcohol, and completely miscible with ether, acetic acid and carbon disulphide. It is an excellent solvent for gums, resins, fats, &c.; sulphur, phosphorus and iodine also dissolve in it. It sometimes separates with crystals of a solute as "benzene of crystallization," as for example with triphenylmethane, thio-p-tolyl urea, tropine, &c.

Benzene is of exceptional importance commercially on account of the many compounds derivable from it, which are exceedingly valuable in the arts. Chemically it is one of the most interesting substances known, since it is the parent of the enormous number of compounds styled the "aromatic" or "benzenoid" compounds. The constitution of the benzene ring, the isomerism of its derivatives, and their syntheses from aliphatic or open-chain compounds, are treated in the article CHEMISTRY. A summary of its chemical transformations may be given here, and reference should be made to the articles on the separate compounds for further details.

Passed through a red-hot tube, benzene vapour yields hydrogen, diphenyl, diphenylbenzenes and acetylene; the formation of the last compound is an instance of a reversible reaction, since Berthelot found that acetylene passed through a red-hot tube gave some benzene. Benzene is very stable to oxidants, in fact resistance to oxidation is a strong characteristic of the benzene ring. Manganese dioxide and sulphuric acid oxidize it to benzoic and o-phthalic acid; potassium chlorate and sulphuric acid breaks the ring; and ozone oxidizes it to the highly explosive white solid named ozo-benzene, C6H6O6. Hydriodic acid reduces it to hexamethylene (cyclo-hexane or hexa-hydro-benzene); chlorine and bromine form substitution and addition products, but the action is slow unless some carrier such as iodine, molybdenum chloride or ferric chloride for chlorine, and aluminium bromide for bromine, be present. It is readily nitrated to nitrobenzene, two, and even three nitro groups being introduced if some dehydrator such as concentrated sulphuric acid be present. Sulphuric acid gives a benzene sulphonic acid.

BENZIDINE (DIPARA-DIAMINO-DIPHENYL), NH2.C6H4.C6H4.NH2, a chemical base which may be prepared by the reduction of the corresponding dinitro-diphenyl, or by the reduction of azo-benzene with tin and hydrochloric acid. In this latter case hydrazo-benzene C6H5NH.NH.C6H5 is first formed and then undergoes a peculiar re-arrangement into benzidine (see H. Schmidt and G. Schultz, _Annalen_, 1881, 207, p. 320; O.N. Witt and Hans v. Helmont, _Berichte_, 1894, 27, p. 2352; P. Jacobson, _Berichte_, 1892, 25, p. 994). Benzidine crystallizes in plates (from water) which melt at 122 deg. C., and boil above 360 deg. C., and is characterized by the great insolubility of its sulphate. It is a di-acid base and forms salts with the mineral acids. It is readily brominated and nitrated; when the nitration is carried out in the presence of sulphuric acid, the nitro-groups take up the meta position with regard to the amino-groups. Benzidine finds commercial application since its tetrazo compound couples readily with amino-sulphonic acids, phenol carboxylic acids, and phenol and naphthol-sulphonic acids to produce substantive cotton dyes (see DYEING). Among such dyestuffs are chrysamine or flavophenine, obtained from salicylic acid and diazotized benzidine, and congo red obtained from sodium naphthionate and diazotized benzidine. On the constitution of benzidine see G. Schultz (_Annalen_, 1874, 174, p. 227).

_The Benzidine and Semidine Change._--Aromatic hydrazo compounds which contain free para positions are readily converted by the action of acids, acid chlorides and anhydrides into diphenyl derivatives; thus, as mentioned above, hydrazo-benzene is converted into benzidine, a small quantity of diphenylin being formed at the same time. The two products are separated by the different solubilities of their sulphates. This reaction is known as the _benzidine transformation_. If, however, one of the para positions in the hydrazo compound is substituted, then either diphenyl derivatives or azo compounds are formed, or what is known as the _semidine change_ takes place (P. Jacobson, _Berichte_, 1892, 25, p. 992; 1893, 26, p. 681; 1896, 29, p. 2680; _Annalen_, 1895, 287, p. 97; 1898, 303, p. 290). A para mono substituted hydrazo compound in the presence of a hydrochloric acid solution of stannous chloride gives either a para diphenyl derivative (the substituent group being eliminated), an ortho-semidine, a para-semidine, or a diphenyl base, whilst a decomposition with the formation of amines may also take place. The nature of the substituent exerts a specific influence on the reaction; thus with chlorine or bromine, ortho-semidines and the diphenyl bases are the chief products; the dimethylamino, -N(CH3)2, and acetamino, -NHCOCH3, groups give the diphenyl base and the para-semidine respectively. With a methyl group, the chief product is an ortho-semidine, whilst with a carboxyl group, the diphenyl derivative is the chief product. The ortho- and para- semidines can be readily distinguished by their behaviour with different reagents; thus with nitrous acid the ortho-semidines give azimido compounds, whilst the para-semidines give complex diazo derivatives; with formic or acetic acids the ortho-semidines give anhydro compounds of a basic character, the para-semidines give acyl products possessing no basic character. The carbon disulphide and salicylic aldehyde products have also been used as means of distinction, as has also the formation of the stilbazonium bases obtained by condensing ortho-semidines with benzil (O.N. Witt, _Berichte_, 1892, 25, p. 1017).

Structurally we have:--