pened, that, from inadvertence or previous
preparation for a visit elsewhere, some individuals had arrayed
themselves in their dress-coats and breeches, and in their haste
to be served, and by jostling in the crowd, got sadly sprinkled
with milk or chocolate, either by accident or by the stealthy
indulgence of the mischievous propensities of those with whom they
came in contact; and oftentimes it was a scene of confusion that
was not the most pleasant to look upon or be engaged in. At
breakfast the students were furnished, in Commons Hall, with tea,
coffee, or milk, and a small loaf of bread. The age of a beaker of
beer with a certain allowance of bread had expired."--Vol. I. pp.
313, 314.

No scholar shall be absent above an hour at morning _bever_, half
an hour at evening _bever_, &c.--_Quincy's Hist. Harv. Univ._,
Vol. I. p. 517.

The butler is not bound to stay above half an hour at _bevers_ in
the buttery after the tolling of the bell.--_Ibid._, Vol. I. p.
584.

BEVER. To take a small repast between meals.--_Wallis_.

BIBLE CLERK. In the University of Oxford, the _Bible clerks_ are
required to attend the service of the chapel, and to deliver in a
list of the absent undergraduates to the officer appointed to
enforce the discipline of the institution. Their duties are
different in different colleges.--_Oxford Guide_.

A _Bible clerk_ has seldom too many friends in the
University.--_Blackwood's Mag._, Vol. LX., Eng. ed., p. 312.

In the University of Cambridge, Eng., "a very ancient scholarship,
so called because the student who was promoted to that office was
enjoined to read the Bible at meal-times."--_Gradus ad Cantab._

BIENNIAL EXAMINATION. At Yale College, in addition to the public
examinations of the classes at the close of each term, on the
studies of the term, private examinations are also held twice in
the college course, at the close of the Sophomore and Senior
years, on the studies of the two preceding years. The latter are
called _biennial_.--_Yale Coll. Cat._

"The _Biennial_," remarks the writer of the preface to the _Songs
of Yale_, "is an examination occurring twice during the
course,--at the close of the Sophomore and of the Senior
years,--in all the studies pursued during the two years previous.
It was established in 1850."--Ed. 1853, p. 4.

The system of examinations has been made more rigid, especially by
the introduction of _biennials_.--_Centennial Anniversary of the
Linonian