BEECHWORTH

beechworth, a town of bogong county, victoria, australia, 172 m. by rail n.e. of melbourne. pop. (1901) 7359. the town is the centre of the ovens goldfields, and the district is mainly devoted to mining with both alluvial and reef working, but much of the land is under cultivation, yielding grain and fruit. the water supply is derived from lake kerferd in the vicinity, which is a favourite resort of visitors; the scenery near the town, which lies at an elevation of 1805 ft. among the may day hills, being singularly beautiful. the industries of beechworth include tanning, ironfounding and coach-building. beef (through o. fr. _boef_, mod. _boeuf_, from lat. _bos, bovis_, ox, gr. [greek: bous], which show the ultimate connexion with the sanskrit _go, gaus_, ox, and thus with "cow"), the flesh of the ox, cow or bull, as used for food. the use of the french word for the meat, while the saxon name was retained for the animal, has been often noticed, and paralleled with the use of veal, mutton and pork. "beef" is also used, especially in the plural "beeves," for the ox itself, but usually in an archaic way. "corned" or "corn" beef is the flesh cured by salting, i.e. sprinkling with "corns" or granulated particles of salt. "collared" beef is so called from the roll or collar into which the meat is pressed, after extracting the bones. "jerked" beef, i.e. meat cut into long thin slices and dried in the sun, like "biltong" (q.v.), comes through the spanish-american _charque_, from _echarqui_, the peruvian word for this species of preserved meat. for "beefeater" see yeomen of the guard.