BacteriaBacteria—Forms of cells1. Coccus. 2. Bacillus. 3. Spirillum (vibrio). 4. Spirillum (spirochæte).
1. Coccus. 2. Bacillus. 3. Spirillum (vibrio). 4. Spirillum (spirochæte).
Bacte´ria(Gr.baktērion, a rod), a general term applied to the lowest visible forms of life; other names given aregermsormicrobes. They are divided into three classes: (1)cocci—these are minute spheres about one twenty-five thousandth of an inch in diameter, arranged in chains or clusters; (2)bacilli—these are straight rods about the breadth of a coccus and two to four times as long; (3)spirilla—here there are two forms; one is like a bacillus, but curved (spirillum proper or vibrio); the other is a very fine spiral thread (spirochaete) often only half the thickness of a vibrio and two to six times as long. Bacteria consist of protoplasm surrounded by a membrane, and many show active movements; they all multiply asexually by splitting, and so rapidly may the process occur that 17,000,000 organisms or more may be formed from one bacterium in twenty-four hours. The chief part played by bacteria in nature is to cause putrefaction. They are found on all organic matter, and are therefore omnipresent. When grown artificially (seeBacteriology) they usually require organic matter for their food, and this they split up into simpler chemical compounds, some of which are very poisonous to animals (toxins); they can also split up sugars to produce various alcohols, acids, and gases. When certain of the bacilli are starved, the living matter gathers itself up into a spore surrounded by a very resisting membrane, and it can survive for a long time in this condition. All ordinary bacteria, including most of those which produce disease, can be killed by a few minutes' boiling, but the sporing varieties (e.g. many putrefactive forms) withstand much longer boiling—up to one and a half hours; they can also be killed by chemical means (seeDisinfection). Many bacteria are useful to man, and a few give rise to disease (seeGerm Theory).
BacteriaBACTERIAAll the above are magnified 560 times.
All the above are magnified 560 times.
Bacteriology, the branch of science which deals with the structure and properties of bacteria. Though the existence of bacteria had been known from the time when Leeuwenhock arranged lenses so as to form a microscope, it was through the work of Pasteur that modern knowledge regarding the group originated. Pasteur's discovery that yeasts are the cause of the formation of alcohol from sugar was followed by his showing that bacteria are responsible for other processes of a similar character, e.g. the formation of vinegar from alcohol, the occurrence of the rancid change in butter, &c. When he went on to prove that a bacterium was the cause of a disease of silkworms, a stimulus was given to the germ theory of infection, and bacteriology was thus early brought intimately into contact with medical science. Another stimulus to bacteriological inquiry came from the controversy on spontaneous generation, and Pasteur was one of those who helped to establish the principle that the new development of living things, as represented by bacteria, out of non-living matter does not take place. This led to the inevitable deduction that all putrefactive processes are due to bacteria. On this Lister founded his antiseptic treatment of wounds, the practical effects of which focused attention on the important part played by bacteria in human affairs. The modern science of bacteriology really dates from 1877, when Koch proved thatBacillus anthracisis the cause of anthrax incattle. The outstanding feature of Koch's research was that in it, for the first time, methods were employed whereby all extraneous organisms were excluded from the inquiry, and the way was thus opened up for the study of the properties and effects of one species of bacterium acting by itself. The chief aspects of his work were as follows: (1) the determination of the temperatures at which bacteria are killed; the knowledge of this enables investigators to render free from living organisms their apparatus and the food materials (usually calledmedia) necessary to support bacterial life (this is calledsterilization); (2) the discovery that the insertion of a plug of cotton-wool in the neck of a vessel (e.g. a flask or test-tube) before its sterilization constitutes a sufficient filter, which prevents bacteria in the outside air gaining access to its interior or to any food medium placed in it for sterilization; (3) the elaboration of a series of media capable of acting as food for all the commonly occurring bacteria; (4) the introduction of a simple method of separating from one another bacterial species which in nature are often growing side by side. This is effected by making media containing a jelly (e.g. gelatine) which melts at a relatively low temperature. The bacterial mixture is well diluted in the melted medium, and this is poured out in a thin layer on a sterile glass plate and allowed to set. Each individual bacterial cell can thus multiply apart from neighbouring cells, and, it may be, in a few hours the resulting growth (a 'colony') is visible to the naked eye. A minute part of the colony is picked off with a heated needle and placed on a mass of sterile medium. In this way a 'pure culture' of each species present in the original mixture can be obtained. Koch's work was chiefly concerned with disease bacteria, and between 1880 and 1895 many such organisms were isolated in pure culture and their properties investigated (seeGerm Theory of Disease).
While in the evolution of knowledge the progress of bacteriology has been most associated with that of medicine and surgery, the science has fundamental relations with many other human interests, and the same methods are used in investigating such relationships. The adaptation of these methods on a commercial scale underlies all industrial processes concerned in the preserving of milk and in the canning and bottling of meat and fruit (apart from the addition of chemical preservatives). Since bacteriology came into existence, many of the most primitive domestic procedures have been improved and placed on a scientific basis. Thus, butter-making involves a previous souring of the milk; this is due to bacterial action, and standard mixtures of milk-souring bacteria are now regularly supplied by the laboratory as 'starters' of the process. It is recognized that the disorders of milk, e.g. 'ropiness', 'blue milk', &c., are due to certain 'wild' bacteria gaining access to the dairy. The ripening of such cheeses as Gorgonzola and Stilton is due to bacteria and allied organisms, and here again light has been shed on the 'diseases' of cheese by bacteriological investigation. The pickling of foods by salt, or vinegar, or nitre, is due to the action of these substances as antiseptics, and a similar principle, aided by boiling, underlies the making of jams. Again, certain kinds of bacteria which only flourish at high temperatures are responsible for the heating of hay and corn stacks, and for the production of ensilage. Bacteriology is also throwing important light on factors concerned in the fertility of soils. For example, it has been shown that the little nodules on the roots of plants of the pea tribe are caused by bacteria; these, in growing, take up nitrogen from the air, and form compounds which promote the growth of the plant on which they are parasites and remain to enrich the soil when the plant dies. In short, there is no industry, which depends on natural putrefaction being prevented or modified so as to stop at a particular stage, which bacteriology cannot guide towards securing the most perfect results.—Bibliography: Fischer,The Structure and Functions of Bacteria; Abbot,Principles of Bacteriology; Muir and Ritchie,Manual of Bacteriology; E. R. Stitt,Practical Bacteriology; P. H. Hiss and H. Zinsser,A Textbook of Bacteriology.
Bactria´na, orBactria, a country of ancient Asia, south of the Oxus and reaching to the west of the Hindu Kush. It is often regarded as the original home of the Indo-European races. A Græco-Bactrian kingdom flourished about the third centuryB.C., but its history is obscure.
Baculi´tes, a fossil genus allied to the ammonites, characteristic of cretaceous strata, having a straight tapering shell. SeeCephalopoda.
Ba´cup, a municipal borough of England, in Lancashire, 18 milesN.of Manchester. The chief manufacturing establishments are connected with cotton-spinning and power-loom weaving; there are also ironworks, Turkey-red dyeing-works, and in the neighbourhood numerous coal-pits and immense stone-quarries. Pop. (1921), 21,256.
Badagry, seaport in the British province of Southern Nigeria, West Africa, 50 milesE.N.E.of Whydah. Pop. about 10,000.
Badajoz(ba˙-da˙-hōth´; ancient,Pax Augusta), the fortified capital of the Spanish province of Badajoz, on the left bank of the Guadiana, which is crossed by a stone bridge of twenty-eight arches. It is a bishop's see, and has an interesting cathedral. During the Peninsular WarBadajoz was besieged by Marshal Soult, and taken in March, 1811. It was twice attacked by the English, on 5th and 29th May, 1811, and was besieged by Wellington on 16th March, and taken 6th April, 1812. Pop. 37,600.—The province of Badajoz has an area of 8451 sq. miles. Pop. 644,220.
Badakshan´, a territory of Central Asia, tributary to the Ameer of Afghanistan. It has the Oxus on the north, and the Hindu Kush on the south, and has lofty mountains and fertile valleys; the chief town is Faizabad. The inhabitants profess Mahommedanism. Pop. 20,957.
Badalona(bä-da˙-lō´na), a Mediterranean seaport of Spain, 5 miles from Barcelona. Pop. 19,240.
Baden(bä´dėn), formerly a Grand-Duchy and one of the more important States of the German Empire, situated in theS.W.of Germany, to the west of Württemberg. It is divided into four districts, Constance, Freiburg, Karlsruhe, and Mannheim. It has an area of 5819 sq. miles, and a pop. of 2,142,833. It is mountainous, being traversed to a considerable extent by the lofty plateau of the Schwarzwald or Black Forest, which attains its highest point in the Feldberg (4904 feet). The nucleus of this plateau consists of gneiss and granite. In the north it sinks down towards the Odenwald, which is, however, of different geological structure, being composed for the most part of red sandstone. The whole of Baden, except a small portion in theS.E., in which the Danube takes its rise, belongs to the basin of the Rhine, which bounds it on the south and west. Numerous tributaries of the Rhine intersect it, the chief being the Neckar. Lakes are numerous, and include a considerable part of the Lake of Constance. The climate varies much. The hilly parts, especially in the east, are cold and have a long winter, while the valley of the Rhine enjoys the finest climate of Germany. The principal minerals worked are coal, salt, iron, zinc, and nickel. The number of mineral springs is remarkably great, and of these not a few are of great celebrity. The vegetation is peculiarly rich, and there are magnificent forests. The cereals comprise wheat, oats, barley, and rye. Potatoes, hemp, tobacco, wine, and sugar-beet are largely produced. Several of the wines, both white and red, rank in the first class. Baden has long been famous for its fruits also. Of the total area 55.4 per cent is under cultivation, 39.4 per cent under forest, and 5.2 per cent uncultivated (houses, roads, water, &c.). The farms are mostly quite small. The manufactures are important. Among them are textiles, tobacco and cigars, chemicals, machinery, pottery ware, jewellery (especially at Pforzheim), wooden clocks, confined chiefly to the districts of the Black Forest, musical boxes and other musical toys. The capital is Karlsruhe, about 5 miles from the Rhine; the other chief towns are Mannheim, Freiburg-im-Breisgau (with a Roman Catholic university), Baden, and Heidelberg. Baden has warm mineral springs, which were known and used in the time of the Romans. Heidelberg has a university (Protestant), founded in 1386, the oldest in Germany. The railways have a length of 1200 miles, and are all State property. In the time of the Roman Empire southern Baden belonged to the Roman province of Rhætia. Under the old German Empire it was a margraviate, which in 1533 was divided into Baden-Baden and Baden-Durlach, but reunited in 1771. The title of grand-duke was conferred by Napoleon in 1806, and in the same year Baden was extended to its present limits. Until 1918 the executive power was vested in the grand-duke, the legislative in a house of legislature, consisting of an upper and a lower chamber. The former consisted partly of hereditary members; the latter of elected representatives of the people. In the break-up of the German Empire in Nov., 1918, Baden was among the first States to feel the shock of revolution. The Grand-Duke Frederick I abdicated, and the Provisional Government, under the Socialist Herr Jeiss, proclaimed Baden a Republic. Two-thirds of the population are Roman Catholics, the rest Protestants.
Baden(orBaden-Baden, to distinguish it from other towns of the same name; GermanBad, a bath), a town and watering-place, in the former Grand-Duchy of Baden, 18 milesS.S.W.of Karlsruhe, built in the form of an amphitheatre on a spur of the Black Forest, overhanging a valley, through which runs a little stream Oosbach. Baden has been celebrated from the remotest antiquity for its thermal baths; and it used also to be celebrated for its gaming-saloons. It has many good buildings, and a castle, the summer residence of the former grand-dukes. Pop. 22,066.
Baden, a town of Austria, 15 milesS.W.of Vienna. It has numerous hot sulphurous springs, used both for bathing and drinking, and much frequented. Pop. 19,000.
Baden, a small town of Switzerland, canton Aargau, celebrated for its hot sulphurous baths, which attract many visitors. Pop. 8318.
Baden-Powell.SeePowell.
Badge(baj), a distinctive device, emblem, mark, honorary decoration, or special cognizance, used originally to identify a knight or distinguish his followers, now worn as a sign of office or licensed employment, as a token of membership in some society, or generally as a mark showing the relation of the wearer to any person,occupation, or order. SeeCockade,Heraldry,Totems.
BadgerCommon Badger (Meles vulgāris)
Badger(baj´ėr), a plantigrade, carnivorous mammal, allied both to the bears and to the weasels, of a clumsy make, with short thick legs, and long claws on the fore-feet. The common badger (Meles vulgāris) is as large as a middling-sized dog, but much lower on the legs, with a flatter and broader body, very thick tough hide, and long coarse hair. It inhabits the north of Europe and Asia, burrows, is indolent and sleepy, feeds by night on vegetables, small quadrupeds, &c. Its flesh may be eaten, and its hair is used for artists' brushes in painting. The American badger belongs to a separate genus.Badger baiting, ordrawing the badger, is a barbarous sport, long a favourite amusement in England, but declared illegal in the middle of last century, and yet to some extent practised, generally as an attraction to public-houses of the lowest sort. A badger is put in a barrel, and one or more dogs are put in to drag him out. When this is effected he is returned to his barrel, to be similarly assailed by a fresh set. The badger usually makes a most determined and savage resistance.
Badger Dog, a long-bodied, short-legged dog, with rather large pendulous ears, usually short haired, black, and with yellow extremities; often called by its German nameDachshund.
Bad´minton, a game closely resembling lawn-tennis, but played with battledore and shuttle-cock instead of ball and racket: named after a seat of the Duke of Beaufort, in Gloucestershire.
Badrinath(-ät´), a peak of the main Himalayan range, in Garhwál District, in the United Provinces, 23,210 feet above the sea. On one of its shoulders, at an elevation of 10,400 feet, stands a celebrated temple of Vishnu, which some years attracts as many as 50,000 pilgrims.
Baedeker(bā´de-kėr), Karl, a German publisher, born 1801, died 1859; originator of a celebrated series of guide-books for travellers.
Baelz's Disease, an affection of the mouth characterized by swelling of the mucous glands of the mouth and lips, leading to the formation of small abscesses and ulcers.
Baena(ba˙-ā´na˙), a town of Spain, in Andalusia, province of Cordova, and 24 milesS.S.E.of the city of that name. Pop. 14,730.
Baeza(ba˙-ā´tha˙; anciently,Beatia), a town of Spain, in Andalusia, 22 milesE.N.E.of Jaen, with 15,843 inhabitants. The principal edifices are the cathedral, the university (now suppressed), and the old monastery of St. Philip de Neri.
Baffa(ancient,Paphos), a seaport on theS.W.coast of Cyprus. Pop. 1000. It occupies the site of New Paphos, which, under the Romans, was full of beautiful temples and other public buildings. Old Paphos stood a little to the south-east.
Baffin, William, an English navigator, born 1584, famous for his discoveries in the Arctic regions; in 1616 he ascertained the limits of Baffin Bay. He was killed at the siege of Ormuz, in the East Indies, 1622.
Baffin Bay, on theN.E.of North America, between Greenland and Baffin Land and other islands that lie on theN.of the continent; discovered by Baffin in 1616.
Bafulabe(ba˙-fu¨-lä-bā), a trading-place in French West Africa, on the Upper Senegal, and on the railway that runs from Kayes on the Senegal to Bammako on the Niger.
Bagamo´yo, a seaport of former German East Africa, a short distance north-west of Dar-el-Salaam. There is no proper harbour, only a shallow and rather exposed roadstead where ships have to anchor some distance from the shore, yet it is the chief trading-centre of the colony, and as the terminus of the caravan route to Tanganyika is a place of some importance. Pop. about 25,000. SeeEuropean War.
Bagasse´, the sugar-cane in its dry crushed state as delivered from the mill, and after the main portion of its juice has been expressed; used as fuel in the sugar factory, and called alsocane-trash.
Bagatelle´, a game played on a long flat board covered with cloth like a billiard-table, with spherical balls and a cue or mace. At the end of the board are nine cups or sockets of just sufficient size to receive the balls. These sockets are arranged in the form of a regular octagon, with the ninth in the middle, and are numbered consecutively from one upwards. Nine balls are used, generally one black, four white, and four red, the distinction between white and red being made only for the sake of variety. In the ordinary game, at starting, the black ball is placed on a point in the longitudinal middle line of the board, a few inches in front of the nearestof the sockets, and the player places one of his eight balls on a corresponding point at the other end of the board, and tries to strike the black ball into one of the sockets with his own. After this his object is to place as many of his balls as possible in the sockets. Each ball so placed counts as many as the socket is numbered for, and the black ball always counts double. He who first makes the number of points agreed on wins.
Bagdad´, orBaghdad, a city of a vilayet of same name (54,540 sq. miles; pop. 900,000) in what was anciently Mesopotamia. The greater part of it lies on the eastern bank of the Tigris, which is crossed by a bridge of boats; old Bagdad, the residence of the caliphs (now in ruins), was on the western bank of the river. The city occupies a large area. The houses are mostly built of brick, the streets unpaved and very narrow, and there are few buildings of any note. The palace of the governor is spacious. Of the mosques only a few attract notice, many are in ruins; the bazaars are large and well stocked; that of Dawd Pasha still ranks as one of the most splendid in the world. Manufactures: leather, silks, cottons, woollens, carpets, &c. Steamers ply on the river between Bagdad and Bassorah, and the town exports wheat, dates, galls, gums, mohair, carpets, &c., to Europe, the chief import being cotton goods. The estimated population is over 200,000; of these about 86,000 are Mahommedans, 52,000 Jews, and 7000 Christians. The city has been frequently visited by the plague. Bagdad was founded in 762 by the Caliph Almansur, and raised to a high degree of splendour in the ninth century by Harun Al Rashid. It is the scene of a number of the tales of theArabian Nights. It was long the chief city of the Mahommedan world, and at one time is said to have had two millions of inhabitants. In the thirteenth century it was stormed by Hulaku, grandson of Genghis-Khan, who caused the reigning caliph to be slain, and destroyed the caliphate. It was again laid waste by Timur in 1401. For a considerable period it was the object of contention between the Persians and the Turks, until it was besieged and captured by Sultan Murad IV in 1638. Since that date it remained a part of the Turkish Empire. It was captured by the British on 11th March, 1917.
Bagdad Railway, a railway which, under arrangement with the Turkish Government, was intended to run from Konia, which is the terminus of the Anatolian railway system, to Bagdad, Basra (Bassorah), and the Persian Gulf. It was built chiefly by means of funds provided by German and French financiers, in association with the Anatolian Railway Company, a German company. The line has been constructed continuously as far as Kara Bunar in Cilicia. Farther on, the following sections have been completed: Dorak to Bagtché, on the Ordana side of the Taurus Mountains; Radjun, via Muslimié, to Jerablus, on the Euphrates, with a branch from Muslimié to Aleppo; Jerablus to El-Abiad, and Bagdad to Samara. A branch line has also been completed from Alexandretta to Toprak Kalé. Of the distance from Konia to Bagdad (1509 miles), 1117 miles (with gaps) are already working. In 1919 the railway system passed to the Allies, and in 1920 it was announced that the line between Basra and Bagdad had been completed.
Bagehot(bag´ot), Walter, English economist and journalist, born at Langport, Somerset, 1826, died at the same place 1877. He studied at Bristol, and at University College, London, and graduated asB.A.andM.A.at the London University (1848). He was for some time associated with his father in the banking business at Langport, and for a number of years he acted as London agent for the bank. He was one of the editors of theNational Review(1855-64), and from 1860 till his death he was editor and part proprietor of theEconomist. His chief works are:Physics and Politics;The English Constitution;Lombard Street; andStudies, Literary, Biographic, and Economic. He was a high authority on economics, banking, and finance, and was often consulted by public men.
BaggalaBaggala
Bag´gala, a two-masted Arab boat, generally 200-250 tons burden, used for trading in the Indian Ocean, Red Sea, &c.
Baggesen(bag´e-sen), Jens, a Danish poet, who also wrote much in German, born 1764, at Korsör, died at Hamburg, 1826. He led a rather wandering and unsettled life, spending some time in England as well as in France and Germany.He tried lyric, epic, and dramatic poetry, but was most successful as a humorist and satirist. One of his best poems is his famous songThere was a Time when I was very Little.
Baggingis the name of the textile material which is used in the making of bags. Baltic hemp was the first material used for the purpose, but now all kinds of fibres are used, though the majority of bags are made of jute fibre. The style of the bagging used depends, naturally, upon the requirements of the bag; for the export of raw cotton from the United States of America we find the coarsest of all cotton-bagging used. When intended to carry grain, spices, sugar, &c., the bag must be made of closely-woven material. In many cases bags to carry sugar are lined with paper.
Baghelkand, a tract of country in Central India, occupied by a collection of native States (Rewah being the chief), under the Governor-General's agent for Central India; area, 11,323 sq. miles. Pop. 1,772,574.
Bagheria(ba˙-gā´rē-a˙), a town of Sicily, province of Palermo, 9 miles by railway from the city of Palermo. Pop. 21,212.
Bagimont's Roll, a rent-roll of Scotland, made up in 1275 byBaiamundorBoiamondde Vicci, vulgarly calledBagimont, who was sent from Rome by the Pope, in the reign of Alexander III, to collect the tithe of all the church livings in Scotland for an expedition to the Holy Land. It remained the statutory valuation, according to which the benefices were taxed, till the Reformation. A copy of it as it existed in the reign of James V is in the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh.
Bagirmi(ba˙-gir´mē), orBaghermi, a Mohammedan Negro State in Central Africa, situated to the south-east of Lake Tchad. It is mostly a plain; has an area of about 20,000 sq. miles, and about 100,000 inhabitants. The people are industrious, and fairly civilized. The country is in the French sphere of influence, but the people are still under a native ruler.
Bagnara(ba˙-nyä´ra˙), a seaport near theS.W.extremity of Italy. Pop. 11,000.
Bagnères de Bigorre(ba˙n-yār dė bē-gorr), a watering-place, France, department Hautes-Pyrénées, on the left bank of the Adour. It owes its chief celebrity to its sulphurous and saline baths. The springs were known to and used by the Romans. The site is one of the most romantic in the Pyrénées, and the town is well built and well provided with accommodation for visitors. Pop. 8455.
Bagnères de Luchon(ba˙n-yār dė lu-shōn), a town, France, department Haute-Garonne, in a picturesque valley surrounded by wooded hills, one of the principal watering-places of the Pyrénées, having sulphurous thermal waters, beneficial in rheumatic complaints. There is a large bathing establishment, and a large and splendid casino building, comprising a theatre, concert and ball rooms, &c. Resident pop. 4000.
Bagni(bän´yē), Italian for 'baths', a name in Italy for various places which possess natural baths or thermal springs, with some designation added to mark the particular locality.Bagni di Lucca, in the province of Lucca, and about 13 miles north-east of the city of Lucca, is one of the most frequented of these bathing-places, its waters being recommended against gout, rheumatism, affections of the skin, &c.
Bagpipe, a musical wind-instrument of very great antiquity, having been used among the ancient Greeks, and being a favourite instrument over Europe generally in the fifteenth century. It still continues in use among the country people of Poland, Italy, the south of France, and in Scotland and Ireland. Though now often regarded as the national instrument of Scotland, especially Celtic Scotland, it is only Scottish by adoption, being introduced into that country from England. It consists of a leathern bag, which receives the air from the mouth, or from bellows; and of pipes, into which the air is pressed from the bag by the performer's elbow. In the common or Highland form, one pipe (called thechanter) plays the melody; of the three others (calleddrones) two are in unison with the lowestAof the chanter, and the third and longest an octave lower, the sound being produced by means of reeds. The chanter has eight holes, which the performer stops and opens at pleasure, but the scale is imperfect and the tone harsh. The Highland bagpipe is a powerful instrument, and calls for great exertion of the lungs in order that the air may be supplied in sufficient quantity. There are several other species of bagpipes, as the soft and melodious Irish bagpipe, supplied with wind by a bellows, and having several keyed drones and a keyed chanter; the old English bagpipe (now no longer used); the Italian bagpipe, a very rude instrument, &c. The Irish bagpipe is, musically speaking, the most perfect of all.—Bibliography: Sir J. G. Dalyell,Musical Memoirs of Scotland; E. de Bricqueville,Les Musettes.
Bagration(ba˙g-rä´tyōn), Peter, Prince, distinguished Russian general, descended from a noble Georgian family. He was born in 1765, entered the Russian army in 1782, and henceforth was constantly engaged in active service, distinguishing himself in many actions and gradually rising in military rank. He fought in Poland, in Italy, and against the Turks, was engaged in the battles of Austerlitz, Eylau, and Friedland, and at last was mortally wounded at the battle of Borodino, Sept., 1812.
Bagshot-sand, in geology, the collective namefor a series of sands of the Eocene age, occupying extensive tracts round Bagshot, in Surrey, and in the New Forest, Hampshire, the whole reposing on the London-clay; generally devoid of fossils.
Bagster, Samuel, publisher, founder of the firm of Bagster & Sons, celebrated for their bibles, was born in 1772, and died in 1851. He began business as a London bookseller in 1794, and soon turned his attention to the publication of bibles, bringing out a Hebrew bible, theSeptuagint(Greek) version, and the English version, with 60,000 parallel references, followed by his great polyglot bible, which in its final form showed eight languages at the opening of the volume. Separate versions in different languages were also brought out, with various other aids to the study of Scripture; a polyglotBook of Common Prayer, in eight languages; &c.
Baha´dur Shah, the last of the Grand Moguls of India, a descendant of Tamerlane. In 1857, during the Indian Mutiny, the Mahommedans, who wished to restore the Empire of the Moguls, placed him, then a very old man, at the head of the movement in Delhi; but the city was soon retaken by the British, and the Emperor was banished to Rangoon, where he died in 1862.
Baha´ma Islands, orLucayos, a group of islands in the West Indies, forming a colony belonging to Britain, lyingN.E.of Cuba andS.E.of the coast of Florida, the Gulf Stream passing between them and the mainland. They extend a distance of upwards of 600 miles, and are said to be twenty-nine in number, besides keys and rocks innumerable. The principal islands are Grand Bahama, Great and Little Abaco, Andros Islands, New Providence, Eleuthera, San Salvador, Great Exuma, Watling Island, Long Island, Crooked Island, Acklin Island, Mariguana Island, Grand Inagua. Of the whole group about twenty are inhabited, the most populous being New Providence, which contains the capital, Nassau; the largest being Andros, 100 miles long, 20 to 40 broad. They are low and flat, and have in many parts extensive forests. Total area, 4400 sq. miles. The soil is a thin but rich vegetable mould, and an important product is pineapples, which form a large export (both canned and green). Other fruits are also grown, with sisal hemp (a valuable export), cotton, sugar, maize, yams, ground nuts, coco-nuts, &c. Sponges are obtained in large quantity, and are at present the chief export. Total exports about £382,140 (1919). The Bahama Islands are a very favourite winter resort for persons suffering from lung trouble. San Salvador, or Cat Island, is generally believed to be the same as Guanahani, the land first touched on by Columbus (12th Oct., 1492) on his first great voyage. The first British settlement was made on New Providence towards the close of the seventeenth century. A number of loyal Americans settled in the islands after the War of Independence. Pop. 55,944, including 14,000 whites.
Baha´walpur, a town of India, capital of State of same name in the Punjab, 2 miles from the Sutlej; surrounded by a mud wall and containing the extensive palace of the Nawab. Pop. 18,700. The State has an area of 15,000 sq. miles, of which 10,000 is desert, the only cultivated lands lying along the Indus and Sutlej. Pop. 780,641.
Bahia(ba˙-ē´a˙; formerlySt. Salvador), a town of Brazil, on the Bay of All Saints, State of Bahia. It consists of a lower town, which is little more than an irregular, narrow, and dirty street, stretching about 4 miles along the shore; and an upper town, larger and much better built, with various outlying suburbs. The harbour is one of the best in South America; and the export trade, chiefly in sugar, cotton, coffee, tobacco, hides, piassava, and tapioca, is very extensive. Pop. 348,000. The State, area 164,600 sq. miles, pop. 3,013,007, has much fertile land, both along the coast and in the interior.
Bahia Blanca, a seaport of the Argentine Republic, on a bay of same name opening into the Atlantic, about 350 miles south-west of Buenos Ayres; it is a rising place connected by railway with the capital, and a terminus of other railways from the interior. It carries on a considerable trade directly with Europe, exporting mutton, wheat, &c. Pop. 75,000.
Bahr(bär), an Arabic word signifying sea or large river; as in Bahr-el-Huleh, the Lake Merom in Palestine; Bahr-el-Abiad, the White Nile, Bahr-el-Azrek, the Blue Nile, which together unite at Khartoum.
Bahraich(bä-rāch´), a flourishing town of India, in Oudh, Faizabad division. It carries on a good local trade, and has a shrine that attracts many Hindu and Mohammedan pilgrims. It is the seat of an American Methodist mission. Pop. 27,304.
Bahrein(bä´rīn)Islands, a group of islands in the Persian Gulf, in an indentation on the Arabian coast, since 1867 under British protection. The principal island, usually called Bahrein, is about 27 miles in length and 10 in breadth. It is in general very flat and low, and the soil is not very fertile except in a few places; but irrigation is employed and excellent dates are grown. The principal town is Menamah or Manama; pop. 30,000. The smaller island of Moharrek, separated by a shallow strait 2 miles wide, contains the town of Moharrek, the present seat of government; pop. 25,000. The Bahrein Islands are chiefly noted for their pearl-fisheries, which were known to the ancients, and which employ in the season from 2000 to 3000 boatsmanned by from 8 to 20 men each. Total pop. estimated at 110,000.
Bahr-el-Ghazal, a large river of Central Africa, a western tributary of the White Nile (or Bahr-el-Abiad). It flows through a very swampy region, and is liable to inundations. The head of steam navigation is Meshra-er-Rek. The river gives its name to a province of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, yielding ivory, rubber, timber, &c., and suited for cotton growing.
Baiadeer.SeeBayadere.
Baiæ(bī´ē), an ancient Roman watering-place on the coast of Campania, 10 miles west of Naples. Many of the wealthy Romans had country houses at Baiæ, which was a favourite resort of Horace. Ruins of temples, baths, and villas still attract the attention of archæologists.
Baikal(bī´ka˙l), a large freshwater lake in Eastern Siberia, 360 miles long, and about 50 in extreme breadth, interspersed with islands; in the line of the great Siberian Railway. It is surrounded by rugged and lofty mountains; contains seals, and many fish, particularly salmon, sturgeon, and pike. Its greatest depth is over 4000 feet. It receives the waters of the Upper Angara, Selenga, Barguzin, &c., and discharges its waters by the Lower Angara. It is frozen over in winter.
Baikie, William Balfour, born in the Orkney Islands 1824, died at Sierra Leone 1863. He joined the British navy, and was made surgeon and naturalist of the Niger Expedition, 1854. He took the command on the death of the senior officer, and explored the Niger for 250 miles. Another expedition, which started in 1857, passed two years in exploring, when the vessel was wrecked, and all the members, with the exception of Baikie, returned to England. With none but native assistants he formed a settlement at the confluence of the Benué and the Quorra, in which he was ruler, teacher, and physician, and within a few years he opened the Niger to navigation, made roads, and established a market.
Bail, the person or persons who procure the release of a prisoner from custody by becoming surety for his appearance in court at the proper time; also, the security given for the release of a prisoner from custody. In the United States bail is a matter of right in all cases where a sentence of death cannot be pronounced, and even in such a case it may be allowed by one of the judges.
Baildon, an urban district in the W. Riding of Yorkshire, about 5 miles north of Bradford, with worsted manufactures, chemical works, and quarries. Pop. (1921), 6527.
Bailen(bī-len´), a town of Southern Spain, province Jaen, with lead-mines. Pop. 8334.
Bailey(bā´li), the name given to the courts of a castle formed by the spaces between the circuits of walls or defences which surrounded the keep.
Bailey, orBaily, Nathaniel, an English lexicographer, school teacher at Stepney, and author of several educational works. HisDictionary, published in 1721, passed through a great many editions.
Bailey, Philip James, English poet, born near Nottingham, 1816, called to the bar 1840, died 1902. He publishedFestus, his best work, in 1839;The Mystic, 1855;The Age, 1858; andThe Universal Hymn, 1867.
Bailie, orBaillie, a municipal officer or magistrate in Scotland, corresponding to analdermanin England. The criminal jurisdiction of the provost and bailies of royal burghs extends to breaches of the peace, drunkenness, adulteration of articles of diet, thefts not of an aggravated character, and other offences of a less serious nature.
Bailiff, a civil officer or functionary, subordinate to someone else. There are several kinds of bailiffs, whose offices widely differ, but all agree in this, that the keeping or protection of something belongs to them. In England the sheriff is the monarch's bailiff, and his county is a bailiwick. The name is also applied to the chief magistrates of some towns, to keepers of royal castles, as of Dover, to persons having the conservation of the peace in hundreds and in some special jurisdictions, as Westminster, and to the returning officers in the same. But the officials commonly designated by this name are thebailiffsof sheriffs, or sheriffs' officers, who execute processes, &c.
Bailleul(ba˙-yeul), an ancient French town, department of Nord, near the Belgian frontier, about 19 miles west of Lille. Much fighting took place in its vicinity during the European War, but it was not destroyed until the campaign of 1918. Pop. 12,828.—A village of the same name in department Orne gave its name to the Baliol family.
Baillie, Joanna, a Scottish authoress, born at Bothwell, Lanarkshire, in 1762, died at Hampstead, 1851. She removed in early life to London, where her brother, Matthew Baillie, was settled as a physician. Here in 1798 she published her first work, entitledA Series of Plays, in which she attempted to delineate the stronger passions by making each passion the subject of a tragedy and a comedy. The series was followed up by a second volume in 1802, and a third in 1812. A second series appeared in 1836, and a complete edition of her whole dramatic works in 1850. She also published a volume of miscellaneous poetry, including songs, in 1841. Her only plays performed on the stage were a tragedy entitled theFamily Legend, brought out at Edinburgh under the patronageof Sir Walter Scott; andDe Montfort, brought out by John Kemble, who acted in it with Mrs. Siddons.
Baillie, Matthew,M.D., physician and anatomist, brother of the preceding, was born 1761 at Shotts, Lanarkshire, died at Cirencester, Gloucestershire, in 1823. In 1773 he was sent to the University of Glasgow. He afterwards studied anatomy under his maternal uncles, John and William Hunter, and entered Oxford, where he graduated asM.D.In 1783 he succeeded his uncle as lecturer on anatomy in London, where he acquired a high reputation as a teacher and demonstrator, having also a large practice. In 1810 he was appointed physician to George III. His work onThe Morbid Anatomy of Some of the Most Important Parts of the Human Bodygave him a European reputation.
Baillie, Robert, an eminent Scottish Presbyterian clergyman, was born at Glasgow in 1599, died 1662. Though educated and ordained as an Episcopalian, he resisted the attempt of Archbishop Laud to introduce hisBook of Common Prayerinto Scotland, and joined the Presbyterian party. In 1638 he represented the presbytery of Irvine in the General Assembly at Glasgow, which dissolved Episcopacy in Scotland. In 1640 he was selected to go to London, with other commissioners, to draw up the accusation against Archbishop Laud. Of this, and almost all the other proceedings of his public life, he has left a minute account in his letters and journals, which form a most valuable collection for the history of his time. In 1642 he was appointed professor of divinity at Glasgow. He was a member of the Westminster Assembly of Divines, and attended its sittings from 1643-6. After the Restoration, though made principal of his college through Court patronage, he did not hesitate to express his dissatisfaction with the reintroduction of Episcopacy.
Baillie, Robert, of Jerviswood, in Lanarkshire, a Scottish patriot of the reign of Charles II. He brought himself into notice by opposing the tyrannical measures of Archbishop Sharpe against the Nonconformists, for which he was fined 6000 merks (or £500) and imprisoned for four months. In 1683 he went to London in furtherance of a scheme of emigration to South Carolina taken up by a number of Scottish gentlemen, as being the only way of escaping the tyranny of the Government. He became associated with Monmouth, Sydney, Russell, and the rest of that party, and was charged with complicity in the Rye-house plot. After a long imprisonment, during which vain attempts were made to obtain evidence against him, he was brought before the Court of Justiciary (23rd Dec., 1684), was found guilty, and condemned to be executed that afternoon.
Baillieston, a town of Scotland, in Lanarkshire, a few miles east of Glasgow, with extensive collieries, in which many of the inhabitants are employed. Pop. 5500.
Bailly(ba˙-yē), Jean Sylvain, French astronomer and statesman, born at Paris 1736. After some youthful essays in verse, he was induced by Lacaille to devote himself to astronomy, and on the death of the latter in 1753, being admitted to the Academy of Sciences, he published a reduction of Lacaille's observations on the zodiacal stars. In 1764 he competed ably but unsuccessfully for the Academy prize offered for an essay upon Jupiter's satellites, Lagrange being his opponent; and in 1771 he published a treatise on the light reflected by these satellites. In the meantime he had won distinction as a man of letters by hisÉlogeson Pierre Corneille, Leibnitz, Molière, and others; and the same qualities of style shown by these were maintained in hisHistory of Astronomy(1775-87), his most extensive work. In 1784 the French Academy elected him a member. The revolution drew him into public life. Paris chose him, 12th May, 1789, first deputy of thetiers-état, and in the Assembly itself he was made first president, a post occupied by him on 20th June, 1789, in the session of the Tennis Court, when the deputies swore never to separate till they had given France a new constitution. As Mayor of Paris his moderation and impartial enforcement of the law failed to commend themselves to the people, and his forcible suppression of mob violence, 17th July, 1791, aroused a storm which led to his resignation and retreat to Nantes. In 1793 he attempted to join Laplace at Melun, but was recognized and sent to Paris, where he was condemned by the revolutionary tribunal, and executed on 12th Nov.
Bailment, in law, is the delivery of a chattel or thing to a person in trust, either for the use of the bailer or person delivering, or for that of the bailee or person to whom it is delivered. A bailment always supposes the subject to be delivered only for a limited time, at the expiration of which it must be re-delivered to the bailer, the responsibility of the bailee being dependent, in some degree, upon the contract on which the bailment is made. Pledging and letting for hire are species of bailment.Agistment, or the taking in of cattle or live stock to feed at a rate of so much per head, is a contract of bailment.
Baily, Edward Hodges, an English sculptor, born at Bristol 1788, died at London 1867. He became a pupil of Flaxman in 1807, gained the Academy Gold Medal in 1811, and was electedR.A.in 1821. Principal works:Eve at the Fountain,Eve Listening to the Voice,Maternal Affection,Girl Preparing for the Bath,The Graces, &c. The bas-reliefs on the south side of the MarbleArch, Hyde Park, the statue of Nelson on the Trafalgar Square monument, and other public works, were by him.
Baily, Francis, astronomer, born in Berkshire 1774; settled in London as a stockbroker in 1802. While thus actively engaged he publishedTables for the Purchasing and Renewing of Leases,The Doctrine of Interest and Annuities,The Doctrine of Life Annuities and Assurances, and an epitome of universal history. On retiring from business with an ample fortune in 1825 he turned his attention to astronomy, became one of the founders of the Astronomical Society, contributed to itsTransactions, and in 1835 published a life of Flamsteed. He died in 1844.
Baily's Beads, a phenomenon attending eclipses of the sun, the unobscured edge of which appears discontinuous and broken immediately before and after the moment of complete obscuration. It is classed as an effect of irradiation, and is caused by the sun shining through the depressions between the lunar mountains.
Bain, Alexander, Scottish philosopher and educationalist, was born at Aberdeen in 1818. He was educated at Marischal College (then a separate university), Aberdeen; was for some years a deputy professor in the university; subsequently held official posts in London; and in 1860 was appointed professor of logic and English in Aberdeen University, a post which he held till his resignation in 1881. His most important works are:The Senses and the Intellect(1855);The Emotions and the Will(1859), together forming a complete exposition of the human mind;Mental and Moral Science(1868);Logic, Deductive and Inductive(1870);Mind and Body(1873);Education as a Science(1879);James Mill, a Biography(1881);John Stuart Mill, a Criticism with Personal Recollections(1882); besides anEnglish Grammar;English Composition and Rhetoric; anAutobiography, &c. Bain was at once grammarian, rhetorician, educationalist, and logician, but his fame rests on his contributions to psychology. He died in 1903.
Bainsizza Plateau.SeeEuropean War.
Bairam(bī´ram), the Easter of the Mohammedans, which follows immediately after the Ramadan or Lent (a month of fasting), and lasts three days. This feast during the course of thirty-three years makes a complete circuit of all the months and seasons, as the Turks reckon by lunar years. Sixty days after this first great Bairam begins the lesser Bairam. They are the only two feasts prescribed by the Mohammedan religion.
Baird, Sir David, a distinguished British soldier, was born in Aberdeenshire in 1757, and entered the army 1772. Having been promoted to a lieutenancy in 1778 he sailed for India, distinguished himself as a captain in the war against Hyder Ali, was wounded and taken prisoner, and confined in the fortress of Seringapatam for nearly four years. He and his fellow-prisoners were treated with great barbarity, and many of them died or were put to death, but at last (in 1784) all that survived were set at liberty. In 1787 he became major, and in 1791 joined the army under Cornwallis as lieutenant-colonel, and was appointed to the command of a brigade in the war against Tippoo. After much hard service he was made a colonel in 1795, went in 1797 to the Cape of Good Hope as brigadier-general, and in 1798, on his appointment as major-general, returned to India. In 1799 he commanded the storming party at the assault of Seringapatam, and, in requital, was presented with the State sword of Tippoo Saib. Being appointed in 1800 to command an expedition to Egypt, he landed at Kosseir in June, 1801, crossed the desert, and, embarking on the Nile, descended to Cairo, and thence to Alexandria, which he reached a few days before it surrendered to General Hutchinson. Next year he returned to India, but being soon after superseded by Sir Arthur Wellesley (Wellington), he sailed for Britain, where he was knighted and madeK.B.With the rank of lieutenant-general he commanded an expedition in 1805 to the Cape of Good Hope, and in 1806, after defeating the Dutch, he received the surrender of the colony. He commanded a division at the siege of Copenhagen, and after a short period of service in Ireland sailed with 10,000 men for Corunna, where he formed a junction with Sir John Moore. He commanded the first division of Moore's army, and in the battle of Corunna lost his left arm. By the death of Sir John Moore, Sir David succeeded to the chief command, receiving for the fourth time the thanks of Parliament, and a baronetcy. In 1814 he was made a general. He died in 1829.
Baird, Spencer Fullerton, American naturalist, born 1823, died 1887. From 1850 to 1878 he was assistant secretary, and then became secretary, of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, and was also chief Government commissioner of fish and fisheries. He wrote much on natural history, his chief works beingThe Birds of North America(in conjunction with John Cassin),The Mammals of North America,Review of American Birds in the Smithsonian Institution, and (with Messrs. Brewer and Ridgeway)History of North American Birds.
Baireuth(bī´roit), a well-built and pleasantly-situated town of Bavaria, on the Red Main, 41 miles north-east of Nürnberg. The principal edifices, besides churches, are the old and the new palace, the opera-house, the gymnasium, and the national theatre, constructed after the design of the composer Wagner, and opened in1876 with a grand performance of his tetralogy of theNibelungen Ring. Industries: cotton-spinning, sugar-refining, musical instruments, sewing-machines, leather, brewing, &c. There is a monument to Jean Paul F. Richter, who died here. Pop. 34,547.
Baius, orDe Bay, Michael, Catholic theologian, was born 1513, in Hainaut, educated at Louvain, made professor of theology there in 1552, and chosen a member of the Council of Trent in 1563. Leaving the scholastic method, he founded systematic theology directly upon the Bible and the Christian fathers, of whom he particularly followed St. Augustine. His doctrines of original sin and of salvation by grace led to his persecution as a heretic by the old Scotists, and the Jesuits, who succeeded in obtaining a Papal bull in 1567, condemning the doctrines imputed to him. Baius, however, remained in the possession of his dignities, was appointed in 1575 Chancellor of Louvain University; and the King of Spain even conferred upon him the office of Inquisitor-General in the Netherlands. He died in 1589. His Augustinian views descended to the Jansenists, while his doctrine of pure undivided love to God formed the staple of Quietism. His system is calledBaianism.
Baize, a sort of coarse woollen fabric with a rough nap, now generally used for linings, and mostly green or red in colour.
Baja(bä´ya˙), a market town of Hungary, district of Bacs, on the Danube, with a trade in grain and wine, and a large annual hog fair. Pop. 20,361.
Bajaderes.SeeBayaderes.
Bajazet(ba˙-ya˙-zet´), orBayezid, I, Turkish emperor, who, in 1389, having strangled his brother Jacob, succeeded his father Murad or Amurath, who fell in the battle of Kossovo while fighting against the Serbians. From the rapidity of his conquests he received the name ofIlderim, the Lightning. In three years he overcame Bulgaria, part of Serbia, Macedonia, Thessaly, and the States of Asia Minor, and besieged Constantinople for ten years, defeating Sigismund and the allied Hungarians, Poles, and French in 1395. The attack of Timur (Tamerlane) on Natolia, in 1400, saved the Greek Empire, Bajazet being defeated and taken prisoner by him near Ancyra, Galatia, 1402. The story of his being carried about in a cage by Timur is improbable; but Bajazet died, in 1409, in Timur's camp, in Caramania. His successor was Soliman I.
Bajazet IIsucceeded his father, Mohammed II, Sultan of the Turks, in 1481. He increased the Turkish Empire by conquests on theN.W.and in theE., took Lepanto, Modon, and Durazzo in a war against the Venetians, and ravaged the coasts of the Christian States on the Mediterranean, to revenge the expulsion of the Moors from Spain. Having abdicated in favour of his younger son Selim, he died on his way to a residence near Adrianople in 1513. He did much for the improvement of his empire and the promotion of the sciences.
Bajimont's Roll.SeeBagimonts Roll.
Bajocco, orBaiocco(ba˙-yok´o), was a copper coin in the Papal States, the hundredth part of a scudo, or rather more than a halfpenny. The name was also given in Sicily to the Neapolitangrano, the hundredth part of the ducato (3s.4d.).
Bajus.SeeBaius.
Bajza(boi´za), Anton, Hungarian lyric poet, historian, and critic, born 1804, died 1858. As contributor to and editor of various periodicals he played an important part in the development of modern Hungarian literature and drama. A volume of his poems, of high merit, was published in 1835. He also translated a collection of foreign dramas, and edited a series of historical works.
Bakalaha´ri, a Bechuana tribe inhabiting the Kalahari Desert, S. Africa.
Bak´arganj, a maritime district and town in Eastern Bengal; chief rivers: Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna. Area, 3649 sq. miles. Pop. 2,292,000. The town now lies in ruins. Pop. 7000.
Bakau(bä´kou), a town of Roumania, on the Bistritza. Pop. 16,187.
Bakchisarai(ba˙k-chi-sa˙-rī´), orBagtcheserai(Bakh-chi-Sarai) (bäg-che-se-rī; Turk., 'Garden Palace'), an ancient town of Russia, in the Crimea, picturesquely situated at the bottom of a narrow valley, hemmed in by precipices. It contains the palace of the ancient Crimean khans, restored by the Russian Government. Pop. 15,000.
Baker, Sir Richard, an English historian, born in Kent in 1568, educated at Oxford, knighted in 1603 by James I, and in 1620 appointed High Sheriff of Oxfordshire, where he had estates. Having given security for a debt incurred by his wife's family, he was thrown into Fleet Prison, where, after remaining some years, he died in 1645. During his imprisonment he wrote some devotional books and hisChronicle of the Kings of England, first published in 1641, and afterwards continued by Edward Phillips, the nephew of Milton, and others—a work of great popularity in its day, though of no permanent value.
Baker, Sir Samuel White, a distinguished English traveller, born in 1821. He resided some years in Ceylon; in 1861 began his African travels, which lasted several years, in the Upper Nile regions, and resulted, among other discoveries, in that of Albert Nyanza Lake in 1864, and of the exit of the White Nile from it. InAfrica he encountered Speke and Grant after their discovery of the Victoria Nyanza. On his return home he was received with great honour and was knighted. In 1869 he returned to Africa as head of an expedition sent by the Khedive of Egypt to annex and open up to trade a large part of the newly-explored country, being raised to the dignity of pasha. He returned in 1873, having finished his work, and was succeeded by the celebrated Gordon. His writings include:The Rifle and the Hound in Ceylon;Eight Years' Wanderings in Ceylon;The Albert Nyanza;The Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia;Ismailia: a Narrative of the Expedition to Central Africa;Cyprus as I saw it in 1879; also,Cast up by the Sea, a story published in 1868. He died 30th Dec., 1893.
Baker, Thomas, antiquary, born 1656, educated at Cambridge. As a non-juror he lost his living at Long-Newton in 1690, and was compelled to resign his fellowship on the accession of George I, but continued to reside at St. John's College till his death in 1740. HisReflections on Learning(1709-10) went through seven editions. He left in MS. forty-two folio volumes of anAthenæ Cantabrigienses, from which aHistory of St. John's Collegewas edited by Professor Mayor in 1869.
Bakewell, an ancient market town, England, county of Derby, between Buxton and Matlock, possessing a fine Gothic church, a chalybeate spring, a cotton-mill erected by Arkwright, and a large marble-cutting industry. Pop. 3062.
Bakewell, Robert, an English agriculturist, celebrated for his improvements in the breeding of sheep, cattle, and horses, was born in Leicestershire in 1725, and died in 1795. He commenced experiments in breeding sheep, about 1755, upon his father's farm at Dishley, and for fifty years devoted himself to the acquisition and diffusion of information upon the subject. He was the originator of the new Leicestershire breed of sheep, which has since been so well known, and also of a breed of cattle very famous in their day. The demand for his rams increased so considerably, that whereas he let them for the season at £16 per head in 1755, by 1789 they were hired at 6000 guineas. Various improvements in farm management were also introduced by him.
Bakhmut.SeeBachmut.
Bakhuisen.SeeBackhuysen.
Baking, a term meaning 'to cook by dry heat', and primarily applied to the baking of bread. A common application of the term is to a mode of cooking food in a close oven, baking in this case being opposed to roasting or broiling, in which an open fire is used. The oven should not be too close, but ought to be properly ventilated. Baking is also applied to the hardening of earthenware or porcelain by fire. SeeBread.
Baking Powder, a mixture of bicarbonate of soda and tartaric acid, usually with some flour added. The water of the dough causes the liberation of carbonic acid, which makes the bread 'rise'.
Bakony(ba˙-kon´yė)Wald, a thickly wooded mountain range dividing the Hungarian plains, famous for the herds of swine fed on its mast.
Baksheesh´, an Eastern term for a present or gratuity. A demand for baksheesh meets travellers in the East everywhere from Turkey and Egypt to Hindustan.
Baku(bä-kö´), a Russian port on the western shore of the Caspian, occupying part of the Peninsula of Apsheron. The naphtha or petroleum springs of Baku have long been known; and the Field of Fire, so called from emitting inflammable gases, has long been a place of pilgrimage with the Guebres or Fire-worshippers. From the development of the petroleum industry, Baku has greatly increased, and is now a large and flourishing town. About 1500 oil-wells are in operation, producing immense quantities of petroleum (6,448,000 tons in 1917), much of which is led direct in pipes from the wells to the refineries in Baku, and it is intended to lay a pipe for its conveyance all the way to the Black Sea at Batoum, which is already connected with Baku by railway. Some of the wells have had such an outflow of oil as to be unmanageable, and the Baku petroleum now competes successfully with any other in the markets of the world. Baku, formerly the station of the Caspian fleet, is strongly fortified, and has a large shipping trade. The district of Baku lies within the limits of the new Republic of Azerbaijan. Pop. 237,000; pop. of the province, 1,119,600.
Baku´nin, Michael, Russian anarchist, the founder of Nihilism, born 1814 of a rich and noble family, entered the army, but threw up his commission after two years' service, and studied philosophy at Moscow, with his friends Hertzen, Turgeniev, Granovski (historian), and Byelinski (critic). Having adopted Hegel's system as the basis of a new revolution, he went in 1841 to Berlin, and thence to Dresden, Geneva, and Paris, as the propagandist of anarchism. Wherever he went he caused disturbance, and after undergoing imprisonment in various States, was handed over to Russia in 1851 by Austria, imprisoned for five years, and finally sent to Siberia. Escaping thence through Japan, he joined Hertzen in London on the staff of theKolokol. His extreme views, however, ruined the paper and led to a quarrel with Marx and the Internationale; and having fallen into disrepute with his own party in Russia, he diedsuddenly and almost alone at Berne in 1878. He demanded the entire abolition of the State as a State, the absolute equalization of individuals, and the extirpation of hereditary rights and of religion, his conception of the next stage of social progress being purely negative and annihilatory.
Bala, a lake 4 miles long, and an urban district of N. Wales, in Merionethshire. Pop. 1408.
Balaam(bā'lam), a prophet, invited by Balak, King of Moab, to curse the Israelites, but compelled by miracle to bless them instead (Num.xxii-xxiv). In another account he is represented as aiding in the perversion of the Israelites to the worship of Baal, and as being, therefore, slain in the Midianitish war (Num.xxxi;Josh.xiii). He is the subject of many rabbinical fables, the Targumists and Talmudists regarding him, as most of the fathers did, in the light of an impious and godless man.
Bala Beds, orBala Series, a deposit of Upper Ordovician Age, named from the Bala district, North Wales, consisting of slates, grits, sandstones, and limestones, there being two limestones separated by sandy and slaty rocks about 1400 feet thick. They contain trilobites of many species, and other marine fossils. The lower Bala limestone (25 feet thick) may be traced over a large area in North Wales. SeeCaradoc Series,Ordovician System.
Balachong´, an Oriental condiment, composed of small fishes, or shrimps, pounded up with salt and spices and then dried.
Balæ´na, the genus which includes the Greenland or right whale, type of the family Balænidæ, or whale-bone whales.
Balæ´niceps('whale-head'), a genus of wading birds belonging to the Sudan, intermediate between the herons and storks, and characterized by an enormous bill, broad and swollen, giving the only known species (B. rex), also called shoe-bird, a peculiar appearance. It feeds on fishes, water-snakes, carrion, &c., and makes its nest in reeds or grass adjoining water. The bill is yellow, blotched with dark-brown, the general colour of the plumage dusky-grey, the head, neck, and breast slaty, the legs blackish.
Balænop´tera.SeeRorqual.
Balagarh(bä-lä-gar'), town of Hindustan, in the Punjab. Pop. 11,233.
Balaghat´, a district of India, in the Central Provinces, Nagpur division; area, 3146 sq. miles; capital, Burha, a small place. The surface is diversified, comprising extensive uplands as well as lowlands; forests are extensive, and a comparatively small part of the area is under cultivation, rice being the chief crop. Iron exists in considerable quantities, and it is worked in a small way; gold is also worked. Pop. 330,000, almost entirely rural.
Balaguer(ba˙-la˙-gār'), Victor, Spanish author and politician, important writer in the Catalonian dialect, born 1824, died 1901. Born at Barcelona, he studied law there, and, becoming learned in Catalonian history, was appointed archivist and soon after professor of history. In 1869 he entered the Cortes as a Liberal; in 1872 was Minister of Public Works; from 1886 to 1888 Colonial Minister. He wrote much both in prose and verse, his prose comprising historical works, novels, &c., his verse lyrics, ballads, tragedies, odes, &c. His tragedies were partly on subjects taken from Catalonian history, partly on subjects connected with Greek and Roman history or literature. Among his lyrical and other poems are:El Trovador de Montserrat;Primavera de Ultimo Trovador Catalan;Poesias Completas(1874);Obras Poeticas(1880).Don Juan de Serrallongais the most popular of his novels. Among other works of his are:Historia Politica y Literaria de los Trovadores;Historia de Cataluña;Los Pirineos;Cristobal Colon;Estudios Historicos y Politicos;Historias y Tradiciones;Instituciones y Reyes de Aragon. As a poet he was imitative, reminding us of Quintana, Zorilla, and Byron.
Balaklava(ba˙-la˙-klä'va), a small seaport in the Crimea, 8 milesS.S.E.Sevastopol. In the Crimean war it was captured by the British, who used the harbour as a base of supplies. The famous battle of Balaklava was fought some distance to the north of the seaport, on 25th Oct., 1854. The Russians brought a force of 25,000 men against the allies, a much larger force than they had to encounter, and the chief incidents in the battle were as follows: The Russians captured a series of positions occupied by the Turks in front of the British position; a Russian cavalry charge was repulsed by the 93rd Highlanders; a great mass of Russian cavalry was defeated by a charge of British heavy cavalry; the British light cavalry brigade charged and took a Russian battery, and put to flight the cavalry behind it, but were compelled by overpowering force to retreat with heavy loss, their retreat being covered by a brilliant charge of the French. The celebrated charge of the light brigade, or of the 'six hundred', though a brilliant feat of arms, was made under an erroneous interpretation of orders; that of the heavy brigade was equally glorious, and contributed far more to the final repulse of the enemy.
Balako´vo, a river-port of South-Eastern Russia, on the left bank of the Volga, government of Samara, with a very important trade in grain. Pop. 16,000.
Balalai´ka, a musical instrument of very ancient Slavonic origin, common among the Russians and Tartars. It is a narrow, shallow guitar with only two strings.
Bal´ance, an instrument for determining the relative weights of bodies. Balances are of various forms; in that most commonly used a horizontal beam rests so as to turn easily upon a fulcrum in the middle. From the extremities of the beam, called the centres of suspension, hang the scales; and a slender metal pointer between them, and in front of the fulcrum, indicates when the beam is level. The characteristics of a good balance are: (1) that the beam should rest in a horizontal position when the scales are either empty or loaded with equal weights; (2) that a very small addition of weight put into either scale should cause the beam to deviate from the level, which property is denominated the sensibility of the balance; (3) that when the beam is deflected from the horizontal position by inequality of the weights on the scales, it should have a tendency speedily to restore itself and come to rest in the level, which property is called the stability of the balance. To secure these qualities the arms of the beam should be exactly similar, equal in weight and length, and as long as possible; the centres of gravity and suspension should be in one straight line, and the fulcrum immediately above the centre of gravity; and the fulcrum and the centres of suspension should cause as little friction as possible. The fulcrum ought to be a knife-edge; and if the balance requires to be very delicate, the centres of suspension ought to be knife-edges also. If the balance has no tendency to one position more than another, when the scales are either loaded, empty, or off altogether, it is proof that the centre of gravity and the fulcrum coincide, and the remedy is to lower the centre of gravity. If the beam is disturbed by a small addition of weight to either scale, and exhibits no tendency to resume the horizontal position, we may infer that the centre of gravity is above the fulcrum. If it requires a considerable excess of weight to deflect the beam from the level, we may infer either that there is too much friction at the fulcrum, or that the centre of gravity is too low. If two weights are found to be in equipoise, one being in each scale, and if, when that which is in one scale is put into the other, there is no longer equilibrium, then we may infer that the arms of the beam are of unequal lengths. For purposes of accuracy, balances have occasionally means of raising or depressing the centre of gravity, of regulating the length of the arms, &c., and the whole apparatus is usually enclosed in a glass case, to prevent the heat from expanding the arms unequally, or currents of air from disturbing the equilibrium. A refinement in weighing is obtained by the use of the milligram rider, a short bent wire which can be moved along a scale engraved on the beam.