BarberryBarberry(Berbĕris aristata)
Bar´berry, a genus of shrubs, nat. ord. Berberidaceæ. The common barberry (Berbĕris vulgāris) has serrate, pointed leaves (the primary ones reduced to tripartite spines), hanging clusters of yellow flowers, and small, orange-red berries, which are sometimes made into preserves. The inner bark and roots yield a fine yellow dye (berberine). The shrub is a native of temperate Asia, but is now generally diffused through Europe and N. America. In Britain it has been almost universally banished from hedgerows, owing to its connection with the black rust of wheat. Numerous other species inhabit Asia and America; those of the section Mahonia have pinnate leaves.B. aristatais an erect bush, with furrowed red-brown branches, and pendulous clusters of yellow flowers; it thrives best in the south. SeeIrritabilityandRust.
Bar´berton, the chief mining-centre of De Kaap gold-fields, Transvaal, about 80 miles from Lydenburg, and 150 to 160 from Delagoa Bay. British prisoners were confined here in the Boer War (1899-1902). Pop. about 2000 (whites).
Bar´bets(Bucconidæ), a family of climbing birds with a thick conical beak, having tufts of bristles at its base. Their wings are short and their flight somewhat heavy. They have been divided into three sub-genera: Thebarbicans(Pogonias), inhabiting India and Africa, and feeding chiefly on fruit; thebarbetsproper (Bucco), found in Africa and America, and nearly related to the woodpeckers; and thepuff-birds(Tamatia), inhabiting America, and feeding on insects.
Barbette(ba˙r-bet´), an elevation of earth behind the breastwork of a fortification, from which the artillery may be fired over the parapet instead of through an embrasure. In ships of war the name is given to a strong breastwork of armour over which heavy guns are fired. SeeFortification.
Barbeyrac(ba˙r-bā-ra˙k), Jean, an able writer on jurisprudence and natural law, translator of Grotius and Cumberland, and translator and annotator of Pufendorf. Born 1674; professor of law at Lausanne and Groningen; died 1744.
Barbican.SeeBarbacan.
Barbié du Bocage(ba˙rb-yā dü bō-käzh), Jean Denis, a distinguished geographer, born in Paris in 1760, who laid the foundation of his fame in 1788 by hisAtlasto Barthélemy'sVoyage du Jeune Anacharsis. His maps and plans to the works of Thucydides, Xenophon, &c., exhibit much erudition, and materially advanced the science of ancient geography. He also prepared many modern maps, and published various excellent dissertations. He held many honourable posts, and died in 1825.
Barbier(ba˙rb-yā), Antoine Alexandre, bibliographer (1765-1825). He was appointed keeper of the library of the Conseil d'État in 1798; Napoleon made him his librarian in 1807; and he was afterwards librarian to Louis XVIII. HisCatalogue de la Bibliothèque du Conseil d'État(1801-3), andDictionnaire des Ouvrages Anonymes et Pseudonymes(1806-9), are both valuable works.
Barbieri(ba˙r-bē-ā´rē), Giovanni Francesco (otherwise known asGuercino(the squinter)da Cento), an eminent and prolific historical painter, born near Bologna 1590, died in 1666. His style showed the influence of Caravaggio and of the Caracci, his best work being of the latter school. Chief work, aSt. Petronillain the Capitol at Rome; but most of the large galleries have pictures by him.
Barbieri, Paolo Antonio, a celebrated still-life and animal painter, was a brother of Guercino; born 1596, died 1640.
Barbitone.SeeVeronal.
Barbizon(ba˙r-bē-zōn), a French village about 25 miles south by east of Paris, on the borders of the Forest of Fontainebleau, and 6 miles north-west of the town of that name. It has given its name to a French school of painters, including Corot, Millet, Rousseau, Jules Dupré, and Daubigny.
Bar´bour, John, an ancient Scottish poet, contemporary with Chaucer, born about 1316. By 1357 he was Archdeacon of Aberdeen, and in the following year was appointed a commissioner to treat for the ransom of David II. He appears as Auditor of the Exchequer more than once; he travelled through England on several occasions, and was pensioned by Robert II. His chief poem,The Bruce(Brus), written about 1375, was first published in 1571, and the chief manuscripts of the poem are those in the Advocates' Library, Edinburgh, dated 1489, and in St. John's College, Cambridge. Of another long poem, setting forth the Trojan origin of the Scottish kings, no MS. remains, unless a portion of two Troy books in the Cambridge and Bodleian libraries may be ascribed to Barbour. He has also been credited with having compiled aBook of Legends of Saints, existing in a single MS. at Cambridge, and published in 1881-2 by Horstman in hisLegenden Sammlung. He died in 1395. He was the father of Scottish poetry and history, and hisBruceis linguistically of high value. Though wanting in the higher qualities of poetry, it is truthful and natural, and often exhibits a high moral dignity.—Bibliography: Andrew Lang,History of Scotland; Irving,History of Scottish Poetry.
Barbuda(ba˙r-bö´da), one of the West Indies, annexed by Britain in 1628; about 15 miles long and 8 miles wide; lying north of Antigua; pop. 580. It is flat, fertile, and healthy. Corn, cotton, pepper, and tobacco are the principal produce, but the island is only partially cleared for cultivation. There is no harbour, but a well-sheltered roadstead on the west side. It is a dependency of Antigua.
Barbusse, Henri, a French author born at Asnières in 1874. He served in the French army during the European War, and his descriptions of the realities of modern warfare have made him famous. His works includeLe FeuandClarté.
Barby(bär´bē), a German town on the Elbe, in the government of Magdeburg, with an old castle. Pop. 5202.
Bar´ca, a division of N. Africa, between the Gulf of Sidra and Egypt, annexed by Italy in 1911-2; capital, Bengazi. It formed a portion of the ancient Cyrenaica, and from the time of the Ptolemies was known as Pentapolis from its five Greek cities. It became part of Tripoli, and later a separate province under Turkish dominion. On 18th Oct., 1912, it was formally recognized as a dependency of Italy, and forms with Tripoli the Italian colony of Libya. The country consists of a rocky plateau. A large portion of it is desert, but some parts, especially near the coast, are fertile, and yield abundant crops and excellent pasture, the chief being wheat, barley, dates, figs, and olives. Flowering shrubs, roses, honeysuckles, &c., occur in great variety. There are hardly any permanent streams, but the eastern portion is tolerably well watered by rains and springs. The exports are grain and cattle, with ostrich feathers and ivory from the interior. Next to Bengazi (pop. 35,000), the seaport of Derna is the chief town (pop. 8000). The population probably does not exceed 300,000. SeeCyrenaicaandTripoli.
Barcarolle(-rol´), a species of song sung by thebarcaruoli, or gondoliers, of Venice, and hence applied to a song or melody composed in imitation. A very well-known example is to be found in Offenbach'sTales of Hoffmann.
Barcellona(ba˙r-chel-ō´na˙), seaport, Sicily, province of Messina, immediately contiguous to Pozzo di Gotto, and practically forming one town with it. Joint pop. 26,172.
Barcelona(ba˙r-thel-ō´na˙), next to Madrid the chief city of Spain, capital of the province of Barcelona, and formerly capital of the kingdom of Catalonia; finely situated on the northern portion of the Spanish Mediterranean coast. It is divided into the upper and lower town; the former modern, regular, stone-built, and often of an English architectural type, the latter old, irregular, brick-built, and with traces of Eastern influence in the architecture. The harbour is suited to accommodate large vessels. The principal manufactures are cottons, silks, woollens, machinery, paper, glass, chemicals, stoneware, soap; exports manufactured goods, wine and brandy, fruit, oil, &c.; imports coals, textile fabrics, machinery, cotton, fish, hides, silks, timber, &c. The city contains a university, several public libraries, a museum, a large arsenal, cannon-foundry, &c. Barcelona was, until the twelfth century, governed by its own counts, but was afterwards united with Arragon. In 1640, with the rest of Catalonia, it placed itself under the French Crown; in 1652 it submitted again to the Spanish Government; in 1697 it was taken by the French, but was restored to Spain at the Peace of Ryswick. It has had several severe visitations of cholera and yellow fever, and has been the scene of many serious and sanguinary revolts, as in 1836, 1840, and 1909. Pop. 618,766.—The province has an area of 2968 sq. miles; pop. 1,191,386 (1918). It is generally mountainous, but well cultivated, and among the most thickly peopled in Spain.
Barcelona, a town of Venezuela, near the mouth of the Neveri, which is navigable for vessels of small size, but larger vessels anchor off the mouth of the river. Pop. 13,000.
Barcelona Nuts, hazel-nuts exported from the Barcelona district of Spain.
Bar´clay, Alexander, a poet of the sixteenth century, most probably a native of Scotland, born about 1475; for some years a priest and chaplain of St. Mary Ottery, in Devonshire; afterwards a Benedictine monk of Ely; subsequently a Franciscan, and also the holder of one or two livings; died 1552. His principal work was a satire, entitledThe Shyp of Folys of this Worlde, part translation and part imitation of Brandt'sNarrenschiff(Ship of Fools), and printed by Pynson in 1509. He also wroteThe Myrrour of Good Maners, and someEgloges(Eclogues), both printed by Pynson, as well as translations, &c.
Barclay, John, poet and satirist, son of a Scottish father, born at Pont-à-Mousson (Lorraine) in 1582, and probably educated in the Jesuits' College there. Having settled in England, he published a Latin politico-satirical romance, entitledEuphormionis Satyricon, having as its object the exposure of the Jesuits. In 1616 he left England for Rome, received a pension from Pope Paul V, and died in 1621. His chief work is a singular romance in Latin, entitledArgenis(Paris, 1621), thought by some to be an allegory bearing on the political state of Europe at the period. Several seventeenth-century romances were indebted to this work, among others Fénelon'sTélémaqueand Calderon'sArgenis y Poliarco. It has been translated into several modern languages. His shorter poems appeared in theDelitiæ Poetarum Scotorum,
Barclay, Robert, the celebrated apologist of the Quakers, born in 1648 at Gordonstown, Moray, and educated at Paris, where he became a Roman Catholic. He was recalled home by his father, whose example he followed in becoming a Quaker. His first treatise in support of his adopted principles, published at Aberdeen in the year 1670, under the title ofTruth Cleared of Calumnies, together with his subsequent writings, did much to rectify public sentiment in regard to the Quakers. His chief work, in Latin,An Apology for the True Christian Divinity, was soon reprinted at Amsterdam, and quickly translated into German, Dutch, French, and Spanish, and, by the author himself, into English. His fame was now widely diffused; and, in his travels with William Penn and George Fox through England, Holland, and Germany, to spread the opinions of the Quakers, he was received everywhere with the highest respect. The last of his productions,On the Possibility and Necessity of an Inward and Immediate Revelation, was not published in England until 1686; from which time Barclay lived quietly with his family. He died, after a short illness, at his own house of Ury, Kincardineshire, in 1690. He was a friend of and had influence with James II.
Barclay, Sir Thomas, British barrister, born in 1853. Educated at the Universities of London, Paris, Bonn, and Jena, he was sent to Paris in 1876 as correspondent ofThe Times. He has been greatly instrumental in bringing about a better understanding between England and France. He was knighted in 1904, and entered Parliament in 1910. His works include:Problems of International Practice and Diplomacy;The Turco-Italian War and its Problems;Law and Usage of War.
Barclay de Tolly, Michael, Prince, a distinguished general and field-marshal of Russia, born in 1755. His family, of Scottish origin, had been established in Livonia since 1689. He entered the army at an early age, served in various campaigns against the Turks, Swedes, and Poles, and in 1811 was named Minister of War. On the invasion of Napoleon he was transferred to the chief command of the army, and adopted a plan of retreat; his forces did not greatly exceed 100,000 men, but the Court became impatient, and after the capture of Smolensk by the French he was superseded by Kutusov. Sinking all personal feeling, he asked leave to serve under his successor, commanded the right wing at the battle of the Moskwa, maintained his position, and covered the retreat of the rest of the army. After the battle of Bautzen, in 1813, he was reappointed to the chief command, which he had soon after to resign to Prince Schwarzenberg. He forced the surrender of General Vandamme after the battle of Dresden, took part in the decisive battle of Leipzig, and was made a field-marshal in Paris. In 1815 he received from the emperor the title of prince, and from Louis XVIII the badge of the Order of Military Merit. He died in 1818.
Bar-cochba(ba˙r-koh´ba˙), orBar-cochebas, Simon, a Jewish impostor, who pretended to be the Messiah, raised a revolt, and made himself master of Jerusalem aboutA.D.132, and of about fifty fortified places. Hadrian sent to Britain for Julius Severus, one of his ablest generals, who gradually regained the different forts and then took and destroyed Jerusalem. Bar-cochba retired to a mountain fortress, and perished in the assault of it by the Romans three years after, about 135.
Bar´coo.SeeCooper's Creek.
Bard, one of an order among the ancient Celtic tribes, whose occupation was to compose and sing verses in honour of the heroic achievements of princes and brave men, generally to the accompaniment of the harp. Their verses alsofrequently embodied religious or ethical precepts, genealogies, laws, &c. Their existence and function was known to the Romans two centuriesB.C.; but of the Gallic bards only the tradition of their popularity survives. The first Welsh bards of whom anything is extant are Taliesin, Aneurin, and Llywarch, of the sixth century. A considerable lacuna then occurs in their history until the order was reconstituted in the tenth century by King Howel Dha, and again in the eleventh by Gryffith ap Conan. Edward I is said to have hanged all the Welsh bards as promoters of sedition. Some modern attempts have been made in Wales to revive bardism, and the Cambrian Society was formed in 1818, for this purpose and for the preservation of the remains of the ancient literature. The revived Eisteddfodau, or bardic festivals, have been so far exceedingly popular. In Ireland there were three classes of bards: those who sang of war, religion, &c., those who chanted the laws, and those who gave genealogies and family histories in verse. They were famous harpists. In the Highlands of Scotland there are considerable remains of compositions supposed to be those of their old bards still preserved.—Bibliography: E. Jones,Relics of the Welsh Bards; Walker,Memoirs of the Irish Bards; Dottin,Manuel de l'Antiquité Celtique; John Rhys and D. Brynmor-Jones,The Welsh People; D. D. Evans,Ancient Bards of Britain.
Bardesa´nes, a Syrian Gnostic, poet, astrologer, and philosopher, born 154 or 164 at Edessa, died 222. His system started with the statement that from the union of God with matter sprang Christ and a female Holy Ghost, from whom in turn sprang various existences. He propagated his doctrines in Syrian hymns (Hymn on the Soul), the first in the language. His son, Harmonius, was also an able hymn-writer. The Bardesanists maintained themselves till the twelfth century, the later adherents having practically adopted Manichæism.
Bardwan´, orBurdwan´, a division of Bengal, upon the Hugli, comprising the six districts of Bardwan, Hugli, Howrah, Midnapur, Bankura, and Birbhum. Area, 13,850 sq. miles; pop. 8,245,000.—The districtBardwanhas an area of 2697 sq. miles, and a pop. of 1,532,500. Apart from its products, rice, grain, hemp, cotton, indigo, &c., it has a noted coal-field of about 500 sq. miles in area, with an annual output of about half a million tons.—The town ofBardwanhas a fine palace of the Maharajah and a pop. of 35,022.
Barebone, orBarbone, Praise-God, the name of a leather-seller in Fleet Street, London, who obtained a kind of lead in the convention which Cromwell substituted for the Long Parliament, and which was thence nicknamed the Barebone Parliament. After its dissolution he disappeared till 1660, when he presented a petition to Parliament against the restoration of the monarchy. In 1661 he was committed to the Tower for some time, but his subsequent history is unknown.
Barefooted Friars.SeeMonasticism.
Barége(ba-rāzh´), a light, open tissue of silk and worsted, or cotton and worsted, for women's dresses, originally manufactured near Baréges. It is now made chiefly at Bagnères-de-Bigorre.
Baréges(ba˙-rāzh), a watering-place, south of France, department Hautes-Pyrénées, about 4000 feet above the sea, celebrated for its thermal springs, which are frequented for rheumatism, scrofula, &c. The place is hardly inhabited except in the bathing season, June till September.
Baregine(ba-rāzh´in; fromBaréges), a gelatinous product of certain algæ growing in sulphuric mineral springs, and imparting to them the colour and odour of flesh-broth.
Bareilly(ba-rā´li), a town of Hindustan, in the United Provinces, capital of a district of same name, on a pleasant and elevated site. It has a fort and cantonments, a Government college, and manufactures sword-cutlery, gold and silver lace, perfumery, furniture and upholstery. On the outbreak of the Indian Mutiny the native garrison took possession of the place, but it was retaken by Lord Clyde in May, 1858. Pop. 129,462.—The district has an area of 1595 sq. miles; pop. 1,089,550.
Bar´ents, William, a Dutch navigator of the end of the sixteenth century, who, on an expedition intended to reach China by the North-East Passage, discovered Novaya Zemlya. He wintered there in 1596-7, and died before reaching home.
Baret´ti, Joseph, an Italian writer, born at Turin, 1719. In 1748 he came to England, and in 1753 published in English aDefence of the Poetry of Italy against the Censures of M. Voltaire. In 1760 he brought out a usefulItalian and English Dictionary. After an absence of six years, during part of which he edited theFrusta Letteraria(Literary Scourge) at Venice, he returned to England, and in 1768 published anAccount of the Manners and Customs of Italy. Not long after, in defending himself in a street brawl, he stabbed his assailant and was tried for murder at the Old Bailey but acquitted, Johnson, Burke, Goldsmith, Garrick, Reynolds, and Beauclerk giving testimony to his good character. AnEnglish and Spanish Dictionary, and various other works, followed before his death in 1789.
Barfleur(ba˙r-fleur), at one time the best port on the coast of Normandy, and the reputed port from which William the Conqueror sailed. It was destroyed in the year 1346 by Edward III. Present pop. 1304.
Barfrush´, orBarfurush´, Same asBalfroosh.
Bargain and Sale, a legal term denoting the contract by which lands, tenements, &c., are transferred from one person to another. SeeConveyancing.
Barge, a term similar in origin tobarque, but generally used of a flat-bottomed boat of some kind, whether used for loading and unloading vessels, or as a canal-boat, or as an ornamental boat of state or pleasure.
Barge-boardBarge-board or gable-end of Manor House, Bramley, Hants.
Barge-board(perhaps a corruption ofverge-board), in architecture, a board generally pendent from the eaves of gables, so as to conceal the rafters, keep out rain, &c. They are sometimes elaborately ornamented. The portion of the roof projecting from the wall at the gable-end, and beneath which the barge-board runs, is termed thebarge-course.
Barham(bar'am), Rev. Richard Harris, a humorous writer, born in 1788 at Canterbury; educated at St. Paul's School, London, and at Brasenose, Oxford; appointed in succession curate of Ashford, curate of Westwell, rector of Snargate in Romney Marsh, and one of the minor canons of St. Paul's Cathedral. He published two novels,BaldwinandMy Cousin Nicholas, wrote nearly a third of the articles in Gorton'sBiographical Dictionary, and contributed toBlackwood's Magazine. In 1824 he was appointed priest in ordinary of the Chapel Royal, and afterwards rector of St. Mary Magdalene and St. Gregory-by-St.-Paul, London. In 1837, on the starting ofBentley's Miscellany, he laid the main foundation of his literary fame by the publication in that periodical of theIngoldsby Legends. He died in 1845.
Barhebræ´us.SeeAbulfaragius.
Bari(bä'rē; ancient,Barium), a seaport, S. Italy, on a small promontory of the Adriatic, capital of the province Terra di Bari. It was a place of importance as early as the third centuryB.C., and has been thrice destroyed and rebuilt. The present town, though poorly built for the most part, has a large Norman castle, a fine cathedral and priory, &c. It manufactures cotton and linen goods, hats, soap, glass, and liqueurs; has a trade in wine, grain, almonds, oil, &c., and is now an important seaport. In 1915 the town suffered considerably from floods. Pop. 109,218.—The province has an area of 2048 sq. miles, and is fertile in fruit, wine, oil, &c.; pop. 935,982.
Bari, a negro people of Africa, dwelling on both sides of the White Nile, between lat. 3° 30' and 6°N.They practise agriculture, cattle-rearing, smithwork, &c. Their country was conquered by Baker for Egypt.
Baril´la, is the commercial name for impure sodium carbonate imported from Spain and the Levant. At one time all sodium carbonate required for industrial purposes was prepared from barilla obtained by burning various marine plants (Salsola, Salicornia, and others). Only 25 per cent of the weight of the ash contained soda, and consequently its import was expensive and considerably added to the price of the manufacture of glass and soap. During the Napoleonic wars the price of barilla rose to such a height that Napoleon offered a reward for the discovery of a process for the manufacture of sodium carbonate. A chemist, Leblanc, in 1791 invented a new process by which sodium carbonate could be obtained from common salt, and this entirely superseded barilla. Plants are still grown in Southern France and Spain to obtain soda and other substances from the ash; but almost all the sodium carbonate of the present day is manufactured chemically.
Baring, the name of a famous English family of bankers and financiers, statesmen and diplomats, from which has arisen the financial house of Baring Brothers & Co., and of which members now hold four peerages, namely, two earldoms—Northbrook and Cromer—and two baronies—Ashburton and Revelstoke. The founder of the house was Francis Baring (1740-1810), whose father was a cloth manufacturer near Exeter, and grandfather pastor of the Lutheran Church at Bremen, the family being thus of German origin. Francis Baring settled in London, attained a high position in the mercantile and financial world, was long a member of Parliament and a director of the East India Company, and was made a baronet in 1793. Of his sons, one, Alexander, was created Baron Ashburton (in 1835), and rendered important political services in connection with the boundary treaty concluded between Britain and the United States, and known by his title (seeAshburton,Ashburton Treaty). His son, the second Lord Ashburton (1799-1864), held a position of some note in politics, and his first wife, a daughter of the sixth Earl of Sandwich, was fond of the society of both politicians and literary men, among those who were on friendly terms with her beingCarlyle and Thackeray. Sir Francis Baring's eldest son, Thomas, was father of Francis Thornhill Baring, first Lord Northbrook (1796-1866), whose eldest son, Thomas, was created Earl of Northbrook in 1876, and held successively a number of high positions, among them that of Viceroy of India (1872-6) and First Lord of the Admiralty (1880-5). (SeeNorthbrook.) Another son of Sir Francis, Henry Baring, was father of Edward Baring, the first Baron Revelstoke (born in 1828, died in 1897), who was long one of the most conspicuous members of the financial world of London, and was raised to the peerage as baron in 1885. He had full management of the great house of Baring Brothers, which under him was long most prosperous, but in 1890 fell into temporary difficulties. Henry Baring was father also of Evelyn Baring, Earl Cromer (q.v.).
Baring-Gould(bā-ring-gōld´), Sabine, English clergyman and author, born at Exeter, 1834. Educated at Cambridge, he held several livings in the English Church, and in 1881 became rector of Lew Trenchard, Devon. After publishing several books on theological and miscellaneous subjects, he distinguished himself as a novelist. Among his works are:Iceland, its Scenes and Sagas;Curious Myths of the Middle Ages;The Origin and Development of Religious Belief;Lives of the Saints(in 15 vols.);Village Sermons;The Vicar of Morwenstowe(an account of the Rev. R. S. Hawker);The Mystery of Suffering;History of the Church in Germany;The Tragedy of the Cæsars;Cliff Castles and Cave Dwellings;The Church Revival; &c.; besides the novelsMehalah,John Herring,Richard Cable,The Gaverocks,Court Royal,The Pennycomequicks, &c.; and short stories or novelettes.
Baringo, a lake in Africa,N.E.of the Victoria Nyanza, about 20 miles long.
Bar´itone, orBar´ytone, a male voice, the compass of which partakes of those of the common bass and the tenor, but does not extend so far downwards as the one, nor to an equal height with the other. Its best tones are from the lower A of the bass clef to the lower F in the treble.
Ba´rium(from the Gr.barys, heavy), the metal of whichbarytais the oxide; specific gravity 4; symbol Ba. It is only found in compounds, such as the common sulphate (orbarytes) and carbonate, and was isolated by Davy in 1808. It is a yellow malleable metal, which readily oxidizes, decomposes water, and fuses at a low temperature. Its nitrate and chlorate are used in pyrotechny. Barium salts, when brought into a non-luminous flame, burn with a yellowish-green colour. SeeBaryta.
BarkMagnified Section of Oak-bark.A, Epidermis. B, Cells containing chlorophyll or colouring matter. C, Liber or Bast. D, Cambium. E, Sapwood.
A, Epidermis. B, Cells containing chlorophyll or colouring matter. C, Liber or Bast. D, Cambium. E, Sapwood.
Bark, properly theperiderm, or outer covering, of woody stems and roots, composed of dead tissues cut off from the living parts of the organ by one or more layers of impervious cork. It serves to prevent loss of water, and also affords protection against animals and fungi. The outermost bark is continually sloughed in the form of scales (Scots Pine) or sheets (Common Birch), being regenerated from within by the activity of the cork-cambium (phellogen). Bark is usually rich in waste-products, many of which are of economic value, such as tannin, gums, &c. Bottle-cork is the bark of the cork-oak. Bark for tanning is obtained from oak, hemlock-spruce, species of acacia, &c. Peruvian and Angostura barks, cinnamon, &c., are other useful barks. As commonly used, bark denotes all the tissues external to thecambium.
Bark.SeeBarque.
Bark, Peruvian.SeeCinchona.
Barker, Granville, playwright, was born in London in 1877. His principal plays are:The Voysey Inheritance(1905),Waste(1907),The Madras House(1910). He has published a book (in which William Archer collaborated) calledA National Theatre, and another entitledThe Red Cross in France. His revivals of Shakespeare have introduced some new ideas of mounting and stage-effects.
Barker's Mill, also called Scottish turbine, a hydraulic machine on the principle of what is known as the hydraulic tourniquet. This consists of an upright vessel free to rotate about a vertical axis, and having at its lower end two discharging pipes projecting horizontally on either side and bent in opposite directions at the ends, through which the water is discharged horizontally, the direction of discharge being mainly at right angles to a line joining the dischargingorifice to the axis. The backward pressures at the bends of the tubes, arising from the two issuing jets of water, cause the apparatus to revolve in an opposite direction to the issuing fluid. The machine was invented by a Dr. Barker towards the end of the seventeenth century.
Barking, a town, England, county of Essex, on the Roding, 7 milesN.E.of London, with some important manufacturing works. Near it is the outfall of the sewage of a large part of London. Pop. (1921), 35,543.
Barkston Ash, a parliamentary division of the West Riding of Yorkshire.
Bark-stove, orBark-bed, a sort of hothouse for forcing or for growing plants that require a great heat combined with moisture, both of which are supplied by the fermentation that sets up in a bed of spent tanner's bark contained in a brick pit under glass.
Bar´laam and Jos´aphat, a famous mediæval spiritual romance, which is in its main details a Christianized version of the Hindu legends of Buddha. The story first appeared in Greek in the works of Joannes Damascenus in the eighth century. It is, however, more probably the work of a monk of the Sabbas monastery, near Jerusalem, and written at the beginning of the seventh century. The compilers of theGesta Romanorum, Boccaccio, Gower, and Shakespeare have all drawn materials from it.—Bibliography: Max Müller,Chips from a German Workshop; J. Jacobs,Barlaam and Josaphat, (There is a translation by Rev. G. R. Woodward and H. Mattingly in the Loeb Library).
Bar-le-duc(ba˙r-l-du˙k), a town of North-East France, capital of department Meuse, with manufactures of cotton and woollen stuffs, leather, confectionery, &c. Pop. 17,068.
Barlet´ta, a seaport in South Italy, province of Bari, on the Adriatic, with a fine Gothic cathedral; it has a considerable export trade in grain, wine, almonds, &c. Pop. 44,233.
Bar´ley, the name of several cereal plants of the genus Hordeum, ord. Gramineæ: (grasses), yielding a grain used as food and also for making malt, from which are prepared beer, porter, and whisky. Barley has been known and cultivated from remote antiquity, and beer was made from it among the Egyptians. It is mentioned inExodus, in connection with the ten plagues; and it is referred to in ancient Chinese records. Excellent barley is produced in Britain. The species principally cultivated areHordĕum distĭchum, two-rowed barley;H. vulgāre, four-rowed barley; andH. hexastichum, six-rowed, of which the small variety is the sacred barley of the ancients. The varieties of the four- and six-rowed species are generally coarser than those of the two-rowed, and adapted for a poorer soil and more exposed situation. Some of these are calledbereorbigg. In Britain barley occupies more than 22½ per cent of the land under corn, but in N. America the extent of it as a crop is comparatively small, being in Canada, however, relatively greater than in the States, and the Canadian barley is of very high quality. Barley is better adapted for cold climates than any other grain, and some of the coarser varieties are cultivated where no other cereal can be grown. Russia devotes a surface of over 20,000,000 acres to barley, i.e. a little under 11 per cent of the cereal area of the country. Germany has 4,000,000 and France 1,800,000 acres of barley. Some species of the genus, three of which are natives of Britain, are mere grasses.PotorScotch barleyis the grain deprived of the husk in a mill.Pearl barleyis the grain polished and rounded and deprived of husk and pellicle.Patent barleyis the farina obtained by grinding pearl barley.Barley-water, a decoction of pearl barley, is used in medicine as possessing emollient, diluent, and expectorant qualities.
Barley-sugar. SeeConfectionery;Sugar.
Bar´low, Joel, an American poet and diplomatist, born 1755. After an active and changeful life as chaplain, lawyer, editor, land-agent, lecturer, and consul, he went to Paris and acquired a fortune. On his return to America he was appointed Minister Plenipotentiary to France (1811), but died near Cracow in 1812 on his way to meet Napoleon. His principal poem,The Columbiad(The Vision of Columbus), dealing with American history from the time of Columbus, was published in 1807.
Barm.SeeYeast.
Bar´mecides(-sīdz), a distinguished Persian family, whose virtues and splendour form a favourite subject with Mahommedan poets and historians. Two eminent members of this family were Khaled-ben-Barmek, tutor of Haroun al Rashid, and his son Yahya, grand vizier of Haroun. The expressionBarmecide Feast, meaning a visionary banquet or make-believe entertainment, originates from the Barber's story of his Sixth Brother in theArabian Nights' Entertainments.
Bar´men, a German city on the Wupper, in the Prussian Rhine Province, government of Düsseldorf, and forming a continuation of the town of Elberfeld, in the valley of Barmen. It has extensive ribbon and other textile manufactures; also dyeworks, manufactures of chemicals, metal wares, buttons, yarns, iron, machines, pianos, organs, soap, &c. In 1919 Barmen was the scene of Spartacist disorders. Pop. 169,214.
Barmouth, Welsh nameAbermaw, a small seaport and watering-place of Wales, in Merionethshire, at the entrance of Barmouth Bay, afine estuary. It is picturesquely situated, and has become a favourite resort of tourists and others. Pop. (1921), 3559.
Bar´nabas, the surname, according toActs, iv, 36-7, given by the apostles to Joseph, a fellow-labourer of St. Paul, and, like him, ranked as an apostle. He is said to have founded at Antioch the first Christian community, to have been first Bishop of Milan, and to have suffered martyrdom at Cyprus. His festival is held on the 11th June.
Barnabas, Saint, Epistle of, an epistle in twenty-one chapters unanimously ascribed to Barnabas by early Christian writers, but without any support of internal evidence. It was probably written aboutA.D.130 (or, according to others, betweenA.D.70 and 79) by one who was not a Jew, and under the influence of Alexandrian Judaistic thought. SeeCodex(Sinaiticus).
Barnabites, an order of monks founded in Milan in 1530 and named after the Milan church of St. Barnabas which was allotted them to preach in. On their expulsion from France in 1905, the majority of the Barnabites sought refuge in England. A few monasteries of the order still exist in Italy, Belgium, Austria, and Spain.
BarnaclesBarnacles hanging from timber
Bar´nacle, the name of a family (Lepadidæ) of marine crustaceous animals, ord. Cirripedia. They are enveloped by a mantle and shell, composed of five principal valves and several smaller pieces, joined together by a membrane attached to their circumference; and they are furnished with a long, flexible, fleshy stalk or peduncle, provided with muscles, by which they attach themselves to ships' bottoms, submerged timber, &c. They feed on small marine animals, brought within their reach by the water and secured by their tentacula. Some of the larger species are edible. According to an old fable, these animals produced barnacle geese.
Barnacle Goose(Anser Berniclaorleucopsis), a summer visitant of the northern seas, in size rather smaller than the common wild goose, and having the forehead and cheeks white, the upper body and neck black. A fable asserts that the crustaceans called barnacles changed into geese, and various theories have been framed to account for its origin. Max Müller supposes the geese were originally calledHiberniculæor Irish geese, and that barnacle is a corruption of this; but the resemblance of a barnacle to a goose hanging by the head may account for it. The Brent Goose is also sometimes called the Barnacle Goose, but the two should not be confused.
Barnard-Castle, a town, England, County Durham, giving name to a parliamentary division of the county. There are a large thread-mill and carpet manufactories; the Bowes Museum and Art Gallery, endowed by private munificence, and costing over £80,000; and the Northern Counties School, richly endowed. The castle was originally built about 1178 by Bernard Baliol, grandfather of John Baliol. Pop. 4737.
Barnar´do, Thomas John, philanthropist, born in Ireland in 1845, qualified as a medical practitioner, studying in London, Edinburgh, and Paris, established his first home for neglected London children in 1867, and for the rest of his life was engaged in the same class of work. Up to his death in 1905 he had nearly 60,000 destitute waifs cared for and trained in the institutions with which his name is connected, many of the children having been sent to Canada or other colonies. The Barnardo homes and institutions have become very numerous, being established in various English counties as well as in London, a few being in Canada. A naval training-school for boys is included among them. It was a rule of the founder that no destitute child should be refused admission. The homes have since 1899 been under a council or bodyincorporated under the title of the National Incorporated Waifs Association, but continue to be managed on the same lines as before. Dr. Barnardo publishedSomething Attempted, Something Done;The Rescue of Waifs; &c.—Cf. J. H. Batt,Dr. Barnardo, the Foster-father of Nobody's Children.
Barnaul´, a town of Siberia, government of Tomsk, on the Barnaulski, near its influx into the Obi. The town is of wood but well built, with museum, observatory, &c. It is an important mining centre for lead, copper, and silver, has a copper-mint, kilns, and factories. Pop. 61,330.
Barnave(ba˙r-näv), Antoine-Pierre-Joseph-Marie, a distinguished French revolutionist, born 1761, died 1793. He successfully maintained against Mirabeau the right of the National Assembly, as against that of the king, to declare for peace or war, but afterwards asserted the inviolability of the king's person. He was impeached, condemned, and guillotined.
Barnes, an urban district of England, in Surrey, on the right bank of the Thames, a short distance above London, connected with Middlesex by Hammersmith Suspension Bridge. There is here a common of 120 acres, one of the preserved open spaces of the metropolitan area. Pop. (1921), 34,281.
Barnes(bärnz), Albert, theologian, born in the State of New York, 1798. In 1825 he was ordained pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Morristown, New Jersey, and from 1830 till his death in 1870 had charge of the first Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. He is chiefly known by hisNotes on the New TestamentandNotes on the Old Testament.
Barnes, Rt. Hon. George Nicoll, British Labour leader, born at Dundee, in Scotland, in 1859. After working as an engineer he became assistant secretary of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers in 1892, and was general secretary from 1896 to 1906. He entered Parliament in 1906, became Minister for Pensions in 1916, member of War Cabinet in 1917, and was Minister without portfolio from 1919 to Jan., 1920. He was a British representative at the Peace Conference in Paris.
Barnes, William, English dialect poet and philologist, born in Dorsetshire in 1800, died 1886. Of humble birth, he first entered a solicitor's office, then taught at a school in Dorchester, and having taken orders became rector of Winterbourne Came in his native county and died there. He acquired a knowledge of many languages, and published works on Anglo-Saxon and English, asAn Anglo-Saxon Delectus,A Philological Grammar(grounded upon English),Grammar and Glossary of the Dorset Dialect, &c., but is best known by hisPoems of Rural Life in the Dorset DialectandPoems of Rural Life in Common English.
Bar´net, a town of England, in Herts, 11 miles from London, where was fought in 1471 a battle between the Yorkists and Lancastrians, resulting in the defeat of the latter and the death of Warwick, Edward IV being thus established king. Pop. (1921), 11,772.
Barnett, John, musical composer, son of Bernhard Beer, a German, born at Bedford 1802, died 1890. He composed music as a lad, and his songs and ballads soon had great vogue. In 1834 his operaThe Mountain Sylphwas produced with success, and three years after was followed by the less successfulFair Rosamond. For many years before his death he was little heard of.
Barnett, John Francis, nephew of the former, born in 1837, died in 1916, was also a distinguished musician and teacher, author of cantatas:The Ancient Mariner,Paradise and the Peri,The Raising of Lazarus,The Building of the Ship, and of various other works.
Barneveldt(bär'ne-velt), Johan van Olden, grand pensionary of Holland during the struggle with Philip II of Spain, born in 1547. After the assassination of William of Orange, and the conquest of the south provinces by the Spaniards under Parma, he headed the embassy to secure English aid. Finding, however, that the Earl of Leicester proved a worse than useless ally, he secured the elevation of the young Maurice of Nassau to the post of Stadtholder, at the same time by his own wise administration doing much to restore the prosperity of the State. After serving as ambassador to France and England, he succeeded in 1607 in obtaining from Spain a recognition of the independence of the States, and two years later in concluding with her the twelve years' truce. Maurice, ambitious of absolute rule and jealous of the influence of Barneveldt, was interested in the continuance of the war, and lost no opportunity of hostile action against the great statesman. In this he was aided by the strongly-marked theologic division in the State between the Gomarites (the Calvinistic and popular party) and the Arminians, of whom Barneveldt was a supporter. Maurice, who had thrown in his lot with the Gomarites, encouraged the idea that the Arminians were the friends of Spain, and procured the assembly of a synod at Dort (1618), which violently condemned them. Barneveldt and his friends Grotius and Hoogerbeets were arrested, and subjected to a so-called trial; and Barneveldt, to whom the country owed its political existence and the Commons their retention of legislative power, was beheaded on 13th May, 1619. His sons, four years later, attempted to avenge his death; one was beheaded, the other escaped to Spain.
Barnoldswick, an urban district of England, West Riding of Yorkshire, 9 miles south-west of Skipton, with cotton manufactures and other industries. Pop. (1921), 11,951.
Barns´ley, a municipal borough of England, West Riding of Yorkshire. Its staple industries are the manufacture of linens, iron, and steel, and there are numerous collieries in the neighbourhood. Created a parliamentary borough in 1918, Barnsley returns one member to Parliament. Pop. (1921), 53,670.
Barn´staple, a county and municipal borough in England, county of Devon, giving its name to a parliamentary division of the county on the right bank of the Taw, where it receives the Yeo; manufactures of lace, paper, pottery, furniture, toys and turnery, and leather. Pop. 14,409.
Baroach.SeeBroach.
Baro´da, a non-tributary State, but subordinate to the Indian Government, situated in the north of the Bombay presidency. It consists of a number of detached territories in the province of Guzerat, and is generally level, fertile, and well cultivated, producing luxuriant crops of grain, cotton, tobacco, opium, sugar-cane, and oil-seeds. There is a famous breed of large white oxen used as draught cattle. Area, 8182 sq. miles; pop. (1911) 2,032,798. The ruler is called theGaekwár. The dissensions of the Baroda family have more than once called for British intervention, and in 1875 the ruling Gaekwár was tried and deposed in connection with the charge of attempting to poison the British Resident. Since 1908 there is a Legislative Council of 17 members.—Baroda, the capital, is the third city in the Bombay presidency. It consists of the city proper within the walls and the suburbs without, and is largely composed of poor and crowded houses, but has also some fine buildings, and is noted for its Hindu temples kept up by the State. Pop. 99,345.—Cf. E. St. C. Weeden,A Year with the Gaekwár of Baroda.
Barograph, a kind of aneroid barometer, which, by means of special mechanism and appliances, is made to furnish automatically a continuous record of the successive changes in atmospheric pressure. The paper that receives the record is made to move by clockwork while in contact with the index pencil, which rises and falls according to alterations of atmospheric pressure.
Barom´eter, an instrument for measuring the weight or pressure of the atmosphere and thus determining changes in the weather, the height of mountains, and other phenomena. It had its origin about the middle of the seventeenth century in an experiment of Torricelli, an Italian, who found that if a glass tube about 3 feet in length, open at one end only, and filled with mercury, were placed vertically with the open end in a cup of the same fluid metal, a portion of the mercury descended into the cup, leaving a column only about 30 inches in height in the tube. He inferred, therefore, that the atmospheric pressure on the surface of the mercury in the cup forced it up the tube to the height of 30 inches, and that this was so because the weight of a column of air from the cup to the top of the atmosphere was only equal to that of a column of mercury of the same base and 30 inches high. Pascal confirmed the conclusion in 1645; six years afterwards it was found by Perrier that the height of the mercury in the Torricellian tube varied with the weather; and in 1655 Boyle proposed to use the instrument to measure the height of mountains.