trap and the recent volcanic series of rocks, but more abundantly in the
former. It is a fine-grained, heavy, crystalline rock, consisting of
felspar, augite, and magnetic iron, and sometimes contains a little
olivine. Basalt is amorphous, columnar, tabular, or globular. The columnar
form is straight or curved, perpendicular or inclined, sometimes nearly
horizontal; the diameter of the columns from 3 to 18 inches, sometimes with
transverse hemispherical joints, in which the convex part of one is
inserted in the concavity of another; and the height from 5 to 150 feet.
The forms of the columns generally are pentagonal, hexagonal, or octagonal.
When decomposed it is found also in round masses, either spherical or
compressed and lenticular. These rounded masses are sometimes composed of
concentric layers, with a nucleus, and sometimes of prisms radiating from a
centre. Fingal's Cave, in the Island of Staffa, furnishes a remarkable
instance of basaltic columns. The pillars of the Giant's Causeway, Ireland,
composed of this stone, and exposed to the roughest sea for ages, have
their angles as perfect as those at a distance from the waves. Basalt often
assumes curious and fantastic forms, as, for example, those masses
popularly known as 'Samson's Ribs' at Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh, and 'Lot'
and 'Lot's Wife' near the south coast of St. Helena.
BASCHI (b[.a]s'k[=e]), Matteo, an Italian Minorite friar of the convent of
Montefalcone, founder and first general of the Capuchin branch of the
Franciscans. He died at Venice, 1552.
BAS'CINET, or BAS'NET, a light helmet, sometimes with, but more frequently
without, a visor, in general use for English infantry in the reigns of
Edward II and III and Richard II.
BASE, in architecture, that part of a column which is between the top of
the pedestal and the bottom of the shaft; where there is no pedestal, the
part between the bottom of the column and the pavement. The term is also
applied to the lower projecting part of the wall of a room, consisting of a
plinth and its mouldings.
BASE, in chemistry, a term applied to those compound substances which unite
with acids to form salts. The most important bases are oxides of metals,
and when brought in contact with acids their oxygen combines with the
hydrogen of the acid to form water. They are divided into several sections,
of which the most important are the alkalies. These substances are the
hydrates of the so-called alkaline metals, and may be compared to water in
which part of the hydrogen is replaced by a metallic radicle. Potash, for
instance, is the hydrate of the metal potassium. The alkalies are readily
soluble in water, restore the blue colour to reddened litmus, and give a
green with red cabbage, dahlia, and other vegetable blues, and convert the
yellow of turmeric into a brownish red. Most of the bases, however, are
insoluble in water, and without any effect on vegetable colours. See
_Alkali_; _Acids_.
BASE, a term in tactics, signifying the original line on which an offensive
army forms; or any safe position from which an army takes the field to
invade an enemy's country; upon which it depends for its supplies,
reinforcements, &c.; to which it sends back its sick and wounded; and upon
which it would generally fall back in case of reverse and retreat.
BASE-BALL, the national game of the United States of America. It holds the
position there that is held by cricket in England. It is a scientific
development of the old English game of 'rounders', and is played by nine
players a side. A diamond-shaped space of ground, 90 feet on the side, is
marked out, the corners being the 'bases'. One side takes the field and the
other sends a man to bat. When the field side takes its place, the
'pitcher', standing inside the ground near the centre and in front of the
batsman, delivers a ball to the batsman, who stands at the 'home base'
within a certain marked space, and who tries to drive it out of the reach
of the fielders, and far enough out of the field to enable him to run round
the bases, which scores a run. If he cannot run round all, he may stop at
any one, and may be followed by another batsman. If the ball is caught by
an opponent before touching the ground when the batsman is running, or if
he is touched by the ball, he is out (also in several other cases), and
when three on his side are put out, the field side take the bat. Nine of
these innings make a game, which the highest score wins. The bat is of a
cylindrical shape, not more than 2-1/2 inches in diameter nor more than 42
inches long. The ball is about 9 inches in circumference and weighs 5 -
5-1/4 oz. Base-ball is not a very old game, having attained its present
position only since about 1845. Many professional players now engage in it.
Attempts have been made to introduce it into Britain and Australia, but
with little success.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: _Official Base-ball Guide_, in the
Spalding Athletic Library (annually); R. H. Barbour, _The Book of School
and College Sports_; A. G. Spalding, _America's National Game_; W. J.
Clarke and F. T. Dawson, _Base-ball_.
BASEDOW (bae'ze-d[=o]), John Bernhard, German educationalist, born in
Hamburg 1723, died in 1790. After having gained considerable experience as
a teacher, especially at the gymnasium of Altona, he published a number of
works dealing with mental and moral philosophy, the teaching of religion
and morality, &c., some of which roused a great amount of discussion. His
watchword was "Everything according to nature". In 1771 he was called to
Dessau by Prince Leopold, and in 1774 took charge of an educational
institution in which his views were to receive practical exemplification.
This institution, which he called the _Philanthropinum_, was a school free
from sectarian bias, and in which the pupils were to be disciplined in all
studies--physical, intellectual, and moral. This school led to the
establishment of some similar ones, though Basedow retired from it in 1776,
not having been very successful in the practical working out of his
theories. His place was taken by Joachim Heinrich Campe (1746-1818). He
henceforth devoted himself to authorship, writing especially on religious
subjects. The chief feature of Basedow's system is the full development of
the faculties of the young, in pursuance of the notions of Locke and
Rousseau. His name still lives in the history of education, and his efforts
were not without result.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: J. C. Meyer, _Leben, Charakter und
Schriften Basedows_ (2 vols., 1791-2); A. Pinloche, _La Reforme de
l'Education en Allemagne au dix-huitieme Siecle_; O. H. Lang, _Basedow, His
Life and Work_.
BASEL (bae'zl; Fr. _Bale_), a canton and city of Switzerland. The canton
borders on Alsace and Baden, has an area of 177 sq. miles, and a pop. of
222,000 (1916), nearly all speaking German. It is divided into two
half-cantons, Basel city (Basel-Stadt) and Basel country (Basel-Land). The
former consists of the city and its precincts, the remainder of the canton
forming Basel-Land, the capital of which is Liestal. The whole canton
belongs to the valley of the Rhine. The soil is generally well cultivated;
and the climate in the low grounds allows of the cultivation of the vine
and other fruits.--The city of _Basel_ is 43 miles N. of Bern, and consists
of two parts on opposite sides of the Rhine, and communicating by three
bridges, one of them an ancient wooden structure, besides a railway bridge.
The older portions are irregularly built with narrow streets, and are now
surrounded with pleasant promenades where the old fortifications existed.
Basel has an ancient cathedral, founded 1010, containing the tombs of
Erasmus and other eminent persons; the fine modern church of St. Elizabeth;
town hall (1508); a university, founded by Pius II in 1460; a seminary for
missionaries; a bible society; a museum containing the valuable public
library, pictures, &c. The industries include silk ribbons (8000 hands),
metal articles, tanning, paper, aniline dyes and other chemicals, brewing,
&c.; and the position of Basel, a little below where the Rhine becomes
navigable and at the terminus of the French and German railways, has made
it the emporium of a most important trade. At Basel was signed the treaty
of peace between France and Prussia, 5th April, and that between France and
Spain, 22nd July, 1795. Pop. (with suburbs), 137,000 (latest estimate).
BASEL, COUNCIL OF, a celebrated oecumenical council of the Church, convoked
by Pope Martin V and his successor Eugenius IV. It was opened 14th Dec.,
1431, under the presidency of the Cardinal Legate Juliano Cesarini of St.
Angelo. The objects of its deliberations were to extirpate heresies (that
of the Hussites in particular), to unite all Christian nations under the
Catholic Church, to put a stop to wars between Christian princes, and to
reform the Church. But its first steps towards a peaceable reconciliation
with the Hussites were displeasing to the Pope, who authorized the Cardinal
Legate to dissolve the Council. That body opposed the pretensions of the
Pope, and, notwithstanding his repeated orders to remove to Italy,
continued its deliberations under the protection of the Emperor Sigismund,
of the German princes, and of France. On the Pope continuing to issue bulls
for its dissolution, the Council commenced a formal process against him,
and cited him to appear at its bar. On his refusal to comply with this
demand the Council declared him guilty of contumacy, and, after Eugenius
had opened a counter-synod at Ferrara, decreed his suspension from the
papal chair (24th Jan., 1438). The removal of Eugenius, however, seemed so
impracticable that some prelates, who till then had been the boldest and
most influential speakers in the Council, including the Cardinal Legate
Juliano, left Basel, and went over to the party of Eugenius. The Archbishop
of Arles, Cardinal Louis Allemand, was now made first President of the
Council, and directed its proceedings with much vigour. In May, 1439, it
declared Eugenius, on account of his disobedience of its decrees, a
heretic, and formally deposed him. Excommunicated by Eugenius, they
proceeded, in a regular conclave, to elect the Duke Amadeus of Savoy to the
papal chair. Felix V--the name he adopted--was acknowledged by only a few
princes, cities, and universities. After this the moral power of the
Council declined; its last formal session was held 16th May, 1443, though
it was not technically dissolved till 7th May, 1449, when it gave in its
adhesion to Nicholas V, the successor of Eugenius. The decrees of the
Council of Basel are admitted into none of the Roman collections, and are
considered of no authority by the Roman lawyers. They are regarded,
however, as of authority in points of canon law in France and Germany, as
their regulations for the Reformation of the Church have been adopted in
the pragmatic sanctions of both countries, and, as far as they regard
clerical discipline, have been actually enforced.
BASE-LINE, in surveying, a straight line measured with the utmost precision
to form the starting-point of the triangulation of a country or district.
See _Geodesy_.
BASH. See _Mining_.
BA'SHAN, the name in Scripture for a singularly rich tract of country lying
beyond the Jordan between Mount Hermon and the land of Gilead. At the time
of the Exodus it was inhabited by the Amorites, who were overpowered by the
Israelites, and the land assigned to the half-tribe of Manasseh. The
district was, and yet is, famous for its oak forests and its cattle.
Remains of ancient cities are common.
BASHAW, or BASHA. See _Pasha_.
BASHEE' ISLANDS, a group of islands in the Chinese Sea between Luzon and
Formosa, long. 122deg E.; lat. 20deg 28' to 20deg 55' N. They were
discovered by Dampier in 1687, and belong to the United States. The largest
island is Batan, with a population of 8000.
BASHI-BAZOOKS', irregular troops in the Turkish army. They are mostly
Asiatics, and have had to be disarmed several times by the regular troops
on account of the barbarities by which they have rendered themselves
infamous.
BASH'KIRS, a tribe of Finno-Tartar origin, inhabiting the Russian
governments of Ufa, Orenburg, Perm, and Samara. They formerly roamed about
under their own princes in Southern Siberia, but in 1556 they voluntarily
placed themselves under the Russian sceptre. They are nominally
Mahommedans, and live by hunting, cattle-rearing, breeding of cattle and
horses, and keeping of bees. They are rude and warlike and partially
nomadic. They number about 1,000,000.--Cf. Ujfalvy, _Les Bashkirs_.
BASHKIRTSEV, Marie, Russian painter and authoress, born 1860, died 1884;
educated mostly outside of Russia, in France, Germany, and Italy; became an
accomplished linguist and musician, and studied art in Paris, attaining
high success, but overtaxing her system, with fatal results. She is best
known from her journal, an intimate personal record, interesting not only
as revealing her own peculiar character and intellectual gifts, but also
for notices of the notable personages with whom she came in contact. It has
been translated into various languages--into English by Mathilde Blind
(1890), who has also published _A Study of Marie Bashkirtsev_ (1892). A
number of her letters were also published in 1891.--Cf. _The Journal of
Marie Bashkirtsev, an Exposure and a Defence_.
BASIC SLAG, the slag or refuse-matter which is got in making basic steel,
and which, from the phosphate of lime it contains, is a valuable
fertilizer. See _Manures (Phosphatic)_.
BASIC STEEL. See _Steel_.
BASI'DIOMYCETES, one of the two sub-classes of the Eumycetes or septate
Fungi, including the bulk of the larger and more familiar saprophytic
types, such as the Mushroom, Toad-stools, Shelf-fungi, Puff-balls, and
Earth-stars, and also the important parasites known as the Rusts. They are
characterized by their principal spores being produced externally, usually
in fours, upon an organ called a _basidium_. The basidia are arranged in a
continuous layer (hymenium), and are usually massed together upon a
specialized fruit-body, of which an ordinary mushroom is a good example.
The principal subdivisions of the group, with representative genera, are as
follows:--
A. Basidia septate (Proto-Basidiomycetes).
1. Family Uredineae (Rusts). Basidia transversely septate; teleutospores
present; parasites. Puccinia, Phragmidium, Melampsora.
2. Family Auricularineae. Basidia transversely septate; no teleutospores;
saprophytes. Auricularia.
3. Family Tremellineae. Basidia longitudinally septate; saprophytes.
Tremella.
B. Basidia not septate (Auto-Basidiomycetes).
4. Family Exobasidiineae. Parasites without fruit-body; basidia exposed on
surface of host. Exobasidium.
5. Family Dacryomycetineae. Fruit-body soft; hymenium on its surface;
saprophytes. Dacryomyces, Calocera.
6. Group Hymenomycetes (several families). Hymenium generally on gills, in
tubes, &c.; saprophytes or, less often, parasites. Agaricus Polyporus,
Hydnum.
7. Group Gastromycetes (several families). Hymenium within a closed
fruit-body, which does not open until the spores are ripe; saprophytes.
Ithyphallus, Lycoperdon.
The Ustilagineae (Smuts) are often regarded as Basidiomycetes of a low
type, but it is more probable that they are allied to the Unicellular
Chytridineae. The Basidiomycetes are the highest members of the Fungoid
alliance; their relations to the lower groups are obscure.
BASI'DIUM, the characteristic spore-producing organ of the Basidiomycetes.
Typically, e.g. in the Toad-stools, it is a club-shaped structure, produced
at its free end into four slender processes, the _sterigmata_, each of
which bears a _basidiospore_ at its tip. The young basidium contains two
nuclei, which later fuse; the fusion-nucleus then undergoes two successive
divisions, involving a reduction of chromosomes, and each of the four
resultant nuclei passes through a sterigma into a basidiospore. These
latter are thus seen to be carpospores, comparable to those of Red Algae,
and to the ascospores of Ascomycetes. The basidia of Uredineae (Rusts) and
of some other primitive Basidiomycetes are septate, but otherwise agree
with the type described above. See _Basidiomycetes_; _Carpospore_; _Rusts_.
BASIL. See _Basilius_.
BAS'IL, a labiate plant, _Oc[)i]mum basil[)i]cum_, a native of India, much
used in cookery, especially in France, and known more particularly as sweet
or common basil. Bush or lesser basil is _O. minimum_; wild basil belongs
to a different genus, being the _Calamintha Clinopodium_.
BASIL, ST., called the _Great_, one of the Greek fathers, was born in 329,
and made in 370 Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, where he died in 379. He
was distinguished by his efforts for the regulation of clerical discipline,
and, above all, his endeavours for the promotion of monastic life. The
Greek Church honours him as one of its most illustrious saints, and
celebrates his festival on 1st Jan. The vows of obedience, chastity, and
poverty framed by St. Basil are essentially the rules of all the orders of
Christendom, although he is particularly the father of the Eastern, as St.
Benedict is the patriarch of the Western orders.
BASILAN', the principal island of the Sulu Archipelago, now belonging to
the Philippines, off the S.W. extremity of Mindanao, from which it is
separated by the Strait of Basilan. It is about 30 miles in length by 20
miles in breadth. Pop. about 8000.
BASILE'AN MANUSCRIPTS, two manuscripts of the Greek New Testament now in
the library of Basel. (1) A nearly complete uncial copy of the Gospels of
the eighth century; (2) a cursive copy of the whole New Testament except
the Apocalypse, tenth century.
BASIL'IAN LITURGY, that form for celebrating the Eucharist drawn up towards
the close of the fourth century by Basil the Great, still used in the Greek
Church.
BASILIAN MONKS, monks who strictly follow the rules of St. Basil, chiefly
belonging to the Greek Church.
[Illustration: Basilica di S'Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna]
BASIL'ICA, originally the name applied by the Romans to their public halls,
either of justice, of exchange, or other business. The plan of the basilica
was usually a rectangle divided into aisles by rows of columns, the middle
aisle being the widest, with a semicircular apse at the end, in which the
tribunal was placed. The ground-plan of these buildings was generally
followed in the early Christian churches, which, therefore, long retained
the name of basilica, and it is still applied to some of the churches in
Rome by way of distinction, and sometimes to other churches built in
imitation of the Roman basilicas.
BASILICA'TA, also called POTENZA, an Italian province, extending north from
the Gulf of Taranto, and corresponding pretty closely with the ancient
Lucania. Area, 3855 sq. miles; pop. 489,574 (1915).
BASIL'ICON, a name of several ointments, the chief ingredients of which are
wax, pitch, resin, and olive-oil.
BASIL'ICON DO'RON (the royal gift), the title of a book written by King
James I in 1599, containing a collection of precepts of the art of
government. It maintains the claim of the king to be sole head of the
Church. Printed at Edinburgh, 1603.
BASIL'IDES (d[=e]z), one of the most famous Gnostic teachers, a native of
Alexandria, who lived under the reigns of Adrian and Antoninus Pius about
A.D. 120-40. He was well acquainted with Christianity, but mixed it up with
the wildest dreams of the Gnostics, peopling the earth and the air with
multitudes of _aeons_. He was also greatly influenced by Platonism and
Zoroastrianism. His disciples (Basilidians) were numerous in Syria, Egypt,
Italy, and Gaul, but they are scarcely heard of after the fourth century.
BAS'ILISK, a fabulous creature formerly believed to exist, and variously
regarded as a kind of serpent, lizard, or dragon, and sometimes identified
with the cockatrice. It inhabited the deserts of Africa, and its breath and
even its look was fatal. The name is now applied to a genus of saurian
reptiles (Basiliscus), belonging to the family Iguanidae;, distinguished by
an elevated crest or row of scales, erectable at pleasure, which, like the
dorsal fins of some fishes, runs along the whole length of the back and
tail. The mitred or hooded basilisk (_B. mitr[=a]tus_) is especially
remarkable for a membranous bag at the back of the head, of the size of a
small hen's egg, which can be inflated with air at pleasure. The other
species have such hoods also, but of a less size. To this organ they owe
their name, which recalls the basilisk of fable, though in reality they are
exceedingly harmless and lively creatures. The _B. amboinensis_ is a native
of the Indian Archipelago, where it is much used for food. It frequents
trees overhanging water, into which it drops when alarmed.
BASIL'IUS I, a Macedonian, Emperor of the East, born A.D. 820, died 886. He
was of obscure origin, but having succeeded in gaining the favour of the
Emperor Michael III, he became his colleague in the Empire, 866. After the
assassination of Michael, 867, Basilius became emperor. Though he had
worked his way to the throne by a series of crimes, he proved an able and
equitable sovereign. The versatility, if not the depth, of his intellect is
strikingly displayed in his _Exhortations to his Son Leo_, which are still
extant.
BASILIUS II, Emperor of the East, born 958, died 1025. On the death of his
father, the Emperor Romanus the Younger, in 963, he was kept out of the
succession for twelve years by two usurpers. He began to reign in
conjunction with his brother Constantine, 975. His reign was spent in
almost perpetual warfare, his most important struggle being that which
resulted in the conquest of Bulgaria, 1018.
BA'SIN, in physical geography, the whole tract of country drained by a
river and its tributaries. The line dividing one river basin from another
is the water-shed, and by tracing the various water-sheds we divide each
country into its constituent basins. The basin of a loch or sea consists of
the basins of all the rivers which run into it.--In geology a basin is any
dipping or disposition of strata towards a common axis or centre, due to
upheaval and subsidence. It is sometimes used almost synonymously with
'formation' to express the deposits lying in a certain cavity or depression
in older rocks. The 'Paris basin' and 'London basin' are familiar
instances.
BA'SINGSTOKE, a town of England, county of Hants, 18 miles N.N.E. of
Winchester. It has a good trade in corn, malt, &c., and now gives its name
to one of the parliamentary divisions of the county. Pop. (1921), 12,718.
BAS'KERVILLE, John, celebrated English printer and type-founder, born in
1706, died 1775. He settled at Birmingham as a writing-master, subsequently
engaged in the manufacture of japanned works, and in 1750 commenced
printing. From his press came highly-prized editions of ancient and modern
classics, Bibles, prayer-books, &c., all beautifully-printed works. His
first work was a _Virgil_, published in 1757, followed by his famous
edition of Milton in 1758.
BASKET, a vessel or utensil of wicker-work, made of interwoven osiers or
willows, rushes, twigs, grasses, &c. The process of basket-making is very
simple, and appears to be well known among the very rudest peoples. The
ancient Britons excelled in the art, and their baskets were highly prized
in Rome.--Cf. T. Okey, _Introduction to the Art of Basket-making_.
BASKING-SHARK (_Sel[)a]ch[=e] maxima_ or _Cetorh[=i]nus maximus_), a
species of shark, so named from its habit of basking in the sun at the
surface of the water. It reaches the length of 40 feet, and its liver
yields a large quantity of oil. It frequents the northern seas, and is
known also as the sail-fish or sun-fish.
BASLE. See _Basel_.
BASOCHE. See _Bazoche_.