remarkable race of people dwelling partly in the south-west corner of
France (Basses-Pyrenees), but mostly in the north of Spain adjacent to the
Pyrenees. They are probably descendants of the ancient Iberi, who occupied
Spain before the Celts. They preserve their ancient language, former
manners, and national dances, and make admirable soldiers, especially in
guerrilla warfare. Their language is highly polysynthetic, and stands
isolated from other tongues of Europe. There are eight principal dialects,
which are not only distinguished by their pronunciation and grammatical
structure, but differ even in their vocabularies. The Basques, who number
about 600,000 (450,000 in Spain, and 150,000 in France), occupy in Spain
the provinces of Biscay, Guipuzcoa, and Al[)a]va; in France parts of the
departments of the Upper and Lower Pyrenees, Ariege, and Upper Garonne. The
Basques are very religious and conservative in their religious practices.
Ignatius Loyola and Francis Xavier de Navarre were Basques.--BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Julien Vinson, _Les Basques et le pays Basque_; _Le Folk-lore du pays
Basque_; Michel, _Le pays Basque, sa population, sa langue, ses moeurs, sa
litterature, et sa musique_; Van Eys, _Outlines of a Basque Grammar_.
BASRA, BASSORA, or BASRAH, a city in Lower Mesopotamia, on the west bank of
the Shat-el-Arab (the united stream of the Tigris and Euphrates), about 50
miles from its mouth, and nearly 300 miles south-east of Bagdad. It is
surrounded by a wall about 10 miles in circuit, from 20 to 25 feet thick;
but much of the area enclosed is occupied by gardens, &c. The houses are
generally mean. A considerable transit trade is carried on here between the
Turkish and Persian dominions and India, and since communication by steamer
has been established with Bagdad and Bombay the prosperity of the town has
greatly increased. The chief exports are: dates, camels and horses, wool
and wheat; imports: coffee, indigo, rice, tissues, &c. The inhabitants are
estimated at 80,000; but in the eighteenth century they were said to number
150,000. The substitution of date and wheat cultivation for that of rice
has rendered the place much more healthy. The ruins of the ancient and more
famous Bassora--founded by Caliph Omar in 636, at one time a centre of
Arabic literature and learning and regarded as 'the Athens of the
East'--lie about 9 miles south-west of the modern town. The town was
occupied by the British on 22nd Nov., 1914. The first through-train from
Basra to Bagdad was run in Jan., 1920.
[Illustration: Bas-relief--Northern frieze of Parthenon]
BAS-RELIEF (bae'r[=e]-l[=e]f or bas'r[=e]-l[=e]f) or BASSO-RILIEVO,
low-relief, a mode of sculpturing figures on a flat surface, the figures
having a very slight relief or projection from the surface. It is
distinguished from _haut-relief_ (_alto-rilievo_), or high-relief, in which
the figures stand sometimes almost entirely free from the ground.
Bas-relief work has been described as 'sculptured painting', from the
capability of disposing of groups of figures and exhibiting minor adjuncts,
as in a painting. The finest specimen of bas-relief is the frieze around
the cella of the Parthenon; large portions of it are to be seen in the
British Museum.
BASS (b[=a]s; from the It. _basso_, deep, low), in music, the lowest part
in the harmony of a musical composition, whether vocal or instrumental.
According to some it is the fundamental or most important part, while
others regard the melody or highest part in that light. Next to the melody,
the bass part is the most striking, the freest and boldest in its
movements, and richest in effect.--_Figured bass_, a bass part having the
accompanying chords suggested by certain figures written above or below the
notes--the most successful system of shorthand scoring at present in use
among organists and pianists.--_Fundamental bass_, the lowest note or root
of a chord; a bass consisting of a succession of fundamental
notes.--_Thorough bass_, the mode or art of expressing chords by means of
figures placed over or under a given bass. Figures written over each other
indicate that the notes they represent are to be sounded simultaneously,
those standing close after each other that they are to be sounded
successively. The common chord in its fundamental form is generally left
unfigured, and accidentals are indicated by using sharps, naturals, or
flats along with the figures.
BASS (b[.a]s), the name of a number of fishes of several genera, but
originally belonging to a genus of sea-fishes (Labrax) of the perch family,
distinguished from the true perches by having the tongue covered by small
teeth and the preoperculum smooth. _L. lupus_, the only British species,
called also sea-dace, and from its voracity sea-wolf, resembles somewhat
the salmon in shape, and is much esteemed for the table, weighing about 15
lb. _L. line[=a]tus_ (_Roccus line[=a]tus_), or striped bass, an American
species, weighing from 25 to 30 lb., is much used for food, and is also
known as rock-fish. Both species occasionally ascend rivers, and attempts
have been made to cultivate British bass in freshwater ponds with success.
Two species of black bass (_Micropt[)e]rus salmoides_ and _M. dolomieu_),
American freshwater fishes, are excellent as food and give fine sport to
the angler. The former is often called the large-mouthed black bass, from
the size of its mouth. Both make nests and take great care of their eggs
and young. The _Centropristis nigricans_, an American sea-fish of the perch
family, and weighing 2 to 3 lb., is known as the sea-bass.
BASS (b[.a]s), THE, a remarkable insular trap-rock, at the mouth of the
Firth of Forth, 3 miles from North Berwick, of a circular form, about 1
mile in circumference, rising majestically out of the sea to a height of
313 feet. It pastures a few sheep, and is a great breeding-place of solan
geese. During the persecution of the Covenanters its castle, long since
demolished, was used as a State prison, in which several eminent
Covenanters were confined. It was held from 1691 to 1694 with great courage
and pertinacity by twenty Jacobites, who in the end capitulated on highly
honourable terms.
BASS. See _Basswood_.
BASSA'NO, a commercial city of North Italy, province of Vicenza, on the
Brenta, over which is a covered wooden bridge. It has lofty old walls and
an old castle, and has various industries and an active trade. Near
Bassano, 8th Sept., 1796, Bonaparte defeated the Austrian general Wurmser.
Pop. (commune) 17,130.
BASSA'NO (from his birth-place; real name GIACOMO DA PONTE), an Italian
painter, born 1510, died 1592. He painted historical pieces, landscapes,
flowers, &c., and also portraits. He left four sons, who all became
painters, Francesco being the most distinguished.
BASSANO DAM. See _Dams_.
BAS'SARIS. See _Cacomistle_.
BASSEIN (bas-s[=a]n'), a town in Lower Burma, province of Pegu, on both
banks of the Bassein River, one of the mouths of the Irawadi, and navigable
for the largest ships. It has considerable trade, exporting large
quantities of rice, and importing coal, salt, cottons, &c. Pop.
37,081.--Bassein District has an area of 4127 sq. miles and a pop. of 9598
(1911).
BASSEIN (bas-s[=a]n'), a town in Hindustan, 28 miles north of Bombay. At
the beginning of the eighteenth century it was a fine and wealthy city,
with over 60,000 inhabitants; it has now only about 9598 (1911).
BASSELIN (b[.a]s-lan), Olivier, an old French poet or song-writer, born in
the Val-de-Vire, Normandy, about the end of the fourteenth century, died
about 1450. His sprightly songs, famous under the name _Vaux-de-Vire_, have
given origin and name to the modern Vaudevilles.
BASSELISSE TAPESTRY. See _Hautelisse_.
BASSES-ALPES (baes-[.a]lp; 'Lower Alps'). See _Alpes_.
BASSES-PYRENEES (baes-p[=e]-r[=a]-n[=a]; 'LOWER PYRENEES'). See _Pyrenees_.
BASS'ET, the name of a game at cards, formerly much played, especially in
France. It is very similar to the modern _faro_. See _Lansquenet_.
BASSET, or BASSET-HOUND, a smooth-haired dog with short crooked legs,
rather large head, and large pendulous ears, thus somewhat resembling a
bloodhound and a dachshund. It is sometimes used in packs for hunting
hares, or in beating and covert work generally.
BASSETERRE (baes-t[=a]r), two towns in the West Indies.--1. Capital of the
Island of St. Christopher's, at the mouth of a small river, on the south
side of the island. Trade considerable. Pop. about 9000.--2. The capital of
the Island of Guadeloupe. It has no harbour, and the anchorage is
unsheltered and exposed to a constant swell. Pop. 8650.
BASSET-HORN, a musical instrument, now practically obsolete, a sort of
clarinet of enlarged dimensions, with a curved and bell-shaped metal end.
The compass extends from F below the bass staff to C on the second
ledger-line above the treble. Mozart wrote several pieces for the
basset-horn, and Beethoven employed it in his _Prometheus_ overture.
BASSETLAW, a parliamentary division of the county of Nottingham.
BASSIA, a genus of tropical trees found in the East Indies and Australia,
nat. ord., Sapotaceae. The seeds of _B. butyracea_, the Indian butter tree,
yield a butter-like substance, which makes good soap. _B. latifolia_, the
Mahwa of Bengal, furnishes a valuable hard timber, and has edible flowers,
from which a potent spirit is distilled; a gutta-percha is obtained from
_B. pallida_.
BASSOMPIERRE (bae-son-py[=a]r), Francois de, Marshal of France,
distinguished both as a soldier and a statesman, born 1579, died 1646. In
1602 he made his first campaign against the Duke of Savoy, and he fought
with equal distinction in the following year in the imperial army against
the Turks. In 1622 Louis XIII appointed him Marshal of France, and became
so much attached to him that Luynes, the declared favourite, sent him on
embassies to Spain, Switzerland, and England. After his return he became an
object of suspicion to Cardinal Richelieu, and was sent to the Bastille in
1631, from which he was not released till 1643, after the death of the
cardinal. During his detention he occupied himself with writing his
memoirs, which shed much light on the events of that time.
BASSO'ON, a musical wind-instrument of the reed order, blown with a bent
metal mouthpiece, and holed and keyed like the clarinet. Its compass
comprehends three octaves rising from B flat below the bass staff. Its
diameter at bottom is 3 inches, and for convenience of carriage it is
divided into two or more parts, whence its Italian name, _fagotto_, a
bundle. It serves for the bass among wood wind-instruments, as hautboys,
flutes, &c.
BASSORA GUM, an inferior kind of gum resembling gum-arabic.
BASS ROCK. See _Bass_.
BASS STRAIT, a channel beset with islands, which separates Australia from
Tasmania, 120 miles broad, discovered by George Bass, a surgeon in the
Royal Navy, in 1798.
BASSWOOD, or BASS, the American lime tree or linden (_Tilia americ[=a]na_),
a tree common in N. America, yielding a light, soft timber.
BAST, a term originally applied to fibrous tissue external to the cambium;
now used in two senses: (1) for Phloem (q.v.); (2) commercially, for the
fibre of the lime or linden. The manufacture of lime-bast into mats, ropes,
&c., is in Russia a considerable industry, bast-mats for packing furniture,
covering plants, &c., being largely exported.
BASTAR', a feudatory State in Upper Godavari district, Central Provinces of
India; area, 13,062 sq. miles; pop. 433,310. Chief town, Jagdalpur; pop.
4294.
BAS'TARD, a child begotten and born out of wedlock; an illegitimate child.
By the civil and canon laws, and by the law of Scotland, a bastard becomes
legitimate by the intermarriage of the parents at any future time. In some
of the United States, bastards can be legitimized by subsequent marriage,
in addition to which, however, the father must also recognize the child as
his. By the laws of England a child, to be legitimate, must at least be
_born_ after the lawful marriage; it does not require that the child shall
be begotten in wedlock, but it is indispensable that it should be born
after marriage, no matter how short the time, the law presuming it to be
the child of the husband. The only incapacity of a bastard is that he
cannot be heir or next of kin to any one save his own issue. In England the
maintenance of a bastard in the first instance devolves on the mother,
while in Scotland it is a joint burden upon both parents. The mother is
entitled to the custody of the child in preference to the father. See
_Legitimation_; _Illegitimacy_.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Bacquet, _Traite de la
Batardise_; Nicholls and Mackay, _History of the English Poor Law_.
[Illustration: Bastard Bar]
BASTARD BAR, more correctly _baton sinister_, the heraldic mark used to
indicate illegitimate descent. It is a diminutive of the bend sinister, of
which it is one-fourth in width, couped or cut short at the ends, so as not
to touch the corners of the shield.
BASTARD FALLOW. See _Fallow Land_.
BASTARD SAFFRON. See _Safflower_.
BASTIA (b[.a]s-t[=e]'[.a]), the former capital of the Island of Corsica,
upon the N.E. coast, 75 miles N.E. of Ajaccio, on a hill slope; badly
built, with narrow streets, a strong citadel, and an indifferent harbour;
with some manufactures, a considerable trade in hides, soap, wine, oil,
pulse, &c. Pop. 29,412.
BAS'TIAN, Adolf, German traveller and ethnologist, born in 1826, died in
1905. His travels embraced various parts of Europe, the United States,
Mexico, Peru, Australia and New Zealand, Southern and Western Africa,
Egypt, Arabia, India, South-Eastern Asia, the Asiatic Archipelago, Japan,
China, Mongolia, Siberia, &c. His numerous writings throw light on almost
every subject connected with ethnology or anthropology, as well as
psychology, linguistics, non-Christian religions, geography, &c. Some of
his chief works are: _Die Voelker des oestlichen Asien_ (Peoples of Eastern
Asia); _Ethnographische Forschungen_; _Ideale Welten_; _Die Voelkerkunde u.
der Voelkerverkehr_; &c.
BAS'TIAN, Henry Charlton, English physician and biologist, born at Truro in
1837, died on 17th Nov., 1915. He was educated at Falmouth and at
University College, London, where he was assistant curator in the museum
from 1860 to 1863. He obtained the degree of M.A. in 1861 from the
University of London, graduating subsequently in medicine at the same
university (M.B. 1863, M.D. 1866). From 1864 to 1866 he was a medical
officer in Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum, and in 1866 was appointed
lecturer on pathology and assistant physician in St. Mary's Hospital. In
1867 he became professor of pathological anatomy in University College,
subsequently he was also professor of clinical medicine, and in the period
1887-95 he occupied the chair of medicine and clinical medicine. Apart from
numerous contributions to medical and other periodicals, and to Quain's
_Dictionary of Medicine_, he published _The Modes of Origin of Lowest
Organisms_ (1871); _The Beginnings of Life_ (1872); _Evolution and the
Origin of Life_ (1874); _Lectures on Paralysis from Brain Disease_ (1875);
_The Brain as an Organ of Mind_ (1880); which has been translated into
French and German; _The Nature and Origin of Living Matter_; _Evolution of
Life_; _Origin of Life_; &c.
BASTIAT (b[.a]s-t[=e]-[.a]), Frederic, French economist, advocate of
free-trade, and opponent of protection, born at Bayonne 1801, died at Rome
1850. He became acquainted with Cobden and the English free-traders, whose
speeches he translated into French. Whilst combating protectionism, Bastiat
was also an opponent of socialism. His chief works are: _Sophismes
Economiques_ (1846); _Propriete et Loi_; _Justice et Fraternite_ (1848);
_Protectionisme et Communisme_ (1849); _Harmonies Economiques_ (1849).
BASTIEN-LEPAGE (b[.a]s-tya[n.]-l[.e]-paezh), Jules, French painter, born
1848, died 1884. He studied at Paris under Cabanel, and about 1874 began to
attract some notice as a realistic painter of subjects connected with the
country and everyday life, among his first pictures of note being _Song of
Spring_, _Portrait of My Grandfather_, and _The First Communion_. Among his
most important works are _The Hayfield_, _The Potato Harvest_, _Portrait of
Mme Sarah Bernhardt_, _The Beggar_, and _The Forge_.--Cf. Marie
Bashkirtsev, _Journal Intime_; Arnic, J. _Bastien-Lepage, lettres et
souvenirs_.
BASTILLE (b[.a]s-t[=e]l'), a French name for any strong castle provided
with towers, but as a proper name the State prison and citadel of Paris,
which was built about 1370 by Charles V. It was ultimately used chiefly for
the confinement of persons of rank who had fallen victims to the intrigues
of the Court or the caprice of the Government. (See _Cachet, Lettres de_.)
The capture of the Bastille by the Parisian mob, 14th July, 1789, was the
opening act of the Revolution. On that date the Bastille was surrounded by
a tumultuous mob, who first attempted to negotiate with the Governor,
Delaunay, but when these negotiations failed, began to attack the fortress.
For several hours the mob continued their siege without being able to
effect anything more than an entrance into the outer court of the Bastille;
but at last the arrival of some of the Royal Guard with a few pieces of
artillery forced the Governor to let down the second drawbridge and admit
the populace. The Governor was seized, but on the way to the Hotel de Ville
he was torn from his captors and put to death. The next day the destruction
of the Bastille commenced. Not a vestige of it exists, but its site is
marked by a column in the Place de la Bastille.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Francois
Ravaisson, _Les Archives de la Bastille_; Arnold, _Histoire de la
Bastille_; Bingham, _The Bastille_; Funck-Brentano, _The Bastille_; M.J. de
Staal, _La Bastille sous la Regence_ (edited by Funck-Brentano).
BASTINA'DO, an Eastern method of corporal punishment, consisting of blows
upon the soles of the feet, applied with a bamboo cane.
BAS'TION, in fortification, a large mass of earth, faced with sods, brick,
or stones, standing out from a rampart, of which it is a principal part. A
bastion consists of two _flanks_, each commanding and defending the
adjacent _curtain_, or that portion of the wall extending from one bastion
to another, and two _faces_ making with each other an acute angle called
the _salient angle_, and commanding the outworks and ground before the
fortification. The distance between the two flanks is the _gorge_, or
entrance into the bastion. The use of the bastion is to bring every point
at the foot of the rampart as much as possible under the guns of the place.
BAST'WICK, John, English physician and ecclesiastical controversialist,
born in 1593, died 1654. He settled at Colchester, but, instead of
confining himself to his profession, entered keenly into theological
controversy, and was condemned by the Star Chamber for his books against
Prelacy: _Elenchus Religionis Papisticae_, _Flagellum Pontificis_, and _The
Letanie of Dr. J. Bastwick_. With Prynne and Burton he was sentenced to
lose his ears in the pillory, to pay a fine of L5000, and to be imprisoned
for life. He was released by the Long Parliament, and entered London in
triumph along with Prynne and Burton. He appears to have continued his
controversies with the Independents and others to the very last.
BASU'TOLAND, a native province and British South African possession,
situated between the Orange Free State, Natal, Griqualand East, and the
Cape Province. The Basutos belong chiefly to the great stem of the
Bechuanas, and have made greater advances in civilization than perhaps any
other South African race. In 1866 the Basutos, who had lived under a
semi-protectorate of the British since 1848, were proclaimed British
subjects, their country placed under the government of an agent, and in
1871 it was joined to Cape Colony. In 1879 the attempted enforcement of an
Act passed for the disarmament of the native tribes caused a revolt under
the chief Moirosi, which the Cape forces were unable to put down. When
peace was restored Basutoland was separated from Cape Colony (1884), and is
now governed by a Resident Commissioner under the High Commissioner for
South Africa. Basutoland has an area of about 11,716 sq. miles, much of it
covered with grass, and there is but little wood. The climate is pleasant.
The natives keep cattle, sheep, and horses, cultivate the ground, and
export grain. The Basuto ponies, which originally were brought from Batavia
by the Dutch in the eighteenth century, are famous. It is divided into
eight districts, each under a magistrate. Capital, Maseru. Pop. (European),
1396; (native), 404,507.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: J. Widdicombe, _Fourteen Years in
Basutoland_; M. Martin, _Basutoland: Its Legends and Customs_; Sir G.
Lagden, _The Basutos_; Rev. D. F. Ellenberger, _History of the Basuto_.
[Illustration: Bats Asleep
Left--Serotine (_Vespertilio serotinus_). Right--Long-eared bat (_Plecotus
auritus_).]
BAT, one of the group of wing-handed, flying mammals, having the fore-limb
peculiarly modified so as to serve for flight, and constituting the order
Cheiroptera. Bats are animals of the twilight and darkness, and are common
in temperate and warm regions, but are most numerous and largest in the
tropics. All European bats are small, and have a mouse-like skin. The body
of the largest British species, _Vespertilio noct[)u]la_, is less than that
of a mouse, but its wings stretch about 15 inches. During the day it
remains in caverns, in the crevices of ruins, hollow trees, and similar
lurking places, and flits out at evening in search of food, which consists
of insects. Several species of the same genus are common in North America.
Many bats are remarkable for having a singular nasal cutaneous appendage,
bearing in some cases a fancied resemblance to a horse-shoe. Bats may be
conveniently divided into two sections--the insectivorous or carnivorous,
comprising all European and most African and American species; and the
fruit-eating, belonging to tropical Asia and Australia, with several
African forms. An Australian fruit-eating bat (_Pter[)o]pus ed[=u]lis_),
commonly known as the kalong or flying-fox, is the largest of all the bats;
it does much mischief in orchards. At least two species of South American
bats are known to suck the blood of other mammals, and thence are called
'vampire-bats'. All the British bats belong to the insectivorous group, the
fruit-eating and blood-sucking bats being confined to warmer regions. There
are fifteen species on the British list, but of these three are very rare.
Among the most noteworthy forms are the greater and the lesser horse-shoe
bats, in which the ears are nearly as long as the whole body. As winter
approaches, in cold climates bats seek shelter in caverns, vaults, ruinous
and deserted buildings, and similar retreats, where they cling together in
large clusters, hanging head downwards by the feet, and remain in a torpid
condition until the returning spring recalls them to active exertions. Bats
generally bring forth two young. The parent shows a strong degree of
attachment to her offspring, and, when they are captured, will follow them,
and even submit to captivity herself rather than forsake her charge.
[Illustration: Vampire-bat (_Phyllostroma spectrum_)]
BATAILLE, Henry, French poet and dramatist, born at Nimes in 1872. His
first volume of poems, _La Chambre Blanche_, appeared in 1895. His other
works include _Le Beau Rivage_, _Maman Colibri_, _La Marche Nuptiale_, _La
Femme Nue_, _La Divine Tragedie_, &c.
BATALHA (b[.a]-t[.a]l'y[.a]), a village in Portugal, 69 miles north of
Lisbon, with a renowned convent of Dominicans, a splendid building.
BATAN'GAS, a town of the Philippines, in the Island of Luzon, capital of a
province of same name, 58 miles south of Manila. Pop. 33,131.
BATA'TAS. See _Sweet-potato_.
BAT'AVI. See _Batavians_.
BATA'VIA, a city and seaport of Java, on the north coast of the island, the
capital of the Dutch East Indies. It is situated on a wide, deep bay, the
principal warehouses and offices of the Europeans, the Java Bank, the
exchange, &c., being in the old town, which is built on a low, marshy plain
near the sea, intersected with canals and very unhealthy; while the
Europeans reside in a new and much healthier quarter. Batavia has a large
trade, sugar being the chief export. It was founded by the Dutch in 1619,
and attained its greatest prosperity in the beginning of the eighteenth
century. Its inhabitants are chiefly Malay, with a considerable admixture
of Chinese and a small number of Europeans. Pop. 234,697 (1918).
BATAVIAN REPUBLIC. See _Belgium_; _Netherlands._