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THE ENCYCLOPAEDIA BRITANNICA
A DICTIONARY OF ARTS, SCIENCES, LITERATURE AND GENERAL INFORMATION
ELEVENTH EDITION
VOLUME III
AUSTRIA LOWER to BISECTRIX
[E-Text Edition of Volume III - Part 1 of 2, Slice 2 of 3 - BACONTHORPE to
BANKRUPTCY]
* * * * *
[v.03 p.0156]
BACONTHORPE [BACON, BACO, BACCONIUS], JOHN (d. 1346), known as "the
Resolute Doctor," a learned Carmelite monk, was born at Baconthorpe in
Norfolk. He seems to have been the grandnephew of Roger Bacon (Brit. Mus.
Add. MS. 19. 116). Brought up in the Carmelite monastery of Blakeney, near
Walsingham, he studied at Oxford and Paris, where he was known as
"Princeps" of the Averroists. Renan, however, says that he merely tried to
justify Averroism against the charge of heterodoxy. In 1329 he was chosen
twelfth provincial of the English Carmelites. He appears to have
anticipated Wycliffe in advocating the subordination of the clergy to the
king. In 1333 he was sent for to Rome, where, we are told, he first
maintained the pope's authority in cases of divorce; but this opinion he
retracted. He died in London in 1346. His chief work, _Doctoris resoluti
Joannis Bacconis Anglici Carmelitae radiantissimi opus super quattuor
sententiarum libris_ (published 1510), has passed through several editions.
Nearly three centuries later, it was still studied at Padua, the last home
of Averroism, and Lucilio Vanini speaks of him with great veneration.
See Brucker, _Hist. Crit._ iii. 865; Stoeckl, _Phil. d. Mittel._ ii.
1044-1045; Haureau, _Phil. Scol._ ii. 476; K. Prantl, _Ges. d. Logik_, iii.
318. For information as to his life, not found otherwise and of doubtful
accuracy, see J. B. de Lezana's _Annales Sacri_, iv.
BACSANYI, JANOS (1763-1845), Hungarian poet, was born at Tapolcza on the
11th of May 1763. In 1785 he published his first work, a patriotic poem,
_The Valour of the Magyars_. In the same year he obtained a situation as
clerk in the treasury at Kaschau, and there, in conjunction with other two
Hungarian patriots, edited the _Magyar Museum_, which was suppressed by the
government in 1792. In the following year he was deprived of his clerkship;
and in 1794, having taken part in the conspiracy of Bishop Martinovich, he
was thrown into the state prison of the Spielberg, near Bruenn, where he
remained for two years. After his release he took a considerable share in
the _Magyar Minerva_, a literary review, and then proceeded to Vienna,
where he obtained a post in the bank, and married. In 1809 he translated
Napoleon's proclamation to the Magyars, and, in consequence of this
anti-Austrian act, had to take refuge in Paris. After the fall of Napoleon
he was given up to the Austrians, who allowed him to reside at Linz, on
condition of never leaving that town. He published a collection of poems at
Pest, 1827 (2nd ed. Buda, 1835), and also edited the poetical works of
Anyos and Faludi. He died at Linz on the 12th of May 1845.
BACTERIOLOGY. The minute organisms which are commonly called "bacteria"[1]
are also known popularly under other designations, _e.g._ "microbes,"
"micro-organisms," "microphytes," "bacilli," "micrococci." All these terms,
including the usual one of bacteria, are unsatisfactory; for "bacterium,"
"bacillus" and "micrococcus" have narrow technical meanings, and the other
terms are too vague to be scientific. The most satisfactory designation is
that proposed by Naegeli in 1857, namely "schizomycetes," and it is by this
term that they are usually known among botanists; the less exact term,
however, is also used and is retained in this article since the science is
commonly known as "bacteriology." The first part of this article deals with
the general scientific aspects of the subject, while a second part is
concerned with the medical aspects.
I. THE STUDY OF BACTERIA
The general advances which have been made of late years in the study of
bacteria are clearly brought to mind when we reflect that in the middle of
the 19th century these organisms were only known to a few experts and in a
few forms as curiosities of the microscope, chiefly interesting for their
minuteness and motility. They were then known under the name of
"animalculae," and were confounded with all kinds of other small organisms.
At that time nothing was known of their life-history, and no one dreamed of
their being of importance to man and other living beings, or of their
capacity to produce the profound chemical changes with which we are now so
familiar. At the present day, however, not only have hundreds of forms or
species been described, but our knowledge of their biology has so extended
that we have entire laboratories equipped for their study, and large
libraries devoted solely to this subject. Furthermore, this branch of
science has become so complex that the bacteriological departments of
medicine, of agriculture, of sewage, &c., have become more or less separate
studies.
[Sidenote: Definition.]
The schizomycetes or bacteria are minute vegetable organisms devoid of
chlorophyll and multiplying by repeated bipartitions. They consist of
single cells, which may be spherical, oblong or cylindrical in shape, or of
filamentous or other aggregates of cells. They are characterized by the
absence of ordinary sexual reproduction and by the absence of an ordinary
nucleus. In the two last-mentioned characters and in their manner of
division the bacteria resemble Schizophyceae (Cyanophyceae or blue-green
algae), and the two groups of Schizophyceae and Schizomycetes are usually
united in the class Schizophyta, to indicate the generally received view
that most of the typical bacteria have been derived from the Cyanophyceae.
Some forms, however, such as "Sarcina," have their algal analogues in
Palmellaceae among the green algae, while Thaxter's group of
Myxobacteriaceae suggests a relationship with the Myxomycetes. The
existence of ciliated micrococci together with the formation of
endospores--structures not known in the Cyanophyceae--reminds us of the
flagellate Protozoa, _e.g._ _Monas_, _Chromulina_. Resemblances also exist
between the endospores and the spore-formations in the Saccharomycetes, and
if _Bacillus inflatus_, _B. ventriculus_, &c., really form more than one
spore in the cell, these analogies are strengthened. Schizomycetes such as
_Clostridium_, _Plectridium_, &c., where the sporiferous cells enlarge,
bear out the same argument, and we must not forget that there are extremely
minute "yeasts," easily mistaken for Micrococci, and that yeasts
occasionally form only one spore in the cell.
Nor must we overlook the possibility that the endospore-formation in
non-motile bacteria more than merely resembles the development of
azygospores in the Conjugatae, and some Ulothricaceae, if reduced in size,
would resemble them. Meyer regards them as chlamydospores, and Klebs as
"carpospores" or possibly chlamydospores similar to the endospores of
yeast. [v.03 p.0157] The former also looks on the ordinary disjointing
bacterial cell as an oidium, and it must be admitted that since Brefeld's
discovery of the frequency of minute oidia and chlamydospores among the
fungi, the probability that some so-called bacteria--and this applies
especially to the branching forms accepted by some bacteriologists--are
merely reduced fungi is increased. Even the curious one-sided growth of
certain species which form sheaths and stalks--_e.g._ _Bacterium
vermiforme_, _B. pediculatum_--can be matched by Algae such as _Oocardium_,
_Hydrurus_, and some Diatoms. It is clear then that the bacteria are very
possibly a heterogeneous group, and in the present state of our knowledge
their phylogeny must be considered as very doubtful.
Nearly all bacteria, owing to the absence of chlorophyll, are saprophytic
or parasitic forms. Most of them are colourless, but a few secrete
colouring matters other than chlorophyll. In size their cells are commonly
about 0.001 mm. (1 micromillimetre or 1 [micron]) in diameter, and from two
to five times that length, but smaller ones and a few larger ones are
known. Some of the shapes assumed by the cells are shown in fig. 1.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--Preparations showing various forms of bacteria and
the various types of cilia and their arrangement.
A. _Bacillus subtilis_, Cohn, and _Spirillum undula_, Ehrenb.
B. _Planococcus citreus_ (Menge) Migula.
C. _Pseudomonas pyocyanea_ (Gessard), Migula.
D. _P. macroselmis_, Migula.
E. _P. syncyanea_ (Ehrenb.), Migula.
F. _Bacillus typhi_, Gaffky.
G. _B. vulgaris_ (Hauser), Migula.
H. _Microspira Comma_ (Koch), Schroeter.
J, K. _Spirillum rubrum_, Esmarsch.
L, M. _S. undula_ (Mueller), Ehrenb. (_All after Migula._) ]
[Sidenote: Distribution in Time.]
That bacteria have existed from very early periods is clear from their
presence in fossils; and although we cannot accept all the conclusions
drawn from the imperfect records of the rocks, and may dismiss as absurd
the statements that geologically immured forms have been found still
living, the researches of Renault and van Tieghem have shown pretty clearly
that large numbers of bacteria existed in Carboniferous and Devonian times,
and probably earlier.
[Sidenote: Distribution in Space.]
Schizomycetes are ubiquitous as saprophytes in still ponds and ditches, in
running streams and rivers, and in the sea, and especially in drains, bogs,
refuse heaps, and in the soil, and wherever organic infusions are allowed
to stand for a short time. Any liquid (blood, urine, milk, beer, &c.)
containing organic matter, or any solid food-stuff (meat preserves,
vegetables, &c.), allowed to stand exposed to the air soon swarms with
bacteria, if moisture is present and the temperature not abnormal. Though
they occur all the world over in the space, air and on the surface of
exposed bodies, it is not to be supposed that they are by any means equally
distributed, and it is questionable whether the bacteria suspended in the
air ever exist in such enormous quantities as was once believed. The
evidence to hand shows that on heights and in open country, especially in
the north, there may be few or even no Schizomycetes detected in the air,
and even in towns their distribution varies greatly; sometimes they appear
to exist in minute clouds, as it were, with interspaces devoid of any, but
in laboratories and closed spaces where their cultivation has been promoted
the air may be considerably laden with them. Of course the distribution of
bodies so light and small is easily influenced by movements, rain, wind,
changes of temperature, &c. As parasites, certain Schizomycetes inhabit and
prey upon the organs of man and animals in varying degrees, and the
conditions for their growth and distribution are then very complex. Plants
appear to be less subject to their attacks--possibly, as has been
suggested, because the acid fluids of the higher vegetable organisms are
less suited for the development of Schizomycetes; nevertheless some are
known to be parasitic on plants. Schizomycetes exist in every part of the
alimentary canal of animals, except, perhaps, where acid secretions
prevail; these are by no means necessarily harmful, though, by destroying
the teeth for instance, certain forms may incidentally be the forerunners
of damage which they do not directly cause.
[Sidenote: History.]
Little was known about these extremely minute organisms before 1860. A. van
Leeuwenhoek figured bacteria as far back as the 17th century, and O. F.
Mueller knew several important forms in 1773, while Ehrenberg in 1830 had
advanced to the commencement of a scientific separation and grouping of
them, and in 1838 had proposed at least sixteen species, distributing them
into four genera. Our modern more accurate though still fragmentary
knowledge of the forms of Schizomycetes, however, dates from F. J. Conn's
brilliant researches, the chief results of which were published at various
periods between 1853 and 1872; Cohn's classification of the bacteria,
published in 1872 and extended in 1875, has in fact dominated the study of
these organisms almost ever since. He proceeded in the main on the
assumption that the forms of bacteria as met with and described by him are
practically constant, at any rate within limits which are not wide:
observing that a minute spherical micrococcus or a rod-like bacillus
regularly produced similar micrococci and bacilli respectively, he based
his classification on what may be considered the constancy of forms which
he called species and genera. As to the constancy of form, however, Cohn
maintained certain reservations which have been ignored by some of his
followers. The fact that Schizomycetes produce spores appeals to have been
discovered by Cohn in 1857, though it was expressed dubiously in 1872;
these spores had no doubt been observed previously. In 1876, however, Cohn
had seen the spores germinate, and Koch, Brefeld, Pratzmowski, van Tieghem,
de Bary and others confirmed the discovery in various species.
The supposed constancy of forms in Cohn's species and genera received a
shock when Lankester in 1873 pointed out that his _Bacterium rubescens_
(since named _Beggiatoa roseo-persicina_, Zopf) passes through conditions
which would have been described by most observers influenced by the current
doctrine as so many separate "species" or even "genera,"--that in fact
forms known as _Bacterium_, _Micrococcus_, _Bacillus_, _Leptothrix_, &c.,
occur as phases in one life-history. Lister put forth similar ideas about
the same time; and Billroth came forward in 1874 with the extravagant view
that the various bacteria are only different states of one and the same
organism which he called _Cocco-bacteria septica_. From that time the
question of the pleomorphism (mutability of shape) of the bacteria has been
hotly discussed: but it is now generally agreed that, while a [v.03 p.0158]
certain number of forms may show different types of cell during the various
phases of the life-history,[2] yet the majority of forms are uniform,
showing one type of cell throughout their life-history. The question of
species in the bacteria is essentially the same as in other groups of
plants; before a form can be placed in a satisfactory classificatory
position its whole life-history must be studied, so that all the phases may
be known. In the meantime, while various observers were building up our
knowledge of the morphology of bacteria, others were laying the foundation
of what is known of the relations of these organisms to fermentation and
disease--that ancient will-o'-the-wisp "spontaneous generation" being
revived by the way. When Pasteur in 1857 showed that the lactic
fermentation depends on the presence of an organism, it was already known
from the researches of Schwann (1837) and Helmholtz (1843) that
fermentation and putrefaction are intimately connected with the presence of
organisms derived from the air, and that the preservation of putrescible
substances depends on this principle. In 1862 Pasteur placed it beyond
reasonable doubt that the ammoniacal fermentation of urea is due to the
action of a minute Schizomycete; in 1864 this was confirmed by van Tieghem,
and in 1874 by Cohn, who named the organism _Micrococcus ureae_. Pasteur
and Cohn also pointed out that putrefaction is but a special case of
fermentation, and before 1872 the doctrines of Pasteur were established
with respect to Schizomycetes. Meanwhile two branches of inquiry had
arisen, so to speak, from the above. In the first place, the ancient
question of "spontaneous generation" received fresh impetus from the
difficulty of keeping such minute organisms as bacteria from reaching and
developing in organic infusions; and, secondly, the long-suspected
analogies between the phenomena of fermentation and those of certain
diseases again made themselves felt, as both became better understood.
Needham in 1745 had declared that heated infusions of organic matter were
not deprived of living beings; Spallanzani (1777) had replied that more
careful heating and other precautions prevent the appearance of organisms
in the fluid. Various experiments by Schwann, Helmholtz, Schultz,
Schroeder, Dusch and others led to the refutation, step by step, of the
belief that the more minute organisms, and particularly bacteria, arose _de
novo_ in the special cases quoted. Nevertheless, instances were adduced
where the most careful heating of yolk of egg, milk, hay-infusions, &c.,
had failed,--the boiled infusions, &c., turning putrid and swarming with
bacteria after a few hours.
In 1862 Pasteur repeated and extended such experiments, and paved the way
for a complete explanation of the anomalies; Cohn in 1872 published
confirmatory results; and it became clear that no putrefaction can take
place without bacteria or some other living organism. In the hands of
Brefeld, Burdon-Sanderson, de Bary, Tyndall, Roberts, Lister and others,
the various links in the chain of evidence grew stronger and stronger, and
every case adduced as one of "spontaneous generation" fell to the ground
when examined. No case of so-called "spontaneous generation" has withstood
rigid investigation; but the discussion contributed to more exact ideas as
to the ubiquity, minuteness, and high powers of resistance to physical
agents of the spores of Schizomycetes, and led to more exact ideas of
antiseptic treatments. Methods were also improved, and the application of
some of them to surgery at the hands of Lister, Koch and others has yielded
results of the highest value.
Long before any clear ideas as to the relations of Schizomycetes to
fermentation and disease were possible, various thinkers at different times
had suggested that resemblances existed between the phenomena of certain
diseases and those of fermentation, and the idea that a virus or contagium
might be something of the nature of a minute organism capable of spreading
and reproducing itself had been entertained. Such vague notions began to
take more definite shape as the ferment theory of Cagniard de la Tour
(1828), Schwann (1837) and Pasteur made way, especially in the hands of the
last-named savant. From about 1870 onwards the "germ theory of disease" has
passed into acceptance. P. F. O. Rayer in 1850 and Davaine had observed the
bacilli in the blood of animals dead of anthrax (splenic fever), and
Pollender discovered them anew in 1855. In 1863, imbued with ideas derived
from Pasteur's researches on fermentation, Davaine reinvestigated the
matter, and put forth the opinion that the anthrax bacilli caused the
splenic fever; this was proved to result from inoculation. Koch in 1876
published his observations on Davaine's bacilli, placed beyond doubt their
causal relation to splenic fever, discovered the spores and the saprophytic
phase in the life-history of the organism, and cleared up important points
in the whole question (figs. 7 and 9). In 1870 Pasteur had proved that a
disease of silkworms was due to an organism of the nature of a bacterium;
and in 1871 Oertel showed that a _Micrococcus_ already known to exist in
diphtheria is intimately concerned in producing that disease. In 1872,
therefore, Cohn was already justified in grouping together a number of
"pathogenous" Schizomycetes. Thus arose the foundations of the modern "germ
theory of disease;" and, in the midst of the wildest conjectures and the
worst of logic, a nucleus of facts was won, which has since grown, and is
growing daily. Septicaemia, tuberculosis, glanders, fowl-cholera, relapsing
fever, and other diseases are now brought definitely within the range of
biology, and it is clear that all contagious and infectious diseases are
due to the action of bacteria or, in a few cases, to fungi, or to protozoa
or other animals.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.--The various phases of germination of spores of
_Bacillus ramosus_ (Fraenkel), as actually observed in hanging drops under
very high powers.
A. The spore sown at 11 A.M., as shown at a, had swollen (b) perceptibly by
noon, and had germinated by 3.30 P.M., as shown at c: in d at 6 P.M., and e
at 8.30 P.M.; the resulting filament is segmenting into bacilli as it
elongates, and at midnight (f) consisted of twelve such segments.
B, C. Similar series of phases in the order of the small letters in each
case, and with the times of observation attached. At f and g occurs the
breaking up of the filament into rodlets.
D. Germinating spores in various stages, more highly magnified, and showing
the different ways of escape of the filament from the spore-membrane. (H.
M. W.) ]
Other questions of the highest importance have arisen from the foregoing.
About 1880 Pasteur first showed that _Bacillus anthracis_ cultivated in
chicken broth, with plenty of oxygen and at a temperature of 42-43deg C.,
lost its virulence after a few "generations," and ceased to kill even the
mouse; Toussaint and Chauveau confirmed, and others have extended the
observations. More remarkable still, animals inoculated with such
"attenuated" bacilli proved to be curiously resistant to the deadly effects
of subsequent inoculations of the non-attenuated form. In other words,
animals vaccinated with the cultivated bacillus showed immunity from
disease when reinoculated with the deadly wild form. The questions as to
the causes and nature of the changes in the bacillus and in the host, as to
the extent of immunity enjoyed by the latter, &c., are of the greatest
interest and importance. These matters, however, and others such as
phagocytosis (first described by Metchnikoff in 1884), and the epoch-making
discovery of the opsonins of the blood by Wright, do not here concern us
(see II. below).
[Sidenote: Form and Structure.]
MORPHOLOGY.--_Sizes, Forms, Structure, &c._--The Schizomycetes consist of
single cells, or of filamentous or other groups of cells, according as the
divisions are completed at once or not. While some unicellular forms are
less than 1 [micron] (.001 mm.) in diameter, others have cells measuring 4
[micron] or 5 [micron] or even 7 [micron] or 8 [micron], in thickness,
while the length may vary from that of the diameter to many times that
measurement. In the filamentous forms the individual cells are often
difficult to observe until reagents are applied (_e.g._ fig. 14), and the
length of the rows of cylindrical cells may be many hundred times greater
than the breadth. Similarly, the diameters of flat or spheroidal colonies
may vary from a few times to many hundred [Sidenote: Cell-wall.] times that
of the individual cells, the divisions of which have produced the colony.
The shape of the individual cell (fig. 1) varies from that of a minute
sphere to that of a straight, curved, or twisted filament or cylinder,
which is not necessarily of the same diameter throughout, and may have
flattened, rounded, or even pointed ends. The rule is that the cells divide
in one direction only--_i.e._ transverse to the long axis--and therefore
produce aggregates of long cylindrical shape; but in rarer cases
iso-diametric cells divide in two or three directions, producing flat, or
spheroidal, or irregular colonies, the size of which is practically
unlimited. The bacterial [v.03 p.0159] cell is always clothed by a definite
cell-membrane, as was shown by the plasmolysing experiments of Fischer and
others. Unlike the cell-wall of the higher plants, it gives usually no
reactions of cellulose, nor is chitin present as in the fungi, but it
consists of a proteid substance and is apparently a modification of the
general protoplasm. In some cases, however, as in _B. tuberculosis_,
analysis of the cell shows a large amount of cellulose. The cell-walls in
some forms swell up into a gelatinous mass so that the cell appears to be
surrounded in the unstained condition by a clear, transparent space. When
the swollen wall is dense and regular in appearance the term "capsule" is
applied to the sheath as in _Leuconostoc_. Secreted pigments (red, yellow,
green and blue) are sometimes deposited in the wall, and some of the
iron-bacteria have deposits of oxide of iron in the membranes.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.--Types of Zoogloea. (After Zopf.)
A. Mixed zoogloea found as a pellicle on the surface of vegetable
infusions, &c.; it consists of various forms, and contains cocci (a) and
rodlets, in series (b and c), &c.
B. Egg-shaped mass of zoogloea of _Beggiatoa roseo-persicina_ (_Bacterium
rubescens_ of Lankester); the gelatinous swollen walls of the large crowded
cocci are fused into a common gelatinous envelope.
C. Reticulate zoogloea of the same.
D, E, H. Colonies of _Myconostoc_ enveloped in diffluent matrix.
F. Branched fruticose zoogloea of _Cladothrix_ (slightly magnified).
G. Zoogloea of _Bacterium merismopedioides_, Zopf, containing cocci
arranged in tablets.]
[Sidenote: Cell-contents.]
The substance of the bacterial cell when suitably prepared and stained
shows in the larger forms a mass of homogeneous protoplasm containing
irregular spaces, the vacuoles, which enclose a watery fluid. Scattered in
the protoplasm arc usually one or more deeply-staining granules. The
protoplasm itself may be tinged with colouring matter, bright red, yellow,
&c., and may occasionally contain substances other than the deeply-staining
granules. The occurrence of a starch-like substance which stains deep blue
with iodine has been clearly shown in some forms even where the bacterium
is growing on a medium containing no starch, as shown by Ward and others.
In other forms a substance (probably glycogen or amylo-dextrin) which turns
brown with iodine has been observed. Oil and fat drops have also been shown
to occur, and in the sulphur-bacteria numerous fine granules of sulphur.
[Sidenote: Nucleus.]
The question of the existence of a nucleus in the bacteria is one that has
led to much discussion and is a problem of some difficulty. In the majority
of forms it has not hitherto been possible to demonstrate a nucleus of the
type which is so characteristic of the higher plants. Attention has
accordingly been directed to the deeply-staining granules mentioned above,
and the term chromatin-granules has been applied to them, and they have
been considered to represent a rudimentary nucleus. That these granules
consist of a material similar to the chromatin of the nucleus of higher
forms is very doubtful, and the comparison with the nucleus of more highly
organized cells rests on a very slender basis. The most recent works
(Vejdovsky, Mencl), however, appear to show that nuclei of a structure and
mode of division almost typical are to be found in some of the largest
bacteria. It is possible that a similar structure has been overlooked or is
invisible in other forms owing to their small size, and that there may be
another type of nucleus--the diffuse nucleus--such as Schaudinn believed to
be the case in _B. butschlii_. Many bacteria when suspended in a fluid
exhibit a power of independent movement which is, of course, quite distinct
from the Brownian movement--a non-vital phenomenon common to all
finely-divided particles suspended in a fluid. Independent movement is
effected by special motile organs, the cilia or flagella. These structures
are invisible, with ordinary illumination in living cells or unstained
preparations, and can only be made clearly visible by special methods of
preparation and staining first used by Loeffler. By these methods the cilia
are seen to be fine protoplasmic outgrowths of the cell (fig. 1) of the
same nature as those of the zoospores and antherozoids of algae, mosses,
&c. [Sidenote: Cilia.] These cilia appear to be attached to the cell-wall,
being unaffected by plasmolysis, but Fischer states that they really are
derived from the central protoplasm and pass through minute pores in the
wall. The cilia may be present during a short period only in the life of a
Schizomycete, and their number may vary according to the medium on which
the organism is growing. Nevertheless, there is more or less constancy in
the type of distribution, &c., of the cilia for each species when growing
at its best. The chief results may be summed up as follows: some species,
_e.g._ _B. anthracis_, have no cilia; others have only one flagellum at one
pole (_Monotrichous_), _e.g._ _Bacillus pyocyaneus_ (fig. 1, C, D), or one
at each pole; others again have a tuft of several cilia [v.03 p.0160] at
one pole (_Lophotrichous_), _e.g._ _B. syncyaneus_ (fig. 1, E), or at each
pole (_Amphitrichous_) (fig. 1, J, K, L); and, finally, many actively
motile forms have the cilia springing all round (_Peritrichous_), _e.g._
_B. vulgaris_ (fig. 1, G). It is found, however, that strict reliance
cannot be placed on the distinction between the _Monotrichous_,
_Lophotrichous_ and _Amphitrichous_ conditions, since one and the same
species may have one, two or more cilia at one or both poles; nevertheless
some stress may usually be laid on the existence of one or two as opposed
to several--_e.g._ five or six or more--at one or each pole.
[Sidenote: Vegetative State.]
In _Beggiatoa_, a filamentous form, peculiar, slow, oscillatory movements
are to be observed, reminding us of the movements of _Oscillatoria_ among
the _Cyanophyceae_. In these cases no cilia have been observed, and there
is a firm cell-wall, so the movement remains quite unexplained.
[Illustration: FIG. 4.--Types of Spore-formation in Schizomycetes. (After
Zopf.)
A. Various stages in the development of the endogenous spores in a
_Clostridium_--the small letters indicate the order.
B. Endogenous spores of the hay bacillus.
C. A chain of _cocci_ of _Leuconostoc mesenterioides_, with two "resting
spores," _i.e._ arthrospores. (After van Tieghem.)
D. A motile rodlet with one cilium and with a spore formed inside.
E. Spore-formation in _Vibrio_-like (c) and _Spirillum_-like (a b, a)
Schizomycetes.
F. Long rod-like form containing a spore (these are the so-called
"_Koepfchenbacterien_" of German authors).
G. _Vibrio_ form with spore. (After Prazmowski.)
H. _Clostridium_--one cell contains two spores. (After Prazmowski.)
I. _Spirillum_ containing many spores (a), which are liberated at b by the
breaking up of the parent cells.
K. Germination of the spore of the hay bacillus (_B. subtilis_)--the axis
of growth of the germinal rodlet is at right angles to the long axis of the
spore.
L. Germination of spore of _Clostridium butyricum_--the axis of growth
coincides with the long axis of the spore.]
While many forms are fixed to the substratum, others are free, being in
this condition either motile or immotile. The chief of these forms are
described below.
[Illustration: FIG. 5.--Characteristic groups of _Micrococci_. (After
Cohn.) A. _Micrococcus prodigiosus._ B. _M. vaccinae._ C. Zoogloea stage of
a _Micrococcus_, forming a close membrane on infusion--Pasteur's
_Mycoderma_. (Very highly magnified.)]
_Cocci_: spherical or spheroidal cells, which, according to their
relative (not very well defined) sizes are spoken of as _Micrococci_,
_Macrococci_, and perhaps _Monas_ forms.
_Rods_ or _rodlets_: slightly or more considerably elongated cells
which are cylindrical, biscuit-shaped or somewhat fusiform. The
cylindrical forms are short, _i.e._ only three or four times as long as
broad (_Bacterium_), or longer (_Bacillus_); the biscuit-shaped ones
are _Bacteria_ in the early stages of division. _Clostridia_, &c., are
spindle-shaped.
_Filaments_ really consist of elongated cylindrical cells which remain
united end to end after division, and they may break up later into
elements such as those described above. Such filaments are not always
of the same diameter throughout, and their segmentation varies
considerably. They may be free or attached at one (the "basal") end. A
distinction is made between _simple_ filaments (_e.g._ _Leptothrix_)
and such as exhibit a false branching (_e.g._ _Cladothrix_).
_Curved_ and _spiral_ forms. Any of the elongated forms described above
may be curved or sinuous or twisted into a corkscrew-like spiral
instead of straight. If the sinuosity is slight we have the _Vibrio_
form; if pronounced, and the spiral winding well marked, the forms are
known as _Spirillum_, _Spirochaete_, &c. These and similar terms have
been applied partly to individual cells, but more often to filaments
consisting of several cells; and much confusion has arisen from the
difficulty of defining the terms themselves.
In addition to the above, however, certain Schizomycetes present
aggregates in the form of plates, or solid or hollow and irregular
branched colonies. This may be due to the successive divisions
occurring in two or three planes instead of only across the long axis
(_Sarcina_), or to displacements of the cells after division.
[Sidenote: Reproduction.]
_Growth and Division._--Whatever the shape and size of the individual cell,
cell-filament or cell-colony, the immediate visible results of active
nutrition are elongation of the cell and its division into two equal
halves, across the long axis, by the formation of a septum, which either
splits at once or remains intact for a shorter or longer time. This process
is then repeated and so on. In the first case the separated cells assume
the character of the parent-cell whose division gave rise to them; in the
second case they form filaments, or, if the further elongation and
divisions of the cells proceed in different directions, plates or
spheroidal or other shaped colonies. It not unfrequently happens, however,
that groups of cells break away from their former connexion as longer or
shorter straight or curved filaments, or as solid masses. In some
filamentous forms this "fragmentation" into multicellular pieces of equal
length or nearly so is a normal phenomenon, each partial filament repeating
the growth, division and fragmentation as before (cf. figs. 2 and 6). By
rapid division hundreds of thousands of cells may be produced in a few
hours,[3] and, according to the species and the conditions (the medium,
temperature, &c.), enormous collections of isolated cells may cloud the
fluid in which they are cultivated, or form deposits below or films on its
surface; valuable characters are sometimes obtained from these appearances.
When these dense "swarms" of vegetative cells become fixed in a matrix of
their own swollen contiguous cell-walls, they pass over into a sort of
resting state as a so-called zoogloea (fig. 3).
[Illustration: FIG. 6.--_Bacillus megaterium._ (After de Bary.)
a, a chain of motile rodlets still growing and dividing (_bacilli_).
b, a pair of bacilli actively growing and dividing.
p, a rodlet in this condition (but divided into four segments) after
treatment with alcoholic iodine solution.
c, d, e, f, successive stages in the development of the spores.
r, a rodlet segmented in four, each segment containing one ripe spore.
g1, g2, g3, early stages in the germination of the spores (after being
dried several days);
h1, h2, k, l and m, successive stages in the germination of the spore.]
[Illustration: FIG. 7.--_Bacillus anthracis_. (After Koch.)
A. _Bacilli_ mingled with blood-corpuscles from the blood of a guinea-pig;
some of the _bacilli_ dividing.
B. The rodlets after three hours' culture in a drop of aqueous humour. They
grow out into long _leptothrix_-like filaments, which become septate later,
and spores are developed in the segments.]
[Sidenote: Zoogloeae.]
One of the most remarkable phenomena in the life-history of the
Schizomycetes is the formation of this zoogloea stage, which corresponds to
the "palmella" condition of the lower _Algae_. This occurs as a membrane on
the surface of the medium, or as irregular clumps or branched masses
(sometimes several inches across) submerged in it, and consists of more or
less gelatinous matrix enclosing innumerable "cocci," "bacteria," or other
elements of the Schizomycete concerned. Formerly regarded as a distinct
genus--the natural fate of all the various [v.03 p.0161] forms--the
zoogloea is now known to be a sort of resting condition of the
Schizomycetes, the various elements being glued together, as it were, by
their enormously swollen and diffluent cell-walls becoming contiguous. The
zoogloea is formed by active division of single or of several mother-cells,
and the progeny appear to go on secreting the cell-wall substance, which
then absorbs many times its volume of water, and remains as a consistent
matrix, in which the cells come to rest. The matrix--_i.e._ the swollen
cell-walls--in some cases consists mainly of cellulose, in others chiefly
of a proteid substance; the matrix in some cases is horny and resistant, in
others more like a thick solution of gum. It is intelligible from the mode
of formation that foreign bodies may become entangled in the gelatinous
matrix, and compound zoogloeae may arise by the apposition of several
distinct forms, a common event in macerating troughs (fig. 3, A).
Characteristic forms may be assumed by the young zoogloea of different
species,--spherical, ovoid, reticular, filamentous, fruiticose, lamellar,
&c.,--but these vary considerably as the mass increases or comes in contact
with others. Older zoogloeae may precipitate oxide of iron in the matrix,
if that metal exists in small quantities in the medium. Under favourable
conditions the elements in the zoogloea again become active, and move out
of the matrix, distribute themselves in the surrounding medium, to grow and
multiply as before. If the zoogloea is formed on a solid substratum it may
become firm and horny; immersion in water softens it as described above.
[Illustration: FIG. 8.--Curve of growth of a filament of _Bacillus ramosus_
(Fraenkel), constructed from data such as in fig. 4. The abscissae
represent intervals of time, the ordinates the measured lengths of the
growing filament. Thus, at 2.33 P.M. the length of the filament was 6
[micron]; at 5.45, 20 [micron]; at 8 P.M., 70 [micron] and so on. Such
curves show differences of steepness according to the temperature (see
temp. curve), and to alterations of light (lamp) and darkness. (H. M. W.)]
[Sidenote: Measurement of growth.]
The growth of an ordinary bacterium consists in uniform elongation of the
rodlet until its length is doubled, followed by division by a median
septum, then by the simultaneous doubling in length of each daughter cell,
again followed by the median division, and so on (figs. 13, 14). If the
cells remain connected the resulting filament repeats these processes of
elongation and subsequent division uniformly so long as the conditions are
maintained, and very accurate measurements have been obtained on such a
form, _e.g._ _B. ramosus_. If a rodlet in a hanging drop of nutrient
gelatine is fixed under the microscope and kept at constant temperature, a
curve of growth can be obtained recording the behaviour during many hours
or days. The measured lengths are marked off on ordinates erected on an
abscissa, along which the times are noted. The curve obtained on joining
the former points then brings out a number of facts, foremost among which
are (1) that as long as the conditions remain constant the doubling
periods--_i.e._ the times taken by any portion of the filament to double
its length--are constant, because each cell is equally active along the
whole length; (2) there are optimum, minimum and maximum temperatures,
other conditions remaining constant, at which growth begins, runs at its
best and is soon exhausted, respectively; (3) that the most rapid
cell-division and maximum growth do not necessarily accord with the best
conditions for the life of the organism; and (4) that any sudden alteration
of temperature brings about a check, though a slow rise may accelerate
growth (fig. 8). It was also shown that exposure to light, dilution or
exhaustion of the food-media, the presence of traces of poisons or
metabolic products check growth or even bring it to a standstill; and the
death or injury of any single cell in the filamentous series shows its
effect on the curve by lengthening the doubling period, because its
potential progeny have been put out of play. Hardy has shown that such a
destruction of part of the filament may be effected by the attacks of
another organism.
[Sidenote: Spores.]
A very characteristic method of reproduction is that of spore-formation,
and these minute reproductive bodies, which represent a resting stage of
the organism, are now known in many forms. Formerly two kinds of spores
were described, _arthrospores_ and _endospores_. An arthrospore, however,
is not a true spore but merely an ordinary vegetative cell which separates
and passes into a condition of rest, and such may occur in forms which form
endospores, _e.g._ _B. subtilis_, as well as in species not known to form
endospores. The true spore or endospore begins with the appearance of a
minute granule in the protoplasm of a vegetative cell; this granule
enlarges and in a few hours has taken to itself all the protoplasm,
secreted a thin but very resistive envelope, and is a ripe ovoid spore,
smaller than the mother-cell and lying loosely in it (cf. figs. 6, 9, 10,
and 11). In the case of the simplest and most minute Schizomycetes [v.03
p.0162] (_Micrococcus_, &c.) no definite spores have been discovered; any
one of the vegetative micrococci may commence a new series of cell by
growth and division. We may call these forms "asporous," at any rate
provisionally.
[Illustration: FIG. 9.
A. _Bacillus anthracis._ (After de Bary) Two of the long filaments (B, fig.
10) in which spores are being developed. The specimen was cultivated in
broth, and spores are drawn a little too small--they should be of the same
diameter transversely as the segments.
B. _Bacillus subtilis._ (After de Bary.) 1, fragments of filaments with
ripe spores; 2-5, successive stages in the germination of the spores, the
remains of the spore attached to the germinal rodlets.]
[Illustration: FIG. 10.--_Bacillus subtilis_. (After Strasburger.) A.
Zoogloea pellicle. B. Motile rodlets. C. Development of spores.]
The spore may be formed in short or long segments, the cell-wall of which
may undergo change of form to accommodate itself to the contents. As a rule
only one spore is formed in a cell, and the process usually takes place in
a bacillar segment. In some cases the spore-forming protoplasm gives a blue
reaction with iodine solutions. The spores may be developed in cells which
are actively swarming, the movements not being interfered with by the
process (fig. 4, D). The so-called "Koepfchenbacterien" of older writers
are simply bacterioid segments with a spore at one end, the mother
cell-wall having adapted itself to the outline of the spore (fig. 4, F).
The ripe spores of Schizomycetes are spherical, ovoid or long-ovoid in
shape and extremely minute (_e.g._ those of _Bacillus subtilis_ measure
0.0012 mm. long by 0.0006 mm. broad according to Zopf), highly refractive
and colourless (or very dark, probably owing to the high index of
refraction and minute size). The membrane may be relatively thick, and even
exhibit shells or strata.
The germination of the spores has now been observed in several forms with
care. The spores are capable of germination at once, or they may be kept
for months and even years, and are very resistant against desiccation, heat
and cold, &c. In a suitable medium and at a proper temperature the
germination is completed in a few hours. The spore swells and elongates and
the contents grow forth to a cell like that which produced it, in some
cases clearly breaking through the membrane, the remains of which may be
seen attached to the young germinal rodlet (figs. 5, 9 and 11); in other
cases the surrounding membrane of the spore swells and dissolves. The
germinal cell then grows forth into the forms typical for the particular
Schizomycete concerned.
The conditions for spore-formation differ. Anaerobic species usually
require little oxygen, but aerobic species a free supply. Each species has
an optimum temperature and many are known to require very special
food-media. The systematic interference with these conditions has enabled
bacteriologists to induce the development of so-called asporogenous races,
in which the formation of spores is indefinitely postponed, changes in
vigour, virulence and other properties being also involved, in some cases
at any rate. The addition of minute traces of acids, poisons, &c., leads to
this change in some forms; high temperature has also been used
successfully.
[Illustration: FIG. 11.--Stages in the development of spores of _Bacillus
ramosus_ (Fraenkel), in the order and at the times given, in a hanging drop
culture, under a very high power. The process begins with the formation of
brilliant granules (A, B); these increase, and the brilliant substance
gradually balls together (C) and forms the spores (D), one in each segment,
which soon acquire a membrane and ripen (E). (H. M. W.)]
[Sidenote: Classification.]
The difficult subject of the classification[4] of bacteria dates from the
year 1872, when Cohn published his system, which was extended in 1875; this
scheme has in fact dominated the study of bacteria ever since. Zopf in 1885
proposed a scheme based on the acceptance of extreme views of pleomorphism;
his system, however, was extraordinarily impracticable and was recognized
by him as provisional only. Systems have also been brought forward based on
the formation of arthrospores and endospores, but as explained above this
is eminently unsatisfactory, as arthrospores are not true spores and both
kinds of reproductive bodies are found in one and the same form. Numerous
attempts have been made to construct schemes of classification based on the
power of growing colonies to liquefy gelatine, to secrete coloured
pigments, to ferment certain media with evolution of carbon dioxide or
other gases, or to induce pathological conditions in animals. None of these
systems, which are chiefly due to the medical bacteriologists, has
maintained its position, owing to the difficulty of applying the characters
and to the fact that such properties are physiological and liable to great
fluctuations in culture, because a given organism may vary greatly in such
respects according to its degree of vitality at the time, its age, the mode
of nutrition [v.03 p.0163] and the influence of external factors on its
growth. Even when used in conjunction with purely morphological characters,
these physiological properties are too variable to aid us in the
discrimination of species and genera, and are apt to break down at critical
periods. Among the more characteristic of these schemes adopted at various
times may be mentioned those of Miquel (1891), Eisenberg (1891), and
Lehmann and Neumann (1897). Although much progress has been made in
determining the value and constancy of morphological characters, we are
still in need of a sufficiently comprehensive and easily applied scheme of
classification, partly owing to the existence in the literature of
imperfectly described forms the life-history of which is not yet known, or
the microscopic characters of which have not been examined with sufficient
accuracy and thoroughness. [Sidenote: Fischer's Scheme.] The principal
attempts at morphological classifications recently brought forward are
those of de Toni and Trevisan (1889), Fischer (1897) and Migula (1897). Of
these systems, which alone are available in any practical scheme of
classification, the two most important and most modern are those of Fischer
and Migula. The extended investigations of the former on the number and
distribution of cilia (see fig. 1) led him to propose a scheme of
classification based on these and other morphological characters, and
differing essentially from any preceding one. This scheme may be tabulated
as follows:--
I. ORDER--HAPLOBACTERINAE. Vegetative body unicellular; spheroidal,
cylindrical or spirally twisted; isolated or connected in filamentous or
other growth series.
1. _Family_--COCCACEAE. Vegetative cells spheroidal.
(a) Sub-family--ALLOCOCCACEAE. Division in all or any planes,
colonies indefinite in shape and size, of cells in short chains,
irregular clumps, pairs or isolated:-- _Micrococcus_ (Cohn), cells
non-motile; _Planococcus_ (Migula), cells motile.
(b) Sub-family--HOMOCOCCACEAE. Division planes regular and
definite:--_Sarcina_ (Goods.), cells non-motile; growth and
division in three successive planes at right angles, resulting in
packet-like groups; _Planosarcina_ (Migula), as before, but motile;
_Pediococcus_ (Lindner), division planes at right angles in two
successive planes, and cells in tablets of four or more;
_Streptococcus_ (Billr.), divisions in one plane only, resulting in
chains of cells.
2. _Family_--BACILLACEAE. Vegetative cells cylindric (rodlets),
ellipsoid or ovoid, and straight. Division planes always perpendicular
to the long axis.
(a) Sub-family--BACILLEAE. Sporogenous rodlets cylindric, not
altered in shape:--_Bacillus_ (Cohn), non-motile; _Bactrinium_
(Fischer), motile, with one polar flagellum (monotrichous);
_Bactrillum_ (Fischer), motile, with a terminal tuft of cilia
(lophotrichous); _Bactridium_ (Fischer), motile, with cilia all
over the surface (peritrichous).
(b) Sub-family--CLOSTRIDIEAE. Sporogenous rodlets,
spindle-shaped:--_Clostridium_ (Prazm.), motile (peritrichous).
(c) Sub-family--PLECTRIDIEAE. Sporogenous rodlets,
drumstick-shaped:--_Plectridium_ (Fischer), motile (peritrichous).
3. _Family_--SPIRILLACEAE. Vegetative cells, cylindric but curved more
or less spirally. Divisions perpendicular to the long axis:--_Vibrio_
(Mueller-Loeffler), comma-shaped, motile, monotrichous; _Spirillum_
(Ehrenb.), more strongly curved in open spirals, motile, lophotrichous;
_Spirochaete_ (Ehrenb.), spirally coiled in numerous close turns,
motile, but apparently owing to flexile movements, as no cilia are
found.
II. ORDER--TRICHOBACTERINAE. Vegetative body of branched or unbranched
cell-filaments, the segments of which separate as swarm-cells (_Gonidia_).
1. _Family_--TRICHOBACTERIACEAE. Characters those of the Order.
(a) Filaments rigid, non-motile, sheathed:--_Crenothrix_ (Cohn),
filaments unbranched and devoid of sulphur particles; _Thiothrix_
(Winogr.), as before, but with sulphur particles; _Cladothrix_
(Cohn), filaments branched in a pseudo-dichotomous manner.
(b) Filaments showing slow pendulous and creeping movements, and
with no distinct sheath:--_Beggiatoa_ (Trev.), with sulphur
particles.
The principal objections to this system are the following:--(1) The
extraordinary difficulty in obtaining satisfactory preparations showing the
cilia, and the discovery that these motile organs are not formed on all
substrata, or are only developed during short periods of activity while the
organism is young and vigorous, render this character almost nugatory. For
instance, _B. megatherium_ and _B. subtilis_ pass in a few hours after
commencement of growth from a motile stage with peritrichous cilia, into
one of filamentous growth preceded by casting of the cilia. (2) By far the
majority of the described species (over 1000) fall into the three
genera--_Micrococcus_ (about 400), _Bacillus_ (about 200) and _Bactridium_
(about 150), so that only a quarter or so of the forms are selected out by
the other genera. (3) The monotrichous and lophotrichous conditions are by
no means constant even in the motile stage; thus _Pseudomonas rosea_ (Mig.)
may have 1, 2 or 3 cilia at either end, and would be distributed by
Fischer's classification between _Bactrinium_ and _Bactrillum_, according
to which state was observed. In Migula's scheme the attempt is made to
avoid some of these difficulties, but others are introduced by his
otherwise clever devices for dealing with these puzzling little organisms.
The question, What is an individual? has given rise to much difficulty, and
around it many of the speculations regarding pleomorphism have centred
without useful result. If a tree fall apart into its constituent cells
periodically we should have the same difficulty on a larger and more
complex scale. The fact that every bacterial cell in a species in most
cases appears equally capable of performing all the physiological functions
of the species has led most authorities, however, to regard it as the
individual--a view which cannot be consistent in those cases where a simple
or branched filamentous series exhibits differences between free apex and
fixed base and so forth. It may be doubted whether the discussion is
profitable, though it appears necessary in some cases--_e.g._ concerning
pleomorphy--to adopt some definition of individual.
[Illustration: FIG. 12.
A. _Myxococcus digelatus_, bright red fructification occurring on dung.
B. _Polyangium primigenum_, red fructification on dog's dung.
C. _Chondromyces apiculatus_, orange fructification on antelope's dung.
D. Young fructification.
E. Single cyst germinating.
(A, B, after Quehl; C-E, after Thaxter.) From Strasburger's _Lehrbuch der
Botanik_, by permission of Gustav Fischer.]
_Myxobacteriaceae._--To the two divisions of bacteria, Haplobacterinae and
Trichobacterinae, must now be added a third division, Myxobacterinae. One
of the first members of this group, _Chondromyces crocatus_, was described
as long ago as 1857 by Berkeley, but its nature was not understood and it
was ascribed to the Hyphomycetes. In 1892, however, Thaxter rediscovered it
and showed its bacterial nature, founding for it and some allied forms the
group Myxobacteriaceae. Another form, which he described as _Myxobacter_,
was shown later to be the same as _Polyangium vitellinum_ described by Link
in 1795, the exact nature of which had hitherto been in doubt. Thaxter's
observations and conclusions were called in question by some botanists, but
his later observations and those of Baur have established firmly the
position of the group. The peculiarity of the group lies in the fact that
the bacteria form plasmodium-like aggregations and build themselves up into
sporogenous structures of definite form superficially similar to the cysts
of the Mycetozoa (fig. 12). Most of the forms in question are found growing
on the dung of herbivorous animals, but the bacteria occur not only in the
alimentary canal of the animal but also free in the air. The Myxobacteria
are most easily obtained by keeping at a temperature of 30-35deg C. in the
dark dung which has lain exposed to the air for at least eight days. The
high temperature is favourable to the growth of the bacteria but [v.03
p.0164] inimical to that of the fungi which are so common on this
substratum.
[Sidenote: Function and life of bacteria.]
The discoveries that some species of nitrifying bacteria and perhaps
pigmented forms are capable of carbon-assimilation, that others can fix
free nitrogen and that a number of decompositions hitherto unsuspected are
accomplished by Schizomycetes, have put the questions of nutrition and
fermentation in quite new lights. Apart from numerous fermentation
processes such as rotting, the soaking of skins for tanning, the
preparation of indigo and of tobacco, hay, ensilage, &c., in all of which
bacterial fermentations are concerned, attention may be especially directed
to the following evidence of the supreme importance of Schizomycetes in
agriculture and daily life. Indeed, nothing marks the attitude of modern
bacteriology more clearly than the increasing attention which is being paid
to useful fermentations. The vast majority of these organisms are not
pathogenic, most are harmless and many are indispensable aids in natural
operations important to man.
[Illustration: FIG. 13.--A series of phases of germination of the spore of
_B. ramosus_ sown at 8.30 (to the extreme left), showing how the growth can
be measured. If we place the base of the filament in each case on a base
line in the order of the successive times of observation recorded, and at
distances apart proportional to the intervals of time (8.30, 10.0, 10.30,
11.40, and so on) and erect the straightened-out filaments, the
proportional length of each of which is here given for each period, a line
joining the tips of the filaments gives the curve of growth. (H. M. W.)]
Fischer has proposed that the old division into saprophytes and parasites
should be replaced by one which takes into account other peculiarities in
the mode of nutrition of bacteria. The nitrifying, nitrogen-fixing,
sulphur- and iron-bacteria he regards as monotrophic, _i.e._ as able to
carry on one particular series of fermentations or decompositions only, and
since they require no organic food materials, or at least are able to work
up nitrogen or carbon from inorganic sources, he regards them as primitive
forms in this respect and terms them _Prototrophic_. They may be looked
upon as the nearest existing representatives of the primary forms of life
which first obtained the power of working up non-living into living
materials, and as playing a correspondingly important _role_ in the
evolution of life on our globe. The vast majority of bacteria, on the other
hand, which are ordinarily termed saprophytes, are _saprogenic_, _i.e._
bring organic material to the putrefactive state--or _saprophilous_, _i.e._
live best in such putrefying materials--or become _zymogenic_, _i.e._ their
metabolic products may induce blood-poisoning or other toxic effects
(facultative parasites) though they are not true parasites. These forms are
termed by Fischer _Metatrophic_, because they require various kinds of
organic materials obtained from the dead remains of other organisms or from
the surfaces of their bodies, and can utilize and decompose them in various
ways (_Polytrophic_) or, if monotrophic, are at least unable to work them
up. The true parasites--obligate parasites of de Bary--are placed by
Fischer in a third biological group, _Paratrophic_ bacteria, to mark the
importance of their mode of life in the interior of living organisms where
they live and multiply in the blood, juices or tissues.
[Sidenote: Nitrogen bacteria.]
When we reflect that some hundreds of thousands of tons of urea are daily
deposited, which ordinary plants are unable to assimilate until
considerable changes have been undergone, the question is of importance,
What happens in the meantime? In effect the urea first becomes carbonate of
ammonia by a simple hydrolysis brought about by bacteria, more and more
definitely known since Pasteur, van Tieghem and Cohn first described them.
Lea and Miquel further proved that the hydrolysis is due to an
enzyme--urase--separable with difficulty from the bacteria concerned. Many
forms in rivers, soil, manure heaps, &c., are capable of bringing about
this change to ammonium carbonate, and much of the loss of volatile ammonia
on farms is preventible if the facts are apprehended. The excreta of urea
alone thus afford to the soil enormous stores of nitrogen combined in a
form which can be rendered available by bacteria, and there are in addition
the supplies brought down in rain from the atmosphere, and those due to
other living debris. The researches of later years have demonstrated that a
still more inexhaustible supply of nitrogen is made available by the
nitrogen-fixing bacteria of the soil. There are in all cultivated soils
forms of bacteria which are capable of forcing the inert free nitrogen to
combine with other elements into compounds assimilable by plants. This was
long asserted as probable before Winogradsky showed that the conclusions of
M. P. E. Berthelot, A. Laurent and others were right, and that _Clostridium
pasteurianum_, for instance, if protected from access of free oxygen by an
envelope of aerobic bacteria or fungi, and provided with the carbohydrates
and minerals necessary for its growth, fixes nitrogen in proportion to the
amount of sugar consumed. This interesting case of symbiosis is equalled by
yet another case. The work of numerous observers has shown that the free
nitrogen of the atmosphere is brought into combination in the soil in the
nodules filled with bacteria on the roots of Leguminosae, and since these
nodules are the morphological expression of a symbiosis between the higher
plant and the bacteria, there is evidently here a case similar to the last.
As regards the ammonium carbonate accumulating in the soil from the
conversion of urea and other sources, we know from Winogradsky's researches
that it undergoes oxidation in two stages owing to the activity of the
so-called "nitrifying" bacteria (an unfortunate term inasmuch as
"nitrification" refers merely to a particular phase of the cycle of changes
undergone by nitrogen). It had long been known that under certain
conditions large quantities of nitrate (saltpetre) are formed on exposed
heaps of manure, &c., and it was supposed that direct oxidation of the
ammonia, facilitated by the presence of porous bodies, brought this to
pass. But research showed that this process of nitrification is dependent
on temperature, aeration and moisture, as is life, and that while
nitre-beds can infect one another, the process is stopped by sterilization.
R. Warington, J. T. Schloessing, C. A. Muentz and others had proved that
nitrification was promoted by some organism, when Winogradsky hit on the
happy idea of isolating the organism by using gelatinous silica, and so
avoiding the difficulties which Warington had shown to exist with the
organism in presence of organic nitrogen, owing to its refusal to nitrify
on gelatine or other nitrogenous media. Winogradsky's investigations
resulted in the discovery that two kinds of bacteria are concerned in
nitrification; one of these, which he terms the _Nitroso-bacteria_, is only
capable of bringing about the oxidation of the ammonia to nitrous acid, and
the astonishing result was obtained that [v.03 p.0165] this can be done, in
the dark, by bacteria to which only pure mineral salts--_e.g._ carbonates,
sulphates and chlorides of ammonium, sodium and magnesium--were added. In
other words these bacteria can build up organic matter from purely mineral
sources by assimilating carbon from carbon dioxide in the dark and by
obtaining their nitrogen from ammonia. The energy liberated during the
oxidation of the nitrogen is regarded as splitting the carbon dioxide
molecule,--in green plants it is the energy of the solar rays which does
this. Since the supply of free oxygen is dependent on the activity of green
plants the process is indirectly dependent on energy derived from the sun,
but it is none the less an astounding one and outside the limits of our
previous generalizations. It has been suggested that urea is formed by
polymerization of ammonium carbonate, and formic aldehyde is synthesized
from CO_2 and OH_2. The _Nitro-bacteria_ are smaller, finer and quite
different from the nitroso-bacteria, and are incapable of attacking and
utilizing ammonium carbonate. When the latter have oxidized ammonia to
nitrite, however, the former step in and oxidize it still further to nitric
acid. It is probable that important consequences of these actions result
from the presence of nitrifying bacteria in rotten stone, decaying bricks,
&c., where all the conditions are realized for preparing primitive soil,
the breaking up of the mineral constituents being a secondary matter. That
"soil" is thus prepared on barren rocks and mountain peaks may be concluded
with some certainty.
[Illustration: FIG. 14.--Stages in the formation of a colony of a variety
of _Bacillus (Proteus) vulgaris_ (Hauser), observed in a hanging drop. At
11 A.M. a rodlet appeared (A); at 4 P.M. it had grown and divided and
broken up into eight rodlets (B); C shows further development at 8 P.M., D
at 9.30 P.M.--all under a high power. At E, F, and G further stages are
drawn, as seen under much lower power. (H. M. W.)]
In addition to the bacterial actions which result in the oxidization of
ammonia to nitrous acid, and of the latter to nitric acid, the reversal of
such processes is also brought about by numerous bacteria in the soil,
rivers, &c. Warington showed some time ago that many species are able to
reduce nitrates to nitrites, and such reduction is now known to occur very
widely in nature. The researches of Gayon and Dupetit, Giltay and Aberson
and others have shown, moreover, that bacteria exist which carry such
reduction still further, so that ammonia or even free nitrogen may escape.
The importance of these results is evident in explaining an old puzzle in
agriculture, viz. that it is a wasteful process to put nitrates and manure
together on the land. Fresh manure abounds in de-nitrifying bacteria, and
these organisms not only reduce the nitrates to nitrites, even setting free
nitrogen and ammonia, but their effect extends to the undoing of the work
of what nitrifying bacteria may be present also, with great loss. The
combined nitrogen of dead organisms, broken down to ammonia by putrefactive
bacteria, the ammonia of urea and the results of the fixation of free
nitrogen, together with traces of nitrogen salts due to meteoric activity,
are thus seen to undergo various vicissitudes in the soil, rivers and
surface of the globe generally. The ammonia may be oxidized to nitrites and
nitrates, and then pass into the higher plants and be worked up into
proteids, and so be handed on to animals, eventually to be broken down by
bacterial action again to ammonia; or the nitrates may be degraded to
nitrites and even to free nitrogen or ammonia, which escapes.
[Sidenote: Bacteria and Leguminosae.]
That the Leguminosae (a group of plants including peas, beans, vetches,
lupins, &c.) play a special part in agriculture was known even to the
ancients and was mentioned by Pliny (_Historia Naturalis_, viii). These
plants will not only grow on poor sandy soil without any addition of
nitrogenous manure, but they actually enrich the soil on which they are
grown. Hence leguminous plants are essential in all rotation of crops. By
analysis it was shown by Schulz-Lupitz in 1881 that the way in which these
plants enrich the soil is by increasing the nitrogen-content. Soil which
had been cultivated for many years as pasture was sown with lupins for
fifteen years in succession; an analysis then showed that the soil
contained more than three times as much nitrogen as at the beginning of the
experiment. The only possible source for this increase was the atmospheric
nitrogen. It had been, however, an axiom with botanists that the green
plants were unable to use the nitrogen of the air. The apparent
contradiction was explained by the experiments of H. Hellriegel and
Wilfarth in 1888. They showed that, when grown on sterilized sand with the
addition of mineral salts, the Leguminosae were no more able to use the
atmospheric nitrogen than other plants such as oats and barley. Both kinds
of plants required the addition of nitrates to the soil. But if a little
water in which arable soil had been shaken up was added to the sand, then
the leguminous plants flourished in the absence of nitrates and showed an
increase in nitrogenous material. They had clearly made use of the nitrogen
of the air. When these plants were examined they had small swellings or
nodules on their roots, while those grown in sterile sand without
soil-extract had no nodules. Now these peculiar nodules are a _normal_
characteristic of the roots of leguminous plants grown in ordinary soil.
The experiments above mentioned made clear for the first time the nature
and activity of these nodules. They are clearly the result of infection (if
the soil extract was boiled before addition to the sand no nodules were
produced), and their presence enabled the plant to absorb the free nitrogen
of the air.
[Illustration: FIG. 15.--Invasion of leguminous roots by bacteria.
a, cell from the epidermis of root of Pea with "infection thread"
(zoogloea) pushing its way through the cell-walls. (After Prazmowski.)
b, free end of a root-hair of Pea; at the right are particles of earth and
on the left a mass of bacteria. Inside the hair the bacteria are pushing
their way up in a thin stream.
(From Fischer's _Vorlesungen ueber Bakterien_.)]
[Illustration: FIG. 16.
a, root nodule of the lupin, nat. size. (From Woromv.)
b, longitudinal section through root and nodule.
g, fibro-vascular bundle.
w, bacterial tissue. (After Woromv.)
c, cell from bacterial tissues showing nucleus and protoplasm filled with
bacteria.
d, bacteria from nodule of lupin, normal undegenerate form.
e and f, bacteroids from _Vicia villosa_ and _Lupinus albus_. (After
Morck.)
(From Fischer's _Vorlesungen ueber Bakterien_.)]
The work of recent investigators has made clear the whole process. In
ordinary arable soil there exist motile rod-like bacteria, _Bacterium
radicicola_. These enter the root-hairs of leguminous plants, and passing
down the hair in the form of a long, slimy (zoogloea) thread, penetrate the
tissues of the root. As a result the tissues become hypertrophied,
producing the well-known nodule. In the cells of the nodule the bacteria
multiply and develop, drawing material from their host. Many of the
bacteria exhibit curious involution forms ("bacteroids"), which are finally
broken down and their products absorbed by the plant. The nitrogen of the
air is absorbed by the nodules, being built up into the bacterial cell and
later handed on to the host-plant. It appears from the observations of Maze
that the bacterium can even absorb free nitrogen when grown in cultures
[v.03 p.0166] outside the plant. We have here a very interesting case of
symbiosis as mentioned above. The green plant, however, always keeps the
upper hand, restricting the development of the bacteria to the nodules and
later absorbing them for its own use. It should be mentioned that different
genera require different races of the bacterium for the production of
nodules.
The important part that these bacteria play in agriculture led to the
introduction in Germany of a commercial product (the so-called "nitragin")
consisting of a pure culture of the bacteria, which is to be sprayed over
the soil or applied to the seeds before sowing. This material was found at
first to have a very uncertain effect, but later experiments in America,
and the use of a modified preparation in England, under the direction of
Professor Bottomley, have had successful results; it is possible that in
the future a preparation of this sort will be widely used.
The apparent specialization of these bacteria to the leguminous plants has
always been a very striking fact, for similar bacterial nodules are known
only in two or three cases outside this particular group. However,
Professor Bottomley announced at the meeting of the British Association for
the Advancement of Science in 1907 that he had succeeded in breaking down
this specialization and by a suitable treatment had caused bacteria from
leguminous nodules to infect other plants such as cereals, tomato, rose,
with a marked effect on their growth. If these results are confirmed and
the treatment can be worked commercially, the importance to agriculture of
the discovery cannot be overestimated; each plant will provide, like the
bean and vetch, its own nitrogenous manure, and larger crops will be
produced at a decreased cost.
[Illustration: FIG. 17.--A plate-culture of a bacillus which had been
exposed for a period of four hours behind a zinc stencil-plate, in which
the letters C and B were cut. The light had to traverse a screen of water
before passing through the C, and one of aesculin (which filters out the
blue and violet rays) before passing the B. The plate was then incubated,
and, as the figure shows, the bacteria on the C-shaped area were all
killed, whereas they developed elsewhere on the plate (traces of the B are
just visible to the right) and covered it with an opaque growth. (H. M.
W.)]
[Sidenote: Cellulose-bacteria.]
Another important advance is in our knowledge of the part played by
bacteria in the circulation of carbon in nature. The enormous masses of
cellulose deposited annually on the earth's surface are, as we know,
principally the result of chlorophyll action on the carbon dioxide of the
atmosphere decomposed by energy derived from the sun; and although we know
little as yet concerning the magnitude of other processes of
carbon-assimilation--_e.g._ by nitrifying bacteria--it is probably
comparatively small. Such cellulose is gradually reconverted into water and
carbon dioxide, but for some time nothing positive was known as to the
agents which thus break up the paper, rags, straw, leaves and wood, &c.,
accumulating in cesspools, forests, marshes and elsewhere in such
abundance. The work of van Tieghem, van Senus, Fribes, Omeliansky and
others has now shown that while certain anaerobic bacteria decompose the
substance of the middle lamella--chiefly pectin compounds--and thus bring
about the isolation of the cellulose fibres when, for instance, flax is
steeped or "retted," they are unable to attack the cellulose itself. There
exist in the mud of marshes, rivers and cloacae, &c., however, other
anaerobic bacteria which decompose cellulose, probably hydrolysing it first
and then splitting the products into carbon dioxide and marsh gas. When
calcium sulphate is present, the nascent methane induces the formation of
calcium carbonate, sulphuretted hydrogen and water. We have thus an
explanation of the occurrence of marsh gas and sulphuretted hydrogen in
bogs, and it is highly probable that the existence of these gases in the
intestines of herbivorous animals is due to similar putrefactive changes in
the undigested cellulose remains.
[Sidenote: Sulphur bacteria.]
Cohn long ago showed that certain glistening particles observed in the
cells of _Beggiatoa_ consist of sulphur, and Winogradsky and Beyerinck have
shown that a whole series of sulphur bacteria of the genera _Thiothrix_,
_Chromatium_, _Spirillum_, _Monas_, &c., exist, and play important parts in
the circulation of this element in nature, _e.g._ in marshes, estuaries,
sulphur springs, &c. When cellulose bacteria set free marsh gas, the
nascent gas reduces sulphates--_e.g._ gypsum--with liberation of SH_2, and
it is found that the sulphur bacteria thrive under such conditions by
oxidizing the SH_2 and storing the sulphur in their own protoplasm. If the
SH_2 runs short they oxidize the sulphur again to sulphuric acid, which
combines with any calcium carbonate present and forms sulphate again.
Similarly nascent methane may reduce iron salts, and the black mud in which
these bacteria often occur owes its colour to the FeS formed. Beyerinck and
Jegunow have shown that some partially anaerobic sulphur bacteria can only
exist in strata at a certain depth below the level of quiet waters where
SH_2 is being set free below by the bacterial decompositions of vegetable
mud and rises to meet the atmospheric oxygen coming down from above, and
that this zone of physiological activity rises and falls with the
variations of partial pressure of the gases due to the rate of evolution of
the SH_2. In the deeper parts of this zone the bacteria absorb the SH_2,
and, as they rise, oxidize it and store up the sulphur; then ascending into
planes more highly oxygenated, oxidize the sulphur to SO_3. These bacteria
therefore employ SH_2 as their respiratory substance, much as higher plants
employ carbohydrates--instead of liberating energy as heat by the
respiratory combustion of sugars, they do it by oxidizing hydrogen
sulphide. Beyerinck has shown that _Spirillum desulphuricans_, a definite
anaerobic form, attacks and reduces sulphates, thus undoing the work of the
sulphur bacteria as certain de-nitrifying bacteria reverse the operations
of nitro-bacteria. Here again, therefore, we have sulphur, taken [v.03
p.0167] into the higher plants as sulphates, built up into proteids,
decomposed by putrefactive bacteria and yielding SH_2 which the sulphur
bacteria oxidize, the resulting sulphur is then again oxidized to SO_3 and
again combined with calcium to gypsum, the cycle being thus complete.
[Sidenote: Iron bacteria.]
Chalybeate waters, pools in marshes near ironstone, &c, abound in bacteria,
some of which belong to the remarkable genera _Crenothrix_, _Cladothrix_
and _Leptothrix_, and contain ferric oxide, _i.e._ rust, in their
cell-walls. This iron deposit is not merely mechanical but is due to the
physiological activity of the organism which, according to Winogradsky,
liberates energy by oxidizing ferrous and ferric oxide in its protoplasm--a
view not accepted by H. Molisch. The iron must be in certain soluble
conditions, however, and the soluble bicarbonate of the protoxide of
chalybeate springs seems most favourable, the hydrocarbonate absorbed by
the cells is oxidized, probably thus--
2FeCO_3 + 3OH_2 + O = Fe_2(OH)_6 + 2CO_2.
The ferric hydroxide accumulates in the sheath, and gradually passes into
the more insoluble ferric oxide. These actions are of extreme importance in
nature, as their continuation results in the enormous deposits of bog-iron
ore, ochre, and--since Molisch has shown that the iron can be replaced by
manganese in some bacteria--of manganese ores.
[Sidenote: Pigment bacteria.]
Considerable advances in our knowledge of the various chromogenic bacteria
have been made by the studies of Beyerinck, Lankester, Engelmann, Ewart and
others, and have assumed exceptional importance owing to the discovery that
_Bacteriopurpurin_--the red colouring matter contained in certain sulphur
bacteria--absorbs certain rays of solar energy, and enables the organism to
utilize the energy for its own life-purposes. Engelmann showed, for
instance, that these red-purple bacteria collect in the ultra-red, and to a
less extent in the orange and green, in bands which agree with the
absorption spectrum of the extracted colouring matter. Not only so, but the
evident parallelism between this absorption of light and that by the
chlorophyll of green plants, is completed by the demonstration that oxygen
is set free by these bacteria--_i.e._ by means of radiant energy trapped by
their colour-screens the living cells are in both cases enabled to do work,
such as the reduction of highly oxidized compounds.
The most recent observations of Molisch seem to show that bacteria
possessing bacteriopurpurin exhibit a new type of assimilation--the
assimilation of organic material under the influence of light. In the case
of these red-purple bacteria the colouring matter is contained in the
protoplasm of the cell, but in most chromogenic bacteria it occurs as
excreted pigment on and between the cells, or is formed by their action in
the medium. Ewart has confirmed the principal conclusions concerning these
purple, and also the so-called chlorophyll bacteria (_B. viride_, _B.
chlorinum_, &c.), the results going to show that these are, as many
authorities have held, merely minute algae. The pigment itself may be
soluble in water, as is the case with the blue-green fluorescent body
formed by _B. pyocyaneus_, _B. fluorescens_ and a whole group of
fluorescent bacteria. Neelson found that the pigment of _B. cyanogenus_
gives a band in the yellow and strong lines at E and F in the solar
spectrum--an absorption spectrum almost identical with that of
triphenyl-rosaniline. In the case of the scarlet and crimson red pigments
of _B. prodigiosus_, _B. ruber_, &c., the violet of _B. violacens_, _B
janthinus_, &c., the red-purple of the sulphur bacteria, and indeed most
bacterial pigments, solution in water does not occur, though alcohol
extracts the colour readily. Finally, there are a few forms which yield
their colour to neither alcohol nor water, _e.g._ the yellow _Micrococcus
cereus flavus_ and the _B. berolinensis_. Much work is still necessary
before we can estimate the importance of these pigments. Their spectra are
only imperfectly known in a few cases, and the bearing of the absorption on
the life-history is still a mystery. In many cases the colour-production is
dependent on certain definite conditions--temperature, presence of oxygen,
nature of the food-medium, &c. Ewart's important discovery that some of
these lipochrome pigments occlude oxygen, while others do not, may have
bearings on the facultative anaerobism of these organisms.
[Sidenote: Dairy bacteria.]
A branch of bacteriology which offers numerous problems of importance is
that which deals with the organisms so common in milk, butter and cheese.
Milk is a medium not only admirably suited to the growth of bacteria, but,
as a matter of fact, always contaminated with these organisms in the
ordinary course of supply. F. Lafar has stated that 20% of the cows in
Germany suffer from tuberculosis, which also affected 17.7% of the cattle
slaughtered in Copenhagen between 1891 and 1893, and that one in every
thirteen samples of milk examined in Paris, and one in every nineteen in
Washington, contained tubercle bacilli. Hence the desirability of
sterilizing milk used for domestic purposes becomes imperative.
[Illustration: FIG. 18.--A similar preparation to fig. 17, except that two
slit-like openings of equal length allowed the light to pass, and that the
light was that of the electric arc passed through a quartz prism and
casting a powerful spectrum on the plate. The upper slit was covered with
glass, the lower with quartz. The bacteria were killed over the clear areas
shown. The left-hand boundary of the clear area corresponds to the line F
(green end of the blue), and the beginning of the ultra-violet was at the
extreme right of the upper (short) area. The lower area of bactericidal
action extends much farther to the right, because the quartz allows more
ultra-violet rays to pass than does glass. The red-yellow-green to the left
of F were without effect. (H. M. W.) ]
No milk is free from bacteria, because the external orifices of the
milk-ducts always contain them, but the forms present in the normal fluid
are principally those which induce such changes as the souring or "turning"
so frequently observed in standing milk (these were examined by Lord Lister
as long ago as 1873-1877, though several other species are now known), and
those which bring about the various changes and fermentations in butter and
cheese made from it. The presence of foreign germs, which may gain the
upper hand and totally destroy the flavours of butter and cheese, has led
to the search for those particular forms to which the approved properties
are due. A definite bacillus to which the peculiarly fine flavour of
certain butters is due, is said to be largely employed in pure cultures in
American dairies, and in Denmark certain butters are said to keep fresh
much longer owing to the use of pure cultures and the treatment employed to
suppress the forms which cause rancidity. Quite distinct is the search for
the germs which cause undesirable changes, or "diseases"; and great strides
have been made in discovering the bacteria concerned in rendering milk
"ropy," butter "oily" and "rancid," &c. Cheese in its numerous forms
contains myriads of bacteria, and some of these are now known to be
concerned in the various processes of ripening and other changes affecting
the product, and although little is known as to the exact part played by
any species, practical applications of the discoveries of the decade
1890-1900 have been made, _e.g._ Edam cheese. The Japanese have cheeses
resulting from the bacterial fermentation of boiled Soja beans.
[v.03 p.0168]
[Sidenote: Thermophilous bacteria.]
That bacterial fermentations are accompanied by the evolution of heat is an
old experience; but the discovery that the "spontaneous" combustion of
sterilized cotton-waste does not occur simply if moist and freely exposed
to oxygen, but results when the washings of fresh waste are added, has led
to clearer proof that the heating of hay-stacks, hops, tobacco and other
vegetable products is due to the vital activity of bacteria and fungi, and
is physiologically a consequence of respiratory processes like those in
malting. It seems fairly established that when the preliminary heating
process of fermentation is drawing to a close, the cotton, hay, &c., having
been converted into a highly porous friable and combustible mass, may then
ignite in certain circumstances by the occlusion of oxygen, just as
ignition is induced by finely divided metals. A remarkable point in this
connexion has always been the necessary conclusion that the living bacteria
concerned must be exposed to temperatures of at least 70deg C. in the hot
heaps. Apart from the resolution of doubts as to the power of spores to
withstand such temperatures for long periods, the discoveries of Miquel,
Globig and others have shown that there are numerous bacteria which will
grow and divide at such temperatures, _e.g._ _B. thermophilus_, from
sewage, which is quite active at 70deg C., and _B. Ludwigi_ and _B.
ilidzensis_, &c., from hot springs, &c.
[Sidenote: Phosphorescent bacteria.]
The bodies of sea fish, _e.g._ mackerel and other animals, have long been
known to exhibit phosphorescence. This phenomenon is due to the activity of
a whole series of marine bacteria of various genera, the examination and
cultivation of which have been successfully carried out by Cohn, Beyerinck,
Fischer and others. The cause of the phosphorescence is still a mystery.
The suggestion that it is due to the oxidation of a body excreted by the
bacteria seems answered by the failure to filter off or extract any such
body. Beyerinck's view that it occurs at the moment peptones are worked up
into the protoplasm cannot be regarded as proved, and the same must be said
of the suggestion that the phosphorescence is due to the oxidation of
phosphoretted hydrogen. The conditions of phosphorescence are, the presence
of free oxygen, and, generally, a relatively low temperature, together with
a medium containing sodium chloride, and peptones, but little or no
carbohydrates. Considerable differences occur in these latter respects,
however, and interesting results were obtained by Beyerinck with mixtures
of species possessing different powers of enzyme action as regards
carbohydrates. Thus, a form termed _Photobacterium phosphorescens_ by
Beyerinck will absorb maltose, and will become luminous if that sugar is
present, whereas _P. Pflugeri_ is indifferent to maltose. If then we
prepare densely inseminated plates of these two bacteria in gelatine
food-medium to which starch is added as the only carbohydrate, the bacteria
grow but do not phosphoresce. If we now streak these plates with an
organism, _e.g._ a yeast, which saccharifies starch, it is possible to tell
whether maltose or levulose and fructose are formed; if the former, only
those plates containing _P. phosphorescens_ will become luminous; if the
latter, only those containing _P. Pflugeri_. The more recent researches of
Molisch have shown that the luminosity of ordinary butcher's meat under
appropriate conditions is quite a common occurrence. Thus of samples of
meat bought in Prague and kept in a cool room for about two days,
luminosity was present in 52% of the samples in the case of beef, 50% for
veal, and 39% for liver. If the meat was treated previously with a 3% salt
solution, 89% of the samples of beef and 65% of the samples of horseflesh
were found to exhibit this phenomenon. The cause of this luminosity is
_Micrococcus phosphorens_, an immotile round, or almost round organism.
This organism is quite distinct from that causing the luminosity of marine
fish.
[Sidenote: Oxidizing bacteria.]
It has long been known that the production of vinegar depends on the
oxidization of the alcohol in wine or beer to acetic acid, the chemical
process being probably carried out in two stages, viz. the oxidation of the
alcohol leading to the formation of aldehyde and water, and the further
oxidation of the aldehyde to acetic acid. The process may even go farther,
and the acetic acid be oxidized to CO_2 and OH_2; the art of the
vinegar-maker is directed to preventing the accomplishment of the last
stage. These oxidations are brought about by the vital activity of several
bacteria, of which four--_Bacterium aceti_, _B. pasteurianum_, _B.
kutzingianum_, and _B. xylinum_--have been thoroughly studied by Hansen and
A. Brown. It is these bacteria which form the zoogloea of the "mother of
vinegar," though this film may contain other organisms as well. The idea
that this film of bacteria oxidizes the alcohol beneath by merely
condensing atmospheric oxygen in its interstices, after the manner of
spongy platinum, has long been given up; but the explanation of the action
as an incomplete combustion, depending on the peculiar respiration of these
organisms--much as in the case of nitrifying and sulphur bacteria--is not
clear, though the discovery that the acetic bacteria will not only oxidize
alcohol to acetic acid, but further oxidize the latter to CO_2 and OH_2
supports the view that the alcohol is absorbed by the organism and employed
as its respirable substance. Promise of more light on these oxidation
fermentations is afforded by the recent discovery that not only bacteria
and fungi, but even the living cells of higher plants, contain peculiar
enzymes which possess the remarkable property of "carrying" oxygen--much as
it is carried in the sulphuric acid chamber--and which have therefore been
termed oxydases. It is apparently the presence of these oxydases which
causes certain wines to change colour and alter in taste when poured from
bottle to glass, and so exposed to air.
[Illustration: FIG. 19.--Ginger-beer plant, showing yeast (_Saccharomyces
pyriformis_) entangled in the meshes of the bacterium (_B. vermiforme_).
(H. M. W.)]
[Sidenote: Bacteria and light.]
Much as the decade from 1880 to 1890 abounded with investigations on the
reactions of bacteria to heat, so the following decade was remarkable for
discoveries regarding the effects of other forms of radiant energy. The
observations of Downes and Blunt in 1877 left it uncertain whether the
bactericidal effects in broth cultures exposed to solar rays were due to
thermal action or not. Further investigations, in which Arloing, Buchner,
Chmelewski, and others took part, have led to the proof that rays of light
alone are quite capable of killing these organisms. The principal questions
were satisfactorily settled by Marshall Ward's experiments in 1892-1893,
when he showed that even the spores of _B. anthracis_, which withstand
temperatures of 100deg C. and upwards, can be killed by exposure to rays of
reflected light at temperatures far below anything injurious, or even
favourable to growth. He also showed that the bactericidal action takes
place in the absence of food materials, thus proving that it is not merely
a poisoning effect of the altered medium. The principal experiments also
indicate that it is the rays of highest refrangibility--the blue-violet and
ultra-violet rays of the spectrum--which bring about the destruction of the
organisms (figs. 17, 18). The practical effect of the bactericidal action
of solar light is the destruction of enormous quantities of germs in
rivers, the atmosphere and other exposed situations, and experiments have
shown that it is especially the pathogenic bacteria--anthrax, typhoid,
&c.--which thus succumb to light-action; the discovery that the electric
arc is very rich in bactericidal rays led to the hope that it could be used
for disinfecting purposes in hospitals, but mechanical difficulties
intervene. The recent application of the action of bactericidal rays to the
cure of lupus is, however, an extension of the same discovery. Even when
the light is not sufficiently intense, or the exposure is too short to kill
the spores, the experiments show that attenuation of virulence [v.03
p.0169] may result, a point of extreme importance in connexion with the
lighting and ventilation of dwellings, the purification of rivers and
streams, and the general diminution of epidemics in nature.
[Sidenote: Bacteria and cold.]
As we have seen, thermophilous bacteria can grow at high temperatures, and
it has long been known that some forms develop on ice. The somewhat
different question of the resistance of ripe spores or cells to extremes of
heat and cold has received attention. Ravenel, Macfadyen and Rowland have
shown that several bacilli will bear exposure for seven days to the
temperature of liquid air (-192deg C. to -183deg C.) and again grow when
put into normal conditions. More recent experiments have shown that even
ten hours' exposure to the temperature of liquid hydrogen -252deg C. (21deg
on the absolute scale) failed to kill them. It is probable that all these
cases of resistance of seeds, spores, &c., are to be connected with the
fact that completely dry albumin does not lose its coagulability on heating
to 110deg C. for some hours, since it is well known that completely ripe
spores and dry heat are the conditions of extreme experiments.
[Sidenote: Pathogenic bacteria.]
No sharp line can be drawn between pathogenic and non-pathogenic
Schizomycetes, and some of the most marked steps in the progress of our
modern knowledge of these organisms depend on the discovery that their
pathogenicity or virulence can be modified--diminished or increased--by
definite treatment, and, in the natural course of epidemics, by alterations
in the environment. Similarly we are unable to divide Schizomycetes sharply
into parasites and saprophytes, since it is well proved that a number of
species--facultative parasites--can become one or the other according to
circumstances. These facts, and the further knowledge that many bacteria
never observed as parasites, or as pathogenic forms, produce toxins or
poisons as the result of their decompositions and fermentations of organic
substances, have led to important results in the applications of
bacteriology to medicine.
[Illustration: FIG. 20.--The ginger-beer plant.
A. One of the brain-like gelatinous masses into which the mature "plant"
condenses.
B. The bacterium with and without its gelatinous sheaths (cf. fig. 19).
C. Typical filaments and rodlets in the slimy sheaths.
D. Stages of growth of a sheathed filament--a at 9 A.M., b at 3 P.M., c at
9 P.M., d at 11 A.M. next day, e at 3 P.M., f at 9 P.M., g at 10.30 A.M.
next day, h at 24 hours later. (H. M. W.)]
[Sidenote: Bacteriosis in plants.]
Bacterial diseases in the higher plants have been described, but the
subject requires careful treatment, since several points suggest doubts as
to the organism described being the cause of the disease referred to their
agency. Until recently it was urged that the acid contents of plants
explained their immunity from bacterial diseases, but it is now known that
many bacteria can flourish in acid media. Another objection was that even
if bacteria obtained access through the stomata, they could not penetrate
the cell-walls bounding the intercellular spaces, but certain anaerobic
forms are known to ferment cellulose, and others possess the power of
penetrating the cell-walls of living cells, as the bacteria of Leguminosae
first described by Marshall Ward in 1887, and confirmed by Miss Dawson in
1898. On the other hand a long list of plant-diseases has been of late
years attributed to bacterial action. Some, _e.g._ the Sereh disease of the
sugar-cane, the slime fluxes of oaks and other trees, are not only very
doubtful cases, in which other organisms such as yeasts and fungi play
their parts, but it may be regarded as extremely improbable that the
bacteria are the primary agents at all; they are doubtless saprophytic
forms which have gained access to rotting tissues injured by other agents.
Saprophytic bacteria can readily make their way down the dead hypha of an
invading fungus, or into the punctures made by insects, and Aphides have
been credited with the bacterial infection of carnations, though more
recent researches by Woods go to show the correctness of his conclusion
that Aphides alone are responsible for the carnation disease. On the other
hand, recent investigation has brought to light cases in which bacteria are
certainly the primary agents in diseases of plants. The principal features
are the stoppage of the vessels and consequent wilting of the shoots; as a
rule the cut vessels on transverse sections of the shoots appear brown and
choked with a dark yellowish slime in which bacteria may be detected,
_e.g._ cabbages, cucumbers, potatoes, &c. In the carnation disease and in
certain diseases of tobacco and other plants the seat of bacterial action
appears to be the parenchyma, and it may be that Aphides or other piercing
insects infect the plants, much as insects convey pollen from plant to
plant, or (though in a different way) as mosquitoes infect man with
malaria. If the recent work on the cabbage disease may be accepted, the
bacteria make their entry at the water pores at the margins of the leaf,
and thence via the glandular cells to the tracheids. Little is known of the
mode of action of bacteria on these plants, but it may be assumed with
great confidence that they excrete enzymes and poisons (toxins), which
diffuse into the cells and kill them, and that the effects are in principle
the same as those of parasitic fungi. Support is found for this opinion in
Beyerinck's discovery that the juices of tobacco plants affected with the
disease known as "leaf mosaic," will induce this disease after filtration
through porcelain.
[Sidenote: Symbiosis.]
In addition to such cases as the kephir and ginger-beer plants (figs. 19,
20), where anaerobic bacteria are associated with yeasts, several
interesting examples of symbiosis among bacteria are now known. _Bacillus
chauvaei_ ferments cane-sugar solutions in such a way that normal butyric
arid, inactive lactic acid, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen result;
_Micrococcus acidi-paralactici_, on the other hand, ferments such solutions
to optically active paralactic acid. Nencki showed, however, that if both
these organisms occur together, the resulting products contain large
quantities of normal butyl alcohol, a substance neither bacterium can
produce alone. Other observers have brought forward other cases. Thus
neither _B. coli_ nor the _B. denitrificans_ of Burri and Stutzer can
reduce nitrates, but if acting together they so completely undo the
structure of sodium nitrate that the nitrogen passes off in the free state.
Van Senus showed that the concurrence of two bacteria is necessary before
his _B. amylobacter_ can ferment cellulose, and the case of mud bacteria
which evolve sulphuretted hydrogen below which is utilized by sulphur
bacteria above has already been quoted, as also that of Winogradsky's
_Clostridium [v.03 p.0170] pasteurianum_, which is anaerobic, and can fix
nitrogen only if protected from oxygen by aerobic species. It is very
probable that numerous symbiotic fermentations in the soil are due to this
co-operation of oxygen-protecting species with anaerobic ones, _e.g._
_Tetanus_.
[Illustration: FIG. 21.--A plate-culture colony of a species of
_Bacillus--Proteus_ (Hauser)--on the fifth day. The flame-like processes
and outliers are composed of writhing filaments, and the contours are
continually changing while the colony moves as a whole. Slightly magnified.
(H. M. W.)]
[Sidenote: Activity of bacteria.]
Astonishment has been frequently expressed at the powerful activities of
bacteria--their rapid growth and dissemination, the extensive and profound
decompositions and fermentations induced by them, the resistance of their
spores to dessication, heat, &c.--but it is worth while to ask how far
these properties are really remarkable when all the data for comparison
with other organisms are considered. In the first place, the extremely
small size and isolation of the vegetative cells place the protoplasmic
contents in peculiarly favourable circumstances for action, and we may
safely conclude that, weight for weight and molecule for molecule, the
protoplasm of bacteria is brought into contact with the environment at far
more points and over a far larger surface than is that of higher organisms,
whether--as in plants--it is distributed in thin layers round the
sap-vacuoles, or--as in animals--is bathed in fluids brought by special
mechanisms to irrigate it. Not only so, the isolation of the cells
facilitates the exchange of liquids and gases, the passage in of food
materials and out of enzymes and products of metabolism, and thus each unit
of protoplasm obtains opportunities of immediate action, the results of
which are removed with equal rapidity, not attainable in more complex
multi-cellular organisms. To put the matter in another way, if we could
imagine all the living cells of a large oak or of a horse, having given up
the specializations of function impressed on them during evolution and
simply carrying out the fundamental functions of nutrition, growth, and
multiplication which mark the generalized activities of the bacterial cell,
and at the same time rendered as accessible to the environment by isolation
and consequent extension of surface, we should doubtless find them exerting
changes in the fermentable fluids necessary to their life similar to those
exerted by an equal mass of bacteria, and that in proportion to their
approximation in size to the latter. Ciliary movements, which undoubtedly
contribute in bringing the surface into contact with larger supplies of
oxygen and other fluids in unity of time, are not so rapid or so extensive
when compared with other standards than the apparent dimensions of the
microscopic field. The microscope magnifies the distance traversed as well
as the organism, and although a bacterium which covers 9-10 cm. or more in
15 minutes--say 0.1 mm. or 100 [micron] per second--appears to be darting
across the field with great velocity, because its own small size--say 5 x 1
[micron]--comes into comparison, it should be borne in mind that if a mouse
2 in. long only, travelled twenty times its own length, _i.e._ 40 in., in a
second, the distance traversed in 15 minutes at that rate, viz. 1000 yards,
would not appear excessive. In a similar way we must be careful, in our
wonder at the marvellous rapidity of cell-division and growth of bacteria,
that we do not exaggerate the significance of the phenomenon. It takes any
ordinary rodlet 30-40 minutes to double its length and divide into two
equal daughter cells when growth is at its best; nearer the minimum it may
require 3-4 hours or even much longer. It is by no means certain that even
the higher rate is greater than that exhibited by a tropical bamboo which
will grow over a foot a day, or even common grasses, or asparagus, during
the active period of cell-division, though the phenomenon is here
complicated by the phase of extension due to intercalation of water. The
enormous extension of surface also facilitates the absorption of energy
from the environment, and, to take one case only, it is impossible to doubt
that some source of radiant energy must be at the disposal of those
prototrophic forms which decompose carbonates and assimilate carbonic acid
in the dark and oxidize nitrogen in dry rocky regions where no organic
materials are at their disposal, even could they utilize them. It is
usually stated that the carbon dioxide molecule is here split by means of
energy derived from the oxidation of nitrogen, but apart from the fact that
none of these processes can proceed until the temperature rises to the
minimum cardinal point, Engelmann's experiment shows that in the purple
bacteria rays are used other than those employed by green plants, and
especially ultra-red rays not seen in the spectrum, and we may probably
conclude that "dark rays"--_i.e._ rays not appearing in the visible
spectrum--are absorbed and employed by these and other colourless bacteria.
The purple bacteria have thus two sources of energy, one by the oxidation
of sulphur and another by the absorption of "dark rays." Stoney (_Scient.
Proc. R. Dub. Soc._, 1893, p. 154) has suggested yet another source of
energy, in the bombardment of these minute masses by the molecules of the
environment, the velocity of which is sufficient to drive them well into
the organism, and carry energy in of which they can avail themselves.
[Illustration: FIG. 22.--Portions of a colony such as that in fig. 21,
highly magnified, showing the kinds of changes brought about in a few
minutes, from A to B, and B to C, by the growth and ciliary movements of
the filaments. The arrows show the direction of motion. (H. M. W.)]
AUTHORITIES.--General: Fischer, _The Structure and Functions of Bacteria_
(Oxford, 1900, 2nd ed.), German (Jena, 1903); Migula, _System der
Bakterien_ (Jena, 1897); and in Engler and Prantl, _Die natuerlichen
Pflanzenfamilien_, I. Th. 1 Abt. a; Lafar, _Technical Mycology_ (vol. i.
London, 1898); Mace, _Traite pratique de bakteriologie_ (5th ed. 1904).
Fossil bacteria: Renault, "Recherches sur les Bacteriacees fossiles," _Ann.
des Sc. Nat._, 1896, p. 275. Bacteria in Water: Frankland and Marshall
Ward. "Reports on the Bacteriology of Water," _Proc. R. Soc._, vol. li. p.
183, vol. liii. p. 245, vol. lvi. p. 1; Marshall Ward, "On the Biology of
_B. ramosus_," _Proc. R. Soc._, vol. lviii. p. 1; and papers on Bacteria of
the river Thames in _Ann. of Bot._ vol. xii. pp. 59 and 287, and vol. xiii.
p. 197. Cell-membrane, &c.: Butschli, _Weitere Ausfuhrungen ueber den Bau
der Cyanophyceen und Bakterien_ (Leipzig, 1896); Fischer, _Unters. ueber
den Bau der Cyanophyceen und Bakterien_ (Jena, 1897); Rowland,
"Observations upon the Structure of Bacteria," _Trans. Jenner Institute_,
2nd ser. 1899, p. 143, with literature. Cilia: Fischer, "Unters. ueber
Bakterien," _Pringsh. Jahrb._ vol. xxvii.; also the works of Migula and
Fischer already cited. Nucleus: Wager in _Ann. Bot._ vol. ix. p. 659; also
Migula and Fischer, _l.c._; Vejdovsky, "Ueber den Kern der Bakterien und
seine Teilung," _Cent. f. Bakt._ Abt. II. Bd. xi. (1904) p. 481; _ibid._
"Cytologisches ueber die Bakterien der Prager Wasserleitung," _Cent. f.
Bakt._ Abt. II. Bd. xv. (1905); Mencl, "Nachtraege zu den
Strukturverhaeltnissen von Bakterium gammari" in _Archiv f.
Protistenkunde_, Bd. viii. (1907), p. 257. Spores, &c.: Marshall Ward, "On
the Biology of _B. ramosus_," _Proc. R. Soc._, 1895, vol. lviii. p. 1;
Sturgis, "A Soil Bacillus of the type of de Bary's _B. megatherium_,"
_Phil. Trans._ [v.03 p.0171] vol. cxci. p. 147; Klein, L., _Ber. d.
deutschen bot. Gesellsch._ (1889), Bd. vii.; and _Cent. f. Bakt. und Par._
(1889), Bd. vi. Classification: Marshall Ward, "On the Characters or Marks
employed for classifying the Schizomycetes," _Ann. of Bot._, 1892, vol.
vi.; Lehmann and Neumann, _Atlas and Essentials of Bacteriology_; also the
works of Migula and Fischer already cited. Myxobacteriaceae: Berkeley,
_Introd. to Cryptogamic Botany_ (1857), p. 313; Thaxter, "A New Order of
Schizomycetes," _Bot. Gaz._ vol. xvii. (1892), p. 389; and "Further
Observations on the Myxobacteriaceae," _ibid._ vol. xxiii. (1897), p. 395,
and "Notes on the Myxobacteriaceae," _ibid._ vol. xxxvii. (1904), p. 405;
Baur, "Myxobakterienstudien," _Arch. f. Protistenkunde_, Bd. v. (1904), p.
92; Smith, "Myxobacteria," _Jour. of Botany_, 1901, p. 69; Quehl, _Cent. f.
Bakt._ xvi. (1896), p. 9. Growth: Marshall Ward, "On the Biology of _B.
ramosus_," _Proc. R. Soc._ vol. lviii. p. 1 (1895). Fermentation, &c.:
Warington, _The Chemical Action of some Micro-organisms_ (London, 1888);
Winogradsky, "Recherches sur les organismes de la nitrification," _Ann. de
l'Inst. Past._, 1890, pp. 213, 257, 760, 1891, pp. 92 and 577; "Sur
l'assimilation de l'azote gazeux, &c.," _Compt. Rend._, 12 Feb. 1894; "Zur
Microbiologie des Nitrifikationsprozesses," _Cent. f. Bakt._ Abt. II. Bd.
ii. (1896), p. 415; "Ueber Schwefel-Bakterien," _Bot. Zeitg._, 1887, Nos.
31-37; _Beitr. zur Morph. u. Phys. der Bakterien_, H. 1 (1888); "Ueber
Eisenbakterien," _Bot. Zeitg._, 1888, p. 261; and Omeliansky, "Ueber den
Einfluss der organischen Substanzen auf die Arbeit der nitrifizierenden
Organismen," _Cent. f. Bakt._ Abt. II. Bd. v. (1896); Schorler, "Beitr. zur
Kenntniss der Eisenbakterien," _Cent. f. Bakt._ Abt. II. Bd. xii. (1904),
p. 681; Marshall Ward, "On the Tubercular Swellings on the Roots of Vicia
Faba," _Phil. Trans._, 1877, p. 539; Hellriegel and Wilfarth, "Unters.
ueber die Stickstoffnahrung der Gramineen u. Leguminosen," _Beit. Zeit. d.
Vereins fuer die Ruebenzuckerindustrie_ (Berlin, 1888); Nobbe and Hiltner,
_Landw. Versuchsstationen_ (1899), Bd. 51, p. 241, and Bd. 52, p. 455;
Maze, _Annales de l'Institut Pasteur_, t. II, p. 44, and t. 12, p. 1
(1897); Prazmowski, _Land. Versuchsstationen_, Bd. 37 (1890), p. 161, Bd.
38 (1891), p. 5; Frank, _Landw. Jahrb._ Bd. 17 (1888), p. 441; Omelianski,
"Sur la fermentation de la cellulose," _Compt. Rend._, 4 Nov. 1895; van
Senus, _Beitr. zur Kenntn. der Cellulosegaehrung_ (Leiden, 1890); van
Tieghem, "Sur la fermentation de la cellulose," _Bull. de la soc. bot. de
Fr._ t. xxvi. (1879), p. 28; Beyerinck "Ueber Spirillum desulphuricans,
&c.," _Cent. f. Bakt._ Abt. II. Bd. i. (1895), p. 1; Molisch, _Die Pflanze
in ihren Beziehungen zum Eisen_ (Jena, 1892). Pigment Bacteria: Ewart, "On
the Evolution of Oxygen from Coloured Bacteria," _Linn. Journ._, 1897, vol.
xxxiii. p. 123; Molisch, _Die Purpurbakterien_ (Jena, 1907). Oxydases and
Enzymes: Green, _The Soluble Ferments and Fermentation_ (Cambridge, 1899).
Action of Light, &c.: Marshall Ward, "The Action of Light on Bacteria,"
_Phil. Trans._, 1893, p. 961, and literature. Resistance to Cold, &c.:
Ravenel, _Med. News_, 1899, vol. lxxiv.; Macfadyen and Rowland, _Proc. R.
Soc._ vol. lxvi. pp. 180, 339, and 488; Farmer, "Observations on the Effect
of Desiccation of Albumin upon its Coagulability," _ibid._ p. 329.
Pathogenic Bacteria: Baumgarten, _Pathologische Mykologie_ (1890); Kolle
and Wassermann, _Handbuch der pathogenen Mikroorganismen_ (1902-1904); and
numerous special works in medical literature. Immunity: Ehrlich, "On
Immunity with Special Reference to Cell-life," _Proc. R. Soc._ vol. lxvi.
p. 424; Calcar, "Die Fortschritte der Immunitaets- und Spezifizetaetslehre
seit 1870," _Progressus Rei Botanicae_, Bd. I. Heft 3 (1907). Bacteriosis:
Migula, _l.c._ p. 322, has collected the literature; see also Sorauer,
_Handbuch der Pflanzenkrankheiten_, I. (1905), pp. 18-93, for later
literature. Symbiosis: Marshall Ward, "Symbiosis," _Ann. of Bot._ vol.
xiii. p. 549, and literature.
(H. M. W.; V. H. B.)
II. PATHOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE
The action of bacteria as pathogenic agents is in great part merely an
instance of their general action as producers of chemical change, yet
bacteriology as a whole has become so extensive, and has so important a
bearing on subjects widely different from one another, that division of it
has become essential. The science will accordingly be treated in this
section from the pathological standpoint only. It will be considered under
the three following heads, viz. (1) the methods employed in the study; (2)
the modes of action of bacteria and the effects produced by them; and (3)
the facts and theories with regard to immunity against bacterial disease.
[Sidenote: Historical summary.]
The demonstration by Pasteur that definite diseases could be produced by
bacteria, proved a great stimulus to research in the etiology of infective
conditions, and the result was a rapid advance in human knowledge. An
all-important factor in this remarkable progress was the introduction by
Koch of solid culture media, of the "plate-method," &c., an account of
which he published in 1881. By means of these the modes of cultivation, and
especially of separation, of bacteria were greatly simplified. Various
modifications have since been made, but the routine methods in
bacteriological procedure still employed are in great part those given by
Koch. By 1876 the anthrax bacillus had been obtained in pure culture by
Koch, and some other pathogenic bacteria had been observed in the tissues,
but it was in the decade 1880-1890 that the most important discoveries were
made in this field. Thus the organisms of suppuration, tubercle, glanders,
diphtheria, typhoid fever, cholera, tetanus, and others were identified,
and their relationship to the individual diseases established. In the last
decade of the 19th century the chief discoveries were of the bacillus of
influenza (1892), of the bacillus of plague (1894) and of the bacillus of
dysentery (1898). Immunity against diseases caused by bacteria has been the
subject of systematic research from 1880 onwards. In producing active
immunity by the attenuated virus, Duguid and J. S. Burdon-Sanderson and
W. S. Greenfield in Great Britain, and Pasteur, Toussaint and Chauveau in
France, were pioneers. The work of Metchnikoff, dating from about 1884, has
proved of high importance, his theory of phagocytosis (_vide infra_) having
given a great stimulus to research, and having also contributed to
important advances. The modes by which bacteria produce their effects also
became a subject of study, and attention was naturally turned to their
toxic products. The earlier work, notably that of L. Brieger, chiefly
concerned ptomaines (_vide infra_), but no great advance resulted. A new
field of inquiry was, however, opened up when, by filtration a
bacterium-free toxic fluid was obtained which produced the important
symptoms of the disease--in the case of diphtheria by P. P. E. Roux and A.
Yersin (1888), and in the case of tetanus a little later by various
observers. Research was thus directed towards ascertaining the nature of
the toxic bodies in such a fluid, and Brieger and Fraenkel (1890) found
that they were proteids, to which they gave the name "toxalbumins." Though
subsequent researches have on the whole confirmed these results, it is
still a matter of dispute whether these proteids are the true toxins or
merely contain the toxic bodies precipitated along with them. In the United
Kingdom the work of Sidney Martin, in the separation of toxic substances
from the bodies of those who have died from certain diseases, is also
worthy of mention. Immunity against toxins also became a subject of
investigation, and the result was the discovery of the antitoxic action of
the serum of animals immunized against tetanus toxin by E. Behring and
Kitazato (1890), and by Tizzoni and Cattani. A similar result was also
obtained in the case of diphtheria. The facts with regard to passive
immunity were thus established and were put to practical application by the
introduction of diphtheria antitoxin as a therapeutic agent in 1894. The
technique of serum preparation has become since that time greatly
elaborated and improved, the work of P. Ehrlich in this respect being
specially noteworthy. The laws of passive immunity were shown to hold also
in the case of immunity against living organisms by R. Pfeiffer (1894), and
various anti-bacterial sera have been introduced. Of these the
anti-streptococcic serum of A. Marmorek (1895) is one of the best known.
The principles of protective inoculation have been developed and
practically applied on a large scale, notably by W. M. W. Haffkine in the
case of cholera (1893) and plague (1896), and more recently by Wright and
Semple in the case of typhoid fever. One other discovery of great
importance may be mentioned, viz. the agglutinative action of the serum of
a patient suffering from a bacterial disease, first described in the case
of typhoid fever independently by Widal and by Gruenbaum in 1896, though
led up to by the work of Pfeiffer, Gruber and Durham and others. Thus a new
aid was added to medical science, viz. serum diagnosis of disease. The last
decade of the 19th century will stand out in the history of medical science
as the period in which serum therapeutics and serum diagnosis had their
birth.
In recent years the relations of toxin and antitoxin, still obscure, have
been the subject of much study and controversy. It was formerly supposed
that the injection of attenuated cultures or dead organisms--vaccines in
the widest sense--was only of service in producing immunity as a preventive
measure against the corresponding organism, but the work of [v.03 p.0172]
Sir Almroth Wright has shown that the use of such vaccines may be of
service even after infection has occurred, especially when the resulting
disease is localized. In this case a general reaction is stimulated by the
vaccine which may aid in the destruction of the invading organisms. In
regulating the administration of such vaccines he has introduced the method
of observing the _opsonic index_, to which reference is made below. Of the
discoveries of new organisms the most important is that of the _Spirochaete
pallida_ in syphilis by Schaudinn and Hoffmann in 1905; and although proof
that it is the cause of the disease is not absolute, the facts that have
been established constitute very strong presumptive evidence in favour of
this being the case. It may be noted, however, that it is still doubtful
whether this organism is to be placed amongst the bacteria or amongst the
protozoa.
[Sidenote: Methods of study.]
The methods employed in studying the relation of bacteria to disease are in
principle comparatively simple, but considerable experience and great care
are necessary in applying them and in interpreting results. In any given
disease there are three chief steps, viz. (1) the discovery of a bacterium
in the affected tissues by means of the microscope; (2) the obtaining of
the bacterium in pure culture; and (3) the production of the disease by
inoculation with a pure culture. By means of microscopic examination more
than one organism may sometimes be observed in the tissues, but one single
organism by its constant presence and special relations to the tissue
changes can usually be selected as the probable cause of the disease, and
attempts towards its cultivation can then be made. Such microscopic
examination requires the use of the finest lenses and the application of
various _staining_ methods. In these latter the basic aniline dyes in
solution are almost exclusively used, on account of their special affinity
for the bacterial protoplasm. The methods vary much in detail, though in
each case the endeavour is to colour the bacteria as deeply, and the
tissues as faintly, as possible. Sometimes a simple watery solution of the
dye is sufficient, but very often the best result is obtained by increasing
the staining power, _e.g._ by addition of weak alkali, application of heat,
&c., and by using some substance which acts as a mordant and tends to fix
the stain to the bacteria. Excess of stain is afterwards removed from the
tissues by the use of decolorizing agents, such as acids of varying
strength and concentration, alcohol, &c. Different bacteria behave very
differently to stains; some take them up rapidly, others slowly, some
resist decolorization, others are easily decolorized. In some instances the
stain can be entirely removed from the tissues, leaving the bacteria alone
coloured, and the tissues can then be stained by another colour. This is
the case in the methods for staining the tubercle bacillus and also in
Gram's method, the essential point in which latter is the treatment with a
solution of iodine before decolorizing. In Gram's method, however, only
some bacteria retain the stain, while others lose it. The tissues and
fluids are treated by various histological methods, but, to speak
generally, examination is made either in films smeared on thin
cover-glasses and allowed to dry, or in thin sections cut by the microtome
after suitable fixation and hardening of the tissue. In the case of any
bacterium discovered, observation must be made in a long series of
instances in order to determine its invariable presence.
[Sidenote: Cultivation.]
In cultivating bacteria outside the body various media to serve as food
material must be prepared and sterilized by heat. The general principle in
their preparation is to supply the nutriment for bacterial growth in a form
as nearly similar as possible to that of the natural habitat of the
organisms--in the case of pathogenic bacteria, the natural fluids of the
body. The media are used either in a fluid or solid condition, the latter
being obtained by a process of coagulation, or by the addition of a
gelatinizing agent, and are placed in glass tubes or flasks plugged with
cotton-wool. To mention examples, blood serum solidified at a suitable
temperature is a highly suitable medium, and various media are made with
extract of meat as a basis, with the addition of gelatine or agar as
solidifying agents and of non-coagulable proteids (commercial "peptone") to
make up for proteids lost by coagulation in the preparation. The reaction
of the media must in every case be carefully attended to, a neutral or
slightly alkaline reaction being, as a rule, most suitable; for delicate
work it may be necessary to standardize the reaction by titration methods.
The media from the store-flasks are placed in glass test-tubes or small
flasks, protected from contamination by cotton-wool plugs, and are
sterilized by heat. For most purposes the solid media are to be preferred,
since bacterial growth appears as a discrete mass and accidental
contamination can be readily recognized. Cultures are made by transferring
by means of a sterile platinum wire a little of the material containing the
bacteria to the medium. The tubes, after being thus inoculated, are kept at
suitable temperatures, usually either at 37deg C., the temperature of the
body, or at about 20deg C., a warm summer temperature, until growth
appears. For maintaining a constant temperature incubators with regulating
apparatus are used. Subsequent cultures or, as they are called,
"subcultures," may be made by inoculating fresh tubes, and in this way
growth may be maintained often for an indefinite period. The simplest case
is that in which only one variety of bacterium is present, and a "pure
culture" may then be obtained at once. When, however, several species are
present together, means must be adopted for separating them. For this
purpose various methods have been devised, the most important being the
_plate-method_ of Koch. In this method the bacteria are distributed in a
gelatine or agar medium liquefied by heat, and the medium is then poured
out on sterile glass plates or in shallow glass dishes, and allowed to
solidify. Each bacterium capable of growth gives rise to a colony visible
to the naked eye, and if the colonies are sufficiently apart, an
inoculation can be made from any one to a tube of culture-medium and a pure
culture obtained. Of course, in applying the method means must be adopted
for suitably diluting the bacterial mixture. Another important method
consists in inoculating an animal with some fluid containing the various
bacteria. A pathogenic bacterium present may invade the body, and may be
obtained in pure culture from the internal organs. This method applies
especially to pathogenic bacteria whose growth on culture media is slow,
_e.g._ the tubercle bacillus.
The full description of a particular bacterium implies an account not only
of its microscopical characters, but also of its growth characters in
various culture media, its biological properties, and the effects produced
in animals by inoculation. To demonstrate readily its action on various
substances, certain media have been devised. For example, various
sugars--lactose, glucose, saccharose, &c.--are added to test the
fermentative action of the bacterium on these substances; litmus is added
to show changes in reaction, specially standardized media being used for
estimating such changes; peptone solution is commonly employed for testing
whether or not the bacterium forms indol; sterilized milk is used as a
culture medium to determine whether or not it is curdled by the growth.
Sometimes a bacterium can be readily recognized from one or two characters,
but not infrequently a whole series of tests must be made before the
species is determined. As our knowledge has advanced it has become
abundantly evident that the so-called pathogenic bacteria are not organisms
with special features, but that each is a member of a group of organisms
possessing closely allied characters. From the point of view of evolution
we may suppose that certain races of a group of bacteria have gradually
acquired the power of invading the tissues of the body and producing
disease. In the acquisition of pathogenic properties some of their original
characters have become changed, but in many instances this has taken place
only to a slight degree, and, furthermore, some of these changes are not of
a permanent character. It is to be noted that in the case of bacteria we
can only judge of organisms being of different species by the stability of
the characters which distinguish them, and numerous examples might be given
where their characters become modified by comparatively slight change in
their environment. The cultural as well as the microscopical [v.03 p.0173]
characters of a pathogenic organism may be closely similar to other
non-pathogenic members of the same group, and it thus comes to be a matter
of extreme difficulty in certain cases to state what criterion should be
used in differentiating varieties. The tests which are applied for this
purpose at present are chiefly of two kinds. In the first place, such
organisms may be differentiated by the chemical change produced by them in
various culture media, _e.g._ by their fermentative action on various
sugars, &c., though in this case such properties may become modified in the
course of time. And in the second place, the various serum reactions to be
described below have been called into requisition. It may be stated that
the introduction of a particular bacterium into the tissues of the body
leads to certain properties appearing in the serum, which are chiefly
exerted towards this particular bacterium. Such a serum may accordingly
within certain limits be used for differentiating this organism from others
closely allied to it (_vide infra_).
The modes of cultivation described apply only to organisms which grow in
presence of oxygen. Some, however--the strictly _anaerobic_ bacteria--grow
only in the absence of oxygen; hence means must be adopted for excluding
this gas. It is found that if the inoculation be made deep down in a solid
medium, growth of an anaerobic organism will take place, especially if the
medium contains some reducing agent such as glucose. Such cultures are
called "deep cultures." To obtain growth of an anaerobic organism on the
surface of a medium, in using the plate method, and also for cultures in
fluids, the air is displaced by an indifferent gas, usually hydrogen.
[Sidenote: Inoculation.]
In testing the effects of bacteria by inoculation the smaller rodents,
rabbits, guinea-pigs, and mice, are usually employed. One great drawback in
certain cases is that such animals are not susceptible to a given
bacterium, or that the disease is different in character from that in the
human subject. In some cases, _e.g._ Malta fever and relapsing fever,
monkeys have been used with success, but in others, _e.g._ leprosy, none of
the lower animals has been found to be susceptible. Discretion must
therefore be exercised in interpreting negative results in the lower
animals. For purposes of inoculation young vigorous cultures must be used.
The bacteria are mixed with some indifferent fluid, or a fluid culture is
employed. The injections are made by means of a hypodermic syringe into the
subcutaneous tissue, into a vein, into one of the serous sacs, or more
rarely into some special part of the body. The animal, after injection,
must be kept in favourable surroundings, and any resulting symptoms noted.
It may die, or may be killed at any time desired, and then a post-mortem
examination is made, the conditions of the organs, &c., being observed and
noted. The various tissues affected are examined microscopically and
cultures made from them; in this way the structural changes and the
relation of bacteria to them can be determined.
[Sidenote: Separation of toxins.]
Though the causal relationship of a bacterium to a disease may be
completely established by the methods given, another very important part of
bacteriology is concerned with the poisons or toxins formed by bacteria.
These toxins may become free in the culture fluid, and the living bacteria
may then be got rid of by filtering the fluid through a filter of unglazed
porcelain, whose pores are sufficiently small to retain them. The passage
of the fluid is readily effected by negative pressure produced by an
ordinary water exhaust-pump. The effects of the filtrate are then tested by
the methods used in pharmacology. In other instances the toxins are
retained to a large extent within the bacteria, and in this case the dead
bacteria are injected as a suspension in fluid. Methods have been
introduced for the purpose of breaking up the bodies of bacteria and
setting free the intracellular toxins. For this purpose Koch ground up
tubercle bacilli in an agate mortar and treated them with distilled water
until practically no deposit remained. Rowland and Macfadyen for the same
purpose introduced the method of grinding the bacilli in liquid air. At
this temperature the bacterial bodies are extremely brittle, and are thus
readily broken up. The study of the nature of toxins requires, of course,
the various methods of organic chemistry. Attempts to obtain them in an
absolutely pure condition have, however, failed in important cases. So that
when a "toxin" is spoken of, a mixture with other organic substances is
usually implied. Or the toxin may be precipitated with other organic
substances, purified to a certain extent by re-solution, re-precipitation,
&c., and desiccated. A "dry toxin" is thus obtained, though still in an
impure condition. Toxic substances have also been separated by
corresponding methods from the bodies of those who have died of certain
diseases, and the action of such substances on animals is in some cases an
important point in the pathology of the disease. Another auxiliary method
has been applied in this department, viz. the separation of organic
substances by filtration under high pressure through a colloid membrane,
gelatine supported in the pores of a porcelain filter being usually
employed. It has been found, for example, that a toxin may pass through
such a filter while an antitoxin may not. The methods of producing immunity
are dealt with below.
[Sidenote: Bacteria as agents of disease.]
The fact that in anthrax, one of the first diseases to be fully studied,
numerous bacilli are present in the blood of infected animals, gave origin
to the idea that the organisms might produce their effect by using up the
oxygen of the blood. Such action is now known to be quite a subsidiary
matter. And although effects may sometimes be produced in a mechanical
manner by bacteria plugging capillaries of important organs, _e.g._ brain
and kidneys, it may now be stated as an accepted fact that all the
important results of bacteria in the tissues are due to poisonous bodies or
toxins formed by them. Here, just as in the general subject of
fermentation, we must inquire whether the bacteria form the substances in
question directly or by means of non-living ferments or enzymes. With
regard to toxin formation the following general statements may be made. In
certain instances, _e.g._ in the case of the tetanus and diphtheria
bacilli, the production of soluble toxins can be readily demonstrated by
filtering a culture in bouillon germ-free by means of a porcelain filter,
and then injecting some of the filtrate into an animal. In this way the
characteristic features of the disease can be reproduced. Such toxins being
set free in the culture medium are often known as _extracellular_. In many
cases, however, the filtrate, when injected, produces comparatively little
effect, whilst toxic action is observed when the bacteria in a dead
condition are used; this is the case with the organisms of tubercle,
cholera, typhoid and many others. The toxins are here manifestly contained
within the bodies of the bacteria, _i.e._ are _intracellular_, though they
may become free on disintegration of the bacteria. The action of these
intracellular toxins has in many instances nothing characteristic, but is
merely in the direction of producing fever and interfering with the vital
processes of the body generally, these disturbances often going on to a
fatal result. In other words, the toxins of different bacteria are closely
similar in their results on the body and the features of the corresponding
diseases are largely regulated by the vital properties of the bacteria,
their distribution in the tissues, &c. The distinction between the two
varieties of toxins, though convenient, must not be pushed too far, as we
know little regarding their mode of formation. Although the formation of
toxins with characteristic action can be shown by the above methods, yet in
some cases little or no toxic action can be demonstrated. This, for
example, is the case with the anthrax bacillus; although the effect of this
organism in the living body indicates the production of toxins which
diffuse for a distance around the bacteria. This and similar facts have
suggested that some toxins are only produced in the living body. A
considerable amount of work has been done in connexion with this subject,
and many observers have found that fluids taken from the living body in
which the organisms have been growing, contain toxic substances, to which
the name of _aggressins_ has been applied. Fluid containing these
aggressins greatly increases the toxic effect of the corresponding
bacteria, and may produce death at an earlier stage than ever occurs with
the bacteria alone. They also appear to have in certain cases a paralysing
action on the cells which act as phagocytes. The [v.03 p.0174] work on this
subject is highly suggestive, and opens up new possibilities with regard to
the investigation of bacterial action within the body. Not only are the
general symptoms of poisoning in bacterial disease due to toxic substances,
but also the tissue changes, many of them of inflammatory nature, in the
neighbourhood of the bacteria. Thus, to mention examples, diphtheria toxin
produces inflammatory oedema which may be followed by necrosis; dead
tubercle bacilli give rise to a tubercle-like nodule, &c. Furthermore, a
bacillus may give rise to more than one toxic body, either as stages in one
process of change or as distinct products. Thus paralysis following
diphtheria is in all probability due to a different toxin from that which
causes the acute symptoms of poisoning or possibly to a modification of it
sometimes formed in specially large amount. It is interesting to note that
in the case of the closely analogous example of snake venoms, there may be
separated from a single venom a number of toxic bodies which have a
selective action on different animal tissues.
[Sidenote: Nature of toxins.]
Regarding the chemical nature of toxins less is known than regarding their
physiological action. Though an enormous amount of work has been done on
the subject, no important bacterial toxin has as yet been obtained in a
pure condition, and, though many of them are probably of proteid nature,
even this cannot be asserted with absolute certainty. Brieger, in his
earlier work, found that alkaloids were formed by bacteria in a variety of
conditions, and that some of them were poisonous. These alkaloids he called
_ptomaines_. The methods used in the investigations were, however, open to
objection, and it is now recognized that although organic bases may
sometimes be formed, and may be toxic, the important toxins are not of that
nature. A later research by Brieger along with Fraenkel pointed to the
extracellular toxins of diphtheria, tetanus and other diseases being of
proteid nature, and various other observers have arrived at a like
conclusion. The general result of such research has been to show that the
toxic bodies are, like proteids, precipitable by alcohol and various salts;
they are soluble in water, are somewhat easily dialysable, and are
relatively unstable both to light and heat. Attempts to get a pure toxin by
repeated precipitation and solution have resulted in the production of a
whitish amorphous powder with highly toxic properties. Such a powder gives
a proteid reaction, and is no doubt largely composed of albumoses, hence
the name _toxalbumoses_ has been applied. The question has, however, been
raised whether the toxin is really itself a proteid, or whether it is not
merely carried down with the precipitate. Brieger and Boer, by
precipitation with certain salts, notably of zinc, obtained a body which
was toxic but gave no reaction of any form of proteid. There is of course
the possibility in this case that the toxin was a proteid, but was in so
small amount that it escaped detection. These facts show the great
difficulty of the problem, which is probably insoluble by present methods
of analysis; the only test, in fact, for the existence of a toxin is its
physiological effect. It may also be mentioned that many toxins have now
been obtained by growing the particular organism in a proteid-free medium,
a fact which shows that if the toxin is a proteid it may be formed
synthetically by the bacterium as well as by modification of proteid
already present. With regard to the nature of intracellular toxins, there
is even greater difficulty in the investigation and still less is known.
Many of them, probably also of proteid nature, are much more resistant to
heat; thus the intracellular toxins of the tubercle bacillus retain certain
of their effects even after exposure to 100deg C. Like the extracellular
toxins they may be of remarkable potency; for example, fever is produced in
the human subject by the injection into the blood of an extremely minute
quantity of dead typhoid bacilli.
[Sidenote: Enzymes.]
We cannot as yet speak definitely with regard to the part played by enzymes
in these toxic processes. Certain toxins resemble enzymes as regards their
conditions of precipitation and relative instability, and the fact that in
most cases a considerable period intervenes between the time of injection
and the occurrence of symptoms has been adduced in support of the view that
enzymes are present. In the case of diphtheria Sidney Martin obtained toxic
albumoses in the spleen, which he considered were due to the digestive
action of an enzyme formed by the bacillus in the membrane and absorbed
into the circulation. According to this view, then, a part at least of the
directly toxic substance is produced in the living body by enzymes present
in the so-called toxin obtained from the bacterial culture. Recent
researches go to show that enzymes play a greater part in fermentation by
living ferments than was formerly supposed, and by analogy it is likely
that they are also concerned in the processes of disease. But this has not
been proved, and hitherto no enzyme has been separated from a pathogenic
bacterium capable of forming, by digestive or other action, the toxic
bodies from proteids outside the body. It is also to be noted that, as in
the case of poisons of known constitution, each toxin has a minimum lethal
dose which is proportionate to the weight of the animal and which can be
ascertained with a fair degree of accuracy.
The action of toxins is little understood. It consists in all probability
of disturbance, by means of the chemical affinities of the toxin, of the
highly complicated molecules of living cells. This disturbance results in
disintegration to a varying degree, and may produce changes visible on
microscopic examination. In other cases such changes cannot be detected,
and the only evidence of their occurrence may be the associated symptoms.
The very important work of Ehrlich on diphtheria toxin shows that in the
molecule of toxin there are at least two chief atom groups--one, the
"haptophorous," by which the toxin molecule is attached to the cell
protoplasm; and the other the "toxophorous," which has a ferment-like
action on the living molecule, producing a disturbance which results in the
toxic symptoms. On this theory, susceptibility to a toxin will imply both a
chemical affinity of certain tissues for the toxin molecule and also
sensitiveness to its actions, and, furthermore, non-susceptibility may
result from the absence of either of these two properties.
[Sidenote: Bacterial infection.]
A bacterial infection when analysed is seen to be of the nature of an
intoxication. There is, however, another all-important factor concerned,
viz. the multiplication of the living organisms in the tissues; this is
essential to, and regulates, the supply of toxins. It is important that
these two essential factors should be kept clearly in view, since the means
of defence against any disease may depend upon the power either of
neutralizing toxins or of killing the organisms producing them. It is to be
noted that there is no fixed relation between toxin production and
bacterial multiplication in the body, some of the organisms most active as
toxin producers having comparatively little power of invading the tissues.
[Sidenote: The production of disease.]
We shall now consider how bacteria may behave when they have gained
entrance to the body, what effects may be produced, and what circumstances
may modify the disease in any particular case. The extreme instance of
bacterial invasion is found in some of the septicaemias in the lower
animals, _e.g._ anthrax septicaemia in guinea-pigs, pneumococcus
septicaemia in rabbits. In such diseases the bacteria, when introduced into
the subcutaneous tissue, rapidly gain entrance to the blood stream and
multiply freely in it, and by means of their toxins cause symptoms of
general poisoning. A widespread toxic action is indicated by the lesions
found--cloudy swelling, which may be followed by fatty degeneration, in
internal organs, capillary haemorrhages, &c. In septicaemia in the human
subject, often due to streptococci, the process is similar, but the
organisms are found especially in the capillaries of the internal organs
and may not be detectable in the peripheral circulation during life. In
another class of diseases, the organisms first produce some well-marked
local lesion, from which secondary extension takes place by the lymph or
blood stream to other parts of the body, where corresponding lesions are
formed. In this way secondary abscesses, secondary tubercle glanders and
nodules, &c., result; in typhoid fever there is secondary invasion of the
mesenteric glands, and clumps of bacilli are also found in internal organs,
especially the spleen, though there may be little tissue change around
them. In all such cases there is seen a selective character in the
distribution of the lesions, some organs being in any disease much more
liable to infection than others. In still [v.03 p.0175] another class of
diseases the bacteria are restricted to some particular part of the body,
and the symptoms are due to toxins which are absorbed from it. Thus in
cholera the bacteria are practically confined to the intestine, in
diphtheria to the region of the false membrane, in tetanus to some wound.
In the last-mentioned disease even the local multiplication depends upon
the presence of other bacteria, as the tetanus bacillus has practically no
power of multiplying in the healthy tissues when introduced alone.
[Sidenote: Tissue changes.]
The effects produced by bacteria may be considered under the following
heads: (1) tissue changes produced in the vicinity of the bacteria, either
at the primary or secondary foci; (2) tissue changes produced at a distance
by absorption of their toxins; (3) symptoms. The changes in the vicinity of
bacteria are to be regarded partly as the _direct result_ of the action of
toxins on living cells, and partly as indicating a _reaction_ on the part
of the tissues. (Many such changes are usually grouped together under the
heading of "inflammation" of varying degree--acute, subacute and chronic.)
Degeneration and death of cells, haemorrhages, serous and fibrinous
exudations, leucocyte emigration, proliferation of connective tissue and
other cells, may be mentioned as some of the fundamental changes. Acute
inflammation of various types, suppuration, granulation-tissue formation,
&c., represent some of the complex resulting processes. The changes
produced at a distance by distribution of toxins may be very
manifold--cloudy swelling and fatty degeneration, serous effusions,
capillary haemorrhages, various degenerations of muscle, hyaline
degeneration of small blood-vessels, and, in certain chronic diseases, waxy
degeneration, all of which may be widespread, are examples of the effects
of toxins, rapid or slow in action. Again, in certain cases the toxin has a
special affinity for certain tissues. Thus in diphtheria changes in both
nerve cells and nerve fibres have been found, and in tetanus minute
alterations in the nucleus and protoplasm of nerve cells.
[Sidenote: Symptoms.]
The lesions mentioned are in many instances necessarily accompanied by
functional disturbances or clinical symptoms, varying according to site,
and to the nature and degree of the affection. In addition, however, there
occur in bacterial diseases symptoms to which the correlated structural
changes have not yet been demonstrated. Amongst these the most important is
fever with increased protein metabolism, attended with disturbances of the
circulatory and respiratory Systems. Nervous symptoms, somnolence, coma,
spasms, convulsions and paralysis are of common occurrence. All such
phenomena, however, are likewise due to the disturbance of the molecular
constitution of living cells. Alterations in metabolism are found to be
associated with some of these, but with others no corresponding physical
change can be demonstrated. The action of toxins on various glands,
producing diminished or increased functional activity, has a close analogy
to that of certain drugs. In short, if we place aside the outstanding
exception of tumour growth, we may say that practically all the important
phenomena met with in disease may be experimentally produced by the
injection of bacteria or of their toxins.
[Sidenote: Susceptibility.]
The result of the entrance of a virulent bacterium into the tissues of an
animal is not a disease with hard and fast characters, but varies greatly
with circumstances. With regard to the subject of infection the chief
factor is susceptibility; with regard to the bacterium virulence is
all-important. Susceptibility, as is well recognized, varies much under
natural conditions in different species, in different races of the same
species, and amongst individuals of the same race. It also varies with the
period of life, young subjects being more susceptible to certain diseases,
_e.g._ diphtheria, than adults. Further, there is the very important factor
of acquired susceptibility. It has been experimentally shown that
conditions such as fatigue, starvation, exposure to cold, &c., lower the
general resisting powers and increase the susceptibility to bacterial
infection. So also the local powers of resistance may be lowered by injury
or depressed vitality. In this way conditions formerly believed to be the
causes of disease are now recognized as playing their part in predisposing
to the action of the true causal agent, viz. the bacterium. In health the
blood and internal tissues are bacterium-free; after death they offer a
most suitable pabulum for various bacteria; but between these two extremes
lie states of varying liability to infection. It is also probable that in a
state of health organisms do gain entrance to the blood from time to time
and are rapidly killed off. The circumstances which alter the virulence of
bacteria will be referred to again in connexion with immunity, but it may
be stated here that, as a general rule, the virulence of an organism
towards an animal is increased by sojourn in the tissues of that animal.
The increase of virulence becomes especially marked when the organism is
inoculated from animal to animal in series, the method of _passage_. This
is chiefly to be regarded as an adaptation to surroundings, though the fact
that the less virulent members of the bacterial species will be liable to
be killed off also plays a part. Conversely, the virulence tends to
diminish on cultivation on artificial media outside the body, especially in
circumstances little favourable to growth.
[Sidenote: Immunity.]
By immunity is meant non-susceptibility to a given disease, or to
experimental inoculation with a given bacterium or toxin. The term must be
used in a relative sense, and account must always be taken of the
conditions present. An animal may be readily susceptible to a disease on
experimental inoculation, and yet rarely or never suffer from it naturally,
because the necessary conditions of infection are not supplied in nature.
That an animal possesses natural immunity can only be shown on exposing it
to such conditions, this being usually most satisfactorily done in direct
experiment. Further, there are various degrees of immunity, and in this
connexion conditions of local or general diminished vitality play an
important part in increasing the susceptibility. Animals naturally
susceptible may acquire immunity, on the one hand by successfully passing
through an attack of the disease, or, on the other hand, by various methods
of inoculation. Two chief varieties of artificial immunity are now
generally recognized, differing chiefly according to the mode of
production. In the first--_active immunity_--a reaction or series of
reactions is produced in the body of the animal, usually by injections of
bacteria or their products. The second--_passive immunity_--is produced by
the transference of a quantity of the serum of an animal actively immunized
to a fresh animal; the term is applied because there is brought into play
no active change in the tissues of the second animal. The methods of active
immunity have been practically applied in _preventive inoculation_ against
disease; those of passive immunity have given us _serum therapeutics_. The
chief facts with regard to each may now be stated.
1. _Active Immunity_.--The key to the artificial establishment of active
immunity is given by the fact long established that recovery from an attack
of certain infective diseases is accompanied by protection for varying
periods of time against a subsequent attack. Hence follows the idea of
producing a modified attack of the disease as a means of prevention--a
principle which had been previously applied in inoculation against
smallpox. Immunity, however, probably results from certain substances
introduced into the system during the disease rather than from the disease
itself; for by properly adjusted doses of the poison (in the widest sense),
immunity may result without any symptoms of the disease occurring. Of the
chief methods used in producing active immunity the first is by inoculation
with bacteria whose virulence has been diminished, _i.e._ with an
"attenuated virus." Many of the earlier methods of attenuation were devised
in the case of the anthrax bacillus, an organism which is, however,
somewhat exceptional as regards the relative stability of its virulence.
Many such methods consist, to speak generally, in growing the organism
outside the body under somewhat unsuitable conditions, _e.g._ at higher
temperatures than the optimum, in the presence of weak antiseptics, &c. The
virulence of many organisms, however, becomes diminished when they are
grown on the ordinary artificial media, and the diminution is sometimes
accelerated by passing a current [v.03 p.0176] of air over the surface of
the growth. Sometimes also the virulence of a bacterium for a particular
kind of animal becomes lessened on passing it through the body of one of
another species. Cultures of varying degree of virulence may be obtained by
such methods, and immunity can be gradually increased by inoculation with
vaccines of increasing virulence. The immunity may be made to reach a very
high degree by ultimately using cultures of intensified virulence, this
"supervirulent" character being usually attained by the method of _passage_
already explained. A second method is by injection of the bacterium in the
dead condition, whereby immunity against the living organism may be
produced. Here manifestly the dose may be easily controlled, and may be
gradually increased in successive inoculations. This method has a wide
application. A third method is by injections of the separated toxins of a
bacterium, the resulting immunity being not only against the toxin, but, so
far as present knowledge shows, also against the living organism. In the
development of toxin-immunity the doses, small at first, are gradually
increased in successive inoculations; or, as in the case of very active
toxins, the initial injections are made with toxin modified by heat or by
the addition of various chemical substances. Immunity of the same nature
can be acquired in the same way against snake and scorpion poisons, and
against certain vegetable toxins, _e.g._ ricin, abrin, &c.
In order that the immunity may reach a high degree, either the bacterium in
a very virulent state or a large dose of toxin must ultimately be used in
the injections. In such cases the immunity is, to speak generally,
specific, _i.e._ applies only to the bacterium or toxin used in its
production. A certain degree of non-specific immunity or increased tissue
resistance may be produced locally, _e.g._ in the peritoneum, by injections
of non-pathogenic organisms, peptone, nucleic acid and various other
substances. In these cases the immunity is without specific character, and
cannot be transferred to another animal. Lastly, in a few instances one
organism has an antagonistic action to another; for example, the products
of _B. pyocyaneus_ have a certain protective action against _B. anthracis_.
This method has, however, not yielded any important practical application.
2. _Passive Immunity: Anti-sera._--The development of active immunity by
the above methods is essentially the result of a reactive process on the
part of the cells of the body, though as yet we know little of its real
nature. It is, however, also accompanied by the appearance of certain
bodies in the blood serum of the animal treated, to which the name of
_anti-substances_ is given, and these have been the subject of extensive
study. It is by means of them that immunity (passive) can be transferred to
a fresh animal. The development of anti-substances is, however, not
peculiar to bacteria, but occurs also when alien cells of various kinds,
proteins, ferments, &c., are injected. In fact, organic molecules can be
divided into two classes according as they give rise to anti-substances or
fail to do so. Amongst the latter, the vegetable poisons of known
constitution, alkaloids, glucosides, &c., are to be placed. The molecules
which lead to the production of anti-substances are usually known as
antigens, and each antigen has a specific combining affinity for its
corresponding anti-substance, fitting it as a lock does a key. The
antigens, as already indicated, may occur in bacteria, cells, &c., or they
may occur free in a fluid. Anti-substances may be arranged, as has been
done by Ehrlich, into three main groups. In the first group, the
anti-substance simply combines with the antigen, without, so far as we
know, producing any change in it. The antitoxins are examples of this
variety. In the second group, the anti-substance, in addition to combining
with the antigen, produces some recognizable physical change in it; the
precipitins and agglutinins may be mentioned as examples. In the third
group, the anti-substance, after it has combined with the antigen, leads to
the union of a third body called _complement_ (_alexine_ or _cytase_ of
French writers), which is present in normal serum. As a result of the union
of the three substances, a dissolving or digestive action is often to be
observed. This is the mode of action of the anti-substances in the case of
a haemolytic or bacteriolytic serum. So far as bacterial immunity is
concerned, the anti-serum exerts its action either on the toxin or on the
bacterium itself; that is, its action is either antitoxic or
anti-bacterial. The properties of these two kinds of serum may now be
considered.
[Sidenote: Antitoxic serum.]
The term "antitoxic" signifies that serum has the power of neutralizing the
action of the toxin, as is shown by mixing them together outside the body
and then injecting them into an animal. The antitoxic serum when injected
previously to the toxin also confers immunity (passive) against it; when
injected after the toxin it has within certain limits a curative action,
though in this case its dose requires to be large. The antitoxic property
is developed in a susceptible animal by successive and gradually increasing
doses of the toxin. In the earlier experiments on smaller animals the
potency of the toxin was modified for the first injections, but in
preparing antitoxin for therapeutical purposes the toxin is used in its
unaltered condition, the horse being the animal usually employed. The
injections are made subcutaneously and afterwards intravenously; and, while
the dose must be gradually increased, care must be taken that this is not
done too quickly, otherwise the antitoxic power of the serum may fall and
the health of the animal suffer. The serum of the animal is tested from
time to time against a known amount of toxin, _i.e._ is standardized. The
unit of antitoxin in Ehrlich's new standard is the amount requisite to
antagonize 100 times the minimum lethal dose of a particular toxin to a
guinea-pig of 250 grm. weight, the indication that the toxin has been
antagonized being that a fatal result does not follow within five days
after the injection. In the case of diphtheria the antitoxic power of the
serum may reach 800 units per cubic centimetre, or even more. The laws of
antitoxin production and action are not confined to bacterial toxins, but
apply also to other vegetable and animal toxins, resembling them in
constitution, viz. the vegetable toxalbumoses and the snake-venom group
referred to above.
[Sidenote: Action of antitoxin.]
The production of antitoxin is one of the most striking facts of biological
science, and two important questions with regard to it must next be
considered, viz. how does the antitoxin act? and how is it formed within
the body? Theoretically there are two possible modes of action: antitoxin
may act by means of the cells of the body, _i.e._ indirectly or
physiologically; or it may act directly on the toxin, _i.e._ chemically or
physically. The second view may now be said to be established, and, though
the question cannot be fully discussed here, the chief grounds in support
of a direct action may be given. (a) The action of antitoxin on toxin, as
tested by neutralization effects, takes place more quickly in concentrated
than in weak solutions, and more quickly at a warm (within certain limits)
than at a cold temperature. (b) Antitoxin acts more powerfully when
injected along with the toxin than when injected at the same time in
another part of the body; if its action were on the tissue-cells one would
expect that the site of injection would be immaterial. For example, the
amount necessary to neutralize five times the lethal dose being determined,
twenty times that amount will neutralize a hundred times the lethal dose.
In the case of physiological antagonism of drugs this relationship does not
hold. (c) It has been shown by C. J. Martin and Cherry, and by A. A.
Kanthack and Cobbett, that in certain instances the toxin can be made to
pass through a gelatine membrane, whereas the antitoxin cannot, its
molecules being of larger size. If, however, toxin be mixed with antitoxin
for some time, it can no longer be passed through, presumably because it
has become combined with the antitoxin.
Lastly it may be mentioned that when a toxin has some action which can be
demonstrated in a test-tube experiment, for example, a dissolving action on
red corpuscles, this action may be annulled by previously adding the
antitoxin to toxin; in such a case the intervention of the living tissues
is excluded. In view of the fact that antitoxin has a direct action on
toxin, we may say that theoretically this may take place in one of two
ways. It may produce a disintegration of the toxin molecule, or it may
combine with it to produce a body whose combining affinities are satisfied.
The latter view, first advocated by [v.03 p.0177] Ehrlich, harmonizes with
the facts established with regard to toxic action and the behaviour of
antitoxins, and may now be regarded as established. His view as to the dual
composition of the toxin molecule has already been mentioned, and it is
evident that if the haptophorous or combining group has its affinity
satisfied by union with antitoxin, the toxin will no longer combine with
living cells, and will thus be rendered harmless. One other important fact
in support of what has been stated is that a toxin may have its toxic
action diminished, and may still require the same amount of antitoxin as
previously for neutralization. This is readily intelligible on the
supposition that the toxophorous group is more labile than the
haptophorous. There is, however, still dispute with regard to the exact
nature of the union of toxin and antitoxin. Ehrlich's view is that the two
substances form a firm combination like a strong acid and a base. He found,
however, that if he took the largest amount of toxin which was just
neutralized by a given amount of antitoxin, much more than a single dose of
toxin had to be added before a single dose was left free. For example, if
100 doses of toxin were neutralized by a unit of antitoxin (_v. supra_) it
might be that 125 doses would need to be added to the same amount of
antitoxin before the mixture produced a fatal result when it was injected.
This result, which is usually known now as the "Ehrlich phenomenon," was
explained by him on the supposition that the "toxin" does not represent
molecules which are all the same, but contains molecules of different
degrees of combining affinity and of toxic action. Accordingly, the most
actively toxic molecules will be neutralized first, and those which are
left over, that is, uncombined with antitoxin, will have a weaker toxic
action. This view has been assailed by Thorvald Madsen and S. A. Arrhenius,
who hold that the union of toxin and antitoxin is comparatively loose, and
belongs to the class of reversible actions, being comparable in fact with
the union of a weak acid and base. If such were the condition there would
always be a certain amount both of free toxin and of free antitoxin in the
mixture, and in this case also considerably more than a dose of toxin would
have to be added to a "neutral mixture" before the amount of free toxin was
increased by a dose, that is, before the mixture became lethal. It may be
stated that while in certain instances the union of toxin and antitoxin may
be reversible, all the facts established cannot be explained on this simple
hypothesis of reversible action. Still another view, advocated by Bordet,
is that the union of toxin and antitoxin is rather of physical than of
strictly chemical nature, and represents an interaction of colloidal
substances, a sort of molecular deposition by which the smaller toxin
molecule becomes entangled in the larger molecule of antitoxin. Sufficient
has been said to show that the subject is one of great intricacy, and no
simple statement with regard to it is as yet possible. We are probably safe
in saying, however, that the molecules of a toxin are not identical but
vary in the degree of their combining affinities, and also in their toxic
action, and that, while in some cases the combination of anti-substances
has been shown to be reversible, we are far from being able to say that
this is a general law.
[Sidenote: Formation of antitoxin.]
The origin of antitoxin is of course merely a part of the general question
regarding the production of anti-substances in general, as these all
combine in the same way with their homologous substances and have the same
character of specificity. As, however, most of the work has been done with
regard to antitoxin production we may consider here the theoretical aspect
of the subject. There are three chief possibilities: (a) that the antitoxin
is a modification of the toxin; (b) that it is a substance normally
present, but produced in excess under stimulation of the toxin; (c) that it
is an entirely new product. The first of these, which would imply a process
of a very remarkable nature, is disproved by what is observed after
bleeding an animal whose blood contains antitoxin. In such a case it has
been shown that, without the introduction of fresh toxin, new antitoxin
appears, and therefore must be produced by the living tissues. The second
theory is the more probable _a priori_, and if established removes the
necessity for the third. It is strongly supported by Ehrlich, who, in his
so-called "side-chain" (_Seitenkette_) theory, explains antitoxin
production as an instance of regeneration after loss. Living protoplasm, or
in other words a biogen molecule, is regarded as consisting of a central
atom group (_Leistungskern_), related to which are numerous secondary atom
groups or side-chains, with unsatisfied chemical affinities. [Sidenote:
"Side-chain" theory.] The side-chains constitute the means by which other
molecules are added to the living molecule, _e.g._ in the process of
nutrition. It is by means of such side-chains that toxin molecules are
attached to the protoplasm, so that the living molecules are brought under
the action of the toxophorous groups of the toxins. In antitoxin production
this combination takes place, though not in sufficient amount to produce
serious toxic symptoms. It is further supposed that the combination being
of somewhat firm character, the side-chains thus combined are lost for the
purposes of the cell and are therefore thrown off. By the introduction of
fresh toxin the process is repeated and the regeneration of side-chains is
increased. Ultimately the regeneration becomes an over-regeneration and
free side-chains produced in excess are set free and appear in the blood as
antitoxin molecules. In other words the substances, which when forming part
of the cells fix the toxin to the cells, constitute antitoxin molecules
when free in the serum. This theory, though not yet established, certainly
affords the most satisfactory explanation at present available. In support
of it there is the remarkable fact, discovered by A. Wassermann and Takaki
in the case of tetanus, that there do exist in the nervous system molecules
with combining affinity for the tetanus toxin. If, for example, the brain
and spinal cord removed from an animal be bruised and brought into contact
with tetanus toxin, a certain amount of the toxicity disappears, as shown
by injecting the mixture into another animal. Further, these molecules in
the nervous system present the same susceptibility to heat and other
physical agencies as does tetanus antitoxin. There is therefore strong
evidence that antitoxin molecules do exist as part of the living substance
of nerve cells. It has, moreover, been found that the serum of various
animals has a certain amount of antitoxic action, and thus the basis for
antitoxin production, according to Ehrlich's theory, is afforded. The
theory also supplies the explanation of the power which an animal possesses
of producing various antitoxins, since this depends ultimately upon
susceptibility to toxic action. The explanation is thus carried back to the
complicated constitution of biogen molecules in various living cells of the
body. It may be added that in the case of all the other kinds of
anti-substances, which are produced by a corresponding reaction, we have
examples of the existence of traces of them in the blood serum under normal
conditions. We are, accordingly, justified in definitely concluding that
their appearance in large amount in the blood, as the result of active
immunization, represents an increased production of molecules which are
already present in the body, either in a free condition in its fluids or as
constituent elements of its cells.
[Sidenote: Anti-bacterial serum.]
In preparing anti-bacterial sera the lines of procedure correspond to those
followed in the case of antitoxins, but the bacteria themselves in the
living or dead condition or their maceration products are always used in
the injections. Sometimes dead bacteria, living virulent bacteria, and
living supervirulent bacteria, are used in succession, the object being to
arrive ultimately at a high dosage, though the details vary in different
instances. The serum of an animal thus actively immunized has powerful
protective properties towards another animal, the amount necessary for
protection being sometimes almost inconceivably small. As a rule it has no
action on the corresponding toxin, _i.e._ is not antitoxic. In addition to
the protective action, such a serum may possess activities which can be
demonstrated outside the body. Of these the most important are (a)
bacteriolytic or lysogenic action, (b) agglutinative action, and (c)
opsonic action.
[Sidenote: (a) Lysogenic action.]
The first of these, lysogenic or bacteriolytic action, consists in [v.03
p.0178] the production of a change in the corresponding bacterium whereby
it becomes granular, swells up and ultimately may undergo dissolution.
Pfeiffer was the first to show that this occurred when the bacterium was
injected into the peritoneal cavity of the animal immunized against it, and
also when a little of the serum of such an animal was injected with the
bacterium into the peritoneum of a fresh, _i.e._ non-immunized animal.
Metchnikoff and Bordet subsequently devised means by which a similar change
could be produced _in vitro_, and analysed the conditions necessary for its
occurrence. It has been completely established that in this phenomenon of
lysogenesis there are two substances concerned, one specially developed or
developed in excess, and the other present in normal serum. The former
(_Immunkoerper_ of Ehrlich, _substance sensibilisatrice_ of Bordet) is the
more stable, resisting a temperature of 60deg C., and though giving the
specific character to the reaction cannot act alone. The latter is
ferment-like and much more labile than the former, being readily destroyed
at 60deg C. It may be added that the protective power is not lost by
exposure to the temperature mentioned, this apparently depending upon a
specific anti-substance. Furthermore, lysogenic action is not confined to
the case of bacteria but obtains also with other organized structures,
_e.g._ red corpuscles (Bordet, Ehrlich and Morgenroth), leucocytes and
spermatozoa (Metchnikoff). That is to say, if an animal be treated with
injections of these bodies, its serum acquires the power of dissolving or
of producing some disintegrative effect in them. The development of the
immune body with specific combining affinity thus presents an analogy to
antitoxin production, the difference being that in lysogenesis another
substance is necessary to complete the process. It can be shown that in
many cases when bacteria are injected the serum of the treated animal has
no bacteriolytic effect, and still an immune body is present, which leads
to the fixation of complement; in this case bacteriolysis does not occur,
because the organism is not susceptible to the action of the complement. In
all cases the important action is the binding of complement to the
bacterium by means of the corresponding immune body; whether or not death
of the bacterium occurs, will depend upon its susceptibility to the action
of the particular complement, the latter acting like a toxin or digestive
ferment. It is to be noted that in the process of immunization complement
does not increase in amount; accordingly the immune serum comes to contain
immune body much in excess of the amount of complement necessary to
complete its action. An important point with regard to the therapeutic
application of an anti-bacterial serum, is that when the serum is kept _in
vitro_ the complement rapidly disappears, and accordingly the complement
necessary for the production of the bactericidal action must be supplied by
the blood of the patient treated. This latter complement may not suit the
immune body, that is, may not be fixed to the bacterium by means of it, or
if the latter event does occur, may fail to bring about the death of the
bacteria. These circumstances serve, in part at least, to explain the fact
that the success attending the use of anti-bacterial sera has been much
inferior to that in the case of antitoxic sera.
[Sidenote: (b) Agglutination.]
Another property which may be possessed by an anti-bacterial serum is that
of agglutination. By this is meant the aggregation into clumps of the
bacteria uniformly distributed in an indifferent fluid; if the bacterium is
motile its movement is arrested during the process. The process is of
course observed by means of the microscope, but the clumps soon settle in
the fluid and ultimately form a sediment, leaving the upper part clear.
This change, visible to the naked eye, is called _sedimentation_. B. J. A.
Charrin and G. E. H. Roger first showed in the case of _B. pyocyaneus_ that
when a small quantity of the homologous serum (_i.e._ the serum of an
animal immunized against the bacterium) was added to a fluid culture of
this bacillus, growth formed a sediment instead of a uniform turbidity.
Gruber and Durham showed that sedimentation occurred when a small quantity
of the homologous serum was added to an emulsion of the bacterium in a
small test-tube, and found that this obtained in all cases where Pfeiffer's
lysogenic action could be demonstrated. Shortly afterwards Widal and also
Gruenbaum showed that the serum of patients suffering from typhoid fever,
even at an early stage of the disease, agglutinated the typhoid bacillus--a
fact which laid the foundation of serum diagnosis. A similar phenomenon has
been demonstrated in the case of Malta fever, cholera, plague, infection
with _B. coli_, "meat-poisoning" due to Gaertner's bacillus, and various
other infections. As regards the mode of action of agglutinins, Gruber and
Durham considered that it consists in a change in the envelopes of the
bacteria, by which they swell up and become adhesive. The view has various
facts in its support, but F. Kruse and C. Nicolle have found that if a
bacterial culture be filtered germ-free, an agglutinating serum still
produces some change in it, so that particles suspended in it become
gathered into clumps. E. Duclaux, for this reason, considers that
agglutinins are coagulative ferments.
The phenomenon of agglutination depends essentially on the union of
molecules in the bacteria--the agglutinogens--with the corresponding
agglutinins, but another essential is the presence of a certain amount of
salts in the fluid, as it can be shown that when agglutinated masses of
bacteria are washed salt-free the clumps become resolved. The fact that
agglutinins appear in the body at an early stage in a disease has been
taken by some observers as indicating that they have nothing to do with
immunity, their development being spoken of as a reaction of infection.
This conclusion is not justified, as we must suppose that the process of
immunization begins to be developed at an early period in the disease, that
it gradually increases, and ultimately results in cure. It should also be
stated that agglutinins are used up in the process of agglutination,
apparently combining with some element of the bacterial structure. In view
of all the facts it must be admitted that the agglutinins and immune bodies
are the result of corresponding reactive processes, and are probably
related to one another. The development of all antagonistic substances
which confer the special character on antimicrobic sera, as well as
antitoxins, may be expressed as the formation of bodies with specific
combining affinity for the organic substance introduced into the
system--toxin, bacterium, red corpuscle, &c., as the case may be. The
bacterium, being a complex organic substance, may thus give rise to more
than one antagonistic or combining substance.
[Sidenote: (c) Opsonic action.]
By opsonic action is meant the effect which a serum has on bacteria in
making them more susceptible to phagocytosis by the white corpuscles of the
blood (_q.v._). Such an effect may be demonstrated outside the body by
making a suitable mixture of (a) a suspension of the particular bacterium,
(b) the serum to be tested, and (c) leucocytes of a normal animal or
person. The mixture is placed in a thin capillary tube and incubated at
37deg C. for half an hour; a film preparation is then made from it on a
glass slide, stained by a suitable method and then examined
microscopically. The number of bacteria contained within a number of, say
fifty, leucocytes can be counted and the average taken. In estimating the
opsonic power of the serum in cases of disease a control with normal serum
is made at the same time and under precisely the same conditions. The
average number of bacteria contained within leucocytes in the case tested,
divided by the number given by the normal serum, is called the _phagocytic
index_. Wright and Douglas showed that under these conditions phagocytosis
might occur when a small quantity of normal serum was present, whereas it
was absent when normal salt solution was substituted for the serum; the
latter thus contained substances which made the organisms susceptible to
the action of the phagocytosis. They further showed that this substance
acted by combining with the organisms and apparently producing some
alteration in them; on the other hand it had no direct action on the
leucocytes. This opsonin of normal serum is very labile, being rapidly
destroyed at 55deg C.; that is, a serum heated at this temperature has
practically no greater effect in aiding phagocytosis than normal salt
solution has. Various observers had previously found that the serum of an
animal immunized against [v.03 p.0179] a particular bacterium had a special
action in bringing about phagocytosis of that organism, and it had been
found that this property was retained when the serum was heated at 55deg C.
It is now generally admitted that at least two distinct classes of
substances are concerned in opsonic action, that thermostable immune
opsonins are developed as a result of active immunization and these possess
the specific properties of anti-substances in general, that is, act only on
the corresponding bacterium. On the contrary the labile opsonins of normal
serum have a comparatively general action on different organisms. It is
quite evident that the specific immune-opsonins may play a very important
part in the phenomena of immunity, as by their means the organisms are
taken up more actively by the phagocytic cells, and thereafter may undergo
rapid disintegration.
The opsonic action of the serum has been employed by Sir A. Wright and his
co-workers to control the treatment of bacterial infections by vaccines;
that is, by injections of varying amounts of a dead culture of the
corresponding bacterium. The object in such treatment is to raise the
opsonic index of the serum, this being taken as an indication of increased
immunity. The effect of the injection of a small quantity of vaccine is
usually to produce an increase in the opsonic index within a few days. If
then an additional quantity of vaccine be injected there occurs a fall in
the opsonic index (negative phase) which, however, is followed later by a
rise to a higher level than before. If the amounts of vaccine used and the
times of the injection are suitably chosen, there may thus be produced by a
series of steps a rise of the opsonic index to a high level. One of the
chief objects in registering the opsonic power in such cases is to avoid
the introduction of additional vaccine when the opsonic index is low, that
is, during the negative phase, as if this were done a further diminution of
the opsonic action might result. The principle in such treatment by means
of vaccines is to stimulate the general production of anti-substances
throughout the body, so that these may be carried to the sites of bacterial
growth, and aid the destruction of the organisms by means of the cells of
the tissues. A large number of favourable results obtained by such
treatment controlled by the observation of the opsonic index have already
been published, but it would be unwise at present to offer a decided
opinion as to the ultimate value of the method.
Active immunity has thus been shown to be associated with the presence of
certain anti-substances in the serum. After these substances have
disappeared, however, as they always do in the course of time, the animal
still possesses immunity for a varying period. This apparently depends upon
some alteration in the cells of the body, but its exact nature is not
known.
[Sidenote: Phagocytosis.]
The destruction of bacteria by direct cellular agency both in natural and
acquired immunity must not be overlooked. The behaviour of certain cells,
especially leucocytes, in infective conditions led Metchnikoff to place
great importance on phagocytosis. In this process there are two factors
concerned, viz. the ingestion of bacteria by the cells, and the subsequent
intracellular digestion. If either of these is wanting or interfered with,
phagocytosis will necessarily fail as a means of defence. As regards the
former, leucocytes are guided chiefly by chemiotaxis, _i.e._ by
sensitiveness to chemical substances in their surroundings--a property
which is not peculiar to them but is possessed by various unicellular
organisms, including motile bacteria. When the cell moves from a less to a
greater degree of concentration, _i.e._ towards the focus of production,
the chemiotaxis is termed positive; when the converse obtains, negative.
This apparently purposive movement has been pointed out by M. Verworn to
depend upon stimulation to contraction or the reverse. Metchnikoff showed
that in animals immune to a given organism phagocytosis is present, whereas
in susceptible animals it is deficient or absent. He also showed that the
development of artificial immunity is attended by the appearance of
phagocytosis; also, when an anti-serum is injected into an animal, the
phagocytes which formerly were indifferent might move towards and destroy
the bacteria. In the light of all the facts, however, especially those with
regard to anti-bacterial sera, the presence of phagocytosis cannot be
regarded as the essence of immunity, but rather the evidence of its
existence. The increased ingestion of bacteria in active immunity would
seem to depend upon the presence of immune opsonins in the serum. These, as
already explained, are true anti-substances. Thus the apparent increased
activity of the leucocytes is due to a preliminary effect of the opsonins
on the bacteria. We have no distinct proof that there occurs in active
immunity any education of the phagocytes, in Metchnikoff's sense, that is,
any increase of the inherent ingestive or digestive activity of these
cells. There is some evidence that in certain cases anti-substances may act
upon the leucocytes, and to these the name of "stimulins" has been given.
We cannot, however, say that these play an important part in immunity, and
even if it were so, the essential factor would be the development of the
substances which act in this way. While in immunity there probably occurs
no marked change in the leucocytes themselves, it must be admitted that the
increased destruction of bacteria by these cells is of the highest
importance. This, as already pointed out, depends upon the increase of
opsonins, though it is also to be noted that in many infective conditions
there is another factor present, namely a leucocytosis, that is, an
increase of the leucocytes in the blood, and the defensive powers of the
body are thereby increased. Evidence has been brought forward within recent
years that the leucocytes may constitute an important source of the
antagonistic substances which appear in the serum. Much of such evidence
possesses considerable weight, and seeing that these cells possess active
digestive powers it is by no means improbable that substances with
corresponding properties may be set free by them. To ascribe such powers to
them exclusively is, however, not justifiable. Probably the lining
endothelium of the blood-vessels as well as other tissues of the body
participate in the production of anti-substances.
[Sidenote: Natural immunity.]
The subject of artificial immunity has occupied a large proportion of
bacteriological literature within recent years, and our endeavour has been
mainly to indicate the general laws which are in process of evolution. When
the facts of natural immunity are examined, we find that no single
explanation is possible. Natural immunity against toxins must be taken into
account, and, if Ehrlich's view with regard to toxic action be correct,
this may depend upon either the absence of chemical affinity of the living
molecules of the tissues for the toxic molecule, or upon insensitiveness to
the action of the toxophorous group. It has been shown with regard to the
former, for example, that the nervous system of the fowl, which possesses
immunity against tetanus toxin, has little combining affinity for it. The
non-sensitiveness of a cell to a toxic body when brought into immediate
relationship cannot, however, be explained further than by saying that the
disintegrative changes which underlie symptoms of poisoning are not brought
about. Then as regards natural powers of destroying bacteria, phagocytosis
aided by chemiotaxis plays a part, and it can be understood that an animal
whose phagocytes are attracted by a particular bacterium will have an
advantage over one in which this action is absent. Variations in
chemiotaxis towards different organisms probably depend in natural
conditions, as well as in active immunity, upon the opsonic content of the
serum. Whether bacteria will be destroyed or not after they have been
ingested by the leucocytes will depend upon the digestive powers of the
latter, and these probably vary in different species of animals. The blood
serum has a direct bactericidal action on certain bacteria, as tested
outside the body, and this also varies in different animals. Observations
made on this property with respect to the anthrax bacillus at first gave
the hope that it might explain variations in natural immunity. Thus the
serum of the white rat, which is immune to anthrax, kills the bacillus;
whereas the serum of the guinea-pig, which is susceptible, has no such
effect. Further observations, however, showed that this does not hold as a
general law. The serum of the susceptible rabbit, for example, is
bactericidal to this organism, whilst the serum of the immune dog is not.
In the case of the latter animal the serum [v.03 p.0180] contains an
opsonin which leads to phagocytosis of the bacillus, and the latter is then
destroyed by the leucocytes. It is quite evident that bactericidal action
as tested _in vitro_ outside the body does not correspond to the degree of
immunity possessed by the animal under natural conditions. We may say,
however, that there are several factors concerned in natural immunity, of
which the most important may be said to be the three following, viz.
variations in the bactericidal action of the serum _in vivo_, variations in
the chemiotactic or opsonic properties of the serum _in vivo_, and
variations in the digestive properties of the leucocytes of the particular
animal. It is thus evident that the explanation of natural immunity in any
given instance may be a matter of difficulty and much complexity.
AUTHORITIES.--Bacteriological literature has become so extensive that it is
impossible to give here references to original articles, even the more
important. A number of these, giving an account of classical researches,
were translated from French and German, and published by the New Sydenham
Society under the title _Microparasites in Disease: Selected Essays_, in
1886. The following list contains some of the more important books
published within recent years. Abbott, _Principles of Bacteriology_ (7th
ed., London, 1905); Crookshank, _Bacteriology and Infective Diseases_ (with
bibliography, 4th ed., London, 1896); Duclaux, _Traite de microbiologie_
(Paris, 1899-1900); Eyre, _Bacteriological Technique_ (Philadelphia and
London, 1902); Fluegge, _Die Mikroorganismen_ (3rd ed., Leipzig, 1896);
Fischer, _Vorlesungen ueber Bakterien_ (2nd ed., Jena, 1902); Guenther,
_Einfuehrung in das Studium der Bakteriologie_ (6th ed., Leipzig, 1906);
Hewlett, _Manual of Bacteriology_ (2nd ed., London, 1902); Hueppe,
_Principles of Bacteriology_ (translation, London, 1899); Klein,
_Micro-organisms and Disease_ (3rd ed., London, 1896); Kolle and
Wassermann, _Handbuch der pathogenen Mikroorganismen_ (Jena, 1904)
(supplements are still being published; this is the most important work on
the subject); Loeffler, _Vorlesungen ueber die geschichtliche Entwickelung
der Lehre von der Bacterien_ (Leipzig, 1887); McFarland, _Text-book upon
the Pathogenic Bacteria_ (5th ed., London, 1906); Muir and Ritchie, _Manual
of Bacteriology_ (with bibliography, 4th ed., Edin. and Lond., 1908); Park,
_Pathogenic Micro-organisms_ (London, 1906); Sternberg, _Manual of
Bacteriology_ (with full bibliography, 2nd ed., New York, 1896); Woodhead,
_Bacteria and their products_ (with bibliography, London, 1891). The
bacteriology of the infective diseases (with bibliography) is fully given
in the _System of Medicine_, edited by Clifford Allbutt, (2nd ed., London,
1907). For references consult _Centralbl. fuer Bakter. u. Parasitenk._
(Jena); also _Index Medicus_. The most important works on immunity are:
Ehrlich, _Studies in Immunity_ (English translation, New York, 1906), and
Metchnikoff, _Immunity in Infective Diseases_ (English translation,
Cambridge, 1905).
(R. M.*)
[1] Gr. [Greek: bakterion], Lat. _bacillus_, little rod or stick.
[2] _Cladothrix dichotoma_, for example, which is ordinarily a branched,
filamentous, sheathed form, at certain seasons breaks up into a number of
separate cells which develop a tuft of cilia and escape from the sheath.
Such a behaviour is very similar to the production of zoospores which is so
common in many filamentous algae.
[3] Brefeld has observed that a bacterium may divide once every half-hour,
and its progeny repeat the process in the same time. One bacterium might
thus produce in twenty-four hours a number of segments amounting to many
millions of millions.
[4] The difficulties presented by such minute and simple organisms as the
Schizomycetes are due partly to the few "characters" which they possess and
partly to the dangers of error in manipulating them; it is anything but an
easy matter either to trace the whole development of a single form or to
recognize with certainty any one stage in the development unless the others
are known. This being the case, and having regard to the minuteness and
ubiquity of these organisms, we should be very careful in accepting
evidence as to the continuity or otherwise of any two forms which falls
short of direct and uninterrupted observation. The outcome of all these
considerations is that, while recognizing that the "genera" and "species"
as defined by Cohn must be recast, we are not warranted in uniting any
forms the continuity of which has not been directly observed; or, at any
rate, the strictest rules should be followed in accepting the evidence
adduced to render the union of any forms probable.
BACTRIA (_Bactriana_), the ancient name of the country between the range of
the Hindu Kush (Paropamisus) and the Oxus (Amu Darya), with the capital
Bactra (now Balkh); in the Persian inscriptions B[=a]khtri. It is a
mountainous country with a moderate climate. Water is abundant and the land
is very fertile. Bactria was the home of one of the Iranian tribes (see
PERSIA: _Ancient History_). Modern authors have often used the name in a
wider sense, as the designation of the whole eastern part of Iran. As there
can be scarcely any doubt that it was in these regions, where the fertile
soil of the mountainous country is everywhere surrounded and limited by the
Turanian desert, that the prophet Zoroaster preached and gained his first
adherents, and that his religion spread from here over the western parts of
Iran, the sacred language in which the Avesta, the holy book of
Zoroastrianism, is written, has often been called "old Bactrian." But there
is no reason for this extensive use of the name, and the term "old
Bactrian" is, therefore, at present completely abandoned by scholars. Still
less foundation exists for the belief, once widely spread, that Bactria was
the cradle of the Indo-European race; it was based on the supposition that
the nations of Europe had immigrated from Asia, and that the Aryan
languages (Indian and Iranian) stood nearest to the original language of
the Indo-Europeans. It is now acknowledged by all linguists that this
supposition is quite wrong, and that the Aryans probably came from Europe.
The eastern part of Iran seems to have been the region where the Aryans
lived as long as they formed one people, and whence they separated into
Indians and Iranians.
The Iranian tradition, preserved in the Avesta and in Firdousi's
_Shahnama_, localizes a part of its heroes and myths in the east of Iran,
and has transformed the old gods who fight with the great snake into kings
of Iran who fight with the Turanians. Many modern authors have attempted to
make history out of these stories, and have created an old Bactrian empire
of great extent, the kings of which had won great victories over the
Turanians. But this historical aspect of the myth is of late origin: it is
nothing but a reflex of the great Iranian empire founded by the Achaemenids
and restored by the Sassanids. The only historical fact which we can learn
from the Iranian tradition is that the contrast and the feud between the
peasants of Iran and the nomads of Turan was as great in old times as it is
now: it is indeed based upon the natural geographical conditions, and is
therefore eternal. But a great Bactrian empire certainly never existed; the
Bactrians and their neighbours were in old times ruled by petty local
kings, one of whom was Vishtaspa, the protector of Zoroaster. Ctesias in
his history of the Assyrian empire (Diodor. Sic. ii. 6 ff.) narrates a war
waged by Ninus and Semiram, against the king of Bactria (whom some later
authors, _e.g._ Justin i. 1, call Zoroaster). But the whole Assyrian
history of Ctesias is nothing but a fantastic fiction; from the Assyrian
inscriptions we know that the Assyrians never entered the eastern parts of
Iran.
Whether Bactria formed part of the Median empire, we do not know; but it
was subjugated by Cyrus and from then formed one of the satrapies of the
Persian empire. When Alexander had defeated Darius III., his murderer
Bessus, the satrap of Bactria, tried to organize a national resistance in
the east. But Bactria was conquered by Alexander without much difficulty;
it was only farther in the north, beyond the Oxus, in Sogdiana, that he met
with strong resistance. Bactria became a province of the Macedonian empire,
and soon came under the rule of Seleucus, king of Asia (see SELEUCID
DYNASTY and HELLENISM). The Macedonians (and especially Seleucus I. and his
son Antiochus I.) founded a great many Greek towns in eastern Iran, and the
Greek language became for some time dominant there. The many difficulties
against which the Seleucid kings had to fight and the attacks of Ptolemy
II., gave to Diodotus, satrap of Bactria, the opportunity of making himself
independent (about 255 B.C.) and of conquering Sogdiana. He was the founder
of the Graeco-Bactrian kingdom. Diodotus and his successors were able to
maintain themselves against the attacks of the Seleucids; and when
Antiochus III., "the Great," had been defeated by the Romans (190 B.C.),
the Bactrian king Euthydemus and his son Demetrius crossed the Hindu Kush
and began the conquest of eastern Iran and the Indus valley. For a short
time they wielded great power; a great Greek empire seemed to have arisen
far in the East. But this empire was torn by internal dissensions and
continual usurpations. When Demetrius advanced far into India one of his
generals, Eucratides, made himself king of Bactria, and soon in every
province there arose new usurpers, who proclaimed themselves kings and
fought one against the other. Most of them we know only by their coins, a
great many of which are found in Afghanistan and India. By these wars the
dominant position of the Greeks was undermined even more quickly than would
otherwise have been the case. After Demetrius and Eucratides, the kings
abandoned the Attic standard of coinage and introduced a native standard;
at the same time the native language came into use by the side of the
Greek. On the coins struck in India, the well-known Indian alphabet (called
Brahmi by the Indians, the older form of the Devanagari) is used; on the
coins struck in Afghanistan and in the Punjab the Kharosh[t.]hi alphabet,
which is derived directly from the Aramaic and was in common use in the
western parts of India, as is shown by one of the inscriptions of Asoka and
by the recent discovery of many fragments of Indian manuscripts, written in
Kharosh[t.]hi, in eastern Turkestan (formerly this alphabet has been called
Arianic or Bactrian Pali; the true name is derived from Indian sources).
The weakness of the Graeco-Bactrian kingdoms was shown by their sudden and
complete overthrow. In the west the Arsacid empire had risen, and
Mithradates I. and Phraates II. began to conquer some of their western
districts, especially Areia (Herat). But in the north a new race appeared,
Mongolian tribes, called [v.03 p.0181] Scythians by the Greeks, amongst
which the Tochari, identical with the Yue-chi (_q.v._) of the Chinese, were
the most important. In 159 B.C., according to Chinese sources, they entered
Sogdiana, in 139 they conquered Bactria, and during the next generation
they had made an end to the Greek rule in eastern Iran. Only in India the
Greek conquerors (Menander, Apollodotus) maintained themselves some time
longer. But in the middle of the 1st century B.C. the whole of eastern Iran
and western India belonged to the great "Indo-Scythian" empire. The ruling
dynasty had the name Kushan (Kushana), by which they are called on their
coins and in the Persian sources. The most famous of these kings is
Kanishka (ca. 123-153), the great protector of Buddhism. The principal seat
of the Tochari and the Kushan dynasty seems to have been Bactria; but they
always maintained the eastern parts of modern Afghanistan and Baluchistan,
while the western regions (Areia, _i.e._ Herat, Seistan and part of the
Helmund valley) were conquered by the Arsacids. In the 3rd century the
Kushan dynasty began to decay; about A.D. 320 the Gupta empire was founded
in India. Thus the Kushanas were reduced to eastern Iran, where they had to
fight against the Sassanids. In the 5th century a new people came from the
east, the Ephthalites (_q.v._) or "white Huns," who subjected Bactria
(about 450); and they were followed by the Turks, who first appear in
history about A.D. 560 and subjugated the country north of the Oxus. Most
of the small principalities of the Tochari or Kushan became subject to
them. But when the Sassanian empire was overthrown by the Arabs, the
conquerors immediately advanced eastwards, and in a few years Bactria and
the whole Iran to the banks of the Jaxartes had submitted to the rule of
the caliph and of Islam.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--For the earlier times see PERSIA. For the Graeco-Bactrian
and Indo-Scythian kingdoms see (beside articles on the separate
kings):--H. H. Wilson, _Ariana Antiqua_ (1841); Cunningham, "The Greeks of
Bactriana, Ariana and India" in _Numismatic Chronicle_, N. Ser. viii.-xii.;
A. von Sallet, _Die Nachfolger Alexanders des Grossen in Baktrien und
Indien_ (1879); P. Gardner, _The Coins of the Greek and Scythic Kings of
India_ (1886, Catalogue of Greek Coins in the British Museum, x.); A. von
Gutschmid, _Geschichte Irans und seiner Nachbarlaender von Alexander dem
Grossen bis zum Untergang der Arsaciden_ (1888); A. Stein, "Zoroastrian
Deities on Indo-Scythian Coins," _Babylonian and Oriental Record_, i. 1887
(cf. Cunningham, _ib._ ii. 1888); Vincent A. Smith, "The Kush[=a]n or
Indo-Scythian Period of Indian History," _Journal of the R. Asiatic Soc._,
1903 (cf. his _Early History of India_, 2nd ed. 1908); W. W. Tarn, "Notes
on Hellenism in Bactria and India" in _Journ. of Hellenic Studies_, xxii.
1902. For the history and character of the Indian alphabet cf. J. Buhler,
"Indische Palaeographie" (in _Grundriss der indo-arischen Philologie_, Bd.
i.). From the Greek authors only a few notices have been preserved,
especially by Justin (and in the prologues of Trogus) and Strabo; for the
later times we get some information from the Byzantine authors and from
Persian and Armenian sources; cf. Th. Noeldeke's translation of Tabari
(_Geschichte der Perser und Araber zur Zeit der Sasaniden_, 1890) and J.
Marquart, "Er[=a]n[vs]ahr" (_Abhandlungen der koeniglichen Ges. d.
Wissenschaften zu Goettingen_, 1901). The Chinese sources are given by
Deguignes, "Recherches sur quelques evenements qui concernent l'histoire
des rois grecs de la Bactriane," _Mem. de l'acad. des inscriptions_, xxv.;
E. Specht, "Etudes sur l'Asie centrale d'apres les historiens chinois" in
_Journal asiatique_, 8 serie, ii. 1883, 9 serie, x. 1857; Sylvain Levi,
"Notes sur les Indo-scythiens," _Journal asiatique_, 9 serie ix., x. and
others.
(ED. M.)
BACUP, a market town and municipal borough in the Rossendale parliamentary
division of Lancashire, England, on the river Irwell, 203 m. N.N.W. from
London, and 22 N. by E. from Manchester, on the Lancashire & Yorkshire
railway. Pop. (1901) 22,505. It is finely situated in a narrow valley,
surrounded by wild, high-lying moorland. It is wholly of modern growth, and
contains several handsome churches and other buildings, while among
institutions the chief is the mechanics' institute and library. The
recreation grounds presented in 1893 by Mr. J. H. Maden, M.P., are
beautifully laid out. Cotton spinning and power-loom weaving are the chief
of numerous manufacturing industries, and there are large collieries in the
vicinity. The principle of co-operation is strongly developed, and a large
and handsome store contains among other departments a free library for
members. The borough was incorporated in 1882, and the corporation consists
of a mayor, 6 aldermen and 17 councillors. Area, 6120 acres. In 1841 the
population of the chapelry was only 1526. One of the hills in the vicinity
is fortified with a great ancient earthwork and ditch.
BADAGAS (literally "a Telugu man"), a tribe inhabiting the Nilgiri Hills,
in India, by some authorities declared not to be an aboriginal or jungle
race. They are probably Dravidian by descent, though they are in religion
Hindus of the Saiva sect. They are supposed to have migrated to the
Nilgiris from Mysore about A.D. 1600, after the breaking up of the kingdom
of Vijayanagar. They are an agricultural people and far the most numerous
and wealthy of the hill tribes. They pay a tribute in grain, &c., to the
Todas. Their language is a corrupt form of Kanarese. At the census of 1901
they numbered 34,178.
See J. W. Breeks, _An Account of the Primitive Tribes of the Nilgiris_
(1873); _Nilgiri Manual_, vol. i. pp. 218-228; _Madras Journ. of Sci. and
Lit._ vol. viii. pp. 103-105; _Madras Museum Bulletin_, vol. ii., no. 1,
pp. 1-7.
BADAJOZ (formerly sometimes written Badajos), a frontier province of
western Spain, formed in 1833 of districts taken from the province of
Estremadura (_q.v._), and bounded on the N. by Caceres, E. by Cordova and
Ciudad Real, S. by Seville and Huelva, and W. by Portugal. Pop. (1900)
520,246; area, 8451 sq. m. Badajoz is thus the largest province of the
whole kingdom. Although in many districts there are low ranges of hills,
the surface is more often a desolate and monotonous plain, flat or slightly
undulating. Its one large river is the Guadiana, which traverses the north
of the province from east to west, fed by many tributaries; but it is only
at certain seasons that the river-beds fill with any considerable volume of
water, and the Guadiana may frequently be forded without difficulty. The
climate shows great extremes of heat in summer and of cold in winter, when
fierce north and north-west winds blow across the plains. In the hot months
intermittent fevers are prevalent in the Guadiana valley. The rainfall is
scanty in average years, and only an insignificant proportion of the land
is irrigated, while the rest is devoted to pasture, or covered with thin
bush and forest. Agriculture, and the cultivation of fruit, including the
vine and olive, are thus in a very backward condition; but Badajoz
possesses more livestock than any other Spanish province. Its acorn-fed
swine are celebrated throughout Spain for their hams and bacon, and large
herds of sheep and goats thrive where the pasture is too meagre for cattle.
The exploitation of the mineral resources of Badajoz is greatly hindered by
lack of water and means of communication; in 1903, out of nearly 600 mines
registered only 26 were at work. Their output consisted of lead, with very
small quantities of copper. The local industries are not of much
importance: they comprise manufactures of woollen and cotton stuffs of a
coarse description, soaps, oils, cork and leather. The purely commercial
interests are more important than the industrial, because of the transit
trade to and from Portugal through no less than seven custom-houses. Many
parts of the province are inaccessible except by road, and the roads are
ill-made, ill-kept and wholly insufficient. The main line of the
Madrid-Lisbon railway passes through Villanueva de la Serena, Merida and
Badajoz; at Merida it is joined by the railways going north to Caceres and
south to Zafra, where the lines from Huelva and Seville unite. After
Badajoz, the capital (pop. (1900) 30,899), the principal towns are
Almendralejo (12,587), Azuaga (14,192), Don Benito (16,565), Jerez de los
Caballeros (10,271), Merida (11,168) and Villanueva de la Serena (13,489);
these, and also the historically interesting village of Albuera, are
described in separate articles. Other small towns, chiefly important as
markets for agricultural produce, are Albuquerque (9030), Cabeza del Buey
(7566), Campanario (7450), Fregenal de la Sierra (9615), Fuente de Cantos
(8483), Fuente del Maestre (6934), Llerena (7049), Montijo (7644), Oliva de
Jerez (8348), Olivenza (9066), San Vicente de Alcantara (7722), and
Villafranca de los Barros (9954). Very few inhabitants emigrate from this
province, where the birth-rate considerably exceeds the death-rate.
Education, even primary, is in a very backward condition.
BADAJOZ, the capital of the Spanish province described above; situated
close to the Portuguese frontier, on the left [v.03 p.0182] bank of the
river Guadiana, and the Madrid-Lisbon railway. Pop. (1900) 30,899. Badajoz
is the see of a bishop, and the official residence of the captain-general
of Estremadura. It occupies a slight eminence, crowned by the ruins of a
Moorish castle, and overlooking the Guadiana. A strong wall and bastions,
with a broad moat and outworks, and forts on the surrounding heights, give
the city an appearance of great strength. The river, which flows between
the castle-hill and the powerfully armed fort of San Cristobal, is crossed
by a magnificent granite bridge, originally built in 1460, repaired in 1597
and rebuilt in 1833. The whole aspect of Badajoz recalls its stormy
history; even the cathedral, built in 1258, resembles a fortress, with
massive embattled walls. Badajoz was the birthplace of the statesman Manuel
de Godoy, duke of Alcudia (1767-1851), and of the painter Luis de Morales
(1509-1586). Two pictures by Morales, unfortunately retouched in modern
times, are preserved in the cathedral. Owing to its position the city
enjoys a considerable transit trade with Portugal; its other industries
include the manufacture of linen, woollen and leather goods, and of
pottery. It is not mentioned by any Roman historian, and first rose to
importance under Moorish rule. In 1031 it became the capital of a small
Moorish kingdom, and, though temporarily held by the Portuguese in 1168, it
retained its independence until 1229, when it was captured by Alphonso IX.
of Leon. As a frontier fortress it underwent many sieges. It was
beleaguered by the Portuguese in 1660, and in 1705 by the Allies in the War
of the Spanish Succession. During the Peninsular War Badajoz was
unsuccessfully attacked by the French in 1808 and 1809; but on the 10th of
March 1811, the Spanish commander, Jose Imaz, was bribed into surrendering
to the French force under Marshal Soult. A British army, commanded by
Marshal Beresford, endeavoured to retake it, and on the 16th of May
defeated a relieving force at Albuera, but the siege was abandoned in June.
The fortress was finally stormed on the 6th of April 1812, by the British
under Lord Wellington, and carried with terrible loss. It was then
delivered up to a two day's pillage. A military and republican rising took
place here in August 1883, but completely failed.
BADAKSHAN, including WAKHAN, a province on the north-east frontier of
Afghanistan, adjoining Russian territory. Its north-eastern boundaries were
decided by the Anglo-Russian agreement of 1873, which expressly
acknowledged "Badakshan with its dependent district Wakhan" as "fully
belonging to the amir of Kabul," and limited it to the left or southern
bank of the Oxus. Much of the interior of the province is still unexplored.
On the west, Badakshan is bounded by a line which crosses the Turkestan
plains southwards from the junction of the Kunduz and Oxus rivers till it
touches the eastern water-divide of the Tashkurghan river (here called the
Koh-i-Chungar), and then runs south-east, crossing the Sarkhab affluent of
the Khanabad (Kunduz), till it strikes the Hindu Kush. The southern
boundary is carried along the crest of the Hindu Kush as far as the Khawak
pass, leading from Badakshan into the Panjshir valley. Beyond this it is
indefinite. It is known that the Kafirs occupy the crest of the Hindu Kush
eastwards of the Khawak, but how far they extend north of the main
watershed is not ascertainable. The southern limits of Badakshan become
definite again at the Dorah pass. The Dorah connects Zebak and Ishkashim at
the elbow, or bend, of the Oxus with the Lutku valley leading to Chitral.
From the Dorah eastwards the crest of the Hindu Kush again becomes the
boundary till it effects a junction with the Muztagh and Sarikol ranges,
which shut off China from Russia and India. Skirting round the head of the
Tagdumbash Pamir, it finally merges into the Pamir boundary, and turns
westwards, following the course of the Oxus, to the junction of that river
and the Khanabad (Kunduz). So far as the northern boundary follows the Oxus
stream, under the northern slopes of the Hindu Kush, it is only separated
by the length of these slopes (some 8 or 10 m.) from the southern boundary
along the crest. Thus Badakshan reaches out an arm into the Pamirs
eastwards--bottle-shaped--narrow at the neck (represented by the northern
slopes of the Hindu Kush), and swelling out eastwards so as to include a
part of the great and little Pamirs. Before the boundary settlement of 1873
the small states of Roshan and Shignan extended to the left bank of the
Oxus, and the province of Darwaz, on the other hand, extended to the right
bank. Now, however, the Darwaz extension northwards is exchanged for the
Russian Pamir extension westwards, and the river throughout is the boundary
between Russian and Afghan territory; the political boundaries of those
provinces and those of Wakhan being no longer coincident with their
geographical limits.
The following are the chief provincial subdivisions of Badakshan, omitting
Roshan and Shignan:--On the west Rustak, Kataghan, Ghori, Narin and
Anderab; on the north Darwaz, Ragh and Shiwa; on the east Charan,
Ishkashim, Zebak and Wakhan; and in the centre Faizabad, Farkhar, Minjan
and Kishm. There are others, but nothing certain is known about these minor
subdivisions.
The conformation of the mountain districts, which comprise all the southern
districts of Badakshan and the northern hills and valleys of Kafiristan, is
undoubtedly analogous to that of the rest of the Hindu Kush westwards. The
water-divide of the Hindu Kush from the Dorah to the Khawak pass, _i.e._
through the centre of Kafiristan, has never been accurately traced; but its
topographical conformation is evidently a continuation of that which has
been observed in the districts of Badakshan to the west of the Khawak. The
Hindu Kush represents the southern edge of a great central upheaval or
plateau. It breaks up into long spurs southwards, deep amongst which are
hidden the valleys of Kafiristan, almost isolated from each other by the
rugged and snow-capped altitudes which divide them. To the north the
plateau gradually slopes away towards the Oxus, falling from an average
altitude of 15,000 ft. to 4000 ft. about Faizabad, in the centre of
Badakshan, but tailing off to 1100 at Kunduz, in Kataghan, where it merges
into the flat plains bordering the Oxus.
The Kokcha river traverses Badakshan from south-east to north-west, and,
with the Kunduz, drains all the northern slopes of the Hindu Kush west of
the Dorah pass. Some of its sources are near Zebak, close to the great bend
of the Oxus northwards, so that it cuts off all the mountainous area
included within that bend from the rest of Badakshan. Its chief affluent is
the Minjan, which Sir George Robertson found to be a considerable stream
where it approaches the Hindu Kush close under the Dorah. Like the Kunduz,
it probably drains the northern slopes of the Hindu Kush by deep lateral
valleys, more or less parallel to the crest, reaching westwards towards the
Khawak pass. From the Oxus (1000 ft.) to Faizabad (4000 ft.) and Zebak
(8500 ft.) the course of the Kokcha offers a high road across Badakshan;
between Zebak and Ishkashim, at the Oxus bend, there is but an
insignificant pass of 9500 ft.; and from Ishkashim by the Panja, through
the Pamirs, is the continuation of what must once have been a
much-traversed trade route connecting Afghan Turkestan with Kashgar and
China. It is undoubtedly one of the great continental high-roads of Asia.
North of the Kokcha, within the Oxus bend, is the mountainous district of
Darwaz, of which the physiography belongs rather to the Pamir type than to
that of the Hindu Kush.
A very remarkable meridional range extends for 100 m. northwards from the
Hindu Kush (it is across this range that the route from Zebak to Ishkashim
lies), which determines the great bend of the Oxus river northwards from
Ishkashim, and narrows the valley of that river into the formation of a
trough as far as the next bend westwards at Kala Wamar. The western slopes
of this range drain to the Oxus either north-westwards, by the Kokcha and
the Ragh, or else they twist their streams into the Shiwa, which runs due
north across Darwaz. Here again we find the main routes which traverse the
country following the rivers closely. The valleys are narrow, but fertile
and populous. The mountains are rugged and difficult; but there is much of
the world-famous beauty of scenery, and of the almost phenomenal
agricultural wealth of the valleys of Bokhara and Ferghana to be found in
the as yet half-explored recesses of Badakshan.
[v.03 p.0183] The principal domesticated animal is the yak. There are also
large flocks of sheep, cows, goats, ponies, fine dogs and Bactrian camels.
The more important wild animals are a large wild sheep (_Ovis poli_),
foxes, wolves, jackals, bears, boars, deer and leopards; amongst birds,
there are partridges, pheasants, ravens, jays, sparrows, larks, a famous
breed of hawks, &c.
Badakshan proper is peopled by Tajiks, Turks and Arabs, who speak the
Persian and Turki languages, and profess the orthodox doctrines of the
Mahommedan law adopted by the Sunnite sect; while the mountainous districts
are inhabited by Tajiks, professing the Shi'ite creed and speaking distinct
dialects in different districts.
_History._--Badakshan, part of the Greek Bactria, was visited by Hsuan
Tsang in 630 and 644. The Arabian geographers of the 10th century speak of
its mines of ruby and lapis lazuli, and give notices of the flourishing
commerce and large towns of Waksh and Khotl, regions which appear to have
in part corresponded with Badakshan. In 1272-1273 Marco Polo and his
companions stayed for a time in Badakshan. During this and the following
centuries the country was governed by kings who claimed to be descendants
of Alexander the Great. The last of these kings was Shah Mahommed, who died
in the middle of the 15th century, leaving only his married daughters to
represent the royal line. Early in the middle of the 16th century the
Usbegs obtained possession of Badakshan, but were soon expelled, and then
the country was generally governed by descendants of the old royal dynasty
by the female line. About the middle of the 18th century the present
dynasty of Mirs established its footing in the place of the old one which
had become extinct. In 1765 the country was invaded and ravaged by the
ruler of Kabul. During the first three decades of the 19th century it was
overrun and depopulated by Kohan Beg and his son Murad Beg, chiefs of the
Kataghan Usbegs of Kunduz. When Murad Beg died, the power passed into the
hands of another Usbeg, Mahommed Amir Khan. In 1859 the Kataghan Usbegs
were expelled; and Mir Jahander Shah, the representative of the modern
royal line, was reinstated at Faizabad under the supremacy of the Afghans.
In 1867 he was expelled by Abdur Rahman and replaced by Mir Mahommed Shah,
and other representatives of the same family.
(T. H. H.*)
BADALOCCHIO, SISTO, surnamed ROSA (1581-1647), Italian painter and
engraver, was born at Parma. He was of the school of Annibale Carracci, by
whom he was highly esteemed for design. His principal engravings are the
series known as Raphael's Bible, which were executed by him in conjunction
with Lanfranco, another pupil of Carracci. The best of his paintings, which
are few in number, are at Parma. He died at Bologna.
BADALONA (anc. _Baetulo_), a town of north-eastern Spain, in the province
of Barcelona; 6 m. N.E. of the city of Barcelona, on the left bank of the
small river Besos, and on the Mediterranean Sea. Pop. (1900) 19,240.
Badalona has a station on the coast railway from Barcelona to Perpignan in
France, and a small harbour, chiefly important for its fishing and
boat-building trades. There are gas, chemical and mineral-oil works in the
town, which also manufactures woollen and cotton goods, glass, biscuits,
sugar and brandy; while the surrounding fertile plains produce an abundance
of grain, wine and fruit. Badalona thus largely contributes to the export
trade of Barcelona, and may, in fact, be regarded as its industrial suburb.
BADBY, JOHN (d. 1410), one of the early Lollard martyrs, was a tailor (or
perhaps a blacksmith) in the west Midlands, and was condemned by the
Worcester diocesan court for his denial of transubstantiation. Badby
bluntly maintained that when Christ sat at supper with his disciples he had
not his body in his hand to distribute, and that "if every host consecrated
at the altar were the Lord's body, then there be 20,000 Gods in England." A
further court in St Paul's, London, presided over by Archbishop Arundel,
condemned him to be burned at Smithfield, the tournament ground just
outside the city walls. It is said that the prince of Wales (afterwards
Henry V.) witnessed the execution and offered the sufferer both life and a
pension if he would recant; but in Walsingham's words, "the abandoned
villain declined the prince's advice, and chose rather to be burned than to
give reverence to the life-giving sacrament. So it befell that this
mischievous fellow was burnt to ashes, and died miserably in his sin."
BADDELEY, ROBERT (_c._ 1732-1794), English actor, is said to have been
first a cook to Samuel Foote, "the English Aristophanes," and then a valet,
before he appeared on the stage. In 1761, described as "of Drury Lane
theatre," he was seen at the theatre in Smock Alley, Dublin, as Gomez in
Dryden's _Spanish Friar_. Two years later he was a regular member of the
Drury Lane company in London, where he had a great success in the low
comedy and servants' parts. He remained at this theatre and the Haymarket
until his death. He was the original Moses in the _School for Scandal_.
Baddeley died on the 20th of November 1794. He bequeathed property to found
a home for decayed actors, and also L3 per annum to provide wine and cake
in the green-room of Drury Lane theatre on Twelfth Night. The ceremony of
the Baddeley cake has remained a regular institution.
His wife SOPHIA BADDELEY (1745-1786), an actress and singer, was born in
London, the daughter of a sergeant-trumpeter named Snow. She was a woman of
great beauty, but excessive vanity and notorious conduct. At the age of
eighteen she ran away with Baddeley, then acting at Drury Lane, and she
herself made her first appearance on the stage there on the 27th of April
1765, as Ophelia. Later, as a singer, she obtained engagements at Ranelagh
and Vauxhall. Though separated from her husband on account of her
misconduct, she still played several years in the same company. Her beauty
and her extravagance rendered her celebrated, but the money which she made
in all sorts of ways was so freely squandered that she was obliged to take
refuge from her creditors in Edinburgh, where she made her last appearance
on the stage in 1784.
See _Memoirs of Mistress Sophia Baddeley_, by Mrs Elizabeth Steele, 6 vols.
(1781).
BADEN, a town and watering-place of Austria, in lower Austria, 17 m. S. of
Vienna by rail. Pop. (1900) 12,447. It is beautifully situated at the mouth
of the romantic Helenenthal, on the banks of the Schwechat, and has become
the principal summer resort of the inhabitants of the neighbouring capital.
It possesses a new _Kurhaus_, fifteen bathing-establishments, a parish
church in late Gothic style, and a town-hall, which contains interesting
archives. The warm baths, which gave name to the town, are thirteen in
number, with a temperature of from 72deg F. to 97deg F., and contain, as
chief ingredient, sulphate of lime. They rise for the most part at the foot
of the Calvarienberg (1070 ft.), which is composed of dolomitic limestone,
and are mostly used for bathing purposes. Several members of the Austrian
imperial family have made Baden their summer residence and have built here
beautiful villas. There are about 20,000 visitors annually. Baden possesses
several parks and is surrounded by lovely and interesting spots, of which
the most frequented is the picturesque valley of the Helenenthal, which is
traversed by the Schwechat. Not far from Baden, the valley is crossed by
the magnificent aqueduct of the Vienna waterworks. At the entrance to the
valley, on the right bank of the river, lie the ruins of the 12th-century
castle of Rauheneck, and at its foot stands the Chateau Weilburg, built in
1820-1825 by Archduke Charles, the victor of Aspern. On the left bank, just
opposite, stands the ruined castle of Rauhenstein, dating also from the
12th century. About 4 m. up the valley is Mayerling, a hunting-lodge, where
the crown prince Rudolph of Austria was found dead in 1889. Farther up is
Alland, whence a road leads to the old and well-preserved abbey of
Heiligenkreuz. It possesses a church, in Romanesque style, dating from the
11th century, with fine cloisters and the tombs of several members of the
Babenberg family. The highest point in the neighbourhood of Baden is the
peak of the Hoher Lindkogel (2825 ft.), popularly called the Eiserne Thor,
which is ascended in about three hours.
The celebrity of Baden dates back to the days of the Romans, who knew it by
the name of _Thermae Pannonicae_, and remains of their occupation still
exist. It received its charter as a town [v.03 p.0184] in 1480, and
although sacked at various times by Hungarians and Turks, it soon
flourished again.
See J. Schwarz, _Die Heilquellen von Baden bei Wien_ (Vienna, 3rd ed.,
1900).
BADEN, or BADEN-BADEN (to distinguish it from other places of the name), a
town and fashionable watering-place of Germany, in the grand-duchy of
Baden, 23 m. S. by W. of Karlsruhe, with which it is connected by a branch
of the Mannheim and Basel railway. Its situation--on a hill 600 ft. high,
in the beautiful valley of the Black Forest--its extensive
pleasure-grounds, gardens and promenades, and the brilliancy of the life
that is led during the season, have long attracted crowds of visitors from
all parts of the world. The resident population was in 1885, 12,779; in
1895, 14,862; and in 1905, 16,238; but the number of visitors exceeds
70,000 annually. Until the war of 1870, the prevailing nationality was
French, but of late years Americans, Russians and English are the more
numerous. The hot springs are twenty-nine in number, and vary in
temperature from 37deg to 54deg R., _i.e._ from 115deg to 153deg Fahr. They
flow from the castle rock at the rate of 90 gallons per minute, and the
water is conveyed through the town in pipes to supply the different baths.
There are two chief bathing-establishments, accounted the most elegant in
Europe. The waters of Baden-Baden are specific in cases of chronic
rheumatism and gout, paralysis, neuralgia, skin diseases and various
internal complaints, such as stone and uric acid. The town proper is on the
right bank of the Oos, but the principal resorts of the visitors are en the
left. A _Conversationshaus_ and a _Trinkhalle_ or pump-room, a theatre and
a picture-gallery, library and reading-room are among the chief buildings.
The public gaming-tables, which for so many years were a striking feature,
are now abolished. The only building of much antiquarian interest, with the
exception of the castles, is the parish church, which dates from the 15th
century, and contains the tombs of several of the margraves. The churches
include a Lutheran, an English, in the Norman style of architecture, and a
Russian, with beautiful frescoes; while on the Michaelsberg is the Greek
chapel, with a gilded dome, which was erected over the tomb of a son of the
Rumanian prince Michel Stourdza, who died here in 1863.
The springs of Baden were known to the Romans, and the foundation of the
town is referred to the emperor Hadrian by an inscription of somewhat
doubtful authenticity. The name of _Aurelia Aquensis_ was given to it in
honour of Aurelius Severus, in whose reign it would seem to have been well
known. Fragments of its ancient sculptures are still to be seen, and in
1847 remains of Roman vapour baths, well preserved, were discovered just
below the New Castle. From the 14th century down to the close of the 17th,
Baden was the residence of the margraves, to whom it gave its name. They
first dwelt in the Old Castle, the ruins of which still occupy the summit
of a hill above the town, but in 1479 they removed to the New Castle, which
is situated on the hill-side nearer to the town, and is remarkable for its
subterranean dungeons. During the Thirty Years' War Baden suffered severely
from the various combatants, but especially from the French, who pillaged
it in 1643, and laid it in ashes in 1689. The margrave Louis William
removed to Rastatt in 1706. Since the beginning of the 19th century the
government has greatly fostered the growth of the town.
See Wettendorfer, _Der Kurort Baden-Baden_ (2nd ed., 1898); Schwarz, _Die
Heilquellen von Baden-Baden_ (4th ed., 1902).
BADEN, a town in the Swiss canton of Aargau, on the left bank of the river
Limmat, 14 m. by rail N.W. of Zuerich. It is now chiefly visited by reason
of its hot sulphur springs, which are mentioned by Tacitus (_Hist._ i. cap.
67) and were very fashionable in the 15th and 16th centuries. They are
especially efficacious in cases of gouty and rheumatic affections, and are
much frequented by Swiss invalids, foreign visitors being but few in
number. They lie a little north of the old town, with which they are now
connected by a fine boulevard. Many Roman remains have been found in the
gardens of the Kursaal. The town is very picturesque, with its steep and
narrow streets, and its one surviving gateway, while it is dominated on the
west by the ruined castle of Stein, formerly a stronghold of the Habsburgs,
but destroyed in 1415 and again in 1712. In 1415 Baden (with the Aargau)
was conquered by the Eight Swiss Confederates, whose bailiff inhabited the
other castle, on the right bank of the Limmat, which defends the ancient
bridge across that river. As the conquest of the Aargau was the first made
by the Confederates, their delegates (or the federal diet) naturally met at
Baden, from 1426 to about 1712, to settle matters relating to these subject
lands, so that during that period Baden was really the capital of
Switzerland. The diet sat in the old town-hall or _Rathaus_, where was also
signed in 1714 the treaty of Baden which put an end to the war between
France and the Empire, and thus completed the treaty of Utrecht (1713).
Baden was the capital of the canton of Baden, from 1798 to 1803, when the
canton of Aargau was created. To the N.W. of the baths a new industrial
quarter has sprung up of late years, the largest works being for electric
engineering. In 1900 the permanent population of Baden was 6050
(German-speaking, mainly Romanists, with many Jews), but it is greatly
swelled in summer by the influx of visitors.
One mile S. of Baden, on the Limmat, is the famous Cistercian monastery of
Wettingen (1227-1841--the monks are now at Mehrerau near Bregenz), with
splendid old painted glass in the cloisters and magnificent early
17th-century carved stalls in the choir of the church. Six miles W. of
Baden is the small town of Brugg (2345 inhabitants) in a fine position on
the Aar, and close to the remains of the Roman colony of _Vindonissa_
(Windisch), as well as to the monastery (founded 1310) of Koenigsfelden,
formerly the burial-place of the early Habsburgs (the castle of Habsburg is
but a short way off), still retaining much fine painted glass.
See Barth. Fricker, _Geschichte der Stadt und Baeder zu Baden_ (Aarau,
1880).
(W. A. B. C.)
BADEN, GRAND DUCHY OF, a sovereign state of Germany, lying in the
south-west corner of the empire, bounded N. by the kingdom of Bavaria and
the grand-duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt; W. and practically throughout its whole
length by the Rhine, which separates it from the Bavarian Palatinate and
the imperial province of Alsace-Lorraine; S. by Switzerland, and E. by the
kingdom of Wuerttemberg and part of Bavaria. The country has an area of
5823 sq. m. and consists of a considerable portion of the eastern half of
the fertile valley of the Rhine and of the mountains which form its
boundary. The mountainous part is by far the most extensive, forming,
indeed, nearly 80% of the whole area. From the Lake of Constance in the
south to the river Neckar in the north is a portion of the Black Forest or
_Schwarzwald_, which is divided by the valley of the Kinzig into two
districts of different elevation. To the south of the Kinzig the mean
height is 3100 ft., and the loftiest summit, the Feldberg, reaches about
4898 ft., while to the north the mean height is only 2100 ft., and the
Belchen, the culminating point of the whole, does not exceed 4480 ft. To
the north of the Neckar is the Odenwald Range, with a mean of 1440 ft., and
in the Katzenbuckel, an extreme of 1980 ft. Lying between the Rhine and the
Dreisam is the Kaiserstuhl, an independent volcanic group, nearly 10 m. in
length and 5 in breadth, the highest point of which is 1760 ft. The greater
part of Baden belongs to the basin of the Rhine, which receives upwards of
twenty tributaries from the highlands; the north-eastern portion of the
territory is also watered by the Main and the Neckar. A part, however, of
the eastern slope of the Black Forest belongs to the basin of the Danube,
which there takes its rise in a number of mountain streams. Among the
numerous lakes which belong to the duchy are the Mummel, Wilder, Eichener
and Schluch, but none of them is of any size. The Lake of Constance
(_Boden-See_) belongs partly to Bavaria and Switzerland.
Owing to its physical configuration Baden presents great extremes of heat
and cold. The Rhine valley is the warmest district in Germany, but the
higher elevations of the Black Forest record the greatest degrees of cold
experienced in the south. The mean temperature of the Rhine valley is
approximately 50deg F. and that of the high table-land, 43deg F. July is
the hottest and January the coldest month in the year.
[v.03 p.0185] The mineral wealth of Baden is not great; but iron, coal,
zinc and lead of excellent quality are produced, and silver, copper, gold,
cobalt, vitriol and sulphur are obtained in small quantities. Peat is found
in abundance, as well as gypsum, china-clay, potters' earth and salt. The
mineral springs of Baden are very numerous and have acquired great
celebrity, those of Baden-Baden, Badenweiler, Antogast, Griesbach,
Freiersbach and Petersthal being the most frequented.
In the valleys the soil is particularly fertile, yielding luxuriant crops
of wheat, maize, barley, spelt, beans, potatoes, flax, hemp, hops, beetroot
and tobacco; and even in the more mountainous parts rye, wheat and oats are
extensively cultivated. There is a considerable extent of pasture land, and
the rearing of cattle, sheep, pigs and goats is largely practised. Of game,
deer, wild boars, hares, snipe and partridges are fairly abundant, while
the mountain streams yield trout of excellent quality. The culture of the
vine increases, and the wines, which are characterized by a mildness of
flavour, are in good demand. The gardens and orchards supply great
abundance of fruits, especially almonds and walnuts; and bee-keeping is
common throughout the country. A greater proportion of Baden than of any
other of the south German states is occupied by forests. In these the
predominant trees are the fir and pine, but many others, such as the
chestnut, are well represented. A third, at least, of the annual supply of
timber is exported.
_Population._--At the beginning of the 19th century Baden was only a
margraviate, with an area little exceeding 1300 sq. m., and a population of
210,000. Since then it has from time to time acquired additional territory,
so that its area now amounts to 5823 sq. m., and its population (1905) to
2,009,320, of whom about 60% are Roman Catholics, 37% Protestants, 1-1/2%
Jews, and the remainder of other confessions. Of the population, about
one-half may be classified as rural, _i.e._ living in communities of less
than 2000 inhabitants; while the density of the population is about 330 to
the square mile. The country is divided into the following districts, with
the respective chief towns and populations as shown:--
District. Chief towns. Pop. (1905)
(1) Mannheim Mannheim 162,607
Heidelberg 49,439
(2) Karlsruhe Karlsruhe 111,200
Pforzheim 59,307
(3) Freiburg-im-Breisgau Freiburg 74,102
(4) Constance Constance 24,818
The capital of the duchy is Karlsruhe, and among important towns other than
the above are Rastatt, Baden-Baden, Bruchsal and Lahr. The population is
most thickly clustered in the north and in the neighbourhood of the Swiss
town of Basel. The inhabitants of Baden are of various origin--those to the
north of the Murg being descended from the Alemanni and those to the south
from the Franks, while the Swabian plateau derives its name and its
population from another race. (See WUERTTEMBERG.)
_Industries._--Of the area, 56.8% is cultivated and 38% forest, but the
agricultural industry, which formerly yielded the bulk of the wealth of the
country, is now equalled, if not surpassed, by the industrial output, which
has attained very considerable dimensions. The chief articles of
manufacture are machinery, woollen and cotton goods, silk ribbons, paper,
tobacco, leather, china, glass, clocks, jewellery and chemicals. Beet sugar
is also largely manufactured, and the inhabitants of the Black Forest have
long been celebrated for their dexterity in the manufacture of wooden
ornaments and toys, musical boxes and organs.
The exports of Baden, which coincide largely with the industries just
mentioned, are of considerable importance, but the bulk of its trade
consists in the transit of goods. The country is well furnished with roads
and railways, the greater proportion of the latter being in the hands of
the state. A line runs the whole length of the land, for the most part
parallel with the Rhine, while branches cross obliquely from east to west.
Mannheim is the great emporium for the export of goods down the Rhine and
has a large river traffic. It is also the chief manufacturing town of the
duchy and the seat of administrative government for the northern portion of
the country.
_Education and Religion._--The educational establishments of Baden are
numerous and flourishing, and public education is entirely in the hands of
the government. There are two universities, the Protestant at Heidelberg
and the Roman Catholic at Freiburg-im-Breisgau, and a celebrated technical
college at Karlsruhe. The grand-duke is a Protestant; under him the
Evangelical Church is governed by a nominated council and a synod
consisting of the "prelate," 48 elected, and 7 nominated lay and clerical
members. The Roman Catholic archbishop of Freiburg is metropolitan of the
Upper Rhine.
_Constitution and Government._--The government of Baden is an hereditary
monarchy, with the executive power vested in the grand-duke, while the
legislative authority is shared by him with a representative assembly
(_Landtag_) consisting of two chambers. The upper chamber is composed of
all the princes of the reigning family who are of full age; the chiefs of
the mediatized families; the archbishop of Freiburg; the president of the
Protestant Evangelical church; a deputy from each of the universities and
from the technical high school, eight members elected by the territorial
nobility for four years, three representatives of the chamber of commerce,
two of that of agriculture, one of that of trades, two mayors of
municipalities, one burgomaster of lesser towns, one member of a district
council, and eight members (two of them legal functionaries) nominated by
the grand-duke. The lower chamber consists of 73 popular representatives,
of whom 24 are elected by the burgesses of certain towns and 49 by the
rural communities. Every citizen of 25 years of age, who has not been
convicted and is not a pauper, has a vote. The elections are, however,
indirect; the citizens nominating the _Wahlmaenner_ (deputy electors) and
the latter electing the representatives. The chambers meet at least every
two years. The members of the lower chamber are elected for four years,
half the number retiring at the expiration of every two years. The
executive consists of four departments of state--those of the interior, of
foreign affairs and of the grand-ducal house, of finance, and of justice,
ecclesiastical affairs and education. The chief sources of revenue are
direct and indirect taxes, domains and railways. The last are worked by the
state, and the sole public debt, amounting to about 22 millions sterling,
is attributable to this head. The supreme courts of justice of the duchy
are in Karlsruhe, Freiburg, Offenburg, Heidelberg, Mosbach, Waldshut,
Constance and Mannheim, whence appeals lie to the _Reichsgericht_ (supreme
tribunal of the empire) in Leipzig. By virtue of a convention with Prussia,
of 1871, the Baden army forms a portion of the Prussian army.
_History._--During the middle ages the district which now forms the
grand-duchy of Baden was ruled by various counts, prominent among whom were
the counts and dukes of Zaehringen. In 1112 Hermann, a son of Hermann,
margrave of Verona (d. 1074), and grandson of Bertold, duke of Carinthia
and count of Zaehringen, having inherited some of the German estates of his
family, called himself margrave of Baden, and from this date the separate
history of Baden may be said to begin. Hermann appears to have called
himself by the title of margrave, and not the more usual title of count,
owing to the connexion of his family with the margraviate of Verona. His
son and grandson, both named Hermann, added to their territories, which
about 1200 were divided, and the lines of Baden-Baden and Baden-Hochberg
were founded, the latter of which was divided about a century later into
the branches of Baden-Hochberg and Baden-Sausenberg. The family of
Baden-Baden was very successful in increasing the area of its possessions,
which after several divisions were united by the margrave Bernard I. in
1391. Bernard, a soldier of some renown, continued the work of his
predecessors, and obtained other districts, including Baden-Hochberg, the
ruling family of which died out in 1418.
During the 15th century a war with the count palatine of the Rhine deprived
Margrave Charles I. (d. 1475) of a part of his territories, but these
losses were more than repaired by his son and successor, Christopher I. In
1503 the family of [v.03 p.0186] Baden-Sausenberg became extinct, and the
whole of Baden was united by Christopher, who divided it, however, before
his death in 1527 among his three sons. One of these died childless in
1533, and in 1535 his remaining sons, Bernard and Ernest, having shared
their brother's territories, made a fresh division and founded the lines of
Baden-Baden and Baden-Pforzheim, called after 1565 Baden-Durlach. Further
divisions followed, and the weakness caused by these partitions was
accentuated by a rivalry between the two main branches of the family. This
culminated in open warfare, and from 1584 to 1622 Baden-Baden was in the
possession of one of the princes of Baden-Durlach. Religious differences
added to this rivalry. During the period of the Reformation some of the
rulers of Baden adhered to the older and some adopted the newer faith, and
the house was similarly divided during the Thirty Years' War. Baden
suffered severely during this struggle, and both branches of the family
were exiled in turn. The treaty of Westphalia in 1648 restored the _status
quo_, and the family rivalry gradually died out. During the wars of the
reign of Louis XIV. the margraviate was ravaged by the French troops, and
the margrave of Baden-Baden, Louis William (d. 1707), was prominent among
the soldiers who resisted the aggressions of France. In 1771 Augustus
George of Baden-Baden died without sons, and his territories passed to
Charles Frederick of Baden-Durlach, who thus became ruler of the whole of
Baden.
Although in 1771 Baden was united under a single ruler it did not form a
compact territory, and its total area was only about 1350 sq. m. Consisting
of a number of isolated districts lying on either bank of the upper Rhine,
it was the work of Charles Frederick to acquire the intervening stretches
of land, and so to give territorial unity to his country. Beginning to
reign in 1738 and coming of age in 1746, this prince is the most notable of
the rulers of Baden. He was interested in the development of agriculture
and commerce; sought to improve education and the administration of
justice, and was in general a wise and liberal ruler. His opportunity for
territorial aggrandizement came during the Napoleonic wars. When war broke
out between France and Austria in 1792 the Badenese fought for Austria;
consequently their country was devastated and in 1796 the margrave was
compelled to pay an indemnity, and to cede his territories, on the left
bank of the Rhine to France. Fortune, however, soon returned to his side.
In 1803, largely owing to the good offices of Alexander I., emperor of
Russia, he received the bishopric of Constance, part of the Rhenish
Palatinate, and other smaller districts, together with the dignity of a
prince elector. Changing sides in 1805 he fought for Napoleon, with the
result that by the peace of Pressburg in that year he obtained the Breisgau
and other territories at the expense of the Habsburgs. In 1806 he joined
the Confederation of the Rhine, declared himself a sovereign prince, became
a grand-duke, and received other additions of territory. The Baden
contingent continued to assist France, and by the peace of Vienna in 1809
the grand-duke was rewarded with accessions of territory at the expense of
the kingdom of Wuerttemberg. Having quadrupled the area of Baden, Charles
Frederick died in June 1811, and was succeeded by his grandson, Charles,
who was married to Stephanie de Beauharnais (d. 1860), an adopted daughter
of Napoleon. Charles fought for his father-in-law until after the battle of
Leipzig in 1813, when he joined the Allies.
In 1815 Baden became a member of the Germanic confederation established by
the Act of the 8th of June, annexed to the Final Act of the congress of
Vienna of the 9th of June. In the hurry of the winding-up of the congress,
however, the vexed question of the succession to the grand-duchy had not
been settled. This was soon to become acute. By the treaty of the 16th of
April 1816, by which the territorial disputes between Austria and Bavaria
were settled, the succession to the Baden Palatinate was guaranteed to
Maximilian I., king of Bavaria, in the expected event of the extinction of
the line of Zaehringen. As a counterblast to this the grand-duke Charles
issued in 1817 a pragmatic sanction (_Hausgesetz_) declaring the counts of
Hochberg, the issue of a morganatic marriage between the grand-duke Charles
Frederick and Luise Geyer von Geyersberg (created Countess Hochberg),
capable of succeeding to the crown. A controversy between Bavaria and Baden
resulted, which was only decided in favour of the Hochberg claims by the
treaty signed by the four great powers and Baden at Frankfort on the 10th
of July 1819. Meanwhile the dispute had produced important effects in
Baden. In order to secure popular support for the Hochberg heir, Charles in
1818 granted to the grand-duchy, under article xiii. of the Act of
Confederation, a liberal constitution, under which two chambers were
constituted and their assent declared necessary for legislation and
taxation. The outcome was of importance far beyond the narrow limits of the
duchy; for all Germany watched the constitutional experiments of the
southern states. In Baden the conditions were not favourable to success.
The people, belonging to the "Celtic fringe" of Germany, had fallen during
the revolutionary period completely under the influence of French ideas,
and this was sufficiently illustrated by the temper of the new chambers,
which tended to model their activity on the proceedings of the Convention
in the earlier days of the French Revolution. On the other hand, the new
grand-duke Louis, who had succeeded in 1818, was unpopular, and the
administration was in the hands of hide-bound and inefficient bureaucrats.
The result was a deadlock; and, even before the promulgation of the
Carlsbad decrees in October 1819 the grand-duke had prorogued the chambers,
after three months of sterile debate. The reaction that followed was as
severe in Baden as elsewhere in Germany, and culminated in 1823, when, on
the refusal of the chambers to vote the military budget, the grand-duke
dissolved them and levied the taxes on his own authority. In January 1825,
owing to official pressure, only three Liberals were returned to the
chamber; a law was passed making the budget presentable only every three
years, and the constitution ceased to have any active existence.
In 1830 Louis was succeeded as grand-duke by his half-brother Leopold, the
first of the Hochberg line. The July Revolution led to no disturbances in
Baden; but the new grand-duke from the first showed liberal tendencies. The
elections of 1830 were not interfered with; and the result was the return
of a Liberal majority. The next few years saw the introduction, under
successive ministries, of Liberal reforms in the constitution, in criminal
and civil law, and in education. In 1832 the adhesion of Baden to the
Prussian _Zollverein_ did much for the material prosperity of the country.
With the approach of the revolutionary year 1848, however, Radicalism once
more began to lift up its head. At a popular demonstration held at
Offenburg on the 12th of September 1847, resolutions were passed demanding
the conversion of the regular army into a national militia which should
take an oath to the constitution, a progressive income-tax and a fair
adjustment of the interests of capital and labour.
The news of the revolution of February 1848 in Paris brought this agitation
to a head. Numerous public meetings were held at which the Offenburg
programme was adopted, and on the 4th of March, under the influence of the
popular excitement, it was accepted almost unanimously by the lower
chamber. As in other German states, the government bowed to the storm,
proclaimed an amnesty and promised reforms. The ministry was remodelled in
a more Liberal direction; and a new delegate was sent to the federal diet
at Frankfort, empowered to vote for the establishment of a parliament for
united Germany. The disorders, fomented by republican agitators, none the
less continued; and the efforts of the government to suppress them with the
aid of federal troops led to an armed insurrection. For the time this was
mastered without much difficulty; the insurgents were beaten at Kandern on
the 20th of April; Freiburg, which they held, fell on the 24th; and on the
27th a Franco-German "legion," which had invaded Baden from Strassburg, was
routed at Dossenbach.
At the beginning of 1849, however, the issue of a new constitution, in
accordance with the resolutions of the Frankfort parliament, led to more
serious trouble. It did little to satisfy the Radicals, who were angered by
the refusal of the second chamber to agree to their proposal for the
summoning of a [v.03 p.0187] constituent assembly (10th of February 1849).
The new insurrection that now broke out was a more formidable affair than
the first. A military mutiny at Rastatt on the 11th of May showed that the
army sympathized with the revolution, which was proclaimed two days later
at Offenburg amid tumultuous scenes. On the same day (13th of May) a mutiny
at Karlsruhe forced the grand-duke to take to flight, and the next day he
was followed by the ministers, while a committee of the diet under Lorenz
Brentano (1813-1891), who represented the more moderate Radicals as against
the republicans, established itself in the capital to attempt to direct
affairs pending the establishment of a provisional government. This was
accomplished on the 1st of June, and on the 10th the "constituent diet,"
consisting entirely of the most "advanced" politicians, assembled. It had
little chance of doing more than make speeches; the country was in the
hands of an armed mob of civilians and mutinous soldiers; and, meanwhile,
the grand-duke of Baden had joined with Bavaria in requesting the armed
intervention of Prussia, which was granted on the condition that Baden
should join the League of the Three Kings.
From this moment the revolution in Baden was doomed, and with it the
revolution in all Germany. The Prussians, under Prince William (afterwards
emperor), invaded Baden in the middle of June. The insurgent forces were
under the command of the Pole, Ludwig von Mieroslawski (1814-1878), who
reduced them to some semblance of order. On the 20th he met the Prussians
at Waghaeusel, and was completely defeated; on the 25th Prince William
entered Karlsruhe; and at the end of the month the members of the
provisional government, who had taken refuge at Freiburg, dispersed. Such
of the insurgent leaders as were caught, notably the ex-officers, suffered
military execution; the army was dispersed among Prussian garrison towns;
and Baden was occupied for the time by Prussian troops. The grand-duke
returned on the 19th of August, and at once dissolved the diet. The
elections resulted in a majority favourable to the new ministry, and a
series of laws were passed of a reactionary tendency with a view to
strengthening the government.
The grand-duke Leopold died on the 24th of April 1852, and was succeeded by
his second son, Frederick, as regent, the eldest, Louis (d. 22nd of January
1858), being incapable of ruling.[1] The internal affairs of Baden during
the period that followed have comparatively little general interest. In the
greater politics of Germany, Baden, between 1850 and 1866, was a consistent
supporter of Austria; and in the war of 1866 her contingents, under Prince
William, had two sharp engagements with the Prussian army of the Main. Two
days before the affair of Werbach (24th of July), however, the second
chamber had petitioned the grand-duke to end the war and enter into an
offensive and defensive alliance with Prussia. The grand-duke had from the
first been opposed to the war with Prussia, but had been forced to yield
owing to popular resentment at the policy of Prussia in the
Schleswig-Holstein question (_q.v._). The ministry, now at one, resigned;
Baden announced her withdrawal from the German confederation; and on the
17th of August a treaty of peace and alliance was signed with Prussia. The
adhesion of Baden to the North German confederation was prevented by
Bismarck himself, who had no wish to give Napoleon III. so good an excuse
for intervention; but it was the opposition of Baden to the formation of a
South German confederation that made the ultimate union inevitable. The
troops of Baden took a conspicuous share in the war of 1870; and it was the
grand-duke of Baden, who, in the historic assembly of the German princes at
Versailles, was the first to hail the king of Prussia as German emperor.
The internal politics of Baden, both before and after 1870, centre in the
main round the question of religion. The signing on the 28th of June 1859
of a concordat with the Holy See, by which education was placed under the
oversight of the clergy and the establishment of religious orders was
facilitated, led to a constitutional struggle, which ended in 1863 with the
victory of Liberal principles, the communes being made responsible for
education, though the priests were admitted to a share in the management.
The quarrel between Liberalism and Clericalism was, however, not ended. In
1867, on the accession to the premiership of Julius von Jolly (1823-1891),
several constitutional changes in a Liberal direction were made;
responsibility of ministers, freedom of the press, compulsory education. In
the same year (6th of September) a law was passed to compel all candidates
for the priesthood to pass the government examinations. The archbishop of
Freiburg resisted, and, on his death in April 1868, the see was left
vacant, In 1869 the introduction of civil marriage did not tend to allay
the strife, which reached its climax after the proclamation of the dogma of
papal infallibility in 1870. The "Kulturkampf" raged in Baden, as in the
rest of Germany; and here as elsewhere the government encouraged the
formation of Old Catholic communities. Not till 1880, after the fall of the
ministry of Jolly, was a reconciliation with Rome effected; in 1882 the
archbishopric of Freiburg was again filled up. The political tendency of
Baden, meanwhile, mirrored that of all Germany. In 1891 the National
Liberals had but a majority of one in the diet; from 1893 they could
maintain themselves only with the aid of the Conservatives; and in 1897 a
coalition of Ultramontanes, Socialists, Social-democrats and Radicals
(_Freisinnige_), won a majority for the opposition in the chamber.
Amid all these contests the wise and statesmanlike moderation of the
grand-duke Frederick won him universal esteem. By the treaty under which
Baden had become an integral part of the German empire, he had reserved
only the exclusive right to tax beer and spirits; the army, the
post-office, railways and the conduct of foreign relations were placed
under the effective control of Prussia. In his relations with the German
empire, too, Frederick proved himself rather a great German noble than a
sovereign prince actuated by particularist ambitions; and his position as
husband of the emperor William I.'s only daughter, Louise (whom he had
married in 1856), gave him a peculiar influence in the councils of Berlin.
When, on the 20th of September 1906, the grand-duke celebrated at once the
jubilee of his reign and his golden wedding, all Europe combined to do him
honour. King Edward VII. sent him, by the hands of the duke of Connaught,
the order of the Garter. But more significant, perhaps, was the tribute
paid by the _Temps_, the leading Parisian paper. "Nothing more clearly
demonstrates the sterile paradox of the Napoleonic work," it wrote, "than
the history of the grand-duchy. It was Napoleon, and he alone, who created
this whole state in 1803 to reward in the person of the little margrave of
Baden a relative of the emperor of Russia. It was he who after Austerlitz
aggrandized the margravate at the expense of Austria; transformed it into a
sovereign principality and raised it to a grand-duchy. It was he too who,
by the secularization on the one hand and by the dismemberment of
Wuerttemberg on the other, gave the grand-duke 500,000 new subjects. He
believed that the recognition of the prince and the artificial ethnical
formation of the principality would be pledges of security for France. But
in 1813 Baden joined the coalition, and since then that nation created of
odds and ends (_de bric et de broc_) and always handsomely treated by us,
had not ceased to take a leading part in the struggles against our country.
The grand-duke Frederick, grand-duke by the will of Napoleon, has done
France all the harm he could. But French opinion itself renders justice to
the probity of his character and to the ardour of his patriotism, and
nobody will feel surprise at the homage with which Germany feels bound to
surround his old age." He died at Mainau on the 28th of September 1907, and
was succeeded by his son, the grand-duke Frederick II.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--_Das Grossherzogtum Baden in geographischer ... Hinsicht
dargestellt_ (Karlsruhe, 1885); Wielandt, _Das Staatsrecht des
Grossherzogtums Baden_ (Freiburg, 1895); F. von Weech, _Badische
Geschichte_ (Karlsruhe, 1890); _Die Zaehringer in Baden_ (Karlsruhe, 1881);
_Baden unter den Grossherzoegen Karl Friedrich, Karl Ludwig_ (Freiburg,
1863); _Geschichte der badischen Verfassung_ (Karlsruhe, 1868); and _Baden
in den Jahren 1852 bis 1877_ (Karlsruhe, 1877); C. F. Nebenius and F. von
Weech, _Karl Friedrich von Baden_ (Karlsruhe, 1868); L. H. Haeusser,
_Denkwuerdigkeiten sur Geschichte der badischen Revolution_ (Heidelberg,
1851); L. Mueller, [v.03 p.0188] _Badische Landtagsgeschichte_ (Berlin,
1899-1902); E. von Chrismar, _Genealogie des Gesamthauses Baden vom 16.
Jahrhundert bis heute_ (Gotha, 1892); E. H. Meyer, _Badisches Volksleben im
19. Jahrhundert_ (Strassburg, 1900); F. J. Mone, _Quellensammlung zur
badischen Landesgeschichte_ (Karlsruhe, 1848-1867); _Badische Biographien_,
edited by F. von Weech (Karlsruhe, 1875-1891).
[1] Frederick assumed the title of grand-duke on the 5th of September 1856.
BADENOCH, a district of south-east Inverness-shire, Scotland, bounded on
the N. by the Monadhliath mountains, on the E. by the Cairngorms and
Braemar, on the S. by Atholl and the Grampians, and on the W. by Lochaber.
Its area is somewhat undefined, but it may be estimated to measure 36 m.
from N.E. to S.W. and 15 m. from N. to S. Excepting the valley of the Spey
and the great glens, it is almost entirely a wild mountainous tract, many
hills exceeding 3000 ft. in height, and contains in the forests of Alder,
Drumochter, Gaick and Feshie some of the best deer country in the
Highlands. Loch Laggan and Loch Ericht are the principal lakes, and the
district is abundantly watered by the Spey and its numerous tributaries. It
is traversed, from Dalnaspidal to Boat of Garten, by the Highland railway.
There are very few industries, and population groups itself at Kingussie
and other places on or near the Spey. From 1229 to 1313 the lordship of
Badenoch was owned by the Comyns. In 1371 Robert II. granted it to his son
Alexander Stewart, 1st earl of Buchan (1343-1405), the "Wolf of Badenoch."
Reverting to the crown, it was bestowed in 1452 upon the 1st earl of
Huntly, and still gives the title of lord of Badenoch to the marquess of
Huntly.
BADENWEILER, a health resort and watering place of the grand-duchy of
Baden, Germany, 28 m. N. by E. by rail from Basel, at the western edge of
the Black Forest. It is sheltered by the Blauen (3820 ft.) and the climate
is excellent. Its new parish (Evangelical) church (1897) is built at the
foot of the 11th-century castle which belonged to the margraves of Baden,
and was destroyed by the French during the wars of Louis XV. The place is
visited by 5000 people annually, partly for its warm mineral springs (70deg
F.), partly for its whey cure, and partly on account of its equable climate
and picturesque surroundings. There are a _Kurhaus_, built in 1853, and a
park of 15 acres; also a grand-ducal castle, refitted in 1887-1888. In 1784
well-preserved Roman baths were discovered here. The permanent population
is about 600.
BADGER, the common name for any animal of the Musteline subfamily _Melinae_
or the typical genus _Meles_ (see CARNIVORA). The name is probably derived
from "badge," device, on account of the marks on the head; or it may be
identical with the term separately noticed below, the French _blaireau_
being used in both senses. The members of the typical genus have the lower
jaw so articulated to the upper, by means of a transverse condyle firmly
locked into a long cavity of the cranium, that dislocation of the jaw is
all but impossible, and this enables those creatures to maintain their hold
with the utmost tenacity. The European badger (_Meles taxus_ or _M. meles_)
is from 25 in. to 29 in. long, with a tail of about 8 in.; the general hue
of the fur is grey above and black on the under parts; the head is white,
with a black stripe on each side. In habits it may be taken as typical of
the subfamily. It is nowhere abundant, but is found over the northern parts
of Europe and Asia, and is a quiet, inoffensive animal, nocturnal and
solitary in its habits, sleeping by day in its burrow, and issuing forth at
night to feed on roots, beech-mast, fruits, the eggs of birds, small
quadrupeds, frogs and insects. It is said also to dig up the nests of wasps
in order to eat the larvae, as the ratel--a closely allied South African
form--is said to rob the bees of their honey. The male and female are
seldom seen together, and are supposed to trace each other by the odour of
the secretion in the anal glands. Fossil remains of the badger have been
found in England in deposits of Pleistocene age. In eastern Persia this
species is replaced by the Persian badger (_M. canescens_); two
species--the white-tailed badger (_M. leucurus_) and the Chinese badger
(_M. chinensis_) occur in eastern Asia; and another (_M. anacuma_) is found
in Japan. The American badger (_Taxidea americana_) ranges over the greater
part of the United States, and in habits closely resembles the European
species, but seems to be more carnivorous. When badgers were more abundant
than they now are, their skins, dressed with the hair attached, were
commonly used for pistol furniture. They are now chiefly valued for the
hair, that of the European badger being used in the manufacture of the best
shaving-brushes while the softer hair of the American species is employed
for the same purpose, and also for painters' pencils, and the fur is used
for articles of ladies' apparel and trimmings. The Malay badger (_Mydaus
meliceps_) is confined to the mountains of Java (where it is called the
teledu), Sumatra and Borneo. The head and body are about 15 in. long, and
the tail no more than an inch; the fur is dark brown, with the top of the
head, neck and a broad dorsal stripe, white. Like the skunk, this animal
can eject the foetid secretion of the anal glands. The sand-badgers
(_Arctonyx_) are Asiatic; the best-known species (_A. collaris_) ranges
from the eastern Himalayas to Burma; the smaller _A. taxoides_ is found in
Assam, Arakan and perhaps in China; and there is probably another in Tibet.
In these the tail is much longer in proportion to the body than in the rest
of the group.
The badger does not usually seek to attack, but, when driven to bay, its
great muscular power and tough hide render it a formidable antagonist. The
cruel sport of _badger-drawing_ was formerly popular throughout Great
Britain, but was prohibited about the middle of the 19th century, together
with bear-baiting and bull-baiting. The badger-ward, who was usually
attached to a bear-garden, kept his badger in a large box. Whenever a
drawing was arranged, bets were made as to how many times the dog, usually
a bull-terrier, would _draw_ the badger, _i.e._ pull it out of its box,
within a given number of minutes. As soon as the dog succeeded in doing
this the animals were parted, often by the attendants biting their tails,
and the badger was again shut up in his box, which, at a signal from the
time-keeper, was again opened. Another method of baiting this animal is
thus described in the _Encyclopaedia of Sport_: "They dig a place in the
earth about a yard long, so that one end is four feet deep. At this end a
strong stake is driven down. Then the badger's tail is split, a chain put
through it, and fastened to the stake with such ability that the badger can
come up to the other end of the place. The dogs are brought and set upon
the poor animal who sometimes destroys several dogs before it is killed."
The colloquial "to badger" (_i.e._ worry or tease) is a metaphorical
derivative, and "drawing a badger" is similarly used in a figurative sense.
BADGER, a term of uncertain derivation (possibly derived from _bagger_, in
allusion to the hawker's bag) for a dealer in food, such as corn or
victuals (more expressly, fish, butter or cheese), which he has purchased
in one place and brought for sale to another place; an itinerant dealer,
corresponding to the modern hawker or huckster. An English statute of 1552
which summarized, and prescribed penalties against, the offences of
engrossing, forestalling and regrating, specially exempted badgers from
these penalties, but required them to be licensed by three justices of the
peace for the county in which they dwelt. A statute of 1562-1563, after
declaring that many people took up the trade of badgering "seeking only to
live easily and to leave their honest labour," enacted that badgers should
be licensed for a year only, should be householders of three years'
standing in the county in which they were licensed, and should enter into
recognizances not to engross or forestall. An act of 1844 abolished the
offence of badgering, and repealed the statutes passed in relation to it.
The word is still in common use in country districts.
BADGHIS ("home of the winds"), a district on the north-west of Afghanistan,
between the Murghab and Hari Rud rivers, extending as far northward as the
edge of the desert of Sarakhs. It includes the Chul formations through
which the Russo-Afghan boundary runs. This region was surveyed by the
boundary commission of 1885. Since that date it has been largely settled by
the amir with purely Afghan tribes.
BADHAM, CHARLES (1813-1884), English scholar, was born at Ludlow, in
Shropshire, on the 18th of July 1813. His father, Charles Badham,
translator of Juvenal and an excellent classical scholar, was regius
professor of physic at Glasgow; his mother was a cousin of Thomas Campbell,
the poet. When about seven [v.03 p.0189] years old, Badham was sent to
Switzerland, where he became a pupil of Pestalozzi. He was afterwards
transferred to Eton, and in 1830 was elected to a scholarship at Wadham
College, Oxford, but only obtained a third class in classics (1836), a
failure which may have been due to his dislike of the methods of study then
in fashion at Oxford, at a time when classical scholarship was in a very
unsatisfactory condition. Shortly after taking his degree in 1837 Badham
went to Italy, where he occupied himself in the study of ancient MSS., in
particular those of the Vatican library. It was here that he began a
life-long friendship with G. C. Cobet. He afterwards spent some time in
Germany, and on his return to England was incorporated M.A. at Peterhouse,
Cambridge, in 1847. Having taken holy orders, he was appointed headmaster
of Louth grammar school, Lincolnshire (1851-1854), and subsequently
headmaster of Edgbaston proprietary school, near Birmingham. In the
interval he had taken the degree of D.D. at Cambridge (1852). In 1860 he
received the honorary degree of doctor of letters at the university of
Leiden. In 1866 he left England to take up the professorship of classics
and logic in Sydney University, which he held until his death on the 26th
of February 1884. He was twice married. Dr Badham's classical attainments
were recognized by the most famous European critics, such as G. C. Cobet,
Ludwig Preller, W. Dindorf, F. W. Schneidewin, J. A. F. Meineke, A. Ritschl
and Tischendorf. Like many schoolmasters who are good scholars and even
good teachers, he was not a professional success; and his hasty temper and
dislike of anything approaching disingenuousness may have stood in the way
of his advancement. But it is strange that a scholar and textual critic of
his eminence and of European reputation should have made comparatively
little mark in his native country. He published editions of Euripides,
_Helena_ and _Iphigenia in Tauris_ (1851), _Ion_ (1851); Plato's _Philebus_
(1855, 1878); _Laches_ and _Euthydemus_ (1865), _Phaedrus_ (1851),
_Symposium_ (1866) and _De Platonis Epistolis_ (1866). He also contributed
to _Mnemosyne_ (Cobet's journal) and other classical periodicals. His
_Adhortatio ad Discipulos Academiae Sydniensis_ (1869) contains a number of
emendations of Thucydides and other classical authors. He also published an
article on "The Text of Shakespere" in _Cambridge Essays_ (1856);
_Criticism applied to Shakespere_ (1846); _Thoughts on Classical and
Commercial Education_ (1864).
A collected edition of his _Speeches and Lectures delivered in Australia_
(Sydney, 1890) contains a memoir by Thomas Butler.
BADIUS, JODOCUS or JOSSE (1462-1535), sometimes called BADIUS ASCENSIUS
from the village of Asche, near Brussels, where he was born, an eminent
printer at Paris, whose establishment was celebrated under the name of
_Prelum Ascensianum_. He was himself a scholar of considerable repute, had
studied at Brussels and Ferrara, and before settling in Paris, had taught
Greek for several years at Lyons. He illustrated with notes several of the
classics which he printed, and was the author of numerous pieces, amongst
which are a life of Thomas a Kempis, and a satire on the follies of women,
entitled _Navicula Stultarum Mulierum_.
BADLESMERE, BARTHOLOMEW, BARON (1275-1322), English nobleman, was the son
and heir of Gunselm de Badlesmere (d. 1301), and fought in the English army
both in France and Scotland during the later years of the reign of Edward
I. In 1307 he became governor of Bristol Castle, and afterwards Edward II.
appointed him steward of his household; but these marks of favour did not
prevent him from making a compact with some other noblemen to gain supreme
influence in the royal council. Although very hostile to Earl Thomas of
Lancaster, Badlesmere helped to make peace between the king and the earl in
1318, and was a member of the middle party which detested alike Edward's
minions, like the Despensers, and his violent enemies like Lancaster. The
king's conduct, however, drew him to the side of the earl, and he had
already joined Edward's enemies when, in October 1321, his wife, Margaret
de Clare, refused to admit Queen Isabella to her husband's castle at Leeds
in Kent. The king captured the castle, seized and imprisoned Lady
Badlesmere, and civil war began. After the defeat of Lancaster at
Boroughbridge, Badlesmere was taken and hanged at Canterbury on the 14th of
April 1322. His son and heir, Giles, died without children in 1338.
BADMINTON, or GREAT BADMINTON, a village in the southern parliamentary
division of Gloucestershire, England, 100 m. W. of London by the Great
Western railway (direct line to south Wales). Here is Badminton House, the
seat of the dukes of Beaufort, standing in a park some 10 m. in
circumference. The manor of Badminton was acquired in 1608 from Nicolas
Boteler (to whose family it had belonged for several centuries) by Thomas,
Viscount Somerset (d. 1650 or 1651), third son of Edward, 4th earl of
Worcester, and was given by his daughter and heiress Elizabeth to Henry
Somerset, 3rd marquess of Worcester and 1st duke of Beaufort (1629-1699),
who built the present mansion (1682) on the site of the old manor house. It
is a stone building in Palladian style, and contains a number of splendid
paintings and much fine wood-carving. The parish church of St. Michael
stands close to it. This is a Grecian building (1785), with a richly
ornamented ceiling and inlaid altar-pavement; it also contains much fine
sculpture in the memorials to former dukes, and is the burial-place of
Field Marshal Lord Raglan, who was the youngest son of the 5th duke of
Beaufort. Raglan Castle, near Monmouth, now a beautiful ruin, was the seat
of the earls and the 1st marquess of Worcester, until it was besieged by
the Parliamentarians in 1646, and after its capitulation was dismantled.
BADMINTON, a game played with rackets and shuttlecocks, its name being
taken from the duke of Beaufort's seat in Gloucestershire. The game appears
to have been first played in England about 1873, but before that time it
was played in India, where it is still very popular. The Badminton
Association in England was founded in 1895, and its laws were framed from a
code of rules drawn up in 1887 for the Bath Badminton Club and based on the
original Poona (1876) rules. In England the game is almost always played in
a covered court. The All England championships for gentlemen's doubles,
ladies' doubles, and mixed doubles were instituted in 1899, and for
gentlemen's singles and ladies' singles in 1900; and the first championship
between England and Ireland was played in 1904. Badminton may be played by
daylight or by artificial light, either with two players on each side (the
four-handed or double game) or with one player on each side (the two-handed
or single game). The game consists entirely of volleying and is extremely
fast, a single at Badminton being admitted to require more staying power
than a single at lawn tennis. There is much scope for judgment and skill,
_e.g._ in "dropping" (hitting the shuttle gently just over the net) and in
"smashing" (hitting the shuttle with a hard downward stroke). The
measurements of the court are shown on the accompanying plan.
[Illustration]
_Diagram of Court._--In the two-handed game, the width of the court is
reduced to 17 ft. and the long service lines are dispensed with, the
back boundary lines being used as the long service lines, and the lines
dividing the half courts being produced to meet the back boundary
lines. The net posts are placed either on the side boundary lines or at
any distance not exceeding 2 ft. outside the said lines; thus in the
four-handed game, the distance between the posts is from 20 to 24 ft.,
and in the two-handed fame, from 17 to 21 ft. _N.B._--With the
exception of the net line, the dotted lines on the court apply only to
the court for the two-handed game.
The Badminton hall should be not less than 18 ft. high. Along the net line
is stretched a net 30 in. deep, from 17 to 24 ft. long according to the
position of the posts, and edged on the top with white tape 3 in. wide. The
top of the net should be 5 ft. from [v.03 p.0190] the ground at the centre
and 5 ft. 1 in. at the posts. The shuttlecock (or shuttle) has 16 feathers
from 2-1/2 to 2-3/4 in. long, and weighs from 73 to 85 grains. The racket
(which is of no specified size, shape or weight) is strung with strong fine
gut and weighs as a rule about 6 oz.
The game is for 15 or, rarely, for 21 aces, except in ladies' singles, when
it is for 11 aces; and a rubber is the best of three games. Games of 21
aces are played only and always in matches decided by a single game, and
generally in handicap contests. The right to choose ends or to serve first
in the first game of the rubber is decided by tossing. If the side which
wins the toss chooses first service, the other side chooses ends, and vice
versa; but the side which wins the toss may call upon the other side to
make first choice. The sides change ends at the beginning of the second
game, and again at the beginning of the third game, if a third game is
necessary. In the third game the sides change ends when the side which is
leading reaches 8 in a game of 15 aces, and 6 in a game of 11 aces, or, in
handicap games, when the score of either side reaches half the number of
aces required to win the game. In matches of one game (21 aces) the sides
change ends when the side which is leading has scored 11 aces. The side
winning a game serves first in the next game, and, in the four-handed game,
either player on the side that has won the last game may take first service
in the next game.
In a game of 15 aces, when the score is "13 all" the side which first
reaches 13 has the option of "setting" the game to 5, and when the score is
"14 all" the side which first reaches 14 has the option of "setting" the
game to 3, _i.e._ the side which first scores 5 or 3 aces, according as the
game has been "set" at "13 all" or "14 all," wins. In ladies' singles, when
the score is "9 all" the side first reaching 9 may "set" the game to 5, and
when the score is "10 all" the side which first reaches 10 may "set" the
game to 3. In games of 21 aces, the game may be "set" to 5 at "19 all" and
to 3 at "20 all." There is no "setting" in handicap games.
In the four-handed game, the player who serves first stands in his
right-hand half court and serves to the player who is standing in the
opposite right-hand half court, the other players meanwhile standing
anywhere on their side of the net. As soon as the shuttle is hit by the
server's racket, all the players may stand anywhere on their side of the
net. If the player served to returns the shuttle, _i.e._ hits it into any
part of his opponents' court before it touches the ground, it has to be
returned by one of the "in" (serving) side, and then by one of the "out"
(non-serving) side, and so on, until a "fault" is made or the shuttle
ceases to be "in play."[1] If the "in" side makes a "fault," the server
loses his "hand" (serve), and the player served to becomes the server; but
no score accrues. If the "out" side makes a "fault," the "in" side scores
an ace, and the players on the "in" side change half courts, the server
then serving from his left half court to the player in the opposite left
half court, who has not yet been served to. Only the player served to may
take the service, and only the "in" side can score an ace. The first
service in each innings is made from the right-hand half court. The side
that starts a game has only one "hand" in its first innings; in every
subsequent innings each player on each side has a "hand," the partners
serving consecutively. While a side remains "in," service is made
alternately from each half court into the half court diagonally opposite,
the change of half courts taking place whenever an ace is scored. If, in
play, the shuttle strikes the net but still goes over, the stroke is good;
but if this happens in service and the service is otherwise good, it is a
"let," _i.e._ the stroke does not count, and the server must serve again,
even if the shuttle has been struck by the player served to, in which case
it is assumed that the shuttle would have fallen into the proper half
court. It is a "let," too, if the server, in attempting to serve, misses
the shuttle altogether. It is a good stroke, in service or in play, if the
shuttle falls on a line, or, in play, if it is followed over the net with
the striker's racket, or passes outside either of the net posts and then
drops inside any of the boundary lines of the opposite court. _Mutatis
mutandis_, the above remarks apply to the two-handed game, the main points
of difference being that, in the two-handed game, both sides change half
courts after each ace is scored and the same player takes consecutive
serves, whereas in the double game only the serving side changes half
courts at an added ace and a player may not take two consecutive serves in
the same game.
It is a "fault" (a) if the service is overhand, _i.e._ if the shuttle when
struck is higher than the server's waist; (b) if, in serving, the shuttle
does not fall into the half court diagonally opposite that from which
service is made; (c) if, before the shuttle is struck by the server, both
feet of the server and of the player served to are not inside their
respective half courts, a foot _on_ a line being deemed out of court; (d)
if, in play, the shuttle falls outside the court, or, in service or play,
passes through or under the net, or hangs in the net, or touches the roof
or side walls of the hall or the person or dress of any player; (e) if the
shuttle "in play" is hit before it reaches the striker's side; (f) if, when
the shuttle is "in play," a player touches the net or its supports with his
racket, person or dress; (g) if the shuttle is struck twice successively by
the same player, or if it is struck by a player and his partner
successively, or if it is not distinctly hit, _i.e._ if it is merely caught
on the racket and spooned over the net; (h) if a player wilfully obstructs
his opponent.
For full information on the laws of the game the reader is referred to the
_Laws of Badminton and the Rules of the Badminton Association_, published
annually (London). See also an article by S. M. Massey in the _Badminton
Magazine_ (February 1907), reprinted in a slightly revised form in the
_Badminton Gazette_ (November 1907). Until October 1907 _Lawn Tennis and
Badminton_ was the official organ of the Badminton Association; in November
1907 the _Badminton Gazette_ became the official organ.
[1] The shuttle is "in play" from the time it is struck by the server's
racket until it touches the ground, or touches the net without going over,
or until a "fault" is made.
BADNUR, a town of British India, the headquarters of the district of Betul
in the Central Provinces. It consists, besides the European houses, of two
bazaars. Pop. (1901) 3766. There is a good _serai_ or inn for native
travellers, and a _dak bungalow_ or resting-place for Europeans. Not far
from Badnur is Kherla, the former residence of the Gond rajas, where there
is an old fort, now in ruins, which used to be held by them.
BADRINATH, a village and celebrated temple in British India, in the Garhwal
district of the United Provinces. It is situated on the right bank of the
Vishnuganga, a tributary of the Alaknanda river, in the middle of a valley
nearly 4 m. in length and 1 in breadth. The village is small, containing
only twenty or thirty huts, in which reside the Brahmans and the attendants
of the temple. This building, which is considered a place of high sanctity,
is by no means equal to its great celebrity. It is about 40 or 50 ft. in
height, built in the form of a cone, with a small cupola, on the top of
which is a gilt ball and spire, and contains the shrine of Badrinath,
dedicated to an incarnation of Vishnu. The principal idol is of black stone
and is 3 ft. in height. Badrinath is a favourite resort of pilgrims from
all parts of India. In ordinary years the number varies from 7000 to
10,000; but every twelfth year, when the festival of Kumbh-mela is
celebrated, the concourse of persons is said to be 50,000. In addition to
the gifts of votaries, the temple enjoys a further source of revenue from
the rents of villages assigned by former rajas. Successive temples have
been shattered by avalanches, and the existing building is modern. It is
situated among mountains rising 23,000 ft. above the level of the sea.
Elevation of the site of the temple, 10,294 ft.
BADULLA, the capital of the province of Uva, Ceylon, 54 m. S.E. of Kandy.
It is the seat of a government agent and district judge, besides minor
courts. It was in Kandyan times the home of a prince who ruled Uva as a
principality. Badulla stands 2222 ft. above sea-level; the average annual
rainfall is 79-1/2 in.; the average temperature, 73deg. The population of
the town in 1901 was 5924; of the Badulla district, 186,674. There is a
botanic garden; and the town, being almost encircled by a river--the
Badullaeya--and overshadowed by the Naminacooly Kande range of mountains
(highest peak 6680 ft.), is very [v.03 p.0191] picturesquely situated. The
railway terminus at Bandarawella is 18 m. from Badulla. Tea is cultivated
by the planters, and rice, fruit and vegetables by the natives in the
district.
BAEDEKER, KARL (1801-1859), German publisher, was born at Essen on the 3rd
of November 1801. His father had a printing establishment and book-shop
there, and Karl followed the same business independently in Coblenz. Here
he began to issue the first of the series of guide-books with which his
name is associated. They followed the model of the English series
instituted by John Murray, but developed in the course of years so as to
cover the greater part of the civilized world, and later were issued in
English and French as well as German. Baedeker's son Fritz carried on the
business, which in 1872 was transferred to Leipzig.
BAEHR, JOHANN CHRISTIAN FELIX (1798-1872), German philologist, was born at
Darmstadt on the 13th of June 1798. He studied at the university of
Heidelberg where he was appointed professor of classical philology in 1823,
chief librarian in 1832, and on the retirement of G. F. Creuzer became
director of the philological seminary. He died at Heidelberg on the 29th of
November 1872. His earliest works were editions of Plutarch's _Alcibiades_
(1822), _Philopoemen, Flamininus, Pyrrhus_ (1826), the fragments of Ctesias
(1824), and Herodotus (1830-1835, 1855-1862). But most important of all
were his works on Roman literature and humanistic studies in the middle
ages: _Geschichte der roemischen Litteratur_ (4th ed., 1868-1870), and the
supplementary volumes, _Die christlichen Dichter und Geschichtschreiber
Roms_ (2nd ed., 1872), _Die christlich-roemische Theologie_ (1837),
_Geschichte der roemischen Litteratur im karolingischen Zeitalter_ (1840).
BAEL FRUIT (_Aegle marmelos_). _Aegle_ is a genus of the botanical natural
order Rutaceae, containing two species in tropical Asia and one in west
tropical Africa. The plants are trees bearing strong spines, with
alternate, compound leaves each with three leaflets and panicles of
sweet-scented white flowers. _Aegle marmelos_, the bael- or bel-fruit tree
(also known as Bengal quince), is found wild or cultivated throughout
India. The tree is valued for its fruit, which is oblong to pyriform in
shape, 2-5 in. in diameter, and has a grey or yellow rind and a sweet,
thick orange-coloured pulp. The unripe fruit is cut up in slices, sun-dried
and used as an astringent; the ripe fruit is described as sweet, aromatic
and cooling. The wood is yellowish-white, and hard but not durable. The
name _Aegle_ is from one of the Hesperides, in reference to the golden
fruit; _marmelos_ is Portuguese for quince.
BAENA, a town of southern Spain, in the province of Cordova; 32 m. by road
S.E. of the city of Cordova. Pop. (1900) 14,539. Baena is picturesquely
situated near the river Marbella, on the slope of a hill crowned with a
castle, which formerly belonged to the famous captain Gonzalo de Cordova.
Farming, horse-breeding, linen-weaving and the manufacture of olive-oil are
the chief local industries. The nearest railway station is Luque (pop.
4972), 4 m. S.E. on the Jaen-Lucena line. The site of the Roman town
(Baniana or Biniana) can still be traced, and various Roman antiquities
have been disinterred. In 1292 the Moors under Mahommed II. of Granada
vainly besieged Baena, which was held for Sancho IV. of Castile; and the
five Moorish heads in its coat-of-arms commemorate the defence.
BAER, KARL ERNST VON (1792-1876), German biologist, was born at Piep, in
Esthonia, on the 29th of February 1792. His father, a small landowner, sent
him to school at Reval, which he left in his eighteenth year to study
medicine at Dorpat University. The lectures of K. F. Burdach (1776-1847)
suggested research in the wider field of life-history, and as at that time
Germany offered more facilities for, and greater encouragement to,
scientific work, von Baer went to Wuerzburg, where J. I. J. Doellinger
(1770-1841), father of the Catholic theologian, was professor of anatomy.
In teaching von Baer, Doellinger gave a direction to his studies which
secured his future pre-eminence in the science of organic development. He
collaborated with C. H. Pander (1794-1865) in researches on the evolution
of the chick, the results of which were first published in Burdach's
treatise on physiology. Continuing his investigations alone von Baer
extended them to the evolution of organisms generally, and after a sojourn
at Berlin he was invited by his old teacher Burdach, who had become
professor of anatomy at Koenigsberg, to join him as prosector and chief of
the new zoological museum (1817). Von Baer's great discovery of the human
ovum is the subject of his _Epistola de Ovo Mammalium et Hominis Genesi_
(Leipzig, 1827), and in the following year he published the first part of
his _History of the Evolution of Animals_ (_Ueber die
Entwickelungsgeschichte der Thiere_), the second part following in 1837. In
this work he demonstrated first, that the Graafian follicles in the ovary
are not the actual eggs, but that they contain the spherical vesicle, which
is the true ovum, a body about the one hundred and twentieth of an inch in
diameter, wherein lie the properties transmitting the physical and mental
characteristics of the parent or grandparent, or even of more remote
ancestors. He next showed that in all vertebrates the primary stage of
cleavage of the fertilized egg is followed by modification into leaf-like
germ layers--skin, muscular, vascular and mucous--whence arise the several
organs of the body by differentiation. He further discovered the
gelatinous, cylindrical cord, known as the _chorda dorsalis_, which passes
along the body of the embryo of vertebrates, in the lower types of which it
is limited to the entire inner skeleton, while in the higher the backbone
and skull are developed round it. His "law of corresponding stages" in the
development of vertebrate embryos was exemplified in the fact recorded by
him about certain specimens preserved in spirit which he had omitted to
label. "I am quite unable to say to what class they belong. They may be
lizards, or small birds, or very young mammalia, so complete is the
similarity in the mode of formation of the head and trunk in these animals.
The extremities are still absent, but even if they had existed in the
earliest stage of the development we should learn nothing, because all
arise from the same fundamental form." Again, in his _History of Evolution_
he suggests, "Are not all animals in the beginning of their development
essentially alike, and is there not a primary form common to all?" (i. p.
223). Notwithstanding this, the "telic" idea, with the archetypal theory
which it involved, possessed von Baer to the end of his life, and explains
his inability to accept the theory of unbroken descent with modification
when it was propounded by Charles Darwin and A. R. Wallace in 1858. The
influence of von Baer's discoveries has been far-reaching and abiding. Not
only was he the pioneer in that branch of biological science to which
Francis Balfour, gathering up the labours of many fellow-workers, gave
coherence in his _Comparative Embryology_ (1881), but the impetus to T. H.
Huxley's researches on the structure of the _medusae_ came from him
(_Life_, i. 163), and Herbert Spencer found in von Baer's "law of
development" the "law of all development" (_Essays_, i. 30). In 1834 von
Baer was appointed librarian of the Academy of Sciences of St Petersburg.
In 1835 he published his _Development of Fishes_, and as the result of
collection of all available information concerning the fauna and flora of
the Polar regions of the empire, he was appointed leader of an Arctic
expedition in 1837, The remainder of his active life was occupied in divers
fields of research, geological as well as biological, an outcome of the
latter being his fine monograph on the fishes of the Baltic and Caspian
Seas. One of the last works from his prolific pen was an interesting
autobiography published at the expense of the Esthonian nobles on the
celebration of the jubilee of his doctorate in 1864. Three years afterwards
he received the Copley medal. He died at Dorpat on the 28th of November
1876.
(E. CL.)
BAER, WILLIAM JACOB (1860- ), American painter, was born on the 29th of
January 1860 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He studied at Munich in 1880-1884. He had
much to do with the revival in America of the art of miniature-painting, to
which he turned in 1892, and was the first president of the Society of
Painters in Miniature, New York. Among his miniatures are "The Golden
Hour," "Daphne," "In Arcadia" and "Madonna with the Auburn Hair."
BAETYLUS (Gr. [Greek: baitulos, baitulion]), a word of Semitic origin (=
bethel) denoting a sacred stone, which was supposed to be endowed with
life. These fetish objects of worship were meteoric stones, which were
dedicated to the gods or revered as symbols of the gods themselves (Pliny,
_Nat. Hist._ xvii. 9; Photius, _Cod._ 242). [v.03 p.0192] In Greek
mythology the term was specially applied to the stone supposed to have been
swallowed by Cronus (who feared misfortune from his own children) in
mistake for his infant son Zeus, for whom it had been substituted by Uranus
and Gaea, his wife's parents (_Etymologicum Magnum_, s.v.). This stone was
carefully preserved at Delphi, anointed with oil every day and on festal
occasions covered with raw wool (Pausanias x. 24). In Phoenician mythology,
one of the sons of Uranus is named Baetylus. Another famous stone was the
effigy of Rhea Cybele, the holy stone of Pessinus, black and of irregular
form, which was brought to Rome in 204 B.C. and placed in the mouth of the
statue of the goddess. In some cases an attempt was made to give a more
regular form to the original shapeless stone: thus Apollo Agyieus was
represented by a conical pillar with pointed end, Zeus Meilichius in the
form of a pyramid. Other famous baetylic idols were those in the temples of
Zeus Casius at Seleucia, and of Zeus Teleios at Tegea. Even in the
declining years of paganism, these idols still retained their significance,
as is shown by the attacks upon them by ecclesiastical writers.
See Munter, _Ueber die vom Himmel gefallenen Steine_ (1805); Boesigk, _De
Baetyliis_ (1854); and the exhaustive article by F. Lenormant in Daremberg
and Saglio's _Dictionary of Antiquities_.
BAEYER, JOHANN FRIEDRICH WILHELM ADOLF VON (1835- ), German chemist, was
born at Berlin on the 31st of October 1835, his father being Johann Jacob
von Baeyer (1794-1885), chief of the Berlin Geodetical Institute from 1870.
He studied chemistry under R. W. Bunsen and F. A. Kekule, and in 1858 took
his degree as Ph.D. at Berlin, becoming privat-docent a few years
afterwards and assistant professor in 1866. Five years later he was
appointed professor of chemistry at Strassburg, and in 1875 he migrated in
the same capacity to Munich. He devoted himself mainly to investigations in
organic chemistry, and in particular to synthetical studies by the aid of
"condensation" reactions. The Royal Society of London awarded him the Davy
medal in 1881 for his researches on indigo, the nature and composition of
which he did more to elucidate than any other single chemist, and which he
also succeeded in preparing artificially, though his methods were not found
commercially practicable. To celebrate his seventieth birthday his
scientific papers were collected and published in two volumes (_Gesammelte
Werke_, Brunswick, 1905), and the names of the headings under which they
are grouped give some idea of the range and extent of his chemical
work:--(1) organic arsenic compounds, (2) uric acid group, (3) indigo, (4)
papers arising from indigo researches, (5) pyrrol and pyridine bases, (6)
experiments on the elimination of water and on condensation, (7) the
phthaleins, (8) the hydro-aromatic compounds, (9) the terpenes, (10)
nitroso compounds, (11) furfurol, (12) acetylene compounds and "strain"
(_Spannungs_) theory, (13) peroxides, (14) basic properties of oxygen, (15)
dibenzalacetone and triphenylamine, (16) various researches on the aromatic
and (17) the aliphatic series.
BAEZA (anc. _Beatia_), a town of southern Spain, in the province of Jaen;
in the Loma de Ubeda, a mountain range between the river Guadalquiver on
the S. and its tributary the Guadalimar on the N. Pop. (1900) 14,379. Baeza
has a station 3 m. S.W. on the Linares-Almeria railway. Its chief buildings
are those of the university (founded in 1533, and replaced by a theological
seminary), the cathedral and the Franciscan monastery. The Cordova and
Ubeda gates, and the arch of Baeza, are among the remains of its old
fortifications, which were of great strength. The town has little trade
except in farm-produce; but its red dye, made from the native cochineal,
was formerly celebrated. In the middle ages Baeza was a flourishing Moorish
city, said to contain 50,000 inhabitants; but it was sacked in 1239 by
Ferdinand III. of Castile, who in 1248 transferred its bishopric to Jaen.
It was the birthplace of the sculptor and painter, Caspar Becarra.
BAFFIN, WILLIAM (1584-1622), English navigator and discoverer. Nothing is
known of his early life, but it is conjectured that he was born in London
of humble origin, and gradually raised himself by his diligence and
perseverance. The earliest mention of his name occurs in 1612, in connexion
with an expedition in search of a North-West Passage, under the orders of
Captain James Hall, whom he accompanied as chief pilot. Captain Hall was
murdered in a fight with the natives on the west coast of Greenland, and
during the two following years Baffin served in the Spitsbergen
whale-fishery, at that time controlled by the Muscovy Company. In 1615 he
entered the service of the Company for the discovery of the North-West
Passage, and accompanied Captain Robert Bylot as pilot of the little ship
"Discovery," and now carefully examined Hudson Strait. The accuracy of
Baffin's tidal and astronomical observations on this voyage was confirmed
in a remarkable manner by Sir Edward Parry, when passing over the same
ground, two centuries later (1821). In the following year Baffin again
sailed as pilot of the "Discovery," and passing up Davis Strait discovered
the fine bay to the north which now bears his name, together with the
magnificent series of straits which radiate from its head and were named by
him Lancaster, Smith and Jones Sounds, in honour of the generous patrons of
his voyages. On this voyage he had sailed over 300 m. farther north than
his predecessor Davis, and for 236 years his farthest north (about lat.
77deg 45') remained unsurpassed in that sea. All hopes, however, seemed now
ended of discovering a passage to India by this route, and in course of
time even Baffin's discoveries came to be doubted until they were
re-discovered by Captain Ross in 1818. Baffin next took service with the
East India Company, and in 1617-1619 performed a voyage to Surat in British
India, and on his return received the special recognition of the Company
for certain valuable surveys of the Red Sea and Persian Gulf which he had
made in the course of the voyage. Early in 1620 he again sailed to the
East, and in the Anglo-Persian attack on Kishm in the Persian Gulf,
preparatory to the reduction of Ormuz, he received his death-wound and died
on the 23rd of January 1622. Besides the importance of his geographical
discoveries, Baffin is to be remembered for the importance and accuracy of
his numerous scientific and magnetic observations, for one of which (the
determination of longitude at sea by lunar observation) the honour is
claimed of being the first of its kind on record.
BAFFIN BAY and BAFFIN LAND, an arctic sea and an insular tract named after
the explorer William Baffin. Baffin or Baffin's Bay is part of the long
strait which separates Baffin Land from Greenland. It extends from about
69deg to 78deg N. and from 54deg to 76deg W. From the northern end it is
connected (1) with the polar sea northward by Smith Sound, prolonged by
Kane Basin and Kennedy and Robeson Channels; (2) with the straits which
ramify through the archipelago to the north-west by narrow channels at the
head of Jones Sound, from which O. Sverdrup and his party conducted
explorations in 1900-1902; (3) with the more southerly part of the same
archipelago by Lancaster Sound. Baffin Bay was explored very fully in 1616
by Baffin. The coasts are generally high, precipitous and deeply indented.
The most important island on the east side is Disco, to the north of Disco
Bay, Greenland. During the greater part of the year this sea is frozen,
but, while hardly ever free of ice, there are normally navigable channels
along the coasts from the beginning of June to the end of September
connected by transverse channels. The bay is noted as a centre of the whale
and seal fishery. At more than one point a depth exceeding 1000 fathoms has
been ascertained.
Baffin Land is a barren insular tract, included in Franklin district,
Canada, with an approximate area of 236,000 sq. m., situated between 61deg
and 90deg W. and 62deg and 74deg N. The eastern and northern coasts are
rocky and mountainous, and are deeply indented by large bays including
Frobisher and Home Bays, Cumberland Sound and Admiralty Inlet. Baffin Land
is separated from Greenland by Baffin Bay and Davis Strait, from Ungava by
Hudson Strait, from Keewatin and Melville Peninsula by Fox Channel and
Fury-and-Hecla Strait, from Boothia Peninsula and North Somerset by the
Gulf of Boothia and Prince Regent Inlet, and from North Devon by Lancaster
Sound. Various names are given to various parts of the land--thus the
north-western part is called Cockburn Land, farther [v.03 p.0193] east is
North Galloway; on the extreme eastern peninsula are Cumberland and Penny
Lands, while the southern is called Meta Incognita; in the west is Fox
Land. In the southern part of the interior are two large lakes, Amadjuak,
which lies at an altitude of 289 ft., and Nettiling or Kennedy.
BAGAMOYO, a seaport of German East Africa in 6deg 22' S., 38deg 55' E. Pop.
about 18,000, including a considerable number of British Indians. Being the
port on the mainland nearest the town of Zanzibar, 26 m. distant, Bagamoyo
became the starting-point for caravans to the great lakes, and an entrepot
of trade with the interior of the continent. It possesses no natural
harbour. The beach slopes gently down and ships anchor about 2 m. off the
coast. The town is oriental in character. The buildings include the
residence of the administrator, barracks, a government school for natives,
a mosque and Hindu temple, and the establishment of the _Mission du Sacre
Coeur_, which possesses a large plantation of coco-nut palms. Bagamoyo is
in telegraphic communication with Zanzibar and with the other coast towns
of German East Africa, and has regular steamship communication with
Zanzibar. Of the explorers who made Bagamoyo the starting-point for their
journeys to the interior of Africa, the most illustrious were Sir Richard
Burton, J. H. Speke, J. A. Grant and Sir H. M. Stanley.
BAGATELLE (French, from Ital. _bagatella_, _bagata_, a trifle), primarily a
thing of trifling importance. The name, though French, is given to a game
which is probably of English origin, though its connexion with the
_shovel-board_ of Cotton's _Complete Gamester_ is very doubtful. Strutt
does not mention it. The game is very likely a modification of billiards,
and is played on an oblong board or table varying in size from 6 ft. by
1-1/2 ft. to 10 ft. by 3 ft. The bed of the table is generally made of
slate, although, in the smaller sizes, wood covered with green cloth is
often used. The sides are cushioned with india-rubber. The head is
semicircular and fitted with 9 numbered cups set into the bed, their
numbers showing the amount scored by putting a ball into them. An ordinary
billiard-cue and nine balls, one black, four red and four white, are used.
The black ball is placed upon a spot about 9 in. in front of hole 1, and
about 18 in. from the player's end of the board a line (the baulk) is drawn
across it, behind which is another spot for the player's ball. (These
measurements of course differ according to the size of the table.) Some
modern tables have pockets as well as cups.
_Bagatelle Proper._--The black ball having been placed on the upper spot,
the players "string" for the lead, the winner being that player who plays
his ball into the highest hole. Any number may play, either separately, or
in sides. Each player in turn plays all eight balls up the table, no score
being allowed until a ball has touched the black ball, the object being to
play as many balls as possible into the holes, the black ball counting
double. Balls missing the black at the beginning, those rolling back across
the baulk-line, and those forced off the table are "dead" for that round
and removed. The game is decided by the aggregate score made in an agreed
number of rounds.
_Sans Egal._--This is a French form of the game. Two players take part, one
using the red and one the white balls. After stringing for lead, the leader
plays at the black, forfeiting a ball if he misses. His opponent then plays
at the black if it has not been touched, otherwise any way he likes, and
each then plays alternately, the object being to hole the black and his own
balls, the winner being the one who scores the highest number of points. If
a player holes one of his opponent's balls it is scored for his opponent.
The game is decided by a certain number of rounds, or by points, usually 21
or 31. In other matters the rules of bagatelle apply.
_The Cannon Game._--This is usually considered the best and most scientific
of bagatelle varieties. Tables without cups are sometimes used. As in
billiards three balls are required, the white, spot-white and black, the
last being spotted and the non-striker's ball placed midway between holes 1
and 9. The object of the game is to make cannons (caroms), balls played
into holes, at the same time counting the number of the holes, but if a
ball falls into a hole during a play in which no cannon is made the score
counts for the adversary. If the striker's ball is holed he plays from
baulk; if an object-ball, it is spotted as at the beginning of the game. A
cannon counts 2; missing the white object-ball scores 1 to the adversary;
missing the black, 5 to the adversary. If there are pockets, the striker
scores 2 for holing the white object-ball and 3 for holing the black, but a
cannon must be made by the same stroke; otherwise the score counts for the
adversary.
_The Irish Cannon Game._--The rules of the _cannon game_ apply, except that
in all cases pocketed balls count for the adversary.
_Mississippi._--This variation is played with a bridge pierced with 9 on
more arches, according to the size of the table, the arches being numbered
from 1 upwards. All nine balls are usually played, though the black is
sometimes omitted, each player having a round, the object being to send the
balls through the arches. This may not be done directly, but the balls must
strike a cushion first, the black, if used, counting double the arch made.
If a ball is played through an arch, without first striking a cushion, the
score goes to the adversary, but another ball, lying in front of the
bridge, may be sent through by the cue-ball if the latter has struck a
cushion. If a ball falls into a cup the striker scores the value of the cup
as well as of the arch.
_Trou Madame._--This is a game similar to _Mississippi_, with the
exceptions that the ball need not be played on to a cushion, and that, if a
ball falls into a cup, the opponent scores the value of the cup and not the
striker.
_Bell-Bagatelle_ is played on a board provided with cups, arches from which
bells hang, and stalls each marked with a number. The ball is played up the
side and rolls down the board, which is slightly inclined, through the
arches or into a cup or stall, the winner scoring the highest with a
certain number of balls.
BAGDAD, or BAGHDAD, a vilayet of Asiatic Turkey, situated between Persia
and the Syrian desert, and including the greater part of ancient Babylonia.
The original vilayet extended from Mardin on the N. to the Persian Gulf on
the S., and from the river Khabor on the W. to the Persian frontier on the
E. From the middle of the 17th century, when this region was annexed by the
Turks, until about the middle of the 19th century, the vilayet of Bagdad
was the largest province of the Turkish empire, constituting at times an
almost independent principality. Since then, however, it has lost much of
its importance and all of its independence. The first reduction in size
occurred in 1857, when some of the western portion of the vilayet was added
to the newly created sanjak of Zor. In 1878 the Mosul vilayet was created
out of its northern, and in 1884 the Basra vilayet out of its southern
sanjaks. At the present time it extends from a point just below Kut
el-Amara to a point somewhat above Tekrit on the Tigris, and from a point
somewhat below Samawa to a point a little above Anah on the Euphrates. It
is still, territorially, the largest province of the empire, and includes
some of the most fertile lands in the Euphrates-Tigris valleys; but while
possessing great possibilities for fertility, by far the larger portion of
the vilayet is to-day a desert, owing to the neglect of the irrigation
canals on which the fertility of the valley depends. From the latitude of
Bagdad northward the region between the two rivers is an arid, waterless,
limestone steppe, inhabited only by roving Arabs. From the latitude of
Bagdad southward the country is entirely alluvial soil, deposited by the
rivers Tigris and Euphrates, possessing great possibilities of fertility,
but absolutely flat and subject to inundations at the time of flood of the
two rivers. At that season much of the country, including the immediate
surroundings of Bagdad, is under water. During the rest of the year a large
part of the country is a parched and barren desert, and much of the
remainder swamps and lagoons. Wherever there is any pretence at irrigation,
along the banks of the two great rivers and by the few canals which are
still in existence, the yield is enormous, and the shores of the Tigris and
Euphrates in the neighbourhood of Bagdad and Hilla seem to be one great
palm garden. Sultan Abd-ul-Hamid II. personally acquired large tracts of
land in various parts of the vilayet. These so-called _senniehs_ are [v.03
p.0194] well farmed and managed, in conspicuous contrast with the
surrounding territory. Canals and dikes have been constructed to control
and distribute the much-needed water, and the officials are housed in new
buildings of substantial appearance. Indeed, wherever one finds a new and
prosperous-looking village, it may be assumed to belong to the sultan.
These _senniehs_ are an advantage to the country in that they give security
to their immediate region and certain employment to some part of its
population. On the other hand, they withdrew large tracts of fertile and
productive land from taxation (one-half of the cultivated land of the
vilayet was said to be administered for the sultan's privy purse), and thus
greatly reduced the revenue of the vilayet.
The chief city of the vilayet is its capital, Bagdad. Between the Euphrates
and the Arabian plateau lie the sacred cities of Kerbela or Meshed-Hosain,
and Nejef or Meshed Ali, with a population of 20,000 to 60,000 each, while
a number of towns, varying in population from 3000 to 10,000, are found
along the Euphrates (Anah, Hit, Ramadieh, Musseyib, Hilla, Diwanieh and
Samawa) and the Tigris (Tekrit, Samarra and Kut el-Amara). The settled
population lies entirely along the banks of these streams and the canals
and lagoons westward of the Euphrates, between Kerbela and Nejef. Away from
the banks of the rivers, between the Euphrates and the Tigris and between
the latter and the Persian mountains, are tribes of wandering Arabs, some
of whom possess great herds of horses, sheep, goats, asses and camels,
while in and by the marshes other tribes, in the transition stage from the
nomadic to the settled life, own great herds of buffaloes. Of the wandering
Arab tribes, the most powerful is the great tribe of Shammar, which ranges
over all Mesopotamia. In January and February they descend as low as the
neighbourhood of Diwanieh in such numbers that even Bagdad is afraid. Here
and there are regions occupied by a semi-sedentary population, called
_Madan_, occupying reed huts huddled around mud castles, called _meftul_.
These, like the Bedouin Arabs, are practically independent, waging constant
warfare among themselves and paying an uncertain tribute to the Turkish
government. In general, Turkish rule is confined to the villages, towns and
cities along the river banks, in and by which garrisons are located. Since
the time (1868-1872) of Midhat Pasha, who did much to bring the independent
Arab tribes under control, the Turkish government has been, however,
gradually strengthening its grip on the country and extending the area of
conscription and taxation. But from both the racial and religious
standpoint, the Arab and Persian Shi'as, who constitute the vast bulk of
the population, regard the Turks as foreigners and tyrants.
Of crops the vilayet produces wheat (which is indigenous), rice, barley
(which takes the place of oats as food for horses), durra (a coarse,
maize-like grain), sesame, cotton and tobacco; of fruits, the date, orange,
lemon, fig, banana and pomegranate. The country is naturally treeless,
except for the tamarisk, which grows by the swamps and along the
river-beds. Here and there one sees a solitary _sifsaf_ tree, or a small
plantation of poplars or white mulberries, which trees, with the date-palm,
constitute the only timber of the country. The willows reported by some
travellers are in reality a narrow-leaved variety of poplar.
Besides the buffaloes and a few humped Indian oxen, there are no cattle in
the country. Of wild animals, the pig, hyena, jackal, antelope and hare are
extremely numerous; lions are still found, and wolves and foxes are not
uncommon. Snipe and various species of wild fowl are found in the marshes,
and pelicans and storks abound along the banks of the Euphrates and Tigris.
Fish are caught in great numbers in the rivers and marshes, chiefly barbel
and carp, and the latter attain so great a size that one is a sufficient
load for an ass. The principal exports of the province are coarse wool,
hides, dates and horses. At various points, especially at Hit, and from Hit
southward along the edge of the Arabian plateau occur bitumen, naphtha and
white petroleum springs, all of which remain undeveloped. The climate is
very hot in summer, with a mean temperature of 97deg F. From April to
November no rain falls; in November the rains commence, and during the
winter the thermometer falls to 46deg F.
Cholera is endemic in some parts of the vilayet, and before 1875 the same
was true of the bubonic plague. At that date this disease was stamped out
by energetic measures on the part of the government, but it has reappeared
again in recent years, introduced apparently from India or Persia by
pilgrims. There are four great centres of pilgrimage for Shi'ite Moslems in
the vilayet, Samarra, Kazemain, a suburb of Bagdad, Kerbela and Nejef.
These are visited annually by tens of thousands of pilgrims, not only from
the surrounding regions, but also from Persia and India; many of whom bring
their dead to be buried in the neighbourhood of the sacred tombs.
Unpleasant, but not dangerous, is another disease, the so-called "Bagdad
date-mark," known elsewhere as the "Aleppo button," &c. This disease
extends along the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, and the country adjacent
from Aleppo and Diarbekr to the Persian Gulf, although there are individual
towns and regions in this territory which seem to be exempt. It shows
itself as a boil, attacking the face and extremities. It appears in two
forms, known to the natives as male and female respectively. The former is
a dry scaly sore, and the latter a running, open boil. It is not painful
but leaves ugly scars. The natives all carry somewhere on their face, neck,
hands, arms or feet the scars of these boils which they have had as
children. European children born in the country are apt to be seriously
disfigured, as in their case the boils almost invariably appear on the
face, and whereas native children have as a rule but one boil, those born
of European parents will have several. Adult foreigners visiting the
country are also liable to be attacked, and women, especially, rarely
escape disfigurement if they stay in the country for any length of time.
The boils last for about a year, after which there is no more likelihood of
a recurrence of the trouble than in the case of smallpox.
The area of the vilayet is 54,480 sq. m. The population is estimated at
852,000; Christians, 8000, principally Nestorians or Chaldaeans; Jews,
54,000; Moslems, 790,000, of whom the larger part are Shi'as.
See G. le Strange, _Baghdad under the Abbasid Caliphate_ (1901); _The Lands
of the Eastern Caliphate_ (Cambridge, 1905); V. Cuinet, _La Turquie d'Asie_
(Paris, 1890); J. P. Peters, _Nippur_ (New York and London, 1897); Ed.
Sachau, _Am Euphrat und Tigris_ (Leipzig, 1900); A. V. Geere, _By Nile and
Euphrates_ (Edinburgh, 1904).
(J. P. PE.)
BAGDAD, or BAGHDAD, the capital of the Turkish vilayet of the same name. It
is the headquarters of the VI. Army Corps, which garrisons also the Basra
and Mosul vilayets. It lies on both sides of the river Tigris, in an
extensive desert plain which has scarcely a tree or village throughout its
whole extent, in latitude 33deg 20' N., longitude 44deg 24' E. At this
point the Tigris and the Euphrates approach each other most nearly, the
distance between them being little more than 25 m. At this point also the
two rivers are connected by a canal, the northernmost of a series of canals
which formerly united the two great waterways, and at the same time
irrigated the intervening plain. This canal, the Sakhlawieh (formerly Isa),
leaves the Euphrates a few miles above Feluja and the bridge of boats, near
the ruins of the ancient Anbar. As it approaches Bagdad it spreads out in a
great marsh, and finally, through the Masudi canal, which encircles western
Bagdad, enters the Tigris below the town. At the time of Chesney's survey
of the Euphrates in 1838 this canal was still navigable for craft of some
size. At present it serves no other purpose than to increase the floods
which periodically turn Bagdad into an island city, and sometimes threaten
to overwhelm the dikes which protect it and to submerge it entirely.
The original city of Bagdad was built on the western bank of the Tigris,
but this is now, and has been for centuries, little more than a suburb of
the larger and more important city on the eastern shore, the former
containing an area of only 146 acres within the walls, while the latter
extends over 591 acres. Both the eastern and the western part of the city
were formerly enclosed by brick walls, with large round towers at the
principal angles and smaller towers intervening at shorter distances, the
whole surrounded by a deep fosse. There were three gates in the [v.03
p.0195] western city and four in the eastern; one of the latter, however,
on the north side, called "Gate of the Talisman" from an Arabic inscription
bearing the date A.D. 1220, has remained closed since the capture of the
city by Murad IV. in 1638. These walls all fell into decay long since; at
places they were used as brick quarries, and finally the great reforming
governor, (1868-1872), Midhat Pasha, following the example set by many
European cities, undertook to destroy them altogether and utilize the free
space thus obtained as a public park and esplanade. His plans were only
partially carried out. At present fragments of the walls exist here and
there, with the great ditch about them, while elsewhere a line of mounds
marks their course. A great portion of the ground within the wall lines is
not occupied by buildings, especially in the north-western quarter; and
even in the more populous parts of the city, near the river, a considerable
space between the houses is occupied by gardens, where pomegranates, figs,
oranges, lemons and date-palms grow in great abundance, so that the city,
when seen at a distance, has the appearance of rising out of the midst of
trees.
Along the Tigris the city spreads out into suburbs, the most important of
which is Kazemain, on the western side of the river northward, opposite
which on the eastern side lies Muazzam. The former of these is connected
with western Bagdad by a very primitive horse-tramway, also a relic of
Midhat Pasha's reforms. The two parts of the city are joined by pontoon
bridges, one in the suburbs and one in the main city. The Tigris is at this
point some 275 yds. wide and very deep. Its banks are of mud, with no other
retaining walls than those formed by the foundations of the houses, which
are consequently always liable to be undermined by the action of the water.
The western part of the city, which is very irregular in shape, is occupied
entirely by Shi'as. It has its own shops, bazaars, mosques, &c., and
constitutes a quarter by itself. Beyond the wall line on that side vestiges
of ancient buildings are visible in various directions, and the plain is
strewn with fragments of bricks, tiles and rubbish. A burying-ground has
also extended itself over a large tract of land, formerly occupied by the
streets of the city. The form of the new or eastern city is that of an
irregular oblong, about 1500 paces in length by 800 in breadth. The town
has been built without the slightest regard to regularity; the streets are
even more intricate and winding than those in most other Eastern towns, and
with the exception of the bazaars and some open squares, the interior is
little else than a labyrinth of alleys and passages. The streets are
unpaved and in many places so narrow that two horsemen can scarcely pass
each other; as it is seldom that the houses have windows facing the
thoroughfares, and the doors are small and mean, they present on both sides
the gloomy appearance of dead walls. All the buildings, both public and
private, are constructed of furnace-burnt bricks of a yellowish-red colour,
principally derived from the ruins of other places, chiefly Madain
(Ctesiphon), Wasit and Babylon, which have been plundered at various times
to furnish materials for the construction of Bagdad.
The houses of the richer classes are regularly built about an interior
court. The ground floor, except for the _serdab_, is given up to kitchens,
store-rooms, servants' quarters, stables, &c. The principal rooms are on
the first floor and open directly from a covered veranda, which is reached
by an open staircase from the court. These constitute the winter residence
of the family, reception rooms, &c. The roofs of the houses are all flat,
surrounded by parapets of sufficient height to protect them from the
observation of the dwellers opposite, and separate them from their
neighbours. In the summer the population sleeps and dines upon the roofs,
which thus constitute to all intents a third storey. The remainder of the
day, so far as family life is concerned, is spent in the _serdab_, a cellar
sunk somewhat below the level of the courtyard, damp from frequent
wettings, with its half windows covered with hurdles thatched with camel
thorn and kept dripping with water. Occasionally the _serdabs_ are provided
with punkahs.
Sometimes, in the months of June, July and August, when the _sherki_ or
south wind is blowing, the thermometer at break of day is known to stand at
112deg F., while at noon it rises to 119deg and a little before two o'clock
to 122deg, standing at sunset at 114deg, but this scale of temperature is
exceptional. Ordinarily during the summer months the thermometer averages
from about 75deg at sunrise to 107deg at the hottest time of the day. Owing
to the extreme dryness of the atmosphere and the fact that there is always
a breeze, usually from the N.W., this heat is felt much less than a greatly
lower temperature in a more humid atmosphere. Moreover, the nights are
almost invariably cool.
Formerly Bagdad was intersected by innumerable canals and aqueducts which
carried the water of both the Euphrates and the Tigris through the streets
and into the houses. To-day these have all vanished, with the exception of
one aqueduct which still conveys the water of the Tigris to the shrine of
Abd al-Qadir (ul-Kadir). The present population draws its water directly
from the Tigris, and it is distributed through the city in goat-skins
carried on the backs of men and asses. There is, of course, no sewerage
system, the surfaces of the streets serving that purpose, and what garbage
and refuse is not consumed by the dog scavengers washes down into the
Tigris at the same place from which the water for drinking is drawn. As a
consequence of these insanitary conditions the death-rate is very high, and
in case of epidemics the mortality is enormous. At such times a large part
of the population leaves the city and encamps in the desert northward.
The principal public buildings of the city, such as they are, lie in the
eastern section along the river bank. To the north, just within the old
wall line, stands the citadel, surrounded by a high wall, with a lofty
clock-tower which commands an excellent view. To the south of this, also on
the Tigris, is the _serai_ or palace of the Turkish governor, distinguished
rather for extent than grandeur. It is comparatively modern, built at
different periods, a large and confused structure without proportion,
beauty or strength. Somewhat farther southward, just below the pontoon
bridge, stands the custom house, which occupies the site and is built out
of the material of the medreseh or college of Mostansir (A.D. 1233). Of the
original building of the caliph Mostansir all that remains is a minaret and
a small portion of the outer walls. Farther down are the imposing buildings
of the British residency. The German consulate also is on the river-front.
As in all Mahommedan cities, the mosques are conspicuous objects. Of these
very few are old. The Marjanieh mosque, not far from the minaret of
Mostansir, although its body is modern, has some remains of old and very
rich arabesque work on its surface, dating from the 14th century. The door
is formed by a lofty arch of the pointed form guarded on both sides with
red bands exquisitely sculptured and having numerous inscriptions. The
mosque of Khaseki, supposed to have been an old Christian church, is
chiefly distinguished for its prayer niche, which, instead of being a
simple recess, is crowned by a Roman arch, with square pedestals, spirally
fluted shafts and a rich capital of flowers, with a fine fan or shell-top
in the Roman style. The building in its present form bears the date of A.D.
1682, but the sculptures which it contains belong probably to the time of
the caliphate. The minaret of Suk el-Ghazl, in the south-eastern part of
the city, dates from the 13th century. The other mosques, of which there
are about thirty within the walls, excluding the chapels and places of
prayer, are all of recent erection. Most of them are surmounted by
bright-coloured cupolas and minarets. The Mosque of the Vizier, on the
eastern side of the Tigris, near the pontoon bridge, has a fine dome and a
lofty minaret, and the Great Mosque in the square of el Meidan, in the
neighbourhood of the _serai_, is also a noble building.
The other mosques do not merit any particular attention, and in general it
may be said that Bagdad architecture is neither distinctive nor imposing.
Such attractions as the buildings possess are due rather to the richly
coloured tiles with which many of them are adorned, or to inscriptions,
like the Kufic inscription, dated A.D. 944, on the ruined _tekke_ of the
Bektash dervishes in western Bagdad. More important than the mosques [v.03
p.0196] proper are the tomb mosques. Of these, the most important and most
imposing is that of Kazemain, in the northern suburb of the western city.
Here are buried the seventh and ninth of the successors of Ali, recognized
by Shi'as, namely Musa Ibn Ja'far el-Kazim, and his grandson, Mahommed Ibn
Ali el-Jawad. In its present form this mosque dates from the 19th century.
The two great domes above the tombs, the four lofty minarets and part of
the facade of this shrine, are overlaid with gold, and from whatever
direction the traveler approaches Bagdad, its glittering domes and minarets
are the first objects which meet his eye. It is one of the four great
shrines of the Shi'ite Moslems in the vilayet of Bagdad. Christians are not
allowed to enter its precincts, and the population of the Kazemain quarter
is so fanatical that it is difficult and even dangerous to approach it.
In the suburb of Muazzam, on the western side of the river, is the tomb of
Ab[=u] [H.]anifa (_q.v._), the canon lawyer. There is a large mosque with a
painted dome connected with this tomb, which is an object of veneration to
the Sunni Moslems, but it seems cheap and unworthy in comparison with the
magnificent shrine of Kazemain. On the same side of the river, lower down,
is the shrine of Abd al-Qadir al-Jilani (of Jilan), founder of the
Q[=a]dirite (Kadaria) sect of dervishes, also a noted place of pilgrimage.
The original tomb was erected about A.D. 1253, but the present fine dome
above the grave is later by at least two or three centuries. The possessor
or controller of this wealthy mosque is the _nakib_, locally pronounced
_najeeb_, or marshal of the nobles, whose office is to determine who are
Se'ids, _i.e._ entitled to wear the green turban. He is second only to the
governor or vali pasha in power, and indeed his influence is often greater
than that of the official ruler of the vilayet. Just outside of the wall of
the western city lies the tomb and shrine of Ma'ruf Karkhi, dating from
A.D. 1215, which also is a place of pilgrimage. Close to this stands the
so-called tomb of Sitte Zobeide (Zobaida), with its octagonal base and
pineapple dome, one of the most conspicuous and curious objects in the
neighbourhood of Bagdad. Unfortunately it is rapidly falling into decay. K.
Niebuhr reports that in his day (A.D. 1750) this tomb bore an inscription
setting forth that Ayesha Khanum, the wife of the governor of Bagdad, was
buried here in 1488, her grave having been made in the ancient sepulchre of
the lady Zobeide (Zobaida), granddaughter of Caliph Mansur and wife of
Harun al-Rashid, who died in A.D. 831. The tomb was restored at the time of
her burial, at which date it was already ancient, and it was evidently
believed to be the tomb of Zobeide. Contemporary historians, however, state
that Zobeide was actually buried in Kazemain, and moreover, early writers,
who describe the neighbouring tomb and shrine of Ma'ruf Karkhi, make no
reference to this monument.
About 3 m. west of Bagdad, on the Euphrates road, in or by a grove of
trees, stands the shrine and tomb of Nabi Yusha or Kohen Yusha, a place of
monthly pilgrimage to the Jews, who believe it to be the place of sepulture
of Joshua, son of Josedech, the high priest at the close of the exilian
period. This is one of four similar Jewish shrines in Irak; the others
being the tomb of Ezra on the Shatt el-Arab near Korna, the tomb of Ezekiel
in the village of Kefil near Kufa, and the well of Daniel near Hillah. This
shrine is also venerated by Moslems, who call it the tomb of Yusuf
(Joseph). The Jews bury here their chief priests, a right the Moslems at
times contest, and in 1889 a serious conflict between Jews and Moslems
resulted from an attempt of the former to exercise this right.
There are said to be about thirty _khans_ or caravanserais in Bagdad for
the reception of pilgrims and merchants and their goods, none of which is
of any importance as a building, with the single exception of the khan
el-Aurtmeh adjoining the Marjanieh mosque, to which it formerly belonged.
This dates from A.D. 1356, and is said to occupy the site of an ancient
Christian church. Its vaulted roof is a fine specimen of Saracenic
brickwork. In recent years the demands of modern travel have led to the
establishment of a hotel, which affords comfortable accommodation according
to European methods. There is also an English club-house. There are said to
be about fifty baths in Bagdad, but in general they are inferior in
construction and accommodation. The bazaars of Bagdad are extensive and
well stocked, and while not so fine in construction as those of some other
Eastern cities, they are more interesting in their contents and industries,
because Bagdad has on the whole been less affected by foreign innovations.
Several of the bazaars are vaulted over with brickwork, but the greater
number are merely covered with flat beams which support roofs of dried
leaves or branches of trees and grass. The streets of the entire business
section of the city are roofed over in this manner, and in the summer
months the shelter from the sun is very grateful, but in the winter these
streets are extremely trying to the foreign visitor, owing to their
darkness and their damp and chilly atmosphere.
Bagdad is about 500 m. from the Persian Gulf, following the course of the
river. It maintains steam communication with Basra, its port, which is
situated on the Shatt el-Arab, somewhat more than 50 m. from the Persian
Gulf, by means of two lines of steamers, one English and one Turkish.
British steamers were first placed upon the Tigris as a result of the
expedition of Colonel F. R. Chesney, in 1836. Since that time, a British
gunboat has been stationed before the residency, and British steamers have
been allowed to navigate the river. Only two of these, however, maintain a
weekly connexion with Basra, and they are quite inadequate to the freight
traffic between the two cities. The more numerous vessels of the Turkish
service are so small, so inadequately equipped and so poorly handled, that
they are used for either passenger or freight transport only by those who
cannot secure the services of the British steamers. The navigation of the
Tigris during the greater party of its course from Bagdad to Korna is slow
and uncertain. The river, running through an absolutely flat country,
composed entirely of alluvial soil, is apt to change its channel. In flood
time the country at places becomes a huge lake, through which it is
extremely difficult to find the channel. In the dry season, the autumn and
winter, on the other hand, there is danger of grounding on the constantly
shifting flats and shoals. To add to the uncertainties of navigation, the
inhabitants along the eastern bank of the stream frequently dig new canals
for irrigation purposes, which both reduces the water of the river and
tends to make it shift its channel. Above Bagdad there are no steamers on
the Tigris, but sailing vessels of 30 tons and more navigate the river to
Samarra and beyond. The characteristic craft for local service in the
immediate environment of Bagdad is the _kufa_, a circular boat of
basket-work covered with bitumen, often of a size sufficient to carry five
or six horses and a dozen men. These boats have been employed from the
remotest antiquity through all this region, and are often depicted on the
old Assyrian monuments. Equally ancient are the rafts called _kellek_,
constructed of inflated goat-skins, covered with a framework of wood, often
supporting a small house for passengers, which descend the Tigris from
above Diarbekr. The wood of these rafts is sold in Bagdad, and constitutes,
in fact, the chief supply of wood in that city.
Bagdad also lies on a natural line of communication between Persia and the
west, the ancient caravan route from Khorasan debouching from the mountains
at this point, while another natural caravan route led up the Euphrates to
Syria and the Mediterranean and still another up the Tigris to Armenia and
the Black Sea. It was its situation at the centre of the lines of
communication between India and Persia and the west, both by land and
water, which gave the city its great importance in early times. With the
change of the methods of transportation its importance has naturally
declined. The trade of Persia with the west now passes either through the
ports of the Persian Gulf or northward over Trebizond, while India
communicates with the west directly through the Suez Canal. Bagdad is,
therefore, a decayed city. Money is scarce among all classes, and the wages
of common labourers are scarcely half what is paid in Syria. It is still,
however, the centre of distribution for a very large, if scantily
populated, country, and it also derives much profit from pilgrims, lying as
it does on the route which Shi'ite [v.03 p.0197] pilgrims from Persia must
take on their way to the sacred cities. It also possesses important shrines
of its own which cause many pilgrims to linger there, and wealthy Indians
not infrequently choose Bagdad as a suitable spot in which to end their
days in the odour of sanctity. There has also sprung up of late years
considerable direct trade between the European and American markets and
Bagdad, and several foreign houses, especially English, have established
themselves there. Germany also has invaded this market.
The staple articles of export are hides, wool and dates. The export trade
of Bagdad amounts to about L750,000 annually, and the import trade to about
L2,000,000. The imports consist of oil, cheap cottons, shoes and other
similar goods, which are taking the place of the picturesque native
manufactures. Even the Bedouin Arabs wear headdresses of cheap European
cotton stuff purchased in Bagdad or thereabouts, while the common water
vessels throughout the country are five-gallon petroleum tins, which also
furnish metal for the manufacture of various utensils in the native
bazaars.
Bagdad is in communication with Europe by means of two lines of telegraph,
one British and one Turkish, and two postal services. There is a British
consul-general, who is also political agent to the Indian government. His
state is second only to that of the British ambassador at Constantinople.
Besides the gunboat in the river, he has a guard of sepoys, and there is an
Indian post-office in the residency. Formerly the British government
maintained a camel-post across the desert to Damascus. This was abandoned
about 1880 when the Turks established a similar service. By means of the
Turkish camel-post letters reached Damascus in nine days. There is also a
Russian consul-general at Bagdad, and French, Austrian and American
consuls.
The Euphrates Valley (or Bagdad) railway scheme, which had previously been
discussed, was brought forward prominently in 1899, and Russian proposals
to undertake it were rejected. British proposals followed, but were opposed
by the Germans, who, as controlling the line to Konia in Asia Minor,
claimed preference in the matter. A provisional convention was granted to a
German company by the Porte, and an irade was obtained in 1902. In 1903
there was considerable discussion as to the placing of the line under
international control, and the question aroused special interest in England
in view of the short route which the line would provide to India, in
connexion with fast steamship services in the Mediterranean and the Persian
Gulf. It was decided by the British government that the proposals made to
this effect did not offer sufficient security. The financial arrangement as
finally agreed upon was that German financiers should control 40% of the
capital of the line; French (through the Imperial Ottoman Bank), 30%;
Austrian, Swiss, Italian and Turkish, 20%; and the Anatolian Railway
Company, 10%. In 1904 the line was completed from Konia through Eregli to
Bulgurli. In 1908 an irade sanctioned the extension across the Taurus to
Adana, and so to Helif near Mardin (522 m.).
The population of Bagdad is estimated variously from 70,000 to 200,000;
perhaps halfway between may represent approximately the reality. More than
two-thirds of the population are Moslems, mostly Shi'as, with the exception
of the official classes. There are about 34,000 Jews occupying a quarter of
their own in the north-western part of the city; while in a neighbouring
quarter dwell upwards of 6000 Christians, chiefly so-called Chaldaeans or
Nestorians. The Carmelites maintain a mission in Bagdad, as does also the
(English) Church Missionary Society. The Jews are the only part of the
population who are provided with schools. A school for boys was established
by the _Alliance Israelite_ in 1865, and one for girls in 1899. Besides
these, there is also an apprentice school for industrial training.
The Jews constitute the wealthiest and most intelligent portion of the
population. A large part of the foreign trade is in their hands, and at the
season of the sheep-shearing their agents and representatives are found
everywhere among the Bedouins and _Madan_ Arabs of the interior, purchasing
the wool and selling various commodities in return. They are the bankers of
the country, and it is through their communications that the traveller is
able to obtain credit. They are also the dealers in antiquities, both
genuine and fraudulent. Next to them in enterprise and prosperity are the
Persians. The porters of the town are all Kurds, the river-men Chaldaean
Christians. Every nation retains its peculiar dress. The characteristic,
but by no means attractive, street dress of the Moslem women of the better
class comprises a black horse-hair visor completely covering the face and
projecting like an enormous beak, the nether extremities being encased in
yellow boots reaching to the knee and fully displayed by the method of
draping the garments in front.
Bagdad is governed by a pasha, assisted by a council. The pasha and the
higher officials in general come from Constantinople, but a very large
portion of the other Turkish officials seem to come from the town of
Kerkuk. They constitute a class quite distinct from the native Arab
population, and they and the Turkish government in general are intensely
unpopular among the Arabs, an unpopularity increased by their religious
differences, the Arabs being as a rule Shi'ites, the Turks Sunnites.
Besides the court of superior officers, which assists the pasha in the
general administration of the province, there is also a _mejlis_ or mixed
tribunal for the settlement of municipal and commercial affairs, to which
both Christian and Jewish merchants are admitted. Besides these, there are
the religious heads of the community, especially the _nakib_ and Jewish
high priest, who possess an undefined and extensive authority in their own
communities. The Jewish chief priest may be said to be the successor of the
_exilarch_ or _resh galutha_ of the earlier period.
_History._--There are in or near Bagdad a few remains of a period
antedating Islam, the most conspicuous of which are the ruins of the palace
of Chosroes at Ctesiphon or Madain, about 15 m. below Bagdad on the east
side of the river. Almost equally conspicuous, and a landmark through the
whole region, is the ruin called Akerkuf, in the desert, about 9 m.
westward of Bagdad. This consists of a huge tower of unburned brick resting
on a small hill of debris, the whole rising to a height of 100 ft. or more
above the plain, in the centre of a network of ancient canals. Inscribed
bricks found in the neighbourhood seem to connect this ruin with Kurigalzu,
king of Babylon about 1300 B.C. Under substantially its present name,
Akukafa, it is mentioned as a place of importance in connexion with the
canals as late as the Abbasid caliphate. Within the limits of the city
itself, on the west bank of the Tigris, are the remains of a quay, first
observed by Sir Henry Rawlinson, at a period of low water, in 1849, built
of bricks laid in bitumen, and bearing an inscription of Nebuchadrezzar,
king of Babylon. _Baghdadu_ was an ancient Babylonian city, dating back
perhaps as far as 2000 B.C., the name occurring in lists in the library of
Assur-bani-pal. It is also mentioned on the Michaux stone, found on the
Tigris near the site of the present city, and dating from the time of
Tiglath-Pileser I. (1100 B.C.) The quay of Nebuchadrezzar, mentioned above,
establishes the fact that this ancient city of Baghdadu was located on the
site of western or old Bagdad (see further under CALIPHATE: _Abbasids_,
sections 2 foll.). References in the Jewish _Talmud_ show that this city
still continued to exist at and after the commencement of our era; but
according to Arabian writers, at the time when the Arab city of Bagdad was
founded by the caliph Mansur, there was nothing on that site except an old
convent. One may venture to doubt the literal accuracy of this statement.
It is clear that the ancient name, at least, still held firm possession of
the site and was hence inherited by the new city.
The Arab city, the old or round city of Bagdad, was founded by the caliph
Mansur of the Abbasid dynasty on the west side of the Tigris just north of
the Isa canal in A.D. 762. It was a mile in diameter, built in concentric
circles, with the mosque and palace of the caliph in the centre, and had
four gates toward the four points of the compass. It grew with great
rapidity. The suburb of Rusafa, on the eastern bank, sprang up almost
immediately, and after the siege and capture of the round city by Mamun, in
814, this became the most important part of the capital. The period of the
greatest prosperity of Bagdad was the period from its foundation until the
death of Mamun, the [v.03 p.0198] successor of Harun, in 833. During this
period the city, including both sides of the river, was 5 m. across within
the walls, and it is said to have had a population of 2,000,000 souls. In
literature, art and science, it divided the supremacy of the world with
Cordova; in commerce and wealth it far surpassed that city. How its
splendour impressed the imagination may be seen from the stories of the
_Arabian Nights_. It was the religious capital of all Islam, and the
political capital of the greater part of it, at a time when Islam bore the
same relation to civilization which Christendom does to-day. As in Spanish
Islam, so in the lands of the eastern caliphate, the Jews were treated
relatively with favour. The seat of the _exilarch_ or _resh galutha_ was
transferred from Pumbedita (Pumbeditha or Pombeditha) in Babylonia to
Bagdad, which thus became the capital of oriental Judaism; from then to the
present day the Jews have played no mean part in Bagdad.
Situated in a region where there is no stone, and practically no timber,
Bagdad was built, like all the cities of the Babylonian plain, of brick and
tiles. Its buildings depended for their effect principally on mass and
gorgeous colouring. Like old Babylon, also, Bagdad was celebrated
throughout the world for its brilliant-coloured textile fabrics. So famous
was the silk of Bagdad, manufactured in the Attabieh quarter (named after
Attab, a contemporary of the Prophet), that the place-name passed over into
Spanish, Italian, French and finally into English in the form of "tabby,"
as the designation of a rich-coloured watered silk. Depending on coloured
tiles and gorgeous fabrics for their rich effects, nothing of the buildings
of the times of Harun al-Rashid or Mamun, once counted so magnificent, have
come down to us. All have perished in the numerous sieges and inundations
which have devastated the city.
With the rise of the Turkish body-guard under Mamun's successor, Mo'tassim,
began the downfall of the Abbasid dynasty, and with it of the Abbasid
capital, Bagdad. Mo'tassim founded Samarra, and for fifty-eight years
caliph and court deserted Bagdad (see CALIPHATE, sect. C). Then, in A.D.
865, Mosta'in, attempting to escape from the tyranny of the Turkish guard,
fled back again to Bagdad. The attempt was futile, Bagdad was besieged and
taken, and from that time until their final downfall the Abbasid caliphs
were mere puppets, while the real rulers were successively the Turkish
guard, the Buyids and the Seljuks. But during all this period the caliphs
continued to be the religious heads of Islam and their residence its
capital. Bagdad, accordingly, although fallen from its first eminence,
continued to be a city of the first rank, and during most of that period
still the richest and most splendid city in the world. Its religious
importance is attested by the number of its great shrines dating from those
times; as for its wealth and size, while, as stated above, few remains of
the actual buildings of that period survive, we still have abundant records
describing their character, their size and their position. With the last
century of the caliphates began a more rapid decline. From the records of
that period it seems that the present city is identical in the position of
its walls and the space occupied by the town proper with Bagdad at the
close of the 12th century, the period when this rapid decline had already
advanced so far that the western city is described by travellers as almost
in ruins, and the eastern half as containing large uninhabited spaces. With
the capture of the city by the Mongols, under Hulagu (Hulaku), the grandson
of Jenghiz Khan, in 1258, and the extinction of the Abbasid caliphate of
Bagdad, its importance as the religious centre of Islam passed away, and it
ceased to be a city of the first rank, although the glamour of its former
grandeur still clung to it, so that even to-day in Turkish official
documents it is called the "glorious city."
The Tatars retained possession of Bagdad for a century and a half, until
about A.D. 1400. Then it was taken by Timur, from whom the sultan Ahmed Ben
Avis fled, and, finding refuge with the Greek emperor, contrived later to
repossess himself of the city, whence he was finally expelled by Kara Yusuf
of the Kara-Kuyunli ("Black Sheep") Mongols in 1417. About 1468 the
descendants of the latter were driven out by Uzun Hasan or Cassim of the
Ak-Kuyunli ("White Sheep") Mongols. He and his descendants reigned in
Bagdad until Shah Ismail I., the founder of the Safawid royal house of
Persia, made himself master of the place (_c._ 1502 or 1508). From that
time it continued for a long period an object of contention between the
Turks and the Persians. It was taken by Suleiman I. the Magnificent and
retaken by Shah Abbas the Great, in 1620. Eighteen years later, in 1638, it
was besieged by Sultan Murad IV., with an army of 300,000 men and, after an
obstinate resistance, forced to surrender, when, in defiance of the terms
of capitulation, most of the inhabitants were massacred.
Since that period it has remained nominally a part of the Turkish empire;
but with the decline of Turkish power, and the general disintegration of
the empire, in the first half of the 18th century, a then governor-general,
Ahmed Pasha, made it an independent pashalic. Nadir Shah, the able and
energetic usurper of the Persian throne, attempting to annex the province
once more to Persia, besieged the city, but Ahmed defended it with such
courage that the invader was compelled to raise the siege, after suffering
great loss. Turkish authority over the pashalic was again restored in the
first part of the 19th century.
AUTHORITIES.--Allen's _Indian Mail_ (1874); J. S. Buckingham _Travels in
Mesopotamia_ (1827); Sir R. K. Porter, _Travels in Georgia, Persia, Armenia
and Ancient Babylonia_ (1821-1822); J. M. Kinneir, _Geographical Memoir of
the Persian Empire_ (1813); F. R. Chesney, _Expedition_ (1850); J. B. L. J.
Rousseau, _Description du pachalik de Bagdad_ (1809); J. R. Wellsted, _City
of the Caliphs_; A. N. Groves, _Residence in Baghdad_ (1830-1832);
_Transactions of Bombay Geog. Soc._ (1856); G. le Strange, _Description of
Mesopotamia and Baghdad about A.D. 900_; "Greek Embassy to Baghdad in A.D.
917," in _Journal Royal Asiatic Society_, 1895, 1897; _Baghdad under the
Abbasid Caliphate_ (1901).
(H. C. R.; J. P. PE.)
BAGE, a town and municipality of the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil,
about 176 m. by rail W.N.W. of the city of Rio Grande do Sul. Pop. of the
municipality (1890) 22,692. It is situated in a hilly region 774 ft. above
sea-level, and is the commercial centre of a large district on the
Uruguayan border in which pastoral occupations are largely predominant.
This region is the watershed for southern Rio Grande do Sul, from which
streams flow E. and S.E. to the Atlantic coast, and N.W. and S.W. to the
Uruguay river. The town dates from colonial times, and has always been
considered a place of military importance because of its nearness to the
Uruguay frontier, only 25 m. distant. It was captured by the Argentine
general Lavalle in 1827, and figured conspicuously in most of the civil
wars of Argentina. It is also much frequented by Uruguayan revolutionists.
BAGEHOT, WALTER (1826-1877), English publicist and economist, editor of the
_Economist_ newspaper from 1860 to his death, was born at Langport,
Somerset, on the 3rd of February 1826, his father being a banker at that
place. Bagehot was altogether a remarkable personality, his writings on
different subjects exhibiting the same bent of mind and
characteristics,--philosophic reflectiveness, practical common-sense, a
bright and buoyant humour, brilliant wit and always a calm and tolerant
judgment of men and things. Though he belonged to the Liberal party in
politics he was essentially of conservative disposition, and often spoke
with sarcastic boastfulness to his Liberal friends of the stupidity and
tenacity of the English mind in adhering to old ways, as displayed in city
and country alike. His life was comparatively uneventful, as he early gave
up to literature the energies which might have gained him a large fortune
in business or a great position in the political world. He took his degree
at the London University in 1848, and was called to the bar in 1852, but
from an early date he joined his father in the banking business of Stuckey
& Co. in the west of England, and during a great part of his life, while he
was editor of the _Economist_, he managed the London agency of the bank,
lending its surplus money in "Lombard Street," and otherwise attending to
its London affairs. He became also an underwriter at Lloyd's, taking no
part, however, in the active detailed business, which was done for him by
proxy.
Bagehot's connexion with the _Economist_ began in 1858, about which time he
married a daughter of the first editor, the Right Hon. James Wilson, at
that time secretary of the treasury, and afterwards secretary of finance in
India. Partly through this [v.03 p.0199] connexion he was brought into the
inside of the political life of the time. He was an intimate friend of Sir
George Cornewall Lewis, and was afterwards in constant communication with
many of the political chiefs, especially with Gladstone, Robert Lowe and
Grant Duff, and with the permanent heads of the great departments of state.
In the city in the same way he was intimate with the governor and directors
of the Bank of England, and with leading magnates in the banking and
commercial world; while his connexion with the Political Economy Club
brought him into contact in another way with both city and politics. His
active life in business and politics, however, was not of so absorbing a
kind as to prevent his real devotion to literature, but the literature
largely grew out of his activities, and of no one can it be said more truly
than of Bagehot that the atmosphere in which he lived gave tone and colour
and direction to his studies, one thing of course acting and reacting on
another. The special note of his books, apart from his remarkable gift of
conversational epigrammatic style, which gives a peculiar zest to the
writing, is the quality of scientific dispassionate description of matters
which were hardly thought of previously as subjects of scientific study.
This is specially the case with the two books which perhaps brought him the
most reputation, _The English Constitution_ (1867) and _Lombard Street_
(1873). They are both books of observation and description. The English
constitution is described, not from law books and as a lawyer would
describe it, but from the actual working, as Bagehot himself had witnessed
it, in his contact with ministers and the heads of government departments,
and with the life of the society in which the politicians moved. The true
springs and method of action are consequently described with a vivid
freshness which gives the book a wonderful charm, and makes it really a new
departure in the study of politics. It is the same with _Lombard Street_.
The money market is there pictured as it really was in 1850-1870, and as
Bagehot saw it with philosophic eyes. Beginning with the sentence, "The
objects which you see in Lombard Street are the Bank of England, the joint
stock banks, the private banks and the discount houses," he describes
briefly and clearly the respective functions of these different bodies in
the organism of the city, according to his own close observation as a
banker himself, knowing the ways and thoughts of the men he describes, and
as a man of business likewise in other ways, knowing at first hand the
relation of banking to the trade and commerce of the country. _Lombard
Street_ is perhaps a riper work than _The English Constitution_, as its
foundation was really laid in 1858 in a series of articles which Bagehot
then wrote in the _Economist_, though it was not published till the early
'seventies, after it had been twice rewritten and revised with infinite
labour and care. _Lombard Street_, like _The English Constitution_ in
political studies, is thus a new departure in economic and financial
studies, applying the same sort of keen observation which Adam Smith used
in the analysis of business generally to the special business of banking
and finance in the complex modern world. It is, perhaps, not going too far
to say that the whole theory of a one-reserve system of banking and how to
work it, and of the practical means of fixing an "apprehension minimum"
below which the reserve should not fall, originated in _Lombard Street_ and
the articles which were the foundation of it; and the subsequent conduct of
banking in England and throughout the world has been infinitely better and
safer in consequence. A like note is also struck in _Physics and Politics_
(1869), which is a description of the evolution of communities of men. The
materials here are derived mainly from books, the surface to be observed
being so extensive, but the attitude is precisely the same, that of a
scientific observer. To a certain extent the _Physics and Politics_ had
even a more remarkable influence on opinion, at least on foreign opinion,
than _The English Constitution_ or _Lombard Street_. It "caught on" as a
development of the theory of evolution in a new direction, and Darwin
himself was greatly interested, while one of the pleasures of Bagehot's
later years was to receive a translation of the book into the Russian
language. In _Literary Studies_ (1879) and _Economic Studies_ (1880),
published after his death, there is more scope than in the books already
mentioned for other characteristics besides those of the scientific
observer, but observation always comes to the front, as in the account of
Ricardo, whom Bagehot describes as often, when he is most theoretical,
really describing what a first-rate man of business would do and think in
actual transactions. The observation, of course, is that of a type of
business man in the city to which Ricardo as well as Bagehot belonged,
though Ricardo could hardly look at it from the outside as Bagehot was able
to do.
Bagehot had great city, political and literary influence, to which all his
activities contributed, and much of his influence was lasting. In politics
and economics especially his habit of scientific observation affected the
tone of discussion, and both the English constitution and the money market
have been better understood generally because he wrote and talked and
diffused his ideas in every possible way. He was unsuccessful in two or
three attempts to enter parliament, but he had the influence of far more
than an ordinary member, as director of the _Economist_ and as the adviser
behind the scenes of the ministers and permanent heads of departments who
consulted him. His death, on the 24th of March 1877, occurred at Langport
very suddenly, when he was in the fullest mental vigour and might have
looked forward to the accomplishment of much additional work and the
exercise of even wider influence.
It is impossible to give a full idea of the brightness and life of
Bagehot's conversation, although the conversational style of his writing
may help those who did not know him personally to understand it. With
winged words he would transfix a fallacy or stamp a true idea so that it
could not be forgotten. He was certainly greater than his books and always
full of ideas. The present writer recalls two notions he had, not for
writing new books himself, but as something that might be done. One was
that there might be a history of recent politics with new lights if some
one were to do it who knew the family connexions and history of English
politicians. This was _apropos_ of the passage of a certain bill through
parliament, when the head of the department in the House of Commons failed
and the management of the measure was taken by the chancellor of the
exchequer himself, a relative of the permanent head of the department
concerned, who was thus able to carry his own ideas in legislation
notwithstanding the failure of his political chief. Another book he wished
to see written was an account of the differences in the administrative
systems of England and Scotland, by which he had been greatly impressed,
the differences not being in detail, but in fundamental idea and in form,
so that no judicial or other officers in the one were represented in the
other by corresponding functionaries. Many other illustrations might be
given of his fulness of ideas which helped to make him an ideal editor.
Reference must also be made to the assistance which Bagehot gave as a
journalist to the study of statistics. From the manipulation of figures he
was most averse, and he rather boasted that he was unable to add up. But he
was a most excellent mathematician, and no one could be so careful as he
was about the logic of the figures got together for his articles, which he
always most carefully scrutinized. He would frequently point out that his
figures were illustrative merely, and did not by themselves establish an
argument. He was always anxious, again, to impress on those about him that
a subject could not be studied with the help of figures and accounts alone.
Whether it was insurance, or banking, or underwriting, or shipowning, he
insisted that some one who knew the business should see the writing before
it was published. Knowing so many departments of business from actual
experience, he was a host in himself as referee, but when in doubt he would
always consult some one who knew the facts; and he used his great influence
so well that in subsequent years it inspired indirectly not a few who were
hardly aware of his claims to be a statistician at all.
(R. GN.)
BAGELKHAND, or BAGHELKHAND, a tract of country in central India, occupied
by a collection of native states. The Bagelkhand agency is under the
political superintendence of the governor-general's agent for central
India, and under the direct jurisdiction of a political agent who is also
superintendent [v.03 p.0200] of the Rewa state, residing ordinarily at
Sutna or Rewa. The agency consists of Rewa state and eleven minor states
and estates, of which the more important are Maihar, Nagode and Sohawal.
The total area is 14,323 sq. m., and the population in 1901 was 1,555,024,
showing a decrease of 11% in the decade, due to the results of famine. The
rainfall was very deficient in 1895-1897, causing famine in 1897; and in
1899-1900 there was drought in some sections. The agency was established in
March 1871. Until that date Bagelkhand was under the Bundelkhand agency,
with which it is geographically and historically connected; a general
description of the country will be found under that heading. According to
Wilson, in his _Glossary of Indian Terms_, the Baghelas, who give their
name to this tract of country, are a branch of the Sisodhyia Rajputs who
migrated eastward and once ruled in Gujarat.
BAGG[=A]RA ("Cowherds"), African "Arabs" of Semitic origin, so called
because they are great cattle owners and breeders. They occupy the country
west of the White Nile between the Shilluk territory and Dar Nuba, being
found principally in Kordofan. They are true nomad Arabs, having
intermarried little with the Nuba, and have preserved most of their
national characteristics. The date of their arrival in the Sudan is
uncertain: they appear to have drifted up the Nile valley and to have
dispossessed the original Nuba population. A purely pastoral people, they
move from pasture to pasture, as food becomes deficient. The true
Bagg[=a]ra tribesmen employ oxen as saddle and pack animals, carry no
shield, and though many possess firearms the customary weapons are lance
and sword. They have always had the reputation of being resolute fighters.
Engaged from the earliest times in the slave trade, they were among the
first, as they were certainly the most fervent, supporters of the mahdi
when he rose in revolt against the Egyptians (1882). They constituted his
real fighting force, and to their fanatical courage his victories were due.
Their decision to follow him out of their own country to Khartum brought
about the fall of that city. The mahdi's successor, the khalifa Abdullah,
was a Bagg[=a]ra, and throughout his rule the tribe held the first place in
his favour. They have been described as "men who look the fiends they
really are--of most sinister expression, with murder and every crime
speaking from their savage eyes. Courage is their only good quality." They
are famous, too, as hunters of big game, attacking even elephants with
sword and spear. G. A. Schweinfurth declares them the best-looking of the
Nile nomads, and the men are types of physical beauty, with fine heads,
erect athletic bodies and sinewy limbs. There is little that is Semitic in
their appearance. Their skins vary in colour from a dark red-brown to a
deep black; but their features are regular and free of negro
characteristics. In mental power they are much superior to the indigenous
races around them. They have a passion for fine clothes and ornaments,
tricking themselves out with glass trinkets, rings and articles of ivory
and horn. Their mode of hair-dressing (mop-fashion) earned them, in common
with the Hadendoa, the name of "Fuzzy-wuzzies" among the British soldiers
in the campaigns of 1884-98.
See G. A. Schweinfurth, _Heart of Africa_ (1874); Sir F. R. Wingate,
_Mahdism and the Egyptian Sudan_ (1891), _Anglo-Egyptian Sudan_, edited by
Count Gleichen (1905); A. H. Keane, _Ethnology of the Egyptian Sudan_
(1884).
BAGGESEN, JENS IMMANUEL (1764-1826), Danish poet, was born on the 15th of
February 1764 at Korsor. His parents were very poor, and before he was
twelve he was sent to copy documents at the office of the clerk of the
district. He was a melancholy, feeble child, and before this he had
attempted suicide more than once. By dint of indomitable perseverance, he
managed to gain an education, and in 1782 entered the university of
Copenhagen. His success as a writer was coeval with his earliest
publication; his _Comical Tales_ in verse, poems that recall the _Broad
Grins_ that Colman the younger brought out a decade later, took the town by
storm, and the struggling young poet found himself a popular favourite at
twenty-one. He then tried serious lyrical writing, and his tact, elegance
of manner and versatility, gained him a place in the best society. This
sudden success received a blow in 1789, when a very poor opera, _Holge
Danske_, which he had produced, was received with mockery and a reaction
against him set in. He left Denmark in a rage and spent the next years in
Germany, France and Switzerland. He married at Berne in 1790, began to
write in German and published in that language his next poem, _Alpenlied_.
In the winter of the same year he returned to his mother-country, bringing
with him as a peace-offering his fine descriptive poem, the _Labyrinth_, in
Danish, and was received with unbounded homage. The next twenty years were
spent in incessant restless wanderings over the north of Europe, Paris
latterly becoming his nominal home. He continued to publish volumes
alternately in Danish and German. Of the latter the most important was the
idyllic epos in hexameters called _Parthenais_ (1803). In 1806 he returned
to Copenhagen to find the young Oehlenschlager installed as the great poet
of the day, and he himself beginning to lose his previously unbounded
popularity. Until 1820 he resided in Copenhagen, in almost unceasing
literary feud with some one or other, abusing and being abused, the most
important feature of the whole being Baggesen's determination not to allow
Oehlenschlager to be considered a greater poet than himself. He then left
Denmark for the last time and went back to his beloved Paris, where he lost
his second wife and youngest child in 1822, and after the miseries of an
imprisonment for debt, fell at last into a state of hopeless melancholy
madness. In 1826, having slightly recovered, he wished to see Denmark once
more, but died in the freemasons' hospital at Hamburg on his way, on the
3rd of October, and was buried at Kiel. His many-sided talents achieved
success in all forms of writing, but his domestic, philosophical and
critical works have long ceased to occupy attention. A little more power of
restraining his egotism and passion would have made him one of the wittiest
and keenest of modern satirists, and his comic poems are deathless. The
Danish literature owes Baggesen a great debt for the firmness, polish and
form which he introduced into it--his style being always finished and
elegant. With all his faults he stands as the greatest figure between
Holberg and Oehlenschlager. Of all his poems, however, the loveliest and
best is a little simple song, _There was a time when I was very little_,
which every Dane, high or low, knows by heart, and which is matchless in
its simplicity and pathos. It has outlived all his epics.
(E. G.)
[Illustration]
BAGGING, the name given to the textile stuff used for making bags (see also
SACKING and TARPAULIN). The material used was originally Baltic hemp, while
in the beginning of the 19th century Sunn hemp or India hemp was also
employed. Modern requirements call for so many different types of bagging
that it is not surprising to find all kinds of fibres used for this
purpose. Most bagging is now made from yarns of the jute fibre. The cloth
is, in general, woven with the plain weave, and the warp threads run in
pairs, but large quantities of bags are made from cloths with single warp
threads. In both cases the weave used for the cloth is that shown at A in
the figure, but when double threads of warp are used, the arrangement is
equivalent to the weave shown at B. The interlacings of the two sets of
warp and weft for single and double warp are shown respectively at C and D,
the black marks indicating the warp threads, and the white or blanks
showing the weft. The particular style of bagging depends, naturally, upon
the kind of material it is intended to hold. The coarsest type of bagging
is perhaps that known as "cotton bagging," which derives its name from the
fact that it is used in the manufacture of bags for transporting raw cotton
from the United States of America. It is a heavy fabric 42 in. wide, and
weighs from 2 to 2-1/2 lb per yard. A similar, but rather finer make, is
used for Sea Island and other fine cotton, and for any species of fibrous
material; but for grain, spices, sugar, flour, coffee, manure, &c., the
threads of warp and weft must lie closer, and the warp is usually single.
For transporting such [v.03 p.0201] substances as sugar, it is not uncommon
to line the bag with paper, which excludes foreign matter, and minimizes
the loss. Although there are large quantities of seamless bags woven in the
loom, the greater part of the cloth is woven in the ordinary way. It is
then cut up into the required sizes by hand and by special machines, and
afterwards sewn by one of the chain-stitch or straight-stitch bag
sewing-machines.
BAGHAL, a small native state in the Punjab, India. It is one of the group
known as the Simla Hill states, and has an area of 124 sq. m.; pop. (1901)
25,720, showing an increase of 5% in the decade; a revenue L3300.
BAGHERIA, a town of the province of Palermo, Sicily, 8 m. by rail E. by S.
of Palermo. Pop. (1901) 18,218. It contains many villas of the aristocracy
of Palermo, the majority of which were erected in the 18th century, but
have now fallen into decay.
BAGILLT, a town of Flintshire, North Wales, 14-1/2 m. from Chester, on the
London & North Western railway, in the ancient parish of Holywell. Pop.
(1901) 2637. Its importance is due to its zinc, lead, iron, alkali and
kindred works, and its collieries. Above Bagillt is Bryn Dychwelwch, "Hill
of Retreat," so called from the retreat effected by Owen Gwynedd, when
pursued by Henry II., with superior numbers. Near is Mostyn Hall, dating
from the time of Henry VI., the seat of one of the oldest Welsh families.
Here are antiquities and MSS. (old British history and Welsh, brought from
Gloddaeth), a harp dated 1568, torques (_torchau_), &c. Henry VII., then
earl of Richmond, is said to have been concealed here in the reign of
Richard III., when the lord of Mostyn was Richard ap Howel.
BAGIMOND'S ROLL. In 1274 the council of Lyons imposed a tax of a tenth part
of all church revenues during the six following years for the relief of the
Holy Land. In Scotland Pope Gregory X. entrusted the collection of this tax
to Master Boiamund (better known as Bagimund) de Vitia, a canon of Asti,
whose roll of valuation formed the basis of ecclesiastical taxation for
some centuries. Boiamund proposed to assess the tax, not according to the
old conventional valuation but on the true value of the benefices at the
time of assessment. The clergy of Scotland objected to this innovation,
and, having held a council at Perth in August 1275, prevailed upon Boiamund
to return to Rome for the purpose of persuading the pope to accept the
older method of taxation. The pope insisted upon the tax being collected
according to the true value, and Boiamund returned to Scotland to
superintend its collection. A fragment of Bagimond's Roll in something very
like its original form is preserved at Durham, and has been printed by
James Raine in his _Priory of Coldingham_ (Publications of the Surtees
Society, vol. xii.). It gives the real values in one column and tenth parts
in another column of each of the benefices in the archdeaconry of Lothian.
The actual taxation to which this fragment refers was not the tenth
collected by Boiamund but the tenth of all ecclesiastical property in
England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland granted by Pope Nicholas IV. to Edward
I. of England in the year 1288. The fragment should therefore be regarded
as supplementary to the _Taxatio Ecclesiastica Angliae et Walliae_ printed
by the Record Commissioners in 1802. Although no contemporary copy of
Bagimond's Roll is known to exist, at least three documents give
particulars of the taxation of the Church of Scotland in the 16th century,
which are based upon the original roll.
See _Statuta Ecclesiae Scoticanae_ (Bannatyne Club, Edinburgh, 1866).
BAGIRMI, a country of north-central Africa, lying S.E. of Lake Chad and
forming part of the Chad circumscription of French Congo. It extends some
240 m. north to south and has a breadth of about 150 m., with an area of
20,000 sq. m. The population in 1903 was estimated at 100,000, having been
greatly reduced as the result of wars and slave-raiding. By including
districts S. and S.E. occupied by former vassal states, the area and
population of Bagirmi would be more than doubled. The surface of the
country, which lies about 1000 ft. above sea-level, is almost flat with a
very slight inclination N. to Lake Chad. It forms part of what seems to be
the basin of an immense lake, of which Chad is the remnant. The soil is
clay. The river Shari (_q.v._) forms the western boundary. Numerous
tributaries of the Shari flow through the country, but much of the water is
absorbed by swamps and sand-obstructed channels, and seasons of drought are
recurrent. The southern part of the country is the most fertile. Among the
trees the acacia and the dum-palm are common. Various kinds of rubber vine
are found. The fauna includes the elephant, hippopotamus, lion and several
species of antelope. Ants are very numerous. Millet and sesame are the
principal grains cultivated. Rice grows wild, and several kinds of Poa
grass are used as food by the natives. Cotton and indigo are grown to a
considerable extent, especially by Bornu immigrants. The capital is Chekna,
on a tributary of the Shari, the former capital, Massenia, having been
destroyed in 1898. Fort Lamy at the confluence of the Logone and Shari, and
Fort de Cointet on the middle Shari, are French posts round which towns
have grown. Trade is chiefly with Yola, a town on the Benue in British
Nigeria, and with Khartum via Wadai. There is also an ancient caravan route
which runs through Kanem and across the Sahara to Tripoli.
The population of Bagirmi is mixed. Negroid peoples predominate, but there
are many pastoral Fula and Arabs. The Bagirmese proper are a vigorous,
well-formed race of Negroid-Arab blood, who, according to their own
traditions, came from the eastward several centuries ago, a tradition borne
out by their language, which resembles those spoken on the White Nile. On
their arrival they appear to have taken the place of the Bulala dynasty.
They subdued the Fula and Arabs already settled in the district, and after
being converted to Islam under Abdullah, their fourth king (about 1600),
they extended their authority over a large number of tribes living to the
south and east. The most important of these tribes are the Saras, Gaberi,
Somrai, Gulla, Nduka, Nuba and Sokoro. These pagan tribes were repeatedly
raided by the Bagirmese for slaves. Most of them are of a primitive type
and appear to be dying out. The Saras are remarkable for their herculean
stature, and are one of the most promising of African races. Tree worship
is prevalent among the Somrai and the Gaberi. All the tribes believe in a
supreme being whose voice is the thunder. Polygamy is general in upper
Bagirmi, where some traces of a matriarchal stage of society linger, one
small state being called Beled-el-Mra, "Women's Land," because its ruler is
always a queen.
Bagirmi was made known to Europe by the travels of Dixon Denham (1823),
Heinrich Barth (1852), who was imprisoned by the Bagirmese for some time,
Gustav Nachtigal (1872), and P. Matteucci and A. M. Massari (1881). The
country in 1871 had been conquered by the sultan of Wadai, and about 1890
was over-run by Rabah Zobeir (_q.v._) who subsequently removed farther west
to Bornu. About this time French interest in the countries surrounding Lake
Chad was aroused. The first expedition led thither through Bagirmi met with
disaster, its leader, Paul Crampel, being killed by order of Rabah.
Subsequent missions were more fortunate, and in 1897 Emile Gentil, the
French commissioner for the district, concluded a treaty with the sultan of
Bagirmi, placing his country under French protection. A resident was left
at the capital, Massenia, but on Gentil's withdrawal Rabah descended from
Bornu and forced sultan and resident to flee. It was not until after the
death of Rabah in battle and the rout of his sons (1901) that French
authority was firmly established. Kanem, a country north of Bagirmi and
subject in turn to it and to Wadai, was at the same time brought under
French control. So far as its European rivals are concerned, the French
right to these regions is based on the Franco-German convention of the 15th
of March 1894 and the Anglo-French declaration of the 21st of March 1899.
See H. Barth, _Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa_
(London, 1857-1858); G. Nachtigal, _Sahara und Sudan_ (Berlin, 1879-1889);
E. Gentil, _La Chute de l'Empire de Rabah_ (Paris, 1902). Also FRENCH
CONGO.
BAGNACAVALLO, BARTOLOMMEO (1484-1542), Italian painter. His real name was
RAMENGHI, but he received the cognomen Bagnacavallo from the little village
where he was born. He studied first under Francia, and then proceeded to
[v.03 p.0202] Rome, where he became a pupil of Raphael. While studying
under him he worked along with many others at the decoration of the gallery
in the Vatican, though it is not known what portions are his work. On his
return to Bologna he quickly took the leading place as an artist, and to
him were due the great improvements in the general style of what has been
called the Bolognese school. His works were considered to be inferior in
point of design to some other productions of the school of Raphael, but
they were distinguished by rich colouring and graceful delineation. They
were highly esteemed by Guido Reni and the Carracci, who studied them
carefully and in some points imitated them. The best specimens of
Bagnacavallo's works, the "Dispute of St Augustine," and a "Madonna and
Child," are at Bologna.
BAGNERES-DE-BIGORRE, a town of south-western France, capital of an
arrondissement in the department of Hautes-Pyrenees, 13 m. S.S.E. of Tarbes
on a branch line of the Southern railway. Pop. (1906) 6661. It is
beautifully situated on the left bank of the Adour, at the northern end of
the valley of Campan, and the vicinity abounds in picturesque mountain
scenery. The town is remarkably neat and clean and many of the houses are
built or ornamented with marble. It is one of the principal watering-places
in France, and has some fifty mineral springs, characterized chiefly by the
presence of sulphate of lime or iron. Their temperature ranges
approximately from 59deg to 122deg Fahr., and they are efficacious in cases
of rheumatism, nervous affections, indigestion and other maladies. The
season begins in May and terminates about the end of October, during which
time the population is more than doubled. The Promenade des Coustous is the
centre of the life of Bagneres. Close by stands the church of St Vincent of
the 14th and 15th centuries. The old quarter of the town, in which there
are several old houses, contains a graceful octagonal tower of the 15th
century, the remains of a Jacobin monastery. The Neothermes, occupying part
of the casino, and the Thermes (dating from 1824), which has a good
library, are the principal bathing-establishments; both are town property.
The other chief buildings include the Carmelite church, remains of the old
church of St Jean, a museum and the town-hall. Bagneres has tribunals of
first instance and of commerce, and a communal college. The manufacture of
_barege_, a light fabric of silk and wool, and the weaving and knitting of
woollen goods, wood-turning and the working of marble found in the
neighbourhood and imported from elsewhere, are among the industries, and
there are also slate quarries. Bagneres was much frequented by the Romans,
under whom it was known as _Vicus Aquensis_, but afterwards lost its
renown. It begins to appear again in history in the 12th century when
Centulle III., count of Bigorre, granted it a liberal charter. The baths
rose into permanent importance in the 16th century, when they were visited
by Jeanne d'Albret, mother of Henry IV., and by many other distinguished
persons.
BAGNERES-DE-LUCHON, a town of south-western France, in the department of
Haute-Garonne, 87 m. S.S.W. of Toulouse, on a branch line of the Southern
railway from Montrejeau. Pop. (1906) 3448. The town is situated at the foot
of the central Pyrenees in a beautiful valley at the confluence of the One
and the Pique. It is celebrated for its thermal springs and as a
fashionable resort. Of the promenades the finest and most frequented are
the Allees d'Etigny, an avenue planted with lime-trees, at the southern
extremity of which is the Thermes, or bathing-establishment, one of the
most complete in existence. The springs, which number 48, vary in
composition, but are chiefly impregnated with sulphate of sodium, and range
in temperature from 62deg to 150deg. A large casino was opened in the town
in 1877. The discovery of numerous Roman remains attests the antiquity of
the baths, which are identified with the _Onesiorum Thermae_ of Strabo.
Their revival in modern times dates from the latter half of the 18th
century, and was due to Antoine Megret d'Etigny, _intendant_ of Auch.
BAGOAS, a Persian name (_Bagoi_), a shortened form of names like Bagadata,
"given by God," often used for eunuchs. The best-known of these ("Bagoses"
in Josephus) became the confidential minister of Artaxerxes III. He threw
in his lot with the Rhodian condottiere Mentor, and with his help succeeded
in subjecting Egypt again to the Persian empire (probably 342 B.C.). Mentor
became general of the maritime provinces, suppressed the rebels, and sent
Greek mercenaries to the king, while Bagoas administered the upper
satrapies and gained such power that he was the real master of the kingdom
(Diod. xvi. 50; cf. Didymus, _Comm. in Demosth. Phil._ vi. 5). He became
very wealthy by confiscating the sacred writings of the Egyptian temples
and giving them back to the priests for large bribes (Diod. xvi. 51). When
the high priest of Jerusalem, Jesus, murdered his brother Johannes in the
temple, Bagoas (who had supported Johannes) put a new tax on the Jews and
entered the temple, saying that he was purer than the murderer who
performed the priestly office (Joseph. _Ant._ xi. 7.1). In 338 Bagoas
killed the king and all his sons but the youngest, Arses (_q.v._), whom he
raised to the throne; two years later he murdered Arses and made Darius
III. king. When Darius attempted to become independent of the powerful
vizier ([Greek: chiliarchos]), Bagoas tried to poison him too; but Darius
was warned and forced him to drink the poison himself (Diod. xvii. 5;
Johann. Antioch, p. 38, 39 ed. Mueller; Arrian ii. 14. 5; Curt. vi. 4. 10).
A later story, that Bagoas was an Egyptian and killed Artaxerxes III.
because he had killed the sacred Apis (Aelian, _Var. Hist._ vi. 8), is
without historical value. Bagoas' house in Susa, with rich treasures, was
presented by Alexander to Parmenio (Plut. _Alex._ 39); his gardens in
Babylon, with the best species of palms, are mentioned by Theophrastus
(_Hist. Plant_, ii. 6; Plin. _Nat. Hist._ xiii. 41). Another eunuch,
Bagoas, was a favourite of Alexander the Great (Dicaearchus in Athen. xiii.
603b; Plut. _Al._ 67; Aelian, _Var. Hist._ 3. 23; Curt. vi. 5. 23; x. 1. 25
ff.).
(ED. M.)
BAG-PIPE (Celt. _piob-mala_, _ullan-piob_, _cuislean_, _cuislin_; Fr.
_cornemuse_, _chalemie_, _musette_, _sourdeline_, _chevrette_, _loure_;
Ger. _Sackpfeife_, _Dudelsack_; M. H. Ger. _Suegdbalch_[1]; Ital.
_cornamusa_, _piva_, _sampogna_, _surdelina_; Gr. [Greek: askaulos] (?);
Lat. _ascaulus_ (?), _tibia utricularis_, _utricularium_; med. Lat.
_chorus_), a complex reed instrument of great antiquity. The bag-pipe forms
the link between the syrinx (_q.v._) and the primitive organ, by furnishing
the principle of the reservoir for the wind-supply, combined with a simple
method of regulating the sound-producing pressure by means of the arm of
the performer. The bag-pipes consists of an air-tight leather bag having
three to five apertures, each of which contains a fixed stock or short
tube. The stocks act as sockets for the reception of the pipes, and as
air-chambers for the accommodation and protection of the reeds. The pipes
are of three kinds: (1) a simple valved insufflation tube or "blow-pipe,"
by means of which the performer fills the bag reservoir; (2) the "chaunter"
(chanter) or the melody-pipe, having according to the variety of the
bag-pipe a conical or a cylindrical bore, lateral holes, and in some cases
keys and a bell; the "chaunter" is invariably made to speak by means of a
double-reed; (3) the "drones," jointed pipes with cylindrical bore,
generally terminating in a bell, but having no lateral holes and being
capable, therefore, of producing but one fixed note.
The main characteristic of the bag-pipe is the drone ground bass which
sounds without intermission. Each drone is fitted with a beating-reed
resembling the primitive "squeaker" known to all country lads; it is
prepared by making a cut partly across a piece of cane or reed, near the
open end, and splitting back from this towards a joint or knot, thus
raising a tongue or flap. The beating-reed is then fixed in a socket of the
drone, which fits into the stock. The sound is produced by the stream of
air forced from the bag into the drone-pipe by the pressure of the
performer's arm, causing the tongue of reed to vibrate over the aperture,
thus setting the whole column of air in vibration. The drone-pipe, like all
cylindrical tubes with reed mouthpieces, has the acoustic properties of the
closed pipe and produces the note of a pipe twice its length. The drones
are tuned by means of sliding-joints.
[v.03 p.0203] The blow-pipe and the chaunter occupy positions at opposite
extremities of the bag, which rests under the arm of the performer while
the drones point over his shoulder. These are the main features in the
construction of the bag-pipe, whose numerous varieties fall into two
classes according to the method of inflating the bag: (1) by means of the
blow-pipe described above; (2) by means of a small bellows connected by a
valved feed-pipe with the bag and worked by the other arm or elbow to which
it is attached by a ribbon or strap.
Class I. comprises: (a) the Highland bag-pipe; (b) the old Irish bag-pipe;
(c) the cornemuse; (d) the bignou or biniou (Breton bag-pipe); (e) the
Calabrian bag-pipe; (f) the ascaulus of the Greeks and Romans; (g) the
tibia utricularis; (h) the chorus. To Class II. belong: (a) the musette;
(b) the Northumbrian or border bag-pipe; (c) the Lowland bag-pipe; (d) the
union pipes of Ireland; (e) the surdelina of Naples.
1. _The Highland Bag-pipe._--The construction of the Highland pipes is
practically that given above. The chaunter consists of a conical wooden
tube terminating in a bell and measuring from 14 to 16 in. including the
reed. There are seven holes in front and one at the back for the thumb of
the left hand, which fingers the upper holes while the right thumb merely
supports the instrument. The holes are stopped by the under part of the
joints of the fingers. There is in addition a double hole near the bell,
which is never covered, and merely serves to regulate the pitch. As the
double reed is not manipulated by the lips of the performer, only nine
notes are obtained from the chaunter, as shown:--[2][3]
[Illustration]
The notes do not form any known diatonic scale, for in addition to the C
and F being too sharp, the notes are not strictly in tune with each other.
Donald MacDonald, in his treatise on the bag-pipe[4] states that "the piper
is to pay no attention to the flats and sharps marked on the clef, as they
are not used in pipe music; yet the pipe imitates several different keys
which are real, but ideal on the bag-pipe, as the music cannot be
transposed for it into any other key than that in which it is first played
or marked." Mr Glen, the great dealer in bag-pipes, gave it as his opinion
"that if the chaunter were to be made perfect in any one scale, it would
not go well with the drones. Also, there would not be nearly so much music
produced (if you take into consideration that it has only nine invariable
notes) as at present it adapts itself to the keys of A maj., D maj., B
min., G maj., E min. and A min. Of course we do not mean that it has all
the intervals necessary to form scales in all those keys, but that we find
it playing tunes that are in one or other of them."[5] Mr Ellis considers
that the natural scale of the chaunter of the bag-pipe corresponds most
nearly with the Arab scale of Zalzal, a celebrated lutist who died c. A.D.
800.
The three drones are usually tuned to A, the two smallest one octave below
the A of the chaunter, and the largest two octaves below. The three
principal methods of tuning the drones are shown as follows:--[6][7]
[Illustration]
The excessive use of ornamental notes on the Highland bag-pipe has arisen
from a technical peculiarity of the instrument, which makes a repetition of
the same note difficult without the interpolation of what is known among
pipers as "cuts" or "warblers," _i.e._ grace notes fingered with great
rapidity (see below for an example). These warblers, which consist not only
of single notes but of groups of from three to seven notes, not consecutive
but in leaps, assist in relieving the constant discord with the drone bass.
Skilful pipers have been known to introduce warblers of as many as eleven
notes between two beats in a bar.
[Illustration]
The use of musical notation for the Highland pipe tunes is a recent
innovation; the pipers used verbal equivalents for the notes; for instance,
the piobaireachd _Coghiegh nha Shie_, "War of peace,"[8] which opens as
shown here, was taken down by Capt. Niel MacLeod from the piper John
McCrummen of Skye as verbally taught to apprentices as follows:--
"Hodroho, hodroho, haninin, hiechin,
Hodroha, hodroho, hodroho, hachin,
Hiodroho, hodroho, haninin, hiechin," &c.
The conclusion of the tune is thus expressed:
"Hiundratatateriri, hiendatatateriri, hiundratatateriri,
hiundratatateriri."[9]
Written down this seems a mere unintelligible jumble, but could we hear it,
as sounded by the pipers, with due regard for the rhythmical value of
notes, it would be a very different matter. Alexander Campbell[10] relates
that a melody had to be taken down or translated "from the syllabic jargon
of illiterate pipers into musical characters, which, when correctly done,
he found to his astonishment to coincide exactly with musical notation."
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--(1) Cornemuse. (2) Irish bag-pipe. (3) Musette. (4)
Highland bag-pipe, A.D. 1409. (5) Border bag-pipe.
(From Capt. C. R. Day's _Descriptive Catalogue of Musical Instruments
exhibited at the Royal Military Exhibition_, by permission of Eyre &
Spottiswoode.)]
A Highland bag-pipe of the 15th century, dated MCCCCIX., in the possession
of Messrs J. & R. Glen of Edinburgh, was exhibited at the Royal Military
Exhibition in London in 1890[11] (see fig. 1 (4)). There were two drones,
inserted in a single stock in the form of a wide-spread fork, and tuned to
A in unison with the lowest note of the chaunter, which had seven
finger-holes in front and a thumb-hole at the back.
_The old Irish Bag-pipe._--Very little is known about this instrument. It
is mentioned in the ancient Brehon Laws, said to date from the 5th century
(they are cited in compilations of the 10th century), in describing the
order of precedence of the king's bodyguard and household in the _Crith
Gabhlach_: "Poets, harpers, _pipers_, horn-blowers and jugglers have their
place in the south-east part of the house."[12] The word used for (bag-)
pipers is _Cuislennaigh_, a word associated with reed instruments
(_cuiscrigh_ = reeds; O'Reilly's _Irish-English Dictionary_, Dublin, 1864).
The old Irish bag-pipe, of which we possess an illustration dated 1581,[13]
had a long conical chaunter with a bell and apparently seven holes in front
and a thumb-hole behind; there were two drones of different lengths--one
very long--both set in the same stock. It is exceedingly difficult to
procure any accurate information concerning the development of the bag-pipe
in Ireland until it assumed the present form, known as the union-pipes,
which belong to Class II.
[v.03 p.0204] The _cornemuse_ and _chalemie_ were the bag-pipes in use in
France, Italy and the Netherlands before the advent of the _musette_, to
which they bear the same relation as the old Irish bag-pipe does to the
union-pipes, or the _cornemusa_ or _piva_ to the _sampogna_ or _surdelina_
in Italy. Two kinds of cornemuses were known in France during the 16th and
17th centuries, differing in one important structural detail, which
affected the timbre of the instruments. Pere Marin Mersenne[14] has given a
detailed description of these varieties and of the musette, with very clear
illustrations of the instruments and all their parts. The cornemuse or
chalemie used by shepherds, and as a solo instrument (see fig. 1 (1)), was
similar to the Highland bag-pipe; it consisted of a leather bag, inflated
by means of a valved blow-pipe; a large drone (_gros bourdon_) 2-1/2 ft.
long included the beating-reed, which measured 2-1/2 in., and was fixed in
the stock; the small drone (_petit bourdon_), 1 ft. in length including a
reed 2 in. long, also had a beating-reed and was fixed in the same stock as
the chaunter. The two drones were tuned to C. [Notation: Gros bourdon C2.
Petit bourdon C3.] The chaunter had a conical bore and a double reed like
an oboe, but hidden within the stock; it could be taken out and played
separately, when the compass given by the eight holes (seven in front and a
thumb-hole) C to C' could be increased by a third to E, by overblowing the
D and E an octave by pressure of the breath and lips on the reed, now taken
directly into the mouth. [Notation: C4 C5 or E5.] The second kind of
cornemuse was played only in concert with a family of instruments known as
_Hautbois de Poitou_, a hautbois having the reed enclosed in an
air-chamber, just as is the case with the reeds of the bag-pipe. This
cornemuse had but one drone which could, like the others, be lengthened for
tuning by drawing out the joint; the reed was not a beating-reed but a
double reed like that of the chaunter; this constitutes the main difference
between the two cornemuses. The chaunter had eight holes, the lowest of
which was covered by a key enclosed in a perforated box.
[Illustration: Sackpfeife or Dudelsack. Drone G1. Chaunter G2 to G3.]
[Illustration: Bock. Drone C2. Chaunter B2-C3 to C4.]
The _Sackpfeife_ or _Dudelsack_ of Germany was an instrument of some
importance made in no less than five sizes, all described and illustrated
by Michael Praetorius.[15] They consist of the _Grosser Bock_ or
double-bass bag-pipe, a formidable-looking instrument with a single
cylindrical drone of a great length, terminating, as did the chaunter also,
in a curved ram's horn (to which the name was due). The chaunter had seven
finger-holes and a vent-hole in front, and a thumb-hole at the back. The
drone was tuned to G, an octave below the chaunter.
The _Bock_, of similar construction, was pitched a fourth higher in C.
[Illustration: Schaeferpfeife. Drones B3b F4. Compass of chaunter F4 to
F5.]
[Illustration: Huemmelchen. Drones F4 C5. Compass of chaunter C5 to C6]
The _Schaeferpfeife_ had two drones in B flat and F. Praetorius explains
that the upper notes of the chaunter of this sackpfeife had a faulty
intonation which could not be corrected owing to the absence of the
thumb-hole, usual in all other varieties of the instrument.
The _Huemmelchen_ had two drones tuned to F and C.
The _Dudey_ or treble sackpfeife was the smallest of the family, and had
three drones tuned to E flat, B flat and E flat, and a chaunter with a
compass ranging from F or E flat to C or D.
[Illustration: Drones E4b B4b E5b. Compass of chaunter F5 to C6 or E5b to
D6.]
Praetorius also mentions a different kind of sackpfeife he saw in Magdeburg
(see _op. cit. Theatrum_, pl. v., No. 4), which was somewhat larger than
the schaeferpfeife and pitched a third lower. There were two chaunters
mounted in one stock, each having three holes in front and one for the
thumb at the back. The right-hand chaunter sounded the five notes D, E, F,
G, A, and the left-hand chaunter, G, A, B, C, D. [Notation: Drones G3 D4.
Compass of chaunter D4 D5.] The performer was thus able to play simple
two-part melodies on the Magdeburg bag-pipe. Praetorius mentions in
addition the French bag-pipe (_musette_), similar in pitch to the
huemmelchen, but inflated by means of the bellows.
The _Calabrian bag-pipe_ has a bag of goatskin with the hair left on, and
is inflated by means of a blow-pipe. There are two drones and two
chaunters, all fixed in one stock. Each chaunter has three or four
finger-holes and the right-hand pipe has the fourth covered by a key
enclosed in a perforated box; both drones and chaunter have double reeds.
The ancient Greek bag-pipe (see ASKAULES), and the Roman _tibia
utricularis_, belonged to this class of instrument, inflated by the mouth,
but it is not certain that they had drones (see below, _History_).
II. The second class of instruments, inflated by means of a small bellows
worked by the arm, has as prototype the _musette_ (see fig. 1 (3)), which
is said to have been evolved during the 15th century;[16] from the end of
the 15th century there were always musette players[17] at the French court,
and we find the instrument fully developed at the beginning of the 17th
century when Mersenne[18] gives a full description of all its parts. The
chief characteristic of the musette was a certain rustic Watteau-like
grace. The face of the performer was no longer distorted by inflating the
bag; for the long cumbersome drones was substituted a short barrel droner,
containing the necessary lengths of tubing for four or five drones, reduced
to the smallest and most compact form. The bores were pierced
longitudinally through the thickness of the wood in parallel channels,
communicating with each other in twos or threes and providing the requisite
length for each drone. The reeds were double "hautbois" reeds all set in a
wooden stock or box within the bag; by means of regulators or slides,
called _layettes_, moving up and down in longitudinal grooves round the
circumference of the barrel, the length of the drone pipes could be so
regulated that a simple harmonic bass, consisting mainly of the common
chord, could be obtained. The chaunter, of narrow cylindrical bore, was
also furnished with a double reed and had eleven holes, four of which had
keys, giving a compass of twelve notes from F to C. [Notation: F4 to C6.]
This number of holes was not invariable. After Mersenne's time, Jean
Hotteterre (d. 1678), a court musician, belonging to the band known as the
_Musique de la Grande Ecurie_,[19] in which he played the _dessus de
hautbois_, introduced certain improvements in the drones of the
musette.[20] His son Martin Hotteterre (d. 1712) added a second chaunter to
the musette, shorter than the first, to which it was attached instead of
being inserted into the stock. The Hotteterre chaunter, known as le _petit
chalumeau_, had six keys, whereas the _grand chalumeau_ had seven, besides
eight finger-holes and a vent-hole in the bell. All these keys were
actuated by the little finger of the left hand and the thumb of the right
hand, which were not required to stop holes on the large chaunter. The
_grand_ and _petit chalumeaux_ are figured in detail with keys and holes in
a rare and anonymous work by Borjon (or Bourgeon[21]), who gives much
interesting information concerning one of the most popular instruments of
his day. The bellows, he states, borrowed from the organ, were added to the
musette about forty or fifty years before he wrote his treatise. The
compass of the improved musette of Hotteterre was as shown:--
[Illustration: 0:F4 1:G4 2:A4 3:B4 4:C5 5:D5 6:E5 7:F5 8:G5.] the eight
holes of the grand chalumeau.
[Illustration: G4# B4b C5# E5b F5# G5# A5.] the seven keys of the grand
chalumeau.
[Illustration: G5# A5 A5# B5 C6 D6.] the six keys of the petit chalumeau.
The four or five drones were usually tuned thus:
[Illustration: C3 G3 C4 G4 C5.]
The chaunters and drones were pierced with a very narrow cylindrical bore,
and double reeds were used throughout, causing them to speak as closed
pipes, which accounts for the deep pitch of these relatively short pipes
(see AULOS). Martin Hotteterre was hardly the first to introduce the second
chaunter for the bag-pipe, since [v.03 p.0205] Praetorius in 1618 figures
and describes the Magdeburg _sackpfeife_ with two chaunters, but without
keys and with a conical bore.
The _surdelina_ or _sampogna_ is described and illustrated by Mersenne[22]
as the _musette de Naples_; its construction was very complicated. Mersenne
states that the instrument was invented by Jean Baptiste Riva (who was
living in Paris in 1620), Dom Julio and Vincenze; but Mersenne seems to
have made alterations himself in the original instrument, which are not
very clearly explained. There were two chaunters with narrow cylindrical
bore and having both finger-holes and keys; and two drones each having ten
keys. The four pipes were fixed in the same stock, and double reeds were
used throughout; the bag was inflated by means of bellows. Passenti of
Venice published a collection of melodies for the zampogna in 1628, under
the title of _Canora Zampogna_.
The modern _Lowland bag-pipe_ differs from the Highland bag-pipe mainly in
that it is blown by bellows instead of by the mouth.
The _Northumbrian_ or _Border bag-pipe_, also blown by means of bellows, is
chiefly distinguished by having a chaunter stopped at the lower end so that
when all the holes are closed, the pipe is silent. There are seven
finger-holes, one for the thumb, and a varying number of keys. The four
drones are fixed in one stock and are tuned by means of stoppers, so that,
as in the musette, any one of them may be silenced. A fine Northumbrian
bag-pipe[23] from the collection of the Rev. F. W. Galpin is illustrated
(fig. 1. (5)).
The union pipes of the 18th century, or modern _Irish bag-pipe_, blown by
bellows (see fig. 1. (2)), had one chaunter with seven finger-holes, one
thumb-hole and eight keys, which together gave the chromatic scale in two
octaves. The drones were tuned to A in different octaves, and three
regulators or drones with keys, played by the elbow, produced a kind of
harmony; the regulators correspond to the sliders on the drone-barrel of
the musette.
_History of the Bag-pipe_.--There is reason to believe that the origin of
the bag-pipe must be sought in remote antiquity. No instrument in any
degree similar to it is represented on any of the monuments of Egypt or
Assyria known at the present day; we are, nevertheless, able to trace it in
ancient Persia and by inference in Egypt, in Chaldaea and in ancient
Greece. The most characteristic feature of the bag-pipe is not the obvious
bag or air-reservoir from which the instrument derives its name in most
languages, but the fixed harmony of the buzzing drones. The principle of
the drone, _i.e._ the beating-reed sunk some three inches down the pipe,
was known to the ancient Egyptians. In a pipe discovered in a mummy-case
and now in the museum at Turin, was found a straw beating-reed in position.
The arghoul (_q.v._), a modern Egyptian instrument, possesses the
characteristic feature of drone and chaunter without the bag. The same
instrument occurs once in the hieroglyphs, being sounded _as-it_, and once
on a mural painting preserved in the Musee Guimet and reproduced by Victor
Loret.[24] During Jacques de Morgan's excavations in Persia some terracotta
figures of musicians, dating from the 8th century B.C., were discovered in
a _tell_ (mound) at Susa,[25] two of which appear to be playing bag-pipes;
the chaunter, curved in the shape of a hook from the stock, is clearly
visible, the bag under the arm is indicated, and the lips are pursed as if
in the act of blowing, but the insufflation tube is absent; a round hole in
one of the figures suggests its presence formerly.
Among the names of musical instruments in Daniel iii. 5 and 15, the sixth,
generally but wrongly rendered "dulcimer," is thought by many scholars to
signify a kind of bag-pipe (see commentaries on _Daniel_ and the
theological encyc.). This belief is based on the supposition that the
Aramaic _sump[=o]ny[=a]_ is a loan-word from the Greek, being a
mispronunciation of [Greek: sumphonia]. The argument is, however,
exceedingly weak. In the first place, the date of the book of Daniel is
matter of controversy, hingeing partly on precisely such questions as the
true significance and derivation of _sump[=o]ny[=a]_. Second, it is
possible that the word _sump[=o]ny[=a]_ is a late interpolation. Third, its
exact form is uncertain; in verse 10, _sipp[=o]ny[=a]_ is used of the same
instrument, suggesting a derivation from the Gr. [Greek: siphon] (tube or
pipe). Fourth, even if [Greek: sumphonia] is the source of the word, there
is very little evidence that it was used for any particular instrument. The
original natural sense of [Greek: sumphonia] is "concord of sound," "a
concordant interval," and the evidence of its use for a particular
instrument is of the 2nd century B.C., and, even so, very slight. Only one
passage (Polyb. xxvi. 10. 5) really bears on the question, and there the
translation of the word depends on a context the reading of which is
uncertain (see SYMPHONIA). It is, however, curious that the bag-pipe was
known in Italy and Spain during the middle ages, the two countries through
which Eastern culture was introduced into Europe, by the name of _zampogna_
or _sampogna_, which strongly recall the Chaldaean _sump[=o]ny[=a]_; and
further that in the same countries the word _sinfonia_ should be coexistent
with _zampogna_ and have the original meaning attached to the classical
[Greek: sumphonia], "a concord of sound." A single passage only in Dion
Chrysostom (see ASKAULES) is enough to prove that the instrument was known
in Greece in A.D. 100.[26] The Greeks had undoubtedly received some kind of
bag-pipe from Egypt (in the form of the _as-it_), or from Chaldaea, but it
remained a rustic instrument used only by shepherds and peasants. This
conclusion is supported by allusions in Aristophanes and in Plato's
_Crito_, which undoubtedly refer to the drone: "This, dear Crito, is the
voice which I seem to hear murmuring in my ears like the sound of the flute
(_aulos_) in the ears of the mystic; that voice, I say, is humming in my
ears."[27] Aristophanes, in his play _The Acharnians_, indulges in a flight
of satire at the expense of the musical Boeotians, by making a band of
Theban pipers play a Boeotian merchant and his slave into town. The
musicians are dubbed "bumblebee pipers" ([Greek: bombaulioi], l. 866) by
the exasperated inhabitants. The verb used here for "blowing" is [Greek:
phusan], the very word applied to blowing or inflating the bellows ([Greek:
phusa]), and not the usual verb [Greek: aulein], to play the aulos. Another
instrument, mentioned by Aristophanes in _Lysistrata_ (ll. 1242 and 1245),
which was probably a kind of bag-pipe, is also derived from [Greek: phusa],
_i.e._ _physallis_, the "concrete,"[28] and _physateria_[29] the
"collective"[28] form of the instrument. We leave the realm of inference
for that of certainty when we reach the reign of Nero, who had a passion
for the _Hydraulus_ (see ORGAN: _History_) and the _tibia utricularis_.[30]
That the bag-pipe was introduced by the Romans into the British Isles is a
conclusion supported by the discovery in the foundations of the praetorian
camp at Richborough of a small bronze figure of a Roman soldier playing the
tibia utricularis. The Rev. Stephen Weston, who made a communication on the
subject to _Archaeologia_,[31] points out further the interesting fact in
connexion with the instrument, that the Romans had instituted colleges for
training pipers on the bag-pipe, a practice followed in the Highlands in
the 18th century and notably in Skye. Gruterus[32] mentions among the
fraternities a _Corpus et Collegium Utriculariorum_, and Spon[33] also
quotes the _Collegio Utricular_. The bag-pipe in question appears to have
two drones in front pointing towards the right shoulder, and although no
chaunter is shown in the design, both hands are held in correct positions
over the spot where it ought to be; it may have been broken off. The bronze
figure has been reproduced from drawings by Edward King in three
positions.[34] The statement made by several writers on music that a
bag-pipe is represented on a contorniate of Nero is erroneous, as a
verification of certain references will show.[35] The error is due in the
first place to [v.03 p.0206] Montfaucon, who misunderstood the explanation
of Bianchini's drawing which he reproduced. The contorniate referred to is
one containing the hydraulic organ, and the legend _Laurentinus Aug_., but
no bag-pipe. Bianchini gives a drawing of a bag-pipe with two long drones,
which, he says, was copied from a marble relief over the gateway of the
palace of the prince of Santa Croce in Rome, near the church of San Carlo
ad Catinarios. If the drawing be accurate and the sculpture of classical
Roman period, it would corroborate the details of the instrument held by
the little bronze figure of the Roman soldier.
From England the bag-pipe spread to Caledonia and Ireland, where it took
root, identifying itself with the life of the people, as a military
instrument held in great esteem by the Celtic races. The bag-pipe was used
at weddings and funerals, and at all festivals; to lighten labour, during
the 18th century, as for instance in Skye, in 1786, when the inhabitants
were engaged in roadmaking, and each party of labourers had its bag-piper.
It was used in old mysteries at Coventry in 1534. Readers who wish to
follow closely the history of the bag-pipe in the British Isles should
consult Sir John Graham Dalyell's _Musical Memoirs of Scotland_ (London,
1849, with illustrative plates).
[Illustration: FIG. 2.--Ancient Persian bag-pipe.
(From Sir Robert Porter's _Travels in Georgia, Persia,_ &c., vol. ii. p.
177, pl. lxiv.)]
On the downfall of the Roman empire, the bag-pipe, sharing the fate of
other instruments, probably lingered for a time among itinerant musicians,
actors, jugglers, &c., reappearing later in primitive guise with the stamp
of _naivete_ which characterizes the productions of the early middle ages,
and with a new name, chorus (_q.v._). An illustration of a Persian bag-pipe
dating from the 6th century A.D. (reign of Chosroes II.) is to be found on
the great arch at Takht-i-Bostan (see fig. 2). This very crude
representation of the bag-pipe can only be useful as evidence that during
centuries which elapsed between the moulding of the figurine found in the
_tell_ at Susa, mentioned above, and the carving in the rock at
Takht-i-Bostan, the instrument had survived. The reign of Chosroes was
noted for its high standard of musical culture. The fault probably lies
with the draughtsman, who drew the sculptures on the arch for the book.
Nothing more is heard henceforth of the tibia utricularis. If the drawings
of the early medieval bag-pipes, which are by no means rare in MSS. and
monuments of the 9th to the 13th century, are to be trusted, it seems hard
to understand the _raison d'etre_ of the instrument shorn of its drones, to
see how it justified its existence except as an ill-understood
reminiscence. What could be the object of laboriously inflating a bag for
the purpose of making a single chaunter speak, which could be done so much
more satisfactorily by taking the reed itself into the mouth, as was the
practice of the Greeks and Romans? There is a fine psalter in the library
of University Court, Glasgow,[36] belonging co the Hunterian collection, in
which King David is represented, as usual in the 12th century, playing or
rather tuning a harp, surrounded by musicians playing bells, rebec, guitar
fiddle (in 'cello position), quadruple pipes or ganistrum, and a bag-pipe
with long chaunter having a well-defined stock. The insufflation tube
appears to have been left out, and there are no drones to be seen.
There are interesting specimens of bag-pipes in Spanish illuminated MSS.
such as the magnificent volume of the _Cantigas di Santa Maria_, in the
Escurial, compiled for King Alphonso the Wise (13th century). There are
fifty-one separate figures of instrumentalists forming a kind of
introduction to the canticles, and among the instruments are three
bag-pipes, one of which is a remarkable instrument having no less than four
long drones and two chaunters which by an error of the draughtsmen are
represented as being blown from the piper's mouth. The fifty-one musicians
have been reproduced in black and white by Juan F. Riano[37] and also by
Don F. Aznar.[38] Another fine Spanish MS. in the British Museum, Add. MS.
18,851, of the end of the 15th century, illustrated by Flemish artists for
presentation to Queen Isabella, displays a profusion of musical instruments
in innumerable concert scenes; there are bag-pipes on f. 13,412^b and 419;
one of these has two drones, one conical, the other cylindrical, bound
together, and a curved chaunter.
The most trustworthy evidence we have of the medieval bag-pipe is the fine
Highland bag-pipe dated 1409, and belonging to Messrs J. & R. Glen,
described above. Edward Buhle[39] points out that from the 13th century the
bag-pipe became a court instrument played by minnesingers and troubadours,
as seen in literature and in the MSS. and monuments. It was about 1250 that
the human or animals' heads were used as stocks and as bells for the
chaunters. The opinion advanced that the bellows were first added to the
bag-pipe in Ireland seems untenable and is quite unsupported by facts; the
bellows were in all probability added to the union-pipes in imitation of
the musette. In the _Image of Ireland and Discoverie of Woodkarne_, by John
Derrick, 1581, the Irish insurgents are portrayed in pictures full of life
and character, as led to rebellion and pillage by a piper armed with a
bag-pipe, similar to the Highland bag-pipe. The cradle of the musette is
inconceivable anywhere but in France, among the courtiers and elegant
world, turning from the pomps and luxuries of court life to an artificial
admiration and cult of Nature, idealized to harmonize with silks and
satins. The cornemuse of shepherds and rustic swains became the fashionable
instrument, but as inflating the bag by the breath distorted the
performer's face, the bellows were substituted, and the whole instrument
was refined in appearance and tone-quality to fit it for its more exalted
position. The Hotteterre family and that of Chedeville were past masters of
the art of making the musette and of playing upon it; they counted among
their pupils the highest and noblest in the land. The cult of the musette
continued throughout the 17th and 18th centuries until the 'seventies, when
its popularity was on the wane and musettes figured largely in sales.[40]
Lully introduced the musette into his operas, and in 1758 the list of
instruments forming the orchestra at the Opera includes one musette.[41]
Illustrations of bag-pipes are found in the miniatures of the following
MSS. in the British Museum.--2 B. VII. f. 192 and 197; Add. MS. 34,294 (the
_Sforza Book_), f. 62, vol. i.; Burney, 275, f. 715; Add. MS. 17,280, f.
238^b; Add. MS. 24,686 (_Tennyson Psalter_), f. 17^b; Add. MS. 17,280, f.
82^b; Add. MS. 24,681, f.44; Add. MS. 32,454; Add. MS. 11,867, f38; &c. &c.
(K. S.)
[1] See E. G. Graff, _Deutsche Interlinearversionen der Psalmen_ (from a
12th-cent. Windberg MS. at Munich), p. 384, Ps. lxxx. 2. "nemet den Sulmen
unde gebet den Suegdbalch."
[2] These harmonics may be obtained by good performers by what is known as
"pinching" or only partially covering the B and C holes and increasing the
wind pressure.
[3] The notes marked with asterisks are approximately a quarter of a tone
sharp.
[4] "Complete Tutor for attaining a thorough knowledge of the pipe music,"
prefixed to _A Collection of the Ancient Martial Music of Caledonia called
Piobaireachd, as performed on the Great Highland Bag-pipe_, Edinburgh, _c._
1805.
[5] Paper on "The Musical Scales of Various Nations," by Alex. J. Ellis,
F.R.S., _Jrnl. Soc. Arts_, 1885, vol. xxxiii. p. 499.
[6] _Tutor for the Highland Bag-pipe_, by David Glen (Edinburgh, 1899).
[7] _Tutor for the Highland Bag-pipe_, by Angus Mackay (Edinburgh, 1839).
[8] _A Collection of Ancient Piobaireachd or Highland Pipe Music_ by Angus
Mackay (Edinburgh, 1839), p. 128.
[9] _A Collection of Piobaireachd or Pipe Tunes as verbally taught by the
McCrummen Pipers on the Isle of Skye to their apprentices_, as taken from
John McCrummen (or Crimmon) by Niel MacLeod of Gesto, Skye (Edinburgh,
1880).
[10] Albyn's _Anthology_, vol. i. p. 90.
[11] _Descriptive Catalogue of the Musical Instruments exhibited at the
Royal Military Exhibition_, London, 1890, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1891, pl.
ix. A, and description p. 57.
[12] _Ancient Laws of Ireland, Brehon Law Tracts_, published by the
Commissioners for publishing the Ancient Laws and Institutions of Ireland
(Dublin, 1879), vol. iv. pp. 338 and 339.
[13] John Derrick, _Image of Ireland and Discoverie of Woodkarne_ (London,
1581), pl. ii.
[14] _L'Harmonie universelle_, vol. ii. bk. v. pp. 282-287 and 305 (Paris,
1636-1637).
[15] _Syntagma Musicum_, part ii., _De Organographia_ (Wolfenbuettel,
1618); republished in Band xiii. of the _Publicationen der Gesellschaft
fuer Musikforschung_ (Berlin, 1884), chap. xix. and pl. v., xi., xiii.
[16] See E. Thoinan, _Les Hotteterre et les Chedeville, celebres facteurs
de flutes, hautbois, bassons et musettes_ (Paris, 1894), p. 23. It is
probable, however, that M. Thoinan, who makes this statement, has not
considered the possibility of the word _musette_ applying in this case to
the small rustic hautbois or _dessus de bombarde_, also written _muse_,
_muset_, _musele_, which occurs in many ballads of the 13th, 14th and 15th
centuries. See Fr. Godefroy, _Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue francaise
du IX^e au XV^e siecle_ (Paris, 1888).
[17] Musettes de Poitou; probably the _cornemuses_ used in concert with the
Hautbois de Poitou.
[18] _Op. cit._ vol. ii. bk. v. pp. 287-292.
[19] See Ernest Thoinan, _op. cit._ pp. 15 et seq. (cf. Jules Ecorcheville,
"Quelques documents sur la musique de la Grande Ecurie du Roi" in _Intern.
Mus. Ges._, Sammelband ii. 4, p. 625 and table 2, "Grands Hautbois").
[20] _Methode pour la musette_, &c., by Hotteterre le Romain (Paris, 1737),
4to, chap. xvi.
[21] _Traite de la musette avec une nouvelle methode_, &c. (Lyons, 1672),
pp. 25-27 and plate. A copy of this work is in the British Museum.
[22] _Op. cit_. bk. v. p. 293.
[23] Illustrated and described by Capt. C. R. Day, _Descriptive Catalogue_,
pl. ix. fig. C, p. 62.
[24] _L'Egypte au temps des Pharaons--la vie, la science et l'art; avec
Photogravures_, &c. (Paris, 1889) 12mo, p. 139.
[25] See _Delegation en Perse_, by J. de Morgan (Paris, 1900), vol. i. pl.
viii., Nos. 10 and 14.
[26] Dion Chrysostom, ed. Adolphus Emperius (Brunswick, 1844), p. 728 or
lxxi. (R) 381. See Pauly-Wissowa, _Realencyclopadie_, _s.v_. "Askaules."
[27] 54, B. Jowett's Eng. translation (Oxford, 1892).
[28] A suggestion the writer owes to Mr G. Barwick of the British Museum.
[29] See "Researches into the Origin of the Organs of the Ancients," by
Kathleen Schlesinger, Sammelband ii. _Intern. Musik. Ges_. vol. ii, 1901,
pp. 188-202.
[30] Suetonius, _Nero_, 54 (S. Clarke's translation and text).
[31] _Archaeologia_, vol. xvii. pp. 176-179 (London, 1814).
[32] _Inscriptiones antiquae totius orbis romani_ (Heidelberg, 1602-1603).
[33] _Miscell. erudit. antiquitatis_.
[34] _Munimenta antiqua_, vol. ii. (London, 1799), p. 22, pl. xx. fig. 3.
[35] See Montfaucon, _Suppl. de l'antiq. expliquee_, vol. iii. pl. lxxiii.,
Nos. 1 and 2, and explanation p. 189; Francesco Bianchini. _de tribus
generibus instr. mus. veterum_, Romae, 1742, pl. ii., Nos. 12 and 13, and
p. 11; Suetonius, _Vitae Neronis_, ed. Charles Patin, cap. 41, p. 304,
where the contorniate in question, whose musical instrument differs
essentially from Bianchini's and Montfaucon's, is figured.
[36] See Catalogue of the Exhibition of Illuminated MSS. at the Burlington
Fine Arts Club, 1908, No. 31.
[37] _Notes of Early Spanish Music_ (London, 1887), pp. 120 and 121.
[38] _Idumentario Espanola_ (Madrid, 1880).
[39] _Die musikalischen Instrumente in den Miniaturen des fruehen
Mittelalters_, p. 50 (Leipzig, 1903).
[40] An interesting pamphlet by Eugene de Bricqueville, _Les Musettes_
(Paris, 1894), p. 36, with illustrations.
[41] See Antoine Vidal, _Les Instruments a archet_ (Paris, 1871), vol. i.
p. 81, note 1.
BAGRATION, PETER, PRINCE (1765-1812), Russian general descended from the
noble Georgian family of the Bagratides was born in 1765. He entered the
Russian army in 1782, and served for some years in the Caucasus. He was
engaged in the siege of Ochakov (1788), and in the Polish campaign of 1794,
being present at the taking of Praga and Warsaw. His merits were recognized
by Suvarov, whom he accompanied in the Italian and Swiss campaign of 1799,
winning particular distinction by the capture of the town of Brescia. In
the wars of 1805 his achievements were even more brilliant. With a small
rearguard he successfully resisted the repeated attacks of forces five
times his own numbers (Hollabruenn), and though half his men fell, the
retreat of the main army under Kutusov was thereby secured. At Austerlitz
he was engaged against the left wing of the French army, under Murat and
Lannes, and at Eylau, Heilsberg and Friedland he fought with the most
resolute and stubborn courage. In 1808 by a daring march across the frozen
Gulf of Finland he captured the Aland Islands, and in 1809 he commanded
against the Turks at the battles of Rassowa and Tataritza. In 1812 he [v.03
p.0207] commanded the 2nd army of the West, and though defeated at Mogilev
(23rd July), rejoined the main army under Barclay, and led the left wing at
Borodino (7th Sept.), where he received a mortal wound. A monument was
erected in his honour by the tsar Nicholas I. on the battlefield of
Borodino.
BAGSHOT BEDS, in geology, a series of sands and clays of shallow-water
origin, some being fresh-water, some marine. They belong to the upper
Eocene formation of the London and Hampshire basins (England), and derive
their name from Bagshot Heath in Surrey; but they are also well developed
in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. The following divisions are generally
accepted:--
Upper Bagshot Beds Barton sand, and Barton clay.
Middle " " Bracklesham beds.
Lower " " Bournemouth beds, Alum Bay beds,
and Bovey Tracey beds (?).
The lower division consists of pale-yellow, current-bedded sand and loam,
with layers of pipeclay and occasional beds of flint pebbles. In the London
basin, wherever the junction of the Bagshot beds with the London clay is
exposed, it is clear that no sharp line can be drawn between these
formations. The Lower Bagshot beds may be observed at Brentwood, Billericay
and Highbeech in Essex; outliers, capping hills of London clay, occur at
Hampstead, Highgate and Harrow. In Surrey considerable tracts of London
clay are covered by heath-bearing Lower Bagshot beds, as at Weybridge,
Aldershot, Woking, &c. The "Ramsdell clay," N.W. of Basingstoke, belongs to
this formation. In the Isle of Wight the lower division is well exposed at
Alum Bay (660 ft.) and White Cliff Bay (140 ft.); here it consists of
unfossiliferous sands (white, yellow, brown, crimson and every intermediate
shade), and clays with layers of lignite and ferruginous sandstone. Similar
beds are visible at Bournemouth, and in the neighbourhood of Poole,
Wareham, Corfe and Studland.
The leaf-bearing clays of Alum Bay and Bournemouth are well known, and have
yielded a large and interesting series of plant remains, including
_Eucalyptus_, _Caesalpinia_, _Populus_, _Platanus_, _Sequoia_, _Aralia_,
_Polypodium_, _Osmunda_, _Nipadites_ and many others. The sands and clays
of Bovey Tracey (see BOVEY BEDS) are probably of the same age. The clays of
this formation are of great value for pottery manufacture; they are
extensively mined in the vicinity of Wareham and Corfe, whence they are
shipped from Poole and are consequently known as "Poole clays"; similarly,
"Teignmouth clay" is obtained from the Bovey beds. Alum was formerly
obtained from the clays of Alum Bay; and the lignites have been used as
fuel near Corfe and at Bovey.
The Bracklesham beds (_q.v._) are sometimes classed with the overlying
Barton clay as Middle Bagshot. In the London basin the Barton beds are
unknown. In Surrey and Berkshire the Bracklesham beds are from 20 to 50 ft.
thick; in Alum Bay they are 100 ft., with beds of lignite in the lower
portion; and about here they are sharply marked off from the Barton clay by
a bed of conglomerate formed of flint pebbles. The Upper Bagshot beds,
Barton sand and Barton clay, are from 140 to 200 ft. thick in the Isle of
Wight.
The Agglestone (or Haggerstone) rock and Puckstone rock, near Studland in
Dorsetshire, are formed of large indurated masses of the Lower Bagshot beds
that have resisted the weather; Creechbarrow near Corfe is another striking
feature due to the same beds. Many of the sarsen stones or greywethers of
S.E. England have been derived from Bagshot strata.
See _Memoirs of the Geological Survey_ (England):--"Geology of the Isle of
Wight," new edition (1889); "The Geology of London and Part of the Thames
Valley," vol. i. (1889); and "The Geology of the Country around
Bournemouth" (1898).
BAHADUR KHEL, an Indian salt-mine in the Kohat district of the North-West
Frontier Province, in the range of hills south of the village of Bahadur
Khel between Kohat and Bannu. For a space of 4 m. in length by a quarter of
a mile in breadth there exists an exposed mass of rock-salt with several
large hillocks of salt on either side. The quarries extend over an area 1
m. long by half a mile broad, and the salt is hewn out in large blocks with
picks and wedges. The Indian government formerly maintained a large
preventive establishment for the preservation of the revenue, but it was
withdrawn in 1898. Consumption of Kohat salt is restricted, on account of
its paying less duty, to the tracts lying to the north of the Indus and to
the frontier tribes. In 1903 the rate was fixed at R.1-1/2 per maund,
against R.2 for the rest of India. The mines are under the control of the
Northern India Salt Department.
BAHADUR SHAH I., a Mogul emperor of Hindustan, A.D. 1707-1712, the son and
successor of Aurangzeb. At the time of the latter's death his eldest
surviving son, Prince Muazim, was governor of Kabul, and in his absence the
next brother, Azam Shah, assumed the functions of royalty. Muazim came down
from Kabul, and with characteristic magnanimity offered to share the empire
with his brother. Azam would not accept the proposal and was defeated and
slain on the plains of Agra. Muazim then ascended the throne under the
title of Bahadur Shah. He was a man of 64 and died five years later. During
his lifetime the empire was already falling to pieces before the inroads of
the Sikhs and Mahrattas, and through internal dissensions.
BAHADUR SHAH II., the last of the Mogul emperors of Hindustan, 1837-1857.
He was a titular emperor only, since from the time of the defeat of Shah
Alam at Buxar in 1764 all real power had resided with the East India
Company; but all proclamations were still worded under "The King's Realm
and the Company's rule." His sole importance is due to the use made of his
name during the Mutiny of 1857. Always feeble in character, he was at that
time old, and, from the first, was wholly at the mercy of the mutinous
soldiery in Delhi, who were controlled by a council called the Barah Topi,
or Twelve Heads. His papers, seized after the fall of Delhi, are full of
senile complaint of the disrespect and discourtesy which he suffered from
them. At the time of the assault he fled to the Tomb of Humayun, 6 m. from
Delhi, where he was captured by Major Hodson. In January 1858 he was
brought to trial for rebellion and for complicity in the murder of
Europeans. The trial lasted more than two months. The substance of the
king's defence was that he had been a mere instrument in the hands of the
mutineers. On the 29th of March he was found guilty and sentenced to
imprisonment for life. He was transported to Rangoon, and died there on the
7th of November 1862.
BAHAMAS (_Lucayos_), an archipelago of the British West Indies. It is
estimated to consist of 29 islands, 661 cays and 2387 rocks, and extends
along a line from Florida on the northwest to Haiti on the south-east,
between Cuba and the open Atlantic, over a distance of about 630 m., from
80deg 50' to 72deg 50' W., and 22deg 25' to 26deg 40' N. The total land
area is estimated at 5450 sq. m., of which the main islands occupy 4424 sq.
m., and the population was 43,521 in 1881 and 53,735 in 1901. Some 12,000
of these are whites, the remainder coloured. The main islands and groups,
beginning from the north-west, are as follows: Little and Great Abaco, with
Great Bahama to the west; Eleuthera (a name probably corrupted from the
Spanish _Isla de Tierra_), Cat, Watling, or Guanahani, and Rum Cay on the
outer line towards the open ocean, with New Providence, the Exuma chain and
Long Island forming an inner line to the west, and still farther west
Andros (named from Sir Edmund Andros, governor of Massachusetts, &c., at
the close of the 17th century; often spoken of as one island, but actually
divided into several by narrow straits); and finally the Crooked Islands,
Mayaguana and Inagua. The Turks and Caicos islands continue the outer line,
and belong geographically to the archipelago, but not politically. The
surrounding seas are shallow for the most part, but there are three
well-defined channels--the Florida or New Bahama channel, between the
north-western islands and Florida, followed by the Gulf Stream, the
Providence channels (north-east and north-west) from which a depression
known as the Tongue of Ocean extends southward along the east side of
Andros, and the Old Bahama channel, between the archipelago and Cuba. The
Andros islands have a length of 95 m. and an area of 1600 sq. m.; Great
Abaco is 70 m. long and its area is 680 sq. m.; Great Inagua is 34 m. long
with an area of 530 sq. m., [v.03 p.0208] and Grand Bahama 66 m., with an
area of 430 sq. m. But the most important island, as containing the
capital, Nassau, is New Providence, which is only 19-3/8 m. in length, with
an area of 85 sq. m. This island supported a population in 1901 of 12,534.
In point of population the next most important island is Eleuthera (8733),
followed by the Andros Islands (5347) and Cat Island (4658). The Abaco and
Exuma groups and Long Island each support populations exceeding 3000, and
there are smaller populations on Grand Bahama, the Crooked Islands, Inagua,
Mayaguana, Watling, Rum Cay and the Biminis, though these last, which are
two very small north-western islands, are relatively densely populated with
545 persons.
_Physical Geography._--The islands are of coral formation and low-lying.
The rock on the surface is as hard as flint, but underneath it gradually
softens and furnishes an admirable stone for building which can be sawn
into blocks of any size, hardening on exposure to the atmosphere. The
highest hill in the whole range of the islands (in Cat Island) is only 400
ft. high. It is a remarkable fact that, except in the island of Andros, no
streams of running water are to be found in the whole group. The
inhabitants derive their water supply from wells. As a result of the
porosity of the rock, many of the wells feel the influence of the sea and
exhibit an ebb and flow. There is an extensive swampy lagoon in Eleuthera,
the water of which is fresh or nearly so; and brackish lagoons also occur,
as in Watling Island. An artificial lake in New Providence, constructed for
the use of the turtle-catchers, is noted as exhibiting an extraordinary
degree of phosphorescence. A remarkable natural phenomenon is that of the
so-called "banana holes," which frequently occur in the limestone. Their
formation has been attributed to the effect of rotting vegetation on the
rock, but without certainty. These holes are of various depths up to about
40 ft., and of curiously regular form. The Mermaid's Pool in New
Providence, which is deeper still, is partly filled with water.
_Geology_.--The Bahamas consist almost entirely of aeolian deposits (cf.
BERMUDAS) and coral reefs. The aeolian deposits, which form the greater
part of the islands, frequently rise in rounded hills and ridges to a
height of 100 or 200 ft., and in Cat Island nearly 400 ft. They vary in
texture from a fine-grained compact oolite to a coarse-grained rock
composed of angular or rounded fragments, and they commonly exhibit
strongly marked false bedding. The material is largely calcareous, and has
probably been derived from the disintegration of the reefs, and from the
shells of animals living in the shallows. When freshly exposed the rock is
soft, but by the action of rain and sea it becomes covered with a hard
crust. The surface is often remarkably honeycombed, and the rock weathers
into pinnacles, pillars and arches of extraordinary shapes. On the island
of Andros there is an extremely fine white marl almost resembling a chalky
ooze. The coral reefs are of especial interest from their bearing on the
general question of the formation of coral reefs.
_Nassau_.--The scenery of the islands is picturesque, gaining beauty from
the fine colouring of the sea and the rich vegetation. Nassau is a winter
health-resort for many visitors from the United States and Canada. The town
lies on a safe harbour on the north shore of New Providence, sheltered by
the small Hog Island. There is a depth of 14 ft. at low-water spring-tide
on the bar. The town extends along the shore, and up a slightly elevated
ridge behind it. It contains the principal public buildings, and some
interesting old forts, dating from the middle and close of the 18th
century, though the subterranean works below Fort Charlotte are attributed
to an earlier period. From the same century dates the octagonal building
which, formerly a gaol, now contains a good public library. The sea-bathing
is excellent. The months of February and March are the principal season for
visitors. There is direct connexion with New York by steamers, which make
the journey in about four days; and there is also connexion with Miami in
Florida.
_Climate, Flora, Fauna_.--The climate of the Bahamas adds to their
attractions. The mean temperature of the hottest months (June to September)
is 88deg F., and that of the coldest (January to March) 66deg. In a series
of observations of winds about one half have been found to indicate a
direction from north-east or east. Hurricanes occur from July to October,
and May to October are reckoned as the rainy months. The rainfall recorded
in 1901 at Nassau amounted to 63.32 in. Where a mantle of soil covers the
rock it is generally thin but very fertile. A well-defined area in New
Providence is known as the "pine barrens," from the tree which principally
grows in this rocky soil. Elsewhere three types of soil are
distinguished--a black soil, of decayed vegetable matter, where the land is
under forest, a reddish clay, and a white soil occurring along the shores.
Andros Island and the Abaco Islands may be specially noted for their
profusion of large timber, including mahogany, mastic, lignum vitae, iron
and bullet woods, and many others. Unfortunately the want both of labour
and of roads renders it impossible to turn much of this valuable timber to
useful account, although attempts have been made to work it in Abaco. The
fruits and spices of the Bahamas are very numerous, the fruit equalling any
in the world. The produce of the islands includes tamarinds, olives,
oranges, lemons, limes, citrons, pomegranates, pine-apples, figs,
sapodillas, bananas, sour-sops, melons, yams, potatoes, gourds, cucumbers,
pepper, cassava, prickly pears, sugar-cane, ginger, coffee, indigo, Guinea
corn and pease. Tobacco and cascarilla bark also flourish; and cotton is
indigenous and was woven into cloth by the aborigines. But although
oranges, pine-apples and some other fruits form important articles of
commerce, it is only rarely that systematic and thorough methods of
cultivation are prosecuted. Cotton has been found to suffer much from
insect pests. Sisal is grown in increasing quantity. The Bahamas are far
poorer in their fauna than in their flora. It is said that the aborigines
had a breed of dogs which did not bark, and a small coney is also
mentioned. The guana also is indigenous to the islands. Oxen, sheep, horses
and other live-stock introduced from Europe thrive well, but little
attention is paid to stock-rearing. There are many varieties of birds to be
found in the woods of the Bahamas; they include flamingoes and the
beautiful hummingbird, as well as wild geese, ducks, pigeons, hawks, green
parrots and doves. The waters of the Bahamas swarm with fish; the turtle
procured here is particularly fine, and the sponge fishery is of
importance. In some islands there are rich salt ponds, but their working
has decreased. The portion of Nassau harbour known as the Sea Gardens
exhibits an extraordinarily beautiful development of marine organisms.
_Government, Trade, &c_.--The colony of the Bahamas is under a British
governor, who is assisted by an executive council of nine members, partly
official, partly unofficial; and by a legislative council of nine members
nominated by the crown. There is also a legislative assembly of 29 members,
representing 15 electoral districts; the franchise being extended to white
and coloured men of 21 years of age at least, resident in the colony for
not less than twelve months, and possessing land of a value of L5 or more,
or being householders for six months at a rental not less than L2:18s. in
New Providence, or L1:4s. in other islands. The members' qualification is
the possession of real or personal estate to the value of L200. The average
annual revenue and expenditure may be set down at about L75,000,
expenditure somewhat exceeding revenue. There is a public debt of about
L105,000. The average annual value of imports is somewhat over L300,000,
and of exports L200,000. The average annual tonnage of shipping, entering
and clearing, exceeds 1,000,000. The government supports elementary free
schools, controlled by a nominated board of education, while committees
partly elected exercise local supervision. There are higher schools and a
Queen's College in Nassau. Nassau is the seat of a bishopric of the Church
of England created in 1861. The Bahamas are without railways, but there are
good roads in New Providence, and a few elsewhere. A cable connects Nassau
with West Jupiter in Florida.
_History_.--The story of the Bahamas is a singular one, and bears
principally upon the fortunes of New Providence, which, from the fact that
it alone possesses a perfectly safe harbour for vessels drawing more than 9
ft., has always been the seat of [v.03 p.0209] government when it was not
the headquarters of lawlessness. San Salvador, however, claims historical
precedence as the landfall of Columbus on his memorable voyage. Cat Island
was long supposed to be the island first reached by Columbus (12th October
1492) and named by him San Salvador. Then the distinction was successively
transferred to the neighbouring Watling, Great Turk, and Mariguana; but in
1880 the American marine surveyor, G. V. Fox, identified San Salvador, on
seemingly good grounds, with Samana (Atwood Cay), which lies about midway
between Watling and Mariguana. The chief difficulty is its size, for, if
Samana is the true San Salvador, it must have been considerably larger then
than now. Watling Island is generally accepted as the landfall.
Columbus passed through the islands, and in one of his letters to Ferdinand
and Isabella he said, "This country excels all others as far as the day
surpasses the night in splendour; the natives love their neighbours as
themselves; their conversation is the sweetest imaginable; their faces
always smiling; and so gentle and so affectionate are they, that I swear to
your highness there is not a better people in the world." But the natives,
innocent as they appeared, were doomed to utter destruction. Ovando, the
governor of Hispaniola (Haiti), who had exhausted the labour of that
island, turned his thoughts to the Bahamas, and in 1509 Ferdinand
authorized him to procure labourers from these islands. It is said that
reverence and love for their departed relatives was a marked feature in the
character of the aborigines, and that the Spaniards made use of this as a
bait to trap the unhappy natives. They promised to convey the ignorant
savages in their ships to the "heavenly shores" where their departed
friends now dwelt, and about 40,000 were transported to Hispaniola to
perish miserably in the mines. From that date, until after the colonization
of New Providence by the British, there is no record of a Spanish visit to
the Bahamas, with the exception of the extraordinary cruise of Juan Ponce
de Leon, the conqueror of Porto Rico, who passed months searching the
islands for Bimini, which was reported to contain the miraculous "Fountain
of Youth." This is in South Bimini, and has still a local reputation for
healing powers.
It is commonly stated that in 1629 the British formed a settlement in New
Providence, which they held till 1641, when the Spaniards expelled them.
This, however, refers to the Providence Island off the Mosquito Coast; it
was only in 1646 that Eleuthera was colonized, and in 1666 New Providence,
by settlers from the Bermudas. In 1670 Charles II. made a grant of the
islands to Christopher, duke of Albemarle, and others. Governors were
appointed by the lords proprietors, and there are copious records in the
state papers of the attempts made to develop the resources of the islands.
But the buccaneers or pirates who had made their retreat here offered heavy
opposition; in 1680 there was an attack by the Spaniards, and in July 1703
the French and Spaniards made a descent on New Providence, blew up the
fort, spiked the guns, burnt the church and carried off the governor, with
the principal inhabitants, to Havana. In October the Spaniards made a
second descent and completed the work of destruction. It is said that when
the last of the governors appointed by the lords proprietors, in ignorance
of the Spanish raid, arrived in New Providence, he found the island without
an inhabitant. It again, however, became the resort of pirates, and the
names of many of the worst of these ruffians are associated with New
Providence; the notorious Edward Teach, called Blackbeard, who was
afterwards killed in action against two American ships in 1718, being chief
among the number.
At last matters became so intolerable that the merchants of London and
Bristol petitioned the crown to take possession and restore order, and
Captain Woodes Rogers was sent out as the first crown governor and arrived
at New Providence in 1718. Many families of good character now settled at
the Bahamas, and some progress was made in developing the resources of the
colony, although this was interrupted by the tyrannical conduct of some of
the governors who succeeded Captain Woodes Rogers. At this time the
pine-apple was introduced as an article of cultivation at Eleuthera; and a
few years subsequently, during the American war of independence, colonists
arrived in great numbers, bringing with them wealth and also slave labour.
Cotton cultivation was now attempted on a large scale. In 1783, at Long
Island, 800 slaves were at work, and nearly 4000 acres of land under
cultivation. But the usual bad luck of the Bahamas prevailed; the red bug
destroyed the cotton crops in 1788 and again in 1794, and by the year 1800
cotton cultivation was almost abandoned. There were also other causes that
tended to retard the progress of the colony. In 1776 Commodore Hopkins, of
the American navy, took the island of New Providence; he soon, however,
abandoned it as untenable, but in 1781 it was retaken by the Spanish
governor of Cuba. The Spaniards retained nominal possession of the Bahamas
until 1783, but before peace was notified New Providence was recaptured by
a loyalist, Lieutenant-Colonel Deveaux, of the South Carolina militia, in
June 1783.
In 1784 and 1786 sums were voted in parliament to indemnify the descendants
of the old lords proprietors, and the islands were formally reconveyed to
the crown. The Bahamas began again to make a little progress, until the
separation of Turks and Caicos Islands in 1848, which had been hitherto the
most productive of the salt-producing islands, unfavourably affected the
finances. Probably the abolition of the slave-trade in 1834 was not without
its effect upon the fortunes of the landed proprietors. The next event of
importance in the history of the Bahamas was the rise of the
blockade-running trade, consequent on the closing of the southern ports of
America by the Federals in 1861. At the commencement of 1865 this trade was
at its highest point. In January and February 1865 no less than 20 steamers
arrived at Nassau, importing 14,182 bales of cotton, valued at L554,675.
The extraordinary difference between the normal trade of the islands and
that due to blockade-running will be seen by comparing the imports and
exports before the closing of the southern ports in 1860 with those of
1864. In the first year the imports were L234,029, and the exports
L157,350, while in the second year the imports were L5,346,112, and the
exports L4,672,398. The excitement, extravagance and waste existing at
Nassau during the days of blockade-running exceed belief. Individuals may
have profited largely, but the Bahamas probably benefited little. The
government managed to pay its debt amounting to L43,786, but crime
increased and sickness became very prevalent. The cessation of the trade
was marked, however, by hardly any disturbance; there were no local
failures, and in a few months the steamers and their crews departed, and
New Providence subsided into its usual state of quietude. This, however,
was not fated to last long, for in October 1866 a most violent hurricane
passed over the island, injuring the orchards, destroying the fruit-trees,
and damaging the sponges, which had proved hitherto a source of profit. The
hurricane, too, was followed by repeated droughts, and the inhabitants of
the out-islands were reduced to indigence and want, a condition which is
still, in some measure, in evidence.
See the valuable _General Descriptive Report on the Bahama Islands_, by Sir
G. T. Carter (governor, 1898-1904), issued in place of the ordinary annual
report by the Colonial Office, London, 1902; also Governor R. W. Rawson's
_Report_, 1866; Stark's _History and Guide to the Bahama Islands_ (Boston,
Mass., 1891); _Bahama Islands_ (Geog. Soc. of Baltimore), ed. G. B.
Shattuck (New York, 1905). For geology see A. Agassiz, "A Reconnaissance of
the Bahamas and of the Elevated Reefs of Cuba in the steam yacht 'Wild
Duck,' January to April 1893," _Bull. Mus. Comp. Zool. Harvard_, vol. xxvi.
no. 1, 1894.
BAHAWALPUR, or BHAWALPUR, a native state of India, within the Punjab,
stretching for more than 300 m. along the left bank of the Sutlej, the
Punjnud and the Indus. It is bounded on the N. and E. by Sind and the
Punjab, and on the S. by the Rajputana desert. It is the principal
Mahommedan state in the Punjab, ranking second only to Patiala. Edward
Thornton thus described the general aspect of the state:--
"Bahawalpur is a remarkably level country, there being no considerable
eminence within its limits, as the occasional sand-hills, seldom
exceeding 50 or 60 ft. in height, cannot be considered exceptions. The
cultivable part extends along the river line for a distance of about 10
m. in breadth from the left or eastern bank. In the [v.03 p.0210] sandy
part of the desert beyond this strip of fertility both men and beasts,
leaving the beaten path, sink as if in loose snow. Here, too, the sand
is raised into ever-changing hills by the force of the wind sweeping
over it. In those parts of the desert which have a hard level soil of
clay, a few stunted mimosas, acacias and other shrubs are produced,
together with rue, various bitter and aromatic plants, and occasionally
tufts of grass. Much of the soil of the desert appears to be alluvial;
there are numerous traces of streams having formerly passed over it,
and still, where irrigation is at all practicable, fertility in the
clayey tract follows; but the rains are scanty, the wells few and
generally 100 ft. deep or more."
The area covers 15,918 sq. m.; pop. (1901) 720,877, showing an increase of
11% on the previous decade; estimated gross revenue, L146,700; there is no
tribute. The chief, whose title is nawab, is a Mahommedan of the Daudputra
family from Sind, and claims descent from Abbas, uncle of the Prophet. The
dynasty established its independence of the Afghans towards the end of the
18th century, and made a treaty with the British in 1838 to which it has
always been loyal. The benefits of canal irrigation were introduced in the
'seventies, and the revenue thus doubled. The territory is traversed
throughout its length by the North-Western and Southern Punjab railways.
There are an arts college and Anglo-vernacular schools.
The town of Bahawalpur is situated near the left bank of the Sutlej, and
has a railway station 65 m. from Mooltan. It has a magnificent palace,
which is visible from far across the Bikanir desert; it was built in 1882
by Nawab Sadik Mahommed Khan. Pop. (1901) 18,546.
BAHIA, an Atlantic state of Brazil, bounded N. by the states of Piauhy,
Pernambuco and Sergipe, E. by Sergipe and the Atlantic, S. by Espirito
Santo and Minas Geraes, and W. by Minas Geraes and Goyaz. Its area is
164,650 sq. m., a great part of which is an arid barren _chapada_
(plateau), traversed from S. to N. and N.E. by the drainage basin of the
Sao Francisco river, and having a general elevation of 1000 to 1700 ft.
above that river, or 2300 to 3000 ft. above sea-level. On the W. the
_chapada_, with an elevation of 2300 ft. and a breadth of 60 m., forms the
western boundary of the state and the water-parting between the Sao
Francisco and the Tocantins. East of the Sao Francisco it may be divided
into three distinct regions: a rough limestone plateau rising gradually to
the culminating ridges of the Serra da Chapada; a gneissose plateau showing
extensive exposures of bare rock dipping slightly toward the coast; and a
narrower plateau covered with a compact sandy soil descending to the
coastal plain. The first two have a breadth of about 200 m. each, and are
arid, barren and inhospitable, except at the dividing ridges where the
clouds from the sea are deprived of some of their moisture. The third zone
loses its arid character as it approaches the coast, and is better clothed
with vegetation. The coastal plain varies in width and character: in some
places low and sandy, or swampy, filled with lagoons and intersecting
canals; in others more elevated, rolling and very fertile. The climate
corresponds closely to these surface features, being hot and dry throughout
the interior, hot and humid, in places unhealthy, along the coast.
Cattle-raising was once the principal industry in the interior, but has
been almost extinguished by the devastating droughts and increasing aridity
caused by the custom of annually burning over the campos to improve the
grass. In the agricultural regions sugar, cotton, tobacco, cacao, coffee,
mandioca and tropical fruits are produced. The exports also include hides,
mangabeira rubber, piassava fibre, diamonds, cabinet woods and rum. The
population is largely of a mixed and unprogressive character, and numbered
1,919,802 in 1890. There is but little immigration and the vegetative
increase is low. The capital, Sao Salvador or Bahia (_q.v._), which is one
of the principal cities and ports of Brazil, is the export town for the
Reconcavo, as the fertile agricultural district surrounding the bay is
called. The principal cities of the state are Alagoinhas and Bom Fim
(formerly Villa Nova da Rainha) on the main railway line running N. to the
Sao Francisco, Cachoeira and Santo Amaro near the capital in the Reconcavo,
Caravellas and Ilheos on the southern coast, with tolerably good harbours,
the former being the port for the Bahia & Minas railway, Feira de Santa
Anna on the border of the _sertao_ and long celebrated for its cattle
fairs, and Jacobina, an inland town N.W. of the capital, on the slopes of
the Serra da Chapada, and noted for its mining industries, cotton and
tobacco. The state of Bahia includes four of the original captaincies
granted by the Portuguese crown--Bahia, Paraguassu, Ilheos and Porto
Seguro, all of which reverted to the direct control of that government in
1549. During the war with Holland several efforts were made to conquer this
captaincy, but without success. In 1823 Bahia became a province of the
empire, and in 1889 a state in the republic. Its government consists of a
governor elected for four years, and a general assembly of two chambers,
the senators being elected for six years and the deputies for two years.
(A. J. L.)
BAHIA, or SAO SALVADOR, a maritime city of Brazil and capital of the state
of Bahia, situated on the Bay of All Saints (_Bahia de Todos os Santos_),
and on the western side of the peninsula separating that bay from the
Atlantic, in 13deg S. lat. and 38deg 30' W. long. Pop. (1890) 174,412;
(est. 1900) 200,000. The commercial section of the city occupies a long,
narrow beach between the water-line and bluffs, and contains the arsenal,
exchange, custom-house, post-office, railway station, market and principal
business houses. It has narrow streets badly paved and drained, and made
still more dirty and offensive by the surface drainage of the upper town.
Communication with the upper town is effected by means of two elevators, a
circular tramway, and steep zigzag roads. The upper town is built on the
western slope of a low ridge, the backbone of the peninsula, and rises from
the edge of the bluffs to altitudes of 200 to 260 ft. above the sea-level,
affording magnificent views of the bay and its islands. There are wider
streets, comfortable residences, and attractive gardens in this part of the
city. Here also are to be found the churches, schools, theatres, asylums,
and hospitals, academies of law and medicine, governor's palace, public
library, and museum, and an interesting public garden on the edge of the
bluff, overlooking the bay. The city is served by four street-car lines,
connecting the suburbs with both the upper and lower towns. In 1906
contracts were made to reconstruct some of these lines for electric
traction. The railways radiating from the city to inland points are the
Bahia & Alagoinhas which is under construction to Joazeiro, on the Sao
Francisco river, a short line to Santo Amaro, and two lines--the Bahia
Central and the Nazareth tramway--extending inland from points on the
opposite side of the bay. The port of Bahia, which has one of the best and
most accessible harbours on the east coast of South America, has a large
coastwise and foreign trade, and is also used as a port of call by most of
the steamship lines trading between Europe and that continent. Bahia was
founded in 1549 by Thome de Souza, the first Portuguese governor-general of
Brazil, and was the seat of colonial administration down to 1763. It was
made the seat of a bishopric in 1551, and of an archbishopric in 1676, and
until 1905 was the metropolis of the Roman Catholic Church in Brazil. The
city was captured in 1624 by the Dutch, who held it only a few months.
Always conservative in character, the city hesitated in adhering to the
declaration of independence in 1822, and also to the declaration of the
republic in 1889. Much of its commercial and political importance has been
lost, also, through the decay of industrial activity in the state, and
through the more vigorous competition of the agricultural states of the
south.
(A. J. L.)
BAHIA BLANCA, a city and port of Argentina, on the Naposta river, 3 m. from
its outlet into a deep, well-sheltered bay of the same name. Pop. (est.
1903) 11,600. It is situated in the extreme southern part of the province
of Buenos Aires and is 447 m. by rail S.W. of the national capital. The
opening to settlement of the national territories of La Pampa and Neuquen
has contributed largely to the growth and importance of Bahia Blanca. It is
the natural shipping-port for these territories and for the southern
districts of the province of Buenos Aires, from which great quantities of
wheat and wool are exported. The bay has long been recognized as one of the
best on the Argentine coast, and when the channel is properly dredged, will
admit steamers of 30 ft. draught at low-water. The Argentine government has
located its principal naval station here, at the [v.03 p.0211] Puerto
Militar, between the city and the entrance to the bay. The port, whose
trade is increasing rapidly, is connected with the neighbouring and
interior producing districts by five or six lines of railway and their
branches. Bahia Blanca dates from 1828, when a fort and trading post were
located here, but its development as a commercial centre began only in
1885, when its first railway line was opened. In 1908 direct railway
communication was opened with Mendoza and San Juan. Though situated near
the mountainous section of southern Buenos Aires, the immediate vicinity of
the city is low and swampy, its water is brackish, and it has been
decidedly unhealthy; but a water supply from the Sauce Grande, 50 m.
distant, was projected in 1906, and this, with better drainage and street
paving, was expected to improve matters. The mean annual temperature is
60deg, and the average annual rainfall is 19 in. The city has street cars,
electric-lights and telephone service, and the port has a shipping pier
1640 ft. long, with spacious warehouses and several miles of railway
sidings.
BAHR, the Arabic for "sea," with the diminutive _bahira_. Bahr also
signifies a. river, especially one with a large body of water, _e.g._ the
Nile, and is sometimes used to designate the dry bed of a river.
BAHRAICH or BHARAICH, a town and district of British India, situated in the
Fyzabad division of the United Provinces. The town is on the river Sarju.
Since the opening of the railway the place has begun to flourish. It
contains the most popular place of pilgrimage in Oudh, the tomb of Masaud,
a champion of Islam, slain in battle by the confederate Rajputs in 1033,
which is resorted to by Mahommedans and Hindus alike. There is also a
Mussulman monastery, and the ruined palace of a nawab of Oudh. The American
Methodists have a mission here. Pop. (1901) 27,304.
The district of Bahraich contains an area of 2647 sq. m. It consists of
three tracts: (1) in the centre, an elevated triangular plateau, projecting
from the base of the Himalayas for about 50 m. in a south-easterly
direction--average breadth, 13 m., area, 670 sq. m.; (2) the great plain of
the Gogra, on the west, about 40 ft. below the level of the plateau; and
(3) on the east, another lesser area of depression, comprising the basin of
the Rapti. The _tarai_, or the forest and marshy tracts along the southern
slopes of the Himalayas, gradually merge within the district into drier
land, the beds of the streams become deeper and more marked, the marshes
disappear, and the country assumes the ordinary appearance of the plain of
the Ganges. The Gogra skirts the district for 114 m.; and the Rapti, with
its branch the Bhalka, drains the high grounds. In 1901 the population was
1,051,347, showing an increase of 5% in the decade. A considerable trade is
conducted with Nepal, chiefly in timber. A line of railway has been opened
through the district to Nepalganj on the frontier. As there are no canals
in the district, irrigation is obtained solely from wells, tanks and
rivers. The district is purely agricultural in character, and is one of
large estates, 78% being held by _taluqdars_, of whom the four chief are
the raja of Kapurthala, the maharaja of Balrampur, the raja of Nanpara and
the raja of Payagpur.
Little is known of the history of the district before the Mahommedan
invasion in A.D. 1033. Masaud was defeated and slain by the nobles of
Bahraich in 1033, and the Mahommedans did not establish their authority
over the country till the middle of the 13th century. About 1450 the
Raikwars, or Rajput adventurers, made themselves masters of the western
portion of the district, which they retain to this day. In 1816 by the
treaty of Segauli the Nepal _tarai_ was ceded to the British, but was given
back in 1860. During the Mutiny the district was the scene of considerable
fighting, and after its close a large portion was distributed in _jagirs_
to loyal chiefs, thus originating the _taluqdari_ estates of the present
day.
BAHR[=A]M (_Varahr[=a]n_, in Gr. [Greek: Ouararanes] or [Greek: Ouraranes],
the younger form of the old _Verethragna_, the name of a Persian god, "the
killer of the dragon Verethra"), the name of five Sassanid kings.
1. BAHR[=A]M I. (A.D. 274-277). From a Pahlavi inscription we learn that he
was the son (not, as the Greek authors and Tabari say, the grandson) of
Shapur I., and succeeded his brother Hormizd (Ormizdas) I., who had only
reigned a year. Bahr[=a]m I. is the king who, by the instigation of the
magians, put to a cruel death the prophet Mani, the founder of Manichaeism.
Nothing else is known of his reign.
2. BAHR[=A]M II. (277-294), son of Bahr[=a]m I. During his reign the
emperor Carus attacked the Persians and conquered Ctesiphon (283), but died
by the plague. Of Bahr[=a]m II.'s reign some theological inscriptions exist
(F. Stolze and J. C. Andreas, _Persepolis_ (Berlin, 1882), and E. W. West,
"Pahlavi Literature" in _Grundriss d. iranischen Philologie_, ii. pp.
75-129).
3. BAHR[=A]M III., son of Bahr[=a]m II., under whose rule he had been
governing Sejistan (therefore called Saganshah, Agathias iv. 24, Tabari).
He reigned only four months (in 294), and was succeeded by the pretender
Narseh.
4. BAHR[=A]M IV. (389-399), son and successor of Shapur III., under whom he
had been governor of Kirman; therefore he was called Kirmanshah (Agathias
iv. 26; Tabari). Under him or his predecessor Armenia was divided between
the Roman and the Persian empire. Bahr[=a]m IV. was killed by some
malcontents.
5. BAHR[=A]M V. (420-439), son of Yazdegerd I., after whose sudden death
(or assassination) he gained the crown against the opposition of the
grandees by the help of al-Mondhir, the Arabic dynast of Hira. He promised
to rule otherwise than his father, who had been very energetic and at the
same time tolerant in religion. So Bahr[=a]m V. began a systematic
persecution of the Christians, which led to a war with the Roman empire.
But he had little success, and soon concluded a treaty by which both
empires promised toleration to the worshippers of the two rival religions,
Christianity and Zoroastrianism. Bahr[=a]m deposed the vassal king of the
Persian part of Armenia and made it a province. He is a great favourite in
Persian tradition, which relates many stories of his valour and beauty, of
his victories over the Romans, Turks, Indians and Negroes, and of his
adventures in hunting and in love; he is called Bahr[=a]m Gor, "the wild
ass," on account of his strength and courage. In reality he seems to have
been rather a weak monarch, after the heart of the grandees and the
priests. He is said to have built many great fire-temples, with large
gardens and villages (Tabari).
(ED. M.)
BAHRDT, KARL FRIEDRICH (1741-1792), German theologian and adventurer, was
born on the 25th of August 1741 at Bischofswerda, where his father,
afterwards professor, canon and general superintendent at Leipzig, was
pastor. At the age of sixteen young Bahrdt, a precocious lad whose training
had been grossly neglected, began to study theology under the orthodox
mystic, Christian August Crusius (1715-1775), who in 1757 had become first
professor in the theological faculty. The boy varied the monotony of his
studies by pranks which revealed his unbalanced character, including an
attempt to raise spirits with the aid of _Dr Faust's Hoellenzwang_. His
orthodoxy was, however, unimpeachable, his talent conspicuous, and in 1761
he was appointed lecturer on biblical exegesis, and preacher (_Katechet_)
at the church of St Peter. His eloquence soon gave him a reputation, and in
1766 he was appointed professor extraordinarius of biblical philology. Two
years later, however, the scandals of his private life led to his
dismissal. In spite of this he succeeded in obtaining the chair of biblical
antiquities in the philosophical faculty at Erfurt. The post was unpaid,
and Bahrdt, who had now married, lived by taking pupils and keeping an inn.
He had meanwhile obtained the degree of doctor of theology from Erlangen,
and was clever enough to persuade the Erfurt authorities to appoint him
professor designate of theology. His financial troubles and coarse and
truculent character, however, soon made the town too hot to hold him; and
in 1771 he was glad to accept the offer of the post of professor of
theology and preacher at Giessen.
Thus far Bahrdt's orthodoxy had counterbalanced his character; but at
Giessen, where his behaviour was no less objectionable than elsewhere, he
gave a handle to his enemies by a change [v.03 p.0212] in his public
attitude towards religion. The climax came with the publication of his
_Neueste Offenbarungen Gottes in Briefen und Erzaehlungen _ (1773-1775),
purporting to be a "model version" of the New Testament, rendered, with due
regard to enlightenment, into modern German. The book is remembered solely
through Goethe's scornful attack on its want of taste; its immediate effect
was to produce Bahrdt's expulsion from Giessen. He was lucky enough at once
to find a post as principal of the educational institution established in
his chateau at Marschlins by the Swiss statesman Ulysses von Salis
(1728-1800). The school had languished since the death of its founder and
first head, Martin Planta (1727-1772), and von Salis hoped to revive it by
reconstituting it as a "Philanthropin" under Bahrdt's management. The
experiment was a failure; Bahrdt, never at ease under the strict discipline
maintained by von Salis, resigned in 1777, and the school was closed. At
the invitation of the count of Leiningen-Dachsburg, Bahrdt now went as
general superintendent to Duerkheim on the Hardt; his luckless translation
of the Testament, however, pursued him, and in 1778 he was suspended by a
decision of the high court of the Empire. In dire poverty he fled, in 1779,
to Halle, where in spite of the opposition of the senate and the
theologians, he obtained through the interest of the Prussian minister, von
Zedlitz, permission to lecture on subjects other than theology. Forced to
earn a living by writing, he developed an astounding literary activity. His
orthodoxy had now quite gone by the board, and all his efforts were
directed to the propaganda of a "moral system" which should replace
supernatural Christianity.
By such means Bahrdt succeeded in maintaining himself until, on the death
of Frederick the Great, the religious reaction set in at the Berlin court.
The strain of writing had forced him to give up his lectures, and he had
again opened an inn on the Weinberg near Halle. Here he lived with his
mistress and his daughters--he had repudiated his wife--in disreputable
peace until 1789, when he was condemned to a year's imprisonment for a
lampoon on the Prussian religious edict of 1788. His year's enforced
leisure he spent in writing indecent stories, coarse polemics, and an
autobiography which is described as "a mixture of lies, hypocrisy and
self-prostitution." He died on the 23rd of April 1792.
See life, with detailed bibliography, by Paul Tschakert in Herzog-Hauck,
_Realencyklopadie_; a more favourable account is given in J. M. Robertson's
_Short History of Freethought_, ii. 278.
BAHREIN ISLANDS, a group of islands situated about 20 m. east of the coast
of El Hasa, in the Persian Gulf, a little to the south of the port of El
Katif, which, if rightly identified with the ancient Gerrha, has been
celebrated throughout history as the mart of Indian trade, the
starting-point of caravans across Arabia. The largest of the group is
called Bahrein. It is about 27 m. long from north to south and about 10
wide--a low flat space of sandy waste with cultivated oases and palm groves
of great luxuriance and beauty. The rocky hill of Jebel Dukhan (the
"mountain of the mist") rises in the midst of it to a height of 400 ft. The
rest of the group are of coral formation. The next island in size to
Bahrein is Moharek, curved in shape, and about 5 m. long by 1/2 m. in
breadth. It lies 1 m. to the north of Bahrein. Sitrah (4 m. long) Nebbi,
Saleh, Sayeh, Khasifeh and Arad (3/4 m. long) complete the group. Of these
minor islands Arad alone retains its classical name.
The climate is mild, but humid, and rather unhealthy. The soil is for the
most part fertile, and produces rice, pot herbs and fruits, of which the
citrons are especially good. Water is abundant. Fish of all kinds abound
off the coast, and are very cheap in the markets. The inhabitants are a
mixed race of Arab, Omanite and Persian blood, slender and small in their
physical appearance; they possess great activity and intelligence, and are
known in all the ports of the Persian Gulf for their commercial and
industrial ability.
The sea around the Bahrein islands is shallow, so shallow as to admit only
of the approach of native craft, and the harbour is closely shut in by
reefs. There is very little doubt that it was from these islands that the
Puni, or Phoenicians, emigrated northwards to the Mediterranean. Bahrein
has always been the centre of the pearl fishing industry of the Persian
Gulf. There are about 400 boats now employed in the pearl fisheries, each
of them paying a tax to the Sheik. The pearl export from Linja is valued at
about L30,000 to L35,000 per annum.
The capital town of Bahrein is _Manameh_, a long, straggling, narrow town
of about 8000 inhabitants, chiefly of the Wahabi sect. Manameh is adjacent
to the most northern point of the island, and looks across the narrow
strait to Moharek.
Fish and sea-weed form the staple food of the islanders. The water-supply
of Moharek is probably unique. It is derived from springs which burst
through the beds below sea-level with such force as to retain their
freshness in the midst of the surrounding salt water. Scattered through the
islands are some fifty villages, each possessing its own date groves and
cultivation, forming features in the landscape of great fertility and
beauty. Most of these villages are walled in for protection.
The Portuguese obtained possession of the islands in 1507, but were driven
from their settlements in that quarter by Shah Abbas in 1622. The islands
afterwards became an object of contention between the Persians and Arabs,
and at last the Arabian tribe of the Athubis made themselves masters of
them in 1784.
The present Sheik of Bahrein (who lives chiefly at Moharek) is of the
family of El Kalifa. This ruling race was driven from the mainland (where
they held great possessions) by the Turks about 1850. In the year 1867 the
Persians threatened Bahrein, and in 1875 the Turks laid their hands on it.
British interference in both cases was successful in maintaining the
integrity of Arab rule, and the Bahrein islands are now under British
protection.
To the south-west of the picturesque belts of palm trees which stretch
inland from the northern coast of Bahrein, is a wide space of open sandy
plain filled with gigantic tumuli or earth mounds, of which the outer
layers of gravel and clay have been hardened by the weather action of
centuries to the consistency of conglomerate. Within these mounds are
two-chambered sepulchres, built of huge slabs of limestone, several of
which have been opened and examined by Durand, Bent and others, and found
to contain relics of undoubted Phoenician design. Scattered here and there
throughout the islands are isolated mounds, or smaller groups, all of which
are of the same appearance, and probably of similar origin.
(T. H. H.*)
BAHR-EL-GHAZAL, the chief western affluent of the river Nile, N.E. Africa,
which it joins in 9deg 30' N., 30deg 25' E. The Bahr-el-Ghazal (Gazelle
river) is a deep stream formed by the junction of many rivers, of which the
Jur (see below) is the most important. The basin of the Ghazal is a large
one, extending north-west to Darfur, and south-west to the Congo watershed.
The main northern feeder of the Ghazal is a large river, whose headwaters
are in the country west of 24deg E. where the Nile, Congo and Shari
watersheds meet. Reinforced by intermittent streams from the hills of
Darfur and by considerable rivers flowing north from Dar Fertit, this river
after reaching as far north as about 10deg 30' pursues a general
south-easterly direction until it joins the Ghazal 87 m. above the Deleb
confluence (see below). This main northern feeder passes through the
country of the Homr Arabs and Bahr-el-Homr may be adopted as its name. On
many maps it is marked as the Bahr-el-Arab, a designation also used as an
alternative name for the Lol,[1] another tributary of the Ghazal, which
eventually unites with the Bahr-el-Homr. The Bahr-el-Homr in its lower
reaches was in 1906 completely blocked by sudd (_q.v._) and then brought no
water into the Bahr-el-Ghazal. The Sudan government, however, sent
engineering parties to remove the sudd blocks and open out a continuous
waterway. [Sidenote: Chief affluents.] This Bahr-el-Homr is the only
affluent of [v.03 p.0213] importance which has tributaries coming from
north of the main stream; the rest of the very numerous affluents have
their rise in the hilly country which stretches from Albert Nyanza in a
general north-west direction as far as 23deg E., and forms the watershed
between the Nile basin and that of the Congo. The most westerly is the Lol
or Bahr-el-Arab. It rises, as the Boro or Telgona, in Dar Fertit, and
receives from the south and south-west the Raga, Sopo, Chel and Bongo. Dem
Zobeir, formerly the chief station of Zobeir Rahama (_q.v._), is near the
Biri tributary of the Chel, in 7deg 40' N., 26deg 10' E. The Lol maintains
a fairly straight course east to about 28deg E., when it turns north-east,
and in about 28-1/2deg E., 9-1/2deg N., joins the Bahr-el-Homr. The chief
of the southern affluents, and that tributary of the Ghazal which
contributes the largest volume of water, is the Jur, known in its upper
course as the Sue, Swe or Souch. The Sue rises north of 4deg N. in about
29deg E., within three or four days' journey of the navigable waters of the
Mbomu, a northern sub-tributary of the Congo. After flowing north for
several hundred miles the Sue, now the Jur, is joined on the left bank, in
about 7deg 30' N., 28deg E., by the Wau, a considerable river whose
headwaters are west of those of the Jur. The united stream now turns east
and joins the Ghazal through a lake-like expansion (see below). The town of
Wau (7deg 42' N., 28deg 3' E.), on the Jur, is the capital of the
Bahr-el-Ghazal province of the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. Meshra-er-Rek, the
chief station and trading centre of the first European visitors to the
country, is on a backwater south of this lake. Between the Jur and the
Nile, and following a course generally parallel with these rivers, several
streams run north from the Congo-Nile watershed and join the
Bahr-el-Ghazal. The Tonj, the most westerly of these rivers, joins the Jur
a little above its confluence with the Ghazal. The Rohl (or Yalo), farther
east, empties into a wide channel known as Khor Deleb, which joins the
Ghazal some 9 m. above Lake No, and from the confluence the stream is known
as the Deleb. Lake No is little more than a depression into which the
waters of the Ghazal system pass near the point of junction with the
Bahr-el-Jebel. The lake is about 7 m. long from west to east, and the
Bahr-el-Jebel, after passing through its eastern corner, changes its name
to Bahr-el-Abiad or White Nile.
In their upper courses all the southern affluents of the Ghazal flow across
a plateau of ferruginous laterite, their valleys having steep banks. North
of 7deg 20' N. (where rapids interrupt the currents) the valleys open out
and the rivers wind in tortuous channels often choked by sandbanks. This
alluvial region, flooded in the rainy season, gives place about 9deg N. to
a sea of swamps, forming in fact part of the huge swamp region of the Nile
(_q.v._). Through these swamps it is almost impossible to trace the course
of the various rivers. The Bahr-el-Ghazal itself is described as a drainage
channel rather than a true river. From the confluence of the Lol with the
Jur, above which point none of the rivers is called Bahr-el-Ghazal, to the
junction with the Nile at Lake No, is a distance of about 200 m. Just above
the Lol confluence the Jur broadens out and forms a lake (Ambadi) 10 m.
long and over a mile broad at low water and very much larger in flood time.
This lake is the home of many sudd plants of the "swimming"
variety--papyrus and ambach are absent. The _Balaeniceps rex_, elsewhere
rare, is found here in large numbers. At first the Ghazal flows north with
lagoon-like expansions having great breadth and little depth--nowhere more
than 13 ft. Turning north-east the channel becomes narrower and deeper, and
is characterized by occasional reaches of papyrus. Finally, the Ghazal
turns east and again becomes broader until Lake No is reached. As a rule
the banks in this section are marked by anthills and scrub. The anthills in
one valley are so close together "that they somewhat resemble a gigantic
graveyard." (Sir William Garstin). The rise of the Ghazal river in flood
time is barely 3 ft., a depth sufficient, however, to place an enormous
area of country under water.
_Exploration of the River._--Rumours of the existence of the Bahr-el-Ghazal
led some of the Greek geographers to imagine that the source of the Nile
was westward in the direction of Lake Chad. The first map on which the
course of the Ghazal is indicated with anything like accuracy is that of
the French cartographer d'Anville, published in 1772. The exploration of
the river followed the ascent of the White Nile by the Egyptian expeditions
of 1839-1842. For a considerable portion of the period between 1833 and
1865 John Petherick, a Welshman, originally a mining engineer, explored the
Ghazal region, particularly the main stream and the Jur. In 1859 a
Venetian, Giovanni Miani, penetrated the southern regions of the Ghazal
basin and was the first to bring back reports of a great river (the Welle)
flowing west beyond the Nile watershed. In 1862 a Frenchman named Lejean
surveyed the main river, of which he published a map. In 1863 Miss
Alexandrine Tinne (_q.v._) with a large party of friends and scientists
ascended the Ghazal with the intention of seeing how far west the basin of
the Nile extended. The chief scientists of the party were the Germans,
Theodor von Heuglin and Hermann Steudner. Considerable additions to the
knowledge of the region were made by this expedition, five out of the nine
white members of which died from blackwater fever.[2] Georg Schweinfurth
(_q.v._) between 1869 and 1871 traversed the whole of the southern
district, and crossing the watershed discovered the Welle. The efforts to
destroy the slave trade in the Ghazal province led (1879-1881) to the
further exploration of the river and its tributaries by Gessi Pasha, the
Italian governor under General C. G. Gordon. Wilhelm Junker (_q.v._) about
the same period also explored the southern tributaries of the Ghazal. These
were carefully surveyed, and the Jur (Sue) followed throughout its course
by Lieutenant A. H. Dye and other members of the French mission under
Colonel (then Captain) J. B. Marchand, which crossing from the Congo (Oct.
1897) reached Fashoda on the White Nile in July 1898.
Like the Bahr-el-Jebel the Bahr-el-Ghazal is liable to be choked by sudd.
Gessi Pasha was imprisoned in it for some six weeks. The river became
almost blocked by the accumulation of this obstruction during the rule of
the Mahdists. In 1901 and following years the sudd was removed by British
officers from the Bahr-el-Ghazal, the Jur and other rivers. Uninterrupted
steamboat communication was thus established during the flood season
between Khartum and Wau, a distance of some 930 m. In 1905-1907 R. C.
Bayldon, a British naval officer, Capt. C. Percival and Lieut. D. Comyn
partly explored the northern and western affluents of the Ghazal, and threw
some light on the puzzling hydrography and nomenclature of those
tributaries.
See NILE and the authorities there quoted, especially Sir William Garstin's
_Report upon the Basin of the Upper Nile, Egypt_, No. 2 (1904), and Capt.
H. G. Lyons's _The Physiography of the River Nile and its Basin_ (Cairo,
1906); also _The Geographical Journal_, vol. xxx. (1907).
(W. E. G.; F. R. C.)
[1] The Lol is also called the Kir, a name given likewise to the lower
course of the Bahr-el-Homr. The confusion of names is partly attributable
to the fact that each tribe has a different name for the same stream. It is
also due in part to the belief that there was a large river flowing between
the Bahr-el-Homr and the Lol. This third river, generally called the Kir,
has proved to be only the lower course of the Lol of Bahr-el-Arab.
[2] Including Miss Tinne's mother and aunt and Dr Steudner.
BAHUT (a French word of unknown origin), a portable coffer or chest, with a
rounded lid covered in leather, garnished with nails, used for the
transport of clothes or other personal luggage,--it was, in short, the
original portmanteau. This ancient receptacle, of which mention is made as
early as the 14th century--its traditional form is still preserved in many
varieties of the modern travelling trunk,--sometimes had its leather
covering richly ornamented, and occasionally its interior was divided into
compartments; but whatever the details of its construction it was always
readily portable. Towards the end of the 17th century the name fell into
desuetude, and was replaced by "coffer" (_q.v._), which probably accounts
for its misuse by the French romantic writers of the early 19th century.
They applied it to almost any antique buffet, cupboard or wardrobe, and its
use has now become hopelessly confused.
In architecture, this term is also used for a dwarf-wall of plain masonry,
carrying the roof of a cathedral or church and masked or hidden behind the
balustrade.
BA[H.]YA, IBN PAQUDA, a Jewish ethical writer who flourished at Saragossa
in the 11th century. In 1040 he wrote in Arabic a treatise, _Duties of the
Heart_. This book was one of the most significant and influential Jewish
works of the middle ages. Ba[h.]ya portrays an intensely spiritual
conception of religion, and rises at times to great heights of impassioned
mysticism.
[v.03 p.0214] The Law, in the rabbinical sense, was reverenced by Ba[h.]ya,
and he converted it into part and parcel of the Jew's inner life. The book
is divided into ten parts:--the Unity of God; Contemplation; Worship;
Trust; Consecration; Humility; Repentance; Self-Examination; the Ascetic
Life; the Love of God. Some selections from Ba[h.]ya's work have been
rendered into English by E. Collins.
(I. A.)
BAIAE, an ancient city of Campania, Italy, 10 m. W. of Neapolis, on the
_Sinus Baianus_, a bay on the W. coast of the Gulf of Puteoli. It is said
to derive its name from [Greek: Baios], the helmsman of Ulysses, whose
grave was shown there; it was originally, perhaps, the harbour of Cumae. It
was principally famous, however, for its warm sulphur springs, remarkable
for their variety and curative properties (Pliny, _Hist. Nat_ xxxi. 4), its
mild climate, and its luxuriant vegetation (though in summer there was some
malaria in the low ground). It was already frequented, especially by the
rich, at the end of the republican period; and in Strabo's day it was as
large as Puteoli. Julius Caesar possessed a villa here, the remains of
which are probably to be recognized in some large substructures on the
ridge above the 16th-century castle. Baiae was a favourite residence of the
emperors. Nero built a huge villa probably on the site now occupied by the
castle. Hadrian died in Caesar's villa in A.D. 138, and Alexander Severus
erected large buildings for his mother. Baiae never became, however, an
independent town, but formed part of the territory of Cumae. Three glass
vases with views of the coast and its buildings were published by H. Jordan
in _Archaeologische Zeitung_ (1868, 91). The luxury and immorality of the
life of Baiae under both the republic and the empire are frequently spoken
of by ancient writers.
Near Baiae was the villa resort of Bauli, so called from the [Greek:
Boaulia] (stalls) in which the oxen of Geryon were concealed by Hercules.
By some it is identified with the modern village of Bacoli (owing to a
presumed similarity to the ancient name), 2 m. S.S.E. of Baiae; by others
with the Punta dell' Epitaffio, 1 m. N.E. of Baiae (see G. B. de Rossi in
_Notizie degli scavi_, 1888, 709). At Bauli, Pompey and Hortensius
possessed villas, the former on the hills, while that of the latter, on the
shores of the Lacus Lucrinus, was remarkable for its tame lampreys and as
the scene of the dialogue in the second book of Cicero's _Academica
Priora_; it afterwards became imperial property and was the scene of
Agrippina's murder by Nero. It was from Bauli to Puteoli that Caligula
built his bridge of boats.
Of the once splendid villas and baths of Baiae and its district, the
foundations of which were often thrown far out into the sea, considerable,
though fragmentary, remains exist. It is not, as a rule, possible to
identify the various buildings, and the names which have been applied to
the ruins are not authenticated. At Baiae itself there exist three large
and lofty domed buildings, two octagonal, one circular, and all circular in
the interior, of _opus reticulatum_ and brick, which, though popularly
called temples, are remains of baths or _nymphaea_. The Punta dell'
Epitaffio also is covered with remains, while at Bacoli are several
ruins--to the north of the village a small theatre, called the tomb of
Agrippina; under the village the remains of a large villa; to the E. the
remains of a large water reservoir, the so-called Cento Camerelle; to the
S. another with a vaulted ceiling, known as the _piscina mirabilis_,
measuring 230 by 85 ft. The villa of Marius, which was bought by Lucullus,
and afterwards came into the possession of the imperial house, was the
scene of the death of Tiberius. It is sometimes spoken of as _Baiana_,
sometimes as _Misenensis_, and is perhaps to be sought at Bacoli (Th.
Mommsen in _Corp. Inscrip. Latin_., x., Berlin, 1883, 1748), though Beloch
inclines to place it on the promontory S. of Misenum, and this perhaps
agrees better with the description given by Phaedrus.
Baiae was devastated by the Saracens in the 8th century and entirely
deserted on account of malaria in 1500.
See J. Beloch, _Campanien_ (2nd ed., Breslau, 1890), 180 seq.
(T. AS.)
BAIBURT, a town of Asiatic Turkey, on the direct carriage road from
Trebizond to Erzerum, situated on both banks of the Churuk river, which
here traverses an open cultivated plateau (altitude, 5100 ft.), before
turning east. It is the chief place of a kaza under Erzerum; the bazaar is
poor, and there is no special industry in the town. The houses run up the
hillsides on both banks of the river to a considerable height. On an
isolated mass of rock, on the left bank, is the old castle, with extensive
walls partly ruined, built originally by the Armenians and restored by the
Seljuks. The principal gate with some Arabic inscriptions stands at the
S.W. corner. There are remains of a vaulted chamber, a Christian church, a
mosque and two covered staircases to the river. A fine view is seen from
the summit over the plain and the Pontic ranges to the north. The
population numbers 10,000, mostly Turkish with some Armenians. The place
was occupied by the Russians under General Paskevich during their invasion
of 1829, and was the farthest point westward then reached by them.
(F. R. M.)
BAI[D.][=A]W[=I] ('Abdallah ibn 'Umar al-Bai[d.][=a]w[=i]), Mahommedan
critic, was born in Fars, where his father was chief judge, in the time of
the Atabek ruler Abu Bakr ibn Sa'd (1226-1260). He himself became judge in
Shiraz, and died in Tabriz about 1286. His chief work is the commentary on
the Koran entitled _The Secrets of Revelation and The Secrets of
Interpretation (Asr[=a]r ut-tanz[=i]l wa Asr[=a]r ut-ta' w[=i]l)_. This
work is in the main a digest of the great Mu'tazalite commentary
(_al-Kashsh[=a]f_) of Zamakhshar[=i] (_q.v._) with omissions and additional
notes. By the orthodox Moslems it is considered the standard commentary and
almost holy, though it is not complete in its treatment of any branch of
theological or linguistic knowledge of which it treats, and is not always
accurate (cf. Th. Noeldeke's _Geschichte des Qorans_, Goettingen, 1860, p.
29). It has been edited by H. O. Fleischer (2 vols., Leipzig, 1846-1848;
indices ed. W. Fell, Leipzig, 1878). There are many editions published in
the East. A selection with numerous notes was edited by D. S. Margoliouth
as _Chrestomathia Beidawiana_ (London, 1894). Many supercommentaries have
been written on Bai[d.][=a]w[=i]'s work. He was also the author of several
theological treatises.
See C. Brockelmann's _Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur_ (Weimar, 1898),
vol. i. pp. 416-418.
(G. W. T.)
BAIF, JEAN ANTOINE DE (1532-1589), French poet and member of the Pleiade,
was born at Venice in 1532. He was the natural son of the scholar Lazare de
Baif, who was at that time French ambassador at Venice. Thanks, perhaps, to
the surroundings of his childhood, he grew up an enthusiast for the fine
arts, and surpassed in zeal all the leaders of the Renaissance in France.
His father spared no pains to secure the best possible education for his
son. The boy was taught Latin by Charles Estienne, and Greek by Ange
Vergece, the Cretan scholar and calligraphist who designed Greek types for
Francis I. When he was eleven years old he was put under the care of the
famous Jean Daurat (_q.v._). Ronsard, who was eight years his senior, now
began to share his studies. Claude Binet tells how young Baif, bred on
Latin and Greek, smoothed out the tiresome beginnings of the Greek language
for Ronsard, who in return initiated his companion into the mysteries of
French versification. Baif possessed an extraordinary facility, and the
mass of his work has injured his reputation. Besides a number of volumes of
short poems of an amorous or congratulatory kind, he translated or
paraphrased various pieces from Bion, Moschus, Theocritus, Anacreon,
Catullus and Martial. He resided in Paris, and enjoyed the continued favour
of the court. He founded in 1567 an _academie de musique et de poesie_,[1]
with the idea of establishing a closer union between music and poetry; his
house became famous for the charming concerts which he gave, entertainments
at which Charles IX. and Henry III. frequently flattered him with their
presence. Baif elaborated a system for regulating French versification by
quantity. In this he was not a pioneer. Jacques de la Taille had written in
1562 the _Maniere de faire des vers en francais comme en grec et en latin_
(printed 1573), and other poets had made experiments in the same direction.
The 16th-century poets did not realize the [v.03 p.0215] incompatibility of
the system of quantity with French rhythm. Baif's innovations included a
line of 15 syllables known as the _vers baifin_. He also meditated reforms
in French spelling. His theories are exemplified in _Etrenes de poezie
Franzoeze an vers mezures_ (1514). His works were published in 4 volumes,
entitled _Oeuvres en rime_ (1573), consisting of _Amours, Jeux, Passetemps,
et Poemes_, containing, among much that is now hardly readable, some pieces
of infinite grace and delicacy. His sonnet on the _Roman de la Rose_ was
said to contain the whole argument of that celebrated work, and Colletet
says it was on everybody's lips. He also wrote a celebrated sonnet in
praise of the massacre of Saint Bartholomew. Baif was the author of two
comedies, _L'Eunuque_, 1565 (published 1573), a free translation of
Terence, and _Le Brave_ (1567), an imitation of the _Miles Gloriosus_, in
which the characters of Plautus are turned into Frenchmen, the action
taking place at Orleans. Baif published a collection of Latin verse in
1577, and in 1576 a popular volume of _Mimes, enseignemens et proverbes_.
He died in 1589. His father, Lazare de Baif,[2] published a translation of
the _Electra_ of Sophocles in 1537, and afterwards a version of the
_Hecuba_; he was an elegant writer of Latin verse, and is commended by
Joachim du Bellay as having introduced certain valuable words into the
French language.
The _Oeuvres en rime_ (5 vols., 1881-1890) of J. A. de Baif form part of
the _Pleiade francaise_ of M. Ch. Marty-Laveaux. See also Becq de
Fouquieres, _Poesies choisies de J. A. de Baif_ (1874), with a valuable
introduction; and F. Brunetiere, _Hist. de la litt. francaise classique_
(1904, bk. iii. pp. 398-422).
[1] For an account of this academy see Edouard Fremy, _Les Origines de
l'Academie Francaise_ (1887).
[2] See L. Pinvert, _Lazare de Baif_, 1496?-1547 (1900).
BAIKAL (known to the Mongols as _Dalai-nor_, and to the Turkish tribes as
_Bai-kul_), a lake of East Siberia, the sixth in size of all the lakes of
the world and the largest fresh-water basin of Eurasia. It stretches from
S.W. to N.E. (51deg 29' to 55deg 50' N. lat. and 103deg 40' to 110deg E.
long.), separating the government of Irkutsk from that of Transbaikalia,
and has a length of 386 m. and a width of from 20 m. to 50 m. Its southern
extremity penetrates into the high plateau of Asia, and the lake lies
entirely in the Alpine zone which fringes that plateau on the north-west.
Its area is 13,200 sq. m., _i.e._ nearly as great as Switzerland. The
length of its coast-line is 525 m. along the western, and 640 m. along the
eastern shore. Its altitude has been estimated at 1587 ft. (Chersky) and at
1679 ft. (Suess)--118 ft. above the level of the Angara at Irkutsk
(_Zapiski Russ. Geog. Soc._ xv., 1885); but 1500 ft. would seem to be a
more correct altitude (_Izvestia East Sib. Branch_, xxviii. 1, 1897). Its
level is subject to slight oscillations, and after a heavy five weeks' rain
in 1869 it rose 7 ft., an immense territory at the mouth of the Selenga
being submerged.
A hydrographic survey of this lake was made by Drizhenko in 1897-1902. The
elongated hilly island of Olkhon, and the peninsula of Svyatoi Nos, which
forms its continuation on the opposite eastern shore, divide the lake into
two basins. The deepest part is in the south-east, at the foot of the
Khamar-daban border-ridge of the high plateau. An elongated trough, 66 m.
long, reaches there a depth of over 600 fathoms, with a maximum depth of
880 fathoms, _i.e._ about 5280 ft. below the level of the ocean. As a rule
the bottom of the lake has very steep slopes: the 100-fathom and even the
250-fathom lines run close to the shores, that is to say, the steepness of
the surrounding mountains (4600 to 6000 ft.) continues beneath the surface.
At the mouth of the Selenga, however, which enters from the south-east,
pouring into it the waters and the alluvial deposits from a drainage area
of 173,500 sq. m., a wide delta is thrust out into the lake, reducing its
width to 20 m. and spreading under its waters, so as to leave only a narrow
channel, 230 to 247 fathoms deep, along the opposite coast. The depth of
the middle portion of the lake has not yet been measured, but must exceed
500 fathoms. It was expected that an underground ridge would be found
connecting Olkhon with Svyatoi Nos; but depths exceeding 622 fathoms have
been sounded even along that line. As to the northern basin, the
configuration of its bottom is in accordance with the high mountains which
surround it, and most of its area has a depth exceeding 400 fathoms, the
maximum depths along three lines of soundings taken across it being 491,
485, and 476 fathoms respectively. The water is beautifully clear.
_Temperature_.--The surface-layers of this immense basin are heated in the
summer up to temperatures of 55-1/2deg to 57deg F., both close to the
shores and at some distance from the mouth of the Selenga; but these warmer
layers are not deep, and a uniform temperature of nearly 39deg F. is
generally found at a depth of 20 fathoms, as also on the surface in the
middle of the lake. At a depth of 500 fathoms there is a nearly uniform
temperature of 38deg. At various places round the shores, _e.g._ the mouth
of the Barguzin, hot springs exist. The lake freezes usually at the end of
December, or in the beginning of January, so solidly that a temporary
post-horse station is erected on the ice in the middle of the lake, and it
remains frozen till the second half of May. The evaporation from this large
basin exercises a certain influence on the climate of the surrounding
country, while the absorption of heat for the thawing of the ice has a
notable cooling effect in early summer.
_Rivers_.--Lake Baikal receives over 300 streams, mostly short mountain
torrents, besides the Upper Angara, which enters its north-east extremity,
the Barguzin, on the east, and the Selenga on the south-east. Its only
outflow is the lower Angara, which issues through a rocky cleft on the west
shore. The Irkut no longer reaches the Baikal, though it once did so. After
approaching its south-west extremity it abandons the broad valley which
leads to the lake, and makes its way northwards through a narrow gap in the
mountains and joins the Angara at Irkutsk.
_Mountains_.--With the exception of the delta of the Selenga, Lake Baikal
is surrounded by lofty mountains. The Khamar-daban border-ridge (the summit
of a mountain of the same name is 5300 ft. above the lake), falling with
steep cliffs towards the lake, fringes it on the south; a massive,
deeply-ravined highland occupies the space between the Irkut and the
Angara; the Onot and Baikal ridges (also Primorskiy) run along its
north-west shore, striking it diagonally; an Alpine complex of yet
unexplored mountains rises on its north-east shore; the Barguzin range
impinges upon it obliquely in the east; and the Ulanburgasu mountains
intrude into the delta of the Selenga.
_Geology_.--It is certain that in previous geological ages Lake Baikal had
a much greater extension. It stretched westwards into the valley of the
Irkut, and up the lower valleys of the Upper Angara and the Barguzin.
Volcanic activity took place around its shores at the end of the Tertiary
or during the Quaternary Age, and great streams of lava cover the Sayan and
Khamar-daban mountains, as well as the valley of Irkut. Earthquakes are
still frequent along its shores.
_Fauna_.--The fauna, explored by Dybowski and Godlewski, and in 1900-2 by
Korotnev, is much richer than it was supposed to be, and has quite an
original character; but hypotheses as to a direct communication having
existed between Lake Baikal and the Arctic Ocean during the Post-Tertiary
or Tertiary ages are not proved. Still, Lake Baikal has a seal (_Phoca
vitulina_, _Phoca baikalensis_ of Dybowski) quite akin to the seals of
Spitsbergen, marine sponges, polychaetes, a marine mollusc (_ancilodoris_),
and some marine gammarids. The waters of the lake swarm with fish
(sturgeons and _salmonidae_), and its herring (_Salmo omul_) is the chief
product of the fisheries, though notably fewer have been taken within the
last forty or fifty years. Plankton is very abundant. The little Lake
Frolikha, situated close to the northern extremity of Lake Baikal and
communicating with it by means of a river of the same name, contains a
peculiar species of trout, _Salmo erythreas_, which is not known elsewhere.
Generally, while there is a relative poverty of zoological groups, there is
a great wealth of species within the group. Of gammarids, there are as many
as 300 species, and those living at great depths (330 to 380 fathoms) tend
to assume abyssal characters similar to those displayed by the deep-sea
fauna of the ocean.
_Navigation._--Navigation of the lake is rendered difficult both by sudden
storms and by the absence of good bays and ports. [v.03 p.0216] The
principal port on the western shore, Listvinichnoe, near the outflow of the
Angara, is an open roadstead at the foot of steep mountains. Steamers ply
from it weekly to Misovaya (Posolskoe) on the opposite shore, a few times a
year to Verkhne-Angarsk, at the northern extremity of the lake, and
frequently to the mouth of the Selenga. Steamers ascend this river as far
as Bilyutai, near the Mongolian frontier, and bring back tea, imported via
Kiakhta, while grain, cedar nuts, salt, soda, wool and timber are shipped
on rafts down the Khilok, Chikoi and Uda (tributaries of the Selenga), and
manufactured goods are taken up the river for export to China. Attempts are
being made to render the Angara navigable below Irkutsk down to the
Yenisei. In winter, when the lake is covered with ice 3 ft. to 4 ft. thick,
it is crossed on sledges from Listvinichnoe to Misovaya. But a highway,
available all the year round, was made in 1863-1864 around its southern
shore, partly by blasting the cliffs, and it is now (since 1905) followed
by the trans-Siberian railway. Further, a powerful ice-breaker is used to
ferry trains across from Listvinichnoe to Misovaya.
AUTHORITIES.--Drizhenko, "Hydrographic Reconnoitring of Lake Baikal," in
_Izvestia Russ. Geogr. Soc._ (1897, 2); Russian Addenda to Ritter's _Asia,
East Siberia, Baikal,_ &c. (1895); Chersky's Geological Map of Shores of
Lake Baikal, 6-2/3 m. to the inch, in _Zapiski_ of _Russ. Geogr. Soc._ xv.
(1886); "Report of Geological Exploration of Shores of Lake Baikal," in
_Zapiski_ of _East Siberian Branch_ of _Russ. Geogr. Soc._ xii. (1886);
Obruchev, "Geology of Baikal Mountains," _Izvestia_ of same Society (1890,
xxi. 4 and 5); Dybowski and Godlewski on "Fauna," in same periodical
(1876); Witkowski, on "Seals"; Yakovlev's "Fishes of Angara," in same
periodical (1890-1893); "Fishing in Lake Baikal and its Tributaries," in
same periodical (1886-1890); and _La Geographie_ (No. 3, 1904).
(P. A. K.; J. T. BE.)
BAIKIE, WILLIAM BALFOUR (1824-1864), Scottish explorer, naturalist and
philologist, eldest son of Captain John Baikie, R.N., was born at Kirkwall,
Orkney, on the 21st of August 1824. He studied medicine at Edinburgh, and,
on obtaining his M.D. degree, joined the royal navy in 1848. He early
attracted the notice of Sir Roderick Murchison, through whom he was
appointed surgeon and naturalist to the Niger expedition sent out in 1854
by Macgregor Laird with government support. The death of the senior officer
(Consul Beecroft) occurring at Fernando Po, Baikie succeeded to the
command. Ascending the Benue about 250 m. beyond the point reached by
former explorers, the little steamer "Pleiad" returned and reached the
mouth of the Niger, after a voyage of 118 days, without the loss of a
single man. The expedition had been instructed to endeavour to afford
assistance to Heinrich Barth (_q.v._), who had in 1851 crossed the Benue in
its upper course, but Baikie was unable to gain any trustworthy information
concerning him. Returning to England, Baikie gave an account of his work in
his _Narrative of an Exploring Voyage up the Rivers Kwora and Binue ... _
(London, 1856). In March 1857 Baikie--with the rank of British
consul--started on another expedition in the "Pleiad." After two years
spent in exploring the Niger, the navigating vessel was wrecked in passing
through some of the rapids of the river, and Baikie was unable longer to
keep his party together. All returned home but himself; in no way daunted,
he determined single-handed to carry out the purposes of the expedition.
Landing from a small boat, with one or two native followers, at the
confluence of the Niger and Benue, he chose Lokoja as the base of his
future operations, it being the site of the model farm established by the
expedition sent by the British government in 1841, and abandoned within a
twelve-month on the death of most of the white settlers (see Capt. W.
Alien, R.N., and T. R. H. Thomson, M.D., _A Narrative of the Expedition ...
to the River Niger in 1841_, London, 1848). After purchasing the site, and
concluding a treaty with the Fula emir of Nupe, he proceeded to clear the
ground, build houses, form enclosures and pave the way for a future city.
Numbers flocked to him from all neighbouring districts, and in his
settlement were representatives of almost all the tribes of West-Central
Africa. To the motley commonwealth thus formed he acted not merely as
ruler, but also as physician, teacher and priest. In less than five years
he had opened up the navigation of the Niger, made roads, and established a
market to which the native produce was brought for sale and barter. He had
also collected vocabularies of nearly fifty African dialects, and
translated portions of the Bible and prayer-book into Hausa. Once only
during his residence had he to employ armed force against the surrounding
tribes. While on his way home, on leave of absence, he died at Sierra Leone
on the 30th of November 1864. He had done much to establish British
influence on the Niger, but after his death the British government
abolished the consulate (1866), and it was through private enterprise that
some twenty years later the district where Baikie had worked so
successfully was finally secured for Great Britain (see NIGERIA).
Baikie's _Observations on the Hausa and Fulfulde_ (_i.e._ Fula) _Languages_
was privately printed in 1861, and his translation of the Psalms into Hausa
was published by the Bible Society in 1881. He was also the author of
various works concerning Orkney and Shetland. A monument to his memory was
placed in the nave of the ancient cathedral of St Magnus, Kirkwall.
BAIL,[1] in English common law, the freeing or setting at liberty of one
arrested or imprisoned upon any action, either civil or criminal, on surety
taken for his appearance on a certain day and at a place named. The surety
is termed bail, because the person arrested or imprisoned is placed in the
custody of those who bind themselves or become bail for his due appearance
when required. So he may be released by them if they suspect that he is
about to escape and surrendered to the court, when they are discharged from
further liability. The sureties must be sufficient in the opinion of the
court, and, as a rule, only householders are accepted; in criminal cases
the solicitor or an accomplice of the person to be bailed, a married woman
or an infant would not be accepted. Bail is obligatory in all summary
cases. It is also obligatory in all misdemeanours, except such as have been
placed on the level of felonies, viz. obtaining or attempting to obtain
property on false pretences, receiving property so obtained or stolen,
perjury or subornation of perjury, concealment of birth, wilful or indecent
exposure of the person, riot, assault in pursuance of a conspiracy to raise
wages, assault upon a peace-officer in the execution of his duty or upon
any one assisting him, neglect or breach of duty as a peace-officer, any
prosecution of which the costs are payable out of the county or borough
rate or fund. In cases of treason, bail can only be granted by a secretary
of state or the king's bench division. A person charged with felony is not
entitled as of right to be released on bail. The power of admitting a
prisoner to bail is discretionary and not ministerial, and the chief
consideration in the exercise of that discretion must be the likelihood of
the prisoner failing to appear at the trial. This must be gauged from the
nature of the evidence in support of the accusation, the position of the
accused and the severity of the punishment which his conviction will
entail, as well as the independence of the sureties. The Bail Act 1898
gives a magistrate power, where a person is charged with felony or certain
misdemeanours, or where he is committed for trial for any indictable
offence, to dispense with sureties, if in his opinion the so dispensing
will not tend to defeat the ends of justice. A surety may be examined on
oath as to his means, while the court may also require notice to be given
to the plaintiff, prosecutor or police. A person who has been taken into
custody for an offence without a warrant, and cannot be brought before a
court of summary jurisdiction within twenty-four hours, may be admitted to
bail by a superintendent or inspector of police; and in a borough, if a
person is arrested for a petty misdemeanour, he may be bailed by the
constable in charge of the police-station. Bail in civil matters, since the
abolition of arrest on mesne process, is virtually extinct. It took the
form of an instrument termed a [v.03 p.0217] _bail-bond_, which was
prepared in the sheriff's office after arrest, and executed by two
sufficient sureties, and the person arrested.
In admiralty proceedings _in rem_, bail is often required for procuring the
release of arrested ships or cargo. It is also given without the arrest of
the ship, as a substitution of personal security for that of the _res_,
generally in an amount to cover the claim and costs.
In the United States, bail (in a sum fixed by the committing magistrate) is
a matter of right in all cases where a sentence of death cannot be
inflicted (Rev. Stat. s. 1015). In those where such a sentence can be
inflicted, it may be allowed by one of the judges of the United States
courts at his discretion (_ibid_. s. 1016).
[1] The ultimate origin of this and cognate words is the Lat. _bajulus_,
properly a bearer of burdens or porter, later a tutor or guardian, and
hence a governor or custodian, from which comes "bailiff"; from _bajulare_
is derived the French _bailler_, to take charge of, or to place in charge
of, and "bail" thus means "custody," and is applied to the person who gives
security for the appearance of the prisoner, the security given, or the
release of the prisoner on such security.
BAILEN, or BAYLEN, a town of southern Spain, in the province of Jaen; 21 m.
by road N. of the city of Jaen. Pop. (1900) 7420. Bailen is probably the
ancient Baecula, where the Romans, under P. Cornelius Scipio the elder,
signally defeated the Carthaginians in 209 and 206 B.C. In its
neighbourhood, also, in 1212, was fought the great battle of Las Navas de
Tolosa, in which, according to the ancient chroniclers, the Castilians
under Alphonso VIII, slew 200,000 Moors, and themselves only lost 25 men.
Although this estimate is absurd, the victory of the Christians was
complete. The capitulation of Bailen, signed at Andujar by the French
general Dupont, on the 23rd of July 1808 after several days' hard fighting,
involved the surrender of 17,000 men to the Spaniards, and was the first
severe blow suffered by the French in the Peninsular War.
BAILEY, GAMALIEL (1807-1859), American journalist, was born at Mount Holly,
New Jersey, on the 3rd of December 1807. He graduated at the Jefferson
Medical College in Philadelphia in 1827. After editing for a short time a
religious journal, the _Methodist Protestant_, at Baltimore, he removed in
1831 to Cincinnati, Ohio, where at first he devoted himself almost
exclusively to the practice of medicine. He was also a lecturer on
physiology at the Lane Theological Seminary, and at the time of the Lane
Seminary debates (February 1834) between the pro-slavery and the
anti-slavery students, and the subsequent withdrawal of the latter, he
became an ardent abolitionist. In 1836 he joined James G. Birney in the
editorial control of the _Philanthropist_; in the following year he
succeeded Birney as editor, and conducted the paper in spite of threats and
acts of violence--the printing-office being thrice wrecked by a mob--until
1847. From 1843 also he edited a daily paper, the _Herald_. In 1847 he
assumed control of the new abolitional organ, the _National Era_, at
Washington, D.C. Here also his paper was the object of attack by
pro-slavery mobs, at one time in 1848 the editor and printers being
besieged in their office for three days. This paper had a considerable
circulation, and in it, in 1851-1852, Mrs. H. B. Stowe's _Uncle Tom's
Cabin_ was first published. Bailey died at sea in the course of a trip to
Europe on the 5th of June 1859.
BAILEY, NATHAN or NATHANIEL (d. 1742), English philologist and
lexicographer. He compiled a _Dictionarium Britannicum: a more compleat
universal etymological English dictionary than any extant_, bearing the
date 1730, but supposed to have been published in 1721. This was a great
improvement on all previous attempts, and formed the basis of Dr Johnson's
great work. Bailey, who was a Seventh-day Baptist (admitted 1691), had a
school at Stepney, near London, and was the author of _Dictionarium
Domesticum_ and several other educational works. He died on the 27th of
June 1742.
BAILEY, PHILIP JAMES (1816-1902), English poet, author of _Festus_, was
born at Nottingham on the 22nd of April 1816. His father, who himself
published both prose and verse, owned and edited from 1845 to 1852 the
_Nottingham Mercury_, one of the chief journals in his native town. Philip
James Bailey received a local education until his sixteenth year, when he
matriculated at Glasgow University. He did not, however, take his degree,
but moved in 1835 to London and entered Lincoln's Inn. Without making
serious practice of the law he settled at Basford, and for three years was
occupied with the composition of _Festus_, which appeared anonymously in
1839. Its success, both in England and America, was immediate. It passed
through a dozen editions in the country of its birth, and nearly three
times as many in the United States; and when in 1889 its author was able to
publish a "Jubilee Edition," he could feel that it was one of the few poems
of its time which was known to both the older and the younger generations.
Its author is known almost exclusively by his one voluminous poem, for
though Bailey published other verses he is essentially a man of one book.
_Festus_ has undergone many changes and incorporations, but it remains a
singular example of a piece of work virtually completed in youth, and never
supplanted or reinforced by later achievements of its author. It is a vast
pageant of theology and philosophy, comprising in some twelve divisions an
attempt to represent the relation of God to man and of man to God, to
emphasize the benignity of Providence, to preach the immortality of the
soul, and to postulate "a gospel of faith and reason combined." It contains
fine lines and dignified thought, but its ambitious theme, and a certain
incoherency in the manner in which it is worked out, prevent it from being
easily readable by any but the most sympathetic student. Bailey died on the
6th of September 1902.
BAILEY, SAMUEL (1791-1870), British philosopher and author, was born at
Sheffield in 1791. He was among the first of those Sheffield merchants who
went to the United States to establish trade connexions. After a few years
in his father's business, he retired with an ample fortune from all
business concerns, with the exception of the Sheffield Banking Company, of
which he was chairman for many years. Although an ardent liberal, he took
little part in political affairs. On two occasions he stood for Sheffield
as a "philosophic radical," but without success. His life is for the most
part a history of his numerous and varied publications. His books, if not
of first-rate importance, are marked by lucidity, elegance of style and
originality of treatment. He died suddenly on the 18th of January 1870,
leaving over L80,000 to the town of Sheffield. His first work, _Essays on
the Formation and Publication of Opinions_, published anonymously in 1821
(2nd ed., 1826; 3rd ed., 1837), attracted more attention than any of his
other writings. A sequel to it appeared in 1829, _Essays on the Pursuit of
Truth_ (2nd ed., 1844). Between these two were _Questions in Political
Economy_, _Politics, Morals, &c._ (1823), and a _Critical Dissertation on
the Nature, Measure, and Causes of Value_ (1825), directed against the
opinions of Ricardo and his school. His next publications also were on
economic or political subjects, _Rationale of Political Representation_
(1835), and _Money and its Vicissitudes_ (1837), now practically forgotten;
about the same time also appeared some of his pamphlets, _Discussion of
Parliamentary Reform_, _Right of Primogeniture Examined_, _Defence of
Joint-Stock Banks_. In 1842 appeared his Review of _Berkeley's Theory of
Vision_, an able work, which called forth rejoinders from J. S. Mill in the
_Westminster Review_ (reprinted in _Dissertations_), and from Ferrier in
_Blackwood_ (reprinted in _Lectures and Remains_, ii). Bailey replied to
his critics in a _Letter to a Philosopher _ (1843), &c. In 1851 he
published _Theory of Reasoning _ (2nd ed., 1852), a discussion of the
nature of inference, and an able criticism of the functions and value of
the syllogism. In 1852 he published _Discourses on Various Subjects_; and
finally summed up his philosophic views in the _Letters on the Philosophy
of the Human Mind_ (three series, 1855, 1858, 1863). In 1845 he published
_Maro_, a poem in four cantoes (85 pp., Longmans), containing a description
of a young poet who printed 1000 copies of his first poem, of which only 10
were sold. He was a diligent student of Shakespeare, and his last literary
work was _On the Received Text of Shakespeare's Dramatic Writings and its
Improvement_ (1862). Many of the emendations suggested are more fantastic
than felicitous.
The _Letters_ contain a discussion of many of the principal problems in
psychology and ethics. Bailey can hardly be classed as belonging either to
the strictly empirical or to the idealist school, but his general tendency
is towards the former. (1) In regard to method, he founds psychology
entirely on introspection. He thus, to a certain extent, agrees with the
Scottish school, but he differs from them in rejecting altogether the
doctrine of mental faculties. What have been designated faculties are, upon
his view, merely classified [v.03 p.0218] facts or phenomena of
consciousness. He criticizes very severely the habitual use of metaphorical
language in describing mental operations. (2) His doctrine of perception,
which is, in brief, that "the perception of external things through the
organs of sense is a direct mental act or phenomenon of consciousness not
susceptible of being resolved into anything else," and the reality of which
can be neither proved nor disproved, is not worked out in detail, but is
supported by elaborate and sometimes subtle criticisms of all other
theories. (3) With regard to general and abstract ideas and general
propositions, his opinions are those of the empirical school, but his
analysis frequently puts the matter in a new light. (4) In the theory of
morals, Bailey is an advocate of utilitarianism (though he objects to the
term "utility" as being narrow and, to the unthinking, of sordid content),
and works out with great skill the steps in the formation of the "complex"
mental facts involved in the recognition of duty, obligation, right. He
bases all moral phenomena on five facts:--(1) Man is susceptible to
pleasure (and pain); (2) he likes (or dislikes) their causes; (3) he
desires to reciprocate pleasure and pain received; (4) he expects such
reciprocation from others; (5) he feels more or less sympathy with the same
feelings in his fellows (_Letters_, 3rd series).
See A. Bain's _Moral Science_; Th. Ribot, _La Psychologie anglaise
contemp._; J. F. Ferrier, _Philos. Remains_ (Edinb. and Lond., 1875), pp.
351-381.
BAILEY (said to be a corruption of _Ballium_ by some, and derived by others
from the Fr. _baille_, a corruption of _bataille_, because there the
soldiers were drilled in battle array), the open space between the inner
and outer lines of a fortification. Sometimes there were more than one, as
the Inner and Outer Bailey; there are in England the Old Bailey at London
and at York, and the Upper and Nether Baileys at Colchester.
BAILIFF and BAILIE (from Late Lat. _bajulivus_, adjectival form of
_bajulus_, a governor or custodian; cf. BAIL), a legal officer to whom some
degree of authority, care or jurisdiction is committed. Bailiffs are of
various kinds and their offices and duties vary greatly.
The term was first applied in England to the king's officers generally,
such as sheriffs, mayors, &c., and more particularly to the chief officer
of a hundred. The county within which the sheriff exercises his
jurisdiction is still called his bailiwick, while the term bailiff is
retained as a title by the chief magistrates of various towns and the
keepers of royal castles, as the high bailiff of Westminster, the bailiff
of Dover Castle, &c. Under the manorial system, the bailiff, the steward
and the reeve were important officers; the bailiff managed the property of
the manor and superintended its cultivation (see Walter of Henley,
_Husbandry_, R. Hist. Soc., 1890).
The bailiff of a franchise or liberty is the officer who executes writs and
processes, and impanels juries within the franchise. He is appointed by the
lord of such franchise (who, in the Sheriffs Act 1887, s. 34, is referred
to as the bailiff of the franchise).
The bailiff of a sheriff is an under-officer employed by a sheriff within a
county for the purpose of executing writs, processes, distraints and
arrests. As a sheriff is liable for the acts of his officers acting under
his warrant, his bailiffs are annually bound to him in an obligation with
sureties for the faithful discharge of their office, and thence are called
_bound_ bailiffs. They are also often called _bum-bailiffs_, or, shortly,
_bums_. The origin of this word is uncertain; the _New English Dictionary_
suggests that it is in allusion to the mode of catching the offender.
Special bailiffs are officers appointed by the sheriff at the request of a
plaintiff for the purpose of executing a particular process. The
appointment of a special bailiff relieves the sheriff from all
responsibility until the party is arrested and delivered into the sheriff's
actual custody.
By the County Courts Act 1888, it is provided that there shall be one or
more high-bailiffs, appointed by the judge and removable by the
lord-chancellor; and every person discharging the duties of high-bailiff is
empowered to appoint a sufficient number of able and fit persons as
bailiffs to assist him, whom he can dismiss at his pleasure. The duty of
the high-bailiff is to serve all summonses and orders, and execute all the
warrants, precepts and writs issued out of the court. The high bailiff is
responsible for all the acts and defaults of himself, and of the bailiffs
appointed to assist him, in the same way as a sheriff of a county is
responsible for the acts and defaults of himself and his officers. By the
same act (s.49) bailiffs are answerable for any connivance, omission or
neglect to levy any such execution. No action can be brought against a
bailiff acting under order of the court without six days' notice (s.54).
Any warrant to a bailiff to give possession of a tenement justifies him in
entering upon the premises named in the warrant, and giving possession,
provided the entry be made between the hours of 9 A.M. and 4 P.M. (s. 142).
The Law of Distress Amendment Act 1888 enacts that no person may act as a
bailiff to levy any distress for rent, unless he is authorized by a
county-court judge to act as a bailiff.
In the Channel Islands the bailiff is the first civil officer in each
island. He is appointed by the crown, and generally holds office for life.
He presides at the royal court, and takes the opinions of the jurats; he
also presides over the states, and represents the crown in all civil
matters. Though he need not necessarily have had legal training, he is
usually selected from among those who have held some appointment at the
island bar.
In the United States the word bailiff has no special significance. It is
sometimes applied to the officer who takes charge of juries and waits upon
the court. The officer who corresponds to the English sheriff's bailiff is
termed a deputy or under-sheriff.
_Bailie._--In Scotland the word bailiff has taken the form of "bailie,"
signifying a superior officer or magistrate of a municipal corporation.
Bailies, by virtue of their office, are invested with certain judicial and
administrative powers within the burgh for which they are appointed. They
sit as police-court magistrates, being assisted usually by a paid legal
adviser, called an "assessor," and, in the larger burghs, act as a
licensing court. It is usually said that a bailie is analogous to the
English alderman, but this is only in so far as he is a person of superior
dignity in the council, for, unlike an alderman, he continues to sit for
the ward for which he has been elected after selection as a bailie. He is
always appointed from within the council, and his term of office is only
that of an ordinary councillor, that is, for not more than three years.
_Bailie to give sasine_ was the person who appeared for the superior at the
ceremony of giving sasine. This ceremony was abolished in 1845. The _Bailie
of Holyrood_, or _Bailie of the Abbey_, was the official who had
jurisdiction in all civil debts contracted within the precincts of the
sanctuary (_q.v._).
(T. A. I.)
_Bailli_.--In France the bailiff (_bailli_), or seneschal in feudal days,
was the principal officer of any noble importance. He it was who held the
feudal court of assizes when the lord was not present himself. A great
noble often also had a _prevote_, where small matters were settled, and the
preparatory steps taken relative to the more important cases reserved for
the assizes. Among the great officers of the crown of France a
grand-seneschal formerly figured until the reign of Philip Augustus, when
the last holder of the office was not replaced by a successor. It is also
under Philip Augustus that local bailiffs first make a definite appearance.
In the ordinance of 1190, by which the king, about to set forth on the
crusade, arranged for the administration of the kingdom during his absence,
they figure as part of a general system. Probably the first royal bailiffs
or seneschals were the seigniorial bailiffs of certain great fiefs that had
been reunited to the crown, their functions still continuing after the
annexation. Their essential function was at first the surveillance of the
royal provosts (_prevots_), who until then had had the sole administration
of the various parts of the domain. They concentrated in their own hands
the produce of the provostships, and they organized and led the men who by
feudal rules owed military service to the king. They had also judicial
functions, which, at first narrowly restricted in application, became much
enlarged as time went on, and they held periodical assizes in the principal
centres of their districts. When the right of appeal was instituted, it was
they who heard the appeals from sentences pronounced by inferior royal
judges and by the seigniorial justices. Royal cases, and cases in which a
noble was defendant, were also reserved for them. The royal _bailli_ or
seneschal (no real difference existed between the two offices, the names
merely changing according to the district), was for long the king's
principal representative in the provinces, [v.03 p.0219] and the
_bailliage_ or the _senechaussee_ was then as important administratively as
judicially. But the political power of the bailiffs was greatly lessened
when the provincial governors were created. They had already lost their
financial powers, and their judicial functions now passed from them to
their lieutenants.
By his origin the bailiff had a military character; he was an officer of
the "short robe" and not of the "long robe," which in those days was no
obstacle to his being well versed in precedents. But when, under the
influence of Roman and canon law, the legal procedure of the civil courts
became _learned_, the bailiff often availed himself of a right granted him
by ancient public law: that of delegating the exercise of his functions to
whomsoever he thought fit. He delegated his judicial functions to
lieutenants, whom he selected and discharged at will. But as this
delegation became habitual, the position of the lieutenants was
strengthened; in the 16th century they became royal officers by title, and
even dispossessed the bailiffs of their judiciary prerogatives. The
tribunal of the _bailliage_ or _senechaussee_ underwent yet another
transformation, becoming a stationary court of justice, the seat of which
was fixed at the chief town. During the 15th and 16th centuries ambulatory
assizes diminished in both frequency and importance. In the 17th and 18th
centuries they were no more than a survival, the _lieutenant_ of such a
_bailliage_ having preserved the right to hold one assize each year at a
certain locality in his district. The ancient bailiff or _bailli d'epee_
still existed, however; the judgments in the tribunal of the bailliage were
delivered in his name, and he was responsible for their execution. So long
as the military service of the _ban_ and _arriere ban_, due to the king
from all fief-holders, was maintained (and it was still in force at the end
of the 17th century), it was the bailiffs who organized it. Finally the
_bailliage_ became in principle the electoral district for the
states-general, the unit represented therein by its three estates. The
justiciary nobles retained their judges, often called bailiffs, until the
Revolution. These judges, who were competent to decide questions as to the
payment of seigniorial dues could not, legally at all events, themselves
farm those revenues.
See Dupont Ferrier, _Les Officiers royaux des bailliages et senechaussees
et les institutions monarchiques locales en France a la fin du moyen age_
(1902); Armand Brette, _Recueil de documents relatifs a la convocation des
etats-generaux de 1789_ (3 vols. 1904) (vol. iii. gives the condition of
the _bailliages_ and _senechaussees_ in 1789).
(J. P. E.)
BAILLET, ADRIEN (1649-1706), French scholar and critic, was born on the
13th of June 1649, at the village of Neuville near Beauvais, in Picardy.
His parents could only afford to send him to a small school in the village,
but he picked up some Latin from the friars of a neighbouring convent, who
brought him under the notice of the bishop of Beauvais. By his kindness
Baillet received a thorough education at the theological seminary, and was
afterwards appointed to a post as teacher in the college of Beauvais. In
1676 he was ordained priest and was presented to a small vicarage. He
accepted in 1680 the appointment of librarian to M. de Lamoignon,
advocate-general to the _parlement_ of Paris, of whose library he made a
_catalogue raisonne_ (35 vols.), all written with his own hand. The
remainder of his life was spent in incessant, unremitting labour; so keen
was his devotion to study that he allowed himself only five hours a day for
rest. He died on the 21st of January 1706. Of his numerous works the
following are the most conspicuous: (1) _Histoire de Hollande depuis la
treve de 1609 jusqu'a 1690_ (4 vols. 1693), a continuation of Grotius, and
published under the name of La Neuville, (2) _Les Vies des saints ..._ (4
vols. 1701), (3) _Des Satires personelles, traite historique et critique de
celles qui portent le titre d' Anti_ (2 vols. 1689), (4) _Vie de Descartes_
(2 vols. 1691), (5) _Auteurs deguises sous des noms etrangers, empruntes,
&c._ (1690), (6) _Jugemens des savans sur les principaux ouvrages des
auteurs_ (9 vols. 1685-1686). The last is the most celebrated and useful of
all his works. At the time of his death he was engaged on a _Dictionnaire
universelle ecclesiastique_. The praise bestowed on the Jansenists in the
_Jugemens des savans_ brought down on Baillet the hatred of the Jesuits,
and his _Vie des saints_, in which he brought his critical mind to bear on
the question of miracles, caused some scandal. His _Vie de Descartes_ is a
mine of information on the philosopher and his work, derived from numerous
unimpeachable authorities.
See the edition by M. de la Monnoye of the _Jugemens des savans_
(Amsterdam, 4 vols. 1725), which contains the _Anti-Baillet_ of Gilles
Menage and an _Abrege de la vie de Mr Baillet_.
BAILLIE, LADY GRIZEL (1665-1746), Scottish song-writer, eldest daughter of
Sir Patrick Hume or Home of Polwarth, afterwards earl of Marchmont, was
born at Redbraes Castle, Berwickshire, on the 25th of December 1665. When
she was twelve years old she carried letters from her father to the
Scottish patriot, Robert Baillie of Jerviswood, who was then in prison.
Home's friendship for Baillie made him a suspected man, and the king's
troops occupied Redbraes Castle. He remained in hiding for some time in a
churchyard, where his daughter kept him supplied with food, but on hearing
of the execution of Baillie (1684) he fled to Holland, where his family
soon after joined him. They returned to Scotland at the Revolution. Lady
Grizel married in 1692 George Baillie, son of the patriot. She died on the
6th of December 1746. She had two daughters, Grizel, who married Sir
Alexander Murray of Stanhope, and Rachel, Lady Binning. Lady Murray had in
her possession a MS. of her mother's in prose and verse. Some of the songs
had been printed in Allan Ramsay's _Tea-Table Miscellany_. "And werena my
heart light I wad dee," the most famous of Lady Grizel's songs, originally
appeared in _Orpheus Caledonius_ (1725).
_Memoirs of the Lives and Characters of the Right Hon. George Baillie of
Jerviswood and Lady Grisell Baillie, by their daughter, Lady Murray of
Stanhope_, were printed in 1822. George Baillie's _Correspondence_
(1702-1708) was edited by Lord Minto for the Bannatyne Club in 1842. "The
Legend of Lady Grizelda Baillie" forms one of Joanna Baillie's _Metrical
Legends of Exalted Character_.
BAILLIE, JOANNA (1762-1851), British poet and dramatist, was born at the
manse of Bothwell, on the banks of the Clyde, on the 11th of September
1762. She belonged to an old Scottish family, which claimed among its
ancestors Sir William Wallace. At an early period she moved with her sister
Agnes to London, where their brother, Dr Matthew Baillie, was settled. The
two sisters inherited a small competence from their uncle, Dr William
Hunter, and took up their residence at Hampstead, then on the outskirts of
London, where they passed the remainder of their lives. Joanna Baillie had
received an excellent education, and began very early to write poetry. She
published anonymously in 1790 a volume called _Fugitive Verses_; but it was
not till 1798 that she produced the first volume of her "plays on the
passions" under the title of _A Series of Plays_. Her design was to
illustrate each of the deepest and strongest passions of the human mind,
such as hate, jealousy, fear, love, by a tragedy and a comedy, in each of
which should be exhibited the actions of an individual under the influence
of these passions. The first volume was published anonymously, but the
authorship, though at first attributed to Sir Walter Scott, was soon
discovered. The book had considerable success and was followed by a second
volume in 1802, a third in 1812 and three volumes of _Dramas_ in 1836.
_Miscellaneous Plays_ appeared in 1804, and the _Family Legend_ in 1810.
Miss Baillie herself intended her plays not for the closet but for the
stage. The _Family Legend_, brought out in 1810 at Edinburgh, under the
enthusiastic patronage of Sir Walter Scott, had a brief though brilliant
success; _De Monfort_ had a short run in London, mainly through the acting
of John Kemble and Mrs Siddons; _Henriquez_ and _The Separation_ were
coldly received. With very few exceptions, Joanna Baillie's plays are
unsuited for stage exhibition. Not only is there a flaw in the fundamental
idea, viz. that of an individual who is the embodiment of a single passion,
but the want of incident and the direction of the attention to a single
point, present insuperable obstacles to their success as acting pieces. At
the same time they show remarkable powers of analysis and acute observation
and are written in a pure and vigorous style. Joanna Baillie's reputation
does not rest entirely on her dramas; she was the author of some poems and
songs of great beauty. The best of them are the _Lines to Agnes Baillie on
her Birthday, The Kitten, To a Child_ and some of her adaptations of
Scottish songs, such as _Woo'd and Married an'a'_. Scattered throughout the
dramas are also some lively and [v.03 p.0220] beautiful songs, _The Chough
and the Crow_ in _Orra_, and the lover's song in the _Phantom_. Miss
Baillie died on the 23rd of February 1851, at the advanced age of 89, her
faculties remaining unimpaired to the last. Her gentleness and sweetness of
disposition made her a universal favourite, and her little cottage at
Hampstead was the centre of a brilliant literary society.
See Joanna Baillie's _Dramatic and Poetical Works_ (London, 1851).
BAILLIE, ROBERT (1602-1662), Scottish divine, was born at Glasgow. Having
graduated there in 1620, he gave himself to the study of divinity. In 1631,
after he had been ordained and had acted for some years as regent in the
university, he was appointed to the living of Kilwinning in Ayrshire. In
1638 he was a member of the famous Glasgow Assembly, and soon after he
accompanied Leslie and the Scottish army as chaplain or preacher. In 1642
he was made professor of divinity at Glasgow, and in the following year was
selected as one of the five Scottish clergymen who were sent to the
Westminster Assembly. In 1649 he was one of the commissioners sent to
Holland for the purpose of inviting Charles II. to Scotland, and of
settling the terms of his admission to the government. He continued to take
an active part in all the minor disputes of the church, and in 1661 was
made principal of Glasgow University. He died in August of the following
year, his death being probably hastened by his mortification at the
apparently firm establishment of episcopacy in Scotland. Baillie was a man
of learning and ability; his views were not extreme, and he played but a
secondary part in the stirring events of the time. His _Letters_, by which
he is now chiefly remembered, are of first-rate historical importance, and
give a very lively picture of the period.
A complete memoir and a full notice of all his writings will be found in D.
Laing's edition of the _Letters and Journals of Robert Baillie_
(1637-1662), Bannatyne Club, 3 vols. (Edinburgh, 1841-1842). Among his
works are _Ladensium_ [Greek: autokatakrisis], an answer to _Lysimachus
Nicanor_, an attack on Laud and his system, in reply to a publication which
charged the Covenanters with Jesuitry; _Anabaptism, the true Fountain of
Independency, Brownisme, Antinomy, Familisme, &c._, a sermon; _An
Historical Vindication of the Government of the Church of Scotland; The
Life of William (Laud) now Lord Archbishop of Canterbury Examined_ (London,
1643); _A Parallel of the Liturgy with the Mass Book, the Breviary, the
Ceremonial and other Romish Rituals_ (London, 1661).
BAILLIE, ROBERT (d. 1684), Scottish conspirator, known as BAILLIE OF
JERVISWOOD, was the son of George Baillie of St. John's Kirk, Lanarkshire.
He incurred the resentment of the Scottish government by rescuing, in June
1676, his brother-in-law Kirkton, a Presbyterian minister who had illegally
been seized and confined in a house by Carstairs, an informer. He was fined
L500, remaining in prison for four months and then being liberated on
paying one-half the fine to Carstairs. In despair at the state of his
country he determined in 1683 to emigrate to South Carolina, but the plan
came to nothing. The same year Baillie, with some of his friends, went to
London and entered into communication with Monmouth, Russell and their
party in order to obtain redress; and on the discovery of the Rye House
Plot he was arrested. Questioned by the king himself he repudiated any
knowledge of the conspiracy, but with striking truthfulness would not deny
that he had been consulted with the view of an insurrection in Scotland. He
was subsequently loaded with irons and sent back a prisoner to Scotland.
Though there was no evidence whatever to support his connexion with the
plot, he was fined L6000 and kept in close confinement. He was already in a
languishing state when on the 23rd of December 1684 he was brought up again
before the high court on the charge of treason. He was pronounced guilty on
the following day and hanged the same afternoon at the market cross at
Edinburgh with all the usual barbarities. His shocking treatment was long
remembered as one of the worst crimes committed by the Stuart
administration in Scotland. Bishop Burnet, who was his cousin, describes
him as "in the presbyterian principles but ... a man of great piety and
virtue, learned in the law, in mathematics and in languages." He married a
sister of Sir Archibald Johnston, Lord Warriston, and left a son, George,
who took refuge in Holland, afterwards returning with William III. and
being restored to his estates.
BAILLY, JEAN SYLVAIN (1736-1793), French astronomer and orator, was born at
Paris on the 15th of September 1736. Originally intended for the profession
of a painter, he preferred writing tragedies until attracted to science by
the influence of Nicolas de Lacaille. He calculated an orbit for the comet
of 1759 (Halley's), reduced Lacaille's observations of 515 zodiacal stars,
and was, in 1763, elected a member of the Academy of Sciences. His _Essai
sur la theorie des satellites de Jupiter_ (1766), an expansion of a memoir
presented to the Academy in 1763, showed much original power; and it was
followed up in 1771 by a noteworthy dissertation _Sur les inegalites de la
lumiere des satellites de Jupiter_. Meantime, he had gained a high literary
reputation by his _Eloges_ of Charles V., Lacaille, Moliere, Corneille and
Leibnitz, which were issued in a collected form in 1770 and 1790; he was
admitted to the French Academy (February 26, 1784), and to the Academie des
Inscriptions in 1785, when Fontenelle's simultaneous membership of all
three Academies was renewed in him. Thenceforth, he devoted himself to the
history of science, publishing successively:--_Histoire de l'astronomie
ancienne_ (1775); _Histoire de l'astronomie moderne_ (3 vols. 1779-1782);
_Lettres sur l'origine des sciences_ (1777); _Lettres sur l'Atlantide de
Platon_ (1779); and _Traite de l'astronomie indienne et orientale_ (1787).
Their erudition was, however, marred by speculative extravagances.
The cataclysm of the French Revolution interrupted his studies. Elected
deputy from Paris to the states-general, he was chosen president of the
Third Estate (May 5, 1789), led the famous proceedings in the Tennis Court
(June 20), and acted as mayor of Paris (July 15, 1789, to November 16,
1791). The dispersal by the National Guard, under his orders, of the
riotous assembly in the Champ de Mars (July 17, 1791) rendered him
obnoxious to the infuriated populace, and he retired to Nantes, where he
composed his _Memoires d'un temoin_ (published in 3 vols. by MM. Berville
and Barriere, 1821-1822), an incomplete narrative of the extraordinary
events of his public life. Late in 1793, Bailly quitted Nantes to join his
friend Pierre Simon Laplace at Melun; but was there recognized, arrested
and brought (November 10) before the Revolutionary Tribunal at Paris. On
the 12th of November he was guillotined amid the insults of a howling mob.
He met his death with patient dignity, having, indeed, disastrously shared
the enthusiasms of his age, but taken no share in its crimes.
Notices of his life are contained in the _Eloges_ by Merard de Saint Just,
Delisle de Salles, Lalande and Lacretelle; in a memoir by Arago, read the
26th of February 1844 before the Academie des Sciences, and published in
_Notices biographiques_, t. ii. (1852). See also Delambre, _Histoire de
l'astronomie au 18me siecle_, p. 735, and Lalande, _Bibliographie
astronomique_, p. 730.
BAILMENT (from Fr. _bailler_, to place in charge of, cf. BAIL), in law, a
delivery of goods from one person called the _bailor_, to another person
called the _bailee_, for some purpose, upon a contract, express or implied,
that after the purpose has been fulfilled they shall be redelivered to the
bailor, or otherwise dealt with according to his direction, or kept till he
reclaims them. The following is Chief Justice Holt's classification of
bailments in _Coggs_ v. _Bernard_, 1704, 1 Sm. L.C. 167, which is generally
adopted. (1) _Depositum_, or bailment without reward, in order that the
bailee may keep the goods for the bailor. In this case, the bailee has no
right to use the thing entrusted to him, and is liable for gross
negligence, but not for ordinary negligence. Thus, where a customer had
deposited some securities with his banker (who received nothing for his
services) and they were stolen by a cashier, it was held that as there was
no proof of gross negligence the banker was not liable (_Giblin_ v.
_McMullen_, 1868, L.R. 2 P.C. 317). (2) _Commodatum_, or loan, where goods
or chattels that are useful are lent to the bailee _gratis_, to be used by
him. The bailee may be justly considered as representing himself to the
bailor to be a person of competent skill to take care of the thing lent
(_Wilson_ v. _Brett_, 1843, 11 M. & W. 113), and the transaction being a
gratuitous loan, and one for the advantage of the bailee solely, he is
bound to use great diligence in the protection of the thing bailed and will
be responsible even for slight negligence. Thus, where a [v.03 p.0221]
horse was lent to the defendant to ride, it was held that it did not
warrant him in allowing his servant to do so (_Bringloe_ v. _Morrice_,
1676, 1 Mod. 210). But where a horse was for sale and the vendor allowed
the defendant to have the horse for the purpose of trying it, it was held
that he had a right to allow a competent person upon the horse to try it
(_Camoys_ v. _Scurr_, 1840, 9 C. & P. 383). (3) _Locatio rei_, or lending
for hire. In the case of hiring the bailee is bound to use such diligence
as a prudent man would exercise towards his own property. Thus, where the
defendant hired a horse, and it having fallen ill, prescribed for it
himself instead of calling in a veterinary surgeon, he was held liable for
the loss (_Dean_ v. _Keate_, 1811, 3 Camp. 4). (4) _Vadium_, pawn or
pledge; a bailment of personal property as a security for a debt. In this
case the pledgee is bound to use ordinary diligence in guarding the thing
pledged. (5) _Locatio operis faciendi_, where goods are delivered to be
carried, or something is to be done about them for a reward to be paid to
the bailee. In this case, the bailee is bound to use ordinary diligence in
preserving the property entrusted to him. (6) _Mandatum_, a delivery of
goods to somebody, who is to carry them, or do something about them
_gratis_. The liabilities of a mandatory and of a depository are exactly
the same; neither is liable for anything short of gross negligence.
See further under BANKS AND BANKING; CARRIER; DILIGENCE; FACTOR; HIRING;
INNS AND INNKEEPERS; LIEN; NEGLIGENCE; PLEDGE; PAWNBROKING; PRINCIPAL AND
AGENT, &c.
BAILY, EDWARD HODGES (1788-1867), British sculptor, was born at Bristol on
the 10th of March 1788. His father, who was a celebrated carver of
figureheads for ships, destined him for a commercial life, but even at
school the boy showed his natural taste and remarkable talents by producing
numerous wax models and busts of his schoolfellows, and afterwards, when
placed in a mercantile house, still carried on his favourite employment.
Two Homeric studies, executed for a friend, were shown to J. Flaxman, who
bestowed on them such high commendation that in 1807 Baily came to London
and placed himself as a pupil under the great sculptor. In 1809 he entered
the academy schools. In 1811 he gained the academy gold medal for a model
of "Hercules restoring Alcestis to Admetus," and soon after exhibited
"Apollo discharging his Arrows against the Greeks" and "Hercules casting
Lichas into the Sea." In 1821 he was elected R.A., and exhibited one of his
best pieces, "Eve at the Fountain." He was entrusted with the carving of
the bas-reliefs on the south side of the Marble Arch in Hyde Park, and
executed numerous busts and statues, such as those of Nelson in Trafalgar
Square, of Earl Grey, of Lord Mansfield and others. Baily died at Holloway
on the 22nd of May 1867.
BAILY, FRANCIS (1774-1844), English astronomer, was born at Newbury in
Berkshire, on the 28th of April 1774. After a tour in the unsettled parts
of North America in 1796-1797, his journal of which was edited by Augustus
de Morgan in 1856, he entered the London Stock Exchange in 1799. The
successive publication of _Tables for the Purchasing and Renewing of
Leases_ (1802), of _The Doctrine of Interest and Annuities_ (1808), and
_The Doctrine of Life-Annuities and Assurances_ (1810), earned him a high
reputation as a writer on life-contingencies; he amassed a fortune through
diligence and integrity and retired from business in 1825, to devote
himself wholly to astronomy. He had already, in 1820, taken a leading part
in the foundation of the Royal Astronomical Society; and its gold medal was
awarded him, in 1827, for his preparation of the Astronomical Society's
Catalogue of 2881 stars (_Memoirs R. Astr. Soc._ ii.). The reform of the
_Nautical Almanac_ in 1829 was set on foot by his protests; he recommended
to the British Association in 1837, and in great part executed, the
reduction of Joseph de Lalande's and Nicolas de Lacaille's catalogues
containing about 57,000 stars; he superintended the compilation of the
British Association's Catalogue of 8377 stars (published 1845); and revised
the catalogues of Tobias Mayer, Ptolemy, Ulugh Beg, Tycho Brahe, Edmund
Halley and Hevelius (_Memoirs R. Astr. Soc._ iv., xiii).
His notice of "Baily's Beads," during an annular eclipse of the sun on the
15th of May 1836, at Inch Bonney in Roxburghshire, started the modern
series of eclipse-expeditions. The phenomenon, which depends upon the
inequalities of the moon's limb, was so vividly described by him as to
attract an unprecedented amount of attention to the totality of the 8th of
July 1842, observed by Baily himself at Pavia. He completed and discussed
H. Foster's pendulum-experiments, deducing from them an ellipticity for the
earth of 1/289 (_Memoirs R. Astr. Soc._ vii.); corrected for the length of
the seconds-pendulum by introducing a neglected element of reduction; and
was entrusted, in 1843, with the reconstruction of the standards of length.
His laborious operations for determining the mean density of the earth,
carried on by Henry Cavendish's method (1838-1842), yielded for it the
authoritative value of 5.66. He died in London, on the 30th of August 1844.
Baily's _Account of the Rev. John Flamsteed_ (1835) is of fundamental
importance to the scientific history of that time. It included a
republication of the British Catalogue.
See J. Herschel's _Memoir of F. Baily, Esq._ (1845), also prefixed to
Baily's _Journal of a Tour_, with a list of his writings; _Month. Not. R.
Astr. Soc._ xiv. 1844.
BAILY, WILLIAM HELLIER (1819-1888), English palaeontologist, nephew of
E. H. Baily the sculptor, was born at Bristol on the 7th of July 1819. From
1837 to 1844 he was Assistant Curator in the Bristol Museum, a post he
relinquished to join the staff of the Geological Survey in London. In 1854
he became assistant naturalist, under Edward Forbes and afterwards under
Huxley. In 1857 he was transferred to the Irish branch of the Geological
Survey, as acting palaeontologist, and retained this post until the end of
his life. He was the author of many papers on palaeontological subjects,
and of notes on fossils in the explanatory memoirs of the Geological Survey
of Ireland. He published (1867-1875) a useful work entitled _Figures of
Characteristic British Fossils, with Descriptive Remarks_, of which only
the first volume, dealing with palaeozoic species, was issued. The figures
were all drawn on stone by himself. He died at Rathmines near Dublin on the
6th of August 1888.
BAIN, ALEXANDER (1818-1903), Scottish philosopher and educationalist, was
born on the 11th of June 1818 in Aberdeen, where he received his first
schooling. In early life he was a weaver, hence the punning description of
him as _Weevir, rex philosophorum_. In 1836 he entered Marischal College,
and came under the influence of John Cruickshank, professor of mathematics,
Thomas Clark, professor of chemistry, and William Knight, professor of
natural philosophy. His college career was distinguished, especially in
mental philosophy, mathematics and physics. Towards the end of his arts
course he became a contributor to the _Westminster Review_ (first article
"Electrotype and Daguerreotype," September 1840). This was the beginning of
his connexion with John Stuart Mill, which led to a life-long friendship.
In 1841 he became substitute for Dr Glennie, the professor of moral
philosophy, who, through ill-health, was unable to discharge the active
duties of the chair. This post he occupied for three successive sessions,
during which he continued writing for the _Westminster_, and also in 1842
helped Mill with the revision of the MS. of his _System of Logic_. In 1843
he contributed the first review of the book to the _London and
Westminster_. In 1845 he was appointed professor of mathematics and natural
philosophy in the Andersonian University of Glasgow. A year later,
preferring a wider field, he resigned the position and devoted himself to
literary work. In 1848 he removed to London to fill a post in the board of
health, under Edwin Chadwick, and became a prominent member of the
brilliant circle which included George Grote and John Stuart Mill. In 1855
he published his first large work, _The Senses and the Intellect_, followed
in 1859 by _The Emotions and the Will_. These treatises won for him a
position among independent thinkers. He was examiner in logical and moral
philosophy (1857-1862 and 1864-1869) to the university of London, and in
moral science in the Indian Civil Service examinations.
In 1860 he was appointed by the crown to the new chair of [v.03 p.0222]
logic and English in the university of Aberdeen (created on the
amalgamation of the two colleges, King's and Marischal, by the Scottish
Universities Commission of 1858). Up to this date neither logic nor English
had received adequate attention in Aberdeen, and Bain devoted himself to
supplying these deficiencies. He succeeded not only in raising the standard
of education generally in the north of Scotland, but also in forming a
school of philosophy and in widely influencing the teaching of English
grammar and composition. His efforts were first directed to the preparation
of English textbooks: _Higher English Grammar_ (1863), followed in 1866 by
the _Manual of Rhetoric_, in 1872 by _A First English Grammar_, and in 1874
by the _Companion to the Higher Grammar_. These works covered a large field
and their original views and methods met with wide acceptance. But the
other subject of his chair also called for attention. His own philosophical
writings already published, especially _The Senses and the Intellect_ (to
which was added, in 1861, _The Study of Character_, including an _Estimate
of Phrenology_), were too large for effective use in the class-room.
Accordingly in 1868, he published his _Manual of Mental and Moral Science_,
mainly a condensed form of his treatises, with the doctrines re-stated, and
in many instances freshly illustrated, and with many important additions.
The year 1870 saw the publication of the _Logic_. This, too, was a work
designed for the use of students; it was based on J. S. Mill, but differed
from him in many particulars, and had as distinctive features the treatment
of the doctrine of the conservation of energy in connexion with causation
and the detailed application of the principles of logic to the various
sciences. His services to education in Scotland were now recognized by the
conferment of the honorary degree of doctor of laws by the university of
Edinburgh in 1871. Next came two publications in "The International
Scientific Series," namely, _Mind and Body_ (1872), and _Education as a
Science_ (1879).
All these works, from the _Higher English Grammar_ downwards, were written
by Bain during his twenty years' professoriate at Aberdeen. To the same
period belongs his institution of the philosophical journal _Mind_; the
first number appeared in January 1876, under the editorship of a former
pupil, G. Croom Robertson, of University College, London. To this journal
Bain contributed many important articles and discussions; and in fact he
bore the whole expenses of it till Robertson, owing to ill-health, resigned
the editorship in 1891, when it passed into other hands. Bain resigned his
professorship in 1880 and was succeeded by William Minto, one of his most
brilliant pupils. Nevertheless his interest in thought, and his desire to
complete the scheme of work mapped out in earlier years, remained as keen
as ever. Accordingly, in 1882 appeared the _Biography of James Mill_, and
accompanying it _John Stuart Mill: a Criticism, with Personal
Recollections_. Next came (1884) a collection of articles and papers, most
of which had appeared in magazines, under the title of _Practical Essays_.
This was succeeded (1887, 1888) by a new edition of the _Rhetoric_, and
along with it, a book _On Teaching English_, being an exhaustive
application of the principles of rhetoric to the criticism of style, for
the use of teachers; and in 1894 he published a revised edition of _The
Senses and the Intellect_, which contains his last word on psychology. In
1894 also appeared his last contribution to _Mind_. His last years were
spent in privacy at Aberdeen, where he died on the 18th of September 1903.
He married twice but left no children.
Bain's life was mainly that of a thinker and a man of letters. But he also
took a keen interest and frequently an active part in the political and
social movements of the day; and so highly did the students of Aberdeen
rate his practical ability, that, after his retirement from the chair of
logic, they twice in succession elected him lord rector of the university,
each term of office extending over three years. He was a strenuous advocate
of reform, especially in the teaching of sciences, and supported the claims
of modern languages to a place in the curriculum. A marble bust of him
stands in the public library and his portrait hangs in the Marischal
College.
Wide as Bain's influence has been as a logician, a grammarian and a writer
on rhetoric, his reputation rests on his psychology. At one with Johannes
Mueller in the conviction _psychologus nemo nisi physiologus_, he was the
first in Great Britain during the 19th century to apply physiology in a
thoroughgoing fashion to the elucidation of mental states. He was the
originator of the theory of psycho-physical parallelism, which is used so
widely as a working basis by modern psychologists. His idea of applying the
natural history method of classification to psychical phenomena gave
scientific character to his work, the value of which was enhanced by his
methodical exposition and his command of illustration. In line with this,
too, is his demand that psychology shall be cleared of metaphysics; and to
his lead is no doubt due in great measure the position that psychology has
now acquired as a distinct positive science. Prof. Wm. James calls his work
the "last word" of the earlier stage of psychology, but he was in reality
the pioneer of the new. Subsequent psycho-physical investigations have all
been in the spirit of his work; and although he consistently advocated the
introspective method in psychological investigation, he was among the first
to appreciate the help that may be given to it by animal and social and
infant psychology. He may justly claim the merit of having guided the
awakened psychological interest of British thinkers of the second half of
the 19th century into fruitful channels. He emphasized the importance of
our active experiences of movement and effort, and though his theory of a
central innervation sense is no longer held as he propounded it, its value
as a suggestion to later psychologists is great. His autobiography,
published in 1904, contains a full list of his works, and also the history
of the last thirteen years of his life by W. L. Davidson of Aberdeen
University, who further contributed to _Mind_ (April 1904) a review of
Bain's services to philosophy.
Works (beside the above):--Edition with notes of Paley's _Moral Philosophy_
(1852); _Education as a Science_ (1879); _Dissertations on leading
philosophical topics_ (1903, mainly reprints of papers in _Mind_); he
collaborated with J. S. Mill and Grote in editing James Mill's _Analysis of
the Phenomena of the Human Mind_ (1869), and assisted in editing Grote's
_Aristotle_ and _Minor Works_; he also wrote a memoir prefixed to G. Croom
Robertson's _Philosophical Remains_ (1894). (See PSYCHOLOGY and ASSOCIATION
OF IDEAS.)
(W. L. D.)
BAIN, ANDREW GEDDES (1797-1864), British geologist, was a native of
Scotland. In 1820 he emigrated to Cape Colony, and carried on for some
years the business of a saddler at Graaf Reinet. During the Kaffir War in
1833-34 he took command of a provisional battalion raised for the defence
of the frontier. Later he was engaged to construct a military road through
the Ecca Pass, and displayed engineering talents which led to his being
permanently employed as surveyor of military roads under the corps of Royal
Engineers. This occupation created an interest in geology, which was
fostered in 1837 by the loan of Lyell's _Elements_. He discovered the
remains of many reptilia, including the _Dicynodon_, which was obtained
from the Karroo Beds near Fort Beaufort and described by Owen. Devoting all
his spare energies to geological studies, Bain prepared in 1852 the first
comprehensive geological map of South Africa, a work of great merit, which
was published by the Geological Society of London in 1856. He died at Cape
Town in 1864.
Obituary by Dr R. N. Rubidge, in _Geol. Mag._ January 1865, p. 47; also
_Trans. Geol. Soc. S. Africa_, vol. ii. part v., June 1896 (with portrait).
BAINBRIDGE, JOHN (1582-1643), English astronomer, was born at
Ashby-de-la-Zouch, in Leicestershire. He started as a physician and
practised for some years, kept a school and studied astronomy. Having
removed to London, he was admitted (November 6, 1618) a licentiate of the
college of physicians, and attracted notice by a publication concerning the
comet of 1618. Sir Henry Savile (1549-1622) thereupon appointed him in 1619
to the Savilian chair of astronomy just founded by him at Oxford;
Bainbridge was incorporated of Merton College and became, in 1631 and 1635
respectively, junior and senior reader of Linacre's lectures. He died at
Oxford on the 3rd of November 1643. He wrote _An Astronomical Description
of the late Comet_ (1619); _Canicularia_ (1648); and translated Proclus'
_De Sphaera_, and Ptolemy's _De Planetarum Hypothesibus_ (1620). Several
[v.03 p.0223] manuscript works by him exist in the library of Trinity
College, Dublin.
See Munk's _College of Physicians_, i. 175; Wood's _Athenae_ (Bliss), iii.
67; _Biographia Britannica_, i. 419.
BAINBRIDGE, WILLIAM (1774-1833), commodore in the United States navy, was
born on the 7th of May 1774 in Princeton, New Jersey. At the age of
fourteen he went to sea in the merchant service, and was in command of a
trading schooner at an early age. The American trading vessels of that
period were supposed to be excluded by the navigation laws from commerce
with the British West Indian Islands, though with the concealed or very
slightly disguised assistance of the planters, they engaged in a good deal
of contraband commerce. The war between France and Great Britain tended
further to make the carrying trade of neutrals difficult. Bainbridge had
therefore to expect, and when he could to elude or beat off, much
interference on the part of French and British cruisers alike. He is said
to have forced a British schooner, probably a privateer, which attacked him
when on his way from Bordeaux to St Thomas, to strike, but he did not take
possession. On another occasion he is said to have taken a man out of a
British ship in retaliation for the impressment of an American seaman by
H.M.S. "Indefatigable," then commanded by Sir Edward Pellew. When the
United States navy was organized in 1798 he was included in the corps of
naval officers, and appointed to the schooner "Retaliation." She was on one
occasion seized by the French but afterwards released. As captain of the
brig "Norfolk" of 18 guns, he was employed in cruising against the French,
who were as aggressive against American commerce as the English. He was
also sent to carry the tribute which the United States still condescended
to pay to the dey of Algiers, in order to secure exemption from capture for
its merchant ships in the Mediterranean--a service which he performed
punctually, though with great disgust. When the United States found that
bribing the pirate Barbary states did not secure exemption from their
outrages, and was constrained at last to use force, he served against
Algiers and Tunis. His ship, the "Philadelphia," ran aground on the
Tunisian coast, and he was for a time imprisoned. On his release he
returned for a time to the merchant service in order to make good the
pecuniary loss caused by his captivity. When the war of 1812 broke out
between Great Britain and the United States, Bainbridge was appointed to
command the United States frigate "Constitution" (44), in succession to
Captain Isaac Hull (_q.v._). The "Constitution" was a very fine ship of
1533 tons, which had already captured the "Guerriere." Under Bainbridge she
was sent to cruise in the South Atlantic. On the 29th of December 1812 he
fell in with H.M.S. "Java," a vessel of 1073 tons, formerly the French
frigate "Renommee" (40). She was on her way to the East Indies, carrying
the newly appointed lieutenant-governor of Bombay. She had a very raw crew,
including very few real seamen, and her men had only had one day's gunnery
drill. The United States navy paid great attention to its gunnery, which
the British navy, misled by its easy victories over the French, had greatly
neglected. In these conditions the fate of the "Java" was soon sealed. She
was cut to pieces and forced to surrender, after suffering heavy loss, and
inflicting very little on the "Constitution." After the conclusion of the
war with Great Britain, Bainbridge served against the Barbary pirates once
more. During his later years he served on the board of navy commissioners.
He died on the 28th of July 1833.
(D. H.)
BAINDIR (anc. _Caystrus_), a town in Asiatic Turkey in the Aidin vilayet,
situated in the valley of the Kuchuk Menderes. Pop. under 10,000, nearly
half Christian. It is connected with Smyrna by a branch of the Aidin
railway, and has a trade in cotton, figs, raisins and tobacco.
BAINES, EDWARD (1774-1848), English newspaper-proprietor and politician,
was born in 1774 at Walton-le-Dale, near Preston, Lancashire. He was
educated at the grammar schools of Hawkshead and Preston, and at the age of
sixteen was apprenticed to a printer in the latter town. After remaining
there four years and a half he removed to Leeds, finished his
apprenticeship, and at once started in business for himself. He was always
a most assiduous student, and quickly became known as a man of great
practical shrewdness and ability, who took a keen interest in political and
social movements. His political opinions led him to sympathize with
nonconformity and he soon joined the Independents. In 1801 the assistance
of party friends enabled him to buy the _Leeds Mercury_. Provincial
newspapers did not at that time possess much influence; it was no part of
the editor's duty to supply what are now called "leading articles," and the
system of reporting was defective. In both respects Baines made a complete
change in the _Mercury_. His able political articles gradually made the
paper the organ of Liberal opinion in Leeds, and the connexion of the
Baines family with the paper made their influence powerful for many years
in this direction. Baines soon began to take a prominent part in politics;
he was an ardent advocate of parliamentary reform, and it was mainly by his
influence that Macaulay was returned for Leeds in 1832; and in 1834 he
succeeded Macaulay as member. He was re-elected in 1835 and 1837, but
resigned in 1841. In parliament he supported the Liberal party, but with
independent views. Like his son Edward after him, he strongly advocated the
separation of church and state, and opposed government interference in
national education. His letters to Lord John Russell on the latter question
(1846) had a powerful influence in determining the action of the
government. He died in 1848. His best-known writings are:--_The History,
Directory and Gazetteer of the County of York_; _History, Directory and
Gazetteer of the County of Lancaster_; _History of the County Palatine and
Duchy of Lancaster_. He was also the author of a _History of the Wars of
Napoleon_, which was continued under the title of _A History of the Reign
of George III_.
His _Life_ (1861) has been written by his son, Sir Edward Baines
(1800-1890), who was editor and afterwards proprietor of the _Leeds
Mercury_, M.P. for Leeds (1859-1874), and was knighted in 1880; his
_History of the Cotton Manufacture_ (1835) was long a standard authority.
An elder son, Matthew Talbot Baines (1790-1860), went to the bar, and
became recorder of Hull (1837). He became M.P. for Hull in 1847, and in
1849 president of the Poor Law Board. In 1852 he was returned for Leeds,
and again became president of the Poor Law Board (till 1855). In 1856 he
entered the cabinet as chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster.
BAINI, GIUSEPPE (1775-1844), Italian priest, musical critic and composer of
church music, was born at Rome on the 21st of October 1775. He was
instructed in composition by his uncle, Lorenzo Baini, and afterwards by G.
Jannaconi. In 1814 he was appointed musical director to the choir of the
pontifical chapel, to which he had as early as 1802 gained admission in
virtue of his fine bass voice. His compositions, of which very few have
been published, were very favourable specimens of the severe ecclesiastical
style; one in particular, a ten-part _Miserere_, composed for Holy Week in
1821 by order of Pope Pius VII., has taken a permanent place in the
services of the Sistine chapel during Passion Week. Baini held a higher
place, however, as a musical critic and historian than as a composer, and
his _Life of Palestrina_ (_Memorie storico-critiche della vita e delle
opere di Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina_, 1828) ranks as one of the best
works of its class. The phrase _Il Principe della Musica_, which has become
finally associated with the name of Palestrina, originates with this
biography. Giuseppe Baini died on the 21st of May 1844 in Rome.
BAIRAM, a Perso-Turkish word meaning "festival," applied in Turkish to the
two principal festivals of Islam. The first of these, according to the
calendar, is the "Lesser Festival," called by the Turks _Kutshuk Bair[=a]m_
("Lesser Bairam"), or _Sheker Bair[=a]m_ ("Sugar Bairam"), and by
Arabic-speaking Moslems _'[=I]d al-Fitr_ ("Festival of Fast-breaking"), or
_Al-'[=i]d a[s.]-[s.]agh[=i]r_ ("Lesser Festival"). It follows immediately
the ninth or the fasting-month, Rama[d.][=a]n, occupying the first three
days of the tenth month, Shaww[=a]l. It is, therefore, also called by Turks
_Ramaz[=a]n Bair[=a]m_, and exhibits more outward signs of rejoicing than
the technically "Greater Festival." Official receptions are held on it, and
private visits paid; friends congratulate one another, and presents are
given; new clothes [v.03 p.0224] are put on, and the graves of relatives
are visited. The second, or "Greater Festival," is called by the Turks
_Qurb[=a]n Bair[=a]m_, "Sacrifice Bairam," and by Arabic speakers
_Al-'[=i]d al-kab[=i]r_, "Greater Festival," or _'[=I][d.]
al-a[d.][h.][=a]_, "Festival of Sacrifice." It falls on the tenth, and two
or three following days, of the last month, _Dh[=u]-l-[h.]ijja_, when the
pilgrims each slay a ram, a he-goat, a cow or a camel in the valley of Mina
in commemoration of the ransom of Ishmael with a ram. Similarly throughout
the Moslem world, all who can afford it sacrifice at this time a legal
animal, and either consume the flesh themselves or give it to the poor.
Otherwise it is celebrated like the "Lesser Festival," but with less
ardour. Both festivals, of course, belong to a lunar calendar, and move
through the solar year every thirty-two years.
See Lane's _Modern Egyptians_, chap. xxv.; Michell, _Egyptian Calendar_;
Hughes, _Dictionary of Islam_, pp. 192 ff.; Sir R. Burton, _Pilgrimage_,
chaps. vii., xxx.
(D. B. MA.)
BAIRD, SIR DAVID (1757-1829), British general, was born at Newbyth in
Aberdeenshire in December 1757. He entered the British army in 1773, and
was sent to India in 1779 with the 73rd (afterwards 71st) Highlanders, in
which he was a captain. Immediately on his arrival, Baird was attached to
the force commanded by Sir Hector Munro, which was sent forward to assist
the detachment of Colonel Baillie, threatened by Hyder Ali. In the action
which followed the whole force was destroyed, and Baird, severely wounded,
fell into the hands of the Mysore chief. The prisoners, who were most
barbarously treated, remained captive for over four years. Baird's mother,
on hearing that her son and other prisoners were in fetters, is said to
have remarked, "God help the chiel chained to poor Davie." The bullet was
not extracted from Baird's wound until his release. He became major in
1787, visited England in 1789, and purchased a lieutenant-colonelcy in
1790, returning to India in the following year. He held a brigade command
in the war against Tippoo, and served under Cornwallis in the Seringapatam
operations of 1792, being promoted colonel in 1795. Baird served also at
the Cape of Good Hope as a brigadier-general, and he returned to India as a
major-general in 1798. In the last war against Tippoo in 1799 Baird was
appointed to the senior brigade command in the army. At the successful
assault of Seringapatam Baird led the storming party, and was soon a master
of the stronghold in which he had long been a prisoner. He had been
disappointed that the command of the large contingent of the nizam was
given to Colonel Arthur Wellesley; and when after the capture of the
fortress the same officer obtained the governorship, Baird judged himself
to have been treated with injustice and disrespect. He afterwards received
the thanks of parliament and of the East India Company for his gallant
bearing on that important day, and a pension was offered to him by the
Company, which he declined, apparently from the hope of receiving the order
of the Bath from the government. General Baird commanded the Indian army
which was sent in 1801 to co-operate with Abercromby in the expulsion of
the French from Egypt. Wellesley was appointed second in command, but owing
to ill-health did not accompany the expedition. Baird landed at Kosseir,
conducted his army across the desert to Kena on the Nile, and thence to
Cairo. He arrived before Alexandria in time for the final operations. On
his return to India in 1802, he was employed against Sindhia, but being
irritated at another appointment given to Wellesley he relinquished his
command and returned to Europe. In 1804 he was knighted, and in 1805-1806,
being by now a lieutenant-general, he commanded the expedition against the
Cape of Good Hope with complete success, capturing Cape Town and forcing
the Dutch general Janssens to surrender. But here again his usual ill luck
attended him. Commodore Sir Home Popham persuaded Sir David to lend him
troops for an expedition against Buenos Aires; the successive failures of
operations against this place involved the recall of Baird, though on his
return home he was quickly re-employed as a divisional general in the
Copenhagen expedition of 1807. During the bombardment of Copenhagen Baird
was wounded. Shortly after his return, he was sent out to the Peninsular
War in command of a considerable force which was sent to Spain to
co-operate with Sir John Moore, to whom he was appointed second in command.
It was Baird's misfortune that he was junior by a few days both to Moore
and to Lord Cavan, under whom he had served at Alexandria, and thus never
had an opportunity of a chief command in the field. At the battle of
Corunna he succeeded to the supreme command after Moore's fall, but shortly
afterwards his left arm was shattered, and the command passed to Sir John
Hope. He again obtained the thanks of parliament for his gallant services,
and was made a K.B. and a baronet. Sir David married Miss Campbell-Preston,
a Perthshire heiress, in 1810. He was not employed again in the field, and
personal and political enmities caused him to be neglected and repeatedly
passed over. He was not given the full rank of general until 1814, and his
governorship of Kinsale was given five years later. In 1820 he was
appointed commander-in-chief in Ireland, but the command was soon reduced,
and he resigned in 1822. He died on the 18th of August 1829.
See Theodore Hook's _Life of Sir David Baird_.
BAIRD, HENRY MARTYN (1832-1906), American historian and educationalist, a
son of Robert Baird (1798-1863), a Presbyterian preacher and author who
worked earnestly both in the United States and in Europe for the cause of
temperance, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the 17th of January
1832. He spent eight years of his early youth with his father in Paris and
Geneva, and in 1850 graduated at New York University. He then lived for two
years in Italy and Greece, was a student in the Union Theological Seminary
in New York city from 1853 to 1855, and in 1856 graduated at the Princeton
Theological Seminary. He was a tutor for four years in the College of New
Jersey (now Princeton University), and from 1859 until his death was
professor of Greek language and literature in New York University. He is
best known, however, as a historian of the Huguenots. His work, which
appeared in three parts, entitled respectively _History of the Rise of the
Huguenots of France_ (2 vols., 1879), _The Huguenots and Henry of Navarre_
(2 vols., 1886), and _The Huguenots and the Revocation of the Edict of
Nantes_ (2 vols., 1895), is characterized by painstaking thoroughness, by a
judicial temper, and by scholarship of a high order. He also published
_Modern Greece, A Narrative of a Residence and Travels in that Country_
(1856); a biography of his father, _The Life of the Rev. Robert Baird,
D.D._ (1866); and _Theodore Beza, the Counsellor of the French Reformation_
(1899). He died in New York city on the 11th of November 1906.
His brother, CHARLES WASHINGTON BAIRD (1828-1887), a graduate of New York
University (1848) and of the Union Theological Seminary (1852), and the
minister in turn of a Dutch Reformed church at Brooklyn, New York, and of a
Presbyterian church at Rye, New York, also was deeply interested in the
history of the Huguenots, and published a scholarly work entitled _The
History of the Huguenot Emigration to America_ (2 vols., 1885), left
unfinished at his death.
BAIRD, JAMES (1802-1876) Scottish iron-master, was born at Kirkwood,
Lanarkshire, on the 5th of December 1802, the son of a coal-master. In 1826
his father, two brothers and himself leased coalfields at Gartsherrie and
in the vicinity, and in 1828 iron mines near by, and in 1830 built blast
furnaces. In this year the father retired, the firm of William Baird & Co.
was organized, and James Baird assumed active control. His improvements in
machinery largely increased the output of his furnaces, which by 1864 had
grown in number to nearly fifty, producing 300,000 tons annually and
employing 10,000 hands. The brothers became great landowners, and James was
M.P. for the Falkirk burghs in 1851-1852 and 1852-1857. He died at his
estate near Ayr on the 20th of June 1876, leaving property valued at three
million pounds. He had been during his life a great public benefactor,
founding schools and the Baird Lectures (1871) for the defence of orthodox
theology, and in 1873 the Baird Trust of L500,000 to enable the Established
Church of Scotland to cope with the spiritual needs of the masses. He was
twice married but left no children.
BAIRD, SPENCER FULLERTON (1823-1887), American naturalist, was born in
Reading, Pennsylvania, on the 3rd of [v.03 p.0225] February 1823. He
graduated at Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania in 1840, and next
year made an ornithological excursion through the mountains of
Pennsylvania, walking, says one of his biographers, "400 m. in twenty-one
days, and the last day 60 m." In 1838 he met J. J. Audubon, and
thenceforward his studies were largely ornithological, Audubon giving him a
part of his own collection of birds. After studying medicine for a time,
Baird became professor of natural history in Dickinson College in 1845,
assuming also the duties of the chair of chemistry, and giving instruction
in physiology and mathematics. This variety of duties in a small college
tended to give him that breadth of scientific interest which characterized
him through life, and made him perhaps the most representative general man
of science in America. For the long period between 1850 and 1878 he was
assistant-secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, and on the
death of Joseph Henry he became secretary. From 1871 till his death he was
U.S. Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries. While an officer of the
Smithsonian, Baird's duties included the superintendence of the labour of
workers in widely different lines. Thus, apart from his assistance to
others, his own studies and published writings cover a broad range:
iconography, geology, mineralogy, botany, anthropology, general zoology,
and, in particular, ornithology; while for a series of years he edited an
annual volume summarizing progress in all scientific lines of
investigation. He gave general superintendence, between 1850 and 1860, to
several government expeditions for scientific exploration of the western
territories of the United States, preparing for them a manual of
_Instructions to Collectors_. Of his own publications, the bibliography by
G. Brown Goode, from 1843 to the close of 1882, includes 1063 entries, of
which 775 were short articles in his _Annual Record_. His most important
volumes, on the whole, were _Birds_, in the series of reports of
explorations and surveys for a railway route from the Mississippi river to
the Pacific ocean (1858), of which Dr Elliott Coues says (as quoted in the
_Popular Science Monthly_, xxxiii. 553) that it "exerted an influence
perhaps stronger and more widely felt than that of any of its predecessors,
Audubon's and Wilson's not excepted, and marked an epoch in the history of
American ornithology"; _Mammals of North America: Descriptions based on
Collections in the Smithsonian Institution_ (Philadelphia, 1859); and the
monumental work (with Thomas Mayo Brewer and Robert Ridgway) _History of
North American Birds_ (Boston, 1875-1884; "Land Birds," 3 vols., "Water
Birds," 2 vols). He died on the 19th of August 1887 at the great marine
biological laboratory at Woods Hole, Massachusetts, an institution which
was largely the result of his own efforts, and which has exercised a wide
effect upon both scientific and economic ichthyology.
BAIRNSDALE, a town of Tanjil county, Victoria, Australia, on the Mitchell
river, 171 m. by rail E. of Melbourne. Pop. (1901) 3074. It lies near the
head of a lagoon called Lake King, which is open to the sea, and affords
regular communication by water with Melbourne. In the district, which is
chiefly pastoral, there are several goldfields, with both alluvial and reef
mining. The town has tanneries, and cheese and butter factories. There is
an active shipping trade with Melbourne in maize and other grain, hops,
fruit and dairy produce.
BAITER, JOHANN GEORG (1801-1877), Swiss philologist and textual critic, was
born at Zuerich on the 31st of May 1801. Having received his early
education in his native place, he went (1818) to the university of
Tuebingen, but from want of funds was obliged to return to Zuerich, where
for several years he was a private tutor. From 1824 to 1829 he studied at
Munich under Friedrich Thiersch; at Goettingen, under Georg Dissen; at
Koenigsberg, under Christian Lobeck. From 1833 to 1876 he was _Oberlehrer_
at the gymnasium in Zuerich, where he died on the 10th of October 1877.
Baiter's strong point was textual criticism, applied chiefly to Cicero and
the Attic orators; he was very successful in hunting up the best MS.
authorities, and his collations were made with the greatest accuracy. Most
of his works were produced in collaboration with other scholars, such as
Orelli, who regarded him as his right-hand man. He edited Isocrates,
_Panegyricus_ (1831); with Sauppe, Lycurgus, _Leocratea_ (1834) and
_Oratores Attici_ (1838-1850); with Orelli and Winckelmann, a critical
edition of Plato (1839-1842), which marked a distinct advance in the text,
two new MSS. being laid under contribution; with Orelli, Babrius, _Fabellae
Iambicae nuper repertae_ (1845); Isocrates, in the Didot collection of
classics (1846). He had for some time been associated with Orelli in his
great work on Cicero, and assisted in _Ciceronis Scholiastae_ (1833) and
_Onomasticon Tullianum_ (1836-1838). For the _Fasti Consulares_ and
_Triumphales_ he was alone responsible. With Orelli and (after his death)
Halm, he assisted in the second edition of the Cicero, and, with Kayser,
edited the same author for the Tauchnitz series (1860-1869). New editions
of Orelli's Tacitus and Horace were also due to him. It is worth noting
that, with Sauppe, he translated Leake's _Topography of Athens_.
BAIUS, or DE BAY, MICHAEL (1513-1589), Belgian theologian, was born at
Melun in Hainault in 1513. Educated at Louvain University, he studied
philosophy and theology with distinguished success, and was rewarded by a
series of academic appointments. In 1552 Charles V. appointed him professor
of scriptural interpretation in the university. In 1563 he was nominated
one of the Belgian representatives at the council of Trent, but arrived too
late to take an important part in its deliberations. At Louvain, however,
he obtained a great name as a leader in the anti-scholastic reaction of the
16th century. The champions of this reaction fought under the banner of St
Augustine; and Baius' Augustinian predilections brought him into conflict
with Rome on questions of grace, free-will and the like. In 1567 Pius V.
condemned seventy-nine propositions from his writings in the Bull _Ex
omnibus afflictionibus_. To this Baius submitted; though certain indiscreet
utterances on the part of himself and his supporters led to a renewal of
the condemnation in 1579 by Gregory XIII. Baius, however, was not disturbed
in the tenure of his professorship, and even became chancellor of Louvain
in 1575. He died, still in the enjoyment of these two dignities, in 1589.
Baius is chiefly interesting as a forerunner of the more celebrated
Cornelius Jansen (see JANSEN). His writings are described by Harnack as a
curious mixture of Catholic orthodoxy and unconscious tendencies to
Protestantism; their most noticeable point is the great importance they
attach to the fact of sin, both original and actual.
His principal works were published in a collected form at Cologne, 1696, 1
vol. 4to, in two parts; some large treatises have not been published. There
is an excellent study of both books and author by Linsenmann, _Michael
Baius, und die Grundlegung des Jansenismus_, published at Tuebingen in
1867.
BAIZE (16th century Fr. _baies_, cf. English "bay"), a material probably
named from its original colour, though a derivation is also suggested from
the Fr. _baie_, as the cloth is said to have been originally dyed with
Avignon berries. It is generally a coarse, woollen cloth with a long nap
and is commonly dyed green or red. It is now also made of cotton. The
manufacture is said to have been introduced into England in the 16th
century by refugees from France and the Netherlands. It is used chiefly for
curtains, linings, &c., and sometimes, in the lighter makes, for clothing.
_Table baize_ is a kind of oilcloth used as a cheap and easily-cleaned
covering for tables.
BAJOCIAN, in geology, the name proposed in 1849 by d'Orbigny for the rocks
of Middle Jurassic age which are well developed in the neighbourhood of
Bayeux, Calvados. The Bajocian stage is practically equivalent to the
Inferior Oolite of British geologists. It corresponds fairly closely with
the Lower and Middle Brown Jura of Quenstedt, and with the Dogger of Oppel.
By means of the fossil ammonites the Bajocia strata have been subdivided
into the following zones, in descending order:--
Zone of _Parkinsonia Parkinsoni_ and _Cosmoceras garantianum_
" _Coeloceras subcoronatum_ (_Humphriesianum_)
" _Sonninia Romani_
" _Stephaeoceras Sowerbyi_
" _Harpoceras concavum_
" " _Murchisonae_ \ Substage Aalenien
" " _opalinum_ / of Mayer-Eymar.
It should be remarked that some European geologists prefer [v.03 p.0226] to
include the _Parkinsonia_ zone in the base of the overlying Bathonian
(_q.v._).
The Bajocian rocks of Europe are mostly limestones of various kinds, very
frequently oolitic. At Bayeux, the type district, they are ferruginous
oolites; in the Jura and Lorraine a coral limestone overlies a crinoidal
variety; calcareous sandy and marly beds occur in Maine and Anjou; in
Poitou the limestone is dolomitic and bears nodules of chert. Rocks of the
same age, as recognized by their fossil contents, have a wide range; they
are found in north Africa, Goa, Somaliland, German East Africa, and
north-west Madagascar; through southern Europe they may be followed into
Turkestan, and the Kota-Maleri beds of the Upper Gondwana series of India
may possibly belong to this stage. In South America they appear in Bolivia,
Chile and Argentina; in North America, in British Columbia, Dakota, Mexico,
Oregon and California. The Bajocian sea also included parts of New South
Wales, New Zealand (Flag Hills beds?), Borneo and Japan, and it extended
into the polar region of eastern Greenland and Franz Josef Land.
In addition to the ammonites already mentioned, the large belemnites
(_Megateuthis giganteus_) and terebratulas (_T. perovalis_) are worthy of
notice; crinoids and corals were abundant, and so also were certain forms
of _Trigonia_ (_T. costata_), _Pleurotomaria_ and _Cidaris_.
See JURASSIC; also A. de Lapparent, _Traite de geologie_, vol. ii. (5th
ed., 1906); and H. B. Woodward, "The Jurassic Rocks of Britain," vol. iv.,
1894 (_Mem. Geol. Survey_); both works contain references to original
papers.
(J. A. H.)
BAJOUR, or BAJAUR, a small district peopled by Pathan races of Afghan
origin, in the North-West Frontier Province of India. It is about 45 m.
long by 20. broad, and lies at a high level to the east of the Kunar
valley, from which it is separated by a continuous line of rugged frontier
hills, forming a barrier easily passable at one or two points. Across this
barrier the old road from Kabul to India ran before the Khyber Pass was
adopted as the main route. Bajour is inhabited almost exclusively by
Tarkani (Tarkalanri) Pathans, sub-divided into Mamunds, Isazai, and
Ismailzai, numbering together with a few Mohmands, Utmauzais, &c., about
100,000. To the south of Bajour is the wild mountain district of the
Mohmands, a Pathan race. To the east, beyond the Panjkora river, are the
hills of Swat, dominated by another Pathan race. To the north is an
intervening watershed between Bajour and the small state of Dir; and it is
over this watershed and through the valley of Dir that the new road from
Malakand and the Punjab runs to Chitral. The drainage of Bajour flows
eastwards, starting from the eastern slopes of the dividing ridge which
overlooks the Kunar and terminating in the Panjkora river, so that the
district lies on a slope tilting gradually downwards from the Kunar ridge
to the Panjkora. Nawagai is the chief town of Bajour, and the khan of
Nawagai is under British protection for the safeguarding of the Chitral
road. Jandol, one of the northern valleys of Bajour, has ceased to be of
political importance since the failure of its chief, Umra Khan, to
appropriate to himself Bajour, Dir, and a great part of the Kunar valley.
It was the active hostility between the amir of Kabul (who claimed
sovereignty of the same districts) and Umra Khan that led, firstly to the
demarcation agreement of 1893 which fixed the boundary of Afghanistan in
Kunar; and, secondly, to the invasion of Chitral by Umra Khan (who was no
party to the boundary settlement) and the siege of the Chitral fort in
1895.
An interesting feature in Bajour topography is a mountain spur from the
Kunar range, which curving eastwards culminates in the well-known peak of
Koh-i-Mor, which is visible from the Peshawar valley. It was here, at the
foot of the mountain, that Alexander found the ancient city of Nysa and the
Nysaean colony, traditionally said to have been founded by Dionysus. The
Koh-i-Mor has been identified as the Meros of Arrian's history--the
three-peaked mountain from which the god issued. It is also interesting to
find that a section of the Kafir community of Kamdesh still claim the same
Greek origin as did the Nysaeans; still chant hymns to the god who sprang
from Gir Nysa (the mountain of Nysa); whilst they maintain that they
originally migrated from the Swat country to their present habitat in the
lower Bashgol. Long after Buddhism had spread to Chitral, Gilgit, Dir and
Swat; whilst Ningrahar was still full of monasteries and temples, and the
Peshawar valley was recognized as the seat of Buddhist learning, the Kafirs
or Nysaeans held their own in Bajour and in the lower Kunar valley, where
Buddhism apparently never prevailed. It is probable that the invader Baber
(who has much to say about Bajour) fought them there in the early years of
the 16th century, when on his way to found the Mogul dynasty of India
centuries after Buddhism has been crushed in northern India by the
destroyer Mahmud.
The Gazetteers and Reports of the Indian government contain nearly all the
modern information available about Bajour. The autobiography of Baber (by
Leyden and Erskine) gives interesting details about the country in the 16th
century. For the connexion between the Kafirs and the ancient Nysaeans of
Swat, see _R. G. S. Journal_, vol. vii., 1896.
(T. H. H.*)
BAJZA, JOSEPH (1804-1858), Hungarian poet and critic, was born at Szucsi in
1804. His earliest contributions were made to Kisfaludy's _Aurora_, a
literary paper of which he was editor from 1830 to 1837. He also wrote
largely in the _Kritische Blaetter_, the _Athenaeum_, and the _Figyelmezo_
or _Observer_. His criticisms on dramatic art were considered the best of
these miscellaneous writings. In 1830 he published translations of some
foreign dramas, _Auslaendische Buehna_, and in 1835 a collection of his own
poems. In 1837 he was made director of the newly established national
theatre at Pest. He then, for some years, devoted himself to historical
writing, and published in succession the _Historical Library_ (_Tortereti
Konyvtar_), 6 vols., 1843-1845; the _Modern Plutarch_ (_Uj Plutarch_),
1845-1847; and the _Universal History_ (_Vilagtoretet_), 1847. These works
are to some extent translations from German authors. In 1847 Bajza edited
the journal of the opposition, _Ellenoer_, at Leipzig, and in March 1848
Kossuth made him editor of his paper, _Kossuth Hirlapja_. In 1850 he was
attacked with brain disease and died in 1858.
BAKALAI (BAKALE, BANGOUENS), a Bantu negroid tribe inhabiting a wide tract
of French Congo between the river Ogowe and 2deg S. They appear to be
immigrants from the south-east, and have been supposed to be connected
racially with the Galoa, one of the Mpongwe tribes and the chief
river-people of the Ogowe. The Bakalai have suffered much from the
incursions of their neighbours the Fang, also arrivals from the south-east,
and it may be that they migrated to their present abode under pressure from
this people at an earlier date. They are keen hunters and were traders in
slaves and rubber; the slave traffic has been prohibited by the French
authorities. Their women display considerable ingenuity in dressing their
hair, often taking a whole day to arrange a coiffure; the hair is built up
on a substructure of clay and a good deal of false hair incorporated; a
coat of red, green or yellow pigment often completes the effect. The same
colours are used to decorate the hut doors. The villages, some of which are
fortified with palisades, are usually very dirty; chiefs and rich men own
plantations which are situated at some distance from the village and to
which their womenfolk are sent in times of war. The Bakalai of Lake Isanga
cremate their dead; those of the Upper Ogowe throw the bodies into the
river, with the exception of those killed in war. The body of a chief is
placed secretly in a hut erected in the depths of the forest, and the
village is deserted for that night, in some cases altogether; the slaves of
the deceased are (or were) sacrificed, and his wives scourged and secluded
in huts for a week. "Natural" deaths are attributed to the machinations of
a sorcerer, and the poison-ordeal is often practised. Of their social
organization little is known, but it appears that nearly all individuals
refrain from eating the flesh of some particular animal.
BAKE, JAN (1787-1864), Dutch philologist and critic, was born at Leiden on
the 1st of September 1787, and from 1817 to 1854 he was professor of Greek
and Roman literature at the university. He died on the 26th of March 1864.
His principal works are:--_Posidonii Rhodii Reliquiae Doctrinae_ (1810);
_Cleomedis Circularis Doctrina de Sublimitate_ (1820); _Bibliotheca [v.03
p.0227] Critica Nova_ (1825-1831) and _Scholica Hypomnemata_ (1837-1862), a
collection of essays dealing mainly with Cicero and the Attic orators;
Cicero, _De Legibus_ (1842) and _De Oratore_ (1863); the _Rhetorica_ of
Apsines and Longinus (1849).
His biography was written (in Dutch) by his pupil Bakhuizen van der Brink
(1865); for an appreciation of his services to classical literature see L.
Mueller, _Geschichte der klassischen Philologie in den Niederlanden_
(1869).
BAKER, SIR BENJAMIN (1840-1907), English engineer, was born near Bath in
1840, and, after receiving his early training in a South Wales ironworks,
became associated with Sir John Fowler in London. He took part in the
construction of the Metropolitan railway (London), and in designing the
cylindrical vessel in which Cleopatra's Needle, now standing on the Thames
Embankment, London, was brought over from Egypt to England in 1877-1878. By
this time he had already made himself an authority on bridge-construction,
and shortly afterwards he was engaged on the work which made his reputation
with the general public--the design and erection of the Forth Bridge. On
the completion of this undertaking in 1890 he was made K.C.M.G., and in the
same year the Royal Society recognized his scientific attainments by
electing him one of its fellows. Twelve years later at the formal opening
of the Assuan dam, for which he was consulting-engineer, he was created
K.C.B. Sir Benjamin Baker, who also had a large share in the introduction
of the system widely adopted in London of constructing intra-urban railways
in deep tubular tunnels built up of cast iron segments, obtained an
extremely large professional practice, ranging over almost every branch of
civil engineering, and was more or less directly concerned with most of the
great engineering achievements of his day. He was also the author of many
papers on engineering subjects. He died at Pangbourne, Berks, on the 19th
of May 1907.
BAKER, HENRY (1698-1774), English naturalist, was born in London on the 8th
of May 1698. After serving an apprenticeship with a bookseller, he devised
a system of instructing the deaf and dumb, by the practice of which he made
a considerable fortune. It brought him to the notice of Daniel Defoe, whose
youngest daughter Sophia he married in 1729. A year before, under the name
of Henry Stonecastle, he was associated with Defoe in starting the
_Universal Spectator and Weekly Journal_. In 1740 he was elected fellow of
the Society of Antiquaries and of the Royal Society. He contributed many
memoirs to the _Transactions_ of the latter society, and in 1744 received
the Copley gold medal for microscopical observations on the crystallization
of saline particles. He was one of the founders of the Society of Arts in
1754, and for some time acted as its secretary. He died in London on the
25th of November 1774. Among his publications were _The Microscope made
Easy_ (1743), _Employment for the Microscope_ (1753), and several volumes
of verse, original and translated, including _The Universe, a Poem intended
to restrain the Pride of Man_ (1727). His name is perpetuated by the
Bakerian lecture of the Royal Society, for the foundation of which he left
by will the sum of L100.
BAKER, SIR RICHARD (1568-1644/5), author of the _Chronicle of the Kings of
England_ and other works, was probably born at Sissinghurst in Kent, and
entered Hart Hall, Oxford, as a commoner in 1584. He left the university
without taking a degree, studied law in London and afterwards travelled in
Europe. In 1593 he was chosen member of parliament for Arundel, in 1594 his
university conferred upon him the degree of M.A., and in 1597 he was
elected to parliament as the representative of East Grinstead. In 1603 he
was knighted by King James I., in 1620 he acted as high sheriff at
Oxfordshire where he owned some property, and soon afterwards he married
Margaret, daughter of Sir George Mainwaring, of Ightfield, Shropshire. By
making himself responsible for some debts of his wife's family, he was
reduced to great poverty, which led to the seizure of his Oxfordshire
property in 1625. Quite penniless, he took refuge in the Fleet prison in
1635, and was still in confinement when he died on the 18th of February
1644 (1645). He was buried in the church of St Bride, Fleet Street, London.
During his imprisonment Baker spent his time mainly in writing. His chief
work is the _Chronicle of the Kings of England from the Time of the Romans'
Government unto the Death of King James_ (1643, and many subsequent
editions). It was translated into Dutch in 1649, and was continued down to
1658 by Edward Phillips, a nephew of John Milton. For many years the
_Chronicle_ was extremely popular, but owing to numerous inaccuracies its
historical value is very slight. Baker also wrote _Cato Variegatus_ or
_Catoes Morall Distichs, Translated and Paraphrased by Sir Richard Baker,
Knight_ (London, 1636); _Meditations on the Lord's Prayer_ (1637);
_Translation of New Epistles by Moonsieur D'Balzac_ (1638); _Apologie for
Laymen's Writing in Divinity, with a Short Meditation upon the Fall of
Lucifer_ (1641); _Motives for Prayer upon the seaven dayes of ye weeke_
(1642); a translation of Malvezzi's _Discourses upon Cornelius Tacitus_
(1642), and _Theatrum Redivivum, or The Theatre Vindicated_, a reply to the
_Histrio-Mastix_ of William Prynne (1642). He also wrote _Meditations_ upon
several of the psalms of David, which have been collected and edited by
A. B. Grosart (London, 1882).
See J. Granger, _Biographical History of England to the Revolution_
(London, 1804); _Biographia Britannica_, corrected by A. Kippis (London,
1778-1793).
BAKER, SIR SAMUEL WHITE (1821-1893), English explorer, was born in London
on the 8th of June 1821. He was educated partly in England and partly in
Germany. His father, a West India merchant, destined him for a commercial
career, but a short experience of office work proved him to be entirely
unsuited to such a life. On the 3rd of August 1843 he married Henrietta
Biddulph Martin, daughter of the rector of Maisemore, Gloucestershire, and
after two years in Mauritius the desire for travel took him in 1846 to
Ceylon, where in the following year he founded an agricultural settlement
at Nuwara Eliya, a mountain health-resort. Aided by his brother, he brought
emigrants thither from England, together with choice breeds of cattle, and
before long the new settlement was a success. During his residence in
Ceylon he published, as a result of many adventurous hunting expeditions,
_The Rifle and the Hound in Ceylon_ (1853), and two years later _Eight
Years' Wanderings in Ceylon_ (1855). After a journey to Constantinople and
the Crimea in 1856, he found an outlet for his restless energy by
undertaking the supervision of the construction of a railway across the
Dobrudja, connecting the Danube with the Black Sea. After its completion he
spent some months in a tour in south-eastern Europe and Asia Minor. It was
during this time that he met in Hungary the lady who (in 1860) became his
second wife, Florence, daughter of Finnian von Sass, his first wife having
died in 1855. In March 1861 he started upon his first tour of exploration
in central Africa. This, in his own words, was undertaken "to discover the
sources of the Nile, with the hope of meeting the East African expedition
under Captains Speke and Grant somewhere about the Victoria Lake." After a
year spent on the Sudan-Abyssinian border, during which time he learnt
Arabic, explored the Atbara and other Nile tributaries, and proved that the
Nile sediment came from Abyssinia, he arrived at Khartum, leaving that city
in December 1862 to follow up the course of the White Nile. Two months
later at Gondokoro he met Speke and Grant, who, after discovering the
source of the Nile, were following the river to Egypt. Their success made
him fear that there was nothing left for his own expedition to accomplish;
but the two explorers generously gave him information which enabled him,
after separating from them, to achieve the discovery of Albert Nyanza, of
whose existence credible assurance had already been given to Speke and
Grant. Baker first sighted the lake on the 14th of March 1864. After some
time spent in the exploration of the neighbourhood, during which Baker
demonstrated that the Nile flowed through the Albert Nyanza--of whose size
he formed an exaggerated idea--he started upon his return journey, and
reached Khartum after many checks in May 1865. In the following October he
returned to England with his wife, who had accompanied him throughout the
whole of the perilous and arduous journey. In recognition of the
achievements by which Baker had indissolubly linked his name [v.03 p.0228]
with the solution of the problem of the Nile sources, the Royal
Geographical Society awarded him its gold medal, and a similar distinction
was bestowed on him by the Paris Geographical Society. In August 1866 he
was knighted. In the same year he published _The Albert N'yanza, Great
Basin of the Nile, and Explorations of the Nile Sources_, and in 1867 _The
Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia_, both books quickly going through several
editions. In 1868 he published a popular story called _Cast up by the Sea_.
In 1869 he attended the prince of Wales, afterwards King Edward VII., in a
tour through Egypt. In the same year, at the request of the khedive Ismail,
Baker undertook the command of a military expedition to the equatorial
regions of the Nile, with the object of suppressing the slave-trade there
and opening the way to commerce and civilization. Before starting from
Cairo with a force of 1700 Egyptian troops--many of them discharged
convicts--he was given the rank of pasha and major-general in the Ottoman
army. Lady Baker, as before, accompanied him. The khedive appointed him
governor-general of the new territory for four years at a salary of L10,000
a year; and it was not until the expiration of that time that Baker
returned to Cairo, leaving his work to be carried on by the new governor,
Colonel Charles George Gordon. He had to contend with innumerable
difficulties--the blocking of the river by sudd, the bitter hostility of
officials interested in the slave-trade, the armed opposition of the
natives--but he succeeded in planting in the new territory the foundations
upon which others could build up an administration. He returned to England
with his wife in 1874, and in the following year purchased the estate of
Sandford Orleigh in South Devon, where he made his home for the rest of his
life. He published his narrative of the central African expedition under
the title of _Ismailia_ (1874). _Cyprus as I saw it in 1879_ was the result
of a visit to that island. He spent several winters in Egypt, and travelled
in India, the Rocky Mountains and Japan in search of big game, publishing
in 1890 _Wild Beasts and their Ways_. He kept up an exhaustive and vigorous
correspondence with men of all shades of opinion upon Egyptian affairs,
strongly opposing the abandonment of the Sudan and subsequently urging its
reconquest. Next to these, questions of maritime defence and strategy
chiefly attracted him in his later years. He died at Sandford Orleigh on
the 30th of December 1893.
See, besides his own writings, _Sir Samuel Baker, a Memoir_, by T. Douglas
Murray and A. Silva White (London, 1895).
BAKER, THOMAS (1656-1740), English antiquary, was born on the 14th of
September 1656 at Lanchester, Durham. He was the grandson of Colonel Baker
of Crook, Durham, who won fame in the civil war by his defence of Newcastle
against the Scots. He was educated at the free school at Durham, and
proceeded thence in 1672 to St John's College, Cambridge, where he
afterwards obtained a fellowship. Lord Crew, bishop of Durham, collated him
to the rectory of Long-Newton in his diocese in 1687, and intended to give
him that of Sedgefield with a prebend had not Baker incurred his
displeasure by refusing to read James II.'s Declaration of Indulgence. The
bishop who disgraced him for this refusal, and who was afterwards specially
excepted from William's Act of Indemnity, took the oaths to that king and
kept his bishopric till his death. Baker, on the other hand, though he had
opposed James, refused to take the oaths to William; he resigned
Long-Newton on the 1st of August 1690, and retired to St John's, in which
he was protected till the 20th of January 1716-1717, when he and
one-and-twenty others were deprived of their fellowships. After the passing
of the Registering Act in 1723, he could not be prevailed on to comply with
its requirements by registering his annuity of L40, although that annuity,
left him by his father, with L20 per annum from his elder brother's
collieries, was now his whole subsistence. He retained a lively sense of
the injuries he had suffered; and inscribed himself in all his own books,
as well as in those which he gave to the college library, _socius ejectus_,
and in some _rector ejectus_. He continued to reside in the college as
commoner-master till his sudden death from apoplexy on the 2nd of July
1740. The whole of his valuable books and manuscripts he bequeathed to the
university. The only works he published were, _Reflections on Learning,
showing the Insufficiency thereof in its several particulars, in order to
evince the usefulness and necessity of Revelation_ (Lond., 1709-1710) and
the preface to Bishop Fisher's _Funeral Sermon for Margaret, Countess of
Richmond and Derby_ (1708)--both without his name. His valuable manuscript
collections relative to the history and antiquities of the university of
Cambridge, amounting to thirty-nine volumes in folio and three in quarto,
are divided between the British Museum and the public library at
Cambridge,--the former possessing twenty-three volumes, the latter sixteen
in folio and three in quarto.
The life of Baker was written by Robert Masters (Camb., 1784), and by
Horace Walpole in the quarto edition of his works.
BAKER, VALENTINE [BAKER PASHA] (1827-1887), British soldier, was a younger
brother of Sir Samuel Baker (_q.v._). He was educated at Gloucester and in
Ceylon, and in 1848 entered the Ceylon Rifles as an ensign. Soon
transferred to the 12th Lancers, he saw active service with that regiment
in the Kaffir war of 1852-53. In the Crimean War Baker was present at the
action of Traktir (or Tchernaya) and at the fall of Sevastopol, and in 1859
he became major in the 10th Hussars, succeeding only a year later to the
command. This position he held for thirteen years, during which period the
highest efficiency of his men was reached, and outside the regiment he did
good service to his arm by his writings. He went through the wars of 1866
and 1870 as a spectator with the German armies, and in 1873 he started upon
a famous journey through Khorassan. Though he was unable to reach Khiva the
results of the journey afforded a great deal of political, geographical and
military information, especially as to the advance of Russia in central
Asia. In 1874 he was back in England and took up a staff appointment at
Aldershot. Less than a year later Colonel Baker's career in the British
army came to an untimely end. He was arrested on a charge of indecent
assault upon a young woman in a railway carriage, and was sentenced to a
year's imprisonment and a fine. His dismissal from the service was an
inevitable consequence; it must be stated, however, that the view taken of
the circumstances by good authorities was that Baker's conduct, when judged
by conventional standards, admitted of considerable extenuation. He himself
never opened his mouth in self-defence. Two years later, having meanwhile
left England, he entered the service of Turkey in the war with Russia. At
first in a high position in the gendarmerie, he was soon transferred to
Mehemet's staff, and thence took over the command of a division of
infantry. With this division Baker sustained the brilliant rearguard action
of Tashkessan against the troops of Gourko. Promoted _Ferik_
(lieutenant-general) for this feat, he continued to command Suleiman's
rearguard with distinction. After the peace he was employed in an
administrative post in Armenia, where he remained until 1882. In this year
he was offered the command of the newly formed Egyptian army, which he
accepted. On his arrival at Cairo, however, the offer was withdrawn and he
only obtained the command of the Egyptian police. In this post he devoted
by far the greater amount of his energy to the training of the gendarmerie,
which he realized would be the reserve of the purely military forces.
When the Sudan War broke out, Baker, hastening with 3500 men to relieve
Tokar, encountered the enemy under Osman Digna at El Teb. His men became
panic-stricken at the first rush and allowed themselves to be slaughtered
like sheep. Baker himself with a few of his officers succeeded by hard
fighting in cutting a way out, but his force was annihilated. British
troops soon afterwards arrived at Suakin, and Sir Gerald Graham took the
offensive. Baker Pasha accompanied the British force, and guided it in its
march to the scene of his defeat, and at the desperately-fought second
battle of El Teb he was wounded. He remained in command of the Egyptian
police until his death in 1887. Amongst his works may be mentioned _Our
National Defences_ (1860), _War in Bulgaria, a Narrative of Personal
Experience_ (London, 1879), _Clouds in the East_ (London, 1876).
BAKER CITY, a city and the county-seat of Baker county, Oregon, U.S.A.,
about 337 m. E. by S. of Portland. Pop. (1890) [v.03 p.0229] 2604; (1900)
6663 (1017 foreign-born); (1910) 6742. The city is served by the Oregon
Railroad & Navigation Company, and by the Sumpter Valley railway, a short
line (62 m.) extending from Baker City to Austin, Oregon. Baker City lies
in the valley of Powder river, at the base of the Blue Mountains, and has
an elevation of about 3440 ft. above the sea. It is the largest city in
eastern Oregon, and is the centre of important mining, lumber, farming and
live-stock interests. It was laid out as a town in 1865, became the
county-seat in 1868, and was chartered as a city in 1874. The county and
the city were named in honour of Edward Dickinson Baker (1811-1861), a
political leader, orator and soldier, who was born in London, England, was
taken to the United States in 1815, was a representative in Congress from
Illinois in 1845-1846 and 1849-1851, served in the Mexican War as a colonel
(1846-1847), became a prominent lawyer in California and later in Oregon,
was a Republican member of the United States Senate in 1860-1861 and was
killed at Ball's Bluff, Virginia, on the 21st of October in 1861, while
serving as a colonel in the Federal army.
BAKEWELL, ROBERT (1725-1795) English agriculturist, was born at Dishley,
Leicestershire, in 1725. His father, a farmer at the same place, died in
1760, and Robert Bakewell then took over the management of the estate. By
visiting a large number of farms all over the country, he had already
acquired a wide theoretical knowledge of agriculture and stock-breeding;
and this knowledge he now put to practical use at Dishley. His main object
was to improve the breed of sheep and oxen, and in this he was highly
successful, his new Leicestershire breed of sheep attaining within little
more than half a century an international reputation, while the Dishley
cattle (also known as the new Leicestershire long-horn) became almost as
famous. He extended his breeding experiments to horses, producing a new and
particularly useful type of farm-horse. He was the first to establish the
trade in ram-letting on a large scale, and founded the Dishley Society, the
object of which was to ensure purity of breed. The value of his own stock
was quickly recognized, and in one year he made 1200 guineas from the
letting of a single ram. Bakewell's agricultural experiments were not
confined to stock-breeding. His reputation stood high in every detail of
farm-management, and as an improver of grass land by systematic irrigation
he had no rival. He died on the 1st of October 1795.
BAKEWELL, ROBERT (1768-1843), English geologist, was born in 1768. He was
an able observer, and deserving of mention as one of the earliest teachers
of general and practical geology. His _Introduction to Geology_ (1813)
contained much sound information, and reached a fifth edition in 1838. The
second edition was translated and published in Germany, and the third and
fourth editions were reprinted in America by Professor Silliman of Yale
College. Bakewell as author also of an _Introduction to Mineralogy_ (1819),
and of _Travels comprising Observations made during a Residence in the
Tarentaise_, &c. (2 vols., 1823). He died at Hampstead on the 15th of
August 1843.
BAKEWELL, a market-town in the western parliamentary division of
Derbyshire, England, on the river Wye, 25 m. N.N.W. of Derby, on the
Midland railway. Pop. of urban district (1901) 2850. The church of All
Saints is mentioned in Domesday, and tradition ascribes the building of its
nave to King John, while the western side of the tower must be older still.
Within are some admirable specimens of encaustic tiles, and several
monuments of the Vernon and Manners families; while an ancient runic
rood-stone stands in the churchyard. Zinc and marble are worked in the
neighbourhood. The cotton manufacture was established in the town by Sir
Richard Arkwright. Bakewell is noted for a chalybeate spring, of use in
cases of chronic rheumatism, and there are baths attached to it. A kind of
jam-cake, called a "Bakewell pudding," gives another sort of fame to the
place. The almshouses, known as St John's hospital, were founded in 1602;
and in 1637 a free grammar school was endowed by Lady Grace Manners. Among
modern buildings may be mentioned the Bakewell and High Peak Institute, and
the town hall and museum. On Castle Hill, in the vicinity, are the remains
of an earthwork, said to have been raised by Edward the Elder in 924.
Within the parish are included the mansions of Burton Closes and Castle
Hill. Two miles from the town, amidst beautiful gardens and meadows, is
Haddon Hall. To the east lies the magnificent domain of Chatsworth. The
scenery of the neighbourhood, in both the Wye and the Derwent valleys, is
very beautiful; the village of Eyam (pronounced Eem) near the Derwent may
be noticed as specially picturesque. The plague of 1665, carried hither
from London, almost depopulated this village, and the name of the rector,
William Mompesson, attracted wide notice on account of his brave attempts
to combat the outbreak.
BAKHCHI-SARAI (Turk. for "garden-palace"), a town of Russia, in the
government of Taurida, situated in a narrow gorge in the Crimea, 20 m. by
rail S.S.W. of Simferopol. From the close of the 15th century down to 1783
it was the residence of the Tatar khans of the Crimea; and its streets wear
a decidedly oriental look. The principal building, the palace, or
_Khan-sarai_, was originally erected in 1519 by Abdul-Sahal-Ghirai,
destroyed in 1736, and restored at Potemkin's command for the reception of
Catherine II. Attached to it is a mausoleum, which contains the tombs of
many of the khans. There are in the place no fewer then thirty-six mosques.
The population consists for the most part of Tatars. Bakhchi-sarai
manufactures morocco, sheepskin cloaks, agricultural implements, sabres and
cutlery. Pop. (1897) 12,955. Two and a half miles to the east is
Chufut-Kaleh (or Jews' city), formerly the chief seat of the Karaite Jews
of the Crimea, situated on lofty and almost inaccessible cliffs; it is now
deserted except by the rabbi. Between Bakhchi-sarai and Chufut-kaleh is the
Uspenskiy monastery, clinging like a swallow's nest to the face of the
cliffs, and the scene of a great pilgrimage on the 15th (29th) of August
every year.
BAKHMUT, a town of Russia, in the government of Ekaterinoslav, near the
river from which it derives its name, 136 m. E. of the town of
Ekaterinoslav. It owed its origin in the latter half of the 17th century to
the discovery of salt-springs, and now produces coal, salt, alabaster and
quicksilver, and manufactures steel rails. Pop. (1897) 19,416.
BAKHTIARI, one of the great nomad tribes of Persia, whose camping-grounds
are in the hilly district, known as the Bakhtiari province. This province
extends from Chaharmahal (west of Isfahan) in the E., to near Shushter in
the W., and separated from Luristan in the N. by the Dizful river (Ab i
Diz), and in the S touches Behbahan and Ram Hormuz. The Bakhtiari are
divided into the two great divisions Haft-lang and Chahar-lang, and a
number of branches and clans, and were known until the 15th century as the
"Great Lurs," the "Little Lurs" being the tribes settled in the district
now known as Luristan, with Khorremabad as capital. According to popular
tradition the Lurs originally came from Syria in the 10th century, but it
is now held that they were in Persia long, perhaps fifteen centuries,
before. They speak the Lur language, a Persian dialect. The Bakhtiari
number about 38,000 or 40,000 families, under 200,000 souls, while the area
of the district occupied by them is about 25,000 sq. m. In the middle of
the 19th century they could put 20,000 well-equipped horsemen into the
field, but in consequence of misrule and long-lasting feuds between the
different branches, which the government often fostered, or even
instigated, the district has become poor, and it would now be difficult to
find 4000 horsemen. The province is under the governor-general of
Arabistan, and pays a yearly tribute of about L5000. The chiefs of the
Bakhtiari in 1897, having obtained the shah's permission for improving the
road between Shushter or Ahvaz and Isfahan, an iron suspension bridge with
a span of 120 ft. was erected over the Karun river at Gudar i Bulutek;
another, with a span of 70 ft., over the Bazuft river at Pul i Amarat; and
a stone bridge over the Karun at Do-pu-lan.
For accounts of the Bakhtiari see Mrs Bishop (Isabella Bird), _Journeys in
Persia and Kurdistan_ (London, 1893); C. de Bode, _Travels in Luristan_
(London, 1841); Lord Curzon, _Persia and the Persian Question_, vol. ii.
283-303 (London, 1892); Sir H. Layard, _Early Adventures in Persia_
(London, 1894).
(A. H.-S.)
BAKING, the action of the verb "to bake," a word, in various forms, common
to Teutonic languages (cf. Ger. _backen_), meaning to cook by dry heat.
"Baking" is thus primarily applied to [v.03 p.0230] the process of
preparing bread, and is also applied to the hardening by heat or "firing"
of pottery, earthenware or bricks. (See BREAD; CERAMICS and BRICK.)
BAKIS (_i.e._ "speaker," from [Greek: bazo]), a general name for the
inspired prophets and dispensers of oracles who flourished in Greece from
the 8th to the 6th century B.C. Suidas mentions three: a Boeotian, an
Arcadian and an Athenian. The first, who was the most famous, was said to
have been inspired by the nymphs of the Corycian cave. His oracles, of
which specimens are extant in Herodotus and Pausanias, were written in
hexameter verse, and were considered to have been strikingly fulfilled. The
Arcadian was said to have cured the women of Sparta of a fit of madness.
Many of the oracles which were current under his name have been attributed
to Onomacritus.
Herodotus viii. 20, 77, ix. 43; Pausanias iv. 27, ix. 17, x. 12; Schol.
Aristoph. _Pax_, 1070; see Goettling, _Opuscula Academica_ (1869).
BAKOCZ, TAMAS, CARDINAL (1442-1521), Hungarian ecclesiastic and statesman,
was the son of a wagoner, adopted by his uncle, who trained him for the
priesthood and whom he succeeded as rector of Tetel (1480). Shortly
afterwards he became one of the secretaries of King Matthias I., who made
him bishop of Gyor and a member of the royal council (1490). Under
Wladislaus II. (1490-1516) he became successively bishop of Eger, the
richest of the Hungarian sees, archbishop of Esztergom (1497), cardinal
(1500), and titular patriarch of Constantinople (1510). From 1490 to his
death in 1521 he was the leading statesman of Hungary and mainly
responsible for her foreign policy. It was solely through his efforts that
Hungary did not accede to the league of Cambrai, was consistently friendly
with Venice, and formed a family compact with the Habsburgs. He was also
the only Magyar prelate who seriously aspired to the papal throne. In 1513,
on the death of Julius II., he went to Rome for the express purpose of
bringing about his own election as pope. He was received with more than
princely pomp, and all but succeeded in his design, thanks to his
extraordinary adroitness and the command of an almost unlimited
bribing-fund. But Venice and the emperor played him false, and he failed.
He returned to Hungary as papal legate, bringing with him the bull of Leo
X. proclaiming a fresh crusade against the Turks. But the crusade
degenerated into a _jacquerie_ which ravaged the whole kingdom, and much
discredited Bakocz. He lost some of his influence at first after the death
of Wladislaus, but continued to be the guiding spirit at court, till age
and infirmity confined him almost entirely to his house in the last three
years of his life. Bakocz was a man of great ability but of no moral
principle whatever. His whole life was a tissue of treachery. He was false
to his benefactor Matthias, false to Matthias's son Janos Corvinus
(_q.v._), whom he chicaned out of the throne, and false to his accomplice
in that transaction, Queen Beatrice. His rapacity disgusted even an age in
which every one could be bought and sold. His attempt to incorporate the
wealthy diocese of Transylvania with his own primatial province was one of
the principal causes of the spread of the Reformation in Hungary. He left a
fortune of many millions. His one redeeming feature was a love of art; his
own cathedral was a veritable Pantheon.
See Vilmos Fraknoi, _Tamas Bakocz_ (Hung.) (Budapest, 1889).
(R. N. B.)
BAKRI [Ab[=u] 'Ubaid 'Abdallah ibn 'Abd ul-'Az[=i]z ul-Bakr[=i]],
(1040-1094), Arabian geographer, was born at Cordova. His best-known work
is the dictionary of geographical names which occur in the poets, with an
introduction on the seats of the Arabian tribes. This has been edited by F.
Wuestenfeld (Goettingen, 1876-1877). Another of his works was a general
geography of the world, which exists in manuscript. The part referring to
North Africa was edited by McG. de Slane (Algiers, 1857).
See C. Brockelmann's _Gesch. der Arab. Litteratur_ (Weimar, 1898), vol. i.
p. 476.
BAKU, a government of Russian Transcaucasia, stretching along the west
coast of the Caspian Sea from 41deg 50' to 38deg 30' N. lat., and bounded
on the W. by the government of Elisavetpol and the province of Daghestan,
and on the S. by Persia. It includes the Kuba plain on the north-east slope
of the Caucasus; the eastern extremity of that range from the Shad-dagh
(13,960 ft.) and the Bazardyuz (14,727 ft.) to the Caspian, where it
terminates in the Apsheron peninsula; the steppes of the lower Kura and
Aras on the south of the Caucasus, and a narrow coast-belt between the
Anti-Caucasus and the Caspian. The last-mentioned region lies partly round
the Kizil-agach Bay, opening to the south. Area of government, 15,172 sq.
m. Both slopes of the Caucasus are very fertile and well irrigated, with
fine forests, fields of rice and other cereals, and flourishing gardens.
The steppes of the Kura are also fertile, but require artificial
irrigation, especially for cotton. In addition to agriculture and
cattle-breeding, the vine and mulberry are extensively grown. The Apsheron
peninsula is dry and bare of vegetation; but within it are situated the
famous petroleum wells of Baku. These, which go down to depths of 700 to
1700 ft., yield crude naphtha, from which the petroleum or kerosene is
distilled; while the heavier residue (_mazut_) is used as lubricating oil
and for fuel, for instance in the locomotives of the Transcaspian railway.
Whereas in 1863 the output was only 5500 tons of crude naphtha, in 1904 it
amounted to 9,833,600 tons; but business was much injured by a serious fire
in 1905. The oil-fields lie around the town of Baku: the largest, that of
Balakhany-Sabunchi-Romany (6 sq. m.), is 8-1/2 m. north of the town; that
of Bibi-Eybat, is 3-1/2 m. south; the "black town" (Nobel's) is 2 m.
south-east; and beyond the last names is the "white town" (Rothschild's).
The lighter oil is conveyed to Batum on the Black Sea in pipes, and is
there shipped for export; the heavier oils reach the same port and the
ports of Novorossiysk and Poti, also on the Black Sea, in tank
railway-cars. At Surakhani, 13 m. east of the town, is the now disused
temple of the Parsee fire-worshippers, who were attracted thither by the
natural fountains of inflammable gas.
The government is divided into six districts, the chief towns of which are
Baku (the capital of the government), Geok-chai (pop. 2247 in 1897), Kuba
(15,346), Lenkoran (8768), Salyany (10,168), in district of Jevat, and
Shemakha (20,008). The population numbered 828,511 in 1897, of whom the
major part were Tatars; other races were Russians, the Iranian tribes of
the Tates (89,519) and Talysh (34,994), Armenians (52,233) and the
Caucasian mountaineers known as Kurins.
BAKU, the chief town of the government of the same name, in Russian
Transcaucasia, on the south side of the peninsula of Apsheron, in 40deg 21'
N. and 49deg 50' E. It is connected by rail with the south Russian railway
system at Beslan, the junction for Vladikavkaz (400 m.), via Derbent and
Petrovsk, with Batum (560 m.) and Poti (536 m.) on the Black Sea via
Tiflis. A long stone quay next the harbour is backed by the new town
climbing up the slopes behind. To the west is the old town, consisting of
steep, narrow, winding streets, and presenting a decidedly oriental
appearance. Here are the ruins of a palace of the native khans, built in
the 16th century; the mosques of the Persian shahs, built in 1078 and now
converted into an arsenal; nearer the sea the "maidens' tower," transformed
into a lighthouse; and not far from it remains of ancient walls projecting
above the sea, and showing traces of Arabic architecture of the 9th and
10th centuries. Beside the harbour are engineering works, dry docks and
barracks, stores and workshops belonging to the Russian Caspian fleet.
Besides the petroleum refineries the town possesses oil-works (for fuel),
flour-mills, sulphuric acid works and tobacco factories. Owing to its
excellent harbour Baku is a chief depot for merchandise coming from Persia
and Transcaspia--raw cotton, silk, rice, wine, fish, dried fruit and
timber--and for Russian manufactured goods. The climate is extreme, the
mean temperature for the year being 58deg F., for January 38deg, for July
80deg; annual rainfall 9.4 in. A wind of exceptional violence blows
sometimes from the N.N.W. in winter. Pop. (1860) 13,381; (1897) 112,253;
(1900) 179,133. The town is mentioned by the Arab geographer, Masudi, in
the 10th century. From 1509 it was in the possession of the Persians. The
Russians captured it from them in 1723, but restored it in 1735; it was
incorporated in the Russian empire in 1806. In 1904-1905, [v.03 p.0231] in
consequence of the general political anarchy, serious conflicts took place
here between the Tatars and the Armenians, and two-thirds of the Balakhani
and Bibi-Eybat oil-works were burned.
See Marvin, _The Region of the Eternal Fire_ (ed. 1891) and J. D. Henry,
_Baku, an Eventful History_ (1906).
(P. A. K.)
BAKUNIN, MIKHAIL (1814-1876), Russian anarchist, was born of an
aristocratic family at Torjok, in the government of Tver, in 1814. As an
officer of the Imperial Guard, he saw service in Poland, but resigned his
commission from a disgust of despotism aroused by witnessing the repressive
methods employed against the Poles. He proceeded to Germany, studied Hegel,
and soon got into touch with the leaders of the young German movement in
Berlin. Thence he went to Paris, where he met Proudhon and George Sand, and
also made the acquaintance of the chief Polish exiles. From Paris he
journeyed to Switzerland, where he resided for some time, taking an active
share in all socialistic movements. While in Switzerland he was ordered by
the Russian government to return to Russia, and on his refusal his property
was confiscated. In 1848, on his return to Paris, he published a violent
tirade against Russia, which caused his expulsion from France. The
revolutionary movement of 1848 gave him the opportunity of entering upon a
violent campaign of democratic agitation, and for his participation in the
Dresden insurrection of 1849 he was arrested and condemned to death. The
death sentence, however, was commuted to imprisonment for life, and he was
eventually handed over to the Russian authorities, by whom he was
imprisoned and finally sent to eastern Siberia in 1855. He received
permission to remove to the Amur region, whence he succeeded in escaping,
making his way through Japan and the United States to England in 1861. He
spent the rest of his life in exile in western Europe, principally in
Switzerland. In 1869 he founded the Social Democratic Alliance, which,
however, dissolved in the same year, and joined the International (_q.v._).
In 1870 he attempted a rising at Lyons on the principles afterwards
exemplified by the Paris Commune. At the Hague congress of the
International in 1872 he was outvoted and expelled by the Marx party. He
retired to Lugano in 1873 and died at Bern on the 13th of June 1876.
Nothing can be clearer or more frank and comprehensive in its
destructiveness than the revolutionary anarchism of Bakunin. He rejects all
the ideal systems in every name and shape, from the idea of God downwards;
and every form of external authority, whether emanating from the will of a
sovereign or from universal suffrage. "The liberty of man," he says in his
_Dieu et l'Etat_ (published posthumously in 1882) "consists solely in this,
that he obeys the laws of nature, because he has himself recognized them as
such, and not because they have been imposed upon him externally by any
foreign will whatsoever, human or divine, collective or individual." In
this way will the whole problem of freedom be solved, that natural laws be
ascertained by scientific discovery, and the knowledge of them be
universally diffused among the masses. Natural laws being thus recognized
by every man for himself, he cannot but obey them, for they are the laws
also of his own nature; and the need for political organization,
administration and legislation will at once disappear. Nor will he admit of
any privileged position or class, for "it is the peculiarity of privilege
and of every privileged position to kill the intellect and heart of man.
The privileged man, whether he be privileged politically or economically,
is a man depraved in intellect and heart." "In a word, we object to all
legislation, all authority, and all influence, privileged, patented,
official and legal, even when it has proceeded from universal suffrage,
convinced that it must always turn to the profit of a dominating and
exploiting minority, against the interests of the immense majority
enslaved." Bakunin's methods of realizing his revolutionary programme are
not less frank and destructive than his principles. The revolutionist, as
he would recommend him to be, is a consecrated man, who will allow no
private interests or feelings, and no scruples of religion, patriotism or
morality, to turn him aside from his mission, the aim of which is by all
available means to overturn the existing society. (See ANARCHISM.)
BA-KWIRI, a Bantu nation of German Cameroon, West Africa. According to
tradition they are migrants from the eastward. The "Brushmen," for that is
the meaning of their name, are grouped in about sixty separate clans. They
are a lively intelligent people, brave fighters and daring hunters, and in
their love of songs, music and elocution are superior to many negro races.
Their domestic affections are strongly developed. Their chief physical
peculiarity is the great disparity between the size and complexion of the
sexes, most of the women being much shorter and far lighter in colour than
the men. The Ba-Kwiri are generous and open-handed among themselves; but
the law of blood for blood is mercilessly fulfilled, even in cases of
accidental homicide. Their religion is ancestor-worship blended with
witchcraft and magic. They believe in good and evil spirits, those of the
forests and seas being especially feared. In common with their neighbours
the Dualla (_q.v._) the Ba-Kwiri possess a curious drum language. By
drum-tapping news is conveyed from clan to clan. Slaves and women are not
allowed to master this language, but all the initiated are bound to repeat
it so as to pass the messages on. The Ba-Kwiri have also a horn language
peculiar to themselves.
BALA, a market-town and urban district of Merionethshire, N. Wales, at the
north end of Bala Lake, 17 m. N.E. of Dolgelley (Dolgellau). Pop. (1901)
1554. It is little more than one wide street. Its manufactures are flannel,
stockings, gloves and hosiery (for which it was well known in the 18th
century). The Tower of Bala (some 30 ft. high by 50 diameter) is a tumulus
or "moat-hill," formerly thought to mark the site of a Roman camp. The
theological college of the Calvinistic Methodists and the grammar school
(endowed), which was founded in 1712, are the chief features, together with
the statue of the Rev. Thomas Charles, the distinguished theological
writer, to whom was largely due the foundation of the British and Foreign
Bible Society. Bala Lake, the largest in Wales (4 m. long by some 3/4 m.
wide), is subject to sudden and dangerous floods, deep and clear, and full
of pike, perch, trout, eel and _gwyniad_. The _gwyniad_ (Caregonus) is
peculiar to certain waters, as those of Bala Lake, and is fully described
by Thomas Pennant in his _Zoology_ (1776).
The lake (_Llyn Tegid_) is crossed by the Dee, local tradition having it
that the waters of the two never mix, like those of Alpheus and the sea.
BALAAM ([Hebrew: BIL`AM] Bil'am; [Greek: Balaam]; Vg. _Balaam_; the
etymology of the name is uncertain), a prophet in the Bible. Balaam, the
son of Beor, was a Gentile seer; he appears in the history of the
Israelites during their sojourn in the plains of Moab, east of Jordan, at
the close of the Forty Years' wandering, shortly before the death of Moses
and the crossing of the Jordan. Israel had conquered two kings of eastern
Palestine--Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan. Balak, king
of Moab, became alarmed, and sent for Balaam to curse Israel; Balaam came
after some hesitation, but when he sought to curse Israel Yahweh compelled
him to bless them.
The main passage concerning Balaam in Num. xxii-xxv.; it consists of a
narrative which serves as a framework for seven oracular poems, the first
four being of some length and the last three very brief. The story is
doubtless based on ancient traditions, current in various forms; the Old
Testament references are not wholly consistent.
The narrative in Num. xxii. ff. is held to be compiled with editorial
additions from the two ancient documents (900-700 B.C.) commonly denoted by
the symbols J and E The distribution of the material between the two
documents is uncertain; but some such scheme as the following is not
improbable. The references to portions the origin of which is especially
uncertain are placed in brackets ( ).
The present narrative, therefore, is not really a single continuous story,
but may be resolved into two older accounts. In combining these two and
using them as a framework for the poems, the compilers have altered, added
and omitted. Naturally, when both documents made statements which were
nearly identical, one might be omitted; so that neither account need be
given in full in the composite passage. The two older accounts, [v.03
p.0232] as far as they are given here, may have run somewhat thus:
restorations of supposed omissions are given in square brackets [ ].
(i) J. xxii. 3b-5a to "Beor" (5c to "to the land"--7, 11, 17, 18). Balak,
king of Moab, alarmed at the Israelite conquests, sends _elders_ of Moab
and Midian to Balaam, son of Beor, to the land of _Ammon_, to induce him to
come and curse Israel. He sends back word that he can only do what Yahweh
commands.
The land of _Ammon_. The current Hebrew Text has the land of _ammo_, _i.e._
as EV, "his people," but _Ammon_ is read by the Samaritan Pentateuch, the
Syriac and Vulgate Versions and some Hebrew MSS., and is accepted by many
modern scholars.
xxii. 22-35a to "Balaam," also "Go" and "So Balaam went." Nevertheless
Balaam sets out with two servants to go to Balak, but the Angel of Yahweh
meets him. At first the Angel is seen only by the ass, which arouses
Balaam's anger by its efforts to avoid the Angel. The ass is miraculously
enabled to speak to Balaam. Yahweh at last enables Balaam to see the Angel,
who tells him that he would have slain him but for the ass. Balaam offers
to go back, but is told to go on.
Speaking animals are a common feature of folk-lore; the only other case in
the Old Testament is the serpent in Eden. Maimonides suggested that the
episode of the Angel and the conversation with the ass is an account of a
vision; similar views have been held by E. W. Hengstenberg and other
Christian scholars. Others, _e.g._ Volck in Hauck's _Realencyklopadie_ (s.
"Bileam"), regard the statements about the ass speaking as figurative; the
ass brayed, and Balaam translated the sound into words. The ordinary
literal interpretation is more probable; but it does not follow that the
authors of the Pentateuch intended the story to be taken as historical in
its details. It need hardly be said that the exact accuracy of such
narratives is not an essential part of the Christian faith; no such
doctrine is laid down by the creeds and confessions.
xxii. 36, 39, xxiv. 1, 2, 10-14, 25. Balak meets Balaam and they go
together [and offer sacrifices]; Balaam, however, blesses Israel by divine
inspiration; Balak remonstrates, but Balaam reminds him of his message and
again blesses Israel. Then Balaam goes home. (For the relation of the poems
to J's narrative, see below.)
(ii.) E. xxii. 2, 3a, 5b "to Pethor, which is by the river," 8-10, 12-16,
19-21, 37a, to "unto me," 38. Balak, king of Moab, alarmed at the conquests
of Israel, sends the princes of Moab to Balaam at _Pethor_ on the
Euphrates, that he may come and curse Israel.
A. Jeremias, _Das Alte Testament im Lichte des alten Orients_, p. 278,
adopts Marquart's view that the "River" (_nahar_) is the so-called "River"
(better "Ravine" _nahal_) of Egypt or Musri, on the southern frontier of
Judea. So too Winckler, in the new edition of E. Schrader's _Die
Keilinschriften und das Alte Testament_. It has been usual to keep _nahar_
and take it in its ordinary sense when used absolutely, _i.e._ the
Euphrates, and to identify _Pethor_ with a _Pitru_ on a tributary of the
Euphrates, mentioned in an inscription of Shalmaneser II. Deut. xxiii. 4
places Pethor in Mesopotamia.
God appears to him in a dream and forbids him to go. The princes return and
report to Balak, who sends them back to put further pressure on Balaam. God
in another dream permits him to go, on condition that he speaks what God
tells him. He goes with the _princes of Moab_. Balak meets them, and Balaam
warns him that he can only speak what God tells him.
xxii. 40, 41, xxiii. 1-6, 11-17. Balak offers sacrifices, but Yahweh
inspires Balaam with a blessing on Israel. Balak remonstrates and Balaam
explains. They try to get a more favourable result by sacrificing on a
different spot, and by placing Balaam on the top of Pisgah to view Israel,
but he is again compelled to bless Israel. After further remonstrances and
explanations [Balaam goes home]. (For the relation of the poems to E's
narrative, see below.)
Deut. xxiii. 3-6[1] summarizes E's account of this incident, adding,
however, the feature that the Ammonites were associated with the Moabites,
possibly an imperfect reminiscence of the reference to Ammon in J. Joshua,
in his farewell speech to the Israelites,[2] also refers to this episode.
The Priestly Code[3] has a different story of Balaam, in which he advises
the _Midianites_ how they may bring disaster on Israel by seducing the
people from their loyalty to Yahweh. Later on he is slain in battle,
fighting in the ranks of Midian.
It is often supposed that the name of the king of Edom,[4] Bela, son of
Beor, is a corruption of Balaam, and that, therefore, one form of the
tradition made him a king of Edom.
The _Poems_ fall into two groups: the first four, in xxiii. 1.-xxiv. 19,
are commonly regarded as ancient lyrics of the early monarchy, perhaps in
the time of David or Solomon, which J and E inserted in their narrative.
Some recent critics,[5] however, are inclined to place them in the
post-exilic period, in which case a late editor has substituted them for
earlier, probably less edifying, oracles. But the features which are held
to indicate late date may be due to editorial revision.
The first two are found in an E setting, and therefore, if ancient, formed
part of E.
The _First_, xxiii. 7-10, prophesies the unique exaltation of Israel, and
its countless numbers.
The _Second_, xxiii. 18-24, celebrates the moral virtue of Israel, the
monarchy and its conquests.
Again the second couple are connected with J.
The _Third_, xxiv. 3-9, also celebrates the glory and conquests of the
monarchy.
_Agag_, in verse 7, can hardly be the Amalekite king of 1 Sam. xv.; Amalek
was too small and obscure. The Septuagint and other Greek Versions and Sam.
Pent, have _Gog_, which would imply a post-exilic date, cf. Ezek. xxxix.
Probably both Agag and Gog are textual corruptions. _Og_ has been
suggested, but does not seem a great improvement.
The _Fourth_, xxiv. 14-19, announces the coming of a king, possibly David,
who shall conquer Edom and Moab.
The remaining poems are usually regarded as later additions; thus the
_Oxford Hexateuch_ on Num. xxiv. 20-24. "The three concluding oracles seem
irrelevant here, being concerned neither with Israel nor Moab. It has been
thought that they were added to bring the cycle up to seven."
The _Fifth_, xxiv. 20, deals with the ruin of Amalek. It is of uncertain
date; if the historical Amalek is meant, it may be early; but Amalek may be
symbolical.
The _Sixth_, xxiv. 21 f., deals with the destruction of the Kenite state by
Assyria; also of uncertain date, Assyria being, according to some, the
ancient realm of Nineveh, according to others the Seleucid kingdom of
Syria, which was also called Assyria.
The _Seventh_, xxiv. 23 f., speaks of the coming of ships from the West, to
attack Assur and "Eber"; it may refer to the conquest of Persia by
Alexander the Great. An interesting, but doubtful, emendation makes this
poem describe the ruin of Shamal, a state in N. W. Syria.
In the New Testament Balaam is cited as a type of avarice;[6] in Rev. ii.
14 we read of false teachers at Pergamum who held the "teaching of Balaam,
who taught Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the children of Israel,
to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit fornication."
Balaam has attracted much interest, alike from Jews, Christians and
Mahommedans. Josephus[7] paraphrases the story _more suo_, and speaks of
Balaam as the best prophet of his time, but with a disposition ill adapted
to resist temptation. Philo describes him in the _Life of Moses_ as a great
magician; elsewhere[8] he speaks of "the sophist Balaam, being," _i.e._
symbolizing, "a vain crowd of contrary and warring opinions"; and again[9]
as "a vain people"; both phrases being based on a mistaken etymology of the
name Balaam. The later Targums and the Talmuds represent him as a typical
sinner; and there are the usual worthless Rabbinical fables, _e.g._ that he
was blind of one eye; that he was the Elihu of Job; that, as one of
Pharaoh's counsellors, he was governor of a city of Ethiopia, and rebelled
against Pharaoh; Moses was sent against him by Pharaoh at the head of an
army, and stormed the city and put Balaam to flight, &c. &c.
[v.03 p.0233] Curiously enough, the Rabbinical (Yalkut) identification of
Balaam with Laban, Jacob's father-in-law, has been revived from a very
different standpoint, by a modern critic.[10] The Mahommedans, also, have
various fables concerning Balaam. He was one of the Anakim, or giants of
Palestine; he read the books of Abraham, where he got the name Yahweh, by
virtue of which he predicted the future, and got from God whatever he
asked. It has been conjectured that the Arabic wise man, commonly called
Luqman (_q.v._), is identical with Balaam. The names of their fathers are
alike, and "Luqman" means _devourer_, _swallower,_ a meaning which might be
got out of Balaam by a popular etymology.
If we might accept the various theories mentioned above, Balaam would
appear in one source of J as an Edomite, in another as an Ammonite; in E as
a native of the south of Judah or possibly as an Aramaean; in the tradition
followed by the Priestly Code probably as a Midianite. All these peoples
either belong to the Hebrew stock or are closely connected with it. We may
conclude that Balaam was an ancient figure of traditions originally common
to all the Hebrews and their allies, and afterwards appropriated by
individual tribes; much as there are various St Georges.
The chief significance of the Balaam narratives for the history of the
religion of Israel is the recognition by J and E of the genuine inspiration
of a non-Hebrew prophet. Yahweh is as much the God of Balaam as he is of
Moses. Probably the original tradition goes back to a time when Yahweh was
recognized as a deity of a circle of connected tribes of which the
Israelite tribes formed a part. But the retention of the story without
modification may imply a continuous recognition through some centuries of
the idea that Yahweh revealed his will to nations other than Israel.
Apparently the Priestly Code ignored this feature of the story.
Taking the narratives as we now have them, Balaam is a companion figure to
Jonah, the prophet who wanted to go where he was not sent, over against the
prophet who ran away from the mission to which he was called.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--Ewald, _Geschichte des Volkes Israel^3_, Bd. ii. p. 298;
Hengstenberg's _Die Geschichte Bileams und seine Weissagungen_ (1842); the
commentaries on the scriptural passages, especially G. B. Gray on Numbers
xxii.-xxiv.; and the articles on "Balaam" (Bileam) in Hamburger's
_Realencyclopaedie fuer Bibel und Talmud_, Hastings' _Bible Dict._, Black
and Cheyne's _Encyclopaedia Biblica_, Herozog-Hauck's _Realencyklopadie_.
For the analysis into earlier documents, see also the _Oxford Hexateuch_,
Estlin Carpenter and Harford-Battersby.
(W. H. BE.)
[1] Quoted Neh. xiii. 1 f.
[2] Josh. xxiv. 9, 10. E; cf. Micah vi. 5.
[3] Num. xxxi. 8 (quoted Josh. xiii. 22), 16. These references are not
necessarily inconsistent with JE; but they are probably based on an
independent tradition. The date of the Priestly Code is _ca._ 400 B.C.
[4] Gen. xxxvi. 32.
[5] For names and reasons, see Gray, _Numbers_, 314.
[6] 2 Peter ii. 16, 17 (also refer to the ass speaking), Jude xi.
[7] _Ant._ iv. 6.
[8] _Quod. Det. Potiori_, s. 20.
[9] _De Cherub._, s. 10.
[10] T. Steuernagel, _Einwanderung der israelitischen Staemme_ (1901).
BAL[=A]DHUR[=I] (AB[=U]-L-'ABB[=A]S AHMAD IBN YAHY[=A] IBN J[=A]BIR
AL-BAL[=A]DHUR[=I]), Arabian historian, was a Persian by birth, though his
sympathies seem to have been strongly with the Arabs, for Mas'[=u]d[=i]
refers to one of his works in which he refuted the Shu'[=u]bites (see ABU
'UBAIDA). He lived at the court of the caliphs al-Mutawakkil and
al-Musta'[=i]n and was tutor to the son of al-Mu'tazz. He died in 892 as
the result of a drug called _bal[=a]dhur_ (hence his name). The work by
which he is best known is the _Fut[=u]h ul-Buld[=a]n_ (Conquests of Lands),
edited by M. J. de Goeje as _Liber expugnationis regionum_ (Leiden, 1870;
Cairo, 1901). This work is a digest of a larger one, which is now lost. It
contains an account of the early conquests of Mahomet and the early
caliphs. Bal[=a]dhur[=i] is said to have spared no trouble in collecting
traditions, and to have visited various parts of north Syria and
Mesopotamia for this purpose. Another great historical work of his was the
_Ans[=a]b ul-Ashr[=a]f_ (Genealogies of the Nobles), of which he is said to
have written forty parts when he died. Of this work the eleventh book has
been published by W. Ahlwardt (Greifswald, 1883), and another part is known
in manuscript (see _Journal of the German Oriental Society_, vol. xxxviii.
pp. 382-406). He also made some translations from Persian into Arabic.
(G. W. T.)
BALAGHAT (_i.e._ "above the _ghats_ or passes," the highlands), a district
of British India in the Nagpur division of the Central Provinces. The
administrative headquarters are at the town of Burha. The district contains
an area of 3132 sq. m. It forms the eastern portion of the central plateau
which divides the province from east to west. These highlands, formerly
known as the Raigarh Bichhia tract, remained desolate and neglected until
1866, when the district of Balaghat was formed, and the country opened to
the industrious and enterprising peasantry of the Wainganga valley.
Geographically the district is divided into three distinct parts:--(1) The
southern lowlands, a slightly undulating plain, comparatively well
cultivated and drained by the Wainganga, Bagh, Deo, Ghisri and Son rivers.
(2) The long narrow valley known as the Mau Taluka, lying between the hills
and the Wainganga river, and comprising a long, narrow, irregular-shaped
lowland tract, intersected by hill ranges and peaks covered with dense
jungle, and running generally from north to south. (3) The lofty plateau,
in which is situated the Raigarh Bichhia tract, comprising irregular ranges
of hills, broken into numerous valleys, and generally running from east to
west. The highest points in the hills of the district are as
follows:--Peaks above Lanji, 2300 or 2500 feet; Tepagarh hill, about 2600
ft.; and Bhainsaghat range, about 3000 ft. above the sea. The principal
rivers in the district are the Wainganga, and its tributaries, the Bagh,
Nahra and Uskal; a few smaller streams, such as the Masmar, the Mahkara,
&c.; and the Banjar, Halon and Jamunia, tributaries of the Nerbudda, which
drain a portion of the upper plateau. In the middle of the 19th century the
upper part of the district was an impenetrable waste. About that time one
Lachhman Naik established the first villages on the Paraswara plateau. But
a handsome Buddhist temple of cut stone, belonging to some remote period,
is suggestive of a civilization which had disappeared before historic
times. The population in 1901 was 326,521, showing a decrease of 15% in the
decade, due to the effects of famine. A large part of the area is still
covered with forest, the most valuable timber-tree being _sal_. There are
few good roads. The Gondia-Jubbulpore line of the Bengal-Nagpur railway
traverses the Wainganga valley in the west of the district. The district
suffered very severely from the famine of 1896-1897. It suffered again in
1900, when in April the number of persons relieved rose above 100,000.
BALAGUER, VICTOR (1824-1901), Spanish politician and author, was born at
Barcelona on the 11th of December 1824, and was educated at the university
of his native town. His precocity was remarkable; his first dramatic essay,
_Pepin el jorobado_, was placed on the Barcelona stage when he was fourteen
years of age, and at nineteen he was publicly "crowned" after the
production of his second play, _Don Enrique el Dadivoso_. From 1843 to 1868
he was the chief of the Liberal party in Barcelona, and as proprietor and
editor of _El Conseller_ did much to promote the growth of local patriotism
in Catalonia. But it was not till 1857 that he wrote his first poem in
Catalan--a copy of verses to the Virgin of Montserrat. Henceforward he
frequently adopted the pseudonym of "lo Trovador de Montserrat"; in 1859 he
helped to restore the "Juegos Florales," and in 1861 was proclaimed _mestre
de gay saber_. He was removed to Madrid, took a prominent part in political
life, and in 1867 emigrated to Provence. On the expulsion of Queen
Isabella, he returned to Spain, represented Manresa in the Cortes, and in
1871-1872 was successively minister of the colonies and of finance. He
resigned office at the restoration, but finally followed his party in
rallying to the dynasty; he was appointed vice-president of congress, and
was subsequently a senator. He died at Madrid on the 14th of January 1901.
Long before his death he had become alienated from the advanced school of
Catalan nationalists, and endeavoured to explain away the severe criticism
of Castile in which his _Historia de Cataluna y de la Corona de Aragon_
(1860-1863) abounds. This work, like his _Historia politica y literaria de
los trovadores_ (1878-1879), is inaccurate, partial and unscientific; but
both books are attractively written and have done great service to the
cause which Balaguer once upheld. As a poet he is imitative: reminiscences
of Quintana are noticeable in his patriotic songs, of Zorrilla in his
historical ballads, of Byron in his lyrical poems. He wrote too hastily to
satisfy artistic canons; but if he has the faults he has also the merits of
a pioneer, and in Catalonia his name will endure.
[v.03 p.0234] BALAKIREV, MILI ALEXEIVICH (1836- ), Russian musical
composer, was born at Nijni-Novgorod on the 31st of December 1836. He had
the advantage as a boy of living with Oulibichev, author of a _Life of
Mozart_, who had a private band, and from whom Balakirev obtained a
valuable education in music. At eighteen, after a university course in
mathematics, he went to St Petersburg, full of national ardour, and there
made the acquaintance of Glinka. Round him gathered Cesar Cui (b. 1835),
and others, and in 1862 the Free School of Music was established, by which,
and by Balakirev's personal zeal, the modern school of Russian music was
largely stimulated. In 1869 Balakirev was appointed director of the
imperial chapel and conductor of the Imperial Musical Society. His
influence as a conductor, and as an organizer of Russian music, give him
the place of a founder of a new movement, apart even from his own
compositions, which though few in number are remarkable in themselves. His
works consist largely of songs and collections of folk-songs, but include a
symphony (first played in England in 1901), two symphonic poems ("Russia"
and "Tamara"), and four overtures, besides pianoforte pieces. His
orchestral works are of the "programme-music" order, but all are brilliant
examples of the highly coloured, elaborate style characteristic of modern
Russian composers, and developed by Balakirev's disciples, such as Borodin
and Rimsky-Korsakov.
BALAKLAVA, a village in the Crimea, east of Sevastopol, famous for a battle
in the Crimean War. The action of Balaklava (October 25th, 1854) was
brought about by the advance of a Russian field army under General Liprandi
to attack the allied English, French and Turkish forces besieging
Sevastopol. The ground on which the engagement took place was the Vorontsov
ridge (see CRIMEAN WAR), and the valleys on either side of it. Liprandi's
corps formed near Traktir Bridge, and early on the 25th of October its
advanced guard moved southward to attack the ridge, which was weakly
occupied by Turkish battalions behind slight entrenchments. The two nearest
British divisions were put into motion as soon as the firing became
serious, but were prevented by their orders from descending at once into
the plain, and the Turks had to meet the assault of greatly superior
numbers. They made a gallant resistance, but the Russians quickly cleared
the ridge, capturing several guns, and their first line was followed by a
heavy mass of cavalry which crossed the ridge and descended into the
Balaklava plain. At this moment the British cavalry division under the earl
of Lucan was in the plain, but their commander was prevented from engaging
the Russians by the tenor of his orders. One of his brigades, the Heavy
(4th and 5th Dragoon Guards, 1st, 2nd and 6th Dragoons) under
Brigadier-General J. Y. Scarlett, was in the Balaklava plain; the other,
the Light Brigade under Lord Cardigan (4th and 13th Light Dragoons now
Hussars, 8th and 11th Hussars and 17th Lancers) in the valley to the north
of the Vorontsov ridge. All these regiments were very weak in numbers. The
Russian cavalry mass, after crossing the ridge, moved towards Balaklava; a
few shots were fired into it by a Turkish battery and a moment later the
Heavy Brigade charged. The attack was impeded at first by obstacles of
ground, but in the _melee_ the weight of the British troopers gradually
broke up the enemy, and the charge of the 4th Dragoon Guards, delivered
against the flank of the Russian mass, was decisive. The whole of the
Russian cavalry broke and fled to the ridge. This famous charge occupied
less than five minutes from first to last, and at the same time some of the
Russian squadrons, attempting to charge the 93rd Highlanders (who were near
Balaklava) were met by the steady volleys of the "thin red line," and fled
with the rest. The defeated troops retreated past the still inactive Light
Brigade, on whose left a French cavalry brigade was now posted. The
Russians were at this juncture reinforced by a mixed force on the Fedukhine
heights; Liprandi's infantry occupied the captured ridge, and manned the
guns taken from the Turks. The cavalry defeated by the Heavy Brigade was
re-formed in the northern valley behind the field guns, and infantry,
cavalry and artillery were on both the Fedukhine and the Vorontsov heights.
Thus, in front of the Light Brigade was a valley over a mile long, at the
end of which was the enemy's cavalry and twelve guns, and on the ridges on
either side there were in all twenty-two guns, with cavalry and infantry.
It was under these circumstances that an order was given by the British
headquarters, which led to the charge for which above all Balaklava is
remembered. It was carried to Lord Lucan by Captain L. E. Nolan, 15th
Hussars, and ran as follows:--"Lord Raglan wishes the cavalry to advance
rapidly to the front and try to prevent the enemy carrying away the guns
... French cavalry is on your left." Lucan, seeing no attempt on the part
of the enemy to move guns, questioned Nolan, who is said to have pointed
down the valley to the artillery on the plain; whereupon Lucan rode to Lord
Cardigan, the commander of the Light Brigade, and repeated Lord Raglan's
order and Nolan's explanation. The Light Brigade then advanced straight to
its front, and soon came under fire from the guns on both flanks. Nolan was
killed as he rode across the front of the brigade, perhaps with the
intention of changing its direction to the Vorontsov ridge. Five minutes
later the guns in front began to fire with telling effect. The pace was
increased, though the "charge" was not sounded, and Cardigan and those of
his men who remained mounted, rode up to and through the Russian line of
guns. Small parties even charged the Russian cavalry in rear and on either
flank. The French 4th _Chasseurs d' Afrique_ made a dashing charge which
drove the Russians off the Fedukhine heights, though at considerable loss.
Lucan had meanwhile called up the Heavy Brigade to support the Light, but
it lost many men and horses and was quickly withdrawn. Only two formed
bodies of the Light Brigade found their way back. The 13th Light Dragoons
mustered but ten mounted men at the evening parade; the brigade as a whole
had lost 247 men and 497 horses out of a total strength of 673 engaged in
the charge, which lasted twenty minutes from first to last. The two
infantry divisions which now approached the field were again halted, and
Liprandi was left undisturbed on the Vorontsov ridge and in possession of
the captured guns. The result of the day was thus unfavourable to the
allies, but the three chief incidents of the engagement--the two cavalry
charges and the fight of the 93rd Highlanders--gave to it all the prestige
of a victory. The impression created by the conduct of the Light Brigade
was forcibly expressed in Tennyson's well-known ballad, and in spite of the
equally celebrated remark of the French general Bosquet, _C'est magnifique
mais ce n'est pas la guerre_, it may be questioned whether the moral effect
of the charge did not outweigh the very serious loss in trained men and
horses involved.
BALALAIKA, a stringed instrument said to have retained its primitive form
unchanged, very popular in Russia among the peasants, more especially in
Ukraine. The instrument has a triangular soundboard to which is glued a
vaulted back, forming a body having a triangular base, enabling it to stand
upright. To the body is added a fretted neck strung with two, three or four
strings, generally so tuned as to produce a minor chord when sounded
together. The strings are generally plucked with the fingers, but the
peasants obtain charming "glissando" effects by sweeping the strings
lightly one after the other with the fingers or side of the hand. The
Balalaika is common to the Slav races, who use it to accompany their
folk-songs and dances. It is also to be seen in the hands of gipsies at
rural festivities and fairs.
BALANCE (derived through the Fr. from the Late Lat. _bilantia_, an
apparatus for weighing, from _bi_, two, and _lanx_, a dish or scale), a
term originally used for the ordinary beam balance or weighing machine with
two scale pans, but extended to include (with or without adjectival
qualification) other apparatus for measuring and comparing weights and
forces. In addition to beam and spring balances (see WEIGHING MACHINES),
apparatus termed "torsion balances," in which forces are measured or
compared by their twisting moment on a wire, are used, especially in
gravitational, electrostatic and magnetic experiments (see GRAVITATION and
ELECTROMETER). The term also connotes the idea of equality or equalization;
_e.g._ in the following expressions: "balance," in bookkeeping, the amount
which equalizes the debit and credit accounts; "balance wheel," [v.03
p.0235] in horology, a device for equalizing the relaxing of a watch or
clock spring (see CLOCK); the "balancing of engines," the art of minimizing
the total vibrations of engines when running, and consisting generally in
the introduction of masses which induce vibrations opposed to the
vibrations of the essential parts of the engine.
BALANCE OF POWER, a phrase in international law for such a "just
equilibrium" between the members of the family of nations as should prevent
any one of them from becoming sufficiently strong to enforce its will upon
the rest. The principle involved in this, as Hume pointed out in his _Essay
on the Balance of Power_, is as old as history, and was perfectly familiar
to the ancients both as political theorists and as practical statesmen. In
its essence it is no more than a precept of commonsense born of experience
and the instinct of self-preservation; for, as Polybius very clearly puts
it (lib. i. cap. 83): "Nor is such a principle to be despised, nor should
so great a power be allowed to any one as to make it impossible for you
afterwards to dispute with him on equal terms concerning your manifest
rights." It was not, however, till the beginning of the 17th century, when
the science of international law took shape at the hands of Grotius and his
successors, that the theory of the balance of power was formulated as a
fundamental principle of diplomacy. According to this the European states
formed a sort of federal community, the fundamental condition of which was
the preservation of the balance of power, _i.e._ such a disposition of
things that no one state or potentate should be able absolutely to
predominate and prescribe laws to the rest; and, since all were equally
interested in this settlement, it was held to be the interest, the right
and the duty of every power to interfere, even by force of arms, when any
of the conditions of this settlement were infringed or assailed by any
other member of the community.[1] This principle, once formulated, became
an axiom of political science. It was impressed as such by Fenelon, in his
_Instructions_, on the young duke of Burgundy; it was proclaimed to the
world by Frederick the Great in his _Anti-Machiavel_; it was re-stated with
admirable clearness in 1806 by Friedrich von Gentz in his _Fragments on the
Balance of Power_. It formed the basis of the coalitions against Louis XIV.
and Napoleon, and the occasion, or the excuse, for most of the wars which
desolated Europe between the congress of Muenster in 1648 and that of
Vienna in 1814. During the greater part of the 19th century it was obscured
by the series of national upheavals which have remodelled the map of
Europe; yet it underlay all the efforts of diplomacy to stay or to direct
the elemental forces let loose by the Revolution, and with the restoration
of comparative calm it has once more emerged as the motive for the various
political alliances of which the ostensible object is the preservation of
peace (see EUROPE: _History_).
An equilibrium between the various powers which form the family of nations
is, in fact,--as Professor L. Oppenheim (_Internat. Law_, i. 73) justly
points out--essential to the very existence of any international law. In
the absence of any central authority, the only sanction behind the code of
rules established by custom or defined in treaties, known as "international
law," is the capacity of the powers to hold each other in check. Were this
to fail, nothing could prevent any state sufficiently powerful from
ignoring the law and acting solely according to its convenience and its
interests.
See, besides the works quoted in the article, the standard books on
International Law (_q.v._).
(W. A. P.)
[1] Emerich de Vattel, _Le Droit des gens_ (Leiden, 1758).
BALANCE OF TRADE, a term in economics belonging originally to the period
when the "mercantile theory" prevailed, but still in use, though not quite
perhaps in the same way as at its origin. The "balance of trade" was then
identified with the sum of the precious metals which a country received in
the course of its trading with other countries or with particular
countries. There was no doubt an idea that somehow or other the amount of
the precious metals received represented profit on the trading, and each
country desired as much profit as possible. Princes and sovereigns,
however, with political aims in view, were not close students of mercantile
profits, and would probably have urged the acquisition of the precious
metals as an object of trade even if they had realized that the country as
a whole was exporting "money's worth" in order to buy the precious metals
which were desired for political objects. The "mercantile theory" was
exploded by Adam Smith's demonstration that gold and silver were only
commodities like others with no special virtue in them, and that they would
come into a country when there was a demand for them, according to the
amount, in proportion to other demands, which the country could afford to
pay; but the ideas in which the theory itself has originated have not died
out, and the idea especially of a "balance of trade" to which the rulers of
a country should give attention is to be found in popular discussions of
business topics and in politics, the general notion being that a nation is
prosperous when its statistics show a "trade balance" in its favour and
unprosperous when the reverse is shown. In modern times the excess of
imports over exports or of exports over imports, shown in the statistics of
foreign trade, has also come to be identified in popular speech with the
"balance of trade," and many minds are no doubt imbued with the ideas (1)
that an excess of imports over exports is bad, and (2) an excess of exports
over imports is the reverse, because the former indicates an "unfavourable"
and the latter a "favourable" trade balance. In the former case it is urged
that a nation so circumstanced is living on its capital. Exact remedies are
not suggested, although the idea of preventing or hampering foreign imports
as a means of developing home trade and of thus altering the supposed
disastrous trade balance is obviously the logical inference from the
arguments. A consideration of these ideas and of recent discussions about
imports and exports, appears accordingly to be needed, although the
"mercantile theory" is itself exploded.
The phrase "balance of trade," then, appears to be an application of a
trader's language in his own business to the larger affairs of nations or
rather of the aggregate of individuals in a nation engaged in foreign
trade. A trader in his own books sets his sales against his purchases, and
the amount by which the former exceed the latter is his trade balance or
profit. What is true of the individual, it is assumed, must be true of a
nation or of the aggregate of individual traders in a nation engaged in the
foreign trade. If their collective sales amount to more than their
collective purchases the trade balance will be in their favour, and they
will have money to receive. Contrariwise, if their purchases amount to more
than their sales, they will have to pay money, and they will presumably be
living on their capital. The argument fails, however, in many ways. Even as
regards the experience of the individual trader, it is to be observed that
he may or may not receive his profit, if any, in money. As a rule he does
not do so. As the profit accrues he may invest it either by employing
labour to add to his machinery or warehouses, or by increasing his
stock-in-trade, or by adding to his book debts, or by a purchase of stocks
or shares outside his regular business. At the end of a given period he may
or may not have an increased cash balance to show as the result of his
profitable trading. Even if he has an increased cash balance, according to
the modern system of business, this might be a balance at his bankers', and
they in turn may have invested the amount so that there is no stock of the
precious metals, of "hard money," anywhere to represent it. And the
argument fails still further when applied to the transactions between
nations, or rather, to use the phrase already employed, between the
aggregate of individuals in nations engaged in the foreign trade. It is
quite clear that if a nation, or the individuals of a nation, do make
profit in their foreign trading, the amount may be invested as it
accrues--in machinery, or warehouses, or stock-in-trade, or book debts, or
stocks and shares purchased abroad, so that there may be no corresponding
"balance of trade" to bring home. There is no doubt also that what may be
is in reality what largely happens. A prosperous foreign trade carried on
by any country implies a continuous investment by that country either
abroad or at home, and there may or may not be a balance receivable in
actual gold and silver.
[v.03 p.0236] In another particular the argument also fails. In the
aggregate of individual trading with various countries, there may sometimes
be purchases and sales as far as the individuals are concerned, but not
purchases and sales as between the nations. For example, goods are exported
from the United Kingdom, ammunition and stores and ships, which appear in
the British returns as exports, and which have really been sold by
individual British traders to individuals abroad; but these sales are not
set off by any purchases on the other side which come into the
international account, as the set-off is a loan by the people of one
country to the people or government of another. The same with the export of
railway and other material when goods are exported for the purpose of
constructing railways or other works abroad. The sales are made by
individuals in the United Kingdom to individuals abroad; but there is no
set-off of purchases on the other side. _Mutatis mutandis_ the same
explanation applies to the remittance of goods by one country to another,
or by individuals in one country to individuals in another to pay the
interest or repay the capital of loans which have been received in former
times. These are all cases of the movement of goods irrespective of
international sales and purchases, though the movements themselves appear
in the international records of imports and exports, and therefore it seems
to be assumed, though without any warrant, in the international records of
the balance of trade. There is yet another failure in the comparison. The
individual trader would include in his sales and purchases services such as
repairs performed by him for others, and similar services which others do
for himself; but no similar accounts are kept of the corresponding portions
of international trade such as the earning of freights and commissions,
although in strictness, it is obvious, they belong as much to international
trade as the imports and exports themselves, which cannot therefore show a
complete "balance of trade."
The illusions which may result then from the confusion of ideas between a
balance of trade or profit, and a balance of cash paid or received, and
from the identification of an excess of imports over exports or of exports
over imports with the balance of trade itself, though they are not the same
things, hardly need description. The believers in such illusions are not
entitled to any hearing as economists, however, much they may be accepted
in the market-place or among politicians.
The "balance of trade" and "the excess of imports over exports" are thus
simply pitfalls for the amateur and the unwary. On the statistical side,
moreover, there is a good deal more to be urged in order to impress the
student with care and attention. The records of imports and exports
themselves may vary from the actual facts of international purchases and
sales. The actual values of the goods imported and paid for by the nation
may vary from the published returns of imports, which are, by the necessity
of the case, only estimated values. And so with the exports. The actual
purchases and sales may be something very different. A so-called sale may
prove abortive through its not being paid for at all, the debtor failing
altogether. In any case the purchases of a year may not be paid for by the
sales of the year, and the "squaring" of the account may take a long time.
Still more the estimates of value may be so taken as not to give even an
approximately correct account as far as the records go. Thus in the plan
followed in the United Kingdom imports are valued as at the port where they
arrive and exports at the port where they are despatched from--a plan which
so far places them on an equal footing for the purpose of striking a
balance of trade. But in the import and export records of the United States
a different plan is followed. The imports are no longer valued as at the
port of arrival with the freight and other charges included, but as at the
port of shipment. The results on the balance of trade drawn out must
accordingly be quite different in the two cases. With other countries
similar differences arise. To deduce then from records of imports and
exports any conclusions as to the excess of imports or exports at different
times is a work of enormous statistical difficulty. Excellent illustrations
will be found in J. Holt Schooling's _British Trade Book_ (1908).
The country which presents the most interesting questions in connexion with
the study is the United Kingdom, with its largely preponderating foreign
trade. Its annual imports and exports, excluding bullion, exceed 800
millions sterling, and the bullion one year with another is 100 millions
more. Its excess of imports, moreover, between the middle and end of the
19th century gradually rose from a small figure to 180 millions sterling
annually, and occasioned the popular discussion referred to respecting an
"adverse" balance of trade, and particularly the belief existing in many
quarters that the nation is living on its capital. The result has been a
new investigation of the subject, so as to bring out and present the
credits to which the country is entitled in its trade as a shipowner and
commission merchant, and to exhibit at the same time the magnitude of
British foreign investments, which cannot be less than 2000 millions
sterling and must bring in an enormous annual income. Other countries such
as France, Germany, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Norway and Sweden, are in
the same condition, though their foreign trade is not on the same scale,
and similar rules apply to the reading of their import and export accounts.
The United States is a conspicuous instance of a country which in the first
decade of the 20th century was still in the position of a borrower and had
a large excess of exports, though there were signs of a change in the
opposite direction. New countries generally, such as Canada, Australia and
the South American countries, resemble the United States. Comparisons are
made difficult by the want of uniformity in the methods of stating the
figures, but that different countries have to be grouped according as they
are indebted or creditor countries is undeniable, and no study of the trade
statistics is possible without recognition of the underlying economic
circumstances.
In conclusion it may be useful to repeat the main propositions laid down as
to the balance of trade, (1) A "balance of trade" to the individual trader,
from whose experience the phrase comes, is not necessarily, as is supposed,
a balance received or receivable in the precious metals. It may be invested
as it accrues--in machinery, or warehouses, or stock-in-trade, or in book
debts, or in stocks and shares or other property outside the trader's
business, as well as in cash. (2) What is true of the individual trader is
also true of the aggregate of individuals engaged in the foreign trade of a
country. Cash is only one of the forms in which they may elect to be paid.
(3) The imports and exports recorded in the statistical returns of a
country do not correspond with the purchases and sales of individual
traders, as the sales especially may be set off by loans, while the
so-called imports may include remittances of interest and of capital
repaid. (4) When capital is repaid the country receiving it need not be
living on it, but may be investing it at home. (5) The foreign trading of
countries may also comprise many transactions, such as the earning of
freights and commissions, which ought to appear in a proper account showing
a balance of trade, as similar transactions appear in an individual
trader's account, but which are not treated as imports or exports in the
statistical returns of a nation's foreign trade. (6) Import and export
returns themselves are not the same as accounts of purchases and sales; the
values are only estimates, and must not be relied on literally without
study of the actual facts. (7) Import and export returns in different
countries are not in all cases taken at the same point, there being
important variations, for instance, in this respect between the returns of
two great countries, the United Kingdom and the United States, which are
often compared, but are really most difficult to compare. (8) The United
Kingdom is a conspicuous instance of a country which has a great excess of
imports over exports in consequence of its large lending abroad in former
times; while its accounts are specially affected by the magnitude of its
services as a trading nation carrying passengers and goods all over the
world, which do not result, however, in so-called "exports." The United
States, on the other hand, is a conspicuous instance of an indebted nation,
which has or had until lately few or no sums to its credit in foreign trade
except the visible exports. (9) The various countries of the world
naturally fall into groups. The nations of western Europe, such as France,
Germany, Belgium, Holland, Sweden and Norway, fall into a [v.03 p.0237]
group with Great Britain as creditor nations, while Canada, Australasia and
the South American countries fall into a group with the United States as
undeveloped and indebted countries, So also of other countries, each
belongs naturally to one group or another. (10) The excess of imports or
exports may vary indefinitely at different times according as a creditor
country is receiving or lending at the time, or according as a debtor
country is borrowing or paying off its debts at the time, but the permanent
characteristics are always to be considered.
(R. GN.)
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--_Ptychodera flava_ (New Caledonia), from above;
about life size.]
BALANOGLOSSUS, the general name given to certain peculiar, opaque,
worm-like animals which live an obscure life under stones, and burrow in
the sand from between tide-marks down to the abyssal regions of the sea.
Their colour is usually some tone of yellow with dashes of red, brown and
green, and they frequently emit a pungent odour. The name has reference to
the tongue-shaped muscular proboscis by which the animal works its way
through the sand. The proboscis is not the only organ of locomotion, being
assisted by the succeeding segment of the body, the buccal segment or
collar. By the waves of contraction executed by the proboscis accompanied
by inflation of the collar, progression is effected, sometimes with
marvellous rapidity. The third body region or trunk may attain a great
length, one or two feet, or even more, and is also muscular, but the
truncal muscles are of subordinate importance in locomotion, serving
principally to promote the peristaltic contractions of the body by which
the food is carried through the gut. The function of alimentation is
closely associated with that of locomotion, somewhat as in the burrowing
earthworm; in the excavation of its burrows the sand is passed through the
body, and any nutrient matter that may adhere to it is extracted during its
passage through the intestine, the exhausted sand being finally ejected
through the vent at the orifice of the burrow and appearing at low tide as
a worm casting. In accordance with this manner of feeding, the mouth is
kept permanently open and prevented from collapsing by a pair of skeletal
cornua belonging to a sustentacular apparatus (the nuchal skeleton), the
body of which lies within the narrow neck of the proboscis; the latter is
inserted into the collar and surrounded by the anterior free flap of this
segment of the body.
When first discovered by J. F. Eschscholtz at the Marshall Islands in 1825,
_Balanoglossus_ was described as a worm-like animal belonging to the
Echinoderm order of Holothurians or sea-cucumbers. In 1865 Kowalevsky
discovered that the organs of respiration consist of numerous pairs of
gill-slits leading from the digestive canal through the thickness of the
body-wall to the exterior. On this account the animal was subsequently
placed by Gegenbaur in a special class of Vermes, the Enteropneusta. In
1883-1886 Bateson showed by his embryological researches that the
Enteropneusta exhibit chordate (vertebrate) affinities in respect of the
coelomic, skeletal and nervous systems as well as in regard to the
respiratory system, and, further, that the gill-slits are formed upon a
plan similar to that of the gill-slits of _Amphioxus_, being subdivided by
tongue-bars which depend from the dorsal borders of the slits.
_Coelom and Pore-canals_.--In correspondence with the tri-regional
differentiation of the body in its external configuration, the coelom
(body-cavity, perivisceral cavity) is divided into three portions
completely separated from one another by septa:--(1) proboscis-coelom, or
first body-cavity; (2) the collar-coelom, or second body-cavity; (3)
truncal coelom, or third body-cavity. Of these divisions of the coelom the
first two communicate with the exterior by means of a pair of ciliated
pore-canals placed at the posterior end of their respective segments. The
proboscis-pores are highly variable, and frequently only one is present,
that on the left side; sometimes the pore-canals of the proboscis unite to
open by a common median orifice, and sometimes their communication with the
proboscis-coelom appears to be occluded, and finally the pore-canals may be
quite vestigial. The collar-pores are remarkable for their constancy; this
is probably owing co the fact that they have become adapted to a special
function, the inhalation of water to render the collar turgid during
progression. There are reasons for supposing that the truncal coelom was at
one time provided with pore-canals, but supposed vestiges of these
structures have only been described for one genus, _Spengelia_, in which
they lie near the anterior end of the truncal coelom.
_Enteron_.--Not only is the coelom thus subdivided, but the enteron (gut,
alimentary canal, digestive tube) itself shows indications of three main
subsections in continuity with one another:--(1) proboscis-gut
(_Eicheldarm_, stomochord, _vide infra_); (2) collar-gut (buccal cavity,
throat); (3) truncal gut extending from the collar to the vent.
_Stomochord_.--The proboscis-gut occurs as an outgrowth from the anterior
dorsal wall of the collar-gut, and extends forward into the basal
(posterior) region of the proboscis, through the neck into the
proboscis-coelom, ending blindly in front. Although an integral portion of
the gut, it has ceased to assist in alimentation, its epithelium undergoes
vacuolar differentiation and hypertrophy, and its lumen becomes more or
less vestigial. It has, in fact, become metamorphosed into a resistant
supporting structure resembling in some respects the notochord of the true
Chordata, but probably not directly comparable with the latter structure,
being related to it solely by way of substitution. On account of the
presence and mode of origin (from the gut-wall) of this organ Bateson
introduced the term hemichorda as a phyletic name for the class
Enteropneusta. As the proboscis-gut appears to have undoubtedly skeletal
properties, and as it also has topographical relations with the mouth, it
has been designated in English by the non-committal term stomochord. It is
not a simple diverticulum of the collar-gut, but a complex structure
possessing paired lateral pouches and a ventral convexity (ventral caecum)
which rests in a concavity at the front end of the body of the nuchal
skeleton (fig. 3). In some species (_Spengelidae_) there is a long
capillary vermiform extension of the stomochord in front. The nuchal
skeleton is a non-cellular laminated thickening of basement-membrane
underlying that portion of the stomochord which lies between the
above-mentioned pouches and the orifice into the throat. At the point where
the stomochord opens into the buccal cavity the nuchal skeleton bifurcates,
and the two cornua thus produced pass obliquely backwards and downwards
embedded in the wall of the throat, often giving rise to projecting ridges
that bound a dorsal groove of the collar-gut which is in continuity with
the wall of the stomochord (fig. 3).
_Nervous System_.--At the base of the epidermis (which is in general
ciliated) there is over the entire surface of the body a layer of
nerve-fibres, occurring immediately outside the basement-membrane which
separates the epidermis from the subjacent musculature. The nervous system
is thus essentially epidermal in position and diffuse in distribution; but
an interesting concentration of nerve-cells and fibres has taken place in
the collar-region, where a medullary tube, closed in from the outside,
opens in front and behind by anterior and posterior neuropores. This is the
collar nerve-tube. Sometimes the central canal is wide and uninterrupted
between the two neuropores; in other cases it becomes broken up into a
large number of small closed medullary cavities, and in others again it is
obsolete. In one family, the _Ptychoderidae_, the medullary tube of the
collar is connected at intermediate points with the epidermis by means of a
variable number of unpaired outgrowths from its dorsal wall, generally
containing an axial lumen derived from and in continuity with the central
canal. These hollow roots terminate blindly in the dorsal epidermis of the
collar, and place the nervous layer of the latter in direct connexion with
the fibres of the nerve-tube. The exact significance of these roots is a
matter for speculation, but it seems possible that they are epiphysial
structures remotely comparable with the epiphysial (pineal) complex of the
craniate vertebrates. In accordance with this view there would be also some
probability in favour of regarding the collar nerve-tube of the
Enteropneusta as the equivalent of the cerebral vesicle only of _Amphioxus_
and the Ascidian tadpole, and also of the primary fore-brain of
vertebrates.
Special thickenings of the diffuse nervous layer of the epidermis occur in
certain regions and along certain lines. In the neck of the proboscis the
fibrous layer is greatly thickened, and other intensifications of this
layer occur in the dorsal and ventral middle lines of the trunk extending
to the posterior end of the body. The dorsal epidermal nerve-tract is
continued in front into the ventral wall of the collar nerve-tube, and at
the point of junction there is a circular commissural thickening following
the posterior rim of the collar and affording a special connexion between
the dorsal and ventral nerve-tracts. From the ventral surface of the collar
nerve-tube numerous motor fibres may be seen passing to the subjacent
musculature. These fibres are not aggregated into roots.
[v.03 p.0238] [Illustration: FIG. 2.--Structure of branchial region.
_bc_, coelom.
_tb_, tongue-bars.
_ds_, mesentery.
_pr_, ridge.
_vv_, vessel.
_gp_, gill-pore.
_dn_, dorsal nerve.
_dv_, vessel.
_oe_, oesophagus.
_vs_, mesentery.
_vn_, ventral nerve. ]
_Gill-slits_.--The possession of gill-slits is as interesting a feature in
the organization of _Balanoglossus_ as is the presence of tracheae in
_Peripatus_. These gill-slits occupy a variable extent of the anterior
portion of the trunk, commencing immediately behind the collar-trunk
septum. The branchial bars which constitute the borders of the clefts are
of two kinds:--(1) Septal bars between two contiguous clefts, corresponding
to the primary bars in _Amphioxus_; (2) Tongue-bars. The chief resemblances
between _Balanoglossus_ and _Amphioxus_ in respect of the gill-slits may be
stated briefly as follows:--([alpha]) the presence of two kinds of
branchial bars in all species and also of small crossbars (synapticula) in
many species; ([beta]) numerous gill-slits, from forty to more than a
hundred pairs; ([gamma]) the addition of new gill-slits by fresh
perforation at the posterior end of the pharynx throughout life. The chief
differences are, that (a) the tongue-bar is the essential organ of the
gill-slit in _Balanoglossus_, and exceeds the septal bars in bulk, while in
_Amphioxus_ the reverse is the case; (b) the tongue-bar contains a large
coelomic space in _Balanoglossus_, but is solid in _Amphioxus_; (c) the
skeletal rods in the tongue-bars of _Balanoglossus_ are double; (d) the
tongue-bar in _Balanoglossus_ does not fuse with the ventral border of the
cleft, but ends freely below, thus producing a continuous U-shaped cleft.
The meaning of this singular contrast between the two animals may be that
we have here an instance of an interesting gradation in evolution. From
serving primitively as the essential organ of the cleft the tongue-bar may
have undergone reduction and modification, becoming a secondary bar in
_Amphioxus_, subordinate to the primary bars in size, vascularity and
development; finally, in the craniate vertebrates it would then have
completed its involution, the suggestion having been made that the
tongue-bars are represented by the thymus-primordia.
_Gill-pouches and Gill-pores_.--Only rarely do the gill-slits open freely
and directly to the exterior (fig. 1). In most species of _Balanoglossus_
each gill-slit may be said to open into its own atrial chamber or
gill-pouch; this in its turn opens to the exterior by a minute gill-pore.
There are, therefore, as many gill-pouches as there are gill-slits and as
many gill-pores as pouches. The gill-pores occur on each side of the dorsal
aspect of the worm in a longitudinal series at the base of a shallow
groove, the branchial groove. The respiratory current of water is therefore
conducted to the exterior by different means from that adopted by
_Amphioxus_, and this difference is so great that the theory which seeks to
explain it has to postulate radical changes of structure, function and
topography.
_Excretory and Vascular Systems_.--It seems likely that the coelomic
pore-canals were originally excretory organs, but in the existing
Enteropneusta the pore-canals (especially the collar canals) have, as we
have seen, acquired new functions or become vestigial, and the function of
excretion is now mainly accomplished by a structure peculiar to the
Enteropneusta called the glomerulus, a vascular complex placed on either
side of the anterior portion of the stomochord, projecting into the
proboscis-coelom. The vascular system itself is quite peculiar, consisting
of lacunae and channels destitute of endothelium, situated within the
thickness of the basement-membrane of the body-wall, of the gut-wall and of
the mesenteries. The blood, which is a non-corpuscular fluid, is propelled
forwards by the contractile dorsal vessel and collected into the central
blood-sinus; this lies over the stomochord, and is surrounded on three
sides by a closed vesicle, with contractile walls, called the pericardium
(_Herzblase_). By the pulsation of the pericardial vesicle (best observed
in the larva) the blood is driven into the glomerulus, from which it issues
by efferent vessels which effect a junction with the ventral
(sub-intestinal) vessel in the trunk. The vascular system does not readily
lend itself to morphological comparison between such widely different
animals as _Balanoglossus_ and _Amphioxus_, and the reader is therefore
referred to the memoirs cited at the end of this article for further
details.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.--Structure of anterior end.
a, Arrow from proboscis-cavity (pc) passing to left of pericardium (per)
and out through proboscis pore-canal.
b^1, arrow from central canal of neurochord (cnc) passed out through
anterior neuropore.
b^2, ditto; through posterior neuropore.
c, arrow intended to pass from 1st gill-pouch through collar pore-canal
into collar-coelom (cc).
cts, posterior limit of collar.
dv, dorsal vessel passing into central sinus (bs).
ev, efferent vessel passing into ventral vessel (vv).
epr, epiphysial tubes.
st, stomochord.
vs, ventral septum of proboscis.
sk, body of nuchal skeleton.
m, mouth.
th, throat.
tb, tongue-bars.
tc, trunk coelom. ]
_Reproductive System_.--The sexes are separate, and when mature are
sometimes distinguished by small differences of colour in the genital
region. Both male and female gonads consist of more or less lobulated
hollow sacs connected with the epidermis by short ducts. In their
disposition they are either uniserial, biserial or multiserial. They occur
in the branchial region, and also extend to a variable distance behind it.
In exceptional cases they are either confined to the branchial region or
excluded from it. When they are arranged in uniserial or biserial rows the
genital ducts open into or near the branchial grooves in the region of the
pharynx and in a corresponding position in the post-branchial region. An
important feature is the occurrence in some species (_Ptychoderidae_) of
paired longitudinal pleural or lateral folds of the body which are mobile,
and can be approximated at their free edges so as to close in the dorsal
surface, embracing both the median dorsal nerve-tract and the branchial
grooves with the gill-pores, so as to form a temporary peri-branchial and
medullary tube, open behind where the folds cease. On the other hand, they
can be spread out horizontally so as to expose their own upper side as well
as the dorsal surface of the body (fig. 1). These folds are called the
genital pleurae because they contain the bulk of the gonads. Correlated
with the presence of the genital pleurae there is a pair of vascular folds
of the basement membrane proceeding from the dorsal wall of the gut in the
post-branchial portion of the branchio-genital region, and from the dorsal
angles made by the pleural folds with the body-wall in the pharyngeal
region; they pass, in their most fully developed condition, to the free
border of the genital pleurae. These vascular membranes are called the
lateral septa. Since there are many species which do not possess these
genital pleurae, the question arises as to whether their presence or their
absence is the more primitive condition. Without attempting to answer this
question categorically, it may be pointed out that within the limits of the
family (_Ptychoderidae_) which is especially characterized by their
presence there are some species in [v.03 p.0239] which the genital pleurae
are quite obsolete, and yet lateral septa occur (_e.g._ _Ptychodera
ruficollis_), seeming to indicate that the pleural folds have in such cases
been secondarily suppressed.
_Development_.--The development of _Balanoglossus_ takes place according to
two different schemes, known as direct and indirect, correlated with the
occurrence in the group of two kinds of ova, large and small. Direct
development, in which the adult form is achieved without striking
metamorphosis by a gradual succession of stages, seems to be confined to
the family _Balanoglossidae_. The remaining two families of Enteropneusta,
_Ptychoderidae_ and _Spengelidae_, contain species of which probably all
pursue an indirect course of development, culminating in a metamorphosis by
which the adult form is attained. In these cases the larva, called
_Tornaria_, is pelagic and transparent, and possesses a complicated
ciliated seam, the longitudinal ciliated band, often drawn out into
convoluted bays and lappets. In addition to this ciliated band the form of
the _Tornaria_ is quite characteristic and unlike the adult. The Tornaria
larva offers a certain similarity to larvae of Echinoderms (sea-urchins,
star-fishes, and sea-cucumbers), and when first discovered was so
described. It is within the bounds of possibility that _Tornaria_ actually
does indicate a remote affinity on the part of the Enteropneusta to the
Echinoderms, not only on account of its external form, but also by reason
of the possession of a dorsal water-pore communicating with the anterior
body-cavity. In the direct development Bateson showed that the three
divisions of the coelom arise as pouches constricted off from the
archenteron or primitive gut, thus resembling the development of the
mesoblastic somites of _Amphioxus_. It would appear that while the direct
development throws light upon the special plan of organization of the
Enteropneusta, the indirect development affords a clue to their possible
derivation. However this may be, it is sufficiently remarkable that a small
and circumscribed group like the Enteropneusta, which presents such a
comparatively uniform plan of composition and of external form, should
follow two such diverse methods of development.
_Distribution_.--Some thirty species of _Balanoglossus_ are known,
distributed among all the principal marine provinces from Greenland to New
Zealand. The species which occurs in the English Channel is _Ptychodera
sarniensis_. The _Ptychoderidae_ and _Spengelidae_ are predominantly
tropical and subtropical, while the _Balanoglossidae_ are predominantly
arctic and temperate in their distribution. One of the most singular facts
concerning the geographical distribution of Enteropneusta has recently been
brought to light by Benham, who found a species of _Balanoglossus_, _sensu
stricto_, on the coast of New Zealand hardly distinguishable from one
occurring off Japan. Finally, _Glandiceps abyssicola_ (_Spengelidae_) was
dredged during the "Challenger" expedition in the Atlantic Ocean off the
coast of Africa at a depth of 2500 fathoms.
AUTHORITIES.--W. Bateson, "Memoirs on the Direct Development of
Balanoglossus," _Quart. Journ. Micr. Sci._ (vols. xxiv.-xxvi., 1884-1886);
W. B. Benham, "Balanoglossus otagoensis, n. sp," _Q. J. M. S._ (vol. xlii.
p. 497, 1899); Yves Delage and Ed. Herouard, _Traite de zoologie concrete_
(t. viii.), "Les Procordes" (1898); S. F. Harmer, "Note on the Name
Balanoglossus," _Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc._ (x. p. 190, 1900); T. H. Morgan,
"Memoirs on the Indirect Development of Balanoglossus," _Journ. Morph._
(vol. v., 1891, and vol. ix., 1894); W. E. Ritter, "_Harrimania maculosa_,
a new Genus and Species of Enteropneusta from Alaska," Papers from the
Harriman Alaska Exhibition (ii.), _Proc. Washington Ac._ (ii. p. 111,
1900); J. W. Spengel, "Die Enteropneusten," _Eighteenth Monograph on the
Fauna und Flora des Golfes von Neapel_ (1893); A. Willey, "Enteropneusta
from the South Pacific, with Notes on the West Indian Species," _Zool.
Results_ (Willey), part iii., 1899; see also _Q. J. M. S._ (vol. xlii. p.
223, 1899); J. P. Hill, "The Enteropneusta of Funafuti," _Mem. Austral.
Mus._ (iii., 1897-1898); M. Caullery and F. Mesnil, "Balanoglossus
Kochleri, n. sp. English Channel," _C. R. Soc. Biol._ lii. p. 256 (1900).
(A. W.*)
BALARD, ANTOINE JEROME (1802-1876), French chemist, was born at Montpellier
on the 30th of September 1802. He started as an apothecary, but taking up
teaching he acted as chemical assistant at the faculty of sciences of his
native town, and then became professor of chemistry at the royal college
and school of pharmacy and at the faculty of sciences. In 1826 he
discovered in sea-water a substance which he recognized as a previously
unknown element and named _bromine_. The reputation brought him by this
achievement secured his election as successor to L. J. Thenard in the chair
of chemistry at the faculty of sciences in Paris, and in 1851 he was
appointed professor of chemistry at the College de France, where he had
M. P. E. Berthelot first as pupil, then as assistant and finally as
colleague. He died in Paris on the 30th of April 1876. While the discovery
of bromine and the preparation of many of its compounds was his most
conspicuous piece of work, Balard was an industrious chemist on both the
pure and applied sides. In his researches on the bleaching compounds of
chlorine he was the first to advance the view that bleaching-powder is a
double compound of calcium chloride and hypochlorite; and he devoted much
time to the problem of economically obtaining soda and potash from
sea-water, though here his efforts were nullified by the discovery of the
much richer sources of supply afforded by the Stassfurt deposits. In
organic chemistry he published papers on the decomposition of ammonium
oxalate, with formation of oxamic acid, on amyl alcohol, on the cyanides,
and on the difference in constitution between nitric and sulphuric ether.
BALA SERIES, in geology, a series of dark slates and sandstones with beds
of limestone which occurs in the neighbourhood of Bala, Merionethshire,
North Wales. It was first described by A. Sedgwick, who considered it to be
the upper part of his Cambrian System. The series is now placed at the top
of the Ordovician System, above the Llandeilo beds. The Bala limestone is
from 20 to 40 ft. thick, and is recognizable over most of North Wales; it
is regarded as the equivalent of the Coniston limestone of the Lake
District. The series in the type area consists of the Hirnant limestone, a
thin inconstant bed, which is separated by 1400 ft. of slates from the Bala
limestone, below this are more slates and volcanic rocks. The latter are
represented by large contemporaneous deposits of tuff and felsitic lava
which in the Snowdon District are several thousand feet thick. In South
Wales the Bala Series contains the following beds in descending order:--the
_Trinucleus seticornis_ beds (Slade beds, Redhill shales and Sholeshook
limestone), the Robeston Wathen beds, and the _Dicranograptus_ shales. The
typical graptolites are, in the upper part, _Dicellograptus anceps_ and _D.
complanatus_; in the lower part, _Pleurograptus linearis_ and
_Dicranograptus Clingani_. In Shropshire this series is represented by the
Caradoc and Chirbury Series; in southern Scotland by the Hartfell and
Ardmillan Series, and by similar rocks in Ireland. See CARADOC SERIES and
ORDOVICIAN SYSTEM.
BALASH (in the Greek authors, Balas; the later form of the name
Vologaeses), Sassanian king in A.D. 484-488, was the brother and successor
of P[=e]r[=o]z, who had died in a battle against the Hephthalites (White
Huns) who invaded Persia from the east. He put down the rebellion of his
brother Zareh, and is praised as a mild and generous monarch, who made
concessions to the Christians. But as he did nothing against his enemies,
he was, after a reign of four years, deposed and blinded, and his nephew,
Kavadh I., raised to the throne.
(ED. M.)
BALASORE, a town and district of British India, in the Orissa division of
Bengal. The town is the principal one and the administrative headquarters
of the district, and is situated on the right bank of the river Burabalang,
about 7 m. from the sea-coast as the crow flies and 16 m. by the river.
There is a station on the East Coast railway. The English settlement of
Balasore, formed in 1642, and that of Pippli in its neighbourhood seven
years earlier, became the basis of the future greatness of the British in
India. The servants of the East India Company here fortified themselves in
a strong position, and carried on a brisk investment in country goods,
chiefly cottons and muslins. They flourished in spite of the oppressions of
the Mahommedan governors, and when needful asserted their claims to respect
by arms. In 1688, affairs having come to a crisis, Captain William Heath,
commander of the company's ships, bombarded the town. In the 18th century
Balasore rapidly declined in importance, on account of a dangerous bar
which formed across the mouth of the river. At present the bar has 12 to 15
ft. of water at spring-tides, but not more than 2 or 3 ft. at low water in
the dry season. Large ships have to anchor outside in the open roadstead.
The town still possesses a large maritime trade, despite the silting-up of
the river mouth. Pop. (1901) 20,880.
The district forms a strip of alluvial land between the hills and the sea,
varying from about 9 to 34 m. in breadth; area, 2085 sq. m. The hill
country rises from the western boundary line. The district naturally
divides itself into three well-defined tracts--(1) The salt tract, along
the coast; (2) The arable tract, or rice country; and (3) The submontane
tract, or jungle lands. The salt tract runs the whole way down the coast,
and forms a desolate strip a few miles broad. Towards the beach it rises
into sandy ridges, from 50 to 80 ft. high, sloping inland and covered with
a [v.03 p.0240] vegetation of low scrub jungle. Sluggish brackish streams
creep along between banks of fetid black mud. The sandhills on the verge of
the ocean are carpeted with creepers and the wild convolvulus. Inland, it
spreads out into prairies of coarse long grass and scrub jungle, which
harbour wild animals in plenty; but throughout this vast region there is
scarcely a hamlet, and only patches of rice cultivation at long intervals.
From any part of the salt tract one may see the boundary of the inner
arable part of the district fringed with long lines of trees, from which
every morning the villagers drive their cattle out into the saliferous
plains to graze. The salt tract is purely alluvial, and appears to be of
recent date. Towards the coast the soil has a distinctly saline taste.
Salt used to be largely manufactured in the district by evaporation, but
the industry is now extinct. The arable tract lies beyond the salt lands,
and embraces the chief part of the district. It is a long dead-level of
rich fields, with a soil lighter in colour than that of Bengal or Behar;
much more friable, and apt to split up into small cubes with a rectangular
cleavage. A peculiar feature of the arable tract is the _P[=a]ts_
(literally cups) or depressed lands near the river-banks. They were
probably marshes that have partially silted up by the yearly overflow of
the streams. These _p[=a]ts_ bear the finest crops. As a whole, the arable
tract is a treeless region, except around the villages, which are encircled
by fine mango, _pipal_, banyan and tamarind trees, and intersected with
green shady lanes of bamboo. A few palmyras, date-palms and screw-pines (a
sort of aloe, whose leaves are armed with formidable triple rows of
hook-shaped thorns) dot the expanse or run in straight lines between the
fields. The submontane tract is an undulating country with a red soil, much
broken up into ravines along the foot of the hills. Masses of laterite,
buried in hard ferruginous clay, crop up as rocks or slabs. At Kopari, in
Kila Ambohata, about 2 sq. m. are almost paved with such slabs, dark-red in
colour, perfectly flat and polished like plates of iron. A thousand
mountain torrents have scooped out for themselves picturesque ravines,
clothed with an ever-fresh verdure of prickly thorns, stunted gnarled
shrubs, and here and there a noble forest tree. Large tracts are covered
with sal jungle, which nowhere, however, attains to any great height.
Balasore district is watered by six distinct river systems: those of the
Subanrekha, the Burabalang, the Jamka, the Kansbans and the Dhamra.
The climate greatly varies according to the seasons of the year. The hot
season lasts from March to June, but is tempered by cool sea-breezes; from
June to September the weather is close and oppressive; and from October to
February the cold season brings the north-easterly winds, with cool
mornings and evenings.
Almost the only crop grown is rice, which is largely exported by sea. The
country is exposed to destructive floods from the hill-rivers and also from
cyclonic storm-waves. The district is traversed throughout its entire
length by the navigable Orissa coast canal, and also by the East Coast
railway from Calcutta to Madras. The seaports of Balasore, Chandbali and
Dhamra conduct a very large coasting trade. The exports are almost confined
to rice, which is sent to Ceylon, the Maldives and Mauritius. The imports
consist of cotton twist and piece goods, mineral oils, metals, betel-nuts
and salt. In 1901 the population was 1,071,197, an increase of 9% in the
decade.
BALASSA, BALINT, BARON OF KEKKO and GYARMAT (1551-1594), Magyar lyric poet,
was born at Kekko, and educated by the reformer, Peter Bornemissza, and by
his mother, the highly gifted Protestant zealot, Anna Sulyok. His first
work was a translation of Michael Bock's _Wuertzgertlein fuer die krancken
Seelen_, to comfort his father while in prison (1570-1572) for some
political offence. On his father's release, Balint accompanied him to
court, and was also present at the coronation diet of Pressburg in 1572. He
then joined the army and led a merry life at the fortress of Eger. Here he
fell violently in love with Anna Losonczi, the daughter of the hero of
Temesvar, and evidently, from his verses, his love was not unrequited. But
a new mistress speedily dragged the ever mercurial youth away from her, and
deeply wounded, she gave her hand to Krisztof Ungnad. Naturally Balassa
only began to realize how much he loved Anna when he had lost her. He
pursued her with gifts and verses, but she remained true to her pique and
to her marriage vows, and he could only enshrine her memory in immortal
verse. In 1574 Balint was sent to the camp of Gaspar Bekesy to assist him
against Stephen Bathory; but his troops were encountered and scattered on
the way thither, and he himself was severly wounded and taken prisoner. His
not very rigorous captivity lasted for two years, and he then disappears
from sight. We next hear of him in 1584 as the wooer and winner of
Christina Dobo, the daughter of the valiant commandant of Eger. What led
him to this step we know not, but it was the cause of all his subsequent
misfortunes. His wife's greedy relatives nearly ruined him by legal
processes, and when in 1586 he turned Catholic to escape their persecutions
they declared that he and his son had become Turks. His simultaneous
desertion of his wife led to his expulsion from Hungary, and from 1589 to
1594 he led a vagabond life in Poland, sweetened by innumerable amours with
damsels of every degree from cithara players to princesses. The Turkish war
of 1594 recalled him to Hungary, and he died of his wounds at the siege of
Esztergom the same year. Balassa's poems fall into four divisions:
religious hymns, patriotic and martial songs, original love poems, and
adaptations from the Latin and German. They are all most original,
exceedingly objective and so excellent in point of style that it is
difficult even to imagine him a contemporary of Sebastian Tinodi and Peter
Ilosvay. But his erotics are his best productions. They circulated in MS.
for generations and were never printed till 1874, when Farkas Deak
discovered a perfect copy of them in the Radvanyi library. For beauty,
feeling and transporting passion there is nothing like them in Magyar
literature till we come to the age of Michael Csokonai and Alexander
Petofi. Balassa was also the inventor of the strophe which goes by his
name. It consists of nine lines--a a b c c b d d b, or three rhyming pairs
alternating with the rhyming third, sixth and ninth lines.
See Aron Szilady, _Balint Balassa's Poems_ (Hung.) Budapest, 1879.
(R. N. B.)
BALATON (PLATTENSEE), the largest lake of middle Europe, in the south-west
of Hungary, situated between the counties of Veszprem, Zala and Somogy. Its
length is 48 m., average breadth 3-1/2 to 4-1/2 m., greatest breadth 7-1/2
m., least breadth a little less than 1 m. It covers 266 sq. m. and has an
extreme depth of 149 ft. Its northern shores are bordered by the beautiful
basaltic cones of the Bakony mountains, the volcanic soil of which produces
grapes yielding excellent wine; the southern consist partly of a marshy
plain, partly of downs. The most beautiful point of the lake is that where
the peninsula of Tihany projects in the waters. An ancient church of the
Benedictines is here situated on the top of a hill. In a tomb therein is
buried Andrew I. (d. 1061), a king of the Hungarian Arpadian dynasty. The
temperature of the lake varies greatly, in a manner resembling that of the
sea, and many connect its origin with a sea of the Miocene period, the
waters of which are said to have covered the Hungarian plain. About fifty
streams flow into the lake, which drains into the Danube and is well
stocked with fish. It often freezes in winter. Lake Balaton is of growing
importance as a bathing resort.
BALAYAN, a town and port of entry of the province of Batangas, Luzon,
Philippine Islands, at the head of the Gulf of Balayan, about 55 m. S. by
W. of Manila. Pop. (1903) 8493. Subsequently in October 1903, Calatagan
(pop. 2654) and Tuy (pop. 2430) were annexed. Balayan has a healthful
climate, and is in the midst of a fertile district (with a volcanic soil),
which produces rice, cane-sugar, cacao, coffee, pepper, cotton, Indian
corn, fruit (oranges, bananas, mangoes, &c.) and native dyes. Horses and
cattle are raised for market in considerable numbers. The fisheries are
important. The native language is Tagalog.
BALBI, ADRIAN (1782-1848), Italian geographer, was born at Venice on the
25th of April 1782. The publication of his _Prospetto politico-geografico
dello stato attuale del globo_ (Venice, [v.03 p.0241] 1808) obtained his
election to the chair of professor of geography at the college of San
Michele at Murano; in 1811-1813 he was professor of physics at the Lyceum
of Fermo, and afterwards became attached to the customs office at his
native city. In 1820 he visited Portugal, and there collected materials for
his _Essai statistique sur le royaume de Portugal et d'Algarve_, published
in 1822 at Paris, where the author resided from 1821 until 1832. This was
followed by _Varietes politiques et statistiques de la monarchie
portugaise_, which contains some curious observations respecting that
country under the Roman sway. In 1826 he published the first volume of his
_Atlas ethnographique du globe, ou classification des peuples anciens et
modernes d'apres leurs langues_, a work of great erudition. In 1832
appeared the _Abrege de Geographie_, which, in an enlarged form, was
translated into the principal languages of Europe. Balbi retired to Padua
and there died on the 14th of March 1848. His son, Eugenio Balbi
(1812-1884), followed a similar career, being professor of geography at
Pavia, and publishing his father's _Scritti Geografici_ (Turin, 1841), and
original works in _Gea, ossia la terra_ (Trieste, 1854-1867) and _Saggio di
geografia_ (Milan, 1868).
BALBO, CESARE, COUNT (1789-1853), Italian writer and statesman, was born at
Turin on the 21st of November 1789. His father, Prospero Balbo, who
belonged to a noble Piedmontese family, held a high position in the
Sardinian court, and at the time of Cesare's birth was mayor of the
capital. His mother, a member of the Azeglio family, died when he was three
years old; and he was brought up in the house of his great-grandmother, the
countess of Bugino. In 1798 he joined his father at Paris. From 1808 to
1814 Balbo served in various capacities under the Napoleonic empire at
Florence, Rome, Paris and in Illyria. On the fall of Napoleon he entered
the service of his native country. While his father was appointed minister
of the interior, he entered the army, and undertook political missions to
Paris and London. On the outbreak of the revolution of 1821, of which he
disapproved, although he was suspected of sympathizing with it, he was
forced into exile; and though not long after he was allowed to return to
Piedmont, all public service was denied him. Reluctantly, and with frequent
endeavours to obtain some appointment, he gave himself up to literature as
the only means left him to influence the destinies of his country. This
accounts for the fitfulness and incompleteness of so much of his literary
work, and for the practical, and in many cases temporary, element which
runs through even his most elaborate productions. The great object of his
labours was to help in securing the independence of Italy from foreign
control. Of true Italian unity he had no expectation and no desire, but he
was devoted to the house of Savoy, which he foresaw was destined to change
the fate of Italy. A confederation of separate states under the supremacy
of the pope was the genuine ideal of Balbo, as it was the ostensible one of
Gioberti. But Gioberti, in his _Primato_, seemed to him to neglect the
first essential of independence, which he accordingly inculcated in his
_Speranze_ or _Hopes of Italy_, in which he suggests that Austria should
seek compensation in the Balkans for the inevitable loss of her Italian
provinces. Preparation, both military and moral, alertness and patience
were his constant theme. He did not desire revolution, but reform; and thus
he became the leader of a moderate party, and the steady opponent not only
of despotism but of democracy. At last in 1848 his hopes were to some
extent satisfied by the constitution granted by the king. He was appointed
a member of the commission on the electoral law, and became first
constitutional prime-minister of Piedmont, but only held office a few
months. With the ministry of d'Azeglio, which soon after got into power, he
was on friendly terms, and his pen continued the active defence of his
political principles till his death on the 3rd of June 1853. The most
important of his writings are historico-political, and derive at once their
majesty and their weakness from his theocratic theory of Christianity. His
style is clear and vigorous, and not unfrequently terse and epigrammatic.
He published _Quattro Novelle_ in 1829; _Storia d'Italia sotto i Barbari_
in 1830; _Vita di Dante_, 1839; _Meditazioni Storiche_, 1842-1845; _Le
Speranze d'Italia_, 1844; _Pensieri sulla Storia d'Italia_, 1858; _Della
Monarchia rappresentativa in Italia_ (Florence, 1857).
See E. Ricotti, _Della Vita e degli Scritti di Cesare Balbo_ (1856); A.
Vismara, _Bibliografia di Cesare Balbo_ (Milan, 1882).
BALBOA, VASCO NUNEZ DE (_c._ 1475-1517), the discoverer of the Pacific, a
leading figure among the Spanish explorers and conquerors of America, was
born at Jerez de los Caballeros, in Estremadura, about 1475. Though poor,
he was by birth a gentleman (_hidalgo_). Little is known of his life till
1501, when he followed Rodrigo de Bastidas in his voyage of discovery to
the western seas. He appears to have settled in Hispaniola, and took to
cultivating land in the neighbourhood of Salvatierra, but with no great
success, as his debts soon became oppressive. In 1509 the famous Ojeda
(Hojeda) sailed from San Domingo with an expedition and founded the
settlement of San Sebastian. He had left orders with Enciso, an adventurous
lawyer of the town, to fit out two ships and convey provisions to the new
settlement. Enciso set sail in 1510, and Balboa, whose debts made the town
unpleasant to him, managed to accompany him by concealing himself, it is
said, in a cask of "victuals for the voyage," which was conveyed from his
farm to the ship. The expedition reached San Sebastian to find Ojeda gone
and the settlement in ruins. While Enciso was undecided how to act, Balboa
proposed that they should sail for Darien, on the Gulf of Uraba, where he
had touched when with Bastidas. His proposal was accepted and a new town
was founded, named Sta Maria de la Antigua del Darien; but quarrels soon
broke out among the adventurers, and Enciso was deposed, thrown into prison
and finally sent off to Spain with Balboa's ally, the alcalde Zamudio.
Being thus left in authority, Balboa began to conquer the surrounding
country, and by his bravery, courtesy, kindness of heart and just dealing
gained the friendship of several native chiefs. On one of these excursions
he heard for the first time, from the cacique Comogre, of the ocean on the
other side of the mountains and of the gold of Peru. Soon after his return
to Darien he received letters from Zamudio, informing him that Enciso had
complained to the king, and had obtained a sentence condemning Balboa and
summoning him to Spain. In his despair at this message Vasco Nunez resolved
to attempt some great enterprise, the success of which he trusted would
conciliate his sovereign. On the 1st of September 1513 he set out with one
hundred and ninety Spaniards (Francisco Pizarro among them) and one
thousand natives; on the 25th or 26th of September he reached the summit of
the range, and sighted the Pacific. Pizarro and two others were sent on to
reconnoitre; one of these scouts, Alonzo Martin, was the first European
actually to embark upon the new-found ocean, in St Michael's Gulf. On the
29th of September Balboa himself arrived upon the shore, and formally took
possession of the "Great South Sea" in the name of the Spanish monarch. He
remained on the coast for some time, heard again of Peru, visited the Pearl
Islands, and thence returned to Darien, which he entered in triumph with a
great booty on the 18th of January 1514. He at once sent messengers to
Spain bearing presents, to give an account of his discoveries; and the
king, Ferdinand the Catholic, partly reconciled to his daring subject,
named him _Adelantado of the South Sea_, or admiral of the Pacific, and
governor of Panama and Coyba. None the less an expedition sailed from Spain
under Don Pedro Arias de Avila (generally called Pedrarias Davila) to
replace Balboa in the government of the Darien colony itself. Meanwhile the
latter had crossed the isthmus and revisited the Pacific several (some say
more than twenty) times; plans of the conquest of Peru and of the
exploration of the western ocean began to shape themselves in his mind; and
with a view to these projects, materials for shipbuilding were gathered
together upon the Pacific coast, and two light brigantines were built,
launched and armed. With these Vasco Nunez now took possession of the Pearl
Islands, and, had it not been for the weather, would have reached the coast
of Peru. But his career was stopped by the jealousy of Pedrarias, who
pretended that Balboa proposed to throw off his allegiance, and enticed him
to Acla, near Darien, by a crafty message. As soon as he had him in his
power, he threw [v.03 p.0242] him into prison, had him tried for treason,
and forced the judge to condemn him to death. The sentence was carried into
execution on the public square of Acla in 1517. From a reckless adventurer,
Balboa had developed into an able general, an excellent colonial
administrator, and a statesman of mature judgment and brilliant foresight.
See G. F. de Oviedo, _Historia general ... de las Indias_ (1526, bk. xxxix.
chs. 2, 3); D. M. T. Quintana, _Vidas de Espanoles celebres_; M. F. de
Navarrete, _Coleccion de los Viajes y Descubrimientos_ (1825-1837); J.
Acosta, _Compendio historico de la Nueva Granada_ (1848); O. Peschel,
_Geschichte der Erdkunde_ (1865, p. 237), and _Zeitalter der Entdeckungen_,
pp. 442-3 &c.; Washington Irving's _Voyages and Discoveries of the
Companions of Columbus_ (1831), and Varela's notes on the same in
_Biblioteca del Comercio del Plata_ (Monte Video); Ferdinand Denis, art.
"Vasco Nunez de Balboa," in _Nouv. Biog. Gen._
BALBRIGGAN, a market-town and seaport of Co. Dublin, Ireland, in the north
parliamentary division, 21-3/4 m. N.N.E. of Dublin by the Great Northern
railway. Pop. (1901) 2236. The harbour, though dry at low tides, has a
depth of 14 ft. at high-water springs, and affords a good refuge from the
east or southeast gales. There are two piers, and a railway viaduct of
eleven arches crosses the harbour. The town has considerable manufactures
of cottons and hosiery, "Balbriggan hose" being well known. The industry
was founded by Baron Hamilton in 1761. There is some coast trade in grain,
&c., and sea-fishery is prosecuted. Balbriggan is much frequented as a
watering-place in summer.
BALBUS, literally "stammerer," the name of several Roman families. Of the
Acilii Balbi, one Manius Acilius Balbus was consul in 150 B.C., another in
114. To another family belonged T. Ampius Balbus, a supporter of Pompey,
but afterwards pardoned by Julius Caesar (cf. Cic. _ad Fam._ vi. 12 and
xiii. 70). We know also of Q. Antonius Balbus, praetor in Sicily in 82
B.C., and Marcus Atius Balbus, who married Julia, a sister of Caesar, and
had a daughter Atia, mother of Augustus. The most important of the name
were the two Cornelii Balbi, natives of Gades (Cadiz).
1. LUCIUS CORNELIUS BALBUS (called _Major_ to distinguish him from his
nephew) was born early in the last century B.C. He is generally considered
to have been of Phoenician origin. For his services against Sertorius in
Spain, the Roman citizenship was conferred upon him and his family by
Pompey. Becoming friendly with all parties, he had much to do with the
formation of the First Triumvirate, and was one of the chief financiers in
Rome. He was careful to ingratiate himself with Caesar, whom he accompanied
when propraetor to Spain (61), and to Gaul (58) as chief engineer
(_praefectus fabrum_). His position as a naturalized foreigner, his
influence and his wealth naturally made Balbus many enemies, who in 56 put
up a native of Gades to prosecute him for illegally assuming the rights of
a Roman citizen, a charge directed against the triumvirs equally with
himself. Cicero, Pompey and Crassus all spoke on his behalf, and he was
acquitted. During the civil war he endeavoured to get Cicero to mediate
between Caesar and Pompey, with the object of preventing him from
definitely siding with the latter; and Cicero admits that he was dissuaded
from doing so, against his better judgment. Subsequently, Balbus became
Caesar's private secretary, and Cicero was obliged to ask for his good
offices with Caesar. After Caesar's murder, Balbus seems to have attached
himself to Octavian; in 43 or 42 he was praetor, and in 40 consul--an
honour then for the first time conferred on an alien. The year of his death
is not known. Balbus kept a diary of the chief events in his own and
Caesar's life (Suetonius, _Caesar_, 81). The 8th book of the _Bell. Gall._,
which was probably written by his friend Hirtius at his instigation, was
dedicated to him.
Cicero, _Letters_ (ed. Tyrrell and Purser, iv. introd. p. 62) and _Pro
Balbo_; see also E. Jullien, _De L. Cornelia Balbo Maiore_ (1886).
2. LUCIUS CORNELIUS BALBUS (called _Minor_), nephew of the above, received
the Roman citizenship at the same time as his uncle. During the civil war,
he served under Caesar, by whom he was entrusted with several important
missions. He also took part in the Alexandrian and Spanish wars. He was
rewarded for his services by being admitted into the college of pontiffs.
In 43 he was quaestor in Further Spain, where he amassed a large fortune by
plundering the inhabitants. In the same year he crossed over to Bogud, king
of Mauretania, and is not heard of again until 21, when he appears as
proconsul of Africa. Mommsen thinks that he had incurred the displeasure of
Augustus by his conduct as praetor, and that his African appointment after
so many years was due to his exceptional fitness for the post. In 19 Balbus
defeated the Garamantes, and on the 27th of March in that year received the
honour of a triumph, which was then for the first time granted to one who
was not a Roman citizen by birth, and for the last time to a private
individual. He built a theatre in the capital, which was dedicated on the
return of Augustus from Gaul in 13 (Dio Cassius liv. 25; Pliny, _Nat.
Hist._ xxxvi. 12, 60). Balbus appears to have given some attention to
literature. He wrote a play of which the subject was his visit to Lentulus
in the camp of Pompey at Dyrrhachium, and, according to Macrobius
(_Saturnalia_, iii. 6), was the author of a work called [Greek: Exegetika],
dealing with the gods and their worship.
See Velleius Paterculus ii. 51; Cicero, _ad Att._ viii. 9; and on both the
above the exhaustive articles in Pauly-Wissowa, _Realencyclopadie_, iv. pt.
i. (1900).
BALCONY (Ital. _balc[=o]ne_ from _balco_, scaffold; cf. O. H. Ger.
_balcho_, beam, Mod. Ger. _Balken_, Eng. _balk_), a kind of platform
projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console
brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade. Sometimes balconies are adapted
for ceremonial purposes, _e.g._ that of St Peter's at Rome, whence the
newly elected pope gives his blessing _urbi et orbi_. Inside churches
balconies are sometimes provided for the singers, and in banqueting halls
and the like for the musicians. In theatres the "balcony" was formerly a
stage-box, but the name is now usually confined to the part of the
auditorium above the dress circle and below the gallery.
BALDE, JAKOB (1604-1668), German Latinist, was born at Ensisheim in Alsace
on the 4th of January 1604. Driven from Alsace by the marauding bands of
Count Mansfeld, he fled to Ingolstadt where he began to study law. A love
disappointment, however, turned his thoughts to the church, and in 1624 he
entered the Society of Jesus. Continuing his study of the humanities, he
became in 1628 professor of rhetoric at Innsbruck, and in 1635 at
Ingolstadt, whither he had been transferred by his superiors in order to
study theology. In 1633 he was ordained priest. His lectures and poems had
now made him famous, and he was summoned to Munich where, in 1638, he
became court chaplain to the elector Maximilian I. He remained in Munich
till 1650, when he went to live at Landshut and afterwards at Amberg. In
1654 he was transferred to Neuberg on the Danube, as court preacher and
confessor to the count palatine. In the opinion of his contemporaries,
Balde revived the glories of the Augustan age, and Pope Alexander VII. and
the scholars of the Netherlands combined to do him honour; even Herder
regarded him as a greater poet than Horace. While such judgments are
naturally exaggerated, there is no doubt that he takes a very high place
among modern Latin poets. He died at Neuberg on the 9th of August 1668.
A collected edition of Balde's works in 4 vols. was published at Cologne in
1650; a more complete edition in 8 vols. at Munich, 1729; also a good
selection by L. Spach (Paris and Strassburg, 1871). An edition of his Latin
lyrics appeared at Regensburg in 1884. There are translations into German
of his finer odes, by J. Schrott and M. Schleich (Munich, 1870). See G.
Westermayer, _Jacobus Balde, sein Leben und seine Werke_ (1868); J. Bach,
_Jakob Balde_ (Freiburg, 1904).
BALDER, a Scandinavian god, the son of Odin or Othin. The story of his
death is given in two widely different forms, by Saxo in his _Gesta
Danorum_ (ed. Holder, pp. 69 ff.) and in the prose Edda (_Gylfaginning_,
cap. 49).
See F. Kauffmann, _Balder: Mythus und Sage_ (Strassburg, 1902). For other
works, see TEUTONIC PEOPLES, s. 7.
BALDERIC, the name given to the author of a chronicle of the bishops of
Cambrai, written in the 11th century. This _Gesta episcoporum
Cambracensium_ was for some time attributed to Balderic, archbishop of
Noyon, but it now seems tolerably certain that the author was an anonymous
canon of Cambrai. The work is of considerable importance for the history of
the north of France during the 11th century, and was first published in
1615. [v.03 p.0243] The best edition is in the _Monumenta Germaniae
historica. Scriptores_, Bd. vii. (Hanover and Berlin, 1826-1892), which
contains an introduction by L. C. Bethmann.
See _Histoire litteraire de la France_, tome viii. (Paris, 1865-1869).
BALDI, BERNARDINO (1533-1617), Italian mathematician and miscellaneous
writer, was descended of a noble family at Urbino, in which city he was
born on the 6th of June 1533. He pursued his studies at Padua with
extraordinary zeal and success, and is said to have acquired, during the
course of his life, no fewer than sixteen languages, though according to
Tiraboschi the inscription on his tomb limits the number to twelve. The
appearance of the plague at Padua obliged him to retire to his native city,
whence he was, shortly afterwards, called to act as tutor to Ferrante
(Ferdinand) Gonzaga, from whom he received the rich abbey of Guastalla. He
held office as abbot for twenty-five years, and then retired to his native
town. In 1612 he was employed by the duke as his envoy to Venice, where he
distinguished himself by the congratulatory oration he delivered before the
Venetian senate on the election of the new doge, Andrea Memmo. Baldi died
at Urbino on the 12th of October 1617. He was, perhaps, the most universal
genius of his age, and is said to have written upwards of a hundred
different works, the chief part of which have remained unpublished. His
various works give satisfactory evidence of his abilities as a theologian,
mathematician, geographer, antiquary, historian and poet. The _Cronica dei
Matematici_ (published at Urbino in 1707) is an abridgment of a larger
work, on which he had bestowed twelve years of labour, and which was
intended to contain the lives of more than two hundred mathematicians. His
life has been written by Affo, Mazzuchelli and others.
BALDINGER, ERNST GOTTFRIED (1738-1804), German physician, was born near
Erfurt on the 13th of May 1738. He studied medicine at Erfurt, Halle and
Jena, and in 1761 was entrusted with the superintendence of the military
hospitals connected with the Prussian encampment near Torgau. He published
in 1765 a treatise _De Militum Morbis_, which met with a favourable
reception. In 1768 he became professor of medicine at Jena, whence he
removed in 1773 to Goettingen, and in 1785 to Marburg, where he died of
apoplexy on the 21st of January 1804. Among his pupils were S. T.
Soemmerring and J. F. Blumenbach. Some eighty-four separate treatises are
mentioned as having proceeded from his pen, in addition to numerous papers
scattered through various collections and journals.
BALDINUCCI, FILIPPO (1624-1696), Italian writer on the history of the arts,
was born at Florence. His chief work is entitled _Notizie de' Professori
del Disegno da Cimabue ... (dal 1260 sino al 1670)_, and was first
published in six vols. 4to, 1681-1728. The capital defect of this work is
the attempt to derive all Italian art from the schools of Florence. A good
edition is that by Ranalli (5 vols. 8vo, Florence, 1845-1847). Baldinucci's
whole works were published in fourteen vols. at Milan, 1808-1812.
BALDNESS[1] (technically _alopecia_, from [Greek: alopex], a fox, foxes
often having bald patches on their coats), the result of loss of hair,
particularly on the human scalp. So far as remediable alopecia is
concerned, two forms may be distinguished: one the premature baldness so
commonly seen in young men, due to alopecia seborrhoica, the other alopecia
areata, now regarded as an epidemic disease.
Alopecia seborrhoica is that premature baldness so constantly seen, in
which the condition steadily advances from the forehead backwards, until
only a fringe of hair is left on the head. It is always due to the
underlying disease seborrhoea, and though it progresses steadily if
neglected, is yet very amenable to treatment. The two drugs of greatest
value in this trouble are sulphur and salicylic acid, some eighteen grains
of each added to an ounce of vaseline making a good application. This
should be rubbed well into the scalp daily for a prolonged period. Where
the greasiness is objected to, the following salicylic lotion may be
substituted, though the vaseline application has probably the greater
value: [Rx.] Ac. salicyl. [dr.] i-iv; Ol. ricini [dr.] ii-iv; Ol. ros.
geran. [min.] x; Spt. vini ad [oz.] vi. The head must be frequently
cleansed, and in very mild cases a daily washing with soap spirit will at
times effect a cure unaided.
Alopecia areata is characterized by the development of round patches more
or less completely denuded of hair. It is most commonly observed on the
scalp, though it may occur on any part of the body where hair is naturally
present. The patches are rounded, smooth and somewhat depressed owing to
the loss of a large proportion of the follicles. At the margin of the
patches short broken hairs are usually to be seen. Clinical evidence is
steadily accumulating to show that this disease may be transmitted.
Organisms are invariably present, in some cases few in number, but in
others very abundant and forming a continuous sheath round the hair. They
were first described by Dr George Thin, who gave them the name of
_Bacterium decalvens_. The disease must be distinguished from
ringworm--especially the bald variety; but though this is at times somewhat
difficult clinically, the use of the microscope leaves no room for doubt.
It must be remembered that for patients under forty years of age, time
alone will generally bring about the desired end, though treatment
undoubtedly hastens recovery. After forty every year added to the patient's
age makes the prognosis less good. The general hygiene and mode of life of
the sufferer must be very carefully attended to, and any weakness suitably
treated. The following lotion should be applied daily to the affected
parts, at first cautiously, later more vigorously, and in stronger
solution:--[Rx.] Acidi lactici [dr.] i-[oz.] i; Ol. ricini [dr.] ii; Spt.
vini ad [oz.] iv.
The loss of hair following acute fevers must be treated by keeping the hair
short, applying stimulating lotions to the scalp, and attending to the
general hygiene of the patient.
[1] The adjective "bald" M. E. "balled" is usually explained as literally
"round and smooth like a ball," but it may be connected with a stem _bal_,
white or shining. The Greek [Greek: phalakros] certainly suggests some such
derivation.
BALDOVINETTI, ALESSIO (1427-1499), Florentine painter, was born on the 14th
of October 1427, and died on the 29th of August 1499. He was a follower of
the group of scientific realists and naturalists in art which included
Andrea del Castagno, Paolo Uccello and Domenico Veneziano, the influence of
the last-named master being particularly manifest in his work. Tradition,
probable in itself though not attested by contemporary records, says that
he assisted in the decorations of the chapel of S. Egidio in Santa Maria
Nuova, carried out during the years 1441-1451 by Domenico Veneziano and in
conjunction with Andrea del Castagno. That he was commissioned to complete
the series at a later date (1460) is certain. In 1462 Alessio was employed
to paint the great fresco of the Annunciation in the cloister of the
Annunziata, which still exists in ruined condition. The remains as we see
them give evidence of the artist's power both of imitating natural detail
with minute fidelity and of spacing his figures in a landscape with a large
sense of air and distance; and they amply verify two separate statements of
Vasari concerning him: that "he delighted in drawing landscapes from nature
exactly as they are, whence we see in his paintings rivers, bridges, rocks,
plants, fruits, roads, fields, cities, exercise-grounds, and an infinity of
other such things," and that he was an inveterate experimentalist in
technical matters. His favourite method in wall-painting was to lay in his
compositions in fresco and finish them _a secco_ with a mixture of yolk of
egg and liquid varnish. This, says Vasari, was with the view of protecting
the painting from damp; but in course of time the parts executed with this
vehicle scaled away, so that the great secret he hoped to have discovered
turned out a failure. In 1463 he furnished a cartoon of the Nativity, which
was executed in tarsia by Giuliano de Maiano in the sacristy of the
cathedral and still exists. From 1466 date the groups of four Evangelists
and four Fathers of the Church in fresco, together with the Annunciation on
an oblong panel, which still decorate the Portuguese chapel in the church
of S. Miniato, and are given in error by Vasari to Pietro Pollaiuolo. A
fresco of the risen Christ between angels inside a Holy Sepulchre in the
chapel of the Rucellai family, also still existing, belongs to 1467. In
1471 Alessio undertook important works for the church of Sta Trinita on the
commission of Bongianni Gianfigliazzi. First, to paint an altar-piece of
the [v.03 p.0244] Virgin and Child with six saints; this was finished in
1472 and is now in the Academy at Florence: next, a series of frescoes from
the Old Testament which was to be completed according to contract within
five years, but actually remained on hand for fully sixteen. In 1497 the
finished series, which contained many portraits of leading Florentine
citizens, was valued at a thousand gold florins by a committee consisting
of Cosimo Rosselli, Benozzo Gozzoli, Perugino and Filippino Lippi; only
some defaced fragments of it now remain. Meanwhile Alessio had been much
occupied with other technical pursuits and researches apart from painting.
He was regarded by his contemporaries as the one craftsman who had
rediscovered and fully understood the long disused art of mosaic, and was
employed accordingly between 1481 and 1483 to repair the mosaics over the
door of the church of S. Miniato, as well as several of those both within
and without the baptistery of the cathedral.
These are the recorded and datable works of the master; others attributed
to him on good and sufficient internal evidences are as follows:--A small
panel in the Florence Academy, with the three subjects of the Baptism, the
Marriage of Cana and the Transfiguration; this was long attributed to Fra
Angelico, but is to all appearance early work of Baldovinetti: an
Annunciation in the Uffizi, formerly in the church of S. Giorgio;
unmistakably by the master's hand though given by Vasari to Peselino:
several Madonnas of peculiarly fine and characteristic quality; one in the
collection of Madame Andre at Paris acquired direct from the descendants of
the painter, a second, formerly in the Duchatel collection and now in the
Louvre, a third in the possession of Mr Berenson at Florence. All these are
executed with the determined patience and precision characteristic of
Baldovinetti; two, those at the Louvre and in the Andre collection, are
distinguished by beautiful landscape backgrounds; and all, but especially
the example in the Louvre, add a peculiar and delicate charm to the quality
of grave majesty which Alessio's works share with those of Piero della
Francesca and others of Domenico Veneziano's following. They probably
belong to the years 1460-1465. In the later of his preserved works, while
there is no abatement of precise and laborious finish, we find beginning to
prevail a certain harshness and commonness of type, and a lack of care for
beauty in composition, the technical and scientific searcher seeming more
and more to predominate over the artist.
See also Vasari, ed. Milanesi, vol. ii.; Crowe-Cavalcaselle, _Hist. of
Painting in Italy_, vol. ii.; Bernhard Berenson, _Study and Criticism of
Italian Art_, 2nd series.
(S. C.)
BALDRIC (from O. Fr. _baudrei_, O. Ger. _balderich_, of doubtful origin;
cognate with English "belt"), a belt worn over one shoulder, passing
diagonally across the body and under the other arm, either as an ornament
or a support for a sword, bugle, &c.
BALDUINUS, JACOBUS, Italian jurist of the 13th century, was by birth a
Bolognese, and is reputed to have been of a noble family. He was a pupil of
Azo, and the master of Odofredus, of Hostiensis, and of Jacobus de Ravanis,
the last of whom has the reputation of having first applied dialectical
forms to legal science. His great fame as a professor of civil law at the
university of Bologna caused Balduinus to be elected _podesta_ of the city
of Genoa, where he was entrusted with the reforms of the law of the
republic. He died at Bologna in 1225, and has left behind him some
treatises on procedure, the earliest of their kind.
BALDUS DE UBALDIS, PETRUS (1327-1406), Italian jurist, a member of the
noble family of the Ubaldi (Baldeschi), was born at Perugia in 1327, and
studied civil law there under Bartolus, being admitted to the degree of
doctor of civil law at the early age of seventeen. Federicus Petrucius of
Siena is said to have been the master under whom he studied canon law. Upon
his promotion to the doctorate he at once proceeded to Bologna, where he
taught law for three years; after which he was advanced to a professorship
at Perugia, where he remained for thirty-three years. He taught law
subsequently at Pisa, at Florence, at Padua and at Pavia, at a time when
the schools of law in those universities disputed the palm with the school
of Bologna. He died at Pavia on the 28th of April 1406. The extant works of
Baldus hardly bear out the great reputation which he acquired amongst his
contemporaries, due partly to the active part he took in public affairs,
and partly to the fame he acquired by his consultations, of which five
volumes have been published (Frankfort, 1589). Baldus was the master of
Pierre Roger de Beaufort, who became pope under the title of Gregory XI.,
and whose immediate successor, Urban VI., summoned Baldus to Rome to assist
him by his consultations in 1380 against the anti-pope Clement VII.
Cardinal de Zabarella and Paulus Castrensis were also amongst his pupils.
His _Commentary on the Liber Feudorum_, is considered to be one of the best
of his works, which were unfortunately left by him for the most part in an
incomplete state. His brothers Angelus (1328-1407) and Petrus (1335-1400)
were of almost equal eminence with himself as jurists.
BALDWIN I. (d. 1205), emperor of Romania, count of Flanders and Hainaut,
was one of the most prominent leaders of the fourth crusade, which resulted
in the capture of Constantinople, the conquest of the greater part of the
East Roman empire, and the foundation of the Latin empire of Romania. The
imperial crown was offered to, and refused by, Henry Dandolo, doge of
Venice. The choice then lay between Baldwin and Boniface of Montferrat.
Baldwin was elected (9th of May 1204), and crowned a week later. He was
young, gallant, pious and virtuous, one of the few who interpreted and
observed his crusading vows strictly; the most popular leader in the host.
The empire of Romania was organized on feudal principles; the emperor was
feudal superior of the princes who received portions of the conquered
territory. His own special portion consisted of Constantinople, the
adjacent regions both on the European and the Asiatic side, along with some
outlying districts, and several islands including Lemnos, Lesbos, Chios and
Tenos. The territories had still to be conquered; and first of all it was
necessary to break the resistance of the Greeks in Thrace and secure
Thessalonica. In this enterprise (summer of 1204) Baldwin came into
collision with Boniface of Montferrat, the rival candidate for the empire,
who was to receive a large territory in Macedonia with the title of king of
Saloniki. He hoped to make himself quite independent of the empire, to do
no homage for his kingdom, and he opposed Baldwin's proposal to march to
Thessalonica. The antagonism between Flemings and Lombards aggravated the
quarrel. Baldwin insisted on going to Thessalonica; Boniface laid siege to
Hadrianople, where Baldwin had established a governor; civil war seemed
inevitable. An agreement was effected by the efforts of Dandolo and the
count of Blois. Boniface received Thessalonica as a fief from the emperor,
and was appointed commander of the forces which were to march to the
conquest of Greece.
During the following winter (1204-1205) the Franks prosecuted conquests in
Bithynia, in which Henry, Baldwin's brother, took part. But in February the
Greeks revolted in Thrace, relying on the assistance of John (Kaloyan),
king of Bulgaria, whose overtures of alliance had been unwisely rejected by
the emperor. The garrison of Hadrianople was expelled. Baldwin along with
Dandolo, the count of Blois, and Marshal Villehardouin, the historian,
marched to besiege that city. The Bulgarian king led to its relief an army
which far outnumbered that of the crusaders. The Frank knights fought
desperately, but were utterly defeated (14th of April 1205); the count of
Blois was slain, and the emperor captured. For some time his fate was
uncertain, and in the meanwhile Henry, his brother, assumed the regency.
Not till the middle of July was it definitely ascertained that he was dead.
It seems that he was at first treated well as a valuable hostage, but was
sacrificed by the Bulgarian monarch in a sudden outburst of rage, perhaps
in consequence of the revolt of Philippopolis, which passed into the hands
of the Franks. One contemporary writer says that his hands and feet were
cut off, and he was thrown into a valley where he died on the third day;
but the manner of his death is obscure. King John himself wrote to Pope
Innocent III. that he died in prison. His brother Henry was crowned emperor
in August.
AUTHORITIES.--Villehardouin, _La Conquete de Constantinople_ (ed. De
Wailly, Paris, 1872; ed. Bouchet, 2 vols., Paris, 1891); Robert [v.03
p.0245] de Clari, _La Prise de Constantinople_ (in Hopf's _Chroniques
greco-romaines_); Ernoul, _Chronique_ (ed. Mas Latrie, Paris, 1871);
Nicetas (ed. Bonn, 1835); George Acropolites, vol. i. (ed. Heisenberg,
Leipzig, 1903); Documents in Tafel and Thomas, _Urkunden zur aelteren
Handels- und Staatsgeschichte der Republik Venedig_ (Vienna, 1856).
MODERN WORKS.--Ducange, _Histoire de l'empire de Constantinople sous les
empereurs francais_ (Paris, 1657); Gibbon, _Decline and Fall_, vol. vi.
(ed. Bury, 1898); G. Finlay, _History of Greece_, vol. iv. (Oxford, 1877);
Pears, _The Fall of Constantinople_ (London, 1885); Hopf, "Griechische
Geschichte," in Ersch and Gruber's _Encyklopaedie_, vol. lxxxv. (Leipzig,
1870); Gerland, _Geschichte des lateinischen Kaiserreiches von
Konstantinopel_, part i. (Homburg v. d. Hoehe, 1905).
(J. B. B.)
BALDWIN II. (1217-1273), emperor of Romania, was a younger son of Yolande,
sister of Baldwin I. Her husband, Peter of Courtenay, was third emperor of
Romania, and had been followed by his son Robert, on whose death in 1228
the succession passed to Baldwin, a boy of eleven years old. The barons
chose John of Brienne (titular king of Jerusalem) as emperor-regent for
life; Baldwin was to rule the Asiatic possessions of the empire when he
reached the age of twenty, was to marry John's daughter Mary, and on John's
death to enjoy the full imperial sovereignty. The marriage contract was
carried out in 1234. Since the death of the emperor Henry in 1216, the
Latin empire had declined and the Greek power advanced; and the hopes that
John of Brienne might restore it were disappointed. He died in 1237. The
realm which Baldwin governed was little more than Constantinople. His
financial situation was desperate, and his life was chiefly occupied in
begging at European courts. He went to the West in 1236, visited Rome,
France and Flanders, trying to raise money and men to recover the lost
territory of his realm. His efforts met with success, and in 1240 he
returned to Constantinople (through Germany and Hungary) at the head of a
considerable army. Circumstances hindered him from accomplishing anything
with this help, and in 1245 he travelled again to the West, first to Italy
and then to France, where he spent two years. The empress Maria and Philip
of Toucy governed during his absence. He was happy to be able to get money
from King Louis IX. in exchange for relics. In 1249 he was with King Louis
at Damietta. The extremity of his financial straits reduced him soon
afterwards to handing over his only son Philip to merchants as a pledge for
loans of money. Louis IX. redeemed the hostage. The rest of his inglorious
reign was spent by Baldwin in mendicant tours in western Europe. In 1261
Constantinople was captured by Michael Palaeologus, and Baldwin's rule came
to an end. He escaped in a Venetian galley to Negropont, and then proceeded
to Athens, thence to Apulia, finally to France. As titular emperor, his
role was still the same, to beg help from the western powers. In 1267 he
went to Italy; his hopes were centred in Charles of Anjou. Charles
seriously entertained the idea of conquering Constantinople, though various
complications hindered him from realizing it. He made a definite treaty
with Baldwin to this intent (May 1267). During the next year Baldwin and
his son Philip lived on pensions from Charles. In October 1273 Philip
married Beatrice, daughter of Charles, at Foggia. A few days later Baldwin
died.
See authorities for BALDWIN I. above; also Norden, _Das Papsttum und
Byzanz_ (Berlin 1903).
(J. B. B.)
BALDWIN I., prince of Edessa (1098-1100), and first king of Jerusalem
(1100-1118), was the brother of Godfrey of Bouillon (_q.v._). He was
originally a clerk in orders, and held several prebends; but in 1096 he
joined the first crusade, and accompanied his brother Godfrey as far as
Heraclea in Asia Minor. When Tancred left the main body of the crusaders at
Heraclea, and marched into Cilicia, Baldwin followed, partly in jealousy,
partly from the same political motives which animated Tancred. He wrested
Tarsus from Tancred's grip (September 1097), and left there a garrison of
his own. After rejoining the main army at Marash, he received an invitation
from an Armenian named Pakrad, and moved eastwards towards the Euphrates,
where he occupied Tell-bashir. Another invitation followed from Thoros of
Edessa; and to Edessa Baldwin came, first as protector, and then, when
Thoros was assassinated, as his successor (March 1098). For two years he
ruled in Edessa (1098-1100), marrying an Armenian wife, and acting
generally as the intermediary between the crusaders and the Armenians.
During these two years he was successful in maintaining his ground, both
against the Mahommedan powers by which he was surrounded, and from which he
won Samosata and Seruj (Sarorgia), and against a conspiracy of his own
subjects in 1098. At the end of 1099 he visited Jerusalem along with
Bohemund I.; but he returned to Edessa in January 1100. On the death of
Godfrey he was summoned by a party in Jerusalem to succeed to his brother.
A lay reaction against the theocratic pretensions of Dagobert, who was
counting on Norman support, was responsible for the summons; and in the
strength of that reaction Baldwin was able to become the first king of
Jerusalem. He was crowned on Christmas Day, 1100, by the patriarch himself;
but the struggle of church and state was not yet over, and in the spring of
1101 Baldwin had Dagobert suspended by a papal legate, while later in the
year the two disagreed on the question of the contribution to be made by
the patriarch towards the defence of the Holy Land. The struggle ended in
the deposition of Dagobert and the triumph of Baldwin (1102).
As Baldwin had secured the supremacy of the lay power in Jerusalem, so he
extended into a compact kingdom the poor and straggling territories to
which he had succeeded. This he did by an alliance with the Italian trading
towns, especially Genoa, which supplied in return for the concession of a
quarter in the conquered towns, the instruments and the skill for a war of
sieges, in which the coast towns of Palestine were successively reduced.
Arsuf and Caesarea were captured in 1101; Acre in 1104; Beirut and Sidon in
1110 (the latter with the aid of the Venetians and Norwegians). Meanwhile
Baldwin repelled in successive years the attacks of the Egyptians (1102,
1103, 1105), and in the latter years of his reign (1115-1118) he even
pushed southward at the expense of Egypt, penetrating as far as the Red
Sea, and planting an outpost at Monreal. In the north he had to compose the
dissensions of the Christian princes in Tripoli, Antioch and Edessa
(1109-1110), and to help them to maintain their ground against the
Mahommedan princes of N.E. Syria, especially Maudud and Aksunk-ur, amirs of
Mosul. In this way Baldwin was able to make himself into practical suzerain
of the three Christian principalities of the north, though the suzerainty
was, and always continued to be, somewhat nominal. In 1118 he died, after
an expedition to Egypt, during which he captured Farama, and, as old Fuller
says, "caught many fish, and his death in eating them."
Baldwin was one of the "adventurer princes" of the first crusade, and as
such he stands alongside of Bohemund, Tancred and Raymund. On the whole he
was the most successful of his class. By his defence of the lay power
against a nascent theocracy, and by his alliance with the Italian towns, he
was the real founder of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem. Events worked for
him: he might never have come to the throne, unless Bohemund had fallen
into the hands of Danishmend; and the dissensions among the Mahommedans
alone made possible the subsequent consolidation of his kingdom. But he had
_virtu_ as well as _fortuna_; and on his tombstone it was written that he
was "a second Judas Maccabaeus, whom Kedar and Egypt, Dan and Damascus
dreaded." As king, he still retained something of the clerk in the habit of
his dress; but he was at the same time a warrior so impetuous, as to be
sometimes foolhardy, and his policy was on the whole anti-clerical. He may
be accused of greed: his life was not chaste; and the two defects met in
his rejection of his Armenian wife and his marriage to the rich Sicilian
widow Adelaide (1113). But "on the holiest soil of history, he gave his
people a fatherland"; and Fulcher of Chartres, his chaplain, who paints at
the beginning of Baldwin's reign the terrors of the lonely band of
Christians in the midst of their foes, can celebrate at the end the
formation of a new nation in the East (_qui fuimus occidentales, nunc facti
sumus orientales_)--an achievement which, so far as it was the work of any
one man, was the work of Baldwin I.
LITERATURE.--The _Historia Hierosolymitana_ of Fulcher, who had accompanied
Baldwin as chaplain to Edessa, and had lived in [v.03 p.0246] Jerusalem
during his reign, is the primary authority for Baldwin's career. There is a
monograph on Baldwin by Wolff (_Koenig Baldwin I. von Jerusalem_), and his
reign is sketched in R. Roehricht's _Geschichte des Koenigreichs Jerusalem_
(Innsbruck, 1898) C. i.-iv.
(E. BR.)
BALDWIN II., count of Edessa (1100-1118), king of Jerusalem (1118-1131),
originally known as Baldwin de Burg, was a son of Count Hugh of Rethel, and
a nephew of Godfrey of Bouillon and Baldwin I. He appears on the first
crusade at Constantinople as one of Godfrey's men; and he helped Tancred to
occupy Bethlehem in June 1099. After the capture of Jerusalem he served for
a time with Bohemund at Antioch; but when Baldwin of Edessa became king of
Jerusalem, he summoned Baldwin de Burg, and left him as count in Edessa.
From Edessa Baldwin conducted continual forays against the Mahommedan
princes; and in the great foray of 1104, in which he was joined by
Bohemund, he was defeated and captured at Balich. Tancred became guardian
of Edessa during Baldwin's captivity, and did not trouble himself greatly
to procure his release. Baldwin, however, recovered his liberty at the
beginning of 1108, and at once entered upon a struggle with Tancred for the
recovery of Edessa. In September 1108 he regained his principality; but the
struggle with Tancred continued, until it was composed by Baldwin in 1109.
For the next ten years Baldwin ruled his principality with success, if not
without severity. Planted in the farthest Christian outpost in northern
Syria, he had to meet many attacks, especially from Mardin and Mosul, in
revenge for the provocation offered by his own forays and those of the
restless Tancred. In 1110 he was besieged in Edessa, and relieved by
Baldwin I.; in 1114 he repelled an attack by Aksunkur of Mosul; in 1115 he
helped to defeat Aksunkur at Danith. At the same time, if Matthew of Edessa
may be trusted, he also carried his arms against the Armenians, and
plundered in his avarice every Armenian of wealth and position. In 1118 he
was on his way to spend Easter at Jerusalem, when he received the news of
the death of Baldwin I.; and when he arrived at Jerusalem, he was made
king, chiefly by the influence of the patriarch Arnulf. In a reign of
thirteen years, Baldwin II. extended the kingdom of Jerusalem to its widest
limits. His reign is marked by almost incessant fighting in northern Syria.
In 1119, after the defeat and death of Roger of Antioch, he defeated the
amirs of Mardin and Damascus at Danith; in subsequent years he extended his
sway to the very gates of Aleppo. In 1123 he was captured by Balak of
Mardin, and confined in Kharput with Joscelin, his successor in the county
of Edessa, who had been captured in the previous year. During his captivity
Eustace Graverius became regent of Jerusalem, and succeeded, with the aid
of the Venetians, in repelling an Egyptian attack, and even in capturing
Tyre, 1124. In 1124 Baldwin II. succeeded in securing his liberty, under
conditions which he instantly broke; and he at once embarked on strenuous
and not unsuccessful hostilities against Aleppo and Damascus (1124-1127),
exacting tribute from both. During his reign he twice acted as regent in
Antioch (1119, 1130), and in 1126 he married his daughter Alice to Bohemund
II. In 1128 he offered the hand of his eldest daughter, Melisinda, to Fulk
of Anjou, who had been recommended to him by Honorius II. In 1129 Fulk came
and married Melisinda, and in 1131, on the death of Baldwin, he succeeded
to the crown.
Baldwin II. had much of the churchmanship of Godfrey and Baldwin I.; but he
appears most decidedly as an incessant warrior, under whom the Latin
domination in the East stretched, as Ibn al-Athir writes, in a long line
from Mardin in the North to el-Arish on the Red Sea--a line only broken by
the Mahommedan powers of Aleppo, Hamah, Homs and Damascus. The Franks
controlled the great routes of trade, and took tolls of the traders; and in
1130 their power may be regarded as having reached its height.
LITERATURE.--Fulcher of Chartres narrates the reign of Baldwin II. down to
1127; for the rest of the reign the authority is William of Tyre. R.
Roehricht, _Geschichte des Koenigreichs Jerusalem_ (Innsbruck, 1898), C.
vii.-x., is the chief modern authority.
(E. BR.)
BALDWIN III., king of Jerusalem (1143-1162), was the eldest son of Fulk of
Jerusalem by his wife Melisinda. He was born in 1130, and became king in
1143, under the regency of his mother, which lasted till 1152. He came to
the throne at a time when the attacks of the Greeks in Cilicia, and of
Zengi on Edessa, were fatally weakening the position of the Franks in
northern Syria; and from the beginning of his reign the power of the Latin
kingdom of Jerusalem may be said to be slowly declining, though as yet
there is little outward trace of its decay to be seen. Edessa was lost,
however, in the year after Baldwin's accession, and the conquest by Zengi
of this farthest and most important outpost in northern Syria was already a
serious blow to the kingdom. Upon it in 1147 there followed the second
crusade; and in that crusade Baldwin III., now some eighteen years of age,
played his part by the side of Conrad III. and Louis VII. He received them
in Jerusalem in 1148; with them he planned the attack on Damascus and with
them he signally failed in the attack. In 1149, after the failure of the
crusade, Baldwin III. appeared in Antioch, where the fall of Raymund, the
husband of the princess Constance, made his presence necessary. He
regulated affairs in Antioch, and tried to strengthen the north of
Palestine generally against the arm of Zengi's successor, Nureddin, by
renewing the old and politic alliance with Damascus interrupted since 1147,
and by ceding Tellbashir, the one remnant of the county of Edessa, to
Manuel of Constantinople. In 1152 came the inevitable struggle between the
young king and his mother, who had ruled with wisdom and vigour during the
regency and was unwilling to lay down the reins of power. Baldwin
originally planned a solemn coronation, as the signal of his emancipation.
Dissuaded from that course, he nevertheless wore his crown publicly in the
church of the Sepulchre. A struggle followed: in the issue, Baldwin agreed
to leave his mother in possession of Jerusalem and Nablus, while he
retained Acre and Tyre for himself. But he repented of the bargain; and a
new struggle began, in which Baldwin recovered, after some fighting, the
possession of his capital. From these internal dissensions Baldwin was now
summoned to the north, to regulate anew the affairs of Antioch and also
those of Tripoli, where the death of Count Raymund had thrown on his
shoulders the cares of a second regency. On his return to Jerusalem he was
successful in repelling an attack by an army of Turcomans; and his success
encouraged him to attempt the siege of Ascalon in the spring of 1153. He
was successful: the "bride of Syria," which had all but become the property
of the crusaders in 1099, but had since defied the arms of the Franks for
half a century, became part of the kingdom of Jerusalem. From 1156 to 1158
Baldwin was occupied in hostilities with Nureddin. In 1156 he had to submit
to a treaty which cut short his territories; in the winter of 1157-1158 he
besieged and captured Harim, in the territory once belonging to Antioch: in
1158 he defeated Nureddin himself. In the same year Baldwin married
Theodora, a near relative of the East Roman emperor Manuel; while in 1159
he received a visit from Manuel himself at Antioch. The Latin king rode
behind the Greek emperor, without any of the insignia of his dignity, at
the entry into Antioch; but their relations were of the friendliest, and
Manuel--as great a physician as he was a hunter--personally attended to
Baldwin when the king was thrown from his horse in attempting to equal the
emperor's feats of horsemanship. In the same year Baldwin had to undertake
the regency in Antioch once more, Raynald of Chatillon, the second husband
of Constance, being captured in battle. Three years later he died (1162),
without male issue, and was succeeded by his brother Amalric I.
Baldwin III. was the first of the kings of Jerusalem who was a native of
the soil of Palestine. His three predecessors had all been emigrants from
the West. His reign also marks a new departure from another point of view.
His predecessors had been men of a type half military, half clerical--at
once hard fighters and sound churchmen. Baldwin was a man of a subtler
type--a man capable of dealing with the intrigues of a court and with
problems of law, and, as such, suited for guiding the middle age of the
kingdom, which the different qualities of his predecessors had been equally
suited to found. Like his brother, Amalric I., he was a clerkly and
studious king versed [v.03 p.0247] in law, and ready to discuss points of
dogma. In an excellent sketch of Baldwin's character (xvi. cii.), William
of Tyre tells us that he spent his spare time in reading and had a
particular affection for history; that he was well skilled in the _jus
consuetudinarium_ of the kingdom (afterwards recorded by lawyers like John
of Ibelin and Philip of Novara as "the assizes of Jerusalem"); and that he
had the royal faculty for remembering faces, and could generally be trusted
to address by name anybody whom he had once met, so that he was more
popular with high and low than any of his predecessors. He had, William
also reports, a gift of impromptu eloquence, and a faculty both for saying
witty things pleasantly at other people's expense and for listening
placidly to witticisms directed against himself; while he was generous to
excess without needing to make exactions in order to support his
generosity, and always respected the Church. If in his youth he had been
prone to gambling, and before his marriage with Theodora had been somewhat
lax in his morals, when he became a man he put away childish things; his
married life was a shining example to his people and he was abstemious both
in food and drink, holding that "excess in either was an incentive to the
worst of crimes." Even his enemy, Nureddin, said of him, when he died--"the
Franks have lost such a prince that the world has not now his like."
LITERATURE.--William of Tyre is the great primary authority for his reign;
Cinnamus and Ibn-al-athir (see _Bibliography_ to the article CRUSADES) give
the Byzantine and Mahommedan point of view. His reign is described by R.
Roehricht, _Geschichte des Koenigreichs Jerusalem_ (Innsbruck, 1898), C.
xiii.-xvi.
(E. BR.)
BALDWIN IV., the son of Amalric I. by his first wife Agnes, ruled in
Jerusalem from 1174 to 1183, when he had his nephew Baldwin crowned in his
stead. Educated by William of Tyre, Baldwin IV. came to the throne at the
early age of thirteen; and thus the kingdom came under the regency of
Raymund II. of Tripoli. Happily for the kingdom whose king was a child and
a leper, the attention of Saladin was distracted for several years by an
attempt to wrest from the sons of Nureddin the inheritance of their
father--an attempt partially successful in 1174, but only finally realized
in 1183. The problems of the reign of Baldwin IV. may be said to have been
two--his sister Sibylla and the fiery Raynald of Chatillon, once prince of
Antioch through marriage to Constance (1153-1159), then a captive for many
years in the hand of the Mahommedans, and since 1176 lord of Krak (Kerak),
to the east of the Dead Sea. Sibylla was the heiress of the kingdom; the
problem of her marriage was important. Married first to William of
Montferrat, to whom she bore a son, Baldwin, she was again married in 1180
to Guy of Lusignan; and dissensions between Sibylla and her husband on the
one side, and Baldwin IV. on the other, troubled the latter years of his
reign. Meanwhile Raynald of Krak took advantage of the position of his
fortress, which lay on the great route of trade from Damascus and Egypt, to
plunder the caravans (1182), and thus helped to precipitate the inevitable
attack by Saladin. When the attack came, Guy of Lusignan was made regent by
Baldwin IV., but he declined battle and he was consequently deposed both
from his regency and from his right of succession, while Sibylla's son by
her first husband was crowned king as Baldwin V. in 1183. For a time
Baldwin IV. still continued to be active; but in 1184 he handed over the
regency to Raymund of Tripoli, and in 1185 he died.
LITERATURE.--The narrative of William of Tyre concludes with Baldwin IV.'s
transfer of the regency to Raymund of Tripoli. R. Roehricht describes the
reign of Baldwin IV., _Geschichte des Koenigreichs Jerusalem_ (Innsbruck,
1898), C. xix.-xxi.
(E. BR.)
BALDWIN V., the son of Sibylla (daughter of Amalric I.) by her first
husband, William of Montferrat, was the nominal king of Jerusalem from 1183
to 1186, under the regency of Raymund of Tripoli. His reign is marked by
the advance of Saladin and by dissensions between the government and Guy of
Lusignan.
BALDWIN, JAMES MARK (1861- ), American philosopher, was born at Columbia,
S.C., and educated at Princeton and several German universities. He was
professor of philosophy in the university of Toronto (1889), of psychology
at Princeton (1893), and subsequently (1903) of philosophy and psychology
in Johns Hopkins University. Prominent among experimental psychologists, he
was one of the founders of the _Psychological Review_. In 1892 he was
vice-president of the International Congress of Psychology held in London,
and in 1897-1898 president of the American Psychological Association; he
received a gold medal from the Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences of
Denmark (1897), was honorary president of the International Congress of
Criminal Anthropology held in Geneva in 1896, and was made an honorary
D.Sc. of Oxford University. Apart from articles in the _Psychological
Review_, he has written:--_Handbook of Psychology_ (1890); translation of
Ribot's _German Psychology of To-day_ (1886); _Elements of Psychology_
(1893); _Social and Ethical Interpretations in Mental Development_ (1898);
_Story of the Mind_ (1898); _Mental Development in the Child and the Race_
(1896); _Thought and Things_ (London and New York, vol. i., 1906). He also
contributed largely to the _Dictionary of Philosophy and Psychology_
(1901-1905), of which he was editor-in-chief.
BALDWIN, ROBERT (1804-1858), Canadian statesman, was born at York (now
Toronto) on the 12th of May 1804. His father, William Warren Baldwin (d.
1844), went to Canada from Ireland in 1798; though a man of wealth and good
family and a devoted member of the Church of England, he opposed the
religious and political oligarchy which was then at the head of Canadian
affairs, and brought up his son in the same principles. Robert Baldwin was
called to the Bar in 1825, and entered into partnership with his father. In
1829 he was elected a member of the parliament of Upper Canada for the town
of York, but was defeated in the following year and retired for a time into
private life. During the next six years, he so constantly advocated a
responsible executive as the one cure for the political and economic evils
of the time that he was known as "the man of one idea." In 1836 he was
called by Sir Francis Bond Head (1793-1875), the lieutenant-governor, to
the executive council, but finding himself without influence, and compelled
to countenance measures to which he was opposed, he resigned within a
month. Though a reformer, he strongly disapproved of the rebellion of
1837-1838. On the union of the two Canadas he became (1841) a member of the
executive council under Lord Sydenham, but soon resigned on the question of
responsible government. In 1842 he formed the first Liberal administration,
in connexion with Mr (afterwards Sir) L. H. Lafontaine, but resigned the
next year, after a quarrel with the governor-general, Sir Charles Metcalfe,
on a question of patronage, in which he felt that of responsible government
to be involved. At the general election which followed, the
governor-general was sustained by a narrow majority, but in 1848 the
Liberals were again returned to power, and he and Mr Lafontaine formed
their second administration under Lord Elgin and carried numerous important
reforms, including the freeing from sectarian control of the Provincial
University and the introduction into Upper Canada of an important municipal
system.
Internal dissensions soon began to appear in the Liberal party, and in 1851
Mr Baldwin resigned. The special struggle leading to his resignation was an
attempt to abolish the court of chancery of Upper Canada, whose
constitution was due to a measure introduced by Baldwin in 1849. The
attempt, though defeated, had been supported by a majority of the
representatives from Upper Canada, and Baldwin's fastidious conscience took
it as a vote of want of confidence. A deeper reason was his inability to
approve of the advanced views of the Radicals, or "Clear Grits," as they
came to be called. On seeking re-election in York, he declined to give any
pledge on the burning question of the Clergy Reserves and was defeated. In
1858 the Liberal-Conservative party, formed in 1854 by a coalition,
attempted to bring him out as a candidate for the upper house, which was at
this date elective, but though he had broken with the advanced reformers,
he could not approve of the tactics of their opponents, and refused to
stand. He died on the 9th of December 1858. Even those who most bitterly
attacked his measures admitted the purity and unselfishness of his motives.
After the concession of responsible government, he devoted himself to
bringing about [v.03 p.0248] a good understanding between the English and
French-speaking inhabitants of Canada, and his memory is held as dear among
the French Canadians as in his native province of Ontario.
See J. C. Dent, _Canadian Portrait Gallery_ (1880). His life, by the Hon.
Geo. W. Ross, is included in _The Makers of Canada_ series (Toronto).
BALE, JOHN (1495-1563), bishop of Ossory, English author, was born at Cove,
near Dunwich in Suffolk, on the 21st of November 1495. At the age of twelve
he entered the Carmelite monastery at Norwich, removing later to the house
of "Holme," probably the abbey of the Whitefriars at Hulne near Alnwick.
Later he entered Jesus College, Cambridge, and took his degree of B.D. in
1529. At Cambridge he came under the influence of Cranmer and of Thomas
Wentworth, 1st Baron Wentworth, and became an ardent partisan of the
Reformers. He laid aside his monastic habit, and, as he himself puts it
with characteristically brutal violence, "that I might never more serve so
execrable a beast, I took to wife the faithful Dorothy." He obtained the
living of Thornden, Suffolk, but in 1534 was summoned before the archbishop
of York for a sermon against the invocation of saints preached at
Doncaster, and afterwards before Stokesley, bishop of London, but he
escaped through the powerful protection of Thomas Cromwell, whose notice he
is said to have attracted by his miracle plays. He was an unscrupulous
controversialist, and in these plays he allows no considerations of decency
to stand in the way of his denunciations of the monastic system and its
supporters. The prayer of Infidelitas which opens the second act of his
_Thre Laws_ (quoted by T. Warton, _Hist. Eng. Poetry_, sect. 41) is an
example of the lengths to which he went in profane parody. These coarse and
violent productions were well calculated to impress popular feeling, and no
doubt Cromwell found in him an invaluable instrument. But on his patron's
fall in 1540 Bale fled with his wife and children to Germany. He returned
on the accession of Edward VI. He received the living of Bishopstoke,
Hampshire, being promoted in 1552 to the Irish see of Ossory. He refused to
be consecrated by the Roman rite, which still obtained in the Irish church,
and won his point, though the dean of Dublin entered a protest against the
revised office during the ceremony (see his _Vocacyon of John Bale to the
Bishopperycke of Ossorie, Harl. Misc._ vol. vi.). He pushed his Protestant
propaganda in Ireland with no regard to expediency, and when the accession
of Mary inaugurated a reaction in matters of religion, it was with
difficulty that he was got safely out of the country. He tried to escape to
Scotland, but on the voyage was captured by a Dutch man-of-war, which was
driven by stress of weather to St. Ives in Cornwall. Bale was arrested on
suspicion of treason, but soon released. At Dover he had another narrow
escape, but he eventually made his way to Holland and thence to Frankfort
and Basel. During his exile he devoted himself to writing. After his
return, on the accession of Elizabeth, he received (1560) a prebendal stall
at Canterbury. He died in November 1563 and was buried in the cathedral.
The scurrility and vehemence with which "foul-mouthed Bale," as Wood calls
him, attacked his enemies does not destroy the value of his contributions
to literature, though his strong bias against Roman Catholic writers does
detract from the critical value of his works. Of his mysteries and miracle
plays only five have been preserved, but the titles of the others, quoted
by himself in his _Catalogus_, show that they were animated by the same
political and religious aims. The _Thre Laws of Nature, Moses and Christ,
corrupted by the Sodomytes, Pharisees and Papystes most wicked_ (pr. 1538
and again in 1562) was a morality play. The direction for the dressing of
the parts is instructive: "Let Idolatry be decked like an old witch, Sodomy
like a monk of all sects, Ambition like a bishop, Covetousness like a
Pharisee or spiritual lawyer, False Doctrine like a popish doctor, and
Hypocrisy like a gray friar." _A Tragedye; or enterlude manyfesting the
chief promyses of God unto Man ..._ (1538, printed in Dodsley's _Old
Plays_, vol. 1), _The Temptacyon of our Lorde_ (ed. A. B. Grosart in
_Miscellanies of the Fuller Worthies Library_, vol. i., 1870), and _A brefe
Comedy or Enterlude of Johan Baptystes preachynge in the Wyldernesse, &c._
(_Harl. Misc._ vol. i.) were all written in 1538. His plays are doggerel,
but he is a figure of some dramatic importance as the author of _Kynge
Johan_ (_c._ 1548), which marks the transition between the old morality
play and the English historical drama. It does not appear to have directly
influenced the creators of the chronicle histories. To the authors of the
_Troublesome Raigne of King John_ (1591) it was apparently unknown, but it
is noteworthy that an attempt, however feeble, at historical drama was made
fourteen years before the production of _Gorboduc_. _Kynge Johan_ (ed.
J. P. Collier, Camden Soc. 1838) is itself a polemic against the Roman
Catholic Church. King John is represented as the champion of English rites
against the Roman see:--
"This noble Kynge Johan, as a faythfull Moses
Withstode proude Pharao for his poore Israel."
But the English people remained in the bondage of Rome,--
"Tyll that duke Josue, whych was our late Kynge Henrye,
Clerely brought us out in to the lande of mylke and honye."
Elsewhere John is called a Lollard and accused of "heretycall langage," and
he is finally poisoned by a monk of Swinestead. Allegorical characters are
mixed with the real persons. Ynglonde _vidua_, represents the nation, and
the jocular element is provided by Sedwyson (sedition), who would have been
the Vice in a pure morality play. One actor was obviously intended to play
many parts, for stage directions such as "Go out Ynglond, and dress for
Clargy" are by no means uncommon. The MS. of _Kynge Johan_ was discovered
between 1831 and 1838 among the corporation papers at Ipswich, where it was
probably performed, for there are references to charitable foundations by
King John in the town and neighbourhood. It is described at the end of the
MS. as two plays, but there is no obvious division, the end of the first
act alone being noted. The first part is corrected by Bale and the latter
half is in his handwriting, but his name nowhere occurs. In the list of his
works, however, he gives a play _De Joanne Anglorum Rege_, written _in
idiomate materno_.
But Bale's most important work is _Illustrium majoris Britanniae
scriptorum, hoc est, Angliae, Cambriae, ac Scotiae Summarium ..._ (Ipswich
and Wesel, for John Overton, 1548, 1549). This contained five centuries,
but another edition, almost entirely rewritten and containing fourteen
centuries, was printed at Basel with the title _Scriptorum illustrium
majoris Britanniae ... Catalogus_ (1557-1559). The chronological catalogue
of British authors and their works was partly founded on the _Collectanea_
and _Commentarii_ of John Leland, but Bale was an indefatigable collector
and worker, and himself examined many of the valuable libraries of the
Augustinian and Carmelite houses before their dissolution. In his notebook
he records as an instance of the wholesale destruction in progress: "I have
bene also at Norwyche, our second citye of name, and there all the library
monuments are turned to the use of their grossers, candelmakers,
sopesellers, and other worldly occupiers ... As much have I saved there and
in certen other places in Northfolke and Southfolke concerning the authors
names and titles of their workes, as I could, and as much wold I have done
through out the whole realm, yf I had been able to have borne the charges,
as I am not." His work is therefore invaluable, in spite of the
inaccuracies and the abuse lavished on Catholic writers, for it contains
much information that would otherwise have been hopelessly lost.
A list of Bale's works is to be found in _Athenae Cantabrigienses_ (vol. i.
pp. 227 et seq.). Beside the reprints already mentioned, _The Examinations
of Lord Cobham, William Thorpe and Anne Askewe, &c._ were edited by the
Rev. H. Christmas for the Parker Society in 1849. Bale's autograph
note-book is preserved in the Selden Collection of the Bodleian Library,
Oxford. It contains the materials he collected for his two published
catalogues arranged alphabetically, with no attempt at ornament of any
kind, and without the personalities which deface his completed work. He
also gives in most cases the sources from which his information was
derived. This book was prepared for publication with notes by Dr R. Lane
Poole, with the help of Miss Mary Bateson, as _Index Britanniae Scriptorum
quos ... collegit Ioannes Baleus_ (Clarendon Press, 1902), forming part ix.
of _Anecdota Oxoniensia_.
John Pits or Pitseus (1560-1616), an English Catholic exile, founded on
Bale's work his _Relationum historicarum de rebus anglicis tomus primus_
(Paris, 1619), better known by its running title of [v.03 p.0249] _De
illustribus Angliae scriptoribus_. This is really the fourth book of a more
extensive work. He omits the Wycliffite and Protestant divines mentioned by
Bale, and the most valuable section is the lives of the Catholic exiles
resident in Douai and other French towns. He does not scruple to assert
(_Nota de Joanne Bale_) that Bale's _Catalogus_ was a misrepresentation of
Leland's matter, though there is every reason to believe that he was only
acquainted with Leland's work at second-hand, through Bale.
BALE. (1) (A word common to Teutonic languages, in O. Eng. _balu_, cf.
Icelandic _bol_), evil, suffering, a word obsolete except in poetry, and
more common in the adjectival form "baleful." In early alliterative poetry
it is especially used antithetically with "bliss." (2) (O. Eng. _bael_, a
blazing fire, a funeral pyre), a bonfire, a northern English use more
common in the tautological "bale-fire," with sometimes a confused reference
from (1) to evil. (3) (A word of doubtful origin, possibly connected with
"ball "), a bundle of merchandise, especially of cotton, wool or hay,
packed with a cover, or fastened with bands of metal, &c. for
transportation; the weight and capacity varies with the goods. (4)
(Properly "bail," from Fr. _baille_, possibly connected with Lat. _bacula_,
a tub), to empty water out of a boat by means of a bail or bucket.
BALEARIC ISLANDS (_Baleares_), an archipelago of four large and eleven
small islands in the Mediterranean Sea, off the east coast of Spain, of
which country it forms a province. Pop. (1900) 311,649; area, 1935 sq. m.
The archipelago, which lies between 38deg 40' and 40deg 5' N., and between
1deg and 5deg E., comprises two distinct groups. The eastern and larger
group, corresponding with the ancient Insulae Baleares, comprises the two
principal members of the archipelago, Majorca (Spanish, Mallorca) and
Minorca (Spanish, Menorca), with seven islets:--Aire, Aucanada, Botafoch,
Cabrera, Dragonera, Pinto and El Rey. The western group, corresponding with
the ancient Pityusae or Pine Islands, also comprises two relatively large
islands, Iviza (Spanish, Ibiza or, formerly, Ivica) and Formentera, with
the islets of Ahorcados, Conejera, Pou and Espalmador. Majorca, Minorca and
Iviza are described in separate articles. Formentera is described with
Iviza. The total population of the eleven islets only amounted to 171 in
1900, but all were inhabited. None of them is of any importance except
Cabrera, which is full of caverns, and was formerly used as a place of
banishment. In 1808 a large body of Frenchmen were landed here by their
Spanish captors, and allowed almost to perish of starvation.
The origin of the name Baleares is a mere matter of conjecture; it is
obvious, however, that the modern Majorca and Minorca are obtained from the
Latin _Major_ and _Minor_, through the Byzantine forms [Greek: Maiorika]
and [Greek: Minorika]; while Iviza is plainly the older Ebusus, a name
probably of Carthaginian origin. The Ophiusa of the Greeks (Colubraria of
the Romans) is now known as Formentera.
_Geology._--The strata which form the Balearic Isles fall naturally into
two divisions. There is an older series, ranging from the Devonian to the
Cretaceous, which is folded and faulted and forms all the higher hills, and
there is a newer series of Tertiary age, which lies nearly horizontal and
rests unconformably upon the older beds. The direction of the folds in the
older series is in Iviza nearly west to east, in Majorca south-west to
north-east, and in Minorca south to north, thus forming an arc convex
towards the south-east. The Devonian is visible only in Minorca, the Trias
being the oldest system represented in the other islands. The higher part
of the Cretaceous is absent, and it appears to have been during this period
that the principal folding of the older beds took place. The Eocene beds
are nummulitic. There is a lacustrine group which has usually been placed
in the Lower Eocene, but the discovery of _Anthracotherium magnum_ in the
interbedded lignites proves it to be Oligocene, in part at least. The
Miocene included a limestone with _Clypeaster_. Pliocene beds also occur.
_Climate, Fauna, Flora._--The climate of the archipelago, though generally
mild, healthy and favourable to plant life, is by no means uniform, owing
to the differences of altitude and shelter from wind in different islands.
The fauna and flora resemble those of the Mediterranean coasts of Spain or
France.
_Inhabitants._--The islanders are a Spanish race, very closely akin to the
Catalans; but the long period of Moorish rule has left its mark on their
physical type and customs. In character they are industrious and
hospitable, and pique themselves on their loyalty and orthodoxy. Crime is
rare. There are higher schools in the principal towns, and the standard of
primary education is well up to the average of Spain. Vaccination is common
except in the cities,--the women often performing the operation themselves
when medical assistance cannot be got. Castilian is spoken by the upper and
commercial classes; the lower and agricultural employ a dialect resembling
that of the Catalans.
_Commerce._--Fruit, grain, wine and oil are produced in the islands, and
there is an active trade with Barcelona in fresh fish, including large
quantities of lobsters. Shoemaking is one of the most prosperous
industries. There is not a very active trade direct with foreign countries,
as the principal imports--cotton, leather, petroleum, sugar, coal and
timber--are introduced through Barcelona. The export trade is chiefly with
the Peninsula, France, Italy, Algeria and with Cuba and Porto Rico. Most of
the agricultural products are sent to the Peninsula; wine, figs, marble,
almonds, lemons and rice to Europe and Africa.
_Administration._--The administration of the Balearic Islands differs in no
respect from that of the other Spanish provinces on the mainland. There are
five judicial districts (_partidos judiciales_), named after their chief
towns--Inca, Iviza, Manacor, Palma and Port Mahon.
_History._--Of the origin of the early inhabitants of the Balearic Islands
nothing is certainly known, though Greek and Roman writers refer to the
Boeotian and Rhodian settlements. There are numerous sepulchral and other
monuments, which are generally believed to be of prehistoric origin.
According to general tradition the natives, from whatever quarter derived,
were a strange and savage people till they received some tincture of
civilization from the Carthaginians, who early took possession of the
islands and built themselves cities on their coasts. Of these cities, Port
Mahon, the most important, still retains the name which is derived from the
family of Mago. About twenty-three years after the destruction of Carthage
the Romans accused the islanders of piracy, and sent against them Q.
Caecilius Metellus, who soon reduced them to obedience, settled amongst
them 3000 Roman and Spanish colonists, founded the cities of Palma and
Pollentia (Pollensa), and introduced the cultivation of the olive. Besides
valuable contingents of the celebrated Balearic slingers, the Romans
derived from their new conquest mules (from Minorca), edible snails, sinope
and pitch. Of their occupation numerous traces still exist,--the most
remarkable being the aqueduct at Pollensa. In A.D. 423 the islands were
seized by the Vandals and in 798 by the Moors. They became a separate
Moorish kingdom in 1009, which, becoming extremely obnoxious for piracy,
was the object of a crusade directed against it by Pope Paschal II., in
which the Catalans took the lead. This expedition was frustrated at the
time, but was resumed by James I. of Aragon, and the Moors were expelled in
1232. During their occupation the island was populous and productive, and
an active commerce was carried on with Spain and Africa. King James
conferred the sovereignty of the isles on his third son, under whom and his
successor they formed an independent kingdom up to 1349, from which time
their history merges in that of Spain. In 1521 an insurrection of the
peasantry against the nobility, whom they massacred, took place in Majorca,
and was not suppressed without much bloodshed. In the War of the Spanish
Succession all the islands declared for Charles; the duke of Anjou had no
footing anywhere save in the citadel of Mahon. Minorca was reduced by Count
Villars in 1707; but it was not till June 1715 that Majorca was subjugated,
and meanwhile Port Mahon was captured by the English under General Stanhope
in 1708. In 1713 the island was secured to them by the peace of Utrecht;
but in 1756 it was invaded by a force of 12,000 French, who, after
defeating the British under Admiral Byng, captured Port Mahon. Restored to
England in [v.03 p.0250] 1763, the island remained in possession of the
British till 1782, when it was retaken by the Spaniards. Again seized by
the British in 1798, it was finally ceded to Spain by the peace of Amiens
in 1803. When the French invaded Spain in 1808, the Mallorquins did not
remain indifferent; the governor, D. Juan Miguel de Vives, announced, amid
universal acclamation, his resolution to support Ferdinand VII. At first
the Junta would take no active part in the war, retaining the corps of
volunteers that was formed for the defence of the island; but finding it
quite secure, they transferred a succession of them to the Peninsula to
reinforce the allies. Such was the animosity excited against the French
when their excesses were known to the Mallorquins, that some of the French
prisoners, conducted thither in 1810, had to be transferred with all speed
to the island of Cabrera, a transference which was not effected before some
of them had been killed.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--For a general account of the islands, the most valuable
books are _Die Balearen geschildert in Wort und Bild_, by the archduke
Ludwig Salvator of Austria (Leipzig, 1896); _Les Iles oubliees_, by G.
Vuillier (Paris, 1904), the first edition of which has been translated
under the title of _The Forgotten Isles_ (London, 1896)--and _Islas
Baleares_, an illustrated volume of 1423 pages, by P. Pifferrer, in the
series "Espana" (Barcelona, 1888). An article by George Sand in the _Revue
des deux mondes_ (1841) also deserves notice. The following are monographs
on special subjects:--_The Story of Majorca and Minorca_, by Sir C. R.
Markham (London, 1908); _Illustrationes florae insularum Balearium_, by M.
Willkomm (Stuttgart, 1881-1892); _Monuments primitifs des iles baleares_,
by E. Cartailhac (_Mission scientifique du ministere de l'instruction
publique_, Toulouse, 1892). The _British Foreign Office Reports for the
Consular District of Barcelona_ give some account of the movement of
commerce (London, annual). Much of the material available for a scientific
history will be found in _La Historia general del regno balearico_, by J.
Dameto and V. Mut (Majorca, 1632-1650). For the period of Moorish rule, see
_Bosquejo historico de la dominacion islamita en las islas Baleares_, by A.
Campaner y Fuertes (Palma, 1888). See also the elaborate treatise _Les
Relations de la France avec le royaume de Majorque_, by A. Lecoy de la
Marche (Paris, 1892).
BALES [BALESIUS], PETER (1547-1610?), English calligraphist, one of the
inventors of shorthand writing, was born in London in 1547, and is
described by Anthony Wood as a "most dexterous person in his profession, to
the great wonder of scholars and others." We are also informed that "he
spent several years in sciences among Oxonians, particularly, as it seems,
in Gloucester Hall; but that study, which he used for a diversion only,
proved at length an employment of profit." He is mentioned for his skill in
micrography in Holinshed's _Chronicle_. "Hadrian Junius," says Evelyn,
"speaking as a miracle of somebody who wrote the Apostles' Creed and the
beginning of St John's Gospel within the compass of a farthing: what would
he have said of our famous Peter Bales, who, in the year 1575, wrote the
Lord's Prayer, the Creed, Decalogue, with two short prayers in Latin, his
own name, motto, day of the month, year of the Lord, and reign of the
queen, to whom he presented it at Hampton Court, all of it written within
the circle of a single penny, inchased in a ring and borders of gold, and
covered with a crystal, so accurately wrought as to be very plainly
legible; to the great admiration of her majesty, the whole privy council,
and several ambassadors then at court?" Bales was likewise very dexterous
in imitating handwritings, and between 1576 and 1590 was employed by
Secretary Walsingham in certain political manoeuvres. We find him at the
head of a school near the Old Bailey, London, in 1590, in which year he
published his _Writing Schoolemaster, in three Parts_. This book included
an _Arte of Brachygraphie_, which is one of the earliest attempts to
construct a system of shorthand. In 1595 he had a great trial of skill with
one Daniel Johnson, for a golden pen of L20 value, and won it; and a
contemporary author further relates that he had also the arms of
calligraphy given him, which are azure, a pen or. Bales died about the year
1610.
BALFE, MICHAEL WILLIAM (1808-1870), Irish musical composer, was born on the
15th of May 1808, at Dublin. His musical gifts became apparent at an early
age. The only instruction he received was from his father, who was a
dancing master, and from a musician, C. E. Horn (1786-1849). Between 1814
and 1815 he played the violin for his father's dancing-classes, and at the
age of seven composed a polacca. In 1817 he appeared as a violinist in
public, and in this year composed a ballad, first called "Young Fanny" and
afterwards, when sung in _Paul Pry_ by Madame Vestris, "The Lovers'
Mistake." On the death of his father in 1823 he was engaged in the
orchestra of Drury Lane, and being in possession of a small but pleasant
baritone voice, he chose the career of an operatic singer. An unsuccessful
debut was made at Norwich in _Der Freischuetz_. In 1825 he was taken to
Rome by Count Mazzara, being introduced to Cherubini on the way. In Italy
he wrote his first dramatic work, a ballet, _La Perouse_. At the close of
1827 he appeared as Figaro in Rossini's _Barbiere_, at the Italian opera in
Paris. Balfe soon returned to Italy, where, during the next nine years, he
remained, singing at various theatres and composing a number of operas.
During this time he married Mdlle Luisa Roser, a Hungarian singer whom he
had met at Bergamo. Fetis says that the public indignation roused by an
attempt at "improving" Meyerbeer's opera _Il Crociato_ by interpolated
music of his own compelled Balfe to throw up his engagement at the theatre
La Fenice in Venice. By this time he had produced his first complete opera,
_I Rivali di se stessi_, at Palermo in the carnival season of 1829-1830;
the opera _Un Avvertimento ai gelosi_ at Pavia; and _Enrico Quarto_ at
Milan, where he had been engaged to sing with Malibran at the Scala. He
returned to England in the spring of 1833, and on the 29th of October 1835
his _Siege of Rochelle_ was produced and rapturously received at Drury
Lane. Encouraged by his success, he produced _The Maid of Artois_ on the
27th of May 1836--the success of the opera being confirmed by the exquisite
singing of Malibran. Balfe was a prolific composer, as may be seen from the
following imperfect list of his English operas alone:--_Siege of Rochelle_
(1835); _The Maid of Artois_ (1836); _Catherine Grey_ (1837); _Joan of Arc_
(1837); _Falstaff_ (1838, Lablache in title-role); _Amelia, or the Love
Test_ (1838); _Keolanthe_ (1841); _The Bohemian Girl_, his best known work
(1844); _The Daughter of St. Mark_ (1844); _The Enchantress_ (1845); _The
Bondman_ (1846); _The Devil's in it_ (1847); _The Maid of Honour_ (1847);
_The Sicilian Bride_ (1852); _The Rose of Castile_ (1857); _Satanella_
(1858); _Bianca_ (1860); _The Puritan's Daughter_ (1861); _The Armourer of
Nantes_ (1863); _Blanche de Nevers_ (1863). Balfe also wrote several operas
for the Opera Comique and Grand Opera in Paris, where MM. Scribe and St
George provided him with the libretti for his _Le Puits d'amour_ (1843) and
his _Les Quatre Fils Aymon_ (1844). His _L'Etoile de Seville_ was written
in 1845 for the Academie Royale. The fact that Balfe was an Irishman, who
produced operas in English, French and Italian with conspicuous success, is
in itself interesting. When to this we add the record of his operatic
impersonations on the stage, the European success of his _Bohemian Girl_,
his picturesque retirement into Hertfordshire in 1864 as a gentleman
farmer, and above all the undeniable gift for creating such pure melodies
as his songs "When other Hearts" and "I dreamt that I dwelt in marble
halls," it is idle to refuse him a prominent place in the history of music.
He wrote much that was trivial, but also much that was enduring. He died on
the 20th of October 1870, and was buried at Kensal Green. In 1882 a
medallion portrait of him was unveiled in Westminster Abbey.
BALFOUR, ARTHUR JAMES (1848- ), British statesman, eldest son of James
Maitland Balfour of Whittingehame, Haddingtonshire, and of Lady Blanche
Gascoyne Cecil, a sister of the third marquess of Salisbury, was born on
the 25th of July 1848. He was educated at Eton and Trinity College,
Cambridge. In 1874 he became M.P. in the Conservative interest for
Hertford, and represented that constituency until 1885. When, in the spring
of 1878, Lord Salisbury became foreign minister on the resignation of the
fifteenth Lord Derby, Mr Balfour became his private secretary. In that
capacity he accompanied his uncle to the Berlin congress, and gained his
first experience of international politics in connexion with the settlement
of the Russo-Turkish conflict. It was at this time also that he became
known in the world of letters, the intellectual subtlety and literary
capacity of his _Defence of Philosophic Doubt_ (1879) suggesting that he
might make a reputation as a speculative thinker. Belonging, however, to a
[v.03 p.0251] class in which the responsibilities of government are a
traditional duty, Mr Balfour divided his time between the political arena
and the study. Being released from his duties as private secretary by the
general election of 1880, he began to take a rather more active part in
parliamentary affairs. He was for a time politically associated with Lord
Randolph Churchill, Sir Henry Drummond Wolff and Sir John (then Mr) Gorst,
the quartette becoming known as the "Fourth Party," and gaining notoriety
by the freedom of the criticisms directed by its leader, Lord Randolph
Churchill, against Sir Stafford Northcote, Lord Cross and other prominent
members of the "old gang." In these sallies, however, Mr Balfour had no
direct share. He was thought to be merely amusing himself with politics. It
was regarded as doubtful whether his health could withstand the severity of
English winters, and the delicacy of his physique and the languor of his
manner helped to create the impression that, however great his intellectual
powers might be, he had neither the bodily strength nor the energy of
character requisite for a political career. He was the "odd man" of the
Fourth Party, apparently content to fetch and carry for his colleagues, and
was believed to have no definite ambitions of his own. His reputation in
the parliament of 1880-1886 was that of a dilettante, who allied himself
with the three politicians already named from a feeling of irresponsibility
rather than of earnest purpose; he was regarded as one who, on the rare
occasions when he spoke, was more desirous to impart an academic quality to
his speeches than to make any solid contribution to public questions. The
House, indeed, did not take him quite seriously. Members did not suspect
the reserve of strength and ability beneath what seemed to them to be the
pose of a parliamentary _flaneur_; they looked upon him merely as a young
member of the governing classes who remained in the House because it was
the proper thing for a man of family to do. As a member of the coterie
known as the "Souls" he was, so to speak, caviare to the general. Indolence
was supposed to be the keynote of his character--a refined indolence, not,
however, without cleverness of a somewhat cynical and superior order.
That these views were not shared by Lord Salisbury was sufficiently shown
by the fact that in his first administration (June 1885-January 1886) he
made Mr Balfour president of the Local Government Board, and in forming his
second administration (July 1886) secretary for Scotland with a seat in the
cabinet. These offices gave few opportunities for distinction, and may be
regarded merely as Mr Balfour's apprenticeship to departmental
responsibilities. The accidents of political life suddenly opened out to
him a career which made him, next to Lord Salisbury, the most prominent,
the most admired and the most attacked Conservative politician of the day.
Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, who was chief secretary for Ireland, suffered from
an affection of the eyes and found it desirable to resign, and Lord
Salisbury appointed his nephew in his stead. The selection took the
political world by surprise, and was much criticized. By the Irish
Nationalists it was received with contemptuous ridicule, for none suspected
Mr Balfour's immense strength of will, his debating power, his ability in
attack and his still greater capacity to disregard criticism. The debates
on the Crimes Bill and the Irish Land Bill quickly undeceived them, and the
steady and even remorseless vigour with which the government of Ireland was
conducted speedily convinced the House of Commons and the country that Mr.
Balfour was in his right place as chief secretary. His policy was that of
"coercion"--the fearless administration of the Crimes Act,--coupled with
remedial legislation; and he enforced the one while he proceeded with the
other, regardless of the risk of outrage outside the House and of insult
within. Mr Balfour's work in this office covered one of the most turbulent
and most exciting periods in modern parliamentary history and Irish
administration. With a courage that never faltered he broke down the Plan
of Campaign in Ireland, and in parliament he not only withstood the
assaults of the Irish Nationalists, but waged successful warfare with the
entire Home Rule party. He combined an obstinacy of will with a mastery of
facts unsurpassed by any of his predecessors in the secretaryship. Events,
it is true, were in his favour. The disclosures before the Parnell
Commission, the O'Shea divorce proceedings, the downfall of Mr Parnell and
the disruption of the Irish party, assisted him in his task; but the fact
remains that by persistent courage and undeviating thoroughness he reduced
crime in Ireland to a vanishing point. His work was also constructive, for
he broadened the basis of material prosperity and social progress by
creating the Congested Districts Board in 1890. During this period, from
1886-1892, moreover, he developed gifts of oratory which made him one of
the most effective of public speakers. Impressive in matter rather than in
manner of delivery, and seldom rising to the level of eloquence in the
sense in which that quality was understood in a House which had listened to
Bright and Gladstone, his speeches were logical and convincing, and their
attractive literary form delighted a wider audience than that which listens
to the mere politician.
In 1888 Mr Balfour served on the Gold and Silver Commission, currency
problems from the standpoint of bimetallism being among the more academic
subjects which had engaged his attention. On the death of Mr W. H. Smith in
1891 he became first lord of the treasury and leader of the House of
Commons, and in that capacity introduced in 1892 a Local Government Bill
for Ireland. The Conservative government was then at the end of its tether,
and the project fell through. For the next three years Mr Balfour led the
opposition with great skill and address. On the return of the Unionists to
power in 1895 he resumed the leadership of the House, but not at first with
the success expected of him, his management of the abortive education
proposals of '96 being thought, even by his own supporters, to show a
disinclination for the continuous drudgery of parliamentary management
under modern conditions. But after the opening session matters proceeded
more smoothly, and Mr Balfour regained his old position in the estimation
of the House and the country. He had the satisfaction of seeing a bill pass
for providing Ireland with an improved system of local government, and took
an active share in the debates on the various foreign and domestic
questions that came before parliament during 1895-1900. His championship of
the voluntary schools, his adroit parliamentary handling of the problems
opened up by the so-called "crisis in the Church" caused by the Protestant
movement against ritualistic practices, and his pronouncement in favour of
a Roman Catholic university for Ireland--for which he outlined a scheme
that met with much adverse criticism both from his colleagues and his
party,--were the most important aspects of Mr Balfour's activity during
these years. His speeches and work throughout this period took a wider
range than before his accession to the leadership of the Commons. During
the illness of Lord Salisbury in 1898, and again in Lord Salisbury's
absence abroad, he was in charge of the foreign office, and it fell to his
lot to conduct the very critical negotiations with Russia on the question
of railways in North China. To his firmness, and at the same time to the
conciliatory readiness with which he accepted and elaborated the principles
of a _modus vivendi_, the two powers owed the avoidance of what threatened
to be a dangerous quarrel. As a member of the cabinet responsible for the
Transvaal negotiations in 1899 he bore his full share of controversy, and
when the war opened so disastrously he was the first to realize the
necessity for putting the full military strength of the country into the
field. At the general election of 1900 he was returned for East Manchester
(which he had represented since 1885) by a majority of 2453, and continued
in office as first lord of the treasury. His leadership of the House of
Commons in the first session of the new parliament was marked by
considerable firmness in the suppression of obstruction, but there was a
slight revival of the criticisms which had been current in 1896. Mr
Balfour's inability to get the maximum amount of work out of the House was
largely due to the situation in South Africa, which absorbed the
intellectual energies of the House and of the country and impeded the
progress of legislation.
The principal achievements of the long session of 1902 (which extended to
the autumn) were the passing of the Education Act,--entirely reorganizing
the system of primary education, abolishing the school boards and making
the county councils the local authority; new rules of procedure; and the
creation [v.03 p.0252] of the Metropolitan Water Board; and on all these
questions, and particularly the two first, Mr Balfour's powers as a debater
were brilliantly exhibited.
On Lord Salisbury's resignation on the 11th of July 1902, Mr Balfour
succeeded him as prime minister, with the cordial approval of all sections
of the Unionist party. For the next three and a half years his premiership
involves the political history of England, at a peculiarly interesting
period both for foreign and domestic affairs. Within a few weeks Mr Balfour
had reconstituted the cabinet. He himself became first lord of the treasury
and lord privy seal, with the duke of Devonshire (remaining lord president
of the council) as leader of the House of Lords; Lord Lansdowne remained
foreign secretary, Mr (afterwards Lord) Ritchie took the place of Sir
Michael Hicks-Beach (afterwards Lord St Aldwyn) as chancellor of the
exchequer, Mr J. Chamberlain remained colonial secretary, his son Austen
being postmaster-general with a seat in the cabinet. Mr G. Wyndham as chief
secretary for Ireland was included in the cabinet; Lord Selborne remained
at the admiralty, Mr St John Brodrick (afterwards Lord Midleton) war
minister, Lord George Hamilton secretary for India, and Mr Akers-Douglas,
who had been first commissioner of works, became home secretary; Lord
Balfour of Burleigh remained secretary for Scotland, Lord Dudley succeeded
Lord Cadogan as lord lieutenant of Ireland, and Lord Londonderry became
president of the Board of Education (with Sir William Anson as
parliamentary secretary in the House of Commons). Mr Balfour's brother
Gerald (b. 1853), who had entered public life as his private secretary when
at the Local Government Board, and had been chief secretary for Ireland
from 1895-1900, retained his position (since 1900) as president of the
Board of Trade.
The new prime minister came into power practically at the same moment as
the king's coronation (see EDWARD VII.) and the end of the South African
War (see TRANSVAAL). The task of clearing up after the war, both in South
Africa and at home, lay before him; but his cordial relations with Mr
Chamberlain (_q.v._), and the enthusiastic support of a large parliamentary
majority, made the prospects fair. For a while no cloud appeared on the
horizon: and the Liberal party were still disorganized (see
CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN and ROSEBERY) over their attitude towards the Boers. Mr
Chamberlain went to South Africa in the late autumn, with the hope that his
personality would influence the settlement there; and the session of 1903
opened in February with no hint of troubles to come. A difficulty with
Venezuela, resulting in British and German co-operation to coerce that
refractory republic, caused an explosion of anti-German feeling in England
and some restlessness in the United States, but the government brought the
crisis to an end by tactful handling and by an ultimate recourse to
arbitration. The two chief items of the ministerial parliamentary programme
were the extension of the new Education Act to London and Mr Wyndham's
Irish Land Purchase Act, by which the British exchequer should advance the
capital for enabling the tenants in Ireland to buy out the landlords.
Moreover, the budget was certain to show a surplus and taxation could be
remitted. As events proved, it was the budget which was to provide a cause
of dissension, bringing a new political movement into being, and an issue
overriding all the legislative interest of the session. Mr Ritchie's
remission of the shilling import-duty on corn led to Mr Chamberlain's
crusade in favour of tariff reform and colonial preference, and as the
session proceeded the rift grew in the Unionist ranks.
In the separate article on Mr Chamberlain the progress of this movement is
sufficiently narrated. From this moment it is only necessary here to
realize Mr Balfour's position. He had always admitted the onesidedness of
the English free-trade system, and had supported the desirability of
retaliating against unfair competition and "dumping" by foreign countries.
But Mr Chamberlain's new programme for a general tariff, with new taxes on
food arranged so as to give a preference to colonial products, involved a
radical alteration of the established fiscal system, and such out-and-out
Unionist free-traders in the cabinet as Mr Ritchie and Lord George
Hamilton, and outside it, like Lord Hugh Cecil and Mr Arthur Elliot
(secretary to the treasury), were entirely opposed to this. Mr Balfour was
anxious to avoid a rupture, doubtful of the feeling of the country,
uncertain of the details by which Mr Chamberlain's scheme could be worked
out. As leader of the party and responsible for the maintenance of so great
a political engine, he was anxious not to be precipitate. He was neither
for nor against the new movement, and professed to hold "no settled
convictions" on the subject. Mr Chamberlain rested his case largely on the
alleged diminution in British trade, and the statistics therefore required
investigation before the government could adopt any such programme. From
the middle of May, when Mr Chamberlain began to press the matter, Mr
Balfour had a difficult hand to play, so long as it was uncertain how the
party would follow the new lead. The Board of Trade was asked to supply
full figures, and while its report was awaited the uncertainty of attitude
on the part of the government afforded grateful opportunity for opposition
mischief-making, since the Liberal party had now the chance of acting as
the conservative champions of orthodox economics. Another opportunity for
making political capital was provided by the publication of the report of
the royal commission on the Boer War under Lord Elgin's chairmanship, which
horrified the country by its disclosures (August 26th) as to the political
and military muddling which had gone on, and the want of any efficient
system of organization.
The session ended in August without any definite action on the fiscal
question, but in the cabinet the discussions continued. On the 16th of
September Mr Balfour published a pamphlet on "Insular Free Trade," and on
the 18th it was announced that Lord George Hamilton and Mr Ritchie had
resigned, Lord Balfour of Burleigh and Mr Arthur Elliot following a day or
two later. These were the strait free-traders, but at the same time Mr
Chamberlain resigned also. The correspondence between Mr Chamberlain and Mr
Balfour (September 9th and 16th) was published, and presented the latter in
the light of a sympathizer with some form of fiscal union with the
colonies, if practicable, and in favour of retaliatory duties, but unable
to believe that the country was yet ready to agree to the taxation of food
required for a preferential tariff, and therefore unwilling to support that
scheme; at the same time he encouraged Mr Chamberlain to test the feeling
of the public and to convert them by his missionary efforts outside the
government. Mr Chamberlain on his side emphasized his own parliamentary
loyalty to Mr Balfour. In his pamphlet on "Insular Free Trade" the prime
minister reviewed the economic history since Cobden's time, pointed to the
falsification of the promises of the early free-traders, and to the fact
that England was still the only free-importing country, and insisted that
he was "in harmony with the true spirit of free-trade" when he pleaded for
"freedom to negotiate that freedom of exchange may be increased." This
manifesto was at first taken, not only as the platform of the government,
but also as that from which its resigning free-trade members had dissented;
and the country was puzzled by a statement from Lord George Hamilton that
Mr Balfour had circulated among his colleagues a second and different
document, in fuller agreement with Mr Chamberlain. The situation was
confused by personal suspicion and distrust as well as by economic
difficulties. But the public noted that the duke of Devonshire, whose
orthodoxy was considered typical, remained in the cabinet.
The crisis, however, soon developed further, owing to explanations between
the free-trade Unionists. On October 1st Mr Balfour spoke at Sheffield,
reiterating his views as to free-trade and retaliation, insisting that he
"intended to lead," and declaring that he was prepared at all events to
reverse the traditional fiscal policy by doing away with the axiom that
import duties should only be levied for revenue purposes. The speech was
enthusiastically received by the National Union of Conservative
Associations, who had year by year flirted with protectionist resolutions,
and who were known to be predominantly in sympathy with Mr Chamberlain. But
the free-traders did not like Mr Balfour's formula as to reversing the
traditional [v.03 p.0253] fiscal policy of import taxes for revenue only.
Next day the duke of Devonshire resigned, a step somewhat bitterly resented
by Mr Balfour, who clearly thought that his sacrifices in order to
conciliate the duke had now been made in vain. During this critical
fortnight the duke had apparently acquiesced in Mr Balfour's compromise,
and had co-operated in reconstituting the ministry; his nephew and heir had
been made financial secretary to the treasury, while Mr Alfred Lyttelton
was appointed colonial secretary, Mr Austen Chamberlain chancellor of the
exchequer, Mr Brodrick secretary for India, Mr H. O. Arnold-Forster war
minister, Lord Stanley postmaster-general and Mr Graham Murray secretary
for Scotland. Lord Londonderry now became president of the council, Lord
Lansdowne leader of the House of Lords, and Lord Salisbury, son of the late
premier, who as Lord Cranborne had for three years been under-secretary for
foreign affairs, was included in the cabinet as lord privy seal.
During the remainder of 1903 the struggle within the Unionist party
continued. Mr Chamberlain spoke all over the country, advocating a definite
scheme for reorganizing the budget, so as to have more taxes on imports,
including food, but proposing to adjust the taxation so as to improve the
position of the working-classes and to stimulate employment. The free-trade
Unionists, with the duke of Devonshire, Lord Goschen, Lord James and Lord
Hugh Cecil, as their chief representatives, started a Free Food league in
opposition to Mr Chamberlain's Tariff Reform league; and at a great meeting
at Queen's Hall, London, on the 24th of November their attitude was made
plain. They rejected Mr Chamberlain's food-taxes, discredited his
statistics, and, while admitting the theoretical orthodoxy of retaliation,
criticized Mr Balfour's attitude and repudiated his assumption that
retaliation would be desirable. Finally in December came the appointment of
Mr Chamberlain's Tariff Commission. There was no doubt about the obstinacy
and persistency of both sections, and both were fighting, not only to
persuade the public, but for the capture of the party and of its prime
minister. Both sides were inclined to claim him; neither could do so
without qualification. His dialectical dexterity in evading the necessity
of expressing his fiscal opinions further than he had already done became a
daily subject for contemptuous criticism in the Liberal press; but he
insisted that in any case no definite action could be taken till the next
parliament; and while he declined to go the "whole hog"--as the phrase
went--with Mr Chamberlain, he did nothing to discourage Mr Chamberlain's
campaign. Whether he would eventually follow in the same direction, or
would come back to the straiter free-trade side, continued to be the
political conundrum for month after month. Minor changes were made in the
ministry in 1903, Mr Brodrick going to the India office and Mr
Arnold-Forster becoming minister for war, but Mr Balfour's personal
influence remained potent, the government held together, and in 1904 the
Licensing Bill was successfully carried. Though a few Unionists transferred
their allegiance, notably Mr. Winston Churchill, and by-elections went
badly, Mr Balfour still commanded a considerable though a dwindling
majority, and the various contrivances of the opposition for combining all
free-traders against the government were obstructed by the fact that
anything tantamount to a vote of censure would not be supported by the
"wobblers" in the ministerial party, while the government could always
manage to draft some "safe" amendment acceptable to most of them. This was
notably shown in the debate on Mr Black's motion on the 18th of May. On the
3rd of October Mr Balfour spoke at Edinburgh on the fiscal question. The
more aggressive protectionists among Mr Chamberlain's supporters had lately
become very confident, and Mr Balfour plainly repudiated "protection" in so
far as it meant a policy aiming at supporting or creating home industries
by raising home prices; but he introduced a new point by declaring that an
Imperial Conference would be called to discuss with the colonies the
question of preferential tariffs if the Unionist government obtained a
majority at the next general election. The Edinburgh speech was again
received with conflicting interpretations, and much discussion prevailed as
to the conditions of the proposed conference, and as to whether it was or
was not an advance, as the Chamberlainites claimed, towards Mr Chamberlain.
Meanwhile the party was getting more and more disorganized, and the public
were getting tired of the apparent mystification. The opposition used the
situation to make capital in the country, and loudly called for a
dissolution.
It was plain indeed that the fiscal question itself was ripe for the polls;
Board of Trade statistics had been issued in profusion, and the whole case
was before the country. But, though Mr Chamberlain declared his desire for
an early appeal to the electors, he maintained his parliamentary loyalty to
Mr Balfour. There were, moreover, public reasons why a change of government
was undesirable. From 1903 onwards the question of army reform had been
under discussion, and the government was anxious to get this settled,
though in fact Mr Brodrick's and Mr Arnold-Forster's schemes for
reorganization failed to obtain any general support. And while foreign
affairs were being admirably conducted by Lord Lansdowne, they were
critical enough to make it dangerous to contemplate a "swopping of horses."
The Russo-Japanese War might at any moment lead to complications. The
exercise by Russian warships of the right of search over British ships was
causing great irritation in English commercial circles during 1904; after
several incidents had occurred, the stopping of the P. & O. steamer
"Malacca" on July 13th in the Red Sea by the Russian volunteer cruiser
"Peterburg" led to a storm of indignation, and the sinking of the "Knight
Commander" (July 24th) by the Vladivostok squadron intensified the feeling.
On the 23rd of October the outrageous firing by the Russian Baltic fleet on
the English fishing-fleet off the Dogger Bank in the North Sea was within
an ace of causing war. It was not till the 28th that Mr Balfour, speaking
at Southampton, was able to announce that the Russian government had
expressed regret, and that an international commission would inquire into
the facts with a view to the responsible persons being punished. Apart from
the importance of seeing the Russo-Japanese War through, there were
important negotiations on foot for a renewal or revision of the treaty with
Japan; and it was felt that on these grounds it would be a mistake for the
government to allow itself to be driven into a premature dissolution,
unless it found itself unable to maintain a majority in parliament. At the
same time the government's tenure of office was obviously drawing to its
close; the usual interpretation of the Septennial Act involved a
dissolution either in 1905 or 1906, and the government whips found
increased difficulty in keeping a majority at Westminster, since neither
the pronounced Chamberlainites nor the convinced free-trade Unionists
showed any zeal, and a large number of the uncertain Unionists did not
intend to stand again for parliament.
The events of the session of 1905 soon foreshadowed the end. The opposition
were determined to raise debates in the House of Commons on the fiscal
question, and Mr Balfour was no less determined not to be caught in their
trap. These tactics of avoidance reached their culminating point when on
one occasion Mr Balfour and his supporters left the House and allowed a
motion hostile to tariff reform to be passed _nem. con_. Though the
Scottish Churches Bill, the Unemployed Bill and the Aliens Bill were
passed, a complete fiasco occurred over the redistribution proposals, which
pleased nobody and had to be withdrawn owing to a blunder as to procedure;
and though on the 17th of July a meeting of the party at the foreign office
resulted in verbal assurances of loyalty, only two days later the
government was caught in a minority of four on the estimates for the Irish
Land Commission. For a few days it was uncertain whether they would resign
or dissolve, but it was decided to hold on.
The real causes, however, which kept the government in office, were
gradually losing their validity. The Russo-Japanese War came to an end; the
new offensive and defensive alliance with Japan was signed on the 12th of
August; the successful Anglo-French agreement, concluded in April 1904, had
brought out a vigorous expression of cordiality between England and France,
shown in an enthusiastic exchange of naval visits; and the danger, which
threatened in the early summer, of complications [v.03 p.0254] with France
and Germany over Morocco, was in a fair way of being dispelled by the
support given to France by Great Britain. The Liberal leaders had given
public pledges of their adhesion to Lord Lansdowne's foreign policy, and
the fear of their being unable to carry it on was no longer a factor in the
public mind. The end came in November 1905, precipitated by a speech made
by Mr Balfour at Newcastle on the 14th, appealing for unity in the party
and the sinking of differences, an appeal plainly addressed to Mr
Chamberlain, whose supporters--the vast majority of the Unionists--were
clamouring for a fighting policy. But Mr Chamberlain was no longer prepared
to wait. On the 21st of November at Bristol he insisted on his programme
being adopted, and Mr Balfour was compelled to abandon the position he had
held with so much tactical dexterity for two years past. Amid Liberal
protests in favour of immediate dissolution, he resigned on the 4th of
December; and Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, being entrusted by the king
with the formation of a government, filled his cabinet with a view to a
general election in January. The Unionists went to the polls with divided
counsels, and sustained a crushing defeat, remarkable nevertheless for the
comparative success of the tariff reformers. While Mr Chamberlain had a
signal personal triumph in all the divisions of Birmingham, Mr Balfour
himself was defeated by a large majority in Manchester.
Being in a miserable minority in parliament (157 Unionists against 379
Liberals, 51 Labour members, and 83 Nationalists), some form of
consolidation among the Unionists was immediately necessary, and
negotiations took place between Mr Balfour and Mr Chamberlain which
resulted in the patching up of an agreement (expressed in a correspondence
dated February 14th), and its confirmation at a meeting of the party at
Lansdowne House a few days later. The new compact was indicated in Mr
Balfour's letter, in which he declared that "fiscal reform is, and must
remain, the first constructive work of the Unionist party; its objects are
to secure more equal terms of competition for British trade and closer
commercial union with the colonies; and while it is at present unnecessary
to prescribe the exact methods by which these objects are to be attained,
and inexpedient to permit differences of opinion as to these methods to
divide the party, though other means are possible, the establishment of a
moderate general tariff on manufactured goods, not imposed for the purpose
of raising prices, or giving artificial protection against legitimate
competition, and the imposition of a small duty on foreign corn, are not in
principle objectionable, and should be adopted if shown to be necessary for
the attainment of the ends in view or for purposes of revenue." Mr
Balfour's leadership of the whole party was now confirmed; and a seat was
found for him in the City of London by the retirement of Mr Gibbs.
The downfall of Mr Balfour's administration, and the necessity of
reorganizing the Unionist forces on the basis of the common platform now
adopted, naturally represented a fresh departure under his leadership, the
conditions of which to some extent depended on the opportunities given to
the new opposition by the proceedings of the Radical government (see
CAMPBELL-BANNERMAN, SIR H.; and ASQUITH, H. H.). His own administration had
been wrecked, through no initiative of his, by the dissensions over the
fiscal question. But his wide range of knowledge and interests, his
intellectual _finesse_, his personal hold over his supporters, his
statesmanlike grasp upon imperial problems and his oratorical ability, had
been proved to a remarkable degree; and in foreign affairs his tenure of
power had been conspicuously successful. He left his country indeed in a
position of strength abroad, which it had not held since the Crimean War.
His institution of the permanent Committee of Imperial Defence, and of the
new Army Council (1904), were reforms of the highest importance, resulting
from the report of a "triumvirate" consisting of Lord Esher, Sir John
Fisher and Sir George Clarke, appointed in November 1903. The Unionist
regime as a whole, however, had collapsed. Its ministers had become
"stale." The heavy taxation of the war years was still retained, to the
disgust especially of the income-tax payers; and new issues arose over the
Education Act, labour questions, and the introduction of Chinese labour
into South Africa (in 1904), which were successfully used against the
government in the constituencies. The result was an electoral defeat which
indicated, no doubt, a pronounced weakening of Mr Balfour's position in
public confidence. This verdict, however, was one based mainly on temporary
reasons, which were soon to be overshadowed by the new issues involved in
the change of ministry. As a matter of fact, a year of opposition had not
passed before his power in the House of Commons, even with so small a party
behind him, was once more realized. The immense Radical majority started
with a feeling of contempt for the leader who had been rejected at
Manchester, but by 1907 he had completely reasserted his individual
pre-eminence among parliamentarians. Mr Balfour had never spoken more
brilliantly, nor shone more as a debater, than in these years when he had
to confront a House of Commons three-fourths of which was hostile. His
speech at Birmingham (November 14, 1907), fully accepting the principles of
Mr Chamberlain's fiscal policy, proved epoch-making in consolidating the
Unionist party--except for a small number of free-traders, like Lord Robert
Cecil, who continued to hold out--in favour of tariff reform; and during
1908 the process of recuperation went on, the by-elections showing to a
marked degree the increased popular support given to the Unionist
candidates. This recovery was due also to the forcible-feeble character of
the Radical campaign against the House of Lords, the unpopularity of the
Licensing Bill, the failure of the government to arrive at an education
settlement, the incapacity of its Irish administration, its apparent
domination by the "little navy" section, and its dallying with Socialism in
the budget of 1909. The rejection of this budget in December by the House
of Lords led to a desperate struggle at the polls in January 1910, but the
confident hopes of the Unionists were doomed to disappointment. They won
back over a hundred seats, returning 273 strong, but were still in a
minority, the Liberals numbering 275, Labour members 40, and Irish
Nationalists 82. Mr Balfour himself was elected for the City of London by
an enormous majority.
Mr Balfour's other publications, not yet mentioned, include _Essays and
Addresses_ (1893) and _The Foundations of Belief, being Notes introductory
to the Study of Theology_ (1895). He was made LL.D. of Edinburgh University
in 1881; of St Andrews University in 1885; of Cambridge University in 1888;
of Dublin and Glasgow Universities in 1891; lord rector of St Andrews
University in 1886; of Glasgow University in 1890; chancellor of Edinburgh
University in 1891; member of the senate London University in 1888; and
D.C.L. of Oxford University in 1891. He was president of the British
Association in 1904, and became a fellow of the Royal Society in 1888. He
was known from early life as a cultured musician, and became an
enthusiastic golf player, having been captain of the Royal and Antient Golf
Club of St Andrews in 1894-1895.
(H. CH.)
BALFOUR, FRANCIS MAITLAND (1851-1882), British biologist, younger brother
of Arthur James Balfour, was born at Edinburgh on the 10th of November
1851. At Harrow school he showed but little interest in the ordinary
routine, but in one of the masters, Mr George Griffith, he fortunately
found a man who encouraged and aided him in the pursuit of natural science,
a taste for which, and especially for geology, had been cultivated in him
by his mother from an early age. Going into residence at Trinity College,
Cambridge, in 1870, he was elected a natural science scholar of his college
in the following year, and although his reading was not ordered on the
lines usual for the Schools, he obtained the second place in the Natural
Science Tripos of December 1873. A course of lectures on embryology,
delivered by Sir Michael Foster in 1871, definitely turned his attention to
animal morphology, and, after his tripos, he was selected to occupy one of
the two seats allocated to the university of Cambridge at the Naples
zoological station. The research work which he began there contributed in
an important degree to his election as a fellow of Trinity in 1874, and
also afforded him material for a series of papers (published as a monograph
in 1878) on the Elasmobranch fishes, which threw new light on [v.03 p.0255]
the development of several organs in the Vertebrates, in particular of the
uro-genital and nervous systems. His next work was to write a large
treatise, _Comparative Embryology_, in two volumes; the first, published in
1880, dealing with the Invertebrates, and the second (1881) with the
Vertebrates. This book displayed a vigorous scientific imagination, always
controlled by a logical sense that rigidly distinguished between proved
fact and mere hypothesis, and it at once won wide recognition, not only as
an admirable digest of the numberless observations made with regard to the
development of animals during the quarter of a century preceding its
publication, but also on account of the large amount of original research
incorporated in its pages. Balfour's reputation was now such that other
universities became anxious to secure his services, and he was invited to
succeed Professor George Rolleston at Oxford and Sir Wyville Thomson at
Edinburgh. But although he was only a college lecturer, holding no official
post in his university, he declined to leave Cambridge, and in the spring
of 1882 the university recognized his merits by instituting a special
professorship of animal morphology for his benefit. Unhappily he did not
deliver a single professorial lecture. During the first term after his
appointment he was incapacitated from work by an attack of typhoid fever.
Going to the Alps to recruit his health, he perished, probably on the 19th
of July 1882, in attempting the ascent of the Aiguille Blanche, Mont Blanc,
at that time unscaled. Besides being a brilliant morphologist, Balfour was
an accomplished naturalist, and had he lived would probably have taken a
high place among British taxonomists.
BALFOUR, SIR JAMES, BART. (of Denmylne and Kinnaird) (_c._ 1600-1657),
Scottish annalist and antiquary. He was well acquainted with Sir William
Segar and with Dugdale, to whose _Monasticon_ he contributed. He was
knighted by Charles I. in 1630, was made Lyon king-at-arms in the same
year, and in 1633 baronet of Kinnaird. He was removed from his office of
king-at-arms by Cromwell and died in 1657. Some of his numerous works are
preserved in the Advocates' library at Edinburgh, together with his
correspondence--from which rich collection Haig published _Balfour's
Annales of Scotland_ in 4 vols. 8vo (1824-1825).
See Sibbald, _Memoria Balfouriana_ (1699).
BALFOUR, SIR JAMES (of Pittendreich) (d. 1583 or 1584), Scottish judge and
politician, son of Sir Michael Balfour of Montquhanny, was educated for the
legal branch of the church of Scotland. In June 1547, together with Knox
and others taken at St Andrews, he was condemned to the French galleys, but
was released in 1549, abjured the reformers, entered the service of Mary of
Guise, and was rewarded with some considerable legal appointments.
Subsequently he went over to the lords of the congregation and then
betrayed their plans. After Mary's arrival in Scotland he became one of her
secretaries, in 1565 being reported as her greatest favourite after
Rizzio.[1] He obtained the parsonage of Flisk in Fife in 1561, was
nominated a lord of session, and in 1563 one of the commissaries of the
court which now took the place of the former ecclesiastical tribunal; in
1565 he was made a privy-councillor, and in 1566 lord-clerk-register, and
was knighted. According to Mary his murder was intended together with
Rizzio's in 1566. An adherent of Bothwell, he was deeply implicated in
Darnley's murder, though not present at the commission of the crime. By his
means Darnley was lodged at Kirk o' Field, his brothers' house. He was
supposed to have drawn up the bond at Craigmillar for the murder; he signed
it, was made under Bothwell deputy-governor of Edinburgh Castle, and is
said to have drawn up the marriage-contract between Bothwell and Mary.
When, however, the fall of Bothwell was seen to be impending he rapidly
changed sides and surrendered the castle to Murray, stipulating for his
pardon for Darnley's murder, the retention of the priory of Pittenweem, and
pecuniary rewards. He was appointed president of the court of session on
resigning the office of lord-clerk-register. He was present at the battle
of Langside with the regent in 1568, and was accused of having advised Mary
to leave Dunbar to her ruin, and of having betrayed to her enemies the
casket letters. The same year, however, in consequence of renewed intrigues
with Mary's faction, he was dismissed, and next year was imprisoned on the
charge of complicity in Darnley's murder. He succeeded in effecting his
escape by means of bribery, the expenses of which he is said to have paid
by intercepting the money sent from France to Mary's aid. In August 1571,
during the regency of Lennox, an act of forfeiture was passed against him,
but next year he was again playing traitor and discovering the secrets of
his party to Morton, and he obtained a pardon from the latter in 1573 and
negotiated the pacification of Perth the same year. Distrusted by all
parties, he fled to France, where he seems to have remained till 1580. In
1579 his forfeiture was renewed by act of parliament. In January 1580 he
wrote to Mary offering her his services, and in June protested his desire
to be useful to Elizabeth, lamented the influence of the Jesuits, and
intended a journey to Dieppe to hear some good Protestant preaching.[2] On
the 27th of December of the same year he returned to Scotland and effected
the downfall and execution of Morton by producing a bond, probably that in
defence of Bothwell and to promote his marriage with Mary, and giving
evidence of the latter's knowledge of Bothwell's intention to murder
Darnley. In July 1581 his cause was reheard; he was acquitted of murder by
assize, and shortly afterwards in 1581 or 1582 he was restored to his
estates and received at court. His career, one of the blackest in the
annals of political perfidy and crime, closed shortly before the 24th of
January 1584. He was the greatest lawyer of his day, and part-author at
least of Balfour's _Practicks_, the earliest text-book of Scottish law, not
published, however, till 1754. He married Margaret, daughter and heir of
Michael Balfour of Burleigh, by whom, besides three daughters, he had six
sons, the eldest of whom was created Baron Balfour of Burleigh in 1607.[3]
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--See article in the _Dict. of Nat. Biog._ and authorities
there quoted; Balfour's _Practicks_ (1754) and introductory preface; A.
Lang's _Hist. of Scotland_, vol. ii. and authorities (1902); Sir J.
Melville's _Memoirs_ (Bannatyne Club, 1827); _Cal. of State
Papers--Register of Privy Council of Scotland_, i.-iii.; _Scottish Series_
(Thorpe), i. and ii. (Bain), ii.-iv.; _The Border Papers_, i.; _Hamilton
Papers_, ii. (_Foreign_).
(P. C. Y.)
[1] _Cal. of State Pap. (Scottish)_, ii. 218, 250.
[2] _Cal. of State Pap. (Foreign)_, 1579-1580, p. 294.
[3] The title was attainted in 1716, through the 5th baron's complicity in
the Jacobite rising of 1715. In 1869 it was restored to Alexander Hugh
Bruce (b. 1849), as 6th baron; he became one of the most influential of
contemporary Scottish noblemen, on the Conservative side in politics, and
was secretary for Scotland from 1895 to 1903.
BALFOUR, ROBERT (known also as BALFOREUS) (1550?-1625?), Scottish
philosopher, was educated at St Andrews and the university of Paris. He was
for many years principal of the Guienne College at Bordeaux. His great work
is his _Commentarii in Organum Logicum Aristotelis_ (Bordeaux, 1618); the
copy in the British Museum contains a number of highly-eulogistic poems in
honour of Balfour, who is described as _Graium aemulus acer_. Balfour was
one of the scholars who contributed to spread over Europe the fame of the
_praefervidum ingenium Scotorum_. His contemporary, Dempster, called him
the "phoenix of his age, a philosopher profoundly skilled in the Greek and
Latin languages, and a mathematician worthy of being compared with the
ancients." His _Cleomedis meteora_, with notes and Latin translation, was
reprinted at Leiden as late as 1820.
See Dempster, _Historia Ecclesiastica Gent. Scotorum_; Irving's _Lives of
the Scottish Writers_; Anderson's _Scottish Nation_, i. 217.
BALGUY, JOHN (1686-1748), English divine and philosopher, was born at
Sheffield on the 12th of August 1686. He was educated at the Sheffield
grammar school and at St John's College, Cambridge, graduated B.A. in 1706,
was ordained in 1710, and in 1711 obtained the small living of Lamesley and
Tanfield in Durham. He married in 1715. It was the year in which Bishop
Hoadley preached the famous sermon on "The Kingdom of Christ," which gave
rise to the "Bangorian controversy"; and Balguy, under the nom de plume of
Silvius, began his career of authorship by taking the side of Hoadley in
this controversy against some of his High Church opponents. [v.03 p.0256]
In 1726 he published _A letter to a Deist concerning the Beauty and
Excellency of Moral Virtue, and the Support and Improvement which it
receives from the Christian Religion_, chiefly designed to show that, while
a love of virtue for its own sake is the highest principle of morality,
religious rewards and punishments are most valuable, and in some cases
absolutely indispensable, as sanctions of conduct. In 1727 he was made a
prebendary of Salisbury by his friend Hoadley. He published in the same
year the first part of a tractate entitled _The Foundation of Moral
Goodness_, and in the following year a second part, _Illustrating and
enforcing the Principles contained in the former_. The aim of the work is
two-fold--to refute the theory of Hutcheson regarding the basis of
rectitude, and to establish the theory of Cudworth and Clarke, that virtue
is conformity to reason--the acting according to fitnesses which arise out
of the eternal and immutable relations of agents to objects. In 1729 he
became vicar of Northallerton, in the county of York. His next work was an
essay on _Divine Rectitude: or, a Brief Inquiry concerning the Moral
Perfections of the Deity, particularly in respect of Creation and
Providence_. It is an attempt to show that the same moral principle which
ought to direct human life may be perceived to underlie the works and ways
of God: goodness in the Deity not being a mere disposition to benevolence,
but a regard to an order, beauty and harmony, which are not merely relative
to our faculties and capacities, but real and absolute; claiming for their
own sakes the reverence of all intelligent beings, and alone answering to
the perfection of the divine ideas. Balguy wrote several other terse and
readable tracts of the same nature, which he collected and published in a
single volume in 1734. In 1741 he published an _Essay on Redemption_,
containing somewhat advanced views. Redemption as taught in Scripture
means, according to him, "the deliverance or release of mankind from the
power and punishment of sin, by the meritorious sufferings of Jesus
Christ," but involves no _translation of guilt_, _substitution of persons_
or _vicarious punishment_. Freed from these ideas, which have arisen from
interpreting literally expressions which are properly figurative, the
doctrine, he argues, satisfies deep and urgent human wants, and is in
perfect consistence and agreement with reason and rectitude. His last
publication was a volume of sermons, pervaded by good sense and good
feeling, and clear, natural and direct in style. He died at Harrogate on
the 21st of September 1748. A second volume of sermons appeared in 1750
(3rd ed. in 2 vols., 1760).
BALI, an island of the East Indies, E. of Java, from which it is separated
by Bali Strait, which is shallow, and scarcely over a mile in width at its
narrowest point. Bali is 93 m. in length, and its greatest breadth is 50 m.
The area is 2095 sq. m. In 1882, for administrative purposes, Bali was
separated from Java and combined with the island of Lombok to form the
Dutch residency of Lombok and Bali. Politically its divisions are two:--(1)
the two districts, Buleleng and Jembrana, on Dutch territory; and (2) the
autonomous states of Klung Lung, Bangli, Mengui, Badung and Tabanan.
Buleleng, on the north-west, is the chief town. The population on Dutch
territory in the whole residency in the year 1905 was 523,535. Bali belongs
physically to Java; the climate and soil are the same and it has mountains
of proportionate height. There are several lakes of great depth and streams
well fitted for the purposes of irrigation, of which full advantage is
taken by the natives. The geological formation includes (like that of Java)
three regions--the central volcanic, the southern peninsula of Tertiary
limestone, and alluvial plains between the older formations. The highest
volcanoes, Tabanan, Batur and Gunung Agung (Bali Beak), have respectively
heights of 7545 ft., 7383 ft., and 10,497 ft., the central chain having an
average altitude of 3282 ft. As regards flora and fauna Bali is associated
with Java. The deep strait which separates it on the east from Lombok was
taken by A. R. Wallace (_q.v._) as representing the so-called Wallace's
Line, whereby he demarcated the Asiatic from the Australian fauna.
The natives of Bali, though of the same stock as the Javanese, and
resembling them in general appearance, exceed them in stature and muscular
power, as well as in activity and enterprise. They are skilful
agriculturists and artisans, especially in textile fabrics and the
manufacture of arms. Though native rule is tyrannical and arbitrary,
especially in the principalities of Badung and Tabanan, trade and industry
could not flourish if insecurity of persons and property existed to any
great extent. The natives have also a remedy against the aggression of
their rulers in their own hands; it is called _Metilas_, consists in a
general rising and renunciation of allegiance, and proves mostly
successful. Justice is administered from a written civil and criminal code.
Slavery is abolished. Hinduism, which was once the religion of Java, but
has been extinct there for four centuries, is still in vogue in the islands
of Bali and Lombok, where the cruel custom of widow-burning (suttee) is
still practised, and the Hindu system of the four castes, with a fifth or
Pariah caste (called _Chandala_), adhered to. It appears partly blended
with Buddhism, partly overgrown with a belief in _Kalas_, or evil spirits.
To appease these, offerings are made to them either direct or through the
mediation of the _Devas_ (domestic or agrarian deities); and if these avail
not, the _Menyepi_ or Great Sacrifice is resorted to. In the course of this
ceremony, after the sacrifice, men rush in all directions carrying torches;
the women also carry fire-brands, or knock on the houses with rice-crushers
and other heavy implements, and thus the evil spirits are considered to be
driven away. The Mahommedan religion occurs among the coastal population.
The Balinese language belongs to the same group of the Malayan class as the
Javanese, Sundanese, Madurese, &c., but is as distinct from each of these
as French is from Italian. It is most nearly akin to the Sasak language
spoken in Lombok and on the east coast of Bali. The literary language has
embodied many of its ingredients from the Old Javanese, as spoken in Java
at the time of the fall of Majapahit (15th century), while the vulgar
dialect has kept free from such admixture. Javanese influence is also
traceable in the use of three varieties of speech, as in the Javanese
language, according to the rank of the people addressed. The alphabet is
with some modifications the same as the Javanese, but more complicated. The
material universally used for writing on is the prepared leaf of the lontar
palm. The sacred literature of the Balinese is written in the ancient
Javanese or _Kawi_ language, which appears to be better understood here
than it is in Java. A general decline in culture is manifest in the
Balinese. Of the early history of their island the Balinese know nothing.
The oldest tradition they possess refers to a time shortly after the
overthrow of the Majapahit dynasty in Java, about the middle of the 15th
century; but it has been supposed that there must have been Indian settlers
here before the middle of the 1st century, by whom the present name,
probably cognate with the Sanskrit _balin_, strong, was in all likelihood
imposed. It was not till 1633 that the Dutch attempted to enter into
alliance with the native princes, and their earliest permanent settlement
at Port Badung only dates from 1845. Their influence was extended by the
results of the war which they waged with the natives about 1847-49.
The only roadstead safe all the year round is Temukus on the north coast.
The rivers are not navigable. Agriculture is the chief means of
subsistence; rice being a crop of particular importance. Other crops grown
for export are coffee, tobacco, cocoa and indigo. Gold-working, the making
of arms and musical instruments, wood-carving, cotton, silk and gold thread
weaving are of importance. There are numerous Arab and Chinese traders.
See R. Van Eck, _Schetsen van het eiland Bali_, Tijdsch. van Nederl. Indie
(1878-1879); J. Jacobs, _Eeenigen tijd onder de Baliers_ (Batavia, 1883);
H. Tonkes, _Volkskunde von Bali_ (Halle, 1888); Liefrinck, _De rijst
cultuur op Bali_, Indische Gids. (1886).
BALIKISRI (_Balukiser_), a town of Asia Minor, capital of the Karasi sanjak
in the vilayet of Brusa, altitude 575 ft., situated on rising ground above
a fertile plain which drains to the Sea of Marmora. Pop. 20,000 (Moslems,
15,000; Christians, 5000). It is a centre of trade in opium, silk and
cereals, communicating by carriage roads with Panderma. The sanjak is rich
in mineral wealth; silver mines are worked at Balia and boracite mines at
Susurlu. At or near Balikisri was the Roman town of Hadrianutherae,
founded, as its name commemorates, by the emperor Hadrian.
[v.03 p.0257] BALIOL, the name of a family which played an important part
in the history of Scotland. The founder of the family in England was a
Norman baron, Guy or Guido de Baliol, who held the fiefs of Bailleul,
Dampierre, Harcourt and Vinoy in Normandy. Coming to England with William
the Conqueror, he received lands in the north of England from William II.,
and his son, or grandson, Bernard or Barnard de Baliol, built a fortress in
Durham called Castle Barnard, around which the town of Barnard Castle grew.
The first burgesses probably obtained their privileges from him. Bernard
fought for King Stephen during the civil war, was present at the battle of
the Standard in August 1138, and was taken prisoner at the battle of
Lincoln in February 1141. The date of his death is uncertain. Dugdale only
believes in the existence of one Bernard de Baliol, but it seems more
probable that the Bernard de Baliol referred to after 1167 was a son of the
elder Bernard, and not the same individual. If so the younger Bernard was
one of the northern barons who raised the siege of Alnwick, and took
William the Lion, king of Scotland, prisoner in July 1174. He also
confirmed the privileges granted by his father to the burgesses of Barnard
Castle, and was succeeded by his son Eustace. Practically nothing is known
of Eustace, or of his son Hugh who succeeded about 1215. Hugh's son and
successor, John de Baliol, who increased his wealth and position by a
marriage with Dervorguila (d. 1290), daughter of Alan, earl of Galloway, is
said to have possessed thirty knights' fees in England and one half of the
lands in Galloway. He was one of the regents of Scotland during the
minority of Alexander III., but in 1255 was deprived of this office and his
lands forfeited for treason. He then appeared in England fighting for Henry
III. against Simon de Montfort, and was taken prisoner at the battle of
Lewes in 1264. About 1263 he established several scholarships at Oxford,
and after his death in 1269 his widow founded the college which bears the
name of the family. He left four sons, three of whom died without issue,
and in 1278 his lands came to his son, John de Baliol (_q.v._), who was
king of Scotland from 1292 to 1296, and who died in Normandy in 1315.
John's eldest son by his marriage with Isabel, daughter of John de Warenne,
earl of Surrey, was Edward de Baliol who shared his father's captivity in
England in 1296. Subsequently crossing over to France, he appears to have
lived mainly on his lands in Normandy until 1324, when he was invited to
England by King Edward II., who hoped to bring him forward as a candidate
for the Scottish crown. A favourable opportunity, however, did not arise
until after the death of King Robert the Bruce in 1329, when Edward III.
had succeeded his father on the English throne. Although Edward did not
give Baliol any active assistance, the claimant placed himself at the head
of some disinherited Scottish nobles, raised a small army and sailed from
Ravenspur. Landing at Kinghorn in Fifeshire in August 1332, he gained a
complete victory over the Scots under Donald, earl of Mar, at Dupplin Moor,
took Perth, and on the 24th of September was crowned king of Scotland at
Scone. He then acknowledged Edward III. as his superior, but soon
afterwards was defeated at Annan (where his brother, Henry de Baliol, was
slain) and compelled to fly to England. Regaining his kingdom after the
defeat of the Scots at Halidon Hill in July 1333, Baliol surrendered the
whole of the district formerly known as Lothian to Edward, and did homage
for Scotland to the English king. His party, however, was weakened by
disunion, and he won no serious support in Scotland. Entirely dependent on
Edward, he again sought refuge in England, and took a very slight part in
the war waged on his behalf. He returned to Scotland after the defeat of
King David II. at Neville's Cross in 1346. After making an absolute
surrender of Scotland to Edward III. in 1356 at Roxburgh in return for a
pension, Edward de Baliol died at Wheatley near Doncaster in 1367.
A cadet branch of the Baliol family was descended from Ingelram, or
Engelram, a son of the younger Bernard de Baliol. Ingelram's wife was the
daughter and heiress of William de Berkeley, lord of Reidcastle in
Forfarshire, and chamberlain of Scotland, and by her he had a son Henry,
who became chamberlain about 1223. Henry married Lora or Lauretta, a
daughter of Philip de Valoines (Valsques), lord of Panmure, and in 1234
inherited part of the rich English fiefs of the Valoines family. He sided
with the English barons against John in 1215, and accompanied Henry III. to
France in 1242. He died in 1246. It is probable but not certain that
Henry's son was Alexander de Baliol, lord of Cavers in Teviotdale, and
chamberlain of Scotland. Alexander took a leading part in Scottish affairs
during the latter part of the 13th century, and is first mentioned as
chamberlain in 1287. He shared in the negotiations between the Scottish
nobles and Edward I. of England which culminated in the treaty of Salisbury
in 1289, and the treaty of Brigham in 1290. Probably deprived of his office
as chamberlain about 1296 he may have shared the imprisonment of his
kinsman, John de Baliol the king. He then fought in Scotland for Edward,
and was summoned to several English parliaments. His wife was Isabella de
Chilham, through whom he obtained lands in Kent. He died about 1309,
leaving a son, Alexander, whose son, Thomas, sold the estate of Cavers to
William, earl of Douglas, in 1368. Thomas is the last of the Baliols
mentioned in the Scottish records.
A late and dubious tradition asserts that the family name became so
discredited owing to the pusillanimous conduct of John and Edward Baliol
that it was abandoned by its owners in favour of the form Baillie.
See John of Fordun, _Chronica gentis Scotorum_, edited by W. F. Skene
(Edinburgh, 1871-1872); Andrew of Wyntoun, _The Orygynale Cronykil of
Scotland_, edited by David Laing (Edinburgh, 1872-1879); _Gesta Edwardi de
Carnarvan_, by a canon of Bridlington, edited by W. Stubbs (London, 1883);
W. Dugdale, _The Baronage of England_ (London, 1675-1676); R. Surtees, _The
History of Durham_ (London, 1816-1840); _Documents and Records illustrating
the History of Scotland_, edited by F. T. Palgrave (London, 1837);
_Documents illustrative of the History of Scotland_ (1286-1306), edited by
J. Stevenson (Edinburgh, 1870); _Calendar of Documents relating to
Scotland_, edited by J. Bain (Edinburgh, 1881-1888).
BALIOL, JOHN DE (1249-1315), king of Scotland, was a son of John de Baliol
(d. 1269) of Barnard Castle, Durham, by his wife Dervorguila, daughter of
Alan, earl of Galloway, and became head of the Baliol family (see above)
and lord of extensive lands in England, France and Scotland on his elder
brother's death in 1278. Little else, however, is known of his early life.
He came into prominence when the Scottish throne became vacant in 1290
owing to the death of Margaret, the "maid of Norway," a granddaughter of
King Alexander III., and was one of the three candidates for the crown
whose pretensions were seriously considered. Claiming through his maternal
grandmother, Margaret, the eldest daughter of David, earl of Huntingdon (d.
1219), who was a grandson of King David I., Baliol's principal rival was
Robert Bruce, earl of Annandale, and the dispute was the somewhat familiar
one of the eldest by descent against the nearest of kin. Meanwhile the
English king, Edward I., was closely watching the trend of affairs in
Scotland and was invited to settle this dispute. It is doubtful what
rights, if any, the English kings had over Scotland, but when Edward met
the Scottish nobles at Norham in May 1291, he demanded a formal recognition
of his position as overlord of Scotland. After some delay this was tacitly
admitted by the nobles, and acknowledged by Baliol and the other
competitors, who all agreed to abide by his decision. A court of eighty
Scotsmen and twenty-four Englishmen was then appointed to try the question.
Traversing the statements made in favour of Bruce, Baliol claimed by the
principles of feudal law for an indivisible inheritance, and on the advice
of the court Edward decided in his favour. Having sworn fealty to the
English king, Baliol was crowned king of Scotland at Scone on the 30th of
November 1292; in his new capacity he did homage to Edward at Newcastle,
and in January 1293 released the English king from all promises and
obligations made while the kingdom of Scotland was in his hands. These
amicable relations were soon disturbed. A Scottish vassal carried his case
to Edward as Baliol's overlord, and Baliol himself was soon summoned to the
English court to answer a suit brought against him. After a short struggle
he admitted Edward's right, and in May 1294 attended a parliament in
London. He soon quarrelled with his overlord, the exact point at issue
being doubtful, and returned [v.03 p.0258] to Scotland. Consequent on the
dispute which had broken out between England and France, a council of
twelve was appointed to assist him, and it was decided to defy Edward.
Englishmen were dismissed from the Scottish court, their fiefs were
confiscated, and an alliance was concluded with Philip IV., king of France.
War broke out, but Baliol did not take the field in person. Invading
Scotland, Edward met with a feeble resistance, and at Brechin in July 1296
Baliol surrendered his kingdom to Antony Bek, bishop of Durham, as the
representative of the English king. About the same time he appeared before
Edward at Montrose, and delivered to him a white rod, the feudal token of
resignation. With his son, Edward, he was taken a prisoner to England,
remaining in captivity until July 1299, when he was released at the request
of Pope Boniface VIII. He lived for some time under the pope's supervision,
and seems to have passed his remaining days quietly on his French estates.
He died in Normandy early in 1315, leaving several children by his wife,
Isabel, a daughter of John de Warenne, earl of Surrey (d. 1304).
See _Documents and Records illustrating the History of Scotland_, edited by
F. T. Palgrave (London, 1837); _Documents illustrative of the History of
Scotland_, 1286-1306, edited by J. Stevenson (Edinburgh, 1870), J. H.
Burton, _History of Scotland_, vol. ii. (Edinburgh, 1905); A. Lang,
_History of Scotland_, vol. i. (Edinburgh, 1904); Sir H. Maxwell, _Robert
the Bruce_ (London, 1897); _Calendar of Documents relating to Scotland_,
edited by J. Bain (Edinburgh, 1881-1888). Also SCOTLAND: _History_.
BALIUAG, a town of the province of Bulacan, Luzon, Philippine Islands, on
the Quingua river, 29 m. (by rail) N.N.W. of Manila. Pop. (1903) 21,008,
including the population (7072) of Bustos, which was annexed to Baliuag in
that year after the census was taken. Baliuag is served by an extension of
the railway between Manila and Dagupan. It is the trade centre of a fertile
agricultural district, and manufactures bamboo hats, silk and native fibre
goods.
BALKAN PENINSULA, the most easterly of the three large peninsulas which
form the southern extremities of the European continent. Its area, 184,779
sq. m., is about 35,000 sq. m. less than that of the Iberian Peninsula, but
more than twice that of the Italian. Its northern boundary stretches from
the Kilia mouth of the Danube to the Adriatic Sea near Fiume, and is
generally regarded as marked by the courses of the rivers Danube, Save and
Kulpa. On the E. it is bounded by the Black Sea, the Sea of Marmora, and
the Aegean; on the S. by the Mediterranean; on the W. by the Ionian Sea and
the Adriatic. With the exception of the Black Sea coast and the Albanian
littoral, its shores are considerably indented and flanked by groups of
islands. The Peninsula in its general contour resembles an inverted pyramid
or triangle, terminating at its apex in a subsidiary peninsula, the
Peloponnesus or Morea. Its surface is almost entirely mountainous, the only
extensive plains being those formed by the valleys of the Danube and
Maritza, and the basin of Thessaly drained by the Salambria (ancient
_Peneus_). The Danubian plain, lying, for the most part, outside the
Peninsula, is enclosed, on the north, by the Carpathians; and on the south
by the Balkans, from which the Peninsula derives its name. These ranges
form together the great semicircular mountain-chain, known as the
anti-Dacian system, through which the Danube finds a passage at the Iron
Gates. The other mountain-systems display great complexity of formation;
beginning with the Dinaric Alps and the parallel ranges of Bosnia, they
run, as a rule, from north-west to south-east; the great chain of Rhodope
traverses the centre of the Peninsula, throwing out spurs towards the Black
Sea and the Aegean; farther west are the lofty Shar Dagh and the mountains
of Montenegro and Albania, continued by the Pindus range and the heights of
Acarnania and Aetolia. The principal summits are Olympus (9794 ft.),
overlooking the Gulf of Salonica; Musalla (9631) and Popova Shapka (8855),
both in the Rhodope system; Liubotrn in the Shar Dagh (8989); Elin, in the
Perin Planina (8794); Belmeken in southern Bulgaria (chain of Dospat,
8562); Smolika in the Pindus range (8445); Dormitor in northern Montenegro
(8294); Kaimakchalan in central Macedonia (8255); and Kiona in Aetolia
(8235). Owing to the distribution of the mountain-chains, the principal
rivers flow in an easterly or south-easterly direction; the Danube falls
into the Black Sea, the Maritza, Mesta, Struma (_Strymon_), Vardar and
Salambria into the Aegean. The only considerable rivers flowing into the
Adriatic are the Narenta, Drin and Viossa. The principal lakes are those of
Ochrida, Prespa, Scutari and Iannina. The climate is more severe than that
of the sister peninsulas, and the temperature is liable to sudden changes.
The winter, though short, is often intensely cold, especially in the
Danubian plain and in Thrace, the rigorous climate of which is frequently
alluded to by the Latin poets. Bitter north-easterly winds prevail in the
spring, and snow is not uncommon even in the low-lying districts of Greece.
The autumn weather is generally fine and clear.
[Illustration] _Geology_.--Broadly speaking, the Balkan Peninsula may be
divided into four areas which geologically are distinct. There is a central
region, roughly triangular in shape, with its base resting upon the Aegean
Sea and its apex in Servia. On two sides this area is bordered by belts of
folded beds which form on the west the mountain ranges of the Adriatic and
Ionian coasts, and on the north the chain of the Balkans. Finally, beyond
the Balkans lies the great Rumanian depression, occupied chiefly by
undisturbed Cretaceous and Tertiary strata. The _central region_, although
wedged in between two belts of folding, is not affected by the folds of
either, excepting near its margins. It consists largely of crystalline and
schistose rocks. The core is formed by the mountain masses of Rhodope,
Belasitza, Perin and Rila; and here Palaeozoic and Mesozoic beds are
absent, and the earliest sedimentary deposits belong to the Tertiary period
and lie flat upon the crystalline rocks. Upon the margins, however,
Cretaceous beds are found. The eastern parts of Greece are composed almost
entirely of Cretaceous beds, but nevertheless they must be considered to
belong to the central area, for the folds which affect them are nearly at
right angles to those of the western chains. In general, however, the
central area is one of faulting rather than of folding, and the sedimentary
beds sometimes lie in troughs formed by faults. Extensive volcanic
outbursts occurred in this region during the Tertiary period. In the
_western folded belt_ the strike of the folds is N.W.-S.E., or
N.N.W.-S.S.E. There are many local irregularities, but the general
direction is maintained as far as the southern extremity of Greece, where
the folds show a tendency to curve towards Crete. In the north,
Carboniferous beds are present, and the Trias and the Jura take a
considerable part in the formation of the chain. The Sarmatian beds are
also involved in the folds, indicating that the folding was not completed
till Pliocene times. In the south, the older beds disappear and the whole
chain is formed chiefly of Cretaceous beds, though Eocene and probably
Jurassic rocks are [v.03 p.0259] present. The Eocene beds are folded, but
the marginal Pliocene beds are not, and the final folding seems to have
taken place during the Miocene period. (For the Balkans, see BULGARIA.)
_Area and Population_.--The following figures show the area and population
of the various political divisions of the Balkan Peninsula in 1909; see
also the articles on the separate countries.
Pop. per
Political Divisions Area in sq. m. Pop. in 1909 sq. m.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Croatia-Slavonia (south of the
Save and Kulpa) . . . . (about)8,200 (about)1,200,000 146.3
Servia . . . . . . 18,782 2,493,770 132.2
Bulgaria (with Eastern Rumelia) 37,240 4,028,239 88.
The Dobrudja (Rumania) . . 5,896 258,242 43.9
Dalmatia (Austria) . . . 4,923 591,597 120.1
Montenegro . . . . . 3,255 311,564 94
Bosnia and Herzegovina (Austria-
Hungary) . . . . . 19,696 1,568,092 70.9
Sanjak of Novibazar (Turkish) 2,840 153,000 53.5
Albania, Macedonia and other
Turkish possessions . . . 62,744 5,812,300 92.6
Greece . . . . . 24,400 2,631,952 107.8
187,976 19,048,756 101.3
For full details as to the physical features, natural products, population,
customs, trade, finance, government, religion, education, language,
literature, antiquities, history, politics, &c., of the Balkan lands, see
ALBANIA, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA, BULGARIA, CROATIA-SLAVONIA, DALMATIA,
DOBRUDJA, GREECE, ILLYRIA, MACEDONIA, MONTENEGRO, NOVIBAZAR, SERVIA and
TURKEY.
[Illustration]
_Races_.--The Peninsula is inhabited by a great variety of races, whose
ethnological limits are far from corresponding with the existing political
boundaries. The Turkish population, descended in part from the Ottoman
invaders of the 14th and 15th centuries, in part from colonists introduced
at various epochs from Asia by the Turkish government, declined
considerably during the 19th century, especially in the countries withdrawn
from the sultan's authority. It is diminishing in Thessaly; it has entirely
disappeared in the rest of Greece, almost entirely in Servia; and it
continues to decrease in Bulgaria notwithstanding the efforts of the
authorities to check emigration. It is nowhere found in compact masses
except in north-eastern Bulgaria and the region between Adrianople, the
Black Sea and the Sea of Marmora. Elsewhere it appears in separate villages
and isolated districts, or in the larger towns and their immediate
neighbourhood. The total Turkish population of the Peninsula scarcely
exceeds 1,800,000. The Slavonic population, including the Serbo-Croats and
Bulgars, is by far the most numerous; its total aggregate exceeds
10,000,000. The majority of the Serbo-Croats left their homes among the
Carpathians and settled in the Balkan Peninsula in the 7th century. The
distinction between the Serbs of the more central region and the Croats of
the north-west, was first drawn by the early Byzantine chroniclers, and was
well established by the 12th century. It does not correspond with any valid
linguistic or racial difference; but in the course of time a strong
religious difference arose. Along the Croatian and Dalmatian coast there
existed a well-developed Latin civilization, which was sustained by
constant intercourse with Italy; and, under its influence, the
Serbo-Croatian immigrants were converted to the Roman Catholic Church. In
the wild and mountainous interior, however, the Byzantine Church had few or
no rivals and the Orthodox creed prevailed. The Orthodox Serbs inhabit the
kingdom of Servia, Old Servia (or Novibazar and north-western Macedonia),
Montenegro, Herzegovina and parts of Bosnia. The Roman Catholic Croats
predominate in Dalmatia, north-western Bosnia and Croatia-Slavonia.
Montenegro, like the other mountainous regions, adhered to the Greek
Church; it received a number of Orthodox Servian refugees at the beginning
of the 15th century, when the Turks occupied Servia. The numbers of the
Serbo-Croats may be estimated at about 5,600,000. The Bulgars, who descend
from a fusion of the Slavonic element with a later Ugro-Finnish
immigration, inhabit the kingdom of Bulgaria (including Eastern Rumelia),
parts of the Dobrudja and the greater part of Macedonia, except Old Servia
and the Aegean littoral. Apart from their colonies in Bessarabia and
elsewhere, they may be reckoned at 4,400,000. Only a portion of the
widely-spread Ruman or Vlach race, which extends over a great part of
Transylvania, south Hungary and Bessarabia, as well as the Rumanian
kingdom, falls within the limits of the Peninsula. It is found in numerous
detached settlements in Macedonia, Albania and northern Greece, and in
colonies of recent date in Servia and Bulgaria. The nomad Vlachs or
Tzintzars of these countries call themselves Arumani or "Romans"; they are
a remnant of the native Latinized population which received an increase
from the immigration of Daco-Roman refugees, who fled southwards during the
3rd century, after the abandonment of Dacia by Aurelian. (See VLACHS.) The
entire Ruman population of the Balkan countries may be set down
approximately at 600,000. The Albanians, who call themselves _Shkupetar_ or
_Arber_, are the representatives of the primitive Illyrian population; they
inhabit the Adriatic littoral from the southern frontier of Montenegro to
the northern boundary of Greece, in which country they are found in
considerable numbers. They have shown a tendency to advance in a
north-easterly direction towards the Servian frontier, and the movement has
been encouraged for political reasons by the Turkish government. The whole
Albanian nation possibly numbers from 1,500,000 to 1,600,000. The Greeks,
whose immigration from Asia Minor took place in pre-historic times, are,
next to the Albanians, the oldest race in the Peninsula. Their maritime and
commercial instincts have led them from the earliest times to found
settlements on the sea-coast and the islands. They inhabit the Black Sea
littoral from Varna to the Bosporus, the shores of the Sea of Marmora and
the Aegean, the Aegean archipelago, the mainland of Greece, Epirus and the
western islands as far north as Corfu. In Constantinople they [v.03 p.0260]
probably exceed 300,000. They are seldom found in large numbers at any
great distance from the sea, and usually congregate in the principal towns
and commercial centres, such as Adrianople, Constantza, Varna and
Philippopolis; there are also detached colonies at Melnik, Stanimaka,
Kavakly, Niegush and elsewhere. The Greek inhabitants of the Peninsula and
adjacent islands probably number 4,500,000. The remainder of the population
is for the most part composed of Armenians, Jews and gipsies. The
Armenians, like the Greeks, congregate in the principal centres of trade,
especially at Constantinople; their numbers were greatly reduced by the
massacres of 1896. The Jews are most numerous at Salonica where they form
half the population. The gipsies are scattered widely throughout the
Peninsula; they are found not only in wandering troops, as elsewhere in
Europe, but in settlements or cantonments in the neighbourhood of towns and
villages.
_Religions._--Owing to the numerous conversions to Islam which followed the
Turkish conquest, the Mahommedan population of the Peninsula is largely in
excess of the purely Turkish element. More than half the Albanian nation
and 35% of the inhabitants of Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted the creed of
the conquering race. Among the Bulgars and Greeks the conversions were less
numerous. The Bulgarian Mahommedans, or Pomaks, who inhabit the valleys of
Rhodope and certain districts in northern Bulgaria, are numerically
insignificant; the Greek followers of Islam are almost confined to Crete.
The whole Moslem population of the Peninsula is about 3,300,000. The great
bulk of the Christian population belongs to the Orthodox Church, of which
the oecumenical patriarch at Constantinople is the nominal head, having
precedence over all other ecclesiastical dignitaries. The Bulgarian,
Servian, Montenegrin and Greek churches are, however, in reality
autocephalous. The Bulgarian church enjoys an exceptional position,
inasmuch as its spiritual chief, the exarch, who resides at Constantinople,
controls the Bulgarian prelates in European Turkey as well as those in the
kingdom of Bulgaria. On the other hand, the Greek prelates in Bulgaria are
subject to the patriarch. Religious and political questions are intimately
connected in eastern Europe. The heads of the various religious communities
are the only representatives of the Christian population recognized by the
Turkish government; they possess a seat in the local administrative
councils and supervise the Christian schools. The efforts of the several
branches of the Orthodox Church to obtain a separate organization in the
Turkish dominions are to be attributed exclusively to political motives, as
no difference of dogma divides them. The Serbo-Croats of Dalmatia, and
Croatia-Slavonia, some of the Gheg tribes in Albania, about 21% of the
Bosnians, a still smaller number of Bulgarians in the kingdom and in
Macedonia and a few Greeks in the islands belong to the Roman Catholic
Church. A certain number of Bulgars at Kukush in Macedonia and elsewhere
form a "uniate" church, which accepts the authority and dogma of Rome, but
preserves the Orthodox rite and discipline. The Armenians are divided
between the Gregorian and Uniate-Armenian churches, each under a patriarch.
The other Christian confessions are numerically inconsiderable. The Gagauzi
in Eastern Bulgaria, a Turanian and Turkish-speaking race, profess
Christianity.
_Languages._--Until comparatively recent times Turkish and Greek were the
only languages systematically taught or officially recognized in the Balkan
lands subject to Turkish rule. The first, the speech of the conquering
race, was the official language; the second, owing to the intellectual and
literary superiority of the Greeks, their educational zeal and the
privileges acquired by their church, became the language of the upper
classes among the Christians. The Slavonic masses, however, both Servian
and Bulgarian, preserved their language, which saved these nationalities
from extinction. The Servian dialect extending into regions which escaped
the Turkish yoke, enjoyed certain advantages denied to the Bulgarian: in
free Montenegro the first Slavonic printing-press was founded in 1493; at
Ragusa, a century later, Servian literature attained a high degree of
excellence. Bulgarian, for nearly four centuries, ceased to be a written
language except in a few monasteries; a literary revival, which began about
the middle of the 18th century, was the first symptom of returning national
consciousness. The Servian, Bulgarian and Rumanian languages have borrowed
largely from the Turkish in their vocabularies, but not in their structural
forms, and have adopted many words from the Greek. Modern Greek has also a
large number of Turkish words which are rejected in the artificial literary
language. The revival of the various Balkan nationalities was in every case
accompanied or preceded by a literary movement; in Servian literature,
under the influence of Obradovich and Vuk Karajich, the popular idiom,
notwithstanding the opposition of the priesthood, superseded the
ecclesiastical Russian-Slavonic; in Bulgaria the eastern dialect, that of
the Sredna Gora, prevailed. Among the Greeks, whose literature never
suffered a complete eclipse, a similar effort to restore the classical
tongue resulted in a kind of compromise; the conventional literary
language, which is neither ancient nor modern, differs widely from the
vernacular. Albanian, the only surviving remnant of the ancient
Thraco-Illyrian speech, affords an interesting study to philologists. It
undoubtedly belongs to the Indo-European family, but its earlier forms
cannot, unfortunately, be ascertained owing to the absence of literary
monuments. Certain remarkable analogies between Albanian and the other
languages of the Peninsula, especially Bulgarian and Rumanian, have been
supposed to point to the influence exercised by the primitive speech upon
the idioms of the immigrant races.
_History._--The great Slavonic immigration, which changed the ethnographic
face of the Peninsula, began in the 3rd century A.D. and continued at
intervals throughout the following four centuries. At the beginning of this
movement the Byzantine empire was in actual or nominal possession of all
the regions south of the Danube; the greater part of the native
Thraco-Illyrian population of the interior had been romanized and spoke
Latin. The Thracians, the progenitors of the Vlachs, took refuge in the
mountainous districts and for some centuries disappeared from history:
originally an agricultural people, they became nomad shepherds. In Albania
the aboriginal Illyrian element, which preserved its ancient language,
maintained itself in the mountains and eventually forced back the immigrant
race. The Greeks, who occupied the maritime and southern regions, were
driven to the sea-coast, the islands and the fortified towns. Slavonic
place-names, still existing in every portion of the Peninsula, bear witness
to the multitude of the invaders and the permanency of their settlements.
In the 6th century the Slavs penetrated to the Morea, where a Slavonic
dialect was spoken down to the middle of the 15th century. In the 7th the
Serbo-Croats invaded the north-western regions (Croatia, Servia, Bosnia,
Herzegovina, Montenegro and northern Albania); they expelled or assimilated
the Illyrian population, now represented in Dalmatia by the slavonized
Morlachs or Mavro-Vlachs, and appropriated the old Roman colonies on the
Adriatic coast. At the end of the 7th century the Bulgars, a Turanian race,
crossed the Danube and subjected the Slavonic inhabitants of Moesia and
Thrace, but were soon assimilated by the conquered population, which had
already become partly civilized. Under their tsar Krum (802-815) the
Bulgars invaded the districts of Adrianople and central Macedonia; under
Simeon (893-927), who fixed his capital at Preslav, their empire extended
from the Adriatic to the Black Sea. In 971 "the first Bulgarian empire" was
overthrown by the emperor John Zimisces, but Bulgarian power was soon
revived under the Shishman dynasty at Ochrida. In 1014 Tsar Samuel of
Ochrida, who had conquered the greater part of the Peninsula, was defeated
at Belasitza by the Greek emperor Basil II., and the "western Bulgarian
empire" came to an end. In the 10th century the Vlachs reappear as an
independent power in Southern Macedonia and the Pindus district, which were
known as Great Walachia ([Greek: Megale Blachia]). The Serbs, who owing to
the dissensions of their zhupans or chiefs, had hitherto failed to take a
prominent part in the history of the Peninsula, attained unity under
Stephen Nemanya (1169-1195), the founder of the Nemanyich dynasty. A new
Bulgarian power, known as the "second" or "Bulgaro-Vlach empire," was
founded at Trnovo in 1186 under the brothers Ivan and Peter Asen, who led a
revolt of Vlachs and Bulgars against the Greeks. In 1204 Constantinople was
captured by the Latins of the Fourth Crusade, and Baldwin of Flanders was
crowned emperor; the Venetians acquired several maritime towns and islands,
and Frankish feudal dynasties were established in Salonica, Athens, Achaea
and elsewhere. Greek rule, however, survived in the despotate of Epirus
under princes of the imperial house of the Angeli. The Latin tenure of
Constantinople lasted only 57 years; the imperial city was recaptured in
1261 by Michael VIII. Palaeologus, but most of the feudal Latin states
continued to exist till the Turkish conquest; the Venetians retained their
possessions for several centuries later and waged continual wars with the
Turks. In 1230 Theodore of Epirus, who had conquered Albania, Great
Walachia and Macedonia, was overthrown at Klokotnitza by Ivan Asen II., the
greatest of Bulgarian monarchs (1218-1241), who defeated Baldwin at
Adrianople and extended his sway over most of the Peninsula. The Bulgarian
power declined after [v.03 p.0261] his death and was extinguished at the
battle of Velbuzhd (1330) by the Servians under Stephen Urosh III. A short
period of Servian predominance followed under Stephen Dushan (1331-1355)
whose realm included Albania, Macedonia, Epirus, Thessaly and northern
Greece. The Servian incursion was followed by a great Albanian emigration
to the southern regions of the Peninsula. After Dushan's death his empire
disappeared, and Servia fell a prey to anarchy. For a short time the
Bosnians, under their king Stephen Tvrtko (1353-1391), became the principal
power in the west of the Peninsula. The disorganization and internecine
feuds of the various states prepared the way for the Ottoman invasion. In
1356 the Turks seized Gallipoli; in 1361 the sultan Murad I. established
his capital at Adrianople; in 1389 the fate of the Slavonic states was
decided by the rout of the Servians and their allies at Kossovo. The last
remnant of Bulgarian national existence disappeared with the fall of Trnovo
in 1393, and Great Walachia was conquered in the same year. Under Mahommed
II. (1451-1481) the Turks completed the conquest of the Peninsula. The
despotate of Epirus succumbed in 1449, the duchy of Athens in 1456; in 1453
Constantinople was taken and the decrepit Byzantine empire perished; the
greater part of Bosnia submitted in 1463; the heroic resistance of the
Albanians under Scanderbeg collapsed with the fall of Croia (1466), and
Venetian supremacy in Upper Albania ended with the capture of Scutari
(1478). Only the mountain stronghold of Montenegro and the Italian
city-states on the Adriatic coast escaped subjection. In the 16th century
under Solyman the Magnificent (1520-1566) the Ottoman power attained its
greatest height; after the unsuccessful siege of Vienna (1683) it began to
decline. The period of decadence was marked in the latter half of the 18th
century by the formation of practically independent pashaliks or fiefs,
such as those of Scutari under Mahommed of Bushat, Iannina under Ali of
Tepelen, and Viden under Pasvan-oglu. The detachment of the outlying
portions of the empire followed. Owing to the uncompromising character of
the Mahommedan religion and the contemptuous attitude of the dominant race,
the subject nationalities underwent no process of assimilation during the
four centuries of Turkish rule; they retained not only their language but
their religion, manners and peculiar characteristics, and when the power of
the central authority waned they still possessed the germs of a national
existence. The independence of Greece was acknowledged in 1829, that of
Servia (as a tributary principality) in 1830. No territorial changes within
the Peninsula followed the Crimean War; but the continuance of the weakened
authority of the Porte tended indirectly to the independent development of
the various nationalities. The Ionian Islands were ceded by Great Britain
to Greece in 1864. The great break-up came in 1878. The abortive treaty of
San Stefano, concluded in that year, reduced the Turkish possessions in the
Peninsula to Albania, Epirus, Thessaly and a portion of southern Thrace. A
large Bulgarian principality was created extending from the Danube to the
Aegean and from the Black Sea to the river Drin in Albania; it received a
considerable coast-line on the Aegean and abutted on the Gulf of Salonica
under the walls of that town. At the same time the frontiers of Servia and
Montenegro were enlarged so as to become almost contiguous, and Montenegro
received the ports of Antivari and Dulcigno on the Adriatic. From a
strategical point of view the Bulgaria of the San Stefano treaty threatened
Salonica, Adrianople and Constantinople itself; and the great powers,
anticipating that the new state would become a Russian dependency, refused
their sanction to its provisions. The treaty of Berlin followed, which
limited the principality to the country between the Danube and the Balkans,
created the autonomous province of Eastern Rumelia south of the Balkans,
and left the remainder of the proposed Bulgarian state under Turkish rule.
The Montenegrin frontier laid down at San Stefano was considerably
curtailed, Dulcigno, the district north-east of the Tara, and other
territories being restored to Turkey; in addition to Nish, Servia received
the districts of Pirot and Vranya on the east instead of the Ibar valley on
the west; the Dobrudja, somewhat enlarged, was ceded to Rumania, which
surrendered southern Bessarabia to Russia. Bosnia and Herzegovina were
handed over to Austrian administration; under a subsequent convention with
Turkey, Austria sent troops into the sanjak of Novibazar. The complete
independence of the principalities of Servia, Rumania and Montenegro was
recognized. The claims of Greece, ignored at San Stefano, were admitted at
Berlin; an extension of frontier, including Epirus as well as Thessaly, was
finally sanctioned by the powers in 1880, but owing to the tenacious
resistance of Turkey only Thessaly and the district of Arta were acquired
by Greece in 1881. Rumania was proclaimed a kingdom in that year, Servia in
1882. In 1880, after a naval demonstration by the powers, Dulcigno was
surrendered to Montenegro in compensation for the districts of Plava and
Gusinye restored to Turkey. In 1886 the informal union of Eastern Rumelia
with Bulgaria was sanctioned by Europe, the districts of Tumrush (Rhodope)
and Krjali being given back to the sultan. In 1897 Crete was withdrawn from
Turkish administration, and the Greco-Turkish War of that year was followed
by the cession to Turkey of a few strategical points on the Thessalian
frontier. In 1908 Bosnia and Herzegovina were annexed to the Dual Monarchy,
and Bulgaria (including Eastern Rumelia) was proclaimed an independent
kingdom.
[Sidenote: A Balkan confederation.]
The growth and development of the Balkan nations have, to a great extent,
been retarded by the international jealousies arising from the Eastern
Question. The possibility of the young states entering into a combination
which would enable them to offer a united resistance to foreign
interference while simultaneously effecting a compromise in regard to their
national aims, has at various times occupied the attention of Balkan
politicians. Among the earliest advocates of this idea was Ristich, the
Servian statesman. During the reaction against Russia which followed the
war of 1877 informal discussions were conducted with this object, and it
was even suggested that a reformed or constitutional Turkey might find a
place in the confederation. The movement was favourably regarded by King
Charles of Rumania and Prince Alexander of Bulgaria. But the revolt of
Eastern Rumelia, followed by the Servo-Bulgarian War and the coercion of
Greece by the powers, embittered the rivalry of the various races, and the
project was laid aside. It was revived in a somewhat modified form in 1891
by Tricoupis, who suggested an offensive alliance of the Balkan states,
directed against Turkey and aiming at a partition of the Sultan's
possessions in Europe. The scheme, which found favour in Servia, was
frustrated by the opposition of Stamboloff, who denounced it to the Porte.
In 1897 a Bulgarian proposal for joint pacific action with a view to
obtaining reforms in Macedonia was rejected by Greece.
AUTHORITIES.--Special bibliographies are appended to the separate articles
which deal with the various political divisions of the Peninsula. For a
general description of the whole region, its inhabitants, political
problems, &c., see "Odysseus," _Turkey in Europe_ (London, 1900), a work of
exceptional interest and value. See also _The Balkan Question_, ed. L.
Villari (London, 1905); W. Miller, _Travels and Politics in the Near East_
(London, 1898); L. Lamouche, _La Peninsule balkanique_ (Paris, 1899); H. C.
Thomson, _The Outgoing Turk_ (London, 1897); T. Joanne, _Etats du Danube et
des Balkans_ (Paris, 1895); R. Millet, _Souvenirs des Balkans_ (Paris,
1891); V. Cambon, _Autour des Balkans_ (Paris, 1890); P. J. Hamard, _Par
dela l'Adriatique et les Balkans_ (Paris, 1890); E. de Laveleye, _La
Peninsule des Balkans_ (Brussels, 1886). For geology see F. Toula,
"Materialien zu einer Geologic der Balkan-halbinsel," _Jahr. k.-k. geol.
Reichsanst._ (Vienna, vol. xxxiii. 1883), pp. 61-114; A. Bittnel. M.
Neumayr, &c., _Denks. k. Akad. Wiss. Wien, math.-nat. Cl._, vol. xl.
(1880); A. Philippson, _Der Peloponnes_ (Berlin, 1892); J. Cviji['c], "Die
Tektonik der Balkanhalbinsel," _C. R. IX. Cong. geol. inter. Vienne_, pp.
347-370 (1904). For the condition of the Peninsula before the Treaty of
Berlin, see E. Rueffer, _Die Balkanhalbinsel und ihre Volker_ (Bautzen,
1869); Mackenzie and Irby, _Travels in the Slavonic Provinces of Turkey_
(London, 1866); and A. Boue, _La Turquie d'Europe_ (Paris, 1840). W.
Miller, _The Balkans_ (London, 1896), sketches the history of Bulgaria,
Montenegro, Rumania and Servia. See also Sir E. Hertslet, _The Map of
Europe by Treaty_, esp. vol. iv. (London, 1875-1891); J. D. Bourchier, "A
Balkan Confederation," in the _Fortnightly Review_ (London, September
1891); the Austrian and Russian staff maps, and the ethnographical maps of
Kiepert and Peucker.
(J. D. B.)
[v.03 p.0262] BALKASH, or BALKHASH (called by the Kirghiz _Ak-denghiz_ or
_Ala-denghiz_ and by the Chinese _Si-hai_), a lake of Asiatic Russia, in
the Kirghiz steppes, between the governments of Semipalatinsk and
Semiryechensk, in 45deg to 47deg N. and 73deg 30' to 79deg E., about 600 m.
to the east of Lake Aral. It is fourth in size of the lakes in Eurasia,
having an area of 7115 sq. m., and lies at an altitude of 900 ft. It has
the shape of a broad crescent, about 430 m. long from W.S.W. to E.N.E.,
having its concave side turned southwards; its width varies from 36 to 53
m. Its north-western shore is bordered by a dreary plateau, known as the
Famine Steppe (_Bek-pak-dala_). The south-east shore, on the contrary, is
low, and bears traces of having extended formerly as far as the Sasyk-kul
and the Ala-kul. The Kirghiz in 1903 declared that its surface had been
rising steadily during the preceding ten years, though prior to that it was
dropping. The chief feeder of the lake is the Ili, which rises in the
Khantengri group of the Tian-shan Mountains. The Karatal, the Aksu and the
Lepsa also enter from the south-east, and the Ayaguz from the north-east.
The first three rivers make their way with difficulty through the sands and
reeds, which at a quite recent time were covered by the lake. Although it
has no outlet, its waters are relatively fresh. It freezes generally from
November to April. Its greatest depth, 35 ft., is along the north-west
shore. The fauna of the lake and of its tributaries--explored by
Nikolsky--is more akin to the fauna of the rivers of the Tarim basin than
to that of the Aral; it also does not contain the common frog. It seems,
therefore, probable that Lake Balkash stood formerly in communication
through lakes Ebi-nor and Ayar (Telli-nor) with the lake that formerly
filled the Lukchun depression (in 89-1/2deg E. long, and 42-1/2deg N.
lat.), but researches show that a connexion with Lake Aral--at least in
recent times--was improbable. The lake has been investigated by L. S. Berg
(see _Petermanns Mitteilungen_, 1903).
BALKH, a city of Afghanistan, about 100 m. E. of Andkhui and some 46 m. S.
of the Oxus. The city, which is identical with the ancient Bactra or
Zainaspa, is now for the most part a mass of ruins, situated on the right
bank of the Balkh river, 1200 ft. above the sea. It comprises about 500
houses of Afghan settlers, a colony of Jews and a small bazaar, set in the
midst of a waste of ruins and many acres of debris. Entering by the west
(or Akcha) gate, one passes under three arches, which are probably the
remnants of a former Jama Masjid. The outer walls (mostly in utter
disrepair) are about 6-1/2 to 7 m. in perimeter, and on the south-eastern
borders are set high on a mound or rampart, indicating a Mongol origin. The
fort and citadel to the north-east are built well above the town on a
barren mound and are walled and moated. There is, however, little left but
the remains of a few pillars. The Masjid Sabz, with its green-tiled dome,
is said to be the tomb of a Khwaja, Abul Narsi Parsar. Nothing but the
arched entrance remains of the Madrasa, which is traditionally not very
old. The earlier Buddhist constructions have proved more durable than the
Mahommedan buildings. The Top-i-Rustam is 50 yds. in diameter at the base
and 30 yds. at the top, circular and about 50 ft. high. Four circular
vaults are sunk in the interior and four passages have been pierced below
from the outside, which probably lead to them. The base of the building is
constructed of sun-dried bricks about 2 ft. square and 4 or 5 in. thick.
The Takht-i-Rustam is wedge-shaped in plan, with uneven sides. It is
apparently built of pise mud (_i.e._ mud mixed with straw and puddled). It
is possible that in these ruins we may recognize the Nan Vihara of the
Chinese traveller Hsuan Tsang. There are the remains of many other topes
(or stupas) in the neighbourhood. The mounds of ruins on the road to
Mazar-i-Sharif probably represent the site of a city yet older than those
on which stands the modern Balkh. The town is garrisoned by a few hundred
kasidars, the regular troops of Afghan Turkestan being cantoned at
Takhtapul, near Mazar-i-Sharif. The gardens to the north-east contain a
caravanserai, which is fairly well kept and comfortable. It forms one side
of a courtyard, which is shaded by a group of magnificent chenar trees.
The antiquity and greatness of the place are recognized by the native
populations, who speak of it as the _Mother of Cities_. Its foundation is
mythically ascribed to Kaiomurs, the Persian Romulus; and it is at least
certain that, at a very early date, it was the rival of Ecbatana, Nineveh
and Babylon. For a long time the city and country was the central seat of
the Zoroastrian religion, the founder of which is said to have died within
the walls. From the _Memoirs of Hsuan Tsang_, we learn that, at the time of
his visit in the 7th century, there were in the city, or its vicinity,
about a hundred Buddhist convents, with 3000 devotees, and that there was a
large number of _stupas_, and other religious monuments. The most
remarkable was the _Nau Behar_, _Nava Bihara_ or New Convent, which
possessed a very costly statue of Buddha. A curious notice of this building
is found in the Arabian geographer Yaqut. Ibn-Haukal, an Arabian traveller
of the 10th century, describes Balkh as built of clay, with ramparts and
six gates, and extending half a parasang. He also mentions a castle and a
mosque. Idrisi, in the 12th century, speaks of its possessing a variety of
educational establishments, and carrying on an active trade. There were
several important commercial routes from the city, stretching as far east
as India and China. In 1220 Jenghiz Khan sacked Balkh, butchered its
inhabitants and levelled all the buildings capable of defence,--treatment
to which it was again subjected in the 14th century by Timur.
Notwithstanding this, however, Marco Polo can still, in the following
century, describe it as "a noble city and a great." Balkh formed the
government of Aurangzeb in his youth. In 1736 it was conquered by Nadir
Shah. Under the Durani monarchy it fell into the hands of the Afghans; it
was conquered by Shah Murad of Kunduz in 1820, and for some time was
subject to the khan of Bokhara. In 1850 Mahommed Akram Khan, Barakzai,
captured Balkh, and from that time it remained under Afghan rule.
See _Hsuan Tsang_, tr. by Julien, vol. i. pp. 29-32; Burnes's _Travels in
Bokhara_ (1831-1833); Ferrier's _Travels_; Vambery's _Bokhara_ (1873);
_Report of the Russo-Afghan Boundary Commission of 1884-1885_.
(T. H. H.*)
BALL, SIR ALEXANDER JOHN, BART. (1759-1809), British rear-admiral and
governor of Malta, came of a Gloucestershire family. He entered the navy,
and in 1778 was promoted lieutenant. Three years later began a close
association with Rodney, and, two days after his chief's crowning victory
of April 12, 1782, Ball was promoted commander, and in 1783 he became
captain. At this time he spent a year in France with the double purpose of
learning the language and living economically. Nelson, then a captain, was
at this time by no means favourably impressed by his future friend and
comrade, and spoke of him as a "great coxcomb." It was not until 1790 that
Ball received a command. From that year, however, he was continuously
employed. In 1798, assistance rendered by him to Nelson's ship in heavy
weather caused the latter to forget his former animosity, and from that
time the two were close friends. Under Nelson's command Ball took part in
the battle of the Nile, and his ship, the "Alexander," was the particular
opponent of Brueys' flagship, "L'Orient," which blew up. Two months later
he was ordered to the blockade of Malta, which was kept up without a break
for the next two years. Ball committed the blockade to his first
lieutenant, and himself led the marines and local militia, which made the
siege on the land side. His care for his men laid the foundations of his
popularity with the Maltese which continued till his death. After the fall
of Malta, Ball practically retired from the service, in spite of Nelson's
urgent entreaty that he should continue afloat, and from 1801 (when he was
made a baronet) to 1809 he was governor of Malta, where he endeared himself
to the people by his regard for their interests, and his opposition to the
policy of treating the island as a conquered dependency. His friendship
with Lord Nelson, whose letters prove his high regard for him, was only
broken by death. Ball died on the 20th of October 1809 and was buried in
Malta. Sir Alexander Ball was kind to Coleridge and is highly praised by
him in _The Friend_, "The Third Landing Place." There are numerous mentions
of Ball in Nelson's _Despatches_, in Sir H. Nicolas' edition.
[v.03 p.0263] BALL, JOHN (d. 1381), an English priest who took a prominent
part in the peasant revolt in 1381. Little is known of his early years, but
he lived probably at York and afterwards at Colchester. He gained
considerable fame as a preacher by expounding the doctrines of John
Wycliffe, but especially by his insistence on the principle of social
equality. These utterances brought him into collision with the archbishop
of Canterbury, and on three occasions he was committed to prison. He
appears also to have been excommunicated, and in 1366 all persons were
forbidden to hear him preach. His opinions, however, were not moderated,
nor his popularity diminished by these measures, and his words had a
considerable effect in stirring up the rising which broke out in June 1381.
Ball was then in prison at Maidstone; but he was quickly released by the
Kentish rebels, to whom he preached at Blackheath from the text, "When Adam
delved and Eve span, Who was then a gentleman?" He urged his hearers to
kill the principal lords of the kingdom and the lawyers; and he was
afterwards among those who rushed into the Tower of London to seize Simon
of Sudbury, archbishop of Canterbury. When the rebels dispersed Ball fled
to the midland counties, but was taken prisoner at Coventry and executed in
the presence of Richard II. on the 15th of July 1381. Ball, who was called
by Froissart "the mad priest of Kent," seems to have possessed the gift of
rhyme. He undoubtedly voiced the feelings of the lower orders of society at
that time.
See Thomas Walsingham, _Historia Anglicana_, edited by H. T. Riley (London,
1863-1864); Henry Knighton, _Chronicon_, edited by J. R. Lumby (London,
1889-1895); Jean Froissart, _Chroniques_, edited by S. Luce and G. Raynaud
(Paris, 1869-1897); C. E. Maurice, _Lives of English Popular Leaders in the
Middle Ages_ (London, 1875); C. Oman, _The Great Revolt of 1381_ (Oxford,
1906).
BALL, JOHN (1585-1640), English puritan divine, was born at Cassington,
Oxfordshire, in October 1585. After taking his B.A. degree from St Mary's
Hall, Oxford, in 1608, he went into Cheshire to act as tutor to the
children of Lady Cholmondeley. He adopted Puritan views, and after being
ordained without subscription, was appointed to the small curacy of
Whitmore in Staffordshire. He was soon deprived by John Bridgeman, the high
church bishop of Chester, who put him to much suffering. He became a
schoolmaster and earned a wide and high reputation for his scholarship and
piety. He died on the 20th of October 1640. The most popular of his
numerous works was _A Short Catechisme, containing all the Principal
Grounds of Religion_ (14 editions before 1632). His _Treatise of Faith_
(1632), and _Friendly Trial of the Grounds tending to Separation_ (1640),
the latter of which defines his position with regard to the church, are
also valuable.
BALL, JOHN (1818-1889), Irish politician, naturalist and Alpine traveller,
eldest son of an Irish judge, Nicholas Ball, was born at Dublin on the 20th
of August 1818. He was educated at the Roman Catholic College at Oscott
near Birmingham, and at Christ's College, Cambridge. He showed in early
years a taste for natural science, particularly botany; and after leaving
Cambridge he travelled in Switzerland and elsewhere in Europe, studying his
favourite pursuits, and contributing papers on botany and the Swiss
glaciers to scientific periodicals. In 1846 he was made an assistant
poor-law commissioner, but resigned in 1847, and in 1848 stood
unsuccessfully as a parliamentary candidate for Sligo. In 1849 he was
appointed second poor-law commissioner, but resigned in 1852 and
successfully contested the county of Carlow in the Liberal interest. In the
House of Commons he attracted Lord Palmerston's attention by his abilities,
and in 1885 was made under-secretary for the colonies, a post which he held
for two years. At the colonial office he had great influence in furthering
the cause of natural science, particularly in connexion with equipment of
the Palliser expedition in Canada, and with Sir W. Hooker's efforts to
obtain a systematic knowledge of the colonial floras. In 1858 he stood for
Limerick, but was beaten, and he then gave up politics and devoted himself
to natural history. He was first president of the Alpine Club (founded
1857), and it is for his work as an Alpinist that he is chiefly remembered,
his well-known _Alpine Guide_ (London, 1863-1868) being the result of
innumerable climbs and journeys and of careful observation recorded in a
clear and often entertaining style. He also travelled in Morocco (1871) and
South America (1882), and recorded his observations in books which were
recognized as having a scientific value. He died in London on the 21st of
October 1889.
BALL, THOMAS (1819- ), American sculptor, was born at Charlestown,
Massachusetts, on the 3rd of June 1819. He was the son of a
house-and-sign-painter, and after starting, self-taught, as a portrait
painter he turned his attention in 1851 to sculpture, his earliest work
being a bust of Jenny Lind. At thirty-five he went to Florence for study;
there, with an interval of work in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1857-1865, he
remained for more than thirty years, being one of the artistic colony which
included the Brownings and Hiram Powers. He returned to America in 1897,
and lived in Montclair, New Jersey, with a studio in New York City. His
work includes many early cabinet busts of musicians (he was an accomplished
musician himself, and was the first in America to sing "Elijah"), and later
the equestrian statue of Washington in the Boston public gardens, probably
his best work; Josiah Quincy in City Hall Square, Boston; Charles Sumner in
the public gardens of Boston; Daniel Webster in Central Park, New York
City; the Lincoln Emancipation group at Washington; Edwin Forrest as
"Coriolanus," in the Actors' Home, Philadelphia, and the Washington
monument in Methuen, Massachusetts. His work has had a marked influence on
monumental art in the United States and especially in New England. In 1891
he published an autobiographical volume, _My Three Score Years and Ten_.
BALL (in Mid. Eng. _bal_; the word is probably cognate with "bale,"
Teutonic in origin, cf. also Lat. _follis_, and Gr. [Greek: palla]), any
rounded body, particularly one with a smooth surface, whether used for
games, as a missile, or applied to such rounded bodies as the protuberance
at the root of the thumb or the big toe, to an enarthrosis, or "ball
socket" joint, such as that of the hip or shoulder, and the like. A ball,
as the essential feature in nearly every form of game requiring physical
exertion, must date from the very earliest times. A rolling object appeals
not only to a human baby but to a kitten and a puppy. Some form of game
with a ball is found portrayed on Egyptian monuments, and is played among
the least advanced of savage tribes at the present day. In Homer, Nausicaa
was playing at ball with her maidens when Odysseus first saw her in the
land of the Phaeacians (_Od_. vi. 100). And Halios and Laodamas performed
before Alcinous and Odysseus with ball play, accompanied with dancing
(_Od_. viii. 370). The Hebrews, the least athletic of races, have no
mention of the ball in their scriptures. Among the Greeks games with balls
([Greek: sphairai]) were regarded as a useful subsidiary to the more
violent athletic exercises, as a means of keeping the body supple, and
rendering it graceful, but were generally left to boys and girls. Similarly
at Rome they were looked upon as an adjunct to the bath, and were graduated
to the age and health of the bathers, and usually a place
(_sphaeristerium_) was set apart for them in the baths (_thermae_). Of
regular rules for the playing of ball games, little trace remains, if there
were any such. The names in Greek for various forms, which have come down
to us in such works as the [Greek: Onomastikon] of Pollux of Naucratis,
imply little or nothing of such; thus, [Greek: aporraxis] only means the
putting of the ball on the ground with the open hand, [Greek: ourania], the
flinging of the ball in the air to be caught by two or more players;
[Greek: phaininda] would seem to be a game of catch played by two or more,
where feinting is used as a test of quickness and skill. Pollux (i. x. 104)
mentions a game called [Greek: episkuros], which has often been looked on
as the origin of football. It seems to have been played by two sides,
arranged in lines; how far there was any form of "goal" seems uncertain.
Among the Romans there appear to have been three types or sizes of ball,
the _pila_, or small ball, used in catching games, the _paganica_, a heavy
ball stuffed with feathers, and the _follis_, a leather ball filled with
air, the largest of the three. This was struck from player to player, who
wore a kind of gauntlet on the arm. There was a game known as _trigon_,
played by three players standing in [v.03 p.0264] the form of a triangle,
and played with the _follis_, and also one known as _harpastum_, which
seems to imply a "scrimmage" among several players for the ball.[1] These
games are known to us through the Romans, though the names are Greek. The
various modern games played with a ball or balls and subject to rules are
treated under their various names, such as polo, cricket, football, &c.
From Fr. _bal_, _baller_, to dance (late Lat. _ballare_, and hence
connected with "ballad," "ballet") comes "ball," meaning a dance, and
especially a social gathering of people for the purpose of dancing.
[1] Martial (iv. 19. 6) calls the _harpastum_, _pulverulentum_, implying
that it involves a considerable amount of exertion.
BALLADE, the technical name of a complicated and fixed form of verse,
arranged on a precise system, and having nothing in common with the word
_ballad_, except its derivation from the same Low Latin verb, _ballare_, to
dance. In the 14th and 15th centuries it was spelt _balade_. In its regular
conditions a ballade consists of three stanzas and an envoi; there is a
refrain which is repeated at the close of each stanza and of the envoi. The
entire poem should contain but three or four rhymes, as the case may be,
and these must be reproduced with exactitude in each section. These rules
were laid down by Henri de Croi, whose _L'Art et science de rhetorique_ was
first printed in 1493, and he added that if the refrain consists of eight
syllables, the ballade must be written in huitains (eight-line stanzas), if
of ten syllables in dizains (ten-line), and so on. The form can best be
studied in an example, and we quote, as absolutely faultless in execution,
the famous "Ballade aux Enfants Perdus," composed by Theodore de Banville
in 1861:--
"Je le sais bien que Cythere est en deuil!
Que son jardin, soufflete par l'orage,
O mes amis, n'est plus qu'un sombre ecueil
Agonisant sous le soleil sauvage.
La solitude habite son rivage.
Qu'importe! allons vers les pays fictifs!
Cherchons la plage ou nos desirs oisifs
S'abreuveront dans le sacre mystere
Fait pour un choeur d'esprits contemplatifs:
Embarquons-nous pour la belle Cythere,
"La grande mer sera notre cercueil;
Nous servirons de proie au noir naufrage,
Le feu du ciel punira notre orgueil
Et l'aiguillon nous garde son outrage.
Qu'importe! allons vers le clair paysage!
Malgre la mer jalouse et les recifs,
Venez, portons comme des fugitifs,
Loin de ce monde au souffle deletere.
Nous dont les coeurs sont des ramiers plaintifs,
Embarquons-nous pour la belle Cythere.
"Des serpents gris se trainent sur le seuil
Ou souriait Cypris, la chere image
Aux tresses d'or, la vierge au doux accueil!
Mais les Amours sur le plus haut cordage
Nous chantent l'hymne adore du voyage.
Heros caches dans ces corps maladifs,
Fuyons, partons sur nos legers esquifs,
Vers le divin bocage ou la panthere
Pleure d'amour sous les rosiers lascifs:
Embarquons-nous pour la belle Cythere.
_Envoi_.
"Rassasions d'azur nos yeux pensifs!
Oiseaux chanteurs, dans la brise expansifs,
Ne souillons pas nos ailes sur la terre.
Volons, charmes, vers les dieux primitifs!
Embarquons-nous pour la belle Cythere."
This is the type of the ballade in its most elaborate and highly-finished
form, which it cannot be said to have reached until the 14th century. It
arose from the _canzone de ballo_ of the Italians, but it is in Provencal
literature that the ballade first takes a modern form. It was in France,
however, and not until the reign of Charles V., that the ballade as we
understand it began to flourish; instantly it became popular, and in a few
years the out-put of these poems was incalculable. Machault, Froissart,
Eustache Deschamps and Christine de Pisan were among the poets who
cultivated the ballade most abundantly. Later, those of Alain Chartier and
Henri Baude were famous, while the form was chosen by Francois Villon for
some of the most admirable and extraordinary poems which the middle ages
have handed down to us. Somewhat later, Clement Marot composed ballades of
great precision of form, and the fashion culminated in the 17th century
with those of Madame Deshoulieres, Sarrazin, Voiture and La Fontaine.
Attacked by Moliere, and by Boileau, who wrote
"La ballade asservie a ses vieilles maximes,
Souvent doit tout son lustre au caprice des rimes,"
the ballade went entirely out of fashion for two hundred years, when it was
resuscitated in the middle of the 19th century by Theodore de Banville, who
published in 1873 a volume of _Trente-six ballades joyeuses_, which has
found many imitators. The ballade, a typically French form, has been
extensively employed in no other language, except in English. In the 15th
and 16th centuries many ballades were written, with more or less close
attention to the French rules, by the leading English poets, and in
particular by Chaucer, by Gower (whose surviving ballades, however, are all
in French) and by Lydgate. An example from Chaucer will show that the type
of strophe and rhyme arrangement was in medieval English:--
"Madame, ye been of all beauty shrine
As far as circled is the mappemound;
For, as the crystal, glorious ye shine,
And like ruby been your cheekes round.
Therewith ye been so merry and so jocund
That at a revel when that I see you dance,
It is an oinement unto my wound,
Though ye to me ne do no daliance.
"For though I weep of teares full a tine [cask],
Yet may that woe my hearte not confound;
Your seemly voice, that ye so small out-twine,
Maketh my thought in joy and bliss abound.
So courteously I go, with love bound,
That to myself I say, in my penance,
Sufficeth me to love you, Rosamound,
Though ye to me ne do no daliance.
"Was never pike wallowed in galantine,
As I in love am wallowed and y-wound;
For which full oft I of myself divine
That I am true Tristram the second.
My love may not refrayed [cooled down] be nor afound [foundered];
I burn ay in an amorous pleasance.
Do what you list, I will your thrall be found,
Though ye to me ne do no daliance."
The absence of an envoi will be noticed in Chaucer's, as in most of the
medieval English ballades. This points to a relation with the earliest
French form, in its imperfect condition, rather than with that which
afterwards became accepted. But a ballade without an envoi lacks that
section whose function is to tie together the rest, and complete the whole
as a work of art. After the 16th century original ballades were no more
written in English until the latter part of the 19th, when they were
re-introduced, almost simultaneously, by Algernon Charles Swinburne, Austin
Dobson, Andrew Lang, Edmund Gosse and W. E. Henley; but D. G. Rossetti's
popular translation of Villon's "Ballade of Fair Ladies" may almost be
considered an original poem, especially as it entirely disregards the
metrical rules of the ballades. Mr. Dobson's "The Prodigals" (1876) was one
of the earliest examples of a correct English specimen. In 1880 Mr Lang
published a volume of _Ballades in Blue China_, which found innumerable
imitators. The modern English ballades have been, as a rule, closely
modelled on the lines laid down in the 15th century by Henri de Croi. With
the exception of the sonnet, the ballade is the noblest of the artificial
forms of verse cultivated in English literature. It lends itself equally
well to pathos and to mockery, and in the hands of a competent poet
produces an effect which is rich in melody without seeming fantastic or
artificial.
(E. G.)
BALLADS. The word "ballad" is derived from the O. Fr. _baller_, to dance,
and originally meant a song sung to the rhythmic movement of a dancing
chorus. Later, the word, in the form of _ballade_ (_q.v._), became the
technical term for a particular form of old-fashioned French poetry,
remarkable for its involved and [v.03 p.0265] recurring rhymes. "Laisse moi
aux Jeux Floraux de Toulouse toutes ces vieux poesies Francoises comme
_ballades_," says Joachim du Bellay in 1550; and Philaminte, the lady
pedant of Moliere's _Femmes Savantes_, observes--
"La ballade, a mon gout, est une chose fade,
Ce n'en est plus la mode, elle sent son vieux temps."
In England the term has usually been applied to any simple tale told in
simple verse, though attempts have been made to confine it to the subject
of this article, namely, the literary form of popular songs, the folk-tunes
associated with them being treated in the article SONG. By popular songs we
understand what the Germans call _Volkslieder_, that is, songs with words
composed by members of the people, for the people, handed down by oral
tradition, and in style, taste and even incident, common to the people in
all European countries. The beauty of these purely popular ballads, their
directness and freshness, has made them admired even by the artificial
critics of the most artificial periods in literature. Thus Sir Philip
Sydney confesses that the ballad of _Chevy Chase_, when chanted by "a blind
crowder," stirred his blood like the sound of trumpet. Addison devoted two
articles in the _Spectator_ to a critique of the same poem. Montaigne
praised the _naivete_ of the village carols; and Malherbe preferred a
rustic _chansonnette_ to all the poems of Ronsard. These, however, are rare
instances of the taste for popular poetry, and though the Danish ballads
were collected and printed in the middle of the 16th century, and some
Scottish collections date from the beginning of the 18th, it was not till
the publication of Allan Ramsay's _Evergreen and Tea Table Miscellany_, and
of Bishop Percy's _Reliques_ (1765), that a serious effort was made to
recover Scottish and English folk-songs from the recitation of the old
people who still knew them by heart. At the time when Percy was editing the
_Reliques_, Madame de Chenier, the mother of the celebrated French poet of
that name, composed an essay on the ballads of her native land, modern
Greece; and later, Herder and Grimm and Goethe, in Germany, did for the
songs of their country what Scott did for those of Liddesdale and the
Forest. It was fortunate, perhaps, for poetry, though unlucky for the
scientific study of the ballads, that they were mainly regarded from the
literary point of view. The influence of their artless melody and
straightforward diction may be felt in the lyrics of Goethe and of
Coleridge, of Wordsworth, of Heine and of Andre Chenier. Chenier, in the
most affected age even of French poetry, translated some of the Romaic
ballads; one, as it chanced, being almost identical with that which
Shakespeare borrowed from some English reciter, and put into the mouth of
the mad Ophelia. The beauty of the ballads and the interest they excited
led to numerous forgeries and modern interpolations, which it is seldom
difficult to detect with certainty. Editors could not resist the temptation
to interpolate, to restore, and to improve the fragments that came in their
way. The marquis de la Villemarque, who first drew attention to the ballads
of Brittany, is not wholly free from this fault. Thus a very general
scepticism was awakened, and when questions came to be asked as to the date
and authorship of the Scottish traditional ballads, it is scarcely to be
wondered at that Dr Chambers attributed most of them to the accomplished
Lady Wardlaw, who lived in the middle of the 18th century.
The vexed and dull controversy as to the origin of Scottish folk-songs was
due to ignorance of the comparative method, and of the ballad literature of
Europe in general. The result of the discussion was to leave a vague
impression that the Scottish ballads were perhaps as old as the time of
Dunbar, and were the production of a class of professional minstrels. These
minstrels are a stumbling-block in the way of the student of the growth of
ballads. The domestic annals of Scotland show that her kings used to keep
court-bards, and also that strollers, _jongleurs_, as they were called,
went about singing at the doors of farm-houses and in the streets of towns.
Here were two sets of minstrels who had apparently left no poetry; and, on
the other side, there was a number of ballads that claimed no author. It
was the easiest and most satisfactory inference that the courtly minstrels
made the verses, which the wandering crowders imitated or corrupted. But
this theory fails to account, among other things, for the universal
sameness of tone, of incident, of legend, of primitive poetical formulae,
which the Scottish ballad possesses, in common with the ballads of Greece,
of France, of Provence, of Portugal, of Denmark and of Italy. The object,
therefore, of this article is to prove that what has long been acknowledged
of nursery tales, of what the Germans call _Maerchen_, namely, that they
are the immemorial inheritance at least of all European peoples, is true
also of some ballads. Their present form, of course, is relatively recent:
in centuries of oral recitation the language altered automatically, but the
stock situations and ideas of many romantic ballads are of dateless age and
world-wide diffusion. The main incidents and plots of the fairy tales of
Celts and Germans and Slavonic and Indian peoples, their unknown antiquity
and mysterious origin, are universally recognized. No one any longer
attributes them to this or that author, or to this or that date. The
attempt to find date or author for a genuine popular song is as futile as a
similar search in the case of a _Maerchen_. It is to be asked, then,
whether what is confessedly true of folk-tales,--of such stories as the
_Sleeping Beauty_ and _Cinderella_,--is true also of folk-songs. Are they,
or have they been, as universally sung as the fairy tales have been
narrated? Do they, too, bear traces of the survival of primitive creeds and
primitive forms of consciousness and of imagination? Are they, like
_Maerchen_, for the most part, little influenced by the higher religions,
Christian or polytheistic? Do they turn, as _Maerchen_ do, on the same
incidents, repeat the same stories, employ the same machinery of talking
birds and beasts? Lastly, are any specimens of ballad literature capable of
being traced back to extreme antiquity? It appears that all these questions
may be answered in the affirmative; that the great age and universal
diffusion of the ballad may be proved; and that its birth, from the lips
and heart of the people, may be contrasted with the origin of an artistic
poetry in the demand of an aristocracy for a separate epic literature
destined to be its own possession, and to be the first development of a
poetry of personality,--a record of individual passions and emotions. After
bringing forward examples of the identity of features in European ballad
poetry, we shall proceed to show that the earlier genre of ballads with
refrain sprang from the same primitive custom of dance, accompanied by
improvised song, which still exists in Greece and Russia, and even in
valleys of the Pyrenees.
There can scarcely be a better guide in the examination of the _notes_ or
marks of popular poetry than the instructions which M. Ampere gave to the
committee appointed in 1852-1853 to search for the remains of ballads in
France. M. Ampere bade the collectors look for the following
characteristics:--"The use of assonance in place of rhyme, the brusque
character of the recital, the textual repetition, as in Homer, of the
speeches of the persons, the constant use of certain numbers,--as three and
seven,--and the representation of the commonest objects of every-day life
as being made of gold and silver." M. Ampere might have added that French
ballads would probably employ a "bird chorus," the use of talking-birds as
messengers; that they would repeat the plots current in other countries,
and display the same non-Christian idea of death and of the future world
(see "The Lyke-wake Dirge"), the same ghostly superstitions and stories of
metamorphosis, and the same belief in elves and fairies, as are found in
the ballads of Greece, of Provence, of Brittany, Denmark and Scotland. We
shall now examine these supposed common notes of all genuine popular song,
supplying a few out of the many instances of curious identity. As to
brusqueness of recital, and the use of assonance instead of rhyme, as well
as the aid to memory given by reproducing speeches verbally, these are
almost unavoidable in all simple poetry preserved by oral tradition. In the
matter of recurring numbers, we have the eternal--
"Trois belles filles
L'y en a'z une plus belle que le jour,"
who appear in old French ballads, as well as the "Three Sailors," whose
adventures are related in the Lithuanian and Provencal originals of
Thackeray's _Little Billee_. Then there is "the league, [v.03 p.0266] the
league, the league, but barely three," of Scottish ballads; and the [Greek:
tria poulakia], three golden birds, which sing the prelude to Greek
folk-songs, and so on. A more curious note of primitive poetry is the
lavish and reckless use of gold and silver. H. F. Tozer, in his account of
ballads in the _Highlands of Turkey_, remarks on this fact, and attributes
it to Eastern influences. But the horses' shoes of silver, the knives of
fine gold, the talking "birds with gold on their wings," as in
Aristophanes, are common to all folk-song. Everything almost is gold in the
_Kalewala_ (_q.v._), a so-called epic formed by putting into juxtaposition
all the popular songs of Finland. Gold is used as freely in the ballads,
real or spurious, which M. Verkovitch has had collected in the wilds of
Mount Rhodope. The Captain in the French song is as lavish in his treatment
of his runaway bride,--
"Son amant l'habille,
Tout en or et argent";
and the rustic in a song from Poitou talks of his _faucille d'or_, just as
a variant of Hugh of Lincoln introduces gold chairs and tables. Again, when
the lover, in a ballad common to France and to Scotland, cuts the
winding-sheet from about his living bride--"il tira ses ciseaux d'or fin."
If the horses of the Klephts in Romaic ballads are gold shod, the steed in
_Willie's Lady_ is no less splendidly accoutred,--
"Silver shod before,
And gowden shod behind."
Readers of Homer, and of the Chanson de Roland, must have observed the same
primitive luxury of gold in these early epics, in Homer reflecting perhaps
the radiance of the actual "golden Mycenae."
Next as to talking-birds. These are not so common as in _Maerchen_, but
still are very general, and cause no surprise to their human listeners. The
omniscient popinjay, who "up and spoke" in the Border minstrelsy, is of the
same family of birds as those that, according to Talvj, pervade Servian
song; as the [Greek: tria poulakia] which introduce the story in the Romaic
ballads; as the wise birds whose speech is still understood by
exceptionally gifted Zulus; as the wicked dove that whispers temptation in
the sweet French folk-song; as the "bird that came out of a bush, on water
for to dine," in the _Water o' Wearies Well_.
In the matter of identity of plot and incident in the ballads of various
lands, it is to be regretted that no such comparative tables exist as Von
Hahn tried, not very exhaustively, to make of the "story-roots" of
_Maerchen_. Such tables might be compiled from the learned notes and
introductions of Prof. Child to his _English and Scottish Popular Ballads_
(1898). A common plot is the story of the faithful leman, whose lord brings
home "a braw new bride," and who recovers his affection at the eleventh
hour. In Scotland this is the ballad of Lord Thomas and Fair Annie; in
Danish it is Skiaen Anna. It occurs twice in M. Fauriel's collection of
Romaic songs. Again, there is the familiar ballad about a girl who pretends
to be dead, that she may be borne on a bier to meet her lover. This occurs
not only in Scotland, but in the popular songs of Provence (collected by
Damase Arbaud) and in those of Metz (Puymaigre), and in both countries an
incongruous sequel tells how the lover tried to murder his bride, and how
she was too cunning, and drowned him. Another familiar feature is the bush
and briar, or the two rose trees, which meet and plait over the graves of
unhappy lovers, so that all passers-by see them, and say in the
Provencal,--
"Diou ague l'amo
Des paures amourous."
Another example of a very widespread theme brings us to the ideas of the
state of the dead revealed in folk-songs. _The Night Journey_, in M.
Fauriel's Romaic collection, tells how a dead brother, wakened from his
sleep of death by the longing of love, bore his living sister on his
saddle-bow, in one night, from Bagdad to Constantinople. In Scotland this
is the story of Proud Lady Margaret; in Germany it is the song which
Buerger converted into Lenore; in Denmark it is Aage und Else; in Brittany
the dead foster-brother carries his sister to the apple close of the Celtic
paradise (_Barzaz Breiz_). Only in Brittany do the sad-hearted people think
of the land of death as an island of Avalon, with the eternal sunset
lingering behind the flowering apple trees, and gleaming on the fountain of
forgetfulness. In Scotland the channering worm doth chide even the souls
that come from where, "beside the gate of Paradise, the birk grows fair
enough." The Romaic idea of the place of the dead, the garden of Charon,
whence "neither in spring or summer, nor when grapes are gleaned in autumn,
can warrior or maiden escape," is likewise pre-Christian. In Provencal and
Danish folk-song, the cries of children ill-treated by a cruel step-mother
awaken the departed mother,--
"'Twas cold at night and the bairnies grat,
The mother below the mouls heard that."
She reappears in her old home, and henceforth, "when dogs howl in the
night, the step-mother trembles, and is kind to the children." To this
identity of superstition we may add the less tangible fact of identity of
tone. The ballads of Klephtic exploits in Greece match the Border songs of
Dick of the Cow and Kinmont Willie. The same simple delight of living
animates the short Greek _Scolia_ and their counterparts in France.
Everywhere in these happier climes, as in southern Italy, there are
snatches of popular verse that make but one song of rose trees, and apple
blossom, and the nightingale that sings for maidens loverless,--
"Il ne chante pas pour moi,
J'en ai un, Dieu merci,"
says the gay French refrain.
It would not be difficult to multiply instances of resemblance between the
different folk-songs of Europe; but enough has, perhaps, been said to
support the position that some of them are popular and primitive in the
same sense as _Maerchen_. They are composed by peoples of an early stage
who find, in a natural improvisation, a natural utterance of modulated and
rhythmic speech, the appropriate relief of their emotions, in moments of
high-wrought feeling or on solemn occasions. "Poesie" (as Puttenham well
says in his _Art of English Poesie_, 1589) "is more ancient than the
artificiall of the Greeks and Latines, and used of the savage and uncivill,
who were before all science and civilitie. This is proved by certificate of
merchants and travellers, who by late navigations have surveyed the whole
world, and discovered large countries, and wild people strange and savage,
affirming that the American, the Perusine, and the very Canniball do sing
and also say their highest and holiest matters in certain riming
versicles." In the same way Aristotle, discoursing of the origin of poetry,
says (_Poet_. c. iv.), [Greek: egennesan ten poiesin ek ton
autoschediasmaton] M. de la Villemarque in Brittany, M. Pitre in Italy,
Herr Ulrich in Greece, have described the process of improvisation, how it
grows out of the custom of dancing in large bands and accompanying the
figure of the dance with song. "If the people," says M. Pitre, "find out
who is the composer of a _canzone_, they will not sing it." Now in those
lands where a blithe peasant life still exists with its dances, like the
_kolos_ of Russia, we find ballads identical in many respects with those
which have died out of oral tradition in these islands. It is natural to
conclude that originally some of the British ballads too were first
improvised, and circulated in rustic dances. We learn from M. Bujeaud and
M. de Puymaigre in France, that all ballads there have their air or tune,
and that every dance has its own words, for if a new dance comes in,
perhaps a fashionable one from Paris, words are fitted to it. Is there any
trace of such an operatic, lyrical, dancing peasantry in austere Scotland?
We find it in Gawin Douglas's account of--
"Sic as we clepe wenches and damosels,
In gersy greens, wandering by spring wells,
Of bloomed branches, and flowers white and red,
Plettand their lusty chaplets for their head,
Some sang ring-sangs, dances, ledes, and rounds."
Now, ring-sangs are ballads, dancing songs; and _Young Tamlane_, for
instance, was doubtless once danced to, as we know it possessed an
appropriate air. Again, Fabyan, the chronicler (quoted by Ritson) says that
the song of triumph over Edward II., "was after many days sung _in dances_,
to the carols of the [v.03 p.0267] maidens and minstrels of Scotland." We
might quote the _Complaynt of Scotland_ to the same effect. "The shepherds,
and their wyvis sang mony other melodi sangs, ... than efter this sueit
celestial harmony, tha began to dance in ane ring." It is natural to
conjecture that, if we find identical ballads in Scotland, and in Greece
and Italy, and traces of identical customs--customs crushed by the
Reformation, by Puritanism, by modern so-called civilization,--the ballads
sprang out of the institution of dances, as they still do in warmer and
pleasanter climates. It may be supposed that legends on which the ballads
are composed, being found as they are from the White Sea to Cape Matapan,
are part of the stock of primitive folk-lore. Thus we have an immemorial
antiquity for the legends, and for the lyrical choruses in which their
musical rendering was improvised. We are still at a loss to discover the
possibly mythological germs of the legends; but, at all events, some
ballads may be claimed as distinctly popular, and, so to speak, impersonal
in matter and in origin. It would be easy to show that survivals out of
this stage of inartistic lyric poetry linger in the early epic poetry of
Homer and in the French _epopees_, and that the Greek drama sprang from the
sacred choruses of village vintagers. In the great early epics, as in
popular ballads, there is the same directness and simplicity, the same use
of recurring epithets, the "green grass," the "salt sea," the "shadowy
hills," the same repetition of speeches and something of the same barbaric
profusion in the use of gold and silver. But these resemblances must not
lead us into the mistake of supposing Homer to be a collection of ballads,
or that he can be properly translated into ballad metre. The _Iliad_ and
the _Odyssey_ are the highest form of an artistic epic, not composed by
piecing together ballads, but developed by a long series of noble [Greek:
aoidoi], for the benefit of the great houses which entertain them, out of
the method and materials of popular song.
We have here spoken mainly of romantic ballads, which retain in the refrain
a vestige of the custom of singing and dancing; of a period when "dance,
song and poetry itself began with a communal consent" (Gummere, _The
Beginnings of Poetry_, p. 93, 1901). The custom by which a singer in a
dancing-circle chants a few words, the dancers chiming in with the refrain,
is found by M. Junod among the tribes of Delagoa Bay (Junod, _Chantes et
contes des Ba Ronga_, 1897). Other instances are the Australian song-dances
(Siebert, in Howitt's _Native Tribes of South-East Australia_, Appendix
1904; and Dennett, _Folk-Lore of the Fiort_). We must not infer that even
among the aborigines of Australia song is entirely "communal." Known men,
inspired, they say, in dreams, or by the All Father, devise new forms of
song with dance, which are carried all over the country; and Mr Howitt
gives a few examples of individual lyric. The history of the much
exaggerated opinion that a whole people, as a people, composed its own
ballads is traced by Prof. Gummere in _The Beginnings of Poetry_, pp.
116-163. Some British ballads retain traces of the early dance-song, and
most are so far "communal" in that, as they stand, they have been modified
and interpolated by many reciters in various ages, and finally (in _The
Border Minstrelsy_) by Sir Walter Scott, and by hands much weaker than his
(see _The Young Tamlane_). There are cases in which the matter of a ballad
has been derived by a popular singer from medieval literary romance (as in
the Arthurian ballads), while the author of the romance again usually
borrowed, like Homer in the _Odyssey_, from popular _Maerchen_ of dateless
antiquity. It would be an error to suppose that most romantic folk-songs
are vulgarizations of literary romance--a view to which Mr Courthope, in
his _History of English Poetry_, and Mr Henderson in _The Border
Minstrelsy_ (1902), incline--and the opposite error would be to hold that
this process of borrowing from and vulgarization of literary medieval
romance never occurred. A good illustration of the true state of the case
will be found in Child's introduction to the ballad of _Young Beichan_.
Gaston Paris, a great authority, holds that early popular poetry is
"improvised and contemporary with its facts" (_Histoire poetique de
Charlemagne_). If this dictum be applied to such ballads as "The Bonny Earl
o' Murray," "Kinmont Willie," "Jamie Telfer" and "Jock o' the Side," it
must appear that the contemporary poets often knew little of the events and
knew that little wrong. We gather the true facts from contemporary letters
and despatches. In the ballads the facts are confused and distorted to such
a degree that we must suppose them to have been composed in a later
generation on the basis of erroneous oral tradition; or, as in the case of
_The Queen's Marie_, to have been later defaced by the fantastic
interpolations of reciters. To prove this it is only necessary to compare
the historical Border ballads (especially those of 1595-1600) with Bain's
_Border Papers_ (1894-1896). Even down to 1750, the ballads on Rob Roy's
sons are more or less mythopoeic. It seems probable that the existing form
of most of our border ballads is not earlier than the generation of
1603-1633, after the union of the crowns. Even when the ballads have been
taken from recitation, the reciter has sometimes been inspired by a "stall
copy," or printed broadsheet.
AUTHORITIES.--The indispensable book for the student of ballads is Child's
_English and Scottish Popular Ballads_, published in 1897-1898 (Boston,
U.S.A.). Professor Child unfortunately died without summing up his ideas in
a separate essay, and they must be sought in his introductions, which have
never been analysed. He did not give much attention to such materials for
the study of ancient poetry as exist copiously in anthropological
treatises. In knowledge of the ballads of all European peoples he was
unrivalled, and his bibliography of collections of ballads contains some
four hundred titles, (Child, vol. v., pp. 455-468). The most copious ballad
makers have been the Scots and English, the German, Slavic, Danish, French
and Italian peoples; for the Gaelic there is but one entry, Campbell of
Islay's _Lea har na Feinne_ (London, 1872). The general bibliography
occupies over sixty pages, and to this the reader must be referred, while
Prof. Gummere's book, _The Beginnings of Poetry_, is an adequate
introduction to the literature, mainly continental, of the ballad question,
which has received but scanty attention in England. For the relation of
ballad to epic there is no better guide than Comparetti's _The Kalewala_,
of which there is an English translation. For purely literary purposes the
best collection of ballads is Scott's _Border Minstrelsy_ in any complete
edition. The best critical modern edition is that of Mr T. F. Henderson;
his theory of ballad origins is not that which may be gathered from
Professor Child's introductions.
(A. L.)
BALLANCE, JOHN (1839-1893), New Zealand statesman, eldest son of Samuel
Ballance, farmer, of Glenavy, Antrim, Ulster, was born on the 27th of March
1839. He was educated at a national school, and, on leaving, was
apprenticed to an ironmonger at Belfast. He became a clerk in a wholesale
ironmonger's house in Birmingham, and migrated to New Zealand, intending to
start in business there as a small jeweller. After settling at Wanganui,
however, he took an opportunity, soon offered, of founding a newspaper, the
_Wanganui Herald_, of which he became editor and remained chief owner for
the rest of his life. During the fighting with the Maori chief Titokowaru,
in 1867, Ballance was concerned in the raising of a troop of volunteer
horse, in which he received a commission. Of this he was deprived owing to
the appearance in his newspaper of articles criticizing the management of
the campaign. He had, however, behaved well in the field, and, in spite of
his dismissal, was awarded the New Zealand war medal. He entered the
colony's parliament in 1875 and, with one interval (1881-1884), sat there
till his death. Ballance was a member of three ministries, that of Sir
George Grey (1877-1879); that of Sir Robert Stout (1884-1887); and that of
which he himself was premier (1891-1893). His alliance with Grey ended with
a notorious and very painful quarrel. In the Stout government his
portfolios were those of lands and native affairs; but it was at the
treasury that his prudent and successful finance made the chief mark. As
native minister his policy was pacific and humane, and in his last years he
contrived to adjust equitably certain long-standing difficulties relating
to reserved lands on the west coast of the North Island. He was resolutely
opposed to the sale of crown lands for cash, and advocated with effect
their disposal by perpetual lease. His system of state-aided "village
settlements," by which small farms were allotted to peasants holding by
lease from the crown, and money lent them to make a beginning of building
and cultivation, has been on the whole successful. To Ballance, also, was
due the law reducing the life-tenure of legislative councillors [v.03
p.0268] to one of seven years. He was actively concerned in the advocacy of
woman suffrage. But his best known achievement was the imposition, in 1891,
of the progressive land-tax and progressive income-tax still levied in the
colony. As premier he brought together the strong experimental and
progressive party which long held office in New Zealand. In office he
showed debating power, constructive skill and tact in managing men; but in
1893, at the height of his success and popularity, he died at Wellington of
an intestinal disease after a severe surgical operation. Quiet and
unassuming in manner, Ballance, who was a well-read man, always seemed
fonder of his books and his chessboard than of public bustle; yet his loss
to New Zealand political life was great. A statue was erected to his memory
in front of Parliament House, Wellington.
(W. P. R.)
BALLANCHE, PIERRE SIMON (1776-1847), French philosopher of the theocratic
school, was born at Lyons. Naturally delicate and highly-strung, he was
profoundly stirred by the horrors of the siege of Lyons. His sensitiveness
received a second blow in an unsuccessful love affair, which, however, he
bore with fortitude. He devoted himself to an examination of the nature of
society and his work brought him into connexion with the literary circle of
Chateaubriand and Madame Recamier. His great work is the _Palingenesie_,
which is divided into three parts, _L'orphee_, _La formule_, _La ville des
expiations_. The first deals with the prehistoric period of the world,
before the rise of religion; the second was to be an endeavour to deduce a
universal law from known historical facts; the third to sketch the ultimate
state of perfection to which humanity is moving. Of these the first alone
was completed, but fragments of the other parts exist. Perhaps the most
valuable part, of the work is the general introduction. His last work,
_Vision d'Hebal_, intended as part of the _Ville des expiations_, describes
the chief of a Scottish clan, who, gifted with second sight, gives
semi-prophetic utterances as to the course of world-history. In 1841
Ballanche was elected a member of the French Academy. He died in 1847. A
collected edition of his works in nine volumes was begun in 1830. Four only
appeared. In 1833 a second edition in six volumes was published. As a man,
Ballanche was warm-hearted and enthusiastic, but he was endowed with a
too-vivid imagination and his strange thoughts are expressed in equally
bizarre language. To give a connected account of his views is difficult;
their full development should be studied in relation with his life-history,
the stages of which are curiously parallel to his theory of the progress of
man, the fall, the trial, the perfection.
As has been said, he belonged to the theocratic school, who, in opposition
to the rationalism of the preceding age, emphasized the principle of
authority, placing revelation above individual reason, order above freedom
and progress. But Ballanche made a sincere endeavour to unite in one system
what was valuable in the opposed modes of thinking. He held with the
theocratists that individualism was an impracticable view; man, according
to him, exists only in and through society. He agreed further with them
that the origin of society was to be explained, not by human desire and
efforts, but by a direct revelation from God. Lastly, with De Bonald, he
reduced the problem of the origin of society to that of the origin of
language, and held that language was a divine gift. But at this point he
parts company with the theocratists, and in this very revelation of
language finds a germ of progress. Originally, in the primitive state of
man, speech and thought are identical; but gradually the two separate;
language is no longer only spoken, it is also written and finally is
printed. Thus the primitive unity is broken up; the original social order
which co-existed with, and was dependent on it, breaks up also. New
institutions spring up, upon which thought acts, and in and through which
it even draws nearer to a final unity, a _palingenesis_. The volition of
primitive man was one with that of God but it becomes broken up into
separate volitions which oppose themselves to the divine will, and through
the oppositions and trials of this world work onward to a second and
completer harmony. Humanity, therefore, passes through three stages, the
fall from perfection, the period of trial and the final re-birth or return
to perfection. In the dim records of mythical times may be traced the
obscure outlines of primitive society and of its fall. Actual history
exhibits the conflict of two great principles, which may be said to be
realized in the patricians and plebeians of Rome. Such a distinction of
caste is regarded by Ballanche as the original state of historical society;
and history, as a whole, he considers to have followed the same course as
that taken by the Roman plebs in its attempts to attain equality with the
patriciate. On the events through which the human race is to achieve its
destiny Ballanche gives few intelligible hints. The sudden flash which
disclosed to the eyes of Hebal the whole epic of humanity cannot be
reproduced in language trammelled by time and space. Scattered throughout
the works of Ballanche are many valuable ideas on the connexion of events
which makes possible a philosophy of history; but his own theory does not
seem likely to find more favour than it has already received. Besides the
_Palingenesie_, Ballanche wrote a poem on the siege at Lyons (unpublished);
_Du sentiment considere dans la litterature et dans les arts_ (1801);
_Antigone_, a prose poem (1814); _Essai sur les institutions sociales_
(1818), intended as a prelude to his great work; _Le Vieillard et le jeune
homme_, a philosophical dialogue (1819); _L'Homme sans nom_, a novel
(1820).
See Ampere, _Ballanche_ (Paris, 1848); Ste Beuve, _Portraits
contemporains_, vol. ii.; Damiron, _Philosophie de XIX^e siecle_; Eugene
Blum, "Essai sur Ballanche" (in _Critique Philos._, 30th June 1887); Gaston
Frainnet, _Essai sur la philos de P. S. Ballanche_ (Paris, 1903, containing
unpublished letters, portraits and full bibliography); C. Huit, _La Vie et
les oeuvres de Ballanche_ (1904). An admirable analysis of the works
composing the _Palingenesie_ is given by Barchou, _Revue des deux mondes_
(1831), t. 2. pp. 410-456.
BALLANTINE, WILLIAM (1812-1887), English serjeant-at-law, was born in
London on the 3rd of January 1812, being the son of a London
police-magistrate. He was educated at St Paul's school, and called to the
bar in 1834. He began in early life a varied acquaintance with dramatic and
literary society, and his experience, combined with his own pushing
character and acute intellect, helped to obtain for him very soon a large
practice, particularly in criminal cases. He became known as a formidable
cross-examiner, his great rival being Serjeant Parry (1816-1880). The three
great cases of his career were his successful prosecution of the murderer
Franz Mueller in 1864, his skilful defence of the Tichborne claimant in
1871 and his defence of the gaekwar of Baroda in 1875, his fee in this last
case being one of the largest ever known. Ballantine became a
serjeant-at-law in 1856. He died at Margate on the 9th of January 1887,
having previously published more than one volume of reminiscences. Serjeant
Ballantine's private life was decidedly Bohemian; and though he earned
large sums, he died very poor.
BALLANTYNE, ROBERT MICHAEL (1825-1894), Scottish writer of fiction, was
born at Edinburgh on the 24th of April 1825, and came of the same family as
the famous printers and publishers. When sixteen years of age he went to
Canada and was for six years in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company. He
returned to Scotland in 1847, and next year published his first book,
_Hudson's Bay: or, Life in the Wilds of North America_. For some time he
was employed by Messrs Constable, the publishers, but in 1856 he gave up
business for the profession of literature, and began the series of
excellent stories of adventure for the young with which his name is
popularly associated. _The Young Fur-Traders_ (1856), _The Coral Island_
(1857), _The World of Ice_ (1859), _Ungava: a Tale of Eskimo Land_ (1857),
_The Dog Crusoe_ (1860), _The Lighthouse_ (1865), _Deep Down_ (1868), _The
Pirate City_ (1874), _Erling the Bold_ (1869), _The Settler and the Savage_
(1877), and other books, to the number of upwards of a hundred, followed in
regular succession, his rule being in every case to write as far as
possible from personal knowledge of the scenes he described. His stories
had the merit of being thoroughly healthy in tone and possessed
considerable graphic force. Ballantyne was also no mean artist, and
exhibited some of his water-colours at the Royal Scottish Academy. He lived
in later years at Harrow, and died on the 8th of February 1894, at Rome,
where he had gone to attempt to shake off the results of overwork. He wrote
a volume of _Personal Reminiscences of Book-making_ (1893).
BALLARAT [BALLAARAT] and BALLARAT EAST, a city and a town of Grenville
county, Victoria, Australia, 74 m. by rail W.N.W. of Melbourne. The city
and Ballarat East, separated only by the Yarrowee Creek, are distinct
municipalities. Pop. of Ballarat (1901) 25,448, of Ballarat East, 18,262.
Ballarat is the second city and the chief gold-mining centre of the state.
The alluvial gold-fields were the richest ever opened up, but as these
deposits have become exhausted the quartz reefs at deep levels have been
exploited, and several mines are worked at depths exceeding 2000 ft. The
city is the seat of Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops. It has a number of
admirable public buildings, while, among several parks and recreation
grounds, mention must be made of the fine botanical garden, 750 acres in
extent, [v.03 p.0269] where, in Lake Wendouree, pisciculture is carried on
with great success. The school of mines is the most important in Australia
and is affiliated to the university of Melbourne. Ballarat is an important
railway centre and its industries include woollen-milling, brewing,
iron-founding, flour-milling and distilling. Owing to its elevation of 1438
ft. it has an exceptionally cool and healthy climate. Although the district
is principally devoted to mining it is well adapted for sheep-farming, and
some of the finest wool in the world is produced near Ballarat. The
existence of the towns is due to the heavy immigration which followed upon
the discovery of the gold-fields in 1851. In 1854, in their resistance of
an arbitrary tax, the miners came into armed conflict with the authorities;
but a commission was appointed to investigate their grievances; and a
charter was granted to the town in 1855. In 1870 Ballarat was raised to the
rank of a city.
BALLAST (O. Swed. _barlast_, perhaps from _bar_, bare or mere, and _last_,
load), heavy material, such as gravel, stone or metal, placed in the hold
of a ship in order to immerse her sufficiently to give adequate stability.
In botany "ballast-plants" are so-called because they have been introduced
into countries in which they are not indigenous through their seeds being
carried in such ballast. A ship "in ballast" is one which carries no paying
cargo. In modern vessels the place of ballast is taken by water-tanks which
are filled more or less as required to trim the ship. The term is also
applied to materials like gravel, broken slag, burnt clay, &c., used to
form the bed in which the sleepers or ties of a railway track are laid, and
also to the sand which a balloonist takes up with him, in order that, by
throwing portions of it out of the car from time to time, he may lighten
his balloon when he desires to rise to a higher level.
BALLATER (Gaelic for "the town on a sloping hill"), a village in the parish
of Glenmuick, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, 670 ft. above the sea, on the left
bank of the Dee, here crossed by a fine bridge, 43-1/4 m. by rail W. by S.
of Aberdeen. It is the terminus of the Deeside railway and the station for
Balmoral, 9 m. to the W. Founded in 1770 to provide accommodation for the
visitors to the mineral wells of Pannanich, 1-1/2 m. to the E., it has
since become a popular summer resort. It contains the Albert Memorial Hall
and the barracks for the sovereign's bodyguard, used when the king is in
residence at Balmoral. Red granite is the chief building material of the
houses. Ballatrich farm, where Byron spent part of his boyhood, lies some 4
m. to the E. Ballater has a mean temperature of 44.6deg F., and an average
annual rainfall of 33.4 in.
BALLENSTEDT, a town of Germany, in the duchy of Anhalt, on the river Getel,
20 m. E. of Quedlinburg by rail. Pop. (1900) 5423. It is pleasantly
situated under the north-eastern declivity of the Harz mountains. The
inhabitants are mostly engaged in agriculture and there is practically no
other industry. The palace of the dukes of Anhalt, standing on an eminence,
contains a library and collections of various kinds, including a good
picture gallery. It is approached by a fine avenue of trees and is
surrounded by a well-wooded park. In the Schlosskirche the grave of Albert
the Bear, margrave of Brandenburg (1100-1170) has been discovered.
BALLET, a performance in which dancing, music and pantomime are involved.
Originally derived from the (Sicilian) Gr. [Greek: ballizein], to dance,
the word has passed through the Med. Lat. _ballare_ (with _ballator_ as
synonymous with _saltator_) to the Ital. _ballare_ and _ballata_, to the
Fr. _ballet_, to the O. Eng. word _ballette_, and to _ballad_. In O. Fr.,
according to Rousseau, _ballet_ signifies "to dance, to sing, to rejoice";
and thus it incorporates three distinct modern words, "ballet, ball and
ballad." Through the gradual changes in the amusements of different ages,
the meaning of the first two words has at length become limited to dancing,
and the third is now confined to singing. But, although ballads are no
longer the vocal accompaniments to dances round the maypole, old ballads
are still sung to dance tunes. The present acceptation of the word _ballet_
is--a theatrical representation in which a story is told only by gesture,
accompanied by music, which should be characterized by stronger emphasis
than would be employed with the voice. The dancing should be connected with
the story but is more commonly incidental. The French word was found to be
so comprehensive as to require further definition, and thus the
above-described would be distinguished as the _ballet d'action_ or
pantomime ballet, while a single scene, such as that of a village festival
with its dances, would now be termed a _divertissement_.
The _ballet d'action_, to which the changed meaning of the word is to be
ascribed, and therewith the introduction of modern ballet, has been
generally attributed to the 15th century. Novelty of entertainment was then
sought for in the splendid courts of Italy, in order to celebrate events
which were thought great in their time, such as the marriages of princes,
or the triumphs of their arms. Invention was on the rack for novelty, and
the skill of the machinist was taxed to the utmost. It has been supposed
that the art of the old Roman _pantomimi_ was then revived, to add to the
attractions of court-dances. Under the Roman empire the _pantomimi_ had
represented either a mythological story, or perhaps a scene from a Greek
tragedy, by mute gestures, while a chorus, placed in the background, sang
_cantica_ to narrate the fable, or to describe the action of the scene. The
question is whether mute pantomimic action, which is the essence of modern
ballet, was carried through those court entertainments, in which kings,
queens, princes and princesses, took parts with the courtiers; or whether
it is of later growth, and derived from professional dances upon the stage.
The former is the general opinion, but the court entertainments of Italy
and France were masques or masks which included declamation and song, like
those of Ben Jonson with Inigo Jones for the court of James I.
The earliest modern ballet on record was that given by Bergonzio di Botta
at Tortona to celebrate the marriage of the duke of Milan in 1489. The
ballet, like other forms of dancing, was developed and perfected in France;
it is closely associated with the history of the opera; but in England it
came much later than the opera, for it was not introduced until the 18th
century, and in the first Italian operas given in London there was no
ballet. During the regency of Lord Middlesex a ballet-master was appointed
and a _corps_ of dancers formed. The ballet has had three distinct stages
in its development. For a long time it was to be found only at the court,
when princely entertainments were given to celebrate great occasions. At
that time ladies of the highest rank performed in the ballet and spent much
time in practising and perfecting themselves for it. Catherine de'Medici
introduced these entertainments into France and spent large sums of money
on devising performances to distract her son's attention from the affairs
of the state. Baltasarini, otherwise known as Beaujoyeulx, was the composer
of a famous entertainment given by Catherine in 1581 called the "Ballet
Comique de la Reyne." This marks an era in the history of the opera and
ballet, for we find here for the first time dance and music arranged for
the display of coherent dramatic ideas. Henry IV., Louis XIII. and XIV.
were all lovers of the ballet and performed various characters in them, and
Richelieu used the ballet as an instrument for the expression of political
purposes. Lully was the first to make an art of the composition of ballet
music and he was the first to insist on the admission of women as ballet
dancers, feminine characters having hitherto been assumed by men dressed as
women. When Louis XIV. became too fat to dance, the ballet at court became
unpopular and thus was ended the first stage of its development. It was
then adopted in the colleges at prize distributions and other occasions,
when the ballets of Lully and Quinault were commonly performed. The third
period in the history of the ballet was marked by its appearance on the
stage, where it has remained ever since. It should be added that up till
the third period dramatic poems had accompanied the ballet and the dramatic
meaning was helped out with speech and song; but with the advent of the
third period speech disappeared and the purely pantomime performance, or
_ballet d'action_, was instituted.
The father of ballet dancing as we know it at the present day was Jean
Georges Noverre (_q.v._). The _ballet d'action_ was really invented by him;
in fact, the ballet has never advanced beyond the stage to which he brought
it; it has rather gone back. The [v.03 p.0270] essence of Noverre's theory
was that mere display was not enough to ensure interest and life for the
ballet; and some years ago Sir Augustus Harris expressed a similar opinion
when he was asked wherein lay the reason of the decadence of the modern
ballet. Noverre brought to a high degree of perfection the art of
presenting a story by means of pantomime, and he never allowed dancing
which was not the direct expression of a particular attitude of mind. Apart
from Noverre, the greatest ballet-master was undoubtedly Gaetano Apolline
Balthazare Vestris (_q.v._), who modestly called himself _le dieu de la
danse_, and was, indeed, the finest male dancer that Europe ever produced.
Gluck composed _Iphigenie en Aulide_ in conjunction with Vestris. In 1750
the two greatest dancers of the day performed together in Paris in a
ballet-opera called _Leandre et Hero_; the dancers were Vestris and Madame
Camargo (_q.v._), who introduced short skirts in the ballet.
The word "balette" was first used in the English language by Dryden in
1667, and the first descriptive ballet seen in London was _The Tavern
Bilkers_, which was played at Drury Lane in 1702. Since then the ballet in
England has been purely exotic and has merely followed on the lines of
French developments. The palmy days of the ballet in England were in the
first half of the 19th century, when a royal revenue was spent on the
maintenance of this fashionable attraction. Some famous dancers of this
period were Carlotta Grisi, Mdlle Taglioni (who is said to have turned the
heads of an entire generation), Fanny Elssler, Mdlle Cerito, Miss P.
Horton, Miss Lucile Grahn and Mdlle Carolina Rosati. In later years Kate
Vaughan was a remarkably graceful dancer of a new type in England, and, in
Sir Augustus Harris's opinion, she did much to elevate the modern art. She
was the first to make skirt-dancing popular, although that achievement will
not be regarded as an unmixed benefit by every student of the art.
Skirt-dancing, in itself a beautiful exhibition, is a departure from true
dancing in the sense that the steps are of little importance in it; and we
have seen its development extend to a mere exhibition of whirling draperies
under many-coloured lime-lights. The best known of Miss Vaughan's disciples
and imitators (each of whom has contributed something to the art on her own
account) were Miss Sylvia Grey and Miss Letty Lind. Of the older and
classical school of ballet-dancing Adeline Genee became in London the
finest exponent. But ballet-dancing, affected by a tendency in modern
entertainment to make less and less demands on the intelligence and
intellectual appreciation of the public, and more and more demands on the
eye--the sense most easily affected--has gradually developed into a
spectacle, the chief interest of which is quite independent of dancing.
Thousands of pounds are spent on dressing a small army of women who do
little but march about the stage and group themselves in accordance with
some design of colour and mass; and no more is asked of the intelligence
than to believe that a ballet dressed, for example, in military uniform is
a compliment to or glorification of the army. Only a few out of hundreds of
members of the _corps de ballet_ are really dancers and they perform
against a background of colour afforded by the majority. It seems unlikely
that we shall see any revival of the best period and styles of dancing
until a higher standard of grace and manners becomes fashionable in
society. With the constantly increasing abolition of ceremony, courtliness
of manner is bound to diminish; and only in an atmosphere of ceremony,
courtesy and chivalry can the dance maintain itself in perfection.
LITERATURE.--One of the most complete books on the ballet is by the Jesuit,
Claude Francois Menestrier, _Des ballets anciens et modernes_, 12mo (1682).
He was the inventor of a ballet for Louis XIV. in 1658; and in his book he
analyses about fifty of the early Italian and French ballets. See also
Noverre, _Lettres sur la danse_ (1760; new ed. 1804); Castel-Blaze, _La
Danse et les ballets_ (1832), and _Les Origines de l'opera_ (1869).
BALL-FLOWER, an architectural ornament in the form of a ball inserted in
the cup of a flower, which came into use in the latter part of the 13th,
and was in great vogue in the early part of the 14th century. It is
generally placed in rows at equal distances in the hollow of a moulding,
frequently by the sides of mullions. The earliest known is said to be in
the west part of Salisbury cathedral, where it is mixed with the tooth
ornament. It seems to have been used more and more frequently, till at
Gloucester cathedral, in the south side, it is in profusion.
BALLIA, a town and district of British India, in the Benares division of
the United Provinces. The town is situated on the left bank of the Ganges,
below the confluence of the lesser Sarju. It is really an aggregation of
rural villages. Pop. (1901) 15,278.
The district of Ballia, constituted in 1879, occupies an angle at the
junction of the Gogra with the Ganges, being bordered by two districts of
Behar. It contains an area of 1245 sq. m. Owing to the great pressure on
the soil from the density of the population, to the reluctance to part with
land characteristic of small proprietors, to the generally great
productiveness of land and to the very light assessment of government
revenue, land in Ballia, for agricultural purposes merely, has a market
value higher than in almost any other district. It commonly brings in Rs.
200 per bigha, or L20 per acre, and sometimes double that figure. In 1901
the population was 987,768, showing a decrease of 5% in the decade. The
principal crops are rice, barley, other food-grains, pulse, sugar-cane and
opium. There are practically no manufactures, except that of sugar. Trade
is carried on largely by way of the two bordering rivers.
BALLINA, a seaport and market-town of county Mayo, Ireland, in the north
parliamentary division, on the left bank of the river Moy, with a station
on the Killala branch of the Midland Great Western railway. Pop. of urban
district (1901) 4505. Across the river, and therefore in county Sligo, is
the suburb of Ardnaree, connected with Ballina by two bridges. In Ardnaree
is the Roman Catholic cathedral (diocese of Killala), with an east window
of Munich glass, and the ruins of an Augustinian abbey (1427) adjoining.
There is a Roman Catholic diocesan college and the Protestant parish church
is also in Ardnaree. A convent was erected in 1867. In trade and population
Ballina is the first town in the county. The salmon-fishery and fish-curing
are important branches of its trade; and it has also breweries and
flour-mills and manufactures snuff and coarse linen. On the 25th of August
1798, Ballina was entered by the French under General Humbert, marching
from their landing-place at Killala. In the neighbourhood there is the
interesting cromlech of the four Maels, which, if actually erected over the
criminals whose name it bears, is proved by the early annals of Ireland to
belong to the 7th century A.D. Their story relates that these men,
foster-brothers of Cellach, bishop of Kilmore-Moy, murdered him at the
instigation of Guaire Aidhne, king of Connaught, but were themselves
executed at Ardnare (_Ard-na-riaghadh_, the hill of the executions) by the
bishop's brother. The Moy is a notable salmon river for rod-fishing and its
tributaries and the neighbouring lakes contain trout.
BALLINASLOE, a market town of county Galway, Ireland, in the east
parliamentary division, 91 m. W. of Dublin, on the Midland Great Western
main line. Pop. of urban district (1901) 4904. The river Suck, an affluent
of the Shannon, divides it into two parts, of which the eastern was in
county Roscommon until 1898. The town contains remains of a castle of
Elizabethan date. Industries include brewing, flour-milling, tanning,
hat-making and carriage-building. Trade is assisted by water-communication
through the Grand canal to the Shannon. The town is widely celebrated for
its great annual cattle-fair held in October, at which vast numbers of
cattle and sheep are offered or sale. Adjoining the town is Garbally
Castle, the seat of the earl of Clancarty, into the demesne of which the
great fair extends from the town.
BALLISTICS (from the Gr. [Greek: ballein], to throw), the science of
throwing warlike missiles or projectiles. It is now divided into two
parts:--_Exterior Ballistics_, in which the motion of the projectile is
considered after it has received its initial impulse, when the projectile
is moving freely under the influence of gravity and the resistance of the
air, and it is required to determine the circumstances so as to hit a
certain object, with a view to its destruction or perforation; and
_Interior Ballistics_, in which the pressure of the powder-gas is analysed
in the bore [v.03 p.0271] of the gun, and the investigation is carried out
of the requisite charge of powder to secure the initial velocity of the
projectile without straining the gun unduly. The calculation of the stress
in the various parts of the gun due to the powder pressure is dealt with in
the article ORDNANCE.
I. EXTERIOR BALLISTICS.
In the ancient theory due to Galileo, the resistance of the air is ignored,
and, as shown in the article on MECHANICS (s. 13), the trajectory is now a
_parabola_. But this theory is very far from being of practical value for
most purposes of gunnery; so that a first requirement is an accurate
experimental knowledge of the resistance of the air to the projectiles
employed, at all velocities useful in artillery. The theoretical
assumptions of Newton and Euler (_hypotheses magis mathematicae quam
naturales_) of a resistance varying as some simple power of the velocity,
for instance, as the square or cube of the velocity (the quadratic or cubic
law), lead to results of great analytical complexity, and are useful only
for provisional extrapolation at high or low velocity, pending further
experiment.
The foundation of our knowledge of the resistance of the air, as employed
in the construction of ballistic tables, is the series of experiments
carried out between 1864 and 1880 by the Rev. F. Bashforth, B.D. (_Report
on the Experiments made with the Bashforth Chronograph_, &c., 1865-1870;
_Final Report_, &c., 1878-1880; _The Bashforth Chronograph_, Cambridge,
1890). According to these experiments, the resistance of the air can be
represented by no simple algebraical law over a large range of velocity.
Abandoning therefore all a priori theoretical assumption, Bashforth set to
work to measure experimentally the velocity of shot and the resistance of
the air by means of equidistant electric screens furnished with vertical
threads or wire, and by a chronograph which measured the instants of time
at which the screens were cut by a shot flying nearly horizontally.
Formulae of the calculus of finite differences enable us from the
chronograph records to infer the velocity and retardation of the shot, and
thence the resistance of the air.
As a first result of experiment it was found that the resistance of similar
shot was proportional, at the same velocity, to the surface or cross
section, or square of the diameter. The resistance R can thus be divided
into two factors, one of which is d^2, where d denotes the diameter of the
shot in inches, and the other factor is denoted by p, where p is the
resistance in pounds at the same velocity to a similar 1-in. projectile;
thus R = d^2p, and the value of p, for velocity ranging from 1600 to 2150
ft. per second (f/s) is given in the second column of the extract from the
abridged ballistic table below.
These values of p refer to a standard density of the air, of 534.22 grains
per cubic foot, which is the density of dry air at sea-level in the
latitude of Greenwich, at a temperature of 62deg F. and a barometric height
of 30 in.
But in consequence of the humidity of the climate of England it is better
to suppose the air to be (on the average) two-thirds saturated with aqueous
vapour, and then the standard temperature will be reduced to 60deg F., so
as to secure the same standard density; the density of the air being
reduced perceptibly by the presence of the aqueous vapour.
It is further assumed, as the result of experiment, that the resistance is
proportional to the density of the air; so that if the standard density
changes from unity to any other relative density denoted by [tau], then R =
[tau]d^2p, and [tau] is called the _coefficient of tenuity_.
The factor [tau] becomes of importance in long range high angle fire, where
the shot reaches the higher attenuated strata of the atmosphere; on the
other hand, we must take [tau] about 800 in a calculation of shooting under
water.
The resistance of the air is reduced considerably in modern projectiles by
giving them a greater length and a sharper point, and by the omission of
projecting studs, a factor [kappa], called the _coefficient of shape_,
being introduced to allow for this change.
For a projectile in which the ogival head is struck with a radius of 2
diameters, Bashforth puts [kappa] = 0.975; on the other hand, for a
flat-headed projectile, as required at proof-butts, [kappa] = 1.8, say 2 on
the average.
For spherical shot [kappa] is not constant, and a separate ballistic table
must be constructed; but [kappa] may be taken as 1.7 on the average.
Lastly, to allow for the superior centering of the shot obtainable with the
breech-loading system, Bashforth introduces a factor [sigma], called the
_coefficient of steadiness_.
This steadiness may vary during the flight of the projectile, as the shot
may be unsteady for some distance after leaving the muzzle, afterwards
steadying down, like a spinning-top. Again, [sigma] may increase as the gun
wears out, after firing a number of rounds.
Collecting all the coefficients, [tau], [kappa], [sigma], into one, we put
(1) R = nd^2p = nd^2f(v), where
(2) n = [kappa] [sigma] [tau],
and n is called the _coefficient of reduction_.
By means of a well-chosen value of n, determined by a few experiments, it
is possible, pending further experiment, with the most recent design, to
utilize Bashforth's experimental results carried out with old-fashioned
projectiles fired from muzzle-loading guns. For instance, n = 0.8 or even
less is considered a good average for the modern rifle bullet.
Starting with the experimental values of p, for a standard projectile,
fired under standard conditions in air of standard density, we proceed to
the construction of the ballistic table. We first determine the time t in
seconds required for the velocity of a shot, d inches in diameter and
weighing w lb, to fall from any initial velocity V(f/s) to any final
velocity v(f/s). The shot is supposed to move horizontally, and the curving
effect of gravity is ignored.
If [Delta]t seconds is the time during which the resistance of the air, R
lb, causes the velocity of the shot to fall [Delta]v (f/s), so that the
velocity drops from v+1/2[Delta]v to v-1/2[Delta]v in passing through the
mean velocity v, then
(3) R[Delta]t = loss of momentum in second-pounds,
= w(v+1/2[Delta]v)/g - w(v-1/2[Delta]v)/g = w[Delta]v/g
so that with the value of R in (1),
(4) [Delta]t = w[Delta]v/nd^2pg.
We put
(5) w/nd^2 = C,
and call C the ballistic coefficient (driving power) of the shot, so that
(6) [Delta]t = C[Delta]T, where
(7) [Delta]T = [Delta]v/gp,
and [Delta]T is the time in seconds for the velocity to drop [Delta]v of
the standard shot for which C=1, and for which the ballistic table is
calculated.
Since p is determined experimentally and tabulated as a function of v, the
velocity is taken as the argument of the ballistic table; and taking
[Delta]v = 10, the average value of p in the interval is used to determine
[Delta]T.
Denoting the value of T at any velocity v by T(v), then
(8) T(v) = sum of all the preceding values of [Delta]T plus an
arbitrary constant, expressed by the notation
(9) T(v) = [Sum]([Delta]v)/gp + a constant, or [Integral]dv/gp + a
constant, in which p is supposed known as a function of v.
The constant may be any arbitrary number, as in using the table the
difference only is required of two tabular values for an initial velocity V
and final velocity v and thus
(10) T(V) - T(v) = [Sum,v:V][Delta]v/gp or [Integral,v:V]dv/gp;
and for a shot whose ballistic coefficient is C
(11) t = C[T(V) - T(v)].
To save the trouble of proportional parts the value of T(v) for unit
increment of v is interpolated in a full-length extended ballistic table
for T.
Next, if the shot advances a distance [Delta]s ft. in the time [Delta]t,
during which the velocity falls from v+1/2[Delta]v to v-1/2[Delta]v, we
have
(12) R[Delta]s = loss of kinetic energy in foot-pounds
=w(v+1/2[Delta]v)^2/g - w(v-1/2[Delta]v)^2/g = wv[Delta]v/g,
so that
(13) [Delta]s = wv[Delta]v/nd^2pg = C[Delta]S, where
(14) [Delta]S = v[Delta]v/gp = v[Delta]T,
and [Delta]S is the advance in feet of a shot for which C=1, while the
velocity falls [Delta]v in passing through the average velocity v.
Denoting by S(v) the sum of all the values of [Delta]S up to any assigned
velocity v,
(15) S(v) = [Sum]([Delta]S) + a constant, by which S(v) is calculated
from [Delta]S, and then between two assigned velocities V and v,
(16) S(V) - S(v) = [Sum,v:V][Delta]T = [Sum]v[Delta]v/gp or
[Integral,v:V]vdv/gp,
and if s feet is the advance of a shot whose ballistic coefficient is C,
(17) s = C[S(V) - S(v)].
In an extended table of S, the value is interpolated for unit increment of
velocity.
A third table, due to Sir W. D. Niven, F.R.S., called the _degree_ table,
determines the change of direction of motion of the shot while the velocity
changes from V to v, the shot flying nearly horizontally.
To explain the theory of this table, suppose the tangent at the point of
the trajectory, where the velocity is v, to make an angle i radians with
the horizon.
Resolving normally in the trajectory, and supposing the resistance of the
air to act tangentially,
(18) v(di/dt) = g cos i,
where di denotes the infinitesimal _decrement_ of i in the infinitesimal
increment of time dt_.
[v.03 p.0272] In a problem of direct fire, where the trajectory is flat
enough for cos i to be undistinguishable from unity, equation (16) becomes
(19) v(di/dt) = g, or di/dt = g/v;
so that we can put
(20) [Delta]i/[Delta]t = g/v
if v denotes the mean velocity during the small finite interval of time
[Delta]t, during which the direction of motion of the shot changes through
[Delta]i radians.
If the inclination or change of inclination in degrees is denoted by
[delta] or [Delta][delta],
(21) [delta]/180 = i/[pi], so that
(22) [Delta][delta] = 180/[pi] [Delta]i = 180g/[pi] [Delta]t/v;
and if [delta] and i change to D and I for the standard projectile,
(23) [Delta]I = g [Delta]T/v = [Delta]v/vp,
[Delta]D = 180g/[pi] [Delta]T/v, and
(24) I(V) - I(v) = [Sum,v:V][Delta]v/vp or [Integral,v:V]dv/vp,
D(V) - D(v) = 180/[pi] [I(V) - I(v)].
The differences [Delta]D and [Delta]I are thus calculated, while the values
of D(v) and I(v) are obtained by summation with the arithmometer, and
entered in their respective columns.
For some purposes it is preferable to retain the circular measure, i
radians, as being undistinguishable from sin i and tan i when i is small as
in direct fire.
The last function A, called the _altitude function_, will be explained when
high angle fire is considered.
These functions, T, S, D, I, A, are shown numerically in the following
extract from an abridged ballistic table, in which the velocity is taken as
the argument and proceeds by an increment of 10 f/s; the column for p is
the one determined by experiment, and the remaining columns follow by
calculation in the manner explained above. The initial values of T, S, D,
I, A must be accepted as belonging to the anterior portion of the table.
In any region of velocity where it is possible to represent p with
sufficient accuracy by an empirical formula composed of a single power of
v, say v^m, the integration can be effected which replaces the summation in
(10), (16), and (24); and from an analysis of the Krupp experiments Colonel
Zabudski found the most appropriate index m in a region of velocity as
given in the following table, and the corresponding value of gp, denoted by
f(v) or v^m/k or its equivalent Cr, where r is the retardation.
ABRIDGED BALLISTIC TABLE.
-----+--------+-------+---------+-------+----------+-------+--------
v. | p. [Delta]T.| T. [Delta]S.| S. [Delta]D.| D.
-----+--------+-------+---------+-------+----------+-------+--------
f/s | | | | | | |
1600 | 11.416 | .0271 | 27.5457 | 43.47 | 18587.00 | .0311 | 49.7729
1610 | 11.540 | .0268 | 27.5728 | 43.27 | 18630.47 | .0306 | 49.8040
1620 | 11.662 | .0265 | 27.5996 | 43.08 | 18673.74 | .0301 | 49.8346
1630 | 11.784 | .0262 | 27.6261 | 42.90 | 18716.82 | .0296 | 49.8647
| | | | | | |
1640 | 11.909 | .0260 | 27.6523 | 42.72 | 18759.72 | .0291 | 49.8943
1650 | 12.030 | .0257 | 27.6783 | 42.55 | 18802.44 | .0287 | 49.9234
1660 | 12.150 | .0255 | 27.7040 | 42.39 | 18844.99 | .0282 | 49.9521
1670 | 12.268 | .0252 | 27.7295 | 42.18 | 18887.38 | .0277 | 49.9803
| | | | | | |
1680 | 12.404 | .0249 | 27.7547 | 41.98 | 18929.56 | .0273 | 50.0080
1690 | 12.536 | .0247 | 27.7796 | 41.78 | 18971.54 | .0268 | 50.0353
1700 | 12.666 | .0244 | 27.8043 | 41.60 | 19013.32 | .0264 | 50.0621
1710 | 12.801 | .0242 | 27.8287 | 41.41 | 19054.92 | .0260 | 50.0885
| | | | | | |
1720 | 12.900 | .0239 | 27.8529 | 41.23 | 19096.33 | .0256 | 50.1145
1730 | 13.059 | .0237 | 27.8768 | 41.06 | 19137.56 | .0252 | 50.1401
1740 | 13.191 | .0234 | 27.9005 | 40.90 | 19178.62 | .0248 | 50.1653
1750 | 13.318 | .0232 | 27.9239 | 40.69 | 19219.52 | .0244 | 50.1901
| | | | | | |
1760 | 13.466 | .0230 | 27.9471 | 40.53 | 19260.21 | .0240 | 50.2145
1770 | 13.591 | .0227 | 27.9701 | 40.33 | 19300.74 | .0236 | 50.2385
1780 | 13.733 | .0225 | 27.9928 | 40.19 | 19341.07 | .0233 | 50.2621
1790 | 13.862 | .0223 | 28.0153 | 40.00 | 19381.26 | .0229 | 50.2854
| | | | | | |
1800 | 14.002 | .0221 | 28.0376 | 39.81 | 19421.26 | .0225 | 50.3083
1810 | 14.149 | .0219 | 28.0597 | 39.68 | 19461.07 | .0222 | 50.3308
1820 | 14.269 | .0217 | 28.0816 | 39.51 | 19500.75 | .0219 | 50.3530
1830 | 14.414 | .0214 | 28.1033 | 39.34 | 19540.26 | .0216 | 50.3749
| | | | | | |
1840 | 14.552 | .0212 | 28.1247 | 39.17 | 19579.60 | .0212 | 50.3965
1850 | 14.696 | .0210 | 28.1459 | 39.01 | 19618.77 | .0209 | 50.4177
1860 | 14.832 | .0209 | 28.1669 | 38.90 | 19657.78 | .0206 | 50.4386
1870 | 14.949 | .0207 | 28.1878 | 38.75 | 19696.68 | .0203 | 50.4592
| | | | | | |
1880 | 15.090 | .0205 | 28.2085 | 38.61 | 19735.43 | .0200 | 50.4795
1890 | 15.224 | .0203 | 28.2290 | 38.46 | 19774.04 | .0198 | 50.4995
1900 | 15.364 | .0201 | 28.2493 | 38.32 | 19812.50 | .0195 | 50.5193
1910 | 15.496 | .0199 | 28.2694 | 38.19 | 19850.82 | .0192 | 50.5388
| | | | | | |
1920 | 15.656 | .0197 | 28.2893 | 38.01 | 19889.01 | .0189 | 50.5580
1930 | 15.809 | .0196 | 28.3090 | 37.83 | 19927.02 | .0186 | 50.5769
1940 | 15.968 | .0194 | 28.3286 | 37.66 | 19964.85 | .0184 | 50.5955
1950 | 16.127 | .0192 | 28.3480 | 37.48 | 20002.51 | .0181 | 50.6139
| | | | | | |
1960 | 16.302 | .0190 | 28.3672 | 37.26 | 20039.99 | .0178 | 50.6320
1970 | 16.484 | .0187 | 28.3862 | 36.99 | 20077.25 | .0175 | 50.6498
1980 | 16.689 | .0185 | 28.4049 | 36.73 | 20114.24 | .0172 | 50.6673
1990 | 16.888 | .0183 | 28.4234 | 36.47 | 20150.97 | .0169 | 50.6845
| | | | | | |
2000 | 17.096 | .0181 | 28.4417 | 36.21 | 20187.44 | .0166 | 50.7014
2010 | 17.305 | .0178 | 28.4598 | 35.95 | 20223.65 | .0163 | 50.7180
2020 | 17.515 | .0176 | 28.4776 | 35.65 | 20259.60 | .0160 | 50.7343
2030 | 17.752 | .0174 | 28.4952 | 35.35 | 20295.25 | .0158 | 50.7503
| | | | | | |
2040 | 17.990 | .0171 | 28.5126 | 35.06 | 20330.60 | .0155 | 50.7661
2050 | 18.229 | .0169 | 28.5297 | 34.77 | 20365.66 | .0152 | 50.7816
2060 | 18.463 | .0167 | 28.5466 | 34.49 | 20400.43 | .0149 | 50.7968
2070 | 18.706 | .0165 | 28.5633 | 34.21 | 20434.92 | .0147 | 50.8117
| | | | | | |
2080 | 18.978 | .0163 | 28.5798 | 33.93 | 20469.13 | .0144 | 50.8264
2090 | 19.227 | .0160 | 28.5961 | 33.60 | 20503.06 | .0141 | 50.8408
2100 | 19.504 | .0158 | 28.6121 | 33.34 | 20536.66 | .0139 | 50.8549
2110 | 19.755 | .0156 | 28.6279 | 33.02 | 20570.00 | .0136 | 50.8688
| | | | | | |
2120 | 20.010 | .0154 | 28.6435 | 32.76 | 20603.02 | .0134 | 50.8824
2130 | 20.294 | .0152 | 28.6589 | 32.50 | 20635.78 | .0132 | 50.8958
2140 | 20.551 | .0150 | 28.6741 | 32.25 | 20688.28 | .0129 | 50.9090
-----+--------+-------+---------+-------+----------+-------+--------
-----+--------+---------+---------+-------+---------
v. | p. |[Delta]I.| I. [Delta]A.| A.
-----+--------+---------+---------+-------+---------
f/s | | | | |
1600 | 11.416 | .000543 | .868675 | 37.77 | 8470.36
1610 | 11.540 | .000534 | .869218 | 37.63 | 8508.13
1620 | 11.662 | .000525 | .869752 | 37.48 | 8545.76
1630 | 11.784 | .000517 | .870277 | 37.35 | 8583.24
| | | | |
1640 | 11.909 | .000508 | .870794 | 37.21 | 8620.59
1650 | 12.030 | .000500 | .871302 | 37.09 | 8657.80
1660 | 12.150 | .000492 | .871802 | 36.96 | 8694.89
1670 | 12.268 | .000484 | .872294 | 36.80 | 8731.85
| | | | |
1680 | 12.404 | .000476 | .872778 | 36.65 | 8768.65
1690 | 12.536 | .000468 | .873254 | 36.50 | 8805.30
1700 | 12.666 | .000461 | .873722 | 36.35 | 8841.80
1710 | 12.801 | .000453 | .874183 | 36.21 | 8878.15
| | | | |
1720 | 12.900 | .000446 | .874636 | 36.07 | 8914.36
1730 | 13.059 | .000439 | .875082 | 35.94 | 8950.43
1740 | 13.191 | .000432 | .875521 | 35.81 | 8986.37
1750 | 13.318 | .000425 | .875953 | 35.65 | 9022.18
| | | | |
1760 | 13.466 | .000419 | .876378 | 35.53 | 9057.83
1770 | 13.591 | .000412 | .876797 | 35.37 | 9093.36
1780 | 13.733 | .000406 | .877209 | 35.26 | 9128.73
1790 | 13.862 | .000400 | .877615 | 35.11 | 9163.99
| | | | |
1800 | 14.002 | .000393 | .878015 | 34.96 | 9199.10
1810 | 14.149 | .000388 | .878408 | 34.86 | 9234.06
1820 | 14.269 | .000382 | .878796 | 34.73 | 9268.92
1830 | 14.414 | .000376 | .879178 | 34.59 | 9303.65
| | | | |
1840 | 14.552 | .000370 | .879554 | 34.46 | 9338.24
1850 | 14.696 | .000365 | .879924 | 34.33 | 9372.70
1860 | 14.832 | .000360 | .880289 | 34.25 | 9407.03
1870 | 14.949 | .000355 | .880649 | 34.14 | 9441.28
| | | | |
1880 | 15.090 | .000350 | .881004 | 34.02 | 9475.42
1890 | 15.224 | .000345 | .881354 | 33.91 | 9509.44
1900 | 15.364 | .000340 | .881699 | 33.80 | 9543.35
1910 | 15.496 | .000335 | .882039 | 33.69 | 9577.15
| | | | |
1920 | 15.656 | .000330 | .882374 | 33.55 | 9610.84
1930 | 15.809 | .000325 | .882704 | 33.40 | 9644.39
1940 | 15.968 | .000320 | .883029 | 33.26 | 9677.79
1950 | 16.127 | .000316 | .883349 | 33.12 | 9711.05
| | | | |
1960 | 16.302 | .000311 | .883665 | 32.94 | 9744.17
1970 | 16.484 | .000305 | .883976 | 32.71 | 9777.11
1980 | 16.689 | .000300 | .884281 | 32.48 | 9809.82
1990 | 16.888 | .000295 | .884581 | 32.26 | 9842.30
| | | | |
2000 | 17.096 | .000290 | .884876 | 32.05 | 9874.56
2010 | 17.305 | .000285 | .885166 | 31.83 | 9906.61
2020 | 17.515 | .000280 | .885451 | 31.57 | 9938.44
2030 | 17.752 | .000275 | .885731 | 31.32 | 9970.01
| | | | |
2040 | 17.990 | .000270 | .886006 | 31.07 | 10001.33
2050 | 18.229 | .000265 | .886276 | 30.82 | 10032.40
2060 | 18.463 | .000260 | .886541 | 30.58 | 10063.33
2070 | 18.706 | .000256 | .886801 | 30.34 | 10093.80
| | | | |
2080 | 18.978 | .000251 | .887057 | 30.10 | 10124.14
2090 | 19.227 | .000247 | .887308 | 29.82 | 10154.24
2100 | 19.504 | .000242 | .887555 | 29.59 | 10184.06
2110 | 19.755 | .000238 | .887797 | 29.32 | 10213.65
| | | | |
2120 | 20.010 | .000234 | .888035 | 29.10 | 10242.97
2130 | 20.294 | .000230 | .888269 | 28.88 | 10272.07
2140 | 20.551 | .000226 | .888499 | 28.66 | 10300.95
2150 | 20.811 | .000222 | .888725 | 28.44 | 10329.61
-----+--------+---------+---------+-------+---------
+------+---------+------------+----------------------------------+
| v. | m. | log k. | Cr = gp = f(v) = {v^m}/k. |
+------+---------+------------+----------------------------------+
| 3600 | 1.55 | 2.3909520 | v^{1.55} x log^{-1} [=3].6090480 |
| 2600 | 1.7 | 2.9038022 | v^{1.7} x log^{-1} [=3].0961978 |
| 1800 | 2 | 3.8807404 | v^2 x log^{-1} [=4].1192596 |
| 1370 | 3 | 7.0190977 | v^3 x log^{-1} [=8].9809023 |
| 1230 | 5 | 13.1981288 | v^5 x log^{-1}[=14].8018712 |
| 970 | 3 | 7.2265570 | v^3 x log^{-1} [=8].7734430 |
| 790 | 2 | 4.3301086 | v^2 x log^{-1} [=5].6698914 |
+------+---------+------------+----------------------------------+
The numbers have been changed from kilogramme-metre to pound-foot units by
Colonel Ingalls, and employed by him in the calculation of an extended
ballistic table, which can be compared with the result of the abridged
table. The calculation can be carried out in each region of velocity from
the formulae:--
(25) T(V) - T(v) = k [Integral,v:V] v^{-m} dv,
S(V) - S(v) = k [Integral,v:V] v^{m+1} dv,
I(V) - I(v) = gk [Integral,v:V] v^{-m-1} dv,
and the corresponding integration.
The following exercises will show the application of the ballistic table. A
slide rule should be used for the arithmetical operations, as it works to
the accuracy obtainable in practice.
_Example_ 1.--Determine the time t sec. and distance s ft. in which the
velocity falls from 2150 to 1600 f/s.
(a) of a 6-in. shot weighing 100lb, taking n = 0.96,
(b) of a rifle bullet, 0.303-in. calibre, weighing half an ounce, taking
n = 0.8.
------+------+---------+---------+--------+----------+----------+--------
V. | v. | T(V). | T(v). | t/C. | S(V) | S(v) | s/C.
------+------+---------+---------+--------+----------+----------+--------
2150 | 1600 | 28.6891 | 27.5457 | 1.1434 | 20700.53 | 18587.00 | 2113.53
------+------+---------+---------+--------+----------+----------+--------
----+-------+------+-------+--------+-------+---------+-----------------
| d. | w. | C. | t/C. | t. | S/C. | s.
----+-------+------+-------+--------+-------+---------+-----------------
(a) | 6 | 100 | 2.894 | 1.1434 | 3.307 | 2113.53 | 6114 (2038 yds.)
(b) | 0.303 | 1/32 | 0.426 | 1.1434 | 0.486 | 2113.53 | 900 (300 yds.)
----+-------+------+-------+--------+-------+---------+-----------------
_Example_ 2.--Determine the remaining velocity v and time of flight t over
a range of 1000 yds. of the same two shot, fired with the same muzzle
velocity V = 2150 f/s.
---+----+-----+---------+---------+-----+--------+--------+-------+------
| S. | s/C.| S(V). | S(v). | v. | T(V). | T(v). | t/C. | t.
---+----+-----+---------+---------+-----+--------+--------+-------+------
(a)|3000| 1037| 20700.53| 19663.53|1861 | 28.6891| 28.1690| 0.5201| 1.505
(b)|3000| 7050| 20700.53| 13650.53| 920*| 28.6891| 23.0803| 5.6088| 2.387
---+----+-----+---------+---------+-----+--------+--------+-------+------
* These numbers are taken from a part omitted here of the abridged
ballistic table.
In the calculation of range tables for _direct fire_, defined officially as
"fire from guns with full charge at elevation not exceeding 15deg," the
vertical component of the resistance of the air may be ignored as
insensible, and the actual velocity and its horizontal component, or
component parallel to the line of sight, are undistinguishable.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.]
The equations of motion are now, the co-ordinates x and y being measured in
feet,
(26) d^2x/dt^2 = -r = -gp/C,
(27) d^2y/dt^2 = -g.
The first equation leads, as before, to
(28) t = C{T(V) - T(v)},
(29) x = C{S(V) - S(v)}.
The integration of (24) gives
(30) dy/dt = constant - gt = g(1/2T - t),
if T denotes the whole time of flight from O to the point B (fig. 1), where
the trajectory cuts the line of sight; so that 1/2T is the time to the
vertex A, where the shot is flying parallel to OB.
Integrating (27) again,
(31) y = g(1/2Tt - 1/2t^2) = 1/2gt(T - t);
and denoting T - t by t', and taking g = 32f/s^2,
(32) y = 16tt',
which is Colonel Sladen's formula, employed in plotting ordinates of a
trajectory.
At the vertex A, where y = H, we have t = t' = 1/2T, so that
(33) H = 1/8gT^2,
which for practical purposes, taking g = 32, is replaced by
(34) H = 4T^2, or (2T)^2.
Thus, if the time of flight of a shell is 5 sec., the height of the vertex
of the trajectory is about 100 ft.; and if the fuse is set to burst the
shell one-tenth of a second short of its impact at B, the height of the
burst is 7.84, say 8 ft.
The line of sight Ox, considered horizontal in range table results, may be
inclined slightly to the horizon, as in shooting up or down a moderate
slope, without appreciable modification of (28) and (29), and y or PM is
still drawn vertically to meet OB in M.
Given the ballistic coefficient C, the initial velocity V, and a range of R
yds. or X = 3R ft., the final velocity v is first calculated from (29) by
(35) S(v) = S(V) - X/C,
and then the time of flight T by
(36) T = C{T(V) - T(v)}.
Denoting the angle of departure and descent, measured in degrees and from
the line of sight OB by [phi] and [beta], the total deviation in the range
OB is (fig. 1)
(37) [delta] = [phi] + [beta] = C{D(V) - D(v)}.
To share the [delta] between [phi] and [beta], the vertex A is taken as the
point of _half-time_ (and therefore beyond _half-range_, because of the
continual diminution of the velocity), and the velocity v_0 at A is
calculated from the formula
(38) T(v_0) = T(V) - 1/2T/C = 1/2{T(V) + T(v)};
and now the degree table for D(v) gives
(39) [phi] = C{D(V) - D(v_0)},
(40) [beta] = C{D(v_0) - D(v)}.
This value of [phi] is the tangent elevation (T.E.); the quadrant elevation
(Q.E.) is [phi] - S, where S is the angular depression of the line of sight
OB; and if O is h ft. vertical above B, the angle S at a range of R yds. is
given by
(41) sin S = h/3R,
or, for a small angle, expressed in minutes, taking the radian as 3438',
(42) S = 1146h/R.
So also the angle [beta] must be increased by S to obtain the angle at
which the shot strikes a horizontal plane--the water, for instance.
A systematic exercise is given here of the compilation of a range table by
calculation with the ballistic table; and it is to be compared with the
published official range table which follows.
A discrepancy between a calculated and tabulated result will serve to show
the influence of a slight change in the coefficient of reduction n, and the
muzzle velocity V.
_Example_ 3.--Determine by calculation with the abridged ballistic table
the remaining velocity v, the time of flight t, angle of elevation [phi],
and descent [beta] of this 6-in. gun at ranges 500, 1000, 1500, 2000 yds.,
taking the muzzle velocity V = 2150 f/s, and a coefficient of reduction n =
0.96. [For Table see p. 274.]
An important problem is to determine the alteration of elevation for firing
up and down a slope. It is found that the alteration of the tangent
elevation is almost insensible, but the quadrant elevation requires the
addition or subtraction of the angle of sight.
Example.--Find the alteration of elevation required at a range of 3000 yds.
in the exchange of fire between a ship and a fort 1200 ft. high, a 12-in.
gun being employed on each side, firing a shot weighing 850 lb with
velocity 2150 f/s. The complete ballistic table, and the method of high
angle fire (see below) must be employed.
[v.03 p.0273]
Range. s. s/C. S(v). v. T(v). t/C. t. T(v_0). v_0
0 0 0 20700.53 2150 28.6891 0.0000 0.000 28.6891 215
500 1500 518 20182.53 1999 28.4399 0.2492 0.720 28.5645 207
1000 3000 1036 19664.53 1862 28.1711 0.5180 1.497 28.4301 199
1500 4500 1554 19146.53 1732 27.8815 0.8076 2.330 28.2853 191
2000 6000 2072 18628.53 1610 27.5728 1.1163 3.225 28.1310 184
Range. v_0. D(v_0). [phi]/C. [phi].[beta]/C. [beta].
0 2150 50.9219 0.0000 0.000 0.0000 0.000
500 2071 50.8132 0.1087 0.315 0.1135 0.328
1000 1994 50.6913 0.2306 0.666 0.2486 0.718
1500 1918 50.5542 0.3677 1.062 0.4085 1.181
2000 1843 50.4029 0.5190 1.500 0.5989 1.734
+---------------------+----------------------------------+
| Charge | weight, 13 lb 4 oz. |
| | gravimetric density, 55.01/0.504 |
| | nature, cordite, size 30 |
+---------------------+----------------------------------+
+---------------------+----------------------------------+
| Projectile | Palliser shot, Shrapnel shell. |
| | Weight, 100lb. |
+---------------------+----------------------------------+
+---------------------+----------------------------------+
| Muzzle velocity | 2154 f/s. |
| Nature of mounting | pedestal. |
| Jump | nil. |
+---------------------+----------------------------------+
A. Remaining Velocity.
B. To strike an object 10 ft. high range must be known to
C. Slope of Descent.
D. 5' elevation or depression alters
point of impact (Range ... Laterally or Vertically).
E. Elevation.
F. Range.
G. Fuse scale for T. and P. middle No. 54 Marks I., II., or III.
H. 50% of rounds should fall in: (Length x Breadth x Height).
I. Time of Flight.
J. Penetration into Wrought Iron.
-----+-----+----+----------+------+-----+-----+------------+------+-----
A. | B. | C. | D. | E. | F. | G. | H. | I. | J.
-----+-----+----+----------+------+-----+-----+------------+------+-----
f/s. | yds.|1 in|yds. yds. |deg ' | yds.| |yds yds yds |secs. | in.
2154 | .. | .. | .. 0.00 | 0 0 | 0 | .. | .. .. .. | 0.00 | 13.6
2122 |1145 |687 | 125 0.14 | 0 4 | 100 | 1/4| .. 0.4 .. | 0.16 | 13.4
2091 | 635 |381 | 125 0.29 | 0 9 | 200 | 3/4| .. 0.4 .. | 0.31 | 13.2
2061 | 408 |245 | 125 0.43 | 0 13 | 300 |1 | .. 0.4 .. | 0.47 | 13.0
2032 | 316 |190 | 125 0.58 | 0 17 | 400 |1-1/4| .. 0.4 .. | 0.62 | 12.8
2003 | 260 |156 | 125 0.72 | 0 21 | 500 |1-3/4| .. 0.5 0.2 | 0.78 | 12.6
1974 | 211 |127 | 125 0.87 | 0 26 | 600 |2 | .. 0.5 0.2 | 0.95 | 12.4
1946 | 183 |110 | 125 1.01 | 0 30 | 700 |2-1/4| .. 0.5 0.2 | 1.11 | 12.2
1909 | 163 | 98 | 125 1.16 | 0 34 | 800 |2-3/4| .. 0.5 0.2 | 1.28 | 12.0
1883 | 143 | 85 | 125 1.31 | 0 39 | 900 |3 | .. 0.6 0.3 | 1.44 | 11.8
1857 | 130 | 78 | 125 1.45 | 0 43 |1000 |3-1/4| .. 0.6 0.3 | 1.61 | 11.6
1830 | 118 | 71 | 125 1.60 | 0 47 |1100 |3-3/4| .. 0.6 0.3 | 1.78 | 11.4
1803 | 110 | 66 | 125 1.74 | 0 51 |1200 |4 | .. 0.6 0.3 | 1.95 | 11.2
1776 | 101 | 61 | 125 1.89 | 0 55 |1300 |4-1/2| .. 0.7 0.4 | 2.12 | 11.0
1749 | 93 | 56 | 125 2.03 | 0 59 |1400 |4-3/4| .. 0.7 0.4 | 2.30 | 10.8
1722 | 86 | 52 | 125 2.18 | 1 3 |1500 |5 | .. 0.7 0.4 | 2.47 | 10.6
1695 | 80 | 48 | 125 2.32 | 1 7 |1600 |5-1/2| 25 0.8 0.5 | 2.65 | 10.5
1669 | 71 | 43 | 125 2.47 | 1 11 |1700 |5-3/4| 25 0.9 0.5 | 2.84 | 10.3
1642 | 67 | 40 | 100 2.61 | 1 16 |1800 |6-1/4| 25 1.0 0.5 | 3.03 | 10.1
1616 | 61 | 37 | 100 2.76 | 1 22 |1900 |6-1/2| 25 1.1 0.6 | 3.23 | 9.9
1591 | 57 | 34 | 100 2.91 | 1 27 |2000 |7 | 25 1.2 0.6 | 3.41 | 9.7
-----+-----+----+----------+------+-----+-----+------------+------+-----
The last column in the Range Table giving the inches of penetration into
wrought iron is calculated from the remaining velocity by an empirical
formula, as explained in the article ARMOUR PLATES.
_High Angle and Curved Fire._--"High angle fire," as defined officially,
"is fire at elevations greater than 15deg," and "curved fire is fire from
howitzers at all angles of elevation not exceeding 15deg." In these cases
the curvature of the trajectory becomes considerable, and the formulae
employed in direct fire must be modified; the method generally employed is
due to Colonel Siacci of the Italian artillery.
Starting with the exact equations of motion in a resisting medium,
(43) d^2x/dt^2 = -r cos i = -r dx/ds,
(44) d^2y/dt^2 = -r sin i - g = -r dy/ds - g,
and eliminating r,
(45) dx/dt d^2y/dt^2 - dy/dt d^2x/dt^2 = -g{dx/dt};
and this, in conjunction with
(46) tan i = dy/dx = {dy/dt}/{dx/dt},
(47) sec^2 i{di/dt} =
({dx/dt}{d^2y/dt^2} - {dy/dt}{d^2x/dt^2}) / (dx/dt)^2,
reduces to
(48) di/dt = -{g/v} cos i, or {d tan i}/dt = -g/{v cos i},
the equation obtained, as in (18), by resolving normally in the trajectory,
but di now denoting the _increment_ of i in the increment of time dt.
Denoting dx/dt, the horizontal component of the velocity, by q, so that
(49) v cos i = q,
equation (43) becomes
(50) dq/dt = -r cos i,
and therefore by (48)
(51) dq/di = {dq/dt} {dt/di} = {rv}/g.
It is convenient to express r as a function of v in the previous notation
(52) Cr = f(v),
and now
(53) dq/di = {v f(v)}/{Cg},
an equation connecting q and i.
Now, since v = g sec i
(54) dt/dq = -C sec i / f(q sec i),
and multiplying by dx/dt or q,
(55) dx/dq = -C q sec i / f(q sec i),
and multiplying by dy/dx or tan i,
(56) dy/dq = -C q sec i tan i / f(q sec i);
also
(57) di/dq = Cg / {q sec i . f(q sec i)},
(58) d tan i/dq = C g sec i / {q . f(q sec i)},
from which the values of t, x, y, i, and tan i are given by integration
with respect to q, when sec i is given as a function of q by means of (51).
Now these integrations are quite intractable, even for a very simple
mathematical assumption of the function f(v), say the quadratic or cubic
law, f(v) = v^2/k or v^3/k.
But, as originally pointed out by Euler, the difficulty can be turned if we
notice that in the ordinary trajectory of practice the quantities i, cos i,
and sec i vary so slowly that they may be replaced by their _mean_ values,
[eta], cos [eta], and sec [eta], especially if the trajectory, when
considerable, is divided up in the calculation into arcs of small
curvature, the curvature of an arc being defined as the angle between the
tangents or normals at the ends of the arc.
Replacing then the angle i on the right-hand side of equations (54) - (56)
by some mean value [eta], we introduce Siacci's pseudo-velocity u defined
by
(59) u = q sec [eta],
so that u is a quasi-component parallel to the mean direction of the
tangent, say the direction of the chord of the arc.
[v.03 p.0274] Integrating from any initial pseudo-velocity U,
(60) t = C[Integral,u:U] du/f(u),
(61) x = C cos [eta] [Integral] u du/f(u),
(62) y = C sin [eta] [Integral] u du/f(u);
and supposing the inclination i to change from [phi] to [theta] radians
over the arc,
(63) [phi] - [theta] = Cg cos [eta] [Integral] du/{u f(u)},
(64) tan [phi] - tan [theta] = Cg sec [eta] [Integral] du/{u f(u)}.
But according to the definition of the functions T, S, I and D of the
ballistic table, employed for direct fire, with u written for v,
(65) [Integral,u:U] du/f(u) = [Integral] du/gp = T(U) - T(u),
(66) [Integral] u du/f(u) = S(U) - S(u),
(67) [Integral] g du/u f(u) = I(U) - I(u);
and therefore
(68) t = C[T(U) - T(u)],
(69) x = C cos [eta] [S(U) - S(u)],
(70) y = C sin [eta] [S(U) - S(u)],
(71) [phi] - [theta] = C cos [eta] [I(U) - I(u)],
(72) tan [phi] - tan [theta] = C sec [eta] [I(U) - I(u)],
while, expressed in degrees,
(73) [phi]deg - [theta]deg = C cos [eta] [D(U) - D(u)],
The equations (66)-(71) are Siacci's, slightly modified by General
Mayevski; and now in the numerical applications to high angle fire we can
still employ the ballistic table for direct fire.
It will be noticed that [eta] cannot be exactly the same mean angle in all
these equations; but if [eta] is the same in (69) and (70),
(74) y/x = tan [eta].
so that [eta] is the inclination of the chord of the arc of the trajectory,
as in Niven's method of calculating trajectories (_Proc. R.S._, 1877): but
this method requires [eta] to be known with accuracy, as 1% variation in
[eta] causes more than 1% variation in tan [eta].
The difficulty is avoided by the use of Siacci's altitude-function A or
A(u), by which y/x can be calculated without introducing sin [eta] or tan
[eta], but in which [eta] occurs only in the form cos [eta] or sec [eta],
which varies very slowly for moderate values of [eta], so that [eta] need
not be calculated with any great regard for accuracy, the arithmetic mean
1/2([phi] + [theta]) of [phi] and [theta] being near enough for [eta] over
any arc [phi] - [theta] of moderate extent.
Now taking equation (72), and replacing tan [theta], as a variable final
tangent of an angle, by tan i or dy/dx,
(75) tan [phi] - dy/dx = C sec [eta] [I(U) - I(u)],
and integrating with respect to x over the arc considered,
(76) x tan [phi] - y = C sec [eta] [xI(U) - [Integral,0:x] I(u)dx],
But
(77) [Integral,0:x] I(u)dx = [Integral,U:u] I(u) dx/du du
= C cos [eta] [Integral,x:U] I(u) {u du}/{g f(u)}
= C cos [eta] [A(U) - A(u)]
in Siacci's notation; so that the altitude-function A must be calculated by
summation from the finite difference [Delta]A, where
(78) [Delta]A = I(u) u[Delta]u / gp = I(u)[Delta]S,
or else by an integration when it is legitimate to assume that f(v)=v^m/k
in an interval of velocity in which m may be supposed constant.
Dividing again by x, as given in (76),
(79) tan [phi] - y/x =
C sec [eta] [I(U) - {A(U) - A(u)}/{S(U) - S(u)}]
from which y/x can be calculated, and thence y.
In the application of Siacci's method to the calculation of a trajectory in
high angle fire by successive arcs of small curvature, starting at the
beginning of an arc at an angle [phi] with velocity v_[phi], the curvature
of the arc [phi] - [theta] is first settled upon, and now
(80) [eta] = 1/2([phi] + [theta])
is a good first approximation for [eta].
Now calculate the pseudo-velocity u_[phi] from
(81) u_[phi] = v_[phi] cos [phi] sec [eta],
and then, from the given values of [phi] and [theta], calculate u_[theta]
from either of the formulae of (72) or (73):--
(82) I(u_[theta]) =
I(u_[phi]) - {tan [phi] - tan [theta]}/{C sec [eta]},
(83) D(u_[theta]) =
D(u_[phi]) - {[phi]deg - [theta]deg}/{C cos [eta]}.
Then with the suffix notation to denote the beginning and end of the arc
[phi] - [theta],
(84) _[phi]t_[theta] = C[T(u_[phi]) - T(u_[theta])],
(85) _[phi]x_[theta] = C cos [eta] [S(u_[phi]) - S(u_[theta])],
(86) _[phi](y/x)_[theta] =
tan [phi] - C sec [eta] [I(u_[phi]) - [Delta]A/[Delta]S];
[Delta] now denoting any finite tabular difference of the function between
the initial and final (pseudo-) velocity.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.]
Also the velocity v_{[theta]} at the end of the arc is given by
(87) v_[theta] = u_[theta] sec [theta] cos [eta].
Treating this final velocity v_[theta] and angle [theta] as the initial
velocity v_[phi] and angle [phi] of the next arc, the calculation proceeds
as before (fig. 2).
In the long range high angle fire the shot ascends to such a height that
the correction for the tenuity of the air becomes important, and the
curvature [phi] - [theta] of an arc should be so chosen that
_[phi]y_[theta] the height ascended, should be limited to about 1000 ft.,
equivalent to a fall of 1 inch in the barometer or 3% diminution in the
tenuity factor [tau].
A convenient rule has been given by Captain James M. Ingalls, U.S.A., for
approximating to a high angle trajectory in a single arc, which assumes
that the mean density of the air may be taken as the density at two-thirds
of the estimated height of the vertex; the rule is founded on the fact that
in an unresisted parabolic trajectory the average height of the shot is
two-thirds the height of the vertex, as illustrated in a jet of water, or
in a stream of bullets from a Maxim gun.
The longest recorded range is that given in 1888 by the 9.2-in. gun to a
shot weighing 380 lb fired with velocity 2375 f/s at elevation 40deg; the
range was about 12 m., with a time for flight of about 64 sec., shown in
fig. 2.
A calculation of this trajectory is given by Lieutenant A. H. Wolley-Dod,
R.A., in the _Proceedings R.A. Institution_, 1888, employing Siacci's
method and about twenty arcs; and Captain Ingalls, by assuming a mean
tenuity-factor [tau]=0.68, corresponding to a height of about 2 m., on the
estimate that the shot would reach a height of 3 m., was able to obtain a
very accurate result, working in two arcs over the whole trajectory, up to
the vertex and down again (Ingalls, _Handbook of Ballistic Problems_).
Siacci's altitude-function is useful in direct fire, for giving immediately
the angle of elevation [phi] required for a given range of R yds. or X ft.,
between limits V and v of the velocity, and also the angle of descent
[beta].
In direct fire the pseudo-velocities U and u, and the real velocities V and
v, are undistinguishable, and sec [eta] may be replaced by unity so that,
putting y = 0 in (79),
(88) tan [phi] = C [I(V) - [Delta]A/[Delta]S].
Also
(89) tan [phi] - tan [beta] = C [I(V) - L(v)]
so that
(90) tan [beta] = C [[Delta]A/[Delta]S - I(v)],
or, as (88) and (90) may be written for small angles,
(91) sin 2[phi] = 2C [I(V) - [Delta]A/[Delta]S],
(92) sin 2[beta] = 2C [[Delta]A/[Delta]S - I(v)].
To simplify the work, so as to look out the value of sin 2[phi] without the
intermediate calculation of the remaining velocity v, a double-entry table
has been devised by Captain Braccialini Scipione [v.03 p.0275] (_Problemi
del Tiro_, Roma, 1883), and adapted to yd., ft., in. and lb units by A. G.
Hadcock, late R.A., and published in the _Proc. R.A. Institution_, 1898,
and in _Gunnery Tables_, 1898.
In this table
(93) sin 2[phi] = Ca,
where a is a function tabulated for the two arguments, V the initial
velocity, and R/C the reduced range in yards.
The table is too long for insertion here. The results for [phi] and [beta],
as calculated for the range tables above, are also given there for
comparison.
_Drift_.--An elongated shot fired from a rifled gun does not move in a
vertical plane, but as if the mean plane of the trajectory was inclined to
the true vertical at a small angle, 2deg or 3deg; so that the shot will hit
the mark aimed at if the back sight is tilted to the vertical at this angle
[delta], called the permanent angle of deflection (see SIGHTS).
This effect is called _drift_ and the reason of it is not yet understood
very clearly.
It is evidently a gyroscopic effect, being reversed in direction by a
change from a right to a left-handed twist of rifling, and being increased
by an increase of rotation of the shot.
The axis of an elongated shot would move parallel to itself only if fired
in a vacuum; but in air the couple due to a sidelong motion tends to place
the axis at right angles to the tangent of the trajectory, and acting on a
rotating body causes the axis to precess about the tangent. At the same
time the frictional drag damps the nutation and causes the axis of the shot
to follow the tangent of the trajectory very closely, the point of the shot
being seen to be slightly above and to the right of the tangent, with a
right-handed twist. The effect is as if there was a mean sidelong thrust w
tan [delta] on the shot from left to right in order to deflect the plane of
the trajectory at angle [delta] to the vertical. But no formula has yet
been invented, derived on theoretical principles from the physical data,
which will assign by calculation a definite magnitude to [delta].
An effect similar to drift is observable at tennis, golf, base-ball and
cricket; but this effect is explainable by the inequality of pressure due
to a vortex of air carried along by the rotating ball, and the deviation is
in the opposite direction of the drift observed in artillery practice, so
artillerists are still awaiting theory and crucial experiment.
After all care has been taken in laying and pointing, in accordance with
the rules of theory and practice, absolute certainty of hitting the same
spot every time is unattainable, as causes of error exist which cannot be
eliminated, such as variations in the air and in the muzzle-velocity, and
also in the steadiness of the shot in flight.
To obtain an estimate of the accuracy of a gun, as much actual practice as
is available must be utilized for the calculation in accordance with the
laws of probability of the 50% zones shown in the range table (see
PROBABILITY.)
II. INTERIOR BALLISTICS
The investigation of the relations connecting the pressure, volume and
temperature of the powder-gas inside the bore of the gun, of the work
realized by the expansion of the powder, of the dynamics of the movement of
the shot up the bore, and of the stress set up in the material of the gun,
constitutes the branch of interior ballistics.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.]
A gun may be considered a simple thermo-dynamic machine or heat-engine
which does its work in a single stroke, and does not act in a series of
periodic cycles as an ordinary steam or gas-engine.
[Illustration: FIG. 4. Pressure Curves, from Chronoscope Experiments in 6
inch gun of 100 calibres, with various Explosives.]
An indicator diagram can be drawn for a gun (fig. 3) as for a [v.03 p.0276]
steam-engine, representing graphically by a curve CPD the relation between
the volume and pressure of the powder-gas; and in addition the curves AQE
of energy e, AvV of velocity v, and AtT of time t can be plotted or
derived, the velocity and energy at the muzzle B being denoted by V and E.
After a certain discount for friction and the recoil of the gun, the net
work realized by the powder-gas as the shot advances AM is represented by
the area ACPM, and this is equated to the kinetic energy e of the shot, in
foot-tons,
(1) e = {w /2240} (1 + {4k^2 / d^2} tan^2 [delta]) {v^2 / 2g},
in which the factor 4(k^2/d^2)tan^2[delta] represents the fraction due to
the rotation of the shot, of diameter d and axial radius of gyration k, and
[delta] represents the angle of the rifling; this factor may be ignored in
the subsequent calculations as small, less than 1%.
The mean effective pressure (M.E.P.) in tons per sq. in. is represented in
fig. 3 by the height AH, such that the rectangle AHKB is equal to the area
APDB; and the M.E.P. multiplied by 1/4[pi]d^2, the cross-section of the
bore in square inches, gives in tons the mean effective thrust of the
powder on the base of the shot; and multiplied again by l, the length in
inches of the travel AB of the shot up the bore, gives the work realized in
inch-tons; which work is thus equal to the M.E.P. multiplied by 1/4[pi]d^2l
= B - C, the volume in cubic inches of the rifled part AB of the bore, the
difference between B the total volume of the bore and C the volume of the
powder-chamber.
[Illustration: FIG. 5. Velocity Curves, from Chronoscope experiments in 6
inch gun of 100 calibres, with Cordite.]
Equating the muzzle-energy and the work in foot-tons
(2) E = w/2240 V^2/2g = {B - C} / 12 x M.E.P.
(3) M.E.P. = w/2240 V^2/2g 12/{B - C}
Working this out for the 6-in. gun of the range table, taking L = 216 in.,
we find B - C = 6100 cub. in., and the M.E.P. is about 6.4 tons per sq. in.
But the maximum pressure may exceed the mean in the ratio of 2 or 3 to 1,
as shown in fig. 4, representing graphically the result of Sir Andrew
Noble's experiments with a 6-in. gun, capable of being lengthened to 100
calibres or 50 ft. (_Proc. R.S._, June 1894).
On the assumption of uniform pressure up the bore, practically realizable
in a Zalinski pneumatic dynamite gun, the pressure-curve would be the
straight line HK of fig. 3 parallel to AM; the energy-curve AQE would be
another straight line through A; the velocity-curve AvV, of which the
ordinate v is as the square root of the energy, would be a parabola; and
the acceleration of the shot being constant, the time-curve AtT will also
be a similar parabola.
If the pressure falls off uniformly, so that the pressure-curve is a
straight line PDF sloping downwards and cutting AM in F, then the
energy-curve will be a parabola curving downwards, and the velocity-curve
can be represented by an ellipse, or circle with centre F and radius FA;
while the time-curve will be a sinusoid.
But if the pressure-curve is a straight line F'CP sloping upwards, cutting
AM behind A in F', the energy-curve will be a parabola curving upwards, and
the velocity-curve a hyperbola with center at F'.
These theorems may prove useful in preliminary calculations where the
pressure-curve is nearly straight; but, in the absence of any observable
law, the area of the pressure-curve must be read off by a planimeter, or
calculated by Simpson's rule, as an indicator diagram.
To measure the pressure experimentally in the bore of a gun, the
crusher-gauge is used as shown in fig. 6, nearly full size; it records the
maximum pressure by the compression of a copper cylinder in its interior;
it may be placed in the powder-chamber, or fastened in the base of the
shot.
In Sir Andrew Noble's researches a number of plugs were inserted in the
side of the experimental gun, reaching to the bore and carrying
crusher-gauges, and also chronographic appliances which registered the
passage of the shot in the same manner as the electric screens in
Bashforth's experiments; thence the velocity and energy of the shot was
inferred, to serve as an independent control of the crusher-gauge records
(figs. 4 and 5).
As a preliminary step to the determination of the pressure in the bore of a
gun, it is desirable to measure the pressure obtained by exploding a charge
of powder in a closed vessel, varying the weight of the charge and thereby
the density of the powder-gas.
The earliest experiments of this nature are due to Benjamin Robins in 1743
and Count Rumford in 1792; and their method has been revived by Dr Kellner,
War Department chemist, who employed the steel spheres of bicycle
ball-bearings as safety-valves, loaded to register the pressure at which
the powder-gas will blow off, and thereby check the indications of the
crusher-gauge (_Proc. R.S._, March 1895).
Chevalier d'Arcy, 1760. also experimented on the pressure of powder and the
velocity of the bullet in a musket barrel; this he accomplished by
shortening the barrel successively, and measuring the velocity obtained by
the ballistic pendulum; thus reversing Noble's procedure of gradually
lengthening the gun.
But the most modern results employed with gunpowder are based on the
experiments of Noble and Abel (_Phil. Trans._, 1875-1880-1892-1894 and
following years).
[Illustration: FIG. 6.]
A charge of powder, or other explosive, of varying weight P lb, is fired in
an explosion-chamber (fig. 7, scale about 1/5) of which the volume C, cub.
in., is known accurately, and the pressure p, tons per sq. in., was
recorded by a crusher-gauge (fig. 6).
[v.03 p.0277] The result is plotted in figs. 8 and 9, in a curve showing
the relation between p and D the _gravimetric density_, which is the
specific gravity of the P lb of powder when filling the volume C, cub. in.,
in a state of gas; or between p and v, the reciprocal of D, which may be
called the _gravimetric volume_ (G.V.), being the ratio of the volume of
the gas to the volume of an equal weight of water.
[Illustration: FIG. 7. Explosion Vessel.]
The results are also embodied in the following Table;--
TABLE 1.
Pressure in Tons per sq. in.
G.D. G.V. Pebble Powder. Cordite.
0.05 20.00 0.855 3.00
6 16.66 1.00 3.80
8 12.50 1.36 5.40
0.10 10.00 1.76 7.10
12 8.33 2.06 8.70
14 7.14 2.53 10.50
15 6.66 2.73 11.36
16 6.25 2.96 12.30
18 5.55 3.33 14.20
20 5.00 3.77 16.00
22 4.54 4.26 17.90
24 4.17 4.66 19.80
25 4.00 4.88 20.63
26 3.84 5.10 21.75
30 3.33 6.07 26.00
35 2.85 7.35 31.00
40 2.50 8.73 36.53
45 2.22 10.23 42.20
50 2.00 11.25 48.66
55 1.81 13.62 55.86
60 1.66 15.55 63.33
The term _gravimetric density_ (G.D.) is peculiar to artillerists; it is
required to distinguish between the specific gravity (S.G.) of the powder
filling a given volume in a state of gas, and the specific gravity of the
separate solid grain or cord of powder.
Thus, for instance, a lump of solid lead of given S.G., when formed into a
charge of lead shot composed of equal spherules closely packed, will have a
G.D. such that
(4) G.D. of charge of lead shot
--------------------------- = 1/6 [pi] [sqrt]2 = 0.7403;
S.G. of lump of solid lead
while in the case of a bundle of cylindrical sticks of cordite,
(5) G.D. of charge of cordite
-------------------------- = 1/6 [pi] [sqrt]3 = 0.9067.
S.G. of stick of cordite
At the standard temperature of 62deg F. the volume of the gallon of 10 lb
of water is 277.3 cub. in.; or otherwise, 1 cub. ft. or 1728 cub. in. of
water at this temperature weighs 62.35 lb, and therefore 1 lb of water
bulks 1728 / 62.35 = 27.73 cub. in.
[Illustration: FIG. 8.]
Thus if a charge of P lb of powder is placed in a chamber of volume C cub.
in., the
(6) G.D.= 27.73P/C, G.V. = C/27.73 P.
Sometimes the factor 27.68 is employed, corresponding to a density of water
of about 62.4 lb per cub. ft., and a temperature 12deg C., or 54deg F.
With metric units, measuring P in kg., and C in litres, the G.D. = P/C,
G.V. = C/P, no factor being required.
From the Table I., or by quadrature of the curve in fig. 9, the work E in
foot-tons realized by the expansion of 1 lb of the powder from one
gravimetric volume to another is inferred; for if the average pressure is p
tons per sq. in., while the gravimetric volume changes from v - 1/2[Delta]v
to v + 1/2[Delta]v, a change of volume of 27.73[Delta]v cub. in., the work
done is 27.73p[Delta]v inch-tons, or
(7) [Delta]E = 2.31 p[Delta]v foot-tons;
and the differences [Delta]E being calculated from the observed values of
p, a summation, as in the ballistic tables, would give E in a tabular form,
and conversely from a table of E in terms of v, we can infer the value of
p.
On drawing off a little of the gas from the explosion vessel it was found
that a gramme of cordite-gas at 0deg C. and standard atmospheric pressure
occupied 700 ccs., while the same gas compressed into 5 ccs. at the
temperature of explosion had a pressure of 16 tons per sq. in., or 16 x
2240 / 14.7 = 2440 atmospheres, of 14.7 lb per sq. in.; one ton per sq. in.
being in round numbers 150 atmospheres.
The absolute centigrade temperature T is thence inferred from the gas
equation
(8) R = pv / T = p_0v_0/273,
which, with p = 2440, v = 5, p_0 = 1, v_0 = 700, makes T = 4758, a
temperature of 4485deg C. or 8105deg F.
[Illustration: FIG. 9.]
In the heading of the 6-in. range table we find the description of the
charge.
Charge: weight 13 lb 4 oz.; gravimetric density 55.01/0.504; nature,
cordite, size 30.
So that P = 13.25, the G.D. = 0.504, the upper figure 55.01 denoting the
specific volume of the charge measured in cubic inches per lb, filling the
chamber in a state of gas, the product of the two numbers 55.01 and 0.504
being 27.73; and the chamber capacity C = 13.25 x 55.01 = 730 cub. in.,
equivalent to 25.8 in. or 2.15 ft. length of bore, now called the
equivalent length of the chamber (E.L.C.).
If the shot was not free to move, the closed chamber pressure due to the
explosion of the charge at this G.D. (= 0.5) would be nearly 49 tons per
sq. in., much too great to be safe.
But the shot advances during the combustion of the cordite, and the chief
problem in interior ballistics is to adjust the G.D. of the charge to the
weight of the shot so that the advance of the shot during the combustion of
the charge should prevent the maximum pressure from exceeding a safe limit,
as shown by the maximum ordinate of the pressure curve CPD in fig. 3.
Suppose this limit is fixed at 16 tons per sq. in., corresponding in Table
1. to a G.D., 0.2; the powder-gas will now occupy a volume b = 3/2 x C =
1825 cub. in., corresponding to an advance of the shot 3/2 x 2.15 = 3.225
ft.
Assuming an average pressure of 8 tons per sq. in., the shot will have
acquired energy 8 x 1/4[pi]d^2 x 3.225 = 730 foot-tons, and a velocity
about v = 1020 f/s, so that the time over the 3.225 ft. at an average
velocity 510 f/s is about 0.0063 sec.
Comparing this time with the experimental value of the time occupied by the
cordite in burning, a start is made for a fresh estimate and a closer
approximation.
Assuming, however, that the agreement is close enough for practical
requirement, the combustion of the cordite may be considered complete at
this stage P, and in the subsequent expansion it is assumed that the gas
obeys an adiabatic law in which the pressure varies inversely as some
m^{th} power of the volume.
The work done in expanding to infinity from p tons per sq. in. [v.03
p.0278] at volume b cub. in. is then pb/(m - 1) inch-tons, or to any volume
B cub. in. is
(9) pb/{m - 1}[1 - (b/B)^{m-1}]
It is found experimentally that m = 1.2 is a good average value to take for
cordite; so now supposing the combustion of the charge of the 6-in. is
complete in 0.0063 sec., when p = 16 tons per sq. in., b = 1825 cub. in.,
and that the gas expands adiabatically up to the muzzle, where
(10) B/b = (216 + 25.8)/(2.5 x 25.8) = 3.75
we find the work realized by expansion is 2826 foot-tons, sufficient to
increase the velocity from 1020 to 2250 f/s at the muzzle.
This muzzle velocity is about 5% greater than the 2150 f/s of the range
table, so on these considerations we may suppose about 10% of work is lost
by friction in the bore: this is expressed by saying that the _factor of
effect_ is f = 0.9.
The experimental determination of the time of burning under the influence
of the varying pressure and density, and the size of the grain, is thus of
great practical importance, as thereby it is possible to estimate close
limits to the maximum pressure that will be reached in the bore of a gun,
and to design the chamber so that the G.D. of the charge may be suitable
for the weight and acceleration of the shot. Empirical formulas based on
practical experience are employed for an approximation to the result.
A great change has come over interior ballistics in recent years, as the
old black gunpowder has been abandoned in artillery after holding the field
for six hundred years. It is replaced by modern explosives such as those
indicated on fig. 4, capable of giving off a very much larger volume of gas
at a greater temperature and pressure, more than threefold as seen on fig.
8, so that the charge may be reduced in proportion, and possessing the
military advantage of being nearly smokeless. (See EXPLOSIVES.)
The explosive cordite is adopted in the British service; it derives the
name from its appearance as cord in short lengths, the composition being
squeezed in a viscous state through the hole in a die, and the cordite is
designated in size by the number of hundredths of an inch in the diameter
of the hole. Thus the cordite, size 30, of the range table has been
squeezed through a hole 0.30 in. diameter.
The thermochemical properties of the constituents of an explosive will
assign an upper limit to the volume, temperature and pressure of the gas
produced by the combustion; but much experiment is required in addition.
Sir Andrew Noble has published some of his results in the _Phil. Trans._,
1905-1906 and following years.
AUTHORITIES.--Tartaglia, _Nova Scientia_ (1537); Galileo (1638); Robins,
_New Principles of Gunnery_ (1743); Euler (trans. by Hugh Brown), _The True
Principles of Gunnery_ (1777); Didion, Helie, Hugoniot, Vallier, Baills,
&c., _Balistique_ (French); Siacci, _Balistica_ (Italian); Mayevski,
Zabudski, _Balistique_ (Russian); La Llave, Ollero, Mata, &c., _Balistica_
(Spanish); Bashforth, _The Motion of Projectiles_ (1872); _The Bashforth
Chronograph_ (1890); Ingalls, _Exterior and Interior Ballistics, Handbook
of Problems in Direct and Indirect Fire_; Bruff, _Ordnance and Gunnery_;
Cranz, _Compendium der Ballistik_ (1898); _The Official Text-Book of
Gunnery_ (1902); Charbonnier, _Balistique_ (1905); Lissak, _Ordnance and
Gunnery_ (1907).
(A. G. G.)
BALLOON, a globular bag of varnished silk or other material impermeable to
air, which, when inflated with gas lighter than common air, can be used in
aeronautics, or, according to its size, &c., for any purpose for which its
ability to rise and float in the atmosphere adapts such a mechanism.
"Balloon" in this sense was first used in 1783 in connexion with the
invention of the brothers Montgolfier, but the word was in earlier use
(derived from Ital. _ballone_, a large ball) as meaning an actual ball or
ball-game, a primitive explosive bomb or firework, a form of chemical
retort or receiver, and an ornamental globe in architecture; and from the
appearance and shape of an air balloon the word is also given by analogy to
other things, such as a "balloon skirt" in dress, "balloon training" in
horticulture. (See AERONAUTICS, and FLIGHT AND FLYING).
BALLOT (from Ital. _ballotta_, dim. of _balla_, a ball), the modern method
of secret-voting employed in political, legislative and judicial
assemblies, and also in the proceedings of private clubs and corporations.
The name comes from the use of a little ball dropped according to choice
into the right receptacle; but nowadays it is used for any system of
secret-voting, even though no such ball is employed. In ancient Athens, the
dicasts, in giving their verdict, generally used balls of stone (_psephi_)
or of metal (_sponduli_). Those pierced in the centre, or black in colour,
signified condemnation; those unpierced, or white, signified acquittal. The
boxes were variously arranged; but generally a brass box received both
classes of votes, and a wooden box received the unused balls. In the
assembly, cases of _privilegia_, such as ostracism, the naturalization of
foreigners or the release of state-debtors, were decided by secret-voting.
The petalism, or voting by words on olive-leaves, practised at Syracuse,
may also be mentioned. At Rome the ballot was introduced to the comitia by
the _Leges Tabellariae_, of which the _Lex Gabiana_ (139 B.C.) relates to
the election of magistrates, the _Lex Cassia_ (137 B.C.) to _judicia
populi_, and the _Lex Papiria_ (131 B.C.) to the enactment and repeal of
laws. The wooden _tabellae_, placed in the _cista_ or wicker box, were
marked U. R. (_uti rogas_) and A. (_antiquo_) in the case of a proposed
law; L. (_libero_) and D. (_damno_) in the case of a public trial; in the
case of an election, _puncta_ were made opposite the names or initials of
the candidates. _Tabellae_ were also used by the Roman judices, who
expressed their verdict or judgment by the letters A. (_absolvo_), C.
(_condemno_), and N. L. (_non liquet_). In modern times voting by ballot is
usually by some form of writing, but the use of the ball still persists
(especially in clubs), and a "black ball" is the regular term for a hostile
vote.
_Great Britain_.--In Great Britain the ballot was suggested for use in
parliament by a political tract of the time of Charles II. It was actually
used by the Scots parliament of 1662 in proceeding on the Billeting Act, a
measure proposed by Middleton to secure the ostracism of Lauderdale and
other political opponents who were by secret-vote declared incapable of
public office. The plan followed was this: each member of parliament wrote,
in a disguised hand, on a piece of paper, the names of twelve suspected
persons; the billets were put in a bag held by the registrar; the bag was
then sealed, and was afterwards opened and its contents ascertained in the
exchequer chamber, where the billets were immediately burned and the names
of the ostracised concealed on oath. The Billeting Act was repudiated by
the king, and the ballot was not again heard of till 1705, when Fletcher of
Saltoun, in his measure for a provisional government of Scotland by annual
parliaments in the event of Queen Anne's death, proposed secret-voting to
protect members from court influence. The gradual emancipation of the
British parliament from the power of the crown, and the adoption of a
strictly representative system of election, not only destroyed whatever
reason may once have existed for the ballot in deliberative voting, but
rendered it essential that such voting should be open. It was in the
agitations for parliamentary reform at the beginning of the 19th century
that the demand for the ballot in parliamentary elections was first
seriously made. The Benthamites advocated the system in 1817. At the
so-called Peterloo Massacre (1819) several banners were inscribed with the
ballot. O'Connell introduced a bill on the subject in 1830; and the
original draft of Lord John Russell's Reform Bill, probably on the
suggestion of Lords Durham and Duncannon, provided for its introduction.
Later on the historian Grote became its chief supporter in the House of
Commons; and from 1833 to 1839, in spite of the ridicule cast by Sydney
Smith on the "mouse-trap," and on Grote's "dagger-box, in which you stab
the card of your favourite candidate with a dagger,"[1] the minority for
the ballot increased from 106 to 217. In 1838 the ballot was the fourth
point of the People's Charter. In the same year the abolition of the land
qualification introduced rich commercial candidates to the constituencies.
Lord Melbourne's cabinet declared the question open. The cause, upheld by
Macaulay, Ward, Hume (in his resolutions, 1848) and Berkeley, was
strengthened by the report of Lord Hartington's Select Committee [v.03
p.0279] (15th March 1870), to the effect that corruption, treating and
intimidation by priests and landlords took place to a large extent at both
parliamentary and municipal elections in England and Ireland; and that the
ballot, if adopted, would probably not only promote tranquillity at
elections, but protect voters from undue influence, and introduce greater
freedom and purity in voting, provided secrecy was made inviolable except
in cases where a voter was found guilty of bribery, or where an invalid
vote had been given.
Meanwhile in Australia the ballot had been introduced by the Constitution
Act of South Australia (1856), and in other colonies at the same date. In
South Australia (Electoral Act of 1858) the returning-officer put his
initials on the voting-card, which the voter was directed, under pain of
nullity, to fold so that the officer might not see the vote which was
indicated by a cross. In Victoria, under the Electoral Act of 1865, the
officer added to his initials a number corresponding to the voter's number
on the register. In Tasmania the chief peculiarity was that (as in South
Australia) the card was not put directly by the voter into the box, but
handed to the officer, who put it there (this being thought a security
against double-voting or voting with a non-official card, and also against
the voter carrying away his card). In 1869, at Manchester and Stafford in
England, test-ballots were taken on the Australian system as practised in
Victoria--the voting-card containing the names of all the candidates,
printed in different colours (for the benefit of illiterate voters), and
the voter being directed to score out the names of those he did not
support, and then to place the card (covered by an official envelope) in
the box. It was found at Manchester that the voting was considerably more
rapid, and therefore less expensive, than under the old system; that only
80 cards out of 11,475 were rejected as informal; and that, the
representatives of candidates being present to check false statements of
identity, and the public outside being debarred from receiving information
what voters had voted, the ballot rather decreased the risk of personation.
At Manchester the cards were not numbered consecutively, as in Victoria, so
that (assuming the officials to be free from corruption) no scrutiny could
have detected by whom particular votes were given. At Stafford the
returning-officer stamped each card before giving it to the voter, the die
of the stamp having been finished only on the morning of the election. By
this means the possibility was excluded of what was known as "the Tasmanian
Dodge," by which a corrupt voter gave to the returning-officer, or placed
in the box, a blank non-official ticket, and carried out from the booth his
official card, which a corrupt agent then marked for his candidate, and
gave so marked to corrupt voter No. 2 (before he entered the booth) on
condition that he also would bring out his official card, and so on _ad
libitum_; the agent thus obtaining a security for his bribe, unless the
corrupt voter chose to disfranchise himself by making further marks on the
card. At the close of 1870 the ballot was employed in the election of
members for the London School Board under the Education Act of that year.
In 1872 W. E. Forster's Ballot Act introduced the ballot in all
parliamentary and municipal elections, except parliamentary elections for
universities; and the code of procedure prescribed by the act was adopted
by the Scottish Education Board in the first School Board election (1873)
under the Education (Scotland) Act 1872. The Ballot Act not only abolished
public nominations of candidates, but dealt with the offence of personation
and the expenses of elections.
As practised in the United Kingdom, a white paper is used on which the
names of the candidates are printed in alphabetical order, the voter
filling up with a X the blank on the right-hand opposite the name he votes
for. The paper, before being given out, is marked by the presiding-officer
on both sides with an official stamp, which is kept secret, and cannot be
used for a second election within seven years. The paper is marked on the
back with the same number as the counterfoil of the paper which remains
with the officer. This counterfoil is also marked with the voter's number
on the register, so that the vote may be identified on a scrutiny; and a
mark on the register shows that the voter has received a ballot-paper. The
voter folds up the paper so as to conceal his mark, but to show the stamp
to the officer, and deposits it in the box, which is locked and sealed, and
so constructed that papers cannot be withdrawn without unlocking it. Papers
inadvertently spoiled by the voters may be exchanged, the officer
preserving separately the spoiled papers. If a voter is incapacitated from
blindness, or other physical cause, or makes before the officer a
declaration of inability to read, or when the poll is on a Saturday
declares himself a Jew, the officer causes the paper to be marked as the
voter directs, and keeps a record of the transaction. A voter who claims to
vote after another has voted in respect of the same qualification, obtains
a (green) paper which is not placed in the box, but preserved apart as a
"tendered" paper. He must, however, declare his identity and that he has
not already voted. The presiding-officer at the close of the poll has to
account to the returning-officer for the papers entrusted to him, the
number being made up by--(1) papers in the box, (2) spoiled papers, (3)
unused papers and (4) tendered papers. During the voting (for which
schoolrooms and other public rooms are available, and for which a separate
compartment must be provided for every 150 electors entitled to vote at a
station) agents of candidates are allowed to be present in the
polling-station, but they, as well as the officials, are sworn to secrecy
as regards who have voted, and for whom; and they are prohibited from
interfering with the voter, inducing him to show his vote, or attempting to
ascertain the number on the back of the paper. These agents are also
present with the returning-officer when he counts the papers and the votes,
rejecting those papers--(1) which want the official mark _on the back_; (2)
on which votes are given for more candidates than the voter is entitled to
vote for; (3) on which anything except the number on the back is marked or
written by which the voter can be identified; (4) which are unmarked, or so
marked that it is uncertain for whom the vote is given. The counted and
rejected papers, and also the "tendered" papers, counterfoils and marked
register (which have not been opened), are, in parliamentary elections,
transmitted by the returning officer to the clerk of the crown in chancery
in England, or the sheriff-clerk in Scotland, who destroys them at the end
of one year, unless otherwise directed by an order of the House of Commons,
or of some court having jurisdiction in election petitions. Such petitions
either simply dispute the accuracy of the return on the ground of
miscounting, or wrongous rejection or wrongous admission of papers, in
which case the court examines the counted and rejected papers; or make
allegations of corruption, &c. on which it may be necessary to refer to the
marked counterfoils and ascertain how bribed voters have voted. Since the
elections of 1874 much discontent has been expressed, because judges have
rejected papers with trifling (perhaps accidental) marks other than the X
upon them, and because elections have been lost through the failure of the
officer to stamp the papers. For this purpose the use has been suggested of
a perforating instead of an embossing stamp, while a dark-ground paper with
white voting-spaces would make _misplaced_ votes impossible.
The Ballot Act introduced several new offences, such as forging of papers
or fraudulently defacing or destroying a paper or the official mark;
supplying a paper without due authority; fraudulently putting into the box
a non-official paper; fraudulently taking a paper out of the station
without due authority; destroying, taking, opening or otherwise interfering
with a box or packet of papers then in use for election purposes. These
offences and attempts to commit them are punishable in the case of officers
and clerks with imprisonment for two years, with or without hard labour. In
other cases the term of imprisonment is six months.
The ballot was long criticized as leading to universal hypocrisy and
deception; and Sydney Smith spoke of "voters, in dominos, going to the poll
in sedan-chairs with closely-drawn curtains." The observed effect of a
secret ballot has been, however, gradually to exterminate undue influence.
The alarm of "the confessional" seems to be unfounded, as a Catholic
penitent is not bound to [v.03 p.0280] confess his vote, and if he did so,
it would be a crime in the confessor to divulge it.
_Continental Europe._--The ballot is largely employed in European
countries. In France, where from 1840 to 1845 the ballot, or _scrutin_, had
been used for deliberative voting in the chamber of deputies, its use in
elections to the Corps Legislatif was carefully regulated at the beginning
of the Second Empire by the Organic Decree of the 2nd of February 1852.
Under this law the voting was superintended by a bureau consisting of the
deputy returning-officer (called president of the section), four unpaid
assessors selected from the constituency and a secretary. Each voter
presents a polling-card, with his designation, date of birth and signature
(to secure identity), which he had previously got at the Mairie. This the
president mutilates, and the vote is then recorded by a "bulletin," which
is not official, but is generally printed with a candidate's name, and
given to the voter by an agent outside, the only conditions being that the
bulletin shall be "sur papier blanc, sans signes exterieurs, et prepare en
dehors de l'assemblee." The total number of votes given (there being only
one member in each electoral district) is checked by reference to "la
feuille _d'appel_ et inscription des votants," the law still supposing that
each voter is publicly called on to vote. If the voter, when challenged,
cannot sign his polling-card, he may call a witness to sign for him. The
following classes of bulletins are rejected:--"illisibles, blancs, ne
contenant pas une designation suffisante; sur lesquels les votants se sont
fait connaitre; contenant le nom d'une personne n'ayant pas prete le
serment prescrit" (_i.e._ of a person not nominated). Only the votes
pronounced bad by the bureau in presence of representative scrutineers are
preserved, in case these should be called for during the "Session pour
verification des Pouvoirs." Practically the French ballot did not afford
secrecy, for you might observe what bulletin the voter took from the agent,
and follow him up the _queue_ into the polling-place; but the determined
voter might conceal his vote even from the undue influence of government by
scratching out the printed matter and writing his vote. This was always a
good vote and scrutiny of good votes was impossible. The ballot is still
used in the elections to the National Assembly, but in the Assembly itself
only in special cases, as _e.g._ in the election of a "rapporteur." Under
the law of 10th August 1871 the conseils generaux (departmental councils)
are elected by ballot.
In Piedmont the ballot formed part of the free constitutional government
introduced by Charles Albert in March 1848; it was extended to Italy in
1861. Voting for the Italian chamber of deputies takes place under the law
of 20th November 1859, and in public halls (not booths), to which admission
is gained by showing a certificate of inscription, issued by the mayor to
each qualified voter. A stamped blue official paper, with a memorandum of
the law printed on the back (_bolletino spiegato_), is then issued to the
elector; on this he writes the name of a candidate (there being equal
electoral colleges) or, in certain exceptional cases, gets a confidential
friend to do so, and hands the paper folded-up to the president of the
bureau, who puts it in the box (_urna_), and who afterwards presides at the
public "squittinio dei suffragi." Greece is the only European country in
which the ball-ballot is used. The voting takes place in the churches, each
candidate has a box on which his name is inscribed, one half (white) being
also marked "yes," the other half (black) "no." The voter, his citizenship
or right to vote in the eparchy being verified, receives one ball or leaden
bullet for each candidate from a wooden bowl, which a clerk carries from
box to box. The voter stretches his arm down a funnel, and drops the ball
into the "yes" or "no" division. The vote is secret, but there is
apparently no check on "yes" votes being given for all the candidates, and
the ball or bullet is imitable.
The earlier history of the ballot in Hungary is remarkable. Before 1848
secret voting was unknown there. The electoral law of that year left the
regulation of parliamentary elections to the county and town councils, very
few of which adopted the ballot. The mode of voting was perhaps the most
primitive on record. Each candidate had a large box with his name
superscribed and painted in a distinguishing colour. On entering the room
alone the voter received a rod from _4 to 6 feet in length_ (to prevent
concealment of non-official rods on the voter's person), which he placed in
the box through a slit in the lid. By the electoral law of 1874 the ballot
in parliamentary elections in Hungary was abolished, but was made
obligatory in the elections of town and county councils, the voting being
for several persons at once.
In Prussia, Stein, by his _Staedteordnung_, or municipal corporation act of
1808, introduced the ballot in the election of the municipal assembly
(_Stadtverordnetenversammlung_). Under the German constitution of 1867, and
the new constitution of the 1st of January 1871, the elections of the
Reichstag were to be conducted by universal suffrage under the ballot in
conformity with the electoral law of the 31st of May 1869.
_America._--At the first elections in America voting was viva voce; but
several of the colonies early provided for the use of written or printed
ballots. By 1775 ballots were used in the New England states, in
Pennsylvania, Delaware, North Carolina and South Carolina; they were
introduced in New Jersey in 1776, and in New York in 1778, so that, at the
time the constitution of the United States was adopted, viva voce voting
prevailed at public elections only in Maryland, Virginia and Georgia. Of
the new states which later entered the Union, only Illinois, Kentucky,
Missouri and Arkansas did not have a ballot system when they became states.
During the first half of the 19th century, Maryland, Georgia, Arkansas
(1846) and Illinois (1848) adopted the ballot. In Missouri ballot-voting
was introduced to some localities in 1845, but not until 1863 was it
generally adopted in that state. Virginia did not provide for voting by
ballot until 1869, and in Kentucky viva voce voting continued until 1819,
but while the use of ballots was thus required in voting, and most of the
states had laws prescribing the form of ballots and providing for the count
of the vote, there was no provision making it the duty of any one to print
and distribute the ballots at the polling-places on election day. In the
primitive town meetings ballots had been written by the voters, or, if
printed, were furnished by the candidates. With the development of
elections, the task of preparing and distributing ballots fell to political
committees for the various parties. The ballot-tickets were thus prepared
for party-lists of candidates, and it was not easy for any one to vote a
mixed ticket, while, as the voter received the ballot within a few feet of
the polls, secrecy was almost impossible, and intimidation and bribery
became both easy and frequent.
Soon after the adoption of the Australian ballot in Great Britain, it was
introduced in Canada, but no serious agitation was begun for a similar
system in the United States until 1885. In 1887 bills for the Australian
ballot were actively urged in the legislatures of New York and Michigan,
although neither became law. A Wisconsin law of that year, regulating
elections in cities of over 50,000 population, incorporated some features
of the Australian system, but the first complete law was enacted by
Massachusetts in 1888. This Massachusetts statute provided for the printing
and distribution of ballots by the state to contain the names of all
candidates arranged alphabetically for each office, the electors to vote by
marking the name of each candidate for whom they wished to vote. At the
presidential election of 1888 it was freely alleged that large sums of
money had been raised on an unprecedented scale for the purchase of votes,
and this situation created a feeling of deep alarm which gave a powerful
impetus to the movement for ballot reform. In 1889 new ballot laws were
enacted in nine states: two states bordering on Massachusetts, Connecticut
and Rhode Island; four states in the middle-west, Indiana, Michigan,
Wisconsin and Minnesota; two southern states, Tennessee and Missouri; and
Montana, in the far west. The Connecticut law, however, marked but little
improvement over former conditions, since it provided only for official
envelopes in which the unofficial party ballots should be voted. The
Indiana law provided for a single or "blanket" ballot, but with the names
of candidates arranged in party-groups, and a method of voting for all of
the candidates in a party-group by a single [v.03 p.0281] mark. Michigan
and Missouri also adopted the party-group system. The other states followed
the Massachusetts law providing for a blanket ballot with the candidates
arranged by offices.
The new ballot system had its first practical demonstration at the
Massachusetts election of 1889, and its success led to its rapid adoption
in many other states. In 1890 ballot laws were passed in seven states:
Vermont, Mississippi, Wyoming and Washington provided for the Massachusetts
plan, although Vermont afterwards adopted the system of party-groups, which
Maryland used from the first. The New York and New Jersey laws of 1890,
however, only provided for official ballots for each party, and allowed
ballots obtained outside of the polling-booths to be used. In 1891
seventeen additional states and two territories adopted the Australian
ballot system. All of these provided for a blanket ballot; but while the
Massachusetts arrangement was adopted in Arkansas, Nebraska, New Hampshire,
North and South Dakota, Kentucky, Texas and Oregon, the system of party
groups was followed in Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Ohio,
Pennsylvania and West Virginia. California had the Massachusetts
arrangement of names, but added on the ballot a list of party names, by
marking one of which a voter would cast his vote for all of the candidates
of that party. Pennsylvania placed all the candidates not in a party-group
in alphabetical order.
Iowa adopted the Australian ballot system in 1892; Alabama and Kansas in
1893; Virginia in 1894; Florida in 1895; and Louisiana and Utah in 1896. In
1895, too, New York adopted the blanket ballot in place of separate party
ballots, but arranged the names of candidates in party columns. The only
state to abandon the blanket ballot after once adopting it was Missouri
which in 1897 returned to the system of separate ballots, with no provision
for booths where the ballot might be marked in secret. (See the article,
"Present Status of the Ballot Laws," by Arthur Ludington in _Amer. Pol.
Science Rev._ for May 1909.)
Owing to the large number of officials chosen at one time in American
elections, the form and appearance of the ballot used is very different
from that in Great Britain. At the quadrennial presidential election in New
York state, for example, the officers to be voted for by each elector are
thirty-six presidential electors, one congressman, state-governor,
lieutenant-governor and five other state officers, a member for each house
of the state legislature, several judges, a sheriff, county-clerk and other
county officers. The column with the list of the candidates of each party
for all of these offices is 2 to 3 ft. in length; and as there are often
eight to ten party-tickets in the field, the ballot-paper is usually from
18 to 20 in. in width. Each voter receives one of these "blanket" ballots
on entering the polling-place, and retires to a booth to mark either a
party column or the individual candidates in different columns for whom he
wishes to vote. Where, as in Massachusetts, the names of candidates are
arranged by offices instead of in party-lists, every voter must mark the
name of each individual candidate for whom he wishes to vote. Connecticut,
New Jersey, Missouri, North and South Carolina, Georgia and New Mexico use
the system of separate party ballots. (See also VOTING, VOTING MACHINES,
ELECTION, REPRESENTATION.)
[1] For a description of Grote's card-frame, in which the card was
punctured through a hole, and was thus never in the voter's hands, see
_Spectator_, 25th February 1837.
BALLOU, HOSEA (1771-1852), American Universalist clergyman, was born in
Richmond, New Hampshire, on the 30th of April 1771. He was a son of Maturin
Ballou, a Baptist minister, was self-educated, early devoted himself to the
ministry, became a convert to Universalism in 1789, and in 1794 became a
pastor of a congregation at Dana, Massachusetts. He preached at Barnard,
Vermont, and the surrounding towns in 1801-1807; at Portsmouth, New
Hampshire, in 1807-1815; at Salem, Massachusetts, in 1815-1817; and as
pastor of the Second Universalist Church in Boston from December 1817 until
his death there on the 7th of June 1852. He founded and edited _The
Universalist Magazine_ (1819; later called _The Trumpet_) and _The
Universalist Expositor_ (1831; later _The Universalist Quarterly Review_);
wrote about 10,000 sermons, many hymns, essays and polemic theological
works; and is best known for _Notes on the Parables_ (1804), _A Treatise on
Atonement_ (1805) and _Examination of the Doctrine of a Future Retribution_
(1834); in these, especially the second, he showed himself the principal
American expositor of Universalism. His great contribution to his Church
was the body of denominational literature he left. From the theology of
John Murray, who like Ballou has been called "the father of American
Universalism," he differed in that he divested Universalism of every trace
of Calvinism and opposed legalism and trinitarian views.
Consult the biography by Thomas Whittemore (4 vols., Boston, 1854-1855) and
that by Oscar F. Safford (Boston, 1889); and J. C. Adams, _Hosea Ballou and
the Gospel Renaissance_ (Boston, 1904).
His grand-nephew, HOSEA BALLOU (1796-1861), born in Halifax, Vermont, on
the 18th of October 1796, preached to Universalists in Stafford,
Connecticut (1815-1821); and in Massachusetts, in Roxbury (1821-1838) and
in Medford (1838-1853); and in 1853 was elected first president of Tufts
College at Medford, serving in that office until shortly before his death,
which took place at Somerville, Massachusetts, on the 27th of May 1861. He
was the first (1847) to urge the necessity of a Universalist denominational
college, and this did much towards the establishment of Tufts. He was
associated with the elder Hosea Ballou in editing _The Universalist
Quarterly Review_; edited an edition of Sismondi's _History of the
Crusades_ (1833); and wrote the _Ancient History of Universalism_, down to
A.D. 553 (1829; 2nd ed., 1842).
MATURIN MURRAY BALLOU (1820-1895), son of the first Hosea, was a pioneer in
American illustrated journalism, edited _Gleason's Pictorial_ and _Ballou's
Monthly_ and many collections of quotations, and in 1872 became
editor-in-chief of the _Boston Daily Globe_, of which he was one of the
founders. He wrote a life of his father (1860), and a _History of Cuba_
(1854).
BALLSTON SPA, a village and the county-seat of Saratoga county, New York,
U.S.A., about 7 m. S. of Saratoga Springs. Pop. (1890) 3527; (1900) 3923;
(1910 U.S. Census) 4138. It is served by the Delaware & Hudson railway, and
is connected with Saratoga Springs, Albany, and Schenectady by electric
lines. There are several manufacturing establishments, among which are one
of the largest manufactories of paper-bags in the United States and a large
tannery. It is, however, as a popular summer resort that Ballston Spa is
best known. Many fine chalybeate and other springs rising through solid
rock from a depth of about 650 ft. furnish a highly effervescent water of
considerable medicinal and commercial value. The village has the Ballston
Spa public library, the Saratoga county law library and the Saratoga county
court house. Ballston Spa, which was named in honour of the Rev. Eliphalet
Ball, an early settler, was settled about 1787 by the grandfather of
Stephen A. Douglas, and was incorporated in 1855.
See E. F. Prose, _Centennial Hist. of Ballston Spa_, 1908.
BALLYCASTLE, a seaport and watering-place on the north coast of Co. Antrim,
Ireland, in the north parliamentary division, situated on a bay of the same
name opposite Rathlin Island. Pop. (1901) 1481. It is connected with the
Northern Counties (Midland) railway at Ballymoney by the Ballycastle light
railway. The town consists of two divisions, about a quarter of a mile
apart and connected by a fine avenue. Towards the close of the 18th century
Mr Hugh Boyd, obtaining the estate, devoted himself to the extension and
improvement of the town, establishing manufactures, endowing charities and
building churches; and succeeded in producing a temporary vitality. Upwards
of L150,000, including a large government grant, is said to have been
expended upon the pier and harbour; but the violence of the sea overthrew
the one and the other became filled with sand. To the east of the town are
the remains of Bonamargy Abbey, the burial-place of many of the MacDonnell
family. The Carey brook, by the side of which the abbey stands, was
formerly called the Margy, and on its waters according to tradition dwelt
the four children of Lir, changed to swans by their step-mother until St
Columba released them from enchantment. (See P. W. Joyce, _Old Celtic
Romances_.) With this well-known romance is connected the wide-spread
belief in Ireland of ill-fortune following the killing of a swan.
Coal-seams, formerly extensively worked, and from an unknown [v.03 p.0282]
period of antiquity, appear in the cliffs towards Fair Head, and the
fisheries are important. The coast-scenery and the view from the hill of
Knocklayd are notable.
BALLYMENA, a town of Co. Antrim, Ireland, in the mid parliamentary
division, on the Braid, an affluent of the Maine, 2 m. above their
junction. Pop. of urban district (1901) 10,886. It is 33 m. N.N.W. of
Belfast on the Northern Counties (Midland) railway. Branch lines run to
Larne and to Parkmore on the east coast. The town owes its prosperity
chiefly to its linen trade, introduced in 1733, which gives employment to
the greater part of the inhabitants. Brown linen is a specialty. Iron ore
is raised in the neighbourhood. Antiquities in the neighbourhood are few
and the present buildings of Ballymena Castle and Galgorm Castle are
modern. Gracehill, however, a Moravian settlement, was founded in 1746.
BALLYMONEY, a market town of Co. Antrim, Ireland, in the north
parliamentary division, 53 m. N.N.W. from Belfast by the Northern Counties
(Midland) railway. Pop. of urban district (1901) 2952. The Ballycastle
railway joins the main line here. The trade of the town is prosperous,
brewing, distilling and tanning being carried on, besides the linen
manufacture common to the whole county. Soap, candles and tobacco are also
manufactured, and the town is a centre for local agricultural trade. Near
the neighbouring village of Dervock (4-1/2 m. N.) is a cottage shown by an
inscription to have been the home of the ancestors of William McKinley,
president of the United States.
BALLYMOTE, a market town of Co. Sligo, Ireland, in the south parliamentary
division, 14 m. S. of Sligo by the Midland Great Western railway. Pop.
(1901) 997. It is a centre for some agricultural trade and has
carriage-building works. There are remains of a strong castle, built by the
powerful earl of Ulster, Richard de Burgh, in 1300, and the scene of
hostilities in 1641 and 1652. Ruins are also seen of a Franciscan
foundation attributed to the 13th century; it was a celebrated seat of
learning and an extant memorial of the work of its monks is the _Book of
Ballymote_ (_c._ 1391) in the possession of the Royal Irish Academy, a
miscellaneous collection in prose and verse of historical, genealogical and
romantic writings. There are also, near the town, ruins of a house of the
Knights of St John (1303).
BALLYSHANNON, a seaport and market-town of Co. Donegal, Ireland, in the
south parliamentary division, at the mouth of the Erne; on the Bundoran
branch of the Great Northern railway. Pop. (1901) 2359. The river is here
crossed by a bridge of twelve arches, which connects the town with the
suburb of The Port. Below the bridge the river forms a beautiful cascade,
150 yds. wide, with a fall at low water of 16 ft. Here is the salmon leap,
where the fish are trapped in large numbers, but also assisted to mount the
fall by salmon-ladders. The fisheries are of great value, and there is an
export trade to England in salmon, which are despatched in ice. The harbour
is a small exposed creek of Donegal Bay, and is only accessible to small
vessels owing to a bar. Previous to the Union Ballyshannon returned two
members to the Irish parliament and it was incorporated by James I. There
are slight remains of a castle of the O'Donnells, earls of Tyrconnell,
where the English, on attempting to besiege it, were defeated and lost
heavily in their retreat across the river, in 1597. There are numerous
raths or encampments in the vicinity and other remains. Coolmore, 3 m.
N.W., is a bathing-resort.
BALM, a fragrant herb, _Melissa officinalis_, of the Deadnettle order
(_Labiatae_) with opposite, ovate, crenulated leaves, which are wrinkled
above, and small white or rose-spotted flowers. It is a native of central
and southern Europe; it is often grown in gardens and has become
naturalized in the south of England and grows apparently wild as a garden
escape in North America. The name is from the Greek [Greek: melissa], the
plant being visited by bees. Bastard Balm is an allied plant, _Melittis
Melissophyllum_, a southern European species, found in the south and
south-west of England.
BALMACEDA, JOSE MANUEL (1838-1891), president of the republic of Chile, was
born in Santiago in 1838. His parents were wealthy, and in his early days
he was chiefly concerned in industrial and agricultural enterprise. In 1865
he was one of the representatives of the Chilean government at the general
South American congress at Lima, and after his return obtained great
distinction as an orator in the national assembly. After discharging some
diplomatic missions abroad, he became successively minister of foreign
affairs and of the interior under the presidency of Senor Santa Maria, and
in the latter capacity carried compulsory civil marriage and several other
laws highly obnoxious to the clergy. In 1886 he was elected president; but,
in spite of his great capacity, his imperious temper little fitted him for
the post. He was soon irreconcilably at variance with the majority of the
national representatives, and on the 1st of January 1891 he sought to
terminate an intolerable situation by refusing to convoke the assembly and
ordering the continued collection of the taxes on his own authority. This
led to the Chilean Civil War of 1891, which ended in the overthrow of
Balmaceda, who committed suicide on the 18th of September, the anniversary
of his elevation to the presidency.
BALMAIN, a town of Cumberland county, N.S.W., Australia, on the western
shore of Darling Harbour, Port Jackson, 2 m. by water from Sydney and
suburban to it. Pop. (1901) 30,881. It is the home of great numbers of the
working classes of Sydney and some of the largest factories and most
important docks are situated here. Saw-mills, iron foundries, chemicals,
glass and soap works, shipbuilding yards and a cocoanut-oil factory in
connexion with the soap-manufacture at Port Sunlight, England, are among
the chief industrial establishments. Balmain became a municipality in 1860.
BALMERINO, JAMES ELPHINSTONE, 1st BARON (_c._ 1553-1612), Scottish
politician, was the third son of Robert, 3rd Lord Elphinstone (d. 1602).
Rising to power under James VI. he became a judge and a royal secretary; he
accompanied the king to London in 1603 and was made Lord Balmerino, or
Balmerinoch, in 1604. In 1605 he became president of the court of session,
but his ardour for the Roman Catholic religion brought about his overthrow.
In 1599 on the king's behalf, but without the king's knowledge, he had sent
a letter to Clement VIII. in which he addressed the pope in very cordial
terms. A copy of this letter having been seen by Elizabeth, the English
queen asked James for an explanation, whereupon both the king and the
secretary declared it was a forgery. There the matter rested until 1608,
when the existence of the letter was again referred to during some
controversy between James and Cardinal Bellarmine. Interrogated afresh
Balmerino admitted that he had written the compromising letter, that he had
surreptitiously obtained the king's signature, and that afterwards he had
added the full titles of the pope. In March 1609 he was tried, attainted
and sentenced to death, but after a brief imprisonment he was released and
he died at Balmerino in July 1612.
Balmerino's elder son JOHN (d. 1649) was permitted to take his father's
title in 1613. In 1634 he was imprisoned for his opposition to Charles I.
in Scotland, and by a bare majority of the jury he was found guilty of
"leasing-making" and was sentenced to death. But popular sympathy was
strongly in his favour; the poet Drummond of Hawthornden and others
interceded for him, and after much hesitation Charles pardoned him.
Balmerino, however, did not desist from his opposition to the king. A chief
among the Covenanters and a trusted counsellor of the marquess of Argyll,
he presided over the celebrated parliament which met in Edinburgh in August
1641, and was one of the Scottish commissioners who visited England in
1644. He died in February 1649 and was succeeded as 3rd lord by his son
JOHN (1623-1704), who in 1669 inherited from his uncle James the title of
Lord Coupar. John's son JOHN, 4th Lord Balmerino (1652-1736), was a lawyer
of some repute and, although a sturdy opponent of the Union, was a Scottish
representative peer in 1710 and 1713. John's son ARTHUR (1688-1746) who
became 6th Lord Balmerino on the death of his half-brother John in January
1746, is famous as a Jacobite. He joined the partisans of James Edward, the
Old Pretender, after the battle of Sheriffmuir in November 1713, and then
lived for some time in exile, returning to Scotland in 1733 when his father
had [v.03 p.0283] secured for him a pardon. He was one of the first to join
Charles Edward in 1745; he marched with the Jacobites to Derby, fought at
Falkirk and was captured at Culloden. Tried for treason in Westminster Hall
he was found guilty, and was beheaded on the 11th of August 1746, behaving
both at his trial and at his execution with great constancy and courage. On
his death without issue his titles became extinct.
BALMES, JAIME LUCIANO (1810-1848), Spanish ecclesiastic, eminent as a
political writer and a philosopher, was born at Vich in Catalonia, on the
28th of August 1810, and died there on the 9th of July 1848. Having
attacked the regent Espartero and been exiled he founded and edited on his
return the _El Pensamiento de la Nacion_, a Catholic and Conservative
weekly; but his fame rests principally on _El Protestantismo comparado con
el Catolicismo en sus relaciones con la Civilisacion Europea_ (3 vols.,
1842-1844, 6th edition, 1879; Eng. trans. London, 1849), an able defence of
Catholicism on the ground that it represents the spirit of obedience or
order, as opposed to Protestantism, the spirit of revolt or anarchy. From
the historical standpoint it is of little value. The best of his
philosophical works, which are clear expositions of the scholastic system
of thought, are the _Filosofia Fondamental_ (4 vols., 1846, Eng. trans. by
H. F. Brownson, 2 vols. New York, 1856), and the _Curso de Filosofia
Elemental_ (4 vols., 1847), which he translated into Latin for use in
seminaries.
See A. de Blanche-Raffin, _Jacques Balmes, sa vie et ses ouvrages_ (Paris,
1849); and E. Bullon Fernandez, _Jaime Balmes y sus oberas_ (Madrid, 1903).
BALMORAL CASTLE (Gaelic, "the majestic dwelling"), a private residence of
the British sovereign, in the parish of Crathie and Braemar, Aberdeenshire,
Scotland, on the right bank of the Dee (here spanned by a fine suspension
bridge), 9 m. W. of Ballater and at a height of 900 ft. above the sea. The
property formerly belonged to the Farquharsons of Inverey, from whom it was
acquired by Sir Robert Gordon, whose trustees disposed of the lease in 1848
to the prince consort, by whom the whole estate was purchased in 1852 and
bequeathed to Queen Victoria. The castle is built of granite in the Scots
baronial style, with an eastern tower 100 ft. high commanding a superb
view--Ballochbuie and Braemar to the W., Glen Gairn to the N., Lochnagar
and the beautiful valley of the Dee to the S. On Craig Gowan (1319 ft.), a
hill 1 m. to the south, have been erected memorial cairns to Queen
Victoria, the prince consort, Princess Alice and other members of the royal
family of Great Britain. The parish church of Crathie (1903), replacing the
kirk of 1806, is 1-1/2 m. to the W., and about 2 m. farther west stands
Abergeldie Castle, another Highland royal residence, an ancient building to
which modern additions have been made, inhabited by King Edward VII. when
prince of Wales, and after his accession to the throne used as a
shooting-lodge.
BALNAVES, HENRY (1512?-1579), Scottish politician and reformer, born at
Kirkcaldy about 1512, was educated at St Andrews and on the continent,
where he adopted Protestant views. Returning to Scotland, he continued his
legal studies and in 1538 was appointed a lord of session. He married about
the same time Christian Scheves, and in 1539 was granted the estate of
Halhill in Fife, after which he is generally named. Before 1540 he was
sworn of James V's. privy council, and was known as one of the party in
favour of the English alliance and of an ecclesiastical reformation. He is
also described as treasurer to James (_Letters and Papers_, 1543, i. 64),
but the regent Arran appointed him secretary in the new government of the
infant Queen Mary (January 1543). He promoted the act permitting the
reading of the Scriptures in the vulgar tongue, and was one of the
commissioners appointed to arrange a marriage treaty between the little
queen and the future Edward VI. In London he was not considered so
complaisant as some of the other commissioners, and was not made privy to
all the engagements taken by his colleagues (_ib._ i. 834). But Beton
"loved him worst of all," and, when Arran went over to the priestly party,
Balnaves was, in November 1543, deprived of his offices and imprisoned in
Blackness Castle.
Thence he was released by the arrival of Hertford's fleet in the following
May, and from this time he became a paid agent of the English cause in
Scotland. He took no part in the murder of Beton, but was one of the most
active defenders of the castle of St Andrews. He received L100 from Henry
VIII. in December 1546, was granted an annuity of L125 by Protector
Somerset in 1547 and was made English paymaster of the forces in St
Andrews. When that castle surrendered to the French in July Balnaves was
taken prisoner to Rouen. Somerset made vain efforts to procure his release
and continued his pension. He made himself useful by giving information to
the English government, and even Mary Tudor sent him L50 as reward in June
1554. Balnaves also busied himself in writing what Knox calls "a
comfortable treatise of justification," which was found in MS. with a
preface by Knox, among the reformer's papers, and was published at
Edinburgh in 1584 under the title _The Confession of Faith_.
In 1557 Balnaves was permitted to return to Scotland and regain his
property; probably it was thought that Mary Tudor's burnings would have
cooled the ardour of his English affections, and that in the war
threatening between two Catholic countries, Balnaves would serve his own.
The accession of Queen Elizabeth changed the situation, and Mary of Guise
had reasons for accusing him of "practices out of England" (_Salisbury
MSS._ i. 155). He took, in fact, an active part in the rising of 1559 and
was commissioned by the Congregation to solicit the help of the English
government through Sir Ralph Sadleir at Berwick. He was also selected one
of the Scots representatives to negotiate with the duke of Norfolk in
February 1560. In 1563 he was restored to his office as lord of session,
and was one of those appointed by the General Assembly to revise the _Book
of Discipline_. He was one of Bothwell's judges for the murder of Darnley
in 1567, and in 1568 he accompanied Moray to the York inquiry into Queen
Mary's guilt. He resigned his judicial office in 1574, and died in 1579 at
Edinburgh. He has been claimed as a Scots bard on the strength of one
ballad, "O gallandis all, I cry and call," which is printed in Allan
Ramsay's _Evergreen_ (2 vols. 1724-1727).
See _Letters and Papers of Henry VIII._ (1540-1545); Bain's and Thorp's
_Cal. of Scottish State-Papers_; English _Domestic and Foreign Cals._;
_Acts of Engl. Privy Council_; _Reg. P.C._, Scotland; _Reg. Great Seal of
Scotland_; _Hamilton Papers_; _Border Papers_; Knox, _Works_; Burnet,
_Reformation_; Froude, _Hist._
(A. F. P.)
BALNEOTHERAPEUTICS (Lat. _balneum_, a bath, and Gr. [Greek: therapeuein],
to treat medically). The medical treatment of disease by internal and
external use of mineral waters is quite distinct from "hydrotherapy," or
the therapeutic uses of pure water. But the term "balneotherapeutics" has
gradually come to be applied to everything relating to spa treatment,
including the drinking of waters and the use of hot baths and natural
vapour baths, as well as of the various kinds of mud and sand used for hot
applications. The principal constituents found in mineral waters are
sodium, magnesium, calcium and iron, in combination with the acids to form
chlorides, sulphates, sulphides and carbonates. Other substances
occasionally present in sufficient quantity to exert a therapeutic
influence are arsenic, lithium, potassium, manganese, bromine, iodine, &c.
The chief gases in solution are oxygen, nitrogen, carbonic acid and
sulphuretted hydrogen. Argon and helium occur in some of the "simple
thermal" and "thermal sulphur waters." There are few doctors who would deny
the great value of special bathing and drinking cures in certain morbid
conditions. In the employment of the various mineral waters, many of the
spas adopt special means by which they increase or modify their influence,
_e.g._ the so-called "aromatic" or "medicated" baths, in which substances
are mixed to exert a special influence on the skin and peripheral nerves.
Of these the "pine-needle" bath has the greatest repute; it is made by
adding a decoction of the needles or young shoots of firs and pines. Fir
wood oil (a mixture of ethereal oils) or the tincture of an alcoholic
extract acts equally well. The volatile ethereal constituents are supposed
to penetrate the skin and to stimulate the cutaneous [v.03 p.0284]
circulation and peripheral nerves, being eliminated later by the ordinary
channels. Similar effects follow the addition to the bath of aromatic
herbs, such as camomile, thyme, &c. For a full-sized bath 1-1/2 to 2 lb of
herbs are tied in a muslin bag and infused in a gallon of boiling water;
the juices are then expressed and the infusion added to the bath.
Astringent baths are prepared in a similar way from decoctions of oak bark,
walnut leaves, &c. In many spas on the European continent baths are
prepared from peat or mud mixed with hot mineral water. Mineral peat
consists of decomposing vegetable soil that has been so long in the
neighbourhood of the medicinal spring that it has undergone peculiar and
variable chemical changes. This is mixed with the hot mineral water until
the bath has the desired consistency, the effect on the patient being in
almost direct proportion to the density. These baths vary greatly in
composition. Mud baths are chiefly prepared from muddy deposits found in
the neighbourhood of the springs, as at St Amand. They act like a large
poultice applied to the surface of the body, and in addition to the
influence of the temperature, they exert a considerable mechanical effect.
The pulse is accelerated some 6 to 12 beats a minute, the respiration
number rises, and the patient is thrown into a profuse perspiration. They
have very great value in gouty and rheumatic conditions and in some of the
special troubles of women.
There are certain conditions in which mineral water treatment is distinctly
contra-indicated. Advanced cardiac disease and cardiac cases with failure
of compensation must pre-eminently be treated at home, not at a spa.
Advanced arterio-sclerosis, any form of serious organic visceral disease,
advanced cirrhosis, pulmonary tuberculosis with a tendency to haemoptysis,
much elevation of temperature or emaciation, are all entirely unsuited for
this form of treatment. Serious organic nervous diseases, great nervous
depression and old cases of paralysis are all contra-indicated. Any
trouble, however suited in itself for spa treatment, must be considered
inapplicable if complicated with pregnancy.
In advising balneotherapeutic treatment in any case, all the conditions and
habits of the patient--pecuniary, physical and psychical--must be
considered, as the spa must be fitted to the patient, not the patient to
the spa. Besides the particular disease, the idiosyncrasy of the patient
must be considered, the same morbid condition in different people requiring
very different treatment. Retarded convalescence is a condition often
treated at the spas, although hygienic surroundings, both mental and
physical, are usually all that is necessary to ensure complete recovery.
After rheumatic fever, however, if the joints remain painful and the heart
is dilated, the thermal gaseous saline water of Nauheim, augmented by
Schott's resistance movements, will often appear to work wonders. Chronic
rheumatism, where there is much exudation round a joint or incipient
stiffness of a joint, may be relieved by hot thermal treatment, especially
when combined with various forms of massage and exercises. Simple thermal
waters, hot sulphur springs and hot muriated waters are all successful in
different cases. Chronic muscular rheumatism can also be benefited in a
similar manner. Diseases of the nervous system are on the whole treated by
these means with small success. Mental diseases other than very mild cases
of depression should be considered inapplicable. Neurasthenics are
sometimes treated at chalybeate or thermal muriated saline spas; but such
treatment is entirely secondary to the general management of the case.
Neuralgic affections and the later stages of neuritis, especially when
dependent on gout or rheumatism, are often relieved or cured. Abdominal
venosity (abdominal plethora), a feature of obesity, glycosuria, &c., are
extremely well fitted for this form of treatment. The alkaline sulphated
waters, the bitter waters and the common salt waters can all be prescribed,
and after a short course can be supplemented with various forms of active
and passive exercises. Diseases of the respiratory organs are far more
suited for climatic treatment than for treatment by baths. Anaemia can
usually be better or equally well treated at home, or by seaside residence
or a sea voyage, though many physicians prescribe chloride of sodium
waters, followed by a course of iron waters at some suitably situated spa.
In the anaemia dependent on malarial infection, the muriated or alkaline
sulphated waters at spas of considerable elevation and combined with iron
and arsenic are often very beneficial. Gravel and stone, if of the uric
acid variety, can be treated with the alkaline waters, but the case must be
under constant observation lest the urine become too alkaline and a
deposition of phosphates take place on the already formed uric acid stone.
Gout is so variable both in cause and effect that much discrimination is
required in its treatment. Where the patient is of "full habit," with
portal stagnation, the sulphated alkaline or mild bitter waters are
indicated, especially those of Carlsbad and Marienbad; but the use of these
strong waters must be followed by a long rest under strict hygienic
conditions. Where this is impossible, a milder course must be advised, as
at Homburg, Kissingen, Harrogate, Wiesbaden, Baden-Baden, &c. For very
delicate patients, and where time is limited, the simple thermal waters are
preferable.
For radiant heat and light baths and electric baths of all kinds, see
ELECTROTHERAPEUTICS; and for compressed air baths, AEROTHERAPEUTICS. (See
also BATHS, THERAPEUTICS, and the articles on diseases.)
BALQUHIDDER (Gaelic, "the farm in the back-lying country"), a village and
parish of Perthshire, Scotland. Pop. of parish (1901) 605. The village lies
2 m. W. of the station of the same name on the Caledonian railway from
Callander to Oban, and 27-3/4 m. N.W. of Stirling. It is situated at the
east end of Loch Voil, a lake at the foot of the Braes of Balquhidder. The
Maclaurins acquired the district as early as the 9th century and occupied
it for several hundred years until ousted by the Macgregors, a neighbouring
clan, who had repeatedly raided their lands, and in 1558 slew the chief and
many of his followers. Balquhidder was the scene of some of the exploits of
Rob Roy, who died there in 1734. His grave in the old kirkyard is marked by
a stone ornamented with rude carving, executed probably centuries before
his time. Another ancient stone is said traditionally to cover the grave of
Angus, the Columban missionary, who was the first to carry on Christian
work in this part of the Highlands.
BALRAMPUR, a town of British India near the river Rapti, 28 m. from Gonda,
in the Gonda district of the United Provinces. Pop. (1901) 16,723. It gives
its name to one of the largest _talukdari_ estates in the province. The
raja, Sir Drigbijai Singh K.C.S.I., was conspicuously loyal during the
Mutiny, and was rewarded with accessions of territory and hereditary
privileges. His death in 1882 gave rise to prolonged litigation and the
estate was thrown into chancery. The income is estimated at L120,000,
paying a revenue of L46,000. Numerous schools and hospitals are supported.
Balrampur contains a large palace, a handsome modern temple and an
Anglo-vernacular school.
BALSAM (from Gr. [Greek: balsamon], through Lat. _balsamum_, contracted by
popular use to O. Fr. _basme_, mod. Fr. _bame_; Eng. balm), a term properly
limited to such resins or oleo-resins as contain benzoic acid or cinnamic
acid or both. Those balsams which conform to this definition make up a
distinct class, allied to each other by their composition, properties and
uses. Those found in commerce are the balsam of Peru, balsam of Tolu,
liquid storax and liquidambar. _Balsam of Peru_ is the produce of a lofty
leguminous tree, _Myroxylon Pereirae_, growing within a limited area in San
Salvador, Central America and introduced into Ceylon. It is a thick, viscid
oleo-resin of a deep brown or black colour and a fragrant balsamic odour.
It is used in perfumery. Though contained in the pharmacopeias it has no
special medicinal virtues. _Balsam of Tolu_ is produced from _Myroxylon
toluiferum_. It is of a brown colour, thicker than Peru balsam, and attains
a considerable degree of solidity on keeping. It also is a product of
equatorial America, but is found over a much wider area than is the balsam
of Peru. It is used in perfumery and as a constituent in cough syrups and
lozenges. _Liquid storax_ or _styrax preparatus_, is a balsam yielded by
_Liquidambar orientalis_, a native of Asia Minor. It is a soft resinous
substance, with a pleasing balsamic odour, especially after it [v.03
p.0285] has been kept for some time. It is used in medicine as an external
application in some parasitic skin diseases, and internally as an
expectorant. An analogous substance is derived from _Liquidambar Altingia_
in Java. _Liquidambar balsam_ is derived from _Liquidambar styraciflua_, a
tree found in the United States and Mexico. It contains cinnamic acid, but
not benzoic acid.
Of so-called balsams, entirely destitute of cinnamic and benzoic
constituents, the following are found in commerce:--_Mecca balsam_ or _Balm
of Gilead_, from _Commiphora opobalsamum_, a tree growing in Arabia and
Abyssinia, is supposed to be the balm of Scripture and the [Greek:
balsamon] of Theophrastus. When fresh it is a viscid fluid, with a
penetrating odour, but it solidifies with age. It was regarded with the
utmost esteem among the nations of antiquity and to the present day it is
peculiarly prized among the people of the East. For _balsam of copaiba_ see
COPAIBA. Under the name of _wood oil_, or _Gurjun balsam_, an oleo-resin is
procured in India and the Eastern Archipelago from several species of
_Dipterocarpus_, chiefly _D. turbinatus_, which has the odour and
properties of copaiba and has been used for the same purposes. Wood oil is
also used as a varnish in India and forms an effective protection against
the attacks of white ants. _Canada balsam_ or _Canada turpentine_ is the
oleo-resin yielded by _Abies balsamea_, a tree that grows in Canada and the
northern parts of the United States. It is a very transparent substance,
somewhat fluid when first run, but thickening considerably with age,
possessed of a delicate yellow colour and a mild terebinthous odour. It
contains 24% of essential oil, 60% of resin soluble in alcohol, and 16% of
resin soluble only in ether. Its chief uses are for mounting preparations
for the microscope and as a cement for glass in optical work.
The garden balsam is an annual plant, _Impatiens balsamina_, and the balsam
apple is the fruit of _Momordica balsamina_, nat. order Cucurbitaceae.
BALSHAM, HUGH DE (d. 1286), English churchman, appears first as sub-prior
of the monastery of Ely. On the death of William of Kilkenny in 1256 the
monks elected him bishop of Ely, to the annoyance of Henry III. who had
handed over the temporalities of the see to John de Waleran. The election
was confirmed by the pope in 1257 and Hugh set to work to repair the harm
done to the diocese by the intruder. In 1280 the bishop obtained a charter
allowing him to replace the secular brethren residing in his hospital of St
John at Cambridge by "studious scholars"; a second charter four years later
entirely differentiated these scholars from the brethren of the hospital,
and for them Hugh de Balsham founded and endowed the college of Peterhouse.
BALTA, a town in the Russian government of Podolia, between the Dniester
and the Bug, 131 m. by rail N.N.W. of Odessa. It carries on a large trade
in cattle, horses and grain, and has two annual fairs, held at Whitsuntide
and in June. A variety of industries, such as tallow-melting, soap-boiling,
tile-making and brewing, are carried on. The Jews form a very considerable
part of the population, which in 1867 numbered 14,528, and in 1897, 23,393.
Balta was in great part destroyed by the Russians in 1780.
BALTARD, LOUIS PIERRE (1764-1846), French architect and engraver, was born
in Paris on the 9th of July 1764. He was originally a landscape painter,
but in his travels through Italy was so much struck with the beauty of the
Italian buildings, that he changed his profession and devoted himself to
architecture. In his new occupation he achieved great success, and was
selected to prepare the plans for some of the largest public edifices in
Paris. His reputation, however, is chiefly based on his great skill in
engraving. Among the best known of his plates are the drawings of Paris
(_Paris et ses monuments_, 2 vols. fol., 1803), the engravings for Denon's
_Egypte_, the illustrations of Napoleon's wars (_La Colonne de la grande
armee_), and those contained in the series entitled the _Grand prix de
l'architecture_, which for some time he carried on alone. He also gained
distinction as an engraver of portraits. Baltard died in Paris on the 22nd
of January 1846.
Two of his children were also architects. Of these the more important was
VICTOR BALTARD (1805-1874), who was born in Paris on the 19th of June 1805.
In 1833 he gained the _prix de Rome_ at the Ecole des beaux-arts for
designing a military school. He was largely instrumental in introducing a
regular scheme of fresco decoration by modern artists in the churches of
Paris, to take the place of the heterogeneous collections of pictures of
all kinds with which their walls had been promiscuously decorated. He built
many additions to existing churches, and also the church of St Augustin, in
which he united the structural values of stone and steel. His most popular
achievement was, however, the building of the central market in Paris.
Victor Baltard also built the slaughter houses and the cattle market of La
Villette. He died in Paris on the 13th of January 1874, after a life of
great activity in his profession.
BALTIC SEA (Scand. and Ger. _Ostsee_; Russ. _Baltiyskoe More_), a sea
extending between 54deg and 66deg N. lat., and 9deg and 30deg E. long.,
surrounded by the territories of Sweden, Russia, Germany and Denmark. Its
greatest length is about 960 m.; greatest breadth about 400 m.; and length
of coast-line, 5000 m.; the central axis runs approximately from south-west
to north-east. The Baltic is connected with North Sea by the winding
channel between the south of Scandinavia and the Cimbrian peninsula. This
channel is usually included in the Baltic. The part of it west of a line
joining the Skaw with Christiania fjord receives the name of Skagerrak; the
part east of this line is called the Kattegat. At its southern end the
Kattegat is blocked by the Danish islands, and it communicates with the
Baltic proper by narrow channels called the Sound, the Great Belt and the
Little Belt. The real physical boundary between the North Sea and the
Baltic is formed by the plateau on which the islands Zealand, Funen and
Laaland are situated, and its prolongation from the islands Falster and
Moen to the coasts of Mecklenburg and Ruegen.
East of this plateau the Baltic proper forms a series of hollows or
troughs. The first, or Bornholm deep, lies east of the island of Bornholm,
and is separated from the next, or Gotland deep, by the Middelbank. Beyond
the Middelbank the Danziger Tiefe, an isolated depression, lies to the
south-east, while to the northeast the Gotland basin, the largest and
deepest of all, extends north-eastwards to the Gulf of Finland. Along the
Swedish coast a deep channel runs northward from outside the island of
Oland; this is entirely cut off to the south and east by a bank which
sweeps eastward and northward from near Karlskrona, and on which the island
of Gotland stands, but it communicates at its northern end with the Gotland
deep, and near the junction opposite Landsort is the deepest hole in the
Baltic (420 metres = 230 fathoms).
An unbroken ridge, extending from Stockholm to Hango in Finland, separates
the Baltic basin proper from the depression between Sweden and the Aland
Isles, to which the name Aland Haf has been given. North of the Aland Haf a
ridge defines the southern edge of another depression, the Bothnian Sea,
which in turn is separated from the most northerly division, the Gulf of
Bothnia, by a ridge across the narrow Quarken or Kvarken Strait. The
Gotland deep may be said to extend directly into the Gulf of Finland, an
arm of the Baltic, running eastwards for about 250 m., and separating
Finland from Esthonia. Between Esthonia and Courland is the Gulf of Riga, a
shallow inlet of roughly circular form, about 100 m. in diameter, and
nowhere more than 27 fathoms deep.
According to recent computations the total area of the Baltic, including
the Skagerrak and Kattegat, is 166,397 sq. m., and its volume 6907 cub. m.,
giving a mean depth of 36 fathoms, which is markedly less than that of any
other arm of the sea of similar area.
In the deeper hollows in the south part of the Baltic the bottom consists
almost invariably of either soft brown or grey mud or hard clay, while on
the shallow banks and near the low coasts fine sand, of white, yellow or
brown colour with small pebbles, is usually found.
[v.03 p.0286]
[Sidenote: Coasts--changes and character.]
At the time of the last great subsidence, in glacial times, an arm of the
sea extended across Sweden, submerging a great part of the littoral up to
the Gulf of Bothnia, and including the present lakes Vener, Hjelmar and
Malar. During this period the waters of the northern Baltic were
sufficiently salt for oysters to flourish. The subsequent upheaval
restricted direct communication with the open sea to the Danish channels,
and the Baltic waters became fresher: the oyster disappeared, but a number
of cold salt-water fishes and crustaceans, and even seals, became
acclimatized. It has been suggested that the presence of the remains of
these animals indicates a communication to the north with the Arctic Ocean;
but in view of the severe climatic conditions still prevailing at the time,
this seems an unnecessary assumption. In the next stage of its history the
Baltic is transformed by further elevation into a vast freshwater lake, the
_Ancylus_ lake of G. de Geer (named from the remains of the mollusc
_Ancylus fluviatilis_), which is supposed to have covered an area of about
220,000 sq. m., including the whole of the present Baltic area and a large
part of Finland, with Lake Ladoga. Then followed a subsidence, which not
only re-established communication through the Danish channels, but allowed
the Baltic to become sufficiently salt for such forms as _Cardium edule_
and _Littorina littorea_. At this time the Gulf of Bothnia must have
suffered greater depression than the Baltic proper, for the deposits of
that epoch show a thickness of 100 metres (328 ft.) near Hernosand, but of
only 25 metres (82 ft.) in the neighbourhood of Gotland. After this period
of subsidence the process of elevation set in which gave the Baltic its
present form and physical condition, and appears to be still in progress.
Dr R. Sieger has traced a series of isobasic lines, or lines of equal rate
of elevation, for portions of Sweden and Finland; these indicate that the
movement is now almost _nil_ along the axial lines of the Baltic and the
Gulf of Finland, but increases in amplitude northwards to the Gulf of
Bothnia and in the direction of the main ridge of the _massif_ of southern
Sweden. At Stockholm the rate of elevation is approximately 0.47 metre (=
1.54 ft.) in a century.
The coast of the Baltic is rocky only in the island-studded region at the
head of the Baltic basin proper--a submerged lake-district--and the
littoral generally is a typical morainic land, the work of the last great
Baltic glacier. The southern margin of the Baltic is of peculiar interest.
From Schleswig eastwards to Luebeck Bay the coast is pierced by a number of
narrow openings or _Fohrden_, the result of encroachment of the sea caused
by subsidence. East of Luebeck, as far as the mouth of the Oder, these give
place to _Bodden_, ramified openings studded with islands: the structure
here resembles that of Scania in southern Sweden, a region once joined to
both Denmark and Pomerania by an isthmus which was severed by tectonic
movements. Beyond the Oder the coast-line is unbroken as far as the Gulf of
Danzig. It is then cut into by the estuaries of the Vistula, the Pregel and
the Memel. Here the westerly winds have full play, and the coast is rimmed
by a continuous line of dunes, which cut off the two great lagoons of the
_Frisches Haff_ and _Kurisches Haff_ by sandspits or _Nehrungen_.
The drainage area of the Baltic is relatively large. According to the
measurements of Sir J. Murray it extends to 461,450 sq. sea m. ( = 611,700
sq. English m.) The largest river-basin included in it is that of the Neva
in the east, and next in size come the Vistula and the Oder in the south.
The narrow parallel troughs, at right angles to the coast, which form the
drainage-system of Sweden and western Finland, are a remarkable feature.
[Sidenote: Level.]
Levellings from Swinemuende show that the mean level of the surface of the
Baltic at that point is 0.093 metres (= .305 ft.) below the surface of the
North Sea at Amsterdam, and 0.066 metres ( = .216 ft.) below its level at
Ostend. A line of levels from Swinemuende through Eger to the Adriatic
showed the mean level of the surface of the Baltic to be 0.499 metres (1.6
ft.) above that of the Adriatic Sea. The mean level of the surface of the
Baltic rises about 0.5 metres (1.6 ft.) from the coast of Holstein to
Memel, probably as a result of the prevailing westerly winds; this mean
difference is exceeded with strong westerly winds, and disappears or is
reversed with easterly winds. The waves of the Baltic are usually short and
irregular, often dangerous to navigation. Destructive waves, probably
caused by distant earthquakes, called _Seebaren_ (cf. English "bores") have
been recorded.
The range of the tides is about one foot at Copenhagen; within the Baltic
proper ordinary tides are scarcely perceptible. There is, however, a
distinctly marked annual rise and fall due to meteorological influences
having a mean range of about 11.4 cm. (0.37 ft.), at Travemuende, and 13.9
cm. (0.46 ft.) at Swinemuende, the maximum occurring at the end of the
summer rainy period in August.
[Sidenote: Circulation.]
The circulation of water in the Baltic proper must be considered apart from
the circulation in the channels connecting it with the North Sea; and in
this relation the plateau connecting the islands Falster and Moen with the
coast of Mecklenburg and Ruegen must be taken as the dividing line. In the
great basins and hollows from Ruegen to the Gulfs of Bothnia and Finland
the upper layers of water, from 30 to 70 metres (16 to 38 fathoms) in
thickness, have almost the same salinity throughout. In these waters a
vertical circulation is kept up by convection currents. Beneath these
layers are masses of salter water, through which a thermal wave of small
amplitude is slowly propagated to the bottom by conduction. These strata
are practically stagnant, deficient in oxygen and surcharged with carbonic
acid. Their salter waters must have been originally derived from outside,
and must therefore have passed over the plateau between Falster and
Mecklenburg, but their horizontal extension is checked by the ridges
separating the deep hollows in the Baltic from each other. The inflow to
the deep basins is intermittent, probably with a long period of flux and
reflux.
The circulation in the channels connecting the Baltic proper with the North
Sea is of a complex character. It is necessary in the first place to
distinguish clearly between outflowing and inflowing waters; in practice
this is easily done, as the outflowing water always contains less than 30
parts _pro mille_ of salt, and the inflowing water more than 32 _pro
mille_. The Baltic receives much more water by rainfall, discharge of
rivers, &c., than it loses by evaporation; hence a surplus must be got rid
of by an outflowing current which may be named the "Baltic Stream." The
following general laws may be laid down with regard to this:--
1. That the Baltic Stream must be a surface current, because it originates
from a redundancy of fresh water.
2. That, on account of the earth's rotation, the main part of the Baltic
Stream must keep close to the coast of the Scandinavian peninsula.
3. That it must be a periodic stream, because the discharge of the rivers
into the Baltic varies with the season of the year. In spring and summer
the water from the Baltic is sufficiently abundant to inundate the whole
surface of the Kattegat and Skagerrak, but in winter the sources of the
Baltic current are for the most part dried up by the freezing of the land
water.
All the waters which enter the Skagerrak or Kattegat as undercurrents can
be found at the surface of the North Sea (_q.v._). They may be divided
according to their origin and salinity as follows:--
(a) _Ocean water_ of 35 _pro mille_ salinity or more.
(b) _North Sea water_, the predominant water in the North Sea area, of 34
to 35 _pro mille_ salinity.
(c) _Bank water_, 32 to 34 _pro mille_, which forms a broad edging covering
the coast banks of Holland, Germany, Denmark and Norway.
The deepest water stratum in the Skagerrak is certainly of oceanic origin;
it has been found to suffer changes of long period, and it is probably not
always composed of water derived from the same part or the same depth of
the North Atlantic; this water is, as a rule, deficient in oxygen. The
"North Sea" water, of 34 to 35 _pro mille_ salinity, does not appear at the
surface in the Skagerrak, except as a strip along part of the coast of
Jutland, but it is always found as an undercurrent overlying the oceanic
water. It enters into all the deep coast channels, and into the Christiania
fjord, but it is not always found in the deep channels of the Kattegat. The
principal time of inflow of North Sea water is during spring and summer.
The bank-water of 32 to 34 _pro mille_ salinity is found all along the
continental coast of the North Sea and North Atlantic, and it may therefore
enter the Skagerrak either from the North Sea or from the north along the
coast of Norway. It is probable indeed that an influx of this water occurs
from both directions--in August and September from the south, and in the
late winter and early spring from the north. The seasonal changes in the
distribution of the bank-waters in different parts of the coast are too
complex to be briefly explained; their relations to the times of occurrence
of various fisheries of the region present many remarkable features, which
have been investigated in recent years by the Swedish Commission.
On the west and south coasts of Sweden, and in the Skagerrak south-east of
Norway, navigation is interfered with by ice only in severe winters, and
then the ice is usually drifting, compact sea-ice being very rare. Between
Stockholm and Visby navigation usually ceases at the end of December and
begins again about the 10th of April. During very severe winters the Aland
Sea is covered with thick ice available for traffic. The south part of the
Gulf of Bothnia is covered with ice every winter along the coasts, but
rarely, if ever, in its central part. Navigation is interrupted by drifting
ice from about the middle of November to the beginning of May, though the
port of Hernosand has been known to remain open during a whole winter. The
northern Quarken is covered with traversable ice every third or fourth
year. The northern part of the Gulf of Bothnia is frozen every winter. In
the Gulf of Finland the sea is closed to navigation by ice for about 150
days in the year; but navigation is rendered possible throughout the winter
by the use of ice-breakers.
See references to different parts of the subject in the standard books of
A. Penck, A. de Lapparent, E. Suess and others. Also Credner, _Die
Entstehung der Ostsee_ (Leipzig, 1895); G. de Geer, _Om Skandinaviens
nivaforandringar under quartarperioden_ (Stockholm, 1888); R. Sieger,
_Seeenschwankungen und Strandverschiebungen in Skandinavien_ (Berlin,
1893); O. Pettersson, "Review of Swedish Hydrographic Research," _Scottish
Geographical Magazine_ (1894); N. Ekholm, _Om klimatets andringar i
geologisk och historisk tid. Ymer_ (Stockholm, 1899); _Publications of the
International Council for the Study of the Sea_ (Copenhagen, since 1902).
(H. N. D.)
[v.03 p.0287] BALTIMORE, GEORGE CALVERT, 1ST BARON (_c._ 1580-1632),
English statesman, son of Leonard Calvert, and Alice, daughter of John
Crosland of Crosland, was born at Kipling in Yorkshire and educated at
Trinity College, Oxford. After travelling on the continent, he entered the
public service as secretary to Robert Cecil, afterwards earl of Salisbury.
In 1606 he was appointed clerk of the crown in Connaught and Clare, in 1608
a clerk of the council, and was returned to parliament for Bossiney in
1609. He assisted James I. in his discourse against Vorstius, the Arminian
theological professor of Leiden, and in 1613 took charge of the Spanish and
Italian correspondence. The same year he was sent on a mission to Ireland
to investigate grievances. For these services he was rewarded by knighthood
in 1617, followed by a secretaryship of state in 1619 and a pension of
L2000 a year in 1620. He represented successively Yorkshire (1621) and
Oxford University (1624) in the House of Commons, where it fell to him in
his official capacity to communicate the king's policy and to obtain
supplies. He was distrusted by the parliament, and was in favour of the
unpopular alliance with Spain and the Spanish marriage. Shortly after the
failure of the scheme he declared himself a Roman Catholic, and on the 12th
of February 1625 threw up his office, when he was created Baron Baltimore
of Baltimore and received a grant of large estates in Ireland. Henceforth
he was seen little in public life and his attention was directed to
colonial enterprise, with which his name will be always associated. He had
established a small settlement in Newfoundland in 1621, for which under the
name of Avalon he procured a charter in 1623, and which he himself visited
in 1627. In consequence of disputes and the unsuitable nature of the
climate he sailed thence for Virginia, but was forbidden to settle there
unless he took the oaths of allegiance and supremacy. He returned home, and
died on the 15th of April 1632 before a new concession was secured, the
charter of Maryland passing the great seal on the 20th of June 1632 in
favour of his son Cecilius, second Lord Baltimore, who founded the colony.
Baltimore married Anne, daughter of George Mynne of Hurlingfordbury,
Hertfordshire, by whom he had six sons and five daughters. He wrote _Carmen
funebre in D. Hen. Untonum_ (1596); _The Answer to Tom Tell-Troth ..._
(1642) is also attributed to him, and Wood mentions Baltimore as having
composed "something concerning Maryland." His letters are to be found in
various publications, including Strafford's _Letters_, _Clarendon State
Papers_ and the _Calendars of State Papers_.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--_George and Cecilius Calvert_ by William Hand Browne (1890);
article by C. H. Firth in the _Dict. of Nat. Biog._ with references there
given; Wood's _Athenae Oxonienses_ (Bliss) ii. 522; Doyle's, _The English
in America_; _Discourse on the Life and Character of Sir G. Calvert_ by
J. P. Kennedy (1845), with the _Review_ and the _Reply_ to the same;
_London Magazine_, June 1768; "Sir G. Calvert," by L. W. Wilhelm (_Maryland
Hist. Soc_., 14th April 1884); _The Nation_, vol. 70, p. 95; _American
Historical Review_, vol. 5, p. 577.
BALTIMORE, a city and seaport, and the metropolis of Maryland, U.S.A., the
7th city in population in the United States. It is at the head of
tide-water on the Patapsco river and its middle and north-west branches
where they form an estuary 12 m. from the entrance of their waters into
Chesapeake Bay, in lat. 39deg 17' N. and long. 76deg 37' W., about 172 m.
by water from the Atlantic Ocean, 40 m. by rail N.W. from Washington, 26 m.
N. by W. from Annapolis, 97 m. S.W. from Philadelphia, and 184 m. from New
York. Pop. (1890) 434,439; (1900) 508,957 of whom 79,258 were negroes, and
68,600 foreign-born (of these 33,208 were natives of Germany, 10,493 of
Russia, 9690 of Ireland, 2841 of England, 2811 of Poland, 2321 of Bohemia
and 2042 of Italy); (1910, census) 558,485. It is served by the Baltimore &
Ohio, the Philadelphia, Baltimore & Washington (the Pennsylvania system),
the Baltimore & Annapolis Short Line, the Baltimore, Chesapeake & Atlantic;
the Northern Central; the Western Maryland and the Maryland & Pennsylvania
railways; and by steamship lines running directly to all the more important
ports on the Atlantic coast of the United States, to ports in the West
Indies and Brazil, to London, Liverpool, Southampton, Bristol, Leith,
Glasgow, Dublin, Belfast, Havre, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Bremen, Hamburg and
other European ports.
The city extends nearly 6-1/2 m. from E. to W., and except on the W. side a
little more than 5 m. from N. to S., covering an area of about 32 sq. m.
The ground on which it is built is for the most part gently rolling;
originally some portions were swampy and others were marked by precipitous
heights, but the swamps have been drained and filled and the heights
rounded off. Jones's Falls, a small stream shut in between granite walls
several feet in height, crosses the N. boundary line a short distance W. of
its middle, flows S.E. to the S.E. corner of the main business quarter, and
there meets the north-west branch of the Patapsco, in which lies the
harbour, defended at its entrance by the historic Fort McHenry, built at
the S.E. extremity of Locust Point, an irregular peninsula extending S.E.,
on which are grain-elevators and a number of wharves, including those of
the Baltimore & Ohio railway.
That part of the city which lies E. of Jones's Falls is known as East
Baltimore, and is in turn nominally divided into Fells' Point to the S. and
E., now a shipbuilding and manufacturing quarter, and Old Town to the N.
and W. In the Old Town still remain a few specimens of eighteenth century
architecture, including several old-fashioned post-houses, which used to
furnish entertainment for travellers starting for the Middle West by way of
the old Cumberland Road beginning at Fort Cumberland, and from Baltimore to
Fort Cumberland by a much older turnpike. The more inviting portion of the
modern city lies on the western side of Jones's Falls, and the principal
residential districts are in the northern half of the city. A little S.
from the centre of the city, Baltimore Street, running E. and W., and
Charles Street, running N. and S., intersect; from this point buildings on
these two streets are numbered N., S., E. and W., while buildings on other
streets are numbered N. and S. from Baltimore Street and E. and W. from
Charles Street. Baltimore Street is the chief business thoroughfare; S. of
it as well as a little to the N. is the wholesale, financial and shipping
district; while West Lexington Street, a short distance to the N., and
North Howard and North Eutaw Streets, between Fayette and Franklin Streets,
have numerous department and other retail stores. In North Gay Street also,
which runs N.E. through East Baltimore, there are many small but busy
retail shops. North Charles Street, running through the district in which
the more wealthy citizens live, is itself lined with many of the most
substantial and imposing residences in the city. Mount Vernon Place and
Washington Place, intersecting near the centre of the city, Eutaw Place
farther N.W., and Broadway running N. and S. through the middle of East
Baltimore, are good examples of wide streets, having squares in the middle,
adorned with lawns, flower-beds and fountains.
The buildings of the principal business quarter have been erected since
1904, when a fire which broke out on Sunday the 7th of February destroyed
all the old ones within an area of 150 acres. Within a year after the fire,
however, 225 places of business were again occupied and 170 more were
building. A city ordinance prohibited the erection of any building more
than 185 ft. in height, and prescribed a uniform height for those in the
same neighbourhood; a large portion of the new buildings are of either
three or four storeys, but a few tall ones range from ten to sixteen. The
principal materials of which they are built are limestone, granite, marble
and bricks, and terra-cotta of various colours.
The city hall, the post-office and the court-house, standing in a row, and
each occupying a separate block along E. Fayette Street in almost the exact
centre of the city, are three of Baltimore's most imposing buildings, and
all of them narrowly escaped destruction by the great fire. The city hall,
completed in 1875, in the Renaissance style, consists of a centre structure
of four storeys surmounted by an iron dome 260 ft. high, and two connecting
wings of three storeys surmounted by a mansard roof; the entire outer
facing is of white Maryland marble. The post-office, completed in 1890, is
built of Maine granite. The court-house, completed in 1899, is of white
marble, with mural paintings by La Farge, E. H. Blashfield and C. Y.
Turner. Two of the principal library buildings--the Peabody and the Enoch
[v.03 p.0288] Pratt--are faced with white marble. Among the churches may be
mentioned the Roman Catholic cathedral, surmounted by a dome 125 ft.
high--Baltimore being the seat of a Roman Catholic archbishopric, the
highest in rank in the United States; the First Presbyterian church
(decorated Gothic), with a spire 250 ft. high; the Grace Episcopal
church--Baltimore being the seat of a Protestant Episcopal bishopric; the
First Methodist Episcopal church; and the synagogues of the Baltimore
Hebrew Congregation and the Oheb Shalom Congregation. Other notable
buildings are the custom-house, the Masonic Temple, the Maryland Clubhouse,
the Mount Royal station of the Baltimore & Ohio railway, and the buildings
of the Johns Hopkins hospital. There are several good bridges across
Jones's Falls.
On an elevated site at the intersection of Washington Place--a continuation
of N. Charles Street--with Mount Vernon Place stands a white marble
monument in honour of George Washington, the eldest of the monuments in his
honour in the United States. The corner-stone was laid in 1815 and the
monument was completed in 1829. The base is 50 ft. sq. and 24 ft. high; on
this stands a Doric column, 25 ft. in diameter at the base and 130 ft.
high, which is surmounted by a statue of Washington 16 ft. high. A winding
stairway in the interior leads to a parapet at the top. In the square by
which the monument is surrounded are also statues of George Peabody by
W. W. Story (a replica of the one in London), Roger Brooke Taney by W. H.
Rinehart, and John Eager Howard by Emmanuel Fremiet; and bronze pieces
representing Peace, War, Force and Order, and a figure of a lion by Antoine
L. Barye. The Henry Walters collection of paintings, mostly by modern
French artists, and of Chinese and Japanese bronzes, ivory carvings,
enamels, porcelain and paintings is housed in the Walters Art Gallery at
the S. end of Washington Place; at the south-east corner of the square is
the Peabody Institute with its conservatory of music and collection of rare
books, of American paintings, and of casts, including the Rinehart
collection of the works of William H. Rinehart who was a native of
Maryland. In Monument Square near the post-office and the court-house is
the white marble Battle Monument, erected in 1815 to the memory of those
who had fallen in defence of the city in the previous year; it is 52 ft.
high, the column being in the form of a bundle of Roman fasces, upon the
bands of which are inscribed the names of those whom it commemorates; and
the whole is surmounted by a female figure, the emblematical genius of the
city. To this monument and the one in honour of Washington, Baltimore owes
the name "The Monumental City," frequently applied to it. A small monument
erected to the memory of Edgar Allan Poe stands in the Westminster
Presbyterian churchyard, where he is buried; there is another monument to
his memory in Druid Hill Park. In Greenmount Cemetery in the north central
part of the city are the graves of Junius Brutus Booth, Mme Elizabeth
Patterson Bonaparte (1785-1879), the wife of Jerome Bonaparte, Johns
Hopkins, John McDonogh and Sidney Lanier.
In 1908 there were in the city under the jurisdiction of the department of
public parks and squares 13 parks of 10 acres or more each and 33 squares,
and the total acreage of parks was 2188 acres and of squares 86.53 acres.
Chief among the parks is Druid Hill Park in the N.W. containing 672.78
acres and famous for its natural beauty. Clifton Park, of 311.26 acres, 2
m. E. of Druid Hill and formerly a part of the Johns Hopkins estate, passed
into the possession of the city in 1895. Patterson Park in the extreme
S.E., of 125.79 acres, is a favourite resort for the inhabitants of East
Baltimore.
_Education_.--Baltimore ranks high as an educational centre. Johns Hopkins
University (_q.v._) is a leading institution of the United States for
graduate study. The Peabody Institute, founded in 1859 by George Peabody,
who was for some years a resident of Baltimore, is an important factor in
the promotion of science, literature and the fine arts. Goucher College
(Methodist, 1888) for women, is one of the best institutions of the kind in
southern United States. The older of the two state normal schools, opened
in 1867, is located here. Morgan College (Methodist), opened in 1876,
offers the advantages of a college education to the coloured young people.
Loyola College, founded in 1852, and various other institutions are for the
training of the Catholics.
The McDonogh farm school, about 12 m. N.W., with a farm of 835 acres, a
printing-office, and carpenter and machine shops prepares poor boys to
enter any college in the country. The institution owes its origin to a
bequest left by John McDonogh. Among the professional schools are the
university of Maryland and Baltimore University--each of which offers
courses in law, medicine and dentistry--the Baltimore Medical College, the
College of Physicians and Surgeons, the Woman's Medical College, the
Baltimore College of Dental Surgery, the Maryland College of Pharmacy
(since 1904 part of the university of Maryland), the Baltimore Law School,
St Joseph's Seminary and St Mary's Seminary, which, established by the
Society of St Sulpice in 1791, is said to be the oldest Catholic
theological seminary in the United States. The city also has a Polytechnic
Institute, as well as high schools for white and for coloured pupils. The
principal libraries are those of Johns Hopkins University, Peabody
Institute, Maryland Historical Society, and the Bar Association; and the
Enoch Pratt, the New Mercantile, and Maryland Diocesan (Protestant
Episcopal).
The charitable institutions of Baltimore are numerous. Several such
institutions supported wholly or in part by the state of Maryland (_q.v._)
are located here, and besides these there are scores of others. A
representative list includes:-- the Charity Organization Society, the
primary object of which is to organize the work of the others; the
Baltimore Association for the Improvement of the Condition of the Poor,
which seeks to discourage indiscriminate alms-giving; the Bay View asylum
or city poorhouse; the Children's Aid Society; the Thomas Wilson
Fuel-Saving Society, for furnishing coal at low rates; the Woman's
Industrial Exchange, for assisting women in need to support themselves;
Johns Hopkins hospital, noted for the excellence of its equipment
especially for heating and ventilating; Saint Joseph's general hospital;
hospital for the women of Maryland of Baltimore city; nursery and child's
hospital; Baltimore eye, ear and throat charity hospital; Maryland hospital
for the insane; the Sheppard asylum, intended especially for the cure of
the insane; the Sheppard and Enoch Pratt hospital; the Baltimore orphan
asylum; Saint Vincent's infant asylum; the Thomas Wilson sanatorium for
children, intended for children under three years of age, who are suffering
from disease, during the warm summer months; the Free Summer Excursion
Society, for affording a change of air to the indigent sick; home for the
incurables; homes for the aged; homes for friendless children; institutions
for the blind; and institutions for the deaf and dumb.
Water for the city taken from Jones's Falls and Gunpowder river a few miles
N. of the city limits, is brought through tunnels, and is stored in eight
reservoirs having an aggregate capacity of 2275 million gallons. The whole
system is owned by the municipality and can furnish about 300 million
gallons daily. After the fire $10,000,000 was appropriated for a new sewage
system (begun 1906). In 1900 the Maryland legislature empowered the city to
borrow $1,350,000 to establish a municipal lighting plant, but in 1909
private concerns still supplied the streets with light.
_Commerce_.--The harbour, which consists of three parts, is excellent. Its
entrance at Fort McHenry is a channel 600 ft. wide, with a minimum draft
(1907) of 31 ft. of water. The depth is continued with an increased width
for a mile and a quarter to near Fells' Point, where the width is
contracted to one-fourth of a mile with a depth of 16 ft. Above this
entrance it widens into an ellipse a mile long, half a mile broad and 15
ft. deep. The third or inner harbour has a depth of 14 ft. and penetrates
far into the city. Vessels of the largest class can lie at the Locust Point
wharves and Canton, and vessels of 4000 tons can use the inner harbour W.
of the mouth of Jones's Falls. By 1905 $5,000,000 had been appropriated
since the great fire for new docks. In 1908 the city ranked fourth among
the Atlantic ports of the United States in the amount of its exports
($82,113,496), and fourth in the amount of its imports ($23,722,045).
[v.03 p.0289] That Baltimore has grown rapidly as a manufacturing city
since 1880 is seen from the fact that in that year there were but 3683
manufacturing establishments, with a total annual product valued at
$78,417,304, as compared with 6359 establishments (of which 2274 were under
the factory system) in 1900 producing commodities valued at $161,249,240
($135,107,626 under the factory system); in 1905 there were 2163
establishments under the factory system with a total annual product valued
at $151,546,580, an increase of 12.2% in the five years. The city ranked
eighth among the manufacturing centres of the United States, as regards the
value of products, in the three successive censuses of 1880, 1890 and 1900.
In 1905 it was ninth. Baltimore is noted particularly as the most important
centre in the United States of the canning and preserving industry. The
output in 1905 ($5,981,541) of the city's establishments for the canning
and preserving of fruits and vegetables was 7.7% of that of the whole
United States; in 1900 it had been 15% of the country's total. What seems
to have been the first oyster-canning establishment in America was built in
Baltimore (by a Thomas Kensett) in 1820, and oyster-canning as a distinct
industry on a permanent footing was begun here in 1850. The term "cove
oysters," now applied to canned oysters everywhere, was originally applied
to the oysters found in the coves on the W. side of the Chesapeake Bay,
above the mouth of the Potomac. Up to 1900, after which year oyster
canneries began to be built in the southern states, especially in
Mississippi, Baltimore was the centre of the oyster-canning industry.
Baltimore is also a well-known centre for the manufacture of clothing, in
which in 1905 ($22,684,656) it ranked fourth among the cities of the United
States; for cigar and cigarette-making (1905, $4,360,366); for the
manufacture of foundry and machine shop products (1905, $6,572,925), of
tinware (1905, $5,705,980), of shirts (1905, $5,710,783), of cotton-duck
(the output of sail-duck being about three-fourths of the total for the
United States), bricks (about 150,000,000 annually), and fertilizers; it
also manufactures furniture, malt liquors, and confectionery, and many
other commodities in smaller amounts. The markets, especially the Lexington
market, are noted for the abundance and great variety of their produce. The
proximity of coal-mines, the abundance and variety of food supplies
furnished by the state, the great quantity and variety of the city's
manufactured goods, the excellent shipping facilities, and the consequent
low cost of living, are prominent features of the physical life of the
city.
_Government_.--Although the charter under which Baltimore is governed came
into effect as late as 1898, it is only the second one for the city, the
first one having been in force for 101 years. The mayor is now elected for
a term of four years; he must be at least twenty-five years of age and must
have property in the city valued at $2000 or more, on which he shall have
paid taxes for two years preceding his election. Great responsibility is
centred upon him by giving him power to appoint the heads of departments
and sub-departments, subject to the approval of the second branch of the
council, and permitting him to remove at pleasure for six months after an
appointment; in appointing a board or commission, however, he is required
to choose the members from more than one political party. He has five days
in which to veto an ordinance, and an affirmative vote of three-fourths of
the members of each branch of the council is required to pass an ordinance
over his veto. The council, constituting the legislative department,
consists of two branches. The first branch is composed of one member from
each ward, elected for a term of four years; the second branch of two
members from each of four districts, and a president elected by the city at
large, all for a term of four years; a property qualification is prescribed
for members of each branch. All municipal officers are elected in May in
order to separate municipal from state and national elections. No street
franchise can be granted for a longer term than twenty-five years, and the
right to regulate the exercise of each and every franchise is reserved to
the mayor and council. A board of estimate, composed of the mayor, the city
solicitor, the comptroller, the president of the second branch of the city
council, and the president of the board of public improvements, has control
over appropriations, the council having power to decrease the amount of any
item but not to enlarge it. To create a debt for any purpose other than to
meet a temporary deficiency, the mayor and council must first obtain the
consent of both the state legislature and the city electorate. The
department of education is intrusted to an unsalaried board of nine
commissioners, appointed by the mayor with the approval of the second
branch of the council for a term of six years, three retiring every two
years. This board appoints a superintendent, six or more assistant
superintendents, and the teachers of the high schools and the Polytechnic
Institute, also the other teachers, but only according to the
superintendent's recommendation on the basis of merit.
_History_.--Baltimore was named in honour of the Lords Baltimore, the
founders of the province of Maryland, but no settlement was made here until
nearly 100 years after the planting of the colony; meanwhile at least two
other town-sites, on which it was hoped permanent towns might be
established, had received the same name, but nothing came of either.
Finally, however, while the provincial legislature was still engaged in the
practice of directing places to be laid out for towns, where, as events
proved there was nothing to give these towns more than a mere paper
existence, that body in 1729 directed seven commissioners to purchase 60
acres of land on the N. side of the Patapsco and lay it out in sixty equal
lots as the town of Baltimore. Three years later, at the instance of the
same body, Jones-Town (Old Town) was laid out on the opposite side of
Jones's Falls, and in 1745 these two towns were consolidated. About the
same time the resources of the interior, for which Baltimore was to become
a trade centre, were being rapidly developed by the Germans. Prior to 1752,
in which year there were only twenty-five houses with two hundred
inhabitants, the growth of the city had indeed been slow; but only a year
or two later wheat loaded in its harbour was for the first time shipped to
Scotland; during the war between the French and the English at this time
some of the unfortunate Acadians found new homes here; in 1767 Baltimore
was made the county seat; by the beginning of the War of Independence its
population had grown to 6755; and in 1780 it was made a port of entry. The
city early became an important shipping centre; during both the War of
Independence and the War of 1812 many privateers were sent out from it, and
in the interval between these wars, the ship-owners of Baltimore had their
share in the world's carrying trade, the "Baltimore clippers" becoming
famous. In 1797 Baltimore received its first charter, having been governed
until then from Annapolis and through commissions with very limited powers;
at the same time the Fells' Point settlement, founded about 1730 by William
Fells, a ship carpenter, was annexed. During the War of Independence, the
Continental Congress, frightened from Philadelphia in 1776, sat for several
weeks in a hall in W. Baltimore Street near Liberty Street; during the same
war also fortifications were first erected on the site of the present Fort
McHenry. This fort effectively protected the city in 1814 when attacked by
the British, and it was during the attack that Francis Scott Key, detained
on one of the British attacking vessels, composed the "Star Spangled
Banner." In 1860 all three of the candidates opposed to Lincoln--Douglas,
Breckinridge and Bell--were nominated here, and here in 1864 President
Lincoln was nominated for a second term. The city has been the
meeting-place of other important conventions, and is sometimes called "The
Convention City." At the outbreak of the Civil War on the 19th of April
1861, the Sixth Massachusetts regiment, while passing through Baltimore,
was attacked by a mob and several men were killed on both sides; in the
following month the city was subjected to military rule and so continued
until the close of the war. From 1856 to 1860 Baltimore was under the
control of the American or Know-Nothing party, and suffered greatly from
election riots and other disorders, until as a remedy the control of the
police system was taken from the mayor and council and exercised by the
state government. Soon after the Civil War a Democratic "machine" got firm
control of the city, [v.03 p.0290] and although a struggle to overthrow the
machine was begun in earnest in 1875 by a coalition of the reform element
of the Democratic party with the Republican party, it was not till 1895
that the coalition won its first decisive victory at the polls. Even then
the efforts of the Republican mayor were at first thwarted by the council,
which passed an ordinance over his veto, taking from him the power of
appointment and vesting it in themselves; the Maryland court of appeals,
however, soon decided that the council had exceeded its powers, and an
important outcome of the reform movement was the new charter of 1898.
Annexations of suburban territory in 1888 and 1890 greatly increased the
area of the city.
AUTHORITIES.--J. H. Hollander, _Guide to the City of Baltimore_ (Baltimore,
1893); T. P. Thomas, "The City Government of Baltimore" (in _Johns Hopkins
University Studies in Historical and Political Science_, Baltimore, 1896);
St G. L. Sioussat, "Baltimore, the Monumental City" (in L. P. Powell,
_Historic Towns of the Southern States_, New York, 1900); J. T. Scharf,
_Chronicles of Baltimore_ (Baltimore, 1874).
BALTZAR, THOMAS (_c._ 1630-1663), German violinist, was born at Luebeck. He
visited England in 1656 and made a great impression on Evelyn and Anthony
Wood. In 1661 he was appointed leader of the king's famous band of
twenty-four violins, but his intemperate habits cut short his career within
two years. Nothing like his violin-playing had ever been heard in England
before, and in all probability the instrumental music of Henry Purcell owes
much to its influence.
BA-LUBA, a Bantu negroid race with several subdivisions; one of the most
important and cultivated peoples of Central Africa. They are distributed
over eight degrees of longitude between Lakes Tanganyika, Mweru and
Bangweulu in the east, and the Kasai in the west. In the east, where they
are found in the greatest racial purity, they founded the states of
Katanga, Urua and Uguha; in the west they have intermixed to some extent
with the Ba-Kete aborigines, whom they have partially dispossessed,
dividing them into two portions, one to the north, the other to the south.
To the western Ba-Luba the name Ba-Shilange has been given. With the
Ba-Luba are connected the founders of the great Lunda empire--now divided
between Belgian Congo and Angola--ruled by a monarch entitled Muata Yanvo
(Jamvo). The westward movement of the Ba-Luba took place in comparatively
recent times, the end of the 18th century or the beginning of the 19th.
Shortly afterwards a chief named Kalamba Mukenge founded a large state.
There followed in 1870 a remarkable politico-religious revolution, the
result of which was the establishment of a cult of hemp-smoking, connected
with a secret society termed _Bena Riamba_; the members of this abandoned
their old fetish worship and adopted a form of communism of which the
central idea was the blood-brotherhood of all the members. Towards the east
hemp-smoking becomes less common.
The Ba-Luba practise circumcision and scar-tattooing is common;
tooth-filing is very frequent in the east, though in the west it is
comparatively rare; the fashion of dressing the hair is very varied and
often extremely fantastic. Their houses, which are built by the women, are
rectangular; on the Lulua, however, pile-houses, square in shape, are
found. They are an agricultural people, but work in the fields is relegated
to the women and slaves; the men are admirable craftsmen and are renowned
for their wood-carving, cloth-weaving and iron-work. In the west, bows and
arrows are the chief weapons, in the east spears principally are used. The
old form of religion still obtains in the east, which was untouched by the
communistic movement mentioned, and charms of all sorts, as well as carved
anthropomorphic figures, are extremely common. The Ba-Luba are a fine race
physically and seem very prosperous, though in the extreme west
considerable deterioration, physical, moral and cultural, has taken place.
BALUCHISTAN, a country within the borders of British India which, like
Afghanistan, derives its name from its dominant race of inhabitants. It
extends from the Gomal river to the Arabian Sea, and from the borders of
Persia and Afghanistan to those of the Punjab and Sind. It is divided into
two main divisions, British Baluchistan, which is a portion of British
India under the chief commissioner, and the foreign territories under the
administration or superintendence of the same officer as agent to the
governor-general. The former portion, with an area of 9403 sq. m., consists
principally of tracts ceded to the British government by Afghanistan under
the treaty of Gandamak (1879), and formally declared to be part of British
India in 1887. The second class comprises three subdivisions, namely areas
directly administered, native states and tribal areas. The
directly-administered districts include areas acquired in various ways.
Some portions are held on lease from the khan of Kalat; while others are
tribal areas in which it has been decided for various reasons that revenue
shall be taken. They include the whole of the Zhob and Chagai political
agencies, the eastern portion of the Quetta tahsil and other tracts, among
which may be mentioned the Bolan Pass, comprising 36,401 sq. m. in all. The
whole of the northern boundary, with the north-eastern corner and the
railway which traverses Baluchistan through Quetta up to New Chaman on the
Afghan-Baluch frontier, is therefore in one form or other under direct
British control. The remainder of the territory (79,382 sq. m.) belongs to
the native states of Kalat (including Makran and Kharan) and Las Bela.
Tribal areas, in the possession of the Marri and Bugti tribes, cover 7129
sq. m.
Baluchistan as a whole is a sparsely populated tract covering a larger area
than any Indian province save Burma, Madras and Bengal. Three hundred miles
of its mountain walls facing the Indus are south of the railway from the
Indus to Quetta, and about 250 north of it. The railway with the passes and
plains about it, and the dominant hills which surround Quetta, divide
Baluchistan into two distinct parts. North of the railway line, hedged in
between Afghanistan and the plains of the Indus, stretch the long ridges of
rough but picturesque highlands, which embrace the central ranges of the
Suliman system (the prehistoric home of the Pathan highlander), where
vegetation is often alpine, and the climate clear and bracing and subject
to no great extremes of temperature. The average breadth of this northern
Pathan district is 150 m., but it narrows to less than 100 m. on the line
of the Gomal, and expands to more than 200 m. on the line of the railway.
Here all the main drainage either runs northwards to the Gomal, passing
through the uplands that lie west of the Suliman Range; or it gathers
locally in narrow lateral valleys at the back of these mountains and then
bursts directly eastwards through the limestone axis of the hills, making
for the Indus by the shortest transverse route. South of the railway lies a
square block of territory, measuring roughly 300 m. by 300, primarily the
home of the Brahui and the Baluch; but within that block are included
almost every conceivable phase of climate and representatives of half the
great races of Asia. Here, throughout the elevated highlands of the Kalat
plateau which are called Jalawan, the drainage gathers into channels which
cut deep gorges in the hills, and passes eastwards into the plains of Sind.
Beyond and south of the hydrographical area of the Jalawan highlands the
rivers and streams of the hills either run in long straight lines to the
Arabian Sea, north of Karachi, or, curving gradually westwards, they
disappear in the inland swamps which form so prominent a feature in this
part of south-west Asia. A narrow width of the coast districts collects its
waters for discharge into the Arabian Sea direct. This section includes
Makran. Baluchistan thus becomes naturally divided into two districts,
north and south, by an intervening space which contains the Sind-Pishin
railway. This intervening space comprises the wedge-shaped desert of Kach
Gandava (Gandava), which is thrust westwards from the Indus as a deep
indentation into the mountains, and, above it, the central uplands which
figure on the map as "British Baluchistan"--where lies Quetta. All
Baluchistan has now been surveyed. From the great Indus series of triangles
bases have been selected at intervals which have supported minor chains of
triangulation reaching into the heart of the country. These again have been
connected by links of more or less regularity, so that, if the Baluchistan
triangulation lacks the rigid accuracy of a "first [v.03 p.0291] class"
system, it at least supports good topography on geographical scales.
[Sidenote: Northern.]
From Domandi, at the junction of the Gomal and Kundar rivers, the boundary
between Baluchistan and Afghanistan follows the Kundar stream for about 40
m. to the south-west. It then leaves the river and diverges northwards, so
as to include a section of the plain country stretching away towards Lake
Ab-i-Istada, before returning to the skirts of the hills. After about 100
m. of this divergence it strikes the Kadanai river, turning the northern
spurs of the Toba plateau (the base of the Kwaja Amran (Kojak) Range), and
winds through the open plains west of the Kojak. Here, however, the
boundary does not follow the river. It deserts it for the western edge of
the Toba plateau (8000 ft. high at this point), till it nears the little
railway station of New Chaman. It then descends to the plains, returns
again to the hills 40 m. south of Chaman, and thenceforward is defined by
hill ranges southwards to Nushki. The eastern boundary of this northern
section of Baluchistan is the "red line" at the foot of the frontier hills,
which defines the border of British India. This part of Baluchistan thus
presents a buffer system of independent tribes between the British frontier
and Afghanistan. But the independence of the Pathan people south of the
Gomal is not as the independence of the Pathans (Waziris, Afridis, &c.) who
live north of it. It is true that the Indian government interferes as
little with the internal jurisdiction of the tribal chiefs amongst the
Pathans of the Suliman Range as it does with that of the northern chiefs;
but the occupation of a line of posts on the Zhob river, which flanks that
range almost from end to end on the west, places the doors of communication
with Afghanistan in British hands, and gives command of their hills. It
thus tends to the maintenance of peace and order on the southern frontier
to a degree that does not exist in the north.
The central range of the Suliman hills is the dominant feature in the
geography of northern Baluchistan. The central line or axis of the range
lies a little east of the meridian of 70deg E., and it is geologically
composed of one or more great folds of the Cretaceous series. Towards the
northern extremity of the range occur a group of peaks, which together form
an oblong block or "massif" amongst the neighbouring ridges known as
"Kaisargarh" amongst the Sherani clansmen who occupy it; and as the
"Takht-i-Suliman" (Solomon's throne), generally, on the frontier, from the
fact of a celebrated shrine of that name existing near its southern
abutment. The massif of the Takht is a high tableland (about 8000 ft. above
sea-level), bounded on its eastern and western edges by high, rugged and
steep parallel ridges. The western ridge culminates on the north in the
peak of Kaisargarh (11,300 ft.), and the eastern in a block, or detached
headland, on the south, where rests the immortal "zirat" or shrine (11,070
ft.). This tableland is formed by a huge cap of coral limestone, estimated
by Griesbach at from 4000 to 5000 ft. in thickness. At each end the
tableland is rent by gorges which deepen, amidst stupendous precipices, to
the channel of the Draband or "Gat" on the north, and of the Dhana on the
south. These two channels carry the rush of mountain streams from the
western slopes of the massif right across the axis of the mountains and
through the intervening barrier of minor ridges to the plains of the Indus.
The plateau is covered with a fairly thick growth of the chilghosa or
"edible" pine, and a sprinkling of juniper, on the higher slopes. It was
ascended and surveyed for the first time in 1883.
From the summit of the Kaisargarh peak a magnificent view is obtained which
practically embraces the whole width of northern Baluchistan. Westwards,
looking towards Afghanistan, line upon line of broken jagged ridges and
ranges, folds in the Cretaceous series overlaid by coarse sandstones and
shales, follow each other in order, preserving their approximate
parallelism until they touch the borders of Baluchistan. Immediately on the
west of the Kaisargarh there towers the Shingarh Mountain, a geological
repetition of the Kaisargarh ridge, black with pines towards the summit and
crowned with crags of coral limestone. Beyond it are the grey outlines of
the close-packed ridges which enclose the lower reaches of the Zhob and the
Kundar. As they pass away southwards this grid-iron formation strikes with
a gentle curve westwards, the narrow enclosed valleys widening out towards
the sources of the rivers, where ages of denudation have worn down the
folds and filled up the hollows with fruitful soil, until at last they
touch the central water-divide, the key of the whole system, on the Quetta
plateau. Thus the upper parts of the Zhob valley are comparatively open and
fertile, with flourishing villages, and a cultivation which has been
greatly developed under British rule, and are bounded by long, sweeping,
gentle spurs clothed with wild olive woods containing trees of immense
size. The lower reaches of the Zhob and Kundar are hemmed in by rugged
limestone walls, serrated and banded with deep clefts and gorges, a
wilderness of stony desolation. Looking eastwards from the Kaisargarh, one
can again count the backs of innumerable minor ridges, smaller wrinkles or
folds formed during a process of upheaval of the Suliman Mountains, at the
close of a great volcanic epoch which has hardly yet ceased to give
evidence of its existence. On the outside edge, facing the Indus plains, is
a more strictly regular, but higher and more rugged, ridge of hills which
marks the Siwaliks. The Baluch Siwaliks afford us strange glimpses into a
recent geological past, when the same gigantic mammals roamed along the
foot of these wild hills as once inhabited the tangled forests below the
Himalaya. Between the Takht Mountain and the Siwaliks, the intervening belt
of ridge and furrow has been greatly denuded by transverse drainage--a
system of drainage which we now know to have existed before the formation
of the hills, and to have continued to cut through them as they gradually
rose above the plain level. Where this intervening band is not covered by
recent gravel deposits, it exhibits beds of limestone, clays and sandstone
with fossils, which, in age, range from the Lower Eocene to the Miocene.
Beyond the Siwaliks, still looking eastwards, are the sand waves of the
Indus plain; a yellow sea broken here and there with the shadow of village
orchards and the sheen of cultivation, extending to the long black sinuous
line which denotes the fringe of trees bordering the Indus. Such is the
scene which Solomon is said to have invited his Indian bride to gaze upon
for the last time, as they rested on the crags of the southern buttress of
the Takht--where his shrine exists to this day. To that shrine thousands of
pilgrims, Mahommedans and Hindus alike, resort on their yearly pilgrimages,
in spite of its dangerous approach. All this country, so far, is
independent Baluchistan within the jurisdiction of the Baluchistan Agency,
with the exception of certain clans of the Sheranis on the eastern slopes
of the Takht-i-Suliman, north of the Vihowa, who are under the North-West
Frontier Province administration. Wedged in between the railway and the
Indus, but still north of the railway, is a curious mass of rough mountain
country, which forms the southern abutment of the Suliman system. The
strike of the main ridges forming that system is almost due north and south
till it touches 30deg N. lat. Here it assumes a westerly curve, till it
points north-west, and finally merges into the broad band of mountains
which hedge in the Quetta and Pishin uplands on the north and east.
At this point, as might be expected, are some of the grandest peaks and
precipices in Baluchistan. Khalifat on the east of Quetta, flanking the
Harnai loop of the Sind-Pishin railway; Takatu to the north; Chahiltan
(Chiltan) on the south-west; and the great square-headed Murdar to the
south--all overlook the pretty cantonment from heights which range from
10,500 to 11,500 ft. Lying in the midst of them, on an open plain formed by
the high-level tributaries of the Lora (which have also raised the Pishin
valley to the north), 5500 ft. above the sea, is Quetta. The mass of
twisted flexures, the curved wrinkles that end the Suliman system, is
occupied by true Baluchis, the Marri and Bugti sections of the great Rind
confederation of tribes owning an Arabic origin. There are no Pathans here.
To the north of them are the Bozdars, another Rind clan; and these Rind
tribes form the exception to the general rule of Pathan occupation of
northern Baluchistan. Amongst the Pathans, the Kakars and Dumars of Pishin,
with the Mando Khel of Zhob, are the most prominent tribal divisions.
[Sidenote: Central.]
The curved recession of the Suliman Ranges to the north-west leaves a space
of flat alluvial desert to the south, which forms a sort of inlet or bay
striking into the Baluchistan mountain system. The point of this desert
inlet receives the drainage of two local basins, the Bolan and the Nari.
Both drain south-eastwards from the central Quetta-Pishin plateau and both
have served for railway alignment. Being fed by tributaries which for the
most part drain narrow valleys where gradual denudation has washed bare the
flat-backed slopes of limestone ridges, and which consequently send down
torrents of rapidly accumulating rainfall, both these central lines of
water-course are liable to terrific floods. The drainage of the Bolan and
Nari finally disappears in the irrigated flats of the alluvial bay (Kach
Gandava), which extends 130 m. from the Indus to Sibi at the foot of the
hills, and which offers (in spite of periodic Indus floods) an opportunity
for railway approach to Baluchistan such as occurs nowhere else on the
frontier. Kach Gandava, whilst its agricultural development has in no way
receded, is now rivalled by many of the valleys of the highlands. Its
climate debars it from European occupation. It is a land of dust-storms and
poisonous winds; a land where the thermometer never sinks below 100deg F.
in summer, and drops below freezing-point in winter; where there is a
deadly monotony of dust-coloured scenery for the greater part of the year,
with the minimum of rain and the maximum of heat. The Quetta and Pishin
plateau to which it leads is the central dominant water-divide of
Baluchistan and the base of the Kandahar highway.
[Sidenote: British.]
An irregularly-shaped block of upland territory, which includes all the
upper Lora tributaries, and the Toba plateau beyond them; resting on the
Kwaja Amran (Kojak) Range (with an advanced loop to include the Chaman
railway terminus) on the west; reaching south through Shorarud to Nushki;
including the basins of the Bolan and Nari as far as Sibi to the
south-east; stretching out an arm to embrace the Thal Chotiali valley on
the east, and following the main water-divide between the Zhob and Lora on
the north, is called British Baluchistan. It is leased from Kalat, and
forms a distinctive province, being brought under the ordinary forms of
civil administration in British India. Beyond it, north and south, lies
independent Baluchistan, which is under British political control. Its
administrative staff is usually composed of military officers. The degree
of independence enjoyed by the various districts of Baluchistan may be said
to vary in direct proportion to their [v.03 p.0292] distance from Quetta.
No part of Baluchistan is beyond the reach of the political officer, but
there are many parts where he is not often seen. The climate of British
Baluchistan is dry and bracing--even exhilarating--but the extremes of
temperature lead to the development of fever in very severe forms. On the
whole it is favourable to European existence.
[Sidenote: Southern.]
South-west of the dividing railway lies the great block of Southern
Baluchistan. Within this area the drainage generally trends south and west,
either to the Arabian Sea or to the central swamps of Lora and Mashkel. The
Hab river, which forms the boundary west of Karachi; the Purali (the
ancient _Arabus_), which drains the low-lying flats of Las Bela; the Hingol
(the ancient _Tomerus_) and the Dasht, which drain Makran, are all
considerable streams, draining into the Arabian Sea and forming important
arteries in the network of internal communication. An exception to the
general rule is found in the Mulla, which carries the floods of the Kalat
highlands into the Gandava basin and forms one of the most important of the
ancient highways from the Indus plains to Kandahar. The fortress of Kalat
is situated about midway between the sources of the Bolan and the Mulla,
near a small tributary of the Lora (the river of Pishin and Quetta), about
6800 ft. above sea-level, on the western edge of a cultivated plain in the
very midst of hills. (See KALAT.) To the north are the long sweeping lines
of the Sarawan ridges, enclosing narrow fertile valleys, and passing away
to the south-west to the edge of the Kharan desert. East and south are the
rugged bands of Jalawan, amongst which the Mulla rises, and through which
it breaks in a series of magnificent defiles in order to reach the Gandava
plain. Routes which converge on Kalat from the south pass for the most part
through narrow wooded valleys, enclosed between steep ridges of denuded
hills, and, following the general strike of these ridges, they run from
valley to valley with easy grades. Kalat is the "hub" or centre, from which
radiate the Bolan, the Mulla and the southern Lora affluents; but the Lora
drains also the Pishin valley on the north; the two systems uniting in
Shorawak, to lose themselves in the desert and swamps to the west of
Nushki, on the road to Seistan. Sixty miles south of Kalat, and beyond the
Mulla sources, commences another remarkable hydrographic system which
includes all southern and south-western Baluchistan. To the west lies the
Kharan desert, with intermittent river channels enclosed and often lost in
sand-waves ere they reach the Mashkel swamps on the far borders of Persia.
To the south-west are the long sweeping valleys of Rakshan and Panjgur,
which, curving northwards, likewise discharge their drainage into the
Mashkel. Directly south are the beginnings of the meridional arteries, the
Hab, the Purali and the Hingol, which end in the Arabian Sea, leaving a
space of mountainous seaboard (Makran) south of the Panjgur and west of the
Hingol, which is watered (so far as it is watered at all) by the long
lateral Kej river and several smaller mountain streams. Thus southern
Baluchistan comprises four hydrographical sections. First is the long
extension from Kalat, southwards, of that inconceivably wild highland
country which faces the desert of Sind, the foot of which forms the Indian
frontier. This is the land of the Brahui, and the flat wall of its frontier
limestone barrier is one of the most remarkable features in the
configuration of the whole line of Indian borderland. For the first 60 m.
from the sea near Karachi the Hab river is the boundary of Sind, and here,
across the enclosing desolation of outcropping ridges and intervening sand,
a road may be found into Makran. But from the point where the boundary
leaves the Hab to follow the Kirthar range not a break occurs (save one) in
150 m. of solid rock wall, rising many thousands of feet straight from the
sandy plain. The one break, or gorge, which allows the Kej waters to pass,
only forms a local gateway into a mass of impracticable hills. Secondly, to
the west of this mountain wilderness, stretching upwards from the sea in a
wedge form between the Brahui highlands and the group of towering peaks
which enclose the Hingol river and abut on the sea at Malan, are the
alluvial flats and delta of the Purali, forming the little province of Las
Bela, the home of the Las Rajput. In this hot and thirsty corner of
Baluchistan, ruled by the Jam or Cham, there is a fairly wide stretch of
cultivation, nourished by the alluvial detritus of the Purali and well
irrigated. In a little garden to the south of the modern town of Bela (the
ancient _Armabel_) is the tomb of Sir Robert Sandeman, who spent the best
part of an energetic and active life in the making of Baluchistan.
[Sidenote: Western boundary.]
The boundary between Baluchistan and Afghanistan, starting from Nushki,
cuts across the Lora hamun, leaving the frontier post of Chagai to
Baluchistan, and from this point to the Malik Siah Koh it is based partly
on the central mountainous water-divide already referred to, and partly
runs in straight lines through the desert south of the salt swamps of the
Gaud-i-Zirreh. It thus passes 50 m. to the south of the Helmund, entirely
shutting off that valley and the approach to Seistan between the Helmund
and the Gaud-i-Zirreh (the only approach from the east in seasons of flood)
from Baluchistan. But it leaves a connected line of desert route between
Nushki and Seistan, which is open in all ordinary seasons, to the south,
and this route has been largely developed, posts or serais having been
established at intervals and wells having been dug. There is already a
promising khafila traffic along it and the railway has been extended from
Quetta to Nushki.
_Geology._[1]--The mountain ranges of Baluchistan consist chiefly of
Cretaceous and Tertiary beds, which are thrown into a series of folds
running approximately parallel to the mountain ridges. The folds are part
of an extensive system arranged as if in a festoon hanging southwards
between Peshawar and Mount Ararat, but with the outer folds looped up at
Sibi so as to form the subsidiary festoon of the Suliman and Bugti Hills.
Outside the folds lie the horizontal deposits of the Makran coast, and
within them lies the stony desert of north-western Baluchistan. In the
broader depressions between the mountain ridges the beds are said to be but
little disturbed. Besides the Cretaceous and Tertiary beds, Jurassic rocks
are known to take a considerable part in the formation of the hills of
British Baluchistan. Triassic beds lie along the south side of the upper
Zhob, and _Fusulina_ limestone has also been found there. With the
exception of the later Tertiary beds the deposits are mostly marine. But in
the upper Cretaceous and lower Tertiary, especially in north-western
Baluchistan, there is an extensive development of volcanic tuffs and
conglomerates, which are probably contemporaneous with the Deccan Traps of
India. Great masses of syenite and diorite were intruded during the
Tertiary period, and within the curve of the folded belt a line of recent
volcanic cones stretches from western Baluchistan into eastern Persia. In
Baluchistan these volcanoes appear to be extinct; though the Koh-i-Tafdan,
beyond the Persian frontier, still emits vapours at frequent intervals. The
lavas and ashes which form these cones are mostly andesitic. Mud
"volcanoes" occur upon the Makran coast, but it is doubtful whether these
are in any way connected with true volcanic agencies.
So far as is known, the mineral wealth of Baluchistan is inconsiderable.
Coal has been worked in the Tertiary beds along the Harnai route to Quetta,
but the seams are thin and the quality poor. A somewhat thick and viscid
form of mineral oil is met with at Khattan in the Marri country; and
petroleum of excellent quality has been found in the Sherani hills and
probably occurs in other portions of the Suliman Range. Sulphur has long
been worked on a small scale in the Koh-i-Sultan, the largest of the
volcanoes of western Baluchistan.
_Races._--Within the Baluchistan half of the desert are to be found
scattered tribes of nomads, called Rekis (or desert people), the Mohamadani
being the most numerous. They are probably of Arab origin. This central
desert is the Kir, Kej, Katz or Kash Kaian of Arabic medieval geography and
a part of the ancient Kaiani kingdom; the prefix Kej or Kach always
denoting low-level flats or valleys, in contradistinction to mountains or
hills. The Mohamadani nomads occupy the central mountain region, to the
south of which lie the Mashkel and Kharan deserts, inhabited by a people of
quite different origin, who possess something approaching to historical
records. These are the Naushirwanis, a purely Persian race, who passed into
Baluchistan within historic times, although the exact date is uncertain.
The Naushirwanis appear to be identical with the Tahuki or Tahukani who are
found in Perso-Baluchistan. (A place Taoce is mentioned by Nearchus, by
Strabo and by Ptolemy.) They are a fine manly race of people, in many
respects superior to their modern compatriots of Iran. Between the
Naushirwanis of the Kharan desert and Mashkel, and the fish-eating
population of the coast, enclosed in the narrow valleys of the Rakshan and
Kej tributaries, or about the sources of the Hingol, are tribes
innumerable, remnants of races which may be recognized in the works of
Herodotus, or may be traced in the records of recent immigration. Equally
scattered through the whole country, and almost everywhere recognizable, is
the underlying Persian population (Tajik), which is sometimes represented
by a locally dominant tribe, but more frequently by the agricultural slave
and bondsman of the general community. Such are the Dehwars or Dehkans, and
the Durzadas (_Derusiaei_ of Herod. i. 125), who extend all through Makran,
and, as slaves, are called Nakibs. The Arabs have naturally left their mark
most strongly impressed on the ethnography of Baluchistan. All Rind tribes
claim to be of Arab origin and of Koraish extraction. As the Arabs occupied
all southern Baluchistan and Seistan from a very early date, and finally
spread through the Sind valley, where they remained till the 12th century,
their genealogical records have become much obscured and it is probable
that there is not [v.03 p.0293] now a pure Arab in the country. It is as
builders or engineers that they have established their most permanent
records, Makran being full of the relics of their irrigation works
constructed in times when the climatic conditions of Baluchistan must have
been very different from what they are now. Lower Sind also contains a
great wealth of architectural remains, which may be found to the west of
the Indus as well as in the delta. One particular tribe (the Kalmats), who
left their name on the Makran coast and subsequently dominated Bela and
Sind, west of the Indus, for a considerable period, exhibit great power of
artistic design in their sepulchral monuments. The Dravidian races
(Brahuis), who are chiefly represented by the Kambaranis and Mingals or
Mongals (the latter are doubtless of Tatar origin), spread through southern
Baluchistan as well as the eastern hills, and are scattered irregularly
through the mountain tracts south of Kharan. The ancient Oreitae mentioned
by Arrian are probably represented by the tribe of Hot, who, as original
masters of the soil, are exempt from taxation. The name Brahui is
(according to Bellew) but a corruption of Ba-rohi (or "hillmen") in a
language derived from Sanskrit which would represent the same term by
Parva-ka. So that the [Greek: Parikanioi] (Herod, iii. 92) may be
recognized as surviving in the Brahui, and in the name (Parkan) of a
mountain-bred stream which is a tributary of the Hingol. Amongst other
aboriginal tribes to whom reference is made by very early writers are the
Boledi, who give their name to the Bolida valley, a tributary of the Kej.
The Boledi were once the ruling race of southern Baluchistan, which was
originally called Boledistan, and it seems possible that this may be the
real origin of the much-disputed name of the country generally. Bola was an
Assyrian term for Bael or Bel, the god of the Phoenicians and Druids. The
Boledi ruling family were in 1906 represented by but one living member, a
lady, who was a government pensioner. The fast-diminishing Sajidis
(Sajittae) and Saka (Sacae) are others of the more ancient races of
Baluchistan easily recognizable in classical geography. Most recent of all
are the Gitchkis. The Gitchkis derive from a Rajput adventurer who
flourished in the early part of the 17th century. They are now the dominant
race in Panjgur and Kej, from whence they ousted the Boledis. For three
generations they remained Hindus; since then there has arisen amongst them
a strange new sect called Zikari, with exceedingly loose notions of
morality. The sect, however, appears to be fast merging into orthodox
Mahommedanism. A Baluch (or rather Makran) race which deserves attention is
that of the Gadaras, who once gave the name Gadrosia to Southern
Baluchistan. According to Tate the Gadaras are now represented by Sidi
half-castes--those Makrani "boys" who are so well known in the mercantile
marine as stokers and firemen. It seems unlikely that this modern admixture
of Asiatic and African blood represents the "Asiatic Ethiopian" of
Herodotus, which was more probably a direct connexion of the Himyaritic
Arab builders of "bunds" and revetments who spread eastwards from Arabia.
Bellew finds in the Gadara the Garuda (eagles) of Sanskrit, who were ever
in opposition to the Naga (snakes) of Scythic origin. Southern Baluchistan
affords a most interesting field for the ethnographer. It has never yet
been thoroughly explored in the interests of ethnographical science.
The Baluch character is influenced by its environment as much as by its
origin, so that it is impossible to select any one section of the general
community as affording a satisfactory sample of popular Baluch
idiosyncrasies. They are not a homogeneous race. Peoples of Arab extraction
intermixed with people of Dravidian and Persian stock are all lumped
together under the name of Baluch. The Marri and Bugti tribes, who occupy
the most southern buttresses of the Suliman Mountains, are Rind Baluchis,
almost certainly of Arab extraction. They came to Sind either with the Arab
conquerors or after them, and remained there mixed up with the original
Hindu inhabitants. The Arab type of Baluch extends through the whole
country at intervals, and includes all the finest and best of Baluch
humanity. Taking the Rind Baluch as the type opposed to the Afridi Pathan,
the Baluch is easier to deal with and to control than the Pathan, owing to
his tribal organization and his freedom from bigoted fanaticism or blind
allegiance to his priest. The Baluch is less turbulent, less treacherous,
less bloodthirsty and less fanatical than the Pathan. His frame is shorter
and more spare and wiry than that of his neighbour to the north, though
generations have given to him too a bold and manly bearing. It would be
difficult to match the stately dignity and imposing presence of a Baluch
chief of the Marri or Bugti clans. His Semitic features are those of the
Bedouin and he carries himself as straight and as loftily as any Arab
gentleman. Frank and open in his manners, fairly truthful, faithful to his
word, temperate and enduring, and looking upon courage as the highest
virtue, the true Baluch of the Derajat is a pleasant man to have dealings
with. As a revenue payer he is not so satisfactory, his want of industry
and the pride which looks upon manual labour as degrading making him but a
poor husbandman. He is an expert rider; horse-racing is his national
amusement, and the Baluch breed of horses is celebrated throughout northern
India. Like the Pathan he is a bandit by tradition and descent and makes a
first-rate fighting man, but he rarely enlists in the Indian army. He is
nominally a Mahommedan, but is neglectful of the practices of his religion.
The relations of the modern Baluch with the government of India were
entirely transformed by the life work of Sir Robert Sandeman. (_q.v._).
[Sidenote: Strategic interest.]
The strategical position of Great Britain in Baluchistan is a very
important factor in the problem of maintaining order and good
administration in the country. The ever-restless Pathan tribes of the
Suliman hills are held in check by the occupation of the Zhob valley;
whilst the central dominant position at Quetta safeguards the peace and
security of Kalat, and of the wildest of the Baluch hills occupied by the
Marris and Bugtis, no less than it bars the way to an advance upon India by
way of Kandahar. Nominally all the provinces and districts of Baluchistan,
with the exception of the ceded territory which we call British
Baluchistan, are under the khan of Kalat, and all chiefs acknowledge him as
their suzerain. But it may be doubted if this suzerainty was ever complete,
or could be maintained at all but for the assistance of the British
government. The Baluch is still essentially a robber and a raider (a trait
which is common to all tribes), and the history of Baluchistan is nothing
but a story of successful robberies, of lawless rapine and bloodshed, for
which plunder and devastation were accounted a worthy and honourable
return.
[Sidenote: Climate.]
Extensive changes have taken place in the climatic condition of the
country--changes which are some of them so recent as to be noted by
surveyors who have found the remains of forests in districts now entirely
desiccated. Possibly the ordinary processes of denudation and erosion,
acting on those recent deposits which overlie the harder beds of the older
series, may have much to say to these climatic changes, and the wanton
destruction of forests may have assisted the efforts of nature; but it is
difficult to understand the widespread desiccation of large areas of the
Baluch highlands, where evidences of Arab irrigation works and of
cultivation still attest to a once flourishing agricultural condition,
without appealing to more rapidly destructive principles for the change.
There is ample proof throughout the country of alterations of level within
recent geologic periods; and there have even been compressions, resulting
in a relative rise of the ground, over the crests of anticlinal folds,
within historic record. "Proof that this compression is still going on was
given on 20th December 1892, when a severe earthquake resulted from the
sudden yielding of the earth's crust along what appears to be an old line
of fault, west of the Kawaja Amran range, whereby an adjustment took place
indicated by a shortening of some 2-1/2 ft. on the railway line which
crossed the fault." Nor should the evidences of active volcanic agency
afforded by the mud volcanoes of the coast be overlooked. It is probably to
climatic changes (whatever their origin may have been), rather than to the
effects of tribal disturbances, that the Arab's disappearance from the
field of trade and agriculture must be attributed.
[Sidenote: Population.]
The total area of Baluchistan is 132,315 sq. m. and its population in 1901
was 914,551. The population is largely nomadic. The fact that so many as
15,000 camels have been counted in the Bolan Pass during one month of the
annual Brahui migration indicates the dimensions which the movement
assumes. The religion of the country is so overwhelmingly Mahommedan that
out of every 100,000 inhabitants 94,403 are Mussulman, and only 4706
Hindus, while the balance is made up by Christians, Sikhs and other
denominations. Out of the total number 280 in the thousand are literates.
The chief languages spoken are vernaculars of Baluchistan, Pushtu, Panjabi,
Urdu and Sindhi, The [v.03 p.0294] Baluchi language belongs to the Iranian
branch of the Aryan subfamily of the Indo-European family. It is divided
into two main dialects which are so different that speakers of the one are
almost unintelligible to speakers of the other. These two dialects are
separated by the belt of Brahui and Sindhi speakers who occupy the Sarawan
and Jalawan hills, and Las Bela. Owing probably to the fact that Makran was
for many generations under the rule of the Persian kings, the Baluchi
spoken on the west of the province, which is also called Makrani, is more
largely impregnated with Persian words and expressions than the Eastern
dialect. In the latter the words in use for common objects and acts are
nearly all pure Baluchi, the remainder of the language being borrowed from
Persian, Sindhi and Panjabi. There is no indigenous literature, but many
specimens of poetry exist in which heroes and brave deeds are commemorated,
and a good many of these have been collected from time to time. The
philological classification of the Brahui dialect has been much disputed,
but the latest enquiries, conducted by Dr G. A. Grierson, have resulted in
his placing it among the Dravidian languages. It is remarkable to find in
Baluchistan a Dravidian tongue, surrounded on all sides by Aryan languages,
and with the next nearest branch of the same family located so far away as
the Gond hills of central India. Brahui has no literature of its own, and
such knowledge as we possess of it is due to European scholars, such as
Bellew, Trumpp and Caldwell. Numerically the Brahuis are the strongest race
in Baluchistan. They number nearly 300,000 souls. Next to them and
numbering nearly 200,000 are Pathans. After this there is a drop to 80,000
mixed Baluchis and less than 40,000 Lasis (Lumris) of Las Bela. There are
thirteen indigenous tribes of Pathan origin, of which the Kakars (_q.v._)
are by far the most important, numbering more than 100,000 souls. They are
to be found in the largest numbers in Zhob, Quetta, Pishin and
Thal-Chotiali, but there are a few of them in Kalat and Chagai also. The
most important Baluch tribes are the Marris, the Bughtis, the Boledis, the
Domkis, the Magassis and the Rinds. Owing partly to the tribal system, and
partly to the levelling effect of Islam, nothing similar to the Brahmanical
system of social precedent is to be found in Baluchistan.
_History._--Of the early history of this portion of the Asiatic continent
little or nothing is known. The poverty and natural strength of the
country, combined with the ferocious habits of the natives, seem to have
equally repelled the friendly visits of inquisitive strangers and the
hostile incursions of invading armies. The first distinct account which we
have is from Arrian, who, with his usual brevity and severe veracity,
narrates the march of Alexander through this region, which he calls the
country of the Oreitae and Gadrosii.[2] He gives a very accurate account of
this forlorn tract, its general aridity and the necessity of obtaining
water by digging in the beds of torrents; describes the food of the
inhabitants as dates and fish; and adverts to the occasional occurrence of
fertile spots, the abundance of aromatic and thorny shrubs and fragrant
plants, and the violence of the monsoon in the western part of Makran. He
notices also the impossibility of supporting a large army, and the
consequent destruction of the greater part of the men and beasts which
accompanied the expedition of Alexander. In the 8th century this country
was traversed by an army of the Caliphate.
The precise period at which the Brahuis gained the mastery cannot be
accurately ascertained; but it was probably about two and a half centuries
ago. The last raja of the Hindu dynasty found himself compelled to call for
the assistance of the mountain shepherds, with their leader, Kambar, in
order to check the encroachments of a horde of depredators, headed by an
Afghan chief, who infested the country and even threatened to attack the
seat of government. Kambar successfully performed the service for which he
had been engaged; but having in a few years quelled the robbers against
whom he had been called in, and finding himself at the head of the only
military tribe in the country, he formally deposed the raja and assumed the
government.
The history of the country after the accession of Kambar is as obscure as
during the Hindu dynasty. It would appear, however, that the sceptre was
quietly transmitted to Abdulla Khan, the fourth in descent from Kambar,
who, being an intrepid and ambitious soldier, turned his thoughts towards
the conquest of Kach Gandava, then held by different petty chiefs under the
authority of the nawabs of Sind.
After various success, the Kambaranis at length possessed themselves of the
sovereignty of a considerable portion of that fruitful plain, including the
chief town, Gandava. It was during this contest that the famous Nadir Shah
advanced from Persia to the invasion of Hindustan; and while at Kandahar he
despatched several detachments into Baluchistan and established his
authority in that province. Abdulla Khan, however, was continued in the
government of the country by Nadir's orders; but he was soon after killed
in a battle with the forces of the nawabs of Sind. He was succeeded by his
eldest son, Haji Mahommed Khan, who abandoned himself to the most
tyrannical and licentious way of life and alienated his subjects by
oppressive taxation. In these circumstances Nasir Khan, the second son of
Abdulla Khan, who had accompanied the victorious Nadir to Delhi, and
acquired the favour and confidence of that monarch, returned to Kalat and
was hailed by the whole population as their deliverer. Finding that
expostulation had no effect upon his brother, he one day entered his
apartment and stabbed him to the heart. As soon as the tyrant was dead,
Nasir Khan mounted the _musnud_ amidst the universal joy of his subjects;
and immediately transmitted a report of the events which had taken place to
Nadir Shah, who was then encamped near Kandahar. The shah received the
intelligence with satisfaction, and despatched a firman, by return of the
messenger, appointing Nasir Khan beglar begi (prince of princes) of all
Baluchistan. This event took place in the year 1739.
Nasir Khan proved an active, politic and warlike prince. He took great
pains to re-establish the internal government of all the provinces in his
dominions, and improved and fortified the city of Kalat. On the death of
Nadir Shah in 1747, he acknowledged the title of the king of Kabul, Ahmad
Shah (Durani). In 1758 he declared himself entirely independent; upon which
Ahmad Shah despatched a force against him under one of his ministers. The
khan, however, raised an army and totally routed the Afghan army. On
receiving intelligence of this discomfiture, the king himself marched with
strong reinforcements, and a pitched battle was fought in which Nasir Khan
was worsted. He retired in good order to Kalat, whither he was followed by
the victor, who invested the place with his whole army. The khan made a
vigorous defence; and, after the royal troops had been foiled in their
attempts to take the city by storm or surprise, a negotiation was proposed
by the king which terminated in a treaty of peace. By this treaty it was
stipulated that the king was to receive the cousin of Nasir Khan in
marriage; and that the khan was to pay no tribute, but only, when called
upon, to furnish troops to assist the armies, for which he was to receive
an allowance in cash equal to half their pay. The khan frequently
distinguished himself in the subsequent wars of Kabul; and, as a reward for
his services, the king bestowed upon him several districts in perpetual and
entire sovereignty. Having succeeded in quelling a dangerous rebellion
headed by his cousin Behram Khan, this able prince at length died in
extreme old age in the month of June 1795, leaving three sons and five
daughters. He was succeeded by his eldest son, Mahmud Khan, then a boy of
about fourteen years. During the reign of this prince, who has been
described as a very humane and indolent man, the country was distracted by
sanguinary broils; the governors of several provinces and districts
withdrew their allegiance; and the dominions of the khans of Kalat
gradually so diminished that they now comprehend only a small portion of
the provinces formerly subject to Nasir Khan.
In 1839, when the British army advanced through the Bolan Pass towards
Afghanistan, the conduct of Mehrab Khan, the ruler of Baluchistan, was
considered so treacherous and dangerous as to require "the exaction of
retribution from that chieftain," and "the execution of such arrangements
as would establish future security in that quarter." General Willshire was
accordingly detached from the army of the Indus with 1050 men to assault
Kalat. A gate was knocked in by the field-pieces, and the town and citadel
were stormed in a few minutes. Above 400 Baluches were slain, among them
Mehrab Khan himself; and 2000 prisoners were taken. Subsequent inquiries
have, however, proved that the treachery towards the British was not [v.03
p.0295] on the part of Mehrab Khan, but on that of his vizier, Mahommed
Hussein, and certain chiefs with whom he was in league, and at whose
instigation the British convoys were plundered in their passage through
Kach Gandava and in the Bolan Pass. The treacherous vizier, however, made
our too credulous political officers believe that Mehrab Khan was to blame;
his object being to bring his master to ruin and to obtain for himself all
power in the state, knowing that Mehrab's successor was only a child. How
far he succeeded in his object history has shown. In the following year
Kalat changed hands, the governor established by the British, together with
a feeble garrison, being overpowered. At the close of the same year it was
reoccupied by the British under General Nott. In 1841 Nasir Khan II., the
youthful son of the slain Mehrab Khan, was recognized by the British, who
soon after evacuated the country.
From the conquest of Sind by the British troops under the command of
General Sir Charles Napier in 1843 up to 1854 no diplomatic intercourse
occurred worthy of note between the British and Baluch states. In the
latter year, however, under the governor-generalship of the marquess of
Dalhousie, General John Jacob, C.B., at the time political superintendent
and commandant on the Sind frontier, was deputed to arrange and conclude a
treaty between the Kalat state, then under the chieftainship of Nasir Khan
and the British government. This treaty was executed on the 14th of May
1854 and was to the following effect:--
"That the former offensive and defensive treaty, concluded in 1841 by
Major Outram between the British government and Nasir Khan II., chief
of Kalat, was to be annulled.
"That Nasir Khan II., his heirs and successors, bound themselves to
oppose to the utmost all the enemies of the British government, and in
all cases to act in subordinate co-operation with that government, and
to enter into no negotiations with other states without its consent.
"That should it be deemed necessary to station British troops in any
part of the territory of Kalat, they shall occupy such positions as may
be thought advisable by the British authorities.
"That the Baluch chief was to prevent all plundering on the part of his
subjects within or in the neighbourhood of British territory.
"That he was further to protect all merchants passing through his
territory, and only to exact from them a transit duty, fixed by
schedule attached to the treaty; and that, on condition of a faithful
performance of these duties, he was to receive from the British
government an annual subsidy of Rs.50,000 (L5000)."
The provisions of the above treaty were most loyally performed by Nasir
Khan up to the time of his death in 1856. He was succeeded by his brother,
Mir Khodadud Khan, when a youth of twelve years of age, who, however, did
not obtain his position before he had put down by force a rebellion on the
part of his turbulent chiefs, who had first elected him, but, not receiving
what they considered an adequate reward from his treasury, sought to depose
him in favour of his cousin Sher dil Khan. In the latter part of 1857, the
Indian rebellion being at its height and the city of Delhi still in the
hands of the rebels, a British officer (Major Henry Green) was deputed, on
the part of the British government, to reside as political agent with the
Khan at Kalat and to assist him by his advice in maintaining control over
his turbulent tribes. This duty was successfully performed until 1863,
when, during the temporary absence of Major Malcolm Green, the then
political agent, Khodadad Khan was, at the instigation of some of his
principal chiefs, attacked while out riding by his cousin, Sher dil Khan,
and severely wounded. Khodadad fled in safety to a residence close to the
British border, and Sher dil Khan was elected and proclaimed Khan. His rule
was, however, a short one, for early in 1864, when proceeding to Kalat, he
was murdered in the Gandava Pass; and Khodadad was again elected chief by
the very men who had only the previous year caused his overthrow, and who
had lately been accomplices to the murder of his cousin. After the above
events Khodadad maintained his precarious position with great difficulty;
but owing to his inability to govern his unruly subjects without material
assistance from the British government, which they were not disposed to
give, his country gradually fell into the greatest anarchy; and,
consequently, some of the provisions of the treaty of 1854 having been
broken, diplomatic relations were discontinued with the Kalat state after
the end of 1874.
After this the chiefs of Las and Wad, the Marris and Bugtis, Kej and Makran
all threw off their allegiance, and anarchy became so widespread that the
British government again interfered. The treaty of 1854 was renewed in 1876
by Lord Lytton (under Sandeman's advice), and the khan received substantial
aid from the government in the form of an annual subsidy of a lakh of
rupees, instead of the Rs.50,000 previously assigned to him. The treaty of
1854 was a treaty of alliance offensive and defensive. The treaty of 1876
renewed these terms, but utterly changed the policy of non-intervention
which was maintained by the former, by the recognition of the sirdars as
well as the khan, and by the appointment of the British government as
referee in cases of dispute between them. British troops were to be located
in the khan's country; Quetta was founded; telegraphs and railways were
projected; roads were made; and the reign of law and order established. The
nebulous claims of Afghanistan to Sibi and Pishin were disposed of by the
treaty of Gandamak in the spring of 1879, and the final consolidation of
the existing form of Kalat administration was effected by Sandeman's
expedition to Kharan in 1883, and the reconciliation of Azad Khan, the
great Naushirwani chief, with the khan of Kalat. British Baluchistan was
incorporated with British India by the resolution of 1st November 1887, and
divided into two districts--Quetta-Pishin and Thai Chotiali--to be
administered by a deputy-commissioner and a regular staff.
In 1890 and 1891 were carried out that series of politico-military
expeditions which resulted in the occupation of the Zhob valley, the
foundation of the central cantonment of Fort Sandeman, and the extension of
a line of outposts which, commencing at Quetta, may be said to rest on Wana
north of the Gomal. The effect of these expeditions, and of this extension
of military occupation, has been to reduce the independent Pathan tribes of
the Suliman mountains to effective order, and to put a stop to border
raiding on the Indus plains south of the Gomal. In 1893 serious differences
arose between the khan of Kalat and Sir James Browne, who succeeded Sir
Robert Sandeman as agent to the governor-general in Baluchistan, arising
out of Mir Khodadad Khan's outrageous conduct in the management of his own
court, and the treatment of his officials. Finally, the khan was deposed,
and his son Mir Mahmud Khan succeeded in November 1893. Since then the most
important change in Baluch administration has been the perpetual lease and
transfer of management to British agency of the Nushki district and Niabat,
with all rights, jurisdiction and administrative power, in lieu of a
perpetual rent of Rs.9000 per annum. This was effected in July 1899. This
secures the direct control of the great highway to Seistan which has been
opened to khafila and railway traffic.
The revenues of the khan of Kalat consist partly of subsidies and partly of
agricultural revenue, the total value being about Rs.500,000 per annum.
Since 1882 he has received Rs.25,000 as government rent for the Quetta
district, besides Rs.30,000 in lieu of transit duties in the Boian; this
has been increased lately by Rs.9000 as already stated. In 1899 the total
imports of Kalat were valued at Rs.700,000, and the exports at Rs.505,000.
AUTHORITIES.--The Seistan Boundary Report of 1873 by Sir F. Goldsmid;
Floyer, _Unexplored Baluchistan_ (London, 1882); T. Thornton, _Life of
Sandeman_ (London, 1896); G. P. Tate, _Kalat, a Memoir_ (Calcutta, 1896);
Sir T. Holdich, "Ethnographic and Historical Notes on Makran," Calcutta,
1892 (_Survey Report_); "Antiquities, Ethnography, &c., of Las Bela and
Makran," Calcutta, 1894 (_Survey Report_); "Ancient and Medieval Makran,"
vol. vii. _R.G.S. Journal_ (1896); "Perso-Baluch Boundary," vol. ix.
_R.G.S. Journal_ (1897); McMahon, "The Southern Borderland of Afghanistan,"
vol. x. _Journal R.G.S_. (1897). Notes on Sir R. Sandeman's tours in
Baluchistan will be found in vols. v., xii., xiii. and xiv. of the _R.G.S.
Proceedings_; _Popular Poetry of the Baloches_, by M. Longworth-Dames (2
vols., _Roy. As. Soc._ 1907).
(T. H. H.*)
[1] See W. T. Blanford, "Geological Notes on the Hills in the neighbourhood
of the Sind and Punjab Frontier between Quetta and Dera Ghazi Khan," _Mem.
Geol. Surv. India_, vol. xx. pt. 2 (1883); E. Vredenburg, "A Geological
Sketch of the Baluchistan Desert, and part of Eastern Persia," _Mem. Geol.
Surv. India_, vol. xxxi. pt. 2 (1901); E. Vredenburg, "On the Occurrence of
a Species of Halorites in the Trias of Baluchistan," _Rec. Geol. Surv.
India_, vol. xxxi. (1904), pp. 162-166, pls. 17, 18.
[2] See V. A. Smith, _Early Hist. of India_ (ed. 1908), p. 103 seq.
BALUCHISTAN, a province of Persia consisting of the western part of
Baluchistan (_q.v._) in a wider sense. Persian Baluchistan has an area of
about 60,000 sq. m., and lying along the northern shore of the Arabian Sea,
is bounded E. by British and [v.03 p.0296] independent Baluchistan, N. by
Seistan and the central Persian desert, and W. by Kerman. The country has
little water and only a small part of it is under cultivation, the
remainder being composed of arid, waterless plains, deserts--some stony,
others with moving sands--barren hills and mountains. The principal rivers
are the Mashkid and that of Bampur which flow away from the sea and are
lost in depressions called _hamuns_. The rivers which flow into the sea are
unimportant and dry during the greater part of the year. Persian
Baluchistan forms an administrative division of the province of Kerman and
is subdivided into the following twenty districts:--(1) Bampur; (2) Serhad;
(3) Dizek; (4) Jalk; (5) Sib; (6) Irafshan; (7) Magas; (8) Serbaz; (9)
Lashar; (10) Champ; (11) Fannuj; (12) Bazman; (13) Aptar; (14) Daman; (15)
Aprandagan; (16) Asfehgeh; (17) Surmij; (18) Meskutan; (19) Pushteh; (20)
Makran, the country of the Ichthyophagi, with the subdistricts Kasrkand,
Geh, Bint, Dasht, Kucheh and Bahu. The total population of Baluchistan is
under 200,000. The province was practically independent until the
occupation of Bampur by Persian troops in 1849, and over some of the
extreme eastern districts Persian supremacy was not recognized until 1872.
BALUE, JEAN (_c._ 1421-1491), French cardinal and minister of Louis XI.,
was born of very humble parentage at Angle in Poitou, and was first
patronized by the bishop of Poitiers. In 1461 he became vicar-general of
the bishop of Angers. His activity, cunning and mastery of intrigue gained
him the appreciation of Louis XI., who made him his almoner. In a short
time Balue became a considerable personage. In 1465 he received the
bishopric of Evreux; the king made him _le premier du grant conseil_, and,
in spite of his dissolute life, obtained for him a cardinalate (1468). But
in that year Balue was compromised in the king's humiliation by Charles the
Bold at Peronne and excluded from the council. He then intrigued with
Charles against his master: their secret correspondence was intercepted,
and on the 23rd of April 1469 Balue was thrown into prison, where he
remained eleven years, but not, as has been alleged, in an iron cage. In
1480, through the intervention of Pope Sixtus IV., he was set at liberty,
and from that time lived in high favour at the court of Rome. He received
the bishopric of Albano and afterwards that of Palestrina. In 1484 he was
even sent to France as legate _a latere_. He died at Ancona in 1491.
See Henri Forgeot, "Jean Balue, cardinal d'Angers" (1895), in the
_Bibliotheque de l'ecole des hautes etudes_.
BALUSTER (through the Fr. from the Ital. _balaustro_, so-called from a
supposed likeness to the flower of the [Greek: balaustion], or wild
pomegranate; the word has been corrupted in English into "banister"), a
small moulded shaft, square or circular, in stone or wood and sometimes in
metal, supporting the coping of a parapet or the rail of a staircase, an
assemblage of them being known as a balustrade. The earliest examples are
those shown in the bas-reliefs representing the Assyrian palaces, where
they were employed as window balustrades and apparently had Ionic capitals.
They do not seem to have been known to either the Greeks or the Romans, but
early examples are found in the balconies in the palaces at Venice and
Verona. In the hands of the Italian revivalists they became features of the
greatest importance, and were largely employed for window balconies and
roof parapets.
The term "baluster shaft" is given to the shaft dividing a window in Saxon
architecture. In the south transept of the abbey at St Albans, England, are
some of these shafts, supposed to have been taken from the old Saxon
church. Norman bases and capitals have been added, together with plain
cylindrical Norman shafts.
BALUSTRADE, a parapet or low screen consisting of a coping or rail
supported on balusters (_q.v._). Sometimes it is employed purely as a
decorative feature beneath the sill of a window which was not carried down
to the ground. Sometimes flowing foliage takes the place of the parapet,
and sometimes so-called balustrades are formed of vertical slabs of stone,
pierced as in the Ca' d'oro at Venice and the balconies of the minarets at
Cairo.
BALUZE, ETIENNE (1630-1718), French scholar, was born at Tulle on the 24th
of November 1630. He was educated at his native town and took minor orders.
As secretary to Pierre de Marca, archbishop of Toulouse, he won the
appreciation of that learned prelate to such a degree that at his death
Marca left him all his papers. Thus it came about that Baluze produced the
first complete edition of Marca's treatise _De libertatibus Ecclesiae
Gallicanae_ (1663), and brought out his _Marca hispanica_ (1688 f.). About
1667 Baluze entered Colbert's service, and until 1700 was in charge of the
invaluable library belonging to that minister and to his son the marquis de
Seignelai. He enriched it prodigiously (see the history of the Colbertine
library in the _Cabinet des Manuscrits_ by M. Leopold Delisle, vol. i.),
and Colbert rewarded him by obtaining various benefices for him, and the
post of king's almoner (1679). Subsequently Baluze was appointed professor
of Canon law at the College de France on the 31st of December 1689, and
directed that great institution from 1707 to 1710.
The works which place him in the first rank of the scholars of his time are
the _Capitularia Regum Francorum_ (1674; new edition enlarged and corrected
in 1780); the _Nova Collectio Conciliorum_ (4 vols., 1677); the
_Miscellanea_ (7 vols., 1678-1715; new edition revised by Mansi, 4 vols.
f., 1761-1764); the _Letters of Pope Innocent III._ (1682); and, finally,
the _Vitae Paparum Avenionensium, 1305-1394_ (1693). But he was unfortunate
enough to take up the history of Auvergne just at the time when the
cardinal de Bouillon, inheritor of the rights, and above all of the
ambitious pretensions of the La Tour family, was endeavouring to prove the
descent of that house in the direct line from the ancient hereditary counts
of Auvergne of the 9th century.
As authentic documents in support of these pretensions could not be found,
false ones were fabricated. The production of spurious genealogies had
already been begun in the _Histoire de la maison d'Auvergne_ published by
Christophe Justel in 1645; and Chorier, the historian of Dauphiny, had
included in the second volume of his history (1672) a forged deed which
connected the La Tours of Dauphiny with the La Tours of Auvergne. Next a
regular manufactory of forged documents was organized by a certain Jean de
Bar, an intimate companion of the cardinal. These rogues were skilful
enough, for they succeeded in duping the most illustrious scholars; Dom
Jean Mabillon, the founder of Diplomatics, Dom Thierry Ruinart and Baluze
himself, called as experts, made a unanimously favourable report on the
23rd of July 1695. But cardinal de Bouillon had many enemies, and a war of
pamphlets began. In March 1698 Baluze in reply wrote a _Letter_ which
proved nothing. Two years later, in 1700, Jean de Bar and his accomplices
were arrested, and after a long and searching inquiry were declared guilty
in 1704. Baluze, nevertheless, was obstinate in his opinion. He was
convinced that the incriminated documents were genuine and proposed to do
Justel's work anew. Encouraged and financially supported by the cardinal de
Bouillon, he first produced a _Table genealogique_ in 1705, and then in
1709 a _Histoire genealogique de la maison d'Auvergne_, with "Proofs,"
among which, unfortunately, we find all the deeds which had been pronounced
spurious. In the following year he was suddenly engulfed in the disgrace
which overtook his intriguing patron: deprived of his appointments,
pensions and benefices, he was exiled far from Paris. None the less he
continued to work, and in 1717 published a history of his native town,
_Historiae Tutelensis libri tres_. Before his death he succeeded in
returning to Paris, where he died unconvinced of his errors on the 28th of
July 1718. Was he dupe or accomplice? The study of his correspondence with
the cardinal gives the impression that he was the victim of clever cheats.
The history of the forgeries committed in the interests of the house of
Bouillon forms a curious and instructive episode in the history of French
scholarship in the time of Louis XIV. It is to be found in the _Manuel de
diplomatique_ by A. Giry; and above all in a note to the _Oeuvres de
Saint-Simon_ by M. de Boislisle (vol. xiv. pp. 533-558). The bibliography
of Baluze's researches has been made by M. Rene Fage (1882, 1884) and his
_Life_ told by M. Emile Fage (1899). To these we must add an amusing book
by G. Clement-Simon, _La Gaiete de Baluze; documents biographiques et
litteraires_ [v.03 p.0297] (1888). Baluze's will has been published by M.
Leopold Delisle (_Bibliotheque de l'Ecole de Chartes_, 1872); his papers
are now in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, and in the Bibliotheque de
l'Arsenal (_Revue historique_, t. xcviii. p. 309). See also the article by
Arthur de Boislisle in the _Revue des questions historiques_ for October
1908.
(C. B.*)
BALZAC, HONORE DE (1799-1850), French novelist, was born at Tours on the
20th of May 1799. His father, Bernard Francois, never called himself _de_
Balzac and Honore only assumed the particle after 1830. But the father had
equally little right to the name of Balzac at all, for his
birth-certificate has been recently discovered. The true name was "Balssa,"
and this in various forms ("Balsa," "Balsas") has been traced for more than
a century before the novelist's birth as that of a family of day-labourers
or very small peasant proprietors in the parish of Canezac, department of
the Tarn. It is probable that the novelist himself was not aware of this,
and his father appears to have practised some mystification as to his own
professional career. In and after the Revolution, however, he actually
attained positions of some importance in the commissariat and hospital
departments of the army, and he married in 1797 Anne Charlotte Laure
Sallambier, who was a beauty, an heiress, and a woman of considerable
faculty. She survived her son; the father died in 1829. There were two
sisters (the elder, Laure, afterwards Madame Surville, was her brother's
favourite and later his biographer), and a younger brother, Henri, of whom
we hear little and that little not very favourable.
Honore was put out to nurse till he was four years old, and in 1806, when
he was seven, was sent to the _college_ (grammar school) of Vendome, where
he remained till April 1813 as a strict boarder without any holidays. From
this he passed as a day-boy to the _college_ of Tours. His father's
official work was transferred to Paris the year after, and Balzac came
under the teaching of a royalist private schoolmaster, M. Lepitre, and
others. He left school altogether in 1816, being then between seventeen and
eighteen. His experiences at Vendome served as base for much of _Louis
Lambert_, and he seems to have been frequently in disgrace. Later, his
teachers appear to have found him remarkable neither for good nor for evil.
He was indeed never a scholar; but he must have read a good deal, and as he
certainly had no time for it later, much of this reading must have been
done early.
The profession which Balzac's father chose for him was the law; and he not
only passed through the schools thereof, and duly obtained his _licence_,
but had three years' practical experience in the offices of a notary and a
solicitor (_avoue_), for the latter of whom, M. Guillonnet-Merville, he
seems to have had a sincere respect. But though no man of letters has ever
had, in some ways, such a fancy for business, no man of business could ever
come out of such a born man of letters. And when in 1820 (the _licence_
having been obtained and M. Balzac, senior, having had some losses) the
father wished the son to become a practising lawyer in one or another
branch, Honore revolted. His family had left Paris, and they tried to
starve him into submission by establishing him in a garret with a very
small allowance. Here he began to write tragedies, corresponded (in letters
which have fortunately been preserved) with his sister Laure, and, most
important of all, attempted something in prose fiction. The tragedy
_Cromwell_ was actually completed and read to friends if not to others; nay
more, the manuscript exists in the hands of M. Spoelberch de Lovenjoul, the
great authority on Balzac's life and bibliography; but it has never been
published. The novels, _Cocqsigrue_ and _Stella_, proved abortions, but
were only the first of many attempts at his true way until he found it.
Drama he never abandoned; but for him it was always an error.
The garret-period from 1820 to 1822 was succeeded by another of equal
length at home, but before it had finished (1821) he found his way into
print with the first of the singular productions which (and that not
entirely or finally) have taken a sort of outside place in his works under
the title of _Oeuvres de jeunesse_. The _incunabula_ of Balzac were _Les
Deux Hector, ou Les Deux Families bretonnes_, and _Charles Pointel, ou Mon
Cousin de la main gauche_. They were followed next year by six
others:--_L'Heritiere de Birague_; _Jean Louis, ou La Fille trouvee_;
_Clotilde de Lusignan, ou Le Beau Juif_; _Le Centenaire, ou Les Deux
Beringheld_; _Le Vicaire des Ardennes_; _Le Tartare, ou Le Retour de
l'exile_. And these were again followed up in 1823 by three more: _La
Derniere Fee, ou La Nouvelle Lampe merveilleuse_; _Michel et Christine et
la suite_; _L'Anonyme, ou Ni pere ni mere_. In 1824 came _Annette et le
criminel_, a continuation of the _Vicaire_; in 1825, _Wann-Chlore_, which
afterwards took the less extravagant title of _Jane la pale_. These novels,
which filled some two score volumes originally, were published under divers
pseudonyms ("Lord R'hoone," an anagram of "Honore," "Horace de Saint
Aubin," &c.), and in actual collaboration with two or three other writers.
But though there is not yet in them anything more than the faintest dawn of
the true Balzac, though no one of them is good as a whole, and very few
parts deserve that word except with much qualification, they deserve far
more study than they have usually received, and it is difficult to
apprehend the true Balzac until they have been studied. They ceased for a
time, not because of the author's conviction of their badness (though he
entertained no serious delusions on this subject), nor because they failed
of a certain success in actual money return, but because he had taken to
the earliest, the most prolonged, and the most disastrous of his dabblings
in business--this time as a publisher to some extent and still more as a
printer and type-founder. Not very much was known about his experiences in
this way (except their general failure, and the result in hampering him
with a load of debt directly for some ten years and indirectly for the
whole of his life) till in 1903 MM. Hanotaux and Vicaire published the
results of their inquiries into the actual accounts of the concern. There
seems to have been no reason why it should not have succeeded, and there
has been claimed for it first, that it provided Balzac with a great amount
of actual detail which he utilized directly in the novels, and secondly,
that it gave him at whatever cost a still more valuable experience of
practical life--the experience which has so often been wanting to men of
letters. Anyhow, from 1825 to 1828, the future author of the _Comedie
humaine_ was a publisher, printer and type-founder; and in the last year he
had to abscond, or something like it, under pressure of debts which were
never fully settled till 1838, and then by a further obligation of ninety
thousand francs, chiefly furnished by his mother and never repaid to her.
It was Balzac's habit throughout his life to relieve the double pressure of
debt and of work by frequent excursions into the country and abroad. On
this occasion he fled to Brittany with an introduction to a M. and Mme. de
Pommereul, who received him hospitably in their chateau near Fougeres. Here
he obtained some of the direct material, and most of the scenery and
atmosphere, for what he himself recognized as his first serious attempt in
novel-writing, _Les Chouans_, or, as it was at first called, _Le Dernier
Chouan_. This book (obviously written in direct following of Scott, of whom
Balzac was a lifelong admirer) has been very variously judged--those who
lay most stress on his realism thinking little of it, while those who
maintain that he was always a romantic "with a difference" place it higher.
It has at any rate brilliant colouring, some very vivid scenes, and almost
more passion as well as "curtain" at its ending than any other of his
books. Though not without a touch of melodrama it differs utterly from the
confused and tedious imitations of Mrs Radcliffe, M. G. Lewis and C. R.
Maturin which fill most of the _Oeuvres de jeunesse_. At the same time
Balzac was engaged on a very different work, the analytic-satirical
sketches which compose the _Physiologie du mariage_, and which illustrate
his other and non-romantic side, again with some crudity, but again also
with a vast advance on his earlier productions. Both were published in the
year 1829, from which his real literary career unquestionably starts. It
had exactly twenty-one years to run.
The history of these twenty-one years, though (in consequence mainly of the
diligence and luck as a collector of the above-named M. de Lovenjoul) the
materials for it are large and constantly accumulating, has never been
arranged in a really standard biography, and there seems to be an
increasing habit of concentrating the attention on parts of it. It divides
itself under three heads mainly, the history of Balzac's business affairs,
that [v.03 p.0298] of his loves and friendships and that of his actual
work. The first has some small resemblance to Scott's similar experiences,
though in Balzac's case there was no great crash but a lifelong pressure;
on the other hand, his debts were brought upon him by a long course not so
much of extravagance in actual expenditure (though there was something of
this) as of financial irregularities of almost every
description,--anticipations of earnings, costly methods of production (he
practically wrote his novels on a succession of printed revises),
speculations, travel, and lastly the collection of curiosities. As regards
the second, although his fashion of life made him by turns a hermit and a
vagrant, he was on good terms with most of the famous men of letters of his
day from Hugo downwards, and seems never to have quarrelled with any man,
except with some of his editors and publishers, by his own fault. Balzac
was indeed, in no belittling sense of the word, one of the most
good-natured of men of genius. But his friendships with the other sex are
of much more importance, and not in the least matters of mere gossip. His
sister Laure, as has been said, and a school-friend of hers, Mme Zulma
Carraud, played important and not questionable parts as his correspondents.
But at least three ladies, all of a rank higher than his own, figure as his
"Egerias" to such an extent that it is hardly extravagant to say that
Balzac would not have been Balzac without them. These are Madame de Berny,
a lady connected with the court of the _ancien regime_, much older than
himself and the mother of nine children, to whom he was introduced in 1821,
who became to him _La dilecta_, who was the original of Mme de Mortsauf in
_Le Lys dans la vallee_, and who seems to have exercised an excellent
influence on him in matters of taste till her death in 1836; the marquise
de Castries, who took him up for a time and dropped him, and who has been
supposed to have been his model for his less impeccable ladies of fashion;
and lastly, the Polish-Russian countess Evelina Hanska, who after
addressing, as _l'Etrangere_, a letter to him as early as 1832, became his
idol, rarely seen but constantly corresponded with, for the last eighteen
years, and his wife for the last few months of his life. Some of his
letters to her have long been known, but the bulk of them constituted the
greatest recent addition to our knowledge of him as given in the two
volumes of _Lettres a l'etrangere_. Of hers we have practically none and it
is exceedingly hard to form any clear idea of her, but his devotion is
absolutely beyond question.
Business, friendship and love, however, much more other things, were in
Balzac's case always connected with and on the whole quite secondary to
work. He would even sometimes resist the commands by which at long
intervals Mme. Hanska would summon him to see her, and abstract the greater
part of his actual visits to her in order to serve this still more
absorbing mistress. He had, as we have seen, worked pretty hard, even
before 1829, and his work had partly taken forms not yet
mentioned--political pamphlets and miscellaneous articles which are now
accessible in the _Edition definitive_ of his works, and hardly one of
which is irrelevant to a just conception of him. Nor did he by any means
abandon these by-works after 1829; indeed, he at one time started and
almost entirely wrote, a periodical called the _Revue parisienne_. He wrote
some dramas and planned many more, though the few which reached the stage
left it again promptly. Balzac's dramas, as they appear in his works,
consist of _Vautrin, Les Ressources de Quinola, Pamela Giraud_ (arranged
for the stage by others), _La Maratre_ and _Mercadet le faiseur_, the last
of which has, since his death, been not unsuccessful. But on the whole he
did devote himself to his true vocation, with a furious energy beside which
even Scott's, except in his sadder and later days, becomes leisurely.
Balzac generally wrote (dining early and lightly, and sleeping for some
hours immediately after dinner) from midnight till any hour in the
following day--stretches of sixteen hours being not unknown, and the
process being often continued for days and weeks. Besides his habit of
correcting a small printed original into a long novel on the proofs, he was
always altering and re-shaping his work, even before, in 1842, he carried
out the idea of building it all into one huge structure--the _Comedie
humaine_ with its subdivisions of _Scenes de la vie parisienne, Etudes
philosophiques, &c._ Much pains have been spent upon this title and
Balzac's intentions in selecting it. But the "Human Comedy," as a
description for mere studies of life as his, will explain itself at once or
else can never be explained.
Of its constituents, however, some account must be given, and this can be
best done through an exact and complete list of the whole work by years,
with such abbreviated notes on the chief constituents as may lead up to a
general critical summary. Of the two capital works of 1829, we have spoken.
1830, the epoch year, saw part (it was not fully published till the next)
of _La Peau de chagrin_, one of the crudest, but according to some
estimates, one of the greatest of the works, full of romantic extravagance
and surplusage, but with an engrossing central idea--the Nemesis of
accomplished desire--powerfully worked out; _La Maison du chat qui pelote_,
a triumph of observation and nature, together with a crowd of things less
in bulk but sometimes of the first excellence--_El Verdugo_, _Etude de
femme_, _La Paix du menage_, _Le Bal de sceaux_, _La Vendetta_, _Gobseck_,
_Une Double Famille_, _Les Deux Reves_, _Adieu_, _L'Elixir de longue vie_,
_Sarrazine_, _Une Passion dans le desert_ and _Un Episode sous la Terreur_.
In 1831, _La Peau de chagrin_ appeared complete, accompanied by _Le
Requisitionnaire_, _Les Proscrits_, _Le Chef-d'oeuvre inconnu_ (a
masterpiece fortunately not unrecognized), _Jesus Christ en Flandre_ and
_Maitre Cornelius_. 1832 gave _Madame Firmiani_, _Le Message_, _Le Colonel
Chabert_ and _Le Cure de Tours_ (two stories of contrasted but
extraordinary excellence), _La Bourse_, _La Femme abandonnee_, _Louis
Lambert_ (autobiographical and philosophic), _La Grenadiere_ and _Les
Marana_ (a great favourite with the author). In 1833 appeared _Ferragus,
chef des devorants_, the first part of _L'Histoire des treize_ (a
collection in the more extravagant romantic manner, very popular at the
time, and since a favourite with some, but few, good judges), _Le Medecin
de campagne_ (another pet of the author's, and a kind of intended document
of his ability to support the cause of virtue, but, despite certain great
things, especially a wonderful popular "legend of Napoleon," a little heavy
as a whole), the universally admitted masterpiece of _Eugenie Grandet_, and
_L'Illustre Gaudissart_ (very amusing). 1833 also saw the beginning of a
remarkable and never finished work-out of his usual scope but exceedingly
powerful in parts--the _Contes drolatiques_, a series of tales of Old
France in Old (or at least Rabelaisian) French, which were to have been a
hundred in number but never got beyond the third batch of ten. They often
borrow the licence of their 15th and 16th century models; but in _La
Succube_ and others there is undoubted genius and not a little art. 1834
continued the _Treize_ with _La Duchesse de Langeais_ and added _La
Recherche de l'absolu_ (one of Balzac's great studies of monomania, and
thought by some to be the greatest, though others prefer _Le Chef-d'oeuvre
inconnu_), _La Femme de trente ans_ (the chief example of the author's
caprice for re-handling, and very differently judged as a whole), with yet
another of the acknowledged triumphs, _Le Pere Goriot_. On the whole, this
year's work, though not the author's largest, is perhaps his most unique.
Next year (1835) followed _Melmoth reconcilie_ (a tribute to the great
influence which Maturin exercised, not over Balzac only, at this time in
France), _Un Drame au bord de la mer_, the brilliant, if questionable,
conclusion of _Les Treize_, _La Fille aux yeux d'or_, _Le Contrat de
mariage_ and _Seraphita_. This last, a Swedenborgian rhapsody of great
beauty in parts, has divided critics almost more than anything else of its
writer's, some seeing in it (with excuse) nothing but the short description
given above in three words, the others (with justice) reckoning it his
greatest triumph of style and his nearest attempt to reach poetry through
prose. 1836 furnished _La Messe de l'athee_, _Interdiction_, _Facino Cane_,
_Le Lys dans la vallee_ (already referred to and of a somewhat sickly
sweetness), _L'Enfant maudit_, _La Vieille Fille_ and _Le Secret des
Ruggieri_ (connected with the earlier _Les deux Reves_ under the general
title, _Sur Catherine de Medicis_, and said to have been turned out by
Balzac in a single night, which is hardly possible). In 1837 were published
_Les Deux Poetes_, destined to form part of _Illusions perdues_, _Les
Employes_, _Gambara_ and another capital work, _Histoire de la grandeur et
de la decadence [v.03 p.0299] de Cesar Birotteau_, where Balzac's own
unlucky experiences in trade are made thoroughly matter of art. 1838 was
less fruitful, contributing only _Le Cabinet des antiques_, which had made
an earlier partial appearance, _La Maison Nucingen_ and _Une Fille d'Eve_.
But 1839 made amends with the second part of _Illusions perdues_, _Un Grand
Homme de province a Paris_ (one of Balzac's minor diploma-pieces), _Le Cure
de village_ (a very considerable thing), and two smaller stories, _Les
Secrets de la princesse de Cadignan_ and _Massimilla Doni_. _Pierrette_,
_Z. Marcas_, _Un Prince de la Boheme_ and _Pierre Grassou_ followed in
1840, and in 1841 _Une Tenebreuse Affaire_ (one of his most remarkable
workings-up of the minor facts of actual history), _Le Martyr Calviniste_
(the conclusion of _Sur Catherine de Medicis_), _Ursule Mirouet_ (an
admirable story), _La Fausse Maitresse_ and _Memoires de deux jeunes
mariees_, on which again there have been very different opinions. 1842
supplied _Albert Savarus_ (autobiographical largely), _Un Debut dans la
vie_, the very variously named and often rehandled _Rabouilleuse_ (which,
since Taine's exaltation of it, has often been taken as a Balzacian
quintessence), and _Autre etude de femme_, yet another rehandling of
earlier work. In 1843 came the introduction of the completed _Sur Catherine
de Medicis_, _Honorine_ and _La Muse du departement_ (almost as often
reconstructed as _La Femme de trente ans_), with _Comment aiment les jeunes
filles_ (a similar rehandling intended to start the collected _Splendeurs
et miseres des courtisanes_), and a further instalment of _Illusions
perdues_, _Les Souffrances d'un inventeur_. Three out of the next four
years were astonishingly fruitful. 1844 gave _Modeste Mignon_ (a book with
a place to itself, and said to be founded on a story actually written by
Madame Hanska), _Gaudissart II._, _A combien l'amour revient aux
vieillards_ (a second part of the _Splendeurs_), _Beatrix_ (one of the most
powerful if not of the most agreeable), and the first and very promising
part of _Les Paysans_. Only _Un Homme d'affaires_ came out in 1845, but
this was made up in 1846 by _Les Comediens sans le savoir_ (sketched
earlier), another part of the _Splendeurs_, _Ou menent les mauvais
chemins_, the first part of _Les Parents pauvres_, _La Cousine Bette_
(sometimes considered the topmost achievement of Balzac's genius), and the
final form of a work first issued fifteen years earlier and often
retouched, _Petites miseres de la vie conjugale_. 1847 was even richer,
with _Le Cousin Pons_ (the second part of _Les Parents pauvres_, and again
a masterpiece), the conclusion of the _Splendeurs_, _La Derniere
Incarnation de Vautrin_, _L'Envers de l'histoire contemporaine_ (which had
been on and off the stocks for five years), and the unfinished _Depute
d'Arcis_. This was the last scene of the comedy that appeared in the life
of its author. The conclusion of the _Depute d'Arcis_, published in 1853,
and those of _Les Paysans_ and _Les Petits Bourgeois_ which appeared, the
first in this year, the second wholly in 1855, are believed or known to be
by Balzac's friend, Charles Rabou (1803-1871).
This immense and varied total stands to its author in a somewhat different
relation from that of any other work to any other writer. It has been well
said that the whole of Balzac's production was always in his head together;
and this is the main justification for his syllabus of it as the "Comedy."
Some part never came out of his head into print; we have numerous titles of
work (sometimes spoken of in his letters as more or less finished) of which
no trace remains, or only fragmentary MS. sketches. One apparently
considerable book, _La Bataille_, which was to be devoted to the battle of
Essling, and for which he actually visited the ground, is frequently
referred to as in progress from the time of his early letters to Madame
Hanska onwards; but it has never been found. Another result of this
relation was the constant altering, re-shaping, re-connecting of the
different parts. That if Balzac had lived as long as Hugo, and had
preserved his faculties as well, he could never have finished the
_Comedie_, is of course obvious: the life of Methuselah, with the powers of
Shakespeare, would not suffice for that. But that he never would--even if
by some impossibility he could--is almost equally certain. Whether there is
any mark of decline in his latest work has been disputed, but there could
hardly have been farther advance, and the character of the whole, not easy
to define, is much less hard to comprehend, if prejudice be kept out of the
way. That character was put early, but finally, by Victor Hugo in his
funeral discourse on Balzac, whose work he declared, with unusual
terseness, among other phrases of more or less gorgeous rhetoric, to be
"observation and imagination." It may be doubted whether all the volumes
written on Balzac (a reasoned catalogue of the best of which will be found
below) have ever said more than these three words, or have ever said it
more truly if the due stress be laid upon the "and." On the other side,
most of the mistakes about him have arisen from laying undue stress on one
of the two qualities, or from considering them separately rather than as
inextricably mixed and blended. It is this blending which gives him his
unique position. He is an observer of the most exact, the most minute, the
most elaborate; but he suffuses this observation with so strange and
constant an imaginative quality that he is, to some careful and experienced
critics, never quite "real"--or almost always something more than real. He
seems accustomed to create in a fashion which is not so much of the actual
world as of some other, possible but not actual--no matter whether he deals
with money or with love, with Paris or with the provinces, with old times
or with new. A further puzzle has arisen from the fact that though Balzac
has virtuous characters, he sees humanity on the whole "in black": and
that, whether he actually prefers the delineation of vice, misfortune,
failure, or not, he produces as a rule in his readers the sensation
familiarly described as "uncomfortable." His morality has been fiercely
attacked and valiantly defended, but it is absolutely certain that he wrote
with no immoral intention, and with no indifference to morality. In the
same way there has been much discussion of his style, which seldom achieves
beauty, and sometimes falls short of correctness, but which still more
seldom lacks force and adequacy to his own purpose. On the whole, to write
with the shorthand necessary here, it is idle to claim for Balzac an
absolute supremacy in the novel, while it may be questioned whether any
single book of his, or any scene of a book, or even any single character or
situation, is among the very greatest books, scenes, characters, situations
in literature. But no novelist has created on the same scale, with the same
range; none has such a cosmos of his own, pervaded with such a sense of the
originality and power of its creator.
Balzac's life during these twenty years of strenuous production has, as
regards the production itself, been already outlined, but its outward
events, its distractions or avocations--apart from that almost weekly
process of "raising the wind," of settling old debts by contracting new
ones, which seems to have taken up no small part of it--must now be shortly
dealt with. Besides constant visits to the Margonne family at Sache in
Touraine, and to the Carrauds at Frapesle in Berry, he travelled frequently
in France. He went in 1833 to Neuchatel for his first meeting with Madame
Hanska, to Geneva later for his second, and to Vienna in 1835 for his
third. He took at least two flights to Italy, in more or less curious
circumstances. In 1838, he went on a journey to Sardinia to make his
fortune by melting the silver out of the slag-heaps of Roman mines--a
project, it seems, actually feasible and actually accomplished, but in
which he was anticipated. The year before, tired of Paris apartments, he
had bought ground at Ville d'Avray, and there constructed, certainly at
great, though perhaps exaggerated expense, his villa of Les Jardies, which
figures largely in the Balzacian legend. His rash and complicated literary
engagements, and (it must be added) his disregard of them when the whim
took him, brought him into frequent legal difficulties, the most serious of
which was a law-suit with the _Revue de Paris_ in 1836. In 1831, and again
in 1834, he had thought of standing for election as Deputy, and in the
latter year he actually did so both at Cambrai and Angouleme; but it is not
certain that he received any votes. He also more than once took steps to
become a candidate for the Academy, but retired on several occasions before
the voting, and when at last, in 1849, he actually stood, he only obtained
two votes.
As early as the Genevan meeting of 1833, Madame Hanska had formally
promised to marry Balzac in the case of her husband's [v.03 p.0300] death,
and this occurred at the end of 1841. She would not, however, allow him
even to visit her till the next year had expired, and then, though he
travelled to St Petersburg and the engagement was renewed after a fashion,
its fulfilment was indefinitely postponed. For some years Balzac met his
beloved at Baden, Wiesbaden, Brussels, Paris, Rome and elsewhere. Only in
September 1847 was he invited on the definite footing of her future husband
to her estate of Wierzschovnia in the Ukraine; and even then the visit,
interrupted by one excursion to Paris and back, was prolonged for more than
two years before (on the 14th of March 1850) the wedding actually took
place. But Balzac's own _Peau de chagrin_ was now reduced to its last
morsel. His health, weakened by his enormous labours, had been ruined by
the Russian cold and his journeyings across Europe. The pair reached the
house at Paris in the rue Fortunee, which Balzac had bought for his wife
and filled with his collections, at the end of May. On Sunday, the 17th of
August, Victor Hugo found Balzac dying, attended by his mother, but not by
his wife. He actually died at half-past eleven that night and was buried on
the 20th, the pall-bearers being Hugo himself, Dumas, Sainte-Beuve (an
enemy, but in this case a generous one) and the statesman Baroche, in Pere
La Chaise, where Hugo delivered the speech cited above.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.--The extraordinarily complicated bibliography of Balzac will
be found all but complete in the _Histoire des oeuvres_ (1875 and later),
attached by M. Spoelberch de Lovenjoul to the _Edition definitive_, and
supplemented by him in numerous smaller works, _Autour de Balzac_, _Une
Page perdue de Balzac_, &c. Summaries of it will be found appended to the
introductory critical notices of each volume of the English translation
edited by Saintsbury (London, 1895-1898), which also contains a short
Memoir and general criticism. Before the _Edition definitive_ (1869
onwards), the works had been issued during the author's life in various
forms and instalments, the earliest _Comedie humaine_ being of 1842 to 1846
in sixteen volumes. For many years, however, the edition best known was
that referred to in Browning as "all Balzac's novels fifty volumes long,"
really fifty-five small and closely printed 24mos kept stereotyped with
varying dates by Michel (Calmann) Levy, which did not contain the
miscellaneous works and was not arranged according to the author's last
disposition, but did include the _Oeuvres de jeunesse_. These were not
reprinted in the _Edition definitive_, but this gives the miscellaneous
works in four volumes, an invaluable volume of correspondence, and the
_Histoire des oeuvres_ as cited. To this was added, in 1893, another
volume, _Repertoire des oeuvres de Balzac_, in which the history of the
various personages of the _Comedie_ is tracked throughout and ranged under
separate articles by MM. Cerfbeer and Christophe with extraordinary pains,
and with a result of usefulness which should have protected it from some
critical sneers. In 1899 appeared, as the first volume of _Oeuvres
posthumes_, an instalment of the _Lettres a l'etrangere_, and in 1906 a
second (up to 1844) with a portrait of Madame Hanska, and other
illustrations.
Works on Balzac are very numerous, and some of them are of much importance.
Sainte-Beuve and Balzac fell out, and a furious diatribe by the novelist on
the critic is preserved; but the latter's postmortem examination in
_Causeries du lundi_, vol. ii., is not unfair, though it could hardly be
cordial. Gautier, who was a very intimate and trusty friend of Balzac, has
left an excellent study, mainly personal, reprinted in his _Portraits
contemporains_. Lamartine produced a volume, not of much value, on Balzac
in 1866; and minor contemporaries--Gozlan, Lemer, Champfleury--supplied
something. But the series of important studies of Balzac, based on the
whole of his work and not biased by friendship or enmity, begins with
Taine's Essay of 1858, reprinted in volume form, 1865. Even then the
_Oeuvres diverses_ were accessible only by immense labour in the scattered
originals, and the invaluable _Correspondance_ not at all. It was not till
the reunion of all in the _Edition definitive_ was completed, that full
study of man and work was possible. To this edition itself was attached a
sort of official critical introduction, _L'Oeuvre de Balzac_, by M. Marcel
Barriere (1890). But this is largely occupied by elaborate analyses of the
different books, and the purely critical part is small, and not of the
first value. Better are M. Paul Flat's _Essais sur Balzac_ (2 vols.,
1893-1894), which busy themselves especially with tracing types of
character. Important and new biographical details (including the proper
spelling of the name) were given in M. Edmond Bire's _Honore de Balzac_
(1897). The _Balzac ignore_ of A. Cabanes (1899) is chiefly remarkable for
its investigations of Balzac's fancy for occult studies, and the first part
(_Balzac imprimeur_) of MM. Hanotaux and Vicaire's _La Jeunesse de Balzac_
(1903) mentioned above, for its dealing with the printing business and the
intimacy with Madame de Berny. Two most important studies of Balzac in
French, are those of M. A. Le Breton, _Balzac, l'homme et l'oeuvre_ (1905),
a somewhat severe, but critical and very well-informed examination, and M.
Ferdinand Brunetiere's _Honore de Balzac_ (1906), a brilliant but rather
one-sided panegyric on the subject as the evolver of the modern novel
proper, and a realist and observer _par excellence_. In English,
translations of separate books are innumerable; of the whole, besides that
mentioned above, but containing a few things there omitted, an American
version by Miss Wormeley and others may be mentioned. The most elaborate
monograph in English, till recently, was F. Wedmore's _Balzac_ (1887), with
a useful bibliography up to the time. The recent additions to our knowledge
are utilized in Miss Mary F. Sandars' _Balzac_ (1904), a rather popular,
but full and readable summary, chiefly of the life, from all but the latest
documents, and W. H. Helm's _Aspects of Balzac_ (1905), which is critical
as well as anecdotic. The present writer, besides the critical and
biographical essays referred to above, prefixed a shorter one to a
translation of _Les Chouans_ executed by himself in 1890.
(G. SA.)
BALZAC, JEAN LOUIS GUEZ DE (1594-1654), French author, was born at
Angouleme in 1594. At the age of eighteen he travelled in Holland with
Theophile de Viaud, with whom he later exchanged bitter recriminations. He
was early befriended by the duc d'Epernon and his son Louis, Cardinal de la
Valette, who took him to Rome. His letters written to his acquaintances and
to many who held a high position at the French court gained for him a great
reputation. Compliments were showered upon him, he became an habitue of the
Hotel de Rambouillet, and his head appears to have been turned a little by
his success. Richelieu was lavish of praise and promises, but never offered
Balzac the preferment he expected. In 1624 a collection of his _Lettres_
was published, and was received with great favour. From the chateau of
Balzac, whither he had retired, he continued to correspond with Jean
Chapelain, Valentin Conrart and others. In 1634 he was elected to the
Academy. He died at Angouleme on the 18th of February 1654. His fame rests
chiefly upon the _Lettres_, a second collection of which appeared in 1636.
_Recueil de nouvelles lettres_ was printed in the next year. His letters,
though empty and affected in matter, show a real mastery of style,
introducing a new clearness and precision into French prose and encouraging
the development of the language on national lines by emphasizing its most
idiomatic elements. Balzac has thus the credit of executing in French prose
a reform parallel to Malherbe's in verse. In 1631 he published an eulogy of
Louis XIII. entitled _Le Prince_; in 1652 the _Socrate chretien_, the best
of his longer works; _Aristippe ou de la Cour_ in 1658; and several
dissertations on style.
His _Oeuvres_ were collected (2 vols.) in 1665 by Valentine Conrart. There
are numerous English translations from Balzac, dating from the 17th
century.
BAM, a town of Persia in the province of Kerman, situated 115 m. S.E. of
the city of Kerman at an elevation of 3600 ft. on both banks of the river
Bam. Pop. about 13,000. It is the capital of the Bam-Narmashir district and
has extensive groves of date-palms and gardens. Outside the town stands the
famous citadel with walls 40 ft. in height. This citadel was, even as late
as the beginning of the 19th century, the strongest fortified place in
Persia, and owed its strength to the Afghans who took Bam in 1719 and were
not finally expelled until 1801. Post and telegraph offices have been
established there since 1903.
BAMBERG, a town and archiepiscopal see of Germany, in the kingdom of
Bavaria. Pop. (1885) 31,521; (1905) 45,308. It lies on an open plain on the
river Regnitz, 2 m. above its junction with the Main, and 39 m. north of
Nuremberg by railway. The upper town is built on seven hills, each crowned
by a church, while the lower, still partially surrounded by walls and
ditches, is divided by the river and Ludwigskanal into three districts. The
cathedral is a noble late Romanesque building with four imposing towers. It
was founded in 1004 by the emperor Henry II., finished in 1012, afterwards
partially burnt, and rebuilt in the 13th century. Of its many works of art
may be mentioned the magnificent marble tomb of the founder and his wife,
the empress Cunigunde, carved by Tilman Riemenschneider between 1499 and
1513, and an equestrian statue of the emperor Conrad III. Other noteworthy
churches are the Jakobskirche, an 11th-century Romanesque basilica; the St
Martinskirche; the Marienkirche or Obere Pfarrkirche (1320-1387), which has
now been restored to its original pure Gothic style. The Michaelskirche,
12th-century Romanesque (restored), on the Michaelsberg, was formerly the
church of a Benedictine monastery secularized in 1803, which now contains
[v.03 p.0301] the Buergerspital, or alms-house, and the museum and
municipal art collections. Of the bridges connecting the sections of the
lower town the most interesting is the _Obere Bruecke_, completed in 1455.
Halfway across this, on an artificial island, is the Rathaus (rebuilt
1744-1756). The royal lyceum, formerly a Jesuit college, contains notable
collections and the royal library of over 300,000 volumes. The picturesque
Old Palace (_Alte Residenz_) was built in 1591 on the site of an old
residence of the counts of Babenberg. The New Palace (1698-1704) was
formerly occupied by the prince-bishops, and from 1864 to 1867 by the
deposed King Otto of Greece. Noteworthy among the monuments of the town is
the Maximilian fountain (1880), with statues of Maximilian I. of Bavaria,
the emperor Henry II. and his wife, Conrad III. and St Otto, bishop of
Bamberg. At a short distance from the town is the Altenburg (1266 ft.), a
castle occupied from 1251 onwards by the bishops of Bamberg. It was
destroyed in 1553 by Albert, margrave of Brandenburg, but has been partly
restored. The schools include the lyceum for philosophy and Catholic
theology (a survival of the university suppressed in 1803), a seminary, two
gymnasia, a Realschule, and several technical schools, including one for
porcelain-painting. The industries of the town include cotton spinning and
weaving, silk spinning, the manufacture of tobacco, ropes, metal-ware,
furniture, &c. The market gardens of the neighbourhood are famous, and
there is a considerable shipping trade by the river and the Ludwigskanal.
Bamberg, first mentioned in 902, grew up by the castle (Babenberch) which
gave its name to the Babenberg family (_q.v._). On their extinction it
passed to the Saxon house, and in 1007 the emperor Henry II. founded the
see. From the middle of the 13th century onward the bishops were princes of
the Empire. The see was secularized in 1802 and in 1803 assigned to
Bavaria.
A brief history of the bishopric is given in the _Catholic Encyclopaedia_
(London and New York, 1909), with bibliography. For general and special
works on the town see Ulysse Chevalier, _Topobibliographie_ (Montbeliard,
1894-1899), s.v.
BAMBERGER, LUDWIG (1823-1899), German economist and politician, was born of
Jewish parents on the 22nd of July 1823 at Mainz. After studying at
Giessen, Heidelberg and Goettingen, he entered on the practice of the law.
When the revolution of 1848 broke out he took an active part as one of the
leaders of the republican party in his native city, both as popular orator
and as editor of one of the local papers. In 1849 he took part in the
republican rising in the Palatinate and Baden; on the restoration of order
he was condemned to death, but he had escaped to Switzerland. The next
years he spent in exile, at first in London, then in Holland; in 1852 he
went to Paris, where, by means of private connexions, he received an
appointment in the bank of Bischoffheim & Goldschmidt, of which he became
managing director, a post which he held till 1866. During these years he
saved a competence and gained a thorough acquaintance with the theory and
practice of finance. This he put to account when the amnesty of 1866
enabled him to return to Germany. He was elected a member of the Reichstag,
where he joined the National Liberal party, for like many other exiles he
was willing to accept the results of Bismarck's work. In 1868 he published
a short life of Bismarck in French, with the object of producing a better
understanding of German affairs, and in 1870, owing to his intimate
acquaintance with France and with finance, he was summoned by Bismarck to
Versailles to help in the discussion of terms of peace. In the German
Reichstag he was the leading authority on matters of finance and economics,
as well as a clear and persuasive speaker, and it was chiefly owing to him
that a gold currency was adopted and that the German Imperial Bank took its
present form; in his later years he wrote and spoke strongly against
bimetallism. He was the leader of the free traders, and after 1878 refused
to follow Bismarck in his new policy of protection, state socialism and
colonial development; in a celebrated speech he declared that the day on
which it was introduced was a _dies nefastus_ for Germany. True to his free
trade principles he and a number of followers left the National Liberal
party and formed the so-called "Secession" in 1880. He was one of the few
prominent politicians who consistently maintained the struggle against
state socialism on the one hand and democratic socialism on the other. In
1892 be retired from political life and died in 1899. Bamberger was a clear
and attractive writer and was a frequent contributor on political and
economic questions to the _Nation_ and other periodicals. His most
important works are those on the currency, on the French war-indemnity, his
criticism of socialism and his apology for the Secession.
An edition of his collected works (including the French life of Bismarck)
was published in 1894 in five volumes. After his death in 1899 appeared a
volume of reminiscences, which, though it does not extend beyond 1866,
gives an interesting picture of his share in the revolution of 1848, and of
his life in Paris.
(J. W. HE.)
BAMBINO, IL (Ital. for "the Babe"), the name given in art to the image of
the infant Jesus in swaddling clothes common in Roman Catholic churches.
The most famous is the miracle-working _Santissimo Bambino_ in the church
of Ara Coeli at Rome, the festival of which is celebrated on the feast of
the Epiphany (January 6).
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--_Bambusa arundinacea_, an Indian bamboo. 1, Leafy
shoot. 2, Branch of inflorescence. 3, Spikelet. 4, Flower.]
BAMBOO, the popular name for a tribe of grasses, _Bambuseae_, which are
large, often tree-like, with woody stems. The stems spring from an
underground root-stock and are often crowded to form dense clumps; the
largest species reach 120 ft. in height. The slender stem is hollow, and,
as generally in grasses, has well-marked joints or nodes, at which the
cavity is closed by a strong diaphragm. The branches are numerous and in
some species spiny; the narrow, often short, leaf-blade is usually jointed
at the base and has a short stalk, by which it is attached to the long
sheath. The spikelets are usually many-flowered and variously arranged in
racemes or panicles. The flower differs from that of the majority of
grasses in having usually three lodicules and six stamens. Many species
bloom annually, but others only at intervals sometimes of many years, when
the individuals of one and the same species are found in bloom over large
areas. Thus on the west coast of India the simultaneous blooming of
_Bambusa arundinacea_ (fig. 1), one of the largest species, has been
observed at intervals of thirty-two years. After ripening of the seed, the
leafless flowering culms always die down.
The _Bambuseae_ contain twenty-three genera and occur throughout the
tropical zone, but very unevenly distributed; they also extend into the
sub-tropical and even into the temperate zone. Tropical Asia is richest in
species; in Africa there are very few. In Asia they extend into Japan and
to 10,000 ft. or more on the [v.03 p.0302] Himalayas; and in the Andes of
South America they reach the snow-line.
The fruit in _Bambusa_, _Arundinaria_ and other genera resembles the grain
generally characteristic of grasses, but in _Dendrocalamus_ and others it
is a nut, while rarely, as in _Melocanna_, it is fleshy and suggests an
apple in size and appearance. The uses to which all the parts and products
of the bamboo are applied in Oriental countries are almost endless. The
soft and succulent shoots, when just beginning to spring, are cut off and
served up at table like asparagus. Like that vegetable, also, they are
earthed over to keep them longer fit for consumption; and they afford a
continuous supply during the whole year, though it is more abundant in
autumn. They are also salted and eaten with rice, prepared in the form of
pickles or candied and preserved in sugar. As the plant grows older, a
species of fluid is secreted in the hollow joints, in which a concrete
substance once highly valued in the East for its medicinal qualities,
called _tabaxir_ or _tabascheer_, is gradually developed. This substance,
which has been found to be a purely siliceous concretion, is possessed of
peculiar optical properties. As a medicinal agent the bamboo is entirely
inert, and it has never been received into the European materia medica.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.--Bamboo (_Bambusa vulgaris_), very much reduced.
Grows 20 to 50 ft high.]
The grains of the bamboo are available for food, and the Chinese have a
proverb that it produces seed more abundantly in years when the rice crop
fails, which means, probably, that in times of dearth the natives look more
after such a source of food. The Hindus eat it mixed with honey as a
delicacy, equal quantities being put into a hollow joint, coated externally
with clay, and thus roasted over a fire. The fleshly fruit of _Melocanna_
is baked and eaten. The plant is a native of India, but is sometimes
cultivated as in Mauritius. It is, however, the stem of the bamboo which is
applied to the greatest variety of uses. Joints of sufficient size form
water buckets; smaller ones are used as bottles, and among the Dyaks of
Borneo they are employed as cooking vessels. Bamboo is extensively used as
a timber wood, and houses are frequently made entirely out of the products
of the plant; complete sections of the stem form posts or columns; split
up, it serves for floors or rafters; and, interwoven in lattice-work, it is
employed for the sides of rooms, admitting light and air. The roof is
sometimes of bamboo solely, and when split, which is accomplished with the
greatest ease, it can be formed into laths or planks. It is employed in
shipping of all kinds; some of the strongest plants are selected for masts
of boats of moderate size, and the masts of larger vessels are sometimes
formed by the union of several bamboos built up and joined together.
The bamboo is employed in the construction of all kinds of agricultural and
domestic implements and in the materials and implements required in
fishery. Bows are made of it by the union of two pieces with many bands;
and, the septa being bored out and the lengths joined together, it is
employed, as we use leaden pipes, in transmitting water to reservoirs or
gardens. From the light and slender stalks shafts for arrows are obtained;
and in the south-west of Asia there is a certain species of equally slender
growth, from which writing-pens or reeds are made. A joint forms a holder
for papers or pens, and it was in a joint of bamboo that silk-worm eggs
were carried from China to Constantinople during the reign of Justinian.
The outer cuticle of Oriental species is so hard that it forms a sharp and
durable cutting edge, and it is so siliceous that it can be used as a
whetstone. This outer cuticle, cut into thin strips, is one of the most
durable and beautiful materials for basket-making, and both in China and
Japan it is largely so employed. Strips are also woven into cages, chairs,
beds and other articles of furniture, Oriental wicker-work in bamboo being
unequalled for beauty and neatness of workmanship. In China the interior
portions of the stem are beaten into a pulp and used for the manufacture of
the finer varieties of paper. Bamboos are imported to a considerable extent
into Europe for the use of basket-makers, and for umbrella and
walking-sticks. In short, the purposes to which the bamboo is applicable
are almost endless, and well justify the opinion that "it is one of the
most wonderful and most beautiful productions of the tropics, and one of
Nature's most valuable gifts to uncivilized man" (A. R. Wallace, _The Malay
Archipelago_).
A number of species of bamboo are hardy under cultivation in the British
Isles. A useful and interesting account of these and their cultivation will
be found in the _Bamboo Garden_, by A. B. Freeman-Mitford. They are mostly
natives of China and Japan and belong to the genera _Arundinaria_,
_Bambusa_ and _Phyllostachys_; but include a few Himalayan species of
_Arundinaria_. They may be propagated by seed (though owing to the rare
occurrence of fruit, this method is seldom applicable), by division and by
cuttings. They are described as hungry plants which well repay generous
treatment, and will flourish in a rich, not too stiff loam, and for the
first year or two should be well mulched. They should be sheltered from
winds and well watered during the growing period. When being transplanted
the roots must be disturbed as little as possible. The following may be
mentioned; _Arundinaria simoni_, a fine plant which in the bamboo garden at
Kew has reached 18 ft. in height, and not infrequently flowers and fruits
in Britain; _A. japonica_, a tall and handsome plant generally grown in
gardens under the name _Bambusa metake_; _A. nitida_, "by far the daintiest
and most attractive of all its genus, and remarkably hardy"; _Bambusa
palmata_, with leaves a foot or more long and three inches broad; _B.
tesselata_; _B. quadrangularis_, remarkable for its square stems;
_Phyllostachys mitis_, growing to 60 ft. high in its native home, China and
Japan; and _P. nigra_, so called from the black stem, a handsome species.
BAMBURGH, or BAMBOROUGH, a village in the Berwick-upon-Tweed parliamentary
division of Northumberland, England, on the sea-coast, 2-1/2 m. E. of
Belford station on the North Eastern railway, and 54 m. N. of Newcastle. It
was a royal borough previous to the Norman Conquest and returned two
members to parliament in the reign of Edward I. Its ancient castle occupies
a magnificent position close to the sea on an almost perpendicular rock,
150 ft. in height, accessible only on the south-east side.
The first erection is ascribed by the Saxon chronicles to King Ida of
Northumberland. The castle buildings are of various dates from the Norman
period and are of great strength and dignity. They include a massive keep
and the remains of an apsidal chapel dedicated to St Peter. In the village,
the church is dedicated to St Aidan, who was bishop of Lindisfarne or Holy
Island, which lies off the coast to the north, about 634. It is a fine
cruciform building, mainly of Early English date, with a crypt beneath the
chancel. In the churchyard is a monument to Grace Darling (1815-1842), the
brave rescuer of some of the crew of the ship "Forfarshire" in 1838. The
Longstone Lighthouse, where her father was keeper, stands on an outer rock
of the Farne Islands, which stretch north-eastward for 6 m. from the coast
at Bamburgh.
The town of Bamburgh (_Bebbanburgh_) sprang up round the ancient castle.
During the struggle for the crown between William Rufus and Robert of
Normandy, Bamburgh was besieged by William, who, finding the defence too
strong, erected and garrisoned a new castle before Bamburgh called [v.03
p.0303] "Malveisin" or "Evil neighbour." Earl Robert of Northumberland, who
was in command of Bamburgh, having been defeated in a sally, the castle
surrendered to William in November 1095. The first mention of Bamburgh as a
borough does not occur until 1169, when the men paid 2-1/2 marks to an aid.
Henry III. by charter of 1254-1255 granted the burgesses their town at an
annual fee farm rent of 26 marks, of which they were acquitted in 1318 and
1327 "on account of the robberies and fires inflicted on them by the
Scots." Edward III. in 1332 confirmed the charter of Henry III., and
granted further that the town should be a free borough governed by four
bailiffs, that it should be enclosed by a wall and that the burgesses
should have a gild merchant. He also altered the market-day from Sunday to
Wednesday, and gave licence for the fairs, which had been held "from time
immemorial" on the feasts of SS. Oswald and Aidan, to continue for three
extra days. During the Scottish wars of the reign of Henry V., Bamburgh
again suffered severely, so much so that in 1439 the burgesses had
decreased in number from 120 to 13. These again petitioned for a remission
of their farm, which in 1446 was reduced to L10 yearly. Bamburgh was twice
taken by the Yorkists in the Wars of the Roses and twice recovered by Queen
Margaret. In 1463, after it had been recovered a second time by the queen,
Henry VI. stayed there for a year, but after the battle of Hexham it was
again taken by the Yorkists, and the castle and town were then so much
injured that from that time there is no mention of the burgesses or their
privileges. Bamburgh returned two members to parliament in 1295 and again
in Edward III.'s reign, but since then has never been represented. In 1384
Lord Neville received licence to dig for sea-coal in Bamburgh, and mines of
coal and lead existed there as late as 1681.
BAMBUTE (sometimes incorrectly called BATWA), a race of pygmies of the
Semliki Forest, on the western borders of the Uganda Protectorate between
Albert Nyanza and Albert Edward Nyanza. They probably form merely a branch
of the pygmy race of Equatorial Africa, represented farther west by H. von
Wissmann's Batwa (_q.v._). Their complexion varies from reddish-yellow to
brownish-black, with head-hair often of a russet-brown, and body-hair,
black and bristly on upper lip, chin, chest, axillae and pubes, yellowish
and fleecy on cheeks, back and limbs. Their average height is 4 ft. 9 in.
Even when forced to keep clean, their skins give out a rancid odour,
something (Sir H. H. Johnston says) between the smell of a monkey and a
negro. Their faces are remarkable for the long upper lip, and the
bridgeless nose with enormous alae (the cartilage of the nose above the
nostrils). Like the Batwa they are nomad hunters, building only huts of
sticks and leaves, and living in the forest, where they hunt the largest
game with no weapon but a tiny bow from which they shoot poisoned arrows.
Sir H. H. Johnston states that the Bambute have a good idea of drawing, and
with a sharpened stick can sketch in sand or mud the beasts and birds known
to them. The Bambute do not tattoo or scar, nor have they any love of
ornament, wearing no ear-rings, necklets, anklets, &c. The upper incisors
and canines are sharpened to a point. In the forests they go quite naked.
They speak a corrupted form of the dialects of their negro neighbours. They
have a peculiar way of singing their words. Their voices are low and
musical and the pronunciation is singularly staccato, every syllable being
separately uttered. They show no trace of spirit or ancestor worship, but
have some idea that thunder, lightning and rain are manifestations of an
Evil Power, and that the dead are reincarnated in the red bush-pig. They
have no tribal government, accepting as temporary lawgiver some adept
hunter. Marriage is by purchase; polygamy seems to exist, but the domestic
affections are strong. The dead are buried in dug graves, and food, tobacco
and weapons are often placed with the corpse. The Bambute are very musical,
though they are uninventive as regards instruments. They have many songs
which they sing well and they dance with spirit.
See A. de Quatrefages, _The Pygmies_ (Eng. edit. 1895); Sir H. H. Johnston,
_Uganda Protectorate_ (1902).
BAMFORD, SAMUEL (1788-1872), English labour politician, was born at Miston,
near Middleton, Lancashire, on the 28th of February 1788. Himself a
stalwart weaver, he was opposed to physical force movements and did all he
could to restrain the violent resistance to trade oppression which was so
common; yet through attending and speaking at the meeting (1819) at
Peterloo, Manchester (_q.v._), which was intended to be a peaceful
gathering to petition for Parliamentary reform and a repeal of the Corn Law
but ended in a massacre, he was arrested for a breach of the law, convicted
and sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment. He was the author of several
widely popular poems (principally in the Lancashire dialect) showing
sympathy with the conditions of his class, and his _Passages in the Life of
a Radical_ (1840-1844) is an authoritative history of the condition of the
working classes in the years succeeding the battle of Waterloo. He died at
Harpurhey on the 13th of April 1872, and was accorded a public funeral,
attended by thousands.
BAMIAN, a once renowned city of Afghanistan, situated about 80 m. N.W. of
Kabul. Its remains lie in a valley of the Hazara country, on the chief road
from Kabul towards Turkestan, and immediately at the northern foot of that
prolongation of the Indian Caucasus now called Koh-i-Baba. The passes on
the Kabul side are not less than 11,000 and 12,000 ft. in absolute height,
and those immediately to the north but little inferior. The height of the
valley was fixed at about 8500 ft., and the surrounding country carefully
surveyed by Major Pelham J. Maitland and the Hon. M. G. Talbot, during the
progress of the Russo-Afghan Boundary Commission in November 1885. The
river draining the valley is one of the chief sources of the Sarkhab
(Surkhab) or Aksarai, an important tributary of the Upper Oxus. The
prominences of the cliffs which line the valley are crowned by the remains
of numerous massive towers, whilst their precipitous faces are for 6 or 7
m. pierced by an infinity of ancient cave-dwellings, some of which are
still occupied. The actual site of the old city is marked by mounds and
remains of walls, and on an isolated rock in the middle of the valley are
considerable ruins of what appears to have been the acropolis, now known to
the people as Ghulgulah. But the most famous remains at Bamian are two
colossal standing idols, carved in the cliffs on the north side of the
valley. They are 173 ft. and 120 ft. high respectively. These images, which
have been much injured, apparently by cannon-shot, are cut in niches in the
rock, and both images and niches have been coated with stucco. There is an
inscription, not yet interpreted, over the greater idol, and on each side
of its niche are staircases leading to a chamber near the head, which shows
traces of elaborate ornamentation in azure and gilding. These chambers are
used by the amir as store-houses for grain. The surface of the niches also
has been painted with figures. In one of the branch valleys is a similar
colossus, somewhat inferior in size to the second of these two; and there
are indications of other niches and idols. Chahilburj, 28 m. from Zari, on
the road to Balkh by the Balkhab, at the east end of the Sokhtagi valley;
Shahr-i-Babar, about 45 m. above Chahilburj; and Gawargin, 6 m. above
Shahr-i-Babar, are all fortified sites of about the same age as the relics
at Bamian. At Haibak there is a very perfect excavation called the
Takht-i-Rustam (a general name for all incomprehensible constructions
amongst the modern inhabitants of Afghan Turkestan), which consists of an
annular ditch enclosing a platform, with a small house about 21 ft. square
above it, all cut out of the solid rock. There are hundreds of caves in
this neighbourhood, all pointing to a line of Buddhist occupation
connecting Balkh with Kabul. As seen from the rock of Ghulgulah, Bamian,
with its ruined towers, its colossi, its innumerable grottos, and with the
singular red colour of its barren soil, presents an impressive aspect of
desolation and mystery.
That the idols of Bamian, about which so many conjectures have been
uttered, were Buddhist figures, is ascertained from the narrative of the
Chinese pilgrim, Hsuan-Tsang, who saw them in their splendour in A.D. 630,
and was verified by the officers above named, who discovered other Buddhist
caves and excavations in the valleys of the Balkhab and Sarikol.
[v.03 p.0304] Still vaster than these was a recumbent figure, 2 m. east of
Bamian, representing Sakya Buddha entering _Nirv[=a]na_, _i.e._ in act of
death. This was "about 1000 ft. in length." No traces of this are alluded
to by modern travellers, but in all likelihood it was only formed of rubble
plastered (as is the case still with such _Nirv[=a]na_ figures in
Indo-China) and of no durability. For a city so notable Bamian has a very
obscure history. It does not seem possible to identify it with any city in
classical geography; _Alexandria ad Caucasum_ it certainly was not. The
first known mention of it seems to be that by Hsuan-Tsang, at a time when
apparently it had already passed its meridian, and was the head of one of
the small states into which the empire of the White Huns had broken up. At
a later period Bamian was for half a century, ending A.D. 1214, the seat of
a branch of the Ghori dynasty, ruling over Tokharistan, or the basin of the
Upper Oxus. The place was long besieged, and finally annihilated (1222) by
Jenghiz Khan, whose wrath was exasperated at the death of a favourite
grandson by an arrow from its walls. There appears to be no further record
of Bamian as a city; but the character of ruins at Ghulgulah agrees with
traditions on the spot in indicating that the city must have been rebuilt
after the time of the Mongols and again perished. In 1840, during the
British occupation of Kabul, Bamian was the scene of an action in which
Colonel William H. Dennie with a small force routed Dost Mahommed Khan,
accompanied by a number of Uzbeg chiefs.
See Hon. M. G. Talbot, "The Rock-cut Caves and Statues of Bamian," _Journal
R. Austral. Soc._ vol. xviii. part 3; and J. A. Gray, _At the Court of the
Amir_ (1895).
(T. H. H.*)
BAMPTON, JOHN (_c._ 1690-1751), English divine, was a member of Trinity
College, Oxford, where he graduated M.A. in 1712, and for some time canon
of Salisbury. He died on the 2nd of June 1751, aged 61. His will directs
that eight lectures shall be delivered annually at Oxford in the University
Church on as many Sunday mornings in full term, "between the commencement
of the last month in Lent term and the end of the third week in Act term,
upon either of the following subjects:--to confirm and establish the
Christian faith, and to confute all heretics and schismatics; upon the
divine authority of the Holy Scriptures; upon the authority of the writings
of the primitive fathers, as to the faith and practice of the primitive
Church; upon the divinity of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; upon the
divinity of the Holy Ghost; upon the articles of the Christian faith as
comprehended in the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds." The lecturer, who must be
at least a Master of Arts of Oxford or Cambridge, was formerly chosen
yearly by the heads of colleges, on the fourth Tuesday in Easter term, and
no one can be chosen a second time. The series of lectures began in 1780,
and is still continued, though since 1895 elections are only made in
alternate years through a depreciation of the revenue of the fund. The
endowment provides L120 for each lecturer, and the lectures have to be
published within two months of their delivery. Among the lecturers have
been Heber in 1815 (_The Personality and Office of the Christian
Comforter_); R. Whately in 1822 (_Party Feeling in Religion_); R. D.
Hampden in 1832 (_The Scholastic Philosophy in relation to Christian
Theology_); E. M. Goulburn in 1850 (_The Resurrection of the Body_); H. L.
Mansel in 1858 (_The Limits of Religious Thought_); H. P. Liddon in 1866
(_The Divinity of our Lord_); E. Hatch in 1880 (_The Organization of the
Early Christian Churches_); C. Bigg in 1886 (_Christian Platonists of
Alexandria_); C. Gore in 1891 (_The Incarnation_); W. Sanday in 1893
(_Inspiration_); J. R. Illingworth in 1894 (_Personality, Human and
Divine_); W. R. Inge in 1899 (_Christian Mysticism_), &c. A complete list
is given in the _Oxford Historical Register_. The institution has done much
to preserve a high standard in English theology; and the lectures as a
whole form a historically interesting collection of apologetic literature.
BAMP[=U]R, a town of Persia, in the province of Baluchistan, 330 m. S.E. of
Kerman, in 27deg 12' N., 60deg 24' E., at an elevation of 1720 ft. Pop.
about 2000. It is the capital of the province and situated on the banks of
the Bamp[=u]r river which flows from east to west and empties itself about
70 m. W. into a _hamun_, or depression, 50 m. in length, and called
Jaz-morian. The old citadel of Bamp[=u]r which crowned an elevation about
100 ft. in height, 3 m. north of the river, having completely fallen in
ruins, a new fort called Kalah N[=a]sseri, was built at Fahraj, 15 m.
further east, in the eighties; and Fahraj, which now has a population of
about 2500, has become more important than Bamp[=u]r. Fahraj, which is also
known as Pahura, Paharu, Puhra, is by some identified as the Poura where
Alexander the Great halted on his march from India, but others are more in
favour of another Fahraj near Bam, or even of Bamp[=u]r itself.
BAMRA, a feudatory state of India, in the province of Bengal. Area 1988 sq.
m.; pop. (1901) 123,378; estimated revenue L5000; tribute L100. Most of the
country is forest, producing only timber and lac but said to be rich in
iron ore. The northern border is touched by the Bengal-Nagpur railway, with
a station at Bamra town. The state is one of the five Uriya feudatories,
which were transferred from the Central Provinces to Bengal, on the
reconstitution of that province in October 1905. The capital is Deogarh.
BAN, a word taken from the root of a verb common to many Teutonic languages
and meaning originally "to proclaim" or "to announce." The Late Lat. form
of the word is _bannum_.
In the laws of the Franks and kindred tribes the word had three main uses:
first in the general sense of a proclamation, secondly, for the fine
incurred for disobeying such proclamation, and thirdly for the district
over which proclamations were issued.
It was the frequent use of proclamations or bans, commanding or forbidding
certain actions under a threat of punishment, which caused the second of
these uses to arise out of the first, as the idea of wrong-doing became
associated with the proclamation or ban. This _bannum dominicum_, as it was
called, was employed by all feudal lords, from the king downwards, against
offenders, and played an important part in the administration of justice in
feudal times. It usually took the form of an order to make some amend for
wrong-doing, which, if not complied with, was followed by the withdrawal of
all protection from the offender, _i.e._ by outlawry.
After the break-up of the Carolingian empire another use of the word arose
in France. "Ban" had occasionally been used in a restricted sense referring
only to the summons calling out the host; and as France became separated
from the Empire, French law and custom seized upon this use, and soon the
men liable to military service were known as "the ban." A variant form of
this word was _heriban_ or _ariban_, and it is possible that some confusion
between the early syllables of this word and the word _arriere_ led to a
distinction between the _ban_ and the _arriere-ban_ or _retro-bannum_. At
all events this distinction arose; the _ban_ referring to the vassals
called out by the king, and the _arriere-ban_ to the sub-vassals called
upon by the vassals in their turn. As in England, the liability to military
service was often commuted for a monetary payment, and there were various
exemptions. In the 17th and 18th centuries the ban and arriere-ban were
lacking in discipline when called out, and were last summoned in 1758.
Local levies, however, called out between this date and the Revolution were
sometimes referred to by these names.
In the medieval Empire and in Germany the word "ban" retained the special
sense of punishment. The German equivalent of ban is _Acht_, and the
sentence soon became practically one of outlawry. Connected possibly with
the power enjoyed in earlier times by the assemblies of freemen of
outlawing an offender, it was frequently used by the emperor, or German
king, and the phrase "under the ban" is very common in medieval history.
The execution of this sentence of placing an offender under the imperial
ban, or _Reichsacht_, was usually entrusted to some prince or noble, who
was often rewarded with a portion of the outlaw's lands. It was, however,
only a serious punishment when the king or his supporters were strong
enough to enforce its execution. Employed not only against individuals but
also against towns and districts, it was sometimes divided into the _Acht_
and the _Oberacht_, _i.e._ partial or complete outlawry. Documents of the
time show that the person placed under the imperial ban drew down absolute
destitution upon his relatives and frequently death upon himself. At first
this sentence was the act of the [v.03 p.0305] emperor or king himself, but
as the Empire became more German, and its administration less personal, it
was entrusted to the imperial aulic council (_Reichshofrat_), and to the
imperial court of justice or imperial chamber (_Reichskammergericht_).
These courts were deprived of this power in 1711, retaining only the right
of suggesting its use. The imperial ban had, however, been used for the
last time in 1706, when Maximilian Emanuel, elector of Bavaria, was placed
under it.
There are many other uses of the word in the sense of a prohibition. In
earlier French law the ban of wine or _bannum vini_, was the exclusive
right of a lord to sell wine during a stated number of days, and the ban of
March and April forbade the pasturing of cattle in certain fields during
these months. There were also other similar uses dating from feudal times.
In modern French law the phrase _rupture de ban_ described, previous to
1885, the departure without notice of any released criminal living under
the special surveillance of the police. The French government still retains
the rights of appointing an obligatory place of residence for any criminal,
and any escape from this place is a _rupture de ban_. A Scandinavian use of
the word gives it the sense of a curse. This usage mingling with the use
which spiritual lords shared with temporal lords of issuing the ban over
their dependents, has become in a special sense ecclesiastical, and the
sentence of excommunication is frequently referred to as "under the papal
ban." The word is also used in this way by Shakespeare and Milton. The
modern English use of the phrase "under the ban" refers to any line of
conduct condemned by custom or public opinion. In its earlier and general
sense as a proclamation, the ban may be said to have been suspended by the
writ. The word, however, survives in the sense of a proclamation in the
"banns of marriage" (_q.v._).
The Persian word _ban_, meaning lord or master, was brought into Europe by
the Avars. It was long used in many parts of south-eastern Europe,
especially in southern Hungary, to denote the governors of military
districts called _banats_, and is almost equivalent to the German
_margrave_. After enjoying very extensive powers the bans were gradually
reduced, both in numbers and importance. Since 1868, however, the governor
of Croatia and Slavonia has been known as the ban of Croatia, Slavonia and
Dalmatia, but his duties are civil and not military. He is appointed by the
emperor of Austria, as king of Hungary, and has a seat in the upper house
of the Hungarian parliament.
See Du Cange, _Glossarium_, tome i. (Niort, 1883); H. Brunner, _Grundzuge
der deutschen Rechtsgeschichte_ (Leipzig, 1901); E. P. Boutaric,
_Institutions militaires de la France_ (Paris, 1863); Pere G. Daniel,
_Histoire de la milice francaise_ (Paris, 1721).
BANANA, a gigantic herbaceous plant belonging to the genus _Musa_ (nat.
ord. Musaceae). It is perennial, sending up from an underground root-stock
an apparent stem 15 or 20 ft. high, consisting of the closely-enveloped
leaf-sheaths, the corresponding blades, each sometimes 10 ft. in length,
forming a spreading crown. A true stem develops at the flowering period; it
grows up through the hollow tube formed by the sheaths, emerges above and
bears a large number of inconspicuous tubular flowers closely crowded in
the axils of large, often brightly-coloured, protecting bracts. The fruits
form dense clusters.
[Illustration: Banana (_Musa sapientum_).]
The genus _Musa_ contains about 40 species, widely distributed throughout
the tropics of the Old World, and in some cases introduced into the New
World. In many parts of the tropics they are as important to the
inhabitants as are the grain plants to those living in cooler regions. They
are most successfully cultivated in a hot, damp, tropical climate. The
northern limit of their cultivation (usually _Musa Cavendishii_) is reached
in Florida, south of 29deg lat., the Canary Islands, Egypt and south Japan,
the southern limit in Natal and south Brazil. There has been considerable
discussion as to whether the banana was growing in America before the
discovery of the New World. It has been suggested that it may have been
carried by ocean currents or in some earlier intercourse between the Old
and New Worlds. The evidence, however, of its existence in America at the
time of the discovery of the new continent is not very definite. The unripe
fruit is rich in starch, which in ripening changes into sugar. The most
generally used fruits are derived from _Musa paradisiaca_, of which an
enormous number of varieties and forms exist in cultivation. The
sub-species _sapientum_ (formerly regarded as a distinct species _M.
sapientum_) is the source of the fruits generally known in England as
bananas, and eaten raw, while the name plantain is given to forms of the
species itself _M. paradisiaca_, which require cooking. The species is
probably a native of India and southern Asia. Other species which are used
as fruits are _M. acuminata_ in the Malay Archipelago, _M. Fehi_ in Tahiti,
and _M. Cavendishii_, the so-called Chinese banana, in cooler countries;
the fruit of the last-named has a thinner rind and a delicate, fragrant
flesh. The species, the fruits of which require cooking, are of much
greater importance as an article of food. These often reach a considerable
size; forms are known in East Africa which attain nearly 2 ft. in length
with the thickness of a man's arm. A form of _M. corniculata_, from Cochin
China and the Malay Archipelago, produces only a single fruit, which,
however, affords an adequate meal for three men. The hardly-ripe fruit is
stewed whole or cut in slices and roasted or baked.
Banana-meal is an important food-stuff; the fruit is peeled and cut in
strips, which are then dried and pounded in a mortar. In East Africa and
elsewhere, an intoxicating drink is prepared from the fruit. The root-stock
which bears the leaves is, just before the flowering period, soft and full
of starch, and is sometimes used as food, as in the case of the Abyssinian
species, _M. Ensete_.
The leaves cut in strips are plaited to form mats and bags; they are also
largely used for packing and the finer ones for cigarette papers. Several
species yield a valuable fibre, the best of which is "Manila hemp" (_q.v._)
from _M. textilis_.
The following is the composition of the flour, according to Hutchison:
water, 13%; proteid, 4%; fat, 0.5%; carbohydrates, 80%; salts, 2.5%. It
would require about eighty bananas of average size to yield the amount of
energy required daily, and about double that number to yield the necessary
amount of proteid. Hence the undue abdominal development of those who live
mainly on this article of diet (Hutchison). In recent years the cultivation
of the banana in Jamaica for the American and also for the English market
has been greatly developed.
BANAS, or BUNAS, the name of three rivers of India. (1) A river of
Rajputana, which rises in the Aravalli range in Udaipur, drains the Udaipur
valley, and after a course of 300 m. flows into the Chambal. (2) A river of
the Shahabad district of Bengal, which forms the drainage channel between
the Arrah canal and the Sone canals system, and finally falls into the
Gangi nadi. (3) A river of Chota Nagpur in Bengal, which rises in the state
of Chang Bhakar and falls into the Sone near Rampur.
BANAT (Hungarian Bansag), a district in the south-east of Hungary,
consisting of the counties of Torontal, Temes and Krasso-Szoreny. The term,
in Hungarian, means generally a frontier province governed by a _ban_ and
is equivalent to the German term _Mark_. There were in Hungary several
banats, which disappeared during the Turkish wars, as the banat of
Dalmatia, of Slavonia, of Bosnia and of Croatia. But when the word is used
without any other qualification, it indicates the Temesvar banat, which
strangely acquired this title after the peace of Passarowitz (1718), though
it was never governed by a _ban_. The Banat is bounded E. by the
Transylvanian Alps, S. by the Danube, W. by the Theiss and N. by the Maros,
and has an [v.03 p.0306] area of 11,260 sq. m. It is mountainous in the
south and south-east, while in the north, west and south-west it is flat
and in some places marshy. The climate, except in the marshy parts, is
generally healthy. It is well-watered, and forms one of the most fertile
districts of Hungary. Wheat, barley, oats, rye, maize, flax, hemp and
tobacco are grown in large quantities, and the products of the vineyards
are of a good quality. Game is plentiful and the rivers swarm with fish.
The mineral wealth is great, including copper, tin, lead, zinc, iron and
especially coal. Amongst its numerous mineral springs, the most important
are those of Mehadia, with sulphurous waters, which were already known in
the Roman period as the _Thermae Herculis_. The Banat had in 1900 a
population of 1,431,329 inhabitants. According to nationality there were
578,789 Rumanians, 362,487 Germans, 251,938 Servians and 170,124 Magyars.
The chief town is Temesvar (pop. 53,033), and other places of importance
are Versecz (25,199), Lugos (16,126), Nagybecskerek (26,407), Nagykikinda
(24,843) and Pancsova (19,044).
The Banat was conquered by the Turks in 1552, and remained a Turkish sanjak
(province) till 1716, when Prince Eugene of Savoy liberated it from the
Turkish yoke. It received the title of Banat after the peace of Passarowitz
(1718), and remained under a military administration until 1751, when Maria
Theresa introduced a civil administration. During the Turkish occupation
the district was nearly depopulated, and allowed to lie almost desolate in
marsh and heath and forest. Count Claudius Mercy (1666-1734), who was
appointed governor of Temesvar in 1720, took numerous measures for the
regeneration of the Banat. The marshes near the Danube and Theiss were
cleared, roads and canals were built at great expense of labour, German
artisans and other settlers were attracted to colonize the district, and
agriculture and trade encouraged. Maria Theresa also took a great interest
in the Banat, colonized the land belonging to the crown with German
peasants, founded many villages, encouraged the exploitation of the mineral
wealth of the country, and generally developed the measures introduced by
Mercy. In 1779 the Banat was again incorporated with Hungary. After the
revolution of 1848-1849, the Banat together with another county (Bacs) was
separated from Hungary, and created into a distinctive Austrian crown land,
but in 1860 it was definitely incorporated with Hungary.
See Leonhard Boehm, _Geschichte des Temeser Banats_ (2 vols., Leipzig,
1861); Johann Heinrich Schwicker, _Geschichte des Temeser Banats_ (Pest,
1872).
BANATE (a corruption of Panaiti, their real name), or BANNOCK, as they are
now usually called, a tribe of North American Indians of Shoshonean stock.
They were sometimes known as "Robber Indians." Their former range was
southern Idaho and eastern Oregon. They are now divided between the Fort
Hall and Lemhi reservations, Idaho. They were generally friendly with the
whites, but in 1866 and in 1877-78 there were serious outbreaks. They
number about 500.
BANBRIDGE, a town of Co. Down, Ireland, in the west parliamentary division,
on the Bann, 23 m. S.W. of Belfast on a branch of the Great Northern
railway, standing on an eminence. Pop. of urban district (1901) 5006. To
mitigate a steep ascent, a central carriage-way, 200 yds, long, is cut
along the main street to a depth of 15 ft., the opposite terraces being
connected by a bridge. Banbridge is an entirely modern town. It is the
principal seat of the linen trade in the county, and has extensive cloth
and thread factories, bleachfields and chemical works. A memorial in Church
Square commemorates the Franklin expedition to the discovery of the
North-West Passage, and in particular Captain Francis Crozier, who was born
at Banbridge in 1796 and served on the expedition.
BANBURY, a market-town and municipal borough in the Banbury parliamentary
division of Oxfordshire, England, on the river Cherwell and the Oxford
canal, 86 m. N.W. of London by the northern line of the Great Western
railway. Pop. (1901) 12,968. The canal communicates northward with the
Grand Junction and Warwick canals, and there are branch lines of the Great
Central railway to the main line at Woodford, and of the London &
North-Western railway to Bletchley. The town is the centre of a rich
agricultural district, and there is a large manufacture of agricultural
implements; while other industries include rope and leather works and
brewing. Banbury cakes, consisting of a case of pastry containing a mixture
of currants, have a reputation of three centuries' standing. A magnificent
Gothic parish church was destroyed by fire and gunpowder in 1790 to make
way for a building of little merit in Italian style. The ancient Banbury
Cross, celebrated in a familiar nursery rhyme, was destroyed by Puritans in
1610. During the 17th century the inhabitants of Banbury seem to have been
zealous Puritans, and are frequently satirized by contemporary dramatists.
At a somewhat earlier period the grammar school, now extinct, was of such
repute as to be chosen as the model for the constitution of the school of
St Paul's. A school of science was erected in 1861, and there is a
municipal secondary and technical school. Some fine old timbered houses
remain in the streets. Of the castle built in 1125 there are only the
barest traces. Wroxton Abbey, 2 m. N.W., shows slight remains of the
original Augustinian priory; but the present beautiful gabled building,
picturesquely situated, dates mainly from 1618. Broughton Castle, 2-1/2 m.
S.W., is the most noteworthy house in the county. The oblong block of
buildings, fronted by lawns, is surrounded by a moat and protected by a
gate-house, part of which dates from 1301, at which date the chapel and a
part of the house were also built. There is also work of the 15th century
and the Elizabethan period. The house is the seat of Lord Saye and Sele,
having been in the Fiennes family since the reign of Henry VII.
(1485-1509). Here Pym and Hampden and other leaders of the Parliamentarians
were wont to meet in 1640. Without the gate is a fine Decorated church.
Banbury is governed by a mayor, 6 aldermen and 18 councillors. Area, 4633
acres.
In the year 556 Banbury (Beranbyrig, Banesberie) was the scene of a battle
between Cynric and Ceawlin and Britons. It was assessed at 50 hides in the
Domesday survey and was then held by the bishop of Lincoln. Allusions to
the market occur as early as 1138, and Henry II. by charter confirmed a
market on Thursday and granted a fair at Whitsun. The first charter of
incorporation was granted by Queen Mary in 1553, and instituted a common
council consisting of a bailiff, 12 aldermen and 12 chief burgesses; a
court of record, one justice of the peace, a Thursday market and two annual
fairs. James I. confirmed this charter in 1608. with some additions,
including a weekly wool-market, a horse-market and two additional annual
fairs. Both these charters were surrendered in 1683 in favour of a new
charter, but were resumed in 1688. In 1718 George I. granted a new charter,
which held until the Municipal Corporations Act of 1835. From the date of
Queen Mary's charter until the Redistribution of Seats Act of 1885 the
borough was represented by one member in parliament.
See Alfred Beesley, _History of Banbury_ (London, 1841).
BANCHIERI, ADRIANO (_c._ 1557-1634), Bolognese composer for church and
stage, organist, writer on music and poet. He founded the Accademia Florida
of Bologna. Like Orazio Vecchi he was interested in converting the madrigal
to dramatic purposes. He disapproved of the monodists with all their
revolutionary harmonic tendencies, about which he expressed himself
vigorously in his _Moderna Practica Musicale_ (Venice, 1613), while
systematizing the legitimate use of the monodic art of thorough-bass.
BANCROFT, GEORGE (1800-1891), American historian and statesman, was born in
Worcester, Mass., on the 3rd of October 1800. His family had been in
America since 1632, and his father, Aaron Bancroft, was distinguished as a
revolutionary soldier, clergyman and author. The son was educated at
Phillips Academy, Exeter, at Harvard University, at Heidelberg, Goettingen
and Berlin. At Goettingen he studied Plato with Heeren, New Testament Greek
with Eichhorn and natural science with Blumenbach. His heart was in the
work of Heeren, easily the greatest of historical critics then living, and
the forerunner of the modern school; it was from this master that Bancroft
caught his enthusiasm for minute pains-taking erudition. He concluded his
years of preparation by a European tour, in the [v.03 p.0307] course of
which he received kind attention from almost every distinguished man in the
world of letters, science and art; among others, from Goethe, Humboldt,
Schleiermacher, Hegel, Byron, Niebuhr, Bunsen, Savigny, Cousin, Constant
and Manzoni. Bancroft's father was a Unitarian, and he had devoted his son
to the work of the ministry; but the young man's first experiments at
preaching, shortly after his return from Europe in 1822, were
unsatisfactory, the theological teaching of the time having substituted
criticism and literature for faith. His first position was that of tutor in
Harvard. Instinctively a humanist, he had little patience with the narrow
curriculum of Harvard in his day and the rather pedantic spirit with which
classical studies were there pursued. Moreover, he had brought from Europe
a new manner, full of the affections of ardent youth, and this he wore
without ease in a society highly satisfied with itself; the young
knight-errant was therefore subjected to considerable ridicule. A little
volume of poetry, translations and original pieces, published in 1823 gave
its author no fame. As time passed, and custom created familiarity, his
style, personal and literary, was seen to be the outward symbol of a firm
resolve to preserve a philosophic calm, and of an enormous underlying
energy which spent itself in labour, "ohne Hast, aber auch ohne Rast." He
found the conventional atmosphere of Cambridge uncongenial, and with a
friend he established the Round Hill school at Northampton, Mass. This was
the first serious effort made in the United States to elevate secondary
education to the plane on which it belonged.
Although born into a Whig family, yet Bancroft's studies carried him
irresistibly into the Democratic party. While a teacher in his own school
he was elected to the state legislature as a Democrat, but under pressure
from the family of his first wife, who were ardent Whigs, he refused to
serve. In 1831 he likewise declined the nomination of the Massachusetts
Democrats for secretary of state. By this time he was influential in the
councils of his party, and President Van Buren appointed him collector of
the port of Boston, a position which he filled with success. Two of his
appointees were Orestes Brownson and Nathaniel Hawthorne. In 1844 he was
the Democratic candidate for the governorship, but he was defeated. In 1845
he entered Polk's cabinet as secretary of the navy, serving until 1846,
when for a month he was acting secretary of war. During this short period
in the cabinet he established the naval academy at Annapolis, gave the
orders which led to the occupation of California, and sent Zachary Taylor
into the debatable land between Texas and Mexico. He also continued his
pleadings for the annexation of Texas, as extending "the area of freedom,"
and though a Democrat, took high moral ground as to slavery; he likewise
made himself the authority on the North-Western Boundary question. In 1846
he was sent as minister to London, where he lived in constant companionship
with Macaulay and Hallam. On his return in 1849 he withdrew from public
life, residing in New York. In 1866 he was chosen by Congress to deliver
the special eulogy on Lincoln; and in 1867 he was appointed minister to
Berlin, where he remained until his resignation in 1874. Thenceforward he
lived in Washington and Newport, dying at Washington on the 17th of January
1891. His latest official achievements were the greatest. In the San Juan
arbitration he displayed great versatility and skill, winning his case
before the emperor with brilliant ease. The naturalization treaties which
he negotiated successively with Prussia and the other north German states
were the first international recognition of the right of expatriation, a
principle since incorporated in the law of nations.
In spite of the exacting and severe routine of the Round Hill school,
Bancroft contributed frequently to the _North American Review_ and to
Walsh's _American Quarterly_; he also made a translation of Heeren's work
on _The Politics of Ancient Greece_. In 1834 appeared the first volume of
the _History of the United States_. The second followed in 1837, and others
as the exigencies of public life permitted. Supplementary to the first
volume was an article published by him in the _North American Review_ for
1835 on "The Documentary History of the Revolution." This article not
merely brought the new method to the notice of the reading public, but
revealed to it the wealth of material available. The nature and extent of
his studies, the solidity of his work, and the philosophic spirit which
animates both, explain the enthusiasm with which the earlier volumes of
Bancroft were received. Their sale at home was very large; they were
reprinted in England and translated immediately into Danish, Italian,
German and French. The latest volumes were considered by all competent
judges quite as important as their predecessors. When the author was
preparing to return from Berlin, the Royal Academy made him their guest at
a public dinner, an unprecedented honour; and the universities of Berlin,
Heidelberg and Munich united in a testimonial of regard. At Washington he
was the confidential advisor of statesmen to the end of his life and the
unofficial dean of the best society.
Bancroft's historical creed is best set forth in the address he delivered
on the semi-centennial of the New York Historical Society in 1854. In
philosophy he found the basis for positing a collective human will,
revealing in its activities the materials for determining ethical laws.
Since there must be the same conservation of energy in morals as elsewhere,
the eternal reason is the divine Logos. History, therefore, is God working
in examples. It must be a unit, its forces constant and its totality an
organic whole. Within this the individual moves and acts with liberty and
responsibility; for each, in will, affection and intellect is
consubstantial with the rest. Truth, morals and justice are subject to no
evolution; but the collective man evolves better forms of knowledge and
behaviour. The organization of society, therefore, produces successive
states, in each of which the principle of freedom is better established
than in the antecedent. Permanency in republican government is, therefore,
based upon corresponding experience and culture, and its possibilities grow
ever stronger. The relation of American democracy to the systems which have
preceded it forms the latest proof of these contentions. As Heeren's pupil,
he laid enormous stress on the importance of original authorities. In
dealing with documentary evidence he sought to apply very stringent
rules:--(1) Carefully distinguish between original authority and historical
memorials or aids; for example, between a fact recorded at first- or
second-hand knowledge, and a decision of principle by authority. (2)
Represent every man from his own standpoint; judge him from your own. His
collections of original materials were vast; beginning with his residence
in England, he brought together at enormous pains and expense the
authenticated copies of archives, family papers, and personal journals
written by historic personages, which now constitute an invaluable treasure
in the New York public library. They are from every land and from every
people with which American origins are connected. His use of this material
was not always according to accepted standards. To avoid dryness and
prolixity he condensed quotations, and occasionally employed the
Thucydidean method of abridgment or representation in place of fact
catalogues. During his long life enormous strides were made by others in
collecting the materials of American history, and while in the main he kept
pace with them by ruthless revision, yet even the latest edition of his
work disregards some minor facts which others knew for the insertion of
much which the author alone knew.
Bancroft's imagination and enthusiasm were alike exuberant. His pages
abound in fine and acute insight. His generalizations are vivid and
enlightening. He spared no pains to acquire true style, frequently
rewriting his chapters, and sometimes testing passages of philosophy and
description in eight different forms. Yet to a certain extent he lacked the
representative power and often failed to conceal his art, many pages
ringing with artificial tones. But, after making all allowances, it remains
true that he had a perfect sense of proportion, sound maxims and thorough
common-sense. He was of that greatest human type: a man of the present,
valuing justly the past and no dreamer. In the nature and extent of his
studies, in the solidity of his work, and in the philosophic spirit which
animated his life he ranks as the foremost historian of the United States,
and as an American historian second to none of his European contemporaries
in [v.03 p.0308] the same line. He displayed the heroic, epic value of
American history, its unity with the great central stream, and dispelled
for ever the extravagant conceptions of a sentimental world just emerging
from the visionary philosophy of the 18th century.
See M. A. de Wolfe Howe, _The Life and Letters of George Bancroft_ (New
York, 1908).
(W. M. S.)
BANCROFT, HUBERT HOWE (1832- ), American historical writer, was born at
Granville, Ohio, on the 5th of May 1832. From 1852 to 1868 he was a
bookseller in San Francisco. During this period he accumulated a great
library of historical material, and at last gave up business in order to
devote himself to the publication of his _Native Races of the Pacific
States_ (5 vols. 1874-1876), _History of the Pacific States of North
America_ (21 vols. 1882-1890), and other works. For the collection of data
he necessarily relied upon the labours of a corps of assistants, and the
publications named represent, properly speaking, an encyclopaedia rather
than a unified history; but as a storehouse of material their value is
great and is likely to be enduring. In 1905 Bancroft's vast collection was
acquired by the university of California. An account of his methods of work
is given in his _Literary Industries_ (1890).
BANCROFT, RICHARD (1544-1610), archbishop of Canterbury, was born at
Farnworth in Lancashire in 1544. He was educated at Cambridge, first at
Christ's College and afterwards at Jesus College. He took his degree of
B.A. in 1567 and that of M.A. in 1570. Ordained about that time, he was
named chaplain to Richard Cox, then bishop of Ely, and in 1575 was
presented to the rectory of Teversham in Cambridgeshire. The next year he
was one of the preachers to the university, and in 1584 was presented to
the rectory of St Andrew's, Holborn. His abilities, and his zeal as a
champion of the church, secured him rapid promotion. He graduated B.D. in
1580 and D.D. five years later. In 1585 he was appointed treasurer of St
Paul's cathedral, London, and in 1586 was made a member of the
ecclesiastical commission. On the 9th of February 1589 he preached at
Paul's Cross a sermon on 1 John iv. 1, the substance of which was a
passionate attack on the Puritans. He described their speeches and
proceedings, caricatured their motives, denounced the exercise of the right
of private judgment, and set forth the divine right of bishops in such
strong language that one of the queen's councillors held it to amount to a
threat against the supremacy of the crown. In the following year Bancroft
was made a prebendary of St Paul's; he had been canon of Westminster since
1587. He was chaplain successively to Lord Chancellor Hatton and Archbishop
Whitgift. In June 1597 he was consecrated bishop of London; and from this
time, in consequence of the age and incapacity for business of Archbishop
Whitgift, he was virtually invested with the power of primate, and had the
sole management of ecclesiastical affairs. Among the more noteworthy cases
which fell under his direction were the proceedings against "Martin
Mar-Prelate," Thomas Cartwright and his friends, and John Penry, whose
"seditious writings" he caused to be intercepted and given up to the lord
keeper. In 1600 he was sent on an embassy, with others, to Embden, for the
purpose of settling certain matters in dispute between the English and the
Danes. This mission, however, failed. Bancroft was present at the death of
Queen Elizabeth. He took a prominent and truculent part in the famous
conference of prelates and Presbyterian divines held at Hampton Court in
1604. By the king's desire he undertook the vindication of the practices of
confirmation, absolution, private baptism and lay excommunication; he
urged, but in vain, the reinforcement of an ancient canon, "that
schismatics are not to be heard against bishops"; and in opposition to the
Puritans' demand for certain alterations in doctrine and discipline, he
besought the king that care might be taken for a _praying clergy_; and
that, till men of learning and sufficiency could be found, godly homilies
might be read and their number increased. In March 1604 Bancroft, on
Whitgift's death, was appointed by royal writ president of convocation then
assembled; and he there presented a book of canons collected by himself. It
was adopted and received the royal approval, but was strongly opposed and
set aside by parliament two months afterwards. In the following November he
was elected successor to Whitgift in the see of Canterbury. He continued to
show the same zeal and severity as before, and with so much success that
Lord Clarendon, writing in his praise, expressed the opinion that "if
Bancroft had lived, he would quickly have extinguished all that fire in
England which had been kindled at Geneva." He was as lenient with the
offences of the orthodox as he was rigid in suppressing heresy and schism.
In 1605 he was sworn a member of the privy council. The same year he
engaged in a contest with the judges, and exhibited articles of complaint
against them before the lords of the council; but these complaints were
overruled. His aim was really to make the ecclesiastical courts independent
of the law by speciously magnifying the royal authority over them. He
enforced discipline and exact conformity within the church with an iron
hand; and over 200 clergymen were deprived of their livings for
disobedience to the _ex animo_ form of subscription. In 1608 he was chosen
chancellor of the university of Oxford. One of his latest public acts was a
proposal laid before parliament for improving the revenues of the church,
and a project for a college of controversial divinity at Chelsea. In the
last few months of his life he took part in the discussion about the
consecration of certain Scottish bishops, and it was in pursuance of his
advice that they were consecrated by several bishops of the English church.
By this act were laid the foundations of the Scottish Episcopal church.
Bancroft was "the chief overseer" of the authorized version of the Bible.
He died at Lambeth Palace on the 2nd of November 1610. His literary remains
are not extensive, but show him to have been an able writer.
BANCROFT, SIR SQUIRE (1841- ), English actor and manager, was born near
London on the 14th of May 1841. His first appearance on the stage was in
1861 at Birmingham, and he played in the provinces with success for several
years. His first London appearance was in 1865 in Wooler's _A Winning
Hazard_ at the Prince of Wales's theatre off Tottenham Court Road, then
under the management of Effie Marie Wilton (b. 1840), whom he married in
1868. Mr and Mrs Bancroft were associated in the production of all the
Robertson comedies:--_Society_ (1865), _Ours_ (1866), _Caste_ (1867),
_Play_ (1868), _School_ (1869) and _M.P._ (1870), and, after Robertson's
death, in revivals of the old comedies, for which they surrounded
themselves with an admirable company. Lytton's _Money_ (1872), Boucicault's
_London Assurance_ (1877), and _Diplomacy_--an adaptation of Sardou's
_Dora_--were among their _premieres_, which helped to make the little
playhouse famous. The Bancroft management at the Prince of Wales's
constituted a new era in the development of the English stage, and had the
effect of reviving the London interest in modern drama. In 1879 they moved
to the Haymarket, where Sardou's _Odette_ (for which they engaged Madame
Modjeska) and _Fedora_, W. S. Gilbert's _Sweethearts_ and Pinero's _Lords
and Commons_, with revivals of previous successes, were among their
productions. Having made a considerable fortune, they retired in 1885, but
Mr Bancroft (who was knighted in 1897) joined Sir Henry Irving in 1889 to
play the abbe Latour in a revival of Watts Phillips's _Dead Heart_.
See _Mr and Mrs Bancroft, on and off the Stage_ (1888), and _The Bancrofts:
Recollections of Sixty Years_ (1909), by themselves.
BAND, something which "binds" or fastens one thing to another, hence a
cord, rope or tie, _e.g._ the straps fastening the sheets to the back in
book-binding. The word is a variant of "bond," and is from the stem of the
Teutonic _bindan_, to bind. From the same source comes "bend," properly to
fasten the string to the bow, so as to constrain and curve it, hence to
make into the shape of a "bent" bow, to curve. In the sense of "strap," a
flat strip of material, properly for fastening anything, the word is
ultimately of the same origin but comes directly into English from the
French _bande_. In architecture the term is applied to a sort of flat
frieze or fascia running horizontally round a tower or other parts of a
building, particularly the base tables in perpendicular work, commonly used
with the long shafts characteristic of the 13th century. It generally has a
bold, projecting moulding above and below, and is carved [v.03 p.0309]
sometimes with foliages, but in general with cusped circles or quatrefoils,
in which frequently are shields of arms.
The two small strips of linen, worn at the neck as part of legal, clerical
and academic dress, are known as "bands"; they are the survival of the
falling collar of the 17th century. These bands are usually of white linen,
but the secular clergy of the Roman Church wear black bands edged with
white. The light cardboard or chip boxes now used to carry millinery were
formerly made to carry the neck-bands, whence the name of "band-box."
In the sense of company or troop, "band" is probably also connected with
_bindan_, to bind. It came into English from the French. The meaning seems
to have originated in Romanic, cf. Italian, Spanish and Portuguese _banda_,
and thence came into Teutonic. It has usually been taken (see Ducange,
_Gloss._ s.v. _banda_) to be due to the "band" or sash of a particular
colour worn as a distinctive mark by a troop of soldiers. Others refer it
to the medieval Latin _bandum_, banner, a strip or "band" of cloth fastened
to a pole. In this sense the chief application is to a company of musicians
(see ORCHESTRA), particularly when used in armies or navies, a military
band.
_Military Bands._--In all countries bands are organized and maintained in
each infantry regiment or battalion if the latter is the unit. The strength
of these bands and the number and nature of their instruments vary
considerably, as also do the rank and status of the bandmaster. The buglers
and drummers belonging to the companies are generally massed under the
sergeant-drummer and on the march play alternately with the band. In action
the British custom is to use the bandsmen as stretcher-bearers, but on the
continent of Europe the bands are as far as possible kept in hand under the
regimental commanders and play the troops into action; and in all countries
the available bands, drums and bugles are ordered to play during the final
assault. The training of bandmasters for the British service is carried out
at Kneller Hall, Hounslow, an institution founded in 1857 and placed under
direct control of the war office in 1867. The average strength of the
various classes of instrument in the band of a British line regiment has
been stated as--twenty flutes, oboes, clarinets and bassoons, four horns,
eight saxhorns, six trumpets and cornets, three trombones, two drums. The
buglers and drummers are in the proportion of one of each per company. The
saxophone, which is the characteristic instrument of military bands in
other countries, has not found favour with the British authorities. Another
specially military instrument, universal in the Russian army and more or
less common to others, is the so-called "Jingling Johnny," a frame of small
bells that is sharply shaken in the accented parts of the music. The
"glockenspiel" is also fairly common. The peculiar instrument of Scottish
regiments is the bagpipes. Cavalry, and more rarely artillery corps in the
various armies, have small bands. The mounted arms, however, have little
need of music as compared with the infantry, the order and ease of whose
marching powers are immensely enhanced by the music of a good regimental
band. In the navies of various countries bands are maintained on board
flag-ships and sometimes on board other large ships.
BANDA, a town and district of British India, in the Allahabad division of
the United Provinces. The town is near the right bank of the river Ken, 95
m. S.W. of Allahabad. The population in 1901 was 22,565. The town possesses
65 mosques and 168 Hindu temples. It was formerly, but is no longer, a
military cantonment.
The district is the most barren and backward portion of the province. It
contains an area of 3061 sq. m. In some parts it rises into irregular
uplands and elevated plains, interspersed with detached rocks of granite;
in others it sinks into marshy lowlands, which frequently remain under
water during the rainy season. The sloping country on the bank of the Jumna
is full of ravines. To the S.E. the Vindhya chain of hills takes its origin
in a low range not exceeding 500 ft. in height, and forming a natural
boundary of the district in that direction. The principal river of the
district is the Jumna, which flows from north-west to south-east, along the
N.E. boundary of the district, for 125 m. In 1901 the population was
631,058, showing a decrease of 11% in the decade, due to the effects of
famine. The black soil of the district yields crops of which the principal
are millet, other food-grains, pulse, rice, cotton and oil-seeds. Banda
cotton enjoys a high repute in the market. A branch railway from Manikpur
to Jhansi traverses the length of the district, which is also crossed by
the East Indian main line to Jubbulpore.
Banda, which forms one of the districts included under the general name of
Bundelkhand, has formed an arena of contention for the successive races who
have struggled for the sovereignty of India. Kalinjar town, then the
capital, was unsuccessfully besieged by Mahmud of Ghazni in A.D. 1023; in
1196 it was taken by Kutab-ud-din, the general of Muhammad Ghori; in 1545
by Shere Shah, who, however, fell mortally wounded in the assault. About
the year 1735 the raja of Kalinjar's territory, including the present
district of Banda, was bequeathed to Baji Rao, the Mahratta peshwa; and
from the Mahrattas it passed by the treaties of 1802-1803 to the Company.
At the time of the Mutiny the district, which was poverty-stricken and
over-taxed, joined the rebels. The town of Banda was recovered by General
Whitlock on the 20th of April 1858. The fiscal system was remodelled, and
the district has since enjoyed a greater degree of prosperity only
interrupted by famine.
BANDA ISLANDS, a group of the Dutch East Indies, consisting of three chief
and several lesser islands in the Banda Sea, south of Ceram, belonging to
the residency of Amboyna. The main islands are Great Banda or Lontor; Banda
Neira to its north; Gunong Api, west of Banda Neira; Wai or Ai still
farther west, with Run on its south-west; Pisang, north of Gunong Api; and
Suwangi, north-west again. The total land area is about 16 sq. m. A
volcanic formation is apparent in Lontor, a sickle-shaped island which,
with Neira and Gunong Api, forms part of the circle of a crater. The
arrangement is comparable with Santorin in the Aegean Sea. Gunong Api (Fire
Mountain), 2200 ft. high, is an active volcano, and its eruptions and
earthquakes have frequently brought destruction, as notably in 1852, when
the damage was chiefly due to a huge wave of the sea. Banda, the chief
town, on Neira, is a pleasant settlement, commanded by two Dutch forts of
the early 17th century, Nassau and Belgica. The largest island, Lontor, was
found too unhealthy to be the site of the principal settlement; but the
climate of the islands generally, though hot, is not unhealthy. In the
space between Lontor, Neira and Gunong Api there is a good harbour, with
entrances on either side, which enable vessels to enter on either of the
monsoons. Between Gunong Api and Neira there is a third channel, but it is
navigable for small vessels only. The principal articles of commerce in the
Banda group are nutmegs and mace. The nutmeg is indigenous. The native
population having been cleared off by the Dutch, the plantations were
worked by slaves and convicts till the emancipation of 1860. The
introduction of Malay and Chinese labourers subsequently took place. The
plantations (_perken_) were originally held by the conquerors of the
natives, the government monopolizing the produce at a fixed rate; but in
1873 the government monopoly was abolished. The production amounts annually
to nearly 1,500,000 lb of nutmegs, and 350,000 lb of mace. The nutmegs are
grown, in accordance with natural conditions, under the shade of other
trees, usually the _canari_. Jalti or jatti wood is cultivated on the small
island of Rosingen. The total population of the islands is about 9500, of
which some 7000 are descendants of the natives introduced as slaves from
neighbouring islands, and are Christians or Mahommedans.
The Banda Islands were discovered and annexed by the Portuguese Antonio
D'Abreu in 1512; but in the beginning of the 17th century his countrymen
were expelled by the Dutch. In 1608 the British built a factory on Wai,
which was demolished by the Dutch as soon as the English vessel left.
Shortly after, however, Banda Neira and Lontor were resigned by the natives
to the British, and in 1620 Run and Wai were added to their dominions; but
in spite of treaties into which they had entered [v.03 p.0310] the Dutch
attacked and expelled their British rivals. In 1654 they were compelled by
Cromwell to restore Run, and to make satisfaction for the massacre of
Amboyna; but the English settlers not being adequately supported from home,
the island was retaken by the Dutch in 1664. They remained in undisturbed
possession until 1796, when the Banda Islands were taken by the British.
They were restored by the treaty of Amiens in the year 1800, again
captured, and finally restored by the treaty of Paris concluded in 1814.
BANDANA, or BANDANNA, a word probably derived through the Portuguese from
the Hindustani _b[=a]ndhn[=u]_, which signified a primitive method of
obtaining an effect in dyeing by tying up cloth in different places to
prevent the particular parts from receiving the dye. The name was given to
richly coloured silk handkerchiefs produced by this process, of which
bright colours were characteristic. Bandanas are now commonly made of
cotton and produced in Lancashire, whence they are exported. The effect is
also produced by a regular process in calico printing, in which the pattern
is made by discharging the colour.
BANDELIER, ADOLPH FRANCIS ALPHONSE (1840- ), American archaeologist, was
born in Bern, Switzerland, on the 6th of August 1840. When a youth he
emigrated to the United States. After 1880 he devoted himself to
archaeological and ethnological work among the Indians of the south-western
United States, Mexico and South America. Beginning his studies in Sonora
(Mexico), Arizona and New Mexico, he made himself the leading authority on
the history of this region, and--with F. H. Cushing and his successors--one
of the leading authorities on its prehistoric civilization. In 1892 he
abandoned this field for Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru, where he continued
ethnological, archaeological and historical investigations. In the first
field he was in a part of his work connected with the Hemenway
Archaeological Expedition and in the second worked for Henry Villard of New
York, and for the American Museum of Natural History of the same city.
Bandelier has shown the falsity of various historical myths, notably in his
conclusions respecting the Inca civilization of Peru. His publications
include: three studies "On the Art of War and Mode of Warfare of the
Ancient Mexicans," "On the Distribution and Tenure of Lands and the Customs
with respect to Inheritance among the Ancient Mexicans," and "On the Social
Organization and Mode of Government of the Ancient Mexicans" (Harvard
University, Peabody Museum of American Archaeology and Ethnology, _Annual
Reports_, 1877, 1878, 1879); _Historical Introduction to Studies among the
Sedentary Indians of New Mexico, and Report on the Ruins of the Pueblo of
Pecos_ (1881); _Report of an Archaeological Tour in Mexico in 1881_ (1884);
_Final Report of Investigations among the Indians of the South-western
United States_ (1890-1892, 2 vols.); _Contributions to the History of the
South-western Portion of the United States carried on mainly in the years
from 1880 to 1885_ (1890),--all these in the _Papers_ of the Archaeological
Institute of America, American Series, constituting vols. i.-v.; "The
Romantic School of American Archaeologists" (New York Historical Society,
1885); _The Gilded Man (El Dorado) and other Pictures of the Spanish
Occupancy of America_ (1893); and a report _On the Relative Antiquity of
Ancient Peruvian Burials_ (American Museum of Natural History, Bulletin, v.
30, 1904). He also edited _The Journey of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca ...
from Florida to the Pacific_, 1528-1536 (1905), translated into English by
his wife.
BANDELLO, MATTEO (1480-1562), Italian novelist, was born at Castelnuovo,
near Tortona, about the year 1480. He received a very careful education,
and entered the church, though he does not seem to have prosecuted his
theological course with great zeal. For many years he resided at Mantua,
and superintended the education of the celebrated Lucrezia Gonzaga, in
whose honour he composed a long poem. The decisive battle of Pavia, which
gave Lombardy into the hands of the emperor, compelled Bandello to fly; his
house at Milan was burnt and his property confiscated. He took refuge with
Cesare Fregoso, an Italian general in the French service, whom he
accompanied into France. In 1550 he was raised to the bishopric of Agen, a
town in which he resided for many years before his death in 1562. Bandello
wrote a number of poems, but his fame rests entirely upon his extensive
collection of _Novelle_, or tales (1554, 1573), which have been extremely
popular. They belong to that species of literature of which Boccaccio's
_Decameron_ and the queen of Navarre's _Heptameron_ are, perhaps, the best
known examples. The common origin of them all is to be found in the old
French _fabliaux_, though some well-known tales are evidently Eastern, and
others classical. Bandello's novels are esteemed the best of those written
in imitation of the _Decameron_, though Italian critics find fault with
them for negligence and inelegance of style. They have little value from a
purely literary point of view, and many of them are disfigured by the
grossest obscenity. Historically, however, they are of no little interest,
not only from the insight into the social life of the period which they
afford, but from the important influence they exercised on the Elizabethan
drama. The stories on which Shakespeare based several of his plays were
supplied by Bandello, probably through Belleforest or Paynter.
BANDER ABB[=A]SI (also BENDER ABBAS, and other forms), a town of Persia, on
the northern shore of the Persian Gulf in 27deg 11' N., and 56deg 17' E.,
forming part of the administrative division of the "Persian Gulf ports,"
whose governor resides at Bushire. It has a population of about 10,000, an
insalubrious climate and bad water.
Bander Abb[=a]si was called Gombrun (Gombroon, Gamaroon; Cambarao, Comorao
of Portuguese writers) until 1622, when it received its present name (the
"port of Abbas") in honour of the reigning shah, Abbas I., who had expelled
the Portuguese in 1614, and destroyed the fort built by them in 1612. The
English, however, were permitted to build a factory there, and about 1620
the Dutch obtained the same privilege. On the capture of the island of
Hormuz (Ormus) in 1622 by the English and Persians a large portion of its
trade was transferred to Bander Abb[=a]si. During the remainder of the 17th
century the traffic was considerable, but in the 18th prosperity declined
and most of the trade was removed to Bushire. In 1759 the English factory
was destroyed by the French, and though afterwards re-established it has
long been abandoned. The ruins of the factory and other buildings lie west
of the present town. About 1740 Nadir Shah granted the town and district
with the fort of Shamil and the town of Min[=a]b, together with the islands
of Kishm, Hormuz (Ormus) and L[=a]rak, to the Arab tribe of the Beni
Ma'[=i]ni in return for a payment of a yearly rent or tribute. About 40
years later Sultan bin Ahmad, the ruler of Muscat, having been appealed to
for aid by the Arab inhabitants of the place against Persian misrule,
occupied the town, and obtained a firman from the Persian government
confirming him in his possession on the condition of his paying a yearly
rent of a few thousand tomans. The islands were considered to be the
property of Muscat. In 1852 the Persians expelled the Muscat authorities
from Bander Abb[=a]si and its district, but retired when Muscat agreed to
pay an increased rent. By a treaty concluded between Persia and Muscat in
1856 it was stipulated that Bander Abb[=a]si town and district and the
islands were to be considered Persian territory and leased to Muscat at an
annual rent of 14,000 tomans (L6000). The treaty was to have been in force
for twenty years, but in 1866 the Persians took advantage of the
assassination of Seyed Thuweini, the sultan of Muscat, to instal as
governor of Bander Abb[=a]si and district a nominee of their own who agreed
to pay a rent of 20,000 tomans per annum. Further difficulties arising
between Persia and Muscat, and the ruler of the latter, then in possession
of a powerful fleet, threatening to blockade Bander Abb[=a]si, the Persian
government solicited the good offices of the British government, and the
lease was renewed for another eight years upon payment of 30,000 tomans per
annum (then about L12,000). This was in 1868. In the same year, however,
the sultan of Muscat was expelled by a successful revolt, and the Persian
government, in virtue of a clause in the lease allowing them to cancel the
contract if a conqueror obtained possession of Muscat, installed their own
governor at Bander Abb[=a]si and [v.03 p.0311] have retained possession of
the place ever since (see Curzon, _Persia_, ii. 424).
Bander Abb[=a]si has a lively trade, exporting much of the produce of
central and south-eastern Persia and supplying imports to those districts
and Khorasan. It has telegraph and post offices, and the mail steamers of
the British India Steam Navigation Company call at the port weekly. Great
Britain and Russia are represented there by consuls. From 1890-1905 the
total value of the exports and imports from and into Bander Abb[=a]si
averaged about L660,000 per annum, L260,000 (L155,000 British) being for
exports, L400,000 (L340,000 British) imports. Of the 255,000 tons of
shipping which in 1905 entered Bander Abb[=a]si 237,000 were British.
(A. H.-S.)
BANDER LINGAH, or LINGA, a town of Persia on the northern shore of the
Persian Gulf and about 300 m. by sea from Bushire, in 26deg 33' N., 54deg
54' E. Pop. about 10,000. It forms part of the administrative divisions of
the "Persian Gulf ports," whose governor resides at Bushire. The annual
value of the exports and imports from and into Bander Lingah from 1890 to
1905 averaged about L800,000, but nearly half of that amount is represented
by pearls which pass in transit from the fisheries on the Arab coast to
Bombay. Like many other Persian Gulf ports, Bander Lingah was for many
generations a hereditary patrimony of the Sheikh of an Arab tribe, in this
case the Juvasmi tribe, and it was only in 1898 that the Arabs were
expelled from the place by a Persian force. It is the chief port for the
Persian province of Laristan (under Fars), and has a thriving trade with
Bahrein and the Arab coast. It has a British post office, and the steamers
of the British India Company call there weekly. Of the 133,000 tons of
shipping which in 1905 entered the port 104,500 were British.
BANDEROLE (Fr. for a "little banner"), a small flag or streamer carried on
the lance of a knight, or flying from the mast-head of a ship in battle,
&c.; in heraldry, a streamer hanging from beneath the crook of a bishop's
crosier and folding over the staff; in architecture, a band used in
decorative sculpture of the Renaissance period for bearing an inscription,
&c. Bannerol, in its main uses the same as banderole, is the term
especially applied to the square banners carried at the funerals of great
men and placed over the tomb.
BANDICOOT, any animal of the marsupial genus _Perameles_, which is the type
of a family _Peramelidae_. The species, about a dozen in number, are widely
distributed over Australia, Tasmania, New Guinea and several of the
adjacent islands. They are of small size and live entirely on the ground,
making nests of dried leaves, grass and sticks in hollow places and forming
burrows in which they pass a great part of the day. Though feeding largely
on worms and insects they ravage gardens and fields, on which account they
are detested by the colonists. The name is often extended to the family.
BANDICOOT-RAT, the Anglo-Indian name for a large rat (_Nesocia bandicota_),
inhabiting India and Ceylon, which measures from 12 to 15 in. to the root
of the tail, while the tail itself measures from 11 to 13 in. The name is
said to be a corruption of the Telegu _pandi-koku_. It differs from typical
rats of the genus _Mus_ by its broader incisors, and the less distinct
cusps on the molars. Other species of the genus are found from Palestine to
Formosa, as well as in central Asia. The typical species frequents
villages, towns and cultivated grounds all over India and Ceylon, but is
specially common in the south of the peninsula. (See RODENTIA.)
BANDIERA, ATTILIO (1811-1844) and EMILIO (1819-1844), Italian patriots. The
brothers Bandiera, sons of Baron Bandiera, an admiral in the Austrian navy,
were themselves members of that service, but at an early age they were won
over to the ideas of Italian freedom and unity, and corresponded with
Giuseppe Mazzini and other members of the _Giovane Italia_ (Young Italy), a
patriotic and revolutionary secret society. During the year 1843 the air
was full of conspiracies, and various ill-starred attempts at rising
against the Italian despots were made. The Bandieras began to make
propaganda among the officers and men of the Austrian navy, nearly all
Italians, and actually planned to seize a warship and bombard Messina. But
having been betrayed they fled to Corfu early in 1844. Rumours reached them
there of agitation in the Neapolitan kingdom, where the people were
represented as ready to rise _en masse_ at the first appearance of a
leader; the Bandieras, encouraged by Mazzini, consequently determined to
make a raid on the Calabrian coast. They got together a band of about
twenty men ready to sacrifice their lives for an idea, and set sail on
their desperate venture on the 12th of June 1844. Four days later they
landed near Cotrone, intending to go to Cosenza, liberate the political
prisoners and issue their proclamations. But they did not find the
insurgent band which they had been told awaited them, and were betrayed by
one of their party, the Corsican Boccheciampe, and by some peasants who
believed them to be Turkish pirates. A detachment of gendarmes and
volunteers was sent against them, and after a short fight the whole band
were taken prisoners and escorted to Cosenza, where a number of Calabrians
who had taken part in a previous rising were also under arrest. First the
Calabrians were tried by court-martial, and a large number condemned to
death or the galleys. The raiders' turn came next, and the whole party,
save the traitor Boccheciampe, were condemned to be shot, but in the case
of eight of them the sentence was commuted to the galleys. On the 23rd of
July the two Bandieras and their nine companions were executed; they cried
_Viva l'Italia!_ as they fell.
The Neapolitan government was undoubtedly within its right in executing the
Bandieras, and the material results of this heroic but unpractical attempt
were nil. But the moral effect was enormous throughout Italy, the action of
the authorities was universally condemned, and the martyrdom of the
Bandieras bore fruit in subsequent revolutions. It also created a great
impression in England, where it was believed that the Bandieras'
correspondence with Mazzini (_q.v._) had been tampered with, and that
information as to the proposed expedition had been forwarded to the
Austrian and Neapolitan governments by the British foreign office; recent
publications, however, especially the biography of Sir James Graham, tend
to exculpate the British government.
See G. Ricciardi, _Storia dei Fratelli Bandiera_ (Florence, 1863); F.
Venosta, _I Fratelli Bandiera_ (Milan, 1863); and Carlo Tivaroni's
_L'Italia durante il dominio austriaco_, vol. iii. p. 149 (Turin, 1894).
(L. V.*)
BANDINELLI, BARTOLOMMEO or BACCIO (1493-1560), Florentine sculptor, was the
son of an eminent goldsmith, and from him Bandinelli obtained the first
elements of drawing. Showing a strong inclination for the fine arts, he was
early placed under Rustici, a sculptor, and a friend of Leonardo da Vinci,
with whom he made rapid progress. The ruling motive in his life seems to
have been jealousy both of Benvenuto Cellini and of Michelangelo, one of
whose cartoons he is said to have torn up and destroyed. He is regarded by
some as inferior in sculpture only to Michelangelo, with whom a comparison
unfavourable to Bandinelli is tempted in such works as the marble colossal
group of Hercules and Cacus in the Piazza del Gran Duco, and the group of
Adam and Eve in the Bargello. Among his best works must be reckoned the
_bassi-rilievi_ in the choir of the cathedral of Florence; his copy of the
Laocoon; and the figures of Christ and Nicodemus on his own tomb.
BANDINI, ANGELO MARIA (1726-1800), Italian author, was born at Florence on
the 25th of September 1726. Having been left an orphan in his infancy, he
was supported by his uncle, Giuseppe Bandini, a lawyer of some note. He
received his education among the Jesuits, and showed a special inclination
for the study of antiquities. His first work was a dissertation, _De
Veterum Saltationibus_ (1749). In 1747 he undertook a journey to Vienna, in
company with the bishop of Volterra, to whom he acted in the capacity of
secretary. He was introduced to the emperor and took the opportunity of
dedicating to that monarch his _Specimen Litteraturae Florentinae_, which
was then printing at Florence. On his return he took orders, and settled at
Rome, passing the whole of his time in the library of the Vatican, and in
those of the cardinals Passionei and Corsini. The famous obelisk [v.03
p.0312] of Augustus, at that time disinterred from the ruins of the Campus
Martius, was described by Bandini in a learned folio volume _De Obelisco
Augusti_. Shortly after he was compelled to leave Rome on account of his
health and returned to Florence, where he was appointed librarian to the
valuable library bequeathed to the public by the abbe Marucelli. In 1756 he
was preferred by the emperor to a prebend at Florence, and appointed
principal librarian to the Laurentian library. During forty-four years he
continued to discharge the duties of this situation, and died in 1800,
generally esteemed and regretted. On his deathbed he founded a public
school, and bequeathed the remainder of his fortune to other charitable
purposes. The most important of his numerous works are the _Catalogus Codd.
MSS. Graec., Lat., Ital., Bib., Laurent_., 8 vols (1767-1778), and the
_Vita e Lettere d'Amerigo Vespucci_, 1745.
BANDOLIER, or BANDOLEER (from Fr. _bandouliere_, Ital. _bandoliera_, a
little band), a belt worn over the shoulder, particularly by soldiers to
carry cartridges. In the 17th century wooden cases were hung to the belt to
contain powder charges. The modern bandolier carries the cartridges either
in loops sewn to the belt, or in small pouches, similarly attached,
containing strips of several cartridges. It has been extensively adopted in
the British army, especially for mounted troops.
BANDON, or BANDONBRIDGE, a market-town of county Cork, Ireland, in the
south-east parliamentary division, picturesquely situated in a broad open
valley on both sides of the river Bandon. Pop. (1901) 2830. It is 20 m.
S.W. of the city of Cork by the Cork, Bandon & South Coast railway. It is
an important agricultural centre and there are distilleries, breweries and
flour-mills. The open park of Castle Bernard (earl of Bandon), on the
riverside, is attractive, and 2 m. below Bandon on the river is
Innishannon, the head of navigation. Bandon was founded early in the 17th
century by Richard Boyle, earl of Cork, and was incorporated by James I. It
returned two members to the Irish parliament and thereafter one to the
Imperial parliament until 1885. After the destruction of the walls by the
Irish in 1689, Bandon long resisted the admission of Catholic inhabitants.
BANEBERRY, or HERB CHRISTOPHER, popular names for _Actaea spicata_ (nat.
ord. _Ranunculaceae_), a poisonous herb with long-stalked compound leaves,
small white flowers and black berries, found wild in copses in limestone
districts in the north of England. It is widely distributed in the north
temperate zone.
BANER (BANNER, BANIER), JOHAN (1596-1641), Swedish soldier in the Thirty
Years' War, was born at Djursholm Castle on the 23rd of June 1596. Entering
the Swedish army, he served with distinction in the wars with Russia and
Poland, and had reached high rank when, in 1630, Gustavus Adolphus landed
in Germany. As one of the king's chief subordinates, Baner served in the
campaign of north Germany, and at the first battle of Breitenfeld he led
the right wing of Swedish horse. He was present at the taking of Augsburg
and of Munich, and rendered conspicuous service at the Lech and at
Donauwoerth. At the unsuccessful assault on Wallenstein's camp at the Alte
Veste Baner received a wound, and, soon afterwards, when Gustavus marched
towards Luetzen, his general was left in command in the west, where he was
opposed to the imperial general Aldringer. Two years later, as Swedish
field-marshal, Baner, with 16,000 men, entered Bohemia, and, combined with
the Saxon army, marched on Prague. But the complete defeat of Bernhard of
Saxe-Weimar in the first battle of Noerdlingen stopped his victorious
advance. After this event the peace of Prague placed the Swedish army in a
very precarious position, but the victories won by the united forces of
Baner, Wrangel and Torstensson, at Kyritz and Wittstock (4th Oct. 1636),
restored the paramount influence of Sweden in central Germany. Even the
three combined armies, however, were decidedly inferior in force to those
they defeated, and in 1637 Baner was completely unable to make headway
against the enemy. Rescuing with great difficulty the beleaguered garrison
of Torgau, he retreated beyond the Oder into Pomerania. In 1639, however,
he again overran northern Germany, defeated the Saxons at Chemnitz and
invaded Bohemia itself. The winter of 1640-1641 Baner spent in the west.
His last achievement was an audacious _coup-de-main_ on the Danube.
Breaking camp in mid-winter (a very rare event in the 17th century) he
united with the French under the comte de Guebriant and surprised
Regensburg, where the diet was sitting. Only the break-up of the ice
prevented the capture of the place. Baner thereupon had to retreat to
Halberstadt. Here, on the 10th of May 1641, he died, after designating
Torstensson as his successor. He was much beloved by his men, who bore his
body with them on the field of Woelfenbuttel. Baner was regarded as the
best of Gustavus's generals, and tempting offers (which he refused) were
made him by the emperor to induce him to enter his service. His son
received the dignity of count.
See _Baners Bref till Axel Oxenstjerna_ (Stockholm, 1893); B. P. von
Chemnitz, _Koeniglichen Schwedscher in Deutschland gefuehrten Kriegs_;
Martin Veibull, _Sveriges Storhedsted_ (Stockholm, 1881); Lundblad, _Johan
Baner_ (Stockholm, 1823); Ardwisson, _Trittioariga Krigets maerkvaerdigaste
personer_ (Stockholm, 1861).
BANFF, a royal, municipal and police burgh, seaport and capital of
Banffshire, Scotland. Pop. (1901) 7161. It is beautifully situated on high
ground, on the left bank of the mouth of the Deveron, 50 m. N.W. of
Aberdeen by the Great North of Scotland railway. It is a place of great
antiquity, its first charter having been granted by Malcolm IV. in 1163,
and further privileges were conferred by Robert Bruce in 1324 and Robert
II. in 1372. Of the old castle on the hill by the sea, in which Archbishop
Sharp was born, scarcely a trace remains; but upon its site was erected the
modern Banff Castle, belonging to the earl of Seafield. The chief public
edifices include the county buildings; town hall, surmounted by a spire 100
ft. high; Chalmers hospital (founded by Alexander Chalmers of Clunie, a
merchant and shipowner of the town); a masonic hall of tasteful design; and
the academy, a modern structure in the Grecian style, to which there is
attached an extensive museum, containing examples of the early mechanical
genius of James Ferguson, the astronomer. Of the museum, which originally
belonged to the defunct Banff Institution and was afterwards taken over by
the town council, Thomas Edward--the "working naturalist," whose life was
so sympathetically written by Samuel Smiles--was curator for a few years.
The principal manufactures comprise woollens, leather, rope and sails, and
there are also breweries, distilleries, iron foundries, brick-yards and
timber-yards, besides some ship-building. The fishing trade is also
important. The exports mainly consist of grain, cattle, fish, dairy produce
and potatoes; the imports of coal and timber. There is a railway station at
Bridge of Banff communicating, via Inveramsay, with Aberdeen, and another
at the harbour, communicating with Portsoy and Keith. The burgh is under
the jurisdiction of a provost and council, and unites with Macduff, Elgin,
Cullen, Inverurie, Kintore and Peterhead in returning one member to
parliament. The Cassie Gift arose out of a bequest by Alexander Cassie of
London, a native of Banff, who left L20,000 to the poor of the town--the
interest being divided twice a year. Duff House, immediately adjoining the
town, is a seat of the duke of Fife. It was built in 1740-1745, after
designs by Robert Adam, at a cost of L70,000. The duke of Cumberland rested
here on the way to Culloden. The house contains a fine collection of
pictures and an interesting armoury. The park is nearly ten miles in
circumference. The house, together with that portion of the park
immediately surrounding it (about 140 acres), was presented to the towns of
Banff and Macduff by the duke of Fife in November 1906.
BANFFSHIRE, a north-eastern county of Scotland, bounded N. by the Moray
Firth, E. and S. by Aberdeenshire, and W. by Elgin and Inverness. It has an
area of 403,364 acres, or 633-1/2 sq. m. The surface is diversified. The
northern half is mostly a fine, open, undulating country of rich,
highly-cultivated soil. The southern is mountainous, but extensive farms
are found in its fertile glens. Some of the mountains are thick with
forests, some present a beautiful intermixture of rock and copse, while
others are covered with brown heath. The principal mountains are all in the
south; among them are Cairngorm, on the confines [v.03 p.0313] of the
shires of Banff and Inverness (4084 ft.), famous for its amber-coloured
quartz crystals, the "cairngorms" of Scots jewelry; Ben Rinnes (2775 ft.);
Corryhabbie (2563); Cook's Cairn (2478); Carn an t-Saidhe (2401); and the
Buck of Cabrach (2368). No great rivers belong wholly to Banffshire. For a
considerable part of their courses the Spey forms the western and the
Deveron the eastern boundary of the county. But Banffshire streams are
comparatively short, the chief being the Avon, Fiddich, Isla, Buckie,
Deskford--with a series of cascades--and Livet. Most of them are stocked
with trout and the Spey and Deveron are famous for their salmon. The great
glens are distinguished for their romantic scenery, the chief being Glen
Avon, Glen Barry, Glen Fiddich, Glen Isla, Glen Livet, and Glen Rinnes. The
largest lochs are in the extreme south: Loch Avon (2300 ft. above the sea),
Loch Builg (1586) and Loch Etchachan (3100).
_Geology_.--The geology of Banffshire is closely connected with that of the
neighbouring counties of Aberdeen and Elgin, from which it is divided by no
natural boundaries. The greater portion is occupied by crystalline schists
of sedimentary origin belonging to the Eastern Highland sequence. The
groups which are typically developed comprise (1) slates, black schists and
phyllites with thin black limestone, sometimes containing tremolite, (2)
the main limestone, (3) the quartzite (Schiehallion). These form
subparallel belts trending north-east and south-west from the seacoast
between Cullen and Portsoy southwards by Keith and Dufftown to the head
waters of the Avon beyond Tomintoul. Some excellent sections of the
phyllites are to be seen on the shore between Sandend, near Portsoy, and
Findlater Castle, near Cullen, and in the railway cutting near Mulben, west
of Keith. The main limestone has been worked at Fordyce, near Grange east
of Keith, and at Keith and Dufftown. The quartzite, which is regarded as
probably the highest member of the series, forms prominent ridges due to
the more rapid erosion of the phyllites, mica-schists and limestones
occupying the intervening hollows. It appears on the coast between Cullen
and Buckie, it forms the Durn Hill near Portsoy, the Binn of Cullen, the
Knock Hill, Ben Aigan and various ridges trending southwards from Grange by
Glen Fiddich towards Tomintoul. In the north-east part of the county there
is a large development of slate with interbedded greywackes and pebbly
grits, which occupies the coast section between Macduff and Troup Head
except a small part at Gamrie. The slate has been quarried for roofing
purposes. No fossils have been found in these strata and their age is
uncertain. The metamorphic sediments have been pierced by acid and basic
igneous intrusions, partly before and partly after the folding and
metamorphism of the strata. The older acid and basic materials appear as
sheets injected along the lines of bedding of the sediments and are
traceable for considerable distances. They are foliated in places, the
planes of schistosity being more or less parallel with the planes of
bedding in the schists. The older acid rocks are represented by the sills
of granite and augen-gneiss occurring west of Portsoy, south of Fordyce and
near Keith, while the older basic rocks are illustrated by the belt of
gabbro, epidiorite and hornblende-schist which stretches southwards from
the coast at Portsoy, by Rothiemay to Huntly in Aberdeenshire. Veins and
bosses of serpentine are associated with these basic intrusions at Portsoy
and near Grange, one of the veins being traceable at intervals from the
shore southwards in the direction of Knock Hill. The later intrusions are
represented by the Ben Rinnes mass of granite and its basic modification,
the Netherly diorite, east of Rothes. Various mineral localities occur
throughout the county, of which some of the most important occur on the
shore at Portsoy, as for example the gabbro masses in Portsoy Bay with
enstatite, hypersthene and labradorite, the graphic granite with
microcline, muscovite and tourmaline at East Head, the chiastolite-schist
west of the marble quarry, the mottled serpentine with strings of
chrysotile. Resting unconformably on these metamorphic rocks, Old Red
sandstone strata are met with in a few places. Thus, they cross the Spey
and appear in the Tynet Burn east of Fochabers, and extend eastwards to
Buckie. Outliers of these beds appear on the shore near Cullen and south of
Fordyce, while the largest area extends from Gamrie east by Pennan on the
north coast of Aberdeenshire to Aberdeen. The strata consist mainly of
conglomerates and red sandstones, which, at Gamrie and at Tynet, are
associated with a band of limestone nodules embedded in a clayey matrix,
containing fish remains. The more abundant species occurring at Gamrie, as
determined by Dr R. H. Traquair, are _Diplacanthus striatus_,
_Rhadinacanthus_, _Cheiracanthus Murchisoni_, _Pterichthys Milleri_,
_Coccosteus decipiens_. In view of the fossil evidence these beds have been
referred to the middle or Orcadian division of this formation. In the
interior near Tomintoul, another large deposit, composed of conglomerate
and sandstone, occurs, which may be of the same age, though no fossils have
as yet been obtained from these beds. There is a widespread covering of
boulder clay especially in the northern part bordering the shore, where it
contains fragments of shells and includes numerous boulders which have been
carried eastwards from the high grounds west of the Moray Firth. In the
brickclays at Blackpots to the north-west of Banff, fragments of shells
also occur together with Jurassic fossils. Shelly sands have been recorded
near the Ord south of Tillynaught near Portsoy, and shells have been found
in stratified deposits on the shore near Gamrie.
_Agriculture_.--The soil is in general rich and productive, yielding fair
crops of wheat, and excellent crops of barley, oats, &c.; and the grass and
green crops are equally abundant. Oats is the predominant crop, but the
demands of distillers keep up the acreage of barley. The cattle and stock
hold a high character and form the staple agricultural industry. There is
also a considerable amount of dairy farming. Among landlords who did much
to encourage agricultural enterprise and to plant and reclaim lands, were
the earls of Fife and the earls of Findlater, afterwards earls of Seafield.
It was a Seafield who, in 1846, received the honorary gold medal of the
Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, for his immense and thriving
plantations of useful timber-trees, in the counties of Banff, Moray and
Nairn. From the year 1811 to 1845, he had planted 18,938,224 Scots firs,
11,904,798 larches, 843,450 hardwoods; making the enormous aggregate of
31,686,472 forest trees, planted in 8223 acres of enclosed ground. The
Banffshire Agricultural Association holds shows periodically for all sorts
of stock and produce and agricultural implements.
_Manufactures and Trade_.--Woollen factories are found in Dufftown,
Rothiemay and Gollachy, and engineering works in Banff, Portsoy and Keith.
Distilleries are numerous and their product has a high repute. A fishing
and miscellaneous trade is done at the harbours of Banff, Macduff, Buckie,
Gardenstown, Portsoy, Cullen and Port Gordon; but fishing is also carried
on at numerous creeks or harbours along the coast. The herring season lasts
from June to September, white fishing all the year round. The fishery
districts centre in Banff and Buckie. Banffshire contains large limestone
deposits, and granite is also quarried.
The systems of the Great North of Scotland and the Highland railways serve
the chief towns of the county and provide communication in one direction
with Aberdeen, and in another with Elgin, Nairn and Inverness.
The population of Banffshire in 1891 was 61,684, and in 1901 61,488, or 97
to the square mile. In 1901 there were 499 persons speaking Gaelic and
English. The chief towns are Banff (pop. in 1901, 7161), Buckie (6549), and
Keith (4753), with Cullen (1936), Portsoy (1878) and Dufftown (1823). The
county returns one member to parliament; the royal burghs, Banff and
Cullen, belonging to the Elgin group of parliamentary burghs. Banffshire,
with Aberdeen and Kincardine shires, forms a sheriffdom, and there is a
resident sheriff-substitute at Banff, who sits also at Keith, Buckie and
Dufftown. Most of the schools are under school-board jurisdiction. Several
of them earn grants for higher education, and the county council, out of
the "residue grant," subsidizes classes in agriculture, navigation,
veterinary science and cookery and laundry work. The teachers of the
county, with those of the shires of Aberdeen and Elgin, benefit by the
bequest of James Dick (1743-1828), a West India merchant, who left over
L110,000 to promote the higher learning of the schoolmasters of these
shires. The annual income of L4000 is distributed among the dominies who
have qualified by examination to become beneficiaries.
_History_.--Of the northern Picts who originally possessed the land few
remains now exist beyond the cairns that are found in the districts of
Rothiemay, Ballindalloch, Boharm, Glen Livet and elsewhere. "Cairn" also
occurs in many place names. The advance of the Romans was practically
prevented by the mountains in the south, but what is believed to have been
a Roman camp may still be made out in Glen Barry. Danish invaders were more
persevering and more successful. Many bloody conflicts took place between
them and the Scots. Near Cullen a fierce encounter occurred in 960, and a
sculptured stone at Mortlach is said to commemorate a signal victory gained
by Malcolm II. over the Norsemen in 1010. The shire was the scene of much
strife after the Reformation. In Glen Livet the Roman Catholics, under the
marquess of Huntly, worsted the Protestants under the earl of Argyll. From
1624 to 1645 was a period of almost incessant struggle, and the Covenanting
troubles, combined with the frequent conflicts of the clans, were
productive of serious evils. But the Jacobite risings of 1715 and 1745 left
the county comparatively untouched, and thereafter it became settled.
See W. Cramond, _Annals of Banff_ (New Spalding Club) (Aberdeen, 1891); Dr
Gordon, _Chronicles of Keith, Grange, &c._ (Glasgow, 1880); _Banffshire
Year-Book_ (Banff); Professor Dickie, _Botanist's Guide to Aberdeen, Banff,
&c._ (Aberdeen, 1860); _Inventory of Charters of Cullen_ (Banff, 1887); and
_Inventory of Charters of Banff_ (Banff); Robertson's _Collections for a
History of the Shires of Aberdeen and Banff_ (Spalding Club); W. Watt,
_Aberdeenshire and Banff_ (Edinburgh, 1900).
[v.03 p.0314] BANFFY, DEZSO [DESIDERIUS], BARON (1843- ), Hungarian
statesman, the son of Baron Daniel Banffy and Anna Gyarfas, was born at
Klausenburg on the 28th of October 1843, and educated at the Berlin and
Leipzig universities. As lord lieutenant of the county of Belso-Szolnok,
chief captain of Kovar and curator of the Calvinistic church of
Transylvania, Banffy exercised considerable political influence outside
parliament from 1875 onwards, but his public career may be said to have
begun in 1892, when he became speaker of the house of deputies. As speaker
he continued, however, to be a party-man (he had always been a member of
the left-centre or government party) and materially assisted the government
by his rulings. He was a stringent adversary of the radicals, and caused
some sensation by absenting himself from the capital on the occasion of
Kossuth's funeral on the 1st of April 1894. On the 14th of January 1895,
the king, after the fall of the Szell ministry, entrusted him with the
formation of a cabinet. His programme, in brief, was the carrying through
of the church reform laws with all due regard to clerical susceptibilities,
and the maintenance of the Composition of 1867, whilst fully guaranteeing
the predominance of Hungary. He succeeded in carrying the remaining
ecclesiastical bills through the Upper House, despite the vehement
opposition of the papal nuncio Agliardi, a triumph which brought about the
fall of Kalnoky, the minister for foreign affairs, but greatly strengthened
the ministry in Hungary. In the ensuing elections of 1896 the government
won a gigantic majority. The drastic electoral methods of Banffy had,
however, contributed somewhat to this result, and the corrupt practices
were the pretext for the fierce opposition in the House which he henceforth
had to encounter, though the measures which he now introduced (the Honved
Officers' Schools Bill) would, in normal circumstances, have been received
with general enthusiasm. Banffy's resoluteness enabled him to weather all
these storms, and his subsequent negotiations with Austria as to the quota
and commercial treaties, to the considerable political advantage of
Hungary, even enabled him for a time to live at peace with the opposition.
But in 1898 the opposition, now animated by personal hatred, took advantage
of the ever-increasing difficulties of the government in the negotiations
with Austria, and refused to pass the budget till a definite understanding
had been arrived at. They refused to be satisfied with anything short of
the dismissal of Banffy, and passion ran so high that on the 3rd of January
1899 Banffy fought a duel with his most bitter opponent, Horanszky. On the
26th of February Banffy resigned, to save the country from its "ex-lex," or
unconstitutional situation; he was decorated by the king and received the
freedom of the city of Buda. Subsequently he contributed to overthrow the
Stephen Tisza administration, and in May 1905 joined the Kossuth ministry.
See article "Banffy," by Marczall, in _Pallas Nagy Lexikona,_ Kot 17.
(R. N. B.)
BANG, HERMANN JOACHIM (1858- ), Danish author, was born of a noble family
in the island of Zealand. When he was twenty he published two volumes of
critical essays on the realistic movement. In 1880 he published his novel
_Haablose Slaegter_ ("Families without hope"), which at once aroused
attention. After some time spent in travel and a successful lecturing tour
in Norway and Sweden, he settled in Copenhagen, and produced a series of
novels and collections of short stories, which placed him in the front rank
of Scandinavian novelists. Among his more famous stories are _Faedra_
(1883) and _Tine_ (1889). The latter won for its author the friendship of
Ibsen and the enthusiastic admiration of Jonas Lie. Among his other works
are:--_Det hvide Hus_ (The White House, 1898), _Excentriske Noveller_
(1885), _Stille Eksistenzer_ (1886), _Liv og Dod_ (Life and Death, 1899),
_Englen Michael_ (1902), a volume of poems (1889) and of recollections (_Ti
Aar,_ 1891).
BANGALORE, a city of India, the capital of the native state of Mysore, and
the largest British cantonment in the south of India. It is 3113 ft. above
the sea, and 219 m. W. of Madras by rail. Pop. (1901) 69,447. The
foundation of the present fort was laid by a descendant of Kempe-Goude, a
husbandman of the neighbouring country, who, probably in the 16th century,
had left his native village to avoid the tyranny of the _wadeyar_ of that
place, and settled on a spot a few miles to the north of Bangalore. To the
peaceful occupation of a farmer he added that of a warrior, and his first
exploit was the conquest of this place, where, and at Savendrug, his family
subsequently erected fortresses. Bangalore, with other possessions, was,
however, wrested from them by Bijapur. Somewhat later we find it enumerated
among the _jagirs_ of Shahji, father of Sivaji, the founder of the Mahratta
sway; and at an early period of his career in the service of the Bijapur
state, that adventurer seemed to have fixed his residence there. It appears
to have passed into the possession of Venkaji, one of the sons of Shahji;
but he having occupied Tanjore, deemed Bangalore too distant, especially
under the circumstances of the times, to be safe. He accordingly, in 1687,
entered into a bargain for its sale to Chikka Deva, raja of Mysore, for
three lakhs of rupees; but before it could be completed, Kasim Khan,
commander of the forces of Aurangzeb, marched upon the place and entered it
almost without resistance. This event, however, had no other result than to
transfer the stipulated price from one vendor to another; for that general,
not coveting the possession, immediately delivered it over to Chikka Deva
on payment of the three lakhs. In 1758, Nanjiraj, the powerful minister of
the raja, caused Bangalore to be granted, as a _jagir_ or fief, to Hyder
Ali, afterwards usurper of Mysore, who greatly enlarged and strengthened
the fort, which, in 1760, on his expulsion from Seringapatam, served as his
refuge from destruction. The fort formed the traditional scene of the first
captivity of Sir David Baird after Baillie's defeat at Perambakam in 1780.
The prison cell of Sir David and his fellow-captive is from 12 to 15 ft.
square, with so low a roof that a man can scarcely stand upright in it. In
1791 it was stormed by a British army commanded by Lord Cornwallis. In 1799
the district was included by the treaty of Seringapatam within the
territory of the restored raja of Mysore. It formed the headquarters of the
British administration of Mysore from 1831 to 1881. When the state of
Mysore was restored to its raja in 1881, the civil and military station of
Bangalore was permanently reserved under British jurisdiction as an
"assigned tract." It has an area of 13 sq. m., and had in 1901 a population
of 89,599, showing a decrease of 10% in the decade, due to plague.
Bangalore is the headquarters of a military district, its elevation
rendering it healthy for British troops, with accommodation for a strong
force of all arms and an arsenal in the old fort. It is the headquarters of
a brigade in the 9th division of the Indian army. A considerable number of
European pensioners reside here. There is a modern palace for the maharaja.
There is an aided Roman Catholic college, besides many schools for
Europeans. A permanent water-supply has been introduced and there is a
complete system of drainage. Bangalore is an important railway centre.
There are several cotton mills. The city suffered severely from plague in
1899 and 1900.
The district of Bangalore borders on the Madras district of Salem. The main
portion consists of the valley of the Arkavati river, which joins the
Cauvery on the southern frontier. Its area is 3079 sq. m. In 1901 the
population was 789,664, showing an increase of 15% in the decade. The
district is crossed by several lines of railway. Outside Bangalore city
there is a woollen mill, which turns out blankets, cloth for greatcoats,
and woollen stuffs.
BANGANAPALLE, a state of southern India, surrounded by the Madras district
of Kurnool. Area, 255 sq. m.; pop. (1901) 32,264, showing a decrease of 9%
in the decade; estimated revenue L6400, of which a large portion is
alienated in grants to junior branches of the family; no tribute. The
excessive expenditure of the nawab, Syed Fateh Ali Khan, and the general
inefficiency of the administration caused much anxiety to the government,
and in February 1905 he was temporarily removed from the administration of
the state. The town of Banganapalle is not far from the branch of the
Southern Mahratta railway from Guntakal to Bezwada.
[v.03 p.0315] BANGASH, a small tribe of Pathans in the Kohat district of
the North-West Frontier Province of India. They occupy the hills between
Thal and Kohat, and number 3000 fighting men. Formerly they owned the whole
of Kurram, but owing to the encroachments of the Turis, they moved
eastwards, dispossessed the Orakzais, drove them north and took their
territory in the Kohat district, which they now occupy to the west of the
Khattak country. The Khattaks and Bangashes are of exceptionally good
physique and make excellent soldiers.
BANGKOK, the capital of Siam, on the river Me Nam, about 20 m. from its
mouth, in 100deg 30' E., 13deg 45' N. Until modern times the city was built
largely on floating pontoons or on piles at the edges of the innumerable
canals and water-courses which formed the thoroughfares, but to meet the
requirements of modern life, well-planned roads and streets have been
constructed in all directions, crossing the old canals at many points and
lined with well-built houses, for the most part of brick, in which the
greater part of the erstwhile riparian population now resides. The centre
of the city is the royal palace (see SIAM), situated in a bend of the river
and enclosed by walls. At a radius of nearly a mile is another wall within
which lies the closely-packed city proper, and beyond which the town
stretches away to the royal parks on the north and to the business quarter,
the warehouses, rice-mills, harbour and docks on the south. The whole town
covers an area of over 10 sq. m. Two companies provide Bangkok with a
complete system of electric tramways, and the streets are lined with
shade-trees and lit by electricity. All over the town are scattered
beautiful Buddhist temples, which with their coloured tile roofs and gilded
spires give it a peculiar and notable appearance. Many fine buildings are
to be seen--the various public offices, the arsenal, the mint, the palaces
of various princes and, in addition to these, schools, hospitals, markets
and Christian churches of many denominations, chiefly Roman Catholic. There
are four railway stations in Bangkok, the termini of the lines which
connect the provinces with the capital.
The climate of Bangkok has without doubt recently changed. It has become
hotter and less humid. Though a minimum temperature below 60deg F. is still
recorded in January and December, a maximum of over 100deg is reached
during the hot weather months and at the beginning of the rains, whereas up
to the year 1900 a maximum of 93deg was considered unusually high. The
cause of this change is not known, but it is attributed to extensive
drainage and removal of vegetation in the immediate neighbourhood of the
town. The annual rainfall amounts to rather over 50 in.
A four-mile reach of the Me Nam, immediately below the city proper, forms
the port of Bangkok. From 250 to 400 yds. broad and of good depth right up
to the banks, the river offers every convenience for the berthing and
loading of ships, though a bar at its mouth, which prevents the passage of
vessels drawing more than 12 ft., necessitates in the case of large ships a
partial loading and unloading from lighters outside. The banks of the port
are closely lined with the offices, warehouses and wharves of commercial
houses, with timber yards and innumerable rice-mills, while the custom
house, the harbour master's office and many of the foreign legations and
consulates are also situated here. Of the 750 steamships which cleared the
port in 1904, three out of every seven were German, two were Norwegian and
one was British, but in 1905 two new companies, one British and the other
Japanese, arranged for regular services to Bangkok, thereby altering these
proportions. It is notable that the heavy trade with Singapore shows a
tendency to decrease in favour of direct trade with Europe. A fleet of
small steamers, schooners and junks, carries on trade with the towns and
districts on the east and west coasts of the Gulf of Siam. The trade of
Bangkok is almost entirely in the hands of Europeans and Chinese. The
principal exports are rice and teak, and the principal imports, cotton and
silk goods and gold-leaf. The value of trade, which more than doubled
between the years 1900 and 1907, amounted in the latter year to L5,600,000
imports and L7,100,000 exports. Of the total trade, 75% is with the British
empire. Many of the best known mercantile firms and banks of the Far East
have branches in Bangkok. The unit of currency is the _tical_ (see SIAM).
The government of Bangkok is entrusted to the minister of the capital, a
member of the cabinet. Under this minister are the police, sanitary,
harbour master's and revenue offices. The police force is an efficient and
well-organized body of 3000 men headed by a European commissioner of
police. The sanitary department consists of a board of health, a
bacteriological laboratory and an engineer's office, all managed with
expert European assistance. Under the act of 1905, the want of which was
long felt, the port and the city water-ways are controlled by the harbour
master. Local revenues are collected by the revenue office. The ordinary
law courts are under the control of the ministry of justice, but in
accordance with the extra-territorial rights enjoyed by foreign powers in
Siam, each consulate has attached to it a court, having jurisdiction in all
cases in which a subject of the power represented by such consulate is
defendant.
The population, which is estimated at 450,000, is mixed. Mingling with
Siamese and Chinese, who form the major part, may be seen persons of almost
every race to be found between Bombay and Japan, while Europeans of
different nationalities number over 1000. The death-rate is high,
especially among children, owing to the prevalence of cholera, smallpox and
fevers during the dry weather. Sanitation, however, is improving and much
good has resulted from the boring of numerous artesian wells which yield
good water.
Before 1769 Bangkok was nothing but an agricultural village with a fort on
the river bank. In that year, however, it was seized by the warrior, Paya
Tak, as a convenient point from which to attack the Burmese army then in
occupation of Siam, and upon his becoming king it was chosen as the capital
of the country. (See SIAM.)
(W. A. G.)
BANGOR, a seaport and market-town of Co. Down, Ireland, in the north
parliamentary division, on the south side of Belfast Lough, 12m. E.N.E. of
Belfast, on a branch of the Belfast & County Down railway. Pop. of urban
district (1901) 5903. It carries on a considerable trade in cotton and
linen and embroidered muslin. It is greatly frequented as a watering-place,
especially by the people of Belfast, and there are golf links and important
regattas held by the Royal Ulster Yacht Club. Slight remains are to be seen
of an abbey of Canons Regular, founded in the middle of the 6th century by
St Comgall, and rebuilt, on a scale of magnificence which astonished the
Irish, by St Malachy O'Morgair in the first half of the 12th century.
Bangor was incorporated by James I. and returned two members to the Irish
parliament.
BANGOR, a city, port of entry, and the county-seat of Penobscot county,
Maine, U.S.A., at the confluence of the Kenduskeag stream with the
Penobscot river, and at the head of navigation on the Penobscot, about 60
m. from the ocean, and about 75 m. N.E. of Augusta. Pop. (1890) 19,103;
(1900) 21,850, of whom 3726 were foreign-born and 176 were negroes; (1910,
census) 24,803. A bridge (about 1300 ft. long) across the Penobscot
connects Bangor with Brewer (pop. in 1910, 5667). Bangor is served directly
by the Maine Central railway, several important branches radiating from the
city, and by the Eastern Steamship line; the Maine Central connects near
the city with the Bangor & Aroostook railway (whose general offices are
here) and with the Washington County railway. The business portion of the
city lies on both sides of the Kenduskeag and for about 3 m. along the W.
bank of the Penobscot, which is here quite low, while many fine residences
are on the hillsides farther back. Bangor is the seat of three state
institutions--the Eastern Maine general hospital, the Eastern Maine insane
hospital and the law school of the University of Maine--and of the Bangor
Theological Seminary (Congregational), incorporated in 1814, opened at
Hampden in 1816, removed to Bangor in 1819, and empowered in 1905 to confer
degrees in divinity. The city has several public parks, a public library
and various charitable institutions, among which are a children's home, a
home for aged men, a home for aged women and a deaconesses' home. Among the
principal buildings are the county court house, the Federal building, the
city hall and the opera house. The Eastern [v.03 p.0316] Maine Music
Festival is held in Bangor in October of each year. The rise of the tide
here to a height of 17 ft. makes the Penobscot navigable for large vessels;
the Kenduskeag furnishes good water-power; and the city is the trade centre
for an extensive agricultural district. The Eastern Maine State Fair is
held here annually. Bangor is one of the largest lumber depots in the
United States, and also ships considerable quantities of ice. The city's
foreign trade is of some importance; in 1907 the imports were valued at
$2,720,594, and the exports at $1,272,247. Bangor has various manufactures,
the most important of which (other than those dependent upon lumber) are
boots and shoes (including moccasins); among others are trunks, valises,
saws, stoves, ranges and furnaces, edge tools and cant dogs, saw-mill
machinery, brick, clothing, cigars, flour and dairy products. In 1905 the
city's factory products were valued at $3,408,355. The municipality owns
and operates the water-works (the water-supply being drawn from the
Penobscot by the Holly system) and an electric-lighting plant; there is
also a large electric plant for generation of electricity for power and for
commercial lighting, and in Bangor and the vicinity there were in 1908
about 60 m. of electric street-railway.
Bangor has been identified by some antiquarians as the site of the mythical
city of _Norumbega_, and it was reported in 1656 that Fort Norombega, built
by the French, was standing here; but the authentic history of Bangor
begins in 1769 when the first settlers came. The settlement was at first
called Conduskeag and for a short time was locally known as Sunbury. In
1791 the town was incorporated, and through the influence of the Rev. Seth
Noble, the first pastor, the name was changed to Bangor, the name of one of
his favourite hymn-tunes. During the war of 1812 a British force occupied
Bangor for several days (in September 1814), destroying vessels and
cargoes. Bangor was chartered as a city in 1834. In 1836 a railway from
Bangor to Old Town was completed; this was the first railway in the state;
Bangor had, also, the first electric street-railway in Maine (1889), and
one of the first iron steamships built in America ran to this port and was
named "Bangor."
BANGOR (formerly BANGOR FAWR, as distinguished from several other towns of
this name in Wales, Ireland, Brittany, &c.), a city, municipal (1883) and
contributory parliamentary borough (Carnarvon district), seaport and
market-town of Carnarvonshire, N. Wales, 240 m. N.W. of London by the
London & North Western railway. Pop. (1901) 11,269. It consists of Upper
and Lower, the Lower practically one street. Lying near the northern
entrance of the Menai Straits, it attracts many visitors. Buildings include
the small cathedral, disused bishop's palace, deanery, small Roman Catholic
church and other churches, the University College of N. Wales (1883), with
female students' hall, Independent, Baptist, Normal and N. Wales Training
Colleges. The cruciform cathedral, with a low pinnacled tower, stands on
the site of a church which the English destroyed in 1071 (dedicated to, and
perhaps founded, about 525, by St Deiniol). Sir G. Scott restored the
present cathedral, 1866-1875, after it had been burned in the time of Owen
Glendower, destroyed in 1211, and, in 1102 and 1212, severely handled.
Bishop Dean (_temp_. Henry VII.) rebuilt the choir, Bishop Skevyngton
(1532) added tower and nave. Lord Penrhyn's slate-quarries, at Bethesda, 6
m. off, supply the staple export from Port Penrhyn, at the mouth of the
stream Cegid.
The _Myvyrian Archaeology_ (408-484) gives the three principal _bangor_
(college) institutions as follows:--the _bangor_ of Illtud Farchawg at Caer
Worgorn (Wroxeter); that of Emrys (Ambrosius) at Caer Caradawg; _bangor
wydrin_ (glass) in the _glass isle_, Afallach; _bangor Illtud_, or
Llanilltud, or Llantwit major (by corruption), being a fourth. In each of
the first three were 420 saints, succeeding each other (by hundreds), day
and night, in their pious offices.
BANGORIAN CONTROVERSY, a theological dispute in the early 18th century
which originated in 1716 with the posthumous publication of George Hickes's
(bishop of Thetford) _Constitution of the Christian Church, and the Nature
and Consequences of Schism_, in which he excommunicated all but the
non-juring churchmen. Benjamin Hoadly (_q.v._), the newly-appointed bishop
of Bangor, scented the opportunity and wrote a speedy and able reply,
_Preservative against the Principles and Practices of Non-Jurors_, in which
his own Erastian position was recommended and sincerity proposed as the
only test of truth. This was followed by his famous sermon, preached before
George I. on the 31st of March 1717, on _The Nature of the Kingdom or
Church of Christ_. In this discourse "he impugned the idea of the existence
of any visible church at all, ridiculed the value of any tests of
orthodoxy, and poured contempt upon the claims of the church to govern
itself by means of the state." He identified the church with the kingdom of
Heaven--it was therefore "not of this world," and Christ had not delegated
His authority to any representatives. Both book and sermon were reported on
by a committee appointed by the Lower House of Convocation in May, and
steps would have been taken by the archbishop and bishops had not the
government stepped in (Hoadly denied that this was at his request) and
prorogued Convocation till November. Hoadly himself wrote _A Reply to the
Representations of Convocation_ and also answered his principal critics,
among whom were Thomas Sherlock (_q.v._), then dean of Chichester, Andrew
Snape, provost of Eton, and Francis Hare, then dean of Worcester. These
three men, and another opponent, Robert Moss, dean of Ely, were deprived of
their royal chaplaincies. Hoadly was shrewd enough not to answer the most
brilliant, though comparatively unknown, of his antagonists, William Law.
Though the controversy went on, its most important result had already been
achieved in the silencing of Convocation, for that body, though it had just
"seemed to be settling down to its proper work in dealing with the real
exigencies of the church" when the Hoadly dispute arose, did not meet again
for the despatch of business for nearly a century and a half. (See
CONVOCATION.)
BANGWEULU, a shallow lake of British Central Africa, formed by the head
streams of the Congo. It lies between 10deg 38' and 11deg 31' S. and is cut
by 30deg E. Bangweulu occupies the north-west part of a central basin in an
extensive plateau, and is about 3700 ft. above the sea. The land slopes
gently to the depression from the south, east and north, and into it drain
a considerable number of streams, turning the greater part into a morass of
reeds and papyrus. The term Bangweulu is sometimes applied to the whole
depression, but is properly confined to the area of clear water. Only on
its south-west and western sides are the banks of the lake clearly defined.
The greatest extent of open water is about 60 m. N. to S. and 40 m. E. to
W. Long narrow sandbanks almost separate Chifunawuli, the western pan of
the lake, from the main body of water, while the water surface is further
diminished by a number of islands. The largest of these islands, Kirui
(Chiru), lies on the east side of the lake close to the swamp. Kisi
(Chishi) is a small island occupying a central position just south of 11deg
S., and Mbawali, 20 m. long by 3 broad, lies south of Kisi. South of
Bangweulu the swamp extends to 12deg 10' S. Into this swamp on its east
side flows the Chambezi, the most remote head stream of the Congo. Without
entering the lake the Chambezi mingles its waters in the swamp with those
of the Luapula. The Luapula, which leaves Bangweulu at its most southern
point, is about a mile wide at the outflow, but soon narrows to 300 or so
yds. West of the Luapulu and near its outflow lies Lake Kampolombo, 20 m.
long and 8 broad at its southern end. A sandy track separates Bangweulu
from Kampolombo, and a narrow forest-clad tongue of land called Kapata
intervenes between the Luapula and Kampolombo. Various channels lead,
however, from the river to the lake. The Luapula flows south through the
swamp some 50 m. and then turns west and afterwards north (see CONGO). The
flood waters of the Chambezi and other streams, which deposit large
quantities of alluvium, are gradually solidifying the swamp, while the
Luapula is believed to be, though very slowly, draining Bangweulu. The
waters of the lake do not appear to be anywhere more than 15 ft. deep.
Though heard of by the Portuguese traveller, Francisco de Lacerda, in 1798,
Bangweulu was first reached in 1868 by David Livingstone, who died six
years later among the swamps to the [v.03 p.0317] south. It was partially
surveyed in 1883 by the French traveller, Victor Giraud, and first
circumnavigated by Poulett Weatherley in 1896.
See P. Weatherley in _Geog. Journ._ vol. xii. (1898) and vol. xiv. p. 561
(1899); L. A. Wallace in _Geog. Journ._ vol. xxix. (1907), with map by
O. L. Beringer. Giraud's _Les Lacs de l'Afrique equatoriale_ (Paris, 1890)
and Livingstone's _Last Journals_ (1874) may also be consulted.
BANIM, JOHN (1798-1842), Irish novelist, sometimes called the "Scott of
Ireland," was born at Kilkenny on the 3rd of April 1798. In his thirteenth
year he entered Kilkenny College and devoted himself specially to drawing
and painting. He pursued his artistic education for two years in the
schools connected with the Royal Society at Dublin, and afterwards taught
drawing in Kilkenny, where he fell in love with one of his pupils. His
affection was returned, but the parents of the young lady interfered and
removed her from Kilkenny. She pined away and died in two months. Her death
made a deep impression on Banim, whose health suffered severely and
permanently. In 1820 he went to Dublin and settled finally to the work of
literature. He published a poem, _The Celts' Paradise_, and his _Damon and
Pythias_ was performed at Covent Garden in 1821. During a short visit to
Kilkenny he married, and in 1822 planned in conjunction with his elder
brother MICHAEL (1796-1874), a series of tales illustrative of Irish life,
which should be for Ireland what the Waverley Novels were for Scotland. He
then set out for London, and supported himself by writing for magazines and
for the stage. A volume of miscellaneous essays was published anonymously
in 1824, called _Revelations of the Dead Alive_. In April 1825 appeared the
first series of _Tales of the O'Hara Family_, which achieved immediate and
decided success. One of the most powerful of them, _Crohoore of the Bill
Hook_, was by Michael Banim. In 1826 a second series was published,
containing that excellent Irish novel, _The Nowlans_. John's health had
given way, and the next effort of the "O'Hara family" was almost entirely
the production of his brother Michael. _The Croppy, a Tale of 1798_ (1828)
is hardly equal to the earlier tales, though it contains some wonderfully
vigorous passages. _The Denounced_, _The Mayor of Windgap_, _The Ghost
Hunter_ (by Michael Banim), and _The Smuggler_ followed in quick
succession, and were received with considerable favour. John Banim,
meanwhile, had become much straitened in circumstances. In 1829 he went to
France, and while he was abroad a movement to relieve his wants was set on
foot by the English press, headed by John Sterling in _The Times_. A
sufficient sum was obtained to remove him from any danger of actual want,
and to this government added in 1836 a pension of L150. He returned to
Ireland in 1835, and settled in Windgap Cottage, a short distance from
Kilkenny; and there, a complete invalid, he passed the remainder of his
life, dying on the 13th of August 1842. Michael Banim had acquired a
considerable fortune which he lost in 1840 through the bankruptcy of a firm
with which he had business relations. After this disaster he wrote _Father
Connell_ (1842), _Clough Fionn_ (1852), _The Town of the Cascades_ (1862).
Michael Banim died at Booterstown on the 30th of August 1874.
The true place of the Banims in literature is to be estimated from the
merits of the _O'Hara Tales_; their later works, though of considerable
ability, are sometimes prolix and are marked by too evident an imitation of
the Waverley Novels. The _Tales_, however, are masterpieces of faithful
delineation. The strong passions, the lights and shadows of Irish peasant
character, have rarely been so ably and truly depicted. The incidents are
striking, sometimes even horrible, and the authors have been accused of
straining after melodramatic effect. The lighter, more joyous side of Irish
character, which appears so strongly in Samuel Lover, receives little
attention from the Banims.
See P. J. Murray, _Life of John Banim_ (1857).
BANJALUKA (sometimes written BANIALUKA, or BAINALUKA), the capital of a
district bearing the same name, in Bosnia. Pop. (1895) 13,666, of whom
about 7000 were Moslems. Banjaluka lies on the river Vrbas, and at the
terminus of a military railway which meets the Hungarian state line at
Jasenovac, 30 m. N.N.W. Banjaluka is the seat of Roman Catholic and
Orthodox bishops, a district court, and an Austrian garrison. It is at the
head of a narrow defile, shut in by steep hills on the east and west but
expanding on the north to meet the valley of the Save. A small stream
called the Crkvina enters the Vrbas from the north-east and in the angle
thus formed stand the citadel and barracks, with the 16th-century Ferhadiya
Jamia, largest and most beautiful of more than 40 mosques in the city. The
celebrated Roman baths are all in ruins, except one massive, domed
building, dating from the 6th century and still in use, although modern
baths are also open, for the development of the hot springs. Other
noteworthy buildings are the Franciscan and Trappist monasteries, a girls'
school, belonging to the Sisterhood of the Sacred Blood of Nazareth, a
real-school and a Turkish bazaar. Coal, iron, silver and other minerals are
found in the adjoining hills; and the city possesses a government tobacco
factory, a brewery, cloth-mills, gunpowder-mills, a model farm and many
corn-mills, worked by the two rapid rivers.
Banjaluka is probably the Roman fort, marked, in the _Tabula
Peutingeriana_, as _Castra_, on the river Urbanus and the road from Salona
on the Adriatic to Servitium in Pannonia. The origin of its later name,
meaning the "Baths of St Luke," is uncertain. In the 15th century, the fall
of Jajce, a rival stronghold 22 m. S., led to the rapid rise of Banjaluka,
which was thenceforward the scene of many encounters between Austrians and
Turks; notably in 1527, 1688 and 1737. No Bosnian city had greater
prosperity or importance in the last half of the 18th century. In 1831,
Hussein Aga Borberli, called the "Dragon of Bosnia," or _Zmaj Bosanski_,
set forth from Banjaluka on his holy war against the sultan Mahmud II. (See
BOSNIA.)
BANJERMASIN (Dutch _Bandjermasin_), the chief town in the Dutch portion of
the island of Borneo, East Indies, on the river Martapura, near its
junction with the Barito, 24 m. from the mouth of the Barito in a bay of
the south coast. The town is the seat of the Dutch resident of South and
East Borneo. Its buildings stand on either bank of the river, but many of
the inhabitants (who number nearly 50,000) occupy houses either floating
on, or built on piles in the river. As large vessels can sail up to the
town, it is a trade centre for the products of the districts along the
banks of the Barito and Martapura, such as benzoin, rattans, wax, gold,
diamonds, iron and weapons. In 1700 the East Indian Company established a
factory here; but the place was found to be unhealthy, and the Company's
servants were finally attacked by the natives, whom they repulsed with
great difficulty. The settlement was abandoned. The English again seized
Banjermasin in 1811, but restored it in 1817. Of the commercial community
the Chinese are a very important portion, and there is also a considerable
number of Arabs. The district of Banjermasin was incorporated by the Dutch
in consequence of the war of 1860, in regard to the succession in the
sultanate, which had been under their protection since 1787. The town of
Martapura was the seat of the sultan from 1771. The inland portion of the
district is covered with forest, while the flat and swampy seaboard is
largely occupied by rice-fields. The inhabitants are mostly Dyaks.
BANJO, a musical instrument with strings plucked by fingers or plectrum,
popular among the American negroes and introduced by them into Europe. The
word is either a corruption of "bandore" or "pandura" (_q.v._), an
instrument of the guitar type, or is derived from "bania," the name of a
similar primitive Senegambian instrument.
The banjo consists of a body composed of a single piece of vellum stretched
like a drum-head over a wooden or metal hoop to ensure the requisite degree
of resonance; the parchment may be tightened or slackened by means of a
series of screws disposed round the circumference of the hoop. Attached to
the body, which has no back, is a long neck, terminating in a flat head
acting as a peg-box and bent back slightly at an obtuse angle from the
neck. There are five, six or nine strings to the banjo; they are fastened
to a tail-piece as in the violin, pass over a low bridge, on the body, and
are strained over the nut or ridge at the end of the neck, where they are
threaded through holes and wound round the tuning-pegs fixed in the back of
the head in Oriental fashion, as in the lute (_q.v._). The strings are
stopped [v.03 p.0318] by the pressure of the fingers against the
finger-board which lies over the front of the neck; the correct positions
for the formation of the intervals of the scale are indicated in some
banjos by frets consisting of metal or wooden bands inlaid in the
finger-board. The vibrating length of the strings from bridge to nut is 24
in. for all except the highest in pitch, known as the "chanterelle,"
"melody" or "thumb string," which is only 16 in. long; its tuning peg is
inserted half-way up the neck. The chanterelle is not, as in other stringed
instruments, in its position as the highest in pitch, but is placed next
the lowest string for convenience in playing it with the thumb. In the
tables of accordance here given, the chanterelle is indicated by a X. The
five-stringed banjo is tuned either
[Notation: 5:E5X 4:A3 3:E4 2:G4# 1:B4.] or [Notation: 5:D5X 4:G3 3:D4 2:F4#
1:A4.]
The six-stringed is tuned [Notation: 6:G5X 5:G3 4:D4 3:G4 2:B4 1:D5.]
The nine-stringed banjo has three thumb strings thus [Notation: 9:F5#X
8:G5X 7:A5X 6:G3 5:C4 4:D4 3:G4 2:B4 1:D5.]
The G clef is used in notation, but the notes sound an octave lower than
they are written. The banjo is usually a transposing instrument in the
sense that, when playing with other instruments, the A corresponds to the C
of the piano or violin; the key of A major is therefore the first to be
mastered. The chanterelle does not lie over the finger-board and is always
played open by the thumb.
The banjo is held so that the neck is even with the left shoulder and the
body rests on the right thigh; the front of the instrument is held inclined
at an angle, allowing the performer to see all the strings. When played as
a solo instrument, a plectrum may be used with good effect to produce rapid
scale and arpeggio passages, or to produce the tremolo or sustained notes
as on the mandoline (_q.v._). The best results are obtained by means of a
tortoise-shell plectrum about the size of a shilling,[1] having the
contact-edges highly polished, bevelled and terminating in a point. The
tone of the banjo is louder and harder than that of the guitar. Chords of
two, three and four notes can be played on it.
The banjo or bania of the African negro having grass strings is still in
use on the coast of Guinea. The banjo was made known in England through
companies of coloured minstrels from the United States, one of which came
over to London as early as 1846.
(K. S.)
[1] See A. H. Nassau-Kennedy, I.S.M., _Banjo-Plectring_.
BANK,[1] known also as "Polish Bank" and "Russian Bank" a card-game. An
ordinary pack is used. Five or six players is a convenient number. Each
contributes an arranged stake to the pool. The dealer gives three cards to
each player and turns up another; if this is not lower than an eight (ace
is lowest) he goes on till such a card is exposed. The player on the
dealer's left, without touching or looking at his cards, can bet the amount
of the pool, or any part of it, that among his cards is one that is higher
(of the same suit) than the turn-up. If he wins, he takes the amount from
the pool; if he loses, he pays it to the pool. Each player does the same in
turn, the dealer last. Whenever the pool is exhausted, a fresh stake is put
into the pool. After a round is over the deal passes. No player may touch
his cards until he has made his bet; the penalty is a fine to the pool of
twice the stake, and the loss of his right to bet during that round.
[1] For the commercial "bank" see BANKS AND BANKING.
BANKA (Banca, Bangka), an island of the Dutch East Indies, off the east
coast of Sumatra, from which it is separated by Banka Strait, which is
about 9 m. wide at its narrowest point. On the east, the broader,
island-studded Gaspar Strait separates Banka from Billiton. Banka is 138 m.
in length; its extreme breadth is 62 m., and its area, including a few
small adjacent islands, 4460 sq. m. The soil is generally dry and stony,
and the greater part of the surface is covered with forests, in which the
logwood tree especially abounds. The hills, of which Maras in the north is
the highest (2760 ft.), are covered with vegetation to their summits.
Geologically, Banka resembles the Malay Peninsula, its formations being
mainly granite, Silurian and Devonian slate, frequently covered with
sandstone, laterite (red ironstone clay) of small fertility, and alluvium.
The granite extends from W.N.W. to S.S.E., forming the short, irregular
hill-chains. As these lie generally near the east coast, it follows that
the rivers of the west coast are the longer. There are no volcanoes. The
chief rivers (Jering, Kotta and Waringin) are navigable for some 19 m. from
their mouths and are used for the transport of tin. Banka is principally
noted for the production of this mineral, which was discovered here in 1710
and is a government monopoly. It occurs in lodes and as stream-tin, and is
worked by Chinese in large numbers who inhabit villages of their own. The
island is divided into nine mining districts, including about 120 mines,
under government control, with 12,000 workmen, which have produced as much
as 12,000 tons of tin in a year. From May to August, the period of the
south-east monsoon, the climate of Banka is dry and hot; but the mean
annual rainfall reaches 120 in. annually, rain occurring on an average on
168 days each year. The wet, cool season proper is from November to
February, accompanying the north-west monsoon. The heavy rainfall is of
great importance to the tin-streaming industry. The total population of the
island (1905) is 115,189, including 40,000 Chinese and 70,000 natives.
These last are mainly composed of immigrant Malayan peoples. The aborigines
are represented by a few rude hill-tribes, who resemble in physique the
Battas of Sumatra. Rice, pepper, gambier, coffee and palms are cultivated,
and fishing and the collection of forest produce are further industries,
but none of these is of importance. The chief town is Muntok at the north
end of Banka Strait.
See H. Zondervan, _Banka en Zijne bewoners_ (Amsterdam, 1895), with
bibliography; T. Posewitz, _Die Zinn-inseln im Indischen Ocean_. For
geology and the tin-mines, _Jaarboek vor het Mijnwezen in Ned. Ind._
(Amsterdam, 1877-1884).
BANKER-MARKS, or Masons' Marks. The "banker" is the stone bed or bench upon
which a mason works, hence the term (so well known to the trade) of
banker-marks, which, as Mr Whitley has pointed out, is more appropriate
than that of masons' marks, since the setters, who are usually selected
from amongst the best workmen, make no marks upon the stone (_Leamington
Spa Courier_, 11th of August 1888). These must not be confused with other
marks sometimes cut on stones as directions to the setters, and so used and
employed to the present time. Banker-marks are met with throughout the
civilized world, and in fact are to be found on all old buildings of
consequence, ecclesiastical or otherwise. Professor T. Hayter Lewis well
observed, "Go where you will, in England, France, Sicily, Palestine, you
will find all through the buildings of the 12th century the same carefully
worked masonry, the same masons' tool-marks, the same way of making them."
Such masons' marks are to be traced graved on all the chief stones of what
is known as Norman work. Norman tooling, so far as Hayter Lewis could
discover, came from the north and west of Europe. Since then we get marks
made with a "toothed chisel," but however or wherever chiselled the
intention was the same. The system followed provided an infallible means of
connecting the individual craftsman with his work, an evidence of identity
that could not be gainsaid.
Naturally, because of their simplicity, certain designs were followed much
more frequently than others, while occasionally some of a very elaborate
character are to be detected. Undoubtedly not a few were suggestive of the
initials of the names of the masons, and others were reminiscent of certain
animals, objects, &c., but no proof has yet been offered of their being
alphabetical in design, or arranged so as to distinguish the members of
different lodges or companies; the journeymen selected any design they
cared to adopt.
Singular to state, marks were chosen by gentlemen and others [v.03 p.0319]
who joined the operative masonic lodges of the 16th and later centuries,
and they were as carefully registered in the mark-books as those selected
by operatives for trade purposes. The same marks are to be seen in the
registers used by fathers and sons, and not always with a slight
difference, as some have stated, to secure identification. What should be
noted also is that other trades used precisely similar marks and for a like
object, so that the idea of their having a mystical meaning, or being
utilized for any other object but the one named, seems groundless.
The late George Godwin, F.R.S., F.S.A., &c., drew attention to the subject
of "masons' marks in various countries" in a communication to the Society
of Antiquaries in 1841, and also at a little later period (vide
_Archaeologia_, vol. xxx. p. 113). To him is the credit due of first
drawing attention to "these signs" in England. It is noteworthy how little
such marks are noticed, even in buildings which are visited by
archaeologists quite frequently, until a few are pointed out, and then they
meet the eye to an astonishing number. In the _Sessional Papers_,
1868-1869, of the Royal Institute of British Architects, No. 9, may be
found numerous samples of the marks from various parts of Europe in
illustration of the paper by Godwin.
No better plan has been followed in modern times to connect the work done
with the worker in stone, and it is probable that a second mark, observable
on some blocks, may serve to indicate the overseer. There are even three or
more sometimes.
The same system was adopted at the building of Truro cathedral, only the
marks were inserted on the bed of each stone instead of at the side as
usual, the result being that they ceased to be seen after being placed _in
situ_. Mr Hughan obtained copies of these marks from Mr James Bubb, the
first clerk of the works, and from his successor, Mr Robert Swain, and had
them published in the _Freemason_, 13th of November 1886. He remarked at
the same time that "many of these designs will be familiar to students of
ancient ecclesiastical and other buildings at home and abroad." Some are
interesting specimens.
_A Historical Treatise on Early Builders' Marks_ (Philadelphia, U.S.A.,
1885) by Mr G. F. Fort, and _Masons' Marks from Buildings in the Counties
of Lancaster and Chester, with Notes on the General History of Masons'
Marks_ (Historic Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, vol. vii. N.S.), by W.
Harry Rylands, F.S.A., may be consulted with advantage. The latter declares
that "the Runic theory is as unlikely and as untenable as that which places
the origin of these marks in the absurd alphabets given by Cornelius
Agrippa, who died early in the 16th century." Victor Didron copied some
4000 during a tour in France in 1836 and pointed out their value (_Ann.
Arch_., 1845).
(W. J. H.*)
BANKET, a South African mining term, applied to the beds of auriferous
conglomerate, chiefly occurring in the Witwatersrand gold-fields (see
GOLD). The name was given to these beds from their resemblance to a
sweetmeat, known in Dutch as "banket," resembling almond hard-bake. The
word is the same as "banquet," and is derived ultimately from "bank" or
"bench," meaning table-feast, hence applied to any delicacy or to various
kinds of confectionery, a use now obsolete in English.
BANK HOLIDAYS, in the United Kingdom, those days which by the Bank Holidays
Act 1871 are kept as close holidays in all banks in England and Ireland and
Scotland respectively. Before the year 1834, the Bank of England was closed
on certain saints' days and anniversaries, about thirty-three days in all.
In 1834 these were reduced to four--Good Friday, 1st of May, 1st of
November and Christmas Day. By the act of 1871, carried through the House
of Commons by Sir J. Lubbock (afterwards Lord Avebury), the following were
constituted bank holidays in England and Ireland--Easter Monday, the Monday
in Whitsun week, the first Monday of August, the 26th of December if a
week-day; and by the Bank Holiday (Ireland) Act 1903, March 17th as a
special bank holiday for Ireland (see FEASTS AND FESTIVALS). In
Scotland--New Year's Day, Christmas Day, Good Friday, the 1st Monday of
May, the 1st Monday of August. If Christmas Day and New Year's Day fall on
a Sunday, the next Monday following is the bank holiday. No person is
compelled to make any payment or to do any act upon a bank holiday which he
would not be compelled to do or make on Christmas Day or Good Friday, and
the making of a payment or the doing of an act on the following day is
equivalent to doing it on the holiday. By the same act it was made lawful
for the sovereign from time to time, as it should seem fit, to appoint by
proclamation, in the same manner as public fasts or days of public
thanksgiving, any day to be observed as a bank holiday throughout the
United Kingdom or any part of it, or to substitute another day when in any
special case it appears inexpedient to the sovereign in council to keep the
usual bank holiday. (See further HOLIDAY.)
BANKIPUR, an ancient village on the Hugli river in the Bengal Presidency,
near the modern Palta above Barrackpore. It has disappeared from the map,
but is famous as the principal settlement of the ill-fated Ostend Company,
the one great effort made by Germany to secure a foothold in India. The
Ostend Company was formed in 1722-1723, and with a capital of less than a
million sterling founded two settlements, one at Coblom (Covelong) on the
Madras coast between the English Madras and the Dutch Sadras, and the other
on the Hugli between the English Calcutta and the Dutch Chinsura. Both
English and Dutch were offended and in 1727, in order to obtain the
European guarantee for the Pragmatic Sanction, the court of Vienna resolved
to sacrifice the Company and suspended its charter. It became bankrupt in
1784 and ceased to exist in 1793. But in the meantime in 1733 the English
and Dutch stirred up the Mahommedan general at Hugli to pick a quarrel. He
attacked Bankipur and the garrison of only fourteen persons set sail for
Europe. Thus German interests disappeared from India.
BANK-NOTES. For our present purpose we include in this description all
paper substitutes for metallic currency whether issued by banks,
governments or other financial institutes.
Early bank-notes were simply printed forms in which the amounts were
written by hand. They were usually for large amounts (L40 and upwards) and
were printed upon water-marked paper; and, although no precautions were
taken in the engraving to prevent fraudulent imitation, forgeries were
comparatively rare. But, when at the end of the 18th century small notes
for L1 and L2 were put in circulation, forgery became rife, as many as 352
persons being convicted of this crime in England in a single year; and from
that time to the present a constant trial of skill has been going on
between the makers of bank-notes and the counterfeiters. Engine-turned
ornaments and emblematical figures or views introduced in the engraving, in
conjunction with special water-marks in the paper, held the forgers
somewhat in check until the discovery of photography put into the hands of
the counterfeiter a most dangerous weapon, by the aid of which complicated
patterns and vignettes could be perfectly reproduced. To prevent such
reproduction Henry Bradbury in 1856 introduced anti-photographic bank-note
printing, in which the essential portions of the note were printed in one
colour and over this another protective colour was placed. A photograph of
a note printed in this way presented a confused mingling of the two
colours; but with the advance of photographic knowledge means were found of
obtaining a photograph of either colour separate from the other, and it
consequently became necessary to introduce a third colour and to secure a
special photographic relation between the three colours to prevent their
separation.
Photography, however, although the most dangerous weapon of the
counterfeiter, is not the only means of imitation available, a fact which
is sometimes overlooked. A note may be perfectly secure against
photographic reproduction, but from the absence of other necessary features
may be easily copied by an engraver of ordinary skill. There are two
systems of engraving employed in bank-notes:--(1) line-engraving in which
the lines are cut into the steel or copper plates; and (2) relief-engraving
in which the lines stand up above the plate as in wood-engraving. In the
former, adapted to the process called plate-printing, the ink is delivered
from the lines in the plate to the paper pressed upon it; in the latter,
adapted to surface-printing, the ink is spread upon the face of the lines
and printed as in typography. Plate-printing gives by far the finer and
sharper impression, but as there is a perceptible body of ink transferred
to the paper from the cut lines, it has been supposed that an impression
from plate would [v.03 p.0320] be more easily photographed than one from
surface where only a film of ink is spread upon the top of the raised
lines. But surface-printing being much less sharp and distinct than
plate-printing, imperfect copies of notes for which that process is used
are the more likely to escape detection. The plates upon which the early
notes were engraved being of copper quickly wore out and had to be
constantly replaced. The result was great difference in the appearance of
the notes, those printed from new plates being sharp and clear, while
others, printed from old plates, were pale and blurred. These differences
were a great assistance to the forger, as the public, being accustomed to
variations of appearance between different genuine notes, were less apt to
remark the difference between these and counterfeits.
In the early part of the 19th century, Jacob Perkins (1766-1849) introduced
into England from America what is known as the transfer-process, in which
the original engraving on steel is hardened and an impression taken from it
on a soft steel cylinder, which in its turn is hardened and pressed into a
soft printing-plate. By this means as many absolutely identical plates can
be produced as may be required, and being hardened they will yield a very
large number of prints without any appreciable deterioration. Another
method of securing uniformity is the multiplication of plates by
electro-deposition, the surface of the copper-electrotype plates being
protected by the deposit of a film of steel which effectually prevents the
wearing of the copper and can be renewed at will.
The water-mark of the paper, on which formerly reliance was placed almost
exclusively, puts a difficulty in the way of the counterfeiter, but
experience has shown that in ordinary circumstances it does not in itself
afford adequate protection. The means by which it can be imitated are well
known, and, since a distinct water-mark is incompatible with strong paper,
the life of a water-marked note is much shorter than that of one printed
upon plain paper. The best bank-note paper is made from pure linen rags and
was formerly made by hand. Machine-made paper is however now largely used,
as it possesses all the strength of hand-made and is much more uniform in
thickness and texture.
In documents which pass current as money it is obviously the duty of the
bank or government issuing them to take all reasonable means to prevent the
public from being defrauded by the substitution of counterfeits; and a bank
whose circulation depends upon the confidence of the public must do so in
its own interests to insure the acceptance of its notes. This principle is
now recognized by all issuing institutions, but in practice there is room
for improvement in the issues of many important establishments, partly
because of the disinclination of the directors of a bank to change the form
of an issue to which the public is accustomed, partly because of the
difficulty of deciding what is really a secure note, and in certain cases
because, owing to exceptional circumstances, an issue may be practically
immune from forgery although the notes themselves present little or no
difficulty in imitation. The features essential to the security of an issue
are (1) absolute identity in appearance of all notes of the issue; (2)
adequate protection by properly-selected colours against photographic
reproduction; and (3) high-class engraving comprising geometric lathe work
and well-executed vignettes. In addition it is important that the design of
the note should be striking and pleasing to the eye, and the inscription
legible.
The notes of the Bank of England are printed in the bank from
surface-plates in black without colour or special protection except the
water-mark in the paper. They are never reissued after being once returned
to the bank, and their average life is very short, about six weeks, so that
a dirty or worn Bank of England note is practically never seen. This
arrangement, coupled with the difficulty of negotiating forged notes in
England, the lowest denomination being L5, accounts for the comparative
immunity from forgery of the bank's issues.
BANK RATE, a term used in financial circles to designate the rate of
discount charged in the chief monetary centres by the state or leading
bank, as opposed to the open-market rate. (See MARKET: _Money market_.)
[Sidenote: Definition.]
BANKRUPTCY (from Lat. _bancus_ or Fr. _banque_, table or counter, and Lat.
_ruptus_, broken), the status of a debtor who has been declared by judicial
process to be unable to pay his debts. Although the terms "bankruptcy" and
"insolvency" are sometimes used indiscriminately, they have in legal and
commercial usage distinct significations. When a person's financial
liabilities are greater than his means of meeting them, he is said to be
"insolvent"; but he may nevertheless be able to carry on his business
affairs by means of credit, paying old debts by incurring new ones, and he
may even, if fortunate, regain a position of solvency without his creditors
ever being aware of his true condition. And even when his insolvency
becomes public and default occurs, a debtor may still avert bankruptcy if
he is able to effect a voluntary arrangement with his creditors. A debtor
may thus be insolvent without becoming bankrupt, but he cannot be a
bankrupt without being insolvent, for bankruptcy is a legal declaration of
his insolvency and operates as a statutory system for the administration of
his property, which is thereby taken out of his personal control.
[Sidenote: Early methods.]
In primitive communities bankruptcy systems were unknown. Individual
creditors were left to pursue their remedies by such means as the law or
practice of the community might sanction, and these were generally of a
very drastic character. Under the Roman law of the Twelve Tables, the
creditors might, as a last resort, cut the debtor's body into pieces, each
of them taking his proportionate share; and although Blackstone in quoting
this law appears to cast some doubt upon its too literal interpretation,
there can be no doubt that the power of selling the debtor and his family
into slavery was one which was habitually exercised in Greece, Rome, and
generally among the nations of antiquity. Even among the Jews, whose
legislation was of a comparatively humane character, this practice is
illustrated by the Old Testament story of the woman who sought the help of
Elisha, saying, "Thy servant my husband is dead ... and the creditor is
come to take unto him my two children to be bondmen." The savage severity
of these earlier laws was, however, found to be inconsistent with the
development of more humane ideas and the growth of popular rights; and
tended, as in the case of Greece and Rome, to create serious disturbance in
political relations between the patricians, who generally composed the
wealthier or creditor class, and the plebeians, in whose ranks the majority
of debtors were to be found. Later legislation consequently substituted
imprisonment in a public prison for the right of selling the person of the
debtor. Under the feudal systems of Europe the state generally insisted on
its subjects being left free for military service, and debts could not
therefore be enforced against the person of the debtor; but as trade began
to develop it was found necessary to provide some means of bringing
personal pressure to bear upon debtors for the purpose of compelling them
to meet their obligations, and under the practice of the English courts of
law the right of a creditor to enforce his claims by the imprisonment of
his debtor was gradually evolved (although no express legal enactment to
that effect appears at any time to have existed), and this practice
continued until comparatively recent times.
[Sidenote: Commercial objects.]
Without some system of enforcing payment of debts it would have been
impossible for the commerce of the world to have attained its present
proportions; for modern commerce is necessarily founded largely on credit,
and credit could not have existed without the power of enforcing the
fulfilment of financial contracts. On the other hand remedies against a
debtor's person, and still more against the persons of his family, are not
only inconsistent with the growth of opinion among civilized communities,
but are in themselves worse than futile, inasmuch as they strike at the
root of all personal effort on the part of a debtor to retrieve his
position and render a return to solvency impossible. Hence the necessity of
devising some system which is just to creditors while not unduly harsh upon
debtors, which discriminates between involuntary inability to meet
obligations and wilful [v.03 p.0321] refusal or neglect, and which secures
to creditors as between themselves an equitable share of such of the
debtor's assets as may be available for the payment of his liabilites.
These are the objects which the bankruptcy laws have primarily in view.
Another object, which has not always been so fully recognized as it might
appear to deserve, has marked the most recent legislation, namely, the
fostering of a higher tone of commercial morality and the protection of the
trading community at large from the evils arising through the reckless
abuse of credit and the unnatural trade competition thereby engendered. It
must be admitted that these objects are of a somewhat conflicting
character, and wherever the state has interfered with the view of securing
an efficient system of bankruptcy legislation the task has been found to be
extremely difficult. Not only have the conflicting interests of the debtor
and his creditors to be taken into account, but the method to be adopted in
dealing with his property has also given rise to much conflict of opinion,
and to a lack of uniformity and consistency in the legislation which dealt
with it. The debtor's property was naturally regarded as belonging to the
creditors, but it could not be distributed among them until it was
realized, and until their respective right and interests were determined by
competent authority. In some cases claims to rank as creditors are of
doubtful validity. In others the creditor holds securities, the value of
which requires investigation, or he claims a preference to which he may or
may not be legally entitled. Creditors have thus conflicting interests as
between themselves, and are therefore incapable of acting together as a
homogeneous body. Hence the necessity for calling in the aid of
professional assignees or trustees, solicitors and other agents, who made
it their special business to deal with such matters, exercising both
administrative and quasi-judicial functions, in return for the remuneration
which they receive out of the property for their services. Professional
interests, which are not always identical with the interests of the debtor
or the creditors, are thus called into existence, and these interests have
from time to time exercised a powerful influence in shaping the course of
legislation.
While the law of bankruptcy has therefore been largely the product of
commercial development, it has necessarily been of slow and gradual growth,
tentative in its character, and subject to oscillation between the extremes
of conflicting interests according to the temporary and varying
predominance of each of these interests from time to time. No intelligible
grasp of the principles which underlie the history of bankruptcy
legislation in England, and no satisfactory explanation of the fluctuating
tendencies which have marked its progress, are possible without bearing
these considerations in view.
_Bankruptcy in England._
[Sidenote: History.]
The subject was originally dealt with in the sole interest of creditors; it
was considered fraudulent for a debtor to procure his own bankruptcy. Thus
the earliest English statute on the subject, 34 & 35 Henry VIII. c. 4 (A.D.
1542), was directed against fraudulent debtors, and gave power to the lord
chancellor and other high officers to seize their estates and divide them
among the creditors, but afforded no relief to the debtor from his
liabilities. Subsequent legislation modified this attitude and introduced
the principle of granting relief to the bankrupt with or without the
consent of the creditors, where he conformed to the provisions of the
bankruptcy law, and under the act of 1825 the debtor was allowed himself to
initiate proceedings. Since 1542 about forty acts of parliament have been
passed, dealing with the many aspects of the subject, and slowly expanding,
modifying and building up the highly complex system of administration which
now exists.
[Sidenote: Court of 1831.]
The courts exercising jurisdiction originally, consisted of commissioners
appointed by the lord chancellor. But in 1831 a special court of bankruptcy
was established, consisting of six commissioners with four judges as a
court of review, and official assignees attached to the court for the
purpose of getting in the distributing the bankrupt's assets. Non-traders
were originally excluded from the bankruptcy court, and a special court
called the "court for relief of insolvent debtors" was instituted for their
benefit, in which relief from the liability to imprisonment could be
obtained on surrender of their property, but they were not discharged from
their debts, subsequently-acquired property remaining liable. Both of these
courts were subsequently abolished, non-traders were permitted to obtain
the benefit of the bankruptcy laws, including a discharge, and in 1869 the
system of official assignees was swept away, and a new court of bankruptcy
created with one of the vice-chancellors at its head as chief judge, and a
number of subordinate registrars or inferior judges under him. This court
has also now been abolished, and the business is administered by a judge of
the high court specially appointed for the purpose by the lord chancellor,
with registrars of the high court, who deal with the ordinary judicial
routine of bankruptcy procedure in the London district, while similar
duties are performed by the county-court judges throughout the country.
[Sidenote: Rights of creditors.]
But the questions which have proved the most difficult to deal with, and
which more than any others have been the cause of fluctuating and
inconsistent legislation, have undoubtedly been those relating to the share
which the creditors ought to have in the administration of the proceedings,
and to special arrangements effected between a debtor and his creditors
under conditions more or less beyond the control of the court. These two
questions are largely intermixed, and the history of English legislation on
these points and its results throw much light on the causes of the failure
of the many attempts which have been made by the most eminent legal
authorities to bring the law into a satisfactory condition. The right of
creditors to exercise some control in bankruptcy over the realization of
the debtor's property through an assignee chosen by themselves was
recognized at an early date, but this right was exercised subject to the
supervision of the court which investigated the claims of creditors and
determined who were entitled to take part in the proceedings. Provision was
also made for the interim protection of the debtor's property by official
assignees attached to the court, who took possession until the creditors
could be consulted, and under the supervision of the court audited the
accounts of the creditor's assignee. So long as this system continued
substantial justice was generally secured; the claims of creditors were
strictly investigated and only those who clearly proved their right before
a competent court were entitled to take part in the proceedings. The
bankrupt was released from his obligations, but only after strict inquiries
into his conduct and under the exercise of judicial discretion. The
accounts of assignees were also strictly investigated, and the costs of
solicitors and other agents were taxed by officers of the court. But the
system was found to be cumbrous, to lead to delay and too often to the
absorption of a large part of the estate in costs, over the incurring of
which there was a very ineffective control. Hence arose a demand for larger
powers on the part of creditors, and the introduction into the bankruptcy
procedure of the system of "arrangements" between the debtor and his
creditors, either for the payment of a composition, or for the liquidation
of the estate _free from the control of the court_. [Sidenote: Acts of
1825, 1831, 1842, 1849.] At first these arrangements were carefully
guarded. Under the act of 1825 a proposal for payment of a composition
might be adopted only after the debtor had passed his examination in court,
and with the consent of nine-tenths in number and value of his creditors
assembled at a meeting. Upon such adoption the bankruptcy proceedings were
superseded. Dissenting creditors, however, were not bound by the
resolution, but could still take action against the debtor's
subsequently-acquired property. These powers were not found to be
sufficiently elastic and the act failed to give public satisfaction.
Attempts were made by the acts of 1831 and 1842 to remedy the defects
complained of by a reconstitution of the bankruptcy court and its official
system. But these measures also failed because they were based on the
assumption that judicial bodies could exercise effective control over
administrative [v.03 p.0322] action, a control for which they are naturally
unsuited, and which they could only carry out by cumbrous and expensive
methods of procedure. Under the act of 1849 a totally new principle was
introduced by the provision that a deed of arrangement executed by
six-sevenths in number and value of the creditors for L10 and upwards
should be binding upon _all_ the creditors without any proceedings in or
supervision by the court. But the determination of the question who were or
were not creditors was practically left to the debtor himself, without any
opportunity for testing by independent investigation the claims of those
who signed the deed to control the administration of the estate. It is not
difficult to see, in the light of subsequent experience, how likely this
provision was to encourage fraudulent arrangements, and to introduce laxity
in the administration of debtors' estates. A modification of the too
stringent conditions of the act of 1825, which would have enabled a
bankrupt to pay a composition on his debts, with the consent of a large
proportion of his bona-fide creditors, and subject to the approval of the
court, after hearing the objections of dissenting creditors, would
doubtless have proved a beneficial reform, but the act of 1849 proceeded on
a very different principle. Instead of reforming, it practically abolished
judicial control. By avoiding Scylla it fell into Charybdis. To give _any_
majority of creditors the power to release a debtor from his obligations to
non-assenting creditors without full disclosure of his affairs, and without
any exercise of judicial discretion or any investigation into the causes of
the failure, or the conduct of the debtor, would in any circumstances have
been to introduce a new and mischievous principle into legislation, for it
would necessarily destroy the essential feature of such arrangements, that
they are _voluntary_ contracts, the responsibility for which lies solely
with the parties entering into them. But to give such a power to creditors
whose claims were subject to no independent investigation was to invite
inevitable confusion and failure.
[Sidenote: 1861.]
Yet this was the dominating principle of English bankruptcy legislation for
nearly thirty-five years. Its effect under the act of 1849 was, however, to
some extent modified by subsequent decisions of the courts that to make a
composition arrangement binding it must be accompanied by a complete
_cessio bonorum_; but this qualification was removed by the act of 1861
which made such arrangements binding without a _cessio_ and reduced the
majority required to make a deed of arrangement binding on all the
creditors, to a majority in number and three-fourths in value of those
whose claims amounted to L10 and upwards. The result was an enormous
increase in fraudulent arrangements. The then attorney-general, Sir Robert
Collier, in introducing an amending act in 1869, described the abuses which
had grown up under the 1849 and 1861 acts, as having the effect of enabling
a bankrupt to "defraud those to whom he was indebted and to set them at
defiance"; while Lord Cairns, the lord chancellor, in the House of Lords
expressed the opinion that the large increase which had taken place in the
annual insolvency of the country during the preceding years could not "be
attributed to depression of trade but must be traced to the enormous
facilities which are given to debtors who wish to be released from their
debts on easy terms." And yet in the legislation which ensued these facts
were entirely ignored or lost sight of.
[Sidenote: 1869.]
It is indeed a curious illustration of the difficulties which have attended
bankruptcy legislation in England that the very measure (the act of 1869)
which was introduced to remedy this deplorable condition of affairs, was
twelve years afterwards denounced in parliament by the president of the
Board of Trade (Mr Joseph Chamberlain) as "the most unsatisfactory and most
unfortunate of the many attempts which had been made to deal with the
subject" and as "the object of the almost unanimous condemnation of all
classes." How was this? Under the act of 1869, the procedure under a
bankruptcy petition was certainly rendered effective. Meetings of creditors
were presided over and creditors' claims were, for voting purposes,
adjudicated upon by the registrar of the court; the bankrupt had to pass a
public examination in court, which although chiefly left to the trustee
appointed by the creditors, afforded some opportunity for investigation;
and the bankrupt could not obtain his discharge without the approval of the
court and in certain circumstances the consent of the creditors. An
independent official, the comptroller in bankruptcy, was appointed, whose
duty it was to examine the accounts of trustees, call them to account for
any misfeasance, neglect or omission, and refer the matter to the court for
the exercise of disciplinary powers where necessary. These provisions were
well calculated to promote sound administration, but they were,
unfortunately, rendered nugatory by provisions relating to what were
practically private arrangements on similar lines to those which had
rendered previous legislation ineffective. In some respects the evil was
aggravated. Deeds of arrangements were nominally abolished, but under
sections 125 and 126 of the act a debtor was empowered to present a
petition to the court for liquidation of his affairs by "arrangement," or
for payment of a composition, whereupon a meeting of creditors was summoned
from a list furnished by the debtor, and without any judicial investigation
of claims, a majority in number and three-fourths in value of those who
lodged proofs of debt, and who were present in person or by proxy at the
meeting, might by resolution agree to liquidation by arrangement or to the
acceptance of the composition. Such resolution thereupon became binding
upon all the creditors, without any act of approval by the court, any
judicial examination of the debtor, or any official supervision over the
trustee's accounts. The debtor was not permitted to present a bankruptcy
petition against himself, and consequently his only method of procedure was
that which thus removed the matter from the supervision and control of the
court, and as about nine-tenths of all the proceedings under the act of
1869 were initiated by debtors, it followed that only about one-tenth was
submitted to proper investigation. It is true that the creditors might
refuse to assent to the debtor's proposal, and that any creditor for L50 or
upwards could present a petition in bankruptcy, but even where this course
was adopted, the proceedings under the petition were, as a rule, stayed by
the court if the debtor subsequently presented a proposal for liquidation
or composition, and the creditor was left to pay the expenses of his
petition if the requisite majority voted for the debtor's proposal. So far,
therefore, as the act was concerned, every inducement was held out to the
adoption of a course which took the examination of the debtor, the
conditions of his discharge and the audit of the trustee's accounts, out of
the control of the court.
[Sidenote: Causes of failures of Acts.]
The establishment of a bankruptcy court, with its searching powers of
investigation and its power of enforcing penalties on misconduct, can only
be defended on the ground that the administration of justice is a matter
affecting the interests of the community at large. But apart from the
injury done to these interests by reducing the administration of justice to
a question of barter and arrangement between the individuals immediately
concerned, one of the chief reasons why the acts of 1849, 1861 and 1869
proved failures, lies in the obvious fact that the creditors of a
particular estate are not, as appears to have been assumed, a homogeneous
or organized body capable of acting together in the administration of a
bankrupt estate. In the case of a few special and highly organized trades
it may be otherwise, but in the great majority of cases the creditors have
but little knowledge of each other or means of organized action, while they
have neither the time nor the inclination to investigate the complicated
questions which frequently arise, and which are therefore left in the hands
of professional trustees or legal agents. But the appointment of trustees
under these acts, instead of being the spontaneous act of the creditors,
was frequently due to touting on the part of such agents themselves, or to
individual creditors whose interests were not always identical with those
of the general body. According to G. Y. Robson, the author of a standard
work on the subject, the arbitrary powers conferred by the act of 1861 "led
to great abuses, and in many cases creditors were forced to accept a
composition, the approval of which had been obtained by a secret
understanding between the debtor and favoured creditors, and not
unfrequently by the creation of fictitious debts." These evils [v.03
p.0323] were greatly aggravated by the decisions of the court relating to
proofs on bills of exchange, under which it was held that the holder of a
current bill could prove on the bankrupt estate of an indorser, although
the bill was not yet due, and the acceptor was perfectly solvent and able
to meet it at maturity. Thus in large mercantile failures, bankers and
other holders of first-class bills could prove and vote on the estates of
their customers, for whom the bills had been discounted, and thus control
the entire proceedings, although they had no ultimate interest in the
estate. But probably the greatest source of the abuses which arose under
the act of 1869 was the proxy system established by the act and by the
rules which were subsequently made to carry it out. The introduction of
proxies was no doubt intended to give absent creditors an opportunity of
expressing their opinions upon any question which might arise. But the
system was too often used for the purpose of stifling the views of those
who took an independent part in the proceedings. The form of proxy
prescribed by the rules contained no limitation of the powers of the
proxy-holder and no impression of the opinion of the creditor. It simply
appointed the person named in it as "my proxy," and these magic words gave
the holder power to act in the creditor's name on all questions that might
be raised at any time during the bankruptcy. Hence arose a practice of
canvassing for proxies, which were readily given under the influence of
plausible representations, such as the holding out of the prospect of a
large composition, but which, when once obtained, could be used for any
purpose whatsoever except the receipt of a dividend. Thus it frequently
happened that the entire proceedings were controlled by professional
proxy-holders, in whose hands these documents acquired a marketable value.
They were not only used to vote for liquidation by arrangement instead of
bankruptcy proceedings, but not infrequently the matter took the form of a
bargain between an accountant and a solicitor, under which the former
became trustee and the latter the solicitor in the liquidation, without any
provision for control over expenditure or for any audit of the accounts.
Even where a committee of inspection was appointed to exercise functions of
control and audit, they too were often appointed by the proxy-holders, and
not infrequently shared in the benefits. On the other hand, where the
amount of debts represented by the proxy-holder was insufficient to carry
the appointment of a trustee and committee, the votes could be sold to
swell the chances of some other candidate. Hence ensued a system of
trafficking in these instruments, the cost of which had in the long run to
come out of the estate. The result was that undesirable persons were too
frequently appointed, whose main object was to extract from the estate as
much as possible in the shape of costs of administration. The debtor was
practically powerless to prevent this result. If he attempted to do so he
sometimes became a target for the exercise of revenge. His discharge, which
under liquidation by arrangement was entirely a matter for the creditors,
might be refused indefinitely; and so largely and harshly was this power
exercised under the proxy system, especially where it was supposed that the
debtor had friends who could be induced to come to his aid, that a special
act of parliament was passed in 1887, authorizing the court to deal with
cases where, under the act of 1869, a debtor had not been able to obtain a
release from his creditors. On the other hand, the complaisant debtor,
although he had incurred large obligations in the most reckless manner,
often succeeded in stifling investigation and obtaining his release without
difficulty as a return for his aid in carrying out the arrangement.
The result of such a system could not be other than a failure. After the
act of 1869 had been in operation for ten years, the comptroller in
bankruptcy reported that out of 13,000 annual failures in England and
Wales, there were only 1000 cases (or about 8%) "to which the more
important provisions of the act for preventing abuses by insolvent debtors
and professional agents applied; the other 12,000 cases (or 92%) escaping
the provisions which refer to the examination and discharge of bankrupts,
and to the accounts, charges and conduct of the agents employed." It is not
to be supposed that all the cases in the latter class were marked by the
abuses which have been here described. In a large number the proceedings
were conducted by agents of high character and standing, and with a due
regard to the interests of the creditors. But the facilities for fraudulent
and collusive arrangements afforded by the act, and the want of effective
control over administration, inevitably tended to lower the morale of the
latter, and to throw it into the hands of the less scrupulous members of
the profession. The demand for reform, therefore, came from all classes of
the business community. No fewer than thirteen bills dealing with the
subject were introduced into the House of Commons during the ten years
succeeding 1869. At length in 1879 a memorial, which was authoritatively
described as "one of the most influential memorials ever presented to any
government," was forwarded to the prime minister by a large body of bankers
and merchants in the city of London. The matter was then referred to the
president of the Board of Trade (Mr Chamberlain), who made exhaustive
inquiries, and in 1881 introduced a measure which, with some amendments,
finally became law under the title of the Bankruptcy Act 1883.
[Sidenote: Act of 1883.]
Hitherto the question had been dealt with as one of legal procedure; it was
now treated as an act of commercial legislation, the main object of which,
while providing by carefully framed regulations for the equitable
distribution of a debtor's assets, was to promote and enforce the
principles of commercial morality in the general interests of the trading
community. One of the chief features of the act of 1883 is the separation
which it has effected between the judicial and the administrative functions
which had previously been exercised by the court, and the transfer of the
latter to the Board of Trade as a public department of the state directly
responsible to parliament. Under the powers conferred by the act a new
department was subsequently created under the title of the bankruptcy
department of the Board of Trade, with an officer at its head called the
inspector-general in bankruptcy. This department exercises, under the
direction of the Board of Trade, a general supervision over all the
administrative work arising under the act. It has extensive powers of
control over the appointment of trustees, and conducts an audit of their
accounts; and it may, subject to appeal to the court, remove them from
office for misconduct, neglect or unfitness. A report upon the proceedings
under the act is annually presented to parliament by the Board of Trade,
and although the department is practically self-supporting, a nominal vote
is each year placed upon the public estimates, thus bringing the
administration under direct parliamentary criticism and control. The act
also provides for the appointment and removal by the Board of Trade of a
body of officers entitled official receivers, with certain prescribed
duties having relation both to the conduct of bankrupts and to
administration of their estates, including the interim management of the
latter until the creditors can be consulted. These officers act in their
respective districts under the general authority and directions of the
Board of Trade, being also clothed with the status of officers of the
courts to which they are attached. While effecting this supervision and
control by a public department directly responsible to parliament, the main
objects of the measure were to secure--(1) An independent and public
investigation of the debtor's conduct; (2) The punishment of commercial
misconduct and fraud in the interests of public morality; (3) The summary
and inexpensive administration of small estates where the assets do not
exceed L300 by the official receiver, unless a majority in number and
three-fourths in value of the creditors voting resolve to appoint a
trustee; (4) Full control in other cases by a majority in value, over the
appointment of a trustee and a committee of inspection; (5) Strict
investigation of proofs of debt, with regulations as to proxies and votes
of creditors; (6) An independent audit and general supervision of the
proceedings and control of the funds in all cases. Besides amending and
consolidating previous bankruptcy legislation, the measure also contains
special provisions for the administration under bankruptcy law of the
estates of persons dying insolvent (s. 125); and for enabling county courts
to make administration orders for payment by instalments in lieu of
immediate committal to prison, in the case of judgment debtors whose total
indebtedness does [v.03 p.0324] not exceed L50 (s. 122). It also provides
for the getting in and administration by the Board of Trade of unclaimed
dividends and undistributed balances on estates wound up under previous
bankruptcy acts (s. 162). Lastly, it amends the procedure under the Debtors
Act of 1869, dealing with criminal offences committed by bankrupts (which,
prior to 1869, had been treated as part of the bankruptcy law), by enacting
that when the court orders a prosecution of any person for an offence under
that act, it shall be the duty of the director of public prosecutions to
institute and carry on the prosecution.
[Sidenote: Act of 1890.]
An amending act, under the title of the Bankruptcy Act 1890 was passed in
that year, mainly with the view of supplementing and strengthening some of
the provisions of the act of 1883, more particularly with regard to the
conditions under which a bankrupt should be discharged or schemes of
arrangement or composition be approved by the court. It also dealt with a
variety of matters of detail which experience had shown to require
amendment, with the view of more fully carrying out the intentions of the
legislature as embodied in the principal act. These two acts are to be
construed as one and may be cited collectively as the Bankruptcy Acts 1883
and 1890. They are further supplemented by a large body of general rules
made by the lord chancellor with the concurrence of the president of the
Board of Trade, which may be added to, revoked or altered from time to time
by the same authority. These rules are laid before parliament and have the
force of law.
[Sidenote: Special Acts.]
Besides these general acts, various measures dealing with special interests
connected with bankruptcy procedure have from time to time been passed
since 1883, the chief of which are as follows, _viz_., the Bankruptcy
Appeals (County Courts) Act 1884; the Preferential Payments in Bankruptcy