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The London encyclopaedia
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THE
LONDON ENCYCLOPEDIA.
VOL. III.
ARSENIC TO BELL.
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J. H».Uo«, Printer, Oucl. dtrM^ LmmIom.
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THE
LONDON ENCYCLOPiEDIA,
UNIVERSAL DICTIONARY
OF
SCIENCE, ART. LITERATURE, AND PRACTICAL MECHANICS.
COMPRISING A
POPULAR VIEW OF THE PRESENT STATE OF KNOWLEDGE.
ILLUSTRATBD BY
NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS, A GENERAL ATLAS,
4liD APPROPRIATE DIA0RAM8.
Sic opoftci M nonn* invmiIui ■IicbIIumI ^ututtf 1
CoBvlfMor UBitluir ooudbw Mdifcfeae; d maen d q«ld ifipoiiitiir, q«od hvim ul Uttui pdalo bod wponrltl, et hk •( Ute
■rtwBf dMMBlMt, ec tUm fcroUspiobMit, ae gwkl comri^gtcowrhrmtotw. BroiNuw.
A reader *o«kl 4U dowD lo • book, eqwctelly of die WKeitanemM Uad, M B well-behBfc^ The
matter of the faBtteserteidiMelf to iBtiityUiffaeBto; bat if. aAer bII hb care aad paiaa, •oneihliif ■hoald apiiear ob the table
that docB Bot «alt tU» or tiMt peiveiiH iBrte. thcv poHteb pas U ofcr «ltbo«t Bolice, and ooBmend other dkhet. that thcv bbv noi
dlrtTM a kiDd boM. TrmuUHm.
BY THE ORIGINAL EDITOR OF THE ENCYCLOP-fiDIA METROPOLITANA,
ASSISTED BY EMINENT PROFESSIONAL AND OTHER GENTLEMEN.
IN TWENTY-TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. III.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR THOBIAS TEGG, 73, CHEAPSIDE ;
SOLO BY N. BAILES, PICCADILLY ; B. WILSON, ROTAL IfiXCHANOE ; J. XA80N, CITY ROAD .
BOWDERY & KERRY, OXFORD STREET:
GRIFFIN k CO. GLASGOW: J. CUMMING, DUBLIN : M. BAUDRY, PARI"* : F. FLEISCHER, LEIP8IC I
AND WHIPPLE & LAWRENCE, SaLEH, NORTU AMERICA.
1829. ^ .
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THE
LONDON ENCYCLOPEDIA.
ARSENIC.
ARSENIC, aptffvueovy ABSurfcUM* in min-
eralogy and chemiitiy, called bj Ariirtotle
«a»^paxq, by Theophrastiu o^msov, by th«
Romans orpimeotiim and arsenicum ; ia a red-
dish-colored ponderoof mineral, caustic, oor-
^osi^e, and highly poisonous; which was used
by the ancients in medicine and painting. Aristot.
de Hist. Anim. 1. 8yC. 24 ; Theophnst.; Dioscor.
1. 5, c. 121; Plin. 1. 34, c. 18; Cels. de Re
Med. 1. 5, c. 5; Gal. de Comp. Med. sec. Loc.
1. 4. In the Linnsan system, il is a genus of
metals having these generic characters: Bluish
white, eome becoming bhu^k, and fidling to pow-
der in the air; soft and extremely brittle ; specific
gravity 6*310 : subliming without melting in a
moderate heat in a white powder, and emitting
a strong garlic smell. Its sublimed ozid gives
an acrid taste to water, and turns vegetable
Uues red. When dissolved in muriatic acid,
and awsCfeiy solution of sulphuiated hydsogen
poured into it, it precipitates a fine yellow pow-
der.
The principal species are, 1. A. nativum, aar
Cive asenicyof the three varieties: a. Unoombined,
having a metallic lustre and separating into
sphencal incrustatioBS. /3. With micaceous
particles, y. Friable and porous. Found in the
British Isles, Norway, German)r, Saxony, &c. in
spar, baryte, br feldspar, massive, mrely disse-
minated, often oomposed of hemispheric lasers,
corroded, branchea, perforated, botryoidai, or
stalactitic; color lead-gray, but its suiftce
soon tarnishing and becoming black by ex-
posure to the air; streak bluisb^gray, powder
dull and blackish ; sometimes a little sonorous
when struck against a hard body, and so soft
a^i to be easily cut with a knife. Before the
blow-pipe it emits a white smoke, diffusing
its peculiar and highly pcaaonous vapors to a
great distance ; burning with a blue name and
gradually vanishing, depositing a white oxid in
Sie fonin oT a powder: specific gravity 6*670
to 5'729 ; always alloyed with some iron, and
often contains some cobalt, bismuth, silver, and
sometimes a little gold.
2. A« calciforme ; white arsenic ; white
oxid of arsenic; white, soluble in eighty
times its weight of water. It is found in a
loose dust or mealy powder ; in a state of crys-
tallisation; or in an indurated state combinied
with earth; in various parts of Great Britain,
Germany, Hungary, Saxony, Bohemia, Ice.
Color white or gray, with often a tinge of
red, yellow, green, or black : before the blow-
|npe it sublimes, but does not inflame, and
tingBB borax green : specific gravity 3,700.
VOL. in.— Paet I.
A. auripigmentum ; orpiment, yellow
ic. Ponderous, yellow, curved, or ui»-
dulalely foliated, of a waanr intemil lustre,
evaporating almost entirely bemre the blow-pipe.
Found in Great Britain, Hungary, Georgia,
Turkev, &e. ; massive, disseminated, or in smaH
unperfeict crystals; color, various shades of
yellow, with a considerable waxy lustre, and
some transparency; streak otange-vellow, not
metallic ; texture foliated, with the plates mostly
curved or undulated, rarely striate, a litde flexi-
ble, but not elastic ; efiervesces with hot nitric
add, buns with a bluish flame, and before the
blow-pipe evaporates, leaving behind a small
portion of esjth: specific gravity 3*048 to
3-521.
4. A. sandaraca; red arsenic; ruby arse-
nic; realgar. Somewhat ponderous, rei, witii
an orange-yellow streak, in straight foliations,
melting easily before the blow-pipe; burning
with a blue flame and white amenical vapors.
Found in Sicily, Naples, Hungary, B<^emia,
China, Japan, &c.; massive, disseminated, su-
perficial, or crystallised in small acute-angled,
quadrangular, or acicuUr prisms; color auro-
ra-red, ruby, scariet, crimson or blood-red, often
variegated vrith yellow traces : texture lamellar,
with the foliations a little flexible, and so soft
as to be Gift vrith a knife, and frequently exhibit-
ing a brilliant lustre; streak jrellowish-red ; pow-
der scariet ; in nitric acid it loses its color ;
specific gravity 3*338.
5. A. sulphuratnm ; marcasite ; white
mundic ; white pyrite ; pvritical arsenical
ore. Hard, bluijD^gray wim metallic lustre,
before the blow-pipe emitting white arsenical
vapors and blue sulphureous flames. Found
in various parts of Great Britain, Germany,
Sweden, Bohemia, Saxony, (cc. in irresuhu
masses, dissftminatpd, investing or crystallised
in cubes or four-sided prisms ; specific gravity
6*622.
6. A. albicans; misspickel; marcasite. Of
a steel-white color and lustre, hard, emitting
white arsenical vapors before the Uow-pipe,
but no sulphureous flame or vapor, round
in Comwalt, near Dublin, in Bohemia, Silesia,
Saxony, &c generally dispersed amonff tin ores
in granulations, or crystallised in four-sided
double pyramids, or foujMided quadrangular
Krisms : color sometimes silvery, gray, or yeU
>wi8h, or iridesoently variegated when tar-
nished: texture compact, sometimes a little
splintery, with the surface marked with .de*
cussate grooves or black ramifications; efier*
vesces wi&i nitric add without heat, and yieldi
B
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ARSENIC.
an arsenical smell when rubbed. It consists of
arsenic alloyed with a considerable quantity of
iron, but little or no sulphur ; specific gravity
from 5*753 to 6*522.
7. A. argentiferum; ar^ntiferous arsenic.
Of a silvery lustre and very fine granular tex-
ture, emitting arsenical vapors before the blow-
pipe, and when fiised with lead leaving a silver
Dead. Found in the mines of Saxony, Bohemia,
Germany, and Spain; massive, disseminated,
or acicular; color nearly that of the last, but
brighter and more permanent; bums with a
white flame, and leaves a reddish residuum : by
solution in nitro-muriatic acid the silver will be
precipitated. It consists of arsenic, sulphur,
iron, and from 1 to 10 or 12 per cent of silver :
specific gravity 4*087.
The following is the method of the celebrated
Mr. Chevenix for the assay and analysis of
arsenical ores. Reduce the ore to a very fine
powder, and digest it in nitric acid sufficient to
acidiiy and take up the whole of the arsenic ;
pour o£rthe clear liquor, and boil on the residue
some distilled water : filter, and add the water
to the nitrous solution : then neutralise the excess
of acid by potash, taking care, however, not to
have an excess of alkali, and add nitrate of lead
as long as any precipitate takes place : wash the
precipitate in cold water, dry, and weigh it
As the arsenical ores often contain sulphur, it is
possible that the arseniat of lead thus procured
may be mixed with a little sulphat of lead : to
decide this, digest the powder in some warm
dilute muriatic acid, and the arseniat of lead
will be dissolved, leaving the sulphat behind.
The arsenic of commerce is prepared in.
Saxony by roasting the cobalt ores in the manu-
facture of zaffre. These ores consist principally
of arsenic, cobalt, iron, and a little sulpnur ^
the first and last ingredients are easily separated
b^ roasting, which is performed not in the open
air, but in an oven, the flue of which runs hori-
zontally to a considerable distance before it
bends upwards. The arsenic and %ilphur,
when liberated, are deposited for the most part
in the horizontal flue. In this state it is called
Crude arsenic, or flowers of arsenic, and the
form it assumes is that of a grayish meal
streaked with yellow, which is occasioned by
the sulphur uniting with parts of the arsenic,
and composing orpiraent. From the crude
arsenic the
White arsenic of commerce is prepared by
mixing the crude with potash or lime, and re-^
subliming. The sulphur and othei impurities
are thus combined with the alkali, and the white
oxide is driven over into a heated receiver, where
it melts into a heavy,, colorless, transparent
glass : by exposure to die air for a short time
this glass becomes opaque, and resembles in its
fi'acture the finest white china ; it is in this state
that the white arsenic of commerce is sold in
the shops, and kept in our laboratories ; and
as it is then an oxide of the metal approaching
very nearly to a state of purity, it is not
difficult, by separating its oxygen, to reduce it
into .
Pure metallic arsenic. For this purpose the
white arsenic is mixed with any of the vegetable
or animal expressed oils, till it becomes of the
consistence of very soft glazier's putty, and round
or oblong pieces of the paste are dropped into
a Florence flask, or earthen retort, so as not to
adhere to the sides. It is then put into a sand-
bath, or over a gentle diarcoal fire, and heated
very gradually until it ceases to emit thick va-
pors, when the heat may be increased by
degrees to obscure redness. Shortly after the
vessel may be removed, and when cold, broken ;
the neck and upper part will contain a crystai-
Ibed oxide of arsenic ; below, a thick crust of
metallic arsenic; and at the bottom some impu-
rities, which must be laid aside. The oiher
products are to be pulverised with half their
weight of charcoal, and sublimed again as be-
fore ; by which means the arsenic is rendered
pure, and will be found to line the vessel in the
form of a shining crust and crystals.
The principal properties of pure arsenic, be-
side those mentioned in the beginning of this
article, are the following : — ^That it is not per-
ceptibly soluble in water, and is easily tarnished
by exposure to the air; ihe best method of pre-
serving it unaltered is to immerse it in water or
alcohol. With carbon or hydrogen it does not
combine ; but die latter substance, in the state of
gas, dissolves it Oxygen imites with it by
combustion, forming arsenical acid. With sulphur
it may be readily united, forming either realgar
or orpiment, according to the proportions of the
ingredients, or the methods of uniting them:
these substances are really sulphurets^ of arsenic,
and their properties, with their mode of prepa-
ration, when not found native, maybe found
under their names. Arsenic combines also
readily with phosphorus, forming phosphuret of
arsenic, whicn is black and brilliant ; but with
azotic gas it has not been united. Muriatic acid
attadcs arsenic only if aided by heat; but, by
distilling equal parts of orpiment and corrosive
muriate of mercury (corrosive sublimate) in a
gentle heat, a blackish corrosive liquor is ob-
tained, which is the sublimated muriatof arsenic,
or butter of arsenic. Arsenic combines with
most metals, forming with them alloys, and ren-
dering them more, fiisible and brittle ; though
such of them as were before very fusible become
refractory: it possesses also the singular pro-
perty of destroying the magnetic virtue of iron,
and of all other metals susceptible of it
The most useful alloys of arsenic are : — 1 .
With platinum, which is formed by ftising that
metal and the white oxide of arsenic together.
By this means platinum, itself so untractable,
may be wrought into the utensils required. The
mixture, after fusion, is hammered at a red heat
into bars, and the arsenic is gradually driven ofl\.
2. With copper, which is formed by fiisintr the
two metals together in a close crucible, their siir-
fiice being covered with common salt, to prevent
the arsenic from being oxidised by the air. This
alloy is yhite and brittle, and when mixed with
a little tin or bismuth is used for a variety of
purposes in the arts, when it is known by the
names of white copper or white tombac. 3.
With iron, which js likewise done by fusion.
This alloy, however, is often found native, and
is then csdled misspickel. The other metals with
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ARS 2
^lAdcYk anenic has been united, are gold, silver,
tin, lead, nickle, zinc, antimony, and bi9muth :
it also fonns an amalgam with mercury, by keep-
ing them some hours over the fire, constantly
agitating the mixture. Arsenic is capable of
combining with two different proportions of
<)xygen ; by the first is formed 4he white oxide
already described, or arsenious acid, as it is
denominated by Fourcroy, on account of the
many acid properties which it exhibits ; by the
second is prodaced arsenic or arsenical acid,
which vras discovered in 1775 by Sciieele, who
also made himself acquainted with its most re-
markable properties.
In pharmacy, the white oxide of arsenic is
directed by the London Pharmacopsia to be
sublimed ; after which it is to be boiled with an
equal weight of carbonate of potash, in order to
form the liquor arsenicalis, sometimes called
Fowler's solution, or the tasteless ague drop.
This contains one grain of arsenic in two drams,
is given in doses of a few drops in intermittent
fevers, and in several eruptive diseases. Caution
is necessary in the exhibition of so dangerous a
remedy. Arsenic has been used externally in
cancer, lupus, &c. in form of an ointment. For
an account of arsenic, as a poison, its symptoms,
effects, and remedies, see Poison.
Arsenical Magnet, Magnes Arsevicaus,
is a preparation of antimony, with sulphur and
white arsenic.
ARSENIUS, a deacon of the Roman ch\irch of
great learning and pifty, who was selected by the
Sope as tutor to Arcadius, sonof the emperor Theo-
osius. Arsenius arrived at Constantinople A. D.
389. The emperor happening one day to go into
the room where Arsemus was instructing his pu-
pil, found Arcadius seated and his preceptor
standing; at this he was exceedingly displeased,
took from his son the imperial ornaments, made
Arsenius sit in his place, and ordered Arcadius
for the future to receive his lessons standing un-
covered. Arcadius, however, profited but little
by his tutor's instructions, for some time after he
formed a design of despatching him. Arsenius,
however, hearing of the design, retired to the de-
serts of Scet^, ^ere he passed many yean in
devotion, and died aged ninety-five.
Arsenius, bishop of Constantinople, in the
thirteenth century, excommunicated Michael Pa-
leologus, for taking the imperial crown from
John Lascaris the son of Theodore. Though
Michael solicited absolution, the bishop refused,
unless he would restore the crown ; in conse-
quence of which Arsenius was banished to a
small island, where he died.
ARS^NOTHELYS, among ancient natura-
lists, the same with hermaphrodite. The Greeks
use the word both in speaking of men and
beasts, it is formed from ofxr^v and«3i|Xvc,inale
and female.
ARSEN VAL, in geography, a town of France,
in the department of the Aube, and chief place of
a canton in the district of Bar-sur-Aube^ twenty-
three miles east of Troyes.
ARSES, or ARSAMES,king of Persia, succeed-
ed Artaxerxes Ochus about A. M. 3612, and a^
ler a short reign of less than four years was slain
AHS
by Bagoas, who had murdered his predecessor,
and succeeded by Darius Codomanus.
ARSHIN, in commerce, the most common
Russian measure of length = 16 vershok r= 315^
Paris lines. It is also a Chinese measure, but
one Chinese arshin = 302 Paris lines. Three
arshins = 1 fiithom, and 500 fiuhoms := 1
ARSIA, in ancient geography, a small rivet
which had a northern course, and served as a
boundary between Histria and lUyria, to the
north of the Flanatic gulf. It there terminated
Italy on the north-east of the Polatic promon-
tory.
ARSINOE,in ancient geography, the name of
various towns mentioned by Strabo, Ptolemy,
Stephanus, &c. viz. of five towns in Cilicia, one
of which had a station for ships ; of three in or near
Cjrprus; viz. one inland, formerly called Marium, <
another north of it between Acamas and Soli, and
the third in the south, with a port, between Ci-
trum and Salamis. A sea-port in Cyreqe, for-
merly called Teuchira. A town in Egypt near
the west extremity of the Arabian Gulf, and soudi
of Hierapolis, called also Cleopatris. Another
in the Nomos Arsinoites, mentioned on some
coins of Adrian, and formeriy called CrooodilcH
rum Urbs, from its abounding with crocodiles ;
Ptolemy calls this town an inland metropolis,
with a port called Ptolemais. A sea-port of Ly-
cia formerly named Patara, but called Arsinoe
by Ptolemy Philadelnhus after his queen. And
three towns of Troglodytte, the chief of which
was situated near the mouth of the Arabian gulf,
which towards Ethiopia is terminated by a pro-
montory called Dire. This Arsinoe is called
Berenice, with the distinction Epidires; because
situated on a neck of land running out a great
way into the sea. Also the name of several
princesses of Egypt; particulariy, 1. the daughter
of Ptolemy Lagus, and wife of Lysiroachus king
of Thrace : 2. the wife of Ptolemy Philadelphus,
who named several towns after her.
Arsmoe, in entomology, a species of papi-
lio, found in the island of Amboyna, the wings
of which are tailed, indented, fulvous, spotted
with black ; and the posterior ones markea both
above and beneath with two ocellated spots. It
is figured by Seba and Cramer.
ARSINOITES, NoMOS, an ancient district of
Egypt, west of the Heracleotes, on the western
banks of the Nile.
ARSIS, and Thesis, in prosody, are names
given to two proportional parts into which ever^
foot or rhythm is divided. By arsis and thesis
are usuallv meant no more than a proportional
division of the metrical feet, made by the hand
or foot of him that beats the time. And in
measuring the quantities of words the hand is
elevated, as well as let fall; that part of the
time which is taken up in measuring the foot,
by lifting; the hand up, is termed arsis or ele-
vatH ; and the part where the hand is let fiUl,
thesis or positio. Vid« Augustin de Musica, lib.
ii. cap. 10. In plaudendo enim quia elevatur
et poniUir roanus, partem pedis, sibi elevatio
vendicat, partem positio.
Arsis and thesis are used as musical temi
B2
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ART.
wh€D the subject of a fugue or point is inverted
or reversed; i. e. when one part rises and the
other &lb. These two words are Greek : arsis
comes from oifyw, tollo, I raise or elevate ; 0c(nc
depositio, remissio^ a depression or lowering.
These terms were applied by the ancients to the
motion of the hand in beating time.;
ARSON, in Englisli law, is the malicious and
wilful burning of &e house or out-house of ano-
ther man, which is felony. This is an offence of
great malignity, and more pernicious to the pub-
lic than simple thefl; because, first, it is an
offence against that right of habitation which ia
acquired by the law of nature as well as by the
laws of society; next, because of the terror and
confusion that necessarily attends it; and, lastly,
because in simple theft the thing stolen only
changes its master, but still remains in esse for
the benefit of the public ; whereas by burning,
the very substance is absolutely destroyed.— It is
also frequently more destructive than murder it-
self of which too it is often the cause; since
murder, atrocious as it is, seldom extends be^
yond the felonious act designed; whereas fire
too frequently involves in the common calamity
persons unknown to the incendiary, and not in-
tended to be hurt by him, and friends as well as
enemies. If the house be a man's own, the act
is not felony and punishable with death, but only
a great misdemeanor, and punishable by fine,
imprisonment or pillory.
ARSUR, AsoB, Arsaf, or Arsid, a hamlet on
the coast of Syria, which has sometimes received
the name of a city, because Solomon is supposed
to have built the city Asor upon the site. It
contains a fortress and mosque, in the last of
which are a few Mahommedan monks.
ARSURA, in anoient customs, a term used
for the melting of gold or silver, either to refine
ihem or to examine their vabie. The method of
doing this is explained at large in the Black Book
of the Exchequer, ascribed to Gervaise in the
chapter De Officio Militis Argentarii, being in
those days of great use, on account of the vari-
ous places and different manners in which the
king's monc^ was paid. ' Arsura is also used for
the loss or diminution of die metal in the trial.
In this sense a pound was said, tot ardere dena^
rios, to lose many penny-weights.
Arsura, in medicine, is used by some writers
for the erysipelas.
Arsura, in metallurgy, is used for the dust
and sweepings of silversmiths, and othen who
work m silver, melted down, and which they call
their sweep.
HEL. We, Hermia, Uke two ardJSeui gods.
Created with our needles both one flower.
Both on one sampler, sitting on one cushion ;
Both warbling of one song, both in one key ;
As if our hand, our sides, voices, and minds.
Had been incorporate. Skdupearc*
Why, I can smile, and murder while I smile ;
And cry, content, to that which grieves my heart ;
And wet my cheeks, with arHflaal tears. Id,
Weaker than a woman's tear.
Tamer than sleep, fnnder than ignorance.
And offtnt as unpractis'd infancy.
Drydm. Trmhtt tmd Cftmida,
Rich with the spoils of many a oonquer'd land.
All arts and artiaU Theseus could command.
Who sold for hire, or wrought for better fame
The master painters and the carven came. Drydm.
The rest in rank : Honoria, chief in place
Was artfitUjf contrivM to set her face.
To front the thicket, and behold the chace. Id.
Vice is the natural growth of our corruption. How
inesistibly must it preyail, when the seeds of it are
mrtfidfy sown, and industriously cultivated. Rogen.
What aie the most judidoos artiaont, but the
mimics of natore ? WMon't ArdtHmtms.
Best and happiest mrtmm.
Best of painters, if yon can.
With your manjr-color'd art.
Draw the mistress of my heart.
Thus areata melt the sullen ore of lead.
With heaping coals of fire upon its head ;
In the kind warmth, the metal learns to glow.
And loose from dross the silver runs below.
PameH.
Sweet arOm songster ! thou my mmd doet raise
To airs of spheres, yea, and ^o angels's lays.
ART, *> Lat arSf fix>m aptnif
Ar'tful, manly energy, strength, or
Ar'tpullt, skill. The power of doing
Ar'tfulmess, any thing arising from a
* Ar'tisan, clear and perspicuous know-
Ar'tist, pledge of what the practice
Ar'tless, jof it requires. Artfiil sig-
Ar'tlessly, nifies evil intention. f)ne
Ar'tifice, who exercises a mechanical
Ar'tificer, art is an artisan, he who ex-
Ar'tifici AL, ceb in the fine arts is an
Arti'ficially. J artist. Any skilfiif work-
man is an artificer ; artifice in its present use
impLes deception.
In oratoiy, the greatest ar< is to hide mrt. &m/».
If we compare two nations in an equal stateof civi-
lisation, we may remark that where the greater free-
dom obtains, there the greater variety of ortijicial
wants will obtain also. Cmnberiand,
The merchant, tiadesman, and arii$(m will have
their profit upon all the multiplied wants, comforts,
and indulgences of civilised life. Id,
In every quarter of this blessed isle.
Himself [the mind] both present is and president.
Nor once retires, a happy realm the while.
That by no officers lewd ravishment,
With greedie lust and wrong coanim'd Mt,
He all in all, and all in every part.
Does share to each his due and equal dole oompart.
Fletoker't Pmple litmd.
Among the several arHfieaa which are put in prac-
tice by the poets, to fill the minds of an audience with
terror, the first place is due to thunder and lightning.
Addmm,
Poets, like painters, thus unskill'd to trace
The naked nature and the living grace.
With gold and jewels cover ev'ry part.
And hide with ornaments their want of art.
Pep§*9 Assy on Critieitm.
O still the same Ulysses, she rejoin'd ;
In useful craft suooessfuUy refin'd ;
Ar^vl in speech, in action, and in mind. Pgpt,
Btnboflom'd in the deep where Holland lies,
Methinks her patient sons before me stand.
Where the bcoad ocean leans against the land.
And sedulous to stop the coming tide.
Lift the tall rampire's artificial pride. CMdmitJL
A man will no more carry the artifioe of the bar
into the common intercourse of society, than a man
who is paid for tumbling on his hands will continue to
tumble when he should walk on his foot.
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He feels no ennobling principle in hia own hearty
who wishes to level all the orl^^eMiZinstitations which
have been adopted for giving a body to opinion, and
pennanence to fugitive esteem. Bmrke,
Art has been more particularly defined to be
a habit of the mind prescribing rules for the due
production of certain effects ; or the introducing
the changes of bodies from some fore-knowledge
and design in a person endued with the prin-
ciple or iucvltf of acting. The word has been
sometimes denied from opocy utility, profit; and
u found in that sense in JElscbylus.
According to lord Bacon it is a proper dispo-
sition of the things of nature by human thought
and experience, so as to make them answer the
designs and uses of mankind. Nature, accord-
ing to that philosopher, is sometimes free, and at
her own disposal ; and then she manifests herself
in a regular order; as we see in the heavens,
plants, animals, &c.— Sometimes she is irregular
and disorderly either through some uncommon ac-
cident or depravation in matter, when theresistance
of some impediment perverts her from her course ;
as in the production of monsters. At other
times she is subdued and fiahioned by human
industry, and made to ser%e the several purposes
of mankind. This last is what we call art
In which sense, art stands opposed to nature.
Hence the knowledge of nature may be divided
into the history of generation, of pretergeneration,
and of arts. The first considers nature at liber-
ty; the second her errors; and the third her
restraints.
Art has been distinguished from science ; by
the latter being regarded as furnishing the prin-
ciples of all art. Or science, scientia, all human
knowledge, is said to be divisible into those purer
sciences which relate to the ideas or laws of the
mind, and the relation they bear to each other ;
and the mixed or applied sciences-^al relation
which the same ideas bear to the external world.
In this view the mixed and applied sciences are
but other terms for all the fine and useful arts.
Chambers has observed long ago, in the ex-
cellent prefiu^e to his original Cyclopaedia:
An Art and a Science, only seem to differ as
less and more pure : a science is a system of
deductions made by reason alone, undetermined
by any thing foreign or extrinsic to itself: an
art, on the contrary, requires a number of data,
and postulata, to be nimished from without;
and never goes any length, without at every turn
needing new ones. It is, in one sense, the
knowledge and perception of these data that con-
stitutes tiie art ; the rest, that is, the doctrinal
part, is of the nature of science ; which attentive
reason alone will descry. An art, in this light,
appears to be a portion of science, or general
knowledge, considered, not in itself as science,
but with relation to its circumstances or appen-
dages. In a science the mind looks directly
backwards and forwards to the premises and
conclusions : iii an art we also look laterally to
the concomitant circumstances. A science, in
effect, is that to an art, which a stream running
in a direct channel, without regard to any thing
but its own progress, is- to the same stream
turned out of its proper course, and disposed
into cascades, jets, cisterns, ponds, &c. In
which case the piogress of the stream is nodcon-
sidered with re^ami to itself but only as it con-
cerns the works ; every one of which modifies
the course of the stream, and leads it out of its
way. It is easy to trace the progress of the for-
mer, from its issue, as it flows consequentially ;
but a man ever so well acquainted witn this will
not be able to discover that of the latter, because
it depends on the genius, humor, and caprice
of the engineer who laid the design.'
The learned author of Hermes says, li it b«
asked, What art is ; we have to answer, * It is
an habitual power in man, of becoming the cause
of some effect, according to a system of various
and well-approved precepts.' If it be asked,
On what subject art operates ; we can answer^
^ On a contingent, which is within the reach of
the human powers to influence.' . If it be asked.
For what reason, for the sake of what, art ope-
rates ; we may reply, * For the sake of some
absent good, relative to human life, wd attain-
able by man, but superior to his i atural and
uninstructed Acuities.' Lastly, if it be asked,
< Where it is the operations of art end V We may
say, * Eidier in some energy, or in some work.'
— Harrit'i Three T^-eatuet, dialogue i.
Arts are properly divided into liberal and me-
chanical :—
Arts, Liberal, or Polite, are those that are
noble or ingenious, and worthy of being culti-
vated for their own sake, without any immediate
ftgard to any pecuniary emolument. Such as
depend more on the imagination, or on the la-
bor of the mind, than on that of the hand ; or
that consist more in speculation than operation,
and have a greater r^^aid to amusement and
curiosity than necessity. Such are poetry,
music, painting, grammar, rhetoric, the military
art, aroiitecture, and navigation. They were
formeriy to be summed up in the following Latin
Lingua, IVopos, Ratio, Nomeros, Tonns, Angalus,
Astra.
In the eighth century the whole circle of sciei.ces
was composed of the seven liberal arts, as they
were called; viz. grammar, rhetoric, ^ogic^
arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy ; the
three former of which were distinguished by the
title of trivium, and the four lattttr by that of
quadrivium.
Arts, Mechanical, are those wherein the
band and body are more concerned than the
mind ; and which are chiefly cultivated for the
sake of the profit attending them. Of which
kind are most of those which furnish us with the
necessaries of life, and are popularly known by
the name of trades and manufifcctures. Such are
weaving, turnery, brewing, masonry, clock-
making, carpentry, joineiy, foundiy, printing.
Sec. These arts, which indeed are innumerHble,
were formerly comprised in this verse:
Rns, Nemns, Anna, Faber, Vnlneva, Lana, Rates.
They take their denomination from finx^yiif
machine, as being all practised by means ot
some machine or instrument With the liberal
arts it is otherwise ; there being several of them
which may ie learnt and practised without any
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ARTS.
instrument at alt ; as logic, eloquence, medicine,
properly so called, &c.
Lord Bacon has observed that the arts which
relate to the sight and hearing are reputed liberal,
beyond those which regard 3ie other senses, and
are chiefly employed in matters of luxury ; these
are usually called th^ fine arts; such are poetry,
painting, sculpture, music, gardening, and archi-
tecture.
As all arts have this common property ac-
cording to Mr. Harris, that they respect human
life, it is evident that some contribute to its ne-
cessities, as medicine and agriculture ; and others
to its elegance, as music, painting, and [X)etry.
The former seem to have oeen prior in time to
the latter. Men must naturally nave consulted
how to live and to support themselves, before
they began to deliberate how to render life
agreeable. Indeed this is confirmed by fact ; as
no nation has been known so barbarous and ig-
norant as not in some degree to have cultivated
the rudiments of these necessary arts ; and hence
possibly they may appear to be more excellent
and worthy, as having claim to a preference de-
rived from their seniority. The arts, however,
of elegance are not destitute of pretensions, if it
be true that nature formed us for something
more tlian mere existence. Nay farther, if well-
being be clearly preferable to 'mere being, and
this, without the other, be contemptible, they
may have reason perhaps to aspire even to a
superiority. HarrUy ubi n^a^ p. 54.
The history of the origin and progress of par-
ticular arts is recited under their respective de-
nominations in the coarse of this work. It may
be here observed however, in general, that most
of the arts that are necessary to the subsistence,
or conducive to the convenience and comfort of
mankind, have had a very early origin.
Some useful arts must be nearly coeval with
tiie human race ; for food, clothing, ^nd habita-
tion, even in their original simplicity, require
some art. Many others are of such antiquity as
to place the inventors beyond the reach of tra-
dition. Several have gradually crept into exist-
ence without any recorded inventor or history.
The busy mind, however, accustomed to a be-
|;inning in all things, cannot rest till it finds or
imagines a beginning to every art.
It has been generally admitted that the arts
had their rise in the East, and that they were
conveyed from thence to the Greeks, and from
them to the Romans. The Romans, indeed,
seem to have been chiefly indebted Co the Greeks,
by whom they were excelled in point of inven-
tion. The Roman£ acknowledged this superi-
ority, for they sent their youth to Greece in order
to finish their education ; and from this circum-
stsncc we may infer, that they considered that
country as the seat of the arts and sciences, and
as a school where genius would be excited by the
most finished models^ and the taste corrected and
formed. Pliny and other writers have, neverthe-
less, given hints which lead us to believe that the
Romans possessed a more extensive knowledge
of the arts than modem writers are sometimes
willing to allow ; and that several inventions re-
garded as recent are only old ones revived and
again applied lo nractice. The dark ages at oncn
extinguished the knowledge of the past, and re-
tarded the revival of art ; yet it cannot be denied,
that several important discoveries altogether un-
known to the ancients were made in those ages.
Of this kind were the inventions of paper, paint-
ine in oil, the mariner's compass, gunpowder,
pnnting, and engravinz on copper: see the
several articles. After the invention of the com-
pass and printing, two grand sources were opened
for the improvement of science. As navigation
was extended, new objects were discovered to
awaken the curiosity and excite the attention of
the learned ; and the ready means of diffusing
knowledge afibrded by the press, enabled the in-
genious to make them publicly known. Igno-
rance and superstition, the formidable enemies of
philosophy in every age, began to lose some of
that power which they had usurped, and different
states, forgetting their former blind policy, adopted
improvements which their prejudices had before
condenmed.
In countries, however, where civil and eccle-
siastical tyranny prevailed, the progress of the
useful and elegant arts was slow, and struggled
with many difficulties. Particular events, in-
deed, have occurred in all ages and nations which
have roused the exertions of genius, and furnished .
occasion for making important and useful dis-
coveries. The history of Greece and Rome, and
even of modem Europe, will afford many obvious
fects that confirm and illustrate this observation.
We can add but a few other miscellaneous ones.
In different countries the progress of the same
arts has been extremely different. Though the
compass was used in China for navigation long
before it veas known in Europe, yet to this day,
instead of suspending it in order to make it act
freely, it is placed upon a bed of sand, by which
every motion of the ship disturbs its operation.
Water-mills for grinding com are described by
Vitravius, and wind-mills were known in Greece
and in Arabia as early as the seventh century ; yet
no mention is made of them in Italy till the
fourteenth; and that they were not known in
England in the reign of Henry VIII. appears
from a household book of the Northumberland
family, stating an allowance for three mill-horses,
* two to draw in the mill, and one to carry stuff
to the mill and fro.' Water-mills for com must
in England have been of a late date. The an-
cients had mirror-glasses, and employed glass to
imitate crystal vases and goblets ; yet they never
thought of using it in windows. In the thirteenth
century, the Venetians were the only people who
had the art of making crystal glass tor mirrors.
A clock that strikes the hours was unknown in
Europe till the end of the twelfUi century. And
hence the custom of employing men to proclaim
the hours during night ; which to this day con-
tinues in Germany, Flanders, and England.
Galileo was the first who conceived an idea that
a pendulum might be useful for measuring time ;
and Huygens was the first who put the idea in
execution, by making a pendulum clock. Hook,
in 1660, invented a spiral spring for a watch,
though a watch was far from being a new inven-
tion. Paper was made no earlier than the four-
teenth century; and the invention of printing
was a century later. Silk manu&ctures were
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long established in Greece before silk-wonns
were introduced there. The manufacturers were
prorided with raw silk from Persia: but that
commerce being frequently interrupted by war,
two monks, in the reign of Justinian, brought
eggs of the silk-worm from Hindostan, and
uught their countrymen the method of managing
them. — ^The art of reading made a very slow pro-
gress. To encourage that art in England, the
capital punishment for murder was remitted, if
the criminal could but read, which in law lan-
guage is termed benefit of clergy. One would
imagine that the art must hare made a very rapid
progress when so greatly fevered : but there is a
sigiud proof of the contrary; for so small an
edition of the Bible as 600 copies, translated into
English in the reign of Henry VIII. was not
wholly sold off in three years. And the people
of England must have been profoundly ignorant
in Queen Elizabeth's time, when a forged clause
added to the twentieth article of the established
creed passed unnoticed till about a century ago.
The circumstances which arouse the national
spirit upon any particular art, promote activity
to prosecute otner arts. When the Romans
came to excel in the art of war, they rapidly im-
proved in other arts. Nsvius coraposea in verse
seven books of the Punic war; besides comedies,
r^lete with bitter raillery against the nobility.
Ennius wrote annals, and an epic poem; and
Lucius Andronicus became the father of dramatic
poetry in Rome. And the Roman genius for
the ^e arts was much inflamed by Greek learn-
ing when free intercourse between the two na-
tions was opened.
The progress of art seldom fails to be rapid,
when a people happen to be roused out of a tor-
pid state by some fortunate change of circum-
stances : public liberty now gives to the mind a
spring which is vigorously exerted in every new
pursuit. The Athenians made but a mean figure
under the tyranny of Pisistratus ; but, upon re-
gaining their freedom and independende, arts
flourished with arms, and Athens became the
chief theatre for science as well as for the fine
arts. The reign of Augustus Caesar, which put
an end to the rancor of civil war, and restored
peace to Rome with the comforts of society,
proved an auspicious era for literature; and
produced a cluster of Latin historians, poets, and
philosophers, to whom the modems are indebted
n>r their taste. A similar revolution happened
m Tuscany about 350 years ago. That country
having been divided into a number of small re-
publics, the people excited by mutual petty
quarrels, becsmie ferocious and bloody, flaming
with revenge for the slightest offence. But being
united under the Great Duke of Tuscany, these
republics enjoyed the sweets of peace and a mild
government; when the retrospect of recent ca-
lamities roused the national spirit, and produced
ardent application to arts and literature. The
restoration in England in 1660, which put an
end to an envenomed civil war, promoted im-
provements of every kind, and arts and industry
made a rapid progress. Had the nation, upon
that fiivorable turn of fortune, been blessed with
a succession of able and virtuous princes, arts
and sciences might much earlier have flourished
in their modem perfection. Some important
action even of doubtful event, a struggle for
liberty, the resisting a potent invader, or the
like, have also had benencial influences on die
progress of art. Greece, divided into small
states frequently at war with each other, advanced
in literature and the fine arts to unrivalled per-
fection. The Corsicans, while engaged in a pe-
rilous war in defence of their liberties, exerted a
vigorous national spirit; they founded a univer-
sity for arts and sciences, a public library, and a
public bank. After a long stupor during the
dark ages of ecclesiastical tyranny, arts and lite-
rature revived among the turbulent states of
Italy. The Royal Society in London, and the
Academy of Sciences in Paris were both instituted
after prolonged civil wars that had animated the
people and roused their activitv. On the other
hand, as the progress of arts and sciences towards
perfection is greatly promoted by emulation, no-
thing is sometimes more &tal th^n to remove this
spur; as when some extraordinary genius appears
to soar above rivalship. Thus mathematics
long seemed to be declining in Britain: the
great Newton, havine surpassed all the ancients,
left the modems without any hope of equalling
him ; for what man will enter the lists who de-
spairs of victory ?
The useful have in all ages paved the way for
the fine arts. Men upon whom the former had
bestowed every convenience turned their tltoughts
to the latter. Beauty was studied in objects ot
sight ; and men of taste attached diemselves to
die fine arts, which multiplied their enjoyments
and improved their benevolence. Sculpture and
painting made an early figure in Greece; which
afforded plenty of beautiful originals to be copied
in these imitative arts. Statuary, a more simple
imitation than painting, was sooner brought to
perfection: the statue of Jupiter by Phidias, and
of Juno by Polycletes, though the admiration of
all the world, were executed long before the art
of light and shade was known. Another cause
concurred to advance statuary before painting in
Greece, viz. a great demand for statues of their
gods. Architecture, as a fine art, made a slower
progress. Proportions upon which its elegance
chiefly depends, cannot be accurately ascertained^
but by an infinity of trials in great buildings ; a
model cannot be relied on : for a large and sinall
building, even of the same form, require differ-
ent proportions. Literature as a branch of the
fine arts deserves a separate consideration. See
LlTEEATUBE.
The cause of the decline of the fine arts may
be illustrated by various instances. The perfec-
tion of vocal music is to accompany passion, and
to enforce sentiment. In ancient Greece, the
province of music was well understood; and
being confined witliin its proper sphere, it had
an enchanting influence. Harmony at that time
wa.s very little cultivated, because it was of very
litde use; melody reaches the heart, and it is by
it chiefly that a sentiment is enforced, or a pas-
sion soothed :• harmonv, on the contrary, reaches
the ear only ; and it is a matter of undoubted
experience, that the melodious airs admit but
of very simple harmony. Artists, in later times,
ignorant why haimony was so little regarded by
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the ancients, applied themaelTes tferionsly to its
ctthiyation, and have been wonderfully success-
ful. But successful at the expense of melody ;
which, in modem compositiondi, generally speak-
ingy is lost amid the blaze of harmony. In the
Itadian opera, the mistress is degraded to be
handmaid ; and harmony triumphs, with very
little regard to sentiment. Among the Greeks
also, as a conquered people, the nne arts de-
cayed; but not so rapidly as at Rome under
her various despotic emperors; the Greeks
farther removed from the seat of government,
being less within the reach of the Roman ty-
rants. During their depression they were guilty
of the most puerile conceits; witness verses com-
posed in the form of an axe, an egg, wings, and
such like. The style of Greek authors, in the
reign of Adrian, is unequal, obscure, stiff, and
affected. Lucian is the only exception. We
need scarce any other cause but despotism, to
account for the decline of statuary ana painting
in Greece. These arts had arrived at their utni
most perfection about the time of Alexander the
Great; and firom that time they declined gra-
dually with the vigor of a free people; for
Greece was now enslaved by the Macedonian
power. It may in general be observed, that
when a nation becomes stationary in diat dffgree
of power which it acquires from its constitution
ana situation, the national spirit subsides, and
men of talents become rare. It is still worse
with a nation that is sunk below its former
power and pre-eminence ; and worst of all, when
It is reduced to slavery. Other causes concurred
to accelerate the down&ll of die arts mentioned.
Greece, in the days of Alexander, was filled with
statues of excellent workmanship; and there
being little demand for more, the later statuaries
were reduced to make heads and busts. At last
the Romans i>ut a total end, both to statuary
and painting in Greece, by plundering it of its
finest pieces ; and the Greeks, exposed to the
avarice of the conauerors, bestowed no longer
any money on the fine arts. The decline of the
fine arts in Rome is, by Petronius Arbiter, a
writer of taste and elegance, ascribed to a cause
different from any above mentioned, i. e. opu-
lence, with its faithful attendants avarice and
luxury. In England the fine arts are far from
such perfection as to suffer by opulence. They
are in a progress, indeed, towiiOs maturity ; but
proceed at a very slow pace. Another cause
that never fiuls to undermine a fine art in a
country where it U brought to perfection, ab-
stracting from every one of the causes 9bore
mentioned^ has been already pointed out. No-
thing is more fatal to an aft or science, Uian per-
formances so much superior to all of the kind
as to extinguish emulation. This cause would
have been fiual to the arts of statuary and paint-
ing among the Greeks, even though they had
continued a firee people. The decay of painting
in modem Italy is probably owing to tliis cause :
Michael Augelo, Raphael, Titian, &c. are lof^
oaks, that bear down young plants in their
neighbourhood, and intercept them firom the
sunshine of emulation. Had the art of paintitig
made a slower progress in Italy, it miglit have
there continued in vigor to ttiis day. Archi-
ART
tecture continued longer in vigor than painting,
because the principles of comparison in the
former art were less precise than in the latter.
The artist who could not rival his predecessors
in an established mode^ sought out a new mode
for himself, vriiich, though perhaps less elegant
or perfiect, was for a time supported by novelty.
Useful arts will never be neglected in a country
where there is any police ; for every man findis
his account in them. Fine arts are more pre-
carious. They are not relished but by persons
of taste, who are rare; and such as can spare
great sums for supporting them, who are still
more rare. For that reason they will never
flourish in any country, unless patronised by the
sovereign, or by men of power and opulence.
And nchly do they merit such patronage, as one
of the springs of government; multiplying
amusements, and humanising manners.
Art, the second person singular of the verb
TO BE, of which the English language affords no
variation, except by adopting the pl^nd, by say-
ing You are, instead of Thou art. Thou beest in-
deed was anciently used, but it is quite obsolete.
Art and Part in Scots law. See Accissart,
ARTA, or Larta, a gulf, river, and town of
European Turkey, in Albania, or Epinis, be-
longing to the government of Romania. Hie
town is seized on ^e river of the same name,
nine miles north of the spot where it falls into
the gulf of Arta, above twenty miles north-east
of Prevesa, and about 360 W. N. W. of Con*
stantinople. The number of inhabitants. Christians
as well as Turks, amounts to six thousand, who
trade in cattle, wine, tobacco, cotton, flax, pulse,,
fur, leather, and other commodities. They also
manufacture coarse woollen and other cloths.
It is the seat of a Greek metropolitan and several
European consuls. The ffulf, otherwise called
the gulf of Prevesa, ext^s a considerable way
inland in an eastern direction, and from its
rocks and sand banks, is very dangerous. Long.
21*» 8' E., lat. 39**30'N.
ARTABA, an ancient measure of capacity
used by the Persians, Medes, and Egyptians. —
The Persian artaba is represented by Herodotus
as bigger than the Attic medimnus by three Attic
choenixes; firom which it appears that it was
equal to 6f Roman modii ; consequently that
it contained 166| pounds of wine or water, or
126} pounds of wheat. The Egyptian artaba
contained five Roman modii, and tell short of the
Attic medimnus by one modius ; consequ 'Utly
held 133i pounds of water or wine, 100 lb. of
wheat, or sixty of flour.
ARTABANUS, the name of several kings of
Parthia. See Parthia.
Artabanus, the brother of Darius I. and the
uncle and murderer of Xerxes. See Artax-
ERXE9.
ARTABAZUS, the son of Phamacte, com-
manded the Parthians and Chorasmians in the
famous expedition of Xerxes. After the battle
of Salamis, he escorted the king his master to
Ae Hellespont with 60,000 chmen men; and
after the battle of Plataoi, in which Mardonius
engaged contrary to his advice, he made a noble
retreat, and retumed to Asia with 40,000 men.
ARTAKI, a town of Asiatic Turkey, in N«-
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ART
y>l]a, on the south coast of the sea of Marmora,
torty-Bve miles east of Gallipoli and ninetv' south-
west of Constantinople. Ix>ng:. 27^ 3/£^ lat.
40** 18* N..
Artakui, a town of European Turker, in
Romania, forty-eight miles north-west of Gallic
poli.
ARTALIS (Joseph), a native of Mazara, A. D.
1628, who showed an early inclination both for
poetry and arms. He finished his studies at fif-
teen years of age, when he fought a duel and
killed his adversary. He took shelter in a church
and afterwards studied philosophy. Candia be-
ing besieged by the Turks, he went to its relief,
and displayed so much valor that he was created
a knight of St. George. Being afterwards en-
gaged in several rencount^ and always victori-
ous, he got the title of Chevalier de Sang, or the
knight of blood. His literarv talents obtained
him the honor of being elected a member of se-
veral academies in Italy, and his military abilites
procured him the favor of several princes, partis
cularly of the Emperor Leopold 1. and Ernest
duke of Brunswick.
ARTAXATA, an ancient city, the metropolis
of Armenia Maior, and the residence of the Ar«
menian kings : tt was built acconding to a plan
of Hannibal, for king Artaxiaa ; and was situated
on a branch of the river Araxes, which formed a
kind of peninsula, and surrounded the town like
a wall, except on the side of the isthmus, but this
side was secured by a rampart and ditch. The
town was deemed so strong that Lucullus, after
having defeated Tigranes, durst not lay siege to it ;
butPompey compelled him to deliver it without
striking a blow. It was then levelled with the
ground; but the Armenians have a tradition,
that the ruins of it are still to be seen at a place
.called Ardachat Sir John Chardin says, tnat it
has the name of Aidadiat, firom Artaxias, whom
in the east they call Ardediier. Here art the re-
inains of a statelypahice, which the Armenians
take to be that of liridates, who reinied in the
time of Constantine. One front of mis building
is half ruined, and there are many other fine an-
tiquities.
Artaxata, or Atropatia, another city built
also on the Araxes, in the northern pitrt of
Media.
ARTAXERXES I. king of Persia, sumfimed
Longimanus, from the upcommon length of his
arms, was the youngest son of Xerxes, and was
raised to the throne A. M. 3487, by Axtabanus,
the captain of the guards, who bad privately
murdered his &ther ; but persuaded the young
prince diat his elder brother Darius had done it ;
whereupon, assisted by the guards, he killed Da-
rius m liis bed-«hamber. But the murder and
treason being afterwards discovered, Artabanus
snflered the punishment he merited. Some
reckon this king the Ahasuerus who married
Esther; but, be that as it may, it is certain that
he greatly favored the Jews, by not only autho-
rising them to return to Judea, and rebuild Jeru-
salem, but also to collect money for the use of
their temple ; as well as by remitting their tri-
bute, by encouraging their worship, and by
making them a number.of valuable presents, &c.
See his letter to Ezra, chapter vii, 10—^6. For
9
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an account of the otfier transactions of his reign,
see Persia. He reigned about forty years, and
diedA.A.C. 44^.
Artaxsrxes II. sumamed Mnemon, from his
great memory, succeeded his father Darius II.
A. M. 3546, but had to contend for his kingdom
with his younger brother Cyrns, who was assisted
by the Greeks, but was at last overcome and
slain. It was after this battle that Xenophon dis- .
played his generalship by his memorable retreat
wim his army. Artaxerxes- reigned forty-three
years, and died A. M. 3589. See Persia.
Artaxerxes is also the name given in Scrip-
ture to, and probably assumed by, the impostor
Oropastes ; who, pretending to be Smerais the
son of Cyrus, reigned five months in Persia, after
the death of Cambyses. During his short reign,
the enemies of the Jews applied for, and ob-
tained, an interdict of the rebuilding of the d^
and temple. See Esra iv. 7.
ARTAXIAS, the founder of the. kingdom of
Armenia Major. See Arm en i a and Artaxata .
ARTEDI (Peter), a famous Swedish natura-
list, bom in 1705. He was educated at the uni-
versity of Upsal, where he studied medicine;
but his time was chiefly dedicated to ichthyology,
in which he made many valuable discoveries.—-
Such was the friendship between him and lin-
ncus, that the longest liver was to be heir of all
their MSS. He was drowned at Leyden in 1735.
His Bibliotheca Ichthyologica and Philosophia
Ichthyologica, were pubU&ed by Linnsus in
1738.
ARTEDIA, in botany, a genus of the digynia
order, and pentandria diss of plants ; ranking
in the natural method, under die forty-fifth order,
umbellate. The involucre are pinnatifid ; the
floscules of the disc are masculine ; and the fruit
is hispid with scales. The principal species is,
viz. A. squamata, with squamose seeds, a native
of the east. Rauwolf found it growing on
mount Libanus. It is an annual plant, whose
stalks rise about two feet high, sending out a few
side branches, garnished with narrow compound
leaves resembling tnose of dill.
ARTEMIDORUS, a Grecian teacher in
Rome, who being intimate with Brutus, and
learning from him of the intended assassination
of Caesar, delivered a note to him to inform him
of it, as he went to the senate-house, and desired
him to read it immediately, which Caesar neglect-
ing, fell a sacrifice to the plot
Artemidorvs, an ancient author, under An-
toninus Pius, fiunous for his Treatise on Dreams,
which was first printed in Greek at Venice in
1518. Rigaltius published an edition at Paris in
Greek and Latin in 1603, and added some notes.
Artemidorus wrote also treatises upon Auguries
and Chiromancy; which are not extant.
ARTEMISIA I. queen of Caria, and the
daughter of Ligdamis, marched in person in the
expedition of Xerxes against the Greeks, and
performed wonders in the sea-fight nearSalamis,
A. A. C. 480. Being pursued by an Athenian
vessel, she attacked one of the Persian ships,
commanded by the king of Calyndus, and sunk
it ; on which the Athenians, thinking that her
ship was on the side of the Greeks, ceased their
pursuit ; but Xerxes was the principal person
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imposed upon in this affair ; for beliering that Persia, from whence the seeds are brought to
she had sunk an Athenian vessel, he declared Europe. 9. A. Tulgaris, or common muffwort,
that * the men had behaved like women, and grows naturally on banks and by the sides of
the women like men/ Xerxes entrusted her foot-paths in many parts of Britain: in gardens
with the care of the young princes of Persia, his it proves a troublesome weed. The scseds of the
sons, when, agreeably to her advice, he aban- santonicum are small, light, chaffy, composed as
doned Greece in order to return to Persia. These it were of a number of thin membranous coats
great qualities did not secure her from the weak- of a yellowish color, an unpleasant smell, and a
ness of love: she was passionately fond of a man of very bitter taste. They are celebrated for an-
Abydos, whose name was Dardanu^, and was so thelmintic virtues, which they have in common
enraged at his neglect of her, that she put out his with other bitters, and are sometimes taken with
eyes while he was asleep. Having consulted the this intention, either dong with molasses or
Delphian Oracle how to extingui^ this passion,
and being advised to go to Leucas, which was
the usage of desperate lovers, she took the leap
from thence, and vras drowned, and interred at
candied with sugar. They are not often met
with genuine in the shops. The leaves of the
sea, common, and Roman wormwoods are used
as stomachics, but are all very disagreeable : the
that place. Many writers confound this prin- Roman is the least so and therefore is to be pre-
cess with thevrifeofMausolus. ferred; but the other two kinds are generally
Artemisia II., queen of Caria, the widow of substituted in its place. The distilled oil of
king Mausolus, has immortalised herself by the wormwood is sometimes made use of externally
honors which she paid to the memory of her as i, cure for worms. The leaves of the vulgaris
husband. She buiu for him, in Halicamassus, or common mugwort were commonly celebrated
a very magnificent tomb, called the Mausoleum, as uterine and antihysteric : an infusion of them
which was one of the seven wonders of the world,
and from which the title of mausoleum was after-
wards §^ven to all tombs remarkable for their
grandeur, but died of grief before the mausoleum
was finished. She is said to have drank his
ashes ; and to have offered a prize of great value
to the person who should compose the best eu-
logium on his memory. He died about the end
of the 106th Olympiad, A. A. C. 351.
Artemisia, mugwort, southernwood, and
wormwood ; a genus of the polygamia superflua
order, and syngenesia class of plants, ranking
is sometimes taken, either alone or in conjunc-
tion with other substances, in suppression of the
menstrual evacuations. In some parts of this
kingdom mugwort is of common use as a pot-
herb. It is now, however, very little employed
in medicine ; and it is probably with propriety
that the London college have rejected it from
the Pharmacopoeia.
The moxa, so famous in the eastern coun-
tries for curing the gout, by burning it on the
part affected, is the lanugo or dovm ^wing on
the under side of the leaves of a species of mug-
in the natural method under the forty-ninth wort, supposed to be the same with our oom-
order, composites nucamentaces. The receptacle
is either naked or a little downy; it has no
pappus; the calyx is imbricated with roundish
scales ; and the corolla has no radii. There are
twenty-three sp^ecies, of which the following are
the most remarkable : viz.
1. A. abrotanum, or southernwood, which is
kept in gardens for the sake of its agreeable
scent, a low shrub, seldom rising more than three
or four feet high. 2. A. absinthium, or common
wormwood, grows naturally in lanes knd uncul-
mon sort. From some dried samples of this
plant which were brought over to this country,
Mr. Miller reckons them to be the same, differ-
ing only in size. He supposes that the lanugo
of our mugwort would be equally efficacious.
The abbe Crosier says the ancient Chinese made
great use of it in medicine.
Artemisia, yearly festivals anciently observed
in divers cities in Greece, particularly Delphi, in
honor of Diana Artemis. In the artemisia a
mullet was sacrificed to this goddess, as being
tivated places, and is too well known to require thought to bear some resemblance to her, be-
any description. 3. A. arborescens, or tree-worm-
wood, grows naturally in Italy and the Levant,
near the sea. It rises with a woody stalk, six or
seven feet high, sending out many ligneous
branches, garnished with leaves somewhat like
those of the common wormwood, but more
finely divided and much whiter. 4. A. dracun*
cause it is said to hunt and kill the sea-hare.
ARTEMISIUM, a promontory on the north-
east ^of Euboea, (called Leon and Cale Acte
by Ptolemy,) memorable for the first sea en-
gagements between the Greeks and Xerxes, of
which the following account is given by Gillies :
The Grecian fleet was stationed in the harbour.
cuius, or Tarragon, is frequently used in sallads, while that of the Persians, too numerous for any
especially by the French, and is a very hardy harbour to contain, had anchored between the
plant, spreading greatly by its creeping roots,
5. A. maritima, or sea-wormwood, grows natu-*
rally on the sea-coast in most parts of Britain,
where there are several varieties to be found.
6. A. Pontica, or Pontic wormwood, commonly
called Roman wormwood, is a low herba*
city of Castamea and the promontory of Sepias,
on the coast of Tbessaly. The first liite of their
fleet was sheltered by the coast of Thessaly ; but
the other lines, to the number of seven, rode at
anchor, at sms^l intervals, with the prows of the
vessels turned to the sea. When they adopted
ceous plant whose stalks die in autumn, and this arrangement the waters were smooth, the
new ones rise up in the spring. The flowers sky clear, the weather calm and serene; but on
appear in August, but are rarely succeeded the morning of the second day after their arrival
by seeds in Britain. 7. A. santonicum, produces on the coast, the sky began to lower, the appear-
the semen santonicum, which is much used ance of the heavens grew threatening and terrible;
for worms in children. It grows naturally in a dreadful storm succeeded ; raged for three days
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vrixYi unabating fury, and destroyed 400 galleys,
besides a ^ast number of store-ships and trans-
ports. Howeyer, 800 ships of war, besides innu-
merable vessels of burden, sailed into the Pega-
sean bay and anchored in the road of Aphete,
directly opposite to the harbour of Artemisium.
The Grecians had posted sentinels on the heights
of Euboea, to observe the consequences of the
storm, and to watch the motions of the enemy.
When informed of the disaster which had befellen
them they poured out a joyful libation, and sa-
crificed, with pious gratitude, to * Neptune the
Deliverer.' The Persians, however, having reco-
vered from the terrors of the storm, prepared for
battle ; and, as they entertained not the smallest
doubt of conquering, they detached 200 of their
best sailing vessels round the isle of Eubosa, to inter-
cept the expected flight of the enemy through the
narrow Euripus. About sunset the Grecian fleet
approached m a line, and the Persians met them
with the confidence of victory, as their ships were
still sufliciently numerous to surround tnose of
their opponents. At their first signal the Greeks
formed into a circle, at the second they began the
fight. Though crowded into a narrow com-
pass, and having the enemy on every side, they
soon took thirty of their ships, and sunk many
more. Night came on, accompanied with an
impetuous storm of rain and thunder; the
Greeks retired into the harbour of Artemisium ;
the enemy were driven to the coast of Thessaly.
By good fortune however, rather than by de-
sign, the greatest part of the Persian fleet es-
caped immediate destruction, and gained the
Pegasean bay; but the ships ordered to sail
round EulxBa met with a more dreadful disaster.
They were overtaken by the storm, after they
had ventured farther from the shore than was
usual with the wary mariners of antiquity.
Clouds soon intercepted the stars, by which alone
they directed their course ; and after continuing
during the greatest part of the night the sport of
the elements, they all perished miserably amidst
the shoals and rocks of an unknown coast. The
morning arose with different prospects and hopes
to the Persians and Greeks. To the former it
discovered the extent of their misfortunes ; to
the latter it brought a reinforcement of fifty-
three Athenian ships. Encouraged by this fia,vor-
able circumstance, they determined again to at-
tack the enemy at the same hour as on the pre-
ceding day, because their knowledge of the
coast, and their skill in fighting their ships, ren-
dered the. dusk peculiarly propitious to their
designs. At the appointed time they sailed to-
wards the road of Aphete ; and having cut off
the Cilician squadron from the rest, totally de-
stroyed it, and returned at night to Artemisium.
The Persian commanders being deeply affected
with thf.r repeated disasters, but still more
alarmed at the much dreaded resentment of
their k'ng, determined to make one vigorous ef-
fort ff ; restoring the glory of their arms. By
art ar i stratagem, and under favor of the nigl^t,
the Creeks had hitherto gained many important
ad»^ Antages. It now belonged to the Persians to
cF oose the time for action. On the third day, at
noon, they sailed forth in the form of a crescent,
still sufficiently extensive to infold the Grecian
ART
line. The Greeks, animated by Ibrmer success
were averse to decline any offer of battle ; yet it
is probable that their admirals, and particularly
Themistocles, would much rather have delayed
it to a more favorable opportunity. Rage and
resentment supplied the defect of the barbarians
in skill and courage. The battle was longer,
and more doubtful, than on any former occasion;
many Grecian vessels were destroyed, five were
taken by the Egyptians, who particularly sig-
nalised themselves on the side ot the barbarians^
as the Athenians did on that of the Greeks. The
persevering valor of the Utter at length pre-
vailed, the enemy retiring, and acknowledging
their superiority, by leaving them in possession
of the dead and the wtedL, But the victory
cost them dear; since their vessels, particularly
those of the Athenians, were reducea to a very
shattered condition; and their great inferiority
in the number and size of their smps made tfiem
feel more sensibly every diminution of strength.^
Artemisium, a town of (Enotria, now csdled
St. Agatha, in Calabria, on the river Pisaurus, or
la Foglia, eight miles distant from the Tuscan sea.
Artemisium, an andent town of Spain, on
the sea-coast of Valencia, called also Dianium,
and now Denia, possessed by the Contestani.
ARTEM ON, a Syrian who resembled Anti-
ochus, king of Syria, so exactly, that by the con-
trivance of his queen Laodice, he personated
him after his death, and thus obtained the kingdom.
Artemon, the founder of the sect of Artemo-
nites, a sect of Unitarians who flourished about «
the year 210.
ARTEM US, a promontory of Valencia, called
also Cabo St. Martin, and Pnntader Emperador.
ARTENNA, in ornithology, the name of a
water-bird, of the size of a hen, of a brownish
color on the back, and white on the belly ; hav-
ing a crooked bill, and its three fore toes con-
nected by a membrane, but the hinder one loose.
It is found on the island Tr^miti, in the Adriatic
sea, and is supposed to be the avis Diomedis of
the ancients.
ARTERIA AspERA, Arteria Bronchia-
Lis, &c. See Anatomy, Index.
Arteria Venosa, a name given by the
ancients to the pulmonary vein, on the erroneous
supposition of its being an air-vessel, and that it
served for the conveyance of the vital aura from
the lungs to the heart.
ARTERIACA, Arteriacs. Medicines for
disorders of the trachea, and the voice. Arte-
riacs are reduced bv Gsden into three kinds : 1.
Such as are void of acrimony, serving to mollify
the asperities of the part ; such as gum traga-
canth, aster samias, starch, milk, &c. 2. Those
of an acrimonious quality, whereby they stimu-
late even the sound parts ; such as honey, tur-
pentine, bitter almonds, iris root, &c. 3. Those
of an intermediate kind, soft and mild, yet deter-
gent; such as butter, and preparations of al-
monds, honey, &c.
ARTERIOSA Vena, or Arterial Vein, a
denomination given to the pulmonary artery.
ARTERIOSUS Can a lis, a tube in the heart
of the foetus, which, with the foramen ovale,
serves to maintain the circulation of tlie bloo<i|
and to divert it from the lungs.
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ARTERY,) A^nipuhtpirUvstemita,9CCOTd-
Arte rial. ) ing to Pliny and Cicero. The
modems have a more accurate knowledge of the
human body than this bare and inadequate defi-
nition of the ancients affords. See Anatomy for
a complete view of the arteries.
Unlrenal plodding prisons up
The nimble spiriu in the arterie$.
8hak$peare. love's Labour Lort,
Had not the Maker wrought the springy frame ;
The blood, defranded of its nitrons food.
Had cool'd and languished in the arterial road.
^ackmore.
As this mixtore of Uood and chyle pasmth through
the arterial tube, it is pressed by two contraiy forces ;
that of the heart driving it forward against the sides
of the tube ; and the elastic force of ^e air, pressing
it on the opposite sides of those air-bladders, along
the sni£ue of which this arterial tube creeps.
ArbuOnot,
ARTHEL, in law, something cast into a court,
in Wales, or its marches, whereby the court is
letted or discontinued for the time. The casting
of arthel is prohibited, 26 Hen. VIII. cap. 6.
ARTHINGTON (Henry), a fenatical gentle-
man of Yoik^ire, who, towards the end of queen
Elizabeth's reign, engaged in treasonable prac-
tices against the government, with Edward Cop-
pinger a servant of the queen's, and one Hacket,
whom, in their fanaticism they styled ' king of
Europe !' Supposing themselves to be inspired,
Coppinger styled himself the ' prophet of mercy,'
and Anhington the ' prophet of judgment V
Arthington accordingly wrote and published his
prophecies, wherein were intermingled some se-
vere reflections against the lords of the privy
council, the judges, &c. They were at last all
three apprehended in July^ 1591 ; when Cop-
pinger oecame quite deranged, and never re-
covered his senses. Hacket was tried, con-
demned, and executed ; and Arthington. hearing
of Ukis, wrote a submissive letter to the lords of
councU, which, after some time, procured him
the queen's pardon. He died with the character
of an honest but weak man.
ARTHRITICA, in botany, a name given by
some to the primrose, and by others to the ground
pine.
ARTHRITICAL, > A^pmt, ptdii or disease
Arthrit'ick. ) which attacks thejoints^
from apOpov, a joint.
Frequent changes produce all the arihiritidk diseases.
ArJmtknot.
Serpents, worms, and leaches, though some want
bones, and all extended articulations, yet have they
arthrUiaal analogies; and, by the motion of fibrous and
musculous parU, are able to make progression.
Bnim^e Valgar Erron.
Unhappy ! whom to beds of pain
Arthriiie tyranny consigns ;
Whom smiling nature courts in vain.
Though mptaie sings and beauty shines.
Johnaon'i Ode on Spring,
ARTHRITIS ; from apOpor, a joint ; any
distemper that affecto the joints, but the gout
particularly.
Arthritis Plaketica, Arthritis Vaga, the
\v andering gout* that gives pain sometimes in one
hmb, and sometimes in another.
ARTHRODIA, in anatomy, a species of ar-
ticulation, wherein the flat head of one bone is
ART
received into a shallow socket in the other. Tlic
humerus and scapula are joined by this species
of articulation. See Anatomy, Index.
Arthrodia, in natural history, a genus of
imperfect crystals^ found always in complex
masses, and forming long single pyramids, with
very short and slender columns.
Arthrodia, in zoology, a cUiss of animalcule,
containing those with visible limbs.
ARTHRON; apOpov, Greek; a joint, or
connection of bones proper for motion.
ARTHROSIS, in anatomy, a juncture of two
bones designed for motion ; called also articu
lation. See Arthrodia.
ARTHUR, the celebrated hero of the^Britons,
is said to have been the son of Uter, named Pen-
dragon, king of Britain, and to have been bom
in 501. His life b a continued scene of won-
ders. He kiHed 470 Saxons with his own hand
in one day; and after having subdued many mighty
nations, and instituted the order of the knights
of the Round Table, died A.D. 542, of wounds
which he received in battle. The most par-
ticular detail of his story ahd his exploits is that
given by Geoffrey of Monmouth ; but his history
is so blended with the marvellous and the extra-
vagant, that not only the truth of the whole, but
even the reality of Arthur^s existence, has been
called in question. The ingenious Mr. Whitaker
however believes in his inslitution of the cele-
brated order of the round table, as also that it
was the origin of others of the like kind on the
continent
Arthur's Seat, a high hill in the neigh-
bourhood of Edinburgh^ said to have been so
denominated from a tradition diat king Arthur
surveyed the country frx>m its summit, and had
also defeated the Saxons in its neighbourhood.
This hill rises by a steep and rugged ascent, till it
terminates in a rockv point near 700 feet from
the base, being more than double the height of the
cross on the top of St. Paul's, London,, which is
340 feet. On the south it is in many parts a perpen-
dicular rock, composed of basaltic pillars^ regu-
larly pentagonal or hexagonal, about three feet in
diameter, and from forty to fifty feet in height.
Contiguous upon the west, and partly connected
with it at the base, are Salisbury crags^ of infe-
rior height but exhibiting an appearance equally
singular and grand. They present to the city an
awful front of broken rocks and precipices, form-
ing a sort of natural amphitheatre of solid rock ;
and backward fit>m the craggy verge above, the
hill forms an extensive irregular slope, the surface
affording pasture to numerous flocks of sheep.
The crags, beside ores, spars, rock-plants, and
here and there it is said some precious stones, af-
ford an inexhaustible supply oi granite for paving
the streets, &c. In quarrymg a part of the crags
has been worn down into a spacious shelf, having
the appearance of a lofW terrace, and stretching
a considerable length. From hence is a near and
distinct prospect of the city with its envir6ns and
the adjacent country. But from the pinnacle
called Arthur's Seat the view is more noble and
extensive. The traveller may here sit and survey
at his ease the centre of the kingdom, besides hav-
ing a complete view of Edinburgh and its castle,
on which he looks down as if seated among thc»
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cloudB. In a word, the GennanoccaOy the whole
course of the Forth, the distant Grampians, and
a large portion of the most populous and best cul-
ti\ated part of Scotland, form a landscape sub-
lime, various and beauti^l. The denomination
of thb hill, derived as above, has been adduced
as an argument against those who dispute the
existence of the British Arthur. That derivation,
however, though probable, is not without uncer-
tainty. For Arthur's Seat is said to be derived,
or rather corrupted, from A'rd Seir, ' a place or
Beld of arrows,' where people shot at a mark :
and this not improbably ; for among these cliffs
is a dell or recluse valley, where ue wind can
scarcely reach, now called the Hunter's bog, the
bottom of it being a morass. The adjacent craggs
are supposed to have taken dieir name from the
earl ol Salisbury, who, in the reign of Edward
III. accompanied that prince in an expedition
against the Scots; though, according to others,
the genuine derivation, like that of Arthur's seat,
is from % Celtic word also corrupted.
ARTICHOKE, in botany. See Cinara.
ARTICLE, V. & n. ^ Lat. articulus, a di-
AftTfcuLATEy vt. & o^/. f miuutive of artuij a
Aet^culately, a joint To enter into,
Articula'tiom . J draw up or state par-
ticulars, to make terms. To articulate is to pro-
nounce each portion of a sentence distinctly.
Prospero. Hut dum« spirit.
Performed to point the tempest that I bad thee.
Ariel. To every orlaeb. Shaitpeare. Tempest.
Henry's instructions were extreme curions and arti-
citiate, and in them more articles touching inquisition,
than negotiation} requiring an answer in distinct
articles to his quettions. Baom.
In speaking under water, when the voice is reduced
to an extreme exility, yet the articulate sounds, the
words, are not confounded. Id,
The first, at least, of these I thought den/d
To beasts ; whom God« on their creation day.
Created mute to all articulate sound. MiUom,
Antiquity expressed numbers by the fingers on
«ither hand. On the left they accounted their digiu
and articaUae numbers unto an hundred ; on the right
hand, hundreds and thousands.
Bream't Vulgar Brron,
If it be said, God chose the successor, that is mani-
festly not so in the story of Jephtha, where he orfieM
with the people, and they made him judge over them.
By orfMnblim I mean a peculiar motion and figure
of some parts belonging to the mouth, between the
throat and lips. Holder,
All the precepts, promises, and threatenings of the
gospel, will rise up in judgment against us; and the
artidei of our faith will be so many artidee of accusa-
tion ; and the great weight of our charge will be this.
That we did not obey the gospel, which we professed
to believe ; that we made confession of the Christian
fsith, but lired like Heathens. TtOotem.
Yon har^e small reason to repine upon that artkU
of life. Swift,
The dogmatist knows not by what art he directs his
tongue, in artiouhimg sounds into voices. QianeUle.
In the mean time they have ordered the preliminary
treaty to be published, with observations on each
artiele, in order to quiet the minds of his people.
Article, in grammar, is a particle used in
most languages for the declining of nouns, and
denoting t^tir several cases and genders. The
use of them chiefly arises in hmgoages that have
no different terminations to express the different
circumstances of nouns. The Latins have no
articles ; but the Greeks, and most of the modem
languages, have had recourse to them for fixing •
and ascertaining the vague signification of com-
mon and appellative names. Many have been
the controversies among grammarians upon the
use and meaning of these vwords. Mr. Harris,
whose knowledge was derived from the Greek
language and Greek grammarians^ and whose
principles are contradicted by the slightest 'lo-
auaintance with the Teutonic and Arabic, leads us
irough many a maze ; and we might have wan-
dered till this moment, if Mr. Tooke, in his obser-
vations on the word UuU, in his Epea Pteroenta,
had not pointed out to us the open and straight
road.upon this subject. In the English language we
call the words a and thf articles ; ue Germans have
ein and £ler; the French un and k; the Greeka
6 ; the Hebrews n : but the unfortunate Latins
are said to be without these joints and pep in
n>eech. But if one binguage is without them,
th^ are, it is evident, not essential to language ;
and it will be found difficult to make such a defi-
nition as shall exclude a variety of words, such
as hiCf thii, thaty &c. from makmg a part of this
division. In the languages above-mentioned the
precise meaning of ue words tAe, der, k^ 6y and
n, cannot at first sight be ascertained. The
English word a points obscurely to its meaning,
but the German ein and the French un clear the
road for investigation. Hiey are to be found
continually appUed to substantives, and mean
one. If a thing is generally reported, we say in
English, 'they say,' meaning a great number say
so : and so in French it is on cky or vma dkUy
'one person savs so/ meaning more than one
person by an ellipsis very common in that lan-
guage : in German it is man tagt, by man, mean-
ing man in general. We have thus found, that
in two languages one of the articles is merely a
word of number. Probabl;^ it may be so in
English; a may mean onCy or it is an abbreviation
of any. By trying the two senses it is evident
that a^ cannot be applied in the room of a, but
that one always can : and hence we might con-
clude that a and am are only other words for one,
and answer to the Gennan dn.
The article the^ as it is called, may not dis-
cover itself so easily. Yet let us try the same
anidoffy, for the etymology of it is not ascer-
tained. Vie answers to db* of the Germans,
and k of the French: but what is ^ ? the t^
of the Latins ; and hence we may reasonably
§ resume that our word the vtuo more an article
lan iUe^ and in &ct that it comes from some
adjective of the same signification. Let us try
by etymology. In German we have derydieydat;
whidi was ancientiy ther, thia (thio thiu) thaz,
and in the plural thie (thkr). ' This looks very
much like our the. In the Anglo-Saxon we find
to, ieo, that : in Islandic, ta, su, thai : in Gothic,
M, to, thata : in Hebrew, |1>t> 1T» HT : etjrmolo-
logists perhaps will not be displeased at our
making the words T\1 and the proceed from the
same original ; and we shall not be afraid of ex-
posing ourselves to the laughter of critics, if we
r»^r 3ie Doric njvoc to the same stock. If we
Digitized by
Googl(
ART 14
are right in out coniectures, the word ths is 9s
much a pronoun as the iUe of the Latins ; but, if
persons choose to have a distinct class of words
wnder the name of articles, we may say that the
English has two, a and the, which 'serve to de-
fine and ascertain any particular object, so as to
distinguish it from the other object of the general
class to which it belongs.'
Father Buffier distinguishes a third kind of
articles in French, which he calls intermediate
or partitive, serving to denote part of the thing
expressed by the substantives they are added to ;
as, des s^avanti ont cru, * some learned men have
supposed;' I want delalumiere, *8ome light.'
The use and distinction of the definite and inde-
finite articles U or la, and de or (^ make one of
the greatest difficulties in the French language;
as being entirely arbitrary, and only to be ac-
quired by practice.
The most philosophical and probable account
is that which has been so abl^ illustrated by the
learned bishop Middleton ; viz. that it is neither
more nor less than the demonstrative or relative
pronoun, for both were originally the same. The
article, together with its adjunct, forms in fact a
proposition, in which the participle of existence
u either expressed or understood, and which in-
volves a relation to something before said by
ihe speaker, or which is suppposed to pass in the
mind of the speaker. Thus, yipmv signifies gene-
rally < old man ;* but h ykpwv is equivalent to 8,
yi^v wy, where the pronoun 8, * this,' implies
that the old man now spoken of has been men-
tioned before, or that he is in some way or other
known to the hearer or the speaker.
Article, Articulus, in anatomy, a joint, or
juncture, of two or more bones of the body.
Article, in arithmetic, sometimes signifies the
number 10, or any number justly divisible into
ten parts, as 20, 30, 40, Ike.
Articlb of Faitb is by some defined a
point o/ Christian doctrine, which we are obliged
to believe as having been revealed by God him-
ielf, and allowed and established as such by the
church. The thirty-nine articles were founded,
for the most part, upon a body of articles com-
piled and published in the reign of Edward VI.
Tbev were first passed in the convocation, and
coi^nrmed by royal autliority in 1562. They
were afterwards ratified anew in the year 1571,
and again by Charles I. The law requires a
subscription to these articles of all persons or-
dained to be deacons or priests, 13 £1. cap. 12 ;
of all clergymen inducted to any ecclesiastical
living, by the same statute ; and of licensed lec-
turers and curates, 13 El. cap. 12 and 13, and
14 Ch. 11. cap. 4 ; of the heads of colleges, of
chancellors, officials and commissaries, and of
schoolmasters. By 1 William III. cap. 10. dis-
senting teachers are to subscribe to all except
the thirty-fourth, thirty-fifth, and thirty-sixth, and
part of the twentieth, and in the case of Ana-
baptists, except also part of the twenty-seventh ;
othewise they are exempted from the benefits of
the act of toleration. See Church of England.
Articles op the Clergy, Articuli cleri,
are certain statutes touching persons and causes
ecclesiastical, made under Edw. II. and III.
Articles of Lambeth were nine articles on
the subject of predestination, and the limitation
ART
of saving grace, which were drawn up by arch-
bishop Whitgift, and recommended to the atten-
tion of the students of Cambridge, in consequence
of some disputes which were raised in the uni-
versity at that time on the above-mentioned points.
They were, however, merely declaratory of the
doctrines of the church of England, and were not
imposed as of public authority.
Articularis Nervus. See An atomy. Index.
Articulate Sounds are such as express the
letters, syllables, or words, of an alphabet or
language : such are formed by the human voice,
and by some few birds, as parrots, &c.
Articulated Libel, lioellus articulatus, in
law, that wherein the parts of a fact are set fortli
to the judge in short, distinct articles.
Articulation, in anatomy. See Anatomy,
Index.
Articulation, in botany, is the connexion of
parts that consist of joints or knees, such as the
pods of French honey-suckles, which, when ripe^
divide into so many parts as there are knees or
joints ; also those parts of plants which swell into
nodes or joints, and which usually send forth
branches.
Articulation, in grammar, a distinct pro-
nunciation of word» and syllables.
ARTIFICERS, among the Romans, had their
peculiar temples, where they assembled and
chose their own patron, or advocate, to defend
their causes ; they were exempted from all per-
sonal services. Taruntenus Paiemus reckons
thirty-two species of artificers, and Constantine
thirty-five, who enjoyed this privilege. Artificers
were held a degree below merchants, and argentarii
or money-changers, and their employment more
sordid. Some deny, that in the earliest ages of
the Roman state, artificers were ranked iu the
number of citizens : others, who assert their cit-
izenship, allow that they were held in contempt,
as being unfit for war, and so poor that they
could scarcely pay any taxei. For which reason
they were not entered among the citizens in the
censor's books ; the design of the census being
only to see what number of persons were vearly
fit lo bear arms, and to pay taxes towaros the
support of the state. In almost all ages, till
the present, and under most forms of govern-
ment, artificers have been too little respected.
By means of the arts, the minds of men are
engaged in inventions beneficial to the whole
community ; and thus prove the grand preser-
vative against that barbarism and brutality, which
ever attend indolence and induce stupidity. Ra-
mazini has a treatise on the diseases of artificers.
ARTIFICIAL Day, the time between the
sun's rising and setting in any position of the
hemisphere.
Artificial Lines, on a sector or scale, are
lines so contrived as to represent the logahthroick
lines and tangents ; which, by the help of the
line of numbers, solve, with tolerable exact-
ness, questions in trigonometry^ navigation, &c.
Chambers ,
Artificial Music, that which is according
to the rules of art ; or executed by instrumenu
invented by art. It is also used, in another
sense, for some artful contrivance in music ; as
when a piece is sung in two parts ; one of which
is by B moUe, or flat and the other by B sharp.
Digitized by
Googl(
Digitized by
Googl(
Kotu),>n. Put'ii,,ttf,i hv rti^$tHM rrffft. 7. ? 0,^p.t„t^. Junt. / //{?(;,
Digitized by ^
15
ARTILLERY.
Fr. artiUcrie. Of doubtful twisted ropes inclined to recoil. Besides stones^
were also used balb of earth, probably baked
pelotesy corrupted into pellets and bullets. It
will be sufficient therefore to enumerate shortly
the machines, though it is to be recollected, that
ancient authors are perpetually confounding the
appellations. The arbalist is described in 1343
as a large cross-bow, furnished with a hundred
gogions, or balls, and grapple to draw it up.
The balista is said to be a Phcenician invention
for throwing huge stones, confounded sometimes
with *he catapult, which threw darts, a Syrian
contrivance, conveyed to the Syracusans, whence
it was brought into Greece by Philip of Macedon.
Accounts of the construction vary, out the cross-
Upon one wing the mtUlery wu drawn, being six- bow principle of action seems the most proba-
ARTIL'LERY.
origin.
Have I not heard great ordnance in the field ?
And heav'n's arUUery thunder in the slcies ?
Shakipeare.
Ill to the tower with all the haste I can.
To view th' artiOenf and ammnnition. Id,
And Jonadian gave hit artillery onto his lad, ana
said onto him ; Go, carry them unto the city.
As when two black douds
With heaven's arHMery fraught, come rattling on
Over the Caspian, then stand front to front
Hov'ring a space, till winds the signal blow
To join their dark encounter in mid air.
MilUmU Paradiie Loit,h, ii.
teen pieces; every piece having pioneers, to plain
the ways. Hayward.
He that views a fort to take it,
Planta his arUUery against the weakest place.
Denham,
Artillery, in its general sense, denotes,
1. The offensive apparatus of war, particularly
of the missile kind. Among the French the
tenn was anciently appropriated to archery.
In its modem signification it denotes certain fire-
arms mounted on carnages and ready for action,
with their balls, bombs, grenades, rOckets, &c.
2. In a more extensive meaning, it includes the
means which facilitate' their motion and trans-
port, the vehicles over which they traverse rivers,
every thing, in short, necessary to them, or that
belongs to a train of artillery. 3. In a sense
still more extensive, the word comprehends
the men and officers destined for the service
of the artillery. 4. By the term artillery is
likewise understood the science which the
officers of artillery ought to possess.
Sect. I. — Op Ancient Missiles and Mili-
tary Engines.
The missfles of the ancients were of three
kinds, viz. on the j^rinciple of the cross-bow, the mate-griffon (i. e. destroyer of the Greeks) threw
sling, and the recoil of twisted ropes. The first both darts and stones.
sent forward darts and sometimes combustible The mamt-bdista, or cross bow, supposed to
arrows ; the second was the balista kind, here- be of Sicilian and Cretan orinn, was perhaps the
afler described ; the third acted like the boy's most important machine of this kind, and intro-
bone bow, which by means of a wooden lever duced into Europe by the Crusades. It was
and a twisted string ejects a plum-stone. Dr. known in Englano, at least for use in the chase,
Mevrick has had the good fortune to meet in an as early as the time of the Conquest. Its appli-
ancient manuscript with actual delineations of the cation to warlike uses (not its introduction) by
leading kinds of these engines used in the middle Richard I. is well supported; it was used in
ages. The bsdista seems only to have been a Italy in 1139. A legionary soldier appears on
large beam^ rather crooked, resting at about two- an ancient seal endeavourmg to bend tne arcu-
thirds of its length on a forked support ; if of balist with his foot. Five years earlier, mention
three legs, then called trepied. Plate, Ancient is made of tumi balisterii, or the arbaleste-a-tour.
Artillery, fig. 1. At the long end was a great
pear-shaped bag, tied to the beam by a stout
rope. At the short end was a larse box full of
stones. The long end being suddenly released,
slung upon the enemy the contents of the bag,
through being jerked up by the great weight of bows used in the reign of Henry VII. were of
the stone box. The onager, fig. 2, threw a like two kinds ; the latdi, with its wide and thick
bag of stones, but there was no stone-box, the bender, for quarrels, and the prodd for bullets,
•leam being impelled by its position between The stock of the former was stiort and straight.
ble. ' The scorpio was a smaller kind ot cata-
pult. In the middle ages, besides the balista,
catapult, onager, and scorpion, Grose mentions
the mangona, and its diminutive mangonel,
similar to the balista. The trebuchet or trip-
getis, for throwing stones, which seems to have
been the same as the trepied, before mentioned,
though Dr. Meyrick says the term trebuche^
appears to imply a military engine, which ejected
its ammunition from a trap-door, treboccbetto.
The petiary, roatafunda, bygles or bibles, cou-
illart, and war-wolf (in one sense) also machines
for ejecting stones. The bricolle, carreaux or
quarrels, and the espringal, calculated for throw-
ing large darts, called muchettae ; and sometimes
viretons, i. e. arrows with the feathers put dia^
gonally so as to occasion them to turn in the air,
but it. was not limited to darts ; for according to
Dr. Meyiick, v. ii. p. 63, in 1342 the gates
and towers of Norwich were furnished with
thirty espringolds for casting great stones, and
to every espnngold a hundred gogions or balls
fastened up in a box, with ropes and other accou-
trements oelonging to them; which illustrates
the construction before given. The robinet and
^t drawn up by a turn ; and in 1320, of the
balista grossa de molinellis, or one wound by a
moulinet or windlass, see fig. 6, and the balista
grossa de arganellis, i. e. one furnished with
tubes for ejecting the Greek fire. The cross-
Digitized by
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16
ARTILLERY
not nmch exoeedtnt^ two feet, and tae bow was
bent by the windlasu or mouUnet.
Of the important battering ram Vlinj and
others hare made Epeus the inventor, dunngthe
siege of Troy; but as it is not mentioned by
Homer, nor any Greek writer, Vitnivius and
TeituUian more probably assign the invention to
Pephasmenon, a T^rian, in the army of Car-
thage, during the siege of Cadiz. There were
three kinds of rams; one suspended, fig. 5;
the second running upon rollers, fiff. 3; the
third carried by the men who worked it, fig. 5.
At Haguenau, and Morviedro, the ancient Sa-
guntom, are the remains of two : one is topped
with a strong head of iron, square and of one
piece ; the other consists of three pieces, has a
ram's head, and is similar- to one on the arch of
Sererus. The ram was used in the middle ages;
and S^r Christopher Wren, in throwing down
old walls, founct no machine equal to it, parti-
cularly in disjointing the stones. The momentum
of one, twenty-eight inches diameter, 180 feet
long, with a head of a ton and a half weighed
41,112 lbs. and worked by a thousand men, was
about equal to a point-blank shot firom a thirty-
six pounder.
Hardly, perhaps, to be called artillery, but
materially assisting their operations were the
ancient rmacultu or tettudo a covered machine,
probably the subsequent sow, a very low shed,
long and very sharp roofed ; used to advance to
the wall, and overturn it by sap. The uluteus,
a machine covered with ozier work ana hides,
running upon three wheels, one in the middle,
and two at the extremities. The, cat, also a
covered shed, occasionally fixed on wheels, and
used for protecting soldiers employed in filling
up the ditch, preparing the way for the movable
tower, mining the wall,&c. Some of these cats
had crenelles and chinks, from whence the
archers could discharge their arrows. These
were called castellated cats; and sometimes
under cover of this machine, the beseigers work-
ed a small kind of ram ; fig. 4. Dr. Meyrick,
from an ancient illumination, has engraved one
of these, called the chaschateil or cat castle. It
resembles in form a modem four-post bedstead
upon wheels. A miner is workmg under it
with a pick-axe. And to the same purpose the
vinea, another shed, was applied.
The beffraeium or beffroip was a tower with
stories, moved up to the walls. A cat, made of
osier twigs and leather, and covered with planks,
was used to protect those ^ho filled up the
ditches preparatory to wheeling upon them the
belfries; from this use of the cat, was derived
the French word eschaufimx, an elevated floor,
and subsequently the Engtish word scafibld.
Elsewhere Dr. Meyrick says, the catti versatiles,
were chats laulx fiimished with drawbridges.
The chief belfries were called brestachis or
brestaches. William de Breton says, he caused
to be made double brestaches in seven different
J)laces. These were wooden castles, very highly
brtified, surrounded with double quadrangular
fosses, at a proportionate distance from each
other, with arawbridges thrown across them,
and he had not only these filled with armed
meop but the int^or surfiice of each foss, and
thus he surrounded the besieged by bis works*
Such wooden castles were also called basUles-
An interesting print of a movable belfroi is
given by Grose. It consists of a ground-floor
occupied by a ram, and four upper stories by
archen and cross-bowmen; the hiehest story
rose above the walls, and fix>m that directly be-
low, a drawbridge was let down, and rested
upon the wall ; see our fig. 3. Some of these
towers used by the early ancients were of amazing
magnitude, being with pyramids twenty, fifteen,
or ten stages or floors.
Thepricklff cat, or felts echinataf was a beam,
bristled with oaken teeth, which, being hung at
an embrasure, could be let down upon an
enemy. For the same purpose was used the fis-
tucabellica or war-hammer, fitted with curved
nails and hooks, and suspended by a chain, to
draw up the enemy from below.
Missive wheels were formed of mill-stones
joined by an oaken axis, and let down upon
besiegers ; missive chariots were rolled down an
inclined plane, and retained by chains to discharge
hot or cold stones. In the middle age the ma-
chines were commonly made upon the spot.
Hogsheads fiiU of stones were used in the reign
of Edward I. as a protecting rampart to defend
the workmen in sieges.
Sect. II. — Of Modern Artillery.
According to Du Cange the word artillery
(ars telaria, meaning boi^, arrows, and all im-
plements of war,) first occurs in Rymer. Grose
is confirmed by Dr. Meyrick in assigning the
introduction of it to the fourteenth century.
Cannon called dolia ignivoma, or fire-flashing
vessels, in Spain, were known in Italy as early
as the year 1351, and were used by our Edward
III. They were termed by the French, gunne,
and appear at first to have been of two kinds —
a large one for discharging stones, called a bom-
bard, and a smaller sort for discharging darts> or
quarrels. In 1377, 1 Richard II. Thomas Nor-
buiy was directed to provide horn lliomas Rest-
wold of London, two great and two less engines,
called cannons, 600 stone shot for the same, and
salt-petre, charcoal, and other ammunition, for
stores, to be sent to the castle of Bristol. At the
first invention of cannon, darts and bolts were
shot frt>m them ; but, before these, stones were
used instead, for, in 1388; a stone bullet, which
weighed 195 lbs., was discharged from a bombard
called the trevisan.
The bombard was so called from tlie Greek
PofiPoQ, which expressed the noise it made in
the ^ring. It was a Greek invention, and there
is some reason to conceit e that gunpowder owed
its origin to the same people. At first used only
in fire-works amusively, its discovery is in-
volved in obscurity. From a tract on Pyrotechny
by Marcus Grecus, Friar Bacon, in 1270, learned
that its composition was two pounds of charcoal,
one of sulphur, and six of salt-petre, well pul-
verised and mixed. It was first made in Lng-
land in the time of Elizabeth. At first it was
not corned, but remained in its mealed state. It
was then called serpentine powder, Meyrick, v.
iii. p. 71. The first oombards were made of bara
of iron, strengthened with welded hoops of the
Digitized by
Googl(
ARTILLERY.
17
same metal. The^ were short with large bores,
and were 'made with chambers, in imitation of
the tubes which ejected the Greek fire. These
chambers consisted of the lower half of the cy-
linder, the upper being open for the admission
of the can, or canister, which held the charge,
from whence probably arose the term cannon.
One of these may be seen in the tower of Lon-
don, and there is another at Rhodes of the six-
teenth century, on iti original carriage, and a
stone ball to fire from it. It is nineteen feet in
length, two feet eight inches in diameter, its
(alibre two feet, and its thickness four inches.
About half the length is of a less diameter, and
in Uiis, as in a chamber, was placed the powder,
while the ball was in the larger part. The car-
riage was made of timber, placed lengthways,
and cramped together. These bombards were
the only kmd of cannon employed in the four-
teenth century, and were Grose's howitser kind,
in use before mortars. After this invention of
bombs, that of carcases of di£ferent kinds soon
followed. The former, according to Strada, took
place in 1588. Grenades are said to have been
first used in 1594 in which year the howitzer
was Invented by the Germans. The bomb being
intended to beat down buildings in its fall, or to
break and destroy every thing around it, by the
pieces of broken iron scattered in all directions
oy its explosions, the end proposed by the car-
case and grenade was to bum tne town by means
of fire-balls. The petard for forcing gates was
invented in France, a short time before the year
1579, and soon after introduced into England.
The term bombard generally designates bat-
tering guns and mortars ; but the word is also
applied to lighter cannon. Accordingly Dr.
Meyrick calls a cannon engraved by Strutt, a
bombard on a carriage, light ip proportion, to
the bulk of the piece. Its trail consists of a pro-
longation of the cascabale, which rests on the
ground, a block of wood serving as a quoin for
die purpose of depression. Admitting that can-
non were not usea in the field till the fifteenth
century, this gun, for it is very small, is the kind
to which Froissart alludes, when he mentions two
hundred carts loaded with cannon and artillery ;
cannonades with bars of iron and quarrels
headed with brass, and cannon mounted on walls
and battlements. The balls were of stone adapted
to the calibre. In 1434 it is said that the En-
glish had many kinds of projectiles, 'cannons,
culverines, and other vuglaires,' more properly
vulgaires, the ordinary kind. The scorpion was
another sort. In an illuminated copy of the
Roman de la Rose, done at the commencement
of the reign of Edward IV. 1461, is the de-
lineation of an iron cannon. The piece is placed
in a kind of trough, or bed of wood, wnich is
continued to the earth, not unlike a modem
horse-artillery trail. Grose very properly says,
that most of uie earliest cannons were mere cylin-
ders, fixed on sledges and being often composed
of iron bars, iron plates rolled, or even jacked
leather hooped, could be fired, because they
were loaded by chambers fixed in at the breech.
At this time they were generally purchased from
abroad ; and though Henry VII. and VIII. had
Flemish gunners to teach the art, yet they did not
Vol. III.
understand it upon mathematical principles ; and
in the sixteenth century the ordnance rarely
made more than one discharge, the cavalry
being able to charge them before they could load
again. Aliens were employed in 1543 in cast-
ing great brass ordnance, though one John Owen
was said to have so done in .1521. In 1626,
2 Charles I. one Arnold Rotespen had a patent
for making guns in a manner before unknown
in this kingdom. «
Culverines were an early denomination of a
species of large camion ; and when the distinc-
tion between battering-pieces (all above twelve
pounders) and field-pieces commenced, accord-
mg to Dr. Meyrick, temp. Henry VIII. tlie ap-
pellations were numerous. These names were
derived from the tubes which had been used to
eject the Greek fire, being fashioned so as to
represent the mouths of monsters. The basilisk,
the largest, shot stones of 200 pounds weight.
It was so denominated fit>m a basilisk sculptured
upon it. The shot in this reign consisted of
iron, lead, and stone balls; and ladles and
sponges were used. Different proportions were
given by various nations to pieces of the same
denomination ; but the following table of Ord-
nance in the reign of Elizabeth, applies m the
main to the times immediately preceding :
Denomination.
Cannon Royal .
Cannon . . . ,
Cannon Serpentine ,
Bastard Cannon
Demi-cannon
Cannon Petro' .
Culverin . . . .
Basilisk . . . .
Demi-culverin . .
Bastard Culverin
Sacar ....
Minion ...
Faulcon . . .
Falconet '. . .
Serpentine . .
Rabinet . . .
i
0U
66
60
53|
41
33
24
m
15
n
5
5\
4
2
n
i
I
8i
B
7
7
6i
5J
5
4
4
35
H
2
n
The change introduced in the military art by
'the modem artillery. Dr. Smith observes, has
enhanced greatly both the expense of exercising
and disciplining any particular number of sol-
diers in time of peace, and that of employing
them in time of war. Both their arms and am-
munition are become more expensive. A musket
is a more expensive'machine than a javelin or a
bow and arrows ; a cannon or a moiW than a
balista or a catapulta. The powder which is
spent in a modem review, is lost irrecoverably,
and occasions a very considerable expense. The
javelins and arrows which were thrown or shot in
an ancient one, could easily be picked up again,
and were besides of very little value. Tne <
C
Digitized by
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18
ARTILLERY.
non and the ;flortar are not only mu'cb dearer,
but much heavier machines than the balista or
catapulta, and require a greater expense not only
to prepare them for the field but to carry them to
it. As the superiority of the modern artillery
too over that of the ancients is very great, it has
become much more difficult, and consequently
much more expensive, to fortify a town so as to
resist, even for a few weeks, the attack of that
superior artillery. In modem war, the great ex-
pense of fire-arms gives an evident advantage to
the nation which can be^t afibrd that expense ;
and consequently to an opulent apd civilised,
over a poor and barbarous nation. In ancient
times, the opulent and civilised found it difficult
to defend themselves against the poor and bar-
barous nations. In modern times, the poor and
barbarous find it difficult to defend themselves
against the opulent and civilised. The invention
of fire-arms, therefore, an invention, which at
first sight appears to be so pernicious, is cer-*
tainly fiivorable, both to the permanency and
to the extension of civilisation. And, on the
whole, the invention of gun-powder and modern
artillery may be said to have saved the effusion
of human blood. Equestrian engagements (the
principles on which cavalry act being nearly the
same m every age,) are still simiUr in circum-<
stances to those which appear so 4»xtraordinary
in the battles of antiquity.
The present artillery of Great Britain is ad-
mitted to be the most perfect force of that
description in Europe. It was until recently
divide into the artillery of the park, the horse
artillery, and the battalion guns, viz. all the light
pieces of ordnance attached to regiments of the
line. This latter description, however, has been
discontinued of late, and origades of foot and horse
now comprehend the whole of our regular artillery.
A brigade of foot artillery has either five me-
dium 12-poundersand a heavy 5 ^-inch howitzer;
five 9-pounders and ditto ; five long 6-po*mders
and ditto; five light 6-pounders and a light Sc-
inch howitzer ; or six 3-pounders when acting in
a mountainous district. In the late vrar the
9-pounders were more generally used, as best
opposed to the 8-pounders of the French army.
The guns and howitzers are accompanied by
ammunition cars, upon a new principle. To
every brigade is a forge cart, a camp equipage
waggon, and sparegun carriage, with spare
wheels, and tools for a wheeler, collar-maker,
and carriage-smith. The proportioning of field
and battering ordnance, for foreign service, is a
business of great importance, from the know-
ledge which is requisite to fix upon all the nu-
merous articles to accompany the service, and
the method to be pursued in equalising, arrang-
mg, and disposing of the guns, ammunition, aad
stores. No certain criterion can ever be esta-
blished as to the proportion of artillery to be
sent upon any expedition, as it must depend
entirely upon Uie nature of the service ; and great
changes are generally made to suit the ideas of
the officer who is to command the army, and
also those of the officer of artillery, who may be
selected to accompany it. But two brigades of
field artillery to a division of an army consisting
of 6000 men, may be considered a good propor-
tion, independent of the reserve park.
A troop of British horse artillery has generally,
five 6-poundei8 and one light 5i-inch howitzer.
The French have generally 8-pounders and a
6-inch howitzer, ^ch troqp consisting of one
captain, one second captain, three subaltern^,
two staff* Serjeants, twelve non-commissioned of-
ficers, seventy-five gunners, forty-six drivers, six
artificers, and one trumpeter, with eighty-six
draught horses, apd fifty-six riding horses, and
six pieces of ordnance, with carnages for the
conveyance of ammunition, camp equipage, and
stores. , Horse artillery was brought into the
service of this country by the duke of Richmond
in the year 1792. There is a colonel-command-
ant, two colonels en second, four lieutenant^
colonels, and one major, attached to it. The
movements of horse artillery are made with great
celerity, aqd it has been found, that they are
perfectly adapted to act with cavaUry in the field,
in their most rapid movements, and are co|isi-
dered as forming an essential addition to the
artillery service.
The rc^al artillery drivers are a corps first
formed about twelve years ago, by the ouke of
Eichmond. Previous to the corps being esta-
blished, the horses and drivers were provided by
contract ; but, as no reliance could be placed on
the service of either men or horses so procured,
it was found absolutely necessary to abolish so
upmilitary and destructive a plan ; and to em-
ploy able men well trained to the service. The
artillery horses are now kept in the highest con-
dition, the drivers being thoroughly drilled to
the manoeuvres of artillery, and capable of se-
curing, by rapid movemenU, advantageous posi-
tions in uie field. This change arises from the
high atate of excellence in which the brigades
are equipped, and from the artillery men being,
in particular casea^ mounted upon the cars at-
tending the brigades.
A park of artillery is a sort of movable super-
numerary detachment, oontsuning not only light
guns, to replace such as may be lost or taken,
but 12-pottnders^ or 18-pounders, with 8 inch
howitzeis, for the purpose of defending impor-
tant piOtfitions, entfenched posts, &c. breaking
down bridges, and conductii^ sieges. Attached
to it also are the reserve officers and men of this
service. In expedition service, where disem-
barkations of artillery take place, the depot of
reserve carriages, ammunition and stores, is
usually formed near to the spot where the articles
are landed from the ships» and a communication
is kepi up between the advanced park and the
depot, from whence the articlei ace forwarded
as demanded for the immediate exigencies of the
park.
Regiments of artillery are always encamped,
half on the right and half on the left of the park
The company of bombardiers (when they are
formed into companies, which is the case in al-
most every nation except England) always takes
the right of the whole, and the lieutenant colo-
nel's company the left ; next to the bombardiers,
the colonels, the ms^rs, &c. so that the two
youngest are next but one to the centre or park ;
the two companies next to the park are ibc
miners on the right, and the artificers on the left.
In the rear o^ and thirty-six feet fit>in, the paik,
are encamped the civil list, all in one line.
Digitized by
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ARTILLERY.
19
The ioUowing Tables exhibit the latest official reflations for the proportion and disposition of
the ammunition attached to the field-pieces of our army.
TABLE I.
Heavy 5| Iwch Howitzer.
^
l"3
B
c
Where carried.
Howitzer limber I ^fj^^
( Off Box .
} Near Box .
J Fore Box .
i Hind Box
Total .
S §>C Limber
HI
||( Body.
58
Case Shot.
4 78
Cartridges.
78
58
LiOHT 5^ Ikch Howitzer.
I
I
"•Homtasr limber I Of„»^
Limber
Body.
Box.
c Off Box .
i Near Box .
( Fore Box .
l Hind Box
Total .
These are only 1-lb cartridges.
TABLE n.
Heavy Six-Pounder.
62 10 8 4 84 84 62 8
10*
10
11
11
21
21
B
£
Where cazried.
Gun limber .
Limber
Body. I
^ Off Box .
J Near Box
i OIF Box .
C Near Box
Fore Box
Hind Box
Total
Total for five guns 700
140
Case Shdt
15
75
15
75
10
— 10
20
100
190
950
Cartridges.
170
850
20
100
20
100
Light Six-Pounder.
r c i
rBox .
. ; . .
8
^ ,
^_
_
8
. •
,
_
^
k\
}
1 Off Box ....
iNearBox. . . .
16
5
•—
21
25
_
1
^ i
<-
16
5
—
21
25
^
^ Limber
J Off Box ... .
i Near Box ... ,
16
16
4
4
—
20
20
20
20
—
—
3
[ Body.
tf Fore Box ....
{Hind Box. . . .
Total ....
Total for five guns .
25
5
5
10
45
35
10
10
35
—
10
45
35
10
10
132
14
14
20
180
160
20 20
660
70
70
100
900
800
lOO iioo
These are only l^-lb. cartridges.
C 2
Digitized by
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20
ARTILLERY.
TABLE m.
NiNE-POUNDER.
. — . — _ — 1
Description,
of carriage.
Where carried
i
O
Case Shot.
o
Cartridges.
>
4
^
p.
i
pi
S
i
CO
1
1
i
■V
n
fGun Limber . . ^ "ff Bo,^^ ; ; ; ;
11^'™'-- • \ZfZ.: : : :
. i 5 i' T> 1 t t'ore Box ....
. ^-)Body . . ^HindBox. . . .
Total
^ Total for five guns . . .
13
13
13
13
12
24
3
3
2
3
3
2
12
16
16
16
16
28
24
16
16
16
16
16
24
12
12
88
8
8
12
116
104
12
12
440
40
40
60
580
520
60
60
r Gun limber, two boxes
lAmunition Carriage
) Total
Total for five guns ....
26
52
3
5
3
5
10
32
72
32
62
10
kO
78
8
8
10
104
94
10
10
390
40
40
50
520
470
50
50
TABLE IV.
Medium Twelve-Pounder,
1^
Wliere canied.
1
1
Case shot.
1
1
Cartridges.
fib
"(3
•g.
05
^
-*
4
i
1
z
I.i
si
s
rGunLin,ber...|Offf-^;;;:;
iHLih.ber..^,«fJ^o-;;;::;;
' <U C**'*'*> ■ • • ^ Hind Box
Total
Total for five guns
3
5
12
12
12
16
1
4
2
1
4
2
8
6
6
16
16
20
20
6
6
16
16
12
20
8
8
62
7
7
8
84
76
8
8
310
35
35
40
420
380
40
40
'Gun Limber... j g^f ^ ^ ; ; ] ; ; ;
5 to C Limber Box
5
5
22
13
13
1
2
2
2
1
2
2
2
6
6
6
32
17
17
6
6
26
17
17
6
6
£ 'S < T> J S Fore Box ...... !
^ |^|Body ... jHi^dBox
Total
^ Total for five guns
58
7
7
6
78
72
6
6
1
O
290
^5
35
30
390
360
30
1
30
Digitized b)
Google
ARTOCARPUS.
21
ARTISCUS ; from aproc, bread ; in medicine,
denotes a troche, more particularly that pre-
eared with vipers ^esh mixed up with bread, to
e used in th6 composition of Venice treacle.
ARTIST. See Art.
An Abtist has more correctly been defined
one who practises any of the liberal arts as a
profession, in distinction from the artisan who
mixes them with trade and commerce. The
Duilder, it is said, should not be called an archi-
tect, nor should Uie sign-painter, the figure-
caster, or plasterer, the cnair-sculptor, com-
monly called cabinet-maker, the paper-hanger,
or wall-decorator, be called artists, because their
employments do not consist in the exercise of
the higher fiiculties of the mind, but in prac-
tising lower departments of art, or in executing
the thoughts and designs of others. We are told
of a privilege granted at Vicenza to arttsts, some-
tliing like me benefit of clergy in England, in
virtue whereof a criminal adjudged to death
saves his life if he can prove himself the most
consummate workman in any usefiil art This
plea is allowed them, in favorem artis, for the
first offence ; except in some particular crimes,
of which coinine is one ; for here the greater the
artist the more dangerous the person.
ARTiZOOS; from apn short, and ^wiy, life;
is used by some ancient physicians for an infant
short-lived by reason of a difficult birth.
ARTOBRIGA, an ancient town of Vindelicia,
now called Altzburg, in Bavaria, on the Danube,
below Ingolstadt, according to Aventinus ; but
Cluverius supposes it to be Labenau on the
Saltzbach, below Laufien, in the archbishopric
of Saltsburg.
ARTOCARPUS; from o^oq, bread, and
capiroc, fruit; the bread-fruit tree; a genus of
the monandria order and monoecia class ; natural
order, urticae. It has a cylindric amentum,
thickens gradually, and is covered with flowers :
the male and female in a different amentum. In
the male, cal. none ; cos. bivalved. In the fe^
male no calyx nor corolla ; stylus, one, and the
dnipa is many celled. The species are, artocar-
pus incisa, sitodium incisum, radermachia incisa,
soccus lanosus, seu granosus, in French le rima,
ou fruit k pain, bread-fruit tree, native of the
^Molucca Islands. Artocarpus integrifolia, sito-
dium macrocarpon, seu cauliflonim, raderma-
chia Integra, soccus arboreus, seu tojacca-marum
Indica, Indian jaca tree, a shrub, native of the
Kast Indies. Artocarpus Philippensis, a shrub,
native of the Phillippine Islanas. Artocarpus
pubescens, ansjeli, seu castania malabarica, a
shrub, native of Malabar. Though this tree has
been mentioned by many voyagers, particularly
by Dampier, Rumphius, and Lord Anson, yet
very little notice seems to have been taken of it
till the return of Captain Wallis from the South
Seas. Dampier states that in Guam, one of the
£adrone islaiids, ' there is a certain fruit called
the bread-fruit, growing on a tree as big as our
lanre apple-trees, with dark leaves. It is round,
and grows on the boughs like apples, of the big-
ness of a good penny loaf: when ripe it turns
yellow, soft, and sweet, but the natives take it
green, and bake it in an oven till the rind is
bbck ; this they scrape off and eat the inside.
which is soft and white, like the inside of new-
baked bread, having neither seed nor stone ; but
if kept above twenty-four hours it is harsh. As
this fruit is in season eight months in the year,
the natives feed upon no other sort of bread
during that time.' Rumphius says, * the fruit is
shaped like a heart, and increases to the size of a
child's head. Its surface or rind is thick, green,
and covered everywhere with warts of a qua-
dragonal or hexagonal figure, like cut diamonds,
but without points. The more flat and smooth
these warts are the fewer seeds are contained in
the firuit, and the greater is the quantity of pith,
and that of a more glutinous nature. The inter-
nal part of the rind, or peel, consists of a fleshy
substance, full of twisted fibres, which have the
appearance of fine wool ; these adhere to and in
some measure form it. The fleshy part becomes
softer towards the middle, where there is a small
cavity formed without any nuts or seeds, except
in one species which has but a small number,
and this sort is not good unless it is baked or
prepared some other way ; but if the outward
rina be taken off, and the fibrous flesh dried and
afterwards boiled with meat as we do cabbage, it
has then the taste of artichoke bottoms. The in-
habitants of Amboyna dress it in the liquor of
cocoa-nuts, but they prefer it roasted on coals
till the outward part or peel is burnt. They
afterwards cut it mto pieces and eat it with the
milk of the cocoa-nut. Some people make fi-it-
ters of it, or fry it in oil; and others, as the Su-
matrans, dry the internal soft part, and keep it to
use, instead'of bread, with other food. It affords
a great deal of nourishment, and is very satisfy-
ing, . therefore proper for hard-^working people ;
and being of a gentle astringent quality is good
for persons of a laxative habit of body. It is
more nourishing boiled in our manner with fat
meat, than roasted on coals. The milky juice
which distils fVom the trunk, boiled with the
cocoa-nut oil, make.<i a very strong bird-lime.
This tree is to be found on the eastern parts
of Sumatra, and in the Malay language is called
soccus and soccum capas.. It grows likewise
about the town of Bantam in Java, and in
Balega and Madura.'
In 1791 a vessel was fitted out for the pur-
pose of conveying a quantity of these inestinui-
Dle trees to various parts of his majesty's co-
lonies, under the command of Captain Bligh,
who set sail on the 2d of August, and arrived
at Otaheite April 8, 1792. The number of plants
taken on board at Otaheite was 2634, in 1281
pots, tubs, and cases; and of these 1151 were
bread-fruit trees. When they arrived at Coupang
200 plants were dead ; but the rest were in good
order. They arrived at St. Helena with 830
fine bread-fruit trees, besides other plants. Here
they left some of them, and from hence the
East Indies may be supplied with them. On
their arrival at St. Vincent's they had 678 bread-
fruit treed. Nearly half this cargo was deposited
here for the use of the Windward Islands ; and
the remainder, intended for the Leeward Islands,
was conveyed to Jamaica, and distributed as the
governor and council of Jamaica pleased to direct.
The exact number of bread-fruit trees brought to
Jamaica was 352, out of which five only were
Digitized by
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ARV 22
reserved for the botanic garden at Kew. There
is a distinction between that which bears fruit
with stones or seeds, and that in which the fruit
has none. The parts of fructification of that
tree which bears the fruit without stones are de-
fective. The amentum, or catkin, which con-
tains the male parts, never expands. The styli,
or female parts of the fruit, are, likewise defi-
cient : from which it follows that there cSfli be
no stones or seeds, and therefore this tree can
only be propagated by suckers or layers; although
it is abundantly evident that it nnist originally
have proceeded from the seed-bearing bread-
fruit tree. Instances of this kind we sometimes
find in European fruit, such as the barberry and
the Corinthian grape from Zant, commonly
called currants, whicn can therefore be increased
only by layers and cuttings. Dr. Solander was
assured by the oldest inhabitants of Otaheite,
and the adjoining islands, that they well remem-
bered there was formerly plenty of the seed-bear^
ing bread-fruit; but they had been neglected on
account of the preference given to the bread-fruit
without seed, which they propagate by suckers.
ARTOIS, a ci-devant province of France, ex-
tremely fertile, and formerly one of the seven-
teen provinces of the Netherlands. The name
was derived from the Atrebates, the ancient in-
habitants. Its greatest length from north to
south was about twenty-four leagues, and its
breadth about twelve, being bounded on the
south and west by Picardy; on the east by
Hainault; and on the north by Flanders. It is
now included in the department of the Straits
of Calais. Artois was always accounted a very
productive province. It is rich in com and hops,
but is deficient in wood, and yields little wine or
fruit. The chief articles of export are grain, fiax,
hops, wool, oil, cabbage, and rape-seed.
ARTOMELI; from oproc, bread, and /icXiy
honey; in ancient pharmacy, a kind of cata-
plasm, prepared of bread and honey.
ARTOTYRITES; firom oproc and mpof,
cheese ; a branch of the ancient Montanists, who
first appeared in the second century in Galatia.
They used bread and cheese in the Eucharist, or
perhaps bread baked with cheese. TTieir reason
was, that the first men offered to God not only
the fruits of the earth, but of their flocks too.
The artotyrites admitted women to the. priestF-
hood, and even to be bishops ; 'and Epiphanius
informs us, that it was a common tiling to see
seven girls at once enter into their church robed
in white, and holding torches in their hands;
where they wept and bewailed the wretchedness
of human nature, and the miseries of this life.
ARTZEN, a market-town and bailiwic of
Calenberg, in the principality of Hanover, be-
tween the Homme and VVeser. To the bailiwic
belong twenty-two Tillages and the castle of
Furstenberg, fonnerly the property of the count
of Oberstein. This town is the seat of an eccle-
siastical superintendant.
ARVAD, or Aradus, an ancient city of Phce-
nicia, built on a small island, south of Tyre,
about three miles from the continent. It was
formerly famous for commerce and riches, and
shared the fate of Tyre. It is now called Ru-'
wadde, and belongs to the Turks. It is quite
ruinous, having only an old fort and a few can-
ARU
non to defend it; but the height of the island
gives it a fine appeamace (inom a distance.
ARVAL, a town of Hindost«a, in the district and
province of Bahar, forty miles south-wQst of Patna.
ARV ALES Fratrbs, in Roman antiquity, a
college of twelve priests, instituted by Homplusy
and chosen out ot the most noble families, him-
self being one of the body : they assisted in the
sacrifices of the ambervaliat annually ofiered to
Ceres and Bacchus for the prosperity of the
fruits of the earth, wh6n they wore on their
heads crowns made of ears of coni< The origin
of this institution was as follows : Acca Lauii^n-
tia, Romulus' nurse, was accustomed once a
year to make a solemn sacrifice for a blessing oq
the fields, her twelve aona always assisting her
in the solemnity ; but at last losing one of them,
Romulus offered himself to supply his place,
and gave this small society the name of Arvales
fratres. This order was in great repute at Rome.;
they held the dignity for iSe, and never lost it
on account of imprbonment or banishment.
ARU AN US, in conchology, a /species of mu-
rex, found on the coast of New Guinea. The
tail is patulous ; the spire crowned with spines.
Thid is the buccinum aruanum of Rumphius.
ARVENSIS, in entomology, a species of cur-
culio; gray, with three lines on the ^orax; the
wing-ca<ies rufous, and tessalated. Also a spe-
cies of cicada, a native of Denmark: yellow;
abdomen and sides black. A species of^pha-
Itena; the phalaena noctua of Linnaeus. The
wings are brown, with a transverse yellow spot
in the middle; margin brown. This is the noctua
brunnea of Schmetterl. Alfto a species of Vespa,
found in Europe, with four yellow bands on the
abdomen.
ARVERNI, a brave and ancient people ; one
of the roost powerful nations of Gaul They
claimed affimty with the' Romans, as descend-
ants fcom Antenor ; and after their subjugation
by the latter, their ancient liberty was preserved
to them on account of their bravery.
ARVICOLA9 in entomology, a species of
scarabeus, found in Russia: the shield of the
head reflected ; the body black.
ARVIRAGUS, the son of Cunobelin, a British
king, in the time of Claudius and Domitian.
ARUM, or Wak£-robxn, in botany, a genus
of plants of the class monoecia; order, poly-
andria. There are several species, of whicti the
following are the most remarkable. The generic
characters are c al. spathe,one-leaved : cor. none :
STAM. filaments, none; anthers, sessile: pist.
germ, obovate ; style, none ; stigma, bearded :
PER. berry, globular ; seeds, seyeral. A. arbor-
escens, or dumb cane, is a native of the sugar
islands and warm parts of America, where it
grows chiefly on low grounds. A. arisarium as
well as the A. proboscidium and A. tenuifolium
baye usually been separated from this genus,
and distinguished by the general name of ariU-
nim, or friar*s cowl : the flower bears in April.
A. oolocasia, as well as the A. divaricatum, es-
culentum, peregrinum, and sagittifolium, have
all mild roots, which <^are eaten by the inhabi-
tants of hot countries, where they grow naturally.
A. dracunculus, or the common dragon's cane,
grows naturally in most of the southern pnrts of
Europe. A. Italicum, a native of Italy, Spain,
Digitized by
Googl(
ARUNDEL.
23
Mod Poiti^jpU : they appear in the end of April
0r begioning of May. A. niaculatiun, or com-
mon wake-Tobiiiy grows nalorally in woods and
on ahady banks in most parts of Britain } the
flowers appear ii April, and their structure
lias given rise to many disputes among the
botanists. The receptacle is loiig, in the shape of
a eluby with the seed-buds surrounding its base.
The diives are fixed to the reoeptade amongst
the seed-buds fixed to Ihe fruit-stalky and placed
between two vows of tendrils^ the use of wnich is
not known. A. trilobatum^ or arum of Ceylon,
is a native of that island and some other parts of
India, All the species of this plant are hardy,
exoept the trilobatum and the arboresoens. The
former must be kept constantly in a stove^
aod the latter in a moderate hot-bed. The
arborescens is propagated by cutting off the
stalks into lengthi of three or four joints, which
must be left to dry six weeks or two months;
for if the wounded part is not perfectly healed
over before the cuttmgs are planted, they will
rot and decay. They are then to be plaated in
small pots filled with light sandy earth, and
plunged in a moderate hot-bed of tan, observing
to let them have little water till they have taken
good ropt. The roots of the macolatum and
dracunculus are used in medicine, and differ in
nothing but that the latter is somewhat stronger
than the former. All the parts of the arum,
particularly the root, have an extremely pungent
acrimonioos taste ; but if 4ried and kept some
time, it loses much of its acrimony^ and becomes
at length an almoel insipid, farinaceous substance.
This root is a powerful stimulant and attenuant.
It is reckoned a medicine of great efficacy in
some cachectic aod chlorotic oases, in weakness
of the stomach oceasioned by a load of viscid
phlegm. Great benefit has been obtained from it
in rheumatic pains, in which it may be given
from ten grains to a scmple of the fresh root
twice, or thrice a-day, made into a bolus or emul-
sion with unotiious and mucilaginous substances,
which cover its pungency, and prevent its making
any painful impression on the tongue. It gene-
rally excites a slight tingling sensation through
the whole habit, and when the patient is kept
warm in bed, produces a copious sweat Tne
arum was formerly an ingredient in an oflScinal
preparation, tl)e oompound powder; but in that
Ibrm iu virtues are f ery precarious. Some re-
commend a tkictureof it draiwn with wine; but
neither wine, water nor spirits, extract its virtues.
ARUNCI, in entomology, a species of Ci-
cada of a ferruginous color and brown eyes.
AIIUNCO, in zoology, a species of rana,.or
toad, larger than tbe common frog, but of the
same color. It is foux^d in Chili. All the feet
are palmated.
ARUNCUS, Greater Meadow-sweet, in
botany, a genus of plants, called by Toumefort
and others barra caprse, aikd by Linnaeus spirea.
This plant has been supposed to be of the same
genus with the fiiipendula, but, by the examina-
tion of the flowers, they appear to be extremely
different.
AIIU^DA, a town of Hispania Bietica, on the
Annas, or Guadiana, now said to be Ronda in
Granada, on the confines of Andalusia. Long.
5*'40'W.,lat. 36^26' N.
f
fo
ARUNDEL, an ancient borough and market
town of Sussex, seated on the north-west side of
the Arun, over which there is a bridge. It
had a harbour in which a ship of 100 tons bur-
den might ride ; but the sea had iruined it so
&r, that in 1733 an act passed for repairing it,
and for erecting new piers, locks, &c. The river
is now navigable for vessels of 200 tons and up-
wards, and the navigation is carried on to the
Thames by means of a canal. It abounds in
mullet of a very fine quality. A considerable
trade in bark is carried on here. Arundel is a
borough by prescription, and has sent two mem-
bers to parliament from the time of Edward I.
It is mentioned in the will of Alfred, who left the
castle to his brother's son. It was formerly li
glace of great strength, and was besieged by
[enry I. in person, by whom it was taken after a
gallant resistance from Bellesone de Montgomery
earl of Arundel. The castle, which belonged to
the fiunily of Howard, was until lately in a
mouldering condition ; but completely repaired
by the late Duke of Norfolk, at a great expense.
A weekly market ia held here on Tfaursday. Po-
pulation 2700. Arundel is the premier earidom
m England, belonging to the iUustrious family
of Norfolk ; and is the only title in England
that goes along with the lands. It is fifty-seven
miles south-west by south of London, amd ten
east of Chichester.
Arundel Oil, in the materia medica. At
Bombay, Gambroon, and Surat in the East In-
dies, there grows a tree which bears a nut en-
closed in a rough husk, resembling the horse
diestnnt ; and the kernel of the ntft yields an oil
by expression, which is of a purgative nature
A tea-spooTiful of it is reckoned a dose. The
tree is called, the Arundel tree at Bombay and its
oil tlie Arundel oil. Dr. Monro thinks it pro-
bable that this is the oil of the purging nuts
mentioned in Dale's pharmacologia, and the
palma Christi Indica ot Toumefort.
Arundel (Thomas), archbishop of Canter-
bury in the reigns of Richard II. Henry IV. and
Henry V., the second son of Robert, and brother
of Richard earl of Arundel, who was beheaded.
In 1375, at twenty-two years of age, from being
archdeacon of Taunton he vras raised to the
bishopric of Ely. He was a great benefactor to
flie chnrch and palace of this see. In 1386 he
was appointed lord chancellor of England, and
in 1388 translated to the archiepisoopal see of
York; and in 1396 to that of Canterbury,
when he resigned the chancellorship. This was
&e first instance of the translation of an arch-
bishop of York to the see of Canterbury.
Scarcely was he fixed in this see, when he had a
contest with the university of Oxford about the
right of visitation. The affair was referred to
king Richard, who detennined it in favor of the
archbishop. At his visitation in London he re-
vived an old constitution, by which the inhabi-
tants of the respective parishes were obliged to
pay to their rector one naif-penny in the pound
out of the rent of their houses. In 1398 the
house of commons impeached him, together with
his brother the Earl of Arundel, and the Duke of
Gloucester, of high treason. The archbishop was
sentenced to be banished, and within forty days
to depart the kingdom on pain of death, lie
Digitized by
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ARU
24
ARU
retired first to France ; and then to tlie court of
Rome, where Pope Boniface IX. gate him a
kind reception. About this time the duke of
Lancaster, a^rwaids Henry IV. was in France,
having also been banished by king Richard.
The nobility and others, tired with me oppres-
sions of Richard, solicited the duke to take the
crown ; sending over their request in a letter to
archbishop Arundel, desiring him to be their ad-
vocate on this occasion vnth the duke. The
archbishop accordingly accompanied the mes-
sengers to the duke at Paris, and of course the
inviting ofier, after some objections easily ob-
viated, the duke accepted. Arundel returned
with turn to England, and was restored to his see.
In the first year of diis prince's reign, the arch-
bishop summoned a synod which sat at St. Paul's.
The next year we find him again in dispute
with the commons, who moved Uiat the revenues
of the church miglit be applied to the service of
the public: but Arundel opposed the motion
with such visor that it was negatived. In
1408 Arundel began to exert himself against the
Lollards, or Wicliffites, particularly against the
celebrated Sir John Olacastle, Lord Cobham.
He also procured a synodical constitution, which
forbade the translation of the Scriptures into the
vulgar tongue. He died at Canterbury in 1413,
of an inflammation in his throat, with which he
was first seized, it is said, whilstpronouncing
sentence upon Lord Cobham. Tne Lollards
asserted this to be a judgment from God ; and
Bishop Goodwin speaks in the same manner.
* He who had vnthheld,' says he, * from the peo-
ple the word of God, the food of the soul, by
the just judgment of God had his throat so
closed, that he could not speak a single word, nor
swallow meat or drink, and was so starved to
death.' He was buried in the cathedral church
of Canterbury, under a monument erected by
himself. To this church he was a considerable
benefactor : he built the lantern, tower, and a
great part of the nave ; gave a ring of five bells,
called from him ArundeFs ring, several rich
vestments, a mitre enchased with jewels, a silver
gilt crosier, and two gold chalices.
Arundel (Lady Blanch), daughter of the earl
of Worcester, and wife of Lord Arundel, cele-
brated for her brave defence of Wardour castle
against the parliamentary army, which consisted
of 1300 men ; and although the little garrison
mustered only forty-five, yet she maintained the
Slace for six days, and then capitulated. She
ied in 1649, aged sixty-six.
The ARUNDELIAN Marbles, are ancient
stones or marbles, first named after Thomas earl
of Arundel, who procured them from the east, or
from Henry his grandson, who presented them
to the uni verity of Oxford. Tiiey arrived in
£ngland in 1627, and then consisted of thirty-
seven statues, 128 busts, and 250 inscriptions,
together with a large number of altars, sarcophagi,
fragments of sculpture, and an invaluable assem-
blage of gems ; the inscriptions being principally
sepulchral, and of a pri>ate nature. But one,
called the Parian chronicle, from its being written
at Paros, is said to have contained a dironolo-
gical detail of the principal events of Greece,
during a period of 1318 years, beginning with
Cecfop, before Christ 1582 years, and ending
with the arcbonship of Diognetus, before Christ
264. It is this portion of these marbles which
more particularly attracted the attention of the
learned. The chronicliB of the last ninety years
is lost ; so that the part now remaining ends at
the archonship of Diotimus, 354 years before
tlie birth of Clirist ; and in this fragment the in-
scription is at present much corroded and effaced.
The whole of these relics of antiquity, real or
pretended, were purchased in Asia Minor, or in
the islands of the Archipelago, by Mr. William
Petty, who in the year 1624 was sent by the ead
of Arundel for the purpose of making such col*
lections for him in the east; and when brought
to England were placed in gardens belonging
to Arundel house. Soon after their arrival they
excited general curiosity, and were inspected by
Sir Robert Cotton, and other eminent men, who
prevailed upon the learned Selden to employ
nimself in explaining the inscriptions. The fol-
lowing year Selden accordingly published a
small volume in quarto, including about thircy-
nine of them. But in the turbulent reign of
Charles I. and the subsequent usurpation,
Arundel-house was often deserted by the illus-
trious owners; and in their absence, many of
these m^bles were defaced and mutilated, and
others either stolen or used for the ordinary pur-
poses of architecture. The Parian chronicle in
particular, was unfortunately broken. The upper
part containing thirty-one epochas, is said to have
been worked up in repairing a chimney in Arun-
del-house. Selden's work becoming very scarce,
bishop |Fell enga^ Mr. Prideaux to publish a
new edition of the inscriptions, which was printed
at Oxford in 1676. In 1732, Mr. Maittaire
obliged the public vrith a more comprehensive
view of the marbles than either of his predeces-
sors. Lastly, Dr. Chandler published a new and
splendid description of them in 1763, in which
he corrected many mistakes of the former editors ;
and in some of the inscriptions, particularly that
of the Parian chronicle, supplied the lucuns by
many ingenious conjectures. We cannot here
enter into the dispute respecting the authenticity
of these curious stones. Sir Isaac Newton and
other able chronologists and historians have paid
little regard to their claims; and in 1788, a Mr.
Robertson, in an essay, entitled the Parian
Chronicle, boldly, and vrith much plausibility,
asserts them to be a fabrication of comparatively
modem date. - This treatise was reviewed by the
late professor Porson, in the Monthly Review,
June 1789; that distinguished Greek scholar
fuUv and very ably vindicating the authenticity
of the Parian marbles. See also his Tracts, edited
by Mr. Kidd. p. 57. The reader vrill thus be
sufficiently acquainted with both sides of this
subject
ARUMDlNACEA, in conchology, a species
of sabelLa found in some rivers of £urope. It is
subconic, and composed of fragmenu ot the bark
of reeds placed on each other.
ARUNDINACEUS, in ornithology, a species
of turdus or thrush, that inhabits the reedy
marshes of Europe, and is the la rousserolle of
BufTon and Brisson ; tlie junco of Ray and Wil-
loughby ; and the reed thrush of Dr. Latham. It
Digitized by
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ARU
26
ARY
is nther larger thui the oommon lirk ; of a fer-
juginous brown color; quill-fealhen btown,
reddish at the end. It is found in Russia and
Poland.
ARUNDINETI, in entomology, a species of
tipula; color whitish, with villose antenne,
and black eyes. It is found in Europe, in reedy
marshes.
ARUNDINIS, a species of phalena, living on
reeds ; wings cinereous with black dote, marked
beneath wiui a central brown spot. Also a spe-
cies of aphis that liyes on the leaves of the wood-
reed. Tne body is green; thorax and head
brown.
ARUNDO, in botany, the reed : a genus of
the digynia order, triandria class of plants;
ranking in the natural method under the fourth
order, gramina. The calyx consists of two valves,
and the floscules are thick and downy. The fol-
lowing are the principal species, viz. 1. A. ar-
borea, has a tree-like stalk, vnth narrow leaves,
and in all other respects resembles the barabos.
2. A. ^mbos, or the bamboo, is a native of the
East Indies and some parts of America ; where
it frequently attains the height of sixty feet See
Bamboo. 3. A« debax, or manured reed, a na-
tive of warm countries, but will bear the cold of
our moderate winters in the open air. It dies
to the surface in autumn, but appears again in
the spring ten or twelve feet high m one summer.
The stalks of this species are brough* from Spain
and Portugal ; ana used by weavers, as also for
making fishing-rods. 4. A. orientalis is what the
Turks use for writing pens : it grows in a valley
near mount Athos, as also on the banks of the
' river Jordan. None of these plants are found in
Britain. 5. A. phragmitis, or the common marsh-*
reed, grows by the sides of our rivers, and in
standing waters. 6. A. versicolor, the Indian
variegated reed, supposed to be a variety of the
debax, differing from it only in having variegated
leaves.
ARUNS Tarquinius, the son of Tarquin II.
the last king of Rome, who meeting Brutus in
the first battle, after the banishment of the royal
family, they mutually killed each other.
ARURA, in the middle-age writers, a field
ploughed and sowed. Some writers also use the
word to signify the work of, a day at plough.
ARUSINI Campi, or Arusian Fields, plains
in Lucania, famous for the last battle between
the Romans and Pyrrhus. That prince being at
Tarentum,and hearing that tlie two new consuls
Curius Dentatus and Cornelius Lentulus had
divided their forces, the one including Lucania
and the other Samnium ; he divided a chosen de-
tachment of his army into two bodies, marching
with his Epirots against Dentatus, in hopes of
surprising nim in his camp near Beneventum.
But the consul having notice of his approach,
marched out of his entrenchments with a strone
detachment of legionaries to meet him, repulsed
his van guard, put many of the Epirots to the
sword, and took some of their elephants. Curius,
encouraged by this success, marched into the
Arusian fields, and drew up bis army in a plain,
which was wide enough for his troops, but too
narrow for the Epirot phalanx to act. But the
king's eagerness to try nis strength and skill with
so renowned a commander, stimulated him to
engage at that great disadvantage. Upon the
first signal the action began ; and one of the
king's wings giving way, victory seemed inclined
to ^e Romans. But that wing where the king
fought in person repulsed the enemy, and drove
them to their entrenchments. This advantage
was in great part owing to the elephants ; a cir-
cumstance which Curius perceiving, commanded
a body of reserve, which he had posted near the
camp, to advance and attack those animals with
burning torches ; which frightened and annoyed
them to such a degree, that they wheeled about,
broke into the phalanx, and put that body into
the utmost disorder. The Romans taking ad-
vantage of this confusion, charged with such fuiy
that the enemy were entirely broken and defeated.
Pyrrhus retired to Tarentum, attended only by
a small body of horse, leaving the Romans m full
possession of his camp; which they so much ad-
mired, that they ever after imitated it as a model.
ARUS'PEX,^ Lat. anapeXf or harutpw,
Artts'pice, > from arCf an altar, and ^kerCf
Aeus'picy. j to see, to regard.
Adonu'd with bridal pomp, the tits in state ;
The public notaries and artupex wait.
Jhyden't Juoenal*$ SaHret, 10.
They [the Romans] had colleges for auguis and
onupioei, who used to make their predictions, some-
times by fire, sometimes by flying of fowls, &e.
Howell's Letten, iii. p. 23.
A flam more senseless than the rogaery
Of old anupicjf and angary.
Bvtler^s Hvdahm, ii. 3.
ARUSPICES, or Haruspices, in Roman an-
tiquity, an order of priests who pretended to
foretel future events by inspecting the entrails of
victims killed in sacrifice ; they were also con-
sulted on occasion of portents and prodigies.
The aruspices were always chosen from the
best ^unifies ; and as their employment was of
the same nature as that of the augurs, they were
as much honored. Their college, as well as
those of the other religious orders, had its parti-
cular registers and records. Cato, who was an
augur, used to say, he wondered how one arus-
pex could look at another without laughing in
nis face. The aruspici libri, were a kind of sa-
cred writings whcrem the laws and discipline of
the aruspices were described.
ARVUM, in ancient apiculture, properly de-
noted ground ploughed but not sowed. The
word is sometimes extended to all arable, or com
land, in contradistinction from pasture.
ARX, in the ancient military art, a town, fort,
or castle, for defence of a place. The arx, in
ancient Rome, was a distinct edifice from tHe
capitol, though some have confounded the two.
The arx, properly speaking, being a place on the
higheit part of the Capitoline Mount, fortified
with towers and pinnated walls, in which was
also the temple of Jupiter CapitoUnus. This
was also the name of a consecrated place on the
Palatine Mount, where the augurs publicly per-
formed their office. Off this arx the feciales, or
heralds, gathered the grass used in the ceremony
of leagues and treaties.
ARYT/ENOIDES, in anatomy, two cartila.-
ges which, with others, constitute the head of the
Digitized by
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AS
26
ASA
lArynx. It is also applied to some mudcles ot the
larynx.
ARYT/ENOIDEUS, in anatomy, one of the
muscles serving to close the larynx.
ARYTHMUS, in medicine, the want of a just
modulation in the pulse. It is opposed to ea-
rythmus, a pulse modulated agreeably to nature.
ARZBERG, a market town in ^ circle of
the Maine, district of Wunsiedel, Bavaria. The
neighbouring hills yield iron, lime, and ahnn.
The lime burned here is transported as manure
to the Upper Palatinate and Bohemia. Seven
teiles east of Wunsiedel.
ARZILLA, an ancient maritime town of
Africa, in the kingdom of Fez, S. S. W. of Ta».
giers. It was formerly a Roman colony ; after-
wards fell under the government of the Goths,
and was next taken by the Mahommedans. Al-
pbonso of Portugal, sumamed the African, took
It by assault in 1472, and brought away the pre-
sumptive heir of the crown. After that pnnce
came to the throne, he besieged it, in 1508, with
100,009 men. The Portuguese at length forsook
it of their own accord. Long. 5® 40' W., lat. 35°
40' N.
AS. Usually called a conjunction, but accord-
ing to some the Saxon article. Me, this or thut,
which they say may always be substituted
for it.
Besidfts that law which concemeth men at men ;
and that which belongs nnto mon om they are men,
linked with others in some society : there is a third,
which touches all several bodies politick, so far forth.
Of one of them hath pablick concerns with another.
Hooker** Ecdet. Polity,
Prince Hen. Dar'st thou be as good at thy wora
now ?
Falst. Why, Ilal, thoa knowest, at thou art but a
man, I dare ; but at thou art a prince, I fear thee, at
I fear the roaring of the lion'« whelp.
Sbakspearg, Henry IV,
Whvn thon dost hear I am of I have been ;
^ Approach me, and thou shalt be at thou wast. Id»
The cunningest marinefs were so conquered by the
storm, at they thought it best, with stricken sails, to
yield to be governed by it. Sidney,
He had such a dexterous proclivity, at his teachers
were fain to restrain his forwardness. Wotton.
'l*he relations are so uncertain, at they require a
great deal of examination. Baant,
God shall by grace prevent sin so soon, at to keep
the soul in the virginity of its first innocence. South,
Madam, were T at jtm, I'd take her counsel ;
I'd speak my own distress.
A, Philip't Dittrttt Mother,
Tho objections that are raised against it as a tra-
gedy, are as follow.
Gag*t Preface to What d^ye CeU it,
A simple idea is one uniform idea ; m sweet, bitter.
fVattt,
As, among the ancient Romans, a weight,
consisting of twelve ounces; being the same with
libra, or the Roman pound. The word is de-
rived from the Greek atf, which in the poric
dialect is used for eccione, q. d. an entire thing ;
though others will have it named as, quasi ajs,
because made of brass.
As, was also the name of a Roman coin, of dif-
ferent weight and different matter in different
ajjes of the comraonwealtli. Under Nunia Pom-
pilius, according to Eusebius, the Roman money
was either of wood, leather, or shdls* In the
time of Tullas Hostilius, it was of brass ; and
called as, libra, libella, or pondo, because actu*
ally weighing a pound or twelve ounces. About
420 years afier, the first Punic war having ex*
hausted the trciasury, they reduced the as to two
ounces. In the second Punic war, Hannibal
pressing very hard upon them, they reduced the
as to iuilf iti» weight, viz. to one ounce. And
lastly, by the Papirian law, they took away half
an ounce more, and oonsequendy redocecl the
as to the diminntive weight of half an otmce ;
and it is generally thought that it cotiti-
nued the same during the commonwealth, and
even till the reign of Vespasian. The as,
therefore, was of four different wei^ts in the
commonwealth; Its original stamp was that of
a sheep, ox, otr sow ; but from the time of the
emperors, it had on one side a Janus with two
faces, and on the reverse the rostrum or prow of
a ship.
As, being used to denote any mteger or whole,
signified in old English law the whole inberi'-
tance; whence haeres ex asse, the heir to the
whole estate.
ASA ; ttott, Ileb. i. e. a healer of sickness ;
king of Judah, succeeded his fether Abijam>
A. M. 2988. He abolished idolatry, restored
the worship of the true God, and, with the
assistance of Benhadad king of Syria, took seve-
ral towns from the king of Israel. He died
A. A. C. 917, and was succeeded by Jehosha-
phat.
Asa, among naturalists, a word taken by
modern authors from the lasar of the ancients, is
applied to a gum very different from that an-
ciendy known by the name. The asa of the
ancients was an odoriferous and fragrant gum ;
that of after ages had so little title to this epithet,
that they distinguished it by an additional one,
expressing its being of an offensive smell, as
AsAFCETiDA, which see. The Arabian writers
describe two kinds of asa, the one of an offensive,
the other of an aromatic smell.
Asa, or Assa, in the materia medica, a name
given to two very different substances, called
asa dulcis and asa foetida.
ASAFCETIDA, in chemistry, the common
name of the Ferula asafoetida of Linnseus,
which see.
ASAHEL; S«rn^K, Heb. i. e. pod has
wrought; one of the sons of Zeniiah, David's
sister, and the younger brother of Joab. He
was onfe of David's thirty heroes, and remarka-
ble for his swiftness. At the battle of Gibeon he
pursued Abner with so much obstinacy, that he
was obliged to kill him in self-defence, though
it would appear with reluctance; 2 Sam. ii.
19—23.
ASAPH; aOK, Heb. i. e. gathering ; the son
of Berachiah, a Gershomite, and a femous
musician and psalmist under David, king of
Israel. Twelve of the Psalms bear his name ;
but it is doubted whether he was the author of
them all, as some relate to later times.
Asaph, St. a city pf Flintshire, in North
Wales, situated in a pleasant valley at the con-
fluence of the Elwy and Clwyd, twenty miles
west of Chester, and 205 north~-west of JLondon.
Digitized by
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ASA
27
ASB
As a bishopric, St Asaph u of great aotiquitj,
being founaed about A. D. 560, by Kendgern,
bishop of Glasgow. He began the church on
the banks of the riTfer £lwy, whence it is called
by the Welsb, Land Elwy, and in Latin, Elwen-
sis. Kentigern retarning into Scotland left
St. Asaph his successor. The country was fre-
quently in after times the seat of war between
the English and the Welsh ; and the records of
the see are therefore very defective. This dio-
cese does not contain any one whole county,
but consists of part of Denbigh, Flint, Mont-
gomeiy, and Merioneth shires, and a small part
of Shropshire; wherein are 121 parishes, and 131
churches and chapels, most of which are in the
immediate patronage of the bishop. It has but
one archdeaconry, viz. that of St. Asaph, which
is united to the bishopric, for the better mainte-
nance thereof. The tovni, although situated in a
rich valley, is a pbor ill-biiilt place; and the ca-
thedral a plain building, 170 feet long, 106
broad, and 90 high; near it are the vestiges of a
large Roman camp* Here is a bridge over the
two rivers. Market on Saturday. Tke deanery
of St. Asaph is valued at £45 lis. 5d. and ii
united to the vicarage of Henllan in the deanery
of Ross.
Asaph, St. a native of North /^ales, was de-
scended of an ancient femily, and flourished un-
der Carentius king 6f the Batons, about A. D.
590. Being a monk in the convent of Uan
Elwy, and the successor of its founder Kenti-
gern, that establishment received bis name ever
afteiu He wrote the Ordinances of his church,
and the Life of St. Kentigern. Bayle says he
was. the first who received unction from the
pope. •
ASAPHEIS, atra^ic; from a negative, and
(To^irCy clear; persons who do not utter their
words in a clear manner. The defect is occa-
sioned, says Qalen, * either by some hurt which
the organs of speedi have contracted fix)m a
disorder of the nerves, or ebe by delirium*'
ASAPPES, or Azapbs, an order of soldiers
in the Turkish army, whom they expose to the
first shock of the enemy* The word is derived
from the Turkish saph, which signifies rank,
from whence they have formed asphaph, to range
in battle. They travel on foot, and have no pay
but the plunder they can get from the enemy.
ASAJv, a gold coin current at Orrous in the
Persian Gul( worth 6s. Bd,
ASAROTA, atrapiara; from a and ffatpvj I
sweep ; a kiud t>f painted pavement in use be-
fore the invention of Mosaic work. The roost
celebrated was that at Pergaroos, painted by
Sesus, and exhibiting the appearance of crumbs,
as if the floor had not been swept after dinner ;
whence, according to Pliny, the deno^iination.
Perrault supposes it to have been a black kind
of pavement of a spongy matter.
ASARUM, AsARABACCA, in botany, a genus
of the monogynia order, and dodecandria class
of plants. The calyx is trifid or quadrifid, and
rests on the germen ; there is no corolla ; the
capsule is leathery and crowned. There are
three species, viz. 1. A. Canadense, a native of
Canada. 2. A. Europium, growing naturally
in some parts of England ; and 3. A. Virgini-
oum, a native of America. loe dried roots of
this plant have been generally brought firom the
Levant; those of our own growth bemg sufv--
posed weaker. Both the roots and leaves have
a nauseous, bitter, acrimonious, hot taste ; their
smell is strong, and not very disagDeeabie. The
principal use of this plant among us is as a ster-
nutatory ; and the root of asarum is perhaps thp
strongest of all the vegetable errhmes, white
hellebore itself not excepted. The leaves are the
principal ingredient in the pulvis stemutatorius,
or pulvis asari compositua, of the shops.
ASASI, in botany, a name given by the peo-
ple of Guinea to a tree, the leaves of whidi
being boiled in water, and held to the mouth,
cure the tooth^ache. In its form ahd manner of
growing it resembles the laurel ; the leaves are
very hard and stifl^ and. grow alternately on the
stalks; they have short pedides, ahd the
branches are blackish and nigged, but varie-
gated with small* reddish spangles, or scaly pro-
tuberances.
ASBAMEA, in ancient geographv, a fountain
of Cappadocia, near Tyana, sacred to Japiter
and to an oath. Though this fountain babbled
up as in a state of boilincf, yet its wtter was
cold ; and never ran over, but fell back again.
ASBECK, a town of the bishopric of Mun-
ster, Westphalia, annexed to the possessions
of the house of Salm in 1803. Here is a con-
vent for noblemen's daughters. It is four miles
south-east of Ahaus.
ASBEN, a considerable kingdom in the in-
terior of Africa, between Feztan and Cashaa.
The sultan is said by Homemann to rank next
to that of Bomou among the sovereigna of in^
tenor Africa. Zanfara and Guberare tributaries
to him ; he resides at Agades, and himself, with
the greater part of' his subjects, are Tuaridcs of
the tribe Kolluvi.
ASBESTOS, or Asbestos, in chemistiy, from
• privative, and apevyvfu, I extinguish; a mine-
ral consisting principally of silex and magn^ia,
with a small proportion of alumina, lime, and
iron. It is a greenish brittle substance, unctu-
ous to the touch, and somewhat elastic. Its
fibres exposed to the violent beat of the blow-
pipe, exhibit slight indications of fusion ; though
the parts, instead of running together, moulder
away, and part fall down, while the rest seem to
disappear before the current of the air. Igni-
tion impairs the flexibility of asbestos in a slight
degree. According to Herodotus, the Ep^ptians
made a cloth of this substance, which they used
for the purpose of wrapping up the bodies of
the dead. Pliny says, he had seen napkins
made of it, which, beiufi^ taken foul from the
table after a feast, were thrown into the fire, and
by tliat means were better scoured than if they
had been washed in v^ter, &c. But he men-
tions its principal use being for the making of
shrouds for royal funerals, so that the ashes
might be preserved distinct from those of the
wood, &c. whereof the funeral pile was com-
posed. He calls the asbestos, inventu rarum,
textu difficillimum. Bapt. Porta assures us, that
in his time the spinning of asbestos was a thing
known to every body at Venice ; and Sig. Castaf^*
natta, a superintendant of mines in Italy, is said
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28
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to have carried the manu&cture to sucn per-
fection, that his asbestos was soft and tractable,
much resembling lamb-skin dressed white: he
could thicken and thin it at pleasure, and thus
either make it into a very white skin or into paper.
His method of preparing it is thus described :
the stone is laid to soak in warm water ; then
opened anddiTided by the hands, that the earthy-
matter may be washed out. The ablution being
several times repeated, the flax-like filaments
ai'e collected and dried; being most conveniently
spun with an addition of flax. Two or three
filaments of the asbestos are easily twisted along
with the flaxen thread, if the operator's fingers
are kept oiled. The cloth also, when woven, is
best preserved by oil from breaking or wasting.
On exposure to the fire the flax and the oil bum
out, and the cloth remains pure and white. The
shorter filaments which separate in washing the
stone, may be made into paper in the common
manner. Five varieties are described : 1 . Com-
mon asbestos, which occurs in masses of fibres
of a dull greenish color, and of a pearly lustre.
It is scarcely flexible, and greatly denser than
amianthus. Specific gravity, 2*7. Fuses with
difficulty into a grayish-black scoria. It is com-
posed of 63*9 silica, 16 magnesia, 12*8 lime, 6
oxide of iron, and 1*1 alumina, and is more
abundant than amianthus, being usually found in
serpentine, at Portsoy, the Isle of Anglesea, the
Lizard in Cornwall, &c. It was found in the
limestone of Glentilt, by Dr. M'CulIoch in a
pasty state, but it soon hardened by exposure to
the air. 2. Amianthus, which occurs in very long,
fine, flexible, elastic fibres, is of a white, greenish,
or reddish color. It has a silky or pearly lustre,
and is slightly translucent; sectile; tough; speci-
fic gravity, fix>m 1 to 2*3; it melts with difficulty
before the blow-pipe into s white enamel, and
consists of 59 silex, 25 magnesia, 9*5 lime, 3
alumina, and 2*25 oxide of iron. It is usually
found in serpentine, in Savoy ; m long and beau-
tiful fibres, in Corsica; near Bareges in the
Pyrenees ; in Dauphiny and St. Gothard ; at St.
Keverae, Cornwall ; and at Portsoy, Scotland ; in
mica slate at Glenelg, Invemesssbire, and near
Durham. 3. Mountain leather, consisting not
of parallel fibres, but interwoven and interlaced
so as to become tough. When in very thin
pieces it is called mountain paper. Its color
IS yellowish-white, and its touch meagre. It is
found at Wanlockhead, in Lanarkshire. Its specific
gravity uncertain. 4. Mountain cork, or elas-
tic asbestos, is, like the preceding, of an inter-
laced fibrous texture ; is opaque, has a meagre
feel and appearance, not unlike common cork,
and like it too, is somewhat elastic. It swims
on water. Its colors are white, gray, and yel-
lowish-brown. Receives an impression from the
nail; very tough; cracks when handled, and
melts with difficulty before the blow-pipe. Spe-
cific gravity, from 0*68 to 0*99. It is composed
of silica 62, carbonate of lime 12, carbonate of
magnesia 23, alumina 2*8, oxide of iron 3.
5. Mountain wood, or ligniform asbestos, is
usually massive, of a brown color, and having
the aspect of wood. Internal lustre, glimmer-
ing. Soft, sectile, and tough; opaque; feels
meagre; fusible into a black slag. Specific
gravity 2*0. It is' found in the Tyrol ; Dau-
phiny ; and in Scotland, at Glentilt, Portsoy, and
kildmmie.
ASCALON, an ancient city,- one of the five
satrapies or principalities of the Philistines ; situ-
ated on the Mediterranean, forty-three miles
south-west of Jenisalem, between Azotus on the
north, and Gaza on the south. It was the birth-
place of Herod the Great, thence sumamed As^
calonites, and was famous for its escallions, which
take their name from this town. It is now called
Scalona.
ASCANII, in entomology, a species of curcu-
lio, of shape cylindrical, color black, and bluish
on the sides.
ASCANIUS, the son of £neas and Creusa,
succeeded his father in the kingdom of the Latins,
and defeated Mezentius king of the Tuscans, who
had refiised to conclude a peace with him. He
founded Alba Longa ; and died about A. A. C.
1 1 39, after reigning thirty-eight years.
AscANius, in entomology, a species of papilio.
Color black, above and beneath, with a white
band ; posterior wings reddish ; it is a native of
sil.
ASCARIS, €uncapiQ ; from atntiaf to move
about ; in zoology, an intestinal worm so called
from its troublesome motion. In the Linnsean
system it is a genus of the class vermes, order
intestina ; thus generically characterised. Body
round, elastic, and tapering towards each extre-
mity ; head vrith three vesicles ; tail obtuse or
subulate ; intestines spiral, milk-white, and pel-
lucid. Upwards of eighty species have been
enumerated, generally deriving their name from
the animal they chiefly infest : for the intestinal
canal of most animals is afi'dbted by some spe-
cies.
The species of Ascaris described by Gmelin
are arranged in the following order :
Infesting man, and the mammalia. — Veimi-
cularii, lumbricoides ;-y-vespertiUonb, in the long-
eared bat : — ^Phoce, bifida, canis, visceralis, lupi,
vulpis, leonis, tigridis, felis, cati, martis, bron-
chialis, renalis, mephitidis, gulonis, talps, muris,
hirci, vituli, equi, suis, apri.
Infesting birds. — ^Aquilx, albicille, buteonis,
milvi, subbuteonis, hermaphrodita, comicis, co-
racie, cygni, anatis, fvligulse, lari, ciconie tar-
ds, papillosa, gallopavonis, galli, gallina, pha-
siani, tetraonis, columbse, alauds, stumi, turdi.
Infesting reptiles. — Testudinis, lacerts, bu-
fonis, pulmonaiis, rubetrc, trachealis, ranse, in-
testinalis, dyspnoos, insons.
Infesting fishes. — Anguills, marina, blennii,
rhombi, percs, globicola, lacustris, siluri, &ri-
onis, trutts, maraense, acus, halecis, argentine,
gobionis, rajae, squali, lophii.
Infesting worms. — Lumbrici.
We can osly describe the two principally in-
festing man.
1. A. lumbricoides, is about the same length
with the lumbricus terrestris, or common earth-
worm ; but it wants the protuberant ring towards
the middle of the body, the only mark by which
they can be properly distinguished. The body
is cylindrical, and subulated at each extremity ;
but the tail is somewhat triangular. The lum-
bricoides is the worm which is most commonly
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ASC
fouild in the numan intestines. It is viTipaRms,
and produces vast numbers. 2. A. vermicularisy
with iaint annular rugae and the mouth trans-
verse, is about a quarter of an inch, long, and
thicker at one end than the other. It is found
in boggy places, in the roots of putrid plants^
and very frequently in the rectum of children
and horses. It emaciates children greatly, and
is sometimes vomited up. See Medicine and
Worms.
ASCAROID£S» a species of cucuUanus found
in the stomach of the silurus glanus : the head is
orbicular; tail round, short, and pointed with
two spicules.
ASCEN'D, AMcendo, from ad,
Ascen'damt, n. & odj?k and tcendoy to climb.
Ascen'dancy, f To mount upwards,
Ascen'sion*, r to mount, to rise, to
Ascek'sive, j acquire an elevation,
Ascev't. a superiority.
Ene«s and viuilly Dido baith taay.
To forest grathis in hunting forth he wend
To marrow als fast aa Titan dois tueemd,
And oner the warld gan hia bemea apred.
Dmiglat EmaaOu, bk. iv. p. 104.
Nofthnmberland, thou ladder wherewithal
Tlie nuranting Bolinribivtke OMoemd$ the throne.
Skalupean. JUtAaird IL act y. ac. 2.
Over head up grew
Insuperable height of loftiest shade.
Cedar and pine and fir and branehing palm,
A sylvan scene ; and as the ranks tuomi.
Shade above shade, a woody theatre
Of stateliest view.
MUimC$ Paradm loti, book iv. line 131.
Then, rising from his grave.
Spoiled principalities and powers; trinmph'd^
In open shew ; and, with aaoenakm bright.
Captivity led captive through the air. Id,
Thus look'd Rlisha, when to mount on high.
His master took the chariot of the sky ;
The fiery pomp, tucendmg, left the view ;
The prophet gased, and wished to follow too.
PameU.
In his blest life
I see the path, and in his death the price,
jknd in his great aaeemi, the proof supreme
Of immortality. Young.
Themistodes now entered. At his look.
Which carried strange euoeitdtmcy, a spell
Controlling nature, was the youth aba^'d.
Cfbner'M Athenaid, book xiv.
Thus, having passed the rocks in safety, we found
the rest of the coast rise from the sea with a smooth
and easy atoent ; and, floating at ease upon a gentle
tide, we toon reached the sands with our feet.
Hawkeiworth's Telemaehiu,
Their tribes adjusted, dean'd their vig'xous wings.
And many a drde, many a short essay,
Whed'd round and round : in congr^ation full.
The figur'd flight aseemU. Thommm.
Fire fillM his eyes ;
- Turning, he bade the multitude without
Ateend the rampart ; they his voice obeyed.
Part climb'd the wall, part ponr'd into the gate.
Cowper's lUad, book xii.
Ascendant, in astrology, denotes the horo-
•cope, or the degree of the ecliptic which rises
upon the horizon at the time of the birth of any
one. This is supposed to have an influence on
the person's life and fortune, by giving him a bent
and propensity to one thing more £an another.
In the jargon of Astrologers, it is also called the
first house, the angle of the east, or oriental an-
gle, and the significator of life.--Such a planet
ruled in his ascendant ; Jupiter was in his as-
cendant, &c. Hence the word is also used in a
moral sense, for a certain superiority which one
man has over another from some unknown cause.
Ascendants, in law, are opposed to descend-
ants in succession ; i. e. when a &ther succeeds
his son, or an unde his nephew, &c. heritage is
said to ascend, or go to ascendants.
ASCENDING, in astronomy, is said of such
stars as are rising above the horizon in any pa-
rallel of the equator. And thus likewise,
Ascending Latitude, is the Utitude of a
planet, when going towards the north pole.
Ascending Node, is that point of a planet's
orbit, wherein it passes the CK^iptic, to proceed
northward. This is otherwise called the northern
node, and represented by this character Si*
Ascending Signs, among astrologers, are
those which are upon their ascent, or rise, from
the nadir, or lowest part of the heavens, to the
zenith, or highest.
Ascending Vessels, in anatomy, those which
carry the blood upwards ; as the aorta ascendens.
See Anatomy.
Ascension, an island of the Atlantic, in S.lat.
8^ 8', and W. long. 14'' 28', lately taken posses-
sion of by Great Britain, with a Tiew to the better
defence of St. Helena. Prior to this it was wholly
uninhabited. The island, which has an excellent
harbour, is ten miles in length from north-west
to south-east, and from five to six in breadth. A
flag officer resides here, on the single spot which
presents a vegetable mould, in the south-east
comer of the island: and homewatd bound ves-
sels from the Cape of Good Hope and the East
Indies call here, under certain regulations.
Plenty of fish and searfowl are found on the
shores, and some fine turUe. Ascension is evi-
dently a volcanic production ; at a dbtance it has
the appearance of an immense sugar-loaf arising
out of the sea, but on approaching it the top is
broken into various barren peaks.
Ascension, in astronoipy, is either right or
oblique. Right ascension of the sun, or a star, is
that degree of the equinoctial, counted from
Aries, which rises with the sun or star in a right
sphere. Oblique ascension is an arch of the equa-
tor intercepted between the first point of ^es
and that point of the equator which rises together
vrith a star in an oblique sphere.
To find the right ascension of the sun, stars,
&c. by trigonometry, say, as the radius is to the
cosine of the sun*s greatest declination, or obli-
quity of the ecliptic ; so is the tangent of the
sun's or star's longitude to the tangent of the
right ascension. To find the ascensional diffei^
ence, you must have the latitude of the place,
and. the sun's declination given : then say, as the
radius is to the tangent of the latitude ; so is the
tangent of the sun's declination to the sine of the
ascensional difference sought This, converted
into time, shows how much he rises before,
or sets after, six o'clock; by subtracting
which fipom the right ascension, when the sun it
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SO
ASC
in the nditeni signs, and adding it when he
is in the fonthem ones, you will find the oblique
ascension.
AscBvsiON Day ; the day on which the asoen-
sioa of our Saviour is commemoratedy commonly
called Holy Thursday; the Thursday but one
before Whitsuntide.
Abcemsioiial Dxffbrbvce, is the difference
between tlie right and oblique ascension of the
same point to &e surface of the sphere. The as-
censional difference of the sun, converted into
time, is just so much as he rises before or after
six o*clock.
ASCENSIONIS, in ichtnyology, a species of
perca, found about Ascension island ; color
reddish abore, whitish beneath, the tail bifiircated.
AscEMT, in logic, denotes a kind of argu-
ment, wherein we rise from particulafs to univer-
saU : as, when we say, this man is an animal,
and that man is an animal, and the other man,
%cc. therefbra every man is an animal.
AscEKT, in physics, implies the motion of a
body upwards, or the continual recess of a body
from the earth. The Peripatetics attributed the
spontaneous ascent of bodies to a principle of
levity inherent in them. The modems deny spoi>-
taneous levity ; and show, that whatever ascends,
does it in virtue of some external impulse or ex-
trusion. Thus smoke and other rare bodies ascend
in the atmosphere ; and oil, light woods, &c. in
water ; not by any internal principle of levity, but
by the superior gravity or tendency downwards
of the parts of the medium where thejr are. The
ascent of light bodies in heavy mediums is pro-
div^ed after the same roamtor as the ascent or the
lighter scale of a balance, it is not that such scale
has an internal principle whefebv it iimoediateiy
tends upwards ; but it is impelled upwards by the
preponderancy of the other scale ; the excess c^
tl^e weight of the one having the same effect, by
ai]^menting its impetus downwards, as so much
real levity in the other; because the tendencies
m^utually expose each other, and that action and
re-action are always equal.
ASC^TAIN', ) Old Fr. oceriener, from
Asceataim'mbmt. i ad and certumy temo; gr.
ffpcv«tf, to distinguish, to separate. To be sure or
certain, to discover the truth, to bring inquiries
to a satisfactory result.
The divine Uw both ^Mitriaintth the tmtb, and sup-
plieth onto ua the ysvot oi other l&wi. Hoober.
Money differs firom uncomed silver in this, that the
quantity of silver in each piece b aacertamed by the
•tamp. Locke.
Right judgment of mvfielf may give me *he other
certainty; that it, tuoertam me, Uiat I am in the
vunber of God's children.
Hammomi'9 Pn^tieai CateeMm,
l%im makes vs act wilh a repose of raiind, and won-
derft^ tzasqaiUity •, becaose it aac«r<«ias us <yf the
goeditess of oqv work. Ihgtkm'^ Omfnmtisf,
He tidls OS thaft the poskivo oMcmimn/mM of io
limiU, and its security &om invasion, were among
the causes for vrhich civil society itself has been
instituted. *
Burhe on the Rewlution in France.
The characters of great men, vrUich are always
m3r8teriuus while they live, arc auertained by the
faithful historian, and sooner or later receive their
wages of fame or infamy, according to their tnie de-
Ctwper't letten.
ASCESIS, from the verb oMoatr used by the
ancients in speaking of the sports and combats of
Ao athlete, properly denotes exercise of the
body. It >s also used by philosophers, to denote
an exercise conducive to virtue, or to the aoquir-
inff a greater degree of virtue. This is particn-
lariy denominated the philosophical ascesis,
because practised diiefly by philosophers, who
make a more peculiar profession of improving
themselves in virtue ; on the model of which the
ancient Christians introduced a religious asoesis.
ASC^TERIUM, in ecclesiastical writers, a
monastery, or place set apart for the exercises of
religion. The word is formed from ascesis, ex-
ercise ; or ascetra, one who performs exercise.
Originally it signified a place where the athlets
or gladiators performed tneir exercise.
ASCETICK, n. & adj. > Amncoc, amctm
AscBT'icrsH. J to exercise. Applied
primarily to those who exercised themselves in
religious contemplations and for this purpose
separated themselves from the world.
None lived such long lives as monks and hermits ;
sequestered from plenty, to a constant ettuHek cotuse
of the severest abstinence sad devotion. Somth.
I am far from eompieading those asosl^db, that out
of a pretence of keeping themselves unspotted from
the world, take up their quarters in deserts. Nonu.
He that preaches to vutn, should understand what
is in man } and that skill can scarce bs attained by an
Mcetiek in his solitudes. AtUrhmy.
The troth is we have seen, and yet do ae«p religious
societies whoeo seUgipos doctrines are saltctla ser-
viceable to civil government that th^ can proq>er
only on the ruin and destruction of it. such are those
which teach the sanctity of celibacy and wcs^icum.
Warbmttm's AUkmce, book ii.
Ascetics, persons in the primitive times
who devoted themselves to die exercises of piety,
in a retired life, and particularly to prayer, absti-
nence, and mortification. Afterwards this title
was bestowed upon the monks, especially such of
them as lived in solitude. This is also a title of
several books of spiritual exercises, as the Asce-
tics, or devout exercises of St. Basil, archbishop
of Caesarea in Capoadocia, &c.
ASCHAFFENBURG, a town and district of
Germany, on the Maine, formerly, belonging to
the elector of Menu, who had a palace there,
but now included in the kingdom of Bavaria.
It is memorable for being the place where king
George II. took up his quarters the ni^l before
the battle of Dettingen. It stands on an emi-
nence, in a delightfal country, and is of a quad-
rangular form. The nun^er of inhabitants in
the town is about 6400 ; they received a consider-
able augmentation by the emigrations from
Mentz, on the oecupancy of that city by the
French in 1798. It has four churches, and a
foundation called Insignis Collegiata, the capu-
chin monastery ; the ancient Jesuits' college is
now a lyceum or public school. Aschaffenbiftg
was taken by the French in July 1796, and again
in 1800. The rivulet of this name here dis-
charges itself into the Maine. This town is
eig»*teen miles south-east of Frankfort, and forty
east of Mentz. ^^. , „,. ^
ASCH AM (Roger), was bom at Kirby-Wiske,
m»r Worth Allerton, in Yorkshire, in the year
Digitized by
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1516. Hb father wa« steward to the noble fa-
mily of Scroop. Eoger was educated in the
family of Sit Anthony Wingfield, who, about the
year 1530, sent him to St. John's College, Cam-
bridge, where he was soon distinguished for his
application and abilities. He took his degree of
A. B. at the age of eighteen ; was soon after
elected fellow of his college ; and in 1536 pro-
ceeded A. M. In 1544 he was chosen university
orator; and, in 1548, was sent for to court to inr
struct the lady Elizabeth (aAerwards queen) in
the learned languages. In 1550 he attended Sir
Richard Morysine, as secretary, on his embassy
to the emperor Charles V., at whose court he
continued tnree years, and in the mean time was
appointed Latin secretary tp Bdward VI, But
upga the death of ihat prince, he lost his pre-
ferment and all his hopes, being professedly of
the reformed religion ; yet, contrary to his expec-
tations, he was soon after, by the interest ot his
friend lord Paget, made Latin secretary to the
king and queen. In June 1554 he married
Mrs. Matgaiet How, with whom he had a con-
siderable fortune. It b yery remarkable, that,
though Mr. Asduun was known to be a protes-
lant, he continued in &Yor, not only with the
ministry of those times, but with ciueen Mary
herself. Upon the accession of Elizabeth, he
was confirmed in hb post of Latin secretary,
and resumed hb employment as preceptor
to her majesty in the learned langui^s. He
died in 1568, not rich, but mudb regretted,
especially by the queen. He wrote, 1. Toxophi-
Ins. The schole or partitions of shooting, oon-
tayned in two bookes, written by Roger Ascharo,
1544, and now newly perused. Pleasaunt for
all gentlemen and yeomen of England, £(c.
Lond. 1571. Tbb treatise was dedicated to
Henry VIII. who settled a pension of £lO pe?
annum upon the author. It » said .to have been
written principally to promote the improvement
of Englbh prose. 2. A Report of the affairs and
state of Germany, and the emperor Charles hb
court, &c. 4to. 3. The Schoolmaster: first
printed in 1573, 4to. Mr. Upton publbhed an
edition with notes, in 1711. It has uncommon
merit. 4. Latin epistles; first published by Mr.
Grant in 1576 : the best edition is that of Ox-
ford in 1703. These are much admired on ac-
count of the style, and esteemed almost the only
classical work of the kind written by an English-
man. 5. Apologia contra Missam, 1577, 8vo.
Hb works were collected and published by
Beimel, in one Tolume, 4to. 1769, with a life, by
Dr. Johnson.
ASCHERSLEBEN, the chief town of a dis-
trict in the principaMty of Halberstadt, Prussia,
b seatBd between the Eine and Wipper, sixteen
miles south-east of Halberstadt It was formerly
a Hanae town, and the capital of the principality
of Ascania, but was annexed to Halberstadt i|i
the year 1320. Here are manufactures of frieze
and flannel ; and the suburbs, one of which is
called the New Town, are well built. Inhabi-
tanu about 8000 ; and here are a Lutheran and
Calrinist school; four churches, one of which,
called the Market church, b possessed by Uie
twQ sects in comntoR. The castle is in ruins.
ASCHILLIUS, king of the Dacians, one of
ASC
those monarchs, who b said to have assbted king
Arthur in bb wars.
ASCIA, in antiquity, an instrument supposed
to be of the axe kind, used in the fabric of the
Roman tombs, and frequently represented on
them.
AsciA, in surgery, is a kind of bandage, some-
what oblique or crooked ; whose ibna and use
are described by Sculteus, in hb Armam. Chimg.
ASCIBURGIUM, in ancient geography, sup-
posed to be one of Uie fifty citadels ouilt on the
Rhine, is mentioned by Tacitus, who adds, that
some imagine it was built by Ulysses. Here was
a Roman camp and a garrison. To its situation
on the banks of the Rliine answers a small ham-
let, now called Asburg.
ASCIDIA, a genus of animab belonging to
the order of vermes moUusca. The body is cy-
lindrical, and fixed to a shell, rock, &c. It has
two apertures, one on the summit, the other
lower, forming a sheath. These creatures
have the power of contracting or dilating tliem-
selves ; most of them are sessile. Gmelin enu-
merates the following species : papillosa, gelatin-
osa, intestinalisx qua^ridentata, rustica, ediinata,
mentula, venosa, prunum, conchilega, parallel-
ogramma, virginea, canina, patula, aspersa,
scabra, orbicularis, corrugata, lepadiformis, com
planata, tuberculum, villosa, clavata,pedunculata,
mammillaris, globularis, phusca, gelatina, cry-
stallina, octodeatata, patelliformis, pyura, auran-
tium, globularis.
ASCINDOE, in botany, a name given by the
people of Guinea to a shrub, which they use in
meaicine, boiling it in water, and giving the de-
coction in gonorrhoeas, and the like complaints.
Petiver has named it the prickly Guinea shrub.
The thorns on the large branches are veiy
strong.
ASCIT^; from a<rsoc, a bag or bottle; in
antiquity, a sect of Montanists, who appeared in
the second century ; so named, because they in-
troduced a kind of Bacchanals into their assem--
blies, who danced round a bag or skin blowed
up ; saying, they were those new bottles filled
with new win.e, whereof our Saviour makes men-
tion, Matth. ix. 17. — ^They are sometimes also
called Ascodrogits.
ASCITES; from a»oc, a water bottle; in
medidne^ dropsy of the belly ; so called from
the protuberance of the belly in that dbease re-
sembling a bottle. It is divided into two spe-
cies, ascites abdominalis, in which there is a re-
gular and equal intumescence of the abdomen ;
and ascites saccatus, when the ovaries, &c. are
the seat of the disease, and the swelling, at least
in the beginning, is partial. The cure b diffi-
cttlt> since the disease b often only the symptom
of a decaying constitution ; evacuations are the
chief palliatives, and paracentesis {va^cuuvriu,
to perforate), or tapping, relieves for a time, and,
in some cases, permanently. See Medicine.
ASCLEPIA, a festival of ^.sculapius the god
of physic, observed particularly at .Epidaurus,
where it was attended with a contest between the
poets and musicians, whence it was likewise
called Upoc aywvy the sacred contention.
ASCLEPIAD, in ancient poetry, a verse com-
posed of four feet, the first of which is a spondee,
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32
ASC
the second and third choriambuies, and the last
a pyrrhichius : or of four feet and a cssura, the
first a spondee, the second a dactyl , after which
comes the cesnra, then the two dactyls ; as
MacelnSs fttftvit | €d1tej rSglbikt.
O et I pnBtldllam | dalce di$|cila m^&m.
ASCLEPIADES, a celebrated physician
among the ancients, was a native of Prusa, in Bi-
thynia, and practised physic at Rome, about
A. C. 96. lie was the head of a new sect ;
and, by prescribing wine and cold water in the
cure of the sick, acquired a very great reputa-
tion. He wrote several books^ frequently men-
tioned by Galen, Celsus, and Pliny; but they
are now lost.
AscLEPiADES, a tamous physician under
Adrian, of the same city with the former. He
wrote on the composition of medicines, both in-
ternal and external.
ASCLEPIAS, SwALLOw-WoBT, in botany, a
genus of the digynia order, and pentandria class
of plants ; ranking in the natural method under
the thirtieth order, contortse. The generic cha-
racter is taken from five oval, concave, hornlike
nectaria, which are found in the flower. There
lire nineteen species, of which the following are
the most remarkable, viz. 1. A. alba, or com-
mon swallow-wort. 2. A. curassavica, or bas-
tard ipecacuanha, a native of the warm parts of
Amenca. 3. A. Syriaca, or greater Syrian dogs-
bane. The root of the first species is used in
medicine. Though reckoned by botanists a spe-
cies of dogsbane, it may be distinguished fix>m
all the poisonous sorts, by its yielding a limpid
juice. The root has a strong smell, especially
when fresh, approaching to that of valerian, or
nard ; the taste is at first sweetish and aromatic,
but soon becomes bitterish, subacnd and nause-
ous. It is esteemed sudorific, diuretic, and em-
menagogue. It is also frequently employed by
the French and German physicians as an alexi-
pharmic, and sometimes as a succedaneum to
contrayerva, whence it has received the name of
contrayerva Germanonim.
ASCLEPIODORUS, a British prince who
flourished in the third century. He killed Alec-
tus the Roman general, who had slain the
celebrated Carausius ; and was elected king of
the Britons, A. D. 232. He besieged and took
London from the Romans, and threw livius Gal-
lus the Roman general into a brook, which thence
received the name of Gallbrook, since changed
into Wallbrook. He was at last slain by Coilus
II. king of the Britons, A.I): 260.
ASCOBOLUS, in botany; from anoc, a skin,
and /3o\oc» a cast ; so called because the seeds
are thrown out wiUi elasticity ; class, cryptoga-
mia fungi. Its essential characters are, recepta-
cle, fleshy, hemispherical; seed-cases oblong,
discharged elastically ; seeds moist, about eight.
1. A« furfuraceous, powdery ascobolus. Common
on cow-dung late in autumn. 2. A. cameus,
flesh-colored ascobolus ; found on dung in
woods, rare. 3. A. glaber, smooth brown asco-
bolus, on cow-dung in autumn. 4. A. immersus,
sunk ascobolus ; in the same situations, almost
entirely sunk in the dung, so that the seed-cases
only are prominent.
ASCODUT£, in church history, a sect of
Christians, in the second century^ who rejected
all use of symbols and sacraments, on this prin-
ciple, that incorporeal things cannot be commu-
nicated by things corporeal, nor divine mysteries
by any thing visible.
ASCOGEPHYRUS, in writers of the middle
age, a bridge supported on bi^ made of leather,
or bullocks' hides. Such bridges appear to have
been in use among the ancients, and to have given
the denomination to a tribe of Arabs, hence odled
Ascitae.
ASCOLI, anciently called Asculum Picenum,
a prettf large and populous town of Italy, in the
marquisate of Ancona, and territory of the church.
It is a bishop's see, and seated on a mountain
between the rivers Tronto and Castellano, forty-
eight miles south of Ancona.
AscoLi Dx Satriano, formerly called Ascu-
lum Apulum, and Asculum Pioenum, a dty of
Naples, in the Capitanata, with a bishop's see
under the archbisnop of Benevento, seventy
miles east of Naples, and thirty west of Man&e-
donia.
ASCOLIA, in Grecian antiquity, a festival
celebrated by the Athenian husbandmen in honor
of Bacchus, to whom th^ sacrificed a he-goat,
and made a foot>baU of his skin, because that
animal destroys the vines. See Virgil, Georg.
ii. 380.
ASCONIUS Pedianus, an ancient gramma-
rian of Padua; and, according to Servius, an
acquaintance of Virgirs. He wrote commenta-
ries on Cicero's Orations, fragments of which
are published in Cicero's works.
aScOPHORA, in botany; firomAncoc, bladder,
and ^€fm, to bear ; class cryptogamia fringi. Its
essential characters are, threaa-sluiped, terminating
in a slightly inflated head. There is but one
species, viz. A. perennis, perennial bhidder-
mould.
ASCORCA, a town and valley of Majorca,
six leagues from Palma, principally known by
its fiunous sanctuary, Nuestra Senora de Uuch.
This is a large and beautifril edifice, containing
an image of the virgin, said to have been mira-
culously discovered on the spot in 1238. The
number of persons connected with this establish-
ment is 400. The canons are proprietors of the
valley, which abounds in wine and olives.
ASCOUGH (WilUam), L. L. D. appointed
bishop of Salisbury in 1438, and soon after con-
fessor to king Henrv VI. He was seized by the
fiunous rebel Jack Cade on the 28th June, 1450,
who, after plundering his carriage, fell upon him
the next aay, while he was ofliciating at the
altar, in Edington, Lincolnshire, and dragging
him to a neighbouring hill dashed out his
brains.
ASCRA, a village of ancient Greece near
Mount Helicon, the birth place of the poet
Hesiod.
ASCRI'BE, ^ Lat. ad scribo, to write to.
Ascri'bable, I Primarily to practice the art
AscriP'tion. I of writing on any substance
AscRiPTi'Tious.Jand with any instrument
Subsequently to charge, attribute, or place to the
account of any one, whether in writing or other-
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33
ASG
Oh! ye traitonrt und mainuincrs of madnen.
Unto yoar folj I OBcrihe all my paine ; «
Ye haae me deprined of ioy and gladnerae,
80 dealing witli my lord and Boueraine.
C^iucer. LammUaHm of Marie Magdaieme,
fol. 319. ch. iv.
Trae wisdom teaches to distinguish God's actions,
and to atcribe them to the right caases.
HaWt Comai^platioHM.
Ater^ thou nation, every favoured tribe.
Excelling greatness to the Lord a»cribe\
The Loid, the rock on whom we safely tmst.
Whose work is perfect, and whose ways are just.
PamsB. Th$ Gift of Poetry.
The canse of his banishment is unknown ; because
he was unwilling to provoke the emperor, by a$efibii»g
it to any other reason than what was pretended.
Drydem,
To this we may justly aaeribe those jealousies and
encroachments which render mankind uneasy to one
another. Rogen,
Tliese perfeetiokis must be somewhere ; and there-
fore may much better be Mcribed to God* in whom
we suppose all other perfections to meet, than to any
thing else.. TOietKm.
The greater part have been forward to reject it
upon a mistaken persuasion ; that those phenomena
are the effects of nature's abhorrency of a vacuum,
which seem to be more fitly cucribtMe to the weight
and spring of the air. Bojfle.
Sometimes we atcribe to ourselves the merit of good
qualities, which if justly considered should cover us
with shsjne. Cmig.
Holiness is ateribed to the pope ; majesty to kings :
■erenity or mildness to princes ; excellence or perfect*
tion to ambassadors; grace to archbishops y honor to
peers. Additom.
The innocent gambols of a few otters, have been
known to occasion those yelb which the vulgar of this .
country mistake for laughing or crying, and aaeribe to
a certain goblin, who u supposed to dwell in the
waters, and to take delight in drowning the bewildered
traveller. Beaitie,
ASCRIPTI, or Adscripti, in antiquity, those
who entered their names in the colonies, and be-
came coloni.
ASCRIPTITII, or Adscbiptitii, in ancient
barbarous customs, a kind of villains, who, com-
ing from abroad, settled in. the lands of some
new lord, and became so annexed to the lands
diat they might be transferred and sold with
them. Ascriptitii is sometimes also used in
speaking of uiens or foreigners newLy admitted
to the freedom of a city or country.
Ascriptitii was used in the military laws for
the recruits to supply the legions, called also
AccEirsi, which see.
ASCRIVIUM, in ancient geography, a town
of Dalmatia, on the Sinus Rhizicus, now called
Cattaro, in Venetian Dalmatia.
ASCULUM ApuLtJM, and Picenum. See
ASCOLI.
ASCUS, in natural history, the pouch or bag
of the opossum, for receiving its young. It is
a skinny oag, separate from the rest of the body,
but adhering by a membrane to the bottom of
the bellv.
ASC YRUM, Peter's Wort, in botany, a ge-
nus of the polyandria order, and tiie polyadelphia
class of plants, ranking in the naturad method
under the twentieth order, rotaceae: cal. four
l^tves: cor. four petals; the filaments are nu-
Vol. Iir.
merous, and divided into four bundles. There
are three species: 1. A. crux andrese; 2. A.
hypericoides; 3. A. villosum; all natives o tne
West-Indies, or America.
ASDRUBAL,the name of several Carthaginian
generals. See Carthage.
ASEKAI, Aseki, the name which the Turkish
emperors give to their favorite sultanas, generally
l^ose who have brought forth sons. These are
greatly distinguished above others in tbe)^ apart-
ments, attendants, pensions, and honors. They
have sometimes shared the government. The
sultana who first presents £e emperor with a
male child is reckoned the chief favorite, and
is called buyuk aseki.
ASELE-LAPPMARK, a division of Swedish
Lapland, contains the large parish of Asele, sixty
English miles in length. In the town of this
name there is a church, erected in 1648. Here
is also a school, established in 1730, where six
children of Laplanders are educated at the ex-
pense of the government. This place is moreover
the seat of a court of justice, and has a yearly
fiur. The inhabitants trade in rein-deer
skins, flesh, butter, cheese, fowls, fish, and furs.
Eighty-fiTe miles west of Umea. Long. 17® 4
E., lat. 64® 12' N.
ASELLA, in entomology, a species of pha-
laena, of the bombyx family, found in Germany,
wings brownish without spots.
^ELLI, in astronomy, two fixed stars of the
fourth magnitude, in the constellation Cancer.
AsELLi or AssLUUs (Caspar), an Italian
anatomist of the seventeenth century, who dis-
tinguished himself by discovering the lacteal
vessels. He was bom at Cremona, and studied
medicine, and became professor of anatomy m
the university of Pavia. . Aselli first observed
the lacteals in dissecting a living dog. His
investigations were published after his death at
Milan in 1627.
ASELLINA, in zoology, a species of Lemaea,
having the body lunated, and tbe thorax hearts
shaped. Found fixed on the gills of some fishes.
ASELLUS, in entomology, a species of the
oniscus genus ^ of an oval shape, with an obtuse
tail, furnished with two styles. It delights in
moist places, under stones, in damp and rotten '
wood, &c. The young are contained in a four-
valved receptacle, under the abdomen of the
female. This is commonly known by the name
of the wood louse.
AsELLus, in conchologY, a species of chiton,
most firequently found adhering to the mytilus
modielus. The shell consists of eight valves, very
black, with a yellow spot on each valve, convex
aboTC ; also a species of cyprsa, common about
the Madeira islands. It is white, with three
brovm bands bordered with yellow or red.
ASEN ATH, the daughter of Potipherah, priest
or prince of On, and wife of Joseph, prime mi-
nister to Pharaoh king of Egypt. See Genesis
xU. 45.
ASEPTA ; in medicine, from a negative, and
^irw, to putrefy ; signifies any thing unputrefied,
or unconcocted.
ASGILL (John), a humorous writer, bred to
the law, which he practised in Ireland with great
success^ He was there elected a member of the
D
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34
A S H A N T E E.
house of commons, but was expelled for writing
a Treatise on the Possibility of avoiding Death.
Being afterwards chosen member for Bramber in
Sussex, he was on the same account expelled the
parliament of England. After this, he continued
thirty years a prisoner in the Mint, Fleet, and
King's Bench ; during which time be published
a i&ultitude of political pamphlets. He died in
the King's Bench in 1738, aged above eighty.
ASir, n .& v,^ Ang.-Sax. Asia, asce ; dust,
A^ii'y, f ashes. The remains of any
Asu'tub, & substance which has been
Asu'yPALE. J burnt.
Ye Troyan athei, and last flames of mine,
I cal in witnesse, that at your last fall,
I fled no stroke of any Grekish sword. Surr^,
Poor key-cold figure of a holy king !
Pale aahes of the house of Lancaster !
Thou bloodless remnant of that royal blood !
Shak^peore,
So that lone bird in fruitful Arabie,
When now her strength and waning life decays,
Upon some aerie rock or mountain high.
In spiced bed, fired by near Phoebus rayes, •
Herself and all her crooked i^e consumes.
Straight from the adiea, and those rich perfumes,
A new-born phoenix flies, and widowed place resumes.
Fletcher't Purple Idand.
Pomeius next him pac'd, a meagre wight.
Whose leaden eyes sunk deep in swimming head.
And joyless look, like some pale athy sprite,
Seem'd as he were dying, or now dead. Id,
His aiAy coat that bore a gloss so fair.
So often kiss'd of the enamoor'd air.
Worn all to rags, and fretted so- with rust.
That with his feet he trod it into dust
Dfaytcn'9 Poem. The Oud,
Ah 1 leave me not for Grecian dogs to tear ^
The common rites of sepulture bestow.
To soothe a father's and a mother's woe ;
Let their large gifts procure an urn at least.
And Hector's oiheM in his country rest. Pope.
To great Laertes I bequeath
A task of grief, his ornaments of death ;
Lest, when the fates his royal athet claim.
The Grecian matrons taint my spotless name. Id.
Ash, } Of doubtful etymology. Todd's
Ash'em. ) Johnson gives aej-e, a tree.
There sawe I eke the fresh hauthome.
In white motley that so swote doth smeU,
Asshe, firre, and oke with many a youi^ acom.
And many a tree mo than I can tell.
Chattcer, The Complamt of the Black Knight^
f. 271. c. 1.
For whan we may not don, than wol we speken.
Yet in our aahen cold is fire yreken.
/(i. The Reoe*9 Prologue^, i. p. 153.
As from some far seen mountain's airy crown,
Subdu'd by steel a tall a»h tumbles down.
And soils its verdant tresses on the ground ;
So falls the youth \ his arms the fall resound.
Pope. Ikad.
Then exercise thy sturdy steers to plough
Betwixt thy vines, and teach the feeble row
To mount on reeds, and wands, and upward led
On OiAy poles, to raise their forky head.
Dryden'e Virgil, Georg. ii.
Ash (John), L.L.D. a baptist minister, bom
in 1724; was at one period coadjutor with Dr.
Caleb Evans in the management of the Bristol
academy, and subsequently pastor of a congrega-
tion at Pershore, where he died in 1779. Besides
several religious publications, he was the author
of a Dictionary of the English language ; and
an Introduction to Lowth's Grammar, which has
passed through a great number of editions.
ASHA'MEji Found in all the Northern
Asha'med. ) languages. It has perhaus a
literal affinity to cutrxvyo), to blush, to redaen ;
although, according to our usage, it means the
feeling that occasions the blush ; to feel shame.
See Shame.
And whanne he seide these thingis alle his aduer-
saries weren adiamed : and al the puple joyede in alle
thingis : that weren gloriously don of him.
Wiaitf. Ldk. c. 13.
Some men seem to be tuhamed of those thiug»
which would be their glory, whilst others glory in
their ihame. Maaon on Self-knowledge.
Ye only can engage the servile brood
Of levity and lust, who all their days
Aehamed of truth and liberty have woo'd.
And hug'd the chain that glittering on their gaze.
Seems to ouUhine the pomp of heaven's empyreal
blaze. BeaUk^M Mmttrd.
The modest speaker is aaham^d and griev'd
T'engTOBs a moment's notice, and yet begs.
Begs a propitious ear for his poor thooghu,
However trivial all that he conceives.
Cowper*9 TaA.
ASHANTEE.
ASHANTEE, a native kingdom of the Gold
Coast of Africa, and an important power in the
neighbourhood of our settlements on the western
coast. It appears to be (ar superior in civilisa-
tion, commerce, and general resources, to any
known African state. The predominance of
this power indeed has, within the last ten years,
entirely altered the political aspect of the coast.
It is well known that our late excellent and in-
trepid commander on this coast, and at Sierra
Leone (Sir Charles Macarthy), lost his life in a
fruitless attempt to drive back a considerable
force of the Ashantees from the Gold Coast. A
late war between the Fantees and the king of
Ashantee first brought the latter country to the
knowledge of Europeans. The Fantees had long
plundered the Ashantee merchants, and treated
with contempt the remonstrances of that king-
dom, till at last the Ashantees over-ran the
country, entirely reduced the Fantees, and be-
sieged the British settlement. A mission was
now therefore sent to the king of Ashantee, to
conciliate his good-will toward this country, to
obtain, if possible, an extension of commerce,
and to gain a knowledge of that kingdom, and
the adjacent countries.
Ashantee, according to the elaborate account
of Mr. Bowdich, employed on this mission, is
situated at a distance from the coast, on the west
of Dahomy, and nearly in the longitude of the
central parts of England. Its extent is supposed
to be great, though still imperfectly known to
Europeans, and must, indeed, be so in a great
measure to the inhabitants themselves. Where
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A S H A N T E E. 35
no reooids are kept, aod the communicatioiis are erected at each wicker-gate where a slave and
only received from those who levy the tribute, no his family generally reside. They grow two
great accuracy can be expected, either as it re- crops of com a year; plant their yams about
lates to extent of country or number of inhabi- Christmas, and dig them up in September. They
tants. It spreads principally over a wide space also cultivate rice, sugar-canes, a mucilaginous
westward and towards the interior. Ashantee vegetable, called encruma, resembling asparagus,
Proper does not border on the coast which is pepper, vegetable butter, oranges, papaws, pine-
occupied by the tributary countries. The sur^ce apples, and bananas. Fine cotton also grows
of this country is variegated, but the cultivation spontaneously in Ashantee. The cattle seen by
is partial, and much of it is over-run with forests the embassy were as large as those in England,
of brush-wood, and the luxuriance of a tropical The horses are small, and the Ashantees bad
vegetation. A river called the Volta is formed horsemen. The Moors sometimes ride oxen
of two streams which intersect the Ashantee with rings through their noses. The sheep are
territory. South-east of Coomassie, the capital, covered with hair. Among the wild animals are
a small lake is laid down in Mr. Bowdich's map. lions, panthers, eleohants, hysenas, goats, deer.
No means of ascertaining the population pre- and antelopes ; besiaes abundance of the monkey
sented itself to the members of tne mission, but species : of these, the simia diana, is much
by that of the military force. Of this they give admired ibr the beauty of its skin. The alligator,
the following, as the most moderate estimate re- rhinoceros, and hippopotamus, are also met
eeived: with; among the birds vultures are numerous,
Coomassie district, extending to the north- *»? ^^^^^ as mgeons, crows, and parrots. Various
em frontier ........ 60,000 ^^T"? ^''^ '^^'^ }'^^''^ ^l' • {^^
Dwabin ditto 35 000 either is not a mmeral country, or the mhabitants
Moroon ditto 15 000 ^^*°'*®* *^*^" themselves of its treasures, as the
Soo^ditto 15*000 fi>ol<l*'^<lot^er metals are imported. Iron-stone,
Kakoofoo ditto". : '. *. *. '.isiooo however, is found m several places, and parti-
Beequa ditto 12 000 ^^^V ™ *e neighbourhood of Coomassie, the
AdS)in ditto (beiwei^n Coiimkssie and* ' metropolis, which is built upon the side of a
the lake'i 12 000 ^^"^ rocky hill, and » insulated by a marsh
Aphwaewiasee ditto lo'oOO ^orth^a«i- T^J* ^^'^ contracts into a narrow
Dknias^ ditto (southward of Ci)0iias'sie) siooo stream on the south^ and eastern sides and
Koontarasie ditto (on the lake) . ... 8 000 ?«PP»i« the town with water. Around die town
Gomasie ditto . ........ 8000 " a l>€autiful forest. Cooinassie is an oblong of
Ama&s ditto 8 000 "®"^y ^^^^ ™**®* ^ circuit, not ineiudmg the
' suburbsofAssaibo, or Bantama (the black town),
206 000 ^^ * °^^^ distant, and formerly connected with
* ^ the streets. Four of the principal of these
streets are half a mile long, and from fifty to a
The Ashantees being a nation of warriors, this hundred yards wide. Mr. Bowdich observed
statement may amount to nearly one-fifth of the them building one, and a line was stretched on
vrhole population, which will, therefore, l)e about each side to make it regular. The streets are all
one million. The area of Ashantee Proper is named, and a superior captain has charge of
estimated by the same writer at 14,000 square each. That where the mission resided was called
miles, which is consequently about seventy-one Aperremsoo, great-gun, or cannon-street, be-
persoDS to each; a population rather sreater cause the guns taken when Dankara was con-
than that of Scotland. The climate of Ashantee quered, were placed on a mound at the top o-
is colder than that of Cape Coast. During May it. The Ashantees asserted that the entire poi
and June, the first two months that the mission pulation of Coomassie exceeded 100,000; anc
was at Coomassie, it rained about one-third of Mr. B. says, that oh festivals, when die people
the time; in July and August, it rained nearly were collected, he compared the crowds to those
half, and violent tornadoes, ushered in by strong he had seen in the secondary cities of England,
winds from the south-west, were frequent after The higher classes support their numerous fol-
sim-set. The heaviest rains fell from the latter lowers, and the lower their large families, in
end of September to the beginning of November, plantations within two or three miles of the
when they descended in more impetuous tor- capital. Mr. B. thinks the average resident po-
rents than are usual on the coast. On the second pulation of Coomassie, exclusive of those of the
of May Fahrenheit's thermometer rose to 91% surrounding crooms, does not exceed 15,000.
and the following day, at twelve o'clock, it was There are two markets held daily, from abow
89°. From the 7th to the 14th of June, it va- eight o'clock in the morning till sunset, where
lied at Coomassie firom 80° to 85°. It appears the articles exhibited for sale, are beef and
that the general temperatnre of Coomassie, dur- mutton, hogs, deer, and monkey's flesh ; fowls,
ing the hottest part of the day, is between 70° with the vegetable products of the country; salt
and 84°. and dried fish from the coast, large snaib smoke-
The agricultnie and products are similar to, dried, and stuck in rows on small sticks in the
those of other parts of south-west Africa. The form of herring-bone ; eggs for fetish, palm-wine,
soil is chiefly alight loam,' and the only agricul- rum, pipes, beads, looking-glasses, sandals, silk
toral instrument. is the hoe. Their plantations and cotton cloth, gunpowder, small pillows,
have much the appearance of hop-grounds, are white and blue cotton thread, calabashes, &c.
well formed and regularly planted; a hut being Provincial capitals, and other large towns of the
D2
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16
ASHANTEE.
mteror . were spoken of to the gentlemen of the
misstoci but were little known, it appeared, at
the capital.
The king's love of justice is esteemed by his
courtiers as his chief virtue. They have no ideas
of extending their influence by civil policy. The
cefoceers, or military captains, accordingly form
the .'owest grade of the constitution, over whom
are placed the heads of but four femilies, which
form a sort of aristocracy, and, with the king,
complete the three estates of this kingdom. In
exercising his judicial authority, or in laying the
basis of a new law or measure, the king always
retires in private to consult these four chief dig*
nitaries; but every law is announced publicly to
them as well as to the assembly of captains, as
the arbitrary pleasure of the king. On state
emergencies only, are the latter assembled dis-
tinctly, or to give publicity to some new law.
The Ashantees are lully capable of vindicating
this constitution by argument, according to the
testimony of our officers who visited the court
of Coomassie; indeed, no system of government
would seem better suited to their habits and
propensities. The captains are made respon-
sible, in a great degree, for tlie issue of their
own advice with respect to war or peace; we
only wish we could add, that in their mode of
conducting hostilities, they were as humane as
they are energetic and skilml. *
In this respect, they are still barbarous in the
highest degree. They rarely give quarter in a
general action, and a distinct body of recruits
follows the army to despatch with knives those
who are wounded with a musket, and return
with the personal spoil of the enemy. They
even make a practice of cutting out the hearts
of some of the slain, which they mix up with
consecrated herbs, and after much ceremony and
incantation, compel those who have never before
killed an enemy, to eat part of the horrible por-
tion. Of the heart of a celebrated enemy^ the
king and his dignitaries are said to partake ; and
their most warlike generals are distinguish^ by
names descriptive of 'their peculiar modes of
despatching or torturing theu enemies. Thus,
Apokon, ikt king, is called AboAwessa, be-
cause he has been in the habit of cuttii^ off
their arms; Appia, Sheaboo, because he beats
their heads in pieces with a stone ; and Amanqua,
Abiniowa, because he cuts off their legs. Sir
Charles McCarthy, it is feared, was despatched
by these barbarians in this crud manner.
The last power subdued, or the revolters re-
cently quelled, are always compelled by the
Ashantees to form the van of their army ; the
youngest captain marches first, and all Uie au-
thorities in gradation of rank and seniority up
to the king. The superior discipline and cou-
rage of their soldiery were in a moment percep-
tible, when they appeared in conflict with toe
people of the coast before Annamaboe ; but the
following are said to be the only maxims to
which this is to be attributed: They never
pursue an enemy at or near sunset ; the general
18 always in the rear, the secondary captains
'ead the soldiers on, while the chiefs of divisions,
Airrounded by a few select followers, urge them
^rward with neavy swords, and cut down every
man who retreats, until the conflict is desperate.
In close fight, the principal effort of the Ashantee
is to fire, and then spring upon the throat of
his enemy. The most popular song of the ca-
e], has a sort of chorus to this effect : ' If I.
1 1 die, if I run away I die, better I go on
and die.'
At the Yam Custom, an annual festival, and at
the death of their great men, hundreds of human
victims are said to be regularly sacrificed, and
the sculls and other bones of their enemies are
exhibited in their armoury, and as the ornaments
of their state apartments. At all their great fes-
tivals and fimerals, indeed, the slaughter of hu-
man beings is horribly frequent Some of the
former occur once in three weeks, when 100 are
sometimes immolated. It should be observed,
however, that these are often convicts. The king
celebrated the deaA of his mother by the sacri-
fice of 3000 victims ; and the funeral rites of a
great caboceer were repeated at intervals for three
months, during which 2400 persons were
butchered.
According to the religious belief of the Ash-
antees, there are two distinct orders of gods ;
one of which, the higher order, takes care of the
whites, the oUier of the blacks ; they are believers
in the immortality of the soul, and both thi^ir
princes and nobility are supposed to enjoy the
Sresence of the higher order of their deities after
eath. Here they regale themselves in epicurean
indulgence, and have cooks and butlers after the
^hion of iheiT country. Persons of this descrip-
tion are, therefore, buried with their great men,
whose reception in another world is supposed
to be greatly regulated by the number of at-
tendants with which they appear. The Ashan-
tees have also two sets of priests ; one class being
devoted to the services of their temples and to
preserving a communication with tneir deities,
and the other class a soit of conjurors, and de-
tectors of small theft. Every housekeeper also
has his domestic gods and charms, bought of
these cunning men. Polygamy is universally
allowed, and the king claims the royal number
of 3333 wives, which is regularly kept up ; tlie
ladies living in round enclosures, ' like pheasants
in a park.'
A peculiar feature in the law of succession
obtains in this country, and is binding from the
royal family downwards. The brothers' chil-
dren are always set aside in favor of sisters'
children, on the ground that if the sons' wives
are faithless, the blood of a &mily is lost in the
offspring ; but should the daughters deceive their
husbands the father's blood is still preserved ;
thus, the sisters of the king are allowed to in-
trigue or marry with any personable man. The
king b heir to all the gQld of any subject, and
contributes to the funeral rites to assert his claim ;
the successor paying the debts of the deceased.
Slaves, if ill treated, may transfer themselves
from one master to another. They are a great
article of traffic here, and the domestic drudges,
of course, of the country. No topic appeared
so inexplicable to the king as that of the British
motives for abolishing the slave-trade. The
slaves of an ally or tributary are scrupulously
restored; those of an indifferent or enemy's
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ASHANTEE.
37
country may become free nibjects of the state.
An appeal lies for the subjects of any tributary
power to the laws, and ultimately to the king of
Ashantee.
Cowardice, treason, the murder of an equal,
and some cases of adultery, are punishable with
death, as are &lse accusations of treason. A
great man killing his equal; is generally after-
wards allowed to kill himself as a punishment;
but the death of an inferior is compensated by
a fine, paid to the family, of the value of seven
slaves. Serious thefts are punis|ied with a com-
pensation inflicted on the nunilv of the accused,
who alone are suffered to punish him ; but this
they may do «ven capitally, if he be incorrigible.
Trifling thef^ are visited on the offender by:!iex-
posing him at various parts of the town, and
proclaiming his crime before him. But all
vexatious suits and accusations are discouraged
and punished. Polygamy is allowed to all ranks,
but the wife's property is distinct from that of her
husband, and the king is the heir of it. None but
a captain can put his wife to death for infidelity,
and even then he is expected to accept a liberal
offer of gold for her redemption. To intrigue
with the king^s wives is deatn. If the fiimily of
a woman, on her complaint of ill-treatment,
choose to tender to a man his marriage-fee, he
must accept it; and the wife returns to her fa-
ther's house, but can no more marry. 'The
most entertaining delassement of our conversa-
tion,' says Mr. Bowdich, * with the chie&, was
to introduce the liberty of English females ; whom
we represented, not only to possess the advan-
tage of engaging the sole affection of a husband,
but the more enviable privilege of choosing that
husband for herself. The effect was truly comic ;
the women sidled up to wipe the dust from our
shoes with their clothes, at the end of every sen-
tence brushed off an insect, or picked a burr
from our trowsers; the husbands expressing
their dislike by a laugh, would put their hands
before our mouths, declaring that they did not
want to hear that palaver any more, abruptly
changed the subject to war, and ordered the
women to the harem.'
The foreign trade of Ashantee is regulated by
the government, so far as to interdict commerce
with any unfriendly power. It is in every other
respect left free, though not much encouraged.
The slaves of the capital are generally a part of
the annual tribute ot the neighbouring powers ;
but many are kidnapped throughout the country.
They fetch but a trifle; but it is the most lucra-
tive branch of their commerce with the coast ;
and the continuance of it under other flags, par-
ticularly the Spanish, while the British are pro-
hibited from engaging in it, is represented by the
intelligent writer, to whom we have been already
so much indebted, as the most stubborn impc^
diiaent to the negociations which he had to
conduct at Ashantee. ' It not only injures the
British commerce here,* says Mr. B. ' almost to
annihilation; but, slavery being the natural
trade of the natives, because it is the most indo-
lent and the most lucrative, the oppositioij,
which is insinuated and believed to proceed
from the English alone, conve]^s a disagreeable
impression of us to the interior, as inauspicious
to our intercourse and progress, as the even par-
tial continuance of sucn a trade is to legitimate
commerce and ^ civilisation. One thousand
slaves left Ashantee, for two Spanish schooners,
or Americans under that flag, to our knowledge,
during our residence there; doubtless the whole
number was much greater. Since our return it
must have been very considerable, for the slave
trade was never more brisk than it is at this mo-
ment, under the cloak of the Spanish flag; and
great risk has been incurred, in consequence, of
offending our new friend and formidable neigh-
bour, the king of Ashantee, from the firm resist-
ance of his strong entreaties to the govemor-in-
chief to allow the return of a powerful mulatto
slave-trader to Cape Coast Town, whence he had
been expelled under the present goVemor, as the
most daring promoter of that commerce.' How
urgently does this press upon government, by all
legitimate means, to urge the universal abolition
of this accursed trafiic 1 It is but 'crippled,' as
this writer well remarks, at present, ' at the ex-
pense of our own interests and views in the in-
terior; and, which is worse, of the happiness
and improvement of the natives.'
Gold was seen everywhere in great abundance
by the British emissaries ; and the court of Coo-
massie, in silks, stuffs, cloths, and cottons, of
every hue, was most imposing. Some of the
captains wore ornaments of solid gold on their
wrists, so large as to tire the hand, which rested
on the head of a young slave. The tops of im-
mense umbrellas were decorated vrith golden
heads of pelicans, panthers, baboons, &c. as
large as life.
Guns and gunpowder are never allowed to be
exported from Ashantee; and the people in ge-
neral have no idea of buying any thing but for
the purpose of consumption, except a small
number of articles of which they can make a
profitable barter for tobacco, cloth, and silk, in
the Inta and Dagwumba markets. Their situa-
tion bids fair, however, for their becoming the
complete brokers between the interior and the
European nations.
We subjoin a table of the most material arti-
cles of commerce between our settlement at Cape
Coast Castle and the Coomassie market, and the
profit they will yield, according to Mr. Bow-
dich, at the latter :
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38
ASHANTEE.
f
CAPE COAST.
Articles.
1 Cushions . . . . .
2 Dagwumba white cotton
3 Flints
4 Glasgow Dane . . .
5 Guinea stuflf . . . .
6 Gunpowder . . . .
7 Iron
8 Lead
9 Locks (Marrowa) . . .
10 Romal
11 Rum
12 Sandals
13 Sarstracunda
14 Silesia
15 Silk, India
16 Fezzan . . . .
17 Spanish dollars . . .
18 Tobacco, Portuguese . .
19 Inta . . . .
Quantity.
100
per piece.
i barrel,
bar. '
per piece,
gallon.
piece,
do.
do.
Roll.
COOMASSIE.
Quantity.
Pro6tpei
cent
each.
square yard.
each.
per handkerchief.
per charge.
bar.
I inch.
each.
piece.
dram.
pair.
per span.*
piece.
per span.
. per iathom.
roll,
lb.
100
100
600
75
50
400
75
75
100
20
400
100
400
50
175
100
75
150
* The ipan is about nine inches long ; the ^hom eight spans.
Gold dust is the currency of Ashantee, worth
about £4 English an ounce. That of the neigh-
bouring kingdoms of Inta, Dagwumba, Gaman,
and Kong, is reckoned in cowries, of which five
strings, or 200, make a tokoo ; eight tokoos an
ackie ; and sixteen ackies an ounce.
Mr. Bowdich recommends that a British set-
tlement should be attempted up the Volta, which
is navigable within four days' journey of Sallagha,
the capital of Inta, east of which, and on the
banks of Laka river, connected with the Volta, is
the kingdom of Dagwumba. These tributary
nations to Ashantee are far more commercial in
their policy than that state ; and, as far. as they
have become known to us, more civilised. They
give exorbitant prices to the Ashantees for mm,
iron, &c. Silks, Manchester cloths, and cot-
tons, would find a market in the same direction.
In their architecture the Ashantees have claims
to surprising neatness, and even elegance. Al-
though the walls are of mud, every house in
Coomassie has its regular gable ends, from which
three poles are projected, i. e. from end to end,
forming the point and bottom of the roof on each
side ; in which a frame of bamboo work supports
an interwoven thatch of palm leaves, tiea with
the runners of tree§. Within, the bamboo work
is painted black and polished, so as to form a
sort of chequered and tasty ceiling. The pillars
that assist to support the roof, and form the open
front of the superior houses, are squared pieces
of timber, covered with plastering, and ofien or-
namented with fluting, quarter-foil, and the
lozenge and gable ornaments of the Normans.
The steps and raised floors of these houses are
clay and stone, covered with a layer of red earth
which has the appearance of ochre. Arcades
and piazzas abouna everywhere in the capital.
The doors are generally an entire piece ot the
cotton wood; the windows open wood work,
carved in fantastic shapes, and painted red ; the
frames being frequently cased m gold as thick
as cartridge paper. Mr. Bowdich was agreeably
surprised to find every house have its cloaca in
some retired and arched comer, besides the com-
mon ones about the town for the lower orders.
The holes, he says, are dug to a surprising depth,
and boiling water is poured down them every
day. The mbbish and offal of the houses is
burnt every morning in the back of the street.
In their persons^ and in all their domestic eco-
nomy, the Ashantees are also patterns of cleanli-
ness.
They manu&cture cloths of exquisite fineness
and brilliancy of color, sometimes unravelling
the finest silks, to weave them into them. They
Eaint on white cloths ; and dye with considerar-
le skill, particularly leather; in pottery, black-
smith's work, tanning and dressing leather, they
also excel. They will buy British cottons for the
sake of a favorite stripe (generally the red), and
cutting away the other parts, weave it up into
their own cloths, which alone are worn as arti-
cles of dress.
ASH BORN, or Ashbourne, a town in Derby- It has a stone bridge over the Dove ; an ancient
shire, on the borders of Staffordshire, between church with a fine spire; and a free school^
the rivers Dove and Compton, thirteen miles founded by citizens of London, natives of the
from Derby, and 139 N.N. W. from London place. Its trade in malt and cheese is consider-
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39
ASH
able. A weekly market is held here, and several
annual fairs. Population 2112.
ASHBURNHAM, a post town of the United
States, in Worcester county, Massachusetts, on
the west side of the river Sowhegan, forty-five
miles north-west of Boston.
ASHBURTON, a town in Devonshire, seated
on the river Dart, ten miles from Totness, nine-
teen sooth-west of Exeter, and 192 west by south
of London. It carries on a considerable trade,
in wo<5l, yarn, and serges ; has markets on Tues-
day and Saturday, and fairs on the first Thursday
of March and June, and on the 10th August and
11th November. It sends two members to par-
liament, and is one of the four stannary towns.
It is seated among the hills, which abound in tin
and copper ; and has a very handsome charch,
with a chapel, which is used as a school. Po-
pulation about 3000.
ASHBY OS LA ZoucH, a market town of Lei-
cestershire, so called from the touches, its an-
cient lords, 13 miles south of Derby, 15 finom
Leicester, and 115 from London. It has seven
annual ftirs. It long had a castle, which was in
the possession of the family de la Zouch. It
afterwards fell into the hands of Edward IV.
who granted it to Sir Edward Hastings, with the
title of a baron, and license to make a castle of
the manor-house, to which he adjoined a veiy
high tower. James I. and his whole court were
excellent manure for cold and wet grounds. Se«
Husbandry.
Ashes were anciently used in several religious
ceremonies. St. Jerome relates that the Jews in
his time rolled themselves jn ashes, as a sign ot
mourning. To repent in sackloth and ashes is
a frequent expression in Scripture for mourning
and being afflicted for our sins. There was a
sort of ly6 and lustral water made with the ashes
of an heifer sacrificed upon the great day of ex-
piation; the ashes whereof were distributed to
the people, and this water was used in purifica-
tions as often as any touched a dead body, or
was present at funerals, Num. xix. 17.
AsH-FiRiT, among chemists, a fire wherein the
vessel to be heated is covered with ashes or sand.
ASHI, a prince of Norway, said to have been
slain by Fingal, the father of Ossian, at a place
of Invemesshire, ever since named Drumashi,
or Ashi's HiU.
ASHIMA, an idol of the Samaritans, 2 Kings
xvii. 30, said to have been formed like a lion or
a goat, and to have represented the sun.
ASHING-Key, a low island on the Spanish
main, onthe Mosquito shore.
ASHIPOO, a river of North America, in
South Carolina, which runs into the Atlantic.
Long. 80** 30* W., lat 32«» 25' N . Also a town of
the same name situated on the banks of this river.
ASHLAR, in masonry, free-stones as they
once entertained here by the Earl of Hunting- come out of the quarry, of different lengths, ge-
don. It was demolished in 1648. Malting, and
the manufacture of hats and cotton, flourish here.
Population upwards of 3000. In the neighT
bourhood is a mineral water called Grifiydam.
ASHDOWN, a town of Essex, anciently
called Assandun, or the hill of asses, famous
for the defeat of Edmund Ironside, by Canute
the Dane.
ASHER ; *>Vlt, Heb. i. e. blessedness ; one of
Jacob's sons by Zilpah, and the progenitor of the
tribe so called.
ASHEREF, or Ash raff, a town of Persia,
in the Mazanderan province, half a mile from a
nerally applied to slabs of stone, from six to
nine inches in thickness, used for facing brick
buildings, worked in imitation of regular courses
of solid masonry.
ASHLER, or Ashlering, quartering of tim-
ber about three feet high, placed perpendicularly
from the floor of the attic story, to the roof to
obviate the useless angle formM by the junction
of the roof and the floor.
ASHLEY, a river of South Carolina, rising
in Cypress swamp, and emptying itself into the
Cooper just below Charleston. Its breadth
opposite Charleston is about 2100 yards, and its
large bay, the best narbour on the south side of stream narrows but little for several miles. On
the Caspian. Shah Abbas built a superb palace '^ " ^~^ '' ^^'~ ~ "*"" ^**'' -«-— *
here, surrounded by fine gardens, remarkable for
the number of their orange trees. This psdace is
now falling to ruins. Distant fifteen mues from
Fehrabad, and sixteen from Sari.
Ashes, among the ancient Persians, were used
as an instrument of punishment for some great
criminals. The criminal was thrown head-long
from a tower fifty cubits high, which was filled
with ashes to a particular height, 2 Mac. xiii.
5, 6. The motion which the criminal used to
disengage himself from this place, plunged him
«mi deeper into it, and this agitation was farther
increased by a wheel which stirred the ashes
continuall;^ about him, till at last he was stifled.
Ashes, in chemistry, are the earthy particles
of combustible substances after they have been
bbmt. If the ashes are produced firom vegetable
bodies, they contain a considerable quantity of
fixed salt, blended with the terrene particles:
and from these the fixed alkaline salts called pot-
ash, pearl-ash, &c. are extracted. See Potash,
&c. The ashes of all vegetables are vitrifiable,
and found to contain iron. They are also an
the western bank of this river the first efficient
settlement of the state was made at a place now
called Old Town, or Old Charleston, in 1671.
Also a river of West Florida, which runs into the
Gulf of Mexico.
ASHMOLE (Elias), a celebrated antiquary
and herald, founder ot the Ashmolean Museum
at Oxford, was bom at Litchfield, in Stafford-
shire, 1617. He first practised in the law: in
the civil war he had a captain's commission, and
was also comptroller of the ordnance under
Charles I. In 1649 he settled at London;
where his house was frequented by most of the
learned men of the age, and a depository of
many literary treasures. In 1650 he published
a treatise written by Dr. Arthur Dee, relating to
the philosopher's stone ; with another tract on
the same subject by an unknown author. About
the same time he was busied in preparingfor the
press a complete collection of the works of such
English chemists, or 'alchemists rather, as had
till then remained in manuscript. This under-
taking cost him great labor ana expense ; but at
length the work appeared towards the close of
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40
ASH
the year 1652, under the title of Theatricum
Chymicum BritaDnicum. He proposed at first
to have carried it on to sereral volumes ; but
afterwards dropped this design, and applied
himself to the study of antiquity and records.
He was at great pains to trace the Roman road,
which in A^toninus's Itinerary is called Benne«
vanna, from Weedon to Litchfield. In 1658 he
began to collect materials for his celebrated his-
tory of the Order of the Garter. In September
following he made a journey to Oxford, where he
commenced his full and particular description of
the coins presented to the public library by arch-
bishop Laud. Upon the restoration, Mr. Ash-
mole was introduced to king Charles II. who
bestowed on him the place of Windsor Herald.
Soon after he appointed him to give a descrip-
tion of his medals, which were accordingly de-
livered into his possession, and king Henry
Vlllth's closet was assigned for his use. Mr.
Ashmole was afterwards admitted a fellow of
the Royal Society^ and the king appointed him
secretary of Surinam, in the West todies. On
the 19di July 1669, the University of Oxford, in
consideration of the many favors they*had re-
ceived from Mr. Ashmole, created him M. D. by
diploma. In May 1672 he presented his Insti-
tution, Laws, and Ceremonies of the Order of
the Garter, to the king, who, as a mark of his
approbation granted him £400 out of the custom
on paper. On the 26th January, 1679, a fire
broke out in the Middle Temple, in the next
chamber to Mr.^Ashmole's, by which he lost a
noble library, with a collection of 9000 coins,
ancient and modem, and a vast repository of
seals, charters, and other antiquities and curio-
sities ; but his manuscripts, and his most valua-
ble gold medals, were luckily at his house at
Lambeth. In 1683, the University of Oxford
having finished a magnificent repository near the
theatre, Mr. Ashmole sent thither his collection
of rarities ; which bene&ction was augmented by
the addition of bis manuscripts and library at hu
death, which happened at Lambeth, May 18,
1692, in the 76th year of his age. Besides the
works above mentioned, Mr. A^unole left seve-
ral which were published since his death, and
some which still remain in manuscript.
ASHMOT, the principal part of the Isle
Madame, dependent on the island of Cape
Breton.
ASHORE. On shore. Ang.-Sax. sciran, to
shear, cut, divide, separate. See Shore.
Sweace then how thou escap'dat.
Swum oAore man like a ducke! ShakKpeate,
• For now the flowing tide.
Had hnmght the body nearer to the side ;
The moTe she looks, the more her feais increase,
- At nearer sight ; and she's herself the less :
Now driv'n tuhore, and at her feet it lies.
She knows too much in knowing whom she sees.
Her husband's corpse. Dryden'a Fabia,
[He] Then with bis dire associates through the deep.
For spoil and slaughter guides the sayage prow.
Him d<^ wiU rend athore,
Glover't Leomdag, book xil. p. 77.
Thus while their cordage stretch *d tukore may guide.
Our brave companions thro' the swelling tide ;
This floating lumber shall sustain them o'er
The rocky ^Ives, in safety to the shore.
FtUcorur*t Shipwitek.
Storms rise t' o'erwhelm him : or if stormy winds
Rise not, the waters of the deep shall rise
And needing no assistance of the storm.
Shall roll themselves ashore and reach him there.
Cowper'a Poems.
ASHTAROTH, Ashtoeeth; ni-inttTK, Heb-
i. e. flocks, or riches; or Astarte, the chief god-
dess of the Sidonians and Phcsnicians, called
also the Queen of Heaven, and reckoned the same
with the Juno of the Greeks and Romans.
Cicero, however, calls her the Venus of Syria,,
wherein he is certainly justified by her mode of
worship ; which, like tfiat of the Grecian Venus,,
abounded in all manner of debauchery. The
Israelites in all their relapses to idolatry showed
a great fondness for her worship. Solomon him-
self in his dotage sacrificed to her. She was re-
presented in various habits, encircled with rays,
&c. We find a place named after her in the
days of Abraham ; Gen. xiv. 5.
ASHTON (Charles), an antiquarian and one
of the roost learned critics of his age, was
elected master of Jesus College, Cambridge,
July 5th 1701, and installed prebend of Ely, on
the 14th. His skill in ecclesiastical antiquities
was equalled by few.
AsHTON (Dr. Thomas), a native of Eton,
studied at Cambridge, in 1733, was successively
rector of Aldingham, Starminster, and St. Bo-
tolph, Bishopsgate. In 1759 he took hb degree
of D. D. ; and in May 1762 viras elected preacher
at Lincoln's Inn, which he resigned in 1764.
He died in 1775, aged fifty-nine. He published,
I. A volume of Sermons. 2. A Dissertation on
II. Peter, i. 19. 3. A letter to the Rev. Mr.
Jones. 4 & 5. Two Letters to Dr. Morell, on
Electing Aliens into places in Eton College;
and 6. An Extract from the case of tlie Obliga-
tion of Electors, &c.
AsHTON-UKDER-LiNE, a towu and parish of
England, on the river Tame, in the county of
Lancaster, in which considerable manufactures
are carried on. Several villages are contained
in this parish, the whole population of which
amounts to 19,052. It is distant about 195
miles firom London.
ASHUR, -IIVK, Heb. i. e. blessed, the son of
Shem, and progenitor of the Assyrians.
ASH-WEDNESDAY, the first day of Lent,
so called firom the ancient custom of sprinkling
ashes on the head.
ASHWELL (George), rector of Hanwell, son
of Robert Ashwell of Harrow, was bom at
London in 1612, and admitted in Wadham
College, Oxford, in 1627, where he took his de-
grees of A. M. and B. D. and was elected a
fellow and tutor. During the rebellion he
pi:eached several times before the king and
parliament. He died at Hanwell, in 1693, with
the character of a religious, learned, and
peaceable divine. He wrote, 1. A discourse,
asserting the received authors, and> authority of
the Apostle's Creed. Oxon.1653. 2. A double
Appendix, touching the Atbanasian and Nicene
Creeds. 3. On the Gesture at receivmg the Sa-
crament, 1663. 4. A Treatise concerning So-
cinus, and tlie Sociuian Heresy. 5. A Disserta-
tion'on the Church of Rome. Ox. 1618. Ana
an answer to Plato Redivivos; besides transla-
tions.
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ASIA.
ASIA, in geography, one of the great divi-
sions of the earth, lies to the east and south-east
of Europe. North and south it stretches from
about 2^ to 77^ of north latitude. East and
west it extends from about 26° east, to 170°
west longitude. Its northern capes penetrate
the ice of the polar regions, while its southern
promontories approach nearly to the centre of
the torrid zone. Its greatest length in this di-
rection is taken at something more than 5200
English miles from east to west The extent of
this continent from the western shores of Natolia,
to East Cape in Siberia, has been calculated in
a late popular work at 7580 miles
Boundaries. — ^It is bounded on ihe north,
and south by the Arctic and Indian Oceans ; on
the east by die Pacific Ocean and the Chinese
Sea; and on the west by the ^bian gulf, the
Isthmus of Suez, the Mediterranean, the Archipe-
lago^ the straiU of. Gallipoli, the sea of Mar-
mora, the Bosphorus, and the Black Sea, whence
to the Arctic Ocean the boundary which sepa^
* rates Asia from the east of Europe is not dis-
tinctly ascertained. It is, however, supposed to
be constituted by the rivers Don and the lUrposca,
one of its tributary streams rising near Sarepta,
the course of which is to be continued by an
imaginary line between the 40°th and 50*th of
east longitude.
Islands. — ^The Islands belonging to Asia are
the Prince's Islands near Constantinople, Mity-
lene, Scio, Samos, Cos, Rhodes, Cyprus, &c. in
the Archipelago. Bahrein on the Arabian side
of the Persian gulf noted for its pearl fisherjr.
The Laccadive, Maldive islands, and Ceylon m
the Indian Ocean, contiguous to the peninsula
of Hindostan East of the Bay«of Bengal lies
the Indian Archipelago^ consisting of numerous
different groups of islands including the Anda-
man and Nioobar islands, the Sunda bles, Su-
matra, Java, and Borneo ; the Moluccas or Spice
ishmds, Papua or New Guinea, Solomon's isles,
Queen Charlotte's isles, and the New Hebrides ;
which bending in a circular direction to the
8outh-«ast lead us to the two islands of New
Zealand. New Holland, to the south of New
Guinea, is the largest island in the world, and
contains an area larger than all Europe. East
of the New Hebrides lie the South S^ islands.
North of New Guinea are the New Carolinas
and the Marianne or Ladrone islands. West of
them are the Manillas or Philippine islands, and
the Mindanas or Magindanas north of the Mo-
luccas. Immediately above Luzon is the Isle of
Formosa. East of r ormosa in the Chinese sea
lie the Lied-Kieii, or Liitchji islands. Still fer-
ther northward we have Nison and other islands
which together form the kingdom of Japan;
from which proceed the Kunles, consisting of
numerous groups of little islands, extending in
a chain from the isles of Japan to Cape Lo-
patka, the southern extremity of Kamtschatka.
West of these on the coast of Tartary lie Sagha-
lien and other islands. A little distant from
Kamtschatka are the Aleutian or Fox islands,
proceeding in a curved line to the opposite ex-
tremity of America. Nova Zembla is also by
some geo»graphers considered as an Asiatic island,
and lies to the north-west of Siberia. The
islands of Ramisseram and Manar are curiously
connected by a singular ridge of rocks called
Adam's Bridge. It is nevertheless proper to ob-
serve that the best of later geographers, con-
curring in the opinion of the learned president
des Brosses, have separated a vast number of
the islands, formerly considered as Asiatic islands,
from that continent, and arranged them with a
number of other countries and islands to the
south of Asia, and in the Pacific Ocean, under
the two divisions of Australasia and Polynesia.
The grounds of the new arrangement are ex-
plained with sufficient clearness by Mr. Pinker-
ton in his introductory observations on the
Asiatic islands.
S£AS and Waters. — Besides the great oceans
which wash three sides of this celebrated quarter
of the globe, there are numerous gulfs, bays, and
inland seas which have greatly contributed to its
fertility and civilisation. The Red sea or Arabian
gulf, called the Weedy sea by the Hebrews, forms
the grand natural division between Asia and
Africa. Its length calculated from the straits of
Babelmandel to the isthmus of Suez, is about 1470
English miles, and its medial breadth 140 miles.
It terminates at the upper extremity, in two great
branches, of which the western, by several miles
the longer, is celebrated for the passage of the
Israelites in the month Nisan, B. C. 1497, sup-
posed to have taken place in about 29° 40^ north
latitude. The eastern branch extends a little
above the parallel of Mount Sinai. The Arabian
sea is an appellation applied to the vast bay, in-
cluded between Arabia and Hindostan, termina-
ting in the Persian gulf, to which it is united bv
a strait twenty-four miles wide. This guff
stretches to the north-west between Arabia and
Persia, containing several blands, and terminates
under the same meridian as the Caspian. The
deep and extensive Bay of Bengal, spreading
from the eastern coast of Hindostan to ihe op-
posite shores of the Burm^ Empire, is separated
from the last mentioned sea by the great pro
montory of the Deccan. This bay forms a mag-
nificent inlet to the central part of southern
Asia. At its entrance, which is in the eighth de-
gree of latitude, it exceeds 1300 miles in width,
and is 1000 miles from that parallel to its nor-
thern extremity, beyond the mouth of the
Ganges. The gulf of Siam, on the opposite side
of the peninsula of Malacca^ separates the terri-
torial projection from the broad rectangular
Siuinsula included in the southern part of the
urman empire. The gulf of Tonquiu lies on
the south of China; the Yellow sea between
China Proper and the gulf of Corea. The
straits of Uorea eastward lead to the sea of
Japan ; which stretches through about fifteen de-
gre«»s of latitude, and divides the Japanese islands
from the shores of the continent. This sea de-
creasing to the north terminates in a channel
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ASIA.
leading to the sea of Okotsk which forms a spa-
cious inlet to the soutli-eastern shores of Siberia,
dividing Chinese Tartary from the peninsula of
Kamtschatka. From the top of this sea pro-
jects a large forked gulf through nearly three de-
grees of latitude between two chains of magnifi-
cent mountains ; one on the peninsula and the
other on the continent. This gulf, and a bay on
the opposite shore, render the conformation of the
north-eastern part of Asia, peninsular. The sea
of Anadir a few degrees south of Behring's
strait forms another inlet to the north-eastern
extremity of this continent. A few deep inlets
are found on the shores of the Arctic Ocean.
Passing from the White sea through the strait of
Waygat, between Nova Zembia and the con-
tinent, we enter the gulf of Cara, which is di-
vided from the deep gulf of Oby, by a long
peninsula. This forms a large opening reaching
nearly to the sixty-fifth parallel. The river
Yenisei eastward forms itself into a wide estuary
before it falls into the sea. The Bay of Tai-
nourskaia, which from its situation is sometimes
called the North Gulf, is placed about the
seventy-fifth degree of latitude near the northern
extremity of the Old World. Numerous other
inlets are found along the coast firom this point
to Behring's strait. The Levant and the Archi-
pelago lie on the western side of Asia, north of
the Isthmus of Suez. The Euxine, or Black
sea, forms the northern boundary of Anatolia,
and is considered for the most part as a detached
sea, being united to the Mediterranean only by
a small strait, the Bosphorus of the ancients, so
narrow as to be called the Canal of Constanti-
nople.
The sea of Marmora, or Propontis, is consider-
ed by some an inland sea, and is connected with
the ibgean Sea, or Mediterranean Archipelago,
by a similar strait called the Dardanelles, or an-
cient Hellespont. This sea, as well as the Black
Sea and Mediterranean, is supposed to have been
anciently detached. The Caspian, celebrated
for its fisheries, forms the separating boundary,
which divides Russia frt)m Persia and indepen-
dent Tartary. It is of elliptical figure ; the major
axis extending nearly 700 miles from north to
south, and occupying a breadth of nearly 200
geographical miles. It appears to have extended
much farther north than it does at present; espe-
cially as the deserts in that direction are saline,
and sandy, presenting the same kind of shells
and marine productions as are found in the
waters of the Caspian. Pliny and Strabo sup-
posed this sea to b^ a gulf of the northern ocean;
out it must always have been restricted by the
western branch of the Uralian mountains, which
passes to the north of Orenburg, reaching to the
Volga. Its former union with ^e Lake Aral is
highly probable from the marine deposits found
in the intervening steppes, and from the Salt
Lake still remaining between them ; the midway
eminence having been occasioned perhaps by the
alluvion from the great rivers whicn flow into the
latter. The Caspian is remarkable for its having no
visible outlet for the discharge of its waters, not-
withstanding the large rivers that flow into it, and
also from Sie evidences of a former superior
elevation being visible in the flanks of the moun-
tains forming its western coasts. M. Pallas
imagined he recognised its ancient shores on the
steppe, considerably higher than its present
level ; and has given some particulars on the
subject. M M. Engelhardt and Parrot, natural-
ists from Prussia, who visited this sea in 1815,
place the former shores of the Caspian about 350
feet higher than its present surface ; where they
found gulfs and bays clearly defined. Its islands
are mostly uninhabited; its bed is uneven,
abounding with shoals, betweei) some of which
a line of 450 fathoms has been unsuccessfully
employed to reach the bottom. Its waters are
less salt thaa those of the ocean ; but have a pe-
culiar bitter taste. It has no tides ; but is subject
to violent storms. The striking peculiarity of
this sea is the difference between its level and
that of the Baltic and the Black Sea. From baro-
metical observations made at Astracan, and at
St. Petersburgh, during a period of nine years,
the Caspian appeared to be 306 feet below that
of the Baltic : ami from other barometical obser-
vations, made between the mouth of the Kuban
and that of the Terek, the surface of the Black
Sea was found to be 105 metres, or 344.5 feet
above the Caspian.
Lake Aral is about 200 miles in length, and
seventy in breadth, and about an hundred miles '
distant firom the eastern shores of the Caspian ;
which, in some respects, it may be said to resem-
ble : it extends in the same direction, and receives
the waters of several rivers, but discharges none.
The principal rivers that run into it are the Gi-
hon, or Jihon ; the Oxus, of a^ntiquity, which
enters the southern extremity ; the ancient Jax-
artes, which reaches it from the east ; as also the
Aujany, or Rizil Daria. The southern extremity
of this lake is sprinkled with numerous islands ;
and its supplies of water flowing from the south
and the east, while those of the Caspian flow
firom the nordi and west, evince that they occupy
part of the same natural basin. Baikal, another
of the great lakes, or inland seas, of Asia, is situ-
ated near the southern borders of Siberia, on the
northern side of the great chain of mountains
which divides that country from Mongolia.
This lake, like the former^ stretches in the same
direction as the Caspian : is 350 miles in length,
and nearly forty in breadth. Its waters are fresh
and pellucid, presenting however the general
appearance of a slight green tinge, and are usu-
ally frozen from the beginning of December to
the end of April. The depth of this lake varies
from twenty to ninety fathoms ; but so clear ar6
the waters, that the bottom becomes distinctly
visible to the depth of fifty feet. It is subject to
violent storms, and is often agitated without any
visible cause ; whence it has received fix>m the
Russians the superstitious name of Svetoie Mar^,
Holy Sea. This lake, although it receives the
waters of several copious rivers, has no visible
outlet except the lower Angara, the discharge
from which is considerably inferior to tlie ac-
cessions which it receives. It is almost sur-
rounded by mountains, in which the existence
of subterraneous fire is evident, from frequent
shocks of earthquakes ; and the surrounding
shores are distinguished by some remarkable
phenomena.
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ASIA.
43
It has been imagined by many geographers
duit the northern regions of Asia communicate
with the condnent of America. This however is
a topic on which we have not sufficient data to
gronnd an opinion. Captain Cook certainly
traced the se|)aration of these co.ntinents, par-
tially : The best information yet obtained on this
particular is, that Behring's Strait divides them
to about forty miles in breadth, having East Cape
on the Asiatic side, and Prince of Wales Cape on
the American. The depth of water is about
thirty fathoms. Pursuing this strait northward,
the Asiatic shore tends rapidly to the west, while
the American proceeds nearly 4ue north ; till, at
the distance of four or five degrees, the two con-
tinents are joined by one solid and impenetrable
mass of ice.
Mountains. — The mountains of Asia have
always been thought remarkable ; and, arrayed in
all the horrors of perpetual winter, seem to irown
in awful silence over the profusion of the vale.
A celebrated writer (M. Walckenaer, in his
Cosmologie, p. 105,) observes, * that the chain of
mountains in which the culminating points of
the highest level are found, always follows the
direction of the greatest dimensions of the conti-
nent ; and the inferior chains or heights, where
we find the culminating points of the second or
third-rate levels, also follow the direction of the
greatest dilatations of the land, terminating that
continent.' In Asia we have an illustration of
these observations. The greatest dimensions of the
continent are from east to west : and the country *
from ^e seventieth to the 100th degree of east
longitude, and from the thirtieth to the fiftieth
of south latitude, presents nearly a level area,
from the different sides of which all the largest
rivers flow into the sea. The culminating points
of this extensive level, there is reason to believe,
are the most elevated spots on the surface of the
earth. The included area has been termed the
table-land of Asia; although, since the revival
of science, it has been inaccessible to European
travellers, and therefore litde known. The west-
em part of It is, however, mountainous ; and the
eastern is a vast desert ; the Shamo of the Chi-
nese, and the Kobi of the Tartars, exhibiting an
extent of several thousand miles not watered by
a single stream.
The Altaian mountains are the northern boun-
daries of this area ; the Himalaya, on the south,
divide it from Hindostan. On the east is that loflty *
range in which originates the great rivers of
China ; and the west is bordered by the moun-
tains which contain the sources of the Indus and
Jaxartes. The inferior chains, diverging as radii
from this centre, are MCiz-dagh or Muz-zkrt,
' snowy mountains,' on the north. The Tibetian
mountains on the east, the Vind'hya hills and
Chats on the soutli, and the Alburg or Alborg
on the west. The different ranges that traverse
the territories of Persia, and unite its north-west
provinces to Caucasus on the north, to Taurus
and Libanus on the west and south, are connected
with the Alburgian chain. Libanus is also con-
nected by the hilly country on the west of Jordan
with the mountains of Arabia. The greater
number of these inferior chains run from east to
west, in the same direction as the central range.
The extensive Altai, oi KhattaT chain, stretches
across the continent, under different names, for
more than 5000 miles, terminating, to the east, in
Tchutskoi Ness and cape Lopatka. Of the highest
points of this celebrated chain south of Russia, we
na.ve no accurate information; but the inferior
ranges reach far above the point of perpetual con-
gelation, and are supposed to be equal to the
Alps. The Himalaya chain of mountains south of
the great central level, rears its loftiest summits
26,000 feet above the level of the sea ; and, ac-
cording to some of our best geographers, upwards
of 6000 feet above the celebrated Chimborazo of
America, which towers over the entire Cordillera
of the Andes. This southern chain is supposed
to be of superior elevation to the northern.
Mount Kailas, ihe Olympus of the Hindus, is
supposed to exceed even the D'h6l^-giri in»Ni-
pal, which has been proved by admeasuremen
to reach 26,400 feet above the level of the sea.
Mount Caucasus, the next in point of altitude,
is a vast range extending between the Euxine
and Caspian seas. Mount Ararat rises south-
west of the Caucasus; libanus, Amanus, and
Taurus, are all connected with this great chain ;
and the latter mount diverging with various
branches, occupies almost the whole area from
the Euphrates to the sea of Marmora. The
Uralian mountains, runaing from south to north,
nearly as far as Nova Zembla, and called by the
Tartars the girdle of the earth, are much colder,
in consequence of a higher latitude ; but are in-
ferior to the above in point of elevation.
Many volcanoes are in a constant state of ac-
tivity throughout Asia ; and many which were
volcanic in former times, are now extinct, al-
though smoke iti\i issues, and hot streams are
frequently discharged from crevices in their sides
The insular regions of Asia are likewbe moun-
tainous, and Adam's Peak, in Ceylon, has been
a remarkable subject of tradition and fable.
Volcanoes are also found in most of the Asiatic
islands ; G(inong-&pi is one of the most active
now known ; of that near Brambanan, in Java,
a violent eruption is recorded in 1586. Ter-
nate, the chiet of the Moluccas, is nothing more
than a volcanic cone, occasionally emitting flames
from its summit ; and on its sides are large pits
of melting sulphur. The isles of France and
Bourbon are entirely of volcanic origin ; and the
crater of the latter, while in a state of eruption,
was visited by M. Bory de St. Vincent, who de-
scribes, with great interest, ^the phenomena ob-
served on that occasion.
Rivers. — From the mountains of Asia nu-
merous rivers descend, which serve greatly to re-
fresh the surrounding country . The river Lena rises
east of Siberia, near the lake Qajkel, and flowing
first north-east, then north, enters the Frozen
Ocean, opposite the Borkhaya isles, after a course
of 1900 miles. The river Enisei, rising in the
Altaian, mountains, flows into the same sea after
a course of at least 1400 miles. The Oby, per-
haps the widest river in the Russian empire, rises
about 51° norA latitude, and 87° east longitude
from the AltCimor of the Kalmaks, and Ozero
Teletzkoi of the Russians ; and after a course of
not less than 2000 miles, falls into the Obskaya
Juba, or sea of Oby, within the arctic circle. The
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ASIA.
viver Irtish takes its rise in 46® north latitude,
and 92® east longitude, iu the northern barrier of
the central plateau ; aud after rolling its rapid
stream as far as the 62d degree of latitude, and
gathering numerous tributary waters in its course,
rails into the river Obe, norUi of Samarou. The
Amour, or Saghaliil, which rises in the Kalcas
country, is formed by the junction of the two
rivers, Kherton and Argun; and after traversing
Chinese Tartaiy, and receiving several large rivers
in its course, disembogues itself in the sea of Ok-
hotsk, neartiie northern extremity of the channel
of Tartary, completing a course of 1800 miles.
The rivers of China chiefly rise in the eastern de-
clivity of the Table Land. The M^kang, or
Kamboja, and the Irawadi, or Ava River, after
descending from the plateau into the lower coun-
try by long and winding courses, flows in a di-
rect line to the Indian Ocean. The three most
celebrated rivers that spring from this region are
the Indus, Ganges, ai^d Burrampooter. The
Ganges river is held sacred by the inhabitants,
and is the only one of the three of whose source
we have any satis&ctory information ; although
Moorcroft tells us he found that of the Indus in
31® 3' north latitude, and 80® 35' east longitude.
The two others rise in Thibet ; the Burrampooter
waters the eastern parts of Bengal; and the
course of the Indus, to the south, has been known
ever since the time of Alexander. The Oxus and
the Jaxartes are two large streams, well known
to the ancients, which rise from the western de-
clivity of the central range ; the former emanating
from the glaciers of Pushti-khur, is supposed an-
ciently to have taken a north-westerly course ; at
present it proceeds almost due north, and falls into
the lake Aral. The latter rises in the Bel(ird&gb
or Icy mountains, west of Afgh&unist^un, and en-
ters the eastern side of the same lake. The Tigris
and Euphrates flow to the south, and the Araxes to
the east, watering a considerable extent of coun-
try. The Jordan and Orontes fertilize and beau-
tify the vales of Syria and Palestine. Anatolia,
though it has neither broad nor rapid rivers,
is reifipeshed by the division of innumerable
smaller streams, which thrornr an enchanting ap-
pearance over the surftice of the landscape.
The Halys, or Kizil Irm^, arising from mount
Taurus, after a course of 350 miles, ftills into
the Black Sea. But the Howang-h6, or Yellow
River, which waters die northern provinces of
China, is perhaps the deepest and most rapid
river of Asia. This river rises on the eastern de-
clivity of the plateau, and rolls its vast stream
with unabated rapidity, to nearly 2000 miles.
The Yang-tse-kiang, or son of the sea, is another
noble stream of China.
Climate.— The climate of Asia is exceedingly
various, owing to the different degrees of elevar
tion. In the south-east the heat is excessive, and
in the northern parts the cold is almost insup-
portable. In Anatolia the central parts are
colder than the provinces of France, although the
latter are ten degrees farther north. The cause
of this is explained by Mr. Brown, who calcu-
lates that the city of Erz-riim is 7000 feet above
the level of the sea. This extraordinary altitude
of level, together with the great body of snow on
the neighbouring mountains, i^^counts for the
extremes of cold in Persia and Tartary ; Arabia
is considerably tempered, though within the
tropics. China being mountainous has an agree-
able climate ; while in India and the Burman
empire, are sensibly experienced the full effects
of a torrid zone. '
Vegetables. — ^The stupendous mountains, im-
mense plains, immeasurable forests, noble rivers,
and wide spreading marshes of this quarter of the
earth, togetner with the variety of the soils, and an
extreme difference of climate, from the intense
cold of Siberia, where mercury freezes, to the
almost insupportable heat of the sandy deserts :
from the eternal frost that reigns around the pole,
to the sterility of the arid waste, including di-
versified intermediate regions, always adorned
with the blossoms of spring, enriched with the
fullness of summer, or laden with the produce
tions of autumn, produce an unparalleled variety
of vegetation, from the almost imperceptible
moss £at creeps along the Arctic shores to the
hundred-stemmed banian that spreads its beauti-
ful luxuriance beneath a tropical clime. Some
parts of Asia are very sterile, and the inhabitants
look for support to the surrounding sea, in
which fishes and mollusca abound. Vegetable
productidns however, generally speaking, are nu-
merous, and differ according to tlie climate, under
equal circumstances of soil and irrigation. The
central and western parts produce all sorts of
^rrain which are common in Europe, and culi-
nary vegetables in the highest perfection. The
'tropical and southern regions afford gums, spices,
medicinal roots, and extracts unknown in colder
climates. Several genera of plants are peculiar
to New Holland and the adjacent islands. The
tea-tree is found chiefly in the central regions ;
and the bread firuit and bamboo, which are natives
of Asia, are useful in every part of domestic
economy.
Minerals. — ^This division of the globe con-
tains the precious metals in great abundance:
gold is wasfaeSd down the rivers of Asia Minor.
Arabia still supplies it in its utmost purity ; and
in Assam, Celebes, and Borneo, the gold is said
to be native. Mount Sipylui has been celebrated
for the production of silver, and the mines of
Tokat supply both silver and copper. Great
quantities of tin are found in the island of Ban-
ca; lead and iron in various parts of the
continent; precious stones are found in great
variety throughout the whole of Asia; fine
diamonds in Golconda; rubies in Ceyloi^
topazes in Siberia; and the most beautiful
pearls in the straits of Manaar and the Bah-
rein islands; the oorundeum and other va-
luable stones are peculiar to these countries.
Singular remains or antiquity are also dug out
of the earth; huge tusks of a species of animal
now unknown, and even the entire animal
itself, is found in the islands of the Frozen
Ocean.
Animals. — ^Asia contains a great variety of
land and marine animals, from the minute insect
that flutters in the solar beam, to the stupend-
ous elephant, the ferocious tiger and the majestic
lion. The most valuable are indigenous to this
quarter of the globe. The horse is found on the
northern confines of Penia in his native states
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ASIA.
45
but exhibits none of the symmetry, powers, or pro-
portions, to which be arriyes through a course of
domestic training. The camel is found here in
his most perfect growth, and performs journeys
. which to the horse would be &tal. Tlie ele-
.phant is trained to all sorts of service. The sea-
- otter, so valuable for his for, and the whale are
common, and supply a considerable source of
wealth to the inhabitants.
* The population of Asia,' it has been observed,
''by no means equals those expectations which
its history would naturally inspire,' owing to the
ravages of war, and the influence of despotic
governments,' which always impose an efiiBctual
check upon the increase of population.* Ne?er-
theless, where the governments are mild and
beneficial, as in British India, the reverse is the
fact. China in particular, owing to a long free-
dom from foreign and domestic war, is said to
exhibit the amazing population of five hun-
dred milKons ; and even this, according to some
geographers, is below the real amount.
^Asia, however, being the scene of human
origination, is still peopled by numerous indige-
nous tribes, and presents an ample field for
the study of man, in all the stages ot his progress
irom barbarism to civilisation. The variety ob-
served in the appearance of the natives is proba-
bly the effector difierence of climate, aliment, and
religion. The Samoied tribes, New Hollanders,
and inhabitants, of Andaman, are of diminutive
size. The people of Jesso and the Kurile
islands, have uncommonly large beards, and an
unnatural profusion of hair all over their bodies.
The Tartars and Chinese are knovm by the pe-
culiar figure of their faces ; the latter particu-
larly by their oUique contracted eyes. There is,
however, reason to believe they were andentfy
derived from one common origin, and bore a
great resemblance to each other.
HiSTORT. — ^No^ is said to have settled in
Asia, immediately after the delnge, near the bor-
ders of the £upl^tes, and to have peopled the
whole continent. The posterity of Shem occu-
pying the central regions ; Japhet the northern ;
and Ham the southern. Javan and his descen-
dants, Ashkenaz, Dodanim, Tarshish, EUsha,
Togermah, and Riphath, are supposed to have
been the ancient iniiabitants of Asia Minor. The
. Canaanites and Amalekites were the people of
Syria and Arabia Petrsa. Modem wnters have
rderred the present natives of Asia to those dif-
ferent stocks the Hebrews, Indians, and Tartars,
the propriety of which will appear from their
make, features, and languages. There are, how-
ever, some large tribes, as the Malays and abori-
ginal negroes, which cannot be referred to either of
these classes, as also the mountaineers of Cauca-
sus, and the inhabitants of northern Siberia. Mr.
Pinkerton observes, that the population of Asia
is allowed by all authors to be wholly primitive
and original ; with the exception of Uie Tshukt-
shis, whom the Russian historians suppose to
have passed firam the opposite coast of America,
the colonies that have migrated from Russia to
the northern parts as far as the sea of Kamtschatka,
the well-known European settlements, and a few
others. Asia certainl'^ presents an amazing origi-
i^al population. We aidd the following table of
the nations and languages in Asia, as calculated
to give the reader a tolerably accurate idea of
this interesting subject of enquiry.
Tabic of the Nations and Languages in Asia.
1. Assyrians. — ^Assyrians, Arabians, Egyp-
tians.— Chaldee, Hebrew, &c.
2. Scythians. — Persians, Scythians intra et
extra Imaum, &c\ Armenians.— (The Parsi and
Zend are cognate with the Gothic, Greek, Latin,
according to Sir William Jones. Indian Dissert,
vol. i. p. 206. The Pehlavi b Assyrian or Chal-
daic. Id. 187, 188. 206.)
3. SarmatSd — Medes and Parthians.— Geor-
gians and Circassians.
4. Seres and Indi. — Hindoos, northern et
southern, &c.
5. Sinse.— -Chinese and Japanese.— These have
a Tartaric form and face; they are probably
highly-civilised Tartars, Mongoles, or Mand-
shurs.
Barharic Nations firom north to south, and aS"
cording to tne degrees of barbarism.
6. Samoyedes, Ostiaks, Yurals, &c.
7. Yakutes.— Yukagirs. (Expelled Tartars,
according to Tooke and Lesseps.)
8. Koriaks. — ^Tshuktshis. (From the opposite
coast of America. Tooke's Russia. The Yuka-
girs are a tribe of the Yakutes, around Yakutsk,
and both are expelled Tartars. Tooke's View,
ii. 80. Lesseps, ii. 312.)
9. Kamtskatdales. — Kurillans. — (These resem-
ble the Japanese.)
10. Mandshures or Tunguses. — ^Lamutes. —
(Ruling people in China.)
11. Mongoles. — ^Talmuks. — Soongares, Tun-
gutes. Bursts, &c.
12. Tartars or Huns. — ^Turks, Khasares, Uzes,
and Siberians. — ^Nogays, Bashkirs, Kirgfaisikai-
zaki or Kirghise Kaizaks, Teleutes.
After the destruction of Attila's swarms, and
the effects of unfortunate inroads, the Huns be*
came subject to the Mongoles, who under Zingis,
or Chingis khan, Timur, &c. oonsituted die su-
preme nation in Asia.
The great share of population which Europe
has received from Asia will appear from the fol-
lowing brief statement.
Primitive Inhabitants.
1. Celts. — Irish, Welsh, Armorican. — Erse,
Manks, Cornish.
2. Fins (chief god Yummala). — Finlanders,
Esthonians, Laplanders, Hungarians, Permians
or Biarmians, livonians, Votiaks and Chere*
misses, Vogules and Ostiaks.
Colonies from Asia.
3. Scythians or- Goths (Odin). — ^Icelanders,
Norwegians, Swedes, Danes, Germans, English.
— Swiss, Frisic, Flemish, Dutch.
4. Sarmats or Slavons (Perune). — Poles, Rus-
sians, Kaizaks. — Heruli, Vendi, Lettes.
The inhabitants of France, Italy, a^ Spain,
are also of Asiatic origin ; and speak corrupted
Roman, which, like the Greek, is a polished
dialect of the Gothic, according to Sir William
Jones, and other able antiquaries. The Heruli
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A S I A.
Vendes, and Lette$, used mixed and imperfect
dialects of the Sclavonic.
Besides these numerous original nations, the
Malays and Asiatic islanders constitute another
larp:e and distinct class of mankind, with a pe-
culiar speech, in the south of the extensive con-
tinent of Asia.
Governments. — ^The people^ of Asia in their
civil state consist of families o9Cupyin^ the same
territory, but acknowledging no chief or governor;
of independent tribes associated under one com-
mon potentate as the Arabs and Tartars, and
therefore called equestrian natious ; or of king-
doms ranged under established monarchies, of
which the chief are Independent Tartary, China,
Thibet, with its subsidiary provinces, the Japa-
nese empire, &g. The Asiatic governments are
mostly despotic, and those established by Euro-
peans are nearly of the same description. In
some of the political institutions of Asia there is,
however, the rude image of a popular administra-
tion; in others the. influence of women is ad-
mitted ; whilst in some few the prince is guided
in all public measures by the advice of his
nobles. Were the principal governments in
Asia to be arranged according to their natural
and political importance, they would probably
succeed each other in the following order : China
in the first place, and after this successively
Persia, Turkey, and Russia ; the precedency of
the numerous other states can hardly be ascei^
tained.
Religion. — ^The most common religion of
Asia 'is idolatry. The doctrines of Mahomet
prevail to a great extent ; but their influence is
upon the decline, owing in a great measure to the
popularity of the Wahabees. Christianity is now
generally rejected in Asia, and in many countries
even where it was formerly tolerated, as in China
and Japan. The sacrifice of animals, and even
of human victims, is very frequent ; and a spirit
of the most degrading superstition seems to reign
throughout the vast regions of this division of £e
globe. Penance is carried beyond even the
bounds of probability. Imposing upon himself
perpetual silence, gazing on the sun till his eyes
oecome fixed in their sockets, lacerating his body
with sharp weapons, and other practices still more
shocking to humanity are, through vast regions,
considered among the most acceptable services
which a man can ofier to the deity. Polygamy is
generally practised, and sometimes even a plurality
of husbands are allowed to a single woman : fcr
males of rank also, betrothed at an early age,
cohabit not with their husbands but with other
men without reproach. Infanticide is common ;
and burning the living wife with the body of her
dead husband, though now rendered a voluntary
act on the part of the woman, has by no means sub-
sided. Many of the tribes are complete canni-
bals, and others are little better.
Character op Inhabitants. — ^The inhabi-
tants of Asia, violent in their dispositions, are
generally ferocious, vindictive, ana cruel. The
tender Um of nature are little felt. Children are
openly ^Id by their parents without even the
apology of necessity. Wives are sacrificed by
their husbands even on the bare suspicion of in-
fidelity ; and in the most civilised state after an
unfortunate contest for the crown, the unsuccess-
ful prince, if not executed, invariably has his
eyes put out, though the rival should be his own
brother.
The ancient geography of Asia cannot be con-
templated without feelings of excitement, which
the deep gloom of her present degraded and
idolatrous condition are unable to suppress;
feelings unknown in the contemplation of any
other portion of the globe. Asia was the parent
of nations, the cradle of civilisation and science—
here occurred most of those remarkable transac-
tions recorded in the scripture history — ^here arose
successively the Babylonian, Assyrian, and Per-
sian empires — and here the Christian religion
was first planted for the salvation of man. Much
of the celebrity of this quarter of the globe is un-
doubtedly owing to its climate, and the numer-
ous gulfs, bays, and navigable rivers with which
it abounds opening early facilities for commerce,
&c.; but still more perhaps is to be attributed to
the native genius and sanguine temperament of
its inhabitants.
The origin of the name of Asia has given rise
to some curious speculations and disquisitions.
The Greeks deduced it from Asia, the fiibulous
daughter of Oceanus and Thetis. Odiers have
derived it from Asius, king of Lydia. Bochart
traces it to the Hebrew or Phcenician word Asi,
signifying middle, which is, however, unsupported
by historical evidence. According to Homer,
Herodotus and Euripides, it early designated a
country of Lydia, where ancient geography men-
tions a tribe of Asiones and a city of Asia; The
name, however, was gradually extended by the
Greeks from a single province to the whole of
Asia Minor, and suterwards to other regions as
they were discovered successively ; in the same
manner as Allemagne is applied by the French
to the whole of Germany; and as Italia, an
ancient canton in Calabria, is now denominated
the peninsula of Italy. Since, however, much
perplexity has arisen among authors by the di-
verse acceptations of the term Asia, so as to ren-
der it extremely difficult for their readers to know
what region wa;i distinctly understood by that
appellation ; and since it is not easy to reconcile
the apparent inconsistency between sacred and
profane history, as to the provinces which it
comprised, we present the following observations
for the satisfaction of the reader : — ^The ancient
geographers divided the vast continent that was
known to the Greeks and Romans under the
word Asia, first into Greater and Lesser Asia.
The latter, also called Asia Minor, was thought
to be a peninsula terminated by a line drawn
from Sinope to the line of separation between
highland and lowland Cilicia (Aspera and Cam-
pestris). It comprehended a great number of
provinces; but that which included Phrygia,
Mysia, Caria, and Lydia, was denominated Asia
Proper, or Asia properly so called. Cicero,
enumerating the regions contained in Asia Pro-
per, makes no mention of iEolis or lolia, though
undoubtedly a district of it, as being compre-
hended partly in Lydia and partly in Mysia.
Lydia, beside the inland country commonly
known by that name, contained also Ionia, lying
on the sea-side, between the rivers Hermus and
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ASIA.
47
Msander; and iEolis, extending from Ilermus
to the river CaicuSy or to the promontory Lec-
tum, the ancient boundary between Troas and
the sea-coast of the Greater Mysia. Accordingly,
Asia Proper comprehended Phrygia, Mysia, Ly-
dia, Caria, .£olia, and Ionia. Hiis tract was
bounded, according to Ptolemy, on the north by
Bithynia and Pontus, extending from Galatia to
Propontis; on the east by Galatia, Pamphylia,
and Lycia ; on the south by part of Lycia and
the Rhodian sea ; on the west by the ^Hellespont,
by the ^gean, Scarian, and Myrtoan seas, occu-
gying the space between the thirty-fifUi and
(rty-first degree of north latitude, and extending
from 55® to 62° of longitude.
As Asia Proper is but a part of Asia Minor,
so the Lydian Asia is only a part of Asia Proper.
Asia, in this acceptation, comprehends Lydia,
>£olia, and Ionia ; and is that Asia whereof men-
tion is made in the Acts and the Apocalypse.
Aristotle tells us that Smyrna was at first pos-
sessed by the Lydians ; and Scylax Coryandensis
reckons it among the cities of Lydia, as also
Ephesus, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Thyatira, are
reckoned by Ptolemy among Uie cities of Lydia,
as is Laodicea by Stephanus. Steph. de Urbid.
That in ancient times Lydia was called Meeonia,
and the Lydians, Maeonians, is manifest from
Hesodotus, Diodorus Siculus, Dionysius Afer,
Strabo, Pliny, Stephanus, and others ; and that
Meonia was called Asia is no less plain from
Caliinicus, who flourished before Archilochus,
from Demetrius Soepsius, contemporary with
Crates, and Aristarchus the grammarian, from
Euripides, Suidas the great etymologist^ &c.;
besides which it is expressly affirmed by the
ancient scholiast of Apollonius Rliodius, that
Lydia was formerly called Asia, and hence Lydia
has been said to have a better claim to the name
of Asia than any other part of that continent
Ulterior (or Greater) Asia comprehended the
remaining part of tluit continent. Its great di-
visions were Iberia, Colchis, and Albania, be-
tween the Euxine and Caspian seas ; Mingrelia,
Georgia, and E^histfln Ajmenia, which retains
its ancient name. Media and Persia included
in modem Persia. Bactriana and Margiana ; the
Merri, Balkh, and Bokh^ of the Turks and
Tartars ; Syria, Mesopotamia and Assyria, the
Biliidu'sh ishkn, Dlyar bekr, and Abjonirah of
the modems. H3rrcania, Persia, and Susiana,
the Irilk and F&rs of the present day. Judea,
Babylonia, and Chaldea; the southern part of
Syria and Pachalic of Bagdad. India the
country between the Indus and Ganges^ and
Syria the remoter regions to the north-east.
Ancient Geography. — ^The earliest accounts
of this vast portion of the globe are those con-
tained in the Scripture, which are, however, ex-
tremely imperfect. Moses has enumerated the
different parts of the earth with which the He-
brews were fruniliar ; but, in consequence of the
names by which he designates the places differ-
ing from other authors, great obscurity hangs
over the whole of his geography, except that
which relates to the land of Canaan itself, and
the states immediately contiguous. He appears
to have been well acquainted with Asia Minor,
Annenia, Media, Persia, and Arabia. The Gog
and Magog of Scripture seem to have been the
inhabitants of Caucasus. Riphath seems to re-
fer to the Riphsan mountains ; and Rosh refers
to the ancient Rossi, from whom were descended
the Russians of the present day. The. more
northerly parts of Asia were evidently unknown
to the Greeks. Herodotus considered the Pha-
sis in Colchis as the lin» of separation between
Europe and Asia, whilst others believed the
Don, or Tanais, as the proper limit. The
mountains north of India were the utmost boun-
dary of their knowledge with respect to that part
of Asia. The Ganges and the Indian Ocean
they considered the eastern and southern limits ;
and the Red Sea, with the isthmus between it
and the Mediterranean, brought them back to
the western or nearest side. Many geographers
included Egypt in Asia, making the Catabathnus,
or western side of the valley of the Nile, the
separation between Asia and Africa ; whilst others
considered the Nile itself as the line of separar
tion. Strabo and Pliny supposed the northern
end of the Caspian sea communicated with the
ocean.
PaoGRESSiyE Geogkapht. — ^At the time when
Asia was first mentioned in history it probably
contained more powerful empires than it does
at present, the Chinese excepted. Alexander
the Great carried his arms beyond the Indus.
The Sine, or eastern Indians, were known
to Ptolemy in the second century, and abo
Taprobane or Ceylon, with Jabadia, the Javia
dwipa of the Indians, and the Java of our
maps. Alfred, king of England, deputed a mis-
sion to the shrine of St. Thomas on the .coast of
Babelmandel; and the crusades of Syria and
Palestine, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries^
led to an intimate acquaintance with that part of
Asia. Shortly after the passion for crusades had
subsided, a spirit of commercial enterprise was
excited, and merchants, from several parts of
Europe, penetrated into the interior. The monks,
animat^ with a desire to convert the heretics,
departed in great numbers for Asia; amission
deputed from the pope to the court of the Moguls,
and another from Louis of France to the same
Srinces contributed on their return, by the pub-
cation of their travels, to enlarge the ideas of
Europeans with respect to that part of the world.
Marco Polo, a Venetian merchant, with his com-
panions, spent twenty-six years in travelling
either as merchants, or as agents of the Great
Khan of the Tartars, during which period they
for the first time disclosed the great desert of
Cobi, and made great additions to our knowledge
of oriental geography, particularly in the north
of Asia. Such indeed was the ignorance of the
age in which he lived, that his description^ of
the magnificence and wealth of the Asiatics were
regard^ by his contemporaries as the effusions of
romance. Subsequent information has neverthe-
less raised him to distinguished credit, and his
work is now considered one of the most curious
monuments we possess of the state of Europe
and Asia in the middle ages. In the fifteenth
century improvements in navigation, and the
spirit of commercial enterprise, fru^ilitated the
progress of discovery. A passage was discovered
to India round the Cape of Good Hope, and the
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ASIA.
EngUshy Dutch, Spttnisfa, and Portuguese settled
peveral establishments on the Asiatic coast, from
which they undertook still more distant expeditions
into die interior, and opened an intercourse with
China, Japan* and Hindostan. ' The British go-
Temment sent out repeated expeditions under
the conduct of Cook, Byron, and others, to make
discoveries in the Southern Ocean ; and the em-
press Catharine about the same time directed
scientific travellers to explore some of the central
parts of her Asiatic dominions. Geography by
these means received many splendid additions,
and our knowledge of different and distant parts
of tbe globe illustrated many important and in-
teresting points in the physical and natural his-
tory of southern Asia. Van Diemen's Land
and New Holland were explored by captain
Flinders. The same voyager also observed that
there is no river deeply penetrating into the
latter island ; and that the gulf of Carpentaria
is a basin of vast extent studded with islands.
The expulsion of the Dutch from their insular
settlements has also led to an intimate acauaint-
ance with those territories, all knowledge of
which they endeavoured to conceal. Travellers
firom British India have greatly increased our in-
formation with respect to the neighbouring re-
gions. A mission to the court of Persia has
'dirown a light on the geography and policy of
that distinguished empire, and shown how de-
fective our information was with regard to Ori-
ental nations. A field of discovery, however,
yet remains to complete the geography of this
part of the world. The origin, course, and pro-
gressive mcrease of some of its greatest rivers are
unknown; scarce any of its internal seas, except
the Caspian, have been the subjects of actual
survey; and its mountains, perhaps the most
stupendous masses on the globe, present a wholly
unexplored field of enquiry. Siberia is but little
known ; and even of the coasts no perfect sui^
vey has ever been taken. The whole extent of
country from the Caspian to the sea of Okhosts,
includmg a superficial area of many thousands of
miles, is occupied by nations and people whose
names are scarcely known. Little more than the
borders of Arabia is known to Europeans. The
interior regions of Tartary and the northern part
of China require much illustration. The same
remark may be applied to India and the interior
of Asia generally. With regard to the probable
population of this continent so defective is our
knowledge that differences of between one and
two hundred millions exist in regard to that of
China alone. Our knowledge of the islands is
almost equally imperfect. Not a tenth part
of New Holland has been attempted, and tliat
only in a single line, although every journey un-
folds novelties and wonders in nature which
seem to distinguish this extensive island irom
every other region in the world. Borneo, Su-
matra, Celebes, and Papua greatly demand the
attention of travellers. The north-eastern angle
of territorial Asia has been repeatedly visited by
navigators and travellers since the civilization of
Russia by the genius of Peter the Great; but
the geography and natural history of that r^on
have been hitherto described in a manner which
i:> exceedingly imperfect On the whole we are
looking fbr superior lights. The morning which
dawned so nuiny centuries ago has hitherto ad-
vanced but slowly ; and we hail the approach of
a brighter period, which is not very remote,
when the sun of discovery shall burst the clouds
in which he has been enveloped, and irradiate
the geography of this interesting section of the
globe.
The propagation of Mahommedanisn\, and the
extermmating wars by which it was attended,
effected a complete revolution by the states of this
continent. The Greek empire sunk in the arms
of the victorious Moslems. The caliphs for a
time prevailed to a considerable dc^ee over
their Uonstantinopolitan predecessors, and were
in their turn humbled by the Tatarian Jenger^
and T^m6r. The latter were finally absorbed
in the overwhelming power of the Turks who
now, having no formidable enemy to oppose,
overran the west of Asia, and in the miaale of
the fifteenth century extinguished the Eastern
Empire, and laid the foundations of those great
divisions of this continent which subsist at the
present day.
With respect to the modern divisions of Asia,
we observe that the Russian empire extends
from the Uralian mountains to the sea of Kam-
schatka, and from the Arctic Ocean to the pa-
rallel of fifty degrees north latitude. It is inna-
habited by Tartars, Mongols, Mantchirs, &c.,
under the general name of Siberia. The Asiatic
part of the Ottoman Empire, consisting of Ana-
tolia, Syria, and Diyar-Bekr, the ancient Meso-
potamia, lies between the Black Sea and the
Mediterranean ; the canal of Constantinople and
the Tigris ; Arabia lies to the south of the latter
country; and Persia lies east of the Tigris, as
hr as. the Indus, between the Caspian ^a and
the Persian Gulf. East of the Caspian, as fiu- as
east longitude 100 degrees, between Russia and
Persia, are the independent Tartais. From the
above meridian, to the Sea of Japan, lies eastern
or Chinese Tartary, inhabited by the Mantchirs
who subdued China in the middle of the seven-
teenth century, and whose original country forms
, at present the northern part of that empire. Tliibet
is on the north side of the Himalaya mountains,
the Alps of Hindostan. South and east of China
lies the peninsula of India, beyond the Ganges.
West of the Burman empire is India on this
side the Ganges, comprehending Kashmir, Hin-
dostan, and the Deccan. The islands are under
various governments, and have been made the
seat of various commercial establishments by
the different powers of Europe, of which an
account will be given under tneir names sepa-
rately.
Asia Minor is the western portion of Asia,
having the Black Sea on the north, the Eu-
phrates on the east, and the seas Mediterranean
and Marmora, with the Hellespont and Bos-
{>horus, on the west. It is of an irregularly ob-
ong figure, 1000 miles from east to west, and
400 or 500 from north to south, variously in-
dented by bays and inlets, and having a few
peninsulas and promontories. Its streams and
rivers are numerous but not large ; the interior
abounding with saline lakes, crystal fountains,
and hot-springs, whose waters have been oele-
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ASI
49
ASK
bnted for their medicinal qualities. The cli-
nuite is fine, and its yalleys warm, washed in
some places by mountain torrents, shaded by the
mountains, and tempered by cool and refreshing
breezes from the sea. Long ranges of hills,
from which branches diverge in all directions,
isolated rocks and mountains crowned with
trees and verdure, delightfully change the> pros-
pect; while the luxuriance of the soil and sa)un-
dance of grain, fruits, and every species of
vegetation, render subsistence comfortable and
happy. Earthquakes are, however, frequent,
.overwhelming entire cities and their inhabitants ;
and the plague sweeps away its thousands.
The whole country is subject to the Turkish
government, and inhabited chiefly by Mahom-
medans and Christians. It is divided into se-
veral laige provinces, of which Natolia and
Caramania are the most important It contains
the cities of Angora, Bursa, Smyrna, and Tocat,
besides the ruins of manv others which have
been highly celebrated in history. The southern
shore of Caramania is overspread witli remains
of Grecian antiquities; and Natolia abounds
with ancient curiosities and columns, having
been the theatre of important events from the
earliest history. The several islands in the
Archipelago, belonging to this country, are also
highly classical and important.
This part of Asia is the most interesting re-
gion of the earth, the parent of education, arts,
and arms—the cradle of mythology, poetry, and
eloquence — the favorite abode of the muses — the
soil in which lay the ancient roots of genius,
which have since struck round the world, beau-^
tified the moral wastes, and still luxuriantly ex-
pand their blossoms in almost every clime of the
civilised globe.
ASIAGO, one of the seven Venetian com-
munes in Upper Italy, in the midst of mountains,
in the north of the circle of Vicenza, and now be-
longing toAustria. The inhabitants are descend-
ants of the ancient Germans, and lead a purely
pastoral life. They enjoyed great privileges
under the Venetian government, and luive more
than once defended the passes of their country
against the inroads of a foreign foe. The large
town of Asiago is the seat gI the court of jus-
tice for all the communes; has a castle, and
11,000 inhabitants. It is twenty miles north of
Vicenza.
ASIDE. On side. See Side.
And he took him atidii fr5 the people and pattedo
hiM fingris into hise eero and he tpette and toQchide
hit tonge. W^f. Mark ch, vii.
Frak. Sir, he may live.
I Mw him beat the snrgee under him.
And ride npon their backs ; he trod the water.
Whose enmity he flung aiide, and breasted
The surgb most swoln that met him ; his bold head
'Bovethe contentious waves he kept, and oar'd
Himself with his good arms in lus^ strokes
To the shore j that o'er his wave-worn basis bowed.
Shakipeare'i Tempett,
Thus (she purtuM) I discipline a son.
Whose undieckM fiixy to revenge would run ;
He champs the bit, impatient of his loss.
And starts aside, and flounders at the cross.
Dryim't Hind amd Pamther,
It is the custom of the Mahometans, if they see
any printed or written paper upon the ground, to take
it up and lay it ande carefully, as not knowing but
it m^ contain some piece of the Alcoran. Addimm.
ASILUS, in entomology, the hornet-fly, a
genus of insects belonging to the order of in*
secta diptera. It has two wings; and a horny,
strait, two-valved, beak. There are seventeen
species of this insect. Many of them wound
in a very painful manner, and are particularly
troublesome to cattle in low meadows; others of
them are quite harmless.
AsiLiTs, in ornithology, the name used by
many for the luteola, or' regulus non cristatus,
an extremely small bird, common among wil-
lows.
ASINARII, an appellation given, by wa>' of
Vol. III.
reproadi, to the ancient Christians, as well as
Jews, from a mistaken opinion, among heathens,
that they worshipped an ass.
ASINESIA, in medicine, an immovableness
of the body, or in any part of it, as in apoplexy,
palsy, &c.
ASINIUS Lapis, a name given by some
writers of the middle ages, to a stone, said to be
found in those places frequented by the wild ass.
See BczoAR.
ASINUS Piscis, in ichthyology, a name given
by some to the eglefinus, or common haddock,
called also onos.
ASIO, in ornithology, a name given by Al-
drovandus and others, to the otus, or lesser horn
owl.
ASISIA, or AssisiA, a town of libumia,
now in ruins, but exhibiting many monuments
of antiquity. It is the Asseria or Assesia of
Pliny, and is now called Podgraje. See Asse-
ria.
ASISIO, or AsiTio, a city of the Pope's ter-
ritories in Italy, situated about sixteen miles
east of Perugia, and eighty north of Rome. It is
seated on a mountain, and is said to have been
the birth-place of St, Francis.
ASK, > Ang.-Sax. secan,ascecan, toseek,
Ask'eb. $ to ask ; ascean, to seek, to ask. To
seek, enquire, demand, require, petition, beg.
As it is a great point of art, when our matter re-
quires it, to ^axge and veer out all sail ; so to take
it in and contract it, is no less praise, when the argu-
ment doth oikiU Ben Jonstm,
A lump of ore, in the bottom of a mine, will be
stirred by two men's strength ; which, if you bring it
to the top of the earth, will oMk six men to stir it.
Bacon.
When thou dost a$k me blessing. 111 kneel down.
And atk of thee fozgiveness. Shahpeare.
We have notldng else to atk; but that.
Which you deny already : yet will ash;
That, if we fail in our request, the blame
May hang upon your hardness. Id,
In long journeys, oih your master leave to give ale
to the horses Swifi.
Let him pursue the promis'd Latian shore,
A short delay is all I oiA him now ;
A pause of grief, an interval of woe. Dryden.
K.
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50
ASL
Atk of the leunM the way ; the leam'd are blind ;
This bids to serve, and that to shan mankind ',
Some place the bliss in action, some in ease.
Those call it pLeasaxe, and contentment these.
Pope. Sfu^ oit Man.
Upon my atkir^ her who it was, she told me it
was a vciy grave elderly gentleman, but that she did
not know his name. Ad^uon.
ASKAH, a town of Hindostan, in the nor-
thern circar, Cicacole, thirty-six miles north by
west of Ganjam. It stands in N. lat. 19° 44',
E. long. 84° 55'.
ASKANCE^-x Supposed to be from as-
Askacnce', t chined, participle of the Dutch
Askaumt', iverh schidnen, to cut awry.
AsQumt'. JjFrom whence probably are
squint and asquint ; sideways, oblique.
And wrote alway the names, as he stood.
Of alle folk that gave hem any good,
AOamce that he wolde for hem preye.
Chaueer. The Smpnoitr't Tale.
Some say, he bid his angels tun a^ance
The poles of earth, twice ten degrees 'and more.
From the son's axle : they with labour pnsh'd
Oblique the centric globe. Ifitoii.
Zelmane, keeping a ooontenance adumoe, as she
understood him not, told him, it became her evil.
Sidnesf.
His wannish eyes upon them bent OMkance;,
And when he saw their labours well succeed.
He wept for nge, and threatened din mischance.
Pahfas.
While thus their worke went on with lucky speed.
And reared rammes their horned fronts aduance.
The ancient foe to man, and mortall seed.
His wannish eyes vpon them bent oAanoe.
Pakfas's Tom, book iv.
At this Achilles roUM his furious eyes,
Fix'd on the king atkamt; and thus replies,
O, impudent Drjfden.
Since the space, that lies on either side
The solar orb, is without limits wide ;
Grant, that the sun had happened to prefer
A seat atkaui^, but one diameter :
Lost to the light by that unhappy place.
This globe had lain a frozen loansome mass.
Blachmore.
Through his bright disk the stormy weapon flew,
TranspiercM his twisted mail, and from his side
Drove all the skin, but to his nobler parts
Found entrance none by Pallas turn'd askance.
Cowper^t Hiad, book xi. p. 195.
PaniC'fixed he stood.
His seven-fold shield behind his shoulder cast.
And hemm'd by numbers with his eyes athant,
Watchful retreated. /d. bookxi.
ASKERON, a place five miles from Don-
caster, noted for a medicinal spring. It is a strong
sulphureous water, slightly impregnated with a
purging salt. It is recommenaed internally and
extemsdly m strumous and other ulcers, scabs,
leprosy, and similar complaints. It is good in
chronic obstructions, in cases of worms, &c.
ASKEW, Dan. gkutvt, crooked; from ikia-
ver, to twist.
For, when ye mildly look with lovely hue,
Then is my soul with life and love inspired :
But, when ye lowre, or look on me askew.
Then do I die. Spenser.
Then take it. Sir, as it was writ ^
Nor look askew, at what it saith :
There's no petition in it Prior,
This sttd, her spear she posh'd against the ground «
And, mounting from it with an active bound.
Flew off to heaven ; the hag with eyes askew
LookM up, and mutter'd curses as she flew.
Addism. OMs Met. book ii .
Askew (Anne), an English lady, the
daughter of Sir William A^^ew, of Kelsay, in
Lincolnshire. She was bom at her Eather^s
seat about 1520; and received a liberal educa-
tion. Early in life she was married to a Mr.
Kyme, contrary to her own inclination; and,
being harshly treated by her husband, she went
to Ae court of Henry VlII. to sue for a sepa-
ration. Here she attracted the particular notice
of such ladies as were attached to the reforma-
tion: on this account she was arrested; and,
acknowledging her rel^ous principles, was sent
prisoner to Newgate. After naving been put to
the rack with savage cruelty in the Tower, she
was burnt in Smithfield, sdong with her tutor,
and two other persons of the same faith, in 1546.
Her letters in* rox and Stiypje show her to have
been an accomplished and pious woman.
ASKEYTON, a market town of Limerick,
seated on the river Deel, 110 miles from Dub-
lin; noted for its castle, built by the eail of
Desmond, and for its beautiful abliey.
ASLA'KE. Ang.-Sax. aslacian, to abate;
to resolve, to unbend, to reduce to its compo-
nent parts, to slake, or slacken.
But this continual, cruel, civil war
No skill can stint, nor reason can adahe.
Whilst, seeking to adake thy raging fire.
Thou in me kindlest mvfih more great desire. Id,
But tnche as of ther golde ther only idoU make,
Noe treasure may the ranyn of their hungry ha^ds
ASLAN, or Aslani, in conunerce, a name
given to the Dutch dollar in most parts of the
Levant The word is also written corruptly,
asselani. It is originally Turkish, and signifies
a lion, which is the figure stamped on it The
Arabs, taking the figure of a lion for a dog,
called it abusketh. It is- silver, but much al-
loyed, and is current for 115 or 120 aspers. See
, ASLANT. On slant See Slant.
There is a willow grows admU a brook.
That shews his hoar leaves in the glassy stream.
Shakspeare. Haadet.
He fell ; the shaft
Drove thro' his neck^ adatU : he spurns the ground ;
And the soul issues through the weapon's wound.
Drjfden.
Lot now apparent all
Adani the dew-bright earth and coloured air.
He looks in boundless majesty abroad.
And sheds the shining day that burnished plays
On rocks, and hills, and towers, and wandering
streams.
High gleaming from afar. Thommm,
ASLEET. On sleep. See Sleep.
This false knight vpon 'delaie .
Hath taried till thei were adeepe.
As he that woU time kepe
His deadly workes to fnlfiUe.
Govor. Con. Am. book ii.
How many thousand of my poorest sul^ects
Are at this hour adeep / O gentle sleep,
feature's soft nurse, how have I fic^hted thee !
Shakspeare
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ASP
The 4iUgeiioe>Qf trade, and &oi«cAil gain.
And Ivxi^y, nunre iato luhep vue laid :
AU was the night's ; and, in her tilont rcig^k.
No sound the rest of nature did invade. Dryden.
For gorgM with flesh, and drunk with human wine^
While fast atieep the giant lay supine
Snoring aloud, and belching from his maw
His indigested foam and morsels raw :
We pray, we cast the lots, and then surround
The monstrous body, stretch'd along the ground.
Id. VkgU,Mue\dm,^
There is no dUference, between a person udeep,'
and in an apoplexy ; bat that the one can be awaked*
and the other cannot. . Arbuthmot on X>iet.
ASLOPF. Oit alope» or 9lip. See Slope.
For many tim«s I have it seen.
That many have begyled been.
For trust that they have set in hope.
Which fell hem afterward mhpe.
Chwcer. Romauni of the Rate, fol. 137. c. I.
Set them not upright, but adope, a reasonable
depth under the ground. Bacon,
The curse adope
GlancM on the ground ; with labour I must eara
My bread I what harmt Idleness had been worse ;
My labour will sustain me. MUtoiu
The knight di() stoop.
And sate on further side adve, HMdibnu,
Where porters' hoc^^eads roU £ft>m carts adope.
Of brewers down steep cellars stretch the rope i
W^ere counted billeu are by carmen tost.
Slay thy rash step^ and walk without the post.
Gay, Trwia, book ii.
ASMODAI9 the name given by the Jenvs
to the prince of daemons ; and according to R.
Elias, the same with Sammael.
ASMONEUS, or Assilmoneus, the father of
Simon, and chief of the Asmoneans, a family that
reigned over the Jews 126 years.
. ASNA, or EsNA, a town in Upper Egypt,
seated upon the Nile, believed by some authors
to be the ancient Syena, though others say the
ruins of it are still to be seen near Assuan. It
is so near the cataracts of the Nile, that they
may be heard from thence, and it contains se-
veral monuments of antiquity ; among the rest an
ancient Egyptian temple, painted throughout.
The columns are full of hieroglyphic figures. A
little way from hence ^ the rums of an ancient
nunnery, said to be built by St. Helena, and
surrounded with tombs. Asna is the principal
town in these parts, and the inhabitants are nch
in com and cattle.
ASNAPPER, an Assyrian prince, mentioned
in Ezra iv. 10, who settled the original Samari-
tans in the country of the ten tribes. It is un-
certain, whether he was Salmaneser or Esar-
haddon, or one of their generals.
ASOLA, a town of Upp«r Italy, in the terri-
tory of Brescia, on the Cbiese, with a popula-
tion of 4000. It is twenty miles S.S.E. of Brescia.
ASOLO, a Venetian prefecture,in the March of
Treviso, Italy; belonging to Austria. It con-
sists of the town of Asolo, and thirty-six vil-
lages, vrith 25,000 inhabitants. They cultivate
grapes, com, fruit, silk, oil, and garden ve-
getables, trade in cattle, and manufacture silk and
woollen stufis. The town of Asolo is seated on
tome ^eeable rising grounds, skirted on the
north and west by the Musone.
ASOPH, or AzoPH. See Azoph.
ASOPUS, a town of Laconia, on the Sinus
Laconius, witli a port in a peninsula, between
Bo« to the east, and the mouth of the Eurotas to
the west. The citadel only remains standii)^.
Asorus, in ancient geography, the name ot
several rivers, viz. 1. In Bceotia, which, mnning
from mount Cith«ron, and watering the territory
of Thebes, separates it from the territory of Pla-
tca, and ^Is with an east course into the Euri-
pus, at Tanagra. On this river, Adrastus, king
of Sicyon, built a temple to Nemesis, and from it
Theb^ came to be suroamed Asopides. It is
now called Asopo. 2. In Peloponnesus, which
rans by Sicyon, and with a north-west course
faUs into the Sinus Corinthiacus, west of Corinth.
3. In Phrygia Major, which with the Lycus
washes Laodicea. 4. On the borders of Thes-
saly, rising in Mouut CEta, and felling into the
Sinus Maiiacus.
ASOR, or Afoitus, in ancient geography, 1.
A town in the south-west of Judah, near Asca*-
Ion, called also Hazor, and Hasor-lladala, trans-
lated by the seventy Affwpv Taiyq. 2. A town of
Galilee ; called . w capital of all the kingdoms
north of Palestine. It was taken by Joshua ; the
inhabitants wen put to the sword, and their
houses bumt. It was afterwards rebuilt, but
remained still in the hands of the Canaanites,
though in the tribe of Naphthali. It lay north
of the Lacus Samachonites, called in Scripture
the waters of Merom.
AsoTvs, in ichthyology, a species of the silurus.
ASP, ) Gr. atrwmpta, to tremble, to quiver.
As'pEN. ] Shaking, trembling ; because the
leaves of the aspen tree tremble with each breath
of air.
This SompnottT in his stirops high ha stood
Upon this frere his herte was so wood
That like an aapen leef he qnoke £»r ire.
Chtnucer, The Sompnour't Prologue, vi. p. 292.
He to him raught a dagger sharp and keene.
And gave it him in hand : his hand did quako
And tremble like a leafe of oipm greene.
Spenter'$ Faerie Queeme, book i. c. ix. s. 51.
The agpen or oip tree hath leaves much the same
with the poplar, only much smaller, and not so
white. Mortimer.
Asp, } Gr. affmc, a serpent, said to be
Asp^icK. S peculiar to Egypt and Lybia, whose
bite is mortal and its effect immediate. Modem
naturalists have not yet discovered this reptile.
High-minded Cleopatra, that with stroke
Of atp't sting herself did kill. Faerie Queene,
Scorpion, and aap, and amphisbsena dire.
And dipsas. Miiion,
Asp, Aspick, thus denondnated from the
Greek, atrircc, shield; on account of its lying
convolved in a circle, in the centre of which is
the head, which it exerts, or raises, like the umbo
or umbileus of a buckler. This species of ser-
pent is very ireqaently mentioned by authors ;
out so carelessly described, that it is not easy to
determine which, if any, of the species known at
f resent, may probably be called by this name,
t is said to be common in Africa, and about the
banks of the Nile ; and Bellonius mentions a
small serpent which he had m'et with in Italy,
and whicn had^a sort of callous excrescence on
the forehead, which he takes to have been the
aspis of the ancients. It is vrith the asp that
Cleopatra is said to have despatched herself, and
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ASPARAGUS.
prevented the designs of Augustus, who intended
to have carried her captive to adoni his triuro-
Shal entry into Rome. But .the fact is contested.
Erown places it among the vulgar errors. The
indications of that queen's having used the
ministry of the asp, were only two almost insen-
sible pricks found in her arm ; and Plutarch says
it is unknown of what she died. At the same
time it must be observed, that the slightness of
tde pricks found in her arm furnishes no presump-
tion against the fact ; for no more than the prick
of a needle-point dipt in the poison was necessary
for the purpose. See the article Sehpent. Lord
Bacon says, the asp is the least painliil of all the
instruments of death. He* supposes it to have
an affinity to opium, but to be less disagreeable
in its operation ; and his opinion seems to cor-
respond with the accounts or most writers, as well
as with the effects described to have been pro-
duced upon Cleopatra. The 4ncients had a
plaister called ^i Acrm^fiiv, made of this terrible
animal, of great efficacy as a discutieut of strumse
and other indurations, and used likewise against
pains of the gout. The flesh and skin, or exu-
vite of the creature, had also their share in the
ancient materia medica.
ASPA, a town of f'arthia, now called Ispa-
han.
ASPALATHUS, ApRiciiN Broom, a genns of
the decandria order, diadelphia class of plants ;
ranking in the natural metnod under the thirty-
second order, papilionacee. The calyx consists
of five divisions ; the pod is oval, and contains
two seeds. Of this genus there are nineteen
species; all of which are natives of warm cli-
mates, and must be preserved in stoves by those
who would cultivate them here. The rosewood,
whence the oleum Rhodii is obtained, is one of
the species, but of which we have no particular
description.
AspALATHus, in pharmacy, is also called lig-
num Rhodium, or rose wood ; and by some Cy-
prus wood : the former on account of its sweet
smell, or growth in the island of Rhodes ; the
latter from its being also found in the island of
Cyprus. It was anciently in much repute, as an
astringent and strengtliener, but is now little used
internally. In virtue, taste, smell, and weight, it
resembles the lignum aloes ; and in physic they
are frequently substituted for each other. Aspa-
lathus is chiefly used in scenting pomatums, and
liniments.
ASPARAGIN, the name given to white trans-
parent crystals, of a peculiar vegetable principle,
which form in asparagus juice after it nas been
evaporated to the consistence of syrup. They
are in the form of rhomboidal prisms, with a
slight nauseous taste. Tliey do not change ve-
getable blues ; nor are they afiected by hydro-sul-
phuret of potash, oxalate of ammonia, or acetate
of lead ; but lime extracts from them ammonia.
Along with the asparagin crystals, others in
needles of little consistency appear, analogous
to mannite, from which the nrst can b% easily
picked out.
ASPARAGUS, Spa RAG us, Sperage, or'SPAR-
row-Grass, a genus of the monogynia order, and
the hexandria class of plants ; ranking in the na-
tural method under the eleventh order, sannen-
tacee: cal. quinqaepartite, and erect; the
three inferior petals bent outwards ; the berry
has three cells, and contains two seeds. There
are ten species ; but the only one cultivated in
the gardens is the common asparagus, with an
upright herbaceous stalk, bristly leaves, and equal
itipula. The other species are kept only in the
gardens of the curious, for the sake of variety.
The garden asparagus is cultivated with great
care for the use of the table. The propagatioQ
of this useful plant is firom seed ; and, as much
of the success depends upon the goodness of
the seed, it a much better to save it than to buy.
The manner of saving it is this : Mark witli a
stick some of the fairest buds ; and when they
are run to berry, and the stalks begin to dry and
wither, cut them up ; rub off the berries into a
tub, and, pouring vrater upon them, rub them
about widi your hands; the nusks will break and
let out the seed, and will swim away with the
water in pouring it ofi*; so that in repeating this
two or three times, the seeds will be clean wash-
ed, and found at the bottom of the tub. These
must be spread on a mat to dry, and in the be-
giiming ot February, must be sown on a bed of
rich evth. Thev must not be sown too thick,
and must be trod into the ground, and the earth
raked over them smooth : £e bed is to be kept
clear of weeds all the summer ; and in October,
when the stalks are withered and dry, a little rot-
ten dung must be spread half an inch thick over
the whole surface of the bed. Next spring, the
plants will be fit to plant out ; the ground must
therefore be prepared for them by trenching it
well, and burying a large quantity of rotten dung
in the trenches, so that it may lie at least six in-
ches below the surface of the ground : when
this is done, level the whole plot exactly, taking
out all the loose stones. This is to be done just
at the time when the asparagus is to be planted
out; which must be in the beginning of March,
if the soil is dry, and the sea.son forward ; but
in a wet soil, it is better to wait till the begiiming
of April, which is about the season that the
plants are beginning to shoot The season being
now come, the roots must^e carefully taken up
with a narrow-pronged dung-fork, shaking them
out of the earth, separating them from each
other, and observing to lay all their heads even,
for the more conveniently planting them ; which
must be done in this manner : — Lines must be
drawn, at a foot distance each, straight across the
bed ; these must be dug into small trenches of
six inches deep, into which the roots must be
laid, placing them agunst the sides of the trench,
with their buds in a right position upwards, and
so that, when the earth is raked over them, they
may be two inches under the surface of the
ground. Between every four rows, a space of
two feet and a half should be left for walking in
to cut the asparagus. When the asparagus is
thus planted, a crop of onions may be sown on
the ground, which will not at all hurt, it A
month after this, the asparagus will come up,
when the crop of onions must be thinned, and
the weeds carefully cleared away. About August
the onions will be fit to pull up. In October
following, cut off the shoots of the asparagus,
within two inches of the ground, clear well all
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ASP
weeds away, and tlirow up the earth upon the
beds, so as to leave them five inches thore the
level of the alleys. A row of coleworts may be
planted in the middle of the alleys, but nothing
must now be sown on the beds. In the spring
the weeds must' be hoed up, and all the sum-
mer the beds kept clear of weeds. In October
they must be turned up and earthed again, as
the preceding season. The second spring after
planting, some of the young asparagus may be
cut for the uble. The larger shoots should only
be taken, and these should be cut at two inches
under ground, and the beds every year managed
as in the second year. But as some people are
very fond of early asparagus, the following direc-
tions are given, by wnich it may be obtained any
time in winter: — Plant some good roots at one
year old in a moist rich soil, about eight inches
apart ; the second and third year after planting,
they will be ready to take up for the hot-beds ;
these should be made pretw strung, about three
feet thick, with new stake dung that has ferment-
ed a week or more ; the beds must be covered
with earth six inches thick ; then, against a ridge
made at one end, begin to lay in your plants,
without trimming or cutting the fibres ; and be-
tween every row lay a little ridge of fine earth,
and proceed thus till Uie bed is planted ; then
cover the bed two inches tliick with earth,- and
encompass it with a straw band ; and in a week,
or as the bed is in the temper, put on the frames
persons of the first distinction, male and female,
resorted to her house as to an academy ; stw
even numbered Socrates among her bearers and
admirers. She captivated Pericles in such a
manner, that he dismissed his own wife, to es-
pouse her; and, by her universal knowledge,
irresistible elocution, and intriguing genius, she
in a great measure influenced the administration
of Athens. She was accused of having excited,
from motives of personal resentment, the war of
Peloponnesus ; yet, calamitous as that long and
obstinate conflict proved to Greece, and particu-
larly to Athens, Aspasia occasioned still more
incurable evils to lioth. Her example and in-
structions, formed a school at Athens, by which
her dangerous profession was reduced into a sys-
tem. The companions of Aspasia served as
models for painting and statuary, and themes for
poetry and panegyric. Nor were tliey merely
the objects but die authors of many literary
works, in which they established rules for the
behaviour of their lovers, particularly at table;,
and explained tlie art of g^ning tlie heart and
captivating the affections. The dress, behaviour,
and artifices of this class of women, became con-
tinually more seductive and dangerous; and
Athens thenceforth remained the chief school of
vice and pleasure, as. well as of literature and
philosophy.
ASPASTICUM, or Aspaticum, i. e. a greet-
ing-house; from atnraZofuu, 1 salute ; in ecclesias-
and glasses, and lay on three inches thick of ti(»l writers, an apartment adjoining to the an-
fresh earth over the beds, and give them air and
■ add fresh heat to them as it requires. These beds
may be made from November till March, which
will last till the natural grass comes on.
The roots have a bitterish mucilaginous taste,
inclining to sweetness ; the fruit has much the
same kind of taste ; the young shoots are more
agreeable than either. Asparagus promotes ap-
petite, but affords little nourishment. It gives
a strong ill smell to the urine in a little time af-
ter eating it, and for this reason chiefly is sup-
posed to be diuretic ; it is likewise esteemed
aperient and deobstnient ; the root is one of the
five called opening roots. Some suppose the
shoots to be most efficacious ; others, the root ;
and others, the bark of the root. Stahl is of opi-
nion, that none of them have any great share of
the virtues usually ascribed to them. Asparagus
appears from experience to contribute very little
either to the exciting of urine when suppressed,
or increasing its discharge : and in cases where
aperient medicines generally do service, this has
little or no effect.
ASPASIA, among ancient physicians, a con-
strictive medicine for the pudenda muliebra. It
consisted of wool, moistened with an infusion of
unripe galls.
Aspasia, of Miletus, -a courtezan, who settled
at Athens under the administration of Pericles,
and one of the most noted ladies of antiquity.
She was of admirable beauty ; yet her wit and
eloquence, still more than her beauty, gained her
extraordinaiy reputation among all ranks in the
republic. In eloquence she surpassed all her
contemporaries; and her conversation was so
entertaining, and instructive, that notwithstand-
ing the dishonorable commerce she carried on.
cient churches, wherein the bishops and presby-
ters sat to receive the salutations of those who
came to visit them, desire their blessing, or con-
sult them.
AS'PECT, V, & n."\ Lat. aspiciOf agpectum^
Aspec'table, f (from the obsolete word
Aspec'ted, lspicert\ to fook towards.
Aspec'tion. j llie appearance any thing
presents when looked at ; the point of view ; the
relation or influence which one thing has or
bears with respect to another.
We see likewise the Scripture cmllcth Envy, an
evil eye, and the attrologers call the evil influences
of the Stan, evil atpecU; so that there still seemeth
to be acknowledged in the act of envy, an ejacula-
tion or irradiation of the eye. Lord Bacon's Eanyt.
The islands prince, of frame more than celestial.
Is rightly called the all-seeing Intellect;
AH glorious bright such nothing is terrestrial ;
Whose sun-like face, and most divine atped.
No human sight may ever hope descrie ;
For when himself on's self reflects his eye.
Dull and amazed he stands, at such bright majesty.
Fletcher's Purple Island.
If nature's concord broke
Among the constellations war were sprung.
Two planets, rushing from aspect malign
Of fiercest opposition, in mid sky
Should combat, and their jarring spheres confound.
Milton's Paradise Lost, b(x>k vi.
Happy in their mistake, those people, whom
The northern pole aspects ; whom fear of death
(The greatest of all human fean) ne'er moves.
Temple.
To this use, of informing us what is in this aspect-
able world, we shall find the eye well fitted.
Bay on the Creation.
Her motions were steady and composed, and het
a^ct serious but cheerful ; her name was Patienre.
Addtson.
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54
Why does not evcxy single tt«r shtd a iiepante
influence, and have atpeOs with other stars of their
own oonstellation ? B«nl%'« Sermom.
With aaped mild, and elevated eye.
Behold him seated on a mount serene,
Above the fogs of sense and passion's storm :
Wrong he sustains with temper, looks on heaven.
Nor stoops to think his injurer his foe ;
Nought but what wounds his virtue wounds his peace.
Youtig,
Aspect, in astronomy and astrology, denotes
the situation of the planets and stars with re-
spect to each other. There are five different
aspects. 1. Sextile aspect is when the planets
or stars are 60° distant, and marked thus sfc . 2.
The quartilc, or quadrate, when they are 90°
distant, marited D- 3. Trine, when 120° dis-
tant, marked A. 4. Opposition, when 180" di^
tant, marked g. And, 5. Conjunction, both in
the same degree, marked <$ . Kepler, who added
eight new ones, defines aspect to be the angle
formed by the rays of the two stars meeting on
the earth, whereby tlieir good or bad influence is
measurea; for it is to be observed that these
aspects, being first introduced by astrologers,
were distinguished into benign, malignant, and
indifferent ; the quartile and maiigiiant being ao-
coimted malign ; the trine and sextile, benign or
friendly ; and the conjunction indifferent.
Aspect, in gardening, signifies exposure.
Aspect, Double, is used in painting, where a
single figure is so contrived, as to represent tv^o
or more different objects, either by changing the
eye, or by means of angular glasses. See Ol*-
TICS.
Aspect, in architecture. The aspect of the
principal rooms of a house, demands the greatest
attention fit)m the architect, especially in an ex-
posed situation. The south-east is the best for
Britain ; and the south and due east the next.
The south-west is the worst, because from that
quarter it rains oftener than from any other. A
north aspect is gloomy, because deprived of sun-
thibe ; but woods look best when viewed from
rooms with a north aspect, because all plants
and trees are most luxuriant on the side next the
sun. An aspect due east is nearly as bad as the
norths because there the sun shines only early in
the morning ; and the aspect due west is intole-
rable, from the sun dazzlmg the eye through the
greatest part of the day. Hence we may conclude,
a square house placed with its front, opposite to
the four cardinal points, will have one good and
three bad aspects.
ASPEN, or Asp. Sec Poplar, of which it is
a species. The leaves of this tree always tremble.
The aspen or asp tree has leaves much the same
with tlie poplar.
ASPER, in commerce, or aspre, a little
Turkish silver coin, wherein most of the Grand
Seignior's revenues are paid. The asper is worth
something more than an English halfpenny. The
only impression it bears, is that of the prince's
name under whom it was struck. The pay of the
Janissaries is from two to twelve aspers per diem.
AsPEB, in grammar, an accent peculiar to the
Greek language, marked thus (0 ; &nd importing,
that the letter over which it is placed ought to
be strongly aspirated, or pronounced as if an A
were prefixed.
ASP
Asper, in ichthyology, a small fisli caught in
the Rhone, so called from the roughness of it»
scales. Its head is large, in proportion to its
body, and of a pointed shape. It has no teeth,
but its jaws are sharp to the touch. It is of a
dark red color, with large black spots. It is
good to eat, and is esteemed aperitive.
ASPERA Arteria, in anatomy, the windpipe
or trachea. . See Anatomy.
ASP£RJ£LLOUS,in botany, the name given
by Michaeli to that genus of mosses, called by
DiUenius and others, byssus.
ASPERGILE, or Aspergilium, in antiquity,
a long brush made of horse-hair, fixed to a han-
dle, wherewith the lustral water was sprinkled
on the people in lustrations and purifications.
The ancients, instead of a brush, made use of
branches of laurel and olive. It is also still ap-
plied to the instrument in Romish churches with
which holy water is sprinkled
ASPERIFOLIiE Plaut^ rough-leaved
plants. The name of a class in Hermaunus,
Boerhaave, and Ray's methods, consisting of
plants which havenaJced seeds, and whose leaves
are rough to the touch. In Toumefort's system,
these plants constitute the third section or order
of the second class ; and in Linnaeus's sexual
method, they make a part of the pentandria mo-
nogynia.
ASPERIFOLIATE, or Asperifolious, a-
mong botanists, such plants as are rough-leaved^
having their leaves placed alternately on their
stalks, and a monopetalons flower divided intq
five parts. They constitute the forty-ninth or-
der of plants in the Fragmenta Methodi Naturalis
of Linnaeus, in which are these genera : toume-
ortia, cerinthe, Symphytum, pulmonaria, an-
chusa, lithospermum, myosotis, heliotropium,
cynoglossum, asperugo, lycopsis, echium, bar-
rago: magis minusve, oleracese, mucilaginosse,
et glutinosae sunt.
Asperity, the inequality of the surface of any
body, which hinders the hand from passing over
it freely. From the testimony of some blind
pejTSonSy it has been supposed that every color
nath its particular degree of asperity; though
this has been denied by others. See the article
Blind.
ASPERN, a market town, castle, and lordship
of Lower Austria, in Uie circle of lower Mann-
hartsberg, belonging to the count of Brenner,
ten miles south east of Laba.
AsPERN, a market town of Austria, situated
on a small arm of the Danube, on the north side
of the river, at some distance below Vienna, the
scene of a battle fought on the twenty-first
and twenty-second of May, 1809, between Buo-
naparte and the Austrians. It was completely
destroyed at the time, but has since been rebuilt.
ASPER'SE, ) Lat. ad, and spargo, to scat-
Asper'sion. )ter. To sprinkle or scatter;
metaphorically to censure, to calumniate.
In the business x>f Ireland, besides the oppoitnnity
to aiperm the king, they were safe enough.
Ctarmdtni.
Curb that impetuous tongue ; nor rashly vain.
And singly mad, oMperte the sovereign reign. Pope
Unjustly poets wo atperm ;
Tnith shines the brig) cr clad in verse. Swifi.
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ASPHALT ITES.
56 '
At highMt pitch, and Unit.o^tft'rf the kiiM.
Coisper't ITmuI, £x>k ▼!.
Lesions of impon ipirite were beliered to take
often poeseasion oi the bodies of men, from whence
nothing could drive them but oMpeniom of holy water.
Bolingbroke'a E$$ajf on Human Knowledge,
ASPERUGO, small wild bugloss, in bo-
tany, a genus of the pentandria moDOgynia class;
raokiog in the natural method under the asperi-
foliae. l!he calyx of the fruit is compressed,
with folds flatly parallel, and sinuous. There
are two species, viz. 1 . A. ^gyptiaca, a native
of Egypt. 2. A. procumbens, or wild bugloss, a
native of Britain ; which is eaten by horses, goats,
sheep, and swine ; but cows are not fond of it.
ASPERULA, WooDBOOF, in botany, a genus
of the monogynia order, and the hex'andria class
.of plants; ranking in the natural method under
the forty-seventh order, stellatse. The corolla is
infundibuliform ; and the capsule contains two
globular seeds. There are two species ; which
both grow wild in Britain, and therefore are sel-
dom admitted into gardens, vii. 1. A. cynan-
chica, found on chalky hills. The roots are used
for dyeing red in Sweden. 2. A. odorata, a low
umbelliferous plant, growing wild in woods and
copses, and flowering in May. It has an ex-
ceeding pleasant smell, which is improved by
moderate exsiccation; the taste is subsaline,
and somewhat austere. It imparts its flavour to
vinous liquors. . Asperula is supposed medici-
nally to attenuate viscid humors, and strengthen
the tone of the bowels ; modern practice has ne-
vertheless rejected it.
ASPEYTIA, a tovm of Spain, in Biscay,
seated on the Urola, in a fine valley, near the
districts of Loyola and Onis.
ASPHALITES, in anatomy, the fifth vertebra
of the loins.
ASPIIALTITES, a lake of Judea, so called
from the great quantity of bitumen it produces ;
called also the Dead Sea ; and from its situation
the East, the Salt Sea, the Sea of Sodom, the Sea
of die Desart, and the Sea of the Plain, in the
sacred writings. It is enclosed on the east and
west with high mountains ; on the north it has
the plain of Jericho ; or, if w6 take in both sides
of the Jordan, it has the Great Plain, properly so
called, on the south, which is open, and extends
b^ond the reach of the eye. Josephus makes
this lake 580 fiirlongs in length, from the mouth
of the Jordan to the opposite end, that is about
twenty-two leagues ; and about 150 furlongs, or
fire leagues, in its greatest breadtli; but our
modem accounts commonly give it twenty leagues
in length, and six or seven in breadth. On the
west side of it is a kind of promontory, where
the remains of Lot's metamorphosed wife were
for a long time said to be visible. Josephus aays
this pillar was standing in his time ; and Mr.
Manndrell was shown a block or stump of it.
In what has been said and written of the Lake
Asphaltites, &ble is much blended with truth.
VVe are told that it arose from the submersion of
the vale of Siddim, where once stoodj as is com-
monly reported, the three cities which perished
in the miraculous conflagration, with Soaom and
Gomorrah ; and this lake has been regarded as a
lasting monument of the just judgment of God,
on the abominations Inr which they perished. It
has been stated that its waters are so impreg- '
nated widi salt^ sulphur,* and other bituminous
matter^ that noibong will sink or live in them ;
and that it emits 8ac£ a honid smoke that the very
birds die in attempting tp cross over it. The
description likewise of the apples that grew
about it, feir without, and only ashes and bitter-
ness within, were looked upon as a fbrdier de-
monstration of God's anger. Travellers have
also described die country ronnd about as sul-
phureous, bituminous, and suffocating ; and it
Das even been affirmed that the ruins of the ^ye
cities are still to be seen through the waters in
clear weather.
It appears to be true, that the quantity of salt,
alnm^ auid sulphur, with which they are impreg-
nated, render its waters so much specincally
heavier (Dr. Pococke says one fifth) than fresh
water, that bodies will not easily sink in them :
yet that author and others assure us they have
swam and (fived in it. Dr. Pococke also, though
he neither saw fish nor shells, tells us, on the
authority of a monk, that fish had been caught
in it ; and M. Volney aflinns that it is very com-
mon to see swallows skimming its surikce, and
dipping for the water necessary to build their
nests. The soil around it, he adds, impregnated
with salt, produces no plants ; and the air itself,
which becomes loaded with it from evaporation,
and which receives also the sulphureous and bi-
tuminous vapours, cannot be favorable to ve«
gelation : hence the deadly aspect which reigns
around this lake. In other respects the ground
about it, however, is not marshy, and its waters
are limjiid and incorruptible, as must be the case
with a dissolution of salt. On the south-west
shore are mines of fossil salt, of which I have
brought away several specimens. They are situ-
ated on the side of the mountains which extend
along that border; and from . time immemorial
have supplied the neighbouring Arabs, and even
the city of Jerusalem. We find also on this
shore firagments of sulphur and bitumen, which
the Arabs convert into a trifling article of com-
merce : as also hot fountains and deep crevices,
which are discovered at a distance by little pyra-
mids built on the brink of them. Likewise a
sort of stone, which on rubbing emits a noxious
smell, bums like bitumen, receives a polish like
white alabaster, and is used for the paving of
court-yards. At intervals we also meet with
unshapen blocks, which prejudiced eyes mistake
for mutilated statues, and which pass with ig-
norant and superstitious pilgrims for monuments
of the adventure of Lot's wife ; though it is no
where said she was metamorphosed into stone
like Niobe, but into salt, which must have melted
the ensuing winter.'
This lake is at present called by the Arabs
Almotanah and Banret Lout, and Ula Degu'is
by the Turks. It is remarkable that but one
European has hitherto succeeded in making
the circuit of it; and Nau, who in his travels
had recorded this expedition of Daniel, abbot of
St. Saba, states on his authority, that' the Dead
Sea, at its extremity, is separated as it were into
two parts, and that there is a way by which you
may walk across it, being only mid-leg deep, at
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ASPHALTITES.
least in summer ; that there the land rises, and
bounds another small lake of a circular or rather
oval figure, surrounded with plains and moun-
tains of sand, and that the neighbouring country
is peopled by innumerable Anhs. Seetzen in
the year 1805-6 passed round the southern ex-
tremity, but a short account only of his route,
in a correspondence with M. de Zach, printed by
the Palestine Association in 1810, has yet ap-
peared^ Mr. Burckhardt was unable to reach
Its borders. He was informed in the neighbour-
hood that there were spots in a ford about three
hours north of Szaffye (the extreme southern
point of the lake), in which the water is quite
not, and the bottom of red earth. This ford may
be crossed in three hours and a half: the water
here is generally not more than two feet deep,
and it is probable Acre are hot springs in the
bottom. It is so strongly impregnated with salt
that the skin peels off me legs of those who wade
across it.
M. de Chateaubriand, who visited this coun-
try in 1807, has given the first decided testimony
that the Lake Asphaltites abounds with fish. He
reached it when it was dark, and passed the
night among some Arab tents. < About mid-
night,' says he, * I heard a noise upon the lake,
and was told by the Bethlehemites, who accom-
panied me, that it proceeded from legions of
srtiall fish, which come out and leap about the
shore.^ He speaks in the following terms of
its saline properties ; * The first thing I did on
alighting was to walk into the lake up to my
knees, and to taste the water. I found it im-
possible to keep it in my mouth. It &r exceeds
that of the sea in saltness, and produces upon
the lips die effect of a strong solution of alum.
Before my boots were completely dry they were
covered with salt: our clothes, our hats, our
hands, were in less than three hours impregnated
with this mineral.'
A modem Scottish traveller, Mr. Gordon of
Clunie, who bathed in it, brought home a phial
of its water, and Dr. Marcet &und its specific
gravity to be 1*211 ; a degree of density, says he,
' not to be met with in any other natural water.'
The whole process vrith its results is detailed
in the Philosophical Transactions for 1807. - It
was found that 100 grains of the water contain
the following substances in the undermentioned
proportions :
grains.
Muriat of lime . . 3,920
Muriat of magnesia 10,246
Munat of soda . . 10,360
Sulphat of lime 0,054
24,580
Another celebrated chemist, M. Klaproth, who
procured a specimen brought from the East by
the abb^ Martin, found the specific gravity to be
1-245 instead of 1211 ; agreeing in this respect
more nearly with Macquer and Lavoisier, who
stated it at 1-240. But the specific gravity of
Dr. Marcet's specimen may have been less firom
its having been taken firom the lake not for- from
ilje influx of the Jordan, where it might be
somewhat diluted.
Dr. Clarke says that the inhabitaots of the
country still regard the Dead Sea with feelings
of terror ; owing probably to the tradition tfaAt
its waters cover the engulpbed cities of Sodom
and Gomorrah, or to the ideas entertained of the
peculiar insalubrity of its exhalations. But it 19
greatly to be regretted that this traveller was
prevented by the Arabs from exploring the lake,
which he only saw at a distance.
Hasselquist asserts the apples of Sodom to be the
production of the solanum melongena of Linnaeus.
This is found, he says, in great abundance round
Jericho and in the neighbourhood of the Dead Sea.
The dust with which it is sometimes filled is the
work of an insect (tenthredo) which pulverises
the whole of the inside, leaving the nnd entire
and unchanged in color. M. Seetzen saw at
Kerek a species of cotton which he was told was
produced from a fruit resembling a pomegranate,
growing on the borders of the Deaa Sea, and he
thinks it is this pulpless fruit which is the ma-
lum sodomeum. Viscount Chateaubriand saw
a third fruit, which he conjectures to be the
femous apples in question, grovring on a thorny
shrub ; ana which, before it is ripe is filled with
a corrosive and saline juice ; when dried it yields
a blackish seed, which may be compared to
ashes, and which in taste resembles bitter pepper.
AspHALTUM, Bitumen Judaicuh, or Jew's
Pitch, is a light solid bitumen of a dusky color
on the outside, and a deep shining black within ;
of very little taste, and having scarcely any
smell, unless heated, when it emits a strong
pitchy one. It is found in a soft or liquid state
on the surface of the Dead Sea, and by age
grows dry and hard. The same kind of bitu*
men is met with likewise in the earth in China,
America, and in some places of Europe, as the
Carpathian Hills, France, &c. The most abun-
dant deposits of this substance, in modem times,
are said to be in the islands of Barbadoes and
Trinidad; in the former it is found as an highly
bituminous earth, but, being in a state of great
impurity, is only used as a coal for fuel. In the
latter island is a complete lake of this substance.
A specimen from Albania of the specific gravity
of 1-205, examined by M. Klaproth, was found
to be soluble only in oils and in sether. Five
parts of rectified oil of petroleum dissolved one
of the asphaltum without heat in twenty-four
hours; 100 grains of asphaltum afforded 32 of
bituminous oil, 6 of water faindy ammoniacal,
30 of charcoal, 7| of silex, 7^ of alumina, f of
lime, 1^ oxide of iron, ^ oxide of manganese,
and 36 cubic inches of hydrogen gas. The true
asphaltum was formerly used in embalming the
bodies of the dead. At present the thick and
solid asphalta are employed in £gypt, Arabia,
and Persia, as pitch for ships ; the fluid ones for
burning in lamps and for varnishes. Some
writers relate that the walls of Babylon and die
temple of Jerusalem were cemented with bitu-
men instead of mortar. This much is certain,
that a true natural bitumen, that for instance
which is found in the district of Neufchatel,
proves an excellent cement for walls, pave-
ments, and other purposes ; uncoramouly firm,
very durable in tlie air, and not penetrable by
water. The watch and clock-makers use a com-
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position of asphaltum, fine lamp black, and oil
of spike or turpentine, for drawing the black
figures on dial-plates ; this composition is pre-
pared cbieflr at Augsburg and Nuremburg.
ASPHOlJELy AsPHODELUs, or King's SpfiAB,
in botany, a genus of the mbnogynia order, and
hexandna clai» of plants. The calyx is divided
*Qto six parts ; ana the nectarium consists of six
valves covering the nectarium. There are five
species, viz. 1. A. albus, the white asphodel,
with keel-shaped leaves, has roots composed of
small fibres and knobs at bottom ; the leaves are
long, almost triangular, and hollow like the keel
of a boat ; the stalks seldom rise above two ieet
high, and divide into several spreading branches ;
these are terminated by loose spikes of white
flowers. 2. A. luteus, or common yellow aspho-
del, has roots composed of many thick fleshy
fibres, which are yeUow, and joined to a head at
the top ; from whence arise strong round single
stalks nearly three feet high, garnished on die
upper part with yellow star-shaped flowers,
which appear in June, and the seeds ripen in
autumn. 3. A. nonramosus, or the unbranched
asphodel, roots like the ramosus (which see), but
the leaves are longer and narrower ; the stalks
are single; the flowers appear at the same time
with the former, are of a purer white, and grow
in longer spikes. 4. A. ramosus, or brandling
asphodel, has roots composed of fleshy fibres, to
each of which is fastened an oblong bulb as
large as a small potatoe; the leaves are long and
flexible, having sharp edges; between these
come out the flower-stalks, which arise more
than three feet high, sending forth many lateral
branches. They come out in the beginning of
June, and the seeds ripen in autumn. 5. A. stu-
losus, or annual branching spiderwort, hath
roots composed of many yellow fleshy fibres;
the leaves are spread out from the crown of the
root, close to the ground, in a large cluster;
these are convex on their underside, but plain
above. The flower-stalks rise immediately from
the root, and grow about two feet high, dividing
into three or four brandies upward, which are
adorned with white starry flowers, with purple
lines on the outside. These flower in July and
August, and their seeds ripen in October.
The way to increase these plants is by parting
their roots in August, before they shoot up their
fresh green leaves. They may also be raised
from seeds sown in August; and the. August
following the plants produced from these may
be transplanted into b^s, and will produce
flowers tne second year. They must not be
planted in small borders among tender flowers,
for they will draw away all Uie nourishment
and starve every thing else. The Lancashire
asphodel is thought to be very noxious to sheep,
whenever through pover^ of pasture they are
necessitated to eat it; although they are said' to
improve miich in their flesh at first, they after-
wards die with symptoms of a diseased liver.
This is the plant of which such wonderful tales
have been told by Paoli Bartholine, and others,
of its softeninff the bones of such animals as
swallow it; and which they thence called gramen
ossifragum. Homed cattle eat it without any ill
efiect
ASP
ASPHURELATA, in natural history, are
serai-metallic fossils, fusible by fire, and not
malleable in their purest state, being in their
native state intimately mixea with sulphur and
other adventitious matter, and reduced to what
are called ores. Of this series of fossils there
are five bodies, each of which makes a dis-
tinct genus; viz, antimony, bismuth, cobalt,
zinc, and quicksilver.
ASPHYXIA ; from a privative, and vfvXtc, a
pulse ; in medicine, the state during life in which
the pulsation of the heart and arteries cannot be
perceived. Medical writers usually divide this
suspended animation into lipothymia, apoplexia,
syncope, submersio, suspensio, and congelatio.
Mr. Sage has published a treatise recommend-
ing the volatile alkali fluor as the most efiectual
remedy in asphyxies. Asphyxia is also used by
some ror a privation of pulse in a part of the
body, e. g. in the arm, &c.
Tlie following extraordinary case of asphyxia
is related by Dr. Cheyne, in his English Malady,
307. < Case of the Hon, Colonel Totomhend.—
!ol. Townshend, a gendeman of excellent natural
parts, and of great honor and integrity, had for
many years been afflicted with a nephritic com-
plaint, attended with constant vomitings, which
had made his life painful and miserable. During
the whole time ot his illness he had observed the
strictest regimen, living on the softest vegetables,
and lightest animal foods, drinking asses milk
daily, even in the camp ; and for common drink,
Bristol water, which the summer before his death
he had drank on the spot. But his illness in-
creasing, and his strengtli decaying, he came from
Bristol to Bath in a litter, in autumn, and lay at
the Bell-inn. Dr. Baynard (who b since dead)
and I were called to him, and attended him
twice a day for about the space of a week, but
his vomitings continuing still incessant and ob-
stinate against all remedies, we despaired of his
recovery. While he was in this condition he
sent for us early one morning : we waited on
him with Mr. Skrine,hi8 apothecary, (since dead
also) ; we found his senses dear and his mind
calm, his nurse and several servants were about
him. He had made his will and settled his af-
fairs. He told us he had sent for us to give him
some account of an odd sensation he had for
some time observed and felt in himself; which
was that, composing himself, he could die or
expire when he pleased, and yet, by an eflbrt or
some how, he could come to life again ; which it
seems he had sometimes tried before he had sent
for us.
* We heard this with surprise ; but as it was
not to be accounted for from any common prin-
ciples, we could hardly believe the fact as he re-
lated it, much less give any account of it, unless
he should please to make the experiment before
us, which we were unwilling he should do, lest
in his weak condition be might carry it too fiir.
He continued to talk very distinctly and sensibly
above a quarter of an hour about this (to him)
surprising sensation, and insisted so much on our
seemg the trial made, that we were at last forced
to comply. We all three felt his pulse first ; it
was distinct, though small and thready ; and his
heart had its usual beating. He composed him-
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68
ASP
self on his back, and lay in a still position some
time ; while I held his right hand, Dr. Baynard
laid his hand on his heart, and Mr. Skrine held
a clear looking-glass to his mouth. I found his
pulse sink gradually, till at last I could not feel
any by the most exact and nice touch. Dr.
Baynard could not feel the least motion in his
heart, nor Mr. Skrine the least soil of breath on
the bright mirror he held to his mouth; then
each of us by turns examined his arm, heart,
and breast; but could not, by the nicest scrutiny,
discover the least symptom of life in him. We
reasoned a long time aoout this odd aippearance
as wed as we could, and all of us judging it
inexplicable and unaccountable, and finding he
still continued in that condition, we began to
conclude that he had indeed carried the experi-
ment too iar, and at last were satisfied he was
actually dead, and were just ready to leave Kim.
This continu^ about half an hour, by nine o'clock
in the morning, in autumn. As we were going
away we observed some motion about the body,
and, upon examination, found his pulse and the
motion of his heart gradually retummg; he began
to breathe gently, and speak softly ; we were all
astonished to the last degree at this unexpected
change, and after some further conversation
with him, and among ourselves, went away tiiUy
satisfied as to all the particulars of this fact, but
confounded and puzzled, and not able to form
»ny rational scheme that might account for it.
lie afterwards called for his attorney, added a
codicil to his will, settled legacies on his ser-
vants, received the sacrament, and calmly and
composedly expired about six o'clock that evening.
Next day he was opened (as he had ordered) ;
his body was the soundest and best made I had
ever seen ; his lungs were fair, large, and sound,
his heart big and strong, and his intestines sweet
and clean ; his stomach was of a due proportion,
the coats sound and thick, and the villous mem-
brane quite entire ; but when we came to examine
the kidneys, though the left was perfectly sound
and of a just size, the right was about four times
as big, distended like a blown bladder, and
yielding as if full of pap ; behaving often passed
a wheyish liquor, after his urine, durine nis ill-
ness. Upon opening this kidney we found it
quite full of a white chalky matter, like plaster
of Paris, and all the fleshy substance dissolved
and worn away by whgt I called a nephritic
cancer. This had been the source of all his
misery ; and the symptomatic vomitings, from the
irritation on the consentient nerves, had quite
starved and worn him down, I have narrated
the facts as I saw and observed them, deliberately
and distinctly, and shall leave the philosophic
reader to make what inferences he thinks fit.
The truth of the material circumstances £ will
warrant.*
Aspic, in botany, a plant which grows in
plenty in Languedoc, in Provence, and especially
on the mountain of St. Baume in France. It is
a kind of lavender, nearly like what grows in
our gardens, both with regard to the figure and
color of its leaves and flowers. The botanists
4sl11 it lavendula mas, or spica nardi, pseudo
nardus, &c.
ASPILATES, or Asplenites, in the writings
of the ancients, the name of a stone, famous for
its virtues against' the spleen, and many other
disorders ; it was to be applied externally, and
fasten^ to the part with camel's hair.
ASPINY, or ANGLfARY-THOBN, a drug used
in medicine, on which particular duties are im-
posed by the taritf of the custom-house at Lyons.
Aspiro ; from ad^
and spirOy to breathe ;
to search after dili-
> gently, and in con-
sequence of the ar-
duous exertion to
breathe frequently,
ASPIRE',
Aspir'ant,
Aspir'ate, v. n. & adj.
Aspira'tion,
Aspire'ment,
Aspir'er,
Aspir'ing.
and with apparent difficulty; to pant after; to
pursue with eageniess an object deemed worthy
of our ambition ; to desire with eagerness. To
aspirate is to breathe strongly upon a letter io
sounding it.
^ia he ; I ken the maaner of his gait :
He rises on his toe ; that spirit of his
In tupircUion lifts him from the earth.
8hahpetar0.
Horace did ne'er atpite to epic bays ;
Nor lofty Haio stoop to lyrick lays.
Till then a helpless, hopeless, homely swain ;
I sought not freedom, nor eupwed tp gain. Ihyden.
Atpirifig to be go.ds, if angels fell,
Atpiring to be angels, men rebel. Pope..
H is only a guttural a^rtUiom, i. e. a more forcible
impulse of the breath from the lungs. HMer.
A soul inspired with the warmest aspiration* after
celestial bi^atitude, keeps its powers attentive. WatU.
Know thine own worth, and reverence the lyre.
Wilt thou debase the heart which Ck)d refined?
No ! let thy heaven-taught ioul to bearen OMpire,
To fancy, freedom, harmony, resignM ;
Ambition's groveling crew for ever left behind.
Some more.Mptrm^ catch the neighbooring shrub.
With clasping tendrils, and invest her branch.
Ye stars ! which are the poetry of heaven !
If in your bright Ic^avcs we would read the fate
Of men and empires, — 'tis to be forgiv'n.
That in our Oipiratioru to be great.
Our destinies o'erleap their mortal state.
And claim a kindred with you •,
Lord ByrotiTt CkSUe IJoroU.
ASPIUS, in ichthyology, a species of the
cyprinus, belonging to the abdominal order. It
is met with in the lakes of Sweden.
ASPORTATION. Lat. ad, and porta, to
carry ; a carrying to.
A bare removal from the place in which he found
the goods, though the thief does not quite make off
with them, is a sufficient asportation or cairyiiig
away. BJacJteon*.
ASPOTAGOEN Mount, a sea-mark on the
coast of Nova Scotia, from which ships bound
from Europe to Halifax generally look out. It
rises on the promontory, between Mahone and
Margaret's bay, to about 500 feet above the level
of the sea.
AS'PRE, V
As'pRELY, i Lat. asper^ rough in its na-»
As'pRENESS, f ture: applied to that which is
As'PERATE, ?'harsh, rugged, grating, bitter,
Aspe'rity, I morose.
As'PEROUS. J
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59
ASS
' "Bluk and white «re the mott mipehm and unequal
of coLoon ; .ao like, that it is hard to distinguish
them: black is the most rough. BojfU.
I hope it is no very cynical atperiiy, not to confess
obligations where no benefit has been received, or to
be unwilling that the public should consider me as
owing to a patron, that which Providence has en-
abled me to do for myself. Dr, S. Johutom.
The patience of Job is proverbial. After some of
the convulsive struggles of our irritable nature, he
submitted himself, and repented in dust and ashes.
ISut even so, I do not find him blamed for reprehend-
ing, and with a considerable degree of atperHy, those
ill-natured neighbours of his who visited his dunghill
to read moral, political, and oeconomical lectures on
his misery. Bwke.
ASPy, V. & n. See Espy.
In due season, as she alway atpied
Euery thing to execute conueniently.
The one louer first frendly she eied.
The second she ofied the cuppe curtesly.
Chaucer, The Rein ofLoue,
For Ion seide to Eronde, it is not levefol to thee to
have the wyf of thi brother, and Erodias loide aspiea
to him and wolde sle bim and myghte not
WiOif. Jftfr*,ch.vi..
ASRAEL, the angel, according to the Ma-
hommedan system, who is appropriated to take
care of the souls of those who die.
ASS, ■)
As'iBiNE, > Lat.flsinitt, a well known animal.
Ass'like. j
Yon have among you many a purchased slave ;
Which, like your a8$et and your dogs and mules.
Yon use in abject and in slavish part.
Because you bought them. 8hah$pean.
You shall have more ado, to drive our dullest
youth, our stocks and stubs, from such nurture ; than
we have now, to hale our choicest and hopefullest
wits, to thnt othdne feast of sow-thistles and brambles.
MilUm.
Ass, in zoology. See Equus.
Ass, CoaovATioN op the, in antiqnity, was a
liart of the ceremony of the feast of Vesta, wherein
the bakers put crowns on the heads of these
quadrupeds; Ecce coronatis panis dependet
asellisl Hence, in an ancient calendar, die
ides of June are thus denoted: Festum est
Vestse. Asintis coronatur I This honor it seems
was done the beast, because, according to the
mythology, by its braying it had saved Vesta
from being ravished by the Laropsacan god.
Hence the formula, Vesta delicium est asinus.
ASSAC, or AssAX, in, the materia medica of
the ancients; the name giv^n by the Arabians to
the gum ammoniac of the Greeks ; but l^ many
of the qualities attributed to this drug it does not
appear to be the same that is now called so.
ASSACH, or Assath, a kind of purgation,
anciently used in Wales, by the oaths of 300 men.
ASSAI, in music, signifies quick ; or, accord-
ing to others, that the motion of the piece be kept
in a middle degree of quickness or slowness : as,
assai allegro, assai presto. See Allegro and
Presto.
ASSAIL', -\ Fr. assaiUir, Lat.
Assai l'able, I adtalire, to leap upon.
Assail'akt, v. & adj,\To assault; to make a
Assail'er, i sudden and vehement
AssA il'bcent, J attack by various means
of annoyance.
So, when he saw hw flatt'riiig arts la fisil^
With greedy force he 'gan the fort t' osieu^.
Faerie Queene
111 put myself in poor and mean atUre,
And with a kind of umbei smirch my face ;
The like do you : so shall we pass along.
And never stir anaUemU. Shakspeare,
My gracious lord, here in the parliament
Let us aetttH the family of York. N.
She will not stay the siege of loving terms.
Nor bide th' encounter of aaaiUng eyes. ItL
How have I fear'd your fate ! but fear'd it most.
When love tMoU'd you on the Libyan coast.
DrydAU
Prompt to auail and careless of defence.
Invulnerable in his impudence ;
He dares the world ; and eager of a name.
He thrusts about, and jostles into^fame.
Id, Hind and Panther,
All books he reads, and all he reads atuiU,
Prom Dryden's Fables down to D — y's Talcs.
Pope,
Sensible of their own force, and allured by the
prospect of so rich a prise, the northern baxbarians,
in the reign of Arcadius and Hoixorius, ateailed at
once all the frontiers of the Roman empire. Hume,
When winds the mountain oak amail,
And lay its glories waste.
Content may slumb^ in the vide,
Uneonscidas of the blast. Beattie*
ASSAM, or Asbabc, a country between Bengal
and Thibet, 700 miles in length, by about 70 in
breadth. It is intersected by the Brahmapootra
and several nrers. On the north it is bounded
by the mountains of Bootan and Thibet, on tlie
south by the Garrow mountains, on the west by
Bengal and Bisnee, and on the east by the tribu-
taries of Ava and China. Assam is very fertile,
and produces a considerable quantity of gold,
found in the beds of the rivers; it also yields
ivoiy, lac, pepper, silk, and cotton, and exports
a considerable Quantity of borax aud musk, said
to be procured trom Bootan and Thibet. Its im-
ports from Bengal are principally salt, various
European commodities, and a few fine muslins.
The inhabitants are genuine Hindoos, and are
very shy of permitting foreigners to come among
them. Dunng the period that the Aighans and
Moguls had possession of Bengal they frequently
invaded this country, and even took possession
of Ghergong the capital, but the unhcalthiness
of the climate compelled them always to retire
with great loss. In the year 1793 a detachment
of the East India Company's troops, under the
command of Colonel Welsh, entered Assam for
the purpose of reinstating the rajah Surjee Deo ;
and, in consequence of the services then rendered
him, the rajah established a reciprocal liberty of
commerce between himself and the British ; and
it was finally agreed that no European merchant
or adventurer, of any description, should t>e al-
lowed to fix his residence in Assam, without
having previously obtained the permission of the
British government, and of Maha Rajah Suijee
Deo, of Assam. '
ASSANCALA, or Assavcale, a strong town
in Armenia, near the river Arras, in the road
between Erzerum and Erivan, noted for its hot
. baths. It stands on a high hill, twenty-two
miles east of Erzerum ; the walls are built in a
apiial line all round the rock, and strengthened
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60
ASS
with square towers. The ditches ar^ al)OUt two
fathoms over, cnt out of hard rock.
ASSAPOORY, iu natural history, a name
given by the people of the East Indies to a pe-
culiar species of slate, which they use in medi-
cine, reducing it to powdeir, and strewing it on
burning coals that the sick person may receive
the fumes of it It is principally used for children
when they are disordered by taking cold. The
smell of it, while burning, is very offensive.
ASSARIUM, a small copper coin, being a
part of the as. The word is used by Suidas in-
differently with opoKoct and vofuvfuiy to denote a
small piece of money ; in which he is followed
by Cujacius, who demies afftrctptov, by minimus
a>ris nummus. We find mention of the assarion
in Matthew, chap. x. yer. 29., translated a
farthing.
ASSARON, an ancient Jewish measure of
capacity, equal to the tenth part of an ephah.
The assaron is the same witli the omer. Jo-
sephus calls it tacapov; in the Hebrew it is
written assarith. It was the measure of manna
appointed for each person.
ASSAS'SIN,t;.&fi. -j The etymology of
AssA^sivkCTy f this word has given
Assassinate, v.&n. ^ rise to much learned
Assassina'tion. Jdiscussidn, and the
question is still undecided. Applied to one who
attacks and kills those unprepa^ for defence,
by treachery, or sudden violence.
It were done quickly ; if th' amammUhm
Could trunmel up the conseqaenoe. SkaMtpetHre,
Such nrage •• your honourable lords
Afford me, a9$astinaUd and betray'd ;
Who durst not, with your whole united pow'rt.
In fight withstand one tingle and nnarm'd.
The Syrian king; who, to surprise
One man, amurin like, had levy'd war.
War unpTodaimM. Id,
The duke finished his course by a wicked oiafu-
MinatUm. Clarendon,
In the very moment, as the knight withdrew from
the duke, this amutinaie gave him, with a back blow,
a deep wound into his left side. WoUon,
The old king is just murdered ; and the penon
that did it is unknown — Let the soldiers seise him,
for one of the amutinatet; and let me alone, to accuse
him afterwards* Drjfden,
Here hired aitawim for their gain invade \
And treach'rous pois'ners urge tibeir fatal trade.
Creech,
When she hears of a murder, she enlarges more
on the guilt of the suffering person, than of the «-
«"w». Additon,
Orestes brandish'd the revenging sword ;
Slew the dire pair ; and gave to fnn'ral flame
The vile ammin, and adult'rous dame. Pope.
Useful, we grant; it serves what life requires ;
But, dreadful too, the dark ocmmm hires. Id,
Assassins, a tribe or clan in Syria, called
also Ismaelians and Batanists, or Batenians.
These people probably owed their origin to the
Karmatians, a &mous heretical sect among the
Mahommedans, who settled in Persia about the
year 1090; wheuce, in process of time, they
sent a colony into Syria, where they became
possessed of a considerable tract of land among
the mountains of Lebanon, ^ extending itself
from the neighbourhood of Antioch to Damas-
cus. The first chief and legislator of this extra-
ordinary tribe was Hassan Sabah, a subtle
impostor ; who, by his artifices, made fanatical
ana implicit slaves of his subjects. Their reli-
gion was compounded of that of the Magi, the
Jews, the Christians, and the Mahomm^aos:
but the capital article of their creed was to be-
lieve that the Holy Spirit resided in their chief;
that his orders proceeded from God himself, and
were real declarations of the divine pleasure.
To this monarch the orientals gave the name of
Scheik : but he is better known in Europe by
the name of the Old Man of the Mountain.
This chief, from his residence on mount Lebanon,
sent, like a vindictive deity, inevitable death to
all quarters of the world ; and many sovereigns
paid secretly a pension to the Scheik, for the
safety of their persons. The Knights Templars
alone dared to defy his secret machinations and
open force. Indeed, they were a permanent
dispersed body, not to be cut ofi* by massacres
or assassinations. In 1090, Mftlek Sh^, third
sultan of the Seljukians, of Iran, sent a mes-
senger to Hassan, the Old Man of that period,
calling on him for obedience, and accompanying
the demand with threats in the case ot his re-
fusal. Hassan desired the ambassador might be
admitted ; and having assembled around him his
troops, commanded one of them to draw his
dagger, and plunge it into his own breast; the
man, without the slighest hesitation, stabbed
himself to the heart, and fell dead at his sove-
reign's feet. He then commanded a second to
precipitate himself from the nearest tower ; and
was instantaneously obeyed. * Go,' said Hassan,
* to the sultan, your master, and inform him, that
I have no other reply to make him, excepting
that I have seventy thousand troops equally
obedient with those you have this day witnessed/
The sultan took the hint ; and havmg, as Ebn
Amed states, other matters in his hands, thought
it not advisable to prosecute a war against this
prince.
In 1192, the assassins penetrated the palace
of Conrade, marqub of Montserrat, who had
displeased them, and put him to death. In
1213, thev assassinated Lewis of Bavaria. Hu-
lakn, a khan of the Mogul Tartars, in the year
655 of tlie Hegira, or 1254 of the Christian era,
entered their country, and dispossessed them of
several places. In 1257, the Tartars conquered
them and killed their prince; but it was not till
1272, that they w^re totally extirpated; an
achievement owing principally to the conduct and
intrepidity of the Egyptian forces sent against
them by die sultan Bifaiaris.
ASSAULT, V. & n.^
AssAULfiNo, fi. f Attilio, auuUum, See
Assault'able, ^a Assail.
AsSAVLt'fiR. J
Themselves at discord fell.
And cniel combat joined in middle space.
With horrible ammit and faiy fell.
Foerie Qmeent,
It hath been ever a dangerous policy of Satan to
mbomU the best ; he knows that the maltitnde, as we
tay of bees, will follow their master.
HaU*s C
After some unhappy amndit upon the prerogative '
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61
hf tli« pariiamenty whicli produced iu dinolation,
tbei« followed a compoenre. Ciare$tdon.
Theories Imilt upon narrow foundations, are Yery
hard to be snppoited against the asaaidu of opposition.
Loeke.
The king granted the Jews, to gather themselves
together, and to stand for their* life, to destroy all
the power, that would atnuU them. Eiihtr, yiii. 1 1.
Before the gates, the cries of babes new-bom.
Whom fate had from theii tender motheis torn,
ArnmU his ears. Ihydm,
Now cursed steel, and more aecnned gold.
Gave mischief birth, and made that mischiitf bold ;
And double death did wretched man invade^
B/ steel Biswiftwf, and by gold betray'd. Id.
Neither liking their eloquence, nor fearing their
might, we esteemed few swords, in a just defence,
able to resist many unjust auauUers, Sidney .
This just rebuke inflamed the Lycian crew.
They join, they thicken, and th' oMUndi renew ;
fJnmov'd th'embodied Greeks their fury dare.
And fixM, support the weight of all the war.
Pofpe. Homer'f Iliad, 3ui. 605.
Assault, in law, is an attempt to beat another,
and may be committed without touching him : as
if one lifts up his cane or fist in a threatening
manner at another; or strikes at him, but misses
him; this is an assault, insultus, which Finch
describes to be 'an unlawful settiQg upon one's
person.' This also is an inchoate violence,
amounting considerably higher than bare threats ;
and, therefore, though no actual suffering is
proved, yet the party injured may have redress
oy action of trespass vi et armis, wherein he
«hall recover damages as a compensation for the
injury.
Assault, in the military art, a furious effort
made to carry a fortified post, camp, or fortress,
wherein the assailants do not screen themselves
by any works : while the assault continues, the
batteries cease, for fear of killing their own men.
ASSAT, V, & ft. Fr. etsmfer, Ital. asaagiarey
to try, examine, prove; to submit to experi-
ment; to test.
One, that to bounty nevftr cast his mind ;
No thought of honour never did a$ujf
His baser breast. Spmuer,
She heard with patience all, iinto the end ;
And strove, to master sorrowful auag.
Faerte Queme.
Gray and Bryan obtained leave of the general, a
little to OMO^ them ; and so, with some horsemen,
charged ihem home. Hojfward,
What unweighed behaviour hath this drunkard
picked out of my conversation, that he dares in this
manner assay met ShaMtpean,
Be sure to find.
What I foretell thee ; many a hard osMqr
Of dangers, and adversities, and pains.
Ere thou of Israel's sceptre get fast hold. Mtiien,
The men he prest but Ute
To hard ostoyi unfit,' unsure y need ;
Yet ann'd to point, in well attempted plate.
Ftmfag,
She thrice osssjf'd to speak ; her accents hung.
And fslt'ring dy'd unfinished on her tongue.
Or Taniah'd into sighs : with long delay
Her voiee vetum'd ; and found the wonted way.
Dryden'9 Fatiet.
Assay ING, or Essaying, in metallurgy, is
a method of ascertaining the actual quantity of
pure gold or silver lu a given metallic mass.
The term might, with equal propriety, be ap-
plied to ascertaining the presence and quantity of
any metal, perfect or imperfect, in a mass of
ore : but it has, finom the univeri^ value of the
pure or precious metals, been gradually appro-
priated to the best modes of separating tnem
from all admixture, the baser metals being con-
sidered by the assayer as of no value or consi-
deration. We thus, therefore, apply the term in
this paper; referring to tiie article Metallurgy,
and the names of odier metallic ores, in their al-
phabetical phices, for more geneval observations.
Assaying is a species of chemicat analysis,
owing its origin probably, like the rest of the
modem terms of chemistry, to the alchemy of
darker ages. In this country the liber Niger
Scacarii, cited by Du Caoge, attributes the first
assay of money to the bishop of Salisbury, a
royal treasurer, in the reign of Henry I. It
states, that if tiie examined money was found to
be deficient above sixpence in the pound, it was
not deemed lawful money of the king, Du Cange,
Gloss, i. p. 343. And thus is explained the first
application of the terms anas and arsuram, to
money, in the Exchequer-book. But, it is
clear, that some species of assay was prac-
tised by our ancestors as early as the Norman
conquest, Doomsday-book expressly stating,
vol. i. f. 15, 16, that £65 of coined money was
only worth £50 in pure silver, ' according to the
assay of the Mint.' This is the passage : ' Totum
manerium T. R. £. et post valuit xl. libras.
Modo similiter xl. lib. Tamen reddit 2 lib. ad
arsuram et pensum quae valent Ixv. lib.' It
also appears, b^ the same authority, that the
king had this nght of assay in several places
beside the capital. It is remarkable, as Mr.
Turner has observed, that we have no Anglo-
Saxon gold coins, though numerous silver coins
of that period have come down to us. That
learned nistorian thinks, that both gold and
silver uncoined, were, however, in circulation at
this date. According to Dr. Henry's account of
the conduct of Henry VIII. in respect to the
coinage, it became indeed, most important that
some system shoidd be adopted for regulating
the standard value of our corns. '
< That monarch,' he remarks, ^ after he had
squandered all his father's treasures, the srants
he had received from parliament, and the
great sums he had derived from the dissolution
of the religious houses, begaii to diminish his
coins both in weight and fineness. This dimi-
nution at first was small, in hopes, perhap, that
it would not be perceived; but, after he tiad got
into this fatal career, he proceeded by rapid
steps to the most pernicious lengths. In the
thirty-sixth year of his reign, silver money of all
the different kinds. was coined, which had only
one-half silver and the other half alloy. He did
not even stop here ; in the last year of hb reign,
he coined money that had only four ounces of silver
and eight ounces of alloy iu the pound weight;
and the nominal pound of this base money was
worth only 9«. 3|i. of our present money. He
began to debase his gold coins at the same tin^e,
and proceeded by the same degrees. But it
would be tedious to follow him in every step.
In this degraded and debased condition Henry
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ASSAYING.
the Eignth left the money of his kingdom to his
son and successor Edward the Sixth. This
shameful debasement of the money of his king-
dom, was, one of the most imprudent, dishonor-
able, and pernicious measures of his reign : it
was productive of innumerable inconTeniences
and great perplexity in business of all kinds ;
and the restoration of it to its standard purity
was found to be a work of great difficulty,'
Henry's History of Great Britain, vol. xii. p.
336, 337. It is worthy of observation, that since
that period, we have had no such capricious and
ne&rious attempts ; and the regulations of the
royal British Mint may now be quoted as at
once most scientific and effective.
The art, to which this paper is devoted, con-
sults of two dislinot branches or operations, the
separation of alloy, or base metals, from the
precious ores, accomplished by what is tech-
nically called cnpellation; and the separation
of the precious metals, gold, platina, and silver
from each other, called quaxtation and parting.
The separation of gold, silver, and platina,
from baser metals, is conducted by exposing the
whole metallic mass, in which they are su]^
posed to be contained, mixed with a certain por-
tion of lead, to a strong heat, in a shallow cru-
cible, made of burned bones, called a cupel ;
which is placed in a mufRe or small earthen
oven, fixed in the midst of a fiimace. The lead
now vitrifies, or becomes converted into a glassy
calx, which dissolves the imperfect metals : and
this calx, with those metals which it absorbs,
soaks into the cupel, and leaves the precious
metals in a state of purity. ' In proportion to
the violence of the heat,' says Dr. Aikro, * is tlie
density of the fume, the violence witli which it
is given off, the convexity of the surftce of the
globule of melted matter, and the rapidity with
which the vitrified oxide circulates (as it b
termed), or fidls down the sides of the metal.
As the cupelLation advances, the melted button
becomes rounder, its sur&ce becomes streaky
with large bright points of the fbsed oxide,
which moves with increased rapidity, till at last
the globule, being now freed from all the lead
and other alloy, suddenly lightens ; the last por-
tions of lithaxge on the surface disappear with
great rapidity ; showing the melted m^ bright
with imdescent colors, which directly after be-
comes opaque, and suddenly appears brilliant,
clean, and white, as if a curtain had been with-
drawn from it. The operation being now
finished, and the silver left pure, the cupel is al-
lowed to cool gradually, till the globule of silver
u fixed, after which it is taken out of the cupel
while still hot, and when cold weighed with
as much accuracy as at first The difference
between the globule and th&silver at first put in,
shows the quantity of alloy, the globule being
now perfectly pure silver, if the operation has
been well performed. The reason of cooling
the globule or buttoa gradually is, that pure
silver, when congealing, assumes a crystalline
texture, and if the outer surfiice is too suddenly
fixed, it forcibly contracts on the still fluid part
in the centre, causing it to spurt out in arbor-
escent shoots, by which some minute portions
are often thrown out of the cupel, and the assay
spoiled.'
The assay of gold and silver is alike, it will be
observed, throughout the process of cupellation.
As lead b the mediimi required for the absorp-
tion of other metals, both the quality ind quan-
tity of that metal employed become important to
ascertain. If it contains much silver, it will be
easy to perceive a source of material error in the
operations of the assayer. Lead revived fi^m
litharge contains only about half a grain in the
pound weight, and is therefore preferred to lead
immediately revived from the ore, which usually
contains a larger quantity.
As to the proper quantity of lead, it is desir-
able at first to ascertain the comparative state of
purity of the ingot to be assayed. In this coun-
try, such a judgment is generally formed fiom
inspection of the color, hardness, tenacity, 6cc.
of the metal, but formerly toueh-needles were
employed for this purpose. These, which are
not entirely in disuse, consist of small bars of
differently proportioned alloys, of known com-
position. If a streak is made widi the ingot
upon the surfiace of black flint, or basalt, a spe-
cies of indurated slate, called by the ancients
Paoavost and still known by the name of basa-
nite, or even upon a fragment of black pottery,
by comparing the streaks with those made on
the same stone from needles of known compo-
sition, the relative purity of the ingot may be in-
ferred. 'Copper' says Dr. Aikin, ' the usual alloy
of the fine metals, when taken singly, is found to
require from ten to fourteen times its weight of
lead for complete scorification on the cupel.
Now, all admixtures of fine metal tend to pro-
tect die copper frohi the action of the litharge
and the more obstinately, the greater the propor-
tion of fine metal. So that copper^ witn tnree
times its weight of silver (or 9 oz. fine), requires
forty times as much lead as copper ; with eleven
1)arts of silver it requires seventy-two parts of
ead, and the like in an increasing ratio, l^e fol-
lowing is the table of the proportions of lead re-
quired to different alloys of copper; of which a
raw points are founded on the above-mentioned
experiments, and the rest filled up according to
the estimated ratio of increase, being multiples
of the ass&y integer 24 in arithmetical progres-
sion. In the three first columns is shovni the
absolute increase of the (quantity of lead in alloys
of decreasing fineness ; in the three last columns
will be seen the gradual diminution of the pro-
tecting power of fine metal against scorification,
in proportion to the increase of alloy, shown by
the decreasing quantity of lead required for the
same weight of copper, under different mixtures.'
Digitized by
Googl(
ASSAYING.
TABLE.
63
Silver
Cop-
per
Lead
Ratio of
i^creaee
Cop.
per
Silver
Lead
23
22
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
with
1
2
4.
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
22
requires
96
144
192
240
288
336
384
432
480
528
576
624
= 4 X 24
= 6 X 24
=Z 8 X 24
= 10 X 24
= 12 X 24
= 14 X 24
= 16 X 24
= 18 X 24
= 20 X 24
= 22 X 24
= 24 X 24
= 26 X 24
and hence
with
23
11
5
3
2
n
1
i
i
requires
96
72
48
40
36
33
32
30
30
29
28
28
+
+
•
It should be remarked, however, that many
assayen of good authority use proportions of
lead considerably different from the aoove table ;
and the whole of the numbers here given may be
considered as rather hi^h, in regard to the quan-
tity of lead. The assaymg of gold, if that noble
metal contained copper as an alloy, woujid be as
simple and expeditious as that of silver ; but all
gola contains a portion of silver, which cannot
be destroyed by cupellation : it may also con-
tain platina; but this is not commonly found.
After it has passed the cupel, quartation
and parting become necessary. The former
consists in adding (generally) three parts of silver
to the mass of supposed gold, and fusing them
together. It is an object of importance to pre-
▼ent the comets from being broken, the result
being less likely to be accurate v^hen the gold is
in fragments ; and to prevent this, the quantity
of silver used is no more than is absolutely ne-
cessary, it being found that the less the quantity
of gold, compared to the silver, used in the
assay, the mo^e likely is the gold to be br<Aen
into pieces. ^ Suppose, for example,' says Mr.
Mu^het, ^ that a §^d assay is ma4e from the in-
teger, or poundy weighing twelve grains Troy,
an addition of from twenty-four to thirty-six
grains of pure silver is made in addition to the
small portion, already supposed to exist in the
mass. This be^mes thoroughly incorporated
with the gold in the process of cupellation. The
globule, or botton, as soon as it is taken from
uie furnace, is passed between a pair of polished
steel rollers, and drawn out into a thin lamina,
or plate, of the thickness of a sixpence, and re-
turned into the fum^Mie to be annealed. After
being kept m a red heat for some tinie, it is taken
out and suffered to cpol. It is then wound up
into a comet. This is put into a glass matrass,
of the shape of an inveited cone, and with about
twice or thrice its weight of very pure nitric
acid. M. Vauquelin recommends it to be 1'25
specific gravity.'
The hot acid being very carefully poured from
the matrass, warm water is added to wash any
remains of silver from the gold, and the addition
repeated until the water comes off perfectly clear.
The comets of gold, which are of a dull brown
color, are then put according to their numbers
into small clay crucibles, mto which they are
allowed gently to fall by inverting the matrass,
with a portion of water m it, whidi breaks their
fall, and also collects any grains of gold that may
be in the matrass. The water Ls then poured off,
and they are put into the furnace, and annealed
under a bright cherry heat. When cooled, the
pieces of gold exhibit their beautiftil character-
istic lustre, and possess all the softness and flexi-
bility of that metal. The weight of the original
metallic mass before cupellation and in the subse-
quent stages, compared with the final weight now
ascertained, indicates the degree of fineness of
the ingot, or ore, of which it is a part. In esti-
mating or expressing this fineness in regard to
gold, the whole mass spoken of is supposed to
weigh twenty-four carats of twelve grains each,
either real, or merely proportional, like the
assayer's weights; and tlie pure gold is called
fine. Thus, if gold be said to be twenty-three
carats fine, it is to be understood, thai in a mass
Weighing twenty-four carats, the quantity of pure
gold amounts to twenty-three carats.
The assay report of gold, says the official gen-
tleman we have quoted above, is made a£C9rd-
ing as it is better or worse than standard. Tlie
standard of our gold coin is twenty-two carats
fine, and two carats alloy. If, by assay, an ingot
of gold was found to contain twenty-one carats
of fine gold, it would be reported worse one
carat, thie mass containing a carat of alloy more
tlian the proportion of two carats to iwenty-two
carats fine. If the ingot weighed fifteen pounds
Troy, there would be deducted from the gross
weight one carat, or 240 grains Troy, reducing
the standard of the mass to 1 4 lbs. 11 ozs. 10 dwts.
If, on the contrary, the mass was found to con-
tain twenty-three carats fine gold, it would be
reported one carat better than standard; and
this carat would be added to the gross weight of
the ingot, which we have supposed to weigh
fifteen pounds Troy, and would be called 15 lbs.
0 oz. 10 dwts. of standard gold. When the gold
assay pound or integer is only twelve grains, the
quarter assay grain weighs only j^ part of a Troy
grain. This will show how delicate the scales
must be by which the assayer works in order to
obtain accuracy. In the royal mint the scales of
the assayers will be sensibly affected even with
Digitized by
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64
ASSAYING.
the ij^th part of a Troy grain. When the em-
peror of Russia lately yisited the mint, he was
particularly struck with the extreme delicacy of
the assay scales of Mr. Bingley, the king's assay-
master. That gentleman requested the favor of
his imperial majesty to put one of the hairs of
his head into the scale, which he did, and, to the
great satisfaction of his majesty, it veiy sensibly
affected the equilibrium of the beam/
It is necessary to be careful that the silver used
in this last process should contain no gold, other-
wise a source of material error would arise in
the operation ; and, as silver generally contains a
small portion of gold, the best assayers use that
which is revived from a precipitation of the ni-
trate of silver. This nitrate St silver is precipi-
tated by immersing in it plates of copper : it
may also be recovered by a solution of common
salt„ which converts the silver into luna cornea,
of which, when washed and well dried, 100 parts
contain seventy-five of silver. The accuracy of the
assay may also be proved by thb process. The
luna cornea, however, is more difficult to reduce
to tiie metallic state.
Many dealers in bullion (the bank of England
we believe uniformly) refuse to purchase any
foreign- gold bullion, until it has been remelted
by refiners or melters on whose integrity they
can rely.
Platina, on account of its great value, is not
likely to be used in debasing silver; but it may be
fraudulently added to gold. Like gold and sil-
ver, it resists the action of lead upon the cupel ;
but an expert assayer will recognise its presence
by the very different appearance which it gives
to the button of metal in fusion. This is less
perfect; a much greater heat is required; and
the color less bright; and, in a very small pro-
portion, it gives to the gold a strong tendency to
crystallisation. Nothing is required for its sepa-
ration but to proceed exactly as in a gold assay ;
and, by reducing the lamina of metal very thin,
to form the comet, the platina, though alone in-
sohible in nitric acid, may, with the silver, be
totally removed from the gold.
Some idea of the delicacy required through the
whole of the foregoing operations may be formed
from an authentic statement, that in our national
mint an assay of twenty grains is relied on for
giving the value of a mass of gold of fif^n
pounds, or of silver of sixty pounds in weight.
Hie Annales de Chimie, vol. vi. p. 64, contain
some very interesting detaib of recent attempts
of the French government to establish an accurate
assay of gold. The general result is as follows,
nearly in the terms of the experimenters : —
Six principal circumstances appear to affect
the operation of parting : namely, the quantity
of acid used in parting, or in the first boiling;
the concentration of this acid ; the time employed
in its anplication ; the quantity of acid made use
of in me reprise, or second operation; its con-
centration; and the time during which it is
applied. From the experiments it has been
shown, that each of these unfavorable circum-
nances might easily occasion a loss of from the
naif of a thirty-second part of a carat, to two
thirty-second parts. The writers explain their
technical language by observing, that, the whole
mass consisting of twenty-four carats, this thirty
second part denotes l-768th part of the mass*
It may easily be conceived, therefore, that if the
whole six circumstances were to exist, and be
E reductive of errors falling the same way, the
»ss would be very considerable.
It is indispensably necessary, therefore, that
one uniform process should be followed in the
assays of gola ; and it is a matter of astonish-
ment, that such an accurate procesa iibould not
have been prescribed by government for assayers
in an operation of such great commercial im-
portance, instead of every one being left to follow
his own judgment. The process recommended
in the report before us is as follows : —
Twelve grains of the gold intended to be as-
sayed must be mixed wi& thirty grains of fine
silver, and cupelled with 108 grains of lead.
The cupellation must be carefully attended to,
and all the imperfect buttons rejected. When
the cupellation is ended, the button must be re-
duced by lamination into a plate of one inch and
a half, or rather more, in length, and four or five
limes in breadth. This must be rolled up upon
a quill, and placed in a matrass capable of hold-
ing about three ounces of liquid, when filled up
to its narrow part. Two ounces and a half of
very pure aqua-fortis, of the strength of twenty
degrees of banme*s areometer, must then be
poured upon it; and the matrass being placed
upon hot ashes, or sand, the acid must be kept
gently boiling for a quarter of an hour ; the acid
must then be cautiously decanted, and an ad-
ditional quantity of one ounce and a half must
be poured on the metal, and slightly boiled for
twelve minutes. This being likewise carefiilly
decanted, the small spiral piece of metal must
be washed with filterea river water, or distilled
water, by filling the matrass with this fluid. The
vessel is then to be reversed, by applying the
extremity of its neck against the bottom of a
crucible of fine earth, the internal surface of
which is verv smooth. The annealing must then
be made, after having separated the portion of
water which had &llen into tlie crucible ; and,
lastly, the annealed gold must be weighed. For
the certainty of this operation, two assays must
be made in the same manner, together with a
third assay upon gold of twenty-four carats, or
upon gold the fineness of which is perfectly and
generally known.
No conclusion must be drawn from this assay,
unless the latter gold should prove to be of the
fineness of twenty-four carats exactly, or of its
known degree of fineness ; for, if there be either
loss or surplus, it may be inferred, that the other
two assays, having undergone the same operas
tion, must be subject to the same error. The
operation being made according to this process,
by several assayers, in circumstances of import-
ance, such as those which relate to large ntbri-
cations, the fineness of the gold must not be
depended on, nor considered as accurately known,
unless all the assayers have obtained a uniform
result without communication with each other.
The authors observe, however, that this identity
must be considered as existing to the accuracy of
half of the thirty-second part of a carat. For
notwithstanding every possible precaution or
Digitized by
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Digitized by
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AS^A^OX^o
n^L
Fi4f.2,
Fiff.3.
Fi4j,5,
Fi^^
Kiii^^^^iH
ES^MMBHEga
¥.W^^^M^^^^
Efi^MIl^HMMSiJ
i^/y.^.
/>>.^.
/>>.7.
ng.s.
O^""
/^
Fig.9.
yj
\
P9.IO.
•
^=
/■wrfiiw. A»4/mi4w/ ^IHinm^rl^ty. *.t^nym»*'» MmmAI^X. Dinitiyprl hv
dbyCjOOgU
ASSAYING.
65
nnilbrmity, it very seldom happens that an abso-
lute agreement is obtained between the different
assays of one and the same ingot; because the
ingot itself may differ in its fineness in different
parts of its mass.
The assaying of silver does not differ from that
of gold, excepting that the parting operation is
not necessary. A certain small portion of the
silver is absorbed by the cupel and the more
when a larger quantity of lead is used, unless
the quantity of lead be excessive ; in which case
most of it will be Korified before it begins to act
upon the silver. Messrs. Hellot, Tillet, and
Macquer, from their experiments made by order
of the French government, have ascertained, that
four parts of lead are requisite for silver of eleven
pennyvreights twelve grains fine, or containing
this weight of pure silver, and twelve grains <rf
alloy, in twelve pennyweights ; six parts of lead
for silver of eleven pennyweights ; eight parts
lead for silver of ten pennyweights ; ten parts
lead for silver of nine pennyweights : and so on
in the same progression. The following is the
assay table of M. D'Arcet:
Quantitiee of
copper in the
alloy.
DoM* of lead
Relation be-
Tides of the
neceasary, the
tween the
Silver.
weight of sil-
lead and
ver being 1.
copper.
Silver at 1000
■
0
3-10th8.
950
50
3
70tol
900, 100
7
60—1
800
200
10
50—1
700
300
12
40—1
600
400
14
35—1
500
500
from 16tol7
32—1
400
600
16—17
26-66-1
300
700
16—17
22857—1
200
800
16—17
20—1
' 100
900
16—17
17-77-1
'Pure copper.
lOOOl 16—17
16—1
This table supposes, that the title of the silver
to be assayed is known ; but when it is not, it
may be determined approximately, bv exposing
m the cu jKsl 01 part of this silver witt 1 of lead.
French gold and silver coin contains 1-lOth of
copper united to the precious metal. British
silver coin consists of 12^ silver and 1 copper;
our gold coin contains ll-12ths of gold. The
remainder is either copper, or a mixture of silver
and copper.
In our plate entitled Assaying we give the
assay furnace and its instruments, as used at the
Royal Mint, and Goldsmith's Hall, London.
Fig. 1. AAAA is a front elevation of the assay
famace ; a a one of two iron rollers on which
^e famace rests; b the ash-pit; cc the ash-pit
dampers, moving in a horizontal direction to-
ivards each other, for regulating the draught of
me foraace ; d the door, or opening by which
the cupels are introduced into the muffle: e a
movable funnel or chimney, by which the
draught of the furnace is increased.
BBBB, Fig. 2, is a perpendicular section of
%. 1 ; a a ends of the rollers; b the ash-pit; c
one of the ash-pit dampen; d the grate; e the
VOL. III.
plate upon which the muffle rests, and which is
coverea with loam nearly one inch thick; /a
section of the mufflle representing the situation
of the cupels; g the mouth-plate, and upon it
are laid pieces of charcoal, which during the pro-
cess are ignited, and heat the air that is to pass
over the surface of the cupels; h the interior of
the famace, exhibiting the fael.
The total height of the furnace is two feet six
inches and a half; from the bottom to the grate
six inches; the grate, muffle, plate, and bed
of loam with which it is covered three inches ;
irom the upper surface of the grate to the com-
mencement of the fannel, e, is siy inches. The
square of the famace which receives the muffle
and fuel is eleven inches and three-quarters by
fifteen inches. The external sides of the furnace
are made of plates of wrought iron, and are liued
with a two-inch fire brick.
Fig. 3 is the muffle, a sort of small oven,
made of cracible clay, and open at one end. On
the floor of the muffle the cupeb are ranged in
order, so that b]r a corresponding board as a re-
gister, the position of each may be preserved
with reference to their respective contents. At
the sides of the muffle are three or four slits to
allow of the circulation of the air, which is essen-
tial to the process. It is usual to spread over the
floor of the muffle a thin kyer of sand, or pow-
dered chalk, to prevent the fased oxide of lead
which may penetrate the cupel, irom cementing
it to the bottom of the muffle.
Fig. 4 is the muffle plate on which it rests in
the famace.
Fig. 5 is the door seen at <2 in fig. 1, with n its
sliding mouth-plate.
a 6 represents the mode of closing the '
of the famace with cylinders of diarcoal,
which being ignited, heat the air, before it arrives
at the sur&ce of the metal in the cupels.
Fig. 7 two cupels ; they are made of bones
calcined and reduced to a moderately faie pow-
der, which is mixed up with water so. as to
form a paste. The shape is produced by ram-
ming this paste into trancated conical moulds, a
cavity is then fomied at the upper sur&ce of each
by means of a round ended pestle or rammer.
The cupel is disengaged from the mould, and
sufierea to become thoroughly dry in the open
air before it can be made use of for an assay.
The core of ox homs is considered the best
substance for producing the phosphate of lime
for cupels. Those commonly employed in the
mint are one inch in diameter by seven-eighths
in depth.
Fig. 8 the teaser for cleaning the grate.
Fig. 9 a larger teaser, which is introduced at
the top of the furnace, for keeping a complete
supply of charcoal around the muffle.
Fig. 10 the tongs used for charging the assays
into the cupels.
Fig. 11 represents a board of wood used as a
register, and is divided into forty-five equal com-
partments, upon which the assays are placed
previous to tneir being introduced into the far-
nace. When the operation is performed, the
cupels are placed in the famace in situations
corresponding to these assays on the board ; by
these means all confusion is avoided, and with-
F
Digitized by
Googl(
ASS 66
out this regularity, it would be impoMble to
preserve the accuracy which the delicate opera-
tion of the assayer requires.
Assay-Master, an officer, under certain cor-
porations, entrusted with the care of making true
touc^, or assay, of gold and silver ; and giving a
just report of the goodness or badness thereof.
Such is the assay-master of the mint in the Tower,
called also assayer of the king.
The assay-master of the goldsmith's company
is an assistant- warden, called also a touch-war-
den, appointed to survey, assay, and mark aU
the silver-work, &c. committed to him. There
are also assay-masters, appointed by statute, at
York, Exeter, Bristol, Chester, Norwich, New-
castle, and Birmingham, for assaying wrought
plate. The assay-master is to retain eight grains
of every pound Troy of silver brought to him ;
four whereof are to be put in &e pix, or .box of
deal, to be re-assayed tlie next year ; and the
other four to be allowed him for his waste and
spillings. 12 and 13 Will. III. c.4. 1 Ann. c. 9.
Note. The number of pennyweights set
down in the assay-master's report, is to be ac-
counted as per pound, or so much in every
pound of twelve ounces Troy. For every twenty
pennyweights, or ounce Troy, the silver is found
by the assay to be worse tha^ standard, or ster- '
ling, sixpence is to be deducted ; because every
ounce will cost so much to reduce it to standard
goodness, or to change it for sterling. In gold,
for every carat it is set down to be worse than
standard, you are to account that in the ounce
Troy it is worse by so many times 3i. M. And
for every grain it is set down worse, you must
account it worse by so many times t\d. in the
ounce Troy. And for every half grain, 5\d. ;
for so much it will cost to make it of standard
goodness, &c.
Assat-Balance, a balance used in the opera-
tion of assaying. See Balance.
Assay of Weights and Measdrbs, often
signifies the trial or examination of common
weights and measures by the clerk of a market.
ASSECUltE, -) Barbarous Lat. aitecu-
Assecu'rance, yrttrCf Lat. tecuna, to give
Assecura'tion. 3 assurance.
Can never mischief end as it began \
Bat being once oat, most farther oat of force?
Think yoa that any means imder the son
Can awpryre so indirect a ooarset
Damei, Cioil War. bk. iii. p. 473.
Bat how far then reaches this anecwmtimt So far
as to exclude all fears, all doubting and hesitation ?
Neither of these. BiiAop HaW* Mtrmomt.
ASSECUTION. Lat. attequor, auecutut,
from ad and tequor, the act of following up, ob-
taining.
By the canon law, a person after he has been in
foil possession of a second benefice, cannot retnm to
his first, because it is immediately ^oid by his amecu-
titm of a second. . Ayliffe't Paray(m.
ASSELYN (John), a famous Dutch painter,
the disciple of Isaiah Vandevelde. He distin-
guished himself in historical pieces, battles, land-
scapes, with ruins and animals, particularly
horses. He travelled into France and Italy;
and was much pleased with the manner of Bam-
boccio, which tie always followed, except in the
ASS
pamting landscapes, in which Claude Lorndne
was his model. Twenty-four of his landscapes
have been engraved by Perdle, and sold al faigjh
prices. He died at .Ajnsterdam in 1660.
ASSEMANI, I. S. and S. £. two learned
librarians of the Vatican, in the seventeenth and
eighteenth centuries. Joseph Simon was bora
at Rome 1687, and died 1768. He wrote Bib-
liotheca Orientalis Clementino Vaticana, Romas,
1719-28, 4 vols, folio, affording ample proof of his
learning in the numerous notices it contains of Sy-
riac, Arabic, and Persian maxmscripts, with Uves
of their authors. S. Ephnem, Syri, Opera omnia,
qus extant, Greece, Syriace, et Latme, Rome,
1 732-34, 6 vols, folio ; Italics Historix Scriptores
ex Bibl. Vat., Roms, 1751-53,4 vols.4to; Ka-
lendaria Ecclesie Universe, &c. Roms, 1755-
57, 6 vols. 4to. Assemani, S. £. nephew of the
foregoing, wrote Bibliothece Medioeo Lauren-
tine et Palatine Codd. MSS. Orientalium Catft-
logus, Florentie, 1742, 2 vols, folio ; Acta Sano^
tonim Martyrum Oriental et Occidental, Romae,
1748, 2 vols, folio.
ASSEM'BLANCE. Fr. sembUr, a mceness.
See Semblance.
FALSt. Will yon tell me. Master Shallow, how to
chnse a man ? Care I for the limbe, the thewes, the
stature, bulke, and bigge a$$emblatiee of a man f Gire
me the spirit. Master Shallow.
Shakipeare. Hemjf IV. part ii.
ASSEMBLE, v.fcn.
Asseu'blaoe,
Assek'blance,
Assem'bler,
Assem'bling,
Asseu'bly.
Fr. aaemblerf from
the Latin ad^ to, and
simul, together. To
^bring together, or in
one place; to collect;
to convene.
A root of people there auemhled were.
Of every sort and nation under sky,
"Whieh, with great nproar, pressed to draw near
To the upper part, where was advanced high
A stately seat of sovereign miQesty. Spm$er.
Mahomet made the people belietve that he would
call a hill to him ; and from the top of it offer up
bis prayers for the observers of his law. The people
aumUed ; Mahomet called the hUl to come to him^
again and again ; and, when the hill stood still, he
was never a whit abashed, but said ; ' If the hill will
not come to Mahomet, Mahomet wiD go to the hill/
Lord Bacon's JBnayi.
These men amemHed, and found Daniel praying.
Damiel.
And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and
shall attemUe the outcasts of Israel, and gather toge-
ther the dispersed of Judah. Imiak si. 13.
He wonders for what end you have amtmhied
Such troops of citisens to come to him.
A»»enMe all in choirs, and with their notes
Salute and welcome up the rising sun. Ohoay.
O fiaftford (fitted, or to shine in courts
With unaffected grace, or walk the plains.
With innocence and meditation join'd
In soft aatemUage) listen to my song ! Thonmn.
71^ Assembly of Divines at Westminster,
was an association of ministers and others, sum-
moned by ordinance of parliament, in the year
1643, to meet at Westminster, 'for settling the
government and liturgy of the church of Eng-
land, and for vindicating and clearing the said
church from felse aspersions and interpretations.'
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It also met expressly according to the words
of the covenant, ' for the extirpation of pre-
lacies that is diurch-goyemment by arch-bi-
shops, bishops, their chancellors, and com-
missaries^ deans and chapters, archdeacons and
all other ecclesiastical officers.' This assem-
bly consisted of 121 divines and thirty laymen,
* celebrated * in their party,' says Mr. Hume,
* for piety and learning.' The leadmg parties
were the Presbyterians, Erastians, and Indepen-
dents. The works of the assembly, besides some
letters to foreign churches, and occasional admo-
nitions were, 1. Their humble Advice to Farlia-
ment, for Ordination of Ministers, and settling
the Presbyterian Government. 2. A Directory
for Public Worship. 3. A Confession of Faith.
4. A larger and a snorter Catechism. 5. A Review
of some of the Thirty-nine Articles. Both the
larger and shorter Assembly's catechism, are
largely in use at the present time among the
English Calvintstic dissenters.
Assemblies of the clergy are otherwise callei
convocations, synods, councils. The annual
meeting of the church of Scotland is called the
General Assembly ; in which his Majesty is re-
g resented by his commissioner, generally a
cottish nobleman, but who has no voice in the
deliberations : his duty being confined to the
calling and dissolution of Sie meeting, which
he does in the name of his Majesty, whilst the
Moderator does the same in me name of the
Lord Jesus Christ This assembly possesses the
highest authority in the chureh of Scotland ; a
presbytery, composed of fewer than twelve pa-
rishes, sends two ministers and one ruling elder
to the assembly ; if it contains between twelve
and eighteen ministers, it sends three of these,
and one ruling elder; if it contains between
eighteen and twenty-four ministers, it sends four
ministers and two ruling elders ; and of twenty-
fbur ministers, it sen£ five with two ruling
elders. Every royal borough deputes one ruling
elder, and Edmburgh tvro; their election must
be attested by the kirk-session of their respective
* boroughs. Every university sends one commis-
sioner from its own body. The commissioners
are chosen annually six weeks before the meet-
ing of the assembly ; and the ruling elders are
o&n men of the first eminence for rank and
talents.
Assemblies of the Roman people were called
comitia.
Assemblies of the States. Under the Go-
tbic governments, the supreme legislative power
mzs lodged in an assemoly of die states of the
kingdom held annually for the like purposes as
our parliaments. There were some feeble remains
t>f them in France and Poland before the late re-
volutions and counter-revolutions.
AssEMBLT, in the military art, the second
beating of a drum before a march ; at which the
soldiers strike their tents, roll them up, and
stand to arms. See Drum.
ASSENS, a bailiwic and town of Denmark,
<m the west coast of the island of Funen, which
carries on a considerable trade in com. It is
also called Asnes, which signifies the holy pro-
montcMy. A battle was fought in it, in 1536,
•b Christian III. obtained a decisive victory
over Christian II. Here is a ferry across the
little Belt to Holstein. Long. 9** 54' E., lat 55*
SCN.
ASSENT, t;. & n.-\ Lat. assentior, from ad,
Assenta'tion, f and sentio, to think to, to
Assewta'toe, >be of the same opinion.
Assent'er, I To agree to what is pro-
AssEin'MENT. J posed, to bring one's
mind to a thing, to comply. Assentation is sy-
nonymous with flattery ; obsequiousness.
And the Jewf also osteiited, saying that these things
were so. Actt xxiv. 9.
Their argaments are but precarious, and sohsist
upon the charity of our aueiUmentt.
Brown'9 Vutgar Emn,
To urge any thing upon the church; requiring
thereunto that religious ament of Christian belief,
wherewith the words of the holy prophets are receiv-
ed, and not to show it in scripture; this did the
Fs^rs evennen think unlawful, impioQs, and exe-
crable. Hooker,
The evidence of God's own testimony, added unto
the natural at$mt of reason concerning the certainty
of them, doth not a little comfort and confirm the
same. Id.
Without the king's aaetU or knowledge.
You wrought to be a legate. Shatupeare,
Faith is the^wenf to any proposition, not thus made
out by the deductkm of reason, but upon the credit of
the proposer. Locke.
All the aigoments on both sides must be laid in
balance ; and, upon the whole, the understanding de-
termine its ffltwf; XiL
Han is the world's high-priest, he doth piesent
The sacrifice for all, while they below.
Unto the service mutter an ammi.
Such as springs use, that fall, and winds that blow.
Meneft*
One would think that hell should have little need
of the fawning osimtafion of others, when n)«n carry
so dangerous parasites in their own bosoms ; but sure,
both together must needs help to people that region of
darkness. Bishop HalTt SolOojuiei.
He ceased ; th' assembled warriors all osssnl,
All but Atrides. Cumborkmd.
Precept gains only the cold approbation of reason,
and compels an attont which judgment frequently
yiflda witib reluctance, even when delay is impossible.
Hawkeiworth.
The Royal Assent is the approbation given
by the king in parliament, to a bill which has
passed both houses, alter which it becomes a
law.
The royal assent majr be given in two ways. 1
In person ; when the king comes to the house of
peers, in his crown and royal robes, and sending
for the commons to the bar, the titles of all the
bills that have passed both houses are read ; and
the king's answer is declared by the clerk of the
parliament in Norman-French. If the king con-
sents to a public bill, the clerk usually declares,
* le roy le veut ; the king wills it so to be ; ' if
to a private bill, ^ soit fait comme il est desir^ ;
be it as it is desired.' If the king refuses his
assent, it is in the gentle language of * le roy
s'avisera ; the king will advise upon it.' When
a money-bill, or bill of supply, is passed, it is
carried up and presented to the king by the
speaker or the house of commons ; and the royal
assent is thus expressed 'leroyremercie ses loyal
sujets, accepte leur benevolence, et aussi le veut ;
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the kingr thanks his loyal subjects, accepts their
benevolence, and wills it so to be/
In case of an act of grace, which originally
proceeds from the crown, and has the royal as-
sent in the first stage of it, the clerk of the par-
liament thus pronounces the gratitude of the
subject ; * les prelats, seigneurs, et commons, en
ce present parlement assemblies, au nom de touts
Tous autres sujets, remercient tres humblement
▼otre majeste, et prient a Dieu vous donner en
sante bone Tie et longue ; the prelates, lords,
and commons, in this present parliament assem-
bled, in the name of all your other subjects,
most humbly thank your majesty, and pray
to God to grant you health and wealth long to
live.'
2. By the statute 33 Hen. VIII. c. 21., the
king may give his assent, by letters patent, under
his great seal, signed with his hand, and notified
in his absence to both houses, assembled toge-
ther in the high house. And when the bill has
received the royal assent in either of these ways
it is then, and not before, a statute or act of par-
liament : a copy of which is usuallyprinted at the
king's press, for the information of tlie whole
land. See Blackst. Com. l^ook i. chap. 2.
ASSER, or Asce, a Jewish rab];)i of the fifth
century, who, with other learned rabbins, com-
piled the collection of Hebrew traditions called
the Babylonian Talmud. This was printed at
Leyden, 1630, in 4to.; but the most complete
edition is one published in 1744, at Amsterdam,
twelve volumes folio, with an ample commen-
tary. Asser died in 427, aged seventy-four.
AssER (John), or Asserius Menevensis, (i. e.
Asser of St. David's), bishop of Sherborne in the
reign of Alfred the Great. He was bom in Pem-
brokeshire, South Wales ; and educated in the
monastery of St. David's. By his assiduous ap-
plication he soon acquired universal fame as a
person of profound learning and great abilities.
Alfred the munificent patron of genius, about the
year 880, sent for him to his court, then held at
Dean in Wiltshire. He was so charmed with
Asser, that he made him his preceptor and com-
panion ; appointed him abbot of two or three
different monasteries ; and at last promoted hiin
to the see of Sherborne, where he died in 910.
He is said to have been principally instrumental
in persuading the king to restore the university
of Oxford to its pristine dignity ; and wrote De
Vit& et Rebus Gestis Alfredi, &c. Lond. 1574,
published by archbishop Parker, in the old
Saxon character, at the end of Walsinghami
Hist— Francf. 1602, fol. Oxf. 1722, 8vo. Many
other works are ascribed to this author by Gale,
Bale, &c. but on very doubtful authority.
ASSERIA, AssESiA, or Asisia, an ancient town
of Libumia, now in ruins. Pliny, having speci-
fied the libumian cities that were obliged to
attend the congress of Scardonia, adds to Sie ca-
talogue the free Asserians, immunesque Asse-
riates ; a people who created their own magistrates,
and were governed by their own municipal
laws.
A&SERIDA, in botany, a name given by the
people of Guinea to a kind of shrub, the leaves
of which being chewed, are a cure for the
colic.
i ASS
ASSERT, ^
Asserta'cion, I Aisero, asiertum^ to kc±
Asser'tion, to, to sew to. To abide by,
Asser'tive, >to bear the consequence of
Asser'tively, I an opinion, to hold, to main-
Ass er'tor, I tain, to affirm.
Asser'tory. J
That tongue
Inspired with contradiction, duivt oppose
A third part of the gods, in synod met.
Their deities to attert. MiUom,
Among th' auerten of free reason's daim.
Our nation's not the least, in worth or fame.
The world to Bacon does not only owe
It's present knowledge, and its fatore too.
Drydm'a EpitOeg.
Faithful a$$ertar of thy country's cause,
Britain with tears shall bathe thy glorious wound.
It is an usual piece of art to undermine the autho-
rity of fundamental truths, by pretending to shew
how weak the proofs are w^ch their tmerton employ
in defence of them. Atterbmy,
He was not so fond of the principles he undertooa
to illustrate, as to hoast their certainty; proposing
them, not in a confident and eusertioe form, but as pro>
babilities and hypotheses. GUtmiUe,
The Epicureans contented themselves with the de-
nial of a Providence, OMiertmg at the same time the
existence of gods in general, because they would noc
shock the common belief of mankind. Addimm^
We, as it were, lean forward with surprise and
trembling, to behold the human soul collecting iu
strength, and oMaerting a right to superior fates.
When the great soul buoys up to this high point.
Leaving gross nature's sediments below.
Then, and then only, Adam's o£fspring quits
The sage and hero of the fields and woods,
Aatertt his rank and rises into man. Yomng.
It is an erect countenance ; it is a firm adherence
to principle ; it is a power of resisting false shame
and frivolous fear, that OMmt our good faith and ho-
nour, and assure us of the confidence of mankind.
Sophocles also, in a fragment of one of his trage-
dies, at$erU the unity of the supreme being.
Cmnbeiiamd.
But, lo ! from high Hymettus to the plain.
The queen of night oMterU her silent reign.
ZtOrd Byron t Conttr,
ASSESS', V. & n.^ Ital. assessarcy to set to,
AssEs'siOMARY, f impose a tax. Legally
AsSEs'sHENT, ^douc bv a sitting or coun-
AssEs'soR. J cil, and agreement of those
authorised to impose it. Assessor is a legal ad-
viser to a magistrate, sitting by him on the
bench.
To his Son,
Th' (uasMor of his throne, he thus began. MiUom,
Twice stronger than his sire, who sat above,
Auesior to the throne of thund'ring Jove. Dryden,
Minos, the strict inquisitor, appears ;
And lives and crimes, with his aueaton, hean :
Round, in his urn, the blended balls he rolls ;
Absolves the just, and dooms the guilty souls. Id,
What greater immunity and happiness can there
be to a people, than to be liable to no laws, but what
they make themselves? To be subject to no contri
bution, aaaeameat, or any pecuniary levy whatsoever,
but what they vote, and voluntarily yidd unto them-
selves. Hawdl,
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One of the aatwexs of the jtiry, upon their oathi, at
the MMMonory conn, I have inserted.
Canw'9 Smvesf of CormvaU,
Paiisanias sat the judge ;
Callicrates and Aemnestus wise.
His two oMSflorr. CNoesr'f Athemtrid.
ASSETS, in law, are either real or personal.
Where a roan hath lands in fee simple, and dies
seized thereof, the lands which come to his heir
are assets real ; and where he dies possessed of
any personal estate, the goods which come to the
executors are assets personal. Assets are also
divided into asisets per descent, and assets inter
maines.
1. Assets by Descent are where a person is
bound in an obligation, and dies seized of lands
which descend to the heir, the land shall be
assets, and the heir shall be charged as far as the
land to him descended will extend. ,
2. Assets inter Maines are when a man in-
debted makes executors, and leaves them suffi-
cient to pay his debts and legacies ; or where
some commodity or profit ariseth to them in
right of the testator, which are called assets in
their hands. This term is also applied com-
mercially to any available property for the pay-
ment of a man's debts.
ASS£V'£R, ) Lat. assevero ; ad^ and te-
Assever'ation. S vena. To say or affirm se-
verely or solemnly; to assure; to maintain
seriously. ,
Guise. Yon must, you will, and smile upon my
murder.
M ARMUNTIER. Therefore, if you axe oonsdous of
a breach.
Confess it to me : lead me to the king.
He has promis'd me to conquer his revenge.
And place you next him ; therefore, if you're right.
Make me not fear it by aueoeruHonif
But speak your heart, and O resolve me truly.
Drydm, Duke of Quite.
* I will come and some of you shall see me
coming/ Can it be supposed that in such an aiw-
evrafton, the word to * come' may bear two different
tenses. Hordey't Sermau,
ASSIDEANS, or Chasidsans; firom the Heb.
D'TOn, chasidim, merciful, pious ; those Jews
who resorted to Mattathias to nght for the law of
God and the liberties of their country. They
were men of great valor and zeal, having volun-
tarily devoted themselves to a more strict obser-
vation of the law than other men. For after the
return of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity,
there were two sorts of men in their cnurch;
those who contented themselves with that obe-
dience only which was prescribed by the law of
Moses, and who were called Zadikim, i. e. the
righteous ; and those who, over and above the
law, superadded the constitutions and traditions
of Uie elders, and other rigorous observances:
these latter were called Chasidim, i. e. the pious.
From the former sprung the Samaritans, Saddu-
cees, and Caiaites; from the latter, the Phaiisees
and the Essenes.
ASSIDENT SIGNS, in medicine, are symptoms
which usually attend a disease but not always;
hence differing from pathognomic signs, which
are inseparable from the disease : e. g. in the
pleurisy, a pungent pain in the side ; in an acute
fever, diifficulty of breathing, &c collectively
) ASS
taken, are pathognomic signs; but that the pain
extends to the nypochondrium or clavicle, or
that the patient lies with more ease on one side
than on tne other, are assident signs.
ASSID'UATE,^ Lat. attideo, to sit down
Assid'uity, fat any thing constantly or
Assid'uous, i^ daily. Constant in appli-
Assid'uously. J cation, unwearied, diligent,
sedulous.
And if by pny'r
Incessant I could hope to change the will
Of him who all things can, I would not cease
To weazy him with my muiduout cries. MiUon,
The most amdmmt tale-bearers, and bitterest re-
vilers, axe often half-witted people.
CfooemmcHt of the Tongue.
In summer, you see the hen giving herself greater
freedoms, and quitting her care for above two houi*
together; but in winter, when the rigour of the sea-
son would chill the principles of life, and destroy
the young one, she grows more amduout in her ati
tendance, and stays away but half the time.
Addiaon,
Each still renews her little labour.
Nor justice her amduoui neighbour. Prior.
We observe the address and aatiduihf they will use
to corrupt us. Rogen.
The habitable earth may have been perpetually the
drier, seeing it is etrndumdy drained and exhausted
by the seas. Benitiey.
A scholar is industrious, who doth amduoudy bend
his mind to study for getting knowledge.
BarToui^t Bermom.
Often as she mounts
Or quits -the car, his arm her weight sustains
With tremblmg pleasure. His a$nduom hand
From purest fountains wafts the living flood.
GUner. Leonidae, book viii. p. 57.
ASSIDUI, in Roman antiquity, volunteers
who served in the army at their own expense.
ASSIDUUS, or Adsiduus, from as, money,
among the Romans, denoted a rich or wealthy
person. Hence we meet with assiduous sureties,
assidui fide-jussores. When Servius TuUius di-
vided the Roman people into five classes, accord-
ing as they were assessed, the richer sort who
contributed asses were denominated assidui ; and
as these were the chief people of business who
attended all the public concerns, those who were
diligent in attendances came to be denominated
assidui.
ASSIEGE'. Fr. assteger, to sit down before.
To sit down before a town, to besiege.
Swiche wondring was ther on this hors of brass.
That sin the gret aetege of Troye was,
Ther as men wondred on an hors also,
Ne was ther swiche a wondring, as was tho.
Chaucer. The Squier'e Tale, vol. L p. 431.
On th' other side th' aasieged castles ward
Their stedfast aims did mightily maintain.
Speiuer,
1 leave what glory rirtne did attain.
At th'ever memorable Agincourt.
I leave to tell, what wit, what pow'r did gain
The aeneg'd Roan, Caen, Dreux ; or in what sort
' Datud. Cmi War, book v.
ASSIENTO, Span, a contract. The first of this
kind was made by the French Guinea Company ;
and, by the treaty of Utrecht, transferred to the
English, who were to furnish 4800 negroes to
Spanish America annually.
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Lat. M$igno; ad, and
$igno, to mark or sign.
To mark off, to appoint,
to set apart, to appropriate
to a particular use, to
allot, to bring forward as
ASSIGN', V. & a.^
Assign'able,
Assigna'tioit,
Assignee',
Assion'eb,
Assiom'ment.
a cause or reason.
At last, B8 forced by false Ulyises crye.
Of purpose he brake fourtb, as$igimg me
To the altar. Bumjf.
He atsigned Uriah unto a place where he knew that
yaliant men were. 2 Sam. xi. 16.
The two armies were atrigned to the leading of two
generals, both of them rather couitiert assured to the
' state, than martial men. Bacom,
The only thizig which maketh anyplace publick,
is the publick oMsignment thereof unto such duties.
Hooker.
Thus most invectively h« (Jaques) pierceth through
The body of the country, city, court.
Yea, and of this our life, swearing that we
Are mere usurpers, tyrants, and what's worse
To fright the animals, and to kill them up
In their awgned and native dwelling-place.
ShaJupeatB, At You lAke It,
The cause of love can never be atngned.
Tin in no face, but in the lover's mind.
Dryden. Tgraimic Looe,
Both joining.
As join'd in iiguries, one enmity
Against a foe by doom express amgn'd ns.
That cruel serpent. MHUon,
This institution, which atngm it to a person whom
we have no rule to know, is just as good as an atngnF-
ment to nobody at all. Xoefte.
The lovers expected the return of this stated hour
with as much impatience as if it had been a real om-
mffnalum, SpeeMor,
True quality is neglected, virtue is oppressed, and
vice triumphant. The last day will amgtk Uf every
one a station suitable to the dignity of his character.
Additon^
The go^>el is at once the astigmer of our tasks, and
the magazine of our strength. Vectig of Pietg,
Assign, or Assignee, in common law, a person
to whom a thing is assigned or made over. The
word assign is said to have been introduced in
iavor of natural children ; who, because they can-
not pass by the name of heirs, are included under
that of assigns. For Assignee, in brankruptcy,
see Bankbuptct.
Assignable Magnitude, in geometry, any
finite magnitude.
Assignable Ratio, the ratio of finite quanti-
ties.
ASSIGNATS, a species of paper currency,
issued by the government of France^ for sums of
different values, to the amount of many thousand
millions of livres, to support the credit of the re-
public during the course of the revolution.
. Assignment, may be more accurately de-
fined the act of trai»ferring the interest or pro-
perty a man has in any thing ; or of appointing
or setting over a right to another.
Assignment of a Dowry, is the setting
out of a woman's portion by the heir.
ASSIM'ILATE, ^ Lat. assimilo, ammila-
Assim'ilateness, I turn ; from ad, and gimilis,
Assimila'tion, Sto brin^ to the like,' to
Assim'ilative, I make like, to 'liken, to
Assi mailable. J resemble, to convert to its
own substance by digestion, and the process car-
ried on in animal or vegetable bodies.
The spirits of many will find but naked habita-
tions ; meeting no oMmUablet wherein to re-act their
natures. Brown's Vvlgar Brromt.
How little must the ordinary oocnpatioits of men
seem to one who is engaged in so noble a pursuit as
the atmulation of himself to the Deity. B^keleg,
Fast falls a fleecy shower : the downy flakes
Descending, and with never oeasiAg lapse
. Softly alighting upon all below,
AmkmUaie aU objects. Cpi^er't JVmm.
A rain is a sacred lhing» Rpaiod lev ages im the
soil, ornhmlaied to it, and beootte as it wwe a part of
it, we consider it a work of nature, rather than of art,
Gi^*t Tour to the Zdket.
Assimilation, in physics, is that motion
by wbidi bodies convert other bodies related to
them, or at least such as are piepafed to be con-
verted, into their own substaijce and nature.
Thus flame multiplies itself upon oily bodies^
and generates new flame ; air upon water, and
produces new air; and all the parts, as weL
similar as organical, in vegetables and animals^
first attract with some election or choice, nearly
the same, common or not very different juices for
aliment, and afterwards assimilate or convert
them to their own nature.
ASSINIBONS, a native tribe of North Ameri-
cans, whose name has been given to the western
branch of the Great Red River. This stream
divides itself into two branches, about thirty
miles from its estuary in lake Winnipeg, the
eastern brandi bearing the name of the Red
River from its source, the western, which rises
in N. lat 51° 15', and W. long. 103© 2Xf, that
of Assinibons. Extensive plains, covered with
a short rank grass, and crowded with buflaloes
and elks, extend between these streams, but tim-
ber even for firewood is scarce. The soil is
gravelly, and beds of lime and stone form the
rapids of these rivers ; which are both navigable
by canoes up to their source.
ASSINT, a parish of Scotland in the county
of Sutheriand, about fifteen miles in breadth^
and twenty-five in length.
ASSIRATUM, in antiquity, a bloody draught,
wherewith treaties were ratified. It was made of
wine and blood, called by the ancient Romans
assir.
ASSlSy in physiology, opium, or a powder
made of hemp-seed, which being formed into
boluses about the bigness of chestnuts, is swal-
lowed by the Egyptians, who hereby become
intoxicated and ecstatic. It is called by the
Turks asserac.
ASSISA Cadeeb, in law ; from assideo, to be
nonsuited; when the complainant, from defect of
legal evidence can proceed no further. Assisa
cadit in juratum, is where a thing in controversy
is so doubtfiil that it must necessarily be tried by
a jury. Assisa continuanda, a writ directed to
justices of assize for the continuation of a cause
when certain records alleged cannot be produced
in time by the party that has occasion to use them.
Assisa proroganda, a writ for the -stay of proceed-
ings by reason of the parties being employed in
the king's business. Assiza panis et eerevisie^
assize of bread and beer, a statute for regulat-
ing their weight and quantity. Assisa No-
cumenti, see Nuisance. Assisa capi in mo-
dum assisse, when the defendant pleads di*
rectly to the assize. — ^Assisa judicum, a judg-
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71
ASS
ment of the court given either against the plain-
tiff or the defendant.
AS&lSl, a aniail town in the papal dominions,
in the duchy of Spoleto: the see of a bishop.
St. Francis, the celebrated ioonder of the Fran-
ciscan order, was bom here ; and lies buried in the
Sacro Convento. Near the foot of the hill on which
the town stands is a rustic chapel, dedicated to
the virgin and the angeb, in which St Francis
is supposed to have received his first call to
'devotion. Over this a spacious church has heea
erected; and, on the second of August, multi-
tades of pilgrims dock to it from the adjoining
pifovincea. When Mr. Eustace nassed it in 1802,
one of the fiedhera informed nim; that more
than 10,000 persons had attended the last an-
niversary, ana that ten had been suffocated or
trampled to deadi, in pre«in|^ forward to touch
the utar. Here are the ruins of a temple of
Minerva, built about the time of Augustus. The
portico consisted of six fluted CorinthKun columns,
each having a distinct pedestal. It is now used
as the portico of the church of Santa Maria di
Minerva. In the neighbourhood of Assisi are
other vestiges of Roman magnificence; ruins of
baths, temples, and an aqueduct. The bishopric
was dissolved by the French in 1810. Twenty
miles N.N.W. of Spoleto. Long. 12'' SO' £.,
Ut 4a' 3** N.
ASSISII, in ecclesiastical writers, persons
beneficed in a cathedral church, not in a rank
below that of canons; thus called, either because
they were allowed an assisia or pension, oi^ firom
aasiduus, diligent.
ASSIST, ^ Ankto; from od^ and lifto,
Assist'ANCB,/ to stop or stay. To place
AssisT^ANT, |one'self by another so as to
Assisi^LESS. J give him our strength ; to stand
by, not in the sense of to look on, but to give
support— to help.
The coundl of Treat oommcnds T«ooiine, not only
to the pntyen of the uintSy bat to their aid and at-
mttmee: what doth this aid and aaritta$ie« signify ?
StiUinsJleet.
Yon have abandant amttaneei for this knowledge,
in excellent books. Wake'i Prep, for Death.
One boll, with cnrl'd black head beyond the rest.
And dew-laps hanging from his brawny chest.
With nodding front awhile did daring stand.
And with his jetty hoof spnmM back the sand :
Then, leaping forth, he beliow'd out aloud :
Th' amaaed amulanti back each other crowd.
While ODonaxcholike he rang'd the listed field ;
Some toss'd, some gor'd, some trampling down, he
kiil'd. Jkj^. (kmqueH of Gnmada, part i.
Let OS entreat this necessary amttcmce, that by his
grace he would lead us. Rogers.
Loose at each Joint ; each nenre with honor shines.
Stupid he stares, and all amttieu stands.
Such is the force of more than mortal hands.
Ptfps. Homer^t lUad, book xvi.
God otnate us in the vixtnoue conflict, and will
cvown the conqueror with eternal rewards. Blair,
While my thoughts were thus employed, I was sent
by Metophis towards the mountains of the desert
Oasis, that I might amsi his slaves in looking after
hie flocks, which were almost without number.
Hawkenoorth's Telemaeku$.
Eternal God,
Gmde thou my footsteps in the way of truth.
And oh ! amti me so to live on earth.
That I may die in peace, and claim a place
In thy high dwelling. Kirke Whitest Pocmi.
Assistants, in various trading or publie
companies, members who have the whole power
of managing the company's aflaiis; and com-
monly called the court of assistants.
ASSISUS, in ancient law writers, a thing
farmed out for a certain rent, in money or pro-
visions.
ASSITHMENT; from ad, to, Ut. and sithe.
Sax. instead of; a wergild, or compensation
by a pecuniarjr mulct, quod vita supplicii ad
expiandum delictum solvitur.
ASSIZE^, V. & n. Fr. om&i, part, past, from
the verb asteoir, to sit. To sit judicially, or un-
der the sanction or appointment of the law.
There nas not a point truely
That it nas in his right am$e.
Chtmeer. The Romamiofthe Roee, ch. i.
When in mid air the golden trump shall sound.
To raise the nations under ground ;
When in the valley of Jehosaphat
The judging God shall close the book of fate ;
And there the last amxet keep.
For those who wake, and those who sleep.
Dryden. Ode to ih^ Memory ofMre. A. KiUigrew.
Assize, in old English law books, is defined to
be an assembly of knights, and other substantial
men, together with a justice, in a certain place,
and at a certain time; but the word, in its pre-
sent acceptation, implies a court, place, or
time, when and where the writs and processes,
whether civil or criminal, are decided by judge
and jury. All the counties of England were,
very anciently, divided into six circuits, and two
judges assigned by the king's commission, to hold
their assizes twice a-year in every county, excent
London and Middlesex. They were afterwards
directed by magna charta, c. 12. to be sent into
every county once a-year to take or try certain
actions tlien called recognitions or assizes; the
most difficult of which they are directed to ad-
journ into the court of common pleas to be there
determined. But the present justices of assize
and nisi prius are more immediately derived from
the stamte Westm. 2. 13 Edw.. L c. 30. explained
by seveial other 9Cts, particulariy the statute 14
Edw. III. c. 16. and must be two of the king's
justices of the one bench or the other, or me
chief baron of the exchequer, or the king^s ser-
jeants^ sworn. They usually make their circuits
in the respective vacations after Hilary and Tri-
nity terms ; assizes being allowed to be taken in
the holy time of Lent by consent of the bishops
at the king's request, as expressed in statute
Westm. 1. 3 Edw. I. c. 51. The judges upon
the circuits now sit by virtue of five several
authorities. 1. The commission of the peace
in every county of the circuits; and all Justices
of the peace of the county are bound to be pre-
sent at the assizes; and sheriffs are also to give
their attendance on the judges, or they shall be
fined. 2. A commission of oyer and terminer,
directed to them and many other gentlemen of
the county, by which they ire empowered to tiy*
treasons, felonies, &c and this is die largest
commission they have. 3. A commission ot
general gaol-delivery, directed to the judges and
the clerk of assize associate, which gives them
power to tiy every prisoner in the gaol commit-
ted for any offence whatsoever, but none except
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prisODeis in the gaol, so that one way or other
they rid the gaol of all the prisoners in it 4. A
commission of assize, directed to the judges and
clerk of assize, to take assizes; that is to take the
yeidict of a peculiar species of jury called 'an
assize, and summoned tor the trial of landed dis-
putes: the other authority is, 5. That of nisi
prius, ^hich is a consequence of the commission
of assize, being annexed to the office of those
justices by the statute of Westm. 2. 13 £dw. I.
c. 30. Ajid it empowers them to try all ques-
tions of (act issuing out of the courts of West-
minster, that are then ripe for trial by jury.
Formerly, the judges could not act in counties
where they resided or were bom; but this cus-
tom is abrogated by 49 Geo. 3. c. 91.
Assize, or jury, in Scots law, consists of fif-
teen sworn men, (juratores,) picked out by the
court from a greater number, not exce^ing
forty-five, who have been summoned for that
Surpose by the sheriff, and given in a list to the
efender, at serving him wiUi a copy of his libel.
ASSIZER, or Assiser, from assize; an officer
that has the care and oversight of weights and
measures in various parts oT England.
ASS(yCIAT£,i;.n.&a(^'.S Lat. adsodo,
Associa'tion, Sfrom ad, and to-
Associa'tor. j do, from uquoTy
to follow. To meet together as equals, to keep
in company, to be partners, confederates.
Their defender, and his aaaociatei, have tithenoe
proposed to the world aform^ such as themselves like.
Hooker.
The church, being a society, hath the 'self-same
original grounds which other politick societies have ;
the natural inclination which all men have unto
sociable life, and consent to some certain bond of
a$$ociatum; which bond is the law that appointeth
what kind of order they should be auodaied in. Id,
A feaifiil army, led by Caius Marcius,
Amtdaied with Aufidius, rages
Upon our territories. fiKdbpsars.
Sole Eve, aatociaU sole, to me (beyond
Compare) above all living creatures dear.
3flifM.
Auodate in your town a wand'ring train ;
And strangers in your palace enteitain. Dryden.
He was accompanied with a noble gentleman, no
unsuitable aaoaate. Wotton.
They persuade the king, now in old age, to make
Plangus his oinciate in government with him.
Self-denial is a kind of holy atnciaium with God ;
and, by making you his partner, interests you in all
his happiness. Botfie,
AuodaHon of ideas is of great importance, and may
be of excellent use. Watts,
But my OMtoeiatet now my stay deplore.
Impatient. Pope. Odyuey.
Associate Presbytery, the title first assumed
by those clergvmen who associated together,
after seceding m>m the church of Scotland, in
1733.
Associate Synod, was the highest ecclesias-
tical court among the Antiburgher Segeder^ of
Scotland. Its decisions being final, like those of
the General Assembly. See Antiburgher and
Seceders.
Association, in law, is a patent by the king,
either of his own ' motion, or at the suit of
a party plaintiff, to the justice* of assize ; to
ASS
have other persons attodated with them, in
order to take the assize.
Association of Ideas, is indiere ^o or more
ideas constantly and immediately accompany
or succeed one another in the mind, so that
one shall almost infallibly produce the other,
whether there be any natural relation between
them or not. See Metaphysics. Wrong com-
binations of ideas, Mr. Locke shows, are a great
cause of the irreconcileable opposition between
different sects of philosophy and religion : for '
we cannot imagine, that all who hold tenets dif-
ferent from, and sometimes even contradictory
to one another, should wilfully and knowingly
impose upon themselves, or refuse truth offered
by plain reason : but some loose and indepen-
dent ideas are by education, custom, and the
constant din of party, so coupled in their minds,
that they always appear there together: these
they can no more separate in their thoughts,
than if they were but one idea; and they operate
as if they were so. This gives the appearance
of sense to jargon, of demonstration to absurdi-
ties, and of consistency to nonsense. It is die
foundation of the greatest, and almost of all the
errors in the world. Association forms a prin-
cipal part of Dr. Hartley's mechanical theoiy of
the mmd. He distinguishes it into synchronous
and successive ; and ascribes our simple and
complex ideas to the influence of this principle
or habit. Particular sensations result from pre-
vious vibrations conveyed through the nerves to
the medullary substance of the brain ; and these
are so intimately associated together, that any
one of them, when impressed alone, shall be
able to excite in the mind the id^is of all the
rest. Thus we derive the ideas of natural
bodies firom the association of the several \
sible qualities with the names that express them,
and with each other. The sight or part of a
large building suggests the idea of the rest in-
stantaneously, by a synchronous association of
the parts ; and Uie sound of the words, which
begin a similar sentence, brings to remembrance
the remaining parts, in order, by successive as-
sociation. Dr. Hartley maintains, that simple
ideas run into complex ones by association;
and apprehends, that, by pursuing and perfiecting
this doctrine, we may some time or other be
enabled to analyse those complex ideas, that are
commonly called the ideas of reflection, or intel-
lectual ideas, into their several component parts^
i. e. into the simple ideas of sensation of which
they consist; and that this piay be of con-
siderable use in the art of logic, and in ex-
plaining the various phenomena of the human
mind.
ASSODES, in medicine, a continued fever,
wherein the surface is moderately warm, but the
internal heat great.
ASSOIL', ) Supposed to be from the
Assoil'ment. i Fr. absoudre; Lat. abtolvcre^
to loose or free from. To absolve from guilt; to
liberate from punishment ; to pardon, to forgive.
This is my drede, and ye, my brethren tweie,
Auoileth me this question I preie.
Chaucer. The MarduaUet Tale.
But secretly at$oUmg of his sin.
No other med'cine will unto him lay.
Mirrerfor Magistrate**
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I also wyll aske of yoa a ceitayne qnestiow, whiche
yf ye OMoyb mc, l in lykewyse wyll tell you by what
aoctorLe > id these thyngea.
BtU«, 1551. Matthew ch. xzi.
But with such gailefoil appendices of oathea im-
posed on him, that this asaoSemetU was not so mach
che epilogue of his olde, as the prologue of his new
tragicall vexations.
Speed't Hittory of Cheat Britaine,
To AssoiLE, in our ancient law books, sig-
nifies to absolve from an excommnnication.
ASSONANCE, in rhetoric and poetry, a term
used where the words of a phrase or verse have
the same sound or termination, and yet make no
proper rhyme. These are usually accounted
▼icious in English ; though the Romans some-
times used them with elegance: as, Militem
comparavit, exercitum ordinavat, aciem lus-
tiavit
ASSORT, ( Fr. attortir, from the Lat.
AssoRfuENT. (sort, lot. To sort, to put
&ings of the same kind or class together, to
match, to suit.
Ye ne be but fools of good disport !
I wole you teachen a new play ;
Sit down here by one ateort.
And better mirth never ye seigh.
Sir Ferumbroi, m EUi», v. ii. p. 401.
▲ taylor sat musically at it in a shed over against
the convent, in atnrtmg four dosen of bells for the
harness, whistling to each bell as he tied it on with a
thong. Sternest Trittram Shamd/f.
▲n a4)ectxve is by nature a general, and in some
measure an abstract word, and necessarily presupposes
the idea of a certain species or assortment of things^
to aU of which it is equally applicable.
Smith's Moral
ASS
ASSOS, a sea-port of Natolia, subject to the
Turks, on a bav of the £gean Sea, twelve miles
south-east of Troas.
ASSRUMINA, in botany, the name given by
the people of Guinea to the shrub whose leaves
they use as a cure for long worms, which are
found in their flesh : they bruise the leaves, and
mpply a large lump of the mass to the part.
ASSUA'GE, -J Old Fr. assouager. The
Assuage'ment, > modem Fr. is lovMger. To
Assua'sive. 3 soften, to alleviate ptain or
grief, to lessen, to allay, to render tranquil.
Tell me, when shall these weary woes have end y
Or ahall their ruthless torment never cease.
But all my days in pining languor spend.
Without hope of aemuigemeiU or release ?
Spentor t oonttctt*
Shall I, t* atmage
Their brutal rage.
The regal stem destroy?
Dryden'9 Album,
The rest
Was broiled and roasted for the future feast.
The chief invited guests were sef around ;
And, hunger first attwag'd, the bowls were crown'd.
Which in deep draughts their cares and labours
drownM. Id, Fablet,
If in the breast tumultuous joys arise,
M usick her soft amuukte voice supplies.
Pope's St. CtedUa.
Refreshing winds the summer's heats asmage;
And kindly warmth disarms the winter's rage.
^atioclus sat contentedly beside
Enrjpylus, with many a pleasant theme.
Soothing the generous warrior, and his wound
Sprinkling with drugs iunuuhe of his pains.
Cou)per*s Iliad, bk. xv. p. 274.
ASSUEFACTION, J Attuefado, atsuefac-
As'suETUDE. y ium, to accustom. The
state of being accustomed.
We see that ateaetude of things hurtful, doth make
them lose the force to hurt.
Bacon's Natttral History,
Right and left, as paits inservient unto the motive
faculty, are differenced by degrees from use and amie-
facHon, or according whereto the one grows stronger.
Brown's Vvlgar Errours,
ASSUME', "N Assumo, atsumptum^ ad
Assu'mer, # and tumo, to take to [one's
Assv'uiNO, >se]f.] To appropriate, to
AssuM pt', v. & ft. i claim more &an is due, to
AssuM p'tiok. J arrogate, to suppose some-
thing granted without proof.
Preserve the right of thy place, but stir not ques-
tions of jurisdiction; and rather asneme thyri^htin
silence, and de £acto, than voice it with claims and
challenges. Lord Bacon's Essaye,
His majesty might well amene the complaint and
expression of king David. Claeendon,
With ravish'd ears
The monarch hears ;
Asemnes the god.
Affects to nod *,
And seems to shake the spheres. Drydem,
His haughty looks, and his assmning air.
The son of Isis could no longer bear. Id*
This makes him over-forward in business, aenmiay
in conversation, and peremptory in answers. CdUeir,
VoT spirits freed from mortal laws, with ease
Assmte what sexes and what shapes they please.
Pope,
This, when the various god had nzg'd in vain.
He strait assmn'd his native form again. Id,
The personal descent of God himself, and his as-
emtption of our flesh to his dlvlpity, more familiarly
to insinuate his pleasure to us, was an enforcement
beyond all methods of wisdom.
In every hypothesis something is allowed to be
assmud, Boyle,
Upon the feast of the astmiftion of the Blessed
Virgin, the pope and cardinals keep the vespers.
Adam, after a certain period of yean, would have
been rewarded with an assmeption to eternal felicity.
Wake,
It is scarce possible to conceive any scene so truly
agreeable, as an assembly of people elaborately edu-
cated, who assume a character superior to oixlinary
life, and support it with ease and familiarity. U^er,
It very seldom happens that a man is slow enough
in assmning the character of a husband, or a woman
quick enough in condescending to that of a wife.
Habits are soon assmied, but when we strive
To strip them ofif, 'tis being flayed alive. Cowper,
ASSU'MENT. A$9uo, to stitch or tack on.
A tacking on.
This assmmeni or addition. Dr. Marshall says, he
never could find any where but in this Anglo-Saxon-
ick translation, and that very ancient Greek and Latin
MS copy of Beza's.
Lewis's Bditilms of the Eng, Trans, of the BiNs.
ASSUMPSIT, in the law of England, or
promise, is of the nature of a verbal covenant,
and wants nothing but the solemnity of writing
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74
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and sealing to make it abioluteljr the same. If
therefore, H be to do any explicit act, it is an
express contract, as mnch as any coTenant : and
the breach of it is an eanal injury. The remedy
indeed is not exactly tne same : since, instead
of an action of covenant, there only lies an
action upon the case, for what is called an as-
sumpsit or undertaking of the defendant; the
fitilure of performing which, is the wrong or
injuiy done to the pkintiff, the damages whereof
a jufy are to estimate and settle. As, if a
builder promises or undertakes, that he will build
and cover a house within a limited time, and
fails to do it, an action on the case arises against
the builder, and the party injured may recover
a pecuniary satisfaction. But some aereements,
though ever so expressly made, are deemed of
so important a nature, that they ought not to
rest on a verbal promise only, which cannot be
proved but by the memory of witnesses, and
which oftentimes leads to perjury To pre-
vent this, the statute of frauds and perjuries,
29 Car. II. c. 3. enacts, that in the five following
cases, no verbal promise shall be sufficient to
ground an action upon ; but at the least some
note or memorandum of it shaH be made in
writing, and signed by the party to be charged
therewith : 1. Where an executor or adminis-
trator promises to answer damages out of his own
estate. 2. Where a man undertakes to answer
for the d^bt, de&ult, or miscarriage, of another.
3. Where any agreement is made upon consi-
deration of marriage. 4. Where any contract
or sale is made of lands, tenements, or heredita^-
ments, or any interest therein. 6. And lastly,
where there id any agreement that is not to
be performed within a year from the making
thereof. In all these cases, a mere verbal as-
sumpsit is void.
Aasuhptioit, a festival in the Romish
church, in honor of the miraculous ascent of
the Virgin Mary into heaven: the Greek church,
who also observe this festival, celebrate it on the
15th of August with great ceremony.
Aasuuptiok, or Assonoong, one of the La-
drone islands, m the Pacific Ocean. Father
Gobien asserts that it is eighteen miles in circum-
ference ; but Perouse diminishes its size to three.
It is of a conical figure, rising 600 feet in height,
of dreary aspect, and almost covered with lava
from the eruptions of a volcano in the centre.
A few cocoa-nut trees are found on the island ;
but there is no anchorage near the shore. Fifteen
miles south of St. Lawrence. Long. 140^ 55' £.,
lat. 19*^45' N.
AssuM mow, the capital city of Panq^y, in
America. It is situated on the eastern bank of
the river Paraguay, eighteen miles above its
junction with the first mouth of Uie Pilcomayo.
It was originally a small fort, built in 1538, and
in 1547 was erected into a bishopric. It is now
inhabited by about 500 families of Spaniards,
and several thousand Indians and Meztizoes.
ASSUMPTIVE Arms, in heraldry, are such
as a person has a right to assume, with the ap-
probation of his sovereign, and of the heralds :
thus, if a person, who has no right by blood.
and has no coat of arms, shall captivate, in nay
lawful war, any gentleman, nobleman, or prince,
he is, in that case, entitled to bear the shield of
that prisoner, and enjoy it to him and his heirs
for ever.
w^i-^n ' ") Fr. asporr, to make sure.
■?"„./*" Z* rwamnt, vouch, certify, in-
What man is he that boasts of flethly might.
And vain aatimutoe of mortality ;
Which an so soon» as it doth eome to fight
Agaiast spifitttal foes, yields by and by.
I most confess, yomr ofier is the ftest ;
And, let yew lather make her the aumramee.
She is your own, else you most paidon me ;
If yon should die before him, where's her dowar t
I hold tho entry of common-places to be a matter
of great nse and essence in studying, as that whkh
atmre^ copiousness of invention, and oontncteth
Judgment to a stnngth. Moom'm Stm^
An atnmmo§, being passed through for a competent
fine, hath come back again by reason of some orer-
•ight. id.
I iwiTe
At this last sight ; •amr'd, that man shaU Uto
With aU the creamres^ and their seed preserve.
Miltm
Well is that part of us lost which may give
owi^awsi of the salvation of the whole.
UaU'i Gmtmrnflatietm.
AtmwUjf he will stop our liberty, till we nsstore
him his worship. SoutiL
It is the ennobling office of the understanding to
oMfeot Che faUadooa and mistaken rspoita of the
seaaea, and to amme ns that the staif in the water ik
straight though our eye would tell us it is cioAed.
Id.
The obedient, and the man of practice, shnll out-
grow all their doubts and ignorances ; till pexaoasioa.
pass into knowledge, and knowledge advance iat*
tuturance. Id.
Hath he found in an evil course that comfortable
amMrance of God's favour, and good hopes of his future
condition, which a religious life would have given
him ? TiUotrnm.
AlMANZ. No; there is a necessity in fate ;
Why still the brave bold man is fortunate ;
He keeps his object ever full in sight.
And that ammnmoe holds him firm and right*
Drjfdtm. CMijMMf of Grmmim, part iw
A man without asnmmee a liable to be made un-
easy by the folly or iil*nature of every one he con-
venes with.
MOmoth't Tnmdatkm of Cieero't .
How happy it is to believe with a stedfast t
that our petitions are heard even while we are making
them, and how delightful to meet with a proof of it
in the effectual and actual grant of them.
\^otpptr 9 Xcttffvs*
The soul reposing on ataured relief,
Feela herself happy amidst all her grief;
Forgets her labour, as she toils along.
Weeps teara of joy, and bursts into a song.
CbHp.Y.
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ASSURANCE.
ASSURANCE, or Ihsukavcb, in oommerciil
aikiis. Under the latter word, every thing oon-
nected with the subjecCs, both of life and of
marine insurance, might with great propriety be
arranged. Bot mercantile usage, and the titles
of Tarions respectable societies in this countiy,
have appropriated the former word to contracts
for paying sums of money upon die continu^ce
of hfe, or in the event of death; and the latter,
to the insurance of property, against the contin-
gencies of the sea. We propose, under Life
Annuities, to enter further into the principles on
which the contingency of life is calculated ; under
Makins Insvaance, to treat of all that is usually
comprised under that head ; confining ourselves
in this paper to the practical detail of the methods
adopted by the most respectable Assurance com-
panies in the conduct of their affairs, and the
actual calculations on which they proceed.
Assurance on lives is the guaranteeing a cer-
tain sum of money to be paid in the event of a
person named being alive at a certain time, or
dying within a certain time, or to be paid within
a certain time after the death of a person named.
The party agreeing to pay this sum, is termed
the Assurer; the sum he receives for his hazard,
or in compensation for what he is to pay, is
called the Premium of assurance ; and the in-
strument by which the parties are mutually bound
to their contract, is called a Policy of assurance.
These are granted sometimes by individuals;
but in this case the policies, though often for
larger sums than the companies insure, are
usually for short periods, and at higher rates-
than the companies charge. It must be obvious,
that as they are particular bargains between in-
dividuals under cireumstances knovm, par-
ticularly, perhaps, or that ought to be known by
those concemeo, no uniform plan of proceeding
can be expected.
But the respectable societies who conduct this
business in the metropolis, and other parts of
Great Britain, proceed upon settled and mathe-
matical principles. Tables of the ordinary dura-
tion of human life, formed ftom bills of mortality,
are the basis of their calculations. The register
of mortality at Northampton, originally pub-
lished by Dr. Price, is that generally adopted ;
it having been found by long experience that
rather fewer dea^ happen, according to the
books of the Equitable Assurance Society, than
are upon that scale to be expected. The most
esteemed tables are those of Aikin, De Pareieux,
Kerseboom, aud Gorsuch. M. de Moivre as-
sumes, that if eighty-six persons were bom at the
same time, one would die in each year, until the
whole number ceased to live. Although this
hypothesis has not been found accurate enough
for extensive business in this way, it ftimishes an
easy rate for estimating the expectation of life.
Subtract the given a^ of a peison from 86;
when, dividing the quotient by two, the remain-
der gives the expectation nearly. Thus, let the
age be 40^ then ^^""^? is 23, which differs very
little from the Northampton table. At the age
of 50 again, the error is trifling, the Northampton
table giving 17*99, De Moivre's, 18. But, in
the higlier ages, the error becomes considerable.
A scale of life having been adopted, the table
of premiums to be paid by the parties insuring
is calculated in the following manner: — ^The
premium for a certain age being supposed to be
known, then the premium for a person of one
year younger, being compounded of the premium
for one year and the present value of the above
{>remium, is easily qdculated from the table of
ives, thus '.—Multiply the premium on the old-
est life into the number of persons alive in the
tables of that age, and divide by the number of
persons of the younger age alive in the tables.
This sum, discounted for a year, gives the pre*
mium for assuring the desir^ sum at the end of
the year. Then multiply the sum to be assured
into the number of persons of the younger age,
that die according to the tables in a year, and
divide by die number of persons alive at that
age, and this sum discounted for a year is the
assurance of the sum for the first year, and oon-
sequently the two sums, added together, give the
desired premium. Now, as the oldest person in
the scale of Ufo dies in the ensuing year^the
Sremium on him is evidently the sum to be paid
iscounled for one year, and thence the premium
for the age below is ascertained by the above
rule; and so of every age in succession. Errors
cannot be committed on this plan without de-
tection, as every step is checked by a similar
table drawn out for the value of an annuity at
each age. In the same manner are tables formed
for the assurance of a sum payable at the death
of one out of two persons, or at the death of Iho
survivor of two persons, or at the deadi of one oa
the contingency of his surviving another, and so
on. The tables generally adopted by ihe com^
panics, on the contingency of one person sui^
viving another, being calculated by an approxi-
mation, founded on Si» expectation of their lives^
do not partake of the mathematical accuracy of
the other tables ; but the companies, in this case,
grant assurances at times to their own disadvan-
tage ; for if they take rather too much upon one
life, they lose that sum upon the other; the pre-
mium pa^rable on the deawi of one of two parties,
being divided by the above-mentioned rule of
approximation into two premiums, to be paid by
the two parties on the contingencv of one sur-
viving the other. These rules apply to tables of
rates for the payment of a gross premium : but as
it is generally more convenient to pay an equiva-
lent annual sum, a table of rates is made for
this case, which is formed by dividing the gross
premium by the value of an annuity ^pon each
age added to unity. If the annual premium ^ere
paid at the end of the year, the addition of unity
would be unnecessary ; but a policy is not
granted till one premium is paid, and hence the
necessity of the addition is obvious.
Premiums being thus settled ftom a fixed table
of observations on life, it is evident that, unless
Digitized by
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76
ASSURANCE.
the deaths happen exactly in the order prescribed
b^ the tables, there will be a surplus or defi-
ciency of capital for the pavment of the assured
sums. The management of the surplus, or ap-
prehended surplus, which the pruaence of rer
spectable companies generally insures, is dif-
ferent in different companies. Either the com-
pany appropriates the whole of the surplus to
Itself, or makes a compensation to the assured for
it. In the former case, the company pays the
. sum specified in the policy, and no more ; con-
sequently, a party may pay to the office a sum
&r greater than his executors or assigns receive
in return. Thus, if an assurance is effected on
a person between sixteen and seventeen for
£100, receivable at his death, the annual pre-
mium is £2. Os. Sd. ; and if he lives forty-nine
years, he will have paid more than the whole
sum to be received, without computing interest
on these payments. The surplus of the accumu-
lation of premiums above tne claims may be
great from two causes : first, the increased in-
terest obtained by the company above that by '
which the table of rates was computed ; and,
second, a longer duration of life in the earlier
years than is assigned by the table ; and here
great circumspection on tiie part of the company
is requisite to preserve it worn imposition, and
to secure the best lives that circumstances admit.
In the companies where only the sum specified
in the policy is paid, the surplus does not go
entirely to tne company ; for it is common in
these offices to allow a per centage on the pre-
mium to the party who brings an assurance to
them, generally a solicitor, who thus participat-
ing in the gains of the company, has an interest
in increasing its concerns, though to the evident
disadvantage of his client.
Where me surplus is made advantageous to
the assured, two methods are adopted ; the one
is to add, at certain periods, a sum to each po-
licy ; the other to diminish the premium. In
both cases a valuation is made of all the annual
premiums, with the past and foture expected ac-
cumulations, and also of the claims upon every
policy. If the former exceed the latter to a
sufficient amount, then an addition is made to
each policy, or the premium is diminished. It
is necessary, however, that the utmost care
should be taken to secure to each policy the sum
named in it, with every addition made to it;
and hence a diird part of the surplus is constantly
retained to guard against possible contingencies.
Tliis reservation has occasioned a singular ano-
maly in one of the most distinguished companies
for life assurance. In that company aOl are
partners, being mutually guarantees to each
other for the payment of their respective claims.
The surplus arising from the excess of pre-
miums, with their accumulations above the claims,
evid^tly belongs to the whole company, and
consequently each partner is entitled to a portion
of it. But of this surplus, a third being con-
stantly reserved, and each person at his death
ceasing to be a partner, eve^ person leaves be-
hind htm a portion for his successors. Such has
been the extreme caution of the Equitable So-
ciegr-
This led to the fonnation of a plan, which is
adopted by the Rock Assurance Society, that
vests this third in determinate hands. To do
this, the company consists of a number of pro-
prietors, each of whom is bound to keep up an
assurance with it, and whose interest in these as-
surances is greater than that derived from the
profit of assurances granted to non-proprietors.
The company takes upon itself the wnole risk of
policies made with it, being bound to pay to
each par^ assured the sum specified in hts po-
licy ; and additions are made to ^ach policy in
the manner above-mentioned. But the third
reserved is joined to, and makes part of the sub-
scription capital stock ; and the interest upon it
is annually divided among the proprietors.
Thus the third reserved belongs to, and continues
to add to, the security of the company ; and the
non-proprietor, secured fh>m all risk, participates
in the two-thiids divisible at every period.
Other modes are sometimes adopted to dis-
pose of accumulating property ; such as, by di-
minishing, at certain periods, the premiums paid
on assurance ; in this case the sum specified in
. the policy is paid, though the party assured may
have paid a much less sum than in the com-
panies above mentioned. The diminution of
Eremium depends on the excess of capital in
and, with the present value of future premiums,
above the claims that are or may be made upon
it, and consequently the same care is necessaiy
to reserve a port of the surplus for fear of future
contingencies. The public have thus a choice
either to receive a fixed or tfn increasing sum ;
the fixed sum by means of a definite or a pro-
bably decreasing premium, and an increasing
sum by means of a definite premium.
Assurance policies are g^erally confined to
the limits of Europe, but they are capable of be-
ing extended to all parts of the world. In such
cases an addition is made to the premium, ac-
cording to the supposed addition to the risk
from unhealthiness of climate, and danger of the
seas. Additions are also made to the premium
on account of the profession (as of the army)
of the assured ; on account of disease, as of
gout, by which he is occasionally afflicted ; or of
diseases, as of small-pox and measles, to which
he may be liable.
The oldest of the societies for assurances on
lives in London, is the Amicable Society, insti-
tuted by charter in the year 1706. The same
contribution was originally required from every
member, whatever his age might be, and the
sums received at the death of members were
variable, depending on the number of persons
that died in the same year. Subsequent altera-
tions were made in this company by successive
charters. At present the several interests of the
members are divide into shares, each share being
now warranted to produce £200 at the death of
the insured, together with such additions as may
arise from the circumstances of the year in which
the death happens ; and any number of shares
and half shares, not exceeding sixty-five shares,
may be granted on one and the same life, by
which assurances may be effected from £200 to
£5000, and participate in tlie benefits of the so-
ciety,
llie Royal Exchange Assurance Company re-
Digitized by
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ASSURANCE.
77
ceired its charter in 1720, and is principally en-
gaged in insuring ships and goods at sea, and of
houses and goods from fire ; but it also grants
annuities and assurances on life. In the latter,
it confines itself to the payment of the sum as-
sured.
The Equitable is the most considerable in
point of numbers, and, on the whole, peihaps
the most respectable of the societies for the as-
surance of hyes, to which it is chiefly confined.
In this society all are partners, and mutually
assurers of each other. It arose from small be-
ginnings, and has' made considerable alterations
from the rate of its first premiums, till it settled
in the table annexed to this article, which b that
generally adopted by these associations. At cer-
tain periods additions have been made to the
policies; and, in this manner, its a£birs were
<:onducted till December f, 1809, when a change
took place respecting the members then assured,
namely, that instead of waiting till the end of the
next interval, for assigning a sum out of the ac-
cumulations to each policy, every member should
have two per cent, annually assigned to his po-
licy, during the years of this period. Conse-
quently, all holders of policies, prior to the year
1810, will leave to their heirs the sum assured
by the policy, together with its accumulations up
to the year 1810, and also two per cent, per an-
num for his life, within 1810 ana 1820 ; but this
benefit does not accrue to members entering at
the close of the year 1809. Whether this plan
can be continued or extended, time will show.
The number of the members in this society
made it necessary to change some of theit
regulations respecting votes ; and it was wisely
resolved, that persons becoming members, after
the l'9th December 1809, should not have a vote
at the general meetings, unless thev had been as-
sured for five years, for the whole continuance
of life, in the sum of £2000 ; and to be a direc-
tor, the qualification is an assurance of £5000
for the same time, which must have been held
for five j^ears.
The history of this society is veij important,
and has been well treated by Dr. Price, in his
Observations on Reversionary Payments, and by
Mr. Morgan. In consequence of the connexion
of Dr. Price with this institution, he drew up
his remarks on the various societies which soon
after sprang up, and whose names, but for his
notice of them, would now be forgotten. They
'were formed chiefly about the years 1770 and
1771, ofiering very fiillacious terms to the pub-
lic, by which the aged were benefited at the ex-
pense of their juniors ; and the evil is not yet
cured.
For some time no other important society
arose; but, in the year 1792, the Westminster
Life Assurance was formed. The Pelican in
1797 ; the Globe in 1799 ; the Albion in 1805 ;
the Rock and the Provident in 1806 ; the Eagle,
Hope, London Life Association, and Atlas, in
1807. The Rock and Equitable we have no-
ticed.
The Provident combines with life, policies on
fire ; but it assigns also, at certain times, addi-
tions to its policies. The Hope is also a fire and
life office^ smd both are proprietary companies.
The rates in tliese societies are the tame as those
in the Equitable and Rock.
The Albion and the Globe are life and fire as-
surance companies ; their rates are also the same
They pay also the sum assured ; but a liberal
commission is allowed to solicitors, and to otheis
who effect assurances.
The London Life Association is confined en-
tirely to life assurances ; but it differs from the
others in this, that its aim is, that the benefits re-
sulting from its transactions shall be enjoyed by
the members during life; in oUier words, the
society assures to a person the sum named in the
policy, and no more ; but at certain times it con-
siders whether the surplus of the accumulations
above the claims is sufficient to admit of a dimi-
nution of premium, and one is made accordingly.
In this society all are members and assurers one
of the other, and conseauently the surviving
members at any time are bound to make up the
deficiency, if any should arise by this moae of
arrangement. This could be done by raising, in
the fint instance, the premiums that have &en
lowered ; and it is very improbable, that, with
good management, any thing &rther would be
necessary. In imitation of these London Com-
panies, several have been formed throughout the
country.
The practical mode of effecting an assurance
in these societies b as follows : The party de-
sirous of effecting an assurance, receives fit>m
the office .of the company a printed paper called
a declaration, which he fills up vrith the name
of the party to be assured, his ige, the place and
time or his birth, and place of his present re-
sidence, with certain particulars as to his health.
This declaration is then duly signed; and it
contains a clause, stating, that any falsehood in
the declaration invalidates the policy. To cor-
roborate the statement, references are given to
two persons well acjquainted with the party on
whom the assurance is made, one of whom is to
be a medical person, and sometimes more re-
ferences are required. The reasons for these
precautions are obvious.
When the declaration has been thus com-
pleted, the person by whom the assurance is
made makes his appearance before the directors
of the company, wno enquire into the general
state of his health, and a minute is entered in
their books accordingly. The letter of the re-
ferees, with the declaration, are subsequently
laid before the court, which fit>m these docu-
ments, and information frequently derived from
other sources, forms its decision; and this is
entered on the minutes of the court, and com-
municated to the applicant. A certain time is
allowed for the payment of the premium ; and
if it is not paid within that time, the assurance
cannot be effected, but by a fresh application to
the court, according to the forms above mentioned.
On the payment of the premium a receipt is
given, containing the number of the policy,
which is then made out according to the decla-
ration, inspected by the court, signed by a
certain number of directors, and delivered to
the other party interested in it.
If the person, on whose life the assurance is
made cannot appear before the directors^ or any
Digitized by
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78
ASSURANCE.
one appointed by them for that purpose, ao ad-
ditional sum is charged for non-appearance.
There is also a duty to he paid to government
on each policy, and this, with a smsdl entrance
fee, makes an addition to the first year's pre-
mium. But the premium itself is only named
in the policy, as on the future payment of this
sum its existence depends.
A policy is assignable ; and it often forms a se-
curity for sums adVanced, and not unfrequently
becomes an object of sale. In these cases, the
holder of the policy pays the foture premiums,
and the advantage of a purchaser consists in
holding a policy at a less premium than he must
have paid at the present age of the psu^> on
whose life the assurance was made. Thus,
supposing a policy to have been granted for the
payment of a thousand pounds, at the death of
a party aged between tnirty-seven and thirt^r-
eighty when the policy was made; suppose it is
sold when the party is between fifty and fifty-
one ; the purchaser will have to pay £32. 5s,
annually, during the existence of the policy :
whereas, if he had taken out a policy at the
present age of the party, his premmm would be
£46. 15c. For the difierence between these two
sumsy namely £14. lOf., a price is fixed on ; but
it is to be observed, that, in the sale of a policy
in the market, this disadvantage attends it, — ^diat
the bidders, not being acquainted with the
person on whose life the policy is made, and
oeing liable to trouble and expense, to ascertain
that he is alive at eadi payment of Uie premium,
must make a deduction on this account, from
what they might otherwise presume to be a
compensation for the difierence between the two
premiums.
On the death of the party on whom the claim
depends, certain documents are required, sadk
as the register of the burial of the deceased ;
and Teferences to the medical persons or others
who attended him in his last illness ; and, if he
effected the policy himself, the probate of his
will, or, if it has been assigned to another, the
copy of the assignment. The grounds of these
Srecautions are, with respect to the receivjer of
le sum assured, obvious ; and the nature of the
death must be ascertained ; as, in case of suicide,
or dying by the hands of justice, or on a voyage
on the high seas, without licence fix>m the com-
pany, (except, in general, in going from one part
m the united kingdom to another,) the policy is
vitiated. In the interval between the notice of
the party's death, and the time assigned for the
payment of the claim, due investigation is made ;
and, every thing having been found satisfactory,
the claimant brings with him the policy and a
receipt'for the sum claimed, whicn is imme-
diate.y paid to him ; the seals are torn from the
policy, and the contract is at an end. In the
case that a claim is payable, in the event of a
person being alive at a certain time, his ap-
pearance before the court is requisite, or suf-
ficient proof must be given that he was alive at
the time defined by the policy.
Policies dependmg on a person being alive at
a certain time, are very rare, and chiefly confined
to endowments for children, in which case the
payment of a gross sum down, or of an annual
payment till the cbild attains the age of twenty-
one, secures to that child, at that age, the sum
named in the policy. This mode of assurance
has led some offices to compose a table of rates,
according to which, a person at the age of twenty
is required to pay a premium, which would pro-
duce at legal interest more than he would receive
at the expiration of the year, from the company;
and thus a person, if any such could be round,
to effect an assurance of this kind, would run
the risk of losing the sum assured, and receive,
if successful, not so much as he could have at-
tained without any risk at all.
On the whole, the doctrine of assurance must
always be considered a subject of the first im-
g>rtance, in a commercial state like that of
reat Britain,' and to involve an immense number
of interests. When we consider the thousands
of fiunilies in this country, who are living in a
state of comparative affluence, without possessing
any, or very little, disposable proper^ ; whose
income, in tact, depenos almost entirely on the
exertions of the head of the fiunily, and with
the extinction of whose life every source of
income ceases; when we contemplate the p^
verty and distress in which many widows, witn
their helpless children, would be plunged by
such an event, we cannot estimate too highly
the advantages which are held out by those so-
cieties, who, on honorable principles, furnish the
means whereby every provident fiither and
husband may, m part, avert the consequences ot
a premature death ; to which every one is liable,
and against which event every man ought to be
provided. Perhaps, no part of the civil economy
of this country shows more decidedly the high
moral state of the middling classes of the people,
than the immense amount of life assurances ef-
fected in the different offices of the metropolis,
and in those of like local companies in several
of the counties in England ; nor, perhaps, can
we have a stronger instance of the high degree
of confidence that the people are disposed to
Elace in the moral rectitude of the government :'
y far the greater part of the . capital of the
companies to which we have alluded being in-
vested under government securities.
The following is a table of the rates generally
acted upon by the life Assurance Offices m the
capital.
Digitized by
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ASSURANCE.
70
ASSURANCE OP SINGLE
LIVPS,
SURVIVORSHIP OF A LIFE
ASSURED.
To secure a Sum to the Nominee
ASSURANCE ON TWO JOINT
IJVES.
TV> secure a Sum to ihe No-
To secure a
Sum, payable when
minee,
or to the lawful Re-
Assured, in case a Person named
either of Two Persons named shall
Age.
presentatiTee of the Anured.
happen to die.
Premium
per cent,
ifastured
from year
Premium
per cent,
per an. if
aasored
Premium
per cent,
per an. if
aatured
for the
Age of
the life
assured.
Age of the life
against which
the assured
is made.
Premium
per cent
per an-
num.
1
i
Premium
per cent
per an-
num
i
1
Premium
per cent.
per annum.
lor seven
whole
£. 1. d,
1 8 6
to year.
yean.
term of
life.
10
10
20
30
1 9 1
1 8 3
___^
_^
£. 1.
d.
£. s, d.
£. $, d.
£. 1.
d.
£. 1. d.
8 to 14
0 17
9
1 1 5
1 17 7
40
17 8
10
10
2 17
1
30
30
4 8 11
15
0 17
11
1 2 11
1 18 7
50
1 6 11
15
3 1
1
35
4 14 1
16
0 19
2
14 7
1 19 8
60
16 0
20
3 5
7
40
5 0 11
17
1 1
2
1 6 1
2 0 8
70
1 4 11
25
3 9
3
45
5 9 6
18
19
1 3
1 5
8
0
1 7 5
1 8 6
2 1 8
2 2 8
80
13 4
30
35
3 13
3 19
9
6
50
55
6 1 0
6 15 5
20
10
1 16 6
20
1 7
3
1 9 6
2 3 7
20
1 17 0
40
4 6
10
60
7 15 0
2J
1 8
10
1 10 1
2 4 6
30
40
1 15 9
1 14 8
45
50
4 15 111
5 7 10|
^7
9 18 1
22
1 9
3
1 10 6
2 5 4
"^
23
1 9
8
1 11 0
2 6 3
50
1 13 6
55
6 2
8
35
35
4. 19 0
24
1 10
2
1 11 6
2 7 1
60
1 12 1
60
7 2
9
40
5 5 6
25
1 10
7
1 12 1
2 8 1
70
1 10 6
67
9 6
3
45
5 13 10
26
1 11
1
7
1 12 7
1 13 2
2 9 1
2 10 1
80
1 8 3
50
55
6 5 0
6 19 2
15
15
3 5
0
27,1 11
30
10
2 5 5
28,1 12
1
1 13 9
2 U 1
20
2 6 0
20
3 9
61
60
7 18 6
29,1 12
8
1 14 4
2 12 3
30
2 4 6
25
30
3 13
3 17
1
6
67
10 1 2
sol 18
3
1 14 11
2 13 5
40
2 2 9
■~~
"*"
31|1 13
9
I 15 7
2 14 7
50
2 0 11
35
4 3
1
40
40
5 11 9
32,1 14
4
1 16 3
2 15 9
60
1 18 10
40
4 10
4
45
5 19 9
33! 1 15
0
1 16 10
2 17 1
70
1 16 7
45
4 19
5
50
6 10 8
34|1 15
8
1 17 8
2 18 5
80
1 13 9
50
55
5 11
6 6
8
1
55
60
7 4 5
8 3 4
35'1 16
4
1 18 10
2 19 10
40
10
2 19 2
361 17
0
1 19 7
3 14
20
2 19 10
60
67
7 6
9 9
0
5
67
10 5 6
37
1 17
9
2 0 8
3 2 10
3 4 6
30
2 18 2
45
45
6 7 4
38
1 18
,6
2 19
40
2 15 11
~"~
391 19
3
2 2 11
3 6 2
50
2 12 10
20
20
3 13
11
50
6 17 9
40 2 0
8
2 4 1
3 7 U
60
2 9 4
25
3 17
5
55
7 11 0
41.2 2
0
2 5 4
3 9 9
70
2 5 11
30
4 1
9
60
8 9 6
422 3
43 2 4
442 5
6
6
6
2 6 6
2 7 9
2 9 2
3 11 8
3 13 8
3 15 9
80
2 1 10
35
40
45
4 7
4 14
5 3
3
6
6
67
10 11 1
50
10
20
30
4 0 11
4 1 10
4 0 1
50
50
7 7 8
45
2 6
8
2 10 10
3 17 11
50
5 15
4
55
8 0 3
46
2 7
10
2 12 6
4 0 2
55
6 10
2
60
8 18 2
47
2 9
0
2 14 4
4 2 7
40
50
3 17 10
3 13 10
60
67
7 10
9 13
2
9
67
10 18 10
48 2 10
3
2 16 4
4 5 1
60
70
80
3 7 7
3 16
2 15 0
"""
■ . 1
49 2 12
3
2 18 6
4 7 10
55
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Digitized by
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80
ASSYRIA.
ASSURGENT Leafes, in botany, denote
such as are first bent down, and then rise erect
towards the apex.
ASSUS, or Assos, in ancient geography, a
town of Troas, though by others supposed to be
of Mysia, and the same with ApoUonia, but dif-
ferent from the Apollonia on the Rhyndacus.
Ptolemy places it on the sea coast, but Strabo
more inland. It was the country of Cleanthes,
the stoic philosopher, who succeeded Zeno. St.
Luke and others of St. Paul's companions in his
voyage. Acts xx. 13, 14, went by sea from Troas
to Assos : but St^ Paul went thither by land ;
and, meeting them at Assos, they all went to^
gether to Mitilene.
ASSYRIA, an ancient kingdom of Asia, con-
cerning the extent, commencement, and duration
of which, historians differ greatly in their ac-
counts. Several ancient writers, in particular
Ctesias and Diodorus Siculus, have affirmed that
the Assyrian monarchy, under Ninus and Semira-
mis, comprehended the greater part of the known
world. Had this been the case, it is not likely
that Homer and Herodotus would have omitted a
fact so remarkable. The sacred records intimate
that none of the ancient states or kingdoms were
of considerable extent ; for neither Chedorlaomer
nor any of the neighbouring princes were tribu-
tary or subject to Assyria ; and we find nothing
of the greatness or power of this kingdom in the
history of the judges and succeeding kings of
Israel, though the hitter kingdom was oppressed
and enslaved by many different powers in that
period. It is highly probable, therefore, that '
Assyria was originally of small extent. Accord-
ing to Ptolemy, it was bounded on the north by
Armenia major; on the west by the Tigris; on
the south by Susiana; and on the east by Media.
The revolutions of the Assyrian monarchy were
numerous. Its founder was Ashur, the second
son of Shem, who went out of Shinar, either by
the appointment of Nimrod, or to elude the fury
of that tyrant ; conducted a large body of adven-
turers into Assyria, and laid the foundation of Ni-
neveh, Gen. X. 11. These events happened not
long after Nimrod had established the Chaldean
monarchy, and fixed his residence at Babylon.
The Persian historians suppose, that the kings of
Persia of the first dynasty were the same with the
kings of Assyria, of whom Zohath, or Nimrod,
was the founder of Babel. Herbelot Orient. Bib.
V. Bagdad. It does not, however, appear, that
Nimrod reigned in Assyria. The kmgdoms of
Babylon and Assyria were originally distinct and
separate, Micah v. 6 ; and in this state they re-
mained until Ninus conquered Babylon, and made
it tributary to the Assyrian empire. Ninus, the
successor of Ashur, G^. x. 11, Diod. Sic. lib. 1,
seized on Chaldea, after the death of Nimrod,
and united the kingdoms of Assyria and Babylon.
This prince is said to have subdued Asia, Persia,
Media, Egypt, &c. If he did so, the effects of
his conquests were of short duration ; for in the
days of Abraham we do not find that any of the
neighbouring kingdoms were subject to Assyria.
He was succeeded by Semiramis, a princess of
an heroic mind; bold, enterprising, fortunate; but
of whom many ftibulous things have been record-
ed. It appears, however, &at there were two
princesses of the same name, who flourished at
very different periods. One of them was the
consort of Ninus ; and the other lived five gener-
ations before Nitocris, queen of Nebuchadnezzar,
Euseb. Chron. p. 58. Herod, lib. 1, cap. 184. This
fact has not been attended to by many writers.
Whether there was an uninterrupted series of
kings from Ninus to Sardanapalus, or not, is still
a question. Some suspicion has arisen, that the
list which Ctesias has given of the Assyrian kings
is not genuine ; for many names in it are of Per-
sian, Egyptian, and Grecian extraction. Nothing
memorable has been recorded concerning the suc-
cessors of Ninus and Semiramis. Of that effemi-
nate race of princes it is barely said, that they
ascended the tiirone, lived in indolence, and died
in their i^dacestit Nineveh . Diodorus relates, diat
in the reign of Teutames, the Assyrians solicited
by Priam their vassal, sent to the Trojans a supply
of 20,000 foot and 200 chariots, under the com-
mand of Memnon, son of Tithonus, president of
Persia. But this is not confirmed by any otiier
author. Sardanapalus was the last, and by all
accounts the most effeminate of the ancient
Assyrian kings. Historians have unanimously
reprobated his character ; and Lord Byron has
made it the foundation of a beautiful poem. We
have only to add, that Arbaces, governor of Media,
taking advantage of Sardanapalus's indolence,
withdrew his allegiance and rebelled against
him. He was encouraged in this revolt by the ad-
vice and assistance of Belesis, a Chaldean priest,
who engaged the Babylonians to follow tne ex-
ample of Uie Medes. These powerfiil provinces,
aided by the Persians and other allies, who de-
spised the effeminacy, or dreaded the ^pLnny of
their Assvrian lords, attacked the empire on all
sides. Their most vigorous efforts were, in the
beginning, unsuccessful. Firm and determined,
however, in their opposition, they at length pre-
vailed; defeated tne Assyrian army, besieged
Sardanapalus in his capital, which they demo-
lished, and became masters of the empire A. A. C.
821. The Assyrian empire was now divided
into three kingdoms, viz. the Median, Assyrian,
and Babylonian. Aurbaces retained the supreme
power and authority, and fixed his residence at
Ecbatana in Media. He nominated governors in
Assyria and Babylon, who were honored with
the title of kings, while they remained subject and
tributary to the Median monarchs. Belesis re-
ceived the government of Babylon as the reward
of his services ; and Phul was entrusted with that
of Assyria. The Assyrian governor gradually en-
larged the boundaries of his kingdom, and was
succeeded by Tiglath-pileser, Sdmanasar, and
Sennacherib, who asserted and maintained their
independency. After the death of Esar-haddon,
the brother and successor of Sennacherib, the
kingdomof Assyria was split, and annexed to the
kingdoms of Media and Babylon. Several tribu-
tary princes afterwards reigned in Nineveh ; but
no particular account of them is found in the
annals of ancient nations. We hear no more of
the kings of Assyria, but of those of Babylon,
Cyaxares, king of Media, assisted Nebuchadnez-
zar, king of Babylon, in the siege of Nineveh,
which they took and destroyed, A. A.C. 606.
The most remarkable provinces of Assyria
Digitized by
Googl(
AST
81
AST
were, 1. Arapachitisy bordering on Armenia. 2.
Corduene, a mountainoos territoiyy the ancient
residence of the Carduchi, mentioned by Xeno-
phon in his Anabasis. 3. Adiabene, in Strabo's
time, the most considerable province in Assyria.
4. Calacheift, lying between the mountains of
Armenia and Zabns Major. 5. Apolloniatis,
watered by the river Gorgus. 6. Settacene, by
some reckoned a portion of Babylonia. 7. Cha-
lonitis, separated from Media by a branch of
Mount Taurus.
Assyrian Letters, a denomination given by
several Rabbins and Talmudists, to the characters
of the present Hebrew alphabet, as supposing
them to have been borrowed frOm the Ass3rrians
during the Jewish captivity in Babylon.
ASTA, an inland town of Liguria, a Roman
colony, on the river Tanarus, now called Asti.
AsTA, or AsTA Reoia, a town of Bcetica,
situated at the mouth of the Bstis, which was
choked up with mud, north of Cadiz, and sixteen
miles distant from its port Its ruins show its
former greatness. Its name is Phoenician, de-
noting a frith or arm of the sea. It is said to be
the same with the present Xeres.
ASTABAT, a town of Armenia, in Asia, three
miles from the river Aras, and twelve south of
Nakahivan. The land about it is excellent, and
produces very good wine.
ASTTEUS, a species of the crab insect.
ASTAKILLOS, a denomination given by Pa-
racelsus to a malignant gangrenous ulcer in the
legs, occasioned by a mercurial salt in the blood.
It is also called by him araneus, and ulcus ara-
neum, the spider's ulcer.
ASTANDA, in antiquity, a royal courtier or
messenger; the same with Ansarus. Darius king
of Persia, is said by Plutarch, in his book on
the fortunes of Alexander, to have formerly been
an astanda.
ASTARIL/E, AsTARiTiE, or Astarotrites, a
name given to those Jews who worshipped Ash-
taroth.
ASTARTE, in ancient geography, a city on
the other side Jordan; one of tibe names of Rab-
bah Ammon, in Arabia Petrsa.
Astarte, in pagan mythology
BOTH. On a medal of Cssar
Tea Palestina, Astarte is repre-
sented as in the annexed fi-
gure, in a short habit, crown-
ed widi battlements, holding
the head of Osiris in her right
liand, and a staff in her left,
inscription COLonia Prima
TcUx AU Gusto Ylavia Commodiana, SfC.
ASTATE'. See Estate.
See AsHTA-
The vorlde stante ever upon debate.
So male be siker none octote.
Now here^ now thexe, now to, now fro.
Now up, now down, the world goth so.
And ever hath done, and ever shall.
Gower. Can. A. Th§ Prologue.
ASTATI, in Ae ninth century, the followers
of one Sergius, who renewed the errors of the
Manichees. They prevailed much under the
emperor Nicephorus ; but his successor, Michael
Curopalates, curbed them with very severe laws.
. Vol. III.
ASTEEPING. In steeping. See Steep.
Where Perah's fiowern
Perfume proud Babel's bowers.
And paint her wall :
There we la/d asteeping
Our ejres in endless weeping.
For Sion's fall.
P. FUtcherU Poem, p. 163.
ASTEISM, in rhetoric, a pleasant kind of
irony, or handsome way of deriding another.
Sucn, e. g. is that of Virgil :
Qui Bavium non odit, amet tua cannina, Mavi, &c
ASTELL (Mary) was the daughter of an opu-
lent merchant at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, where
she was bom about 1668. She was educated in
a manner suitable to her station ; and amongst
other accomplishments was mistress of tlie French,
and had some knowledge of the Latin tongue.
Her uncle, a clergyman, observing in her marks
of a promising genius, took her under his tuition, '
and taught her mathematics, logic, and philo-
sophy. She left the place of her nativity when
she was about twenty years of age, and spent the
remaining part of her life in London and at
Chelsea. Here she pursued her studies with
great assiduity, made great proficiency in the
above-mentioned sciences, ana acquired a more
complete knowledge of the classics. Among
these Seneca, Epictetus, Hierocles,Antoninus,
Tully, Plato, and Xenophon were her favorites.
She wrote, 1. A Serious Proposal to the Ladies.
2. An Essay in Defence of the Female Sex. 3.
Letters concerning the Love of God. 4. Essays
upon Marriage, Crosses in Love, and Friend-
ship. 5. Moderation truly stated. 6. The Chris-
tian Religion, as professed by a daughter of the
Church of England. 7. Bart'lemey Fair, or an
Enquiry after wit ; and other works. She died in
1731, aged sixty-three, and was buried at Chelsea.
ASTENA, a genus of worms of the mollusca
order, in the Linnsean system.
ASTER, in ancient pharmacy, a kind of me-
dicine, invented by Aiidromachus, against de-
fluxions and divers pains.
Aster, in botany, starwort, a genus of the
polygamia superflua order, and syngenesia class
of plants ; ranking in the natural method under
the forty-ninth order, composite discoides. The
receptacle is naked; the pappus simple; the
rays of the corolla ten ; and the calyx imbricated.
There are above thirty species. All of them
may be raised from seed sown either in autumn
or spring: but the greater part being perennial
plants, iod increasing greatly at the roots^ are
generally propagated by parting their roots early
in the spring. They will grow in almost any
soil or situation ; and the larger sorts ipcrease
very fast. They grow best in the shade: the
lower kinds do not run so much at the root, but
should be taken up and transplanted every .other
year; which will make them produce much fturer
flowers. Some few sorts wnicb are natives of
warm climates, will require artificial heat to raise
them, if not to preserve them.
Aster, in mineralogy, a species of Samian
earth.
ASTERABAD, a small province of Persia,
bounded on the west by the Caspian sea, on tiie
G
Digitized by
Googl(
AST
south by the districts of Daragan and Bistan,
and on the north and east by the river Ashor.
This province is the ancient Hyrcania, and the
paternal estate of the present king of Persia, as
chief of the tribe Kajar, or Kujur, which has en-
tire possession of it. The capital is situated on
the south-east shore of the Caspian sea, at the
mouth of the river Aster, or Ester. It was de-
stroyed by Tanierlane, and is now governed by a
descendant of the reigning family of Persia. 300
miles N. N. £. of Ispahan. Long. 54P £., lat.
36o44'-N.
ASTERAC, or Esterac, a ci-devant district
of^ France, in Armagnac, now included in the
department of Gers. It is fertile and populous.
ASTEBIAy a gem, sometimes cailea the cat's
eye, or oculus felis. It is a very singular and
beaiittifitl stone, and somewhat approaches to the
nature of the opal, in having a bright included
color, which seems to be lod^ deep in the body
of the stone, and shifts about, as it is moved, in
various directions: but it differs from the opat
in all other particulars, especially in its want of
the great variety of colors seen in that gem, and
in its superior hardness. It is usually fouod foe*
tween the size of a pea and the breadth of a six-
pence ; is almost always of a semicircular form,
broad and flat at the bottom, and rounded and
convex at the top ; and is naturally smooth and
polished. It has only two colors, a pale brown
and a white ; the brown seeming the ground, and
the white playing about in it, as the fire color in
the opal. It is considerably hard, and will take
a fine polish, but is usually worn with its native
shape and smoothness. It is found in the East
and West Indies, and in Europe. The island of
Borneo affords some very fine ones, but they are
usually small; they are very common in the
sands of rivers in New Spain ; and in Bohemia
they are often found immersed in the same
masses of jasper with the opal.
AsTERiA, an extraneous fossil, called in Eng-
lish the star-stone. These fi)ssils are small,
short, angular, or sulcated columns, between one
and two inches long, and seldom above a third
of an inch in diameter: composed of several
regular joints ; when separated, each resembles
a radiated stan. They axe, not without reason,
supposed to be a part of some sea-fish petrified,
probably the astenas or sea-star. The asteria is
also cadled astrites, astroites, and asteriscus.
They may be reduced to two kinds : those whose
whole bodies make the form of a star ; and those
which in the whole are irreguku, but are adorned
as i{ were with constellations in the parts. The
asterias spoken of by the ancients appears to be
of this latter kind. The quality ox moving in
vinegar, as if animated, is scarcely perceivable
in the astrites, but is signal in the asteria. The
fi>rmer must be broken in small pieces before it
will move ; but the latter will move, not only in
a whole joint, but in two or three knit together.
The curious frequently meet with these stones in
many parts of England.
Asteria, in zoology, a name by which some
authors have called the falco palumbarius, or
gos-hawk. See Falco.
ASTERIAS, star-fish, or sea-star, in zoology,
a genus of insects of the order of vermes mol-
00
AST
lusca, It has a depressed body, covered with a
coriaceous coat; is composed of five or more
segments, running out from a central part^ and
furnished with numerous tentacula; and has the
mouth in the centre. The tentacula resemble
the horns of snails, but serve the animal to walk
with. They are capable of being contracted or
shortened :. and it is only at the creatures moving
that they are seen of their full length; at other
times, no part of them is seen but the extremity
of each, which is formed like a sort of button,
being somewhat larger than the rest of the horn.
Aristotle and Pliny called this genus avii^ and
Stella marina, from their resemblance to the pic-
tured form of the stars of heaven ; and they as-
serted that they were so exceedingly hot, as
instantly to consume whatsoever they touched !
The fossil world has been gready enriched by the
firagments and remains of the several pieces of
star-fish which have been converted into stones.
See Asteria. There are many species of this
genus : some of twelve, thirteen, and even four-
teen rays. Most of them are found in our seas.
We enumerate the principal : 1 . A. caput meducz,
or arborescent searstar, having five rays issuing
from an angular body; the rays divided into
innumerable branches, growing slender as they
recede from the base. These the animal, in
swimming, spreads like a net ; and when he per-
ceives any prey within them, draws them in
again. It is called by some the Magellanic star-
fish, and basket-fish. 2. A. clathatra, or cancel-
lated sea-star, with five short thick rays, hirsute
beneath, cancellated above, is found on our
coasts, but is rare. 3. A. decacnemos having
ten very slender rays, with numbers of long
beards on the sides ; the body small, and sur-
rounded beneath with ten filiform rays. It in-
habits the western coasts of Scodand. 4. A. gla-
cialis, with five rays, depressed, round at the
base, yellow, and having a round striated oper-
culum on the back, is the most common ; it feeds
on oysters, and is very destructive to the beds.
5. A. hispida, with five rays, broad, angulated at
top, and rough, with short bristles, is of a brown
color, and found about Anglesea. 6. A. oculata,
with five smooth rays^ dotted or punctured, is of
a fine purple color, also found about Anglesea.
7. A. placenta, with five very broad and mem-
braneous rays, extremely thin and flat, found
about Weymouth. 8. A. spherulata, with a pen-
tagonal indented body; a small globular bead
between the base of each ray ; the rays slender,
jointed, taper, and hirsute on their sides; found
off Anglesea.
Asterias, in ornithology, the ancient name of
the bittern. See Ardea.
ASTERION, in astronomy, one of the canes
venatici.
ASTERISCUS, in botany, asteriodes buph-
thalmum, the ox eye.
SK,) (
t. 5of
denote a number of stars, a constellation.
Asterisk is a character of reference used in print-
ing, resembling a small star.
Dwell particularly on panares with an atteritm, for
the obtervatioas which follow such a note» will give
you a clear light. Drjfden** Dujremujf,
ASTERISK,)' Gr.A9rff>uneoc, a diminutive
As'terish. 5 of avTfipf a star. Asterisms
Digitized by
Googl(
AST
Poetiy had filled the ikies with oMteritmt, and his-
tories belonging to them ; and then astrology devises
the feigned virtues and inilaences of each.
Bentiey's Sermom.
He also published the translation uf the Sepiuagint
bj itself ; having first compared it with the Hebrew^
and noted by agteritlu what was defective, and by
obelisks what was redundant. Grew.
ASTERIUS, or Asturxus, a Roman consul,
who lived about A. D. 449. He wrote A Con-
ference on the Old and New Testament, in Latin
verse, which is extant, and in which each strophe
contains, in the first verse, an historical hci in
the Old Testament, and in the second an appli-
cation of that fact to some point in the New.
ASTERN. On the stern. See Stern.
Having left this strait oMtem, we seemed to be come
out of a river of t«-o leagues broad, unto a large and
main sea.
The World eneompcmd bjf Sir F Drake, 1578.
The galley gives her side, and turns her prow.
While those astern descending down the steep.
Through gaping ways behold the boiling deep.
Dryden,
But at sev^n in the evening, finding we did not near
the chase, and that the Wager was very far aitem, we
shortened sail, and made a signal for the cruizers to
join the squadron. Atuom^i Voyage, p. 50.
Astern is used to signify any thing at some
distance behind the ship ; being the opposite of
arbead, which signifies the space before her. See
Abead.
ASTEROPjEUS, a Trojan hero, who fought
with Achilles, in single combat, and proved him
not invulnerable, by wounding him m the right
arm; notwithstanding which Achilles slew him.
ASTEROPH YTON, in natural history, a kind
of fish composed of a great number of cylindric
rays, each branching out into several others, so as
to represent the branched stalks of a very intri-
cate shrub.
ASTEROPODIUM, a kind of extraneous
fossil, of the same substance with the asteriae or
star-stones, to which they serve as a base. See
AsTERiA and Star-stone.
ASTESAN, the ancient county of Asti, a dis-
trict of Upper Italy, bounded by Chieri and
Ogumagnola on the west, by the Vercellois on
the north and east, and by the marquisate of
Gonegno on' the south. It is a fruitful and po-
pulous territory, about twenty-five miles long
and ten broad, and belongs to the house of Sa-
voy. It produces excellent wines, and exports
to various parts of Italy large quantities of olives.
ASTETE'S Island, an island to the north-
west of the gulf of Carpentaria, New Holland,
containing some traces of iron ore, and well
wooded.
ASTHMA, a frequent, difficult, and short re-
spiration, joined with a hissing sound and a
cough, especially in the night-time, and when
the body is in a prone posture ; because then the
contents of the lower oelly bear so against tlie
diaphragm, as to lessen the capacity of the breast,
whereby the lungs have less room to move. See
MsDicrft'E.
ASTI, a city of Montserrat in Italy, capital of
the county. It has a bishop's see ; is well for-
tified with strong walls and deep ditches : and is
divided into the city, borough, citadel, and castle.
83 AST
There are a ^creat many churches, convents, and
other handsome buildings in it. it is sealed on
the Tanaro, twenty-four miles east of Turin.
Population 22,000. The inhabiunts carry on
a considerable trade in com, wine, and silk,
which is promoted by the situation of the town
on the high-road from Alessandria to Turin.
ASTIGI, in ancient geography, a colony, an«l
conventus juridicus, of Boetica, situated on the
Singulus, which falls into the Bxtis ; called also
Colonia Astigitana, and Augusta Firma; now
Ecya, midway between Seville and Corduba.
ASTIPULATE, ) To make an agreement.
Astip'ulation. ] See Stipulate.
I do by my roy«l authority, confirm to pcnons of
monastical religion, and by the content and asti/mla-
tion of my princes and peers do esUblish and consign
to them that monastery.
Bp. HaW» Polemical Workt, p. 187.
Shortly, all, but a hateful Epicurus, have oMttpu^
lated to this truth. Id. DeoothmU Works.
ASTIPULATOR, among the Roman Catho-
lics, he by whose consent and leave a nun takes
the religious habit.
ASTLE (Thomas), an English antiquary, was
the son of a farmer in Staflbrdshire. After he
had received a liberal education, Mr. Grenville
took him under his patronage, and about 1763
gave him a place along with Sir Joseph Ayloffe
and Dr. Ducarel, in the superintendance of the
Westminster records. In 1766 he was chosen to
conduct the printing of the ancient records of
parliament; and in 1775 was appointed prin-
cipal clerk in the record office m the Tower;
from which, on the death of Sir John Shelly, he
succeeded to the office of keeper of the records.
He died in December 1803, and was the author
of many curious papers in the volumes of the
Archseologia; also of a work entitled Origin and
Progress of Writing, as well hieroglyphic as ele-
mentary ; which was first printed in 1784, 4to,
and again in 1803.
ASTLEY (John), a native of Wem in Shrop-
shire, though he studied painting under the same
master with Sir Joshua Reynolds, is more me-
morable as a fisivorite of fortune, than as a limner.
His best pictures are copies of the Bentivoglio's,
Titian's Venus, &c. Lady Daniel, having sat to
him for her picture, within a week afler gave
him the original, with the estate of Duckenfield,
worth £5000 a year. He died in 1787.
AsTLEY (Philip), the founder of the royal am-
phitheatre near Westminster Bridge, was born at
Newcastle-nnder-line in 1742, and bred a cabinet-
maker. In 1759 he enlisted in the Light Horse,
and served seven years in Germany, where he
acquired the reputation of a good soldier. On
his return home, he began to exhibit equestrian
performances; and in 1780 erected a building
which he called the amphitheatre riding house,
for which he subsequently procured a license.
In 1794 Mr. Astley went to the continent as a
volunteer in the army. This campaign led to the
publication of his Descriptive and Historical
Account of the places now the theatre of war in
the Low Countries, with plans of fortifications;
l>ondon, 1794, 8vo ; and Remarks on the Pro-
fession and Duty of a Soldier. Mr. Astley built
amphitheatres at Dublin and at Paris, and the
G2
Digitized by
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AST
84
AST
Olympic Pavilion near the Strand. He closed
an active and diversified life at Paris, October
20ih, 1814, at the age of seventy-two. Another
work of his is entitled A System of Equestrian
Education, exhibiting the Beauties and Defects
of the Horse, 1800, 4to.
ASTOMl, in anthropology, a people feigned
to be without mouths. Pliny speaks of a nation
of Astomi in India, who lived only by the smell
or effluvia of bodies taken in by the nose !
ASTON (Sir Arthur), a commander in the
service of Charles I. was at the head of the dra-
goons at the battle of Edgehill, and three times
defeated the earl of Essex. He was successively
governor of Reading and Oxford. He had the
misfortune to break one of his legs in such a
manner as to make amputation necessary; and,
serving in Ireland after the death of the kine,
when Cromwell took Drogheda, where Aston
was governor, his brains were beaten out with
his wooden leg.
Aston (Sir Thomas), of an ancient family in
Cheshire, was created baronet in 1628, and ap-
pointed high sheriff of Cheshire in 1635. He
raised a troop of horse for king Charles I., but
was defeated and wounded in the vicinity of
Nantwich in 1642. He was afterwards made
prisoner, and carried to Stafford; and, while
endeavouring to make his escape, a soldier
struck him on the head, which, with other
wounds he had received, brought on a fever,
which ended in his death, in 1643. Sir Thomas
was author of, 1 . A Remonstrance against Pres-
bytery, 1641, 4to; 2. A Short Survey of the
Presbyterian Discipline; 3. Brief Review of
the Institution, Succession, and Jurisdiction of
Bishops.
^ Ang.-Sax. stunian, to
stun. Old Fr. estonne, to
amaze, to excite wonder,
surprise; to stiike as with
thunder, startle, stupify,
''confound, benumb ; to ston-
ny, or, as we say in modern
phrase, to petrify. As-
tound is from the same
root, and of a correspond-
ASTON'E,
Aston'y,
Astok'ying,
Aston'iedness,
Aston'isu,
A.ston'ishedly,
Aston'ishing.
Aston'ishingly,
Astom'ishment,
Astoun'd.
ing signification.
But netheles how that it wende
He drad hym of his owne sonne
That makedi hym well the more attone.
Oower. Con, A. book vi.
And with this word she fell to groond
Aswoune, and there she lay a$totind.
Id, ib. 1. iv.
And anoon all the paple seynge Jhesns was
oMtonyed and thei dredden, and thei rennynge gretten
him. WicUf. Mark, chap. ix.
Be attongfihed (0 ye heaues), be afrayde, and
vibashed at soch a thinge, sayethe the Lord. For my
people doue two euels. Bible, 1539. Jeremy, c. ii.
Her looks did so atlonUh me»
And set my heart a quaking;
Like stag that gas'd, I was amas*d.
And in a stranger taking.
Belchier, in EUia, vol. iii.
These thonghts may startle well, but not astound.
The virtuous mind ; that ever walks, attended
By a strong siding champion, conscience. Milton,
Kow they lie
Groveling and prostrate on yon lake of fire.
As we ere while, aaUrunded and amas'd.
No wonder, fall'n such a pernicious height.
HUton, Paradite Leet, b. i.
Princes, potentates.
Warriors, the flow'r of heaven, once yours, now lost.
If such oitoniilimeni as this can seize
Immortal spirits. Id,
But all sate mute.
Pondering the danger-with deep thoughts ; and each
In other's countenance read his own dismay
AtUmitht, Id. b. ii.
As when some peasant in a bushy brake.
Has with unwary footing pressed a snake ;
He starts aside, atUmUh'd, when he spies
His rising crest, blue neck, and rolling eyes.
Drydin'i VinjU.
The palaces of Pern and Mexico were cejtaiuly
mean and incommodious habitations, if compared u>
the houses of European monarchs; yet who could
forbear to view them with tutomihmeni, who remeui-
bered that they were built without the use of imn.
Johuoa.
Whence many wearied e'er ihey had o'erpast
The middle stream (for they in vain have tried)
Again retum'd astounded and aghast.
No one regardful look would ever backward casu
GUbert Weft,
A genius, universal as his theme,
AeUmkhmg as chaos. Thoaaen.
At first, heard solemn thro' the verge of heaven
The tempest growls ; but as it nearer comes.
And rolls its awful burden on the wind.
The lightning's flash a larger curve, and more
The noise cuiaunda, Thomgon*» Seaam*.
Unmanly dread invades
The French attuny'd. J, PkUip^.
Attonuhfnent is that state of the soul in which &U
its motions are suspended, with some degree of horror.
* Bvrke on the SiMime and Beataiful.
A character so exalted, so strenuous, so varioos, so
authoritative, aatonuhed a corrupt age, and the trea>
sury trembled at the name of Pitt, through all her
classes of venality.
OrattanU Character of Lord ChaAmm,
ASTORCHA, in botany, a name given by
some botanists to the stoechas.
ASTORGA, an ancient city of Spain, in the
kingdom of Leon, vrith a bishop's see, seated on
the river Tuerto, and well fortined. It stands in
a most agreeable plain, about 160 miles north-
west of Madrid. It is now the chief place in a
small marquisate, the castle of which it contains.
In its territory lies the lake of Sanabria, through
which the Tuerto passes with such rapidity as to
agitate the whole sur&ce.
ASTR.£A, in astronomy, a name of the sign
Virgo, by others called Erigone, and sometimes
Isis.
AsTRXA, in mythology, the goddess of jus-
tice, and daughter of Jupiter by Themis, or,
as others say, by Nemesis, the goddess of ven-
geance. The Doets feign that Astrtta quitted
heaven to reside on earth, in the golden age ;
but, growing weazy of the iniquities of mankind,
she left the earth, and returned to heaven, where
she commenced a constellation of stars, and from
her orb still looks down on the ways of men.
ASTRAGAli^ in architecture, a little n>und
moulding, which in the orders surrounds the top
of the shaft or body of the column. Its etymo-
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85
logy is derived from its resemblance to the bone
of the heel, called astragalos. It is also called
the talon and tondino ; it is used at the bottoms
as well as the tops of columns, and on other oc-
casions ; it properly represents a ring, on what-
ever part of a column it is placed ; and the origi-
nal idea of it was thA of a circle of iron put
round the trunk of a tree used to support an
edific^ to prevent its splitting. The astragal is
often cut into beads and berries, and is used in
the ornamented entablatures to separate the se-
veral &ces of the architrave. See Architec-
TVRE.
Astragal, in gunneiy, a round moulding
encompassing a cannon, about half a foot from
its mouth.
ASTRAGALOIDES, in botany, the phaca of
LinuKus.
ASTRAGALOMANCY; from aTpayoXoc,and
^McvrtMt, divination ; a species of divination per-
formed by throwing small pieces, with marks
corresponding to the letters of the alphabet ; tlie
accidental disposition of which formed the an-
swer required. This kind of divination was
practised in a temple of Hercules at Achaia.
ASTIlAGALOT£, in natural history, a species
of fossile alum, thus called from its resembling a '
talus, or ankle-bone ; whence it is also denomi-
nated talare.
ASTRAGALUS, in anatomy, the bone of the
heel. See Anatomy.
Astragalus, in botany, milk-vetch, or liquor-
ice vetch ; a genus of the decandria order, and
diadelphia class of plants ; ranking in the na-
tural method under the thirty-second order,
papiliouaces, the pod is gibbous and bilocular.
Or this genus there are thirty-nine species. 1. A.
communis, the common species, grows wild
upon dry uncultivated places, and is often re-
commended by Mr. Anderson as proper food
for cattle. 2. A. tragacantha, a thorny bush,
growing in Crete, Asia, and Greece, which yields
the gum traeacanth. This is of so strong a
body, that* a dram of it will give a pint of water
the consistence of a syrup, which a whole ounce
of gum Arabic is scarce sufficient to do. Hence
its use for forming troches and the like purposes,
in preference to tae other gums.
ASTRAKHAN, a city and government of the
Russian empire, on the shores of the Caspian,
anciently an independent T^tarian sovereignty,
Lut reduced to a Russian province by the Tzar
Ivan Vasili'ovich in 1-554. It forms a distinct
province, named after its principal city ; having
ceen separated from that of Caucasus, in which
it was formerly included. It is bounded by the
governments of Caucasus, Saratov, Orenburg, the
country of the Kirgiz Tartars, the Caspian Sea,
and the ci-devant Persian provinces of D&ghist^n
and Lergist^n ; and contains 12,568 square geo-
graphicad miles. The number of its inhabitants
is from 300,000 to 400,000. Its extent from
east to west is about 600 geographical miles, and
from north to south about 520. The climate is
rather warm, the therrooireter rising in the sum-
mer to 158* (Fahrenheit); but the nights are
cold, and the dew very copious. The ice is
usually strong enough to bear at the end of
November, and is not melted again till February.
This is followed by violent storms ; but spring'
soon advances, the ground is covered with flowers,
and the whole face of nature changed. The
summer is remar|j:ably dry. This government is
separated from that of Kazan and the Kozaks of
the Ural, by a barren branch of the Uralian chain,
which stretches from north to south, and is- the
only line of hills in this province. The rest of
tlie government is one continued ' level. The
principal rivers, besides the Volga and Ural,
are the Akhtuba, running parallel witli the Volga,
tlie Manich, the great and little Uzen, the Kuban,
the Kuma, lost in the summer months in the
sands, the Terek, the Malka, and the Sula. The
air in the Steppes is said to be very unhealthy.
At a distance from the stream the soil becomes
salt and barren, and is covered with drifting sand.
There are several salt lakes, such as the Bogdo,
Basinskoe, Graznoe, Kobilikha, &c.
On the banks of the Volga rhubarb and liquor-
ice are plentifiil, and the extract from the root
of the latter is prepared in considerable quanti-
ties in the city of Astrakhan. The sea-rose,
found near the mouth of the Volga, is here con-
sidered as sacred and nutritious. Its flowers
have a fragrant smell, and give an essential water
of the scent of amber. The sh rubs of the Steppes
are cherries, sloes, dwarf almonds, and capers.
Near the river there are the willow, alder, birch,
ash, poplar, elm, and oak ; the beech also on the
Kuban ; but no large woods. The fruit trees are
Tatarian mulberries, cherries, apples, pears,
plums, apricots, peaches, quinces, and vines;
and on the latter there are also figs, almonds,
wild olives, Spanish chestnuts, pomegranates, and
Cornelian cherries (Cornus mas), which, when
pickled, taste like olives. Silk, tobacco, and
cotton are plentiful ; and the gardens produce all
the common roots and herbs. The pasturage is
excellent, and much cattle is reared. Sea and
rock-salt, natron, epsom-salt, salt-petre-earth,
bitumen, and mineral pitch, are also an abundant
source of wealth to Astrakhan.
The population of the province is composed of
a great number of different nations ; Russians,
Kozaks, Tartars, Kalmuks, Indians, Persians,
Armenians, &c. Generally the military, public
officers, merchants, mechanics, and other citizens^
are Russians. The garrisons on the Ural consist
of Kozaks, derived from those of tlie Don, who
choose their ovm officers, except their commander,
the hetman, or ataman, who is appointed by the
Russian government. The Tartars are, excepting
a small number, nomad tribes, continually en-
camped, consisting of about 9000 families. Tlie
Kalmuks, about 12,000 families, are of the Derbet
tribe, and encamp between the Volga, Don, and
j^uma. There are also Armenians, Greeks,
Georgians (Gruzinians), Bukharians, Khivinzians,
and Hindoos, in considerable numbers, constantly
inhabiting the city, to say nothing of the Euro-
peans who are generally to be found there.
Some colonies, established on the Terek and
Kiima in 1781, cultivate grain, gardens, and
vineyards, and produce a considerable quantity
of silk. The number of their villages amounted
to fifty-three in 1796.
Astrakhan, the capital of the above govern-
ment, (called originally H5j6 Terkhan, the
Digitized by
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86
ASTRAKHAN.
Giterchan, or Ginterchan, of the middle ajjes),
issituatedin E. long, 48" 2* 15', N.lat46''2l'12'',
and is one of the most populous and important
cities, ranking as the third town, perhaps, of the
Russian empire. It contains nearly 70,000 in-
habitants. It stands on a hill, in a long narrow
island of the Volga, about thirty miles from its
entrance into the Caspian, surrounded by swamps,
which in spring are very unhealthy. The town
itself, without including the suburbs, is from six
to eight miles in circumference. The houses are
built principally of brick and sand-stone. Here
is an old Tatar castle, or kreml, and the Belot-
Gorod (white tower), built by Uie tzar, Michael
Feodorovich, now in ruins; a cathedral, arch-
bishop's palace, public offices, main guard,
arsenal, and powder magazine. Belgorod, which
adjoins the kreml, on the same hill, is 2510 feet
long, 1440 feet broad, and 7110 feet in circum-
ference. The city has four gates, and some
ruined walls. The streets are ill paved, and
much exposed to inundations. Between the
kreml and the canal, on the Volga, is the dock-
yard, on the other side of which are the Tatarian
and Armenian suburbs (slobods), and barracks
for the troops. The exchange, where ships from
the Caspian unlade and land their goods, is not
far from St Nicolas's Gate, and opposite to it is
the haven for vessels coming down the river.
Within the suburbs are about 100 vineyards,
thirty of which belong to the crown ; a school for
the artillery, a bank, and court of justice, in
what was formerly the Troitzko'i convent ; and,
in the Belograd, the Spasso-preobrashenski con-
vent, two parish churcnes, two hospitals, and a
b^r for the use of the Armenians and Hin-
doos.
The variety of nations and religions i^ Astra-
khan is manifested by the number and difference
of the places of worship. The total of them is
fifty-seven : twenty-three Russian churches of the
Greek communion ; twenty-seven Tatarian
mosques, churches, and temples; four Arme-
nian, two Roman Catholic, one Lutheran, and
one Hindoo temple. There b also a handsome
hospital dedicated to St Paul, and six monas-
teries; several dyeing-houses, brick-fields, tallow-
candle manufactories, one iron-foundry, and
looms for weaving linen, veils, and sashes. The
morocco leather manufactured here is most es-
teemed, next to the Turkish ; especially the red.
There is also an establishment here for rearing
silk-worms, and a botanic garden. European
goods are brought either by water from Peters-
burgh, or, on sledges, by land from Moscow, and
are shipped across the Caspian, or conveyed to
Mozdok, in Mount Caucasus. The merchants
engaged in this trade employ 250 vessels of dif-
ferent tonnage. More than half of the whole
trade carried on is in the hands of the Armenians.
Many of the Russian merchants employ their
vessels in trading voyages to Persia, Khiv^,
or Bukhard, or carrying stores to Kizliacr, and
salt, for the crown, to the towns on the Volga.
The Hindoo merchants generally quit their native
country at an early age, setting out with a small
capital, which they soon increase by trade on
their way through Tatary and Persia ; and make
enormous profits by letting the Tatars of Astra-
khan have their goods on credit; so that the
latter are always deeply in their debt.
The imports from Persia and Bukhar^ consist
of raw silk, about 120,000 lbs. yearly, wool, dyed
woollens, madder, galls, morocco leather, chintzes,
dyed linens, silks, gauzes, small carpets, counter-
panesy frankincense, bezoar, naphtha, rice, deer-
skins, lamb-«kins, Circassian cloth, tulups
(pelisses), mountain-honey, tobacco, cotton
gowns, Persian peas, dried fruits, almonds, figs,
pomegranates, olives, oil, saffron, dried peaches,
and spices. The exports consist almost entirely
of foreign manufactures; such as velvet, cochineal,
satin, plush, linen, and other woven articles,
sugar, Russia-leather, iron, dyeing substances^
glass, coral, steel and iron wares, metal utensils,
wrought gold and silver, wax, soap, trinkets,
alum, quick-silver, vitriol, sal-ammoniac, &c.
Caravans often arrive by land at Astrakhan from
Bukhark and Khiva. The Indian trade alone is
from 6 to 700,000 roubles (£120 to 140,000) an-
nually. The silk-manufactures are said to em-
ploy from 3 to 400,000 (£60 to 80,000). The
supplies sent to the Caucasian lines along the
Terek, firom 4 to 500,000 (£100 to 120,000).
The prices of all internal produce are low. Little
is known concerning the origin of Astrakhan
or of its condition before the Uiirteenth century,
when William de Rubruguis found it a village
without any fortifications ; but, at the close of
that century, it was a considerable emporium for
the trade with India and China ; and completely
ruined by Timur. It was still a mere village
when Josaphat Barbaro saw it in the fifteenth
century ; but Ambrosio Contareni, the Venetian
ambassador, in the latter end of that century,
found a considerable trade in rice and silk car-
ried on there. The conquest of it, by the tzar
Ivan Vasiliovich, in 1554, was therefore very
advantageous to Russia, as it gave her the com-
mand not only of the Volga, but also of the Cas-
pian, an advantage which she has not neglected
to improve.
ASTRALISH, among miners, is the ore of
gold in its first state.
ASTRANTIA, Masterwort, in botany, a
genus of the digynia order, and the pentandria
class of plants ; ranking in the natural method
under the forty-fifth order, umbellata. The in-
volucrum is lanceolated, open, equal, and co-
lored. The species are two : 1 . A. major. 2.
A. minor, both natives of the Alps, and possess-
ing no remarkable properties.
ASTRAPiEA, in natural history, a name
given by the ancients to a stone, smce called,
improperly, astrapia, and by some astrapias. It
was of a blue, or blackish ore, with white varie-
gations, running in the form of waves and clouds.
Some specimens of the Persian lapis lazuli are of
this kind, but they are rare.
ASTRARII, in writers of the middle age,
tlie same with mansionarii, tliose who live in
the house €r family, at the time when a person
dies.
ASTRARIUS Hares ; from astre, old French,
a hearth ; is used in our old writers, where the
ancestor^ by conveyance, hath set his heirs ap-
parent, and his family, in a house, in his life-
time.'
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AST 87
ASTRAY'. Accordmg to Tooke, the past
part, of the Ang.-Sax. reH) streegan, to stray, to
scatter.
First every day, beseech thy God on knee.
So to direct thy 'staggVing steppes alway ;
That he which evecy secrete thought doth see.
May holde thee in, when- than wonldst goe attttijf.
Gateoigne.
Yon labour may
To lead astntff.
The heart that constant shall remain.
And I the while
Will sit and smile.
To see you spend yonr time in vain.
Qeorge Wither, in &Su, ▼. i.
And darkness and donbt are now flying away,
No longer I roam in conjecture- forlorn.
So breaks on the traveller, fbiaX, and dbtroy.
The bright and th» balmy efinlge&ce of mom.
Be(Utie*9 Hermii.
AST
tunty astrii^ertj to
contract. To make
strait or narrow, to
heighten or draw
dose, to bind; op-
ASTRICr,«.&d4^*.
ASTaiC^TION,
Astric'tiv£,
Ajthin'oe,
Astrin'ceittlt,
Astrim'gemt, n. & ai^.j
posed to relax.
Teara are caused by a contraction of the spirits of
the brain ; which contraction, by consequence, agtn»-
geth the moisture of the brain, and thereby sendeth
tears into the eyes. Bacon,
This virtue requireth an aslricthn; but such an
agtriction, as is not grateful to the body : for a pleas-
ing attriction doth rather bind in the nerves, than
expel them ; and therefore such oHrietion is found in
things of a harsh taste. Id.
The juke is very arirmifmit, and therefore of slow
motion. id. Natural Hutory,
What diminisheth sensible perspiration, encreaseth
the insensible ; for that xeseon, a strengthening and
aalrifigetU diet often condnceth to this purpose.
Arbidlmot on AUtnenit,
The solid parts were to be relaxed or aOricted, as
they let the humours pass, either in too small or too
great quantities. Id,
Lenitive substances are proper for dry atrabilarian
constitutions ; who are subject to aitricHon of the belly,
and the piles. Id. on Diet.
Addf'actid, austere and bitter substances, by their
aetringemcjf, create honour;' that is, stimulate the
fibres. Id.
Aitringent medicines are binding, which act by the
asperity of their particles ; whereby they corrugate
the membranes, and make them draw up closer.
Quineg.
AsTRicTioN, in law. See Thirlage.
AsTRicTioN, in medicines, the operation of
astringent medicines.
ASTRICUS Lapis, in natural history, a kind
of figured stone, broken or cut from the enastros,
after the same manner as the trochitae, from the
eatrochi.
A3TBID% ) On stride, on straddle. See
Astrad'dle. S Stride, and Straddle.
To lay their native arms aside.
Their modesty ; and ride attride. Hudihraa.
I saw a place, where the Rhone is so straitened
between two rocks, that a man may stand astride upon
both at once. Boyle.
ASTRILD, in ornithology, a species of the
loxia.
AsTRiNCEiVTS, in the materia medica, sub-
stances distinguished by a rough austere taste,
and chttiging solutions of iron, especially those
made in &e vitriolic acid, into a dark purple or
black color ; such as galls, tormentil root, bistort
root, balaustines, terra japonica, acacia, &c.
ASTROBOLISM; from a^i^p, a star, and
/SaXXw, to strike; the same with sphacelus;
though properly applied to plants which are de-
stroyed in the dog-days, as if blasted by that
star.
ASTROCUITES, or Astroitbs. See As-
TERIA.
ASTROGNOSIA; fiK>m a?i}p, ster, mA ytr
yM^rw, I know ; the art of knowing the fixed
stars, their names, ranks, situations in the- eon-
stelktions, and the like. See Astronomy.
ASTROLABE, 1 ^ , ,
As'trolabre i ^'' "^^^' * •'*'' *™*
The firste partye of this treatise shall rehearse the
figures, and Uie membres of thine attrulaby, because
that thou shalt have the greater knowyng of thyne
owne instrument. Chaucer. Astrolahte, f. 262. c. i.
For I have ben toward the parties of Braban, and
beholden the astrolabre, that the sterre that is oL^
the transmontayne, is 53 degrees highe.
Sir John MavndevUle:
Liv'd Tycho now, struck with this ray .which shone
More bright i' the mom, than others beam at noon.
He'd take his astrolabe, and seek out here
What new star 'twas did gild our hemisphere.
Dryden. On the Death of Lord Ha^mgt.
Astrolabe, among the ancients, was the same
as our armillary sphere.
Astrolabe, among the modems, bused for a
planisphere, or a stereographic projection of the
sphere, either upon the plane of the equator, the
^e being supposed to be in the. pole of the
world, or upon the plane of the mendian, at the
time the eye is supposed in the point of the in-
tersection of the equinoctial and horizon.
ASTRCLOGY, "^ A^-ijp, a star, and Xoyop,
Astro' LOG ER, a discourse ; from Xtyw, I
Astro' LOG I AN, I say. In Latin writers,
Astro'log ick, j astrology was synonymous
Astro'logicall, with, and more in use
Astrolo'gically.J than, astrono^my. This
usage has been imitated by our elder writers.
On which was written, not in words.
But hieroglyphic mute of birds ;
Many rare pithy saws concerning.
The worth of oitrologic learning.
Butler's Hudibraa, part i. can. 3.
A worthy astrologer, by perspective . glasses, hath
.found in the stars many things unknown to the an-
cients. Raleigh.
Not unlike that, which astrclogeru call a conjunction
of planets, of no very benign aspect the one to the
ether. Wotton.
Some seem a little astrological; as, when they warn
us from places of malign influence. Id.
No astrologich wizard honour gains.
Who has not ofi been, banish'd,or in chains.
Drgden.
A happy genius is theg;ift of nature: it depends on
the influence of the stars* say the aatroUHfers ; on the
organs of the body, say the naturalists ; it is the par-
ticular gift of heaven, say the divines, both Christians
and heathens. Id,
AitriAogeri, that future fates foreshow. Pope .
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ASTROLOGY.
I nerer havd a finer utire against lawyen, than
that of oifrofe^srv; when they pietend, by rales of
art, to tell when a suit will end, and whether to the
advantage of the plaintiff or defendant. Swifi.
1 know, the learned think of the art of aOrology,
that the stars do not force the actions or wills of nien.
Id,
AMtrologieal prayers seem to me, to be built on as
good reason, as the predictions. SHUingfleet,
The poetical fables are more ancient than the
MtTdiogical influences ; that were not known to the
Greeks, till after Alexander the Great. Ben/%.
The twelre houses of heaven, in the form which
tutrologiant use. Camden.
Astrology ; from arifp, a star, and Xoyog, dis-
couise; was long considered as a science, by which
future events could be foretold,. from the aspects
and positions of the heavenly bodies. In the literal
sense of the term, astrology should signify no
more than the doctrine or science of the stars;
which was its original acceptation, and made the
' ancient astrology ; though, in course of time, an
alteration has arisen : that which the ancients
called astrology, being afterwards termed astro*
nomy. Astrology may be divided into two
branches, natural and judicial.
Astrology, Judicial or Judiciary, is what
we commonly call simple astrology, that which
pretends to foretel moral events, i. e. such as
nave a dependence on the free will and agency
of man ; as if they were directed by the stars.
This art, which owed its origin to the practices
of knavery on credulity, is now universally ex-
ploded by the intelligent part of mankind. The
professors of this kind of astrology maintain^
' That the heavens are one great volume or book,
wherein God has written the history of the world ;
and in which every man may read his own for-
tune, and the transactions of his time. — ^The art,
they say, had its rise with the science of astro-
nomy. While the ancient Assyrians, whose se-
rene unclouded sky ^vored their celestial obser-
vations, were intent on tracing the paths and pe-
riods of the heavenly bqdies, they discovered a
constant settled relation of analogy between them
and things below ; and hence were led to conclude
tliese to be the parcag, the destinies, so much talk-
ed of, which preside at our births, and dispose
of our futvfre &te. The laws therefore of this
relation being ascertained by a series of observa-
tions, and the share each planet has therein ; by
knowing the precise time of any person's nativity,
they were enabled, from their knowledge m
astronomy, to erect a scheme or horoscope of the
situations of the planets, at that point of time ;
and hence, by considering their degrees of power
and influence, and how each was either strength-
ened or tempered by some other, to compute
what must be the result.' Such are the argu-
ments of the astrologers in favor of their science.
Tlie chief province now remaining to the profes-
sors of this art, b the making of calendars or
Almanacks ; and the prodigious sale of Moore's
almanack, in this country, is no small proof of
the popular belief in this subject.
Judicial astrology is commonly said to have
been invented in Chaldea,and thence transmitted
to the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans ; though
some will have it of Egyptian origin, and as-
cribe the invention to Ham. But it is to the
Arabs we owe it. At Rome the people were so
infatuated with it, that the astrologers, or, as
they were then called, the mathematicians, main-
tained their ground notwithstanding the edicts of
the emperors to expel them out of the city.
Domitian, in spite of his hostility to this bt,
trembled at its denouncements. They prophesied
the year, the hour, and the manner of nis death ;
and affreed with his &ther in foretelling, that he
should perish, not by poison, but by tb^ dagger.
On the evening of his assassination he spoke of
the entrance of the moon into Aquarius on the
morrow. * Aquarius,' he said, < shall no longer
be a watery, but a bloody sign ; for a deed shall
there be done, which shall be the talk of all
mankind.' The dreaded hour of eleven approach-
ed. His attendants told him it was passed, and
he admitted the conspirators and fell. Suet, in
Bomit. 16.
The Brahmins, who introduced and practised
this art among the Indians, have hereoy made
themselves the arbiters of good and evil hours,
which gives them great authority ; they are con-
sulted as oracles; and have taken care never
to sell their answers but at good rates. The
same superstition has prevailed in more modem
ages ana nations. The French hbtorians remark,
that in the time of Catherine de Medicis, astro-
logy was so much in vogue, that the most incon-
siderable thing was not to be done without
consulting the stars. And in the reign of king
Henry HI. and IV. of France, the predictions of
astrologers were the common theme of the court
conversation. This predominant humor in tliat
court was well rallied by Barclay, in his Ai^enis,
on occasion of an astrologer, who had under-
taken to instruct king Henry in the event of a
war then threatened by the faction of the Guises.
Little is known of the early history of astro-
logy in England. Bede and Alcuin, among our
Anglo-Saxon ancestors, were addicted to its
study; and Roger Bacon could not escape the
imputation of the art. His imprisonment was
o^^ing, it is well known, to his oeing supposed
skilful in it. But it was the period of the Stuarts
which must be considered as the acme of astro-
logy among us. Then Lilly drank the doctrine
of the magical circle, and the invocadon of
spirits from the Ars Notoria of Cornelius Agrip-
pa ; used the form of prayer prescribed therem
to the angel Salmonoeus ; and entertained among
his familiar acquaintance the guardian spirits of
England, Sammael and Malchidael. Merlin
AngUcus, 1647. The author of Waveriey has
made ample use ofthis promising character in bis
tales relative to this period.
The signs of astrology were prisiarily di-
vided thus : the six first were called northern^
and commanding; the six last southern, and
obeying. Next they were distributed into four
tripUcities, (so called because three belonffed to
each), fiery, earthy, airy, and watery. Of these
the fiery and airy were said to be masculine, the
earthy and watery, feminine. The planets by
their motion made several aspects. See Aspects.
The remaining influential parts of the heaven
were two, Dragon's Head and Tail, that, is the
nodes in which the ecliptic is intersected by
the orbits of the planets; and the Part of For.
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AST 8
taiM, that is die distance of the moon'9 plane
from the sun, added to the degrees of the ascen-
dant
The influences of the heavenly bodies being
detenninedy it remained only, in each separate
case, to observe their positions at some required
moment ; for upon this, and their aspect to each
other, the resolution of any <)uestion depended.
For this purpose the whole circle of the neavens
was distnbuted into tweWe parts or houses, by
great circles drawn through the intersection of
the horizon and meridian, and cutting the equa-
tor in so many equal parts. The first house was
placed directly east, and the remainder were
counted round in order proceeding to the south
according to the motion of the planets. To each
of these houses was assigned some peculiar go-
vernment, according to the scheme below.
The remainder of the art consisted in accu-
rately filling the scheme by an observation, and
then framing from it an oracular response.
At, the revolution astrology declined ; and not-
withstanding the labors of the immortal Par-
tridge then, and those of Ebenezer Sibley, which
in our own days fill two 4to. volumes, the art
may now be considered as exploded.
Astrology, Natural, is the predicting of
natural efiects from natuhtl causes; as, the
changes of weather, winds, storms, hurricanes,
thunder, floods, earthcjuakes, &c. This art
properly belongs to physiology, or natural philo-
sophy ; and is only to be deduced a posteriori,
from phenomena and observations.
ASTflOLOMA, in botany; fi-om avpov, a
star, and X^/m, a fringe, alluding to the five tufts
of hair which form a star, near the bottom of
the tube of the flower^ internally. Brown Prodr.
Nov. HoU. V. i. 538. Class and order, pentan-
dria monogynia. Nat ord. £ric8e Juss. £pa-
crideae, brown.
Gen. ch. cal. perianth inferior, permanent,
double; inner of five elliptic-lanceolate, acute,
equal, erect leaves ; outer of four or more, mudi
iborter, concave, imbricated scales : coa. of one
petal, tubular ; tube twice the length of the calyx.
9 AST
inflated, fbmished on the inside, near the base,
with five tufb of soft hairs ; limb in five deep,
8pr«ulinff, lanceolate, acute, hairy segmefits,
snorter than the tube. Nectary a cup-shaped
undivided gland, surrounding the base ot the ger-
men? stam. filaments five, linear, inserted into
the tube, and enclosed within it ; anthers oblong,
in the mouth of the tube : pist. Germen superior,
roundish, of five cells ; style capillary, the length
of the tube ; stigma < globose, densely downy :*
pERic. drupa globular, slightly juicy : seed, nut
of five cells,' hard and solid, not bursting, with
a pendulous oblong kernel in each cell.
Ess. ch. : outer calyx of several imbricated
leaves : corolla tubular : tube swelling, twice as
long as the calyx, with five internal tufts of hair
at Uie base : tube shorter, spreading, bearded :
filaments linear, within the tube : drupa almost
dry, of five cells. This genus is closely lelated
to stenanthera, as well as to melichrus. We
might perhaps unite them all to styphelia.
Astroloma consists of shrubs, of humble stature,
for the most part decumbent : leaves scattered,
often ciliated : flowers axillary, erect There are
six species: 1. A. humifusum, diffuse astroloma;
stem prostrate, much branched. Found in various
parts of New Holland, on the south-west coast,
as well as at Port Jackson and in Van Diemen's
island. The remaining five species have all
been found in the southern part of New Hol-
land, by Mr. Brown, and apparently by no other
botanist. We give tjjeir names firom his work:
2. A. prostratum, psostrate astroloma; 3. A. den-
ticulatum, toothea astroloma; 4. A. pallidum,
pale astroloma ; 5. A. oompactum, compact astro-
loma ; d. A. tectum, uprignt astroloma.
ASTROLUS, in natural history, a name given
by authors to a white and splendid stone, small
in size, and of a roundish figure, resembling the
eyes of fishes.
ASTROMETEOROLOGIA, the art of fore-
telling the weather, and its changes, from the
aspects and configurations of the moon and pla-
nets. It is a species of astrology, sometimes
called meteorological astrology.
ASTRONIUM, in botany, a genus of the pen-
tandria order, and the dioecia class of plants.
The male calyx consists of five leaves, and the
corolla is quinquepetalous. Of the female the
calyx and corolla are the same as in the male ;
the styli are three, and the seed is single. Tliere
is but one species, viz. A. graveolens, a na-
tive of Jamaica.
ASTRONOMICAL Calendar, an instru-
ment engraved on copper plates, printed on
paper, and pasted on a board, with a brass slider
carrying a hair : it shows by inspection the sun's
meridian altitude, right ascension, declination^
rising, setting, amplitude, &c. to a greater de-
gree of exactness than the common globes.
Astronomical Place of a star, or planet, is
its longitude, or place in the. ecliptic, reckoned
from the beginning of Aries in consequentia, or
according to the natural order of the signs.
ASTRONOMICALS, a name used by some
writers for sexagesimal fractions ; on account of
their use in astronomical calculations.
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90
ASTRONOMY.
J
From atrrtipy a star,
and vofiOQf a law.
ASTROTfOMY,
Astro KOMicK,
Astronom'ical,
astrono micallt,
ASTaON'OMER,
Astron'omize.
Images attnmomioaBjf fnmtd under certain con-
ftellations to preserve from several inconveniences,
as under the sign of the Lion the figure of a lion
made in gold, against melancholic fandes, dropsie,
plague, fevers. ip» HaU*i Cases of Conscience.
Our forefathers, marking certain mutations to
happen in the sun's progress through the zodiack,
they registrate and set them down in their astrono-
mieai canons. Brovon's y$dgar Errors,
The old ascetick Christians found a paradise in a
desert, and with little converse on earth, held a con«
versation in heaven ; thus they attronommed in caves ;
and though they beheld not Uie stars, had the glory
of heaven before them. Browu. Chris. Mor» ii. 9.
Astronomers no longer doubt of the motion of the
plancU about the sun. Locke.
The old and new astronomers in vain
Attempt the heav'nly motions to explain..
Blackmore.
Can he not pass an tistronomiek line.
Or drf^ads the sun th' imaginary sign ;
That he should ne'er advance, to cither pole? Id,
To this must be added the understanding of the
globes, and the principles of^cometxy and astrotiflmy.
Cowley.
INTRODUCTION.
SrxT. I. Etymology asd DipijJiTioN op
Astronomy.
1. Astronomy, a mixed mathematical science,
teaching the knowledge of the celestial bodies ;
their magnitudes, distances, motions, revolu-
tions, and eclipses : and it comprehends also a
knowledge of the natural causes on which all
celestial phenomena depend. Hence it is as
much a branch of physics as of mathematics,
and comprehends the ueory of the universe.
Sect. II. History op Astronomy.
3. As Astronomy is the most sublime of all
the sciences, so it is also the most useful, the
most ancient, and, we may add, the most perfect.
How can it be otherwise than sublime, when
its object is the study of that theatre which our
merciful Creator has vouchsafed to establish as
an unerring testimony of his existence and his
power. Wherever we turn we perceive immen-
sity of operation, guided by the strictest regula-
rity. We find revolutions, intricate and complex,
but resolving themselves, by laws irrevocably
fixed, into paths the most simple, and the most
capable of suffering an increase of numbers with-
out confusion. In another point of view it is sub-
lime : the contemplation of its discoveries and
its usefulness would convince the dreary- minded
bigot, who sneers at human reason and its efforts,
of the amazing extent to which that noblest gift
of God to man can be extended. Astronomy is
the proudest triumph of philosophy and of hu-
man reason. Its superior usefulness when com-
pared with the other sciences can never be op-
posed : by it the navigator is conducted through
unknown seas with safety; and the merchant
transports the produce or the surplus of one
nation to increase the comforts or relieve the
wants of another ; in short, it affords the means
of intercourse to all the inhabitants of the globe.
If, from the folly of mankind, it has sometimes
been compelled to effect the transportation of
animosity and destruction, it has more frequently
assisted the dissemination of arts, civilisation,
and happiness. That it is the oldest science we
shall more clearly ascertain when we trace, as
we shall soon do, its history through the most
ancient, and its improvements through the most
modem, nations. If then astronomy is possessed
of the highest antiquity, the greatest usefulness,
and the utmost sublimity, it is an object of the
most transcendant worth that can occupy the at-
tention of the human mind.
3. None of the sciences appear to be of
higher antiquity than astronomy. From the ac-
count given by Moses of the creation of the
celestial luminaries, it appears extremely pro-
bable that our first progenitor received some
knowledge of their nature and uses from his
Almighty Creator himself. The Jewish rabbins
have adopted this opinion: and, indeed, it is
natural to think that no visible objects would
more readily excite the curiosity, or appear more
worthy of the contemplation of Adam in a state
of innocence, than the celestial bodies.
4. Consistently with this, Joseph us ascribes to
Seth and his posterity a considerable degree of
astronomical knowledge. He speaks of two pil-
lars* the one of stone and the other of bnck,
called the pillars of Seth, upon which were en-
graved the principles of the science; and he
says that the former was still entire in his time.
But, be this as it may, it is evident that the great
length of the antediluvian lives would afford
such excellent opportunities for observing the
heavenly bodies, that we cannot but suppose
that the science of astronomy, must have been
considerably advanced before the flood. Jose-
phus says, that longevity was bestowed upon
them for the very purpose of cultivating the
sciences of geometry and astronomy ; observing,
that the latter could not be learned in less than
600 years ; ' for that period (he adds) is the
grand year.'
5. By this remarkable expression is probably
meant the period in which the sun ^d moon
come £^in into the same situation in which
they were at the beginning of it, with regard to
the nodes, apogee of the moon, &c. ' This pe-
riod (says Cassini), of which we find no intima-
tion in any monument of any other nation, is
the finest period that ever was invented ; for it
brings out the solar year more exactly than that
of Hipparchus and Ptolemy; and the lunar
month within about one minute of what is deter-
mined "by modern astronomers.* If the antedi-
luvians had such a period of 600 years they
must have known the motions of tlie sun and
moon more exactly than their descendants knew
them for many ages after the flood. That re-
markable expression in the book of Job, in \^icb
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AST R*0 N O M Y.
91
the Deity is spoken of as the being who ' maketh
Arctunis, Orion, and the chambers of the south,'
is too striking to be overlooked.
6. Indeed, besides the. motives of mere cu*
riosity^ which of themselves may be supposed to
have excited people to a contemplation of the
glorious celesual canopy, it is easy to see that
some parts of the science answer such essential
purposes to mankind that they could not long be
dispensed with. And it has been remarked that
traces of this science, in different degrees of im-
provement, have been found among all nations.
7. Upon the building of the Tower of Babel,
it is supposed Aat Nmh retired with his chil-
dren, born after the flood, to the north-eastern
part of Asia, where his descendants peopled the
vast empire of China. It is .said also that the
Jesuit missionaries have Ibnnd traditional ac-
counts among the Chinese of their having been
taught this science by their first emperor Fo-hi,
who is suf>po8ed to be the same with Noah ; and
Kempfer asserts that Fo-hi discovered the mo-
tions of the heavens, divided time into years and
months, and invented the twelve signs, into
vrhich they divide the Eodiac, and which they
distinguish by the following names: 1. the
mouse; 2. the ox or cow; 3. the tiger; 4. the
bare; 6, the dragon; 6. the serpent; 7. the
horse; 8. the sheep; 9. the monkey; 10. the
cock or hen; 11. the dog; and 12. the boar.
They divide the heavens into twenty-eight con-
stellations, or classes of stars, allotting (bur to
each of the seven planets; so that the year
always begins with the same planet; and their
constellatiotts answer to the twenty-eight lunar
mansions used by the Arabian astronomers.
8. They do not, however, mark these constel-
lations with the figures of .animals, like most
other nations, but by connecting the stars by
straight lines, and denoting the stars themselves
by small cirdes : so, for instance, the great bear
would be marked as represented in plate IV.
fig. 9.
9. The Chinese themselves have many re-
cords of the high antiquity of their astronomy ;
though not without suspicion of gceat mistakes.
They ascribe the discovery of the pole-star, the
invention of the sphere, and mariners' compass,
&c. to their emperor Hong-Ti, the grandson of
Noah. But on more certain authority it is as-
serted by Gaubil that, at least 120 years before
Christ, the Chinese had determined by observa-
tion the number and extent of their constella-
tions as they now stand; the situation of the
fixed stars with respect to the equinoctial and
solstitial points ; ana the obliquity of the eclip-
tic, with the theory of eclipses ; and that they
were, long bel^re that, acquainted with the troe
length of the solar year, the method of observing
meridian altitudes of- the sun by the shadow of
a gnomon, and of deducing fit>m thence his de-
clination and the height of the pole.
10. The same missionary, also says that the
Chinese have yet remaining some books of astro-
nomy which were written about 200 years be^
fore Christ; from which it appears that the
Chinese knew the daily motion of the sun and
moon, and the time of the revolutions of the
planets, many years before that period. Du
Ilalde informs us. that Tcheourcong, the most
skilful astronomer that ever China produced
lived more than a thousand years before Chrisi ,
that he passed whole niglits in observing the ce-
lestial bodies and arranging them into constella-
tions, &c. At present, however, the stateof as-
tronomy is but very low in that country, al-
though it is cultivated at Pekin by t)ublic autho*
rity, as in most of the capital cities of Europe.
This is ascribed, by Dr. Long, to a barbarous
decree of one of their emperors, to bum all the
books in tha empire excepting such as related to
agriculture and medicine.
11. Astronomy, according to Porphyry, must
have been of very ancient standing in the Eastj
He informs us tluit when Babylon was taken by
Alexander there were brought fobm thence ce-
lestial observations fi>r the space of 1903 years ;
which therefore must have commenced within
115 years after the flood, or within fifteen years
after the building of Babel. Epigenes, according
to Pliny, affirmed that the Babylonians had obser-
vations of 720 years engraven on bricks.
12. Achilles Tatius ascribes the invention of
astronomy to the Egyptians ; and adds that their
knowledge of that science was engraven on pil-
lars, and by that means transmitted to postenty.
Bailly, in his elaborate History of Ancient and Mo-
dem Astronomy, endeavours to trace the origin
of this science among the Chaldeans, Egyptians,
Persians, Indians, and Chinese, to a very early
period ; and he maintains that it was cultivated
m Egypt and Chaldea 2800 years before Christ;
in Persia, 3209 ; in India, 3101 ; and in China,
2952 years before that era. He also appre-
hends that astronomy had been studied even
long before this distant period, and that we are
only to date its revival from flience.
13. M. Bailly, in investigating the antiquity
and progress of astronomy among the Indians,
examines and compares four sets of astronomical
tables of the Indian philosophers, viz. that of the
Siamese, explained by M. (Jassini in 1689 ; that
brought from India by M. le Gentil, of the Aca-
demy of Sciences; and two other manuscript
tables, found among the papers of M. de Lisle :
all of which agree together, and refer to the me-
ridian of Benares. It appeara that the funda-
mental epoch of the Indian astronomy is a con-
junction of the sun and moon which took place
at the distance of years 3102 A. A. C. And M.
Bailly computes that such a conjunction really
then happened.
14. He ferther observes that at present the
Indians calculate eclipses fix>m observations
made 5000 years ago ; the accuracy of which,
vrith regard to the solar motion, hr exceeds that
of the best Grecian astronomers. The lunar
motions have been computed from the space
through which that luminaiy passes in 1,600,984
days. They also use the cycle of nineteen years,
the same as that ascribed by the Greeks to
Meton. Their theory of the planets is better,
than that of Ptolemy, as they do not suppose the
earth to be the centre of the celestial motions,
and believe that Venus and Mercury move round
the sun. Their astronomy also agrees with the
roost modern discoveries, with regard to the ob-
liquity of the ecliptic and the acceleration of tlie
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ASTRONOMY.
equinoctial points, &c The ioJiabitanU of Japan,
of Siam, and of the Mogul's empire, have also
been acquainted with astronomy from time im-
memorial; and the celebrated observatory at
Benares is a monument both of the ingenuity of
the Hindoos, and of their skill in that science.
15. In the Transactions of the Royal Society
of Edinburgh, vol. ii, professor Playfiiir has
given a learned and ingenious dissertation on
the astronomy of the Brahmins, in nvhich the
great accuracy and high antiquity of the science
among them is rendered extremely probable. It
appears that their tables and rules of computa-
tion have peculiar, reference to an epoch, and to
observations 3000 or 4000 years A. C. It ap-
pears, too, that very considerable mathematical
knowledge had been employed in their precepts
and calculations. But amongst all these, pre-
cepts and those calculations, perhaps none will
strike the mind of the reader with greater force
than the following, from which we shall find,
without plucking a leaf from the never-&ding
laurels of Sir Isaac Newton, that the principle
which he developed to the western world, was
discovered by the philosophers of the eastern,
thousands of years before he existed : of the
truth of this the following remariiable passage,
translated by Sir William Jones, from the poem
of Shirin and Ferhad : ' there is,* says the au-
thor of that poem, ' a strong propensity which
dances through every atom and attracts the
minutest particle to some peculiar object ; from
such propensity arises every motion perceived in
heavenly or terrestrial bodies. It is a disposition
to be attracted which taught hard steel to rush
from its place and rivet itself on the magnet; it
is the same disposition which impels the light
straw to attach itself firmly on amber.'
16. We shall conclude this part of the his-
tory of Asiatic discoveries in the words of pro-
fessor Playfair: * That observations made in
India, when all Europe was barbarous or unin-
inhabited, and investigations into the most subtle
effects of gravitation made in Europe near five
thousand years afterwards, should thus come in
mutual support of one another, is perhaps the
most striking example of the progress and vicis-
situdes of science^ which the history of mankind
has yet exhibited.'
17. It appears too, that astronomy was not
unknown to the Americanis ; though in their di-
vision of time they made use only of the solar
and not of the lunar motions. Tlie Mexicans,
in particular, had a strange predilection for the
number thirteen: their shortest periods con-
sisted of thirteen days ; their cycle of thirteen
months, each containing twenty days ; and their
epoch of four periods of thirteen years each.
This excessive veneration for the number diirteen
arose, according to Siguenza, from its being the
number of their greater gods. Clavigero also
asserts it as a &ct, that having discovered the
excess of a few hours in the solar above the
lunar year, they made use of intercalary days to
bring tliem to an equality, as was done by Ju-
lius Cssar in the Roman calendar — but with
this difference, that instead of one day every
four years, they interposed thirteen days every
tif)y-two years.
18. Among the ancients we find (he name of
Chaldean used often for astronomer or astrologer.
Indeed both these nations pretended to a very
high antiquity, and claimea the honor of pro-
ducing die first cultivators of this science. The
Chaldeans boasted of their temple or tower of
Belus, and of Zoroaster, whom they placed 5000
years before the destniction of Troy ; while the
Egyptians boasted of their colleges of priests,
where astronomy was taught, and of the monu-
ment of Osymandias, in which, it is said, there
was a golden circle of 365 cubits in circumfe-
rence, and one cubit thick, divided into 365
equal parts, according to. the days of the year,
&€. It is indeed evident that bodi Chaldea and
Egypt were countries very proper for astrono-
mical observations, on account of the extended
flatness of the country, and the purity and sere-
nity of the air. The tower of Belus, or of Babel
itself, was probably an astronomical observatory ;
and the pyramids of Egypt, whatever they were
originally designed for, might perhaps ansvrer
the same purpose; at least they show the skill
of this people in practical astronomy, as they
are all placed wiUi their four fronts exactly
facing the cardinal points of the compass.
19. The Chaldeans began to make observa-
tions soon after the confusion of languages, as
appears from the observations found by Alexan-
der on the taking of Babylon ; and it is probable
they began much earlier. They determined,
with tolerable exactness, the length both of a pe-
riodical and synodical month. They discovered
that the motion of the moon was not uniform ;
and they even attempted to assign those parts (k
the orbit in which the motion is quicker or slower.
We are assured by Ptolemy that they were not
unacquainted vrith the motion of the moon's apo-
gee and nodes, the latter of which they supposed
made a complete revolution in 6585^ days, or a
little more than eighteen years, and contained
223 complete lunations^ which period is called
the Chaldean Saros.
20. Ptolemy also gives us from Hipparchus
several observations of lunar eclipses made at
Babylon above 720 years A. A. C. ; and Aristotle
informs us that they had many occultations of
the planets and fixed stars by the moon ; a cir-
cumstance which led them to conceive that eclip-
ses of the sun were to be attributed to the same
cause. They had also no inconsiderable share in
arranging the stars* into constellations, and the
comets did not escape their observation. Dialling
was also practised among them long before the
Greeks were acquainted with that science.
21. The Egyptians were much of the saipe
standing in astronomy with the Chaldeans. He-
rodotus ascribes their knowledge in the science to
Sesostris ; but probably not the same whom New-
ton makes contemporary with Solomon, as they
were acquainted with astronomy at least many
hundred years before that era. We learn from
the testimony of some ancient authors, that they
believed the figure of the earth was spherical ;
that the moon was eclipsed by passing through the
earth's shadow, though it does not certainly ap-
pear that they had any knowledge of the true
system of the universe ; that diey attempted to
measure the magnitude of the earth and sun.
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though their methods of asceitainuig the latter
were rerf erroneous ; and that they even pretend-
ed to ibretel the appearance of comets, as well as
earthquakes and inundations. This science, how-
ever, gradually decayed, and in the time of Au-
gustus it was entirely extinct among them.
22. Astronomy parsed from Chaldea and Egypt
to the Phcenicians, and was applied by that com-
mercial people to the purposes of navigation ;
and they, in consequence, became masters of the
sea, and of almost all the commerce in the world.
The Greeks, it is probable, derived their astrono-
mical knowledge chiefly from the Egyptians and
Phoenicians, by means of several of their country-
men who visited these nations for the purpose of
leanung the different sciences. Newton sup-
poses that the division into constellations was
made about the time of the Argonautic expedi-
tion ; but it is probable that most of them were
of a much oloer date, and derived from other
nations, though clothed in fiibles of their own in-
Tention.
23. The fable of Atlas supporting the heavens
upon his shoulders, shows that some Mauritanian
monarch of that name had made considerable ad-
vances in astronomical knowledge ; and his dis-
coveries had probably been communicated to the
Greeks. Several of the constellations are men-
tioned by Hesiod and Homer, who lived about
A. A. C. 870. Their knowledge in this science
however, was gready improved by Thales the
Milesian, and other GredLS, who travelled into
Egypt, and brought from thence the chief prin-
ciples of the science. Thales was bora about
A. A. C. 640, and he was the first among the
Greeks who observed the stan, the solstices, and
predicted the eclipses of the sun and moon.
24. The science was farther cultivated and ex-
tended by his successors Anaximander, Anaxi-
menes, and Anaxagoras ; but especially by Pytha-
goras, who, about A. A. C. 577, brought from
Egypt the learning of these people, taught it in
Greece and Italy, and founded the sect of the
Pythagoreans. He taught that the sun was in the
centre of the universe ; that the earth was round;
that there were antipodes ; that the moon reflect-
ed the rays of tlie sun, and was inhabited like the
eaith; that comets were a kind of vrandering
stars, disappearing in the further parts of their
orbits ; that the white color of the milky way
nvas owing to the united brightness of a great
multitude of small stars ; and he supposed that
tbe distances of the moon and planets from the
earth, were in certain harmonic proportions to
one another.
25. Philolaus, a Pythagorean, who flourished
aboat A. A. C. 450, and asserted the diurnal
motion of the earth on its own axis^ was taught
by Hicetas, a Syracusan. About the same time
Meton and Euctemon flourished at Athens, where
thev observed tiie summer solstice, A. A. C. 432,
with the risings and settings of the stars, and
what seasons they answered to. Meton also in-
rented the cycle of nineteen yean, which still
beaat his name.
26. Eudozus, of Cmdos, lived about A. A. C.
370, and was one of the most skilful astronomers
and geometricians of antiquity, and the supposed
inventor of many of the propositions in £uelid*s
Elements. He introduced geometry into the
scienoe of astronomy, and travelled into Asia,
Africa, Sicily, and Italy, to improve it: and we
are informed by Pliny, that he determined the
annual year to contain 365 days 6 hours, and
also the periodical time of the planets, and made
other important discoveries and ofa«ervations.
Calippus flourished soon after Eudoxus, and his
celestial sphere is mentioned by Aristotle ; but
he is better known by a period of seventy-six
years which he invented, containing four correct-
ed Metonic periods, and which commenced at
the summer solstice, A. A. C. 330. About this
time the knowledge of the Pythagorean system
was carried into Italy, Gaul, and Egypt, by cer-
tain colonies of Greeks.
27. Vitruvius, however, represents the intro-
duction of astronomy into Greece, in a manner
somewhat different. He maintains that Berosus,
a Babylonian, brought it immediately from Baby-
lon itself, and opened an astronomical school m
the isle of Cos. And Pliny says, that, in conside-
ration of his wonderful prcaictions, the Athenians
erected a statue to him m the gymnasium, with a
gilded tongue. But if this Berosus be the same
with the author of the Chaldaic histories, he must
have lived before Alexander. About this time,
or rather eariier, the Greeks having begun to
plant colonies in Italy, Gaul, and Egypt, be-
came acquainted with the Pythagorean system,
and the notions of the ancient druids concerning
astronomy. Julius Cssar informs us that the
latter were skilled in this science ; and that the
Gauls in general were able sailors, which they
could not be without a competent knowledge of
astronomy ; and it is related of Pytheas, who
lived at Marseilles in the time of Alexander the
Great, that he observed the altitude of the sun at
the summer solstices by means of a gnomon. He
is also said to have travelled as frir as Thule to
settle the climates.
28. After Alexander's death the sciences flou-
rished chiefly in Egypt, under the auspices of
Ptolemy PhUadelphus, and his successora. He
founded a school there, which continued till the
invasion of the Saracens, A. A. C. 650. From
the founding of that school, the science of astrono-
my advanc^ considerably. Aristarchus, about
A. A. C. 270, strenuously asserted the Pythago-
rean system, and gave a method of determining
the sun's distance by the dichotomy of the
moon. — Eratosthenes, who was bom at Cyrene
A. A. C. 271, measured the circumference of the
earth by a gnomon ; and being invited to Alexan-
dria, frx>m Athens, by Ptolemy Euergetes, and
made keeper of the royal library there, he set up
for that prince those armillary spheres, whidi
Hipparchus and Ptolemy the astronomer after-
wards employed so successfully in observing the
heavens. He also determined the distance be-
tween the tropics to be U of the whole meridian
circle, which makes the obliquity of the ecliptic
in his time to be 23^ 51' |.
29. The celebrated Archimedes, too, cultivated
astronomy, as well as geometry and mechanics,
determined the distances of the planets from one
another; and constructed a kind of planeurium
or orrery, to represent the phenomena abd mo-
tions of tbe heavenly bodies.
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ASTRONOMY.
30. Not to mention many others of the ancients
who .cultivated astronomy, Uipparchus, who
flourished about A. A. C. 140, was the first who
applied himself to the study of every branch of
that science. Ptolemy says he made great im-
provements in it ; he discovered tliat the orbits
of the planets are eccentric, that the moon moved
slower in her apogee than in her perigee, and
that there was a motion of anticipation of the
moon's nodes : he constructed tables of the mo-
tions of the sun and moon, collected accounts of
such eclipses, &c. asliad been made by the Egyp-
tians and Chaldeans, and calculated all that were
to happen for 600 years : he discovered that tlie
fixed stars changed their places, having a slow
motion of their own from west to east ; he cor-
rected the Calippic period, and pointed out some
errors in Eratostnenes's method for measuring the
circumference of the earth ; he computed the sun's
distance more accurately than his predecessors :
but his best work is a catalogue of the fixed stars,
to the number of 1022, with their longitudes, la-
titudes, and apparent magnitudes ; which, with
roost of hifi other observations, are preserved by
Ptolemy in his Almagest.
31. From the time of ilipparchus, till that of
Ptolemy, little progress was made in astronomy.
He was bom at Pelusium, in Egypt, in the first
century, and made the greatest part of his obser-
vations at the celebrated school of Alexandria in
that country. Profiting by those of Hipparchus,
and other ancient astronomers, he formed a sys-
tem of his own, which, though erroneous, was
implicitly followed for many ages by all nations.
He compiled a great work, called the Almagest,
which contained the observations and collections
of his predecessors in astronomy. This work
was preserved from the conflagration of the Alex-
andnan libraiy by the Saracens, and translated
into Ambic, A.D. 827, and into Latin in 1230.
The Greek original was not known in Europe
till the beginning of the fifteenth century, when
it was brought from Constantinople, then taken
by the Turks, by a monk of Trapezond, named
George, who translated it into Latin ; and various
other editions have been since made.
32. From A. D. 800, till the beginning of the
fourteenth century, the western parts of Europe
were immersed in gross ignorance, while the
Arabians, profiting by the books they had pre-
served from the wreck of the Alexandrian library,
cultivated and improved all the sciences, and par-
ticularly that of astronomy, in which they had
many able professors and authors.. Tlie caliph
Al. Mansur nrst introduced a taste for the sciences
into his empire. His grandson, Al Mamun, who
ascended the throne in 814, was a great encour-
ager and improver of the sciences, especially of
astronomy. Having constructed proper instru-
ments, he made many observations ; determined
the obliquity of the ecliptic to be 23° 35 ; and
under his auspices a degree of the circle of the
earth was measured a second time in tlie plain of
Singar, on the border of the Red Sea.
33. About this time Alfei^ganus wrote ele-
ments of astronomy ; and Albategnius, who flou-
rished about the year 880, greatly reformed it, by
comparing his own observations with those of
Ptolemy. Hence he computed the motion of the
sun's apogee from Ptolemy's time to his own;
settled the precession of the equinoxes at one de-
gree in seventy years ; and fixed the obliquity of
the ecliptic at 23° 35'. The tables which he
composed for the meridian of Aracta, were long
esteemed by the Arabians.
34. After this, though the Saracens had many
eminent astronomers, several centuries elapsed
without producing any very valuable observations,
excepting those of some eclipses observed by Ebn
Younis, astronomer to the caliph of Egypt, by
means of which the quantity of the moon's acce-
leration since that time may be determined. Other
eminent Arabic astronomers were Arzachel, a
Moor of Spain, who observed the obliquity of the
ecliptic, and improved trigonometry by construct-
ing tables of smes, instead of chords of arches,
dividing the diameter into 300 equal parts. Alha-
zen his contemporary, wrote upon the twilight,
the height of the clouds, the phenomenon of the
horizontal moon, and first showed the importance
of the theory of refractions in astronomy.
35. Ulug Beg, grandson of the celebrated Ta-
merlane, the Tartarian prince, a great proficient
in practical astronomy, had very large instni-
mentSy particularly a quadrant of about 180 feet
high, with which he made good observations.
From these he determined the latitude of Samar-
cand, his capital, to be 39° 27' 23"; and compo-
sed astronomical tables fur the meridian of the
same so exact, that they differ very little from
those constructed afterwards by Tycho Brahe. —
His principal work was his catalogue of the fixed
stars, made from his own observations in the year
1437.
36. At this period, almost all Europe was im-
mersed in ignorance ; which began to be dispel-
led by the settlement of the Moors in Spain. The
emperor Frederic II. about 1230, also began to
encourage learning; restoring some decay^ uni-
versities, founding a new one in Vienna ; and
causing the works of Aristotle and Ptolemy's
Almagest, to be translated into Latin. Two year^
after this, John de Sacro Bosco, that is of Halifax,
compiled from Ptolemy, Albategnius, Alferga.
nus, and other Arabic astronomers, his work, Dt
Sphxra, which was held in the greatest estima-
tion for 300 years after, and was honored with
commentaries by Clavius and other learned men.
37. In 1240 Alphonso, king of Castile, nd
only cultivated astronomy himself but greatly
encouraged others ; and by the assistance of se-
veral learned men corrected the tables of Ptolemy,
and composed those which were deiiominated
from him the Alphonsine tables. About the
same time Roger Bacon, an English monk,
wrote several tracts relative to astronomy^ par*
ticularly of the lunar aspects, the solar rays, ana
the places of the fixed stars; and about 1270
Vitello, a Polander, composed a treatise on O])-
tics, in which he showed the use of refractions in
astronomy.
38. Till the time of Purbach, who was bom
in 1423, little farther improvement was made in
this science. He composed new tables of sines
for every ten minutes, making the radius sixty,
with four cyphers annexed. He constructed
spheres and globes, and wrote several astronomi-
cal tracts, as a commentary on Ptolemy's Alma-
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gest; some treatises on arithmetic and dialling,
"with tables for various climates; new tables of
the fixed stars reduced to the middle of that
century; and he corrected the tables of the
planets, making new equations to them where
the Alpbonsine tables were erroneous. In his
solar tables, he placed the sun's apogee in the
the beginning of Cancer; but retained the ob-
liquity oftlie ecliptic 23° 33^', as determined by
the latest observations. He also observed some
eclipses, made new. tables for computing them,
and had just finished a theory of the planets,
when he died in 1462, being only thirty-nine
years of age.
39. Purbach was succeeded in these labors
by his pupil and friend, John Muller, commonly
called Kegiomontanus, who completed the epi-
tome of Ptolemy's Almagest, whicn Purbach had
begun ; and after the death of his friend was in-
vited to Rome, where he made many astronomi-
cal observations. Being returned to Nuremberg
in 1471, by the encouragement of Bernard Wal-
ther, a wealthy citizen, he made several instru-
ments for astronomical observations, among which
was an armillary astrolabe, like that used at
Alexandria by Hipparchus and Ptolemy,^ with
which, and a good clock, then but a late inven-
tion, he made many observations. He made
ephemerides for thirty years to come, showing
the lunations, eclipses, 8cc. ; printed the works
of many of the most celebrated ancient astrono-
mers, and wrote the theory of the planets and
comets, and a treatise on triangles, which con-
tains several good theorems ; computed a table
of sines for every single minute, to the radius
1,000,000, and introduced the use of tangents
into trigonometry.
40. After Muller's death, which happened at
Rome in 1476, in his fortieth year, Bernard
Walther collected his papers, and continued the
astronomical observations till his own death.
The observations of both were collected by order
of the senate of Nuremberg, and published there
in 1544 by John Schoner; they were also after-
wards published in 1618 by Snellius, at the end of
the observations made by the landgrave of Hesse ;
and lastly with those of Tycho Brahe in 1666.
41. Walther was succeeded, as astronomer at
Nuremberg, by John Werner, a clergyman, who
observed 5ie motion of the comet in 1500 ; and
wrote several tracts on geometry, astronomy,
and geography, in a masterly manner ; the most
remarkable of which are those concerning the
motion of the eighth sphere, or the fixed stars :
in this tract, by comparing his own ohservations,
made in 1514, with moseof Ptolemy, Alphonsns,
and others^ he showed that the motion of the
fixed stars, since called the precession of the
equinoxes, is 1^ lO' in 100 years. He made also
the first star of Aries 26^ distant from the equi-
noctial point, and the obliquity of the ecliptic
only 23^ 28'; constructed a planetarium, repre-
senting the celestial motions according to the
Ptolemaic hypothesis ; and published a transla-
tion of Ptolemy's geography, with a commentary,
in which he first proposed Uie metliod of finding
the longitude at sea by observing the moon's dis-
tance from the fixed stars. Werner died in 1528,
aged sixty
42. Nicolaus Copernicus rose next, and inade
so great a figure in astronomy, that the true sys-
tem discovered, or rather renewed by him, has
been ever since styled the Copemican. He
restored the old Pythagorean system of the world,
which had been set aside from the time of Pto-
lemy. About A. D. 1507 he conceived doubts
of the Ptolemaic system, and entertained notions
about the true one, which be gradually improved
by a series of astronomical observations, and the
study of fooner authors. By these he formed
new tables, and completed hb work in 1530,
containing a renovation of the new system of the
universe, in which all the planets are considered
as revolving about the sun. This work was
printed in 1543, under the care of Schoner and
Osiander, by the title of Revolutiones Orbium
Ccelestium; and the author received a copy of it
a few hours before his death, on the 23d of May
1543, he being then seventy years of age.
43. After the death of this great luminary of
Astronomy, the science and practice of it were
greatly improved by Schoner, Nonius, Gemma,
Fruius, Rodman, Byigius, the landgrave of
Hesse, &c. Schoner reformed i^nd explained the
calendar; improved the methods of making celes-
tial observations; and published a treatise on
cosmography. He died four years after Coper-
nicus. Nonius wrote several works on mathema-
tics, astronomy, and navigation, and invented
some useful and more accurate instruments than
formerly, one of these was the astronomical qua-
drant, on which he divided the degrees into
minutes, by a number of concentric circles ; the
first was divided into ninety equal parts or de-
grees, the second into eighty-nine, tlie third into
eighty-eight, and so on to forty-six ; so that the
index of the quadrant always falling upon or near
one of the divisions, the minutes are known by
an easy computation.
44. Appian's chief work, the Cesarean Astro-
nomy, was published at Ingolstadt in 1540; in
which he shows hpw to observe the places of the
stars and planets by the astrolabe; to resolve
astronomical problems by certain instruments;
to predict eclipses, and to describe the figures of
them ; and the method of dividing and using an
astronomical quadrant. To these are added ob-
servations of five comets, one of which has been
supposed the same with that observed by Heve-
lius, and if so, it ought to have returned again in
the year 1789; but astronomers were disappointed
in their expectations.
45. Gemma Frisius wrote a commentary on
Appian's cosmography, accompanied with many
observations of eclipses : he also invented the
astronomical ring, and several other instruments
useful in taking observations at sea ; and was the
first who recommended a time-keeper for deter-
mining the longitude. Rheticus began a very
extensive work, being a table of sines, tangents,
and secants, to a very laige radius, and to everv
ten seconds, or one-sixth of a minute ; which
was completed by his pupil Valentine Otho, and
printed in 1594.
46. William IV., landgrave of Hesse Cassel,
applied himself to the study of astronomy about
A. D. 1561 ; and, with the best instruments
which could then be procured, made a great
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ASTRONOMY.
hamber of obseirations, published by Snellius in
1618, and preferred by Hevelius to those of
Tycho Brahe. From these observations he formed
a catalogue of 400 stars, with their latitudes and
longitudes, adapted to the beginning of the year
1593.
47. Tycho Brahe, a Danish nobleman, began
his studies about the same time With the Land-
grave of Hesse, and observed the great conjunc-
tion of Jupiter and Saturn ; but, finding the usual
instruments very inaccurate, he constructed many
others much larger and more exact. In 1571
he discovered a new star in the chair of Cassio-
peia ; which induced him, like Mipparchus on a
similar occasion, to make a new catalogue of the
stars; which he composed to the number of 777,
and. adapted their places to the year 1600. In
1576, by the favor of the king of Denmark, he
built his new observatory, called Uraniburg, on
the small island Huenna, opposite to Cbpen-
hagen, which he very amply furnished with many
large instruments, some of them so divided as to
show single minutes, and in others the arch might
be read off to ten seconds. One quadrant was
divided according to the method invented by
Nonius, that is by forty-seven concentric circles ;
but most of them were divided by diagonals ;
a method of division invented by Richard Chan*
celer, an Englishman. Tycho employed his time
at Uraniburg to the best advantage, till the death
of the king, when, felling into discredit, he was
obliged to remove to Holstein: he afterwards
introduced himself to the emperor Rodolph,
with whom he continued at Prague till his death
in 1601. Tycho was the inventor of a system of
astronomy, a kind of semi-Ptolemaic, which he
vainly endeavored to establish instead of the Co-
pemican. His numerous works, however, show
that he was a man of great abilities ; and his
discoveries, together vnth those of Purbach and
Regiomontanus, were collected and published
together in 1621, by Longomontanus, the favorite
disciple of Tycho.
48. Tycho, while residing at Prague with the
emperor, prevailed on Kepler to leave the uni-
versity cf Ulatz, and to come to him ; and Tycho
dying in 1601, Kepler enjoyed all his life the
title of mathematician to the emperor, who
ordered him to finish the tables of Tycho Brahe,
which he published in 1627, under the title of
Rodolphine. He died about A. D. 1630,. at
Ratisbon, where he was soliciting die arrears of
his pension. From his own observations and
those of Tycho, Kepler discovered several of the
true laws of nature, by which the motions of the
celestial bodies are regulated. He discovered
that all the planets revolve about the sun, not in
circular, but in elliptical orbits, having the sun
in one of the foci of the ellipse ; that Uieir mo-
tions are not equable, but varying, quicker or
slower as they are near to the sun, or farther from
him; that the areas described by the variable
line drawn from the planet to the sun, are equal
tn equal times, and alwajrs proportional to the
times of describing them ; and that the cubes of
the distances of the planets from the sun, were
in the same proportion as the squares of their
periodical times of revolution. By observations
also on comets, he concluded that they are freely
carried about among the orbits of the planets, in
paths that are nearly rectilinear, but which he
could not then determine.
49. At this time there were man3r other good
proficients in astronomy ; as Wright, Napier,
Bayer, &c. Wright made several good meridio-
nal observations of the sun, with a quadrant of
six feet radius, in the years 1594, 1595, and
1596 ; from which he greatly improved the theory
of the sun's motion, and computed more accu-
rately his declination, than any person had done
before. In 1599 he published also, an excellent
work, entitled, ' Certain Errors in Navigation
discovered and detected,' containing a method
which has commonly, though erroneously, been
ascribed to Mercator. To Napier we owe some
excellent theorems and improvements in spherics,
besides the ever-memorable invention of loga-
rithms. Bayer, a German, published his Ura-
nometria, or the figures of all the constellations
visible in Europe, with the stars marked on them,
and accompanied by names, or the letters of the
Greek alphabet ; a contrivance by which they
may easily be referred to with distinctness and
precision.
50. About the same time, astronomy was cul-
tivated abroad by Mercator, Maurolycus, Magi-
nus, Homelius, Schultet, Stevin, Galileo, &c.
and in England by Thomas and Leonard Digges,
John Dee, Robert Flood, Harriot, &c. . The
beginning of the seventeenth century was parti-
cularly distinguished by the invention of teles-
copes, and the application of them to astrono-
mical observations. The more distinguished
early observations with the telescope, were made
by Galileo, Harriot, Huygens, Hook, Cassini,
&c. It is said that, from report only, Galileo
made for himself telescopes, by which he dis-
covered inequalities in the moon's surfece, Jupi-
ter's satellites, and the ring of Saturn; also spots
on the sun, by which he found out the revolu-
tion of that luminary on its axis ; and he dis-
covered that the nebulae and milky way were full
of small stars.
51. Mr. Harriot, who had previously been
known only as an algebraist, made much the same
discoveries as Galileo, and as early, if not more
so, as appears by his papers in the possession of
the earl of Egremont Ajnd Mr. Horrox, a young
astronomer of great talents, found out in 1633,
that the planet Venus would pass over the sun's
disc on the twenty-fourth of November 1639;
an event which he announced only to his firiend
Crabtree; and these two were the only persons
in the world that observed this transit. Horrox
made also many other useful observations, and
had even formed a new theory of the moon,
taken notice of by Newton; but his early death,
in the beginning of 1640, put a stop to his
valuable labors.
52. Hevelius, Burgomaster of Dantzick, flou-
rished about the same time, and observed the spots
and phases of the moon; from which observations
he compiled his Selenographia. An account of
his apparatus is contained in his work entitled
Machina Cselestis, a book now very scarce, as
most of the copies were accidentally burnt, with
the whole house and apparatus, iu 1679. Heve-
lius died in 1688, agea 76.
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53. Doctor Hook, a contempora^ of Hevclius
invented instraments witb telescopic sights, and
censured ttie others. This occasioned a sharp
dispute between them ; to settle which, Halley
was sent over to Herelius to examine his instru-
ments. The two astronomers made several ob-
servations together, very much to their satisiac-
tion ; and amongst them was one of an occulta-
tioD of Jupiter by the moon, when they deter-
mined the diameter of the latter to be 30' 33".
54. Huygens and Fontana, before the middle
of the seventeenth century, greatly improved the
construction of telescopes. The former con-
structed one of 123 feet, with which he observed
the moon and planets, and discovered that
Saturn was encompassed with a ring. With
telescopes too, of 200 and 300 feet focus, Cas-
sini saw five satellites of Saturn, with his zones
or belts, and &e shadows of Jupiter's satellites
passing over his body. In 1666 Azout applied
€t micrometer to telescopes, to measure the dia-
meters of the planets, and other small distances
in the heavens : but an instrument of this kind
had been invented before, by Gascoigne, though
it was but little known abroad. To obviate the
difficulties arising from the great lengths of re-
fracting telescopes, and the e^erration of the rays,
Meisennus, in a letter to Descartes, first started
the idea of making telescopes of reflectors, instead
of lenses ; and in 1663 James Gregory of Aber-
deen showed how such a telescope might be
constructed.
55. Sir Isaac Newton, after spending some time
<m. the construction of both sorts of telescopes,
found out the great inconvenience which arises
to refractors from the difiecent refrangibility of
the rays of light ; for which not finding a remedy,
and pursuing the other kind, in 1672, he pre-
sented to the Royal Society two reflectors, con-
struoted with spherical speculums. The incon-
venience, however, arising from the different
refrangibility of the rays of light, has since been
frilly obviated by Dollond.
56. Towards the end of the seventeenth, and
begiuiung of the eighteenth century, practical
astronomy rather languished; but the speculative
part was carried to the highest perfection by New«
ton in his Principia, by David Gregory, Keil, and
others. Soon after this, great improvements in
astronomical instruments began to take place,
particularly in Britain. Graham not only
improved clocks and watch work, but also car-
ried the accuracy of astronomical instruments to
a surprising degree. He constructed the old
eight feet mural arch at the Royal Observatory,
Greenwich, and a small equatorial sector for
making observations out of the meridian ; but he
is chiefly remarkable for contriving the zenith
•sector of twenty-four feet radius, and afterwards
one of twelve feet and a half, with which Brad-
ley discovered the aberration of the fixed stars.
The reflecting telescope of Gregory and Newton
'Was greatly improved by Hadley, who presented
a very powerful instrumeut of that kind to the
Royal Society in 1719. He invented also the
reflecting quadrant or sector, now called 'by his
name, presented to the society in 1731, and now
universally tised at sea. It appears, (iowever,
that an instrument similar to tbb in its princi-
Vql. 111.
pies, had been invented by Newton; and a
description, with a drawing of it, was given by
him to Halley, when he was preparing for his
voyage in 1701, to discover the variation of the
needle : it has also been asserted, that Godfrey
of Philadelphia, in America, made the same dis-
covery, and the first instrument of this kind.
57. About the middle of this century, the con-
structing apd dividing of large astronomical
instruments were carried to great perfection by
Bird , and reflecting telescopes were not less im-
proved by Short, who first executed the divided
object glass . micrometer, which had been pro-
posed and described by LouviUe and others.
Dollond also improved refracting telescopes, by
means of his achromatic glasses: and tne dis-
coveries of Herschel are owing to the amazing
powers of reflectors of his own constriiction.
Thus, the astronomical improvements in the pre-
sent century have been chiefly owing to the
inventions of^ and improvements in, the instru-
ments, and to the establishment of regular obser-
vatories in England, France, and other parts of
Europe.
58. Roeroer, a celebrated Danish astronomer,
first made use of a meridional telescope; and, by
observing the eclipses of Jupiter's satellites, first
discovered the progressive motion of light, con-
cerning which he read a dissertation before the
Academy of Sciences at Paris, in 1675. Flam-
steed, appointed the first astronomer royal at
Gieenwich, in 1675, observed for forty-four
years, and gave a catalogue of 3000 stars with
their places, to the year 1689; also new solar
tables, and a theory of the moon according to
Horrox^ likewise, in Sir Jonas Moore's System
of Mathematics, he gave a curious tract on the
sphere, showing how to construct, geometrically,
eclipses both of the sun and moon, as well as oe-
cultations of the fixed stars by the moon. On his
observations were founded both Halley's tables,
and Newton's theory of the moon. Cassini, the first
French astronomer royal, made many observations
on the sun, moon, planets, and comets, greatly im-
proved the elements of their motions, erected the
gnomon, and -drew the celebrated meridian line
in the church of Petronia at Bologna.
59. Flamsteed was succeeded, in 1719, as
astronomer royal at Greenwich, by Dr. Halley,
who had been sent at the early age of twenty-
one, to the island of St. Helena, to observe the
southern stars and make a catalogue of them,
which was published in 1679. In 1705 he
published his Synopsis Astronomies Cometicx,
in which he ventured to predict the return of a
comet in 1758 or 1759. He first discovered the
acoeleration of the moon, and gave a very inge-
nious method for finding her parallax, by three
observed phases of a solar eclipse; published in
the Philosophical Transactions many learned
papers, and amongst them, some concerning the
use that might be made of the next transit of
Venus, in determining the distance of the sun
from die earth; composed tables of the sun,
moon, and all the planets, which are still in
great repute; and recommended the method of
determining the longitude, by the moon's dis-
tances from the sun, and certain fixed stars ; a
method which was first proposed by Warner,
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ASTRONOMY.
and which has since been carried into execu-
tion.
60. A dispute concerning the figure of the
earth took place about this time. Newton had
determined, from a consideration of the laws of
gravity, and the diurnal motion of the earth, that
the figure of it was an oblate spheroid; but Cas-
sini, from the measures of Picart, supposed it to
be an oblong spheroid. To settle.this dispute
it was resolved, under Louis XV. to measure
two degrees of the meridian; one near the equa-
tor, and the other as near the pole as possible.
For this purpose, the Royal Academy of Sciences
sent to Lapland, Maupertuis, Clairault, Camus,
and Lemonnier: who were accompanied by
Outhier, and Celsus, professor of anatomy at
Upsal. On the southern expedition were sent
Godin, Condamine, and Bouguer, to whom the
king of Spain joined George Juan and Antonio
de Ulloa. These set out in 1735, and returned
at different times 1744, 1745, and 1746; but the
former party who set out only in 1736, returned
the year following; having both fulfilled their
commissions. Picart's measure was revised by
Cassini and De la Caille, which, after his efrors
were corrected, was found to agree very well
with the other two ; and the result of the whole
served to confirm the determination of the figure
before laid down by Newton. On the southern
expedition, the attraction of the great mountains
of Peru was found to have a sensible effect on
the plumb-line of one of their largest instruments,
deflecting it seven or eight seconds firom the true
perpendicular.
61. In 1742 Dr. Bradley succeeded, on the
deadi of Dr. Halley, as astronomer royal at
Greenvrich. The accuracy of his observations
enabled him to detect the smaller inequalities in
the motions of the planets and fixed stars. The
consequence of his accuracy was, the discovery of
the aberration of light, the nutation of the eardi's
axis, and a much greater degree of perfection in
lunar tables. He observed the places, and com-
puted the elements of the comets which appeared
in the years 1723, 1736, 1743, and 1757; made
new and more accurate tables of the motions of
Jupiter's satellites, and, from a multitude of obser-
vations of the luminaries, constructed a table of
refractions; which has ever since been in very
general estimation for its accuracy, though it is
now generally admitted that it gives the refrac-
tions too small. He also, with a verv large
transit instrument, and a new mural quadrant of
eight feet radius, constructed by Bird in 1750,
made an immense number of observations for
settling the places of all the stars in the British
catalogue, together with nearly 1500 places of
the moon, the greater part of which he com-
pared with Mayer's tables. Bradley died in 1762.
62. Astronomers elsewhere were equally assi-
duous in their endeavours to promote this
science. .The theory of the mpon was parti-
cularly considered by Clairault, D'Al^mbert,
Euler, Mayer, Simpson, and Walmsley, and
especially Clairault, Eider, and Mayer, who
computed complete sets of lunar tables: those
of the last of these authors, for their superior
accuracy, were rewarded with a premium of
£3000, and brought into use in the computation
of the Nautical Ephemeris, published by die
Board of Longitude. The most accurate tables
of the satellites of Jupiter were composed from
observations by Wargentin, an excellent Swedish
astronomer. But these have again been sup^^r-
seded by the more recent ones of Delambre.
There is touch room for improvement, however,
in our knowledge of the elements of Jupiter's
satellites, even with respect to the first satellites^
the predicted and actual times of immersion or
emersion sometimes differ to the extent of two
minutes.
63. Among the many French astronomers who
contributed to the advancement of the science,
it was particularly indebted to De la CaiUe for
an excellent set of solar tables. He, in 1750,
went to the Cape of Good Hope to make obser-
vations in concert with the most celebrated astro-
nomers in Europe, for determining the parallax
of Mars and the moon, and thence diat of the
sun, which it was concluded did not much exceed
ten seconds. Here he re-examined and adjusted,
with great accuracy, the places of stars about the
southern pole; and also measured a degree of
the meridian. In Italy the science was assidu-
ously cultivated by Bianchini, Boscovich, Frisi,
Manfredi, Zanotti, and many others; in Sweden,
by Wargentin, already mentioned, Blingenstem,
Mallet, and Planman; and in Germany by Euler,
Mayer, Lambert, Grischow, and others.
64. In 1760 all the learned societies in Eu-
rope made preparations for observing the transit
of Venus over the sun, which had been predicted
by Hallev more than eighty years before, with
the use that might be made of it in determining
the sun's parallax, and the distances of the plar
nets from the sun. The same exertions were re-
peated, to observe the transit in 1769, by sending
observers to different parts' of the world ; and
from the whole. Short computed that the sun's
parallax was nearly 8} seconds, and consequently
the distance of the sun firom the earth about
24,114 of the earth's diameters, or ninety-«ix
millions of miles. Bradley vras succeeded, in
1762, in his office of astronomer royal, by Bliss,
Savilian professor ofastronomy ; who, being in
a declining state of health, did not loiig enjoy it.
65. In 1765 Bliss was succeeded by Nevil
Maskelyne, who, in January 1761, was sent by
the Royal Society, at a very early age, to the
island of St. Helena, to observe die transit of
Venus over the sun, and the parallax of the
star Sirius. The first of these objects partly
failed, by clouds preventing the sight of the se-
cond internal contact; and the second also, owing
to Short having suspended the plumb-line by a
loop from the neck of the central pin. However,
he indemnified himself by many other valuable
observations : thus, he olnerved at St. Helena,
the tides I the horary parallaxes of the moon ;
and the going of a dock, to find by comparison
with its previous goings which had been observed
in EngUnd, the difference of gravity at the two
places ; also in going out and returning, he prac-
tised the method of finding the longitude by the
lunar distances taken by Hadley's quadrant,
making out rules for the use of seamen, and
teaching the method to the officers on boaird the
ship. This mediod was explained in the Philo-
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ASTRONOMY.
99
aopldoil TrttnsaetioDB, for 1763, and more fully
anerwarda in the British Mariner's Guide, pub-
lished in 1763. In Septemher 1763, he sailed
lor the island of Barbadoes, to settle the longi-
tude of the place, to examine Harrison's watch,
and to try Irwin's marine chain While at Bar-
iMuloes, he made many oUier observations, and
amongsl thera^ many relating to tiie moon's
horary parallaxes, not yet published.
66. Maskelyne returning to England in the
end of 1764, recommended to the board of Lon-
gitude the lunar method of finding the longitude;
and pieposed to it the project of a nautical alma-
nack, to be calculated and published to facilitate
tiiat method. This the board agreed to, and the
first volume was published for 1767, and has con-
tinued ever since to the great benefit of naviga-
tion.
67. In consequence of a proposa^i made by
this astronomer to the Royal Society, the project
i^as formed of measuring accurately the efiect of
aome mountain on the plumb-line, in deflecting
it from the perpendicular; and Schdiallien, in
Scotland, having been found the most convenient
in this i^and for the purpose, he went into Scot-
land to conduct the business ; by this experi-
ment he showed that the sum of the deflections
on the two opposite sides was about 11|^ of a
degree ; and proved to the satisfaction of the
whole world, the universal attraction of matter.
From the data resulting from these measures,
Dr. Hutton computed the mean density of &e
whole matter ip the earth, to be about 4} times
that of common vrater.
68. The discoveries of Dr. Hersche) form a
new era in astronomy. In 1781, he began w«th
observations on the periodical star in Collo Ceti,
and anew method ot measuring the lunar moun-
tains, none of which he made more than half a
mile in he^;ht; and having constructed teles-
copes far more powerful than any former ones,
proceeded to other observations; such as, on the
rotation of the planets round their axes ; on the
parallax of the fixed stars ; catalogues of double,
triple, &c. stars ; on the proper motion of the
sun and solar system ; on the remarkable ap-
pearances of the polar regions of the planet Mars ;
&c. Above all his discoveries of a new primary
Slanet, on the 13th of March, 1781, csOled by
im the Georgian Planet, but named the Hers-
schel, and sometimes Uranus, by foreign astro-
nomers, and' of its six satellites, discovered
since that time, has greatly enlarged the bounds
of the solar system, this new planet being more
than twice as far from the sun as the planet
Saturn.
69. M'. Piazzi, astronomer royal at Palermo,
discovered on January 1st, 1801, another planet
moving in an orbit between Mars and Jupiter.
This planet has been named Ceres. Another
was discovered on March 28th, 1802, by Dr.
Olbers of Bremen, and named Pallas ; a third
was discovered and named Juno by Mr. Harding
of lilienthfd; and a fourth by Dr. Oliers, and
tiamed Vesta, on March 29th, 1807. These
planets are adl very small, and all so nearly at the
same distance from the sun, and moving in or-
bits differing so little either in eccentricity or
<icclinatio*>, that they have by some been con-
jectnred to be fragments of a larger planet, which
from some explosion had been burst, and< its
parts scattered abroad in space.
It is probable that as astronomical instru*
ments become more improved, further discoveries
of the same kind will be made, and that the
boundaries of the solar system may be enlarged
by the discerning of planets which circulate round
the son even beyond the orbit of the Georgian
planet.
71 . Dr. Maskelyne was succeeded at the Green-
wich observatory in 1 8 1 1 , by J . Pond, esq. the pre^
senti^stronomer royal, under whose managment the
business of this important institution has been
kept in full activity. The number of instruments
has been greatly increased. The use of the mu-
ral quadrant has been abandoned for that of the
circle, two of which, one by Troughton, and one
by T. JoneS) are in constant use, and give results
which accoid vrith each other in a manner alto-
gether surprising. The most important discove-
ries may be hoped for from the skill and activity
with which the splendid instruments at Green-
wich are managed. All indeed that appears wanting
in that institution, is a telescope of tne first class to
follow up the discoveries in siderial astronomy,
which conferred such splendor on the name of
Herschel. But we are glad to perceive that this
department of the science is likely to be carried
to a degree of perfection which few would have
hoped for, by Mr. Herschel, junior, the worthy
and able son of the great astronomer, and his
fnend Mr. South, whose recent publication on
the motion of double stars does them the highest
credit.
72. On the continent of Europe, the greatest
ardor is at present evinced in the cultivation of
this science, ^^e labors of Schumercher at Al-
tona, are unintermitted and most valuable. He
may be considered at present as a common bond
among astronomical men. Greass at Gottingen,
Littrow, at Venice; Bressel, at Konigsberg;
Struve, at Dorpat; Zach, at Genoa; and a host
of other individuals distinguished for their la-
bors and their zeal, have devoted themselves to
astronomy.
73. In our own country, it would be injustice
to pass over the names of Woodhouse and Brink-
ley, whose eminence in this science is of the
most distinguished kind.
74. Another striking feature of the present
day is the formation of * The Astronomical So-
ciety of London,' an institution whose only
object is the cultivation of astronomical science.
This society includes among its members almost
every individual known to the world as distin-
guished for astronomical knowledge. The me-
moirs of the society, of which the third part is
just ready for publication, are very valuable and
mteresting.
75. The university of Cambridge has recently
evinced its sense of tne importance of a practical
knowledge of this science, by the erection of an
observatory on the most splendid scale ; and the
English government has also shown by the recent
order for the establishment of an observatory at
the Cape of Good Hope, that the importance
which it has always attached to the cultivation of
this science, has suflered no abatement.
U2
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100 ^ASTRONOMY.
76. Historical accounts and lists of the prin- ▼eUing south, this star at last seems depress©!
dpal authors and writings on this science, are in the horizon, and another point appears di-
coWned in Weidler's and Bailly^s History of recUy opposite to it, round which the stors in
^Ttronotay. Adam, Vossius, Bayle, Chauffepie, the southern part of the honzon seem to tum.
W^rSrPerraut, the chronological Uble of Ric- In this part of the heavens, however there is no
cioH, a^ that of Sherhurn, at the end of his star so near the pole as there is m the northern
edition of Manilius ; and the first volume of De part : nor is the number of stars m ^e southern
la Lande's astronomy, may also be consulted, part of the heavens so great as m the northern
The more modem and popular books on as- part. «^„A««,^
tronomy are very numerSuI and well known; 80. Supposing us sUU to ^"^^^1 soudi^,
as those of Feiiuson, Long, Emerson, Vince, the nordi pole enUrely disappear^ and the whole
De la Lande, L^better. Brent, Keil, Whiston, atmosphere appears to turn round a single pomt
Wing, Street^ Bonnycastle,GregOfy,Brinkley,&iC. in the south, as the northern hemisphere appears
but Ae recent treatise on astronomy by Wood- to us to tum round the pole stor. The gCDeral
house, is by far the most complete that has ap- appearance of the heavens, therefore is that of a
peared in the English language. vast con<»ve sphere, turning round two points
1^^ ^ * * fixed in the north and south parts of it, once m
PART I. twenty-four hours.
OF THE APPEARANCES OF THE CE- 81. The majority of the stars keep their places
LESTLAL BODIES. with respect to one another ; that is, if we ob-
„ - ^ ^ ^ • serve two stars having a certain apparent dis-
Sect. I.-Of the Celestial Bodies, as seen ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^er one night, they seem to
BT THE NAKED EYE. ^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ Succeeding night. But all
77. The most obvious celestial phenomenon the stars in the heavens do not appear to be of
is the daily rising of the sun in the east, and his this fixed kind : some of them change their
setting in the west ; next to which is that of the places, with regard to the fixed stars, and to one
moon and stars appearing, and keeping the same another. Of these ten are at present known,
westerly course. These cannot be long taken They are distinguished by the appellation of
notice of before we must perceive that neither planets, from irXavata, to wander, and are called
the sun nor moon always rise exactly in tlie by the names of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Ceres,
same point of the heavens. If we observe the Pallas, Juno, Vesta, Jupiter, Saturn, and Hers-
sun, from the beginning of March, we find that chel, Uranus, or the Georgium Sidus. The fixed
he seems to rise almost every day sensibly more stars are likewise distinguished from the planets
to the nortliward, than he did the day before, to by continually exhibiting that appearance which
continue longer above the horizon, and to be is called the scintillation or twinkling of the
more elevated at midnlay, till towards the end stars.
of June, when he is observed to move backward 82. Mercury is a small star which emits a
in the same manner : this retrograde motion very bright white light ; but, by always keeping
continues beyond the middle of December, when near the sun, he is seldom to be seen ; and when
he begins again to move forwards, and so on. he does make his appearance, his motion toward
78. When the new moon (as she is called, at tlie sun is so swift, tnat he can only be discerned
her early period,) first becomes visible, she ap- for a short time, a little after sun-set, and again
pears in tne western part of the heavens, at no a little before sun-rise.
great distance from the sun. Every night she 83. Venus the most beautiful star in the hea-
increases in size, and removes to a greater dis- vens, known by the names of the morning and
tance from the sun ; till at last she appears in evening star, keeps near the sun, though at
the eastern part of the horizon, just at tlie time almost double the distance of Mercury. She is
file sun disappears in the western. After this never seen in the eastern quarter of the heavens
she gradually moves farther and farther east- when the sun is in the western ; but seems to
ward, rising every night later and later, till at attend him in the evening, or to give notice of
last she seems to approach the sun as nearly in his approach in the morning,
the east as she did in the west, and rises only a 84. Mars is of a red fiery color, and gives
little before bim in the morning, as in the first a much duller light than Venus, though some-
part of her course she set in the west not long times he equals her in size. He is not subject
after him. All these different appearances are to the same limitation in his motions as Mercury
completed in the space of a month ; after which or Venus; but appears sometimes very near the
they begin in the same order as before. sun, and sometimes at a great distance ftt>m him ;
79. Several of the stars neither rise in the sometimes rising when 2ie sun sets, or setting
east, nor set in tlie west, but seem to tum round when he rises. Of this planet it is remarkable,
an immovable point, near which is placed a that when he approaches any of the fixed stars,
single star called the pole, or pole star. This they change their color, grow dim, and often be-
point is more or less elevated according to the come totally invisible, though at some little
different parts of the earth from which we take distance from the body of the planet : but
our view. The inhabitants of Lapland, for in- Herschel thinks this has been exaggerated by
stance, see* it much more elevated above the former astronomers.
horizon than we do; we see it more elevated 85. Jupiter and Saturn often appear at great
than the inhabitants of France and Spain ; and distances from the sun. The former shines with
they, again^ see it Ilaore elevated than the a bright white light, and the latter with a pal6
inhabitants of Barbary. By continually tra- faint one ; and the motion of Saturn among the
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ASTRONOMY,
101
fixed stars is so slow, that, unless carefully ob-
served, he will not be tliought to move at all.
Her8chel*s motion is still slower, and he is sel-
dom to be seen without a telescope.
86. The apparent magnitudes of these bodies
are very different at different times. Every per-
son must have observed that Venus is not always
equally big; and this apparent difference of
magnitude is so remarkable, that she appears no
less than thirty-two times larger at some seasons
than at others. This increase of magnitude is
likewise veiy remarkable in Mars and Jupiter,
but less so in Saturn, Mercury and Herschel.
These planets by no means appear to us to move
regularly in the heavens, but, on the contrary,
sometimes go forward, sometimes backward, and
sometimes seem to be stationary.
87. There are other moving bodies, besides
the planets, which appear at uncertain intervals,
and with a very different aspect. These are very
numerous, and upwards of 500 are recorded as
having visited our system. They are called
Comets, from cofM}nic> hairy, having a long tail,
somewhat resembling the appearance of hair.
This, however, is not always the case ; for some
comets have appeared as round as planets : but
in general they nave a luminous matter diffused
around them, or projecting out from thdm, which
to appearance very much resembles the Aurora
Borealis. They appear to come in a direct line
towards the sun, as if they were going to fall into
his body ; and after having disappeared for some
time, in consequence of their proximity to that
luminary, fly off again on the other side as &st
as they came, projecting a tail much greater and
brighter in their recess ; but, getting daily at a
&rther distance from us in the heavens, they
continually lose some of their splendor, and at
last totally disappear.
88. The apparent magnitude of comets is very
different; sometimes &ey appear only of the
bigness of the fixed stars ; at other times they
equal the diameter of Venus, and sometimes
even of the sun or moon. In 1652 Hevelius ob-
served a comet which seemed not inferior to the
moon in size, though it was not so bright, but
appeared with a pale and dim light. These
bodies also sometimes lose their splendor sud-
denly, while their apparent bulk remains un-
altered. With respect to their apparent motions,
they have all the inequalities of the planets;
sometimes seeming to go forwards, sometimes
backwards, and sometimes to be stationary.
89. The fixed stars are liable to changes : se-
veral observed by the ancients are now no more
to be seen ; and. new ones have appeared which
were unknown to the ancients. Some of them
have also disappeared for some time, and again
become visible. At times some have been ob-
served to distinguish themselves by superlative
lustre ; but afterwards decreasing, to vanish by
degrees, and to be no more seen. One of these
stars being first seen and observed by llippar-
chus, set him upon composing a catalogue of
the fixed stars, that by it posterity might learn
whether anv of the stars perish, and others are
produced afresh. After several ages Tycho Brahe
observed another new star, which put him on the
same design. Of these changes accounts have
been given by Halley, Montanere, and Pigot, in
the Philosophical Transactions. As a specimen
of these phenomena we shall here insert an ex-
tract firom the former.
90. ' The first new star in the chair of Cassio-
peia was not seen by Cornelius Gemma on the
8th of November, 1572, who says, he that night
considered that part of- the heavens in a very se-
rene sky, and saw it not : but that the next night
November 9, it appeared with a splendor sur-
passing all the fixea stars, and scarcely less bright
than Venus. This was not seen by Tycho
Brahe before the 11th of the same month: but
from thence he assures us that it gradually de-
creased and died away, so that in March 1574,
after sixteen m9nths, it was no longer visible ;
and at this day no signs of it remain." The place,
thereof, in the sphere of fixed stars, by tlie ac-
curate observations of Tycho, was 0* 9° 17' a
1 •»• j^ cy.i», with 53° 45' N. lat.
91. ' Such another star was seen and observed
by the scholars of Kepler, to begin to appear
Sept. 30. O. S. anno 1604, and which was not
to be seen the day before. It broke out at
once with a lustre surpassing that of Jupiter ;
and like the former died away gradually, and
in much about the same time disappeared to-
tally, there remaining no footsteps thereof in Jar
nuary 1605. This was near the ecliptic, follow-
ing the right leg of Serpentarius ; and by the ob-
servations of Kepler and others, was m 7*^ 20°
00' a 1»* i^ cy^, with north lat. 1° 56'. These
two seem to be of a distinct species from the
rest, and nothing like them has appeared since.
92. ' But between them, viz. in 1596, we
have the first account of the wonderful star in
Collo Ceti, seen by David Fabridus on the 3d
of August, as bright as a star of the third magni-
tude,, which has been since found to appear and
disappear periodically; its period b«mg pre-
cisely seven revolutions in six years, though it
returns not always with the same lustre. Nor is
it ever totally extinguished, but may at all times
be seen with a six feet tube. This was singular'
in its kind till that in Collo Cygni was disco-
covered. It precedes the first star of Aries 1°
40', with 150 57' south lat.
93. * Another new star was first discovered by
William Jansonius in the year 1600, in pectore,
or rather in eductione. Colli Cygni, which ex-
ceeded not the third magnitude. This haying
continued some years became at length so nnall
as to be thought by some to have disappeared
entirely; but in the years 1657, 1658, and 1659,
it again arose to the third magnitude; though
soon after it decayed by degrees to the fifUi or
sixth magnitude; and at this day is to be seen as
such in 9* 18° 38' a~ # «Y»,^th 55° 29' north lat.
94. * A fifUi new star was first seen by Heve-
lius in 1600, on July 15, O. S. as a star of the
third magnitude, but by the beginning of Octo-
ber was scarce to be perceived by the naked eye.
In April following it was again as bright as be-
fore, or rather greater than of the third magni-
tude, yet wholly disappeared about the middle
of August. The next year, in March 1672, it
was seen again, but not exceeding the sixth
magnitude : since when it has been no farther
visible, though we have frequently sought for its .
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return ; its place is 9* 3° ir a I'*" * ^, 3tnd
has Jat north 47^ 28*.
95. ' The sixth and last is that discovered by
Mr. G. Kirch in the year 1686, and its period
determined to be of 404) days ; and though it
rarely exceeds the fifth magnitude, yet it is very
regular in its returns, as we found in the year
1714. Since then we have watched, as the ab-
sence of the moon and clearness of the weather
would permit, to catch the first beginning of its
appearance in a six feet tube, that, bearing a
very great aperture, discovers most minute stars.
And on June 15, last, it was first perceived like
one of the very least telescopical stars ; but in
the rest of that mouth and July it gradually in-
creased so as to become in August visible to the
naked eye, and so continued all the month of
September. After that it again died away by
degrees, and on the 8th of December, at nigh^
was scarcely discernible by the tube; and, as
near as could be guessed, equal to what it was
at its first appearance on June 15th ; so that this
year it* has been seen in all nearly six months,
which is but little less than half its period ; and
the middle, and consequently the greatest bright-
ness, falls about the 10th of September.'
96. The galaxy or milky way is a remarkable
appearance in the heavens, being a broad ring of
a whitish color surrounding the whole celestial
concave, whose light is now known to proceed
from vast clusters of stars, discoverable only by
the telescope. Mr. Brydone,. in bis journey to
the top of Mount iEtna, found this phenomenon
to make a glorious appearance, Mike a pure
flame (as he expresses it) that shot across the
heavens.'
97. The only other appearances which are
very observable by the unassisted eye^ are those
obscurations of the sun and moon commonly
called eclipses. These are too well known, and
attract the attention too much, to need any par-
ticular description. We have, however, accounts
very well authenticated, of obscurations of the
sun continuing for a much longer time than a
common eclipse possibly can do, and likewise of
the darkness being much greater than usual on
such occasions.
Sect. II. Op the Celestial Bodies as seen
THEOUGH Telescopes.
9B. Although the sun, to the naked eye, is
extremely bright and splendid, he is frequently
observed, even through a telescope of but very
imall powers, to have dark spots on his surface,
which are said to have been first discovered in
1611 ; and the honor of the discovery is disputed
betwixt Galileo and Scheiner, a German Jesuit
at Ingolstadt. But whatever merit Scheiner
might have in the priority of the discovery, it is
certain that Galileo far exceeded him in accu-
racy; though Scheiner's work has considerable
merit, as containing observations selected from
above 3000 made by himself.
99. It appears from the papers of Harriot,
the Englisn algebraist, which were found ifi
1784, at the seat of the earl of Egremont in
Sussex, that he made a great number of obser-
vations upon the solar spots much about die
sathe lime; and Dr. Zach, astrotadmer to the
dtike of Saxe Gotha, in an account of Harriot's
papers, published in ltB8, says that there is the
greatest probabililfy of HaiYiot being the first dis-
coverer of diese spots, even before either
Galileo or Scheiiner. Galileo's fifiit produced
observations sore only fot June 2, 161$, aftid those
of Scheiner of the month of October in the same
year, whereas Harriotts, as appears from his
MSS, are of December 8, 1610.
100. There is great variety in the tDdffitfitades
of the solar spots ; the difierence is cfaie% in su-
Serficial extent of length and bteadth; their
epth or thickness is very small: some have
been so large as by computation to be capable
of covering the whole sorftce of Dfe earm, or
even five times its surface. The diameter of
a spot, when neav the middle of the disk, is
measured by coikiparing the time it takes in
passing over a cross hair in a telescope, with the
time wherein l})e whole disk of the sun passes
over the same hair. It may also be measured by
the micromeier; and thus we ^iHay Judge how
many times the diameter of the spoT^ -con-
tained in the diameter of the Stm.
101. Spots are subject to incfreaselttd dimi-
nution of magnitude, and seldom continue Img
in the same state. They are of various ^apes ;
most of them having a deep black nucleus, sur-
rounded by a dusky cloud, whei^f the inner
parts near the black are a little brighter than the
outskirts. They change their shapes, something
in the manner that our clouds do, though not
often so suddenly; thus what is of a certain
figure to day, will to-morrow, or perhaps in a few
hours, be of a different one ; what is now but
one spot vrill in a little time be broken into two
or three ; and sometimes two or three spots will
coalesce, and be united into one. The number
of spots on the stm is very uncettain ; some-
times there are a great many, sometimes very
few, and sometime^ none at all.
102. Scheiner made observations on the son
firom 1611 to 1629; atid says he never found
his disk quite free fVom spots, excepting a few
days in December, 1624. At other times he fn-
quently saw twenty, thirty, and in the year 1625,
he was able to count fifty spots on the sun at a
time. In an interval afterwards of twenty years,
from 1650 to 1670, scarcely any spots Were to
l^e seen, and since that time some years have
furnished a great number of spots, and others
none at all; but since the beginning .of the last
century, not a year has passed wherein some
were not seen.
103. It is evident flrom these vari6us appear-
tinces that the spots are not endowed with any
permanency, nor at all regular in their shape,
magnitude, number, or time of appearance or
continuance. Hevelius observed one that arose
and vanished in sixteen or seventeen hours ; and
no one has been observed to continue longer
than seventy days : those spots that are formed
gradually are gradually dissolved, while those
that arise suddenly are for the most part sud-
denly dissolved. When a spot disappears, that
part where it was, generally becomes brighter
than the rest of the sun, and continues so for se-
veral days : on the other hand, those bright parts
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ASTRONOM\
103
called &culfle (ai9 tKe otiien are called macule)
sometimes turn to spots.
104. Tbe solar spots appear to have a motion
across the sun's disk. Eveiy spot« if it conti-
nues long enough without being dissolved, ap-
pears to enter the sun's disk on thf! east side, to
go ttota. thence with the velocity continually iii-
creasinff till it has gone half way, and then to
move slower and ^ower till it goes off at the
inrest side ; after which it dtsappeare for about the
sasre s^^ace of time that it spent in crossing the
disk, and then enters upon the east side again;
nearly in the same place, and crosses it in the
same track, and with the same unequal motion
as before, t'he motion of the spots is in the
order of the signs (the same wiy that all mo-
lions in the solar system, those of the comets
alone excepted, ^e performed) $ sind therefore,
as the earth revolves round th6 sun the same
-way wiA the Solar spots, one of these will ap-
pear to remain longer oii the di^k than it would
otherwise ao if the earth remained ai rest.
105. /the face of the sun; ^hen clear of spots,
seen hf the naked eye through a smoked or co-
lored glass, or through a thin cloud, or the va-
pours near the horizon, appears all over equally
luminous ; but .when viewed through the teles-
cope; (he glasses being smoked or colored, the
midcUe of & djsk appears brighter than the out-
skiris, because the hgnt is darted more directly
towards us from the middle than firdm any other
part, and the &culfle appear more distinctly near
the sides, as being on a darker ground than in
(he middle.
106. Afi {he phenomena of the solar spots, as
delivered by Scheiher and Hevelius, may be sum-
med up in the following particulars : 1. £ver^
iipot which has a nucleus, or considerably dark
part, has also an umbra, or fainter shade, sur-
rounding it. 2. The boundary betwixt the nu-
cleus and umbra is adways distinct and well de-
fined. 3. The increase of a s'pot is gradual, the
preadth of die nucleus and umbta dilating at th6
Same time. 4. In tike manner; the dterease of
a spot is gradual ; the breadth of the nucleus
ana umbra contracting at the same time. 5.
The exterior boundary of the umbra never con-
sists of sharp angles; but i$ always curvilinear,
how irregular soever the outline of the nucleus
inay be. fe. The nucleus of a spot, Whilst on
the decrease, often changes its figure by the
umbra encroaching irregularlv upon it, insomuch
that jn a small space of tune new encroaeh-
inents are discernible, whereby the boundary
betwixt the nucleus and uml^ra is perpetually
varying^ 7. It often happens, by these Cncroach-
inenfs, (Hat the nucleus of a spot is divided ioito
two or more nuclei. 8. The niiclei of the spots
vanish sooner thdin th^ umbrse. d. Small umbrse
are often seen without nuclei. 10, An umbra of
any considerable size is seldom seen ^thout a
nucleus in the middle of it. li. When a spot
which consists of a nucleus and umbra is about
to disappear, if it is not succeeded by a facula,
or spot brighter than the ^t of the disk, the
'place where ft was is soon afte^ not dbtinguish-
ablA (rom the rest.
lor. Dr. Wilson, in the Phil. Trans, vol. Ixiv.
mentions the following appearances : 1 . When
the spot is about to disappear on the western edge
of the sun'3 limb, the eastern part of the umbra first
contracts, then vanishes, the nucleus and Western
part of the umbra remaining ; then the nucleus
gradually contracts and vanishes, while the west-
em part of the umbra remains. At last this disap-
pears also ; and if the spot remains long enough
to become again visible, the eastern part of the um-
bra first becomes visible, then th6 nucleus; and
when the spot approaches the middle of the disk,
the nucleus appears environed by the umbra on
all sides, as already mentioned. 2. When two
spots lie very near to one another, the umbra is
deficient on that sld6 which lies next the other
spot; and this will be the case, though a larger
Siot should be contiguous to one much smaller ;
e umbra of the Ikige spot will be totally want>
ing on that side next the small one. If there are
little spots on each side of the large one, the um-
bra does not totally vanish ; but appears flattened
or pressed in towards the nucleus on each side.
When the little spots disappear, the umbra of the
large one extends itself as usual. This circum-
stance, he observes, may sometimes prevent the
disaippearance of the umbra in the manner above
mentioned ; so that the western umbra may disap-
pear before the nucleus, if a small spot happens
to break oat on that side.
108. Mr. Wollaston observes, in the same
volume^ p. 337, that the appearances mentioned
by Wilson are not constant ; and as much depends
on the accuracy of observers and the situation of
the spots on the sun's orb, it is probable that the
observation will continue to differ in minute par-
ticulars, till a consistent theory is formed, by
which the cause of these phenomena may be ex-
plained. The spots are not confined to one part
of the sun's disk; though they are generally
observed about his polar regions. The paths
they describe in their course over the disk are
exceedingly different ; sometimes being straight .
lines, sometimes curves, sometimes descending .
from the northern to the southern parts of the
disk, sometimes ascending from the southern to
the northern, &c. These appearances are in-
creased by the inclination of the solar axis to the
plane of tne earth's orbit ; from whence it arises,
that the part described by a spot which is on a
circle parallel to the solar equator sometimes ap-
pears oval, and at others a straight line, accord-
ing to the position of the earth with respect to
the suii. Besides these spots, there are others
which sometimes appear very round and black,
travelling over the aisk of the sun in a few hours,
totally unlike the odiers, and proceeding from
^ interposition of the planets Mercury and Ve-
nus between the earth alid the sun. ^ Excepting
the two kinds of spots above-mentioned, how-
ever, no kind of object is discoverable on the
surfiice of d^e sun, but he appears like an im-
mense 6cean of light.
109. The appearance of the Moon is very
different. Many darkish spots appear in her to
the naked eye; and through a tele^ope their
number ts prodigiously increased ; she also ap
pears very plainly to be more protuberant in the
middle than at the edges, or to have the figure tf
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ASTRONOMY.
a globe, and not a flat circle. When the moon
is gibbous or horned, die one side appears very
ragged and uneven, but the other pretty well
defined and circular. The spots in the moon al-
ways keep their places exactly ; never vanishing,
or going from one ^de to die other, as those of
the sun do. We sometimes see more or less of
the northern or southern, the eastern or west-
em part of the disk or face ; which is owing to
what is called her libration. Plate IV. fig. 1,
gives a representation of the full moon in her
mean libration, with the principal spots accord-
ing to Riccioli, Cassini, and Mayer.
110. Mercury, when looked at through tele-
scopes magnifying about 200 or 300 times, ap-
pears equally luminous throughout his whole
surface, without the least dark spot. He appears
to have the same phases with the moon, being
sometimes homed, sometimes gibbous, and some-
times shining almost with a rotmd face, though
not entirely full, because his enlightened side is
never turned directly towards us.
111. Dr. Herschel has frec^uendy examined
Mercury with telescopes of highly magnifying
powers ; but he always appeared equally bright
on every part of his disk, without any dark spot
or ragged edg^e. But Schroeter, who has so
much distinguished himself in this department
of astronomy, affirms that he has not only
seen spots, but even mountains in Mercury;
and that he has succeeded in measuring the
altitude of two of them. He makes the elevation
of the higher of these about ten English miles
and three-quarters, or about thrice the height
of the highest mountain on our earth: but
where so small an enor in the admeasure-
ment of the angle on which the computation is
founded would entail so great a mistake in the
result, we can only consider this determination
of the height of the mountains of Mercury, as a
strong evidence that considerable elevations do
exist on that planet. By examining the variation
on the appearance of Mercury's horns from day
to day, Scnroeter found the period of his diurnal
rotation to be about twenty-four days, five hours,
and twenty-eight minutes. Considerable diflfer-
ence of opinion exbts respecting the atmosphere
of this planet ; if it possesses any, it certainly at
the centre subtends a very small angle.
112. Venus, when viewed dirough a telescope,
is rarely seen to shine with a fUll &ce, but has
phases and changes like those of the moon, in-
creasing, decreasing, being homed, gibbous, &c.
Her illuminated part is constandy turned towards
the sun ; being directed towards the east when she
is a morning star, and towards the west when an
evening star. Her different phases were first dis-
covered by Galileo. Dr. Herschel has published,
in die Phil. Trans, for 1793, a long series of
observations on this planet, from which he con-
cludes, 1 that the planet revolves about its axis,
but that the period, and the position of the axis,
are uncertain; 2. that the planet's atmosphere is
verv considerable ; 3. diat there are probably hills
and inequalities upon its surfece, though he has
not been able to see much of them, owing, per-
haps, to die density of its atmosphere ; and, 4.
that this planet is somewhat larger than the earth.
instead of being less, as former astronomers hare
imagined. Schroeter, also, in the Phil. Trans,
for 1792, published the result of a series of ob-
servations on this planet, which were begun in
1780. He infers from his observaUons that
Venus has an atmosphere of great density and
height, and that many of her mountains are five
or six Umes as high as those of the earth.
• 113. Much larger and more remttzkable spots
have been perceived on the disk of Mars than on
that of any other primary plapet. By very accu-
rate observations, Herschel has determined the
Sroportion between the polar and equatorial
iameters, and the length of the day in this
planet. He has also given some good conjectures
on its seasons and its atmosphere i the latter it is
now ascertained to have; but though consider-
able, the atmosphere is not of so great an extent
as the conjectures on former observations led
astronomers to imagine. By very accurate obser-
vations, Dr. Herschel has determined that the pro-
portion of his polar and equinoctial axis is as
1272 to 1355, or nearljr as 15 to 16 ; that its time
of rotation on its axis is 24 h. 22 m. and that the
inclination of the axis of Mars to the orbit of the
earth is 59^42'. From the great obliquity of this
planet's axis of rotation, the polar regions of it
are alternately presented towards the earth, and
a much better opportunity is thereby offered for
examining its surface than that of any other
planet. This, however, is in some degree coun-
terbalanced by the very dense atmosphere with
which this planet is surrounded. It is not a litde
remarkable, that when either pole emerges into
the light of the sun, it exhibits a very striking
brilliancy, something like what would arise from
its being covered with snow. The analogy
between this phenomenon and what annually
takes place on our own globe, is too obvious to
escape notice.
114. The planet Ceres is of a red color, and
appears about the size of a star of the eighth mag-
nitude. It is surrounded by a very dense and
extensive atmosphere, in which very great and
sudden changes are observed to take place. The
estimates that have been made of this planet's
diameter are a striking instance of the difficulty
of measuring the apparent diameters of such
small objects. Herschel makes its diameter
about 163 miles; and Schroeter about 1624, or
nearly ten times as much. Its periodical revo-
lution round the sun is accomplished in about
four years, seven months, and ten days.
115. Pallas is neariy of the same size as Cere^
but not quite of so red an appearance. Its period
of revolution has been computed to be about four
years, ten months, and eleven days; and its dia-
meter has been estimated at from eighty to up-
wards of 2000 miles. It has also an atmosphere, but
of less extent than that of Ceres ; but it differs
from that and all other planets in die great incli-
nation of its orbit. The planets generally circu-
late in planes that do not deviate much from the
plane of the ecliptic ; but the orbit of Pallas is
inclined about thirty-five degrees, nearly five
times as much as that of any other planet.
116. Juno is of a reddish color, and is sur-
rounded by an atmosphere of considerable den-
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105
sity. Its diameter is allowed by all observen
to be less than that of either Ceres or Pallas. It
differs from all other planets in the eccentricity
of its orbit ; being, when at its greatest distance
from the sun, at double the least distance. The
period of its rcTolution is about four years and
128 days.
117. Vesta appears like a star of the sixth
magnitude, and may on a clear night be some-
times seen with the naked eye. Its light is whiter
and more intense than any of the other three
small planets. Its apparent diameter has been
estimated at about half that of the fourth satellite
of Saturn ; and yet it is very remarkable that its
light is so intense, that Schroeter saw it several
times with his naked eye, while it requires a
telescope of considerable power to see the fourth
or indeed any satellite of Saturn. This planet
revolves in about three years, sixty-six days, and
four hours. The orbits of all these four little
planets (which from their smallness have been
called Asteroids) intersect each other in various
places ; and the points of intersection are conti-
nually varjring from the changes in the places
of 4heir aphelia.
118. Jupiter has the same general appear.
ance with Mars, only that the belts on his surface
are much larger and more permanent. Their
nimiber is very variable, as sometimes only one,
and at other times no fewer than eight, may be
perceived. They are generally parallel to one
another, but not always so ; and their breadth is
likewise variable, one belt having been observea to
grow narrow, while another in its neighbourhood
has increased in breadth, as if the one had flowed
into the other. The time of their continuance is
very uncertain, sometimes reoviining unchanged
for three months ; at others, new belts have been
formed in an hour or two. In some of these belts
large black spots have appeared, which moved
swiftly over tne disk from east to west, and re-
turned in a short time to the* same place ; from
whence the rotation of this planet about its axis
has been determined.
119. The figure of Jupiter is evidently an ob-
late spheroid, the longest diameter of his disk
being pa the shortest as thirteen to twelve. His
rotation is from west to east, like that of Uie sun,
and the plane of his equator is very nearly coin-
cident with that of his orbit ; so that there can
scarcely be any difference of seasons in that planet.
Uis rotation has been observed to be somewhat
quicker in his aphelion than his perihelion.
120. The most remaricable circumstance at-
tending this planet, is his having four moons or
satellites, which constantly revolve round him
at different distances. These are all supposed to
move in ellipses ; though the eccentricities of all
of them are too small to be measured, excepting
that of the fourth ; and even this amounts (o no
more than 00'07 of its mean distance from the
primary.
121 . The periodic times and distances of these
satellites, in semidiameters of Jupiter, as well as
in English miles, the angles under which their
orbits appear, as seen from the earth, at its mean
distance from Jupiter, taken from the latest and
most exact observations, are as follow :
No.
Periodic times.
Distances in
Angles
ofOrt).
Semi-
diam.
MUes.
1
2'
3
4
U. 18A. 27' 34"
3 13 13 42
7 3 42 36
16 16 32 9
5|
9i
14fc
25?.
266,000 3 55"
423,000 6 14
676,000 9 58
1,189,000 17 30
122. The nodes of these satellites are not in
the same place. All of them, by reason of their
immense distance, seem^o keep near their prima-
ly, and their apparent motioo is a kind of oscil-
lation like that of a pendulum, going alternately
from their greatest distance on one side to the
greatest distance on the other, sometimes in a
straight line, and sometimes in an elliptic curve.
When a satellite is in its superior semicircle, or
that half of its orbit which is more distant from
the earth tlian Jupiter is, its motion appears to
us direct, according to the order of the signs ;
but in its inferior semicircle, when it is nearer to
us than Jupiter, its motion appears retrograde ;
and both taese motions seem quicker the nearer
the satellites are to the centre of the primary,
slower the more distant they are, and, at the
greatest distance of all, they appear for a short
time to be stationary.
123. It is evident, from this account of the
system of Jupiter and his satellites, tliat occul-
tations of them must frequently happen by their
going behind their primary, or by coming in be-
twixt us and it. The former takes place when
they proceed towards the middle of their upper
semicircle ; the latter when they pass through the
same part of their inferior semicircle. Occulta-
tions of the former kind happen to the fii^t and
second satellite ; at every revolution, the third
very rarely escapes an occultation, but the fourth
more frequently by reason of its greater distance.
It is seldom that a satellite can be discovered
upon the disk of Jupiter, even by the best tele-
scopes, excepting at its first entrance, when, by
reason of its being more directly illuminated by
the rays of the sun than the planet itself, it ap-
pears like a lucid spot upon it. Sometimes,
however, a satellite, in passing over the disk, ap-
pears like a dark spot, and is easily to be distin-
guished. This is supposed to be owing to spots
on the body of these secondary planets ; and it is
remarkable, that the same satellite has been
known to pass over the disk at one time as a. dark
spot, and at another so luminous that it could
not be distinguished from Jupiter himself, ex-
cept at its coming on and going off.
124. To account for Uiis phenomenon, we
must say that either the spots are subject to change,
or, if they be permanent like those of our moon,
that the satellites al different times turn different
parts of their globes towards us. Possibly both
these causes may contribute to produce the phe-
nomena just mentioned. For tnese reasons also
both the light and apparent magnitude of the sa-
tellites are variable; for the fewer spots there
are upon that side which is turned towards us,
the brighter it will appear ; and, as the bright side
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ASTRONOMY.
only can be leen, a satellite must appear larger
tlie more of its bright siae it turns towards the
earth, and the less so the tnore it happens to be
covered with spots. The fourth satellite, though
generally the smallest, sometimes appears bigger
than any of the rest; Ae third sometimes seems
least, though usually the largest ; nay, a satellite
may be so coTered with spots as to appear less
than its shadow passing over the disk.ot the pri-
mary, though we are certain that the shaaow
must, be smaller than the body whidi casts it. —
io a spectator placed on tlie surface of Jupiter,
each ot these satellites would put on the various
appearances of the moon; but they appear to tis
always rouiidi having constantly their enlighiebed
half turned towards the earth.
125. When these moons pass through their in-
ferior semicircles, they cast a shado^ upon Jupi-
ter, and thus cause an eclipse of the sun to nis
inhabitants ; ana in some situations this shadow
may be observed going before or foUowjn^ the
satellite. lierschel says, < April 6th, 1780, I
had a fine view of Jupiter, and saw, as soon as
t looked into.the telescope, without any previous
notice of it, the shadow of the tliird satellite, and
tlie satellite itself on the lower part of the disk.
fhe shadow was so black and welt denned, that
attempted to measure it, and found its diameter,
by the micrometer, to be 1' 562.' See plate XI.
fig. 2. On the other hand, in pacing through
tneir superior semicircles, the satellites may be
eclipsed in the same manner as our moon is to
us, oy passing througli the shaddiv of Jupiter ;
and this is actually the case with the first, se-
cond, and third of these bodies ; but the fourth,
by reason of the largeness ot its orbit, passed
Sometimes above or below the shadow, as is the
case with our moon. The beginnings and end-
ings of these eclipses are easily seen by a teles-
cope wheii the earth is in a proper situation with
regard to Jupiter and the sun ; but when this
or any other planet .is in conjimction with the
sun, ihe superior brightness of that luminary
renders bdlh it and tlie satellites invisible. From
6ie time of its first appearing after a conjunction
iintil near the opposition, only the immersions of
the satellites into his shadow, or the begiiinings
of the eclipses are visible ; at ihk opposition,
only the occultations of the satellites, by going
behind or coming before their primary, are ob-
liervable ; and from the opposition to the conjunc-
tion, only the inim^rsions, or end of the eclipses
ftre to be seen. For let S, plate VI. fig. 8, be thfe
sun; I Jupiter and its shadow; A and P di^ &a(ti,
before and after the opposition of Jupiter; Sp
the path of the first satellite in the Shadow ; A ^ •
a tangent to Jupiter. When the first satellite
enters the shadow, the apparent distance of it
from the body of Jupiter is < As; but at its
emersion, the line pk passes ihrougli Jupiter,
and therefore the emersion is not Visible; but
afler opposition, the earth bein^ at P, the emer-
sion, and not the immersioti, will be seen. The
saYne things take place with resptet to the second
Satellite. If mtito be the pam of the third te-
tellite, m A frequently ties without the body of
Jupiter, and therefore 1x>th the iinmcniton and
Emersion will be visible ; the satellite disappears
and re-appears a^ti at a distance fi^om the
t>ody of Jupiter, and On the same side.
126. This is exactly true in the first satellite,
of ifYdA we can never see an iminersidn with its
immediately subsequent emersion : and it b but
rarely that they can be 1x>th seen in the second ;
as in order to their l>eing so, that satellite must be
hear one of its limits, at the same time that the
planet is near its perihelion and faaadrahire with
the sub. Wiih regard to the third; when Jupiter
is more than 46^ mm conjunction with, or op-
position to, the sun, lM>th its imther^ons and im-
mediately subsequent emersions are visible ; as
they likewise ate in the fonrth; when the diAabce
bf Jupiter from conjunction or opposition is
24^. It had long been suspected tnat the sa-
tellite of this planet revolved on their axis; aiid
Dr. Herscliel nas discovered that each of dieffl
revives about its axis id the tiiUe of its revoln<
tion Touild its primary ; thus furnishing another
tftrikiiig correspoudence between the satellites of
the other planets and the modii, the satellite of
the earth. They must be very magnificent ob-
jects to tlie ihhabitants of Jupiter. The first of
them appears to them four times larger than our
moon does to us, atid goes through alt the cH^ges
6f the mooti in the short kpace of forty-two
hours, within which period it is itself eclipsed, *
and causes an eclipse of the sijtn on the sur&oe
6f Jupiter.
127. When Jupiter is in quadrature with the
hm, the earth is rarthest out of the line that pas-
iea through the centres of the sun and Jupiter,
knd therefo'tie the Ihadow of the phmet is then
inost exposed to oUr view : l>ut even then the
l)ody of the planet will hide from us one side of
that part bf the ^adow which is nearest to it^
through #h2ch the first satellite passes; which is
(he reason that, though ^e see the entrance of
that satellite into the shadow, or its ooniing out
{W)m thence; as the earth is situate on the east or
west side thereof; We cannot see them l>oth;
Whereas the dther satellites; goitig through the
shadow at a greater distance m>m Jupiter, their
ingress and egress ar« both visible. The orbits
bf the satellites are inclined to the plane of Ju-
piter's orbit, as is eVidetit firom the unequal dura-
tion of the eclipses bf the same satettite. The
fburth satellite, like our own moon, is sometimes
in opposition to the sun, without beiiig eclipsed.
The third and fourth satellites often disappear in
the shadow, arid re-appear asaih on tne same
side of Jupiter ; but only the beginnings or the
endings of the eclipses of the first and second
satellites are visible. The rehiti^ distances of
these moons frmn their prhnary, are shown in
plate VII. fi^. 13.
127*. We cannot close tlfis account of Jupiter
without noticing two curious results obtained by
Ia Pldce, with respect to the satellites of Ju-
piter; results whioi agree With observation in a
remarkable manner. The first is, that if m', m',
fft", represent the mean motions of the fiM, se-
cond, and third satellites respectively, the
iM' + 2 m'' — ^nTf is always equal to nodiing.
The second is, that if /', T, and /'" represent the
mean longitudes of the satellites, as seen from
the centre of Jupiter, then T— 3^+2/"' =
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ASTRONOMY.
107
18(r. It ibHowB ftaok thb ttieorem, that the
first three satellitef of Jupiter can never all be
eclipsed togeAer. For it it was possible, then
^, r, and t" would be equal, and consequently
r— 3r + 2r=:0. when the second and
third aie «chpsed tofj^efiiery then fs= f^ and con-
sequently T — /"= 180; heno^ when Ae se-
cond end third satellites of Juptter are eclipsed
at th^ same time^ die first i^ always in coiqunc-
tion with Jupiter. Various other interestii% con-
sequences of this theorem might be ^easily de-
duced ; but we leave the ingenious, reader to
make Aem out for himself. The relative dis-
tances of the satellites from their primarips are
shown in plate VH. fig;l3.
128. Saturn, when viewed through a good
telescope, makes a more remarkable appearance
than any of tie othbr planets. Galileo first dis-
covered his Uflteommon shape, and from the dis-
coveries made by him and other astronomers, it
appears that this planet is surrounded by a broad
thin ring, the edge of which reflects littlei if any,
of the sun's light lo us, but the pflades of the ring
reflect the li^t in the same manner that the
planet itKlf dees. If we suppose the diameter
of Saturn to be divided into three equal parts,
the diameter of the ring is about seven of these
parts. The ring is detached from the body of
Saturn in sudi a manner, that the distance be-
tween the innermost part of the ring and the
body is equal to its breadth. If we had a view
of Ihtfknet and his king with our eyes perpen-
dicular to one df the pUiaei ef ibe latter, we should
see them as in plate VII. fig. 12 ; but our eye is
never so much elevated above either plane as to
have the visual ray at right angles to it, nor in-
deed is it ever elevated more than about 30^
above it; so diat the ring being commonly
viewed at an oblique aAgle, appears of an oval
formi and through very good t^escopes double^
as represented, plate VII. fig. 13. and plate XI.
fig. 3. When tke ring appeais most open, its
loiijgest diameter appears about twice the length
of its shortest.
139. Botli the outward and inward rim are
projected into an ellipsis^ more or less oblongs
according to the different degrees of obliquity wiUi
which it is viewed; Sometimes our eye is in
the plane of the ring, and then it becomes in-
visible ; either because the outward edge is not
fitted to reflect the sun's light, or more probably
became it is too thin to be seen at such a dis-
tance. As the i^ane of this ring keeps always
parallel to itself, that is, its situation in one part
of the orbit is always parallel to that in any
other part, it disappears twice in every evolution
of the planet, that is about once in fifteen years ;
and the planet sometimes appears quite round
for months together. At other times the dis-
tance betwixt the body of the planet and the
ring is very perceptible; and Mr. Whiston tells
us, that Dr. CUrkeli father saw a star through
the opening.
130. When Saturn appears round, if our eye
be in the plane of the ring, it will appeal as a
dark line across the middle of the planet's disk ;
and if our eye be elevated above the plane of the
lingi a shadowy belt will be visible, caused by the
shadow of tiie nng as weH as by Ae interposition
of part of it betwixt the eye and the planet. The
shadow of the ring is broadest when the sun is
most elevated^ but its obscure parts appear
broadest When our eye is most elevated above
the plane of it. When it appears double, the
ring next the body of the planet appears bright-
est ; when the ring appears of an elliptical form,
the parts about the ends of the hu-gest axis are
call^ the anss. These, a little before and afler
the disappearing of the ting, ai^ of unequal
magnituae : the Urg^t anSs is longer visible
before thie placet's fotktid phase, and appears
again sooner than the other. In the diagram,
j)late VII. fig. 2, are delineated the phases of the
ring from its full appearance in 1825, to its dis-
appearance in 183^ and its full re-appearance
in 1839.
131. Dr. Herschel has found that the ring
is double, or that there are two concentric rings ;
also that it has a motion of rotation in its own
plane, its axis of motion being the same as that
of Saturn himself and its periodical tiqae lOh.
3r 15", 4: But he thinks it probable. that the
concentric rings may not revolve in tiie same
period. Their dimensions, and the space be-
tween them, he states in the following proportion
to each other : —
mSles.
Inner diameter of thift same ring . 146,345
Oiktshlediametter of ditto . . . .184,393
Inner diaqieter of tiie lalk^ ring . ; 190,248
Outside diameter of ditto .... 204,883
Breadth of the ring 20,000
Breadth of the outer ditto .... 7,20a
Breadth of the vacant space . .* . . 2,839
1 32: Dr. Herschel concludes, from his obser-
vations on (h^ rihg, that ib structure is such as
to allow it to remain permanently in its present
siate ; nor does he think it at all probable that
the ring is of that changeable miture which Some
persons have imagined.
133. The same excellent asfronomer, from a
sbries of observatibns on the belts of Saturn, has
cbnduded, that he revolves upon his axis in
10b. 16' 0", 4, that he has a dense atmosphere,
and that his polar diameter is to his equatorial
due as 10 to 11.
134. Saturn hai,' besides his ring, seven little
!tecondary planets or satellites revolving round
him. One of ihem, which till lately was reckon-
ed the fourth in onder from Saturn, was discovered
by Huygens in 1655, by means of a telescope
100 feet long; and the others, viz. the first, se-
cond, third, and flflh, at different times by Cas-
^ini, between 1671 and 1684, by the help of
glasses of 100 and 136 feet. The sixth and
seventh have lately been discovered by Herschel,
with his forty feet reflecting telescope, in 1787
And 1788. These he has called the sixth and
seventh satellites, though they are nearer to Sa-
turn than the other five ; that the names may not
be mistaken with regaid to former observations
of them.
,135. The periodical revolutions and distances
of these satellites expressed in semidiameters of
that planet, and in English miles are as follows :
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108
ASTRONOMY.
Periodic Times.
Distances in
Angles
of
Orbs.
Semi-
diam.
Miles.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Irf. 2lA. 18'27"
2 17 41 22
4 12 25 12
15 22 41 13
79 7 48 0
1 8 53 9
0 22 40 46
4j
8
18
54
3|
n
170,000
217,000
303,000
704,000
2,050,000
135,000
107,000
1' 2r
1 52
2 36
6 18
17 4
1 14
0 57
136. The first four descnoe ellipses like those
of the ring, and are in the same plane : their in-
clination to the orbit is from 30° to 31°. The
fifth describes an orbit inclined from 17° to 18°
to the orbit of Saturn, his plane lying between
the ecliptic and those of the other satellites. Dr.
Herschel observes, that the fifth satellite turns
round its axis once, exactly in the time in which
it revolves round the planet Saturn. In this re-
spect, like the satellites of Jupiter, it resembles
oar moon, which does the same thing. The pro-
portional distances of the seven satellites for-
merly known to astronomers, are shown in plate
VII. fig. 13.
137. The apparent form of the ring of Saturn,
snd the form ot the orbits of his first four satel-
lites, may easily be found by means of the follow-
ing table :
ARGUMENT
Long, of Saturn -|- 13° 43'.
1
Signs. Signs.
Signs.
?
0. VI.
I. VII.
II. VIII.
1
'
- +
- +
— 4.
'
0
0-000
0-260
0-451
30
3
0-027
0-284
0-464
27
6
0054
0-306
0-476
24
9
0-081
0328
0.486
21
12
0-108
0-348
0-495
18
15
0-135
0-368
0-503
15
18
0-161
0-387
0-509
12
21
0-187
0-405
0-514
9
24
0-212
0-421
0-518
6
27
0-236
0-437
0-520
3
30
0-260
0-451
0-521
0
1
XI. V.
X. IV.
IX. III.
\S
+ -
+ -
+ —
1
•
Signs.
Signs.
Signs.
planet*8 latitude, which correction is obtsdned by '
taking one-fourth of the latitude in minutes, and
applying it to the number in the table, with the
sign — when the latitude is north, but -|- when
south.
Example, What is the shape of Saturn's ring
on January 25, 1826 ?
By the Nautical Almanack, his longitude, on
that day, is 2«15° 23', and latitude 1° 26' S.
Now 2« 15° 23' H- 13° 43', is 2» 29° 6', with
which, in the table, we find — -521, which cor-
rected by + 26, one-fourth of the latitude gives
— '495 ; or the shorter diameter is to the longer,
as 495 to 1000. The sign + indicates that the
most distant half of the ring is north, and — that
the most distant half is south of the centre of the
planet.
139. The Georgium Sidus, Herschel, or
Uranus, was discovered by Herschel on March
13th 1781. From certain inequalities m the
motion of Jupiter and Saturn, the existence of a
planet of considerable size, without the orbit of
either, had before been suspected. Its apparent
magnitude, as seen from the earth, is about three
seconds and a half; and as, from its distance
fix>m the sun, it shines but with a pale light, it
cannot often be seen with the naked eye. Its
d iameter is about four times and a half that of the
earth, and it revolves round the sun in 83 years,
\r,Q days, 18 hours. The want of light in this
planet, on account of its great distance from the
6un, is supplied by no less than six moons, which
revolve round it in different periods. But there
(s a remarkable peculiarity in the position of the
orbits in which tnese moons revolve round their
primary, and in the direction in which they re-
volve in their orbits. The orbits are nearly per-
pendicular to the plane of the ecliptic, and they
revolve in them in a direction contrary to the
order of the signs of the ecliptic. - La Place, from
theoretical considerations, concludes that this
planet itself revolves on an axis very little in-
clined to the plane of the ecliptic ; but there is
little hope that this theoretical deduction will
ever be either confirmed, or set aside, by obser-
vations on a body so very remote.
140. The periods of the revolution of the sa-
tellites, and the greatest angle of elongation of
their orbits, as seen from the earth, are contained
in the following table.
Satellite.
Period.
1
Elongation
D. H. M.
1
5 21 25
25-5'
2
8 17 1
33-9
3
10 23 4
38-57
4
13 11 5
44-22
5
38 1 49
88-44
6
107 16 40
176-88
138. To find the shape of Saturn's nng by this
table, add his longitude to 13° 43', and with the
sum as an argument enter the table, the number
from which will represent the shorter diameter,
X the longer diameter being reckoned a thousand.
This, however, requires a small correction for the
141. We are unacquainted with any second-
ary cause that could have any influence in re-
gulating the respective distances of the planets
from the sun ; but there certainly does exist a
relation which, from its singularity, it is difficult
to believe quite accidental. This was first ob-
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ASTRONOMY.
109
served by professor Bode of Berlin^ who re-
marked, that a planet was wanting at the dis*>
lance at which the new planets have been dis-
covered, to complete the relation. According
to him the distances of the planets may be ex-
pressed nearly as follows, the earth's distances
from the sun being ten.
Mercury ... 4 zz 4
Venus ... 4 -f 3 X 1 = 7
Earth . . . 4 + 8x2= 10
Mars . . . . 4 + 3x2*= 16
New Planets . 4+3x2'= 28
Jupiter . . . 4+3x2*= 52
Saturn . . . 4 + 3 x 2* = 100
Herschel . . 4 + 3 X 2* = 196
142. The comets, yiewed through a telescope,
have a very diiferent appearance from any of
the planets. The nucleus, or star, seems much
dimmer. They are to appearance surrounded
with atmospheres of a prodigious size, often
rising ten times higher than the nucleus, and
have often likewise different phases, like the
moon.
143. The head of a comet, seen through a
good telescope, appears to consist of a solid
globe, and an atmosphere, that surrounds it.
The solid part is frequently called the nucleus ;
which, through a telescope, is easily distinguished
from the atmospheres or hairy appearance.
144. A comet is generally attended with a
blaze or tail, whereby it is distinguished from a
star or planet; as it is also by its motion. Some-
times the tail only of a comet has been visible at
a place where th^ head has been all the while
under the horizon ; such an appearance is called
a beam. Whether the tail of a comet is caused
or not by the heat of the sun, it is always
observed to grow larger as it approaches, and to
diminish as it recedes from that luminary.
145. If the tail were to continue of the same
length, it would appear longer or shorter, accord-
ing to the different views of the spectator ; for if
his eye be in a line, drawn through the middle
of the tail lengthways, or nearly so, the tail will
not be distinguished from the rest of the atmos-
phere, but the whole will appear round ; if the
eye be a little out of that line, the tail will ap-
pear short (see plate VII. fig. 8) ; and it is called
a hearded comet, when the tail hangs down to-
wards the horizon, as in thai figure. If the tail
of a comet be viewed sideways, the whole length
of it is seen. It is obvious, that the nearer the
«ye is to the tail, the greater will be its apparent
length. ^ ^^
146. The tails of comets often appear bent
(see plate V. fig. 12, 13). This is probably
owing to the resistance of the tether; which,
though extremely small, may have a sensible
effect on so thin a vapour as the tail consists of.
This bending is seen only when the eartli is not
in the plane of the orbit of the comet continued.
When that plane passes through the eye of the
spectator, the tail appears straight. See plate
147. The fixed stars, when viewed through the
best telescopes, appear not in the least magnified,
but rather diminished, on account, as is thought
by some, that the telescope takes off that twinkling
appearance they make to the naked eye; but by
others more probably, that the telescope tube ex-
cludes a quantity of the rays of light, which are
not only emitted from the particular stars them-
selves, but by many thousands more, which
&lling upon our eyelids and the aerial particles
about us, are reflected into our eyes so strongly
as to excite vibrations, nol only on those points
of the retina where the images of the stars are
formed, but also in other points at the same dis-
tance round about. This, vrithout the telescope,
makes us imagine the stars to be much bigger
than when we see them only by a few rays
coming directly from them, so as to enter our
eye without being intermixed with others.
148. The number of stars appear prodigiously
increased through the telescope ; seventy stars
have been counted in the constellation called
Pleiades, and no fewer than 2000 in that of
Orion. The late improvements of Herschel,
however, have shown the number of stars to be
exceedingly beyond even what the discoveries of
former astronomers would induce us to suppose.
He has also shown that many, which to the eye*
or through ordinary glasses, appear single, do in
fact consist of two or more stars ; and that the
galaxy, or milky way, owes its light entirely to
multitudes of small stars placed so close, that
the naked eye, or even ordinary telescopes, can-
not distinguish them.
149. The nebuls, or small whitish specks,
discoverable by telescopes in various parts of
the heavens, are owing to the same cause.
Former astronomers could only reckon 103 ; but
Herschel has discovered upwards of 1250. He
has also discovered a species of them, which he
calls planetary nebuls, on account of their
brightness, and shining with a well-defined disk.
Sect. III. — Conclusions drawn from the
APPEARANCES OF THE SuN AND PlaNETS.
150. There is an appearance m the heavens,
termed semita luminosa, or the zodiacal light,
which is now generally supposed to be owing
to the sun's atmosphere. This was first dis-
covered by Cassini in 1683. It is something
like the milky way, a faint twilight, or the tail of
a comet, thin enough to let stars be seen through
it, and seems to surround the sun in the form of
a lens, the plane whereof is nearly co-incident
with that of the sun's equator. It is seen
stretched along the zodiac, and accompanies the
sun in his annual motion through tne twelve
signs. £ach end terminates in an angle of about
21° : the extent of it in length from either of the
angular points varies from 50 to 100^; it reaches
beyond tne orbit of Venus, but not so far as that
of .the earth. The breadth of it near the horizon
is also various; from 12° almost to 30° : near the
sun, where it may reasonably be supposed to be
broadest, it cannot be seen.
151. Tliis light is weakest in the morning,
and strongest at night; disappearing in full
moon-light, or in strong twdignt, and tlierefore
is not at all visible about midsummer, in places
so near either of the poles as to have their twi-
light all the night, but may be seen in those
places, in the middle of winter, both morning and
evening, as it may in places under and near the
equator, all the year round. In north latitude it
is most conspicuous after the evening twilight.
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110
ASTRONOMY.
about the lattes end of Febniaiy, and before the
mommg; twilight in the beginoing of October;
for at Uiose times it stands most erect above the
horiion, and is therefore clearest from the thick
vapours of the twilight. Besides the difference
of real extension of this light in length and
brfadth at difierent times, it is diminished by the
nearness of any other light in the skv ; not to
mention, that Uie extent of it wiU be diffnently
determined by diflerent spectators, according t6
the goodness of their eyes.
152. Gassini supposed that, as- by the rotation of
the sun, some gro^ parts are thrown up on his
surface, whereof spotsandnebulosities are formed ;
so the great rapijiity wherewilk the equatorial
parts 4re moveo, may throw out, to a considev-
iLble distance, a number of pactides of a much
finer texture, of sufficient density to reflect
light That this Ught was caused by an emana-
tion from the sun, similar- to that of the spots, he
thought probable from the following oboewatioB :
That after the year 1688^ when this light b^n
to grow weaker, np spots appeared upon the
sun ; whereas, in lM preceding years, they wer^
frequently seen there; and tfiat the great in-
equality tn.the intervab between the times of the
appearances of the solar spots, has some analogy
to the irregular returns of weakness and stiengtti
in this light, in like circumstances of the consti-
tution of the air, and of the darkness of the sky.
But die atmosphere of no planet can extenci'
beyond the pomt at which tne centrifngal force
arising from its evolution is equal* to the force
of gravity, and that distance is equal to the radius
of a planet's orUt, which revolves in the same
time that the sun revolves on his avs. Now th^
sun revolves in about 25 days, and Mercuiy in
about eighty-eight, therefore t^e aplar atqi^osphjere
can never extend to the orbit pf M^ercury, wl^ile
the zodiacal light, whatever it \i, certainly ex-
tends much fiurther. This consideration certainly
militates strongly against the hypothesis of the
zodiacal light l^ing connected with the solar
atmosphere.
153. He was, also of opinion that this light in
the zodiac, as it is subject to great increase at
one time and diminution at another, may some-
times become quite imperceptible ; and thought
this vras the case in 1665, 1672, and 1661, when
he saw nothing of it, though he surveyed with
great attention those parts of the heavens where,
according to' his theoty, it must have appeared,
if it had been as visible then as it was in others.'
He cites also passazes out of several authors,
both ancient and modem, which make it proba-
ble that it had been seen, both in former and
latter ages, but without being sufficiently attended
to, or its nature enquired into.
154. As to the solar spotSi Dr. Long informs
us, that ' they do not coan^ their places upon
the sun, but adhere to his surface, or float in his
atmosphere, very near hn body ; and if there be
twenty spots upon him at a time, they all keep
in the same situation with respect to one another ;
and, as long as they last, are carried round in
the same manner : by the motion of the spots
therefore we learn, what we should not otherwise
have known, that the sun is a globe, and has a
rotation about his axis.'
155. Notwithstanding this, he telb us after^
wards, 'The spots, geneially speaking, may be
said to adhere to the sun, or to be so near him
as to be carried round upon him uniformly;
nevertheless sometimes, though rarely, a spot
has been seen to move with a veloci^ a little
di£ferent from the rest ; spots that were different
parallels, have appeared to be carried along, not
Keeping always tne same distance, but approach-
ing nearer to each other ; and when two spots
moved in the same parallel, the hindmost has
been observed to overtake and paiss by the other.
The revolution of spots near tne equator of the
sun, is shorter than of those that are mpre dis-
tant from it' The apparent change of shape in
the spots, as they approach the circumference of
the disk, acoording to this author, is lU^ewise a
proof of the sun's Botatio» round his axis, and
that they either adhere to the surfoce of the lumi-
nary, or are carried round his atmosphere very
near, his surface.
156. The time of the appfoent rewilation of a
spot being known, the true time of its gomg
round upon the sun may be thus found : In plate
VII. fig. 3. the are A C, which, in the month of
May, die earth goes through in. her orbit in 37
days 12 hours and 20 minutes, is 26^ 22^ ; the
are ac being equal, to A C : the apparent revela-
tion of a spot is the whole circle a 5 c d, or 360"
with the addition of the are a c of 26**. 32*, which
mkkes 386^ 22* : then say, as 386'' 22^ is to 27 d.
12 h. 20^; so is 360'' to 25 d. 15 h. 16*; die true
time of the rotation of the sun afr it- would be
seen from a fixed star.
157. The angle of intersection of the sun's
equator with the ecUptic is but small, being
never more, according to Scheiner, thaii 8^, nor
less than 6^ ; for whidi reason he settled it at 7^,
though Cassini makes it7|. This plane<^ntinued
cuts the ecliptic in two opposite points, which
are called die sun's nodes, oeing 10® of n, and
lO'^ oi"H ; and two points in die ecliptic, 90°
from the nodes, may be called the limits. These
are io'' of iQt and 10" of X* When the earth is
in either of these nodes^ the equator of the sun,
if visible, would appear as a straight line ; and,
br reason of the vast distance of the sun from us,
all his parallels would likewise appear as straight
lines ; but^ in every other situation of the eanh,
the equator and parallels of the sua would, if
visible; appear as ellipses growing wider the
farther the earth is from the nodes, and widest of
all when the earth is in one of her limits.
158. There has been no small speculation respect-
ing the nature' and formation of the solar spots.
Some have thought that the sun is an opaque
body, mountainous and' uneven as our earth is,
covered all over with a fiery and luminous fluid ;
that this fluid is subject to ebbing and flowing,
after the manner of our tides, so as sometimes to
leave uncovered the tops of rocks or hills, which
appear like black spots ; and that the nebulosi-
ties about them are caused by a kind of froth.
Others have imagined that the fluid which sends
us so much light and heat, contains a nucleus or
solid globe, wherein are several volcanoes, which,
like &tna or Vesuvius, from time to time cast
up quantiues of bituminous matter to the sur-
fiice of the sun, and form those spots which arc
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ASTRONOMY.
Ill
seenthertBon; ttn4 that, «9 this vaastet it gradual^
consumed hy the luminoMs fluid, the ^pots dis-
appear for a time, but are seen to liw agaio in
the same places when these rolcaooes cast up
new matter. A third opinion is, that the sun
consists of a fiery luminous fluid, wherein are
immersed several opaque bodies of irregular
shapes; and that these bodies, by the rapid
motion of the sun, ace sometimes buoyed or
raised up to die surftce, where they form the
appearance of spots, which seem to change
their shapes accpidiJog as different ^des of
them are presented to the ▼iaw. A fourth
oi$inion is, that the sun consists of a fluid in
continual agitation ; that, by the rapid motion
of this fluid, some parts more gross than the
rest are carried up to the surface of the lumif
nary, like the scum of melted metal rising up
to the top in a furnace ; that these scums, as
they are difierently agitated bv the motion of
the fluid, form themselTes into tnoae spots we see
on the solar disk ; and, besides di^ optical changes
already mentioned, grow larger, are diminished
in their apparent magnitude, rec^ a Utile from,
or approach nearer to, each otber, and are at
last entirely dissipated by the continual rapid
motion of the fluid, or are otherwise consumed
or absorbed.
159. Dt, Wilson, in the sizty^fourth volume
of the Philosophical Transactions, advances a
new opinion, viz. that th^ are hc^ws in the
surfiice of the luminary. On this supposition he
offers some queries and conjectures concerning
the nature of the sun himself. He asks, Whether
it is not reasonable to think, that the vast body of
the sun is made up of two kinds of matter veiy
different in their qualities ; that1)y fiir the greatest
part is solid and dark ; and that this dark globe
IS encompassed with a thin covering of that re-
splendent substance, fcpm» which the sun would
seem to derive the whole of bis. vivifying, heat
and energy ?
160. This» if granted, will afford a satisfieurtoi^
solution of the appearance of spots ; because, if
any part of this resplendant sur&ce shall be by
any means displaced, the dark globe must neces-
sarily appear ; the bottom of the cavity corres-
ponding to the nucleus, and the delving sides
to the umbr«. The shining substance, he thinks,
may be displaced by the action of some elastic
vapour generated within the substance of the
dark globe. This vapour swelling into such a vo-
lume as to reach up to the surfiice of the luminous
matter, would thereby throw it aside in all direc-
tions : and as we cannot expect any regularity in
the production of such a vapour, the irregular
appearance and disappearance of the spots is by
that means accounted for; as the reflux of the
luminous matter must always occasion the dark
nucleus gradually to decrease, till at last it be-
comes indistingiushable from the rest of the
surfiatoe.
161. But aa ol^ection occurs, that, on this
supposition, the nucleus of a spot, whibt on the
decrease, should, always appear nearly circular,
by the gradual descent of the luminous matter
from all sides to cover it To diis Dr. Wilson
Implies, that in all probability the surfoce of the
dark globe is veiy uneven and mountainous,
which prevents the regular reflux oC the shin-
ing matter; and this* he thinks, is rendered veiT
probable by the enormous mountains and cavi-
ties which are observed on the moon ; and why,
says he, may thene not be the same on the sur&ce
of the sun 1 He thinks his hypothesis also con*
finned by the dividing of the nucleus intp seve-
ral parts, which might arise from the luminous
matter flowing in differentchannels in the bottom
of the hoUpw.
162. The appearance of the umbraa afrer the
nucleus is gone, he thinks, may be owing to a
caviW remaining in the luminous matter, though
the <vuk globe is entirely covered. As to a mo'-
tion of the spots, distinct from what they are
supposed to receive from the rotation of the sun
round his axis, he savs he never could observe
any, except vifhat might be attributed to the en-
lai^ment or diminution of them wheu in the
neighbourhood of one another. ' But,' says he,
' what would fiucther contribute towards forming
a judgment of this kind, is the apparent alteration
of the relative place, which must arise from the
motiou across tne disk on a spherical surface ; a
circumstance which I am uncertain if it has been
sufficiently attended to.'
163. Ihr. Wilson's hypothesis is frulher con-
firmed by the disappearance of the umbne on the
sides of spots contiguous to one another; as the
action of ttie elastic vapour must necessarily drive
the luminous matter away firom each, and thus as
it were accumulate it between them, so that no
umbrc can be perceived. As to the luminous
matter itself, he conjectures, that it cannot be any
very ponderous fluid, but that it rather resembles
a dense fog which broods on the surfiice of die
sun's dark' body.
164. Br. Wilson's general conclusion is, that,
* According to the view of things given in the
foregoing queries, there would seem to be some-
thing vety'extradrdinary in the dark and untg-
nited state of the great internal spot of the sun.
Does not this, (he asks), seem to indicate that
the luminous mditter that encompasses it derives
not its splendor from any intensity of heat ? For,
if thb were the case, would not the parts under-
neathy which would be perpetually in contact
vrith that glowing mailer, be heated to such a
degree as to become luminous and bright^ At the
same time it must be confessed, that Jthough the
internal globe vnis in reality much ignited, yet
when any part'of it forming Ine nucleus of a. spot
is exposed to our view, and b seen in competition
vrith a substance of such amazing spleUdor, it is
no wonder that an inferior degree of light, should
in these cases, be unperceivablel
165. As to the moon, it is allowed on all hands,
that there are prodigious ineaualities on her sur-
fece. This is proved by looking at her through
a telescope, at any other time than when she is
full ; for then there is no regular line bounding
light and darkness ; but the confines of these
parts appear as it were toothed and cut with in-
numerable latches and breaks; and even in the
dark part, neair the borders of the lucid surface,
there are seen some small spaces enlightened by
the sun's beams. Upon the fourth day afiernew
moon, diere may oe perceived some shining
points like rocks or small islands vrithin the daik
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112
ASTRONOMY.
body of the moon ; and not far from the confines
of light and darkness, there are observed other
little spaces which join to the enlightened sur-
face, but run out into the dark side, which by
degrees change their figure, till at last they come
wholly within the illuminated space, and have no
dark parts round them at all. Afterwards many
more shining spaces are observed to arise by de-
grees, and to appear within the dark side of the
moon, which, before they drew near to the con-
fines of light and darkness, were invisible, being
wi^out any light, and totally immersed in the
shadow. Hie contrary is observed in the decreas-
ing phases, where the lucid spaces which joined
the illuminated surfiaice by degrees recede from it ;
and, after they are quite separated firom the con-
fines of light and darkness, remain for some time
visible, till at last they also disappear. Now it
is impossible that this should be the case, unless
these shining points were higher than the rest of
the surface, so that the light of the sun may reach
them.
166. Astronomers have endeavoured to mea-
sure the height of these lunar mountains, in the
following manner. Let E C D, Plate VII. fig. 6,
be the hemisphere of the moon illuminated by
the sun ; £C D the diameter of the circle bound-
ing light and darkness, and A the top of a
hill within the dark part when it first begins to
be illuminated. Observe with a telescope the
proportion of the right line A £, or the distance
of tne point A from the lucid surface to the dia-
meter of the moon £ D ; and because in this case
the ray of light £ S touches the globe of the moon,
A £(5 will be a right angle, and therefore in the
triangle A EC having Uie two sides A E and
£ C, we can find the third side A C ; from which
deducting BC or EC, there will remain AB the
height of the mountain. By this mode of mea-
suring, which would be just if the line A£ could
be taken accurately, the height of St. Catherine
would be nearly 8^ miles, if according to Riccioli
its top was about a sixteenth part of the moon's
diameter distant from the confines of the lucid
surface. ' But by the more accurate observations
and just calculations of Herschel, this dispropor-
tionate height appears to be ill founded, and the
generality of the lunar mountains do not exceed
half a mile in perpendicular elevation. He thus
calculates their heights : Let S L M or 5 / m, fig. 1 ,
be a line drawn from the sun to the mountain,
touching the moon at L or /, and the mountain at
M or m. Then, to an observer at £ or e, the
lines L M , / m, will not appear of the same length,
though the mountain should be of an equal
height; for LM will be projected into on^ and
Im into ON. But these are the quantities tliat
are taken by the micrometer when we observe a
mountain to project from the line of illuraination.
From .the observed quantity o n, when the moon
is not in her quadrature, to find L M, we have
the following analogy. The triangles o O L, r
M L are similar ; therefore Lo : LO : : L r : L M,
orL^-l?=: LM : but LO is the radius of
Lo
the moon, and L r or on is the observed distance
of the mountain's projection ; and L o is the sine
of the angle RO i;=.o L S ; which we may take
t> be the distance of the sun from the moon with-
out any material error, and which therefore we
may find at any giv^n time from an ephemeris.
167. Some modem astronOtaiers have disco-
vered a still greater similarity between the lunar
mountains and those of our earth ; viz. that some
of them are really volcanoes, and emit fire, as
ours do. An appearance of this kind was dis-
covered some years ago by Ulloa, in an eclipse
of the sun. It was a small bright spot like a star
near the margin of the moon, and which he at
that time supposed to have been a hole with the
sun's light shining through it. Succeeding ob-
servations, however, have Uiduced astronomers to
attribute appearances of this kind to the eruDtion
of volcanic fire : and Herschel has particularly
observed several eruptions of the lunar volcanoes,
and similar appearances have been more recently
noticed by tnat acute and accurate observer,
captain Henry Kater.
168. Many conjectures have been formed re-
specting the nature of the moon's substance ; some
have imagined, that, besides the light reflected
from the sun, the moon has also some obscure
li^ht of her own, by which she would be visible
without being illuminated by the sun-beams. In
proof of this it is urged, that during the time of
even total eclipses the moon is still visible, ap-
pearing of a dull red color, as if obscured by a
great deal of smoke. In reply to this, it has been
advanced, that this is not always the case ; the
moon sometimes disappearing totally in the time
of an eclipse, so as not to be discernible by the
best glasses, while little stars of the fifth and sixth
magnitudes were distinctly seen as usual ; and
when the moon is visible in a total eclipse, a suf-
ficient reason may be assigned for this appear-
ranee from the refiraction of Uie sun's rays throu«rh
our atmosphere, which are reflected Inck to the
earth by the otherwise dark sur&ce of the mooD.
169. Various speculations have also been io-
dulged concerning the spots on the moon's sur-
face. Some philosophers have been so taken with
the beauty ot the brightest places observed in her
disk, that they have imagined them to be rocks
of diamonds ; and others have compared them to
pearls and precious stones. Keill, and the greater
part of astronomers are now of opinion, that these
are only the tops of mountains, which, by reason
of their elevation, are more capable of reflecting
the sun's light than others which are lower. The
duskish spots, he says, cannot be seas, nor any
thing of a liquid substance ; because, when ex-
amined by the telescope, they appear to consist
of an infinity of caverns and empty pits, whose
shadows fall within them, which can never be the
case with seas, or any liquid substance ; but even
within these spots, brighter places are also to be
observed ; which, according to his hypothesis,
ought to be the points of rocks standing up
within the cavities.
170. The existence of the lunar atmosphere,
so long a subject of controversy, is now de-
cidedly set at rest. Schroeter of Lilienthal has
observed phenomena precisely analogous to the
twilight, and which can in no way be accounted
for independently of atmospheric refraction. He
has also, as he says, observed several obscuTa-
tions, and returning sereniw, and other changes
in the lunar atmosphere. In the occultation of
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ASTRONOMY.
113
Jupiter by the moon on April 5th, 1824, Mr. in 1577, enabled Tycho Brahe to determine
R^mage of Aberdeen, and Captain John Ross, that, at any rate, these bodies were at an iro-
R. N. at Stranraer, with each one of Mr. Ram- mense distance ; as from many careful obserya*
age's splendid reflecting telescopes, observed tions he found that that comet had no sensible
the disk of Jupiter to be decidedly distorted at diurnal parallax ; and Kepler discoyered, from
the time of its approach to the edge of the moon; his own observations and those of his master,
and precisely similar aDoearances were noticed Tycho, that the comets did not, as had been
by Mr. Comfkeld of Northampton, and Mr. supposed, move in straight lines, but in paths
Wallis, lecturer on astronomy, on the occultation concave towards the suo, and he conceived that
of Saturn by the moon, on October 30th, 1825. their orbits were parabolas.
This question, therefore, having been settled
by the most satis&ctory of all tests, we deem it
unecessary to enter into the arguments which
were wont to be advanced on ei&er side of the
At length, from observations made on the great
comet of 1680, Sir Isaac Newton found that these
bodies, like the planets, move round the sun in
elliptiod orbits. This comet was seen for twenty-
Question, before sufficient data were obtained for one days in its passage towards die sun, and for
etermining it in any vray. nearly three nlbnths as it receded from that lu-
171. It has been a question whether the moon minary. The most careful observations were
and other planets are inhabited. The answers made to determine its pUbce, and the conclusions
. given to it in the negative depend on the posi- deduced from these observations are confirmed
tion, that human beings coula not exist in any by observations made on all that have been well-
of the planets on account of their distance from observed since.
the sun, and consequent inequality of heat 173. It has been remarked that a greater num-
to diat which the inhabitants of the earth ex- her of comets are seen towards the sun than
perience ; and the want of an atmosphere in in the opposite hemisphere; the reason of which
the moon, or the mitj of it, would as effectually will easily appear from fig. 9, plate VII. wherein
preclude that body from being a fit habitation S represents the sun, £ the earth, A B C D the
tor man. But in reply it is argued, and with sphere of the fixed stars ; and because comets
reason, that the same power which could make neither reflect light enough to be visible, nor
the earth a fit habitation for the animals upon it, emit tails conspicuous enough to attract our no-
could also adapt the organs of other animals to tice, till they come within the planetary regions,
their Various situations m the planets ; and as commonly a good way within the sphere of Jupi-
ihe earth teems with life of all kinds, it is pro-
bable, that, as there is so great an analogy be-
tween it and the planets in other respects, the
same analogy prevails with respect to life and in-
habitants.
Sect. IV. Conjectures and Conclusions
RESPECTING CoMETS.
172. None of the celestial bodies have given
rise to more speculation and conjecture than
comets. Their strange appearance has in all
ages been a matter of terror to die vulgar, who
uniformly have looked upon them as bad omens,
and forerunners of war, pestilence, &c. Others,
leas superstitious, supposed them to be meteors
raised in the higher regions of die air.
Some part of die modem doctrine concerning
them, ' however, was received in the ancient
ter ; let K L M N be a sphere concentric to the
sun, at such a distance from him, that no comet
can be seen by us till it come within that distance :
through £ draw the plane B D perpendicular to
S E, which will divide the sphere R L M N into
two hemispheres, one of which, BCD, is towards
the sun, the other D.A B, opposite. Now it is
manifest, that the spherical portion L M N, which
is in the hemisphere BCD towards the sun, is
larger than the portion N K L in the hemisphere
opposite to him ; and consequently a greater
number of comets will appear in the hemisphere
BCD than in that marked DAB.
174. Although the orbs of all comets are very
eccentric ellipses, there are vast diflerences among
them. Excepting' Mercury and Pallas, there are
no great differences among the planets either as
to tiie&eccentricity of their orbits, or the inclina-
Italic and Pythagorean schools; for they held tion of their planes ; but the planes of some
them to be so much of the nature of planets that comets are almost perpendicular to others, and
they had their periodical times of appearing; some of their ellipses are much wider than others.
that they were out of sight for a long time,
while they were carried aloft at an immense dis-
tance from the earth, but became visible when
thev descended into the lower regions of die air,
and thus were nearer to us.
It would be as endless as useless to detail the
various conjectures which in the dark ages were
formed respecting the nature of comets ; and the
various extravagant postulata by which each
The narrowest ellipsis of any comet hitherto ob-
served was diat of 1680. Tnere is also a much
greater inequality in the motion of the comets
dian of the planets ; the velocity of the former
being incomparably greater in their perihelion
than in their aphelion ; but the planets are but
very little accelerated.
175. There is now no question among astro-
nomers, that comets are opaque bodies enlight-
theorist sought to reconcile tiieir appearances ened by the sun. Their perihelion distances
with hi* explanation. Aristotle conceived them
to be meteoric bodies; Kepler huge animals,
that swam round the sun like fishes ; and Bodin
imagined that they are spirits, which, having
long dwelt on the eardi, are about to be trans-
lated to the skies.
A celebrated comet, however, which appeared
Vol. III. ^
from the sun are exceedingly various, Foroe
being not more than one-fifth, and others up-
wards of four-times the mean distance of the
earth. Their diameters too differ very greatly.
Their apparent diameters of course vary with
their distance; and some have supposed that
those apparently preternatural darknesses, of
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114
ASTRONOMY.
which several are recorded in history, may have
been caused by the interposition of a comet
between the ear&i and the sun, at a time when,
from its proximity to the earth, its apparent
diameter was greater than the sun's, and when
its apparent motion was in the same direction as
the sun's. The diameter of the comet of 1744,
when at the distance of the sun from us» was
about one minute, hence its real diameter was
about three tiroes that of the earth. The diame-
ter of their atmosphere is however often ten or
fifteen times as great as that of the nucleus.
176. The tail3 of comets have given rise to
various conjectures ; tbut though it is apparent
that they are in some way connected with the sun,
we know as yet absolutely nothing of either their
cause, or their uses. Perhaps the most rational
• conjecture that has been made respecting them
is that of Euler, who imagines that on a comet's
approaching the sun the impulse of the solar
rays may drive the finer particles of the comet's
atmosphere in a direction of course opposite to
ihe sun, and that these particles become visible
in the shape of a tail, which, from the resistance
it may meet with moving obliquely through the
ether, may put on that curved appearance which
the tails are often observed to assume. If this
hjrpothesis were true, we might conceive that the
velocity of a comet may be so great, that a tail
may be produced opposite to the sun before the
previously formed one can overtake it This
agrees with what is recorded of the comet of
1744, which is said to have had several tails
when near its perihelion.
177. Mr. Whiston has conjectured that the
deluge, of which, in the sacred writings, we have
the only authentic record, but of which the
annlds of most nations have traditionary accounts,
was produced by the near approach of a comet,
whose atmosphere had been attracted by the
earth; and he further surmises, that the final
catastrophe foretold in the scriptures may be pro-
duced by the approach of a comet prodigiously
heated in its perihelion. We pretend not, how-
ever, on such subjects as these, to penetrate the
secrets of Almighty wisdom, which can produce
its own ends, by means of which we nave no
conception.
178. On looking over the catalogue of ancient
comets, Dr. Halley found that there vras consider-
able similarity in the elements of the orbits, and in
the periodic times of three which appeared in
1531, 1607, and 1682; and he strongly surmised
that these three comets had only been several
returns of the same comet, which might be ex-
pected to return again about the end of 1758 or
the bc^nning of 1759. Clairault applied him-
self with great diligence and success to the inves-
tigation of the elements of these comets, which
he too conceived to be the same; and he pre-
dicted that it would be in perihelion on April
13th, 1759, and it actually was in its perihelion
on the 13th of March, differing about a month
from the predicted time. This comet may be
expected again in 1835.
179. Clairault ftiund, by applying the princi-
ples of physics to the computation of this comet's
motion, that its last period was lengthened about
100 days by the action of Saturn, and about 518
days by that of Jupiter. And, as we know not
how the orbits of these eccentric bodies may be
affected by their mutual attractions among them-
selyes, it is probable that many ages wiU elapse
before any very accurate knowledge of the peri-
odic times of many of them will be obtained.
Much attention however is at present paid to thit
branch of astronomy; and, the consequence has
been, that a visit of a comet to our r^ons is
found to be an event of very frequent occurrence.
In the year 1825 not less than five different
comets were observed.
180. The Astronomical Society of London, at
their anniyersary in February 1824, voted a gold
medal to M. Rumker, for his re-discoveiy of a
comet, which was first discovered by M. Guke,
and has been called by his name. This comet
had been seen, in an intervening return in 1818,
bv M« Pons, and the astronomical society voted
him a silver medal as a token of their approbation
of the industry and talent with which lie has ap-
plied to this interesting branch of the science.
In connexion with this subject too, we canuot
help noticing a most profound and ingenious
paper by M. Masotti, on the resistance of ether,
as deduced from the irregularities of the motion
of Ouke's comet.
Sect. V. — Conjectures and Conclusions
RESPECTINO THE FiXED StARS. .
181. Astronomers liave supposed the innu-
merable multitude of fixed stars to be so many
suns, each of which is attended by a certain
number of planets or habitable worlds like our
own, as well as visited by comets. The strong-
est argument for this hypothesis is, that the stars
cannot be magnified by a telescope on account
of their immense distance ; whence it b concluded
that diey shine by their oWn light, and are there-
fore so many suns ; each of whidi we may sup-
pose to be equal, if not superior, in lustre and
magnitude to our own. They are not supposed
to be at equal distances from us, but to be more
remote in proportion to their apparent smallness.
This supposition is necessary to prevent any in-
terference of their planets, and thus there may
be as great a distance between a star of tho first
magnitude and one of .the second apparently
close to it, 23 between the earth and the fixed
stars first mentioned.
182. Others object, diat the disappearatice of
some of the fixed stars is a demonstnuioki that
they cannot be suns, as it would be in the highest
degree absurd to thitik that God would create a
sun which might disappear of a sadden, and
leave its planets and their inhabitants in endless
night. But this argument will have no weight
with those who believe in the doctrines of revela-
^on ; which assures us that our worid will come
to an end, and that our sun will be deprived of
his light'; and consequendy that all the planets
which circulate around him will be tnvoiYed in
darkness.
183. In short, there is nothing inconsistent
with either scripture or reason in sapnosing, that
while infinite space is universally nlled with il-
luminating suns and circulating planets, each
world, or rather each solar system of worlds, has
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ASTRONOMY,
115
Its own periods of creation, duiation, and final
Gonsmamation ; as- we are assured ours has had,
and will have. * And the discoveries of astrono-
mers respecting old stars disappearing, and new
ones beii^ observed, are perfectly consistent
with the' doctrines of creation and dissolation,
which all Christians profess to believe, with re-
gard to our own solar system and the globe we
inhabit.
184. Some, however, have thought that the
variable stars which disappear for a time, are
planets, which are only visible during some part
of their course. But this their apparent immo-
bility, notwithstanding their decrease of lustre,
will not allow us to think. Some have imagined
that one side of them may be naturally. much
darker than the other, and when by the revolu-
tion of the star upon its axis, the dark side is
tamed towards us, the star becomes invisible,
and for the same reason, after some interval, re-
sumes its former lustre«
185. M. Maupertius is of opinion that some
stars, by ti^eir prodigiously quick rotations on
their axes, may not only assume the figures of
oblate spheroids^ bat that hj the great centri^-
gal force arising from sudi rotations, they may
become of the figures of mill-stones, or be re-
duced to fiat circular planes, so thin as to be
quite invi&ible when their edges are turned to-
wards us; as Saturn's ring is in such positions.
But when very eccentric planets or comets go
round any flat star, in orbits much inclined
to its equator, the attraction of the planets or
comets in their perihelions must alter the incli-
nation of the axis of that star ; on which account
it will appev more or less large and luminous,
as its broad side is more or less turned towitrds
us. And thus he imagines we may acfcount for
the apparent changes of magnitude and lustre in -
those stars, and likewise for their appearing and
disappearing.
186. In the Philosophical Transactioils for
1783, Mr. Mitchell, in proposing a method of
determining the distance, magnitude, &c. of the
fixed stars, by the diminution of the velocity of'
their light, should any such thing be discovered,
supposes that by far the greater part, if not all
of them, are systems of stars so near each other,
as probably to be liable to be affected sensibly by
their mutual gravitation ; and that it is therefore
not unlikely that the periods of the revolutions
of tome of these about their principals (the
smaller ones being upon this hypothesis to be
considered as satellites to the others), may some
time or other be discovered. And the leoent
observations of Mr. Herschel and Mr. South on
double stars, when t»inpared with those made
by Sir William Herschel many years ago, show
decidedly that many of these double stars do
certainly revolve round each other.
187. Herschel, improving on Mitchell's idea
of the fixed stars being collected into groups,
and assisted by his own observations with the ex-
traordinary telescopic powers already m^itiooed,
has suggested a theory concerning the construc-^
tion of the universe entirely new and singular.
It had been the opinion of former astronomers,
that oar sun, besides occupying the centre of
the system which properly belongs to him, occu-
pied also the centre of the universe : but Hers-
chel is of a difierent opinion.
188. The observations on which this theory is
founded, were made with a Newtonian reflector
oftwen^ feet focal length, and an aperture of
eighteen inches. With this powerful telescope
he first began to survey jdie Via Lactea, and
found that it completely Absolved the whicij»h
appearance into stars, which the telescopes he
formerly used had not light enough to do. The
portion he first observed was that about the hand
and club of Orion ; in which he found an asto-
nishing multitude of stars, whose number he
endeavoured to estimate by counting many fields
(or apparent spaces of the heavens, which he
could see at once through his telescope), and
computing from a medium of these how many
might be contained in a given portion of the
milky way. In the most vacant place to be met
with in that neighbourhood, he found 63 stars ;
other six fields contained 110, 60, 70, 90, 70,
and 74 stars ; a medium of all which gave 79 for
the number of stars to each field. Thus he found
that by allowing 15' for the diameter of his field
of view, a belt of 16® long and 2° broad, which
he had often seen pass before his telescope in an
hour's time, could not contain less than 50,000
stars, large enough to be distinctly numbered :
besides which he suspected twice as many more,
which could be seen only now and then by faint
glimpses, for want of sufficient light.
189. The doctor's success within the milky
way soon induced him to turn his telescope to
the nebulous parts of the heavens, of which an
accurate list had been published in the Connois-
sance des Temps for 1783 and 1784. Most of
these yielded to a Newtonian reflector of twenty
foet focal distance, and twelve inches aperture ;
which plainly discovered them to be composed
of stars, or at least to contain stars, and to show
every other indication that they consisted of
them entirely.
190. ^ The nebulse,' says he, ' are arranged
into strata, and run on to a great length ; and
some of them I have been able to pursue, and to
guess pretty well at their form and* direction.
It is probable enough that tliey may surround
the whole starry sphere of the heavens not unlike
the milky way, which undoubtedly is nothing but
a stratum of fixed stars ; and as this latter im-
mense starry bed is ,not of equal breadth or
lustre in every part, nor runs on in one straight
direction, but is- curved, and even divided int
two streams along a very considerable portion
of it, we may likewise expect the greatest variety
in the strata of the clusters of stars and nebule.
191. * One of these nebulous beds is so rich,
that in passing through a section of it in the
time of only thirty-six minutes, I have detecttid
no less than thirty-one nebulae, all distinctly visi-
ble upon a fine bhie sky. Their situation and
shape, as well as condition. Seem to denote the
greatest variety imaginable. In another stratiTm,
or perhaps a difierent branch of the former, I
have often seen double and treble nebulae va-
riously arranged ; large ones with small seeming
attendants ; narrow, but much extended lucid
nebulae or bright dashes ; some of the shape of
a fan, resembling an electric brush issuing fcom
12
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116
ASTRONOMY.
a lucid point; others of the cometic shape, with
a seeming nucleus in the centre, or like cloudy
stars, surrounded with a nebulous atmosphere ;
a different sort again contain a nebulosity of the
milky kind, like Uiat wonderful inexplicable phe-
nomenon about 0 Ononis i while others stiine
with a fainter mottled kind of light, which de-
notes their being reso#able into stars.
192. ' It is very probable that the great stra-
tum called the milky way, is that in which the
sun is placed, though perhaps not in the very
centre of its thickness. We gather tliis from the
appearance of the galaxy, which seems to en-
compass the whole heavens, as it certainly must
do it the sun is within the same. For suppose
a number of stars arranged between two parallel
planes, indefinitely extended every way, but at a
given considerable distance from one another,
and calling this a sidereal stratum ; an eye
placed somewhere within it will see all the stars
m the direction of tlie planes of the stratum pro-
jected into a great circle, which will appear
hicid on account of the accumulation of the
stars, while the rest of the heavens at the sides
will only seem to be scattered over with con-
stellations, more or less crowded according, to
the 'distance of the planes, or number of stars
contained in the thickness or sides of the
tratum.
193. * From appearances,' Dr. Herschel con-
Cmues,' we may mfer that the sun is most likely
placed in one of the great strata of the fixed
stars, and very probably not far from the place
where some smaller stratum branches out firom
it. This supposition will satisfactorily, and with
great simplicity, account for all the phenomena
of the milky way ; which, according to this hypo-
thesis, is no other than the appearance of the
projection of the stars contained in this stratum
and its secondary branch. As a farther induce-
ment to look on the galaxy in this point of view,
let it be considered that we can no longer doubt
of its whitish appearance arising from the mixed
lustre of the numberless stars that compose it.
l*fow should we suppose it to be an irregular
ling of stars, in the centre nearly of which we
must then suppose the sun to be placed, it will
appear not a little extraordinary that the sun,
being a fixed star like those which compose
this imagined ring, should just be in the centre
of such a multitude of celestial bodies, vnthout
any apparent reason for this singular distinction ;
whereas, on our supposition, every star in this
stratum, not very near the termination of its
length or height, will be so placed as also to
have its own galaxy, with only such variations
in the form and lustre of it as may arise from the
particular situation of each star.'
194. A continued series of observations con-
firmed Dr. Herschel in these opinions ; and in a
succeeding paper he has given a sketch of his
ideas of the mterior construction of the heavens :
* That the milky way,' says he, ' is a most ex-
tensive stratum of stars of various sizes, admits
no longer of the least doubt ; and that our sun is
one of the heavenly bodies belonging to it is as
evident. I have now viewed and gauged this
shining zone in almost every direction, and find
it composed of shining stars, whose number, by
the account of those gauges, constantly increases
and decreases in proportion to its apparent
brightness to the naked eye.
195. * But, in order to develop the ideas of the
universe that have been suggested by my late
observations, it will be best to take the sub-
ject from a point of view at a considerable dis-
tance both of space and time. Let us then
suppose numberless stars of various sizes scatter-
ed over an indefinite portion of space, in such a
a manner as to be sdmost equally distributed
through the whole. The laws of attraction,
which no doubt extend to the remotest regions
of the fixed stars, will operate in such a manner
as most probably to produce the following re-
markable effects :
196. 1. It will frequently happen that a star,
being considerably larger than its neighbouring
6nes, will attract them more than they will be
attracted by others that are immediately around
them ; by which means they will be in time as
it were condensed about a centre ; or in other
words, form themselves into a cluster of stais
of almost a ghibular figure, more or less regii-
larly so, according to die size and original dis-
tance of the surrounding stars. The perturba-
tions of the mutual attractions must undoubtedly
be very intricate, as we may easily comprehend
by considering what Sir Isaac Newton has md
(Princip. lib. i. prob. 38, et seq.) : but in order
to apply thb great author*s reasoning, of bodies
moving in ellipses, to such as are here for a
while supposed to have no other motion than
what their mutual gravity has imparted to them,
we must suppose the conjugate axes of these
ellipses indennitely diminished, whereby tlie
ellipses will become straight lines.
197. 2. The next case, which will happen
almost as frequently as the former, is where a
few stars, though not superior in size to the rest,
may chance to be rather nearer each other than
the surrounding ones; for here also will be
formed a prevailing attraction in the combined
centre of gravity of them all, which will occasion
the neighbouring stars to draw together; not,
indeed, so as to form a reguUr globular figure,
but, however, in such a manner as to be con-
densed towards the common centre of gravity of
the whole insegular cluster. And this construc-
tion admits of the utmost variety of shapes, ac-
cording to the number and situation of the
stars which first gave rise to the condensation of
the rest.
198. 3. From the composition and repeated
conjunction of both the foregoing forms, a third
may be derived, when many large stars, or com-
bined small ones, are situatM in long extended
r^^lar or crooked rows, hooks, or branches;
for they will also draw the surrounding ones so
as to produce figures of condensed stars coarsely
similar to the former, which gu «e rise to these
condensations.
199. 4. We may likewise admit of still more
extensive combinations ; when, at the same time
that a cluster of stars is forming in one part of
space, there may be another collecting in a dif-
ferent, but perhaps not hr distant, quarter, which
may occasion a mutual approach towards their
common centre of gravity.
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ASTRONOMY.
117
200. 5. In the last place, as a nataral conse-
quence of the former cases, there will be great
cavities or vacancies formed by the retreat of the
Stan towards the various centres which attract
them ; so that, upon the whole, there is evidently
a field of the greatest variety for the mutual and
combined attractions of the heavenly bodies to
exert themselves in.
201. From this theoretical view of the heavens,
which has been taken from a point not less dis-
tant in time than in space, we will now retreat to
our own retired station, in one of the plauets at-
tending a star in its great combination with num-
berless others; and in order to investigate what
will be the appearances from this contracted
situation, let us oegin with the naked eye. The
stars of the first magnitude, being in all proba-
bility the nearest, will furnish us with a step to
begin our scale. Setting off, therefore, with the
distance of Sinus or Arcturus, for instance, as
unity, we will at present suppose, tliat those of
the second magnitude are at double, those of the
third at treble, the distance, &c. Taking it for
granted, then, that a star of the seventh magni-
tude (the smallest supposed visible with the
naked eye) is about seven times as far as one of
the first, it follows, that an observer who is en-
closed in a globular cluster of stars, and not far
from the centre, will never be able with the naked
eye to see to the end of it ; for since, according
to the above estimations, he can only extend his
view to above seven times the distance of Sinus,
it cannot be expected that his eyes should reach
the borders of a cluster which has perhaps not
less than fifty stars in depth everywhere around
him. The whole universe to him, therefore, will
be comprised in a set of constellations richly or-
namented with scattered stars of all sizes : or, if
the united brightness of a neighbouring cluster of
stars should, in a remarkably clear night, reach
his sight, it will put on the appeamnce of a small,
faint, whitish, nebulous cloud, not to be per-
ceived without the greatest attention.
202. Let us suppose him placed in a much
extended stratum, or branching cluster of millions
of stars, such as may fall under the third form
of nebulae already considered. Here also the
heavens will not only be richly scattered over
with brilliant constellations, but a shining zone
or milky way will be perceived to surround the
whole sphere of .the heavens, owing to the com-
bined light of those stars which are too small,
tliat is, too remote to be seen. Our observer's
sight will be so confined, that he will imagine
this single collection of stars, thoueh he does not
even perceive the 1000th part of them, to be the
whole contents of the heavens.
203. Allowing him now the use of a common
telescope, he begins to suspec^ that all the milki-
ness of the bright path which surrounds the
sphere may be owing to stars. He perceives a
few clusters of them in various psuts of the
heavens, and finds also that there are kinds of
nebulous patches: but still his views are not
extended to reach so fiir as to the end of the
stratum in which he is situated ; so that he looks
uDon these patches as belonging to that system,
woich to him seems to comprehend every ce-
lesti^ object. He now increases his power of
vision ; and, applying hhnself to a close obser-
vation, finds tnat the milky way is indeed no
other than a collection of very small stars. He
perceives, that those objects which had been
called nebuls, are evidenUy nothing but clusters
of stars. Their number increases upon him;
and when he resolves one nebula into stars, he
discovers ten new ones which he cannot resolve.
He then forms the idea of immense , strata of
fixed stars, of clusters of stars, and of nebule ;
till going on with such interesting observations,
he now perceives, that all these appearances
must naturally arise from the confined situation
in which we are placed. Confined it may justly
be called, though in no less a space than what
appeared before to be the whole region of the
fixed stars, but which now has assumed the shape
of a crookedly branching nebula ; not indeed one
of the least, but perhaps very far from being the
most considerable, of those numberless clusters
that enter into the construction of the heavens.
204. Dr. Herschel shows, that this theoretical
view of the heavens is perfectly consistent with
facts, and seems to be confinned by a series of
observations. * Upon the whole,' says he, * I be-
lieve it will be found, that the foregoing theo-
retical view, with all its consequential appear-
ances, as seen by an eye enclosed in one of the
nebuls, is no other than a drawing from nature,
wherein the features of the original have been
closely copied : and I hope the resemblance will
not be called a bad one, when it shall be con-
sidered how very limited must be the pencil of
an inhabitant of so small and retired a portion
of an indefinite system, in attempting the picture
of so unbounded an extent.'
205. The doctor having determined that the
visible system of nature, by us called the uni-
verse, consisting of all the celestial bodies, and
many more than can be seen by the naked eye,
is only a group of stars or suns with their planets,
constituting one of those patches called a nebula,
and perhaps not one 10,000th part of what
is really the universe, he g'^es on to delineate the
figure of this vast nebula, which he is of opinion
may now be done ; and for this purpose, he gives
a uble, calculating the distance of the stars which
form its extreme boundaries, or tlie length of the
visual ray in different parts, by the number of
stars contained in the field of his telescope at
different times. He then proceeds to offer some
thoughts on the origin of the nebulous strata of
the heavens; in doing which, he gives some
])ints concerning the antiquity of them ; con-
jectures which, though abundantly ingenious,
are of too fanciful a nature to justify us in de-
tailing them.
206. An objection naturally occurred in the
course of Herschel's observations and enquiries
concerning the structure of the heavens, diat if
the different systems were formed by the mutual
attractions of the stars, the whole would be in
danger of destruction by their falling one upon
another.
207. Several circumstances, however, he says,
manifestly tend to a general preservation. The
indefinite extent of the sidereal heavens, must
produce a balance that will effectually secure aU
the great parts of the whole from approa«ihing
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118
ASTRONOMY.
to each other. ' There remains then (says he)
only to see how the particular stars belonging to
separate clusters are prevented irom rushing on
to their centres of attraction.' This he supposes
may be done by projectile forces; * the admis-
sion of which will prove such a barrier against
the seeming destructive power of attraction, as to
secure from it all the stars belonging to a cluster,
if not for ever, at least for millions of ages.
Besides, we ought perhaps to look upon such
clusters, and ihe destruction of a star now and
Uien in some thousands of ages, as the very
means by which the whole is preserved and
renewed. These clusters may be the laboratories
of the universe, wherein the most salutary
remedies for the decay of the whole are pre-
pared.'
208. The existence of such projectile forces is
rendered probable, from the apparent changes of
position of certain stars ; and from a comparison
of the best modem observations with the most
accurate of former times, there appears to have
been a real change in the places of some of diem.
The Bull's Eye, Sirius, and Arcturus, are now
found to be half a degree more southerlv than
the ancients reckoned them ; and the bright star
in the Moulder of Orion, has, in Ptolemy, almost
a whole degree of latitude more southerly than
at present. And, as we have already noticed, such
remarkable changes have been observed both in
the positions and distances of so many of the
double stars, that we are constrained to admit
that nothing created Is suble. Appearanora,
indeed, in(£cate that our own system is in
motion towards a point of the heavens whose
right ascension is about 250" and declination
about 50^ north. Whether this motion is one of
rotation about some distant centre, or of* direct
motion, must be left to time and accumte obser-
vation to determine. The consequence of thb
motion, however, is, certain apparent motions of
several of the fixed stats, entirely unconnected
with the phenomena arising either from the
earth's figure, or its revolution round the sun.
Dr. Maskelyno has given a table containing the
proper motions, both in right ascension and
declination of thirty six of the principal fixed
Stan. We subjoin this table as one of great im-
portance to the practical astronomer.
209. Table of die annual proper motions of
thirty-six fixed stars, in right ascension and de-
clination :
i
Annaal Proper Motion.
NamM of the Stan.
In right
ascention.
In decUna-
tion.
y Pepsi . .
a Anetes . ,
a Ceti . .
Aldebaran
Capella .
Rigel .
0 Tauri
— 009
+ 010
— 012
-h 0-03
-h 0-21
— 003
-h 0-01
— 015 n;
-1- 007 S.
— 008 N.
-H 0-12 S.
H- 0-44 S.
— 016 N.
-h 0-10 s.
a Orion . .
Sirius . .
Castor . .
Procyon
Pollux . .
a Hydrte . .
Regiilus . .
P Leoni . .
p Virginis . .
Spice Virgini
Ajcturus
2 5 a libra
a Cor. Borealis
a Serpentis
Antares . .
a Herculis . .
a Ophiuchi
a Lyra . .
a >Aqfiile . • • \
1
ft I a Capricomi \
a Cygni . .
a Aquani . .
Fomalhaut .
a Pegasi . .
a Andromeda
I +
001
0-42
— 01 5
— 0-80
— 0-74
— 009
— 0-22
— 0-57
-I- 0-74
— 0-02
— 0-26
— 0*11
— 0-11
0-26
Oil
0-00
0-00
0K)6
0-23
— Oil
-f 0-48
— 0-03
0-00
+ 0-05
— 0.08
— 0K)8
-h 0-35
— 0-06
-h 0'08
— 0.13 N.
-h 1-04 S.
-f 0*44 S.
-H o-gs'S.
0-00
— 0-14 N.
— 0.08 N.
4- 0^7 S.
+ 0-24 S.
— 019 N.
+ 1-72 S.
— 0-18 N,
— 0-15 N.
+ 0*03 S.
— 019 N.
— 0-26 N.
— 0-23 N.
— 005 S.
— 0*27 N.
— 6-16 N.
— 0-54 N.
-f 0-35 S.
— 0 20 N.
— 0-26 N.
— 0-03 N.
— 019 N.
— 0*06 N.
— 018 N.
-f 0-06 S.
PART II.
OF THE VARIOUS SYSTEMS OF
ASTRONOMY.
Sect. I. — Of the most famous srsTEiCBy bt
WHICH THE CELESTIAL PHENOMENA HATS
BEEN ATTEMPTED TO BE BXPLAINED.
210. To explain the motions an^ anpearances
of the heavenly bodies, various hypotneses have
been formed; and every hypothesis that ever was
firamed, accounted fi>r some one or other of them ;
but men being, in the early ages, ignorant of the
laws of motion, could not be expected to dis-
cover tlie true system, or explain all the various
phenomena of the celestial orbs.
211. In treating of the systems which have
been invented in different ages, we do not mean
to give an account of all the various absurdities
that have been broached by individuals on this
subject; but to confine ourselves to those sjts-
tems which have been of considerable note, and
been generally followed for a number of years.
We are as ignorant of the opinions of the first
astronomers, respecting the system of the uni-
verse, as we are of the astronomers themselves.
Whatever opinions are handed down to us,
must be of much later date than the introduction
of astronomy among mankind.
212. If we may hazard a conjecture, however,
we are inclined to think, that the first opinions
on this subject were much more just, than those
that were held afterwards (or manv years.
Pythagoras maintained the motion of the earth,
which is now universally believed, but at that
time appears to have, been the opinion of only a
few detached individuals in Greece. As the
Greeks borrowed many things from the Egyp-
tians, and Pythagoras had travelled into Egypt
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ASTRONOMY.
119
tad Pliaiida, It u probable he might receiTe ao
accooDt of this hyipothesis from thence; but
whetiier he did or not, we have now no means
of knowit^, neither is it of any importance.
Certain it is, however, that this opinion did not
prenil io h^ days, nor for many ages afterwards.
213. In the second century the Pythagorean
hjpothesis was superseded by a system erected
by the fiunoos geographer and astronomer, Clau-
dius Ptoloncus. This r^stem, which commonly
goes by the name of the Ptolemaic, he seems not
to htve originally invented, but adopted as the
prevaihog one of that age; and he, perhaps,
made it somewhat more consistent thui it was
before. He supposed the earth at rest in the
centre of the universe. Round the earth, and
the nearest to it of aH the heavenly bodies, the
ooou performed its nMntblv revolutions. Next
to the moon was placed the planet Mercuiy ;
tben Venus; and above that the Sun, Mars,
Jupiter, and Saturn, in their proper orbits ; then
the sphere of the fixed stars ; above these, two
spheres of what be called cfarystalline heavens;
above these was the ptimum mobile, which, by
turamg round onee m twenty-four hours, by
mne unaccountable means or other, carri^ all
the rest along with it. This primum mobile
was encompassed by the empyrean heaven^
which was of a cubic form, and the seat of
angeb and blessed spirits. Besides the motions
of all the heavens round the earth once in twenty-
four hours, each planet was supposed to have a
particular motion of its own; the moon, for
distance, once in a month, performed an addi-
tioDal revolution, the sun in a year, &c. See
Hate VII. fig. 4.
214. It is evident, that on this supposition,
the complicated motions of the planets already
described could never be accounted for. Had
they circulated uniformly round the earth, their
apparent motion ought always to have been equal
and uniform, without appearinff either stationary
or retrograde in any part of their courses. In
couequence of this objection, Ptolemy was
obliged to invept a great number of circles,
mteiiering with each other, which he called
epicydes and eccentrics. These proved a ready
and e&ctnal salvo for all the defects of his sys-
tem; as whenever a planet was deviating from
the course it ou^t on his plan to have foUowed,
it was then only moving in an epicycle or an
eccentric, and would in due time &11 into its
proper path. As to die natural causes, by which
the planets were directed to move in tliese epi-
cydes and eccentrics, it is no wonder \hat he
foond himself much at a loss, and was obliged
to have recourae to divine power for an explana-
tioQ, or, m other words, to own that his system
was unintelligible. It, however, continued to be
in vogue till the beginning of the sixteenth cen-
tury, when it vras superseded by the Copernican,
of which afterwards.
215. The only other systenu worth mention-
ing, besides the true system, are the Tychonic,
the aemi-Tychonic, and the Cartesian ; all of which
have gained proselytes, though none of them
were ever so universally received as the Ptole-
■aic and Copernican.
216. The Tychonic system, y\AXfi VII. fig. 7,
was invented by Tycho Brahe, who supposed
that the earth was at rest, and that the moon and
sun revolted about it; the moon in a month, and
the sun in a year ; and at the same time, that the
restof the planets, Mercunr, Venns^ Mars, Jupi-
ter, and Saturn, revolved round the sun; the
three last also encompassing the earth. Besides
these motions, he supposed them all to have a
diurnal motion round the earthy as well as all
the stars,
* 217. The semi-Tychonic system supposed the
planets to revolve round the sun, while the sun
and moon revolve about the earth as their cen-
tre of motion; and it supposed the earth to
move about its axis from west to east in twenty-
four hours. This system differs from the Tycho-
nic only in this, that it supposes a diurnal motion
in the earth, but, like the Tychonic, denies an
annual one.
218. The Cartesian system, so named from its
author, Des Cartes, supposes a variety of voi^
tices or whirlpools, in which the motions of the
heavenly bodies are performed, being carried
round the sun in a vortex of ethereal matter, in
different times, proportioned to their distances ;
and each planet having also a particular vortex
of its own, in which the motions of its satel-
lites are performed. From the laws of motion
it will easily appear, that the irregular motions
of the planets cannot be accounted for by these
vortices; and besides, the supposition of an
ethereal matter to perform the operations, is
without any foundation, or analogy m nature.
Sect. II. — Or the Copeemicah, oa Tkue
System of Astronomy.
219. The Ptolemaic system had gained uni-
versal credit, when Copeinicus began to entertain
doubts of its truth, and to try if a more satis-
factory method of accounting for the apparent
motion of the celestial bodies, might not be ob-
tained. He had recourse to every author upon
the subject, but obtained no satisfaction, till
he found from Cicero, that Nicetas, the Sv-
racusan, had maintained the motion of the earth;
and from Plutarch, that Pythagoras and others
of the ancients had been of the same opinion.
220. From these small hints, this great genius
deduced a most complete system of astronomy,
capable of solving every phenomenon in a sa-
ti^u^tory manner: — a system which has been
more and more confirmed by the discoveries and
improvements that have been made In astronomy
ana mathematics, since his time ; as well as by
the use of telescopes, which have discovered nu-
merous celestial phenomena formerly quite un-
known. Like all important discoveries, however,
when they run counter to general prejudices, the
Copernican system was at first much opposed ;
and by none more than the celebratea Tycho
Brahe, who could never assent to the motion of
the earth, and who invented the system described
in the last section, with a view to supersede the
necessity of it.
221. But while philosophers were divided be-
tween the Ptolemaic, the Tychonic, the Carte-
sian, and Copernican systems. Sir Isaac Newton
laid down the laws of nature and motion, and,
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120
ASTRONOMY.
comparing aU the phenomena in the heavens,
discovered the true system of the universe, con-
firmed the Copemican system of astronomy, and
demonstrated its truth by unanswerable argu-
ments, drawn from the most obvious laws of na-
ture. This system, which is founded on a basis
not to be shaken, is as follows :
222. The sun, which to us is the fountain of
light and heat, is an immense spherical body,
which revolves on its own axis in about twenty-
five days ; and is the centre round which eleven
other bodies, called planets, are known to revolve
at different distances and in different periods.
The planes in which the planets revolve all pass
through the centre of the sun, and they are in
general inclined to each other in very small
angles. They are called primary planets, and
some of them are attended by smaller ones, called
satellites, which revolve round them in the same
manner as they revolve round the sun. See
plate III.
223. The sun and the planets are called the
solar system. The orbits of the planets are not
strictly circular, but elliptical or oval, and the
sun is situated in a focxis of the ellipse ; so that
the planets, at one period of their revolution, are
nearer to the sun than at another.
224. Besides the periodical revolution round
the sun, each of the planets has a uniform ro-
tatory motion round an imaginary line, called the
axis, passing through the centre; and, during
the whole of any planet's revolution, its axis of
rotation preserves the same parallel position. In
consequence of this rotation, the different parts
of the surfiures of the planets are presented to the
sun in succession ; but it has not been observed,
that the axis round which any planet rotates, b
perpendicular to the plane in which it revolves
round the sun ; therenfre, at one period of the
revolution, one extremity of the axis and the ad-
jacent parts of the surnce will be inclined to-
wards the sun, and the other at the opposite period.
225. There is a class of bodies called cpmets,
which also revolve round the sun, and appear to
be governed in their motion by the same laws
that regulate the motions of the planets. Their
orbits are greatly- elongated, and they come to-
wards the sun from all quarters of the heavens,
differing in this respect from the planets, which
revolve pretty nearly in the sun's plane. They
are (iirther distinguished from the other stars, by
a luminous stream of light which they emit when
they come near the sun.
226. The earth, on which we live, is one of
the planets ; it revolves round the sun in a year,
and performs its rotation on its axis, from west
to east, once in a day. The moon is a satellite
attending the earth, round which it revolves
from west to east in about twenty-seven days
eight hours,
227. The planets, in the order of their distance
from the sun, are: Mercury, Venus, the Earth,
Mars, Vesta, Juno, Ceres, Pallas, Jupiter, Saturn,
and Herschel, Uranus, or the Georgium Sidus.
Mercury, and Venus, which are nearer the sun
than the earth, are allied -inferior planets; and
those which are more distant are called superior
planets, as Jupiter, Saturn, and Herschel. lliese
fatter, indeed, arc also by far the largest. Venus,
Juno, Ceres, and Pallas, which are all neariy at
the same distance from the sun, and all lately di»
covered, are so small that they are generally callei
asteroids. Jupiter has four satellites; Saturn seven;
apd Herschel six : Saturn is besides surrounded
with a thin, broad, and beautiful ring, perfectly
detached from his body. When an inferior
planet is between the earth and the sun, its dark
side being turned towards the earth, it cannot of
course be seen by us, except as a spot apparently
passing over the sur&ce of the sun; but it can
only fa« so seen when it passes the sun in one
of those points in which it« orbit enters into the
plane of the earth's orbit These points are
called the nodes of the planet's orbit. For the
characteristic marks of me sun and planets, see
plate VIII. fig. 8.
228. The fixed stars are at an immense dis-
tance; for it has not yet been determined, by
the nicest observations, mat they have any annual
sensible parallax; that is, they appear to the
earth, when on different sides of its orbit, to be
exactly in the same places, the earth's orbit seen
from a fixed star, appearing only as a point. Con-
sequently, the fixed stars all shine with their
own native light : for it would be impossible for
light, transmitted firom the sun, ever to render
them visible, as it would be infinitely weak at so
immense a distance.
229. The distance of the sun is immensely great,
in comparison with that of the moon, although
it is almost nothing with respect to that of the
fixed stars. For the sun's diurnal parallax, that is,
the apparent semidiameter of the. earth seen
from the sun, is so small^ that no instruments
could be so exactly made as to find it. Hence,
it is inferred, that the sun's magnitude is vastly
greater than the earth's. For, supposing the
sun's parallax to amount to as much as a minute,
then, since the apparent diameter of the sun is
half a degree, this would make the sun's dia-
meter fifteen times as big as the earth's; but the
sun's parallax has been found not to exceed
8-7*, which will make the sun's diameter 100
times as great as the earth's. That the sun is oi
a globular form, is plain from the apparent mo-
tion of the spots upon its surfaSce ; for while the
sun moves uniformly about its axis, the spots in
the middle of the disk move very quickly,
and near the edges more slowly, agreeably to the
motion of a globe about its axis! By observa-
tions on these spots, the sun is found to revolve
about its axis in twenty-five or twenty-six days.
. 230. None of the celestial bodies in our pla-
netary system shine with their own native light,
except the sun ; so that all the planets, hoih
Erimary and secondary, are opaque bodies, that
ave no other light but what they receive from
the sun, and reflect it back towards the earth and
other planets. This is evident from the moon;
for only that side of her is observed to shine
which is directly opposed to the sun ; but the
other side, which is fiom the sun, is quite dark,
except so far as it is illuminated bv the reflection
from the earth ; for the more of the illuminated
iiide that is turned towards the earth, the more
we see her enlightened, the rest being dark ; and
the more of her dark side that b turned towards
the earth, the more of her appears dark. Thus,
at the fuU, she appears all enlightened, and at
her change, all dark.
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ASTRONOMY.
121
231. MercttiT and Venus eidiibit similar phe-'
aomena, and snow all the phases of the moon
according to their various situations. Mars
likewise appears gibbous when near the qtiadra- .
tures with the sun. The satellites of Jupiter
are eclipsed when they are behind his body,
being then immersed in his shadow; they like-
wise cast their shadows upon the body of Jupiter.
In Saturn, the shadow of the ring upon his body ^
{)roTes its opacity. And the weakness of the
ight of those that are far distant from the sun,
shows that it is not innate but borrowed.
232. The following tables contain a synopsis
of the periods, distances, &c. of the sun and
planets, according to the latest and best obser-
vations :
233. TABLE I.
Periodical revo-
Proportional
Mean distances
Mean distances
EccentridUes
lutions round
mean dis-
from the seroi-
from the sun
in parts of
the eun.
tances firom
diametcrs of
in English
the mean
the son.
the earth.
miles.
distances.
B. • H. M.
Mercurt . .
87 23 15|
•3871
9,210
37,000,000
4
Venus . . .
224 16 49i
•72333
17,210
68,000,000
ill
The Earth .
365 6 9i
1-
23,799
95,000,000
i
Mars . . .
686 23 30|
1-52369
36,262
144,000,000
A
Vesta . . .
1848
235513
56,049
222,000,000
db
Juno . . .
20071
26-6400
63,400
290,000,000
i
Pallas . .
1682
27-6700
65,804
265,000,000
i
Ceres . . .
1681
27-6500
65,851
260,000,000
A
Jupiter . .
4332 8 51i
520098
123,778
490,000,000
A
Saturn . .
10,761 14 36i
953937
227,028
900,000,000
A
Herschsl . .
30,445 18 —
19:03421
453,000
1800,000,000
A
234. TABLE IL
Greatest appa.
rent diameter
as seen from
the earth.
Diameter in
English
miles.
Diurnal rota-
tions upon
their axes.
Inclinations of
their orbits to
the ecliptic.
Place of the
ascending
node.
TheSitk .
Mercury •
Venus . .
The Earth
Mars . .
Vesta . .
Juno . .
Pallas
Ceres . .
Jupiter
Saturn
Herschel
32* 36"
11
58
883,217
3222
7687
7964
4189
Estimated
from eighty
to 4000
miles.
89,170
79,042
35,109
D. H. M. S.
25 15 16 0
unknown.
0 23 22 0
0 23 56 4
0 24 39 22
uncertain.
r 0'
3 23i
1 51
7 8
13 4
34 38
10 38
1 19i
2 30i
0 48
1 S 15'' 46}'
2 14 44
25
Very small,
perhaps
about
r
46
..0
1 17 59
3 13 18
5 21 4
5 22 31
2 21 7
3 8 50
3 21 48i
3 13 1
0 9 56 0
0 10 16 0
unknown.
235. TABLE IIL
Greatest elon-
gation of infe-
rior, and pa-
rallax of supe-
rior planets.
Proportion of
light and
Bulk m re-
spect to the
earth.
Proportion of
density.
Place of the
aphelion.
TheSuw . .
Mercury .
Venus . .
The Earth
Mars . .
Vesta . .
Juno . .
Pallas
Ceres .
Jupiter
Saturn
Herschel .
28** 20*
47 48
6-68
1-91
1
•43
•18
•16
•13
•13
•037
•Oil
•00276
1,380,000
1*
h
uncertain,
but ex-
ceedingly
smaH.
1400
1000
96
i
2
li
1
unknown.
8 S 14** IS*
10 9 38
9 9 15i
5 2 6i
2 9 42
7 22 49
10 4 36
10 26 9
6 10 57J
9 0 45i
11 23 23
47 24
11 51
6 29
3 4i
tft
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122
ASTRONOMY.
Sect. III. On Central Forces.
236. As the doctrine of central forces is of the
greattest importance in the science of astronomy,
it will be proper to explain here some of the most
material propositions relative to that subject.
237. In this doctrine it is supposed, that mat^
ter is equally indifferent to motion and rest ; or
that a body at rest never moves itself, and that
a body in motion never chang^es either the velocity
or direction of its motion, but would move uni-
formly forward in a straight line for ever, unless
some external force or resistance should stop or
change it.
238*. Hence when a body at rest has a tendency
to move, or when a body moving in a straight
line, has its velocity continually increased or
diminished, or when the direction of a motion
is continually changed, and thereby a curve line
described; it is supposed that these circumstances
proceed from the influence of some power that
acts incessantly, which power may be measured
in the first case by the pressure of the quiescent
body against the obstacle that hinders it from
moving ; or by the change made on tl)e velocity
in the second case ; or by the flexure of the curve
described in the third case; due regard being
had to the time in which these efiects are pro-
duced, and other circumstances, according to the
{)rinciples of mechanics. Now the power or
brce of gravity produces efiects of each of these
kinds, which fall under our observation at the
surface of the earth ; for the same power that
renders bodies heavy while at rest, accelerates
their motion when thev descend perpendicularly,
and bends the path of their motion into a curve
line when they are projected in a direction
oblique to that of their gravity. But we can
judge of the forces or powers that act on the
celestial bodies by effects of the last kind only,
and hence it is that the doctrine of central force
is of so much use in the theory of the planetary
motions.
239. The following proposition is the fbunda^
tion of this doctrine, and is given bv Sir I. New-
ton in his Principia. The areas which revolving
bodies describe by radii drawn to an immovable
centre of force, lie in the same planes and are
proportional to the times in which they are de-
scribed. Let the time supposed be divided into
equal parts, and in the first part let a body be
supposed, by its own inert force, to describe a
right line, AD, Plate VIII. fig. 5. From what
we have premised it will appear, that in the
second part of time the body would describe the
line D B equal to A D, if nothing acted upon it
But when the body is come to D, suppose a
centripetal force tending to the point C acts upon
it b]|r a single impulse, such, that it would have
carried the body from D to a in the same time.
The body being now acted upon by two powers,
one in die direction DB, and another in the
direction D a passing through the centre of force,
if the parallelogram aDB£ be completed, the
body will move in the diagonal D E, and at the
end of the time will be found at £, by the prin-
ciples of mechanics. Join AC, C E ; the trian-
gle AD £, D C B, having equal bases, will there-
fore be equal, and the uiangles CPB, CDE,
are equal, for thev stand on the same base C D,
and lie between the parallels DC, BE; therefore
the triangles A CD, DC E are equal. By the
same method of reasoning, if in the third particle
of time the body describes any other ri«it line
E G, it may be proved that the triangle C D E is
equal to CEG; and in a fourth particle there
will be described a triangle CGI equal to C EG,
and so on : it is also obvious that uie lines AD,
D E, E G, G I, &c. lie in the same plane.
240. Thus it appears that in equal tiroes the
areas described by radii drawn to the centre of
force vrill be equally increased, and therefore hy
composition, any sums of the areas are to one
anotner, as the times in which they are described.
L«t the number of triangles be supposed to be
now augmented, and their breadth diminished ad
infinitmiy the lines AD, DE, EG, GI, &c. will
now become a curve line lying in the same plane,
and the centripetal force which vras supposed to
act by starts, will now act continually, deflecting
the body from the tangent, and thus cansingitto
move in a curve.
241 . We may hence infer, that the velocity of
a body attracted towards an immovable centre,
in spaces void of resistance, is reciprocally as a
]>erpendicular let fall horn that centre on the
right line that touches the orbit. For draw C Y
perpendicular to D E, and suppose the body to
describe D E in a given time, hence the velocity
of the bodv will be proportional to D E, and
from what has been said, the area of the triangle
CED will be given, for it is proportional to the
time : but when the area of a triangle remains the
same,the base varies inversely as the perpendicu-
lar, therefor^ D E, or the velocity of the body, is
inversely as C Y the perpendicular ; and the same
will hold true, whetner the body, by successive
impulses, moves bv a polygon in the way here
described; or, by tne continual action of the cen-
tral force, moves in a curve line.
242. The central force of a body moving m
the circumference of a circle, is as the versed
sine, A M (plate X. fig. 7), of the indefinitely
small arc A E; or it is as the square of that arc
divided by the diameter AB. For A M is the
space through which the body is drawn from the
tangent in the given time, whence 2AM is the
measure of the intensity of the force. But A £
being very small, and therefore nearly equal to
AE*
its chord, we have 'AM = -^?r- If therefore
two bodies revolve uniformly in different circles,
their central forces are directly as the uquares of
their velocities, and inversely as the diameters,
or as the radii of the circles. For the velocities
are as the space uniformly described in the same
time. Hence, F •/^* -TT • 7 Hence, if the
diameters are inversely as the squares of the
velocities, the forces will be as the fourth power
of the velocities.
244. The central forces are to each other as
the diameters divided by the squares of the peri-
odic times. For if C be the circumference
described in the time /, with the velocity v, then
C = f r, or » n -• Hence,
C» _c».. D^ d
• • J3T» ' d^'" T« '7'
varies as the circumt'ercnce.
-*; for the diameter
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ASTRONOMY.
123
345. If two bodies, levolTmg in diffevent
drdesy be acted upon by the same oentia) force,
their periodic times are as the square roots of
die diameters, or of the nulii of those circles.
For when F = /, the expression F : / : I
^ : -j» gives ip = ^ whence T : < :: VD
:^,
246. If the velocities be inyprsely as the dis-
tances from the centre, the forces will be in-
versely as the cubes of the same distances, or
directly as the cubes of the Telodties. For F :
y : : 5 = j ; "^^^hence, if D vary as V, inversely,
F ;/:: V» : r»;orF :/:: (f : D».
247. If the velocities be invosely as the 8quai«
roots of the radii, the squares of the times wiH '
be as the cubes of \he radii. For, as has been
shewn above, T :/ : : rrr : — ; and F : / : :
R
%; whence
iT-
R
r
AndifV*
R, this proportion becomes -t: ' •—'
R
T
V
When -71-; =
R«
R»
f^___ _^
R' : r'. Hence, also, if the forces
be inversely as the squares of the radii, the
squares of the periodic times will be as the
R r
cubes of the distances. For F : / : : ?r : -^
hence, r« : R* : ; - : ^,orT» : <* : : R» : r*
248. We shall now apply the doctrine of cen*
tral forces, to the circumstances of a planet re-
volving in an ellipsis, by a force directed towards
the focus.
249. Let ABHL(plate VI. fig. 2) represent the
ellipses, S and A the foci, 'and let r be the place
of the planet, and PT a tangent at P, and let
Pp be an indefinitely small arc described by
the planet. Join PS,£ s, and draw p¥ parallel
to SP, meeting PT in F. Then pF b the central
force in the arc p P. Let a =z the parameter of
the transverse AH ; or let a AC r: 2 BC*. From
p draw p I parallel to PT, meeting PK in I, and
SP in i. Then the triangles PI i, PCE being
similar, and P i equal and parallel to p F. P t
or p F : PI : : P£, or (by conies) AC : PC.
When a-p P :•«• PI :: AC : PC. And simi-
lariy a- PI : : PI • IK : : fl : KI; and by the
property of the ellipse IP • IK : I;>» : : PC» :
CN». From p draw p M perpendicular to SP,
then in the similar right angled triangles p i M
PED, we have ip, orlp (for they differ by
quantities indefinitely small) p M : : P£ : PD.
But by conies PE : PD : : CN : CB, whence
I p : p M : : CN : CB, and consequently Ip* :
p M» : : CN« : CB*. Hence, by comparing
these proportions, we have p F • a IP • IP • KI
•Ip* : IP-a-IP-KILp«-pM*::CA-fl.
PC»CN» : PC-KICN«-CB»; or by reduc-
tion oPF :pM» : a- AC PC : KI- CB«; or,
't' PF :p M^ : 2CB» • PC : CB» • KI : : PC :
KI. But P and I being indefinitely near, KI
= KP=;2PC; themforea-pF =pM«. Now
the time in P p is represented by the area of the
triangle SPp or by —
whence T*z:
SP*'pM*
and consequently p M' =
whence p F (the force) =
crements of time are uniform), the force is in^
versely as the square of the distance from the
fi)CUS.
250. We may hence infer, that if several pla-
nets revolve in different ellipses about a com-
mon foeus, that the areas of the sectors described
in the same time are as the square roots of tiie
parameter of the transverse axes. For by conies
a.pF = pM'; butpF varies as -^^^ hence
a =z fU. SP», or J7zz PM. SP. ButPM.
S P IS proportionate to the area of elementary
sector S Pp, wluch therefoce varies as t^/a,
251. We may fiurther infer, that the velocities
in the different ellipses, are as the square root of
the parameter of tne transverse, divided by the
perj^ndicular from the focus on the tangents,
passbg through the places of the planets. For the
velocity, in an indefinitely small space of time,
is as the arc pP; and from the similar triangles
SPT,p MP, an hour ST : SP :: PM :pP.
Whence p P= ST ^ g 'T
252. It is frirther apparent from what has been
done, that the areas ot the different ellipses are
to each other as the product of the times by the
square roots of tiie parameters of the transverse
axes. For the area, Q, is as the product of the
sector^ Pp by the time, /, and the sector varies
as ^/a ; therefore Q varies as t^Jal
253. Again, the squares of me periodic times
are proportional to the cubes of the transverse
axes. For let 6 be the less, d the greater axis,
and a the parameter; then by conies a </ = 6%
or ad* zz o* d*. But the whole areas are as the
product of the axes; and also, as has been just
shovm, as t^^tT Hence 6* d% or li" a = ^ a,
or d* varies as t\
Sect. IV. Op the Orbits and Motions
OF THE PRIMARY PLANETS.
254. For the theorems in the preceding section
on the subject of central forces we are indebted
to the sagacity of Newton. They had before his
time, however, been found by Kepler to be true
m the case of the known planets of the solar
system. Kepler showed that these laws did ob-
tain in the system; Newton shewed that they
must obtain. — ^The three fundamental laws of
planetary motion which Kepler discovered, and of
which the demonstrations given above, are these.
255. l.The primary planets and comets de-
scribe round the sun, and the secondary planets
describe round their respective primary planets,
areas proportioned to the times.
256. 2. The orbits described round the su^
and round the primary planets, are ellipses, having
the sun of the primaiy planet in the focus.
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124
ASTRONOMY.
257. 3. The squares of the periodic times of
planets revolving round common centres, are
proportional to the cubes of their mean dis-
tances.
258. These laws are universal; they are obeyed
by all the planets of our system, which revolve
nearly in the same plane, and they are found to
obtain also in the comets which move round the
sun in all directions.
259. In addition to what has been said, the
following popular illustration may be given of
the peculiarities of the motion of a planet in the
different planets of its orbit. Let A B and £ F
be the axis of an ellipse, of which D is the
•centre, and C the focus. ' See plate VlIT.fig. 4.
■Suppose that P is the place of a planet moving
in the curve AF B £, (supply P in the fig.) and
that P G is drawn touching the curve at P. Join
C P, C E, and draw C G perpendicular to P G.
The place of the sun will be at C the focus, and
the planet will move in the curve ; so that the
line C P shall pass over equal areas in equal
times. Since tne velocity of the planet is in-
versely as the perpendicular upon the tangent,
and the lines C B, C A, are perpendicular to
tangents at the points B and A, the velocity at
A, as C A to C B, and the velocity at B is to the
velocity at P as C O to C B. Thus at B, which
is called the periheUon, tlie velocity will be the
greatest, and at A, the aphelion, it will be the
least; and at any other point, P, it will be
between these two extremes. The line C £ is
equal to B D, which is a mean between B C and
C A ; and when the planet is at £, it is said to
be at its mean distance. The force, that, acting
upon the planet at P, bends it from the tangent,
is to the force that acts upon it at £, any other
point, as the square of C £ to the square of
CP.
260. We have hitherto supposed the sun to
remain absolutely at rest, and that the planet
was urged towards it, as to an immovable point;
but the tendency of the planets towards the sun,
arises from a law, that not only connects the
planets with the sun, but with each individual
particle of matter in the solar system; a par-
ticular cause of this law or fact, is the gravity
of bodies at the surface of our earth, and the
general law that includes all particular cases,
has been termed gravitation. Hence it follows,
that not only the planets gravitate towards the
sun, but the sun gravitates towards tlie planets ;
so that, in strict truth, both the sun and each
planet revolve round a point, which is their com-
mon centre of gravity, and which is as much
nearer to the sun than to the planet, as the sun
contains more matter than the planet.
261. The truth of this general law is only to
be proved by a careful examination of particular
cases ; and, supposing it to be true, the effects it
ought to produce in the planetary motions round
the sun, are in perfect coincidence with the best
observations.
262. If all matter gravitates to, or is attracted
by, all other matter, it is evident that the planets
must also gravitate towards each other; and
thus in some measure the uniformity of their
motions round the sun will be affected. Now,
by the most accurate observations, this is really
found to be the case ; and the effects produced
are precisely what they ought to be, supposing
that the same law, which regulates the tendency
of the planets towards the sun, also regulates
their tendency to one another.
263. If the planets were acted on by a power
directed to the centre of the sun only, varying
according to the general law of gravity, and that
centre were ouiescent, their motions about it
would be perfectly regular ; but since they aie
acted on by a power directed to every body in
the system, in order to judge of the effects of
these actions, Newton first supposes two bodies
revolving about their common centre of gravity,
and gravitating tovrards each other, and since the
direction of this mutual gravitation passes always
through that centre, and their distances from it
vary always in the same proportion as their dis-
tances from each other, they must describe
similar figures about that point and about each
other, and describe equal areas in equal times,
about that centre, and about eich otlier ; so that
there will be no irregularities in the motion of
two bodies about eadi other, because of their
mutual attractions, whatever the law of their
gravity is supposed to be; only they will revolve
in less time about their centre of gravity, than
the one would have done about the other quies-
cent, because the orbit described about the
other centre of gravity is less than that which is
described by any one of them about the other
quiescent; their distance in both cases being the
same, and the orbits similar.
264. If three or more bodies mutually attract
each other, the gravitation of any one of them,
arising from the attractions of the rest, may be
determined by the rule for composition of motion;
and if the law of gravity be such as obtains in
the solar system, its gravitations will not be
always directed to the centre of gravity of the
other bodies, or indeed to any fixed point, but
sometimes to one side of that centre and some-
times to the other, and therefore equal areas
will not be described in equal times about
any point in the system; and some irregu-
larities will therefore arise in the motions of the
bodies.
265. But if one of these bodies should be
vastly greater than the others, so that the actions
of the other bodies may be neglected, when
compared with its action; and the centre of
gravity of the system be always found near it,
the irregularities of such a system will be very
small, the areas described in equal times about
the centre of the great body will be nearly
equal, and the orbits described will be nearly
elliptic, having that centre in their focus.
266. We have seen that the determination of
the circumstances relative to two bodies in
motion, is a matter of great simplicity; but
when the number of bodies is increased even
by one, the general estimation of their effects
on each other's motions is a problem that has
hitherto baffled the skill of tne most eminent
philosophers. It happens very fortunately that,
m the only case in which it is of much im-
portance to us, it admits of an approximate
solution, from the sun being so much greater
than all the other planets ; for in the case of the
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ASTRONOMY.
125
moon, the iuo« and the earth, which -w^ may
take for the sake of illustration, the sun disturbs
the motions of the moon as seen from the earth,
only by the difference of its attractions od the
moon and the earth, which difference, when
compared with the former by which the moon is
attracted towards the earth, is always very small.
267. The action of Jupiter on Saturn, when
greatest (that is, when their distance is least), is
found by calculation to be ^ of the action of
the sun upon Saturn. This produces an effect
which is decidedly perceptible.
268. The whole action of Jupiter disturbs the
motion of Saturn in their conjunction, because
Jupiter then acts upon Saturn and upon the sun
in opposite directions. But because Saturn
then acts upon Jupiter and upon the sun in tlie
same direction, if it acted also with the same
force on both, it would have no effect on the
motion of Jupiter about the sun ; and it is by
the excess of its action on Jupiter, above its
action on the sun, that it disturbs the motion of
Jupiter. This excess is found to be one 1913th
part of the action of the sun on Jupiter ; and
tbttefore is much leas than the force with which
Jupiter disturbs the motion of Saturn.
269. TKe actions of the other planets on each
other are incomparably less than these, and the
inegularities proceeding from those actions are
always less in any planet, as it is nearer the
sun ; but the orbit ot the earth is a little more
irregular than that of its neighbouring planets,
from the great comparative size of its moon,
round the common centre of gravity of which,
and the earth, both the earth and the moon make
a monthly revolution.
Sect. V. — ^Op the Orbits and Motions of
THE Secondary Planets.
270. The same general principle of gravita-
tion which contains the primary planets in their
orbits, extends also to the motions of the se-
condary planets, both in regard to their motion
round the sun along with their primaries, and
to their motions round their primaries as a
centre; which furnishes us with an additional
proof of this general law, that all matter gravi-
tates to all other matter with a force reciprocally
proportional to the square of the distance.
271. That each secondary planet is kept in
its orbit by a power directed towards its primary,
&c. is proved from the phenomena of the satel-
lites of Jupiter and Saturn; because they move
in circles, as far as we can observe, about their
respective primaries with an equal course, the
primary being the centre of each orbit : and by
comparing the times in which the different
satellites of the same primary perform their
periods, they are found to observe the same
relation to Uie distances from their primary, as
the primary planets observe in respect of their
mean distances from the sun. The same thine
holds good also with respect to the earth and
moon ; for she is found to move round the earth
in an ellipsis after the same manner as the
primary planets do about the sun, excepting only
some small irregularities in her motions, the
cause of which will be particularly explained
in what follows ; and it will appear that they
are no objections against the earth's acting oa
the moon in the same manner as the sun acts
on the primary planets ; that is, as Jupiter and
Saturn act upon their satellites.
272. The power of Jupiter and Saturn may
be measured to a very considerable distance, by
the number of satellites which move round them ;
for the distance of the outermost satellite of each
of them exceeds several times that of the inner-
most. , That the force which retains the moon in
her orbit, bears precisely that relation which
accords -with its distance to the known force of
gravity on the surface of the earth, may be
shown by the following very simple process.
273. Let A in plate VII. fig. 5, represent
the earth, B the moon, B C D the moon's orbit ;
which differs litde from a circle of which A is
the centre. If the moon in B were left to itself
to move with the velocity it has in the point B,
it would leave the orbit and proceed straight
forward in the line B £ which toudies the orbit
in B. Suppose the moon would upon this con-
dition move from B to £ in the space of one
minute of time : by the action of the earth upon
the moon, whereby it is retained in its orbit, the
moon will really be found at the end of this
minute in the point F, from whence a straight
line drawn to A will make the space B F A in
the circle equal to the triangular space B £ A ;
so that the moon, in the time wherein it would
have moved from B to £, if lefk to itself, has
been impelled towards the earth from E to F.
And when the time of the moon's passing from
B to F is small, as here it is only one minute,
the distance between £ and F scarcely differs
from the space through which the moon would
descend in the same time, if it were to fall
directly down from B towards A, without any
other motion. A B, the distance of the moon
from the earth, is about sixty of the semi-
diameters of the latter ; and the moon completes
her revolution round the earth in about twenty-
seven days, seven hours and forty-three minutes :
therefore the space £ F will here be found by
computation to be about 1 6^ feet. Consequently,
if the power by which the moon is retained in
its orbit, be greater, near the surfrice of the earth,
than at the distance of the nloon, in the duplicate
proportion of that distance, the number of feet
a body would descend near the surface of the
earth, by the action of this power upon it, in
one minute, would be equal to the number 16 J
multiplied twice into the number sixty, that is,
to 58,050.
274. Now bodies falling near the surface of
the earth have ibeen found, by exact experi-
menU, to descend 16^ feet in one second; and
the spaces described by frdling bodies being as
the squares of the times of their frill, the number
of feet a body would describe in its fall near the
surface of the earth in one minute of time,
would be equal to 16^ multiplied by 60' ; the
same as the power which acts upon the moon
would cause.
275. We may hence conclude, that the power
which retains the moon in her orbit is the same
as that which causes bodies near the surface of
the earth to gravitate ; for, since the power by
which the earth acts on the moon will cause
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126
ASTRONOMY.
bodies near the sorfBice of h to descend with |>re-
cisely die Telocity they are found to do, it is
certain that no other power can act upon them
bttides ; because, if it did, they most of neces-
sity descend more swiftly. It is therefore eri-
deut, that the power in the earth which we call
' gravity, extends up to the moon, and decreases
as the square in the same proportion as th^ square
of dif distauce from the centre of the earth in-
creases. If to>tbe motion of the satellite where-
by it would be carried round its primary at real,
we superadd the same motioD, both iu re|g;ard
to Telocity and direction, as the primary itself
has^ it will describe about the primary the same
orbit widi as great r^ularity as if the orimary
had been indeed at rest. This proceeas from
the law of motion, which makes a body near tlie
surfiire of die earth descend perpendicularly,
though the earth be in a swift motion, of which
if the falling body did not partake, its descent
would be oblique.
276. From mis we learn, that, if die satdlite
moved about its primary widi perfect regularitr,
bendes its motion about die primary, it would
have the same progressive velocity with which the
primary is carried about the sun, in a direction
parallel to that impulse of its primary ; and, on
the contrary, the want of cither of these, in par-
ticular of the impulse towards the sun, will
occasion great inequalities in the motion of the
secondary planet. The inequalities which would
arise froni the absence of tbis impulse towards
the sun are so great, that by the regularity which
appears in the motion of the secondary planets,
it IS proved, that the sun communicates to them
the same velocity by its action as it gives to their
primary at the same distance.
277. The sun therefore acts upon the secondary
planets with the same force as upon the primaries
at the same distance : but the action of the sun
upon bodies is reciprocallv in the duplicate pro-
portion of the distance; tnerefore the seconaaiy
planets being sometimes nearer to the sun than
to the primary, and sometimes more remote, they
are not always acted upon in the same degree
with their primary, but when nearer to the son
are attracted more, and when ftuther off are at-
tracted less. Hence arise various inequalities in
the motions of the secondary planets. Some of
these inequalities, however, would take place,
though the moon, if undisturbed by the sun, Yad
moved in a circle concentrical to the earth, and
in the plane of the earth's motion ; others depend
on the elliptical figure and oblique situation of
the moon's orbit One of the former is, diat die
moon does not describe equal spaces in equal
times, but is continually accelerated as she passes
fsom the quarter to the new or ftiU, iod is
retarded again by the Hke degrees in returning
from the new and full to the next quarter ; but
here we consider not so much the absolute as
the apparent motions of the moon with resp«ct
to us.
378. These two m^ be distinguished in the
following manner :--Let S, in .plate X. fig. 6.
represent the sun, A the earth moving in its
orbit, BC, DEFG die moon's orbit, and H
the place of (he moon in her orbit. Suppose
the eardi to have moved ftom A to I. Because
it has been shown that the moon puiakes of all
the progressive motiona of the earth, and likewise
that the sun attracts both theeardi and mooa e^aal-
ly when tiley are at the same distance fima it, or
that the mean aotion of the sun upon the moon n
equal to its action upon the earth ; we must there-
fore consider the esirth as canying about with it
the moon's orbit ; so that, when the earth is re-
moved fipom A to I, the moon's orbit shall like-
wise be removed fi»m its former situation into
that denoted by K L M N. But now die earth
being in I, if the moon wwe found in 0, so that
O I should be parallel to HA, though the moon
would really have moved from H to O, yet it
would not have appeared to a spectator upon the
earth to have moved at all, because the earth has
moved as much ; so that the moon would still
appear in the same place with respect to the fixed
stars. But if the moon be observed in P, it will
then appear to have moved, its apparent motion
being measured by the. angle O I P. And if the
angle PIS be leas dian the angle HAS, the
moon will have approached nearer its conjono-
tion with the sun. Now, to explain particularly
the inequality of the moon's motion already
mentioned, let S, plate VIII. fig. 9, represent
the sun, A the eartn, B C D £ tbe moon*3 orbit,
C the pbice of the moon when in the Utter
Quarter. Here it will be nearly at the same
distance firom the sun as the earth is. In this
case, therefore, they will be both equally attract-
ed, die earth in the direction AS, asid the moon
in that of C S. Whence, as the earth, in moving
round the sun, is continually descending towards
it, so the moon in this situation must in any eaual
portion of time descend as much; and, therefore,
the position of the line A C in respect of A S, and
the change which the moon's motion produces in
the angle CAS, will not be altered by the sun :
but as soon as the moon is advanced from the
quarter toward the new or conjunction, suppose
to G, the action of the sun upon it will have a
different effect. Were the sun's action upon die
moon here to be applied in the direction G H par-
allel to A S, if its action on the moon were equal
to its action on the earth, no change would be
wrought by the sun on the apparent motion of
the moon round the earth. But the moon receiv-
ing a greater impulse in G than the earth receives
in A, were the sun to act in the direction G H.
yet it would accelerate the description of die
space D A G, and cause die angle G A D to de-
crease flister dian it otherwise would. The sun's
action will have this eflect, upon account of die
obliquity of its direction to that in whidi the
earth attracts the moon. For the moon by this
means is drawn by two forces oblique to one ano-
ther : one drawing from G towards A, the other
fiom G towards H ; therefore the moon most ne-
cessarily be imoelled towards D.
279. Ajgain, necause the sun does not act in
the direction G H pamllel tp S A, but in the di-
rection G S oblique to it, the sun's action on the
moon will^ by reason of 'this obliquity, forther
contribute to the moon's acceleration. Suppose
the earth, in any short space of time, would have
moved from A to I, if not attracted by the sun,
the point I beinr in die straight line C £, which
touches die earth's orbit in A. Suppose the moon
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ASTRONOMY.
127
in the same time would have moTed in her oibit
from G to K, and besides have partaken of the
progressive motion of the earth. Then, if K L be
drawn parallel to A I, (the line K L must be sup-
plied in the figure) and taken equal to it^ the
moon, if not attracted to the sun, would be found
in L. But the earth, by the sun's action, is re-
moved from I. Suppose it were moved down to
M m the line IMN parallel to S A, and if the
moon were attracted but as much, and in the
same direction bs the earth is here supposed to
be attracted, so as to have descended auring the
same time in the line L O parallel also to AS,
down as fiur as P, till L P were equal to I M, let
P M be joined, the angle P M N will be equal to
LIN; that is, the moon will appear advanced
as much farther forward as if neitner it nor the
earth had been subject to the sun's action. But
this is on the supposition that the actions of the
sun upon the eartn and moon are equal ; where-
as the moon being acted upon more than the
earth, did the sun's action draw the moon in the
line LO parallel to AS, it would draw it down
so fistf as to make LP greater than I M, whereby
the angle PMN will be rendered less than LIN.
But, as the sun draws the earth in a direction
oblique to IN, the earth will be found in its or-
bit, somewhat short of the point M. However,
the moon is attracted by the sun, still more out
of the line LO, than the earth is out of the line
IN ; therefore, this obliquity of the sun's action
will yet farther diminish the angle under PMN.
Thus the moon, at the point G, receives an im-
pulse from the sun, wherebv her motion is ac-
celerated ; and the sun producing this effect in
every place, between the quarter and the con-
junction, the moon will move from the quarter,
with a motion continually more and more ac<>>
celerated ; ajid therefore, by acquiring, from time
to time, an additional degree of veloci^ in its or-
bit, the spaces which are described in equal times
by the line drawn from the earth to the moon,
will not be everywhere equal, but those towards
the conjunction will be greater than those towards
the qiuu-ter. But, in the moon's passage, from
the conjunction D to the next quarter, ue sun's
action will again retard the moon, till, at the
next quarter at £, it be restored to the first velo-
city which it had in C.
280. When the moon moves from £ to the
full, or opposition to the sun in B, it is again ac-
celerated ; the deficiency of the sun's action on the
moon from what it has upon the earth, produc-
ing here the same effect as before the excess of
its action. Let us npw consider the moon in Qy
as movioff from £ towards B. Here, if she were
attracted by the sun in a direction parallel to AS,
yet being acted on less than the earth, as the lat-
ter descends towards the sun, the moon will, in
some measure, be left behiud. Therefore, RF
being drawn parallel to S B, a spectator would see
the moon move as if attracted from the point Q,
in the direction RF, with a degree of force equal
to that whereby the sim's action on the moon mils
short of its action on the earth. But the obliquity
of the sun's action h|^ here also an effect. In
the time the earth would have moved from A to
I, without the influence of the sun, let the moon
have moved in its orbit from Q to R. Drawing,
therefoie, RT parallel to AX, the moon, by the
motion of its orbit, if not attracted bv the Ma^
must be found in T ; and therefore, if attracted
in a direction parallel to S A, would be in the line
TV parallel to AS ; suppose in W. But the
moon in Q being frirther off the sun than the
earth, it will be less attracted ; that is, T W will
be less than I M ; and if the line NM be pro-
longed towards X, the angle XMW will be lese
than XIT.
281. Thus, by the sun's action^ the moon's
passage from the quarter to the full would be ac-
celerated, if the sun were to act on the earth and
moon in a direction parallel to AS ; and the obli-
quity of the sun's action will still increase this ac*
celeration : for the action of the sun on the moon
is oblique to the line SA, the whole time of tha
moon's passage from Q to T, and will cariy her
out of the line TV towards the earth. Here we
suppose the time of the moon's passage from Q
to T so short, that it shall not pass beyond the
line S A. The earth will also come a little short
of the line I N, as was already mentioned ; and
from these causes the angle XMW will be still
fiirther lessened. The moon, in passing from the
opposition B to the next quarter, will be retarded
again in the same manner as it was accelerated
before its appulse to the opposition ; and thus the
moon, by the sun's action upon it, is twice acce-
lerated, and twice restored to its first velocity
every circuit it makes round the earth ; and this
inequalitv of the moon's motion about the earth
is called by astronomers its variation.
283. The orbit of the moon is dilated when
nearer the sun, and contracted when she is more
remote : for it has been proved by Newton,
that the action of the sub, bv which it dimi-
nishes the earth's power over the moon in the
conjunction or opposition^ is about twice aa
great as the addition to the earth's action by the
sun in the quarters; so that, upon the whole, the
power of the earth on the moon is diminished by
the sun ; and therefote is most diminished wbeft
that action is strongest. But as the earth, by its
approach to the sun, has its influence lessened,
the moon, being less attracted, will gradually re-
cede from the earth ; and as the earth, in it»
recess from the sua, recovers by degrees ita
former power, the orbit of the moon must again
contract
284. Two consequences follow from hence,
viz. that the moon will be more remote from tha
earth, when the latter is nearest the sun, and will
take up a longer time in performing its revolution
through the dilated orbit, than through the more
contracted. These, irr^larities would be pro*
duced, if the moon, without being acted upon
unequally by the sun, should describe a penbct
circle about the esurth, and in the plane of its mo-
tion: but, though neither of these circumstances
take place, yet the above-mentioned inequalities
occur only with some litde variation with regard
to the degree of them ; but some others are ob-
served to take place fi^m the moon's motion b^
ing performed in the manner already described.
For, as the moon describes an ellipsis, having the
earth in one of its foci, this curve will be sub-
jected to various changes, neither preserving
constantly the same figure nor position; and,
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128
ASTRONOMY
because the plane of this ellipsis is not the same
widi that of the earth's orbit, it follows, that the
former will continually change ; so that neither
the inclination of the two planes towards each
other, nor the line in whicn they intersect, will
remain for any length of time unaltered.
285. The yarious forces by which the motion
of the moon is disturbed, and the changes which
take place in its orbit, may be investigated in
the following manner. See plate IX. fig. 13. Let
C A B D be the moon's orbit, T the earth, S the
sun, P the moon ; make SK != ST ; and let SR
: S L : : S P* : S K». Then if SK or ST represent
the sun's force at T, SL will represent his force at
P. Draw L M parallel to PT ; divide the force
LS into the two forces LM acting parallel to PT,
and MS acting parallel to TS. But the force LM,
and the part TM disturb the moon's motion. —
The force LM in its mean quantity is equal to
PT, and by so mudi the force of the earth is in-
creased. Also TM in its mean quantity is equal
to 3PK, acting in adirection PN parallel and equal
to T S ; and the force M T draws the moon out
of her orbit. Let P p be the periodical times
of the earth and moon ; then the sun's centripe-
tal force at T (ST) : tlje earth's centripetal force
ST PT
at P : : =rx: — : therefore the earth's centripetal
FP pp '^
PTx PP
force at P =z And this is to the ad-
For the trianf^les PRTandPQRare nmilar-
whence PK : PT : : PQ(PT) : PR (3PK) ; there-
fore 3 P K» = P T*, or 3» = IT, whence s =
V^^ = S. 350 16'. And when PQ = PT, tlje
3
diminution of the force is equal to the addition,
which makes no alteration.
The mean force PT is =- — of the force
643410
of gravity of the earth.
For the force of gravity is 3600 times greater
than the force at P.
The whole increase of the centrip^al force at P is
• c • ^ 3jf\
171-725^ \ rr/
For«d(r):.::PT(.j^):PK =
a
178-725r
And PR = 3PK =
3c»
178-725r
And
And PT — PQ = whole additional
3c»
178-725rr
3m
PP
ditional force PT ;
PTxPP.
PP
PT ::PP;
That is, the force by which the moon is retained
in her orbit : is to the increase of centripetal force
by the sun's action : : PP : pp : : 178*725 : 1. —
Tlierefore the increase of the moon's centripetal
^'"^ "178^5 ^^***^^"^-
286. Also force PT : force 3PK or PL : : PT :
3 P K. Therefore, ex sequo, the force by which
the moon is retained in her orbit: disturbing force
PL or TM : : PT X 178*725 : 3 PK. Therefore
3PK
thedisturbingforceTMiZp^ ^ ^^^.^^^ X e^h's
centripetal force on the moon=3a the sine of the
moon^s distance from the quadratures x earth's
centripetal force, divided by 178*725 x radius.
Let C, c, be the centripetal forces of the sun and
earth, s = sine of the moon's distance from the
quadrature, radiu^ = r. Then the additional force
(PT)=-;5^.. And the disturbing force (TM)
17o 725
_ Zsc
178*725r
Produce TP, and make PR = PL, or TM, and
draw RQ perpendicular to TQ. Then QR is
the force <4ihat accelerates the moon, and PQ is
the diminution of its centripetal force.
For the force PR is divided hito two forces,
P Q, and QR, of which P Q, acting towards Q,
diminishes the moon's centripetal force ; and QR
being parallel to the tangent at P, accelerates
the moon at P.
287. There are therefore four points in the
moon's orbit, each 35^ 16' from the quadratures,
where the moon's disturbing force xnakes no al-
I in the earth's central force.
1—
^°«* ^it^tS'-
If A = sine of twice the moon's distance fitun
the quadratures; then the force QR, accelerat-
ing or retarding the moon's motion in its orbit, is
178*725 2r
" Let z = S.QPR or KPT = cos. PTK; then
rad (r) : RP {-^^-^ : : S.QPR (a) : QR =
^^ \178*725r/ ^
3c X w = (by trigonometry J 3c ^
178*725fT 178.725
A
2r'
288. Hence the moon is accelerated in the
quadrants C A, D B ; and retarded in the qua-
drants AD, BC ; and the force which accelerates
or retards the moon's motion, is greatest in the
octants.
For it is greatest when A is greatest, thai 15,
when 2 C P is ninety degrees, or C P z= 45°.
The disturbing force TM, in the syiiges A and
B, is 2 P T. And therefore the earth's force upon
the moon in the syziges, is twice as much di-
minished, as it is increased in the quadratures.
The moon's orbit is more flat in the syziges,
and more curve in the quadratures ; and there-
fore she goes farther from the earth in the
quadratures.
For the orbit will be more curve where the
central force is greater, that is in die quadratures.
289. The motion of the moon's nodes* sup-
posing her orbit to be nearly circular, may be
thus found :
In fig. 7, plate XIII, let A5 BQ be die moon's
orbit, T the earth, P the moon, SAB the line of
die apsides, Q, q the quadratures, mNn the line
of the nodes. P K, P H, AZ perpendiculars upon
TQ and Nn. The force by which die moon is
drawn out of her orbit has been found to be
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ASTRONOMY.
129
3'„ .-.
_^ . c. Let PM be the arch
178-725r 59-575r
which the moon describes in any small time;
and M L a small line, which the moon describes
in the sane time by the force -rr-Ar* ^9 ^ ^^
force is directed to the sun, the line M L will be
parallel to T A. As M L is the distance that the
moon is drawn from the arch P M, by the said
accelerative force; 2ML will be the uniform
motion it has acquired in that time, by the isud
force. Let M P be continued back to m, in the
moon's orbit, to cut the line of the nodes T N in
iR. Now since M L is parallel to the ecliptic ; a
plane drawn through M L and M Pm, will cut the
ecliptic in a line m /, which will be parallel to
M L ; therefore draw L P / to cut m / in /, and the
triangles PML and Pm/ are similar, and there-
fore w/ = *!^^^„— ; but since M P is given,
M P
and M L is as the force 3PK, therefore m / is as
m P X P K. Now when the moon was at P, the
line of the nodes was at Tm, where the plane of
the moon's orbit TMP cuts the ecliptic. But,
when the moon comes to L (instead of M), the
plane of her orbit will then be in the plane
TLP ; and the line of the nodes at T/, where
the plane T LP / cuts the ecliptic. Therefore the
angular motion of the nodes generated in that
time will be = angle mTL But the angle mX /
is as J^ X sine of Tm/ or ATN ; that is, as
Tm
mP X PK ^ ^2 ; that is, because by similar
* *", /mP_PH\ ,, PHxPK
tnangles(--p-pp)as_^
that b, (because PT is given) as PH x PK x
AZ.
The line M L is to the versed sine of the ardi
PM, as the forces that produce them ; that is, as
c to Cy o^ as f to 59'575r. That is
XAZ,
59-575r
PM«
2MT
ML:
; f : 59*&75r ; therefore ML=:.
PM«
5mT
. When P fells upon A, or the moon is
in the syzigy ; then < = r, and the angle PML
is a right angle : therefore in the triangle PML,
PM:ML
ormP/z:^
0
PM«
2MT X 59
PM
—- v.: radius :S.LPM
•575/
And if N be at Q,
• 2MT X 59-575'
or the nodes in the quadratures, and P at A ;
then PM and PL being parallel to the ecliptic,
n and / will be at an infinite distance, and then
the angle m T / will be equal to m P /, whose sine is
P\f
2N1T X 59-575' ^"^ *« *°«1« "»T/ answering
to >ML is the motion of the node, whose sine is
PM
MT X 59-575' Suppose P M to be described in
an hour, then P M or the mean horary motion is
32* 56"!, whose sine, as it differs insensibly from
the arch, we shall have the arch = ,^ ,,,
' 59-575
(putting PM = 1) = 33*18", where all the
Vol. IIL
angles PTR, PtN, and STN are right aisles.
And in other cases, the horary motion of the
node will be to 33*18*, as the product of tlie
sines of the three angles PTK, PTN, and STN,
to the radius cube ; and the nodes are regressive
when all the sines are positive. But if any sine
changes to be negative, the nodes will be pn>-^
gressive.
290. Hence the nodes are progressive, when
the moon is between either quadrature, and the
node nearest that quadrature; otherwise they
are regressive. And by the excess of the regress
above the progress, they are in the whole moved
forward.
For in the arches QAnand 9BN,PK and PH
are both affirmative or both negative. And in
the arches NQ, n^, only one is negative, the
other being affirmative.
If it were not for the sun's perturbating force,
the moon would always descnbe the same ellip-
sis, and the transverse axis and eccentricity of the
orbit would remain unidtered. But since the
perturbating force of the sun always acts upon
ner more or less, and causes all the irregularities
of her motion ; it is evident that all these effects
will be the greater as that force is the greater.
But when the transverse axis, or line of me ap-
sides, is in the syziges, then Uie perturbate force
TM or 3 P K, fig. 13, platie IX., is the greatest
possible, by whi^ the moon is removed ferther
nom the earth, and consequently the transverse
axis b lengthened, and the eccentricity becomes
greater. And the contrary happens when the
transverse is in ^e quadratures ; for by its being
in the quadratures, die force L M is greater; and
the whole centripetal force towards T being
greater, the body will be drawn nearer the earth,
and describe a less orbit, or one less eccentric
than before. Therefore when the apsides are ^n
the quadratures, the eccentricity is less; and
when thev are in the syziges, it is greater. But
how much it is greater or less depends upon the
mean eccentricity ; and that depends upon ob-
servation.
292. Hence the eccentricity continually in-
creases, as the apsides move from the quadratures
to the syziges ; and decreases from the syziges to
the quadratures. And the eccentricity of the
orbit continually increases, as the moon passes
from the quadratures to the syziges; and de-
creases, in passing from the syziges to the quad-
ratures. For the perturbating force increases
from the quadratures to the syziges, and de*
creases from the syziges to the quadratures.
Sect. VI. — Of the Nature and Motions op
Comets.
293. It is certain that comets are not meteors
in our air, because they rise and set in the same
manner as the moon and stars. It is long sioce
astronomers had gone so far in their enquiries
concerning them, as to prove by their observa-
tions that they moved in the celestial spaces
beyond the moon ; but they had no notion of the
path which they described. Now the power of
the sun being reciprocally in the duplicate pro-
portion of the distance, every body acted upon
Dv him must either foil directly down or mo?e
about him in one of the conic sections. If a
K
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130
ASTRONOMY.
body which descends towards the sun as low a^
the orbit of any planet, move with a swifter mo-
tion than the planet, it will describe an orbit of
a more oblong fiprure than that of the planet, and
have at least a longer axis. The velocity of .the
body may be so great, that it shall move in a
parabola, so that having once passed the sun, it
shall ascend for ever without returning, though
the sun will still continue in the focus of that
parabola ; and with a velocitystill greater, they
will move in a hyperbola. The best observar-
tions, however, show that the comets move in
very eccentric ellipses; and. hence those bodies
are sometimes found at a moderate distance from
the sun, and appear within the planetary regions ;
at other times they ascend to vast distances, far
beyond the orbit of the most distant known
planet, and become invisible.
294. The analogy between the periodic times
of the planets, and their distances from the sun,
discovered by Kepler, of course takes place, also
in the comets, at least in those which revolve in
elliptic orbits ; and consequently, if the periodic
time of a comet were known, its mean distance
might be easily computed. Now the comet of
1759 is known to perform its revolution in se-
venty-six years nearly, whence it appears that its
mean distance is about eighteen times that of the
earth, or a little less than the mean distance of
Uranus ; but, in consequence of the great ecceur
tricity of its orbit, its aphelion point, or the
greatest distance from the su|i, is nearly double
that of the above planet. The perihelion dis-
tance of this comet is about six of the mean dis-
tance of the earth, which being taken from 36,
the mean transverse axis of its orbit, leaves 35*4
for its aphelion>distance, which is nearly double
the greatest distance of Uranus, and about ibur
times that of Saturn.
295. The above is the only comet whose pe-
riodic return has been ascertained, till the recent
re-discovery of Enke's comet, and consequently
the only one whose mean distance can be known;
but with regard to the perihelion distance of
these bodies, this may be aetermined by observa-
tions ; and accordingly we have an account of this
element of the orbits of about 100 comets, which
have been observed with considerable accuracy.
The greater number of these have had their pe-
rihelion point fall within the terrestrial orbit, and
many of them at less than half the mean distance
of the earth ; but the comet of 1680 is that of
all others which approaches the nearest to the
sun, its perihelion distance being only *006 of the
perihelion of the earth, that is, about 540,000
miles from the sun's centre, and must, therefore,
according to Newton, have been involved in its
atmosphere. This comet also passed very near
the terrestrial orbit, having been, according to
Dr. Ilalley's calculation on the 11th of November,
1 h. 6 m. P. M., not more than one semi-diameter
of the earth, or about 4000 miles to the northward
of the earth's orbit, at which time had we been
in this part of our track, the comet would have
had a parallax exceeding tliat of the moon ; and
the mutual gravitation of the two bodies must
have caused a change in the inclination of the
earth's orbit, and in the length of the year; at
the same time the waters on the earth would have
been so elevated from the same cause, as would
in all probability have caused a universal deluge,
and reduced this beautiful frame to its original
chaos.
- 296. The limits of a comet's distance may be
easily ascertained frt)m its tail, it being sapposed
to be directed from the sun. Let S, fig. 9, plate VI.,
be the sun, E the earth, E T the line in which
tlie head of the comet appears, £ W the line in
which the extremity of the tail is observed, and
draw ST parallel to EW'; then -the comet is
within the distance E T. For if the comet were
at T, the tail would be directed in a line parallel
to E W, and therefore could never appear in that
line. Now T E W is known from observation,
and consequently its equal E T S, together with
T E S, the angular distance of the comet from
the sun, and ES to find ST, the limit of the
comet's distance.
On the Orbits op Comets, and their Perio-
dica^ Revolutions.
297. It is extremely difficult to determine
from computation, the elliptic orbit of a comet to
any degree of accuracy ; for when this orbit is
very eccentric, a very small error in the observa-
tion will change the computed orbit into a para-
bola, or hyperbola. Now from the thickness and
inequality of the atmosphere with which the co-
met is surrounded, it is impossible to determine
with any precision, when either the limb or cen-
tre of the comet pass the wire at the time of
observation. And this uncertainty in the obser-
vations will subject the computed orbit to a great
error. Hence it happened, that M. Bouguer
determined the orbit of the comet in 1729 to be
an hyperbola. M. Euler first determined the
same for the comet in 1744 ; but having received
more accurate observation, he found it to be an
ellipse. The period of the comet in 1680 ap-
pears from observations to be 575 years, which
M. Euler by his computation determined to be
166i years.
298. The only safe way to get the period of
comets, is to compare the elements of all those
which have been computed, and where you find
they agree very well, you may conclude that
tliey are elements of the same tx>met ; it being so
extremely improbable that the orbits of two dif-
ferent comets should have the same inclinations,
the same perihelion distance, and the places of
the perihelion and node of the same. Thus,
knowing the periodic time, we get the major axis
of the ellipse, and the perihelion distance being
known, the minor axis will be known. When
the elements of the orbits agree the comets may
be the same, although the periodic times should
vary a little ; as that may arise from the attrac-
tion of the bodies in our system, and which may
also alter all the other elements in a small degree.
The following approximating method of deter-
Ipining that part of a comet's orbit through
which it moves, while it can be observed from
the earth, is due to Boscovich.
299. Having collected the greatest possible
number of observations, choose three of them which
were taken when the comet was not too near its
perihelion, (because near the perihelion the orbit
does not differ sensibly from a circle), and
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ASTRONOMY.
131
make these the basis of the operations : let S,
plate VI. fig. 6, be the sun, U W the orbit of
the eartli, supposed here to be a circle, £ the
place of the earth at the first, e at the third, draw
fe,C, e f , to represent the observed directions of
the comets, and let L, /, w, be the longitudes of
the first, second, and third observations, m and n
the geocentric latitudes of the first and third ob-
servation, and tf T, the intervals of time between
the first and second, second and third observa*
tions. Assume C for the place of the comet at
the first observation, reduced to the ecliptic ;
then, to determine the place of the third observa-
tion, say T X sine to — / : t x sine I — L : :
£ C : e c, and c will be nearly the place required :
join C c, and it will represent the path of the
comet on the ecliptic, according to tnis assump-
tion. Draw CK,ckj perpendicular to the eclip-
tic, taking C K : £ C : : tang M : radius, and
ckiec : z tang n : radius ; join K fc, and it
will represent the orbit of the comet, if the first
assumption be true. Bisect C c in :r, and draw
xy parallel to C K, and K k will be bisected in
y; join y s. Let S £=1 ; then if o be the mean
velocity of the earth in its orbit, the velocity of
the comet at y =:^-=- (Art. 586), taking there*
forev=:£e, compute
V2XP
and if this be equal
to Kky the assumed point C was the true point.
300. But if these quantities be not equal, a
new point must be assumed for C, in choosing
which we must be directed by the nature and
quantity of the error arising from the first assump-
tion; thus if the computed value of K/c, oe
greater than its value measured in the figure, and
the lines CK,ck diverge from each other as they
recede from the sun, the point c must be taken
farther from £ by how great a quantity we must
conjecture from the magnitude of the error, and
from the consideration that the comet's velocity
diminishes as it recedes from the sun. Find
C K, c ^, as before, and compare the measured
and computed value of K /c ; and if a fresh as-
sumption be necessary, make it in conformity to
the considerations above suggested. Having thus
ascertained the position of the points C, c, very
nearly produce c C,kKto meet at N ; join N S,
and it will be the line of the nodes ; and if C r,
c 2, be drawn perpendicular to N S, either of the
angles K r C, kzc will measure the inclination
of the orbit. Also from the two distances S C,
S c, and the included angle C S c, the parabola
may be easily constructed } thus, having set off
S C, S c (fig. 10, plate VI.) in their proper rela-
tive position, with the centres C,c, and radii
equal to SC,Sc, describe the arcs aRo, ert,
and draw the line R r d to touch those arcs, this
tine will manifestly be the directrix of the para-
bola: which, being known, together with the
focus S and the determining mtio (that of equar
lity), the parabola may be constructed.
301. Or, letting fall SD perpendicularly upon
R D, and bisecting it in A, the vertex and focus of
the parabola A c C will be known ; whence it
may be drawn by well-known methods. From
either of these constructions, the ratio of the co-
met's perihelion distance S A (fig. 1. plate IX.)
to the earth's mean distance S £ (fig. 10. plate
VIII.), will be known, and consequontly the
comet's velocity in perihelion; the velocity in
eitlier of the points C, or c, will be determined
by the observations ; and since the antrular dis-
tances are reciprocally as the squares of the dis-
tances from the centre of force, the S C, S c, are
hence found in terms of S £ : if these agree
nearly with the construction, the assumptions
have been properly made ; if not, some farther
corrections are necessary. The angles ASC,
A S c, may either be measured or calculated from
the known distances ; then having the perihelion
distance and the true anomaly, the time from the
perihelion may be determined, whence, as tlie
observations will show, whether the comet be
approaching to, or receding from, the perihelion,
an epoch of the perihelioiT will readily be ascer-
tained.
302. When a parabola is found to agree nearly
with the given positions, it is needless to continue
the approximation farther ; for if the observations
are accurate, we cannot expect a parabola to
agree perfectly with them ; it the Ixldy move in
an ellipsis, as it is highly probable that all these
bodies do. If the observations are only nearly
accurate, a parabola found to agree with them,
might probaoly not agree with other observations
made upon the comet.
Sect. VII. — Of the Bodies of the Sun and
Planets, the Quantity of Matter they con-
tain, AND THEIR DENSITIES.
303. The primary planets and comets being
retained in their orbits by a power directed
towards the sun, and the secondaries being also
retained by a similar power directed to the cen-
tre of the primaries, the same power is diffused
through their whole substance, and inherent in
every particle. This is proved by showing that
each of the heavenly bodies attracts the rest, and
other bodies, with such different degrees of force,
as that the force of the same attracting body is
exerted on others, exactly in proportion to the
quantity of matter contained in the body at-
tracted.
304. The first proof of this is from the experi-
ments made on bodies on our earth. Pendulums
vibrate by the same power which makes heavy
bodies fall to the ground ; but if the ball of any
pendulum of the same length with another were
more or less attracted in proportion to the quan-
tity of solid matter it contains, that pendulum
would vibrate faster or slower than the other.
Now the vibrations of pendulums continue for a
long time, and the number of vibrations they
make may be easily and correctly determined ;
and Newton assures us that he examined several
substances, as gold, silver, lead, glass, sand,
common salt, wood, water, and wheat ; in all
which he found not the least deviation from the
theory, though he made the experiment in such
a manner that, in bodies of the same weight, a
difference in the quantity of their matter less than
the thousandth part of the whole would have dis-
covered itself.
305. It appears, therefore, that all bodies are
made to descend here by the power of gravity
w^*h the same degree of swiftness. This descent
K 2
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132
ASTRONOMY.
has been detennined at 16) feet in a second from
the be^nning of their fell. If any terrestrial
body could be conveyed as high as the moon, it
would descend with the very same velocity as the
incremental deflection of the moon 'towards the
earth ; and therefore the power of the earth upon
the moon is in the'same proportion to its force on
other bodies at the same distance as the quantity
of matter in the moon bears to the quantity in
those bodies. Thus with respect to the earth, its
Sower on every body it attracts is, at the same
istance from the earth, proportional to the
quantity of solid matter in the body acted upon.
306. As to the sun, the power of his action
upon the same primary planet is reciprocally in
the duplicate proportion of its distance; and that
his power decreases throughout in the same pro-
portion, is testified by the motion of the planets
traversing the whole planetary regions. Hence
if any planet were removed from the sun to any
distance whatever, its tendency towards the sun
would yet be reciprocally in the duplicate pro-
portion of the distance. But the degree of ac-
celeration given to the planets by the sun is
observed to be reciprocally in the dfuplicate pro-
portion of their respective distances ; from this
we may safely infer, that the power of the sun
upon any planet removed into the place of any
other, would give it the same velocity of descent
as it gives that other ; and consequently, that the
sun's action upon different planets at the same
distance would be proportionable to the quantity
of matter in each. The sun attracts the primary
planets and their respective secondaries, when at
the same distance, in such a maimer as to com-
municate to both the same degree of velocity ;
and therefore the force wherewith die sun acts
on the secondary planet, bears the same propor-
tion to the force wherewith it attracts the primary,
as the quantity of matter in the secondaiy planet
bears to the quantity of matter in the primary.
307. This property therefore is found in the
sun with regard to both kinds of planets ; so that
he possesses the same quality found in the earth,
viz. that of acting on bodies with a degree of
force proportional to the quantity of matter diey ,
contain. All the phenomena of the planetary
motions produced by their mutual attractions
agree precisely with this law of force; and we
are thence warranted in concluding, that this is
the principle which the great Author of nature
has appointed to regulate the motions at least of
the system to which we belong.
308. In a word, the attractive power both of
the sun and the planets appears to be the same ;
for it acts in each in the same proportion to the
distance, and alike upon every particle of matter.
This power therefore in the sun and planets,
is the same in its nature as the power of gravity
in the earth; and hence the attracting power
lodged in the sun and planets belongs likewise to
every part of them ; and their respective powers
upon the same body are proportional to the
quantity of matter of which they are composed ;
for instance, the force with which the earth at-
tracts the moon, is to the force with which the
iun would attract it at the same distance, as the
Quantity of solid matter in the earth is to that in
toe sun.
309. The rule that action is equal to re-actioD
holds good in attractive powers as well as in any
other powers. The most remarkable force of
this kind with which we are acquainted, next to
that of gravity, is the attraction which the load-
stone has for iron. Now if a loadstone and piece
of iron are both made to swim on water, they
move towards each other, and thus the attraction
b shown to be mutual ; and when they meet,
the^ mutually stop each other ; which shows that
their velocities are reciprocally proportioned to
the quantities of solid matter in each ; and that
by the stone's attracting the iron, it receives as
much motion itself, in the strict philosophic
sense of the word, as it communicates to the iron.
310. From this mutual action of the sun and
planets upon each other, it follows, as has been
already mentioned, that they both revolve about
their common centre of gravity. Thus let A (in
plate IX. fig. 7.) represent the sun, B a planet,
and C their common centre of gravity. If these
bodies were once at rest, they would directly ap-
proach each other by their mutual attraction,
and that with such velocities, diat their common
centre of gravity would remain at rest, and they
would meet in that point. Were the |>lanet B
to receive an impulse, as in the direction B £,
this would prevent the two bodies from falling
together; but their common centre of gravity
would be put into motion in the direction of the
line C F, parallel to B £. In this case, the sun
and planet would describe round their common
centre of gravity similar orbits, while that centre
would proceed with an uniform velocity in the
line C F, and so the system of the two bodies
would move on with the centre of gravity without
end. In order to keep the system in the same
place, it is necessary, that when the pkmet re-
ceived its impulse in the direction B £, the sun
should receive such another the contrary way, so
as to keep the centre of gravity, C, without any
motion, m which case it would always remain
fixed.
311. The action therefore between the sun and
planets is mutual. The power which acts be-
tween the sun and primary planets is of the same
nature with that which acts between the secon-
dary planets and their primaries, or between the
earth and bodies near its surfece. In different
planets the force of the sun's action upon each at
the same distance, would be proportional to the
quantity of solid matter contamea in the planet :
therefore the re-action of the planet on the sun at
the same distance, or the motion which he would
receive from each planet, would also be pro-
portional to the quantity of matter in the planet ;
that is, these planets, at the same distance, would
act on the same body, with the degrees of strength
proportioned to the quantity of solid matter con-
tained in each.
312. From these princiolcs Newton has proved
that the particles oi which the sun, moon, and
planets are formed, exert their power of gravita-
tion by ^e same law, and in the same proportion
to the distance, as the great bodies they compose.
313. The following propositions constitute the
principal steps in the process of the investiga-
Ution. In ng. 4, plate VI., if A C is perpen-
dicular to AB, and a corpuscle at C is atttacted
Digitized by
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ASTEONOMY.
towards erery particle of the line A B, by forces
inversely as the squares of the distances, then
the whole force which the particles in A B exert
upon C, in the direction A C, is as V r^r^ •
For put AC = o, and AD, any variable part oC
AB z= J ; then the force of a particle at D being
as CD* ^'^ ^^ direction DC, its force in the
AC
_2px2oJ'-^j*
2&-C +x
133
which multiplied by
direction AC, will be as -prr^; or as
Cl?'
Hence •
whole force, whose fluent is
AD
(a« + J^i'
represents the fluxion of the
«.(«■ + :^)ii
or
CA X CD-
314. Again, let B C D E, plate VI. fig. 5, re-
present a circular plane, and H a corpuscle per-
pendicularly over its centre, then if the forces
with which each particle in the plane acts upon H
be inversely as the squares of the distances, the
force with which H will be urged towards the
plane will be represented by A — A^V^,;
p being = 3-14159, &c. For let A H = a, and
H/=: 3f ; then A 6»= g* — fl«; andp . A ^ i= p.
a:* — 0*= the area of the circle, Acdbe;
and the fluxion of the area of this circle \8 2pxx.
But the force of a particle at b in the direction
HA is as -jjy, or -^, by the preceding pro-
position ; therefore the fluxion of the whole force
will be — ^5 = —:r-' The fluent of this
corrected, gives 2;?x 1— ?=2pxl — —
* BH
for the whole force.
, ^^^;. "^^ ^PP'y *^* *<> *e determination of the
law of force, by which a particle without a sphere
would be acted upon by that sphere, the law of
force of each particle in the sphere being in-
versely as the squares of its distance ; let A B E C
plate yi. fig. 3, represent a section of a sphere
of which the centre is F; let H be the particle,
draw B C perpendicular to H E, join H B and
5.A; PutAF = «, FH = 6,AH = rr^
--V>,HD = y and HB = c -|- *;then AD
- y - c, ED = 2 fl —5^ + C, and hence
BD»=AD-DE = HB'-HD«, or7="c
X 2a — 5,^.c=c4-^-5^, an equation
from which we get V - 2 ac -h2c«4- 2cx 4- je«
. 2ci4-2c
— 2^c-f2 c X + ac*
26 » a* « + c = 6. Hence,
0»e attractive force of the particles on the circle
^hose diameter is B C is, ly the last proportion,
"^ ^ 2bxTTTj
— r-j — gives ^ ^5 for the
fluxion of the required force, and the fluent of
this expresssion, Pxax'—jj^ j^ ^^ ^^^ ^
the segment ABC, and therefore when B coin-
cides with E, or X z= 2 a, tiiis expression be-
4pa» ,
coraes -^ - the attraeUve force of the whole
sphere.
316. If the particles, of which the globe is
composed, acted upon those without in the re-
ciprocal duplicate proportion of their distances,
the whole globe would hence act upon them in
the same manner as it does; but, if the particles
of the globe have not all of them that property,
some must act in a greater, and some in a less
proportion; and if this be the condition of the
jlobe, it is plain that when the body attracted is
in such a situation in respect of the globe, that
the greater number of the strongest particles are
nearest to it, the body will be more forcibly at-
tracted than when, by turning the globe about,
the greater quantity of weak particles should be
nearest, though the distance of the body should
remain the same fi-om the centre of the globe ;
which is contrary to what was at first remarked,
that the globe acts equally on all sides. If all
the particles of the globe attract all the particles
of another in the proportion already mentioned,
the attracting globe will act upon the other in the
same proportion to the distance between the cen-
tre of the globe which attracts, and the centre of
that which is attracted : and the proportion holds
true, though either or both of the globes be com-
posed of dissimilar parts, some rarer, and some
more dense ; provided only that all the parts in
the same globe, equally distant from the centre,,
be homogeneous, and likewise if both globes at-
tract each other.
317. It is thus shown, that this power iir the-
great bodies of the universe is derived from the
same being lodged in every particle of the mat-
ter which composes them; and consequently that
it is universal m matter, though the power is too
minute to produce any visible effects on the
small bodies with which we are conversant, by
tlieir action on one another. In the fixed star*
indeed we have no particular proof that they
have tiiis power, as we find no appearance to
demonstrate that they either act or are acted
upon by it. But since this power is found to
belong to all bodies whereon we can make ob-
servation, and we find tiiat it is not altered
by any change in the shape of bodies, but ac-
companies them in every form without diminu-
tion, being ever proportional to the quantity of
solid matter in each, it is highly probable that
such a power belongs universally to all matter. '
318. From the times in which the satellites
perform their revolutions, compared with their
distances firom their respective primaries, the
proportion between the power with which one
pnmary attracts his satellites, and the force with
Digitized by
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134
ASTRONOMY.
which any other attracts his, may be found ; and
the proportion of the power with which any
planet attracts his secondary to the power with
which it attracts a body at its surface, is found
by comparing the distance of the secondary planet
frOm the centre of the primary with the distance
of the primary planet's surface from the same ;
and from hence is deduced the proportion be-
tween the power of gravity upon the surface of one
planet to the gravity upon the surface of another.
319. In a like manner by comparing the
periodical time of a primary planet about the
sun, with the revolution of a satellite about its
primary, may be found the proportion of gravity,
or of the weight of any body, on the surface of
the sun, to the gravity or to the weight of the
same body upon the surface of the planet which
carries about the satellite.
320. Amongst the ancient mathematicians,
nothing eould have appeared more completely out
of the reach of human intellect, than by calcula-
tion to determine the internal stnicture of remote
and inaccessible bodies, that is, than to find the
densities of the planets. Such, however, has been
effected in modem times. The density of a
planet can be found by comparing the velocity
m its orbit round the sun with the velocity of its
'^tellite, or by determining the distance which it
deflected from its tangent in one second of time,
comparing its angular velocity with the mean
radius of its orbit, and by knowing the space
which a heavy body falk through in one second
by the force of gravity at its surface.
321. To understand the principle upon which
diis determination rests, we may observe that the
effect of attraction at equal distances will be in
Log. D = log. 95000000 = 79777236
Log. m = log. 883217 == 5-9460674
proportion to the quantity of matter in the at-
tracting body ; and at different distances, as the
quantity of matter and the inverse square of the
distance conjointly. The quantity of matter b
also in proportion to the magnitude of the body
and its density conjointly. If therefore we know
the effects of the attraction of dififerent bodies,
together with their magnitudes, we can find their
densities, and thence their quantities of matter.
To find their densities, put
<f ^ the density of the celestial object,
in = its diameter,
a = its quantity of matter,
P = the periodic time of the revolving body,
D = the mean distance of the revolving body
from its central body,
s = the sine of the angle under which m ap-
pears at the distance D, to radius unity.
D*
Then a varies as dm', and P' varies as — ,or
hence, d varies as
ly
fii» p»
but I =:
— rr- ; hence, d varies as -rr^-
D ' f* P*
From this we conclude that the logarithm of the
density varies as 3 x log.^ — — 2 log. P. But,
in order to make the comparison between dif-
ferent planets as simple as possible, we shall
suppose the density of the sun to be 1, and find a
logarithm, which, taken from the above formula,
will make it so. For this purpose we shall take the
diameter of the sun = 683,217 miles, its distance
from the earth 95,000,000 miles, and the earth's
periodic time 365*2564 days. Hence, we have —
20316562 X 3 =: 6*0949686
Log. P = log. 365-2564 = 25625978 X 2: zz 51251956
the logarithm of the sun's density. But the lo-
garithm of 1 is 0 ; hence the logarithm of the den-
p-9697730
325. To find the density of Saturn, if we Uke
D
sity of a planet is to that of the sun, considered as ^»« second satellite we shall have — = 3-75,
unity, as 1 to 3 X log. ^-..- 2 log P--9697730. andPzz2-7368, therefore 3 X log. ^ -2log-.
323. To find the density of the earth, we take n .n* A-r-ro/* ;„ ^^ ..i *^ * Af^nfrr^o^ *i. i
the moon as the revolving, and the ea;th as the Ff^pfr ?1? ITv^ thr^ih Th.^' '^V''^*
central body.- D = 240000, m = 7955, and P ^J^^^'^' I^t us take thefifUi; then we have
z= 27-32167 ; and 3 X log. ? - 2 log. P- „7 = ^^' *"*^ ^ = 79'3196. Hence 3 x log.
*" -9697730 is equal to —
•9697730 is then equal to • 5959255, the log. of ~ — . 2 loe P
3-94S9. . "»
To find the density of Jupiter. If we take the 1*5255573 the log. of -3354.
first satellite as the revolving body, we shall have ' 326. To find the density of Uranus, if we take
-=2-8385 and P =: 1-7691 ; hence 3 x log. the third satellite we shall have — = 9*5, and
*w tft
- — 2 log. -9697730 b then equal to 1-8916918 P= 10*9611, then 3 X log - — 2 log of P —
the log. of -7793. 9697730 is equal td— 1*8836886, the log. of
324. Again, if we take the fourth satellite, we 7650.
D
shall have — z= 1265 and P = 16-68898,
Ml '
D
therefore 3 x log ~ — 2 log. P — '9697730
is the equal to — 1'801C330 the log. of -7792.
Again, let us take the sixth satellite, and we
shall have — = 44, and P =: 1076944 ; hence,
3 X log. - — 2 log. P — -9697730 is equal to
Digitized by
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ASTRONOMY.
135
— 1-8961985 the log. of -7874. A trifling dif-
(erence, either in tire periodic Ume, or the dis-
tance of the satellite, will make a considerable
difference in the density of the primary ; and
hence, if these be not very correct, the density
cannot be depended on with any degree of ac-
curacy.
327. The abbve are the only planets whose
densities can be found by this method. Those
which have no satellite, have obliged astrono-
mers to have resource to a method much less
accurate, depending on the effect, which by ob-
servation the planet is found to produce in dis-
turbing the motions of the other planets. Dr.
Maskelyne makes the density of Venus 1-024,
and M. de la Lande 1-038, that of the earth being
1 . Laplace concludes the density of Mars to be
•6563, and of Mercury 2*5833, the earth being
1. The density of the moon has been estimated
at 1-456 times the density of the earth.
If the density of the earth be taken equal to
4} times that of water, we shall have the densi-
ties, or specific gravities, of the planets in the
following proportions : —
Sun 1-1410 nearly ^ to the specific gra-
vity of opaque copal
Mercury 11-6250 . . . lead
Venus 4'6395 . . . molybdsna
Earth 4-5000 . . . ponderous spar
Moon 6*5520 . . . cast antimony
Mars 2*9533 . . . flint glass
Jupiter 0*8891 . .• . mulberry tree
Saturn 0-3612 . . . poplar
Uranus 0*8856 . . . oeech txee.
PART III.
EXPLANATIOK OP THE CELESTIAL, PHE-
KOMENA, ACCORDING TO THE NEW-
TONIAN DOCTRINE.
Sect. I. — Of the Circles, Nodes, Aspects,
Conjunctions, &c.. of the Planets.
328. To a spectator placed in the sun all the
planetfl would appear to describe circles annually
m the heavens; for, though their motions are
really elliptical, the eccentricity is so small, that
the difference between them and true circles is
not easily perceived, even on earth ; and at the sun,
whether great or tinall, it would entirely vanish.
These circles, which in such a sitoalion would ap*
pear to be annually described luftong the fixed
stars, are called the heliocentric circles of the
planets. To ai spectator in the sun, the comets,
though moving in the most eccentric orbits, would
idso appear to describe circles in the heavens : for,
thougn their oibits are in reality very long ellipses,
the planes of them extended to the heavens would
mark a great circle of which the eye would be the
centre ; only, at the real motion is in an ellipsis,
the body would appear to move much more slow-
ly in some part or the circle than another, and
to differ excessively in magnitude.
329. To an inhabitant of any planet, however,
the sun appears to go round in its own heliocen-
tric circle, or to describe in the heavens that same
curve, which the planet would appear to do if seen
from the sun. Thus, in plate A VL fig. 8, when
the earth is at a, if we draw a line from a through
the sun at S, the point G, in the sphere of tl^e
heavens where the line terminates, is the place
where the sun then appears to an inhabitant of th^
earth. In a month's time the earth will go from
ato b; draw a line then through the sun, and its
extremity at H will point out his apparent place
at that time. In like manner, if we draw lines
from the earth in twelve several 'situations, in
which it is represented for the twelve mouths ot
the year, the sun*s apparent place will be found
as above ; and so it would be found by a speo
tator placed in Venus, or any other planet.
330. The heliocentric circle of the earth is call-
ed the ecliptic ; because eclipses of the sun or
moon can only happen when the latter is in or
near it. By some ancient writers it has been
called the circle of the sun, or the oblique circle,
because it cuts the equator at oblique angles. It
is also called by Ptolemy the circle which passes
through the midst of the animals ; because the
twelve constellations through which it passes,
were anciently all represented by animals, or
Cof them, though now the balance is intro-
d in place of the claws of the scorpion. For
this reason a belt, taken in the concave sphere
of the heavens, about ten degrees on each side of
the ecliptic, is called the zodiac, from (wov, an
animal, and the constellations through which the
ecliptic is drawn, are called the constellations o(
the zodiac.
3S1. Although the sun apparendy goes round
the earth annually in this circle, we cannot deter-
mine his place by mere inspection, as we can do
that of any other heavenly body ; for the fixed
stars are the only marks by which we can deter-
mine the place of any of the celestial bodies ; and
the superior brightness of the sun renders them
totally invisible, except in the time of a great
eclipse, when his light is for a time totally ob-
scured. But though we cannot know the place
of the sun directly, it is easily found from a
knowledge of those fixed stars which are opposite
to him.
332. Thus, in plate IX. fig. 9, suppose it tlie
time of the year m which the earth is at g, il
we know that the point G is then diametrically
opposite to the sun, we know that A, its opposite,
is the sun's place, and consequently, by finding
the places throughout the year diametrically op-
positetothesun,asGHIKLMABCDEF,we
may be assured that in these times the sun's place
was in the points ABCDEFGHIKLM. The
point in the heavens diametrically opposite to the
sun may be known every night at twelve o'clock
when the stars are visible ; for the star which has
an elevation above the horizon, at that time equal
to the sun's depression below it, is directly op-
posite to him.
333. When the position of the ecliptic is thus
determined, the latitude of the moon, or any
star, is measured by its distance from the eclip-
tic, in the same manner as the latitudes of places
on the earth are reckoned by their distance from
the equator, and circles passing through the poles
of the ecliptic at right angles to its plane, are
called circles of latitude. * The declination of any
celestial body is its deviation from the equaior
towards the pole nearest to it.
Digitized by
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136
A 8TR0 N O M Y.
334. The latitude of anv planet is either he-
liocentric or geocentric. Tne heliocentric btitude
b its distance from the ecliptic as seen from the
sun, and its geocentric as seen from the earth. As
the orbits of the planets are inclined in different
angles to the ecliptic, the heliocentric latitude of
any planet, is almost always different from its geo-
centric latitude. Thus, let AB, plate VII. fig.
1 1, be the orbit of the earth, C D the orbit of Ve-
nus, viewed with the eye in- their common section,
wherein they appear straight lines; let £ and F
be two opposite points of the ecliptic ; and sup-
pose «Venus to be in the point C. If she were at
that time viewed from the sun S, she would ap-
pear in the point of the heavens marked H, and
her heliocentric latitude is then FH; but if
viewed from the earth in B, she will appear at
g ; and her geocentric is only Fg.
335. The planets Mercury ai^ Venus, whose
orbits are included in that of the earth, are called
inferior; and Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and the
Georgium Sidus, are called superior planets.
The two points where the heliocentric circle of
any planet cuts the ecliptic, are called its nodes;
and that which the planet passes through as it
goes into north latitude, is called the ascending
node, and is marked thus ^ ; and the opposite
to this is called the descending node, and is
marked Q . A line drawn from one node to the
other is called the line of the nodes of the pla-
net, which is the common section of the plane of
the ecliptic, and that of the planet produced on
each side to the fixed stars.
336. The zodiac is either astral or local.
The astral is divided into twelve unequal parts,
1>ecause it contain;; twelve celestial constellations,
some of which are larger than others. The local
zodiac is divided into twelve equal parts, called
signs, each containing thirty degrees. These are
counted from the point where the equator and
ecliptic intersect each other at the time of the
vernal equinox ; and are denoted by particular
marks, according to the apparent annual motion
of the sun. See plate V. fig. 6. A motion in
die heavens in the order of uese signs, as from
Aries to Taurus, is said to be a motion in conse-
quence; and such are the true motions of all the
planets, though their apparent motions are some-
times contrary, and then they are said to move in
antecedence. The local zodiac is not always in-
variably the same as to the places of the several
signs, though the whole always takes up the same
place in the heavens, viz. ten degrees on each
side the ecliptic. The points where the celestial
equator cuts the ecliptic, are found to have a mo-
tion in antecedence of about fifty seconds a
year.
337. This change of place of the first point of
the ecliptic, from whence the signs are counted,
oc<»sions a like change in the signs themselves;
which, though scarcely sensible for a few years,
has now become very considerable. Thus, since
astronomy was first cultivated among the Greeks,
which is about 2000 years ago, the first point of
the ecliptic is removed backward above a whole
sisn : and, though it was then about the middle
of the constellation Aries, is now about the mid-
dle of Pisces. Notwithstanding this alteration,
however, the signs still retain their ancient names
and marks. When die zodiac is mentioiMd by
astronomers, the local zodiac is generally meant
338. The longitude of a phenomenon in the
heavens is in the number of degrees counted
from the first point of Aries on the ecliptic to the
place where a circle of latitude drawn throueh
the phenomenon would cut the ecliptic at ri^t
angles. Every phenomenon in tne heavens,
whether in the zoaiac or not, is thus referred to
the ecliptic by its circle of latitude, or great circle^
passing through the phenomenon, and cutting
the ecliptic at right angles ; and whatever sign
the circle of latitude passes through, the pheno-
menon is said to have its place in that sign^
though ever so far distant firom it.
339. Some astronomers make the local zodiac
invariable ; for which purpose they imagine a cir-
cle of latitude drawn tnrough the first star of the
constellation Aries, marked in Bayer's catalogue
by the Greek letter y ; and reckon their longitude
from the point where that circle cuts the ecliptic.
This star is called the first star of the Ram ; and,
when this method is made use of, the longitude
of any phenomenon is said to be so many signs,
degrees, minutes, &c. from the first star of the
Rsun. Thus, in Street's Caroline Tables, the
longitude of Jupiter's ascending node is two
signs eight degrees from the first star of Aries,
which is thus marked : Long. '}{. Q a 1* op 2> 8^.
The common way of reckoning the longitude of
a phenomenon, is to take qp for the first point of
the ecliptic, and not to number the degrees quite
round tnat circle as a continued series, but to
make a new beginning at the first point of every
sign, and to reckon from thence only the length
of 30^. When this method b made use of, the
longitude of any phenomenon is expressed by
saying it is in such a degree, and sucn a minute
of a sign : and thus we may express the longi-
tude of the ascending node of Mercury, g Q 8
13° 40', and so of any odier. The place of a
phenomenon in the heavens is expreaited by set-
ting down its longitude and latitude.
340. Every planet, like the moon, is sometimes
in conjunction with the sun, and sometioies in
opposition. Its conjunction is when the geo-
centric place of the planet is the same with that
of the sun ; though an exact or central conjunc-
tion can only take place when the line of its
nodes passes through the earth, and the planet
itself is in one of its nodes at the dme. It is
however, in general, called a oonjunction or op-
position, when the same circle of latitude passes
through the sun and planet at the same time.
When the geocentric place of a planet is 90^, or
a quarter of a cirole from the sun's place, the
planet is said to be in quadrature or in a quar-
tile aspect with the sun ; and these terms are
used in a like sense when applied to any two
of the heavenly bodies. Thus tne sun and moon»
or the moon and any planet, or any two planets,
may be in conjunction, opposition, or quaarature.
341. Besides these, the ancients reckoned two
other aspects, the trine and the sextile; the for-
mer when the bodies were distant 120<>, and the
latter when only half that distance. Theae as-
pects are marked thus :
Conjunct. Opposition Qaadra« Trine Sextile
6 S a i^ 4t
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ASTRONOMY.
13?
The aspects were Ibimerly mpposed to inflaence
the afiurs of mankind ; but astrology^ which
treated of tfaeie influences, is now justly le-
342. The inferior planets have two kinds of
conjunction with the sun ; one in the inferior part
of their semicircles, the other in the superior part.
In the former the pfanet is between the earth
and the sun ; and in the latter the sun is between
the earth and planet. The inferior planets can
never be in opposition to the sun, nor even ap-
pear at a great distance from him. The length
they go is called their elongation. Thus, in
plate IX. fig. 11, let OPQRT be part of the
ecliptic ; S the sun ; and the three circles round
him the orbits of Mercury, Venus, and the earth.
Suppose the earth to be at A, the sun's geocen-
tric place will be at Q. If Mercury be then at
I, his geocentric place is likewise at Q ; so that
he is in conjunction with the sun in his inferior
semicircle : if at M, his geocentric place is like-
wise at Q; so that he is in conjunction in his
superior semicircle.
% 343. In like manner, Venus at £ is in con-
junction in her inferior semicircle, at G in her
superior : but if we suppose the earth to be at A,
and Venus at H, her geocentric place is T, and
her elongation QT, which in this figure is the
greatest possible; for this always takes place
when a straight line firom the earth touches the
orbit of the planet, as is evident from the figure ;
that is, provided the planet be in its aphelion at
the time. Thus the greatest possible elongation
of Mercury is Q P when he is in bis aphelion at
L; and the quantity of this is found by astrono-
mical observations to be about twenty-eight
degrees, and that of Venus about forty-ei^t
The inferior planets in their elongations are
sometimes eastward and sometimes westward of
the sun ; in the former case they appear in the
evening, and in the latter in the morning. The
smallness of Mercury and his nearness to the sun
prevent him from being often taken notice of;
but the largeness and beauty of Venus have
made her, in all ages, celebrated as the evening
and morning star.
344. The planets sometimes appear to go
forward, sometimes backward, and sometimes to
stand still. These difierent conditions are by
astronomers called direct, retrograde, and station-
ary. Were they to be viewed from the sun they
would always appear direct; but when viewed
from the earth, the inferior planets appear direct
while moving in their upper semicircles, and
retrogade when in their lower ones. Thus in
plate IX. fig. 11, suppose the earth at rest at A,
while Mercury is going on his orbit from N to I,
and from I to L, his motion appears to an ob-
server at A to be retrograde, or contrary to the
order of the signs, namely from R to Q and
from Q to P ; but when in that part of his orbit
which lies between Land N, his motion appears
direct, or from P to Q and from Q to R.
345. When the earth is in the line of nodes of
an inferior planet, the apparent motion of the
former is then in a straight line, because the
plane of it passes through the eye ; if in a con-
junction in nis upper semicircle, he passes b^ind
the sun ; if in his lower semicircle, he
before it, and will then be seen by an observer
on the earth to pass over the sun's disk like a
lonnd and very black spot. Were the plane
of his orbit coincident with the ecliptic, this
appearance would be seen every year; but by
reason of the obliquity of the two planes to each
other, it is much more rare.
346. Mercury, however, was seen in this man-
ner November 12th, 1782, at 3h.44m. in the
afternoon; May 4th, 1786, at 6h.57m. in the
morning; and December 6th, 1789, at 3 h. 55 m.
in the afternoon ; but was not seen again, in this
island at least, until the year 1799, May 7th, at
2 h. 34 m. in the afternoon. In like manner,
Venus sometimes appears as a black spot on the
sun, but more seldom than Mercury. She was
thus seen firrt in 1639 ; afterwards in the years
1761 and 1769 ; but will not again be visible in
this manner till the year 1874.
347. When the earth is out of the line of the
nodes of an inferior planet, its orbit appears an
^lipsis, more or less eccentric, according to the
situation of the eye of the spectator. In these
cases the motion of Mercury is unequal ; fester
near the inferior conjunction, but most unequal
in the inferior semicircle, going through the un-
equal spaces into which the ellipsis b divided.
The motions of the inferior planets, both direct
and retrograde, are very unequal ; and this ine-
ouality proceeds not firom the eccentricity of
their orbits, but from the projection of their
orbits into long ellipses, and is therefore a mere
optical deception.
348. These planets appear stationary while
changing their motion from direct to retrograde,
or from retrograde to direct. If the earth stood
still, the times of their appearing stationary would
be at their greatest elongation ; for though it be
a pTopertT of the circle, that a straight Une can
only touch it in one point, yet when the circle is
very large, the recess from the tangent is not per-
ceptible for a considerable time. Thus in ptate
IX. fig. 11, suppose the earth to be at rest in A
Venus would i^pear stationary, her geocentric'
place continuing at T all the while she is going
m her orbit from a to 6 ; because her deviation
firom the visual line AT would scarcely be per-
ceptible so near the point of contact H.
349. The inferior planets, therefore, to an in >
habitant of the earth, appear always near the sun ^
alternately going from and returning to him,
sometimes in straight lines, at others in elliptical
curves, first on one side and then on the other ;
sometimes so near as to be rendered invisible by
his stronger light Sometimes, when in or near
their nodes, Siey pass behind the sun in their
superior semicircles, or pass between him and
us; in which case they appear like black spots
on his disk, as above-mentioned. For the better
comprehending of these motions, however, we
have hi&erto supposed the earth to stand sdll in
some part of its orbit, while they go round the
sun in theirs ; but as this is not the case, it now
remains to consider the changes which take place
in consequence of the earth's motion.
350. Were the earth to stand still in any part
of its orbit, as at A, the places of conjunction,
both in the superior and inferior semicircle, as
also of the greatest elongation ; and. consequently.
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138
ASTRONOMY.
tlie places of direct and retrograde motion, and
of tne stations of an inferior planet, would
always be in the same part of the heavens. Thus,
in plate IX. fig. 11, upon this supposition, the
places of Mercury's stations would always be the
points P and R, the arc of his direct motion PR,
and of his retrograde motion R P ; whereas, on
account of tlie earth's motion, the places where
these appearances happen are continually adranc-
ing forward in the ecliptic, according to the ordet
of the signs. In fig. 10, plate VIII., let A B C D
be the orbit of the earth ; €fg h that of Mercury,
0 tbe sun; GFKI an arc of the ecliptic ex-
tended to the fixed stars. When the earth is at
A, the sun's geocentric place is at F ; and Mer-
cury, in order to a conjunction, must be in the
line AF; that is, in his orbit he must be at/ or
k. Suppose him to be at/, in his inferior semi-
circle; if the earth stood still at A, his next
conjunction would be when he is in his superior
•emicirdes at A ; the places of his greatest elongsb-
tion also would be at e and gf and in the ecliptic
«t £ and G; but supposing itke earth to go on in
its orbit from A to B> the sun's geocentric place
is now at K ; and Mercury, in order to oe in
conjunction, ought to be in the line B K at m.
As bv the motion of tbe earth, the places of Mer-
cury s conjunctions with the sun, are thus con-
tiniudly carried round in the ecliptic, in conse-
quence, so the places of his utmost elongations
must be carried in consequence also. Thus,
when the earth is at A, the places of his greatest
elongation from tbe sun are m the ecliptic £ and
G ; the motion of the earth from A to B ad-
vances them forward from G to L, and from £
to I.
351. The geocentric motion of Venus may be
explained in a similar manner ; only as the mo-
tion of Venus is much slower than that of Mer-
cury, his conjunctions, oppositions, elongations,
and stations, all return much more frequently
than those of Venus.
352. To exphun the stationary appearances of
the planets, it must be remembered that the
diameter of the earth's orbit, and even of that of
Saturn, are but mere points in comparison of the
distance of the fixed stars; and, therefore, any
two lines, absolutely parallel, Uiough dmwn at
the distance of the diameter of Saturn's orbit
from each other, would if continued to the fixed
Stan, appear to us to terminate in the same point
Let the two circles, plate IX. fig. 4, represent the
orbits of Venus and of the eartfi; let the lines
A£, BF, C G,DH,beparaUel to SP; wemay
nevertheless affirm that, if continued to the dis-
tance of the fixed stars, Uiey would all terminate
in the same point with the line S P. Suppose,
then, Venus at £, while the eardi is at A, the vi-
sual ray, by which she is seen, is in the line A £.
Suppose again, that while Venus goes from £ to
F, the earth goes from A to B, the visual ray, bT
which Venus is now seen, is B F, parallel to A
£; and therefore, Venus will be all that time
stationary, appearing in that point of the hea-
vens where S P extended would terminate ; this
station is at her changing from direct to retro-
grade. Again, suppose, when the earth is at Cy
Venus is at G, and the visual line C G ; if, while
the earth goes from C to D, \ enus goes from G
to H, so that she is seen in the line GH, parallel
to CG, she will be all that time stationary, ap-
pearing in the point where a line drawn from S
through P would terminate. This station is at
her changing from retrograde to direct ; and both
are in her inferior semicircle.
353. An inferior planet, when in conjunction
with the sun, in its inferior semicircle, is said to
be in perigee, and when in the other, to be in
apogee, on account of its different distances from
the eardi. Their real distances from Ae earth
When in perigee are variable, partly owing to
the eccentricities of their orbits, as well as that
of the earth; and partly owing to the motions of
the different bodies, by whidh it happens that
they are in perigee, in different parts of their
orbits. The least possible distance is when the
perigee happens at the time diat the earth b
in its perihelion, and when the planet is in its
aphelion.
354. The difference of distance between the
earth and inferior planets, at difi^rent times,
makes a considerable variation in their apparent
diameters, which indeed is very observable in all
the planets ; and thus, they sometimes look con-
siderably larger than at others. This difiierence
of magnitude in Mercury is nearly as 5^ to 1 ;
and in Venus, no less than 32 to 1 . Any person,
unassisted by instruments, may observe an in-
ferior planet altematdy approach nearer and
nearer the sun, until at last it comes into con-
junction with him, and then recedes ferther and
ferther, till it is at its greatest elongation, which
will be first on one side, and then on the other;
but, if we observe the ap{)arent change of place,
of an inferior planet,' in the sphere of Uie heavens,
its direct motions, stations, and retrogradations,
measuring its diameter frequently with the mi-
crometer, we shall find, by its decrease at some
times, and increase at others, that its distance
from us is very considerably varied.
355. As the superior planets move in a larger
orbit than the earth, they can only be in con-
junction with the sun, when they are on that side
opposite to the earth; as/ on the other hand,
they are in opposition to him, when the earth is
between the sun and them. They are in qna-
dratnre with him, when the geocentric places
are 90^ distant from that of the sun. In order
to understand their apparent motions, we shall
suppose them to stand still, in some part of
their orbit, while the earth makes a complete
revolution in hers ; in which case, any superior
placet vronld then have the following appear-
ances:
356. 1. While the earth is in her most distant
semicircle, the motioii of the planet will be
direct 2. While the earth is m her nearest
semicircle, the planet vrill be retrograde. 3.
While the earth is near those places oi its orbit,
where a line drawn finom the planet vrould be a
tangent, it would appear to be stationary. Thus,
in plate VIII. fig. 6, lei abed represent the orbit
of the earth ; S the sun ; £ F G an arc of the
orbit of Jnpiter; ABC an arc of the ecliptic,
projected on the sphere of the fixed stars. Sup-
pose Jupiter to continue at F, while the earth
goes round in her orbit, according to the order
of Uie letters abed. While the eardi is in the
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ASTRONOMY.
139
semicircle most distant from Jupiter, going from
a to 5 and from b to c,his motion in the heavens
would appear direct, or from A to B, and from
B to C ; but, while the earth is in its nearest
semicircle cde, the motion of Jupiter would ap-
pear retrograde from C to B, and fit)m B to A;
for a, b, c, d, may be considered as so many dif-
ferent stations, from whence an inhabitant of the
earth would view Jupiter at different seasons of
the year, and a straight line drawn from each of
these stations, through P the place of Jupiter,
and continued to the ecliptic, would show his
apparent place there to be successively at A, B,
C, B, A. While the earth is near the points of
contact, a and c, Jupiter would appear stationary,
because the visual ray drawn through both pla-
nets, does not sensibly differ from the tangent
Ffl or Fc. When the earth is at b, a line drawn
from b through S and F to the ecliptic, shows
Jupiter to be in conjunction with the sun at B.
When the earth is at </, a line drawn from d
through S, continued to the ecliptic, would ter-
minate in a point opposite to B ; which shows
Jupiter then to be in opposition to the sun ; and
thus, it appears, that his motion is direct in the
conjunction, but retrograde when in opposition
with the sun.
357. The direct motion of a superior planet is
swifter the nearer it is to a conjunction, and
slower as it approaches to a quadrature with the
the sun. Thus, in fig. 9, plate XIII., let © be
the sun ; the little circle round it the orbit of the
earth, whereof abed efg is the most distant
semicircle ; O P Q, an arc c^ the orbit of Jupiter ;
and ABCDEFG, an arc of the ecliptic m the
sphere of the fixed stars. If we suppose Ju-
piter to stand still at P, by the earth's motion
nom a to gf he would appear to move direct-
from A to U, describing the unequal arcs AB,
BC, CD, DE, EF, FG, in equal times. When
the earth is at d, Jupiter is in conjunction with
the sun at D, and there his direct motion is
swiftest. When the esurth is in that part of her
orbit where a line drawn from Jupiter would
touch it, as in the points e or g, Jupiter is
neariy in quadrature with the sun; and the
nearer the earth is to any of these points, the
slower is the geocentric motion of Jupiter ; for
the arcs CD and DE are greater than BC or
£F, and the arcs BC and EF are greater than
AB or FG.
358. The retrograde motion of a superior
planet is swifter the nearer it is to an opposition,
vhd slower as it approaches to a quadrature
with the sun. Thus, let 0, fig. 10, plate XIII.
be the sun, the little circle round it ttie orbit of
the earth, whereof g hik ImnisihQ nearest se-
micircle; OPQ, an arc of the orbit of Jupiter,
N KG an arc of the ecliptic: if we suppose Ju-
piter to stand still at P, by the earth's motton
from g to n, he would appear to move retro-
grade ftY>m G to -N, describing the unequal arcs
Gil, UI, IK, KL, LM, MN, in equal times.
When the earth is at k, Jupiter appears at K, in
opposition to the sun, and there his retrograde
motion is swiftest. When llie earth is either at
g or n, the points of contact of the tangents Pg
ami P «, Jupiter is nearly in quadrature with
ttic sun ; and tho nearer he is to either of these
points, the slower is his retrogradation ; for the
arcs IK and KL are greater than HI or LM;
and the arcs HI and KM are greater than GH or
M N. Since the direct motion is swifter when
the earth is at d, and continues diminishing till
it changes to retrograde, it must be insensible
near the time of change ; and, in like manner,
the retrograde motion being swiftest when the
earth is m k, and diminishing gradually till it
changes to direct, must also at &e time of that
change be insensible ; for any motion gradually
decreasing till it changes into a contrary one
gradually increasing, must at the time of the
change be altogether insensible.
359. The same changes in the apparent mo-
tions of this planet ^U also take place, if we
suppose him to go on slowly in his orbit ; only
they will happen every year when the earth is in
different parts of her orbit, and consequently at
different times of the year. Thus, fig. 6, plate
VIII., let us suppose that while the eardi goes
round her orbit Jupiter goes from F to G, the
points of the earth's orbit from which Jupiter
will now appear to be stationary, will be a and
y ; and consequently his stations must be at a
time of the year different from the former. The
conjunction of Jupiter with the sun will now be
when the earth is at/, and his opposition when
it is at e ; for which reason these also will hap-
pen at times of the year different from those of
the preceding opposition and conjunction. The
motion of Saturn is so slow^ that it makes but
little alteration either in the times or places of
his conjunction or opposition ; and no doubt the
same will take place in a more eminent degree
in Herschel; but the motion of Mars is so much
swifter than even that of Jupiter, that both the
times' and places of bis conjunctions and op-
positions are thereby very much altered.
360. A superior planet is in apogee when in
conjunction with the sun, and in perigee when
in opposition; and every one of the superior
planets is at its least possible distance from the
earth where it is in perigee and perihelion at the
same time. Their apparent diameters are va-
riable, according to their distances, like Uiose of
the inferior planets; and this, as might natu-
rally be expected, is most remieu-kable in the
planet Mars, who is nearest us. In his nearest
approach, this planet is twenty-five times larger
than when farthest off, Jupiter twice and a half,
and Saturn once and a naif. As the times of
conjunction, utmost elongation, direct or re*
trograde motions of the inferior planets, depend
on the combinations of their motions in their
orbits with the motion of the earth in its orbit,
any of these appearances will be more firequent
in Mercury than in Venus, because the former
moves with a swifter motion in his orbit, and
consequently must more frequently pass through
those places where he is in conjunction, &c.
361. The time in which any of the inferior
planets will return into a given situation, may be
easily known. Compute the diurnal heliocentric
motions of Venus and of the earth ; the differ-
ence of these motions is the diurnal motion of
Venus from the earth, or the quantity by which
Venus would be seen to recede from the earth
every day by a spectator placed in the sun : thus
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140
ASTROWOMY.
the mean motion of Venus is every day about
59 m. and 8 s. ; the difference is 37 m. There-
fore, as 37 m. is to 360*', or to 21,600 m. so is
one day to the time wherein Venus, having left
the earth, recedes from her 360^; that is, to the
time wherein she returns to the earth again, or
the time between two conjunctions of the same
kind.
362. The calculations of the times are here
made according to the mean or equable mo-
tions of the planets; and is therefore called a
mean conjunction : but because Venus and the
earth are really carried in elliptic orbits, in
which their motions are sometimes swifter and
sometimes slower, the true conjunctions may
happen some days either sooner or later than
what these rules will give. The time of the true
conjunction is' to be computed from that of the
mean conjunction in the following manner. Find
by astronomical tables the places of Venus and
the earth in the ecliptic, m)m which we shall
have the distance of the two as seen from the
sun; compute also for the same time the an-
gular motions of these two planets for any given
time, suppose six hours ; the difference of these
two motions will give the access of Venus to the
earth, or her recess from it in six hours. As this
difference is to the arc between the places of
Venus and the earth at the time of a mean
conjunction, so is six hours to the time between
the mean conjunction and the tru^. This time
added to, or subtracted from, the time of the
mean conjunction, according as Venus is in an-
tecedence or consequence from the earth, shows
the time of their true conjunction.
363. As to the conjunctions, oppositions, di-
lect and retrograde motions, &c. of the superior
planets, they depend on tiie combinations ot their
motions wifii that of the earth, and are more fre-
auent in Saturn than in Jupiter, and in Jupiter
than in Mars, but most frequent of all in Uers-
chel ; because the slower the motion of the pla-
net is, the sooner the earth will overtake it, so as
to have it again in any given situation.
364. Thus, suppose Saturn to be in coniunc-
tion with the sun m qp, if he were to stand still
for one year, then he would again be in con-
junction in qp ; but as he goes on slowly, ac-
cording to the order of the signs, about 12° an-
nually, the earth must go through almost 13°
more than an entire revolution ; so that there will
be almost a vear and thirteen days between any
conjunction between the sun and Saturn and the
conjunction immediately following. As Jupiter
moves in his orbit with greater velocity than
Saturn, the earth must have a proportionably
larger space added to the year; and, as Mars
moves swifter still, the time betwixt any two of
bis conjunctions must be still longer. The time
when a superior planet will return into any
given situation may be found by the methods
Already laid down for the inferior planets ; and
the true conjunctions, &c. may be found in the
superior planets as in the inferior.
Sect. II. Op the Velocity, Figure, Motions,
&c. OF THE Earth.
365. The earth is 95,173,000 miles frt>m the sun,
and goes round in 365 days, five hours, forty-
nine minutes, from any equinox or solstice to the
same again ; but from any fixed star to the same
again, as seen from the sun, in 365 days, six
hours, nine minutes; the former being the length
of the tropical year, and the latter the length of
the sideraf. It traveb at the rate of 68,000 miles
every hour; a motion which, though upwards of
140 times swifter than that of a cannon ball, is
little more than half as swift as Mercury*s mo-
tion in his orbit. The earth's diameter is 7970
miles; and by turning round its axis every
twenty-four hours, from west to east, it causes an
apparent diurnal motion of all Uie heavenly
bodies from east to west. By this rapid motion
of the earth on its axis, die inhabitants about the
equator are carried 1042 miles every hour, whilst
those on the paralld of London are carried only
about 580, besides the 68,000 miles by the an-
nual motion above-mentioned, which is com-
mon to all places whatever.
366. A variety of circumstances afford the
clearest evidence that the earth is of a globular
figure. 1. When we are at sea on board a ship,
we maybe out of sight of land, when the land is
near enough to be visible, if it were not hid from
our eye by the convexity of the water. Thus,
let A B C D, fig. 1 1, plate VIII., represent a por-
tion of the globe of the earth. Let M be the
top of a mountain, this cannot be seen by a per-
son on board the ship at B, because a line drawn
from M to his eye at £, is intercepted by the
convexity of the water ; but let the snip come to
C, then the mountain will be visible, oecause a
line may be drawn from M to his eye at £. 2.
The higher the eye the farther the view will be
extended. It is very common for sailors from
the top of the mast of a ship, to discover land or
ships at a much greater distance than they can
do when they stand upon deck. 3. When we
stand on shore, the highest part of a ship is
visible at the greatest distance. If a ship is
Sdng from us out to sea, we shall continue to see
e mast after the hull or body of the ship disap-
pears, and the top of the mast will continue to
be seen the longest. If a ship is coming to-
wards us, the top of the mast comes first in view,
and we see more and more till at last the bull
appears. If the surface of the sea were a flat
plain, a line might be drawn from any object si-
tuated upon it, aji the ship D, fig. 12, plate VIII.
to the eye, whether placed high or low, at A oi
B. In this case, any object upon the earth oi
sea would be visible at any distance which wa?
not so great as to make the appearance of it toe
faint, or the angle under which it appears too
small, to be seen by us. An object would be
visible at the same distance, whether the eye were
high or low. Not the highest, but the largest,
objects would be visible to the greatest distance,
so that we should be able to see the hulk of a
ship fiurther ofi* than the mast.
367. 4. Several navigators, such as Fer-
dinand Magellan, Sir Francis Drake, Lord
Anson, Captain Cook, &c. have sailed round
the globe; not in an exact circle, the land pre-
venting them, but by going in and out 9» the
shores happened to lie. 5. All the appear-
ances in the heavens are the same, whether at
land or sea. 6. Eclipses of the moon arise
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ASTRONOMY.
141
from the shadow of the earth, which it alivays
circular. Although the* earth presents, during
several hours, different portions of its sur&ce to
the moon, yet still the shadow is round. The
small inequalities upon the surface of the earth
hear no kind of proportion to its magnitude, suf-
ficient to alter the appearance of its shadow.
368. 7. The globular figure of the earth is
also inferred from the operation of levelling, in
which it is found necessary, to make an allow-
ance for the difference between the apparent and
true level.
369. The earth's axis makes an angle of 23|^
widi the axis of its orbit, and its position at any
time is parallel to its position at any other time.
Thus it points always to the same quarter of the
heavens, throughout its annual course. That the
earth moves round the sun may be proved,
beyond a doubt, by the following arguments.
370. I. The sun is found by ti^e most accurate
observations, to be immensely larger than the
earth; for his diameter, as seen by us, subtends
an angle of more than 30', but it is certain that
the earth, were it seen from the sun, would not
subtend a greater angle than about 17''. If,
therefore, tlie sun be formed of materials not
very much rarer than the earth, the quantity of
matter in the sun, must fer exceed the whole
mass of matter in all the planets; and to sup-
pose, that gravity retains all the other planets m
their orbits, vnthout affecting the earth, would
be as absurd as to suppose, that six cannon bul-
lets might be projected up to different heights in
the air, and that five of them should fall to the
ground, but thUt the sixth, though neither the
highest nor the lowest, should remain suspended
io the air without falling, and the earth move
round it.
371. There is no such thing in nature as a
heavy body moving round a li^t one as its cen-
tre of motion. A pebble fiutened to a mill-stone
by a string, may, by an easy impulse, be made
40 circulate round the mill-stone: but no impulse
can make a mill-stone circulate round a loose
pebble; for the mill-stone would go off, and
carry the pebble along with it. The sun is so
very much bigger and heavier than the earth,
that, if he were moved out of his place, not only
the earth, but all the other planets, if they were
united into one mass, would oe carried along with
him as the pebble would be with the mill-stone.
372. II. If the earth revolve round the sun,
then the analogy between the squares of the
periodic times and the cubes of the distances,
will obtain in all the bodies which circulate
round a common centre ; whereas, this will not
be the case with respect to the sun and moon, if
both turn round the earth.
373. III. Besides these, other proofs might be
^ven ; but the most complete proof of all, and
which indeed amounts to a demonstration is, the
aberration of the fixed stars, arising from the
progressive motion of light, combined with the
earth's annual motion round the sun : a discovery
made by Dr. Bradley, and one of the finest in
modem astronomy.
374. By frequent observations of the eclipses
of Jupiter's satellites, it is found, that light is
about eig^t minutes in moving firom the sun to
the earth. . And since the earth describes ajbout
one degree, or 3600*, in a day, or 1440*, in
eight minutes it will describe 20-25" in its
orbit; therefore the velocity of light is to the
velocity of the earth in its orbit, as radius to an
arch of twenty seconds, or the third part of a
'0002909
minute, that is, as one to r or -00009697,
or as 10300 to one. That is, the velocity oi
light is 10300 times greater than the velocity of
the earth in its orbit. Now if AN, plate VIII.
fig. 15, be the way or path of a body in free
space, as of a ray of light; its apparent way on
a movable plane will be different. For it will
be that whicn is made by the composition of the
two motions of tlie body and plane. Thus, if
AN be described in any time by the body, and
N F be described by (a point in) the plane, in
the same time as the plane moves forward in
the direction N F or AB, it leaves all the points
of the fixed line AN behind it, all which will
therefore seem to move backwards in the plane.
Therefore make ND=:NF, being taken back-
VTards or contrary to the motion of the plane;
and the body, instead of going to N in the free
space, will seem to go to D, in the same time,
upon the movable plane; and therefore AD will
be the apparent path of the body in that plane.
375. It will be the same thing, if we suppose
the plane fixed, and the body to have the plane's
motion communicated to it, in a contrary direc-
tion, so as the relative motion be the same as
before. Thus, if the body moves from B to A, in
the same time that it would also move from A to
N, then by that compound motion it would move
along the diagonal B N of the parallelogram whose
sides are B A, A N, and in the same time. There-
fore rays of light emitted firom a star in the direc-
tion A N, will fall upon the point D of the mov-
ing plane; that is, upon the eye of the observer,
in the direction A D : and an observer at D will
suppose the star situated in the line DA. If B N
be parallel to AD, and the point D translated to
N in the same time; an observer at N will sup-
pose the star situated in the line BN; making the
angle BN F or AD F less than AN F, the angle
it would appear under if the plane were at rest.
So that the angle of elevation BNF, above the
line of direction N£, of the observer, is less
than before, being taken on the side of F, towards
which the observer moves. The observer, in-
stead of seeing the star at A, its real place, wiir
see it at B, its apparent place; but if the ob-
server moves from F to N and D, and B be the
real place of the star, its apparent place would
be at A to an observer at N.
376. The apparent place B is always in the
plane of aberration, drawn through the way of
the observer NF, and the line N A drawn from
the observer to the real place of the star; for AB
being parallel to NF, is in the plane AD NF.
The angle B N A or N A D is the angle of aberra-
tion; by the quantity of this angle the star is
depressed, in going towards it; or raised in
gomg from it. In the triangle AN D ; AN : N D
: : S.ADN : S.NAD; and AN and ND being
given; the S .NAD the aberration will be as the
S.ADN. Because AN is 10,300 times greater
than ND: the S.NAD does not differ from its
■ arch or angle; whence, the angle of aberration
NAD or ANB is always as the nne of the angle
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143
ASTRONOMY.
ADN, or ANFy which are nearly equal, and
which may be called the angle of the earth's
way. Hence the angle of aberration ANB is
greatest, when AN is perpendicular to ND; and
becomes nothing when AN F is nothing. Since
AN is to N D, as radius to 20"; when AN is per-
pendicular to N Dy the angle N A D or A N B will
be 20*25", which is the gr&test it can be. In
other cases, as radius to S, angle of the earth's
way AN F : : so 20*25", to the aberration, answer-
ing to that angle; which angle is always taken in
the plane of aberration ADNF.
377. In Plate VIII. fig. 7, let BCD E be the
earth's orbit, S the sun, A or Q a star, N any
place of the earth in its orbit. Through the star
A draw the circle AH perpendicular to the plane
of the ecliptic, and draw* KSBH, and ESC per-
pendicular to it, or parallel to the tangent at B.
Draw the tangent N d, and draw N I towards the
star, and make NI to Ncf as the velocity of light
to that of the earth, or as 10,300 to one, and draw
d I which leads to the apparent place of the star;
and suppose D A, S A parallel to <f I, N I ;. then
DA will also lead to the apparent place of the
star. Draw SFG perpenaicular to SN, or par-
allel to N d. Then will I N cf be the plane of aber-
ration. This plane continually changes its situ-
ation, revolving round the sun in a year along'
with the tangent 'Sd. . Since AS, SF are par*
allel to IN, N/, ASF is equal to I N/, and ASF
is equal to the angle of the eardi's way. Hence the
plane ASF may be taken for the plane of aber-
ration, which continually turns round the line
AS, as the earth revolves about the sun; the line
S F being always in quadrature with the earth at N.
378. Let the earth be at E, then the plane of
aberration ASB will be perpendicular to the
ecliptic ; and the angle of the earth's way A'S B
is tne least that it can be, and the angle of' the
aberration the least. Whilst the earth moves to
B, the angle of the earth's way, and of aberra-
tion increases, and at B the plane of aberration
is AC S, and the angle of the earth's way A S C,
a right angle, which is the greatest it can be;
therefore the angle of aberration is the greatest
possible. While the earth moves to C, the an-
gles of the earth's way and aberration decrease
again, and at C are the l«>ast; and in moving to
K they increase again to K, where they are great-
est. From K to E they diminish again, where
they are least
379. It is evident then, that whilst the earth
is at E moving towards N, the star's apparent
place is at c lower than A ; at B moving towards
r , it appears at b forward. When the earth is at
C, the star appears at c above A. And when the
esirth is at K, the star is seen at k, having gone
backward. Hence the apparent place of a star
describes a small ellipsis in a year, about the
true place of the star in its centre, whose trans-
verse axis is parallel to the ecliptic; and lesser
axis perpendicular to it. This ellipsis is bckCj
answering to places of the earth at B, C, K, E.
And the points /c, c, ky e, answer respectively to
the points C, K, E, B, where the plane of aber-
ration cuts the ecliptic, being ninety degrees
before the earth, or ninety degrees behind the sun.
380. This phenomenon, the apparent change
of place in celestial objects, arising from the com-
bined motions of the earth and the light from
those objects, is one of the most curious and im-
portant discoveries of modem times. We are
mdebted for it to Bradley, who, as has been well
observed, ^ swept the ground of astronomicaL
discovery, and left little to be gathered by those
that followed him.'
381. The following formulas represent the effect
of aberration on any fixed stars, ooth in right as-
cension and declination, /i representing 20-25" the
quantity found above for the maximum effed of
aberration, a and d the right ascension and declv*
nation of Uie star, w the obliquity of the ecliptic, <
and 0 the sun's longitude.
Aberration in right ascension := ^ /«.
{sin. 0 sin. a •{- cos. 0 cos a cos w sec. i, \
Aberration in declination = ^ fi«
Isin. 0 COS. a . sin. 2— cos. 0 (sin. a . cos. «».
sin. J— sin. w.cos. i.)\
By the following tables, deduced firoxn these
formulae, the effect of the aberration on the right
ascension and declination of any fixed star may
readily be computed.
382. TABLE I.
383
1. TABLE
IL
ARGUMENT.
ARGUMENT.
For Abcr. in R. A.
,
For Aber. in R. A.
*-R.A. — 0-long.
*.R.A. H-©.long.
For Aber. in Declin.
For Aber. in Declin.
*' R. A. -f- 90°— 0Mong.
*-R.A. -h 30° -f- 0' long.
Signs.
Signs. 1
0. VI.
I. vn.
n. VIII.
0. VI.
I. VII. j II VIII.
1
1
- -h
- +
- +
+ -
+ -
+ —
0°
19-ir
16-60*
9-59"
30°
0°
0-83"
0-72"
0-41-
30^
5
19-10
15-71
810
25
5
0-82
0-67
0-35
25
10
18.88-
14-69
6-56
20
10
0-83
0-63
0-28
20
15
18-52
13-56
4-96
15
15
0-80
0-58
0-^9
15
1
20
1802
12-32
3-33
10
20
0-78
0-53
0-14
lO
25
17-38
11-00
1-67
5
25
0-75
0-47
0-O7
5 \
30
16-60
9.59
0-00
0
30
0-72
0-41
OOO
O
-,
- +
- +
- +
+ -
+ -
+ —
xr. V.
X. IV.
I
IX. III.
XI. V.
X. IV.
IX. ni.
Digitized by
Googl(
ASTRONOMY.
143
384
I. TABLE
in.
ARGUMENT.
For part 2d of Aber. in Dedin.
0« long. + *• Declin.
For part 3d of Aber. in Declin.
0» Long. — * • Declin.
Signs.
0. VI.
I. VII.
II. VIII.
- +
- +
- +
0°
3-98"
3-45''
i'9r
30°
6
3-97
3-26
1-68
85
10
3-92
305
1-36
20
15
3-85
2-82
1-03
15
20
3-74,
2-56
0-69
10
25
3-61
2-28
0-35
5
30
3-45
1-99
000
0
- +
- -f
- +.
'
xr. V.
X. IV.
IX. in.
385. To find from theie tablet the aberration
oj a $tar at right aacentUm4 — ^To the Ipgahthms of
the turn or difference of the equations from
tables I and II, answering to the proper argu-
ments, add the longitude east of the starts de>
clination, and the sum will be the logarithms of
the aberration in right ascension.
386. To find the aberration of a star in decli^
nation. — Find the sum or difference of the equa-
tions answering to the former arguments, in-
creased by 90^, to the logarithm of which add
the logarithm sine of the star's declination, and the
sum will be the logarithm of the first part of the
aberration. Take parts second and third from
table III, and these applied to the former, will
give the aberration in declination. If the de-
clination is south, change the sign of parts 2d
and 3d.
387. The strongest objection that can be made
against the earth's moving round the sun like the
other planets, is, that, in opposite points of the
earth's orbit, its aiis, which always keeps a paral-
lel direction, would point to different fued stars;
which is not found to be £eu^. But this objec-
tion is easily removed, by considering the im-
mense distance of the stars in respect of the dia-
meter of the earth's orbit; the latter being no
more than a point when compared to the former.
If we lay a ruler on the side of a table, and along
the edge of the ruler view the top of a spire at
ten miles distance; then lay the ruler on tne op-
posite side of the table in a parallel situation to
what it had before, and the spire will still appear
along the edge of the ruler; because our eyes,
even when assisted by the best instruments, are
incapable of distinguishing so small a change
at so great a distance. As the apparent places
of the stars, therefore, correspona with this the-
ory, the motion of the earth and the motion of
light are both determined.
388. In fact, we find that the sun, and those
planets on v^hich there are visible spots, turn
round their axes : for the spots in general move
regularly over their disks, allowing for the vari-
ations already taken notice of. Hence we may
reasonably conclude, that the other planets, on
which we see no spots, and the earth, which is
likewise a planet, have such rotations. But
being incapable of leaving the earth to view it at a
distance, and its rotation being smooth and. uni-
form, we can neither see it move on its axis, as
we do the planets, nor feel ourselves affected
by its motion. Yet there is one effect of such
motion, which will enable us to judge with
certainty whether the earth revolves on its axis
or not.
389. All globes which do not turn round their
axes, vrill be perfect spheres, on account of the
equality. of tne weight of bodies on their sur-
faces; especially of the fluid parts. But all
globes, which turn on their axes will be oblate
spheroides; that is, their surfaces will be higher
or forther from <he centre in the equatorial than
in the polar regions : for, as the equatorial parts
move quickest, they will recede farthest from th^
axis of motion, and enlarge the equatorial dia-
meter. That our earth is really of this figure, is
demonstrable from the unequal vibrations of a
pendulum, and the unequal lengths of degrees in
different latitudes. Since then, the earth is
higher at the equator than at the poles, the sea,
which natiually runs downward, or towards the
places which are nearest the centre, would run
towards the polar regions, and leave the equa-
torial parts dry, if the centrifugal force of these
parts, by which the waters were carried thither,
did not keep them from returning. The earth's
equatorial diameter is thirty six-miles longer than
its axis.
390. One phenomenon, called the precession
of the Equinoxes, depending on this peculiarity
of form in the figure of the earth, has been
noticed from the early ages of astronomy. The
pole of the celestial equator appears to move
with a slow and nearly uniform motion round
the pole of the ecliptic ; while the intersections
of the equator and ecliptic move backward on
die ecliptic, with a motion neariy uniform.
This motion is at the rate of about 1° in seventy-
tWQ years, or more accurately 50*2' in a year;
consequently the su^ returns again to the same
equinoctial point before he has completed his
revolution in the ecliptic, whence the origin of
the term precession of the equinoxes. In con^
sequence of this apparent motion all the fixed
stars increase their longitude 50*2" in a year,
and also change their rig^t ascensions and de-»
clinations, but their latitudes are not affected.
The period of the revolution of the celestial
equinoctial pole, round the pole of the ecliptic,
is nearly 26,000 years.
391. The north celestial pole therefore, about
13,000 years hence, will be nearly 49° firom the
present polar star ; and about 10000 years hence
the bright star a, Syrac, will be within 5® of the
north pole. This star therefore, which now in
these latitudes passes the meridian within a f^w
degrees of the zenith, will then remain nearly
stationary with respect to the horizon. This
motion of the celestial pole arises from the at-
traction of the sun and moon on the excess of
matter at the equatorial parts of the earth.
Digitized by
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144
ASTRONOMY.
392. The precession of the equinoxes b not
entirely unifonn, for a small inequality in the
precession, and change in the obliquity of the
ecliptic, depends on the position of the moon's
nodes. The intersections of its orbit with the
ecliptic were discovered by Bradley, and have since
been confirmed by Physical Astronomy. The
precession of the equinoxes was first discovered
by Hipparchus. As the quantity of it is so
perceptible in a hundred years, a comparison of
the positions of the circles of the sphere as re^
corded in early times, and of their positions now,
has been used to assbt chronology.
393. Even the inclination of the equator and
ecliptic have been shovm by observation to be va-
riable, and it is remarkable that from the date of
the earliest observations that inclination has been
diminishing. If it should continue to do so till the
two circles coincided, a most important change
would be effected in the phenomenon attending
the earth's annual and aiumal revolutions, as
the days would everywhere be of the same
length, and the seasons would not alter with the
times of the year. But we learn from the prin-
ciples of physical astronomy, that this change in
the obliouity will never exceed a certain limit,
which when it reaches, it will return again, os-
cillating by a small quantity on each side of
Its mean state. We learn from physical as-
tronomy too, that by this action the ecliptic is
progressive on the equator, about 14* in a
century. The sun also according to his place
in the ecliptic produces a small inequality in
the precession, never amounting to more than
ir.
394. If d = the declination of a star, and a =
its right ascension, then the following formuln
will express neariy the annual variations of a
and 6, arising from precession : 20-084" x cos.
a ^ the annual precession in declination, and
460619 + 20-084" X sin. a x tan. <2 = the an*
nual precession in right ascension.
395. From these expressions, the following table
has been constructed for determining, by inspec-
tion, the annual precession for any star.
Rt.A8cenBionof
Ann. Prec«wion.
RU Aicension of
*
*
+ -
+ -
(f 180*
•70"
180* 360*
10 190
3-47
170 • 350
20 SOO
6-84
160 340
30 210
10-00
150 330
. 40 220
12-85
140 320
1 50 230
15-31
ISO 310
1 60 240
17-31
120 300
70 250
18-78
110 290
80 260
19-69
100 280
90 270
19-99
90 270
1
USS OF THE ABOVE TaBLES.
396. Take the number opposite the star*s right
ascension, multiply it by the natural tangent of
die star's declination, and add the product to
46*0619 for the annual precession in ri^
ascension. Again add 90* to the star's right
ascension, and with the sum as an argumeit
enter the table, and the corresponding number
will be the annual precession in declination
If tne declination is south, the signs of the
numbers in the table must be changed, both in
finding the precession or right ascension and
declination.
397. It is found that bodies near the poles are
heavier than those towards the equator, because
they are nearer the earth's centre, where the whole
force of the earth's attraction is accumulated.
They are also heavier, because their centrifugal
force is less, on account of their diurnal motion
being slower. For both these reasons, bodies car-
ried from the poles towards the equator gradually
lose their weight. Experiments prove that a
pendulum, which vibrates seconds near the poles,
vibrates slower near the equator, which shows
that it b lighter or less attracted there. To make
it oscilbite in the same time, it is found necessary
to diminish its length. By comparing the different
lengths of peudulums swinging seconds at the
equator ana at London, it is found that a pendu-
lum must be 2^ lines (or 12th parts of an inch)
shorter at the equator than at the poles.
398. A person on the earth can no more be
sensible of its undisturbed motion on its axis, than
one in the cabin of a ship on smooth water can be
sensible of the ship's motion, when it turns gently
and uniformly round. It is therefore no argu-
ment against the earth's diurnal motion, that we
do not feel it ; nor are the apparent revolutions
of the celestial bodies every day, a proof of the
reality of these motions; for whether we or they
revolve, the appearance is the very same. A per-
son looking through the cabin windows of a snip,
as strongly fancies the objects on land to go round
when the ship turns, as if they actually did so.
399. The other common objections against the
'earth's motion on its axis, are easily answered.
Some imagine, that if the earth turns eastward,
as it certainly does if it turns at all, a ball fired
perpendicularly upward in the air should foil
considerably westward of the place it was pro-
jected from. This objection will be found toha?e
no weight, if we consider that the gun and ball
partake of the earth's motion ; and therefore the
iNdl being carried forward with the air as quick
as the ea^ and air turn, must fall down on the
same place. A stone let fidl from the top of a
main-mast, if it meets with no obstacle, falls oa
the deck as near the foot of tlie mast when the
ship sails as when it does not.
400. As for those scriptural expressions which
seem to contradict the earth's motion, this gene-
ral answer may be made to them all, ^at the
scriptures were never intended to instruct us in
philosophy or astronomy; and therefore, on these
subjects, expressions are not always to be taken
in me literal sense, but for the most part as ac-
commodated to the common apprehensions of
mankind. Men of sense in all ages, when not
treating of the sciences purposely, have used
common language ; and it would be absurd to
adopt any other in addressing the majority of
mankmd.
401. We have said above, that die axis of the
earth preserves always the same parallel position ;
Digitized by
Googl(
ASTRONOMY.
145
but this must be understood with a slight limita-
tion. Bradley foand that the axis of the earth
made a sort of conical revolution round the mean
place of the pole, the earth's centre being the
apex of the cone, and the diameter of the base
about 18*. With that admirable sagacity for
which he was not less remarkable than for his
accuracy and &ithfulness as an obsenrer, he
clearly traced this most curious phenomena to its
cause, which is the action of the sun and moon,
when out of the equator, and the protuberant
equatorial parts of the earth. This correction,
which is called the Nutation of the earth's axis,
goes through all its variations with respect to the
moon in about eighteen years, the period of the
revolution of the moon's nodes, ana with respect
to ^e sun in a year ; but the maximum effect
of the sun's action nearly amounts to half a se>
cond.
402. In strictness, however, the curve of nu-
tation is not a circle but an ellipse, whose axes
according to the best observations, are about 18*
and 13-4". If Q denote the longitude of the
moon's node, r the right ascension of a star or
planet, and d its declination ; then the effect of
the sun's nutation on the right ascension and de-
clination will be expressed by the following for-
mulae ; viz. the nutation and declination :
rzT-eS* X sin.r— ^ 4- 115* X sin r + ft,
and the nutation in right ascension. := (7*85* X
sin. r— ft — 90" -h 116" sin. r 4- ft— 90**)
+ tan d^lS'AZ' sin ft.
403. From these expressions, the following
tables have been computed for finding the effect
of the lunar nutation on the right ascension and
derlination of any celestial object :
404.
TABLE I
A
For Ntttati
For Kal
LR6UMENT.
on in Right A
•oenaion.
nation.
tation in Decll
r + 90°-ft
Signs.
0. VI.
I. VU.
- +
II. VIII.
- +
0**
5
10
15
20
30
8-30
8-20
805
7-83
7-55
7*21
7-21"
6-82
6-38
5-89
5-35
4-78
416
416"
3-52
2-85
215
1-45
0-73
000
30°
25
20
15
10
5
0
XI. V.
X. IV.
IX. in.
Vo
I. III.
405. TABLE II.
ARGUMENT.
For Nutation in Right Ascension.
r-ft
For Nutation in Declination.
r+ 90° 4- 8
Signs.
O. VI.
- -h
I. VII.
II. VIII.
1-22"
1-21
1-20
118
115
111
106
XI. V.
106"
100
0-93
0-86
0-78
0-70
0-61
X. IV.
0-61"
0-52
0-42
0-32
0-21
Oil
000
IX. III.
30°
25
20
15
10
5
0
406.
TABLE III.
Equation of Equinoxes in Right Ascension.
ARGUMENT.
S^
Signs.
\
0. VI.
I. VII.
II. VIIL
- 4-
- +
- +
0°
0-0"
8-2"
14-2"
30°
5
1-4
9-4
14-8
25
10
2-8
10-5
15-4
20
15
4-2
11-6
15-8
15
20
5-6
12-5
161
10
25
6-9
13-4
16-3
5
30
8-2
14-2
16-2
0
•f 1
•f 1
+ 1
XI. V.
X. IV.
IX. III.
Use OF THE ABOVE Tables.
407. To the logarithm of the sum or differ-
ence of the equations from tables I. and II., an-
swering to their proper arguments, add the loga-
rithm tangent of the star's declination, and the
sum will be the logarithm of part first of the nu-
tation, or right ascension it the declination is
north. If it is south, change the sign and apply
the equation from table III., and tlie sum or ait-
ference will be the nutation or right ascension.
Increase the arguments in tables I. and II. each
L
Digitized by
Googl(
146
ASTRONOMY.
by 90!^, and the sum or difference of the corres-
ponding difference of the equations taken from
those tables, will be the nutation or declination.
408. The annual motion of the earth has been
effectually confirmed by an argument drawn from
the progressive motion of light; and from the
same consideration the truth of the diurnal mo-
tion may be completely established.
409. In consequence of the progressive motion
of light, the apparent place of a &ed star is east
of. its true place, and the difference is proporti-
onal to the cosine of the star's declination ; this
displacement of the fixed stars has changed, be-
cause of the precession of the equinoctial points.
Therefore, if the diurnal revolution of the heavens
were a real motion, the whole heavens must have
changed their appearance; and the respective
positions of the stars must be very different now,
from what they were in the time of Hipparchus.
A star which is now near the vernal equinox, must
have changed its apparent distance, at least 5**
from another ecliptical star which is 60° east from
it Nay, it is highly probable that no zodiacal
star could be ever visible ; such would have been
the direction that the rays of light must have
taken, because of their own proper motion being
compounded with that of the star, whose velocity
must have been exceedingly great, by reason of
its distance from the poles of the motion. But
since no such remarkable displacement of the
stars has been observed, we may conclude, that
the cause which would have produced it, has no
existence; and that the revolutions of the heavens
is not a real, but only an apparent motion.
410. The annual and diurnal motions of the
earth, together with the different lengths of days
and nights, and all the beautifiil variety of sea-
sons, depending on those motions, may be thus
illustrated.
411 . In plate X, fig. 5. let FG H I be the earth,
O its centre; and let it revolve about an axis
perpendicular to the plane of the figure, in the
order I F G H ; that is, from west to east Let
A be the sun, draw AF O H C, and G O I per-
pendicular to it : let a spectator be at I ; then
since the tangent at I (which represents the ho-
rizon) will be parallel to A F H, and A at an im-
mense distance, they will nearly meet in A, and
the sun at A will be rising in the horizon at I.
As the earth moves round, the spectator is car-
ried towards F, and the sun at A seems to rise
higher and higher ; and when the spectator is
arrived at F, then the sun is at the highest. As
the earth still turns round, and the spectator is
carried from F towards G, the son appears to de-
scend, as if it moved towards D ; and when the
spectator is arrived at G, then the snn appears in
the tangent at G; that is, in the horizon at G;
and therefore the sun is setting. Afterwards, all
the time the spectator is moved through G H I,
the sun appears under the horizoD, till it comes
at I, where the sun seems to rise again.
412. Thus it is evident, that while the specta-
tor is carried through the illuminated half of the
earth I F G, it is day light ; at the middle point
F, it is noon day ; at the dark hemisphere G H I,
it is niglit ; and at H, it is midnight And thus
the vicissitude of day and night appears, by the
rotation of the earth about its axis. What has
been said of the sun is equally true of the moon,
or any star placed at A. And therefore all the
celestial booies seem to rise and set by turns, one
after another, according to their various situations.
For let A, B, C, D be four stars ; when the spec-
tator is atl, the star A rises ; and when at G, it
sets. When the spectator is at F, B rises; and
when he is at H, it sets. When he is at G, C
rises ; and when at I, it sets. When the spec-
tator is at H, D rises; and when at F, it sets.
413. Henoe it is the very same thing, as to
the diurnal motions, whether the earth moves
uniformly about its axis, while the heavens stand
still; or whether the heavens move uniformly
round, while the earth stands still ; the pheno-
mena being exactly the same either way. For
whether the spectator move uniformly in the arch
I F, fit>in west to east, whilst A is fixed ; or A
moves uniformly in the arch A D, from east to
west, whilst J is fixed ; the same angle will be
described, and therefore the altitude of A, above
the horizon, will be tlie same either way.
Sect. III. — Of the Seasons.
414. To explain the causes of the various sea-
sons in plate Vll. fig. 10, let (^ ® ^ Vf ^ ^^
earth's orbit, and S the sun. This orbit is so
small with respect to the distance of the fixed
stars, that the same aspect of the heavens will
appear, whether a nan be placed in the earth or
in the sun. If the earth be at qp, a spectator will
see the sun in ^ ; when the earth comes to ^ ,
he will see the sun in m ; and the sun will appear
to have moved through ^ m- Whilst the earth
is moving to n, the sun will seem to pass through
ni t ; and a person in the earth observes the
sun to go through the same space in the heavens,
that a spectator at the sun would see the earth
go through ; and as he is not sensible of the
earth's motion, he ascribes that motion to the sun,
which in reality is unmoved. Hence, because the
relative motion is the same, whether of the two
is moved, and all effects are the same as to their
places ; astronomers generally suppose the sun to
move along the ecliptic^ describing its orbit
round the earth at rest.
415. Let N £ A Q be the earth, N A be iu
axis, N the north pole, A the souUi ; £ Q the
equinoctial, and P n, a parallel of latitude pass-
ing through any place. Draw a plane G np I
perpendicular to Vj' S q^, which divides the illu-
minated hemisphere from the dark one. The axis
N A is inclinea to the plane of the ecliptic or
earth's orbit, in an angle of 66|*^ : and during
the earth's motion in its orbit the axis always
remains in a parallel position, or pointing to the
same star. The earth also moves unifonnly
round this axis ; and describes equal arches in
equal times. Now let the earth be at ^ ; in
this position, the circle dividing the light and
dark hemispheres passes through the poles N and
A, and divides all the parallels as P R into two
equal parts ; therefore any point in that parallel,
as the earth revolves round, will stay as long in
the light hemisphere as in the dark; that is,
the days and nights are equal. As it moves to
nif the pole N comes into the light hemisphere,
by reason of the oblique position of the axis N A ;
and as it proceeds to f and yf, the light. hem is-
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147
phere reaches farther and farther beyond N, till
coming^ to yf , it is at the fertbest. reaching to G,
and making the arch N G 23|^ the complement
of N yf S, or 66^''. Then the opposite pole A
is as £ur involved in the dark hemisphere ; whence
in nordi latitudes, or in the hemisphere £ N Q,
the days have been increasing from ^ to yf »
where they are at their longest; for the greater
part of the parallel P R is in the illuminated
hemisphere, and the smaller part in the dark.
416. In the opposite or southern hemisphere
the days have been decreasing, and are at their
shortest when the earth is at yf : for all parallels
to £ Q have their greater part in the dark hemis-
phere. If through the pomt G a parallel be de-
scribed, this parallel is called the arctic circle;
and all the space contained therein is illuminated,
and there is no night, when the earth is at
yf . For the same reason, the space within a pa-
rallel drawn through I, will be alt dark, and all
b night there. If a parallel be drawn through B,
where S yf cuts the arch N £, that parallel is
called the tropic of Cancer ; and then the sun
will shine perpendicular upon the inhabitants in
that parallel, l^is is the summer season for
those that are in the hemisphere £ N Q, and the
winter for those that live in £AQ; and since
£ Q is equally divided by the circle of light and
darkness G I, the days and nights are always
equal under the equinoctial.
417. While the earth moves through Sff and
X to <r» the circle of light and daritneas comes
nearer and nearer to the pole N, the angle N yf
G, and consequently B yf £ grows less and less,
till they vanish in cf ; then the circle of light and
darkness passes again through the poles N and A,
bisecting all the parallels as P R ; and the days
and nights are again equal all over the earth.
418. While the earth moves through cy^, ^,
n, to ® , the sun seems to go through ^, m, / ,
to yf ; and the circle separating light and dark*
ness, ^lls short more and more of the north pole
N, and goes further and further beyond the south
pole A ; whence the parallels cut by that circle
will have the greater part in the dark in the north
hemisphere ; but in the south hemisphere, the
greater part will be in the light : and it is winter
to the northern hemisphere £ N Q, the davs being
at the shortest ; and summer to the southern he-
misphere £ A Q, their days being at the longest
Within the parallel drawn through G, there will
be no dav whilst the earth is at ^ ; and in the
parallel drawn through I, there will be no night.
At the pole A it will be day for six months, and
at the pole N it will be night for six mopths ; just
the contrary of what happens when the earth is
at yf . In this position, if a parallel be drawn
through B, the sun will shine perpendicular to
the earth in that parallel, and it is called the
tropic of Capricorn; and a parallel drawn
through I is called the antarctic circle.
419. W*hen the earth moves from 03 through
Si and ftfi io €^ again ; it is evident the circle
separating light and darkness draws nearer and
nearer to the poles N and A, by which the light
and dark parts of the parallels become nearer an
equality, and so to Uie days and nights. Tliere-
fore in the north hemisphere £ N Q, the days are
increasing ; and in the south hemis^re they are
decreasing: and the days and nights become
equal in every place, waen the earth arrives at •^.
420. In this manner are the several seasons
caused, being owing to the obliquity of the axis
of rotation of the earth, to the plane of the earth's
orbit. But if the axis was perpendicular to it,
there could be no variety in Che length of days
in whatever part of the orbit the earth was ; and
all seasons would be alike. Thus the obliquity of
the earth's axis to the ecliptic, or which is the
same thing, of the equinoctial to the ecliptic ; is
the cause of the different seasons, summer, win-
ter, spring, and autumn, during U^e year. With-
out this, there could be no difference of seasons ;
and consequently it could not be easy to know
the length of the year, without observations of the
stars. For the length of the year is known froai
finding the time by observation, when the sun is
in the equinoctial points; and there being no
sudi points to observe by, there could be no me-
thod out to observe by Uie position of the stars,
when the same star was again in opposition to
the sun, which none but an astronomer could do.
421. The sun appears 47° higher in the sum-
mer tropic than it does in the winter tropic ; for
in summer it seems to have ascended through
the arch B £ ; and in winter to have descended
through the arch B Q equal to B £; and their
sum is 470.
422. All these phenomena may be thus repre-
sented : Take a small globe that has the equinoc-
tial and parallels drawn on it ; and, placfag a
candle upon a table, move the globe round the
candle in a circle parallel to the table, so that
the axis of the equator may be oblique to that
circle, and be kept always in a parallel position
whilst it moves aoout The candle will illumi-
nate the globe as it is carried round, just as the
sun does the earth in its orbit ; and the poles
and the parallels will be the same way affected
wi& light and darkness as the globe.
423. The orbit of the earth being elliptical, and
the sun constantly keeping in its lower focus,
which is 1,617,941 miles from the middle point
of the longer axis, the earth approaches tvnce as
near, or 3,235,883 miles nearer the sun at one
time of the year than at another ; for the sun ap-
pearing under a larger angle in our winter than
summer, proves that the earth is nearer the sun in
winter. But here this question naturally arises,
Why have we not the hottest weather when the
earm is nearest the sun ? In answer it must be ob-
served, that the eccentricity of the earth's orbit,
or 1,617,941 miles, bears no greater proportion
to the earth's mean distance from the sun, than
seventeen does to 1000 ; and therefore this small
difference of distance cannot occasion any great
difference of beat or cold.
424. But the principal cause of this difference
is, that in winter the sun's rays fall so obliquely
upon us, that any given number of them is spread
over a much greater portion of the earth's sur-
&ce where we live ; and each point must then
have fewer rays than in summer. There comes
also a greater degree of cold in the long winter
nights than there can return of heat in so short
days ; and on both these accounts the cold must
increase. In summer the rays fall more perpen-
dicularly upon us ; come with greater force, and
L8
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148
ASTRONOMY
in greater numbers, on the same place ; and by
their long continuance, a much greater degree of
heat is imparted by day tlian can fly off by
night.
425. Besides, those parts which are once heat-
ed, retain the heat for some time ; which, with
the additional heat daily imparted, makes it con-
tinue to increase though the sun declines towards
the south. This is the reason why July is hotter
than June; and often, in our cold climate, Au-
gust hotter than both, although the sun has with-
drawn from the summer tropic; as we find it is
generally hotter at three in the afternoon, when
die sun has gone towards the west, than at noon
when he is in the meridian. Those places too
which have been well cooled require time to be
heated again; for the sun's rays do not heat even
the surface of any body, till they have been some
time upon it. Hence we find January for the
most part colder than December, although the
sun has witlidrawn from the winter tropic, and
begins to dart his beams more perpendicularly
upon us. An iron bar is not heated immediately
upon being put into the fire, nor grows cold till
some time after it has been taken out.
426. If we suppose the degree of heat to be as
mth power of the sun's altitude, into the nth
power of the time of his continuance above the
Horizon, that s and c are the sine and cosine of
any given latitude ; 5' and <f the sine and cosine
of the sun's declination at the semidiurnal one ;
T the time in the afternoon, when the heat is the
greatest ; and x and y the sine and cosine of T*
Then c<f -{■ tt^y will be the sine of the sun's altS-
tude ; and consequently (c C' -f ««/) * + A 4- T"
must be a maximum ; whence its fluxion m 5 5y
X A+T + nT + («!' +*«30 = 0. But by
the property of the circle -^ = T, and conse-
^y.
nc€
quently A + T — * ^ = -^^ ; an equation
from whence the relation between x and y may
be determined.
427. The sun completes what is called a tro-
pical year, when he arrives at the same equinoc-
tial or solstitial point This he does in 365d.
5h. 48' 57^. >^en he arrives at the same fixed
star again, as seen from the earth, he completes
the siderial year, which contains 365d. 6h. 9^.
14i". The siderial year is therefore 20' Vt\*'
longer than the solar or tropical year, and 9' 14}''
longer than the Julian or the civil year, which
we state at 365d. 6h. ; so that the civil year
is almost a mean between the siderial and tro-
pical.
428. As die sun describes the whole ecliptic,
or 360**, in a tropical year, he moves 59' 8" of a
degree every day at a mean rate; and con-
sequently 50" of a degree in 20' 17^" of time ;
therefore he will arrive at the same equinox or
solstice, when he is 50" of a degree short of the
same star, or fixed point in the heavens, from
which he set out the year before. So that, with
respect to the fixed stars, the sun and equinoctial
points fJeOl back, as it were, 30® in 2160 years,
which will make the stars appear to have gone
30® forward with respect to the signs of the eclip-
tic in that time : for the same signs always keep
in the same points of the ecliptic without regard
to the constellations.
429. The sun returrj to the equinox again in
365d. 5h. 48' and 57" ; and thU is the period
in which the seasons complete their revolution.
But as it is convenient in civil life to make the
year consist of an exact number of days, three
years in succession are made to consist of 365
days, and a fourth of 366 da3rs ; making the aver-
age length of a civil year to be 365d. 6h. or 11
3'' too little.
430. These 11' 3", by which the civil or Julian
year exceeds the solar, amount to 1 1 days m
1433 years ; and so much our seasons had Men
back, with respect to the days of the months,
since the time of the Nicene council in A. D.
325. In order, therefore, to bring back all the
fasts and festivals to the days then settled, it was
requisite to suppress 11 nominal days; and,
that the same seasons might be kept to the same
times of the year in future, to leave out the bis-
sextile day in February, at the end of every cen-
tury of years not divisible by 4 ; to reckon them
only common years; as the 17th, 18th, and 19th
centuries, viz. the years 1700, 1800, 1900, &c.
because a day intercalated every fourth year was
too much ; and to retain the bissextile day at the
end of those centuries of years which are divisible
by 4, as the 16th, 20th, and 24th centuries, viz.
the years 1600, 2000, 2400, &c.
431. Without these changes, the seasons in
length of time would be quite reversed with re-
gard to the months of the year; though it would
have required near 23,783 years, to have brought
about such a total change. If the earth had made
exacdy 365^ diurnal rotations on its axis, while
it revolved from any equinoctial or solstitial
point to the same again, the civil and solar years
would sdways have kept pace together and the
style would never have needed any alteration.
Sect. IV. Of tbe Phenomena of the Moov.
432. The moon is not, a primary planet, but
only a satellite, or attendant of the earth, circu-
lating around it in 29d. 12h. and 44', and round
the sun along with it every year. The moon's
diameter is 2180 miles; and her distance from
the earth's centre about 240,000 miles. She goes
round her orbit in 27d. 7h. 43'. moving about
2290 miles every hour; and turns round her
axis exacdy in the same time that she goes round
the earth, which is the reason of her keeping al-
ways the same side towards us, and that ber day
and night takto together is as long as our lunar
month.
433. The moon is an opaque globe like the
earth, and shines only by refl€A.*ting the light of
the s\in ; dierefore, whilst diat half of her which
is towards the sun is enlightened, the other half
must be dark and invisible. Hence she disap-
pears when she comes between us and the sun ;
because her dark side is then towards us. When
she is gone a litUe way forward, we see a litUe
of her enlightened side ; which increases to oar
view as she advances, until she comes to be op-
posite to the sun ; when her whole enlightened
side is towards the earth, and she appears a
round illuminated orb, which we call the full
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ASTHONOMY.
149
moon ; her dark side being then turned away
from the earth. From the full she seems to de-
crease gradually as she goes through the other
half of her course; showing us less and less
of her enlightened side every day, till her next
change or conjunction with the sun^ when she
disappears as before.
434. The moon has scarcely any difference of
seasons ; her axis being almost perpendicular to
the ecliptic. What is very singular, one half of
her has no darkness at all; the earth constantly ,
affording it a strong light in the sun's absence;
while the other half has a fortnight's darkness
and a fortnight's light by turns.
435. Our earth appears as a moon to the
inhabitants of the moon; waxing and waning
regularly, but appearine thirteen times as big,
and affording them thirteen times as much
light as she does to us. When she changes
to us, the earth appears full to her; and when
she is in her first quarter to us, the earth is
in its third quarter to her ; and vice versa. But
from one half of the moon the earth is never
seen at all: from the middle of the other half
it is always seen over head ; turning round al-
most thirty times as quick as the moon does.
From the circle which limits our view of the
moon, only one half of the earth's side next
her is seen ; the other half being hid below the
horizon of all places on that circle. To her in-
habitants the earth appears the largest body in
the universe; for it appears thirteen times as
large as she does to us.
436. While the earth turns round its axis, the
several continents, seas and islands, appear to the
moon's inhabitants like so many spots of different
forms and brightness, moving over its sur&ce;
but much fainter at some times than others, ac-
cording as our clouds cover them. By these spots
the Lunarians can determine the time of the
earth's diurnal motion, just as we do tlie motion
of the sun : and they may measure their time
by the motion of the earth's spots, for they can-
not have a more true dial.
437. The axis of the moon is so neatly per-
pendicular to the ecliptic, that the sun never re-
moves sensibly from her equator ; and the obli-
quity of her orbit, which is next to nothing as
seen from the sun, cannot cause the sun to decline
sensibly from her equator. Yet her inhabitants
are not destitute of means for ascertaining the
length of their year, though their method must
differ from ours. We know the length of our
year by the return of our equinoxes ; but the Lu-
narians, having always equal day and night, must
have recourse to another method; and, we may
suppose, they measure their year by observing
when either of the poles of our earth begins to be
enlightened, and the other to disappear, which
is always at our equinoxes; they being conveni-
ently situated for observing great tracts of land
about our earth's poles, whidi are entirely un-
known to us. Hence we may conclude, that the
year is of the same absolute length to the inhabi-
tant* of the earth and moon> though very differ-
ent as to the number of days ; we having 365^
natural days, and the Lunarians only 122, ^very
day and night in the moon being as long as 29|
on the earth.
438. The inhabitants of the moon, on the side
next the earth, may find the longitude of their
places as easily as we can find the latitude of
ours. For the earth keeping constantly, or very
nearly so, over one meridian of the moon, the
east or west distances of places from tliat meri-
dian are as easily found as we can find our dis-
tance from the equator by the altitude of our
celestial poles.
439. As the sun only enlightens that half of
the earth which is towards him, and leaves the
opposite half in darkness, he does the same to
ihe moon ; but wi& this difference, that as the
earth is surrounded by an atmosphere, we have
tvriligfat after the sun sets; but if the moon has
neither an atmosphere of her ovm, nor is in-
cluded in that of the earth (as is supposed), the
Lunarians must have an immediate transition
from the brightest sunshine to the blackest dark-
ness.
440. The moon being an opaque spherical
body (for her hills take off no more from her
roundness than the inequalities on the surface of
an orange take of firora its roundness,) we can
only see that part of the enlightened half which
is towards the earth. And therefore, when the
moon is at A, see plate IV. fig. 3, in conjunction
with Uie sun S, ner dark half is towards the
earth, and she disappears, as at a, there being
no light on that halt to render it visible. When
she comes to her first octant at B, or has gone
an eighth part of her orbit from her conjunction,
a quarter of her enlightened side is towards the
earth, and she appears homed, as at 6. When
she has gone a quarter of her orbit from between
the earth and sun to C, she shows us one-half of
her enlightened side, as at c, and we say she is a
quarter old. At D she is in her second octant ;
and by showing us more of her enlightened side,
she appears gibbous, as at d. At £ her whole
enlightened side is towards the earth; and there-
fore she appears round, as at e, when we say it is
full moon. In her third octant at F, part of her
dark side being towards the earth, she again ap>
pears gibbous, and is on the decrease, as at /.
At G we see just one-half of her enlightened
side ; and she appears half decreased, or in her
third quarter, as at g. At H we only see a
quarter of her enlightened side, being in her
fourth octant, where she appears homed, as at A.
And at A, having competed her course from the
sun to the sun again, she disappears, and we say
it is new moon. Thus, in gomg from A to £,
the moon seems continually to increase ; and in
going from £ to A, to decrease in the same pro-
portion; having like phases at equal distances
trom A to £, but as seen from the sun S, she
b always full.
441. The moon does not appear perfectly
round ¥^en she is full in the highest or lowest
part of her orbit, because we have not a full
view of her enlightened side at that time. When
fiill, in the highest part of her orbit a small de^
ficiency appears on her lower edge; and the
contrary when full in Ihe lowest part of her
orbit.
442. From the figure it is evident, that when
the moon changes to the earth, the earth appears
full to die moon ; and vice versa. For when the
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ASTRONOMY.
moon is at A, new to the earth, the whole en-
lightened side of the earth is towards the moon;
and when the moon is at £, full to the earth, its
dark side is towards her. Hence a new moon
answers to a full earth, and a full moon to a new
earth. The quarters are also reversed to each
other.
443. The position of the moon's cusps, or a
right line touching the points of her horns, is very
differently inclined to the horizon at different
hours of the same days of her age« Sometimes
she stands, as it were, upright on her lower horn,
and then such a line is perpendicular to the ho-
rizon : when this happens, she is in what the as-
tronomers call the nonagesimal degree, which is
the highest point of the ecliptic above the ho-
' rixon at that time, and is 90° from both sides of
the horizon, where it is then cut by the ecliptic.
But this never happens when the moon is on the
meridian, except wnen she is at the very begin-
ning of Cancer or Capricorn.
444. It is easy to demonstrate that the moon
turns round her axis in the time that she goes
round her orbit; for a spectator at rest, without
the periphery of the moon's orbit, would see all
her sides turned regularly towards him in that
time. She turns round her axis from any star
to ^e same star again, in 27d. 7h. ; from the
sun to the sun again in 29id.; the former is
the length of her siderial day, and the latter the
length of her solar day. A bod^r moving round
the sun would have a solar da^ in every revolu-
tion, without turning on its axis ; the same as if
it had been at rest, and the sun moved round it;
but witliout turning round its axis it could never
have one siderial day, because it would always
keep the same side towards any particular star.
445. If the earth had no annual motion, the
moon would go round it so as to complete a lu-
nation, a siderial, and a solar day, all in the same
time. But because the earth goes forward in its
orbit, while the moon goes round the earth in
her orbit, the moon must go as much more than
round .her orbit, from change to change, in com-
pleting a solar day, as the earth has gone forward
m its orbit during that time, i. e. almost a twelftii
part of a circle. If the earth had r*o annual mo-
tion, the moon's motion round the earth, and her
track in o^en space, would always be the same.
But, as the eartn and moon move round the sun,
the moon's real path in the heavens is very dif-
ferent from her visible path round the earth ; the
latter being in a progressive circle, and the for-
mer in a curve of different degrees of concavity ;
which would always be the same in the same
parts of the heavens, if the moon performed a
complete number of lunations in a year without
any fraction.
446. Newton ascribed the equality between
the periods of rotation and revolution of the
moon to her being of an oval form, and being
denser on one side than the other; but La
Grange has shown that though, from the diminu-
tion of the centrifugal force, the moon ought to
be elevated at the equator, yet the aberration is
four times as great in the direction of the equa-
torial diameter, which is directed towards the
earth; and he has proved that, in consequence
of the attraction of the earth on this elevated
portion, the moon's motion is alternately acce-
lerated and retarded; and that this attraction
tends to produce an equality between the rota-
tion and revolution of the moon, and to occa-
sion a coincidence both in the position and mo-
tion of the nodes of the moon's orbit.
447. The motion of the moon in her orbit
not being equable, if her rotation on her axis be
uniform tliere must be parts on her eastern and
western edges which are only occasionally seen.
These changes, called her libration in longitude,
are found to agree with an equable motion of
rotation, There are parts also about her poles
only occasionally visiole. This, called her li-
bration in latitude, arises from her axis being
constantly inclined to the plane of her orbit, in
an angle of about 86°. A diurnal libration also
takes place ; at rising a part of the western edge
is seen, which is invisible at setting, and the
contrarjr takes place with respect to the eastern
edge. This is occasioned bv tne change of place
in the spectator, occasioned by the earth's rota-
tation. Having found by any mean%the moon's
angular distance from the sun, the ' appearance
>of her disk for that time may be easily deli-
neated in the following manner : Let the arch
C O B P, Plate IV. figs. 6 and 8, represent the
disk of the moon which is turned towards the
earth, and let O P be cut by the diameter B C
at right angles, take LP to LF as radius to
cosine of the moon's angular distance from the
sun, and upon B C as the greater and L F the
less axis describe the semi-ellipse BFC; then
B F C P will represent tiiat portion of the moon's
illumined face which is visible from the earth.
448. To illustrate this, let the nail in the
end of the axle of a chariot-wheel represent the
earth, and a pin in the nave the moon : if the
body of the chariot be propped up so as to keep
that wheel from touching the ground, and the
wheel be then turned round by hand, the pin
will describe a circle both round the nail and in
the space it moves through. But if the props be
taken away, the horses put to, and the chariot
driven over a piece of ground which is circularly
convex, the nail in the axle will describe a cir-
cular curve, and the pin in the nave will still
describe a circle round the progressive nail in
the axle, but not in the space through which it
moves. In this case, the curve described by the
nail will resemble in miniature as much of the
earth's annual part round the sun, as it describes
whilst the moon goes as often round the earth
as the pin does round the nail ; and the curve
described by the pin will have some resemblance
to the moon's path during so many lunations. *
449. The surface of the moon being uneven,
some are surprised thai her edge does not ap-
pear jagged, as well as the curve bounding the
light and dark places. But if we consider that
what we call the edge of the moon's disk is not a
single line set round with mountains, in which
case it would appear irregularly indented, but a
large zone, having many mountains, lying behind
one another from the observer's eye, we shall
find that the mountains in some rows will be op-
posite to the vales in others ; and thus fill up the
inequalities so as to make her appear quite
round; just as when one looks at an orange^
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ASTRONOMY.
151
although its roughness be very discernible on
the side next the eye, espemllv if the sun or a
candle shines obliquely upon that side, yet the
line tenninating the ybible part still appears
smooth and even.
Sect- V. Of the Tid«s.
450. The tides are found to follow periodi-
cally th<; course of the sun and moon, and hence
it has been suspected, in all ages, that -the tides
were somehow produced by the influence of these
luminaries. Of this, Pliny, Ptolemy, Macrobius,
and others, seem to have had some knowledge.
The celebrated Kepler formed some conjectures
long ago, as to the true cause of the tides. ' If/
says he, * the earth ceased to attract its waters
towards itself, all Ae water in the ocean would
rise and flow into the moon. The sphere of the
moon's attraction extends to our earm and draws
up the water.' What Kepler only sunhised, has
been completely verified in the theory laid down
by Newton, and by Halley from his principles.
Ttie principal phenomena of the tides are as
follows :
451. I. The sea is observed to flow for about
six hours from south to north, gradually^ swell-
ing ; and after a flux of about six hours, it seems
to rest for a quarter of an hour ; and then to
ebb or retire back again from north to south for
sue hours more. Then, after a seeming pause of
about i of an hour, the sea again begins to flow ;
and so on alternately.
452. II. Hence the sea ebbs and flows twice
a-day, but falling every day later and later by
about forty-eight minutes, the period of a flux
and reflux being on an average about 12 h. 24 m.
and the double of each 24 h. 48 m. which is
the period of a lunar day, or the time between
flie moon's passing a meridian and coming to it
again. So that the sea flows as often as the
moon passes the meridian, both the arch above
the horizon, and that below it; and ebbs as
often as she passes the horizon, both on the
eastern and western side. These are the most
obvious appearances ; the other phenomena are
as follows :
453. in. The elevation towards the moon
exceeds the opposite one a little, and the quan-
tity of the ascent of the water is diminished from
the equator to the poles.
454. IV. The sun raises and depresses the
sea twice every day, in the same manner that
the moon does; but the solar tides are much
less than the lunar ones, although subject to the
same laws.
455. V. The tides which depend upon the
actions of the sun and moon are not distin-
guished but compound ; and thus they form to
appearance one united tide which, increasing
and decreasing, produce neap and spring tides.
456. VI. In tne syzygies the elevations flrom
the actions of both luminaries concur, and the
sea is more elevated ; but the sea ascends less in
the quadratures; for where the water is elevated
by the action of the moon, it is depressed by
that of tiie sun, and vice versa. Therefore, while
the moon passes from the syzygy to the qua-
diature, the daily elevations are continually di-
minished ; on the contrary, they are increased
while die moon passes from the quadrature to
the sy^gy. At tne new moon also ceteris pa-
ribus the elevations are greater; and those that
follow one another the same 4ay, are more dif-
ferent than those at full moon.'
457. VII. The greatest elevations and depres-
sions take place on the 2d or 3d day after the
new or full moon ; and they are the greater, the
nearer the luminaries are to the plane of the
equator; being greatest in the syzygies, near the
equinoxes.
458. VIII. Tlie actions of the sun and moon
are greater the nearer those bodies are to the
earth ; and the greatest tides happen when the
sun is a littie to the south of die equator : but
this does not happen reguUirly every year, be-
cause some variation may arise from the situa-
tion of the moon's orbit, and the distance of the
syzygy from the equinox.
459. IX. The mean force of the mooa to
move the sea, is to that of the sun nearly as 4^
to 1 ; and therefore if the action of the sun alone
produce a tide of two feet, which it is said to do,
then that of the moon will be nine feet ; from
which it follows, that the spring-tides will be
eleven feet, and the neap-tides seven feet. But
such elevations as for exceed these, happen from
the motion of the water against some obstacles,
and from the sea violentiy entering straits or
gulfi, where the force is not broken till the
water rises higher. -
460. The preceding phenomena take place in
the open sea, where the ocean is extended enough'
to be subject to their motions. But the parti-
cular situations of places, as to shores, capes,
bays, &c. disturb in a considerable degree these
general rules. We are now to show how these
phenomena maybe explained, from the prin-
ciple of universal gravitation. 9"
461. If the eartii were entirely fluid and qui-
escent, its particles, by their mutual gravity
towards each other, would form the whole mass
into the figure of an exact sphere. If a power
were to act on all the particles of this sphere,
vrith an equal force, and in parallel directions,
the whole mass would be moved together; but
no change would be produced on its spherical
figure, and its centre would have the same
motion as each particle.
462. Upon this hypothesis, if the motion of
the earth round the centre of gravity of the earth
and moon, were destroyed, and the earth left to
the influence of its gravitation towards the moon,
as the power above mentioned, then the earth
would fall or move straight towards the moon,
without changing its spherical figure.
463. But tiie fact is, that the efiects of the
moon's action, as well as the action itself on dif-
ferent parts of the earth, are not equal ; those
parts, by the general rules of gravity, being most
attracted that are nearest to the moon, and those
being least^ttracted that are &rthest from her ;
while the parts that are at a middle distance are
attracted by a mean degree of force. Besides, all
the parts are not acted upon in parallel lines, but
in lines directed towards the centre of the moon,
on both which accounts the spherical figure of
the fluid earth must sufier some change from the
action of the moon ; so that in falling, as we have
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162
ASTRONOMY.
supposed, the nearer parts bein^ most attracted,
would fall quickest, me farther parts being least
attracted, would fall slowest, and the fluid mass
would he lengthened out, and take a kind of
spheroidical form.
464. Hence it appears (which must be care-
fully obsenred), that it is not the action of ihe
moon itself, but the inequalities in that action,
that cause any variation from the spherical figure;
and that if this action were the same in aU the
particles, as in the central parts, and operating in
the same direction, no such change would ensue.
465. Let us now admit the parts of the earth
to gravitate towards its centre, then as this gravi-
tation far exceeds the suction of the moon, and
much more exceeds the differences of her actions
on different parts of the earth, tlie effect which
results from the inequalities of these actions of
the moon, will be only a small diminution of the
gravity of those parts of the earth, which it
endeavoured in the former supposition to sepa-
rate from its centre; that is, those parts of the
earth which are nearest to the moon, and those
that are farthest from her, will have Uieir gravity
towards the earth somewhat abated, to say no-
thing of the lateral parts ; so that supposing the
earth fluid, the columns from the centre to the
nearest, and to the ferthest parts must rise, till,
by their greater height, they are able to balance
the other columns, whose gravity is less altered
by the inequalities of the moon's action, and
thus the figure of the earth must be an oblong
spheroid.
466. Let us now consider the earth, instead of
falling tovrards the moon by its gravity, as pro-
jected in any direction, so as to move round the
centre of gravity of the earth and moon, it is evi-
dent, that in this case the several parts of the
fluid earth will still preserve that relative posi-
tion, and the figure of the earth vrill remain the
same as if it fell freely towards the moon ; diat
is, the earth will still assume a spheroidal form,
having its longest axis directed toward the moon.
467. From the preceding Reasoning, it appears,
that the parts of the earth directly under the moon,
as at Ii, plate X. fig. 4, and also the opposite
parts at D, will have the flood or high-water at
the same time, whilst the parts at B and F, at
90° distance, or where the moon appears in the
horizon, will then have the ebbs, or lowest waters.
Hence as the earth turns round its axis from
(he moon to the moon again in '24h. 48m.
this oval of water must shift with it, and thus
there will be two tides of flood, and two of ebb
in that time. It farther appears, that by the
motion of the earth on her axis, the most ele-
vated part of the water is carried beyond the
moon, in the direction of the rotation ; so that
the water continues to rise after it has passed
directly under the moon, though the immediate
action of the moon there begins to decrease; and
comes not to its greatest elevation, till it has got
about half a quadrant farther. It continues to
descend after it has passed at 90® from the point
below the moon, to a like distance of half a
quadrant.
468. The greatest elevation, therefore, is not in
the line drawn through the centres of the earth
and moon, nor the lowest points, where the moon
appears in die horizon, but all these are removed
about half a quadrant eastward from these points
in the direction of the motion of rotation . Thus,
in open seas, where the water flows freely, the
moon, M, is generally past the north and south
meridian, as atp, when the high water is at Z,
and at n; the reason of which is plain, because
the moon acts with the same force after she has
passed the meridian, and thus adds to the libra-
tory or waving motion vrhich the water acquired
when she was in the meridian.
469. Besides, the tides answer not always to
the distance of the moon firom the meiidian, at
the same places, for the action of the sun brings
them on sooner when the moon is in ber first aod
third (quarters, and keeps them back later when
she is m her second and fourth : because, in the
former case, the tide, raised by the sun alone,
would be earlier than that raised by the moon,
and in the latter case, later.
470. We have hitiierto adverted only to the
action of the moon in producing the tides ; but
it is evident, that for the same reasons, the ine-
quality of the sun's action on different parts of
the earth, would produce a like effect, ana a like
deviation fiom an exact spherical figure ; so that
in reality, there are two tides, every natural day,
from the action of the sun, as there are in a lunar
day, from the action of the moon, subject to the
same laws; and the lunar tide, as has been ob-
served, is somewhat changed by the action of the
sun, the change varying every day, on account
of the inequality between the natural and lunar
day.
471. Although the gravitation of the earth,
towards the sun, is much greater than its gravi-
tation towards the moon, yet, by reason of the
sun's immense distance, to which the earth's dia-
meter bears a small proportion, his action upon
the side of the earth next to him differs but litde
from that which is exerted on the side farthest
from him, and it is only the inequalities in that
action that produce the tide. However, the effect
of the sun is still veiy sensible, but that of the
moon is much more so; for, by its proximity to
the earth, there is a considerable inequality,
both in the direction of its action, and in the in-
tensity of that action upon different parts of the
earth.
472. Hence it is easy to see, that the tides
must be greatest at new and at full nxK)n, because
the actions of the sun and moon are then exerted
in the same directions. These are called spring
tides; whereas, when the sun and moon are 90^^
distant, the action of the one luminaiy raises the
tides, just where that of the otiier depresses them,
and thus are produced what are called neap tides.
Newton has calculated the effects of the sun and
moon respectively upon the tides from their at-
tractive powers, the former he finds to be to the
force of gravity, as one to 12,868,200. To find
the force of the latter upon the water, he com-
pares the spring tides at the mouth of the river
Avon, below Bristol, with the neap tides, and
finds the prop6rtion as nine to five; whence, after
several necessary corrections, he concludes, that
the force of the moon, in moving the waters, is tu
that of the sun, as 4*4815 to one.
473. Dr. Horsley, however, in his edition of
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ASTRONOMY.
163
Newton's Prineipia, estimates the force of the
moon to that of the sun, as 5*0469 to one, and
other authors have given different proportions;
but Newton computes, from his proportion, that
the moon may raise the waters nine feet, 1^ inch,
and the sun and moon together may produce an
elevation of about eleven feet, two inches ; and
about' 12f feet, when the moon is at her nearest
distance. Now this is found by observation, to
be nearly the height to which the water rises, on
the coasts of the open and deep ocean.
474. It must be observed, that the spring tides
do not happen precisely at new and tuU moon,
nor the neap tides precisely at the quarters, but
a day or two after ; because, as in other cases>
so in this, the effect is not greatest or least when
the immediate influence of the cause is greatest
or least ; for if the actions of the sun and moon
were to cease, yet the tides would continue for
some time ; as Uie waves of the sea continue their
motion after a storm.
475. The different distances of the moon from
the earth produce a sensible variation in the tides;
and Newton has shown, that they increase as the
cubes of the distances decrease ; so that the moon
at half her distance, would produce a tide eight
times greater. The moon describes an ova}
round the earth; and at her nearest distance,
produces a tide sensibly greater than at her
rarthest distance. Hence two great spring tides
never succeed each other, at the distance of four-
teen days ; for if the moon be at her least di&tance
at the change, and therefore produce a great spring
tide, she -mil be at her greatest distance at the
full, and therefore the spring tide will be less.
476. The spring tides are highest, and the
neap tides lowest, about the time of the equi-
noxes; because, were the sun or moon in the
pole of the world, there would be no tide; for
their action would raise the water at the equator
or any parallel, equally round the earth : there-
fore, the nearer they are to the equator, the
greater must be the effect When the sun and
moon traverse the equator, the tides, which are
under them, will traverse the greatest circle, and
the waters will be put into the greatest agitation.
They will also be the greater at these times, be-
cause the earth is nearer to the sun, about the
beginning of March and end of September, than
in the summer months.
477. As the greatest of the two tides, happen-
ing in every diurnal revolution of the moon,, is
that in which the moon is nearest the xenith or
Badir, therefore, while the sun is in the northern
signs, the greater of the two diurnal tides, in our
climate, will be that arising from the moon when
above the horizon; and when the sun is in the
southern signs, the greatest is that arising from
the moon below the horizon. Thus, the evening
tides in summer exceed the morning tides, and
the morning tides in winter exceed the evening
tides. This difference is found at Bristol to be
fifteen inches^ and at Plymouth twelve inches.
478. Such would the tides regularly be, if the
earth were all covered over with the sea^ to a
ereat depth, so that the waters might freely fol-
low the mfluence of the sun and moon ; but, as
the tides pass over shoals, and run through
straits into bays of the sea, their motion he*
comes more various, and their height depends
upon a great many circumstances. That the
tides may have their full motion, the ocean, in
which they are produced, ought to he at least 90**
extended from east to west; because that is the
distance between the greatest elevation, and the
greatest depression, produced in the waters by
me moon.
479. Hence it appears, that it is only in the
great oceans that such tides as we have described
can be produced, and why in the larger Pacific
Ocean tney exceed those in the Atlantic Ocean.
Hence it is obvious why the tides are not so
great in the torrid zone, between Africa and
America, where the ocean is narrower, as in the
temperate zones on either side ; and hence, also,
we see why the tides are so small in islands, at
great distances from the shores. It likewise ap-
pears, that the waters cannot rise on one shore of
the Atlantic Ocean, but by descending on the
other, so that at the intermediate islands it must
remain at a mean height, between its elevations
on those two shores.
480. The tides that enter the mouths of ri-
vers from the ocean, are greatly retarded in their
Progress, by the currents of the rivers. Mr.
londamine, while in South America, observed,
that in the river Amazons, there were five high
waters, and four intermediate low waters at once;
and a similar circumstance takes place in the
Thames. For the tide propagated by the moon
in the German Ocean, wheti she is three hours
past the meridian, takes twelve hours longer to
come to London Bridge, so that when it is hiffh
water there, a new tide is already come to its hei^t
in the ocean; and in some intehnediate place, it
must be low water at the same time.
481. At several places, it is high water three
hours before the moon comes to her meridian ;
but that tide, which the aioon pushes as it were
before her, is only the tide opposite to that which
was raised by her, when she was nine hours past
the opposite meridian.
482. There are no sensible tides in the Baltic,
the Mediterranean, or the Black Seas ; for they
communicate with the ocean by such narrow
inlets, and are of so immense an extent, that
they cannot speedily receive and empty water
enough, to raise or depress their surfaces sen-
sibly. In the Caspian Sea, and in lakes, &c.
the moon's attraction is nearly the same upon all
parts of their surface, so that no sensible swelling
can take place in their waters.
483. We may also conclude, that by reason
of the fluidity of the atmosphere, it must have
tides similar to those of the ocean ; and hence,
there will be a general current from east to west,
both of the waters of the ocean, and of the air;
but the changes produced in the state of the at-
mosphere, from chemical causes, will so much
affect the general current, as to prevent it from
being perceived.
484. We shall conclude this subject with a
table, by the aid of which the time of high
water may be found with great ease and cor-
rectness.
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154 ASTRONOMY.
TMefirfauting the Time of High Water ; beimg the Correction of the Mxm't mutkag.
Moon's
Moon's
Moan's
Moon's
pMa.0Tcr
Mend.
pus. over
Mtfid.
pass, over
Merid.
pMS. over
Merid.
14' 30"
15' 30"
16' 30"
14'
30"
15' 30"
16' 30"
H.
M.
H. M.
H. M.
H. M.
H. M.
H. M.
H
M.
H.
M.
H. M.
H.
M.
0
0
—
0 4
— 00
-f 0 5
12 G
6 0
-0 55
— 1
3
— 1 12
18
0
20
.^
8
— 5
-h 1
20
20
—
49
—
55
— 13
20
40
—
12
— 10
— 8
40
40
—
43
—
47
— 0 53
40
1
0
^^
17
— 16
— 15
13 0
r 0
,
32
_
34
— 37
19
0
20
_
22
— 22
— 22
20
20
—
22
~.
22
- 22
20
40
—
27
— 28
— 29
40
40
—
11
—
9
— 6
40
2
0
^^
31
— 33
— 36
14 0
8 0
1
1
+
3
+ 9
20
0
20
_
36
— 39
— 43
20
20
+
5
+
11
+ 19
20
40
—
40
— 44
— 50
40
40
+
11
+
19
+ 29
40
3
0
.^
44
— 49
— 55
15 0
9 0
+
14
+
21
+ 32
21
0
20
..
48
— 54
— 12
20
20
+
16
+
24
+ 36
20
40
—
51
— 58
— 17
40
40
-f
16
+
23
+ 35
40
4
0
_
55
— 12
— 1 12
16 0
10 0
+
15
+
23
+ 34
22
0
20
.^^
57
-15
— 1 15
20
20
+
13
+
20
+ 30
20
40
—
59
— 17
— 1 18
40
40
+
11
+
18
-h 28
40
5
0
^^
1 0
— 1 8
— 1 19
17 0
11 0
+
7 +
14
+ 23
23
0
20
_
1 1
— 1 9
— 1 20
20
20
+
4
—
10
+ IB
20
40
—
0 58
— 15
— 1 16
40
40
+
0
—
5
+ 11
40
6
0
—
0 55
— 13
— 1 12
18 0
12 0
—
4
+
0
+ 5
24
0
485. To find the time of lugb wditer by thb
table, seek in the Nautical Almianack, White's
Ephemeris, or any other similar astrooomical
work, for the time of the moou*s passing the
meridian of Greenwich; with which enter the
table, and take out the corresponding correction
of the said time of the moon's meridian passage,
and apply it by addition or subtraction as di-
rected in the table, and add the result to the time
of .iigh water at the proposed place on the full
and change days, and the sum rejecting twenty-
four hours if necessary, will be the hours and mi-
nutes past noon, when it willbe high water.
Sect. VI. — Op the Habtbst Moon.
486. It is remarkable, that the moon, during
the week in which she js full about the time of
harvest, rises sooner after sun-tet, than she does
in any otlier full moon week throughout the
year. By this means, she affords an immediate
supply of light af^r sun-set, which is very
beneficial for those employed in the harvest, and
Sthering in the fruits of the earth. Hence this
1 moon is distinguished from all others in the
year, by calling it the Harvest Moon.
487. To conceive the reason of this pheno-
menon, it may first be considered, that the moon
is always op]posite to the sun when she is full,
and therefore, in the harvest months, she is full
in Pisces and Aries, which are opposite to Virgo
and libra, the signs occupied by the sun about
the same season. Now the si^ Pisces and
Aries rise in a shorter space of tmie than others,
as is easily shown and illustrated by a celestial
fflobe ; and the same thing may be conceived
from this circumstance, that in northern lati-
tudes, the smallest angle made by the ecliptic
and horizon, is when Aries rises, at which time
Libra sets'; and it is obvious, that the smaller
the angle contained by the ecliptic and horizon,
the greater portion of the ecliptic will rise by
the earth's rotation in a given time. Conse-
quently, when the moon is full in harvest, she
rises with less difference of time, or more im-
mediately after sunset, than at any other season
of the year.
488*. In our winter the moon is in Pisces
and Aries, about the time of her first quarter,
when she rises about noon, and therefore, her
rising is not then noticed.
489. In spring the moon is in Pisces and
Aries about me time of her change, but as she
then gives no light, and rises with the sun, her
rising cannot be perceived.
490. In summer the moon is in Pisces and
Aries at the time of the last quarter, and then,
as she does not rise till midnight, her rising
usually passes unobserved.
491. but, in autumn, the moon is in Pisces
and Aries at the time of her full, and rises soon
after sun-set, for several evenings successively ;
which makes her'reeular risings very con-
spicuous at that time of the year.
492. AU this would happen, if the moOn's
orbit lay in the ecliptic ; but her orbit makes
with the ecliptic an angle of 5^ 18', and crosses
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ASTRONOMY.
165
it in two po'iDts, called her nodes ; so that her
rising, when in Pisces and Aries, will sometimes
not differ above an hour and forty minutes,
through a whole week; and at other times, in
tne same two signs she will differ in a week 3|
hours in the time of her rising, according to the
different positions of the nodes with respect to
the signs ; which positions are always changing,
because the nodes go backward through the
ecliptic in eighteen years, 325 days.
493. This revolution of the nodes causes the
harvest moons to go through a whole course of
the most advantageous and least beneficial state^
with respect to the harvest, every nineteen years.
They were least beneficial in 1796, and a>nti-
nued so until 1197 ; after which, they became
most beneficial from that neriod to 1806. In
1807 iSbej again became least beneficial, and
continued so till 1815. Their most advantageous
period began agaih hi 1816, and lasted till 1825,
when the opposite period commenced, and will
last until the year 1834; then again they will
be most beneficial fix>m 1835 to 1843 ; and so on.
Sect. VII^— Of the Horizontal Suk avd
Moon.
494. Philosophers have been much at a lots
to account for tne apparent magnitude of the sua
and faioon, being gteater when they are in the
horizon, than when elevated above it. For, ac*
cording to the laws of vision, they should appear
least, when nearest the horizon, because they
are tlien farthest from the eye ; and yet, it is
found, that the contrary is true, in fact. Thus,
although the diameter of the moon, when hi the
horizon, as measured by an instrument, is not
found to be greater than when measured at her
greatest elevation in the meridian, yet her ap-
parent diameter, when in the horizon, seems to
the eye two or three tines greater than when
she is considerably elevated above it.
495. According to Alhazen, one of the ear-
liest writers on optics, the sight apprehends the
surface of the heavens as flat, and judges of the
stars, as it would of ordinary objects extended
upon a vride plain. The eye sees them indeed
under equal angles, but at the same time per-
ceives a difference in their distances, and (on
account of the semi-diameter of the earth, which
is interposed in the one case, but not m the other)
it is hence induced to judge those that appear
more remote to be greater.
496. Des Cartes, and from him Dr. Wallis
and most other authors, account for the ap-
pearance of a different distance under the same
angle, from the long series of objects interposed
between tiie eye and the extremity of the horizon,
which makes us imagine it is more remote than
when in the meridian, where the eye sees nothing
in tlie way between itself and the object. This
id(^ of a great distance makes us imagine the
luminary larger; fi>r an object being seen under
any certain angle, and believed at the same time
more remote, we naturally imagine it to be very
hrge, to appear under such an angle at such a
distance, and thus a pure judgment of tlie mind
makes \fs see the sun or the moon larger in the
\orizon than in the meridian, notwithstanding
their diameters, when measured, are really less
in the foxiyer situation thaji in the latter.
497. This opinion, however ^ems hardly te-
nable, although it be sanctioned by the authority
of very eminent men ; for it is daily seen, that
the sun and moon, when near the horizon, very
suddenly change their magnitude as they ascend
and descend, uough all the intervening objects
remain the same as before ; and the luminaries
appear largest of all, when fewest objects appear
on the eartfi, as in a thick fog or mist.
498. Dr. Desaguliers has endeavoured to ex-
8 lain the appearance of the horizontal moon, on
le supposition that we imagine the visible heavens
to be only a small portion of a spherical surface,
and consequently suppose the moon to be fiuther
from us in the horizon than near the zenith ;
and he has shown how liable we are to such de-
ceptions.
499. Upon this idea, Dr. Smith has determi-
ned, in his optics, that the centre of the appa-
rent spherical segment of sky, lying much
below the eye, the apparent distance of its parts,
near the horizon, is about three or four times
greater tnan the apparent distance of its parts
over head ; for whicti reason it is, he infers, ♦hat
the moon always appears larger as she is lower,
and also that we always think the height of a
celestial object to be greater than it really is.
500. Of the apparent figure of the sky, we
shall have occasion to treat more fully under
optics; and shall only observe here, that if it be'
allowed, that we judge of the apparent mag-
nitude of the heavenly bodies, by tne arc which
they cover of the concave sky, it is evident, since
the sky appears to us as a segment less than a
hemisphere, that the horizon will appear farther
distant than the zenith ; and therefore the sun
and moon, while in the horizon, will cover a
larger portion of the apparent sky, ^n when
more elevated, and thus their apparent diameter
will be greater.
Sect- VIII.— Of the Refraction op Lxoht
BT thb Atmosphere.
501 • If it were not for the atmosphere, the
rays of light that come from the heavenly bodies,
and by which they are seen, would enter the eye
in the direction of a straight line joining the lu«
minous body and the eye. But Uie earth being
covered to a considerable height with an atmos-
phere of unequal density, a ray of light fidling
obliquely upon its surfitce> instead of continuing
to move forward in the same rectilineal direction,
is bent downwards mto a curve, in its future
progress; and enters the eye in a direction
differing more or less from its original one, ac-
cording as it fiUls upon the atmosphere, with a
greater or less degree of obliquity.
502. This effect may be thus illustrated:
Suppose Z Y, plate IV. fig. 7, a quadrant of a
vertical circle described from the centre of the
earth T, under which is A B a quadrant of a
circle on the surface of the earth, and G H a
quadrant of the tuifiice of the atmosphere.
Then suppose S £ a ray of light emitted irom a
star at S, and fidling on the atmosphere at £ ;
because the ray passes out of a rare medium
(and most probably a perfect vacuum) into a
denser medium ; by the laws of optics, it will
be refracted towardls the perpendicular, or more
inchned towards the earth; and since the
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16t)
ASTRONOMY.
farther tliat a lay descends in the. atmosphere,
the more dense is the medium through which it
passes, it will move in the curve £ A, and at last
enter the eye in the direction of A F Q, a tangent
to the curve. Therefore the star will appear at
Q instead of S, and thus its apparent place Q
will be nearer the zenith than its true place.
503. The nearer the star S is to the horizon,
the greater will be the refraction as well as the
distance between the apparent and true place of
the star. Hence the heavenly bodies appear to
be above the horizon, by reason of the refraction,
when they are really below it. There is no re-
fraction in the zenith, for a ray, coming from Z,
will fell perpendicularly on the surface of the at-
mosphere at G, and continue its rectilinear
course to the eye at A.
The following neat and elegant method of
computing the atmospherical refraction has been
given by Dr. Brinkley, the present learned and
active professor of astronomy at Dublin :
504. Let LI, fig. 7, plate VI, be a ray of light
falling on the atmosphere at I, and refracted in
the curvineal course I S. The object appears to
a spectator at S in the direction S T, a tangent to
the curve, VST is the apparent zenith distance.
The space in the figure between the concentric
circles represents all the atmosphere which has
any effect on the ray of Ught, so that the light
may be considered as passing out of a vacuum
into this space.
505. If the surface of the earth were a plane, the
different strata of air might be considered as
parallel thereto ; and by the principles of optics,
the refraction would be the same as would take
place were the ray of light to pass from a vacuum
mto air of the same density with that at the sur-
^e. It is therefore evident, that if we take into
account the spherical form of the earth and at-
mosphere, the error resulting from the supposition
of an uniform atmosphere will necessarily be
very small, compared with the diange occasioned
by considering the atmosphere spherical, pro-
vided that change be small.
506. Let m : 1 : : sin. of incidence : sin. of re-
fraction, when a ray of light passes from a vacuum
into air of the density of that at the surface of the
earth. Suppose all the air contracted into an
i4Kform atmosphere, then SI is a right line.
Let HIL = i, SIC = r, VSI = z, SC = a,
the height of the uniform atmosphere = /, or
CI = fl + /.
1 :m \
Hence
sm. z : sm. r
sin. r : sin. t.
. . masm.z / . l\ ,
sm. t = — -^-r- =: m sm. ill jnearly.
a sin. X / . l\ ,
sm.r z: — ^^ n sm. « ( I — ^ 1 nearly.
Let t =2 r + R, then R is the quantity of re-
fraction. Sin. (r + R) =: sin. i.
Or, because R is small, sin. r + cos. r sin. R =
sin. i, or sin r + R sin. 1" cos. r = sin. i, sub-
stituting in this equation for sin. r and sin. », as
above. Also for cos. r.
v/l — sin.»«'^l- ' ) =
v/-
Zl
COS. •* + -^^ sin. *i =
a
COS. « M + — tan. Hy
nearly, we obtain
m— 1 • sin . « • ( I — — ^
I. — sm. r ^ a_/
sin.r.cos.sM+£ taD.•^^
(m —1) tan. 1 (m — 1) /. tan. »i
sin. 1" a sin. 1" cos. H
R
^sm.
"sin.r'xcosr"
nearly.
507. Taking z =s 80^, 2 = 5 and a .= 4000
miles, the second term (arbing from die spheri-
cal figure of the atmosphere) = 10^ nearly.
If a were indefinite, that is, if the surface of the
earth were a plane, this second term would
vanish. Hence we may safely conclude, that as
far as 80 zenith distance, the error arising from
supposing the atmosphere of uniform density
must be much less than 10", and. that conse-
quently the above expression gives the refraction
as ^ as 80 from the zenith with sufficient ac-
curacy. If we neglect the second term, the le-
firaction will vary as the tangent of the zenith
distance.
508. The exact experiments of M. M. Biot and
Aiago, have determined the value of m — 1 =,
'0002946, when the barometer is at 29,93 (in
metre) and Fah. therm, at 32°. From their ex-
periments, and the law of expansion of air, il
may be inferred that -: — p-=
^>Q375 t> ^ ^^0 32, neatly
1+, 002083(^-32)^ 29,60 ^ ^' *» ' ^
where h is height of the barometer, and t that of
Fahrenheit's thermometer. When t ;= 50® and
h = 29,60 inches, this expression gives *" *""
' ' *^ sin 1
= 57*82, a result independent of astronomical
observations.
509. The French tables of refraction, by De-
lambre, founded on astronomical observalioBS,
give ^-Hl =57-72'; and from upwards of
500 observations made by himself. Dr. Brinkley
finds
m— 1
= 57-56'.
sin. r
510. Mr.H.Atkinson,inamemoirrecentlyread
before the Astronomical Society of London, and
printed in the forth-coming part of the Society's
Memoirs, has treated the subject of refractions
in a manner altogether new ; and has evinced
talents for scientific investigation which place
him in a high rank among the philosophers of
the present day. He treats the question alto-
gether as one depending on the optical proper-
ties of air, by dividing the whole atmosphere
into various concentric strata, and computes the
deviation produced by refraction on each stratum.
We should be glad, did our limits permit us, to
quote very largely from this most elaborate and
instructive essay, but we must content ourselves
with extracting one of the results of his labors
in a
Digitized by
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ASTRONOMY. 167
■511. TaMe of Mem Refnttkn, adapted to 5ff Fahrenheit, and 29-6 inchet of Barometne prtttta-r
Zenith dist.
Refraction.
Zenith ditt.
RefrwAkm.
Zenith d»t.
Refraction.
Zenith diat.
Refraction.
7
1^
0*
0' 101"
58*30'
l'33-8r
76*20'
3' 52-93"
84 40"'
9' 15-59"
2
0
0 201
59 0
1 35-72
76 30
3 55-80
84 45
9 22-86
3
0
0 302
59 30
1 37-64
76 40
3 58-74
84 50
9 30-32
4
0
0 403
60 d
1 39-60
76 50
4 1-75
84 55
9 37-95
5
0
0 505
60 20
1 40-93
77 0
4 4-83
85 0
9 45-77
6
0
0 606
60 40
1 42-30
77 10
4 800
85 5
9 53-79
7
0
0 7-08
61 0
1 43-70
77 20
4 11-23
85 10
65 15
10 201
8
0
0 811
61 20
1 4513
77 30
4 14-55
10 10-44
9
0
0 914
61 40
1 46-59
77 40
4 17-95
85 20
10 19-09
10
0
0 101 7
62 0
1 4808
77 50
4 21-43
85 25
10 27-96
11
0
0 11-21
62 20
1 49-60
78 0
4 25-00
85 30
10 3700
12
0
0 12-26
62 40
1 51-16
78 10
4 28-66
85 35
10 46-41
18
0
0 13-32
63 0
1 52-75
78 20
4 32-41
85 40
10 50-01
14
0
0 14-38
63 20
1 54-37
78 30
4 36-27
85 45
11 5-87
15
0
0 15-46
63 40
1 56-03
78 40
4 40-23
85 50
11 1600
10
0
0 16-54
64 0
1 57-73
78 50
4 44-30
85 55
11 26-40
17
0
0 17-64
64 20
1 59-48
79 0
4 48-48
86 0
11 3709
18
0
0 18-74
64 40
2 1-26
79 10
4 52-79
86 5
11 4809
19
0
0 19-86
65 0
2 3-10
.79 20
4 57-21
86 10
11 59-41
20
0
0 21-00
65 15
2 4-50
79 30
5 1-76
86 15
12 11-05
21
0
0 22-14
65 30
2 5-92
79 40
5 6-43
86 20
12 2303
22
0
0 23-31
65 45
2 7-38
79 50
5 11-25
86 25
12 35-36
23
0
0 24:49
6(6 0
2 8-86
80 0
5 16-21
86 30
12 48-05
24
0
0 25-68
66 15
2 10-76
80 10
5 21-31
86 35
13 1-13
25
0
0 26-90
66 30
2 11-91
80 20
5 26-57
86 40
13 14-61
26
0
0 28-13
66 45
2 13-48
80 30
5 3200
86 45
13 28-50
27
0
0 29-39
67 0
2 15-08
80 40
5 37-59
86 50
13 42-82
28
0
0 30-67
67 15
2 16-71
80 50
5 43;37
86 55
13 57-59
29
0
0 31-97
67 30
2 18-38
81 0
5 49-33
87 0
14 12-83
30
0
0 33-30
67 45
2 20-08
V 10
5 55-50
87 5
14 28-55
31
0
0 34-66
68 0
2 21-82
81 20
6 1-87
87 10
14 44-78
32
0
0 36-04
68 15
2 23-60
81 30
6 8-46
87 15
15 1-54
33
0
0 37-45
68 30
2 25-41
.81 40
6 15-27
87 20
15 18-86
34
0
0 38-90
68 45
2 27-27
81 50
6 22-32
87 25
15 36-75
35
0
0 40-38
69 0
2 29-17
82 0
6 29-63
87 30
15 55-24
36
0
0 41-89
69 15
2 31-12
82 5
6 33-37
87 35
16 14-36
37
0
0 43-45
69 30
2 3311
82 10
6 37-19
87 40
16 34-14
38
0
0 4505
69 45
2 3514
82 15
6 41-7
87 45
16 54-60
39
6
0 46-69
70 0
2 37-21
82 20
6 4503
87 50
17 15-78
40
0
0 48-38
70 15
2 39-32
82 25
6 4907
87 55
17 37-69
41
0
0 5012
70 30
2 41-49
82 30
6 5318
88 0
18 0-41
42
0
0 51-91
70 45
2 43-72
82 35
6 57-37
88 5
18 2406
43
0
0 53-76
71 0
2 4600
82 40
7 1-65
88 10
18 48-57
44
0
0 55-66
71 15
2 48-36
82 45
7 6-01
88 15
19 13-95
45
0
0 57-63
71 30
2 50-77
82 50
7 10-45
88 20
19 40-24
»
46
0
0 59-67
71 45
2 53-25
82 55
7 14-98
88 25
20 7-39
47
0
1 1-79
72 0
2 55-75
83 0
7 19-60
88 30
20 35-58
48
0
1 3.98
72 15
2 58-33
83 5
7 24-31
88 35
21 4-88
49
0
1 6-27
72 30
3 0-98
83 10
7 29-12
88 40
21 35-31
50
0
1 8-64
72 45
3 3-71
83 15
7 34-02
88 45
22 7-02
50 30
1 9-87
73 0
3 6-51
83 20
7 39-03
88 50
22 39-92
51
0
1 11-12
73 15
3 9-40
83 25
7 44-13
88 55
23 14-05
51
30
1 . 12-40
73 30
3 12-36
83 30
7 49-35
89 0
23 49-49
52
0
1 13-71
73 45
3 15-41
83 35
7 54-67
89 5
24 26-42
52 30
1 15-04
74 0
3 18-56
83 40
8 0-11
89 10
25 4-66
53
0
1 16-41
74 15
3 21-79
83 45
8 5-66
89 15
25 44-26
53 30
1 17-81
74 30
3 25-13
83 50
8 11-34
89 20
26 25-25
54
0
1 19-24
74 45
3 20-56
83 55
8 1713
89 25
27 7-36
54 30
1 20-71
75 0
3 3209
84 0
8 2306
89 30
27 51-22
55
0
1 22-21
75 10
3 34-51
84 5
8 29- 12
89 35
28 36-89
55 30
1 23-75
75 20
3 36-97
84 10
8 35-31
89 40
29 24-47
66
0
1 25.33
75 30
3 39-49
84 15
8 41-65
89 45
30 14-05
56 30
1 26-95
75 40
3 42-06
84 20
8 48-13
89 50
31 5-72
57
0
1 28-61
75 50
3 44-69
84 25
8 54-73
89 55
31 59-57
57 30
1 30-31
76 0
3 47-38
84 30
9 1.54
90 0
32 55-72
58
0
1 32-07
76 10
3 5012
84 35
9 8-48
1
,
Digitized by
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168
ASTRONOMY.
512. This refiactioD of tUe light by the atmos-
phere produces the twilight ; for while the sun is
less than 18^ below the horiioo, his rays, al-
though prevented from reaching us directly, by
reason oT the interposed body of the earth, yet
fall upon the supenor regions of the atmosphere,
and are so refracted and reflected by its particles
as to produce a brightness over the norizon,
^ which continues through the whole night during
the summer months, in the regions of the earth
towards the poles. ^
513. The subject of twilights has given rise to
a problem which, from the talents of the mathe-
maticians who have applied themselves to its
investigation, has obtained considerable celebrity.
Tlie problem is, to find the day in any given
latitude in which the twilight is the shortat. It
might be imagined that the twilights would in-
crease fipom midsummer to midwinter ; but this
both observation and theory show not to be the
case ; for though the twilights continue to increase
in duration for some time after the sun's decli-
nation, allowed a denomination different from the
latitude, ^et they reach a maximum, after which
they again increase.
514. In fig. 11, plate VI, let P be the pole, Z
the zenith, HO the horizon, AL the boundary
of twilight, S f the places of the sun at the be-
ginning and end ot twilight. Draw the great
circles PS, Pf, ZS, and Zf, also PR = ZP,
making the angle ZPR =: 2. SPs, .and com-
plete the triangle Z Rf with great ciroles Z R, RS.
Then as the Z. ZPR = ^ SP«, we have the Z.
RPf = /_ ZPS; also, since P* = PS, and
PR = PZ, the triangles RP«, ZPS, are simi-
lar and equal : therefore Rs = ZS, and in the
triangle Z Rs we have given Z S and Rs, and as
ZP,RP, are equal and given, and the Z. ZPR =
Z. SP< a minimum, we shall have ZR the least
possible, which by the writers on spherics it is
shewn to be when = Zi-^R<, Rs coincide:
hence the following
CoNSTRucrroN.— With ZP,r P, each = oolat
of the place, and Zr = Zi — Rs (Z S) = 18°;
describe the isosceles triangle ZPr prolong Z r
making r s = Z S = 90, draw P t, which i» the
co-declination of the sun on the required day.
515. Calculation. — Draw P'z perpendicular
and bisecting Z r in Z, then, bv spherical trig-
onometry, we have cos. z r : rad. 1 : : cos. Pr
: COS. P 3r, or cos. Pa= S?!lZl ; and in the
cos. zr
triangle *P«, asrad. 1 ; cos.zi : : cos. Pi =^
"^tlLv cos. P., or sin. Ho.i _cos.^fXcos.Pr
oos.jfr cos. zr
COS. 99* X sine lat. — sine 9° x sine lat.
COS. 9°.
COS. 9*.
= — tong. 9** X sine lat. A simple and general
theorem, from which it appears that the declina-
tion and latitude are of contrary names. From
this theorem it appears, that the shortest twilight
at Petersburgh is about October 14th ; at Lon-
don, October 11th, and at Rome, October 9th.
516. The rays of light are equally refracted
by the atmosphere, whether they come from the
sun, the moon, or the stars ; but the quantity of
the refraction, and therefore the duration of the
twilight, are influenced by the changes which are
perpetually taking place with respect to the heat
and cold, the moisture and dryness, &c. of the
atmosphere.
PART IV.
ASTRONOMICAL OPERATIONS AND
CALCULATIONS.
Sect. I. — Of Drawing a Meridian Line.
517. Upon a plain board, set parallel to the
horizon, describe a circle A B F, as in plate VIII.
fig. 2. And upon the centre C, erect a stile or
gnomon, exactly perpendicular to it, and so
high, that the top of the shadow thereof may
fall upon the ciroumference of the circle about
the middle of the forenoon. Mark the point B
exactly where the top of the shadow &lls in the
forenoon, and the point F where the top of the
shadow falls on the circumference,, in the middle
of the af^moon. Then, through the centre C, ,
draw the line A CD, bisecting the arch BF.
The AD is the meridian required.
518. It is proper to draw several concentric
circles, and to make observations with them all,
that they may confirm one another. If the sun
happens to be clouded in one, it may be clear in
another. It is best to make these obser?atiobs
about the solstices, when the sun does not alter
his declination sensibly ; and the summer sol-
stice is to be preferred.
519. The sun is evidently highest when in the
meridian ;. and at equal distances therefrom has
equal altitudes. Therefore, when the distances
D B, D F, are equal, the shadows C B, C F, will
be equal, and therefore the altitudes equal. And
vice versa.
530. 2. Hang up two threads and plummets
AB, CD, plate VIII. fig. 13, at a good dis-
tance, in vessels of water, to keep them steady ;
of which C D is movable towards the leil and
right, upon a pin C. Wait till the polar star,
£, and the star Alioth, F, (in the great bear's
rump), come into the same plumb line, A B, to
an eye placed at I. At that instant (or ratiier
before) move the thread C D also into the same
line ; so that the thread C D may hide the thread
A B, and the polar star £ from the eye at I.
Then the plane ABCD is the plane of the
meridian ; and where it intersects tne horizontal
plane, is the meridian line. And the same may
be done with the star, called Cassiopeia*s hip.
To take away the star's rays, look through a
amall hole in a thin plate. This must be per-
formed in a calm place.
521. If it is wisned to have a meridian drawn
in some other place, let the threads and plum-
mets A B, C D, remain ; and hang up two others
abfcd, in the place proposed, as in fig. 14, let-
tmg a 6 be movable upon a pin at a. Then
wait till any star, as G, comes into the plane
abed to the eye, at h; and at that instant,
move the thread a b, till the same star G fall in
the plane abcd^ to the eye at h; then abed is
the plane of the meridian. Tlus is best done by
the nelp of an assistant. This method will in
time deviate a little from the truth, occasioned by
the stars changing their places ; but that change
is very inconsiderable for several years.
522. 3. Having a clock or watch, with mi-
nutes and seconds, find the northing of the star,
Alioth, F, fig. 13, by the astronomical cables ; and
Digitized by
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ASTRONOMY
169
wait'tfll the polar star £ u in a plamb line with
F. Attfaat instant, set the dock to the said time
of northing. And next day at twelve o'clock,
draw a meridian line, by the shadow of a phimb
line hnng in the sun. Or find the time of south-
ini( of any other star, as G, and the clock remain-
ing as before, when she shows the time of south-
ing, place the direads ab, ed, fig. 14, so that the
line GA may pass through them both. Then
abed will be in the plane of the meridian.
523. These methods are only to be considered
as affording a first and very rough approximation
to the meridian, and may assist in placing a tran-
sit instrument nearly in its position with respect
to the meridian, previously to the application of
the more exact methods by which the final ad-
justment is made.
Sect. II. — Of Finding Time, and the Equa-
tion OF Time.
524. Having drawn a meridian line, as directed
in the last article, the time when the sun, or any
other celestial body is exactly in the meridian,
may be found by a common quadrant, placing
the edge of it along the line, and observing when
the sun or other luminary can be seen exactly
through its two sights, and noting exactly the
time ; which, supposing the luminary viewed to
be the sun, will be precisely noon, or twelve
o'clock : but, as the apparent diameter of the sun
is pretty large^ it ought to be known exactly when
his centre is in the meridian, which will be some
short space after his eastern limb has arrived at
it, and before his western limb comes thither.
It will be proper, therefore, to observe exactly
the time of the two limbs being seen through the
sights of the quadrant ; and the half of the dif-
ference between these times, added to the one or
subtracted firom the other, will give the exact
time when the sun's centre is in the meridian.
525. The same method is equally applioable to
the moon; but not to the stars, which have no
sensible diameter. It is found, by observation,
that the stars appear to go round the earth in
twentv-three houxs, fifty-six minutes, four seconds,
and the sun in twenty-^ur hours; so that the
stafs gain three minutes, fifty-six seconds upon
the sun every day, which amounts to one diurnal
revolution in a year ; and therefore, in 365 days,
as measured by the returns of the sun to the me-
ridian, there are 366 days as measured by the
stars returning to it : the former are called solar
days, and the latter siderial.
526. These may be considered as first steps in
the determination of this important element
With the aid of a transit instrument, the time
can always be determined with the greatest nn^
plicity and exactness. But supposing the lati-
tude of the place of observation to.be known, the
time may be deduced with great ease and pre-
cision from the altitude of any celestial object
observed with a quadrant or sextant, taken by
reflection from a basin of water or Quicksilver.
Equal altitudes of stars, peihaps, nimish the
most ready and convenient method of deter-
mining the time, as the use of trigonometrical
formuUe is not required ; and there is besides no
fojther dependence on the goodness of the in-
strument, than that it shall be in the same state
at both c^rvations.
527. As we shall have occasion, when treating
of Nautical Astronomy (which we shall do under
the article Navigation), to explain the various
ways by which time may be found, and conse-
quently, how clocks may be regulated, we shall
here merely give the practical method of finding
the error of a clock by equal altitudes of fixed stars.
528. Take the altitude of a star when east-
ward of the meridian, and mark the time by the
dock when the observation is made ; wait till the
star when west of the meridian comes to the same
altitude, and mark the time by the clock. Half
the sum of these times will be the time by the
clock when the star is on the meridian. Now
the siderial time at which a star is on the me-
ridian is equal to the star's right ascension ; and
the solar or apparent time is obtained by sub-
tracting the fun's right ascension from the star's.
Hence the error of the dock, either for mean or
siderial time, is obtained at once. In practice,
however, it is preferable to take several sdtitudes^
and their corresponding times, both eastward
and westward of the meridian, and to take half
the sum of the mean of the times for the time
by the chronometer at which the star passes the
meridian.
529- For example, suppose that on Februaiy
20th, 1826, the time at which Regulus had the
following altitudes, was as under:
Times B. of
Alt».
Times W.of*
the mend.
the mend.
h. m. ••
h. m. s.
9 4 26 .
38*'0' .
16 43 14
5 14 .
IC
42 26
6 7 .
20' ,
41 31
6 58 .
30'
40 43
9 5 41'25 mean.
16 41 58-5
9 5 41-25
25 47 39-75
12 53 4987 Time
by the chronometer when the star is on the m^
ridian. Hence by comparing this with the slar'a
right ascension on the same day (9 h. 59 m. 8*8 s.),
it is found that the watch is 2h. 54m. 41*07 s.
&st for siderial time.
530. If the earth had no annual motion, but
only a diurnal, any given meridian would revolve
from the sun to the sun again, in the same quan^
tity of time as firom ^ny star to the same star
again ; because the sun would never change his
place with respect to the stars. But, as the
earth advances almost a degree eastward in its
orbit, in the time that it turns eastward round its
axis, whatever star passes over the meridian on
any day with the sun, will pass over the same
meridian on the next d^y, wnen the sun is almost
a degree short of it; that is, three minutes, fiftv-
six seconds sooner. If the year contained only
360 days, as the ecliptic does 360 degrees, the
sun's apparent place, so for as his motion is
equable, would coange a degree every day; and
then the siderial days would be just four minutes
shorter than the solar.
531 . As the motion of the earth round its axis
is perfectly uniform and equal at all times of the
year, the siderial days are always precisdy of an
Digitized by
Googl(
160
ASTRONOMY.
equal length ; and so would the solar or natural
days be, if the earth's orbit were a perfect circle,
and its axis perpendicular to its oroit But the
earth's diurnal motion on an inclined axis, and its
annual motion in an elliptic orbit, cause the sun*8
apparent motion in the heavens to be unequal :
ibr sometimes he revolves firom the meridian to
the meridian again in somewhat less than twenty-
four hours, shewn by a well-regulated clock;
and at other times in somewhat more : so that the
time shewn by a good clock and a true sun-dial is
never exactly the same, excepting on the 15th df
April, the 16th of June, the 31st of August, and
the 24dk of December. The clock, if it goes
equably and true all the year round, will be
before the sun from the 24th of December till the
15di of April; from that time till the 16th of
June, the sun will be before the clock ; from the
16th of June till the 31st of August, the clock
will be again before the sun ; and from thence to
the 24th of December, the sun will be fiister than
the clock.
532. The equation of time, therefore, or di^
ference between the time shewn by a well-regu-
lated clock and a true sun-dial, depending upon
two causes, viz. the obliquity of the ecliptic, and
the unequal motion of the earth in it, the united
effects, resulting from their combination, may
be explained in the following manner : —
533. Let Z T s ^, in plate V , fig. 1, be the
earth; ZFRjs, its axis; abcde, &c. the equa-
tor; ABCDE, &c. the northern half of the
ecliptic from qp to ^ on flie side of the globe
next the eye; and MNOP, &c. the southern
half on the opposite side from ^ to (y^. Let us
suppose a fictitious sun to set out from fy*, at the
same instant with the real sun. Let the points at
ABCDEFG, &c. quite round, from y* to
qp again, bound equal portions of the ecliptic,
gone through in equal times by the real sun;
and those Bi abcdefe^ &c. equal portions
of the equator described in equal times by the
fictitious sun ; and let Z ty^ jt be the meridian.
534. As the real sun moves obliquely in the
ecliptic, and the fictitious sun directly in the
equator, with respect to the meridian ; a degree,
or any number of degrees, between y* and F on
the edintic, must be nearer the meridian Z (y^ f ,
than a aegree, or any corresponding number of
degrees, on the equator from t to f ; and the
more so, as they are the more oblique: and
therefore the true sun comes sooner to the me-
ridian every day, whilst he is in the quadrant t
F, than the fictitious sun does in the quadrant
qp/f for which reason, the solar noon precedes
noon by the clock, until the real sun comes to'F,
and the fictitious to/; which two points, being
equidistant from the meridian, both suns will
come to it precisely at noon by the clock.
535. While the real sun describes die second
quadrant of the ecliptic F G H I K L, from Cancer
to d!&, he comes later to the meridian every day,
than the fictitious sun moving through the second
quadrant of the equator, fix>m /to -Q: ; for the
points at GH I K, and L, being farther from
the meridian, their corresponding points at g A
t k and /, must be later in coming to it : and as
both suns come at the same moment to the point
si^, they come to the meridian at the moment of
noon by the dock.
536. In departing from Libra, thiougb <be
third quadrant, the real sun going through M N
O P Q towards vj' ^ Rf ^ the fictitious sun
through mnopq towards r, the former oomes to
the meridian every day sooner than the latter
until the real sun oomes to yf , and the fictitious
to r, and then they come both to the meridian at
the same time. Lastly, as the real sun moves
equably through STUVW, from yj> towards
rp ; and the fictitious sun through ttuvwy from r
towards qp, the former comes later every day to
the meridian than the latter, until they both
arrive at the point qp, and then they make it
noon at the same time with the clock.
537« We now proceed to explain the other
cause of this difference, viz. the inequality of the
sun's apparent motion, which is slowest in sum-
mer, when the sun is ferthest from the earth, and
swiftest in winter when he is nearest to it.
538. As the real sun moves unequably in the
ecliptic, let us suppose a fictitious sun to move
equably in a cirole coinddent with the plane of
the ediptic. Let A B C D in plate V., ^. 2, be
the ediptic or orbit in which the real sun moves,
and the dotted circles a6cd the imaginary orbit
of the fictitious sun : each going round in a year
according to the order of letters, or finom west to
east. Let H I K L be the earth turning round
its axis the same wa]r every twenty-four hours ;
and suppose both suns to start fiN>m A and a, in
a rieht line with the plane of the meridian £ H,
at tbe same moment : the real sun at A, being
then at his greatest distance from the earth, at
which time his motion is slowest ; and the fic-
titious sun at 0, whose motion is always equable,
because his distance from the earth is supposed
to be always the same. In the time that the
meridian revolves from H to H again, acoordiog
to the order of the letters H I K L, the real sun
has moved from A to F ; and the fictitious with a
3uicker motion from a to/, through a large arc :
lerefore, the meridian £ A will revolve sooner
from H to A under the real sun at F, than from
H to ft under the fictitious sun at /; and conse-
quently it will then be noon by the sun-dial
sooner than by the clock.
539. As the real sun moves from A towards
C, the swifbess of his motion increases all the
way to C, where it is at the (quickest. But not-
withstanding this, the fictitious sun gains so
much upon tlie real, soon after his departing
from A, that the increasing velodty of tne real
sun does not bring him up with the equally
moving fictitious sun, till the former oomes to C,
and the latter to c, when each has gone half
round its respective orbit; and then being in
conjunction, tne meridian £H, revolving to £K,
comes to both suns at the same time, and there-
fore it is noon by them both at the same moment.
' 540. But the increased velocitjr of the real
sun, now bdng at the Quickest, cames him before
the fictitious one; and therefore, the same me-
ridian will come to the fictitious sun sooner than
to the real : for whilst the fictitious sun moves
from c to f , the real sun moves through a greater
arc from C to G : consequently, the point K has
its noon by the clock when it comes to ft, but
not its noon by the sun till it comes to /. And
although the velocity of the real sun diminishes
dU the way from C to A, and the fictitious sun
Digitized by
Googl(
ASTRO NO M Y.
161
by an equable motion is still coming nearer to at the same moment Upon these principles
the real sun, yet they are not in conjunction till tables for the equation of time are calculated,
the one comes to A and the other to a, and then the one giying the difference between the sun's
it is noon by them both at the same moment.
541. Thus, it appears, that the solar noon is
always later than noon by the clock, whilst the
sun goes from C to A; sooner, whilst he goes
from A to C ; and at these two points the sun
and clock being equal, it is noon by them both
true and mean motion ; the other the difference
between the sun's longitude and light ascension ;
from which the arc is calculated by addition or
subtraction. But the calculation cannot, from
the precession of the equiuoxes, be depended
upon for a considerable length of time.
542. By means of the following Table, however, of the Equation of Time for 1824, and the
subjoined auxiliary Table, the Equation of Time may be found for any subsequent year in the
present century, with sufficient exactness for regulating clocks and watches for the practical
purposes of civil life.
543 Eqtuitum of Time, when the Sun is on the Meridian of Greenwich, for every day in the
year 1824.
0)
<
Jan.
Feb.
Mab.
April
May.
June
July
Aug.
Sept.
Oct.
Nov.
Dec.
Add
Add
Add
Add
Sab.
Sab.
Add.
Add.
Sab.
Sab.
Sab.
Sab.
M.
S.
M. S.
M. S.
M.
S.
M.
S.
M.
s.
M.
S.
M. S.
M.
S.
M.
S.
M.
S.
M. S.
1
3
35
13 52
12 36
3
55
3
5
2
33
3
25
5 58
0
12
10
23
16
15
10 37
2
4
4
14 1
12 24
3
37
3
13
2
24
3
37
5 54
0
31
10
41
16
16
10 14
3
4
32
14 8
12 11
3
19
3
19
2
14
3
48
5 50
0
51
11
00
16
16
9 51
4
5
0
14 14
11 58
3
1
3
25
2
5
3
59
5 45
1
10
11
18
16
15
' 9 26
5
5
27
14 20
11 44
2
44
3
31
54
9
5 39
1
30 11
36
16
14
9 2
6
5
54
14 25
11 30
2
26
3
36
44
19
5 33
1
50 11
54
16
11
8 36
7
6
21
14 29
11 15
2
9
3
41
33
29
5 26
2
10 12
11
16
8
8 10
8
6
47
14 32
11 00
1
51
3
45
22
39
5 19
2
30 12
28
16
4
7 44
9
7
13
14 34
10 45
1
34
3
48
11
48
5 10
2
51 12
44
15
59
7 17
10
7
38
14 36
10 29
1
18
3
51
0
59
56
5 2
3
1213
0
15"
53
6 50
11
8
2
14 36
10 30
1
1
3
53
0
47
5
4
4 53
3
32 13
15
15
46
6 22
12
8
26
14 36
9 57
0
45
3
55
0
35
5
12
4 43
3
53
13
30
15
38
5 54
13
8
49
14 35
9 40
0
29
3
56
0
23
5
19
4 32
4
14
13
44
15
30
5 26
14
9
11
14 34
9 23
0
14
3
57
0
10
5
26
4 22
4
35
13
58
15
21
4 57
15
9
33
14 31
9 6
0
2
3
57
0
2
5
32
4 10
4
56 14
11
15
10
4 28
Sub.
Add 1
16
9
54
14 28
8 48
0
16
3.
56
0
15
5
38
3 58
5
17
14
24
14
59
3 58
1 17
10
15
14 24
8 30
0
31
3
55
0
28
5
44
3 46
5
38
14
36
14
47
3 29
18
10
34
14 20
8 Id
0»
45
3
54
0
40
5
49
3 33
5
59
14
47
14
35
2 59
19
10
64
14 15
7 54
0
59
3
51
0
53
5
53
-3 20
6
20
14
58
14
21
2 29
20
11
12
14 9
7 36
1
12
3
48
6
5
57
3 6
6
41
15
8
14
6
1 59
21
11
30
14 2
7 18
1
25
3
45
19
6
0
2 52
7
2
15
18
13
51
1 29
22
U
46
13 55
7 00
1
37
3
41
32
6
3
2 37
7
23
15
26
13
35
0 59
23
12
3
13 47
6 41
1
49
3
46
45
6
5
2 22
7
44
15
35
13
18
0 28
24
12
18
13 39
6 23
2
00
3
31
58
6
6
2 6
8
4
15
42
13
1
0 2
Add
25
12
33
13 30
6 4
2
11
3
26
2
11
6
8
1 50
8
24
15
49
12
42
0 32
26
12
46 13 20
5 46
2
21
3
20
2
24
6
8
1 34
8
45
15
55
12
23
1 2
27
12
59 13 10
5 27
2
31
3
13
2
37
6
8
1 17
9
5
16
0
12
3
1 31
28
13
12,12 59
5 9
2
40
3
6
2
49
6
7
1 0
9
24
16
5
11
43
2 1
29
13
23
12^ 48
4 50
2
49
2
58
3
1
6
6
0 42
9
44
16.
8
11
22
2 30
30
13
34
4 32
2
58
2
50
3
13
6
4
0 24
10
3
16
12
10
0
2 59
31
13
44
4 13
2
42
6
1
0 6
16
14
3 28
544. Auxiliary Table, for finding the Equation of Time when the Sun is on the Meridian of
Greenwich, on any day from the year 1824 till the year 1900.
1^
1824
28
32
36
40
44
48
52
56
60
64
68
72
76
80
84
88
92
96
1900
ite
Sec.
Sec.
Sec.
Sec.
Sec.
Sec.
Sec.
Sec.
Sec.
Sec.
Sec.
Sec.
Sec.
Sec.
Sec.
Sec.
Sec.
Sec.
Sec.
Sec.
Sec.
5
0
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
3
3
10
0
0
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
3
3
3
4
4
4
5
5
6
6
6
i^.S"
20
0
1
1
2
2
3
4
4
5
6
6
7
7
8
9
9
10
10 11
11
S'^l
30
0
^1
2
3
4
5
6
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
15 16
16
Add the Seconds from this Table, when the Eqaation on the corresponding day is increaang.
Subtract , decrearing.
Vol. III. M
Digitized by
Googl(
162
ASTRONOMY.
Use op the preceding Tables.
545. Take from the fiist table the equation of
time for the giren day in the year 1824, and the
daily difference of the equation, with this dif-
ference, or the nearest second to it in the side
column of the Auxiliary Table, and below the
leap year preceding the given year, will be found
a correction, which applied to the equation be-
fore taken from the first Table, will give the
equation on the given day of the leap year pre-
ceding the given year.
546. Then take i, ^, or f , of the daily diffe-
rence of the equation of time, according as the
given year is the 1st, 2d, or 3d after leap year,
and add it to the previously found equation on
the same day of the preceding leap year, when
that equation is decreasing; but subtract it when
increasing ; and the sum or remainder will be the
equation at noon, Greenwich time, of the given
day.
547. If the day proposed is in leap jmr, tht
correction for that year in the Auxiliary TMe,
applied to the equation of time on tho proposed
day in 1884, will give the required equalMUi.
EsoampU, — Required the equation of time,
Sept. 12, 1867, at noon, Greenwich time ?
548. Equation, see the first table* 3 min. 53 sec.
subtmctive ; daily diiferenoe 21 sec. nearly. In
table 2, opposite 20 sec. and below 1864, stands
6 sec. ; which, added to 3 min. 53 sec., gives
3 min. 59 sec. the equation of time on Sept. 12,
1864. Now, 1867 is the third year after leap
year; therefore, take | of 21 sec. or 15 sec. and
as the declination is- increasing, subtract it from
3 min. 59 sec. ; and the remainder 3 min. 44 sec.
is the required equation at Greenwich noon of
the given day, at noon.
549. By means of the following tables and
rules, the sun's declination also, at noon, Green-
wich time, may be found for any day in the pre-
sent century, to within a few seconds.
TABLE I.
550.
The Sun*8 Declination at Noon^ Greenwich time, far every Day in the Year 1824.
Javvary.
February.
Mabcb.
A?RIL.
May
June
.
Days.
South.*
Soath.
South.
North.
North.
North
1
23«
4'
43'
17^
18'
20*
r
28*
50*
4*
38'
14'
15«
8*
49^
22«
5'
42*
2
22
59
51
17
1
18
7
5
57
5
1
19
15
26
47
22
13
37
3
22
54
30
16
43
58
6
42
58
5
24
18
15
44
30
22
21
8
4
22
48
43
16
26
20
6
19
54
5
47
12
16
1
58
22
28
15
5
22
42
28
16
8
26
5
56
45
6
9
59
16
19
9
22
34
59
6
22
35
46
15
50
16
5
33
31
6
32
40
16
36
5
22
41
19
7
22
28
37
15
31
49
5
10
12
6
55
14
16
52
43
22
47
16
8
22
21
2
15
13
6.
4
46
50
7
17
41
17
9
5
22
52
48
9
22
13
1
14
54
8
4
23
24
7
40
0
17
25
10
22
57
57
10
22
4
33
14
34
55
3
59
55
8
2
12
17
40
57
23
2
41
11
21
55
40
14
15
28
3
36
23
8
24
15
17
56
26
23
7
1
12
21
46
21
13
55
47
3
12
49
8
46
10
18
11
38
23
10
56
13
21
36
36
13
35
52
2
40
13
9
7
57
18
26
31
23
14
27
14
21
26
27
13
12
43
2
25
35
9
29
34
18
41
5
23
17
34
15
21
15
53
12
55
22
2
1
56
9
51
1
18
55
21
23
20
16
16
21
4
54
12
34
49
1
38
15
10
12
20
19
9
18
23
22
33
17
20
53
32
12
14
3
1
14
34
10
33
28
19
22
55
23
24
26
18
20
41
45
11
53
6
0
50
52
10
54
26
19
36
13
23
25
53
19
20
29
35
11
31
57
0
27
11
11
15
13
19
49
11
23
26
57
20
20
17
2
11
10
37
0
3
29 S
11
35
49
20
1
49
23
27
35
21
20
4
5
10
49
7
0
20
12N
11
56
14
20
14
6
23
27
48
22
19
50
47
10
27
27
0
43
51
12
16
27
20
26
3
23
27
37
23
19
37
6
10
5
37
1
7
30
12
36
29
20
37
39
23
27
1
24
19
23
3
9
43
37
1
31
6
12
5$
18
20
48
54
23
26
O
25
19
18
39
9
21
29
1
54
41
13
15
54
20
59
47
23
24
34
26
18
53
53
8
59
13
2
18
13
13
35
18
21
10
19
23
22
43
27
18
38
47
8
36
48
2
41
43
13
54
28
21
20
29
23
20
28
28
18
23
21
8
14
16
3
5
9
14
13
25
21
30
17
23
17
48
29
18
7
34
7
51
36
3
28
31
14
32
7
21
39
42
23
14
44
30
17
51
28
3
51
50
14
50
35
21
48
45
23
11
15
31
17
35
3
4
15
5
21
51
21
Digitized by
Googl(
ASTRONOMY.
TABX.E l.—(Contumed).
163
July
Auorai.
September.
October.
November.
December.
Days.
J
North.
North
North.
South.
SoaUu
South.
1
23**
r
22'
18*
0'
0'
8* 13'
41"
3°
16
6"
14°
31' 21"
21«
52' 6*^
2
23
3
4
17
44
41
7 51
48
3
39
24
14
50 26
22
1 7
3
22
58
23
17
29
5
7 29
48
4
2
39
15
9 17
22
9 43
4
22
53
17
17
13
12
7 7
40
4
25
52
15
27 53
22
17 53
5
22
47
28
16
57
2
6 45
25
4
49
1
15
46 13
22
25 36
6
22
41
55
16
40
36
6 23
3
5
12
7
16
4 18
22
32 54
7
22
35
38
16
23
54
6 0
35
5
35
9
16
22 7
22
39 45
8
22
28
58
16
6
56
5 38
2
5
58
6
16
39 39
22
46 10
9
22
21
54
15
49
43
5 15
22
6
20
59
16
56 54
22
52 7
10
22
14
28
15
32
14
4 52
38
6
43
46
17
13 52
22
57 38
11
22
6
38
15
14
31
4 29
48
7
6
29
17
30 32
23
2 41
12
21
58
26
14
56
32
4 6
53
7
29
5
17
46 54
23
7 17
13
21
49
51
14
38
19
3 43
54
7
51
36
18
2 58
23
11 25
14
21
40
53
14
19
53
3 20
51
8
14
0
18
18 43
23
15 6
.15
21
31
54
14
1
12
2 57
44
8
36
18
18
34 9
23
18 19
16
21
21
52
13
42
16
2 34
33
8
58
28
18
49 15
23
21 3
17
21
11
49
13
23
11
2 11
19
9
20
31
19
4 1
23
23 20
18
21
1
24
13
3
51
1 48
3
9
42
25
19
18 26
23
25 9
19
20
50
37
12
44
18
1 24
44
10
4
12
19
32 31
23
26 29
20
20
39
29
12
24
33
1 1
22
10
25
49
19
46 15
23
27 21
21
20
28
1
12
4
36
0 37
59
10
47
17
19
59 36
23
27 45
22
20
16
11
11
44
28
0 14
35 N
11
8
36
20
12 36
23
27 40
23
20
4
2
11
24
8
0 8
50S
11
29
45
20
25 14
23
27 7
24
19
51
32
11
3
37
0 32
16
11
50
43
20
37 28
23
26 6
25
19
38
42
10
42
56
0 55
43
12
11
SO
20
49 20
23
24 36
26
19
25
32
10
22
5
1 19
0
12
32
6
21
0 48
23
22 38
27
19
12
4
10
1
3
1 42
35
12
52
31
21
11 53
23
20 12
28
18
58
16
9
39
53
2 6
0
13.
12
43
21
22 33
23
17 17
29
18
44
9
9
18
33
2 29
24
13
32
42
21
32 49
23
13 55
30
18
29
44
8
57
4
2 52
46
13
52
29
21
42 40
23
10 5
31
18
15
1
8
35
27
14
12
2
23
5 47
551. TABLE II.
Ibrafacc^ the Sm's DecUnaHon from Table I, to the Noon of ony Day, Greemokh Ttme^ till the
Fear 1900.
1 Periods of 4 Ym.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
191
LeapYxs.
1824
28
32
36
40
44
48
52
56
60
64
68
72
76
80
84
88
92
96
19001
BiUy IKff.
of Son>
Correction. Subtraction.
Oedw.
•
1'
O'
2' 4'
6'
8'
10'
12'
14'
16'
18'
20'
22'
24'
26'
26'
30-
32«
34'
36'
38'
7
0
2 4
6
7
9
11
13
15
17
19
21
24
26
27
29
31
33
35
37
13
0
1
3
4
5
6
8
10
11
12
14
16
18
20
21
23
24
26
27
28
19
0
1
2
3
5
6
7
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
17
18
19
20
21
22
21
0
1
2
2
3
4
5
6
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
15
16
2^
0
0
1
1
1
2
2
3
3
3
4
4
4
5
5
6
6
6
6
7
M9
Digitized by
Googl(
164
ASTRONOMY.
Use of the preceding Tables.
552. To find the sun's declination on any day.
Take from table I. the declination for the noon
of the corresponding day in the year 1824, and
the daily change of the declination. Opposite
that daily change, in table II. and below the leap-
year preceding the given one, will be found the
first correction of the declination.
553. Multiply the seconds in the daily changes
of declination, by the period of four years iu
table II. and parts of a period from 1824, to the
given year, and the product multiplied by '0308
will give the seconds, in the second correction
of the declination.
554. Lastly, take |, ^, or f, of the daily
change of declination, according as the year is
the first, second, or third after leap-year, and the
result will be the third correction of the decli-
nation.
555. Subtract the first correction from the de-
clination on the corresponding day of 1824, add
the second correction, when the declination is
increasing, and subtract it when decreasing ; and
apply the third in a manner contrary to the se-
cond, and the result will be the declination at
noon, Greenwich time, of the proposed day. —
Note, — ^If the given year be leap-year, the ibini
correction is nothing;
Example, — Required the sun's decliDation at
noon, Greenwich time, Oct 18, 1875 ?
556. By table I. the sun's declination on Oct.
18, 1824, is 9° 42* 25' S., and daily change
21' 47', increasing. Now the leap-year pre-
ceding the given one, is 1872, below which, in
table II. and opposite 22' (the nearest minute to
the' daily change) stands 7', the first correction. As
the given year is the third after leap-year, and there
are (see table II.) 12 periods of 4 years from 1824
to 1872, there are 12} periods firom 1824 to 1875.
Hence, 12f x 0308 X 130^(21' 47')=5ir=:
S'Z^y the second correction, addition, because
the declination is increasing. As die given
year is the third after leap-year, we have f of
21' 47"= 16' 19", the third correction, subtrac-
tion, because the second is addition. Hence,
the declination at the proposed time, is 9^ 42' 25"
—7" -f 8' 33"— 16' igf'=9** 34' 34".
557. As immediately connected with this sub-
ject, we add a table of the sun's right ascension
for the year 1824, with a method of adapting it
to any subsequent instant in the present century,
with sufficient exactness for ordinary purposes.
558. Table of the
Sun* s Right Atcensiony at
JVixm, Greemoick Time, for every Dayin the Year 1824.
January.
February.
Marcb.
April.
Mat.
June.
Days.
H.
M.
S.
H.
M.
S.
H.
M.
8.
H.
M.
S.
H.
M.
S.
H.
M. S.
1
18
43
58
20
56
30
22
49
34
0
43
5
2
34
20
4
37 5
H
18
48
24"
21
0
35
22
53
18
0
46
43
2
38
9
4
41 11
3
18
52
48
21
4
39
22
57
2
0
50
22
2
41
59
4
45 17
4
18
57
13
21
8
42
23
0
45
0
54
0
2
45
49
4
49 24
5
19
1
3r
21
12
44
23
4
28
0
57
39
2
49
40
4
53 31
6
19
6
1
21
16
46
23
8
11
1
18
2
53
32
4
57 38
7
19
10
.24
21
20
46
23
11
52
4
57
2
57
24
5
1 45
8
19
14
47
21
24
46
23
15
34
8
37
3
1
16
5
5 53
9
19
19
9
21
28
45
23
19
15
12
16
3
5
9
5
10 1
10
19
23
30
21
32
43
23
22
56
15
5Q
3
9
3
5
14 9
11
19
27
51
21
36
40
23
26
36
19
36
3
12
57
5
18 17
12
19
32
12
21
40
37
23
30
16
23
16
3
16
52
5
22 26
13
19
36
31
21
44
32
23
33
56
26
57
3
20
48
5
26 35
14
19
40
50
21
48
27
23
37
36
30
38
3
24
43
5
30 44
15
19
45
9
21
52
21
23
41
15
84
19
3
28
40
5
34 53
16
19
49
27
21
56
15
23
44
54
38
1
3
32
37
5
39 2
17
19
53
44
22
0
7
23
48
33
41
43
3
36
35
5
43 11
18
19
58
0
22
3
59
23
52
11
45
25
3
40
33
5
47 21
19
20
2
16
22
7
51
23
55
50
49
8
3
44
32
5
51 30
20
20
6
31
22
11
41
23
59
28
52
52
3
48
31
5
55 40
21
20
10
45
22
15
31
0
3
6
56
35
3
52
31
5
59 50
22
20
14
59
22
19
21
0
6
44
2
0
20
3
56
32
6
3 59
23
20
19
11
22
23
9
0
10
22
2
4
4
0
33
6
8 9
24
20
23
23
22
26
57
0
14
0
2
7
49
4
35
6
12 18
25
20
27
34
22
'30
45
0
17
38
2
11
35
8
37
6
16 28
26
20
81
45
22
34
32
0
21
16
2
15
21
12
39
6
20 37
27
20
35
55
22
38
18
0
24
54
2
19
8
16
43
6
24 46
28
20
40
3
22
42
4
0
28
32
2
22
55
20
46
6
28 55
29
20
44
11
22
45
49
0
32
10
2
26
43
24
50
6
33 14
30
20
48
19
0
35
48
2
30
31
28
55
6
37 13
31
20
52
25
1
'
0
39
27
33
0
Digitized by
Googl(
ASTRONOMY.
Tabk of Sun'* Bight Auxtision — (Continued).
166
July
August.
September.
October.
November.
December.
Days.
H.
M.
S.
H.
M.
S.
H.
M.
S.
H.
M.
S.
H.
M.
S.
H. M.
S.
1
6
41
21
8
46
8
10
42
10
12
30
14
14
26
34
16 SO
29
2
6
45
29
8
50
1
10
45
47
12
33
52
14
30
30
16 34
49
3
6
49
37
8
53
53
10
49
25
12
37
30
14
34
26
16 39
9
4
6
53
45
8
57
44
10
53
2
12
41
8
14
88
24
16 43
30
5
6
57
52
9
1
33
10
56
38
12
44
47
14
42
28
16 47
52
6
7
1
58
9
5
25
11
0
15
12
48
26
14
46
21
16 52
14
7
7
6
5
9
9
15
11
8
51
12
52
5
14
50
21
16 66
36 1
8
7
\(y
11
9
13
4
11
7
27
12
55
45
14
54
22
17 0
39 1
9
7
14
16
9
16
53
11
11
3
12
59
25
14
58
23
17 5
23 1
10
7
18
22
9
20
40
11
14
39
13
3
6
15
2
26
17 9
47
11
7
22
26
9
24
28
11
18
15
13
6
47
15
6
29
17 14
11
12
7
26
31
9
28
14
11
21
50
13
10
29
15
10
33
17 18
86
13
7
30
34
9
32
1
11
25
26
13
14
11
15
14
38
17 23
1
14
7
34
38
9
35
46
11
29
1
13
17
54
15
18
44
17 27
•26
15
7
38
41
9
39
32
11
32
37
13
21
37
15
22
51
17 31
58
16
7
42
43
9
43
16
11
36
12
13
25
21
15
26
58
17 36
18
17
7
46
45
9
47
0
11
39
48
13
29
5
15
31
7
17 40
44
18
7
50
47
9
50
44
11
43
23
13
32
50
15
35
*16
17 45
11
19
7
54
47
9
54
27
11
46
59
13
36
36
15
39
27
17 49
37
20
7
58
48
9
58
10
11
50
34
13
40
23
15
43
38
17 54
4
21
8
2
48
10
1
52
11
54
10
13
44
10
15
47
50
17 58
31
22
8
6
47
10
5
34
11
57
46
13
47
57
15
52
2
18 2
58
23
8
10
46
10
9
15
12
1
21
13
51
46
15
56
16
18 7
24
24
8
14
44
10
12
56
12
4
57
13
55
35.
16
0
30
18 11
51
25
8
18
42
10
16
37
12
8
34
13
59
25
16
4
45
18 16
18
26
8
22
39
10
20
17
12
12
16
14
3
15
16
9
1
18 20
44
27
8
26
35
.10
23
57
12
15
46
14
7
6
16
13
17
18 25
11
28
8
30
31
10
27
36
12
19
23
14
10
58
16
17
34
18 29
87
29
8
34
26
10
31
15
12
23
0
14
14
51
16
21
52
18 34
3
30
8
38
21
10
34
53
12
26
37
14
18
45
16
26
10
18 88
29
31
8
42
15
11
38
32
14
22
39
18 42
54
559. To fiDd the sun's, higher ascension at
the noon of any day, Greenwich time, till the
year 1900.
Take the right ascension for the corresponding
day of the year 1824 from the above table, and
multiply 7- 3s. by the periods of four years, and
parts of a pehod from 1824 till the given period,
and the product will be the period in the first
conection, always tobe addea. Take i, i, or |
of the daily change of right ascension, according
as the given year is the first, second, or third
after leap-year ; for the second correction always
to be subtracted. Apply these corrections to
the right ascension taken for the correspond-
ing day of 1824, and the result will be the
right ascension at the Greenwich noon of the
proposed day. %
rioie. — ^If the given year is a leap-year, the
second correction is nothing.
Example.
Required the sun's right ascension. May 4, 1853.
560. The sun's right ascension. May 4, 1824,
is 2h. 45m. 49s. and daily increase 3m. 51s.
Now there are 7^ periods of four years from
1824 till 1853 ; when 7-3s. X 7i = 53s. the first
correction; and Jh. of 3m. 51s. in 58s., the
second correction. Then 2h. 48m. 55d. x 53s.
— 58s. := 2h. 45m. 408. the right ascension at
the proposed time.
Sect. III. — Of calculating the DlSTA^X£S,
Magnitudes, &c. of the Celestial Bodies.
56K One of the first objects of an observer is
to ascertain the latitude of his place of observa-
tion. There are many methods by which this
may be effected. If the declination 5 of any
celestial object be known, and its distance z from
the zenith be observed, then the latitude / will be
either :^ 5 -|- z, or ^ — z, according as ^ and z
are of the same or different denominations. But
the latitude may be determined from altitudes of
circumpolar stars, independently of any previous
knowledge of the places of those stars, for it i?
always equal to half the sum of their greatest and
least altitudes. The pole star is most conve-
niently situated for observations of this kind, and
it is generally observed for that purpose.
562. Considerable attention has been paid to
the simplification of the method by which the
latitude may be found from altitudes of this star
when it is out of the meridian. Mr. F. Bailey,
the present learned president of the Astronomical
Society of London, has given the following for-
•nula, in which ^ is the colatitude, p the sur\
Digitized by
Googl(
166
ASTRONOMY.
polar distance, and t its meridian distance, and z its
observed zenith distance, ^ = j — ^ m* ^ cot.
z -^ pcos,t -^ ^s in *t COS. L This formula
may be put under the form if^ = ^r + (p -f C)
COS. t — B cot. z ; whence, the coefficients p +
C and B being computed and arranged in tables,
^ may easily be determined.
563. The latitude being determined, it becomes
next of importance to determine the inclination
of the plane of the earth's orbit to the plane of
the equator, or the obliquity of the ecliptic.
This is the difference between the sun's greatest
altitude and the colatitude of the plan of obser-
vation. If the sun was in the solstice at the mo-
ment at which he was on the meridian, the dif-
ference between his meridian altitude and the
colatitude, would be the obliquity. This, how-
ever, is unlikely to happen, and, on the ground
of utility, not at all to oe desired ; as, from me-
ridional observations made near the solstice, the
obliquity may be determined with a degree of
accuracy to which no single observation could
justify us in pretending.
564. If 1(7 be the obliquity, d the sun's decli-
nation, and 0 his longitude, <t the greatest de-
clination, and Q' the corresponding longitude;
then,
sin. d =r sin. 0. sin. w
sin. <f z= sin. 0'. sin. w.
When sin. <f — sin. </ = sin. w (sin. 90** — sin. 0)
Or, if tr = 90O — 0 and w (=£ (T) = rf + d,
sin. cos. (to — -) = sin. tc. sin.* -. And ex-
2 2 2
S i
panding and substituting for m - and cos. - their
approximate values in terms of ^, we obtain
. tan. uu sin. ^. tf*
i= —
from which, with the greatest ease, the correction
of the declination d deduced from the altitude
may be obtained, and hence from a series of me-
ridional altitudes, observed on each side of the
solstice, the obliquity of the ecliptic may be ob-
tained to a very great degree of nicety.
565. The obliquity of the ecliptic being ob-
tained, the next step in this department of en-
quiry is to ascertain the place of the equinoctial
point, or that point on tne ecliptic in which it
crosses the equator. Now the point in which
the sun is when his meridional altitude is equal
to the colatitude, will be the equinoctial point.
Let a =: his meridional altitude less than the
colatitude /, a* =: his meridional altitude greater
than /, and ti =r the days between the two obser-
vations, then as near the equinox a maybe consi-
dered as varying uniformly, we have ^ "" »' - =
a — a
the time after the sun had the altitude a when he
was on the equator, whence his place at the time
on the portion of the equinoctial point, with re-
ference to the meridian of any known fixed star
may be determined.
566. The distances of the heavenly bodies are
obtained by finding the horizontal parallax of the
body whose distance is desired to be known;
tliat is, tlie an^le under which tlie semidiameter
of the earth would appear provided we could see
it from that body. In general the parallax of a
planet is the difference ^tween the real and ap-
parent place of a planet; that is, between itf
place seen from some part of the sur&ce, and
from the centre of the euth ; so that the parallax
is the angle under which the semidiameter of the
earth, terminated by the place of an observer, is
seen at the planet; and to find this parallax
many methods have been devised.
567. I. Let AD, plate V. fig. 3, be the earth,
C its centre, P the planet; and let the planet's
distance C P fi!om Uie centre of the earth be
given. Then Z A P is the complement of the
apparent altitude, ZCPthe complement of the
true altitude. As the planet's distance from the
centre of the earth C P : to the earth's radius
AC : : so is the cosine of the apparent altitude^
S.Z A P : to the sine of the parallax. For draw
AF parallel to C P. The angle F AP is equal
to the angle APC. But ZAF is equal to
ZCP, the true zenith distance, and Z A Pis the
apparent zenith distance; and their difference
r A P, or its equal A P C, b the parallax. But in
thetriangleCAP,itisCP:S.CAPorZAP::
C A: S.CP A, or PAF, the parallax.
568. II. If the distances of two planets or stars,
having the same apparent altitude, be known,
and the parallax of one of them, let P and G be
the planets in the line A P G ; then A P Cisthe
pandlax of P, and AG C the parallax of G.
Therefore in the triangle C P C, we have C P,
C G, and an angle opposite, suppose G, to find
the other opposite angle. Therefore distance C P :
distance CG::SGGP:SCPGorCPA; that
is, the sines of the parallaxes are reciprocally as
the distances from the earth's centre.
569. III. Let S be the star or planet whose
parallax b sought. See plate V. fig. 7. Observe
It when it is in the same vertical circle with^any
two fixed stars. A, B. Observe again when the
same two stars come into a position parallel to
the horizon at a and b ; ana let the planet be
come tp <. Then with an instrument measure
the altitude of a or 6, and likewise the altitude of
< ; and the difference of these altitudes b the pa-
rallax. For the real place of the star S, b some-
where in the line A B, and therefore it b also
somewhere in the line a 6, and therefore its alti-
tude is the same as that of a or b. Therefore the
parallax is the difference of the altitudes of a aad
$y or of b and t.
570. IV. Lets be the star or planet; observe
its distance from any fixed star B, which b in the
same vertical circle Z S B ; and measure the dis-
tance S B with an instrument. Then observe
again when the same two stars have equal altitudes
above the horizon at b and s, and uien take the
distance b s. This dbtance will be very near the
true distance of the stars B and S ; therefore the
first dbtance B S subtracted from the latter dis-
tance b f, when B b below S, gives the pafallax ;
or Ae latter distance subtracted from the former,
when B is above S, gives the parallax.
571. V. The parallax may be found by observ-
ing the azimuth and altitude of the star or planet.
Let H Z O, plate V. fig, 4, be the meridian, E Q
the equinoctial, H O the horizon, Z the zenith,
P the pole, S the sUr, Z S B a vertical circle pass-
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ASTRONOMY.
167
inftthfoiigh il. OUerfe the altitude BS, and V. fig. 6, requires two obsenrers in different
the aiitnuth B O, aad mark the moment of time places of the ear^i and can be applied to none
when these obsemtioBS are made ; then obsenre of the planets but Mart in opposition to the 5un»
the moment ef time that <he star comes to the or to Venus on the sun's disk. It is best per-
meridiaB) and you then have the distance of time formed when the sun is about the equinox. Let
from the obserTatioiis« Convert this into degrees^ P £ R Q be the earth, P R its axis, £ Q the equi-
aUowing only tt3h. 56m. to 360^, (which is the noctial, S the planet Mars in opposition to the
time of the esjth's rotation to the same star), and sun, and if near the perihelion, it is better. Let
yon have the arch £ D or angle £ P A« suppos- two places F Q, be taken, the one in north lati-
ing P iWJ> aA hour cirele. Therefore in the tude, the other in south latitude, the further from
spherical triangle ZPA^we have the angle
ZPA, and angle P Z A equal to BO, and the
aide Z P the oo-latitude» to find the side Z A the
complement of the altitude ; this subtracted from
Z S» kaown by observation^ the remainder A S
is theparalli
the equinoctial the better; and nearly in the
same meridian, or rather so placed, that the line
F G, drawn from the one to the other, may be
nearly perpendicular to the orbit of Mars. By
this mere IS a greater base to work upon. Then
let the two observers pitch upon some fixed star
5TH* Vli Another method ik performed by a as A, whidi Mars comes very near at that time ;
telescope, with cross hairs in the ibcus. Direct and the nearer the better. Having two good in-
the teleaco^ to the planet, and turn it round till struments perfectly alike, furnished with micro-
its motion is along one of the cross hairs^ which meiers, ana being situated at F and G; let them
represents part of the planet's parallel cire(e ; and observe for several nights successively about mid-
the other Iwur perpendicular to it, will represent night, the places of Mars at B and C, as he passes
its hour circle. Observe the time when the planet by the star A; and take the distances A B and
AC every night, during his transit by this star.
These observations are to be continued till the
distances b^n to increase, and no longer ; for
then he is past the star.
576. From these observations, the nearest dis-
tance of Mars from the star A may be found, as
observed from the places F and G ; at least they
may be found by interpolation. Let these nearest
distances be A B and A C ; then we have the dif-
ference B C, or the angle B S G ot F S G. And
from the situation of the places F and G, the
length and position of F G will be known < and
bv these F S may be found. And lastly, the an-
gle which the radius of the earth subtends at the
distance F S> or the horizontal parallax of Mars
will be known. If, instead of Mars in opposition,
_ _ Venus be observed on the body of the sun ; then
let H O, plate V. fig. S, be the horizon, H Z O her nearest distances from either limb of the sun
the meridian, Z the zenith, P the pole, A the must be taken, whose difference will give the
true place of the planet, S its apparent place, angle at Venus, subtended by F G; the rest as
Z S B a vertical circle ; then in the triangle Z P S, before. Thus the parallax of Venus will be ob-
we have Z P^ Z S, and angle Z P S to find the tained. The parallax of Mars, when nearest the
angle P Z S. In the triangle Z P A, we have Z P, earth, has been found 25", 27*', and 30" at differ-
( to this hour oirele, there fix the telescope,
and then take its altitude ; then observe the time
when some fixed star^ whose right ascension is
known, comes to the moe hour circle. The dif-
ference of time between the plaaet and star com-
ing lo this hour drde^ turned into degrees
(allowing 360^ to 23h. 56m.), gives the difference
of right ascensions of the planet and star ; and so
the apparent sight ascension of the planet is
kaowa.
673. When the planet comes to the meridian^
observe it with the telescope, and note the time ;
and when the star comes to the meridian^ note
the time of that : then the difference of the times
radoeed to degrees as before, gives the true diffe-
rence of right ascensions, whence the true right
ascension of the planet will be known. Therefore
aaglesZPA, PZ A; to find Z A, which taken
from ZS> gives AS the parallax.
574. If the planet have a proper motion of its
own, its true place will be always changing ; and
therefore the change of place must be computed
for the time of the observations. This is done by
observing its place when in the meridian, twice ;
and thence toe change of place is had for 24
ent times.
577. Besides these methods of computing the
parallax, there is another depending on observa-
tions made out of the meridian, which may be
thus explained : let M, plate IV. fig. 5, be the
true place, and m the apparent place of a planet,
Z the zenith, and P the pole, then M P m will re-
present the apparent change in the right ascen-
hours : and therefore the place at the times of sion of the planet arising from parallax. This
^i^^ *:— .-^11 u> u^j u_. l:— : — *v^ changemay be thus estimated '.make PnnPM,
and join Mn,MPn=: Mncosect MP=Mm
sin.ZMPoosectPM = Asin. ZM.sin.ZMP
cosect PM (A representing the horizonlal par-
alha) = A sin. Z P sin. Z P M cosect P M.
MPncos. declin.
observations will be had by proportioning the
motion according to the times. Here the angle
Z PS should be about 90°, to have AP S the
greatest possible.
575. VII. The operation represented in plate
MPn
Hence A =
sin. Z P' sin. zPM' cosect PM "" cos. lat. sin. hour angle
r^ «t. «« n A .^ « COS. declin.
Or, tsafitbg M P m.t, A :^ — > • . -^
COS. lat. sin hour angle.*
We should have a similaf expression for it, if the object were observed on the o liur side
of the meridfsin, and therefore
f cos. declin. i cos. declin.
A:i=
coi. lat. X (*!"• ^ + *^- '* ^
2 COS. lat. sin.
h-\- h'
h'
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168
ASTRONOMY.
This method serves tolerably well to find the
parallax of the moon ; and it has been applied
successfully to find the parallax of Mars; but it
requires observations of much too great nicety to
determine by it the parallaxes of the two planets.
Those are chiefly deduced from the parallax of
the sun, as determined by the transit of Venus.
578. In the above investigations, the earth has
been considered as a spherical body; but in
computing the parallax of the moon, from obser-
vations, me peculiarity of the form of the earth
becomes very apparent ; and it is a striking cir-
cumstance mat from the eclipses of the moon,
we shew in a general way that the earth is round,
and from her parallaxes that it is not spherical.
579. A star or planet appears lower than it
really is, by the quantity of the parallax, which
is greater the lower the star is ; and therefore the
horizontal parallax is the greatest. The paral-
laxes of two planets are as the cosines of the
apparent altitudes directly, and their distances
from the earth's centre reciprocally. For when
the distance is given, the parallax is as the sine
of the zenith distance (by method 1), and if the
apparent altitude be given, the parallax is reci-
procally as the distance, (by method 2), and there-
fore is in a compound ratio, when neither is given.
Here the parallax being very ^mall, one may
take the parallax itself for the sine of the pa-
rallax.
580. The parallax of a planet being known,
its distance may be founds For this is only
working backward, saying, as sine of the paral-
lax, to the earth's radius; so S zenith distance
to the 'planet's distance.
581. Having the parallax of any of the pla-
nets, the distances of all the planets from the
sun may be known, in diameters of the earth,
or any sort of measure. For the distances of the
planets from the sun and from one another, are
known in .some assumed measure ; and by the
parallax of a planet, the true distance of the earth
nrom it is known ; and therefore all the other
distances will be l^nown by proportion.
582. The seventh of these methods has been
practised in determining the parallax of Venus,
from observations made at different parts of the
earth, upon what is called her transit over the
sun's disk, a phenomenon that rarely happens :
but when it does happen, it affords the best, and
indeed the only accurate method of determining
that most important problem in astronomy, the
sun's parallax, or the angle under which the
earth's semi-diameter appears from the sun.
583. The first transit or passage of Venus over
the sun's disk, that ever was observed, happened
in 1639, but perhaps the only mortals who saw it
were Mr. Horrox and his friend Mr. Crabtree.
Two transits have happened since ; the first in
1761, and the last in 1769. There will be no more
before 1874, and the next to that will happen
in 1996. The two last transits were carefully
observed. From the first of these Mr. Short has
computed the sun's parallax to be 8*69" ; and
from the last the best astronomers have concluded
it to be 8-6". This is an observation of the greatest
consequence, because it is only by a knowledge
of the sun's distance from the earth, in some
known measure, that we can acquire a knowledge
of the true dimensioos of the solar tysCem. For
an account of the principles of this method of
finding the solar pmllax, see Vekus, transit of.
584. As to the fixed stars, no meUiod of as-
certaining their distance has hitherto been found
out. Those who have formed conjectures con-
cerning them, have thought that they were at
least 400,000 times farther from us thsm we are
from the sun.
585. Dr. Herschel has proposed a meAod of
ascertaining the parallax ot the fixed stars, some-
thing similar, but more complete, than that men-
tioned by Galileo and others ; for it is by the
parallax of the fixed stars that we should be
nest able to determine their distance. The me-
thod pointed out by Galileo, and fint attempted
by Hooke, Flamsteed, Molineox, and Bradley,
of taking the distances of stars from the zenith
that pass very near it, has given us a mudi juster
idea of the immense distance of the stars, and
furnished us with an approximation to the know-
ledge of their parallax, that is much nearer the
trum than we ever had before.
586. But Herschel mentions the insufficiency
of their instruments, which were similar to die
present zenith sectors, the method of zenilh dis-
tances beinff liable to considerable errors on ac-
count of redaction, the change of position of the
earth's axis arising fix)m nutation, precession of
the equinoxes, and other causes, ana die aberra-
tion of light. The method of his ovm is by means
of double stars; which is exempted from these
errors, and of such a nature that the annual pa-
rallax, even if it should not exceed die tenth part
of a second, may still become more visible, and
be ascertained, at least to a much greater degree
of approximation than it has ever been done.
587. This method is capable of every improve-
ment which the telescope and mechanism of
micrometers can furnish ; but as it goes on pre-
sumptions which can hardly lead to any firm con-
viction, we are not likely to gain any farther
knowledge, than that the stars are at too great
distance to be subjected as yet to our calculations.
He supposes that the stars are, one with another,
about tne size of the sun ; and that the difiierence
of their apparent magnitudes is owing to their
apparent distances ; both of which suppositions
being only hypothetical, it is evident that the
conclusions founded on them cannot be depended
on with absolute certainty.
588. Considerable discussion has fecendy
taken place between Mr. Pond, the present as-
tronomer royal, and Dr. Brinkley, respecting the
annual parallax of a Lyrs, which parallax Dr.
B. conceives his instrument shews clearly to
be about 112''. Mr. Pond, asserts, diat die
Greenwich circle is a better instrument than the
Dublin circle, and that observations made with
it give no indications of parallax either in a Lyrs,
or in any other fixed star. Dr. Brinkley, how-
ever, has endeavoured to shew that, if the place
of the pole-star can be relied on, the Greenwich
observations do indicate a parallax in a Lyr» very
nearly equal to that shewn by his instrument ;
but Sf r. Pond, in a recent communication to
the astronomical society of London, states, that
observations on the pole-M&r are on the whole
more unsatisfactory than any other star. What
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ASTRONOMY.
seems to go far towards setting this delicate
question is, that there are now two circles in
constant use at Greenwich ; and that they agree
together in a manner that must be gratifying to
their distinguished makers, Mr. Troughton
and Mr. Thomas Jones ; they bear steady and
united testimony against l^e parallax of the fixed
stars, and shew even in some instances a ten-
dency to exhibit a deviation of an opposite
character.
Sect. IV.— Of the Divisions ov the Starkt
Heavens.
589. The stars, from their apparently various
magnitudes, have been distributed into several
classes^ or orders. Those which a(>pear largest,
are called stars of the first magnitude ; the next
to them in lustre, stars of the second magnitude ;
and so on to the sixth, which are the smallest that
are visible to the bare eye. This distribution
having been made long oefore the invention of
telescopes, the stars which cannot be seen with-
out the assistance of these instruments, are dis-
tinguished by the name of telescopic stars.
590. The ancients divided the starry spheve
into particular constellations, or clusters of stars,
according as they lay near one another, so as to
occupy those spaces which the figures of diffe-
rent sorts of animals or tilings would take up,
if they were there delineated. And those stars
which could not be brought into any particular
constellation, were called unformed stars.
591. By this division, the stars are so distin-
guished from one another, that any particular
star may be readily found in the heavens, by
means of a celestial globe ; on which the con-
stellations are so delineated, that the most re-
markable stars are placed in such parts of the
figures, as are most easily distinguished. See
plates I, and II.
592. The number of the ancient constellations if
forty-eight, and upon our present globes about
seventy. On Senex's globes are inserted Bayer's
letters ; the first in the Greek alphabet being put
to the largest star in each constellation, the se-
cond to the next, and so on; by which means
every star is as easily found as if a name were
given to it. Thus if the star y in the constelr
lation of the ram be mentioned, every astronomer
knows as well what star is meant, as if it were
pointed out to him in the heavens.
593. The starry heavens are also divided into
three parts, viz. 1. The Zodiac, which extends
quite round the heavens ; is about 16^ broad, so
that it takes in the orbits of all the planets, as
well as that of the moon; and along me middle
of which is the ecliptic. 2. All that region of
the heavens which is on the north side of the zo*
diac, containing twenty-one constellations; and,
3. That on the south side, containing fifteen.
594. The following tables exhibit the names
of the ancient and modem constellations, and the
number of stars observed in each of them by
different astronomers :
595. TABLE I.
THE ANCIENT CONSTELLATIONS.
•
NUMpER
of Stars in
Each, according to
Names.
Engiisb Names.
Ptolemy.
T. Brake.
Hevelius.
Flamst.
Ursa Minor . .
The Little Bear
8
7
12
24
Ursa Major . .
The Great Bear . .
35
29
73
87
Draco ....
The Dragon . . .
31
32
40
80
Cepheus . . .
Cepheus ....
13
4
51
35
Bootes, or Arctophilax
23
18
52
54
Corona Borealis
The Northern Crown
8
8
8
21
Hercules, or Engonasin
Hercules Kneeling .
29
28
45
113
Lyra
TlieHarp . .
10
11
17
21
Cygnns, or Gallina
The Swan . . .
10
18
47
81
Cassiopeia . . .
The Lady in her Chair
13
26
37
55
Perseus ....
Perseus ....
29
29
46
59
Auriga ....
The Waggoner . .
14
9
40
66
Serpentaritts, or i
Ophiuchus . S
Serpentarius ...
29
15
40
74
Serpens ....
The Serpent . . .
18
13
22
64
Sagitta ....
The Arrow . . .
5
5
5
18
Aquila, or Vultur .
The Eagle . . .
15
12
23
71
Antinous ....
Antinous ....
15
3
19
71
Delphinus . . .
The Dolphin . .
10
10
14
18
Equulus, or Equi sectio
The Horse's Head .
4
4
6
10
Pegasus, or Equus .
The Flying Horse .
20
19
38
89
Andromeda . . .
Andromeda . . .
23
23
47
66
Triangulum . . .
The Triangle . .
4
4
12
16
Aries
The Ram ....
18
21
27
66
Taurus ....
TheBuU . . . .
44
43
51
141
Gemini ....
The Twins . . .
25
25
38
85
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170
ASTRONOMY.
TABLE l^Qmtktutd).
NuMBBftof Stars in
Bach, MMrding to
KAMftS.
£H(3Ll8n Names.
PTOLEMY.
T. Beahb.
HbteliOs.
Plamst.
G&ticer ....
TheCtab . . .
23
16
29 .
63
Leo
The Lion ....
35
30
49
96
Coma Betenicfes
Berenice's Hair . .
35
14
21
43
Virgo
The Virgin . . .
The Scales . . .
32
33
50
110
Libra, or Chete
17
10
20
61
Scorpius ....
The Scorpion . .
24
10
20
44
Sagittsirius . . .
The Archer . . .
31
14
22
69
C^pnconaus . . .
The Goat ....
28
28
29
51
Aquarius ....
Thfe Water-Bearer .
45
41
47
106
Pisces
The Fishes ... .
38
36
39
113
Cctus .....
The Whale . . .
22
21
45
97
Orion
Orion ,
38
42
62
78
Eridanus, or FluTios
Eridanus, or the River
94
10
27
84
Lepus
TTie Hare ....
12
13
16
19
Canis Major . . .
The Great Dog . .
2d
13
21
31
Canb Minor . . .
The LitUe Dog . .
2
2
13
14
Argo Nans . . .
The Ship ....
45
3
4
64
Hydra
The Hydra . . .
27
19
31
60
Crater
The Cup ....
7
3
10
31
Corvus ....
The Chow . . .
r
4
9
Centattins . . .
The Centaur . . .
37
35
Lupus ....
The Wolf. ...
Id
24
Ara . ...
The Altar . . .
7
9
Corona Australis
The Southern Crown
13
12
Piscis AuBtralis
The Southern Fish .
18
24
596. TABLE IL
THE NEW SOUTHERN CONSTELLATIONS.
Columba Noachi
Robur Catoiinum
Grus ....
Phoenix . . .
Indus . . .
Pavo ....
Apus, or Avis Indica
Noah's Dove
The Royal Oak
The Crane . .
The Phoenix . .
The Indian . .
The Peacock
The Bird of Paradise
11
Apis, or Musca . .
Cnamaeleon . . .
Trianguhim Australb
Piscis volans, or Passer
Dorado, or Xiphias
10
12
13
13
12
14 Toucan
Hydrus
The Bee or Fly .
The Cameleon
The South Triangle
The Flying Fish .
The Sword Fish .
The American Goose
The Water Snake
597. TABLE III.
HEVELIUS'S CONSTELLATIONS MADE OUT OF THE UNFORMED STARS.
Lynx
Hevblios.
Flanbtead.
The Lynx
19
44
Leo Minor
The Little Lion .
—
53
Asterion and Chara . . .
The Greyhounds .
23
25 1
Cerberus
Cerberus ....
4
— 1
Vulpecula and Anser . . .
the Fox and Goose
27
35
Scutum Sobieski ....
Sobieski's Shield . .
7
—
The Lizard . . .
10
16
Camelopardalus ....
The Camelopard .
32
58
Monocerot
Tlie Unicom . . .
19
32
Sextans . *
The Sextant . . .
11
41
1
Sect. V. — Op Calculatiito the Periodical
Times, Places, &c. of the Celestial Bo-
dies; COMSTBUCTING AsTEOVOMIGAL TaBLES,
AND Delineating the Phases op the Moon.
598. This section, if treated fully, would com-
prehend almost the whole of practical astronomy,
a subject so extensive, that the whole space
which we can devote to the subject of astromymy
would not suffice to do it jusUce. We shall^
however, we hope, give an alntract of the Kwriing
points in this department of the science, which
may at once gratify the wishes of the amatear^
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ASTRONOMY.
171
and stimulate die fiirdier CDcpiines of those who
may be inclined to pursue the subject.
599. Indeed the elements of the chief bodies
in our system have long been tabulated, and the
mere practical astronomer may, without any
knowledge of the causes of the planetary mo-
tions, compute from the tables where any planet
in the sjrstem will be found at any given instant.
The tables in the third volume of Vince's Astro-
nomy are a treasure to the astronomer, though
those of the moon have been superseded by
the improved ones of Burkhardt
600. We have already shown how an observer
who knows his own iatitude may find the posi-
tion of the ecliptic with respect to the equator,
and that point of the heavens in which the celes-
tial equator and the ecliptic intersect. We now
proceed to the solution of Kepler's problem, or
to the method of finding the place of a planet in
an elliptical orbit.
601. Let AP B, fig. 12, plate VI., be an
ellipse, E the sun in the focus, round which the
earth, P, or any other planet revolves. Let the
planet's motion, and the time of its motion, be
dated fit)m the extremity of the major onis, A,
called the aphelion or apside. Now we are sup-
posed to have given the time of the planet's
ouitting it, to find the position of the pomt P in
the ellipse, either by finding the value of the an-
gle A £ P, or by cutting ofi* from the whole
ellipse and area A £ P, which is to the area of
the whole ellipse as the time from A to P brais
to the whele time of revolution. The line £ P
is called a radius rector.
602. Let a circle A M B be described on A B
as its diameter, and suppose a point to describe
this circle uniformly, and the wnole of it in the
same time as the planet describes the ellipse, let
t denote the time elapsed during P's motion from
A to P; then if AM^ > t. ,> ^ M will be
' penodic time
the place of the point that moves uniformly,
whilst P is that of the planets ; the angle is called
the mean jmomaly, and A £ P the true ano-
maly.
603. Hence, as the angle ACM can always
be found when t is given, the solution of Kep-
ler's problem is reduced to this, to find the true
anomaly in terms of the mean.
604. The angle D C A, determined by pro-
dncing the ordinate A* P to the ellipse is called
the' eccentric anomaly, which has been devised
for the purpose of expediting the computation of
the true anomaly. It hMs a mean between the
two other anomalies, and is a step in the com-
putation from the one to the other.
605. We shall first deduce two equations, by
which the eccentric anomaly is expressed, in
terms of the true and mean anomalies respec-
tively.
Let < = the time in describing A P, P = the
periodic time in the ellipse a =: C A, ae i=£C,
•«=Z.P£A,ti=rZ.DCA, (whence £ Tz=
£ C. sin. II, £ T being perpendicular to D T) r p
= P £, IT a= 3*1415986 ; then, by the law of the
equable description of areas,
<=P X *^^^^ -^ P X *^ D E A
(by conies )=srj-^ x (T> £C +DC A)= —^x
(ET.DC^ AD. DC Pa _^
• ^ + 2 =2T?X(£Csintt+
p
D C .«)»-- X (e. sin. u^u): hence if we
put - — =- we have
2 IT n
n ^ = e. sin. « X t<i an equation connecting the
mean anomaly n t with the eccentric u.
606. To find the equation between the true
and eocentric anomaly we must investigate and
equate two values of p. Now the value of p in
terms of the true anomaly is by conies s=
aTl":^g«
1— C, COS. «.
and in terms of u the eccentric anomaly p ss a
1 -J- C. COS. u,
Inp» = £N* X Py»=£N»H-DN» !-■€»=
a e -h a* cos. i#' + «• sin.* t* 1 — e" = a*+ 2 e
cos.tt + COS. 2 tt+ a*l— €**m*tt= a*-f
h .COS. a— c» cos* u when p => a 1+ e. cos- u.
By equating these two values of P we have,
1 — <*=s cos « 1 + e . cos 11 ; whence cos. v =
c + cos u _^ ... ...
r-~ -, dn expression which may readily
I of ellipse
aiea 0
be transformed into 1 tan ^ V^ z • ton ^
The difference between the mean and true
anomalies is called the Equation of the Centre ;
which has its greatest value when P moves with
its mean anffular velocity, as may be thus made
evident. If we conceive a body to move uni-
formly in a circle round £, as a centre, with the
mean angular velocity of P round £, revolving
round the circle in the same time that P revolves
round the ellipse. If Uiey botli depart from P
together, then P at the first moving with its least
anguUur velocity, will describe round E a less
angle than the fictitious body does, which body
will therefore advance before P, tiU the angular
velocity of P becomes equal to that of the bNxly,
at which time their angular distance will be the
greatest, and P will immediately afterwards
begin to gain upon the body.
608. To determine the ellipse in which the
e(|uation of the centre is the greatest, conceive a
circle to be described round E as a centre, setting
the ellipse on some point P, and the line £ A
somewhere between £ and A. Then, if the
angular velocities be inversely as the squares of
the distances from £, the angular velocity in the
ellipse from A to P, will in every intermediate
point be less than the angular velocity of the
body in the circle, in all the points between £ A
and P. But if the areas described by the body
in the ellipse, and the body in the circles, be res-
pectively equal, the angular velocities are in-
versely as the squares of the distances.
609. If then the incremental areas be equal,
the whole areas are equal, since bv condition,
the lines of revolution are emial. Let therefore
X be put for the value of £ P, 2 a = the major
axis, and a e = the eccentriciw of the ellipse, then
by equating the expression m the elliptic area,
Digitized by
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172
and that of the circle we obtain
ASTRONOMY.
nearly.
609* From the above value of the radius vector
"when the equation of the centre is the greatest,
the corresponding, true, and eccentric anomalies
may be computed by the general equations for
those purposes given above.
«T. fl . 1 — ^* - -: — ;
Viz. 0= ^ 1 p = fl. 1 + «• cos u;
^ 1 — ecos.tf ^
and hence, too, the mean anomaly nt is .deter-
mined from nt ziu + e, sine «, and finally
tiiere results the greatest equation of the centre
We proceed now to the principles of the
method by which the place and motion of the
aphelia are determined.
610. It is evident that the sun being in perigee
at die least distance and in apogee at his greatest,
if we could measure his diameter with sufficient
nicety, so as to determine when it is greatest or
least, the corresponding places of the sun would
be those of the perigee and the apogee respec-
tively ; or if, by observing the suir s place trom
day to day, we could ascertain the times when
his angular motion was the greatest or least, his
places at the corresponding time would be those
of the required points. And if, at a period con-
siderably distant, like observations were repeated,
a comparison of the results would shew whether
the place of the apogee was stationary or not.
61 1 . Now by the observations of various astro-
mers, it has been found that the apogee of the
earth's orbit is progressive, as may be seen firom
^e following statement:
Astronomer. Year. Longitude of Apogee.
Cochin King . 1279 3s. 0° 8' 0*
Walthcrus . . 1496 3 3 57 57
LaHine . . 1684 3 7 28 0
Flamsteed . . 1690 3 7 35 0
The mean result of these observations gives
about 1' 3*4" for the annual progressive motion
of the apogee of the earth's orbit.
612. The following, however, is a more accu-
rate method of determining the progression of
theapogee. LetSEr(fig.l3.PlateVl.)bearight
line, and draw T £^ ms£ing with A B, the major
axis, an angle TEA zz SEA; now the time
through rB/S is less than the time through
the remaining are SATr; for the equal and
similar areas S E ^, T E r, are described in equal
times, but tlie area r E ^, is less than SET, and
it will therefore be described in less time;
whence r £ r -h S £ ^, which isequaltoS Er^S,
is described in less time than SET + TEr,
which compose the area SErTS. This pro-
perty belongs to every line drawn through E,
except AB, the major axis, or the line which
joins the ap&elion and perihelion of the orbits.
Hence, if on comparing two observations of the
sun in opposite longitudes, as at S and r, it ap-
pears that the time elapsed is not half a year,
we may be sure that the sun has not been ob-
served in apogee or perigee. In practice, bow-
ever, the interval will not differ much from half
a year, and the true position of the apogee may
be determined in the following manner :
613. The time from r to S =: the time from
r to B + the time from B to A — the time from
S to A ; or, time from B to A — time from r to
S =z time from S to A — time from r to B.
Now the first of these differences is known,
being the difference between half an anoma-
listic year (the time from the sun's leaving &e
apogee till his return to it) and the observed in-
terval ; and the second term of the second dif-
ference may be expressed by means of the first
For let the first term = t, then the time from r to
J. _ arearEB _ , rBxE B , . _
^-'•areaSEA='s^AirEA ^'^ "^ ^
being supposed near the apsides)
_ r_B EA EB»_ EB»
"" EB ^SA^EA?" ^EA«
^ angular velocity at A _ rB _ S A
^ ^ angular velocity at B' ^'^ E B "" A E
each representing the incremental angle r E B.
614. Now the angular velocities at A and B,
or the increments of the sun's longitude, being
known from observation, and the time from r to
B being expressed in terms of those velocities
and of ty the quantity t may be readily deter-
mined ; whence the exact time when the sun is
at A ; and his longitude, computed for that time,
is the longitude of the apogee.
Example.
1743.Dec.30. Oh. 3m. 7s. ©'slong.Os 8® 29' 12-5"
1744.Jun.30.0h.3m.0s 3 8 51 1*5
Difference . 6 0 21 4-9
Therefore at the second observation, June
30th, the sun was past S. In order to find
when I e was at S, that is, when the difference of
the luQ^itudewas six signs (or supposing the peri-
gee to have progressed through 31") when the
difference of tne longitudes was 6 s 0° 0' 31", we
must find the time of describing 21' 49* — 31*,
or 21' 18". This is easily effected by this pro-
portion, as the sun*s daily motion on June 30th
(5r 12*) : 24 hours : : 21' 18*; 8h. 56m. 13s.,
which taken from June 30th, Oh. 3m., leaves
June 29th 15h. 6m. 47s. for the time when the
difference of the sun*s longitudes under the given
circumstances was 180° 0' 31". .
615. The interval between this last time and
Dec. 30th, Oh. 3m. 7s. the time of the past ob-
servation, is 182d. 15h. 3m. 40s., nearly the
time from r to S : but this time is less than half
an anomalistic year, which is 182d. 15h. 7m.
1 s., as has been found by repeated observations,
and as we have seen above : t — time from r to
B :=: 3m. 21s. ; and time from r to B rz <.
57* 12**
, ^/; whence, by substitution and reduction,
we have t = 47m. 54s. This added to June
29th, 15 h. 6m. 47s., when the sun was at S,
gives June 29th 15h. 6m. 47s. for the time
when he was in apogee.
616.. The sun's longitude at that time must be
less than his longitude on June 30th, Oh. 3m.
by the difference due on the differenoe of the
times, which is 8h. 8m. 19s. This quantity is
easily found by proportion to be IST. 21**, and
Digitized by
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ASTRONOMY.
173
hence the longitude of the apogee is 98®. 31'
40*5', or 8* 31' 40*5" past the summer solstice.
617. From the longitude at any giren time
and the annual progression, the position of the
apogee and of the axis of ihe solar ellipse may
be (bund by proportion for any other time. If
it were required, for example, to find when the
axis of the solar ellipse was perpendicular to the
line of the equinoxes, or when the longitude of
the perigee was 270°. Now its longitude in
1750 was 9» 8° 37* 28", hence, taking the an.
Dual progression at 62% — ^^ — = about 500
years, as the major axis was perpendicular to
the line of the equinoxes in 1250. It is remark-
able, that the period in which the major axis
coincided with the time of the equinoxes, is at
the time which astronomers consider to be that
of the beginning of the earth.
618. Our next object is to explain those ob-
servations made at the earth, and reduced to
what they would have been if the observer had
been at the sun ; as the methods of extricating
from the geocentric observations of a planet's
place, the elements of the orbit which it de-
scribes round the sun.
619. The observations made on the earth are,
generally speaking, for right ascensions by the
transit instruments, and polar distances by the
quadrant or axle The latitudes and longitudes
are not observed, but computed from the right
ascensions and declinations. Let A, fig. 15.
plate VI., represent the first point of Aries, A C
a portion of the ecliptic, AB a portion of the
equator, S a star, S B its declination, and S C its
Utitude; then AB will be its right ascension
and AC its longitude round BAG, the obli-
quity of the ecliptic. Now the method of find-
ing BAG has already been shown; BS is de-
termined by the circle or quadrant, and A B by
the time shown by the siderial clock when tiie
sun is on the meridian. Hence A G, G S, and
the angle BAG, are given to find AB and BS.
Now COS. AS = cos AG . cos. C S; cos. SAG
= co8. CS .inAG, SAB = SAG = BAG;
tan AB == cos. SA,B . tan. AS and sin. BS
= sin. A S . in B A S. Hence the geocentric la-
titudes and longitudes may be always determined.
620. If a =z the right ascension, d =: the de-
clination, / = the latitude, X = the longitude,
and o = the obliquity of the ecliptic, then /
and X may be determined from the following
equations :
tan.X=sin.o . tan.i . sec.a + tan.a . cos.o
sin. /=sin<2 . cos.a — sin. a. cos. d . sin.e.
621. By either of these methods the geocen-
tric latitude and longitude may be determined.
Among the resulting values of the latitude, some
will be either nothing or very small. If the
geocentric latitude is nothing, the heliocentric
latitude is also nothing, or the planet is in the
plane of the earth's orbit, or in tnat point of its
own orbit which is called its node ; the node
being the intersection of the orbit of a planet
with the plane of the ecliptic. It is not likely,
however, that the planet will be observed
exactly in the node; but if by one observa^
tion its latitude is found to be a south, and
by another at an interval of time /, to t>e a' north,
the — ; — 7- is the interval, which added to the
a -\- a
time when the planet had the latitude, a will
give the instant at which it was in its node.
622. As we can thus find the time of a planet's
entering its node, we can determine the time of
its passage firom the descending to the ascending
node, and also the time between two successive
returns to the same node ; and if the place of
the nodes and the dimensions and line of
the oroit remain unchanged, the latter interval
must be the periodic time of the planet ; and if
the former interval were half the latter, it would
prove either that the orbit of the planet was cir-
cular, or, if elliptical, that its major axis coin-
cided with the positions of the nodes.
623. Now let N P, fig. 14, plate VI. be part
of the orbit of a superior planet, N r G a portion
of the ecliptic, £ the earth, S the sun ; and let
P IT be an aro of a great circle from P perpen-
dicular to the ecliptic. A spectator at £, sees
P V under the angle P £ ir, which is therefore
the geocentric latitude ; and a spectator, as S,
would see P T under the angle P S x, which is
therefore the heliocentric latitude. If y be the
first point of Aries, then as the diameter of the
earth\ orbit subtends no sensible angle at the
fixed stars, a line drawn from £ to y may be
considered as parallel to a line drawn firom S to y.
Hence
the geocentric longitude of P (L) is Z vEy
the heliocentric longitude of P (P) is ^ ir S y
the longitude of the sun, (0) is 2. S £ y,
and consequently,
L=© + Z. SE»=© + E.
£ representing the angle S £ ir, called the angle
of elongation.
624. The angle £ S r, is called the angle of
oonunntation, (G) the angle S ir £, or rather the
angle S P £, under which the earth's radius ap-
pears fipom the planet, is called the annual pa-
rallax.
625. To proceed, y Sir,(P) =: Z. S£ y -h
1 80'* — £ S X = 0 -h 1 80** — G, whence P may
be determined, if G be previously known. But
S £ is known from the solar theory, and S £ ir,
or £ s: L — 0 is known, since L can be com-
puted as we have shown above firom the obsei^
ved right ascension and declination, and 0 is
known from the solar theory ; therefore to find
the angle £ S r, and all the other parts of the
triangle, it is only necessary to know S x, which
is called the curtate distance.
626. Now Sir = SP cos. Z. PSir = y .
008. H; whence to find S ir we must know the
values of y and H. Let I = P N x, represent
the inclination of the planet's orbit, to the plane
of the ecliptic. Then by spherics, tan. H = cos.
N X . tan. I, whence to find H we miist pre-
viously know I and N ir, the distance of the re-
duced place of the planet from the node of its
orbit, which distance is evidently equal to the
longitude of the planet, minus the longitude of
the node.
627. If the eccentricity of the orbit be jmadl,
S P, or r, may be determined by Kepler's law,
but it is Uie mean distance which is determined
Digitized by
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174
ASTRONOMY.
hj that law ; and thcreforf except P moTe in a
circle, S P so determined \vill not be quite cor-
rect And in hct there » no direct and general
method of determinin| S P. Astrononien there-
fore select those positions of a planet in which its
lieliocentric longitude is exactly known. Now
when the inferior planets are in conjunction, their
longitudes are exactly known, as when they are
in supeijor conjunction their longitudes are equal
to 0, and in inferior equal to 180* + 0.
628. In such positions then the heliocentric
longitude is obtained without anv knowledge of
S T, and without trigonometrical computation.
The p^ocentric longitude may be computed from
the nght ascension and declination bytke formu-
lai already given.
629. If we conceive N ir C to represent the
earth's orbit, and e B that of an inferior planet,
then £ IT S is called the planet's angle of elong-
ation, and V £ 3 its annual parallax, when w £
is a tangent to £ <.
T9 find the penodie iMie, mean wioiianf and dit*
tance of a planet.
630. From the observed right ascensions and
declinations compute its geocentric latitude ; and
find when it is equal to nothing. The planet
is then in its node. Find in the same way at
some subsequent period when H returns to the
same node, and thence the periodic time may be
determined.
631. This method of finding the periodic time
serves also to show whether the orbit is eccentric,
and the degree of die eccentricity ; as will appear
from the following detail given by Delambre^for
finding the periodic time of Msin :-^u1y 23d,
1807. ^ in his descending node (|}) and his
eoulbem latitude increased tiU Dec. Ifilii. If
the latter time be assumed as that when Ida latfr*
inde was greajteet, and the inteivil (145 days)
of his passage from tke node to that poskiaa, be
taken as one^fourth of hia periodic tune, the pe-
riod will then be 560 days.
632. But on May 21st, 1808, ^ in his ascend-
ing node (Q) and the interval in hia passage
iicom C9 to Q waa 309 days. If that interval
were half the period,the period would be 604 days.
633. Again am Marea 7th» 1809, the north
latitude of Mara was 9^ 49^ ; and in June 8th, it
was (0), when Mara had returned to the node in
which he was on Jnly S3d, 1807, in 687 davs,
which must be very nearly the period of his
levdlntion.
634 Now from this detaU, and what we have
done before, we may infer that the orbit of Mam
is not circular, and that the major axia ia neither
perpendicular to, nor Goincident with* the line of
the node.
635. But we may draw farther inferences.
The time from 3 to Q being less than the oth«
half of the period by 83 dams if (plate VI. fig.
13) N fi reprwent the line of the Qodee, we have
NAii — NB» 83 , ..
— jA ■ :;! 2j- since the areas are propor-
tional to the times. Now wlien Nn is parpen*
dicular to A B, the difference between N A « and
NBii is a maximnm. In such a position
AEN — NEB ,. ^ ,41 ,,
time fitmi B to N won)d beaeaity 162 daya aoi
fioBaNloA193daya.
636. But the period being nearljr 687 days in
which the planet describes 360° the time of de-
scribing 90^ would be nearly 1 71 days, supposing
the planet to depart fiom B^ and to mov« with
its mean motion; but as we have seen, (he planet
was in N nineteen days pveviously, in whicli
time its mean motion is equSil to nearly 10*°.
When the real planet therefore was at N, tlte fic-
titious body moving with the planet's mean
motion would be nearly 10° behind. Now this
difference is what hae been denominated tb^
equation of the centre, which at N is nearly at
its greatest value. Hence the greatest equation
of the centre in Mars cannot be less than 10^.
The same process for finding the periodic time,
and like infi^rences respecting the eccentricity
are applicable to Jupiter and Satom. But the
Georgian planet has not completed more than half
a revolution since it was first discovered, and yet
we have the elements of its orbit to a very con-
siderable degree of exactness. The folwwing
method of detennination by La Lande (one indeed
of tttsX and conjecture, but which after a few
times is sure of sueceeding) will be easily under-
stood,
637. Resuming the notation already employed ;
the angle of elongation (£J «* L--0, l» heiog
the geocentric longitude, and £ ir S, the angle <d
paraltaix (w) is the difference of the helioeeetrie
and geocentric longitudes, and therefore eenal to
P — ^L. Now £:=L — 0 is known, and ir is
Sfi
known firam theexpres»on sin. sr «^«in, ^^—
if we can find S t. If we assume a value (r) for
S «• (Sir and S F being nearly equal) we shall
from the above equation have a corresponding
value of V, and thence of P : let tiiis value be
represented by P*. Make another computation
with 9 and a second and third geoceotnc longi-
tude, and let the resulting heliocentric longitudes
beP^andP-. Then we have p- — P*, P*—
P*,and P^ — P, and ftom the three times of
observation, t;»f and IT we have f — t^lT —
r and r--r.
Hence P"*— P: r — C : : 860* : planet's period.
Or P*— F : r— r : :3eO': planet's period.
As P^—P'ir—rctSfiO*: planet's period.
638. Bv any of these three proportions may
the period be computed ; but r is assumed as the
mean distance, ana if 1 r: the earth's mean dis-
tance, and p its periodic time ; the periodic time
of the planet will be represented by p r }; and
if this result agree with toe former one, it will be
a proof that rhas been rightly assumed ; and the
disagreement by its nature and maflniitude will
S>int out the manner and extent of correcting
e first assumption for y.
639. Ia Lande computed from three geocentric
observations of the planet made on April 25tK,
July 31st, and Dec. t2di, 1781, and he found
firom the above formulae, the periodic Ume. The
two values disagreeing he amended hie first as-
sumption, guided partly by eontectnre and partly
by his first trial, tul a value or r was obtained,
vdiieh agreed with all Ae observations.
640. The distance of an inferior planet oiay
also be determined finom observatiotts on its dia-
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ASTRONOMY.
176
tanoe from the son when stationaiyy or from what
has been called its greatest elongation. JLet £
and £' be two of the greatest elongations, one
when the planet is in aphelion and the other in
perihelion, t the eccentricity of the orbit, R and
R' the distances oC the earth from tlie sun,
and r the planet's mean distance; then « =
Rsin=E— R'sinE' . ^. ^ ^
rtT ' *" equation which deter-
mines the relation between the eccentricity and
mean distance.
641. We proceed now to the method of deter-
mining the place of the node of a planet's orbit,
and the inclination of its orbit to the plane of the
ecliptic, tn fig. 16, plate VI. let N n, represent
the nodes. Now from the observed right ascen-
sion and declination we can in an hour even com-
pute the planet's geocentric latitude, and when
this is equal to 0, the planet is in its node.
J^t £, £' be the two positions of the planet
when, as viewed from the earth, it is respectively
at n and N. Then S £ n = geocentric longitude
ofplanet at«~0and$£'N= ©'—geocen-
tric longitude of planet at N. Now we already
know how to compute S N or S a, and hence in
the triangles S £ », S £ N, we can compute the
angles »S£, Sfi£, and NSE', SN£'; and
thence heliocentric Ion. of n ssl80+ 0 — ^ » S£
and heliocentric Ion, of N = 0' — 180 +
Z.N S £', 0 and 0' lepiesentiikg the sun's km-
gitudes at the two times of obs^vation ; and th«
angle £S £' is proportional to the earth's mo-
tion during the planiBlft pam^ from n to N.
649. It IS evident tfiat the determination of the
place of the node is the more difficult, the less is
the inclination of the planet's orbit; and it is
difficult on this account to determine the nodes
of the orbits of Jupiter and the Gveorgian planets.
643. The longitude of the node being foundji
the inclination of the orbit may be thus deter-
mined: Compute the day oaawhioh the sun's
longitude will be the same, w nearW the same
as the longitude of the node, the earth will then
be nearly in the line of the nodes N fi, at some
point e, fie. 16, plate VI. On that day observe
the planet's right ascension and declination, and
theniBe deduce the geqoentric latitude (G.) Then
^ « iin.tSe ^ sin.N<
tan. G ; but sin. N <=cot. t Np, f j) ; or tan. I sin,
N ( s= < J) (I denoting the inclination) ; whence
tan.G
ttn.I.is ■ . ^. A like diagram and a similar
process will apply to a superior planet. Tha
inclination may also be determined from observing
the planet at conjunction when its latitude is con-
siderable. If f' = die pUnet's distance from the
sun reduced to the ecliptic, I the inclination, and
G, as above, the geocentric latitude. Then it
Q»y be easily shown, that :
«...(._,+;-«..i)-J^
an equation from which I may be obtained, either
by approximation, or the solution of a quadratic
equation.
644. The next step in the investigation is the
determination of the form of the planetary orbits.
For the sake of simplifying the problem, in the
first instance, we shall suppose that the planet's
orbit lies in the plane of the ecliptic. Since the
mean motion is known finom the periodic time, '
and by observing in opposition or conjunction
the planet's true longitude we can at any instant
determine its mean longitude. Then if the
elapsed time were the interval between two con-
junctions, and the orbit were circular, the com-
puted mean longitude would agree with the last
observed longitude ; and a difference would be
an indication of the orbit^s eccentricity; which
difference must depend both on the eccentrici^
and the place of the aphelion.
645. To apply these considerations to the sub*
ject in hand, let N (fig. 14, plate VI.) be the
node of the orbit. Then as its longitude may be
considered (from what has preceded) as known,
and the longitude of a planet when in conjunc-
tion with the sun is known, being equal to 180^
+ 0» if we deduct the longitude of the planet
firom the longitude of the node^ there remains
N w. Now as the elliptical motion takes place
in the orbit N P it is r^ouisite to know N P, and
other like distances of tne planet ficom its node.
But N wbeing known, and the angle P N v ; the
distance N P may be computed. For let P N=n
COS. N. COS. N ir.
646. If we set off on the orbit of the planet
an arc (A) s= N r, the longitude of the node,
we shall have A + N P which is called die lon-
g'tude of the planet on its orbit; and we can
ive as many such longitudes as there are obser-
vations in conjunction or opposition.
647. Three observations are sufficient to deter-
mine the two elements of die eccentricity, and
the place of the aphelion; for if we have three
longitudes (V, V*,V*,) we have two indepen-
dent differences of longitude, and as soon as the
planet's period is known, we can compute two
portions of its mean motion corresponding to
the two corresponding noted intervals of time \
and the two real differences of longitude com-
pared aoeording to the elliptic theory, with the
corresponding portions of mean motion, will give
us two equations fi>r determining the eccentricity
and place of the aphelion.
648. Let e be the eccentricity (supposed to be
very small) ^ the longitude of die perihelion^
the place of which suppose to be at some point
between N v^d P» W let M,M'>M^ be tha
mean anomalies reckoned from the perihelion.
Then we have
V — ^ = M -fSe.sin. ^^Z.
V — ^ = M' + 2 c . sin, ^^^T"
V^f^ W^ 2 « . «n. V"^ ^
HenceV'-^V— M'— M(?:5«)«s2e. {sin. V — f — sin. V — ^|
And V-V— M'— Br(=6) = 2 c. | sin. V -^ ^ -- sin. V— ^ |
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176
Now as VjV'jV are known, and M'— M
ASTRONOMY.
of these equations be divided by the second we bar
M"— M' are known from the period of the planet
and the elapsed time; for if t be the interval be-
tween the observations of V and V; we have
t 360^
I'lanet's period : 360» ::t: M'— M = -^-g;
Hence since a and b are knovm, we have two
equations for determining e and f. If the first
1" a
^ sm. V— ^— «n. V-— ^
"— . -■ . : — rf= nKwa whence, by re-
"J— sin.V— 0— sm.V* — ^ * '
dnction we obtain tan. ^ zi
a • sin. V — sin. V — b • sin. V — sin.">r
4'sm.
649. Then e and 0, and the miyor axis being
«etermined, we can compute the radius sector y
from this expression, r =: .,
^ 1+e-cos. V — 0:
and since the place of the node, and the inclina^
tion of the orbit are determined, we can compute
the curtale distance S ir, on the supposition that S
P, from which it is deduced, is the radius vector of
an elliptical orbit. If, therefore, in any of the
processes for determining the elements of the
planet's orbit, the curtale distance S t has been
supposed derived from S P, considered as a mean
■distance, we may now, vrith a more correct value
of S T, repeat the operations and correct the re-
«ults.
650. We shall now direct our attention to the
method of finding the synodical revolutions of
the planets, and of computing their returns to
the sajnepoint of their orbits.
651. The time between conjunction and con-
junction, or between opposition and opposition,
IS called a synodical period. Let us suppose
that at a given instant tne sun, Mercury, ana the
€arth, are in the same right line ; then, after any
elapsed time (a day for example), Mercury will
have describcKi an angle tn, and the earth an
nle M, round the sun, therefore at the end of
&y die separation of Mercury from the earth,
as seen from the sun, will be m — M, and at the
end of f. days I. m — M; and wheni. m — M =
360^, the sun. Mercury, and the earth, will be
again in the same right line, and in that case
360°
f = - j^, where # denotes a synodical period
and m, M the mean motions of Mercury and
the earth for any equal intervals of time.
65.3. Let P and p denote the siderial periods
of the earth and the planet; then, since 1 d. : M°
: : P : 360*^ and 1 d. : m** : : p : 360°, we have
360 360°
M = p and m =: ; which substituted
* P
for m and M in the preceding equation, gives
* = p ^ '' Or if 1 represents the earth's mean
distance, and r that of the planet; we have P ;
I P _j p
p::l:r';or — =r 'whence« = z r.
P —l^^
We have here three expressions, from any of
which 8 may be computed.
654. Forinstance,inthecaseofMercury,p=87
d. 969, and P being 365-269, we have «, the synodi-
cal period of Me„«.y = ^'''''^ >' ^''^^ -
15d. 31 h. nearly.
277-287
a • COS. V — COS. V — 6 • cos. V — cos. V
Hence, ^ being determined, we have
sin. i;
-V, /V'+V \
_»cos.(^^ fl
In the case of the moon/ m = 13°-1763, and
M, the earth's daily mean motion = 59" 8'- 3 ;
whence # == ^^., := 29 d. 12h. neariy
655. Since s zi
M
«P
fz::f>PTfV
there-
fore from the knovm periodic time of the earth,
and the observed synodic pjeriod of a planet, we
can determine p, the periodic time of the planet
But to insure accuracy in the determination, the
return of the planet to a conjunction nearly in
the same part of its orbit, at which a previous
one was observed, ought to be noted, and the
interim divided by the number of synodical
revolutions will give the mean synodic period.
For under these circumstances there will be
nearly a mutual compensation of the inequalities
arising from the elliptic form of the planet'?
orbit.
656. Another reason for attending to this
caution, is that on such conjunction depend the
transits of Venus and Mercury, over the son's
disk. For it is evident that Venus to be seen on
the sun's disk, must not only be in conjunction,
but near the node of her orbit : at the next con-
junction, afler one synodical revolution, she
cannot be near her node, and can only be again
near when she returns to the same part of her
orbit, as at the first time of observation.
657. The preceding formule for the synodic
periods afford us the means of knowing these
particular conjunctions.*-
The times of a synodic period is =z p_^-,
therefore at-^^^ — ^, the planet will still be in
conjunction, n representing any whole number.
It will therefore be for the first time in conjunc-
tion, and the earth and planet will also be in
the same part of their orbits, when '^ ^ =
P— »
P, or when n = -. Hence the required
P — n
conjunction can only take place when ^,or
when,
whence we
some of its multiples is a whole number, say
m . P — p _^u "* P
— i- zz n, or when — n -5-^- — ;
fl r — p
ive simply to find two integers, n
and n, such that - ^ .. ^ •
' n P — p
658. Now the tropical revolution of Mercury
. ^. ^^^ , . m 87-96a
IS 87-968 days, hence- = 3^5-256-87 968
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ASTRONOMY.
177
n ^yr:^g, consequently in 87,988 penods of
the earth, there will b^ 277288 synodical revolu-
tions of Mercuiy, which vriU then be observed
again in conjunction, and in the same part of its
orbit. This result however, from the length of
the period, is of no practical use ; we must,
therefore by means of continued fractions (see
Algebra) endeavour to find fractions in smaller
terms, having nearly the same value as -,
2772oo
659L Making the computation we find the fol-
lowing series of fractions continually approxima-
ting to Ihis value.
±6 7 13 33 46
3' 19' "22"' IP l04' "14? ^^' ""
which the denominators denote the number of
synodical revolutions, corresponding to the num-
ber of years expressed by the numerator. Take
as an example the fourth fraction, in thirteen
years, one 474-8328 days, and forty-one synodi-
cal periods, 475-0875 days, differing by only about
six hours. If the sixth fraction be taken the ^^^^ o xu -6*f
difference will be little more than two hours. ▼»!«« of — j> which will be — , -g , —
&c. a series of approximating value to ^ , from
which we are able to tell after what number of
synodic periods Venus and the earth will be
nearly in the same parts of their orbits.
661. Thus, taking the fifth fraction, we infer
that after 142 synodic periods, 227 circumfer-
ences nearly, will be described ; or 142 synodic
periods are nearly equal to 227 years ; and on
trial we find 575*-51 X 142 = 360° x 227 +
2° 42', or 2°-42 in excess. If we take the sixth
fraction we shall find the result only 0^-03 in de-
fect. Hence, 235 years after a transit of Venus
we may confidently expect another, and also
after 235 -h 8, or 243 years ; neglecting as we
have done, and may safely do, the small altera-
tion in the place of the node, that takes place in
the interval of the transit.
662. A transit, however, may happen when
the planet is in, or nearly in, the opposite node
of her orbit. To find the time when it is proba-
ble that transits in the opposite node may
happen, we have merely to And approximative
57551 ^v:.u _.... v.. 3 16 227
660. In a similar way we may compute a
series of fractions which will indicate the periods
when transits of Venus may be expected. Thus,
as Venus's period (p) = 224 d. 7008240, and
the earth's (P) = 365d. 256385, the synodical
period of Venus («) ^-^ = 583-92 d. nearly;
and consequently in one synodical period the
earth describes 575®*51 nearly ; as in n synodical
periods, n. 575®- 51 ; and when this first becomes
a multiple of 360®, the earth and Venus will be
first in conjunction, in the line from which diey
originally departed. If, therefore, Venus were
so near the node in this orig^inal position that a
transit took place, a transit will take place when
(as before) — =r ■ -^^^ Whence, by continued
470
Ti?
&c. Taking the third of these fractions,
fractions, we obtain —, — -, --^ —-,
222
IIP
235
143*
we have 71 x 575*'-51 = 180° x 227 -|- l°-2i;
the fourth gives 147 X 575°-51 = 180° x 470"*
— 0°-03. Whence, supposing the earth, \'enus,
and the sun, to be exactly in a line, Venus being
in one of her nodes, then, in 71 synodic periods,
Venus will be 1°21 distant from the otlier node,
and in 147 83modic periods, only <about three
hundreth parts of a degree distant from that node.
663. Did our limits permit, we should now
enter upon the most difficult branch of the
science, the Lunar Theory , but we must content
ourselves with referring those who would acquaint
themselves vrith this highly interesting subject,
to the works of La Lande, La Place, and other
foreigners, and to the astronomy of the late Pro-
fessor Vince; more especially, however, to the
elegant and masterly work of Professor Wood-
house.
664. Table of the TrmuUs of Venus over
the Sun
's Disk, that wUl occur to the Year 3000.
Shortest Di8t.
Ye«t.
True Time of Middle of Transit.
for centre of
observed at the
Yenos.
Earth's centre.
H,
M.
S.
H. M. 8.
1874
Dec. 8
15
43
27
2 4 41
13' 51" N
1882
Dec. 16
4
49
41
3 1 43
10 29 S
2004
June 7
20
26
58
2 44 50
11 19 S
211*
June 5
13
37
25
3 20 45
8 20 N
2117
Dec. 10
14
34
0
2 22 50
13 ON
2125
Dec. 8
3
44
30
2 48 20
11 28 S
2247 .
June 11
23
51
13
2 7 52
13 17 S
2255
June 8
16
59
9
3 36 2
6 23 N
2360
Dec 12
13
29
31
2 42 27
11 49 N
2368
Dec. 10
2
38
5
2 29 12
12 37 S
2490
June 12
3
13
58
1 2 14
15 14 S
2498
June 9
20
20
58
3 46 24
4 29 N
2603
Dec. 15
12
25
54
2 56 47
10 56 N
2611
Dec. 13
1
40
30
2 15 20
13 20 S
2733
2741
June 15
June 12
6
23
33
38
52
38
17 9 N
2 '35 N
3 53 23
2846
Dec. 16
11
26
34
3 7 24
9 56 N
2864
Dec. 14
0
44
20
1 54 10
14 12 S
2984
June 14
2
51
52
3 56 9
0 45 N
vot.ni.
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178 ASTRONOMY.
665. TaUe of the TVoniO of lUrewy oter the Sim's Didt, that %M ocetr htfiirt th» Ytar UOO.
1
Sliertcet Dedin.
Yeait.
True Time of Middle of Tnaut. |
ScBudnntiim.
otMervedetOM
•
Eaxth't centre.
H.
M.
8.
H. M. 8.
1832
May
0
18
0
• 3 28 2
8' 16" N
1835
Not.
8
12
21
2 33 53
5 37S
1845
May
r
32
57
3 22 33
8 58 S
1848
Nov.
7
49
42
2 41 33
2 36 N
1861
Nov.
11
19
20
13
2 0 23
10 52 N
1868
Nov.
19
18
20
1 45 2
12 20 .S
1878
May
6
55
13
3 53 3
4 39N
1881
Nov.
12
59
32
2 39 9
3 57S
1891
May
14
14
32
2 34 20
12 21 N
1894
Nov.
10
6
36
28
2 37 36
4 20
SicT. VI. — ^Preliminary OBSERyATiom
RESPECTIHO £CUPSE8.
666. Before we lay dovrD rules for calculating
eclipses, it is necessary to make a few general ob-
servations respecting their nature and causes.
All tiie planetff and satellites being illuminated by
the sun, cast their shadows towaids that point of
the heavens whidi is opposite to die sun. This
shadow is nothing but a privation of lights in the
space hid from the sun by the opaque bod^r that
intercepts his rays. When the sun\ light is in-
tercepted by the moon, so that he appears covered
in whole, or in part, to any part of the earth, he
is said to undergo an eclipse; tfao^rfa, property
speaking, it is only an eclipse of that part of the
earth where the moon's shadow or penumbra
falb. When the earth comes between the sun
and moon, the moon falls into the earth's sha-
dow; and having no light of her own, she suffiers
a resd and total eclipse from the interception of
the sun's rays. >^en the sun is eclipsed to us,
the moon's inhabitants, on the side next the
earth, see her shadow like a dark spot travelling
over the earth, about twice as &st as its e^uato*
rial parts move, and the same way ai> they move.
W^hen the moon is in an eclipse, the sun ap-
pears eclipsed to her inhabitants ; totally to all
those pans on which the earth's ihadow falls,
and or as long continuance as they are in the
shadow.
667. Although all opaque bodies, on which
the sun shines, have their shadows, yet such are
the distances of the planets, and the size of the
sun, that the primary planets can never eclipse
one another. A primary can eclipse only its
secondary, or be eclipsed by it; and never but
when in opposition or conjunction with the sun.
The pnma^ planets are very seldpm in these
positions, but the sun and moon are so every
month ; whence one may imagine that these two
luminaries should be eclipsed every month. But
there are few eclipses in respect of the number
of new and full moons ; the reason of which we
shall now explain.
668. If the moon's orbit were coincident with
the plane of the ecliptic, in which the eardi al-
ways moves, and the sun appears to move, the
moon's shadow would fall upon the eardi at
every change, and eclipse the sun to some parts
of the earth. In like manner, the moon would
go through the middle of the earth's shadow, and
be eclip^ at every full ; but with this difference,
that she would be totally darkened for above an
hour and an h^f ; whereas the sun never was
above four minutes totally eclipsed to us by the
interposition of the moon. But one half of the
moon's orbit is elevated 5^ degrees above the
ecliptic, and the other half as much depressed
below it; and when the sun and moon are more
than 17^ degrees from either of tlie nodes at the
time of conjunction, the moon is then generally
too high or too low in her orbit to cast any part
of her shadow upon the earth : when the sun is
more than 12° nrom either of the nodes at the
time of full moon, the moon is ganerallv too
high or too low in her orbit to go throu^ any
part of the earth's shadow ; and in both these
cases there will be no eclipse.
669. But when the moon is less than 17^ from
either node at the time of conjunction, her sha-
dow or penumbra &lls more or less upon te
earth, as she is more or less within this limit.
And when she is less than 12° from either node
at the time of opposition, she ffoes through a
greater or less portion of tfie earm's shadow, as
she is more or less vrithin this limit Her orbit
contains 360°; of which 17°, the limit of solar
eclipses on either side of the nodes, and 12°, the
timit of lunar eclipses, are but small portions ;
and, as the sun commonly passes bv tne nodes
but twice in a year, it is no wonder Aat we have
so many new and fiiU moons without eclipses.
670. To illustrate this, let ABCD, plate V.
fig. 9, be the ecliptic, RSTU a circle tying in
the same plane with the ecliptic, and.VXYW
the moon's orbit, all thrown into an oblique
view, which gives them an elliptical shape to the
eye. One half of the moon's orbit, as V WX,
is always below the ecliptic, and the other hal^
X Y V, above it. The points V and X, where di%
moon's orbit intersects the circle RST U, whicii
lies even with the ecliptic, are the moon's nodes;
and a right line, XEv, drawn from one to the
other through the earth's centre, is the line of the
nodes, which is ca^rried almost pamllel to itself
round the sun in a year. If the moon moved
round the earth it the orbit RSTU, which is
coincident vrith ^e plana of the ectiptic, her
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ASTRONOMY-
179
sharbw would fall upon, the earth every time ihe
is in conjunction witii the sun, and at every op-
position she would go through the earth's
shadow ; and thus the sun would be eclipsed at
every change, and the moon at every full.
671. But although the moon's sh^ow N must
fall upon the earth at a when the earth i3 at B,
and the moon in conjunction with the sun at t,
because she is then very near one of her nodes ;
and at her opposition, n, she must go through the
earth's shadow I, because she is then near the
other node, yet, in the time that she goes round
the earth to her next change, according to the
order of X Y VW, the earth advances from £ to
€, according to tiie order of EFGH; and the
line of the nodes VEX, being carried nearly
parallel to itself, brings the point /of the moon'i
orbit in conjunction with the sun at that next
change. The moon being then at /, it too high
above the ecliptic to cast her sl^ow on the
earth ; and, as the earth is still moving forward,
the moon at her next opposition will be at g^
too &r below the ecliptic to go through' any part
of the earth's shadow ; for by that time the point
g will be at a considerable distance from the
earth as seen from the sun.
672. When the earth comes to F, the moon,
in conjunction with the sun Z, is not at A in a
plane coincident with the ecliptic, but above it
at Y, in die highest part of her obit ; and then the
point b of her shadow 0 goes fiur lUwve the
earth, as in fig. 2, plate IV, which gives an edge
view of fig. 9. The moon, at her next opposition,
is not at o, but at W, where the earth's shadow
goes fiur above her, as in fig. 2, plate IV. In
Doth these ca3es the line of the nodes is about
90^ from the sun, and both luminaries are as far
w possible from the limits of the eclipses. When
the earth has gone half round the ecliptic, from
£ to G, the Ime of the nodes VG X is nearly, if
not exactly, directed towards the sun at Z ; and
then the new moon /, casts her shadow P on the
earth G ; and the full moon p goes through the
earth's shadow L ; which brings on eclipses again,
as when the earth was at £. When the earth
comes to HT, the new moon fells not at' m, in a
plane coincident with the ecliptic C D, but at
W in her orbit below it; aiid men her shadow
Q, see fig. 2, plate IV, goes &r below the earth.
At the next fiill she is not at 9, fig. 9, {^ate V, but
at Y in her orbit 5| degrees above 9, and at her
greatest height above the ecliptic CD; being then
as far as possible, at any opposition, from the
earth's shadow M, as in fig. 2, plate IV.
' 673. Thus when the earth is at F and G, tlie
moon is about her nodes at new and full, and in
her greatest north and south decimation (or lati-
tude as it is generally called) from the ecliptic at
her quarters ; but when the earth is at F or H,
the moon is in her greatest north and south decli-
nation frx>m the ecUptic at new and full, and in
the nodes about her quarters. The point X,
where the moon's orbit crosses the ecliptic, is
called the ascending node, because the moon as-
cends firom it above the ecliptic ; and the oppo-
site point of intersection, V, is called the
'descending node, be<»use the moon descends
from it below the ecliptic.
674. When the moon is at Y, in the highest
point of her orbit, she is in her greatest north
latitude ; and when she is at W, in the lowest
point of her orbit, she is in her ^^reatest south
latitude. If the line of die nodes, like the earth's
axis, was carried parallel to itself round the sun,
there would be just half a year between the con-
junctions of the sun and nodes. But the nodes
shift backwards, or contrary to the earth's annuiU
motion, 19^^ every year; and therefore the same
node come* rouna tne sun nineteen days sooner
every year than on the year before. Conse-
quenUy, from the time that the ascending node
A (when the earth is at £) passes by the sun as
seen from the earth, it is only 173 days (not half
a year) tfll the descending node, V, passes by
him.
675. TRierefbre, in whatever time of the year
we have eclipses of the luminaries about either
node, we may be sure that in 173 days afterward
we shall have eclipses about the other node.
And when at any time of the year the line of the
nodes is in the situation VGX, at the same time
next year it will be in the situation rGf ; the as-
cending node having gone backward, that i%
contrary to the order of sisns, from X to «, and
the descending node from V to r ; each 19i°.
676. At tiiis rate tiie nodes shift through all the
signs and degrees of the ecliptic in 18 years and
225 davs; in which time there would always be
a regular period of edips^ if any complete
number of lunations were finished witnout a fi^ic*
tion. But this never happens ; for if both the
sun and moon should start from a line of oon*
junction, with either of the nodes in any point of
the ecliptic, the -sun would perform 18 annual
revolutions and %2^^ over and above, and the
moon 230 lunations and 85^ of the 231st by the
time the node came round to the same point of
the ecliptic again ; so that the sun would then be
138° from the node, and the moon Q5° from the
sun. But in 223 mean lunations, after the sun,
moon, and nodes,, have been once in a line of
conjunction, they return so nearly to the same
state again, as that the same node, which was in
conjunction with thesun and moon at the beginning
of tbe first of these lunations, wiU be within 28'
12^ of a degree of a line of conjunction with the
sun and moon again, when the last of these lu<
nations is completed. And therefore in that
time there will be a regular period of eclipses, or
return of the same eclipse, for many ages.
677. In this period, which was first discovered
by the Chaldeans, there are 18 Julian y. lid,
7h. 43m. 20s., when the last day of February
in leap years is four times included ; but when
it is five times included, the period consists of
only 18y. lOd. 7h. 43m. 20s. Consequentiv, if
to the mean time of any eclipse, eitiier of the
sun or moon, you add 18 Julian y. lid. 7h«
43m. 20s., when the last 4ay of February in
leap-years comes in four times, or a day less
when it comes in five times, you will have the
mean time of the return of the same -eclipse.
But the falling back of the line of conjunctions,
or oppositions of the sun and moon 28* 12^, with
r^ect to the line of the nodes in every period,
will wear it ont in process of time; and after
that it will not return again in less than 12,493
years.
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ASTRONOMY.
67B. These eclipses of the sun, which happen
about the ascending node, and begin to come in
at the north pole of the earth, will go a little
southerly at each return, till they go quite off the
earth at the south pole; and those which happen
about the descending node, and begin to come
in at the south pole of the earth, will go a litUe
north at each return, till at last they quite leave
the earth at the north pole.
Sect. VIL— Op Calculating Eclipses.
679. The chief things to be considered in the
calculation of eclipses are, the magnitudes of the
shadow and penumbra of the opaque body, and
the ecliptical limits, or the distance from the
node, when an eclipse of the sun or moon will
happen. These must be calculated both for
lunar and solar eclipses. The operations may be
performed as follows : —
I. — ^Foa Lunar Ecupses.
680. In plate VIII. fiGr. 3, let A B be the sun,
and CD the earth. Draw AC, BD, by the
edges of the sun and earth, which will meet in
a point V, because the sun is bigger than the
earth. Through the centres of the sun and earth,
S and T, draw S TV. Also draw B C E, AD F,
touching the contrary sides of the sun and earth,
intersecting in P; also draw SC and CT. If
the whole figure be turned round, about the axis
SV, the lines AV, BV, APF, BPE, will gene-
. ratethetwoconesCVD, EPFjtheconeCVD,
18 the dark shadow of the earth, £ P F continued,
is the penumbral cone. And beyond V, the sec-
tion Of the cone £ P F, will be all in the pen-
umbra.
681. Hence, 1. Half the angle of the cone of
the earth's shadow CVT, is equal to the sun's
apparent semidiameter, less his horizontal paraU .
lax. For in the triangle SCV, the external
angle SCA = CVS + CST. AndCSTisthe
sun's pajallax.. Therefore CVT = SCA —
CST.
682. 2. Half of the angle of the earth's pe-
numbral cone CPT, is equal to the 'sun's semi-
diameter and his horizontal parallax. For in the
triangle CSP, the external angle CPT = PCS
+ CST.
683. 3. Hence half the angle of the earth's
penumbral cone C PT, is equal to half the angle
of the dark cone CVT + twice the sun's hori-
zontal parallax C ST.
684. 4. The apparent semidiameter of the
earth's dark shadow I K, upon the moon's orbit,
is equal to the sum of the horizontal parallaxes
of the sun and moon, less the sun's apparent
semidiameter. For the angle VCI = ClT —
CVIrrCIT — SCA + CST.
685. 5. The apparent semidiameter of the earth's
penumbra, G I, upon the moon's orbit, is equal
to the sum of the horizontal parallaxes of the sun
and moon + the sun's apparent semidiameter.
For in the triangle PCI, the external angle
ECI = CIT + CPT=:CIT + PCS +
CST.
686. 6. Hence to find the length of the earth's
shadow. In the triangle CTV there is given
the angle V =: sun's apparent semidiameter —
his parallax, and CT the earth's radius, to fiod
TV.
II.— Foe the Shadow and Penumbea, in
SOLAR Eclipses.
687. In plate IV, fig. 10, let A B be the sun*
KJL the moon, CD 3ie earth. Draw the tan-
gents AK, BL, by the edges of the sun and
moon, on the same side, to meet in V; and BK
G, ALH to touch the contrary sides. Draw S K,
IK; and through S and I, the centres of the sua
and moon, draw the axis SIV. Then if the
whole figure AKVLB be turned about the axis
SV, the sides AV, BV, and PH, PG, will ge-
nerate twocones KVL, GPH. The cone K VL
is the dark shadow of the moon, and the cune
GPH is the moon's penumbral cone. Hence,
688. 1. The angle uf the cone of the moon's
shadow KLV, the angle of the penumbral cone
KPL, the angles GKV, and HLV, are each
equal to the sun's apparent diameter A KB, very
nearly; and half the angle of either cone P or V
is equal to the sun's apparent semidiameter. For
by reason of the great aistance of the sun from T,
in respect of T P, T V, T I ; the apparent diameter
of the sun, seen from any of the places V, T, I,
P, K, will be the same, that is, the angles AVB
or KVL, APB or KPL, AKB or GKV,
ALB or VLH are all equal; differing only by
the angle K S I, whidi in the moon is insensible.
689. 2. The height of the cone I P is equal to
the cone VI. And KPL, KVL, are eqnal and
similar. For the angles at P and V are equal ;
and K L is common.
690. 3. The apparent semidiameter of the
moon's dark shadow Q O, upon the earth at O,
seen from the moon, is equal to the moon's ap-
parent semidiameter — ^the sun's apparent semi-
diameter. And if the sun's apparent semidia-
meter be greater, the shadow does not reach the
earth. For draw K 0 ; then in the triangle K O
V, VKOziKGS — KVS=:KOI— AV
S=KOI — I the sun's apparent diameter.
691. 4. The apparent semidiameter of the
moon's penumbra G 0, upon the surface of the
earth, as seen from the moon, is equal to the
sum of the apparent semidiameters of the sun and
moon. Draw GI and TGR. Then in the tri-
angle G P I, the external angle G I O = G P I
-h PGI = KPI + Kt>I=KPI + KOI
= AKS + KOL
692. 5. Hence, to find the length I V of the
moon's shadow. In the triangle K V I, there
is given the angle K V I =: half the son's appa-
rent diameter, and K I the earth's radius ; whence
VI will be had; and to find the arch QN of the
earth, involved in the moon's dark shadow. In
the triangle Q VT, we have given T V the dif-
ference between the moon's distance from the
earth, the height of the shadow; and the an-
gle QVO = the sun's apparent diameter, and
T Q the radius of the eartn; to find the angle
TQ V, to which add QVT, and the sum is the
angle QTO or arch QO; and doubled gives the
whole arch Q N.
693. 6. To find the arch of the earth G H
involved in tlie penumbra; say, as the earth>
radius G T ; to S. of the sun's apparent semidia>
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ASTRONOMY
181
meter : : so is PT the sum of the moon's dis-
tance and cone's height: to S.TG P or RG K.
From this take the sun's apparent semidiameter,
and there remains GTO =z GO, which doubled
gives G H. For in the triangle G P T, there is
given the angle P = the sun's apparent semidia-
meter/ and PT the moon's distance and height of
the cone, and T G the earth's radius ; to find the
angle RGK = GPT -|- PTG. Therefore P
TG or OTG=:RGK — GPT=RGK—
the sun's apparent semidiameter.
lU. To FIND THE ECLIPTICAL LiMITS.
694. An eclipse of the moon can only hap-
pen, when the distance of the centres of the
moon, and of the earth's penumbra, is less than
the sum of their semidiameters. For if the dis-
tance is greater, the moon and penumbra cannot
touch one another.
695. An eclipse of the sun cannot happen un-
less the distance of the centres of the sun and
moon, be less than the sum of their semidiame-
ters, when seen from a certain place. That it
shall appear in no place, the moon's parallax
must be added to the sum of the semidiameters.
696. In lunar eclipses, therefore, the moon's
latitude must be less than the sum of the semi-
diameters of the moon and of the earth's penumbral
shadow, taken at the moon's orbit. And in solar
eclipses, the moon's latitude must be less than
the sum of the sun's and moon's semidiameters
added to the moon's horizontal paralhix ; that the
eclipse may be visible some way : or without the
parallax, to be visible in a certain place.
697. Therefore in the right angled spherical
triangle, plate IV, fig. 4, Q SM, having the
^ngie ^, and the distance S M, the distance of
the sun from the node, g^ S will be known, or
the ecliptic limits. The mode of finding whidi,
may be seen from the following
Example. , „
Mean apparent semidiameter of the sun 16 4
Paiallax of the sun .... 12
Mean apparent semidiam. of the moon 15 38
Parallax of the moon 59 5
Inclination of the moon's orbit . 5 8 30
Hence will be obtained,
The semidiameter of the earth's pe-
numbra 1 13 21
The semidiameter of the moon and
earth's shadows . . 56 51
The semidiameter of the sun and moon 31 42
The same with the parallax 1 28 47
In the triangle ^ S M for the eclipse of the moon.
Here SM = 1« 13' 21" -|- 15 38" = 1° 28' 59".
. S. a = 5 8i . 8.952398
S.SM=1 28 59 . . 8.413067
Radius 10.
S. OS =16 47 9.460669
the limit for the lunar eclipse at a medium.
In the triangle Q S M for the eclipse of the sun.
Here S M = 1° 28' 47".
S- ft, =5 8i . 8.952398
S . S M = 1 28 47 8.412009
Radius 10.
S.a.S.= 16 15
9.459611
the limit for ttie solar eclipse, in any place;
about the same as for the lunar. But for a par-
ticular place, S M = 31 42 ; and S ft comes
out only 5^ 54' for the limit.
698. 1 . Hence there will at least be four eclip-
ses in a year, taking one year with another ; two
of the moon, land two of the sun. For 16° 47*
H- 16° 45 = 33° 32* or 32J°. Therefore the
sun stays above a month within the ecliptic limits
twice in the year. During which time the moon
makes two revolutions, and therefore must cause
two eclipses, either time ; one of the moon, and
another of the sun.
699. 2. Half of the eclipses will, in general, be
invisible at any given place. And consequently
one year with another there can only be two
visible eclipses in a year, the one lunar and the
other solar. For the sun and moon spend as
much time below the horizon as above it.
700. 3. The ecliptical limits may be found
for total eclipses, as well as for partial ones, by
the same method ; i. e. by taking S M =. the dif-
ference of the semidiameters of the earth's dark
shadow and of the moon, in lunar eclipses; or
^ the difference of the semidiameters of the
moon and sun, in solar eclipses.
701. 4. Eclipses do not always happen in
the same places of the zodiac; but in places
more and more westward. For the eclii>ses being
about the nodes, and the nodes regressive at the
rate of nineteen degrees in a year ; the places
of the eclipses are nineteen degrees more west
every succeeding year.
702. From these premises it will be necessary,
in calculating a particular eclipse, to consider the
angle that the moon's way makes with the sun
at the time of an eclipse. See plate' XI. fig. 4.
Let ft S be the ecliptic, ft M the moon's orbit,
ft the node. And let S be the sun, in the solar
eclipse ; or the centre of the earth's shadow, in
the lunar ; and M the moon at the time of the
syzygy. Take ft A to ft S as the sun's horary
motion, to the moon's, at that time ; draw M A,
then M A S is the angle required ; and A M the
moon's apparent orbit.
703. For by construction, in the time that the
moon has been moving from ft to M (that is,
through ft S reckoned in the ecliptic,) the sun
ha» moved through a space D S eaual to ft A.
Therefore the sun was in D, when the moon was
in the node at ft. Draw D B, M B parallel to
S m, SD; and draw B ft, which will be parallel
to M A. Now since the moon makes the same
latitude D B or S M, in the same time, whether
the sun moves or stands still ; and since S M is
her latitude, when the sun is at S, D B (equal to
S M) will be her latitude, supposing the sun had
stood at D, without any motion towards S ; and
consequently ft B will be her apparent way, to
an eye at D, through which she seems to move
in the same time. Or, which is tlie same thing,
A M will be her apparent way to an eye fixed at
S.— For the triangles AMS are ft BD are
equal; and M AS is the angle of her way with
the ecliptic. By the theory of relative motions,
in bodies moving the same way, all the apparent
motions are the same, as if one body stood still
and the other moved forward, with the difference
of their motions. And here ft D or AS is the dif-
ference of their motions supposing S to be fixed
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183
ASTRONOMY.
704. Haioe, ai the moon's homry motion : to
'Ae sun's boruy aiotion : : S Q the distance from
the node to A^. 'IlienSA:KSfi — A^.
As sine of S A : rad : : tangent moon's latitude
SM : tangtat angle A-
705. It is the apparent orbit A M that must
be mafie use o( in calculating all the particulaxs
of an eclipse. For nn observer oonsiden not S
as oioyiog; and therefore only the relative men-
tions are concerned. To calculate, therefore, an
edipee of the moon, the following rules will be
found useful.
IV. Rules FOR Calculating Luvab Eclipses.
706. 1. Find the true time of the oppositioui
when an eclipse ts to happen ; and let that be
reduced to e^arent time.
707. 2. Fmd the true places of the sun and
mooDy when in oppotntion : 2. The sun'« mean
anomaly, anjl the place of bis apogee: 3. The
place of the moon's ascending noae» and of her
apogee, and her latitude.
708. 3. Let Q S, fig. 1, pUte VIII. be a
part of the ecliptic; 3 M the moon's orbit; S
the centre of the earth's shadow, and M the moon,
when in opposition. Take $^ A, to Q S whidi
is known byealeulatxon; as the sun's horary mo-
tion, to the moon's ; which are known from the
astronomical tables. Draw A M, for the way of
the moon from the son. Thm in the right
aiM;led spherical triangle AS M» there is given
AS (ss fi S— Q A); and SM the moon's
latitude found by calculation : to find the angle
SMA.
709'. 4. Let SP fiOl perpendicular to AM;
tiien since die arches SM, M P, S P, are very
small, they may be taken for right lines ; and the
triangle S M P for a plane triangle. Tien bar-
ing SM and angle SM P; MP and SP will be
found, where P is the place qf the moon in
the middle of the eclipse. Likewise the time of
the moon's moving through M P will be known
by her hoiaiy motion ; and from thence the time
when she b at P, or the middle of the eclipse.
710. 5. From the astrouomical tables, find the
•an and moon's apparent semidiameteis, for
the time of opposition; and their horizonlal
paralhoes.
711. 6. From any convenient scale of equal
parts, with the centre P and radius P B, eqihil
to the minutes contained in the moon's radius,
describe the circle B C o for the moon. And
with the radius SD (equal to the sum of the
aun and moon's horizontal parallaxes ; the sun's
semidiameter, all in minutes,) describe the cir-
cle DEB, from the centre S, then this circle
will represent the earth's dark shadow. like-
wise with the same centre S, and radius SF
(equal to the sum of the sun and moon's panl-
laxes + the sun's semidiameter, in minutes,)
describe the ciide FQG; and this will be the
earth's penumbra.
712. 7. Tbese rules being observed, it will
be easy to find all the requisites by scale and
compasses, by measuring them; or rather by
calculation, in the several rightpungled plain
triangles, contained in the scheme. Thus, to
find when the moon first touches the penumbra at
L; in the right uigled triangle S P K, there is
given S P, and 8K (the sum of the radii SL
and PB), to find PK. Which being known,
the time of the moon's passing tlirough it will
be known, l^ the moon s horary motion from
the sun.
713. To find when the moon first eoten the
dark shadow of the '^arth in D : in the right
angled triangle S P I, there is given S P, and S I,
(the sum ofthe radii SD,PB,) to find PI; and
x^ottsequently the time of half the duration iu the
shadow.
714. To find the digits, or 12th parts of the
moon eclipsed. Here no the part eclipsed is =
Sn-hPo-SP; and IH^or^^^is thenum-
' 2Po Po
her of digits ecHpsed. In total eclipses of the
mooni the earth's shadow often reaches fiuther
than the moon. And then more than twelve dh
gits are said to be eclipsed, supposing the moan's
disk to be produced so &r.
715. To find the time when the moon wholly
enters into the dark shadow BED, follow the
same method as when it entered into the penum-
bra G Q F. This will be evident, by supposing
G Q L the dark shadow. In that case SI will
be the difference of the semidiaraetero of the moon
and daik ehadow. The times of passing dirough
P I, P K, &c. being known, and the time of the
middle of the eclipse at P, the beginning and
end will be known.
716. 8. Hence, if the moon or circle C Bo
never touches die circle G Q F, thefe will be no
eclipse, not even by the penumbra. And if the
same circle never touches the circle B D E, there
will be no part of the moon totally eclipsed. And
if the whob circle C B o enter into the circle
B E D, the whole moon will be totally eclipsed;
and that is when S P is less than the difference
of the semidiameters S D and P B. If the point
S be in the node, then P falk upon S, and the
eclipse is central. When only a part ofthe cir-
cle C Bo goes intoihe circle B £ D, the eclipse
is a partial one, as in this figure*
717. 9. The time of the eclipse being known
for any pattioular place, it is easy to know if it be
visible at that place, by knowing if the moon be
risen. Or the place will be known where the
moon is vertical; and therefore it will be visible
to all places within a quadrant's distance from
it
718. 10. If the spectator live in the place, (or
in the same longitude) which the tables are caJcu-
lated for; he will see the eclipse at the time
determined by the calculation. If not, he will
see it an hour sooner for every 15° difference of
longitude, that he lives west from it. And so
much later, if he lives eastward ; that is, in the
way of reckoning time. But in regard to ab-
solute time, it is seen from all places at the same
instant.
Example.
To find ike timeoftke Lunm- EeUpu, Deemhtt
XZth, 1769 ; iU DwrutMn and DtgUs eeUfted.
719.' 1. The mean time ofthe syrrgiea, by the
tables, is found to be December 12d. 19h. 27m.
at which time the moon's horary motion from the
sun is 35' 33". At this time, computing the
true places of the sun and moon, the moon will
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ASTRONOMY.
183
appear to be 95 10* before the sun. And Aere-
fbre the time u past the syzygy, 59m. 12s.
Therefore,
From Id. 19h. 27m. Os.
Take 0 0 59 12
True time 1 18 27
48
The places being computed again, the moon is
only f before die sun, wfaidi amounts to 12*
of time; therefore the time of opposition is 12d.
}8h. 27m. 36s. which reduced to apparent time
is December 12d. 18h. 32m 51s.
2. The sun's place is . . 8s. 21** 3r 35"
The moon's place .. 2 21 37 35
Place of the ascending node 8 14 46 13
Her latitude south . . 37 58
The sun's horary motion 2 33
The moon's horary motion 38 6
3. H^nce the moon is e"" 51' 22" past the de-
scending node: that is Q S is6''51' 22". There-
fore ft A = 17' 32", and AS = 6° 23' 50".
Therefore the angle S M A= 84° 22' 28".
4. Hence drawing the ecliptic R S, and S M
perpendicular to it, and equal to 37' 58" from a
scale of minutes, as in fig. 12, plate IX. and
making the angle S M A = 84"" 22f. We find
die perpendicular S P = r 47", and M P = 3'
43". And therefore, the horary motion of the
moon from the sun being 35' 33", P M will be
passed over in 6' 17". And since this is before
the opposition at M, this time must be deducted
from tne time of opposition. And the time of
the middle of the eclipse will be December 12d.
18h. 26m. 34s.
5. The sun's apparent semidiameter 16' 20"
His horizontal panllax .... 12
The moon's apparent semidiameter 16 48
Her horizontad parallax .... 61 7
6. Hence the radius B P == 16' 48".
radius S D = 44 59.
radhis S F = 77 39.
7. HeneealsoPKorPft =86 34.
andP lorPt =48 53.
and therefore the time of passing through P K is
2h. 26m. 6s., and through PI r: Ih. 22m. 30s.
And the whole duration m tne shadow from I to
t, b 2h. 45m. And the digits eclipsed 8| on
die upper side. Whence,
D. H. M. S.
First entering the penumbra
December .. 13 4 0 38 mom.
Entering the dark shadow at 0 5 4 4
Middle 0 6 26 34
Opposition 0 6 22 51
Leaving the shadow ... 0 7 49 4
Leaving the penumbra . .0 8 52 40
Duration 0 2 45 0
Digits eclipsed 8i
720. All these calculalions may be made suf-
ficiently near, by scale and compasses, in a large
draught ; making use of a scale of minutes and
sixtieth parts; or rather by makings a scale of
time answering thereto, by the help of the horary
motion of the moon from the sun. For by this
scale, the several hours and minutes may be
marked along the line A A, by which it will ap-
pear at what time the centre of the moon is at
any given point. For the time is known when
the moon is at M, and from thence the points at
each hour and minute are easily found. And
this construction, with only right lines and cir-
cles, will be exact enough in a large figure; for
the best lunar tables give the times of the phases
of an eclipse no nearer than to four or five
mimites of time ; and therefore sudi a construe-
tioB is sufficient to answer the purpose. Henoe
it may be observed, that no eclipse of the moon
can last above five hours and a half from the
moon's first touching the earth's penumbra, to
its last leaving it. For S K = 94' %r = 94-45,
and the horary motion is 35' 33* = 35-55 and
94*45
•^rm =: 2*66 = 2h. 39m. = semiduration : and
35*55
no ecHpse of the moon, by the earth's shadow,
can last above 3f hours. Nor when total, above
If hours. For SI =r 61' AT = 61-78, and
^4^77 = 1'745 = 1' 45" c= the semidumtioB,
and SD — SI = 28'11"=:2818, and |5!l?
OO'OiM
= -79 = 47m. the semiduration.
721 . The refraction of the earth*s atmosphere,
in lunar eclipses, makes the shadow less; by
bringing the rays, which terminate the shadow,
sooner to a point. And hence comes that red
color of the moon even in total eclipses. But
that light must be veiy dim, by reason of a great
number of the rays being stopt and lost in the
earth's atmosphore.
722. The circles terminatioff the shadoi^rand
the penumbra BED and G Q F, cannot be dis-
tinguished. For the darkness from BED, di-
minishes by insensible degrees, to G Q F, being
darkest at £, and lightest at Q, where it vanishes
insensibly. And therefore the moon does not
appear to be eclipsed till she is a good way
within the penuml>ra. For that reason, there
may happen eclipses of the moon which cannot
be discovered as such,
723. All lunar tables show the moon's place
in eclipses, more truly in the syzygies than m the
quadratures, or any other place. For the times
of the syzygies, and the moon's place, have been
more accurately observed in eclipses, than at any
other time ; and from thence the moon's theory
has been deduced. Besides, many of the ine-
qualities cease in the syzygies, but have sensible
efiecti in other places ; becoming greater, as the
moon is fimher from the syzygies ; being greatest
in the quadratures. Whence the lunar tables do
not determine the moon's place truly in the
Suadratures. And her plaos eakulated from
lese tables is not so exact in the quadratures as
in the syzygies.
724. S^eral ineaualities depend on the aspect
of the nodes and ue sun; but these cease when
the nodes are in the syzygies. When the moon
and the nodes are in the syzygies, the moon's
place, then wanting fewer equations, as being
subject to fewer inequalities, will be more cor-
rect than in^en she is in oth^ places, where
there are more and greater inequalities, and more
equations. From hence more errors will happen
out of the syzygies than in them.
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184
ASTRONOMY,
v.— To FIND THE WAY OF THE MOOK FROM THE
Sun, in a Solar Eclipse, supposing the
Observer at rest.
725. Let HZ 0, in plate IX. fig. 6, be the
meridian of the place, H O the horizon, £ C the
, equinoctial, E L the ecliptic, Z the zenith, P the
pole, S and M the places of the sun and moon in
conjunction, P S D the sun's meridian. Having
found the sun's distance from the node, Q S, and
the moon's latitude S M, &c. take g^ A g^ to S,
as the sun's horary motion to the moon's horary
motion; then SAis known. Draw MA; then
in the spherical triangle ASM, right angled at
S, there is given S ^ S M ; to find the angle
S M A ; AM being the moon's way from the sun.
726. But, as the eye of the observer is in mo-
tion, by the rotation of the earth, which gives an
apparent motion to the moon, contrary to that of
the observer, we must find the quantity and
direction of that motion. As the observer is
carried eastward, towards the point C, the ap-
parent motion of the moon caused thereby will
oe in the line C S. And to determine the position
of C S, in respect of A M or S M, several spheri-
cal triangles must be resolved, as follows :
727. In the right-angled triangle EDS there
is given E S, and angle E to find D S, and angle
£ S D or A S P ; or these may be easier lubd
from the astronomical tables. And in the tri-
angle Z P S, there is given P S (the complement
of DS), the angle Z P S (firom the time of the
day), and Z P the complement of the latitude ;
to find ZS, and angles PZS and ZSP. Then
Z S P and AS P being known, Z S A will be
known. And MSA being a right angle, Z S M
will be known. In the right angled triangle
C F S, there is given C F, the measure of the
angle F Z C (the difference between the angle
PZS and the right angle C Z P), andSF the
complement of Z S ; to find C S, and the angle
CSForBSZ. Then B S Z and Z S M being
known, BSM will, be known. And SMA
being known, its supplement S M B is known,
and consequently the angle S B M.
728. To find the quantity of the motion.
That along A M is already known ; and to find
the apparent motion along SB. The sine of
15^ (tne horary motion of a point in the equinoc-
tial), is -259 to the radius 1. And if A be the
moon's horizontal parallax, then the radius of the
earth appears at the moon under the angle A, and
therefore 15^ of the equinoctial appears under
ihe angle of *259 h; this then is the horary mo-
tion of a point in the equinoctial, viewed directly
from the moon. And the moon's apparent motion
seen from that point in the equinoctial is the
very same. But this motion is to be diminished
upon two accounts. 1. Because it is less in a
parallel circle, in proportion to the cosine of the
latitude. And 2. Upon account of the obliquity
of the motion, when not perpendicular to the
rays of the sun ; and this will be as the sine of
C S, the sun's distance from the east or west
point of the horizon. Therefore to find the
quantity of this motion.
To the logarithm of '255 h.
Add the cosine latitude.
And the sine of C S.
Then the sum, abating twice radius, is the logu-
ithm of this apparent horaiy motion. Then thin
motion is to be compounded with the motioii
along A M B as follows :
729. Let AS, plate IX. fig. 5, be a portion of
the ecliptic, S B the way of the apparent mo-
tion, MA tiie moon's way from the sun. Draw
NM parallel to SB; and let MN be thehoiazy
motion along SB or MN, and MI the horary
motion of the moon from the sun. Then com-
plete the parallelogram N M I Q ^ draw the
diagonal M Q R, which is the direction of the mo-
tion, compounded of the observer's and the moon's
motions, and M Q is the total apparent horaxy
motion, supposing the observer at rest. Then in
the plain triangle Q M I, there is given M I, and
IQ(orMN),and the angle MIQ=MBS;
to find the angle Q M I, and side M Q or the ab-
solute horary motion. And the angles Q M I
and IMS being known, Q M S is known.
730. If the sun be in the eastern hemisphere,
in which case the concave side of the eastern he-
misphere is here projected (in fig. 6), then die
moon's motion from the sun is from M towards
A, and the other apparent motion from S to-
wards B, or from M towards N. But if the sun
is in the western hemisphere, this projection re-
presents the convex side of the sphere; and
men the moon moves from the sun, in direction
A M, and the other apparent motion is from S
towards C, being contrary.
VI.~To Calculate Solae Ecupses.
731. The eclipses of the son are more diffi-
cult to calculate than those of the moon ; the
latter being clear of parallaxes, which the former
are incumbered with, which gives a great deal of
trouble. But a great part of it may be avoided
by using projections instead of calailations.
Tjie niles are,
732. 1. Find the true time of the conjunction,
and the places of the sun and moon at that time.
733. 2. Having found the way of the moon
fiom tlie sun by projection or calculation ; find,
by the astronomical tables, the moon's horizon-
tal parallax, her apparent diameter, and horary
motion, also the sun's apparent diameter and ho-
rary motion. But, to avoid a great deal of calcu-
lation, if the sphere be projected by a laige scale,
it will give all the requisites with sufficient ex-
actness, by measuring the several angles and
sides, without any oilculation, or veiy little.
And here it is best to project the concave side,
and then every thing appears as it is in nature.
734. 3. Find the moon's parallax of alti-
tude, by making as rad. : cos. altitude : : so the
moon's horizontal parallax : to her parallax of
altitude V ^ or M m. fig. 8. Then find her pa-
rallax of latitude M m, and longitude S s, or m a,
and from tlience her apparent latitude and longi-
tude is known.
735. 4. Draw the line SL, fig. 10, for the
ecliptic, and from a large scale of minutes, erect
S M perp. to L S, and equal to the apparent la-
titude ; make the angle S M R, as found in the
last prob. and draw ^ M R for the moon's ap-
parent path. From S let fall SP perpendicular
to MR, and SP will be the least distance of the
centres of the sun and moon, or the middle of
Digitized by
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ASTRONOMY. 186
the cdip«. From the centre S, with the radius of 31' 20* an hour, is 52' 45" for the semidu-
equal to the minutes contained in the sun's semi- ration. By reason of the parallax (24' 13"), she
diameter, describe the circle A B C for the sun. is past the apparent conjunction ; the difference
And from the centre P, with the radius equal to bemg what the parallax causes, which comes to
the moon's semidiameter, describe die circle 47' 23". Therefore the middle of the eclipse
A O C D for the moon. If these circles do not i« so much sooner, being at 3d. 19h. 41m. 20s.
intersect, there will be no eclipse. But if they This reduced to apparent time is 3d. 19h. 43m.
intersect, an eclipse must necessarily happen. 278. for the middle.
736. 5. Then P is the place of the moon in 6. The digits eclipsed are 5 A, nearly.
the middle of the eclipse. . Make S I and S K 740. In this example, the concave side of the
equal to die sum of the semidiaraeters of the sun sphere is proiected, which suits best to the ap-
and moon ; and the moon's centre will be at I pearance of toe heavens. And the figures are
when die moon first touches the sun, or at the drawn upon that supposition. It appears from
moon's centre, at the end of it. In the triangle the process, that the moon is advancing to her
P S I, there is given SI, S P ; to find P I = P K, descending node, and therefore has north- lati-
which reduced to time by help of the moon's ap- tude. And by the position of that part of the
parent horary motion, shews half the duration of ediptic, her parallax in longitude, advances her
the eclipse; and consequendy we shall have the •<> much forward, viz. 24' 13". And therefore
beginning and end. she is so much past the apparent conjunction.
737. 6. And to find die quantity no, or the Hence we gain these several particulars, as to
digits eclipfled;wc have no = Sn + Po—SP, die eclipse:
"^ YJ- = ^^^ ^^ ^^^^' 741. 1. The begin. June, morn. 4* 6 * 53 42
738. 7. The time found being mean time, "^;J^® ' ' ' ' 1 I 11 Vo
It must be reduced to the common or apparent f ^7, , * ^ ' ' ' ' ? ^r o^
time, by the equation of time. And if Uie given ,. .,*°^J.^"?**?,'* ' ' ' .^ ^.i^ ^^
place he not Aat for which die tables are made, f'g»ts eclipsed 5^, on die upper side of die sun,
add so much time, if the place lie eastward, to *<*T[^ ^^l"^' »» aPP«^ ^J die figure.
die time of conjunction, is answers to the dif- /f • 2- Hence the position of die horns at C
ference of meridians; or subtract it if it lie ^$ ^^ are easily found m die middle of die
westward eclipse. For they are m a position parallel to
Example R I, the moon's way.
743. 3. The middle of the eclipse will not be
To Find the Time op the Sun's Eclipse, at the same time in all places of die same longi-
JuME 4, 1769, ITS Duration and Digits tude; for the parallax of longitude will be dif-
eclipsed at London. ferent in different places.
739. 1. By the tables the mean time of the con- 744. No eclipse of the sun can last above two
junction is found to be June 2d. 20h. 41m. And hours. For SI or S A + M D = 32' 26" zs
hence, the true time of conjunction is June 3d. 32.6 and the horary motion = 34' 47"=: 35.78.
20h.27m. 43s. And dieir places are 2* 13® 51 a «^ 32.6 ^^ ^., . , . . ^.
25'. And die moon's kt 55-32 nordi. The ^^35:78 = *^^ = ^^* "^""^ ^' '^'^ *^'"
moon's motion firom die sun 35' 47*. duration.
2. Infig.5aDd6, Plate IX. die angle AM S 745. If it were not for die parallax, eclipses of
= 840 4r. Z SM = 35*^ 20'. C SF = 5° 18' die sun would be a* easily calculated as diose of
S B M = 43** 49'. S F = 42*> 16', C F = 3® 34'. die moon. And in order to get die parallax, die
CS = 42® 24'. The angle QM I = 8® 25'. angle ZSM and SP must be known, fig. 2,
S M Q = 92° 52'. M N or I Q = 6® 38'. M Q v?hich occasions die resolving several spherical
= 31® 20'. Also triangles before they can be had. Likewise it
The moon's horizontal parallax . . 60' 58" may be ob^rved, that the apparent way of the
Her apparent diameter . . . . 33 32 moon is strictiy curve line, concave towards S,
Her horary motion 38 10 which arises from the parallel of latitude being
The sun's diameter 31 41 a curve, and the moon being out of its plane.
His horary motion 2 23 Likewise the moon's apparent velocity is some-
3. In fig. 4, die moon's parallax in altitude thing greater at the beginning dian at the end.
Mfiiis45' 09"; her paralbix in latitude Mn, ,„ ^ ^
38' 05"; her remaining latitude Sn, 17' 26"; VI.— Rules pob calculating a General
her parallax in longitude S«, 24' 13" ; which is Eclipse op the Sun.
increased so much. 746. The elemento necessary for this are : 1-
4. Draw S L for the ecliptic, as in fig. 10, at The sun and moon's place, and the time at die
any point S, erect die perp. M S equal to 17' true conjunction ; 2. The moon's latitude, hori-
26", die moon's apparent latitude ; dirough M zontal parallax, diameter, and horary motions ;
draw the moon's way 62 M R, making the angle 3. The sun's declination, diameter, and horary
SMR = 92®52'. Draw SP perp. MR, which motion; and 4, die angle die moon's way makes
here fiills -very near M. From the centre S, with a circle of latitude.
widi die radius S A =: 15' 50", describe die cir- 747. 2. From a large scale of minutes, take
de ABC for the sun. And with the radius the moon's horizontal parallax in the compasses,
M D = 16' 46", and centre P, describe die cir- and at any point C, in the right line B D, (which
de A DOG for die moon. represents die ecliptic in plate XI. fig. 6), de-
5. Hence PI or P K = 27' 33". And the scribe die circle A B E D, for die eardi's disk, or
tme of moving dirough I P or P K, at the rate die eaidi's flat face as it appears at a distance, in
Digitized by V^jOOQI(
186
ASTRONOMY-
a fine drawn to the tun. Draw C M perpendi-
cular to C D, and equal to the latitude of the
moon upwards, if norm. Make the angle C M G
equal to that which the moon's way makes with
a circle of latitude ; acute to the right hand, if
she tend to the node ; or obtnse, if she be past
it; and drawing F M O, it will be the way of
the centre of the moon's shadow upon the earth.
From C let &il CH nerpendiculaf to F6. Then
at H will be the middle of the earth's eclipse.
748. 3. With liie centre H, and radius HO,
equal to ike sum of the semidiameters of the sun
and moon, describe the ctrde QOR^ which will
be the moon's penmnbra. Also describe a smaD
circle round the oentre H, whose ladias is the
difference of the sua and moon's semidiameters,
that little aide will be the dailL shadow of tlie
mnon. Then all the countries of the earth con-
tained in the segment V A W will be successively
eclipsed by the penumbra, as the shadow moves
along the tract FG; while the other segment
V £ W suffers no eclipse at al^ All places in the
line $t will be totally eclipsed^ as the dark sha-
dow, or the smadl circle at H passes successively
over &em. But this circle, or dark shadow, be-
ing very small, a total eclipse at any place conti-
nues but a small time. Sometimes tne sun's se-
midiametcr exceeds the moon's ; and then there
will be no dark drele, or total eclipse, but a lu-
dd ring wil appear about the moon \n tiiese pla-
ces, and this is called an annnlar eclipse. The
difference between the semidiameters of the sun^
and moon is so little, that no total eclipse lasts
above fonr minutes.
749. 4.DTawCF, CGssmn of the semi-
diameters of the sun and moon, and the moon's
parallax ; then the moon^s shadow will touch the
earth at L and K, where tfie eclipse begins and
ends. In the triangle CFH, there is given C F,
C H ; to find F H = H G, which, converted into
time, gives half the duration, or half the time that
the moon's shadow is upon the earth. Also N O
measured, shews how far the eclipse reaches;
OK C O measured, does the same. It may be
suffident to measure all these by the scale with-
out calculation.
750 5. To find the pole. Draw the arch
A P, making the an^e K A P equal to the sun's
lon^^ude, and A P toe distance of the poles of
the equator and ecliptic, 23°^; then P is the
pole. For A P is a part of the solstitial colure^
and passes through Cancer and Capricorn. And
C A r is . wfaiai the sun wants of Cancer, there-
fore PAR is what it is past Aries. Through
P draw C P T. And here we may suppose that
the pole P is fixed during the time of an eclipse.
Tlien in the right angled spherical triangle APT,
there is given A P uid the angle A, to find AT
orangleACP. In this triangle PT is the sun's
dadination, and AP T or C P K his right ascen-
sion from Cancer. Here note, that any place in
the line C T is m the su^'s meridian ; and C is
the place where the sun is vertical at the time of
the eclipse.
7111. 6. To find the dtuation of any given
place, at a given hour. Make the angle C P X
(with the sun's meridian)» equal to the time from
noon ; on the left hand, if it is before noon. And
make P Z the qomplement of Ae latitude ; then
Z ia the place required. And if it fiills in ihn
penumbra, it is eclipsed ; or anywhere in tbe
segment VAW; if its motion m the parallel
drde does not carry it out, befi>re the penumbra
reaches it
752. 7. To find the place which is first or
last touched by the penumbra, as K. Draw the
arch PK. In the triangle GCA, there are
given CG and CH, to find the angle GCH,
firom which subtract ti C P which is known, gives
the angle P C K or TK. Then in the right-angled
spherical triangle PT K, there is given T K, and
PT the sun's dedination ; to find P K the com-
Slement of the latitode of K, and T P & or C PK
le difference of longitude of K, and the sun.—
Iherefere its longitude and latitude is obtained.
In ^e same manner may be found that of L. And
by the same method the latitude and longitude
of ^e places s and t may be found, where the
dark shadow first enters the earth's disk, or ouite
leaves it. Thus also may be found the place which
u in the line F H, at any point of time : or if the
place be given, what the time will be ; and that
uy help of the horary motion, with other parti-
culars of like nature.
753. 8. The part of the sun's diameter
eclipsed by the moon, is known by the situation
of the place within the penumbra, or its dbtance
from the centre of the penumbra. And the pba-
sis of the eclipse, as seen from any place Z, upon
the disk, vrill be found thus, for any time. I iod
the centre of the shadow for that time, as suppose
at H. Describe about H, a circle, whose radius
is the moon's radias, and about Z, a circle with
tbe sun's radius. Then the part cut off the sun's
circle will be the part obscured.
Sect. VIII. — Remarks ov Eccipsts iv
GESERAL.
754. In edipses of the moon, even when she
is near the centre of the earth's shadow, her body
is still visible, and appears of a tarnished copper
color. This seems to be occasioned by the rays
of li^t vrhich come fivm die sun, and which,
passing near the earth, are inflected from their
rectilinear course by our atmosphere ; so that
they enter the earth's conical shadow, thus pro-
ducing that fiunt illumination on the surfiice of
the moon, which some have supposed to be her own
nat^e l^ht ; but there seems to be no jnst ground
for such a conjecture.
755. In most solar eclipses, the moon's disk is
covered with a &int light, vrhich is attributed to
the reflection of the light from the illuminated
part of the earth ; and in total edipses, the moon's
limb is seen surrounded by a pale drcle of light:
vriiich some astrenoiners consioer as an indication
of a lunar atmosphere, but otheie as the atmos-
phere of the sun ; because it is ebservedl to move
equally with the sun, but not with die moon.
756. Edipses have in all ages greatly attracted
the attention of mankind. The ignorant and su-
perstitioas have viewed them with terror, and
in former ages they were often cousdered as the
forerunners of national calamities. The Chinese,
even at the present day« upon their appearance,
perform the most absurd and supeistitioiia cere>
monies, although they are so far aoauainted with
their na^re, as to be able to predic|^cai. See
Chiiia. But true philosophy has taoght ub« tliat
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Digitized by
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GHAKB OURKBT iiimii nade forUn^ GEOBGE 1.
OHRRUr.
z 4wrW>iiv. nMimk^d \v Tkmmm^ 7V,« 7». rA^n^^fde Jm%t Jt *i97€. Digitized bv
ASTRONOMY.
187
iBKlead of these appeftfences being portentous of
e^il to maakind, uey maj, by proper observa-
tions upon them, be made of great advantage to
the sciences, and to some of the arts of life.
757. Weliave already shewn, that, by eclipses
of the moon, the earth is demonstrated to be a
globular figure. The longitudes of places on the
earth are also determined by observations on
sokur and lunar eclipses ; as will appear by con-
sulting the articles GEooaAPHY, Lohoituds, Na-
▼lOATiON, &c. Eclipses are also of great im-
portance in Chronology, (which see), as by them
we are enabled to determine exactly the time
when events recorded in history happened.
758. From the observations made upon the
ancient eclipses, it appears that the period of the
moon is now shorter, and consequently that her
distance from the earth is now less, than in for-
mer ages ; and this has been considered as an ar-
gument against those who assert, diat the world
may have existed from eternity ; fbr it was hence
inferred^ that the moon moves in a resisting me-
dium, and tiierefore that her motion must byde^
grees be all destroyed, in which case she must at
last come to the earth. But M. de La Place has
shewn, that this acceleration of the moon's period
is a necessary consequence of universal gravita^
tion, and that it arises from the action of the
planets upon the moon. He has also shewn that
this acceWation will go on, till it arrive at a
certain limit, when it will be changed into a re-
tardation ; or in other words, that there are two
limits, be^een which the lunar period fluctuates,
bat neither of which it can pass.
759. M. de La Grange has also discovered,
that all the seeming irregularities in the motions
of our system are periodical ; so that although
the obliquity of the ecliptic, the eccentricities of
the planetary orbits, the precession of the equi-
noxes, the length of the year, &c. may change,
yet these changes will not pass certain limits, and
after stated periods, they will return precisely to
what they had formerly been. Some of tliese
periods, however, may be veiy long. The aoco*
ieration of the moon, for example, has been going
on from the easliest ages of astronomy to the pre-
sent day.
760. We cannot close this section, without
observing, that eclipses happen very frequently
to all the satellites of Jupiter ; and, as they are
of great service in determining the longitude of
places on the earth, astronomers have been at
pains to calculate tables for the eclipses of these
satdlites by their primary ; for the satellites thein*
selves have never been observed to eclipse one
another. Bnt this fells more properly to be con-
sidered under the articles Gbooraphy, and Lok"
oiTVDK, to which the reader is therefore referred.
761. The primary planets would also eclipse
one another, were it not for their great distances ;
but, as the comets are not subject to the same
laws with the planets, it is possible they may
sometimes approadi so near to the primary pla-
nets, as to cause an -eclipse of the sun to those
planets ; end as the body of a comet bears a much
larger proportion to the bulk of a primary planet
than any secondary, it is plain, that a cometary
eclipse would both be of much longer continu-
ance, and attended with greater dariuieas, than
that occasioned by a secondary planet. If we
supjxMe the primary planet and comet to be
moving bodi the same way, the duration of such
an eclipse would be prodigiously lengthened;
and thus, instead of four minutes, the sun might
be totally darkened to the inhabitants of oeiCin
places for as many hours : and, from this cause,
some account for that prodigious darkness, which
we sometimes read oi in history, at times when
BO eclipse of the sun by the moon could possi-
bly h^pen.
PART V.
ASTRONOmCAL MACHINERY AND IN-
STRUHENTB.
Sect. I. — Description of the Astronomical
Machinery invented for Illustrating
THE Science.
762. The Grand Orrery, a very magnificent
machine, first made in this kingdom, by Mr.
Rowley, for king George I. is represented in
plate XIL fig.l. The frame of it, which con-
tains the wheel-work, &c. and regulates the
whole machine, is made of ebony, and about
four feet in diameter. Above the frsune is abroad
ring, supported with twelve pillars, which repre-
sents tms plane of the ecliptic* Above the ecliptic,
stand soitie of the principal circles of the sphere,
viz. No. 10, are the two eolures divided into de-
frees, and half degrees; No. 11, is one half of
the equinoctial circle, nsaking an angle of 23^°.
The tropic of Cancer, and the arctic circle, are
each fixed parallel, at their proper distance from
the equinoctial. On the northern half of the *
ecliptic, is a ^rass semicircle, movable upon two
points, fixed in cy> and ^, representing the
movable horizon to be put to any degree of la-
titude ttpon the north part of the meridian, and
the whole machine nuy be set to any latitude,
vrithotti disturbing any of the internal motions^
by two strong hinges, (No. 13.) fixed to the hot*
tom-firame, upon which the instrument moves^
and a strong brass arch, httving holes at every
d^rce, through which a strong pin is put at every
elevation, "ntis arch, and the two hinges, sup*
port die whole machine, when it is lifted up, ac-
cording to any latitude ; and the arch, at other
times, lies conveniently under the bottom frame*
763. The sun, (No. 1.) stands in the middle
pf the whole system, upon a wire, making an
angle with the ecliptic, of about 82°. Next the
sun is a small ball, (2), representing Mercury.
Next to Mercury is Venus^ (3), represented by
a larger ball. The earth is represented (No. 4),
by an ivoty ball, having some circles and a map
sketched upon it. The wire which supports
the earth, makes an angle frith the ecliptic, of
66)^ the indination of the earth's axis to the
ecliptic. Nearthebottomofthe earth's axis is a dial
plate, (No. 9.) having an index, pointing to the
Bours of the day, as the earth turns round its
axis. Round the earth is a ring supported by
two small pillars, representing tiie orbit. of the
moon; and the divisions upon it answer to the
moon's latitude. The motion of this ring repre-
aeitts the motion of the moon's orbit, accoraing
to that of the nodes. Within this ring is the
BMoa, (No. 6), having a black cap or case, by
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188
ASTRONOMY.
which its motion represents the phases of the
moon, according to her age. Without the orbits
of the earth and moon, is Mars,rNo.6.) The next
in order to Mars is Jupiter, and his four moons,
(N%. 7.) Each of these moons is supported by a
wire fixed in a socket, which turns about the
pillar supporting Jupiter. These satellites may
be turned by the hand to any position, and yet,
when the machine is piit into motion, they will
all more in their proper times. The outermost
of all is Saturn, his five moons, and his ring,
(No. 8.) These moons are supported and con-
trived, similar to those of Jupiter.
764. The machine is put in motion, by
turning a small winch, (No. 14) ; and the whole
system is also mov«d by this winch, and by pull-
ing out, and pushing in, a small cylindrical pin
above the handle. When it it pushed, all the
planets, both primary and secondary, will move
according to their respective periods, by turning
the handle. When it is drawn out, the motions
of the satellites of Jupiter and Saturn will be
stopped, while all the rest move without interrup-
tion. There is also a brass lamp, having two
convex glasses, to be put in room of the sun ;
and also, a smaller earth and moon, made some-
what in proportion to their distance from each
other, which may be put on at pleasure. Tlie
lamp turns round at the same time with the earth,
and the glasses of it cast a strong light upon her ;
and when the smaller earth and moon are placed
on, it will be easy to show when either of them
will be eclipsed.
765. Mr. Ferguson's orrery, plate XII. fig. 2,
shows the motions of the Sun, Mercury, Venus,
Earth, and Moon ; and occasionally the superior
planets, Mars, Jnpiter, and Satnrn may be put
on. Jupiter's four satellites are put round him in
their proper times, by a small winch; and Sa-
turn nas his fire satellites, and his ring, which
keeps its parallelism round the sun ; suod by a
lamp put m the sun's place, the ring shows all its
various phases already described. In the centre,
No. 1, represents the sun; No. 2, Mercury; No.
3, Venxis; No. 4, the earth; No. 6, is a siderial
dial-plate under the earth ; and No. 7, a solar
dial-plate on .the cover of the machine. The in-
dex of the former shows siderial time, and of the
latter, solar time.
766. The earth always keeps opposite to a
moving index, (No. 10), which shews the sun's
daily change of place, and also the days of the
months. The earth is half covered with a black
cap^ for dividing the apparently enlightened half
next the sun, from the other half, which, when
turned away from him, is in the daric. The edge of
the cap represents the circle bounding light and
darkness, and shows at what time the sun rises
and sets to all places throughout the year. The
earth's axis inclines 23^^ from the axis of the
ecliptic ; by which means, the different lengths
6f days and nights, and the cause of the various
seasons, are demonstrated to sight.
767. There is a broad horizon, to the upper
side of which is fixed a meridian semicircle, in
the north and soudi points. From the lower
side of this thin horizontal plate stand out four
small wires, to which is fixed a twilight-circle,
eighteen degrees from the graduated side of the*
horizon, all round. This horizon may bt put
upon the earth (when the cap is taken away),
and rectified to the latitude of any place ; and
then by a small wire, called the solar tay, which
may be put on, so as to proceed directly from
the sun's centre towards the earth's, but to come
no farther than almost to touch the horizon. The
beginning of twilight, time of sun rising, with
his amplitude, meridian altitude, time of setting,
amplitude then, and end of twilight, are shown
for every day of the year, at that place to which
the horizon is rectified.
768. The moon, (No. 5.) exhibits all die
phases already described. When the horizon is
rectified to Uie latitude of any given place, the
times of the moon's rising and setting, together
with her amplitude, are shown to that place, as
well as the sun's ; and all the various phenomena
of the harvest moon are made obvious to sight.
The moon's orbit, (No. 9.) is inclined to the
ecliptic, (No 11.) one half being above, and t)u
other below it. The nodes, or points at 0 and 0,
lie in the plane of the ecliptic, as before describ-
ed, and shift backward,'through all its sines- and
degrees, in 18f years.
769. The degrees of the moon's latitude, to
the highest in NL, (north latitude,) and lowest
at SL, (south latitude,) are engraven both ways
from her nodes at 0 and 0 ; and, as the moon
rises and falls in her orbit, according to its incli-
nation, her latitude and distance from her nodes
are shown for every day, having first rectified her
orbit, so as to set the nodes to their proper places
in the ecliptic ; and then, as they come about, at
different, and almost opposite times of the year,
and then point towards the sun, all the eclipses
may be shown for hundreds of years (without
any new rectification), by turning the machinery
backward, for time past, or forward for time
to come.
770. At 17^ distance from each node, on both
sides, is engraved a small sun; and at 12^ dis-
tance a small moon, which show the limits of
solar and lunar eclipses; and when, at any
change, the moon (alls between either of these
suns and the node, the sun will be eclip^d on the
day pointed to by the annual index, (No.lO). And
'when at any full, the moon falls between either
of the little moons and node, slie will be eclipsed,
and the annual index shows the day of that
eclipse. There is a circle of 29i| equal parts (No.
8) on Uie cover of the machine, on which an in-
dex shows the days of the moon's age. There is
a iointed wire, of which, one end being put into
a hole in the upright stem that holds the earth's
cap, and the wire laid into a small forked piece
which may be occasionally put upon Venus or
Mercury, shows the direct and retrograde mo-
tions of these two planets, with their stationary
times and tilaces, as seen from the earth. The
whole machinery is turned by a winch, (No. 12)
and is so easily moved, that a clock might turn
it, without any danger of stopping.
771. Mr. Jones's Planetarium, plate XI. fig.
1, represents in a general manner, by various
parts of its machinery, all the motions and phe-
nomena of the pbmetaiy system. This machine
consists of, the Sun in the centre, with the pla-
nets. Mercury, VemiSi the Earth Mid Moon,
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ASTRONOMY,
189
Man, Jupiter and his four moons, Saturn and ■ earth's in this machine, this being in just pro*
his five moqns; and to it is occasionally applied portion to the moon's distance from the eaith.
an extra long arm for the planet Uerschel and his A A is a bar of woo^, to be moved -by hand
two moons. To the earth and moon is applied a round the axis g, which is fixed in the wheel Y,
frame C D, containing only four wheels and two
pinions, which serve to preserve the earth's axis
m its proper parallelism in its motion round the
sun, and to give the moon her due revolution
about the earth at the same time. These wheels
are connected with the wheeUwork in the round
box betow, and the whole is set in motion by the
winch H. The arm M, which carries round the
moon, points out on the plate, B, her age and
phases lor any situation in her orbit, and which
The circumference of this wheel is to the cir-
cumference of the small wheel L, below the other
end of the bar, as 365i days to 29^, or as a year
is to a lunation. The wheeb are grooved round
their edges, and in the grooves is the catgut
string G G, crossing between the wheeb at X.
On the axis of the wheel L, is the index F, in
which is fixed the moon's axis M, for carrying her
round the earth £, fixed on the axis of the wheel
L in the time that the index goes round a circle
accordingly are engraved thereon. In the same of 29^ equal parts, which are the days of the
manner the arm points out her place in the moon's age. The wheel Y has the months and
ecliptic D, in sijnis and degrees, called her geo- days of the year all round its limb; and in the
centric place. The moon's orbit is represented bar A A is fixed the index /, which points out the
by the flat rim A; the two joints of which, and days of the months answerbg to the days of the
upon which it turns, denoting her nodes. This moon's age, shewu by the index F, in the circle
orbit is made to incline to any desired angle, of 29^ equal parts at the other etid of the bar.
The earth of this instrument' is usually made of On the axis of the wheel is put the piece D, below
a three inch or 1^ globe, papered, &c. for the the cock C, in which this axis turns round; and
purpose ; and b^ means of the terminating wire in D are put the pencils e and m, direcdy under
that goes over it, points out the changes of ti^e tiie ewrth C and moon M ; so that m is carried
seasons, and the aifferent lengths of days and round e as M is round £.^
nights more conspicuously. This machine is 774. Lay the machine on an even floor, pres-
also made to represent the Ptolemaic system, or sing gently on the wheel Y, to cause ite spiked
such as is vulgarly received ; which places the feet (of which two appear at P, the third being
earth in the centre, and the planets and sun re- supposed to be hid from the sight by the wheel)
volving about it. This is done by an auxiliary to enter a little into the floor to secure the wheel
small 8\m and an earth, which change their places fironi turning. Then lay a paper about four feet
in the instrument long under die pencils e ana m, cross-ways to the
772. The true causes of the solar and lunar bar ; which done, move the bar slowly round
eclipses are here very clearly seen ; for by placing the axis g of the wheel Y ; and as the earth £
the lamp, fig. 5, plate XI., upon the centre, in- goes round the sun S, the moon M will go round
stead ot the brass ball denoting the sun, and tur- Sie earth with a duly proportioned velocity; and
ning the winch until the moon comes into a the friction wheel W, running on the floor, will
right line between the centres of the lamp (or keep the bar from bearing too heavily on the
sun) and the earth, the shadow of the moon pencils e and m, which will delineate the paths
will fiill upon the euth On the odier side, the of the earth and moon. As the index I points
moon passes (in the aforesaid case) through the out the days of the months, the index F shows
shadow of the earth, and is by that means the moon's age on these days, in the circle of
eclipsed. And the orbit A, fig. 1, is so movable 29^ equal parts. And, as this last index points
on the two joints called nodes, that any person
may easily represent the due position of the
nodes and intermediate spaces of the moon's
orbit; and thence show when there vnll, or will
not be, an eclipse of either luminaiy, and
what the quantity of each will be. While the
to the different days in its circle, the like nu-
meral figures may be set to those parts of the
curves of the earth's and moon's paths, where
the pencils e and m are at those times re-
spectively, to shew the, places of the earth and
moon. If die pencils be pushed a very little
moon is continuing to move round the earth, the off*, as if from the pencU m, to about j^ part of
lamp on the centre will so illuminate her, that their distance, and tne pencil m pushe4 as much .
all ber phases, as new, dichotomised, gibbous, tovrards e to bring them to the same distances
full, waning, &c. will be seen just as Siey ap- again, though not to the same points of space ;
pear in the heavens. All the same phases of the then m goes round e, e will go as it were round
earth, as they appear at the moon, will also be the centre of giavi^ between the earth e and
exhibited. The satellites of Jupiter and Saturn moon «i ; but this motion will not sensibly
are movable only by the hand ; yet all their alter the figure of the earth's path or that of the
phenomena may be easily represented, excepting moon's.
the true relative motions and distances. 775. If a pm, as p, be put through the pencil
773. The Trajectorium Lunare, fig. 8, plate m, widiits head towards that of the nin g, in the
XIII, is intended, by delineating the paths of pencil e, its head will always keep tiiereto as m,
the earth and moon, to show what sort of curves goes round e, or as the same side of the moon is
they make in the ethereal regions. S is the sun, still obverted to the earth. But the pinp, which
and £ the earth, whose centres are ninety-five may be considered as an equatorial diameter of
inches distant from each other ; every inch an- the moon, vnll turn quite round the point m,
swering to 1,000,000 of miles. M is the moon, making all possible angles with the line of ib*
whfiie centre is ft parts of an inch from the progress, or line of the moon's path. This is
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190
ASTRONOMY.
an ocular proof of die moon's taming rotmd her
axis.
Sect. IL Op the Psinctpal Insteumekts
USED FOR MAKING AsTROMOMICAL ObSSE-
▼ATIOMS.
776. In practical astronomy it is necessary to
have a place conveniently situated, and suitably
iumished with proper astronomical instruments.
It should have an uninterrupted view from the
zenith down to> or even below, the horizon, at
least towards its cardinal points. For this pur-
pose that part of the roof in particular which lies
in (he direction of the meridian, should have
moveable covers, which may easily be moved and
put on again ; by which means an instrument
aay bo directed to any point of the heavens be-
tween the horizon and zenith, either northward
or southwaid. This place, called an observatory,
should contain some, if not all, of the following
instruments :
777. 1. A pendulum dock for showing equal
time. This should show time in hours, minutes,
and seconds; and with which the observer, by
bearing the beats of tlie pendulum, may count
them by his ear, while his eye is employed on the
motion of the celestial objcctbe is observing. Just
before the ohject arrives at the position described,
the observer should look on the dock and mark
the time, suppose it 6h. i5mm, 25sec.; then
sayiog, 25, 26, 27, 28, &c responsive to the
beat of the pendulum, till he sees through the in-
strument the object amved at the position expeo-
ted ; which suppose to happen when he says 38,
he t^n writes down 9b. 15m. 38sec. for the time
of observatioD, anaexii^; the year and &e day of
the month.
778. 2. An aehwraailic refracting telescope, or
a lefleotiag one, of two feet at least in lene^, for
ohsemng particular phenomena. See me de-
scription under Optics.
779. 3. A micrometer, for measuring small
angular distances. See Miceohetek
780. Astronomical qaadrants, both mural and
portable, for observing meridian and other alti-
tudes of the bodies.
781. 4. The mural quadrant, so called from
murus a wall: it is m tbeform of aquaiter of a
circle, contained under two radii at right angles
to one another, aad an arch equal to one fourth
Strt of the cirewnference of the cncle. This is
e most useful and valuable of all the astrono-
Bomical instruments; and, as it is sometimes
fixed to the side of a stone or brick wall, and the
plane of it erected exactly in the plane of the
meridian, it Koeives the name of mural quadrant.
Tyofao Brahewas'the first person who applied
this aroh (o a wall ; and Flamsteed the first in
England who, with indefatigable pains, fixed one
up in the royal observatory at Greenwich.
782. Mural <}uadnmts have usually been made
boim five to eight feet radius. Fig. 1, plate
XIIL represents the instrument fixed to the
wall. The frame is formed of flat bars, and
strengthened by edge ba», fixed underneath per-
pendicular to them. The radii H B, A A, being
divided each into four equal parts, serve to find
the points D and £^by which tneqqadrant is freely
iuspeodedoD iu isoa supports, that are festened
in the wall. One of the supports, £, is repre-
sented separatdy in e on one side of the quadrant
It is moveable by means of a long slender rod EB
or ef, which goes into a hollow screw in oider
to restore the instrument to its situation when it
is discovered to be a little deraaged. This may
be known by the very fine perpendicular thread
HA, which ought always to coincide with the
same point A of the limb, and carefully examined
to be so by a small magnifying telesoope-at eveiy
observation.
783. In order to prevent the unsteadiness of
so great a machine, there should be placed behind
the limb four copper ears with double cocks, I,
K, I, K. There are otiiers along the radii HA
and H B ; each of these cocks contains two
screws, into which is fastened the ears that are
fixed behind the quadrant. Over the wall or
stone which supports the instrument, and at the
same height as tiie centre, is placed hohzoot^y
the axis P O, which is perpendiailar to the plane
of the instrument, and which would pass through
the centre if it was contiDucd. This axis turns
on two pivots P. On this axis is fixed at right
angles another branch, O N, loaded at its extre-
mity with a weight, N, capable of equipoising
with its weight that of the telescope L A ; whilst
the axis, by its extremity nearest the quadrant^
carries the wooden firame P R M» which is fosten-
ed to the telescope in M. The counterpoise takes
off firom the observer the weight of the telescope
when he raises it, and hinders him from either
forcing or straining the instrument The lower
extremity, V, of the telescope, is fiimished with
two smsdl wheels, which take the limb of the
quadrant on its two sides. The telescope hardly
bears any more upon the limb than toe small
firiction of these two wheels ; which renders its
motion so extremely cuy and pleasant, that by
giving it with the hand only a small motion, the
telescope will run of itself over a great pait c^the
limb, balanced by the counterpoise N.
784. When the telescope is to be stopped at a
certain position, the copper hand T is to be made
use of, which embraces the limb and springs at
the bottom. It is fixed bv a setting screw, which
fastens it to the limb. Inen, in turning the re*
gulating screw, the telescope will be advanced;
which is continued until the star, or other object
whose altitude is observing, be on the horizontal
fine tliread in the telescope. Then on the plate
X, supporting the telescope, and carrying a ver-
nier or nonius, will be seen (he number of degrees
and minutes, and even quarter of minutes^ that
the angular height of the object observed is equal
to. "Ac remainder is easily estimated within
two or three seconds nearly.
785. There are several methods of sobdividiBg
the divisions of a mural quadrant, which are
usually from five or ten minutes each ; but that
whidi is most commonl>> adopted is by the ver*
nier Or nonius, tlie invention of Peter Vernier, a
Frenchman. This vernier consists of a piece of
copper or brass, CDAB, fig. 6, which is a
small portion of X, fis. 1, represented separatdy.
The length, G D, is divided into twenty equal
r, and placed contiguously on a portion of
division of the limb of the quadrant.
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ASTRONOMY,
191
ctmtuning twenty-one diTisions, and theiebj di*
viding their length into twenty equal parts.
Thus the first diidsion of the vernier piece
marked 15, beginning at die point D, is a little
backward, or to ihe 1^ of the first division of the
limb, equal to 15".
786. The second division of the vernier, is to
the left of the second division of the limb double
of the fim difierenoe, or de^; and so on to the
twentieth, and last division on the left of the ver-
nier piece ; where the twenty differences being
accumulated, each of the twentieth part of the di-
vision of the limb, this last division will be found
to agree exactly with the twenty-fiist division of
the limb of the <juadnmt The index must be
pushed the twentieth part of a division, or 15' to
the right; to make the seoond division on (he ver-
nier coincide with one of the divisions of the limb,
in like manner in moving two SOths, or 30^, we
must look at the second division of the index,
and there will be a coincidence wiA a division of
the limb. Thus the beginning, D, of the vernier,
which is always the line of reckoning, has advan-
ced two divisions, or 30* to the light, when Uie
second division, marked 30 on the vemiez, is seen
to correspond exactly with one of the lined of the
quadrant.
787. The plate of copper which carries the
telescope, is placed on the side of the quaibrant,
and carries two verniers. The outer line CD di-
vides ^je minutes into twenty parts, or 15" each.
The interior line A B answers to the parts of ano-
ther division, not having 90^, but 96 parts of the
quadrant. It is usuallv adopted by English astro*
nomers, on account of the &cility of its subdivi-
sions. Each of the 96 portions of the quad-
rant is equivalent to 56' 15 of the usual divisions.
It is divided on the limb into sixteen parts, and
the arch of the vernier A B contains twenty-five
of these divisions ; and being divided itself into
twenty-four, immediately give parts, the value of
each of which is 8" 471'".
788. 6. The portable astronomical quadrant is
generally made from twelve to twenty-three
inches. Fig. 2, plate XIU. represents one of
brass, and strongly filmed together by crossed
perpendicular bars. The arch A C, and tele-
scope £ F, are divided and constructed in a simi-
lar manner to the mural quadrant, but generally
without the division of ninetv-six parts. Tfale
counterpoise to the telescope T is represented at
P, and also another counterpoise to tne quadrant
itself at P. The quadrant is fixed to a long axis,
which ffoes into the pillar K R. Upon ti^s axis
is fixea an index, which points to, and subdi-
vides by a vernier, the divisions of the azimutU
circle, K. This azimuth circle is extremely use-
ful for taking the azimuth of a celestial body, at
the time its altitude is observed. The upper
end of the axis is firmly connected with the ad-
justing frame G H ; and the pillar is supported
on the crossed feet at the bottom of the pUlar K
R, with the adjusting screws abed,
789. When the instrument is erected for ob-
servation, it is necessary that two adjustments be
very accurately made; one, that the place or sur-
face of the instrument be truly, perpendicular to
the horizon ; the other, that the line supposed to
be diavm fimm the centre to the. first line of the
limb, be truly on a level or parallel with the ho-
rizon. The first of these ifirticulaiB is done by
means of the thread and plummet p ; thf» thread
of which is usually of very fine silver wire, and
is placed opposite to a mark made upon the
ena of the limb of the instniment 'fbe four
screws at die foot aked, are to be turned until
a perfect ootnddenoe is observed of the thread
upon the mark, vrhich is accurately observed by
means of a small tdesoope T, that fits to Ae
limb. The other adjustment is effected by means
of ihe spirit-level L, which applies on tne frame
6H, and the small screvrs turned as before amtil
die bubble of air in the level settles in the mid-
dleof the tube. The dotted tube EB is a kind
of prover to the instrument ; for, observing at
what mark the centre of it appears against, or,
by putting up a mark against it, it vnll at any
time discover if the instrument has been dis-
placed. The screw S, s(t the index, is the regu-
lating or adjusting screw, to move the telescope
and index, during the observation, with die ut-
most nicety.
Sect. VII. — ^The Mub4L Cjrcle.
790. Valuable as hanre been the services which
the astronomical quadrant has rendered to astro-
nomical science, its use, in modem times, has
been altogether superseded by the sauial circle,
of which we shall row give the description and
use: —
791. Hie circle, with its attached telescope, is
made to revolve by means of a hoxizontal axis,
which works in collars fixed in the stone wall.
The plane of the circle, see plate X. fig. 3, is pa-
rallel to the wall, but the gRiduations are made
on the outer rim of the instrument, which rim
is perpendicular to the wall
792. These graduations are viewed and read
off by^ six microscopes fixed to the wall, one of
which' microscopes is represented at A, and the
places of the five others ^precisely similar to the
former) are marked by tne letters B, C, D, E,
F. The microscopes are distant from each other
sixty degree^ or so placed as nearly as can be by
the instrument maker.
793. The rim is divided into equal parts of
five minutes each, and the readings off to a less
number of minutes, and to single seconds, are
effected by the micrometer microscopes, A, B,
&c. the construction of which is as fi^ows :
The microscope A, or micrometer microscope A,
is directed, as it is shovm in the figure, to the
rim on which the graduations are made. Con-
sider the object to the microscope to be one
graduation of the instrument, or the space oc-
cupied by five minutes. Tbe image of this
space will be formed in the conjugate focus of
the object g^ass, and vrill be seen distinctly
through the eyeglass of the microscope, when
the above-mentioned image is in its iocus. In
this latter focus (the focus of the eye-glass) are
placed a thin indented slip of metal, and a wire
capable of being moved m a parallel direcdcn
from one mark of division to another by means
of a screw. The revolutions of the screw, and
parts of its revolution, are noted by means of a
screw-head and graduated plate. Now, it is
desirable^ fiir the more convenient noting of the
Digitized by
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192
ASTRONOMY.
results of observations, that by the five revolu-
tioDs of the screw, tie wire should be translated
through the space occupied by fiye minutes ; in
which case one revolution would answer to one
minute, and one-sixtieth to a second. The mode
of effecting this may be thus explained : —
794. Suppose the object-glass of the micros-
cope being at a certain distance from the gra-
duated rim, and there being distinct vision, that
the moveable wire appears to be translated through
the ^ve minutes by nve revolutions and a half of
the screw. In such case the image of the five
minutes is too small. It will be increased by
moving the object-glass tov?ards the graduated
rim ; tibe eye-glass, with its wire, &c. being ad-
justed, by a separate movement, to distinct ri^
sion. A second trial must now be made, to as-
certain whether five revolutions of the screw are
equal or not to the translation of the wire over
the image of five minutes of the divided limb.
If there is not an equality, the adjustments must
be repeated till there be an exact correspondence,
as considerable trouble is thereby saved in re-
ducing the graduations of the screw-head to
minutes and seconds. If the microscope of the
micrometer were allowed to remain in its first
state, then, since 5*5 revolutions = 5', one re-
volution would equal 50.454" &c.
795. But, whatever be the value of a revolu-
tion, the uses of the moveable wire and indented
slip of brass are the same. A star is observed
on the centre of the cross-wire of the telescope ;
and on looking through the microscope, die in-
dex, or slip of brass, occupies, probably, a place
between two graduations. The wire moved from
the index, either to the graduation above or be-
low it, measures the distance of the index from
that graduation by the revolutions of the screw-
head. For convenience, each tooth of the in-
dented brass answers to one minute, so that if the
wire is moved from the index post, two teeth, and
the index of the screw-head points to 37, tlien
2' 37" are to be added to, or subtractedfrom, the
degrees and minutes which are read off by the
eye without the aid of the micrometer. In every
observation all the six microscopes are used, to
diminish the errors of division, and the effects of
partial expansion.
796. In reading off at the several microscopes,
we need only to attend to the seconds. For,
suppose a star to be in the pole, and the teles-
cope directed to it, the whole circle must be
turned round in the direction from B towards C,
D, &c. ; and the end of the telescope, instead of
being directed, as in the figure, to a point in the
south, between 'B and C, will be directed to a
point between D and A. If (the telescope being
directed to the pole) the reading off at the mi-
crometer A were 0° O' 0", the index error would
be 0. If the other microscopes, F, £, B, &c.
were placed exactly at equal distances, the read-
ing off at them would be 60"^, 120°, 180^ 240^,
360^. This, however, is not likely to take place,
the index error of each will probably be of some
fliagnitude. The reading off at A, for instance,
instead of being 0*» 0* 0', may be -|- 3", + 10",
-f r' ; and in the same way the reading off at
the other microscopes, from their not being
placed at equal distances, or from inequality of
graduation, partial expansion, or from all diese
causes conjoined, may be 60* ± 4" 60** ±6",
120*' + 9*,120O+r,&c.
799. Suppose that, independently of the de-
grees and minutes, the seconds at the six mi-
croscopes were + 5", + 7", + 4" -f 12" -f 8*,
-I- 9"; then these are the several index erron;
and if the polar distance of an observed star
were read off only at one microscope, the in-
dex error belonging to that microscope must be
applied to the polar distance so read off. Thus,
it only the microscope B were used, whose in-
dex error is -|- 12", and the north jpohir distance
of /3 Ursa Minores, were read pff, 196° 4' 46^,
then deducting 180° for the position of the mi-
croscope, and 12" for the index error, we should
have the north polar distance of the star = 50^
4' 34".
800. If all the six microscopes are used, the
mean index error, or one-sixtn of the several
index errors, is applied to the result of the several
readings.
801. The same illustration would serve if we
suppose die telescope directed to a star whose
polar distance is previously known. If, for ex-
ample, we knew tnat the north polar distamce of
Polaris was 1° 41' 41*3" ; then if the micrometer
A, marked 1° 41' 46*5", we should know that its
index error was 7*2" ; and the equation to be ap-
plied to its observed north polar distance at tlut
microscope — 7*2. In like manner we should
know ftom the same star the index errors of the
other microscopes, and thence the mean index
error.
802. That the results from this instrument do
not depend on the accurate positions of the mi-
croscopes, may be easily shown. Suppose the
telescope directed to the pole, and that the se-
conds indicated by the micrometer A be 7^, let
B indicate b -(- 23"; C, c -f 4; D, <j -|- 5;
E, c -I- 9, and F,/ -f 15 ; 6, c, rf, &c. denoting
the degrees and minutes. Let X be the north
polar distance of any star (Capella, for example,
X being = 44° 12' 16"), and let the number of
seconds in X be 16 ; so that, ^ being the de-
grees and minutes s^y -f 16"; then the in-
strument being directed to Capella (and con-
sequently turned through an angle X), and the
errors of division, expansion, and uncertainties
in reading off not being considered, the seconds
at which it will stand will be 23, B, 39 ; C, 20;
D, 21 ; £, 25, and F, 31 ; one-sixth of the sum
of which is 26*5", whence the north polar dis-
tance of Capella by the instrument, is i -f 26*5*
z= 44° 12' 26*5"; and consequenUy the mean
index errory -f 26*5" — szzy+ 26*5* — y -|-
16" = 10*5.
803. The index error may be found in the
same way by any other star, since x may be any
angle ; and if the catalogues were exact, and the
instrument perfedt, the same index error would
result from all stars. If, for instance, the seconds
in X, instead of 16" were 36", we should still have
the same index error 10*5". But in practice, the
index error will be found different with different
stars, both on account of the imperfection of the
catalogues, the inaccuracy of graduation, and
other defects in tlie instrument. The index
error, therefore, is found from olnervations oo a
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ASTRONOMY.
193
great number of stars, and the mean of the whole
of the errors so found, is considered as the ge-
neral mean index error.
804. For the purpose of lessening the errors
of dirision, the telescope can be shifted to dif-
ferent parts of the circle, so that instead of the
microscope A, nearly coinciding with O, when the
telescope is pointed to the pole, it may point
nearly to 10°, 20**, 30°, or any other degree of
the circle. In this case the index error in se-
conds, found as above, added to the degrees and
minutes read off by the eye, is the index error of
the microscope.
805. The mural circle, like the transit instru-
ment, reauires three adjustments, 1. Its axis must
be made horizontal. 2. Its line of collimation
must be made perpendicular to the horizontal
axis. 3. The line of collimation must be made to
move in the plane of the meridian.
806. The method of making the first adjust-
ment is the same as that for maJcing the like ad-
justment in the transit^nstrument ; and as the
two insbuments are commonly used in conjunc-
tion, we may use the transit instrument for
bringing the plane of the circle and its telesco|>e
into the plane of the meridian. When a star is
on the meridional wire of the transit instru-
ment, move the mural circle, so that the star may
be also on its middle wire. Observe, by the
transit instrument, when a star in or near the
zenith crosses the meridian, and if it is also at
the same time on the middle vertical wire of the
telescope of the mural circle, its line of collima*
tion is rightly adjusted. If a difference exists,
adjust till an exact agreement takes place.
807. The great difficulties attending the veri-
fication of the line of collimation in the mural
circle, will always prevent its becoming a good
transit instrument; though, in this respect, it
acts better than the telescope of the mural quad-
rant, which slides along tne limb of the quad-
rant, whose plane cannot be made wholly on the
plane of the meridian.
808. The mural circle is evidently sufficient
to determine to the extent of 180°, the differ-
ences of the decliuations of stars south and north
of tlie zenith of the observer. There must be two
quadrants to effect the same object ; and besides
this advanuge (that of a single instrument), the
circle is better balanced, and its six microscopes,
>vhich are firmly fixed in a stone wall, together
with the power of changing the position of the
telescope, must, when we take the mean results
of a great number of observations, in a great
measure do away the errors of division or partial
expansion.
809. The direct and special office of the mural
circle is to determine the meridional angular dis-
tances of stars. But we may extend the prin-
ciple of its uses, and view the image of the pole
star, by reflection, from a basin of' quicksilver,
and we thence obtain the angular distance be-
tween the star and its image, which is twice the
elevation of the star above the horizon. Hence
its zenith distance becomes known, and the ze-
nith distances of other stars are consequently
readily given by the instrument. The circle in
this application combines in itself the properties
of the mural quadrant and zenitli sector. It was
Vol. in
first applied by the present astronomer royal, and
it is one of the many improvements on practical
astronomy for which the world is indebted to
that eminent, active, and unassuming astrono-
mer.
81 0« The preceding is a concise description of
the circle which Troughton fixed at the Royal
Observatory. Some trifling differences between
the results given by it and other instruments,
lately induced government to have anoth^ made
by Jones, which is now fixed to the west wall,
five feet from the other circle. The agreement
between them is almost perfect.
811. Dr. Brinkley of bublin has a circle, and
a very admirable one, which moves round a pil-
lar, or azimuth; and consequently, in two
days it determines double the zenith distance of
any celestial object. He employs only three
microscopes in reading off; but the principle of
reading is the same as that which we have above
described ; and a person who attentively con-
siders what we have said on the subject of the
Greenwich circle, will have no difficulty in com-
prehending the method of using the Dublin one.
812. 8. The Astronomical or Equatorial
Sector, is an instrument for finding the differ-
ence, in right ascension and declination, between
two objects ; the distance of which is too great'
to be observed by the micrometer, and was in-
vented by Graham. Let A B, plate XIII. fig. 4,
represent an arch of a circle containing ten or
twelve degrees well divided, having a strong
plate C D for its radius, fixed to the middle of
the arch at D : let this radius be applied to the
side of an axis H F I, and be movable about a
joint fixed to it at F, so that the plane of the
sector 'may be always parallel to the axis H I ;
which being parallel to the axis of the earth, the
plane of the sector will always be parallel to the
plane of some hour circle. liCt a telescope C £
oe movable about the centre C, of the arch AB,
from one end of it to the other, by turning a
screw at G ; and let the line of sight be parallel*
to the plane of the sector. Now, by turning tLe
whole instrument about the axis H I, till the
plane of it be successively directed, first to one
of the stars and tlien to another, it is easy to
move the sector about the joint F, into such a
position, that the arch A B, when fixed, shall
take in both the stars in their passage, by the
plane of it, provided* the difference of their de-
clinations does not exceed the arch A B. Then,
having fixed the plane of the sector a little to
the westward of both the stars, move the tele-
scope C £ by the screw G ; and observe by a
clock the time of each transit over the cross
hairs, and also the degree and minutes upon the
arch A B, put by the index at each transit; then
in the difference of the arches, the difference of
the declinations, and by the difference of the
times, we have the difference of the right ascen-
sions of the stars.
813. The dimensions of this instrument are
these : The length of the telescope, or the radiu.^
of the, sector, is 2| feet ; the breadth of the
radius, near the end C, is 1^ inch; and at the
end D, two inches. The breadth of the limb,
AB, is 1} inch ; and its length six inches, con-
taining ten degrees, divided into quarters, and
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194
ASTRONOMY.
numbered from either end to the other. The
telescope carries a nonius or subdividing plate,
whose length, being equal to sixteen quarters of
a degree, is divided into fifteen equal parts;
which, in eflfect, divides the limb into minutes,
and by estimation, into smaller parts. The
length of the square axis, H I F, is eighteen
inches, and of the part H I twelve inches ; and
its thickness is about a quarter of an inch : the
diameters of the circles are each five inches :
the thickness of the plates, and the other mea-
sures, may be taken at the direction of a work-
man. ,
814. This instrument may be rectified, for
making observations, in this manner: By placing
the intersection of the cross hairs at the same
distance from the plane of the sector, as the
centre of the object-glass, the plane described
by the line of sight, during the circular motion
of the telescope upon the limb, will be suffici-
ently true, or free from conical curvity ; which
may be examined, by suspending a long plumb-
line at a convenient distance from the instru-
ment ; and, by fixing the plane of the sector in
a vertical position, and then by observing, while
the telescope is moved by the screw along the
Kmb, whether the cross hairs appear to move
along the plumb-line.
815. The axis, hfoy fig. 5, may be elevated,
nearly parallel to the axis of the earth, by means
of a small common quadrant ; and its error may
be corrected, by making the line of sight follow
the circular motion of any of the circumpolar
stars, while the whole instrument is moved about
its axis, hfOy the telescope being fixed to the
limb; for this purpose, let the telescope /c / be
directed to the star a, when it passes over the
highest point of its diurnal circle, and let the
division cut by the nonius be then noted : then,
after twelve hours, when the star comes to the
lowest point of its circle, having turned the in-
strument half round its axis, to bring the tele-
scope into the position mn\ if the cross hairs
cover the same star supposed at 6, the elevation
of the axis, hf o, is exactly right ; but, if it be
necessary to move the telescope into the position
u v, in order to point to the star at c, the arch m
tt, which measures the angle mfu or hfo, will
be known ; and then the axis hfo must be
depressed half the quantity of this given angle,
if the star passed below 6, br must be raised so
much higher, if above it ; and then the triil must
be repeated, till the true elevation of the axis be
obtained. By making the like observations upon
the same star on each side the pole, in the six
o'clock hour circle, the error of the axis, toward
the east or west, may also be found and corrected,
till the cross hairs follow the star quite round the
j)ole : for, supposing a o p b c to be an arch of
the meridian (or in the secondary practice of
the six o'clock hour circle), make the angle afp
equal to half an angle afc, and the line/p will
point to the pole; and the angle o/p, which is
the error of the axis, will be equal to half the
angle bfc, or mfu, found by the observation ;
because the difference of the two angles afb, af
c, is double the difference of their halves afo
and afp. Unless the star be near the ])ole,
allowance must be made for refractions.
816. 9. The transit instrument is used for
observing objects as they pass over the meridian,
and consists of a telescope fixed at right angles
to an horizontal axis, so supported that what is
called the line of collimation, or line of sight of
the telescope, may move in the plane of the
meridian.
817. Let AD, plate X. fig. 1, represent a
telescope fixed, as it is represented in the figure,
to an horizontal axis formed of two cones. The
two small ends of these cones are ground into
two perfectly equal cylinders ; which cylindrical
ends are called pivots. These pivots rest on two
angular bearings, in form like the upper part of
a Y, and denominated Y's. The Y' s are placed
in two dove-tailed brass grooves, ftistened m two
stone pillars, E and W, so erected as to be per-
fectly .steady. One of the grooves is horizontal,
the odier vertical ; so that, by means of screws,
one end of the axis may be pushed a little for-
wards or backwards, and the other end may be
either slightly depressed or elevated- \Vhich
two small movements are necessary, as it will
be soon explained, for two adjustments of the
telescope.
818. Let E be called the eastern pillar, W the
western. On the eastern end of tlie axis is fixed
(so that it revolves with the axis) an index b,
the upper part of which, when the telescope
revolves, nearly slides along the graduated &ce
of a circle ; attached, as it is shown in the figure,
to the eastern pillar. The use of this part of
the apparatus is to adjust the telescope to the
zenith, or polar distance (for the one is as easily
done as the other) of a star, the transit of which
is to be observed. Thus, suppose the index of
n to be at o (in the upper part of the circle)
when the telescope is horizontal ; then, by ele-
vating the telescope, the index of n is moved
downwards. Suppose the position to be that
represented in the figure, then the number of
degrees between o, and what the index of n
marks, is the altitude of the telescope ; or we
may so graduate the circle, that the index shall
mark the telescope's zenidi distance ; or, if we
make the o, the beginning of the graduation, to
belong to that position of the telescope in which
it is directed to the pole, the number of degrees,
&c. between o and any odier position of the index,
will mark either the telescope* s polar distance, or
if we please, may be made to mark the telescope's
declination ; the telescope in all these cases being
supposed to move in the plane of the meridian.
819. There are several otlier parts and con-
trivances belonging to the instrument not shown
in the figure;' for instance, one of the cones is
hollowed; and, opposite Ae orifice, there is
placed in the pillar a lamp, which, throwing its
light on a plane speculum, placed in the axis of
the telescope, and inclined at an angle of 45^,
illuminates the cross wires. It is usual, also, in
large transits^ to have counterpoises, by which
the pressure of the pivots of the axis on the Y's
is relieved. We will now explain the three
principal adiustments of the transit.
820. 1. To make the axis on which the tele-
scope moves, horizontal.
821. 2. To make the line of collimation move
in a great vertical circle ; or, which is the same
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ASTRONOMY.
195
thing, to make it perpendicular to the horizontal
axis.
822. 3. To make it move in that vertical circle
which is the meridian.
823. The first adjustment is effected by means
of a level; the figure A is intended to represent
the level L, as hanging bv means of its upright
arms (bent, however, in their upper extremities)
on the two pivots of the axis. The principle,
however, and mode of rendering any axis hori-
zontal, by means of a level, may be best explained
by the subjoined figure.
824. In plate X, fig. 2, the spirit-level (includ-
ing in that term the brass tube that partly enve-
lopes it, the horizontal bar to which it is affixed,
and the two vertical arms by which it is hung on
any cylinder or rod) is represented as hanging on
a straight cylinder a 6, the end towards a lying
on a crotchet, which is capable of being raised or
lowered by a screw B. The end A of the tube A
D, which contains the level, is also capable of
being lowered or raised by means of a screw at
A, as is shown in the figure.
825. If a 6 were horizontal, and the tube of the
spirit-level were parallel to a 6, then the bubble
would occupy the middle, or the two extremities
of the bubble would be equidistant from the cen-
tre, and would be, for instance, at/ and e. The
same thing would happen if ihe level were re-
versed, that is, if it were taken off the rod, turned
round, and again hung on ; so that d in the second
position, should occupy the place that A did in
the first, or should be to the rigdt hand. But if
a bj should not be horizontal, die above circum-
stances cannot take place. Suppose the end a
to be lower than the end b, then it the level should
not be parallel to a b, the bubbly might still
stand in the middle, by the end at A being, by
a certain quantity, higher than the end at B.
But on reversing the level the bubble cannot
occupy its middle; since then, the lower part of
the rod a 6, and the lower part of the level, would
both be situated at the right hand. The bubble,
however, may not stand in the middle from two-
causes, the want of horizontality in a b, and
the want of parallelism to it in the tube contained
between AD.
826. If the level were parallel to a 6, and the
extremity of the bubble, instead of being at e,
should be at A, on reversing the level, the other
extremity of the bubble (which, by the reversion,
would be towards a) would be at h; fk being
equal U> e h. But suppose this is found not to
he the case, and that tne extreroitv of the bubble,
on reversing the level, is at n, then the circum-
stance of the bubble not standing at the two
points e and/, cannot arise solely from the end a
neing higher than b; but the level cannot be par-
allel to a 6 ; and in the case we have put, the end
at A nmst be lower than the end at D, when the
level then is in the second or the reversed posi-
tion; so elevate the end at A, by means or the
screw A, that the extremity of the bubble shall
descend from n, and occupy a place intermediate
to ft and kf and then the level is made parallel to
a b: this is the first sLdjustment. Next, by means
of the screw B, so depress the end, a that
the extremities of the bubble shall be (as they
oughtto be, « / being the length of the bubble) at
e and f; then is a 6 adjusted or made horizon-
tal ; this second adjustment completes the ope-
ration.
827. In the preceding reasonings, a b has been
considered (the whole of it) as cylindrical But
this is not necessary : it is sufficient if its extre-
mities at a and b {ihe pivots), on which the level
is bung, be equal cylinders, the axis of which lie
in the same straight line. The intermediate
parts of the axis of the transit between the pivots,
may be of any form : they may be formed, as
they generally are, of two cones. The preceding
process then will render the axis of the transit
norizontal ; the level, whether in its primary or
ID its reversed position, being supposed to be
hung on the equally cylindrical pivots.^
828. The axis being now horizontal, the next
operation is to make the line of coUimation de-
scribe a great vertical circle, or, which is now
the same thing, to make the line of coUimation
perpendicular to the axis of the transit. The
telescope A D is furnished, like the telescope of
the quadrant, with a system of cross-wires placed
in the principal focus of the object-glass. Sup-
pose the wires so placed, that the line of coUi-
mation is perpendicular to the axis of the tran-
sit. If then a small and well-defined object be^
bisected by the centre of the cross-wires, it will
still be bisected when the transit is lifted off its
angular bearings, reversed and directed to the
object ; that is, if the end of the axis carrying
the index n, which is placed on the eastern Y,
should be placed on ihe western. Let now the
wires be deranged, so that their intersection is
moved, not, as in the former case, in the plane
of the meridian, but in a direction perpendicular
to that plane, and suppose it moved a little to-
wards the east. In this case, the object before
bisected is no longer so, but will be seen in the
field of view a little to the west of the present
centre of the cross-wires. Reverse the telescope,
then the centre will be towards the west, and the
original object will be seen a little to the east of
the centre : as much towards the east as it was
before towards the west. If, therefore, there
should be two objects or. marks (on the horizon,
for instance,) bisected by the centre of the wires
in the two positions of the transit, the correction
or adjustment of the line of coUimation would
consist in moving the centre of the cross-wires
half-way towards that object which is not on the
centre.
829. But the moving the centre of the cross-
wires half-way towards an object, is a matter of
guess, and not of certainty. • In order to ascer-
tain whetlier, in moving the centre, we have ad-
justed it rightly, we may avail ourselves of that
angular bearing, or Y, which, by means of an
horizontal groove and screw, we can move, toge-
ther with the pivot of the axis, in azimuth. So
move these then, that the object to which we
have already made the centre to approach half-
way, may be exactly bisected by that centre.
Reverse the transit, and the object .and centre
are either coincident, or very nearly so. If the
latter be the case, again by their proper motion,
move the centre of the wires half-way towards
the object, and move it the other half-way by the
screw that acts on the axis. Reverse the instru-
O 2
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196
ASTRONOMY.
ment, and again, if it be necessary, repeat the
above operations.
830. by these means, after a few trials, we are
sure of making the line of collimation, or axis of
vision, perpendicular to the axis of the transit ;
and when that is effected, the cross-wires are no
longer to be meddled with, although we must
continue to use the above horizontal movement
of the axis, for the purpose of placing the line of
collimation in the plane of the meridian. That
line now moves in a vertical circle, and produced
passes through the zenith : it is farther necessary
to make it pass through the pole.
831. The transit instrument is supported be-
tween two fixed pillars'. It must be supposed to
be nearly in the meridian, and to need only some
slight adjustments to place it there exactly. It
would be easy to effect this, were the pole-star
exactly in the pole ; for, then, it would be only
requisite to bisect that star by the middle vertical
cross-wire. But the pole-star being, in fact, a
circumpolar one, we must compute, by means of
existing tables and observations, the time of its
transit; and, at that computed time, bisect the
star by the middle vertical wire. By these me-
thods we may place the transit very nearly in the
plane of the meridian.
832. We will now show how to place it there
more exactly by means either of the polar, or of
any other circumpolar star.
833. The axis being horizontal, the optical
axis perpendicular to it passes through the ze-
nith : let Z P H in fig. 1, plate VI., be the true
meridian, and Z s m the vertical circle described
by the optical axis or line of collimation ; then
H m, which is the measure of the angle at Z, is
the deviation of the transit from the meridian.
Let ij^ i" <7 represent the circle described by
a circumpolar star, which is seen through the
transit telescope at tr, its inferior passage, and at
I, its superior. Now, when tlie transit is not in
the meridian, the time from tr to i cannot equal
the time from $ through j^ and i" to <r^ for, P
being the pole, the former time is proportional
to the angle <7 P s, or,
180**— £ fPs'— /_ ffP^,
the latter to
180*^ + Z. <P«'+ A «rPi".
834. Hence, if the interval between the infe-
rior and superior passage should be less than the
interval between the superior and inferior, the
plane in which the transit moves from the zenith
to the north of the horizon (P being the north
pole) is to the eastward of the true meridian.
835. But in order to estimate the quantity of
deviation from the observed difference of inter-
vals between the passages, we must compute the
angles s P s' or 5 P Z, and a P H, — ^now
sin.5PZ = sin.«ZP x **°' ^'
sin.Pj'
,<fPH=s8in.<fPZ=s8in.«ZP-t-
sin. Z 9
sin. P <r
Let Z. sZ P (measured by Hm) = Z,
Pf=P<T = flr
the latitude of the place (= H P) = L.
Then since Z, or the deviation from the meri-
dian is, by the conditions, very small, we have,
nearly sin. Z = Z
Z* = Z P — P« = 90° — ( L + »),
Z (T = Z P + P« = 90^ — ( I^ ir),
consequently, i P Z (which is, nearly, = its sine)
= Z. COS.' ^,_ -zi Z. (cos.Lcos.x — sin.L),
andffPHrz Z.
Z (cos. L.
sm. IT
— 7 <^Qs. (L. — y)
sin. ir
COS. AT -f sin. L).
Hence, the time from <7 to i = 180® — 2 Z cos.
L. cot. AT,
and firom s to tr = 180° -f 2 Z cos. L. cot. ir;
let the former time = 12 h. — A,
the latter = 12 h. -h a;
then, since 180° is the angular measure, or ex-
ponent of twelve hours of siderial time,
12h. — A = 12h. — 2Z. cos. L. cot. r,
12 h. 4- A — 12 h. -H 2 Z. cos. L. cot. r,
whence Z = •
or
2 COS. L. cot. X.
A -r
= -r sec. L tan. x.
2-
836. The plane in which the line of collima-
tion moves is brought into the plane of the me-
ridian by means of a screw; and supposing the
adjustment nearly effected, it may be completed
in the following manner : Let the time of the
transit of an equatorial star be noted on a parti-
cular day.' Alter the inclination of the plane in
which the line of collimation moves, by turning
the screws once round, and observe the time of
the star's next transit. If the difference between
the siderial times of transit be t seconds, then, $
seconds of time corresponding to one revolution
of the screw, it is easy to find the number of re-
volutions, or parts of a revolution, that will give
the correction 2, in the above equation ; whence
the adjustment may be made to any degree of
accuracy.
837. Computing from the above formulae for
Z, we shall find that, in the case of Polaris, a
deviation of ten seconds in the position of the
transit instrument will, in the latitude of London,
produce a difference of about seven minutes in
the times between the upper and lower transits
of the star ; and in the case of Capella, a dif-
ference of only about twenty-five seconds. Hence,
c»teris paribus, the pole-star is better adapted
thanCapella, to adjust, by the preceding metkod,
a transit telescope to the plane of the meridian.
The slow motion of the pole-star, however, in
some measure detracts from this superiority. In
small instruments it is hid for some seconds be-
hind the wire. Even in the splendid ten feet
transit, at Greenwich, it may be considered as hid
for about a second.
838. Still, however, on the whole, this ttar
is the most convenient one that can be made use
of. The following is the method of making this ad-
justment by means of the transits of the pole-star
and of a star which passes near the zenim of the
place of observation. In our latitudes, for in-
stance, if the transit deviate only slightly from
the plane of the meridian, Capella would pass
the meridian very nearly at the time of its pass-
ing the vertical wire of the telescope. Assume it
to pass exactly, and note tlie diOfereoce between
the time shown by tlie clock and the star's known
right ascension. Observe the time when the
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ASTRONOMY.
197
pole-8(ar is on the meridian^ (which will differ
more from the star's right ascension than the
transit of Capella did from its right ascension),
and compute, from' the difference between its
true right ascension and the observed time of its
transit, the deviation of the instrument, and
adjust it accordingly.
839. This operation will give a near approxi-
mation to the reauired position ; and by a repe-
tition or two of tne process, the adjustment may
be effected with great precision.
840. The line of collimation being now sup-
posed, by means of the previous adjustments, to
aescrib!e a great circle passing through the ce-
lestial pole and the zenith of the observer, the
transit instrument is in a fit state to note the pas-
sages of stars across the meridian. A star passes
the meridian when it coincides with the centre a,
fig. 3. plate IX., of the cross-wires ; but ifde were
truly vertical, a star on any point of de would
be on the meridian; hence it is desirable to
make d e vertical, since we might then observe
the star's transit on any part of that line. This
may be easily done thus : Direct the transit tele-
scope to some well-defined distant object, so that
it is bisected by some point ofde; move the te-
lescope upwaids and downwards on its hori-
xontai axis, and observe whether the same ob-
ject is bisected by every part of de, or whether
It runs along de If it does, the wire is vertical,
or the middle wire is a meridional wire ; if it
does not, the wire must be adjusted till the object
coincides with it in every part.
841. In large instruments these various ad-
justments are made with considerable trouble
and difficulty ; and in order to prevent a repeti-
tion of these troublesome verifications, when the
instrument is once adjusted to the plane of the
meridian, two marks are set up, one to the north
and the other to the south, and their places de-
termined by means of the meridional wire. They
are first placed by means of the mstrument, ad-
justed by the astronomical means above ex-
plained, and they are subsequently used to bring
the instrument into the meridian, should it be-
come deranged.
842. Besides the meridional wire, it is usual
to place on each side of it, and at eoual dis-
tances fit>m it, parallel side wires, to cneck the
middle wire and to supply its place, if from
clouds or othdr accidents, an observation on it
should not be obtained. The old transit, at
Greenwich, had four side wires, or, in all, five
wires. The present one has seven ; though only
five are in general used. In fig. 2, plate IX.
five wires are represented, and numbered 1, 2,
3, 4, 5.
843. If the wires are equidistant, then the fifth
part of the sum of the times at which a star is ob-
served on the several wires, will be the time of
its passing the meridian, and it ought, if the ob-
servation is well made, to lu^ree with the time of
passing the middle wire.
844. But the fact is, we are not able to note*
absolutely the times at the several wires ; for
probably no beat of the pendulum will happen
exactly when the star is on the wire. The ob-
server is obliged to estimate to the best of his
judgment, the firaction of a second sum> the last
beat of the pendulum, when the star is on the wire.
A tenth or two of a second may be put down too
much at one vrire, and too litUe at another; but
the errors will probably in a great degree com-
pensate each otner, and the result will certainly
De entitled to more confidence than a single ob-
servation at the middle wire.
845. It will soon be perceived by the observer,
that stars near the equator, pass more speedily
from wire to wire than stars near the pole. It is
easy to prove that the time of a starts describing
small spaces perpendicular to the meridian varies
as the secant of its declination. For (fig. 1 , plate
IX.) let P represent the pole P 6, P/, two quad-
rants ; let 5 ^ represent the interval of the wires,
which, by reason of its smallness is nearly coinci-
dent with irt. Take e qizst; then by the re-
volution of tlie earth or star apparently moves
from s to < in the same time that another moves
from e to/. But the time through s f (= the time
through ef) = time through e ^ x -^ =: time
through e ^ -I- — ^ = time through e 9 + • ^
sect, s €
= time through e q -^ t — Hence, if the
time through e g, that is the time of an equatorial
star crossing the interval e 9, be given, the time of
crossing an eaual interval, $ t, varies as the secant
of the star's aeclination.
846. There is, however, no star exactly in the
equator; but the equatorial time of a star's running
from wire to wire, may be readily obtained from the
time which a star of known declination is observed
to take. Let t be the observed time, and d the
declination, then ^, sect. (2 rz the equatorial time.
847. By the preceding methods, the upright
wires of the telescope may be adjusted vertically,
and the true intervals between the wires found
in parts of siderial time. To know whether the
wires, which ought to be at right angles to the
former, are truly horizontal, direct the telescope
tovTards a star near the equator, and if the star en-
tering at A, plate IX. fig. 2, in an inverting teles*
cope, run along hf; then A/ is horizontal.
848. This test of horizontality is strictly true
only with respect to a star in the equator. If the
star be out of the equator, it cannot be bisected
during the whole of its passage from h Xofi for
the star then describes the arc of a small circle.
In fig 1, plate IX. let s m f be an arc of a great
circle ; then a star describing $mt would seem to
an eye situated in a plane passing through tmt
and s ^ to describe 1 1\ but 1 r ^, part of a small
circle parallel to ef, is the star*s apparent path,
which coitxciding at its extremities with theenerd
f t would appear, in the astronomical telescope,
to describe a curve below the cross horizontal
wire, the apparent curvature of the path increas-
ing with the declination. Tliereare, however^
many stars near enough the equator to make
this adjustment, without reference to the appar
rent curvature of their paths in the transit
instrument, as they will differ from straight lines
by a quantity too small to be estimated.
849. We have hitherto spoken only of the
transits of stars, which are but as points without
disks. The sun and the moon, however, have
Digitized by
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198
ASTRONOMY.
disks, but no marked points for their centres ;
and the transit of a heavenly body means the
transit of its centre. With respect to the sun,
the time at which his first or preceding limb
touches each wire is noted, and the time at which
his following limb comes to the same wire is also
noted, and the sum of the times of observation
divided by the number of observations, gives the
time at which his centre is on the meridian.
850. It is seldom, however, that the transit of both
limbs of the moon can be observed ; but the mean
of the times at which her enlightened limb is in
contact with the several vertical wires, is the time at
which that limb is on the meridian ; and adding
to this, or subtracting from it, the time that the
moon takes to move over a space equal to her.
own semidiameter, according as the east or west,
the following or preceding limb is observed, we
obtain the time at which her centre is on the me-
ridian.
We have judged it right to devote so much
space to the description of the circle and tran-
sit instruments, as in the present state of as-
tronomical science, they, with the astronomical
clock, are the capital instruments of our obser-
vatory.
851. 10. The Equatorial or Portable Obseiva
tory ; an instrument designed to answer a nwn-
ber of useful purposes in practical astronomy,
independent of any particular observatory, may
be made use of in any steady place, and per-
forms most of the usefVil operations in the science.
The principal parts of this instrument, plate
XIII. fig. 3, are, 1. The 'azimuth or horizontal
circle A, which represents the horizon of the
place, and moves on a long axis B, called the
vertical axis. 2. The equatorial or hour circle
C, representing the equator, placed at right
angles to the polar aids D, or the axis of the
earth upon which it moves. 3. The semicircle
of declination £, on which the telescope is placed,
and moving on the axis of declination, or the
axis of motion of the line of collimation.
852. These circles are measured and divided
as in the following table :
Measures of the several
circles, and divisions of
them.
Radios.
In dec.
Limb divided .
to
Nonius of
30 given
seconds.
Divided on
limb into
parts of inc.
Divided by
Nonius into
parts of inc.
Azimutli or horizontal )
circle. J
Equatorial or hour cir-
cle.
Vertical semicircle for"j
declination or lati- >
tude. 3
5 1
5 1
5 5
15'
05'
(1 in ume.
15'
30"
30' 1
2" ]
SO**
45th
45th
42nd
1350th
1350th
1260th
853. 4. The telescope in this equatorial may
be brought parallel to the polar axis, as in the
figure, so as to point to the pole star in any part
of its diurnal revolution : and thus it has been
observed near noon, when the sun has shone very
bright. 5. The apparatus for correcting the error
in altitude occasioned by refraction, which is ap-
plied to tlie eye-end of the telescope, and consists
of a slide G, moving in a groove or dovetail, and
carrying the several eye-tubes of the telescope, on
which slide there is an index corresponding to five
small divisions engraved on the dovetail ; a very
small circle, called the refraction circle, H, move-
able by a finger screw at the extremis of the eye
end of the telescope ; which circle is divided into
half minutes, one entire revolution of it being
equal to 3' 18", and by its motion raises the cen-
tre of the cross hairs on a circle of altitude ; and
a quadrant, I, of 1| inch radius, vrith divisions
on each side, one expressing the degree of alti-
tude of the object viewed, and the other express-
ing the minutes and seconds of error occasioned
by refraction corresponding to that degree of al-
titude. To this quadrant is joined a small round
level, K, which is adjusted partly by the pinion
that turns the whole of this apparatus, and partly
by the index of the quadrant; for which purpose
the refraction circle is set to the same minute, &c.
which the index points to* on the limb of the
quadrant; and if the minute, &c. given by the
quadrant exceed the 3* 18', contained in one en-
tire revolution of the refraction circle, this must
l»e set to the excess above one or more of its en-
tire revolutions; then the centre of the cross hairs
will appear to be raised on a circle of altitude to
the aaaitional height which the error of refraction
will occasion at that altitude.
854. To adjust this instrument make the line
of collimation to describe a portion of an hour-
circle in the heavens; in order to which^ the azi-
muth circle must be truly level, the line of colti-
mation, or some corresponding line represented
by the small brass rod, M, parallel to it, must be
perpendicular to the axis of its ovra proper mo-
tion ; and this last axis must be perpendicular to
the polar axis; on the brass roa M, there is oc-
casionally placed a hanging level, N, the use of
which will appear in the following adjustments.
855. The azimuth circle may be made level,
by turning the instrument till one of the levels is
parallel to an imaginary line joining two of the
feet screws ; then adjust the level with these two
feet screws; turn the circle half round, i. e. 180°;
and, if the bubble be not then right, correct half
the error by the screw belonging to the level, and
the other half error by the two feet screws ; repeat
this till the bubble comes ri^t; then turn the
circle 90° from the two former positions, and set
the bubble right, if it be wrong, by the foot
screw at the end of the level; when this is done,
adjust the other level by its own screw, and
the azimuth circle will be truly level. The
hanging level must then be fixed to the brass
rod by two hooks of equal length, and made tiuly
parallel to it: for this purpose make the polar axis
perpendicular or nearly perpendicular to the ho-
Digitized by
Googl(
ASTRONOMY.
199
fboo; then adjust the leVel by the pinion of the
<ieclinatk>n semicircle; reverse the level and, if it
bo litaagf correct half the error by a small steel
screw iSaaX lies under one end of the level, and
the other half error by the pinion of the 'declina-
tion semicircle; repeat this till the bubble be
eight in bod) positions.
856^ To make the brass rod on which the level
is suspended at right angles to the axis of motion
of the telescope or line of collimation, make the
polar axis horizontal, or nearly so : set thfe dedi-
natioa semicircle at 0^^ turn ue hour circle till
the babble comes right; then torn the declination
circle to 90°; adjust the babble by raising or de-
pressing the polar axis; first by hand till it be
nearly right; afterwards tighten, with an ivory
key, the socket which runs on an arch with the
polar axis; and then apply the same ivory key
to the adjusting screw at the end of the said arch,
till the bubble comes quite right; then turn the
declination circle to the opposite 90^; if the level
be not then nght, correct half the error, by the
aforesaid adjusting screw at the end of the aich,
and the other half error by the two screws
which raise or depress the end of the brass rod.
The polar axis remaining nearly horizontal as
before, and the declination semicircle at (P,
adjust the bubble by the hour circle; then- turn
the declination semicircle to 90% and adjust the
bubble by raising or depressing the polar axis ;
then turn the hour circle twelve hours; and if
the bubble be wrongs correct half the error by
the polar axis, and the other half error by the
two pair of capstan screws at the feet of the two
supporters on on6 side of the axis of motion of
the telescope;) and thus this axis will be at right
angles to tne polar axis.
857. The next adjustment is to make the cen-
tre of cross hairs remain on the same object,
tvhile the eye-tube is turned quite round by the
pinion of the refraction apparatus. For this ad-
justment, set the index on the slide to the first
division on the dovetail; and set the division
marked 18^ op the refraction circle to its index ;
then look through the telescope, and with the
pinion turn the eye-tube quite round ; and if the
centre of the hairs does not remain on the same
spot during that revolution, it must be corrected
by the four small screws, two and two at a time,
which will be found upon unscrewing the nearest
end of the eye-tube that contains the first eye-
glass ; repeat this correction till the ceotre of the
hairs remains on the spot looked at, during an
entire revolution.
858. To make the line of collimation parallel
to the brass rod on which the level hangs, set the
polar axis horizontal, and the declination circle
to 90^ ; adjust the level by the polar axis ; look
through the telescope on some distant horizontal
object, covered by the centre of the cross hairs ;
then invert the telescope, which is done by turn-
ing the hour circle half round, and, if the centre
of the cross hairs does not cover the same object
as befoVe, correct half the error by the uppermost
and lowermost of the four small screws at the
eye-end of the large tube of the telescope. This
correction will give a second object, now covered
by the centre of the hairs, which must be adopted
instead of the first object : then invert the teles-
cope as before ; and if the second object be not
covered by the centre of the hairs, correct half
the error by the same two screws which were
used before. This Correction will give a third
object, now covered by the centre of the hairs,
which must be adopted instead of the second ob-
ject; repeat this operation till no error remains ;
then set the hour circle exactly to 12 hours (the
declination circle remaining at 90° as before) ;
and, if the centre of the cross hairs does not cover
the last object fiixed on, set it to that olMCct by
the two remaining small screws at the end of the
large tube, and then the line of collimation will
be parallel to the brass' rod.
859. For rectifying the nonius of the declina-
^on and equatorial circles, lower the telescope as '
many degrees, minutes, and seconds, below 0°,
or M, on the declination semicircle as are equal
to the complement of the latitude ; then elevate
the polar axis till the bubble be horizontal, and
thus the equatorial circle will be elevated to the
co-latitude of the place; set this circle to 6
hours ; adjust the level by the pinion of the decli-
nation circle; then turn the equatorial circle
exactly 12 hours from the last position; and if
the level be not right, correct one half of the
error by the equatorial circle, and the other half
by the declination circle ; then turn the equato-
rial circle back again exactly 12 hours from the
last position; and if the level be still vrrong,
repeat the correction as before till it be right,
when turned to either position ; that being done,
set the nonius of the equatorial circle exactly to
6 hours, and the nonius of the declination circle
exactly to 0^ The uses of this equatorial are :
860. 1. To find the meridian by one observa-
tion only : for this purpose, elevate the equatorial
circle to the co-latitude of the place, and set the
declination semicircle to the sun's declination for
the day and hour required ; then move the azi-
muth and hour circles both at the same time,
either in the same or contrary direction, till the
centre of the cross hairs in the telescope exactly
covers the centre of the sun. When that is done,
the index of the hour circle will give the apparent
or solar time at the instant of observation ; and
thus the time is gained, though the sun be at a
distance from the meridian. Then turn the hour
circle till the index points precisely at 12 o'clock,
and lower the telescope to the horizon, in order
to observe some point there in the centre of the
glass, and that point is the meridian mark found
by one observation only ; the best time for this
operation is three hours before or three hours af-
ter twelve at noon.
861. 2. To point the telescope on a star,
though not on the meridian, in full day light.
Having elevated the equatorial circle to the co-
latitude of the place, and set the declination
semicircle to the star's declination, move the in-
dex of the hour circle till it point to the precise
time at which the star is then distant from the
meridian, found in tables of the right ascension
of the stars, and the star will then appear in the
glass. Besides these uses, peculiar to this instru-
ment, it is also applicable to all the purposes to
which the principal astronomical instruments,
viz. a transit, a quadrant, and an equal altitude
instrument, are applied.
Digitized by
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200
ASTRONOMY.
862. This instrument, however, like all instni-
ments that profess to do much, does nothing so
well as instruments whose objects are more
limited. The splendid equatorial of sir Geo.
Shuckburghy now at the royal observatoiy at
Greenwich, is seldom used, except to observe
comets when they cannot be seen at the time of
their transit. And even for that purpose it is
now likely to be superseded^ by an equatorial
lately put up in the north-west turret of the ob-
servatory, by Mr. DoUond. The polar axis of this
equatorial is fixed in the direction of the earth's
axb, and carries round with it ^ vernier which
points out right ascensions, on an equatorial cir-
cle, fixed at its lower extremity ; and a circle at
right angles to the equatorial is attached to
the axis, which shows at once the distances of
objects to which its telescope is pointed.
863. We shall conclude the subject of astro-
nomy with the following catalogue of sixty of
the principal fixed stars, recently published by
astronomer royal, who remarks upon it that * The
catalogue will require a small correction, com-
mon to every star, both in right ascension, and
north polar distance. The correction in R. A.
will be subtract! ve, and may amount to nearly
one-tenth of a second in time. The correctioii
in N P D will, I imagine, be likewise subtractrra,
and wiU not exceed a quarter of a second.
^ It is divided into four classes, according to
the supposed degree of accuracy of each. The
stars 01 the first class are those that have been
determined both by direct vision, and reflection
The second class consists chiefly of those too
near the zenith to be observed by reflection.
The third class is not quite so exact as the second,
and the fourth still less exact than the third. The
errors of the first and second classes, I should
think, can rarely exceed a quarter of a second :
in the third class the error may probably amount
to double that quantity; and the fourth class
cannot be relied on bat to the nearest second.
Regulus ought, from the number of observations,
to be in the first class ; but, from some acddentsd
discordances, I have reserved it for future ex-
amination. The errors are quite independent of
the common error above-mentioned, the exact
amount of which will be the fiiture subject of
investigation.*
864. Catalogue of the JRifkt AscensUm and North Polar Dutance of Sixty StarSy for the be-
giwung of 1823, by J. Pond, Etq, Astronomer noyal.
N. P. D.
N. P. D.
i
No.
Names of Stan.
Right Aieeiuion.
Bradley's
French
Class.
Refraction.
Refnction.
H.
M.
S.
1
y Pegasi . .
0
4
81
75** 48* 2-2"
75°
48' 3-4"
1
2
a Cassiopese .
0
30
31-3
34 26 60
34
26 6-4
1
3
Polaris . .
0
57
46-2
1 38 7-7
1
38 7-7
1
4
a Arietes . .
1
57
131
67 22 44-4
67
22 451
1
5
a Ceti . . .
2
53
2-3
86 36 36-5
86
36 381
3
6
3
11
44-3
40 46 391
40
46 39-7
2
7
Aldebaran .
4
25
46-6
73 51 17-7
73
51 18-6
1
8
Capella . .
5
3
37-8
44 11 36-9
44
11 37-5
1
9
Rigel , .
5
6
2-2
98 24 48-5
98
24 50-3
3
10
/3 Tauri . .
5
15
6-8
61 33 65
61
33 7-4
1
11
5
15
38-7
83 49 8*0
83
49 9-5
3
12
5
22
58-3
90 26 180
90
26 19-7
4
13
5
27
14-3
91 19 22-9
91
19 24-6
4
14
5
31
501
92 2 380
92
2 39-7
4
15
5
45
35-6
82 38 41
82
38 5-3
1
16
5
46^
32-9
45 4 55-9
45
4 56-7
3
17
'
6
37
20-9
106 28 48-5
106
28 50-5
3
18
7
23
17-6
57 43 59-1
57
44 59-9
1
19
7
30
2-2
84 19 43-3
84
19 44-B
1
20
7
34
28-5
61 33 16-8
61
33 17-6
1
21
9
18
53-5
97 53 44-4
97
53 46-2
3
22
9
58
56-3
77 10 15-6
77
10 170
—
23
10
52
43-5
27 17 43-7
27
17 441
1
24
11
40
1-7
74 26 181
74
26 19-3
3
25
11
44
28*6
35 19 14-9
35
19 15-6
2
26
12
6
37-2
31 59 0.3
31
59 0-9
3
27
13
15
52-9
100 14 0-4
100
14 2-2
3
28
13
16
46-8
34 8 51-2
34
8 51-9
2
29
13
40
33-5
39 47 59-6
39
48 0-4
2
30
13
59
35-9
24 46 31-4
24
46 31-9
3
31
Arcturus
14
7
35-6
69 53 29-2
69
53 301
1
32
14
37
15-6
62 10 27-8
62
10 28*9
3
» 33
14
40
54-6
105 15 14-5
105
15 16-5
4
34
14
41
6-4
105 17 560
105
17 580
4
35
14
51
19-6
15 7 15-6
15
7 15-9
1
Digitized by
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ASTRONOMY.
Aitrcgiomer itoyoT* Catalogue conttauei.
201
1
N. P. D.
N. P. D.
No.
KaxDesof Sun. .
Right ▲aoension. {
Bradley's
French
Clam.
.
Refraction.
Refraction.
'
H. M.
S.
36
'■
15 27
120
62 41 0-8
62 41 1-6
1
37
15 35
33-5
83 00 36*8
83 00 381
1
38
'
16 5
50
93 13 490
93 13 50-8
3
39
16 18
34-2
116 1 43-3
116 1 45-5
4
40
v- •
17 6
350
75 24 0-4
75 24 1-5
1
41
.
17 26
25-9
37 33 48-8
37 33 49-5
2
42
t,
17 26
43-5
77 18 110
77 18 12-2
1
43
•'
17 52
301
38 29 10-6
38 29 11-3
2
44
18 29
22-3
3 25 111
3 25 11-2
3
45
18 30
570
55 22 31-2
51 22 31-9
1
46
18 43
330
56 50 120
56 50 130
1
47
18 57
16-8
76 23 31-3
76 23 32-6
2
48
19 12
29-7
22 38 58-9
22 38 59-5
2
49
19 16
34-6
87 13 47-3
87 13 48-9
2
50
19 37
50-8
79 48 390
79 48 40-2
2
51
19 42
8-9
81 35 29-7
81 35 309
1
52
19 46
37-3
84 1 40-2
84 1 41-4
2
53
20 7
49-9
103 2 49-6
103 2 51-5
4
54
20 8
13-7
103 5 6'^
103 5 8-5
4
55
20 35
24-2
45 20 52-4
45 20 53*1
1
56
20 58
58-6
52 6 55-2
52 6 561
3
57
21 14
21-0
28 9 430
28 9 43-6
1
58
21 22
14-2
96 20 38.5
96 20 40-3
2
59
21 26
20-4
20 12 53-9
20 12 54-3
1
60
21 56
41-5
91 10 31-3
91 10 330
1
61
22 55
57-2
75 44 41-7
75 44 42-9
1
62
23 59
15-6
61 53 12-5
61 53 13-2
1
INDEX.
Aberration of light, discovered hy Bradley, 56. 61.
373. Canse of, investigations respecting, formu-
lae and tables for computing, 374 — 386.
Adam supposed to have been acquainted with astro»
nomy, 3*
Almagest, conned by Ptolemy, 31. Commented
on by Puzbach, 38. and completed by Muller,
. 39.
Alphonsine tables composed, 87. and corrected, 38.
Altitude of the sun observed by Pytheas, 27.
Amazon river, five high, and four low tides in, at
once, 480.
Americans acquainted with astronomy, 17.
Annual motion of the earth iUustxated, 410 — 413.
Anomaly, mean and true, 602. Eccentric, 604.
To find true on terms of mean, 604 — 609.
Antarctic circles definf^d, 418.
Antediluvians acquainted with astronomy, 3 — 5.
Anticipation of the equinoxes, 429 — 431.
Aphelion or Apside of the planets, 601. Method
of finding place and motion of, 610. 617. 647.
Table of places of, 235. .
Apogee, motion of the sun's, computed by Albateg-
nius, 33. Defined, 353. 360.
Arabians cultivated astronomy, 32, 33.
Aracta, tables formed for the meridian of, 33.
Arctic circle defined, 416.
Arcturus, half a degree more southerly than ob-
served by the ancients, 208.
ARMIU.ARY tphero erected at Alexandria, 28.
Ascending node of planeu, table of places of, 234.
Defined, 335. 673. *
Aspects of the planets, 340.
Astronomical instruments described, 776 — 862.
Quadrants, 780—789. Mural circle, 790~-8n.
Equatorial sector, 812 — 815. Transit Instru-
ment, 816—850. Equatorial, 851 — 861. Ma-
chinery for illustration, 762 — 775.
Astronomical Society of London, 74. 180.
Astronomy, etymology of, definition of, sublimity
and usefulness, 2. Antiquity of, 3 — 19. History
of, 3—76. Various systems of, 210. 218. True
system of, 219. 235.
Athenians erect a statue to Berosus the astronomer,
27.
Atlantic Ocean, tides on the, less thanon the Paci-
fic, 479.
Atmosphere, lunar, 170. Supposed to have Udet,
483. Light refracted by it, 501—511.
ATMOSPHERES, Venus and Mars have, 112, 113.
Doubtful whether Mercury has one. 111.
Atkinson on refraction, 510,51 1.
Attraction of the great mountains affecU the plumb
line, 60. Dr. Herschel's ideas of the effects of
attraction of the heavenly bodies, 194. 200. Its
power supposed to be balanced by projectile forces,
207. Effects of attraction on the motions of tho
planets, 254. 327.
Attractive force, law of, between different planets,
dC^--314.
Digitized by
Googl(
202
ASTRONOMY.
Axis of the e»ith deccribed, 369. 420.
AZIMUTH circle, utility of the, 788. Method of ad-
justing, 855.
Baltic sea has no sennble tides, 482.
Bearded comet explained, 145.
Belts. See Jupiter.
Benares, a celebrated observatory at, 13.
Black sea has no sensible tides, 482.
Bodies of the sun and planets described, 303 — 807.
Bode, remarkable analogy among the distances of
the planets noticed by, 141.
Brinklby, 503. 588.
Bull's eye, more southerly than the ancients placed
it, 206.
Calippic period corrected by Hipparchus, 30.
Cambridge observatory, 75.
Cartesian system, 218.
Caspian sea has no sensible tides, 482.
Celestial bodies, appearances of the, as seen by the
naked eye, 77 — 97. Or seen through telescopes,
98—149.
Central forces, 236—247. Application of to the
planetary theory, 248—253. Obeyed by comeU,
258.
Ceres, 69. 114
Chaldea, a country proper for astronomical observa-
tion, 18.
Chaldeans, early astronomers, 12. 18, 19.
Chinese, said to have been taught astronomy by
Noah, 7. Their superstition, 756.
Chronology, eclipses useful in, 757.
Circles, described by the planetn, 328—336.
Clairault computed the orbit of a comet, 178, 179.
Cold, cause of in winter, 423 — 425.
Comets, written on by Muller, 39. Observed by Wer-
ner, 41. And Hevelius, 44. Paths of , discovered by
Kepler, 48. Places of observed, and elements com-
puted hj Bradley, 61. Number and appearances to
the eye, 87. Apparent magnitude, 88. Appear-
ances through telescopes, 142—1 46. Of their taib,
144 — 146. Fancies respecting, 172. Perihelion
distances, 175. Cox^jectures respecting tails, 176.
Methods of determining the orbito of, 294—302.
Resistance of ether inferred from the motion of
Ouke's, 180.
Commutation, angle of, 624.'
Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn observed by
Tycho Brahe, 47.
Conjunctions of planeu, 340, 341.
Constellations, number of the Chinese, 7. How
marked, 8. When first used by the Greeks, 22, 23.
Names of the ancient, 595. And of the modem,
596, 597. >fumber of stars in each, 595—597.
COPBRNICAN System published, 42. Improved, 43.
Account of, 219 — ^235. Much opposed at first,
220. Confirmed by Newton, 221,
Corpuscle, attraction of a line on, 313. Of a plane
on> 314. Of a sphere on, 315.
Crabtree, Mr. sees the first transit of Venus ever
obeerved, 51. 583.
Crystalline heavens, an erroneous notion in the
Ptolemaic system, 213.
Curtate distance, 625.
Darkness, extraordinary, supposed to be caused by
comets, 761.
Declination, sun's, table of, 550, Principal fixed
stars, 863.
Deluge, supposed to have been caused by a comet,
177.
Density of the whole matter on the earth, 67. Pro-
portional of the sun and planets, 235. 320 — 327.
Descending node defined, 673.
Diameter of the sun and plane'ts, 234.
Dichotomy of the moon, used by Aristarchus to de-
tcrmine the sun's distance, 28.
Direct motion of a planet defined, 357.
Diurnal rotations of the sun and planeU, 234. Of
the earth illustrated, 410 — 413.
Disturbing effects of planets on each other, more
easily computed from their smallneas with respect
to the sun, 266.
Double stars, some, revolve round each other, 186.
Herschel and South on motions of, 71.
Druids early astronomers, 27.
Earth, fignre of the, dispute concerning, 60. Mean
density of matter in it, 67. The motion of main-
tained by Pythagoras and Nicetas, 219. Its revo-
lution, diurnal motion, propoctional density, &c.
233. 235. 327. Distance from the sun, 366.
Diameter and motion, t6. Form, 366 — 368. Angle
of its axis, 369. Its motion round the sun proved,
370-^86. Objection, 387. Revolves on ite axis
388 — 409, Its motipns illustrated, 411--43I.
Appears as a moon to the Lunarians, and the
largest body in the universe, 435. Irregularity of
thb form of its orbit, 276. t
Bcoentricities of the planets, 233. Method of
finding, 648.
BccENTRics, a term used in the Ptolemaic system,
214.
Eclipses, the theory of, known to the Chinese, 9.
Accounts of, collected by Hipparchus, 50. Pre>
liminary observations respecting, 666-^678. Rules
and examples for calculating, 679 — ^745. For a
general solar eclipse, 746 — ^753. Eclipses of Ja«
Piter's satellites, 25—760. Cometa^ eclipses,
761. CausM of (explained, 772.
Ecliptic, obliciuity of the, in Ptolemy's time, 28.
Fixed by Albategnius, 33. Observed by Anachel,
34. Corrected by Werner, 41. Derivation of the
name, 330. To find the obliquity of, 331. 333.
563, 564. Periodical variation in obliquity, 393.
Comprehended in the aodiac, 593.
Egypt, a country adapted to astztmomical observa-
tions, 18.
Elliptical orbits of the planets discovered by Kep-
ler, 48. Of Saturn's sateUites, 136. Of comets,
very eccentric, 225.
Elongation, greatest of in&rior planets, 235. De-
fined, 362—629.
Ephemerides, made by Purbach, 38.
Epicycle, a term in the Ptolepnaic system, 214.
Equation of centre, ^7, 608.
Equation of time, table of, 548. Auxiliary table foi
reducing to subseqaent year, 544.
Equatorial described, 851— -862.
Equinoctial, obliquity of the, 420. Cause of the
seasons, 420.
Equinoctial point, method of finding the, 565.
Equinoxes, precession of the, 33 — 41.
Evening star, 83.
FacUL£ of the sun explained, 103.
Falling bodies, velocity of, 273,, 274.
Fields of stars defined, 188.
Fixed stars, Uble of proper motions of, 209. Cata-
logue of principal, 864.
Fo-HE, emperor of China, taught the Chinese astro-
nomy, 7.
Forces, central, 236. 242. 247.
Galaxy. See Milky Way.
Geocentric latitude defined, 334.
Geocentric motion explained, 342, 343. 351.
Geocentric observations, method of reducing to he-
liocentric, 618, 625.
Digitized by
Googl(
ASTRONOMY.
203
•0£0R6IAN planet, Georgiutt 8:diM, Unu^, or Her-
echel, dieeofvered by HeischeU 139. Apparent mag-
nitude, •&. Diameter, »6. Periodic revolution. «&.
Has six satellitee, t6. Remarkable peculiarity in
tbe poaition of their orbits, ib. Theoretical deduc-
tion of La Place respecting, t2(. Periods and elon-
gations of satellites, 140.
Gnomon, the use of a, known to the Chinese, 9.
Used by Pytheas, 27. One erected at Bologna,
58.
Gravitation defined, 260. Its effects on the pla*
neu, 261—269. 307.^ And satellites, 270— 277.
On the moon in particolar, 276—886. Illustrated,
286—292. Is di£fused through the sabstaace of
the celestial bodies, 303 — 318.
Greeks, probable origin of their astronomy, 22—25.
Vitruvius's account of it, 27.
Halley, Dr. examines Hevelius's instruments, and
makes observat^ns along with him, 53. Makes a
catalogue of the fixed stars j discovers the accel-
eration of the moon ; points out the method of find-
ing the diManoe of the sun from the transit of Ve-
nus, 59.
HAADiNQ>diseov«red Juno, 69.
Harvest moon, rises sooner than any other, 486.
Reasons of this, 487-^492. Goes thnnigh a course
of mere ana leas beneficial states, 493.
Heat, formula for determining time of day when
greatest, 426.
Heavens, general appearance of the, 80. Divisions
of the starry, 589—597.
Heliocentric drde defined and described, 328 —
330.
Heliocentric latitude defined, 334.
Herschel, Dr. improves reflecting telescopes, 57.
Constructs very powerful ones, and discovers a new
planet, with satellites, 68. His observations on
Venus, 112. And on Mars, 113. Sees a satellite
and iu shadow both on the disk of Jupiter, 125.
Discovers the double ring of Saturn^ 131 — 133. A
sixth and seventh satellite, 134. 4nd vast num-
bers of nebula, 146. Obs«rves eruptions of the lu-
nar volcanoes, 167. Forms a new theory of the
universe, 187. His theory of the heaveps> 195—
203. Proposes a method of determining the pa-
rallax of the fixed stars, 586.
Herschel, Jun. on double stars, 71.
Herschel, the new planet, so named by foieiga ae-
tronomers, 68. See Georgium SidUS.
UiGli water, to find the time of, 484, 485.
Horizontal parallax defined, 566. How to find it,
567.
HoRiZONtAL sun and moon, apparent magnitude of
the, 494. Accounted for by Alhasen, 495. Des-
cartes and Wallis, 496, 497. Dr. Desaguliers,
498. And Dr. Smith, 499. Probable cause of,
500.
HiiRNNA,Tycho Brahe builds an observatory on, 47.
Inclinations of the planetaiy orbiu to the ecliptic,
. tZ34.
Indians early astronomers, 13.
INFERIOR planets defined, 227—335.
INSTRDMENTS, astronomical, described, 776—862.
Jones, constructed Greenwich mural circle, 790.
Italy, great astronomers in, ^3.
Julian year, excess of tlie, above the solar, 430.
Juno, 116.
Jo PITER, phenomena of, eclipses of, satellites of, 25.
Conjunction of, with Saturn observed, 47. Occul-
tation of, by the moon, 53. Eclipses of, by his sa-
tellites, observed by Cassini, 64. Theoiy of his
satellites still imperfect, 62. His appearance to
Che eye, 85. And through a telescope, 118. A
satellite and its shadow seen on the planet at the
same time, 125. Revolution of satellites on their
axes, 126. Remarkable connexion among their
periodic times, 127. Spots observed on him, 118.
His figure and roUtion, 1 19. His four satellites,
120. Aecount of these phenomena, 127. Other
phenomena, 231. 233,234, 235. Attractive power
of Jupiter, 271, 272. Motion uf light, from Jupi-
ter to the earth, 374. Eclipses of his satellites
vecy frequent, useful in finding the longitude, 760.
KatSR observed a volcanic appearance in the moon,
167.
Kepler and Newton's discoveries, distinctive nature
of, 254.
Kepler's Uws, 255— 267.— Illostmted, 259, 260.
Latitude of a planet defined, 334. Methods of
computing, 620. Terrestrial, methods of ^ding,
561,662,
LiBRATlON, 109. 447.
Light, progressive motion of, discovered, 68. 373.
Proportion of, in the planets, 235. Velocity and
alienation of, 376 — 387. Afford* evidence of the
motion of the earth, 395. 408 — 411. Illustrated,
411 — 413, Quantity of, afforded by the earth to
the moon, 436. Befraction of fay the atmosphere,
500—616.
Local zodiac described, 336.
liDNlMN bridge, time of tides arriving at, 480.
Longitude, Vnetbod of finding the, proposed by
Werner, 41. By Dr. Halley, 59. Has since been
carried into execution, t6. Longitude of a celestial
phenomenon defined, 338. Mc^od of computing,
620. Of places easily found in the moon, 438.
Eclipses useful in determining it, 661, 664.
Lunar eclipses, two, at least, happen annually, 698.
One visible, the other not, 699. Rules for calcu-
lating, 706—724. Exemplified, 772.
Lunar tables computed, 62. When themoon's place
is most correctly in the sysygies, 723, 724.
Lunarians, appearance of the earth to the, 435,
436. 442. Have always equal day and night,
437—439.
Lunations, no eomplel^ number td, finished without
a fraction, 676. See MooN.
Machinery, astronouieal, described> 762 — ^776.
MACULiS of the sun defined, 103.
Magnitudes of the celestial bodies, 661—688. Of
the stars distinguished, 689.
Mars, his appearance to the eye, color, and other
phenomena, 84. Appearance through a telescope,
113. Rules for deducing his distance, 675, 576.
Obliquity of axis of rotation, appearance of snow
about poles of, 113.
Marseilles, the gnomon early used at, 27.
Matter, universal attraction of, proved, 67. 262.
303. 318. Diversity of, in the earth, 67.262.
And pdanets, 320—327.
Mean distances of the planets, 238.
Mediterranean sea has no tides, 482.
Mercury, appearance of, to the eye, 82. Through
^ a telescope, 110. Mountains in. 111. Has phases
similar to those of the moon, 231. Seen in con-
junction with the son, 345. And passing over
his disk, 346. Table of occultations of, 665.
Meridian, rules for finding the, 517 — 522. To
place a transit instrument in, 831 — 839.
Micrometer improved, 57. Necessary for measur-
ing small angular distances, 779.
Milky way, appearance of the, 96. Dr. Herschel
discovers innumerable multitudes of stars in it;
he views it by fields, 188. And supposes the sun
to be set, 192. Gauges it, 194.
Digitized by
Googl(
204
ASTRONOMY.
Moon, acceleration of the» determined by Ebn.
Younia's obaervationa, 34. Discoyered by Halley,
59. Her appearance to the eye, 78. And through
» teleacope, 109. Great inequalities on her sur-
face, 166. Supposed to be mountainous ; attempts
made to measure their height, 166. Volcano ob-
served in her by Kater, 167. Also by others, ib.
Br. Herschel's estimate of the height of the lunar
mountains, 166. Conjectures respecting the.moon's
substance, 168. And her spots, 169. Atmos-
phere of, discovered by Ramage, Ross, and Com-
field, 170. Enquiry whether the moon is inha-
bited, 171. Her orbit and motion, 271, 272. 11-
Instrated, 273 — ^292. Her conjunction, 340, 341.
And peculiar phenomena, 432 — 449. She influ-
ences the tides, 450 — 482. Proportion of her
power to that of the sun in moving the sea, 459.
Her appearance at the fall in harvest, 486. Causes
of it, 487 — 493. Appearance near the horison,
494. Various reasons assigned for it, 49(M500.
Causes of her eclipses, 666 — 678. Rules for com-
puting them, 680—724. To find her way from the
sun, 725 — ^730. Her color, &c during an eclipse,
754, 755. Her distance from the earth less than
fonnerly, 758. Her various phases exemplified,
768. 770. 772. Method of delineating her visible
disk, 447. Parallaxes indicate the shape of the
earth, 578.
AfORNiNG star, 83.
Motion, planetary, laws of, 255— 259. 344. 364. Of
light, 373— 386
Motions of comets, 293—302. Of planets, in ante-
cedence and consequence, defined, 336. Direct,
344. 357. And retrograde, 344—358. Pro-
gresaive of light, 408, 409. Annual and diurnal,
of the earth, 410—413. 531.
Moral quadrant described, 781—787.
Mural circle, and iu uses, described, 790—811.
Nautical almanack, or Nautical £phemeris> annually
published, 62—66.
Neap tides, cause of the, 455. 472. 476.
Nebula explained, vast numbers of, discovered by
Herschel, 149. His account of them, 188 — ^205.
New stars, accounts of several, 90—95. '
Newton, Sir Isaac, constructs reflectors with sphe-
rical speculums, 55. Brings theoretical astronomy
to perfection, 56. Determines the figure of the
earth, 60. Confirms the Copemican system, and
lays down the fundamental laws of motion and
gravity, 221,
N0DE8 denned, 621. Method of finding when a
planet is in, ib. To find the motion of the moon's,
289, 290. Line of the nodes defined, 335.
Nonagesimal degree defined, 443.
North Pole star, appearance of the, 79, 80.
Nutation, natural, and cause of, 401. Formols
and tables for computing, 402 — 407.
Obliquity of ecliptic, periodical variation in, 393.
Method of finding, 563, 564.
Observatories, the towers of Babel and Belus sup-
posed to have been, and the pyramids of Egypt,
probably used as such, 18.
Observatory, principal instrumento in, described,
776—862.
Observatory, portable or equatorial, described,
851—862.
Occultation of lupiter by the Moon, observed, 53.
170. And of Saturn, ib.
Octants of the moon described, 440.
Olbers discovered Pallas and Vesta, 69.
Opposition defined, 340. Mark of, 341.
Orbits of the planets, inclination of the, to the eclip-
tic, 234. Of thejnoon, 286— 291. Method of
finding the form of, 644. Inclination of, 643. Ee>
centricity, 648. Place of a planet in an ellipiica]
orbit, 598—609.
Orion, number of stars in, 148.
Orrery, erected by Archimedes, 30. Description oi
the grand, made for King George I., 762 — ^764.
Of Mr. Ferguson's, 765—772.
OSYMANDIUS, an astronomical circle on the monu-
ment of, 18.
Pallas, 69. 115.
Paralla'X of planets, methods of determining, 577.
Of fixed stars, no sensible quanti^, 588.
Parabola of a comet, method of finding the, 297 —
302.
Pendulum, a test of velocity, 274. Caose of i»
vibration, 304. Vibrates most quickly near the
poles, 397.
Pendulum dock, 777.
Penumbra, method of finding the place fint or last
touched by, 752.
Perigee defined, 353 — 360.
Period of eclipses, 676. See Eclipses.
Periodical revolutions, 233. 630.
Pisces and Aries, appearance of the moon in, 487^
492.
Piazzi discovered Ceres, 69.
Planetarium erected by Archimedes, 29. Mr.
Jones's described, 771.
Planets, a theory of the, written by Multer, 39.
Their appearance to the eye, 81 — 86. Number,
81. Apparent magnitudes and motions, 86. Their
names and order, 222 — ^227. Are all opaque bo-
dies, 230. Their periods, distances, and eccentri-
cities, 233. Secondary planets, 270— 292. Their
circles defined and described, 328—^333. 336. Their
latitude, 334 — 337. Method of computing lati-
tude of, 620. Longitude, 357. Method of coin-
puting, 620. Conjunctions, oppositions, and as-
pects, 340—349. fttotionary appearances, 350.
354. Motions, 355, 356. Direct, 357. Retro-
grade, 358. In apogee and perigee, 353. 360.
Periods of return, 361 — 364. Methods of finding
the parallax of the plaueu, 566 — 579. Their dis-
Unces, 580-^582. 609. 630—^9. Periodic times,
. 630. Method of computing densities, 320 — 336.
Comparative view of densities, 327.
Pleiades, number of stars in, 148.
Pole, to find the place of, in projecting a sdlar
eclipse, 750.
Poles of the earth, bodies heaviest when near,
397.
Pond, astronomer royal, 71, 588.
Precession of the equmoxes, 390'--'392. Table and
formulae for computing effect of, 394 — 396*
Progressive motion of light proves the motion of
the earth, 373—386.
Projectile forces, supposed by Dr. Herschel to
counteract the power of attraction, 207. Rendered
probable by changes in the positions of stars,
208.
Proportional distances of the planets from the sun,
233,
Proportions of light, heat, bulk, and density of the
planets, 235.
Pythagorean system of astronomy, taught by Phil*
olaus, 25. Andby Arisurchus,28. Carried into
Italy, Gaul, and Egypt, 26, 27. Hestored by Co-
pernicus, 42. 218.
Pythagoras held comets to be of the nature at
planets, 172.
Quadrant, mural, described, 781— 787.
Quadrant, portable, described, 788, 789.
Quadrant, reflecting, invented, 56.
Drgitized by
Googl(
ASTRONOMY.
305
QUADEATUKB deHned, 340, 341.
Radius, vector, 601. Method of finding length of,
609. 649.
REFRACTION of light by the atmosphere, 501. II-
lostittted, 502. Method of computing by BrinUey,
504 — 509. Table of mean refractions, by Mr.
Henry Atkinson, 511.
Refractions, the use of, in astronomy, shown by
Alhasen, 34. And Vitello, 37.
Retrograde motion of a planet defined, 344.
Revolution of the heavens, only an apparent mo-
tion, 409.
Revolution, synodical, method of determining,
650-656.
RIGHT Ascension, method of computing, of the stars,
620. Table of principal, 865. Of the sun, 558.
560.
Ring, ftee Saturn. To find the form of, 137.
Samarcand, the latitude of, determined by Ulug
Beg, 35.
Satellites, four revolve round Jupiter, 120. Seven
round Saturn, 134. And six round Herschel,
139.
Saturn, his ring discovered, 50. 128. And five of
his satellites, 54. His appearance to the naked
eye, 85. And through a telescope, 128. His
ring described, 129, 130. Found by Dr. Herechel
to be double, 131. Not changeable, 132. Period
of his revolution, 133. Seven satellites, 134.
Their periodical revolutions and distances from Sa-
turn, and greatest angular distance as seAn from the
earth, 135. Table to determine the apparent form
of the ring, and of the orbits of satellites, 137, 138.
Mutual attraction between Jupiter and Saturn, 267,
268. Their power, 272.
Schroeter, 111. 113.
Sea, the ebbing and flowing jof the, causes of, 450.
483.
Seasons, causes of the, 414. 428. Had fallen back
from the error of the Gregorian calendar, 430.
Rectified by the new style, 16. 431.
Sector, equatorial, described, 812. 815.
Semita Luhinosa, or zodiacal light, 150—152.
Sbmi Tychonic system, 217.
Sextile, definition and marks of, 341.
Shadow of the earth always round, 367.
Siderial days defined, 525.
Signs, Chinese names of the, 7. Defined, 336.
Solar days defined, 525.
Solar eclipses, of the shadow of the penumbra in,
687 — 693. When they can happen, 695. Num-
ber that may happen in a year, 698. Rules for
computing, 731 — 753.
Solar noon, deviation of the, from the clock, 541.
Solar systems, ours, in motion, 208. . Synoptic view
of 222—227.
Solar systems, space univeisaily filled with, 183.
Southern constellations, 596.
Stars, fixed, catalogues of the, made by Hipparchus,
30. Ulug Beg, 35. WUliam lY. of Hesse, 46.
Tycho Brahe, 47. Flamsteed, 58. Halley, 59.
Herschel, 68. Their aberration discovered, 56.
Appearances to the eye, 79 — 81. Most numerous
in the northern part of ^e heavens, 79 — 81. Liable
to changes. 99. Their appearance through teles-
copes, 147, 148. Supposed to be suns, 181—186.
Br. Herschel's theory, 187. Observations of in-
numerable multitudes of stars, 188 — ^205. His in-
ferences, 205 — ^208. Apparent changes of stars,
ib. Are situated at an immense distance, shine by
their own native light, 228. No method yet found
to ascertain their distance, 584. Conjecture as to
it, 585. Dr. Herschel's method, 586. Still in-
sufficient, 587. Divisions of the stars, 589 — 597.
Number of, in different oonstellations, 695—^597.
Table of proper motion of, 209. Catalogue of prin-
cipal, 865.
Style, reason for the change of, 430, 431.
'Sun, spots on the, discovered, 50. His parallax and
distance computed, 64. His appearance to the eye,
77. And through a telescope, 98—108. His
9jfot» observed by Galileo, Scheiner, and Harriot,
about the same time, 98, 99. Varie^ of uimen-
sions, 100. Subject to increase and diminution, 101
— 103. Their velocity and uniform motion from east
lowest, 104. Other phenomena attending them
106 — 108. Dr. Long's account of them, 154. To
find the time of their revolutions, 156, 157. Dif-
ferent opinions concerning them, 158. Dr. Wilson,
159 — 164. The sun supposed not to be in the
centre of the universe, 192. Is at an immense
distance, 229. Mutual gravitation between the
sun and planets, 260—- 269. Action of the sun on
the secondary planets, 270 — ^292. Proportion of
his action on both, 306 — 318. His conjunctions
• with the planets, 340 — 364. Is immensely larger
than the earth, 370, 371. Proofs that the earth
revolves round the sun, 371 — 413. And that the
sun revolves on his axis, 388, 389. He is higher
in summer than in winter, 421. And more dis-
tant, 423. Reasons for the greater heat in sum-
mer, 423 — 426. Periods of his completing a tro-
. pical revolution, 427. Appears to fall back with
respect to the stars, 428. Reasons for the ap-
parent-increase of magnitude near the horizon,
494-^500. The motion of the sun illustrated by
supposing a fictitious sun moving in the equator,
533 — 541. The sun's parallax the most important
problem in astronomy, 582. Table of the sun's
declination for I? 14 ^ with auxiliary table to find
it for bubsequent years, 550, 551. To find the
moon's way fron the sun in eclipses, 725—730.
to calculate eclipses of the sun, 731 — 753.
Synopsis of the sun and planets, 232 — ^235.
Systems of astronomy, account of the most famous,
210—227. Of the Pythagorean, 212. Ptolemaic,
213, 214. TVchonic, 216. Semi Tychonic, 217.
Cartesian, 218. And Copemican, 219—227.
Tables, astronomical, published, 37. 48. 59. 62.
Telescopes, improvement of, 54 — 57. Various
kinds of, used by astronomers, 778. 784. 816. To
point the telescope of an equatorial to a star,
861.
Telescopic stars defined, 589.
Tides, theory of, 450—483. Causes of the spring
and neap, 455. 472. 475, 476. Tides supposed in
the atmosphere, 483.
Time, methods of finding, 526 — 529. Equation of
time, table of, 543, 544. Illustration of equation
of time, 53a!— 536. Explanation of, 537—54 1 .
Time keeper, recommended by Frisius to determme
the longitude, 45.
Trajectorium Lnnare, described,'773 — ^775.
Transit instrument, description and use of, 817
—850.
Transits of inferior planets over the sun ; intervals
at which they may happen, 657. 663. List of
transits of Venus, 664. Of Mercury, 665.
Tropic of Cancer described, 416. Of Capricorn,
418.
Troughton, maker of one of the Greenwich mural
circles, 71.
Twilight, cause of the, 512. Method of determin-
ing the time of shortest at any place, 513 — 515.
Tychonic system, account of the, 216.
Velocity of the spots on the sun, 104. Of comets,
greatest in their perihelion, 174. Of bodies, pheno-
Digitized by
Googl(
AST
206
AST
menm of the, 237. 273. 274. Of the euth^ 386.
Of light, 396.
Vends, the first transit ofyeverobserred, 61. The
second end third obserred at various places,
inferences, 64. Her appearance to the eye> 83.
And through a telescope ; her phases and changes
similar to those ol»erved in the moon were
first observed by Galileo; Dr. Herschel's ob-
servations and inferences; she has an atmos-
phere, and is probably a little larger than the
earth, 112. Mountains in her, seen by Sdmieter,
113. Periods of her transiu, 346. 664. Her
motions, 361, 362. Methods of deducing her pa-
rallax, 571, 572. 581, 582. Advantage of observ-
ing her transits, 582. Account of those that have
been observed, 583.
Ternier described, 785, 786.
Vesta. 69, 117.
Vibration of pendulums, cause of the, 304.
Visible disk, moon's, method of delineating, 447.
Visible edipses, number of, in the year, 699.
Umbra in the sun defined, 106, 107.
Unformed staii defined, 590.
Uraniburg, built by Tycho Brahe, 47.
UranometrIA, a work published l^ Bayer, ^.
Ursa, major and minor, number of stars in, 505*
Whiston, conjecture of, respecting comets, 177.
Xiphias, number of stars in the constellation, 596.
Year, the grand, Jeaephus's mention of, 4. Casstni V
remaik on, 6. The tropical and siderial defined,
427. CivU and solar difference of, 429, 430.
Rectified by the change of style, 430, 431.
Zenith sector, invented by Graham, 56.
Zodiac, Chinese divisions of the, 7. Etymology and
definition of, 330. Division of, astral and local
defined, 336. Extent of, 593.
Zodiacal light, discovered by Cassini, 150. T>t-
scribed, 151 — 153. Reason for supposing that it
is not connected with the solar atmosphere, 152.
Zones, or belu round Jupiter, 54. 118.
ASTROPECTEN, in natural history, a species
of star fish, composed of a central nucleus, fur-
rowed like the shell of the common scallop, and
parting into five principal rays, from each of
which issue several transverse processes, covered
with a haiiy down.
ASTIlOPODIA,the8tar.8tone. SeeAsTERiA.
ASTROSCOPE, an astronomical instrument,
composed of two cones, on whose surftice the
constellations, with their stars, are delineated, by
means whereof the stars may easily be known.
ASTROSCOPIA, the art of examining the
stars by telescopes. Huygens improved this art
considerably. See his Astroscopia Compendiaria.
ASTROTHEMATA, in astrology^ the posi-
tions of the stars in a theme of the heavens.
ASTRUC (John), a celebrated French phy-
«ician, was bom in 1684, at the little town of
Sauves inLanguedoc. He studied at the univer-
sity of Montpelier, and in 1717 was in great re-
pute there as a teacher of medic'ne. His fame
became so considerable that the king assigned
him an annual salary, and appointed him to
superintend the mineral waters in Languedoc.
As Montpelier, however, did not afibrd sufficient
scope for his genius, he removed to Paris, but
soon af^r left it, having in 1729 accepted the
office of first physician to the king of Poland.
Upon the death of the celebrated GeofFroy, in
1731, he was appointed Regius Professor of
medicine at Paris. Of his numerous writings the
following are the principal : 1. De Morbis Vene-
reis. 2. Memoirs relative to the Natural Histoty
of Languedoc. 3. A Treatise on Pathology.
4. On Therapeutics. 5. On the Inoculation for
the Small-pox. 6. On Tumors and Ulcers. 7.
Origine de la Peste. 8. De motu Muaculari.
9. L'Art de TAccoucheur. 10. De motus Fer^-
mentativi. 11. Memoire sur la Digestion. 12.
On the diseases of Women. The iirst and last
l\ave been translated into English. He died
universallv regretted, on the 15th of May 1766,
in the eighty-second year of his age.
ASTRUM, or Astron, a <;onstellation, or as-
semblage of stars ; as distinguished from aster, a
single star.
ASTRUT*. On strut. See Strut.
What good can the greet gloton do w« hie bely
standing a Mroie like a taber, and his jioll toty with
drink. Sir Thoi. More, ioL 98.
Inflated and tttrul with adf conceit.
He gulps the windy diet ; and ere long.
Adopting their mistake, profoundly thinks
The worid was made in vain, if not for him.
Cowper, The ToMk, book r.
ASTURA, in ancient geography, a town of
Italy, in the Campagna di Roma, which had a
good harbour. Cficero lost his life in it, and
prince Conradin, last heir of the house of Hohen-
staufen, was taken prisoner here in 1268.
ASTURIA, an ancient kingdom of Spain,
subdued by Ans^uatus emperor of Rome.
ASTURIANS, the brave inhabitants of Astnria,
who, along with those of Cantabria, asserted their
liberty long after the rest of Spain had submitted
to the Roman yoke. So great was their desire
of liberty, that, ^fter being closely shut up by
the Roman army, they endured the most terrible
calamities of famine, ev^ to the devouring of
one another, rather than submit to the enemy.
At length, however, the Asturians proposed to
surrender ; but the Canubrians opposed the mea-
sure, and maintained that they ought rather to
die sword in hand. Upon this the two nations
quarrelled, notwithstanding their desperate situa-
tion ; and a battle ensuing, 10,000 of the Astu-
rians Were driven to the entrenchments of the
Romans, whom they begged, in the most moving
manner, to receive them on any terms. But
Tiberius refusing to admit them into the camp,
some of these unhappy people put an end to
their lives by falling on their own swords ; others,
lighting great fires, threw themselves into them,
while some poisoned themselves by drinking the
juice of a venemous herb. The campaign being
closed by the winter, the next year the Astarians
summoned all their strength against the Romans;
but, after frequent efforts, sometimes in conjunc-
tion with the Cantabrians, they were reduced by
the imperial armies, and submitted to the Roman
power till the sub\rersion of that empire by the
Goths.
Digitized by
Googl(
AST
207
AST
ASTORIA, or Asturias, anciently the king-
dom of Asturia, is now a principality of modem
Spam. It is bounded by Biscay on the east,
Galiciaon the west, Castile and Old Leon on the
south, and the sea on the north. Its greatest
length is about 120 miles, and its breadth 54.
On the south it is separated from Castile and
Old Leon by high mountains covered with woods.
The province is tolerably fertile, but is thinly in-
habited. It has mines of gold, lapis lazufi, and'
vermilion. The hereditary prince of Spain is
styled Prince of the Asturias; the infant Don
Henriquez, son of John I. of Castile, being the
first who took that title in 1388. This princi-
pality is commonly divided into Asturia d'Oviedo,
and Asturia de Santillana, so called from their
principal towns ; the former occap3ring two-thirds
of the principality to the west, and being about
thirty Spanish leagues in lengdi, and eighteen in
breadth ; the latter the other third, sixteen leagues
long, and twelve bioad. The climate of the whole
principality is colder than the eest of Spain ; but
the mountains and hills, though often covered
with snow during the whole winter, abound with
excellent pastures, and a great variety of fruit
trees. Apples are particularly abundant, and a
great deal of cyder is made and exported;
Spanish America alone has received 28,000 arobas
or 25 lb. each yearly. But the most important
branch of their agriculture is the breeding of cat-
tle; and their horses have been celebrated for
strength from the days of Martial and Silius
Italicus. The Asturias contain a bishopric, 668
parishes, 36 religious houses, including 23 mo-
nasteries and nunneries, a university, 3 colleges,
a royal court of justice, 4 cities, 50 towns, and
3 sea-ports, the principal of which is Gijon,
together with several villages ; and a population
of about 350,000. In more modern history, they
are celebrated for having received Pelayo and
the other Christians who escaped from the Moors
after the battle of Xeres de la Frohtera, and who,
protected by this mountainous* country, bade de-
fiance to, and finally expelled the invaders, lay-
ing in these provinces the foundation of tlie
Spanish monarchy. Hence the Asturian nobility
and gentry are possessed of some extraordinary
privileges, and the inhabitants of the mountain
Ancena are still distinguished by the title of • the
illustrious mountaineers.'
Asturias, in zoology, a name by which some
authors have called the goshawk.
ASTUTE. Lat astuius* from Gr. arv, a
city. Acute, penetrating, sharp. Applied to the
inhabitants of a city who are supposed to be
sharp-witted in consequence of having much in-
tercourse with the chicane and craft of mankind,
and are therefore prepared to contend with it.
We term those moat <uiuie which are most versate.
Sir M, Satufy't Eb$. p. 168.
ASTYAGES, son of Cyaxares, the last king
of the Medes. lie dreamed, that from the womb
of his daughter Mandane, married to Cambyses
king of Persia, there sprung up a vine that
spread itself over all Asia ; and she being with
cnild, he resolved to kill the infant as soon as
bom. Its name was Cynis ; but Harpagus beihg
sent to destroy it, preserved it ; which Astyages
hearing of long after, he caused Harpagus to eat
his own son. Harpagus, in revenge, called in
Cyrus, who dethroned his grandfather, and
thereby ended the monarchy of the Medes ; the
tyrant thus losing his kingdom by the barbarous
means he tbok to preserve it. See Media and
Persia.
ASTYANAX, the only son of Hector and
Andromache. After the taking of Troy, he was
thrown from the top of a tower b^ Ulysses'
orders
ASTYNOMI, in Grecian antiquity, magis-
trates in Athens, corresponding to the aediles of
the Romans ; they were* ten in tiumber. See
iEniLE.
ASUNDER. On sunder.
Two indirect lines ; the farther that they are drawn
Out, the further they gq €uunder, Spemer on Ireland.
So looks the pent tip lion o'er the ?«ntetch
That trembles under Ms devouring paws ^
And so he walks insulting o'er his prey^
And so he comes to tear his limbs atiuiidtr,
Shaktpeare't Third Part of Henry VI. act i. sc. 5.
The way of Fortune is like the milken way in the
skie, which is a meeting or knot of a number of small
stars ; not seen anmder, but giving light together : so
are there a number of little and scarce discerned ver-
tues, or rather faculties and custom««, that make men
fortunate. Lord Bacon's Euajfi,
8«nse thinks the planets spheres not much anmder ;
What tells us then, their distance is to fa? Z ^
Daviei.
Greedy hope to find
His wish and be^t advantage, u$ anmder*
Paradm Lott,
The falPn archangel, envious of our state.
Seeks hid advantage to betray ua worse ;
Which, when atimder, will not prove too hard ,
For both together are each other's guard.
Dryden.
Borne far asunder by the tides of men.
Like adamant and steel they meet again.
Dryden'e Fahie*.
All this metallick matter ^both that which conti^
nued ammier, and in single ooipusdesy and that
which was amassed and concreted into nodules,) sub^
sided. Woodumrd^t Natural Hiekfry.
The diversified but connected fabrick of universal
justice is well cramped and bolted together in all
parts ; and depend upon it, I never have employed,
and I never shall employ, any engine of power which
may come into my hands, to wrench it aetmder.
Bt^ke.
Upon the whole, there was in this man something
that could create, subvert^ or reform ; an understand-
ing, a spirit, and an eloquence, to summon mankind
to society, or to break the bands of slavery asunder,
and to rule the wilderness of free minds with un-
bounded authority ; something that could establish or
overwhelm empire, and strilie a blow in the world
that should resound through the universe.
Grattan's Character of Lord Chatham,
ASYLA, the plural of Asylum. The asyla of
altars and temples were very ancient; and like-
wise those of tombs, statues, and other monu-
ments of considerable personages. Thus, the
temple of Diana at Ephesus was a refuge for
debtors J the tomb of Theseus for slaves. In
order to ' people Rome, a celebrated asylum
was opened by Romulus between tlie mounts
Palatine and (japitoline, for all sorts of persons
indiscriminately, fugitive slaves, debtors and
criminals of every kind. It had a temple
dedicated to the god Asyloms. The Jews had
Digitized by
Googl(
ASY
208
ATA
their asyla ; the most remarkable of nrhich were,
the six cities of refuge, the temple, and the altar
of burnt offerings ; which protected those who
had incurred the lash of the law, but not for any
deliberate crime. But it was customary among
the heathens to allow refuge and impunity, even
to the vilest and most flagrant offenders ; some
out of superstition, and others for the sake of
peopling toeir cities. They bad an idea, that a
criminal who fled to the temple or altar, sub-
mitted his crime to the punishment of the gods ;
and that it would be impiety in man to take ven-
geance out of their hands. It was by this means,
and with such inhabitants, that Thebes, Athens,
and Rome, were first stocked. We even read of
asyla at Lyons and Vienue, among the ancient
Gauls ; and there are some cities in Germany,
which still preserve this ancient right. On the
medals of several ancient cities, particularly in
Syria, we meet with the inscription A£YAOI, to
which is added lEPAI. The emperors Honorius
and Theodosius, granting the like immunities to
churches, the bishops and monks soon selected
certain tracts or territories, without which they
fixed the bounds of the secular jurisdiction ; and
80 well did they manage their privileges, that
convents in a little time became a kind of for-
tresses, where the most notorious offenders were
in safety. These privileges at length were ex-
tended, not only to the churches and church-
yards, but also to the bishops' houses ; whence the
criminal could not be removed without a legal
assurance of life, and an entire remission of the
crime. At last these asyla were stripped of most
of dieir immunities. In Great Britain particu-
larly, they have been entirely abolished as pro-
tecting criminals, although there are still some
privileged places of refiige for debtors, such as
the precincts of the royal palaces, the Abbey of
Holy-rood-house, Edinburgh, &c.
ASY'LUM. Gr. a, the privative, and <rv\ii,
spoil; because it was not lawful to spoil those
who fled to a sanctuary.
So ncred was the church to some, that it had the
right of an aayhmi or tanctuaiy. AyUfftU Parer,
But noble dames.
In this atytmn sojourning awhile.
Trust your own merits, and a guardian god.
Gkfoer't Athenaid, book ii.
The adventurer knows he has not far to go before
he will meet with some fortress that has been rained
by sophistry for the oiytum of error. Hawkenoorth.
ASYLUS, the gad-fly. See Asilus.
ASYM'METRY,^ a, the privative, and w^-
Asym'metral, Sfurpoy, proportion. Want
Asym'metrous. 3 of symmetry, dispropor-
tion.
Quantities compared with respect to such a mea-
sure, are by geometricians wont to be called lymme-
CroMf or atymmeinm, i. e. commensurable or incom-
mensurable. Barrow't Mathemaiieai Zecteret.
The aaypMmetne$ of the brain, as well as the defor-
mities of the legs or face, may be rectified in time.
Grew,
ASYMPTOTE; from a priv. trw, with*
and TTOM, to fell ; which never meet ; incoinci-
dent. Asymptotes are right lines, which ap-
proach nearer to some curve ; but which, though
they and their curve were infinitely continued,
would never meet; and may be conceived as
tangents to their curves at an infinite <
See Conic Sections.
ASYNDETON, firom the privative a, and
(Tvv^cw, I bind together ; a figure in rhetoric, im-
plying an omission of words, or a defect of con-
junctive particles. The want of such particles
represents either the celerity of an action, or the .
haate and eagerness of the speaker. As, in the
celebrated instance, ' veni, vidi, vici,* ' I came,
I saw, I conquered.'
AT. From the Latin ad. In its abstract
sense designating completion, termination^ touch-
ing the surface by approach.
For all the field was but of sand
As small as men may see at eye
In the desert of Libye.
Chaucer. The Houae of Fame, b. i. c 3.
I speke the thingis that I saigh at my fadir \ and
ye doen the thingis that ye saighen at youre fadir.
Widif, Jon, chap. viii. p. 61.
Under pardon.
Yon, are much more at task, for want of wisdom ;
Than prais'd for harmless mildness. Shakipeare,
Others, with more helpful ea».
Cried out aloud. Beware, brave youth, beware '.
At this he tum'd ; and, as the bull drew near,
Shunn'd and received him on his pointed spear.
Dryden,
Their various news T heard, of love and strife.
Of storms at sea, and travels on the shore. Pope.
ATABALIPA, or Atahualpa^ the last of the
Incas. On the death of his father, in liS29, he
succeeded to the throne of Quito, while his bro-
ther Uuascar obtained the kingdom of Peru.
Not long after a disagreement took place, and
hostilities commenced betwixt them, in which
Huascar was defeated. The Spaniards taking
advantage of these disturbances, with Pizarro as
their leader, invaded Peru, where they were en-
tertained with no little hospitality by the king
and the people ; but, instead of making any return
for his kmdness, they, with their usu^ treachery
held him in captivity. The inca, as a ransom,
offered to give the Spaniards a room fiiU of gold,
and, when they had got the treasure in their pos-
session, they, with tlie utmost baseness, burnt the
unhappy monarch at the stake, in 1533.
ATAbULUS, in physiology, a provincial wind
in Apulia, of a dry pinching quality, and very
noxious in its effects. The ancient naturalists
speak of the Atabulus in terms of horror, on
account of the ravages it made among the fruits.
ATABYRIS, a very high mountain in the
island of Rhodes, on which, accordint; to Strabo
and Diodorus Siculus, stood a temple of Jupiter
Atabyrius, whose worship a colony of Rhoaians
carried into Sicily.
ATACAMA, a chain of mountains in SouUl
America, which separate Peru from Quito, and
where the cold is very violent.
Atacama, a province of Peru, bounded on
the north by the province of Arica; east by
Lipes, Salta, and Tucuman ; south by a desert
extending to the kingdom of Chili ; and west by
the South Sea. Its population is under 3000.
Its chief town, of the same name, lies in long. W.
69° SOT. lat. S. 23° 30'., on a barren spot, alH>ut
100 miles from the sea.
ATAC AMITE, in mineralogy, a name given
to a variety of muriate of copper, found in t!ie
Digitized by
Googl(
ATA
209
ATE
diitiict of Atacama, in minute ciystals and frag-
ments.
ATAD, a Canaanite^ rendered memorable by
bis threshing-floor, Gen. 1. 10. See Abel-
ATALANTA, in ancient geography, an island
in the £uripus of Eubcea, near the Locri Opuntii,
said to have been originally a city of the Locri,
but torn from the continent in the time of an
earthquake, and during an eruption of mount
^.tna; in the fourth year of the ninety-third
Olympiad, in the reign of Artaxerxes-Mnemon.
Atalanta, in fabulous history, the daughter
of SduBneus, king of Scyros. Being resolved
agaiDSt marriage, and at the same time very swift
of foot, she, to get rid of her numerous suitors,
declared that she would marry none but the man
who was willing to risk his life for her, by striving
to outrun her, and to forfeit it if he foiled. This
several attempted and suffered accordingly. But
Hippomenes, being furnished by Venus with
three golden apples, dropt them at proper dis-
tances during ttie race, and while she stooped to
gather them, gained both the race and the prin-
cess. Atalanta was present at the hunt or the
Caledonian boar, ana received from Mele^er,
who was enamoured of her, its skin and head, as
a testimony of her skill in having first wounded
the animal. This roused the jealousy of Toxeus
and Plexippus, his uncles, who endeavoured to
strip Atalanta of her honorable spoil. Meleager
killed them in defence of her right; and his
mother Althaea, irritated by the death of her
brotliers, committed do the flames the charmed
brand upon which the life'of Meleager depended.
The goodess Venus being enraged at the ingra«-
titude of Hippomenes, who never performed the
vow he had made to erect a temple to her at
Scyros, changed both him and Xtalanta into
lions.
Atalanta, in entomology, a species of £u-
ro[)ean papilio, of which a variety is also found
in Amenca. The wings ace black, indented, and
spotted with white ; a red band across the an-
terior pair ; border of the posterior pair of the
same color. It is sometimes called the red admi-
rable butterfly, and by the French Atalante.
ATALAYA nc Alagouta, a tovm in Portu-
guese Estremaduia, district of Thomar, with the
title of coimty, and between 1300 and 1400 in-
habitants, eighteen miles north-west of Lisbon.
Atalaya Sortelha, a town of Portugal, in
flie province of Beira, thirteen miles north-east
of Cfastel Branco.
ATALAYAS, ' Santiago db las, the capital
of the province of San Juan de los Llanos, in
the kingdom of Granada. It contains 400 house-
holders, and is nine leagues from the city of Pore.
ATANARI, a considerable river of New Gra-
nada, which enters the Mota.
ATANTA, in botany, a name given by the
people of Guinea to a kind of sumach, called, by
Petiver, rhus Guineense trifoliatum scabium,
from its being trifoliate,' and having rough and
serrated leaves. They give it as a restorative
boiled in water.
ATAPUEBA, a town of Spain, in Old Cas^
tile, near Burgos. In 1053, a battle was fought
here between Don Garcia, king of Navarre, and
Vol. in.
his brother Don Ferdinand, in which the former
was defeated and sUin.
ATARAXIA, Ataraxy, arapaha. Exemp-
tion from vexation ; tranquilliw. The sceptics,
says Glanville, affected an indirorent equiponder-
ous neutrality, as the only means to their ataraxia,
and freedom from passionate disturbances.
ATARGATIS Fanum, the temple of the
goddess Atergatis, in Bambyce, which was ex-
tremely rich. Crassus, in his march against the
Parthians, spent several days in weighing the
treasure.
ATARNEA, or At army a, an ancient town
of Mysia, situated between Adi'amyttium and
Pitane, memorable for the marriage of Aristotle
with the sister of Hermias, the prince of it.
ATAULFUS, the first king of the Goths in
Spain, established his government there, about
A. D. 404, and died, A. D. 416. See Spain.
ATAXY, fit>m a nqg;ative, and ra^ic, order,
the want of order. With physicians, it signifies
irregularity of crises and paroxysms of fevers.
Neither is there any otajgr to be feared in bringing
in this diBtinction, betwixt pastors and the flock.
Bp. HaU't Polemieal Warkt.
ATCHE, in commerce, the smallest silver
coin current in Turkey, worth about one-third
of a penny sterling.
ATCHIEVEMENT, or Achievement, vul-
garly called Hatchment. Armorial bearings in
front of the houses of deceased persons.
Atchievement, in heraldry, denotes the arms
of a person or family, together with all the exte-
rior ornaments of the shield , as helmet, mantle,
crest, scrolls, and motto, together with such
quarterings as may have been acquired by alli-
ances, all marshalled in order.
ATE; from araw, to hurt; the goddess of
mischief, in the mythology. She was daughter of
Jupiter, and cast down from heaven at the birth
of Hercules. For Juno having deceived Jupiter,
in causing Euristheus to be bom before Hercules,
Jupiter expressed his resentment against Ate, as
the author of that mischief, and threw her head-
long from heaven to earth, swearing she should
never return thither figain, Homeri II. xix. 1'25.
Her being the daughter of Jupiter means, accord-
ing to mythologists, that no evil happens to us
but by the permission of Providence; and her
banishment to earth the terrible effects of divine
justice among men.
ATEGAR ; from the Saxon aeton, to throw,
and gar, a weapon; a weapon among the Sax-
ons, which seems to have been a hand-dart.
ATEGUA, or Attegua, an ancient tovra of
Spain, placed by some in the road from Anti-
quara, now Antequera, to Hispalis, or Seville ;
by others, near Alcala Real. It was situated near
the river Flumen Salsum, or Salsusa. Pompey,
having passed this river, encamped between
Ucubis and Ategua, to oblige Caesar to raise the
siege of the latter place ; but it was taken in hib
presence.
ATELIA, an exemption from taxes, or other
burdens, is particularly used in some ancienc
laws, for an exemption from offices granted to
the Egyptian clergy by Constantias.
Atelia, an ancient town of Campania in
Italy, between Capua and Neapol^s. Tne ruin?
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are 9tiU to be seen about eleven miles from the
modem Aversa.
ATELLAN^ Fabuljk, Atellani Lodi, a
species of farce, so named fiom AteUa, called
also Osci, from their inventor, in whose territory
Atella lay. They were generally interlarded
with much ribaldry and buffoonery , and some-
times were exordia, or interludes, presented be-
tween the acts of other plays. The actors in
these farces were not reckoned among the com-
mon players, nor deemed infamous ; but retained
the rights of their tribe, and might be enlisted
for soldiers, the privilege only of free men.
ATEMPO GiusTO, in music, signifies to sing
or play in an equal, true, and just time.
ATENA, a town of Italy, in Naples, near the
Negro, twelve miles north-west of Marsico, and
twenty-two north of Policastro.
ATER, in conchology, a species of my til us,
described in Molin. Hist. Chili, p. 177, and said
to be frequent on the shores of that country :
also a species of strombus found in the boggy
parts of the island of Amboyna.
Ater, in entomology, 1. a species of der-
mestes found in the neighbourhood of Upsal. 2.
A species of hydrophilis, a native of Europe. 3.
A species of byrrhus that inhabits Germany. 4.
A species of tenebrio found in Europe. 5. A
species of carabus that inhabits Denmark. 6. A
species of cerambyx (Callidium, Fabr.) found in
the environs of Venice. 7. A species of gryllus
(Acheta, Fab.) that inhabits durinam. 8. A
species of cimex.
Ater, in natural history, a species of anguis ;
also a species of Umax, slug or snail
Ater, in ornithology, a species of £alco;
also a species of psittacus.
ATERGATIS, in mythology, a goddess of the
Syrians and Partliians, supposed to be the mother
of Semiramis, and called Derceto by the Greeks.
She was represented with the face and breasts oi'
a woman, but the rest of her body resembled a
fish. Vossius makes the name Photnician, from
addir-dag, the great fish; and says it signifies,
without fish ;' whence he conjectures that the vo-
taries of this deity abstaine4 from fish.
ATERNUM, in ancient geography, 1. a town
of Lucania in Italy, now called Atemi. 2. A
town in the territory of the Piceni, now called
Pescara, a port town of Naples, on the Adriatic.
ATERRIMA, in conchology, a species of ne-
rita, figured by Chemnitz.
Aterrima, in entomology, 1. a species of
blatta. 2. A new British species of chrysomela,
described by Mr.Marsham, Ent. Brit.
Aterrimus, 1. a species of curculio, very
common in Europe ; black, with the wing-cases
shining. Linn. Fn. Sv. Fabr., &c. 2. A species
of carabus. 3. A species of elater, found in the
north of Europe. 4. A species of cimex (rotun-
datus, sec.) that inhabits Spain.
Aterrimus, in ornithology, the specific name
of the great black cockatoo of New Holland.
ATESTE, a town in the territory of Venice in
Italy, now called Este.
ATH, or jEth. See ^th.
Ath, Atha, or Athe, among our Anglo-Saxon
ancestors, signifies an oath, especially that taken
bjT way of pui|{aticm. In tliis acsse, w«
with breaking of ath, privilege of aUi, atha, or
ordela.
ATHABOLI, or Agastorou, a town of
Turkey in Europe, on the Black Sea, in tht
extensive province of Romania, sixty^ighl mile>
north-east of Adrianople. Long. 27° 39^ £^ laL
42° 27' N.
ATHALARIC, the grandson of Theodoric,
and the second king of the O&trogoths in Italy,
succeeded A. D. 526, and reigned along with
his mother Amalasuntha, about eight years. Tliej
both died A. D, 634,
ATHALIAH, H^Sw, Heb. i.e. the time of the
Lord ; the daughter of Ahab king of Israel, by
Jezebel, and wife of Jehoram king of Judah
See 2 Chron. xxi. 10, and xxiii. 12.
ATHAMADULET, or Atheuadaulet, the
prime minister of the Persian empire. He is
great chancellor of the kingdom, president of tlie
council, superintendant of the finances ; and has
the charge of all foreign aflfaira. He is in effect
viceroy of the kingdom.
ATHAMANTA, Spignel, in botany, a genus
of the digynia order, and pentandria class of
plants, ranking in the natural method under the
fourth order, umbellatae. The {hut is oblong and
striated ; and the petals are inflected and emai^
ginated. Of this genus LinnsDus enumerates nine
species : but none of them merit particular notice ;
except the Cretensis, or Daucus Creticua, which
grows wild in the Levant and the warmer parts
of Europe. The leaves are irregularly disposed,
and formed like those of fennel. The flower-
sUlk rises about two feet high, sending out many
branches, terminated at the top by compound
umbels, composed of nearly twenty small ones.
Tlie seeds have a warm biting taste, with an
agreeable aromatic smell. They are kept in the
shops as a carminative ; but are little used in
practice.
ATHANASIA, Goldilocks, in botany, a
genus of the polygamia equalis order, and syn-
genesia class of plants ; ranking in the natur J
method under the for^-ninth order, composits
discoides. The receptacle is chaffy ; the pappus
chaffy and very short, and the calyx imbri-
cated. There are twenty species, all tender
plants except one; and none of them possessed
of much beauty.
Athanasia, in ancient* medicine, an epithet
given to a kind of antidotes, supposed to have
3ie power of prolonging life, even to immor-
tality. In the Augustan dispensatory we still find
a medicine under the appellation of athainasia
magna, recommended against dysenteries and
haemorrhages.
Athanasia, in botany, is used by some au-
thors for tansy.
ATHANASIAN Creed; a formulary, or con-
fession of feith, long supposed to have been
drawn up by Athanasiusbisnop of Aiexaadria, in
the fourth century, to justify himself against the
calumnies of his Arian enemies ; but now gene-
rally allowed among the learned not to have been
his. Dr. Wateriand ascribes »t to Hilary bishop
of Aries, for the following amojiu other reasons:
1. BecdUSL' lionoratus ot lVla»ei les, the writer
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of his lifey tells us, that he composed an Expo-
sition of the Creed ; a more proper title for the
Athanasian, than that of Creed simplvt which it
now bears. 2. Hilaiy was a great admirer and
follower of St. Austin ; and the whole compo-
sition of this creed is in a manner upon St. Aus-
tin's plan, both with respect to the trinity and
the incarnation. 3. It is agreeable to tlie style
of Hilary, as far as we can judge from the little
that is left of his works. About A. D. 570, it
became so &mous as to be commented upon ;
but, for several years after, it had not acquired
the name of Athanasian, but was simply styled
the catholic fiiith. This creed obtained in France
about A. D. 850, and was received in Spain and
Germany about 100 years later. As to our own
country, we have clear proo& of its being sung
alternately in our churcnes in the tenth century.
It was in common use in some parts of Italy,
particularly in the diocese of Verona, about A.D.
960, and was received at Rome about 1014. As
to the Greek and oriental churches, it has been
Suestioned whether any of them ever received
lis creed at all : witli regard to its matter, it is
given as a summary of the true orthodox faith,
and a condemnation of all heresies, ancient and
modem. Unhappily, however, it has proved a
fruitful scmrce of unprofitable controversy and
unchristian aniinosity even down to the present
time. •
' The account given of Athanasius's creed,'
says archbishop Tillotson, in a letter written
from Lambeth, Oct. 23, 1694, to a right reverend
prelate, ' seems to me no wise satisfactory:
I wish we were well rid of it.' Bishop Taylor,
in his Liberty of Prophesying, sect. ii. says,
' If it were considered, concerning Athanasius's
creed, how many people understand it not, how
cootraiy to natural reason it seems, how little
tiie scripture says of those curiosities of expli-
cation, and how tradition was not clear on his
side for the article itself, much less for those
forms and minutes; it had not been amiss if the
final judgment bad been left to Jesus Christ :
and indeed to me it seems very hard to put un-
charitableness into the creed, and so to make it
become as an article of £uth.' ' It certainly is
to be lamented,' says Dr. Tomline, the present
bishop of Worcester, in his Elements of Christian
TJ>«ology, vol. iL p. 220, * that assertions of so
peremptory a nature,' referring to the damnatory
clauses, * unexplained and unqualified, should
have been used in any human composition.' * 1
' am ready to acknowledge,' p. 222, ' that, in my
judgment, notwithstanding the authority of
former times, our church would have actied more
wisely, and more consistently with its general
principles of mildness and toleration, if it had
not adopted the damnatory clauses of the Atha-
nasian creed. Though I firmly believe that the
doctrines themselves of this creed are all founded
on scripture, I oannot but conceive it to be both
unnec»8ary and presumptuous to say, that ' ex-
cept every one do keep them wlu>le and unde-
filed, without doubt he shall perish everlastingly*.'
Dr.Horsley, late bishop of St. Asaph, avowed a
similar opinion.
ATjElANASIUS, St. bishop of Alexandria, and
one of the most violent opponents of the Anans,
was bora in Erf pt. He followed St. Alexander
to the council of Nice, in 325, where he disputed
against Anus, and the following year was made
bishop of Alexandria ; but, in 335, was deposed
by the council of Tyre : when, having recourse
to the emperor Cbnstantine, the Arian deputies;
accused him of having hindered the exportation
of corn from Alexandria to Constantinople ; on
which the emperor, without suffering him to
make his defende, banished him to Treves. The
emperor, two years after, ordered him to be re-
stored to his bishopric : but, on his return to
Alexandria, his enemies brought fresh accusations
against him, and chose Gregory of Cappadocia
to his see ; which obliged Athanasius to go to
Rome, to reclaim it of pope Julius. He was
there declared innocent, in a council held in 342,
and in that of Sardica, in 347, and two years after
was restored to his see by order of the emperor
Constans; but, after the death of that prince, h^
was again banished by Constantius, on which he
retired into the deserts. The Arians then elected
one George in his r9om ; who being killed, in
a popular sedition under Julian, in 360, Atha-
nasius returned to Alexandria, but was banished
under Julian, and restored to his see under
Joviau. He addressed to that emperor a letter,
in which he proposed, that the Nicene creed
should be the standard of the orthodox faith, and
condemned those who denied the divinity of the
Holy Ghost. He was also banished by V^alens,
in 367, and afterwards recalled. He died on the
2d of May, 373. His works principally contain
a defence of the mystery of the Trinity, and of
the 'incarnation and divinity of the Word and
Holy Spirit. There are three editions of his
works which are esteemed ; that of Commelin,
printed in 1600; that of Peter Nannius, in
1627 ; and that of father Montfaucon.
ATH ANATI, i. e. immortals ; from a, privative,
and $avetroi, death ; a body of cavalry , among the
ancient Persians, consisting of 10,000 men, al-
ways complete, because when any one of them
died another was immediately put into his place.
ATHANOR. Chemists have given this name
to a furnace so constructed, that it can always
maintain an equal heat, and lasts a long time,
without addition of fresh fuel. The body of the
stthanor has nothing in it p'articular, and is con-
structed like ordinary furnaces. But at one of
its sides, or its middle, there is an upright hollow
tower, which communicates with the fire-place,
by one or more slopjng openings. This tower
ought to have a lid, which exactly closes its up-
per opening. When the athanor is to be used,
as much lighted coal is put in the fire-place as is
judged necessary, and the tower is filled to the
top with unlighted fuel. The tower is then to be
exacdy closed with its lid. As fast as the coal
in the fire-place is consumed, that in the tower
falls down and supplies its place. As the coal
contained in the tower has no free communica-
tion with the external air, it cannot burn, till it
falls into the fire-place. The athanor being
much celebrated and used by ancient chemists,
has been particularly described by many au-
thors, and was formerly found in all laboratories.
At present, this furnace is much less employed, ^
and even neglected. The reason is, that all the
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ancient chemists were in search of the art of
making gold ; and being excited by this powerful
Tnotive, and confident of success, they spared no
trouble or expense to accomplish thu design. —
They undertook, without hesitation, operations
which required great length of* time, and unre-
mitted heat. Whereas now, these alluring hopes
having vanished, the cultivators of chemistry
have no other view than ,to extend and perfect
the theory of this essential part of natural philo-
sophy. This motive, although undoubtedly much
nobler than the former, seems, however, to be
less powerful over most men. For now, all long
and uiborious operations, whence chemistry might
receivie great advantages, are neglected, as being
tiresome and disgustful. There is, in &ct, a
considerable difference betwixt the hope of ex-
plaining a philosophical phenomenon, and that
of obtaining an ingot of gold capable of produc-
ing many otfiers. Hence the instruments employed
in long operations, and particularly the atnanor,
are now much neglected ; and also, because the
fuel in the tower is apt to stick there, or fall
down at'once in too great quantity. The lamp
furnace, which is a true athanor, may be success-
fully employed in operations which do not re-
quire much heat.
ATHAPESCOW, a lake in the north-west of
North America, and fifty-ninth degree of north
latitude, so called from a tribe of Indians inha-
biting its banks. It is contiguous to the Lake
of the HiUs, and has now become so shallow,
that, according to Mackenzie, it will in time be
probably converted into a swamp.
ATHARER, in astrology, a term used when
the Tfoon is in the same degree and minute with
the sun.
ATHBOY, a town of Ireland, in the county of
Meath, situated on a stream of the same name.
It was a borough, which returned members to
the Irish parliament before the union. Three
fairs are held here amiually. Distant twenty-
nine miles north-west of Dublin. '
ATHEE, a town of France, in Anjou, with
260 houses, belonging to the arrondissement of
Chateau-Gontier, in the department of Mayenne.
It lies on the river Oudon, five leagues S. S. W.
of Laval.
Athee, a town of Trance, in the department
of the Indre and Loire, arrondissement of Tours,
on the left bank of the Cher, with 255 houses,
three leagues south-west of Amboise.
ATH EISM, "I A, privative, eeoc, God ;
A'th eist, ft. 6c at^. without God. One of its
Atheist^ical, significations is illustrated
Atheist'ically, [ by the following citation
Athxist^xcalness, I from St. Paul's EpisUe
Atheist'ick, to the Ephesians, A Bcm
A'theize, tv rif Kocfuff without God
A'theous. J in the world.
God never wroiight nuTades to couTinoe aikeimm,
becaiue hit ordinaiy works convince it. Booon.
Nor stood unmindful Abdiel, to annoy
The aiheitt CTfiYf. Milton, Pandim Loti.
Thy Father, who is holy, wise, and pore.
Suffers the hypocrite, or aAeom priest.
To tread his sacred courts. Paradim Renamed.
Men are atheittical, because they are first vicious ;
and question the truth of Chriitianity, because they
hate the practice. 6otith.
Is it not enonnous, that a divine, hearing a great
sinner talk atheittieaUy, and scoff profanely at religion,
should, instead of vindicating the truth, tacitly appro v ;
the scoffer? M
Though he were really a speculative atheitl; yrt,
if he would but proceed rationally, he could not how-
ever, be a practical atheiat, nor live without God in
this worid. Id.
1 entreat such as are atheitiiealfy inclined, to con.
aider these things. TUkUm.
It is the common interest of mankind, to paniiili
all those who would seduce men to athtum. Id.
Atkeisi, use thine eyes ;
And, having view'd the order of the skies.
Think (if thou canst) that matter, blindly hurl'd
Without a guide, should frame this wondrous world.
Cnedi.
No atheitt, as such, can be a true friend, an affec-
tionate relation, or a loyal subject. Bentiey.
Lord, purge out of all hearts profaneneis and
atheUticabieu. Hamntond's Fv
This argument demonstrated the existenee of a
Deity, and convinced all aiheutich gainsayen.
Ray tm the Cnatkm,
Chester, dviUaed as well as Wales, has demnt-
strated, that freedom and not servitude is the com
of anarchy ; as religion, not aihemm, is the true re-
medy for superstition. Bmkt.
Atheism, absurd and unreasonable as it is,
has had its votaries and martyrs. In the seven-
teenth century, Spinosa, a foreigner, was its
noted defender. Lucilio Vanini, an Italian, a
native of Naples, publicly taught atheism in
France, about the beginning of the seventeenth
century ; and being convicted of it at Touloose,
was condemned and executed.
An Atheist may be defined, a person who does
not believe in any thing superior to the material
world. Many people both ancient and modem,
have pretended to be, or have been reckoned,
atlieists ; but it is justly questioned whether any
man ever seriously adopted such a principle.
These pretensions, are often, indeed, founded on
pride and affectation. Such motives, togedier
with an honest indignation against the imposi-
tions and intolerance of superstition and priest-
craft (which had so often deluged France with
blood), seem to have co-operated to produce
that extraordinary moral phenomenon, exhibited
in the French Convention, of several of the lead-
ing members openly avowing themselves atheists ;
in consequence of which the whole nation was
absurdly branded with atheism. Cicero, however,
represents it as a probable opinion, that they,
who apply diemselves to philosophy, beUeve there
are no gods. This must aoubtiess be meant of the
academic philosophy, to which Cicero himself
was attached, and which taught to doubt of every
thing. On die contrary, the Newtonian philo-
sophers, continually recur to a Deity, whom they
always find at the head of their chain of natural
causes. Among the modem philosopheiSy who
have been the principal advocates for Uie exis-
tence of a Deity, are Sir Isaac Newton, Boyle,
Cheyne, Nieuwentyt, &c. To which may be added
many others, who, though of the clergy, yet have
distinguished themselves by their philosophicaf
pieces in behalf of the existence of a God ; e- g
Derham, Bentley, Whiston, Ray, Samuel and
John Clarke, Fenelon, &c. So true is that say-
ing of Lord Bacon, that though a smattering of
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phflOM»ph)r may lead a man into atheism, a deep
draught will certainly bring him back again to
the l^lief of a God and Providence ; agreeably
to what the poet observes of learning in general :
' A little leamihg is a dangerous thing :
Dxink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring.'
Archbishop Tillotson justly observes that spe-
culative atheism is unreasonable on five accounts :
1. Because it gives no tolerable account of the
existence of the world : 2. It does not give any
reasonable account of the universal consent of
mankind in this compreliension, that there is a
God: 3. It requires more evidence for things
than they are capable of giving : 4. The atheist
pretends to know what no man can know : 5.
Atheism contradicts itself. Under the first of
these he advances the following arguments : ' I
appeal to any man of reason whether any thing
can be more unreasonable than obstinately to
impute an effect to chance, which carries in the
very face of it all the arguments and characters
of a wise design and contrivance. Was ever any
considerable work, in which there was required
a great variety of parts, and a regular and orderly
disposition of those parts, done by chance ? Will
chance fit means to ends, and that in ten
thousand instances, and not fail in any one?
How often might a man, after he had jumbled a
set of letters in a bag, fling them out upon the
ground before they would fidl into an exact poem ;
yea, or so much as make a good discourse in
prose ? And may not a little book be as easily
made as the great volume of the world ? How
long might a man be in sprinkting colors upon
canvass with a careless hand, before they would
happen to nmke the exact picture of a man ?
Ado is a man easier made by chance than his
picture? How long might twenty thousand
blind men, who should be sent out from several
remote parts of England, wander up and down
before they would all meet upon Salisbury plain,
and fall into rank and file m the exact orcier of
an army ? Yet this is much more easy to be ima-
gined than how the innumerable blind parts of
matter should rendezvous themselves into a world.
A mian that sees Henry the Seventh's chapel at
A'estminster, might with as good reason maintain
(yea, with much better, considering the vast dif-
ference betwixt that little structure and the huge
fiiibric of the world) that it was never so con-
trived or built by any means, but that the stones
did by chance grow into those curious figures,
into which they seem to have been cut and
graven ; and that upon a time (as tales usually
begin) the materials of that building, the stone,
mortar, timber, iron, lead, and glass, happily met
together ; and very fortunately ranged themselves
into that delicate order in which we see them
now, so close compacted, that it must be a Very
great chance that parts them agaip. What would
the world think of a man that should advance
such an opinion as this, and write a book for it ?
If they would do him right,- they ought to look
upon him as mad, but yet with a little more
reason than any man can have to say that the
world was made by chance, or that the first men
grew out of the earth as plants do now. For
can any thing be more ridiculous, and against all
reason, than to ascribe the production of men to
the first fruitfiilness of the earth, without so much
as one instance and experiment, in any age of
history, to countenance so^onstrous a supposi-
tion ? The thing is, at first sight, so gross and
palpable, that no discourse about it can be more
apparent. And yet, these shameful beggars of
principles give this precarious account of the
original of things ; assume to themselves to be
the men of reason, the great wits of the world,
the only cautious and waiy persons that hate to
be imposed upon, that must have convincing
evidence for every thing, and can admit of
nothing without a clear demonstration for it/
ATHEUNG, Adelinc, Edung, Ethling.
or Etheling ;. from sethel, noble, Saxon ; a title
among the Anglo-Saxons, properly belonging to
the heir apparent to tlie crown. This appellar
tion was nrst conferred by king Edward the Con-
fessor on Edgar, to whom he was great uncle,,
when, being without any issue of liis own, he in-
tended to make him hid heir. See Edgar.
ATHELNEY, an island of England, in the
county of Somerset, formed by the junction of
the rivers Tone and Parret, a few miles below
Taunton. Alfred took refuge here while the
country was overrun by the Danes, and is said to
have built an abbey on the spot. Many anti-
quities were dug up in 1674
ATHELSTANE, a Saxon king of England,
natural son of Edward the Elder, and grandson
of the ffreat Alfred. He succeeded in 925, and
reined sixteen years. There was a remarkable
law passed by Uiis prince, which shows his jui't
sentiments of the advantages of commerce, as
well as the early attention paid to it in this coun-
try: viz. that any merchant who made three
voyages on his own account beyond the British
Channel, should be entitled to the privilege of a
thane, or gentleman.
Athelstane, king of Northumberland, or, ac-
cording to Buchanan, a Danish chief, who ob-
tained a grant of that country from king Alfred,
flourished about the beginning of the ninth cen-
tury ; and, carrying on a predatory war in Scot^
land, was killed in battle byHungus, king of the
Picts, at the village since named from him Athel-
staneford, near the rivulet called Lugdown Bum,
which is said to be a corruption of Rug Down,
and to have taken its name from the circum-
stance of Athelstane being rugged down, or pull-
ed from his horse, in the battle.
ATHELSTANEFORD, a village and parish
of Scotland, in the county of Haddington. It
was the birth-place of Blair, the author of The
Grave ; and here Mr. Home was settled as parish
minister, but was obliged to relinquish the living
in consequence of having written the tragedy of
Douglas. Distant two miles from Haddington,
seventeen from Edinburgh, east.
ATHENA, in the ancient physic, a plaster or
liniment conmiended against wounds oi the head
and nerves, of which we find descriptions given
by Oribasius, ^lius, and ^gineta.
ATHEN^fliA, a feast of the andent Greeks
held in honor of Minerva, whom they called
AOfivri. They were afterwards called Paaa-
thenaea.*
ATHEN^UM, in antiquity, a public place
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ATHENS.
wherein the professors of the liberal arts held
their assemblies, the rhetoricians declaimed, and
the poets rehearsed their performances. These
places, of which there were a great number at
Athens, were built in the manner of amphi-
theatres, and encompassed with seats called
cunei. The three most celebrated Athena were
those at Athens, at Rome, and at Lyons ; the
second of which was built by the emperor Adrian.
ATIIENiEUS, a Greek ^rrammarian, bom at
Naucratis in Egypt, in the third century, one of
the most learned men of his time. Of all his
works we have none extant but his Deipno«o-
phis, i. e. the sophists at table ; there is a great
fund of facts and quotations in this work, which
render it very agreeable to admirers of antiquity,
as they ^re nowhere else to be met with.
Athen.hus, a mathematician, who wrote a
treatise on mechanics, which is inserted in the
works of the ancient mathematicians, printed at
Paris in 1693, in folio, in Greek and Latin.
ATHENiEus, a physician, bom in Cilicia, con-
temporary with Pliny, and founder of the pneu-
matic sect. He taught that the fire, air, water,
and earth, are not the true elements, but that
their qualities are, viz. heat, cold, moisture, and
dryness ; and to these he added a fifth element
which he called spirit, whence his sect had their
name, Pneumatics.
ATHENAGORAS, an Athenian philosopher,
who flourished about the middle of the second
century ; and was equally remarkable for his zeal
for Christianity, and his great learning ; as ap-
pears from tlie Apology which he addressed to
the emperors Aurelius Antoninus and Lucius
Commodus ; as well as from another work still
extant upon the Resurrection. They are both
written in a style truly Attic.
ATHENATORIUM, among chemists, a tiiK^
glass cover placed on a cucurbit, having a ilender
umbo, or prominent part, which enters like a
stopple, within the neck of the cucurbit.
ATHENE; Aeifvi}, Greek; the name given
by the Greeks to Minerva. See Minerva..
ATHENIPPUM, in the ancient physic, a cd-
lyrium commended against divers diseases of the
eyes ; thus denominated from its inventor Athf»-
nippus. It is described by Scribonius Largus
and Gorrseus. Galen mentions another athenip-
pum, of a different composition, by which it
appears that this was a denomination common to
several collyriums.
ATHENODORUS, a famous stoic philoso-
pher, bom at Tarsus, who went to the court of
Augustus, and was made by him tutor to Tibe-
rius. Augustus had a great esteem for him, nod
found him by experience a man of virtue and
probity. He was accustomed to speak very freely
to the emperor. Before he left the court to letom
home, he warned the emperor not to give himself
up to anger, but, whepever he should be in a
passion to rehearse the twenty-four letters of the
alphabet before he resolved to say or do any
thing. He did not live to see his bad success in
the education of Tiberius.
ATHENOPOLIS, a town of the Massilieases,
an ancient nation of Gaul, conjectured to be the
same with Telo Martius, now Toulon.
ATHENRY, a village of Ireland, in the
county of Galway, formerly a borough, and a
walled town. In the year 1315 a Imttle was
fought near this town'between the English and
Irish, in which the latter was defeated. In 1599
the Irish put all the inhabitants to the sword.
Distant ten miles east of Galway, ninety-one
from Dublin.
ATHENS.
ATHENS, in geography and ancient history,
a celebrated kingdom of ancient Greece, the
capital of Attica, situated 100 miles N. £. of
Lacedcemon and 320 S. by W. of Constantinople.
It is at present the chief town of Livadia, a pro-
vince or the Turkish empire, and is seated in the
Gulf of Engia, Lon. 23° ST E., lat. 38® 5' N.
Origin and Ancient Name. — ^The kingdom
of Attica received the name of Ogygia, from
Opyt/8S, commonly placed 1586 years before
Christ; but Athens is scarcely mentioned in
history till some time after the days of Cecrops,
an Egyptian by birth, supposed to be contem-
porary with Moses, and amrmed by the Greeks
to be the first builder of cities. This leader who
appears to have either founded or new modelled
the Acropolis, or ancient city, under the name of
Cecropia^ placed himself at the head of it, and
introduced from Sais in Egypt, the worship of
Neith, adopted by the people under the name of
'ABiivfi. In the early ages of Greece, that which
was afterwards called the citadel, was the whole
city, and called Polis, or < the city/ by way of
eminence.
Alteration op Name. — In the reign of Erich-
thonius it lost the name of Cecropia, and ac-
quired that of Athens, from Adtivii, the Greek
name of the goddess Minerva, the Neith of the
Egyptians alr&idy mentioned, who was esteemed
its protectress. This old city was seated on the
top of a rock in the midst of a large and pleasant
plain, which, as the number of inhabitants in-
creased, became full of buildings ; whidi induced
the distinction of Acropolis and Catopolis, i. e.
of the upper and lower city. . The extent of the
citadel was sixty stadia ; it was surrounded by
olive trees, and fortified with a strong palisade;
in succeeding times it was encompa^ed with a
strong wall, in which there were one very large
and eight small gates.
Original Succession and Government. —
The successors of Cecrops are but imperfectly
known, but, according to the most ancient tradi-
tions, they were 1. Amphictyon; 2. Erectheus I.
the same as Erichthonius, the place of whose in-
terment is still called Erectheium. It was this
prince who raised an image of Minerva made of
olive wood in the Cecropia, and also in honor of
the goddess instituted festivals called Athensea,
to be celebrated by the twelve Attic cities. To
him succeeded 3. Pandion I. 4. Erectheus II.
6. ^geus. 6. Theseus. The hist of whom es-
tablished the Prytaneum, a court of judicature
common to all Attica; also tlie Panadienca,
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ATHENS.
215
sacred festivals to be obserred by all the pro-
vinces in the Erechtheium every five years. His
wise government increased the pow^r and popu-
lation of Athens, and finally, about the year
B.C. 1300, concentrated the other eleven cities
of Attica under one general government.
Introduction of Pelasci, and Rise op
Athenian Greatness. — Thp Pelasgi came to
Athens from the North B. C. 1192, to whom
those beautiful speciifiens of polygonal architec-
ture are ascribed, which are, found in the ancient
fortresses of Greece and Italy, consisting of irre-
gnlar blocks carefully adjusted to each other,
without cement, whereas the Cyclopeian, with
which it has been frequently confounded, is com-
posed of masses laid together and llie interstices
filled up with smaller stones.
Next to the Pelasgi, Athens stands indebted for
much of her early grandeur to Pisistratus, who,
with his sons, founded a public library and two
magnificent temples, one to Jupiter Olympus,
the other to Apollo Pythias, besides which he
collected and edited the works of Homer.
Invasion of Xerxes and re-building op
Athens. — ^Athens was now rising in population
ikx\d importance,; possessed of considerable mari-
time ascendency, togethef with an extent of terri-
tory and influence beyond any other state in
Greece, Sparta excepted, and the invasion of
Xerxes served to raise her to the pinnacle of
military glory. It is true the Persians at first
were successful in burning and destroying the
ancient city founded by Cecrops ; but, after their
shameful defeit at Thermopylae, the cilv of
Athens rose from its ruins on an enlar^^eci ana
improved scale, the queen of empire, enriched
by the resources of the Invasion, dignified by
a naval superiority, by which she commanded
the islands of the Archipelago, together with the
colonies of Asia, Macedonia, and Thrace, em-
bellished by the hand of Minerva, who seems to
have employed herself the fifly years intervening
between the victory of Salamis and the Pelopon-
nesian war, to beautify the city of her residence ;
her ancient Cecropian nionuments yet remaining
upon the Acropolis.
Survives the Peloponnesian War. — ^The-
mistocles restored tlie military works of the city,
and fortified it as before. Cimon erected the
Temple of Theseus, theStoap, the Poecile, the Di-
onysian Theatre, the Gymnasia, together with the
ornaments of the Academy and the Agora. Pe-
ricles conferred u^on it the Odeum, the Parthe-
non, and the Propylaea, and numerous other
works, rendering it Uie wonder of nations. The
superb glory of Athens was little injured by the
war of Peloponnesus. The deiieat of iEgospo-
tami, it is true led to the destruction of the walls
of Piraus, but these were shortly restored, and
so skilful was Minerva that defeats as well as vic-
tories seemed to raise the political importance,
and enrich the site of her favorite capital.
Ravages of Philip op Macedon. — ^The rise
of Macedon seemed however to eclipse the gjory
of Athens, and her nHiance with Rome was the
first political blow that tended to the real injury
of this ancient city. Philip of Macedon invested
her before her allies could come to her succour,
and as the city was too well fortified to be taken
easily, he rava^ the suburbs, overthrew the
temples, shrines, images, and tombs ; broke the
maroles which were too precious to yield to the
influence of fire ; the Cynosarges and the Ly-
caeum, all the fkvorite retreats of pleasure and
devotion were alike felled by the arm of the
destroyer.
Siege by Sylla. — ^About 84 years B. C.
during the Mithridatic war, the Roman Sylla
resolved upon the conquest of Athens, and
employed all Greece with her arms and trea-
sures, to aid his design. He plundered £pi-
daurus and Olympia, carried away the pre-
cious deposits of Delphi, felled the groves ot
the Academy and the Lycseum. By means of
an ill-fortified wall near Ileptachalcos he passed
the sacred gates at midnight, and the streets of
the Cerameicus are said to have run with blood.
The city however suffered little, but the destruc-
tion of the Pintan fortifications and the arsenal
of Philo prevented the re-assumption of maritime
power, and with that fell for ever the political
Importance of Athens. (^*lutareh, in ri\k Sylte).
As a school of science and art, Athens never-
theless maintained her dignity among enlight-
ened nations, and foreigners from all parts
resorted .there to attend the lectures of her philo-
sophers.
Science and Architecture. — ^The Romans
whose taste in some respects was formed upon
the Grecian models, added considerably to the
embellishment of tiie city. Julius Caesar erected
the PropyloDa of the new A^ora nearly at his
own expense. Statues were terected to Brutus
and Cassius by the friends of those distinguished
Romans. Antony endowed the capital with nu-
merous public gifts and a lari^e accession of
insular territory ; nor were Augustus and other
illustrious per3ona<:^es in that powerful empire
remiss in testifying their friendship for the city
of Minerva, and some of them were even initia-
ted into the Eleusinian mysteries (for the nature
of which see Eieusinia.) Hadrian, on his ele-
vation to the imperial dignity, was one of the
greatest benefactors Athens enjoyed after the
overthrow of her civil hierarchy. He finished
the temple of Jupiter Olympius, which Pisis-
tratus had begun ages before, and such was its
beauty, costliness, and magnitude, that it was
considered the glory of Athens ; superb beyond
any other structure in Greece. The temple of
the winds, more properly called the Honologium,
in the Agora, was the benefaction of Andronicus
Cyrrhestes. A new theatre was raised by Agrip-
pa, and another was shortly afterwards erected
at the foot of the Acropolis by Herodes Atticus,
the ruins of which are yet remaining, llie casing
of the seats of the stadium with pentelic marble,
is attributed to the generous profusion of the
same illustrious individual.
Splendor under the Antonines. — In the
Antonine age Athens enjoyed its greatest splen-.
dor. It had been enriched by the accumulated
magnificence of six centunes. The works of the
age of Pericles, according to Plutarch, retained
the freshness of modem buildings, and a bloom
was diffused over them, which preserved their
aspect untarnished. Athens, in a remarkable
manner escaped the ravages and plunder which
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ATHENS.
followed the conquest of Greece, aad the still
more formidable dilapidations of time itself.
She sat supreme amid the convulsions of states
and changes of governments, rather contributing
than otherwise to the imperial grandeur. Having
pursued the history of Athens up to the zenith of
ner glory, we shall present the reader with a brief
description of ^at eminent seat of learning and
politeness, as she existed in her prosperous ages.
Appear/lnce and Harboitrs. — Seated upon
a gulf, Athens, commanding three harbours sur-
rounded by dock-yards and buildings, forming a
continued town moie extensive than Athens itself.
The first of these was the Piraeus, the pipsent
Ap€ucw of the Greeks, the Asl^ limani of the
Turks, and the Porto Leone of the Italians. The
Greek and Italian names being derived from an
immense line of Pentelic marble which stood
originally upon the beach, nearlythirty*five or forty
stadia distant from the city, and was displaced at
the Venetian siege. The harbour had three docks,
Cantharos, Aphradisium, and Zea; the first de-
rived its name firom an ancient hero, the second
irom the goddess Venus, the third from bread com ;
it was dignified with several public buildings. . A
stoa, including five distinct stosB or porticos un-
der the general name of Macra Stoa; two tem-
ples of Venus ; a sanctuary of Jupiter *Soter; the
Hippodameia, from Hippodamus the architect,
which was used as an agora or commercial ex-
change; two great fora or markets, one near the
portico, the other near the city; the tribunal
rhreathys; the bath Serangium; a deigma or
maritime exchange, and a theatre, about 240 feet
in diameter, some traces of which are yet re-
maining. The second of these harbours was
Mynychia, to the east of Pirxus, from which it
is separated by a peninsula of- the same name.
It is of circular ngure, and now called Stratis-
tiki, and so strong is this promontory or penin-
sula by nature, that Epimenid'es said, if the Athe-
nians saw what mischief it would one day pro-
duce to them, they would eat it away with their
teeth. This part of Athens is adorned with a
Dionysaic theatre, a temple of Diana of the
Doric order, some remains of which are yet
standing on the shore ; also a Bendideimm, pro-
bably in honor of the same goddess whose
Thracian name was Bendis. The third and most
ancient part was Phalerum, to the east of Myny-
chia, distant from the city, according to Thucy-
dides, thirty-five stadia, and according to Pausa-
nias. twenty. It was formerly famous for the
temple of Jupiter, Ceres, and Minerva Sciras,
which have been long whelmed in ruin, and lost
in the lapse of time.
Walls, Fortifications, &c. — Peirseus firom
its natural division into three great basins, and
also from its great capacity, be<ame an object of
capital importance with the Athenians ; and ac-
cordingly It was fortified strongly in the second
year of the Peloponnesian wars. 1 he works which
surrounded it consisted of a wail nearly seven
miles in lengdi and sixty feet in height. The
long walls (Ta itaxftd Tuxn, or Td oK^n) ex-
tended from the as^ or city, on the norm to
Peiraeeus, and on the south to Phalerum; a dis-
tance of five miles, protecting the city on eveiv
side from which any danger was appiehendea.
These walls nmparallel to eaehotherattfiediiCnM
of 550 feet, from the centre of the Phaleric hill ia
the direction of the entrance of the Acropolis.
The circumference of the whole walls, including
those of the ports, the city, and the long walls,
appears to have been about twenty miles. These
walls were surrounded with, cemeteries. The
asty was embraced by the streams of Ilissus and
Cephisus, uniting in the marshes of Phalerum
The gates were, Melitides, Peiraicae, Achamics,
Ithoniae, Hippades, Heriaese, Diomeie, Diocharis,
and Dipylum; called also, Thriasia, Sacrs, or
Cerameicae.
Entrance from the gats Peiraics.— A
cenotaph to Euripides adorned the outside of the
gate Peiraicee; within it stood the Pompeion
for the arrangement of processions; and the in-
terior of the city, from this view, seemed crowded
vrith temples, statutes, and porticoes. The Pnyx
(SiA TO ircirvffvfi«Oai), in which certain popular
assemblies were held, stood on the right; the
road continuing through the district of Cerami-
cus, passed the Stoa Basileius, or portico of the
king, where the Archon held his court ; at which
point commenced the street of Henns, so called
trom Mercury, with whose head it was said to
have been adorned; and after passing a consider-
able distance, ended in a stoa called Pcecile, from
its numerous and highly finished pictures of the
taking of Troy, the battle of Marathon, the bat-
tle of Theseus and the Amazons, and the battles
with the Lacedemonians at CEnoe and Argolis ;
to keep alive the remembrance of which the cap-
tured shields were also suspended.
Agora. — ^The Agora, fronting the Pcecile, was
planted with trees, and beautifiiUy divided into
markets, streets, porticoes, public halls, &c
One of these halls was for the assembling of the
senate, another for the Prytanes to dine. Here
stood a noble temple, also, to the mother of the
gods, and altars to the twelve gods, to Pity,
Mq^estY, Fame, and Impetuosity. The Areo-
pagus sloped down from the north to a beautiful
plane, where stood the temple of Theseus. It was
called Mars Hill, because Mars was the first
person tried here for murder, viz. for the murder
of Hallirhotius. The Theseium, from its beauti-
ful remains, must have been a most magnificent
spot. It is a peripteral hexastyle, having on the
sides thirteen columns of the done order, each
three feet four inches diameter at the base. The
whole building is of pentelic marble, thirty feet
in height, from the base to the summit of the
pediment. The cell is forty feet ia length, and
twenty in breadth; the depth of the posticum is
twenty-seven feet; that of the pronaos and por-
tico thirty three. Contiguous to the Theseium
were the Gymnasium of Ptolemy, the temple of
the Dioscuri, and the Uorologium of Anaroni-
cus Cyrrhestes. To the south-east stood the
Prytaneum or Senate house, from which, the
street of the tripods led to the theatre of Bacchus.
This street was adorned by the victors in the
prize games, and amongst its magnificent deco-
rations stood the choragic monument of L^sicra-
tes (the lantern of Demosthenes), the circular
roof of which sull preserves the triangular apex,
intended to receive his native tripod. Adjoining
to Uie theatre above mentioned stood the Odeom
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ATHENS.
517
of PcridcSf nofn wliich, after pssstng throiigh a
gateway erected by Hadrian in the modem w^ls,
arose me temple of Jupiter Olympins, which
was completed and dedicated by the same em-
peror, it was of decastyle construction consist-
mg of one hundred and twenty-four columns,
sixteen of which are yet standing. Within it
was a colossal statue of the god, made of ivory
and gold (chryselephantine). The whole length
of the sacred precmct (irc/>i/3oXoc) was 689 S^ty
and ib circuit about half a mile.
The Hill Musauh. — The fountain of
Enneacrunos or Callirrhoe, the oniy natural
spring by which Athens was supplied with pala-
table water, was on ihe Ilissus; from wnich,
proceeding to the south-west angle of the walls we
come to the hill Musxum, the summit of which is
embellished by a monument of the Syrian C. J.
Antiochus Philopappus, grandson of Antiochus
IV. the last king of Comagene. He erected it on
bis return to Athens, after having been greatly
honored by Trajan at Rome, and even made
Consul and Prater Arvalis. The lower part was
embellished with the grand triumph of his illus-
trious patron; above which were seated statues
of himself, his grandfather Antiochus, and Seleu-
cus Nicator, founder of the origizial dynasty.
This monument has excited a degree of attention
little inferior to that of Lysicrates above-men-
tioned.
Acropolis. — On the north-east side of the
Mussem, rises the Acropolis or ancient citadel.
The rock is lofty, abrupt and inaccessible, ex-
cept the front, which is toward the Pirsus ; but
furnishes a very ample field to* the virtuosi. It
was filled with monuments of Athenian glory^
and exhibited an amazing display of beauty, of
opulence, and of art. Heliodorus, named Pe-
negetes the guide, has employed on it fifteen
books. The curiosities of various kinds, with
the pictures, statues, and pieces of sculpture,
were so many and so remawable as to supply
Polemo Periegetes with matter for four volumes;
and Strabo affirms, that as many would be re-
quired in treating of other portions of Athens
and of Attica. In particular, the number of
statues was prodigious. Tiberius Nero, who
was fond of images, plundered the Acropolis as
well as Delphi and Olympia ; vet Athens, and
eadi of these places, had not fewer than 3000
remaining in uie time of Pliny. Even Pausa-
nias seems here to be distressed by the multi-
plicity of his subject. But this banquet of the
senses has long been withdrawn ; and is now
become like the tale of a vision. The spectator
views with concern the marble ruins intermixed
with mean flat-roofed cottages, and extant amid
rubbish ; the sad memorials of a nobler people ;
which, however, as visible from the sea, should
have introduced modem Athens to more early
notice. The Acropolis has only one entrance,
which fronts the Pirteus. The ascent is by tra-
verses and rude fortifications furnished with can-
non, but without carriages, and neglected. By
the second gate is the station of the guard.
C^er this gate-way is an inscription in large
characters on a stone turned upside down, re-
cording a present of a pair of gates. Going
farther up, you come to the ruins of the pro-
pylara, an edifice which graced the entrance into
the citadel. No fewer than four temples were
to be passed in this ascent, those of i&sculapius,
Themis, Venus and Peitho, also of Tellus and
Ceres. Two equestrian statues stood in front of
the wings of the propylsea, supposed to represent
Marcus Agnppa, and Caius Caesar Octavianus.
The propvlaea was one of the structures of Pe-
ricles, who began it when Euthymenes was
archoni 435 years before Christ, and completed it
in five years, at the expense of 2012 talents. It
was of marble of the Doric order, and had five
doors, to afford an easy passage to ihe multitudes
which resorted on business or devotion to the
Acropolis Six fluted Doric columns raised on
four steps, supported the central pediment each
five feet in diameter, twenty-nine in height, and
seven in their intercolumniation, except between
the two central columns, where was a space of
thirteen feet, for the admission of carriages.
Behind was a vestibule forty-three feet in depth,
sustained by a double row of six Ionic columns,
three and a half feet diameter, and thirty-four in
height, three of which were placed on each
side, whilst marble beams depending on the
lateral walls and columns, supported a painted
ceiling of exquisite workmanship. The doors
contiguous to the frontage, opened into a portico
of the depth of eighteen feet, upon a level of
five steps ascent, from which a single step
descended to the platform of the Acropolis.
The middle door occupied the whole space be-
tween the central columns. The next door on
each side was of inferior dimensions, and the
two extreme doors proportionally smaller. The
portico itself consisted of a large square room
roofed with slabs of marble which were laid on
two great marble beams, and sustained by four
beautiful columns. These were Ionic, the pro-
portions of that order best suiting die purpose
as taller than the Doric. The roof which so ex-
quisitely embellished the building, after standing
above 2000 years, was with all the pediments
destroyed in 1687 by the V^enetian siege. The
right vring of the propylsa is said to ha^e been
a temple of Victory. The Athenians related
that ^geus stood there, viewing the sea, anxious
for the return of his son Theseus from Crete,
and precipiuted himself at the sight of the black
sails. The idol was named Victory without
wings, because the news of the success of The-
seus did not arrive but with the conqueror. It
had a pomegranate in the right hand, and an
helmet in the left. As the statue was without
} unions, it was hoped the goddess would remain
or ever on the spot. On the left wing of the
Propylsea, and fronting the temple of Victory,
was a buildii^ decoratMl with paintings by Polyg-
notus, of which an account is given by Pausa-
nias. This edifice, as well as &e temple, was
of the Doric order, the columns fluted, and
without bases. Bodi contributed alike to the
uniformity and grandeur of the design ; and the
whole fabric, when finished, was deemed equally
magnificent and ornamental. Its roof of white
marble, was unsorpaftsed both in the size of the
stones, and in the beauty of their arrangement.
On the northern side of me Acropolis within the
piopylva, stood the celebrated statuf of Mi-
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218
ATHENS.
nenra Promachus, executed by Phidias after the
battle of Marathon. Its height together with
the pedestal exceeded seventy feet, rising con-
siderably above the summit of the parthenon ;
the crest of the helmet and point or the spear
being seen out at sea, by persons sailing from
Servium towards Athens; and a brazen qua-
driga stood near the statue in commemoration of
the victory of the Athenians over the Boetians
and the Chalcidenses. See Her. v. 79. *
The propylaea, according to the Greek his-
torians, took five years in building, and was
formed after the designs of Mnesicles. It was
completed 437 years B.C. and was estimated
by Heliodorus, as cited by Harpocration, at
2012 talents, or £452,700 sterling, and was
the most expensive of all the works of Pericles.
Parthenon.— But the chief glory of the
Acropolis is said to have been the Parthenon, or
temple of Minerva, so elevated that the pave-
ment of its peristyle was on a level with the
capitals of thfe eastern portico of the propylaa.
It was a peripteral octostyle of the Doric ord,er,
with seventeen columns on the sides, each six
feet two inches in diameter at the base, and thirty-
four feet in height, elevated on Uiree steps.
Within the peristyle, at each end stood six
columns of 5| feet diameter, forming a vestibule
to the cell which rose two 'steps from the peris-
tyle level. The cell itself contained two cham-
bers of sixty-two feet six inches in width, and
of lengths differing from forty-three feet ten
inches, to ninety-eight feet seven inches, the roof
of the former being supported by four columns of
four feet diameter, and of the latter by sixteen
of three feet diameter. The height of the temple
from the base to the pediment being fifty-six
feet, and the dimensions of the area 228 feet, by
102. The pediment contained two compositions
of about eighty feet in length, each containing
upwards of twenty colossal statues, in two
groups, the first representing the birth of' the
goddess Minerva, and the second her contest
with Neptune, for the government of Attica.
The^, figures of the western pediment enumerating
them from the left were Cecrops, Aglaurus,
Theseus, Hebe, Eresichthon, Panarosus, Victory
without wings drawn in a Biga by two horses,
Erechtheus, Minerva and Jupiter in the centre,
and to the right, Neptune, Thalassa, Latona,
Mercufy, Mala, Vesta, Mars and Venus. The
figures whidi occupied the eastern pediment
have never been per&ctly ascertained. Some of
them, however, were Hyperion, Hercules, Venus,
Iris, Peitho, Vesta, Proserpine, Victory with
wings, Ceres, and the car of Night. The frieze
advancing in two. parallel columns finom west to
east, was sculptured on both sides, and contained
a representation of the Panathenaic procession.
Six seated figures of deities also represented the
head of each column, while the ^central group
represented the presentation of the peplus to
the second archon. Of the ninety-two metopes
which anciently adorned the firieze of the peristyle,
these on the soudi side, some of which are now
in the British Museum, contained each a cen-
uur, and hence those only of the eastern
tide have been assigned to the actions of Mi-
nerva ; those of the western t^ some other point
of Athenian hitloiy, the subject Of which has
been lost ; those of the northern to the Amazo-
nian war; those of the southern to the war with
the Centaurs. A chryselephantine statue of
Minerva stood in the Opis, thodomos thirty-nine
feet in height, the buskins sculptured with the
battle of the Centaurs, and the ^gis which lay at
her feet containing a representation of the battle
of the Amazons on the outside, and on the
inside that of the Titans. Ictinus is said to^iave
been the architect of this temple ; Phidias die
artist ; and the entire cost one million and a half
sterling. The remains of this beautiftil specimen
of ancient architecture have been described by
Dr. Chandler, a few extracts from whose obser-
vations we shall subjoin. * The chief ornament,*
he observes, *of the Acropolis was the Par-
thenon or great temple of Minerva, a most
superb and magnificent fabric. The Persians
had burned the edifice, which before occupied
the site, and was called hecatompedon, from its
being 100 feet square. The zeal of Pericles and
of all the Athenians was exerted in providing a
for more ample and glorious residence for their
favorite ^ddess. The architects were Calli-
crates and Ictinus ; it was of white marble, of
the Doric order, the columns fiuted and without
bases, the number in front eight ; and adonied
with admii-able sculpture. The story of the birth
of Minerva was carved in the front pediment ;
and in the back, the contest with Neptune for
the country. The statue of Minerva, made for
this temple by Phidias, was of ivory, twenty-six
cubits or thirty-nine feet high. It was decked
with pure gold to the amount of forty-four
talents, so disposed by the advice of Pericles as to
be taken off and weighed, if required. This image
was placed in the temple in the first year of the
eighty-seventh Olympiad, in which the Pelopon-
nesian war began. The gold was stripped off
by the tyrant Lachares, when Demetrius Polior-
cetes compelled him to fly. The same plunderer
plucked down the golden shields in the Acropolis,
and carried away the golden Victories, wiOi the
precious vessels and ornaments provided for the
Panathensean festival. The Partnenon remained
entire for many ages after it was deprived of the
goddess. The Christians converted it into a
church, and the Mahommedans into a mosque.
It is mentioned in the letters of Crusius, and
miscalled the Pantheon, iaxd the temple of the
unknown God. The Venetians under Koning»-
roark, when they besieged the acropolis in 1687,
threw a bomb, which demolished the roof, and
setting fire to some powder, did much damage
to the fabric. The floorj which is indented,
still witnesses the place of its fall. This was the
sad forerunner of farther destruction ; the Turks
breaking the stones, and appl3ring l^em to the
builHing of a new mosque, which stands within
the ruin, or to the repairing of their houses and
the walls of the fortress. The vast pile of pon-
derous materials, which lay ready, is greatly di-
minished ; and the whole structure will gradually
be consumed and disappear. The temple ot
Minerva in 1676 was, as Wheeler and Spon
assert, the finest mosque in the worM, without
comparison. The Greeks had adapted die fabric
to their ceremonial by constructing at one end a
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ATHENS.
919
semkarcuiar leoess for Aw holy tables, widi m
window : for before it was enlightened only by
the door, obscurity being preferred under the
heathen ritual, except on festiyals, when it
yielded to splendid illuminations ; the reason, it
has been surmised, why temples are commonly,
found simple and unadorned on the insides. In
the wall beneath the window were inserted two
pieces of the stone called phengites, a species of
marble discovered in Cappadocia in the time of
Nero ; and so transparent that he erected with it
a temple to Fortune, which was luminous within,
when the door was shut. These pieces were
perforated, and the light which entered was
tinged with a reddish or yellowish hue. The
picture of the Panagia or Virgin Mary, in Mo-
saic, on the ceiling of the recess, remained;
with two jasper columns belonging to the screen,
which had separated that part from the nave;
and within, a canopy supported by four pillars
of porphyry, with Corinthian capitate of white
marble, under which the table had been placed ;
and behind it, beneath the window, a marble
chair for the archbishop; and also a pulpit,
standing on four small pillars in the middle aisle.
The Turks had white-washed the walls, to obli-
terate the portraits of saints, and the other paint-
ings with which the Greeks decorate their places
of worship ; and had erected a pulpit on the
right hand for the iman or reader. Tlie roof was
disposed in square compartments; the stones
massive ; and some had rallen in. It had been
sustained in the Pronaos by six columns ; but
the place of one was then supplied by a large
pile of rude masonry, the Turks not haying been
able to fill up the gap more worthily. The roof
of the naos was supported by colonnades ranging
with the door, and on eaim side ; consisting of
twenty-two pillara below, and of twenty-three
above. The odd one was over the entrance,
which by that disposition was left wid^ and un-
embaiTassed. In the portico were suspended a
few lamps, to be used in the mosque at the
seasons when the Mussulmans assemble before
day-break, or to be lighted up round the mi«
naret, as is the custom during llhe Ramaian or
Lent. It b not easy to conceive a more striking
object than the Parthenon, though now a mere
ruin. The columns within the naos haye all
been removed : but on the floor may be seen the
circles which directed the workmen in placing
them; and at the forther end is a groove across
it, as for one of the partitions of the cell. The
recess erected by the Christians is demolished ;
and from the rubbish of the ceiling, the Turiush
beys collect bits of the Mosaic, of different colors,
which composed the picture. > We are told at
Smyrna, that this substance had taken a polish,
and been set in buckles. This cell is about half
demolished ; and in the columns which surround
it, is a large gap near the middle. Qn the, walls
are some trades of the paintings. Before the
portico is a reservoir sunk in the rock, to supply
the Turks with vrater for the purifications custo-
mary on entering their mosques. In it, on the
left hand, is the rubbish of the pile erected to
supply the place of a column ; and on the right
a staircase which leads out on the architrave, and
has a marble or two with inscriptions, but worn
so as not to be legible. It belonged to the mi*
naret, which has l^en destroyed. The traveBers,
to whom we are indebted for an account of the
mosque, have likewise given a description of the
sculpture then remaining in the front. In the
middle of the pediment was seen a bearded Ju-
piter, with a majestic countenance, standing, and
naked ; the right arm broken. The thunderbolt^
it has been supposed, was placed in that hand,
and the eagle between his feet. On his right wa0
a figure, it is conjectured, of Victory, clothed to
the mid-leg ; the head and arras gone. This was
leading on the horses of a car, in which Minerva
sat, young and unarmed ; her head-dress, instead
of a helmet, resembling that of a Venus. The
generous ardor and lively spirit visible in this
pair of celestial steeds, was such as bespoke the
hand of a master, bold and delicate, of a Phidias
or Praxiteles. Behind Minerva was a female
figure, without a head, sitting, with an infimt in
her lap ; and in this angle of the pediment was
the emperor Hadrian with his arm round Sabina,
both reclining, and seeming to regard Minerva
with pleasure. On the left side of Jupiter were
five or six other trunks to complete the assembly
of deities into which he received her. These
figures were all wonderfiiUy carved, and appeared
as big as hfe. Hadrian and his consort^ it is
likely, were complimented by the AAenians with
places among the marble gods in the pediment,
as bene&ctors. Both of them may be considered
as intruders on the original company ; and pos-
sibly their heads were placed on trunks, wnich
before had other owners. They still possess
their comer, and are easy to be recc^ised,
though not unimpaired. The rest of the statues
are deiaced, renoved, or fidlen. Morosini was
ambitious to enridi Venice with the spoils of
Athens; and by an attempt to take down the
principal group, hastened their ruin. In the
other pediment is a head or two of sea-liorses
finely executed, with some mutilated figures;
and on the architrave beneath them are marks of
the fixtures of votive offerings, perhaps of the
golden shields, or of festoons suspended on
solemn occasions, when the temple was dressed
out to receive the votaries of the goddess.'
Ekecbtheium. — ^The erechtheium, about 160
feet north of the parthenon, containing Ae united
temples of Minerva, Polias Pandrosus, or, ac-
coroing to some writers, Neptune, was of irr^
gular figure, the eastern front of which pr^
sented a hexastyle Ionic colonnade, the western
being pseudo-peripteral, and the entablature
supported by half colufnns. Two deities are
supposed to have inhabited two great dirisions
in tne interior. The Pandrosseium (according to
some) on the western side, opened into porticoes
to the north and souft ; the former bemg tetra-
sgrle, and the latter supported by six caryatides.
This beautiful edifice was small, tlie entire area
not exceeding sixty-three feet by thirty-six, nor
the height twenty. Here was preserved the mark
of Neptune's trident, which struck when the
horse issued forth; also the olive-tree of Mi-
nerva ; an image of the goddess which fell from
heaven, before which v?as suspend^ a golden
lamp, the wick of which, being Carpathian flax,
never consumed, and required oil but once a
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220
ATHENS.
year ; together with a brazen palm-tree above it,
which carried off. the smoke ; the wooden Hermes
presented by Cecrops ; the chair by Dedalus ;
the scimitar of Maidonius; the breastptate of
MasistniSy who commanded the Median cavalry
at Plataea ; and numerous groups of statues.
As Dr. Chandler's description of this celebrated
' depository of atts^ at the time of his visit, is
highly interesting, we shall again refer the reader
to that authority. ' Neptune and Minerva,' ob-
serves the Dr. * once rival deities, were joint and
amicable tenants of the Erechtheium, in which
was an altar of Oblivion. The building was
double, a partition wall dividing it into tvi^o tem-
ples, which fronted different ways. One was the
temple of Neptune Erechtheus, the other of Mi-
nerva Polias. The latter was entered by a square
portico connected with the marble skreen, which
uonts towards the prbpylsa. The door of the
cell was on the left hand ; and at the further end
of the passage was a door, leading down into the
Pandroseum, which was contiguous. Before the
temple of Neptune Erectheus, was an altar of
Jupiter the supreme, on which no living thing
was sacrificed, but they offered cakes without
wine. Within it was the altar of Neptune Erec-
theus ; and two, belonging to Vulcan, and a hero
named Butes, who had transmitted the priesthood
to his posterity, which were called Butads. On
the walls were painting of this illustrious family,
from which the priestess of Minerva Polias was
also taken. It was asserted, that Neptune had
ordained the well of salt water, and the figure of
a trident in the rock, to be memorials of his con-
tending for the country. The former, Pausanias
remarks, was no great wonder, for other wells
of a similar nature, were found inland ; but this,
when the south wind blew, afforded the sound of
waves. The temple of Minerva Polias was de-
dicated by all Attica, and possessed the most
ancient statue of the goddess. This temple was
burned when Cailias was Archon, twenty-four
years after the death of Pericles. Near it was
the tomb of Cecrops, and within it Erectheus
was buried. The ruin of the Erectheum is of
white marble; the architectural ornaments of
very exquisite workmanship, and uncommonly
curious. The columns of the front of the temple
of Neptune are standing with the architrave;
and also the skreen and portico of Minerva
Polias, with a portion of the cell, retaining traces
of the partition wall. The order is Ionic. An
edi6ce revered by ancient Attica, as holy in the
highest degree, was, in 1676, the dwelling of a
Turkish fiimily, and is now deserted and neg-
lected ; but many ponderous stones and rubbish
must be removed before the well and trident
would appear. The former, at least, might pro-
bably be discovered. The portico is used as a
powder magazine ; but we obtained permission
to dig and to examine the outside. The door-
way of the vestibule is walled up, and the soil
risen nearly to the top of the xloor-way of the
Pandroseum. By the portico is a battery com-
manding the town, from which ascends an
amusing hum. The Turks fire from it, to give
notice of the commencement of Ramazan, or of
their Lent, and of Bairam, or the holy days.'
Schools^ GricNi^iA, &c. — ^The schools and
places of ptiblic instruction of Athens during her
prosperi^ were several: the most celebrated
were two called Ceramicus; one within the
city, containing a multitude of buildings of all
sorts; the other in the suburbs, in which was
the academy and other edifices. There were
many gymnasia in Athens ; the most remarkable
were &e Lyceum, Academia, and Cynosarges.
The Lyceum stood on the banks of Ilissus ; some
say it was built by Pisistratus, others fay Pe-
ricles, others by Lycurgus. Here Aristotle taught
philosophy, instructing such as came to hear him
as they walked, whence his disciples derived the
name of Peripatetics. It was also the place
where the Polemarch kept his court, ana the
chief gymnasium of the Athenian youth. The
ceramicus without the city was six stadia from
its walls. The academy made part thereof It
was a marshy unwholesome place till Cimon
got h drained, and then it becamei extremely
pleasant and delightful, being adorned with
shady walks, where Plato read his lectures, and
from thence his scholars were styled Academics.
The Cynosarges, sacred to Hercules, and com-
monly considered as the position occupied by the
Athenians after the battle of Marathon, when the
Persians sailed to Phalerum, was a place in the
suburbs not far from the Lyceum ; it was &mons
on many accounts, but particularly for a noble
gymnasium erected there, appointed for the spe-
cial use of such as were Athenians only by one
side. Themistodes got much ill-will by car^
rying many of the nobility to exercise with him
here, because, being but of the half-blood he
could exercise nowhere else but in this gymna-
sium. Antisthenes instituted a sect of philoso-
phers, who from the name of this district, as
many think, were styled Cynics.
Of the walls of the acropolis the southern is
called the Cimonian and the northern the Pe-
lasgic ; both commonly attributed to Cimon and
Themistodes. A few rude fragments of the an-
dent Hecatompedum are still remaining in the
latter, of Doric architecture, supposed to be the
workmanship of the original Pelasgi, who first
fortified the citadel anterior to the invasion of the
Persians. On the northern side of the Propylsa
is still to be seen an ancient grotto, consecrated
to Apollo and Pan, in which the former received
tlie favors of Creusa, daughter of Erectheus. It
was descended by a flight of steps.
The other remarkable places and erections are
the Stadium, south of the Lyceum, constructed
by Lycurgus for the contest of the panatlienaic
festival, 350 B. C, and afterwards covered with
marble by Herodes Atticus. It measured 675
feet by 130, and was capable of accommodating
upwards of 25,000 persons. The temple of the
Eumenides stood upon the hill Colonos, sacred
to Neptune, and celebrated in the history of
(Edipus. It was about a mile and a quarter
north of the walb, and between it and the dty
lay the sepulchral plain. To the east rises a hill»
supposed to be the mount Anchesmus of the an-
cients, and at present one of the most remark*
able features of modem Athens, occupied by the
church of St. George.
Remains of the Temple of Jupiter Oltic-
PIUS.— The ruins of the temple of Jupiter Olym-
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A T H £ N S.
221
pi«s and lerenl otbei remariutble antiquities nre
thus described by ^e celebrated gentleman to
whom we have aUready refenred. ' The ruin of
the temple of Jupiter Olympius,' says he, * con-
sists of prodigious column^ tall and bcautHul,
of the Corin&ian order, fluted; some single,
some supporting their architraves; with a few
massive marUes beneath ; the remnant of a vast
hicapy which only many ages could have con-
sumed and reduced into so scanty a compass.
The columns are of very extraonbnaiy dimen-
sionsy bdng about six feet in diameter, and nearly
sixty in height. The number, without the cell,
was 116 or 120. Seventeen were standing in
1676 ; but) a few years before we arrived, one
was overturned with much difficulty, and ap-
plied to the building a new mosque in the bazar
or maii.et-place. "niis violence was avenged ^by
the bashaw of Negropont, who made it a pretext
for extorting from the vaiwode, or governor, fifteen
purses; th£ pillar beinff, he alleged, the pro-
perty of their master, me grand seignior. It
was an angular, column and of consequence in
determining the dimensions of the fabric. We
regretted that the &dl of this mighty mass had
not been postponed until we came, as it would
have afforded an opportunity of inspecting and
measuring some members which we found far
too lofty to be attempted. On a piece of the
architrave, supported by a couple of columns,
are two parallel walls of modern masonry, arched
about the middle, and again near the top. You
are told it has been the habitation of a hermit,
doubtless of a Stylites ; but of whatever building
it has been part, and for whatever purpose de-
signed, it must have been erected thus high in
air while the immense ruin of this huge struc-
ture was yet scarcely diminished, and the heap
inclined so as to render it accessible. It was re-
marked that two stones in a step in the front had
coalesced at the extremity, so that no juncture
could be perceived ; and the like was disooveied
also in a step of die Parthenon. In both in-
stances-it mav be attributed to a concietory fluid,
which pervades the marble in the quarry. Some
portion remaining in the pieces when taken
green, as it were, md placed in mutual contact,
it exuded and united them by a process similar ,
to that in a bone of an animal when broken and
jMoperly set Besides the more stable antiqui-
ties, many detatched pieces are found in the
town, by the fountains, in the streets, the walls,
the houses, and churdies. Among these are
fragments of sculpture, a marble chair or two,
which probably belonged to the gymnasia or
theatres ; a sun-dtal at the catholicon, or cathe-
dral, inscribed with the name of the maker ; and,
at the archiepiscopal house close by, a very cu-
rious vessel of marble, used as a cistem to re-
eaive water, but once serving, it is likely, as a
pul^lic standard or measure. Many columns
occur with some maimed statues and jpedestal%
several with inscriptions, and almost buried in
earth. A custom has prevailed, as at Chios, of
fixing in the wall, over the gateways and doors
of the houses, carved stones, most of which ex-
hibit the fimeral sapper. In the courts of the
houses lie many round stelse or pillais, once
placed on. the graves of the Athenians; and a
great number are still to be seen applied to the
same use in the Turkish burying-grounds before
the acropolis. These generally have concise in-
scriptions containing the name of the person,
and of the town and tribe to which the deceased
belonged. Another species, which resembles our
modem head-stones, is sometimes adorned with
sculpture, and has an epitiwh in verse. We saw
a few mutilated hermae. These were busts on
long quadrangular bases, the heads frequently
of brass invented by the Athenians. At first
they were made to represent only Hermes or
Mercury, and designed as guardians of the se*
pulohres in which they were lodged, but after-
wards the houses, streets, and porticoes of Athens,
were adorned with them, and rendered vene-
rable by a multitude of portraits of illustrious
men and women, of heroes, and of gods ; and
it is related that Hippavchus, son of Pisistratus,
erected them in demi or borough towns, and by
the road side, inscribed witli moral apophthegms
in elegiac verse; thus making them v^cles of
instruction.'
Decli VE OF Athens. — ^The decline of Athens,
one of the most remarkable subjects of history,
was occasioned by that great revolution which
took place in the moral world upon the propa-
gation of Christianity and the consecjuent anni-
hilation of those idolatrous superstitions which
had been handed down from the ages bordering
on the deluge. The general conduct of the earlv
Christians, wherever their influence extendedf,
was to destroy all works of pagan architecture
dedicated to the purposes of superstition, whilst^
by propagating the gospel and thorough^ extin-
guishing the principles that gave birdi to them,
no hope remained of their reproduction. At
Athens, however, the early Byzantine emperors
forbore to destroy these saci^ edifices, and in
lieu of it consecrated them to the Christian cause.'
Even Alaric used every effort for the preserva-
tion of Athens, and the noble statue otMinervs
Promachus still crowned the city and towered
above the uninjured Parthenon at the close o*
the fourth centurv. During the ducal govern-
ment of the Franks, however, the city dwindled
to the rank of a provincial town, and in 1436
Omar took possession of it in the name of Ma-
homet. This was shortly followed by tlie ruin
of the city and the demolition of those stupend-
ous works of art which had been the wonder o^
so many ages.
Veketian Invasion.— In 1687 the Venetians,
as already intimated, under count Koningsmark,
a Swede, besieged the acropolis* The explosion
of the beautiful temple of Victory without
wings, {vta$ awrtpoc) the frieze of which is now
in the British Museum, followed the bombard-
ment; an explosion of die Parthenon followed;
the eastern wall and statues of that pediment
were thrown to the ground ; the middle of the
temple was destroyed ; the western front consi-
derably shaken, and little less except part of the
opisthodomos and a few of the lateral columns of
the peristyle adjoining the cell were left stand-
ing. These two celebrated temples, which had
been used by (he Turks as powder-magazines,
constituted the ch^ glory of Athens, and after
the destruction of these she surrender^ During
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222
ATHENS.
the short time the Venetiaiis iMld potteitioa of
the eitjT several aDcient monuments were d^
stroked. A celebraled car of Victory, which
stood 00 the western pediment of the Parthenon,
with horses of a natural.size, was taken down by
the Doge Morosini, with a view of being re-
moved to Venice, but in lowering it to the
ground the engineers suffered it tofidl^ by whidi
it was entirely destroyed.
Kkowledgb op Atbevian AjrriQtTrriES in
Europe. — The antiquities and worits of Athens
were little noticed in Enrope till the close of the
17th century. TYie aeconnts rsceived by means
of tmvellers had been mostly perplexed and mis-
taken. Some called the Parthenon the pantheon,
and described it to be oval, others ^ught it the
temple of the unknown God, mentioned in the
narrative of the apostle Paul. Sir G. Wheeler,
and Dr.Spon, who visited Athens before the Ve-
netian siege, were the- first who by their descrip-
tion of the city impressed European nations widi
the great value of these celebrated remains. The
Dillettanti society employed Dr. Chandler,
already quoted, to visit this ihmous depository
of the sciences, and examine its antiquities and
topography. Mr. Stuart, an ingenious artist,
also went over from England, and empl<^ed
fAktte years in studying and forming correct draw-
ings of its principal remains.
Laudable Epports op Lord Elgin. — ^Lord
Elgin, on his appointment as ambassador to the
Porte in 1799, established a society of distin-
guided artists in Athens, who in three years
presented him with a complete body of finished
dsawings of the plans and details of tiie most
important monuments and renainSy accoropamed
by just admeasurements of the elevation and
extent, besides bas reliefs and characteristic fea-
tures of Athenian architecture, moulded from the
originals, in which they were the more diligent,
as the Turks from motives of avarice vrere in the
habit of breaking up marbles, in die hope of
ftndittg some hidden treasure under them, and of
defacing the most perfect sculptures ftom motives
of superstition. The British ambassador, who
appears to have been a man of taste and genius,
employed his interest at the Porte in obtaining
permission to remove some of the most vydnaUe
marbles, and transfer them to England, the French
having removed some valuable deposits to the
gallery of the Louvre.
Lord Elgin's Collection op Antiquities,
Ice. — ^Lord Elgin's collection consisted chiefly of
the following articles : Several original Metopes
from the interior Ineze of the Parthenon, descrip-
tive of the combat between the Centaurs and the
Lapitha ; part of the outer frie^ of te same
temple, representing the procession at the Pana-
thenaic festival, both of which occupied the pedi-
ments of the eastern and western fronts, the
fonner being in such high relief as to seem
grottps of statues. Several inscriptions after the
Kionedott manner, in which -singular care is
> taken to preserve an equal number of letters in
each line^ occasionally even to the division of
monosyllables. A Doric capita], assizes of the
columns, a triglyph, some or the modules of the
oomice, and a few of the marble tiles (antefna,)
which roofed the original ambuhiftofy. Models
of the metopes in the temple of Theseus, contain-
ing the labors of Theseus and Hercules, tsken
from the interior firiele, representing the battle of
the Centaurs and Lapithae ; together with seve-
ral incidents of the battle of Marathon. The
temple being in a considerable state of preser-
vation, the originals could not be obtained. In
addition to these he obtained from the vestibule
of the temple of Neptune, and that of Minerva
Polias, in the Erechtheiura, a capital, a base,
and some original blocks of the frieze and cor-
nice, with plans of die architecture, &c. From
the adjoining Pandroseinm, one of the Caryatides.
From the temple of the bouded Bacchus, a sta-
tue of the god, and a sun-dial, said to have
existed in the time of Jhe tragedians. The con-
vents and other buildings furnished bronzes,
cameos, intaglios, and medals. Besides the
above laudable undertakings, he traced the walls
of die city, made extensive excavations, and, from
the numerous tumuli which opeirad in the sub-
urbs, formed a magnificent coltection of the vases
hitherto improperiv denominated Etruscan. But
perhaps one of bis most successful tfhrts was
the removing of the celebrated Boustrophedon
inscription, which anciently adorned tlie Sigean
promontory. This celebmted monument had for
some time formed a $eat at the door of a Greek
chapel, and was the resort of persons afilicted
with the ague; the letters having been nearly
obliterated by the numbers of patients who had
reclined upon it. The most valuable part of his
collection has been thought by some to be a
complete series of Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian
capibds, from the birth of Athenian architecture
to its greatest height under Pericles. The same
gentleman. obtained some fragments of the tem-
ple of Victory without wings, on the right of the
propylea, representing scenes from the battles of
Maradion, Salamis,^d Platcea, which had been
built in the wall of a powder magazine ; the
finest blocks of the whole being plac^ in an in-
verted position. These and some other sculptures
were afterwards embarked for England, but un-
happily wrecked off the island of Cerigo. Many
eases however by the assistance of the most ex-
pert divers were obtained from the vessel, at the
depth of twenty fedioms of water, and the remain-
der, although two successive winters of laborious
exertion were employed about them, were left
upon the wreck. On the acquisition of so nu-
merous a collection of remains from the most
valuable part of Athenian antiquity, the British
ambassador conceived the idea of ei^aging the
most distinguished of the modem artists, to at-
tempt their restoration, but they declined the
task. Canova, in particular, affirmed that tlie
marbles of the ancient perthenon had never been
retouched, and were so superior in their style of
execution, that it would be sacrilege for any man
to presume to violate ihem with a chisel » They
were therefore transported to England as Athe^
nian originals, and purchased by a £35,000
grant of E^Uament, to enrich the British Mu-
seum, where they still remain to giude the im-
provements of taste, and excite the csmilatiop
of modem genius.
pKESBipr Statb of Athens. — The present
state of Athens, Iflie that of most other celebra-
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223
ATH
ted cities of aotiquity, exhibit* a remaikaUe
spectacle of f^leo gres^tness. It is incorporated
in the Turkish empirei Etnd placed uader the
goTernment of a waywode» or Ueuteoant, who
is chief black eunuch of the seraglio. The town
is surrounded by an insignificant wall, about ten
feet in height, hi short of the dimension of its
ancient circumference. The streets are narrow.
The population is diminished to one-tenth of its
number in the time of Demosthenes, said to
have been 116,000; and the beautiful Acropolis,
converted into a Turkic for^ess»is disdg!i»r«d
by a huge Venetian tower, the architecture of
which looks the more barbarous, from the highly-
finished models that surround it. The parthenon
is degraded in the front by a mean nouse, in
which resides the disdar, or governor of the for-
tress, and the south-east angle exhibits a wretched
mosque. The town is inhabited chiefly by Turk;si
and Chfistians, of the Greek church. It is the
see of an archbishop, under whom five archons
and a number of secretaries are appointed to tlie
management of its ecclesiastical concerns.
Athens, a flouiishing post town of New York,
on the vest bank of the Hudson, opposite Hud-
son city. The situation of this place is pleasaiat,
and verv eligible ibr trade. It contains a Lu-
theran church, three school-houses, and a mar^
ket-house, an extensiye rope-walk, a large dis«
ttUery, a pottery of stoneware, and other smaller
manoBictories. PopuUtion 1000. Tw^ty-eight
miles south of Albany.
ATHERINA, in ichthJologf,a genus of fishes
of the order of abdominales. The characters of
this genus are these :— the upper jaw plain ; the
rays of the branchiostege membrane are six ; and
the side belt or line shutes like silver. The spo^
cies ate two, viz.
♦I. A. hep8etus„the smelt, with about twelve
rays in the fin next the anus. It is found in the
Mediterranean, a»d is also very eommon in the
tea near Southampton. The highest season is
iioro March to the Winning of June; in which
month it spawns. U is also found oa othec
coasts of our island.
2i A. menidea, has twenty-four rays in the fin
neact the anus. This is a very pellucid fish^ with
many black points interspersed; it has many
teeth in the lips, but none in the tongue or jaw«.
Jjk i3 found in the firesh waters of Carolina, and
spawns in April
ATHERINOIDES, a species of clupea^ dis-
tinguished by a silvery lateral line.- In the dor*
sal fin are twelve mys ; fourteen in the pectoraj
fini ; eight in the ventral fins ; thirty-two in the
anal fin ; and eighteen in the tail. It is a native
of Surinam.
ATHERIX, in entomology, a genus of the
order diptera, and family rh^uponidap. Its ge-
neric characters are antenns moniliibrm; the
third joint not ringed, but terminated by a seta,
the palpi erect. The only known species is ma-
eutatus, found in the woods of Great Britain.
ATHEROMA, a kind of tumor, occurring
duusfly in the neck and arm-boles, and contain-
ing osatter resembling o&iipa, or pm>^ intermixed
with hard and slony panicles. These tamors
are easily cured by incision.
ATHESIS, in ancient geography, a river of
Ciaalpine Gaul, which, rising in the Rhcetian
Alps, runs southward, and washes Tridentum
and Vesona, which last it divides; and after*
wards bends ils course eastward, and foils into
the Adriatic, between Fossa Claudia and Phi-
listina. It separated the country of the Euganei
ifora that of the Veneti. It is now called the
Adige.
ATHIAS (Joseph), a learned Jewish printer^
in the seventeenth century. He resided at Am-
sterdam^ where, in 1667, he published a Hebrew
bible, whieh is held in great estimation. He
likewise printed the bible in Spanish, German,
and English. The States presented him with a
gold m^al and chain, as a mark of the vahie
they put upon his labors.
ATHIRST. On thirst See Thirst.
With aeaaty mosMue thea sopply their food ;
And» wh«ai oMtr^t, restrain 'em froin the flood.
Unnumbered supjdiants ciowd Preferoacot's gate,
Athkit for weslth, and burning to be great ;
Delusive Fortune bears the incessant call.
They mount, they shine^ evaporate, and ftiU.
J'ihnson.
ATHLETjE, A^Xi|n|c,Gr. from oflXoc, a com-
bat ; in antiquity, persons of strenjB^th and agility,
disciplined to perform in &e public ^ames. Un-
der Athletae were comprehended wrestlers, boxers,
runners, leapers, throwers of the disk, and those
practised in other exercises, exhibited in the
Olympic and Pythian games, &c. for the con-
querors in which there were established prizes.
To obtain a firm, bulky, weighty body, by force
of which they frequently overpowered their an-
tagonist, they fed altogether on dry, solid, and
viscous meats. In the earlier times their chief
food was dry figs and cheese, which was called
arida saginatio,i:fpo rpo^i;. Oribasius first brought
this in disuse, and substituted fiesh instead of
these. They had a peculiar bread, called eoXiyria :
they exercised, eat, and drank, without ceas-
ing ; were not allowed to leave off eating when
satiated, but were obliged to cram on till they
could hold no more ; by which means they at
length acquired a degree of voracity, which to us
seems incredible, and a strength proportional.
Pausanias relates of Milo, the Crotonian, that he
carried a bull on his back a considerable way,
then knocked him down with a blow of his fist,
and, lastly, devoured him at a meal 1
ATH'LETB, > AdXiiriic, a wrestler in the
Ath'letick. ) agonistic exercises of the
Greeks; from dSKo^, labor. One whose phy-
sical powers enable him to labor, struggle,
contend.
And health itself, if it be aihUiie, may by its very
excess become dangerous. Bjf, J. Taylor,
Science distinguishes a man of honour, from one of
those aitUeiw brutes, whom undeservedly yre call
heroes. Drjfdem^
Was he [the wise man] in advexiity ; ho equally
Mtumed thanks to the director of this spectacle i
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hunu ]ih, fov bayvag oppoMd to him a
otUctt, orer whom, though the contMt was likely to
be more yiolent^ the yietoiy was more glorioos and
equally certain. Smiths Moral SentimmtU.
ATHIX)N, Gr. AOXov, in antiquity, the ynie
adjudged to the Tictor, in the athletic exercises,
at thepublic games.
ATHLONE, a town of Ireland, pleasantly si-
tuated on botli sides of the Shannon ; the one
half lyinff in the county of Westmeath, and the
other in mat of Roscommon. These divisions of
the town are united by a well built bridge, in the
middle of which stands a monument, on which
there are some badly executed figures and in-
scriptions, ceiebratine the success of Queen
Elizabeth of England, and relating how the
rebels in her reign were executed, quartered,
and their skulls, &c. stuck upon poles, about the
country, and at Dublin casUe ; and every thing
brought into a state of the greatest prosperity.
Athlone, though so advantageously situated for
trade, still remains a poor, ruinous, neglected,
dirty place. The castle was founded by king
John, on some land belonging to St. Peter's abbey,
for which he granted a compensation. It is
built on {i high raised round hill, resembling one
of the Danish forts. It had formerly two con-
vents, and was strongly fortified. In 1691 part
of the English army under General Gincicle,
although the Irish were strongly entrenched on
the opposite shore, forded the river, stormed and
took possession of the town, not losing more
than fifty men in the attack ; which is esteemed
as bold an enter]((rise as any recorded in history.
General Ginckle obtained the title of Earl of
Athlone, as a reward for his services. There are
generally two troops of hone, and four compa-
nies of foot quartered at Athlone. Athlone is
fifty-nine miles west from Dublin. Long. 7° 41'
W., lat 53** 22* N.
ATHLOTHETA, in antiquity, an officer ap-
pointed to superintend the public games, and
adjudge the prizes. The athlotheta was other-
wise called tesymneta, brabeuta, &c.
ATHNACH, the name of one of the principal
of the Hebrew accents, wfa^ch serves not only to
regulate the voice, but to distinguish the mem-
bers of a sentence, whence its name athnach, i. e.
respiration. On this account it is called king
ana pause, and answers to our colon, and some-
times to a note of interrogation. It b marked
under a letter thus (a)>
ATHOL, or Atholl, the most northern dis-
trict of Perthshire in Scotland, extending in
length forty-three miles, and in breadth thirty.
The country is very rough and mountainous, and
contains part of the ancient Caledonian forest :
but these mountams are interspersed with firuit-
Ittl valleys. It has several villages, but no town
of any consideration. The most noted place is
Blair castle, which belongs to the duke of Atholl,
who derives his title from this district. In the
neighbourhood is the pass of Killicranky, ren-
deied memorable by the battle fought there, in
the beginning of king William's reign, between
general M'Kay, and me Highlanders adhering to
king James.
ATHOS, a mountain of Chalcidiain Macedo-
nia, celebrated in ancient and modem times.
224
ATH
Ilie ancients entertained extravagant notions'
concerning its height ; and it was a received opi«
nion, that the summit of mount Athos was above
the middle region of 'the air, and that it never
rained upon it. Its modem name of Monte Santo
(Holy Mount) it has got finom the number of
Greek monasteries that are built on it They
amount to nearly thirty, are protected by fortifi-
cations fit>m the incursions of the corsairs, and
are inhabited by about 6000 monks, who lead a
life of monotony and indolence. The air is re-
markably pure, and many of the inhabitants
reach a great age. About half-way up the hill
lies a small town, called Kareis, which is also
fortified, and is the seat of the Turkish aga. A
market is held here eveiy Saturday, from which
females are excluded. ^^ P&y t^ annual tri-
bute for protection to the Turkish government.
The manuscripts in their libraries have been
recently examined, and some account of them
will be found in Dr. Clarke's Travels. Accord-
ing to the accounts of modem travellers, this
mountain advances into the Archipelago, on the
south of the Gulf of Contessa, and is joified to
the continent by an isthmus about half a league
in breadth. It is about thirty miles in circum-
ference, and two in perpendicular height. It
abounds with many different kinds of pUmts and
trees, particularly the pine and fir. In the val-
leys grows a plant called elegia, whose branches
serve to make pens for writing. Through this
-mountain, or rather through the isthmus behind
it, Xerxes, king of Persia, is said to have cut a
passage for his fleet when about to invade
Greece. In this work he spent three whole years,
and employed in it all the forces on board the
fleet. He is also said, before the work was be-
guU) to have written the following ridiculous
letter to the mountain : * Athos, thoi^ proud and
aspiring mountain, that liftest up thy head to the
very skies, I advise thee not to be so audacious,
as to put rocks and stones, that cannot be cut, in
the way of my workmen ! If thou makest that
opposition, I will cut thee entirely down, and
throw thee headlong into the sea I ' The direc-
tors of this enterprise are said to have been
Bubaris, the son ot Megabyzus, and Artadieus,
the son of Arbeus, bo&i Persians ; but, as no
traces of such a gteal work remain, the trath of
the whole relation has been questioned. Dino-
crates, a sculptor, who followed the inarch of
Alexander, offered to convert mount Athos into
a statue of that king, holding a town in his right
hand, and in his left a basin large enough to
contain all the waters that flowed from it ; but
the proposal was deemed too extravagant to be
accepted. This venerable mountain constitutes
one entire chain, extending seven miles in length,
and three in breadth, and is situated alM>ut
seventy miles east of ^onichi, the ancient Thes-
salonica.
ATHULIA, in entomology, a very small spe-
cies of pa^iliOy found in the northern parts o{
Russia. This is the.papilio phoebe of Esper,
and belongs to the fiunuy satyri in the Fmbncian
system.
ATHWART, prep. hat^. From to thwart.
Across; in a transverse direction ; figuratively,
wrong, in a vexatious manned.
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ATI
225
ATL
nere let the clatiic page thy fancy lead
lliroagh rural flcenea, such a* ihe Mantoan svaia
Paints in the matchless harmony of song ;
Or catch thyself the landscape gliding swift '
Athwart Imagination's rivid eye. Thonum.
Shook sadden from the hosom of the sky,
A thoaaand shapes, or glide atkmart the dusk.
Or atalk migestic on. Id,
With thee, my bark. 111 swiftly go.
Athwart the foaming brine ;
Nor care what land thou bear'it me to.
So not again to mine.
Lord Bynm'M CkUde HorM.
Athwart, in navigation, is synonymous with
across the line of the coarse. It is also used in
other senses, such as,
Atuwart-hause, expresses the situation of
a ship; when she is driven by wind or tide,
or any other accident across the fore part of
another
Atbwaht-ships, reaching across ships from
one side to the bther.
Athwart the fore foot, denotes the flight
of a cannon ball from one ship across the course
of another, to intercept the latter, and oblige her
to shorten sail, that the former may come near
enough to examine her.
ATHY,,a town of Ireland, in the county of .
Kfldare, near the borders of Queen's county. It
is situated on the river Barrow, on which boats
pass by Carlow to Waterford. It is ten miles
south of Kildare, and thirty-two south-west of
Dublin ; from which a branch o( the grand canal
extends, and boats pass between mem daily,
through the whole extent. It is governed by a
sovereign, two bailiffs, and a recorder; and is,
alternately with Naas, the assizes town.
ATHiMlAf aOvfua, despondency; dejection
of the spirits.
ATI^AB, the name by which the inhabitants
of Gago in Africa call gold-dust ; from which
word Europeans, and especially the French, ,
have composed the word tioer, which also signi-
fies goldndust among those who trade in that
commodity.
ATIUA, in ancient records, signifies utensils,
implements for country business.
ATILT. On tilt. Lifted up in the attitude
of attack ; also, any thing with one end lifted up,
as a barrel.
In the dty Touts
Thon ran'st oHU, in hon<mr oif my love ;
Ind stol'st away the ladiea' hearts from France.
Shahtpeare,
To run atih at men, and wield
Their naked tools in open field. Hudibras.
Such a man is always atiUi his favours come
hardly from him. Spectator,
ATINGA GuAcu-Mucu. See Cornutus Cu-
CULUS.
Atikoa, in ichthyology, a species of diodon,
of an oblong form, b^t with rounded spines.
It is called by Marcgrave, guamajucu antinga ;
and in England is known by the name of porcu-
pine fish.
This species lives in the American seas, and
about the Cape of Good Hope. Its food consists
of crabs and other shell-fish. The length rather
exceeds twelve inches ; the body is compressed
at the sides, and bluish. This creature has the
Vol. III.
power of dilating its body, and encthig its spines
at pleasure. It is usually taken in nets, but will
also take bait, which is commonly the tail of a
crab, fastened on the hook.
ATINIA Lex, a law passed by the tribune
Atinius, whidi gave a trwune of the people the
privileges of a senator, and the right oi sitting in
the senate.
ATIZOE, in the writings of ancient naturalists,
a stone used in the consecration and anointing
of kings. Pliny describes it to have been of a
lenticular figure, and of the size of three fingers,
of a bright silvery color, and of a pleasant smell.
He says it was found in India, ana in some other
places. Agricola is of opinion it was a kind of
bitumen.
ATKINS (James), bishop of Galloway, the
son of Henry Atkins, sheriff of Orkney, was bom
at Kirkwall, educated at the university of Edin-
burgh, where he took the degree of A. M. and
finished his studies at Oxford, under the cele-
brated Dr. Prideaux, about A. D. 1638. Being
appointed chaplain to the Marquis of Hamilton,
he was soon after presented to the church of
Birsay in Orkney, wnere he was much esteemed.
In 1650, being moderator of the presbytery, he
was appointed to draw up a declaration of
loyalty, in their names, and present it to the
Marquis of Montrose ; for which he and the
whole presbytery were deposed by the general
assembly, and the doctor was exoonununicated
for corresponding with the Marquis. The coun-
cil soon after passed an act lor bringing him to
trial, but being privately warned by his friend.
Sir Archibald Primrose, the clerk of council, he
fled to HolUnd, where he remained till 1653;
when he returned to Edinburgh, and resided in
quiet obscurity till the restoration. He then
accompanied Dr. Sydserf to London, and ob>
tained the rectory of Winfrith. In 1677 he was
elected bishop of Moray, and in 1680 translated
to the see of Galloway, which be governed seven
years, and died much respected in 1687, aged
seventy-four.
Atkins (Sir Robert), lord chief baron of the
excheouer, was bom in 1621, and educated at
the umversity <^ Oxford, from whence he removed
to the inns of court, and became eminent in the
law. He was made knight of the bath, at the
coronation of king Charles II. In 1662 he was
appointed one of the judges of Common Pleas ;
in which station he continued till 1679, when
foreseeing the troubles that soon after ensued, be
resigned, and retired into the country. In 1689
he was made by king William lord oiief baron of
the exchequer; and about the same time filled the
office of speaker to the house of lords. He dis-
tinguished himself by an unshaken zeal for the
laws and liberties of his country; and wrote
several pieces which have been collected into
one volume 8vo. under the title of Parliamentary
and Political Tracts.
ATLANTEAN. Possessing the strength oi
Adas.
Where are the pillars, that sapport the skies T
What more than AtlaiUeam shoulder props
Th' incumbent loadT What magic, what strange art.
In fluid air these pond'roos orbs sustain ?
Yvung't Night Thtmghtt, ix.
Q
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226
ATLANTIC.
ATLANTES. See Atlas.
ATLANTIC. The Atlantic Ocean U that
great basin of inters that separates Europe and
Africa on the east, from America on the west,
and stretches from the arctic ocean on the north
to a line which joins Cape Horn and the Cape
of Good Hope on the south. It is divided from
the north sea, on the north-east, by the Straits of
DoTcr, Great Britain, the isles of Faroe and Ice-
land. The Mediterranean with its gul&, the
Gulf of Mexico, and Hudson's and Baffin's Bay,
are consequently branches of it. That part of
the Atlantic, however, between Brasil and Airica,
and from the nearest approximation of these
countries to the southern limits, is sometimes
called the Ediiopic Ocean. It has been conjec-
tured that the vast bed of the Atlantic was
formed at the time of the deluge, by the great
southern ocean below the ecjuator, rushing on
the northern hemisphere. This the shape of the
opposite shores has been supposed to justify,
which have the exact appearance of having been
formed by the action of water, the great protu-
berances of the one corresponding to the inden-
tations of the other. One ot the most remarkable
features of the Atlantic is its currents. It par-
takes of the general current which flows from the
poles toyrards the equator, and which arises from
the increased evaporation in the equatorial re-
gions, and the augmented temperature of the
waters, rendering them specifically lighter than
those of the ocean in higher latitudes, as well as
from the increased supplies produced by the
melting of the polar ice. The existence and effects
of this great current arc fully proved by the enor-
mous masses of polar ice, which they convey into
the more temperate regions of the ocean, and
which sometimes float as low as 40° of latitude.
The coast of America, and the numerous
islands with which it is flanked, intercept the ge-
neral current of the Atlantic, and create what
navigators call the gulf stream. This enters the
Gulf of Mexico, sweeps round the shores of that
Gulf, and issues vrith accelerated velocity towards
the north, by the channel between the southern
point of Florida and the Bahama Islands. It
then rolls along the shore of North America, di-
minishing in veloci^, but increasing in breadth,
till it reaches the great bank of Newfoundland.
There it suddenly turns towards the east and
south-east, and flows with still decreasing velo-
city towards the shores of Europe, the Azores,
and the coasts of Africa. Navigators readily dis-
tinguish it by the high temperature of its waters,
their great saltness, their indigo color, and the
shoals of sea-weed that cover their surface. The
celebrated Dr. Franklin first caused it to be laid
down on a map, and in his various voyages from
America to Europe, made numerous observations
on its peculiarities. Humboldt, in May 1804,
observed its velocity in the twenty-seventh de-
gree of latitude, and found it about eighty miles
in twenty-four hours, though the north wind
blew very strongly at the time of the observation.
When it issues from the Gulf of Florida, its ve-
locity resembles that of a torrent, and is some-
times five miles an hour, but at others not more
than tliree. Between the nearest point of Florida
and the bank of Bahama, the breadth is only fif-
teen leagues, but a few degrees further north it
is seventeen ; in the parallel of Chariestown, it is
from forty to fifty leagues in breadth ; and in
latitude 40° 25*, mis is increased to nearly eighty
leagues. The waters of the torrid lone, being
thus forcibly impelled towards the north-east,
preserve their high temperature to such a degree,
that in latitude 40° and 41° it has been found to
be 22*5° of the centigrade thermometer, or 72°
of Fahrenheit ; while out of the current the tem-
perature of the water vi^as only 63*5°. In the
parallel of New York, the temperature of the
gulf stream is equal to that of the sea in latitude
80°. When the stream reaches the western
Azore island, where the breadth is about 160
leagues, the waters still preserve a part of the
impulsion they received in the Gulf of Florida,
nearly 1 000 leagues distant. Thence it proceeds
to the Canaries and the coast of Africa, and in
the latitude of Cape Blanco, where the waters
flow towards the south-west, they mingle with
the current of the tropics, and recommence their
tour from east to west.
Thus it appears that the waters of the Atlantic,
between the eleventh and forty-third degrees,
are constantly drawn by currents into a kind of
whirlpool ; and if a body floating on tt^ese waters
be supposed to return precisely to the place from
which it commenced its motion, M. Humboldt
has calculated, from the known Telocity of the
current, that it would require two years and ten
months to complete its circuit of 3800 leagues.
* A boat,' he oMerves, * which maybe supposed
to receive no impulsion from the winds, would
require thirteen months from the Canary islands,
to reach Ae coast of Caraccas, ten months to
make the tour of the Gulf of Mexico and reach
Tortoise shoals, opposite the port of Havwinah,
while forty or fiffy days mignt be sufficient to
carry it from the Straits of Florida to the banks of
, Nevirfoundland. Estimating the Velocity of the
water at seven or eight miles in twenty-four hours,
in their progress from this bank to the coast of
Africa, it would require ten or eleven months for
this last distance. Such are the effects of this
slow but regular motion^ which agitates the wa-
ters of the ocean.' A branch of this current evi-
dently reaches the western shores of Eorope, as
the productions of the tropical regions of America
are frequently thrown on the coasts of the He-
brides, Scotland, and Norway.
M. Humboldt endeavoured to ascertain the
comparative height of the waters of this ocean
along its shores. In reference to the Gulf of
Mexico, and the opposite side of the isthmus on
the shores of the Pacific, he found the surface of
the former to be six or seven metres higher than
that of the latter. The depth of the Atlantic is
also extremely various; in inany places being
wholly beyond the power of man to &thom.
Captain Scoresby, in the Greenland sea, in 1817,
plumbed to the greatest known depth which a
line has reached, i. e. 7200 feet Many parts of
the Atlantic, however, are thought to be three
times this depth.
The saltness and specific grarity of the Atlan-
tic differ in various parts ; and gradually HiminiA
from the eouator to the poles. In the neigh-
bourhood of the British isles, the salt has been
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ATLANTIC.
stated at ^ of the weight of the water; and
Dr. ThomfiMm^ in his Chemistry, observes, that
as fer as experience has gone, the proportion of
saline contents does not appear to differ much,
whaterer may be the latitude in which the water
is examined. Captain Phipps, in north latitude
9(fi, and sixty &tDoms under ice, found the sa^
line contents of searwater to be 0*0354 ; in lati-
tude 74^, he found them to be 0'036 ; in latitude
60**, 0*034. . Pages found- sea-water, taken up hi
noith latitude 45® and SQ'', to contain 0*04 of
sahne contents ; and Baum^, obtained by analy-
sis from water taken up by Pages, in north lati-
tude 34^ and 14®, exactly the same proportion of
saline matter. In southern latitudes, Pages
found the following proportions of saline con-
tents, tIz. :
L«ttt«de Sal. Matter
49® 5(/ . 00416 .
46 0 . 0045
40 30 . 0040 .
Latitade Sal. Mat.
25® 54' . 004
20 00 . 0039
1 16 . 0035
Th^ specific gravity of the water is greatest
where tne saline ingredients contained are the
most abundant; as it is the mixture of these with
the pure water that increases its weight.
The water of the Atlantic ocean is warmest be-
tween 5** 45' and 6® 15' of north latitude, where
it has been found by actual observation to vary
from about 82® 5' to 84® 5' of Fahrenheit's ther-
mometer. There, too, the temperature of the sea
is generally a few degrees higher than that of the
air which reposes upon it. Nearer the poles the
influence of the seasons on the surface of the
ocean, becomes more sensible ; but, as tlie tem-
])erature of the water changes more slowly than
that of the atmosphere, the means do not, in
|K)int of time, exactly correspond. Where not
disturbed bv local causes, the mean temperature
of the surface water is not very different from
that of the incumbent atmosphere. It is about
Rl® at the equator, 70® at 26^ of north latitude,
and 60® at 45®. The temperature diminishes as
the depth increases. M. Peron found that at
the depth of 380 fathoms, the temperature was
only 45® S, though at the surfieice it was 80®.
Currents greatly modi^ the temperature by
transmitting the water of one region to another,
as well as in some degree by the agitation they
create. While the current which sets into the Gulf
of Mexico is much wanner than the adjacent
])arts of the sea, it is not so warm as that which
flows through Magellan's Straits into the Pacific.
Humboldt made various experiments on the
surface of the Atlantic Ocean, oetween the 9th
of June and the 15th of July, 1799, from which
the following are selected :
Temperature of the
forth lat.
West Ion.
Atlantic ocean, at
itaraxfaoe. •
O f
O /
O 0
39 10 . .
. 16 18 .
. . 59 00 Fahrenheit
34 30 . .
. 16 55 .
. . 61 34
32 16 . .
.17 4 . .
. . 63 86
30 36 . .
. 16 54 . .
. . 65 48
29 18 . .
. 16 40 . .
. . 66 74
26 51 . .
. 19 13 . ,
. . 68 00
20 8 . .
. 28 51 . .
. . 70 16
17 57 .
. . 33 14 .
. . 72 32
14 57 .
. . 44 40 .
.. 74 66
13 51 .
. . 49 43 . .
. . 76 46
10 46 .
. . 60 54 . ,
. . 78 44
227
He fiirther relnarks that, * from Corunna to
the mouth of the Tagus, the water of the sea
varied but little in its temperature ; but from the
thirty-ninth degree of latitude to the tenth, the
increment was very sensible and veiy constant,
though not always uniform. From the parallel
of Cape Montego to that of Salvage, the progress
of Uie thermometer was almost as rapid as from
20® 18' to 10® 46'; but it slackened extremely at
the limits of the torrid zone, from 29® 18' to
20® 8*. This inequalitv is, no doubt, caused by
the currents that mingle the waters of different
latitudes, and which, as we approach the Canary
Islands, or the coast of Guiana, set either to the
south-east, or north-west M. de Churuca, who
crossed the equator in his voyage to the straits of
Magellan, in the twenty-fi^ degree of west
longitude (in October), found the maximum of
the temperature of the Atlantic ocean, at the
sur&ce m 6® of north latitude.' Humboldt*$
Personal Narrative,
Masses of ice, and icebergs, having their origin
in high latitudes, are carried towards the south
and south-west by the general current, which flows
from the poles towards the equator ; and they have
a great influence in lowering the summer temper-
ature both of the ocean and atmosphere. Frag-
ments of these icebei'gs occasiousulv reach the
fortieth degree of latitude. At 50® the rivers,
lakes, and h^ys, of the sea, sometimes freeze ; and
at 60®, the gulfs and interior seas sometimes
freeze in their whole extent.
ATLANTIDES, in astronomy, the Pleiades,
or seven stars, so called, as being supposed to
have been the daughters of Atlas, who, toe poets
fabled, were translated into heaven.
Atlantis, Atalantis, or Atlantic a; an
island mentioned by Plato and some others of
the ancients, concerning the real existence of
which there have been many disputes. Homer,
Horace, and the other poets, mike two Atlanti-
cas, calling them Hesperides and Elysian Fields,
making them the habitations of the blessed. The
most distinct account of this island we have in
Plato's Timeus, of which Mr. Chambers gives
the following abridgement. * The Atlantis was
a )arge island in the western ocean, situated op-
posite to the straits of Gades. Out of this island
there was an easy passage into some others,
which lay near a large continent, exceeding in
bigness sdl Europe and Asia. Neptune settled
in this island, from whose son. Atlas, its name
was derived, and divided it among his ten sons.
To the youngest fell the extremity of the island,
called Gadir; which, in the language of the
country, signifies fertile, or abundant in sheep.
The descendants of Neptune reigned here from
&ther to son for a great number of generations
in the order of primogeniture, during the space
of 9000 years. They also possessed several other
islands; and, passing into Europe and Africa,
subdued all lybia as fiir as Egypt, and all
Europe to Asia Minor. At lengUi the ishuid
sunk under water: and fo^ a long time after-
Q2
Digitized by
yG00gl(
ATL
228
ATM
wards the sea thereabouts was full of rocks and
shelves/ Many of the modems also are of opi-
nion, that the existence of the Atlantis is not to
be looked upon as entirely fabulous. Some take
it to hare oeen America ; and from thence, as
well as from a passage in Seneca*s Medea, and
some other obscure hints, they imagine that the
new world was not unknown to &e ancients.
But allowing this to be the case, the above-
mentioned continent, which was said to lie
beyond Atlantis, would seem rather to have
been the continent of America than that of At-
lantis itself. The learned Rudbeck, professor
in the University of Upsal, in a work entitled
Atlantica sive Manheim, endeavours to prove
that Sweden and Norway are the Atlantis of the
ancients; but this its situation will not allow us
to believe. By Kircher it is supposed to have
been an island extending from tne Canaries to
(he Azores; that it was swallowed up by the
ocean, as Plato asserts; and that these small
islands are the shattered remains of it.
Atlas, one of the Titans, son of Japetos and
Clymene, one of the Oceanides. He was brother
to Epimetheus, Prometheus, and Menoetius.
He married Pleione, daughter of Oceanus, or
Hesperis, according to other?, by whom he had
seven daughters, called Atlantides. He was king
of Mauritania, and master of a thousand flocks ;
as also of beautiful gardens, abounding in fruit,
which he entrusted to the care of a dragon. Per-
seus, after the conquest of the Gorgons, passed
by the palace of Atlas, and demanded hospitality.
The kmg, who had been informed by Themis
that he should be dethroned by one of the
descendants of Jupiter, refused to receive him.
Perseus showed him Medusa's head, and Atlas
was instantly changed into a large mountain.
This mountain which runs across the deserts of
Africa, east and west, is so high that the ancients
have imagined that the heavens rested on its top,
and that Atlas supported the world on his should
ders. Hyginus says, that Atlas assisted the
giants in &eir wars against tlie gods, for which
Jupiter compelled him to bear the heavens on
his shoulders.
Atlas, in anatomy, the name of the first ver-
tebra of the neck, which supports the head. It
has no spinal apophyses; because the motions of
the head do not turn on this vertebra, but on tlie
second.
Atlas, in architecture, is a name given to
those figures, or half figures of men, sometimes
used instead of columns, or pilasters, to support
any member of architecture, as a balcony, or the
like. These Atlantesare also«called Telamones.
Atlas, in commerce, a silk satin, manufac-
tured in the East Indies. There are some plain,
some striped, some flowered, the flowers of which
are either gold, or silk. There are atlasses of all
colors ; hut most of them false, especially the
red and the crimson. The manufacture of them
ii admirable; the gold and silk being worked
together after such a manner as no workman in
Europe can imitate; yet they are far from having
that nne lustre which the French know how to
give to their silk stuffs. In the Chinese manu-
factures of this sort, they gild paper on one side
with leaf-gold; then cut it in long slips, and
weave it into their silks ; which makes them, with
little cost, look very rich and fine. The same
long slips are twisted about silk threads, so arti-
ficially, as to look finer than gold thread, though
it be of no great value.
Atlas, in geography, a loffy chain of moun-
tains which separate Barbary from the great
desert of Zaara. They are said to have derived
their name finom Atlas, king of Mauritania. The
mountains which form the eastern boundary of
the empire of Morocco are by &r the loftiest
part of tliis chain; their height rises to upwards
of 13,000 feet; and their sunmiits are covered
with perpetual snow. As the chain stretches
through eastern Barbary, it diminishes consider-
ably in height, spreading into various branches.
These Dr. Shaw represents as generally consisting
of a number of little nills of the perpendicular height
of 400 or 500 yards, coverea with groves, and
ranges of fruit and forest trees rising behind each
other. Prom this chain numerous rivers de^
scend and fertilise the plains of Morocco in their
way to the ocean ; while others flow southwards
into the desert, till they are lost in its sands. The
geology of the AUas is very little known; but its
basis is probably granite, while in its lower parts
calcareous rocks appear to prevail. Consider-
ing its extent and magnitude, the Adas does not
produce any very copious supply of minerals
Lead and silver are obtainea in considerable
quantity, and &rther to the south are mines ot
gold and silver, which the sovereigns of Morocco
have prevented from being worked, from jea-
lousy of the natives. Antimony, for which there
exists an extensive demand as a cosmetic, is
drawn very copiously from these mountains.
The most Suable kind is found near Tafilelt,
and is called £1 Kahol Filelly. Opposite toTe-
rodant, sulphur is found in immense quantities
Iron is also produced though not very abun-
dantly. The ancients, whose knowledge of geo-
graphy was very confined, conceived these moun-
tains to be the pillars of the world, and that their
summit upheld the heaven : we subjoin the fol-
lowing quotation.
Nee padtar nomen proferri longios AUas,
Adas subdncto tactnnu vextice cslun ;
Sidera nubifenim faldt c^nt, »d&eriasqiie
Erigit stemom compagea ardna cervix ;
Canet baiba gelu, frontemqae immanibaa umbris
Pinea ulva premit, vaatant cava tempore venti
KimbuMque raont tpomantia flomina rictn.
sa, 1. 1.
ATLFTA, in entomology, a species of papilio,
indented, brown, fulvous beneath* with undulated
fflaucous streaks, and five blind-eye shaped spots.
Native of the East Indies.
ATMOSPHERE,) From die Gr. arftoc,
Atho8pher'ic4L. ( vapor, and vfaipa,
spher]^. The body of air and vapor that sur-
rounds the earth.
We did not mention the weight of the incumbent
atmo^hmeal cylinder, as a part of the weight xeaisted.
The exterionr pait of this omt habitable world is
the air, or aimoipkere; a light, thm, fluid, or springy
body, that encompasses the solid earth on all sides.
Digitized by
Googl(
ATMOSPHERE.
229
ImmokM Um whole exeited oimetphen
linpetaooA roahet o'er the soonding world.
Thomun.
Then no more
The expansive utmogphere is eramped with cold.
But fall of life, the vivifying soul
Lilts the light doads sablime, and spreads them thin,
yieecy, and white, o'er all-saiionnding heaven. Id,
Atmosphere ; tliis word is used to sif^ify
the whole of the fluid mass consisting of air,
aqueous and other vapors, electric fluids, &c.
which surrounds the earth to a considerable
height, and partakes of both its diurnal motion
on its axis, and its annual motion round the sun.
Its composition was, until within these few
years, very little known. That it is a very hete-
logeneous mass, might readily be concluded,
upon considering that it is the common recepta^-
cle of all the effluvia, exhalations, and particles,
raised from innumerable bodies upon the earth :
hence it has been compared to a vast chemi-
cal vessel in which the matter of all kinds of
bodies is continually floating, and thus exposed
to the action of the sun; from whence proceed
innumerable operations, sublimations, separa-
tions, compositions, digestions, fermentations,
putrefactions, &c. The discoveries of modern
chemistry have, however, shown us its essential
constituents and their proportions, a subject
which we have treated at considerable length
under the word Air.
It only remains therefore for us to add a few sup-
plementary observations to that paper ; and Uiese
will principally respect the figure of the atmos-
phere and its supposed limits. If the earth had
no diurnal rotation upon its axis, then according
to the laws of gravity the atmosphere would be
of an uniform height, enclosing the earth, which
in this case would be perfectly spherical. But
as the earth and the atmosphere revolve about an
axis, the different parts of Doth have a centrifugal
ibrce, by which tneir gravity is diminished to-
wards the equator, the figure of the atmosphere
becomes an oblate spheroid ; the parts that cor-
respond to the equator being farther removed
from the centre than the parts that correspond to
the poles, and the ratio of the poles to the equa-
torial diameter, being as two to three. Besides,
the figure of the atmosphere must on another
account represent a flattened spheroid ; namely,
because the sun strikes more directly the air be-
tween the tropics, than the air in the polar
regions, and hence the mass of atmospheric air
adjoining the poles being less heated, cannot
expand so mucn, nor reach so high as the air in
the neighbourhood of the equator. And yet
higher columns about the equatorial regions may
not be heavier than those at the poles ; seeing
that the same force which contributes to elevate
the air, diminishes its gravity and pressure on the
sur&ce of the earth.
Mr. Kirwan has given in the Transactions of
the Royal Irish Academy an ingenious disserta-
tion on the figure, height, weight, &c. of the
atmosphere, where he observes, Siat in the natu-
ral state of the atmosphere, its weight must be
equal over all the earto, and since the density of
the air at the earth's surface increases from the
equator to the poles, its height must diminish
from the poles' to the equator, and from this it
follows that although the equatorial air be less
dense to a certain height than the polar, yet at
some greater heights it must be more dense.
Hence it is inferred that in the higher regions of
the atmosphere, the denser equatorial air not
being supported by the collateral extra-tropical
columns, gradually flows over and rolls down to
the north and south.
La Place, in that part of his Systeme du Monde
which treats of the atmosphere of the planets,
ingeniously observes, that in all the changes to
which the atmosphere is subject, the sum of the
products of the particles of the revolving body
and its atmosphere, multiplied respectively by
the areas they describe round the common cen-
tre of gravity (the radii being projected on the
plane of the equator), remains ine same in eoaal
times. Supposing therefore by any cause what-
ever, the atmosphere should be contracted, or
that part thereof should become condensed on
the surface of the body, the rotatory motion of
the latter and its atmosphere would be accele-
rated ; for the radii vectores pf the areas des-
cribed by the particles of the original atmosphere
becoming smaller, the sum pf the products of all
the particles by their corresponding areas cannot
remain the same unless their velocities be aug-
mented.
The limits of the atmosphere have been a fre-
quent subject of philosophical inquiry, especially
since it was discovered oy the Torricellian tube
that air is endued with weight and pressure.
Indeed, if the air possessed no elastic power,
but were everywhere of the same density, from
the surfiice of the earth to the extreme limit of
the atmosphere, like water, which is equally
dense at all depths, the whole height of the at-
mosphere might be ascertained without difficulty.
It has been well established, that the weight of
a column of air reaching to the top of the atmos-
phere, is equal to the weight of the mercury con-
tained in the barometer, and counterbalancing
it ; and the proportion of weight likewise being
known between equal bulks of air and mercury,
it will be leasy to find the height of such a
column, and consequently that of the atmosphere
itself. For a column of air one inch high oeing
to an equal column of mercury as 1 to 11364*6;
it is evident that 11364*6 such columns of air,
that is a column 947 feet high, would be equal
in weight to one inch of mercury : and conse-
quently the 30 inches of mercury sustained in
the barometer, require a column of air 28,410
feet high ; whence the height of the atmosphere
would only be 28,410 feet, pr little more than
five English miles and a quarter high. But the
air by its elastic property expands and contracts ;
and it being found by repeated experiments that
the spaces it takes up when compressed by diffe-
rent weights, stfe reciprocally proportional to
thoM weights themselves ; or, that the air takes
up the less space the more it is pressed ; it fol-
lows that the air in the upper regions of the at-
mosphere, where the weight is so much less,
must be much rarer than near the surface of the
earth ; and consequently that the height of the
atmosphere must be much greater than is above
assigned.
On this subject it has been further and well
remarked, that if the earth were perfectly nitv
Digitized by
Googl(
230
ATMOSPHERE.
cionless, the elasticity of the atmosphere uni-
formly as the compressing force, and matter
infinitely diyisible, we could have no other than
an atmosphere indefinitely extended; but the
diurnal motion at a certain height brings the
centrifugal force equal to that of gravity, and
beyond this limit no atmosphere can exist. Its
particles by the operation of this force would
nere become projected into space ; and the pro-
cess would continue until the entire atmosphere
was dissipated. Dr. WoUaston, in an ingenious
f)aper in Part I. of the Philosophical Transac-
tions for 1822, observes, that it we admit that
air has been rarefied so as to sustain only ,)b of an
inch of barometrical pressure, and that this mea-
sure has afforded a true estimate of its rarity, we
should infer from the law of elasticity observed
within certain limits, that the atmosphere extends
at least to the height of forty miles with proper^
ties yet unimpaired by extreme rarefiiction. Be-
yond this limit we are left to conjecture, founded
on the supposed divisibility of matter ; and if this
be infinite, so also must be the extent of the at-
mosphere, except so fiir as regards the centrifiigal
force to which we have already referred ; for if
the density be throughout as the compressing
force, then must a stratum of given thickness at
every height be compressed by a superincum-
bent atmosphere, beanng a constant ratio to its
own weight, whatever be its distance from the
earth. But if air consists of any ultimate par-
ticles no longer divisible, then must expansion
of the medium composed of them cease at ^at
distance where the force of gravity downwards
upon a single particle is equal to tiie resistance
arising from the repulsive force of the medium.
On the supposition of limited divisibility, the
atmosphere which surrounds us must be con-
ceivea to be a medium of finite extent, and may
be peculiar to our planet, since its properties
would afford no ground to presume that similar
matter exists in any other planet. But if we
adopt the supposition of unlimited expansion,
we must conceive the same kind of matter to
pervade all space, where it would not be in
equilibrio unless the sun, the moon, and all the
planets possessed their respective shares of it
condensed around them, in degrees depending
upon their respective force of attraction, unless
in those instances where the tendency to accu-
mulate majr be counteracted by the interference
of other kinds of matter, or of other powers of
which we have no experience, and concerning
which we cannot be supposed to reason cor-
rectly.
Now on this supposition, since we know the
masb and diameter of the principal bodies in our
system, we should know also tiie density of their
atmospheres at their respective surfiuxs; and
also at what distance from the surface of each,
the density would be the same as at the surface
of the earth ; at which height a senlible degree
of refraction that is more than a degree, ought to
be produced on a ray of light passing through it.
For example, if the mass of the sun be* consider-
ed as 330,000 times that of the earth, the dis-
tance at which his force is equal to that of ter-
restrial gravity at our surfece, will be^ 330,000,
or about 575 times the earth's radius ; and if his
radius be 111*5 times that of the earth then the
575
distance will be s= 5'15 times the sun's
1 ll*d
radius. Now the mean appa^rent semi-diameter
of the sun being 15'49", we have 15' 49^ x 515
= 1® 2r 29", for die distance from the sun's
centre, where the refractive power of his atmos-
phere is equal to that at the earth's surface ; that
IS where it would produce a deviation oi a degree
to a ray passing through it at that distance. We
are able, as Dr. WoUaston has shown, to observe
Venus within this distance of the sun; and
since in this observation we find no effect pro-
duced by refraction^ the observed and computed
E laces agreeing to a fraction of a minute, we
ave a right to infer that at the distance we have
computed, the density of the sun's atmosphere is
not such as it would be if each body in the system
possessed an atmosphere proportional to its own
attractive power ; but this must be the case if the
elastic matter of the atmosphere were infinitely
divisible, henoe then again we may conclude
that matter is not infinitely divisible, and
consequently that the atmosphere of this earth
is of a finite and limited height, and may be
peculiar to it. But some doubt will bang
over this deduction in respect to the sun, on
account of the probable heat near his sur&ce,
which may produce a rarefiiction fiir exceeding
any thing that we can form an idea of; but this
will not be the case if we select Jupiter as the
body for observation.
Since the mass of Jupiter is full 309 times
that of the earth, the distance at which his attrac-
tion b equal to gravity must be about ^309, or
17*6 times the earth^s radius; and since his
diameter is nearly 11 times greater than (hat of
1 ^'d
the earth, we shall have := 1*6 times his own
radius ; for the distance from his centre at which
an atmosphere equal to our own should occasion
a refraction exceeding one degree to the fourth
satellite. This distance would subtend an angle
of about 3^ 37', so that an increase, of density to
3| times our common atmosphere, would be
more than sufficient to render the fourth satellite
visible to us when behind the centre of the
planet ; and consequently to make it appear on
both or all sides at tne same time. Hence, what-
ever doubt may remain on the deduction made
from observations on Venus seen through the
solar atmosphere, in consequence of the possible
effects of heat which cannot be appreciated, it is
evident that no error from this source can be
apprehended in regard to Jupiter. This planet
therefore does not possess an atmosphere pro-
portional to his mass, as he would do if^the
matter composing it were infinitely dirisible, and
therefore, as we have seen, common to the whole
solar system. Hence then we have a right to
conclude, that matter is not infinitely divisible,
and that each planet possesses an atmos^^ere
peculiar to itself of limited height, composed of
ultimate atoms of definite magnitude, no longer
divisible by the repulsion of their parts.
We may, in conclusion, observe that to the
refractive and attractive power of the atmosphere
we owe all the blessings and phenomena of
twilight. By the former the rays of light are
Digitized by
Googl(
A T O O I.
231
bent frem the rigfat-lined direction^ by the latter claims of justice and equity by making repara
objects are enlightened more uniformly on all
sides. The want of this power would occasion
a strange alteration in the appearance of things;
shadows would be totally dark, and the en-
lightened sides of objects overpoweringly blight;
so that probably we could see no more of them
than their bright halTes ; and for a view of the other
halves must turn them round, or, if immovable^
wait until the sun could come round upon them.
Such a pellucid unreilectiTe atmosphere mighl
be very commodious for astronomical obsenra*
tions on the course of the sun and planets among
the fixed stars visible by da^ as well as by night;
but such a sudden transition from darkness to
light, and from light to darkness immediately
upon the rising and setting of the sun, without
tion and expiation ; to enjoy the renewed friend-
ship and regard of the injured party.
Paul sayth, 1 Timothy ii. One God, one Mediator
(that is to My, adaootte, intercessor, or an atone-
ntaker), betweene God and man; the man Christ
Jesus which gaoe himselfe a rannsom for all men.
The Whole Worhet of W. TyndaU, fol. 158. c. i.
He seeks, to make atonement,
Between the duke of Glo'ster and your brothers.
ShaJupeare,
fle and Aufidius can no more atone.
Than violentest contrariety. Id, CorioUmue,
From a mean stock, the pious Decii came ;
Yet such their virtues, that their loss alone, ,
For Rome and all our legions, did atone,
Dtyden. Juoenai,
The good intention of a man of weight and worth, •
any twilight, and even upon turning to or from or a real friend, seldom atona for the uneasiness
the sun at noon day, would be very incon-
venient and offensive to our eyes. See JUiPt
Astron, Ltd. 20, &c. See also Light and Re-
fraction in our alphabet.
ATOLLENS Oculi, in anatomy, a name
given by Albinus to one of his quatuor recti
muscttli oculi. This is the muscle called by
Molinett, and others, the superbus, and 1^
Cowper, the elevator oculi.
From a, privative, and rt/i-
vw,tocut. Something so small
^ as not to be cut into smaller
produced by his grave representations Locke.
Let thy sublime meridian course
For llary's setting rays atone :
Our lustre, with redoubled force.
Must now proceed from thee alone. Prior.
His virgin sword MgjtthuM' veins imbrued ;
The murd'rer fell, and blood aton'd for blood.
Pope.
owpei
ATOM,
Atou'ical,
A'tomist,
Atom'like,
Atom'oloot,
At^omy.
Soon should yon boasters cease their haughty strife ;
Or each atone his guilty love, with life. Id,
And the Levites were purified ; and Aaron made
an atonement for them, to cleanse them. Numbers.
. ,. ..w. -^ ..w ^... ...^ .^..«.«. Surely, it is not a sufficientotonanen/ for the writers ^
rides ; so simple as not lo ^hat they profess loyalty to the government, and
capable of reduction to •prinkle some argumento in favour of the dissenters
simpler elements.
It is as easy to count atoms, as to resolve the pro-
positions of a lover. Shakepeare. A* Y<m Like it.
Drawn with a team of little atomies.
Athwart men's noses, as they lie asleep.
Shakipeaare,
Vitrified and pellucid bodies are clearer in their
continnitiea, than la powders and alomical divivtons.
Brown's Vulgar Errours,
TImm aiomie thoists ntteriy evacuate that grand
argument for a God, taken from the phenomenon of
the artifidai frame of things, which has been so much
insisted apon in all ages.
Cudworth's InteOeehud System.
Innumerable minute bodies are called atoms; be-
cause, by reason of their perfect solidity, they were
really indivisible. Ht^*
The atomists (who define motion lo be a passage
from one place to another) what do they more, than
put one synonymous word for another ? Locke.
See plastick nature, working toithis end !
The single atoms, each to other tend ;
Attract, attracted to, the next in place,
Foim'd and impell'd its neighbour to embrace.
Pope.
Now can judicious atomists conceive.
Chance to the sun could his just impulse give t
Blaekmore.
Vacuum b another principal doctrine of the atomi-
eal philosophy. _ Bentlejf's Sermons.
and, under the shelter of popular politicks and reli-
gion, undermine the foundations of all piety and
virtue. Sufift.
If any contention arose, he knew none fitter to be
their judge, to atone, and make up their quarrels, but
himself.
Atonemsnt. The word n5a,trahslated atone-
ment in the sacred writings, some writers say,
signifies covering; and thus it would seem to
imply that man can only be at-one with an in-
finitely just God, when that for which his pro-
genitor was banished God's presence, and that
which he has himself acquired by following a
similar course, is covered. See Expiation and
Sacrifice.
ATONICS, in grammar, words unaccented.
ATONY ; from a, and rovoc, tone ; in medi-
cine, a defect of tone or tension, or a laxity or
debility of the solids of the body.
ATOOI, one of the Sandwich islands. —
Towards the north-west and north-east the fiu^e
of the country is ragged and broken ; but to the
southward it is more even. The hills rise from
the sea side with a gentle acclivity, and, at a
little distance back, are covered with wood. Its
produce is the same with that of the other islands
of this cluster; but its plantations are managed
much better than those of all the neighbouring
Atom ; atomus, Lat. arofio^; such a small par- islands. In the low grounds, contiguous to the
tide as cannot be physically divided ; and these bay wherein our navigators anchored, they were
are the first rudiments, or the component parts
of all bodies.
Atomic A L Philosophy. See Attraction.
ATONE', v.k ad.^ To he at one. Imply-
Atone'mekt, >ing a state of former
ATtiNE'MAKER. J estrangement, and ex-
regularly divided by deep ditches; the fences
were formed with a neatness approaching to
elegance, and the roads through them were
finished in such a manner as would have re-
flected credit even on an European engiueet.
The anchoring place, which our vessel occupit^d,
pressing present reconciliation. To satisfy the is on the south-west side of the island, about two
Digitized by
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232
A T O O I.
leagues from the west end, before a village named
Wymoa. As ^ as iwas sonnded, the bank was
free from rocks, except to the eastward of the
village, where there projects a shoal, on which are
some rocks and breakers. This road is some-
what exposed to the trade wind, notwithstanding
which defect, it is &r from being a bad station,
and gready superior to those which necessity con-
tinually obliges ships to use, in countries where
the winds are not only more variable, but more
boisterous ; as at Madeira, Teneriffe, the Azores,
&c. The landing too is not so difficult as at
most of those places ; and, unless in very bad
weather, is always practicable. The water in
the neighbourhood is excellent, and may be con-
veyed with ease to the boats. But no wood can
be cut at any convenient distance, unless the
islanders could be prevailed upon to part with
the few etooa trees (cordia sebestina) tnat grow
about their villages, or a species called dooe
dooe, which grows farther up the country.
Atooi is about 300 miles in circumference. Long.
200^ 2(/ E., lat. 21° 57' N.
The natives of Atooi are of the middle size,
and in general stoutly made. They are neither
remarkable for a beautiful shape nor for striking
features. Their visage, particularly that of the
women, is sometimes round, but others have it
long; nor can it justly be said that they are dis-
tinguished as a nation by any general cast of
countenance. Their complexion is nearly of a
nut brown ; but some individuals are of a darker
hue. They are far from being ugly, and have,
to all appearance, few natural deformities of any
kind. Their skin is not very sof% nor shining ;
but their eyes and teeth are, for the most part,
pretty good. Their hair in general is straight;
and though its natural color is usually black,
they stain it, as at the Friendly and other Islands.
They are active, vigorous, and most expert
swimmers, leaving their canoes upon the most
frivolous occasion, diving under them and swim-
ming to others, though at a considerable dis-
tance. Women with infants at the breast, when
the surf was so high as to prevent their landing
in the canoes, frequently leapt overboard, and
swam to the shore without endangering their
little ones. They appeared to be of a frank
cheerful disposition, and are equally free from
the fickle levity which characterises the inhabi-
tants of Otaheite, and the sedate ca&t which is
observable among many of those of Tons^taboo.
They seem to cultivate a sociable intercourse
with each othei ; and except the propensity to
thieving, which is as it were innate m most of
the people in those seas, they appeared extremely
friendly. It was pleasing to observe with what
affection the women managed their intots, and
with what alacrity the men contributed their as-
sistance in such a tender office ; thus distinguish-
ing themselves from those savages who consider
a wife and child as things rather necessary than
desirable, or worthy of Aeir regard and esteem.
From the numbers that were seen assembled at
every village, in coasting along, it was conjec-
tured that the inhabitants of this island are pretty
numerous. Including the straggling houses, it
was computed there might perhaps be, in the
whole island, sixty such villages as that near
which our ships anchored; and, allowing five
persons to each house, there would be in eveiv
village 50s>, or 30,000 in all upon the islam).
This is by no means exaggerated ; for there weie
sometimes 3000 people at least collected upoa
the beach, when it could not be supposed that
above a tenth part of the natives were present.
The groun<f, from the wooded part to the sea,
is covered with an excellent kind of grass, about
two feet in height, which sometimes grows in
tufts, and appeared capable of being converted
into abundant crops of fine hay. But on this ex-
tensive spot not even a shrub grows naturally.
Besides taro, the sweet potatoe, and other simi-
lar vegetables used by our crews as refreshments,
among which were at least five or six varieties or
Elantains, the island produces bread fruit ; which,
owever, seems to be scarce. There are also a
few cocoa palms ; some yams ; the kappe of the
Friendly Islands, or Virginian arum ; tne etooa
tree, and odoriferous gardenia or cape jasmine.
Our people also met with several trees of the
dooe dooe, that bear the oily nuts, which are
stuck upon a kind of skewer, and made use of as
candles. There is a species of sida, or Indian
mallow; also the mormda citrifolia, which is
here called none ; a species of convolvulus ; the
ava or intoxicating pepper, besides great quanti-
ties of gourds. These last grow to a very large
size, and are of a remarkable variety of shapes,
which are perhaps the effect of art. The scarlet
birds, which were brought for sale, were never
met with alite ; except one small one, about the
size of a canary btiu, of a deep crimson color.
A large owl, two brown hawks or kites, and a
wild duck, were also seen. Other birds were
mentioned by the natives ; among which were the
otoo, or bluish heron, and the torata, a sort of
whimbrel. It is probable that this species of
birds are numerous, if we may judge by the
quantity of fine yellow, creen, and small, vdvet
like, blackish feathers, used upon the cloaks and
other ornaments worn by these people. Fish,
and other productions of the sea, were to appear-
ance not various. The only tame or domestic
animals found here were hogs, dogs, and fowls^
which were all of the same kind that had been
met with at the islands of the South Pacific.
There were also small lizards, and some rats.
ATOP. On top, at the top. See Top.
Atop whereof, but Ux more rich, appeared
The work, as of a kingly palace-gate.
Pandue ImU
What is extracted by water from coffee is the oil,
which often Bwimi atop of the decoction.
Arhaknoi on AUmemt.
ATRA BILIS, black bile, or melancholy.
According to the ancients it hath a two-fold ori-
gin : first, from the erosser parts of the blood,
and this they called the melancholy humor.
Second, from yellow bile being highly concocted.
Dr. Perdval, in his Essays Medical and Experi-
mental, suggests that it is the gall, rendered
acrid by a stagnation in the gall-bladder, and
rendered viscid by the absorption of all its fluid
Sarts. Bile in this state discharged into the
uodenum, occasions universal disturbance and
disorder until it is evacuated ; it occasions vio-
lent vomiting or purging, or bqth ; and, previous
Digitized by
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ATR
233
ATR
to ihls, the putse is qiuck, the head aches, a de-
lirium conies on, a hiccough, intense thirst,
inward heat, and a fetid breath. Some describe
this kind of bile as being acid, harsh, corroding,
and, when poured on the ground, bubbling up,
and raising ti)e earth, after the manner of a fer-
ment. Dr. Percival says, that by the use of the
infris. sens lirooniat., wanned with the tinct.
columb., he had checked the yomitings occa-
sioned by this matter.
ATRACTOCERUS, in entomology, a genus
of the order coleoptera, and family malacodermi.
Its generic characters are : antenns simple, and
fusiform; short elytra, and sub-quadrate thorax.
There is but one species, A. necydaloides, the
necydalis brevicomis of Unnsus.
ATRACTYLIS, distaff thistle, a genus of the
polygamia equalis order, and syngenesia class of
plants. Its generic characters are : cal. many
leaved : cor. compound radiate: stam. fiYe fila-
ments; cylindric anther: pist. germen very short;
style filiform ; stigma bifid : per. none : seeds
turbinate. Tlie species are: 1. A. cancellata, or
small cnicus, an annual plant, rising about eight
or nine inches high, with a slender stem, gar-
nished with hoary leaves, having spines on their
edges. 2. A gummifera, or prickly gum-bearing
cnicus, known among physicians by the name of
carline thistle, is a perennial plant. It sends out
many narrow leaves, which are armed with spines
on their edges, and lie close on the ground ; be-
tween them the flower is situated, without a
stalk, and having many florets enclosed in a
prickly empalement. Its roots were formerly
used as a warm diaphoretic and alexipharmic ;
but never came much into use in Britain, and
the present practice has entirely rejected them.
3. A humilis, or purple prickly cnicus, a peren-
nial plant, rising about a foot high, with in-
dented leaves, having small spines on their
edges. All these plants are natives of the warm
parts of Europe, as Spain, Sicily, and the Archi-
pelago islands.
ATHADI£S,inantiauity. The word literally
imports a black day ; a denomination taken from
the color, which is the emblem of death and
mourning. Whence the Thracians had a custom
of marking all their happy days with white
stones or calculi, and their unhappy days with
black ones ; which they cast, at the close of each
day, into an urn. At the person's death the
stones were taken out ; and, from a comparison
o( the numbers of each complexion, a judgment
was made of the felicity or infelicity of his course
of life. The dies atrs, or atri, were denominated >
fiefasti, and posteri. Such, in particidar, was
the day when the tribunes were defeated by the
Gauls at the river AUia, and lost the city ; also
that whereon the battle of Canns was fought;
and several others marked in the Roman calen-
dar as atrsc or unfortunate.
ATRAGENE, in botany, a genus of planU,
class polyandria, order polygnia. Its generic
characters are : cal. four-leaved perianth: coa.
twelve petals : stam. filaments very many ; ob-
long antberse : pist. germs many ; villose style ;
ritigraa siihple: per. none: seeds very many.
The species are shrubs, as atragene japonica,
atTdgene alpina, &c.
ATRAMENTAL, ) Lat atramentum, ink.
Atrament'ous. (Having the blackening
property of ink.
If we enquire^ in what part of vitriol this airemum'
kd, and denigrating condition lodgeth; it will teein»
especially to lie in the more fixed talt thereof.
Bnum't Fii^ Erroun.
I am not satisfied, that those black and atmmm
font spots, which seem to lepraaeat them, are ocular.
Brown,
ATRAPHAXIS, in botany, a genu} of the
digynia order and class of plants; natural order,
twelfth, holoraceee. Cal. two leaves ; the petals
are two, and sinuated ; stigmas capitate ; and
there is but one seed. There are two species,
both natives of warm countries
ATRATUS (Hugh), was bom at Evesham, in
Worcestershire. He made such proficiency in
the knowledge of the sciences, partknikriy mathe-
matics, medicine, and philosophy, that he was
called the phoenix of the age. Pope Martin II.
gave him a cardinal's hat in 1281. He died of
the plague in 1287. He wrote Genealogiis
Humanis Problemata; and also Canones Medici-
nalis.
ATRAX, in fabulous history, a son of TEtolus,
or, as others say, of the river Peneus. He was
king of Thessaly, and built a town which he
named Atrax or Atracia ; which became so fii-
mous that the word Atracius was commonly
nven to an inhabitant of Thessaly. He was the
father of that Hippodamia who married Pirithous,
and who must not be confounded with die wife
of Pelops, who was so named.
ATREBATES, the ancient inhabitants of
Gallia Belgica, who possessed that part of Gaul
now called Artois. A colony of them settled in
Britain. They are mentioned by Cesar among
the nations which composed the Belgic con-
federacy against him ; and the quota ^ troops
which they engaged to fiimish on that occasion
was 15,000.
Atrebatbs, or Atrebatii, a people of Britain^
seated next to the Bibroci, in part of Berk-
shire, and Oxfordshire ; and one ot those Belgic
colonies which came out of Gaul into Bri-
tain, and there retained their ancient name.
Comius of Arras was a king or chieftain among
the Atrebates in Gaul, in Caesar's time : and he
seems to have possessed some authority over our
Atrebatii in Britain ; for he was sent by Ciesar
to persuade them to submission. This circum-
stance makes it probable that this colony of the
Atrebatii had not been settled in Britain very
long before that time. The Atrebatii were
among those British tribes which submitted to
Cssar ; nor do we hear of any remarkable re-
sistance they made against the Romans, at their
next invasion, under Claudius.
ATRESIA; from a, and rpma, whence nrpaw,
to perforate; in medicine, imperforation, or the
state of those persons who want some natural
aperture.
ATRETI, those persons of either sex in whom
the anus, or genitals, are imperforate, whether
naturally, or occasioned by some accident or
disease ; as the growth of some fleshy excrescence,
or membrane, which stops the orifice
ATREUS, in fiibulous history, the supposed
Digitized by
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ATR
234
ATR
king of Mycena and Aigos, about A. A* C 1228.
He wa» tie son of Pelops by Hippodamia, and
brother to Pittheus^ Troezen, Thyestes, and
ChryiipDus. The latter being an illegitimate
son, ana a £etyorite with his father, Hippodamia
resolved to remoTe him; and fiv thi^ purpose
she endeavoured to persuade Thyestes and
Atseus to murder him; but her arguments prov-
ing rain, she executed it herself. Pelops was
griev^, at his son's death ; and the brothers being
suspectef y they Aed from his presence. Atreus
retired to the court of his nephew, £urystheu8
king of Argos, on whose death he succeeded to
that throne. Some writers say he married
^rope^ his predecessor's daughter, by whom he
had Plisthenes, Menelaus, and Agamemnon;
hut, according to others, ^rope was the wife of
Plisthenesy by whom she had Agamemnon and
Menelaus, who are the reputed sons of Atreus,
because he took care of their education, and
brought them up as his own. Thyestes had
fpUowed his brother to Argos, where he lived
with him, and debauched his wife, by whom he.
had some children. When Atreus discovered
this incestuous commerce, he banished his brother
from his court; but, determined to have more
ample revenge for the violence offered to his bed,
he soon aft^ recalled him, and invited him to a
sumptuous feast. Thyestes ivas served up with
the flesh of the children he had by his sister-in*
law U>e queen ; and, vrhen the entertainment was
^ver, to convince him of what he had feasted
upon, the arms and the headji of the murdered
children were shown him. This action appeared
so horrid that the sun is said to have vnthdrawn
his light. Thyestes fled directly to the court of
Thesprotus, and thence to Sicyon, where he
ravisned his own daughter Pelopea, in a grove
sacred to Minerva, not knowing who she was ;
though some say he committed thb incest in-
tentionally, to revenge himself on his brother
AUeus, as tlie oracle had promised him satisfac-
tion for the cruelties he hadsuflered, only by the
ha^d of a son by himself with his own daughter.
Pelopea brought forth a son whom she named
i&gisthus, and soon after she married Atreus,
who had lost his wife. Atreus adopted ^gis-
thus, and sent him to murder Thyestes, who had
beeii made prisoner. Thyestes knew his son,
and made himself known to hjm ; when, instead
of murdering his father, he espoused his cause,
and avenged his wrongs by returning to Atreus
and ttff^asffiF^^^ipg him.
ATJEII, or Atbia, a town of Italy, in AJjruxzo,
in Naples. It lies %6 miles west of Aauila, and
was the birth pl^ce of th^ emperor Adrian. It
is. the see of a bishop, and is seated on a crag-
gy mountain, five miles from the Adriatic sea.
Long. 15° 20' E., lat. 42° 40' N.
ATRICAPILLA, in ornithology, a litdebird,
commonly known by the name of the black cap,
and called, bv some authors, ficedala, sycalis, or
melanchom>hus. and by the Italians, caponegro.
AtklCJ^, or Atteices, in medicine, small
tubercles about the <mus, which sometimes dis-
appear, and then return again, at least in their
early state. Ther are ranked in the number of
conaylomata, or hci. Some authors also give the
denomination atrici to a kind of latent wounds
in the extremity of the rectum, which howevei
do not perforate it.
ATRICILXA, in ichthyology, a species of tbe
larus.
ATRIDES, a patronymic of Agamemnon and
Menelaus, the sons of Atreus.
ATRIENSES, in antiquity, a kind of servants
in the great families at Rome, who had the ca^e
of the atria, and the things lodged therein. See
Atrium. They were also called atriarii, though
some make a distinction between atrienses and
atriarii ; suggesting, that the latter were an infe-
rior order of servants, employed in the more ser-
vile offices of the atrium, as to attend at the door,
sweep the area, &c. and to assist the former.
The atrienses are represented as servants who
had command over the rest, and acted %s agents
for their master, in selling his goods, &c. To
their care were committed die images of the mas-
ter's ancestors, &c. which were placed round the
atrium ; and which they carried in procession at
funerals, &c. In the country houses, the atrien-
ses had the care of the other furniture and uten-
sils, particularly those of metal, which they were
to keep from nut. Other things they were to
hang m the sun, to keep them dry, &c. They
were clothed in a short, white Imen habit, to
distinguish them, and prevent their loitering from
home.
ATRIP, in nautical language, is applied either
to the anchor or sails. The anchor is atrip, when
it is drawn out of the ground, in a perpendicular
direction, either by the cable or buoy rope.
The top sails are atrip, when they are hoisted up
to the mast head, or to their utmost extent
ATRIPLEX, Ora.ch, or Ar&ach, a genus
of the moncBcia order and polygamia class ot
plants ; natural order twelfth, holoraces. Cal.
the hermaphrodite flower, five-leaved; cor.
none; stam. five; stt. bifid; seed, one, de-
pressed. There are fourteen species, of wliich
the following are the roost remarkable: 1. A.
halimus, the broad leafed orach, formerly culti-
vated in gardens as a shrub, by some formed
into hedges, and constantly sheared to keep them
thick. It may be propagated by cuttings, and
planted in any of the summer months, in a shady
border; where they vrill soon take root, and be
fit against the following Michaelmas to trans-
plant. 2. A.hortensis, the garden orach, was for-
merly cultivated in gardens, and used a> a
substitute for spinage. There are three or four
varieties of this plant, whose only difference is
their color ; one is a deep green, another a dark
ale, and a third has green leaves and purple
ers. They are all annual, and must be pro-
paj;ated by seeds. These are to be sown at
Michaelmas, soon after they are ripe. This spe-
cies b an article of the materia meoica; a decoc-
tion of the leaves is recommended in costiveness
where the patient is of a hot bilious disposition.
3. A. petulacoidcs, the shrubby sea ora<£, grows
wild by the sea side, in many places of Britain.
It is a low under shrub, seldom rising above two
feet and a half, or at most three feet high; but
becomes veiy bushy.
ATRItfM, in antiquity, the large room or
court at the first entrance into the house, in which
the Romans used to sup, and in which they kept
Digitized 6y
Googl(
A T R O P A.
236
tkettatoes and images of their anceaton. In
ecclesiastical antiquity it signified an open place
or court before a church, making part of what
was called the narthex, or antetemple. The atri-
urn in the ancient churches was a large area or
square plat of ground, suitounded wiUia portico
or cloister, situtate between the porch or
vestibule of the church and the body of the
church. Some have mistakenly confounded the
atrium with the porch or vestibule, from which
it was distinot; others with the narthex, of which
it was only a part. The atrium was the mansion
of those who were not suffered to enter farther
into the church. More particularly, it was the
place where the first class of penitents stood to
oeg the prayers of the fiuthiul, as they went into
the churoh. Atrium, in the canon law, the ceme-
tery or church yard. In this sense, we find a law,
prohibiting buildings to be raised in atrio eccle-
sic, except for the clergy ; which the glossary
explains tnus, id est in csmeterio, which includes
the space of forty paces around a large church,
or thirty round a small church or chapel.
ATRO'CIOUS, A Lat. atror. Perhaps «,
Atro'ciously, rintentive, and trur, fierce,
ATfto'cioi7SNE8S,i savage, rough in manners.
Ativ>'citt. y Used in the sense of inflez-
hie, terrible, dreadfiil, enonnously wicked.
An advocate is necessary ; and therefore aadience
ought not to be denied him m defending causes, un-
less it be aft alroeUmt offence. Ajfliffis'i Ptutetyim,
I never r«eal it to mind, withont a deep astonish-
ment of the very horror and atroeUy of die fact in a
Christian court. IfbMon.
They desired justice might be done upon offenders,
as the olrscily of their crimes deserved. Clmmidim^
Bad as Herod was, the peution of Salome at first
shocked him. ' The king was sorry.' He thonght
of John's character, the airoeiomnm of the sunder,
and the opinion which the world wvuld entertain olF
the murderer.
Horn0 of» Oe Ufe and DmUH of Si, John Uu
Baptitt,
ATROPA, Deadly Night-shade : A genus
of the monogynia order, aud pentandria class of
plants ; natural order twenty-fiftti, Lurids. The
corolla is campanulated ; the stamina are distant ;
the berry is globular, and consisting of two cells.
There are eight species; the most common are :
1 . A. belladonna, growing wild in many parts of
Britain. It hath a perennial root, which cends
out strong herbaceous stalks of a purplish
color. These rise to the height of four or five
feet, garnished with entire oblong leaves, which,
towards autumn, change to a purplish color.
The flowers are large, and oome out singly be-
tween the leaves, upon long foot stalks ; bell-
shaped, and of a auaky color on the outside,
but purplish within. After the flower is past,
the germen turns to a red berry, a little flatted at
the top, about the siie of a dierry. It b first
greeo ; but when, ripe, turns to a shining black,
sits close* upon the empalement, and contains a
purple juice of a nauseous sweet taste, and full
of small kidney-shaped seeds. This species be-
ing remarkable for its poisonous qualities, is very
seldom admitted into gardens, nor should it ever
be cultivated or allowed to grow in those places
to which children have access. The symptoms
produced by this poison are vertigo, delirium,
. great thirsty oainfiil deglutition, ana retching, feV-
bwed by furor, stridor dentium, and- convul-
sions ; the eye-lids are drawn down, the uvea
dilated and immovable, the face becomes red
and tumid, and spasms affect the mouth andjaw ;
iike sensibility and irritability of the body suffer
such great diminution, that laige and repeated do*>
ses of the strongMt emetics produce no sensible
effect; the pulse is small, hard, quick ; and snb«
sultus tendmum, rbus sardoBius, and coma,
close the fatal scene. Vinegar liberally drank
has been found most efficacious in obviating the
efiects of this poison. The leaves of the bella-
donna were first used externally to discuss scirr-
hous and cancerous tumors, and as am appli-
cation to ill-conditioned ulcers; and their good
effects in this way at length induced physicians
to employ them internally for the same disor-
ders; and we find a considerable number of
well-authenticated (acts, which prove them to
have been of important service. 2. Afnitesoens,
is a native of Spain, and rises with a shrubby
stem to the hei^t of six or eight feet ; dividing
into many branches, garnished with round leaves,
in shwe like those of the storax tree : these are
placed alternately on the branches. The flowers
come out between the leaves, on short foot stalks,
shaped like those of the former, but much less ;
of a dirty yellowish color, with a few brown
stripes ; but these are never succeeded by berries
in Britain. 3. A berbacea, is a native of Cam-
peachy, and has an herbaceous stalk and a peren-
nial root, which puts forth several channelled
herbaceous stalks, rising about two feet. Towards
the top they divide into two or three small
branches, garnished with oval leaves, four inches
long, and three broad, having severalprominent
transverse ribs on their under side. Tne flowers
come out firom between the leaves; on short
loot stalks; they are white, and shaped like
those of the common sort, but smaller, it flowers
in July and August, but seldom ripens its fruit
in Britain. 4. A mandragora, the mandrake, has
been distinguished into the male and female.
The male mandrake has a very large, long, and
diick root : it b largest at the top or head, and
from thence, gradually grows smaller. Some-
times it is single and undivided to the bottom ;
but more frequently it is divided into two or
more parts. From this root arise a number of
very long leaves, broadest in the middle, narrow
towards the base, and obtusely pointed at the
end : they are a foot or more in length, and about
five inch^ in breadth ; of a dusky and disagree-
able green color, and of a very feted smell.
The female mandrake perfectly resembles the
other in its growth ; but tne leaves are longer and
narrower, and of a darker color, as are also the
seeds and roots. It grows naturally in Spain,
Portugal, Italy, and the Levant These three hist
species are propagated by seeds, and placed in
stoves. This plant has been recommended as a
cure for barrenness. Its fresh root is a violent
purge, the dose being from ten to twenty grains
in substance, and from half a dram to a dram in
infusion. It has been found to do service in
hysteric complaints; but must be Vised with
great caution, otherwise it will bring on convul-
sions, and other mischievous symptoms. It has
also a narcotic quality. At present only the
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fmh leaves are sometimes used in anodyne and .
emollient cataplasms and fomentations. It used
to be an ingredient in one of the old officinal
unguents ; but both that and the plant itself are
now Injected from our pharmacopceias. It still,
however, retains a place in the foreign ones, and
may perhaps be considered as deserving fsurther
attention. No modem botanist will admit tlie
human figure ordinarily ascribed to, its roots,
especially since the discovery of the artifice of
charlatans in fashioning it, to surprise the credu-
lity of the people. Moses informs us, (Gen.
XXX. 14.) that Reuben, being in the field, hap-
pened to find mandrakes, which he brought home
to his mother Leah. Rachel wished fur them,
and obtained them firom Leah, upon a certain
condition. The term O^inil dudaim, here made
use of by Moses, is one of those words of which
the Jews at this day do not understand the true
signification. Some translate it violets, others
lilies or jessamine. Junius calls it agreeable
flowers ; Codurquus makes it truffle, or mush-*
room ; but Calmet will have it to be the citron.
ATROPHY. From a, privative, and rpc^,
I nourish. Want of nounshment; a disorder,
in which what is taken at th/e mouthy cannot
contribute to the support of the body.
Pinixig atropl^,
Manamiu, and wide-waiting pestilence. MUUm.
The moatbi of the lactealt may be that up by a
▼iarid mucus; in which case the chyle paaseth by
stool, and the person faUeth into an olropAy.
Arhuttmot an AUmemU,
The shaking head, and the contracted limb ;
And lingering atrcj^, and hoary age. Jago.
Atrophy. See Medicine, Index.
ATROPOS, in heathen mythology, the name
of the third of theParcse, or rates. Her business
was to cut the thread of life.
ATTACH', ) Fr. attachery to fasten by
Attach'ment. \ means of some tie. To bind
both literally and metaphorically.
Eftxoons the guards, which on his state did wait,
Attaeh'd that traitor false, and bound him strait.
The Tower was chosen; that if Clifford should
accuse great ones, they mi^t ^(without suspicion or
noise) be presentiy attached, BawtCt Henry YII.
Bohemia greets you :
Desires you to attaeh his son, who has
Hu dignity and duty both cast off.
Skahpean,
' Attack thee firmly to the Tirtuoos dteds
And offices of life : to life itself.
With all its vain and transieat joys, sit loose.
MaUet.
It must be conflessed a happy aUachmcni, which
can reconcile the Laplander to his freezing snows,
and the African to his scorching sun. CumbedaiuL
A sensible mind cannot do violence even to a local
attaehmaU without much pain. Cowper*i Letten,
ATTACHIAMENTA Bonorum, in ancient
law books, denotes a distress taken upon the goods
or chattels of any person sued for a personal
estate, or debt, by tne legal attachiators, as a se-
curity to answer the action.
Attachment, in the law of England, im-
plies the taking or apprehending a person by
virtue of a writ or precept. It is distinguished
from an arrest, by proceeding out of a higher
court, by precept or writ; whereas, the latter
proceeds out of an inferior court, by precept only
An arrest lies only on the body of aman»
whereas, an attachment lies ofWn on the goods
only, and sometimes on the body and goods.
Attachment by Writ differs from distress,
in not extending to lands, as the latter does ;
nor does a distress touch the body as 4n attach-
ment does.
Attachment, Foreign, is aii attachment of
money or goods found within a liberty or
dty, to satisfy some creditor within sach
liberty or city. By the custom of London,
and several other places, a man can attach money
or goods in the bands of a stranger, to satisfy
himself. If a plaint be exhibited in the mayor's
or the sheriffs court (the proceeding in the for-
mer being the most advantageous) against A,
and the process be returned nihil, and mereupon
the plaintiff suggests that another person within
London is indebted to A, the debtor shall be
warned (whence he is called the garnishee), and
if he does not deny himself to be indebted to A,
the debt shall be attached in his hands. But
nothing is attachable, but for a certain and due
debt ; thojigh bv the custom of London, money
may be attached before due, as a debt, but not
levied before due. Sid. 327. 1 Nels. Abr. 282,
283.
Attachment of Privilege is, by virtue
of a man's privilege, to call another to that
court whereto he himself belongs, and in
respect whereof he is privileged to answer some
action.
Attachment of the Forest, is one of the
four courts held in the king's forests. The lowest
court is called the court of attachment, or wood-
moto court ; the second is the court of regard, or
survey of dogs ; the third is that of sweio-mote,
the highest, the Justice in eyre's seat. This at-
tachment is by three means : by goods and chat-
tels, by body, pledges, and mainprize ; or by body
only. This court is heldevery forty days through-
out the year; whence it is also denominated
forty days' court
Attachment out of the Chakcert, i«
obtained upon an affidavit made, that the de-
fendant was served with a subpoena, and made
no appearance ; or it issues upon not perform-
ing some order or decree. Upon the return
of tiiis attachment by the sheriff, quod non
est inventus in balliva sua, another attachment,
with a proclamation, issues ; and if he still refu-
ses to appear, a commission of rebellion.
ATTACK', V. & n. Fr. attaquer ; from atta-
cker^ to come into close contact with hostile in-
tentions ; to be the aggressor, to offend.
Satan who that day
Prodigious power had shown, and met in arms
No equal ranging through the dire attack
Of fighting Seraphim, confus'd at length
Saw where the sword of Michael smote. Miiliou,
An indiscreet man is* more httrtfal than an ill-
natured one, for as the latter will only attack his ene-
mies and those he wishes ill to ; the other injures
indi£ferently both friends and foes. Addtton.
Hector opposes ; and continues the attack ; in which
Sarpedon makes the first breach in the wall.
Popa. nSad.
ATTACOTTI, an ancient people of Britain,
mentioned by Ammianus MarcellinuSy aixi St.
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Jerome^ as well as in the Notitia Imperii. They
are represented as allies of the Scots and Picts,
and were, therefore, probably their neighbours ;
though their precise situation has not been deter-
mined by antiquaries.
ATTAGEN, arrayac, or arraytv ; inomitho-
lofiy, the same with our gor-cock,' moor-cock, or
red game.
ATTAIN', N haA.attineo; from ad,
Attain'able, r and teneo, to hold. To
Atta^i'ablbiiess, t reach as the object of pur-
Attaih'ment. -/suit or eflFort, to realize
one's desire, to procure.
Crowns and diadems, the most splendid terrene
mttauu, are akin to that ; which, to-day is in the field,
and to-morrow is cat down. GloMoiile't Soeptit,
He wilfully neglects, the obtaining anqieaJuible
good ; which, he is persuaded is certain and attaimMe,
TiUotson.
^ Persons become often enamoured of outward beauty,
without any particular knowledge of its possessor, or
its attamableneu by them. Cheque,
So plens'd at first the tow'ring Alps we t^.
Mount o'er the vales, and seem to tread the sky ;
The eternal snows appear already past.
And the first clouds and mountains seem the last 2
But those aHamed, we tremble to survey
The growing labour of the lengthened way.
The increasing prospect tires our wondering eyes.
Hills peep o'er hills, and Alps on Alps arise.
, Pope't Eaay on CriHcmu
Among nations, as well as individuals, the powers
of imagination eMam some degree of vigour before
the intellectual faculties are much exercised in spe-
culative or abstract disquisition. Robertmm,
Attainder, in law, is the immediate con-
sequence, when sentence of death, the highest
judgment in our laws, is pronounced. For when
It is now clear beyond all dispute, that the crimi-
nal is no longer fit to live upon the earth, but is
to be exterminated as a monster and a bane to
human society, the law sets a note of infemy
upon him, puts him out of its protection, and
takes no ferther care of him than barely to see
bim executed. He is then called attaint, attinc*
tos, stained, or blackened. He is no longer of
any credit or reputation ; he cannot be a witness
m any court ; neither is he capable of perform-
mg the functions of another man : for, by an
anticipation of his punishment, he is already
dead m law. this b after judgment ; for there
IS a great difference between a man convicted and
attainted ; though they are frequenUy confound-
ed together. After conviction only, a man is
hable to none of these disabilities ; for there is
still in contemplation of law a possibility of his
innocence. Something may be offered in arrest
of judgment : the indictment may be erroneous,
which will render his guilt uncertain, and there-
upon the conviction may be quashed : he may
obtam a pardon, or be allowed the benefit of
clergy ; both which suppose some latent sparks
of merit, which plead in extenuation of his fiiult
ifiT*^^ judgment is pronounced, both law
and fact conspire to prove him completely guilty ;
and there is not the remotest possibility left of
any thing to be said in his favor. Upon judg-
ment, therefore, of death, the attainder of a cri-
mmal commences : or upon such circumstances
*s are equivalent to judgment of outlawry on
a capital crime, pronounced for absconding from
justices which tacitly confesses the guilt : and
therefore, upon judgment, either of outlawry, or
of death, for treason or felony, a man is said to
be attainted. A person attainted of high treason,
forfeits all his lands, tenements, and heredita-
mento ; his blood is corrupted, and he and his
posterity rendered base. See Corruption, For-
feiture, &c. Attainders may be reversed or
falsified, (i. e. proved to be false) by writ of
error, or by nlea. If by writ of error, it must be
by the kings leave, &c. and, when by plea, it
may be by denying the treason, pleading a par-
don by act of parliament, &c. Persons may be
attainted by act of parliament Acts of attainder
of criminab have biBen passed in several reigns,
on the discovery of plots and rebellions, from the
reigu of king Charles II. when an act was made
for the attainder of several persons, guilty of the
murder of king Charles I. Among acts of this
nature, that for attainting Sir John Fenwick, for
conspiring against king William, is the most re-
markable ; it being made to attaint and convict
him of high treason, on the oath of one witness,
just after a law had been enacted, * That no per-
son should be tried or attainted of high treason,
where corruption of blood is incurred, but by the
oath of two lawfiil wimesses, unless the party
confess, stand mute, &c.' Stat. 7 and 8 WAli: .
cap. 3. But he was indicted of treason, on the
oaths of two witnesses, though but only one could
be produced against him on his trial. By the
VTIth Ann. chap. 21, all corruption of blood,
and the forfeiture for ever of a traitor's estate of
inheritance, were to have ceased on the death of
the then Pretender ; but the legislative policy or
panic of the reign of George II. caused a further
extension of these vindictive principles of law,
to the time, of the death of the Pretender's sons.
And, by an act of the 39th of the late king, the
Drovision^ of the statutes of Anne and of George
II. for the future abrogation of these hard conse-
quences of attainder, were repealed, and the law
stood in its original severity. But by an act, in-
troduced by Sir Samuel Romilly, in the 54th
year of his Ute Majesty's reign, corruption of
blood, and forfeiture beyond the term of the
offender's own life were abolished, except in
cases of treason, petty treason, and murder;
thus, in part, realising the hope expressed by
Mr. Justice Blackstone (Coram, b. iv. c. 29),
•That as every other oppressive mark of feudal
tenure is happily worn away, corruption of blood,
with all its connected consequences, not only of
present escheat, but of future incapacities of in-
heritance, even to the twentieth generation, may
in ptocess of time be abolished by act of Par-
liament'
ATTAINS, V. n. & a4$.-\ Old Fr. attaindre;
Attain'der, (from tangere, to
Attain'ture, (touch, says Min-
Attain'ment. Jshen, because he
who is attainted is touched, caught, or taken :
or, from tingere, to stain, which is more pro-
bable. To stain, to impute charge, or accuse.
Were it not an endless trouble^ that no traitor or
felon should bo aitamted, bat a parliament most be
*^«**- Spcnmr.
I must ofiend, before I be attainted, SM^tean.
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Hifl wariiks shield
Was all of diamond, perfect, pure, and clean ;
For, 80 exceeding thone bis g^tering ray.
That Phoebus' golden face it did attaint ;
As, when a dcttd his beams doth oveilay.
8peMor*i Faerie Queeae.
My tender youth vas neirer yet attaint
With any pasdon of inflaming love. Shaketp*
So smooth he dcab'd his vioe with shew of Tirtae ;
He liv'd, from all attainder of sospecL Jd.
Home's knavery will be the duchess's wreck.
And her attaintare will be Humphrey's fall. Id.
The ends in calling a parliament were chiefly, to
have the attainden of all his party reversed ; and, on
the other side, to attaint by parliament his enemies.
Bacon.
How would the sons of Troy ia arms lenown'd,
jtnd Troy's proud dames whose gaxments sweep the
ground.
Attaint the lustre of their former name.
Should Hector basely quit the field of fame t
Pope. Homer.
ArtkiTSTy in the English law, is a writ that
lies after judgment against a jnry of twelve men,
that have given false verdict in any court of
record, in an action real and personal, where the
debt or damages amount to aoove forty shillings,
'stat. 5 and 34 Ed. III. c. 7. It is called attaint,
because the party that obtains it endeavours
thereby to stain or taint the credit of the jurr
with peijurv, by whose verdict he is grieved.
The jury who are to try this false verdict must
be twenty-four, and are called the grand jury ;
for the law wills not that the oath of one jury of
twelve men should be attainted or set aside by
an equal number, nor by less indeed than double
the former. And he that brings the attaint can
give no other evidence to the grand jury, than
what was originally given to the petit, r or, as
their venlict is now trying, and the question is,
whether or no they did right upon the evidence
that appeared to them, the law adjudged it the
highest absurdity to pit)duce any subsequent
proof upon such trial, and' to condenm the prior
jurisdiction for not believing evidence which
they never knew. But those against whom it is
brought, are allowed, in the affirmance of the
first verdict, to produce new matter: because the
petit jury may have formed their verdict upon
evidence of their own knowledge, which never
appeared in court; and, because very terrible
was the judgment which the common law inflicted
upon them, if the grand jury found their verdict
a false one. The judgment was, 1. That they
should lose their liberam legem, and become for
ever infiunous. 2. That fhey should forfeit all
their goods and chattels. 3. That their lands and
tenements should be seised te the king. 4. That
their wives and children should be thrown out of
doors. 5. That their houses should be rased. 6.
That their trees should be rooted up. 7. That
their meadows should be ploughed. 8. That their
bodies should be cast into iail. 9. That the party
should be restored to all that he lost b^ reason of
the unjust verdict. But, as the seventy of this
punishment had its usual effect, in preventing the
law from being executed, therefore, by the sta-
tute 1 1 Uen. VII. c. 24, revired by 23 Hen.VIII,
c. 3, and made perpetual by 13 £lix. c 25, it is
allowed to be brought after the death of the
party, and a more moderate punishment was
mflicted upoh attainted jurors; viz. perpetual
infamy, and if the cause of action were above
forty pounds value, a forfeiture of twenty pound)
a-piece by the jurors ; or, if under forty pounds,
then five pounds a^-piece ; to be divided between
the king and the psfty injured. So that a num
may now bring an attaint, either upon the statute
or at common law, at his .election ; and in both
may reverse the former judgment. But, the
practice of setting aside yodiols upon mo*
tion, and granting new trials, has so superseded
the use of both sorts of attaints, that there is
hardly any instance of an attaint later than the
sixteenth century.
Ateaint, or Arrcnrr, in horsemanship, a
hurt in a horse*s leg, proceeding either from a
blow with another horse*s foot, or from an over-
reach in frosty weather, when a horse, being
rough-shod, or having shoes with long caulkers,
strikes his hinder feet against his fove legs.
ATTALIA, in ancient geography, a sea-port
of Pamphylia, seated on a bay of the Mediter-
ranean sea; founded by one of< the Attali, kings
of Pergamus. In this city Paul and Bumabas
preached, about A. D. 49 ; and it had bishops
m the fifth and sixth centuries. It is now called
Sattalia.
ATTALICiE Vestis, in antiquity, garments
made of a kind of doth of gold. They took the
denomination from Attalus, sumamad Philo-
meter, a wealthy king of Pergamus, who was the
first, according to PUny, who caused gold to be
woven into cloth.
ATTELABUS, in zoology, a genus of insects
belonging to the order of coleoptera, or the beetle
kind. It has four wings, of which the superior
are crustaceous, and serve as a sheath or cover to
the inferior, which are membranous. The head
tapers behind, and is inclined ; the feelers turn
thicker towards the apex. The species are thir-
teen. 1 . A. apiarus is bluish, with red elytra, and
three black belts. It is a native of Germany. 2. A.
^vellana is black, with the breast, feet, and elytra
red. 3. A. betula has springy legs, and the whole
body is of a dark red. It frequents the leaves of
the birch. 4. A. buprestoides is of a dark color,
with a globular breast, and nervous elytra. It is
a native of Europe. 5. A. ceramboides, is of a
blackish red color, and the elytra b furrowed. It
frequents the spongy boletus, a species of mush-
room. 6. A. coryli is black, with red elytra, or
crustaceous wings. 7. A. curculionoides is black,
with red elytra and breast These two last spe-
cies, and the avellana, frequent the leaves of the
hazel and filbert-nut trees. 8. A. fonnicarius is
black, with red elytra, and a double white belt
towards the base. It is a native of Europe. 9.
A. melanurus is black, with testaceous elytra,
black at the apex. It is a native of Sweden. 10.
A. mollis is hairy and yellowisb, with pale ely-
tra, and three belts. It is a native of Europe.
11 . A. Pennsylvanicus is black, with red elytra,
a black belt round the middle, and another
towards the apex of the elytra. It is a native of
Philadelphia. 12. A. sipylns is gxeen, with a
hairy brrast, and a double yellow belt upon the
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'•"J
f die ages, attempero.
iLat. tenqterare, to
J abate, the predomi-
To moderate, to ac-
elytra. 18. A. Surinamensis has a double indeti-
-.ation, or two teeth, in the top of the elytra.
ATTEM'PER, i;. & adj.'\ Lat. of the mid-
Attem'perate,
AlTEM'PERANCEy
Attem'perly.
nant qualities of a thing,
commodate.
A man should lore his wyf by discretieu, padently
and aUempniff, and than is she as thoagh it were his
sister. Chaucer, The Penones Taie, v. ii. p. 363.
The jojrous birds shrouded in cheerfal shade.
Their notes unto the voice aitempered sweet.
The angel-call, soft trembling voices made.
To the instruments' divine respondence meet.
Spemer,
A monarchy, where is no nobility at all, is ever a
pure and absolute tyranny, as that of the Turks ; for
nobility attempen sovereignty, and draws the eyes of
the people somewhat aside from the line royal : but
for democracies they need not Bacon'i Eteaye^
Phemius ! let aits of gods and heroes old.
Attempered to the lyre, your voice employ. Pope.
Hope must be proportioned and attewtperafe to the
promise, if it exceed that temper and proportion, it
becomes a tumour and tympany of hope,
Hammond** Pract. CaiechUm,
Attempered suns arise,
Sweet-beam'd, and shedding oft thro' lucid deuds
A pleasing calm. ThomtM.
In the midst a form divine !
Her eye proclaims her of the Biiton line ;
Her lion-port, her awe-commanding face,
A ttemptr'd sweet to virgin-grace.
Gfwy*t Bmd,
ATTEMPT, V. & n.^ Fr. attenter; from
Attempt'kb, I tenter, irhich is from
Attempt'ablb, t the Latin tewtart, to
Attentate. ^try. To make eitperi-
ment; to make an effort to accomplish an ob-
ject ; to ttndertake.
The gentleman, vouching his to be more fair, vir-
tuous, wise, and less attemptaiile, than the rarest of
our ladies. Shahipeare.
Locio. Our doubts axe traitors.
And make us lose the good we oft might win
By fearing to attempt. Id. Mmmtreftr Meamre.
Alack! I am ainid, they have awak'd.
And 'tis not done ; th' attempt, and not the deed.
Confounds OS. Id, MaebeOt,
He flatt'ring his displeasure,
Tript me behind ; got praises of the king.
For him attempting, who was self-subdu'd. Id,
He would have cry'd ; but, hoping that he dreamt.
Amusement tied his tongue, and-stopp'd th' attempt*
Drydem,
If we be always prepared to receive an enemy ; we
shall long live in pdace and quietnass, without any
attempte upon us. Aioon.
I have nevertheless attempted to send unto yon,
for the renewing of brotherhood and friendship.
IJlM.xii. 17.
Who, in all things wise and just,
Hinder'd not Satan to aiteu^ the mind
Of man, with strength entire and free-will arm'd.
mUea.
The Son of Qod, with godlike linree endu'd.
Against th' attempter of thy Father's throne. Id.
Yon are no factors, for glory or treasure ; but dis-
inteieated afteeipten, for the universal good.
OUmeiUe'e Seepek.
Fools only malce attethpte beyond their will,
A wise man's pow'r's the limit of his will.
He that would succeed in a project of gain, must
never attempt to gain too mudi; and uoon proper
occasions, must know how to lose.
HawheHDorth^f Telemaekae,
A lion of Numidia, that hunger has made more
furious, rushes among the flocks ; he kills and tears
to pieces without resistance ; and the shepherds, in-
stead of attempting to defend their sheep, fly with
terror and trepidation to preserve themselves. Id,
ATTENJy,
Attend'ance,
Attend'amt, n. & adj.
Attend'er,
Attent',
Atten'tion,
Atten'tive,
Atten'tively,
Atten'tiveness.
") Lat. attendo; from
a</and tendo, to stretch
to or towards. To
direct the mirid to;
>^to look to what one is
about; to have the
faculties enraged or
the afihir in huid ;' to
wait.
The fifth had charge, sick persons to attemd;
And comfort those, in point of death which lay.
He that goeth about to persuade a multitude, that
they are not so well governed as they ought to be,
shaJl never want attenihoe and favourable hearers.
Hooker^t Be. Felitjf,
1 will be returned foithirith : dismiss your attend
amt there ; look it be done ! Shahipeate. Othette.
England is so idly king'd.
Her sceptre so fantastically home ;
That fear attende her not. Id,
. Fm never menry, when I hear sweet musick :
The reason is, your s irits are attent9oe.
Id, Merehaat of Venioe.
My pray'rs and wishes always shall attend
The friends of Rome. Addiam'i Cote.
A vehement, burning, fixed, pungent pain in the
stomach, attended with a fever. Arbuthnot on Diet,
I saw most of them attentive to three Sirens, dis*
tinguished hy the names of Sloth, Ignorance, and
Pleasure. Tatter,
The diligent pilot, in a dangerous tempest, doth
not attend the unskilful words of a passenger. fiSUMy.
The gypsies were there,
like lords to appear;
With each their attenden.
As you thought offenders. Ben Jemmm,
Now mine eyes shall be open; and mine ears
attent unto the prayer, that is made in this place.
2 Chron. vii. 15.
What can then be less in me, than desire
To see thee, and approach thee, whom I know
Declar'd the Son of God ; to hear attent
Thy wisdom, and behold thy godlike deeds t
Other suns perhaps.
With their attendant moons, thou wilt descry.
Communicating male and female light.
Id. ParaOae Lett,
Unknown sins have their guilt and shame, and are
justly atiendtd with known punishments.
HaU'i Contemptatkae,
We all are never weary of receiving soon weary of
^tending. Id,
At length her lord descends upon the plain
In pomp attended with a numerous train. Ihydem,
Hush'd winds the topmast branches scarcely bend.
As if thy tmefbl song they did attend. Id.
Plant anemonies after the first rains, if 'you will
have flowers very forwsCrd : but it is surer to attend
till October. "
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With these four more of lesser fame.
And humble rank attendant rame ;
Hypocrisy with smiling gra^^
And Impudence with brazen face»
Contention bold with iron lungs,
And Slander with her hundred tongues. Moore,
He [Termosiiis priest of Apollo] related past events
with such force of expression that they seemed to be
present ; and with such comprehensive brevity* that
attentien was not wearied ; and he foresaw the future
by a sagacity that discovered the true characters and
dispositions of mankind^ and the events which they
would produce. Hawketwortli's Tdemaehm,
Attention has also been defined, a due appli-
cation of the ear, or the eye, as well as ot the
mind, to any thing said or done, in order to
acquire a knowledge thereof.
Attention of mind is not properly an act of
the understanding, but rather of the will, by
which it calls the understanding from the con-
sideration of other objects, and directs it to
the thing ip hand. Nevertheless, our attention
is not always voluntary; an interesting object
seizes and fixes it beyond the power of control.
Attention, in respect of hearing, is the stretching
or straining of tne membrana tympani, so as to
make it more susceptible of sounds, and better
prepared to catch even a feeble agitation of the
air : or, it is the adjusting the tension of that
membrane to the deeree of loudness or lowness
of the sound to which we are attentive. Accord-
ing to the degree of attention, objects make a
stronger or weaker impression, fiacon, in his
Natural History, observes, that ' Sounds are me-
liorated by the intension of the sense, where the
common sense is collected most to the particular
sense of hearing, and the sight suspended. There-
fore sounds are sweeter, as well as greater, in the
night than tn the day ; and I suppose they are
sweeter to blind men than to others ; and it is
manifest, that between sleeping and waking, when
all the senses are suspended, music is far sweeter
than when one is fully waking/ Attention is re^
quisitc even to the simple act of seeing : the eye
can take in a considerable field at one look; but
no object in the field is seen distinctly but that
singly which fixes the attention : in a profound
reverie that totally occupies the attention, we
scarce see what is directly before us. In a train
of perceptions, no particular object makes such
a figure as it would do singly and apart : for,
when the attention is divided among many ob-
jects, no particular object is entitled to a large
share. Hence, the stillness of night contributes to
terror, there being nothing to divert the atten-
tion. In matters of slight importance, attention
is mostly directed by the will; and, for that
reason, it is our 0¥m fault if thfiing objects make
any deep impression. Had we power equally to
withhold our attention from matters of imports
ance, we might be proof against any deep im-
pression. But our power fails us here; and,
while our attention is thus forcibly attached to
one object, others will solicit it in vain.
ATTENUANTS, or Attenuating Medi-
cines, are such as subtilise and break tlie hu-
mors into finer parts ; and tlius dispose them for
motion, circulation, excretion, &c. They are
of extensive use in physic, and come under
different denominations, according to the differ-
ent effects theyiproduce. Thus, when tenacious
and viscid juices not only stagnate in the cavities
of the vessels, but obstruct tht minute ducts of
the viscera and emunctories, thew medicines, by
their inciding and attenuating qualities, discharge
the humors, and remove the obstructions; for
which reason they are not improperly called ape-
rients. Attenuants produce so great a variety of
effects, that it is proper we should' be well ac-
quainted with their several kindsj as appropriated
to the several disorders, and know which wttl
prove most serviceable in each. According to
Hoffman, the dissolving and attenuating of viscid
crudities in the stomach and primce viae, is well
answered by the roots of arum, acorus, pepper,
ginger, and the like ; as also by sal ammoniac,
vitriolated tartar, the fixed alkaline salts, and the
simple or dulcified spirit of salt. When crude
and unconcocted humors are to be evacuated by
stool, this intention is very well answered by the
neutral salts, as the salts of the purging waters,
and the sal polycrestum, with a suflScient quan-
tity of a watery vehicle. When viscid humors,
occasioning disorders of the breast, are to be at-
tenuated and expectorated, the intention is most
effectually answered by elecampane and orrice
roots ; and by gum ammoniacum, myrrh, or ben-
jamin, and balsam of Peru ; or by regenerated
tartar, oxvmel of squills, a solution of crabs'
eyes in distilled vinegar, and the syrup of to-
bacco, and the like. When the mass of blood is
tainted by thick and tenacious sordes, and the
emunctories are by that means obstructed, and
the humors contaminated by a saline sulphureous
and scorbutic dyscrasy, the most efficacious of
the attenuants are the horse-radish, scurvy-grass,
water and garden cresses, mustard, gum ammo-
niac, benjamin, myrrh, the oil of fixed nitre, oil
of tartar per deliquium, solutions of nitre, spirit
of sal ammoniac, salt of wormwood with lemon
juice, and tlie salts of the medicinal waters.
When grumous or coagulated blood, occasioned
by contusions or blows, is to be attenuated and
again dissolved, the intention is sure to be an-
swered by the rooto of Solomon's Seal, vinegar,
and crabs' eyes, the regenerated tartar, and nitre
prepared with antimony. And in cases where
the lymph has acquired a preternatural thickness
and viscidity, especially if^firom a venereal taint,
the curative intention is most effectually an-
swered by guaicum, the acrid tincture of anti-
mony, calomel, ^hiop's mineral, and the like;
which, when skilfully used, are of singular effi-
cacy in dissolving and attenuating the viscid
juices impacted in the glands of the liver.
ATTEN'UATE,i;.&n. ) Lat. attenuo, to
Attenua'tion I thin; from ad and
temisy to thin ; from tendo, to stretch. To draw
out in length or superficial extent ; to lessen or
thin ; to dilate.
Chiming with a hammer upon the outside of a bell»
the sound will be according to the inward concave of
the bell ; whereas the elision^ or eMenuatum of the
air, can be only between the hsmmfr and tha outside
of the bell. Bacon,
Yivification ever oonsisteth in apirtts mitemiate,
which the cold doth congeal and coagulate. /d.
The ingredients are digested and attenmated by beat ;
they are stirred and constandy agitated by winds.
ArUukmit,
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ATTERBURY.
241
t>f tadi eoneenunent too is 4rmk and food,
T* encnMate or attemiaie the blood.
Drjfden't Trandatum of LmsnHiu.
Attenuation is defined more generally by
Chauvin, the dividing or separating of the mi-
nute parts of any body, which before, by their
mutual nexus or implication^ formed a more
continuous mass. Accordii^ly, among alche-
mists we sometimes find the word used for pul-
verisation, or the act of reducing a body into an
impalpable powder, by grinding, pounding, or
the like.
Attenuation, in medicine, the lessening the
power or quanti^ of the morbific matter.
ATTERBURY (Bishop Prancis), son of Dr.
Lewis Atterbury, was boin at Milton in Buck-
inghamshire, in 1662; educated at Westminster,
and thence elected to Christ-Church, in Oxford,
where he soon distinguished himself by his ge-
nius. In 1687 he was made MA., when he
exerted himself in the controversy with the
papists, vindicated Luther in the strongest
manner, and displayed an uncommon fund of
learning, enlivened with great vivacity. Ib
1690 he married Miss Osbom, a lady of great
beauty, but moderate fortune. About 1690 he
took orders, and in 1691 was elected lecturer of
St. Bnde*s church in London, and preacher at
Bridewell chapel. He was soon after appointed
chaplain to king William and queen Mary. The
share he took in the controversy against Bentley,
(about the authenticity of Phalaris's Epistles) is
now clearly ascertained. In 1700 a still larger
field of activity opened, in which Atterbury was
engagted four years with Dr. Wake (afterwaids
archbishop of Canterbury), and others, concern-
ing * the Rights, Powers, and Privileges of Con-
vocations;' in which he displayed so much
learning and zeal for the interests of his order,
that the lower house of Convocation returned
him their thanks, and the university of Oxford
complimented him with the degree of D.D.
January 29, 1700, he was installed archdeacon
ofTotness. The same year he was engaged,
with some other learned divines, in revising an
intended edition of the Greek Testament, with
Greek Scholia, collected chiefly from the flBithers,
by Mr. Ajchdeacon Gregory. At this period he
was popular, as preacher at the Rolls chapel ;
an office which had been conferred on him by
Sir John Trevor, in 1698, when he resigned
Bridewell. Upon the accession of queen Anne,
in 1702, Dr. Atterbury was appointed one of
her chaplains; and in October 1704, was ad-
vanced to the deanery of Carlisle. About two
years afier this, he was engaged in a dispute
with Mr. Hoadly, concerning we advantages of
virtue, with regard to the present life; occa-
sioned by his sermon, preached August 30,
1706, at the funeral of Mr. Thomas Bennet, a
bookseller. In 1707 Sir Jonathan Trelawney,
bishop of Exeter, appointed him -one of the
canons residentiaries of that church. In 1709
he was engaged in a fresh dispute with Mr.
Hoadly, concerning * Passive Obedience;' oc-
casioned by his Latin sermon, entitled ' Concio
ad Clemm Londinensem, babita in Ecctesia S.
Elphegi.' In 1710 came on the famous trial of
Dr. Sacheverell, whose remarkable silleech on
Vol. III.
that occasion was generally supposed to hav«
been drawn up by our author, m conjunction
with Dr. Smalndge and>Dr. Freind. The same
year Dr. Atterbury was unanimously chosen
prolocutor of the lower house of Convocation,
and had the chief management of affairs in that
house. May 11, 1711, he vms appointed by the
convocation one of the committee for comparing
Mr. \Vhiston's doctrines with those of the church
of England ; and in June following, he had the
chief Land in drawing up ' A Representation
of the present State of Religion.' In 1712 he
was made dean of Christ Church, notwithstand-
ing the strong interest and warm applications of
several great men in behalf of his competitor.
Dr. Smalndge. In the beginning of June, 171 3,
the queen advanced him to the bishopnc of Ro-
chester, with the deanery of Westminster in
commendam. He was confirmed July 4, and
consecrated at Lambeth next day. The death of
the queen, in 1714, put an end to all farther
hopes of advancement; for the new king treated
him with great coolness, doubtless aware of either
the report or the fact of his offer, on the death
of Anne, to proclaim the Pretender in full canon-
icals, if allowed a sufficient guard. This dislike
operated like oil on the inflammable mind of
Atterbury, who not only refused to sign the
loval declaration of the bishops in the rebellion
of 1715, but suspended a clergyman for lend-
ing his church for the performance of divine
service to the Dutch troops brought over to serve
against the rebels. Not content with a consti-
tutional opposition, he entered into a correspond-
ence with the Pretender's party, in favor of the
dispossessed fiimily ; for which offence he was
apprehended in August 1722, and committed to
the Tower ; and in the March following a bill
was brought into the House of Commons, for the
infliction of pains and penalties. This measure,
which on constitutional grounds can never be
defended, and which indeed was supported
chiefly on the urgency of the particular time and
case, met with considerable opposition in the
Lords, and was resisted with great firmness and
eloquence by the bishop, who maintained his
innocence with his usual acuteness and dexte-
rity. His guilt however has been tolerably well
proved by documents since published; and
noUiing more is necessary to warrant a con-
firmed moral distaste to his character, than the
contemplation of such a scene of smooth dissi-
mulation and hypocrisy. By this bill the bishop
was deprived and outlawed, and no British suh-
ject was permitted to visit him abroad, without
the king's sign manual ; which however was not
refused to his relatives.
On the 27th, this pi^late liaving that day
taken leave of his frienas, who, from the time of
passing the bill against him to the day of his de-
parture, had free access to him in the Tower, em-
oarked on board the Aldborough man of war, and
landed the Friday following at Calais. When
he went on shore, having been informed that
lord Bolingbroke, who, af^er the rising of the
parliament, had received the king's pardon, was
arrived at the same place on his return to Eng-
land, he said, with an air of pleasantry, ' Then
I am exchanged !' When bishop Atterbury first
R
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242
ATT
entered upon his banishment, Bnistels was the
place destined for bis residence ; but he was
compelled to leave that place, and retire to
Paris. He next changed his abode for Mont-
pelier, in 1728 ; and, after residing there about
two years, returned to Paris, where he died Feb^
ruary 15, 1731. As a composer of sermons,
Dr. Atterbury still retains the highest reputation ;
his periods are easy and eleganf, his style flowing
and beautiful; but as a critic or disputant, he is
rather dexterous than accurate, and ralfaer po-
pular than profound.
AiTERBURr (Dr. Lewis), eldest son of the
Dr. and brother to the bishop, was bom at Cal-
decot,in Bucks, in 1656 ; educated at Westmini-
ster, and sent to Oxford in 1674. In 1679 he
entered into orders, and commenced A. M. in
1680; in 1683 he* was made chaplain to Sir W.
Pritchard; in 1684 rector of Symel; in 1687,
L.L.D. and in 1691 lecturer of St. Mary-at-Hill,
London. In 1695 he was elected preacher at
Highgate, and was appointed one of the six
preaching chaplains to the princess Anne of
Denmark, at Whitehall and St James's; in
which place he was continued after she became
?[ueen, and during part of the reign of George I.
n 1707 the queen appointed him rector of
Shepperton, and in March 1709, the bishop of
London collated him to the rectory of Ilornsey.
He died at Bath, of a paralytic disorder, in 1731.
He published, during his life, 2 vols, of Ser-
mons, and four occasional ones, besides other
pieces. He was remarkably benevolent and
charitable. While he resided at Highgate, ob-
serving that the poor in that neighbourhood were
much at a loss for medical advice, he studied
physic, and practised it gratis among them:
Ike also gave £lO annually to a teacher, to in-
struct young giris at Newport Paguel, and bur-
dened his estate with this annual payment for
ever. He left 200 volumes of pamphlets to the
library of Christ Church, Oxford.
ATTES, in fabulous history, a son of Calaus
of Phiygia, who was bom impotent. The wor-
ship of Cybele was introduced among the Ly-
dians by him, after which he was highly honored
by the goddess. Hjs success awakened a jeal-
ousy in Jupiter, and he sent a wild boar to
lay waste the country, that Attes might be de-
stroyed.
ATTEfer,i7. fen."^ Lat. attestor; ad and
Attest'e*, * >testory to call to witness.
Attest a'tion. j To corroborate or strength-
en by witness, i. e. by one who has had the evi-
dence of one or more of the senses.
With the voice divine
Nigh thandentruck, th' ex<ed man, to whom
Such high atteit was giv'n, a while surveyM •
With wonder. Paradise Renamed.
Many particular facts are recorded in holy writ,
attested by particular pagan authors. • Adduon,
We may derive a probability, from the attestation
of wise and honest men, by word or writing ; or the
concurring witness of multitudes, who have seen and
known, what they relate. Watts.
Prodigious actions may as well be done
By weaver's issue, as by prince's son.
This arch-oWertor of the publick good.
By that one deed ennobles all his blood.
Drsfden's Absakm and Adtitephel.
ATTHIS, a daughter of Cmnatts, the secotid
king of Athens. According to ApoUodonls stie
gave her name to Attica.
ATTIC any thing relating to Attica, or Athens,
or any thing peculiarly elegant or excellent.
Attic Base, a peculiar kind of base used by
the ancient architects in the Ionic order; and
by Palladio, and some others, in the Doric.
Arric Ordeb, or Attics, in architecture, a
kind of order, after the manner of a pedestal,
raised upon another larger order, by way of
crowning, or to fiUish the building. ' See Archi-
tecture, Index.
Attic Salt, a delicate, poignant kind of wit,
peculiar to the ancient Athtoians. The term is
applied to any similar piece of humor in mo-
dem writings.
Attic Story, in architecture, a story in the
upper pert of a house, where ^ windows are
usually square.
Attic Witness, a witness incapable of cor-
ruption.
ATTICA, an ancient state of Greece, situated
along the north coast of the gulph of Saron,
bounded on the west by Megara, mount Ci>
thsron, and part of Boeotia ; on the north by the
gulf of Euripus (now called Stretto di Negro-
ponte, or the Strait of Negropont), and the rest
of Boeotia ; and on the east by the Euripus. It
extended in length from north-west to soudi-
east, about sixty miles ; its breadth from north to
south was fifty-six, decreasing as it approached the
sea. The soil of this country was naturally barren
and craggy, though by the industry of its inha-
bitants it produced all the necessaries of life.
On this account, Attica was less exposed to in-
vasions than other more fertile countries; and
hence, it preserved its ancient inhabitants,
beyond all the other kingdoms in its neigfaboar-
hood ; so that they were reputed to be the spon-
taneous productions of the soil ; and as a badge
of this, Thucydides tells us, they wore golden
grasshoppers in their hair.
The principal mountains of Attica were Lau-
rium, celebrated for its silver mines, and situated
near the Sunian promontory ; Pentelicus, famous
for its quarries of white marble ; and Hymettus,
near Adiens, remarkable for the abundance and
fineness of its honey. Other mountains men-
tioned in history, are ^gtaleus, Brilessus, Ica-
rius, Lycabettus, and Pamethus. Its principal
rivers were the Cephisus, Eridanus, and Ilissus.
Althoneh the mountainous character of the coun-
try rendered it unpromising and sterile for grain
generally, barley was produced in abundance ;
and Aristode observes that the fruits of Attica
had a peculiar sweetness. The culture of the
olive tree was protected by law, and a fine of
200 drachms (upwards of £8 sterling) was paid,
by any person who rooted up on his grounds
more than two trees in a year, unless for the
service of tlie gods. The olives called colym-
bades, considered larger and of richer flavor than
any other, retain their name to this day, and
were, until the late civil wars, monopolised for
the personal use of the grand signior.
The chief cities of Attica were Athens, the ca-
pital. See Athens. Next to it Eleusis, situ-
ated on the same gulf, nef^r the coasts of M^ara ;
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A T T I L A.
243
«nd next t» (faat Rhamnus, famed for the temple
of Amfihiarausy and the statue of the goddess
Nemesis, scttlptured by Phidias, from a Uock of
Parian marble, whieh «be Persians bad bioi^^ht
thither to assist in eretting a tropliy of thar pro-
posed Tictocy. It was ten cubits high, and was
inscribed with the name of his &yoiite pupil
Agoracritus, Nor ought we to omit to mention
the town of Marathon, ten miles north-east of
Athens, immortaliaed by the victory gained these
birMiltiades over the Persians. On the plain
ot the batUe the Athenians esected tmaU oo-
lumns, on which the names of those wwrriois
who fell were insccibed. A monument aftes-
wards raised to Mtltiades himself, was set apart,
a small distance fnAn the rest : in the intervals
between these .coiomns were trophies, bearing
4he arms of the Persians.
Attica was divided into ten tribes, icaUed
fvkat ; and these again were subdivided 'into
174 boroughs, or ^9^01. The inhabitants wiere
of three classes: 1. Citizens, iroXtrm; whose
numbers underwent little change frqm the time
of Ceccops, and averaged about 20,000. iThey
had a right, from » certain property^ to vote in
the general assonbly ; about 60^0 others were
freemen without (his privilege. Those wh0
sprung from parents boih of whom were Athe-
nian citizens, were considered freebom, though
occasionally the privilege was extended to such
as had one parent only of this class. The honor
was confecrod on foreigners by a yot^ of the
people, ratified at two solemn assemblies ; at the
second of which it was loauisite ^that 6^000 citi-
zens should be pceaent JBut no one, except a
fret bom Athenian, could hold an arcbonwip.
2. Foreigners settled in Attica, and enrolled in
ithe public tegisten, /urotfoc They were pro-
tected oy the state ; but were not permitted to
hold any public office. Each /urpueoc selected a
citizen as his protector, wpo^arijc; who stood
•to him much in th^ same relation as the Roman
patronus did to his cliens. They paid an an-
nual tribute to the state of twelve drachmse
(about nine shillings), and in default of payment
they were sold as slaves. Their nmnber (males
only) in the time of Demetrius of Phaleiwm,
(307 B. C.) was 10,000. 3. Slaves, dovXiM, who,
.when numbered at the same time, amounted to
400,000. The agricultural, mining, and menial
labor was performed by them ; as well as the
greater part of that of the public works, and of
private manufactures. The entire population of
ancient Attica may be .taken at about half a mil-
lion, or nearly 900 to a square mile ; about ono-
fourth of that of Middlesex. For the political
history of this interesting country, incluaing tlie
details of its recent struggles -for liberty, see
our article Grebce.
ATTICISE,^
At'ticism, ( Gr. ArruuZm, to speak or
A< TICX,
Al'xiCAl
4 write after the Attic dialect
There while they acted and overacted, among ether
young icholan, I vaa a epectaior-, they thought
themselvea gallant men, and I thought them fools;
they made sport, and I laughed ; they mispronounced,
and I misliked ; and to make up the oAictmi, they
were oal^ and X hist. Milton.
U any will still excuse the tjvaat £v tUtkismg in
those circumstances, it is hard to deny thebi the glory
of being the faithfullest of his vassal^.
BenOey. JH^arUUion on Phalaru.
ATTICUS (Titus Pompooius), 090 of tiie
most remarkable characters of ancient Rome,
lie managed himself with such addir^s, that he
preserved the esteem and affection of all parties.
He sent money to the younger Marius, and yet
vas a fevorite with Sylla. He pleased Cnsar
wijthout offending Pompey. He sent supplies .to
Brutus, while he was doing kind offices to An-
tony. His strict friendship .with Cicero did not
hinder him from having great intimacy with
Hortensius ; and in the contests between Antoioy
and Augustus, he preserved the regard of both.
The contests at Rome :between 2ie parties of
Sylla and JVlarius^ however, induced him to re-
tiire to Athens, where he gainedx the affection of
the Athenians so much, that the day he left them
was a day of mourning. He was very fond of
learning, and kept several librarians 9iii. readera.
He might have obtained .the most considerable
posts in the republic ; but chose rather not to
^neddle, because in the corruption and faction
which then prevailed^ he could ^qt discharge
them according to the Jkws. ^ He w^ote annal}^
which Cicero praises, as having .been of great
use to him. He married his daughter to Agupps^
.and died at the ^e of 77.
Attictts (Herodes), a celebrated orator of
antiquity, was bpm at Marathon. His lectures
on docution were heard with such applause, that
he was sent for by Titus Antoninu^ to instruct
Marcus Aurelius, and Lucius Verus. He .was
honored with the consulship, and other high
.offices. He generously erected ^ aqueduct at
Troas, of which he had been made governor,
and some other publip buildiz:^ in different
places of the empire, equally useful and mag-
nificent. He was particularly liberal as a bene-
hcxoi to Athens. He died a^ Marathon, at die
age of 76.
Atxicvs, patriarch of ConsUmtinople, was by
birth an Armenian, and flourished in the fifth
century. In A.D. 406, he condemned John
..Chrysostom, by which he got possession of the
patriarchate; but Pope Innocent I. being of-
fended at his proceedings, excommunicated him.
However, when Chrysostom died, he was al-
lowed to reUin his seat. He died in 427.
ATTILA, king of the Huns, lived in die
fifth century. He was sumamed ' the Scourge
of God,' a title which all offensive conquerors
have more or less merited, though none but At-
tila is said to have assumed and gloried in it.
.He may jusdy be ranked among the greatest con-
.querors, for there was scarcely any province in
Europe which did not feel the weight of his
victorious arms. Attila deduced his descent
from the ancient Pluns, who had formerly con-
tended with the monarchs of China. His fea-
tures, according to. the observation of a Gothic
historian, bore the stamp of his national origin ;
and the portrait of Attila exhibits the genuine
deformity of a modem Calmuck ; a large head,
a swarthy complexion, small, deep-seated eyes,
a hooked nose, a few hairs in toe place of a
beard, broad shoulders, and a short square
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244
A T T I L A.
body, of nervous ttreneth, though of a dispro-
portioned form. The naughty demeanor of this
tyrant expressed the idea he entertained of his
superiority above the rest of mankind ; and he
had a custom of fiercely rolling his eyes, as if he
wished to enjoy the terror which he inspired.
Yet this savage hero was not inaccessible to pity ;
his suppliant enemies might confide in his as-
surance of peace or pardon ; and he was con-
sidered by his subjects as a just and indulgent
master. He delig^ited in war ; but, after he had
ascended the throne in a mature age, his head«
rather than his hand, achieved the conquest of
the north ; and the hme of an adventurous sol-
dier was usefully exchanged for that of a prudent
and successful general. The effects of mere per-
sonal valor are indeed so inconsiderable, that
victory, even among barbarians, depends on the
degree of skill, with which the passions of the
multitude are guided for the service of a single
man. The arts of Attila were skilfully adapted
to his age and country. It was natural that the
Scythians should adore the god of war ; but as
they were incapable of forming either an ab-
stract idea, or a corporeal representation of
him, they worshipped him under the symbol of
an iron scymitar. One of the shepherds of the
Huns perceived that a heifer, who was grazing,
had wounded herself in the foot ; and curiously
followed the tract of the blood, till he dis-
covered among the long grass, the point of an
ancient sword ; which he dug out of the ground,
and presented to Attila. T^t ardiil prince ac-
cepted with pious gratitude diis celestial favor ;
and, as the rightful possessor of the sword pf
Mars, asserted his divine and indefeasible claim
to the dominion of the earth. Thus this fiivorite
of Mars acquired a sacred character, which ren-
dered his conquests easy and f>ermanent ; and
the barbarian princes confessed, in the language
of devotion or flattery, that they could not pre-
sume to gaze with a steady eye on the divine
majesty of the king of the Huns. His brother
Bleda, who reigned over a considerable part of
the nation, was compelled to resign his sceptre
and his life. Yet even this cruel act was attri-
buted to a supernatural impulse ; and the vigor
with which Attila wielded the sword of Mars
convinced the world that it had been reserved
alone for his invincible arm. But the extent of
his empire affords the only remaining evidence of
the number and importance of his victories ; and
the Scythian monarch, however ignorant of Uie
value of science and philosophy, might lament
that his illiterate subjects were destitute of the art
which could perpetuate the memory of his ex-
ploits. Attila, indeed, may claim the tide of su-
preme and sole monarch of the barbarians. He
alone, among the conquerors of ancient and mo-
dem times, united the two mighty kingdoms of
Germany and Scythia. Thuringia, which stretched
beyond its actual limits as &r as the Danube,
was in the number of his provinces : he inter-
posed, with the weight of a powerful neighbour,
m the domestic affairs of the Franks ; and one of
his lieutenants chastised, and almost extermi-
nated, the Burgundians of the Rhine. He sub-
dued the islands of the ocean, the kingdoms of
Scandinavia, encompassed and divided by the
waters of the Baltic ; and the Uiins derived a
tribute of furs from that northern region, whidi
has been protected from all other conquerors by
the severity of the climate, and the courage of the
natives. Towards the east, it is difficult to cir-
cumscribe the dominion of Attila over the Scy-
thian deserts; vet we may be assured that he
reigned on the banks of the Volga ; that he was
dr^ed, not only as a warrior, but as a magi-
cian ; that he vanquished the khan of the formi-
dable Geougen ; and that he sent ambassadors to
negociate an equal alliance with the empire of
Clnna. In the proud review of the nations who
acknowledged the sovereignty of Attila, and who
never entertained during his lifetime the thought
of a revolt, the Gepidse and the Ostrogoths were
distinguished by meir numbers, their bravery,
and the personal merit of their chiefs. Ardaric,
king of the Gepidae, was the faithful and saga-
cious counsellor of the monaroh ; who esteemed
his intrepid genius, whilst he loved the mild and
discreet virtues of die noble Walamir, king of the
Ostrogoths. The crowd of vulgar kings*, who
served under the standard of Attila, were ranged
in the submissive order of guards and domestics
round the person of their masters. They watched
his nod ; thev trembled at his frown ; and at the
first signal of his will they executed without he-
sitation his absolute commands. In time of
peace the dependent princes with their national
troops attended the royal camp in regular suc-
cession ; but when Attila collected his military
force he was able to bring into the field an army
of five, or according to some, 700,000 barbarians.
See Huns. The circumstances attending Attila's
death (about A. D. 453) were remarkable ; from
the festive throng, which celebrated his nuptials
with a beautiful virgin named IldicOy he retired
late to bed, oppressed with vrine, and during
the night a blood-vessel burst and suffocated
him. In the morning the bride was found by
the bed-side, bewailing his death and her own
danger. His body was exposed in the plain,
while the Huns marched round it in martial
order, singing funeral songs to his praise; and
was aftem^uxls enclosed in coffins of gold, silver,
and iron, and interred privately in the night To
prevent the violation ot his remains, by the dis-
covery of his grave, the slaves who were em-
ployed on the occasion were put to death.
ATTILATUS Equus^ in old law Latin, a
horse dressed in his harness, for the plough or
cart.
ATTILUS, in ichthyology, a river-fish, of the
sturgeon kind, called by some adello, adano, and
adeno. It grows to a very iar^ size, and when
full grown, casts its scales, and never has any
fresh ones, but remains perfectly smooth; in
which it differs from the common sturgeon. But
it seems not to differ in any essential point from
the hussu germanorum. It is an eatable fish,
but is greatly inferior in taste to the sturgeon.
ATTINGA, in ichthyology, a species of the
diodon.
ATTIR'E, V. & n. ^ Of uncertain derivation.
Attir'ing, > It may be observed, wiih-
Attou'r. j out deciding the question
of etymology, that the tiara was an head-dress
worn by Phrygian and Persian priests and kings
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245
ATT
at sacrifices. Hence the word is found in Gieek
authors, and is probably deriyed from the Persic —
Phrygia restitiir bucca tiara. Juoentd,
The high crowned covering for the head, still
worn by the natives of Persia, in contradistinc-
tion to the low turban of the Turks, is worthy of
remarlc. The word is sometimes applied to the
mitres of bishops. The French attirery is to
draw to ; attiraUf is the apparatus necessary to
an equipage or adorning.
Let it likewise yoar gentle breast inspire.
With sweet infxision ; and put you in mind
Of that proud maid^ whom now thosa leaves aUire,
Proud Daphne. Spetuer.
It is no more disgrace to Scripture, to have left
things free, to be ordered by the church ; than for
Nature, to have left it to the wit of man, to devise his
own attire. Hooker.
My Nan shall be the queen of all the fairies ;
Finely aUXxrei in a robe of white.
ShaJupeare. Mmry Wkot of Wmiaor,
With the linen mitre shall he be ottirod.
Leo, xvi. 4.
After that, the Roman attkre grew to be in account,
and the gown to be in use among them.
Daniet on Ireiamd.
Now the sappy boughs
Attiro themselves with blooms. FhxUpt,
Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread.
Whose flocks supply him with atdro.
Whose trees in -summer yield him shade.
In winter fire. Pope*$ Wo om SdUude,
Attire, in hunting; the attire of a stag, if
perfect, consists of bur, pearls, beam, gutters,
antler, fur-antler, royal, fur-royal, and crotches ;
and that of a buck, of the bur, beam, brow-
antler, advancer, palm, and spellers.
ATTIRET (John Denis), a French Jesuit and
painter, was bom at Dole, in Franche Comt^,
in 1702, and died in 1768 at Pekin, whither he
had accompanied the mission. He was employed
by the emperor Kien Long to paint many battle-
pieces, with which he was so much pleased, that
ne offered him the dignity of a mandarin, and
when he declined the honor of the title, he granted
him the revenues of the post.
ATTITUDE. Ital. attitudme. Supposed to
be corrupted from low Latin aptitudo, from opto,
I fit. A term used by the Italians in the art of
design, to denote the gesture fitted for the display
of grace, beauty, or other quality of form ; ex-
pressive posture.
Bernini would have taken his opinion, upon the
beauty and oiHtyde of a figure. Prior^t Ded.
They were ftmous originals, that gave rise to
statues, with the same air, posture, and at^iudea.
Addum.
ATTIUM, in ancient geography, a promon-
tory on the north-west of Corsica, now called
Punta di Acciuolo.
ATTLEBOROUGH, a town in Norfolk, once
the capital of the county, on the road from Thet-
ford to Norwich, about twelve miles from each,
and ninety-three frt>m London. It is also called
Attleburv. Market, Thursday.
ATTOCK, a river of Asia, which rises in the
Tartarian mountains, north of Ilindostan, and
passing by •Cabul, falls into the Indus. By a
treaty between Kouli Khan, Schah of Persia, and
the Great Mogul, it was made the boundary b^
tween Persia and India.
Attock, Atac, a limit, a town in the province
of Lahore, on the east side of the Indus, which is
here, in the month of July, from three-fourths to
one mile across. Lat. 33** 6' N., long. 71° 15' E.
The ancient name of Attock, to this day, is Va-
ranas, or Benares ; but it is more generally known
by the name of Attock. The fortress was built
by Acber, A.D. 1581.
^ It is remarkable,' says Mr. Hamilton, ' that the
three great invaders of Hindostap, Alexander,
Tamerlane, and Nadir Shah, in three distant
ages, and with views and talents extremely dif-
ferent, advanced by the same route, with hardly
any deviation. Alexander had the merit of dis-
covering the way : after passing the mountains
he encamped at Alexandria Paropamisana, on
the same site with the modem city of Candahar;
and having subdued or conciliated the nations
seated on the north west-bank of the Indus, he
crossed the river at Taxila, now Attock, the only
place where the stream is so tranquil that a bridge
can be thrown over it.'
ATTOLLEIi^, in anatomy, an appellation
given to several muscles otherwise called levatO'^
res and elevatores.
ATTONITUS Morbus, Attonitus Stlpor,
an apoplexy ; also being planet-struck or blasted.
ATTOR'N, ■\ Fr. attoumer; aiior-
Attob'ney, V, k n. ynarCf Du Fresne, to turn
Attor'nsyship. 3 over to, or transfer; to
perform service. Ang.-Sax. tyrnan, to turn.
As I was then.
Advertising and holy to your business,
Kor changing heart with habit ; I tm still
AUomiod to your service. Shaktpemre*
But marriage is a matter of more worth.
Than to be dealt in attomesfihip. Id,
I will attend my husband ! it is m j office ;
And will have no attomotf but myself ;
And therefore let me have him home. Id,
I am a sulgeet.
And challenge law : attomejft are deny'd me -,
And therefore personally I lay my claim.
To mine inheritance. Id,
The king's attomoy on the contrary,
Urgi'd on examinations, proofs, confusions. Id,
Despairing quadn with curses lied the place ;
And vile atiornoya, now an useless race. Pope.
An attonnesf at law answers to the procurator, or
proctor, of the civilians ai^d canonists. And he is
one who is put in the place, stead, or ram of another,
to manage his matters of law.
BladuUme*t CommenUariee,
ATTORNARE Personam, in conmion law,
to depute a representative, or proxy, to appear
and act for another.
Attornare Rem, to turn over money and goods,
that is, to assign and appropriate them to certain
persons or uses.
ATTORNATO Faciendo, vel Recipiendo,
in common law, a writ to conmiand a sheriff, or
steward, to receive and admit an attorney to ap-
pear for the person that oweth suit of court, to a
cpunty or hundred. Every person that owes
suit to the county court, court-baron, &c. may
make an attorney to do his suit.
Attorney at Law is one who is put in the
place, stead, or turn of another, to manage his
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246
ATTORNEY.
matters at law. Formerly erery stntot was
obliged to appear in person, to prosecute or de-
fend his snit (according to the old Gothic consti-
tution,) unless by special licence under the king's
letters patent. This is still the law in criminal
cases ; and an idiot cannot to this day appear by
attorney, but in person ; for he hath not discre-
tion to enable him to appoint a proper substitute ;
and, upoi} his being brought before the cotirt in
so defenceless a condition, the judges are bound
to take caire of his interests, and they shall admit
the best plea in his behalf that any one present
can suggest. But, as in £he Roman law, when it
was in use, one person couM not act in the name
ofi another; yet, as this was attended mtk no
small inconvenience, men were allowed to litigate
by procurators ; so with us, on the same principle
of convenience, it is now permifted in general,
by divers ancient statutes, whereof the first is sea^
tute West. 2, c. 10, that attonieys may be made
to prosecute or defend any action in the absence
of the parties to the snit. Attorneys are now,
^erefore, formed into a fegnlar profession ; they
are admitted to the execution of their office by
the superior courts of Westminster hall ; are in
aSl points officers of the respective courts in which
they are admitted ; and as they have many priti-
leges on account of their attendance there, so (hey
are peculiarly subject to the censure and animad-
version of the judges. No man can practise as an
attorney ttk any of these courts, mit soch as is
admitted and sworn an attorney of that particu-
lar court. To fyractise in the court of chanoery,
it is also necessary to be admitted a solicitor
therein : and by tAe stattite 23 Geo. II. c. 49,
no person shall act as an attorney in the court of
<ivarter sessions, but such as has been regularly
admitted in some superior court of record. So
early as the statute 4 Hen. IV. c. 18, it was en-
acted that none Should be admitted attorneys but
such as were virtuous, learned, and sWom to do
their duty. And many subsequent statutes have
laid them under farther regulations.
By 2 Geo. II. c. 23, all attornies shall be
sworn, administered, and enrolled, before they
are allowed to sue writs in the courts of West-
minster; and, after the 1st of December, 1730,
none shall be permitted to practise but such as have
served a clerkship of four yeaw to an attotftey,
and they shall be examined, swom, and admitted
in open court. Any person duly admitted a so-
licitor, may be admitted an attorney, and vice
versa. An attorney's bill msy be taxed, and if
it be reduced a sixth part, he is to pay the costs
of taxation. ,
By 34 Geo. Itl. c. 14, every person bound
as clerk to an attorney of the courts at West-
minster, pays £l 00 stamp duty. After admission
in one court, no further duties are required for
the others. Nor are farther duties required for
new contracts with new masters. An attorney is
privileged from being pressed as a soldier, but he
may be drawn for the militia. lie need not
serve any parochial or borough office against his
will. They may sue and be sued only in their
own courts. Special bail is not required of*
them as defendants; as plaintifR they may de-
mand it Paymetit to the attorney is payment
lo the principal. An attorney has a lien on the
money recovefed fM hin clfwt^ and Iks nu^ re-
tain the amount of his bill. Attornies may be
summarily punished by an attacfamenty or by
being struck off the rolls of the court for ilf-
practice, fraud, or corruption; and sometimes
(in order to be called to the bar) they are struck
off the roll on their own application.
Attorney General, a great la^-officer of the
crown, whose business is to exhibit informations,
and prosecute for the crown, in matters criminal;,
also to file hills in the exchequer, for any thing
concerning the king in inheritance or profits;
and others may bring bills against (he king*s
attorney. His proper place in court, upon ani
special matters of a criminal nature, wherein his
attendance is required, is under the judges oo
the left hand of the clerk of the crown ; but this
is only upon solemn and extraordinary occasiobs ',
for usnally he does not sit there, but within the
bar in the hce of the court The queen consort
is also privileged to hafe an attorney-general.
AtTORHET op the DUCHT C0T7BT OP L.A1I-
CASTER is the second officer in that court ; placed
as assessor to the chancellor of the court
ATTORNMENT, attoumer, old French, to
turn over to; under the feudal system, the assent
of a tenant to his lord's alienation of the seignoiy ;
thus securing him against having his fealty and
services transferred to another without his know-
ledge. There was a reciprocal obligation on the
tenant to obtain the lord's consent to any aliena-
tion.
ATTRACT' ».«&».
Attractabil'itt,
Attrac'tiok,
Attrac'tivb, a. & atff,
ArrKAc'tivELv^
AtTRAC'tIT EN ESS,
Attrao'tor.
real but subtle agency in' drawing an object to
its subject; to conoiliale, to win the heart, to
gain the affections^
Setting the tfMroeAM nf tty good paita aride, I havt
BO other ckanao.
Lat«MrwAo,al/rar-
turn, to draw to;
from ad and traho,
*'ftom tram veho, lo
cany over, Voscius.
To draw to^ bn^
over; to exercise a
The drawing of amknr atfd jet, and other eleclrick
bodies ; and the oMrtteffon in gold, of the spirit of
qnickulver at distance ; and th« attnetim of heat, at
distance; and that of fire^ to naphtha; and that of
tome herbs to water, though at diistance; and divas
others, we shall handle. Boco*.
What, if the sun
Be centre to the world ; and other Stan,
By his aUtaetiu virtue and theh* own
Indeed, dance aboct him tariods rounds T
MUton.
AdomM
She was indeed, and lovely, to attract
Thy love ^ not thy anbjeetion. Id.
Loadstones and tonched needles, laid long in qnick-
silver, have not amitted their atinction.
Brown't Vmigar Emmn.
If the straws be in oil, amber draweth them net ;
oil makes the straws to adhere so, that they cannot
rise onto the attraetar. id,
A man should scarce persuade ^o affections of the
loadstone, or that jet and amber ottractefA amwa and
light bodies. Id,
Shew the care of approving all actioifs so, as may
most effectnally aUract all'to this pcofiMsion.
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ATTRACTION.
247
F«eli dastft and chanat mttrmtt and flanesy
• And woo and contract in their names. JSudibrat,
There were then the aame incentivet of desire on
the one sidoj the same ottraetmeMts in riches, the
same relish in sovereignty. 8ouih. Sennan xiv. 293.
AUraetUm may be perfoimed by impolse, or some
other means ; I nse that word, to signify any force
by which bodies tend towards one another.
Newton'M OpHekt,
Attract, attracted to, the next in place,
Form'd and impell'd its neighboar to embrace.
Pope,
Deign to be lor'd, and ev'iy heart tnbdoe !
What nymph coold e'er attract soeh crowds, as yon f
id.
Homer hwries and transports vs with a oo«iBian4«
ing impetnoeity, Virgil leads as with an attnutioe ma«
jesty. Id,
As the atirtictne power in bodies is the most ujbuu
veisal principle which produceth innomerable effects,
so the corresponding social appetite in human soolj
is the great spring and source of moral actions.
Berhelejf.
Ah ! why was nun so atfracthe made.
Or, why fond man so easily betrayM f
Why heed we not, while mad we haste along.
The gentle voice of Peace, or Pleasnre's song Y
CbffMf.
Fovoflts in every age must b«ve had mttraetm hor*
ton: otherwise so many nations would not have
resorted thither to eelebrato tha xitea ol sopeistition.
Beattie.
Attraction. The wofd attraction i| em-
ployed to express the power by which, bodies
approach each other ; or rather that whidh gives
them the tendency to this approximaikkm. It is
considered and designated mfferently as its ope-
ration is upon greater or less distances, and as
the masses or particles of matter are affected 1^
it. In the first instance, m. that of operation
throu^ distance, and npoQ mass, the power is
termed gravitatum, while contiguous attraction
denotes tne agency of the power as exerted upon
minute particles, and as operating upon dis-
tances that are not sensil}le.
AU bodies composing the material system of
*he universe are considered as having a mutual
disposition to approadi each other, what-
ever may be the distances at which Ihey are
placed. The nature or absolutely essential prin-
ciple of this gravitating tendency is of course
unknown ; but many of its laws hare been in-
▼estigated and satisfactorily applied to the explar
nation of phenomena. 'Die main and leaning
•circnmstances which dharaetense gravitation aie
Ihese, that its action on bodies is direcdy as the
mass or quantity of matter, and inversely as the
square of the distance. These, theoy are die
laws of gravitation generally. (See Gravita-
tion.) But there are other species of attractions
-which likewise seem to be m opetation upon
mass and at distance, but which are apparently
peculiar in modification. Snch are the magnetic
«id electric attractions, which some philosopben,
liowever, are disposed to generalize mto an iden-
tity with the power just s^dverted to. See Mag-
VETiSM and Electricity.
But masses of matter are necessarily composed
of minute particles, and the power by which
this combination of sepamte particles into a whole
ut mass is efiectad, is termed, as wc have above
staled} contiguous aUiaction; this being again
subdivided into the attractiou of cohesion or
aggregation; and into chemical attraction or
acuity ; the former being exerted between par-
ticles of difieieot kinds of matter : the first unites
bodies so as to form aggregates, the essential
properties of whidi are the same as that of the
particles which compose it ; the second forming
substances which have qualities different from
those of the bodies that have entered into com-
bination.
These two varieties of contiguous attraction
may perhaps be viewed as ultimately the same
power, the difference of their effects being rather
referoble to the difference of the material operated
upon ; but it is necessary to consider them dis-
tinctly, as the effects which they respectively pro-
dnce, are themselves so differrat.
The attraction of cohesion or aggregation is
exerted with the greatest force and effect when
the boAy is at its maximum of solidity. In this
case ^e particles which* compose the mass v»
united by a reciprocal attraction of such energy,
that they oppose mechanical attempts at sepa«
ration, as is instanced in the force requixed to
Ifreak a solid compact stone ; but the attractive
energy seems in different states of solidification
to be exerted with different degrees of strength ;
then, again, firom loose solid, the gradation pro-
ceeds to absolute liquid, and ultimately to gaseous
and vaporous existence ; in the ratio indeed of
departure from solidity does the attraction of
cohesion become weaker and weaker. In the
condition of fluidity ' it is only exerted under
such a modification, that a slight impulse is suffi-
cient to disunite the parts, and scarcely any re-
sistance is now opposed to any force, the opera-
tion of which is to bring these into new arrange-
ments ;* and^ when vaporous exiatepce obtains^
this resistance is entirely overcome, < the paiti*
des instead of attracting, now repel each oiher ;
they are made to approximate only by pressure,
and they recede when this is withdrawn. Bodies,
therefore, exist in the aeriform, the liquid, or tha
solid sute, according as this attraction is exerted
between their particles, and it is this power which
unites their particles.*
It was supposed by the eariier philosophers,
that as the attraction of gravitation influences
bodies with a force inversely as the squares of the
distance, so the laws of attraction between the
particles themselves follow the same ratio; but
the acUiesion of bodies is found to be much
fpeabet than could be inferred from this source
and it was therefore conceived that cohesive
attraction is governed by a much higher ratio,
and probably the cube of the distances. * The
modems on the contrary, among whom are
Bergman, Guyton Morveau, and others, have
remariLcd that these deductions are too general,
because fotr the most part drawn from the con-
sideration of sphericaU bodies, which admit of
no contact but such as is indefinitely small, and
exert the same powers on each other, whichever
side may be obverted. They remade likewise,
that the consequence depending upon the sum
of the attractions in bodies not spherical, and at
minute distances from each other, will not follow
the inverted ratio of the square of the distanoa
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248
ATTRACTION.
taken from any point •ssumed as the centre of
gravity, admitting the particles to be governed
by that law ; but that it will greatly differ accord-
ing to the sides of the solids which are presented
to each other, and their respective distances ; in-
somuch that the attractions of certain particles
indefinitely near each other will be indefinitely
increased, though the ratio of the powers acting
upon the remoter particles, may continue nearly
the same.'^l/re.
Much however is requisite in application to
the rationale of minute attraction, if it may be so
expressed, before a generalisation of its laws can
be admitted, in the same manner as is done with
respect to the principle of gravitation generally.
< Speculation on these heads (says the same able
autnor from whom we have above extracted,)
may be regarded in ihe present state of science
as standing much in the same situation as the
theory of gravity, Which is minutely described in
Plutarch, did with regard to astronomy "before
tiie time of Newton. A^tbe celestial phenomena
were formerly arranged from observation merely,
but are now computed from the physical cause,
gravitation, so, at present, the science now re-
ferred to, is ihe science of matter of fiict dul^
arranged, without the assistance of any extensive
theory, immediately deduced from the figures,
volumes, densities, or mutual actions of the par-
ticles of bodies.'
As matter of fiict, however, it is necessary to
observe that to the power of cohesive attraction
is opposed those influences which alter the forms
of bodies from solids to fluids, and from fluids
to vapor ; and that aggregation is thus weaken-
ed or overcome by three opposing influences,
viz. mechanical violence, heat, and chemical
agency. The first is instanced in the operation
of powdering or pulverising, and other processes
by which separation to a greater than natural
distance is effected of the constituent particles of
matter. With respect to heat it is to be observed,
that if a solid substance be exposed to it under
circumstances favorable to its action, the volume
of the substance is enlarged, the particles com-
posing it are therefore separated from each other,
and the attraction by which they were kept in
noion is counteracted. The enlargement of
Tolume continuing to proceed as the heat is in-
creased, until the point is reached, at which the
attraction is so frur modified that the body passes
into a fluid form. If the application of heat be
continued, the particles are still further separated
from each other ; and this still continues increasr
ing until the.attraction between them is overcome,
a repulsion is established, and the fluid passes
into the aerial form. Chemical action, as we
have above remarked, is capable of efiecting the
same formative change. If^ a liquid be poured
on a solid, it often happens that from the mutual
attraction exerted between them, the aggregation
of tlie s61id is subverted, its particles are detach-
ed and diffused through the liquid so as to be no
longer perceptible, end not even to impair the
transparency. This constitutes the chemical
process named solution, which is merely a case
of chemical combination, differing from others
in the circumstance that one of the bodies exists
iu the liquid form, and communicates that form
to the other. It is the result of the predomi-
nance of the mutual affinity of the liquid and
solid over the cohesion of the solid. The affinity
exerted to a solid by a substance in tbp aeria!
form may in like manner overcome its cohesion
and cause it to pass into the aeriform state. And
even the mutual attraction exerted between two
^ solids is sometimes Such as to diminish the power
of cohesion in each so as to admit of their union
and their transition to a liquid state.
We have now to notice those changes in bo-
dies, which, as opposed to their mere formatrre
existence, may be regarded as the manifestatioir
more directly and unequivocally of what would
be called chemical agency ; vix. that, in which
the power is exerted between the particles or
atoms of different kinds ; the result of the union
effected by this affinity not being a mere aggregate,
having the same essential properties, though per-
haps different in form, but being altogether a
new material.
It is remarkable that Sir Isaac Newton was the
first to indicate with precision, the nature and
extent of this power, as well as that of gravita-
tion. In his letter to Mr. Boyle, containing ob-
servations on the nature of acids, and m other
publications, he speaks of bodies combining in
tome cases, and refusing to unite in others, be-
cause in the one instance an attracti(>n exbts, iir
the other it does not ; and he iurtlier talks of
comppunds being again decomposed by the
agency of another body, owing to an attraction
exerted by that body to one of the principles of
the compound, superior in force to the first at-
traction.
Since the time of Newton, the subject of chemi-
cal attraction, or the attraction of affinity, has been
investigated with abundant ardor, and vnth great
success ; minute observation of its laws and the phe-
nomena it produces, has devdopeda multituaeof
most interesting facts and principles which will
fall to be noticed under the head of Chemistry,
and in other parts of this work. But there is
one leading principle by which it is regulated
that demands to be noticed in the present article ;
it is this, that there is ^ general reciprocity of
saturating proportions in uniting bodies ; or, in
other woras, that combioatiou is effected in
definite proportions ; the> full development of
this law was made by Mr. Dalton, who has thus
overturned the doctrine of indefinite affinity
taught by the celebrated Berthollet, and has been
successful in showing * that the different com-
pounds of the same principles do not pass into
each other by imperceptible gradations, but pro-
ceed in successive proportions, each a multiple
of the first.'
So far indeed as the hd of definite proportions
goes, we ought to give the credit ot discovery
and detection to Richter of Berlin. Mr. Iliggins
too, in his Comparative View of the Phlogistic
and Antiphlogistic Theory, published in the be-
ginning of the year 1789, had plainly indicated
Uie doctrine of multiple proportion, with respect
to the successive compounds of the same consti-
tuents ; but to Mr. Dalton is due the merit of
having, to use the language of Dr. WoUaston,
shown, * that in all cases the simple elements of
bodies are disposed to unite atom to atom aingly ;
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ATTRACTION.
249
or if either is in exoeis, it exceeds by ft ratio to
be expressed by some multiple of the number of
its atoms.'
In the course of our researches, undertaken for
the purpose of giving the reader a correct notion
of tnis theory, we have found no statement more
dear and explicit on the subject than that which
we have met with in the last edition of Dr.
Henry's Elements of Chemistry. We proceed,
therefore, to extract largely from that section of
this work which is devoted to the consideration
of the atomic theory ; the several objections that
have been proposed to this theory,' we purpose
canvassing in the article Chemistry, under wnich
head many opportunities will necessarily occur
of repeatedly adverting, both in direct and inci-
dental ways, to the doctrine under notice. We
shall here, however, take occasion to say, with
the author from whom we are about to extract,
that the instances in which the theory agrees with
the results of analysis are too numerous to be
considered as accidental coincidences ; and no
phenomena have hitherto been shown to be irre-
concileable with the hypothesis. Its value and
importance, if not contradicted by new &cts, will
be scarcely less felt as a guide to further inves-
tigations into the constitution of bodies, than as
a test of the accuracy of our present knowledge ;
and the umyersalx^r of its application to chemical
phenomena, will be scarcely inferior to that of
the law of gravitation, in explaining the facts of
natiiral philosophy.
In the chemical combination of bodies with
each other, says Dr. H. a few leading circum-
stances deserve to be remarked.
1st. Some bodies unite in all proportions; for
example, water and sulphuric acid, or water and
alcohol.
2dly. Other bodies combine in all proportions,
as far as a certain point, beyond which, combina-
tion no longer takes place. Thus water will take
up successive portions of common salt, until at
length it becomes incapable of dissolving any
more. In cases of this sort, as well as in those in-
cluded under the first head, combination is weak
and easily destroyed, and the qualities, which
belonged to the components in their separate
state, continue to be apparent in the compound.
3dly. There are many examples in which bo-
dies unite in one proportion only ; and in all
such cases the proportion of the elements of a
compound must be uniform for the species. Thus
hydrogen and chlorine unite in no other propor-
tions than those constituting muriatic acid,
which, by weight, are 1 of the former to 36 of the
latter. In cases of this sort, combination is ge-
nerally energetic ; and the characteristic qualities
of the components are no longer observable in the
compound.
4tnly. Other bodies unite in several propor-
tions ; but these proportions are definite, ana, in
the intermediate ones, no combination ensues.
Thus six parts by weight of charcoal combine
with 8 of oxygen, or with 16, but not with inter-
mediate quantities; 64 parts copper combine with
8 of oxygen, or with 16, and with tliose propor-
tions only.
It is further remarkable, that when one body
enters into combination with another, in several
different proportions,' the numbers indicating the
greater proportions are exacdy simple multiples
of that denoting the smallest proportion. In
other words, if Uie smallest proportion in which
B combines with A, be denoted by 10, A may '
combine with twice 10 of B, or with three times
10, and so on : but with no intermediate quan-
tities. There cannot be more striking instances
of this law than those above mentioned, of the
compounds of copper and charcoal with oxygen;
in wnich the oxygen of the last compound may,.
in both cases, be observed to be a multiple of
that of the first by the number 2. Examples,
indeed, of this kind have, of late, so much in-
creased in number, that the Taw of simple multi-
ples, first discovered by Mr. Dalton, bids fair to
become universal with respect at least to chemi-
cal compounds, the proportions of which are
definite.
Facts of this kind are not only important in
themselves, but also on account of the generali-
sations that have been deduced from them ; for
on them Mr. Dalton has founded what may be
termed the atomic theory of the chemical con-
stitution of bodies. Till this theory was pro-
posed, we had no adequate explanation of^the
uniformity of the proportions or chemical com-
pounds; or of the nature of the cause which
renders combination, in other proportions, im-
possible. In this place I shall offer only a brief
illustration of the theory ; for in the course of
the work I shall have occasion to apply it to the
explanation of a variety of phenomena.
Though we appear, when we effect the chemi-
cal union of booies, to operate on masses, yet it
is consistent with the most rational view of the
constitution of bodies to believe, that it is only .
between their ultimate particles, or atoms, that
combination takes place. By the term atoms, it
has been already stated, we are to understand
the smallest parts of which bodies are composed.
The infinite divisibility of matter, indeed, against
which powerful arguments before existed, has
been rendered still less probable by Dr. Wollas-
ton, in his essay on the * Finite Extent of the
Atmosphere' (Phil. Trans. 1822); all the phe-
nomena according with the supposition that the
earth's atmosphere * is of finite extent, limited
by the weight of ultimate atoms of definite mag-
nitude, no longer divbible by repulsion of their
parts.' An atom, therefore, must be mechani-
cally indivisible, and of course a fraction of an
atom icannot exist, and b a contradiction in
terms.
The atoms of all bodies probably consist of a
solid corpuscle, forming a nucleus, and of an at-
mosphere of heat, by which that corpuscle is
surrounded ; for absolute contact is never sup-
posed to take place between the atoms of bodies.
The figure of a simple atom may readily, there-
fore, be conceived to be spherical. But in com-
pound atoms, consisting of a single central atom,
surrounded by other atoms of a different kind, it
is obvious that the figure (contemplating the solid
corpuscles only) cannot be spherical ; yet if we
include the atmosphere of heat, the figure of a
compound atom may be spherical, or some shape
approaching to a sphere. • To determine tne
relative diameters of the atoms of bodies is a
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250
ATTRACTION.
problem of considerable difficulty. With respect
to those of elastic fluids, it was some time ago
efl*ected by Mr. Dalton (New Syst p- 226), and
the same principle has been lately extended by
Mr. Emmett to solid and liquid bodies. (Ann.
Phil. N. S . ix. 110).
Takmg for granted that combination takes
place between the. atoms of bodies only, Mr.
Dalton has deduced, from the relative weights
in which bodies unite, the relative weights of
their ultimate particles, or atoms, which is all
that we are likely to determine respecting them;
1 atom of A + 1 atom of B
1 atom of A -j- 2 atoms of B
2 atoms of A -f 1 atom of B
1 atom of A 4- 3 atoms of B
3 atoms of A + ^ &tom of B
for it is not probable that our knowledge will
ever extend beyond the ratios of these w^ts.
When only one combination of any two elemeiv
tary bodies exists, he assumes, unless the con-
trary can be proved, that its elements are united
atom to atom singly. Combinations of this son
he calls binary. But if several compounds can
be obtained from ihe same elements^ they com-
bine, he supposes, in proportions, expre»ed by
some simple multiple of the number of atoms.
The following table exhibits a view of some of
these combinations:
= 1 atom of C, binary.
= 1 atom of D, ternary.
= 1 atom of E, ternary.
= 1 atom of F, quaternary.
== 1 atom of G, quaternary.
A different classification of atoms has been pro- with 2 of • A, or with 3, 4, &c. When such a
posed by Berzelius, viz. 1st, elementary atoms; ^series .of compounds exists, the relative propor-
2dly, compound atoms. The_ compound atoms tion of their dements oa^ necessarily, on ana-
he divides again into three different species, viz.
1st, atoms formed of only two elementary sub-
stances united, or compound atoms of the first
order : 2dly, atoms composed of more than two
elementary substances ; and these, as th^ are
only found in organic bodies, or bodies obtained
by the destruction of o^rganic matter, he calb or-
ganic atoms : 3dly, atoms formed by the union
of two or more compound atoms ; as for exam-
ple, the salts. These he calls compound atoms
of the second order.
lysis, to be proved to be 5 of A to 4 of B ; or
5 to (4 -f 4 =) 8 ; or 5 to (4 + 4 =) 12, &c.;
or contrariwise, 4 of B to 5 of A; or 4 to (5 +
5 =) 10 ; or 4 to (5 + 5 + 5 =) 15. Be-
tween these there ought to be no intermediate
compounds : and the existence of any such (as
5 of A to 6 of B, or 4 of B to 7i of A) would, if
deariy established, militate againsi the hypo-
thesis.
To verify these numbers, it may be proper to
examine the combinations of A and B with some
If elementary atoms of different kinds were of third substance, for example, with C. Let us
the same size, the greatest number of the atoms suppose that A and C form a binary compound,
of A thoX could be combined with an atom of B in which analysis discovers 5 parts of A aiid 3 of
would be 12 ; for this is the ^eatest number of C. Then, if C and B are also capable of foim-
sphencal bodies that can be arranged in contact ing a binary compound, the relative proportion
with a sphere of the same diameter. But this of its elements ought to be 4 of B to 3 of C ; for
equality of size, though adopted by Berzelius, is these numbers denote the relative weights of
not necessary to the nypothesis of Mr. Dalton^ their atoms. Now this is precisely the method
and is, indeed, supposed by him not to exist. by which Mr. Dalton has deduced the relative
As an illustration of the mode in which the weights of oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen ; the
weight of the atoms of bodies is determined, let two first from the known composition of water,
us suppose that any two elementary substances, and the two last from the proportion of the ele-
A and B, form a binary compound ; and that ments of ammonia. Extending the comparison
they have been proved experimentally to unite in to a variety of other bodies, be has obtained a
the proportion, oy weigh^ of 5 of the former to scale of the relative weights of their atoms.
4 01 the latter ; then, since, according to the In several instances, aidditional evidence is ac-
hypothesis, they unite particle to particle, those quired of the accuracy of the weight, assigned to
numbers will express me relative weights of their an element, by our obtaining the same number
atoms. ' But besides combining atom to atom from the investigation of several of its oom-
singly, 1 atom of A may combine with 2 of B, pounds. For example :
or wi^ 3, 4, &c. Or 1 atom of B may unite
1. In water, the hydrogen is to the oxygen as . 1 to 8.
2. In olefiant gas, the hydrogen is to the carbon as 1 to 6.
3. In carbonic oxide, the oxygen is to the carbon as 8 to 6.
Whether, therefore, we determine the weight In selecting the body, which should be as-
of the atom of carbon, from the proportion in sumed as unity, Mr. Dalton has been induced to
which it combines with hydrogen, or with oxy-
gen, we arrive at the same number 6 : an agree-
ment which, as it occurs in various other
instances^ can scarcely be an accidental coinci-
dence. In a similar manner, 8 is dfeducible, as
representing the atom of oxysen, both from the
combination of that base with hydrogen and widi
caibon; and 1 is inferred to be the reUtive
weight of the atom of hydrogen from the, two
principal compounds into which ttenten.
fix on hydrogen, because it is that body which
unites with others in the smallest proportion.
Thus, in water, we have 1 of hydrogen by weight
to 8 of oxygen ; in olefiant gas, 1 of hydrogen
to 6 of carbon ; and in sulphureted hydrogen,
1 of hydrogen to 16 of sulphur. Taking for
granted that all these bodies are binary com-
pounds, we have the following scale of numbers,
expressive of the relative weights of the atoms of
their elements :
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A T T R A
Uydfogen 1
Oxygen 8
* Carbon 6
Sulphur 16
Drs. t^llaston and Thomson^ and Professor
Berzelius, on the other hand, have assumed
•xygen aa the decimal unit (the first making it
10, the second 1, and the third 100), chiefly with
a view to facilitate the estimation of its numer-
ous compounds with other bodies. This, it
appears to me, i^ to be regretted, even though
the change may be in some respects for the bet-
ter, because it is extremely desirable that chemi-
cal writers should employ an universal standard
of comparison for the weights of the atoms of
bodies. It is easy, however, to reduce their
numbers to Mr. Dalton's by the rule of propor-
tion. Thus as 8 (Mr. Dalton's number lor oxy-
gen, corrected by the latest experiments), is to 1
(his number for hydrogen), so is 10 (Dr. Wolla»-
ton's number for oxygen), to 1*25, the number
for hydrogen.
Sir H. Davy has assumed, vrith Mr. Dalton,
the atom of hydrogen as unity : but tbit philo-
sopher, and Berzelius also, have modified the
theory, bv taking for granted that water is a
compound of one proportion (atom) of oxygen,
and two proportions (atoms) of hydrogen. This
is founded on the fact, that two measure^ of hy-
drogen gas, and one of oxygen gas, are neces-
sary to form water; and on the supposition,
that equal measures of different gases contain
equal numbers of atoms. And as, in water, the
hydrogen is to the oxygen by weight as one to
eiglit, two atoms or volumes of hydrogen must,
on this hypothesis, weigh one, and one atom or
volume of oxygen eight; or if we denote a single
atom of hydrogen by one, we must express an
atom of oxygen by sixteen. It is objectionable,
however, to this modification of the atomic
theory, that it contradicts a fundamental propo-
sition of Mr. Dalton, the consistency of which
with mechanical principles he has fully shown ;
namely,- that that compound of any two ele-
ments^ which is with most difiiculty decomposed,
must be presumed, unless the contrary can be
proved, to be a binary one.
It is easy to determine, in the manner al-
ready explained, the relative weights of the
atoms of two elementary bodies, which unite
only in one proportion. But when one body
unites, in different propprtions, with another, it
is necessaiy, in order to ascertain the weight of
its atom, that we should know the smallest pro-
portion in which the former combines with the
falter. Thus, if we have a body A, 100 parts of
•which, by^ weight, combine with not less than
thirty-two of oxygen, the relative weight of its
atom will be to thaX of oxygen as 100 to thirty-
two; or, reducing these numbers to their lovrest
terms, as twenty-five to eight; and the number
twenty-five will, therefore, express the relative
weig:ht of the atom of A. But if, in the progress
of science, it should be found, that 100 parts of
A are capable of uniting with sixteen parts of
oxygen, then the relative weight of die atom of
A must be doubled ; fbr as 100 is to sixteen, so
is fif^ to eight This example will serve to ex-
plain the changes that have been sometimes
C T I o N.
261
made in the weights of the atoms «f certain bo-
dits ; changes which, it may be observed, always
consist either in the multiplication or division of
the original weight by some simple number.
There are, it must be acknowledged, a few
cases in which .one body combines vnth another
.in different proportions; and yet the greater
proportions are not multiples of the less, by any
entire number. For exampte, we have two
ooddes of iron, the first of which consists of 100
iron and about thirty oxygen; the second of
100 iron and about forty-five oxygen. But the
numbers thirty and forty-five are to each other
as one to one and one-half. It will, however,
render these numbers (one and one-half) con-
sistent with the law of simple multiples, if we
multiply each of them by two, which will change
them to two and three ; and if we suppose that
there is an oxide of iron, though it has not yet
been obtained experimentally, consisting of 100
iron and fifleen oxygen ; for the multiplication
of this last number by two and three, will then
give us the known oxides of iron.
In some cases, the peroxide of iron for in-
stance, where we have the apparent anomaly of
one atom of one substance, united vnth one and
one-half of anqther, it has been proposed by Dr.
Thomson, Annals of Philosophy, p. 87, to re-
move the difficulty, by multiplying bbtii num-
bers by two; and by assuming that, in such
compounds, we have two atoms of the one com-
bined with three atoms of the other. Such com-
binations, it is true, are exceptions to a law
deduced by Berzelius; that in all inorganic
compounds, one of the constituents is in the
state of a single atom. But they are in no re-
spect inconsistent with the views of Mr. Dalton ;
and are, indeed, expressly admitted by him to
be compatible with his hypothesis, as well as
confirmed by experience.
The reader is referred to an able account of
the atomic theory, published by Mr. Ewart,
in the sixth volume of Thompson's Annals.
Under the word Equivalents too, in Ure's Dic-
tionary of Chemistrjr, the subject will be found
handled in a masterly manner.
On elective affinity, or the unequal, and
selecting attraction of bodies, and on the causes
which modify this action, both in a simple and
complex manner, let the reader consult the arti-
cle Chemistry, in the present work.
Attractives, or Attractive remeoies, me-
dicines which are to be externally applied, and
which b}r their activity and warmth penetrate the
pore^, mix with, and rarefy, any obstructed mat-
ter, so as to render it fit for discharge, upon lay-
ing open the part by a canstic or incision.
ATTRAH£NTS, in medicine, are tiie same
with maturants, digestives, &c.
ATTRAP'. Fr. attraper^ to catch, seize, ap-
prehend, over-reach ; used as we now use entr^.
See Trap.
Bat Riduurd hit brother being an expert and poK-
tiqne tawn, fo craftilye conaeyed, and to wisely or-
dered kimselfe in his stormy tempest, that he was
not attrcqpped eyther with net or snare. GrafUm, ▼. 2.
For^ all hxB armour was like salvage weed
With woody mosse bedight, and all his steo \
With oaken leaues attraft, that seemed fit
For saluage weight. Spenaer^t Faerie Quecne,
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ATT
253
ATT
"\ Lat attribuoy from
farfi
ATTRIBUTE,
Attrib'otablb, tad and trihuoy to lay
Attribu'tion, ^a thing to. To ap-
Attribu'tive, n. & adj. } portioDy to give a
proper share; to yield as aue, to impute, to
ascribe, assign, charge.
It (enyy) is also the vilest Affection, and the moft
depraved : for which caiue it is the aUrittUe of the
Devil, who is called the envious man, that soweth
tares amongst the wheat by night: as it always^
Cometh to pass, that Envy woiketh subtily, and in the
dark, and to the pr^adice of good things, such as is
the wheat. Lord Baoon't Emayt.
It takes
From our achievements, tho' performed at height.
The pith and manow of our aUrHmU, SuUupeam,
If speaking truth.
In this fine age> were not thought flattery ;
Such attribution should the Douglas haxe.
As not a soldier of this season's stamp.
Should go so general current through the world.
Id.
We snfier him to persuade us we am as gods; and
never suspect, these glorious aUribaikm may be no
more than flattery. Deoajf if Pietff.
We attribmU nothing to God, that hath any repug-
nancy or contradiction in it. Power and wisdom have
no repugnancy in them. tiBotaim,
Much of the originatioh of the Americans seems
to be aUribiuiUMB to the migrations of the Seres.
HaU.
Your vain poets alter did mistake.
Who ev'xy aUriSmU a god did make. Dr$fden.
All the perfections of God are called his attribute$;
for he cannot be without them. JVait^i Logich,
1 have observed a campania determine, contrary to
appearances, by the caution and conduct of a general,
which were attributed to his infirmities. Temple,
The imperfection of telescopes is attributed to sphe-
rical glasses ; and mathematicians have propounded,
to figure them by the conical sections.'
Newton*t Optieke.
As to be perfectly just is an attribate of the Divine
Nature ; to be so, to the utmost of our abilities, is the
glory of a man. Addum.
Perhaps it may appear upon examination that the
most polite ages are the least virtuous. This may be
attributed to the folly of admitting wit and learning
as merit in themselves, without considering the appli-
■ lof ■
Beneficence, would the followers of Bpicurus say,
ii all founded on weakness ; and whatever be pi^
tended the kindness between men and men, is by
every man directed to bimielf. This, it must be con-
fessed, is of a piece with that hopefii] philoaophy
which having patched man up out of the four ele-
ments, attributet his being to cluuice. Groos.
Attribute, in physics, a quality determining
■omething to be afteic a certain manner. Thus
understanding is an attribute of mind, and exten-
sion an attribute of body. That attribute which
the mind conceives as the foundation of all the
rest is called its essential attribute ; thus extension
is by some, and solidity by others, esteemed the
essential attributes of body or matter.
Attributes, in logic, the predicates of any
subject, or what may be affirmed or denied of
any thing.
Attributes, in painting and sculpture, mo-
bols added to sereral figures to intimate their
particular office and character. Thus the eagle
is an attribute of Jupiter; a peacock, of Juno;
a caduceus, of Mercury ; a club, of Hercules; and
a palm, of Victoiy.
Attributives, in grammar, are words which
are significant of attributes; and thus include
adjectives, verbs, and particles, which are at-
tributes of substances ; and adverbs, which de-
note the attributes only of attributes. Mr. Harris^
who has introduced ibis distribution of words,
denominates the former attributives of the first
order, and the latter attributives of the second.
ATTRITfi, ) Lat. atteroy attrUumj to mb
Attrition, ^against; ad and tero, to beat
small, to wear out by rubbing. The act of rub-
bing used figuratively by theological wi iters.
Or, by collision of two hodies, grind
Their air attrite to fire. MUtem.
From these premises it follows, that if the priest
can absolve him that is attrite, he may pardon him
who hath affections to sin still remaining ; that is, one
who feaa hell, but does not love God.
Ta^or't Petemieal Dieoeunet,
Attritum is a trouble for sin, merely for fear of the
punishment of it, TUlotiem.
This vapour, ascending mcessantly out of the
abyss, and pervading the strata of gravel and die
rest, decays the bones and vegetables lodged in those
strata; this fluid, by its continual attriOom, fretting
the said, bodies. Woedatard,
The change of the aliment is effected, by attritiom
of the inward stomach, and dissolvent Kquor, assisted
with heat. Arbutbuot,
ATTROW, in botany, a name given by the
people of Guinea to a plant which they use in
cases of swellings, boiling the leaves in water,
and using the decoction by way of a fomentation.
It is a species of kali, and is called by Petiver,
kali Guineense foliis polygoni, floribus verticilli
in modum dispositis, from its leave» resembling
the common knot-grass, and its flowers growing
in rundles round the stalks.
ATTRUMMAPHOC, in botany, a name given
by the people of Guinea to a shrub which they
boil in water, and give the decoction in the
venereal disease. The juice, when fresh pressed
out, is sttufied up the nostrils to promote sneering,
and cure disorders of the head and eyes. It is a
species of colutea. Dr. Herman calls it astra-
galus.
ATTUAL, a town of ^Arabia, in Tehama, in
the province of Yemen.* Long. 42® lO* E., lat.
ATTUDSJE, a town of Arabia, in Yemen,
between Kusma and Sai-id. Long. 43® 25' £.,
lat. 14® 40' N.
ATTUIE, a fort of Arabia, in Tehama, seated
on the coast of the Arabic Gulf. LoDg#41®40'£.»
lat 17® Zr N.
ATTUNE. To tune, to set to a tune.
Aixs, vernal airs.
Breathing the smell of field and grov«, mttime
The trembling leaives. MOtoa,
Th' ethereal glow that stimulatea thy fraoie.
When all th* according powers hmrmonions move.
And wake to energy each social aim»
Attumed spontaneous to the will of Jove;
Be these, O man, the triumphs of thy aool.
Judgmma of Pant.
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ATW
253
ATY
ATTURNATUS, in old law Latin, an at-
torney.
ATUR^, a town of ancient Gaul, in the dis-
trict of Novempopulana in Aquitania, on the
Atarus ; now called Aire. Long^. 0^ 16^ £.^ lat.
43* 42' N.
ATURUS, a river of ancient Gaul in Aqui-
tania, now called the Adour.
ATVVAI'NE,^
Atwee'n, f In twain, in two. Gothic
At'wixt, ^twoSy two.
Atwo. }
And Jheras gaf out a great ciy and diede. And
the veyl of the temple was to rent a two from the
liigheste to bynethe. WieUf. 'Mark, c. xr.
And with that word he gan sigh as sore.
Like as his heart rive would afwaine.
And held his peace, and spake no more.
Gkaveer, The CompUmi of the Black Knight.
Her loose loi^; yellow locks (like golden wire.
Sprinkled with pearl, and perling flowers tUween)
Do, like a golden mantle, her atdre. Spetuer,
With them an hideous storm of wind arose
With dreadful thunder, and lightning atwist.
And an eazthipiake, as if it straight would loose,
Tlie world's foundations from its eentre fixt.
/d. Faerie Qaeeae, b. ii.
ATWOOD (George), a celebrated author in
mathematical and mechanical investigations,
was bom in the early part of the year 1746.
He was educated at Westminster school, where
lie was admitted in 1759. Six years afterwards
he was elected to Trinity college, Cambridge,
and took his degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1769,
with the rank of third wrangler. This distine-
tion was amply sufficient to give him a claim to
farther advancement in his own college, on the
list of which he stood foremost of bis contempo-
raries ; and, in due time, he obtained a fellow-
ship, and was afterwards one of the tutors. He
became Master of Arts in 1772 ; and, in 1776,
was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of
London. The higher branches of the mathe-
matics having previously made some important
advances at Cambridge, under the auspices of
Dr. Waring, Mr. Atwood delivered,* for several
successive years, a course of lectures in the ob-
servatory of Tirinity college, which were very
generally attended. In 1 784, or soon afterwards,
Mr. Pitt, who had become acquainted with his
merits by attending his lectures, bestowed on
bim a patent office, which required but little of
bis attendance, in order to have a claim on the
employment of his mathematical abilities in
financial calcoMons. He died universally
respected in 1807. The following, we believe,
is a correct list of Mr. Atwood's publications : —
1. A Description of Experiments to illustrate a
Course of Lectures, 8vo. 1775, or 1776. 2. This
work was reprinted with additions, under the
title of An Analysis of a Course of Lectures on
the Principles of Natural Philosophy, 8vo.
Cambridge, 1784. 3. A General Theory for
the Mensuration of the Angle subtended by two
objects, of which one is observed by Rays after
two Reflections from plane Sur&ces, and the
other by Rays coming airectly to the Spectator's
Eye. Phil. Trans. 1781, p. 395. 4. A Treatise
on the Rectilinear Motion and Rotation of
Bodies, with a Description of Original Experi-
ments relative to the subject, 8vo. Cambridge,
1784. 5. Investigations founded on the Tlieory
of Motion, for determining the^'imes of Vibra-
tion of Watch Balances. Phil. Trans. 1794. p.
119. 6. The Construction and Analysis of
Geometrical Propositions, determining the posi-
tions assumed by homogeneal bodies, which float
freely, and at rest, on a fluid surfiau^e ; also De-
termining the Stability of Ships^ and .of other
Floating Bodies. Phil. Trans. 1796, p. 46.
7. A Disquisition on the Stability of Ships.
Phil. Trans. 1798, p. 201. 8. A Review of the
Statutes and Ordinances of Assize, which have
been established in England from the 4th year
of King John, 1202, to the 37th of his present
Majesty, 4to. London, 1801. 9. A Dissertation
on the Construction and Properties of Arches,
4to. London, 1801. 10. A Supplement to a
Tract entitle^ a Treatise on the Construction
and Properties of Arches, published in the year
1801 ; and containing Propositions for Deter-
mining the weights ot the several sections which
constitute an arch, inferred from the angles.
Also containing a Demonstration of the angles of
the several sections, when they are inferred from
the weights thereof. To which is added, a
Description of original experiments to verify
and illustrate the principles in this treatise*
With occasional remarks on the construction of
an iron bridge of one arch, proposed to be
erected over the river Thames at London. Part
II. By the author of the first part, 4to. London,
1804. Dated 24di Nov. 1803. li. A Treatise
on Optics is mentioned by Nichols, as having
been partly printed by Bowyer, in 1776, but
never completed.
ATYCHIA, in entomology, a genus of in-
sects of the Older lepidoptera, and family zygse-
nides. Its generic characters are : palpi rising
considerably beyond the clypeus, anteriorly very
hirsute with long hairs, wings short; posterior
tibiae with scales and elongat^ spurs.
ATYPOS ; from a negative, and nnroc, form;
irregular, a word used by the old writers in medi-
cine, for such diseases as did not observe any
regularity in their periods. Others have used
the word for deformities in the limbs ; and others
for defects in the organs of speech.
ATYPUS, in entomology, a genus of the class
arachoides, order acera, and family araneides.
Its generic characters are.: eyes on each side
geminate ; labium inserted under the base of the
maxillae, very small, quadrate ; palpi placed at
the base of the external dilatation of the maxillse.
The A. sulzeri has been found in this coyntry by
Dr. Leach, and inhabits turfy declivities, where
it forms a deep cylindrical excavation, seven or
eight inches long, in which it weaves a kind of
funnel of white silk. The cocoon in which the
eggs are deposited, is fixed at the bottom of this
cavity by means of threads attached to each end.
ATYS, the soil of Croesus, king of Lydia, is
reported to have been bom tonsue-tacked, and
of consequence to have been dumb for many
years ; till observing one of Cyrus's soldiers going
to kill his father, his passion suddenly broke the
membrane that held his tongue, -and he cried out
' Save the king 1'
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Atts, in fabulous history^ a celebrated ihep-
herd of Phiygia, with whom Cybele, commoiuy
called the mother of the goda, A\ passionately in
love. Slie gava him the care of her temp^, ax
the same time making him vow he would always
live in celibacy. He afterwards violated his
promise by an amour with the nymph Sangaris,
on which account the goddess brougnt upon him
such a species of insanity which made him castrate
himself with a sharp stone. The same operation
was purposely performed by his sacerdotal suc-
cessors, in Ae service of Cybele, that their vows
of perpetual chastity might not be broken. This
is the most generally received account ; though^
according to some writers, the cause of the fond-
ness of tlie goddess for A^s, was his introduciiif
her festivals into the greatest part of Asia Minor;
and that she herself mutilatea him. Ffom Pan*
aanias we learn that Atys was the son of a
nymph of the Sangar, who became pregnant by
placmg the branch of an almond tree in her
ixMom. AoGording to the passage (Achaie. c.
17), Jupiter having had an amorous dream, some
of the impurity of Aie god dropt upon ihe evih,
from which ti monster of an human form was
produced, with the parts of both sexes. This
monster was named Agdistis, and was by the
gods deprived of the characteiteties of the male
sex. The mutilated parts having been thrown
on the ground, an almond tree sprung from
them, a branch of which one of the daughters of
the Sangar took and put in her bosom. As soon
as Atys was, bom, he was exposed in a wood,
where a she-goat nourished and preserved him.
While in the wood, he was observed by Agdistis,
who was captivated with his beauty ; and when
Atys was aoout to celebrate his nuptials with
the king of Pessinus's daughter, Agdistis, jealous
of a rival, mfused into the king and his intended
son-in4aw such a spirit of madness as led than
to attack and mutilate one another in the struggle.
We fiurther learn from Ovid, that as Atys was
going to lay violent hands upon himself^ he
was changed by Cybele into a pine-tree ; and
that from that time the pine-tree was held sacred
to the mother of the gods. Divine honors were
paid to Atys after his death, and temples erected
to his memory, among which that at Dyms was
the most famous.
Atts, a Trojan, who accompanied iElneas to
Italy, and from whom it is supposed the family
of the Atii at Rome descended.
AVA, or Akgwa, a city of the Birman empire,
fiiur miles west of Umroarapura, the metropolis.
It is in lat 21'' 51' N., and long. 95"* 58' £. ; and
was once the capital, but is now in ruins. Here
are two large temples, one of which contains an
image of Gaudma, (Gautama) or Buddlia, twenty-
four feet in height, and ten feet across the breast. '
There are also tbe reliques of many other temples
in decay. For Ata, as an empire, see Bikman
Empire, its more usual and modem designation.
AVA-AVA, a plant, so called by the inhabi-
tants of Otsdieite, from the leaves of which Aey
express an intoxicating juice. It is drank very
freely by dieir chiefs, who vie with each other in
drinking the greatest number of draughts, each
draught being about a pint; but they keep it
carefully from their women.
AVA
AUACH, or Atach, the
Avoch.
AUAD, a mountainous district of Arabia, in *
the province of Yemen, near the city of Udden.
Long. 44° IC E., lat. 14° 5' N.
AvACHA, AwATSCHA, a considerable river of
Kamschatka, falling, afiter a course of ninety
miles from west to easty into a bay which bears
the same name. Its mouth is rather narrow,
but deep enough to admit ships of the greatest
burden, and abounding in good anchorage ; the
bes^ of which is the harbour of St. Peter and St
Paul. On the north side of the bay is the \^ol-
cano of Avacha, which constantly smokes, though
it has had no. considerable eruption since 1734,
and that only lasted twenty-four hours. A small
town called the Avachinski Ostrog was begun in
1740; it is in a tolerably flourishing state, and
principally supported by die trade in beaver
skins. The river Avacha has a course of about
ninety miles.
AVADOUTAS, a sect of Indian Brahmins,
who in austerity surpass all the rest. Tlie other
sects retain eartlien vessels to hold their provi-
sions, and a stick to leaa on : but none of these
are used by tbe Aradoutas; they only oover
afaeir nakedness with a piece of cloth, and some
of them even lay that aside, and go stark naked,
besmearing meir bodies with eow^ung ! When
hungry, some go into houses, and, without speak-
ing, hold out their hand; eating on the spot
whatever is given them. Others retire to the
sides of holy rivers, and there expect the peasants
to bring them pcovisioos, whicn they generally
do very liberally.
AVAIL', v.&n. % Ft.val^ir, to bewortii;
Atail'able, >Lat. vaUoy to be strong, to
Atail'ableness. ) be in health. To possess
advantageous properties ; to be of force or signi-
fication. Tlie M is intemive.
All diingt subject to actioa, the will does so far in*
dine unto ; as lesson judges them more mmlable to
mm bliss. ifiwfecr.
L&ws hamaa are anaSatle by consent. 14.
Drake put one of his men to death, having no au-
thority nor commission aoaiUMe. Raie^h.
For sll that else did come, were sure to fail;
Yet would be further none, but for aoaU. Sjpetuer.
I chftxgethee^
As heav'n shall work in me for thine anaU,
To tell me truly. • Shaktpeare,
We differ, from that stpposition of the eflkacy, or
availablatev, ot suitableness^ of these to the end.
Those excellent means God has bestowed on us,
well employed, cannot but much acail us : but if other-
wise perverted, they mine and confound us.
Bvrton't Amattm^ of Meiameholg.
Truth light upon this way, is of no idoi« ewaU to
us than errour. Lodte,
Nor can my strength omnl; vnleM, by thee
j&iduM with force, 1 gain the victory. JPrydflw-
When real merit is wanting ; it «M«a(s nothing, to
hsve been encouraged by the great.
Pops'* Pre/hot to ku ITorAt.
Mean time he royag'd, to explora the will
Of Jove, on high Dodona's holy hill ;
Vhat means might best his safe letwa avaiL
Pupc.
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AVA
265
AVA
I Afa ! what oDoiU the lore of Rome sad Greece,
All that arty fortune, enterpriae can bring,
£, If envy, scorn, remorse, or pride, the bosom inrring.
Beattie,
Avail of Mabeiage, in andent Scofs law,
that casuality in inward-holding, by which the
superior was entitled to a certain sum from his
vassal, upon bis attaining the age of puberty, or
/. fourteen years, as the avail and ^ue of his todier.
AVAL, or Bahhkein, the lar^st of the Bah-
hrein islands in the gulf of Persia. It is about
. thirty miles in length, and twelve wide, where it
is broadest. Besides the fortified town of Bah-
hrein, it contains about sixty poor villages. Long.
48° 4' E., lat. 26° 36' N.
AVAXANCHES, prodigious masses of snow
and ice that roll down the mountains in Savoy,
particularly mount Blanc, to the extreme danger
^ of travellers.
'Oft rushing sadden from the loaded clifi.
From steep to steep, loud thund'iing down they come,
A wintry waste in dire commotion all ;
And herds and flocks, and travellers and swains.
And sometimes whole brigades of marching troops.
Or hamlets sleeping in the dead of night.
Are deep beneath the smothering ruin hurl'd.'
Some of them are 150 or 200 feet diameter ;
being fragments of the ice-rocks which break by
their own weight from the tops of the precipices.
See Blanc, Mount.
AVAL.ON, or Avalloh, the chief town of an
arrondissement in the department of the Yonne
in France, situated, with its strong castle, on the
river Cousin. Population 4200; that of the
arrondissement is 42,800. It is twenty leagues
west of Dijon.
AvALON, or AvoLONy a peninsula of New-
foundland.
AvALON, or AvALONiA, the ancient name of
Glastonbury, where king Arthur was buried. See
Arthu&, and Glastonbury.
AVALOS (Ferdinand Francis d'), marquis of
Pescara, was bom in the kingdom of Naples,
lie entered into ihe service of Charles V. atad ac-
companied the army to the battle of Ravenna,
where he was made prisoner. During his cap-
tivi^ he amused himself in writing a Dialogue
on Love, and dedicated it to his wife. Ailer his
f release be again entered into the emperor's ser-
vice, and was present at (he taking of Milan,
where he 4ied in 1525, aged thirty-six.
AvALOs (Alphonso d'), marquis del Vasto, was
bom in 1502. He was a near relation of the
above ; and was likewise a zealous officer in the
armies of Charles V. He died in 1546.
AVANIA, in the Turkish legislature, a fine for
crimes, and on deaths, paid to the governor of
the place. In the places wherein several nations
live together under a Turkish governor, he takes
this profitable method of punishing all crimes
amoi^ the Christians or Jews, unless it be the
murder of a Turk.
AVANT, the front of an army. See Van.
AvANT is defined by Mr. Chalmers, a French
preposition, signifying before, or any priority in
respect of time or place ; sometimes used in 000^
position, in our language^ but more usually con-
tiacted, and wrote vaunt, vant, or van.
AvANT Fosse, &c. See Van Fosse.
AvANT-ouARD, avautgarde, French. The van
the first body of an army< — ^The horsemen might
issue forth without disturbance of the foot, and
the avant-guard without shuffling with the battail
or arriere. — Hatoard, .
AvANT Mure, an outward wall.
AvANT Peach, a peach early ripe.
AvANT Ward, the yan of an army.
AVANTE, among ancient medical authors,
a name given to a disease, seeming, from their
accounts of it to be the same with hypochon-
driasis.
AVANTIO (Jobn Mario), an Italian lawyer
of great eminence, bom in 1564. He displayed
his abilities first at Ferrara, and afterivards at
Padua; at which last place he died in 1622.
Besides several other pieces, be wrote an eccle-
siastical history, from the commencement of the
reformation.
AvANTio (Charles), a celebrated physician, '
was a son of the abbve. He was author of a
commentary on the work of Bapt. Fiera, printed
at Padua, in 1649.
AVANTURINE, in mineralogy, a species of
common quartz, containing a number of minute
fissures, and sometimes crystals of mica. These
lie in parallel, or n^rly parallel planes : so that
when the stone is cut into a double convex figure,
the imaginary plane of junction of the two sphe-
rical segments being parallel to the planes in
which the fissures lie, a play of light is produced
on the suriace of the stone. The most beautiful
varieties have been found in Spain.
AVARA, a river of Gallia Celtica, mentioned
by Ctesaiy in the county of Brituriges, now called
^jiion.
AVARES, one of the predatory tribes in the
north of Asia Minor, who made great ravages in
tlie eastern empire. Having penetrated the
Sclavonian and Greek territories, they first ap-
peared on the banks of the Danube, A. D. 560,
and established themselves at Sirmium, and in
Upper Hungary. Their riches, and their alliance
witn Thassilo, chief of the Baii, alarmed Charle-
magne, who, in A. D. 803, attacked them in per-
son, and drove them into Corinthia. They have
been conjectured to be the Aorsi, or Adorsi, of
Strabo.
There is still on the banks of the K6ij^, in
Lezgist&o, and on the eastern side of Mount '
Caucasus, a tribe called Aor or Avar, whose
language is a peculiar one, but has an affinity with
several others used in the neighbouring districts.
There is also a city of this name conjvisting of
about 600 houses, die residence of a hereditary
prince or chief. He has considerable influence ;
and, on a lato occasion, a neighbouring potentate
purchased his sister in marriage for £25,000.
In his palace, the only one wi£ glass windows ,
in eastern Caucasus, there is a large hall, well
provided with provisions, constantly «>Den to all
strangers. In me city of Avar fine shawls are
manu&ctured from the wool of Caucasian sheep ;
one of which, an ell and a half long, may be
drawn through a ring. These people are war-
like and courageous ; and their chief, the Avar
Kh^ is roudi courted by the Russians. He
was raised to the rank of a lieutenant-general,
with a pension of io,000 silver rubles (£2000)
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266
AVATAR.
in 1807. He can bring 20,000 men into the
field, and his dependant khan 10,000 more.
AVARIA, in the Turkish and Persian domi-
nions, a sum of money exacted from the Christians
or Europeans, to be quit of some fiilse accusation
framed on purpose.
AVARICE, -N Jjii. avaritia, avarus ;
AvARic'ious, /from avarcy to covet, to
AvARic'iousLT, b- desire greedily. Applied
AvARic'iousNESSjitoone whose ruling pas-
AVARICUM, an ancient town of the Bituriget
in Gallia Celtica, situated on the Avara, in a very
fertile soil ; now called Bourges. Long, 2** iff E^
lat. 47° 5' N.
AVAROMO Temo, in botany, a siliquose
tree, which grows in the Brasils. The bark is
externally of a cineritious, and internally of a
deep red color, and is the only part of the plant
used for medicinal purposes, though some indeed
use the leares. But the bark, which is bitter.
Av'arous. J sion is the acquisition of whether reduced to a powder, or boiled and used
wealth for its own sake.
Now good men ! God forgive you your
And waie you fro the tixme of avarice,
]tf in holy pardon may you all warice ;
So that ye olfre noblei or ftarUnges,
Or ellea silver brochet, sponey, ringes.
Chaaear. Pardmmnt Tai€.
But father I herde you say
How the amorom hath yet some way
Whereof he maie be glad. For bee
Maie, whan hym list, his treture see.
And grope, and fele it all aboute.
G&wer. Con. A. book v.
This speech hat been condemned as anaricwu ; and
Eustathius judges it to be spoken artfully.
Broome on the Odyeeey,
Luxurious, Morieioiw, false, deceitful.
ShaJup, Maeheih,
There grows
In my most ill-<ompo8*d affection, such
A stanchless aeaeiee; that, were I king,
I should cut off the nobles for their lands.
This anairiee of praise in times to come ;
Those long inscriptions, crowded on the tomb.
Dryden.
Kor love fiis peace of mind destroys.
Nor wicked anorice of wealth. /''*
Avarice is insatiable ; and so he went, still pushing
on for more. L'EOrange,
Though the apprehensions of the aged may justify
a cautious frugality, they can by no means excuse a
sordid ooarice. Bfoar.
An insatiable thirst of riches renders Pygmalion
every day more wretched and detestable. In his do-
minions it is a crime to be wealthy : ovoribs makes
him jealous, suspicious, and cruel : he persecutes
the rich, and he dreads the poor.
Mawkeeworth't Telemachui,
Avarice, of all the various passions by which
as a fomentation, cures inveterate ulcers, and, it
is said, has been found to cure even cancers. It
is also used as a corroborant, on account of its
astringent quality, by way of bath.
Avast, from basta, Ital. it is enough : enough ;
cease. A word used among seamen. It always
precedes some orders, or some conversation, and
answers the same purpose as — ^harkye, list, attend,
take heed, hold. Like the Ital. avacci, I think
it means — ^be attentive, be on the watch, i. e.
awake.— Tooke, ii. 362.
AVATAR, in the Hindoo my thology, an incar-
nation of the Deity. Ten of these are incarna-
tions of VishnO, the supreme God, in his cha-
racter of preserver. Four are the subjects of
Puranas, or sacred poems. Nine of them are
believed to be past, and the tenth is yet to come.
The first is the Matsya Avatar, or descent of
the deity in the form of a fish. Of what species
this fish was, the sages have not determined ; but
Vishnus' object was the recovery of the holy Vedaa
from the ocean, in which they remained after
one of the periodical dissolutions of the univene.
The second is the Rachyapa,or KGrma Avatar,
in which the same god appeared in the form of a
tortoise, in order to sustain and give stability to
the newly created earth.
The third is the Vai^ha Avat^, when he ap-
peared in the shape of a boar, and plunging into
the waters which had overwhelmed the earth, in
one of its periodical destructions, fixed bis tusks
in it and arew it up.
The fourth is the Nara-^ingfha, or man-lion
Avatlir. Kas vapa, one of the descendants of
Daksha, the first created man, had two wives,
whose characters, to judge from their children,
were very difierent, for one produced the gods,
and the other the giants. Among the latter
mankind is governed, is the least to be accounted were two Hirany&ksha and HiranyakaS'ipu, who
for, as it precludes its subject from all pleasure it seems stole a march on Brahnui, and almost
except that of hoarding. Tlie ambitious man, compelled him, by dint of their austerities, to
the gamester, or even the prodigal, have all grant what he had no mind to give them — ^im-
something to plead, by way of palliative for their mortality. Their strength was already quite
inordinate anections to their respective objects terrific, so that to give it an endless duration
and pursuits ; but the subject of avarice gratifies was more than the god thought prudent. IIow-
his passion at the expense of every conveniency, ever, he could not resist the claim of austerities
indulgence, or even necessary of life. And practised for sotne thousands of years, and,
though convinced tl^at money is only the means therefore, to release himself from this dilemma,
of enjoyment, not the end, and that it is only he engaged that no ordinary being should destroy
valuable as fiir as it is useful for attaining that them; ahd that they should not die either hj
end, yet such is his infatuation, that the images day or by night, in earth or in heaven, by fire.
of his bags and shining metal, with all the an-
nexed ideas of property, enjoyment, security
against vtrant, independence, &c. prevent him
from using the means, and make him appear
without property, in misery, in want, and de-
by water, or by the sword. Satisfied with this
assurance, they immediately began to show bow
well they understood the value of their powers,
they conquered the whole earth, and then
dethroned Indra, king of heaven. He immedi-
pendent.' Ko passion is more opposite to the diately carried his complaint to Brahm^ who
nope of a future life than avarice. very coolly answered that he could take no part
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A V A T A R.
257
against those upon ^hom he had bestowed a
blessing ; but that perhaps Vishnii would. This
latter deity kindly undertook to settle the busi-
ness, and restore Indra to his kingdom. To
effect that purpose he assumed a mixed form,
half man and half lion ; he concealed himself in
a column in Hiranya-kas'ipu's palace, and, when
that gigantic monster struck the column in a fit
of rage and profaneness, out started Nerasing^a,
seized the giant by his thigh, and ripped
him up in an instant. This was certainly the
action neither of fire, water, nor the sword ; it
was cettainly not done by any ordinary being;
neither was it done by day or night, for it was
in the evening, and it was also under the eares,
and consequently between earth and heaven.
Thus was Brahma's promise fulfilled. How
the other worthy Hiranvaksha, or Gold-eye, was
killed we are not told; but Vishnd consoled
Pralhdda, Ilyranya-kaslpu's pious son, by assur-
ing him that his father would ascend to heaven.
The fifth, or V&mana incarnation, was occa-
sioned by the same family. Pralhad'ha had a
very audacious sou, named Bali, who daringly
made offerings to himself, and performed the
as'wa-m^d'ha, or sacrifice of a horse so of^en,
that scarcely any thing could be refused to him,
and he demanded the throne of heaven. Vishnd,
having been applied to for relief against this
troublesome giant, conveyed himself into the
body of Aditi, the wife of Kas'ypa, the grand-
&ther of the giants, and was bom a dwarf— V&-
mana. His diminutive size charmed the tyrant
Bali, who, to gratify him, promised to give what-
ever he should ask. He modestly demanded as
much land as could be measured by three steps :
and, placing one foot on earth and another on
heaven, out started a third from his belly, for
which he demanded a resting-place; the king's
head was the only one that could be found, and
to make up matters with the god, whose power
was now indisputable, Bali consented to go
down to Patala, or hell, on a promise of Vishnu's
1)rotection. Thus did a dwarf repress tlie turbu-
ence of a giant.
In the sixth, or Parasii-Rama Avat^, Vishnd
came into the world, as the son of Jamadagni, a
descendant of the sage B'hrigu, in order to chas-
tise the military caste, or Kshatriyas, whose in-
dolence and disorder had become insufferable.
One of them, a king, named Arjuna, took a fancy to
a marvellous cow, named K&ma-d'h^nu, the pro-
perty of Jamadagni, and attacking her possessor
witli a large army, routed and slew him. Kama,
tlie son of tlie luckess sage, determined to avenge
his Other's death, and going to Kailasa (Olympus),
knocked down Siva's porters, who refused ad-
mittance to him, presented himself to the god,
and received from him a paras'u, or weapon with
which he slew Arjuna. These incarnations all
took place in the SatyaYuga, or Golden Age : the
•emainder are more modern.
The seventh, or Rama-chandra Avatar, was
VishnCi's descent for the purpose of subduing
another giant Ravana, who reigned in Lank^, or
Ceylon, and carried off Sita, the wife of Kama,
in his absence from home. Their contests and
the final victory of llama are the suoject of the
celebrated epic poem called tlie llamayana.
Vol. III.
Pralamba, and other troublesome giants, who.
it appears, were not confined to the golden age of
the Hindoo mythology, made an eighth incarna-
tion requisite, and Vishnu again descended in the
form of^Bala-Hama. This took place in theDw^-
par, or Brazen Age, and brings us nearer to the
period of something like genuine history.
Budd' ha, tfie ninth, overcame the giants, his
adversaries, by a veiy singular artifice ; he pro-
duced, by his preaching, an universal scepticbm,
so that the gods, no longer compelled to grant
prayers, had no difficulty in ridding the world of
Its scourges, these all-powerful giants.
The Kalkt, or tenth Avatar, is yet to come!
He will be the son ofaBifthman, and be bom in
the city of Samb'hala at the close of the Kali
Yuga, or Iron age. IJe will appear, say the
Brsihmans, mounted, like a crowned conqueror,
on a white steed, with a scymitar blazing like a
comet, to mow down all his foes. Plates of the
incarnations of Vishnd from Indian drawings,
were first given by Athanasius Kircher, in his
China Illustrata, in. 1667. They are to be found
also in Baldens (ChurchilFs collection), whence
they were copied in Mr. Maurice's Indian An-
tiquities : which see. — War^s View of Hiiuloo
Literature, ffc,
AVAUNCHERS, among hunters, the second
branches of a deer's horns.
A VAUNT. Fr. avant, a word of abhorrence,
by which any one is driven away.
O, he is bold, and blushes not at death ;
Avaunt, thou hateful villain, get thee gone !
ShahMpeare,
AVAUX, a town of Champagne, in France,
with 1500 inhabitants, belonging to the depart-
ment of the Ardennes, arrondissement of Rhetel
It is seated on the Aisne, not far from Rheims,
and formerly belonged to tlie family of de Memes,
from whom sprung the celebrated diplomatist
Claudius corate dAvaux, ambassador of France
at the treaty of Westphalia.
AUB, or Auw, a baliwick and town of Fran-
conia, on the GoUach, between Uffenheim and
Ochsenfurt. It had, in 1804, about 160 houses,
and 1120 inhabiUnU, and belonged to the dis-
trict of Rottingen, in the principality of Wurt^
burg, but was united to Bavaria in 1815. The
hospital is well endowed. It is seventeen miles
south of Wurtzburg. Long. 10° 10' E., lat.
49° 37' N.
AUBAINE, in the ci-devant customs of
France, was a right vested in the king of being
heir to all foreigners that died within his do-
minions. By this right the French king claimed
the whole inheritance of foreigners, notwithstand-
ing any testament the deceased could make.
But an ambassador was not subjected to it ; and
the Swiss, Savoyards, Scots, and Portuguese,
were also exempted.
AUBE, a department of France, so named
from the river bounded on the north by (hat of
Mame; on the east by Upper Mame; on the
south by those of the Cote d'Or and Yonne;
and on the west by that of Seine and Mame.
Its chief town is Troyes,
AuBE, a river of France, which rises in the de-
partment of Unner Ma rne, and, running through
Digitized by
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AUB
258
AUB
that of Aube, passes by Bar-sur-Aube and Arcis,
and falls into the Seine, near Nogent.
AUBENAS, a town of France, in the Lower
Vivarais, in Languedoc, now included in the
department of the Ardeche, arrondissement of
Privas. It was for some time the capital of an ar-
rondissement, but is now only the head of a canton.
The population is about 3315. Aubenas is a manu-
facturing place of some consequence, containing
silk-mills and extensive cloth-works. The twisted
silk, called organs] n, is wrought here by a mill,
constructed by the ingenious Vaucanson; the
average quantity manufactured in a year being
550 cwt. Here also are made handkerchiefs,
neckcloths, chintzs, and stuffs, partly consumed
in the country, and partly exported to the
Levant. The raw material is brought chiefly
from Spain. The cloths dyed here are also in
great repute. In the neighbourhood is a famous
medicinal spring, and mines of coal. It lies on
^e Ardeche, five leagues S. W. of Privas, and
135S.S.E. of Paris.
AUBERT (Peter), an eminent French lawyer,
bom at Lyons in 1642. He appeared very early
AuBESPiNE (Charles de V)j marquis of Cha-
teau-Neuf. He was chancellor of France, but
was imprisoned ten years. After his liberation
he was taken into fiivor by Henry I V, He died
in 1653.
AuaESPiNE (Gabriel de 1*), was of the same
family with the above. He became bishop of
Orleans, in which station he showed himself a
man of great learning. He died in 1630, ag^
fifty-two. .
AuBESPiNE (Magdalen de T), a celebrated
French lady. She was the wife of de NeuviUe,
seigneur de Villeroi, and author of several ex-
cellent pieces in prose and verse. She died
in 1596.
AUBIER, or Aubour, the French name ibr
that soft wliitish substance which lies round
a tree between the bark and the solid wood.
Mr. Barkley thinks it performs the ofEce of
veins. It may be considered as a third baik,
whose fibres are less compact than those of the
others, and is properly the hi of the tree. It
hardens gradually, and becomes imperceptibly a
part of the woody substance. There are few
in the world as an author, by the publication of trees without some aubier, which is more or less
a romance, called R^tour d'Isle d'Aroour. He ^^^f^ anevwAiner tn *\\a «itiioHnn in «Vii««ii *Ua
filled several important stations in the city of
Lyons, and established an extensive public li-
brary. In 1710 he published two volumes of
Cases, and, in 1723, a new edition of RicheWs
Dictionary, three volumes, folio.
AUBERTIN (Edmund), a French Protestant
divine, — was bom in 1595, and in 1631 was
chosen minister of the reformed church at Paris.
In 1633 he published a work on the Eucharist
of the ancient church, which was attacked by
Amauld and other Catholic writers. He died at
Paris in 1652.
AUBERY (Anthony), a French lawyer, and
historical writer, bom in 1617. He was very
much given to study, taking no pleasure in the
bustle of public business, but preferring a retired
life. The following are the principal froits of
his labours : 1. The History of the Cardinals, five
volumes, 4to. 1642. 2. Memoirs of the Cardinal
de.Richelieu, two volumes, folio, 1660; in which
the character of the cardinal is more respected
than tmth, which is sometimes sacrificed to his
praise. 3. The History of Cardinal Mazarin,
four volumes, 12mo. 1751. 4. On the Pre-
eminence of the kings of France, 4to. 1649. 5.
A Treatise on the Pretensions of the king of
France to the Empire, 4to. 1667. He died in 1695.
AuBERY (John), a French physician of tlie se-
venteenth centurv. He was author of an Apology
for Physic, in Latin, 8vo. printed at Paris in
1608, and an Antidote to Love, in French,
12mo. 1559.
AuBEBY (Louis de Maurier), a French writer.
In 1682 he published Memoirs for a History of
Holland, two volumes, 12mo. He died in 1687,
leaving Memoirs of Hamburgh, Lubeck, Hol-
stein, Denmark, and Sweden, which were pub-
lished at Amsterdam, in 1737.
AUBESPINE (Claude de T), baron of Cha-
teau-Neuf. He was a descendant of a noble family
at Chartrain, and filled the office of secretary of
state under several of the kings of France. He
died in 1567.
thick according to the situation in which ^e
trees are planted, for the more they are exposed
to the rays of die sun the less aubier will be
found in mem. In the oak it is seldom above
an inch, or an inch and a half thick. When
a tree is cut down, or dies in the ground, the
aubier remains always of the same consistency
without being turned into solid wood. It is
liable to rot, and therefore merchants ougbt to
take care that as litde aubier is left on their
wood as possible.
AUBIGNAN, a town of France, in the Ve-
naissin, with the title of marquisate, and 1330 in-
habitants, now included in the department of
Vaucluse, arrondissement of Orange. It is famed
for its oil. Five leagues and a half N. E. from
Avignon.
AUBIGNE (D' Theodore Agrippa), an illus-
trious French author, was bom m 1550. He
made such an early progress in letters, that he it
said to have translated Plato's Crito, from the
Greek into French, when he was only eig:ht
years old. His fatlier dying when he was thir-
teen, he attached himself to the cause of Henry
IV. under whom he fouglit, and who made him
gentleman of his bedchamber. He soon became
a favorite with Henry, who raised him to several
other high offices ; but he at length lost his fa-
vor, partly by refusing to comply with liis pas-
sions, and partly by a democratic kind of inflexi-
bility. Quitting France, he took refuge in Ge-
neva, where he was highly honored, and spent
tlie remainder of his days in writing different
works. His chief production is his Histoire Uni-
verselle, from 1550 to 1601 ; with a short Ac-
count of the Death of Henry IV. three volumts,
folio. The first volume was scarcely publbhed
when the parliament of Paris condemned it to be
burnt, as ' a work wherein kings are treated not
only with little respect, but even outraged V He
died'at Geneva, in 1630, aged eighty.
AtjBiGNE,or AuBiGNY, a small town of Franc» ,
in the department of Cher, seated on the Nttrrtf.
in a fine plain, twenty-four miles north of Bourses
Digitized by
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AUB
259
AUB
It is surrounded with strong walls, wide ditches,'
and high counterscarps. The castle is within the
town, and is very handsome. Long. 2° 28' £., lat.
47^ 31' N.
AufiiGNY, a ci-derant dukedom in France,
belonging to the duke of Richmond in Eng-
land, as descendant of the duchess of Portland,
the favorite mistress of Charles II., at whose so-
licitation it was given her. It was confirmed to
the duke of Richmond and registered in the Par-
liament of Paris in 1777, but abolished with
other French titles in 1790.
Anglicanum. lie succeeded to several good es-
tates, but law-suits and other misfortunes con-
sumed them all, so that he was reduced to abso-
lute want. In this extremity he found a valuable
benefiau:tress in lady Long, of Dracot, who gave
him an apartment in her house, and supported
him till his death, which happened about A. I).
1700. He was a good Latin poet, and an excel-
lent naturalist, but somewhat credulous, and
tinctured with superstition. He wrote, 1 . Mis-
cellanies. 2. A Perambulation of the county of
•Surry, in five volumes, 8vo. 3. The Life of Mr.
AUBIN, in horsemanship, a broken kind of Hobbes of Malmsbuiy. 4. Monumenta Britan-
gait, between an amble and a gallop, — accounted
a defect.
AuBiN (St.), sometimes called Hodiere, a
market town, situated on a bay of the same name,
in the island of Jersey, three miles from St. Hil-
lier's. The port is defended by a pier, which
runs out into the sea, in the same manner as that
at Guernsey. The town is well built, and much
frequented by merchants. The parish church
being at some distance, there is here a chapel of
ease. Market on Mondays. Latitude 49° T, N.
long. 2° 15' W.
AUBL£TIA, in botany, a genus of the class
and order polyandria monogynia. The essential
characters are, calyx five-leaved, corolla, five pe-
talled, capsule many celled, echinate, with many
nica, or a Discourse concerning Stonehenge, and
Roll-Rich Stones in Oxfordshire. 5. Architec-
tonica Sacra. 6. The Natural History of Wilt-
shire. 7. Universal Education, and several other
works still in MS.
AUBRIOT (Hugo), a Frencn reformer, from
whom the appellation Hugonots. He was trea-
surer of the finances, and mayor of Paris ; and
under his magistracy the Bastile was built, in
1369. Soon after he was accused of heresy, and
sentenced to confinement between two walls,
from which the Maillotins, a set of insurgents,
released him, in 1381. He however left them,
and retired into Burgundy, where he died tlie.
following year.
AUBUSSON (Peter d*), grand master of the
seeds in each cell. There are three species, all knights of Rhodes, was born in La Marche, in.
trees, and natives ofSouth America. 1423. Having entered into the order of St. John
AU BONNE, a district or bailiage of Switzer- of Jerusalem, be was elected grand master, in
land, in the canton of Bern, and territory of 1476 ; and, in 1480, when the Turks made an
Vaud, which contains several villages, mostly at attack upon the island, it was by his vigorous con-
the foot of mount Jura. duct tliey were repulsed. He obtained a car-
AuBONNE, a rapid river of Switzerland, which dinaFs hat by very dishonorable means — the de-
runs through the above district, and falls into the livering up to the pope prince Zizim, brother of
lake of Geneva. In mount Jura there is a very
deep cave, which is a natural and perpetual ice-
house. At the bottom is heard a great noise,
like that of a subterraneous river, which is sup-
Bajazet, who had taken refuge in Rhodes, from
the vengeance of the sultan. He died in 1503.
AU'BURN . Sometimes written Abron , which
Irf u :u7T*u A K "^"V ^^^" '?/"P- it is suggested may be the past participle of to
posed to be that of the Aubonne because it fim ^^ J-^^ ^ ^^^ V broVned.^ Others
appears with several sources, about a hundred '.-'.. -'»..'
paces from the foot of that mountain
Aubonne, a town of Switzerland, in the above
district, situated near the river, seven miles north
of the lake of Geneva, upon an eminence which
has a gentle declivity, at the foot of which runs
the river, with an impetuous torrent. It is built
in the form of an amphitheatre ; on the upper
part of which stands a castle with a court, and a
portico supported by pillars of a single stone each.
The castle stands hi^, and there is a most de-
lightful prospect, not only of the town and neigh-
bouring fielas, but of the whole lake of Geneva
and the land that surrounds it. Aubonne is si-
tuated eighteen miles W. of Lausanne. Long. 6®
15' E., lat. 46® 30' N.
AUBREY (John), F.R.S. a famous English
antiquary, bom at Eston-Piers, in Wiltshire, in
1626, and educated at Trinity college, Oxford.
In 1646 he was entered of the middle Temple,
Imr quitt(*<i the study of the law on account of
some embarrassments in his private affairs. He
contracted an intimacy with several learned men.
contend for albtamy from whiteness, regarding it
as a color inclining to white.
His faire aubeme haire had nothing upon it but
white ribbin. Pembrohe'a Arcadia,
Not wanton white, but such a manly colour
Next to an ahron, tough, and nimble set ;
Which shows an active soul.
Beaumont and FUtcher. The Two Ndbk Kmmen,
These curious locks so aptly t\\'in'd.
Whose every hair a soul doth bind.
Will change their auburn hue and grow
White and cold as winter snow.
Carew. Penuanoni to Love,
Close to her side, in radiant arms, a youth.
Who like the brother of the Graces moves.
His head uncas'd, discovers auburn locks
CurlM thick, not flowing.
Ohfter^a Leonidat, book ii.
And not a year but pilfers as he goes
Some youthful grace that «ge would gladly keep,
A tooth, or auburn lock. Coteper'a Pnema,
AUBUSSON, a small town of France, in the
and was one of the first members of the Royal department of Creuse, thirty-seven miles north-
Socict}'. He made the history and antiquities of east of Limoges. Its situation is very irregular,
j!.ngiand his peculiar study ; and contributed on the river Creuse, in a bottom surrounded with
ct>Qsiderable astintanoe to the famous Mon^tiopn rocks and mountains.
S2
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AUC
260
AUC
AUCAGUREL, the capital of the kingdom of
Adel, in Africa, seated on a mountain. Long.
44*^ 25' E., lat. 9° 10' N.
AUCH, a town of France, in the department
of the Gers. It has a beautiful cathedral, and
is sixteen leagues west of Toulouse.
AncH, or Ach, in the Gaelic, signifies a field
of some extent, generally arable and horizontal.
In composition, Auchen, Auchin, or, as it ought
rather to be spelt, Auch-an, signifies the field of,
the particle an, in Gaelic, being always the sign
of the genitive, when placed between two sub-
stantives ; although when prefixed to one sub-
stantive, it implies only the definite article the.
AUCHABER, or Achaber, a hill in Aber-
deenshire, in the parish of Forgue, on the south-
east declivity, of which there are the remains of
an elegant circular Roman redoubt.
AUCIIINLECK, in Gaelic, a field of rock;
a parish of Scotland, in Ayrshire, eighteen
miles in length, and two in breadth ; memorable
for being the birth-place, as well as the property,
of the late James Boswell, Esq. The soil, ex-
cept upon the rocks and banks of the rivers, . is
poor ; but this is compensated by its abounding
m excellent coals, free-stone, a black stone,
which is fire-proof, used for building ovens, and
other minerals. It has also a lead mine, which
some think rather a silver mine, but it has never
been wrought; and two mineral wells. It has
the ruins of an ancient castle, of whose age
there is no tradition; and is ornamented with
an elegant mansion-house, built by the late lord
Auchinleck.
AUCIIINLILY Linn Spout, a cataract in
the parish of Fintiy, in Stirlingshire, over which
the Carron rushes in its course from Carron bog
to the carse of Falkirk.
AUCUL()SSEN,LocH op, a lake in the parish
of Lumphanan, in Aberdeenshire, nearly a mile
in lengtn, and above half a mile broad ^t the
south end. It produces eels and pikes ; some
of the latter six feet long, and twenty-five pounds
in weight. It often overflows its banks in summer.
AUCUMUTY (Sir Samuel), lieutenant-ge-
neral, G. C B. and colonel of the 78th regiment
of foot, entered the army in 1776, as a volunteer
in the 45th regiment ; and served with Sir W.
Howe in North America, the three following
campaigns. In 1783 he held a company in the
75th foot in the East Indies, and was present at
the first siege •f Seringapatam, under lord Com-
walUs. In 1801 he was appointed adjutant-
general to the expedition against Egypt. He
was ordered out to South America in 1806, where
he assumed the command of the troops, with the
rank of brigadier-general ; and in February,
1807, carri^ Monte Video W assault, after a
most determined resistance ; for which services
he received the thanks of parliament. In 1809
he was appointed commander-in-chief of the
Caraatic; and in 1811 reduced the settlements
of Java and Batavia under the dominion of
(ireat Britain, for which he again obtained the
thanks of both houses. On his return tu Europe,
Sir Samuel succeeded Sir P. Baird, as chief of
the staff in Ireland. His death, occasioned by
apoplexy, took place August 11, 1822, in the
sirxty-sixtli yen of his age. His remains, after
lying in state at Kilmainham hospital, were in-
terred in the royal vault in Christ Church Cathe>
dral, Dublin.
AUCHTER, a Gaelic word, signifying high,
or upper, which in composition makes part of
many ancient names of places.
AUCHTERMUCHTY, a town of ScoUand,
in Fifeshire, which was constituted a royal burgh
by James IV. confirmed by James VI. and still
enjoys all the privileges, except that of electing
a representative in parliament. It has three
bailies, fourteen counsellors, a treasurer and
clerk ; and four fairs, viz. on 21st August, first
Tuesday of November and April, and 13th July,
which last is one of the most considerable in Fife,
for horses, cattle, &c. The church was built in
1780, and an elegant manse in 1792. The chief
manufacture is white and brown linens.
AUCKLAND, Bishop, a market town in the
county palatine of Durham, with a population
of near 2000. Here is the palace of the Bishop
of Durham, began in 1283, by bishop Beck, and
is a noble, though irregular, structure. It is 257
miles north-west of London, and ten miles and a
half south-west of Durham. .
Auckland (William Eden, lordX was the third
son of Sir Robert Eden, bart. of West Auckland,
in the county of Durham. Educated at Eton
and Oxford, he was called to the bar by the so^
ciety of the Middle Temple in 1769, and accom-
panied the earl of Carlisle, in 1778, to negociate
terms with tlie revolted colonies of America. He
was chief secretary during the same nobleman's
viceroyalty in Ireland. In 1785 he was sent
ambassador extraordinary to negociate a com-
mercial treaty with France; and in 1788 per-
formed a similar service with Spain. In 1789
he concluded, at the Hague, a treaty between
Great Britain, the emperor, and the king of
Prussia, in settlement ot the affairs of the Nether-
lands ; and the same year he was created baron
Auckland, of the kingdom of Ireland. In 1793
he was advanced to the English peerage by the
same title. Lord Auckland was considered an
able diplomatist, and is the author of the fol-
lowing works : The Principles of Penal Law,
8vo. 1771 ; Five Letters to the earl of Carlisle,
8vo. ; On the Population of England, in Ans\\cr
to Dr. Price, 8vo.; View of the Treaty of Com-
merce widi France, 8vo. ; The History <rf New
Holland, 8vo.; Remarks on the War, 8vo. 1795;
and various speeches in the House of Lords. He
died in 1814.
AUCTION, •) Lat. augeo, auetum. Gr.
Auc'tiomary, > Av(w, increase ; auctio, an in-
Auc'tioneer. j creasing. Auction is a selling
to those who will give the highest price for the
article offered. Aiter successive biddings at a
price constantly advancing, the last bidder is the
Duyer.
And modi more honest, to be hir**!, and stand
With auetumary hammer in thy hand ;
Provokmg, to give more, and knocking thrice.
Tor the old household stuff, or picture's price.
Ihryden** JuoemaL
Estates are landscapes, gaz'd upon awhile.
Then advenis'd, and auctumeer'd away.
Cowper'a Poems. The Task, book iii.
Auction, in old medical writings, the nourish-
ment of an animal body, whereby it is increased
in size.
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AUD
261
AUD
Auction^ in Roman antiquity, was originally
a kind of sale, performed by the public crier sub
hasta, i. e. under a spear stuck up on the occa-
sion, and by a roE^istrate, who delivered the
goods. It vtas temied auctio, q. d. increase, be-
cause the goods were sold to him, qui plurimum
rem augeret, who bid most for them. The auc-
tioneer was called Auctor ; and the term aiicto-
ritas denoted the right of property which the
sale vested in the purchaser. A spear being set
up in the .forum as the sign of an auction, the
phrase sub hast& venire ; (literally, to be sold
under the spear) denoted a sale by auction.
The civil law, according to Huber, Pnelec-
liones, xviii. 2. 7. held private biddings, by or
on behalf of the seller, to be fraudulent : and
this principle was adopted by the courts of law
in this country, in the days of Lord Mansfield,
whose inclination to adopt the maxims of the
civil code is well known ; but latterly the legis-
lature seems to recognise the practice, by ex-
empting such private biddings from the duty im-
posed on sales by auction. A sale, however,
cannot be supported where the purchaser was
the only real bidder, and public notice was not
given of the owner's intention to bid ; but that
public notice is not essential to the validity of a
sale, if there be a contest between one or more
real bidders. (See Sugden's Law of Vendors).
In a Dutch auction, the auctioneer commences
by naming a high price, and gradually reduces
it, until some person closes with his offer.
AUCTORATI, in Roman antiquity, persons
who entered the lists as gladiators, and received
wages, or hired themselves to perform in the
public games.
Auctor ATI Milites, soldiers bound by oath,
and the receipt of wages, to serve in war. They
stood opposed to the exauctorati, who were dis-
banded. The paynnent they received for their
service was denominated auctoramentum.
AUDA'CIOUS, -N Lat. audax, daring; from
Alda'ciously, f fluflfco, Idare. These words
Avda'ciouskess, J describe that bold enter-
Auda'city. J prising incautious spirit,
which, without deliberation, undertakes to try to
vanquish.
Your reasons at dinner have been bharp and sen-
tentious ; pleasant without scurrility, witty without
affectation, audacioui without impudency.
Shalupeare, Low'i Lahour Loat.
Excusing, cavilling upon mandates and directions,
is a kind of shaking off the yoke and assay of disobe-
dience ; especially, if in those disputings they which
arc for the direction speak fearfully and tenderly, and
thottc that are against it, audacioudy.
Lord Baeon'a Eaaayt,
Anniball took his losse and dammage nothing neere
the heart, but rather made full reckning, that he had
caught (as it were) with a bait, and fleshed the audik-
eiotumene of the foolehastie <*onsuIl, and of the soul-
dioon especially. HoUand'a Lwy,
As when the wolf has torn a bullock's hide,
I At unawares, or ranch'd a shepherd's side ;
i Conscibtts of his midadout deed he flies.
And claps his quiv'ring tail between his thighs.
Drydm'a VhyU. JEn, 11.
As Knowledge without justice ought to be called
canning rather than wisdom, so a mind prepared to
meet danger, if excited by its own eagerness, and not
the public good, deserves the name oHf audaeiiy rather
than of fortitude. Steele.
AUDE, a department of France, bounded by
that of Arriege on the west, Upper Garonne on
the north-west, Tarn on the north, Herault on
the north-east, the Mediterranean on the east,
and the eastern Pyrenees on the south. It is
named from the river.
AunE, ariver in France, which rises in the
Cerdagne among the Pyrenees, and, running
north by Alet, visits Carcassone, and, directing
its course by Quillan and Limouse, fiadls into
the Mediterranean, a little to the north-east of
Narbonne. llie Romans dug up gold from its
banks and channel.
AUDEANISM, the same with anthropomor-
phism. See Anthropomorphite.
AUDEBERT, Germain, a counsellor of Or-
leans, on whom the senate of Venice conferred
the order of knight of St. Mark, for a panegyric
in verse, upon the republic, written by him while-
at that city. Uenty II. honored him with a par-
tent of nobility. He died in 1598 ; and his poems
were collected and published in 1602.
Audedert, John Baptist, a French natural-
ist, and a celebrated engraver of natural history,
was born at Rochefort, in 1759. So much did
he excel in the just and elegant representation
of animals, that his' productions are accounted
among the most valuable in the line. His first
piece was L'Hist. Nat. des Singes des ISIakis et
des Galeopith^ques ; a folio volume, published in
1800. This work drew the attention of the pro-
fessors of the museum of natural histoiy at Paris,
who recommended it and the author in honor-
able terms to the minister of the interior. He
did not live to enjoy the fruits of his labors : but
died in 1800, while engaged in other works of
equal splendor.
AUDEUS, or Audius, the chief of the Aude-
ans, obtained the name of a heretic, and the
punishment of banishment, for celebrating eastef
m the manner of the Jews, and attributing a
human form to the Deity. He died in the
country of the Goths, about A. D. 370.
AUDIANISM, the system of Audius and his
followers; particularly as to the belief of the
human figure of the Deity. See Anthropomor-
PHITES.
AU'DIBLE, n. & adj.^^ Lat. audio, I hear ;
Au'dibly, f that which may be
Au'dience, a heard. Loud enough
Au'niENT. 3 to be heard; sounding.
But when this lady comen was
To th' emperour, in his presence.
She said aloud in audience.
Gower, Con. A. book it.
Visibles are twiftUer carried to the sense than ai»-
dibleai ^ appeareth in thunder and lightning, flame
and report of a piece. BacoiCt Workt, rol. i.
Therefore the Omnipotent
Eternal Father (for where is not he
Present), thus to his Son audilfly spake.
MiUan. Paradiae Loti, b. vii.
Don Quixote did prosecute his discourse, in such
wrt, and with so pleasing terms, as he had almost
induced his audietUa to esteem him to be at that time
at least exempt from his frensie.
SheUon*a Tram, of Don QtUsote.
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AUD
Audience Court; a eouit belonging to the
archbishop of Canterbury, of equal authority
with the arches court, though inferior both in
dignity and antiquity. The original of this court
was, because the archbishop of Canterbury heard
several causes extrajudicially at home in his own
palace ; which he usually committed to be dis-
cussed by men learned in the civil and canon
laws, whom he called his attditors ; and so in
time it became the power of the man, who is
called causarum negotiorumque audientix Can-
tuarensis auditor, seu oificialis. Cowel.
Audience Courts are chiefly concerned in
deciding differences arising upon elections, con-
secrations, institutions, marriages, &c.
Audience is also the name of a court of
justice established in the West Indies by the Spa^
niards, answering in effect to the' parliament
under the old government of Franco. These
courts take in several provinces, called also audi-
ences, from the names of the tribunal to which
they belong.
Audience of Ambassadors: a ceremony ob-
served in courts at the admission of ambassadors
or public ministers to a hearing. In England,
auaience is given to ambassadors in the presence
chamber : to envoys and residents, in a gallery,
closet, or in any place where the king happens to
be. Upon being admitted, as is the custom of all
courts, they msie three bows ; after which they
cover and sit down ; but not before the king has
covered and sat down, and has given them the sign
to put on their hats. When the king does not
wish to have tnem covered, and sit, be himself
stands uncovered ; which is taken as a slight. At
Constantinople, minister usually have audience
of the prime vizier.
AUDIENDO ET TERsy NANDO, a writ, or
' rather a commission to certain persons, when
any insurrection or great riot is committed in
any place^ for the appeasing and punishment
thereof.
AUDIENTES, or Auditores, in church his-
tory, an order of catechumens, consisting of those
newly, instructed in the mysteries of the Christian
religion, and not yet admitted to baptism.
AUDIFIIET (J ohn Baptbt),an eminent French
geographer, bom in 1657. He was employed on
embassies to the courts of Mantua, Parma, and
Modena ; and was author of Ancient and Mo-
dern Geography, 3 vols. 4to, Paris, 1689. He
died at Nancy, in 1733.
AUDIGUIER (Vital d'), a French nobleman,
bom at Menor, near Ville-franche de Rouergue,
about 1565. Besides several other pieces, he
wrote a treatise on Duels, printed at Paris in
1617; and Poems on different subjects, 2 vols.
8vo. 1614. He died in 1630.
AU'DIT, w. & n. -\ Lat. audio, I hear.
Au'ditor, f To audit is to hear
Au'ditory, n. k.adj. ^whatever may be said
Au'oiTREss. / on the subject in hand
with a view of passing a judgment ; generally
applied to the examination and passing of ac-
counts by persons denominated auditors, but
who are, perhaps, in these transactions, more
properly, inspectors.. Auditory applies to per-
sons who hear, and sometimes to the place in
%Thich they are assembled.
In vun shall this be expected from our younger
yean; which the vise philosopher excludes from
being meet audUort, muck less judges of true morality.
Bp, HaU't Balm of GUead,
Yet went she not ; as, not with such discourse
Delighted ; or not capable her ear.
Of what was high : such pleasure she reserv'd,
Adam relating, she sole auditrets, Milton.
Met in the church, I look upon yon, as an auditmy,
fit to be waited on (as you are) by both universities.
SotOk,
Several of this auditory were, perhaps, entire
strangers to the person w^ose death we now lament.
Atterhurjf,
Foh! 'twas a bribe that left it ; he has touch'd
Corruption ! whoso seeks an audit here
Propitious, pays his tribute, game or fish.
Wild fowl or ven'son ; and his errand speaks.
Cowper*s Poem.
Will make your very heart strings ake
With loud and everlasting clack^
And beat your auditory drum.
Till you grow deaf, or they grow dumb.
Beattie, The Wolf and Shepherdt,
AUDITA Querela, a writ which lies against
him who has taken a recognizance in the nature
of a statute-staple, or the like, and has asked, or
obtained, execution from the mayor and bailiffs,
or judges, before whom it was entered, &c. It
is granted by the lord chancellor, upon view of
the exception suggested, to the judges of either
bench, willing them to grant summons to the
sheriff of the county where the creditor is, for
his appearance at a certain day before them.
But toe indulgence now shown by the courts in
granting a summary relief upon motion, in cases
of evident oppression, has almost rendered this
writ useless, and driven it quite out of practice.
A late learned judge, Ch. J. Eyre, i. B. and p.
428, states that the court will grant relief upon
motion in all cases where a party would have
been entitled to relief by audita queiell^.
The legal student will find this subject clearly
expounded in Mr. Serjeant Williams's notes to
Saimders's lleports, in the ca&e of Turner v. Da-
vies, vol. ii. p. 137, d.
AUDITfONALlS Scholasticus, in writers
of the middle age, an advocate who pleads causes
for his clients in audiences.
Auditors of the Revenue, or of the exche-
quer, officers who take the accounts of those
who collect the revenue and taxes raised by par-
liament, the accounts of the sheriffs, escheators,
collectors, tenants, customers, &c. The auditor
of the exchequer, an office enjoyed for life, is
one of considerable trust. He is to file the tel-
ler's bills, by which, they charge themselves with
all the monies received ; and by warrant from
the lord treasurer, or the commissioners of the
treasury, he draws all orders to he signed by
him or tliem, for issuing forth all monies, by
virtue of privy seals, which are recorded in the
clerk of the Pells' office, and entered and bdged
in the auditor's office. He also, by warrant of
the lord treasurer, or commissioners of the trea-
sury, makes debentures to such as have fees, an-
nuities or pensions, by letters patent from the
king, out of the exchequer, and directs them
for payment to the tellers. He daily receives
the state of the account of each teller^ ioA wedily
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AUD
eertificates the whole to the lords of the trea<mry.
At Michaelinus and lady-day the auditor of the
exchequer makes a declaration ; that is, he de-
livers an abstract of all accounts and payments
made in the preceding half year, one for the
lords of the treasury, and the other for the chan-
cellor of the exchequer. The office is holden
for life.
in 1356 ; where, having obtained leave of Edward
the Black Prince, to charge in front (in conse-
quence of a vow he liad made), he performed
extraordinary feats of personal valor : out being
at last dangerously wounded, was carried out of
the field. In 1360 he again attended Edward
III. to the wars in France; and after the peace,
in 1361, was made constable of Gloucester
AUDITOR£S, in church history, a branch of Castle, governor of Aquitain, <ind seneschal of
the Manichean sect, who were divided into electi Poictou. He died April 1, 1386.
and auditores ; corresponding, according to some Audlet (Sir Thomas), descended of an ancient
writers, to clergy and laity ; and according to fiEimily in Essex, was bom in 1488 ; and, having
others, to the faithful and catechumens among the advantage of an ufiiversi^ education, was
the catholics. By the Manichean rule, a differ- taken notice of by Henry VIII. and appointed
ent course of life was prescribed to the elect from speaker of the House of Commons m 1529.
that of the auditors. The latter might eat flesh,
drink wine, bathe, marry, traffic, possess estates,
bear magistracy, and the like ; all which things
were forbidden to the elect. The auditors were
obliged to maintain the elect, and kneeled down
to ask their blessing. Beausobre observes, that
Having pleased the king in this station, he pro-
moted him farther next year; and in 1532, ap-
pointed him Lord keeper of the Great Seal, on
the resignation of the famous Sir Thomas More.
In 1533 he made him Lord Chancellor, with
suitable emoluments. In 1535 Audley sat in
the elect were ecclesiastics, and in general such judgment, and pronounced sentence of death
( m^e profession of observing certain c(}unsels,
called evangelic ; such as the clergy and monks,
and they were called the perfect by Tbeodoret
The auditors were the laity, and so denominated
because they heard in the church, while others
taught and instructed. See Audientes.
AUDITORIUM, in the ancient churches, was
that part where the audientes stood to hear and
be instructed. The auditorium was the part now
called navis ecclesie. See Nave. In the primi-
tive times, the church was so strict in keeping
people together in that place, that the person
who went from thence in sermon-time was
ordered by the council of Carthage to be excom-
municateu.
AUDITORIUS Meatus, the auditory passage
or entrance of the ear, called also aurium alveare,
on account of the wax collected in it.
Auditory, in ancient churches. See Audi-
torium.
Auditory is also used for the bench whereon
a magistrate, or judge, hears causes. At Rome,
upon Sir Thomas More, as guilty of high treas6n,
in refusing to acknowledge the king's supremacy
in the church! Upon receiving sentence, Sir
Thomas More said ' he had studied this subject
for seven years, but could find no authority for a
layman being head of the church ;' to which
Audley gave this decisive answer ; * Sir, will you
be reckoned wiser, or of a better conscience, than
all the bishops, the nobility, and the whole king-
dom?' For these and the like services, Henry
created Audley a baron and a knight of the gar-
ter in ,1538. He died in 1544. *
Audley Castle, a fort of Ireland, built on a
promontory in the county of Down, which has
a prospect of the whole lake of Strangford.
Audley Road, a part of Strangford Bay, on
the west side, on the coast of Down in Ulster,
where ships may lie in safety.
AUDRAN (Benoit, or Benedict), the second
son of Germain Audran, was bom at Lyons in
1661, where he learned the first principles of
design and engraving under his father. But soon
' the magistrates had auditories, according to their after going to Paris, his uncle Gerard Audran
dignity. 'Those of the superior officers were took him under his tuition ; and he profited so
called tribunals ; those of the inferior, subsellia. greatly by his instructions, that though he never
The pedanei had their auditories in the portico of equalled the sublime style of his tutor, yet he
the imperial palace. Those of the Hebrews, at deservedly acquired great reputation. Abbe
the gates of cities. The judges appointed by the Fontenai says, • We admire in his works a share
ancient lords distributed justice under an elm, of those beauties which we find in the engravings
whidi was usually planted before the manor- of the illustrious Gerard.' He was appointed
house, and served them for an auditory. the king's engraver, received the royal pension.
Auditory Nerves, the seventh pair, arising was made an academician, and admitted into the
from the medulla oblongata, and distributed, the council, in 1715. He died unmarried at Lou-
one to the ear, the other to the tongue, eye, &c. zouer, where he had an estate, in 1721. His
AUDLEY (Edmund), the son of Lord Aud- manner was founded upon the bold clear style of
ley, bishop of Rochester and Hereford, under his uncle. His outlines were firm and deter-
Heniy VII., was a man of great learning and
generosity. He gave £400 to Lincoln College,
to purchase lands, and was also a benefactor
to St Mhry's Church, Oxford. He died in
1524.
Audley (James, Lord Audley), one of the
English heroes who fought under Edward III.
was bom about 1314. In 1343 he was made
governor of Berwick. In 1353 he reduced a
great part of the country of Valois in France ;
and was present at tlie famous battle of Poictiers
mined ; his drawing correct ; the heads of his
figures are in general very expressive ; and the
other extremities well marked . His works, com-
pared with those of his uncle, appear to want
that mellowness and harmony so conspicuous in
the latter; and the round dots witli which he
finishes his flesh upon the lights are often too
predominant. In his most finished plates the
mechanical part of the engraving is extremely
neat, and managed with great taste. One of his
neatept prints is that of Alexander sick, drinkinj;
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A U D R A N.
from the cup which his physician presents to
him ; a circular plate, from lie Sueur.
AuDRAN (Benoit\ the second engraver of that
name, the son of John Audran, and nephew
to the former Benoit; was also established
at Paris. A little attention will easily distinguish
his works, which are vastly inferior to those of
his uncle. One of the best of his plates is ike
aescent from the cross, from a picture of Poussin.
AuDRAN (Carl), an eminent French engraver,
brother, or cousin to Claude, was bom at Paris
in 1594. In his infancy he discovered much
taste for the arts ; and to perfect himself in en-
graving he went to Rome, where he produced
several prints that did him great honor. At his
return, he adopted that species of engravii^ which
is performed with the graver only. He settled
at Paris, where he died in 1674, unmarried.
The abb^ Marolles, who speaks of him with
great praise, attributes 130 prints to him:
amongst which, the annunciation, a middling
sized plate, upright, from Annibale Caracci ; and
the assumption, in a circle, from Dominichino,
are the most esteemed. In the early part of his
life he marked his prints with C, for Carl, till his
brother Claude punlished some plates with the
same initial, when, for distinction sake, he used
the letter K, or wrote his name Karl.
AuDRAN (Claude), a French engraver, the
first of the celebrated artists of that name, was
the son of Lewis Audran, an officer belonging to
the wolf hunters in the reign of Henry IV. of
France; and was born at Paris in 1592. Al-
though he never made any great progress in the
art, yet he had the honor to be the father of three
great artists, Germain, Claude, and Gerard.
The last of whom has immortalised the name of
the family. He died at Lyons, in 1677.
Audran (Claude), the second son to Claude,
was born at Lyons in 1639, and went to Rome
to study painting ; where lie succeeded so well,
that at his return he was employed by Le Brun
to assist him in the battles ot Alexander, which
he was then painting for Louis XIV. He was
received into the Royal Academy in 1675, and
died unmarried at Paris in 1684. His virtues
(says abb^ Fontenai) were as praise-worthy as his
talents.
Audran (Gerard), the most celebrated artist
of his family, was the third son of Claude, and
born at Lyons in 1640. He learned from his
father the first principles of design and en<rraving
at Lyons ; and went to Paris, where his genius
soon began to manifest itself. Le Brun em-
ployed him to engrave the battle of Constantine,
and the triumph of that emperor ; and for these
works he obtained apartments at the Gobelins.
At Rome he is said to have studied under Carlo
Maratti, to perfect himself in drawing ; and in
that city he engraved several fine plates. M.
Colbert was so struck with the beauty of Au-
dmn^lk works while he resided at Rome, that he
persuaded Louis XIV. to recal him. On his
return, he was appointed engraver to the king.
In 1681 he was named counsellor of the Royal
Academy; and died at Paris in 1703. He had
been married, but left no male issue. The
greatest excellency of this artist, above that of
Hny other engraver, was, that though he drew
admirably himself, yet he contracted no manner
of his own ; but transcribed on copper simply,
with great truth and spirit, the style of the mas-
ters whose pictures he copied. On viewing b»
prints, we lose sight of the engraver, and natu-
rally say, it is Le Brun, Poussin, Mignard, or
Le Sueur, &c. as we turn to the prints which he
engraved from those masters. 'This sublime
artist,' says the abb^ Fontenai, 'far from con-
ceiving tKat a servile arrangement of strokes, and
the too frequently cold and affected clearness of
the graver, were the great essentials of historical
engraving, gave worth to his works by a bold
mixture of free hatchings and dots, placed toge-
ther apparently without order, but with an inimi-
table degree of taste ; and has left to posterity
most admirable examples of the style in which
grand compositions ought to be treated. His
greatest works, which have not a very flattering
appearance to the ignorant eye, are the admira-
tion of true connoisseurs and persons of fine
taste. He acquired the most profound know-
ledge of the art, by the constant attention he
bestowed upon the science of design, and the
frequent use he made of painting from nature.
He knew how to penetrate into the genius of the
painter he copied from ; often improved upon,
and sometimes even surpassed him. Without
exception, he was the most celebrated engraver
that ever existed in the historical line. We have
several subjects which he engraved from his own
designs, that manifested as much taste as cha-
racter and facility. But, in the batdes of Alex-
ander, he suroassed e?en the expectations of Le
Bnm himself.^ These consist of three very large
prints, length-ways, each consisting of four
plates, which Join together, from Le Brun, viz.
The passage of the Granicus ; The batUe of Ar-
bela ; and Porus brought to Alexander, after his
defeat. To this set are added two. large prints,
length-ways, on two plates each, also from Le
Brun, viz. Alexander entering the tent of Darius,
and the triumphal entry of Alexander into Ba-
bylon. Tlie former was engraved by Gerard
£!delink, and the latter by Gerard Audran. Of
all these plates, those impressions are most es-
teemed which have the name of Goyton the
printer marked upon them.
Audran (Germain), the eldest son of Claude,
was bom in 1631 at Lyons, where his parents
then resided. Not content with the iustructions
of his father, he went to Paris, and perfected
himself under his uncle Cad. Upon his return
to Lyons, he published several pnnts which did
him great honor. His merit was in such esti-
mation, that he was made a member of the aca>
demy, and chosen a professor. He died at
Lyons in 1710, and left behind him four sons,
all artists; namely, Claude, Benoit, John, and
Lewis.
Audran (John), the third son of Genn.^tn
Audran, was bom at Lyons in 1667 ; and, after
being instmcted by his father, went to Paris to
perfect himself in the art under his uncle Ge-
rard. At the age of twenty he began to display
his genius in a surprising manner ; and his suc-
cess was such, that in 1707 he obtained the title
of engraver to tlie king, and had a pension al-
lowed him, with apartments in the Gobelins;
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AVE
and the following year he was made a member
of the Royal Academy. He was eighty -years
of age before he quitted the graver ; and near
ninety when he died, at the apartments assigned
him by the king. He left three sons, one of
whom was also an engraver. * The most mas-
terly and best prints of this artist (in Mr. Strutt*s
opinion) are those which are not so pleasing to
the eye at first sight. In these the etching con-
stitutes a great part ; and he has finished them
in a bold rough style. The scientific hand of
the master appears in them on examination.
The drawing of the human figure, where it is
shown, is correct. The heads are expressive
and finely finished; the other extremities well
marked. He has not, however, equalled his
uncle. He wants that hannony in the effect;
his lights are too much and too equally covered;
and there is not sufficient difference between tlie
style in which he has engraved his back grounds
and his draperies. This observation refers to a
line print by him of Athaliah, and such as he
engraved in that style. At other times he seems
almost to have quitted the point, and substituted
the graver. But here I think he has not so well
succeeded. The effect is cold and silvery : see
for example, the Andromache from Svlvestre.
One of his best finished prints, in this neat
style, seems to be Cupid and Psyche from Ant
Coypel.'
AxJDRAN (Lewis), the last son of Germain
Audran, was bom at Lyons in 1670 ; from whence
he went to Paris in 1712, before he had produced
any great number of prints. The most esteemed
are his seven acts of mercy, on seven middling-
siied plates, from Sebastian Bourdon.
AUDREY, or Ethelreda, an Anglo-Saxon
grincess, wife of Egfrid, king of Northumber-
tnd. She turned abbess, and was canonized
after her death.
AVE, ) A corruption of the Latin
Av'e Mary. ) Ave Maria, Hail J^aiy ! A
reverential address used by Catholics to the
Virgin Mary.
All his mind is bent on holiness.
To number Ave Mariaa on his beads. Suiitp^e.
Ave Mary. In the Romish church, their
chaplets and rosaries are divided into so many
ave-marias and so many paternosters. It has
been observed by Bingham and others, that
among all the short prayers used by the ancients
before their sermgns, there is not die least men-
tion of an ave-mary; and that its original can
be carried no higher than the beginning of the
fifteenth century, when Vincentius Ferrerius, who
was a celebrated preacher, fi^t used it before
his discourses; from his example it obtained
such authority, as not only to be prefixed to all
the sermons of the Romish preachers, but fo be
joined with the Lord's Prayer in their breviary.
AVEIRO, a considerable town of Portugal,
in Beira, seated near the head of a small gulf at
the mouth of the Vouga ; which forms a haven
with a bar, over which vessels may pass that do
not draw above eight or nine feet water. The city
stands in a long plain, well watered, and very
fertile. This plain is nine miles broad, from
Porto to Coimbra ; and is bounded on the east
by a chain of mountains called Sierra d'Al-
coba, which reach ^m the one town to the
other. Near this city salt is made in sufficient
quantity to serve two or three provinces. It has
a nunnery, where none are admitted but the
daughters of the nobility. Many English are
settled here, on account of the thriving trade in
oil, salt, and fish, especially sardels. It lies thirty
miles S. of Oporto. Long. 8** 30' W. lat. 40''40' N.
AVEIRON, a department of France, bounded
by that of Cantal on the north, by those of Lo-
. zere and Gard on the east, Herault and Tarn on
the south, and Lot on the west. It is named
from Uie nver.
Ave I ROM, a river of France, which rises
near Severac, and flowing by Rhodes and Vil-
lefranche, falls into the Garonne below Mont-
auban.
AvEL, avello, Lat. to pull away.
The beaver in chase makes some divulsion of paits,
yet aze not these parU oodled to be tenned testicles.
Jn'OMM.
AVELLA, a town of Campagni di Roma.
AvELLA. See Aquila.
AVELLANA, in botany, nux pontica, filbert,
a sort of nut, anciendy so called, from Avellaaum,
a town of Campania, where they abounded. See
AvELLiNO It is the corylus avellana of Lin-
neus. Plin.l. 25, c. 23.
Avellana Purgatrix, in the materia me-
dica, the fruit of a species of ricinus.
AVEIJ-ANDA, in botany, a name given by
the Spaniards to the rodu of the Torsi, or sweet
cyperus. These are esculent, and of a veiy de-
licious taste : they seem to have had the name
from their likeness to the avellana, or hazel nut.
Garcias, and some others, have thought that the
curcas of Malabar vras the same with the aveU
landa of Europe. But this does not seem to be
the case; for the curcas, though of the same
size and shape with the aveHanda, has a hard
coat like the common filbert.
AVELLANE, in heraldry, a cross, the quarters
of which somewhat resemble a filbert-nut. Syl-
vanus Morgan says, that it is the cross which
ensigns the sovereign's globe.
AVELLINO, a city of Italy, in the kingdom
of Naples, with a bishop's see. It was almost
ruined by an earthquake m 1 694. It is, however,
at present a pretty considerable place, extending
a mile in length down the decHvity of a hill,
vnth ugly streets, but tolerable houses. The
churches have nothing to recommend them,' be-
ing crowded with monstrous ornaments in the
barbarous style, which the Neapolitans seem to
have borrowed from tlie Spamaids. The ca-
thedral is a poor building, in a wretched situation,
with little to attract the eye. The good catholics
need not run to Naples to see the blood of St.
Januarius; for they have a statue of St. Law-
rence, with a phial of his blood; which, for
eight days in August, entertains them here with
a similar miraculous' liquefiustion. The oftly
edifice of note is a public granary, of the Com-
posite order, adorned with antique statues, and
a very elegant bronse one of Charles II. of
Spain, while a boy, cast by Cavalier Cosimo.
The number of inhabitants amounts to 8000^
some say 10,000. The bishop's revenue is
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266
AVE
about 6000 ducats (£1125) a-year. The ma-
gistracy consists of a syndic and four eletti, all
annual ; which offices are engrossed by a certain
number of families of distinction. Avellino has
a considerable manu^ture of cloth of various
qualities and colors, but chiefly blue. Majiy
wealthy merchants have a concern in this busi-
ness. The second article of trade is maccaroni,
and paste of many kinds, which, being of an ex-
cellent quality, are in high repute all over the
country. Wooden chairs are also made and
sold in great quantities. Avellino abounds with
provisions of every sort; each street is supplied
with wholesome water; but the wine is indif-
ferent. The soil of this district, which consists
chiefly of volcanic substances, produces little
com, but fruit in abundance, of wnich the apple
is deservedly held in great esteem. The most
profitable, however, of all its fruit-trees is tJie
Jnazel. Nut-bushes cover the face of the valley,
and in good years bring in a profit of 60,000
ducats (£11,250). The nuts are mostly of the
large round species of filbert, which we call Spa-
nish. These bushe^i were originally imported into,
Italy from Pontus, and known among the Ro-
mans by the appellation of nux Pontica, which,
in process of time, was changed into that of nux
Avellana, from the place where they had been pro-
pagated with the greatest success. The proprietors
plant them in rows, and by dressing, form them
into large bushes of many stems. Every year
they refresh the roots with new earth, and prune
off the straggling shoots with great attention.
Between Avelli|io and Benevento is the Val di
Gargano, better known in history by the name of
Furcs Condins, where the Romans were blocked
up by the Samnites, and compelled to pass under
the yoke, in the 433d year ot Rome. Avellino
is situated twenty-five miles N. £. of Naples.
Long. 15* 20^ E., lat, 41*^ 11' N.
AVELTON. See Alton.
AVEN, one of the Orkney Islands, better
known by the name of Sanda.
Av£N, the Scriptural name of several ao-
cient places; particularly, 1. of Bethel, by way
of metaphor, Uos. x. 8. 2. of Heliopolis, a
city of Egypt, Ezek. xxx. 17. See Heliopolis.
S. of a plain in Syria, between Lebanon and
Antilibanus, Amos, i. 5 ; supposed to be the
same with Baal-beck, or the valley of Lebanon.
See Baal-Beck.
AVENA, Oats, in botany, a genus of the
dyginia order, and triandria class of plants ; rank-
ing in the natural method under the fourth
order, gramina. The calyx has a double valfe,
and the awn on the back is contorted. Jhere
are thirteen species, of which the first six fol-
lowing are natives of Britain : viz. 1. A. elatior,
the taU oat-grass. 2. A. fiitoa, the bearded oat-
grass. 3. A. flavescens, the yellow oat-grass.
4. A. nuda, the naked oat. 5. A. pratesis, the
meadow oat-grass. 6. A. pubescens, the rough
oaC-grass. 7. A. sativa, the common oat culti-
vated in our fields. It is remarkable, that the
original native place of this plant b almost to-
tally unknown. Anson says, that he observed
it growing wild or spontaneously in the island
of Juan Fernandez: but a vague observation
from a single author is not to be depended on.
For the culture, tee Husbivdrt. Oats are an
article of the materia medica. Gruels made
from them have a kind of soft mucilaginous
quality; by which they obtund acrimonious hu-
mors, and prove useful in inflammatory dis-
eases, coughs, hoarseness, and exulcerations of
the fauces.
AVENACEOUS, something belonging to, or
partaking of the nature of oats.
AVENANT, agreeable; beautiful.— C*«ic.
AVENCHE, an ancient city of Switzerland,
in the canton of Bern, formerly the capital of all
Switzerland, but now greatly decayed. It lies
four miles S. W. of Murat, and fift^n W. ol
Bern. Long. 6** 52* E., lat. 46° 50* N.
AVEN'GE, V. & n.'\ Fr. venger, Lat vm
Aven'geance, / dicare {vim dicert, Vos
Aven'oement, > sius), to repel force widi
Aven'ger, i force. To deal out the
Aven'oeress. j measure allowed by the
Jewish law — * a tooth for a tooth,' &c. ; to de-
nounce vengeance, to retaliate an injury, to exact
punishment not sanctioned by good laws, or the
benign spirit of Christianity.
That he might work th' aoengemeni for his shame.
On those two caitives, which had bred him blame.
Speimt
All thoM great battles (which thou boasts to win
Through strife and bloodshed, and aoei^ement
Now praised) hereafter thoa shalt repent.
Td, Faerie Queeut
There that cruel queen anengeren
Heap on her new waves of weary wretchedness.
Id
This neglected, fear
Signal aoengmnee ; such as overtook
A miser. PhiUpt.
I will oMMf* me of mine enemies. /somA.
They stood against their enemies, and were
menged of their adversaries. WUdim,
I will menge the blood of Jeareel, upon the house
of Jfhu. Uoiea.
Till Jove, no longer patient, took his time,
T' anenge with thunder your audncious crime.
Dryden,
The just avenger of his injured ancestors, the vic-
torious Louis, was darting his thunder. Id,
But jnst disease to luxury succeeds *,
And ev'ry death its own atoenjer breeds. Popr.
Too daring bard ! whose unsnoceasfol pride
TK' immortal Muses in their ait defied ;
Th' anengmg Muses of the light of day
Deprived his eyes, and snatch'd his voice away.
Id.
The day shall come, that great aoenghig day.
When Troy's proud glories in the dust shall lay.
Id,
Send thy arrows forth.
Strike, strike these tyrants and anenge my teatv.
Little did I dream .that I should have lived to see
sndi disasters fallen upon her [the queen of FraDce]
in a nation of gallant men — in a nation of men of
honour and of cavaliers. I thought ten thousand
swords must have leaped out of their scabbards to
aoenge even a look that threatened her with insult.—'
But the age of chivalry is gone. Burke.
AUENHEIM, a town of Germany, in the
circle of Suabia, near O ffenbourg.
AVEN 10 an ancient town of Cavares, and
one of the most opulent in Gallia Narbonensis;
now called Avignon.
Digitized by
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AVE
267
AVE
AVENPACE, a Spanish Moor of the tweiah
century, who wrote a commentary upon Euclid;
but having adopted the peripatetic philosophy,
he attempted to explain the Koran, by the sys-
tem of Aristotle, for which he was imprisoned
at Corduba.
AVENS, in botany. See Caryophtllus.
AVENTINE (John), was bom in 1466, in
Abensperg, in Bavaria. He studied first at In-
golstadt, and afterwards at Paris. In 1503 he
taught eloquence and poetry at Vienna ; and in
1507 he taught Greek at Cracow, in Poland.
In 1509 he read lectures on Cicero, at Ingold-
stadt ; and in 1512 was appointed preceptor to
the princes Lewis and Ernest, sons of Albert
the Wise, duke of Bavaria; and travelled with
the latter. After this he wrote the Annals of
Bavaria, being encouraged by the dukes, who
settled a pension on him. This work, which
gained great reputation, was first published in
1534, by Jerome Ziegler, professor of poetiy in
the university of In^olstadt; and afterwards at
Basil, in 1580, by Nicolas Cisner. In 1529 he
was forcibly taken out of his sister's house at
Abensperg, and hurried to a jail; the true cause
of which violence was never known; but it
would probably have been carried to a much
greater length, had not the duke of Bavaria in-
terposed, and taken this learned man under his
protection. Mr Bayle remarks, that the in>
curable melancholy, which from this time pos-
sessed Aventine, was so fiur from determining
him to lead a life pf celibacy, as he had done
till he was sixty-four, that it induced him to
think of marrying. He advised, however, with
two of his friends, and consulted certain pas-
sages of the Bible relative to marriage. The
result was, that it was best for him to marry ; and
having lost too much time, considering his age,
he took the first woman he met with, who hap-
pened to be his own maid, ill-tempered, ugly,
amd extremely poor. He died iu 1534, aged
sixty-eight; leaving one daughter, who was then
but two months old.
AvENTiME, or AvENTiNus, One of the seven
hills on which Rome was built. It was also
called Murcius, from Murcia, the goddess of
sloth, who had a little chapel there; CoUis
Dians, from the temple of Diana ; and Remo-
nius, from Remus, who was buried there. It
was taken within the compass of the city by
Ancus Marcus. To the east it had the city
walls ; to the south the Campus Figulimis ; to
the west the Tiber ; and to the north Mons Pa-
latinus ; in circuit two miles and a quarter. ,
AVENTUR7E, in our ancient wnters, signify
toumaments, or military exercises on horseback.
AVENUE. Fr. venir, avenir; participles
venUy avenu ; Lat. venire y to come. Approach,
opening, passage.
Good gaanlfl were set up, at all the aoemui of
the city ; to keep all people^ from going oat.
The regulations that are established at Thebes for
keefnng the aeemie* free from incumbrancet, main-
taiaing the aqueducts and rendering the baths conve-
nient, for the cultivation of arts, and for the security
of the public^ are the most excellent that can be ima-
gined. Haufheaworth'i Telemachui,
Truth is a strong hold» and diligence is laying
siege to it : so that it must observe all the aocnua
and passes to it. South.
Avenue, in fortification, an opening or
inlet into a fort, bastion, or the like place, or the
passes and ways to and from it.
Avenue, in gardening, a walk planted on each
side with treej, and leading to a house, garden-
gate, wood, &c. and generally terminated by
some distant object. All avenues that lead to a
house ought to be at least as wide 93 the whole
front of the house; if vrider, they are better
still ; and avenues to woods and prospects ought
not to be less than sixty feet wide. The trees
should not be planted nearer to one another
than thirty-five feet, especially if t}iey are of a
spreading kind; and the same ought to be the
distance, if they are for a regular grove. The
trees most proper for avenues with us, are the
English elm, the lime, the horse-chestnut, the
common chestnut, the beech, and the abele. The
English elm will do in all grounds, except such
as are very wet and shallow ; and this is pre-
ferred to all other trees, because it will bear cut-
ting, heading, or lopping, in any manner, better
than many others. The rough or smooth Dutch
elm is approved by some, because of its quick
growth; this is a tree which will bear removing
very we^l ; it is also green almost as soon as any
plant wliatever in spring, and continues so as long
as any. It makes an incomparable hedge, and is
preferable to all other trees for lofty espaliers.
The lime is valued for its natural growth and
fine shade. The horse-chestnut is proper for all
places that are not much exposed to rough
winds. The common chestnut will do very well
in a good soil; and rises to a considerable
height when planted somewhat close; though,
when it stands single, it is rather inclined to
spread than to grow tall. The beech is a beautiful
tree, and naturally grows well with us in its wild
state ; but it is less to be chosen for avenues,
because it does not bear transplanting, and is
very subject to miscarry. The abele is fit for
any soil, and is the quickest grower of any forest-
tree. It but seldom fails in transplanting ; and
succeeds very well in wet soils, in which the
others are apt to fiiil. The oak is little used for
avenues, because of its slow growth. The old
method of planting avenues was with regular
rows of trees, and this has been the practice till
of late : but we have now a much more magnifi-
cent method, by setting the trees in clumps,
making the opening much wider, and placing
the clumps at about 300 feet distant from one
another. In each of these clumps there should
be planted either seven or nine trees ; but this
is only prope^ where the avenue is to be of
sonfe considerable length; for in short walks
single rows of trees look better. Tlie avenues
made by clumps are fittest of all for parks. The
trees in eadt clump should be planted about
thirty feet asunder; and a trench should be
thrown up round the whole clump, to prevent
the deer from coming to the trees to bark them.
AVENZOAR, or Ebn-Zoar, Abu Mcrwan
Abdalmalec^ an eminent Arabian physician, who
flourished about the end of the eleventh and be-
ginning of the twelfth century. He was of noble
Digitized by
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AVE
268
AVE
descent, and bom at Seville, where he exercised
his profession wiUi great reputation. His grand-
father and father were both physicians. ^The
large estate he inherited, set him above prac-
tising for gain : he therefore took no fees from
the poor^ or from artificers, though he refused
not the presents of princes and great men. His
liberality w^is extenaed even to his enemies; for
which reason he used to say, that they hated him
not for any fault of his, but rather out of envy.
Dr. Friend writes, that he lived to the age of
135; that he began to practise at forty, others
say twenty, and had the advantage of a longer
experience than almost any one ever had, for he
enjoyed perfect health to his last hour. Ayen-
zoar was contemporary with Averroes, who, ac-
cording to Leo Africanus, heard the lectures of
the former, and studied physic under him ; this
seems the more probable, because Averroes more
than once gives Avenzoar a very high and de-
served encomium, calling him ' admirable, glo-
rious, the treasure of all knowledge, and the
most supreme in physic, from the time of Galen
to his own.' Avenzoar, notwithstanding, is by
the generality of writers reckoned an empiric :
but Dr. Friend observes, that this character suits
him less than any of the Arabians. * He was
br^d,' says he, ' in a physical femily, his father
and grandfather being both practitioners. He
had a regular education; and not only learned
what properly belongs to a physician, but every
thing which relates to pharmacy or surgery.'
Dr. FrienH adds, * that he was averse to quackery,
rejected the idle superstition of astrologers ; and
throughout all his work professes himself so
much of the dogmatical sect, that he has a great
deal of reasoning about the causes and symptoms
of distempers ; and as in his theory he chiefly
follows Galen, so he quotes 4iim upon all occa-
sions. Notwithstanding he is so Galenical, there
are several particulars in him which seldom or
never occur in other authors; and there are
some cases which he relates from his own expe-
rience, which are worth perusing.' He wrote a
book entitled Tayassir n'lmad&w&t w'altadb&r,
i. e. The method of preparing medicines and
diet ; which is much esteemed. This work was
translated into Hebrew, A.D. 1280, and thence
into Latin by Paravicius, whose version has had
several editions. The author added a supple-
ment to it, under the title of J&mfe, or a collec-
tion. He also wrote a treatise Filadwiyat
wa*lau8:hdiyat, i.e. Of Medicines and Food;
' wherein he treats of their qualities.
Avenzoar, or Ebk-zoar, the son of the
former, followed his father's profession ; was in
great favor with Almanzur, emperor of Mo-
rocco, and wrote several treatises on physic^
AVER', > Fr. averer; Lat. vereoTy to
Aver'ment. S fear with reverence. Com-
pounded of ve pro valide, greatly, and reovy to
think. To declare positively, solemnly.
The reason of the thing is clear ;
Would Jove the naked truth voer. Prior »
Then vainly the philosopher aioers.
That reason guides our deeds, and ifastinct theirs ;
How can we justly di£f 'rent causes frame.
When the effects entirely are the same ? Id,
To avoid the oath, for aoermera of the continuance
of some estate, which is eigne, the par^ will sue a
pardon. Bacon,
We may aoer, though the power of God be infinite,
the capacities of matter are within limits. BmlAeg,
That which Bucer and his associates anerred above
a hundred years ago, we still say and maintain ; that
which was the truth then, hath been so ever since,
and shall be to all eternity. Bp, HoU'm Peaee-maket.
AVERA, in our ancient customs, a day's
work of a ploughman, or other laborer, which
the king's tenants in his demesne lands were
obliged to pay the sheriff.
AVERAGE. Low Lat. averagium, to make
or obtain a mean proportion by collecting the
maxima and minima, or the highest and lowest
prices.
Average, in commerce and navigation, is
divided into three kinds. 1. The simple average,
which consists in the extraordinary expences in-
curred for the ship alone, or for the merchan-
dizes alone ; such'^as the loss of anchors, masts,
and rigging, occasioned by the common acci-
dents at sea; the damages which happen to
merchants by storm, prizes, shipwreck, wet, or
rotting; all which must be paid and borne by
the thing which suffered the damage. 2. The
large and common average, being those expences
incurred, and damages sustained, for the com-
mon security of the merchandizes and vessels,
consequently to be borne by the ship and cargo,
and to be regulated upon the whole. Of this
number, are the goods or money given for the
ransom of the sWp and cargo, things thrown
overboard for the safety of the ship, the ex-
pences of unloading, for entering into a river or
harbour, and the provisions and hire of the
sailors, when the ship is put under an embargo.
3. The small averages, which arc the expences
for towing and piloting the sliip out of or into
harbors, creeks, or rivers, one-third of which
must be charged to the ship, and two-thirds to
the cargo.
AveHage, in agriculture, a term used by
the fanners in many parts of England, for the
breaking of corn-fields.
AVERANI (Benedict), a native of Florence,
who became Greek professor at Pisa, and wrote
several critical tracts on classical authors. He
died in 1707. After his death, his works were
collected and printed at Florence, in 3 vols. 8vo.
1717.
AvERANi (Joseph), brother to Benedict, was
bom in 1662. He became professor of law at
Pisa, but was particularly devoted to the study
of mathematics and natural philosophy. He
died in 1738. Two volumes of his orations in
the academy at Florence, and some other tracts,
were printed after his death.
AUERBACH, a town of Upper Saxony, in
Voigtland, fourteen miles south of Zwickau, and
sixty W. S. W. of Dresden. On a high rock,
about four miles from this place, is found a
species of topaz, called kings-crown, which is
said to excel the Spanish and Bohemian in hard-
ness, and to equal the oriental in brilliancy.
AVER-CORN, in ancient writings, such com
as by custom is brought by the tenant's car-
riages to the lord's granary.
Digitized by
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A V E R N U S.
269
AVERDUPOIS. See Avoirdupois.
AVERDY (Clement Charles de T), an emi-
nent French statesman, was born at Paris in
1720. He was counsellor of parliament, mi-
iiistet and comptroller general of the finances
under Louis XV. His reputation was so great,
that his appointment gave general satisfaction to
the people, but falling into some mismanage-
ment, he requested his dismission in 1764. He
afterwards retired to his estate, and occupied
himself in agricultural pursuits. Though he took
no part in the revolution, but kept perfectly neu-
tral, yet 'he was arrested and brought to the
guillotine in 1793. He wrote, 1. Suite des Ex-
periences de Gambais sur le bleds i>oirs ou ca-
ries, 8vo. 2. Memoire sur le Proems criminal
de Robert d'Aitois, Comte de Beaumont pair
de France.
AVERIA, in our old law books,, properly
signify oxen or horses used for the plough ; but
in a general sense any cattle. When mention is
made of one beast, they say * quidam equus, vel
quidam bos ;' when of two or more they do not
say equi or boves, but averia.
AvERiA, in commerce, a branch of the Spanish
revenue, signifying a tax paid for convoys to
guard the ships trading to America. It was first
imposed when Sir Francis Drake made his
voyage to the South Sea.
AVERIIS Captis in Withernam, a writ for
taking cattle when unlawfully distrained and
driven out of the country, so that they cannot be
replevied by the sheriff.
AVER-LAND, in our old writers, such lands
as the tenants ploughed with their cattle^ and
manured cum averiis suis, for the use of a mo-
nastery, or the lords of the soil.
AV'ERNAT, a sort of grape. See Vine.
AVERNI ; from the privative a, and opvȣ, a
bird, as intimating that birds could not fly over
them, but dropped down dead ; among the an-
cient naturalists certain lakes and other places
which infect the air with poisonous steams or
vapors'; called also mephites. Averni are said
to be common in Hungary, on account of its
abundance of mines. The Grotto del Cani, in
Italy, is a famous one. See Avernus.
AVERNO, the ancient Avernus, a lake of
Lavoro in Naples, lying in a narrow valley, two
miles long ana one broad. It is 180 feet deep
in some places, and the old walls standing upon
its banks are supposed to be the ruins of a temple
of Apollo. Vibus Sequester, and other an-
cient authors represented it as bottomless. Mr.
Chambers says tne modem Italians call it Lago
di Tripergola. See the next article.
AVERNUS, a lake of Campania in Italy, near
Bais, famous among the ancients for its poison-
ous qualities. It is described by Strabo as lying
within the Lucrine bay, deep and darksome, sur-
rounded with steep banks that hang threatening
over it, and only accessible by one narrow pas-
sage. Black, aged groves stretched their boughs
over the watery abyss, and with impenetrable
foliage excluded almost every ray of wholesome
light ; mephitic vapors ascending from the hot
bowels of the earth, being denied free passage to
the upper atmosphere, floated along trie surface
in poisonous mist ; and killed even the birds that
attempted to fly over it. These ciicumstancei
produced horrors fit for the gloomy votaries of
the infernal deities. A colony 'of CimroerianSy
as well suited to the rites as tlie place itself, cut
dwellings in the bosom of the surrounding hills,
and officiated as priests of Tartarus. Supersti-
tion, always delighted in dark ideas, early and
eagerly seized upon this spot, and represented a
cavern near it called the Sybil's cave, as the
mouth of the infernal regions. Hither she led
hei trembling votaries to celebrate her dismal
orgies; here she evoked the manes of departed
heroes — here she offered sacrifices to the gods of
hell, and attempted to dive into the secrets of
futurity. Poets enlarged upon the popular
theme, and painted its awful scenery witn the
strongest colbrs of their art. Homer brings
Ulysses to j^vemus, as to the mouth of the in-
fernal abodes , and, in imitation of the Grecian
bard, Vir^l conducts his hero to the same
ground. Whoever sailed thither, first did sacri-
fice, and endeavoured to propitiate the infernal
powers, with the asistauce of some priest, who
attended upon the place, and directed the mystic
performance. Within, a fountain of pure water
oroke out just over the sea, but which nobody
tasted, as it was fancied to be a vein of the river
Styx ; near this fountain was the oracle ; and the
hot waters, frequent in these parts, were supposed
to be branches of the burning Phlegethon. The
holiness of these shades remained unimpeached
for many years. Hannibal marched his army to
offer incense at this altar; though it may be sus-
pected he was led to this act of devotion rather
by the hopes of surprising the garrison of Puteoli,
than by his piety. After a long reign of un-
disturbed gloom and celebrity, a sudden glare of
light was let in upon Avernus ; the horrors were
dispelled, and with them vanished the sanctity of
the lake : the axe of Agrippa brought its forest
to the ground, disturbed its sleepy waters with
ships, and gave vent for all its malignant effluvia
to escape. The virulence of these exhalations,
as described by ancient authors, has appeared so
very extraordinary, that modern writers, who
know the place in a cleared state only, charge
these accounts with exaggeration ; but Swinbum
thinks them entitled to more credit ; for even
now, he observes, the air is feverish and danger-
ous, as the jaundiced foces of the vine-dressers,
who have succeeded the Sybils and theCimmerians
in the possession of the temple, most ruefully
testify. Boccaccio relates, that during his resi-
dence at the Neapolitan court, the sur^ce of this
lake was suddenly covered with dead fish, black
and singed, as if killed by some subaqueous
eruption of fire. The changes of fortune in
these lakes, is singular : in the splendid days of
imperial Rome, the Lucrine was the chosen spot
for the brilliant parties of pleasure of a volup
tuous court : now, a slimy bed of rushes covers
the scattered pools of this once beautiful sheet of
water; while the once dusky Avernus is clear
and serene, offering a most alluring surface and
charming scene for similar amusements Oppo-
site to the temple is a cave ususilly styled the
Sybil's grotto ; but apparently laoie likely to
have been the mouth of communication between
Cuma and Avernus, than the abode of a pro-
Digitized by
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270
A V E R H O
phetess ; especially as the Sybil is positively said
by historians to have dwelt in a cavern under
the Cumcan citadel. Mr. Eustace (Classical
Tour) describes the Avemus as a circular sheet
of water, about a mile and a half in circum-
ference, and in many places nearly 190 feet
deep; surrounded by ground low on the one
side, on the other high, but not steep, in rich
cultivation, and slightly wooded. On the
southern bank stands a large and lofty octagonal
building, vaulted, and of brick, with halls ad-
joining. This probably was the temple of Pro-
serpine, or of Avemus itself. It is surrounded
by vineyards. On the northern bank, under a
steep, overhung with shrubs and brambles, is a
subterraneous ^lery, still called the Grotto della
Sibilla. The first gallery runs under the Monte
Grillo, in the direction of Baise. It opens into
a second on the right, tending towards Cums;
after some distance, a piece of water crosses it,
called the Sybil's bath. The ground then rises
rapidly, and all farther progress \s stopped by
the fallen walls. The situation and appearance
of the cavern agree very closely with the descrip-
tion of Virgil. It branched out into several
other galleries; and probably furnished him with
much of the sceneiy in the sixth book. The
Lago di Tripergola, as it is called at present, has
lost all claim to its former appellation, since in
winter it abounds in water-fowl. There can be
no doubt that the lake is the crater of an ex-
hausted volcano.
AVER-PENNY, q. d. Average Penny,
moneys contributed towards the king's averages ;
or money given to be freed thereof. See Ave-
rage.
AVERHOA, in botany, a genus of the decan-
dria order, belonging to the pentagynia class of
plants ; ranking in the natural method under the
fourth order, gruinales. The calyx has five
leaves, the petals are five, opening at top ; and
the apple or fruit is pentagonous, and divided
into five cells. There are three species, viz.
1. A. acida ; 2. A. blimbi ; and 3. A. carambola,
called in Bengal the carorue or camrunga. This
plant is remarkable for possessing a power some-
what similar to those species of mimosa which
are termed sensitive plants ; its leaves on being
^touched moving very perceptibly. In the mi-
mosa the moving faculty extends to the branches ;
but from the hardness of the wood this cannot be
expected in the cararobola. The leaves are
alternately pinnated with an odd one ; and their
most common position in the day-time is hori-
zontal, or on the same plane with the branch
from which they come out. On being touched
they move themselves downwards, frequently in
so great a dep-ee that the two opposite almost
touch one another by their under sides, and the
young ones sometimes either come into contact,
or even pass each other ; the whole of the leaves
of one pinna move by striking the branch with
the nail of the finger, or other hard substance ;
or each leaf can be moved singly, by making an
impression that shall not exceed beyond that
leaf. In this way the leaves of one side of the
pinna may be made to move one after another,
whilst tlie opposite ones continue as they were ;
or they may be made to move alternately in any
order, by toudiing properly the leaf intended to
be put in motion. But if the impression even
on a single leaf be strong, all the leaves on that
pinna, and sometimes on the neighbouring ones,
will be affected by it Notwithstanding this
apparent sensibility of the leaf, however, large
incisions may be nuuie in it vrith a pair of sharp
scisaars, without occasioning the smallest mo-
tion ; nay, it may even be cut almost entirely off,
and the remaining part still continue unmoved,
when by touching ;the wounded leaf with the
finger or point of the scissars, motion will take
place as if no injury had been offered. The
reason is, that although the leaf be the ostensible
part which moves, the petiolus is the seat both of
sense and action: for although the leaf may be
cut in pieces, or squeezed with great force, pro-
vided its direction oe not changed without any
motion being occasioned ; vet if the impiession
on the leaf be made in such a way as to affect
the petiolus, the motion vrill take place. When,
therefore, it is wanted to confine the motion of a
single leaf, either touch it so as only to affect its
own petiolus, or without meddling with the leaf,
touch the petiolus with any small pointed body,
as a pin or knife. By compressing the universal
petiolus near the place where a partial one comes
out, the leaf moves in a few seconds in the same
manner as if the partial petiolus had been
touched. Whether the impression be made by
puncture, percussion, or compression, the motion
does not instantly follow; generally several
seconds intervene, and then it is not vrith a jerk,
but regular and gradual. Afterwards when the
leaves return to their former situation, which i<
commonly in a quarter of an hour or less, it is in
so slow a manner as to be almost imperceptible.
On sticking a pin into the universal petiolus, as
its origin, the leaf next it, which is always on the
opposite side, next the second leaf on the outer,
and so on. But this regular progression seldom
continues throughout; for the leaves on the
outer side of the pinna seem to be affected both
more quickly, ana with more energy, than those
of the inner ; so that the fourth leaf on the outer
side frequently 'moves as soon as the third on the
inner, and sometimes a leaf, especially on tiie
inner side, does not move at all, whilst those
above and below it are affected in their proper
time. Sometimes the leaves at the extremity of
the petiolus move sooner than several others,
which were nearer die place where the pin was
put in. On making a compression with a pair
of pincers on the universal petiolus, between
any two pair of leaves, those above the com-
pressed part, or nearer the extremity of tiie peti-
olus, move sooner than those under it, or nearer
the origin ; and frequentiy the motion will ex-
tend upwards to the extreme leaf, whilst below
it perhaps does not go farther than the nearest
pair. It the leaves happen to be blown by die
wind against one another, or against the branches,
they are frequentiy put in motion ; but when a
branch is moved gentiy, eitiier by the hand or
the wind, without striking against any thing, no
motion of the leaves take place. When left to
themselves in the day-time, shaded from the sun,
wind, rain, or any disturbing cause, the appear-
ance of the leaves is different from that of other
Digitized by
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AVE
271
AVE
pinnated plants. In the latter a great unifonnity
subsUtS" in the respective position of the leaves
on the pinna ; but in the carambola, some will
be seen on ^e horizontal plane, some raised
above it, and others fallen under it ; and in an
hour or so, without any order or regularity which
can be observed, all of them will have changed
their respective positions. Cutting the bark of
the branch down to the wood, and even sepa-
rating it about the space of half an inch all
around, so as to stop all communication by the
vessels of the bark, does not for the first day
affect the leaves, either in their position or their
aptitude for motion. In a branch, which was
cut through in such a manner as to leave it sus-
pended only by a little of the bark no thicker
than a thread, the leaves next day did not rise so
high as the others ; but they were green and
fresh, and, on being touched, moved, but in a
much less degree than formerly. After sun-set
the leaves go to sleep, first moving down so as to
touch one another by their under sides ; they
therefore perform more extensive motion at night
of themselves than they can be made to do in
the day-time by external impressions. With a
convex lens the rays of the sun may be collected
on a leaf, so as to bum a hole in it, without oc-
casioning any motion. But upon trying the ex-
periment on the petiolus, the motion is as quick
as if from strong percussion, although the tays
be not so much concentrated as to cause pain
when applied in the same degree on the bacx of
the hand. The leaves move very hst from the
electrical shock, even although very gentle.
AVERRHOISTS. See Averroists.
AVERROES, one of the most subtle of the
Arabian philosophers, flourished about the end
of the eleventh and beginning of the twelfth
centuries. He was the son of the high-priest
and chief iudge of Cordova in Spain ; and edu-
cated in tiie university of Morocco, in which he
was afterwards a professor ; and studied natural
philosophy, medicine, mathematics, law, and di-
vinity. After the death of his father he enjoyed
his posts ; and was farther promoted by Alman-
zor, emperor of Morocco, to be judge of Mo-
rocco and Mauritania, %vith leave to appoint de-
legates, and remain at Cordova. But notwith-
standing his great emoluments, his liberality to
men of letters in necessity, whether they were
his friends or his enemies, made him always in
debt. He was afterwards stripped of all his
po5t% and thrown into prison for heresy ; but
the judge who succeedea him, being convicted
of oppression, he was restored tQ his former em-
ployments. He died at Morocco in 1206. Aver-
roes was excessively corpulent, though he eat but
once a-day. He spent his nights in the study of
philosophy ; and when fatigued, amused himself
with poetry or history. But was never seen to
play at any game, or to partake in any diversion.
He wai extremely fond of Aristotle's works, and
wrote commentaries on them, whence he was
styled Jhe commentator, by way of eminence.
lie likewise wrote Colliget, i. e. Universal ; or,
The Whole Art of Physic ; and many amorous
▼eises ; but these he burnt when he grew 6ld.
His other poems are lost. As to religion, his
opinions were, that Christianity is absurd ; Ja-
daism, the religion of children : and Mahommed-
anism, the religion of swine.
AVERROISTS, a sect of peripatetic philoso-
phers, who appeared in Italy some time before
the restoration of learning, and attacked fhe im-
mortality of the soul. They took their denomi-
nation from Averroes, the celebrated interpreter
of Aristode, above mentioned. Although they
held the soul to be mortal, according to reason
or philosophy, yet they submitted to the Christ-
ian theology, which declares it immortal. But
their distinction was held suspicious ; and this
divorce of faith from reason was condemned by
the last council of Lateraii, under Leo X.
AVERRUN'CATE, i Lat. averrunco, I turn
Averrunca'tion. S or take away whatever
harts. To weed, to avert an evil, to cut off what
is superfluous.
I wiBb myself a pseudo-prophet.
But sure some mischief will come of it.
Unless by providential Wit,
Or force, we aoemmcate it. BuUer^t Hudibraa.
AVERRUNCI Dei; from averrunco, to
avert ; gods, whose business it was, according to
the Pagan theology, to avert misfortunes. Apollo
and HercTiles were of the number, among the
Greeks > Castor and Pollux among the Romans,
and Isis among the Eg3rptians.
AVERSA, a town of Naples, in the Terra di
Lavoro, anciently called AtelU. It is situated
in a fine plain, covered with vineyards and
orange trees, and is the seat of a bishop (who
holds immediately of the pope), of a royal go-
vernor and a judge. There- are here sixteen
cloisters of different orders, exclusive of nine
parish churches. Population 13,800. Eight miles
north of Naples. Long. 14° 1' E., lat. 41° N.
Aversion, according to lord Kames, is op-
posed to affection, and not to desire, as it com-
monly is. We have an affection to one person ;
we have an aversion to another ; the former di»-
poses us to do good to its object, the latter to do
ill.
AVERSIONE LOCARE, AVERSIONE VeNIRE,
in the civil law, the selling, or letting things in
the lump, without fixing particular prices for
each piece.
AVERT,
Aver'ter,
Aver'se,
Averse'ly,
Averse'ness,
Aversa'tion,
Aver'sion,
Aver'sive. ^
It is most true, that a natural and secret hatred,
and aeenaHon towards society in any man, hath some-
what of the savage beast ; but it is tnost untrue, thai
it should have any character at all of the Divine Na-
ture, except H proceed not out of a pleasure in soli-
tude, but out of a love and desire to sequester a
man's self for a higher conversation.
Lord Bacon's Enaya,
When people began to espy the ftdsehood of oracles,
whereupon all gentility was built \ their hearts were
utterly anaied from \i. Hooker.
Even cut themselves off from the opportunities of
proselyting others, by ontHing them from their com«
pany. QoeemmeiU of the Tompte,
A, and verto^ venum, to
turn away or from. Averse
expresses the state of having
''the mind turned from a thing.
It signifies alito unwilling,
loath, reluctant.
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272
AUG
There is such a general avenatiim (in human na-
ture) to contempt, that there is scarce any thing more
exasperating : I will not deny, but the excess of the
aversoHon may be levelled i^ainst pride. Id.
I beseech you,
T' aoert your liking a more worthy way,
- Than on a wretch. Sfutkapeare. King Lear,
At this, for the last time, she lifts her hand ;
Avert* her eyes, and half unwilling drops the brand.
Dryden.
Awrtera and purgers must go together, as tending
all to the same purpose, to divert this rebellious hu-
mour and turn it another way.
Bmton't Anatomy of MeUmduly.
Has thy uncertain bosom ever strove.
With the first tumults of a real love ?
Hast thou now dreaded, and now bless'd his sway.
By turns anerte and joyful to obey? Prior.
Averse alike, to flatter or offendj
Not free from faults, nor yet too vain to mend.
Pope.
The corruption of man is in nothing more mani-
fest, than in his a/eersenen to entertain any friendship
or familiarity with God. Atterbury.
Hatred is the passion of defiance ; and there is a
kind of aversoHon and hostility included in its essence.
South.
The jealous man's disease is of so mali^ant a na-
ture that it converts all it takes into its own nourish-
ment. A cool behaviour is interpreted as an instance
of anermon : a fond one raises his suspicions.
Addieon.
AVERTI, in horsemanship, is applied to a
regular step or motion enjoined in the lessons.
In this sense they say pas averts.
AVERY, a place where oats, or provender,
are kept for the king's horses.
AVeS, birds, the name of Linnsus*s second
class of animals. See Ornithology and Zoo-
logy.
AvES, or the Isle of Birds, 1. One of the
Carribee islands, 451 miles south of Porto Rico,
with a good harbour for careeninj^ ships. It is
so called from the great number of birds that fre-
quent it ; 2. another lying northward of this.
Lat. 15° O' N. ; and a third near the eastern coast
of Newfoundland. Lat. 50'' 5' N.
A^'ESBURY (Robert), an English historian,
of whom little more is known, than that he was
keeper of the registry of the court of Canterbury,
in tne reign of Edward III. and cons^uently
that he lived in the fourteenth century. He wrote
Memorabilia gesta magnifici regis Anglix domini,
Edwardi tratii post conquestum, procerumque ;
tactis priroitus quibusdam gestis de tempore pa-
ths sui domini Edwardi secundi, qus in regnis
Anglix, Scotis, et Francis, ac in Aquitannia
et Britannia, non humana sed Dei potentia, con-
tigerunt, per Robertum Avesbury. This history
ends witn tlie battle of Poictiers, about A. D.
1356. It continued in MS. till 1720, when it
was printed by the industrious Thomas Heame
at Oxford, from a MS. belonging to Sir Thomas
Seabright. It is now very scarce.
AVESE, or Avase, a river of the United
States of America, in the north-western territory,
which runs mto the Mississippi, in a south-west
direction, about sixty miles above the Ohio. It
IS navigable in boats for upwards of sixty miles.
AVESNES, or Avennes, an irregular, but
well fortified town on the Hepres, in Ilainault,
on tlie frontier of France, towards the Nether-
lands, and three leagues distant from Mauheuse.
It is the head of an arrondissement, in th» de-
partment of the north; population about 3000.
In the neighbourhood there are excellent quar-
ries, and several iron foundries and smelting-
houses. This was one of the frontier towns re-
tained for a definite priod by the allies, in fulfil-
ment of the treaty ot Parisin 1815. Long. 4° E.
lat. 50° r N.
AVEYRON, or Aveiron, a department of
France, having its name from the river, wliich
running from eait to west, separates it into two
parts. Its boundaries are to the north, the de-
partment of the Cantal ; north-^ast, the Lozere;
east, the Card ; soutli-east, Herault ; south-west,
Tarn, and west. Lot. It corresponds to the an-
cient province of Rouergue, and is divided into
five arrondissements ; viz. those of Rodez (which
is the capital of the department), Ville Franche,
Milhau, St. Afrique, and Espalion. It contains
474 square leagues, equal/to about 3740 square
miles, and had at the last enumeration 318,047
inhabitants. They paid in direct taxes in 1803,
£140,000 sterling. It constitutes, with the de-
partment of Lot, the spiritual jurisdiction of
the bishop of Cahors. This department is wa-
tered by the Aveyion, the Lot, the Tarn, and the
Viaur, and is covered with high and craggy
mountains. Hence it abounds in game, fish, and ,
wood, and is more adapted for grazing than for
the cultivation of grain. Com and wine, how-
ever, are raised in tolerable quantity. The mi-
neral productions are • copper, iron, lead, sul-
phur, alum, coal, and vitriol. There is also a
considerable trade in cattle, wool, woollen stufis,
and in excellent cheese. The climate is reckoned
fine, though occasionally severe in winter.
AVEZZANO, a town of Naples in Abruizo.
It is built on an almost imperceptible declivity,
one mile from the lake of Celano, to which an
avenue of poplars leads from the baronnial
castle. This edifice stands at a little distance
from the town, is square, and flanked with towers;
it was erected by Virginio Orsini, to which
family this and many oOier great lordships be-
longed, before they were wrested from them in
times of civil war, and transferred to the Colon-
nas. Avezzano was founded in 860, and contains
2800 inhabitants, and two religious communities
within its walls, which are indeed in a ruinous
condition. The houses are in general mean ; but
there are some large buildings and opulent fa-
milies of the class of gentlemen, not possessed of
fees held in capite.
AUF'. Sometimes written oaf and elf. For
definition, see Elf.
These when a child haps to b« got.
Which after proves an idiot.
When folk perceive it thnveth not ;
The fault therein to smother.
Some silly doating brainless calf.
That andentands things by the half.
Says, that the fairy left this auif.
And took away the other. Drayton.
AUG A, Alce, or Age a, in fabulous history,
the daughter of Aleus, king of Tegea, by Ne«ra,
she was ravished by Hercules, and brought forth
a son, whom she left in the woods to conceal he*
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273
AUG
wnorsfirom herfitther; but the diild was pre-
served, and was named Telephui. When Aleus
was informed of his daughter's shame, he de-
Ixrered her to Nauplius to be put to death ; but
instead of executing the Others cruel purpose,
Nauplius gaveAuga toTeuthras,king ot Mysia,
who, having no children of his own, adopted her
as his daughter. The dominions of TeuUiras be-
ing soon after invaded by an enemy, he promised
his crown and daughter to the man who could de-
liver him from the threatening danger ; aad Tele-
phus having been directed by the oracle to po to
the court of Teuthras, if he desired to find his
parents, made an offer of his services, which was
accepted. Having obtained a victory, be was
about to unite himself to Auga, when she rushed
from him with secret horror, and the gods sent a
serpent to separate them. Auga implored the
assistance of Hercules, by whom her son was
made known to her, and she returned with him
toTegea. According to Pausanias, Auga was
shut up in a coffer with her infant son, and
thrown into the sea, where they were preserved
and protected by Minerva, till found by king
Teuthras.
AUGEAN Codex, Codex Augiensis, a Greek
and Latin MS. of St. Paul's Epistles ; supposed
by Michaelis to have been wntten in the ninth
century, and so called from Augia major, the
name of a monastery at Rheinau, to whicn it be^
longed. It came, in 1718, into the hands of the
celebrated Dr. Bentley, who purchased it for 250
Dutch florins; it is now in tne libraiy of Trinity
College, Cambridge. This Mit. (noted F. in the
second part of Wetstein*s New TesUment), is
"Written m uncial letters, and without accents,
not Gontinua serie, as is conmion with the more
aacient copies, but with intervals between the
-words, and a dot at the end of each. The Greek
text is in capitals, and the Latin in Anglo-Saxon
letters ; whence it is tolerably clear that it must
bave been written in the west of Europe, where
that formation of the Latin letter was m general
use between the seventh and twelfth centuries.
Hie MS. is defective from the beginning to Ro-
mans, iii. 8 ; and the epistle to the Hebrews is
only found in the Latin version.
AUGEAS, in fabulous history, king of Ells,
filmed for his stable, which contained 3000 oxen,
and had not been cleaned for thir^ years. Her-
cules was desired to clear away the filth in one
day ; and Augeas promised, if he performed it,
to give him a tenth part of the cattle. This task
Hercules is said to have executed, by turning
the course of the river Alpheus, or, as some say,
the Peneus, through the stable, which immedi-
ately carried away the dung and filth. Augeas
not only refused to stand by his engagement, pre-
tending that Hercules had used artifice, and ex-
perienced no labor or trouble, but banished his
own son Phyleus firom his kingdom, for support-
ing the claims of the hero. Upon this a war
commenced, and Hercules conquered Elb, put
Augeas to death, and gave his kingdom to Pny-
leus. Augeas has been called the son of Sol, be-
cause Elis signifies the sun. After his death, the
honors usually paid to heroes, were paid to
lUGER. Tentonick Auegher ; Ang.-Sax.
VcuIII.
Aeg. From the same root we have edge^ a tool
used in the mechanic arts.
The «9ir hath a handle and bit ; itt office is to
make great round holes. When you use it, the^tofF
you woriL apon is commonly laid low under you, that
yoa may the easier use your strength : for, in twisting
the bit about by the force of both your hands, on each
end of the handle one, it cuts great chips cut of tLe
stuff. Moxon's Mech, Exercitei,
Auger (Athanasius), a learned classic, and
professor of rhetoric at Rouen, and vicar-general
of Lescar, published a splendid edition of the
works of Isocrates, from the press of Didot, Paris,
3 vols. 4to. 1782; and the works of Lysias in
1783, in 2 vols. 4to. afterwards reprinted together
in 5 vols. 8vo. He also published translations
of the discourses of the Greek Orators of the ora-
tions of Cicero, and of harangues taken from the
history of Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xeno-
phon. His translations are considered as very
correct, but his style is deficient in ease and ele-
gance. He died at Paris in 1792.
AUGES, in astronomy, two points in a pla-
net's orbit, otherwise called apsides, the one
denominated the apogee, the other perigee. See
Apsis.
AUGETTE, in fortification, the wooden pipe
which contains the powder by which a mine is
fired.
AUGHT. Ang.-Sax. hwit, a whit or owhit.
See Wait.
If I can do it.
By amght that I can speak in his dispraise^
She shall not long continue love to him.
ShaktpeoM,
They may, for aaighi I know, obtain such substances,
as may induce the chymists to entertain other
thoughts. Bcgfle,
But go, my son ; and see^ if aaight be wanting
Among thy lather's firiends. Additon*t Caio,
AUGILA, a district and town of Africa, be-
tween Siwah and Fezzan. It is included under
the dominion of Tripoli, though the subjection is
but nominal. This city is of great antiquity, being
known in the tiipe of Herodotus. It is about a
mile in circumference, but dirty and ill-built ; the
apartments are dark, there being no aperture for
light, except the door. The buildings a|e also
very mean. Dates of excellent quality are pro-
duced abundantly. T^e inhabitants are em-
ployed partly in agriculture, but still more in
following the caravans which pass through this
territory. Long. 22'' 25' E., lat. 20° 35' N.
AUGITES, among ancient naturalists, a kind
of gem, of a pale green color, inferior in valu^ to
the topaz. This mineral is ciystallised in small
six or eight-sided prisms, with dihedral summits.
Its colors are green, brown, and black. Inter-
nal lustre shining. Uneven fracture. Translu-
cent. Easily broken. It scratches glass. Specific
gravity 3'3. Melts into a black enamel. Its com-
position, according to Klaproth, is forty-eight
silica, twenty-four lime, twelve oxide of iro6,
8*75 magnesia, five alumina, and one manga-
nese.
AUGMENT, V. & n,'\ Lat. augmenhm^ from
Augment a'tion, faif^ere, to increase. To
Augmen'tative, J put a smaller quantity
AuGxi en'ter. y to a greater, to eulan,e,
to niake greater, and so to strengthen.
T
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274
AUGSBURG.
The wretched antmid heavM forth sach groans.
That their discharge did stretch his leathern coat
Almost to bursting ; and the big round tears
CoQTs'd one another down his innocent nose
In piteous chase ; and thus the hairy fool.
Much marked of the melancholy Jaques,
Stood on the exuemest verge of the swift brook
AvgmmUmg it with tears.
ShaJupean, At You Like It,
Heat in a certain degree is very pleasant, which
may be wymenteA to the greatest torment,
Locke om the Hunuuk Undentamdmg.
I have determined to consult the best writers for
explanations real as well as verbal ; and perhaps I
may at last have reason to say» after one of the ang-
menten of Furetior, that my book is more learned
than iu author. Dr. S. Johnmm.
Augmented, a musical term, used in contra-
distinction to perfect, major, minor, and dimi-
nished : thus, an augmented note forms an
interval of three chromatic degrees ; as C, d-sharp ;
£, flat, f-sharp ; F, g-sharp. See Intervals.
Augmented intervals become, by inversion, di-
minished.
Augmentation of Livings. The shamefully
poor livings of many of the inferior cleigy of the
church of England, attracted the attention of the
legislature so long ago as the reign of queen
Anne. The governors of the bounty of queen
Anne, for the augmentation of the maintenance
of the poor clergy, by virtue of several acts of
parliament, made for that purpose, are empower-
ed to augment all livings not exceeding £50 per
annum; and the number of livings following
were certified to be capable of augmentation.
No. of Rate per
livings. annum.
1071 UnderflO
1467 From £lO to 20
1126 20 to 30
1049 30 to 40
May be No. of nug-
augmented. mentations.
6 times 6426
4 5868
3 3378
twice 2098
884
40 to 50 once
884
5597 Total of augmentations to be^ .
made by the bounty before f ,« ^e^
these 5597 livings will ex- ( *">^^^
ceed £50 a-year. J
Mr. Chalmers observes, that computing the clear
amount of the bounty to make fifty-five aug-
mentations yearly, it will be 339 years, from
1714 (which v?as the first year in whidi any liv-
ings were augmented), before all the small liv-
ings above certified can exceed £50 per annum ;
and if even on&-half of such augmentations
should be made, in conjunction with other bene-
&ctors (which is not probable) it will still re-
quire 226 years before all the above livings will
exceed £50 per annum ! This is the more dis-
graceful, considering the immense inc<«ies en-
joyed by the superior clergy.
Augmentation, in heraldry, a
particular mark of honor, bome
either on an esicutcheon, or a
canton, as argent, a hand, gules,
borne by every baronet not being
of higher dignity, as in the an-
nexed example.
AUGSBURG, the second place in the king-
dom of Bavaria, both in population and cele-
brity, was formerly one of the free and imperial
cities of Germany. It is situated at the con-
fluence of the Wertach and the Lech. Thou^
less flourishing than in former times, it contains
a population of about 30,000 individuals, aqd is
well fortified, in the ancient style, having four
principal gates and six smaller ones. Augsburg
partakes largely in the manu&ctures and com-
merce of the country, and has long been dis-
tinguished for its engravings, and its considei^
able bookselling trade, especially in Catholic
literature. By means of its agents and bankers,
Augsburg is Uie general medium of exchange
with other countries, as well as a central defSi
for the Neckar, Tyrolese, Greek and Italian
wines. This ci^ is venerable from its antiquity,
and interesting from its connexion, both wim the
civil and ecclesiastical history of Germany. In
the diet of the empire^ Augsburg vras originally
called Vindelicia, as being the capital of the
Viudelici. When it subsequently fell under the
dominion of the RomanSp and a colony was set-
tled there by Drusus, it vras called Angusta-
Vindelicoram and Rhetorum. Il is mentioned
bv Tacitus (Germ, xli.) as a very splendid city
of the province of Rhsetia. From the Romans
it passed to the Alemanni, and subsequently to
the Goths and the Franks. Under these its im-
portance declined. It was subsequently in a
precarious condition, but revived after Rodolph
was elected emperor ; several of its former pri-
vileges being oAifirmed by him, and new ones
granted.
In 952 tbe order for the celibacy of the priests
in the Catholic church v?as confirmed oy the
council of Augsburg ; and the extent of its com-
merce conferred great celebrity upon it in the *
fourteenth and fifteen centuries. In 1518 the
diet was held here for concerting and promoting
the crusade against the Turks. Here the cele-
brated confession of the Protestant faith, drawn
up by Luther and Melancthon, was presented
in 1530. Here the well-known Interim was
published in 1548— and here the conventioa of
Passau was confirmed, and the peace which
terminated the religious war was concluded in
1555. It was also fixed upon as the seat of
one of the bidiops of Bavaria by the concordat
of 1817. It has frequently sufiiered by military
force, a calamity which it endured no less than
five times in the course of the late revolntion-
anr wars of Europe. Bayer^ the astronomer,
who first denoted die stars by the letters of the
Greek alphabet, was a native of this place.
Augsburg is forty miles north-west of Munich.
Long. 10° 53' £.» lat 48*" ir N. horn Green-
wich.
AuGfiBuao, a secularised bishopric of Ger-
many, now foming part of the kingdom of Ba-
varia. It took its name from the imperial city
of Augsburg, and was founded so early as the
sixth century. The territory of which it was
composed contained 1012 square miles, and lay
partly along the banks of the Lech, in the direc-
tion of the T^rol, in the margraviate of Beocgau,
and partly beyond the Danube, in the principa-
lity of Neuburg. The population was computed
Digitized by
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AUG
275
AUG
at 86^000, and the total revenue at 500,000 dol-
lars. The only towns of note are Dillingen and
Fussen, with eleven market towns^ and a number
»f vHlagesy mostly situated in the northern part
of the bishopric^ which is by far the most fruit-
ful and populous. The chapter was composed
of forty prebendaries, each of whom had a salary
of from 1000 to 1700 florins. The bishopric
came into the possession of Bavaria in 1802.
AuGSBtJRG, or AUGUSTAV, CONPESSION, a
celebrated confesaioo of faith drawn up by Lu-
three members with respect to the three Luceres,
Rhamnenses, and Tatienses; afterwards the
number was increased to nine, of whom four were
patricians and five plebeians. They bore an au-
gural stafiT, as the ensign of their authority; and
their dignity was so much respected, that they
were never deposed, nor any substituted in their
place, though they should have been convicted
of the most enormous crimes.
AUGURAL£, a place in a camp where the
general took auspicia. This answered to the
ther and Melancthon, on behalf of themselves Auguratorium in me city. Augurale is also used
and other ancient reformers, and presented, in
1550, to the empesof Charks V. at the diet Au-
gusta or Augsburg, in. the name of the evai>-
gelic body. This confession contains twenty-
eight chapters; of which the gseatest part
is employea in representing, with perspicuity and
trut}i, tb« religions opinions of toe Protestants,
and the rest in pointing out the errors and abuses
that occasioned their separation from the church
of Home. A civil war followed, that histed up-
wards of twenty years, but which only spread
in Seneca for the ensign or badge of an augur,
as the lituus.
AUGURATORIUM, or Augueaculum, a
building on the Palatine mount, where public
auguries were taken.
AUGURELLO (John Aurelio), an Italian
poet, bom at Rimini, in 1441. He was profes-
sor of the belles letters atTreviso, at which place
he died in 1524. He wrote several pieces, but
his chief work was a Latin poem, entitled Chry-
sopaia, or the art of making gold. He dedicated
new opinions, as they were then called, instead his poem to Leo X. upon which the pontiff pre-
of extirpating them.
AU'GUR,v.&n.
Au'gurate,
AUGURA'xrON,
Ai/gurbr,
Augu'rial,
Au'gurotts,
Au'OUBY.
quan avtge-
to see; quo modo
aves se gereretU in volan-
•-do, what direction birds
take in flying, Vossius.
Auguries were also taken
from their singing and
feeding. Hence it signifies to notice the move-
ments of birds, and thereby to predict, to foretel
future events.
sented him with a large empty purse, and said,
' that as he could make gold he best knew how
to fill it.'
AUGURY, is more fully defined the art of fore-
telling future events, by observations taken from
the chattering, singing, feeding, and flight, of
birds. It is also used in a more general signifi-
cation, as comprising all the different kinds of
divination. To make his observations, the augur
commonly seated himself on a high tower, with
any signs
Oh rir, yoa are too sore an at^mer
That yoa did feare is done.
ShaMtpeart. Antonp md Ckopaira,
What say the augttnf
—They would not have yoa stir forth to-day :
Flacking the entrails of an offering forth.
They could not find a heart within the beast.
Id.
We now apply the words gene- ^** ^^^ towards the east, the north on his left
rally to predictions of the fiiture by means of ^^ ^^\ ^ ^^^ ^^ ^^ "?^t- He divided-
any signs or tokens. ™ ™^* ^ ^ heavens into four parts, with a
crooked staff, af^r which he sacrificed to the
gods, while he covered his head with his vest-
ment. The augurs drew omflfns from five different
things : 1 . The phenomena of the heavens, as
thunder, lightning, comets, &c. 2. The chirpmg
of birds, as already mentioned : 3. The eager-
ness or indifference of the sacred chickens in
eating the bread which was thrown to them, they
interpreted lucky or unlucky: 4. Quadrupeds
crossing or appearing in some unfrequented
place: 5. From different casualties, which were
called dia, such as spilling salt on a table, or
wine upon clothes, hearing strange noises, stum-
bling or sneezing, meeting a wolf, hare, fox, or
pregnant bitch. The sight of birds on the left
hand was always considered as a lucky object,
and the words sinister laevus, though commonly
imagined to 4)e terms of ill luck, were uniformly
used l^ the augurs in an auspiciotxs sense.
Augury was a very ancient superstition. We
know firom Hesiod, that husbandry was in part
regulated by the coming or going of birds; and
most probably it had been in use long before his
time, as astronomy was then in its idancy. In
process of time, these animals seemed to have
gained a greater and very wonderful authority,
till at Uist no affair of consequence, either of pri-
vate or public concern, was undertaken without
Thy face and thy behayioor.
Which, if my amffwry deceive me not.
Witness good breeding.
Calchaa, the sacred seei, who had in view
Things present and the past, and things to come
foreknew :
Supreme of augun. Drydtn's Fablet,
The pow'rs we both invoke
To yoo, and yours, and mine, propitious be.
And firm our purpose with an oi^ury. Drjfden.
She knew, by miffury divine,
Venus would ful in the design. Swift,
So fear'd
The fair-manM horses, that they flew back, and their
chariots tum'd.
Presaging in their auprnfm hearts the labours that
they moum'd. Ckapmam^t lUad,
He deluded many nations in his migyrial and exti-
apicious inventions, from casual and uncontrived con-
tingencies divining events succeeding.
Broum'i Vulgar Bmmn.
AuouR, m Rx)man antiquity, an officer ap- consulting them. They were looked upon as the
pointed to foretel future events, by the interpreters of the gods ; and those who were
flight, and feeding, of birds. There was a college qualified to underatand their oracles were held
or community of them, consisting originally of among the chief men in the Greek and Roman
T2
Digitized by
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276
AUGUSTA.
States, and became the assessors of kings, and
even of Jupiter himself. However absurd such
an institution as a college of augurs may appear
in our eyes, yet, like all other extravagant insti-
tutions, it had in part its origin from nature.
When men considered the wonderful migration
of birds, how they disappeared at once, and ap-
peared again at stated times, and could give no
guess where they went, it was not unnatural to
suppose, that they retired somewhere out of the
sphere of this earth, and perhaps approached the
ethereal regions, where they might converse with
the gods, and thence be enabled to predict events ;
at least it was not unnatural for a superstitious
people to believe this as soon as some impostor
was impudent enough to assert it. Add to this,
that the disposition in some birds to imitate the
human voice, must contribute much to the con-
firmation of such a doctrine. This institution of
augury seems to have been much more ancient
than that of aruspicy ; for we ftnd many instances
of the former in Homer, but not a single one of
the latter, though frequent mention is made of
sacrifices in that author. Thus it is probable that
natural augury gave rise to religious augury, and
this to aruspicy, as the mind of man makes a
a very easy transition from a little truth to a great
deal of error. A passage in Aristophanes gave
the hint for these observations. In the comedy
of the birds, he makes one of them s^y, ' The
greatest blessings which can happen to you,
mortals, are derived from us; first, we show you
the seasons, viz. spring, winter, autumn. The
crane points out the time for sowing, when she
flies with her warning notes into Csypt ; she bids
the sailor hang up his rudder and take his rest,
and every prudent man provide himself with
winter garments. Next the kite appearing, pro-
claims another season, viz. when it is time to
shear his sheep. After that the swallow informs
you when it is time to put on your summer
clothes. We kre to you (adds the chorus) Am-
mon, Dodona, Apollo : for, after consulting us,
you undertake every thing; merchandise, pur-
chases, marriages, &c.' Now, it seems not im-
probable, that the same transition was made iu
the speculations of men, which .appears in the
poet*s words ; and that they were easily induced
to think, that the surprising foresight of birds, as
to the time of migration, indicated something of
a divine nature in them.
AUOUST. Lat Auguttus, Said to be so
called from the thing signified being consecratdd
by augury, and on that account was sacred and
venerable.
August, Augustus, Lat. The name of the
eighth month from January, inclusive^ August
was dedicated to the honor of Augustus Caesar,
because in the same month he vras created con-
sul ; thrice triumphed in Rome; subdued £gypt
to the Roman empire ; and made an end of civil
wars ; being before called Sextilis, or the sixth
from March. August was, by our Saxon ances-
tors (who, like the modem French, gave Aeir
months significant names), called wec^-nion^th,
i. e. weed-month, on account of the great plenty
of weeds at that season. It answers to part of
the two last months in the year in the new French
calendar ; comprehending the seventeen last days
of Thermidor, and the fourteen first days of
Fructidor.
AUGUSTA, a considerable and flourishing
town of Georgia, and the present seat of govern-
ment It is pleasantly situated in Richmond
county, on the south-west side of Savannah
river, upon a beautiful plain, five miles in length.,
and one and a half in breadth. It is regularly
laid out, the streets intersecting one another at
right angles, and contains about 250 dwellings.
The public buildings are, a church ; an academy ;
a government-house, where the governor, secre-
tary of state, and other public officers transact
their business; a market^ioose ; a new stone
jail ; a spacious building, where the courts of
justice are administered, and the legislature hold
flieir sessions; and three ware-houaes, large
enough to contain 10,000 hogsheads of tobacco.
The academy generally contains between eighty
and ninety students, who are under the direction
of two tutors and a professor of oratory. It is
governed by a board of trustees, who are a body
corporate in law. The funds belonging to this
institution are considerable, consisting of lands,
houses, and money, to the amount of several
thousand pounds sterling. From the advantages
which it enjoys, it probably will, on a future day,
become a place or considerable note in the lite-
rary world. Opposite the centre of the town, a
large wooden bridge has been, erected across flie
Savannah, which opens a commodious and easy
communication with South Carolina ; it b nine-
teen feet wide, and between 700 and 800 in
length. It has already been of considerable ad-
vantage to the town, by inducing the planters in
the upper part of South Carolina to bring their
produce to this market. It is about 236 miles from
the mouth of Savannah river, including its mean-
ders, 120N.N.W. of Savannah, and 746 S. W.S.
of Philadelphia. Population upwards of 4000.
Lat. 33** ly N., long. 80* 46r. W.
Augusta, a county of Virginia, lying partly
east and partly west of the North Mount, a ridge
of the Alleghany. It is fertile, and contains up-
wards of 12,000 inhabitants, including slaves. It
has a remarkable cascade, called Falling Spring.
Augusta, in antiquitv, a title given to ukt
Roman empresses, and frequently to the mothers
and daughters of the emperors, who had been
empresses.
Augusta, in ancient geography, the name of
various ancient cities, mosdy named after Au-
gustus or his successors : suoi as,
1. .Augusta, a city and island in the Adriatic
sea, called also Austa, on the coast of Dalmatia,
near Ragusa, subject to Venice. Long. 17° SO' £.,
lat. 42° 35' N.
2. Augusta Acilia, a town in Bavaria, now
called Azelburg.
3. Augusta Ausciorum, a town of Aqaita-
nia, originally called Climberum, which name
it afterwards resumed. In the middle age, how-
ever, it took the name of the people, Ausci ; and
is now called Auch.
4. Augusta Braccarum, a city of Portugal,
now called Braga.
5. Augusta Drc'si, a town in Suabia, now
called Memmingen.
6. Augusta Emerita^ a town of Lusatacnia,
Digitized by
Googl(
AUGUSTINE.
277
OB ihe Anas, capital of the province ; a colony
of the Emeriti, now called Meridoy in Spanish
Estremadura.
7 and 8. Augusta Pbatoria ; 1. a town and
colony of Gallia Cisalpina, the capital of the Sa-
lassi ; seated at the foot of the Alps Grais, on &e
Duria ; now called Austa. 2. another in Tran-
sylvania ; now called Cronstadt.
9. Augusta Rauracorum, a town of Gallia
Belgica, six miles east from Basil ; now called
Augst. From the ruins, which are still to be
seen, it appears to have been a considerable
colony.
10. Augusta Romakduorum^ the ancient
name of Luxemburg.
11. Augusta Suessonum, a town of Gallia
Belgica, on the Axona ; with great probability
supposed to be the Noviodunum Suessonum of
Csesar ; now called Soissons.
12. Augusta Taurinorum, a town of the
Taurini, at the foot of the Alps, where the Duria
Minor &Us into the Po ; now called Turin.
13. Augusta Tiberii, a city of Bavaria; now
called Ratisbon.
14. Augusta Treba, a town of the ^qui,
near the springs of the river Anio in Italy ; now
called Trevi, in Umbria.
15. Augusta Trevi rorum, a town of the
Treviri ; now called Trieres or Treves.
16. Augusta Tricassium, the ancient name
of Troceres.
17. Augusta Trinobantum, the name given
by the Romans to London.
18. AoGusTA Veromanduorum, a town of
ancient Gaul ; now St Quintin.
Augusta Vindelicorum, a town of the Li-
cates on the Licus ; styled by Tacitus a noble
colony of Rhsetia; now called Augsburg, in
Suabia. See Augsburg.
Augusta Historia, in literature, the history
of the Roman 'emperors, from Adrian to Carinus ;
that is, from A. D. 157 to 285, composed by six
■ Latin writers, viz. iElius Spartianus, Julius Ca-
pitoliims, /Elius Lampridius, Vulcatius Gallica-
nus, Trebellius Pollio, and Flavius Vopiscus.
AUGUSTALIS Prjefectus, a title peculiar
to a Roman magistrate who governed Egypt,
with a power mucli like that of a proconsul in
other provinces.
AUGUSTAN, relating to Augustus, or Au-
gusta.
AuGusTAK Confession. See Augsburg.
AUGUSTICUM, in writers of the middle
age, a largess of an emperor to the people or
aoldiery.
AUGUSTEUM Marmor, in the natural his-
tory of the ancients, a name given to the common
green and white marble, so frequent in use with
lis for tables, &c. and called by our artificers
Egyptian marble.
AUGUSTIA, an ancient town in Wallachia,
now called Kusty.
AUGUSTIN (St.), the capital town of the
province of East Florida, Nortn America, is si-
tuated on the Atlantic, on a peninsula, consisting
has a good port, although the breakers, at its
entrance, have formed two channels, whose bars
have only eight feet of water each. It has a strong
castle for its defence; a good parish church,
and two hospitals, one for the garrison of troops,
and another for the community. It was burned
by Sir Francis Drake, in 1586, and by captain
Davis, with the Buccaniers, in 1685 ; but was
immediately after rebuilt. In 1702 it was be^
sieged by tlie English, who, not being able to take
the castle, burned and destroyed the town. In
1714 it was again unsuccessfully attacked by
the English under general Oglethorpe. Long.
81° 40' W., lat. 29*" 58' N.
AUGUSTINE, a cape of South America, in
Brasil, on the Atlantic, 300 miles north-east of
All-Saints' Bay. Long. 35° 4' W., lat. 8° 30* S.
Augustine, or Austin (St.), the first archbi-
shop of Canterbury, was originally a monk in the
convent of St. Andrew at Rome, and educated
under St. Gregory, afterwards Pope Gregory I.
by whom he was despatched into Britain, with
forty other monks, about A. D. 596, to convert
the English to Christianity. He landed in the
isle of Thanet, and having sent some French in-
terpreters to king Ethelbert, with an account of
the errand on which he came, the king gave him
leave to convert as many of his subjects as he
could, and assigned his place of residence at Do-
roverum, since called Canterbury ; here the king
himself was converted ; whose example had a
powerful influence in promoting that of his sub-
jects. Austin now despatched a priest and a
monk to Rome, to acquaint the pope with tlie
success of his mission, and to desire his resolu-
tion of certain questions. These men brought
back with them a pall and several books, vest-
ments, utensils, and ornaments for the churches ;
with directions to Augustine concerning the set-
tling of episcopal sees in Britain ; ordering him
not to pull down the idol temples, but to convert
diem into Christian churches ; only destroying
the idols, and sprinkling the place with holy
water, that the natives, by frequenting the tem-
ples they had been always accustomed to, might
be tlie less shocked at their entrance into Chris-
tianity. Augustine resided principally at Can-
terbury, which thus became the metropolitan
church of England; and having established
bishop in several of the cities, he died A. D.
607. The popish writers ascribe several miracles
to him. The observation of his festival was first
enjoined in a synod held under Cuthbert, arch-
bishop of Canterbury, and afterwards by the
pope*s bull in the reign of Edward IH.
Augustine (St.), a fahious father of the church,
was bom at TTiagaste, in Numidia, A. D. 3^4.
His father, a burgess of that city, was called Pa-
tricius ; and his mother, Monica, who being a
woman of great virtue, instructed him in the
principles of Christianity. In his early youth he
was in the rank of the catechumens ; and falling
dangerously ill, earnestly desired to be baptized,
but the violence of the distemper ceasing, bis
baptism was delayed. His father^who was not
of a narrow strip of land. It is of an oblonff yet baptised, made him study at Thagaste, Ma-
figare, intersected by four streets, which cut each daura, and afterwards at Carthage.' Augustine
ouier at riffht angles. It is reckoned a healthy having read Cicero's books of philosophy, applied
place, and isweU supplied with fresh water. It himself to the study of the scriptures; but suf^
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278
AUGUSTINE.
ftred himself to be seduced by the Manicbeans.
At the age of nineteen he returned to Tbagaste,
taught grammar, and frequented the bar: be
afterwaids taught rhetoric at Carthage with ap-
plause. The insolence of the scholars at Car-
thage made him take a resolution to go to Rome,
though against his mother's will. Here also be
had many scholars ; yet he quitted Rome, settled
at Milan, and was chosen professor of rhetoric
in that city. Here he had opportunities of
hearing the sermons of St. Ambrose, which, to-
gether with the study of St. Paul's epistles, and
die conversion of two of his friends, determined
him to retract his errors, and quit the sect of the
Manicbeans : this was in the thirty-second year
of his age. In the year 386 he retired to the
house of a friend of his, named Verecundus,
where he seriously applied himself to the study
of the Christian religion, to prepare himself for
baptism, which he receiTcd at Easter, in 387.
He went to Africa about the end of 388 ; and
having obtained a garden-plot without the walls
of the city of Hippo, he associated himself with
eleven other persons of eminent sanctity, who
distinguished themselves by wearing leathern
girdles, and lived there in a monastic way for
three years, exercising themselves in fasting,
Erayer, study, and meditation, day ancl night ;
om hence sprung up the Augustine friars, or
eremites, of St. Augustine, the first order of men-
dicants. About this time, or before it, Valerius,
bishop of Hippo, against his will, ordained him
{>riest : nevertheless, he continued to reside in his
ittle monastery, with his brethren, who, renoun*
cing all oroperty, possessed their goods in com-
mon. Valerius, who had appointed St. Augus-
tine to preach in his palace, allowed him to do it
in his presence, contrary to the custom of the
churches in Africa. He explained the creed, in
a general council of Africa, held in 393. Two
years afUr, Valerius, fearing he might be prefer-
red to be bishop of another church, appointed
him his colleague, and caused him to be ordained
bishop of Hippo, by Megalus, bishop of Calame,
then primate of Numidia. St. Augustine died
the twenty-eighth day of August, 430, aged
seventy-six, having had the misrortune to see his
countiy inraded by the Vandals, and the city
where he was bishop besieged for seven months.
His works make ten volumes ; the best edition
of them is that of Maurin^ printed at Antwerp,
in 1700.
AuousTiHE (Anthony), an eminent prelate,
bom at Saragossa, in Spain. He was employed
by the pope on an embassy to England, in 1554;
and afterwards assisted at the council of Trent.
In 1574 he was preferred to the archbishopric of
Tarragona. So great was his charity, that at his
death, in 1586, he did not leave what was suffi-
cient to defray his funeral expences. He wrote
several treatises on law, and on medals, in the
Spanish language, which were printed in 1587.
Augustine (Leonard), or Agostini, an Itsilian
antiouary, was a native of Sienna, and flourished
in the seventeenth century. He compiled an
elaborate work on ancient gems, which was first
published in 1657, in two volumes, 4to. and
again in 1707, four volumes, 4to. A Latin
translation of this work, by Gronovius, was pub-
lished at Amsterdam in 1685, and at Franeker in
1694.
Augustine, Mount, St. a remarkable island
within the entrance <k Cook's islet, about six
miles from its westeA shore. It was seen by
Capt. Cook, who was doubtful whether it did
not belong to the continent. It was since visited,
in 1794, by Mr. Puget, who, in the C*hathani,
sailed round the world, in company with Van-
couver. He states it to be about nine leagues in
circuit.
Augustine, St. a port on the coast of La-
brador, opposite St. John's Bay, Newfoundland.
About two miles south-west runs a chain of small
islands, called St. Augustine's Chain, about
long. 58® 50* west, and lat. 51° 11' north.
Augustine's Square, St. a number of small
islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Labrador,
reaching from Shecatica bay on the north-east,
to Outer Island on the south-west.
AUGUSTINIANS, divines who maintain, on
the authority of St. Augustine, that grace is effec-
tual from its nature, absolutely and morally, and
not relatively and gradually. They are divided
into rigid and related.
AuGUSTiNiANS, or AuGusTiNS, an order of
religious ; so called from St. Augustine, whose
rule they observe. The Augustins, or Austin
friars, were originally hermits, whom pope Alex-
ander IV. first congregated into one bodv, under
their general Lanfranc, in 1256. Soon after, this
order was brought into England, where they had
about thirty-two houses at the time of their sup-
pression. The Augustins are clothed in black,
and make one of the four orders of mendicants.
From these arose others, under the denomination
of bare-foot Augustins, Minorites, or Friars mi-
nor. There are also canons regular of St. Au-
gustine, who are clothed, in white, excepting
their cope, which is black. At Paris they are
known under the denomination of religious of
Genevieve ; that abbey being the chief of the
order. There are also nuns and canonesses, who
observe the rules of St. Augustine.
AUGUSTINUS, a work of Jansenius, bishop
of Ypres, in three volumes, folio> printed at Lou-
vain in 1540; the first whereof contains a disr
course against Pelagianism; and the second,
treatises on reason ; the use of authority in theo-
logical matters ; the state of innocence ; fall of
nature by sin ; grace, &c. From these treatises
the five famous propositions of the Jansenists
were collected.
AUGUSTOBONA, a city of the Tricasses, in
ancient Gaul, from whom it was afterwards called
Tricasses, and Trecasste; and still farther cor-
rupted to Thracae, or T^; whence its modem
name Troves.
AUGUSTOBRIGA^ an ancient town of
Spain, now called Medina Celi.
AUGUSTODUNUM, the capital of the SAul,
where there was a fiimous academy for the edu-
cation of youth ; now called Autun.
AUOUSTOMAGUS, an ancient town of Gal-
lia Belgica, now called Senlis, in the Isle of
France. Long. 2** 40' E, lat. 49® 12' N.
AUGUSTONIMETUM, a town of ancient
Gaul, now Nevers.
AUGUSTORrrUM, according to some au-
Digitized by
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A V I C E N A-
279
Ihon the capilal of the Pictones, afterwards called
PictaTi; now Poictiers. But by Antonine's
lunerary from Burdigala to Argantomagus (or
AxY^ton, as it is interpreted by many), it can be
no odier but the capital of the Lemovices, now
Limo^est, situated between Vesunna or Petro-
corii, or Perigueux, and Argantomagus. Long.
1^ 22^ E. lat. 45** 52' N.
AUGUSTALIA, in Roman antiquity, a festi-
val on which games (Augustales ludi) were oele^
bratedy in Rome, annuidly, on the day of the
return of Augustus Cssar, at the conclusion
of his wars. It was instituted ann. U. C. 735,
and kept on the IVth. ides (12th) of October.
After his decease, the tribunes of the people
asked permission to celebrate the festival at their
own private expense.
AUGUSTALES Sodales, priests institu-
ted by Tiberius after the apotheosis of Augustus
Caesar, to perform the service of the new god.
One and twenty of the noblest Romans were
chosen by lot to this office ; and among the first
members were Tiberius himself, Drusus, Clau-
dius, and <jrermanicu3.
AUGUSTOWO, or Augustow, a town in the
department of Lomza, Poland. It contains 2000
mhabitants, and has a staple for salt, fiffy-4ix
miles north-west of Rielsk.
AUGUSTULUS, otherwise called Flavins Ro-
mulus Augustus, was the son of Orestes, and the
last Roman emperor. Being subdued by Odo-
acer, the king of the Heruli, be abdicated the
throne, in 475, and tlras put
an end to the western empire,
after it had subsisted 522
years from the battle of Phar-
salia. This prince is repre-
sented on some medals, as in
the annexed figure; inscrif>-
tion, D. N. ROMULUS AU-
GUSTULUS. P. F. AUG.
AUGUSTUS, an appellation conferred upon
Caesar Octavianus. See Octaviakvs, and Rome.
The obscure name of Octavianus, Mr. Gibbon
observes, he derived from a mean family in Ari-
cia. It was stained with the blood of the pro-
scription; and he was desirous, had it been
possible, to erase all memory of bis former life.
The illustrious surname of Caesar he had assumed
as the adopted son of the dictator ; but he had
too much sense either to hope to be confounded,
or to be compared with that extraordinary man.
It was proposed in the senate, to dignify their
minister with a new appellation; and after a
very serious discussion, that of Augustas was
chosen among several others, as being the most
expressive of the character of peace and sanctity
which he uniformly affected. Augustus was
therefore a personal, Caesar a fimiily, distinction.
The former should naturally have expired with
the prince on whom it was bestowed ; and how-
ever the latter was diffused by adoption and
female alliance, Nero was the last who could
allege any hereditary claim to the honors of
the Julian line. But at his death, the practice
of a century had inseparably connected' those
appellatioBS with the imperial dignity, and they
iiave been preserved by a long succession of
emperors, Romans, Greeks, Franks, and Ger-
mans, from the fell of the republic to the present
time. A distinction was, however, soon intro-
duced. The sacred title of Augustus was always
reserved for the monarch; the name of Caesar
was more freely communicated to his relations ;
and from the reign of Adrian, at least, was appro-
priated to the second person in the state, who
was considered as the presumptive heir of the
empire.
Augustus Fort, a small fortress of Scotland,
in Invemesshire, at the head of Lochness, be-
tween the rivers Taarf and Oich. The name of
this fort in Erse is KHlchuimin, or the burial
place of the Cummins. It lies on the road to
the Isle of Sky.
AU-CUY-L'AN-NEUF, or Auguillanneuf.
See MisLETo.
AVIA. See Aquila.
AVIARY. Lat. avii, a bird. A place where
birds are kept.
In etoioriet of ffire, to keep birds of all sorts, the
Italians bestow vast expence ; including great scope
of ground, variety of bunhes, trees of good height,
running waters, and sometimes a stove annexed, to
oontemper the air in the winter. Wotton's An^techtn.
Look now to your awnnf ; lor now the birds grow
sick of their feathexs. .&«^'« Kalatdar.
AviAKY is now used for any place in which
birds are kept, but more particularly where the
beauty of their plumage or the sweetness of theit
song has been the cause of their coniinemenL
Lsnius Strabo, an opulent and luxurious Roman,
was the first who introduced aviaries upon an
extensive scale, and erected a splendid one athisi
villa near Brundusium. Varro, however, out-
shone all in his ornithological buildings, and
elegant and spacious aviary, at his country house
near Casinum. With evident satisfaction, bo
relates, that in his days there were two sorts of
aviaries, one for containing birds intended for
the table, and the other the birds which wen»
kept for their song or plumage. The former
sort were built entirely for use, but the latter
were often beautiful pavilions, with an apartment
or saloon in the centre, for the company to sit in
and enjoy the melody of the feathered songsters.
Aviaries nave never, in modem times, equalled
the splendor and extent of those of the Romans;
yet the aviary at Wobum Abbey, the seat of the
Duke of Bedford, is of great extent and value ; and
Malmaison, one of the palaces of the late Em-
peror Napoleon, contains an aviary at once large,
elegant, and well stocked with birds from all
quaners of the globe.
AVICENA, AvicENES, or Avicekna, the
prince of Arabian philosophers and physicians,
was bom at Assena, a village near Bokhara.
^Uis father was a Persian, and had married at
Bokhara. The first years of Avicenna were de-
voted to the study of the Koran and the Belles
Lettres. His progress was so rapid, that <when
he was but ten years old, he was perfectly ac-
quainted with the most hidden senses of the
Koran. Abu-Abdoullah at that time professed
philosophy at Bokhara with great reputation.
Avicenna studied logic under him ; but, disgusted
with the slow manner of the schools, he set about
studying alone, and read all the authors thAt
had written on philosophy, without any othei
Digitized by
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280
A V I C E N A.
help than that of the commentators. After read-
ing the first six propositions of Euclid, he pro-
ceeded alone to the last, having made himself
perfect master of them, and treasured up all of
them equally in his memory. * Endued with an
extreme avidity for all the sciences, he did not
neglect the study of medicine. Persuaded that
this divine art consists as much in practice as
in theory, he sought all opportunities of seeing
the sick ; and afterwards confessed that he had
learned more from experience than from all the
books he had read. He was now in his six-
teenth year, and was already celebrated as the
light of his age. He resolved at thu age to re-
sume his philosophical studies, which medicine
had made him neglect ; and he spent a year and
a half without ever sleeping a whole night
together. If he felt himself oppressed by sleep,
or exhausted by study, a glass of wine refreshed
his wasted spirits, and gave him new vigor. At
the age of twenty-one he conceived the bold de-
sign of incorporating, in one work, all the ob-
jects of human knowledge ; and carried it into
execution in an Encyclopaedia of twenty volumes,
to wliich he gave the title of the Utility of Utili-
ties ; an immense labor for one man at such a
period. Several great princes had been taken
dangerously ill, and Avicena was the only one
that knew their ailments and cured them. His
reputation increased daily, and all the kings of
Asia desired to retain him as tlieir physician.
Mahmud, the ftrst sultan of the dynasty of the
Samanides, was then the most powerful pnnce of
the east. Imagining that an mmlicit obedience
should be paid by all manner ot persons to the
injunctions of his will, he wrote a naughty letter
to Mamun sultan of Kharazm, ordering him to
send Avicena to him, who was at his court,
with several other learned men. Philosophy, the
friend of liberty and independence, looks down
with scorn on the shackles of tyranny.' Avicena,
accustomed to the most flattering distinctions
among the great, could not endure the imperious
manner of Mahmud's inviting him to his court,
and refused to go. But the sultan of Kharazm,
who dreaded his resentment, obliged the philoso-
pher to depart, with others, whom that pnnce had
demanded to be ^nt to him. Avicena pretended
to obey; but, instead of repairing to oazna, he
took the rout of Georgian. Mahmud, who had
gloried in the thoughts of keeping him at his'
palace, was greatly irritated at his flight* He
despatched portraiu, done in crayons, of this
philosopher to all the princes of Asia, with
orders to have him conducted to Gazna, if he
appeared in their courts. But Avicena had
fortunately escaped the most diligent search ad^er
him. He arrived in the capital of Georgian,
where, under a disguised name^ he performed
many admirable cures. Cabous then reigned in
that country. A nephew whom he was extremely
fond of, having fallen sick, the most able phy-
sicians were called, and none of them were able
to know his ailment, or -give him any ease. Avi-
cena was at last consulted. So soon as he had
felt the young prince's pulse, he was confident
that his illness proceeded from a passion which
he durst not avow. Avicena commanded the
pereoQ who had the care of the difierent apart-
ments of the palace to name them all in their
.respective order. A more lively. motion in the
prince's pulse, at hearing one of these apart-
ments mentioned, betrayed a part of his secret
Avicena then ordered the keeper to name all the
female slaves that inhabited that apartment At
the name of one of these beauties the young
Cabous coruld not contain himself; an extraoN
dinary vehemence of his pulse is said to have
completed the discovery of what he in vain d^
sirea to conceal. Avicena, now fully assured
that this slave was the cause of the prince's ill-
ness, declared that she alone had the power to
cure him. The sultan's consent was necessary,
and he of course was curious to converse with
his nephew's phjrsician ; but had scarce seen him,
when he knew in his features those of the por-
trait sent him by Mahmud: still Cabous, far
from forcing Avicena to repair to Gazna, re-
tained him for some time, and heaped honors
and presents on him. The philosopher passed
afterwards into the court of Nedjmedaevle, sultan
of the race of the Bouides. Being appointed first
physician to that prince, he found means to gain
nis confidence to so great a degree that he raised
him to the post of grand vizier. This dignity,
however, he did not long enjoy. Too great an
attachment to pleasure made him lose at once
his post and his master's favor. From that time
Avicena felt all the rigors of adversity, which
he had thus brought upon himself. He wandered
about as a fugitive, and was of^n obliged to
shift the place of his habitation to secure his life
from danger. He died at Hamadan, aged fif^-
eight, A.D. 1036, and in the year of the Hegira
428. No one composed with greater facility
than Avicena. He is said to have written fif^
pages a-day without fiitigue. Until the twelfu
centuiy he was preferred for philosophy and
medicine to all his predecessors.' His works
were the only writings m vogue, even in Europe.
The following are their titles : 1. Of the Utility
and Advantage of Science, 20 .books. 3. Of
Innocence and Criminality, S booka. 3. Of
Health and Remedies, 18 books. 4. On
the means of preserving Health, 3 books. 5.
Canons of Physic, 14 tbooks. 6. On Astro-
nomical Observations, 1 book. 7. On Mathe-
matical Sciences. 8. Of Theorems, or Mathe-
matical and Theological Demonstrations, 1 book.
9. On the Arabic Language, and its Proprieties,
10 books. 10. On the Last Judgment. 11. On
the Origin of the Soul, and the Resurrection of
Bodies. 12. Of the end we should propose to^
ourselves in Harangues and Philosophical Argu^
mentations. 13. Demonstration of collateral
Lines in the Sphere. 14. Abridgment of Euclid.
15. On Finity and Infinity. 16. On Physics
and Metaphysics. 17. On Animals and Vege-
tables, &c. 18. Encyclopedia, 20 Tolnmes.
AVICENNL^ or Avicenia, eastern ana-
cardium, a genus of the angiospermia order, and
didynamia class of plants ,* ranking in the natural
method under the fortieth order, personatae. The
calyx is quinquepartite ; the corolla is bilabiatcd,
the upper lip squared ; the capsule is leathery,
romb-like, and monotpermous. There aie two
species, viz. 1. A. nitida, the shining, ea*tem
aaacardium; and, 2. A. tomentosa, the downy
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281
AVI
anaoardium. The seeds are said to be the Mar
lacca beans formerly kept in ihe shops, the ker-
nels of which were eaten as aUnonds. Others
say that the plant producing the Malacca bean
is rather the bontia germinans.
AVICH, Loch, anciently called* Loch-laina,
a lake of {Scotland, in the parish of Dalayich, in
Argyllshire. Mr. Campbell, in his Statistical
Report, says it is ' a beautiful sheet of water, of
a regular triangular form, about eight miles in
circumference, rull of trouts ; haying a castle and
several islands, the resort of gulls, cranes, water
eagles, and wild ducks. Near thid lake lay the
scene of an ancient Celtic poem, called Cathluina,
or the conflict of Luina; and in the lake is an
island, the scene of another poem, called Laoi
Fraoich, or the death of Fraoch. Many places/
he adds, ' in this neighbourhood are still oenomi-
nated from Ossian's heroes.'
AvicH, a river rising from the above-men-
tioned lake, and running through a wood, and
part of the parish of Dalavlch, to wliich it gives
names, and at last &lls into Lochow.
AVimXY, > Lat amdus: from aveoy I
Avid'iously. ) desire earnestly. Covetous-
ness, greediness, insatiable appetite.
For nothing it more aiijfdjfimtlsf to be desired, than
is the tweet peace of God.
Baie'i Image of both Chmehet, pext i.
Vo writings wojild have been received with tueh
mridiiy and letpect at theee.
PdUift Emdenoet,
AVIENUS, Rufus Festus, a Latin poet of the
fourth century. He translated the Pnsnomena
of Aratus, the description of the earth by Diony-
sius, .£sop's Fables, &c. An edition of his
works was printed at Paris in 1590, and again
in 1731,
AVIGATO Peab. See Laurus.
AVIGLL^NO, a small town of Piedmont in
Italy, seven miles west of Turin.
AVIGNON, a city of France, in the depart-
ment of Vaucluse, on the banks of the Rhone,
168 leagues from Paris. Before the revolution
't was subject to the Pope ; and the residence of
several of them in it had rendered it considerable.
This occasioned many of the. natives to be ene-
mies to the new government; especially after the
Convention had abolished the establishment of
the Roman Catholic religion in France ; and was
the cause 6f much bloodshed. It is now, however,
completely annexed to France. Near the Rhone
there is a large rock, within the circumference of
the walls, upon which is a platform, whence may
he had a prospect of the whole city and its en-
virons. Its circumference is somewhat more
than three miles. Its manufactories are silks,
saltpetre, oil of vitriol, and aqua-fortis. Its pro-
ducts, wine, brandy, almonds, olives, oil, sa£lron,
truffles, corn, and wool ; and it contains a well-
regulated lunatic asylum, and an hospital of in-
valid soldiers which lodges 1 500' in-pensioners.
Before the French revolution its population
exceeded 30,000 ; but in the latest census they
are 23^311. It is the seat of a bishop, whose
diocese contains the departments of Vaucluse
and the Card ; and, in 1603, an university, or
Lyceum, was established here.
Avignon was ceded by Philip III. of France
to the see of Rome in 1273. On the decease of
Benedict XI. the papal court was transferred
herb; and the six successive pontics, Clement
V. John XXII. Benedict XII. Clement VI.
Innocent VI. and Urban V. made it their only
abode. The entreaties of Petrarch were often
addressed to the four last. lie was well ac-
quainted with Avignon, which had been the
residence of his father ; and the celebrated foun-
tain of Vaucluse, but a short distance from its
walls, has been immortalised by the complaints
of his unretumed love. The tomb of Laura is
still shown in the church of the Cordeliers ; and
her husband, Hugh de Sade, sleeps there by her
side. He speaks of it as the sink of vice and
COrraptiOQy as an object of universal hatred and
contempt, as barbarous^ and as the mystic Baby-
lon. Yet for seventy years, from 1309, it con-
tinued to be the seat of the holy see ; and after
the death of Gregory XI. who returned once
more to the Vatican, 6n the commencement of
the great schism of the west, during forty vears
more, the two rival pontiffs of the day thundered
their respective excommunications against each
other from the banks of the Rhone and of the
Tiber. The election of Martin V. terminated the
distraction, and Rome once again became the
single metropolis of the papacy. During its
subjection to the papal see, Avignon was several
times seized by France : once in 1662, when the
French amba^ador at Rome had been insulted
by the Corsican guards; again in 1688; and
again in 1733, on account of the loss occasioned
to the French revenue by smuggling. Another
instance of seizure happened iA 1768, when pope
Clement XIII. threatened to excommunicate tne
duke of Parma, and took the Jesuits under his
protection ; it was not given back till 1774, by
which time the papal chair had changed its oc-
cupant. The Count de Grignan, the husband of
Madame de Sevign^*s daughter, held it as vice-
roy for two years, and many of Madame de
Sevign^*s letters are addressed to Avignon.
Avignon Berrt, the fruit of a species of ly-
ceum, which grows plentifully near Avignop
and in other parts of Fiance. The berry is some-
what less than a pea; its color is green, ap-
proaching towards a yellow; and it is of an
astringent and bitter taste. It is much used by
the dyers, who stain a yellow color with it;
and by the painters, who also make a fine golden
yel^w of it.
^ILA, a city of Spain in Old Castile, seated
on an eminence on the banks of the river Adaja,
and in' sight of the mountains of Pico. It is
fortified both by nature and art, having had a
wall 9075 feet in circumference, adorned with
lofty towers and handsome gates. The houses
are generally good and stately. It Jias an uni-
veraity, and a considerable bi^opric; besides a
cathedral, which has eight dignitaries and forty
canons and minor canons. It stands in the mid-
dle of a large«plain, surrounded with mountains,
and covert with fruit-trees and vineyards.
There is likewise a manufacture of cloth.
. AviLA, or AviLES, a town of Spain, in A«-
turias,on the Bay of Biscay, eight miles south of
Cape de Pinas, and twenty-five north of Oviedo.
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AVI
283
AUL
ArtLA (Gil^ Conzales,).a Spanish historian.
fie went to Rome for his education, and when
he returned to his own country obtained a rich
benefice, and was appointed historiographer to the
king. He wrote a Treatise on the Antiquities of
Salamanca, also the Theatre of the Churches of
India, and other works. He died in 1658.
AVILA (Louis d'), a Spanish gentleman sent
by Charles theFiiUi, as ambassador to the popes
Paul IV. and Pius V. and was afterwards a con^
mander at the siege of Metz. He wrote histori-
cal memoirs of the wars of Charies V. against the
Protesunts of Germany, entitled < Los Commen-
taries de la Guerra del Emparador Carlos V.
contra los Protestantes de Alemania;' first print-
ed in 1546, and afterwards translated into
French and Latin. He also wrote Memoirs of
the War in AfirioB.
AUJILAH, an oasis, in the great Sahr&, or
Lybian desert, in lat. 29*" 30' N. and long. 22''
do' £. through which Mr. Homemaim passed in
1798. He says, there are three towns in the
territory of Aujilah, the capital of that name,
Mojabrah, and Meledilak; the latter are near
each other, and both about four hours distant
from Aujilah. That city is about a mile in cir-
cumference; ill built, though of stone, dirty, and
wretched. Mojabrah, is smaller but more popu-
lous; its inhabitants are principally engaged in
commerce, as those of Meledilah are in agricul-
ture. The women are skilful weavers, and ex-
port their cloths to Fezzin. The soil round the
town is sandy, but fertile when well watered.
It is subject to Tripoli, and the Bey of Ben-
ghazi was resident there during his visit.
AVILER (Augustine Charles d'), a French
architect, bom in 1653. He was taken by the
Algeiines in his passage to Rome, and carried to
Tunis, where he designed a grand mosque,
which is much admired. He was liberated
after two years, and settled at Montpelier, where
be died, in 1700. He wrote a Course of Archi-
tecture, in 4 vols. 4to.
A VIO, a town of Germanv in the bishopric of
Trent, a litUe west of the Adige.
AVIS, a river of Portugal, in Alentejo.
Avis, or Aviz, a small town of Portugal, in
Alentejo, seated on an eminence with a castle
near the ri?er.
Avis, Knights of, an order of knighthood in
Portugal, established about A. D. 1 162. When
Evora was taken from the Moors, in the reign of
Alphonso I. king of Portugal, it was garrisoned
by several persons who assumed the titl^ of
knights of St. Mary of Evora, which was soon
after changed for that of knights of Avis, which
town the king gave them, and whither they
removed from Avora. The badge of the order is
a green cross flory, and they observe the rule of
St. Benedict.
Avis LoifOA, a name given by Nieremberg to
the hoitlattotl of the Americans, a bird remark-
able for the swiftness of its running.
Avis Nivsa, a name under whicii Nidremberg
has described an American bird, of the size of a
thrush, brown and black on tiie back, and yel-
low under the belly ; it imitates the human voice,
and is called by the natives, oeoan.
Avis pEvniruLCRA, the name of an Ameri-
can bird, described bv Nieiemberg, and caUed
by the Indians quetzaltototl. It is of the six
of a pigeon, and is of more beautiiiil colore
than the peacock. There are, besides this spe-
cies, three or four others. Mr. Ray has, how-
ever, ranged all these under the number of birds^
the account of which he is either dubious about,
or suspicious of the truth of.
Avis Tropicorum, the Tropic bird, a bird of
the size of the common duck, found only about
the tropics.
Avis VsKTi, the bird of the wind. See
Heatototi..
AVISANDUM, in SeoU law, literally advis-
ing, or under consideration. A process is said
to be under avisandum, when the whole proofi^
with the arguments on both sides, are uncler the
consideration of the judge, before he has given an
interlocutor or decision upon the cause4
AVIS'JLON. Used for Vision.
The kinge of this wutUm,
Hath great imaginadoo*
Wliat thinge it signifie maie.
Giwer, Cm. A. bookviii. p. 264.
AVISO, adviso, Italian; a term chiefly used
in matters of commerce to denote an advertise-
ment, an advice, or piece of intelligence.
' AVISON (Charles), an English nrastdan of
Newcastle, where he practised the whole of his
life. In 1752 he published an Essay on Musi-
cal Expression, which was &vorably received,
and reached a second edition in 1763, when it
produced published remarks from Dr. Hayes,
professor of music at Oxford. Afison quickly
retorted, and his reply is appended to the third
edition of the original essav. He died at New-
castle in 1770, and left nve concertos ibr the
violin, and other compositions, which are esteemed
light and elegant
AVITES, a tribe of Samaritans, who came
from Avab, in Chaldea, and were settled by
Sennacherib in Samaria. They worshipped the
idols Nibbaz and Tartak. 2 Kings xvii. 24 — 31.
AVITUS, one of the emperors of Rome, in
the last stage of its declension. He succeeded
Maximus, A. D. 455, and reiened only one
year, being cut off and succeeded by Majorians,
A. D. 456.
AVrZE. See Advise.
Vo power he had to ftir, nor -will to me ;
That when the earefnl knight 'gan well tnine.
He lightly left the foe. Faerie Qmeeme.
As they 'gaa hia library to view.
And antique regiateis for to aeiw.
With that, the huabaadman 'gan him
That it for Idni was fittest exercise.
But him mnMuig, he that dreadfdl deed
Forbore, and rather chose, with scornful
Him to avenge.
AUK, in ornithology, See Alca.
AUKLAND, Bishops. See Auckland.
AUI^ is used for a court baron, by Spel-
man ; by some old ecclesiastical writers, for the
nave of a church, and sometimes for a court-
yard.
Aula Regia, or Aula aficis* a court establish-
ed by William the Conqueror in his own hall, com-
posed of the king's great officers of state, who
resided in his palace^ and were usually attendant
SpenetTm
/i.
Jd.
Digitized by
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AUL
283
AUL
OD bis person. This ooart was regnUted by the
article which forms the elevenfii chapter of
Magna Charta, and established in Westminster-
hall, where it hath e^er since contmued. See
King's Bench.
AULD WIFE'S LIFT, an ancient structure,
in the parish of Baldemock, Dumbartonshire,
about a mile from the church; supposed to be a
relict of ancient druidism^ and from its name
to have been the woiic of Druidesses. The
uppermost stone is eighteen feet long, eleven
broad, and six deep.
AULEN, an ancient imperial city of Ger-
many, in the circl« of Snabia, thirty miles north
of Ulm.
AULETES, avhiTtc, in antiquity, a flute-
player. One of the Ptolemies of llgypt, bore
the surname of Auletes.
AULIC, an act, in the Sorbonne and foreign
univereities, which a young divine maintains
upon being admitted a doctor in divinity. It
begins by an harangue of the chancellor, addres-
sed to the young doctor; after which he receives
the cap, and presides at the aulic or disputations.
AuLic, an epithet given to ce;ain officers of
the empire, who compose a court which decides,
without appeal, in aU processes entered in it.
The Aulic council is a jurisdiction of the Ger-
man empire, established by Maximilian I. in
1502, to counterbalance the authority of the Im-
Smal Chamber. It is called Aulic, because it
Hows the emperor's court aula. The emperor
names all the members, consisting of a president,
vice-president, and an unlimited number of
counsellors; six of whom at least must be Pro-
testants. All points relating to feudal rights and
the reserved territories of the emperor in Italy
are arranged by diis council. In order to pre-
vent any collision with the emperor's will, it
sometimes contents itself with making a report to
hhn in the form ' fiat votum ad Cscsarem.'
Following the emperor's court, it is sometimes
called justitiaon imperatoris, the emperor's jus-
tice. The aulic court ceases at the death of the
emperor.
AULIS, in ancient geography, a sea-port town
of Bceotia, over against Chalcis of £ub<Bay on
the Euripus, where that strait is narrowest; and
which were some time joined by a mole or cause-
way; on a craggy situation, and a village of the
Tanagraci, distant from Chalcis three miles. The
harbour is famous for the rendezvous of 1000
ships under Agameumon, previous to the Trojan
expedition. It is now entirely destroyed.
AULIUS Atticus, a captain of a Roman
cohort under Julms A^gricola, who was killed in
a battle with Galgacus, at the foot of the Gram-
pians. Two urns were dug up in the parish of
hedgorton, containing human ashes; one of
which Mr. Moncrieff supposes to have contained
those of this officer, and ue other those of Agri-
cola's son.
AULON, anciently a town and station for
ships, in lilyricum, on the Adriatic; now called
Volano, a port town on one of the mouths of the
Po, on the gulf of Venice.
AuLON, or AuLONA, anciently a town of Elis,
in Peloponnesus, on the confines -of Messenia.
Here stood a temple of ^culapius^
AULONIAS, an epithet of iBsculapius. See
last article.
AULOS, a Grecian long measure, the same
with stadium.
AULTGRANDE^ a river of Scotland, in the
parish of Kilteam, m Rosshire, which takes its
rise from Loch Glass, and after running six miles
fiills into the sea. Its course for two of these
miles is through a deep chasm of an extensive
and mgged precipice, called Craig-grande, or
the ugly rock; of which the Rev. Mr. Robertson,
in his statistical account of the parish, gives the
following description. ' * This is a deep chasm
or abyss, formed by two opposite precipices that
rise perpendicularly to a great height, through
whicti the Aultgrande runs for the space of two
miles. It begins at the distance of four miles
from the sea, by a bold projection into the chan-
nel of the river, which it diminishes in breadth
by at least one half. The river continues to run
with rapidity for about three quarters of a mile, -
when it is confined by a sudden jutting out of
tlie rock. Here, the side view from the summit
is veiy striking. ^ The course of the stream being
ihvLs impeded, it whirls and foams, and beats
with violence against the opposing rock, till,
collecting strengft, it shoots up perpendicularly
widi great fury, and forcing its way, darts with
the swiftness of an arrow through the winding
passage on the other side. After passing this
obstruction, it becomes in many places invisible^
owing partly to the increasing depth and narrow-
ness ot the chasm, and partly to the view being
intercepted by the numerous branches of trees
which grow on each side of the precipice.
About a quarter of a mile ftirther oown, the
country people have thrown a slight bridge,
composed of trunks of trees covered with turf,
over the rock, where the chasm is about sixteen
feet wide. Here the observer, if he has intrepi-
dity enough lo venture himself on such a totter-
ing support, and can look down ^e gulph below
without any uneasy sensations, will be gratified
with a view eoually awfiil and astonishing. The
wildness of the steep and rugged rocks; the
gloomy horror of the cliffs and caverns, inac-
cessible by mortal tread, and where the genial
rays of the sun never yet penetrated; the water-
feMs which are heard pounng down in different
parts of the precipice, with sounds various in
proportion to their distance; the hoarse and hol-
low murmuring of the river, which runs at the
depth of neariy 130 feet below the surface of the
earth ; fine groves of pines, which majestically
climb the sides of a beautiful eminence, that
rises immediately from the brink of the chasm;
all these objects cannot be contempteted without
exciting emotions of wonder and admiration in
the mind of every beholder. The appearance of
this singular and picturesque scene, will naturally
bring to the recollection of the classical spec-
tator those beautifiil lines of Virgil, in which he
describes the gulph, through which his Aleclo
shoots herself into the infernal regions :
demia hone frondibot atnim
Urget atrinqne latoa nemorii , medioque tngoma
Bat somtom saxis et torto vortice torrens
Hie tpecns borrendam, et saevi spiracula Ditia
Monstrantar ; niptoqiw ingens Achexonte vora^
PestifcnM apcrit faucea.— -«
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284
AVO
Critics may labor to convey the force and mean-
ing of the author's words ; and travellers may, by
their ingenious descriptions, g^ve us a still more
lively idea of ^eir beauty and propriety; but he
who would see a living commentary on thb noble
passage, must visit the rock of Aultgrande.*
AULUS Gellius. See Gellius.
AUMALE. See Albemarle.
AUME, a Dutch measure for Rhenish wine,
containing forty English gallons.
AUMERY. See Ambry.
AUMONE, in old law style, alms.— Bfli%.
AuMONE, tenure in, lands given to a church or
manaste^.
AUMONIER. See Almoner.
AUNAy the ancient name of Emly, in Ireland.
AUNCEL weight, an ancient kind of balance,
prohibited by several statutes, on account of the
many deceits practised by it. It consisted of
scales hanging on hooks, fastened at each end of
a beam, whicn a man lifted up on his hand. In
many parts of England, auncel weight signifies
meat sold by the hand, without scales.
AUNCESTER, ancestor.— CAoucer.
AUNE, a river of Devonshire, which runs
into the sea, east of Plymouth.
AuNE, a long measure used in France to mea-
sure cloths, stuffs, ribbons, &c. At Rouen, it is
equal to one English ell ; at Calais, to 1*52 ; at
Lyons, to 1-061 ; and at Paris, to 0-95.
AUNEAU, or AuNtiAUx, a town of France, in
the department of the Eure and Loire, arrondis-
aement of Chartres, with 250 houses. It has a
castle, and some hosierv manufactures. Here
the duke of Guise defeated, in 1587, the Germans
who had come to the assistance of the Protes-
tants. Five leagues east of Chartres.
AUNEDONACUM, the ancient name of
Fontenay, in France.
AUNGERVILLE rRichard,)commonly known
by the name of Richard de Bury, was bom in
1281 at St. Edmund's Bury in Suffolk, and edu-
cated at the university of Oxford: after which he
entered into the order of Benedictine monks,
and became tutor to Edward Prince of Wales,
afterwards king Edward III. Upon the acces-
sion of his royal pupil to the throne, he was first
appointed cofferer, then treasurer of the virard-
robe; archdeacon of Northampton, prebendary
of Lincoln, Sarum, and Litchfield, keeper of the
privy seal, dean of Wells, and last of all bishop
of Durham. He likewise enjoyed the ofiices of
lord high chancellor and treasurer of England :
and discharged two important embassies at the
court of France. Learned himself, and a jtatron
of letters, he maintained a correspondence with
some of the greatest geniuses of the age, particu-
larly with the celebrated Italian poet Petrarch.
He was also of a most humane and benevolent
temper, and performed many signal acts of cha-
rity. Every week he maae eight quarters of
wheat into bread, and gave it to the poor. When-
ever he travelled between Durham and Newcas-
tle, he distributed £8 sterling in alms ; between
Durham and Stockton £5, between Durham and
Aukland five marks, and between Durham and
Middleham £5. He founded a public libraiy at
Oxfbrdy for the use of the students,^ which be fur-
nished with the best collection of books then in
England; and appointed five keepers, to whom
he granted yearly salaries. At the dissolution
of religious nouses in the reign of Henry VIII.
Durham college, where he fixed the library,
being also dissolved, some of the books were
removed to the public library, some po Baliol
college, and some into the hands of Dr. George
Owen, who bought the college of king Edward
VI. Bishop Aungerville died at his manor of
Aukland, April 24, 1345, and was buried in the
south part of the cross isle of the cadiedral
church of Durham, to which he had been a
benefactor. He wrote, 1. Philobiblos, contain-
ing directions for the management of his library
at Oxford, and a great deafin praise of learning
in Latm. 2. Epistole Famitiarum; some of
which are vmtten to the famous Petrarch. 3.
Orationes ad Principes; mentioned by Bale
and Pitts.
AUNIS, or Aunix, the smallest of the ci-
devant provinces in France. It viras bounded
on the north by Poictou, on the west by the
ocean, and on the east and south by Saintogne.
It is now comprehended in the department of
Lower Charente. It b watered by the Seure
and the Charente. The coast has the advantage
of several ports, the most remarkable of whidi
are Rochefort, Rochelle, Brouge, St. Martin de
Re, Tremblade, Tonoai, and Charente. The
soil is dry, yet produces good com and plenty
of wine. The marshes feed a great number of
cattle, and the salt marshes yield the best salt in
Europe.
AUNT. Some ingenuity is necessary to de-
rive tliis word 'from the Fr. tatUe — * Lat. ofnita
from avita, and this from avia ! In Todd's John-
son it is deduced from the Old Fr. anUy from a
Celtic root, a father or mother's sister.
Who meets us here Y my niece Plantagenet,
Led in the hand of her lund amU of Glo'ster.
Shaktpwrt.
She went to plain work, and to purling brooks.
Old fashion'd halU, doll ounte, and croaking rooka.
PiPpe.
AVOCATORIA, a mandate of the emperor
of Germany, addressed to some prince in order
to stop proceedings in any cause appealed to
him.
AVOCH, or AuACH, Gael, a ford, a parish in
Scotland, Rosshire, on the coast of the Moray
Frith, and extending about four miles from south
to north, and two and a half from east to west
AVOID', -N Fr. uttufer, or eviter. IaI.
Avoid'able, # ewto. The word viduusy in whole
Avoid'ance, V or in part, is supposed to be the
Avoiu'er, i etymon. To make void or fre^
AvoiDLESs. J from, to leave empty, to go out
of, to move away from^ to leave, to escape. The
word shun is usually applied to persons, and
avoid to things. * Avoid the room,' no loi^r
means, as in Lord Bacon's time, go out of the
room, but * go not into the room.'
What have yon to do here, fellow tjmiy voa.
MPtei the hoose.
If any rebel ihonld be required of the prince oon-
federttte, the prince confederate ihoold coiuiand
him to iwoid the country.
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285
AUR
That moiSen ruin in wUch the whole empbe would
bemvoWcd. Dmmi^i Letttn,
Want of exactnoM in aoch nice experiments ii scarce
To take several things for granted, is hardly ooomI-
oUe to any one, whose task it is to shew the falsehood
or improbability of any truth. I^iie*
Now what things can there be of greater moment
or importance for men to know or God to reveal, than
the nature of God and ourselves, the state and con-
dition of our souls, the only way to anoid eternal
misery, and enjoy everlasting bliss. StiUiiigfleet,
It is appointed to give us vigour in the pursuit of
what is good, or in thk avoidaiiee of what is hurtful.
AVOIRDUPOIS, avoir du pois, French. A
kind of weighty of which a pound contains six-
teen ounces, and is in proportion to a pound
Troy, as seventeen to fourteen. All the larger
and coarser commodities are weighed by avoir-
dupois weight. Avoirdupois ounce is less than
the Troy ounce in the proportion of 700 to 768 :
but the avoirdupois pound is greater than the
Troy pound in the proportion of 700 to 576.
Avoirdupois Weight. For the table of its
divisions, see Arithmetic
AVCKE, -^ Lat., oooctf, avocatum, I <
Avo'cATE, >from a, and voeo. Evoke is
Avoca'tion. j used instead of the verb. .
AVCKE, -) Lat., oooctf, avoc^um, I call;
^18 now
Avo-
cations are those engagements which call off out
time and attention nrom other things. .
We have written to yo\u grace in our common
letter, for a oonfirma.tion of many inconveniences and
dangers which we persuaded to bis Holiness, to follow
both to himself and to the see apostolick, in case his
Holiness should aoobe the cause.
Bmntft Re^rm Reeordt, vol. i.
For what is a scholar, but one who retireth hia
person, and mtoeoMh his mind, from other occupations
and worldly entertainments. Borrpco's 8ennon»,
Sorrow ought not to be suiEered to increase by in-
dulgence, but must give way after a stated time to
social duties and the common ooocoltoni of life.
Johnson.
'Whoni could I select with such perfect propriety as
yourself, who, like the younger Scipio, can so usefully
mingle the aooeaHotu of business with elegant litera-
ture? Dr. Stuaret DeHeation of SnOutl.
AVOLATION. Lat. ovo/a^ (a vo^), a fly-
ing away from.
These airy vegetables are made by the relicks of
plantal emissives, whose anoUsHon i)as prevented by
the condensed enclosure. OUmoUie*s Soepm,
Strangers, or the fungous parcels about candles,
only signify a pluvious air, hindering the aeoSatiom of
the favfllons partides. Broum't Vvlgar Emun.
AVON, the name of four rivers in England ;
viz. 1. rising in Leicestershire, runs south-west
by Warwick and Evesham, and falls into the
Severn at Tewksbury ; 2. in Monmouthshire ; 3.
rising in Wiltshire, coasts the edge of the New
Forest, and entere the English channel at Christ
Church Bay in Hampshire ; and 4. the Lower
Avon, which rises near Tetbury in Glocestersh.
and running west to Bath, becomes navigable ;
continues its course to Bristol, and falls into the
Severn north-west of that city.
AVONA PoRTicosA, the ancient name of the
isle of Sanda.
AVOSETTA, in ornithology. See Rbcubvi.
AOSTRA.
AVOU'CH, «. & n.'j Fr. awwer, to affirm-
Avou'cHER, > To maintain, declare ab-
Avouch'ment. j sohitely, to vindicate, to
justify, to corroborate, to answer for the truth of,
to support a statment with documents.
They boldly anottehed that themselves only had
the truth, which they would at all times defend.
Hooker.
Wretched though I seem,
I can prodtice a champion that will prove
What is aaauehed here. Shakupean, Kintg Lear.
Such authours and aooHcftertf of thinges.
XJdaXL Luke, cap. i.
But I mamail much that maister Moore beyng a
great learned man, would not for the anowAement of
his credite, and the truth of so great a matter, allege
so much as the testimonie and auctoritie of some one
aucthor, for the prouyng of his assertion.
Uraftm, vol. i.
AVOW, V. & n.-|
WaL''*' ^'' """^^ ^^ ^^^' ^
Avow'ed V^^ ^^ promise. To make
A ««™' J, ^ fa solemn declaration, to ao-
Avow'rt.
His cruel stepdamc, seeing what was done.
Her wicked days with wretched knife did end ;
In death anovokig th' innocence of her son.
Faerie Qmene.
WHmot ccMild not wooweHy have excepted against
the other. Clarendon.
He that delivers them mentions his doing it upon
his own particular knowledge, or the relation of some
credible person, aootpn^ it upon his own experience.
Left to myself, I must oooio, I strove
From publick shame to screen my secret love.
Drifden.
Virgil makes JSneas a bold awwer of his own virtues.
Id.
Such assertions proceed from principles which can*
not be aeowed by those who are for preserving church
and state. Senft.
This management, when no aoowdUe reason could
be given for it, gave suspicious and refining persons
occasion to throw out a great deal of slander.
BoUngbroke*
Then blas'd his smother'd fiame, mow*d and bold.
AU-PIS-ALLER, a French phrase, sometimes
used among English writers, signifying at the
worst.
AURA, among physiologists, an airy exhalar
tion or vapor. The woid is Latin^ derived
from the Greek, avpa, gentle wind.
Aura, in chemistry, a name g^iven to that
certain fine and pure spirit, found in every ani-
mal or vegetable body ; but so subtle, as only to
be perceptible by its smell and taste, or other
effects, not found in any other body. This aura,
says Boerhaave, exhibits the proper character of
the body, and is lodged in the oil of the body, to
prevent its being dissipated and thrown off.
Aura, in ornithology, a species of vulture.
AUBACH, a town of Germany, with a good
castle, in die south part of Suabia, in the duchy
of Wirtem1)erg. It is the usual residence of the
youngest sons of the house of Wirtembeig; is
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286
AUR
seated at the foot of a mmmtain on the rivulet
Errosty fifteen miles east of Tubingen.
AURi£, in mythology, a name giren by the
Romans to the nymphs of the air. They are
mostly to be found m the ancient paintings of
ceilings; where they are represented as light
and airy, generally with long robes and flying
veils of some lively color or other, and fluttering
about in the rare and pleasing element assigned
to them. They were characterised as sportive
and happy in themselves, and wellwishen to
mankind.
AVRANCHES, a town of Lower Normandy,
formerly the capital of tfie district called Avran-
diin, and now of an arrondissement in the de-
partment of La Manche. It stands on a hill
near the Seez, and commands an extensive pros-
pect of the surrounding country. It was formerly
the see of a bishop, whose palace still remains, and
who was sufiragan to the archbishop of Rouen.
The cathedral was founded in 1120* It is only
half a league distant from the sea, and the tide
brings up small vessels close to the town. The
inhabitants carry on a traffic in grain, flax, hemp,
cattle, butter, wheat, salt, and cyder, which is
here made of an excellent quality. Provisions
and fuel are both dieap. Population about
6000. Avranches was much resorted to by the
English after the peace of 1814. It lies 222
miles due west of Paris. Long. 1** 17' W., lat.
48« 41' N.
AURANTIA, in botany, a natural order,
comprehending the entire orange tribe. Jussieu
is the author <h this order, the seventieth in his
arrangement; nor are there any traces of it
among the fragmenta of linoaras. cal. one lea^
often deeply divided, pet. definite, broad at the
base, inserted round a disk on whidi the germen
is placed, stam. placed* on the same disk.
GERM, one; stjle one; stigma simple, or rarely
divided. Fruit mostly pulpy, sometimes capsu-
lar, of one or manv cells, with one or two seeds
in each. This order is divided into three sec-
tions, according to the seed contained in the
fruit. 1. Fruit with only one seed. The leaves
are not marked with resinous dots, and hence the
plants of this section are termed spurious au-
rantia. 2. Fruit many-seeded, pulpy. These
are genuine aurantia, bavins the leaves fiill of
pellucid resinous dots. 3. Fruit many-seeded,
capsular. Leaves not dotted. Genera akin to
aurantia and to melis.
AURANTIAM, in botany. See Citrus.
AURANTIUS Piscis, in ichthyology, a name
given by Nieremberg to the dorado, or dolphin,
a species of the coryphsena, distinguished finom
the others by its forked tail.
AURARIa Functio, pensio, or pnestatio, a
tax to be paid in gol4.
AURATA, in ichthyology, the fish called
gilt head.
AURAY, a town in the moTince of Bretagne,
m France, a department of Morbihana, arroi^is-
sement of L'Orient, and the head of a canton. It
stands un the gulf of Morbihan, and has a har-
bour, with considerable trade in corn, honey,
skins, and salted fish. The only manuiactures
are a few woollen stufis. It trades principally
with Spain, and receives in exchange for the
above-mentioned articles, Biscay-iron and wine.
Population 3200. Four leagues W. of Vannes.
Long. ^ 53' W., lat. 47« 40' N.
AUREA Alexandbika, in pharmacy, a kind
of opiate, or antidote against the cholic and apo-
plexy, composed of a great number of ingre-
dients, which was in great &me among the an-
cient writers. It is called aurea, fiom the gold
(aurum) which is an ingredient in its composi-
tion ; and Alexandria, as having been invented
by a physician named Alexander.
Aurea Chxrsonesus, a name given by an-
cient au^rs to Japan.
AUREAPOLIS, an ancient town of Bavaria,
now called Ingolstadt.
AU'REAT, \ Lat aunim, gold ; partekinj?
Aurife'rous. S of the nature and qiialities of
gold. Poetical epithets.
And Mun departs in frekUft lede qohyte.
Sua bricht as gold with aureate leuis lyte.
Dougla*, Eneadot, Prol. to book xii. p. 401.
Bocks rich in gems, and mountains big with mines.
Whence many a bursting stream aamfercnt plays.
AtJRELIA, in natural history, the same with
what is usually called chrysalis, and sometimes
nymph. See Cbrtsalis.
AuRBLiA, the ancient name of Orleans.
AURELIANUS, Coelius, or» as some hafe
called him, Lucius Ccelius Arianus^ an ancient
physician, and the only one of the sect of the Me-
thodists of whom we have any remains, was of
Sicca, a town of Numidia in Africa. This we
learn from the elder Pliny, and his style much
resembles that of the African writers. It is half
Greek, half Latin, harsh, and difficult; yetstrong,
masculine, full of good sense, and valuable for
the matter it contains. It is frequendy very
ftcute and smart, especially when he exposes the
errors of other physicians, and always nervous.
What age C<elhis Aurelianus flourished in, cannot
be determined ; but it is probable that he lived
before Galen, as he does not make the least men-
tion of him. He was not only a careful imitator
of Soranus, but also a strenuous advocate for
him. He had read over very diligently the an-
cient phvsicians of all the sects ; and to him we
are indebted for the knowledge of many dogmas
which are not to be found but in his books, * De
Celeribus et Tardis Passionibus.' The best edi-
tion of th»e books is that published at Amster-
dam, 1722, in (|uarto. He wrote, as he himself
tells us, several other works; but they are all
perished.
AuRBLjAVtTS (Luchis Douutins), empeior of
Rome, was one of the greatest generals of anti-
quity, and commanded 3ie armies of the emperor
Claudius II. with such glory, that, after the death
of that emperor, the legions agreed to place him
on the throne, A. D. 270. He was a native of
Dacia, bom of obscure parentage, and was
elected emperor in the fifty-nfth year of his age.
He was a man of amazing strength and courage,
and had risen through all the gradations of mili-
tary dutv. In one engagement he is said to
nave killed forty of the enemy with his own
hand; and, in tlie various battles in which he
was engaged, above 900 in all. lie carried the
war from the east to the west with as much &ci-
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287
AUR
lity, says a modem writer, as a body of troops
marches from Alsace into Flanders. He de-
feated the Ootfas, Sarmatiaos, Marcomanni, the
Persians, Egyptians, and Vandals; conquered
Zenobia, queen of the Palmyrenians, and Tetri-
cus, general of the Gauls, bodi of whom graced
his triumph in 274. In a woid, for valor and
expedition, he might be compared to Julius
Caesar, had he posse»ed equal clemency and mo-
deration. He showed great clemency indeed to
queen Zenobia, althouf^ he destroyed her city,
for he gaTe her lands and an income sufficient to
maintain her in all the splendor of her former
royalty without the trouble of it. IBut his gene-
rosity to that princess was sullied by his order*
ii^ her secretary, Longinus, the celebrated critic,
to be put to death, whose work on the sublime
ought to have procured him respect from aay
person one degree removed from barbarism. His
severities were at last the cause of his destmo
tiuL Mnestheus, his secretary, conspired against
him, and he was slain by one of his generals in
¥iS6ing with a small guard from Heraclea in
hrace towards Byzantium, A.D. 275, after a
▼eiy active reign of five years. See Rome.
AURELLI, or Arelli, a Latin poet of the
sixteenth century, who obtained the government
of a district from Leo X. but whose tyrannical
behaviour made the inhabitants throw him into a
well, in 1520. His poems are much in the
manner of Catullus.
AURENGABAD, or Aubuhgabad. See Ao-
RUNGABAD.
AURENG-ZEBE, the Great Mogul, was the
third son of Schah lehan. He was bom in 1618,
and in his youth feigned an air of religious sanc-
tity, but in 1658 he and his brother Morad
seized Agra, and took their fiuher prisoner. Not
long after, he put Morad and Dara, another bro-
ther, to death. He, however, showed some ten-
derness towards his ftither, who died in 1666.
Aureng-«ebe increased his dominions so much,
and becune so powerful, that ambassadors were
sent to him fh)m all the eastern princes ; and for
the sake of commercial advantages, many Euro-
pean princes did the same. He died at Ahmed-
naghur in 1707, aged eiehty-nine. His posses-
sions were, by his will, divided among Ym sons.
He was of a low stature, with a large nose, a
white beard, and olive complexion. He v^as
slender, and supported himself on a staff; yet
he endorsed petitions without spectacles, and
seemed pleased with doing business at a public
audience. He subdued Visapour, Golconda,
and die Camatic ; overran the kingdom of Asen ;
feduced Bengal; and cleared the mouth of the
Ganges from the Portuguese pirates. He had
formed a design to destroy all the native princes,
and to force a conversion of the Hmdoos; but
harrassed in his turn by the rebellion of his sons,
he was obliged to put off the execution of this
momentous endeavour. By his indulgence to-
wards his omrahs and governors his meaner sub-
jects were oppressed with impunity. < bod,' he
observed, in his usual sanctimonious manner,
• would punish them if they did evil.' The real
state of the case was, that he shared in the fruits
of their oppression.
AUREOLA, in ecclesiastical antiquity, ori-
ginally signified a jewel, proposed as a reward of
victory in some public dispute. Hence the Ro-
man schoohnen applied it to denote the reward
bestowed on martyrs, virgins, and doctors, on
account of their works of supererogation ; and
painters use it to signify the crown of glory
with which they adorn the heads of saints, con-
fessors, 8cc.
AUREOLUS, a Dacian shepherd, who as-
pired to the empire, but was defeated and slain
oy Claudius, a general of the emperor Gallienus.
This usurper is known by some medals bearing
on one side his head, crowned vrith rays, as in
the annexed figure, inscription I M P. M. AC I L.
AUREOLUS P. F. AUG. on the reverse a
goddess, resting on a pillar, with a sceptre
in her right hand, a cornucopia in her left, and
a globe at her feet, inscription PROVIDENTIA
AUG.
AUREUS, a Roman gold coin, equal in value
to twenty-five denarii, or 100 sesterces. Accord*
ing to Ainsworth, the aureus of the higher em-
pire weighed nearly five pennyweights ; and in
the lower emphre little more thsm half that weight.
Suetonius says, that it was customary to give
aurei to the victors in the chariot races.
AvRBus MoNS, in ancient geography, 1. A
mountain in the north-west of Corsica, whose
ridge runs out to the north-east and south-east,
forming an elbow. 2. Another of MoBsia Supe-
rior, or Servia, south of the Danube, which the
emperor Probus planted with vines ; and 3. A
town at the foot of it, on the same river.
AURIA (Vincent), a Sicilian writer, bom at
Palermo^ 1625. He was author of several works
in Latin and Italian; but the principal are a
History of the most eminent Men of Sicily,
1704; and a History of the Viceroys of Sicily»
1697, folio. He died in 1710.
AURICHALCUM, opctxaXxoy, mountain-
brass; firom opoc, a mountain, and xaXjtoc,
brass ; the mettu now called brass being a mix-
tnre of copper and lapis calaminaris. It is called
aurichalcum by Plautus, and orichalcum by
Virgil and Horace. Plaut Mil. act iii. scene 1.
V.64.
Cedo miki ties homines aazichalco contra com istit
moribas.
AURICULA, in botany. See Primula.
AvBicuLA, in ichdiyology, the earwig.
Auricula Judje, or Jew's Ear, a kind ot
fungus, or nmshroom, somewhat resembling in
figure a human ear. It grovrs on eldcNtrees, the
tree on which, as some pretend, Judas hanged
himself; , and hence, tliey think, the name is de-
rived. This fungus steeped in water and applied
to the eyes, u sajd to free them of inflammation ;
but its chief use is in the form of a gargle in
decoctions against inflammatioos of tl^ diroat,
or swellings of the tonsils.
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288
AURORA BOREALIS.
AURICULAR, ) Lat auricula, flap of the
AuRic'uLARLY. ) ear ; sometimes the ear it-
self. Addressed to the ear^-as much as to say,
to go no further. Private, secret, confidential.
Yoo ahall hear at confer, and by an auricular as-
Boraaoe have jroor satisfaction.
Shakipeare. KSng Lear,
The alchymists call in many varieties out of astro-
logy, OMrieiilfir traditions, and feij^ned testimonies.
Baotm.
These will soon confess, and that not mmcularlff,
bat in a loud and audible voice. Deeagf of Piety,
AURICULATED Leaf, in botany, is a leaf
which has a lobe on each side towards the base.
AURIFLAMMA, in the French history, a
standard belonging to the abbey of St. Dennis,
suspended over the tomb of that saint, which the
religious, on occasion of any war in defence of
their land or rights, took .down, with great cere-
mony, and gave to their protector or advocate,
to be borne at the head of their forces. Hence
the word is sometimes used to denote the chief
flag or standard of an army.
AURIGA, the waggoner, in astronomy, a
constellation of the nortnem hemisphere, consist-
ing of twenty-three stars, according to IVcho ;
forty, according to Hevelius; and sixty-eight, in
the Britannic catalogue. It is figured as an old
man with a goat, her kids in his left hand, and a
bridle in his right Capella, the goat, is a star
of the first magnitude. Its rising was deemed by
the ancients a prognostic of rain.
AURIGNAC, a town of Gascony, the head of a
canton, in the department of the I^p^r Garonne,
arrondissement of St. Gaudens. Ine inhabitants,
who amount to about 1230, trade in cattle, and
manufacture woollen goods. It is seated on the
river Louge, fourteen leagues S. £. of Toulouse.
AURIGNY, a small island in the English
channel, belonging now to England, twenty miles
north from Jersey, and seven west of Cape La
Hogue. Long. 2" 9' E., lat. 49** 43' N.
AURIGRAPHUS; from aurum, gold, and
ypo^w, I write ; in the middle age, writers, a
copyist, or calligrapher, who wrote in gold letters.
AURILLAC, a town of France, on the Jor^
dane, in Upper Auvergne. At present it is the
chief town m the department of the Cantal.
Here are manufactures of woollen stuffs, carpets,
stamine, shalloon, and lace; in which, as well as
in cattle and cheese, an active trade is carried on.
Population 10,332 in 1815. Fifteen leagues south-
east of Tulle, and 111 south of Paris. Long.
2° 31' E.,' lat. 44** 55' N.
AURIOl., a town of France, in the depart-
ment of the Bouches du Rhone, arrondissement
of Marseilles. Here are some woollen manu-
factures. Population 3700, five leagues north-
east of Maxseilles.
AURIPIGMENTUM. See Orpiment.
AURIS, the ear. See Anatomy, Index.
Auais AsiNi, ass-ears, a name given by na-
turalists to a species of sea-shell, supposed to
resemble the ear of an ass.
AuEis Externa, the auricle.
AuRis Marina, ear-shell.
AuRis PoRci, hog's ear, in natural history, a
searshell, a species of the murex.
AURISCALPUM, an instrument to dean the
ears, and serving also for other opecitioBS ia dis-
orders of that part.
AURISPA (John), a Sicilian writer. He
was appointed secretary to Nicholas V. from
whom he obtained two abbeys. He died at
Ferrara, at the end of the fifteenth oentuiy. He
translated the works of Archimedes, and Hieio-
ole's Commentary on the gdden verses of Py-
thagoras.
AUROGALLUS (Matthew), professor of Isa-
guages at Wittembexg, was a native of Bohemia;
he assisted Luther in his translation of the Bible
into German, and wrote a Hebrew and Chaldee
Grammar, printed aft Basle in 1539. He died
in 1543.
AURIUM Abscissio, cutting off the ears,
was a punishment inflicted, by the Saxon laws,
on those who robbed churches ; afterwards od
every thief; and, at length, on divevs other cri-
minals.
AURON, a river of France, ia the depaitment
of Cher, anciently called Avara.
AURORA, in the mythology, the goddess of
the morning, was the daughter of Hyperion and
Thcfia, accoiding to Hesiod; but of Titan and
Terra, according to others. It was under this
name that the ancients deified the light which
foreruns the rising of the sun above our hemi-
sphere. The poets represent her as rising oat of
the ocean in a chariot, widi rosy fingers dropping
gentle dew. Virgil describes her ascending in a
flame colored chariot with four horses. Si» had
various lovers, Cephalus, Pandion, Titbonns,
&C. Aurora is also used for the morning twi-
light, or that faint light which appears in the
morning when the sun is within 18^ of the horizon.
Aurora, one of the New Hebrides islands in
the South Sea, in which Mr. Forster siqiposes
the Peak d'Etoil, mentioned by Mr. Bouganville
to be situated. The island is inhabited; hut
none of its inhabitants came off to visit Cqitain
Cook. The country is woody, and die vege-
tation seemed to be excessively luxuriant It is
about twelve leagues long, but not above five
miles broad in any part ; lying nearly nordi and
south. The middle lies in long. 168^ 24' £., lat
15° 6' S.
Aurora Australis, Southerk Light, oa
Streamers, similar to the aurora borealis, or
northern light, only more dear and white. See
Aurora Borealis.
Aurora Borealis, Northern Twilight^ or
Streamers ; a kind of meteor appearing in the
northern parts of the heavens, mosdy in the
winter-tiine, and in firosty weather. It is now so
generally known, that no description is reqnisiK
of the appearance which it usually makes in this
country. But it is in the arctic regions that it
appears most remarkable, particidazly during
the solstice. In the Shetland islaindsy the meny
dancers, as they are there called, are the constaat
attendants of clear evenings. They commonly
appear at twilight near the horizon, of a hue
approaching to yellow; sometimes oontinuing
for several hours without any sensible motion;
after which they break out into streams of stronger
light, spreading into columns, and altering slow^
into ten thousand different shapes, farying their
colors from all the tints of yellow to the obscurest
russet. They often cover the whole hemisphere,
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AURORA BOREALIS.
289
and then make the most brilliant appearance.
Their motions at these times are most amazingly
quick ; and the? astonish the spectator with the
rapid change of their form. Tney break out in
places where none were seen before; darting
along the heavens, are suddenly .extinguished,
and leave behind an uniform dusky tract. This
again is brilliantly illuminated in the same man-
ner, and as suddenly left a dull blank. Some-
times they assume the appearance of vast co-
lumns, on one side of the deepest yellow, on the
other declining away till it becomes undistin-
guishable from the sky. Tliey have generally a
tremulous motion from end to end, which con-
tinues till the whole vanishes. In a word, we,
who only see the extremities of these northern
phenomena, have but a &int idea of their splendor
and their motions. According to the state of the
Htmosphere, they differ in colors. They of^en
put on the color of blood, and make a dreadful
appearance. The rustic sages become prophetic,
and terrify the gazing spectators with the dread
of war, pestilence, and feunine. This super-
stition was not peculiar to the northern islands ;
nor are these appearances of a recent date. The
ancients called them Chasmata, and Trabes^ and
Bolides, according to their forms or colors. The
Aurora Borealis in this country, appears usually
of a reddish color, inclining to yellow, and sends
out frequent coruscations of pale light, which
seem to rise from the horizon in a pyramidal un-
dulating form, and shooting with great velocity
uu to the zenith. They appear oft^ in the form
of an arch, which is partly bright, and partly
dark, but generally transparent : and the matter
of them is not found to nave any effect on the
rays of light, which pass freely through them.
Dr. Hamilton observes, that he could plainly
discern the smallest speck in the Pleiades
through the density of those clouds which
formed part of the aurora borealis in 1763,
without the least diminution of its splendor, or
increase of twinkling. Sometimes it produces
an iris ; and hence, M. Godin judges, tnat most
of the extraordinary meteors and phenomena in
the skies, related as prodigies by historians, as
battles, and the like, may probably enough be
reduced to the class of aurora borealis. This
kind of meteor never appears near the equator ;
but it seems, is frequent enough towards the
south pole, like as towards the north, having
been observed there by voyagers. See Philo-
sophical Transactions, No. 461, and vol. liv.;
sAso Forster's account of his voys^e round the
world wiith Captain Cook, where he describes
their appearance, as observed for several nights
together, in sharp frosty weather, which was
much the same as those observed in the north,
excepting that they were of a lighter color.
Meteors of this kind have appeared more fre-
quently at some periods than others ; whence it
would seem^ that the air, or earth, or both, is
not at all times disposed to produce this pheno-
menon. The extent of these appearances is
also amazingly greaL That which occurred in
March, 1716, was visible from the west of Ireland
to the confines of Russia, and the east of Poland ;
extending at least near thirty degrees of longitude,
and from about the fiftieth degree in latitude, over
Vol. in.
almost all the north of Europe ; and in all places,
at the same time, it exhibited the like wondrous
appearances. Father Boscovich has determined
the height of an aurora borealis, which was ob-
served by the marquis of Polini the 16th of
December, 1737, and found it was 825 miles
high ; and Mr. Bergman, from a mean of thirty
computations, makes the average height of the
aurora borealis amount to seventy Swedish, or
469 English miles. But Euler supposes the
height to be several thousands of miles; and
Mairan also assigns to them a very elevated
region. Many attempts have been made to de-
termine the cause of this phenomenon. Dr.
Ualley imagines that the vapors, or effluvia,
exceedingly rarefied by subterraneous fire, and
tinged with . sulphureous steams, which many
naturalists have supposed to be the cause of
earthquakes, may also be the cause of this ap-
pearance; or that it is produced by a kind of
subtile matter, freely pervading the pores of the
earth, and which, entering into it nearer the
southern pole, passes out again with some force
into the «ther, at the same distance from the nor-
thern. This subtile matter, by becoming more
dense, or having its velocity increased, may
perhaps be capable of producing a small degree
of lignt, after the manner of effluvia from elec-
tric bodies, which, by a strong and quick friction,
emit light in the dark ; to which sort of light
this seems to have an affinity. On this subject
see Philosophical Transactions No. 347; and
also Mr. Cotes's description of this phenomenon,
and his method of explaining it, by streams
emitted from the heterogeneous and fermenting
vapors of the atmosphere, in Smithes Optics,
p. 69. The celebrated M. de Mairan, in an ex-
press treatise on the aurora borealis, published
m 1731, supposes its cause to be the zodiacal
light, which according to him, is no other than
the sun's atmosphere ; this light happening, on
some occasions, to meet the upper part of our
atmosphere about the limits where universal
gravity begins to act more forcibly towards the
sun, falls into our air to a greater or less depth,
as its specific gravity is greater or less compared
with the air through which it passes. However,
M. Euler thinks the cause of the aurora borealis
not owing to the zodiacal light, as M. de Mairan
supposes: but to particles of our atmosphere,
driven beyond its limits by the impulse of the
solar light. And on this supposition he endea-
vours to account for the phenomena observed
concerning this light He supposes the zodiacal
light, and the tails of comets, to be owing to a
similar cause. But ever since the identity of
Ughtning and tlie electric matter has been de-
termined, philosophers have been naturally led
to seek for the explication of aerial meteors in
the principles of electricity; and there is now
no ooubt but most of them, and especially the
aurora borealis, are electrical phenomena. Be-
sides the more obvious and known appearances
which constitute a resemblance between this
meteor and the electric matter by which lightning
is produced, it has been observed that the aurora
occasions a very sensible fluctuation in the mag-
netic needle; and that when it has extended
lower than usual in the atmosphere, the flashes
U
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290
AURORA BOREALIS.
have been attended witJi various sounds of
rumbling and hissing, especially in Russia and
the other more norUiem parts of Europe ; as
noticed by Sig. Beccaria and M. Messier. Mr.
Canton, soon after he had obtained electricity
from the clouds, offered a conjecture, that the
aurora is occasioned by the dashing of electric
fire positive towards negative clouds at a great
distance, through the upper part of the atmos-
phere, where the resistance is least ; and he sup-
}iOses that the aurora which happens at the time
when the mati^netic needle is disturbed by the
heat of the earth, is the electricity of the heated
air above it: and this appears chiefly in the
northern regions, as the alteration in the heat of
tlie air of those parts is the greatest. Nor is this
hypothesis improbable, when it is considered,
that electricity is the cause of thunder and light-
ning ; that it has been extracted from the air at
the time of the aurora borealis ; that the inha-
bitant<< of the nortliem countries observe it re-
markably strong, when a sudden thaw succeeds
very cold severe weather ; and that the tourmalin
is known to emit and absorb tlie electric fluid
only by the increase or diminution of its heat.
Positive and negative electricity in the air, with
a proper quantity of moisti^re to serve as a con-
ductor, will account for this and other meteors,
sometimes seen in a serene sky. Mr. Canton
has since contrived to exhibit this meteor by
m6ans of the Torricellian vacuum, in a glass
tube about three feet long, and sealed her-
metically. Wheh one end of the tube is held
in the hand, and the other applied to the con-
ductor, the whole tube will be illuminated from
end to end, and will continue luminous without
interruption for a cohsiderable time after it has
been removed from the conductor. If, after this,
it be drawn through the hand either way, the
light will be remarkably intense through the
whole length of the tube. And though a great
part of the electricity be discharged by this opera-
tion, it will still flash at intervals, when held
only at one extremity, and kept quite still ; but
if, at the same time, it be grasped by the other
hand in a different place, strong flashes of light
will dart from one end to the other ; and these
will continue twenty-four hours or more, without
a fresh excitation. Sig. Baccaria conjectures that
there is a constant and regular circulation of the
electric fluid from north to south ; and he thinks
that the aurora borealis may be this electric mat-
ter performing its cumulation in such a state of
the atmosphere as renders it visible, or approach-
ing nearer than usual to the eartli ; though pro-
bably this is not the mode of its operation, as the
meteor is observed in the southern hemisphere,
with the same appearances as in the northern.
Dr. Franklin supposes, that the electric fire dis-
charged into tlie polar regions, from many leagues
of vaporised air raised ifrom the ocean between
the tropics, accounts for the aurora borealis ; and
that it appears first where it is first in motion ;
namely, in the most northern parts ; and the ap-
pearances proceed southward, though the fire
really moves northward. Mr. Kir>%an, in the
Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, anno
1788, has also some ingenious remsirks on the
auron borealis and austraUs. lie gives his
reasons for supposing the rarefaction of the at-
mosphere in the polar regions to proceed from
them, and these from a combustion of inflamma-
ble air caused by electricity. He observes, that
after an aurora borealis the barometer commonly
falls, and high winds from the south generally
follow. The only distinct history of this pheno-
menon is what we have from Dr. Halley, Pniloso-
phical Transactions, No. 347. Mr. Forster, who,
m bis voyage round the world with Captain Cook,
assures us, that he observed them m the high
southern latitudes, though with phenomena some-
what different from those wliich are seen here.
On February 17th, 1773, as they were in the
fifty-eighth dfegree of south Iktitude, * A beautiful
phenomenon,' says he, * was observed during the
preceding night, which appeared again this and
several following nights. It consisted of long
columns of a clear white light, shooting up firom
the horizon to the eastward, almost to the zenith,
and gradually spreading on the whole southern
part of the sky. These columns were sometimes
Dent iideways at their upper extremities; and
though in most respects similar to the northern
lights (aurorae boreales) of our hemisphere, yet
differed from them in being always of a whitish
color, whereas ours assume various tints, espe-
cially those of a fiery and purple hue. The sky
was generally clear when tney appeared, and the
air sharp and cold, tfie thermometer standing at
the freezing pojnt.' These are what Mr. Kirwau
denominates aurora australis.
M. Libes, in his Nouv. Diet, de Physique, has
suggested a new theory, which is aidopted by
most of the northern philosophers. In nis opi-
nion electrical light is not the cause of the aurors
boreales; nor has electricity itself any ferther
influence upon their existence thsui as it fixes the
aeriform substances whose combinations occasion
the meteor. This philosopher's theory is founded
upon the followint? principles: — 1. If we excite
tlie electric spark in a mixture of azotic and oxy-
gen gas, there will result nitric acid, nitrous acid,
or nitrous gas, according to the relation that sub-
sists between the gases which compose the mix-
ture. 2. Nitric acid, when exposed to the sun,
assumes more color and volatility. Scheele first
observed this phenomenon. Libes placed a re-
ceiver over a sal?er containing nitric acid, and
exposed to the action of the solar rays. Sonie
minutes after, the acid appeared colored, and the
receiver filled with red and volatile vapors, which
were sustained in it a long while, ana diffused a
light similar to that of tlie aurora borealis. 3.
In flasks, which contain nitrous acid, a ruddy
and volatile vapor is always perceived above the
vapor. 4. Nitrous gas, in contact with atmos-
pheric air, exhales ruddy vapors, which fly off
into the atmosphere. 5. The hydrogen, which
is disengaged from the surface of the globe, rises
till it occupies, in the higher regions of the at-
mosphere, * pl^ce determined by its specific
gravity. 6. Tlie solar heat has very little activity
in the polar regions.
These principles rest uiwn observations and
experiments made with the greatest exactness,
and most of them too well known to need beinjj
described here. Now it is manifest from a sim-
ple combination of these &cts: — 1. That the
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AURORA BOREALIS.
291
production of hydrogen must be almost nothing
in the polar regions. 2. That the higher regions
of the polar atmosphere contain very little if anj^
hydiogen. 3. That whenever there is a re-estab-
lishment of equilibrium of the electric fluid in
the polar atmosphere, this fluid can only 6nd in
its passage a mixture of azot and oxygen. 4.
That the electric spark ought to fix and com-
bine these gaseous substances. 5. That from
this combination must result a production of
nitrous acid, of nitric acid, or of nitrous gas,
according to the relation subsisting between the
oxygen and azot that constitute the mixture. 6.
That the productions of either of these acids, or
of the gaus, will give birth to red and volatile
vapors, whose elevation in the atmosphere will
form the meteor known under the name of th^
aurora borealis.
After removing some general objections to
these preliminary notions, M. Libes applies them
to the phenomena below :
1st Phenomenon. — The aurors boreaks are
sometimes accompanied by slight detonations.
In the polar regions, the production of hy-
drogen b next to nothing, by reason of the little
activity of the solar hea(. It is nevertheless true,
that in summer the long duration of 'the sun
above the horizon causes even there a heUt suf-
fidentlv considerable to produce the disengage-
ment ot some small portion of hydrogen, which
will rise up to the higher regions of the atmos-
phere : whence it results, that if the re-establish-
ment of equilibrium of the electric fluid takes
place in the polar atmosphere, when its superior
strata contain this gaseous substance, the electric
spark must exert upon it a part of its activity,
«nd produce slight detonations.
2a Phenomenon, — ^The major part of aurore
boreales appear to move from the north towards
the south ; though some are seen whose motion
is directed towanls the east and west.
The nitric acid, nitrous acid, and nitrous gas,
which give birth to aurorae boreales, have their
origin towards the poles. These substances
exhale ruddy vapors, which, as they rise in the
atmosphere, must direct their motion towards
the place where they meet with least resistance;
which is, of course, towards the south, where
the air, always less dense than about the north,
offers them a more free and easy passage. It
may also happen that at the same time these
raddy vapors are formed, a northerly wind may
blow in the upper region of the atmosphere,
and thus give them a strong impulsion, which,
combined with the preceding general tendency
southward, may cause a resulting motion to be
sometimes southward, at others eajtward, or
westward.
3d Phenomenon, — ^The aurone boreales some-
ttmes exhibit themselves imder the form of
ibrent directions. Some are cylindrical, otherj
pyramidal, others are curved in the shape of an
«rc. When they are impelled with much activity,
they proceed to the zenith of the spectator.
Those whose motion is still more rapicl, go on
beyond the zenith, sometimes even till Uiey reach
the southern horizon. They do not always rise
directly from the centre of the cloudy part to-
wards the zenitii ; but sometimes take a lateral
direction, especially when the cloud from whence
they spring is found suspended between the north
and the east or west.
When the re-establishment of equilibrium of
the electric fluid fixes and combmes a great
quantity of azote and oxygen, the ruddy vapors
resulting from diis combination must occupy a
larjge space in the atmosphere. These vapors
being of such considerable extent, and impelled
from north to south, must sometimes separate
from one another, the different portions receiv-
ing various directions ; thus they will be carried
sometimes perpendicularly, at others parallel to
^ horizon; at others parallel to the earth's
axis ; whence it follows that the aurora borealis
must sometimes appear to the observer in the
fbrm of columns, whose number, figure, and
direction, are determined by circumstances. It
may also sometimes happen that these luminous
columns remain for a time immovable with respect
to the horizon. This ought to be the case when-
ever a wind impels the luminous cloud towards
any part whatever from the south, with the same
force as the exhalations are impelled towards it
by a contrary wind.
4th Phenomenon-^The auroras boreales do not
all shine with an equally vivid lustre; some
have a mild and tranquil light, others shine with
a f ery resplendent brilUancy.
The vapors which are disengaged from nitric
acid exposed to the solar rays, diffuse a mild
light of a clear red, vergmg towards yellow ;
those which are perceived above them from
nitrous acid, are of a deep red ; those exhaled
firom the nitrous gas, in contact with the atmos-
pheric air, are at first of a pretty deep red, which
afterwards become more and more clear and
light, as these vapors extend themselves more
in the atmosphere. The luminous columns,
therefore, presented by the aurora borealis, have
different colors, according as the ruddy vapors
take their rise from the formation of ti^e nitric
acid, of the nitrons acid, or of the nitrous gas.
Retrospect of Philosophic, &c. Discoveries, No.
8. Our countryman, Mr. Dalton, is of opinion
that the aurora borealis is a magnetic phenome-
non, the beams being goremed by the earth's
magnetism. See his Meteorological Essays,
and Gregory's Astronomical and Philosophical
Lessons.
Aurora Surgevs, in alchemy, a phrase used
to express the muldplicative virtue of the philo-
sophers' ston^
AURUM, Latin, gold. See Gold, Chemis-
tRY, and Metallurgy. This metal was in-
troduced into medicine by the Arabians, who
esteemed it one of the greate&t cordials and com-
forters of the nerves. From them Europe received
it without any diminution of its character ; in
foreign pharmacopoeias * it is still retained, and
even mixed with the ingredients from which
simple waters are to be distilled. But no one,
it is presumed, at this time expects any singular
virtues from it, since it certainly is not alterable
in the human body. Former chemists endeavour-
ed, by many elaborate processes, to extract what
they call a sulphur anima, or spirit of gold ; but
no method rs as yet known of separating the con^
(J 2
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AUR
292
AUS
ponent parts of this metal :. all the tinctures of it,
and auTum potabile, which have hitherto ap-
peared, are real solutions of it in aqua regui,
diluted with spirit of wine or other liquors, and
prove injurious to the body rather than benefi-
cial. A place, however, is now given in some of
the foreign pharmacopoeias to the aurum fulmi-
nans ; and it has been recommended as a remedy
in convulsive diseases, particularly in the chorea
sancti viti.
Au RUM FuLHiN ANS is a dangerous preparation,
and should be used with great caution. A scru-
ple of this powder acts more forcibly than half a
pound of gunpowder : a single grain laid on the
point of a knife, and lighted at a candle, goes off
with a greater noise than a musket Dr. Black
attributes the increase of weight, and the explo-
sive property of this powder, to adhering fixable
air. See Chemistry, Index.
Aurum Mosaicum, Auruh Musivum, a
preparation so called from its golden color, made
of mercury, tin, sal ammoniac, and flowers of
fulphur. It is recommended in most chronical
and nervous cases ; and particularly convulsions
of children. Its dose is from four grains to a
scruple. ' It is also used as a pigment, and for
mixing with glass, to imitate the spangles of the
lapis lazuli. Mosaic gold is composed of 100 tin
-f 56'25 sulphur, by Dr. John Davy; and of 100
tin -|- 52*3 sulphur, by Professor Bgrzelius ; the
mean of which, or 100 + 54-2 is probably cor-
rect. It will then consist of 1 pnme of tin :=
7-375 -h 2 sulphur = 40.
Aurum Potabile, or tincture of gold ; a me-
dicine formerly in great request, but at present
rarely used. It is prepared by mixing essential
oil of rosemary with a solution of gold in aqua
regia ; and after shaking the vessel, the gold is
retained in the oil, swimming on the top. The
very name imposes on many people, and gives
an opportunity to empirics to cheat them ; for
they draw tinctures from ingredients whose colors
come near to that of gold, and sell them, at an
exorbitant rate under this title. This sort of
deceit generally succeeds best ; for patients are
prepossessed in fiivor of such medicmes as cost
much, carry great names, and have a specious
appearance. It ofien happens that these tinctures
produce some good efiects, because they can
make them with such spirituous menstrua, as
comfort the heart, and expel ill liumors by per-
spiration ; then the effect is extolled for a miracle,
and attributed to the imaginary gold.
Aurum Regina. See Que£n-(>old.
Aurum Sopuisticum, mimic gold, a cheniical
prenaradon made as follows : take fine distilled
verdigris, eight ounces ; crude Alexandrian tutty,
four ounces ; bora^, tvrelve ounces ; salt-petre,
one ounce and a half; pulverise and mix them
all together, tempering them vrith oil to the con-
sistence of a plaster ; 3ien put a German cfucible
into a wind furnace, heat it red hot, and putting
your mass into it, let it be covered, and the fur-
nace filled with coais over the crucible. When
the mass is melted, let it cool of itself, then
break the crucible, uid you will find at the bot-
tom a fine regulus, like gold, weighing about four
ounces, which being malleable may be wrought
into any form.
Auruh Vegetabile, Saffron.
AURUNCI, in ancient geography, a people of
Latium, towards Campania ; the same wim the
Ausones, at least so intermixed as not to be
distinguishable, though Pliny makes a distinction
AURUNGABAD, (so called from the Mogul
Emperor Aureng-zebe), a province of the Deccan,
Hindostan, principally divided between the
Mahrattas and the I^izan; the former possessing
about three-fourths of its area, and strictly in-
cluding the islands of Salsette and Bombay, be-
longing to the British. It is bounded on the
north by Gujerat, Candesh, and Berar ; on the
east by Berar and Hyderabad ; south by Beja-
poor and Boeder ; and west by the ocean ; its
length being about 300 miles, and its avera^
breadth 160 miles. Although thb province is
hilly throughout, it gives rise to no fivers of
consequence. The Beemah and Godavery,
which have their sources in the same neighbour-
hood (about thirty miles east of Poonah), are the
principal streams. On the banks of ^the former
are reared the strongest Mahratta hones, called
the Beemarheddy breed, and the whole province
is fertile, particularly in rice. Its natural fast-
nesses have been in numerous places fortified by
art; and under the warlike dominion of the
Mahrattas have been rendered at once the se-
curity and curse of the country. These fortresses
are principally occupied bv independent chief-
tains, who pay a sort of feudal nomage to the
Paishwa, but are in reality the lords of the soil.
The population is about six millions, consisting
mainly of Brabminical Hindoos. Ahmednuggar,
Aurungabad, Basseen, Damaura, Dowletabad,
and Jalnapoor,are the chief towns. ' In the article
Ahmednuggar it will be seen that an independent
sovereignty of that name, which included the
greater part of this province, was established here
at the close of the sixteenth century. A few years
afterwards (1601 to 1630), we find the proyince
called by the name of another principal town,
Dowletabad, the seat of the Nizam Shahee dy-
nasty, which being taken in 1634 by the Moguls,
the government was transferred to Gurka, the
former name of the city of Aurungabad. The
East India Company's forces at Bombay com-
mand the whole of the coast, which swarms with
native pirates. See Ahmednuggar.
Aurungabad, the capital of the above dis-
trict, was, under its original name of Gurka, the
chief town of the viceroyalty of the Deccan, and
the residence of the emperor Aureng-zebe, while
viceroy : a circumstance to which it owes, with
the province, its present name. It Continued to
be the capital of « Mogul soubah until the
Nizams withdrew their allegiance from the court,
of Delhi ; it was then for some years the capital
of the Nizam's dominions. At present, the capi-
tal having been transferred to Hyderhabad, Au-
rungabad is on the decline ; but there is a noble
bazsuir here for shawls and silks, and a fine ruin, '
once the palace of Aureng-zebe. The Fakeer's ,
tomb is also admired. It is distant from Poonah
186 miles, and 284 firom Bombay. JLat. 19^ 46' '
N., long. 76° 3' E. ,
AUSA, a town of Tarraconensis, in the middle
age called Ausona, now V'ich de (J^na« a town I
of Catalonia in Spain.
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AUS
293
ALb
AUSCH. SeeAucH.
AUSCIy a people of Gaul, the ancient inhabi-
tants of AucH. See Augusta.
AUSCULTATOR, in ancient customs, a per-
son appointed in monasteries to hear the monks
read and sing, and to instruct them how to per-
form, before they were admitted to read or chant
publicly in the church.
AUSHOFKN, a town in the circle of Suabia,
belonging to the house of Austria. Long. 27^ 16'
E., lat. 48° 15' N.
AUSI, or AusENSESy an ancient and very
savage people of Libya. Herodotus tells us that
they were unacquainted with marriage, and had
all their women in common. The children were
broa^t up by their mothers till they were -able
to walk ; after which they were introduced to an
assembly of the men, who met every three
months ; and the man to whom any child first
spoke, acknowledged himself its fiither. They
celebrated annually a feast in honor of Minerva,
in which the girls divided into two pompanies^
and fought with sticks and stones ; those who
died of their wounds were concluded not to have
been virgins.
AUSIMUM, or Auxihum, an ancient Roman
colony in the Picenum ; now Osimo or Osmo, in
Ancona.
AUSIT.5i, A1SIT.E, or ^siTJE, a tribe of an-
cient Arabs, supposed by Bochart to have in-
habited the land of Uz mentioned in Job. See
Arabia.
AU^KERRY, 1. a district in the island of
Stronsay, consisting of four holms ; 2. a small
pasture isle belonging to the parish, and three
miles froin the island of Stronsay ; and on which
there are the ruins of an old chapel, and of a
house called the Monker, or Monk^s house.
AUSONA, in ancient geography, a town of
the Ausones.
AUSON, a son of Uivsses and Calypso, from
whom the Ausones are descended.
AUSONES, or Ausomi, a people who an-
ciently occupied all the Lower Italy, from the
Promontorium- Circeeum, down to the straits of
Sicily, but were afterwards reduced to a much
narrower compass ; viz. between the Mootes
Circsi and Massici : nor did they occupy the
whole of this, but other people were intermixed.
AUSONIA, the ancient name of Italy, from
its earliest inhabitants the Ausones.
AUSONIUM Mare, in ancient geography, k
part of the Ionian sea, extending southwards
from the promontory Japygium, to Sicily, which
it washes on the east, as it does the Brutii and
Magna Grsecia on the south and east. It is
separated from the Tuscan sea by the straits of
Messioa.
AUSONIUS (Decius, or Dedmus Magnus),
one of the best poets of the fourth century, was
the son of an eminent phjrsician, and bom at
Bourdeaux. Great care was taken of his edu-
cation, either because his genius was very pro-
nusing, or that the scheme of his nativity, wnich
had been cast by his grandfather, made them
imagine that he would rise to great honor. He
nade an uncommon progress in classical learn-
ing; at the age of thirty he was chosen to teach
giammar at Bourdeaux ; and afterwards pro-
moted to be professor of rhetoric ; 'i\ which office
he acquired so great a reputation that he viras
sent for to be preceptor to Gratian, the emperor
Valentinian's sou. He was afterwards appomted
consul, bv his pupil Gratian,thenen;peror, A.D.
379; ana besides the dignity of questor, to
which he had been nominated by Valentinian,
he was made prefect of the Prstorium in Italy
and Gaul, after that prince's death. His speech,
returning thanks to Gratian on his promotion to
the consulship, is highly commended. He lived
to a great age. The emperor Theodosius had a
great esteem for him, and pressed him to publish
his poems. There is a great inequality in his
works, and in his style there is a harshness which
was perhaps rather the defect of the times he
lived in, than of his genius. According to Lem-
priere, he did not take proper time to correct his
poems, but hurried them to publication^ which
may be the cause of many fiiults. One valuable
performance, the Consular Fasti, is now lost
He is generally supposed to have been a Chris-
tian. The best edition of his poems is that of
Amsterdam, in 1671. They were printed at
Paris, with a French translation, in 1769.
AusFEx, a name originally given to those who
were afterwards denominated augurs. It is
formed from avis, a bird, and inspicere, to in-
spect ; auspices, q. d. avispices. Some will have
auspices only to denote those who foretold future
events from the flight of birds.
AUS'PICATE, V. & a§.-v Lat aroMcx, from
Aus'piCE, f avisy a bird, the oh-
Aus'piCY, vsolete spicere, to
Aus'picious, ilook; to take fa-
Aus'piciousLY. J vorable omens from
birds ; but in a less formal and official manner
than by augury. To foretel good fortune, pros-
perity, &c. Auspicious is synonymous witii fa^
vorable^ prosperous.
Know thns in forth ;
By accident most strange, bountifal fortune
(Now my dear lady) badi mine enemies
Brought to this shore , and by my presdeitcc
I find my lenith doth depend upon
A most iMpiciony star ; whose infla«nce
If now I court not, but omit, my fortunes
Will ever after droop. Shakapeare, Tempett.
None of their kindred met ; the knot they ty
Silent y content with Brutus mupicjf,
Maj^9 Luam, book ii.
Thus were their loves mupieioudjf begun.
And thns with secret care were carried on.
Dryden^a Fables.
Skilled m the wing'd inhabitants of air.
What OMupUgt their notes and flight declare
O ! say^or all religious rites portend
A happy voyage an4 a prosp*rous end. Jhydtn.
But so may he live long, that town to sway.
Which by his wapice they will nobler make.
As he will hatch their ashes by his stay. Id.
AuspiciuM, AuspicT, the same with Auguuy
Serviui, indeed, distinguishes between auspic\
and augury; making auspicy comprehend tlie
consideration of all things ; augury only of cer-
tain things.
AUSFITZ, a town of Moravia, in the circle
of Brunn, belonging to the prince of Lichten
stein. Here are held large cattle markets whici
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294
AUSTRALASIA.
are attended by a number of graziers from Hun-
gary. Population 2215. Forty-two miles S .S.W.
of Olmutz.
AUSTER, one of the four cardinal winds, as
Servius calls them, blowing from the south.
AUSTE'RE, -N Lat. amtena; from ovw,
Auste'rely, f I dry; because harsh tastes
Austere'ness, 1 dry tlie palate. Harsh, dis-
Auster'ity. J agreeable to the moral taste,
rigorous, severe.
My unsoird name^ th' mutereneu of my life,
May vouch against you ; and my place i' th' atate
Will so your acrusation overweigh. Shakapean,
Now, Marcus Cato, our new consul's spy.
What is your sour atittefity sent t' explore t
BtnJonton,
What was that snaky-headed Gorgon shield
That wise Minerva wore, nncon^uer'd virgin.
Wherewith she freez'd her foes to congeal'd stone.
But rigid looks of chaste auaterity.
And noble grace, that dash'd brute violence
With sudden adoration and blank awe ? MiUon,
Th' auttere and pond'ious juices they sublime
Make them ascend the porous soil, and climb
The orange tree, the citron, and the lime.
Biaekmare.
Composed in gait,
Aurtenlsf grave and thoughtful, on hb shield
The democratic majesty he bore
Of Athens. Glover'* Leomdat, book vii.
Austere implies also rough or astringent.
Thus an austere taste is such a one as constringes
the mouth or tongue ; as that of unripe fruits,
harsh wines, vitriol, alum, &c. Austere sub-
stances, says Mr. Chalmers, differ from acerb
ones, fin that they constringe the mouth and
tongue less, and are void of acidity.
AUSTERLITZ, or Slawkow, a small town
of Moravia, in the circle of Brunn, twelve miles
east of Brunn, belonging to the prince of Kaunitz
Rielberg. Population about 1620. This town
will be long* memorable in history for the great
battle fought near it on the 2d of December,
1806, the anniversaiy of Buonaparte's coronation,
between the French under him, and the united
forces of Austria and Russia, uqder their respec-
tive emperors. The armies it appears were
nearly equal, being about 70,000 men each.
Buonaparte, by feigning a retreat, drew the allies
to a spot which he had selected for giving battle ;
and he bivouacked on the field, after having
spent most of the night in giving orders. The
battle commenced with the £rarning light. After
a cannonade' of several hours the allied right and
eentre were routed ; and their left, which had
been more successful in the outset, was compel-
led to give way. The defeat was signal ; but
the approach of night prevented pursuit ; the state
of the roads compelled the ^lies to abandon
most of their artillery, and forty standards ; all
the baggage and ammunition of the allies, and
120 pieces of cannon, remained in the hands of
the French. The French are supposed to have
lost 13,000 men in killed and wounded; and
the Austro-Russians three times the number.
It is certain that so many wounded were left on
the field by the allies, that they could not all be
dressed until two days after the battle. Near
this place an interviev^immediately took place be-
tween the emperor of Austria and Buonaparte^ in
a mill, and the preliminaries of an humiliating
peace were agreed to. But the emptror Alex-
ander refused to become a party to it, and suc-
ceeded, though under every difficulty, in effecting
his retreat homeward.
AUSTIN (William), an English author, was a
barrister of Lincoln*s Inn. He wrote a book en-
titled Hdbc Homo, or the Excellency of Women,
12mo. ; in which he seems to have borrowed
veiy freely from Agrippa's Pe Nobilitate at Prs-
cellentia Foeminei Sexus. He wrote also Medi-
tations on the principal Fasts and Feasts of the
Church, which were published in folio, 1637,
afier bis death.
Austin (St.) See Augustine, St.
AUSTRALASIA, or Australia, is a new
and fifth great division of the globe, originally
suggested by a learned foreigner, M. le President
de Brosses of Paris ; but whose principal parts
have been explored by Englishmen, and which
has been colonised solely from this country. It
comprehends a tract of ocean, bounded on the
nortn by the equator, east by a line drawn on
the 186th degree of cast longitude, to the 55th
degree of south latitude, south by the 55th
parallel, and west by a line drawn from the
north-west Cape of Uapau, on the east of the
islands of Mysol, Timorlaut and Ceram, to the
65th degree of east longitude on the 55th
parallel ; making an irregular four-sided figure,
extending upwards of 5000 miles in average
breadth from east to west, and about 3200 miles
from north to south.
Australasia is, therefore, a maritime division of
the globe, in distinction from the older terrene
divisions of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America;
^it is, altogether, a clas^cation of islands, having
no one continent of this name, including, as the
other divisions of the world, various kingdoms
circumscribed by one shore; so fju* it is an
anomaly in geographical classification. * But in
this immense extent of regions, which are to
form the object of researches about to be de-
tailed,' says M. de Brosses (Histoire des Navi-
gations aux Terres Australes), ' how numerous
are the different countries, climates, manners, and
races of mankind 1 The sight would be dazzled
and confounded if care were not taken to re-
lieve it, and fix its attention, by divisions irarked
from distance to distance.' On these grounds
he proposed, together with a classification of the
islands of the Pacific, under the name of Poly-
nesia, to include New Holland, New Guinea,
New Zealand, and the islands in their neigh-
bourhood, under the collective name of Aus^
tralasia^an arrangement that has been latterly
adopted by most respectable writers. Some
have preferred the«term Australia, as more con-
sonant to the primitive appellation, Terra Aus-
tralis, or Southern Land.
The progress of the discovery <^ this immense
region may be correctly united, with the common
features of its various parts, under this collective
article. The history of particular seUlements
will be found under Botany Bay, New Hol-
land, Norfolk Island, Van Diehen's Land,
&c. in their alphabetical positions in our wo'k,
We present the reader vfith a Chronological
Table of the discovery of the islands of Australasia.
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AUSTRALASIA.
A CJironological Table of the ditcovety of the Itlandt of Aiulralatia.
296
NAME.
Papua or
Guinea.
New
2. New Holland, -<
1526.
Supposed to
be uncertain —
Marked
Map in the Bri-
tish Museum in
1542; first au-
thentic account
of its being
▼isited, dated
1606.
3. Solomon's Islands,
Of which the prin-
cipal are —
Buonavista,
Florida,
Galera,
Guadalcanar,
Santa Ysabel,
San Christoval,
San Catarina,
Santa Ana,
4. New Hebrides,
According to Cook,
Tierra dea Espiritu
Santo,
St. Bartholemew,
MalUcola,
Isle of Lepen,
Aurora,
Whitsuntide,
Amtrym,
Apee,
Paoom,
Three Hills,
Sandwich,
Montagu,
Hichinbrook,
Shepherd's Isles,
Erromango,
Tanna,
Inmer,
Annatom,
Erronan,
5. New Britain, New
Ireland, ficc. ;
group not fully
ascertained. To the
N.W. are the Ad
miralty Isles.
6. Van Diemen's Land.
New Zealand, hav-
ing to the east Chat-
baym Island.
WHEN
DISCOVERED.
The Portuguese, under
D. Jorge de Meneses.
The Dutch, in the Duy-
xen yacht. About the
same time the Spani-
ards visited it under
Torres, and F. de Qui-
ros.
1567.
The Spaniards, under
Alonso de MaBdana.
Not agUD visited until
by Carteret, in 1767.
1606.
Black Negroes; much resem-
bling those of Guinea.
D3.tto; a remarkably barba-
rous race; — *all of them of
the most unpleasant look,
and the worst features of
any people I ever saw,
though I have seen a great
variety of savages,' says
Dampier.
The Spaniards, under F.
de Quiros, and L. V,
de Torres.— Explored
by Captain Cook in
1774, who gave them
their present name.
INHABITANTS.
Inhabitants, cannibals.
Many of the islands very
fertile. Extend from S.
lat. 5** to 11°, E. long. 155*
to 162° 3<y.
Inhabitants, more civilised, at
Tanna the negro ^character
disappears. The country
very fruitful and agreeable;
and, in some of them laid
out in well fenced planta-
tions. Tlie Terra del Es-
piritu Santo, the principal of
the group, lies in S. lat, 14°
3(y, E. long. 167° 30'.
1
1616.
1642—
as an island
in 1798.
The Spaniards, under L«
Maire and Schouten.
The Dutch, under Abel
Jansen Tasman. — The
British, Capt. Flinders
and Mr.
1 1642.
< Chatliam
i island in
V1791.
The Dutch, under Abel
Tasman. — By Mr.
Broughton when with
Vancouver.
Inhabitants of New Britain
and Ireland black negroes.
Inhabitants of the Admiralty
Isles of a lighter color, and
approaching the Malay cha-
racter. All the islands fer-
tile and well watered : lying
hi a crescent, whose centre
lies in S. lat. 50^, E. long.
150°.
A similar race. Called after
the Dutch governor of the
East Indies, Anthony Van
Diemen.
Inhabitants remarkably strong,
active, and barbarous. Have
at the same time singular
traces of civilisation amongst
them. ■
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296 AUSTRALASIA.
A Chronological Table of the DUcovery of the Idandt of Amtnhna—coiaiimtd.
NAME.
WHEN
DISCOVERED.
BT WHOH.
INHABITANTS.
8. St. Paul and Am-
sterdam
9, Kerguel€n*s Land,
or Island of Desola-
tion
^ 1696.
Z 1772.
< 1774.
.
The Dutch, under Via-
ming.
The French nnder M. de
Kerguelen.
The British, under Capt.
Cook.
Uninhabited. Amsterdam a
volcanic production, if not
the crater of an immense
volcano, scarcely cool, and
abounding with hot water
springs. Seals are caught on
the shore in large quantities.
Uninhabited and barren.
Inhabitants, afiable, honest, and
of light compleition. The
country comparatively barren,
occasionally laid out in plan-
tations.
10. New Caledonia.
We have thus exhibited the leading features
of this extensive division of the globe, in the
order in which they became known to Europe ;
but must not omit to notice the doral reefs and
islets with which the Australasian seas abound.
These are seen in every league of sea,- and ac-
cording to Dalrymple, in ' all stages' of their
formation. Capt. Flinders, who was wrecked on
one of them, conjectures, ' that when the ani-
malculae, which form the coral at tlie bottom of
the ocean, cease to live, their structures adhere
to each other, by virtue either of the glutinous
remains within, or of some property in salt
water ; and the interstices being graduaily filled
up with sand and broken pieces of coral washed
by the sea, which also adhere, a mass of rock is
at length formed. Future races of these ani-
malcule erect their habitations upon the rising
bank, and die in their turn, to increase, but
principally to elevatcf this monument of their
wonderful labors.' It is pretty well authenti-
cated that these submarine laborers uniformly
build the outer part of their erection perpen-
dicularly from the very bottom of the deepest
seas. As it rises to the surface, and out of the
water, salt plante, vegetable matter of various
descriptions, floating wreck and other accumula-
tions attach themselves to it ; ' we had wheat-
sheafs, mushrooms, stag's horns, cabbage-leaves,
and a variety of other forms, glowing under
water,' says Capt. Flinders, * with vivid tints of
every shade betwixt green, purple, brown, and
white.' The dung of birds and the various seeds
and other food they occasionally scatter, are
fruitful sources of the growth of these extraordi-
nary productions of the deep; some are seen
considerably below the water, others just ap
pearing above its surface ; some as barren rocKS
with no indications of soil ; others vrith a thin
layer of earth, or a few weeds on the highest
part ; and others, again, well clothed vrith soil
and even with timber. ■ The recent navigator of
these seas, whom we have quoted, describes
himself as having to seek fourteen days, and
sail upwards of 500 miles amongst that range of
these ree& and islets which environs the eastern
coast of New Holland, before he could find a
passage through them to the open sea.
In no part of the globe can greater extremes
of barrenness and fertility occur than in the
various islands comprehended in Australasia.
On the shores of New Holland, its most pro-
minent feature, we find fhiitfiil plains covered
with verdure eastward, and on tne soilth and
south-western coast nothing but naked hillocks
of sand ; ' so uniform,' says M. D'£ntiecasseaux,
'that the most fruitful imagination could find
nothing to say of it.' This island, indeed, if
such it is to be called, almost equal in size to
the whole of continental Europe, presents of
itself an unequalled and almost unexplored field
for geological enquiry; the outline of the western
coast is not filled up ; and some recent journeys
into the interior, from our colony on the eastern
shore, have disclosed an extensive series of as
promising lands, watered by some noble rivers,
within 140 miles of Sidney, as are found in any
part of the world. See New Holland.
The natives of Australasia are for the major
part, of a decisively African or negro character ;
and nowhere is human nature found in a more
degraded state. An enormous head, flat coun-
tenance, and long, slender extremities, mark
their physical conformation, together with an
acuteness of sight and hearing ; but, often half-
starvied, their strength is generally less than that
of the inhabitants of other climes. In no part
of these seas is the population great. Not more
than 20,000 inhabitants have been seen on
all the coasts of these islands taken together.
Of natural affections, little, of course, appears,
and of religion, absolutely nothing. Mothers
have scarcely the regard of the brute creation
for their offspring. They will commonly procure
abortion by violent means ; and sometimes adopt
the horrible expedient of burying their children
alive, to be freed of the trouble of them. An
inhabitant of New Holland knocks down the
woman of his choice with a club, in the pre-
sence of her friends, and takes her into the
woods, while in a state of insensibility. Here
the alliance is preserved as lo'ng as he finds it
convenient ; he then deserts her for a new wife,
who is similarly obtained.
No quadrupeds larger than the kangaroo are
found here, and none whatever in many of the
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AUSTRIA.
297
This animal was first described by
3ook, who found it while with a shooting
the coast of New South Wales in 1770.
diar to this part of the worlds but has
id to breed well in England. There is
mall animal peculiar to Australasia,
16 wombat, of the bear tribe, but re-
r tame. The most extraordinary animal,
; of this, or perhaps of any 6ther region,
oithoryneus paradoxus, or duck-bill ; a
jed with the beak of a duck. Dr. Shaw
jftonished at this apparent mixture of bird
idruped in its formation, that when the
Inmen was exhibited to him at the Bri-
be suspected it to be an attempt
< Nor is it without a minute ex-
says this distinguished naturalist,
can persuade ourselves of its being the
noul of a quadruped. The body is de-
l has some resemblance to that of an
I miniature ; it is covered with a very
of beaver, like far, and is of a mo-
brown color above, and of a sub-
I white beneath, with some variety as
Iffity of color in different animals. The
J fiattish, and rather small than large ; the
I , furry, like the body, rather short and ob-
j ,& an almost bifid termination ; it is broad
libse, and gradually lessens to the tip. The
I length of the animal, from the tip of the
I » the end of the tail, seems to be from
I or fourteen, to eighteen inches. The legs
f short, terminating in a broad web, and
vhich on the fore feet are five in number,
^ strong, and pointed ; but on the hind
tfie male, axe six claws, the sixth or in-
IM being seated mach higher up than the
d resembling a long sharp spur.' Dr. Shaw
CNcribed this animal in his Naturalist's
lany, under the title of Platypus animus,
perous tribes of beautiful birds are seen
1^ The bird of Paradise, so long spoken of
liope as wanting feet ; paiaquets, cocka-
-A singular species of cassowary, and
k swan. Immense whales, seals, and dol-
» crowd upon the shores, where a large
fish is sometimes seen, having the ap-
ace of a cask upon the water, and stretching
9 tentecula to tne length of seven or eight
.The tribe of molluscas is also singularly
One species of marine fiicus has been
< to reach from the bottom of the sea to the
ie, on a stem from 250 to 300 feet in length,
botany of this region is as curious and
as any other of its features. Mr. Brown,
who accompanied Captain Flinders, and who
had the magnificent botanical collections of Sir
Joseph Banks under his charge, has arranged a
Flora Terr« Australis, containing 4,200 ipocies
referable to 120 natural orders, eleven of those
orders containing about half the species. In
Vsm Dieman's Land, the gum-tree Cot which 100
different species are found) not untrequentiy at-
tains the height of 150 feet, vrith a girth near the
base of from twenty-five to forty feet. The gum
of this tree is medicinal, and that of one spe-
cies makes very good pitch. It also furnishes,
together with uie sasuarina, excellent timber for
ship-building, agricultural implements, or d<H
mestic furniture.
There can be no question that the supposed
existence of an immense continent in the Sou-
thern Ocean first invited the navigators of the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries to explore
these important islands ; nor was the idea of its
existence wholly abandoned until the discoveries
of Captain Cook. The name of Tena Aus-
tralis Incognita was given to this feature of
science ; and upon no point were geographers
more agreed than respecting its existence, although
its limits were variously defined. Even in the
year 1770, * the great southern continent' was
declared by Mr. Dalrymple, in his Historical
Collections, to be no longer a matter ' for dis-
covery;' that *it extended from 30° south, to
the pole ; and that the number of its inhabitants
. was probably more than 50,000,000 ;' while « the
countries intermediate' between the east and
west points, * equal in extent all the civilised
part of Asia, from Turke]r to China inclusive.'
Thus the supposed extension of the East Indies
round to the west, allured Columbus to the ar-
duous enterprise Uiat resulted in the discovery
of the western world ; and thus some harmless
erron, pursued with humility, are kindly allowed
by providence to lead us to truth.
Australis CoEONA. See Coroka Attstbalis.
Australis IPisces, the Southern Fish, is a
constellation of the southern hemis^ere, not
visible in our latitude: whose stars, in Ptolemy's
catalogue, are eighteen, and in the Britannic
catalogue, twen^-four.
AUSTRALIZE. From atater, the south. To
pCMnt towards the south.
Steel and good iron discover a vexticity, or polar
faculty ; whereby they do teptentriate at one extreme,
and tmttrahne at another. Broum't Vmlga/r Enoun,
AUSTRASIA, the ancient name of, 1. Lor-
raine, in France; and, 2. of Westrick, in Ger-
many.
AUSTRIA.
^STRIA, in geography, a country of Ger-
the Upper Pannonia of the ancients, de^
its mooem name from the French and
liptX)nunciation of CElsterich ; in High Ger-
[CEsterreich ; a name which signifies the
kingdom, alluding to the geographical
i of the province with respect to the more
parts of Germany, and which was
Uy applied to the circle of Austria, the
possession of the first grand dukes.
The Circle of Austria is the largest of the
ten circles or divisions of the Qerman empire,
bounded on the east by Hungary, south by
Italy and Croatia, west by Switzerland^ and
north by Suabia, Bohemia, and Moravia. It
compr^ends Austria Proper, Styria, Carintliia,
and Camiola dutchies, the countiy of Tyrol, the
principalities of Brixen and Trent, part of Friuli
and the littorale, Voralberg, certain districts in
Suabia, and several domains belonging to the
ittofah
Digitized by
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298
AUSTRIA.
Teutonic order ; together with Saltzburg aud part
of Paasau, which have been added since 1802.
Of this eiitensive circle, the four general divi-
sions of Upper Lower, Anterior, and Interior
Austria have been formed, corresponding with
their administration by the chancei^ at Vienna;
the whole including an area of 29,940 squara
miles, and a population of nearly 5,000,000.
The Archduchy of Austria^ othSerwisd c^led
Austria Proper, or the Hereditary States of the
house of Austria, forms the upper and lower di-
visions of this circle, into which it is divided by
the flowing of the river Ens. It is bounded on
the north by Bohemia and Mofavia, on the east
by Hungary, on the south by Styria, and on
the west by Saltzburg and mvaria, compre-
hending an area of 12,092 square miles, and a
population of nearly two millions of inhabitaats.
Of the two divisions of this archduchjr. Lower
Austria is the most important, containing, on a
surfeoe of 7788 square miles, thirty-eight cities,
241 towns, 4327 villages; and by the last census,
1,100,000 inhabitants. It is made to consist of
four subordinate, divisions, lying upon the two
opposite banks of the Danube. On the south
bank the quarter < above the forest of Vienna,'
and < the quarter below the forest of Vienna.'
On the noflb bank the quarter 'above the
Mannhartsberg,' and ' the quarter below Mann^
hartsberg.'. Upper Austria, containing an area of
5104 square miles, and including fourteen cities,
ninety-two towns, 6411 villages; and, according
to the late census, 629,945 population; is also di-
vided into four subordinate territories, those of
the Traun, Hansruck, and Inn, on Jie south bank
of the Danube, and that of Muhl on the north.
The archdukes of Austria were originally ex-
empt from the jurisdiction of the high courts of
the empire, took precedency of princes of the
blood, and had the power of creating counts,
barons, and other nobility. ' According to the
Pragmatic sanction of 1713, the successkMi
to this archduchy is hereditary, females not ex-
cluded. The revenue is about 24,000,000
florins, 20,000,000 of which are contributed by
the country below the Ens. The states, how-
ever, assemble but seldom, and have but a very
contracted influence in the managemeiit of na-
tional concerns.
The Empirb of Austria, besides the pro-
vinces of the same name, imduding the arch-
duchy and other territories described above,
comprehends many kncient kingdoms and stales
which were originally indepeiident. It is situated
in the middle of eastern Europe, and is bounded
by Piedmont, Switzerland,- and Bavaria, on the
west; Bavaria, Silesia, and Poland on the xSorth;
Russia, Moldavia, and Wallachia, on the east;
Turkey, the Adriatic, and Middle Italy on the
south. The northern part of the empire stretches
into Bohemia, and tne southern mto the ter-
ritory of Cattaro, in the regiop of Dalmatia. It
has tecei?ed several augmentations of territory at
differept periods, and includes a number of na-
tions, alt differing in their lineage, customs,
languages, and habits, but forming one solid
and compact political body, and ftubsistiDg ai
present under one general name.
The following table presents a view of its great component parts, as settled by the
last peace, or in 1816 : —
COtTNTRIBS.
Square Miles.
Compated Re-
venue in Ster-
ling Money.
Circle of Austria ....•,...
Saluburg, Berchtolsgade, and Pawau . . .
Bohemia
45,760
4,378
•20,900
10,296
1,826
53,400
130,920
15,136
8,052
4,400
1,320
4,222,700
255,000
3,112,000
1,364,000
286,000
4,934,000
9,400,000
1 2,894,000
1,350,000
108,700
£4,000,000
140,000
2,000,000
700,000
150,000^
1,600,000
1,800,000
1,500,000
400,000
20,000
Moravia
Austrian Silesia
Galicia, with the Bukowine
Hungary, including Transylvania, Sclavonia, 1
and Austrian Croatia . , 5
Venetian territories, including Istria . . .
Dalmatia, with Cattaro, Ragusa, and the islands
Lombardy, viz. the territories of Milan and 7
Mantua y
Lordships of Valteline, Bormio,and Chiavenne.
Total in round numbers
300,000
28,000,000
12,000,000
In 1818, Mr. Lichtenstem states the extent of the
empire, exclusively of the dependent states, at
250,000 square English miles; and the population
at 28,207,882.
The natural features of Austria am very
magnificent ; the soulbem parts highly romantic :
the scenes and landscapes of Carinthia, CamioU,
and Dalmatia, have long been celebrated as
some of the roost perfect m the Alpine regions ;
whilst detached hills and chains of mountains
bulge in irregular figures all over the northern dis-
tricts, uniting themselves with the great Carpathian
chwn, the oatural boundary of Hungary and
Transvlvania. But the Tyrol stands pre-emi-
nent for its rich variety of picturesque scenery.
Bold mountains and defiles, lakes and glaciers,
cataracts and cascades, rivers, woods, and val-
leys, shaded with great beauty, bestowed in the
Digitized by
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AUSTRIA.
299
dlffarent grounds of the picture, irregularly
grouped and brought, unite in the same sweep of
prospect, and overwhelm tlie mind of the spec-
tator with unutterable emotions.
The highest mountains belong to the central
part of the empire; namely, to Styria, Carin-
thia, and Camiola, where they frequently reach
the height of 4000 feet. The snowy mountain,
in the hereditary states, is of vast altitude, and
may be seen from the ramparts of Vienna every
dear day. The elevated ramifications of the
Alps and Carpathian mountains, with the cir-
cukr barrier of Bohemia and other ranges,
spread themselves over very extensive regions of
the Austrian empire, and under various names
and forms stretch from the borders of Switzer-
land to the confines of Russia.
The interior of Austria is mtersected by
noble rivers. ' The Danube is altogether, per*
haps, the most rapid and majestic. This
river, winding its course from tlie north-west to
the south-east, divides the whole empire into
two distinct parts. It receives into its bosom up-
wards of forty tributary streams before it enters
the Austrian dominions, and afterwards an acces-
sion of one hundred more before it enters the £ux
ine Sea. The rivers that empty themselves into
this grand emporium of waters are many of them
of considerable magnitude, and chiefly take their
rise in the mountains already enumerated. The
Thesis originates in the eastern part of the Car-
pathian range, and is at first a fine, clear, and
ranid stream. It flows four degrees east longi-
tude, and then turning south, crosses Hungary,
receiving the Maros, Koros, and othei tributary
accessions, and enters the Danube near the city
of Belgrade. The river Save is formed by nu-
merous mountain torrents descending from the
summits of Tyrol. It flows along the southern
border of the Austrian dominions, and enters
the Danube a little below the Thesis. The
Drave originates in the streams and cataracts of
the mountains of Carinthia, and receives the
Muhr at Legrad, which conveys the waters from
the northern summits of Styria. Crossing these
two beautiful provinces, and fonning the sepa-
rating boundary between Croatia and Hungary,
it fiUto into the Danube below Esseck. The
Inn, rising in the devated regions of the
Swiss Alps, and descending to Uie north-east
through the kingdom of Iktvaria, forms the
western boundary of the empire, and enters the
Danube at Passau. The Raab and Leytha
rise in the western parts of Hungary, and MX
into the Save; the former near Komora, and
the latter at Presbuig. The Morava, or March,
from which Moravia derives its name, de-
scends from the northern extremity of that pro-
vince, and proceeding south, fiaills into the Da-
nube west of Presburv. The Mulda rises in
the souUiem regions oi Bohemia, and taking a
northerly direction, flows into die Elbe. The
southern parts of Austria are Watered by nu-
merous important streams and rivers, which
originate in the chain of mountains that encir-
cles the north of Italy, are cherished by the
overflowings of those lakes that Yie upon its bosom,
and are poured over the summits of that lofty
range in Ming torrenti and beautiful cascades.
The Adige and the Fo will be described in our
view of Italy. The» Piave rises in the over-
flowings of the sub-alpine lakes, and descends
througn the territory of Brixen and the province
of Treviso, into the Gulf of Venice. The Tesino
rises in St. Gothard mountain, and forms the
south-western boundary of the Austrian ter-
ritory, flowing through the country of Gris-
sons, the lake of Maggiore, and the Milanese
territory ; it washes the walls of Pavia, and falls
into the Po. The Adda rises in Mount Braulis
in the country of the Grissons, and after flovring
through the valley of Valteline, falls into the
lake of Como, and re-issuing from the south-
east arm of that basin, enters the Po near Cre-
mona. The Oglio rises in the Val Camo-
nica, s^id bending to the south, flows through
Venice and lake Isero to the duchy of Milan,
and then winding south-east, crosses the duchy
of Mantua, and falls into the Po a few miles
east of the Adda. The greater part of the Aus-
trian rivers are too rapid, and too much impeded
by rocks and waterfiuls, to admit of any exten-
sive navigation ; much, however, has been ei-
fected by canals, and plans of the most gigantic
kind have been formea for connecting the great
rivers with each other, and thus opening a com-
munication between the interior of Austria and
all the maritime kingdoms of Europe.
The lakes of Austria are numerous, but are
inferios to those of Russia and Switzerland.
They chiefly lie upon the tops of mountains,
or pent up within the vallevs and intersections
formed by the bold ridges which characterise the
scenery. Those on the south side of the great
Alpine range are considered among the grandest
specimens of picturesque beauty found in Europe.
Ihey form the distinguishing features of the land-
scape, and furnish tl^t delighlful charm which so
bewilders and astoni^es the traveller. The chief
are Maggiore, or I*ucamo, Lugano, Como,
Lccca, Iseo, and Gar da. Maggiore is, iiom its.
situation and figure, regarded as Uie most
beautifol. It lies embosomed in hills, adorned
with orchards, nurseries, and vineyards, and has
its summit shaded with dark thick forests of
chestnutf-trees. The banks are spotted with co-
vered avenues in trelUs-wock, and are laid with
numerous small sheets of water, while the lake
itself presents a dear greenish surface, broken
by beautiful islands of diflRerent figures and di-
mensions, embellished with numerous temples
and gardens. Lake Como is almost equally
delightfiil. It lies among mountain scenery
perfectly romantic, and is celebrated for an in-
termitting spring near Tamo and the ancient
Caves of \^na. The lake Lago di Garda is
diversified with small islands, capes, pron^pn-
tories, and peninsulas, and lies sunk in hills
richly adorned with vines, lemon, orange,
olive, and other fruit-trees. On a peninsula of
that lake lies the ancient ruins of Sirmis, so
highly celebrated by Catullus. The small, but
beautiful Iseo, is less than the othet lakes, but
lies amid the same alpine summits, and partici-
pates of the same delightful scenery.
The climate of Austria is various, and in ge-
neral salubrious, except in the neighbourhood of
the plains and marshes where the miasma often
Digitized by
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300
AUSTRIA.
proves &tal. In the southern regions it is warm^
and produces tiie wines and ^uits commonly
found in the upper regions of Italy ; but in the
northern parts, comprising Gallicia, part of
Hungary, Bohemia, and Moravia, with the whole
of Austrian Silesia, the cold is often severe.
The soil of Austria is also various, including
almost every species from the most barren to
the most fertile. Sandy plains are frequently
found, in which nothing can grow ; whilst the
banks of the Po and Danube are, in point of
luxuriance, scarcely to be equalled. Of the land
of Austria not less than 24,000,000 joch, each
about an English acre and a half, is occupied by
forests. These are in general of the finest timber
and of the greatest importance to the empire.
That of Belevar in Hungary, situated on the
Drave, consists for the most part of different
species of oak trees, thousands of which, at a
considerable distance above the root, are seven
feet in diameter, and continue nearly the same
size to the height of thirty, forty, and even fifty
feet, without throwing out a single branch. But
though Austria is wholly, from its situation, an
agricultural empire, that science is imperfectly
understood; and the late improvements are
scarcely known. Even endeavours for the more
extensive promotion of agriculture have been un-
successful, owing to the want of a better mode
of tenure and a better understanding between
the cultivators and the proprietors. The pro-
ductions of some parts of the empire are never-
theless numerous and excellent, embracmg all
that can administer to the necessaries and even
luxuries of life. Austria Proper yields com,
wine, and fruits. Bohemia pulse, grain, hops,
&c. Hungary produces millet, maize, and rice.
Tlie valleys of Camiola produce oil and excellent
wine, with fruits, millet, and fiax; while the
sub-alpine regions yield all the productions of
southern climes, abounding in oranges, lemons,
vines, peaches, figs, and tobacco. From a re-
cent calculation by M. Blumenbach, it appears
diiat the present quantity of arable land in
Austria is about 43,582,000 acres ; of which,
allowing one-third for fiiUow, there remains
29,054,700 productive acres ; and of grain alone
the annual produce has been calculated at
300,000,000 Winchester bushels, or about 12-4
for every acre. The land in Austria devoted
to the cultivation of wine is about 2,324,660
acres, and the produce about 493,109,565 gal-
lons, being about 212 gallons per acre; besides
which, the vineyards of Smyrmiam alone yield
70,000 eimers of spirit, distilled from the grapes,
after the wine has been drawn from them, each
eimer equal to fifteen English gallons; and the
same spirit is produced in the other provinces in
equal proportion. The whole value of the vege-
table production of his imperial majesty's domi-
nions nas been estimated at the annual sum of
£68,500,000 sterling, and the waste lands have
been calculated at 25,271 English square
miles.
The domestic animals are chiefly horses,
cattle, bufiadoes, sheep, swine, &c. Efforts have
been made to improve the breed of horses, by the
introduction of the Arabian and otlier species
amongst thetn, which have been commonly suc-
cessfol. The emperor established a breeding*
stud at Mezbhegyes in Hungary, about the year
1783. It occupies four commons, containing
63,000 English acres, employs 500 men, and
furnishes the army alone with 1000 horses an-
nually. Attention has likewise been paid to the
improvement of sheep, and of the wool imported
to England, as Saxon, a great part is the produce
of the Hungarian flocks. The cattle are mostly
of a bluish slate-color; they feed chiefly in the
forests, where they are protected firom the heat
of the sun, and are a considerable source of
wealth to the inhabitants. The chief wild ani-
mals of Austria are those common on the Euro-
pean continent, consisting chiefly of wolves,
boars, lynxes, &c. The chunois and the marmot
are common.
Of the feathered tribes may be enumerated
bustards and pelicans, and some species of the
falcon. A few birds are also found upon the
mountains of Camiola, which are peculiar.
.The mineral riches of Austria are considerable,
and are more varied and important than those
of most other states in Europe. Near Kreronitz,
in Hungary, are mines of gold and silver. Sflwet
mines are also found in Chemnitz, about twenty
miles south of the latter. Schmelnitz and Her-
rengund contain valuable mines of copper. An-
timony, coal, salt, and alum are also found in
different parts of ^e empire. The opal is a mi-
neral peculiar to Hungary, and as a gem is held in
high estimation throughout the east. It is found
in the mines of Kzerweriza, east of Kremnitz, in
all states and qualities, from the semi-opal to the
finest and most valuable. Gold ore is obtained
of several kinds. The sray gold ore is found in
the Najiag, north-east of Deva, and is peculiarly
rich. The white gold ore is found a kw leagues
north of Karlsbuig. To the west of the same
town are mines of the same metal, in the vicinity
of Zalantha. To the north of the province are
those of Kapnicfa, and in the southern parts
fresh gold mines are also said to have been re-
cently discovered. Bohemia contains ancient
mines of gold, silver, copper, and lead, in wfaicK
are found perhaps the finest garnets in the world.
S^ria produces the finest steel ; and mercury is
said to be found in many parts of the empire.
The Austrian mines altogether employ more than
35,000 persons, and the annual produce has been
calculated at 2100 marks of gold, 93,000 of
silver, 62,000 centvers of copper, 44,000 of iron,
and 23,000 of lead. Excellent marble, and also
mineral springs, are common in many parts of
Austria.
Vienna, the capital, and centre of its commerce^
lies near ihe site of the ancient Vindobonay to*
wards the eastern confines of Germany, on a
plain where the Vien falls into the Danube. The
whole city approaches to the figure of a cone, of
which the apex is formed by St. Stephen's church,
and the circumference by the basis of the exter>
nal lines of the'fortification. The church of Sl
Stephen is the chief ornament of the city : it has
a beautiful spire covered with fretwork, and a
roof distinguished by the finest Mosaic tiling.
Thb edifice is closely connected with the history
of Austria ; and their chief princes, heroes, and
sages, sleep within its walls* The church of the
Digitized by
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AUSTRIA.
301
Augustine9| and the imperial palaces, attract con-
siderable attention.
Prague is the second city in Austria, and the
capital of Bohemia, containing 80,000 inhabitants.
It derives its name from a bridge which crooes
the Mulda, 1800 feet long and mirty-fiye broad;
on the battlements of which are thir^-two sta-
tues of saints, and at each end a high gothic
tower of exquisite architecture. Its buildings
and gardens are fine and numerous, although the
former are many of them in ruins. Its univer-
sity, which was founded by Charles IV. in 1347,
was long considered as the great depository of Ger^
man literature, and attended by 40,000 students,
but now can scarcely boast the attendance of
400 ragged boys. The other chief towns of
Austria are Presbuigh, the capital of Hungary;
Lemberg, the capiud of Galicia or Austrian
Poland; Gratz, the capital pf Styria; Venice, the
capital of the Venetian territories; Olmutz, the
ancient oapital of Moravia; Milan, the capi-
tal of tlie late kingdom of Italy; Mantua,
the capital of the Mantuan territories; Trent,
Brescia, Pavia, Padua, Verona, Trieste, lintz,
Salubui^h, Troppau, Clausenburgh, Carlstad^
Uermannstadt, Toeplit^ and (Edenburg, Schem-
nitz, and Kremnitz, in the mining districts;
Brunn, the modem capital of Moravia and De-
bretzin ; Pesh, the Tiansacincum of the Romans;
and Buda, sometimes called Offen-Buda, the last
two contiguous to each other, and only separated
by the Danube. They are often regaided as one
city, and considered by many geographers as the
capital of Hungaiy. There are several other
considerable towns, though of inferior impor-
tance.
The chief manufactures of Austria are cotton,
thread, linen, lace, silks, stu£&, stockings, spiritu-
ous liquors, brass, iron, and steel; agricultural
and kitchen utensils, glass, porcelain, and earthen-
ware. The manu^ture of some of these is
confined to particular districts; cotton is manu-
factured chiefly in Austria Proper, where the
British machinery and improvements have been
introduced, and no fewer than 360,000 persons
are constantly employed. Linen is manufactured
chiefly in Bohemia and Moravia, although some of
the finest qualities are obtained from Austrian
Silesia, where upwards of 80,000 pieces are pro-
duced annually. The iron forges of Austria are
about 1000, and are chiefly in Bohemia, in the
country near the £nns, and in Styria. The last
of these contains 200 of them, and produces
14,000 tons of wrought iron and steel annually.
The steel ware of Carlsbadt is in high repute in
many parts of Europe. Glass and porcelain
manufactures are carried to a considerable ex-
tent in several parts of the empire ; of the former
there are no fewer than 170 works; nearly one
half of which are in Bohemia, where magnificent
services and beautiful highly finished lustres are
made. Plate glass is carried to great perfection
at Neuhaus. Leather, gunpowder, tobacco,
sugar, and cinnamon, receive considerable atten-
tion in several districts; and the jewellers of
Vienna are much renowned for polishing pre-
cious stones.
From a jealousy of foreign manufactures there is
no great fair held in the Austrian states, except at
Botzen, on the Italian frontier ; but sereral mar-
kets have been instituted for the interchange
of domestic commodities. The rivers of Austria
in some parts, greatly fisxilitate and improve the
inland trade, whilst the great commercial roads
afford the means of supplying even the secluded
inhabitants of the Alps with adl the comforts and
conveniences of life. The chief imports of
Austria consist of the raw materials, as wool,
cotton, raw silk, drugs, oil, rice, and spices^
received chiefly from the Levant. They export
their own manufactures. Austrian consuls have
been placed about the Levant and other parts of
the Mediterranean, under the protection of Tri-
este and Constantinople, for the advantage of
commerce ; and the Greek merchants, who trade
with them, are obliged, as a security to the state,
to have a certain proportion of visible property
in the empire.
Tlie established religion of Austria is the
catholic, but since the time of Joseph 11. full
toleration has been granted to all religious pro-
fessions; and in Hungary, Transylvania, and
Sclavonia, members of Sie Protestant and Greek
churches are numerous, and are settled in the
enjoyment of considerable privileges. The ec-
clesiastical establishment has nine archbishops,
Tiz. those of Vienna, Gran, Kolocza, Prague,
Lemberg, or Leopold, Olmutz, Layback, Udina,
and Milan. Under diese there are above thirtv
Catholic bishops, and six of the united Greek
church. The archbishop of the pure Greek
church has his seat at Carlowitz, in the eastern
part of Sclavonia, and has nine suffragans under
nim. The archbi^^op of Gran is 3ie metro-
politan of Hungaiy, and by virtue of his office is
lord lieutenant, primate, and chancellor of the
kingdom. He has power to create nobility within
his own archi-episcopal dominions, and pos-
sesses an annual revenue of £36,000 sterling.
The emperor is considered as the head of the
church, and in Hungary is considered as pope. He
appoints bishops, regulates their income^ esta-
blishes or suppresses monasteries at his pleasure,
and frequently applies their revenues to other
purposes.
In point of literature Austria is, at present,
greatly behind the other provinces of Germany,
owii^ to the unpolished state of the languages;
their want of connexion with the more refined
and classical tongues of Europe, together with the
restrictions of government. The influence of
bigotry, too, has often blasted the bud of genius,
and neutralized ever^ effort to promote its deve-
lopment and perfection. There are, however, a
few names of eminence in various departments of
knowledge ; and the arts and sciences are now
said to be upon the advance in Austria, but in the
fine arts, it would be difficult to find an eminent
sculptor or a good painter. Architecture b so
little cultivated, that their best public buildings
are generally planned by foreigners. In the
mechanical arts they have evinced considerable
native genius; but like that of the Germans, gene-
rally, its efforts have seldom been directed to any
usefiil purpose. One mechanic has constructed
a machine that performs all the functions of
an expert chess player; another has made a head
capable of imitating all .the varied sounds of the
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huilian voice; and a third has invented an instm-
cneilt thai emits, simultaneously, all the sounds
of music. In the latter science they have been
thought to excel, and the names of Hadyn and
Mozart, whose powers and taste were formed at
Vienna, have sufiiciently established their na-
tional &me. In mathematics, -astronomy, and
botany, ^they have also succeeded to a certain
extent; and amongst the numerous professors of
these sciences, Burice, and the Abbe Treisnecker,
have eminently distinguished themselves. But
education, and consequently general knowledge,
in Austria has been mi^ch neglected. The em-
press Maria Theresa, who patronised learning,
established schools in every part of the empire ;
which, with others that have since been added,
have in a measure relieved the intellectual gloom
which for so long a period shrouded the south of
Germany. Universities, lyceums, district acade-
mies, gymnasiums, Latin schools, schools 'for
teaching their native tongue, schools for diiftis-
ing the elements of religion, are now universal;
and are supported at the expense of government.
The young men are compelled to attend the line
of study marked out for them, under pain of
forfeiting all civil offices and employments.
In Vienna, alone, are sixty schools for instruct-
ing the poor in reading, writing, and arithmetic ;
one normal school, preparatory to the gymnasium ;
three gymnasia, in which the studies prescribed
by government are, mathematics, geography, his-
tory, natural history, arithmetic, composition,
classics, and religion; the Ttieresian academy, for
the sons of 'the Catholic nobility and foreigners
of distinction, under the care of a director,
twenty-one professors, ten masters of modem
languages, and severed additional tutors ; and an
university, provided with forty-five professors,
extra teachers, &c. The school of surgery at
Vienna, is considerable ; there are also imperial
medical academies, imperial military academies,
imperial polytechnic schools, for teaehing the
scientific principles of all trades and manufac-
tures, and an imperial academy of oriental lan-
guages. Tlieir universities, besides Vienna, are
Prague, Pesh, Erlau, Lemberg, Milan, Mantua,
Padua, and Pavia. To many of these public
institutions are attached extensive libraries.
That connected with the university of Vienna
contains 90,000 volumes, and the Imperial
library upwards of 200,000. The doors of the
latter are regularly open several hours in the day
for the use of the citizens, who are permitted to
read any of the vohimes in apartments provided
for that purpose.
The languages of Austria are several, of which
the Gothic or German is most prevalent. The
Sclavonic is common in part of Hungary, Ga-
licia, Bohemia, and Moravia. The proper Hun-
garian is a dialect of the Scythian. Latin is also
spoken in Hungary ; and on the borders of Tur-
key the Walachian language, which is a corrup-
tion of the Latin, is prevalent. The It^ian is
the common language of the southern provinces,
and French is spoken by the higher classes.
The Austrians are, generally speaking, hand-
some &nd athletic, of German on^, mixed in-
sensibly with the native inhabitants of Italy,
Hongary, and Bohemia. The grand German
outline is itill visible, accompanied witih the
darker complexion, bolder features, blacker «yes,
and more animated expression, which distinguish
the countenance of the Austrian from those of his
northern neighbours. They are a sensual people,
but sensuality never enervates them. They pos-
sess an instinctive indifference to what would
excite all the passions of an Englishman, and
would rush from the ball to the battle, from the
comic theatre to the field of blood, with apparent
indifi*erence ; owing not to phlegmatic coldness,
but to a peculiar felicity of temperament, which
nature has conferred upon the constitution of tlie
Austrian, by which he possesses an astonishing
power of forbearance and self-command. The
persons, manners, and accomplbhments of the
Austrian females have considerably attracted the
attention of modem travellers, and have called
forth some very lively and pertinent remarks
from the pen ot Mr. Lemaistre. 'The Austrian
ladies,' says he, ' are the handsomest women I
have seen on the continent ; their countenances
are expressive, and their complexions uncom-
monly fiiir. In beauty they are exceeded by no
females in Europe; excepting only our own
country-women, whose unrivalled superiority I
believe is universally acknowledged. In man-
ner they are elegant, and in conversation livdy
and well informed. Much greater attention
seems to have been paid to their education, than
is usual in other parts of the continent : all of
them speak French with as much fluency as
German, and some are proficients in English.
The best works in these languages are fiimiliar to
them. They are completely free from pedantry ;
and I have had frequent reason to admire die
taste and knowledge displayed in their remarks.'
But as Austria is composed of separate kingdoms
and states, whose manners and habits are many
of them peculiar, we defer further particular ob-
servations on this till we come to treat of those
states separately.
If we except Bohemia, Moravia, the northern
parts of Austria, and a part of Hungary, this
kingdom formed an integral part of the lioman
empire, and abounds in antiquities and curiositien
both natural and artificial. Castles, churehes,
and monasteries are common everywhere, whilst
the southern parts, being near the centre of
Roman power, are proportionably rich in ancient
remains. The amphitheatre of rola, about forty
miles south of Trieste, stands near the extremity
of a small peninsula, on the easterti shore of the
Adriatic. This ancient edifice is elliptical in its
figure, having three floors and rustic arcades, like
the outer wall of the amphitheatre at N'erooa.
Its length is 416 feet, and height nhiety-seven
feet. 'Diis is the only one of the ancient Roman
elliptical precincts that now remains entire, t^ose
of Rome and Verona beii^ much broken and
dilapidated. Some imagine it to have been a
theatre, and not an amphitheatre, because the
seats only occupy one side, and are formed on
the declivity of a hill. The amphitheatre at \ e-
rona is another building of the same description,
though not so large, as the Coliseum at Rome ; •
only a small part of the wall is standing, and the
test of the building scarcely rises above the sum-
mits of the surrounding houses. The seats
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303
witfaib, constructed of stone, were renewed in the
sixteenth century, and now form the sur&ce of a
large hollow inverted cone, capable of accommo*
dating upwards of 22,000 persons. A part of
these seats are enclosed in a small wooden theatre,
in which plays are performed during the summer.
The structure exhibits a fine specimen of Roman
architecture, composed of squared masses of
marble from Sant. Ambrosio, about nine milei
distant. The soffit stones of the arcades are
nine feet long. Some parts of the building are
composed of large flat bricks, which have with-
stood the action of the sun and weather for 1700
years, and yet remain uninjured by time. The
precinct of this ancient amphitheatre is 522 feet
long, embellished by three tiers of rusticated ar-
cades, ninety-six feet high, and before the filing
of Ae fourth story of rectangular windows, pre-
sented a grand and pleasing appearance. The
disposition of the seats, and of the stairs leading
to them, is better seen in this amphitheatre than
in any other Roman antiquities of the same kind ;
and the remains generally are in a better state of
preservation. See Amphitheatre.
The natural curiosities of Austria are nume-
rous and interesting. The various Alpine
scenery, glaciers, chasms. Caves, curious depo-
sitions of stones, &c. have in all ages commanaed
the admiration of the traveller, and the attention
of the antiquarian. Austria Proper contains a
singular assemblage of rocks, near Trautenau in
Bohemia, in the &ape of flowers, reaching from
^j to 100 feet in perpendicular altitude, and of
great extent ; supposed to be the remains of a
mountain, the intermediate parts of whieh have
been removed. Near Szadello, about thirty
miles north-west of Kaschau in Hungary, is a
celebrated cavern, which runs under the moun-
tsuns to the distance of several miles, and has
never been completely explored. It includes a
nmltiplicity of distinct caves and winding pas-
Mges, separated by numerous impending stalac-
tites ; the whole forming so intricate a labyrinth,
that Dr. Townson, who visited this country a few
years ago, says, ' a man once lost in it, though he
had lights and food to last him a month, would
not be able to find his way out' A party of
curious thivellers, it is said, once remained in it
for three days without being able to explore its
dimensions, or reach the opening. Near Szalitze,
in the Carpathian range, is another remarkable
cavern', wittun which is a small glacier; and at
Demanovo is a carious cave, which contains the
bones of numerous wild animals. Various other
subterranean domes and caverns have also been
found in all parts of the calcareous mountains,
beneath the towering summits of the Alpine
regions. The lake of Czirknitz, in the Illyrian
provinces eastward of Trieste, is one of the most
singular natural curiosities of the Austrian ter-
ritories. It is about four £nglish miles in length,
and nearly that measure in breadth, surrounded
with mountains on all sides, and of the depth of
five or six feet. Although there is no visible
place for the discharge of .them, in June or July
the waters subside, and at length are seen to
retire into a number of caverns at the bottom of
the lake ; the herbage of the bed then begins to
grow n^idly, and produces considerable crops.
which are cut and preserved ; after which the
ground is grazed by cattle. In November, when
die rains ^l upon the adjacent hills, the waters
issue agahi from their caverns, swell by reason
of still gathering accessions, and spread into a
perfect lake as before. The lake of Jessero, in
the isle of Cherso, is classed among the natural
curiosities of Austria, and^said to discharge its
waters but onice in four or five years. In the
same island are several curious caverns, in which
have been found numerous fossil bones of oxen,
horses, sheep, and other animals ; amongst which
none have been recognised as human. The salt-
mines of Wielicxka, on the confines of Poland,
exceed description ; and those near Salzburg, on
the western border of Austria, present an ap-
pearance so magnificent and sublime, as to be
rated among the most stupendous and astonish-
ingphenomena of Europe.
Tne islands belonging to Austria are few and
unimportant, lying along the north-east shore of
the Adriatic, from the Gulf of Juamero to the
southern point of Dalmatia. The princibal are,
Veglia, Osero, Orossa, Cherso, Lesina, Melida,
and Brazza.
Of the provinces which make up the grand
imperial' dominions of Austria, many of them
have constitutions difibrent from each other
Hungary, as an hereditary and limited monarchy,
has been in the house of Austria ever since the
year 1437, when the arohduke, having married the
only daughter of king Sigismund, succeeded to the
crown. The nation, however, shares the legisla-
tive and executive power with the emperor, who
exercises his authority only through the medium
of the States, a kind of parliament assembling at
fixed periods for the transaction of public busi-
ness. The Hungarian nobility ako possess great*
power ; and they alone, in state language, are in-
cluded under the appellation of the Hungarian
people, the rest being regarded as an inferior
nee of beings. Bohemia, Moravia, and tiie
Tyrolese, atso have an influence in the genera]
government, and possess, to a certain degree, Ae
privileges of Hungary. But in most of the pro-
vincial diets, the authority of the crown is so
great, that the representatives can determine little
else than the mode of raising taxes, so that the
emperor is in a considerable degree unlimited in
his sovereignty. In the ancient diet of the em-
pire, Austria, independent of her electoral vote
tor Bohemia, had seven votes in the college of
princes for the seven states of Austria Pioper,
Carindiia, Styria, Brixen, Trent, Tyrol, and
Carniola. In the new diet, or ' confederation of
the sovereigns and firee towns of Germany,^
formed in 1815, Austria, without having any su-
periority over tiie other states in point of rank,
was declared by tbe Congress or Vienna (act
fiftjf-seventh), to have the presidency with a vote.
In the general assembly Austria has now four
yotes. The executive government consists of
four great departments, establishod at Vienna,
organized originally by the counsels of Maria.
Theresa. One of these regulates the internal
concerns of the empire, another its foreign aii^rs,
a third its militaiy conduct, and the fourth the
government of Hungary. These different parts
of ^e administration are identified in numerous
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board.% cbanceries, couocilsy ministries, &c. The
laws and jurisprudence of his imperial and royal
apostolic Majesty's dominions, are in the general
very vague and complicated. Bohemia and Mo-
ravia are divided into circles, each under a sepa-
rate court of judicature from which lies a right of
appeal to the supreme tribunal in the provincial
capital. Every county in Hungary has its ruling
assembly and court of justice, subject to an ai>-
peal to the district judicature, thence to the royal
tribunal at Buda, and thence to the king in per-
son. A new code of mild and salutary laws has
however been recently drawn up at the instance
of the government, and promulgated; the criminal
part, in 1804, and the civil in 1812 ; which are
made the universal code of jurisprudence for the
the Austrian empire.
The entire revenue of Austria has been calcu-
lated at twenty-two millions, arising cliiefly from
taxed on the land, and articles of internal con-
sumption. Joseph II. proposed a new land and
poll tax, which has since been lucrative. The
imperial domains, monopoly of tobacco, duties
on stamps, hair-powder, glass, china, starch,
wine, beer, brandy, carriages, legacy duties, fees
on titles of nobility, toleration tax on the Jews ;
together with the duties arising from the crown
lands, mines, coining, salt, tolls, fines, penalties,
passing the frontiers, incomes upon vacant bi-
shoprics, salaries, pensions, &c. of Hungary,
constitute a considerable part of the above sum.
Paper money has been firequently employed by
Austria in her distress; and bank notes to
the amount of £100,000,000 were in circulation
as recently as 1810. The national debt, before
the French revolution, amounted to £20,000,000,
in 1805, it had incres^ to £30,000,000, and is
^t present £150,000,000. Of tliis two-thirds was
created by the issue of paper money, which,
however, is not deemed re-payable at its nominal
amount.
The military establishment of Austria under
Joseph II. rose into considerable importance ;
and m 1784, though a season of peace, the Aus-
trianswere able to muster more than 200,000
men ; and after the French revolution, at the
peace of 1797, they kept in pay an army of
nearly 300,000. There were lately in the Aus-
trian army no fewer than nine field-marshals,
twenty-one generals of artillery, thirteen generals
of cavalry 1 36 lieut.-generals, 258 major-generals.
Since 1805, however, the troops of Austria were
greatly reduced, till she reached her ebb m 1809,
having lost about one-eighth part of her popula-
tion, and one-tenth of her resources. Ailerwaids
her army amounted to 470,000 men; and in the
campaign of 1813 and 1814, when she took the
field afresh against the common enemy, her
troops were more numerous than at any former
period. Austria at present, as one of the united
kingdoms, supplies 94,822 men to the military
establishments of the German Confederacy,
which is one in every hundred of her population in
Germany, and, allowing the same proportion for
all the other parts of the empire, the standing
army of Austria will amount to 280,000 men.
The Bohemiim army is, however, stated at 50,000
men, which is about one in every sixty-four of
the popiUation. The Hungarian army is calcu-
lated at twelve regiments of infiwtry, and ten of
hussars, the former consisting each of 3837 men,
and the latter of 1698, forming an aggregate of
63,000 ; which, compared witii seven imllioos
and a half, the present population of Hungary,
yields about the proportion of one to every buii-
dred and twenty. The Hungarian army con-
sists of three separate classes- of individuals— the
nobles, who are called togeUier at the pleasure
of the sovereign ; the standing army, kept up by
recruiting and conscription ; and those of the mi-
litary frontiers, where every man holds his pos-
sessions on condition of being ready to take up
arms when called upon. Austria has nothing
that deserves the name of a maritime force, but
provides a few frigates and armed vessels for the
protection of trade. The vessels called tschaiken,
manned with about 1000 seamen and soldiers,
are placed on the Danube towards the Turkish
frontiers at the expense of government There are
in the Austrian states the following orders, hav-
ing the emperor or empress at their head: the
Golden Fleece, Maria Theresa, St. Stephen,
Elizabeth, and the Star and Cross.
Of the political and historical memoirs of Aus-
tria, the reader will be able to form but a veiy
imperfect idea. To write the history of a king'
4om coipposed of kingdoms, with separate histo-
ries of their own ; kin^oms too, which have been
connected with other kingdoms, and those king-
doms, which have made a figure upon the eai^
have balanced for ages the crisis of European
power and politics, have given rise to governments,
laws, manners, and language, and to surrounding
nations, whose histories have also been embarked
upon the stream of tii.:2e, and intermingled with
the politics of other sutes, is a work of no small
difficulty. The Austrian history, if not obscure,
b at least ))erplexed. The revolutions, alike in-
cident to all human governments, the fluctuations
of empire, the ebb and flow of territory, have
been so frequent and considerable, tliat the high
and low water mark of boundary at different
periods of history, during the spring and neap
tides of national influence and power, are only to
be sought successfully in larger geographical
treatises, and would require a distinct detail of
relation beyond what the limits of an encyclo-
pxdia can possibly allow.
The original population of Austria was prin-
cipally Gotliic and Sclavonic, and the descen-
dants of the former still constitute tlie principal
part of the inhabitants. Moravia and Bohemia
were stocked by the latter, whilst the southern
territories were inhabited by the descendants of
the cisalpine GauU, and the Roman colonies,
which had been planted there. Only a small
part of the present imperial dominions belonged
originally to the house of Austria. Tl^e vicissi-
tudes to which it has been subject from the period
of its origination, are what have chiefly contri-
buted to raise tiie empire to its present rank
among European sovereignties, and to trace
those vicissitudes down the variable narrattve
of their political story, afibrds an interesting
topic in geographical speculation.
The princes of these houses are descended
from the ancient dukes of Alsace, and bore the
title of counts of Hapsburg, from the castle of
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305
that name in the Aar on Switzerland, their pa-
trimonial residence, before their accession to the
imperial throne of Germany. In 1273 count
Rodolph was elected king of the Romans, and
bestowed the duchv on his son Albert, ' with
whom, therefore, the house of Austria com-
mences. This duchy was formed of the ancient
margraviate, with that part' of Bavaria situated
above the river Enns ; and passed to the house of
Hapsburg as a fief of the empire, on the extinc-
tion of &e old ducal fiunily. The counts of
Hapsburg at that time possessed a great parf of
Oberland in Switzerland, and a considerable
gortion of Suabia, to which, in 1284, were added
tyria, Carinthia, and Camiola. But Albert,
who was elected king of the Romans in 1298,
during the revolutionary troubles of Switzerland,
which happened about nine years after his ac-
cession, lost all his hereditary possessions in
that country. The acquisition of Tyrol in
1364 made some addition, and Albert II. the
next duke of Austria, was invested, in 1438, with
the imperial purple, which has, ever since that
period, been retamed by his descendants in almost
uninterrupted succession. The emperor Max-
imilian, grandfather to Charles V. acquired the
territory of the low countries by marriage, and
in like manner his son Philip, espousing the
heiress of the Spanish crown, olbtained the pos-
session of that kingdom, wiUi the dominion of
the American colonies. At his decease the
united kingdoms of Austria, Spain, and Spanish
America, descended to his successor Charles V.
who, about the year 1527, added those of Hun-
gary, Bohemia, Moravian Silesia, and Lusatia,
when Austria appeared in the zenith of her
glory. In 1556 Charles V. made over the
Spanish dominions, and the Netherlands, to his
son Philip II. under whom they suffered con-
siderable diminution; the seven united pro-
vinces of the Netherlands entirely throwing off
their allegiance. In 1648, at the conclusion of
the thirhf years war, Austria was obliged to
relinquish the two provinces of Lusatia and Al-
sace, ceding the former to the elector of Saxony,
and the latter to the king of France ; but shortly
after the emperor Leopold, son of Ferdinand III.
added the whole of Transylvania, and con-
siderably enlarged the boundaries of Hungary,
after which few fluctuations occurred in the empire
till the reign of Charles VI. when the peace of
Utrecht in 1713, and the Barrier Tresly, two
years afterwards, added Belgium, the duchy of
Alijan, the kingdom of Naples, and the island of
Sardinia, which last was six years afterwards
exchanged vrith the duke of Savoy, for the isle
of Sicily. By the peace of Passarowitz, in 1 71 8,
Charles VI. acquired the Bannat of Temeswar,
Belgrade, part of Servia, Bosnia, and Walachia;
all of which, however, except the Bannat, were
restored to the Porte in 1739. In 1735, after
an unsuccessftil opposition to France, the king-
dom of Naples, and the island of Sicily, were
made over by the Emperor to the infant Don
Carlos of Spain, in exchange for the duchies of
Parma and Placentia. At last, after various
changes, as well in the outline as in the inward
policy of the empire, Charles VI. died, in 1740,
Vol. III.
and with him ended the male succession of the
Hapsburg house of Austria.
Maria Theresa, eldest daughter and heiress of
the deceased emperor, was married, in 1736, to
Francis duke of Lorraine, afterwards grand duke
of Tuscany ; and immediately on her advance to
the sovereignty had to carry on a long and ex-
tensive war against Prussia, Saxony, Bavaria,
and Spain ; all of whom made pretensions to
some part or parts of her dominions. After a
poweiful but unsuccessful struggle for empire,
Prussia, in the year 1742, obtained the greater
part of Silesia, and the country of Glatz ; and
dpain, about six years afterwards, took possession
or the duchies of Parma, Placentia, and Guas-
taUa. The war of 1756 producing no remarkable
change of territories, tne Austrian boundaries
continued the same, with little variation, till the
partial dismemberment of Poland, in 1773, when
she acquired Galicia and Ladomaria; and was still
further augmented, in 1777, by the addition of
the Bukowine; and in 1778, by the accession of
the Innviertel on the side of Bavaria.
The first emperor of the Lorraine branch was
Joseph II. who, after sharing tlie government
with his mother Maria Theresa for several years
anterior to her decease, was fully vested with
the sovereignty in 1780. His reforms in the
executive branches of government, abolition of
sinecures, suppression of convents, modification
of the depenaence of the clergy upon Rome,
and the perfect toleration of all dissenters, though
they have been censured as the extreme of im-
prudence, were decidedly promoted for the con-
solidation of his immense territories, the manu-
mission of his subjects from the civil disabilities
under which many of them labored, and the
establishment of a more worthy system of re-
gular administration. To whatever extent such
measures might have been neutralized by an ob-
vious precipitancy, and rashness in the mode
of execution, they show a great monarch, in-
fluenced by the best of principles, laboring in
the common cause of humanity, justice, and pa-
triotism; directing all his efforts towards the
happiness of his people, and the wel&re of his
dominions. It is said that a visit which he re-
ceived from pope Pius VI. two years after his
accession, enected no alteration in his designs.
After an active but variable reign, rendered re-
markable towards the close, by a new war with
die Turks, he died on tlie 20th of February,
in the year 1790, and was succeeded by his
brother Leopold II. who died at tt^e commence-
ment of the revolutionary war, on the 1st of
March, 1792. The crown of Austria then de-
scended to his eldest son, Francis II. the present
emperor, and the sovereignty of the grand duchy
of Tuscany to his second sou Ferdinand. From
this time the empire of Austria began to de-
dine.
At this period the population of the empire was
estimated at 25,000,000, and was increased, in
1796, by the accession of a great part of Poland,
which was then finally dismembered and divided
between Austria, Russia, and Prussia: but it was
reduced to little more than its former amount the
foUovring year by ceding to France, Lombardy, the
A
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Netheiiands, and all die Austrian districts on the
left bank of the Rhine. The war of 1799 gave early
hopes of success, but the withdrawment of Russia
from the coalition, and the fatal days of Marengo
and Hchenlinden, obliged Austria to conclude a
treaty with France in 1801; in which, although
she obtained Saltzburg and Berchtologaden, she
was deprived of nearly all her Venetian states.
The third war, in 1805, proved still shorter and
more disastrous; and after the overthrow at
Ulm and Austerlitz, the remainder of the Vene-
tian states, Tyrol and Suabian principalities, con-
taining a population of 3,000,000, were given as
the price of peace ; a period was likewise put to
the Germanic constitution, and the title ot Em-
peror of Austria substituted for Emperor of Ger-
many and King of the Romans. In 1809 the
resistance of Spain to Buonaparte prompted Aus-
tria to enter upon a new war with France. Her
army was numerous and well disciplined, and a
large portion of the French was employed in the
peninsula; but the decided neutrality of Prussia,
and the circumstance of Russia and Bavaria, with
the states composing the confederation of the
Rhine, taking part against Austria, enabledBona-
parte to acquire a decided victory, and once more
to enter Vienna. This led to further losses, but
left the emperor no alternative but a treaty; the
terms were the union of the emperor's daughter
with Napoleon in marriage, and the sacrifice of
considerable territory and population; namely,
the provinces of Camiola, Trieste, Villach, the
greater part of Croatia, and Agram, West
Galicia, Uie circle of Zamosc, a circle in East
Galicia, the greater half of^Hansruckviertel, the
Innviertel, Berchtolsgaden/ and Saltzburg, the
whole including 45,000 square miles and neariy
three millions and a half of inhabitants. Austria
remained overawed by France until the de-
struction of the French armies in Russia, when
she again asserted her independence; and
the subsequent success of the allies reinstated
her in more than her former splendor. The
ninety-third act of the Congress of Vienna
restored nearly all that had been lost, while the
succeeding one annexed several others on the
side of Italy, which more than compensated for
the remaining deficiency. The dominions of the
Austrian empire, as fixed by this congress, have,
according to Blumenbach, been divided into
twenty-one provinces, or governments, besides
the four dependent states. To these he assigns
the following extent and population.
I.— AUSTRIAN EMPIRE.
Ger. sq. mfles.
Inhabitants.
1. The kingdom of Bohemia
956-80
417-64 I
86-85 5
363-65
344-32
398-98
190-90
250-95
176-18
620-44
867-50
274-94
152612
4097-06
1118-70
186-00
139-40
67-40
166-40
54-20
3,203,222
1,680,935
1,048,324
756,897
799,056
278,500
467,836
422,861
717,542
4,111,535
295,089
3,755,454
8,200,000
1,510,000
171,675
230,079
107,217
188,906
95,442
2. The margraviate of Moravia
3. The dukedom of Silesia
4. Austria below the Enns
Gcr. sq. miles. Inhabitante.
(•Austria above the Enns . • . 151-86 417,625^
5. < Circle of the Inn and Hansruck 59-92 1 97,537 i
CSaltzburffh ' 132-54 141,6993
6. The dnchy of Styria
7. The duchy of Carinthia
g JIUyria .' . .^ 190-61 358,831^
[Part of Croatia 60-34 108,205 5
9. The coast district
10. Tyrol and Voralbei^ .
1 1 . The Lombardo-Venetian kingdom
12. The government of Dalmatia
13. The kingdom of Galicia
14. Civil Hungary, Croatia and Sclavonia
15. Civil Transylvania , . . ^
16. Transylvanian military frontiers J
17. Bannat frontiers
18. Sclavonian frontiers
19. Warasdiner military government
20. Carlstadter military government
21. Bannat regiments
II. — ^Dependent States.
1. Grand dukedom of Tuscany
12,204-43
28,040,570
431-00
92-31
2300
101-62
1,170,000
375,000
60,000
383,000 i
^. Dukedom of Modena
3. Dukedom of Massa and Canara, with Gariagnana . .
4. Dukedom of Parma
647-98
1,988,000 ,
Austria, San FEtrppE de, a city of South
.America, in the province and government of
Cumana," forty-eight miles from Cumana, and
containing 250 families. • Long. 63° 41' W., lat.
10"* 31' N. There is another small place of the
same name, four leagues south-west of Cumana.
AusTRiACvs, in ornithology, a species of falco,
named by Latham the Austrian kite. Gmelin,
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307
AUT
AUOTRO Atbicus, the S.S. W. wind.
AXTSTROMANCY, Austrom antia, properly
denotes soothsaying, or a vain method of pre^
dieting futurity, from observations of the winds.
AX^TURuUS, or Osturcus, in ornithology,
a goshawk ; from whence we usually call a fal-
coner, who keeps that kind of hawks, an os-
tringer. In ancient deeds, there has been re-
served^ as a rent to the lord^ unum austurcum.
AUSURIANI, in Roman antiquity, a military
order, similar to that of hussars among the mo-
dems.
AUTENIGUA, the name given by the natives
to a region of southern Africa, on the east of the
Cape of Good Hope ; and signifying, in their
language, the land of honey. It now fbrms part^
of &e district of Zwelleadam, and is represented
by Vaillant as a delight^l region, having a great
variety of surface and soepeiy, great fertility, and
abundance of honey. It was partially inha-
bited by Dutch colonists, whilst in possession of
that nation; but it has been mudi improved
since it came under the authority of the English.
It abounds with all the wild animals common to
southern Africa. See Zwellendau.
AUTENOW, a town of Russia, in the govern-
ment of Kiov, eighteen miles W. S. W. of
Bitilacerkier.
AUTER Droit, .in law, is where persons sue,
or are sued, in anotSier's right; as executors, ad-
ministrators, &c.
AuTER Vie ; in law, a person who holds an
estate by the life of another is usually called
tenant per auter vie.
AUTHENTICATE,^
Authen'tical,
Authen'tically,
Authen'ticalness,
Authenti'city,
Authentic^,
Acthen'tickly,
Authentick'ness
to rely on information ; to vouch for the truth of
a statem^t. Authentic seems to have been the
])Toper epithet for a physician regularly bred or
licensed. The diploma of a licentiate runs, * Au-
tfaentice licentiatus.'
TUrdly, it appeaieth'by regesten and recordec
iadidally and auteniiquefy made, yet presArued for
•coniinnation of the same. Hall. Heniy VIII.
This
decided.
Of statmtes made before time of memory, we have
no authentical records, but only transcripts. Hate.
Thou art wont his great aitthetUieh will
Interpreter thro^h highest heaven to bring.
point is dubious, and not yet authetUicoRy
f Brown** Vulgar Erroun,
She joy'd th' OMthentiek news to hear.
Of what she guessM before with jealous fear.
CowUjf,
Conscience never commands or forbids any thing
4MmthentieaUjf, but there is some law of God which
commands or foibids it first. Souih,
Bqt censure's u> be nnderrtood
The authmtiok mark of th^ elect.
The pobtic stamp heav'n sets on all that's great and
good. Swift,
Nothing can be more pleasant than to see vtrtuoaoc
about a cabinet of medals, descanting upon the value,
rari^, and authenticalnem of the several pieces.
Addiaon.
The nations that, according to the best aiuihenticaied
history, appear to have been first civilised, were those
that dwelt around the coast of the Mediterranean sea.
Smith'i Wealth of N^Hom.
\ AUTHENTICS, Authentic*, in the civU
law, is a name given to the Novels of Justinian.
The reason of the denomination is not well known.
Alciat will have it to have been first given them
by Accursius. These novels were originally com-
posed in Greek, and afterwards translated into
Latin by the patrician Julian, who reduced them
into less compass. And in the time of Bulgaris,
there was a second version made, more exact and
literal, though not quite so elegant as the former.
This translation being preferred by Accursius, he
called it authentica, by way of preference to that
of Julian, as being more conformable to the ori-
ginal. They are hereby distinguislied ficom some
oilier publications of later imperial constitutions,
which are not regarded as of much authority.
AUTHIE, a river of France, which rises in the
department of the Straits of Calais, and falls into
the sea between the Somme and the Canche.
AUTHON (John d'), a French historian of the
sixteenth century, abbot of Angle in Poitou. He
wrote the history of France from 1490 to 15O69
which has never been all printed. He died in
1523.
Gr. av^evriKA^, Lat.
cum auctoritate, with
authority. Certo auc-
tore, the author being
"well known; to make
known the author, to
give up the author, or
authority; to refer to ;
AUTHOR, V. & n.
Au'THOilESS,
Axjtho&'itative,
Authob'itatively,
Author'ity,
Authoeiza'tioV)
Au'thoeizs,
Ai/thobless,
Au'thokship.
Some contend for the
Latin otictor, from on-
g«o, ouehofi, to increase,
i. e. to carry on an un-
>'dertaking. It seems to
relate more to the ground
than to the form of the
work. Others refer its
origin to av^iyroeisc, or
tiie root which it represents. Whether this ety-
mology be admitted or not, the verb and its cor-
relatives convey the ideas of beginning, creation,
foundation, invention, countenance, support, and
power«
They consider the main oooaent of all the churches
in the whole world, witnessing the sacred trndhonty of
Scripture, ever sithence the first publication thereoC»
even till this present day and hour Hooker,
ISAB. 0 but man, proud man,
Drest in a little brief authority.
Most ignorant of what he's n^ost assured.
His glassy essence like an angry ape.
Plays sudi fantastick tricks before high heav'n.
As makes the angels weep.
Shaiapeare. Meamrefor Meamtre,
Idle old man.
That still would manage those amtkorUiei
That be hath gi? 'n away ! Id. King hear.
That which is the strength of their amity, shall
prove the immediate andhar of their variance.
I know, my lord.
If law, aMithoriiy, and pow'r deny not.
It will go hard with poor Antonio. Id,
But I snffer not a woman to teach, nor to ntniy
aHtherity over tho man, but to be in silence*
Pmd.
War mends but few, but spoils multitudes; it legi<
timates rapine, and amtKorieet murther.
Jergmif Taylor,
\7
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AUT
308
AUT
Althongli theii intention be kincere, y«t doth it no-
toriously strengthen vulgar enour^ and auHumm opi-
nions injurious unto truth. Bnwn't Vulgar Erroun.
Now while the tortur'd savage turns around.
And flings about his foam, impatient of the wound ;
The wound's great tmthor close at hand provokes
His rage. Dfydan't FaJIAeu
Yourself first made that title which I claim.
First bid me love, and andhorit^d my flame.
Drydfik
The obligation of laws arises not from their matter,
but from their admission and reception, and auihoru case they were styled Avrocparopcc. The
muion in this kingdom. . Halg, people also applied the name to some of their
Power arising from strength, is always in those ambassadors, wno were vested with a full powo
that are governed, who are n^any : but auibority aris- of determining matters according to their own
ing firom opinion, is in those that govern, who are discretion. Tnese were denominated UptirfiBc
fc^' . \ ^ 2V»yte. XvTOKparogec* and resembled our plenipoten-
The woods are fitter to give rules than ciUes, ^^^j^^*^ "^ ' '^ '^
where those that ^*» ^««»^r^;^^ ""^ ^^''^' AUTO DA FE, or act of faith. See Act.
go out of their way, by the authomy of e»»mple^ AUTODIDACTUS ; from avroc and ^c^«n«.
The faith or persuasion of a Divine revelation U n ^ ^^rn ; a person self-taught, or who has had
AXTTOCRATOR; from avroe, Umsel^ and
icparoct power ; a person vested with an absolute
indepenaent power, by which he is rendezed \xa-
accountable to any other for his actions. The
power of the Athenian generals, or commandos,
was usually limited : so that at the expiration of
their office, they were liable to render an account
of their administration. But, on extraordinary oc-
casions, they were exempted from this restraint,
and sent with uncontrollable authority : in which
no master or assistant of his studies.
AUTOGENIAL; from avrog andyiyMiiacito
beget; self-begotten.
AUTOGLYPHUS Lapis, a stone mentioned
by Plutarch, as having naturally impressed on it
the figure of Cybele. It is said to have been found
in Sagaris a river of Persia. Doubtless if any
such stone ever existed, the priests had it made
to deceive the people.
AUTOGRAPH, avroe, myself, and ypa^
I write. An original manuscript.
He did accurately describe and turn into Latin
AUTOCABDALI, in «.tiquity, an order of ^!^' '''^ ''''''^^
musicians, who wore an ivy crown or garland. AUTOLITHOTOMUS, one who cuts him-
Scaliger seems to rank them m the number of gglf for the stone. Of this we have a very cxtia-
""?^T«,^^^T^x» . X rT« 1. 3 ordinary instance given by Reiselius. in the
AUTOCEPHALUS; from oin-oc, ipse, and Ephemerides of the Academy NaturaCurioswum,
Bc^i), head; a person who has no one over ^^^ i ^^ 3 ^^^^ ^gj. '' ^
him This denomination was given, by the AUTOLOGIST; from atiroc, self, and X*yoc,
Greeks, to certain archbishops who were ex- gpcech; one who speaks much of himself.
Divine faith, not only with respect to the object of
it, but likewise in respect to the author of it, which is
the Divine spirit. TiOotUH,
From his loins
New author* of dissension spring ; from him
Two branches, that in hosting long contend
For sov'reign sway. PhXKpt,
A more decisive proof cannot be given of the fall
conviction of the British nation, that the principles
of the Revolution did not authoritie them to elect
kings at pleasure, than their continuing to adopt a
plan of hereditary protestant succension in the old line.
empted from the jurisdiction of patriarchs. There
were several other bishops in the east, who were
autocephali ; and in the west those of Ravenna
pretend to the same right.
AUTOCHTHONES, an appellation assumed
AUTOLOGY, speaking of or to one's sell
AUTOLOLiE, an ancient people of Maorita-
nia, descended from the Gstuli. They excelled
all their neighbours in running.
AUTOLYCUS, in febulous history, a son d
by some nations, impomng that they sprung, or Mercury by Chione, a daughter of DsedaUon. He
"^fJ^. ^"""^^ ^Z"!^ ^^ ^^^ ^'^ '^^'''^ ^^y was one of the Argonauts, famous for his cun-
sUll mliabited. In this sense autocthones amounte ,ang as a thief. After stealing the flocks of his
to the same with aborigines. The Athenians va- neighbours, he altered their marks, and mingled
hied themselves on their being autochthones, ^^^ ^^ hj, ^wn. But Sisyphus, soiT of
self-born, or yif7«v£ij:, earth-bom ; see Attica, jeoIus, discovered his craft ; and when Autolycus
stole his flocks, he picked out bis own by a mark
it being the prevailing opinion among the
ancients that, m the beginning, the eaiQi, by
tome prolific power, produced men, as it still
does plants. .
AUTO'CRAT,
Autoc'rasy,
oya
which he had made' under their feet Ihe arti-
fice of Sisyphus pleased Autolycus so much, that
o V ir J ^® directly formed an intimacy with him, and
-\ Gr, avroc, himself, and eyen allowed him freely to enjoy the company
f r^Kiroc, power; me pos- of his daughter Anticlea, who became pregnant
AuTocRAT^iCAL, A sessor of uncontrollable
AirrocRATOR'iCAL.3power. The emperor of
Russia is styled the ' autocrat of all the Russias.'
The Divine will is absolute ; it is its own reason :
It is both the producer and the ground of all its acts.
k moves not by the external impulse or inclination
of obiocts, but determines itself by an absolute ouio-
cnuy. South't Sermona, x.
Ihe Father, Son, and Hohf Ghost, in respect of
the same divinity, have the same OMtocratorieal
power, dominion, and authority.
Peanon om ihe Croei.
of Ulysses, and was soon after espoused 10
Laertes.
AuTOtYcus, a Greek mathematician and as-
tronomer of Pitane, in i&olia, who flourished
about 320 years before Christ. He was precep-
tor in mathematics to Arcesilaus, who was also a
disciple of Tbeophrastus, the successor of Aris-
totle. His works extant are, a Treatise on the
Movable Sphere, published by Dasypodins in
Greek and Latin, 8vo. at Strasburg, in 1768;
and in a Latin translation in the Synopsb Ma-
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AUTOMATON.
thematica of Meiseniius^ published in 4to. at
PariS) in 1644 ; and also a Treatise on the Rising
and Setting of the Stars, edited, with the former
-work, by Dasypodius. Diog. liiert. Vit Arcesil.
Fabr. Bid. Grsc. torn. ii. p. 89. Montuda, Hist.
Mathem. t.i.p. 192.
AUTOMATE, called also HiERAy one of the
Cydades, an island on the north of Crete, said
to- have emerged out of the sea, between the
islands Thera andTherana, in the fiith ypar of the
emperor Claudius ; in extent thirty stadia.
AUTOM'ATON,-^ Gr. Awrofioroc. Ex. fut-
Autom'atous, > rifv, finistra, vel uaofuuf ex-
Automa'tic. Jcitor. Something self-
moved ; deriving its motion from internal ma-
chinery.
Clocks^ or atttomaiom organ*, whereby we disdn-
gaish of time, have no mention in ancient writera.
Bnwn't Vulgar Errourt,
For it is greater to nndentand^the art whereby the
Almighty governs the modona of the great trntomatOH,
than to have learned the intrigues of policy.
CRaineaW* Se^ptu,
The paiticalar drcomstanees for which the automata
of this kind are most eminent, may be reduced to four.
WUkim,
Automaton may be ferther defined, a ma-
chine, so constructed by means of weights,
levers, springs, wheels, &c. as to move for a
considerable time, as if endued with animal life.
According to this definition, clocks, watches,
and all machines of that kind may be ranked as
a species of automata. But the word is most
commonly applied to such machines as are made
in the form of men and other animals, at the
same time that their internal machinery is so
contrived, that they seem voluntarily to act like
the animals they represent. It has fallen in the
way of the writer of this paper to have been
making a few collections on tnis subject for some
years past; and, observing that the whole direc-
tion of mechanical genius to these inventions
has at present terminated in amusing, rather
than any particularly useful machines, he has
ofUn entertained himself with considering the
powers of man as a mere animal machine, in con-
trast with their inventions; the highest and best
of which imitate his motions.
Political economists liave frequently amused
themselves and the public with the nicely-ba-
lanced powers 6f man as a propagating and
eating animal, and philosophers and divines
often assure us that he is, in other and higher
respects, but a machine oC a superior descrip-
tion; in especial deference to the latter grave
authorities, we, therefore, take it for granted in
this paper, that man is a machine, and shall not
presume to arrogate for him any higher preten-
sions. We know nothing of his impulses as an
animal, nor of the duties or influences to which
he is subject as a rational being, if such he be ;
we only propose to introduce to our readers a
variety of claimants for the honor of having
made a part of him— of imitating portions of his
organs, in their actual exercise — and isolated ac-
tions of his very mind. What wonder, if, in
the progress of these efforts, our artists should
occasionally have struck off a complete and
clever duck, a learned fly, or a royal eagle 1
Automata have been fevorite objects of me-
chanical contrivance from a very early period.
If the term, indeed, may be allowed to include
what some writers have considered under it,
their history would quickly swell into a volume.
The celebrated Glanville, for instance, speaks of
* the art whereby the Almighty governs the mo-
tions of the great automaton' of the universe !
Bishop Wilkins ranks the sphere of Archimedes
amongst the avrofiara ararcL, * or such as
move only according to the contrivance of their
several parts, and not according to their whole
frame.' It was, in &ct, an early orrery, accord-
ing to Claudian :
Jupiter in parvo cum cemeret sBthera vitro,
Risit, et ad superoa talia dicta dedit ;
Hucdne mortalia progressa potentia cune ?
Jam mens in fragili Uiditur orbe labor, kc
This learned prelate has even extended the
application of the term to machines moved, in
consequence of their peculiar construction, by
external forces or elements, as mills, ships, &c.
Its modem acceptation, however, and that to
which we shall restrict ourselves, will not in-
clude all machines that are self, or internally
moved. It b confined to the mechanical imita-
tions of the. functions and actions of living ani-
mals, and particularly those of man.
The celebrated story of the statue of Memnon,
one of the wonders of Ancient Egypt, has some
pretensions to lead the way in this historical
sketch. We have positive testimony (Strabo,
lib. xvii.) to the circumstance of the most beau-
tifiil sounds being emitted from this statue, at
the rising and setting of the sun ; and from the
pedestal, after the statue was overthrown. What
was the contrivance in- this case, it may be vain
to conjecture; but autopiata are, by profession,
-a puzzling race. If a certain disposition of
strings, exposed to the rarefiiiction of the air, or
to the morning and evening breezes, after the
manner of our £olian harps, produced these
sounds; or if any method of arranging the in*
teroal apertures so as to receive them from a
short distance, yrere the artifice, a considerable
acquaintance with the science of music, and
with accoustics generally, will be argued. Wil-
kins quotes a musical invention of Cornelius
Drebel, of similar pretensions, which * being set
in the sunshine, would,- of itself, render a soft
and pleasant harmony, but being removed into
the soade would presently become silent.'
The statues and the flight of Dsdalus are
equally femous, and, perhaps, fabulous. Aris-
totle, however, speaiks of the former in his
treatise De Anima, lib. i. c. 3. as successfiil
imitations of the human figure and human func-
tions in walking, running, &c. and attempts to
account for their motions by the concealment of
quicksilver. ,
Archytas' flying -dove, originally mentioned in
Favorinus, is another of the ancient automata.
The inventor is said to have flourished about
B. C. 400, and was a Pythagorean philosopher
at Tarentum. It was made of wood, and the
principal circumstance of its history, whirb Fp-
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310
AUTOMATON.
Vorinus mentioiis, that is like some other biids
of too much wing, when it alighted on the ground,
it could not raise itself up again. Aulus Gel-
lius, in his Noctes Atticae, attempts to account
for its flight, by observing, < Ita erat scilicet li-
bramentis suspensum, et aura spiritus inclusa
atque occulta consitum,' &c. that it was ^ sus-
pended by balancing, and moved by a secredy
enclosed aura or spirit'
Friar Bacon, we all know, made a brazen head
that could spesdc, and that seems to have assisted,
in no small aegree, in proclaiming him a magician.
Albertus Magnus ia also said to have devoted
thirty years of his life to the construction of an
automaton, which the celebrated Thomas Aquinas
broke purposely to pieces. Men, treated as
these were by the age in which they lived, had
no encoun^ement to hope that any details of
their labors would reach posterity.
Amongst the curiosities of his day, Walchius
mentions an iron spider of great ingenuity.. In
size it did not exceed the ordinary inhabitants of
our houses, and could creep or climb with any
of them, vranting none of their powers, except, of
which nothing is said, the formation o? its web.
Various writers of credit, particularly Kircher,
Porta, and bishop Wilkins, relate that the cele-
brated Regiomontanus l[John Muller) of Nu-
remberg, ventured a loftier flight of art. He is
said to have constructed a self-moved wooden
eagle, which descended toward the emperor
Maximilian, as he approached the gates of Nu-
remberg, saluted hun, and hovered over his
person as he entered the town. This philosopher,
according to the same authorities, also produced
an iron fly, which would start from his hand at
table, and after flying round to each of the
guests, returned, as if wearied, to the protection
of his master.
An hydraulic clock, presented to the emperoi*
Charlemagne, by the caliph Haroun al Raschid,
merits record in the history of these inventions.
It excited the admiration of all Europe at the
period of its arrival. Twelve small doors di-*
vided the dial into the twelve hours, and opened
successively as each hour arrived, when a ball
fell from the aperture on a brazen bell and
struck the time, the door remaining open. At
the conclusion of every twelve hours, twelve
mounted knights, handsomely caparisoned, came
out simultaneously from the dial, rode round the
plate, and closed the doors. Dr. Clarke, in his
last volume of Travels (part iii. Scandinavia,
sec. 1. 4to. 1819), mentions a similar contri-
vance in a clock at Lubeck, of the high antiquity
of 1405. Over the face is an image of Jesus
Christ, on either side of which are folding-
doors, which fly open eveiy day as the clock
strikes twelve. A set of ngures, representing
the twelve apostles, then march forth on the left
hand, and, bowing to our Saviour's image as
they pass in succession, enter the door on the
ritrht. On the termination of the procession the
doors close. This clock is also remarkably com-
plete, for the age, in its astronomical apparatus ;
representing the place of the sun and moon in
the ecliptic, the. moon's age, &c. Similar ap-
),)endages to clocks and time-pieces became too
common, at the b**ginnin'^r of the last century, to
deserve particular notice. We should not, how-
ever, omit some of the productions o( ihe Le
Droz family, of Neufchatel. About the middle
of last century, the elder Le Droz presented a
clock to Peking of Spain, with a sheep and
dog attached to it. The bleating of the lormer
was admirably correet, as an imitation ; and the
dog was placed in custody of a basket of loose
fruit. If any one removed the fruit, he would
growl, SQarl, gnash his teeth, and endeavour to
bite, until it was restored.
Ilie son of this artist was the original mventor
of the musical boxes, which have of late beep
imported into this country. Mr. CoUinson, a
correspondent of Dr. Hutton's, thus clearly de-
scribes this ^cinating toy in a letter to the
doctor, inserted in his Mathematical and Philo-
sophical Dictionary :— * When at Geneva, I
called upon Droz, son of the original Droz, of La •
Chaux de Fond, where I also went. He showed
me an oval gold snuff-box, about, if I recollect
right, four inches and a-half long, by three inches
broad, and about an inch and arJiali thick. It was
double, having an horizontal partition ; so that it
may be considered as one box placed on another,
vritn a lid, of course, to each box. One con-
tained snufi*; in the other, as soon as the lid
was opened, there rose up a very small bird, of
green enamelled gold, sitting upon a gold stand.
Immediately this minute curiosity wagged its
tail, shook its wings, opened its bill of white
enamelled gold, and poured forth, minute as it
was (being only three-quarters of an inch from
the beak to the extremity of the tail) s;^ch a clear
and melodious song as wonld have filled a room
of twenty or thirty feet square with its harmony.'
In Ozanam's Mathematical Recreations, we
have an account, by the inventor, M. Camas, of
an elegant amusement of Louis XIV. when a boy:
It represented a lady proceeding to court, in a
small chariot drawn by two horses, and attended by
her coachman, footman, and page. When the ma-
chine was placed at the end of a table of nroper
size, the coachman smacked his whip, the horses
started off with all the natural motions, and the
whole equipage drove on to the &rther extremity
of the table ; it would now turn at right angles
in a regular vray, and proceed to that part of
the table opposite to which the prince sat, whea
the carriage stopped, the page alighted to opes
the door, and the lady came out with a petition,
which she presented with a courtesy to the bow-
ing young monarch, lite return was equally in
Older. After appearing to await the pleasure of
the prince for a short time, the lady courtesied
again, and re-enteced the chariot, the page
mounted behind, the coachman flourished his
whip, and the footman, after running a few 8teps»
resumed his place.
About the same period, M. Vaucanson, a
member of the Academy Royal of France, led
the way, to the unquestionable superiority of
modem times, in these contrivances, oy the conr
struction of his automaton duck, a production,
it is said, so exactly rejembling the living animal,
that not a bone of the body, and hardly a feather
of the wings, seems to have Reaped his imitation
and direction. The radius, the cubitus, and the
humerus had each tlieir exact offices. The auto-
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maton ate, drank, and quacked in perfect har-
mony with nature. It gobbled food brought
before it, with avidity, drank, aud even muddled
the water after the manner of the living bird,
and appeared to evacuate its food ultimately in
a digested state. Ingenious contemporaries of
the inventor, who solved all the rest of his con-
trivances, could never wholly comprehend the
mechanism of this duck. A chemical solution
of the food was contrived to imitate the effect of
digestion.
This gentleman is also celebrated for having
exhibited at Paris, in 1738, an androides (from
ayfip, a man, and ci^oC) a form ; a term under
which some scientific works have classed all the
automata that have been made to imitate the
human person), a flute-player, whose powers
exceeded all his ancestry ; and for the liberality
and good sense with which he communicated to
the academy, in the same year, an eXact account
of its constmction. Tb« figure was nearly six
feet in he^ht, and usually placed on a square
pedestal four feet and arhalf high, and about
three feet and a^-half broad. The air entered the
body by three separate pipes, into which it was
conveyed by nine pairs of bellows, which were
expanded and contracted at pleasure, by means
of an axis formed of metallic subittances, and
which was tamed by the aid of clock-work.
There was not even the slightest noise heard
during the operations of the bellows : which
mJeht o&erwise have discovered the process l^
which the air was conveyed ad libitum into the
body of the machine. The three tubes, into
which the air was sent by means of the bellows,
passed again into three small reservoirs concealed
m the iMody of the automaton. After having
united in this place, and ascended towards the
throat, they formed the cavity of the mouth,
which terminated m two small lips, adapted to
the performance of their respective functions.
A small movable tongue was enclosed within
this cavity, which admitted or intercepted the
passage of the air into the flute, according to the
tune that was executed, or the quantity of wind
that was requisite for the performance. A par-
ticular species of steel cylinder, which was
turned by means of clock-work, afibrded the
proper movements to the fingers, lips, and tongue.
This cylinder was divided into fifteen equal
parts, which caused the ascension of the other
extremities, by the aid of pegs, which pressed
upon the ends of fifteen different levers. The
fingers of the automaton were directed in their
movements by seven of these levers, which had
wires and chains attached to their ascending ex-
tremities ; these being fixed to the fingers, caused
their ascension in due proportion to the declen-
sion of the other extremity, by the motion of the
cylinder; and thus, on tlie contrary, the ascent,
or descent, of one end of the lever, produced a si-
milar ascent, or descent, in the fingers that cor-
responded to the others ; by which one of the
holes was opened or stopped agreeably to the
d irection of the music. The entrance of tho wind
was managed by three of the other levers, which
were so organized as to be capable of opening or
shutting, by means of the three reservoirs. By
'A similar mechanical process, the lips were under
the direction of four levers ; one of which opened
them in order to give the air a freer passage;
the other contracted them ; the third drew them
back ; and the fourth pushed them in a forward
direction. The lips were placed on that part
of the flute which receives me air ; and, by the
different motions which have been already enu-
merated, regulated the tune in the requisite
manner for execution. The direction of the
tongue furnished employment for the remaining
lever, which it moved in order that it might be
enabled to shut or open the mouth of the flute.
The extremity of the axis of the cylinder was
terminated on the right side by an endless screw,
consisting of twelve threads, each of which was
placed at the distance of a line and a half from
the other. A piece of copper was fixed above
this screw; and within it was a steel pivot,
which was inserted betw^n the threads of the
acrew, and obliged the cylinder above-mentioned,
to pursue the threads. Thus, instead of moving
in a direct turn, it was perpetually pushed to
one side; the successive elevation of Uie levers
displaying all the different movements of a pro-
fessed musician.
M» Vaucanson constructed another celebrated
androides, which played on the Provencal shep-
herd's pipe, and beat, at the same time, on an
instrument called the tambour de basque. Tills
was also a machine of the fifst order for inge-
nious and difficult contrivance. The shepherd
bore the flageolet in his left hand, and in the
right a stick, with which he beat the tabor, or
tambourine, in accompaniment. He was ca-
pable of playing about twenty different alrs^
consisting of minuets, rigadoons, and country-
dances. The pipe, or flageolet, which he was
made to play, is a wind-instrument of great var
riety, rapidi^, and power of execution, when
the notes are well filled and properly articulated
by the tongue; but it consists only of three
holes; and Sie execution, therefore, mainly de^
pends upon the manner in which they are co-
vered, and the due variation of the force of the
vrind that reaches them. To give the androides
power to sound the highest note, M. Vaucanson
found it necessary to load the bellows, which
supplied the air to this tone, with fiftynsix
pounds weight, while that of one ounce supplied
the lowest tone. Nor was the same note always
to be executed by exactly the same force of air;
it was necessaiy to pay the most accurate atten-
tion to its place on the scale, and to so many
difficult circumstances of combination and ex-
pression, that the inventor declares himself to
have been frequently on the point of relin-
quishing his ajttempt in its progress. In the
tambourine accompaniment, too, there were nu-
merous obstacles to overcome ; the variation of
the strokes, and particularly the continued roll
of this instrument, was found to require no small
ingenuity of construction.
All other exhibitions of mechanical skill, in
imitation of the powers of human nature, were
destined, however, to give way, in 1769, to the
Sretensions of the chess-player of M. Wolffgang
e Kempelin, a Hungarian gentleman, and aulic
counsellor of the royal chamber of the domains
of .the emperor in Hungary. Called in that year
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AUTOMATOlf.
1o Viennay by the duties of his station, this gep-
tleman was present at some experiments in
magnetism, made before the empress Maria
Theresa, when .he ventured to hint Uiat he could
construct for her majesty a piece of mechanism
far superior to any of those which had been
exhibited. His manner of remarking this, ex-
cited the attention of the empress, who encouraged
him to make the effort, tne automaton chess-
player, which has since been exhibited in all the
capitals of Europe, was, within six months after
this period, presented at the imperial court. It
is a presumption in favor of the pretensions of
this contrivance to be a master-piece of mere
mechanism, that the original artist, after having
gratified his exalted patroness and her court with
the exhibition of it, appeared for many years in-
different to its fame.- He engaged himself in
other mechanical pursuits with equal ardor,
and is said to have so far neglected this, as to
nave taken it partly to pieces, for the purpose of
making other experiments. But the visit of the
Russian grand duke Paul to the court of Joseph
II. again called our automaton to life. It was
repaired and put in order in a few weeks ; and,
from this period (1785)/ has been exhibited at
intervals, uirough Germany, at Paris, and in
London, first by M. de Kempelin, and latterly by
a purchaser of the property fh>m his son ; De
Kempelin having died m 1803.
Our chess-playing readers will be able to ap-
preciate the bold pretensions of this automaton.
The entire number of combinations which it is
possible to form with the pieces of a chess-board
nas never, we believe, been ascertained. To
push forward a plan of our own steadily, and at
the same time to anticipate the designs of an
antagonist, requires a constant and acute discri-
mination, which long experience, and some con-
siderable strength of memory, have been required
to make availing in aU other cases. But this
' cunning infidel (for he assumes the figure of a
Turk) drives kings, and castles, and knights
before him with more than mortal sagacity, and
with his inferior hand : he never, we believe, has
been beaten ; and except in a veiy few instances
of drawn games, has beat the most skilful chess-
pjlayers in Europe. Dr. Hutton, on the suppo-
sition of its being altogether a mechanical con-
trivance, calls it * the greatest master-piece of
mechanics that ever appeared in the world.'
We shall recount his pretensions in the words of
an Oxford graduate, who published Observations
on them, during his last visit in London, and
subjoin a statement of the best attempts that
have been made to account for his apparent
skill.
' The room where the automaton chess-player
is at present exhibited, has an inner apartment,
within which appears the figure of a Turk as
large as life, dressed afler |the Turicish fuhion,
sitting behind a chest of tliree feet and a half in
length, two feet in breadth, and two feet and a
half in height, to which it is attached by the
wooden seat on which it sits. The chest is
placed upon four castors, and, together with the
ngure, may be easily moved to any part of the
room. On the plain surface formed by the top
of the chest, in the centre, is a raised immovable
^hests^board of handsome dimeii.«'ons,upon which
the figure has its eyes fixed ; its right aim and
hand being extended on tlie chest, and its left
arm somewhat raised, as if in the attitude of hold-
ing a Turkish pipe, which originally was placed
in its hand. The exhibiter l^ns by wheeling
the chest to the entrance of the apartment within
which it stands, and in face of the spectators.
He then opens certain doors contrived in the '
chest, two m ftonX and two at the back ; at the
same time pulling out a long shallow drawer
at the bottom of the chest, made to contain the
chess-men, a cushion for the arm of the figure to
rest upon, and some counters. Two lesser doors,
and a green cloth screen, contrived in the body
of the figure and its lower parts, are likewise
opened, and the Turkish robewhidi covers them
is raised ; so that the construction, both of the
. figure and chest, internally, is displayed. In this
state the automaton is moved round for the exa-
mination of the spectators : and, to banish all
^suspicion from the most sceptical mind, that any
living sabject is concealed within any part of it,
the exhibitor introduces a lighted candle into the
body of the chest and figure, by which the inte-
rior of the chest is, in a great measure, rendered
transparent, and the most secret comer is shown.
Here it may be observed, that the same precau-
tion to remove suspicion is used, if requested, at
the close, as at the commencement, of a game et
chess with the automaton. The chest is divided,
by a partition, into two unequal chambers. That
to the right of the figure is the .narrowest, and
occupies scarcely one-third of the body of the
chest. It is filled with little wheels, levers, cy-
linders, and other machinery used in clock-woriu
That to the left contains a few wheels, some
small barrels with springs, and two quarters of a
circle placed horizontally. The body and lower
parts of the figure contain certain tubes, wfaidi
seem to be conductors to the machinery. After
a sufficient time, during which each spectator
may satisfy his scruples and his curiosity, the
exhibiter recloses the doors of the chest and
figure, and the drawer at the bottom ; makes
some arrangements in the body of the figure,
winds up the works with a key inserted into a
small opening on the side of the chest, places a
cushion under the left arm of the figure, which
now rests upon it, and invites any individual
piresent to play a game of chess. At the com-
mencement of a game, the automaton moves its
head as if taking a view of the board ; the same
motion occurs at the close of a game. In mak-
ing a move, it slowly raises its left arm from the
cushion placed under it, and directs it towards
the square of the piece to be moved. Its hands
and fingers open on touching the piece, which it
takes up, and conveys to any proposed square.
The arm then returns with a natural motion to
the cushion upon which it usually rests. In tak-
ing a piece, the automatob makes the same mo-
tions of the arm and hand to lay hold of the piece,
which it conveys from the board, and then return-
ing to its own piece, it takes it up, and places it on
the vacant square. ObtervationSf ^-c. ly an Oxfb*ri
Graduate, 8 vo, 1 81 9. His motions have an air of
great dignity and eomposure. On giving check to
the king, he moves his head as a signal. When a
false move is made, as if to puzzle him, he taps
with hi^ right hand on the chest, replaces the
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Siece wrongly mdyed, and prooeeds to take the
ae advantage of moving a piece of his own. At
other times he will tap on tne chest for his ad-
▼ersaiy to move ; and at the close of the game
he bows gracefully round to the company. It is
a remarkable, and somewhat suspicious circum-
stance, that neither the present proprietor of this
automaton (in a pamphlet circulated by him on
this subject), nor the Oxfbrd graduate, from whose
observations we have abridged the above account
of his performances, takes any notice of the at-
tempted solution of them by Mr. Collinson, a
correspondent of Dr. Hutton, to whom we have
before alluded. In the same letter in which thb
gentleman describes the automaton inventions of
the Droz family, he speaks of a pamphlet pre-
sented to him at Dresden, which affirms the
whole phenomena to be produced by human
agency ; a conjecture which is confirmed hf a
writer in the Eainburgh Encyclopaedia. A well-
taught boy is said to be partly concealed in the
ample drapery of our automaton's lower limbs,
ana partly in the commode on which the chess-
board is placed. He cannot be seen when the
doors are opened, we are told, * becaiise his legs
and thighs are then concealed in two hollow cy-
linders, which appear designed to support the
wheels and levers, the rest of ihe body being at
that moment out of the commode, and hid in the
drapery of the automaton. When the doors of
the commode are shut, the clacks which are
heard by the turning of a rounce, permit the
dwarf to change his place, and re-enter the com-
mode without being heaid; and while the ma-
chine is rolled about to different parts of the
room, to prove that it is perfectly detached, the
dvrarf has an opportunity of shutting the trap
through which he has passed. The drapery of
the automaton is then lifted up, and the interior
part of the body is shown, to convince the spec-
tators that all is fair, and the whole terminates to
their great astonishment, and in the illusion that
an effect is produced by simple machinery,
which can only arise from a well-ordered head.'
This writer proceeds to conjecture, that the chess-
board is semi-transparent, so as at once to con-
ceal the party within, and afford him sufficient
light to perceive the moves of his antagonist,
which are met by an interior lever, governing the
arm of the automaton, on the principles of the
pantograph.
With these accounts of the chess-player very
distinctly in his mind, and an extract of the sup-
posed method of concealing the dwarf or boy, m
his pocket, the writer of this paper went with
some friends a short time ago, to visit, and, if possi-
ble, to play at chess with the automaton. His
engagements, however, were far too numerous
for the writer to obtain that honor on this occasion.
Some slight changes had taken place in the man-
ner of exhibiting the automaton (compared with
the account of the Oxford graduate); having,
therefore, avowed to the proprietor, that his object
was to obtain a scientinc knowledge of his pro-
ceedings, as &r as it could be done with pro-
priety, the writer took memoranda of what
passed.
From a door in a canvass screen the automa-
ton aad commode were wheeled out at the
time appointed, and the figure was made to hcer
the company. Then the inferior chamber of the
commode (occupying about one-third of its di-
mensbns), was opened before and behind, wheir
a taper was held by the proprietor in such a si-
tuation, as to throw a full light through the ma-
chinery that occupied this part of it. He now
closed and locked the doors of this chamber,
opened the drawer, and took out the men and
cushion, as described by the Oxford graduate ;
after which he opened the larger cham^r of the
commode in front, and put the taper through the
front door within it. rerhaps one-sixth, or one-
eighth of this chamber was occupied by machi-
nery ; the rest was a perfect cavity, lined with
green baize. He now shut and locked these
doors; then wheeled the commode round,
opened and took up the drapery of the figure^
and exhibited the body, partly occupied by ma-
chinery, and partly left with imperfect imita-
tions of the prominent parts, to tne shoulders.
The drapery was then carefully pulled down, and
the figure wheeled round, so as again to front the
spectators, before whom it played a masterly and
successful game. The conviction of the writer
and his friends (with the figure before them) was,
that the concealment of a small thin boy or dwarf
was barely possible. The larger chamber would
contain him, and that chamber never was opened
from behind, nor at the same time that the back
of the figure was exposed ; while it is observable
that the inferior chamber had the light of a taper
thrown through it. So that it appeared a practi-
cable contrivance that a boy should be concealed
in the drapery while the commode was opened,
and in the commode while the figure was ex-
posed.
Under these impressions, the writer addressed
a letter to the proprietor, in which he stated, that
having with his friends, been highly gratified by
the wondeHul powers of the automaton chess-
player, and intending to communicate the result
of his investigation to the public, which must, if
satisfactory, prove extremely creditable to the
invention, — ^he re<^uested leave to visit the exhi-
bition (accompanied by two or three scientific
friends, and probably in the presence of a meniF-
ber of the Royal &mtly), in order to see a game
played by the figure, wiUi the doors of the com-
mode open ; his object being merely to ascertain
the impossibility of any human intervention, and
not in any degree to inspect the machinery ; but
to this application a polite negative was returned,
declining any othei man the ordinary public ex-
posure of the machine.
Since writing the above, we have seen 'An At-
tempt to analyse theAutoinaton Chess-player of
M. De Kempelin,' Lon. 1 821 . Tlie anonymous
author is sanguine enough to add, ' With an easy
method of imitating the movements of that cele-
brated Figure.' The solution of these movements
here offered to the public, is so iar similar to our
own, as that the writer confidently ascribes them to
the concealed presence of a living agent. Five
lithographic plates illustrates his supposed modeot
operation. But this tract suggests, that the ope*
rator is introduced into the body of the automa-
ton ; that he sees the chessboard, while playing;
' through the waistcoat, as easily as through a
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AUTOMATON.
veil ; ' and th^t his left hand actually fills the
eleere of the figure^ moving the fingers ' with a
string.' (Surely^ to jnake this sort of agency com-
plete, the chess-player might have been furnished
with gloves !)
The author ingeniously finds a space at the
back of the drawer, not heretofore noticed, which
would receive the legs of a concealed person. He
also makes some pertinent remarks on the illu-
sion which if probably practised on the spectator
in the winding up of the machinery, the ticking
of clock-work that is heard, &c. We still imar-
gine, however, that the dimensions of the chest
would afford no room for the concealment of a fi-
giii-e that could thus direct the arm, and are certain
no such figure could rise out of it into that part of
the body supposed, as we saw it displayed in
London. A youth coiled up in the commode
would much more * easiTy * play the game. The
whole chest is but two feet and a half high, three
feet long, and two feet in breadth. On the whole,
we must leave the question of human agency still
undecided, and pass on to the mention of another
of M. de Kempelin's ii^nious inventions.
' On what do you think M. de Kempelin is at
present employed ? ' says M. de Wendisch, in a
letter to a friend on the pursuits of that gentle-
man, in 1783 — * on a machine that talks ! ' Ac-
knowledge that he must be gifted with a creative
genius bold and invincible, to xmdertake a pro-
ject of this kind ; and will it be believed that he
nas every reason to hope for complete success ?
He has already succeeded so far as to prove the
possibility of such a machine, and to deserve on
the part of the learned, that they should dedicate
their attention to this new and hitherto unknown
invention. His machine answers, clearly and
dbtinctly enough, several questions. The voice
is sweet and agreeable ; there is but the letter R
which it pronounces lispingly, and with a certain
harshness. When its answer is not understood,
it repeats it slower ; and if required to speak a
third time, it repeats it again, but in a tone of im-
patience and vexation. I have heard it. pronounce
m different languages, very well and very dis-
tinctly, the following words and phrases: —
*Papa,' 'Mama,' *My wife,' * My husband,'
* A^propos,' * Marianne,' ' Rome,' * Madam,'
* The queen,' ' The king,' ' At Paris,' * Come,'
* Mama loves me,' * My wife is my friend.' '
This writer then speaks of the machine being at
that time nothing more than a square box, to
which was affixed a pair of organ-bellows ; and
that, at each aiuswerofthis non-descript speaker,
the inventor put his hand under a curtain that
covered it, to touch, apparently, the springs that
produced the articulation. It appears to have
been M. Kempelin*s design to give to this auto-
maton the form of a child of five or six years of
age, as the voice which he produced was that of
this period of life. He, however, exhibited it in
an unfinished state ; and we have not been able
to learn to what figure it was finally adapted.
The narrative of his proceedings in accomplish-
ing what he did effect, and which we abridge
from a curious treatise of his, ' On the Mecha-
nism of Speech,' appears to us to be amongst
the most interesting and usefiil of all the automa-
tical details. Our modem removers of impedi-
ments in speech may work wonders, peihaps, by
looking into his artificial jaws!
The first object of M. Kempelin, though upra
what ground he reasoned we cannot imagine, was
the production of the vowel sounds, raiher than
those of any of the consonant, which he hardly
expected to be able to combine with them. He
investigated the affinity between the sound of
various instruments ana the human voice ; and
between the use of the artificial reed-stop, or
voce humana (which has sometimes been applied
to the natutal organs), and the general functions
of the glottis. To Uie honor of our northern
countrymen, after exhausting his patience on
qualif)nng and combining bassoon, with clarionet
reeds, tliose of hautboys, &c. he found the reed
of the Highland bagpipe to furnish the best prac-
tical basis of his attempts, and sounds approxi-
mating the nearest to the harmony divine of
human speech ! He now conceived that the fun-
damental powers of the voice were in A, the
sound of which vowel he easily produced by
combining the reed with a tube and a pair of
organ-bellovra ; but beyond this he could not
proceed, until it occurred to him that the organ
of developing tlie sounds desired, demanded his
principal attention. He divided, therefore, a
deep elliptical box into two parts, which ^at
upon eacn other with a hinge, in the manner of
the human jaws, connecting his tube with the
back of it, and carefully varying their opening
and manner of action, until he could coounand
the sounds of O OU, and E. Year after year
was devoted to this instrument, we are told ; bat
I, or the German U, refused to obey his call.
Ky L, M, and P, however, rewarded his efforts ;
when he attempted to form the letters he had ob-
tained, into syllabic combinations and words.
Here an almost insuperable difficulty occurred;
the sounds of tlie letters would not flow into each
other without a clatter or pause. If too slowly
enunciated, they would seem like a child repeat-
ing his alphabet, and have no resemblance to the
word intended*; and if the tube was too rapidly
supplied, it would produce a catching gust of
air in the mouth, which interrupted every letter
with the sound of K. An aspirating sound fol-
lowing that of the consonants, was also veiy
troublesome to overcome." In the beginning of
the third year of his labor, he could execute,
Eretty accurately the words Papa, Mama, Aan,
ama, Mulo. The sounds of most of the other
consonants were ultimately obtained. P, K, and
T, required the greatest quantity of air, we are
told ; and tlie whole machine about six times the
quantity of the human lungs. But the two lat-
ter consonants, with D and G, were always im-
perfectly articulated. Some of his best sentences
were, Homanorum Imperator semper Augustus.
Leopoldus Secundus. Vous ^tes mon ami. Je
vous uime de tout mon cceur. M. de Kempelin
finally perfected, 1 . Nostrils, which he found of
great importance in articulation, and which con-
sisted of two tin tubes, communicating at bottom
with the mouth. 2. The mouth, made of elastic
gum, and of a bell form, so contrived that the
sounds of the reed issued immediately from it.
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316
and Gonoected with the air-chest by a tin tube,
'^ which kept it always full of air. 3. The air*
chest, which was of an oblong shape, and
;^' received at one end the voice^pipe containing
^ the reed, and at the other the bellows-pipe, both
closed round with leather. In this chest were
contained two inferior ones, each having a valve
at the top closed by a spring, and a round aper*
^ tote adapted to receive throu^ the side of the
larger chest a tin funnel, and a round wooden
tul^, which produced the hissing sounds of C H,
J, S, and Z. The voice-pipe entered the larger
chest between the two smaller ones. 4. The ^1-
"- lows, answering the purpose of lungs, and which
' acted in the ordinary manner of those belonging
to an orgaji. 5. The reed, which was in imi-
tation of a bagpipe drone, the hollow portion
being square, and the tongue of it formed of thin
tvory, vibrating Horizontally, to produce the
various sounds. The square end was inserted,
- as we have noticed, in the air-chest. Along the
upper side of the tongue was a movable spring,
which slightly bent it inward ; and the part on
I- which it fell was covered with leather, to modu-
Ute the vibrations. The sounds were more acute
aa the spring acted toward the outer extremity of
the tongue, which was then more rapid in its
^^' motions ; as it was withdrawn from this part, the
> vibratioRS were slower, and the sounds more grave.
:; The name of M. Maillardet, a Swiss artist, of
r. modem celebrity, is the only one that merits as-
sociation with that of De Kempelin. He has
^ executed two or three celcbratea figures. One
e of these is a lady at her piano-forte. She exe-
/ cutes eighteen tunes by the actual pressure of
L her fingers on the keys ; and while all the natu-
i ral notes are thus performed, her feet play the
flats and sharps by means of pedals, xhe in-
( strument, in fact, may be correctly called an
•■: organ, as it is mainly moved by bellows ; to bring
;^ which into proper action is the one important
object of the machinery. The whole is impelled
« by six strong springs, acting on twenty-five com-
municating levers, and regulated and equalised
by a brass fly. The interior of the instmment is,
of coiirse, very complicated and minute in its
mechanism, which requires to be wound up once
: an hour. Before commencing a tune, the lady
', bows her head to the auditors ; she is apparent-
ly agitated with an anxiety and diffidence, not
^ always felt in real life; her eyes then seem intent
on the notes, her bosotn heaves, and at a dis-
tance it is impossible to discover any semblance
of a work of art.
A magician, that has sometimes accompanied
this musical lady, is also a considerable tnumph
of mechanical skill. He sits at the bottom or a
wall, with a long wand in his right hand, and a
book in his left. Questions inscribed on thin
oval counters, twenty in number, are put into
the spectator's hand, who is desired to CDcIose
one or more of them in a drawer, which shuts
with a spring. A medallion, for instance, has
the question. What is the most universal pas-
sion ? which being put into the drawer, the figure
rises with a solemn gait, bows his head, draws a
circle or two with his wand, consults his book,
und lifts it towards his face, -is if in meditation,
lie then strikes with his wand on the wall above
his hand, when two folding-dooiy open^ and dif<
cover the inscription Love, as the reply. T^e
counters are remarkably thin, and similar in all
other respects but their inscriptions, which some
of them bear on both sides : certainly the mechan-
ism that can discriminate the one from the other^
must be exqiiisite; and niechani3m alone, we
have the highest authority for believing it is;
M..MaiUardet's Writing-boy is hardly less
meritorious. He is exhibited kneeling on one
knee, and an attendant having dipped his pencil
and laid the paper l^fbre him, he executes draw-
ings, and French and English sentences, in wri-
ting, of a very superior description. Every
natural motion of the fingers, elbow, eyes, &c. is
correctly imitated. The first of these figures the
artist stated to have cost him the sum of £1500
in its construction.
The last machine of this kind which we shall no-
tice is the engine invented by Mr. Babbage, capa^
ble of computing any taUe by the method of
differences, whether idey are positive or nega-
tive, or of both kinds. The greater the number
of differences, the more will this engine outstrip
the most rapid calculator ; and by the application
of certain parts of no great complexity, the roots
of equations^ and consequently tne roots of num-
bers may be extracted.
One machine of this kind this gentleman has
executed. Drawings and plans of a second have
been made by him to multiply any number of
figures by any other number ; of a third, to make
tables of prime numbers from 0 to ten millions ;
and of a fourth, to construct tables which have
no order of differences constant. This last engine
will calculate tables governed by laws which
have not been hitherto shown to be explicitly
determinable; and will solve equations, for
which analytical methods of solution have not
yet been contrived. Thus one of the greatest
difiiculties with which calculators are beset, ari-
sing from the errors of copyists, and of the press,,
is obviated. In Mr. BabiMige's engine, the ma-
chine itself takes from several boxes, containing
types, the numbers which it calculates: thus
becoming at the same time computer and Com-
positor ; and preventing all error both in copy- •
mg and in printing. It is worked by the hand,
and it would be very easy, if any advantage
were to be gained by such a method, to apply
to it a self-moving power.
We have now placed before the reader as com-
plete an account of the most celebrated automata
as the limits of our publication will admit. We
believe no remarkable contrivance of this kind
has escaped our notice ; and is it too much to ask
him for one serious reflection, at the close, upon
the^ wisdom of that Almighty Architect, by whom
we are so fearfully, so wonderfully, so inimitably
made ? Without any speculation on the possible
powers of man, or the tendency of his habits and
impulses on a large and hypothetical scale, let
the entire muscular action of a single youUiful
arm, in striking a shuttlecock, be perfectly imi-
tated by him, and we could consent to resign to
the artist the government of our share of the
world !
AUTOMENES, one of the Heraclia8e,kingot
Corinth At his death, A. A. C. 779 annual ma-
Digitized by
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AUT
316
AUT
gistrates were chosen at Corinth, who were cal-
led Piytanes ; and by them the Corinthians were
governed for ninety years, till Cypselus and his
son Periander assuihed absolute power.
AUTOMEDON, in entomology, a species of
papilio.
AUTOMOLI, a mation of Ethiopia, mentioned
by Herodotus.
AUTOMOLITE, in mineralogy, a substance
which, from its crystalline form, - was considered
to be a v^ety of spinelle, containing a portion
of oxide of zinc. But a later and more accurate
analysis has shown it to be an aluminate of zinc.
It has hitherto been found only in Sweden, in
small octahedral crystab, imbedded in talc.
AUTONINE (Bernard), a French lawyer, was
advocate to the parliament of Bourdeaux. He
was author of, 1 , A Comparison of the French
and Roman Law; 2. A Commentary on the
Provincial Law of Bourdeaux; 3. Censura Gal-
lica in Jus Civile Romanum.
AUTONOE, in fabulous history, a daughter
of Cadmus, who married Aristeus, by whom she
had Acteeon, frequently called Autoneius Heros.
Actieon became a famous huntsman, but happen-
ing to look at Diana and her attendants bathing
near Gargaphia, he was changed into a sth^. and
devoured by dogs ; which was so afflicting to
Autonoe, that she retired from Boeotia to Me-
gara, and soon after died.
AUTONOMIA; from avroc, and vofioQf law;
a power of being governed by our own laws and
magistrates. The liberty of the citie» which lived
under the faith and protectibn. of the Romans,
consisted in their autonomia, i. e. they were al-
lowed to make their own laws, and elect their
own magistrates ; by whom justice was to be
administered, and not by Roman presidents or
judges, as was done in other places, which were
not indulged with the autonomia.
AUTQPHOROS; from aoroQ and ftou, to
bear, i. e. self-bearing ; an epithet applied to a
thief taken in the act with the stolen goods upon
him.
AUTOPHOSPHORUS is, by some, used to
denote phosphorus, on account of its kindling of
itself.
AUTOPRACTI; from ovroc, and irpaTrw, I
exact ; in the civil law, persons indulged with
this privilege, that they should not be compelled
to pay taxes, but should be left to their own free
will. Of this number were men of distinguished
dignity, and those eminent for their probity and
honor.
AUTOPSY. From avroc and o^tc, a man's
own right, as distinct from that of others. Not
in use.
In thoM that have forked tails, autopty convinceth
1U, that it hath this ose. Ray on the Creation,
AUTOPYRITES, Autopyros ; from ovroc,
and «^pbc, wheat ; in the kncient diet a species
of breaid, wherein the whole substance of the
wheat was retained, without retrenching any part
of the bran. Galen describes it otherwise, viz.
as .bread where only the coarser bran was taken
out. And thus it was a medium between the
finest bread, called similagineus, and the coarsest
called furfuraceus. This was also called the
i/ncomistus.
, "J Perhaps from augeo, auc-
, > tuniy from the augmented fruits
r.3of nal
AUTOTHEISM, the doctrine of Go^'s sd&
existence.
AUTOUR, in natural history, a sort of bark
which resemblfs cinnamon, but is paler and
thicker ; it ia the color of a broken nutmeg, and
full of spangles. It comes from the Levant and
is) an ingredient in the carmine dye. Also, in
ornithology, the name under which Buffon de-
scribes the goshawk, or falco palumbarius of
Linnaeus.
AUTREAU (James d^, a French poet and
painter, who died in great poverty, in the hospi-
tal of incurables in Paris, in 1 745. His drama-
tic works were published in 4 vols. 12mo. 1749.
He had little merit as a painter.
AUTRICUM, in ancient geograpjiy, 1. the
capital of the Camutx, in Gallia Celtica ; after-
wards called Camotena, Camotenas, and Civitas
Camotenum ; now Chartres ; and, 2. the an-
cient name of Auxerre.
AUTUMN,
Autum'jtal,
Autum'nity. y of nature.
For I will board her though she chide as load
As thunder, when the clouds in anOmm crack.
ShnupewM*
Thy grandsire's words savour'd of thriftie leekes.
Or manly garlicke : but thy furnace reekes
Hote steams of wine ; and can aloofe devne.
The drunken draughU of sweete oMtwrnrntie,
Bp, HaU's Satirei, book iii.
Thou shalt not long
Rule in the clouds ; like an mUtmmal star.
Or lightning, thou shalt fall. Milton.
No spring or summer's beauty hath suck grace.
As I have seen in one anftvmnal face. Dome.
Bind now up your autummd flowers, t6 prevent
sudden gusts, which will prostrate all. Ev^yn,
Not the fair fruit that on yon branches glows
With that ripe red th' mthmnal sun bestows. Pope.
When men once reach their mOumn, fickle joys
Fall off apace, as yellow leaves from trees ^
Till )eft quite naked of their happiness.
In the chill blasts oi winter they expire. Yomg,
Autumn, nodding o'er the yellow plain.
Comes jovial on. Thornton.
I would not be over-confident, till he hath passed
a spring or autumn, Wiaeman*M Surgery.
The starving brood.
Void of sufficient sustenance, will yield
A slender autumn, PhXpt*
The evening is an emblefn of iiaitiimii, and autmm
of declining life. Idler.
Autumn begins when*the sun enters libra.
When it ends, winter begins. Several nations
have computed their years by autumns ; the An-
glo-Saxons by winters. Tacitus tells u5 the Ger-
mans were acquainted with all the other seasons
of the year, but had no notion of autumn. The
ancient Jews began their civil year in autumn ;
reckoning that all the fruits of the earth were in
perfection at the creation. The French, without
regarding the principle, adopted the practice in
their late revolutionary calendar; of which, the
first month, V'endemiare, commenced with the
equinox. Thus faith and modem philosophy, in
one instance, produced the same effect. Autumn
has been reputed an unhealthy season. Tertulli»
calls it * tentaior valetudinum ;' and the satirist
speaks of it in the same light :
' Aatumuus Libitina quAstus accrba '
Digitized by
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AUT
317
AVIJ
Autamn is oommonly represented by painters
under the figure of a female crowned with vine
branches, and bunches of grapes ; naked in that
{>art which respects summer, and clothed in that
which corresponds to winter. Its garment is
covered with flowers, like that of Bacchus.
Autumn, in alchemy, the season when the
operation of the philosopher's stone is brought
lo perfection.
AuTUMKAL Equinox, the time when the sun
enters Uie autumnal pnoint.
Autumnal Point is that part of the equinox
from which the sun begins to descend towards
the south pole.
Autumnal Signs, in astronomy, are the signs
libra, Scorpio, and Sagittarius, through which
the sun passes during the autumn.
AUTUMNALIA, the fruits of the earth that
ripen in autumn.
AUTUMNALIS, in ornithology, a species of
psittacufl, called also TOittacus Americanus, and
crick k tk\6 bleue, by Buffon. It is the lesser
green parrot of Edwards, and autumnal parrot of
Latham. It is distinguished by being ot a green
color, with die front and spot on the quill-fea-
thers scarlet ; crown and primary quill-featbers,
blue. Of this kind there are two vturieties. Also
a species of anas, or duck, that inhabits South
America. And a species of fringilla, called by
Latham the antumnal finch.
AUTUMNUS, in entomology, the name given
by Ammiral to die moth, or phalcna, called by
Gmelin P. faoana : which see.
AUTUN, an ancient citv of France, in the de-
partment of the Saone and Loire, formerly the
capital of the Autunois district, and now of an
arrondissement, vrith nine cantons, and 67,000
inhabitatits. Before the revolution the intend-
ant of Burgundy resided tieie, and it was the see
of a bishop, sufiiagan of Lyons. The Arroux
washes its walls, whose ruins are so firm, and the
stones so closely united, that thev seem ahnostto
be cut out of the solid rock. Among the anti-
quities of this city are the ruins of three ancient
temples, one of which was dedicated to Janus,
and another to Diana; two antique gates of con-
siderable beauty, with a theatre and a pyramid ;
which hist is probably a tomb. In the church of
St. Martins is the tomb of the sanguinary Brune-
Jiault, whp is said to have poisoned her son Chil-
debert, and to have procured the death of ten
4ing8; and who met ner death by being tied to
' the tail of a wild mare, by order (tfher grandson,
Clovis II. The present bishop ranks under the
metropolitan of Besanpon, and exercises jurisdic-
tion over the departments of the Saone and Loire,
and the Nievre. Autun consists of the upper
town, the castle, and the lower town. It is to-
lerably well built, contained before the revolu-
tion nine parish churches, five abbeys, with five
other reUgious houses, and about 8000 inhabi-
tants. The natives manufacture delfk wares,
carpets, coverlets, blankets, and tapestry. The
city lies at the foot of three great mountains,
sixteen leagues south-west of Dijon, and forty-
five south-east of Paris.
AUTUNOIS, a ci-devant district of France,
in Burffundy, now comprehended in the depart-
<nent ox Saone and Loire. See Autun.
AUTUKA, or Auduka, a river of Gallia Cel-
tica, now called Eure. It £Uls into the Seine, on
the south side.
AUVAIL, a town of Germany, in the circle
of Westphalia.
AU VERGNE, a ci-devant province'of France,
about 100 miles in length, iod sevens-five ia
breadth ; the capital of which was Clermont.
It was bounded on the north by the Bourbon-
nois ; on the east by Forez and Velay ; on the
west by Limosin, Quercy and La Marche ; and
on the south by Rovergue and the Cevennes :
and was divid^ into upper and lower; the
latter, otherwise called Limagne, being one of
the finest countries in the world. The moun-
tains of Upper Auvergne though not fruitfiil,
afibrd good pasture, which feeds great numbers
of cattle, the chief riches of that country. It
now forms the two departments of Cantsd and
Puy-de-Dome, except some smaU districts an-
nexed to those of Creuse Allier, and the Upper
Loire. Auvergne is conspicuous in the various
revolutions experienced by France, and anciently
maintained a pre-eminence among the indepen-
dent states ot Gaul. Its inhabitants boasted a
singular trophy in the sword of Cesar, which he
lost before the walls of Gergovia. But they
maintained a iaithfiil alliance with the Romans
^after th^ became subject to them.
AUVERGNIE, a town of Switzerland, in
the canton of Neufchatel, three miles aovLth. of
that place.
AUVERS, a town of Frlmce, on the right
bank of the Oise, in the department of the Seine
and Oise, arrondissement of Pontoise. Also a
town in the west of France, in the arrondissement
of Le Mans, and department of the Sarthe.
AUVILLARS, or Auvillaro, a town of
France, in Lower Armagnac, Gascony, in the
department of the Tarn and Garonne. It is the
head of a canton, and contains manu&ctures of
woollen stockings, and upwards of 2000 inha-
bitants. It stands on the Garonne, which here
forms a small harbour. Five leagues south of
Agen.
AUVERNAS, a very deep-colored heady
wine, made of black raisins, so called at Orleans*
but it is not fit to drink before it is above a yeai
old; but if kept two or three yean, it becomei
excellent.
AUVIGNY rN. Castressd'), a French historian
of the eighteenth century. He was both a writer
and a soldier, and lost his life at the battle of
Dettingen, in 1743, at the age of thirty-one.
His writings are, 1. Memoirs of Madam Bap-
neveldt, 2 vols. 12mo. 2. Histories of Rome
and France abridged for young persons. 3. Hi»-
tory of Paris, 4 vols. 12mo. 4. lives of illus-
trious Frenchmen, 8 vols. 12mo.
AVULS'ED, ^ Aveiloy ovu/nim, I tear or
Avuis'iON. i pull away. Torn or pulled
away.
Spore not the little ofibpringi, if they grow
Redundant ; ba( the thronging clnsten thin
By kind onilMOfK . PhUipt,
The pretsoxe of any ambient fluid can be no intel-
ligible cause of the cohesion of matter ; though such
a pressure may h|nder the amtUom of two polished
superficies one from another, in a line perpendicular
to them.
Digitized by
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AUX
Te towering minds ! ye lubllmated aoals !
Who scatter wealthy as though the radiant crop
Glitter'd on every boogh ; and every bough.
Like that the Trojan gathered, once woMd
Were by a splendid successor applied
Imtant, spontxneoils ! list«a to my lays.
818
AW
AUX, in astronomy, see Auoes. Some use
aux to denote the arch of the ecliptic, intercep-
ted between the first point of Aries, and the
point wherein the sun, or a planet, is at its
greatest distance from the earth.
AUXENTIUS, bishop of Milan, in the fourth
century. He was a native of Cappadocia, and
of Arian principles. Constantius gave him the
bishopric of Muan; and though excommunicated
by a council held at Rome, in 368, be held his
see to his death, in 374.
AuxENTius, another of the Arian party, who
challenged St. Ambrose to a public aisputation,
which was wisely declined by that great prelate.
AUXERRE, an ancient town of France, the
capital of the department of Yonne, formerly the
capital of the Auxerrois, in BurgundV. The
palace of the ci-devant bishop is one of Uie finest
in France, and the churches are very beautiful.
It is advantageously situated for trade with
Paris, on a hill on the banks of the river Yonne,
eleven leagues S. S. E. of Sens, and thirty-seven
south-east of Paris. Its principal trade is in
wood, and the excellent wares ot the neighbour-
hood. Here is also a manufacture of woollen
stufi. Population about 12,000.
AUXERROIS, a ci-devant territory of France,
in Burgundy, of which Auxerre was the capital.
It now forms the greater part of the arrondisse-
ment of Auxerre, in the department of the
Yonne.
' AUXESIS, in mythology, a goddess worship-
ped by the inhabitants of Egina, and mentioned
oy Herodotus and Pansanias.
AUXILI'AR, • ^ Lat. mm/tuwi,
Auxili'ary, w. & adj, > strength ; one who
Auxili'ator Y. 3 gives or lends iis addi-
tional strength. An aider, assister, or supporter.
The giant brood>
That fought at Thebes and Iliam on each side>
Mix'd with aUxiUar gods. MUtonU Paradi$e Lott»
' Their tractates are little auxUiairy unto ours, nor
a£rord us any light to detenebrate this truth.
Bnum*M Vulgar Erromra,
There is not the smallest capillary vein but it is
present with, and oiariliary to it, according to its use.
Baie't Origm of MaHkmd.
Nor from his patrimonial heaven alone.
Is Jove content to pour his vengeance down.
Aid from his brother of the teas he craves
To help him with mueOiarjf waves. Dryden, (ML
They had both kept good company, rattled in cha-
rioU, glittered in play-houses, and danced at court,
and were both expert in the games that were in their
times called in as auxUiariei against the intrusion of
thoughL RanMer,
AuxiLiAULT Verb. A vert) that helps to con-
jugate other verbs. In almost all languages,
some of the commonest nouns and verbs have
many irregularities ; such are the common aux-
iliary verbs, to 6f , and to have; to do, and to be
dome, &c.
Auxiliary Verbs, in grammar, are prefixed
to other verbs, to form tb& moods ana tens^.
In the English language, the auxiliary vert) am
supplies me want of passive verbs. AH the
moaem languages make use of auxiliary verbs,
because their verbs do not change their terminal
tions as those of the Latin and Greek, to denote
the different tenses or times of being, doing,
or sulferine; nor the different moods or maa-
hers of their signifying: sotiiat, to supply this
defect, recourse is had to different auxiUaiy
verbs.
AUXILIUM, in law. See Am.
AUXILIUM, AD FlLIUM MiLITEM FACrBlTDTTMf,
vel filiam maritandam, was a writ directed to the
sheriff of every county, where the king or other
lord had any tenants, to levy them reasonable
aid, towards the knighting of his eldest son, or
the marriage of his eldest daughter.
AtJXiLiUM CuBiuSy signifies an ordeir of court,
for the summoning of one party at the soit d
another.
AUXO, in mylbologY, the name of one of the
two graces worshipped by the Athenians. See
Hegemonb.
AUXOIS, a small ci-devant territorf of
France, in Burgundy, of which Sesnur was the
capital. It is now in the department of Cote
a'6r.
AUXON, a town of France, in Champagne,
department of the Aube, with 2340 inhabitants.
5| leagues S. S. W. of Troyes. Also a t<5wn in
Upper Auvergne, department of the Upper
Loire, near the Allier, with 1500 inhabitants ;
and the title of barony. It carries on a traffic
in com, wine, and cloth. 12| leagues north-
west of Le Puy.
AUXONNE, the capital of a county of the
Same name in France, in the province of Bur-
gundy, on the left bank of the Stone. It is re-
gulariy fortified, and contains manuihctores of
serge and other cloths.
AUXY, the Frendi name of a species of
wool, spun in the neighbourhood of Abbevine,
by workmen, called houpiers. It is veiy fine
and beautifiil, and used to make the finest stock-
ings.
AW, a river of Scotland, in Argyllshire. Also
a tbvm of Gemtiany in die electorate of Bavaria
Aw, or LocH-AW, a beautiful and extensive
lake in Argyllshire^ in the parish of Glenorchy.
The whimsical tradition respecting the origin of
this lake is recorded by Ossian. The substance
of it is, that- < to Bera the aged, was committed
die charge of that awful spring, which was ap-
pointed by (ate to destroy the inheritance and
race of her ftthers. This event, die was to pie-
vent, or at least to protract, by covering the
spring before sun-set, with a stone, on which
the sacred and mysterious characters were en-
graved. One night (his was forgot. The confined
waters of the mountain burst forth, and sweeping
all before them, covered that large expanse, now
known by the name of the lake of Aw.' Mr.
Stewart, minister of Stacihur, explains the &ble
by the etymology of Bera ; Beir^ in the Gaelic
signifying a thunderbolt. This lake is about
thirty miles long, but not above three quarters
broad upon an average, though in some places,
Digitized by
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AWA
did
aWA
it measnret two miles. It abounds with salmon,
tfoot, eehy &c. The name is often spelt and
generally pronounced Loch-ow.
AWAy a town of Persia, in the province of
Inky eighty miles south of Casbin.
AwA, a town of Japan, and capital of a pro-
vince on the south coast of the island of Xicoco.
Also a town of Japan, and capital of a province
on the south coast of the island of Niphon,
eighty-five miles south of Jeddo. Long. 140^
4' E., lat. 34'' 24' N.— A town of Japan, in the
island of Ximo,. sixty-two miles nortn of Nan-
gasaki.
AWAHAZARI^ a town of Asiatic Turkey,
in Caramania, fif^en miles N. N. W. of Ala-
aieb.
AWAIT , 17. & n. "^ Dutch, waeken ; Ang.-
Await'bb, n. >Sax. Weccean, to wake or
Await'ino. 3 watch. To be watchful,
vigilant; to keep upon the look out; to be in
attendance, in expectation.
Bren tm the wietch condemn'd to Iom hit life,
Amjiit the falling of the murdering knife* Faiirfiue,
And least mbhap the most bliM miter may :
For thousand perils lie in close await.
About OS daily, to woik our decay.
Advanc'd in view^ they stand, a horrid front
Of dieadfal length, and dazzling anns, in guise
Of warrioxs old with order'd spear and shield.
Awaiting what command their mighty chief
Had to impose. dIUton, Paradke Lett, book i.
Nor leas resolv'd, Antenor's valiant heir.
Confronts Achilles, and owaitM tho war. Pope.
Kan's feeble race what ills await!
Labor ai|d penary, the racks of pain.
Disease, and sorrow's weeping train.
And death, sad refrige from the, storm of fate.
Coffmit,
The boast of htraldxy, the povp of power.
And all that beanty, all that wealth e'er gave.
Await alike the ineritable honr.
The paths of gloiy, lead bat to the graye. (7ra|f .
AWAILE, v. tt ocjf.^ • See Await. To rouse
Awa'kem, ^from inaction of any
Awa'kembb,
AwA'KEymo.
K. Ricn. I bad forgot myself : am I not king?
Awak$, thon coward majesty, thoa sleepest;
It not the king's name forty thoasand names?
ShaJuptan, King Richard //.
The eheerfol laric, mounting from early bed.
With sweet salnles oioaAsi the drowsy light.
The earth she left, and up to heaven is fled.
There chaonts her Maker's praises oat of sight.
FletiAer.
Covetoos men need neither dock nor bell to awakm
them : their desires make them restless.
Tis night! the season when the happy take
Repose, and only wretches are awake;
Kow discontented ghosts begin their rounds,
Haont roin'd buildings and nnwholesome gronnds.
Otwagf,
And see!
tk come! the glorioos mom ! the second l^irth
Of heaven and earth I awabetmg natare hears
The new creating worid, and starto to life.
In ereiy heightened form, from pain and death
For ever free. Thonuon.
i^kind; from sleep; to
J make alive.
See Tmth, Love, and Mercy, in triumph descending.
And natare all glowing in Eden's first bloom !
On the cold cheek of Death smiles and roses are
Uending,
And Beanty immortal oioaAsi from the tomb.
Beattie's Hermit,
AWARD, 17. & n. I According to Tooke
Awar'der. 5 fromtheFrench^4ig<tn/e^
to keep ; with a verb preceding, understood at
to determine who is [to keep;] to adjudge.
A pound of that same merchant's flesh is thine;
The court award§ it, and the law dolh give it
Shahpeare.
It advances that grand business, and according to
which their eternity hereafter will be awarded.
Decay of Piety,
A churoh which allows salvation to none without
it, and awardt damnation to almost any within it.
Semtk,
Satisfaction for every afiront cannot be awarded by
stated laws. CeUiar am DveOmy,
Now hear th' award, and happy may it prove
To her, and him who best deserves her love.
Drydem.
Affection bribes the Judgment, and we cannot ex-
pect an equitable award, where the judge is made a
party, OlanoiUe.
To urge tl^e foe.
Prompted by blind revenge and wild despair.
Were to refuse th' awards of Providence.
Addiaim'e Cata.
Th' unwise aboard to lodge it in the tow'rs.
An off 'ring sacred. Pope. Odyuey.
AwAKD, in law, is the arbitrator's final ad-
judication, of matters referred to him. Re-
ferences are sometime made spontaneously
by the parties themselres, to avoid the ex-
pense and delay of legal proceedings; and
sometimes by order of the court before which a
cause is pending. In the former case, the par-
ties enter into bonds to abide by the decision ;
in the latter an order or rule of the court is
made, that the matter in issue shall be deter-
mined by the award. Law as well as facts
are within the prorince of the arbitration. But
if in the award (which is in writing and under seal)
the arbitrator states the legal grounds on which
he has decided, and those grounds appear to the
court to be wrong, the award mar be set aside.
If he merely makes his order without assigning
his reasons, the award must be abided by, though
he may have been mistaken in point of law. And
die courts will set aside an award, if the arbi-
trator can be shown to have made it fit>m corrupt
motives.
AWA'RE, v.kn.l Sax. waerd. Germ.
Awar'n. ) gewarkt, from tooAren, to
see. To be on the look out, to be cautious, to
take care, to be provident
So wam'd he them oinws themselves; and
Instant, without disturb, they took alarm.
Paradise Lost.
Ere I was awors, I had left myself nothing but the
name of a king. Siiaey.
Ere sorrow was aware, they made his thoughts
bear away something else besides his own sorrow.
Id. Arcadia.
Temptations of prosperity insinnate themselves \ so
that we are but little mnore of them, and less able
to withstand them. Atteriwry.
The firyt steps in the breach of a man's integrity
are more important than men are owwrs of. StetU*
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AWE
320
AWH
AWASI, or AwADSi, an island of Japan, near
the south coast of Niphon, about sixty miles in
circumference. Long. 133^ 44' E., lat. 34*» 30^
N. Also, a town of Japan, and capital of an
island of the same name. Long. 1339 43' £.,
lat. 34** 30' N.
AWASIMA, a small island of Japan, seven
miles east of Sado.
AWATCHA, in ornithology, a species of mo-
tacilla that inhabits Kamtschatka. It is of a
brown color ; the chin and breast white, spotted
with black ; middle of the belly and lores white ;
primary quill-feathers bordered with white ; tail-
feathers orange at the base. Art. Zool. —
Gmelin.
AWATSKA Bat, a harbour of Kam^chatka ;
which is said to be the safest and most extensive
yet discovered in that part of the world ; and the
only one that can admit vessels of large burden.
The entrance to it is in long. 158'' 48' £., and lat
52^ 51' N.
AWAY', > Ang.-Sax. wagean, to wag
Away'ward. S or move; Ang.-Sax. weg, or
waeg; Eng. way. Away is the imperative
mooid, or past participle.
A man's life is not to be trilled mn^ : it is to be
offered up and sacrificed to honourable services,
poblic merits, good causes, and noble adventures.
Baam*t Bt9t^$.
I had my feather shot sheer awojf,
Beamn, Sf Fktch, Knight of the bumhig PetUe.
They could make
' Love to your dress, although your face were otoay.
Ben Johnnn'e Catiline,
It is impossible to know properties that are so an-
nexed to it, that any of them being awagf, that essence
<is not there. Locke.
So if by chance the eaglets noble offiipring,
Ta'en in the nest, become's some peasant's prise,
CompellM awhile to bear his cage and chains
And like a pris'ner with the clown remains
But when hU plumes shoot forth and pinions swell
He quits the rustic ^d his homely cell ;
Breaks from his bonds, and in the face of day
Fall in the sun's bright beams ho soars awojf :
Delights thro' heav'n's wide pathless ways to go.
Plays with Jove's shafb and grasps his dreadful bow.
Rowe't Rosfol Concert, act iv.
But ah ! thon knows't not in what youthful play
Our nights beguil'd with pleasure swam away ;
Gay songs and cheerful tales deceived the time.
And circling goblets made a tuneful chime ;
Sweet was Uie draught, and sweet the blooming maid.
Who tonch'd her lyre beneath the fragrant shade.
Sir W. Jonet.
There seems a floating whisper on the hill.
But that is fancy, for the starlight dews.
All silently their tears of love instil.
Weeping themselves atooy, till they infuse '
Deep into Nature's breast the spirit of her hues.
Lord Byron's ChiUe Haroide,
Awe', v. & n.
Awe'ful,
Awe'pullt,'
Awe'fulness,
Awe'less,
AwE'pUIy-EYED,
AwE-COMMANDING,
Awe-stauck.
His coward lips did from their colour fly.
And that same eye, whose bend does mm the world.
Did lose its lostn. Shahtpean.
Goth, agyan, to fear,
.or dread. To cause
fear, terror, or reve-
rence.
Know, then, that some of us are gentlemen.
Such as the fury of ungovem'd youth
Thrust from the company of awftd men. U,
So awful, that with honour thou may'st love
Thy mate ; who sees, when thou art seen lean wiv.
Milton. Par.Loit.
I approach thee thus, and gase
Insatiate ; I thus single ; nor have fear'd
Thy oir/W brow, more awfvl thus rettr'd.
Fairest resemblance of thy Maker fair. Id,
A parish priest was of the pilgrim train.
An ofv/W, reverend, and religious man.
His eyes dififused a venerable grace.
And charity itself was in his face. tkydtn.
Hail ! rev'rend priest ! To Phoebus' awfid domi
A suppliant I, from great Atrides come,
Unransom'd here receive the spo^ess frdr,
Accept the hecatomb the Greeks prepare. Pope.
In those deep solitudes, and awftd cells.
Where heav'nly-pensive contemplation dwells.
And ever^musing melancholy reigns. >
Id. Sloin to Ahderd.
In winter, €fwftd thou ! with clouds and storms
Around thee thrown, tempest o'er tempest roU'd
Mi^estic darkness ! on the whirlwind s wing.
Riding sublime, thou bidst the world adore
And humblest nature with thy northern blast.
Serene, though awful, on her brow the light
Of heavenly wisdom shone \ nor roved her eyes,
Save to the shadowy cliff's majestic height.
Or the blue concave of th' involving skies.
Beattie,
It were endless to enumerate all the passages, both
in the sacred and profane writers, which establish the
general sentiment of mankind concerning the insepa-
rabl<i union of a sacred and reverential awe with our
ideas of the divinity. Burki.
Now, now my solitary way I bend
Where solemn groves in awftd state impend. ^
Kirke WMte*t Peeau,
AWERI, or OvEBO, a kingdom of Africa, de-
pendent on Benin, with a town of the same name
on the river Formosa.
AWE'ARY. On weary. See Weabt.
Saf. Go thy waies, I begin to be awearie of thee;
and I tell thee se before ; because I would not fall out
with thee.
Shahpeare. AWt WeUthat Ends Well.
AWHA'PED. From Ang.-Sax. wafian, to
be amazed, or astonished, terrified, confounded.
Ah '. my dear gossip, answer'd then the ape.
Deeply do your sad words my wia awhi^.
Both for because your grief doth great appear.
And eke because myself am touched near.
HuhherdTs Teie
AWHEELS. On Wheels.
And will they not cry then the world runs aidbedf
Ben JonKtnU Maaquea, f. 18
AWHILE'. A time ; Ang.-SM. hwile (foi
hwiol, a turn), walk a while, take a turn. See
While.
Suy, stay, I sa^ :
And if yon love me, as you say you do.
Let me persuade you to forbear awhUe.
Skaktfeare
Into this wild abyss the wary fiend
Stood on the brink of heA, and look'd amkiit,
Pond'ring his voyage. Milton't Parmdm Lo^
Herp, lonely wandering, o'er the sylvan bower,
I come to pass the meditative hour ;
To bid awhSs the strife of passion cease.
And woo the calms of soUtade and pear«.
Kirke WkiU*t I
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AWN
321
AWR
But thoa, with tparit fr»U and light.
Wilt shine ttwkUe and pass away.
As glow-wonns sparide through the night.
But dare not stand the test of day.
Lord Byrom,
AWHIT. A whit, or o whit, Ang.-Sax. hwit.
See Whit.
These faire exoeede the haggarde haake
That stoppeth to ne stale :
Nor forceth on the lure oMal,
But monnta with eu'j^ gale T
TurbmvUh. Spitaphet,kc
AWK', '\ Perhaps awk is a cor-
Awk'ly, , f ruption of averricht. TTie
AwK'w4SDy \ termination, ward, is from
AwkVardly, ikeered, past participle of
Awk'wabdkess. J keeren, Ang.-Saz. cyrran,
to turn. Deviating from the r^^ht path or line,
indirect, clumsy, inelegant
Proud Italy,
Wliose manners still our tardy apish nation
Limps after in base oioihriard imitation.
Their own language is worthy their care -, and they
are judged of by their handsome or awkward way of
expressing themselves in it. Locke.
An awkward shame^ or fear of ill usage, has a share
in this conduct. Swifi,
Slow to resolve, but in performance quick ;
So true, that he was owkwaM at a trick. Dryden.
It is an awkward thing for a man to print in de-
lenee of his own work against a chimera : you know
not who or what you fight i^ainslL Fep€»
What's a fine person, or a beauteous face.
Unless deportment gives them decent grace 7
Bless'd with all other requisites to please,
Some want the striking elegance of ease ;
The curious eye their awkward movement tires ;
They seem like puppets led about by wires.
Ckwrehitt,
AWK, in ornithology. See Alca.
AWU. Ger. ahl. A ^arp pointed tool. In
the chroniclers used for a weapon of war.
His ande and lingell in a thong.
His tar-boxe on his broad belt hong.
His breech of coyntrie blew.
Thou art a eobler, art thou?
Truly, sir, all that I live by is the awU. '
Skaktpoare, Jvkiu Cwtar, foL 109.
Awls, among shoemakers, are usually « little
flat and bend^ in the blade, and the point
ground to an acute angle.
AWLAN, a small imperial town of Germany,
in the circle of Suabia, seated on the river Ko-
chcr, fifteen miles west of Oeting and tweWe
north of Heidenheim.
AWM£, or AuME, a Dutch measure of cap-
pacity for liquids, containing eight steckans, or
twenty verges or verteels ; answering to what in
England is called a tierce, or one-eixtli of a ton
of France, or one-sevendi of an English ton.
Arbttthnot.
AWN, in botany. See Arista.
AwM of wine, 360 pounds.
' AWNING. A cover spread over a boat or
vessel, to keep off the weather. — ^Awnings are
made of canvas. The length of the main-deck
awning, says Mr. Gierke, is from the centre of
the fore-mast to the centre of the main-mast ; the
Vol. III.
width corresponds to the breadths of the ship,
taken at tlie main-mast, fore-mast, and at the
mid-way between. The length of the quarter-
deck awning is from the centre of the main-mast
to the centre of the mizen-mast ; and the width
answers to the breadths of the ship, at the main-
mast, mizen-mast, and at the mid-way between.
The length of the poop, or after-awning, is from
the centre of the mizen-mast to the ensign-staff,
about seven feet above the deck ; and tl^ width
is formed agreeably to the breadths of the ship,
taken at the mizen-mast, the tafiarel, and at the
mid-way between. The canvas is cut to the
given breadths of the awning, allowing about
nine inches to hang down on each side, which is
sometimes scolloped and bound with green
baize, and is sewed together with an inch-seam,
and tabled all round with a two or three inch
tabling. Half the diameter of the masts is cut
out in the middle at each end, and lacing-holei
are made across the ends to connect one awning
to another. On the upper part, along the
middle and sides, is sewed a one-inch and half
or two-incli rope, to which the trucks are sewed
at about three-quarters of a yard asunder. A
thimble is spliced in each end of the rope.
Sometimes curtains are ipade to hang to the
sides of the awnings, of the same len^ as the
awnings. Their depth is taken from the sides
of the awning to, the gun-wale, supposing the
awning to be in its place. The seams and tab-
lings are the same as those of the awnings, and
lacing-holes are made along the upper tabling of
the curtain, and the side tabling ot the awning.
Gierke's Elem. and Practice of Rigging, vol. i.
p. 140. 230. In the long-boat they mike an
awning, by bringing the sail over the yard and
stay, and booming it out with the boat-hook.
AWOR'K,
Awobk'ino.
;.!
In work. See Work.
Long they thus trauailM, yet neuer met
Adventure^ which might them aworkhig set.
' Speiuer. Mother HMwrd^t Tale,
He first suborns a villain, that embraced
The nobler name of March-bom Mortimer^
Which, in the title of the house of York,
Might set the monstrous multitude awork,
Drayton. Mmriet of Queem Margaret,
Who shoulde bee Uie makers of anye manor cloth,
if there lacked men of substaunoe to set siidry sortes
a woorke. Sir Tkomae More't Workee,
AWRE'KE. Ang.-Sax. awrecan, to wreak.
See Wreak.
Than dame Prudence, whan that she saw how that
hire hnsbande shope him for to awreke him on his
foos, and to beginne werre, she in ful bumble wise,
whan she saw hire time, sayde him these wordes.
CAoMsr. The Tale of MeUbetu,
AWRISH, a river in the county of Durham,
which runs into the Tees at Eggleton.
AWRY'. Past participle awrythed, of the
verb wrythan, to writhe. Writned, crooked,
bended, distorted, askance.
When I look back, and in myself behold
The wand'ring ways, that youth could not descry :
And see the fearful course that youth did hold,
in mind each stop I strayed awry,
Paradim of Damtg Veoieet, 1600.
Y
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AXB
322
AXI
Preventing fate directs the lance dimg,
Which glancing only markM Achates' thigk.
Dryden,
*AX', } Ask. AskiQg. See Ask. These
Ax'yno. $ words, which are now considered
vulgarisms, are the orig;inal Saxon forms.
Bat Robin may not wete of this, thy knave,
Ne eke thy maiden Gille I may not save ;
Axe not why ; for though thou cue me,
I wol not tellen goddes privetee.
Chaueer. The MiUeret Tale, v. i. p. 140.
Ax, a town of France, the head of a canton,
in the department of the Arriege, arrondissement
of Foix. Here are warm baths which are much
frequented. It lies on the river Arriege. Five
leagues north-west of Tarascon. Population
1500.
Ax, or Axe, a river of England, which rises in
the county of Dorset, and entering Devonshire,
passes by Axminster, and afterwards falls into
the sea a little below Axmouth.
Ax, a river of England, which rises in Wokey*
' Hole, near Wells, in the county of Somerset,
and after passing Axbridge, hWs into the Bristol
channel, about eight miles lower down
AX, Battle. See Axe.
AXAM, a district ^and town of Tyrol, in the
lower valley of tlie Inn, to the south-west of In-
spruck. Here a great deal of flax is cultivated.
AXAMENTA, in antiquity^, the verses or
songs of the salii, which they sung in honor of
all men. The word is formed, according to
some^ from axare, to nominate. Others will
have the carmina saliaria to have been denomi-
nated axamenta, on account of their having been
written in axibus, or on wooden tables. The
axamenta were not composed by the salii. The
author of them was Numa Pompilius ; and, as
the style might not be altered, they grew in
time so obscure, that the salii themselves did
not understand them. Varro says they were
700 years old.
Axamenta, or Ass amenta, in ancient music,
hymns performed wholly vrith human voices.
AXAKA, a town of Asiatic Turkey, in Na-
tolia, situated in a fertile district of the same
name, fifty or sixty miles from Guzel-Hissar.
AXATi, a town of ancient Ba:tica, in the
Bcetis ; now called Lora, a small city of Anda-
lusia, in Spain, seated on the Guadalquiver.
AXAYAC ATL, a species of fly, common about
the lakes of Mexico ; the eggs of which, being
deposited in immense quantities upon the rushes
and corn-flags, form large masses, which are
taken up by fishermen, and carried to market.
This caviare, called ahuauhtli, which has much
the .same taste with the caviare of fish, used to be
eaten by the Mexicans, and is now a common dish
among the Spaniards. The Mexicans eat not
only the eggs, but the flies themselves, madd up
together into a mass, and prepared with saltpetre.
AXBRIDGE, a market town of Sometset-
,shire, anciently a borough, by prescription, send-
ing members to parliament during the reigns of
the first three Edwards, after which it was, at its
own desire, excused. The corporation consists
of a mayor, recorder, town-clerV, ten aldermen,
and twenty-two burgesses, out of whom a sheriff,
seij«mt-at-mace, and constables are chosen.
Knit hose is the only manufactory. The kings
of England formerly had a hunting chase here
Market on Saturday. It is twenty-three miles
north-west of Somerton, and 131 west of London
AXE'. Gr. Ayw, o^w. An adze or addice.
See Addice.
My mangled body shows.
My blood, my want of strength, my siek heart shovs
That I must yield piy body to the earth.
And by my fall the conquest to my foe ;
Thus yields the cedar to the a*9*t edga.
Whose anns give shelter to the princely eagle.
Shakspemre, Third Port of Heney VL act v. k. 3.
Loud sounds the axe, redoubling strokes on strokes,
On all sides round the forest hnrb her oaks
Headlong. Deep echoing groan the thickets brown.
Then rosding, crackling, crashing, thunder down.
Pope'9 Homer't IKad, zxiu. U4.
Like crowded forest trees we stand.
And some are mark'd to fall ;
The axe will smite at God's command.
And soon will level all. Conner.
Axe, a river in Somersetshire, which &lls
into the Severn below Uphill.
Axe, or Ax, differs fi«m the hatchet, in that it
is made larger and heavier, to hew large stuff;
and its edge tapering into the middle of its
blade. It is fiimished with a long handle, being
to be used with both hands.
AXEL, or Axil, a small fortified town of
Dutch Flanders, in the kingdom of the Nether-
lands. It is seated among marshes, fourteen
miles north of Ghent.
, AXELODUNUM, the ancient name of Hex-
ham, in Northumberland.
AXENUS, the ancient name of the Ewxine
Sea, the signification of which is, inhospitable;
and is perfectly answerable to the disposition
and manners of the ancient inhabitants of the
east.
AXE-STONE, in mineralogy, a sob-species of
jade, but not of so light a green, and somewhat
of a slaty texture. The natives of New Zesland
work it into hatchets. It is found in Cornea,
Switzexland, Saxony, and on the banks of the
river Amazons, whence it has been called Ama-
Eonian stone. Its constituents are silica 505,
magnesia 31, alumina 10, oxide of iron 5'6,
water 2-75, oxide of chromium 0*05.
AXEY, the principal town in the btand of
Axholm. It is thinly inhabited.
AXHOLM, a river island in the north-west
part of Lincolnshire. It is formed by the rivers
Trent, Idel, and Dun; and is about ten miles
long, ftre broad, and twenty in compass. It has
three villages, Crowle, Epworth, and Hyrst;
besides Axey^ the chief town. The lower part
is marshy, but produces an odoriferous shrub,
called gall ; the middle is. rich and fhiitAil,
yielding flax in great abundance. It also pT»-
duoes an alabaster, which is used ibr making
lime. In the eighteenth century the body of a
woman, quite entire, and in a bent position, the
head and feet almost in contact, was ibund in a
morass, which, from the fashion of her sandals,
was conjectured to have lain there from the time
of Edward I. when there were twe monasteries
here.
AXIACE, 4n ancient town of Sarmatia £u*
Topea; now Oczacow.
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AXI
323
AXI
AXIL. See Axel.
AXIIXAy io analomy, or Ala, the caviiy
under the upper-part of the arm; comn^only
called the arm-pit It is a dixoinutive of axis,
q. d. little axis. Abscesses in the axillae are
usually dangerous on account of the many blood-
vessels, lymphatics, nerves, &c. thereabout, which
form several large plexuses. By the ancient
laws, criminals were to be hanged by the axilbe
if they were under the age of puberty.
Axilla, in botany, is Uie space comprehended
between the stems of plants and their leaves.
Hence we say, those flowers grow in the axills
of the leaves ; i. e. at the base of the leaves, or
just within the ajogles of their pedicles.
' AXILLARY Artery is that part of the sub-
clavian branch of the ascending trunk of the aorta,
which passes under the arm-pits.
Axillary Glands are situated under the
arm-pits, enveloped in £it, and lie close by the
axillary vessels.
Axillary Nerve, called also the auricular
nerve, arises from the last two cervical pairs ; runs
into the hollow of the axilla, behind tne head of
the OS humeri, between the musculus teres mijor
and minor, &c. ^
Axillary Vein, b one of the subclavian
Teins; which, passing under the arm-pits, divides
itself into several branches; superior, inferior,
external, internal, &c. which are spread over the
arm.
Axillary Vertebra, the second vertebra of
the back, so called because it is nearest to the
arm-pits.
AXIM, a district of Africa, part of the fertile
territory of Abanta, on the Gold Coast. It is
directly east of Apollonia, from which it is sepa-
rated by the river Ancobra. The Dutch have a
fort in Axim called Fort Anthony, situated on the
most western promontory of C^pe Three Points.
It is compact, well situated for landing, aad in
a commanding position. Ten leagues east of
Apollonia.
The climate is so excessively moist, that it is
proverbially said to rain eleven months and
twenty-nine days of the year. This excessive
moisture renders it very unhealthy ; but it pro-
duces great quantities of tice, water-melons^
lemons, oranges, &c. Here are also produced
Tast numbers of black cattle, goats, sheep,
pigeons, &c. The whole countiy is filled with
Deautiful and populous villages, and the inter-
mediate lands are well cultivated. The natives
all go naked, but are very healthy ; and there
is a, constant traffic carried on with them by
the Europeans ibr their gold. This canton is a
kind of republic, the government being divided
between tne Caboceroes or chief men, and Ma-
naceroes or young men. But in their courts,
whoever makes the most valuable present to the
judges is sure to gain his cause. The Portu-
guese founded the nrst settlement here,*but were
driven from it by the Dutch in 1642.
AxiM, a river in the above canton, which runs
through the town of Axim.
AxiM, or Auchombone, the capital of Axim,
stands under the cannon of the Dutch fort St.
Antonio. It is secured behind by a thick wood
that coven the whole declivity of a neighbouring
hill. Between the town and the sea runs an
even and ^acious shore of beautiful white sand.
All the houses are separated by groves of cocoa,
and other fruit-trees, planted in parallel lines,
each of an equal width, and formmg an elegant
vista. The coast is defended by a number of
small pointed rocks, which project from the
shore, and render all access to it dangerous.
AXINAE'E, AxiNJEA, in natural history, a
*genus of the MoUusca tribe (Testacea,) establish-
ed by Poli, in his history of the sheUs of the two
Sicilies. The character is taken from the form
of the animal; the shell belongs to the Area
genus of the linnaean arrangemoit.
AXINITE, in mineralogy, a crystallised sub-
stance, found principally in Dauphiny, in Franca,
and latterly in the neighbourhood of St. Just,
Cornwall. The oolors are a light violet brown
The crystals resemble an axe in the fonn and
sharpness of their edges ; being flat rhomboidal
parallelopipeds, with two of the opposite edges
wanting, and a small face instead of^each. They
become electric by heat Lustre splendent.
Hard, but yields to the file, and easily broken.
Specific gravity 3*25. It froths like zeolite before
the blow-pipe, melting into a black enamel, or a
dark green glass. According to Vaucjuelin's
analysis^ it contains fortv-four silica, eighteen
alumina, nineteen lime, fourteen oxide ol iron,
and four oxide of manganese.
AXINOMANCY,Axii«omantia; ftom tdjivii,
an axe, and fiavrtta, divination ; an ancient spe-
cies of divination, or a method of foretelling
future events by means of an axe or hatchet.
This art was in considerable repute among the
ancients; and was performed, according to some,
by laying an agate stone on a red hot hatchet,
and aUo by fixing a hatchet on a round stake so
as to be exactly poised; then the names of those
that were suspected were repeated, and he at
whose name the natchet moved was pronounced
guilty.
AXIOM, > Gr. A(Miyui, from a^nm,
AxioHAt^iCAL. ( to think worthy. A self-
evident proposition.
The univeTsal axiom in which all cemplaiMnoe is
included, i», that no man should give any preference
to himself. Johtum,
That a coigectiml critick should often be mistaken,
cannot be wonderful, either to others or himself, if it
be considered that in his art there is no system, no
principal and axiomaiical truth thai regulates subor-
dinate positions.
Jchmom's Prrfae$ to Shaktpeare,
Axiom, in rhetoric, is used by Hermogenes
to denote grandeur, dignity, and sublimity of
style.
Axioms, in logic. That the whole is greater
than a part; that a thing cannot be, and not be
at the same time; and tliat from nodiing, nothing
can arise; are axioms indisputable* Established
principles in arts and sciences are also stiled
axioms. Thus it is an axiom in physics, that
nature does nothing in vain; that effects are
proportional to their causes, &c. It is an axiom
in geometry, that things equal to the same thing,
are also equal to one ano&er; that if to equal
things you add equals, the suras will be equal,
&c. It is an axiom in optics, that the angle of
Y 2
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AXI
324
AXI
incidence is equal to the angle of reflection, &c.
AX ION, the brother of Alphesiboea, whomnr-
dered Alcmaeon, his sister's husband, because he
wished to take back a golden necklace he had
given her.
AXIOPOLI, a town in Bulgaria. Long. 34**
(f E., lat. 45° 40* N. It was formerly called
AXIOPOLIS; a town of the Triballi, in
Msesia Interior. •
AXIOS, a form of acclamation, anciently used
by the people in the election of bishops. When
they were all unanimous, they cried oat aJitov!
he is worthy ! or avaJiiov ! unworthy I
AXIOSIS, a|<o<riCy in rhetoric, denotes the
third part of an exordium; sometimes called
a)ro^o<nc, and containing some new proposition
more nearly relating to the subject, than the
irporairic. Thus in Cicero's oration, pro Milone,
the protasis is, Non possim non timere, judices,
▼isa h^c nova judicii forma : the katascue, Nec'
enim ^a corona confessus vester cinctus est qua
solebat : the axiosis, Sed me recreat Pompei con-
silium, cujus sapientis non fuerit, quern setiten-
tiis Judicium tradidit, telis militum dedere: the
basis, Quamobrem adeste animis judices, et timo-
rem, si quam habetis, deponite.
AXIOTEA, or Axiothea, a female philoso-
pher of Greece, who lived in the time of Plato,
and attended his lectures, dressed in the habit of
a man.
AXIS, -N Lat. ajris, Gr. a^cov, from ayccy.
Axle, f to go round. Axis is a line
AtX LED, I drawn through the centre of
Ax LE-TREE. 3 any body round which it re-
Tolves.
The line, that we deiiise from thone to thother so.
As ojTtfU is \ npoA which the heaven's about do go.
Wyatt.
Bat mark me also, these moninges of these seaen.
Be not aboue the axdtree of the first mooing heauen.
Id,
Inferior ministers, for Man repair
His broken tutU-ireet, and blunted war.
Dryden* VirgU'i MnaA, viii.
And bade her spirits bear him far.
In Merlin's agatc-oxZcd car.
To her green isle's enamelled steep,
. Far in the navel of the deep.
r. WarUm, Th» Qraoe of King Arthur,
Axis, in anatomy, the second vertebra of the
neck, thus called because the first vertebra with
the head, moves thereon, as on an axis.
Axis, in astronomy, is an imaginary right line
supposed to pass tlurough the centre of the
heavenly bodies, about which they perform their
diurnal revolutions.
Axis, in botany, a taper column placed in the
centre of some flowers or catkins, about which
the other parts are disposed.
Axis, m conic sections, a right line dividing
the section into two equal parts, and cutting all
its ordinates at right angles.
Axis, in geometry, the straight line in a plain
figure, about which it revolves, to produce or
generate a solid. Thus if a semicircle be moved
round its diameter at rest, it will generate a
sphere, the axis of which is that diameter.
Axis, in mechanics. The axis of a balance is
thai line which it moves, or rather tarns about.
Axis, in optics, is that particular ray of light
coming from any object which faWs perpendicu-
larly on the eye.
Axis, common or mean, in optics, a right line
drawn from the poiut of concourse from the two
optic nerves, through the middle of the right line
which joins their extremity.
Axis, in peritrochio, one of the six mechanical
powers, consisting of a peritrochium or wheel
concentric with the base ot a cylinder, and move^
able together with it about its axb.
Axis, in zoology, a very remarkable animal,
of the deer kind in all respects, except that
neither the male nor female have horns; the tail
is considerably long, and the whole shape and
make are extremely like those of the fallow deer.
The female is smaller than the male, and both
are of a reddish tawny color, variegated with
spots of white; the belly is white. The voice is
much more loud and shrill than that of the deer.
It is plain tliat this creature is neither of the red
nor fallow deer kind, whence Bellonius, who saw
it at Cairo in Egypt, was induced to call it the
Axis.
Axis, determiiiate, in a hyperbola, a right
line which divides it into two equal parts, and at
right angles, an infinite number of lines drawn
parallel to each other within the hyperbola.
Axis, Maonetical, or Axis of a Magnet,
a line passing through the middle of a magnet,
lengthways, in such maimer, as that however the
magnet be divided, provided the division be
made according to a plane wherein such line is
found, the load-stone will be made into two
load-stones. The extremities of such lines are
called the poles of the stone.
Axis OF A Planet, is a line drawn through .
the centre, about which the planet revolves. The
sun, moon, and all the planets, except Mercuiy
and Saturn, are known, by observation, to move
abodt their several axes ; and the like motion is
easily inferred from those two.
Axis of a Sphere, or Circle, is the lame
as diameter.
Axis of a Vessel, is an imaginary ri^t line
passing through the middle of it perpendicularly
to its base, and equally distant from its sides.
Axis of Incidence in dioptrics, a right line
drawn through the point of incidence perpendi-
cular to the refracting surface.
Axis of Oscillation, is a right line parallel
to the horizon, passing through me centre about
which a pendulum vibrates.
Axis of Refraction, is that whidi is made
by the ray of incidence directly prolonged on
the bside of the second medium by the ray of
refraction.
Axis of the Cylinder, is properly that qui-
escent right line, about which the parallelogram
turns, by whose revolution the cylinder is formed.
Though,, both in right and oblique cylinders, the
right line joining the centres of the opposite
bases, is also called the axis of the cylinder.
Axis of the Earth, is a right line upon
which the earth performs its diumal rotation from
west to east.
Axis of the Ionic Capital, is a line passing
perpendicuUrly through the middle of the eye of
the volute.
Digitized by
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AXT
326
AXY
Axis of the Zodiac, a line supposed to pass
through the earth and terminate in the poles.
Axis, Spiral, isthe axis of a twisted column
drawn spirally, in order to trace the circumvolu-
tions without
AXMINSTER, a town of Devonshire, situated
on the river Ax, in the great road between Lon-
don and Exeter, being twenty-fivo miles east of
the latter place. It was a place of some note in
the time of the Saxons, and now contains about
2500 inhabitants. It has a manufactory of broad
and narrow cloths, and an extensive one of
carpets, manufactured after the Turkish manner :
its carpets are often preferred to those from
Turkey. The petty sessions are holden here.
King /Ethelstan founded a minster here, for seven
priests, to pray for the souls of those who were
slain in a battle which he fought with the Danes
at Bremaldown. It has four fairs : on the 24th
of February, 25th of April, '24th of June, and
Wednesday after Michaelmas, with a market on
Saturday. It is 147 miles west of London.
Long. 3° 8' W., lat. 50° 45' N.
AXOLOTI, in icthvology, a singular fish
found in the lakes of Mexico. It has four feet
like the lizard, no scales, a matrix like a woman,
and the menstrual flux. It h^ the taste of an
eel. See Lacerta.
AXONES; a^wvic; public laws of the an-
cient Greeks, particularly of the Athenians, so
named from their mode of publication.
AXTEL (Daniel), a regicide, and colonel in
the service of the long parliament, was of a good
family, and had a tolerable education. M he
was of a serious disposition, and had been very
early tinctured with puritanical priqciples, he
became a fervent follower of such mimsters as
distinguished themselves by their zealous preach-
ing. His great attachment to these people, and
the natural warmth of his temper, were the cause
of his going into tlie army, in which he behaved
with so much zeal, courage, and conduct, that he
rose by degrees to the several commands of cap-
tain, major, and lieutehant-colonel, in a regi-
ment of foot. It was in this last capacity .that
he acted with great vehemence against all endea-
vours for a reconciliation i^ith the king. When
the king was brought before the high court of
junice, colonel Stubberd and Axtel had the com-
mand of the soldiers below stairs. The king de-
manded of sergeant Bradshaw, the president, by
what authority they brought him there ? and the
president appealing to the charge, which was in
the name of the Commons of England, lady
Fairfax and Mrs. Nelson are said to have cried
out, * it is hUe ; not a half, not a quarter of the
people.' Upon this colonel Axtel cried out,
'Down with the w ; shoot themP After
the sentence, the king was carried through King-
street, in a sedan, bv two porters, who, out of re-
verence, went bare-headed, till the soldiers under
Axtel's command beat them, and forced tliem to
put on their hats. After the king's death, when
Cromwell was sent into Ireland, the regiment in
which Axtel served was drawn out by lot for
that expedition, which occasioned his going over
into thut kingdom, where he made a considerable
figure, was much esteemed, and raised by Crom-
well to the command of a regiment, and the go-
vernment of Kilkenny After the Protector's
death Axtel endeavoured to conceal himself, sus-
pecting that he might be called to an account
lor the share he had taken in the trial of the
king; but before tl\e close of the month he was
discovered and committed to prison. On the
10th of October the grand jury for Middlesex
found bills against twenty-eight persons, for
their concern in tlie king's death, of whom Axtel
was the last. His trial, by the elaborate defence
he made, lasted upwards of three hours : but the
jury, without going from the bar, found him
guil^ ; and he was executed, on the 19th, at
Tyburn.
AXUM, Axon A, AxoMis, or Aksum, in Abys-
sinia, the capital of a powerful state in the time
of the Ptolemies, and perhaps of all Abyssinia;
still retaining monuments of^its former splendor.
An ancient throne of granite, and two rows
of obelisks, struck Mr. Salt as amongst the most
beautiful ancient relics he had ever seen. But per-
haps the most curious of all is a long Greek in-
scription, which records the victories of one of the
Ptolemies and the extent of their empire. Fru-
menttus, the aposde of Ethiopia, was the first
bishop of Axum, and many churches had been
excavated from the surrounding mountains be-
fore the close of the fifUi century. It carried
on a considerable trade with India and Arabia,
through the port of Adubs. It is the place
whera the kings of Abyssinia are crowned. Mr.
Salt found it to be in lat. 14° 6' 36" N. Its
present population is about 3000., The inhabit-
ants are rude and inhospitable. They wear coarse
woollen clothes. The monks prepare the best
parchment in all Abyssinia. The church of
Axum appears to have been built in 1657, and
is considered by Mr. Salt, excepting that of
Chelicut, as the finest in the province of Tigr6.
The town stands agreeably sheltered by hills, at
the comer of an extensive valley. It is de-
scribed by Bruce as containing 600 houses.
AXUNGIA, in a general sense, denotes old
lard, or the driest and hardest of any fat in the
bodies of animals ; but more properly it signifies
only hog's, lard. ^
AxuNNYXA LuN^s, an affected name given by
the German chemists to the terra goltbergensis,
from their imagining that it contains some par-
ticles of silver, and owes to them its virtues in
medicine.
AxuKGiA SoLis is used for the terra silesiaca,.
and said to be good against the plague, pestilen-
tial fevers, &c.
AxvNOiA ViTRi, Sakdiver, or salt of glass,
a kind of salt which separates from the glass
while it is in fusion. It is of an acrimonious
and biting taste. The farriers use it for cleansing
the eyes of horses. It is also made use of for
cleansing tlie teeth ; and it is sometimes applied
to running ulcers, the herpes, or the itch, by
way of desiccative.
AXYLUS, an ancient hero of Arisba, cele-
brated by Homer for his hospitality, which
gained him the appellation of the Friend of M ai2-
kind. •
AXYRIS, a genus of the triandria order, an<l
monoecia class of planUi, ranking in tlie natuml
method under the twelfth order lK>lorace». Th^
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AYA
326
AYL
calyx of the male is tripartite ; it has no corolla.
The calyx of the female consists of two leaves ;
it has two styli and one seed. There are four
species, none of them natives of Britain.
AY. Sax. Ever. For ever.
A kyng ^at strines with hise, he may not wels spede.
Where so he testis or riues he lyues ay in drede.
A. BftiRftf.
And now in darksome dungeon, wretched thndl^
Remedyless for aye he dothe him holde.
SpenterU FmerU Qtieeme.
Either prepare to die,
Or on Diana's altar to protest
For agfe, austerity and single life.
Shahpeare,
The sonlp though made in time, survives for aye;
And, though it hath beginning, sees no end.
Sir J. JDofMf .
And join with thee calm peace, and quiet.
Spare fast> that oft with gods doth diet,
AAd hears tlie muses in a ring.
Ay round about Jove's altar sing.
I MiUon't n Pmteroao,
O to thy [the cock's] cursed scream discordant still,
Liet harmony aye shut her gentle ear.
Bea*tie*9 Mmrtta»
Ay, a town of France, in the department of
Mame, near the river Marne, remarkable for its
excellent wines. It lies twelve miles soath of
Rheims, and one mile and a half north-east of
Epemay. Inhabitants 2600. •
AYAG, or Katachu, one of the Andrea-
no&kie islands, in the eastern or Pacific Ocean,
about 150 versts in circamference, and consisting
of several high and rocky mountains, the inter-
vals of which are bare heath and moor ground ;
but in the whole island there is not one forests
tree. The productions resemble those of Kamt-
schatka.
AYAMONTE, a sea-port town of Andalusia
in Spain, vnth a strong castle built on a rock ;
seated on the mouth of the Guadiana, eighty-
five miles north-west of Cadiz. It has a com-
modious harbour, a productive sardel fishery,
fruitful vineyards, and excellent wine. Popula-
tion about 6000.
AYAS, a town and castle of Caramania, in
the government of Adana, on the bay of Ayas,
near the Jypoo, and on the west side of the
Gulf of Scanderoon, or Iskenderoon, the ancient
Sinus Issicus. It is fortified all round; and here
are the remains of a fort and artificial pier. A
little to the westward is a round tower with an
Arabic inscription. Myriads of fish, numerous
fine turtle, and aquatic birds, abound on the
shore. This place is supposed to be the ancient
EjgK. Long. 35° 48'. E., lat. 36** 46' N.
AYASH, a village on the same coast, sur-
rounded by the rums of a town that has occupied
a considerable space of ground, and containing
the remains of a theatre and many other edifices.
The most conspicuous of the whole is a temple,
situated on a projecting eminence. Its columns
are of the composite order, fluted, and about
four feet in diameter. This is conjectured to
have been the ancient Sebasta.
AY AVIRI, a town of lima, in Peru, remark-
able for many stately tombs of the Peruvian no-
bility.
AYBAR, a town of Spain, in Navarre, on tlie
Arragon, famous for a battle fought here in the
year 1451, betwen John king of Castile, and his
son Don Carlos, in which the latter was defeated
and taken prisoner. Three miles south of San-
guesa.
AYDON Bridge, or Hetdon Bridge, a
town in Northumberland, five miles west of Hex-
ham, so named from its bridge over the TVne.
It has a market on Tuesday, and a £eur on July
21st, 22d, 23d, and 24th.
AYE. Ayex. The imperative of the French
verb flwir, to have ; signifying have it, possos
it, enjoy it The expression is similar in
Swedish, German, and Dutch.
Return you thither f
Ay, madam, with the swiftest wing of speed.
Shahpeon.
What say'st thou? wilt thou he of our consort?
Say ay, and be the captain of us all. Id.
Sometimes in mutual sly disguise.
Let ayei seem tioi, and not seem oyet;
Ayea be in courts denials meant.
And iMW in bishops give consent.
Thus aye proposed, and, for reply,
' No for the first time answer'd aye.
They parted with a thousand kisses.
And fight e'er since for pay like Swisses.
Gay's Fabiee. Aye and No.
AYEK Jemani, a species of cornelian, much
valued by the Arabians.
AY EL, Fr. in law, a writ vrhich lies where the
grand&ther was seized in his demesne on the
day be died, a stranger enters the same day and
dispossesses the heir.
Aysjs-^Ao.™.
AYENIA, in botany, a genus of the pentan-
dria order and gynandria class of plants, ranking
in the natural pethod under the thirty-seventh
order, columniferae. The calyx has two leaves ;
the petals are in the form of a star, with long
ungues ; and the capsule has five cells. There
are three species all natives of the West Indies.
AYERBE, or Ayerve, the capital of a ba-
rony, in the district of Huesca, Artagon, situ-
ated at the foot of the Pyrenees, thirty-two miles
north of Saragossa.
AYERSTOWN, a town of the United States,
in New Jersey, thirteen miles south-east from
Buriington.
AYESHA, the wife of Mahomet, and daugh-
ter of Abubeker. The impostor had a greater
regard for her than for any of his wives,
though she had no children ; and his follower
highly respected her. She opposed Ali^s suc-
cession and raised an army against him; but
after a severe contest was made prisoner. The
conqueror, however, dismissed her with civility.
This turbulent woman died in 677, aged sixty-
seven.
AYGULA, in zoology, a species of simia or
ape.
AYGULUS, in entomology, a species of sca-
rabseus that inhabits India.
AYLESBURY (Sir Thomas), merits a place
in a vfork of this kind, not only as a learned
man himself, but as the patron of men of letteis.
He was bom in London in 1576, was educated
Digitized by
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AYL
327
AYl
at Westminster, and atadied at OaBfindy wkere he
took his degree di A;M. in 1605, He became
secretary to Charles eaorl of Nottingham, lord
high amnirol, and gave so many proofs of his
skill in mathematics, that he retained his secre-
taryship under the duke of Buclungfaam upon
bis succeeding the earl. By the duke's influence
he was appointed master of requests, and master
of'the mint, and created a baronet. The profits
of these lucrative offices he applied to the most
benevolent purposes. He not only made all
men of science welcome to his table and afforded
fliem bis best countenance, but also gave regular
pensions to such of them as were in narrow cir-
eumatanoes. It is to be regretted that a man of
so benevolent a character should himself have
afterwards experienced adversity. In oonse-
qnence of his steady adherence to the king, he
was, in 1642, stripped of his places and estate^
but he bore up cheerfully under hb misfortunes,
and in 1649 retired with his family to Brussels.
He died at Bnada in 1657, aged eighty-one.
Aylesbuht (William), the son of the baronet,
took his degree of A.M. at Christ Church, in
the sixteenth year of his age, and like his father,
was a sufferer by his adherence to the cause of
royalty. Kmg Charles I. early appointed him
travelling preceptor to George Villiers duke of
Buckingham, and his brother. Lord Francis.
During their travels in Italy he was nearly killed
by an assassin. He returned to England during
the civil war, but after the king's death retited to
Antwerp. In 1650 he again returned to Eng-
land, where he experienced great difficulties,
being often in want of daily necessaries. At
last, in 1657, the protector having fitted out a
fleet for the West Indies, he was engaged as
secretary to the governor of Jamaica, the climate
of which soon cut him off.
AvtESBUKT. See Ailesbuby.
AYLESFORD. See Ailbsfobd.
AYLETS, or Sea Swallows. In heraldry,
they are often called Cornish choughs, and are
painted sable, beaked, and legged gules.
AYLETT (Robert), an English author of the
seventeenth century. He was educated at Trinity
Hall, Cambridge, whero he took the degree of
LL.I). in 1614, and afterwards became master
in Chancery. He wrote Susanna, or the Arraign-
ment of the Two Elders, a poem, 1632, 8vo.
besides several odier poetical pieces. He is
thought by some to have been the author of th&
Britannica Antiqua lUustrata, which is generally
attributed to his nephew, Aylett Sammes.
AYLIN (John), an Italian writer of the four-
teenth century. His chief work is a History of
Friuli, printed in Muratori^s Antiquitates Italictt
medii ^vi, Milan, 1740.
AYLMER (John), bishop of London in the
reign of Elizabeth, was bora in 1521, at Aylmer^
hall, in Tilney, Norfolk. While a boy he was
distinguished for his quick parts, by the marquis
of Dorset, afterwards duke of Suffolk; who sent
him to Cambridge, made him his chaplain, and
tutor to his children. One of these was the un-
fortunate Lady Jane Oniy, who soon became
perfectly acouainted with the Latin and Greek.
His first preterment was to the archdeaconry of
Stow, which gave him a seat in the convocation
hdd in the first year of queen Mary, wheie he
resolutely opposed the return to popery, to
which the generality of the clergy were mclined.
He was soon after obliged to take shelter among
the Protestants in Switzerland. On the acces-
sion of Elizabeth he returned to England. In
1562 he obtained the archdeaconry of Lincoln ;
and was a member of the &mou8 synod of that
year, which reform^ and settled tbe doctrine
and discipline of the church of England. In
1576 he was consecrated bishop of London. He
died in 1594, aged seventy-three; and was buried
in St. Faurs. He published An Harbrowe for
faithful and trewe Subjects against the late blowne
Blaste concerning the Government of Women,
&c. In answer to Knox, who published a book at
Geneva under this title. The first Blast against
the monstrous Regimen and Empire of Women.
Strype gives the following instance of his courtly
courage :— Queen £li»beth being once tormented
with the tooth-ache, and yet afraid of having the
tooth drawn, bishop Aylmer being by, to encour*
age her majesty, sat down in a chair, and calling
to the operator, ' Come,* said he, ' though I am
an old man, and have but few teeth to spare,
draw me this ;' which was done; and the queen
seeing him make so slight a matter of it, sat down
and had hers drawn also..
AYLOFFE (Sfr Joseph), of Framfield in Sus-
sex, was descended from a Saxon feroily anciently
seated at Bocton Aylof, in Kent, in the reign of
Henry the Third. He was bora about 1708;
received the early part of his education at
Westminster school ; admitted of Lincoln's Inn
1724 ; and in the same year was entered a gen*
tleman commoner at Oxford, which he quitted
about 1728 ; was elected F.A.S. Feb. 10, 1731 ;
one of the first council, under their charter, in
1751 ; vice-president and F.R.S. June 3, 1731.
He prevailea on Mr. Kirby, painter of Ipswich, -
to make drawings of a great number of^ monu-
ments and building in Suffolk, of which twelve
were engraved, with a description, 1748 ; and
others remain unpublbhed. On the building of
Westminster-bridge he was appointed secretary
to the commissioners, 1736-7; and on the estal>-
lishment of the Paper-Office on the respectable
footing it is at present, by the removal of the
Sute Papers from tbe old gate at Whit^all to
new apartments at the treasury, he was nomi-
nated the first in the commission for the care
and preservation of them. In 1757 he circulated
proposals for printing by subscription, Encyclo'
psecua ; or, a rational Dictionary or Arts, Sciences,
and Trade. In 1772 he published in 4to. Ca-
lendars of the Ancient Charters, &c. and of the
Welsh and Scottish Rolls now remaining in th^
Tower of London, &c. and in the introduction
gives a judicious and exact account of our Pub-'
lie Records. He drew up the account of the
chapel of London-bridge, of which an engraving
was published by Vertue in 1748, and again by
the Society of Antiquaries, 1777. His historica
description of the interview between Henry VIII
and Francis I. on the Champ de Drap d'O^*
from an original painting at Windsor, and hii
account of the paintings of the same age at Cow-
dray, were inserted in the third vol&me of the
Aroh«ologia, and printed separately to accom*
Digitized by
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AYR
328
AYS
puij engnvingi of two of these pictoras by the
Soaety of Antiquaries, 1775. His aoooimt of
the body of Edirard I. as it appeared on opening
hb tomb, 1774, was printed m the same volume
p. 376. His intimate acquaintance with every
part of Westminster Abbev displayed itself in
his accurate description of five monuments in the
choir, engraved in 1779 by the same socie^.
He superintended the new edition of Leland's
Collectanea, in nine vols. 8vo. ; and also of the
liber Niger Scaccarii, in two vols. 8vo. ; to each
of which he added a valuable appendix. He
also revised an edition of Heame's Curious Dis-
courses, 1771, two vols. 8vo.; and the Regis-
trum lioffense, published by Mr. Thorpe, in
1769, folio. At the beginnmg of the seventh
volume of Someis's Tra^ is advertised A CoU
lection of Debates in Parliament before the
Restoration, from MSS. by Sir Joseph Aylofie,
bart. which is supposed never to have appeared.
Sir Joseph died at his house at Kennington-lane,
Lambeth, April 19, 1781, aged seventy-two.
AYMAR rjames), a celebrated impostor, born
tt Veran, in Dauphine. He became ramous, and
acquired considerable wealth about the end of
the seventeenth century, by giving out that he
was in possession of a divining rod for bringing
to light hidden treasure. The cheat was detects
ed, and he was suffered to fall back into his
former obscurity ; but the noise he had raised
gave occasion to De Vallemont's learned book on
tiie powers of the divining rod.
AYMARES, a district of Peru, forty leagues
south-west of that city, abounding in sugar, cat-
tle, com, and mines of gold and silver.
AYMON (John), a Roman Catholic priest of
Piedmont, who took part with the Protestant
cause, and afterwards returned to the Catholic
iaith. Cardinal de Naoilles gave him a pension,
and he wrote several books in opposition to the
Reformers. He likewise publbhed the letters
of Cyril Lucar, Les Synodes nationaux des
Eglises reform^es de France, 1710, 3 vols. 4to.,-
and Tableau de la Cour de Rome, 1710, 12mo.
AYpQUANTOTOTL, or Avis Ayoquanto-
TOTL, in ornithology, the name under which the
oriolus xanthomus of Gmelin is described by
some old writers. «
AYORA, a town of Spain, in Valencia. Long:.
16« 40* E., lat. 39* 5' N.
AYR, or Air, in Scotland. See Air.
Ayr, or Air, a river of Fiance, in the duchy
of Bar, which abounds in fish, and fidls into the
Aisne, near Grandpi^, in the department of the
Ardennes.
AYRES, an English penman of the seven-
teenth century. He was employed in the service
of Sir William Ashhurst, in 1694, to whom he
dedicated a treatise, entitled Arithmetic made
Easy. In 1695 he published his Tutor to Pen-t
manship, engraved by John Strut. He lodged
at the Hand-and-Pen, St. Paul's Church-yard,
where he probably kept a school.
AYRMlN, or Aterm in (William), a bishop
of Norwich in the reigns of Edward II. and III.
was descended of an ancient iamily at Osgodby
in Lincolnshire. He was a canon in the cathe-
dral of York, and afterwards in that of Wells;
and was for some time keeper of the seal, and
vice-chancellor to king Edward II. under John,
bishop of Nonrich. About A. D. 1319, a war
having broke out between . England and Scotland,
Ayrmin was taken prisoner in a battle between
the Scotch and Yorkists. Recovering his liberty
he was made chancellor under Edward III. and
afterwards treasurer. Being sent ambassador
to the court of Rome, he ne^ected the business
of his embassy, and employed his time and in-
terest in obtaining the bishopric of Norwich,
which was then vacant; in which application
meeting with success, he returned to take pos-
session of ^at see : which the king hearing, and
being disgusted at his proceedings, sent soldiexs
to Norwich to apprehend him ; but Ayrmin lay
hid in the cathedral church, till by the interpo-
sition of friends the king was reconciled to him,
and consented to his consecration. He died in
1337.
AYR-MOSS, a place ii^ the parish of Auchia-
leck in Ayrshire, memorable tor a defeat of a
party of those friends of religion and liberty,
called Covenanters, during the turbulent i^id op-
pressive reign of Charles U.
AYRON, a river of Wales, in Cardiganshire.
AYEl^HIRE. See Air.
AYRTON (Edmund), was bom at Ripop,
Yorkshire, in the year 1734, and died. in
1808. At the age of thiity he became one
of the gentlemen of the Chapel Royal, St.
James's, and subsequently a vicar chond of St.
Paul's and Westminster Abbey. In 1784 he
took his degree of doctor of music in the univei^
sity of Cambridge, on which occasion he com-
pMed a grand anthem for a fiiU orchestra, after-
wards performed at St Paul's Cathedral, on the
day appointed for the general thanksgiving for
peace m 1784. Dr. Ayrton took a Iciuling part
m the commemoration of Handel in Westminster
Abbey.
AYI^Y, or Every. Ey, Teutonic, an egg;
«yr» eggs; the eyery, or eggery, where the eggs
are deposited. Used of hawks, or other birds.
Yon son-lnred ojfr^f, whote immortal birth
Bean you «loft beyond the sight of eaKh.
The hearen^onch'd feathers of whose sprightly wings
Skirts (from above) the palaces of kings.
Dr^fUm. TheOwL
The eagle and the sloik
On difb and cedar tops their ejfrtea bi^ld.
. MiUon. Paradim Lott, book rii.
I shoald discourse on the brancher, the haggard,
and then treat of theii several oyriM.
WaikmU Amfief.
AYSCOUGH (George Edward), only son of
Dr. Ayscoughf dean of Bristol, was a lieutenant
in the guards. He wrote Semiramis, a tragedy ;
and Letters from an officer in the guards to his
friend in England ; containing some accounts of
France and luly, 8vo. 1778. He died October,
1779.
AYSCUE (Sir George), a gallant English ad-
miral, descended from a good fiunilv in Lincoln-
shire. He was knighted by Charles I., which
however did not wiUihold him from adhering to
the parliament in the civil war : he was by them
constituted admiral of the Irish seas, where he
did great service to the protestant interest, and
contributed much to the reduction of the island.
Digitized by
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AZA
329
AZE
in 1651 he reduced Bavfaedoes and Vii^nia,
then held for the king, to the obedience of die
parliament ; and soon after the Restoration be-
haved with great honor in the war with the
Dutch. In the fanio\is engaf^ement in the be-
ginning of Jnne 1666, when Sir George was ad-
miral of the white squadron, his ship, the Royal
Prince, ran upon Galloper sand ; where, being
surrounded with enemies, h}s men obliged him
to stnke. He went no more to sea aJfter this,
but spent the rest of his days in retirement.
AYSEAUX, a castle and marquisate of the
Netherlands, in Hainault, on the Dender.
AYSERIUS, or Asserius. See Assbr.
AYTONIA, in botany, a genus of the mona-
delpUa order, and the pentandria class of plants ;
the characters of which are : the calvx is quin-
SuepartHe ; the corolla consists of four petals ;
ie berry is dry, quadrangular, unilocular, and
many seeded. There ts but one species, viz.
A. Capemis, a native of the Cape.
AYUTLA, a river of South America, in the
proviace of Guatimala, which flows into the
Pacific Ocean. Lat. 14*»55'N.
J AZAB, a place on the coast of Abyssinia, in
lat. 13* N., where Bruce says *he found the re-
mains of a very ancient aqueduct.' He supposes
it to be the Sabe of Strabo ; and the countiy of
J the Sabsi so fimious for their mvrrh and frankin-
cense. * Those gums,' he adds, ' are still pro-^
duced io the neighbourhood.* Behind are pits
of rock salt, whence the pieces used as coin by
^ the AbyssiniansRre extracted. See firu^e, vol. i.
Strabo, xvi. DM, iii.
AiAB, in the Turkish armies, a distinct body
of soldiery who are great rivals of the J anissaries.
\ ^ in the oriental languages the word signifies an
[ ' unmarried person; the original rule being — ^that
this corps should be composed of single men.
^ AZAB£ Kaberi, from kaber, sepulchre, and
«zab, torment, denotes a temporary punishment,
which, as the Mahommedans say, the wicked
must suffer after death. Their crimes are hereby
expiated, and Mahomet opens the gate of Paradise
to all who believe in him.
AZALDUS, in old law Latin, a sorry horse.
AZALEA, AiiBRiCjaN 17PRI0BT Honet-
BUCKLE, a genus of the monogynia order, and
pentandria class of plants ; ranking, in the natural
method, under the eighteenth order, bicomes.
The corolla is bell-shaped ; the stamina are in-
serted into the receptacle ; and the capsule has
iive cells. Th%re are six species, of which the
most remarkable are the following: 1. A. nudi-
flora, or red American upright honeysuckle,
grows taller than the visoosa, and in its native
country will sometimes arrive at the height of
twelve feet, but in Britain never rises to above
half that height It has several stems with ob-.
long smooth leaves. 2. A. rubriflora, a species
with bright red flowers, was found by Mr. Light-
foot upon the tops of ^many mountains in the
Iligfahuids of Scotland. 3. A. viscosa, with a
white flower, is a low shrub, arising with several
stems to the height of two or three feet The
leaves come out in clusters without any order at
the end of the shoots, and their edges are set
with very short teeth which are rough. The
flowers come out in clusters between the leaves,
of honeysncke, and
have mwsh the apn
are as well acentea
AZAMOR, a small sea^rttown of the king-
dom of Morocco in Africa. It is situated on the rivei
Morbeya, in the province of Duq^aella, at some
considerable distance fix)m its moutn. This town,
though formerly very considerable, is obstructed
in its maritime commerce by the dangerous en-
trance of the river. It was unsuccessfully be-
sieged by the Portuguese in 1508 ; it was taken
however, in 1513, by the duke of Braganza, but
abandoned about the end of the sixteenth cen-
iury. Mr. Jackson calculates its population at
1000. It is eighty miles north of Morocco.
AZARAD£0, a sea-port town of Brasil, in
the bay of Spiritu Santo. Long. 60'' lO' W.
lat. 20^18' S.
AZARAKIT£S,asect of Mahommedan Arabs
AZARECAH, a sect of heretical Mussulmans
who acknowledge no punishment, temporal or
spiritual.
AZARIAH; from nV, and n\ i. e. the help
of the Lord ; king of Judah. See Uzziah. Also
the name of various high priests and princes ot
tlie Jews.
AZARIAS, a Jewish rabbi and historian of
the sixteenth century. In 1574 he nublished at
Mantua, in Hebrew, a book entitled The Light
of the Eyes. Many historical and miscellaneous
subjects are treated of in this work ; and it con-
tains a Hebrew version of the letter of Aristeas
on the Septuagint.
AZARIST, a city of Rhieva, on the river Amo
which was visited by the English factors in 1741 .
AZAROLA, the service tree.
AZARUM, a small, dry, blackish, stringy,
medicinal root, much used in France as a specific
for the farcy in horses. The azarum, called also
nardus sylvestris, grovrs in the Levant, Canada,
and about Lyons in France. The first is reputed
the best It is given in powder, from the
quantity of one oiyice to two.
AZAY, or AsSAiE-LE-RiDEAU, a town of
France, in the department of the Indre and
Loire, situated on ue Indre, the head of a can-
ton, with a castle, and 1700 inliabitants. It was
in former times a place of strength, and the seat
of a royal governor. Five leagues south-west of
Tours.
Azit-svr-Cher, a town in France, situated
on the river Cher, and belonging to the arron-
dissement of Toura, in the department of the
Indre and Loire. Number of houses above 230.
Two leagues and a half E.S.E. of Tours. Many
other villages and hamlets in France bear this
name.
AZAZEL, a word relating to the institution
of the scape-goat, in the Jewi^ religion, respect-
. ing which there are various opinions. St Jerome
and Theodoret call the goat itself by this name.
Dr. Spencer says the scape-goat was to be sent
to Azazel, by which is meant the devil. M. le
Clerc translates it pnecipitium, making it to be
that steep and inaccessible place to which the
goat was sent, and where tt was supposed to
perish.
AZED, in the materia medica, a name given
by the Arabian writeis to a kind of camphor,
which they make the third in value, placmg it
Digitized by
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AZ£
330
AZI
after die alcaiuniri and abriagi. The fint of these
was the finest of all the kinds oi camphor, and
was collected tolerably pure from the tree, as it
grew in Cansnr, the place whence it was named.
The second was the same camphor, rendered yet
monB pure by sublimation ; this was a discovery
of one of the kings of that country, and the cam-
phor was named from him. The third kind, or
azed, was the same wiA what we now receive
from the Indies, under the name of crude or
rough camphor. The word azed signifies only
large, and was used to express the camphor
formed into large cakes. Avicenna savs this
camphor was gross, of a dusky color, and much
less Drigfat and pellucid then the other kinds.
AZEDARA-vHy or Azeraoach, in botany,
the bead-tree.
AZEEMABAD, the Mahommedan name of
Patna, which see.
AZEITAO, a town in Portuguese Estrema-
dura, south of the Tagus, with a manu&cture of
chintz, and various 4ye-houses. Population 2350.
Fi>e miles N.N. W. of Setuval.
AZEKAH, in ancient geography, a city of the
Amorites, in the lot of Judah ; situated between
Eleutheropolis and Aelia ; where the five kings of
the Amorites and their army were destroyed by hail.
AZELBURO, a town of Bavaria, formerly
called Augusta Acilia.
AZELFQGE, in astronomy, a fixed star of the
second magnitude, in the swanV tail.
AZEM, AsEU, Assam, or Acbak, a country
of Asia, north of Ava. See Assam.
AZEMAFOR, in alchemy, red lead.
AZEMECH, the Arabian name for the star,
called the virgin's spike.
AZENAY, a town of France, in Poitou, de-
partment of the Vendee, arrondiesement of
Sables d'Olonne. Population 3000. Five
leagues north of Sables aOlonne.
AZERBIJAN, or AoEBBEiTZAN, a province
of Persia, part of the ancient Media, bounded
by Ghilan and the Caspian sea on t^e east, and
on the west by Kurdistan and Armenia. It is
separated from the latter by theAraxcM, and from
the province of Irak on the south, by Kizilozein,
or tJie Golden stream. The cUmate, which is
ordinarily temperate, is cold in winter, and se-
verely felt by the poorer inhabitants, from the
scaccity of fiiel. Tne provinee is watered by the
two rivers already named, and by the Jungatty,
which is larger man either, and abounds in fish;
the Yesdian, Agi, and other lesser streams. On
the frontier also is tiie lake Urumea, which is
Salter than the sea. Its minerals are lead, cop-
per, saltpetre, and sulphur ; here is aUo a kind of
beautifiil transparent marble, or jasper, which
takes the highest polish, and is used in the build-
ings of Tabriz, Sniraz, and Ispahan, under the
name of Tabriz marble. The cultivation of the
land, which consists of fine undulating eminences
and rich valleys* is here carried on chiefly by ir-
rigation ; the oxen axe used for the plough, and
the best soU yields from fifty to sixty fold. Most
of the villages are surroun<ted with orchards and
gardens, which produce fruit of almost every
descnption. A considerable quantity of wine
is made; Vkd provisions are cheap and abundant.
The name of this province is said to signify tbe
country of fire, and is supposed to have been
derived firmn the number of fire temples of the
Guebres. It is divided into twelve districts,
in which are several cities and towns of im-
poftance, as Tabriz, or Tauris, the capital, ood-
taining 30,000 inhabitants, Urumea, Shebuster,
and Maragah.
AZERGUE, Bahb^bl, or the Blue River,
the principal stream of Abyssinia, which, rising
in tne kingdom of Gojam, passes through the
lake of Dmbea, and, after a winding coarse
through Abyssinia and Sennaar, falls into the
Nile above Gerri. Travellers described it as the
principal branch of the Nile, till D'Anville
showed that this distinction belonged to the
Bahr-eUAbiad.
AZEVEDO (Ignathis), a Portuguese Jesuit,
bom iu 1527. He was heir to a huidsome for-
tune, but turned his bade upon it for a religious
life, and went as a missionary to. India. In
1570 he was going out a second time, when the
ship was taken by pirates, who kilied all the
missionaries, about forty in number.
AZIMEN, in astrology, certain degrees in the
zodiac, wludi, when they axe ascendant, persons
bom under them ate said to be afflictM with
lameness, or some other imperfection.
AZIMUTH, in astronomy, an arch of the
horizon, intercepted between the meridian of the
place and the azimuth, or vertical cirde passing
through the centre of the object, which is equal
to the angle of the zenith, formed by the meridian
and vertical circle. It is found by this propor-
tion : As the radius to the tangent of the tatitade
of the place, so is the tangent of the sun's or
star's altitude, for histance, to the coaiiie of the
azimuA from the south, at the time of the
equinox.
Azimuth Circles are represented by the
rhumbs on common sea charts, and on the globe
they are represrated by the quadrant of altitude^
when screwed in the zenith. On these azimuths
is reckoned the height of the stars aod of the sun
when not in the meridian.
Azimuth Compass, an instrument for finding
either the magnetical azimuth or amplitude c^
an heavenly object. The learned Dr. Knight
invented soine time ago a very aiecnrate and
usefid searcompass, which is at present used
in the navy, and will be found described under
the article Compass. This instrnment, with the
following contrivance added by the ingenions Mr.
Smeaton, answers the purposes of an ar^miith and
amplitude oompaas. The cover of Ihe wooden
box being taken off, the compass is in a condition
to be made useof in the binnacle, when die wear
ther is moderalc ; but if the sea runs high, as the
inner box is hung very free upon its centre, the
better to answer its other purposes, it vrill be ne-
cessary to slacken the milled nut, placed upon one
of the axes that support the ring, and to lighten
the nut on the outside that corresponds to it. By
this means, the inner box and ring will be lifted
up from the edges upon which they rest when
fiee, and the friction will be increased, and that
to any degree necessary to prevent the too gieaf
vibrations which otherwise would be oocasiooed
Digitized by
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AZI
331
AZO
by the motton of the ship. To make die com-
pm uMfiil in taking the magnetic aztnrath or am-
plitude of the sun and stars, as also the beariiigs
of headlands, ships, and other objects at a dis-
tance, the brass edge, designed at first to su|^M>rt
the card, and throw the weight thereof as near
Ifae drcnmference as possible, is itself divided into
degrees and halves, which mar^be easily estimated
into smaller parts if necessaiy. The divisions are
determined by means of a catgut line, stretched
perpendicalarly with the box, as near the brass
«dge as may be, that the- pa^laz, arising from a
different position of the ooserver, may be as little
is possible. Underneath the card tf e two small
weights, stidmg on two wires, plaoed at right an-
gles to eadi other; which being moved nearer to,
or fiother firom^ the oentre, counterbalsmce the
dipping of die Card in different latitudes, or re-
store die equilibrium of it where it happens W
any odier means to be too much out of level.
There is also added an index at the top of the inr-
ner box, which maybe put on and taken off at
pleasure ; and serve for all altitudes of the object
It oon«sts of a bar, equal in length to the diame-
ter of the inner box, eadi end being furnished
with a peroendicular stile, with a slit parallel to
the sides tneieof : one of the slits is narrow, to
which the eye is applied ; and the other is wider,
with a smau catgut stretdied up the middle of it,
and &om thence to die ton of the other. There is
also a Ime drawn along me upper snr&ce of the
bar. These four, viz. the narrow sht, the horizon-
tal catgut thread, the perpendicular one, and die
line on the bar, are in the same plane which dis-
poses itself perpendicular to the horizon, when
the inner box is at rest and hangs free. Tliis in-
dex does not move round, but is always placed
on' so as to answer the same side of the box.
When the sun's azimuth is desired, and his rays
are strong enough to cast a shadow, turn about
the wooden box till the shadow of the horizontal
thread, or, if die sun be too low, till that of the
perpendicular thread, in one stile, or the light
through the slit on the other, ialls upon the line
in the index bar, or^brates to an equal distalice
on each side of it, gendy touching the box if it
vibrates too &r : observe, at the same time, the
degree marked upon the brass edge by the catgut
line. In counting the degree for die azimuth, or
any other angle that is reckoned from the meri-
dian, make use of the outward circle of figures
upon the brass edge ; and the situation of theindex
bar, with regard to the card and needle, will al-
ways direct upon what <)uarter of the compass the
object is placed. But if the sun does not shine
out sufficiently strong, place the eye behmd the
narrow slit in one of the stiles, and turn the wooden
box about, till some part of the horizontal or per-
pendicular thread appears to intersect the centre
of the sun, or vibrate to an equal distance on each
side of it, using smoked glass next the eye if the
tun's light is too strong. In this method another
observer will be generally necessary, to note the
degree cut by the nonius, at the same time that
the first gives liotice that the diread appears to
split the object. The other observations will be
easily performed : only, in case of the sun's am-
phtude, take care to number the degree by the
Mp of the inner circle of figures on the card,
which are the complement of the outer to 90* ;
and, consequendy, show the distance from east
to west The azimuth of the stars may also be
bbserved by night ; a proper light serving equally
fi)r one observer to see tae tbread, and the other
the degree upon the card. It may not be amiss
to remark farther, that in case the inner dox
should lose its equilibrium, and consequendy the
index be out of the plane of a vertical circle, an
accurate observation may still be made, provided
the sun's shadow is diiiinct ; for, by observing
first with one end of die index tovrards the sun,
send then the other, a mean of the two obser-
vations will be the tnidi.
- AziifftJTH Dial, a d^al whose gnomon is per-
pendiouiar to the plane of the horizon.
AziwuTH, Macketical, an arch of the ho-
rizon intercepted between the azimuth, or veiv>
tical circle, passing through the centre of any
heavenly body, ami the magnetical meridian.
This is found by observing the object with an azi^
muth compass.
AZINCOURT,or AoiNootTET. See AoiKcorRT*
AZLEEL, the name of an angel mentioned
in die book ascribed to £noch.
AZM UT, or Asmxts, an ancient and large
town of Matolta, eighty-ibur miles south-east of
Scutari. It is inhabited by Greek christians.
AZO, a town of Asia in die East Inijies, seated
on the frontiers of Azem, on die river Laquia.
Azo I. and II. earls of Estein Italy, in the
tenth eentury. They claimed their descent from
the .Accii, a patrician fiunily of ancient Rome
Their posteri^ setding afterwards in Germany,
eave nse to the illustrious house of Brunswick ;
from which that of Hanover and the present royal
IhralWDf Great Britain are lineally descended.
Azof, or Azov, a town and fortress of Rus-
sia, in the government of Yekatorinoslsrifi', at die
moUdiof die Don; lit. 46** 53' N.,^ long. 39'' 14'
£. When Dr. Clarke saw it in 1800, it did not
contain more than fifty houses ; the garrisofi con-
sisted of a few wom»out invalids, ami the works
were abandoned to decay. It is surrounded by a
swamp ; and the interior of the country is a barren
desert. It was anciendy a considerable port/
but the waters of the bay have been diminishing
for many years. Tanai's is mentioned by Strebo,
as a settlement of the Bosporani, l)Ut Dr. Clarke
could iind no trace of the aiioient town n^ar the
Bite of Azov, and supposes it must have been fit
the embouchete of the Danaetz or northern arm
of the Don. Its ancient history is very obscure ;
but it passed from the Polovties to the Geno-
ese, who called it la Tana; was wrested from
them by Tamerlane in 1392; and possessed,
after his deoease, by the kh&ns ot the Krim till
1471, when it iett into the hands of the Tutks.
Peter the Great took it by assault, and laid out
large sums upon improving its fortifications, but
was obliged to give it up at the peace of 1 Til.
Thefortifications were demolished, in compliance
with the terms made at the peace of Belgrade in
1739; but it was finally ceded to RuMa ir
1774.
The sea of Azof, named from the above town,
was the Palus Meotis of the ancients, and the
Mar de Zabacchi of the middle ages. It is 210
miles long, and about fifty broad ; diougb pro-
Digitized by
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333
AZORES.
perly only a bav of the Black sea, with whidi
It is united by the straiu of Ca£& (Keffeh). Its
principal port is Taganrok. Its fish are small,
but plentiful ; so that 60,000 are often taken at
one draught. This sea seems to be gradually
filling up with the alluTial earth brought -down
by the Don ; and^ during violent east winds, the
waters are driven so iar back, where it is from
thirteen to fourteen miles broad, as to allow a
passage over the sand from Jagan Rock to the
opposite coast. But when the wind changes the
water flows back with such rapidity, that many of
those who have attempted to cross this tempo-
rary route are overwhelmed by the letummg
tide. The deepest soundings are from thirty-
five to forty feet. The whole surface, except a
portion towards the centre, freezes during about
a mo^th in winter. A new island, at some dis-
tance from the shore, was thrown up on the 5th
of September, 1799, with phenomena evidently
Tolcanic.
AZOGA Ships, are those Spanish ships, com-
monly called the quicksilver ships, from their
carrying quicksilver to the Spanisn West Indies,
to extract the silver out of the mines of Mexico
and Peru. These ship are prohibited to carry
any goods except for the king of Spain.
AZOGUES, a town of Quito, South America,
ten miles north-east of Cuenza.
AZOIXJ. See Acelum.
AZONI ; from a privative, and Coyif, country;
in mythology, a term anciently applied to such
of the gods as were not the private divinities of
any particular country, but were acknowledged
in every country, and worshipped by every nation.
They were superior to the gods called zonsi,
who were supposed to inhabit particular parts of
the world, ana never to stir out of the district or
zone that was assigned them. Such in Egypt
were Serapis, Osiris, and Bacchus; and m
Greece, the Sun, Mars, the Moon and Pluto.
They were called by the Romans dii communes.
AZOOPHAGCS.; from a, (loov, animal, and
fayw, to eat; in natural history, a term used by
authors to express such insects or animals as feed
on herbs, never eating the flesh of any living
creature.
AZORES, or Western Islands, a group of
islands in the Atlantic Ocean, situated between
the thirty-seventh and fortieth degrees of latitude,
and about 800 miles from the western shore of
Portugal. The name is said to have been given
to them on their first discovery by the Portu-
guese, from Aoor, a falcon, on account of the
numerous goshawks which they found there.
They have also sometimes been called Terceras,
from the principal island. The Azores still be-
long to the crown of Portugal, and are considered
as forming three separate ^clusters. St. Mary
and St. Michael lie at the eastern extremity ; the
five inlands of Tercera, Graciosa, St. George,
Pico, and Fayal, form a central group ; while
Corvo and Flores are more detached, and lie
farther north-west. The geographers of Arabia,
in the middle ages, appear to nave had some
knowledge of these isUnds; but they were not
known to Europeans till towards the middle of the
fifteenth century, when Vander Berg, a Flemish
meichaaty being driven by contrary winds on
these shores, and intelligence of the event reach*
ing the court of Lisbon, an expedition was fitted
out to take possession of them. The Flemings
took possession of Fayal, where traces of them
are still visible. When Portugal became subject
to the Spanish yoke in 1580, these islands fell
under Spanish control till the duke of Braganza
was raised to the throne in 1640. They were
now for a long period much neglected by the home
government ; but their situation being most
salubrious, and highly favorable to commerce,
they encreased and prospered spontaneously.
Towns and cities were founded, and the popular
tion rose to between 200,000 and 300,000.
The first Portuguese minister whose wisdom
was directed to the fostering of these islands was
Pombal ; ' he taught the Azoreans that they might
become a people, and Portugal that she might
cease to be a despot. During his mission, tbe
blands were improved by his authority, adorned
by his munificence, and extolled by his praise.*
But the liberal administration of Pombal was
succeeded by a sullen and bigoted ministry, com-
posed of the most (urious churchmen. A cabinet
BO formed, soon destroyed the foundations of the
rising prosperity which had been laid during the
former administration. The islands were inun-
dated with bigoted ecclesiastics ; a .circumstance
which was attended by the destruction of com-
merce, the extinction of arts and sciences, and
the consequent introduction of indigence and
barbarity. 'AH the island<i,' says a late his-
torian, who had resided in the country, ' are
under the religious dominion of a sordid and
luxurious priesthood, and subject to the dvil
control of a licentious military power; to a
government which condemns the country to a
perpetual state of ignorance and sloth, and which
confines the whole of its intercourse with the
civilised world to the banks of the T^gus, or the
port of Lisbon. For the last hundred and fifty
years, the peaceable islanders have had to with-
draw tlieir eyes fix)m tlie rest of the world, from
every general public care, and fix them steadily
and perpetually on the court of Portugal.' Such
is, and such has long been the gloomy and
miserable state of political degradation in which
the Azores are sunk. The spirit of the people
has been palsied by the arbitrary measures of the
government; yet they are described by those
who have been resident among them, as an
honest race, who prefer peace to conquest, aod
who seek distinction in mdustry rather than in
arms ; as ' an innocent people, who are as emi-
nent in the humble vale of domestic life, as the
hero in the stormy regions of blood and warfiue.
Their whole happiness, however, consists in their
domestic and personal comforts, for country they
have none. They have no common principle o!
union ; no common bond of action ; they form a
community not insensible to the ties of kindred,
but uncemented by national feeling ; a political
blank in themselves, and comparatively useless
to the parent state.' See Hbtory of the Azores,
London, 1813.
Ia 1591 these islands were, for twelve succes-
sive days, shaken by violent concussions^ and
the Villa Franca entirely destroyed. A similar
occurrence took place in 1757. There caa
Digitized by
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AZO
333
Azr
indeed be litUe doubt of their volcuiic origiD,
and deep subterranean connexion with very
active volcanoes. New islands have frequendy
been raised from the bottom of the sea, by the
power of volcanic action. In 1720 one of
these phenomena took place, on approaching
which, the next day, an English captain observes,
'we made an island of fire and smoke; the
ashes fell on our deck like hail and snow, the
fire and smoke roared like thunder or great
guns.' Another instance of this kind happened in
1811, near the western extremity of St. Michael,
when flames were seen issuing from the sea,
accompanied by volumes of smoke and showers
of scoria and ashes. The rocks remained just
below the surface, with the waves dashing vio-
lently over them, and soundings of 80 fathoms,
were found almost close to the new island. The
presence of subterraneous fire is also indicated
oy its effect on numerous springs throughout the
islands. Some of these are so hot, that they
bum the hand. ^ These have of late been con-
siderably resorted to as warm baths, which they
answer the more conveniently, as a cold spring
is always at hand. In other places, boiling
fountains rise to a considerable height, and dis-
solve in vapor.
The Azores are discovered from^ a great dis-
tance, by a high mountain called the Pico, or
peak, bearing a strong resemblance to the pesJc of
Teneriffe, and rising about 7000 feet above the
level of the ocean. Their whole appearance is
mountainous, but many delightful and fertile
valleys separate the rounded and conical hills, of
of which the greater part of their surface is com-
posed. The islands are subject to violent winds,
and the.fury of the waves is sometimes injurious
to the low grounds near the sea. Wheat, bar-
ley, Indian com, and valuable woods are pro-
duced; but their chief produce is 'wine and
fruits, both of which are exported in large
quantities. The wine has some resemblance to
Madeira, but is inferior in quality. The oranges
are much esteemed.
The best vines are raised on the lofty sides of
the Pico, from which wine is made, and exported
through Faya), by which name it is known. It
b decidedly inferior to Madeira, but being 50
per cent, cheaper, obtains a considerable sale.
Pico exports a fine species of wood, little in-
ferior to mahogany. The trade was formerly
cramped, by being carried on through the medium
of Portugal ; but, since the emigration of the
court, the inhabitants have begun to traffic di-
. recUy with England and America ; a circumsUnce
that has much invigorated this commerce.
Angra, the chief town of Terceras, is the seat
of government : but Pen^ del Gada, or the city
of St Michael, is the largest town of the islands,
and the seat of the bishop and principal eccle-
siastical authorities.
Azores is also the name of a small group of
islands of the Atiantic, north of St Domingo.
AZORIUM, in old law Latin, azure.
HZCfTE; firom a, privative, and Kam, I live;
a name eiven by the French chemists to a species
of air which is destractive of animal life ; not
fitted for respiration, it is also incapable of sup-
poiting oombusUoD. It is said to form about
fi>ur-fifU)s of our atmosphere ; but being there
mixed with the remaining fifi^ of another air,
having properties the reverse of its own, it be-
comes suited to our existence. See Gas Ni-
trogen.
AZOTH, in ancient chemistryithe first matter
of metals, or the mercury of a metal ; more par-
ticularly that which alchemists call the mercury
of philosophers which they pretended to draw from
all sorts of metallic bodies.
AzoTH is also a name given to the philosopher's
stone. When the Arabs began to study che-
mistry, their metaphorical and hieroglyphical
manner of writing seems to have given rise to a
practice of calling the means made use of for
brining metals to perfection, by the name of
medicines, and imperfect metals by the name of
sick men, and gold by that of a sound and lively
person. Hence it was supposed, that these were
to be understood literally, especially upon find-
ing the impurities of the baser metals called
by the name of leprosies; and hence rose the
opinion, that the imperfect metals might be
turned into gold, and the bodies of such men
into sound ones, by the same preparation !
AzoTH, AzoTus, or Ashdod, one of the five
cities of the Philistines, and a celebrated sea-port
on the Mediterranean, situated about fourteen or
fifteen miles south of Ekroo, between that and
Ascalon. It was in this city that the idol Dagon
fell down before the ark ; and so strong a place
was it, if we may believe Herodotus, that it sus-
tained a siege of twenty-nine years by Psaramiti-
cus king of Egypt It was, however, taken by
the Maccabees m a much shorter time ; who
burnt both city and temple, and with them about
8000 men. The town is now called by the Arabs
Hasaneyan. It is but thinly inhabited, though
the situation is' very pleasant. With regard to the
houses, those that were built iu the time of Chris-
tianity, and which are now inhabited by Mahom-
medans, still preserve some claim to admiration ;
but the modem buildings, tjiough generally of
stone, have nothing in them which can attract the
notice of a traveller. The streets are pretty broad,
the inhabitants mostiy Mahommedans, with a few
christians of the Greek communion, who have a
church under the jurisdiction of the archbishop of
Gaza. The town is about a mile and a halt in
circumference ; and has in it a mosque, a public
bath, a market-place, and two inns. The num-
ber of the inhabitants is between 2000 and 3000.
The most remarkable things in this place are an
old stracture with fine marble pillars, which the
inhabitants say was the house that Sampson
pulled down ; and to the south-east, just out of
the town, the water in which the Ethiopian eu-
nuch was baptized by the evangelist Philip.
There are several ancient buildings with capitals
and pillars standing.
AZPEYTIA, a town of Spain, in the pro-
vince of Biscav, canton of Guipuscoa, on the
river Urola. To this place belongs the village of
Loyola, oiice the property of the celebrated
father Ignatius Loyola, founder of the order of
Jesuits.
AZPILCUETA (Martin), sumamed Navarre,
was born at Verasoa, near Parapeluna, in Spain,
in 1494. He was professor of hiw in several uni«
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AZV
334
AZY
versities, aiid died at Rome in 1586. IIu worics
were printed at Lyons, in 6 vok. iblio, 1597.
AZRAH-BEN-AREN, a town of the Arabian
Irak, situated on the river Tigris, fifteen miles
N.N.W. of Koma.
AZUA, a small town on the south side of the
island of St. Domingo, seated on a deep bay.
AZUBAH, the daughter of Shilhi and mother
of king Jehoshaphat.
AZUELA, a large river of South America, in
the kingdom of Quito, which enters theJlma-
zons.
AZUL, a river of Mexico, in the country of
the Appaches, which enters the Gila.
AzuL, Rio, or the Blub Rivbr^ a river of
North America, in California.
AZUM, a port of Abyssinia on the Red Sea.
AZTJRE, ^ Fr. oner ; Ital. agurro ; from the
Az'uRED, > Arabic haztdy the name of a stone
Az'uRN. J brilliantly blue, bmt not transpa-
rent; sky-«olored blue.
And on hit shield enueloped ftenenfold»
He bore & crowned little ernulin.
That deckt the asure field wilh her faire pooldred skin.
Spenter't Faerie Queene, book hi. c 2.
By whose aid
(Weak masters though ye be) I have bedimm'd
The noon-tide sun, call'd forth the mutinous winds.
And 'twixt the green sea and the aimred vault
Set roaring war. Shaktpean, Tempeet.
His spear
He waUt with, to snppoit uneasie steps
Over the baming marie, not like thoee steps
On heaven's omirs. MiUom, Paradite JUti.
By the mshyi fringed bank.
Where grows the willow, and the osier dank.
My sliding chariot stays.
Thick set with agate, and Uxe atntm sheen
Of turkis blue, and emerald green.
That in the channel strays. Id, Comau.
As when the moon, refulgent lamp o£ night.
O'er heaven's clear atntni spreads her saered Ught ;
When not a breath disturba the deep sereae.
And not a eload o'ercasts the solemn scene ;
.« round her throne the vivid planeta roll.
And ataia annombered gild the glowing polo^
Pope. HoamU lUad,
How many bright
And splendid lamps shine in heaven's temple high.
Day hath his golden sun, her moon the night.
Her fix'd and wand'ring stars the asiun sky.
F<ttrfu*i Trant. Tam't Jenu. Ddh.
Azure Stone. Azure, among painters, which
at present signifies a fine blue color resembling
that of the skv, was formerly appropriated to lapis
lazuli ; which is thus defined : Lustre glistening :
fine grained, uneven fracture. It scratches glass,
but scarcely strikes fire with steel. Opaque, or
translucent on the very edges. Easily broken.
Specific gravity 2*85. In a very strong heat it
intumesces, and melts into a yellowish black
mass. After calcination it forms a jelly with
acids. Bv a late and most interesting research
of MM. Cflement and Desormes, it appears to be
composed of thirty-four silica, thir^-three alu-
mina, three sulphur, and twenty-two soda. (Ann.
de Chimie, tom. 57.) In tliis analysis, however,
a loss of eight per cent, was experienced. These
chemists consider the abote ingredients essential,
and die 24 of lime, and 1*5 of iron, which they
have occasionally met with, as accidental. The
best specimens are from China, Persia* And
Great Uucharia. They are made red-hot in fiie
fire, and thrown into water to render them pul-
verisable. They are then reduced to 4 fine pow-
der, and intimately combined with a varnish,
formed of resin, wax, and boiled linseed oil
This pasty mixture is put into a linen clodi, and
repeatedly kneaded witti hot water : the first wa-
ter, which is usually dirty, is thrown away ; the
second gives a blue of the first quality ; and the
thifd yields one of less value. The. process is
founded on the property which the coloring
matter of azure-stone has of adhering less firmly
to the resinous cement, than the foreign matter
with which it is. a:isociated. When azure-stone
has its color. altered by a moderate heat, it is
reckoned bad. MM. Clement and Desormes
consider the extraction of ultramarine as a spe-
cies of saponification.
Azure, in heraldry, the blue color in the
arms of any person below the rank of a baron.
In the escutcneon of a nobleman, it is called sap-
phire ; and in that of a soverei^ prince, Jupi-
ter. In engraving, this color is expressed oy
lines or strokes drawn horizontally. M. Upton
and his followers rank this color before gules.
This color may signify justice, perseverance, and
vigilance ; but according to G. Leigh, when it
is compounded with
Or
Arg.
Gul.
Ver.
Pur.
Sab.
{Cheerfulness.
Vigilance.
Readiness.
Enterprise.
Goodness.
Moomfulness.
AZUREA, in entomology, a species of ohry-
ganea, with black wings, violet behind. lixm.
The lower wings are obliquely violet. It inha-
bits the north of Europe. Abo, in zoology, a
species of lacerta that inhabits Africa.
AZUREUS, in entomology, a species of can-
bus, of an azure color, with red legs and anten-
na. It inhabits Leipsic. Fabricius. 2. A spe-
cies of cimex, of a imddle size ; dull green color ;
and yellowish mouth and legs. Inhabiting Guinea.
The abdomen is yellowish, with black dots in the
middle.
AZURIN, in ornithology, a name assigned by
Bufibn, Hist. Ois. to the species of turdus, since
called specifically cyanurus by Gmelin.
AZURIT£, m mineralogy, a blue substancei
which occurs principally in Styria. Its crystal-
line form, as well as some other of its other cha-
racters, distinguish it firom lazulite, or, as it is
more commonly termed, lapis lazuli, of which at
itsi first discovery, it was regarded as a variety.
AZYGOS, in anatomv,a vein rising within the
thorax, on the riebt side, having no fellow on
the left; whence it is called dZvyoQ, or vena sine
pari. See Anatomy.
AZYMA« or Azymes; from a negative, and
Zvftti, ferment; the feast of unleavened bread
among the Jews.
AZ I ME. Gr. alvuoQt without ferment ; a, the
privative, and (v/«9, torment.
They had (they said, i. e. the tranalaton of King
James's Bible)^ on the one side, avoided the scrapQ*
losity of the poritaaes^ who left the old eodesiastica
Digitized by
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B
335
BAA
words and betook 'them to otbet , as wken they put
wMfaiag ibr baptum, »ad cangi«g«lSon for chveh ;
and on the other hand, had thonned the obecaritie
of the papUtSFin their oMmm, tiuuke» lational, holo-
cauftu, piepoce, paache, and a number of auch like,
whereof their late tcanslation was foU, and that of
purpose to darken the sense, that since they must
needs translate the Bible, yet by the langoa^ diereof
it might be kept from being understood.
Pre^ «o Kmff Jameet INMs .
AzTME, or AzTBTus, a term much used in
the controversies between the Greek and Roman
church ; the latter of whom contend, that the
bread in the mass ought to be azymus, unleaven-
ed, in imitation of the paschal bread of the Jews,
and of our Saviour, who instituted the sacra-
ment on the day of the passover. In the council
of Florence it was decreed, that the point lay at
the discretion of the church; and that either
leavened or unleavened bread might be Used.
The Lutheran church uses unleavened bread to
this day ; and a respectable modem commenta-
tor sa}^ :— ' If any respect should be paid to the
primitive institution, m the celebration of this
divine ordinance, then unleavened, unyeasted,
bread should be used. In every sign or tvpe,
the thing signiiying or pointing out that which
is beyond itself, should either have certain pro-
perties, or be accompanied with certain circum*
stances, as expressive as possible, of the thine
signified. Bread, simply considered in itself
may be an emblem apt enough of the body of
our Lord Jesus, whicn was given for us ; but the
design of God was evidently that it should not
only point out this, but also the disposition re-
quired in those who should celebrate both the
antetype and the type ; and this the apostle ex-
plains to be sincen^ and truth (1 Cor. v. 6 — 8),
the reverse of malice and wickedness. The very
taste of the bread was instructive ; it pointed out
to every communicant, that he who came to the
table of God with malice or ill-will against any
soul of man, or with wickedness, a profligate or
sinful life, might expect to eat and dripk judg-
ment tp himself, as not discerning that the Lord's
body was sacrificed for this very purpose, that
all sin might be destroyed, and tnat sincerity
cAucpiyaia, such purity as the clearest light can
discern no stain in, might be diffused through
the whole soul; and that truth, the law of
ligbtepttsness luad true holiness, m^ht regulate
and guide aU the actions of life'. — Dr. Adam
Clarht m the New TeatametU.
AZYMITES, in church history, christians
who administei: the eudiarist with unleavened
bread. This appellation is given to the Latin
church by the Greek, because the members of
the former uaws fermented bread in the celebra-
tion of the eucharist. They also call the Armi-
niaas and Maconites by the same name, and for
the same reason.
AZYMOUS, something unfermented^or made
without leaven, as unleavened bread. Sea bis-
cuit is of this kind ; and therefore, according to
Galen, less wholesome than bread that has been
fermented.
AZZALUM, in the ancient physiology, a spe-
cies of iron, reputed the most excellent of all,
supposed to have been brought from India,
whence it was called Indicum; but. In reality,
according to some, brought from China*
AZZO (Fortius), an Italian lawyer, was a na-
tive of Bologna, where he was chosen professor
of jurispradence in 1 190 He wrote a work
held in great estimation, entitled, A Summary of
the Code and the Institutes. He died about
1220.
B.
B, the second letter of the English and most
other alphabets. It is the first consonant, and
first mute, and its pronunciation is supposed to
resemble the bleating of a sheep.
B is also one of those letters which the eastern
gramiDarians call labialf because the principad
oigans employed in its pronunciation are the lips.
It is pronounced by pressing the whole length
of them together, and forcing them open with
a strong breath. It has a near affinity with the
other labials P and V, and is often used for P,
both by the Armenians and other Orientals, as
in Betna for Petrut, apteru for ahserUf &c. ; and
by the Romans for V, as amabit for amavit, hema
for vema
As a numeral, B was used by the Greeks and
Hebrews to denote 2 ; but among the Romans
for 300, and with a dash over it (thus b ) for
3000.
B, is also an abbreviation. See Abbbe-
▼lATIOV.
In music B stands for the tone above A; as
B^, or ^B, does for B flat, or the semitone major
above. A B also stands for bass ; and B C for
ha»to continuo, or thorough bass.
BA, a small sea-port town of Africa on the Slave
coast, where the Dutch have a fectory.
Ba, a river of Scotland, in Argyleshire.
BAA-BA, 17. n. ) Lat; baloy to crv like a
Baa. s, ] sheep. The bleating of a
sheep.
Therefore then art a sbeep ;
Such another proof would make me cxy baa,
Shahpean.
Baadstbd, or Batsted, a sea-port town in the
province of Schonen, Sweden, situated in a bay
of the Cattegat, ten miles north of Eneelholm,
sixteen souUi of Helmstadt Long. 12^ 45' £.,
lat. 56° 28' N.
BAAGGE, two small islands in the Baltic be-
longing to the crown of Denmark » the one lying
between the islands of Zealand, l$Ioen. and Fal-
Digitized by
Googl(
BAA
336
BAA
irter. Long. 12*» 3' E., lat. 54** 56' N. And tlie
other in the Little Belt* Ion. g"* 49' £., lat. 55"*
10'. N.
BAAL, [Vs^a, Lord, Syr.] Bel, orBELUs;
an idol of the Chaldeans, and Phoenicians, or
Canaanitea. The former worshipped Mars un-
der this name, according to Josephns: who,
speaking of Thurus,the successor oiNinus,says,
'To this Mars, the Assyrians erected the first
statue, and worshipped him as a god, calling him
Baal/ It is probable from what is recorded,
2 Kings xxiii, 5, 11, that the Phoenicians wor-
shipped the sun under the name of Baal. The
temples consecrated to this god are called in
scripture Chamanim, which signifies places •en-
closed with walls, in which was kept a perpetual
fire. Maundrel, in his journey from Aleppo to
Jerusalem, observed some traces of these enclo-
sures in Syria. As the word baal, in the Punic
language, signifies lord or master, it doubtless
meant the supreme Deity, the Lord and Master
of the universe. It is often joined with the name
of some ^se god, as Baal-berith, Baal-peor,
Baal-zephon, &c. This deity passed from the
Phoenicians to the Carthaginians, who were a
colony of Phoenicians ; as appears from the Car-
thaginian names, Hannibal, Asdrubal, &c. accord-
ing to the custom of the east, where kings and
great men added to their own names those of
their gods. This deity is also frequently men-
tioned in Scripture in the plural number, Ba«r
lim: which may signify, either that the name
Baal was given to several different gods ; or that
there were many statues bearing different appel-
lations, consecrated to this idol. Amobius tells
us, that Baal was of an uncertain sex ; and that
bis votaries, when they called upon him, invoked
him thus ; ' Hear us, whether thou art a god or a
goddess.' Some learned men think that Sie Baal
of the Phoenicians is the Saturn of tiie Greeks ;
which is probable from the conformity there is
between tne human sacrifices offered to Saturn,
and those which the scripture tells us were offer-
ed to Baal. Others are of opinion, that Baal
was the Phoenician, or Tyrian Hercules ; a god
of great antiquity in Phoenicia.
Baal. See Baalatq-beeb.
BAALAH . 1 . A city transferred from the tribe
of Judah to the Simeonites. 2. The original
name of Kiijath-jearim, in Judah.
BAALATH, a city in the tribe of Dan.
BAALATH-BEER, or Baal, a city of the
Simeonites, on the south-west border.
BAAL-BECK, or the Valley of Baal, a fer-
tile country of Asia, between Lebanon and
Antilibanus, about thirty miles firom Damascus ;
where there was formerly a magnificent temple
of the sun, the ruins of which are still visible.
Some geographers make it a part, and others the
whole of Caek> Syria ; but all agree that it was
one of the most pleasant spots on the earth. The
ruins of the temple are still admired. See Balbec.
BAAL-BERITH, the god of the Shechemites.
Bochart conjectures that Berith is the same as
Beroe, the daughter of .Venus and Adonis, who
was nven in marriage to Bacchus ; and that she
gave Der name to the city of Berith, in Phoenicia,
and became afterwards the goddess of it. Baal-
berith signifies Lord of the covenant, and may be
taken fbr the god who presides over alliances
and oaths, in like manner as the Greeks had their
ZtwopKutQf and the Romans their Dens Fidius,
or Jupiter Pistius. The idolatrods Israelites
made Baal-berith their god. Judges viii. 33.
. BAAL-GAD, Bag ad, or Begad, in ancieDt
mythology, an idol of the Syrians, whose name
was composed of baal, lord, and gad, chance or
fortime ; the god of chance or rortune.' After
the god of thunder, the god of chance was one
of the first worshipped by mankind.
BAAL-HAMON, a place where Solomon had
a vineyard, and where probably he sacrificed to
Baal, in his dotage, to please his idolatrous wives.
BAAL-HANAN, the son of Achbor, and the
seventh king of the Edomites. From his name
it appears probable that the worship of Baal had
at that early period taken place anM»g the de-
scendants of Esau.
BAAI^HAZOR, a city near Ephraim, about
eight miles north-east of Jerusalem, between
Bethel and Jericho. In this city Absalom held
his treacherous festival for murdering liis brother
Amnou.
BAAL-HERMON, a part of Mount Hermon.
BAALIM, in antiquity, inferior deities among
the Phoenicians. See Baal.
BAAUS, a king of the Ammonites, who sent
Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, to murder the
brave Gedaliah, the viceroy appointed by Nebu-
chadnezzar over the remnant ot the Jews, whom
he had left in Jerusalem. (Jer. xi« 17.) For this
he was justly punished by Nebuchadnezzar, who
soon aftct invaded hb country, and reduced it
to a desert.
BAAL-MEON,BeOH, OrBETHBAAL-MEOK,a
city of Canaan, which was taken firom the Amor-
ites and given to the Reubenites. (Num. xxxii.
38.) It was afterwards taken by the Moabites,
and at last destroyed bv the Chaldeans. It had
been rebuilt, however, for it was inhabited in the
time of the Maccabees.
BAALrPEOR, Baal-phegob, or Bel-phet
GOR, an idol of the Moabites said Midianites.
We are told, that Israel joined himself to Baal-
peor, and that Solomon erected an altar to this
idol upon the Mount of Olives. Baal-peor has
been supposed a Priapus, and that the worship
of him consisted in the most obscene practices.
Others have thought that as Baal is a general
name signifying Lord, Peor may be the name of
some great prince deified after his death. Mede
supposes, that Peor being the name of a moun-
tain in the country of Moab, on which die tem-
ple of Baal was built, Baal-peor may be only
another n^e of that deity, taken from die situ-
ation of his temple ; as Jupiter is styled Olym-
pus, fi-om his temple built on Mount Olympus.
Selden, who is of this opinion, conjectures like-
wise, Uiat Baal-peor is the same with Pluto;
which he grounds upon these words of the
Psalmist, Psal. cvi. * They joined themselves
unto Baal-peor, and eat the offerings of the dead ;'
though by the offerings of the dead, in this pas-
sage, may be only meant sacrifices made to idols,
who are very properly called the dead, in contra-
distinction to the true, who is justly and em-
phatically styled the living, God.
BAAL-PERAZIM, a place in the valley of
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337
BAB
B^phahny about three miles smith-west of Jeru-
salem, Khere David routed the Philistines.
BAAL*S-BAY, and Da4L's River, a bav and
river in West Greenland, situated between Isear's
Sound and Delft's Point, opposite Hudson's
Strait.
BAAL-SHALISHA, a place belonging to Sa>
maria, probably near GUgal, the birth place of a
prophet, whose name is not recorded, who, in a
time of famine, miraculously fed 100 men with
twenty barley loaves. See 2 Kings iv. 42, 44.
BAAL-TAMAR, a place near Gibeah, where
the tribe of Benjamin was almost extirpated by
the other eleven tribes. See Judg. xx. 33.
BAALTIS, a goddess among the Phfcniciaml*.
Some suppose that she was the same with the
Diana of tne Greeks.
BAAL-ZEBUB, Beei^zebub, or Belzebub,
[suf^S^S, i.e. the lord of flies,] the idol, or god
of th^ Ekronites -In Scripture he is called the
Prince of Devils. His name, the God-fly, some
think was a mock appellation bestowed on him
by the Jews. But this seems not very probable,
as his worshipper, Ahaziah, called nim by this
name. Perhaps Beelaebub tras characterised like
the god Achor, who was worshipped at Cyrene,
as the preserver from flies. He had a &mous
temple and oracle at £kron. Ahaziah, king of
Israel, being dangerously hurt, sent to this deity
to enquire if he should be cured. The Jews
accuse our Saviour of driving out devils in the
name of Beelzebub, their prince. Scaliger derives
the name of this deity from Baalim-sebahim,
which signifies the lord of sacrifices.
BAAL-ZEPHON n mentioned in Exodus
xiv. 2, as opposite to Pihahiroth, during the
peregrinations of the Israelites in the wilderness ;
but whether it was a fortified place, built to
guard the frontier of Egypt, at the north point of
the Red Sea, or an idol erected in that statin,
commentators are not agreed. Perhaps UHb
parties mav be right An idol of Baal might be
set up in tlie fort, which would naturally take its
same from the deity.
BaAN (John d'), a Dutch portrait painter,
bom in 1^33, and died in 1702. He resided
some time in Eagland, under the patronage of
Charles II. His son James, who died in 1700,
at the age of twenty-seven, was little inferior to
his fether in portrait painting, and superior to
him in some other branches.
BAANITES, the followers of one Baanes,
who adopted and disseminated the Manichean
notions in the early part of the ninth sentury.
BAAR, mountains in the duchy of Wirtera-
bui^h, which are a pait of that long range called
Abenow, or Abneba.
BAARAS, Baharas, or Bacbaras, an ex-
traordinary kind of root, said to grow in the
valley of Baaras, near Mount Lebanon, whence
the name. By the account which Jose3[>hus gives,
it seems to be a sort of vegetable phosphorus ;
for he represents it as of a flame color, emitting
rays of light in the night, and disappearing by day.
BAARD, in old recoids, a transport ship.
BAART (Peter),, a Dutch poet of the
eighteenth century, author of 'Georgics,' descri-
bing« the niral pleasures and occuptaions of his
Vox.. III.
countrymen, and of a poem entitled the * Triton
of Friesland.'
BAASHA NtrPS, Heb. i.e. pressing together,
the son of Ahijah, and the third king of .Israel,
after its separation from Judah ; one of the many
monarchs who have waded through blood to a
throne. I Kings xv. and xvi. He died A. M.
3013, in the twenty*fourth year of his reign.
BAAT, in the language of the Siamese, answer-
ing to tical in that of the Chinese, denotes a
weight and coin current in those kingdoms, and
weighs about half an ounce.
BABA, a town, district, and river of South
America, in the province of Guayaquil, and
kingdom of Quito. The district is twenty-two
leagues in extent ; it abounds in cacoa ; and its
population amounts to 4000 souls.
Baba, an impostor, who appeared among the
Turks in 1240. He maintained that there is but
one God, and that he was his messenger. He
drew considerable attention, and vrith a number
of followers overran Natolia. His success, how-
ever, vras short-lived, for he was defeated, and
his sect sunk into obscurity.
BABA-DAGI, or Baba-tagh, see Babatagii.
BABAHOYO, a town, district, and river of
Soutli America, in the province of Guayaquil,
and kingdom of Quito, in lat. 1° 4r S. There
is a custom-house and royal arseaal in the town^
which is a great mart for trade. The district is
extremely level andj fertile, and abounds in cat-
tle. Cotton, rice, soap, tobacco, cocoa, and
fruits ar9 the principal exports.
BABANOlV, or Balbakon, a town of the
kingdom of Cambodia, on the river Cambodia.
Long. 105** 10' E. lat, 12^ 17' N.
BABA-TAGH, a laroe town in the district of
Silistria, in European Turkey, situated between
two mountains, it has a college, five mosques,
and 10,000 inhabitants. Here have generally
been the head quarters of the Grand Vizier s
army in the wars between Turkey and Russia.
I^yazM I. peopled it with a Tartarian colony,
and its name (Saint's Hill) is derived from the
tomb of Sar) Saltic Bey, a celebrated Tartarian
saint, buried on one of ^e neighbouring moun-
tains. This mountain-TOOs was the £^r^ (thf
neck) ef the Greeks. Ptolemy places it in lat.
11^
BAjB-BAHA, one of the richest districts of
Abyssinia, according to Mr. Bruc^, about twelve
miles from the river Baha, and near the lake
Tzana. This on the south, and Woggora on the
north, are the two granaries that supply the re5t
of the kingdom. It contains a number of small
villages ; m which the queen and many of her
relations have their bouses and possessions.
These are all surrounded with kolquall trees, as
large in the trunk as those of the province of
TigT^, but less beautifiil.
BABBLE, v. & n. s.^k Germ. babbeUn ; Fr.
Bab'ler, n.f. (babUUr. Probably re-
Bab'bling, a. & n. A^ceives its origin from
Bab'blement. n. s. 3 the tower of Babel,
when the confusion of tongues took (dace, and
marks a superfluous and improper use of speech.
To talk vritnout reflection and without meaning,
noisy repetition; to betray secrets ; to talk much
Z
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BAB
338
BAB
with unintelligible rapidity. Babbling^, among
hunters, is when the hounds are too busy after
Uiey have found a good scent. It is used figura-
tively to indicate mere senseless sounds.
He told me mexyly, yt logicke be reckoned but ba!h
Ut^e mnsicke to serae for imgen.
Sir Thoma$ Mortis Workt.
Joba bad eonned over a catalogue of bard -words ;
tbeee he used to hahUe indilEeiently in all compaaiee.
Arbuihmoi,
The apoatle bad no looker pvoposed it to the mas*
ters at Athens, but he himself -was ridiculed as a
balMer, Rogtn,
This is mere moral haJbhU, 3fiUon»
Deluded all tbb while with ragged notions and
btMlemanU, while the expected worthy and delightful
knowledge. U.
With volleys of eternal haMU
And damour more unanswerable. HuHbrat,
To stand up and bahUe to a crowd in An alehouse
till silence is commanded by ihe stroke of a hammer,
is as low an ambition as can taint the human mind.
Utterers of secrets be from thence debarred
Bahblen of felly. Faerie Queeiie.
We hold our time too precious, to be spent
With such a hahbier. Shahpeare,
The habbU»g echo mocks the hounds. Id.
The bahbUng echo had descried his face.
AddiMn.
There at the foot of yonder nodding beech.
That wreathes ito old fantastic root so high.
His listless length at noontide would he stretch.
And pore upon the brook that habbUi by. Orojf,
BA'BE,n.«. -J Welsh teAon; Dutch haih-
Ba'bt^ n. $, I haerd ; Ital. bambino ; an in-
Ba'bish^ ad, ^fiuit ; a child of either sex in
Ba'bery. n. f . J its earliest stage of being.
Childish, belonging to iijfancy, applied to dolls
and images and playthmgs, Oie playthings of
chitdren, and the finery that pleases them.
Who all that piteous storie which befell
About the -woefijl couple which were slaine.
And theire young bloodie beUbe to him gan tell
With whom whiles he did in the wood remaine
His horse poiloyned was by subtitle traine.
Faerie Q^eem.
Those that do teach your babee
Do it with gentle means, and easy tasks.
Shahpaare,
Come, poor bahe :
1 have heard, (but not believed,) the spirits of the
dead.
Hay walk again : if such thing be, thy mother
Appeared to me Isst night \ for ne'er was dream
So like awaking. /d.
Command my best obedience to' the queen.
If she dares trust me -with her litde babe,
111 shoVt the king. U,
The bakjf beats the nnzae, and quite athwart
Goes all decorum. Id,
Sweet baheel who like the little playful fawns.
Were wont to trip along these verdant lawns.
The archduke saw that Perkin would prove a run-
nagate ; and it was the part of children to fall out
about ftoWet. Boopm.
If he be bashful and will soon blush ;
They call him a babiA and ill brought up thing.
Aecham,
So have I seen trim books
With golden leares and painted babery.
Of rilly boys, please unacquainted sight. Sidney,
BABELy a city and tower undertaken to be
built by the whole human race soon after die
flood, and remarkable for the miraculous frus-
tration of the attempt by the confusion of
languages. See Babylon.
Bab£L, a town of Egypt, in the Delta, sup-
posed by D'Anville to be the ancient By bios.
It is forty miles north of Cairo.
Babel (St.), a small town of France, in Au-
▼ergne, department of the Puy de Dome, eight
miles nordi-east of Issoire, thirteen east of
Brioude.
BAB-EL-MANDEB, or Babelkandel, li-
tijcrally the gate of affliction, a promontoty and
strait at the southern extremity of the Red Sea,
about seven leagues broad; the strait forming the
communication between that sea and the Indian
Ocean. There is a mountain or island in the
middle of the strait, sometimes called EfMandel,
as well as Pef)m or Mehdnf, which divides the
strait into two parts, of which the eastern,
though narrowest, is most frequented, as it has
deep water, and is free from shoals. ^ It is at
most three geographical miles in width,' says
Bruce, ^ and has twen\y or thirty &thoms water/
lord Valentia and Niebuhr make the breadth of
the strait between Pertm and the Asiatic shore
the same as Bruce; between it and the coast
there are from fifteen to twen^ English miles.
His lordship observes, that * Perhn should be
kept close on the larboard side, in order to avoid
a aeep bay to the eastward of the eape, which
has been sometimes mistaken for the strait/
The wider or western channel is much ob-
structed by rocks and small islands. The Ara-
bian cape is in lat. 12'' 40" N., long. 43" 33' K
Niebuhr^s Reisebeschreibung, i. 448. Brace's
Travels, i. 361. Lord Valentia's Travels, ii. 13.
Vincent's Periplns, i. 1 1 1 . The island is said to
be 9bout five miles in circumference, barren and
scarcely inhabited.
BABEN, an island in the Indian Sea, about
eighteen miles long, by si< in breadth, sur-
rounded by some smaller ones. Long. tdffiZl'
E., lat r 41' S.
BABENHAUSEN, a maiket town in ihe
circle of ihe Iller, Bavaria, with two casdes, a
Latin school, and 1600 inhabitants. It is six-
teen miles S. E. of Ulm, twenty-six W. S. W. of
Augsburg.
BABGAUM, a town of Hindostan, in Dow-
latabad, twenty-two miles north of Poonah.
' BABI, a small island near the west coast of
Ceram, in the Eastern Seas. Long. 128" 3' E.,
lat. 3" 6' S. •
BABIC, or Barabeo, « town of Persia, si-
tuated in a fertile, uncultivated plain, towards d)e
north-west of the province of Kerman. It has
formerly been a fine city, but is now falting into
decay. Here are, however, four gates, from
each of which long streets lead to the market-
place in the centre^ and the dome over the
market-place, which is esteemed the largest in
Persia, is in complete preservation. Babic be-
ing at an equal distance from the cities of Ker-
man, Shiraz, and Yezd, was in former times a
great mart of commerce, the greater part of the
merchandise which was sent to the port of Gom-
broon, on the Persian gulf, passing through it.
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BAB
339
BAB
A Iieutenant-goTernor resides bei«/ under ihe
control of the prince governing Kerman. *rhe
avenues to the town are planted with ^it-trees,
and the gardens are said still to surpass those of
both Shiraz and Ispahan in beaut^ and taste.
Fruit of eveiy kind is in such profusion as to have
given occasion to the sayinff, that ' if all Persia,
except thu district, were a desert, Shvdir^ Babio
would supply it with fruit/
BABlliUS, an astrologer in the time of
Nero, who advised the emperor to put all th<
leadinc men of Rome to death, that he roif^ht
avert me danger which seemed to hang over bis
head, from the appearance of a hairy comet.
' Nero strictly followed this advice.
BABILIX), a river of South Amenca, in the
kingdom of Granada, which falls into ihe Ma.
dalena.
BABINGLEY, a village in the counter of
Norfolk, two miles ndrth-east from Castle Rising,
is only remarkable as being the place in which
the first Christian church in East Axiglia was
erected. Some hills in the vicinity are said to
be called Christian hills from this event
BABINGTON (Gervase), bishop of Wor-
cester, was bom in Nottinfffaamshire ; and sent
to Trinity College, Cambridge, of which he was
made fellow; and in 1578 was incorporated
A.M. at Oxford. .He, however, made Cam-
bridge the place of his residence, where he be-
came an eminent preacher; and being now D. D.
was made domestic diaplain to Henry, eaii of
Pembroke. In 1588 he was installed prebend
of Hereford, and in 1591 bishop of Landaff. In
1594 be was translated to the see of Exeter^ and
thence to Worcester in 1597. About this time
he was m^de queen's counsel for the marches of
Wales. He was a consideiable bene&ctor to the
library of the cathedral of Worcester, where he
was buried in May 1610. Historians agree that
he was ft learned and pious man, but his wri-
tings, like those of most of his contemporaries,
abound with puns and auaint expressions. His
works were printed botn in folio and quarfQ in
1^15 and 1637.
Babihctov fAnthony), one of the sufferers in
the cause of me unfortunate Mary, queen of
Scotland. He was bom of a good family in
Derbyshire, and inherited a plentiful fortune.
Havine di^ingnished himselt by his learning
and tsJents, he was recommendea bv the arch-
bishop of Glasgow to the queen ; asid being na-
turally of an ardent temper, he resolved to
devote himself to her service. Accordingly, he
not only entered into the scheme of an enthu-
siastic priest named Ballard, for dethroning
Elizabeth, but when one Savage undertook to
assassitiate ihe English queen, he agreed in the
design, and engi^ed five other gentlemen as ac-
complices. But, after their design was rioe for
execution, Pollv, one of the associates, disco-
vered the whole to Walsingham, secretary of
state; and they were arrested, condemned, and
executed, in 1586.
BAB<£UF (Francis Noel), an active man in
the French revolution. From a footman he had
risen to a lawver's clerk, and afterwards became
attorney. When the revolution commenced, he
a^med the name of Gracchus, and eiig?.ged in
conducting an incendiary journal, entiUra The
Tribune <n the People; but his concern in a
conspiracy being discovered, he was condemned
to be guillotined, and the execution was only
prevented by his killing himself in prison, in
1797.
BABOLISA, called also Babolitzna Ca-
B£THNA, a town of Hungary, or rather of Scla-
vonia, seated near the river Drave.
BABOLSCA, or Babolza, a market town of
Hungary, in the county of Shumeg and circle of
Canischa. It was formerly fortified, and fiom
the middle of the sixteenth to the end of the se-
venteenth century, alternately in the possesnoii
of the Turks and Imperialists. It is now inha-
bited by Croats, and is twenty-two miles S.S.E.
of Canischa,
BABOON, in zoology, the name of that tribe
of apes (simia, Linneus) which have short tails,
comprehending the speqies apedia, sphinx, mor-
mon, maimon, and porcaria. They have very
muscular bodies, lu the Engli^ language
baboon has the same application as baboiun in
the French, of which many accounts have been
given by Bufibn, Sonnini, and others. Virey
observes, that they are a ferocious and very las-
civious kind of ape, found in manyparts of the
old woild, and especially in Africa, llieir muzzle,
he remains, is a little lengthened in the same
manner as that of a dog, and on that account
they have sometimes been called synges cyanoce-
phales, and also maggots. They live on fruits,
seeds, roots, leaves, insects, &c. In a state of
captivity they are altogether imtameable, are
fond of wine and spirituous liquors; and the fe-
males, it is assertea, have an antipathy to the
fiiir sex, as the males have against men. See
Simia.
^BABOUIN A MusBAU de Cbiev, of Sonnini
(edit Bu£fon), in zoology, the simia hymadryas,
linnsus; and dog-faced ape, Pennant.
BABOUR (;Sultan), tlie founder of the Mogul
dynasty in Hindostan, was descended from the
great Timor, or Tamerlane, and was sovereign of
Cabul. While engaged in an expedition against
Samarcand, he was deprived of his hereditary
dominions, and reducea to the utmost extremity
,by the Usbecks. But on recovering his fortunes,
he invaded Hindostan, and in 1525 overthrew
and killed sultan Ibrahim, the hist Hindoo em-
peror of the Patau or Afghan race, and firmly
established himself/ on the throne. He died in
1530. Ferishta, a Persian historian of Hin-
dostan, informs us, that this prince wrote an
elegant hlstoijr of his own life^ and is noted as .
the fijfdt Indian sovereign who had the roads
he travelled measured af&r him.
BABIIAHAM, formerly Badburham, a small
place in the county of Cambridge, four miles
north-west of linton. The manor of this place
was formeriy in the possession of Sir Horatio
Pallavicini, collector of the Pope^s dues in the
reign of queen Mary ; and who, on Elizabeth's
accession, detained the money he had gathered.
Lord Orford, in his Anecdotes of Painting, cites
the following epitaph on him, from Sir John
Crew :—
Z 3
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340
BABYLON.
Here lies Horatio Palavaxene,
Who robbed the Pope to lend the quccnc.
He WM a thiefe — a thiefe j thon lycst :
For what? he robbed but Antichrist.
Hym Death with besom swept from Bab'rah
Into the bodom of old Abraham;
Bat then came Hercale* with his rlub
And struck him down to'Behebub.
Sir Horatio was one of the commanders against
the Spanidi Armada, and his portrait is pre-
served in the tapestry of the House of Lords.
The register of this parish records the marriage
of his widow with Sir Oliver Cromwell, the
Protector^s uncle.
BABREA, a mountainous district in the
province of Gujrat, situated on the peninsula
f>etween the Gulfs of Cambay and Cutch. It
contains many strong holds and various small
rivers, which flow into the Gulf of Cambay.
Here is the famous fortress of Chitpour and the
temple of Diu. It is subject to the Mahrattas.
BABU, a smail island in the Gulf of Siam,
near Cambodia. Long. 103'' 48^ K, lat. 9"" 42^ N.
BABUAN*, a small island, said to be about
twenty-five miles in circumference, which is the
most northerly of thePhilippines. Long. 1 23* E.,
lat. 19''43'N.
BABUYANES Isles, a number of islands off
the north coast of Luzon, the principal Philip-
pine, between the nineteenth and twentieth de-
grees of north latitude. The largest are named
Babuan, Calayay, Dalupiri, Camiguen, and
Fuga, and are from twenty to thirty miles each
in circumference. Besides these, there are
many small rocky islets. Although so flair north,
the Babuyanes isles are much infested by the
Siratical cruisers of Magindarao. Their pro-
uctions are v^ax, ebony, bananas, cocoas, and '
plantains.
BABU'L-ALWAB. See Derbend.
BA'BU'L-BAWA'DI (Gates of the Dcaerts),
or Mahrah, a province on the south coast of
Arabia, so named from its being the southern
entrance to the great central deserts. See
Mahrah.
BABYLON.
BABYLON, Heb. Babel, in ancient geogra-
phy, the capital of Babylonia or Chaldea, sup-
posed to have been situated in N. lat. 33°, £. long.
42° 46' 30" ; or, according to the observations of
M. Beauchamp (Mem. Ac. Sc. Paris, 1787),
N. lat. 320 34'^ ^nd E. long. .44° 12' 30" upon
the river Euphrates, and considered for many
ages the wonder of the world. The few vestiges
that yet remain of its ancient ruins are placed by
blast geographical writers, at a town called Hilla
or Elugo, about fifteen leagues south-west of
Bagdad. It was on or near Uie site of this city,
that the descendants of Noah, according to the
Hebrew text, 101 years after the flood; or 531,
according to the Septuagint, began to build a
city and tower, the top of which should reach to
heaven ; an impious attempt, which ended in the
confusion of their language, and their dispersion
oyer the face of the whole earth. See Genesis,
xi. 1 — 9. That before this period all mankind
spoke one language cannot be thought incredible,
or even improbable; for since the family of
Noah, the only one in the world, are known to
have dwelt together, we cannot suppose that any
material change could have been effected in their
language during a single century, or even the
period assigned |by the Septuagint calculation.
Besides which, numerous histories and traditions
still current in Asia, though dashed with super-
stition and fable, allude to the same events : all
tending to confirm, in the most unequivocal
manner, the main strokes and outlines of the
Mosaic narrative. Josephus ascribes the build-
ing of the tower to Nimrod (See Bochart's Pha-
leg. i. 10.), whose name is also affixed to some
of the remains of Babylon. Abydenus (as quoted
by Eusebius, Prspar. Evangel, ix. 14.), observes,
that the first m^, contemning the power and
authority of the gods, and relying on their own
extraordinary strength, built a lofty tower, which
nearly reachpd the sky, in the place where Babel
then stood. But the winds coming to the assist-
ance of the gods, overturned the whole mass
upon the heads of its builders, and from its ruins
Babylon was afterwards built. The gods also at
the same time caused mankind, who had beibre
all spoken the same language, to speak hencefor-
ward in different tongues. Plato also, (Polit.
p. 272. ed Steph.), relates a similar tradition,
wherein he says, that in the golden age, one
common language was spoken both by men and
beasts, but that Jupiter confounded their tongues
as a punishment for their insolence in claiming
eternal youth and immutability. After the confii*
sion of languages, the people/ left off to build the
city', savs Moses ; but they must afterwards have
resumed it, for in the next verse he adds, that
the name of it was called Babel, which signifies
confusion, alluding to the confusion in the lan-
guages of its builders. It is afterwards mentioned
as the chief city of the kingdom of Nimrod, the
son of Cush, from which period no further ac-
count is given of it in the sacred writings, till the
captivity of Israel under Nebuchadnezzar, 730
years before the commencement of the Christian
era, when it was so heightened and improved as
to be called * great Babylon,' < the glory of king-
doms,' * the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency,'
' the golden city,' * the lady of kingdoms.* See
the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Daniel. The
Greeks have nevertheless, supplied this 1515
years interval of silence, and nave given a com-
plete history of the Assyrian and Babylonian em-
pires, together with a magnificent sketch of their
renowned metropolis in the zenith of its sloiy
under Semiramis, Nebuchadnezzar, and others.
The learned Bochart connects the sacred and
profane histories together, by supposing the city
of Babylon, and the tower of Belus, mentioned
by the Greek historians, to be the same as those
related by Moses.
Babylon, according to the concurrent testimony
of the ancients, was seated on a plain (the plain
of Shinar in Scripture), and surrounded by
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341
water. The places about Bkbylon, as Abydenus
informs us, trom Megasthenes, (Euseb Pnep.
Evang. 1. ix. c. 41. p. 41. p. 457.), are said from
the beginniug to have been overwhelmed with
waters, and therefore called the sea ; according
to the language of Isaiah, xxi. 1. ' the burden of
die desert of the sea.' Jeremiah calls the city
itself a mountain, li. 25, on account of the great
hei^t of its walls, towers, palaces, and temples^
which, according to Berosus, as quoted by Jose-
phus (ubi infra), resembled mountains. The
founding of this metropolis is attributed by some
historians to Semiramis, by others to Belus, who
is thought by many to have been the same with
Nimrod already alluded to, but was indebted for
• its chief improvements to Nebuchadnezzar, his
son Evilmerodach, and his widow Nitocris.
Nebuchadnezzar repaired, enlarged, and embel-
lished it to such a degree, that he may be said to
have built it, according to his own vain-glorioiis
lK>ast, Dan. iv. 30. Nor is this asserted only
in Scripture, but likewise by heathen authors.
Megastn^nes, Berosus, and Abydenus. (See
Josephus, Antiq. 1. x. c. 11. sect i. t. i. p. 536.
€d. Haverc.) Eusebius, (Praep. Evangel. 1. ix. c.
41. p. 457. ed. Vgeri.) The chief works of Ba-
oylon, mentioned by historians, were the prodi-
gious walls of the city, the temple of Belus, Ne-
buchadnezzar's palace, the hanging gardens, the
bank of the river, the artificial lake, and the canals.
This city was surrounded with walls, in thick-
ness eighty-seven feet, in height 350, and in
compass 480 furlongs, or sixty of our miles ;
according to Herodotus, who was himself at Ba-
bylon ; and most writers give us the same dimen-
sions. Diodorous Siculus, however, diminishes
the circumference of these walls very considera-
bly, and takes somewhat from the height of them ;
though he seems to add to their breadth, by say-
ing, that six chariots might drive abreast thereon ;
while Herodotus writes, that one chariot only
might turn upon them; but then he places build-
ings on each side of the top of these walls, which,
according to him, were bui one story high ; which
may pretty well reconcile them together. Those,
who give the height of these walls but at fifty
cubits, speak of them only as they wbre after the
time of Darius Hystaspis, who had caused them
to be beaten down to that level. The ground
plan of these walls formed an exact square, each
side of which was 120 furlongs, or fifteen miles,
in length; and they were all built of large
bricks cemented together with bitumen, which in
a short time grows harder than the brick and
stone which it cements. Without the walls, the
city was encompassed with a vast ditch, filled
with water, and lined witn bricks on both sides ;
and, as the earth that was dug out of it served to
make the bricks, we may judge of the depth and
largeness of the ditch from the height and thick-
ness of the walls. In the whole compass of the
wall there were 100 gates, that is, twenty-feve on
each of tiie four sides, all of solid brass. Between
every two of these gates, at proper distances, were
three towers; four more at the four comers of
this great square, and three between each of these
comers and the next gate on either side ; and
each of these towers was ten feet higher than the
walls, in those parts where towers were needful
for defence. For some parts nf the walls, being
upon a morass, and inaccessible by an enemy,
they stood in no need of towers. Thus the whole
number of these towers amounted to more than
250. From the twenty-five gates in each side of
this square, thereof as a straight street, extending
to the corresponding gate in the opposite wall ;
whence the whole number of the streets must
have been but fifty ; but they were each about
fifteen miles long, twenty-five of them crossing .
the other twenty-five exactly at right angles.
Besides these whole streets, we must reckon four
half streets, which were but rows of houses facing
the four inner sides of. the wajls. These four '
half streets were properly the four sides of the
city within the walls, and were each of them
200 feet broad, the whole streets bein^ about
150 of the same. By this intersection of the
fifty streets, the city was divided into 676 squares,
each of four furlongs and an half on each
side, or two miles and a quarter in compass.
Round these squares on every side towards the
streets stood the houses, all three or four stories
in height, beautified with all manner of orna-
ments: and the space within each of these
squares was void, or taken up by gardens, &c.
A branch of the Euphrates divided the city into
two, running througn the midst of it, from north
to souUi, over which, in the middle of the city,
was a bridge, a furlong in length, or, as some say,
no less than five furlongs, though but thirty feet
broad. At each end of this bridge were two
palaces ;' the old palace on the east side, the
new one on the west Aide of the river; the
former of which took up four of the squares,
and the latter nine. The temple of Belus, which
stood next to the old palace, took up another ot
the squares. That part or half or the city on
the east side of the nver was the- old town, and
the other on the west was added by Nebuchad-
nezzar; both being included wiUiin the vast
square bounded by the walls. It is supposed,
that Nebuchadnezzar, who had destroyed tne old
seat of the Assyrian empire, Nineveh, proposed
that this new onie should rather exceed it ; and
that it was in order to fill it with inhabitants
that he- transported such numbers of the captives
from other countries hither. But notwithstanding
his great conquests it was never wholly inha-
bited; for, Cyms removing the seat of the
empire soon after to Shushan, Babylon fell by
degrees to decay. So far was it from being
finished according to its original design, that,
when Alexander came to Babylon, Q. Curtius
tells us, * no more than ninety furlongs of it
were then built ;' which can only be understood
of so much in length ; and, if we allow tlie
breadth to be as much, no more than 8100 square
furlongs were then built upon ; but the whole
space within the walls contained 14,400 square
furiongs; and therefore there must have been
6300 square furlongs remaining unbuilt, which,
Curtius tells us, were ploughed and sown. Be-
sides this, the houses were not contiguous, but
built with a void space on each side.
The next great work of Nebuchadnezzar was
the temple of Belus. The wonderful tower,
hovrever, that stood in the middle of it, was not
his work, but was built many ages before, beinijf
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342
BABYLON.
the &111011S tower of Babel, as is commoDly sup-
posed. This is said to have been oomp<Mied of
eight pyramidal ones ndsed above one another^
aiMi is stated by Herodotus to have been a fur-
long in hei^t ; but as there is an ambiguity in
his expression, it has been disputed whether
each ot the towers, was a furlong in length, or
the whole of them taken together. Even on the
latter supposition,, it must have exceeded the
highest w the Egyptian pyramids by 179 feet,
though it fell short of its breadth at the basis by
tl^irty-three. The way to go up was by stairs on
the outside round it ; whence it seems most likely
that the whole ascent w^, by the benching in,
dmwn by a sloping line nom the bottom to the top
eight times round it ; and that this made the ap-
pearance of eight towers, one above the other.
In thi^e different compartments or stones were
magnificent rooms, with arched roohf supported
by pillars, forming parts of the temple when the
tower was consecrated, those of the uppermost
story being thought most sacred. Over the
entire top was an observatory. Diod.' Sic. 1. ii. ;
and Calisthenes, the philosopher who accom-
panied Alexander in the conquest of Babylon,
tbund astronomical observations which carried up
the account as high as the 115th year after the
flood, or B. C. 2334, and fifteen years from the
building of the tower of Babel. Till the times
of Nebuchadnenar, it is thought that, this tower
constituted the whole of the temple of Belus;
but he made great additions, bv vast edifices
round it, in a square of two furlongs oo every
side, and a mile in circam£eience; thns exceeding
the square of the temple' of Jerusalem by 1800
feet. On the outside of these buildings was a
wall, which enclosed the whole ; and, from the
regularity with which the city was marked out,
it is supposed, that this wall was equal to the
square wherein it stood, and so is concluded to
have been two miles and an half in circum-
ference. In this w^dl were several gates leading
into the temple, all of solid brass. In the temple
were several images of massy gold, one of them
forty feet in height. The whole weight of its
statues and decorations, according to Diodorus Si-
culus, amounted to above 5000 talents in gold,
above twenty-one millions of our money : an
equal sum in treasure, utensils, and ornaments,
not mentioned, is allowed for.
Next to this temple, on the east side of the
river, stood the old psdace of the kings of Baby-
lon, which was four miles in circumference, and
exactly opposite to it, on the other side of the
liver, was the new one built by Nebucfaadnexzar,
eight miles in circumference. The tower or
temple stood till the time of Xerxes. But that
prince, on hisv return from the Grecian expe-
dition, having first plundered it of its inmiense
wealth, demolished the whole, and laid it in
ruins. Alexander, on his return to Babylon
from his Indian expedition, proposed to rebuild
it, and make it tne seat of his empire, and
even employed 10,000 men to clear away the
rubbish. But his death happening soon after, a
stop was put to all further proceedings in that
design.
Nothing was more wonderful at Babylon than
the hancping gardens, which Nebu(
made in compUraent to his wife Amyitis ; who
being a Mede, and retaining a strong inclination
for the mountains and forests of her own country,
was desirous of having something like them at
Babylon. They are said to have contained a
square of four plethra, or 400 feet, on each side;
and to haice consisted of terraces one above
another, carried up to the height of the wall of
the city, the ascent from terrace to terrace h&n%
hj steps ten foet wide. The whole pile coo-
sisted of substantial arches upon arches, and was
strengthened by a wall surrounding it on CTerv
side, twenty-two feet thick. Tlie floors on each
of them were laid in this order : first, on the
tops of the arches was a pavement of stones
sixteen feet long, and four feet broad ; oyer t)iis
a layer of reeds, mixed virith a great quantity of
bitumen; over this were two courses of brick,
closely cemented together with plaster; and
over all these thick sheets of lead, and on diese
the earth or iLould of the garden. Upon
the uppermost of these terraces was a reservoir,
supplied with water from the river. The other
worKs attributed to Nebuchadnenar by Bcrosus
and Abvdenus, were the banks of the river, the
artificial canals, and the great artificial lake said
to have been sunk by Semiramis. The canals
were cut out on the east side of the Euphrates,
to convey its waters, when il overflowed iu
banks, into the Tigris, before they reached Baby-
lon. The lake was on the west side of Babylon;
and, according to the lowest computation, forty
miles square, 160 in compass, and ub depth thirty-
five fiaet, as Herodotus, or seventy*five, as Megas-
thenes will Have it ; the former, perhaps^ mea-
sured from the surface of the sides, and the latter
from the tops of the banks that were cast up
upoi) them. This lake was dug to receive the
waters of the river, wliile the bai£s were building
on each side of it But both the lake, and the
canal which led to it, were preserved after that
work was completed, being found of great use,
not only to prevent idl orerflowings, but to keep
water all the year, as a common reservoir, to be
let out, on proper occasions, by sldices, for the
improvement of the land. The banks were built
of brick and bitumen, on both sides of the river,
to keep it within its channel ; atid extended on
each side throughout the whole length oi the city,
and even farther, according to some writers.
Within the dty thqr were built firom the bottom
of the river, and of the same thickness with the
walls of the city itself. Opposite to each street,
on either side of the river, was a brasen gate in
the wall, with stairs leading down from it to the
river : these gates were open by day, and shut
by night. Berosns, Megasthenes, and Abydenus,
attribute all these works lo Nebuchamaezzar ;
but Herodotus tells us, the bridge, the banks,
and the lake, were the work of the qneen Nito-
cris already alluded to, who may have fbushed
what Nebuchadnezzar left imperfect. Such is
the description ancient histonans give of this
dty ; which, if the accounts are not examrated,
must have exceeded every specimen of human
grandeur that has yet appeared. Many of the
modems, however, are of opinion that these des-
criptions are exaggerated ; although it is certain
that few other arguments can be buought against
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BABYLON,
343
the reality of them, tlian that ^e do not now see
siinilar designs executed.
The taking of Babylon by CyniB^ as pi^pbe-
cied in the scriptaies, fonns one of the most
striking and imoortant events in Uie variable
page of ancient nistory. War had commenced
between die Medes and Persians, and Babylo-
nians, in the reign of NerigUssar, apd had been
carried on with very bad saccess on the side of
the kutt named people. Cyrqs, who commanded
the Median and Persian army, having subdued
the several nations inhabiting U>e great continent
from the Sjgeaa sea to the Euphrates, bent his
march towards Babylon. Nabonadius, hearing
of it, immediately advanced against him. In the
engagement whidi ensued, the Babylonians were
deieated ; and the king, retreating to his metro-
polis, was blocked up and closely besieged by
Cyrus. But the reduction of the dty was no com*
mon enterprise. Its walls and towers were well
manned, and the place stored with all provisions
for twenty years. Cyrus, despairing of being
able to take it by storm, caused a line of circum-
vallation to be drawn quite round it, with a large
and deep ditch; reckoning, that if all communi-
cation with the country were cut off, the besieged
would be obliged to surrender through femine.
That his troops might not be too mucb CEUigued, .
ho divided his army into twelve bodies, appoint-
ing each body its month to guard the trendies;
but tiie besieged, looking upon themselves to be
out of danger, insulted' him from the ramparts,
and despised all his efforts. Cyrus having spent
two whole years before Bal>yion, without making
any progress in the siege, at la^ thought of the
following stratagem, which put him in possession
of it He was' informed that a great annual
solemnity was to be held at Babylon; and that
the inhabitants on that occasion were accustomed
to spend the whole night in revelry. On this
night he accordingly sent a strong detachment to
the bead of the canal leading to the great lake,
with orders at a certain time, to break down the
bank which was between the lake and the canal,
and to torn the whole current into the lake. At
the same time he appointed one body of troops
at the pkice where the river entered the city, and
another where it came out; ordering them
to march in by. the bed of the river as soon as
they should find itfordable.* Towards the even-
ing he opened the head of the trenches on both
sides of the river above the ci^y, that the water
might discharge itself into them; by which means,
amd the breaking down of the great dam, the river
was soon drained. Then the two bodies of troops
entered the channel; the one commanded by
Gobryas and the other by Gadates* and finding
the gates left open, they penetrated into the
heart of the city without opposition. Those who
were in Uie palace opening the gates to know
the cause of this confusion, the Persians rushed
in, took the palace, and killed the king as became
out to meet them. Cyrus took possession of
Babylon, in the name of his uncle Cyaxares II.
called in scripture Darius the Mede : A. M. 3468.
The manner in which this city was taken is
remarkable, from its coinddence with tlie pro-
phecy of that event in Isa. xlv. 1,2. * The
two-leaved gates' were literally opened before
him, and the gates^were ' not to be shut,' &c. On
these praphecles, see bishop Newton, bishop
Lowth on Isaiah, &c.
Widi Babylon fell the empire of Babylonia,
aecordfiog to the striking language written on the
wall of &e palace the same night in which the
city was taken, and interpreted by the prophet
Daniel ; * Mene, God hath numbered thy king-
dom and finished it* See Dan. ch. v.
The history of the ruins of this great city is all
which we have now to present to the reader. An
insurrection, under Darius Hystaspes, B.C.
500, provoked that prince to overthrow the walls
and gates which had been left by Cyrus. We
also learn from a fragment of Dtodorus Siculus,
produced by Valesius, and (torn him quoted by
Vitringa, Comment, in Jesaiam, ch. xiii. vol. 1,
p. 421, that one of the kings of Parthia sent
many of the Babylonians, under the most trivial
pretences, into slavery ; burnt the forum, together
with some of the temples; and demolished the
best parts of the city, JB. C. 130 years. Diodo-
rus Siculus, \. ii. asserts, that in his time, B. C.
44, only a small part of it was inhabited, and
that the greater part of the space within the
lindent walls was tilled. Strakoo, who wrote
fourteen years after him, in his 1. xvi. p. 1073,
applies to Babylon what a comic poet, said of
Megalpolis in Arcadia : ' Tlie great oity is now
become a great desert,' ^^T^Jt H. N. 1. 6. ch.
XXX., publiSied A.D. 66y affirms that it was
reduced to solitude by Uie neighbourhood of
Seleucia. Pausanias, A.D. 153, says, Arcad.
ch. xxxiii. p. 668. ed. Kuhuii, * that d Babylon,
the greatest city the sun ever saw, nothing re-
mained but ^e walls.' Maximus Tyrius, Diss.
6., and Lucian, Eyriov, sive Contemplantes,
mention it as a neglected place; the latter inti-
mating that in a little time it would be sought
for and not be found, like Nineveh. Eusebius
has preserved an oration of Constantine the great,
in wnich that emperor states, that he himself was
upon the spot, and behdd the desolate and
miserable condition of the dty. St. Jerome in-
forms us, that about the close of the fourth cen-
tury, it was converted in^o a chase to keep wild
beasts in, for the diversion of the Persian kings ,
that all was in the utmost state of desolation,
except the brick walls, which were occasionally
repaired to prevent the animals from escaping ;
a circumstance which literally fiilfilled the pro-
phecy of Isaiah xiii. 21. Ilieron, Comment, on
isa. ch. xiii. ch. xiv. vol. 3. p. 111. 115. ed.
Benedict. Benjamin of Teudela, who Uved in
the twelfth centuiy , affirms, Itin. p. 66, that some
ruins were sUll to be seen of Nebuchadnezzar's
palace, into which travellers were afraid to enter
on account of the serpents and scorpions that
inhabited the interior. jPexeira, a Portuguese, is
cited by Bochart, and Prideaux, as giving a s;mi
lar account of this place ; variout otner travellers
have fiirtber confirmed them. Tavernicr says,
that at the division of the Tigris, a short dis-
tance from Bagdad, is the foundation of a dty
which, from its appearance, may have been a
league in compass; of which some of tlie walls
yet standing occupy suffident breadth to allow six
coaches to pass upon them abreast, and are com-
posed of bunit bricks ten feet square and three
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»44
BABYLONIA.
feet thick. This place is represented by the
chronicles of the coantiy as the seat of ancient
Babylon, lianway says, TraT. vol. 4. pt. 3. ch.
XX. p. 78, that the ruins of Babylon ne fifteen
leagues south of Bagdad, and are now so much
effaced by time, that scarcely an^ vestiges of
them remain to point out the original situation
of the city. Nicbuhr, who lived in the eighteenth
century, gave a description which has thrown a
Tight upon the question respecting the original
site of Babylon. But the most complete and
satisfactory account is given by Mr. Kich, who
resided for some time at the court of the Pasha
of Bagdad, on the part of the East India Com-
t>an^, and possessea greater advantages for snch
an mquiry than any of his predecessors. He
expected, he says, to have found on the site of
Bsfhylon both more and less than he actually met
with; more, because he supposed he should have
been able to have identified some of the ancient
buildings, which was quite impossible ; ' less
because he could form no conception of the pro-
digious extent of the whole mass of ruins, tneir
size, solidity, and the perfect state of some of
their parts.'
The traces of the city begin to show themselves
near Mohaeril, a khan or inn, nine mi^s from
Hillah, and nearly thirteen leagues south of Bag-
dad; the wliole country round exhibiting here
and there, detached masses of bricks and bitu-
men. Three mounds attract particular attention
by reason of their extraordinary magnitude.
Hillah, in lat. 32"" 28' N., stands east of the
Euphrates, and on that side also, with the excep-
tion of two small elevations, and one very con-
siderable ruin, are all the remains of any anti-
quity. Two miles above Hillah commences a
mound or enclosure of circular appearance,
thought to have been the ancient boundary wall.
It includes an area of two miles and a half one
way, and one mile and one third the other. On
the east side two straight dykes or vnlh of earth
run ^m north to south, parallel with the
Euphrates, and forming, togemer with the river
and the ends of the enclosure above-mentioned,
an oblong area, containing three principal mounds
of rubbish, which rise more than 100 feet above
the level of the river. The largest mass of these
ruins, called by the Arabs Makallebah, pro-
nounced by the natives Majellib^h, in English
tubvertedy is what Rennell and Petro della Valle
thought to be the tower of Belus. The figure
is oblong, and the sides which face the caidinal
points measure as follows : (he northern side 200
yards, the southern 219, the western 136, aad the
eastern 192; the highest elevation is 141 fieet.
On the south-east angle appeared something like
a turret, and in the rubbish were found whole
bricks, having on them inscriptions in Cvveatic
CHARACTERS, foT which see.
The next important min is called by the Arabs
El Kair, the castle, a mile to the south of the for-
mer ; consisting of vrails and piers, eight feet in
thickness, feeing, like the former, d£ cardinal
points. It is adorned with buttresses, pilasters,
and niches of fine burnt brick, laid in lime mor-
tar of extraordinary tenacity. Beneath this
building are subterranean caverns and passages,
which are still unexplored. In the neighbour-
hood is an atheleh, tamarix artieulata, considered
by the natives to have been coeval widi the dty.
Mr. Rich also found another curious min, west
of the river, and about six miles soudi-west of
Hillah, which he coincides with Niebuhr Reisse,
ii. 289, in considering as the celebrated tower of
Belus ; especially as the Arabs call it Birs Nem-
rild, tiie tower of Nimrod. (Tlie word birs,
which embarrassed Mr. Rich, being nothing else
than the Persian word boR, as Gesenius has
justly expressed it.) This celebrated remain,
which the Jews denominate the prison of Nebu-
chadnezzar, forms a mound of fine burnt bricks,
with inscriptions on them ; it is of oblong figure,
762 yards m circumference, and on the east side
about sixty feet in height ; but rises on the west
in a conical form to the height of 198 feet, the
base occupying a breadth of 28.
No wori£s 0? art yet discovered in these ruins
have been thought beautiful; but bricks and
gems, with inscriptions and sculptures similar to
those brought from Persepolis, evince the early
connexion between the Babylonian and Persian
empires. The inscriptions on the lower side of
the bricks were buried in a substratum of mortar,,
and not designed to be seen or read ; whence it
has been inferred, that they are charms or ma-
gical formulae to protect the building firom the
attack of demons and evil spirits. For a further
illustration of this subject we refer the reader to
Gesenius, in Ersch's Encyclo.; Rich's Memoir
on the Ruins of Babylon, 1818; Maurice's Ob-
servations on ditto, 1816; and the numerous
other works already quoted.
BABYLONIA.
BABYLONIA, or Cualdea, a renowned
kingdom of Asia, said to have been tlie most
ancient in the world, lying between thirty and
thirty-five degrees of north latitude, and bounded,
according to Ptolemy, on the north by Mesopo-
tamia, on the east by the Tigris, on the west by
Arabia Deserta, and on the south by the Persian
Gulf and part of Arabia Felix. Babylonia was
founded by Nimrod, the grandson of Ham, who
is also said to have built Nineveh, the ancient
capital of Assyria. Various have been the con-
jecturej of the teamed respecting these two king-
doms ; some supposing them to have been the
same, others imagining that Babylonia was an
early province of Assyria, although it is plain
from the best authorities, that they remained
perfectly distinct till the time of Ninas; who
naving conquered the former, reduced it to a
tributary dependance upon the latter; in which
state it continued till the effeminate reign of
Sardanapalus ; as did also Media, Persia, Egypt^
and other kingdoms At length Arbaces, gover-
nor of Media, taking advantage of that monarch's
indolence, threw off his allegiance by the advice
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BABYLONIA.
345
of Belesis, a Cbaldean priest ; Che Babylonians
followed the example, and with the assistance of
fhe Persians, ana other allies to whom the
tyranny of their Assyrian lords was equally
odious, attacked the empire on all sides, and
after a determined and obstinate perseverance,
overthrew the Assyrian army, besieged Sardana-
palus in his capital, and made themselves mas-
ters of the empire, A. A. C. 821.
The whole territory was then divided into
three kingdoms, viz. the Assyrian, Median, and
Babylonian. Arbaces retaining the supreme
authority, fixed his imperial residence at £cba-
laua, in Media; nominated Belesis to the go-
vernment of Babylon, and Phul to that of As-
syria; at the same time conferring upon them
the title of kings. Phul, who reigned during the
time of Menahem, king of Judah, re-established
and greatly enlarged the Assyrian empire ; and
at his death bequeathed the kingdoms of Assyria
and Babylonia to his two sons, the former to
Tiglath-Pileser, the latter to Nabonasser, in the
year B. C. 747.
From this period to the year 625, B. C. when
Kabopolasser began his reign, nothing remark-
able occurs in Uie history of Babylon, except
that Assaradinus, or Esarhaddon, brother and
successor of Senacherib, king of Assyria, took
possession of that kingdom, B. C. 680; and
that upon his death, B. C. 668, the kingdoms
were again separated. The Scripture mentions
, only five Assyrian kings, viz. Pul, Tiglath-Pile-
ser, Shalmaneser, Sennacherib, and Esarhaddon.
In the twentietli year of Nabopolasser, B. C.
606, in the reign of Chynalidan, the Sardanapa-
lus of the Greeks, Nineveh was taken and de-
stroyed, by the united armies of the Medes and
Babylonians, under Cyaxares and Nabopolasser,
when the seat of the empire was transferred to
Babylon. , This Nabopolasser, called also Nebu-
chadnezzar, was the father of the celebrated
Nebuchadnezzar, whose history is so famous in
the sacred Writings, and who commenced his
reign 604 years B. C. two years after the con-
quest of Tsineveh. This prince raised the em-
pire of Babylon to its highest pitch of glory, and
spread his dominions over a wide extent of tet-
ritory, stretching from Media on the north-east,
beyond Egypt on the south-west, and compre-
hending the several kingdoms of Assyria, Persia,
Syria, Phoenicia, Canaan, North Arabia, Idumea,
and Egypl. After Nebuchadnezzar, little is
known of Babylon, except the names of his suc-
cessors, Evil-Merodach and his queen Nitocris,
his son-in-law Neriglissar, Laborosoarchod, the
son of the latter, and Nabonadius, the son of
Evil-Merodach by Nitocris, Labynitus of Hero-
dotus, and Belshazzar of Scripture, in whose
.reign the city of Babylon was broken up, and
the empire extinguished by Cyrus tlie Persian,
' 538 years B. C. See Anc. Un. Hist. vol. iii.
p. 367—437. Rollings Anc. Hist. vol. ii. p. 1—
153.
In the early ages of the world. Babylonia was
knovni by the names of Shivar, or Shivaar, which
appellation it seems to have retained in the time
of Daniel. In the days of Abraham, a king of
Shivar is mentioned called Amraphel, who under
Chedarlaomer, king of El^, or Persia, made
war upon the Canaanites. The name of Baby-
lon is supposed to have been derived from the
tower of Babel, and that of Chaldsa from Chal-
deans or Chasdim. Joseph Ant. I. i. c. 7.
These names were not synonymous ; Babylonia,'
properly intending the country more immediately
m the neighbourhood of Babylon, and Chaldsea,
the territory lying south of the former, and reach-
ing downward as far as the Persian gulf. Both
nevertheless are commonly employed as general
names of the whole empire, and in that sense
are taken indifferently for each other, Chaldsa
being the name used in Scripture, and Babylonia
the most common in profane authors. Diodor,
Sic, 1. ii. c. 11, 12. Sirabo, 1. xvi. sub.ivit.
The chief cities of Babylonia were Babylon,
Vologsia or Vologesocerta, built by Vologesis,
king of the Parthians, on the Euphrates, about the
time of Vespasian ; Barsita, thought to be the
Borsippa of Strabo, sacred to Diana and Apollo,
and called Borisippeni, from its being the habi-
tation of a certain sect of the Chaldsans ; Idic-
cara, on the Euphrates and the borders of Arabia
Deserta; Coche, in the island of Mesene, formed
by the Tigris, Saura, and Pombeditha, of which
the situation is very uncertain.
The air of this country was for the most part
salubrious and temperate, though occasionally
subject to hot pestilential winds. The rains
according to Herodotus, were seldom, the defi-
ciency of which the inhabitants supplied, by
inventing wheels and engines for watering the
land, and also by cutting numerous canals by
which the waters of the Euphrates and Tigris
were carried in different directions, and diffused
over the whole surface of the empire. The
southern parts of Babylonia between the rivers,
have been compared to the Delta of Egypt, in
consequence of their natural and artificial islands,
and from their lying under the same parallel of
latitude. The region of Chaldaa between the
mountains of Babylon and the Euphrates, is also
well watered by lakes, rivers, and canals, which
greatly refresh every part of the surface, and its
produce, according to Herodotus, 1. i. c. 193, is
by this means rendered equal to a third part of Asia,
In short, it was one of the finest countries for
com in ^e world; and so luxuriant, that it
commonly yielded a hundred times more than
what was sown; and, in good years, it yielded
three hundred times more than it received. The
leaves of its wheat and barley were fi)ur inches
broad. 'Though I know,' says Herodotus, ' that
the millet and the sesaihe of that country grow
to the size of trees, I will not describe them par-
ticularly, lest those who have not been at Baby-
lonia should think my account fabulous.' They
had no oil but what they made from Indian com.
For producing fig-trees, vines, and olives, it was
not famous, but the country abounded with palm-
trees, which grew spontaneously ; and most of
them bore fruit, of which the inhabitants made
bread, wine, and honey. Some of them, as of
other trees, the Greeks called male ones. They
tied the fruit of the male to the trees which bore
dates ; that the mosquito, leaving the male,
might cause the date to ripen, by penetrating it ;
for without that assistance it came not to maturity.
Musquitoes breed in the male palms as in the wild
Digitized by
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346
BABYLONIA;
ftg-trees. The great feitilitv of the apil was owing,
in a great measure, to ue inundation3 of the
Euphrates and Tigris, in the months of June,
July, and August^ caused by the melting of the
snow upon the mountains of Armenia. From
the circumstance of its being low, flat, and well
watered, this country abounded with >^iUowp,
and was hence called the ^Valley of ^yillows,' as
Prideaux (Con. pt. i. b. i. p. 105,) after Bochart
corrects the text, Is. x. 5, 7. Israel, Ps. cxxxvii.
1, 3, sat c|own in their captivity by the rivers of
Babylon^ and hung their harps upon jLhe wil-
lows.
To facilitate the purposes of commerce the
Babylonians nd\igated the Euphrates, by means
of anall boats, nearlv round, constructed like
wicker baskets, which were covered with hides,
and guided by two oars, or paddles. These
boats had neither head nor stem ; but, being of
different sizes, were very useful for .carrying their
goods to Babylon; whence they returned by
wd, the strength of the current not allowing
them to return by water
The inhabitants of this country were divided,
not only into two great tribes, mbylonf^n^ and
Chaldeans, properly so called, but into nume-
rous inferior jects and divisions, three of which
are said to have fed up^n nothing but fish, dried
in the sun, formed into paste, and afterwards
baked in rolls as a substitute for bread.
Physicians are said to have been unknbwn in
Babylonia, to supply the want of which they car-
ried their sick into the public forum, to consult
those who passed by on the nature and cure of
their diseases. Every one who saw a sick per-
son was obliged to go to him to inquire into his
distemper, and tell him if he ever had the same
hipnselt, ox if he knew any one that had, and how
he was cured ; together with such other inquiries
as the sick person raig^t be induced to propose.
They embalmed their dead with honey ; and in
their monming imitated the Egyptians.
The laws of marriage among tne Babylonians
were peculiar, and were celebrated by the an-
cient writers for tfieir wisdom and utility. On
what ground the reader will determine. When
the girls were nu^riageable, they were ordered
to meet in a certain place, where the younff men
likewise assembled. They were then sold by the
public crier: but he first sold the most beautiful
one ; and then put up others to sale, according
to their degrees of beauty. The rich Babylonians
were emulous to carry off the finest women, who
were sold to the liighest bidders. But as the
young men who ^ere poor could not aspire to
have fine women, they were content to take the
more homely, with the money which was given
with them, from the produce of the sale of tlie
finest women! A fiuher could not give his
daughter in marriage as he pleased ; nor was he
who bought her allowed to take her home, witli-
out giving security that he would marry her
^ut, after the sale, if the parties were not agree-
able to each otlier, the law enjoined that the
money should be restored. The inhabitants of
any of their towns were permitted to marry wives
at these auctions. Such were the early customs o^
the Babylonians. But they afterwards made a
lawj which prohibited the inhabitants of different
towns to intermarry, and by which husbands wei<
punished for treating their wive^ ill.
> The Babylonians vere not without consider-
able taste for the arts. Of their music and poetry
we have certain records. They also excetled in
architecture and sculpture; also in the arts of
designing and casting meUds. Their manufac-
tories of rich embroideries, sumptuous vestments,
magnificent carpets, and fine linen, were famous;
9nd their purple constituted a considerable article
of eastern commerce. They yrere naturally a
commercial nation, for which their metropolis
afforded peculiar advantages ; seated, as it was,
in tlie midst of the world, and having, by means
of its two chief rivers, an easy access to the
northern and western parts ^ ai^d, by means of
the Persian Gulf, to the western.
At first, it is said, the Babylonians worshipped
only the sun and moon ; but they soon multi-
plied their divinities. They deified Baal, Bel, or
Belus, one of their kings, and Merodach-Bala-
dan. They also worshipped Veuus under the
name of Myletta She and Belus were the prin-
cipal deities of the Babyloniai>s. The practice
of sacrificing human victims is said to have been
fjrst introduced into the world by the Babyloni-
ans in the worship of these deities. They counted
their day from sun-rise to sun-rise. They
solemnised five days in the year with great mag-
nificence, and almost the same ceremonies with
which the Romans celebrated their Saturnalia;
and the Babylonians, generally speaking, were
very much addicted to judicial astrology. Their
priests, who openly professed that art, were
obliged to commit to writing all the events of
the lives of their illustrious men ; and on a
fancied connexion between those events and the
motions of the heavenly bodies, the principles
of their art were founded. They pretended that
some of • their boo|cs, in which tneir historical
transactions and revolutions wer^ accurately com-
pared with the courses of the stars, were
thousands of years old. • And although we may
dispute this assertion of their astrologers, it is
nevertheless, true tfa^ they had made a loi^
system of observations ; and that some of these
were extant in the days of Aristotle, which were
older than the Babylonish empire. See Astro-
nomy, Index.
The government of Babylon was despotic, and
the succession hereditary. Their potentates as-
sumed divine titles, and received divine honors,
which shoyirs the spirit a^d force of the Scripture
comparison between Babylon and jpapal Rome.
The ofiicers by whom the affairs ot government
were administered, were both civil and militaiy,
and were divided into three classes. The first
had the diarge of virgins, and of their dbposal
in marriai^e. Th^ were also to judge in ca^es
of adultejy, and all matter^ connect^ with the
rights and institutes of matrimony. The second
took cognizance of thefts ; and tne third of all
otlier crimes. The chief officers of the king's
household were the captain^ of the guard, who
executed the commands of the sovereign. The
prince of the eunuchs, who had the care of the
youth of the palace ; the prime minister, resem-
bling the Turkish vizier, who sat m the king's
gate to hear complaints and pass judgioetit;
Digitized by
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BAC 347
i and a masler ckf the magicians, whose province it
was to satisfy the king on all subjects that re-
( lated to fiitunt^.
. Of the cnminal laws of Babylon little is
i known, except that their punishments were cruel
j and capricious — as beheading, cutting to pieces,
^ turning the house of the criminal into a dung-
\ hill, Imming, &c. Such is the account com-
BAC
monly given by historians of this renowned and
ancient monarchy, one of the four great empires
of the earth, so frequently employed in the nand
of Providence as a scourge to execute the di^e
threatenings upon surrounding nations. Imis,
however, is but a general view, and for a more
detailed description, we refer the reader to the
authorities already quoted.
Babylon is a term employed in the Scriptures,
fiarticnlarly in the first epistle of St. Peter, and
the book of Revelation, to designate a great ene-
m^ to the Christian faith ; and is generally ap-
plied, by Protestants, to the Roman Catholic
churdi; which, from her pride, oppressive and
persecuting spirit, but chiefly from ner idolatry,
Dears great resemblance to Babylon. Whoever
reads the sixth chapter of Baruch, and com-
pares it with the history of the papal apostacy,
will see theiustice and. force of tne application.
See also Wmh^t Paraphrase, vol. ii. p. 661,
and 753.
Babylonia Cura, in astrology, the art of
casting nativities.
BABYLONIAN, Babylonius» ^ used, in
ancient writers, for an astrologer, or any thing
relating to astrology.
BABYLONICA. See Babylonics.
Babylon icA Texta, a rich sort of weavings,
or hangings, denominated from the cit^ of Baby-
lon, where their practice of interweaving divert
colors in the hangings first obtained. Hence
also Babylonic garments, Babylonic skins, Baby-
Ionic carpets, housings, &c.
BABYLONICS, Babylonica, in literary
history, a fragment of the ancient history of the
mrorld, ending at 267 years before Chnst; and
attributed to Berosus, a priest of Babylon, about
the time of Alexander. The Babylonics are
sometimes cited in ancient writers by the title of
Chaldaics. They are generally consonant with
Scripture, whence the author is usually supposed
to have consulted the Jewish writers. Berosus
speaks of ap universal deluge, an arlc, &c. He
reckons ten generations between the first man
and the deluge ; and marks the duration of the
seyeral generations by saroi, or periods of 223
lunar months ; which, reduced to years,' differ
not much from the chronology of Moses. Only
a few imperfect extracts are now remaining of
the work; preserved chiefly by Josephus and
Syncellus. Annius of Viterbo, to supply the
loss, forced a complete Berosus !
BABYLONII NuMERi, Babylonican num-
bers, or the computation of astrologers.
BABYROUSSA, in loology, a synonyme of a
species of sus. It is the homed hog of Grew ;
porcus indicus babyroussa dictus of Ray; and
baby-roussa of Bunon. In the arrangement of
the Frendi naturalists, it belongs to the genus
cochons and order pachydermes. See Sus.
BAC, or Back, in brewing or distilling, a
large flat tub, or vessel, wherein the wort is put
to stand and oool. There is a branch of trade
called back-making, for fiirabhing these vessels.
Bac, in navigation, is used for a praam, o^
ferry-boat. See Back.
BACA, an ancient valley in Palestine. Some
commentators suppose it to be the same with the -
valley of Rephaim, where the Jews, in journey-
ing to their solemn f^vals, stopped for refresh-
ment, as it abounded with springs, and vras well
shaded with mulberry trees, which the name
Baca signifies. See I^lm Ixxxiy. 6,
Baca, or Baza, a town of Spain, ip Granada,
situated in a valley called Hoya de Baza. It is
encompassed with old walls, has a ruined castle,
and a church, dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
The land about it is well cultivated, and is fer-
tile in wheat, wine, honey, hemp, and flax, being
watered by the Guadalentin. It is thirty-five miles
north-west of Almeira.
BACACUM, a town of the Nervii in Gallia
Belgica ; now Bavay, in Hamault.
BAC AIM, or Bazaiu, a sea-port town of
the Deccan of Hindostan, on the Msdabar
coast.
BACALAL, a lake of Mexico^ in the pro-
vince of Yucatan, forty miles long, and sixteen
broad. It is thirty-six miles soum-west of Val-
ladolid.
B^CANO, a lake of Italy, in the pope's terri-
tories, from which issues the river Varca.
BACANORA, a town of North America, in
New Mexico, seated onr the Hiagra.
BACANTIBI, in fecclesiastical history, vran-
dering clerks, who strolled from church to church.
The word seems formed by corruption from va-
cantivi.
BACASERAY, a considerable town in the
peninsula of Crim Tartary. It was taken from
the Turics by the Russians, in 1736. It is seventy
miles south of Precop.
BACBAKIRI, in omithologjr, the name by
which le Merle & plastron nOir de Ceylan of
Buflbn, is known at the Cane of Good Hope,
because its note very clearly expresses the syl-
lables bac-ba-ki-ri. It is tne green-pye from
Ceylon of Edwards ; Ceylon thrush oflatham ;
ana turdus Zeylonus of Linnseus.
BACCA,B£Bey, in botany, is used to signify
such fruits as consist of pericarpium full of juice
and seeds, without any valves.
BACC£ Bbrmudiekscs, in the materia me-
dica, the berries of the sapindus, or soap-berry
tree.
BACCALARIA, m middle age ivriters, a
kind of country farms, consisting of several
manses.
Baccalaria Domtnicaria, Baccalaria Ik-
DOMiNicATA, were more particularly used for a
ikrro belonging to the lord, and kept in his own
hands.
BACCALAUREATE, Baccalaureatcs, a
bachelor's degree; the first degree in arts and
sciences in an university. See next article.
BACCALAUREUS ; Latin, frum bacca lau-
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BAG
348
BAG
rea, a bay berry ; a bachelor in an upiversity, so
called because anciently their heads, at g^ua-
tioi^ were adorned with a garland of bay berries.
BACCARACH, a town of Germany, in the
lower Palatinate ; formerly imperial and free, but
now subject to Prussia. It is famous for excel-
lent wine ; and is situated on the east shore of
the Rhine, thirty-eight miles south of Coblentz,
and forty-eight north of Deux Ponts. This place
is mentioned by historians in the twelfth cen-
tury, and the customs formerly collected on tlie
Rhine here w^ so productive, that it received the
name of the golden toll. A spring, of an oily
consistence, rising in the middle of the river near
it, affects both the smell and color of the water
to a considerable distance. The island of Heil-
esen, just below it, contains a monument, to be
seen at low water, adorned with sailptures and
inscriptions. It appears to have been an ancient
altar of Bacchus; is still termed Bacchi ara, and
is said to give ihe town its name. There are
large slate quarries in the neighbourhood, and
the town contains manufactures ofpowder and
starch. Population about 1200. The town suf-
fered much in the thirty years war. The count
palatine formerly resided in the castle of Sta-
lecke, near this town.
BACCARUM, in entomology, a species of
acarus, found on gooseberries, currants, and other
fruit-trees. Also a spe^nes of cimex, of a fulvous
color. Inhabits Europe.
BACCASERY. See Bacaseray.
BA'CCATED, adj. Lat. baccatus, beset with
pearls ; having many berries.
Johmon frmn Diet.
BACCATUS, in botany, berried, or soft, like
a berry ; an epithet for a capsule, a drupe, a si-
lique, and an aril, as Baccata capsula, a capsule
with a fleshy coat. Baccata drupa, a drupe with
a succulent coat, &c.
BACCHiE, in antiquity, 1. the priestesses of
Bacchus, who celebrated the mysteries of that
god ; 2. the ivy crowns or garlands worn by the
priests of Bacchus, in offering sacrifices to him.
BACCHANAL, ». ». ) From Lat. toe-
. Bac'chanalian. ad. k.n.s.S chanaUa. The
feasts and revels of Bacchus, the god of wine ; a
worshipper of Bacchus, or, in modem usage, a
drunkard or riotous person.
Ha, my Brave emperor ! shall we dance now the
Egyptian hacdiamaU, and celebrate our drink ?
ShaltBpeare*
What wild fuiy was there, in the heathen hac-
ckanalt, which we have not seen equalled 7
Dgcojf of Pieisf.
Both extremes were banish'd from their walls ;
Carthuuan fasts, and fulsome baechanala. Pope*
And now Childe Harolde was sore sick at heart.
And from his fellow hwHAtmak would flee. Byron,
BACCHANALIA, Bacchanals, religious
feasts in honor of Bacchus, were celebrated vrith
much solemnity among the ancients, particu-
larly the Athenians, who even computed their
years by them, till the conunencement of the
Olympiads. They are sometimes also called
orgia, from the Greek Qcynf fury; on account
of the madness and enthusiasm wherewith the
people appeared to be possessed at the time of
their celebration. They were held in autumn,
«nd took their rise from Egypt ; whence, accord-
ing to Diodorus, they were brought into Greece
by Melampus. The form of the solemnity de-
pended at Athens, on tlie archon, apd was, at
first, exceedingly simple; but, by degrees, it
became encumbered with a number of ridiculous
ceremonies, and attended with much dissolute-
ness and debauchery ; insomuch, that the Romans
grew ashamed of them, and suppressed them by
a decree of the senate throughout all Italy. The
women had a great share in these solemnities,
which were said to have been instituted on their
account ; for a great number of tliem, according
to the tradition^ attended Bacchus to the con-
3uest of the Indies, carrying in their hands the
lyrsus (i. e. a little lance, covered with ivy aiid
vine leaves), and singing his victories and tri-
umphs. The ceremony was kept up after Bac-
chus*s deification, under the title of Bacchanalia,
and the women were installed priestesses there9f,
under that of Bacchs, or Bacchantes. Tliese
priestesses, at the time of the feast, ran through
the streets, and over the mountains, covered with
tiger's skins, their hair dishevelled, their thyrsus
in one hand, and torches in the other, howling
and shrieking, Evoi (rajSoi.' Evoi Bocxc' l»
lojcxc .' or Ia» Bacxc •' ^^ ^e men, some repre-
sented Pan, others Silenus, others satyrs. Men
and women met promiscuously at the feast, quite
naked, except only that the vine leaves, and clus-
ters of grapes, bound their heads and loins ; here
they danced and jumped tumtdtuously, and, with
strange gesticulations, sung hymns to Bacchus,
till, being weary and giddy, they fell. Livy has
left us a particular account (xxxix. 8, &c.) of
the enormities practised at these festivals, and
which led to their suppression. There were two
principal Bacchanalia neld annually, viz.
Bacchanalia Dionysia, or Majora, the
greater Bacchanalia, so called from one of Bac-
chus's names (see Bacchus), celebrated in the city
about spring time ; and
Bacchanalia Len/ea, or Minora, the lesser
festival, celebrated in the open fields about
autumn.
Bacchanalia signify also pictures, or basso
relievos, whereon the feast is represented, con*
sisting chiefly of dancing, nudities, and the like.
There are antique Bacchanals, still seen on seve-
ral ancient friezes. Thos^ painted by Poussin
are excellent.
BACCHANTES, priestesses to Bacchus.
BACCHARACH Wine, an excellent kind of
wine, by many mistaken for Rhenish ; but from
which Portzius observes it differs in color, taste,
flavor and strength. See Baccarach.
BACCHARIS, in botany, Ploughman's Spike-
nard : a genus of *he polygamia superflua order,
and syngenesia class of plants ; rankine in the
natural method under the forty-ninth order, com-
positae discoides. The characters are : a naked
receptacle, and hairy pappus ; with a cylindrical
imbricated calyx, and feminine florets mixed with
the hermaphrodites. There are seven species, all
natives ot warm climates; of which the two
following chiefly merit notice. 1. B. Halimifolia,
or Virginia groundsel tree, a native of Virginia
and oUier parts of North America. It grows
about seven or eight feet high, with a crooked
shrubbery stem ; and flowers in October. 2. B.
Digitized by
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BACCHUS.
34D
Ivefolia, or African tree grotmdsel, a native of
the Cape of Good Hope, as well as of Peru and
other warm parts of America.
Bacchari?, in pharmacy, a sweet ointment
used among the ancient^ so called perhaps from
the aboye plant being a principal ingredient
in it.
BACCHI, in fobulous history, a kind of mar- '
chines in the form of goats, said to have been nsed
by Jupiter in his wars against the giants. Rudbeck
describes two kinds of Bacchi, one made like the
battering ram, wherewith Jupiter demolished the
enemy's fortifications ; the other contrived to cast
fire, from whence the Greeks are conjectured to
have framed their idea of the chimera.
BACCHIC, something relating to the ceremo-
nies of Bacchus. The celebrated intaglio, called
Michael Angelo's ring, is a representation of a
Bacchic ieast.
Bacchic Sono is sometimes used for a chanson
i boire, or composition to inspire jollity. But
in a more proper sense, it is restrained to a dithy-
rambic ode or hymn.
BACCHICA, in botany, Hedera, or ivy.
BACCHINI (Benedict), a learned monk of
the seventeenth century, was a native of Parma,
and entered at the age of sixteen into the Bene-
dictine monastery of Mount Cassino. He after-
wards travelled as secretary to the abbot of Fer-
lara. At length he settled at Parma, and esta-
blished a periodical journal, which he conducted
for some years with learning and success : but
his criticisms created enemies, who procured his
banishment. He retreated to Modena, and re-
sumed his journal under the patronage of the
duke of Modena. He was alpo historiographer
and librarian to the duke. He subsequently be-
came abbot of a Benedictine monastery, and was
also chosen professor of ecclesiastical history at
Bologns!, where he died in 1721, aged seventy.
Bacchini was one of the most learned men of his
time. His literary journal extends to nine vols.
4to. ; besides which, he published De Sistroruin
Figuris ac Differentia, Bononiae, 1691, 4to.;
De Ecclesiastics Hierarchite Originibus, Mo-
dens, 1703, &c. &c.
BACCHIS, or Balus, king of Corinth, suc-
ceeded his father Pruinnides, and reigned with
such moderation and equity, that to commemo-
rate him his successors were called Bacchids.
The Baccbids afterwards becoming numerous,
they chose one as president, with regal authority.
This institution was, however, overturned by
Cypselus making himself absolute.
BACCHIUS, a follower of Aristoxenus, sup-
posed by Fabricius to have been tutor to the
emperor Marcus Antoninus, and consequendy to
liave lived about A. D. 140. He wrote in Greek
a short introduction to music in dialogue, which
Meibomiushas published with a Latin translation.
Bacchius, in ancient poetry, a foot composed
of a short syllable and two long ones ; as Sgestas.
It takes its name from the god Bacchus, because
it frequently entered into the hymns composed in
his honor. The Romans called it likewise sno-
triiis, tripodius, and saltans; and the Greeks
Bacchius and Bitbvs, two renowned gladia-
tors of equal age and strength ; whenre the pro-
verb, expressive of equality, Bithus contra B^c-
chium.
BACCHUS, in heathen mythology, the god
of wine. He is seldom named in modern times,
but as a sensual encourager of feast and jollity :
he was regarded in a more respectable light by
the ancients, who worshipped him in different
countries under the appellations, in l^pt, of
Osiris; in Mvsia, Fanaces; in India, Dionysius;
Liber, throughout the Roman dominions ; Ado-
neus, in Arabia; and Pentheus, in Lucania.
Mythologists furnish reasons for all 'these diffe-
rent names. The Greeks and the Romans ascribed
to the Bacchus whom they worshipped, the
several actions Aid attributes of the many divi-
nities known by that name, and by other equiva-
lent denominations in different countries. How-
ever, antiquity chiefly distinguished two gods
under the title of Bacchus ; the one of £^pt,
the other of Thebes in Boeotia.
The Bacchus of Egypt vnis the son of Ammon,
and considered as the same widi Osiris. He
was brought up at Nysa, a city of Arabia Felix,
whence he acquired the name of Dionysius, or
the god of Nysa ; and was the conqueror of India.
This Bacchus was one of the elder gods of Egypt,
although, according to Sir Isaac Newton, he
flourished but one generation before the Argo-
nautic expedition. Bacchus, says Hermippus,
was potent at sea, conquered eastward as ^ as
India, returned in triumph, brought his army
over the Hellespont, conquered Thrace, and left
music, poetry, and dancing there.
BAccBtTS of Thebes was the son of Jupiter by
Semele, the daughter of Cadmus, and ranked as
the youngest of the Grecian deities. Diodonis
Siculus tells tis, that Oroheus first deified the
son of Semele by the name of Bacchus, and ap-
pointed his ceremonies in Greece, to render the
nmilv of Cadmus, the grand&ther of the Grecian
BaccW, illustrious. According to this author,
it was die son of Semele who invented farces
and theatres, and who first established a musical
school, excepting from all military functions such
musicians as discovered great abilities in dieir
art : on which account, says the same author,
musicians formed into companies have since fre-
quently enjoyed great privileges. Paosanias, in
his Attics, speaks of a place at Athens conse-
crated to Bacchus the singer : whence it should
seem that Bacchus was regarded by the Atheniana
not only as the god of wine, but of song ; and it
must be owned, that his followers, in their cups,
have not been unincUned to pay him service in
this way. Indeed it is clear, that in none of the
origies, processions, and fo^vals, instituted by
the ancients to the honor of this prince of bons-
vivans, music was forgotten. We find not only
that musicians, male and female, regaled him
vrith the lyre, the flute :and the song ; but that
he was accompanied by fawns and satyrs, play-
ing upon timbrels,cymrals, bag-pipes, and horns;
these Suidas calls tus mmstrels, and Strabo gives
them the appellation of Bacchi, Sileni, Satyri,
Bacchs, Lena, Thye, &c. These representa-
tions have furnished subjects for the finest
remains of ancient sculpture; and the most
voluptuous passages of ancient poetry are de-
scriptions of^the orgies and festivals of Bacchus.
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BAG
350
BAG
Bacchus, is represented on medals in the form
of a boy or jroutb, an old man, or a female, as in
ligs. 1, 2, 3 ; he is mostly naked, as in fig. 4,
Fig. 2.
Bacchus, in entoroology« a 4arge species of
flcarabsus, Uiat inhabits the Cape of Good Hope.
2. A species of curcnlio. 3. A species of
monoculus.
BACcaus, in ichthyology, a name given by
tome to the myxon, a fish of the mullet kind,
remarkable for the red color of its lips, and
the extremity of the covering of the gills. See
MUGIL.
BACCHUS-BOLE. See Botany.
BACCHYLIDES, a femous Greek poet, the
nephew of Simonides, and the contemporary and
rival of Pindar. Both sung the victories of
Hiero at the public games. Besides ,Odes to
athletic victors, he was the author of love verses,
prosodies, dithyrambics, hymns, paeans, par-
thenia, or songs to be sung by a chorus of
virgins at festivals, &c. "nie chronology of
Eusebius places the birth of Bacchylides in the
eighty-second Olympiad, about A. A. C. 450.
BACCITEROUS. See Box ant.
BACCINA, or Baccinuu, a basin to hold
water to wash the hands, The holding the
basin, or waiting at the basin, on the day of the
king's coronation, was an ancient tenure in ser-
ieantry.
BACCIQ (Franqisco Bartolomeo, or Barte-
lemi di S. Marco), a celebrated history and por-
trait painter, was bom atSavignano near Florence,
in 1469, and was a disciple of Roselli ; but his
principal knowle<^e in the art was derived from
Da Vmci. He understood the true principles of
design better than most masters of his time, and
was also a considerable painter of perspective.
Raphael, after he had quitted the school of Pe-
rugmo, studied the art of uniting colors under
him, as well as the rules of perspective. Some
years after the departure of Raphael, Baccio
visited Rome ; and oy the observations he made
m the antiquities and the works of Raphael,
which, by that time, were universally admired,
he improved much, and manifested his abilities
by a picture of St. Sebastian, which he finished
at his return to Florence. This was so well de-.
signed, so naturally colored, and had so strong
an expression of agony, that it was removed
horn the convent where it was exhibited, as it had
made too strong an impression on the imafina-
iions of many women. He is accounted the
first inventor of the machine called a layman by
the artists, and vrhich is still in general use.
Upon that he placed his draperies, to observe,
with great exactness, their natural and their most
elegant folds. A capital oicture of the ascen-
sion^ by Baccio, is in the Florentine collection.
He died in 1517.
where he stands under the shadow of a vine-
branch, near an altar, at which the emperor
Commodus is offering him divine Ijonors.
Pig. 3.
Baccio, or Baccius (Andrew), a celebrated
physician of the sixteenth century, bom at St.
Elpideo. He practised physic at Rome with
great reputation, and was finst physician to pope
Sixtus V. The most scarce and most valuable
of his works are, 1. De Thermis. 2. De Natu-
rali Vinorum Historia. 3. De Venenis et An-
tidotis. 4. De Gemmis ac Lapidibus pretiosis.
BACCrVOROUS, aty. From fcocca, a berry,
and voro, to devour, Lat. Devouring berries.
BACCOFOE, in botany, a fruit like the
banana, very common in Guinea, but whiter,
thicker and shorter. The taste and smell are
agreeable ; and some pretend that on cutting it
through transversely, there is the figure of a cru-
cifix on each side of it. Phil. Trans. No. 108.
BACCULI. See Bacilli.
BACH, a town of Lower Hungary, in tlie
county of Tolu, seated on the Danube.
Bach (.Tohn Sebastian), a celebrated musician,
bom at Eisnach in Germany in 1685. He was
patronised by the duke of Saxe VVeimer, who
appointed him his musician in 1708; and at
Dresden he gained a victory over a fiimous
French organist, whose vanity led him to chal-
lenge all the German musicians. As an organist,
he was thought equal to Handel, and the excel-
lence of his compositions testify him to have been
among the foremost in the science. He died in
1754.
Bach (Charles and John), sons of die above,
were both very eminent as performers and
composers of music. Charles lived at Ham-
burgn in 1773, and John was in En^and in 17C3.
BACHA, a river of Asiatic Russia, which
joins the Jenesei on the right.
Bacha, in ornithology, a spgpies of falco,
figured in the fifteenth plate of Le Vaillant's work
on the birds of Africa. It is about the siie of
the common buzzard, and naturally belongs to
that tribe of rapacious birds.
BACHAUMONT (Francois le Coigneux de),
a French poet. He was counsellor to the par-
liament, but his love of ease and pleasure made
him give up his post and renounce his profes-
sion- Contracting an intimacy with Cbapelle,
he was joined with him in writing A Journey to
Montpelier, in which there is much vivacity dis-
playea; besides which he wrote several other
works, in a humorous style. He died at Paris
in 1702, aged seventy-eight.
Bachaumont (Louis-Petit), a French writer,
bom at Paris, was author of Secret Memoirs
towards a History of the Republic of Letters in
France, thirty-six volumes, 12mo. and other
works. He died in 1771.
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BACHELORS.
351
EACHBIiIER (Nicholas), an eminent French
sculptor and architect. He was a pupil of Mi-
diad Angelo, and omameBted the cnurches of
Toulouse, bis native city. He died about 1554.
BACH'ELOR, n. i . ) This is a word of
Bacr'clossrip, n. s. ) very uncertain etymo-
logy ; it not being well known what was its ori-
ginal sense. Junius derives it from ^cbei}Xoc» a
man of full stature but of effeminate and imma-
ture mind ; Menage, from hat chemlier, a knight
of the lowest rank ; Spelman, from baadus, a
staff; Caias, from hucceUaf an allowance of pro-
vision. The most probable derivation seems to
be, from hacca laumt^ the berry of a laurel or
bay ; bachelors, being young, are of good hopes,
like laurels in the berry. Dr. Lawrence ob-
serves, that Menage's et3rmology is much con-
firmed by the practice in our universities of call-
ing a bachelor. Sir. In Latin, haccdaureui.
The former of these words describes the person ;
the lattpr his condition. The more common ac-
ceptation is a man unmarried. Its secondary
meaning is one who takes his first degree at the
university in any profession ; and its last and
liow obsolete sense, is a knight of the lowest
order.
Shall I never tee a hadidor of threescore tgain?
When I said I would die a hachdor, I did not
think I ihoold live till I were married. Id,
fler mother, living yet, can testify.
She was the fint firuit of my hatMonktf, Id,
But he told dio latter, that is to say, Mr. SpecUtor,
he told the haehelcn that their liros and actions had
been so peculiar that he knew not by what name to
call them. Spectator,
Being a boy, new fiocAdbr of arts, I chanced to
speak against Che pope. Aicbam.
1 appear before your honour, in behalf of Maitinui
ScriUems, baekdor of physic. Mart. SerihUnu,
^ Bacheloe, in ancient times, was a denomina-
tion given to those who had attained to knight-
hood, but had not a number of vassak sufiicient
to have their banner carried before them in the
field of batde ; or if they were of the order of
bannerets were not of age to display their own
banner, but obliged to march to battle under
another's banner. It was also a title given to
young cavaliers who, having made their first
campaign, received die military girdle accord-
ingly. And it served to denominate him that
had overcome another in a tournament the first
time he ever engaged.
Bachelor, in die six companies of merchants
ait Paris, was a name given oefore the Revolu-
tion to the elders, and such as, having served
the offices, had a right to be called by me mas-
ters and wardens to be present with them, and
assist them in their fimctions.
Bachelors, in the livery companies of Lon-
don, are those who are not yet admitted to the
lively. These companies generally consist of a
master, two wardens, the liveiyj and the bache-
lors, who are yet but in expectation of dignity in
the company, and have their functions only in
attendance on the master and wardens, liiey
are also called yeomen.
Bachelors, in the university sense, are per-
sons who have attained to the baccalaureate, or
first degree in arts, divinity, law, or physic.
This degree in some universities has no exist-
ence. It was first introduced in the thirteenth
centurjr by pope Gregory IX. The ibMowinff
regulations are observed respecting it in Oxford
and Cambridge: In the university of Cam-
bridge, a bachelor of arts must reside the greater
part of twelve several terms, the first and last
excepted. The statutable exercbes before ad-
mission, ad respondendum qutestioni (a form in
which the father of the college asks each student
a question before his graduation), are two acts and
two opponencies. A bachelor of divinity must
be a master of arts of seven years standing : his
exercises are, one act, after the fourth year, two
opponencies, a concio ad clerum, and an Eng-
lish sermon. The ten-year men, who are candi-
dates for this degree, are tolerated by a statute
12 Eliz. They are persons who, being twenty-
four years of age and upwards, ore admitted at
any college to ^e the degree of bachelor of di-
vinity after ten years. Diuing the last two years
they must reside the greater part of three several
terms. Their exercises are the same as in^ tlie
regular course. A bachelor of laws must t>e of
six years standing complete, and must keep the
greater part of nine several terms. The exercise
is one act. A bachelor of physic must keep the
greater part of nme seversJ terms, and may be -
admitted any time in his sixth year : the exercise
is one act and one opponency. A bachelor of
mvisi^ must enter his name at some college, and
perform a solemn piece of music as an exercise
prior to his degree.
In the university of Oxford, a bachelor of arts
must keep sixteen terms, and appear once as a
respondent in the schools. A bachelor of divi-
nity must be master of arts of seven years stand-
ing : his exercises are one act, two opponencies,
and a concio ad clerum after the fifth year. A
bachelor of laws must be a master of arts of
three years standing : his exercises are one act
and two opponencies. A bachelor of medicine
must be a master of arts of one year standing
his exercises are one act and one opponency. r%.
bachelor of music must produce a competent
testimonial that he has applied himself to thac
science during seven years, and must perform a
piece of music of nve parts publicly in the
music school.
Bachelors, Knights, the most ancient, bjt
the lowest order of knights in England; known
by the name of knights only. They jire styled
knights bachelors, either (according to some) as
denoting their degree, quasi bas aievaliers ; or,
according to others, because this. title, like the
fortune of an unmarried man, does not descend
to their posterity. The custom of the ancient
Germans was to give their young men a shield
and a lance in the peat council ; this was eoui-
valent to the toga virilis of the Romans. Before
this they were not permitted to bear arms, b:^
were accounted as part of the father's household ,
a^r it, as part of the public. Hence some de-
rive the usage of knighting, which has prevailed
all over the western world since its reduction oy
colonies, fix>m those northern heroes. Knights
are called in the Latin equites aurati; aurad,
from the gilt spurs they wore, and equites, be-
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BAC
362
BAC
cause they always served on horseback ; for it
is observable that almost all nations call their
Vnlghts by some appellation derived from a'
horse. They are also called in our law milites,
because they formed a part, or indeed the whole of
the royal army, in virtue of their feudal tenures :
one condition of which was, that every one who
held a knight*s fee (which in Henry II /s time
amounted to twenty pounds per annum) was
obliged to be knighteu, and attend the king in
his wars, or pay a fine for his non-compliance.
The exertion of this prerogative, as an expedient
to raise money in the reign of Charles t. gave
groat offence, though warranted by law and the
-ecent example of queen Elizabeth. At the res-
toration it was, together with all other military
branches of the feudal law, abolished, and it now
only exists in an honorary title, conferred by the
king's lightly toucliing the person, who is then
kneeling, on the right shoulder with a drawn
sword, and saying, * rise, sir.' See Knigut and
Nobility.
On bachelors, or unmarried men, the Roman
censors frequently imposed fines. Dion Hali-
camasseus mentions an old law by which all
persons of full age were obliged to marry. But
the most celebrated law of the kind was that
made under Augustus, called the lex Julia de
maritandis ordinibus ; by which bachelors were
made incapable of legacies or inheritances by
will, unless from their near relations. This
brought many to marry, according to Plutarch's
observation, not so much for the sake of raising
heirs to their own estates, as to make themselves
capable of inheriting those of others. The rab-
bins maintain, that, by the laws of Moses, every
body, except a few particular persons, is obliged in
conscience to marry at twenty years of age ; and
that this makes one of their 61 3 precepts. Hence
those maxims, so frequent among their casuists,
that he who does not take the necessary mea-
sures to leave heirs behind him, is not a man, but
ought to be reputed a homicide. Lycurgus was
not more favorable to this state of life. By his
laws, bachelors are branded with infamy, ex-
cluded from all ofHces civil and military, and
even from the shows and public sports. At
certain feasts they were forced to appear, to be
exposed to the public derision, ana led round
the market-place. On one occasion, the women
led them in this condition to the altars, where
they were obliged to make amende honorable
to nature, accompanied with a number of blows
and lashes with a rod. To complete the affront,
they forced them to sing certain songs com-
posed in their own derision. The Chris-
tian religion has been supposed to be more
indulgent to the bachelor state; because the
apostle Paul has recommended it as prefer-
aole (as it certainly was) during the early ages
of Christianity, when a man was in danger of suf-
fering, not only in his own person or property,
but in those of his nearest and dearest con-
nexions, for the saif.e of religion ; which rendered
such persecutions more dresulfiil and severe upon
the married than the unmarried. The ancient
church, overlooking this principle, upon which
the apostle's advice is evidently founded, recom-
neiided the bachelor sUte, as well as that of
perpetual virginity in the other sex, as not ooly
more perfect than the married state, but even as
highly meritorious : and thus gave birth to the
absurd system of monasteries, nunneries, and the
celibacy of the clergy ; which for so many ages has
burdened Europe, with thousands of idle drones
of both sexes. In the canon law, we find in-
junctions on bachelors, when arrived at puberty,
either to marry or to turn monks and profess
chastity in earnest. In England there was a
tax on bachelors, afler twenty-five years of age,
£l2. -10s. for a duke; and a common persou Is.
by 7 Wil. III. 1695. They were also taxed by
Mr. Pitt in an extra-duty on their servants.
Bachelors of thc Church, baccalarii ecde*
sisB, an inferior class of ecclesiastics, mentioned
in some old records, which speak of the bishop
with his canons and baccalani.
Bachelor's Pear, in botany, a name some;
times given to the solanum mammosum.
BACKER, a lofty ridge of mountains in
Styria, circle of Ciily, near the Drave, about
sixty-five miles in circuit.
BACHIAN, or Batchiak, one of the Mo-
lucca islands in the eastern ocean, separated by
a narrow channel only, from the island of Gilolo.
It is about fifty miles long, and twenty in average
breadth, but much narrower in the middle than
towards each end. The native prince of this island
early formed an alliance with the Spaniards aad
Portuguese, who were expelled by the Dutch in
1610. It is fertile in sago, and other fruits of
the climate; and was formerly considered as
producing better cloves tlian any other island of
these seas. On this island the Butch fixed their
principal settlement, before Amboyna attained
Its present pre-eminence. Bachian, covered with
forests, contains a burning mountain; beds of
coral adorn its shores, and gold has been classed
among its products. It is under the government
of a sultan, the sovereign of Oby, Ceram, Coram,
and another contiguous islet. The inhabitants
are Malay Mahommedans, who are considered
as the most eastern disciples of the Arabian pro-
phet. The chief town is Sabongo. Latitude
about 0^ 48' S.; and long. 129^ 0' E.
'BACHILERIA, in old law Latin, the com-
monality, as distinguished from the nobility.
BACHILLL See Bacilli.
BACHMUTH, or Bakhmoud, the chief town
of a circle in the government of Ekaterinoslav,
in European Russia, situated on a river of that
name, which falls into the Donetz. It is well
fortified, and has a citadel for the protection of
its saltrworks. It has belonged successively to the
governments of Voronetz and New Russia, and
was erected into its present government in 1775.
The circle of Bachmuth borders on the govern-
ment of Voronetz, and the country of the Don
Cossacs, and is one of the most fertile parts of
Little Russia. When a scarcity of water prevails
in the summer, the supplies are brought from the
Donetz. 104 miles N.;N. W. of Azoph, and 1 12
east of Ekaterinoslav.
BACHNEU, or Bovghu, a market town of
Transylvania, in the coun^ of Kokelburg, on the
river Little Rokel.
BACHU. See Baku.
BACILLARIA, in entomology, a genus of
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BACK.
36S
the dan rermM, uid order infusiora : its body
coniistiiig of cylindrical, straw-like filaments.
The only species is the B. paradoxa, seu vibrio
pazilifer.
BACILLI, or Baculi, in medicine (from
bacillus, Lat. a staff,) such compositions as are
made up in a cylindrical figure, like a stick.
BACILLUM, in medicine, dim. of baculum,
a troche in the form of a stick.
Bacillum, in chemistry, iron instruments in
the shape of a baculum, or staff.
BACK, n. f. V. a. & adv, ) Sax. bac, baec;
Backed, adj. S Germ, back. The
noun signifies the hinder part of the body; the
outer part of the hand opposed to the palm; the
Chick part of any tool opposed to the edge. The
adveib denotes the situation of being, and he
uirection of going. The adjective points out the
back as the adiunct of being; the simple cir-
cumstance of having a back; and the verb is
used in various senses, intimately connected and
easily traced to one common source, the original
Ptymon, namely, to mount on the back of a horse ;
to break a horse ; to place upon the back ; to
maintain, to strengthen, to support, to defend, to
justify, and to second.
His back, or rather biutfaen, •how'd
Ai if it stooped with its own load. Budibnu.
Did they not vwear, in express words.
To prop and back the house of lords ?
And after tiim'd out the whole honsefol. Id.
Part following enter ; ptfrt remain without.
And mount on others back», in hopes to share.
Dfydeu.
The epistles being written from ladies forsaken by
their lovers, many thoughts came 6aeA upon us in
divers letters. Id,
' Factious, and fav'ring this or t'other side.
Their wagers ftocA their wishes. Id.
Methought love pitying me, when he tew this.
Gave me your hands, the bathi and palms to kiss.
Those who, by their ancestors, have been set free
from a constant drudgery to their bach» and their
bellies, should bestow some time on their heads.
He might conclude, that Walter would be upon
the king's taeft, as his majesty was upon his.
CSarendb*.
As the voice goeth round, as well towards the ha/A
as towards the fkont of him that speaketh, so does the
«cho : for yoa have many bath echoes to the place
where yon stand. Boom.
And all within it full of wyndingsis
And hidden ways that scarce an hound by smell
Can follow out those false footsteps of his
He none can baokB retnme that once are gone amis.
i^pMMT. Faem QuMne.
At the hoar of death, all friendships of the worid
bid him adieu, and the whole creation turns its back
«pon him. S^fA.
A great malice, bmdked with a great inten^st, can
have no advantage with a man, but from hi^ expec-
Utions of something without himself. Id.
Boeh you shall not to the house, unless
You undertake that with me. ShaJupeme.
That roan shall be my throne.
Well, I will baek him strait. O Esperauce !
Bid Butler lead him forth into the park. Id,
Vol. 111.
He hath a garden circummur'd with brick.
Whose western side is with a vineyard backed. Id.
As I slept, methought
Great Jupiter, upon his eagle backed,
Appear'd to me. Id,
Belike he means
- Baek'd by the poVr of Warwick, that false peer,
T* aspire unto the crown. Id,
You are strait enough in the shoulders, you care
not who sees your back ; call you that hacUng of your
friends? a plague upon such haekmg! give me them
that will face me. Id,
He sent many to seek the ship Argo, threatening
that if they brought not hack Medea, they should
suffer in her stead. RaUigh'i Hittory of the Wwld
Where they are, and wny they came not hack.
Is now the labour of my thoughts. ifiJftin
Baek to thy native island might'st thou sail
And leave half-heard the melancholy tale. Pope
So rag'd Tydides boundless in his ire.
Drove armies hack and made all Troy retire, la:
Tiiis C»sar found, and that ungrateful age.
With losing him went hack to blood and rage.
WaBar
I've been surpris'd in an unguarded hour,
But must not now go back ; the love, that lay
Half smother'd in my breast, has broke through all
Its weak restraints. Addieom
How shall we treat this bold aspiring man?
Success still follows him, and hackt his crimes.
Id
To thee. Almighty God to thee.
Our childhood we resign ;
Twill please us to look bocft and see.
That all our lives were thine. WaUe.
First Fear his hand its skill to try.
Amid the chords bewildered laid.
And back recoil'd he knew not why.
E'en at the sounds himself had made*
CoOim
Direct us how to hack the winged horse ;
Favour his flight and moderate his course.
/tofcommOA.
These were seconded by certain demilaunces, and
both backed with men at arms. St J. Hajfwaird,
The patrons of the ternary number of principles,
and those that would have five elements, endeavour
to hack their experiments with a specious reason.
BoyU.
We have I know not how many adages to hack the
reason of this moral. L'Eaircmge.
Back, in the menage, and among farriers
A horse's back should be straight, not hollow,
which is called saddle-backed : horses of this
kind are generally light, and carry their heads
high, but want in strength and service. A horse
with a weak back is apt to stumble. In the
French riding-schoob, to mount a horse a dos, is
to mount him bare-backed, without a saddle.
. To Back an anchor, in maritime affairs, empen^
neUeruneanerey Fr. to cany out a small anchor,
as the stream or kedge, ahead of the large one,
by which the ship usually rides, in order to sup-
port it, and prevent it from loosening, or coming
Lome in baa ground. In this situation the lattei
is confined by the former, in the same manner
that the ship is restrained by the latter.
To Back astern in rowing, seier d cuUr, Fr.
is to manage the oars in a direction contrary to
the usual method, so as that the boat or vessel
impressed by their force, shall retreat or move
witn her stem foremost.
3 A
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364
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Back the starboard oars I seie tribord ! avec let
amrom, Fr. the command to confine the abore
roaoagemeat to the oars on the rig^ht hand side of
the boat only, in order to turn her round more
speedily to that direction.
7b Back and fill, coifferetfaire servir let voiles,
Fr. is an operation generally performed in nar-
row rivers, when a ship has the tide in her favor,
and the wind is against her. — Exam. ' We were
obliged to back and fill occasionally to get up
the Thames.'
To Back the sails, mettre A tcier, Fr. is to ar-
range them in a situation that will occasion the
ship to retreat or move astern, in consequence of
the tide or current in her &vor, and the wind
contrary, but light. This operation is particu-
larly necessary in narrow chamoels, when a ship
is carried along sideways by the strength of that
tide or current, and it becomes requisite to avoid
any object that may intercept her course, as
shoals, or vessels under sail, or at anchor : it is
also necessary, in a naval engagement, to bring a
ship back, so as to lie oppposite to her adversary,
when she is too far advanced in the line ; and
also in fleets under convoy, where ships are too
much crowded, by the above operation they may
be preserved from falling aboard each other. See
the article Aback.
Back the main-topsail ! hrasu le grand hunier
tur le m&t! Fr. the command to brace that sail
in such a manner that the wind may exert its
force against the fore-part of the ssul, and "by
thus laying it aback materially retard the ship*s
course.
Back, or Dutchman's Cap, an islet of the
Hebrides. Long. 6** %r W., lat. 56° 29' N.
BACKAR, or Behkur, a district and town of
Hindostan, in the province of Moultan. The
town is situated on an island formed by the In-
dus, near its junction with the Dommoody ; for-
merly it was called Munsoorah, and had a strong
fort. Long. 70° 2' E., lat. 28° 31' N.
BACK BAR, the bar in a chimney, for sus-
pending vessels over the fire.
BACK-BFiAR, Back-berknd, Backbekovd,
in old law, a criminal caught carrying off soipe-
thing on his back. See Backcarrt.
BACK'BITE, V, ") From back and bite.
Back'biter, n.t, > A familiar term for the
Back'bitingly, oiv. J calumny and calum-
niators which shun the presence of their victims.
To censure the absent; the coward who defames
in the dark.
Use his men well Davy, for they are airant knaves
and wUl haekbUe. Shaktpeare.
Nobody is boond to look npon his haekhii«r, or his
undexminer, his betrayer, or his oppressor, as his
friend. SatUh.
BACK-BOARD, in maritime affairs, is of a
semi-circular figure, placed transversely in the
after-part of a boat, like the back of a chair, to
recline against while sitting in the stem sheets.
BACK-BOND, in Scots law, a bond granted
by him who receives a deed to declare the pur-
pose of it, and to bind the granter to perrorm
accordingly.
BACK'BONE, n. i. from back and bone.
The bone of the back. .
Hie baekbome should be divided into maiy vsMalm
for eommodions bending* and not to be one eotee
rigid bone. R&g.
BACK'CARRY. Having on the back.
Manhood in his forest laws, noteth it for one of
the four circumstances or cases, wherein a forester
may arrest an oflfender against vert or venison in the
forest, vis. stable^tand, dog-draw, baekcany, and
bloody hand. Owdl.
BACK'DOOR, n. $. From back and door.
Tlie door behind the house ; privy passaged
The procession durst not return by the way it came;
but, after the devotion of the monks, passed out at a
backdoor of the convent. Additm.
Popery, which is so far shut oat as not to re-enter
openly, is stealing in by the ftodUber of atheism.
ilttsfney.
BACKER, or Bakker (Jacob), a painter of
portraits and history, was bom at Hartingen m
1609, but spent the greatest part of his life at
Amsterdam. He was remarkable for an uncom-
mon readiness of hand and« freedom of pencil.
His incredible expedition appeared in a portrait
of a lady from Haerlem, whom he painted at half
length, and began and finished in one day;
though he adorned the figure with rich drapery
and several ornamental jewels. He also painted
historical subjects with success ; aad has left a
fine picture of Cimon and Ipbigenia. In de-
signing academy figures, his expression was so
just, and his outline so correct, that he obtained
the prize from all his competitorB ; and his works
are bought up at very high prices in the Low
Countries. The Carmelites diurch at Antwerp
has a capital picture of his of the Last Judgment
He died in 1651.
Backer, or Barker (Jacques, or James), also
a painter of history, was bom at Antwerp in
15S0, and learned the principles of painting from
his fiither, who was very knowing in his profes-
sion, though his works were in no great estima-
tion. After his death he lived with one Palermo,
a dealer in pictures, who avariciously took care
to keep him incessantly employed, and sent his
paintings to Paris to be disposed of, where they
were exceedingly admired. The judicious were
eager to purchase them ; and though the trans-
actor sold them at a great price, yet the artist was
not proportionably. rewarded, but continued still
in tue same depressed condition. His merit,
indeed was universally allowed, but his name,
and the narrowness ot his circumstances, were as
universally unknown. He had a clean light
manner of penciling, and a tint of oolor that was
extremely agreeable. He died in 1560.
BACKEREEL, or Ba^querelli (William),
a painter of history, bom at Antwerp, and a dis-
ciple of Rubens, at the same time with Vandyck.
When each of them quitted that master, and
commenced painters, oackereel was little infe-
rior to Vandyck, which may be seen in the worics
of the former, in the church of the At-gnstin
monks at Antwerp. He had likewise a taste for
poetry ; but exercising that talent too freely in
writing satires against the Jesuits, they compelled
him to fly from Antwerp. Sandrart observes,
that in his time there were seven or eight eminent
painters of this name in Italy and the Low Coun-
tries.
BACKER6UN6E, a distriet iu the south-
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BACKGAMMON.
365
east part of Bengal, a oonaiderable portion of
which, called Bokla, situated near the sea-side,
was, in 1584, overwhelmed by the sea, and
scarcely has recovered from the inundation:
the other parts are, however, very productive, but
Deing subject to inundations, are very unhealthy.
But there are settled here a number of the
descendants of the Portuguese, who/in the year
1666, were invited by the nuwab, Shaista Khan,
to desert the raja of Arracan, and enter into his
service. Also a town in the province of Bengal,
capital of a district 120 miles east of Calcutta;
it is the residence of the English magistrate, and
carries on a very considerable trade in rice, salt,
and cotton cloths. Long. 89° 20' E., lat. 22°
42' N.
BACK-FRAME Wheel, for laying cordage,
from a six-thread ratline, to a two-inch rope, is
about four or five feet in diameter, and is hung
between two uprights, fixed by tenons, on a
truck, and supported by a knee of wood. Over
its top is a semi-circular frame, called the head,
to contain three whirls (that run on the brasses),
with iron spindles, secured by a hasp and pin.
They are worked by means of a leather band en-
circling the whirls and wheel. Three of the
whirls are turned when hardening the strands,
and only one when closing the rope, the strands
being hung together on it The truck, on which
the b ack-frame wheel is fixed, runs on four wheels,
and is made of three-inch oak plank, about nine
feet long, and thirteen inches broad at one end,
and eleven inches broad at the other.
BACKTRIEND, «. i . From back and friend.
A friend backwards ; that is, an enemy in secret.
Set the restleM ixnportatuties of talebearen and
baekfriemdt against fair words and profeadoiii.
L'Eiirttt^.
Far is our church from encroaching upon the civil
power ; as some who a^ baekfrienit to both would
maliciously insinuate. South,
BACKGAM'MON, 11. 1. From bach gammon^
Welsh, a little battle ; a play or game at tables,
with box and dice.'
Till finding your old foe the hangman.
Was like to lurch you at bachgammon. Hvdjbnu,
In what esteem are you with the vicar of the pa-
rish? can you play with him at ftod^ammofif Smfi,
Backgammon, a game played with dice
and tables, to be learned only by observation
and practice. It is said to have been invented
in Wales, in the period preceding the Conquest.
Gloss, ad Leges Wallicas,a voc. Tawlbwrdd, cited
by Henry, vol. iv. p. 404. 8vo.
This game is played with dice, upon a table,
by two persons. 'The table is divided into two
parts, upon which there are twenty-four black
and white spaces, called points. Each adversary
has fifteen men, black and white, to distinguish
them ; and they are disposed of in the following
manner : Supposing the game to be played into
the right hand table, two are placed upon the
ace point in the adversary's table, five upon
the SIX point in the opposite table, three upon
the cinque point in the hithermost table, and
five on the six point in the right-hand table.
The grand object in this game is for each player
to bring the men round into his right hand tabl^
by throwing with a pair of dice those throws
that contribute towards it, and at tlie same time
prevent the adversary doing the like. The first
best throw upon the dice is esteemed aces, be-
cause it stops the six point in the outer table, and
secures the cinque in tne thrower's table; whereby
the adversary's two men upon the thrower's ace
point cannot get out with either quatre, cinque,
or six. This throw is an advantage often given
to the antagonist by the superior pUyer. When
he carries his men home in oider to lose no
point, he is to carry the most distant man to his
adversary's bar point, that being the first stage
he is to place it on ; the next stage is six points
farther, viz. in the place where the adversary's
five men are first placed out of his tables. He
must go on in this method till all his men are
brought home, except two, when by losing a
point, he may often save the gammon, by throwing
two fours or two fives. When a hit is only
played for, he should endeavour to gain either his
own or adversary's cinque point : and if that
fails by his being hit by the adversary, and he
finds him forwarder than himself, in that case he
must throw more men into the adveisaiy's tables;
which is done in this manner : he must put a
man upon his cinque or bar point; and if the
adversary fails to hit it, he may then gain a for-
ward game instead of a back gan\e ; but if the
adversary hits him, he should play for a back
game: and then the greater number of men
which are taken up makes his game the better,
because by these means he will preserve his
game at home : and then he should endeavour to
gain both his adverssury's ace and trois points, or
his ace and deuce points, and take care to keep
three men upon the adversary's ace point, that in
case he hits him from thence, that point may
remain still secure to himself. A back game
should not be played for at the beginning of a
set, because it would be a great disadvantage,
the player running the risk of a gammon to win
a single hit.
A variety of instructions with regard to
this curious game, are given by Mr. Hoyle,
who calculates the odds of the game with
great accuracy. The following particulars,
however, may be of use to the generality of
players. If a player has taken up two of the
adversary's men, and happens to have two, three,
or more points made in nis own tables, he should
spread his men, that he may either take a new point
in his tables, or be ready to hit the man whicn the
adversary may happen to enter. If he finds, upon
the adversary's entering, that the ^ame is upon a
par, or that the advantage is on his own siae, he
should take the adversary's roan up whenever he
can, it being twenty-five to eleveu that be is not
hit : except when he is playing for a single hit
only ; then if playing the throw otherwise gives
him a better cnance for it, he ought to do it.
As it is five to one against his being hit with
double dice, he should never be deterred from
taking up any one man of the adversary's. If
he has taken up one of the adversary's men, and
should happen to have five points in his own
tables, and forced to leave a blot out of his tables,
3Aa
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366 BACK G A M M O N.
he sJiould endeavour to leave it upon doublets men to bear, he may be forced to make an ar«
preferable to any other chance ; because the odds or a deuce twice before he can bear all his men,
are thirty-five to one, that he is not hit; whereas and consequently will require seven throws in
it zs only seventeen to one but he is hit upon bearing them'; so that, upon the whole, it is
any other chance. When the adversary is very about equal whether the aaversary is gammoned
forward, a player should never move a man from or not. Suppose a player has three men upon
his own quatre, trois, or deuce points, thinking hb adversary s ace point, and five points in his
to bear that man from the point where he put it, own tables, and that the adversary has all his
as nothing but high doublets can give him any men in his tables, three upon eadi of bis five
chance for the hit. Instead of playing an ace highest points. Has the player a probability of
or a deuce from any of those points, he should gammoning his adveifiary or not T
play them from his own size or highest points. Points,
so that throwing two fives, or two fours, his size For bearing three men from his 6th pomt is 18
and cinque points beine eased, would be a con- From his 5th point 15
siderable advantage to him ; whereas, had they From his 4th point 12
been loaded, he must have been obliged to play From his 3rd point 9
otherwise. It is the interest of the avdversaiy to From his 2nd point 6
take up the player as soon as he enters. The — '
blot should be left upon the adversary's lowest In all 60
point ; that is to say, upon his deuce point Bringing his three men from the adver-
rather than upon his trois point; or upon his trois sary's ace point to his size point in
point rather tnan upon his quatre point ; or upon his own tables, being eighteen points
his quatre point preferable to his cinque point, each, and making together 54
for a reason before mentioned : all the men the —
adversary plays upon his trois, or "his deuce There must remain 6
points, are deemed lost, being greatly out of It is plain from this calculation, that the player
play ; so that those men not having it in their has much the best of the probability of the gaun-
power to make his cinque point, and his game mon, exclusive of one or more blots which the
being crowded in one place and open in another, adversary is liable to make in bearing his men,
the adversary must be greatly annoyed by the supposing at the same time tne throws to be
player. If the player has two of the adversary's upon an equality. Suppose two blots are left,
men in his tables, he has a better chance for a hit either of which cannot be hit but by double dice;
than if he had more, provided his game is for- one must be hit by throwing eight and the other
warder than that of his antagonist ; for if he had by throwing nine ; so that the adversary has
three or more of the adversary's men in his only one die to hit either of them. What are
tables, he would stand a worse chance to be hit. the odds of hitting either of them ? Hie chances
When a player is running to save the gammon, of two dice being in all 36
if he should have two men upon his ace point, —
and several men abroad, although he should lose The chance to hit 6, are 6 and 2 twice 2
one point or two in putting his men into his 5 and 3 twice 2
tables, it is his interest to leave a man upon the 2 Deuces I
adversary's ace point, because it will prevent his 2 Fours I
adversary from bearing his men to tne greatest The chances to hit 9 are 6 and 3 twice . 2
advantage, and at the same time the player will 5 and 4 twice ^
have a chance of the adversary's making a blot, 2 Trois t
which he may chance to hit. However, if a —
player finds, upon a throw, that he has a proba- For hitting in all 11
bility of saving his gammon, he should never Chances for not hitting, remain ... 25
wait for a blot, as the odds are greatly against So that the odds are twenty-five to eleven
his hitting it, but should embrace that oppor- against hitting either of these blots,
tunity. This method may be taken to find out the
The following are directions for calculating the odds of hitting three, four, or five blots upon
odds of saving or winning the gammon. Sup- double dice ; or blots made upon double and
pose the adversary has so many men abroad as single dice at the same time. After knowing
requires three throws to put them into his tables, how many chances there are to hit any of those
And at the same time that the player's tables are blots, they must be added altogether,, and then
nade up, and that he has taken up one of the subtracted from the number thirty-six, ¥^ch are
adversary's men ; in this case it is about an the chances of the two dices, and the question is
equal wager that the adversary is gammoned, solved.
For, in all probability, the player has borne two The laws of Backgammon are, 1. If a map
men before be opens his tables, and when he is taken from any point, it must be played; if
bears the third man, he will be obliged to open two men are taken from it, they also must be
his size or cinque point. It is then probable played. 2. A man is not supposed to be played*
that the adversaiy is obliged to throw twice before till it is placed upon a point and quitted. 3. If
he enters his men in the player's tables, twice a player has only fourteen men in play, there is
more before he puts that man into his own no penalty inflicted, because by bis playing
tables, and three throws more to put the men with a less number than he is entitled to^ he
wliich are abroad into his own tables, in all plays to % disadvantage, for want of the deficieni
seven throws. Now the player having twelve man to make up his tables. 4. If he bean any
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number of men before he has entered a man
taken up, and which of course he was obliged
to enter, such men so borne must be entered
again in the adrersary's tables as well as the
man taken up. 5. If he has mistaken his throw
and played it, and his adversary has thrown, it
is not in the choice of either of tlie players to
alter it, unless they botli agree so to do.
The probable method of prolonging a hit at
backgammon, affords a case of instruction, as
An improved construction of this machine was
proposed by Dr. Hales in 1747, which not only
renders it fit for winnowing corn sooner and
better than by any other means hitlierto used,
but also for cleariug it of the very small com,
seeds, smut-balls, &c.
BACKHOUSE, n. i. From back and house.
The buildings behind the chief part of the house.
Their backhouK$, of more necewarj tkan cleanly
service, as kitchens, stables, are climbed up unto by
Carew.
a
well as curiosity ; for there is a probability of steps,
making the hit last by one of the players for BACKHUYSEN (Ludolph), an eminent
many hours, although they shall both play as painter, bom at Embden, in 1631, who received
iast as usual. Suppose B to have borne thirteen his earliest instruction from Albert Van Ever-
men, and that A has his fifteen men in B*s dingen; but acauired his principal ki\owledge
tables, viz. three men upon his size point, as by firequenting me painting rooms of different
many upon his cinque, (juatre, and trois points, masters. One of tnese was Henry Dubbels,
two upon bis deuce pomt, and one upon his
ace pomt. A in this situation can prolong it
by bringing his fifteen men home, always se-
curing six close points till B has entered his two
men, and brought them upon any certain point ;
as sooa as B has gained that point, A will open
an ace^ deuce, or trois point, or all of them ;
which done, B hits one of them, and A, taking
care to have two or three men in B*s tables, is
ready to hit that man; and also he being certain
of taking bp the other man, has it in his power
to prolong tne hit almost to any length, providc^l
he takes care not to open such points as two
foure, two fives, or two srxes, but always to
open the ace, deuce, or trois points, for B to hit
him.
We add the following two critical cases for a
back game: 1. Suppose the fore game to be
played by A, dud that all his men are placed as
usual ; B has fourteen of his men placed upon
his adversary's ace point, and one man upon his
adversary's deuce point, and B is to throw;
who has the best of the hit? Answer: A has
the best of it, gold to silver : because, if B does
whose skill in his art was great ; and he was
equally communicative of his knowledge to
others. From him Backhuysen obtained more
benefit than from all the painters of his time.
His subjects were sea-pieces, ships, and sea-ports.
He had not practised long when he became the
object of general admiration ; so that his draw-
ings were sought after, and several of them were
bou^t up at 100 fiorins. He studied nature at^
tentively m all her forms ; in gales, calms, storms,
clouds, rocks, skies, lights, and shadows ; and
expressed every subject with so sweet a pencil,
and such transparence and lustre, as placed him
aboTe all the artists of bis time, except the
younger Vandervelde. It was a frequent custom
with Backhuysen, whenever he could procure
resolute manners, to go to sea in a storm, to
store hb mind vdth images directly copied from
nature ; and the moment he landed, impatiently
to ran to his pallette to delineate those incidents of
which the traces might, by delay, be obliterated.
He perfectly understood the management of the
Chiaro-scuro, and, by his skill in that part of his
art, gave uncommon force and beauty to his ob-
not throw an ace to take his adversary *s deuce jects. His works may easily be distinguished by
point, which is twenty-five to eleven against him,
A vrill take up B's mei^ in his tables, either
singly or to make points ; and then if B secures
either A's deuce or trois point, A will put as
many men down as possible, in order to hit, and
thereby get a back game. It is evident that the
back game is very powerful ;• consequently, who-
ever practises it must become a greater proficient
at the game than he could by any other means.
the freedom and neatness of his touch, the clear-
ness and natural agitation or quiescence of the
water, a peculiar tint in his clouds and skies,
and the exact proportions of his ships. He
painted, for the Burgomasters of Amsterdam,
a large view of the city, for which they gave him
1300 guilders, and afterwards presented it to the
king of France. No painter was ever more
honored by the visits of kings and princes than
2. Suppose A to have five men placed upon his Backhuysen ; the king of Pmssia was one of the
size point, as many upon his quatre point, and *" ^ " — '* ~ ^ '"^ '^ '^
the same number upon his deuce point, all in his
own tables. At the same time let us suppose B
to have three men placed upon A's ace point, as
many upon A's tiois point, and the same number
upon A's cinque pomt, in his own tables, and
three men placed as usual out of his tables ;
Who has the best of the hit ? Answer : The game
is equal till B has gained his cinque and quatre
points in his own tables ; which, if he can effect,
and by playing two men from A's cinque point,
in order to force his adversary to blot by tnrow-
ing a cane, which, should B hit, he will have the
best of the hit
BACK-HEAVER, a machine long used in
number ; and Peter the Great often endeavoured
to draw after vessels which he had designed.
He died in 1709.
BACKING. See Horsemanship.
Backing Warrants, in law, denotes the
signing of such as have been issued by a justice
of the peace in one county, by a justice of the
peace in another, which is necessary before they
can be executed there. This practice is authorised
by statutes 23 Geo. II. c. 26. and 24 Geo. II.
c. 55.
BACKNANG, a town in the kingdom of Wir-
temberg, circle of Heilbronn, and district of the
Lower Neckar. It lies on the Murr, and con-
tains 3020 inhabitants, many of whom are
several parts A England, particularly in Hamp- woollen-weavers and tanners. Eight miles east
ihire, Wiltshire, and Sussex, for winnowing com. of Marbah, and twelve north-east of Stutgard.
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BACK-PAINTING, the method of painting
mezzotiuto prints, pasted on glass, with oil-colors.
See Mezzotinto. It consists chiefly in laying
the print upon a piece of crown-glass, of such a
size as fits it; To do this, the print should be
laid in clean water for two days and nights, if
the print be on very strong, close, and hard
gummed paper; "but if upon an open, soft,
spungy paper, two hours, or more, will some-
times suffice. The paper or picture having been
sufficiently soaked, take it out and lay it upon
two sheets of paper, and cover it with two more;
and let it lie tnere a little to draw out the mois-
ture. In the mean time, take the glass the pic-
ture is to be put upon, and set it near the fire to
warm ; take Strasburg turpentine, warm it over
the "fire till it is grown fluid, then, with a hog's-
hair brush, spread the turpentine very smooihly
and evenly on the glass, llien take the mezzo-
tinto print from between the papers, and lay it
upon the glass ; beginning first at one end, rub-
bing it down gently till it lie close, and there be
no wind bladders between. After this riib or
roll off the paper from the back of the print, till
it looks black, i. e. till nothing appears but the
print, like a thin film left upon the glass, and set
it aside to dry. Then varnish it over with some
white transparent varnish, that the print may be
seen through it; and it is then fit for painting.
The utmost care is necesaaiy in rubbing or rolling
the paper off the print so as not to tear it, es-
pecisilly in the light parts. Or the prints, instead
of being soaked, maybe rolled up and boiled for
about two hours, more or less, according to the
Quality of the paper ; and that will render it as
fit for nibbing, rolling or peeling, as the other
method. This being done, and the oil-colors
prepared, ground very fine, and tempered up
very stiff, lay on the back of the transparent
prints such colors as each part requires ; letting
the master-lines of the print still guide tiie p€fn-
cil ; and thus each particular color will lie fair to
the eye on the other side of the glass, and almost
as well as a painted piece, if it be done neatly.
The shadows of the print are generally sufficient
for the shadow of every color ; but if it is wished
to give a shadow by the pencil, let the shadows
be laid on first, and the other colors afterwards.
In this kind of back-painting it is not necessary
to lay on the colors very smooth. As the chief
aim is to have the colors appear well on the fore-
side of the print, all that is necessary is to lay
the colors on thick enough, that its body may
strike the color of it plainly through the glass.
BACK'PIECE,n.». From back and piece.
The piece of armour which covers the back.
The morning that he was to join battle, his ar-
mourer put on his baclqnece before, and his breast-
plate behinri Camden.
BACK-QUADRANT, the same with Back-
STAFF. See Quadrant.
BACK RIVER, a river of Maryland, which
runs into the Chesapeake.
BACK'ROOM, n. t. From back and room.
A room behmd ; not in the front.
If you have a fair prospect backwards of gardens,
it may bo convenient to make backrooms the larger.
Mos. Mech, Bxtrcmt,
BACKS, among dealers in leather, denote the
thickest and best tanned hides, used chiefly for
soles of shoes.
BACK'SIDE, n. f. From back and side.
The hinder part of any thing ; the hind part of
an animal ; the yard or ground behind a house.
If the quicksilver were rubbed from the iodbuls of
the speculum, the glass would cause the same ringi
of colours, but more faint ; the phenomena depend
not upon the quicksUver, imless so far as it iaereates
the reflection of the hoMAe of the glass. Nemtan,
A poor ant carries a grain of com^ climbing up a
wall with ber head downwards and her hadudt up-
wards. Addum.
The wash of pastures, fields, commons, roadt,
streets, or haekniet, are of great advantage to all
sorts of land. Mmrimtr.
BACK-SINEWS of a Horse, the eitensor
tendons of the foot, placed behind the fore-leg,
and very frequently injured by over-exertion.
The inflammation hereby produced is best re-
moved in the first instance by emollient and
astringent cataplasms.
BACK'SLIDE, v.n. ^ From back and slide.
Back'slider, n. f . >Td retrograde in rdi-
Back'sliding. 3gion. Exclusively a
scriptural and theological term. Its precise
signi^cation, as employed by divines, b not apos-
tac^ as stated by Dr. Johnson, but a tendency
to It. It supposes a religious profession ad-
vanced to a state of spirituality and consistency,
and a' receding from that state in a greater or
less degree in principle or practice : but it does
not amount to a total abandonment of either.
The hackdider in his heart shall be filled with h»
own ways. Solomm.
lily focJbUdHMjT diall reprove thee. Jeremiah.
Remember thy baek^Mjfi £rom me ; lament over
them : confess them before me ; and look to God to
enable thee to take thy step* with move firmness, and
to offer up thy prayers with more spiritnmlity. CecU.
BACK'STAFF,ii.f. From back and suff;
because in taking an observation, the obseiver's
back is turned toward the sun^ An instrument
useful in taking the sun's altitude at sea. It
was sometimes called Davis's quadrant, from its
inventor, captain John Davis, a Welchman, and
a celebrated navigator, who produced it about
the year 1590.
This instrument consists of two concentric
arches of box-wood, and three vanes : the arch of
the longer radius is of 30°, and the other 60\
making between them 90°, or a quadrant: als(>
the vane at the centre is called the horiion-vaoe,
that on the arch of 60° die shade*vane, and that
on the other arch the sight-vane. * It is unneces-
sary to give a more minute description, since
more complete and accurate instruments have
entirely superseded the use of this.
BACK'STAIRS, n. i . From back and stain.
The private stairs in the house.
i condemn the pracdce which hath Lately crept into
the court at the backatain, that some pridced for
sheriffs get out of the bill. Bmam.
BACK'STAYS, n. i. From back and sUy.
Ropes or stays which keep the masts of a ship
from pitching forward or overboard.
The Backstays,. Fr. galhauhant, are long
ropes extending from the top-mast-heads to
the starboard and larboard sides of the ship,
where they are farther extended to the channeb ;
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359
BAG
they are u&ed to second the efforts of the
Mhrouds, in supporting the masts, when strained
by a weight ot sail in a fresh wind.
They are usually distinguished into breast-
backstays and after-backstays; the intent of
the first being to sustain the roast when the ship
sails upon a wind ; or, in other terms, when the
wind acts upon the ship sideways ; the second is
to enable her to carry sail when the wind is
further aft ; and the third kind take their name
from being shifted or changed from one side to
the other, as occasion requires. There are also
backstays for the top-gallant-masts, in large
ships, which are fixed in the same manner with
those of the top-masts.
A pair of backstays is usually formed of one
rope, which is doubled in* the middle, and ias-
tened there so as to form an eye, which passes
over the mast-head, from whence the two ends
hang down, and are stretched to the channels,
by dead-eyes and lanyards. See the article
I5eai>-eyes, &c.
Backstay Stool, a short piece of plank,
fitted for the security of the dead-eyes, and
chains for the backstays, though sometimes the
channels are left long enough at the after end, for
the backstays to be fitted thereto.
BA'CKSWORD, n. s. From back and swoid.
A sword with one sharp edge.
Bull dreaded not old Lewis at 6odbioord.
ArhuOmot,
BACK Tack, in Scots law, a lease granted by
a wadsetter, or heritable creditor, who, instead
of possessing the wadset-lands, grants a tack
thereof to the reverser or heritable debtor, for
payment of a certain sum in name of tack duty.
BACK'WARD, n.$. adv. & oj^.^ From back,
Back'wards, * r and peaftb,
BackVardly, dfh. A Sax. that is,
Back'wabdm ess, n. i. J towards the
back; contrary to forward. Backward, as an
adverb, denotes pimply the manner of going;
and is distinguished fiK)m back, thus : a person
stands back who does not wish to be in the way ;
he goes backward when he does not wish to turn
his back on an object. As an adjective, its mean-
ing is unwilling, or averse. And hence it is
often used in the sense of hesitating, dilatory.
Slow in apprehension, and in growth. The sub-
stantives take their literal and figurative meaning
from the adverb and the adjective.
They went baehpard, and their facet were haek-
AU things are ready, if our minds be so :
Perish the man whose mind is backward now.
Shakqteare,
It should seem then, diat Dobbin's tail grows back-
ward. ' M
What seest thou else
In the dark backward or abysm of time t ^ Jd»
The monstroos s^ht
dtmck them with horror backward'^ bat far worse
Uqfd them behind. Milton,
Then darting fire firoii) her malignant eyes.
She cast him backward as Le strove to rise.
Dr^den.
We are strangely backward to lay hdd of this safe,
this only method of core. Atterbm^.
The thing by which we an apt to ezaue our back-
wardmeu to good works, is the ill-soccess that hath
been observed to attend well-designing charities. Id.
Cities laid waste, they storm'd the dens and caves
For wiser brutes are backward to be slaves. Pope,
Our mutability makes the friends of our nation
backward to engage with us in alliances. Additon,
It often falls out that the backward learner makes
amends another way. SonUk,
To prove the possibility of a thing, there is no ar-
gument to diat which looks badtwarda; for what has
been done or suffered may certainly be done or suffer*
ed again. Id,
Like Kumid lions by the hunters chas'd.
Though they do fly, yet baekwardly do go
With proud aspect, <Usdaining greater haste.
Sidney,
The mind W backward to undergo the fatigue of
weighing every argument. Watta,
BACK-WORM. See FiLiWDEBs.
BACO, a town of Mindoro, one of the Philip-
pines, the capital of the island, and residence of
a Spanish judge. The environs are well watered
by springs from the mountains, which are covered
by sarsaparilla. Long. 121** 5' E., lat. 13" 18' N.
Baco, in old Latin, a fiEit hog.
BACOBA, in botany, a name by wnich some
authors call the banana tree, or musa fructu
breviori.
BACON (Anthony), the son of Sir Nicolas, and
elder brother to the celebrated lord chancellor,
was bom in 1558, and educated at Cambridge.
He spent much of his time in travelling, and thus
became personally acquainted with most of the
literati ot his age. In 1579, at the age of twenty-
one, he went to Paris, where he resided for some
time ; and thence to Bourges and Geneva, where
he lodged at the house of the celebrated Theodore
Beza. From Geneva he successively removed
to Montpeiier, Marseilles, Bourdeaux, and Mont-
auban, sometimes communicating intelligence of
importance to England. In 1585 he visited
Henry, king of Navarre, afterwards the great
Henry IV. of France, who was then at Beam ;
and became acquainted with the learned Lam-
bert Dauaeus, who, as a mark of esteem, dedicated
several of his works to him. His health failing,
he retumed to England in Febmary, 1501-2 ;
and in 1595 took up his residence at Essex house,
where he carried on a most extensive corres-
pondence with the foreign literati, and among
others with king Henry IV. The time and
place of his death is uncertain.
Bacon (Francis), lord high chancellor of
England, under king James I. was son of Sic
Nicholas Bacon, by Anne, daughter of Sir An-
thony Cook, eminent for her skill in Latin and
Greek. He was bom in 1650; and showed such
marks of genius that he was taken notice of by
Queen Elizabeth when very young. He was
educated at Trinity college, Cambridge; and
made such progress ih his studies, that, before
he was sixteen, he had not only traversed the
whole circle of the liberal arts' as then taught,
but began to perceive those imperfections in the
reigning philosophy which Jie afterwards so ef-
fectually exposea. On his leaving the univer-
sity his father sent him to France ; where, before
he was nineteen years of age, he wrote a general
view of the state of Eurc^ : but Sir Nicholas
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BACON.
dying, he was obliged suddenly to return to
England, when he applied himself to the study
of the common law, at GrayVInn. At this
period the famous Earl of Essex, who could dis-
tinguish merit, entered into intimate friendship
with him; zealously attempted, though without
success, to procure him the office of queen's
solicitor ; and, in order to comfort his friend under
tlie disappointment, conferred on him a present
of land to the value of £l800. Bacon, notwith-
standing the EarFs friendship, and even the early
prepossession of her majesty in his favor, met
with many obstacles to his preferment during her
reign. His enemies represented him as a specu-
lative man, whose head was filled with philo-
sophical notions, and therefore more likely to
perplex than forward public business. It was
with great difficulty that lord treasurer Burleigh
obtained for him the reversion of register to Ae
star chamber, worth about £1600 a-year, which
only fell to him about twenty years after. He
did not obtain any other preferments from
queen Elizabeth; though, it obedience to a
sovereign in the most disagreeable of all offices,
viz. the casting reflections on a deceased friend,
entitl^ him, he might have claimed it. The
people were so clamorous, even against the queen
nerself, on the death of Essex, that it was thought
necessary to vindicate the conduct of the adminis-
tration; and to Bacon was assigned this disgrace-
ful task. Upon the accession of James he was
soon raised to considerable honors ; and wrote in
fkvor of the union of the two kingdoms of Scot-
land and England. In 1G16 he was sworn of
the privy council. He then applied himself to
the reducing and recomposing the laws of England.
When attorney-general, he distinguished himself
by his endeavours to restrain duelling, then very
frequent. In 1617he was appointed lord keeper
of the great seal; and, in 1618, lord chancellor
of England, and created Lord Verulam. In the
midst of these honors, and the multiplicity of
business, he forgot not his philosophy, Imt in
1620 published his great work Novum Organum.
In 1621 he was advanced Xn the dignity of
Viscount St. Albans, and appeared with great
splendor at the opening of the session of parlia-
ment ; but soon after met with a severe reverse of
fortune . For about t^ic twelfth of March, a com-
mittee of the house of commons being appointed
to inspect the abuses of courts of justice, the
chancellor was openly accused of corruption, and
the king is said to have positively enjoined him
to submit to his peers, promising to reward him
aflerwards! The chancellor, though he fore-
saw his approaching ruin if he did not plead for
himself, resolved to obey ; and the house of peers,
on the 3d of May, 1621, gave judgment against
him, ' that he should be fined £40,000, and re-
main prisoner in the tower during the king's
pleasure ; should for ever be incapable of any
office, place, or employment in the state, and
that he should never sit in parliament, or come
within the verge of the court.' The fault which,
next to his ingratitude to Essex, thus tarnished
the glory of tibis illustrious man, is said to have
principally proceeded from his indulgence to his
servants, who made a corrupt use of it. One day,
during bis trial, passing through a room where
several of his domestics were sitting, upon their
rising up to salute him, he said, ' Sit ddwn, my
masters ; your rise hath been mv fall.' And we
are told by Rushworth, in his historical collec-
tions, ' that he treasured up nothing for himself
or family, but was over-indmgent to his servants,
and connived at their takings : they were profuse
and expensive, and had at their coromanct what-
ever he was master of. The gifts taiken were for
the most part for interlocutory orders. His de-
crees being generally made with so much equity,
that though gifts rendered him suspected of in-
justice, yet never any decree made by him was
reversed as unjust.' It was peculiar to this neat
man (say the authors of the biog. Brit.) to have
nothing narrow and selfish in his composition :
he gave away withoilt concern whatever he pos-
sessed; and believing other men of the same
mould, he received with as little consideration.
He retired, after a short imprisonment^ from the
engagements of an active life, to the shade of a
contemplative one, which he had always loved.
The king remitted Ids fine, and he was sum-
moned to parliament in the first year of King
Charles I. In his recess he composed the Greatest
part of his English and Latin works, and it ap-
pears from them that his thoughts were still fne,
vigorous, and noble. The last three years of his
life he devoted wholly to his studies. lie died
in 1626 ; and was buried in St. Michaers church
at St. Albans, where a monument of white mar-
ble was erected to him by Sir Thomas Meautys',
formerly his secretary. A complete edition of
his works was published at London in 1740.
Addison has said of him, that he had the sound,
distinct, comprehensive, knowledge of Aristotle,
vrith all the beautiful light graces and embellish-
ments of Cicero. Mr. Walpole calls him the
prophet of arts, which Newton was afterwards
to reveal; and adds, that his genius and his
works will be universally admired as long as
science exists. We must add, firum another
writer, with regret, ' as lung as ingratitude and
adulation are despicable, so long shall we lament
the depravity of this great man's heart. Alas!
that he, who could command immortal fiune,
should have stooped to the little ambition of
power.'
If parts allure theo, think how fiacon shinM ;
The wisest, brightest, meanest of mankind. Ftpe.
Bacon (Robert), a divine of the thirteenth
ce^atury, was bom about 1168. He studied at
Oxford, where he distinguished himself by (he
quickness of his parts. Thence, according to the
custom of that age, he removed to Paris, where
he perfected himself in all the branches of learn-
ing. After his return he settled at Oxford, and
read divinity lectures. la 1233 he was made
treasurer of the cathedral church of Salisbury;
and distinguished himself by a sermon before
king Henry III. at Oxford. In 1240 he lost his
great patron and intiniate friend, Edmund, arch-
bishop of Canterbury, and possibly this circum-
stance, joined to his love or a retired life, might
induce Bacon, diough very old, to enter into the
order of Friars Preachers. In gratitude to the
archbishop, Bacon wrote his life, which was
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BACON.
361
highly esteemed. He wrote also many other
learned pieces, and died in 1248.
Bacon (Roger), a Franciscan friar of surprising
genius and learning; bom near Ilchester in Somer-
setshire, in 1214. He studied first at Oxford^ and
afterwards at Paris, which, in those times, was
esteemed the centre of literature. Here he made
so r&pid a progress in the sciences, that he was
esteemed the glory of that university, and much
caressed by several of his countrymen, particu-
larly Robert Grouthead, afterwards bishop of
Lincoln, his friend and patron. About 1240
he returned to Oxford, ana, assuming the Fran-
ciscan habit, prosecuted experimental philoso-
phy, with unremitting ardor. In this pursuit,
in experiments, instruments, and in scarce books,
he tells us, he soent, in die space of twenty years,
no less than Jt2000, which was given him by
bome of the h^tds of the university. But such
extraordinary talents, and his astonishing progress
in sciences, which, in that inioiant ase, were
totally unknown to the rest of mankind, whilst
they raised the admiration of the more intelligent
few, could not fail to excite the envy and
malice of hb illiterate fraternity ; who found no
difficulty in propagating the notion of Bacon's
dealing with the devil. Under thi^ pretence, he
was restrained from reading lectures ;nis writings
were confined to his convent ; and, in 1278, he
himself was imprisoned in his cell. At this time
he was sixty-foui years of age. Nevertlieless,
being permitted the use of his books, he went on
in the rational pursuit of knowledge, corrected
his former labors, and wrote several curious
pieces. When he had been ten years in con-
finement, Jerome de Ascoli being elected pope,
Bacon solicited his holiness to be released ; and
towards the end of that pope's reign, obtained
his liberty. He spent the remainder of his life
in the college of his order, where he died in
1294, in the eightieth year of his age, and was
buried in the Franciscan church. Such are the
few particulars, which the most diligent re-
searches have been able to discover concerning
this very great man ; who, like a single bright
star in a dark hemisphere, shone forth in an age
of ignorance and superstition, the light and glory
of his country. His works are : 1. Epistola fra-
tris Roger! Baconis, de Secretis Operibus Artis et
Naturae, et de NuUitate Magiee. raris, 1542, 4to.
Basil, 1593, 8vo. 2. Opus Majus. Loud. 1733,
fol. published by Dr. Jebb. 3. Thesaurus Che-
nicus. Francf. 1603, 1620. This was probably
the editor's title ; but it contains several of our
author's treatises on this subject. There are
said to remain in different libraries several ma-
nuscripts of his not yet published.
Bacon (Sir Nathaniel), K. B:and an excellent
painter, was a younger son of Sir Nicholas, and
half brother to the great Francis Bacon. He
studied painting in Italy ; but his manner and
coloring approaches nearer to the style of the
Flemish school. Mr. Walpole observes, that
at Culford, where he lived, are preserved
some of his works; and at Gorhamburv, his
father's seat, is a large picture by him m oil,
of a cook-maid with a dead fowl, admirably
painted. In the same house is a whole length
of him, by himself, drawn on paper, his sword
and pallet hung up, and a half length of his
mother by him.
Bacon (Sir Nicholas), lord keeper of the great
seal in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, was bom at
Chislehurst in Kent, 1510, and educated at Cam-
bridge; after which he travelled into France,
and visited Paris. On his return, he settled in
Gray's Inn, and quickly distinguished himself so
much, that on the dissolution of the monastery
of St. Edmund's Bury, in Suffolk, he had a grant
from king Henry VIII. of several manors. Two
years aft^r he vras made attorney in the court
of Wards, a place both of honor and profit. In
this office he was continued by Edward VI. and
in 1552 he was elected treasurer of Gray*s Inn.
His great moderation and consummate prudence
preserved him through the dangerous reigii of
qi^een Mary. In the very dawn of that of Eliza-
beth he was knighted ; and in 1558, the great
seal of England being taken from archbishop
Heath^ was delivered to him with the title of
lord keeper, and he was made one of the queen's
privy council. He had a considerable share in
the settling of religion : as a statesman he was
remarkable for a clear head and deep counsels :
but his great parts and hig^ preferment were fer
from raising him in his own opinion, as appears
from the modest answer he gave queen Elizabeth,
when she told him his house at Red-grave was
too little for him : < Not so, madam,' returned he^
'your majesty has made me too great for my
house.' After having held the great seal more
than twenty years, this able statesman and fiiitlk-
ful counsellor met with his death by foiling
asleep in his room vnth a window open, and the
current of firesh air blowing in upon him. He
awoke very ill, and was immediately removed
into his bed-chamber, where he died in a few
dayd, i. e. on the 26th of February, 1578-9. He
was buried in St. Paul's, where a monument was
erected to him, which was destroyed by the fire
in 1666. Sir Nicholas was the first lord keeper
that ranked as lord chancellor. He was twice
married ; by his first wife he had three sons and
three daughters ; and by his second, two sons,
Anthony and Francis. Sir Nicholas left several
manuscripts, which have never been printed.
Bacon (John), an ingenious sculptor, bom in
Southwark in 1740. He very early manifested
an inclinatioQ for drawiug, which was encou-
raged by bindiog him as an apprentice to a
manufacturer of china, at Lamlieth, when about
fifteen years of age. Here a considerable part of
his employment was to paint on porcelain, in
which he improved himself so much, in forming
small ornamental pieces, that within two years
all the models of the manufoctory were committed
to him. This situation alfo afforded him an
opportunity of seeing various models executed
by other artists, which were sent to a neighbour-
ing pottery to be burnt. In 1758 he obtained a
premium m>m the society for the encouragement
of the arts, for a small figure of Peace, after the
manner of the antique ; and eight different pre-
miums afterwards for other figures. Before his
apprenticeship was out, he formed a design of
making statues in artificial stone, which he
afterwards perfected, and which is still carried
on in a manufactory in the New Road, with suo-
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BACON.
cess. He first began to work in marble about
1763, and soon invented an instmment for
transferring the form of the model to the marble
(getting out the points as artists call it), which
other sculptors have since adopted. In 1769 he
received the first gold medal bestowed by the
Royal Society, and next year was chosen an
as!K>ciate. The exhibition of his statue of Mars
greatly increased his reputation; and Dr. Mark-
liam, since archbishop of York, employed him to
make a bust of the kmg, to be placed in •the hall
of Christ Church College, Oxford. While he
was modelling this bust, his majesty asked him
* if he had ever been out of the kingdom;' and
receiving an answer in the negative, said, • I am
glad of it, you will be the greater honor to it.'
By the execution of this woHl he obtained the
royal patronage, and was employed to foi^
another for the University of Gottingen. In 1777
he was engaged in preparing a model of a monu-
ment, to be erected in Guy's hospital to the me-
mory of the founder, which he executed in such
a manner, as recommended him to that of Lord
Chatham, at Guildhall. In 1778 he became a
royal academician, and finished a handsome mo-
nument to the memory of Mrs. Draper, which is
in Bristol cathedral. From this period, his works
are so numerous, that we can only mention a
few of the principal : — ^Two groups for the top
of Somerset4)ouse ; a statue of Judge Blackstone,
for All Soul's College, Oxford ; another of Henry
VI. for Eton College; Lord Chatham's monu-
ment in Westminster Abbey ; and Dr. Johnson's
and Mr. Howard's in St. Paul's cathedral. He
died of an inflammation in his bowels, in 1799, and
left a widow and eight children. He was a man
of most excellent character, and of his religious
principles, let the inscription which he ordered
to be placed over his grave testify : • What I was
as an artist, seemed to me of some importance
while I lived; but what I really was, as a be-
liever in Christ Jesus is the only thing of import-
ance to me now.' Mr. Bacon also po^essed
respectable literary talents.
Dk CON, n. I. probably from baken, that is,
dried flesh. The flesh of a hog salted and
dried.
No wine ne drank she, neyther white ne red.
Hire bord was served most with white and black
Milky and brown bred, in which she fond no lack,
Seinde batim, and sometime an ey or twey ;
For she was as it were a manner dey! (^laucer.
When it had stabbed or broke a head.
It would scrape trenchers or chip bread ;
Toast cheese or bacon, tho' it were
To bait a moose-trap it would not care.
High o'er the hearth a chine of bacon hung.
Good old Philemon seised it with a prong.
Then cut a slice. Drydm.
Bacon, the flesh of swine, salted, dried,
and generally, in this country, smoked. It is a
considerable article of conmierce : we shall de-
scribe the most approved methods of preserving
it ; vi*. that adorned in SomerseUhire. Tne last
three months of the year are selected as best
adapted for curing bacon here. When a hog is
killed for bacon, the sides are laid in large
wooden troughs, and sprinkled all over with bay
salt; thus they arc left for twenty-four hours, to
drain away the blood and the superfluous juiws.
After this first preparation, they should be taken
out, wiped very dry, and the drainings thrown
away. Next some fresh bay-salt, well heated ir.
a large iron frying-pan, is to be rubbed over the
meat, until it has absorbed a sufficient quantity,
and this friction repeated four successive dayi,
while the meat is turned only every other day.
If large hogs are killed, the flitches should be
kept in brine for three weeks, and, during that
period, 'turned ten times, then taken out, and
thoroughly dried in the usual manner; for, unless
they be tnus managed, it is impossible to pie-
serve them in a sweet state, nor will their flayor
be equal to those properly cured.
As the preservation of the salt used in this
process, wnen carried on to a great extent, may
oe an object of economy, the following method
may be adopted for recovering the saline natter
contained in tliese drainings, or in any other
brine ; it was communicated by a person who
had ^een it practised on the continent, where
culinary salt is sold at a considerable price. He
first added such a quantity of boiling-water, to
the brine or drainings, as was sufficient to dis*
solve all the particles of the salt. This solutiou
he then placed in either an iron or earthen ves-
sel, over a fire, which, by boiling, forced all the
feculent animal particles to the top, so that they
were carefoUy removed by a perforated ladle.
After the liquid had become clear, it was set
aside for twenty-fotv hours, in a cool place, that
the coloring matter might subside. l>ut, as the
combination it^ad formed with the boiled liquor
was very tenacious, he contrived two different
ways of separating it : 1. A solution of alum in
water, one pint to an ounce of that substance
was gradually dropt into the cold liquor, in the
proportion of a table-spoonftil of the former to
every gallon of the latter; and the whole allowed
to stand for several hours ; or, 2. If time and
circumstances would permit, he filtered the liquor
by means of long flannel slips, cut longitudinally
by the web, but previously soaked in another
strong and perfectly clear solution of salt ; these
slips were so immersed into the colored fluid
that the projecting external end reached another
vessel, which had been placed much lower than
that containing the brine, or drainings. When
these particulars were properly attended to, the
absorbed hquor became almost colorless, and
pellucid. Having thus procured a clear liquid
solution, nothing more was required than to
evaporate it to dryness, in order to reproduce
the salt in its original granulated form. This
process may be imitated without any difficulty,
and at very little expense. Dr. Wmich, from
whose Domestic Encyclopedia we now quote,
says, the second method of discharging the color
is preferable; as by this no alum will be re-
quired, which only contaminates the salt
Bacon, the service of the, a custom, men-
tioned by our old historians and law-writers ; as
well as in the Spectator, as held in the manor of
Whichenacre in Stafibrdshire, and in the priory
of Dunnow in Essex. In the former of^ these
places, by an ancient grant of the lord, a flitch
of bacon, with half a quarter of wheat, was to be
given to every married couple who could swear
that haying been married a year and a day, they
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would never within that time have once ex-
changed their mate for any other person on
earth, however richer, fairer, or the like. But
they were to bring two of their neighbours with
them to attest that they swore the truth. On this
the lord of another neighbouring manor of Rud-
low, was to find a horse, saddled, and a sack to
carry the bounty in, with drams and trumpets,
as rar as a day's journey out of the manor ; all
the servants being summoned to attend, and pay
service to the bacon. The bacon of Dunihow,
first erected under Henry III. was on much the
same footing ; but the tenor of the oath was only
that the parties had never once repented their
connexion, or wished themselves unmarried
again.
Bacon, a town of Persia, in the province of
Seistan, eighty miles N. N. £. of Zareng.
Bacon, a town on the east coast of the island
of Lu9on.
Bacon's Island, a small island in the Chi-
nese Sea. Long. 113*» 5' E., lat. 11* 13' N.
BACON-FOSSIL, in modem chemistiy, a
singular fossil discovered in the parish of Cruwys-
Morchard, Devon, a few years since, in the fol-
lowing manner :— -Some workmen, in sinking a
pond, had arrived at a depth of ten feet from the
surface, when they struck upon a spongy sub-
stance, which appeared to be a very thick cuticle
of a brown color: they soon found pieces of
bone and solid fat of the same hue. At length
the entire body of a hog was extricated, reduced
to the color and substance of an Egyptian
raummy : the flesh was six inches thick, and the
hair upon it very long and elastic. On proceed-
ing in the worii, a considerable number of hogs,
of various sizes, were found in different posi-
tions; in some places two or three together, in
othera singly ; tne bodies, when exposed to the
air, still retained their consistency, and the
stratum continued for twelve feet ; afler which
the pond, being sufficiently deep, was filled with
vrater. The ground was never known to have
been broken up before; but here had formerly
been a monastery of Augustine friais. The fa-
mily which preceded the present possessor has
a journal of^all remarkable events which have
occurred in the parish during three centuries;
but there was no entry which could lead to a so-
lution of the phenomenon. The Rev. Mr. Pol-
"whele, who obtained a specimen, mentions^ in
bis History of Devon, that the bed in which the
fossils lay was of stiff clay. He describes the
piece in his possession to be very light, some-
what spongv, mottled like mottled soap, and
evidently of a sebaceous nature. On a slight
chemical analysis, it was mostly soluble in
spirit of wine, while hot; but separated into
white flakes on cooling, in which it resembles
spermaceti; but it was easily convertible into
soap on being boiled in a fixed alkaline lixivium.
* It is certaiidy/ he says, ' an animal substance;
find, if I may form any judgment from a large
specimen which I immediately procured, I think
1 may safely pronounce it to have been originally
hog's^flesh.'
BACONGEN, i town on the west coast of
the island of Sumatra. Long. 96^ 58' E., lat.
2* 52' N.
BACONO, a river of the Caraccas, South
America. It runs in the mountains near Trux-
illo, and serves as a line of demarcation to the
provinces of Varinas and Venezuela. Thence
passing through the plains, it enters the Gua-
nare, which discharges its waters into'the Por-
tugueza. There is a settlement of the same name
near its source.
BACONTHORPE, or BACONnoRp (John>,
styled the resolute doctor, a learned monk, boiu
in the thirteenth century at Baoonsthorp, in
Norfolk. He spent the early part of his life in
the convent of^ Blackney, near Walsingham;
whence he removed to Oxford, and th^ce to
Paris ; where he obtained degrees in divinity and
law, 9^ was esteemed the principal of the Aver-
roists. In 1329 he returned to England, and
was chosen twelfth provincial of the En^ish
Carmelites. In 1333 he was sent for to Rome ;
where, we are told, he first maintained the pope'a
sovereign authority in cases of divorce, but that
he afterwards retracted his opinion. He died in
London in 1346, with the character of a monk of
genius and learning. He wrote, 1. Commenta^
ria sen Qusestiones super Quatuor Libros Senten-
tiarum; and 2. Compendium Legis Christi, et
quodlibeta: both which underwent several edi-
tions at Paris, Milan, and Cremona. Leland,
Bale, and Pits, mention a number of his works
never published.
BACOPA, in botany, a genus of plants of the
class pentandria, and order monogynia. Its ge-
neric characters are cal. perianth, one-leavm :
COR. one-petalled : stam. filaments, five; an-
thers, sagittate: PtST. germ, ovate; style short;
stigma, headed : per. capsule, one-celled ; seeds,
very many. The only species is the B. aquatica,
native of Cayenne. lAnn. ^c. Plant.
BACOUE (Leo), a French divine of the se-
venteenth century. He was first of the Protest-
ant persuasion, but afterwards changed to the
Roman Catholic feith, turned Franciscan, and
was made bishop of Pamiers. He was author of
a Latin poem on the education of a prince. He
died in 1694, in his ninety-fourth year.
BACRAG, the same with Baodiarach wine.
BACRAS, a town of Sennaar, in Afirica,
twenty-five miles east of Sennaar.
BACRE, a small town in the territory of
Sierra Leone. Long. 12° 11' W., lat. 8° 40' N.
BACTISHUA (George Ebn)| a Christian
physician at the court of the caliph Almansor,
who sent him as a present 3000 dinars, with
three beautiful girls to supply the place of his
wife, who vras old : Bactishua seot them back,
observing that his religion forbad him to have
more than one woman for his wife.
BACTRIA, or Bactriana, now Chorassan, or
Khorasan , an ancient kingdom of Asia, bounded
on the west by Margiana, on the north by the Oxus,
on the south by Mount Paropismus, and on the
east by the Asiatic Scythia and the country of
the Massagetae. It was a large, fruitful, and
well-peopled country ; containing, according to
Ammianus Marcellinus, 1000 cities, though of
these only a fem are particularly mentioned ; of
which, that formerly called Maracanda, now Sa-
marcand, is the most considerable. Of the his-*
tory of this country we know but little.- Authors
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agree that it was subdued first by the Assyrians,
afterwards by Cyrus, and then by Alexander the
Great. Afterwards it remained subject to Se-
leucus Nicator and his successors, till the time of
Antiochus Theos; when Theodotus, from go-
vernor of that province, became king, and
strengthened himself so effectually in his king-
dom, while Antiochus was engaged in a war with
Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, that he
could never afterwards dispossess him of his ac-
quisitions. His posterity enjoyed the kingdom
for some time, till they were driven out by the
Scythians, who possessed Bactria during the
reigns of Adrian, Antoninus Piui, &c. The
Scydiians were in their turn driven out by the
Hubs and Turks, and these often conquered by
the Saracens and Tartars; although they were in
possession of this country, in the time of Ladis
laus IV. king of Hungary.
BACTRIANS, the inhabitants of Bactria. In
ancient times they differed little in their manners
from the Nomades; and being near neighbours
of the Scythians, who were a very warlike
people, the Bactrian soldiers were reckoned the
best in the world. Their appearance was very
sava^; theybeinff ofan enormous stature, having
rough beards, and long hair hanging down their
shoulders. Some authors assert that they kept
dogs on purpose to devour such as arrived at ex-
treme old age, or who were exhausted by long
sickness. They add, that for all their Herceness,
the Bactrian husbands were such dupes to their
wives, that they durst not complain or them even
ft)r conjugal infidelity, to which it seems the
latter were very much aiddicted.
BACTRIANUS, in zoology, a spedet of the
camel.
BACTRIS, in botanv, a genus of plants of
the class moncBcia, order hexandria. Its ge-
neric characters are cal. spathe universal, one-
leaved : COR. one-petalled : stam. filaments, six;
anthers, oblong: pist. germ, ovate; style, very
short ; stigma, headed : pee. drupe, coriaceous,
seed-nut, roundish. The species are, 1. B.
minor fructibus, &c. sen cocos (quincensis) acu-
leata, &c. a shrub, native of South America. 2.
B. major fructu, &c. sen fructus exoticus, a
shrub, native of South America.
Bactbis, in entomology, a species of bnichus.
BACTROP£RATi£, from /Socrpoy, a staff,
and TTfipa, a bag ; an ancient appellation given
to philosophers by way of contempt, denoting a
man with a staff and a budget it seems to be
of this sect that Paschasius Radbertus speaks,
under the corrupt names of Baccoperitte, or Bac*
chionita, whom he describes as philosophers
who, by way of contempt for earthly things, kept
nothing but a dbh to dxink out of; and that one
of this order seeing a peasant scooping up the
water in his hand, threw away bis cup as a su-
perfluity.
BACULARES, a sect of Anabaptists, so
called, as holding it unlawftil to bear a sword, or
any other arms, besides a staff.
BACULARIUS, in writers of the middle
age, an ecclesiatical apparitor or verger : who
carries a staff, baculus, in his hand, as an ensign
of his office.
BACULE, in forufication, a kind of portcullis,
or gate, made like a pit-fiill with a counterpoise,
and supported by two great stakes. It is vsnallf
made b^ore the corps du guard, near the gale oi
a place.
BACULI. See Bacilli.
Baculi Sti. Pauu, batoons of St Paiil,a
kind of figured stones, of the same substance
with those resembling the bristles of some Ame-
rican echini, called by Dr. Plott, lapida Jada-
ica.
BACUIXXMETRY,!!.!. From baadMiyUL
and furpov. The art of measttring distances br
one or more staves.
Baculometet. See Geometet.
BAOULOSUS Ecclesiasticus, in someu-
cient laws, is used for a bishop, or abbot, digni-
fied with the pastoral stafi; or crosier.
BACULUS DiviNATOEius, or Vieguu Di-
VINA. See Baouette Divivatoire.
BACUaiUS, or Batueius, king of the lb^
rianSy a people on the side of the Caspian kl
One day bemg hunting, he lost sight of his com-
pany, tluouj^ a great storm and sudden darkness;
upon which he vowed to the God of his christian
slave, that if he were delivered, he would vor-
ship him alone: the day breaking up imiot-
diately, he is said to hai^e made good his promise,
and became the apostle of his country.
BAiy, (U§. ^ Quoad, Dut ; Sax. baed;
Bad'ly, ado, > Ger. bos ; probably connected
Bad'ness, n.t. J with th^ Lat pejug, worse, ud
the Heb. botck. Comparative worse ; superi^n
worst Bad respects moral and physical quali-
ties indiscriminately ; whatever offends the tbte
and sentiments of a rational being, is bad; food
is bad when it disasrees with the constitntix;
the air is bad which has any thing in it disa^
able to the senses or hurtful to the body; boob
are bad which only inflame the imagination and
the passions. In one word, bad ]s equalir
descriptive of mental, moral, and corporeal dis-
ease, and implies misfortune or delioquaKV,
only from its application. Badly means in ^^
manner of bad. It is always annexed to the
action ; but never to the quality of things.
'TIS good ; though music oft hath such s chuB.
To msko bad good, and good provoke to harm.
How goes the day with us ! O tell me, Hubert.
Badiif, I fear. How fues your mi^escy ? '^
It was not your brother's evil disposition made bis
seek his death ; bat a provoking merit, set a voii bv
a reproveable ftotfneis in himself. '*'
Thoa may'st repent,
Aud one had act, with many deeds well doner
May'st cover. ^'**
Thus will the latter, as the former, worid
Still tend from had to worse. ^^
Our anhsppy fates
Mix thee amongst the 6ad, or make thee ran
Too near the paths which virtue bids thee ikoo-
Daughter of Jove, relentless pover, ^
I'hou tamer of the human breast.
Whose iron scourge, and torturing Iwor, i
The had affright-— afflict the best. ^ '
The sun his annual coujae obliquely m^ I
Good days contractea, and enlug'd the ^^ I
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366
BAD
I Reading vm had for his eyes, writing made his
head ache. Addimm.
c I did not see how the frodnew of the weather could
betheking*sfaalt. /d.
There is one conrenience in the city, which makes
some amends for the badttem of the pavement.
Id, on iiaisf.
[ ^^? I The preterite of bid.
Out council was not longe for to seche.
Us thought it was not worth to 'make it wist.
And granted withouten more aviso.
And bad him say his verdict as him leste. Chatieer.
And for an earnest of greater honoor.
He bade me, £rom him, call thee Thane of Cawder.
Shaktpeara.
She thank'd me.
And bade me, if I had a friend that lovM herj,
I should but teach him how to toll my story.
And that would woo her. i Id.
Thus God and nature link'd the general £rame,
\ And bade self-love and social be the same. Pcpe,
But thou, 0 hope, with eyes so fair.
What was thy delighted measure 7
Still it whisper'd promised pleasure.
And bade the lovely scenes at dbtance hail ! ColUm,
BADAGIS, a town of Persia, in the province
of Khorassan, forty miles north of Fusheng.
BADAJOZ, or Badajox, a large and strong
town, the capital of Estremadura, in Spain. It
is seated on an eminence on the south side of the
Guadiana, OFer which there is a bridge of twenty-
eight arches, and nearly 1900 feet in length, said
to have been founded by the Romans. Gn this
bridge the Portuguese were defeated in 1661, by
Don John of Austria. Here are also five ancient
gates, but the public buildings, with the exception
of the cathedral, merit no notice : the only ma-
nufacture is hats. Population 14,300. The
Roman Pax Augusta, or which Badajoz is sup-
posed to be a corruption, stood on muc^ higher
ground. Badajoz has always been regarded as
an important barrier against Portugal; from
the frontiers of which it is little more than four
miles. The Goths captured it in the fifth cen-
tury; the Moors in the eighth, and Alphonso of
Castile reconquered it in 1230. Lord Welling-
ton invested Badajoz on the l8th of March,
1812; and breaches having been made on the
6th of April, it was assaulted on the same n^ht.
General Ficton established himself in the casUe;'
but after repeated attempts upon the town itself,
the British troops were obliged to retire: the
possession of die castle, however, so hi com-
manded the works, that the French comman-
dant thought it advisable to surrender: 1200
men oat of a garrison of 5000, were killed or
wounded during the siege, and of the besiegers,
British and Portngnese, upwards of 4000. But
the possession of Badajoz, in conjunction with
Ciudad Rodrigo, secured the defence of Por-
tugal, and was thought well worth the price paid
for it. The bishop of Badajoz, suffragan to the
archbishop of St. Jago, has under his inspection
a cathedral chapter, an archdeaconry, and fifty
parishes. The chapter is composed of seven
dignitaries, twelve canons, four prebendaries,
and six snbprebendaries. There are besides in
the town five parish diurches, seven
teries, five nunneries, and &Ye hospitals. It is
the residence of the captain-general and intend-
ant of Spanish Estremadura, a civil and military
governor, a royal lieutenant, an alcade major,
and a contador. It has fourteen companies of
militia, a garrison, two forts (Cristobal and las
Pardaleras), and an arsenal. It is eighty-two
miles N.N. W. of Seville, forty-nine S. of Al-
cantara. , Long. 6*» 47' W., lat. 38^ 49' N.
BADALONA, or Badxlova, a sea-port town
of Spain, in Catalonia, with a citadel. Earl
Peterborough landed here with the arch-duke
Charles in 1704. Four miles north-east <^ Bar-
celona. Long. 2*» r E., lat. 41° 25' N.
BADANACGUPY, a town of the Mysore,
Hindostan, twenty-eight miles south of Serin-
gapatam.
BADAR, a town of Hindostan, in ihe pro-
vince of Bejapour, on tlie south side of the
Krishna, thirty miles south of Mirjee. Long.
75*» 32* E., lat. 16*» 40' N.
BADASKY, a town of Siberia, in the go-
vernment of Irkutzk« on the river Ajigara, eig^ity
nulesN.N.W.of Irkntzk.
BADCGCK (Samuel), the son of a reputable
butcher, was bom at S^ Molton, Devonshire, In
1747, and bred a dissenting clergyman. He was
first pastor at Beer-Regis in Dorsetshire, and
afterwards at Barnstaple, for about ten years.
Here meeting with some of Dr. Priestley's publi-
cations, he paid the Dr. a visit, and established
a correspondence with him. Upon investigation
of the subject, however, he found it impossible
to embrace Unitarianism. In 1777 he removed
to his birth-place, and in 1780, engaged as a
writer in the Monthly Review. The controversy
then agitated by Dr. Priestly, Price, and others,
respecting the materiality of die soul, led him to
publish nis thoughts * upon the subject, in a
pamphlet entitled, A Slight Sketch of the Con-
jtroversy between Dr. Priestly and his Oppo-
nents; which was repeatedly quoted with great
approbation. In 1 781 he wrote a poem, entitled
the Hermitage, and reviewed Maian's Thelyp-
thora, greatly to the satisfaction of the public.
In the controversy concerning the authenticity
of Rowley's Poems, he took the negative side,
and displ^ed his usual ingenuity. In the
Monthly Review for 1785» he attacked Dr.
Priestly's History of the Early Gpinions rela^
tive to Jesus Christ, with such strength of rea-
soning, that the doctor, without knowing his
antagonist, complimented him in his Reply,
as a formidable and respectable antagonist'
Being applied to by Dr. White, to assist him in
completmg his Bampton lectures, he wrote the
greater part of the fiist, third, fourth, fifth, seventh
and eighth; with part of the notes subjoined to
them. In 1787, having expressed an intention of
conforming to the established church, he was
ordained in Exeter cathedral by his friend bishop
Ross ; who gave him the order of deacon and priest,
on two succeeding Sundays. He died May 19th,
1788, at the house of his friend Sir John Chiches-
ter, bart in May-foir. His disposition was gen-
tle, humane, and lively; his jjuagment acute and
comprehensive; and his Uterary attainments
great and v$mous. He was equally eminent as a
preacher and a writer.
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B A D E'N
BADDAMMY^atownof Ilindostan, in the
province of Bejapour, in the territories of the
Mahrattas. It is a place of some strength.
Thir^ miles sonth-east of Merritch. Long. 74"^
54 E., lat. 16** 6' N.
BADDERLOCKS, in natural history, a Scot-
tish name given to the facus esculentos, or
eatable sea-weed. It is about four feet long,
and seven or eight inches wide, but varies in
length from three yards to a foot, and in breadth,
from a loot to two inches ; the substance is thin,
membranaceous, and pellucid ; the color, greeu
or olive. This fucus is eaten in the north of
Scotland both by men and ca|tle, and is in its
greatest perfection in September; that which is
eaten by the common people about Edinburgh
is the F. Palmatus, Dulse, or Dils, which see.
BADEAUT, Loch, or, as it is erroneously
spelt in some maps, Ba dwell, a good harbour
of Scotland, on the coast of Sutherland, in the
parish of Edderachylis; where shipping of all
sizes can enter, and tooor close to the land, in
perfect safety.
BADEN, in geography, formerly a inargra-
vate of Germany, in the circle of Suabia, stretch-
ing along the east bank of the Rhine, and forming,
at present, the roost important part of a grand
duchy of the same name. It consisted of two
divisions, viz. Baden-Baden, and Baden-Dur-
lach ; of which the former, and part of the latter,
formed a compact territory, surrounded by Spire,
Wirtemberg, the bishopric of Strasburg, and
the Rhine. The coimUy is for the*most part
level, but intersected on the east by branches of
the hilly Schwartzwald, or Black Forest The
most considerable part of Baden-Durlach lay
disjointed and insulated towards the south { and
that part in the upper margiaviate lying in the
direction of Bale, was covered with mountains,
except in the immediate vicinity of the Rhine.
These divisions, taken together with the county
of Ebeistein, include a space of 1186 square
miles, and a population of more than 180,000
inhabitants, inaependeni of the military. Within
the limits of this margravate were seventeen
towns, fourteen boroughs, and upwards of five
hundred villages and hamlets ; the whole yield-
ing an animal revenue of nearly £150,000 ster-
ling. The country abounds vnth wood, wine,
iron, cobalt, and silver. The lEUiine which flows
over the whole sur&ee, from north to south, sup-
plies abundance of excellent salmon. Whilst
the flax, hemp, linen, and fiuits, which are found
in considerable quantities, not only supply the
aggregate home consumption of the inhabitants,
but form important articles of exportation. Silk
has abo been cultivated here ; but not with any
great advantage. The principal manu&ctures
are of doth, stufls, stcdcings, jewellery, &c.
There is also one of steel, at Pfortzheim, and
one of beautifol earthenware at Durladi.
The house of Baden is descended from Her-
man, second son of Berthold L duke of Zahrin-
gen, who died A. D. 1074. About the middle
of the sixteenth century it split into the two lines
of Baden-Baden, and Baden-Durlach, in which
state it continued for some time; but, on the ex-
tinction of the former, in 1771, the latter suc-
ceeded to tlw whole inheritance. At the diet of
the empire, the margrave of Baden had three
votes in the council of princes, and one in the
bench of counts, in virtue of his title as coaotof
Eberstein. Before the memorable revolutioa in
France, this prince possessed the following terri-
tories : his patrimonial lands, different territories
in Suabia and Bohemia, portions of the ooanty
of Sponheim-Graftenstein, together with the
bailiwic of Roth on the French side of die Rhine,
the lordships of Rodemachem and Hespringen,
in Luxemberg, and several estates in Alsace;
but when the possessions on the left bank of the
Rhine were oeded to France bv the peace of
Luneville, concluded on the 9th of February,
1801, 'the German princes were indemnified for
their losses by the secularisation of ecclesiastical
possessions ; the reduction of the imperial cities,
and other alterations on the rieht bank of the
Rhine, and the margrave of Baden on that occa-
sion acquired the bishopric of Constance, pait
of Bale-Strasburg, and Spire, several bailiwics
of the Lower Palatinate, and in Hesse, the lord-
ship of Lahr, a number of secularised abbeys, and
several imperial towns, together with the title of
elector, and three additional votes at the diet
His augmented possessions at this time contained
a territory of 2770 English square miles, and a
population of 410,000 Wiabitants, yielding in
annual revenue £372,000 sterling; and, in the
year 1803 were separated into three divisioDS,
viz. the margraviate, the palatinate, and the upper
principality.
Wlien the coalition was formed against f ranee
in 1805, Bavaria, Wirtemberg, and Baden, were
the allies of Buonaparte ; and after the defeat of
the confederated powers at Austerlitz had led to
the peace of Presburg. and the subsequent fonn-
ation of the Rhenish confoderatioti in 1806, these
states participated in the ceded possessions.
Baden was erected into a grand duchy, and in
exchange for the towns and territory of Bibench,
which had been reduced from its imperial dig-
nity, and assigned to Baden, in 1803, and now
ceded by that government to Wirtemberg, she
received the following accessions, the towns aad
territories of Billiugen and Baeunlingen, the
greater part of the Brisgau, the principality of
Heitersneim, the county of Bondor^ the district
of Ortenau, the conunandery of Bengen, and the
possessions of the provincial nobility; also the
sovereignty over a ffreat part of Furstenber?,
Salm-lSrautheim, and Loevenstein-Werheim, as
well as over the whole of the Clettgau and
Thengen. The county of Nellenburg was shortly
aftewards added, together with several adjacent
territories, and by means of new acquisitions and
interchanges, the detached districts on the lake
of Constance were rendered contiguous to the
other dominions. These acquisitions raised the
importance of Baden, and were all guaranteed
to die grand duke, in 1815, by the Congress at
Vienna.
Baden, in its present state, therefore, remains
to be considered as a grand duchy of Germany,
including the territories already described. Its
division into a landgraviate, a margraviate, and
a palatinate, or the provinces of tlie Upper,
Middle, and Lower Rhine, vras superseded in
1809, two years after its commencement, by the
following distribution into nine circles, thus
peopled, according to Mr. Hassel's statistics :
Digitized by
Googl(
BADEN.
367
No.
Ciitdes.
Population.
No.
Chief Towa«.
PopttUtion.
1
3
3
4
5
1?
. 8
'- 9
The Lake (Seekreis) . .
The Danube
TheWeisen
The Treisam
The Kinzig
The Murg
The Pfinz and Enz . . .
The Neckar
The Maine and Tauber .
89,604
72,735
116,954
125,867
117,640
85,112
131,518
166,018
95,382
1
2
3
4
■I
7
8
9
Constance . ...
VilUngen
Lorrach
Freyburg
Offenburg
Rastadt
Durlach
Manheim
Wertheim
4,503
3,316
1,906
10,108
2,888
4,204
3,916
18,213
3,227
i
1,001,630
52,281
For the general superintendance of the circles
are established two divisions of the civil govern-
ment, at Manheim and Freyburgh, besides which
each of the circles individually has a director and
two counsellors of its own. For the adminis-
tration of justice there are inferior courts, and
above them three courts of appeal at Freyburg,
Rastadt, and Manheim, together with an upper
court at the town last mentioned, analagous to
what is called in France &e ' Court of Cassation.'
The French code, also commonlv called the code
of Napoleon, was introduced during the usur-
pation of Buonaparte, and is still in force, with a
tew modifications. The seat of the government
is held at Carlsruhe, where the Grand Duke re-
sides, under the designation of Royal Highness.
There are (bur ministers connected with the exe-
cutive part of government, viz. those of the
interior, finance, justice, and war. Jhe legis-
lative part is conducted by the Baden cabinet,
called the ministerial conference, of which the
Grand Duke, hereditary duke, or, fiiiling both,
the oldest minister is president. The government
has of late manifestea considerable solidtude for
the welfare of the people, by the formation of
roads, the abolition of feudal vassalage, the
establishment of an excellent ^^stem of forest
laws, and above all, by the erection and endow-
inent of schools, academies, and public libraries.
The principal of these are at Heidelberg, Man«
heim, Baden, and Carlsruhe, Heberlingen,
Offenburg, Rastadt,^ Bruchsal, &c. Religious
toleration is also universally granted, although
the religion of the Grand Duke and national
establishment is Lutheranism.
M. Hassel thus enumerates the difiTerent re-
ligions :-—
Roman Catholics . . i . 620,000
Lutherans 305,900
Calvinists 61,000
Jews 15,080
Mennonites 1,290
The surface of Baden is beautiftilly diversified
by every variety of landscape, hill and dale,
plain, and mountain, breakii^ on the sight in
regular succession. The climate is agreeable,
and the soil, gene^lly speaking, fertile ; the only
part incapable of cultivation being a portion of
the Black Forest, in Brisgau. The country is
intersected bv the Maine and the Neckar, and
bounded on the west by the Rhine; tributary to
these are numerous smaller rivers and streams,
from several of which the circles derive their
names. The country bordering upon Switzer-
land is mountainous, and a chain runs fi:om the
confines of ihat division through the southern
part of Ba4en into the kingdom of Wirtemberg.
It afterwafds forms a part of the separating boun-
dary between them, and is joined by another
chain 'stretching from east to west, over the
whole breadth of the southern region.
Perhaps one of the most beautiful portions of
this grand duchy is the country lymg round
Heiddberg and its suburbs. The town itself ex-
hibits a romantic site, mild air, delightful prbs^
pects, curious and extensive subterranean walks,
which have been lately closed, an ancient eleo-
torial palace ; but the environs, if possible, are
still more beautiful. Manheim is also well situ-
ated, and forms a delightful appearance at the
confluence of the Neckar ana the Rhine. At
the commencement of the seventeenth century,
it was only a pleasant village, but being shortly
after fixed upon as the residence of the elector,
and seat of the court, it became a flourishing
place, although when die court was removed, in
1777, the town considerably declined. The*
palace of the Grand Duke, the tower of the ob-
servatory, the custom house, churches, and other
public buildings, together with the gallery of
paintings, cabinet of antiquitieB, he are objects
worthy of notice ; as are also the bridge of boats
over ue Neckar, and the flving bri<^ over tibe
Rhine. The horses of Baden are an excellent
breed. In other respects the domestic and wild
animals resemble ti^ose of the other states of
Germany.
Baden, a town of Germany, in the grand
duchy of the same name, formerly the capital of
the upper margraviate, but included, since the
the year 1810, in the circle of t^e Murg. The
town is seated among hills, on rocky and uneven
ground, which renders the streets inconvenient
and crooked. It derives its name from its baths,
the word bad, in German, signifying bath. These
baths were known to die Romans before the
Christian era, and are supplied by upwards of
300 mineral springs, the waters of which are
strongly impregnated with sulphur, salt, and
alum. Some of these springs are hot, and are
accounted good in nervous cases. Bsiden con-
tains a population of 2000 inhabitants, and is
now the head of an upper bailiwic. It has a
lyceum, with several flourishing manufiustures
of earthenware, potash, candles, soap, and
leather! The ancient castle, pow in ruins, stand-
Digitized by
Googl(
368
BADEN.
ing on a neiehbourmg eminence, overlooks the
river Oelbacn, commanding the pleasing and
extensive prospects of a beaufiful wine country.
The town is twenty-two miles N. £. of Strasburg,
and forty S. S.W. of Heidelburg. Long. 8** 18'
E., lat. 48° 46' N.
Baden, a small town of Lower Austria,
seated on die rivulet of Schwocha, in a plain not
iar from a ridge of hills which runs out from the
mountain Cetius. It is much frequented by the
people of Vienna, and the neighbouring region,
on account of its warm baths, which are said to
be twelve in number, and beneficial in disorders
of the head, as also for the gout, dropsy, and
most chronic distempers. It contains three
churches, 250 houses, and 1500 population,
is surrounded by walls, and is twelve miles S.S.
W. of Vienna. Long. 16° 14' E., lat 48« 2' N.
Badkn, a district of Switzerland, in ihe can-
ton of Aargau, bounded by Suabia on the north,
Zurich on the east. Lucerne on the South, and
Aargau proper on the west It is thirty miles in
len^, and from eight to twelve in breadth, in-
cluding a territory of 176 square miles ; and,
according to an enumeration made in 180S, con-
tained nearly 47,000 inhabitants, which have
since increased considerably. This country is
one of the finest in Switzerland, and is watered
by three navigable rivers, the Limmet, the Russ,
and the Aar. It is divided into three parts and
eight bailiwics, producing great abundance of
com, fruit, and wine. Before the peace of 1712,
this district formed a separate canton, but when
the articles of treaty were concluded between
Zurich and Berne, it was divided among these
cantons and that of Claris. The two first seizing
upon seven-eighths, and the last the one-eighth
then remaining. In the constitution of 1798 it
was restored to its original independence, but in
the re-organization of the cantons by the emperor
Napoleon, in 1803, it was united to that of Aar-
gau, in connexion with which it has ever since
remained.
Baden, the capital of the above district, is a
small town containing about 1700 inhabitants,
and carrying on a considerable trade. It is seat-
ed on the side of the Limmet, in a pbiin flanked
b^ two hills, between which die river runs. This
city owes its rise to its baths, which were famous
before the Christian era, and known to the Ro-
mans by the name of Therms Helvetica. Seve-
ral monuments of antiquity have been found
here, particulariy in 1420; when the inhabi-
tants, on opening the large spring of the baths,
found statues of several heattien gods, made of
alabaster, Roman coins, of Augustus, Vespasian,
Decius, &c. made of bronze, and several medals
of the Roman emperors, of gold, silver, copper,
and bronze. There are two churches in Baden ;
one of which is collegiate, and makes a good ap-
pearance, and the other a monastery of the
Capuchins, near the town-house. The inhabi-
tants are rigid Rgman Catholics, and formerly
behaved in a most insolent manner to the Pro-
testants, but they are now obliged b^ their mas-
ters to be more submissive. In this town were
held formerly the general assemblies of the can-
ton, who met in a handsome room, fitted up for
their reception within the Capuchin's monastery ;
here, too, die negodations for peace between
France and the empire, which had been opened
at Rastadt, were brought to a close, on the seventh
of September, 1714. The town at present
chooses its own magistrates, and enjoys other
privileges. The governor resides in a fine castle
on the other side the Limmet, erected after the
destruction of the old edifice in 1712; a hand-
some wooden bridge hangs over the river, form-
ing a beautiful entrance to the castle, and in front
of this magnificent residence is a stone pillar
erected in honor of Trajan, who paved a road
in this country, eighty-five Italian miles in
length. The badis, which are on each side the
river, are a quarter of a league from the city.
Joining to the small baths there b a village, and
to the village a town, which may pass for a
second Baden. It is seated on a hill, of which
the ascent is steep. There the baths are brought
into inns and private houses, by means of pipes,
which are about sixty in all. There are also
public baths in the middle of the town, from
a spring which rises in the street, where the poor
batne gratis, but they are exposed quite naked
to all Uiat pass by. All the baths are hot, and
one to so great a degree as to scald the hand.
The springs, which originate in a place called
Ort-Zum-Bsuden, are eight in number, and are
impregnated with a great deal of sulphur, accom-
panied with a little alum and nitre. The waters
are used for drinkine, as well as bathing, and
are said to cure all diseases from a cold, cause,
head-aches, vertigos, &c. They strensthen the
senses, cure diseues of the breast and bowels,
asthmas, and obstructions, and are peculiarly
excellent for diseases of women. Baden is about
fourteen miles N. W. of Zurich, twenty-seven
S. E. of Basle. Long. 8° 12* E., lat 47*-24' N.
Baden, a parochial village of Switzerland,
in the Valais, jurisdiction of Leuck. Here is
the celebrated bath commonly called the bath of
Leuck, or Valais, which is of heat sufficient to
boil an egg, and the water of which is used by
the inhabitants both for the purposes of bathing
and drinking.
BADENOCH, a large district of Inverness-
shire, of which it is the most easterly part,
bounded by Inve^ess on the oorth, Moray oo
the east, Athol on the south, and Lochab^ on
the west. It extends about thirty-three miles in
length from east to west, and twenty-seven fiom
north-east to south-west, where it is oroadest. It
has no considerable tovm, and is Teiy barren
and hilly, but abounds with deer and other kinds
of game.
BADENS (Francis), a historical and portrait
painter, v^as bom at Antwerp in 1751, and first
initiated in the art by his father. Having visited
Rome, he formed an excellent taste for d»ign,
and a manner exceedingly pleasing. On his re-
turn, he was usually distinguished by the name
of the Italian painter. His touch was light and
spirited, and nis coloring vrarm; and he was
the first who introduced a ffood taste in coloring
among his countrymen. While his acknowledged
merit viras rewarded with every public testimony
of esteem, he received an account of the death of
his brother, who had been assassinated on a
journey; and the intelligence affected him »
Digitized by
Googl(
BADGER.
369
t! ▼iolently, that it occasioned his own death sud-
i denly, in 1603.
I BADEBALLY, a town of Hindostan, ^in the
r province of Bejapour, seventeen miles south-west
i»f Raibang.
I BADEW (Richafd de), the original founder of
Clare-hall, Cambridge. He was bom at Badow,
in Essex; and in 1326 was chancellor of Cam-
bridge, when he laid the foimdation of a building
^ to which he gave the name of University-hall.
This being afterwards burnt dovm, vras rebuilt
by a daughter of Sir Gilbert de Clare, earl of
Gloucester, and named Clare-hall.
r BADEY, a town of Persia, in the province of
Khorassan, 140 miles north-west of Herat
BADGE, V. a, & n. s. A word of uncertain
etymology; derived by Junius from bode or
bade, a messenger, and supposed to be cor-
rupted from badage, the cr^ential of a mes-
senger; but taken by Skinner and Minsfaew
from biigghe, Dut. a jewd^ or bague, Fr. a ring.
It seems to come from In^ulOf Lat. to carry,
The substantive denotes a mark; or ornament
worn to show the relation of the wearer to any
person or cause. It also signiiies a token of
rank or character. ' An outward and visible dis-
' tinction, either honorable or disgraceful.
But on his breast a bloody cross he bore,
^ The dear resemblance of his dying lord ;
For whose sweet sake thact glorious badge he wore.
A savage tigieM on her heUnet lies ;
The famous badge Clarinda ns'd to bear.' Pakftut*
Mark the badge of these men, then say if they be
irae. Shaktpeare,
Might I but know thee by thy household badge. Id,
Sweet mercy is nobility's true badge. Id,
\ Your royal father's murdered-^—
Oh, by whom?
Those of his chamber, as it seem'd had done 't ;
Their hands and faces were ail bad/fd with blood,
oQ were their diggers. lo«
Let him not bear the baidgee of a wreck.
Nor beg with a blue table on his back. Ihj/dm.
The outward splendour of his office is the badge and
the token of that sacred character which he inwardly
bears. Atterbitrg„
Badge, in naval architecture, a sort of orna-
ment placed on the outside of small ships, very
near tne stem, containing either a window for the
convenience of the cabin, or a representation of
it. It is commonly deoorated with marine figures,
martial instruments, or such like emblems.
BADGEXESS, eu^. From badge and less.
Hayii^ no badge.
Whiles his light heels their featrfnl flight can take.
To get some badgelete blue upon his back.
Bithop HoWm SaUree,
BADGER, n. «. Perhaps from the Lat. %ii/itt,
a carrier ; but by Junius aerived from the badger,
-a creature who stows up his provision. One
that buys com and victuals in one place, and
carries it unto another.' — CoweL
Ba'doeb, ». s. From bedour, Fr. melit, Lat.
An animal that earths in the ground, and used
to be hunted.
That a brock, or badger, hath legs of one side
shorter than the other, is received not only by thcorisU
and unexperienced believers, but most who behold
them daUy.
V4iL. IlL
BADGER, in zoology, the English name of
a species of ursus. See Uasus.
Badgek-baiting, or BADOER-HirNTiiio. The
badger has suffered more perhaps from vulgar
prqudices than any other animal. He has beeii
accused of destroying lambs and rabbits: the
first unquestionably without foundation, and it
is' uncertain whether the last charge be better
supported; for many naturalists maintain that
his sole food consists of roots, fruits, grass, in-
sects, and frogs. From this general and double
accusation, however, the haxmless badger has
been selected to make sporty as it is called, for
the vulgar, in both huntmg and baiting.
Hunting the badger is in general only perform-
ed by moonlight: the badger, from his natural
habits, being never to be found above-ground by
day. In tUs sport the hunters are obliged to
oppose art to cunning, and obtain by stratagem
vvhat they cannot effect by strength. At a late
hour in the evening, when the badger is natu-
rally concluded to have left his kennel or his
castle in search of food, some of the party, as
previously adjusted, proceed to place a sack at
length within the burrow, so constructed that the
mouth of the sack directly corresponds with the
mouth of the earth, and is secured in that posi-
tion by means of a willow hoop, whidi, firom its
pliability, readily submits to the form required.
This part of the business being completed, the
parties withdrawn, and the signal whistle given,
their distant companions lay on the dogs, either
hounds, terriers, lurchers, or spaniels, encourag-
ing them through the neighbouring woods, cop-
pices, and hedge-rows ; which the badgers abroad
no sooner find, than being alarmed, and well
knowing their inability to continue a state of
warfare so much out of their own element, in-
stantly make to the earth for shelter; where, for
want of an alternative, and oppressed with fear,
they rush into certain destruction, by entering
the sack : being entangled in which, they are
soon secured by those who are fixed near the
spot for that purpose, if the badger escape by
the ill-construction or accidental fidling of the
sack, and safely enter the earth, digging him out
is not only a very laborious but very precarious
attempt; for the badger, firom instinctive inge-
nuity, will be generally found to have formed his
retreat before he can be reached: to render
which the more easy, he usually constructs his
kennel among the roots of some old pollard, in
the banks of moors, or underneath some hol-
low tree ; from the spreading root branches of
which the burrows run in such various and per-
plexing directions, that his assailants are often
compelled, after tiring themselves by digging
fifteen or twenty feel, to relinquish the pursuit ;
corroborating the opinion of the common people,
that in a loose and sandy soil badgers can make
a way as fast as their hunters can pursue them :
whence drawn-battles in such situations are verv
common results.
Badger-baiting is a different sport, and if pos-
sible of a lower description. It consists in attacking
the animal at a distance from his burrow, with
dogs of almost any kind ; but must successfully
with the terrier. The badger is so rapid in his
motions, that the dogs are often desperateij
Digitized by
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BAD
370
BAD
founded, and compelled to give up the contest.
the looseness and tnickness of the badger's skin
ire admirably contrived for his advantage; in
consequence of the latter, and especially in con-
auction with the coarseness and toughness of
lis hair, it is difficult for the dogs to lay hold of
lim ; and in consequence of th^ former, h*^ finds
ipreat facility of escaping from their grasp when
iiey have succeeded. These sports have given
nse to a very expressive proverb of 'badgering a
nan with a request' for payment of debts, &c.
Ba'dg£r-L£Gged. From badger and legged.
Having legs of an unequaT length, as the badger
is supposed to have.
His body crooked all over, big4>ellied, hadger-legged,
and his complexion •warthy. L'Ettrange,
Badgum, a town of Hindostan in Dowlatabad,
six miles S. S. W. of Oudighir.
BADHUNTOUL; Gael, a den of refuge; a
place in the parish of Fordice, in Banffshire, io
former times used as a place of refuge from the
Danish invasions.
BADIA, in conchology, i. A species of cyprea
having an oblong gibbous shell. — Gmelin. 2.
A species of helix, called by Born, helix ungu-
lina; and, 3. A species of patella.
Badia (D.), a Spaniard, who devoted himself,
in 1803, and four or five following years, to the
profession of Mahommedanism, as a means of
exploring Mahommedan countries. He assumed
the name of All Bey el Abassi, and submitted,
it is said, to the most distinguishing rite of Is-
lamism, the better to pursue his plans. Mr.
Burckhardt writes thus, respecting him, from
Aleppo : * He called himself Ali Bey, and pro-
fessed to be born of Tunisian parents in Spain,
and to have received his eaucation in that
country. Spanish appeais to be his native lan-
guage, besiaes whicn he spoke French, a little
Italian, and the Moggrabeyan dialect of Arabic,
but badly. He came to Aleppo by the way of
Cairo, Yafia, and Damascus, with the strongest
letters of recommendation from the Spanish go-
vernment to all its agents, and an open credit
upon them. He seeu^ to be a particular friend
ot the Prince of Peace, for whom he was col-
lecting antiques : and from the manner in which
it was known that he was afterwards received by
the Spanish ambassador, at his arrival at Con-
stantinople, he must have been a man of dis-
tinction. The description of his figure, and
what is related of his travels, called to my re-
collection the Spaniard Badia, and his miniature
in your library. He was a man of middling
size, long thin head, black eyes, large nose, long
black beard, and feet that indicated the former
wearing of tight shoes. He professed to have
travelled in Barbary, to have crossed the Lybian
desert, between Barbary and Egypt, and from
Cairo to have gone to Mecca and back. He
travelled with eastern magoificence, but here he
was rather shy of showing himself out of doors :
he never walked out but on Fridays, to the
prayers of noou in the great mosque. One of
the before-mentioned dervises told me that there
had been a great deal of talking about this Ali
Bey, at Damascus and Ilamar : they suspected
him of being a Christian, but his great liberality
and the pressing letters which he brought to all
people of oonaequenoe, stopped all futther in-
quiry. He was busily employed in arranging
and putting in order Ins journal during the two
months of his stay at Aleppo.' His travels were
published at London and in Paris, in 1814, in
2 vols. 8vo. under his assumed name. He is
now known to have been an agent of Godoy,
the Prince of the Peace, employed at the insti-
gation of Napoleon. He died in Spain shordy
after his return to Europe.
Badia, La, a town of Italy, on the Adigetto,
at the place where it branches from the Adige.
It is small and open, but well-built, populous
and wealthy ; and was formerly called Castello
Piazzone, haying two castles. The Adige is here
crossed by a handsome bridge five miles from
Legnano, and fifteen W. S. W. of Rovigo.
BADIAGA, in the materia medica, the name ot
a sort of spongy plant, common in die shops of
Moscow and some other northern kingdoms. It
is used to take away the livid marks, occasioned
by blows and bruises, which the powder is said
to do in a night's time. We owe the know-
ledge of this medicine, and its history, to Bui-
baum. He observes, thatthe plant is always found
under water, and is of a very peculiar nature.
it somewhat resembles the alcyonium, and some-
what tlie sponge, but differs from both, it being
full of small round granules, resembling seeds.
It is of a loose, light, and spongy structure ; is
made up of a number of fibres of an herbaceous
matter, and is dry, rigid, and friable between the
fingers. Such is the generic character of the
badiaga, of which this accurate observer has found
three different species. Linnsus makes it a
species of sponge.
BADIANA, Badiane, or Bandian, the seed
of a tree which grows in China, and smells like
anise seed. The Chinese, and the Dutch in
imitation of them, sometimes use the badiana to
give their tea an aromatic taste.
BADIGEON, in joiner work, saw-dust mixed
with strong glue, wherewith they fill up the chaps
and other defects in the wood after it is
wrought.
Badigeon, in statuary, a mixture of plaster
and free-stone well ground together, and sifted ;
used by statuaries to fill up the little holes, and
repair the defects in stones, whereof they make
their statues and other work.
BADILE (Antonio), history and portrait
painter, bom at Vienna in 1480, was an eminent
artist : but derived greater honor from having two
such disciples as Paolo Veronese and Baptista
Zelotti. He died in 1560. His coloring,
especially of his carnations, was beautiful ; and
his portraits preserved ^the perfect resemblance
of real life.
BADINAGE, foolery, buffoonery.
BADIS, a fortress of Livonia, subject io
Russia, twenty miles east of Revel.
BADITES, in botany, the Nymphoea, or clava
Ilerculis : the r<x>t of which, according to Mar-
cellus Empiricus, bruised and eaten with vine-
gar for ten days by a boy, makes him an eunuch
without excision.
BADKIS, or Pasik, a town of Persia in the
province of Khorassan, thirty-six miles north of
Herat. Long. 60° 2r E. lat. 35^ 30. N.
Digitized by
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BAB
371
BM
BADONG, a district of the island of Balli,
where the Dutch had a small settlement, after-
wards taken by the British.
BAJX)Oy two towns in the kingdom of
WooUi, in Africa. They both united dietr
strength in enforcing the payment of custom
from Mr. Park.
BADOUCE, in natoial history, the East
Indian name of a fruit, Teiy common in that
part of the world. It is round, and of the size
of one of our common apples; yellow on the
outside, and white within. It resembles the
mangoustan; but its pulp is more ^nspareat;
its taste is very agreeable, and ha3 some resem-
blance to that of our gooseberries.
BADRACHILLUM, or the Sacbeo Moun-
tain, a town of Ilindostan, in Golconda, on the
north-east side of the river Godavery, consisting
of 100 huts. Here is a pagoda of great celebrity. •
Distant seventy-iwo miles N.W. of Rajamun-
dry, 150 east of Hydrabad, and 134 from
Vizagapatam.
BADROWLY, a town of Hindostan« in Guze-
lat, sixteen miles east of Surat.
BADRYCAZKAM, an extensiv^e mountainous
district on the northern borders of Hindostan,
between the thirty-first and thirty-third d^rees of
northern latitude; very unproductive and thinly
inhabited.
BADSHIFT Bay; a bay on the coast of Pa-
tagonia, in the straits of Magellan. Long. 74®
t4' W. lat. 53° 35 S.
BADUEL (Claude), a French protestant di-
vine, bom at Nismes. He went to Switzerland
in 1557, where he tauffht philosophy and mathe-
matics, and exercised his ministry till his death
in 1561.
BADULATO, a town and territory of Na[)les,
in Calabria Ultra, extremely productive in wine,
oil, honey, turpentine, cotton and silk. Fourteen
miles S. S. E. of Squillace.
BADULE, a town of Ceylon, fifty-four miles
S.E. of Candy.
BAD Y, a large town of Africa, in the kingdom
of WooUi, governed by an independent chief,
under the ippellatioo of Faranba.
BAEA, m botany, a genus of plants, of the
class diandria, and order mouogynia. Its ge-
neric character is coa. ringent, the tube very short,
upper lip flat, tridentate; lower lip flat, bilobate :
ca^ bilocular, quadrivalvular, contorted: cal.
quinquepartite, equal.
BAEuKEA, in botany, a genus of the octan-
dria order, and monogynia class of plants,
named after Abraham Baecka, a friend of Lin-
naeus. The calyx is a permanent perianthiam,
consisting of a sii^le funnel-shaped leai^ cut
into five fragments at the brim; the corolla con-
sists of five roundish petals inserted into the
calyx; the pericarpium is a globose capsule,
made up of lour valves, and containing four cells,
in whicn are a few roundish angular seeds. The
jpecies are shrubs.
BAEDOO, an extensive kingdom of central
AfiacB, south of Tombuctoo, and east of Bam-
baita, to which latter count^ it is tributary. It
is trayeaed by a river called the Ba Nimma, des-
cending from the mountains of Cong. The inte-
rior is litde known.
BAELAMA, in zoology, the Arabian name,
according to Forskal, of a species of dupea.
BAENA, or Vaena, a town of Spain, in the
Andalusian province of Cordova, surrounded
with walls, and containing four parish churches,
five religious houses, and 4800 inhabitants.
Here arc some excellent salt works. It is
eighteen miles E. S. E. of Cordova.
BAEOBOTRYS, in botany, a genus of plants,
of the class pentandria, and order monogynia.
Its generic character are coa. tubulose, quinque-
fid : CAL. double, superior; exterior of two leaves ;
inferior campanulate quinquedentate. Berry
unilocular, many-seeded. Willdenow describ^
two species; one, a native of Arabia, is figured
by Mart. Vahl. Symbola Botanica, tab. 6.
BAERSUIS, or Vekenstil (Henry), a printer
and mathematician of the sixteenth century. He
settled in Louvain, where he published Tables of
the Longitudes and Latitudes of the Planets,
in 1528.
BAERWALDE, or Barwalde, a town of
New Mark of Brandenburg, in the Prussian
states, circle of Konigsburgh, population 1500.
Here Gustavus Adolphus enterea into a secret
treaty with France in 1631. It is thirteen miles
N.N.W. of Custrin, and forty-two E.N.E. of
Berlin.
Bi£TERR£, an ancient town of the Terto-
sages in Gallia Narbonensis, on the east bank of
the Obris. It is now called Besiers.
B^TICA, a province of ancient Spain, so
called from the river Bsetis. It was bounded on
the west by Lusitania ; on the south by the Medi-<
terranean, and Sinus Gaditanns ; on the north by
the Cantabric sea, now the Bay of Biscay. On
the east and north east its limits cannot be so
well ascertained, as they are known to have been
in a continual state of fluctuation, each petty
monarch having had an opportunity of encroach-
ing upon his neighbour. The province was
divided into two by the river Betis, on the side
of which, towards the Anas, were situated the
Turdetani, from whence the kingdom was some-
times called Turdetania, though more generally
Bsturia. On the other side, along the Mediter-
ranean, were situated the Bastuli, Bastetani, and
Contestani. The whole province of Bstica,
according to the most probable account, is con-
tained in whM is now called Andalusia, part of
the kingdom of Grenada.
BiETIS, a famous river of ancient Spain, after-
wards called Tartessus, and now Guadalquiver,
or the Great River.
BiETOLO, a town of ancient Spain, in the
Terraconensis; now Badelona, in Catalonia.
BiETURIA. See Bstica.
BiETUS, in ichthyoloffy, a name given by
Aristode, and others of the ancient Greeks, to
the fish called by die Latin writers cottus ; par-
ticuUurly to that species called by us the bull-
head, or miller's thumb.
B^TYLIA, anointed stones, worshipped by
the Phcenicians, by the Greeks before the time of
Cecrops, and by other barbarous nations. They
were commonly of a black color, and con-
secrated to some god, as Saturn, Jupiter, the
Sun, &c.— Some are of opinion that the origin
of this practice is to be derived firom the pillar of
2 B t
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BAF
372
BAG
ftone which Jacob erected, and near which he
worshipped, at Bethel. These baetjUa were much
the object of the veneratioQ of the ancient hea-
thens. Many of their idols were no other. In
reality, no sort of idol was more common in the
eastern countries, than that of oblong stones
erected, and hence termed by the Greeks, ccovcc*
pillars. In some parts of Egypt they were planted
on both sides of tlie highways. In the temple of
Heliogabalus in Syria, there was one pretended
to have fellen from heaven. There was also a
fimious black stone in Phrygia, said to have fallen
from heaven. The Romans sent for it, and the
priests belonging to it, with much ceremony,
Scipio Nasica being at the head of the embassy.
The priests of Cybele carried a baetylion on their
breasts representing the mother of the gods.
B^TYXOS, the same with Bjetylion ; plural,
Bjetylia. See last article.
BAEZA, or Baeca, a town of Spain, in the
province of Jaen, Andalusia. Its streets and
squares are handsome, and it was in former times
a place of considerable importance, the residence
of a Moorish king. It was subsequently a
bishop's see, and the seat of a university. At
present it is iallen into decay, but has still two
chapters, several parish churches and cloisters, a
corregidor, a society under the title of economi-
cal, several good tanneries, and a population of
15,000. It is seventy miles N. N. E. of Cordova.
Long. 3° 35' W., lat. 38*» 4' N.
Baeza, a city of the province and government
of Quixos and Macas, in the kingdom of Quito.
It was formerly rich and populous, but has been
^raated by the Indians. Lat. 26'' S.
BAFFA, or Bofo, a sea-port on the Grain
Coast of Africa, which carries on a considerable
trade in pepper. Long. 8* 52' W., lat. 5** 10* N.
Baffa, a sea-port town on the west coast of
the island of Cyprus, the ancient Paphos, situated
on a rocky eminence close to the sea. Its hai^
hour is choked up with sand, and is generally
avoided by mariners, because of its dangerous
approach, and from its having no shelter from
the violence of the winds. The Turi^s have built
a castle on the point of a rock to the south-west,
which is defended by artillery; and it is the resi-
dence of a Turkish aga. Of several Christian
churches only one remains, in which the Greeks
officiate; who still have a bishop here, sufiragan
of the archbishop of Nicosia. Pieces of fine rock
crystal are sold here under the name of Baffa
diamonds: amianthus also, of superior quality, is
found in the neighbourhood. It is called cotton
stone by the natives. Various ruins and some
antiquities are scattered over the ricinity of
Baffa, among which are many highly polished
blackish marble columns, traditionally supposed
by the inhabitants to have been the materials of
the palace of Aphroditis. Further east, others of
a large size denote the site of a temple. There
is also cut out of the rock a subterraneous church,
dedicated to the seven sleepers, and a. large exca-
Tation, conjectured to have been a cistern.
Long. 32** 18' E., lat. 34«» 48* N. ,
Baffa, Cape, a cape on the south-west coast
' of the island of Cyprus. Long. 32« 18* E., lat.
34**5rN.
BAFFETASy or Baftas, a cloth made of
coarse white cotton thread, whidi comes (rom
the East Indies. That of Surat is the best
BAFFIN'S BAY; a large gulf or bay of
North America, lies between seventy and eighty
degrees of nor^ latitude. It opens into the
Atlantic ocean throudi Baffin's and Davis's
straits, between Cape Chidley, on the Labrador
coast, and Cape Farewell on thai of West Green-
land; both of which are in about the sixtieth
degree of north latitude; and abounds with
wl^es and walmsses. On the south-west side
of Davis's straits it has a communication with
• Hudson's bay, through a cluster of islands, in
lat. 74° 20^; it communicates with Sir J&mei
Lancaster's sound, through which Captain Panv
passed triumphantly, and discovered Barrows
straits. Prince Regent's Inlet, &c.
BAFTLE, V. a. & n. s. "j In Fr. hefier, from
Baf'fler, n. 8. ^buffle, 'an ox, and
Baf'fled, adv. j signifies to lead by
the nose as an ox ; that is, to amuse or disap-
point ; to perplex by a feint. Its general accep-
tation is eluding the schemes of others by dex-
trous management. It is sometimes explained
by the woru to defeat, to disconcert, and con-
found. Dr. Johnson employs these terms in his
definition of it. But Crabbe has well distin-
guished them, and given them different shades
of meaning in their application. Baffle expresses
less than defeat ; deteat less than confound ; and
disconcert less than all. Obstinacy, persever-
ance, skill, or art, baffles ; force or riotence de-
feats; awkward circumstances disconcert; the
visitation of God confounds.
Where thou wilt, lad^ I'll make one ; an I do not,
call me villain, and bajffU me. Skakpeare.
Go, baffled cowwd, lest I ran upon thoe. Ifito.
They made a shift to think themselves guiltlesf , in
spite of all their sins ; to break the precept, and at the
same time to baffle the corse. South,
Be hath deserved to have the grace withdrawn,
which he hath so long baffled and defied. Atterbury,
Experience, that great baffler of specolation, assures
ns the thing is too possible, and brings, in all ages,
matter of fact to confate oar suppositions.
Gooemmenioftke Tsiyw.
Etroria lost.
He brings to Tnnras' aid his baffled host. Dryrfea
When the mind has bnraght itself to close thinking*
it may go on roundly. Every abstnae problem, ereiy
intricate question, irill not baffle, discourage, or break
it. leckt.
Now shepherds ! to yoor helpless charge be kind.
Baffle the raging year, and fill their pena
With food at will. ITimuoa.
BAG', V. a. & n. A sack, poudi, or purse
Either artificially constructed, or the woik of
nature.
Cousin, away for England ; haste before.
And, ere our coming, see thou shake the bap
Of hoarding abbots ; their imprison'd angeb
Set thou at Uberty. Shakyeere,
Sing on, sing on, for I can ne'er be doy'd ;
So may thy cows their bniden'd bage diatoid.
Two kids that in the vaUey stayed
I found by chance, and to my ibid cotkrej'd :
They drain two baggwf udders erery day. U,
Like a bee, bagg'd with his honeyed ▼enom.
He brings it to your hive. Id, Dm StbaHiem
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BAGDAD.
373
Once, we eonfetty beneath the patriot's cloak.
From the ciack'd Ao^the dropping gaiaea spoke.
Pope,
We saw a young fellow riding towards us fall gal-
lop, with a bob wig and black silken hog tied to it.
Bag, in commerce, a term signifying a certain
quantity of some particular commodity ; a bag of
almoncu, for instancSe, is about 300 weight ; of
anise seeds, from 300 to 400 \ of pepper, from
li to 300; of cotton yam, from 2| to 4^, &c.
Bags are used in most countries to put several
sorts of coin in, either of gold, silver, brass, or
copper. Bankers, and others, who deal much in
current cash, label their bags of money, by tying
a ticket or note at the mouth of the bag, signify-
ing the coin contained, the sum total, its weight,
and of whom it was reoeiYed. Tare is allowed
for the bag.
Bag, in farriery, is when, in order to retrieve
a horse's lost appetite, they put in an ounce of
assafoetida, and as much powder of savin, into a
bag, to be tied to the bit, keeping him bridled for
two hours several times a-day ; as soon as the
bag is taken off, he will fall to eating. The same
bag will serve a long time.
Bag, in medicine and pharmacy, a kind of
fomentation, prepared of proper ingredients, en-
closed in a bag* to be applied externally to a part
diseased, for present relief. Dispensatory wnters
describe coraial bags, used in deliquiums ; bags
for the side, for the stomach, in weaknesses of the
stomach ; anodyne bags to ease pain in any part.
Wines and ale are firMuently medicated by put-
ting into them bags mil of proper ingredients.
Sweet bags, are composed ot plumes, scented
powders, and the like, enclosed in bags, to give
a firaffrancy to clothes, &c.
BAGA. SeeRuTA Baga.
BAGADAT, or Bagalin, a name by which
some call the carrier pigeon, the columba tabel-
laria of Moore. The name is probably a cor-
ruption of the word Bagdat, the aty from whence
they are sometimes brouc^t to £urope; being
originally brought thidier from Bazora.
BAGALAEN, or Buoelen, a district in the
south of .Java, nearly about the centre of the
island, from east to west The dialects of Scindo
and of this district, are said to be very distinct
from the Javanese Proper. From the Bugelen
dialect the Sooloo language is supposed to be
derived.
BAGAMADER, or Bagamedrx, a province
of Abyssinia in A£ica: so named from the great
number of sheep bred in it ; meder signi^ing
land or earth, and bag a sheep. Its length is
estimated about sixty leagues, and its breadth
twenty, but formerly it was much more exten-
sive ; several of its provinces having been dis-
membered from it, and joined to that of Tigre.
A great part of it, especially towards the east, is
inhabited by wandering Gallas and Caffres.
BA'GATELLE,n.i. A^ofette, Fr. A trifle;
a thing of no importance.
Heaps of hair rings and cyphered seals ;
Rich trifles, serious bagatdiei. Prior,
BAGAUD£, or Bacaudje, a faction of pear
santSp or malcontents, who ravaged Gaul about
A. D. 290, and assumed the name Bagaudse^
which, according to some authors, signified, m
the Gaelic language, forced rebels ; accordmff to
others, r(^bers. After seven months' siege they
stormed the city of Autun. Villages and open
towns were everywhere abandoned to their ra-
vages ; and they shook off the yoke of slavery
only to show their incompetency for freedom, by
a perpetration of the most cruel barbarities.
Two of their most daring leaders, £lianus and
Amandus, had the boldness to assume the title
and decorations of the Caesars; and die cabinets
of the curious still contain medals which they
coined. Maximian, when associated with Dio-
clesian in the imperial government, devoted him-
self to the reduction of the Bagaudee. It has
been said that they were Christians; but even
Mr. Gibbon (ii. 123) rejects this fact.
BAGAUZE, the name given, in the Antilles,
to the sugar-canes, after they have passed through
the mill ; they are dried, and used for boiling
the sugar.
BAGDAD, or Bagdat, a celebrated eity and
pachalic of Asia, in Arabian Irak,, seated on the
eastern banks of the Tigris, which is here up-
wards of 600 feet wide. It is 300 miles N.N.W.
of Bassora, 210 south of Mosul, and 1350 east
of Constantinople. This city is of an oblong
figure, about 150O paces in- length, by 800 in
breadth, environed with a high but ruined wall,
and a deep ditch. It has six gates surmounted
with cannon, a castle, and an armoury ; but the
whole of its defences are in a very feeble and
contemptible state. Here are some handsome
houses ; the markets are well supplied, and the
bazaars are magnificent, containing from 1200 to
1500 shops, loaded with every description of east-
em merchandise. Bagdad, in &ct, is the greai
link of communication between Asia Minor,
Syria, and even Europe and the East. The
chief imports from India are, gold brocade,
cloths^ sugar, pepper, tin, sandal-wood, iron,
china-ware, spice, cudery^ arms, and broad-doth ;
in return for which they send bullion, copper,
gall-nuts, tamarisk, leather, and otto of roses.
From Aleppo are imported European silk-stufis,
broad-clotn, steel, cochineal, gold thread, and
several other European articles, which are
brought in Greek vessels to Scanderoon. The
imports from Persia are, shawls, carpets, silk,
cotton, white cloth, leather, and saffron: and
those from Constantinople are, bullion, furs,
gold and silver thread, jewels, brocade, velvets,
and otto of roses. Its. principal manufactures
are red aind yellow leather (wnich is much es-
teemed), silk, cotton, and woollen smffs; and
latterly a foundry of cannon has been erected.
Bagdad exliibits the ruins of a number of
antique buildings. On the west side of the
river is a suburb connected with the city by a
bridge of boats, upon which the B&b jisr^,
(Bridge gate) opens. The great extent of thi»
city anciently on the west, as well as on die east
side of the river, appears firom the ruins all
round this suburb. Here are the tombs of many
Mahommedan saints ; among others, those of the
Imkms Abd Hanifiik and Hanbel, founders of
two of the orthodox sects ; and of Masa Kaztm,
one of the twelve Imams, the successors of Ali,
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374
BAGDAD.
so much venerated by the Penians. To the
literary traveller it offers many other objects of
interest ; such as the tombs of Haroun Al Kaschid,
and his consort Zobeidah, so often mentioned in
the Arabian Nights; and the remain^ of some
fine mosques and colleges, monuments of the
roost brilliant period of Arabian history. But
even the wrecks of many palaces and pnblic
buildings, celebrated by eastern writers, have
not entirely disappeared.
Bagdad was founded by the caliph Abu Jafiir
Almansor in 766, and completed in four years.
In the following century the celebrated Haroun
Al Raschid reigned here, and under the auspices
of Zobeida, his queen, and the vizier Jaffer Bar-
makeed, it rose into great splendor and impor-
tance : but was almost totally destroyed by the
Turks, too years later; and in the thirteenth
century was stormed by the Tartar prince Hor
laku, the grandson of Jenghis Khan, who put
the sovereign to death, and aboli^ed the cali-
phate. Tamerlane seized upon Bagdad in the
year 1416, and Kara Yusef m 1436. Shah Is-
mael, the first of the royal Persian house of Sefi,
rendered himself master of it in the following
century, since which time, it has been an object
of constant contention between the Turks and
Persians.
Bagdad sustained a memorable siege by the
Turkuh emperor Amurath IV. who, with an
army of 300,000 men, reduced it to great extre-
mities: it surrendered in 1638, on the promise
of indemnity; but the savage victor, having
gained possession of the place, put a great pro-
portion of the inhabitants to the sword. During
the following century, Nadir Shah endeavoured
in vain to wrest it from the Turks, and was
obliged to retire with disgrace ; and in the course
of later years its safety has been frequently me-
naced by the Wahabees. In 1750 the inhabi-
tants prevailed upon the Porte to appoint the
pksAkh. whom they chose to tiame ; and they have
ever since maintained this species of virtual in-
dependence.
The .commerce of Bagdad was once very ex-
tensive and flourishing ; but, from the improvi-
dent oppression of its rulers, it has now greatly
declined. It is ho^mever, a place of great resort ;
the residence of a pasha; and a constant resort
of pilgrims. Tavemier rated the population in
his time at 150,000, but they probably do not
amount to 50,000 at present. This population
consists of Arabs, Persians, Turks, Jews, Ar-
menians, and other eastern Christians, who are
represented as generally courteous to strangers,
and of an independent spirit. The truth is, that
the p^h^ are sensible of the advantage of their
distance from Constantinople, and obey or dis-
obey the orders of the sultan, according to their
own convenience.
Great extremes of heat and cold are felt here :
in summer, especially when the s&mm-yeU, or
poisonous wind, blows, die inhabitants are
obliged to take refuge in the well ventilated
cellars with which most of the houses are pro-
vided: and in winter the pold is sufficient to
j>roduce ice half an inch thick. This is con-
sidered as intolerable ; and many of the natives
are said to perish by it. The natives are like-
wise snlnect to a ctttaneeos disorder, for which
no cure has yet been discovered : it appears in
the form of a pimple, then degenerates into aa
ulcer„ and at the end of eight or ten monthi
dries up of itself, leaving a prominent mark.
' The inhabitants of Aleppo, ana other towns in
Syria, are also subject to this disease.
The pachalic, or vice-royalty, at which Bagdad
is tlie capital, is one of the largest in the Turkish
dominions. It contains eighteen sanj^, or
military divisions, and two districts of Kurdistan.
According to the present distribution of the em-
pire, it comprehends all its south-eastern angle;
having Diykr-boer .and Mount Sinjah on tbe
north; Persia on the east; the Persian gulf on
the south ; and the Euphrates on the west. It
therefore venr nearly corresponds with the Me-
sopotamia of the ancients. Its area is about
178,100 souare miles. The pacha is commabder-
in-diief of the troops stationed in his pachalic;
next to him are the aghiU of the janissaries and
sipahis. Their whole number amounts to 30,000;
infimtry and cavalry in nearly equal proportions.
A corps of 500 men, trained in the European
manner, which was raised a few years ago, u
still kept up.
This pvovince has some very fertile spots : but
is too much exposed to the depredations of ban-
ditti to be cultivated in any proportion to its ca-
pabilities. It includes many oelebrated cities
and towns, such as Bagdad!^ Bassora, Mosul,
and Merdin.
The revenue derived from the customs, a ca-
pitation-tax, occasional contributions of the
towns and cities, and the tribute levied on the
Arab tribes, does not exceed 7,500,000 piastres,
or £375,000.
BAGDAGSHAN, a very ancient dty and dis-
trict of Bokharia, in the province of Balkh,
situated at the foot of the mountains which se-
parate Hindostan from Great Tartary. The city
IS not large, bat exceedingly strong by its sima-
tion ; and belongs to the Utan of Proper Buk-
haria, who uses it as a kind of state prison. It
is well built and very populous. It stands on
the north side of the nver Amu, about 100 miles
from its source ; and is a great thoroug^&re for
the caravans designed for little Bukhana. The
inhabitant! are enriched by mines of gold, silver,
and rubies, which are in the neighbourhood;
and those who live at the foot of tli^ mountains
gather gold and silver dust, brought down in the
spring by torrents occasioned by the melting of
the snow on the top. It is 150 miles east of
Balkh.
BAGE (Robert), a novel-writer of the last
century, was the son of a paper-maker at Derby,
and bom in 1728. He was brought up to the
same occupation as hu fitther, but having a taste
for literature, he gained a knowledge of ma-
thematics, and of the French and Italian lan-
guages. He wrote Mount Henneth, 2 vols. 1781 ;
Barham Downs ; THe Fair Syrian; James Wal-
lace ; Man as he is ; and Hermsprong, or Man
as he is not. The last two, which appeared,
when the author was nearly seventy years of age,
were decidedly superior to the preceding. lie
died at Tamworth m 1 801 . Three of the earlier
novels of this writer have been republished in
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BAG
375
BAG
the ninth volume of Ballantyne's NoveUst's li-
brary, edited, with biographical prefaces^ by Sir
Walter Scott.
BAGFORD (John), an antiquary, and great
collector of old English books, prints, &c. was
born in London. He had been, m his younger
days, a shoemaker ; afterwards, a bookseller ; and*
lastly, for the many curiosities wherewith he en-
liched the £unous library of Dr. John Moore,
bishop of Ely, his lordship got him admitted into
the Charter-house. Ha was several times in
Holland, and on the Continent, where he pro-
cured many valuable old books, prints, &c. some
' of which he disposed of to the late earl of Oxford,
who purchased his collections, papers, &c. for his
library. In 1707 were published, in the Philo-
sophical Transactions, his Proposals for a General
Hutoiy of Printing. He died at Islington, May
15, 1716, aged 65 ; and was buried in the ceme-
tery of the Charter-house.
BAG'GAGE, n. f . From bag ; baggage ; Fr.
and from bagagiiAy Ital. The furniture and
iitimsils of an army ; or any goods that are move-
able. It is likewise employed to designate a
dissolute woman of the baser sort, because
such usually follow camps*
No hwrioulofor the belly; it iriUletin and out the
enemy htig ttd baggage. Shahpean.
They were probably always in Teadmess, and carried
among the baggage of the army. Addimm on Italg,
Dolabella designed, when his affiain grew desperate
in Egypt, to pack up bag and baggage, and sail for
Italy. Afbuthnot,
A spark of indignation did rise in her, not to suffer
such a' baggage to win awiy any thing of hers. Sidneg,
Vfhexk this baggage meets with a aian who nas
vanity to credit relations, she tains him to account
Baggage, in antiquity, was distinguished
by the Romans into two sorts ; a greater and less.
Ttic lesser was carried by the soldier on his back,
and call^ sarcina ; consisting of the things most
necessary to life, and which he could not do
without. Hence colligere sarcinas, packing up
the baggage, is used for decamping, castra mo-
were. The greater and heaviet was carried on
horses and in vehicles, and called onera. Hence
onera vehiculoram, sarcin® homimun. The
baggage horses were denominated sagmentarii
equi. The Roman soldiers in their marches were
heavily laden, in so much that they were called,
byipvay of jest, muli mariani, and aenimnflB. They
had four sorts of luggage, which they never went
without, viz, buccellatum, or com, utensils, valli,
and arms. Cicero observes, that they used to
carry with them above half a month's provisions ;
and we have instances in livy, where they carried
provisions for a whole month. Their utensils
comprehended those proper for gathering fiiel,
dressing their meat, and even for fortification or
entrenchment; and what is more, a chain for
binding captives. For arms, the foot carried a
spear, shield, saw, basket, rutrum, hatchet, lorum,
lalx,&c. Also stakes or pales, valli, for the
sudden fortifying a camp; sometimes seven, or
even twelve of these pales were carried by each
man, though generally, as PoUybius tells us, only
tbrae or (wt. On the Trajan column we see
soldiers represented with this fkfdle of com,
utensils, pales, &c. gathered into a bundle and
laid on their shoulders. Thus inured to labour,
they grew strong, and able to undergo any fatigue
in battle ; the greatest heat of which never tired
them, nor put S\em out of breath. In after times,
when discipline grew slack, this luggage was
thrown on carriages and porters' shoulders. The
Macedonians were not less inured to hardship
than the Romans; when Philip first formed an
army, he forbad all use of carriages ; yet, with
all &eir load, they would march, in a summer's
day, twenty miles, m military rank.
DAGGAOZf in modem military affairs, denotes
the clothes, tents, utensils of divers sorts, provi-
sions, and other necessaries belonging to the
army. Before a march, the waggons with the
baggage, are marshalled according to the rank
which the several regiments bear in the array ;
being sometimes ordered to follow the respective
columns of the army, sometimes to follow the ar-
tillery^ and sometimes form a column by them-
selves. The general's baggage marches fint; and
each waggon has a flag, showing the iiegiment to
which it belongs.
BAGLAFECHTE, in ornithology, the name
of Gmelin's loxia plolippina, var, j3, in Buibn's
history of birds.
BAGLANA, or Bhagelana, a large district
in the Mahratta territories, in the province of
Aurangabad, situated principally betwixt the
20th and 21st degrees of north latitude. It is
exceedingly mountainous, but contains many
fertile plains; and its natural strength is aug-
mentea by a number of strong fortresses, erect^
on the summits of the mountains. The rivers
are small, and the onlv towns of any note are
Chandere, Tarabad, and Ingauw.
BAGLIVI (George, M. D.) an illustrious
physician of It^y, bom in Apulia, about 1668.
He graduated at Padua, and afterwards went to *
Rome, where he was chosen professor of anatomy.
His works were printed first in 1710, in 4to. The
Praxis Medica, and De Fibra Matricis are his
principal pieces. He wrote a Dissertation upon
the Anatomy, Bite, and Effects of the Tarantula,
and gave a particiUar account of the earthquake
at Rome and the adjacent cities in 1703. His
works are all in Latin.
BAGNA Di Aqua, a town of Italy, in Tus-
cany. It is divided into the upper and lower
towns, the former of which is called Petraja, and
the latter Peria.«cir. It has long been celebrated
for its warm baths, and is fifteen miles east of
Leghorn.
BAGNAGAR, a town of Asia, in the domi-
nions of the Great Mogul, once the capital of Gol-
oonda. Its suburbs were three miles long, and
chiefly remarkable for a magnificent reservoir of
water, 220 miles north-west of Fort St. George,
ind as many east of Goa.
BAGNAJA, a small town of the ecclesiastical
states, one mile south of Viterbo, where is held
veaily a great cattle market. "The Dominicans
have here a large monastery, with an elegant
church.
BAGNALS, Ptjitta De, a pomt on the north
coast of the island of Barbadoes, between Indian
river and the bay of Carlisle.
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BAGPIPE.
BAGNARA, a town of Naples, in Calabria
Ultra, with the title of duchy, and 5000 icJiabi-
tonts. It was destroyed by an earthquake in 1783,
but has recovered from the calamity, and carries
on a trade in wood, pitchy and excellent Musca-
del wine. It is fourteen miles west of Oppido.
BAGNAREA^ a town of Italy^ in the sUtes of
the Church ; the see of a bishop, and stands on
a little hill. Five miles south of Orvieto,. and
twelve north of Viterbo. Long 12° lO' E., lat.
42'' 38' N.
BAGNERES de Campin, or En Bi-
GoaiiE, a town of France, in Gascony ; the ca-
Sital of an arrondissement, in the department of
le Upper Pyrenees. It contains about 6000
inhabitants, who are employed in tillage and
pasturaee. It is fam^ for its hot springs, of
which Uiere are no less than thirty-two ; they
were known in the time of the Romans. The
accommodations for visitors arerespectable. It is
eleven miles south of Tarbes, and 450 S. S. W.
of Paris.
BAG'NIO, n.i. Bagno, Ital. balneum, Lat.
bath. A house for bathing, and other less inno-
cent purposes.
I have known two instaaoeft of maligaaiit fevers
produced by the hot air of a hagmo,
ArbuOmot om Ak.
When I Me a young profligate squandering his for-
tane in hagnioi, or at a gaming-table^ I cannot help
looking on him as hastening his own death, and in a
manner digging his own gnve. Cotmoitem:
Bagnios. The word is metaphorically ap-
Dlied to houses of bad fame. In Turkey it is
become a general name for the prison where the
•laves are enclosed, it being usual in those pri-
tons to have baths.
BAGNOLS, a town of France, in Languedoc,
the head of a canton in the department of the
Gard, arrondissement of Usez. It stands on a
lock, has a manufactory of various kinds of silk,
and contains 4800 inhabitants. An expensive
lead has been cut through a hill, four miles in
length, leading from this place to the Pont du
Gard and Nismes. The sands of the neighbour-
ing rirerCeze yield gold occasionally. It is
twenty-one miles east of Nismes.
BAGNOLENSES, or Bagbolians, in church
history, a sect of heretics, who in reality were
Manichees, thou§^ the? disguised their errors.
They rejected the Old Testament and part of the
New ; held the woild to be eternal ; affirmed that
God did not create the soul, when he infused it
into the body; and denied his prescience.
BAGOAS, a Persian name for the king^
eunuch, employed in histoij to denote Bagoas,
an Egyptian, who governed ror a long time under
Artaxerxes Ochus. He poisoned bis master, and
then put to death Arses, whom he had set-up as
his successor, but was at lengtli killed by Darius,
against whose life he conspired. This eunuch
answers to the Bagoas mentioned in Judith. —
IHodar. 1. 17; Jos^. Antiq. 1. 11. c. 7. 2. A
eunuch who was m great fevor with Alexander
the Great, &c.
BAGOI, among the ancient Persians, were the
same with those called by the Latins spadones,
viz. a species of eunuchs.
BAGOUNO, a town of Venice, on the river
Caferro, which runs into the lake of Idro. It has
many iron-works, and contains 3600 inhabitants.
Twenty-four miles north of Brescia. '
BAGONES, a river of Brasil, in the province
of Rio Janeiro. It runs S. S. E., and enters the
sea near Cape Frio, in lat. 22* 5' S.
BAGONGUENOU, two of the Laccadive
islands, in the Indian ocean, and in the vicinity
of each other. Long. 71'* 56' E., lat. 11® N.
BAGOPHANES, a governor of Babylon,
who, when Alexander approached die dty,
strewed all the streets and burned incense on the
altars, 8tc. 2 Curt 5. t.
BAGOT (Lewis), an English prelate, son of
'Sir Walter Bagot, ban. and brother to the first
Lord Bagot, was bom in 1740. He was edu-
cated at Westminster, and chosen thence student
of Christ Church, Oxford, took his degrees of
A. M. and L.L.D. in 1764 and 1772 ; was made
canon of Christ Church in 1771, installed dean
in 1777 ; promoted to the see of Bristol in 1782 ;
translated to Norwich the year following, and
thence to St Asaj^h in 1790, where he died in
1802. In this latter diocese he rebuilt the epis-
copal palace. Rewrote, 1. A Defence of Sub-
scription to the Thirty-nine Articles, as it is
required in the University of Oxford, 1772,
which was an anonymous answer to an anony-
mous pamphlet, entitled Reflections on the
Impropriety and Inexpediency of Lay Subscrip-
tion in the University of Oxford. 2. Twelve
Discourses on the Prophecies, preached at the
Warburtonian lecture in Lincoln's-inn Chapel.
BAG'PIPE, n. «. ) From bag and pipe. A
Bag^ipee, n. f . 5 musical instrument, con-
sisting of a leathern bag, which blows up like a
foot-ball, by means of a port^yent or little tube
fixed to it,, and stopped by a valve and three
Sipesor flutes ; the first called the great pipe or
rone, and the second the little one, which pass
the wind out only at the bottom ; the tlurd has a
reed, and is played on by compressing the bag
under the arm, when full; and opening or stop-
ping the holes> which are eight, with the fingers.
The bagpipe takes in the compass of uree
octaves. — Ckambert,
Wei eonde he ttelen come and toUen thriet.
And yet he had a thomb of gold parde,
A white cote and a blew hode wered he
A boj^ep^ wel coode he blow and toone.
And therewithal! be brought ns oat of tonne.
No banneis bat shirts, with some bad bi^/p^, in-
stead of drum and fife. fiUMy.
Yea, or the drone of a Lincolnshire Aqgp^.
Some that will evermore peep thro' their eyee.
And laugh like'parrots, at a bagp^, U,
This light inspires and plays upon.
The nose of saint-like Ao^p^ drone.
And speaks through hollow empty sool.
As through a trunk or whispering hole.
Otdiknu.
Bagpipe. The peculiarity of the bamipe,
and 'firom which it takes its name, is, that me air
which blows it, is collected into a leathern bag,
from whence it is pressed out by the arm into
thp pipes. These pipes consist of a bass and
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B AOP I P B.
fc7
tenor, or rather treble ; and are diflferent aooord-
uig to the species of the pipe. The bass part is
called the drone, and the tenor or treble part the
chanter. Bagpipes are chiefly used in Scotland
and Ireland. In all the species,, the bass never
Taries from its uniform^ note, and therefore very
deservedly gets the name of drone ; and the eom-
rass of the chanter is likewise very limited.
There is a considerable difference between the
Highland and Lowland bagpipe of Scotland ;
the former being blown with tbe mouth, and the
latter with a small pair of bellows : though this
diffemce is not essential, every species of bagpipe
being capable, by a proper construction of tne
reeds, or producmg music either with the mouth
or bellows.
The Highland Bagpipe consists of a chanter
and two short drones, which sound in unison
with the lowest note of the chanter, except one.
This is exceedingly loud, and almost deafening,
if played in a room; and is therefore mostly
used in the fields, for marches, &c. It requires
a prodigious blast to sound it; so that those
unaccustomed to it vcannot imagine how High-
land pipers can continue to play for hours •
together, as theyware often known to do. For
the same reason, those who use the instrument
are obliged either to stand on their feet, or walk
when they play. The instrument has but nine
notes ; its scale, however, has not yet been re-
duced to a regular standard, by comparing it
with that of other instruments. Those who are
best acquainted with it, affirm that it plays only
the natural notes, without being capable of variar
tion by tiats or sharps.
The Irish Bagpipe is the softest, and in some
respects the most melodious of any, so that music
books have been published with directions
how to play on it The chanter, like that of all -
the rest, has eight holes like the English flute,
and is played on by opening and diutting the
boles as occasion requires ; the bass consists of
two short drones, and a long one. The lotrest
note of the chanter is D on the German flute,
being the open note on the counter string of a
violin ; the small drone (one of them, commonly >
being stopped up) is tuned in unison with the
note above- this, and the large one to an octave
below ; so that great length is required in order
to produce such a low note, on which account
the drone has sometimes two or three turns.
The instramentis tuned by lengthening or short-
ening the drone till it sounds the note desired.
The Soots Lowland Bagpipe is also a very
loud instrument, though less so than the former.
It is blowu vrith bellows, and has a bass like the
Irish pipe. This species is difierent from all the
rest, as it cannot play the natural notes, but has
F and C sharp. The lowest note of a good bag-
pipe of this iLind is in unison with C sharp on
the tenor of a violin, tuned concert pit<^ ; and
as it has but nine notes, the highest is D in alt.
From this peculiar construction, the Highland
and Lowland bagpipes play two species of music
essentially different from one another, as each
of them also is from every other species of mu-
sic in the world. This kind of bagpipe was
formerly very much, used in Scotland at wed-
dings and other festivals; being extremdy well
circulated for playing that peculiar speaesof Scots
music called reels. But it has been often a mat-
ter of surprise how this was possible, as the
instrument has only a compass of nine or ten
notes at the utmost, whidi cannot be varied as
in other instruments. In this respect, however,
it has a very great compass, ana will play an
inconceivable variety of tunes. Its notes are natu-
rally so high, there is scarce any one tune but
what is transposed by it, so that what would be
a flat note on the key proper for the violin, may
be a sharp one on the bagpipe ; and though the
latter cannot play anv flute note, it may in this
maimer play tunes which on other instruments
would be flat.
The small Bagpipe has the chanter not ex-
ceeding eight inches in length ; for which reason
the holes are so near each odier, that it is with
difficulty they can be closed. It has only eight
notes, the lower end of the chanter being com-
monly stopped. The reason of this is to prevent
the slurring of all tbe qptes, which is unavoid-
able in the other species ; this, by having the
lower hole dosed, dnd also (>y the peculiar way
in which the notes are expressed, plays all its
tunes in the way called by the Italians staccato,
and cannot slur at all. It has no species of
music peculiar to itself; and can play nothing .
which cannot be much better done upon other
instruments ; though it is surprising what volu-
bility some performers on this instrument will
display, and how mmch they vrill overcome the
natural disadvantages of it Some of this species,
instead of having drones l&e the others, have
their bass parts, consisting of a winding ca? ity in
a kind of short case, and are tuned by opening
them to a certain degree, by means of sliding
covers ; from whidi contrivance they are called
shuttle-pipes.
Tlie bagpipe appears to have been an instru-
ment of great antiquity in Ireland, though it is
uncertain whence they derived it Mr. Pennant,
by means of an antique found at Richborough,
in Kent, has determined that the bagpipe was
introduced at a ve^ early period into Britain ;
whence it is probable that both the Irish and
Danes might borrow the instrument from the
Caledonians. But that writer observes, ^ We must
still go further, and deprive even that ancient race
of the credit; and derive its origin from the
mild dimate of Italy, perhaps from Greece.
There is now in Rome a most beautiful bas re-
lievo, aGrecian sculpture of the highest antiquity,
of a bagpiper playing on his instrument, exactly
like a modem Highlander. The Greeks had
their AfficavXi|c» or instrument, coinpoSed of a
pipe and blown-up skin; the Romans in all
probability borrowed it from them, and intro-
duced it among their swains, who still use it
under the names of piva and comu-musa. That
master of music, Nero, used one ; and had not
the empire been so suddenly deprived of that
great artist, he would (as he graciously declared
his intention) have treated the people wiUi a
concert, and, among other curious instruments,
would have introduced the utricularius, or bag-
pipe. Nero perished; but the figure of the
instrument is preserved on one of his coins,
highly improved by that great master: it has the •
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378
BAHAMA.
bag and two of iSb» Tulgaf pipes ; but was blown
with a bellows tike an organ, and haA on one
side a row of nine ungual pipes, resembling the
syrinx of the god Pan. The bagpipe, in the un-
improved state, is also represented in an ancient
sculpture; and appears to have had two long
pipes or drones, and a single short pipe for the
fingers. Tradition says, that the kind^layed on
by the mouth was introduced by the Danes : as
theirs was wind music, we will admit that they
have made improvements, but more we cannot
allow ; they were skilled in the use of the trum-
pet; ^e Highlanders in the piohb, or bagpipe.'
Aristides Quintilianus informs us, that it pre-
vailed in the Highlands in very early ages; and
indeed the genius of the people seems to render
the opinion highly probable. The attachment of
that people to their music called pibrechs is
almost incredible, and on some occasions is said
to have produced effects little less marvellous
than those ascribed to the ancient music. At
the battle of Quebec, ir60, while the British
troops were retreating in great disorder, the gen-
eral complained to a field-officer in Frazer's
itgiment, of the bad behaviour of his corps.
^ Sir (said he, with some warmth), you did very
wrong in forbidding the pipers to play this
mommg: nothing encourages the Highlanders
so much in the day of action. Nay, even now,
they would be of use.'—*-' Let them blow like the
devil, then (repties the general), if it will bring
back the men. The pipers were now Ordered
to play a fitvorite martial air ; and the Highland-
ers, the moment they heard the music, returned
and formed with alacrity in the rear. In the
• late war in India, Sir Eyre Coote, sensible of the
attachment of the Highlanders to their fiivorite
instrument, gave them £50 to buy a pair of
bagpipes.
There was once a kind of college in the island
of Sky, where the Highland bagpipe was taught;
the teachers making use of pins stuck into the
ground instead of musical notes. This, however,
was for some time entirely dissolved, and the use
of the Highland pipe became much less general
than before. At last a society of gentlemen,
thinking it perhaps impolitic to allow the ancient
martial music of the country to decline, resolved
to revive it by giving an annual prize to the best
performers on the instrument. These compe-
titions were held at Falkirk. The Lowland bag-
pipe was reformed, and the music improved by
George Mackie, who is said to have attended
the college of Sky seven years. He had before
been the best performer on that instrument in
that part of the country where he lived ; but,
while attending the college at Sky, adapted the
graces of the Highland music to the Lowkund
pipe. Upon his return, he was heard with
astonishment and admiration; but unluckily,
was not able to commit his improvements to
writing, and indeed the nature of the instrument
scarcely admitb of it
D AGRE^ in ichthyology, a small bearded fish,
of the anguilliform kind, of which there are seve^
ral species. It has no scales, but is covered over
the whole body with a soft mucous skin of a sfl-
very whiteness, and the beard, the head, and
the fins are all of the same color; the eyes are
lai^, the mouth small, and without teeth. It is
caught in the American seas, and is eaten ; but
if any body is wounded by its thorns, it gives
great pain, and is difiicuU to cure. In the Lin-
usean system it is classed as a species of
silurus.
BAGRE De Rio^ a name by which some
call the fish more frequently known by the name
of nhamdia.
BAG-REEF, in maritime afifairs, a fourth
or lower reef, sometimes used in the royal
navy.
BAGSHAW, a romantic little town in the
High Peak of Derbyshire.
BAGSHOT, or Badshot, a small town is
Surry, two miles and a half south-west from
Staines, and twenty-six from London. This
place is famous for its excellent mvtton, brought
nither from the Hampshire downs. It was form-
erly called Holy Hall, and our kings had an-
ciently a house and park here. The church was
rebuilt in 1676, having been destroyed by light-
ning. Bagshot-heath, which surrounds the town,
is mostly uncultivated, but upon its borders are
some handsome seats, and one is the residence
of his royal bigness the duke of Gloucester.
BA'GUETTE, n. s. Fr. a term of architec-
ture. A tittle round moulding, less than an
astragal ; sometimes carved and enriched.
Baguette Devinatoiab, the divining-rod,
generally regarded as a piece of philosophioal
quackery. It is nothing else than a forked piece
of hazle, the two branches of which are often from
fifteen to eighteen inches in length, and form an
angle of thirty or forty degrees. Tliey are held
in the hands in a certain manner, so that the
trunk or middle is turned towards the heavens.
Some persons, it is said, are endowed with such
a property, that if they hold this rod as* above de-
scribed, it lends by a violent effort to turn its
trunk downwards, when in the proximity of a
spring, or of precious metals oonoealed in the
bowels of the earth, or stolen money, <cc. Nay,
some have even asserted that it has pointed out,
in this manner, the traces of criminals, robbers,
or assassins. (See Hntton's Translation of Mon-
tttchi*s Oianam, vol. iv. p. 260). A lady of rank,
on reading his account of the djvimng-iod; wrote
several letters to Dr. Hutton on the subject, de-
scribing the way in which she discovered that
she possessed the faculty of finding water by
such an 'instrument ; and relating thiat she ac-
tually found water, by means of the hazle, in the
duke of Manchester's park, at Kimbolton, Hunt-
ingdonshire, about thirty years ago. The same
lady also exhibited successfully her medK>d of
discovering water, at Woolwich Common, to Dr.
Hutton and his friends. See Drvivivo Rod.
BAGYON, or Booendorf, a market town of
Transylvania, in the county of Kolosch, not &r
from die Marosch, with churches of the Catholic,
Reformed, and Unitarian creeds
BAHALATOHS, a small island in the eastern
seas, near the east coast of Borneo. Long. 118^
21' E., hi. 5» 45' N.
BAHAMA, or Locatas Islahds, the east
emmost of tiie Antilles are situated in tlie
Atlantic Ocean, to the eoutfi of CaroUna, be^
tween 21^ and 28'' N. Ut. and Ti"* mud dl'' W.
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BAHAMA.
371^
long. Hiey extend along the coast of Florida
down to the isle of Cuba ; are said to be 300, or,
accoiding tq others, 500 in number, some of
diem only mere rocks; but twelve or fourteen of
them are large and fertile, and differing but little
from the soil of Carolina. Proceeding from the
southern to the northern extremity of the chain,
the group may be thus enumerated : —
1. Turk's islands^
12. The Caucus, or Caicos,
3. The Heneagas,
4. Mayaguana,
5. Crooked island Group,
6. Long island,
7. WaUings,
8. The Exumas,
9. San Salvador,
10. Eleuthera, or Habour Island,
11. Providence,
12. Andros,
13. Lucayo, or Abaco,
14. Bahama.
In addition to the islands included in ftis
group, two extensive sand-banks, called the
great and little Bahama banks, occupy a wide
space of sea, the boundaries of whicb are indi-
cated by a vast number of keys and islets. The
population of the whole cluster is stated at 16,600.
These islands were the first fruits of Columbus*s
discoveries^ and the feeUngs with which they
inspired that great commander are expressed in
the name of San Salvador, which he gave to the
island on which he landed. It was called Oua^ .
nahani bv the natives, and was first seen on the
1 1th of October, 1492, being the earliest authen^
ticated discovery of the western hemisphere.
These islands are said to have been at this time
inhabited by a peaceable race of Indians, whom
the Spaniaids transported to work in the mines
of St Domingo. They were not known to
the English till 1667, when captain Seyle, being
driven among them in his passage to Carolina,
first gave his own name to one of them ; but
being a second time driven upon it, he gave it
the name of Providence. The English govern-
ment observing the advantageous situation of
these islands, as a check on the French and Spa-
niards, attempted to settle in them in the reign of
Charies II. ; but they were little more than har-
boun for the buccaneers, until, in 1718, captain
Woodes Rogers was sent out widi a fleet to dis-
lodge the pirates And make a settlement. A fort
was now erected and an independent company
stationed on the island. Ever since these islands
have been slowly improving. In 1781 they were
surrendered to me Spaniards, but restored to the
British by treaty at the end of the war. At this
period, also, many of the British loyalists and
planters repaired to the Bahamas, chiefly from
the southern states of North America; from
which period the principal islands have been re-
gularly settled. In 1773 the number of whites
was 2052, and the blacks about 2241 . Previously
to May 1803 lands were granted by the crown,
in the whole of the Bahamas, to the amount of
265,381 acses, for the purpose of cultivation.
At that time the population amounted to about
14,518, including 11,395 blacks and people of
color, and it appears, by a return to tne Ilouse
of Commons in 1805, diat the number of slaves
imported for two years previously to the year
1803 amounted to 2523, of whom 2230 were
exported, leaving only 293 for the use of the
colony. The physical characteristics of the whole
of this group are very similar : the surface of the
whole IS flat, the soil fertile, and the climate
serene, but they are all thinly inhabited, and by
persons who subsist chiefly bv supplying neces-
saries to the crews of vessels driven on the coast.
The thermometer generally varies from 80^ to 90^
during summer, and*from 60° to 65° in winter;
but the soudiem isles experience the influence of
the trade-winds through the greater part of the
year. The soil in a few places is rich : the chief
cultivated product is cotton, besides which they
yidd mahogany and some kinds of dye woods,
salt, turtle, and several species of fish. Cattle
and sheep also thrive well, and great numbers of
birds are met with, generadly of the same kinds
as those of the West India islands.
New Providence, being the seat of govern-
ment, absorbs nearlv the whole trade of the
group, which is chiefly with England, the West
Indies, and North America. Nassau is the prin-
cipal town, and the seat of government for all
the islands. This is founded upon that of the
mother countiy, and resembles those of her other
colonies in preserving the legislative, executive,
aad judicial powers distinct : the governor is the
representative of the crown; and in him the
executive power is vested. He is commander-in-
chief of the military, convenes and prorogues the
national assembly, and has power to annul their
proceedings, subject to a reference to the king in
council. By his judicial character he presides
in all the courts. The council consists of twelve
persons, appointed by the king, who form the
upper house of the legislature, and participate
vnm the governor in his judicial autbori^. The
heuse of assembly consists of twenty-six mem-
bers, who vte elected by the respective districts.
See Edwards's History of the West Indies ; and
M'Kinnen's Account of the Bahama islands.
Bahaha, Great, Island of, one of the Ba-
hama's, sixty-three miles long and about nine
broad, situated on the south side of die Little
Bahama bank, and extening from the Florida
stream almost to the island of Abaco. The soil
is fertile, the air serene, and the island well
watered. It formeily produced guaiacum, sar-
sapariUa, and red wood ; all which die Spaniards
are said to have destroyed. This island is
fiffy-seven miles from the coast of east Florida.
Long. 78'' lO' to 80** 24' W., lat. 26** 40' to 27^
5'N.
Bahama Chahkel, the narrow sea between
the coast of America and die Bahama iskmds,
about forty-five leagues in length, and sixteen in
breadth. It is sometimes called the Gulf of
Florida. Here the current flovrs with that rapi-
dity which renders the passage extremely dan-
gerous, except utkder fiivoiable circumstances.
Bahama Bahk, GsbaTji a sand-bank, ex-
tending nearlv from the ishmd of Cuba to
the shores of the Bahama group. It com-
mences about 22'' 20^, and stretches to 26^ 15'
of north latitude. A smaller bank of the same
kind and name occupies a considerable space on
the north of U«e bland of Bahama.
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380
B A H A R.
BAHAR, from the Sanscrit Vihar, a Buddish
monastery, a' large and populous province of
Hindostan, formerly called Magadha, and once
an independent kingdom. It lies between the
twenty-second and twenty-seventh degrees of
north latitude, is separated from the Nepaul do-
minions by an extensive range of hills, rising
upon the northern frontier.* On the east it has
the province of Bengal, on the south the ancient
Hindoo province of Gundwana, and on the
west a part of the latter, Allahabad and Oude.
It was anciently separated from the Benares
territories by the river Caramnassa. This pro-
vince at mseai is one of the most fertile and
highly cultivated territories of Hindostan. Its
included area of arable ground is computed at
36,000 square miles, and separated north and
south into two equal divisions by the river Gan-
ges, wich flows from west to east in a course of
300 miles.
The northern division stretches a distance of
seventy miles from the forests of Nepaul and
Morung to the borders of the above river. It is
separated on the east from Pumeah in Bengal by
the Cosa or C6si, and on the west from Gorac-
poor in Oude, by the Gunduck, and a crooked
line between that river and the Dewah, or Gog-
grah. The whole included area is one unbroken
plain, and was subdivided by the emperor Acber
mto four districts, namely, Hajypoor, Tirhoot,
Sarun, and Chumparun, or liettiah including
four pergunnahs from Mong^yr.
The central division extends from the Ganges
south, as far as the Vindhyarchil range of hills, a
dbtance of sixty miles. It is separated from
Bengal on the east by a branch of the above
southern hills, extending to the Tilliaghury pass,
on the confines of Rajemal; firom Chunar, in Al-
lahabad on the west, by the river Charamuassa.
The district Bahar, which lies in the centre of
this division, occupies one half of the inclusive
level area ; the plains of Monghyr one sixth more,
and the rest is mountainous. The district of
Rotas lies to the south-west, chiefly between the
rivers Soane and Caramnassa, and that of Sha-
habad stretches along the southern side of the
Ganges. This central division is usually con-
sidered the most important and fertile of the
whole province, abounding in opium, and
yielding nearly two thirds of the whole pro-
duce.
Independent of the above divisions there is a
straggling hilly country of 8000 square miles,
which is almost barren, and still further to the
south, a third elevated region of barren nigg^
land, to the extent of 1 8,000 square miles. This
lofty territory, including the modem subdivisions
of Chuta Nagpoor, Ramghur, and Palamow, is
bounded on the west by the Soubah of Allahabad,
on the south by Orissa, and on the east by Ben-
gal. Amongst geographers it is termed the
Three Bellads or Cantons, and is sometimes
described under the appellation of Kokerah, but
is more commonly called Nagpoor, from the sup-
posed wealth of its diamond uiinev.
The extent of this province may easily be
perceived from the following table in square
miles : —
Assessed lands of eight districts . . 26,287
Hilly territories in Khotas, Monghyr,
&c 7,133
Content of lands belonging to Pala-
mour, Ramgfaeir and Nagpoor. . 18,553
s
Total content of the province. . 51,973
The following extract from the celebrated in-
stitutes of Acber, compiled by Abul Faiel, A.D.
1582, may not be unacceptable to the geogra-
phical reader.
^ The length of Bahar from Gurher to Rotas
is 120 coss, and the breadth from Terfaoot to
the northern mountains includes 110 coss. It
is bounded on the east by Bengal, has Alla-
habad, and Oude to the west ; and on the north
and south are large mountains. The principal
rivers of this Soubah are Uie Ganges and the
Soane. The river Gunduck comes from the
north, and empties itself mto the Ganges near
Hadjypoor. The summer months are ^e very
hot, but the winter is temperate. The rains
continue for six months. In the district of Mon-
lyr is raised a stone wall extending from the
langes to the mountains, and this v^ is con-
sidered to be the boundary between Bengal and
Bahar. The Soubah contains seven districts,
viz. Bahar, Monghyr, Chumparum, Hajypoor,
Saram, Tirhoot, and Rotas. These are sub-
divided into 199 pergunnahs. The gross amount
of the revenue is 55,47,985 sicca rupees. It
furnishes 11,415 cavalry, 449,350 infantry, and
100 boate.'
The natural features of Bahar are by no means
uninteresting. It possesses all the advantages of a
rich soil, a temperate climate, and a centrical
geographical situation, shaded by mountains and
watered by rivers and small streams. Of theae
the Ganges, the Soane, the Gunduck, the Dum-
moodah, Caramnassa, and the Devrah are the
most remarkable.
In Bahar and the contiguous districts a parching
wind from the westward prevails during a portion
of the hot season, and blows with great strength
during the day, but at night it is succeeded by a
cool breeie in the opposite direction. Both oc-
casionally cease for days, and even weeks
together, giving way to easterly gales; and
during the cold season a blighting frost fre-
quently occura in both the provinces of Bahar
and Benares.
Agriculture, manu&ctures, and commerce have
always flourished in this province, owing pei^^
in a great measure to its natural advantages. The
chief productions are opium, saltpetre, grain, su-
gar, betel-leaf, indigo, oils, essences, &c. together
with fine timber for boat-building. Cotton doths,
for exportation, are manu&ctured all over the
districts, and the hills are supposed to contain
coal, sulphur, iron and other metals. The nu-
merous productions of Bahar, together with its
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B A R A R.
381
internal, means of communicatioQ serring as a
thoroughfare for the commerce of Bengal and
foreign maritime countries with the province of
Hindostan, raised this territory into a state of
prosperity, soon after the Patau conquest, and
this continued under the Mogul dynasty. Opium
may be considered as the staple commodity of
the province, although saltpetre is a ^reat article
of exportation. The latter is produced m consider-
able qtuintities, in the districts of Hajypoor and
Sarun, where it is manu&ctured for exportation.
The production of this article is always greatest
during the prevalence of the hot winds, which
are perhaps essential to its formation. ' These
winds did not formerly extend their influence
beyond the eastern confines of Bahar; but by
the change of seasons which have been remarked
within the last thirty years, they have reached
to Bengal Proper, where it is now said saltpetre
might be manufactured with nearly the same
success as in Bahar. The opium that is pro-
duced in this and the neighbouring provinces is
monopolized by government) and sold in Cal-
cutta by public sale. The common produce is
eight pound of opium for every beegah, which
measures about one-third of aci acre, besides
which the cultivator reaps about fourteen pounds
of seed. The preparation of the raw opium is
under the immediate superintendance of the com-
pany's agent, and is as follows : The watery par-
ticles are first evaporated by the sun, and re-
placed by oil of poppy-seed to prevent the
drying of the resm; after which the opium
is formed into cakes, covered with the petals of
the poppy, and when sufficiently dried is packed
up in chests with the fragments of the capsules,
from which the poppy-seeds have been thrashed
out. The opium is frequently adulterated by
intermixing an extract obtained from the stalk
and leaves of the poppy, and sometimes the gum
of the mimosa ; but the adulteration is diflScult
of discovery.
Bahar was, in common with the greater part
of Hindostan, anciently supplied with salt from
the lake of Sambher, in the province of Ajmeer;
but its supplies of that article are now brought
from Bengal and Coromandel, and imported
under the protection of government.
Althougn an intimate connexion has always ex-
isted between this province and Bengal, and their
histories have been blended, there are, in tlie na-
ture of landed property, several important distinc-
tions; of which the following are worthy of notice.
In Bengal the lemindaries are very extensive,
but in Bahar they are comparatively small;
hence the Bengalese zemindars assume a degree
of power and influence which those of Bahar are
not able to maintain. Those of the latter also
from their comparative distance having been
placed under a provincial administration, have
oeen precluded from that information which the
zemindars of Bengal have derived from their
access to the offices of government. Though the
lands of Bahar have been let to farm, finom time
immemorial, yet no general settlement had been
concluded between government and the pro-
prietors of the soil from the acquisition of^the
bewanny until the final and perpetual assessment
in 1792; from which circumstance the cultivator
was placed under great disadvadtages. There
are, at present, few instances of jaghires in Ben-
gal ; but in Baiiar they are common. The custom
of dividing the produce of the land in certain
proportions between the cultivator and the
government vrzs almost universal in Bahar, but
in Bengal it was very partial and limited; so
that compared with those of the latter province,
the land-proprietors of Bahar, generally speak-
ing, were in a degraded condition. There are
now in this province three principal zemindars,
viz. the rajahs of Tirhoot, Shahabad, and Sun-
note Tekaroy; and it has been observed, that the
permanent fixing of the revenue system, which
was supposed to be fraught with so much mis-
chief, has not been found so injurious in practice
as it appeared in theory : the actual cultivators
of the earth being now in a much better con-
dition than they were before the adoption of that
measure.
It appears finom the geographical chapters of the
Puranas, the only documents of their ancient
geography which the Hindoos possess, that
Bahar was originally the seat of two indepen-
dent sovereignties, viz. that of Magadha or south
Bahar, and that of Mithila (Tirhoot) or north
Bahar. Different dialects were anciently used,
and even now prevail, in those countries; namely,
that of Mithila, or Tirhoot, which both in the
terms and form of its character has considerable
affinity to the Bengali; and that of Magadha, in
which the resemblance to that language is still
more characteristic and striking.
Of the general populatitm of the province, at
least one-fourth are Mahommedans; Bahar having
- been conquered by that people at an early period*
and afterwards retained m subjection; so tnat the
Brahmins have acquired an unusual degree of in-
fluence. Gaj^, the birth-place of the great pro-
phet and lesrislator Buddna, is a place of pil-
grimage, and the central resort of sectaries of
Siat persuasion ; but among the resident inhabi-
tants few Buddhists are to be found, owing to
the intolerance and cruelty of the Brahmins,
together with the Mahommedans' mode of propa-
gating and confirming tlieir faith.
The chief towns are Patna, Monghyr, Buxa,
Rotas, Gayah, Dinapoor, and Boglipoor. The
revenue is considerable, amounting in 1815 to
6,701,538 rupees, or nearly £837,944 steriing.
The inhabitants visibly improve, and appear to
be of a different race from the Bengalese, whom
they excel both in streneth and stature.
The proyince of Bahar is at present divided
into the following districts; which, with their
natural features and local peculiarities, w> shall
subjoin for the satisfaction of the reader.
1. Boglipoor, south-east of Bahar, and com-
prehending a part of the Mogul province of Ben-
gal, is bounded on the north by Tirhoot and
PCiriniiah, on the east by the latter and Mur-
shid-&D&d ; ^n tlie south by Birb'hum and R&m-
gaiih, and on the west by mat district and Bahar.
ft extends 133 miles one way, and eighty the
other, forming a total area of about 8225 square
miles, and, according to Ayeen Akberry, ii. 25. 1 97
was known anciently by the name of the sercar
of Monger. The hills are imperfectly cultivajted.
The winds shift twice a year, blowing almost
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382
B A H A R.
hiTariably fiom east to west, between tbe months
of June and February; after which they change
6x>m west to east. The heats are frequently
oppressive, and the cold season comparatively
mitcL The, soil is in many places ricn, and fit
for agriculture; but in otherSj rocky and barren.
Hot springs are frequently found in this district;
in some of which, particularly at Bliinebaud,
the thermometer rises to 144® Fahrenheit. Th^
genera] character of the population is respectable,
but the mountaineers are wild and uncivilised:
some of them have been lately brought, under
the guidance of the Brahmins, who teach them,
to worship Durg^ b^ore a bll-tree.
The most remarkable places in the district are
as follow : B*h&gal-piir, the capital, situated in
lat. 25°13'N., long. 86° 58' E.; 110 miles north-
west of Murshid-abiuL It is a mean-looking
town, in the midst of a beautiful country ; and
contains a population of more than 30,000 inha-
bitants, chiefly Mahommedans. Champ&nager, in
lat. 25° 14' N., long. 65° 5^ E., three miles
west of Bli^igal-ptlr, contains, together with
Lacshmi-gani, a population of 9000. A .Mahom-
medan saint, nine cubits high, is said to have
been buried here, whose tomb is still a place of
pilgrimage. G'hidd'hdr, or Ghiddhore, lat. 24°
52' N., long. 86° 10* S. S. W. of Monger, is
remarkable for the ruins of a castle, said to have
been built by the Afifghan Shir ShlOi, A. D. 1 544 ;
the massive walls of wluch are still remaining.
Mong^er, Mongfayr, (Mudga or Mucti-giri), in
kt. 25° 23' N. long. 86° 26' W., on the south
bank of the Ganges. Its foit, surrounded by a
deep ditch, has been a place of note from remote
Antiqui^. The town is formed by the assem-
blage of sixteen distinct hamlets, provided with
only two regular streets, which lie near die
eastern and southern gates of the fort. The po-
pulation is about 30,000. Its most remarkable
curiosity, the shrine of P^r Sh^ Koseln Lohaun),
is most venerated, both by Mussulmans and Hin-
dis. About five miles distant from the above
town is the celebrated hot spring called Sltfl-
c(ind| or the pool of Sit^ ; in oriental mythology,
the wife of Biima the Indian Bacchus. Tbe
waters are received into a brick cistern, about
eighteen feet square> from which air-bubbles are
constantly emitted, although the nature of tbe
gas has not been ascertain^. The heat of tKis
spring is different at different times, varying
from 92° to 132° of Fahrenheit's thermometer.
M(iti jlianui, or Mootyjerna (the pearl drop-
ing stream) lies about eight miles inland from
the Ganges ; is a remarkable cascade, formed by
two fine waterfalls, together measuring 105 feet
perpendicular. The waters sweeping over the
summit of the rocks, and falling from that lofty
altitude, are received into a basin below, which
has been conjectured, not upon slight grounds,
to be the original crater of an extinct volcano.
A view of this magnificent cascade is given
in Hodges's Travels it* India. Cohl-ging,
(spelt ginii, and pronounced g&ni^g), a small
town, in lat. 25° 14' N., long. 87° 15' E., on* a
peaked hill, ten common cos south-east of Bog-
lipoor. Teliy'agar'hi, or Telliaghurry, is a small
town twenty-three miles north-west of R&ji-
mabal; lat, 25« 15' N., long. 87° 37' E- It is
remadcable for an old castlie, built by the Saltan
Shuj^, in the seventeenth centtiry. The Vind-
hya hills here, come down close to the river, and
form the line of boundary between the provinces
of Bahar and Bengal, in the Mogul division.
2. Bahar isaUixge district lying in theceotref
the boundaries of which are ill defined, but
generally traced to the Gai^;es, on the north, to
Ramgur and Monghyr on the south, to the lat>
ter, with the river Soane on the east, and the
district of Rotas on the west; including a terri-
tory of 6680 square miles. The level land is
highly cultivated, but interspersed with naked
and barren hills, which are entirely isolated.
Some of these rise in clusters, exhibiting a
rugged irregular appearance, of which the most
remarkable are, the Ber&ber pahar, west of the
Phalgii ; the Bajil-grlha, or Raj-mahal, hills on
its eastern side ; and a long narrow range con-
tiguous to Shaikh p&rah. The southern hills
form a part of the Vindliyan chain, continued
with little or no interruption fi>r a great extent,
and, in the opinio^ of some, even to Cape
Comoriu. These hills no where approach tbe
river, and the country, though generally lofiy,
exhibits the immense stretch of one continued
plain. The winds commonly blow east and
west, shifting twice in the year. The soil is
highly fertile, and the climate warm ; prodacing
not only the comforts, but even luxuries of life.
The rivers and streams which water the country
are numerous. The Ganges rolls along its mag-
nificent stream to the width of an English mile.
The Sonar, almost equal in the width of its
channel, is navigable in the rainy season, and is
celebrated for its handsome pebbles nnd fine
fish. The Phalgfi, held in religious veneration
by the Hindiis, is tremendously deep and rapid,
and is formed by the union of two immense
torrents above the city Gayii, where it spreads
to the breadth of 500 yards. Ther Punpua,
Muraba, Dardlia, Sacri, and Panchane, are all
rivers of considerable importance. ' The popula-
tion of this district is overflowing. In 1811 it
amounted to 2,755,150 souls, and the increase
has been almost incredible. The revenue in
1814 was equal to 1,748,006 rupees, or £218,500
sterling. In point of religion, Mabonunedanism
is widely extended, although idolatry is the most
prevalent There are six great Hindoo shrines,
visited by pilgrims, and two belonging to the
Jain in the division of Nawada.
The principal towns of this district are, Patn^,
(in Sanscrit, Padmaiati, the lotus-bearing) the
capital of the province of Bahar, in lat. 25° 37' N.
long. 85° 15' £., on the south side of the Ganges,
which is here five miles wide in' the rainy season.
Including the suburbs, it covers an area of
twenty square miles, and contains 312,000 po-
pulation. The public buildings are paltry , the
fortifications are in ruins ; and even the hand-
somest mosque is now let as a warehouse. Patni
is a place ot considerable trade. It has a court
of appeal and circuit ; a iudge and magistrate ;
collector, conomercial-resident, and opium agent ;
is garrisoned by a provincial battalion, but has
few European houses or inhabitants. Patosl lies
400 miles from Calcutta, by Murshed-iibiUl.
Dandp-ptlr, in lat. 25° 3r N. long. 85° 5' E.,teB
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B A H A R
3«3
Btfles west of Patn^, is one of the principal sta-
tions of the European troops, and, accordingly,
has magnificent barracks, good roads, elegant
TiUas, and is, in short, compared with Patn^, a
perfect paradise. Its population is between
20,000 and 30,000.
Gayi, in lat. 24^*49' N., long. 85° E., is ike'
capital of the district of Bahar, and consists of
1. Gayh Proper, the residence of the Brahmins;
and 2. Sabibganj, the residence of the re-
maining inhabitants, both containing a popula-
tion of nearly 40,000. This place is celebrated
by the Budd'hists as the birth-place of their great
legislator, and by the Hindoos as the scene of
one of Vishnu's victories over an unmanageable
asur or giant. Pilgrims without number crowd
from all parts, and their amount is rapidly
increasing; since from 31,000 who visited it
in 1811, 200,000 at present are said to arrive
annually. These pious visitants are taxed by
the British government according to the numb^
of holy places they visit The utmost sum is
14| rupees, or £l 12$. sterling. We have only
to add, that the crimes arising from so great an
influx of strangers, too evidently shows the de-
?lorable tendency of the Hindoo superstition,
he ruins of Budd'ha-gay^ and the number of
images scattered round them for fifteen or twenty
miles, are astonishing, and render it probable
that this was once Uie centre of Buddliism, and
the residence of some powerful monarch profess-
ing that faith.
3. The third district of the province, viz. Tia-
HOOT, or Tirbut, is on the nortn-west of the pro-
vince, bounded on the south by the Ganges, on
the west by Saren, or Sarun district, on the north
by the Saptari woods of N^pal, and on the east by
Plim^yah in Bengal. The district is high, healthy,
uid well-watered, producing, besides the com-
modities above-mentioned, turmeric, ginger, and
several other valuable articles. Its chid" rivers
are the Gaud'achi, Bliagmati, and Gagari. The
whole area in 1784, before the alteration, was
upwards of 5000 square miles ; the revenue, as
late as 1814, amounted to 1,274,717 rupees, or
£159,339 sterling; and the population in 1801
was 2,000,000. It was anciently a part of the
province, or ratner kingdom, of Mit^iU, which
comprehended the greater part of the three dis-
tricts, TirhUt, PCiriniga, S^ren, together with
part of the Nepalese territo^; and was bounded
oy the Gandac, Cosa, and Ganges, together with
the mountains of Nepal on tl^ nortii. It was
subdued by the Moguls in the fourteenth cen-
tury, and became part of the British empire in 1 765.
This district has been recently selected by govern-
ment for improving the breed of horses, the soil
and climate appearing &vorable to that purpose;
accordingly many of the first quality are reared
in the Zil&t, or division of Hajl-p&r.
The most remarkable mountain feature is the
towering peak of I/holiUgiri in the Himalaya
chain, near which the Gaud'achi, or S&lagriimi
river, suposed to be the Condochates of Arrian,
takes its nse in lat. 29° 30' N., and long. 83'' 45' £.,
or nearly. The summit of this mountain was
calcuhUed by Mr. Colebroke to reach nearly
27,000 feet above the level of the sea. As. Re$.
XII 276. In its bed axe found schistose stones,
or salgr&ms, contaAiing remains of the comv
ammonis, which are thence dispersed, are objects
of adoration all over India. From which circum-
stance the mountain is called S&lgi^i in N^pil.
The spiral lines are supposed to be traces of
Vishnu, and some of these stones sell for 2000
rupees, or £225. sterling.
Within the limits of Tirh&t, or Tirhoot, is the
town Hajypoor, or H&j)-p6r, with a district of
the same name, including an area of 2782 square
miles, whence the company obtain most of their
saltpetre. The town lies nearly opposite Patn^
at me confluence of the Ganges and Gaud*achi
rivere, in lat. 25** 41' N., and long. 85° 21' E.
It is celebrated for its horse-&ir, held every
November, to which, in 1807, no fewer than
6000 horses were brought, two of which sold for
4000 rupees, or £450 each. Durbliaugl, in lat.
26° 9' N., long. 86° 20* E., was a considerable
place in the time of Acbar ; and near SingHiU,
east of the Gaud'achi, lat. 25° 52' N., long. 85°
15', are some very curious ruins^
4. The fourth district is Saren (the Asylum),
comprehending Bettii or Champ4ran, formerly a
separate district, and is bounded on the north by
Macwan-pur and G6nac'h-pur, on the south by
the Ganges, on the west by the D^wa or G'hara
river,, and on the east by Tirhoot, including, in
1784, an area of 5106 square miles. The whole
of Saren suffered extremely from the fiunine in
1770, by which neariy half the inhabitants
perished ; but is in general a well cultivated and
nighly fertile country, and greatly improved since
the decennial settlement by Ix)rd Comwallis.
There are only two Mahomraedan zemindars in
the whole district, -and die revenue, in 1814, was
1,233,385 rupees, or £138,756. The popu-
lation is considerable, amounting, in 1801, to
1,200,000, of whom one tenth were Mahom-
medans.
Terydni, or Turydul (the country of boats)
lies at the foot of the northern hills and the lower
lands, wheie the rivers become navigable. The
base of the mountains is covered with wood, and
the intervening lands between it and the culti-
vated districts are covered with grass, intersected
by streams and rivers, which in the rainy season
are navigable. The confined air, stagnant water,
and putrified vetretable matter, in this district
render the climate unwholesome in the wet
months, especially in the low-lands. The forests
are inhabited by elephants, bears, tigers, rhi-
noceroses, vrild boars, jackals, foxes, hares, and
hog-deer. The pal^ (erythrina monosperma)
and simul (borabax faeptaphvllum) are found
on the Nepalese confines. Of this district Cha-
prah is the capital, lying in lat. 25° 46' N., long.
84° 46' E., and extending nearly a mile along
the nor&em bank of the Ganges. The popula-
tion of this town, in 1817, amounted to 43,700,
and is now greatly increased. The Patnii bearers
of Calcutta, or the original C'harwa tribe, are
settled near the borders of this town, although
they emigrated originally from Chota Nag-p(ir,
lying in the southern part of the province.
5. Shah-abad (the royal residence), is an ex-
tremely fertile and populous district, bounded
on the north by the Ganges, on the east and
south by the Son, and on the west by Chudir,
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B A H A R.
in the province of Allah-dUUl ; and including, in
1784, an area of 1869 sqnare miles, since \v^ich
it has been materially augmented. The popula-
tion is about 2,000,000, and the revenue, in 1814,
amounted to 1,177,462 rupees, or £132,465
sterling.
Arrah, the capital of this distnct, lat. 25'' 35"
S., and long. 84*^ 40*, is extensive and populous.
Bagsar, or fiacsar, south of the Ganges, in lat.
25'' 35' N., long. 83^ 57' £., is the place of the
celebrated engagement in 1764, when sir Hector
Munru, with 6215 SipWs and 856 Europeans,
defeated the corobinea armies of Shuj&fk'd daw-
lah and K&sira All Khan, amounting to 40,000
men. Here also is a police station, at which all
travelleTS are obliged to exhibit their passports.
Sasram, Sesr^iing, Sahasram^ or Sahasriiimg, ly«
ing in lat. 24° 58' N., long. 83** 58' E., is cele-
brated for Khe splendid mausoleum of Shir
Rhlm the AfghiUi, Wit in the midst of a great
reservoir or tank, upwards of a mile in circumfer-
ence. Rohtas is die chief town of the westerly p^-
gauah of this district, bounded by the Caramnas^
which joins the Ganges at Bacsar, and contained,
in 1784, as many as 3680 square miles. The
fortress Roht^ garli, on the level summit of a
mountain, in lat. 24° 38' N. and long. 83° 50' E. ,
was thought impregnable till taken from R&jkh
Chint&men in 1542, by Shir Sh^ the cele-
brated A&failn. After this it was again sur-
prised, and in 1764, when K^im Ali evacuated
the province, came into possession of die
English.
6. Ram-g'har (the house of Rama), the sixth
division of the province, is a hilly and moun-
tainous district in the south, bounded on the
north by Bah^ proper, on the east by Bardit-
h^^ui and B'h&l-pur, on the west by Bilaunja,
Sera^a and Jeshpiir, and by that district, Gang-
gnd Singli-b'hCim on the south. *A great part
of this district belonged to the ancient piovmce
of Gondwiina; but now, in addition to its own
peculiar territory, it comprehends Palamb^ Par
ch6t, and Chfita N&g-pQr. The population Has
been estimated at hSif a million, who, though
improving, are at present uncivilised. The
woods, wild beasts, and savage inhabitants, ren-
der this district a perilous residence; wfaUst
superstition, rapine, and murder, are to be leen
in all directions. The extent of the Bim-gW
territories in 1784 was 21,732 square miles, of
which two-thirds was waste land. Iron is found
in many of the hills. The M&hwap tree, or
Bassia longifolia, grows abundantly amon^ the
rocks, and furnishes a farinaceous pulp which is
a substitute for bread, and a nutricious infiisioa
which is used as tea. The chief rivers are Baii-
car and Damodar; and the largest towns ate
Macaud-gauj, Chitra, and R&mgar'h. R^mgaili,
on the D^6d'ar, is now a second-rate town, in
lat. 23° 39' N., long. 95° 43* E. Palamb, or
Palamau, the residence of a powerful rajah, is
a hilly and woody territory on the Mahratta fron-
tier. Berwa, in lat. 53° 20' N., long. 84° 46' E^
lies contiguous to Naz&i) B^, the head quar-
ters of the corps stationed in Ramgarli. Pachet,
a zemindar) ot uncivilised population, contains
2779 square miles. The town is in lat 23° 36*
N., and long. 86° 50' E. Ch'h6ta Nkg-pdr is a
high, woody, and unhealthy zemlnd^, at the
southern extremity of this province, bordered on
three sides by Gondw&na, and never completely
subdued by the Mahonunedans. The Chatauri,
Cieri, and Dliangar tribes, have never embraced
the religion of me Brahmins; but have a reli-
gion and language of their own. The productions
are similar to those found in the other parts of
the dbtrict. Iron is commonly met with, but is
not manufactured, because that metal can be pro-
cured at a smaller expense from the European
markets.
For a further illustration of the general features
and economy of this province we refer the reader
to Hamilton's Hindostan; Asiatic Researches;
Bemouilli's Hindostan, i. and ii.; Rranell's Me-
moir; Ayeen Akberry, &c«
Bahab, a town in the province of Bahar,
district of Bahar, 35 miles S.E. from Patna.
Lat. 25° 13* N., long. 85° ZT E.
Bahab, or Babre, in commerce, weights
used in several places in the East Indies. 'Thev
have been distinguished as the great bahar, with
which they weigh pepper, cloves, nutmegs, gin-
ger, &c. and the httle bahar, with which &ey
weigh quicksilver, vermillion, ivory, silk, &c.
But this weight varies much in different parts of
the East The bahar of Acheen, in Sumatra,
consists of 100 cattees, and is equal to 490lbs.
avoirdupois. The bahar of Betle&ckee, in Arar
bia, consisting of forty farcels, is ^ 815ilbs.
avoirdupois. The bahar of Bencoolen = 560
lbs. avoirdupois. The bahar of Junkseylon of
eight capins = 4851bs. 5oz. 5idr. The bahar
of Molacca, of three peculs = 405lbs. avoirdu-
pois. The bahar of Mocha, of fifteen franks =:
445lb8. avoirdupois.
BAHAREN, or Bahhrein, a cluster of
islands in the Persian Gulf, chiefly remarkable
for the pearl fishery of the neighbourhood. They
have often changed masters. ^Y^^ Ormus they
came under the dominion of the Portuguese,
were again restored to Peisia by Thomas Khouli
Khan ; and after his death, the confusion into
which his empire was thrown, gave an opporto-
nity to an enterprising and ambitious Arab of
taking possession of them. But he was soon
compelled to relinquish them once more to the
Persians; who have lately been, in their turn,
driven from them by the rising sect of the Wa-
habees. Baharen, or Awal the principal island,
was famous for its pearl fishery even vnien pearls
were found at Ormus, Kareke, Kashy, and other
places in the Persian Gulf : but became of much
greater consequence when the other banks were
exhausted. It lies about fifteen miles from the
coast, and ninety W. N. W. of Bushire; and is
covered with villages and date gardens. TV
capital, Medina, containing 800 or 900 houses,
and a strong fort, which was some time ago gar-
risoned by 300 Persians. The town is destitute
of water ; but here is a harbour which will admit
vessels of 200 tons burden, and a strong castk.
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385
BAH
It lies aboat three mAes from tlie coast. The
Pemans are said to resort hither habitually for
the study of Arabic, under the Shuats, the dis-
ciples of All. Another of these islands is Arad,
divided by an isthmus into two parts, the princi-
pal of which is called Samoki, and has a small
town, Mahared. A third island, sometimes no-
ticed in the Eastern maps, is Gutter Sahari,
called hj the English, Meritan Rock.. The
earliest time of fishing is in April, and the latest
in October. The pearls taken at Baharen,
though not so white as those of Ceylon or Japan,
are much larger than those of the former place,
and more, regularly shaped than those of the
latter. They have a yellowish color ; but have
also this good quality, that they preserve their
golden hue, whereas tne whiter kind lose much
of their lustre by keeping^ especially in hot
countries. Those of deeper color are genemlly
bought by the Mahmttas, and the paler are
transported through Bassora and Bagdad all
over Asia. It is said to be on the whole the
richest and most productive pearl fishery in the
world ; and to average a profit to the individuals
who &rm it of £100,000 per annum. The
oyster banks, lying fifteen or twenty feet below
tiie surface, stretch from about 25'' to 26^ 40' N.
lat., and the shells from two to ten inches in dia-
meter, are considered valuable, as well aa the
pearls. It is a practice with those who are em-
ployed in opening the shells, to put the finer
pearls into their mouths, believing that this adds
to their brilliancy ; and the fishermen always an-
ticipate success after copious rains. Latterly
the produce of the fishery has in some measure
declmed, in consequence of the English markets
for the Ceylon fishery being transferred to the
straits of Manaar; and the pearls are chiefly
sent to Surat.
BAHARY, a town of Sennaar, fifteen miles
south-east of that place.
BAHAS, a town of Arabia, in the kingdom of
Yemen, near the Red Sea,^xteeD miles N.N.W.
ofLoheia. Lat. IS'* SS* N.
BAHATJIICALLY, a town of Cochin, with
a pagoda, twenty-three miles S. S. E. of Cochin.
BAHBEiT, Balbeit, or Bhabeit, a ruined
place in the Delta of Egypt, where there are the
remains of a magnificent marble temple. Po-
cocke supposes it to have been a temple of Isis ;
but this is disputed by D' Anville and Savary.
The figures on the basso relievo are beautiful,
but ill drawn. Pococke supposes Bahbeit to be
the ancient Busiris. S^en miles S.S.W. of
Mansora.
BAHBELGONGE, a town of Hindostan, in
the country of Baglana, situated on the river
Godavery, sixty miles east of Nassuck, sixty-five
west of Aurungabad. Long. 74*^ 58' E., lat.
19** 43' N.
BAHHREIN, or Ar'du'l Bahrein (the
I.and of the two Seas), is the name of a pro-
vince of Arabia, between Omkn and Basrah.
It is called also Hajar and Lahsk, or £1-Ahsk.
This district is bounded by the Arabian desert
on the north ; by Nejed on the west ; by the sea
on the east ; and by Om^n on the south. It ap-
pears to be in a flourishing condition; and is
governed by the Arabs of the tribe of Benl Kh&r
Vol. Ill
lid. The principal towns are on the coast, vis.
1 . Lahsil, or Hajar, the residence of the sheik,
or head of the tribe. 2. Katif, a sea-port, about
twenty miles fix>m the islands of Al Bahrein^
It is inhabited by people employed in the pearl-
fishery. 3. Coweit, or Kore'in (Grsen), siz^r or
seventy miles from Zobeirch, Old B^rah. It is
populous, and maintained, like other places on
this coast, by the pearl-fishe^.
BAHIA DE ToDOS LOS Santos, a province
and captainship of Brasil, extending to a consi-
derable distance along the coast ; being bounded
on the north by the St. Francisco, which runs
into the sea in lat. 11^ S., and on ^e south by
the province of Minas Geraes, including the dis-
trict of Ilheos, forming a separate province. The
climate .'s always warm, but is refreshed by the
sea-breeze. The soil is peculiar, and those parts
between the mountains and the sea are esteemed
the best in Brasil for the growth of the sugar-
cane. It is also well adapted for tobacco and
cotton. Coffee is grown in great quantities, but
the Quality is inferior.
Babia, or St. Salvador, the capital of the
above province, is populous and opulent; and
the second city in Brasil. It is strong by nature
and well fortified ; and was, for two centuries,
the residence of the govemoi^eneral of Brasil.
It is still an archiepiscopal city ; and, including
its suburbs, is about four miles long. The upper
town is situated upon an eminence, and the
lower, which consists principally of a single
street, parallel to the beach, at its western base.
Here is the chief seat of its commerce, a dock-
yard, and a marine arsonal. The streets of the
upper town are so steep that carriages can rarely
be used. The churches, chapels, and convents,
of Bahia are splendid structures ; and with the
archbishop*s palace, the mint, and the governor's
residence, are the first and most conspicuous t
objects that meet the eye of a stranger. The
grand church, formerly belonging to the Jesuits,
is by £gir the most supurb structure in thb city
It is entirely composea of European marble, im-
ported at an immense expense. Tbe wood-work
of the altar is inlaid witn tortoise-shell, and co-
vered with paintings, gilding, and a profiision of
ornaments. The chief commerce of Bahia is in
linen, and other kinds of cloth, hats, silk and
thread, stockings, grain, rice, flour, biscuit, wine,
oil, slaves, butter, cheese, bacon, and household
fiimlture ; for which gold, sugar, tobacco, skins,
hides, Brasil wood, balsam, and several kinds of
drags,' are exported. The population, including
the suburbs, has been lately estimated at 100,000,
about 30,000 of whom are whites, and the rest
mulattoes and negroes. It stands in 12*^ 59^ S.
lat, and longitude 37^ 23' W.
Babia, a province of the island of Luzon, one
of the Philippine islands, so called firom a lake
in the neighbourhood, which is said to be ninety
miles in circumference.
Babia de CBETUiCEL,or Hanover Bay, a bay
on the east coast of the peninsula of Yutucan,
in the bay of Honduras.
Babia, Honda, a large, well sheltered har^
hour of the island of Cuba, on the north side,
which has fifteen and ten fathoms of water in the
bay, eight at the entrance into the harbour, and
2 C
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386.
BAJ
Long.
anchorage in fout and ftve fathoms,
83° 6' W., lat. 22° 58' N.
BAHIE, or Bahei, an island on the coast of
Arabia, in the Red Sea. Also a small town op-
posite to it on the shore.
BAHIOUDA, an extensive desert district to
the north of Sennaar, between that country and
Dongjola.
BAIllR, a Hebrew term, signifying famous or
illustrious, but particularly applied to a book of
the Jews, the most ancient of the Rabbinical
works, and which treats of the profound mysteries
of the Cabbala.
BAHIRA, Bahei, or Rif, or the maritime
province, a name given by the Arabian g^eogra-
phers to the Delta of Egypt, and the districts
immediately adjoining it east and west* It con-
tains Alexandria, Rosetta, Damietta, Menuf, and
Manaoura.
Bahira, among the ancient Arabs, a name
given to one of the four kinds of camels or sheep,
which, according to their religion, were turned
out at liberty with an ear mark, no longer to be
used for service like other cattle. The bahira,
with the sabahi, wasita, and hami, were abolished
by Mahomet.
BAHLINGEN, a large and well built village
in the grand duchy of Baden, circle of the
Treisam, upper bailiwic of Ilochberg. It con-
tains 1620 mhabitants, who cultivate the vine to
a. great extent
Baum, a town of the Prussian states, in Further
Pomerania, and circle of Greifenhagen. It con-
tains about 1300 inhabitants, who derive their
subsistence, chiefly from jtillage, the neighbouring
country being very fertile ; straw hats are also'
manufactured here. Twenty miles S.S.W. of
Stargard, thirty-two north of Custrin.
Bahooan, a small island in the Sooloo archi-
n, pclago. Long. 120® 58^ E., lat. 6° 9' N.
BAHOUACHE, Dian, the tide of the sove
reign of Anossi. See Anossi.
BAHRABAD, a town of Persia, in the pro-
vince of Khorassan, ten miles north of Sebsvar.
BAHR Belame, or river without water, a deep
valley in the west of Egypt, supposed to have
anciently formed a canal of communication be-
tween Lake Moeris (Faioum), and the Lake
Mareotis. See Ba&rai.
BAHRDT (Charles Frederick), a German
writer, bom at Bischofswerda, in 1741. He
studied at Leipsic, where his father was profe^
sor of divinity, took the degree of A.M., and
was appointed his ^EUher's deputy. In conse-
quence of an amour he was obliged to leave
Leipsic; and settled at Erfurt, as professor of
Biblical antiquities. Here in 1769 he published
An Essay towards a system of the Doctrines con-
tained in the Bible, in which several heterodox
opinions were broached. He soon after left
Erfurt, and went to Giessen in Hesse, where he
published a number of theological tracts, abound-
ing witli extravagancies, confidently maintained.
From Giessen he removed to Durkheim, in 1774,
and here count Von Leiningen Dacbisburg ap^
pointed him his preacher, and gave him a
Ijouse for a seminary of education, designated
the Philanthropium, which was opened in 1777.
To obtain piipiis, Bahidt travelled to Holland
and England ; but on his return, finding a prose-
cution had been 6ommenced against ium at
Vienna, he fled to Prussia. Some time after be
settled at Halle, where he became an avowed
deist, and commenced tavern-keeper, and fermer.
At Halle he instituted a new society of free-
masons, on account of which he lay twelve
months in prison, but afterwards continued his
business as tf landlord. He died in 1792.
Babe El Abiad, or the White River, a name
given to tlie real Nile, fiaar its first origin ; the
sources of which in the African Alps of Kumri
remain to be explored.
Ba^e el Azeek, Blue River, or Abyssinian
Nile, has its chief spring in a small hillock,
situated in a marsh, and joins the fiahr el Abiad,
or true Nile, about lat. 16"^ N.
Babe el Accaba, an arm of the upper ex-
tremity of the Red Sea, penetrating into Arabia.
Babe ll Sowda, a name said to be given to
the lake of Antjoch.
BAHRY, a towb of Hindostan, in the do-
minions of the rajah of Dhoulpore, 10 miles
north of the river Chumbul.
BAHURIM, a city of the Benjamites, about
a mile or two north-east of Jerusalem. Ahiinaz
and Jonathan hid themselves in a well in this
town, when pursued by Absalom's messengers.
BAJ A, or Baije, an ancient village of Cam-
pania, in Itidy, between the promontory of Mi-
senum and Puteoli, on the Sinus Baianus ; h-
mous for its natural hot-baths, which served the
wealthier Romans for the purposes of medicine
and pleasure. The variety of these baths, the
softness of its climate, and the beauty of its
landscape, captivated the minds of opulent no-
bles, whose passion for bathing was unbounded.
The wearing of linen* and the disuse of ointments,
render the practice less necessary in modem life;
but the ancients performed ik> exercise, and en-
gaged in no study, without previous ablutiona,
which at Rome required an enormous expense
in aqueducts, staves, and atteodauts: a place,
therefore, where waters naturally heated to eveiy
degree of warmth bubbled spontaneously oat of
the ground, in the pleasantest of all situations,
was such a treasure, as could not be overlooked.
Raise possessed these in the highest perfection ;
its easy communication with Rome was also a
point of great weight Hither at first retired
lor a temporary relaxation the mighty rulers of
the world, to string anew their nerves and revive
their spirits, fatigued with bloody campaigns and
civil contests. Their habitations were small and
modest ; but soon increasing luxury added palace
to palace, till ground was wanting for the vast de-
maind; enterprising architects, supported by im-
mense wealth, now, therefore, carried their foun-
dations into the sea, and drove that tslement back
from its ancient limits. It has since taken ample
revenge, and recovered mudi more than it ever
lost From being a place ei snort for a season,
Baie grew up to a permanent city : whoever
found himself disqualified by age, or infirmity,
for sustaining any longer an active part on the
political theatre, or from an indolent disposition,
sought a place where the pleasures of a town
were comoined with the sweets of a niial life ;
whoever wished to withdraw fiom the dangerous
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387
BAJ
neic^boudiood p£ a cou^ or Uie baaeftil eye of
in&nneis, flocked thither, to enjoy life untainted
with fear and tioublew The affluence of wealthy
inhidi>itanta rendered Bsm^ therefore, as much a
micacile of art as it was before of nature : its
splendor may be inferred from its innumerable
ruins, heaps of marbles, mosaics, stucco, and
other precious fragments of taste. It flourished
in full glory down to the days of Theodoric, the
Goth ; but the destruction of its enchanted pa-
laces followed quickly upon the irruption of the
northern conquerora, who sacked and burnt all
before them, and destroyed or dispersed the
whole race of Roman nobility. Moles and butr
tresses were now torn asunder and washed away ;
promontories, with the proud towers that once
crowned their brows, uadem^ied and tumbled
headlong into the deep, where, many feet below
the sur&ce, pavements of streets, foundations of
houses, and masses of walls are still to be de-
scried. Internal commotions of the earth contri^
buted also largely to this general devastation:
and mephitic vapors and stagnated waters have
converted this avorite seat of health into the
abode of pestilence, at least during the estival
heats. Yet Bais in its ruined state, and stripped
of all its ornaments, presents many beautiful and
strikii^ subjects for the pencil. It lies in the
TeiTa di Lavoro, twelve miles west of Naples,
and two from Puzzuolo. Don Pedro, the vice-
roy of Charles V. erected a castle on a neigh-
bouring eminence to defend tlie harbour ; and
about a century ago, another was built on an
island adjacent, ■ which commuiiicates to the
shore by a bridge.
Baja, Baia, Bayjah, or Begia, a town of
the kingdom of Tunis in Africa, supposed to be
the ancient Vacca of Sallust, and Oppidum Vag-
genese of Pliny. The Tunisians say that if there
was in the kingdom such another town as this for
plenty of com, it would become as cheap as sand.
It has a great annual &ir, to which the most dis-
tant Arabian tribes resort with their families and
flocks. Notwithstanding this, the inhabitanu
are very poor, and great part of the land about
the town remains uncultivated. The town stands
on the declivity of a hill, on the road to Constan-
tina, about ten leagues from the northern coast,
and thirty-six souUi*west of Tunis. On the
highest part is a citadel that commands the place,
but }8 of no great strength. The waUs were
raised out of the ruins of the ancient Vacca, and
have some ancient inscriptions.
Baja, or Bay A, a populous market town of
Hungary, on the Ehmuoe, thirty-five miles north-
west of Esseck. It has a Catholic and Greek
parish church.
Bjua, in entomology, a specie^ of phalaena,
(noctua), of the middle size, that inhabits Europe^
It feeds on the deadly night shade.
Baia de Rama, a town of European Turkey,
in Walachia, district of Mehedinza, situated on
the river of the same name.
BAIABAD, a town of Asiatic Turkey, in Na-
tolia, twenty-eight miles south-east of Kastamoni.
BAIAC, a town of Asiatic Turkey, in Nsh
tolia, thir^ miles south-east of Kutay^.
BAJ AD, in zoology, a species of silurus.
BAJADOR, Cape, a cape on the west coast
of the island of Luzon, being its eztremity«
Long. 120'' 40' E., lat. 18° 40* N.
BAJADOUR, in old records, a carrier or
porter*
BAJANA, in conchology, a species of venus
found on the shores of Brasil.
BAIANUS Lacus, a lake, or bay, mentioned
by Tacitus, which some suppose to be the lake
Lucripus, and others the bay of Baije.
.Baianus Sinus, or Baiarum Poktus, a bay
of Naples, so called from Baiae, which was en^
laiged by Augustus, by giving entrance to the
sea into the Lacus Lucrinus and Avemi. He
ordered it to be called Portus Julius apud Baias.
The modem name is Golfo di Pozzuolo. See
FOZZUOLO.
BAJAPOUR, a^town of Baglana, Uindostan,
on the river Godavery, twenty miles east of
Bahbelgong.
BAIAS, or Bals, a tovni of Syria, at the
north*east extremity of the bay of Alexandretta,
supposed to be the ancient Issus. On the hills
fronting it, are the ruins of a triumphal arch, or
of some other structure of gray marble. It is
sixteen miles from Alexandretta, and the fine
gardens round the town supply Aleppo with
oranges and lemons. In a small bay, to the
north of the town, are seen the ruins of an
ancient port, which is now much exposed to the
south-west winds, which are very dangerous here.
On the south side there is a mountain torrent,
the bed of which is conjectured to have been the
boundary between Syria and Cilicia.
BAJAZET I. emperor of the Turks, succeeded
Amurath )., A. D. 1373. He was a renowned
warrior, but a tyrant. In the beginning of his
reign he was very successful. In 1393 he had
conquered all Thrace, Macedonia, Thessaly, and
the greater part of Mysia and Bulgaria ; and in
1396 he brought an army of 300,000 men against
Emanuel II. emperor of Constantinople, whom
he defeated, and slew 20,000 of the Christians,
but not without considerable loss on his own
side. But in 1397 Tamerlane, or Timour Beg,
the celebrated prince 'of the Tartars, brought an
army against him of 400,000 horse and 600,000
foot; and having overcome him in a pitched
battle, wherein 200,000 Turks were slain, took
Bajazet himself prisoner, and exposed him, it has
been said, in an iron cage, the &te he had des-
tined for his adversary, if he had been the victor.
This story, however, has been rejected as a fitble
by many modem writers. Mr. Gibbon has
given the following narrative of this memorable
transaction : ^ No sooner was Timour informed •
that the captiYe Ottoman was at the door of his
tent, than he graciously stepped forward to re-
ceive him, seated him by his side, and mingled
with just reproaches a soothing pity for his rank
and misfortunes. ^ Abs 1' said the emperor, ^ the
decree of fate is now accomplished by your own
fault: it is the web which you have woven; the
thorns of the tree which yourself have planted.
I wished to spare, and even to assist, the cham-
Sion of Moslems : you braved our threats, you
espised our friendship ; you forced us to enter
your kingdom with our invincible armies. Behold
the evem. Had you vanquished, I am not igno-
rant of the fate which you reserved for myself
2C 2
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388
BAI
and my troops. But I disdain to retaliate : your
life and honor are secured; and I shall express
my,gratitude to God by my clemency to man.'
The royal captive showed some signs of repent-
ance, accepted the humiliation of a robe of honor,
and embraced with tears his son Mousa, who, at
his request, was sought and found among the
captives of the field. The Ottoman princes were
lodged in a splendid pavilion ; and the respect
of the guards could be surpassed only by their
vigilance. On ^e arrival of the haram from
Boursa, Timour restored the queen Despina and
daughter to their father and husband; but he
piously required that the Servian princes who
nad hitherto been indulged in the profession of
Christianity, should embrace vnthout delay the
religion of the prophet. In the feast of victory,
to which Bajazet was invited, the Mogul em-
peror placed a crown on his head and a sceptre
m his hand, with a solemn assurance of re-
storing him with an increase of glory to the
throne of his ancestors. But the effect of this
promise was disappointed by the sultan's un-
timely death : he died of apoplexy at Akshehr,
the Antioch of Pisidia, about nine months after
hb defeat TTie victor dropped a tear over his
grave. His body, with royal pomp, was conveyed
to the mausoleum which he had erected at
Boursa; and his son Mousa, after receiving a
rich present of gold and jewels, of horses and
arms, was invested, by a patent in red ink, with
the kingdom of Anatolia. Such (continues the
historian) is the portrait of a generous conqueror,
which has been extracted from his own memo-
rials, and dedicated to his son and grandson
nineteen years after his decease ; and at a time
when the truth was remembered by thousands :
a manifest falsehood would have implied a sa-
tire on his real conduct. On the other hand, of
the harsh and ignominious treatment of Bajazet
there is also a variety of evidence. The Turkish
annals, in particular, which have been con-
sulted or transcribed by Leunclavius, Pococke,
and Cantemir, unanimously deplore the capti-
vity of the iron cage; and some credit may be
allowed to national historians who cannot stig-
matise the Tartar without uncovering the shame
of their king and country.'
B4JAZET II. emperor of the Turks, the
youngest son of Mahomet II. who took Constan-
tinople^ succeeded his fether, A. D. 1480. Like
him too he was a great conqueror. In 1484, he
laid waste Wallachia: in 1486, he subdued the
Gets : in 1491, he took Epidamnum in Scla-
vonia: in 1493, he defeated the Christians in
Croatia, in an obstinate and bloody battle,
wherein he lost 10,000 of his own troops : in
1498, he over-ran Russia and Dalmatia, with
70,000 men ; and, in 1500, he took Modon, in
the Morea, from the Venetians. He died in
1612.
BAICHA, two rivers of Siberia, flowing into
the Turuchan, thirty-two 'and fifty-six miles
north-west of Turuchansk.
BAIDEAH, a valley in the great road from
Cairo to Suez, at the northern extremity of which
Suez stands.
BAIDHA, a town of Arabia, in the province
of Hedjas, thirty miles north-west of Vadilkova,
BAIDYNATH, a small town of Hindosun,
in the Kem^n hills, celebrated for an ancient
temple, dedicated to the' Hindoo god of medi-
cine, and much firequented by pilgrims.
BAIEU, in zoology, the name of the cervus
Mexicanus, or Mexican stag, in Bancroft's
Guiana, &c.
BAIGNE, V. a. Bagner, Fr. To drench ; to
soak : a word out of use.
The women fonlow not to haigne them, ualen thf j
plead their heelt» with a wone perfame than Jngurth
fonnd in the dungeon. Canw^t Smnep of CormnU.
BAJITH, a city of Moab, mentioned in Isaiah
XV. 3. whither the king went to bewail the state
of his nation, and supplicate aid from his idols.
BAIKAL, a large lake of Siberia, lying be-
tween 52^ and 55^ lat. N. It is reckoned to he
650 versts, or 318 German miles in len^; but
only about thirty versts broad, and m' some
places not above fifteen. It is environed
on all sides by high mountains. In one part of
it, which lies near the mouth of the 'river Bar-
guzin, it throws up an inflammable sulphureous
liquid called naptna, which the people of the ad-
{'acent country oum in their lamps. There are
ikewise several sulphureous spnngs near this
lake. Its water at a distance appears of a sea-
green color : it i§ fresh ; and so clear that objects
may be seen in it several fathoms deep. It does not
begin to freeze till near the end of December, and
thaws again about the beginning of May ; from
which time till September, a ship is seldo.n
known to be wrecked on it ; but by the high
winds vrhich then blow, many shipwrecks
happen. The fishery on l^e shores begin in
May ; and the southern shore is divided into
districts, and farmed out by the govemmem.
This lake is called by the Russians Swxtoie
More, or the Holy Lake ; and Dalai Nor by tiie
Tartars. When it is frozen over, people travel
upon it in the road to China ; camels have for
this purpose a particular kind of shoes, sharp at
the bottom, and the oxen have sharp irons driven
through their hoo£s, without which it would be
impossible for them to pass. The shores and
islands, consisting of granite rocks, called the
Yablonian and Tunkinski diain, running from
east to south-west, are well wooded, and form,
by their frequent projections into the lake, bays
and promontories, but with little good ancho-
rage. The high road from Irkutsk to Kiackhta,
passes alohg its southern shores. On die western
shore copper has been found. Its depth, where
greatest, is from eighty to 490 fiithoms, but in
some places it is un&uiomable, and so variable
that it has been conjectured with great probabi-
lity to have arisen from a deep rent in the moun-
tains, occasioned by an earthquake. Under the
waters of this lake, grows a peculiar species of
sponge, called by the Russians morskayn siiba,
or sea-sponge, the spongia baicalensis of Pallas.
It is used for giving the first polish to metab.
The common seal (phoca vitulina) seldom found
in fresh water, or at a distance horn the ocean,
is taken here in April, basking on the ice, and
the sale of their skins is a source of considerable
profit. It yields a sort of blubber, so rank that
even ravens will not touch its carcase ; yet its
oil is highly esteemed and purchased by the Chi-
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389
ncse. The baikalensls, a species of callionymus
that inhabits the deep parts of the lake, is about
nine inches long^ soft, slender, and rather com-
pressed ; and lias ventral fins ; of carp, tench,
sturgeon, devil's lampre]^s, (salmo oxyrrynchus), ^
lenki (salmo salvelinus), there is abundance;
the most important fish 13 the omul, or
migratory salmon, somewhat resembling the
herring. They are taken in October, and being
dried by the firost, can be conveyed firesh almost
, to any distance. The climate around this lake
is extremely severe; in the midst of summer
frosty nights being common ; and snow, as early
as August, felling on the neighbouring moun-
tains. The vegetable productions are princip^ly
die pinus cembra, empetrum nigrum, and pyrola
uniflora, the silky knotgrass (polygonum seri-
ceum), a beautiful plant, and the tnticum lito-
rale, which the peasants call dikaya koch, wild
barley. Rivers flowing into the lake Baikal, are,
on the north side, in lat. 55® 51' the Upper An-
gara, on the east the Barguzin, in latitude 54°.
At ite mouth is tlie Cape, called the Holy Pro-
montory ; and on the west, the Tunga, Selenga,
and Buguldeika, the last of which discharges
itself by three mouths. The only outlet is the
Lower, or Greater, Angara, whicd, rushes from
the lake, in kt. 50® 54' N. and long. 105® E. with
great impetuosity, and ioins the Yenisei near
Ust Tungurskoy^ in north lat. 58®. The channel
through which it quits the lake is more than a
mile broad.
BAIKALITE, in mineralogy, a variety of py-
roxene, found near the lake Baikal in Sibeiia.
See Pyroxene.
BAIKALENSIS. See Baikal.
BAIL', n. f . & 1;. a. ) Of this word the ety-
Ba il'able, adj, S mologists give many de-
rivations; it seems to come from the French
bailler, to put into the hand ; to deliver up, as a
man delivers himself up in surety. * Bait is the
freeing or setting at liberty one arrested or im-
prisoned upon action eimer civil or criminal,
under security taken for his appearance. There
iii both common aiid special bad ; common bail is
in actions of small prejudice, or slight proof,
called common, because any sureties in that case
are taken; whereas, upon causes of greater
weight, or apparent speciality, special bail or
surety must be taken. There is a difference be-
tween baU and mainprise ; for he that is main-
prised is at large, until the day of his appear-
ance : but where a man is bailed^ he is always
accounted by the law to be in their ward and
custody for the time ; and they may, if they will,
keep him in ward, or in prison at diat time, or
otherwise at their will.' — CoweU. A bail is
tlierefore a surety or bondsman ; one who gives
surety for another. Bailable relates to the less
atrocious offences, where security for the appear-
ance of the offender may be legally offered and
accepted. To give or to admit to bail, is to ren-
der or to accept the security which the law pre-
scribes in a baiUible case. In Spenser the word
is figuratively used to signify power or jurisdic-
tion.
So did Diana, and her maydent all,
t78c filly Faunas now within their baUe, Speiuer.
Let me be their bail,
They Bhall be ready at your highneti' will.
To answer these suspicions.
Thou shalt not hail them. Skaktpeart.
They are not haHtMe,
They stand committed without bail or mainprise.
B. Jtmton.
Worry'd with debts, and past all hopes of haU,
The unpity'd wretch lies rotting in a jail.
Roicommon,
And bribe with presents, or, when presents fail.
They send their prostituted wives for hail,
Dryden,
Bail, is originally derived from the Greek,
/3<iXX£ty, to deliver, and so called because by
means of it, the party restrained is delivered into
the hands of those that bind themselves for his
forthcoming, in order to a safe keeping or pro-
tection from prison ; and the end of the bail is to
satisfy the condemnation and costs, or render the
defendant to prison. The commitment of a per-
son being only for s«'»fe custody, wherever oail
will answer the same, intention, it ought to be
taken ; as in most of the inferior crimes : but in
felonies, and other offences of a capital nature,
no bail can be a security equivalent to the actual
custody of the person. For what is there that a
man may not be induced to forfeit, to save his
own life ? or what satisfaction or indemnity is it
to the public, to seize the effects of him who
has bailed a murderer, if the murderer himself be
suffered to escape with impunity ? Upon a si-
milar principle, the Athenian magistrates, when
they took a solemn oath never to keep a citizen in
bonds that could give three sureties of the same
quality with himself, did it with an exception to
such as had embezzled the public money^ or had
been guilty of treasonable practices.
Bail may be taken either in court, or, in ^me
particular cases, by the sheriff or other magis-
trate ; but most usually by the justices of the
peace. To refuse or delay to bail any person
bailable, is an offence against the liberty of the
subject, in any magistrate, by the common law ;
as well as by the statute Westm. 1. 3 Edward I,
c. 15, and the habeas corpus act, 31. Car. II. c.
2. And, lest the intention of the law should be
frustrated by the justices requiring bail to a
greater amount than the nature of the case de-
mands, it is expressly decla^ by statute 1. W.
and M. st. 3. c. 1. that excessive bail ought not
to be required ; though what bail shall be called
excessive, must be left to the courts, on consider-
ing the circumstances of the case, to determine.
And on the other hand, if the magistrate takes in-
sufficient bail, he is liable to be fined, if the cri-
minal does not appear.
In civil cases, every defendant is bailable
But it is otherwise in criminal ' matters. Regu-
larly, all offences either against the common law
or act of parliament, that are below felony, tlie
offender ought to be admitted to bail, unless it
be prohibited by some special act of parliament.
By the ancient common law, before and since the
Conquest, all felonies were bailable, till murder
was excepted by statute ; so that persons might
be then admitted to bail almost in every case.
But the statute W. 1. 3 Ed. I. c. 15. takes away
the power of bailing in treason, and in divers in-
stances of felony. The sututes 23 lien. VI. c. a.
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•390
BAIL.
and 1 & 2 Ph. & Mar. c. 13. gave fieuther regula-
tioDs in this matter: and upon the whole we may
coUecty that no justices of the peace can bail, 1.
Upon an accusation of treason : nor, 2. Of mur-
der : ' nor, 3. In case of manslaughter, if the pri-
soner be clearly the slayer, and not barely sus-
pected to be so ; or if anv indictment be found
against him : nor, 4. Such as, being committed
for felony, have broken prison ; because it not
only carries a presumption of guilt, but is also
superadding one felony to another : 5. Persons
outlawed ; 6. Such as have abjured the realm :
7. Persons taken with the mainour, or in the
act of felony: 8. Persons charged widi arson : 9.
Excommunicated persons, taken by writ de ex-
communicato capiendo : all which are clearly not
admissible to bail by the justices. Others are of
a dubious nature, as, 10. Thieves openly de-
famed and known: 11. Persons charged with
other felonies^ or manifest and enormous offences,
not being of good fame : and, 12. Accessaries to
felony, that labor under the same want of repu-
tation. These seem to be in the discretion of the
justices* whether bailable or not. The last class
are such as must be bailed upon offering suffi-
cient surety; as, 13. Persons of good fame,
chareed with a bare si^^icion of manslaughter,
or omer infamous homicide ; 14. Such persons
being charged with petit larceny or any felony,
not before specified: or, 15. With being acces-
sary to any felony. Lastly, it is agreed, that the
oourt of king's bench (or any judge thereof in
time of vacation) may bail for any crime whatso-
ever, be it treason, murder, or any other offence,
according to the circumstances of fhe case. And
herein tl^ wisdom of the law is very manifest..
To allow bail to be taken commonly for such
enormous crimes, would greatly tend to elude
the public justice ; and yet mere are cases, though
th^ rarely happen, in which it would be hard
and unjust to confine a man in pri^n, tiiough
accused even of the greatest offence. The law
has therefore provided one court, and only one,
which has a discretionary power of bailing in any
case ; excepting only even to this high jurisdic-
tion, and or course to all inferior ones, such per-
sons as are committed by either house of parliar
ment, so long as the session lasts; or such as are
committed for contempts by any of the king's
superior courts of justice.
In civil processes, in which an actual arrest and
imprisonment is not now allowed, such as suits for
the recovery of sums of less amount than £l 5, or of
damages, the precise amount of which cannot be
shown before the jury shall have estimated tliem
(as in actions of trespass, or for any injuries,
either personal or pecuniary, but to an unascer-
tained amount), no arrest can be made, and,
consequently, no bail need be demanded. But
inasmuch as the writ, which now forms the com-
mencement of all civil actions, was formerly a
process issued against a defendant, who had neg-
lected to comply with certain anterior summonses,
and who was thereby liable to imprisonment, in or-
der to secure his appearance in court on the day
whereon the sheriff was to make his return of the
writ, as having by his previous contempt of le-
gal authority, shown himself not to be trusted at
large ; it was a consequence that he coUld not
avoid imprisonment, but by giving bail. And,
as by the tenor of the writ, and by fiction of
law, a defendant in all cases is now held to be
in the same circumstances, it is necessuy that he
should put in common bail : which is a mere
formal entering of the names of two fictitioas
persons, John Doe and Richard Roe, as his
sureties.
In actions for a sum certain, if t!he plaintiff
make affidavit that that sum is fifteen pounds;
or upwards, the defendant must give what, tech-
nically, in distinction from the fictitious bail of
which we have just spoken, is called special bail :
that is, in order to avoid imprisonment, he must
find two real and responsible persons to be
sureties for him. As soon as an arrest has been
effected, these sureties give a bond to the sheriff,
for the defendant's appearance on the day of the
return of the writ, and this is called bail to the
sheriff, or bail below. On that day, or within
four, or in some cases, six or ei^t days after,
they enter into recognizances, that if judgitnent be
given against the defendant, he shall pay the da-
mages and costs, or surrender his person. This
is called giving bail above, or bail to the action.
If the plaintiff requires it, they must justify, as it
is termed, or peHetft the bail ; that is, they must
swear (if in London or Middlesex, before a
judge ; or, in the country, before commissioners
appointed for that purpose), that they have the
requisite qualifications: which are, the beins
housekeepers, and worth, each of them, the full
sum for which they become bail, after payment
of all their debts. Thus securing the plaintiff
the person or property of his defendant, if the
latter is insilfficient to discharge the claim, the
bail are entitled to apprehend him by wanaot,
or in any other way, to surrender his person.
When a defendant has failed to put in bail
above, and the sheriff is unable to produce his
body, that officer is answerable to the plaintiff
for the sum for which, the bail below was given :
and he has his own remedy against the bsul, by
action upon their bond. But, as a simpler plan,
the sheriff usually assigns the bond to the plaiD-
tiff, and he proceeds upon it. It is, however,
optional with the plaintiff to accept or refiisetbe
assignment.
BAiL-BoND,an obligation entered into by one
or more sureties, upon giving bail, insuring the
defendant's appearance at the time appointed by
the court.
BAJLEMENT. See Bailment.
BAILEY (Nathan), an English lexicographer,
who kept a school at Stepney, where he died
June 27, 1742. He published Dictionarum
Domesticum, or a Household Dictionary, 8vo ;
The Antiauities of London and Westminster,
12mo; ana several school books : but his princi-
pal work was an Etymological English Dictionary,
which first appeared in octavo, and being enlarged
into a folio, volume became the basis of Vr,
Johnson's dictionary.
BAILIE, in Scots law, a judge anciently ap-
pointed by the king over such lands, not erected
into a regality, as happened to fidl to the aown
by forfeiture or otherwise : now abolished. It i»
still the title of one or more magistrates in royal
boroughs, and of the judge appointed by a baroo
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BAI
391
B.4I
orer lands erected into a barony. There are torn
bailies in the town eouncH of Edinbargh, three in
those of Glasgow, Aberdeen, Perth, &c. See Law.
BAI'LIFF, ». t. -J Borrowed from the Fr.
Baii'iwick, n. «. ybaUlie. In oar 'old voca-
Baily, II. «. y bularies written baily, and
so a steward is still called in many places.
Bailiff is the person who sustains die ofB^^e;
bailiwick is the place of his jnrisdictid)) ; and
baily is the office or jurisdiction itself.
fivery beggarly corpomtioii afibrds the state a
mayor or two baUijIfk yearly. B. Jontom.
Bailiff, Ballivus, from (he French word
bailll or bailiff, that b, praefectus proTincia : and
as the nan^e, so the office itself was answerable
to that of France, before the rerohition ; where
there were eight parliaments, which were high
courts, from whence there l^iy no appeal ; and
within the precincts of the several parts of that
kingdom, which belonged to each parliament,
there were several provinces to which justice was
administered by certain officers called bailiffii.—
In England there are several counties in which
justice has been administered to the inhabitants,
by the officer now called sheriff or viscount (one
of which names descended from the Saxons, the
other ttom the Normans) ; and though the sheriff
is not called bailiff, yet it is probable that was
one of his titles, because the county is often called
bolliva: And in Masna Charta, cap. 28. and
1 4 Ed. 3. c. 9. the word bailiff seems to comprise
both sheriffs and bailifi^ of hundreds. As the
realm is divided into counties, so every county
is divided into hundreds ; within which, hi an-
cient times, the people had justice admmistered
to them by the officers of every hundred. But
now the hundred courts, except certain franchises,
are swallowed in the county courts ; and the bai-
liff's name and office is grown into contempt,
they being generally officers to serve writs, &c.
within their liberties. In other respects, however,
the title is still in esteem : for the chief magis-
trates in divers towns are called bailiffs, or bai-
lies ; and sometimes the persons, to whom the
king's castles are committed, are termed bailiffs,
as the bailiff of Dover Castle, &c. Of the ordi-
nary bailifls there are several sorts.
Bailiffs Errant, or Bailiffs Itinerant,
are those whom the sheriff appoints to go up and
down the country to serve writs and warrants,
to summon coun^ courts, sessions, assizes, &c.
The sheriff being answerable for the misdemeanor
of these bailiffs, they are usually bound In an
obligation for the due execution of their office,
and thence called bound bailiffs, which is vul-
garly corrupted into a mtich inote homely appel-
lation.
Bailiffs op Borouchs, were magistrates an-
ciently in cities and towns, answering, in sOme
measure, to what, in later times were called
portgrave, mayor, &c. Canterbury was a bailiff
town 500 years before it was made a mayor town.
Westminster, Southwark, Scarborough, &c. are
still governed by bailiffs. ^
Bailiffs of Forests and Manobs, direct
husbandry, fell trees, gather rents, pay quit-
mnts, &c.
Bailiffs of France, under (he monarchy,
were appointed over the province originally be-
longing to the crown.
Bailiffs of Franchises, or Bailiffs op
Liberties, in England, are those bailiffs who
are appointed by every lord within his liberW,
to execute process and do such offices therem
as the bailiff errant doth at large in the county.
Bailiffs op the Empire, we/e anciently
vicars or regents of the empire ; as appears from
a letter of Henry of Flanaers to pope Innocent
III. wherein he says, the princes, barons, and
knights have elected me balUvum imprii.
Bailiffs, Provincial, among tne French,
tinder the old despotism, were officers appointed
iii certain provinces or counties, with an autho-
rity somewhat like that of justices of assize, in-
stituted by the dukes and counts in their several
territories, after they had procured the inherit-
ance of them. These actea in the name, and by
the authority, not of the king as justiciaries, but
of the dukes or counts who appointed them, and
whose deputies they were.
Bailiffs, Royal, in France, were appointed
by the king over provinces annexed to the
crown.
Bailiffs, Sheriff's, in England, or sheriff's
officers, are either; 1. bailiffs of hundreds, or
2. special bailiffs, and appointed over their res-
pective districts, to collect fines; summon juries;
attend the judgi^ and justices at the assizes and
quarter sessions ; and to execute writs and pro*
cesses in the several hundreds.
Bailiffs, Water, officers appointed in all
port-towns, for the searohing of ships, gathering
the toll for anchorage, &c. and arresting persons
foi" debt, See. on the water.
BAILII (David), painter of perspective views
and portraits, the son of Peter Bailii, an artist
of some note, was bom at Leyden in 1584.
Having acquired the rudiments of the art under
his father, he improved under Verburg, and still .
more under Vandervoort, with whom he spent
above six years. While with him, he copied a
perspective view of the inside of a church, by
Stenwyck, wiA such accuracy, that even Sten-
wyck himself could sciarcely determine which was
the original. He travelled through several parts
of Italy to see the works of masters, and for a few
years resided at Rome. The correctness of his
drawing, and the delicate finishing of his pic-
tures, have been much admired. He died in 1638.
BAILIWIC, Bailywick, or Bayliwick,
balliva, in law, the jurisdiction of a bailiff over
that liberty which is exempted from the sheriff of
the county. Stat. 2rth Eliz., ch. 12. Wood's
Just. 206.
BAILLET (Adrian), a very learned French
writer and critic, bom in 1649, at Neuville near
Beauvais. His parents being poor, he obtained his
education by favor of the bishop of Beauvais
who aflerwards presented him with a small vica-
rage. In 1680 he was appointed librarian to M.
de Lamoignbn, advocate general to the parlia-
ment of Paris, of wliose library he made a copi-
ous index, in tlnrty-flve volumes folio. He died
in 1706. His principal works are, A History of
Holland, from 1609, to the peace of Nimiguen
in 1679, 4 vols. 12mo. lives of the Saints,
3 vols, folio, which he professed to have purged
from febles. Jugemens des Savans, 9 vols. 12mo.
and the life of Des Cartes, 2 vols. 4to. which he
also abridged to 1 vol. 12mo.
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392
B A I L L Y.
BAILLEUL, a town of France, in the depart-
ment of the North, formerly very strong. It has
been several times burnt by accident. It lies
nine miles S.W. of Yprei.
BAILLIAGE, the office of a baiiiff, or the
place where he keeps his seat, and the territory
subject to his jurisdiction; which last is also de-
nominated Bailiwic.
Bailliage, Water, an ancient du^ received
by the city of London, upon all goods and mer-
chandises brought in or carried out of port
BAILLIE (Robert), M. A. a presbyterian
divine of Scotland, was bom at Glasgow in 1599,
and studied at that city ; having received orders
from Abp. Law, in 1622 he was chosen regent
of philosophy at Glasgow, and some time after
was presented to the church of Kilwinning, by
the earl of Eglinton. In 1033, he declined the
offer of a church at Edinburgh, b&t in 1638 was
chosen a member of the femous assembly at
Glasgow, which was a prelude to the civil war,
and was a member of all the succeeding assem-
blies, excepting those which sat while he was
at Westminster. In 1640 he was sent to London
by the Covenanting Lbrds, to draw up an accu-
sation against Apb. Laud. In 1642 he was
appointed joint professor of Divinity in the Uni-
versity of Glasgow, with Mr. Dickson ; which he
preferred to similar offers from the oilier three
universities. In 1643 he was one of the com-
missioners to the celebrated assembly of Divines
at Westminster, and returned in 1646. When
after the execution of Charles I. his son was pro-
claimed in Scotland, he was appointed by the
assembly to ^ait on Charles^!, at the Hague,
and after the restoration was made principal of
the university of Glasgow. He died in 1662,
aged sixty-three.
Baillie (Matthew), M. D. a celebrated anar
tomist. He was the son of the Rev. James
Baillie, professor of divinity at Glasgow, by the
sister of Dr. William Hunter. He studied at
Glasgow and Bahol College, Oxford, and after-
wards became the pupil of his uncle. Being
made physician to St. George's hospital, he suc-
ceeded Dr. Hunter as lecturer on anatomy, in
conjunction with Mr. Cruickshank. He conti-
nued a public lecturer till 1799. Dr. Baillie
was one of the physicians in ordinary to Geo. III.
and Geo. IV. and long stood in me first rank
among his medical contemporaries. He published
The Morbid Anatomy of the most important parts
of the Human Body, 8vo. 1793, sul^sequently
enlarged and improved ; a Series of Engravings
tending to illustrate Morbid Anatomy; also a
Description of Gravid Uterus; and contributed
many important papers to the Philosophical
Transactions and medical collections of his day.
Dr. Baillie formed a valuable museum of anato-
mical specimens which he presented to the Col-
lege of Physicians. He died in 1823, in the
sixty-third year of hii age ; leaving by his wife,
daughter of Dr. Denman, a son and a daughter.
BAILLIEBOROUGH, a town of Ireland, in
the county of Cavan, forty-three miles firom «
Dublin,
BAILLCKNE, in heraldry, a charge in coats
of arms, representing a lion rampant, holding
4 Staff in his mouth.
BAILLT (Jolm Sj^vian), acelebiated philoso-
pher and astronomer, bom at Paris in 1763 His
ramily had been respectable ais painters for several
generations, and he had commenced his studies
in the same profession ; but he was too much
bent on the pursuit of literature, to apply himself
successfully. His early acquaintance with Ia
Caille the celebrated geometrican, determined the
science ^hich was in fiiture to engross his atten-
tion. The calculation of the comet which ap-
peared in 1759, was his first labor. In 1763
he became a member of the Academy of Sciences;
and in the course of the same year, published a
reduction of La Caille's observations bn the
zodiacal stars in 1760 and 1761. He was next
employed m considering the theory of Jupitei^s
satellites ; and in 1766 published the results of
his investigation, with the history of that part of
astronomy. In 1771 he gave the worid a very
valuable memoir on the light of the satellites,
marking their eclipses in a very precise and accu-
rate manner.' The genius of Bailly was not
confined to abstract science, or profound physical
speculations ; it was equally orilliaut m those
departments of literature where the nicest dis-
crimination of character and the most powerfiil
eloquence is requisite. His eulogies upon
Charles V. Comeille, Leibnitz, Moliere, Cook, La
Caille, and Gresset, raised universal admiration.
In 1775, he published at Paris the first volume
of the History of Ancient Astronomy ; and in
1 778 the second. TheHistory of Ancient Astro-
nomy, firom tlie foundation of the Alexandrian
school to the present age, followed in 1779.
He next published Letters on. the origin of the
Sciences, and of the people of Asia ; to which
he added a series of Letters on the Atlantis. of
Plato and the ancient History of Asia; which he
addressed to Voltaire. He was also very inti-
mate with Buffon, till he opposed the election of
the Abb^ Maury into the French academy ; to
which Bailly had been chosen secretary in 1784.
This year he was named one of the conmiission
to investigate the nature of the animal magnetism
of Mesmer, practised by Deslon. His report,
which was presented to the Academy of Sciences,
and has been since translated into En^b, con-
tains the most satis&ctory and decisive evidence
upon the subject. It is highly valuable in
developing the physical efiects produced by
moral causes. In 1785 he was admitted into the
Academy of Inscriptions and Belles Lettres;
and thus was at the same time a member of all
the three academies of Paris, which none had
been since Fontenelle. We must now leave the
peaceable haunts of philosophy, and follow
Bailly to the revolutionary stage, on which he
acted a principal part Here, though we behold
him struggling with opposite interests in the
midst of a lawless mob ; zealous for freedom,
and contending in its cause with enthusiasm, we
hear not^a charge of selfish motives, or want of
integrity, brou^t against him by any party ; yet
he fell a sacrifice to that violence which nothing
could control. In 1789 he was appointed de-
puty to the Tiers Etat, and was soon after
elected president ; a station which be held when
the national asseiiibly was constituted, and when
the king issued his proclamation for dispersiqg
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them. In the contest between the popular
assemblies and the court, Bailly was zealous to
maintain the rights of the people ; and the &-
mous oath to the members of the Tieis Etat,
to resist tyrants and tyranny, and never to se-
parate till they should obtain a free constitu-
tion, was dictated by him. Next day, the 14th
of July, memorable for the taking of the Bastile,
he was chosen mayor of Paris ; and thou^ in
this high office he greatly promoted the different
measures by which the popular party became
yictorious over the court, yet he is allowed to
have dischar^ the arduous duties of it, at this
trying juncture, with integrity, moderation, and
firmness. The public mind was now, however,
become like the ocean in a tempest : a people
ever fond of novelty, free from the fetters of des-
potism, with enthusiastic and erroneous ideas of
liberty, were every day more eager for a change,
and could suffer no restraint. The disposition
of the people to anarchy vras evident, ana Bailly,
still anxious that the laws should be .respected,
imagined that, by the vigorous execution of
thein, tranquillity might be maintained. Depu-
ties from the military insurgents at Nancy were
arrested by his oraers, and he firmly opposed
Marat and Hubert in their proceedings. He
entered into a society more select than that of
the Jacobins' club; and used every argument
that the king and the royal family might be al-
lowed to go to St. Cloud. Thus he lost the
confidence of the people ; . and being called by
the national assembly to dismiss the tumultuous
meeting, demanding the abolition of monarchy,
on the 17th July, 1791, he ordered the soldiers
to fire, which rendered him completely obnoxious
to Ihem. In the end of the same year, when the
constituent assembly was dissolved, he therefore
resigned his office, and retired to his philosophical
studies. Yet a bloody proscription reached him ;
as an enemy to tlie republic he was seized, impri-
soned,arraigned before a savage tribunal, sunmia-
rily condemned, and executed in the fifty-seventh
year of his age. He bore his sufferings with
irreat magnanimity, though they were purposely
1 jngthen^ out. To mark him as a conspirator,
he was dressed in a red shirt, placed in a cart,
\vith his hands tied behind his back ; and though
the rain poured incessantly on his head, the mob
threw mud at him while he passed to the place
of execution, and insulted hun in the cruellest
manner. As he ascended the platform, a person
near him cried out in a sneering^manner, 'Bailly
you tremble.' 'Yes (answered he) but not with
fear.' His person was tall, his countenance se-
date, but striking. Scarcely any philosopher has
appeared more eminent in the different branches
of science and literature. While he filled the
magisterial office, he gave away no inconsiderable
part of his fortune to relieve the necessities of
the poor. He left a wife whom he had married
in 1787.
BAIL'MENT, n.t. The delivery of goods;
or their consignment from one person to another,
for the benefit of a third party. Sometimes also
to be delivered back to the baibrj that is to him
that so delivered them :, sometimes to the use of
the baileef that is of him to whom they are de-
livered.
BAI
Bailmeiit, in law, is a delivery of goods in
trust, upon a contract, expressed or implied, that
the trust shall be fiuthfully executed on the part
of the bailee. Thus if cloth be deliyered, or (in
our legal dialect), bailed to a taylor to make a
suit of clothes, he has it upon an implied contract
to render it again, when made, and that in a
workmanly manner. If money or goods be
delivered to a carrier, to convey from Oxford to
London, or from Glasgow to Edinburgh, &c. he
is under a contract in law to pay, or carry them
to the person appointed. It a horse or other
goods be delivered to an inn-keeper or his ser-
yants, he is bound to keep them safely, and
restore them when his guest leaves the house.
If a man takes in a horse, or other cattle, to
graze and pasture in his grounds, which the law
calls agistment, he takes them upon an implied
contract to return them on demand to the owner.
If a pawnbroker receiyes plate or jewels, as a
pledge or security for the repayment of money
lent thereon, at a certain day, he has them upon
an express condition to restore them, if the
pledger performs his part, by redeeming them in
due time ; for the due execution of which contract*
many useful regulations are made by statute 30
Geo. II. ch. 24. If a landlord distrains goods fi>r
rent, or a parish officer for taxes, these for a time
are only a pledge in the hands of the distrainers ;
and they are bound by an implied contract in
law to restore them on payment of the debt, duty ^
and expenses, before the time of sale, or when
sold, to render back the overplus, &c. Sir Wil-
liam Jones, in his learned veork on the law of
bailments, distinguishes five species of this con-
tract. 1. Depositum, or deposit, which b a bail-
ment of goods to be kept for the bailor without
reward. 2. Mandatum, or commission; a bail-
ment of goods to be carried from place to pkce,
or to haye some act performed about them, with-
out reward. 3. Commodatum, or loan for use ;
a bailment of a thing for a certain time, to be
used by the borrower vrithout pa^g for it 4.
Pignori acceptum, or pavni; a bailment of goods
by a debtor to a creditor, in pledge as a security
for the debt 5. Locatum, or letting to hire; of
which there are three subdivisions distinct enou^
to demand enumeration. (1.) Locatio rei, or btul-
ment of a thing, to be used b^ the hirer for a
reward. (2.) Locatio operis fiiciendi, or letting
out of work and labor to be done, or care and
attention to be bestowed, by the bailee, on the
goods bailed for a reward. (3.) Locatio operis
mercium vehendarum, or letting of care and pains
in carrying the things bailed from place to place
for a rewwl.
If a bailee refuse to return the things bailed
upon a lawful demand, he becomes answerable
for even the slightest ne^l^t. If a guest be
robbed by the servants or inmates of an inn, the
inkeeper b responsible. And, if goods bailed to
a common carrier be lost by any means, except
by the act of God, or of the kings enemies, the car-^
ner b bound to idemnify the owner.
BAILO, 6r Balio, a title formerly given at
Constantinople, to the ambassador of Venice
residing at tne Porte. The Venetian consuls at
Aleppo, Alexandria, Smyrna, and other parts of
the Levant, are also denominated bailo.
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BAI
BAILOQUE, in oommerce, or BALtootm, a
French name for the ostrich feathers that are used
as ornaments mthotit dyeing.
BAILr-PI£C£| the parchment containing the
recognisance entered into by those who give bail
for the appearance of another.
BAI1£, in sea-language, the hoops that bear
up the tilt of the boat.
Bails, Clerk op thx, is an officer betotiging
to the court of Ring's Bench : he files the bail-
pieces taken in that court, and attends for that
purpose.
BAILYBOROUGH, a marVet town of Cavan,
Ireland, twenty-five miles from Dublin. Between
this plac« and King's Court, is a pool on the sum-
mit of a mountain, much frequented for its anti-
scorbutic virtues. Many bathe in the lake, and
even rub the affected parts with the mud, which
is of a greasy substance tike tar. It has not been
known to be frozen even in the severest winter.
BAIMALPOUR, a town of Bejapour, Hin-
dostan, fourteen miles east of Satarali.
BAIN, a town of Btittany, in France, with
3450 mhabitants, and woollen manu&ctures; the
head of a canton in the department of the Hie
Vilaibe, arrondissement of Redon, sixteen miles
south of Rennes, and twenty-four soUth-west of
Vitre.
BAINA, a market town of Hungary, in the
county of Oran. It was formerly a considerable
place.
BAINBRIDGE, a township of England, in
the North Riding of Yorkshire, distant two
miles from Askrigg, near the Ure, conjectured
to have been a Roman station.
Bainbridge, Pobt, an inlet on the west coast
of North America, extending about twenty miles
northwaid. Long, of its west point, 212° 9^' E.
lat. 59° 55' N.
Bain BRIDGE (Dr. John), an eminent physieian
and astronomer, bom at Ashby-de-la-^ouch, in
1583. He taught a grammar school for some
years, and practised physic, employing his leisure
hours in astronomy. At length he removed to
London, was admitted a fellow of the college of
physicians, and raised his character by his
description of the comet in 1618. The next
year Sir Henry Saville appointed him professor
•f astronomy at Oxford ; and th6 meters and
fellows of Merton college made him first junior,
and then superior reader of Linacre's lecture.
He died in 1643, leaving valuable MSS. pre-
served in the library of Trinity College, Dublin.
BAIOCCO, a copper coin current at Rome,
equivalent to a tenth part of the julio, or a hun-
dredth part of the ducat. It is worth about nine
deniers, French money.
BAIRAM , or Beiram, a Turkish word which
signifies a solemn feast. The Mahommedans have
two Bairams, the great and the littl6.
Bairah, the Great, is properly that held
by the pilgrims at Mecca, commencing on the
tenth ot Dim Ihajie, when tlie victims are slain,
and lasting three days. This is called by the
Arabs, Id al adfaa, that is, the feast of sacrifice,
as being celebrated in memory of the satrrfice of
Abrahate, whose son, God redeemed with a great
victim. By European writers it is called the
Lesser Bairam, as ORtng less taken notiee of by
the generality of the people, who are not s6iick
with it, because the ceremohies with which it is
observed are performed at Mecca, the only scene
of the solemnity. On this feast, after tfarowitic
httle stones, one after another, into the valley oi
Mina, they usually kill one or more sheep, some
a goat, buHock, or even a camel ; and after giting
a part thereof to the poor, eat the rest with their
firiends. After this, tney shave themselves. The
second day is a day of rest. On the third,' they
set out on their return home.
Bakram, the Little, is properly that held
at the close of the fast Ramazan, beginning with
the first fiill moon in the following iponth Sha-
wal. This is called, in Arabic, Idal Fetz, or the
Feast of breaking the Fast; by European writers,
the Turkish Easter, because it succeeds Ramazan,
which is their Lent, more usually the Great
Bairam, because observed with great ceremonv
aiid rejoicing at Constantinople, and through
Turkey, for the common people, to make amends
for Ae mortification of^ tlie preceding month.
The feast commencing with tne new moon, the
Mahommedans are very scrupulous in obserring
the time when the new moon commences; to
Which purpose, observers are sent to the tops of
the highest mountains, who, the moment they
spy the appearance of a new moon, run to the
city, and proclaim Muzhdaluk ! welcome news!
as it is the signal for beginning the festivity.
BAIRDSTOWN, a post town of the United
States, the capital of Nelson county, in the stale
of Kentucky. It is seated on the east side of
Beech-Fork ; thirty-five miles from Frankfort.
BAIR-MAN, or Bare Man, an old law tcnn
fbr an insolvent debtor, who was obliged to swear
that he was not worth more than 5s. 5d.
BAIRNS PART OF GEAR, in the Scots law, i.e.
the children's share of effects, is that portion
which by the law falls to the children of a mar-
riage, on the death of either of their parents; vii.
two thirds when the father, and one third when
the mother, dies first.
BAIROUT, or Bagreuth, formerly Berytus,
a sea-port town of Syria situated on a plain in
the pachalic of Saide, or Acre. There was for-
merly a harbour here, which is now choked np,
nothmg being seen of it but a pier, apparently of
ancient construction, which will shelter a few
boats. The town is surrounded by a wall, built
by the famous Djezzar Pacha, after the place
was bcfmbarded by the Russians. Widi the same
view he pulled down and rebuilt a high tower to
the north-east. The streets of Bairoat are nar-
row and irregular, and the suburbs neariy as
large as tlie town. The environs are extremely
agreeable, and they are laid out in gardens and
plantations full of nne trees, especially mulber-
ries. A stream descending fix>m Moimt Lebanon
winds to the sea through 3ie country. The po-
pulation ataounts to 7000 or 8000. It is the re»
sidence of a Greek, and a Maronite bishop; and
there is a monastery of Capuchins. The staple
commodity of commerce is raw nlk, which is
carried to Cairo, Aleppo, Damascus, and
Europe. Earthen lars and jugs of a particular
kind are also manufactured here ; and are much
esteemed from the nature of the clay. The
cotton cloth is manufactured by the inlMbitants
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BAJ
of ihe adjaceat mountains, and exported ia cob-
sideiable quantitj. The trade to Europe ia
diiefly managed by French and Italian mer-
chants ; but the place is the Emporium to which
the Droses and Maronites sena their products,
and in return receive rice, tobacco, coHee, and
specie. It is, indeed, considered fhe chief town
of the I>ruses. Agripp%, the grandson of Herod
the Great, constructed a tibeatre and amphitheatre
here, as well as baths, and no expense was
spaied in embenishing them. Four ma^ificent
granite columns, of which three are within the
precincts of the town, with other ancient buildings,
attest its former grandeur. Bairout long remained
in the sole possession of the Druses, and has
only of late been united to iSbe pachaKc of Acre.
BAIT, V. a. & M. & n. $, batan. Sax. baitzen.
Germ, battre, Fr. peiiiaps from buita, Goth.
According to these different derivations, the
meaning of this word varies. As derived from
Ae Saxon and German it means to put meat
upon a hook to tempt fish or other ammals ; or
to supply food to one's self or horses. Johnson
intimates that in this latter sense it is a corrup-
tion of bate, to abate speed on a journey. As
derived from the French and Gothic it assumes a
very different signification, namely to invite, to
stir up, to attack witfi violence, to harass by the
help of others, as we bait a boar with mastifis,
but a bull with bnll-dogs. In hawking, the
hawk is said to bait when she flutters or daps
her wings, as if preparing to fly.
The kinges Uwe wol no man deme
Anger licke withooten answeie.
Bat if any man theae misqu'eme
He shall be baighM as a bere»
And yet wel worse they wol him tat.
And in prison woUen him peade.
In ginea and in other gere.
When that God woU, it may amende. Chmuer,
On mony a toiymele now may she bmte.
Alter here dethe fill often may ahe waite.
Or that the wild waves wol hire drive.
Unto the place ther as she shal arive. Id.
lake a wilde ball that being at a bay.
Is bojfted of a mastiffe and a hoond.
And a cnrre dog that doe him sharpe assay.
On every side amd heat about him round.
Faeris Queene.
What to strong.
Bat, wanting rest, will also want of might ;
1'he sua, that measoves heaven all day long.
At night doth bait faia steeds the oeean waves among.
The pleasant'st angling is to see the fish
Cut with her golden oars the silver stream^
And greedily devour the treacherous baii.
Shahpeare.
• She steals love's sweet bait from fearful hooks. Id.
Are these thy bears t Well bait thy bears to death.
Id,
All plum'd like«stridges, that wing the wind ;
Baited like eagles having lately bath'd ;
Glittering in golden coats like images. Id,
A grove hard by, sprung up with this their change.
His will who reigns above, to aggravate
Their penance, laden with /air fruit like that
Which grew in Paradise the bait of Eve,
Us'd by the tempter. MiUom,
Many sorts of fishes feed upon insects, as is well
khown to anglers, who bait their hooks with them.
Ray,
BAIT. See Awouto.
Bait» WnkTB, in ichthyology^ a saoaU fi4i,
whidi is cangbt in great plenty, Gnom August 1.
to October 1. by staL 90. Geo. IL ch. 21, in the
river Thames, near Blackv?all, and is esteemed
verv delicious. They are ^e fty of iK>me fish,
ana have been attributed to the shad, the sprat,
the smell, and die bleak-fish. Pennant observes,
that it belongs to &e genus of cyfMinus, because
it has only three brandiioategous ravs, and dine
dorsal fin ; its body is compressed like that of
the beak; ils usual length is two inches; the
under jaw is the longest; the irides are silvery,
and the pupil black; the dorsal fin consists of
about fourteen ravs; ihe side line is straight; the
tail forked, and me tips black. •
To Bait, in falconry, the action of a hatrk
when die olaps her wings, or stoops to catch her
BAITHOSUS, a Jew who, with Sadoc his
Mow disciple, foanded &e sect of the Saddu-
cees, denying a fiiture state and resurrection.
From Baidiosus, they were for some time called
Baithosari as well as Sadducees, but are now
only known by the httter denominatioa.
BAITING, the act of smaller or weaker beasts
attacking and hanssing greatet and atrotager;
as the baiting of bulls or bears by mastifl^ or
ball«4dags with short noses, thai Ihey may take
the better hdd. UtiKty has been pleaded m
justification of bull-baiting; the chaffing and
exercise of die animals making the flesh tenderer
and more digestible. But a spirit of barbarism
has the greatest share in supporting the sport:
bulls are kept on purpose, and exhibited as
standing spectacles ror tne public entertainment.
It is a very popular amusement in Spain. In
this sport, the chief aim of the dog is to catch the
bull by the nose, and hold hitn down ; to which
end he will creep on his belly: the bull's aim, on
the contraiy, is, with equal industry, * to defend
his nose; in order to which he thrusts it dose
to the ground, where bis horns are also in readi^
ness to toss the dog. BuU^bairing was first
introduced into Engluid as an amusement in tiie
reign of king John, about 1209.
BAJULUS, an ancient officer in the ooart of
the Gred^ emperors. There were several degrees
of bajuli ; as, the grand bajulus, who was precep-
tor to the emperor ; and the simple bajuli, who
were sub-preceptora. The word is derived from
the Latin verb oajnlare, to carry or bear a thing
on the arms or on the shoulders ; and the origin
of the office is thus traced by antiquaries. Chil-
dren, and especialW tfiose of condition, had
anciently, besides their nurse, a woman called
gerula, as appears from several passages of Ter-
tallian ; vriien weaned, or ready to be weaned,
they had men to carry them about and take care
of them, who were called geruli and bajuli, a
gerendo et Bajulando. Hence it is, that gover-
nors of princes and great lords, were still deno-
minated bajuli, and Sieir charge or government
bajulatio, even after their pupils were grown too
big to' be carried about. The word passed in the
same sense into Greece.
- Bajulus is also used by Latin writers in the
several senses wjierein we use bailiif.
Ba/ulus was likewise the title of a conventual
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BAKING,
officer in the ancient momurteriesy to whom
belonged the charge of gathering and distributing
the money and legacies left for masses and obits ;
whence he was also denominated bajulus obitunm
novoTum.
Bajulus, in entomology, a species of cerambyx
(callidium) that is found in the trunks of trees in
the northern parts of Europe. The thorax is
villous, with two tubercles ; body brown. Fabri-
cius. This is the cerambyx caudatus of Degeer ;
and leptura bajula of Scopoli. — Gmelin. Obs.
a variety of this species (fi) is described by Lin-
neus; the color of which is testaceous: thorax
cinereous, and villous, with two little glabrous
lines ; in the Fabrician mantissa. Another variety
(y) is noticed, a native of Saxony, and only half
the size of the former.
BAIZE', n.s, 'A kind of coarse open cloth
stuff, having a long nap ; sometimes frizzed on
one side, and sometimes not frizzed. This stuff
is witliout wale, being wrought on a loom with
two,treddles, like flannel.' — Chambert,
BAKE', v. a. & n."\ Baecan, Sax. becken,
Ba'ken, part, I Ger. supposed by Wach-
Ba'k ED, a</;ec. >ter to come from bee,
Ba'ker, n.s. I which, in the Phrygian
Bake'house, n. f • J language, signified bread.
Bread, and the process of preparing it, are very
naturally identified, as the one always suggests
the other. It signifies to heat or to harden by
fire, and is of a more general application than to
the staff of life ; though the substantives have no
other reference, unless they have an affix, sugar-
baker, &c. To bake, is then to heat or to har-
den any thing in the fire, in a fiimace, an oven,
or in the sun ; or to do the work of baking.
Baking denotes the progress towards the com-
pletion of this work. Baker is the agem by
whom it is accomplished. Baked describes the
quality of these substances which have gone
through the entire process, as baked meats, con-
tra-distinguished from viands of a different de-
scription ; and bakehouse is a place appropriated
to the business of baking.
He will take thereof, and warm himaelf ; yea, he
kindleth it, and bateth bread. Jtaiah,
There was a cake bakem on the coals, and a cruse
of water, at his head. 2 Kingt,
He could roste and scthe, and brolle and frie,
Maken mortrcwca and wel bake a pie.
But gret harm was it as it thoughte me.
That on his shinnc a mormal hadde he. Chaveer,
His brede, hit ale, was alway after on,
A better envy'd man was no where non ;
Withouten baken mete never was his house.
Of fish and flesh, and that so plenteous
It snewed in his hous of mete and drinke.
Of all the deinties that men coud of thinke. Id,
Loke of Egipt the king Dan Pharao^
His baker and his hoteler also, —
Wheder they no feltcn non effect in dremes. Id^
I keep his house, and I wash, wring, brew, bake,
scour, dress meat, and make the beds, and do all my-
self. Shalupeare,
The sun with flaming arrows piercM the flood.
And, darting to the bottom, bak'd the mud, Dryden,
The work of the fire is a kind of baking ; and what-
soever the fire baketh, time doth, in some degree, dis-
ao.ve.
There be some houses wherein sweetmeats will re*
lent, and baked meats will mould, more than othen.
Id
With vehement sons
When dusty summer baket the crumbling dods.
How pleasant is 't, beneath the twisted arch.
To ply the sweet carouse \ PhXpi,
In life and health, ereir man must proceed upoa
trust, there being no knowing the intention of the
cook or baker.
Baking, as a term of art, though applicable
to the drying , of any moist substance by heat,
has been used more particulariv to describe the
art of preparing bread, or of reducing meal
of any kina, whether simple or compound, into
bread. We read, indeed, as>in Chaucer, (Pro-
logue V. 436) of < bake mete, of fish, and flesh;*
and some of our modem inventions in the way of
cooking apparatus seem destined to extend the
triumphs ot this art, and to bake a whole Lord
Mayor*s dinner in less time than even his wor-
shipful guests consume in eating it. But the
' baker,' hist6rically and legally, has been the
baker of bread. In an Anglo-Saxon colloquy,
preserved in the Cotton Library (MS. Tib. A. 3.)
and presenting a lively picture of the manners of
our ancestors, a sort of dialogue occurs with the
baker (baecere): — * Of what use is your axt?
We can live long without you.' He replies,
* You may live through some space without my
art, but not long, nor well. Without my cratt
every table would seem empty; and without
bread (hlafe) all meat would seem nauseous.*
We have therefore only here to remark, gene-
rally, that the art of baking, of the highest anti-
quity, is, in regard to its origin, involved in en-
tire obscurity : traces of it being found in the
history of all ancient nations. Abraham and
Lot, in the patriarchal ages, evinced their hospi-
tali^ by providing bak^ cakes or unleavened
bread for their guests ; and shortly after (Exod.
xii. 15.) the prohibition of leavened bread to die
Israelites proves that the art of making it was
well knowi^ and ordinarily practised. In Egypt
it is highly probable the Jews became acquainted
with this art : though the Chaldeans are said to
have practised it as early as any people. The
Greeks ascribe the invention of it to Pan, who
Diodorus informs us, was originally an Egyptian
deity, and that Thebes was built to his honor,
(lib. i.) The Romans were long reproached as a
pulse-eatinff people. Until 580 years after (he
founding of tneir metropolis it contained no pro-
fessed bakers. They first settled in it, we are told
by Pliny (Hist. Nat. xviii. 11), durins the war
with Perseus, king of Macedon : we find, how-
ever, before this time fieuniUes baking their own
bread.
Bakers, as we have seen, were esteemed im-
portant members of society by our ancestors
llie incorporation of a London company with
this title took place in the early part of tL
fourteenth century (1307), and by a stttute
22 Hen. VIII. cap. IS., their trade vras ex
empted from being reckoned as handicraft. Unu
a late act of parliament abolished their controi
of the price, called the assize of bread, this con-
stitutea an important portion of the duties oc
the London magistracy.
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397
Under Uie word Bread, we propose to treat of
the entire manufacture of that important article :
under Cooeery and Dressing ot Meats, of the
late inventions above alluded to; and udder
dvsii, of those which may be thus specifically
clasMd.
Baker (David Erskine), son of Henry
Baker, was a youngs man of genius and learning.
Having been adopted by an uncle, who was a
silk throwster in Spitalfields, he succeeded hira
in the business ; but wanted the prudence and
attention necessary to secure prosperity in trade.
Like his father, he was both a philosopher and a
poet ; and wrote several occasional poems, sorae
<»f which were much admired at the time. His
principal publication was. The Companion to tlie
Play-house, in two volumes, 1764, 12mo; a
work, which though imperfect, has considerable
merit.
Baker (Henry), an ingenious and diligent
naturalist, was bom in Fleet-street, London, about
the end of the seventeenth, or beginning of the
eighteenth century. He was brought up under
an eminent bookseller, who preceded the elder
Dodsley, but being of a philosophical turn, and
having studied the methods practicable in the
cure of deaf and dumb persons, he made this the
employment of his life. In the prosecution of so
valuable and difficult an undertaking he was very
successful. He married Sophia, youngest daugli-
ter of the femous Daniel Defoe, who brough.t
him two sons, both of whom he survived* In
January, 1740, he was elected a fellow of the
Society of Antiquaries ; and, on the twelfth of
March following, the same honor was conferred
upon him by the Royal Society. In 1744 Sir
Godfirey Copley's gold medal was bestowed upon
him, for ; discoveries in the chrystallisation and
configurations of saline particles. Having led a
very useful and honorable life, he died in the
Strand in 1774, aged above seventy. Mr. Baker
was a very constant and useful attendant at the ,
meetings of the Royal and Antiquarian Societies,
and in both was frequently chosen of the council.
Several of his communications are printed in the
Philosophical Transactions; and he was the
means, by his extensive correspondence, of con-
veying to the Society the intelligence and obser-
vations of many other inquisitive and philosophi-
cal men, at home and abroad. The society for
the encouragement of arts, manu&ctures, and
commerce, is under singular obligations to him.
Being one of its earliest members, he contributed
greatly to its rise and establishment, and at its
first institution officiated for some time gratis as
secretary. He' drew up a short account of its
origin, which was read before the society of anti-
quaries. Mr. Baker was a poetical writer in the
early part of his life. His Invocation of Health
was printed without his knowledge; but re-
printed by himself in his Original Poems, serious
and humorous, part I. 8vo. 1725. Part II. came
Out in 1726. Among these poems are some
tales as witty, and as loose as Prior*s. He was
the author likewise of the Universe, a poem,
which has been several times reprinted. His
account of the water polype, originally published
in the Philosophical Transactions, was ulerwards
enlarged iatosa separate treatise, and has gone
through severaF editions. But his principal pub-
lications are, The Microscope made Easy, and
Employment for the Microscope.
Baker (Sir Richard), autlior of the Chronicle
of the Kings of England, was bom at Sissing-
herst, in Kent, about the year 1568. After
completing his studies at Oxford, he travelled,
and upon his return vras created A. M. In 1603
he was knighted by king James I. and in 1620,
high sheriff of Oxfordshire ; but engaging to pay
some of the debts of his wife's fkmily, he was
reduced to poverty, and obliged to retire for
shelter to the Fleet prison. His works are, 1.
Meditations and Disquisitions on the Lord's
Prayer. 2. Meditations, &c. on several Psalms.
3. Meditations and Prayers upon the Seven Days
of the Week, 4. Cato Variegatus, or Cato's
Moral Distiches varied, &c. — Mr. Granger ob-
serves. ' That his Chronicle of the Kings of Eng-
land was more esteemed by readers of the lower
class, than by such as had a critical knowledge
of history. The language of it was called polite :
and it long maintained its reputation, especially
among country gentlemen. The author seems
to have been sometimes more studious to please
than to inform, and with that view to have sacri-
ficed even chronology itself to method.' In
1658 Edward Philip, nephew to Milton, pub-
lished a third edition of this work, with the
addition of the reign of Charles I. It has been
several times reprinted, and is now cairied as
low as the reign of George L Sir Richard also
translated several works from the French and
Italian. He died in the Fleet, very poor, in 1645.
Baker (Thomas), an eminent mathematician,
was bom at Ilton, in Somersetshire, about 1625,
and entered at Wadham College, Oxon, 1640;
after which he was vicar of Bishop's Nymmet, in
Devonshire, where he wrote The Geometrical
Key, or the Gate of Equations unlocked, by
which he gained a considerable reputation.' A
little before his death, the members of the Royal
Society sent him some mathematical queries, to
which he returned such satisfactory answers, that
they presented him a medal. He died at Bishop's
Nymmet, in 1690.
Baker (Thomas), a very ingenious and learned
antiquary, descended from an ancient family,
was bom at Crook, in 1656 ; educated at the free
school at Durham, and thence removed to Cam*
bridge in 1674. He proceeded B.A. in 1677;
M. A. 1681 ; was elected fellow, March, 167&-80:
ordained deacon by Bishop Compton, Dec. 20th,
1665, and priest by Bishop Barlow, Dec. 19th,
1686. Being chaplain to Lord Crew, bishop of
Durham, his Lordship collated him to the rec-
tory of Long-Newton, June, 1687 ; and intended
to have given him that of Sedgefield, worth about
£700 a year, with a golden prebend, had he not
incurred his displeasure for refusing to read King
James II.'s decuiradon for liberty of conscience.
Mr. Baker resigned Long-Newton, August 1st.
1690, refusing to take the oaths ; and retired to
his fellowship at St. John's, in which he was
protected till Jan. 20th, 1716-17, when he was
dispossessed of it, in consequence of scrupling
to take the oaths required on the accession of
George I. but he retained his chambovat St John's
college, where ha was h^y esteemed, and Mr.
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BAK
Prior, the celebrated poet, gav^ tlie profits ol hm
own fellowship to Baker, in order to supply the
loss of income which he had suffered. Hfi is said
to have retained a lively resentment of his depri*
rations ; and designated himself in bis books, as
well as in those which he gave to, the college
library, socius ejectus, and in some, ejectus reo-
tor. He continued to reside in the college as
commoner master till his dealb, Jnly 2d, 1740.
Mr. Baker's correspondence with men of Icavn-
ing was extensive; and he waslibend in his
literary communications to those who solicited
information; particularly to bishop Burnet,
who was indebted to him for sercial remarks and
corrections relating to his History of the Refor-
mation. Of bis extensive coHections, he left
twenty-three volumes in foUo, written by bis own
hand, to Lord Oxford, and they now compose
part of the Harleian collection in the British
museum. He also beoueathed fifteen volumes
folio, of a like kind, to uie public library at Cam-
bridge, together vrith other MSS. and printed
books. Bu>g. Brit. * Mr. Baker/ says tne Eaii
of Orford, was * perhaps the sole inktance of a man
who bequeathed his worldly goods to a societr
that ejected him, and to the ministers of a church
in which he bad lost preferment' The only
works he printed were, 1 . Reflections on LeaniF-
ing, showing the insufficiency thereof in its
several particulars, in order to evince the useful-
ness and necessity of Revelation, Lond. 1 709-1 0 ;
and 2. The Preface to bishop. Fisher's foneral
sermon for Margaret, Countess of Richmond and
Derby, 1708; both without his name. Do.
Knight styles him < the greatest master of the an-
tiquities of this our university;' and Heame
pays him a similar compliment ; expressing his
wish that his collections were published. Mn
Baker intended something like an Athene Can-
tabrigienses, on t}ie plan of the Athens Oxoni-
enses
Bakbr (Sir George), M. D. was Ae son of a
Devonshire clergyman, bom in 1723, and edu-
cated at Eton and Can^mdge. He commenced
practice al Stamford^ whence he soon removed
to London, and soon attained considerable repu-
tation, being appointed physioian in ordinary to
the king, and physioian to the queen : he was
also chosen fellow of the Royal and Antiquarian
Societies. In 1776 he was created a baronet, and
in 1797 was placed at the head of his profonion,
|)eittg elected president of the College of Physi-
cians. He died June 15th, 1809. Sir George
Baker had the reputation of being an elegant
classical scholar and critio. His published works
are, An Essay on the Cause of the Endemical
CoUo of Devonshire, (about 1767), which gave
rise to a oontroversy relative to the origin of that
malady, which he attributed to the use of cyder,
much impregnated wttii lead. Preface to a late
edition ot the Pharmacopceia of the Medical Col-
lege, with numerous Essays in the- Medical and
Philosophicsl Journals of his time.
BAKERS' Company; there are two oom-
panies of this name, the White and the Brown
Bakers. The White Bakers are of great anti-
quity, having been a company as early as Extwacd
n. Their arms are (fig. 1.) *■ guks^ three gaibs^
or on a chief; an arm issniag oul of a doud,
BAK
proper, holding a pair of scales^ or, betveen
three gariis of &e flist'
F^.l.
Fig. 2.
The Brown Bskeis were incofporated the 19tii
of James I. Their arms (fig. 3) are *guln, a
hand issuing out of the clouds, proper, lioldiiig
a pair of seales ; an anchor in a diief, bany
wavy, or and oftins, on a chevron, gnlet between
three gailws.
BAKEWELL (Robert), a fiunous grazier,
bom in 1736, on his Other's estate of Dishley, io
Leioestemhire. For some years before bh
iather^s death, he had the management of the
farm, and his attention was much t^en op in im-
proving the breed of his cattle. In nnrsuit of
this object, he travelled over Enghma into lie-
land and Holland ; and such was his success,
that in a short time the Dishley sheep were
prised so much above others, that he could let
oner of his rams f6r no less than 400 guineas!
and for one in particular, he drew the enormous
sum of 800 guineas, besides the ewes from his
own stock, which, by the same calculatiooi makes
a total' of 1300 guineas 1 Dishley sheep are dis-
tinguished by the fineness of their bone and
fle^ the lightness of the ofial, aod quiet dispo-
sition, whidi makes Uiem iktten with less food
than other ^eep equally heavy. Mr. Bakewell
also greatly improved his black oatde; simI
eould let his bulls at fifty guineas a season each.
He died in 1795. On the other hand, it has
been stated that he failed in business more than
once ; and, with regard to the effect of his im-
Srovements, it has been sarcastically remarked,
lat they enabled him to mako meat too iat
for any body to eat, and too dear fi>r any body
to purchase.
Bakewell, a market town and parish in thtt
hundred of Higb-Peak, Derby, eleven miles w(><
firom Chesterfield, and 152 north from London.
It is seated on the rvrer Wye, and contains 1700
inhabitants. It is supposed to have been a Ro-
man town. The place is much resorted to by
anglers; the Wye producing plenty of trout,
grayling, &c. There are several good quarries
of stone, and lead and zinc mines, in the neigh-
bourhood ; here is also a large cotton maou^c-
tory. Three miles distant is Chatswoith, a va%-
nifioent seat of the duke of Devonshire. This
celebrated mansion was erected by William the
first d\ike of Devonshire, in the year 1702. The
unfortunate Mary, queen of Scots, was doomed
to thirteen years'' captivity in die old mansioo
at this place. On the east side, not fiir distant
firom the town, is a high monntBin,on the top of
which millstones are dug. The living of Bakewell
is in the gift of the dean and diapter of Litdi-
field ; and the parish is exempt uom episcopal
jurisdiction. Market on Monday. Its ^rs are
on Easter Mendayy Whit Monday, the Maoday
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BAK
399
BAL
after October 10th, and the Monday alter No-
vember 22d. At a short distance from Bakeweli
is Ashford, where are some marble works that
were the first of the kind established in Eng-
land. ' Great ouantities of black and gray marble
are sawed ana polished by means of machinery
kept in motion by water. About two mihk
south of Bakeweli is Haddon Hall, a truly
venerable mansion, belonging to his frace
the duke of Rutland. The high turrets and em-
battlements of this house, when beheld at some
distance, give it the appearance of an ancient
fortified castle. It presents, perhaps, a more
complete specimen of the ancient English bar
ronial mansion than is to be found in anv other
house in the kingdom. For a particular de-
scription of it see the Beauties of England and
Wales vol. iii. p, 494.
BAKUISHISARAI, or simply Bacca-Serai,
' the summer-house,' a large town of European
' Russia, in the Crimea, government of Taurida,
' formerly the residence of the khans, situated be-
tween two hills, and containing from 10,000 to
- 12,000 inhabitants. Here are manufactures of
' Turkey leather, saddles, silk stufis, and cutlery.
Fifty miles north of Cafia. Long. 33° 52' £.,
^ lat 45° 10' N.
> BAKOONGAR, one of the Sooloo islands.
It is high and rocky, and has some inhabitants.
> BAKOS, a river of Great Bukharia, (lom
which and others the Hanat is ^ormed.
BAKOU, or Baku, a town of Persia, in the
' province of Shirvan, situated at the extremity of
•' the Gulf of Ghilan, occupying the peninsula of
> Abasharon, on the west coast of the Caspian. It
( is esteemed the most commodious haven ip tliat
sea, as vessels may ride securely at anchor in
seven faithoms of water, within eighty yards of
( the shore; but the number of shoals, islands,
( and sand banks, render the entrance, in some
k places, difficult and dangerous. The town is of an
obtuse triangular form ; it occupies a strong and
fine situation, and is defended by a strong wall
and deep ditch. Good cotton is yielded in the
I neighbourhood, together with opium, rice, silk,
i wine, salt, and naptha. In the latter article is
the principal trade of Bakou, 1000 or 1500
f pounds of it being yielded by the wells in this
district daily. The country around is highly
volcanic, funding with inflammable gases,
which, Dein^ collected in leather flasks, will
i ignite at a distance. Hence, the town atid its
environs abound in monuments of the supersti-
tion of the Guebrea, Parsees, and other fire wor-
shippers, some of whom yet ft«quent a spot call^
Ateschjah. Various temples built of stone ap-
pear; in one of which a. blue lambent flame
, isssued from a large hoUow cane near the altar.
The jurisdiction of Baku extends over thirty-two
villages. It was ceded to Russia in the year
1723, and restored to Persia in 1735; but re-
taken by the Russians in 1801, who have ever
since kept possession of it.
BAKTEGAN, or Baeteghun, a salt lake in
the province of Fars, Persia, about seventy-five
miles in circuit It is nearly dry in summer,
when a quantity of fine salt, left by evaporation,
is collected from the bottom. Distant ten miles
south-east of Shiras.
BARTSCHISARI, an open town on the west
side of the Crimea, near the sea, seated between
two mountains. It is one of the places of resi-
dence of the cham of Tartary.
BAKU. See Bakou.
BAL, a Gaelic word, used in the composition
of the names of mai^ places, particularly m Scot-
land and Ireland, and siguifymg a town, village,
or place of residence.
BALA, a market town of Merionethshire, in
North Wales, and a borough by prescription, but
sending no member to parliament. It is 202 miles
north-west of London, and 26 from Welshpool.
Population 1163. The assizes for the county are
held here alternately with Dolgelly. There are
vestiges of three Rotnan camps in the neighbour-
hood, and adiacent to the town is aUirge artificial
mount, called Tommen y Bala, supposed to be
of Roman origin. Its manufactures are woollen
gloves, stockings, and the cans called Welsh wigs.
Pemble Mere, Ilyn Tegid, or Bala lake, lies a
few miles to the south of the town, and is the
largest sheet of water in Wales, being four miles
in lenffth, and about three quarters of a mile in
breadu. Its depth of water is about forty feet;
but it sometimes rises above its usual level, over-
flowing the beautiful vale of Eidemion. It
abounds in fish, and the tradition of the country
states that the rive Dee, like the Rhone at Ge-
neva, passes through without mixing its waters
with those of the l^e.
BALAAM; from *^a, without, and Oir»
people ; the son of Beor, a prophet and diviner
of Pethor, upon the Euphrates, whose practices
with Balak, kii^ of the Moabites, are recorded
in Nnmbers zxii. — ^xxiv. as well as his involuntary
prophecies of the prosperity of Israel. Jewish
writers are generally ot opinion that he was a
pretending astrologer, who observing when men
were under a bad aspect of the stars, pronounced
a c.urse upon them ; which sometimes coming
to pass, gained him reputation. Several ancient
fathers suppose him to have been a common
soothsayer, who undertook to tell future events^
and discover secrets, by no very justifiable arts.
Ori^ will have it, that he was one of the
devil's sorcerers, and that of him he went to en-
quire; but that God prevented him, and put
what answers he pleased into his mouth. It
cannot be denied, luowever, that the Scriptures
expressly call him a prophet, 2 Pet. ii. 16, and
therefore some later writers hav^ imagined that
he had once been a good man, till loving the
wi^^ of iniquity, and prostituting the honour
of his office to covetousness, he apostatised from
God, and devoted himself to idolatrous prac-
tices. Philo, in his Life of Moses» passes over
the miracle of his asa speaking to the prophet in
silence; and Miadmonide^ pcetends tMt U hap-
pened to Balaam in a prophetic vision only.
St. Peter, however, assuredlv spei^ of the wt
as literal and certain* We must own, says
Calmet, that this, is a miraculous &ct velatad by
an in^Mxed writer, whoee autboiity we ought noit
to Gtjjl in question in the least particular ; but
we should study such ways oC explaining it as
are most QOiift>imable to reason, and most proper
to solve the difficulties of it* without attacking
.the truth of the hiHinKy^ The nuracle, layi
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400
B A L -E N A.
bishop Newton, was not unnecessary. * It eri-
denced, that ^e same divine power, which
caused the ass to speak, compelled Badaam to
utter blessings contrary to his inclination. And
accordingly he was overruled to bless the people,
though he came prepared and disposed to curse
Uiem; which, according to Bocnart, was the
greater miracle of the two, for the ass was merely
passive, but Balaam resisted the good motions
of God/
BALAAMITES, a sect in the first ages of
Christianity, of the same impon in the Hebrew
language with Nicolaitans in the Greek.
BALABAC, an island of the eastern seas, off
the south extremity of Palawan. Long. 117^ lO'
E., lat 8» N.
BALABEA, an island of the South Pacific
Ocean, off New Caledonia. Long. 164*' 22' E.,
lat. 20*^ r S.
BALABOLA, one of the Society Islands in the
South Sea, visited by Captain Cook. It is only
eight leagues in circumference, but has a very
camu^ious harbour on the west side.
BALACHNA, or Balakhan, a town of Eu-
ropean Russia, in the government of Nishnei-
Novgorod, on the right bank ofihe Wolga. The
salt springs here were closed in 1755. The in-
habitants, engaged partly in agriculture and
partly in trade, amount to 5000. It is eighteen
miles W.N.W.of Nishnei-Novgorod, and 120
E.S.E. of Petersburg.
BALADAN,*ihe scripture name for a king of
Babylon, Isa. x^ix. 1. 2 Kings xx. 12, called
by pro&ne authors Belesus or Belesis, Nabonassar
or Nanybrus. * Qe at first was no more than
governor of Babylon; but entering into a confe-
deracy with Arbaces, governor of Media, and re-
belling against Sardanapalus, king of Assy ria^these
two generals marched against him with an army
of 400,000 men, and were beat in three different
battles. But the Bacirians deserting the kmg,
and coming over to Baladan and Arbaces, th< re-
bels attacked the enemy in the night, and made
themselves masters of his camp. After this mis-
fortune, Sardanapalus retreated to Nineveh, and
left the command of his army to his brother-in-
law Salamenes. The conspirators attacked Sala-
menes, and defeated him in two great battles ;
after which they laid siege to Nineveh. Sardana-
palus sustained the siege for three years ; but the
Tigris, in the third year, overflowing its banks,
beat down twenty fiirlongs of the wtdls : where-
upon the conspirators entered the city and took
possession of it, after Sardanapalus had burnt
nimself and all his most valuable effects upon a
funeral pile, erected for that purpose in his palace.
Baladan was thereupon acknowledged king of
Babylon, as Arbaces was of Media. Sir Isaac
Newton supposes Baladan to have been the son
of Pul, king of Assyria, and to have had Babylon
for his portion.
BAL^NA, the whale, in zoology, from
jSoXXw, to cast up, because it throws up water,
a genus of the mammalia class, belonging to the
order of cete. The characters of this genus are,
the balttna, in place of teeth, has a homy plate
on the upper jaw, and a double fistula or pipe
for throwing out water. There are five principal
species; vii. 1. B. b<H>psy the pike-headed
whale, has a double pipe in its snout, three fins
and a hard homy ridge on its back. The belly
is fiill of longitudind folds or mgae. It fr^-
quents the northern ocean. The length of that
taken on the coast of Scotland, «as remarked hy
Sir Robert Sibbald, was forty-six feet, and its
greatest circumference twenty. This species takes
its name firom the shape of its nose, which is
narrower and sharper pointed than that of other
whales. 2. B. Muscmus, has a double pipe in
its fiont, and three fins ; ihe under jaw is much
wider than the upper one. It frequents the
Scotch coast, and feeds upon herrings. 3. B.
mysticetus, the common whale, which has many
tumings and windings in its nostrils, and no fin
on the back. This is the largest of all animals;
it is commonly found of fiom fifty to sixty feet;
but some have been taken in modem times, in the
northern seas ninety feet in length. But as Mr.
Scoresby observes, * there is every probability of
an error having been committed two or three cen-
turies back (firom which period some of our di-
mensions have been derived), when we know
that whales were usually viewed with super-
stitious dread, and their magnitude and powen
in consequence highly exaggerated. Of 322
individuals, in the capture of which I have been
personally concerned, no one, I believe, exceeded
tixty feet in length, and the largest I ever mea-
sured was fifty-eight feet from one extremity to
the other, being one of the longest to appearance
I ever saw. From fifty to sixty feet therefore
may be considered the average length of the
Greenland whale/ The head is very much
disproportioned to the size of the body, being
one third of the size of the fish, and the under
lip is much broader than the upper. The
tongue is composed of a very soft spongy fiit, ca-
pable of yieldmg five or six barrels of oil. The
gullet is very small, not exceeding four inches
in width. In the middle of the head are two
orifices through which it spouts water to a vast
height, and with a great noise, especially when
disturbed or wound^. The eyes are not larger
than those of an ox, and when the chrystalUne
humor is dried, it does not appear larger than
a pea. They are placed towards the back of
the head, being the most convenient situation for
enabling them to see both before and behind ; as
also to see over them, where their food is prin-
cipally found. They are guarded by eve-lids
and eye-lashes, as in qusulmpeds ; and they
seem to be very sharp sightea. Nor is their
sense of hearing in less perfection ; for they are
warned at a great distance of any danger pre-
paring against them. It would seem as u nature
had designedly given them ^ese advantages, as
they mviltiply little, 'in order to continue their
kind. It is trae, indeed, that the external organ
of hearing is scarcely perceptible, for this might
only embarrass them in their natural element ;
but as 6000 as the thin scarf-skin after mentioned
is removed, a black spot is discovered behind the
eye, and utider that is the auditory canal, that
leads to a regular apparatus for hearing. In
short, the animal hears the smallest sounds at
very great ^stances, and at all times, except
when it is spouting water ; which ia die time
that the fishers approach to strike it. ' *•
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Wbat is known by the name of whalebone,
adheres to the upper jaw of the whale ; and is
formed of thin parallel laminx, some of the
longest four yarcb in length ; of these there are
commonly 350 on each side, but in very old fish
more ; about 500 of them are of a length fit for
use, the others being too short. They are sur-
rounded with long strong hair, not only that they
may not hurt the tongue, but as strainers to pre-
vent the return of their food when they dis-
iharge the water out of their mouths. The real
tones of the whale are hard, porous, and full of
narrow. Two great strong bones sustain the
upper lip, lying against each other in the shape
u an half moon. The tail is broad and semi-
lunar ; and when the fish lies on one side, its
blow is tremendous. The tail alone it makes
use of, to advance itself forward in the water;
and it is surprising to see with what force and
celerity its enormous bulk cuts through the
ocean. The tail occupies a surface of eighty or
100 square feet, it is only five or six feet long, but
from eighteen to twenty-four or twenty-six feet
in breadth, and is placed horizontally : its
motions are rapid ana universal. The fins are
only made use of for turning in the water, and
giving a direction to the velocity impressed by
the tail : they are from seven to nine feet long,
and four to five broad, beiug capable of motion
in any direction ; but they are prevented from
being raised above' the horizontal position by
the tension of the skin and flesh below ; the ac-
count therefore of whales supporting their young
on their back by means of their fins, roust be
fabulous. The whale varies in color; the back
of some being red, the belly generally white.
Others are black, some mottled, others quite
white. Their colors in the water are extremely
beautiful, and their skin is very smooth and
vlippeiy. The outward or scarf skin of the
whale is no thicker than parchment; but this
removed, the real skin appears, of about an inch
thick, and covering the tat or blubber that lies
beneath : this is from eight to twelve inches in
thickness ; and is, when the fish is in health, of
a beautiful yellow. The muscles lie beneath;
and these, like the flesh of quadrupeds, are very
red and tough. The teats in the female are in
the lower part of the belly. The fidelity of the
mate and female to each other exceeds whatever
we are told even of the constancy of birds.
Some fishers, Anderson informs us, having struck
one of two whales, a male and a female, that
were in company together, the wounded fish
made a long and terrible resistance : it struck
down a boat with three men in it, with a single
blow of its tail, by which all went to the bottom.
'I he other still attended its companion, and lent
it every assistance; till, at last, the fish that was
.struck, sunk under the number of its wounds;
while its faithful associate, disdaining to survive
ll e loss, with great bellowing, stretched itself
uuon the dead fish, and shared his fate. The
\N hale goes with young nine or ten months, and
j.enerally produces one young one, and never
ai ove two. When she suckles her young, she
throws herself on one side on the surface of the
sea, and the young one attaches itself to the teat.
Nothing can exce&d the tenderness of thj female
Vor IlL^PARTn.
for her offspring ; she carries it with her where
ever she goes, and when hardest pursued, even
when wounded, she still clasps her young one ;
and when she plunges to avoid danger, ukes it
to the bottom ; but rises sooner than usual, to
give it breath again. In June 1811, says Mr.
Scoresby, one of my harpooners struck a sucker,
with the hope that it would lead to the capture
of the mother. Presently she arose close by the
' fast boat,' and seizing the young one, dragged
about a hundred fathoms of line out of the boat
with remarkable force and velocity. Again she
arose to the surface ; darted furiously to and fro ;
frequently stopped short, or suddenly changed
her direction, and gave every possible intimation
of extreme agony. For a length of time she
continued thus to act, though closely pursued by
the boats; and, inspired with courage and resolu«
tion by her concern for her ofi*spring, seemed re-
gardless of the danger which surrounded her.
At length, one of the boats approached so near,
that a harpoon was hove at her. It hit, but did
not attach itself. A second harpoon was struck;
this also failed to penetrate; but a third was
more efiectual, and held. Still she did not at-
tempt to escape, but allowed other boats to ap-
proach; so that in a few minutes three more
narpoons were fastened ; and in the course of an
hour afterwards she was killed. The young
ones continue' at the breast for a year ; during
which time, they are called by the sailors, short-
heads. They are then extremely fat, and yield
above fifly barrels of blubber. The mother at
the same time is equally lean and emaciated. At
the age of two years they are called stunts, as
they do not thrive much immediately upon quit-
ting the breast : they then yield scarcely above
twenty or twenty-ibur barrels of blubber : after
this they are called skull-fish, and their age is
wholly unknown. 4. B. physalus, or fin-fish, is
distinguished from the common whale by a fin
oh the back, placed very low and near the taiL
The length is greater than that of th^ common
kind, being often 100 feet; but much more
slender. It is furnished with whalebone in the
upper jaw, mixed with hairs, but short and
knotty, and of little value. The blubber also on
the body of this kind is very inconsiderable.
These circumstances, added to its extreme fierce-
ness and agility, which ^nder the capture very
dangerous, cause the fishers to neglect it. The
natives of Greenland, however, hold it in great
esteem, as it afibrds a great quantity of flesh,
which to their palate is very agreeable. The
lips are brown, and like a twisted rope: the
spout hole is as it were split in the top of its
head, through which it blows water wito much
more violence, and to a greater height, than the
common whale. The fishers are not veiy fond
of seeing it, for on its appearance the others
retire out of those seas. Some writers conjecture
this species to have been the dvffoXoc, and phy-
seter, or blowing whale of Oppian, y£lian, and
Pliny : but, since those writers have not left the
least description of it, it is impossible to judge
which kind they meant; for in respect to the
faculty of spoutmg out water, or blowing, it is
not peculiar to any one species, but common to
all the whale kind. The physalus inhabits the
3D
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.B A L ^ N A.
fiuropean aDd Ameiicui Ooeant : it feeds upon
herringt and other fish. 5. B. roetrata, beaked
whale: loetrafta mysticete. The nose of this
species is elongated to a beak, and the donal fin
fat. It inhabits the Norway seas, is rarely seen
Bear England, is very black, much resembling
the boops, swims rapidly, and is about twenty-
five feet long.
Each species of whale propagates only its
own kind, and does not at all niingU with the
rest : however, they are generally seen in shoals,
of different kinds togeilwr, and make their mi-
giations in large companies. They are grega^
rioua animals; which implies their want of
mutual defence against the invasions of smaller
but more powerfiil fishes. It seems astonishing,
therefore, now a shoal of these enormous ani-
mals find subsistence together. To increase our
wonder, we not only see them herding together,
but usually find them fetter than any other ani-
mals of whatsoever element. We likewise know
that they cannot 8walk>w large fishes, as their
throats are so narrow that an animal larger than
a herring could not enter. How then do they
subsist, and gprow so fet? A certain sort of small
snail, or, as Linnaeus tells us, the medusa, or sea-
blubber, is sufficient for this supply. (See Me-
dusa.) They float in vast abundance in the north-
ern seas. Content with this simple food, it pur-
sues no other animal, leads an inoffensive lite in
4ts element, and is harmless in proportion to its
strength to do mischief. But Martens says he hAs
ibund a barrel or more of herrings at a time in
the belly of the whale. Inoffensive in itself, how-
«ver, it has many enemies ready to take advan-
tage of its disposition, and of its unfitness for com-
bat. There is a small animal of the shell-fish kind,
called the whale-louse, that sticks to its body as
we see shells sticking to the foul bottom of a ship.
This insinuates itself chiefly under the fins; and
whatever effbrts the great animal makes, it still
%eeps its hold, and lives upon the fet, which it is
provided with instruments to arrive at. The
sword-fish, however, is the whale's most terrible
enemy. See Xiphias. < At die sight of this little
animal,' says Anderson, ^ the whale seems agi-
tated in an extraordinary manner; leaping from
the water as if with affright : wherever it appears,
the whale perceives it at a distance, and flees from
it in the opposite direction. I have been myself,^
^eontiiiues he, ^ a spectator of their terrible en-
counter. The whale has no instrument of defence
except tiie tail ; with that it endeavours to strike
&e enemy ; and a single blow taking place would
effectually destroy its adversary ; but the sword-
fish is as active as the other is strong, and easily
avoids the stroke ; then bounding into the air, it
falls upon its great subjacent enemy, and en-
deavours, not to pierce it with its pointed beak,
but to cut it with its toothed edges. The sea all
about is seen dyed with blood, proceeding from
the wounds of the whale ; while the enormous
animal vainly endeavours to reach its invader, and
strikes with its tail against the suriiaice of the water,
making a report at each blow louder than the
noise of a cannon.' In calm weather, the fisher-
meo lie upon their oars as spectators of this scene,
until they perceive the whale at an extremity :
then they raw towards hhn; and his enemy re-
turing at their approach, they enjoy the fruits of
the victory. Seamen report, that a fish called
the thresher, a species of squalus, is in league
with the sword-fish ; and that the former keeps
on the back of the whale, while the latter wounds
it underneath in the belly. The grampus, and
other large fishes of the cetaceous order, are at-
tacked and destroyed hv the same enemies in a
similar manner. The whale has other despente
enemies in sharks of different sizes, from one to
three fathoms ; and it generally avoids the seas
where sharks abound. But among all the ene-
mies of this harmless animal, man may be ranked
as the greatest.
Viewing the whale in a commercial light, we
must observe, that the English were late before
they engaged in this fisfiery. It appears by a set
of queries, proposed by a merchant, in 1575, in
order to get intbrmation in the business, that we
were at that time totally ignorant of it, being
obliged to send to * Biskaie fer men skilful in the
catching of the whale and ordering of the oil,
and one cooper skilful to set up the staved cask.'
This seems strange : for by the account Octher
gives of his travels, to king Alfred, near 700 years
before that period, it is evident that he made
that monarch acquainted with the Norwegians
practising the whale fisheiy ; it seems therefore
that all memory of that gainful employment, as
well as of the able voyager Octher and his im-
portant discoveries, was lost for nearly seven cen-
turies. The earliest notice we find of this article
in our commerce is by Hackluyt, who says it
was brought from the Bay of St. Laurence by an
English ship that * went there for the barbes and
fynnes of whales and train oil, A. D. 1594, and
found there 700 or 800 whale fynnes. part of the
cargo of two great Biskaine ships, that had been
wrecked tliree years before.' About 1598, the
town of Hull had the honor of first seriously at-
tempting this profitable branch of trade ; which
has largely contributed to its aggrandizement.
We will resume die history and description of it,
however, under Fish bri £S, which see. linnaens
makes the physeter and delphinus, which are
ranked among the whales by some vrriters, two
distinct genera. See Physeteb and Delphinus.
BALAGHAR, a district of Persia, in the
principality of Baku, including some villages,
near which are twenty-five wells of black naphtha.
There is also one of a veiy inflammable white
naphtha : this remains lighted on the surfece nf
water; whence it is a common amusement
among the inhabitants to throw pieces of it, du-
ring calms, into the sea. It is subject to Russia.
BALAGHAUT, or Balagate, the upper passes
of a chain of mountains which divides the coast
of Malabar from tliat of Coromandel, running
almost the whole length of the peninsula on
this side the Ganges. Some parts of them are
covered with fine red earth, which is blown b>
the strong west winds as far as Ceylon ; and
when the rays of tlie sun are reflected from these
mountains, they seem to be on fire. They make
surprising alterations in the seasons ; for on the
north side of tlie cape Comorin, it is winter in
May, June, July, August, and September, in
which months it is summer on the south side :
on one side there axe Mntinual tempests, Sunder
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«ad tigfatningy yrhWe tbe other enjoys a constant
serenity. When black clouds are gathered about
the mountains, they are followed by sudden rain^
which causes the overflowing of the rivers, and
chokes them up vntb sand, insomuch that they
are unnavigable for some time afterwards. The
buildings and clothes of tlie inhabitants of this
region are scarcely sufficient to defend them
from the weather. They live upon rice, milk,
roots, and herbs, with very little meat; they have
likewise a sort of small arrac, but they are not
given to drunkenness. These mountains are also
called the Ghauts.
BALAGU£R, a town of Spain, in Catalonia,
situated on the Segre, at the foot of a steep hill,
in a trad of uocommou fertility. It contains
four convents, a castl^ and 3700 inhabitants.
The neighbourhood is very feiiile. In 1709 Ba-
laguer was taken by Stahremberg, for Charles
III. and in 1710 l^ the duke de Vendome, £or
Philip V. It b the capital of a district, and lies
sixtyAhree miles north*west of Barcelona, and
219 north-east of Madrid. Long. 0^ 40' £., lat.
41°65'N.
BALAK; p^S, Heb. i. e. a destroyer; the
son of Zippor, a king of the Moabites, who,
alarmed at the success of tbe IsrasUtes, and
jealous of tbeir prosperity, sent for Balaam, and
bribed him to curse them. Num. zxiii. and zxiv.
The divinations of Balaam, hovrever, and the
•till more powerful enchantments of the hit
Moabitesses, appear to hacve been the only
weapons empbyed by Balak against the pros-
perity of Israel ; for we find Jephthah uiges it as
an argument, in hit raanifeste against thekii^of
the Ammonites (Judges xL 25.), that Bdak
never aetnally fought against them.
BALAKLMA, or Bj^lacuka^ a town of Rus-
sia, in the province of Nizney Novgorod, on the
Volga, twenty miles nettii of the city of Nizney
Novgorod. Long. 44*» a E^ lat. 56*30' N.
BALALUAN, a. volcano in the island of Su-
matra, sitnatedin thenonbeni partof the island,
near Acheen.
BALAMATTA^ a town ob the east eoast of
the island of Bouro. Long. 126° ir E,, lat. 3**
12* S. * '
EALAMBANGAN, a fertile island in the
Eastern seas, between Borneo and Magindanao.
It is about fourteen miles in length firom south-
east to north-west, and three to six in breadth,
and has two harbours. Being ceded by the king
of Sooloo to the English East India Company, a
settlement was established upon it in 1773 ; but
the Sooloo surprised it in 1775, and seized the
effects of the company, to the value of above
£200,000 sterling. A new establishment vras
formed in 1803, whioh proving expensive, was
withdrawn. Previous to 1 7^4 it was nearly un-
inhabited. Distant fifteen miles from the north-
em extremity of Borneo. Long 117** V E., lat
r'lS'N.
BALAMBUAN, or Ballanbouasg, or Pa-
LAMBUAN, a district and town in the south-east
of the island of Java, along the shore of the
straits of Bally; formerly governed by an inde-
pendent sovereign. A range of mountains, in-
tersecting the island longitudinally, commences
hen. Considerable trade in pepper wiis once
carried on here; but the Europofin resident
having removed to Bagnouangay, it has been
transferred thither. The town stands on a river
of the same name, and is protected by a fort.
Balambvan, or Pa lam bu a v, a strong trading
town of Asia, in the East Indies, on the east end
of the island of Java, and capital of a territory
of the same name.
BALAMIO (Ferdinand), of Sicily, was phy*
sician to pope Leo X. who greatly regarded
him. He was no less skilled in the belles
lettres than in medicine; and he cultivated
poetry and the Greek learning with much suc-
cess. He translated from the Greek into Latin
several pieces of Galen, which were first printed
separately, and afterwards inserted in the works
or that ancient physician, published at Venice,
1586, in folio. He flourished at Rome about the
year 1555.
BALAM-PULLI, in'botany, a name used by
some authors for the tree whose fruit is the tama-
rind of the shops.
BAL'ANCE, «, «. V. a,&,n.^ Fr. balance ;
Bal'akcing, i Lat. 6tf lanx. One
Bal'ancek. 3 of the six simple
powers in mechanics, used principally for de-
termining the difference of weight in heavy bo-
dies ; and consequently their masses or quantitiea
of matter. For rarther definition and description,
see CLOCK-irAUVG and MecBANics. The me-
taphorical applications of the difiereut parts of
this word are various. To balance in the mind
is to compare one thing with another. The act
of comfMuring two things together is called a ba-
lance ; it also is used to signify fluctuation be-
tween equal motives : as applied to accounts, it
noeans that which is wanting to make two parts
even, and the payment of what b deficient, to
produce equality in the debtor and creditor state-
ments. In general to keep in a state of just pio-
portion, in equilibrio. Balance of trade is the
equal importing of foreign commodities with the
exporting of the native. Balance of power is
the exact equipoise of atrenffth and resourees
between rival nations, formed by alUaiiees and
treaties with neighbouring sUtes, in order to keep
each other in check, to preserve peace, and to
promote the advanuge of all. in astronomy,
the balances are one of the twelve signs of the
lodiao, commonly called Libra.
Ten tkotuend mark and mo, that noir er in balance.
And I betraised of alle, bi God, that all may auaace^
1 aalle bring him to stalle, but he make acquitance.
H, Brmne, p, 15€L
If the haUrnea of oar lives had not one seale of
reason to poise another of sensuality, the blood and
baseness of our nature would conduct us to most pre-
posterous conclusions. ^* ~
I have in equal balanae justly weigh'd
What wrong our anus may do« what wrongs we suffer :
Griefs heavier than our offences. /d. Henry VL
Comfort arises not from others being miserable^
but from this inference upon the bakmce, that we
suffer only the lot of nature. L'Etinu^e,
Upon a fair balance of the advantages on either
side, it will appeav, that the rules of the gospel axe
more powerful means of convioSioa than sueh message.
AtterbmjiL
2 D2
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BALANCE.
. Since there is nothing that can ofiend, I Me not
why you should balanoe a moment about printing it,
Id, to Pope.
Little that it truly noble can be expected from one
who is ever poring on his cash book^ or haUtnang his
accounts.
Though I am very well satisfied, that it is not in
my power to fttriance accounts with my Maker, I am
resolved, however, to turn all my endeavours that
way. Addiaon, Id,
They pass the planets. sev'n, and pass the fix'd
And that crystalline sphere whose baiance weighs
The trepidation talk'd, and that first mov'd. MUton,
Were the satisfaction of lust, and the joys of hea--
ven, offered to any one's present possession, he would
not bahnct, or err, in the determination of his choice.
Xodto.
•Judging is baianemg an account, and determining
«n which side the odds lie. Id*
Care being taken, that tke exportation exceed in
value the importation ; and then the balance of trade
must of necessi^ be returned in coin or bullion.
. Baem*i Advice to VUUen,
Heav'n that hath plac'd this island to give law.
To balance Europe, and her sUtes to awe. Waller
A balance of power, either without or within a state,
is best conceived by considering what the nature of a
balance is. It supposes three things ; first, the part
which is held, together with the hand that holds it ;
and then the two scales^ with whatever is weighed
therein. Sunft,
Give him leave
To balance the account of Blenheim's day. Prior,
Balance, the ancient oi Rohan, called
also the Statera Romana, or steel-yard, consists,
as is well known, of a lever or beam, move-
able on a centre, and suspended near one of its
extremities : the bodies to be weighed are applied
on one side of the centre; and their weight is
shown by the division marked on the beam, where
the weight, which is moveable along the lever,
keeps the steel-yard in equilibrio. This balance
is still- often used in weighing heavy bodies.
Balance, Deceitful, or that which cheats
by the inequality of its brachia, is founded on the
same principle as the steel-yard. Let there be,
for example, a balance so constructed, that both
the brachia with their scales shall equiponderate,
but that the length of the one arm shall be to that
of the other as ten to nine. In this case a weight
of nine pounds put into the scale of the longest
arm, will counterpoise one of ten pounds put into
that of the shorter one : but the cneat is immedi-
ately discovered by shifting the weight from one
scale to the other : in which case, the balance will
no longer remain in equilibrio. The true weight
M a geometrical mean proportion between the two
false weights.
Balance, Assay, is a very nice balance used
in decimasttcal operations, to determine exactly
the weight of minute bodies; see plate Balance,
fig. 1 . This should be made of the best steel, and
of the hardest kmd; because that metal is not so
easily spoiled with rust as iron ; and it is more
apt than any other to take a perfect pNDlish, which
at the same time prevents the rust. The structure
of the assayer's scale is little different from that
of conunon scales, excepting in nicety and smaU-
The longer the beam of it is, tlie mere
exactly may the weight of a body be found ; how-
ever, ten or twelve inches are a sufficient
length. Let the thickness of it be so little, that
two drams may hardly be hung at either of its
extremities without its bending; for the largest
weight put upon it seldom exceeds one dram.
The whole surface of this beam must be altogether
without ornaments, which only increase the
weight and gather dust, &c. We give in the
plate, one made by Fontin of Paris, so delicate,
that when charged with a weight of a thousand
grammes in eSch scale, it will turn with the
addition of one gramme. LL' is the beam of the
balance, made of the finest steel, and of sufficient
dimensions to prevent any sensible deflection in
it, with the greatest weights it is proposed to
charge it with; the arms are of course of equal
length and figure, and the whole is balanced on
a knife-edge suspension at C, the plate G being
also of polished steel, and rendered as hard as
possible, to prevent the action of the knife-edge
upon it. In order to relieve the suspension of
the balance when the instrument is not in use,
the two crotches F F are brouglit up by the screws
shown in the figure, so as just to takeoff the
pressure horn the point of support. When the
equilibrium is lucely supported, the needle, or
index, CS, corresponds very accurately with
zero on the graduated arc attached to the. top or
bottom of the principal stem, and which former,
being fixed to the beam, will be displaced by,
and indicate aAy want of due equipoise. The
whole apparatus b, when dsed for nice experi-
ments, Enclosed in a case or frame, with glass
faces, and which are only opened sufficiently to
introduce tlie weights and body to be weighed.
An instrument in its case, with the index
pointing downwards, to save room, is shown in
the figure.
The method of weighing a body is this: —
Place the body, which we may denote B, in one
of the scales of the balance; as, , for example, in
the scale A, to be put in equilibrio, by placing
in the other scale A', bodies of any weight, such
as grains of lead, small pieces of copper, or the
like; and lastly, small pieces of leaf copper, or
paper, till the needle, or index, points exactly
to zero on the graduated arc ; the beam is then in
equilibrio, and the weight in the two scales
equal, or veiy nearly so. ' Take out now the
body B, ancl replace it by different known
weights, till the* equilibrium is again obtained;
and tliese weights together, will express the pre-
cise weight of the body. This method, it is
obvious, is independent of the length of the arms,
and even of the quantity of friction on the axis,
because the body B, and itt equal weights, are
placed precisely in like circumstances, which is
not the case in the common method of weighing.
One thin^, however, is here very essential, and
must be attended to ; viz. not to shake or disturb
the apparatus in removing the body ^m the
scale, as this may change a little the point of
support, and alter the degree of friction. To
prevent this, the crotches F, F', are brought up
to the beam, without removing it fiom its sup-
port ; then before the body B is removed, another
body, of about half its weight, is added. The
former hodv B is now taken out, and weights, as
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neatly aa can be judged equal to it, are put in
the scale ; the other body is then remoyed, the
crotches let down, and the balance left on its
point of support as at first; and successive small
'weisfhts added, till the equipoise is perfect.
Balancb, the Bent Lever, is represented
in fig. 7. Here ABC is a bent lever sup]x>rted
on its axis B in the pillar IH. At A is sus-
pended the scale £, and at C is affixed a
weight or a heavy knob. Draw the horizontal
line K B G through B, the centre of motion, on
which from A and C let fall the perpendiculars
AK, CD; then if BK and BD are reciprocally
in proportion to the weights at A and C, they
will be in equilibrio; but if not, the weight C
will move one v^ay or other along the arc F G,
till that ratio be obtained. If the lever be so
bent that when A coincides with the line G K,
C coincides with the vertical line BH, then as C
moves along from F to G, its momentum will
increase ; whilst that of a weight in the scale £
will decrease; hence, the weights in £ corres-
ponding to different positions of the balance,
may be expressed- on the graduated arc of the
plate F G, the whole being used in the manner
of the steel-yard.
Balance, the Chinese, is a steel-yard some-
what different in its form and application : it is
much used by the eastern merchants in weighing
gems and precious metals. T*he beam is a small
xx>d of wood or ivory, about a foot in length :
upon this are three lines of measure made of
fine silver studded work, beginning from the
end of the beam, whence the first is extended
eight inches, the second six and a half, and the
third eight and a half. The first is European
weight, the other two Chinese. At the other end
of the beam hangs a round scale; and at tliree
several distances from this end are fastened so
many fine strings at different points of suspen-
sion. The first distance makes 1} or f of an inch ;
the second ^ or double the former; and the
third, 4|, or triple the same. When the instru-
ment is used, it is held up by some one of the'
strings, and a sealed weight, of about an ounce
and a quarter, troy, is hung upon some one of the
divisions of the rule, so as to produce an equi-
librium, the weight of the body being indicated
by the graduated scale above referred to.
Balance, the Danish, is a kind of balance
or steel-yard, in common use upon various parts
of the continent of Europe. It consists.of a bat-
ten of hard wood, having a heavy lump or knob
at one end, and a swivel hook at the other. The
goods to be weighed are suspended on the hook,
and the whole is carried in a loop of whip-cord,
in which it is slidden to and firo (when placed
horizontally), till the goods suspended from the
hook at one end are luilanced by the knob at the
otlier. The weight of the goods is estimated by
the contact of the loop with a scale of divisions
in harmonic progression.
Balance, Brady's, or Weighing Appabatvs.
One of the best modem inventions of the kind is
represented in fig. 6. It unites the properties of
the bent lever bsilance and the steel-yard. ABC
is a frame of cast iron, having a great part of its
weight towards A, where it is thicker than in its
other parts: F is a fixed fulcrum, and £ a move-
able suspender, having a scale and hook at its
lower extremity; K, £, G, are three distinct
places to which the suspender £H may be
applied ; and to which belong respectively, tlie
three graduated scales of division, or weights,
fC, cd, ab. When the scale and suspender
are applied at G, the apparatus is in equilibrio,
with the edge A B horizontal, and the suspender
cuts the zero on the scale ab ; now a weight
being applied, the whole apparatus turns about
F, and the part towards B descends, till the equi-
librium is again established ; when the weight of
the body is read off from the scale ab, which
registers to ounces, and extends to two pounds.
If the weight of the body exceeds two pounds,
and be less than eleven pounds, the suspender is
placed at £, and when the upper edge of the
oalance is horizontal, the weight or number 2, is
found a little to tlie right of the index of the sus-
pender; if now weights exceeding two pounds be
placed in the scale, the whole again turns about
r, and the weight of the body is shown on the
graduated arc cd, which extends to eleven pounds,
and registers to every two ounces.
If the weight of the body exceeds eleven pounds^
the suspender is hung on at K, and the weights
are ascertained in the same manner on the scale
yC to thirty pounds, the subdivisions being on
this scale quarters of pounds. The same princi-
ples would obviously apply to weights greater
or less than the above. To- prevent mistake, the
three points of support, jG, £, K, are numbered
1, 2, 3; and the corresponding arcs are respec-
tively numbered in the same manner. When the
hook is used instead of the scale, the latter is turned
upwards, there being a joint at m for that purpose.
Balance, Hydrostatic, an instrument con-
trived to determine accurately the specific gravity
of both solid and fluid bodies. It is constructed
' in various forms. We shall describe that which
appears to be the most accurate. — V C G, fig. 2,
is the stand or pillar of this hydrostatic balance,,
which is to be nxed in a table. From the top A,
hangs, by two silk strings, the horizontal bar
B.B, from which is suspended by a ring t, the
fine beam of a balance b; which is prevented
from descending too low on either side, by the
gently springing piece t x y 2, fixed on the sup-
Sort M. The harness is annulated at o, to show
istinctly the perpendicular position of the exa-
men, by the small pointed index fixed above it.
The strings by which the balance is suspended,
passing over two pullies, one on each side the
piece at A, go down to the bottom on the other
side, and are hung over the hook at v ; which
hook, by means of a screw P, is moveable about
one inch and a quarter backward and forward,
and therefore the balance^ may be raised or de-
Sressed so much. But if a greater elevation or
epression be required, the sliding piece S, which
carries the screw P, is readily moved to any part
of the square brass rod V K, and fixed by means
of a screw. The motion of the balance being
thus adjusted, the rest of the apparatus is as fol-
lows : — H H is a small board, fixed upon the
piece D, under the scales d and e, and is move-
able up and do?m in a low slit in the pillar
above C, and fiistened at any part by a screw
behind. From the point in the middle of the
Digitized by
Googl(
406
BALANCE.
1!K>tton of each msaXe bangs, by a fine hook» a
brass wire a d and a e. These pass through two
holes m m in the table. To the wire ad is sus-
pended a curious cylindric wire, r s, perforated
at each end for that purpose : tliis wire r t is
covered with paper, graduated by equal divisions,
and is above five inches long. In the comer of
the board at £, is fixed a brass .tube, on which
a round wire A / is so adapted as to move neither
too tight nor too free, by its flat head I. Upon
the lower part of this moves another tube Q,
which has sufficient friction to make it remain in
any position required : to this is fixed an index
T, moving horizontally when the wire A / is
turned about, and therefore may be easily set to
the graduated wire r s. To the lower end of the
wire r s hangs a weight L ; and to that a wire p n,
with a small brass ball g, about one^ibartn of
an inch in diair eter. On the other side, to the
wire a c, hangs a large glass bubble R, by a
horse-hair, jlet us fint suppose the weight L
taken away, and the wire p n suspended from
S : and, on the other side, let the bubble R be
taken away, and the wire F suspended at c« in
its room. This weight F we suppose to be suf-
ficient to keep the several parts nangiog to the
other scale in equilibrium ; at the same time that
the middle point of the wire p n is at die surface
of the water in the vessel O. The wire p n is to
be of such a size, that the length of one inch
shall weigh four grains. Now it is evident, since
brass is eight times heavier tlian water, that for
every inch the wire sinks in the water, it will
become half a grain lighter, and half a grain
heavier for every inch it rises out -of the water :
consequently, by sinking two inches below the
middle point, or rising two inches above it, the
wire will become one grain lighter or heavier.
Therefore, if, when the middle point i^ at the
surface of the water in equilibrium, the index T
be set to the middle point a of the graduated
wire r (, and the distance on each side a r and a s
contains 100 equal parts; then, if in weighing
bodies the weight is required to the 100th part
of a grain, it may be easily had by proceeding in
the following manner: Let the body to be
weighed be placed in the scale d. Put a weight
in the scale e, and let this be so determined tnat
one grain more sliall be too much, and one grain
less too little. Then the balance being moved
gently up or down, bv the screw P, the equili-
brium will be nicely shown at a ; if the index T
be at the middle point a of the wire r i, it shows
that the weights put into the scale e are just equal
to the weight of die body. By this method we
find the absolute weight of the body : the rela-
tive weight is found by weighing it hydrostatic
cally in water, as follows : Instei^ of putting the
body into the scale e, as before, let it hang vrith
the weight F, at the hook c, bv a horse hair^ as
at R, supposing the vessel O of water were
away. The equilibrium being then made, the
index T standing between a and r, at the thirty-
sixth division* shows the weif^ht of the body pot
in to be 1Q9,536 grains. As' it thus hangs, le« it
be immersed in the water of the vessel O, and it
will become much lighter ; the scale c will de-
scend till the beam o? the balance rests on the
support 1. Then suppose 100 grains put into
die scale d restore the equilibrium preeiscSy, so
that the index T stands at the thirty-^sixth diTision
above a ; it is evident that the weight of an equal
bulk of water would, in this case, be exactly 100
grains. In a similar manner this balance may
be applied to find the specific gravity of liquid^
as IS easy to conceive.
LuxiN*s Hydrostatic Balavcs, an Ame-
rican invention, has the recommendation of
simplicity, and is said in the Report of the
Committee of the Academy of Sciences at Phi-
ladelphia, to be a very accurate instrument. It
acts on the principle of the steel-vard ; the
arms being at equipoise, when unloaded ; see fig.
III. C is the Dody whose specific gravity is to
be weighed, and it is suspended to the short
arm of die instrument. On the longer arm A,
the movable weight D indicates its weight in
air or water. When greater accuracy is required,
a second weight may be added on the lon^ aim,
which ought to be some determinate portion <^
J>, Then, the division marked by the larger
weight, will be units, and that of the smaller
tenths, or lOOths as it may be contrived.
CoATss's HrnBOSTATic BALAifCE is also an
instrument of American invention, upon the same
principles, but differing in the mode of gradu-
ation : this being adapted to the purposes cf find-
ing the specific gravi^ of minerals ; and therefore,
instead of pointing out the actual and relative
weights, it shows at once their specific gravity.
The instrument b accurately balanced when un-
loaded, by making the shorter arm much laiger
than the longer one; and the latter is ^graduated
and marked with numbers, which everywhere
show the quotient of the entire length of the
longer arm, divided by the distance of the roaik
from die end : thus, at half the length, is marked
the number 2 ; lit one-third the number 3, and
so on ; which numbers extend on the scale to
rather more than tweuty, in order to extend the
use of the instrument to heavy minerals.
In using it, a weight is suspended by a hook
at A, and the body under examination is to be
hung by a horse-hair on the shorter arm, and slid
along, as on the steel-yard, till an equipoise is ob-
tainni, say at D. Then, without sitering its
situation on the beam, the body is to be immersed
in water, and balanced a second time, by sliding
the weight C along the graduated arm, till the
instrument b found again in equtlibrio. Hie
hook of this latter vrill then at once indicate, by
its situation on the scale, the actual specific gra-
vity of the body, water being considered as anity.
The instrument being supposed in equilibrio,.
and BD and the weight of the counteipoise
being constant, the weight of die body vanes as
the distance of the counterpoise from B, by the
common principle of the lever.
TU Balance op Torsion, fig. V. was in-
vented by M. Coulomb, to ' estimate minute
attracting and repelling forces in electricity, mag^
netism, &c. It consbts of a vertical metallic
thread, the upper end of which b attached to a
point A, its lower end carrying a small weight tr,
and a little above it a light horizontal needle,
n. It. To ascertain very small forces they are
made to act on the extremitv of thb needle, ard
their intensity b appreciated by the angle of de-
Digitized by
Googl(
BALANCE.
40'^
viation which they cause in it, so that the forces
are balanced by the torsioa of the wire, and hence
the denomination. The needle b enclosed in a
glass cylinder, to protect it from the action of the
air, and the thread is enclosed in a smaller cylin-
der fixed into the brass cover thereof. On the
upper part of the small cylinder is placed a di-
vided dial-plate, which, with very little friction,
turns about the cylinder. The lever which carries
the thread that suspends the horizontal needle,
traverses this dial, and serves as an indicator,
when it is requisite to have the torsion equal to
a certain number of degrees. A circular division
applied horizontally about the glass cylinder,
opposite to the needle, measures the deviations
or the latter when under excitation. Mr. Caven-
dish determined the mean density of the earth
by estimating vrith this instrument the action of
two leaden balls of known dimensions and spe-
cific gravity ; and comparing the effect with that
of terrestrial gravity. SeePAU. !ZVaiu.anno. 1798.
The Balance, Common, or Modern, gene-
rally used, consists of a lever or beam suspended
exactly in the middle, having scales or basins
hung to each extremity. The lever is called the
jugum or beam ; and the two moieties thereof,
on each side the axis, the brachia or arms. The
line on which the beam turns, or which divides
its brachia, is called the axis ; and, when consi-
dered with regaid to the length of the brachia, is
esteemed a point only, and called the centre of
the balance: the handle whereby it is held, or by
which the whole apparatus is suspended, is called
trutina; and the
slender part pet^
pendicutar to the
Deam, whereby
either the equili-
brium or prepon-
derancy of bodies
is indicated, is
called the tongue ^ ^
of the balance. — ^^" •■■i*^fci*«i""^^^^
Thus, in the dia-
gram annexed, ab is the beam, divided into
two .equal brachia, or arms, by the white spot
in the centre, which is the axis or centre of
the balance, and c is the tongue. The tru-
tina, on which the axis is suspended, is not re-
presented in this figure, in order to render the
other parts more conspicuous. It follows from
what has been observed, tiiat in the Roman ba-
lance, or steel-yard, the weight used for a couiv-
terpoise is the same, but the point of application
varies ; in the common balance the counterpoise
is various, and the point of application the same.
The principle on wnich each is founded, maj» be
very easily understood from the general proper-
ties of the lever. See Lever. The beam is a
lever of the first kind; but instead of resting on
« fulcrum, is suspended by something fastened
to its centre of motion : consequently the me-
chanism of the balance depends on the same theo-
reoDs as the lever. Hence as the quantity of
natter in known weight is to its distance from
the centre of motion, so is the distance of the un-
known weight to its quantity of matter. The
common balance is properly a lever, whose axis
of motion is formed with an ed^^ like that of a
knife, and the other two dishes, or scales, at its
extremities/are hung upon edges of the same kind,
which are tint made sharp, and then rounded
with a fine bone, or a piece of buff leather. Or.
the regular formation of this part, the excellence
of tile instrument essentially aepends. When the
lever, or beam of the balance, is considered as a
mere line, the two outer edges are called points
of suspension, and the inner the fulcrum. The
Soints of suspension are supposed to be at equal
istances from the fulcrum, and to be pressed
with equal weights when loaded.
And now, observe, 1. If the fulcrum be placed
in the centre of gravity of the beam, and the
three edges be all in the same right line, the beam
of the balance will have no tendency to one po-
sition more than another, but will rest in any
position in which it may be placed, whether the
scales be on or off, empty or loaded. 2. If the
centre of gravity of the beam, when level, be
immediately above the fulcrum, it will overset
by the smallest action ; that is, tiie end which is
lowest will descend ; and it will do this with the
greater velocity, in proportion as the centre of
gravity is higher, and toe points of suspension
are less load^. 3. But if the centre of gravity
of the beam be immediately below the fulcrum,
the beam will not rest in any position but when
level ; and, if disturbed from that position, and
then lefl at liberty, it will vibrate^ and at last
come to rest in an horizontal position. Its vi-
brations will be quicker, and its horizontal ten-
dency stronger, the lower the centre of gravity,
and the less the weight upon the points of sus-
pension. 4. If the fulcrum be below the line
joining the points of suspension, and Uiese be
loaded, the beam will overset, unless prevented
by the weight of the beam tending to produce
an horizontal position, as in the third case. In
this case small weights will equilibrate, as in
the former ; a certain exact weight vrill rest in
any position of the beam, as in the first case ; and
all greater weights will cause the beam to over-
set, as in the second. Money scales are often
made this way, and will overset with any con-
siderable load. 5. If the fulcrum be above
the line joining the points of suspension, the beam
will come to the horizontal position, unless pre-
vented by its own weight, as in the second case.
If the centre of gravity be nearly in the fulcrum,
all the vibrations of the Icttded beam will be
made in times nearly equal, unless the weights
be very small, when they will be slower. The
vibrations of balances are quicker, and the
horizontal tendency stronger, the higher the ful-
crum. Finally, in the proper construction of the
common balance, observe, that the points of sus-
pension must be exactly in the same line as the
centre of the balance ; that they jnust be pre-
cisely equidistant from that centre on either side ;
and that the brachia must be as long as conve-
niently they may, in relation to their thickness,
and the weight which they are intended to sup-
port; that there must be as little fiiction.as pos-
sible in the motion of the beam and scales ; and,
lastly, tiiat the centre of gravity of the beam must
be^laoed a little below die centre of motion.
The equality of the arms of a balance is of use,
in scientific pursuits, says Dr. Ure, chiefly it^
Digitized by
Googl(
408
BALANCE.
making weights by bisection. A balance with
unequal arms will weigh as accurately as another
of the same workmanship with equal arms, pro-
vided the standard weight itself be tint counter-
poised, then taken out of the scale, and the thing
to be weighed be put into the scale and adjusted
against the counterpoise ; or when proportional
quantities only are considered, as m chemical
and in other philosophical experiments, the bo-
dies and products- under examination may be
weighed against the weiglits, taking care always
to put the weights into the same scale. For then,
though the belies may not be really equal to the
weights, yet their proportions among each other
may be' the same as if they had been accurately
so. But though the equality of the arms may be
well dispensed with, yet it is indispensably ne-
cessary tnat their •relative lengths, wnatever they
may be, should continue invariable. For this
purpose, it is necessary, either that the three
edges be all truly parallel, or that the points of
suspension and support should be always in the
same part of the cage. This last requisite is the
most easily obtained. The balances made in
London are usually constructed in such a man-
ner, that the bearing parts form notches in the
other parts of the edges ; so that the scales being
set to vibrate, all the parts naturally fall into the
same bearing. The balances made in the coun-
try have the fulcrum end straight, and confined
to one constant bearing by two side plates. But
the points of suspension are referred to notches
in the edges, like the London balances.
Very delicate balances (continues this able
writer) are not only useful in nice experiments,
but are likewise much more expeditious than
otliers in common weighing. If a pair of scales
with a certain load be barely sensible to one-tenth
of a grain, it will require a considerable time to
ascertain the weight to that degree of accuracy,
because the turn must be observed several times
over, and is very small. But if no greater accu-
racy were required, and scales were used which
would turn with the hundredth of a grain, a tenth
of a grain, more or less, would make so great a
difference in the turn, that it would be seen im-
mediately.
If a balance be found to turn with a certain
addition, and is not moved by any smaller weight,
a greater sensibility may be given to that balance,
by producing a tremulous motion in its parts.
Ihus, if the edge of a blunt saw, a file, or other
similar instrument, be drawn along any part of
the case or support of a balance, it will produce
a jarring, which will diminish the friction on the
moving parts so much, that the turn will be evi-
dent with one-third or one-fourth of the addition
that would else have been required. In this way,
a beam which would barely turn by the addition
of one-tenth of a grain, will turn with one-thirtieth
or fortieth of a grain.
Muschenbroek, in his Cours de Physique,
(French translation, Paris, 1769) tom. ii. p. 247,
says, he used an ocular balance of great accuracy,
which turned (trebuchoit) vnth. l-40th of a grain.
The substances he weighed were between 200
and 300 grains. His balance, therefore, weighed
^o ^^ 12000 P*^ °^ ** "^^^^^ '* *°^ ^^^^
ascertain such weighu truly to four placet of
^figures. .
In the Philosophical Transactions, toI. Ixvi.
p. 509, mention is made of two accurate balances
of Mr. Bolton; and it is said that one would
weigh a pound, and turn with one-tenth of a
grain. This, if the pound be avoirdupois, is
of the weight: and shows that the ba-
70000 °
lance could be well depended on to four places
of figures, and probably to five. The other
weighed half an oimce, and turned with -— of
a grain. This is
1
24000
of the weight
lu the same volume, p. 511, a balance of Mr.
Read's is mentioned, wnich readily turned with
less than one pennyweight when loaded with
fifty-five pounds, before the Royal Society ; but
very distinctly turned with four grains, when
tried more patientiy. This is about -5™^
part of the weight; and therefore this baUtnce
may be depended on to five places of figures.
Abo, page 576, a balance of Mr. Whitehurst's
weighs one pennyweight, and is sensibly affected
the weight.
A balance belonging to Mr. Alchome of the
Mint in London, is mentioned, vol. Ixxvii. p.
205 of the Philosophical Transactions. It u
true to three grains with 15lb. an end. If these
were avoirdupois pounds, the weight is known to
-^-r— part, or to four places of figures, or
ouOOO
barely five.
A balance (made by Ramsden, and turning
on points inst^ of edges,) in the possession of
Dr. George Fordyce, is mentioned in the seventy-
fiftii volume of the Philosophical Transactions.
With a load of four or five ounces, a difference
of one division in the index was made by
iow>
of a grain. This is . part of the weight,
and consequently this beam will ascertain such
weights to five places of figures, beside an esti-
mate figure.
The Royal Society's balance, which was lately
made by Ramsden, turns on steel edges, upon
? lanes of polished crystal. ' I was assured,' says
)r. Ure, 'that it ascertained a weight to the
seven-millionth part. I was not present at this
trial, which must have required great care and
patience, as the point of suspension could not
nave moved over much more tnan the 2-lOOth of
an inch in the first half minute ; but, (rem some
trials which I saw, I think it probable that it
may be used in general practice to determine
weights to five places and better.
BALANCE, in ichthyology, or the balance fish.
See Squalus.
Balance, in the woollen manufacture, is a
machine invented by the Rev. W. Ludlam. The
thread is made into skeins of iStte same lengdi ^
and the fineness of it is denominaled from tht
Digitized by
Googl(
B A L A N C E.
409
number of skeins which go to a pound; the
coarsest being about twelve to the pound, and
the finest nearly sixty. This machine is designed
for weighing skeins, in order to determine their
respective fineness. It resembles the bc&m of a
common pair of scales ; at one end of it is fixed
a weight, called the counterpoise, and at the other
end a hook ; in sorting, the skein to be examined
is put upon the hook, and sinks down more or
less, according to its weight, till the counterpoise,
by rising, balances it: and then the index or
cock of the beam, points out on a gradual arch,
the number of skeins of that sort which go to
thepound.
The Balance of a Clock or Watch, is that
part which regulates the beats. The circi^lar part
of the balance is called the rim, and its spindle
the verge ; there belong to it also two pallets or
nuts, that play in the fangs of the crown-wheel :
in pocket watches, that strong stud in which the
lower pivot of the verge plays, and in the middle
of which one pivot of the crown-wheel runs, is
called the potence : the wrought piece which
covers the balance, and in which the upper pivot
of the balance plays, is the cock; and the small
spring in the new pocket watches is called the
regrulator. The motion of a balance, as well as
that of a pendulum, being alternate, while the
pressure of the wheels is constantly in one di-
rection, it is obvious that some art must be used
to accommodate the one to the other. When the
tooth of the wheel has given the balance a motion
in one direction, it must ^uit it, that it may get
an impulsion in the opposite direction. The ba-
lance or pendulum thus escaping from the tooth
of the wheel, or the tooth escaping from the ba-
lance, has given to the general construction
the name of scapement.
Before the invention of the pendulum, clocks
were regulated by an horizontal balance, having
a vertical axis, that passed through two holes,
with liberty to play up and down ; and that sus-
pended by means of a string passed through a
nole in the axis and fastened at both ends, so as
to form equal angles with the axis itself. Con-
sequently, when Uie balance revolved in one di-
rection, the string was wound upon the verge,
and bemg thus shortened, raised it up until die
weight of the balance had overcome tne force of
rotation : after which it revolved the contrary
way, and descended to perform a similar ascent
by winding the string the opposite way.
A supposed Balance of Fower, in the poli-
tical system, originates from, and is maintamed
by, the alliances of different nations, as their cir-
cumstances and interest may require. The pre-
servation of the balance of power has generally
implied the maintaining of such a degree of equa-
lity among the powers of Europe, in general, as
may prevent any enormous accumulation of
power, or any attempt at universal monarchy,
on the part of any one of them. To preserve this
balance, much blood has been shed, and money
spent, since the revolution of 1688; but the re-
volution of France, and the wars arising out of
it, have hopelessly deranged all former theorems
and calculations upon this subject. Robertson
and other historians have said, that the principle
of the balance of power was a discovery of the
fifteenth centoiy, made by the Italian politicians
on the invasion of Charles VIII. Against such
statements we might adduce the arguments of
Hume and others, who have traced in ancient
times vastly more refined notions of policy than
any that dictated the Italian defensive league.
It was not, in truth, to any such single event that
the balancing system owed either its origin, or
.• its refinement ; but to the progress of society,
^ which placed the whole states of Europe in the
same relative situation in which the states of
Italy were at that period ; and taught them not
to wait for an actual invasion, but to see a
Charles at all times in eveiy prince or common-
wealth that should manifest the least desire of
change. See Edinburgh Review, vol. I. p. 354.
Balance of Trade. That which is com-
monly meant by the balance of trade, is the re-
lative quantity of foreign commodities compared
with the exportation of home productions or
manu^tures. And it has been reckoned that
the nation which exports most of its own com-
modities, has the advantage *of the balance of
trade. The reason is, that, if its own commodi-
ties be of a greater value than are imported, the
balance of that account must be made up in bul-
lion or money; and the nation grows so much
richer, as the balance of that account amounts to.
But this reasoning admits of many qualifications.
See Commerce and Economy, Political.
BALANC ERS, or Poizers, in entomology, (in '
Frencb,balanciers,and the halteres of Linneus^^
denoting those little filamentous bodies whicn
terminate in a round, truncated, or oval capitu-
him, or knob ; and of which one is placed on
each side of all the dipterous or two-winged in-
sects, under a small scale below the wing. In
different genera these vary a little in respect of
situation, and are also of larger or smaller size,
in proportion to the other parts of the insect, in
different kinds.
BAIANCIER, a machine used in the striking
of coins, medals, counters, and the like. See
Coinage.
BALANCING, among seamen, the contract-
ing a sail into a narrower compass, in a storm, by
retrenching or folding up a part of it at one cor-
ner : this method is used in contradistinction to
reefing, which is common to all the principal
sails ; whereas balancing is peculiar to tew, such
as the mizen of a ship, and the main-sail of those
vessels wherein it is extended by a boom. See
Boom and Reef. The balance of the mizen is
thus performed: the mizen yard is lowered a
little, then a small portion of sail is rolled up at
the peek or upper comer, and fastened to the
yard about one-fifth inward from the outer end or
yard-arm, toward the mast. See Mizen. A boom
'main-sail is balanced, after all its reefs are taken
in, by rolling up a similar portion of the hind-
most or afbnost lower corner, called the clue, and
fastening it strongly to the boom, having previ-
ously wrapped a piece of old canvass round the
part (whicn is done in both cases) to prevent the
sail from being fretted by the cord which ftistens it.
BALANITES, in natural history, a name given
by the ancients to a stone, seeming to have been
of the semipellucid gems. They describe two
species of it; the one yellow, and the other
Digitized by
Googl(
410
B A L B E C.
green, b\it eacti naving vtiw oF a flaikife cotor.
their descriptions are too short for tii to ascertain
what stone, among those known at this time,
they meant. Some suppose it to have been the
lapis judaicus, on account of its acom-like figure
and size.
BALANOIDES, in conchology, a species of
lepas, with a conic truncated smooth shell, and
obtuse operculum. Linn. Fn. Suec. I)onoir.
tec. This is balanus parvus vulgaris of Petiver ;
and a variety of it with a long tubular stalk is
described by Da Costa. Pennant, and Donov.
Brit. Shells, Dr. Leach includes the whole of this
species, w^th additipnal ones, in his class corthi-
pedes.
BALANDS, pa\a9fO£, in anatomy, is used for
the glans penis, and sometimes for the clitoris.
Balanus Myrepsica, in the matetia medica,
the oily acorn. The whole nut is of a purging
Quality ; and the dry pressing or powder, after
trie oil is taken.out is of a cleansing and drytno^
nature. •
BALAO, a river of the province of Oaayaquil,
in the kingdom of Quito» which runs into the
sea, in the gulf of that name.
BALASFALVA, or Blasekbcrg. a tomm of
Transylvania, in the county of Kockelburg, at
the conflux of the Great ana Little Kockel, hair-
ing a castle, and being the residence of a bishop
of the united Greek church of Wallachians.
BALASORE, a sea-port of Asia, on the nortb-
west of the bay of Bengal, four miles from the
sea by land, but twenty by the windings of its
river, the Booree Bellaun, which produces plenty
of fish. It is navisraible for vessels of 100 tons.
Here the pilot of Calcutta waits the arrival of
vessels : and the English, Dutch, and Portuguese
all had factories here in die seventeenth century ;
it was ceded to the Mahrattas in 1751, but in
f 803 given up by the Nagpore Rajah to the
English. Balasore is in the province of Orissa,
110 miles south-west from Calcutta.
BALATITI, in natural history, a name given
by the people of the Philippine islands to a spe-
cies of birds, by the flight of which they divine
the event of things.
BALATON, a lake of Hungary, between the
counties of Szalad, Wesprim, and Schumeg, five
miles south of Stuhl-Weissenburg. It is nearly
40 miles long, and from one to four broad, formed
originally hv the river Szala, and augmented by
a number of other streams. The water, it is said,
may be preserved for nearly two years without
putrefaction. It contains some fish as well as
birds of rare occurrence, whicli are bought up
for exportation. The Austrian government have
lately projected an union between Uiis lake and
the Danube, by a canal, but the works proceed
slowly.
BALATOV, or Balaschev, the capiul of
a circle in the government of Saratov, in Eu-
ropean Russia. To the north are extensive fo-
rests, and to the south almost interminable heaths,
or steppes. It is situated on the Khoper, which
fAlls into the Don. Nine^ miles west of Saratov,
and 634 south-east of St. Petersburgh.
BALAUSTIA, orBALAUSTiNEs; from/3aX«tH
T«wy, in, pharmacy, the flowers of the wild pome-
.gianate, which are veryrouph to the tongue and
palate, and vefy ■stringent ; on that account they
are firequently used in diarrhcBas, hernias, &c.
Balaustines in botany* See Punica.
BALAYAN, a province of Manilla, next to Ihe
city of Manilla, and extending along ttie coast on
die east side of the island, a little beyond the
bay of Batangas. There were formerly gold
mines in it, but they have been long since aban-
doned.
BALBASTRO, a town of Arragon, in Spain,
near the junction of the Vero and Cinca, having
a population of 5000, and a dependent jurisdic-
tion of ITOparishes. Tanning is the chief pur-
suit here. Tnirty miles £. N.E. of Saragosn, and
4T north-west of Barcelona.
BALBEC, or Baalbsck, a city of Asia^ in
Syria,, anciently Heliopolis, and called by the
Arabians, The Wonder of Syria. It is situated
at the foot of Anti-^Libanus, on tiie ground
where th^ mountain terminates in the plain,
thirty-seven miles north of Damascus. In tra-
velling io it from the south, it is seen only at the
distance of a lea^e and a hal^ behind a hedge
of wahiui'^rees, over the verdant lops of which
appears a white edging of domes and minarets.
It hae a ruined wall, flanked with square towers^
which ascends the declivity to the tight. This
low wall permito a vtew of those void spaces
and heaps of ruins which ale the invariable ap*
pendages of every Turkish city ; bnt what prio-
cipaHy attracts attention it a large edifice on tlie
left, vniose lofty walls and rich columns designate
it as having been amongst the most splendSd of
ancient temples. The apparent length of ihiv
edifice was about 900 feet, and iu width 450.
TYie entrance to the pronaos, or portico, was by
a row of twelve coHumns, flanked by wings or-
namented with pilasters. It wis approached by
a magnificent flight of steps, of which there are
but Kw remains. The interior of the portico is
choked up widi heaps of ruins> but these, when
surmounted, lead to an heiagonal court of 180
feet diameter, strewed with broken shafb of co-
lumns, mutilated capitals, wrecks of pilasters,
bases, and other architectural and sculptuial
fhigments. The buildings in this and the ad-
joining court appear to have been appropriated
for academies and Jodgings for the priests.
Through an opening at the end of this court is a
vast perspective of ruins, which are best viewed
from the top of a slope that was formeriy a stair-
case, whicQ communicates with a rectangular
court, 350 feet long and 346 wide. At the end
of the court are six enormous columns; and to
^e left is anodier row of columns which formea
flie peristyle to the bodv of the temple. The
buildings to the right and left form a sort of gal-
lery, which is divided into seven parts, to each
of the great vrings or lateral buildings. At the
extremity of this court is the cell or body of the
temple itself, where are the before-ineiitioned six
colossal columns. Their riiafts measure twenty-
two feet in circumference, and fifty-eight in
height; and the whole height of the order (the
Corinthian) neariy seventy-two feet On ex-
amining the circumjacent site, a row of bases
was discovered, arranged in a patallelograin-
matic form of 270 feet in length, and 150 in
width. This belt of columns encompassed the
Digitized by
Googl(
B A L iB E C.
411
cell or body of the temple,- which was decaetyle
(ten oolumoed) in front, with nineteen columns
in flank, and of the ibaith or peripteral order of
temples ; but its intercolumniations do not ao-
cora wifli any of the five species described in
the system of Vitnivius. These building are all
of the Corinthian order, with the exception of
some pilastral elevations, which are of the Com-
posite. A sepond temple is situated near the
southmost part of the city, upon an irregular
site. It is pseudodipteral, and does not appear
to have been surrounded by a peristyle and court
like the former. It is, however, in a better state of
preservation, having very lately eight columns in
front, and thirteen in flank, of me Corinthian
order. Their shafts are about sixteen feet in^-
cumference, and forty-four in height.
Balbec also possesses, in the southern part
of the city, a circular temple, difllering in every re-
spect from the precepts of Vitnivius: its lower
story is used for a ureek church. Its plan is
extremely whimsical, and all its details present a
mass of architectural anomalies.
Few architectural remains of the ancient
world are more rich in decoration than those of
Balbec. The soffites and ceilings of the pe-
ristyle are panelled in lozense forms, with repre-
sentations of Jupiter and his eagle, Leda and
the swan, Diana with her bow and crescent, and
various busts in the costume of emperors and
empresses. All the members of the interior en-
tablatures are loaded with a profusion of orna-
ments. The archivolts, the heads of the niches,
the frieze of the principal order, are covered
with the most sumptuous embellishments of
sculpture. The interior columns are all tiuted,
and those of the exterior plain. Dr. Pococke
conceives that nothing can be finer than the ei^
trance to tlie great temple. Almost all the mem-
bers are enriched with sculptural representations
of flowers and fruit, and the frieze with ears of
com^ of admirable execution. According to
Volney, the walls of the smaller temple sufiered
much from the earthquake of 1759; which is
confirmed by our countryman, who, in 1 784,
found but six columns of the great temple stand-
ing out of the nine, which were erect in 1751 ;
and twenty only out of twenty-nine belonging to
the smaller temple. The rapacity of the Turks
has also contributed to their destruction, from
their desire of possessing the iron pins and
cramps with which the huge blocks of masonry .
are joined.
Ihe massiveness, indeed, of the stones and
blocks of marble is not the least remarkable fea-
ture of these ruins. No modem mechanical
oontrivance, it is said, could convey such masses
iit>m any distance into their present positions.
Stones, from tweniy-eight to thirty-five feet long,
and nine in depth, form the second layer of the
great temple. One is even fifty-nine feet long
and twelve deep.
The period of the erection of these edifices
seems to be a question lost in entire obscurit;|r.
The age of Aurelian, from the similarity of their
style with that of the Palmyra edifices, would
seem to be the most probable. Here is the same
compound of Grecian forms with Asiatic adorn-
ment and luxuriant display, the same fantas-
tical ornaments, united with ofcaaional gcaadMr
of design and boldness of execution.
The town now inhabited is small and mean,
but about four miles in circuit The populatioc
has been for a long period gradusdly cucreasing:
the town was computed, in 1751, to contain 5000,
and in 1784, to contain only 1200 poor and in-
dolent inhabitants, cultivating a little cotton,
maize, and water-melons, for their subsistence.
History has preserved but few traces of this
place. Aboilt 140 years before the time of An-
toninus PiuSy it was garrisoned by Roman troops.
Some writers state Uiat he erected the principal
part of the present edifice on the site of one more
ancient Under Constantino it was neglected, and
the great temple soon after converted into a church:
thus it vras appropriated until the irruption of the
Arabs, when it tell rapidly into decay. After a
vigorous defence, the town was taken by that
nation, under Abu Obeidah, a commander of the
caliph Omar. In 1401 it was taken by Tamer^
lane. An earthquake, in 1759, nearly com-
pleted its destruction. Distant forty miles
N.N. W. of Damascus, and 110 S. of Aleppo.
BALBINUS, Decifflus Coelius, emperor of
Rome, was elected by the senate, A.D. 237, but
massacred, along with his colleague, Maximus,
soldiers.
BALBO (Vasco Nunes de), a Castilian; a
celebrated navigator, and one of the first disco-
verers of South America. He was beheaded by
the Spanish govenor of St lAary, through jodonsy
of his growing reputation, in 1517, aged forty-
two.
BALBU'CIN ATE, 17.11. Vtom UL bMuHo,
to stammer in speaking. Diet.
BALBUL, in ornithology^ a species of Anas,
or duck having a black beak, and spot on the vfing,
above obliquely green, beneath obliquely black.
Forsk. Fn. Arab.
BALBUS (Lucius Cornelius Theophanes),
was bom at Cadiz, and distinguished himself by
tis valor in the war carried on by the Romans in
Spain against Sertorius and the Lusitanians, on
which account Pompey gave him the privileges
of a Roman citizen. He was consul in the 714th
year of Rome, and was the first foreigner on
whom that dignity was conferred. He was the
friend of Pompey, Caesar, Crassus, and Cicero.
BALBUSARDUS, in ornithology, the name
used by authors, for the bird called in English
, the bald buzzaitl. It is of the long-winged
hawk kind, and has been described by AJdrovan-
dus and some other authors, under the name
of the Htdisetus and Morphnus, two species of
the eagle. It frequents the shores of ponds and
rivers, and sometimes of the sea, where it preys
on fish. It builds on the ground among reeds,
and lays three or four large white eggs, nearly
as big as bens' ms.
BALBUTIATEyV.n. The same with 6a/6ti^
ctiuzte.
BALCAIRN, a place in Perthshire, in the
parish of Clunie, which some antiquarians sup-
pose to bave been the scene of the decisive battle
between Agricola and Galgacus.
BALCANQUAL (Walter), an eminent Scot-
tish divine, who attended James I. to England,
and at Oxford took the degree of D.D. He
Digitized by
Googl(
BAL
412
BAL
) bis majesty's chaplain, master of the Sa-
roy, and representative of the church of Scotland,
at the synod of Dort. He was appointed dean of
Rochester in 1625, and of Durham in 1639.
During the rebellion he underwent many liard-
ships, being obliged to fly from place to place.
He died on Christmas day, 1645, at Chirk castle
in Denbighshire ; he wrote, Epistles concerning the
Synod of Dort, and the Declaration of King
Charles I. concerning the late tumults in Scotland,
folio, 1630.
BALCARRA, a town of Ireland, in the
county of Mayo, 115 miles from Dublin.
BALCARRY, a free port on the west coast of
Scotland, in the Stewartry of Galloway, and
parish of Rerwick. It is naturally a safe and
commodious harbour.
BALCHRISTIE; Gael. i. e. the town of
Christian ; a village of Fifeshire, in the parish of
Newbum, anciently given to the Culdees, by king
Malcolm III. and his queen St. Margaret. Tra-
dition reports that the first Christian church in
Scotland was built in this village.
BALCK, a town of Usbeck Tartary, on the
frontiers of Persia, 200 miles south of Bokhara.
BALCLUITHA, a settlement in the south
part of Kentucky, on the west side of Big Sandy
fiver.
BALCCXNY, n. s. Fr. halcon; Ital. bokone,
a frame of iron, wood, or stone, before the win-
dow of a room.
Then pleasure came» who, liking not the ftishion.
Began to make bakoniei, temces.
Till she had weaken'd all by alteration. Herbtrt,
When dirty waters from balconim drop.
And dext'rous damteli twirl the sprinkling mop.
Balcony in a ship, denotes a gallery either
covered or open, msbde abaft, either for orna-
ment or convenience of the captain's cabin.
BALD', adj. ^ Welch 6a/, wanting hair.
Bald'ly, adv. >A bare surface which ii
Bald'ness, n. s. j usually covered, or fledged
by nature. In the human species this is usually
the effect of time, vexation, fever, or cutaneous
disease of the parts, or, as some say, the dryness
of the brain. It is figuratively employed to de-
note whatever is inelegant and meagre of thought,
in literary composition or verbal discourse ; what-
ever is mean, undignified and valueless, in cha-
racter and disposition.
Come hither goodman bald pate. Do you know me?
Shaktpeare,
Why yon hold pated lying, rascal, yon must be
hooded must yoa ! Id,
Under an oak, whose boughs were moss'd with age»
And high top hold with diy antiquity. Id,
This ftoii unjointed chat of his, my lord,
I answered indirectly. Id,
What should the people do with these htdd tribunes ?
On whom depending, their obedience foils
To th' greater bench. Id.
He should imitate C«sar, who, because his head
was haUL, covered that defect with laurels. Addiaon^
Hobbes, in the preface to his own hold translation,
begins the praise of Homer where he should have
ended it. Dryden'a Fahlet, Preface,
And that, though labour'd, line, must hold appear.
That brings uagratefol musick to the ear. Creech.
Baldness occurs chiefly on the lincipfat It
differs from alopecia, acea, ophiasis, and tinea,
as these all arise from some vices in the nutritious
humor ; baldness, from the defect of it. When
the eye-lids shed their hair, it is called a ptilosis.
Among the causes of baldness, immoderate veneiy
is reputed one of the chief: old age usually brings
it on of course ; and it frequently results from
violent fevers. Eunuchs and women are almost
always free from it, and Aristotle says that it
never can precede the age of puberty. Herodotus,
iii. 12, says the Egyptians seldom went bald,
because they shaved their heads from childhood,
and thus hardened them in the sun! Calvus
(bald), among the Romans, was a term of re-
proach. Thus Juvenal calls Domitian, calvus
Nero. The later Romans, however, seem to
have been reconciled to baldness ; for we find
among them a kind of officers, or servants, called
glabratores or glabrari, whose business vras to
take off* the hair from all parts, even from the
head. In an ancient inscription there is mention
made of one Diophantus, TI. CiESARIS oa-
NATOR GLABR. that is, Omator Glabrarius. We
have seen it somewhere observed that the ma-
jority of Englishmen, above forty, are more or
less bald. Buflbn observes that the crown of the
head, and the space immediately above the tem-
ples, are the parts which first becopae bald ; but
that the hair below the temples, and on the in-
ferior part of the back of the h^, seldom &lls
off. He also adds, diat baldness is peculiar to
men. In its early stages nutritives, particulariy
a tea made of abrotonum, southernwood, have
been advised to be applied to the roots of the
hair.
BALDACANIF£R,or Balcakifer, a stand-
ard-bearer ; chiefly in the ancient order of knights
Templars.
BAL'DACHIN, n. s. Ital. haldachino, a piece
of architecture, in form of a canopy, supported
with columns, and serving as a covering to an
altar. It properly signifies a rich silk, Du Cangt^
and was a canopy carried Over the host
Baldachin, Paldakin, Baldekiw, or
Bauldekin, in middle-age writers, a rich kind
of cloth made of gold warp and silk woof, vari-
ously figured. It took the denomination from its
being formerly brought into these countries from
Baldacio, or babylon.
Bald-Buzzard, in ornithology, the name
given by Willoughby and others to the Falco
Haliaetos, or Osprey. It is the balbuzsaid of
Buffbn. See Balbusardus.
Bald Eagle, or Sinking-Spring Valley, lies
upon the frontiers of Bedford county, in Penn-
sylvania, about 200 miles west of Philadelphia.
It is bounded on the east by a chain of high
nigged mountains, called the Canoe ridge ; and
on the west by the Bald Eagle, or Warrior
mountains, and is a pleasant vale, having a lime-
stone bottom, about nve miles wide ; its vicinity
abounds with lead-ore, and shows signs of pit
coal. The curiosity of this place is the swallows,
which absorb several of the largest streams of
the valley, and after conveying them several miles
under ground, return them again to the snr&ce.
Hence its name of Sinking-Sprinff Valley. The
most remarkable of these is called the Arch
Digitized by
Googl(
BAL
413
BAL
Springs^ which run close upon the road from the
town to the fort ; being a deep hollow formed in
the Uroe-stone rock, about thirty feet wide, covered
with a stony arch^ and giving passage to a fine
stream of water, which enters the mouth of a
spacious cave, whose exterior aperture is sufficient
to adroit a shallop with her sails full spread.
In the midst of this cave, from eighteen to twenty
feet wide, are timber, bodies and branches of
trees, &c. which, being lodged up to the roof of
the passage, show that the water rises to the top
during freshes. The cave, extending about forty
yards, widens into a large kind of room, at the
bottom of which is a vortex, where the water
forms a whirlpool, and absorbs pieces of float-
ing timber, which are instantly conveyed out
of sight. From the top of the Bald-eagle
mountains is a fine prospect of those of the
Alleghany.
Bald Eagle, a river of the United States
which runs forty-four miles north-west, and fiills
into the Susquehanna.
Bald Eagle Creek, a head water of the
Huron. ■
BAL'DERDASH, n.i.icv.a. Probably of
Sax. balb, bold, and dash, to mingle ; any ming
jumbled together without judgment; rude mix-
ture ; a coi^used discourse. The verb is derived
from the noun, and signifies to mix or adulterate
any liquor. Balderdash, in its primary sense,
probably signified the froth or toam made by
Darbers in dashing their balls backwards and
forwards in hot water.
They wonld no more live under the yoke of the
tea, or have their heads washed with his bobbly
fcpume or bubect faf<farrf<iil iViu&e, Lemiem ttuff*.
It ii against my freehold, my inheritance,
• To drink each MdsnbuA, or bomiy clabber!
B«ff Jcntom,
Mine is such a drench of balderdash.
Beamnont and Flet^er.
Bald Head, an island at the mouth of Cape
Fear river, North Carolina. A light-house was
erected here in December 1794; four miles
N. N. W. of Cane Fear.
Bald Head, tne south-west part of West Bay,
in the district of Maine.
Bald Head, a point on the north-western shore
of America, in Norton sound. Long. 198° IS'
E., lat 64° 43' N.
Bald Head, a promontory of New Holland,
about.400 feet high, on the south-west coast, at
- the mouth of King George's sound. Branches
of coral appearing through the surface of the top,
have given rise to a conjecture that this promon-
tory emerged from the sea. Long, 1 18° E.,
lat. 35° 6' S.
BALDI (Bernard), an Italian mathematician
and poet, bom at Urbino in 1553. He studied
at Padua and afterwards became mathematician
to the duke of Guastalla. He wrote several
excellent poems in the Italian language, and
translated the works of various ancient mathe-
maticians into that language. He died in 1617.
His Lives of Mathematicians were printed in
1707.
BALDINI (John Anthony), an Italian noble-
man, bom at Placentiai, in 1654. He was a man
of great lesming, and employed as ambassador
at different courts of Europe. He was also at
the congress of Utrecht. He made a large collec-
tion of curiosities imd books ; a catalogue of
which was printed in the Italian Literary Journal.
He died in 1725.
BALDINUCCI (Philip), of Florence ; a con-
noisseur in the polite arts, and the continuator
of Vasari's lives of the painters. He died in
1696, aged seventy-two.
Bald Island, an island off Mount Gardner,
on the south-west coast of New Holland, about
two miles long. Long. 18° 29' E., lat. 34°
55' S.
BALDIVIA, or Valdivia, a sea-port town
of Chili in South America. It is situated be-
tween the rivers Callaculles and Portero, where
they hiX into the South Sea, and was built in
1551 by the Spaiiish general Valdivia, from whom
it takes its name. In 1643 it was taken by the
Dutch, who would probably have maintained
their conquest against all the power of the Spanish
viceroy, had they not been obliged to relinquish
it through sickness and famine.
BALIXMGN Y, n. s. Gentian ; a plant.
BALDO Monte, a mountain of luly, the
highest in the Veronese. It is situated at the
head of lake Gar^^ and is iamous for its rare
plants. Sea shells are found upon the top of it.
BALDOCK, a market-town and parish of
Herts, eight miles south from Biggleswade, and
thirty-seven north from London ; containing 1600
inhabitants. It is a neat, pleasant place, originally
built by the knights-templars, in the leign of
Stephen, and stands on the old Roman road,
Ikening street, and the present great nortli road.
The church is large and handrnme, with three
chancels. There is a well-endowed alms-house,
and several excellent charities in this parish.
Market on Thursday. The chief articles of trade
are com and malt
Baldock (Ralph de), bishop of London under
Edward I. and II., was educated at Mertons
college in Oxford ; became dean of St. Paul's ;
was afterwards promoted to the see of London ;
and at last was made lord high chancellor of
England. He liad a very amiable character both
for morals and learning; and wrote Historia
Anglica, or an history of Uie British affairs, down
to his own time, and a Collection of the Statutes
and Constitutions of the church of St Paul. He
died at Stepney, July 24, 1313.
Bald-Pate, in zoology, a name given by Ray
to the columba leucocephala.
BALDRED ; Sax. from bald, bold, and rede,
counsel ; the last king of Kent.
BALITRICK, n. s. It was formeriy written
bdudrick, and signified a belt of leather, from the
old French baudrier^ derived from the verb 6au-
droyer, to dress skins. It is now used to signify
a fi^rdle, a bracelet, and has been applied to the
zodiac.
Athwart his breast a baldriek braae he waie.
That shin'd like twinkling stars, with stones most
precious rare. Spenaer,
That like the twins of Jove, they seem*d in sights
Which deck the baUrieh of the heavens bright Id.
That a woman conceived me, I thank her ^ that
she brought me up, 1 likewise give her ,most humble
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but thM I ^n hkre a f«chcfll nmd^ in ray
ibrebead, or hang my bagU ia an iavkible baUnek,
aUwMiMahaUpaxAmme. Shakpenr^
A radiaat haUriek o'er biasboolden ty'd,
SiMtaia'd tba nMrd tbat glittBT'd at Us aiile^ Ptpa,
Baldrick was a belt worn by the Saxons,
hanging from the shoulder across the breast, on
which the sword was hung.
BALDWIN, archbishop of Canterbury, was
bom of obscure parents at Exeter, where, in the
early part of hit life, he taught a grammar school ;
after which he took orders and was made arch-
deaeon of Exeter ; but resigned and became a
Cistertian monk in the monastery of Ford in
Devonshire, of which in a few years he was made
abbot. Id 1180 he was consecrated bishop of
Worcester. In 1 184 he was promoted to the see
of Canterbury by pope Lucius HI., and by his
successor Urban III. was appointed legate. Is
1 189 he crowned king Riehara I. at Westminster;
and soon after followed that prince to the holy
knd, where he died at the siege of Ptolemats.
He wrote various tracts on religioas subjects,
which were collected and published by Bertraad
Tissier iii 1663.
Baldwin I. earl of Flanders, was prodaimed
emperor of Constantinople, A. D. 1204, in op-
position to Theodore Lascarts, but enjoyed ms
new dignity littie more than a year. He was
succeeded by his brother Henry, who took Con-
itantinople in 1206.
Baldwin II., emperor of Constantinople, sue-
ceeded Robert the tburtik Latin emperor A.D.
1239, and reigned thirty-three yeus; but was
expelled by Michael VIIL, who recovered Con-
stantinople, and thus put an end to the empire of
tlM Latins in the east, A.D. 1261.
Baedwiv (Frascb), a learned cJTiliaD, bom at
Arras, in 1520. He is said to have dianged his
religion four different times, from the Protestant
to the Catholic faith, and vice veru. He how-
ever obtained successively the patronage of the
emperor Charles V. Anthony king of Navarre,
and Hent^ III. king of Poland; the latter of
whom having invited him to hb court, he was
nakkig preparations for his journey, when he
was seised with a fever, of which he died in
1572. He wrote Le|es de Rustica ; Novella Con-
stittttio prima; de Heredibus et Lege Flacidia;
and olfaer works.
Baldwiit I. king of Jerusalem, was the son
of EustaA, count of Boulogne. Having ac-
companied his brother Godfrey into Palestine,
he there obtained the country of Edessa. He
ascended thedhvne of Jerusalem as his brother's
successor in 1100, and next year took Antipatris,
Cesarea, and Azotus ; and Acre, after a long siege,
in 1104. He died in 1118, and was interred on
Mount Calvary. He was an active and enter-
prising prince.
Baldwin II. son of Hugh, count of Rethel,
succeeded to the throne in 1118, afler Eustace,
the brother of Baldwin I. had given up all claim
to it. In 1120 he gained a great victory over
the Saracens, but was made prisoner by them in
1124; and gave up the city of Tyre to obtain his
liberty. He died in 1131.
Baldwin III. IV. and V. were also kings of
Jenisalem in the latter port of the twelfth cen-
tury; the last of this muDe being poisoned, ilwas
diougbt, by his mother, in 1186.
BAXB, fi. 9, v.n. k, v. q. Fr. embailar;
Ital* wihalitare^ a bundle or parcel packed up for
carviage; a pair of dice. To make up into a
paitet As used fa^ satlon, it is distinguished
noa pumping, and signifies to lave out water
from hand to hand ; from the French haiUer.
One hired an ass ia th* dog-days, U» eany cectaia
haki of goods to sach a tovn. Z'&lranff.
It is part of the Mm ia whieh bohea tea wm
brought over from Cklaa. IFaoAMrd.
It is a felso dice of the same fofe, bat not the oaao
cat. Otosr^My. Chane. sign. Q. 2.
For exereise of anas a Ms of dice.
BmJ9mm,NmfIfm.
BALF, n.«. -) Sax. btti; Dan. hale;
Bale'pul, a^. > Icetandie 60/, M ; Cimb.
Bale'fully* adv. ) baid ; Sax. bealopill. Mi-
sery, cahmtty^ mischief, poison, its genuine
meaning.
And I salle telle that tale, or I ferrer go,
IVow falsnet biewes hate wkh him, and many mo.
R. Bnmuu, p. 55w
8ho look'd about, and aeeiag one in mail
Jktmed to point, aooght back to turn agaia;.
For light she hated as the deadly iaJe. .
FatriB Quttm,
Bat when be saw his thioat'ning was bnt Tain,
Ho tua'd abo«t» and seaich'd hiaM^ booka again.
ThenGofofth they playmt, and make foil
Unto the author of their kdefkB bane.
Snob ttonnio stooiee d» brood my lid^UI
As if my yoaro wore wast and waxo&old.
Boiling ohofter chokfli^
By light of these, our haUfid eBomias.
Roand he throws his haUfid eyes.
That witnessed huge aflUctiom and disokay,
Hia'd with obdurate pride and stedfut hate.
IPapoen, anfelt, the liory seipenit skims
Botwiat her linen and her naked limba.
His tal»/W breath iaapiiing as ho glidea.
DiydM.
Happy leme, whose most wholeaonm air
Poisons enTenom'd sptdcn, and foibids
The hokfiU toad and vipca from herahoic.
Bale, in commerce, is particularly applied to
a quantity of packed up merchandise, well se-
cured for carriage or voyages. To sell goods in
the bale is to sell them in tlie lump, on showing
a specimen, without unpacking, or taking off the
cordage. Thus the East India Company and
others sell their goods. In the East India trade,
the bulky goods are salt-petre, pepper, red earth,
tea, &c. Bale goods stand opposed to piece
goods.
A Bale of camlet, at Smyrna, is called a table,
on account of its flat square.
A Bale of cotton yam is from 300 to 400
weight.
A Bale of dice denotes a little packet, or
paper, containing some dozens of dice.
J Bale of dowlas, or of lockram, consists of
either three, three and a half, or four pieces.
^ Bale of paper denotes a certain, or rather
uncertain number of reams packed together m
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« bonidLe. Thote wan from Mftraeillcs to Con-
sUntiD6ple usually contain twelve reams. A
bale or ballon of crown paper, manufactured in the
depaitmenta of the Var, tne Lower Alps, and the
mouths of the Rhone, consists of fourteen reams.
A Hals of raw silk contains from 100 to
400 weight.
B^LK (John), bishop of Ossory in Ireland,
was bom at Cove, in Suffolk, m 1495. At
twelve years «f age he was ^tered in the mo-
aasteiy of the Carmelites, Norwich. He was
edttciUed a Roman Catholic; but, being converted
to the Protestant religion by Thomas Lord Went*
worth, on the death of Lord Cromwell^ who pro«
teeted him from the Romish clergy, he was
obliged to retire into the Low Countries, where
he continued eight yean. Soon after the acces-
sion of Edward VI. he was recalled; and being*
fint presented, to the living of Bishop*s Stoke
in Hampshire, in 1552, was nominated to tha
see of Ossory. During his residence in Ireland
he was remarkably assiduous in propagating tha
protestant doctrines; but frequently at the hsoard
of his life. Qnce five of ais domestics were
muidevedy as he would probably have been, had
not the sovereign of Iwilkenny come to bis as«
sistance with 100 horse and 300 foot. On the
aocessimi of queen Mary, the tide of opposition
became so powerful, that he embarked tor Hol-
land, but was very unfortunate in his escape.
First he was taken by a Dutch man of war, and
robbed of all his effects. Then, being forced by
-stress of weather into St. Ive's in Comwallt ha
was confined on suspicion of treason. Being re^
leased after a few days confinement, the ship
tocbored in Dover rrad, where he was agpiiii
seized on a fidse accusation. Afiter his arrival in
HoUand he was kept prisoner for three weeks,
and at length obtained bis liberty on paying £3(K
From HoUand he travelled to Basil in Switzo^
land, where he continued till queen Elisabeth
ascended the thpon«. AAer his lelum to
England be was^ in 156Q| made prebeodafy of
Canterbury, not choosing to return to his former
flod^ of wolves. Be di£ in November 1 J»63, at
Caalerbniy, agjBd sixty'.eighL He was so severe
a whter agaiqst the dburoh of Rom^ that his
books^ aie paitieularly' pcobibited in 'the expwrgar
tcwY index, published at Madrid i^ 1667. Most
<d his writiagi are aittacks upoa the religion he
had abandons. His Brief Chronicle concerning
Sir John Oldcasiie was republished in 1729;
and be is also the author of many stroMSige pic^
ductioDS in En^^Ush metre, among^ which are
several phiys on sabred suliyects, a sp^imen of
which may be seen in the Harleian Miscellany.
To modem readers they would appear strange
bnilesques ; but, as the author himself informs
m, they were gravely and piously represented in
his own days byyoung men a| the market-cross
of Kilkenny. Tne j^rincipal work of bishop
Bale is his Scriptorum lUustrium Majocis Bay
taonite Calalogus ; or. An Account of the Lives
of eminent Writers of Britain ; which, according
to the title, commences with Japhet the son <v
Noah, and reaches to the. year 1557 1 It formed
llie foundation of. all the large subsequent conk-
piJatioiie. of this. kind.
Bau[, Baslb or Basil. See Basle.
BALEARES Insula^ or Balbaaic Islamos,
islands in the Mediterranean, so called from BoX-
Xciv, because the inhabitants were excellent
slingers. But Bochart makes the name of Punic
or ^hcenician original, as were the people:
Baal-Jare, signifying a master, or skilful at throw-
ing; the Phcenicians and Hebrews being dexte-
rous at the use of the sling. The Greeks called
these islands Gymnasia, because, in summer, the
inhabitants went naked, or rather because they
wero only armed with a sling in war. There are
two principal ones called Major and Minor; and
hence the modern names Mstjorca and Minorcsu
The Major is distant from the Minor thirty nules
to the west; in length 40 miles, and in circuit
150. They were subdued by Quintus Mete^
lusi, A. A, C. 190, The Baleares, together with
the adjacent islands, were a part of the Pro-
vincia Citerior orTarTaoonensis,and of the resort
of the Coventus Carths^niensis, or New Car-
thage. These islands are called Cheorades, by
ApoUonius, and Choeradades, by Strabo, i. e«
rocky. See Majorca and Minorca.
BALEARICUS, a surname obtained by Me-
tellus upon his conquest of the Baleares.
BM.ECHOU (John Joseph), a celebrated
French engraver, bom at Aries, in 1719. He
died at Avignon, in 1765. Thb extraordinarv
artist wrought entirely with the graver, of whicn
he was fully master. The clearness of his strokes^
and the depth of color which he produced, are
fiur beyond any prodnctionprior to his own. His
two la^e plates from Vemet, the one represent
ing a storm, the other a calia, must ever be coar
' sidered as astonishing epiertions. They ate too
well known, aad too much admired, to need anv
further eulogium: «ul were never equaUetd^
until ihfiY were peihaps surpassed by our counr
tiyman WooUieC
BALEN (Hendrick Van), history and poiw
trait painter, was bom at Antwerp^ in 1560; wee
a disciple of Adam Van Oort, and lesided al
Rome a considerable time. He copied the
antiques; and at his return to his ow« country,
the visible iwprovieiQenit of his tssta procured
him the eMMem of the ablest judges^ Be gane
to his figures so much truth, roundness, and
correctness oi outline, th»t few of bis contemp<^-
raries could enter into competition wi^ mm.
Several fine poctiaits ^ his lemain. His died in
leai^.
Balex (John Van), peinter of history, land-
scapes, and bc^s, was born al Antwerp,in 1611 ;
ana deri?ed h» knowledge of. the art, and his
fine taste of drawing and design, from his &ther
Hendrick ; hut, as soon as he had made a com-
petent progress, he tfavelled to Rome, and lived
tor several years in that and other cities of Italy.
Thece he acquired a good gusto of design, thou^
he was sometimes incorrect. His particular
merit was m his figures of naited boys, cupids,
and nymphs bathmg or hunting, of which sub-
jects he painted a coasiderable. number ; and he
procured bo^ praise and riches by his land-
scapes and histories. The carnations of his
figures were clear and fresh; his coloring in
geneml transparent ; the airs of his heads were
in) the manner of AlbanOk.
BALENGARIA, Balcngbr, in writers of the
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middle age, a kind of vessel of war, but of what
particular construction seems not well known.
Blount says, that by thestat. 28 Hen. VI. cap. 5,
balenger seems to have been a kind of barge.
BALES rPeter), a fisimous master in the art
of penmanship, or iair writing ; and one of the
first inventors of short hand. He was bom in
1547, and is styled, by Anthony Wood, * a most
dexterous person in his profession.' Wood adds,
that * he spent several years in sciences among
the Oxonians, particularly in Gloucester-hall ;
but that study, which he used for a diversion only,
proved at length an employment of profit.' He
IS mentioned in HoUinshed's Chronicle, A. D.
1525; and Mr. Evelyn has celebrated his deli-
cate execution of a piece of writing, containing
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 (Eliiabeth), to whom he presented it
at Hampton Court, all * writteu 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
ercat admiration of her Majesty, the whole Privy
i^ouncil, and several ambassadors then at (%urt V
He was also dexterous in imitating hand-writings
and, about 1586, was employed by Secretary
Walsingham in certain political manoeuvres.
In 1590, we find him at the head of a school,
near the Old Bailey, London ; in which year he
published his Writing Schoolmaster, in three
parts : the first teaching swift writing, the second
true writing, the third &ir writing. In 1595, he.
had a great trial of skill in Blackfriars with one
Daniel Johnson, for a golden pen of £20 value,
and won it. He had also the arms of Calligraphy
given him, which are Azure, a Pen, Or, as a
prize, at a trial of skill in this art among the
oest penmen in London. In 1597, he repub-
lished his Writing Schoolmaster, which was in
mx&k high reputation, that no less than eighteen
copies of commendatory verses, composed by
learned men of that time, were printed before it.
Wood says, that he was engagea in Essex's trea-
sons in 1600; but he was only engaged, and
very innocently so, in serving the treacherous
purposes of one of that Earl's mercenary de-
pendents.
BALESSAN, the eastern name for that spe-
cies of the Amyris which produces the celebrated
balsam d Mecca, the ancient balm of Gilead.
This plant grows to the height of fourteen feet,
flourishing in a hot climate, and in a stony bar-
ren soil. In general it is lower, and Mr. Bruce
describes a specimen five feet and a half in
hei^t, and five inches across the stem where
thickest. The wood is white, light, and of open
texture, covered with a smooth bark, reddish or
of bluish white, resembling tliat of a healthy
standard cherry-tree, green within, and emitting
a very fragrant odor. That of the branches,
which are very flexible and resinous, is equally
agreeable. The leaves, which are everjjreen and'
scanty, bear some resemblance to those of rue ;
and the flowers, which are leguminous and of a
purplish color, resemble those of the acacia.
The firuit consists of small pointed ovoidal berries.
containing a yellowish fluid sinular to honer, of
a bitterish taste, and exhaling a pleasing perfume,
approaching the odor of balm.
It has been in modem times maintained that
the plants producing the balsam of Mecca are
restricted to a plantation of a little more' than
thirty acres, at Beder Ilunein, a station for pil-
grims in Arabia, between Mecca and Medina.
Yet it cannot be positively affirmed if this be one
species, that Abyssinia, the country ascribed to
the other, is deprived of it ; or that the balm of
Gilead grows in Abyssinia exclusively. Thes^
are facts which require elucidation from future
botanical research. The plantation belonccs to a
noble family of Arabs, of the tribe Beni K'oreish,
from which Mahomet originated, unless the Wa-
habees, who interrupted the wo^ red pilgrimages,
have dispossessed them of their inheritance. The
balsam is a resinous matter, exuding, like ordi-
nary resin from incisions in the bark, in July,
August, and September. It is received in an
earthen bottle, and the most productive trees do
not yield more than sixty drops a day, we are
told. At this time it emits a very strong and
pungent odor, and is of a rough, acrid taste, a
pale yellow turbid color, and it dissolves in
oils readily. Afterwards it acquires a deeper
color, as well as greater consistency and clear-
ness, and is not unlike honey in its appearance.
It sinks in clear Water to Uie bottom, and, if
dropped on hot iron, collects itself into a glo-
bule. It is said to be frequently adulterated
with honey, wax, and oil. The best kind is called
opobalsamum; there are two other kinds, the
carpobalsamum, and xylobalsamum; they are
obtained from an expression of the firuit of the
amyris, the other from a decoction of the twigs.
Prosper Alpinus ascribes many properties to
the balsam of Mecca, esteemed the most precious
of all that bear the appellation of balsam, and
which, in ordinary description, we most consider
synonymous with the balm of Gilead ; and the
modem Arabs, Turks, and Egyptians, entertain
great confidence in its efficacy. It is a powerful
vulnerary: Mahomet affirmed, that a grove of
the trees sprung up from the blood of bis own
tribe killed in battle, the juice of which cored the
wounds of the faithful, however deadly, nay, that
it recovered some of them from death itself. It
is also taken for complaints in the breast, in fe-
vers, and rheumatism. Hasselquist says, it is
useful as a stomachic in doses of three grains.
Its repute as an antiseptic is very great ; and it is
esteemed so efiectual an antidote against the
plague, that when this distemper makes its appear-
ance, the Egyptians take a certain quantity oaily
Its principal use, however, is as a cosmetic by
the eastern females of rank : after being kept in a
very warm bath, the face and breast are anointed
with it, and the same process is continued every
third day for a month. Oil of almonds and other
cosmetics are then rubbed over the parts, where-
by the skin and complexion are beautifully reno-
vated. Lady Mary VVortley Montague relates,
that she was induced to try the experiment, by
w)>ich her taca became swelled and red for three
days, durin r which she suff.^red much pain ; but
her complexion was greatly improved. She adds^
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that the ladies of Constantinople, by whom it is
used, have the finest bloom. As yielding the
virtues of the baJm of Gilead, this plant has
been celebrated from very remote antiquity.
When Joseph was confined by his brethren in a
, pit, it is said, * they sat down to eat bread ; and
' they lifted up their eyes and looked, and behold
. a company of Ishmaelites came from Gilead,
with their camels bearing spicery, and balm, and
myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt/ Jere-
taste, that he obtained the prize of merit in the
academy of St. Luke, in 1694, when he was only
twenty-eight. From that time his reputation
was established, and he was engaged to work foe
most of the churches and the nobility, and his
paintings were universally admired. His style
IS like that of Maratti; and his works have a
certain mixture of the manners of Raphael, Cor-
regio, and Caracci. He died in 1740. In Uie
church of Santa Maria Mater Domini, at Venice,
miah particularly aUudes to its virtues ; and there is one of his most capital performances,
Josephus states, the quee> of Sheba, or Saba, representing the nativity of our Saviour. In a
' who was mqiiisitive it.t6 philosophy, and on chapel belonging to the church of S. Geminiano,
that and otner accounts was also to be admired/ in tne same city, there is another capital picture
brought the balm of Gilead as a present to Solo- of his, representing our Saviour aead, in the
mon, on her visit to Jerusalem. arms of the virgin.
* They say also,' he adds, * that we possess the Balestra, in ichthyology,' a name by which
root of this balsam, which our countiy still bears,
from that woman's gift.' It appears from the
writings of the ancients, nearly contemporary
Sylvian and others have called the fish more
usually known by the name of Capriscus.
BALETCHENC^, a town of Turkey in
with Josephus, that Judea was generally be- Asia, on the Kurasir, twenty-one miles from
lieved to he possessed of it exclusively, rliny
says, 'To all other odors whatsoever is to be
preferred that balsam, which is produced in no
other part of the world than the land of Judea,
and tnere in two gardens only, both belonging
to the king, one not exceeding twenty acres in
Hazahan, and twenty-seven miles from Kati-
bounou. It consists of 260 houses, and carries
on a considerable traffic in horses, cattle, and
goats' hair, made into bags.
HALEY (Walter), the son of Henry Haley of
Wamwell in Dorsetshire, was bom at Portsham,
size, and the second still smaller.' Strabo partly and educated at Winchester, f^rom thence he
confirms the above accounts, ascribing it to that was sent to Oxford ; and, after two years proba-
countiy, over or near to which the quieen of She- tion, was Emitted perpetual fellow of New Col-
ba reigned. ' Near to this,' he says, ' is the most lege, in 1550. Having taken his degree of
fiivor^ land of the Sabeans, a very great people. M. A. he practised physic, and in 1558 was
Frankincense, myrrh, and cinnamon, grow among proctor of the university. About this time he
them, and in the coast that is about Saba, the obtained the prebend of Wells, which he resigne<?
balsam also.' Whence Bruce observes, that in 1559. In 1561 he was appointed queen'
' among the myrrh-trees behind Asab, all along professor of physic, in 1563 proceeded M. D
the coast to the Straits of Babelmandel, is its and afterwards became one of her majesty's phy-
native country. It grows to a tree about four- sicians in ordinary. He was thought skilful in
teen feet high spontaneously, and without culture, his profession, and had considerable practice,
like the myrrh, the oofiee, and frankincense-tree ; He died in 1592, aged sixty-three; and was
they are all equally the wood of the country, and buried in the inner chapel of New College. His
occasionally cut down for fuel.' Diodorus Si- works are, 1. A Discourse of three kinds of Pep-
culus affirms that this balsam grew in a valley of per in common use, 1588, 8vo. 2. Brief Treatise
Arabia Felix. Ali Bey says, that there is no of the Preservation of the Eye-sight ; first printed
balsam made now at Mecca: that, on the con- at Oxford in 1616 and 1645, 8vo. 3. Directions
trary, it is very scarce, and is obtained princi- for Health, natural and artificial ; with medicines
pally in the territory of Medina ; as also that it for all diseases of the eyes, 1626, 4to. 4. Expli-
was called belsan, for whose history see our arti- catio Galeni de potu Convalescentium et Senum^
cle Babia. &c. MS. formerly* in Lord Aylesbury's library.
Galen travelled into Syria and Palestine, pur- BALFROSH, a town of Persia, in the pro-
posely to obtain a knowledge of this substance : vince of Mazendaran, consisting of one principal
in 1516 we find the emperor Selim levying a tax
of three pounds weight of it annually on Arabia
street, occupied almost wholly by a bazaar, and
divided into seventeen wards. Here are eight
and Egypt ; which is said to be levied to this day. caravansaries, three of which are devoted to the
Part of the governor of Cairo's appointments use of the Russians and Armenians. It is the
include a right to receive a pound of indsam ; the second town of the province, distant twenty
like quantity is due to an officer who conducts miles west of Fehrabad.
the caravan of . pilgrims to Mecca ; and half a BALGA, a bailiwic, castle, and town- of Bran-
pound to the pacha of Damascus. denberg, in East Prussia, opposite Pillau, and
BALESTRA (Antonio), an excellent historical twenty-four miles south-west of Konigsberg.
painter, bom at Verona in 1666. At the age of The celebrated fortress of Storeda is in this
iwenty-ooe he went to Venice, where he con- vicini^.
tinned for three years, under the direction of BALGAVIES, a lake of Scotland, in the parisl4
Ant. Bellucci. lie next visited Bologna and of Aberiemno, in Angusshire, through which
Rome, and at the latter became the disciple of the Lunan runs. It furnishes much marl for
Maratti. Under him he exerted himself in de- manuring the adjacent grounds,
fligning after Raphael, Corregio, Annibal Caracci, BALGILLO, a hill of Scotland, in the parish
lcc« by which he so efiectually confirmed his of Monyfeith in Angusshire, about half a mile
Vol. in. 2 E
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BALI.
north of Brougfaty Castle ; on which there are
still to be seen remains of those fortifications
that were erected by the English, under Henry
VIII. when tliey ravaged Dundee and most of
the county during the regency of the earl of
Arran, in 1548.
BALGONIE, a district in Fifeshire, the
Eroperty of the E^rl of Leren^ and from which
is eldest son takes his title. It produces ex-
cellent coals, and is said to have been wrought
for that mineral upwards of 300, some say 500,
years ago.
BALGONIE Castle, one of the earl of
Leven's seats, in the parish of Markinch, in Fife-
shire, a fabric of great antiquity, supposed to
have been built in the twelfth century.
BALGUY (John), an eminent divine of the
church of England, was bom in 1686, at Shef-
field, and studied at Cambridge, where he took
the degrees of A. B. and M. A. In 1708 he was
appointed tutor to Joseph Bauks, esq. grand-
fiither to the celebrated Sir Joseph. In 1710 he
was ordained a deacon, and in 1711 a priest,
when Sir H'. Liddel bestowed on him tfie donar-
five of Lamesly and Tanfield. In this small
cure he composed a new sermon every week, 250
of which he afterwards burnt, tbat his son^ Dr*
Thomas Balguy, archdeacon of Winchester^
might exercise his own genius, instead of trust-
ing to his father's labors. In 1727 he was col-
lated by bishop Hoadly to a prebend in Salisbury,
with the right of presenting to four livings ; of
which he gave one to hiis son, and another to his
brother-in-law, Mr. Robinson. He published
1. Silvius's Examination of certain Doctrines
taujrht by the Reverend Mr. Stebbing, in 1718;
2. Silvius's Letter to the Rev.. Dr. Sherlock, in
1719 ; both anonymously, in vindication of Bp.
Hoadly. Mr. Stebbing having replied to these
works, Mr. Balguy published, 3. Silvius's De-
fence of a dialogue between a Papist and a Pro-
testant, in answer to the Rev. Mr. Stebbing;
with remarks on that author's manner of writing;
4. A Letter to a Debt concerning the Beauty
and Excellence of Moral Virtue, and the support
which it receives ^m the Christian Revelation,
in 1726. In this treatise he attacked XiOrd
Shaftesbury 's principles, with equal politeness
and strength of reasoning. 5. The Foundation
of Moral Goodness, or an Enquiry into the Ori-
ginal of our Ideas of Virtue ; in two parts, in
1728. 6. Divine Rectitude, or a brief Enquiry
concerning the Moral Perfections of the Deity,
&c. 7. A second Letter to a Deist. 8. The
Law of Truth. 9. Essay on Redemption : and,
10. A Volume of Sermons. He died in 1748,
aged sixty-three.
BALI, or Bally, sometimes called also Little
Java, one of the Sunda or Sumatran islands^
separated from the eastern extremity of Java by
the straits of Bali, about five or six leagues wide
and of very intricate navigation. Its length
according to Sir T. S. Raffles, to whom we are
mdebted for the greater part of our information
respecting these islands, is about eighty miles,
ana in its breadth nearly equal, the whole sur-
hax containing about 6400 square miles. He
thinks the population may be estimated at a little
iDore than sixty persons to each square mile,
whkh would give about 400,000 for the number
of its inhabitants. The country is uioantainoiis,
rising into the interior ; the ravines and beds of
riven are deep, and the rivers rapid.
Bali is well cultivated and thickly planted
with cocoa-nut and other fruit-trees : the uncul-
tivated parts are crowned with deep forests.
Its productions consist chiefly of rice, maize,
yams, and sweet potatoes; rice yields from thirty
to forty fold, and the maize often more than a
hundred. The Balinese also grow conoli on the
dry land, of a superior kind ; some opium, nut-
megs, dyeing drugs and tobacco, are also objects
of culture. On Ste whole, the Balinese may be
considered, we are told, as the nlost civilised
islanders in this archipelago, not excepting even
the Javanese. The women manufacture a con-
siderable quantity of cotton cloth for exportation;
and are not so much in the field as those of Java ;
the men manu&cture their own fire-anns. On
the eastern coast at a place called Pejah a gold
mine has been opened. They import chintz and
other piece gooas, iron, and china ware. Iron,
in particular, is in great reouest. The religion
is that of Budh, but not divided into castes ; and
the priesthood, at least in general, is hereditary.
The priests live secluded in separate societies,
among the mountains, having lands assigned
for the support of themselves and their temples.
Justice is administered by distinct civil magis-
trates, who very intelligently expound the law
from written authorities, which is a decided
proof that civilisation has had a powerful in-
fluence even upon the body of the people.
Bali is governed by seven native and inde-
pendent princes, each absolute in his own do-
minion ; though their despotism appears to be of
a much milder character than among the native
governments of Java. A right of prirate pro-
perty in the soil is said to be established, and
the claims of the government to be conftned to
a regular tax in kind on the rice. The language
presents the singular distinction of onp class of
words to be used by the privileged orders, and
another for the people in general. A sort of
feudal service in war is maintained ; slavery, we
regret to add, though unknown among them, is
encouraged by the sale of their priftoners of war
to other nations. Th^ are also said to use poi-
soned arrows in war.
Historically it seems only to be known that
this island was visited by Sir Francis Drake it
1597, and that the conversion of the natives to
Budhism took place about 1750 years since.
The east peak of the island is in lat. 8° 24' long.
115° 24' £.
Their language is written in the same character
as tbat of Java, and the Javan is said to be spoken
at the courts of their princes, but it is considered
as a foreign tongue. The Kawi, the learned
language of all these islands, is well understood
at Bali. The Balinese are represented as mild
and inofiensive in their manners ; they readily
associate with strangers, and are altogether di-
vested of those bigoted prejudices of caste, nation
and religion, with whicn the people of continen-
tal Asia are generally imbued. On the other
hand they are said to be the only people of this
archipelago who possess either courage or tracta-
bility for receiving the regular discipline of
European troops. Their food consists princi-
Digitized by
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BAL
419
BAL
pally of the flesh of bogs and bufTaloes, with
which ships touching here are readily and rea-
sonably supplied. Nor is the use of spirituous
liquors or opium unknown, both of which have
b^n introduced by Europeans. Their houses,
like those of Java, are built upon the ground, and
not raised upon posts as amongst the Malays.
They are generally clothed in cotton of their
own manu&cture, and of a good fabric. Until
they are married, indeed, the females go nearly
naked, then the bridegroom wraps a selendang
or cloth round the bosom of his chosen fair.
There is said to be great general prudence and
fidelity in their marriages.
BALIO. See Bailg.
BALIOL, Balliol, or BAiLLiOL(John), king
of Scotland. On the death of queen Margaret,
character: are, the head is flat; eight teeth in
each side, the two anterior ones are longest; in
the place of gills an aperture immediately above
the pectoral fins ; the body flat; the scales joined
together by the skin, and the belly keeled. There
are eight species of this genus: — viz. B. acu-
leatus, with a triradiated back fin, and the spines
of the tail lean upon each other. It is a native
of India. 2. B. hispidus with the head-fin uni-
radiated, and a round black spot in the tail-fin ;
the body rough, and bristly towards the tail;
the spine or horn situated between the eves ; the
snout subulated, and instead of a belly-fin a
jagged sharp spine. This is a native of Carolina.
3. B. monoceros, whose head-fin consists of but
one ray, and the tail-rays carinated. It is called
the unicorn-fish by Catesby. This fish has been
in her passage from Norway, being at the h^ of accounted poisonous. They mostly frequent
the English interest in Scotland, he claimed the
vacant throne, by virtue of his descent from
David earl of Huntingdon, brother to William
the Lion, king of Scotland. Robert Bruce op-
posed Baliol, but having submitted to the arbi-
tration of Edward I . it was decided in favor of
Baliol, who did homage to him for the kingdom
on the 12th of November, 1292. Baliol, how-
ever, did not long enjoy the crovm, for having
remonstrated against the power which Edward
assumed over Scotland, he summoned him to
his tribunal as a vassal. Irritated at this, Baliol
concluded a treaty with France, on which a war
with England immediately commenced ; and after
the battle of Dunbar he surrendered his crown
into the hands of the English monarch, who sent
him and his son to London to be imprisoned in
the Tower. The pope interceded for them, and
they were liberated, and committed to his legate
in 1297. Baliol retired to his estate in France,
where he died in 1314.
Baliol (Edward), the son of John Baliol,
king of Scotland. Notwithstanding the manner
in which his father was degraded, and obliged to
those seas, amongst the Bahama islands, where
the corals are in great plenty. 4. B. papillosus,
with a biradiated back-fin, and a papillous body.
5. B. ringens, with a triradiated back-fin ; three
folds in each side of the head, and the tail-fin
forked. It is found at Ascension island. 6. B.
tomentosus, whose head-fin is biradiated, and the
body of it, towards the hind part, hairy. It is a
native of America. 7. B. verrucosus, has a tri-
radiated back-fin, and the tail full of little Avarts.
In the place of a belly-fin this species has a large,
thick, warty ray, and twenty-five small reversed
sharp spines at the side of the tail, disposed in
four rows. It is a native of India. 8. B. ve-
tula, or old wife, with a triradiated back-fin ; the
belly-fin longitudinal and somewhat carinated;
and the tail-fin forked. It is found at Ascension
island.
The fishes of this genus are remarkable for
their splendid colors. The species mentioned by
Linnsus and Gmelin are the following : — mono-
ceros, scriptus fi, hispidus, tomentosus, papillo-
sus, verrucosus, biaculeatus, aculeatus, vetula,
maculatus, ringens, sinensis, assassi, capriscus,
give up his crown, he laid claim to the "kingdom forcipatus, punclatus, Kleinii, curassavicus, and
of Scotland, and, assisted by France, invaded Americanus. Lacepede has described twenty-
and recovered it; but it was soon again wrested four species of balistes, in his work on fishes,
from him ; and dying afterwards without issue and which he divides into four sections : — Le
the femily became extinct. baliste mamelonn^, le baliste pralin, le baliste
Baliol, or Balliol (Sir John de), founder of verdatre, le baliste Mungo-Parck (Park); le ba>
Baliol college, in Oxford, was son of Hugh liste m^tallique, &c. are new or interesting spe-
Baliol, of Bemard^s castle in the diocese of
Durham, and eminent for his power and riches.
He was appointed governor of Carlisle in 1248 ;
and when Margaret, daughter of Henry III., was
married to Alexander III., king of Scotland, the
guardianship of the royal pair, and also of the
kingdom, was committed to him and another
lord ; but in about three years they were charged
with abusing their trust, and the English- mo-
narch inarched towards Scotland, on purpose to
cies described by Lacepede.
BAL'ISTER, n. *. Lat bditta; Fr. balesta,
a cross bow.
A spindle fall ol nw thread to make s &Ue string
for the king's baiuier or cross bow.
Blount's Tmmm, p. 92.
BALIZE, a river in the peninsula of Yucatan,
South America, which foils into the bay of Hon*
duras, in lat. 14° 69' N. On its banks, and' to
the extent of 200 miles up the streEun, the Eng^
punish them. Baliol, however, pacified him by lish .cut mahogany, and by the treaty of 1783
advancing a sum of money. During the wars
between Henry III. and the barons he adhered
to the king, on which account the barons seized
hift lands. In 1263 he began the foundation and
endowment of Baliol college, which was after-
wards completed by his widow. .He died in
1269.
BALISTES, in icthyology, a genus of fishes
belonging to the order of amphibia nantes. The
a right was guaranteed to British -subjects of cut-
ting and carrying away logwood, in the district
between this river and the Rio Hondo. Beyond
the scene of their operation the Balize is very
imperfecdy known.
Balize, a sea^port town of Yucatan, South
America, is an establishment chiefly composed
of English settlers, at the mouth of the abov»
river The houses are mostlv built of the wood
2 £ 2
Digitized by
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420
BALL.
of the neighbourhood, amongst which the grace-
ful raaliogany frequently furnishes pillars of
eight or .en feet high, on which they stand, sur-
rounded by piazzas. The cocoa tree and tamarind,
largely interspersed among the buildings, which
are' also frequently thatched with leaves of the
palmetto, give the whole place a very picturesque
appearance. But the better sort of houses have
of late been shingled. The neighbourhood is
low and swampy.
BALK, n. «. V a. & v. n. Dutch and Germ.
balk; Sax. and Wech bale, derived by Skinner
from Ital. valicarCy to pass over. A great beam
such as is used in building ; a rafter over an out-
house or barn ; a ridge of land left unploughed,
between the furrows, or at the end of the field ;
land over which the plough slips without turning
it up ; figuratively any thing overpassed, untouch-
ed. A disappointment; to frustrate, to elude, to
omit, or refuse any thing ; to heap together ; to
turn aside, to deal in cross purposes ; to speak
differently from the intention. The two last
meanings are arbitrary, and rest on the authority
of Spenser only.
His owne bond than made he ladders three
To climben by the ringes and the stalkes
Unto the tubbes hanging in the balkn. ' Chauter.
Another thing in the grammar schools I see no use
of, unlets it be to balk young lads in learning lan-
guages. Locke.
Every one has a desire to keep up the vigour of
his faculties, and not to balk his und«rsunding by
what is too hard for it. M
But one may balk his good intent
And take things otherwise than meant Prior,
The prices must have been high ; for a people so
rich would not balk their fancy. Arbuthnot,
BalU'd of his prey, the yelling monster flies.
And fills the city with his hideous cries. Fope.
The most effectual way to balk
Their malice, is to let them talk. Churchill.
By grisly Pluto he doth swear.
He rent his clothes, and tore his hair;
And as he runneth here and there^
An acorn cup he greeteth ;
Which soon he taketh by the stalk.
About his head he lets it walk.
Nor doth he any creature balk.
But lays on all he meeteth.
Drayton'M Nimfhid.
This was looked for at your hand, and this was baUU.
Shdhtpcare.
When-as the ape him heard so much to talke
Of labour, that did from his liking balke.
He would have slipt the collar handsomely, ^penacr.
But to occasion him to further talke
To feed her humour with his pleasing style.
Her list in stryfuU termes with him to batiie.
And thus replyde. Id.
BALK'ERS. In fishery. Men who stand on
% cliff, or high place on the shore, and give a sign
to the men in the fishing boats, which way the
passage or shoal of herrings is. — Covfell.
The pilchards are pursued by a bigger fish, called a
plusher, who leapeth above water, and bewrayeth
them to the balker. Carew'a Sw. of Com.
BALKH, a province of Turkist^n, bounded
on the north by the AmCi, on the east by Badak-
sh&n, on the south by the HindG-cush, and on
the west by the deserts of Khwarezm, the ancient
Bactria. Its present extent is about 260 miles
from east to west, and about 110 from north to
south. The southern and eastern districts are
comparatively cool for the climate, and the val-
leys towards the Ami are well watered and fer-
tile. The rivers from the Hindu-cush, we learn
from Mr. Elphinstone, flow in a direction almost
due north, mto the Amii : the Koksha, or Ba-
dakhshan, is the easternmost; next comes the
Ak-ser&T; and the last and most westerly, the
Rehlis, loses itself in the sands before it reaches
Balkh. Balkh is divided into the districts of
Mai'mench, AndekhQd, Shilbdrkan, or Shibberg-
han, Balkh Proper, Kulum, Hazeret Im&m,
Kundus Khost, Inder^b, and T^likan. The
three first border on the deserts, and are occupied
by wandering hordes of Uzbegs and Turcomans.
Balkh, a city of Turkist4n, the capital of the
above province, stands in lat. 36° 45' N., long.
65° 20' £. ; it is now in ruins ; but is surround^
by 360 fertile villages. The districts Kulum
and Hazeret Imkm are barren, but those on the
north side of the HindCi-cush, are productive
and well peopled. The population ot the whole
province amounts probably to a million. Balkh
was originally built by Kayhmaras, and was the
favorite residence of the Persian kings of the
Caianian dynasty. It was once esteemed the
chief Mussulman city in the north, and called
Kubbatu'l islam, (the holy shrine of Islamism).
Jengiz Kh^ took it in 1221, and the last of his
family was driven out of it by Tamerlane. In
the beginning of the sixteenth century the house
of Ta'imur was expelled by the Uzbegs, who have
ever since maintained a precarious dominion
over these provinces. Kilij All Bey was the
reigning prince when Mr. £lphinstone visited
Afghanistan, nominally acknowledging the autho-
rity of the king of C^bul ; but in all the internal
government entirely independent.
BALKY, a large decayed old town of Hin*
dostan, in the province of Beeder, surrounded b)'
a wall. It is distant fifteen miles W. N. W. of
Beeder, and forty-five north-east of Kalbergah.
Long, rr 29' E., lat. 17** 49' N.
BALL, a small place in the county of
Mayo, 107 miles from Dublin. Here is a
celebrated holy well and a round tower ; also at
Moat in the neighbourhood the ruins of an ancient
abbey. In the course of the festival held here it
it is said that 300 sheep are sometimes con-
sumed.
Ball (John), a puritan divine, bom in Ox-
fordshire in 1585. He had a curacy of £20 per
annum in Staffordshire, and kept a school. He
wrote strongly against such as separated from the
church, as disapproving of the ceremonies and
government, though he was far from being satis-
fied with these in some respects himself. He
died in 1640.
BALL'. Germ, and Dutch bolUn-bol, to roll,
turn, round ; any thing round, or roundly, as a
cricket ball, a billiard ball, the eye ball, the globe,
any thing globular.
' Balf diminutirely Belmf the sun, or Apollo,
of the Celts, was called by the ancient Gauls
Abellio. Whatever was round, and in particular
the head, was> called by the ancients either Bai, or
Be/, and likewise Bbl and Bui. Among the modem
Persians, the head is called PoU ; and the Flem-
Digitized by
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BALL.
421
rags do still call the head BaUe. UoXoc is the
head or poll ; and voXiiv is to turn. BoXoc like-
wise si|?nifies a round ball, whence bowl, and
hell, and ball, which the Welsh term hcl. By the
Scotch also the head is named bhel; whence the
English bill is derived, signifying the beak of a
bird. Figuratively, the Phrygians and Thurians
by paKktiv understood a king. Hence also, in
the Syriac dialects, /3aaX, jlijX, and likewise
/3(wX, signifies lord, and by this name also the
sun ; and in some dialects, HX and IX, whence
IXoc and HXtoc, TijXioc and Bi|Xioc, and also, in
the Celtic diminutive way of expression, EXevoc,
TcXevoc, and BcXevoc, signified the sun ; and EXevi;,
TtXtvfi, and BcXevii, the moon. Among the Teu-
tonics, hoi and heil have the same meaning;
whence the adjective holig, or heiligy is derived,
and signifies divine or holy ; and the aspiration
being changed into s, the Romans form their SoL*
Baiter.
For where as God hath shewed iinto us certain
tokes of his Godhed» in the heavenly ballei and cir-
cles above, and on the yearthe beneth, in the sea,
and in all lyning creatures on the yearthe, yet hath
he wrought in none of thym more wonderfully than
in manne. UdtM. Actty ch. xvii.
The palme play, where despoiled for the game.
With dased eyes oft we by gleams of love
Have misted the baU, and got sight of our dame.
To bait her eyes which kept the leads above.
Earl of Sumy.
Be subject to no sight but mine ; invisible
To every eye-ball else. Shaktpeaire.
BalU to the stars, and thralls to fortune reign,
Tum'd from themselves, infected with their ci^e.
Where death is fearM, and life is held with pain.
Sidney,
Those I have seen play at ball, grow extremely ear-
nest who should have the ball. Id,
What, though in solemn silence, all
Move round the dark terrestrial ball!
What tho' nor real voice nor sound
Amid their radiant orbs be found !
In reason's ear they all rejoice.
And utter forth a glorious voice ;
For ever singing, as they shine,
' The hand that made us is divine.'
Andrew ManeU,
*«* This, with the other sublime and beautiful
hymns in the Spectator, were meanly with-
held from their genuine author, and falsely
ascribed to Addison and Tickell.
Nor arms they wear, nor swords and bucklers wield.
But whirl from leathern strings huge halU of lead.
Dryden.
Thus nothing to her genius was deny'd ;
But, like a ball of fire, the further thrown^
Still with a greater blaze she shone ;
And her bright soul broke out on ev'ry side. Id.
Like a frail' of snow tumbling down a hill, he
gathered strength as he passed. Howdl,
Ye gods, what justice rules the baU?
Freedom and arts together fall. Pope,
Tis but a ball bandied to and ho, and every man
carries a racket about him to strike it from himself
among the rest of the company. Staift,
Ball', n. s. Fr. bat, from balare, low Lat.
from paXXiZiiv. To throw or cast about the legs
and feet, from jSoXXoi, to throw. An entertain-,
ment of dancing; a fashionable amusement,
either public or private ; in the former case it is
conducted and controlled by a master of the
ceremonies ; and in the latter it is given by in-
dividuals, and is select, because none are ad-
mitted but persons specially invited. At public
balls, or dancing assemblies, the expenses are
defrayed by the company; at private entertain-
ments of this description, the guests are gratui-
tous participants.
He would make no extraordinary figure at a ball ;
but I can assure the ladies, for their cpnsolation, that
he has written better verses on the sex than any man.
Swift,
Have you not been in pain even at a baU, because
another has been taken out to dance before you.
Toiler, No. 253.
There's nothing in the world like etiquette ;
In kingty chambers, or imperial halls.
As also at the race and county baUt. Byron,
Ball, among Cornish miners, a tin mine.
Ball, in antiquity, a species of game frequent
among the ancients. The Romans had four
kinds of pile, or balls ; the first called trigon or
trigonalis, because the three gamesters were
E laced in a triangle : these caught and tossed the
all, taking great care not to let it fiill to the
ground. The second and third, called follis,
made of leather, blown up like our foot-balls:
the largest sort of these were struck with the arm,
the smaller with the fist : the former seem to have
been distinguished by the appellation, paganica,
as being much used in country villages: the fourth
was the harpast, a kind of small ball, so called be-
cause the gamesters endeavoured to snatch it from
each other. Galen has an entire treatise on the
exercise of the lesser ball.
Ball, Hero's, pila Ueronis, a kind of artificial
fountain, wherein the water is made to spout out
of a hollow ball or globe ; so named m>m the
inventor, Hero of Alexandria, who has left the
description of it in his Spiritalia.
The Ball of a Dog's Foot is the prominent
part of the middle of the foot, called by Latin
writers of the middle age, pelota.
Ball of a Pendulum, the weight at the bot-
tom. In shorter pendulums, it is called the
bob.
Ball Puff, in botany, the English name of
the lycoperdon. See Lycoperdon.
Ball Vein, in mineralogy, a name sometimes
given by miners to a sort of iron ore, common in
Suffolk, and wrought to a considerable advan-
tage. It yields not any great quantity of metal,
but what it h^s runs freely in the fire, and is
usually found in loose masses, covered with one
or more crusts. It contains some sparkling par-
* tides ; and is usually of a circular form in the
perfect masses, thickest in the middle, and gradu-
ally thinner as it approaches the sides.
Ball, French, bsdle, in the military art, com-
prehends all sorts of bullets for fire-arms, from
the cannon to the pistol ; also a composition of
divers ingredients, generally of the combustible
kinds, serving to bum, give light, smoke, stench,
or the like ; as fire-balls, light-balls, smoke-balls,
stink-balls, land-balls, &c. Cannon-balls are
made of iron, musket-balls, pistol-balls, &c. are
of lead* The experiment has been tried of iron
balls for pistols and fusees, but they are justly
rejected, not only on account of their lightness.
Digitized by
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422
BALLS.
f42^
^6«8'
32
610
24
5-54
18
504
12
pound hall the
4-40
^ 9
diameter is
400
6
3-49
3
2-77
2
2-42
^ 1
^•92
ii^hich prevent! them from flying straight, but
because they are apt lo furrow the barrel of the
pistol, &c.
Cannon-balls are distinguished by their respec-
tive calibres : thus
For a
A new description of inflammable balls, ap-
plicable for besieging a town, and peculiar for
Its small weight, by which means it may be
thrown to a great distance, and takes Are on a
very curious plan, has been invented by Captain
Thomas Dundas, of the royal navy. It spreads
a flame in three distinct openings, which is so
strong that the Are extendi a full yard in length
from the ball itself, and is so powerful that any
thing under, over, or near, cannot escape its
cffiects. See the article Shot.
Balls, Anchor, are made in the same way as
the light-balls, hereafter described, and filled with
the same composition, only with this addition,
that these are made with an iron bar two-thirds
of the ball's diameter in leno^h, and three or
four inches square. One-half is fixed within the
ball, and the other half remains .without; the
exterior end is made with a grapple hook. An-
chor-balls are very useful to set Are to wooden
bridges, or any thing made of wood, or even
the rigging of ships, Sec. for the pile end being
the heaviest, flies foremost, and wherever it
touches, fastens, and sets all on Are about it.
^ Balls, Chain, are two balls linked together
by a chain of eight or ten inches long, and some
have been made with a chain of three or four
feet long ; they are used to destroy the palisa-
does, wooden bridges, and chevaux-de-fnzes of
a fortification. They are also very destructive to
the rigging of a ship.
Balls, Fire and Ltgut; the Greeks had
various kinds of fire-balls, or UvpofioKot \i9ot;
one kind called, more particularly, eKVTdXui, or
fcvroXi^iC) niade of wood, sometimes a foot, or
even a cubit long ; their head armed with spikes
of iron, beneath which were hemp, pitch, and
other combustibles, which being set on fire, they
were cast among the enemy. Also composed of
mealed powder two, saltpetre one and a half,
sulphur one, resin one, turpentine two and a
half parts. Sometimes they are made of an iron
shell, sometimes a stone, filled and covered with
various coats of the above composition, till it
conglomerates to a proper size, the last coat
being of grained powder. But the best method
of making them is to take thick brown paper,
make a shell the size of the mortar, and fill it
with a composition of an equal quantity of sul-
phur, pitch, resin, and mealed powder ; which
being well mixed, and put in warm, will give a
clear fire, and bum a considerable time. When
they are intended to fire magazines, buildings,
he. the composition must be mealed powder, ten,
saltpetre two, sulphur four, and resin one ; or
rather mealed powder forty-eight, saltpetre thirty-
two, sulphur sixteen, resin four, steel or iron
filings two, fir tree aaw-dust boiled in saltpetre ley,
two, birch-wooid charcoal one, well rammed into
a shell for that purpose, having various holes
filled with small barrels, loaded with musket-
balls ; and lastly, the whole immeiged in melted
pitch, resin, and turpentine oil.
Balls, Poisoned; the Indian and African
nations have always been ingenious at poisooing
several sorts of warlike stores and instrumeDts.
Their composition » generally mealed powder
four, pitch six, resin three, sulphur five, ass^
foetida eight, extract of toads' poison twelve,
other poisonous substances twelve, made into
balls as above directed. At the commencement
of the French revolution, poisoned balls were
exhibited to the people, pretended to have been
fired by the Austrians, p^cularly at the siege of
Lisle. Major James says he has seen some of
this sort. They contained glass, small pieces of
iron, &c. and were said to be concocted together
by means of a greasy composition, whi(£ was
impregnated with poisonous matter. In 1792
they were depositea in the archives of Paris.
Balls, Red-hot, are heated red-hot upon a
large . coal fire in a square hole made m the
ground, six feet every way, and four or five feet
deep. Some make the fire under an iron grate,
on which the shell or ball is laid ; but the best
method is to put the ball into the middle of a
clear burning fire, and when red-hot, all the fieiy
particles must be swept off. Whatever machine
YOU use to throw the red-hot ball out of, it must
oe elevated according to th« distance you intend
it shall range, afnd the charge of powder must be
put into a flannel cartridge, and a good wad
upon that ; then a piece of wood of the exact
diameter of the piece, and about three inches
and a half thick, to prevent the ball from setting
fire to the powder ; then place the ball on the
edge of the mortar, &c. with an instrument for
that purpose, and let it roll of itself against the
wood, and instantly fire it off. Should there be
a ditch or parallel before such a batteiy, with
soldiers, the wood most not be used, aa the blast
of powder will break it to pieces, and its own
elasticity prevent it from flying far ; it would in
that case either kill or wound your own people.
On this account the wad must be double, the
second being damp. If the gun li^ at a de-
pression, there must be a waid over the shot,
wliich may be rammed home.
Balls, Smoke, are prepared similariy to
other fire-balls, and they contain five to one of
pitch, resin, and saw-4ust This compositioD
IS put into shells made for that purpose, having
four holes to let out the smoke. Smoke-bal&
are thrown out of mortars, and continue to smoke
from twenty-five to thirty minutes-
Balls, Stang, are generally termed bar^hot,
and by some called balls of two-heads; thev
are sometimes made Of two half-balls, joined
together by a bar of iron from eight to fourteen
inches long : they are likewise made of two en-
tire balls ; they answer the same purpose as the
before-mentioned .
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423
Balls, Stink, are prepared by a composition
of mealed powder, xesin, saltpetre, pitch, sul-
phur, raspea horses and asses hoo&y burnt in the
nre, assa-foetida, seraphim gum or ferula, and
bug or stinking herbs, made up into balls, as
mentioned in light-balls, agreeable to the size of
the mortar out of which they are to be thrown.
Balls, in electridty, are two pieces of cork, or
pith of elder, nicely turned in a latiie to the size
of a small pea, and suspended by fine linen
threads ; intended as electrometers, and of excel-
lent use to discover small degrees of electricity,
to observe the changes of it from positive to
negative, and vice versa; and to estimate the
force of a shock before the discharge, so that the
operator should always be able to tell very nearly
before the discharge, by knowing how high he
has charged his jars, what the explosion will be.
Balls, in heraldry. See Ballets.
Balls, Crystalline. There are two sorts of
fossil bodies mentioned in authors by this name,
and distinguished into the echtnated, and con-
cave. The first are roundish nodules of stony
matter, covered over with points of crystal ; and
the other flints, and other stones, having cavities
in their middles, which are lined, or crusted over
with these crystals.
Balls, Horse, among farriers. Horses have
a very nice taste ; ft is tiierefore proper to give
the most disagreeable drugs, in the form of ballSy
and to make drenches of the more palatable.
Balls should be of an oval shape, not exceeding
the size of a pullet's egg; and should be dipped
in sweet oil to make them slip down the easier.
Some horses have a strait gullet, which makes
them very averse to a ball being thrast down
their throats ; such horses bad better have drenches
given them, or their medicines may be mixed
with bran, or in their mashes. See Farriery,
Index,
Balls, Mercurial, in pharmacy, are an
amalgam of mercury and tin, su£Bciently solid
to be moulded, and to preserve a given form.
The method of making them is by adding mer-
cury to melted tin, and pouring the fluid mass
into a round hollow mould. These balls are
sometimes employed to purify water, in which
they are boiled.
Balls of Fire, in meteorology, a kind of
luminous bodies, commonly appearing at a great
height abo?e the earth, with a splendor surpass-
ing that of tlie moon; and even occasionally
equalling her apparent size. They generally
proceed with great velocity in this hemisphere,
from north to south, frequently breaking into
several smaller ones, sometimes vanishing with a
report, and sometimes not. These luminous
appearances no doubt constitute one branch of
the ancient prodigies, or blazing stars. They
sometimes resemble comets, in being attended
with a train, but frequently they appear with a
round and well defined disk. The first of which
we have any accurate account, was observed by
Dr. Halley and others at different places, in 1719.
From the slight observations they could take of
its course among the stars, its perpendicular height
was computed at about seventy miles from the
surface of the earth. The height of others has
also been computed, and found to be various ;
though in general it is supposed to be beyond the
limits assigned to oiur atmosphere, or where it
loses its refractive power. The most remarkable
on record appearea on the 18th of August 1783,
about nine o'clock in the evening. It was seen
to the northward of Shetland, and took a south-
eriy direction for an immense space, being obser-
ved as far as the southem provinces of France
and Rome. During its course it appears fre-
quently to have changed its shape, sometimes
appearing in the form of one ball, sometimes two
or more; sometimes with a train, sometimes
without one. It passed over Edinbui^h nearly
in the zenith, and nad then the appearance of a
well defined, round body, extremely luminous,
and of a greenish color; the light which it
difiused on the ground giving likewise a greenish
cast to objects. After passing the zenith, it wait
attended by a train of considerable length, which
continually augmenting, at last obliterated the
head entirely, so that it looked Uke a wedge, flying
with the obtuse end foremost The motion was
not apparently swifi, by reason of its great height ;
though in reality it must have moved with great
rapidity, on account of the vast space it travelled
over in a short time. In other places its appear-
ance was very different. At Qreenwich, we are
told, that two bright balls parallel to each other
led the way, the diameter of which appeared to
be about two feet ; and were followed by an ex-
pulsion of eight others, not elliptical, seeming
gradually to mutilate, for the last was small.
Between each two balls a luminous serrated body
extended, and at the last a blaze issued which
terminated in a point. Minute particles dilated
from the whole. The balls were tinted first by
a pure bright light, then followed by a delicate
yellow, mixed with azure, red, green, &c. which,
with a coalition of bolder tints, and a reflection
from the other balls, gave the most beautiful
rotundity and variation of colors that the human
eye could be charmed with. The sudden illumi-
nation of the atmosphere, and Ihe form aiKl
singular transition of this bright luminary, tend-
ed much to make it awful: nevertheless the
amazing vivid appearance of the different balls,
and other rich connective parts not very easy to
delineate, gave an effect equal to the rainbow in
the zenith of its glory. Dr. Blagden, in a paper
on this subject in the seventy-fourth volume of
the Philosophical Transactions, has not only given
a particular account of this and other meteors of
the kind, but added several conjectures relating to
the probable causes of them. The opinion which
he nni^ly adopts, as the most probable, is, that
these fire-balls are great bodies of electric matter
moving from one part of the heavens, where to
our conception it is superabundant, to another
where it is deficient
Other fireballs have appeared much smaller
and nearer the surfifice of the earth, and some-
times rolling or felling upon it, and exploding
with violence; as is ft e case with those which
appear in the time of thunder, and frequently
produce mischievous effects. One of these is
mentioned by some authors as falling in a serene
evening in the island of Jamaica; exploding as
soon as it touched the surfi&ce of the ground, and
making a considerable hole in it. Another is
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424
BALLAD.
mentioned by Dr. Priestley) as rolling along the
sor&ce of the sea, then rising and striking the
top-mast of a man of w, exploding and
damagiiig the ship. In like manner we hear of
an electrified cloud at Java, whence, without any
thunder storm, there issued a vast number of
fireballs which did incredible mischief. All these
point out the true origin of balls of this kind,
viz. an extensive accumulation of electricity
bursting from one part of the atmosphere to
another.
This is confirmed by an experiment related at
the end of Dr. Prie^ey's fifth volume on air.
He states that a gentleman having charged with
a very powerful machine, a jar, which had the
wire supporting the nob of a considerable length,
and passed through a glass tube, a globe of fire
was seen to issue out of it. This globe gradually
^ ascended up the glass tube till it came to the top
of the knob, where it settled, turning swiftly on
its axis and appearing like a red-hot iron ball of
three quarters of an inch diameter. On con-
tinuing to turn the machine, it gradually descended
into the jar, which it had no sooner done, than
there ensued a most violent explosion and flash,
the jar being discharged and broken at the same
time. We may yet gather from these experi-
ments, that a firelNill will be the consequence of
a very violent electrification of any substance,
provided at the same time that the air be in a
very non-conducting state, so that the electricity
may not evaporate into it as fast as it is collected ;
for this would produce only lucid streams and
flashes, as in the common experiments with the
Leyden phial, and it is probably an inattention
to this circumstance which has hitherto prevented
the repetition of the experiment above mentioned.
The case is the same in thunder-storms, where
an excessive accumulation of electric matter
always produces fireballs, the most mischievous
kind or lightning. A philosopher of the last
century, it is well known, met his death firom a
ball of'^^is description in attempting to draw the
electric fluid from the clouds.
Balls of Hair and other substances, in
natural history*, covered over with a smooth,
shining coat, or shell, are mentioned by zoolo-
gists, as sometimes found in the stomachs of
several animals ; they occur most frequently in
those quadrupeds which lick the surface of their
bodies, in which case they are composed of the
hair that has been removed by the tongue ; the
hair, partly by the operation of licking, and still
more by the motion of the stomach, becomes
mixed and interwoven in a such a manner, that it
resembles the texture of a hat, and when moulded
into a round figure, receives a smooth, shining
coat, or calculous incrustation. These are the
sort of balls usually met with in the cow, sheep,
and goat kind, especially the chamois. Every
indigestible substance that is swallowed is liable,
however, to give origin to these balls, or to form
a nucleus for calculous concretion; hence we
meet witli them composed of the reedy fibres of
vegetables, husks of seeds, feathers, and different
animal and vegetable exuvis. When such sub-
stances, as stones of fruit, nuts, or inorganic
substances, as pebbles, coins, &c. are long de-
tained, and have been covered with a deep in-
crustation, they consttCute the bezoMdic stonei.
See Bezoar and .£gao«opila.
Acoordius to some writers the human subject
is liable to me formation of balls in the intes-
tines, in consequence of indigestible matters not
being regularly expelled. Cases have been re-
lated of deaih ensuine from aocumulatiotts of
gooseberry seeds, which had been rolled into a
solid ball in the stomach ; and Sir Hans Sloane
gives the history of a ball found in the intestines
of a man, much afbicted with the colic, six inches
in circumference, of a spongy substance, aod
which, when viewed with a microscope, appeared
made up of small transparent hairs or fibres,
wrought together like the tophus bovinus ; in the
middle was a common plumo stone, which made,
as it were, the core or nucleus upon which the
fibrous matter had collected, stratum super strar
tum. Phil. Trans. No. 309, p. 3387. Sloane,
in PhU. Trans. No. 282, p. 1282.
Balls of Silk Worms, or Balls of Spiders,
are little cases or cones of silk, wherein those
insects deposit their eggs. Spiders are extitmely
tender in their balls, which they carry about with
them, adhering to the papillie about their anus.
Grew mentions balls or bags of a species of silk-
worms in Virginia, as big as hen's eggs, and
containing each four aurelias.
Balls, Vegetable, in botan^r a particular
plant of a deep green color, of an irregular sphe*
rical shape, hollow within, and of different sizes,
firom an inch and a half to three inches in di-
ameter. It probably belongs to the conserva
genus, in the class of mosses ; though Dr. Ray
has ranged a similar plant under the genus of
alcyonium.
BAL'LAD, V. & n.^ Ti.b^adt^lt^.ballata.
Bal'lader, I A song. It once signi*
Bal'ladry, I fied a solemn and sacred
Bal'lated, I song : the Song of Solo*
Bal'latry, mon was called the bal-
Bal'lett. J let of ballets. It is now
generally employed to designate those popular
compositions which are sung in simple melodies
by all classes of the community; and which,
while true to nature, illustrate the manners, cus-
toms, and opinions, of the age and country to
which tihey belong. In composition, this word
is used as baUadrmomger, baliad-sm^^, &c.
At ceitaine timis gan rep«ire
Smale birdit doone fiom the aire.
And oa the ihipit bounds eb<rate»
Ysate and song with voyce fall <mt,
BdUadei end layee right ioyously.
And also I have oite assaide
Roundel, haiadei, and vereloie
For her, on whom myn hext laic.
To make.
Alas ! I make but repetition.
Of what is ordinary and ryalto talk.
And baUeted, and would be plaid o' the stage.
But that vice many times finds each loved friends.
That preachers are chann'd silent. ITcMar
And otherwhyles with amourous delights.
And pleasing toys he would her entextaine ;
Now singing sweedy to soiprixe her sprights ;
Now making lays of love, and lover's paine,
Brattsles» baUadi. virelayes, and verses vmine ;
Oft puvpMes, oft riddles he devys'd.
And thousands like which ik>wed in his brain«»
Gotper,
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BALLADS.
425
With whiche he led her fanof, and entysM
To take to hia new love, and leave her old despyt'd.
8peiuer*s Faerie Queene.
U there not a baOad, hoy, of the king and the beggar?
The world was Tery guilty of rach baUad* tome
three ages since. id,
I had rather be a kitten, and cry mew.
Than one of these same metre ftoflotf-mongera. Id,
The baUatrg and the gamat of every municipal fiddle..
Ifitfon.
More solid things do not shew the complexion of
the times so well as baUadi and libels. 8eUe».
No sooner *gan he raise his tonefol song.
Bat tads and lasses round about him throng.
Not ftoflod-singer, plac*d above the crowd.
Sings with • note so shrilling, sweet, and loud. Oag»
Thither no more the peasant shall repair.
To sweet oblivion of hb daily care ;
No more the farmer's news, the barber's tale.
No more the woodman's baUad shall prevail.
Goldmnith.
Ballads are ordinarily jimongst the first
efforts of a semi-baibarous people in poetry;
and a collection of the best and most popular
compositions of this kind will throw great light
on die manners of a people in any stage of their
civilisation. We can only attempt a slight sketch
of the history of this kind of poetry in our own
country. * That our ancestors/ says Mr. Turner,
(Anglo-Saxons, p. 287, c. ii.) * had popular songs
on the actions of their great or favorite characters,
or on such other subjects as interested the vul-
gar mind, is proved by many instances, which
may be traced in the ancient writers. Alfred
says, in his manual, that no one had ever ap-
peared before Aldhelm, so competent in English
poetry; none had been able to compose so much,
or to sing and recite it so appositely. The king
mentions a popular ballad of Aldhelm's, which
was in his time, (that is, nearly two centuries
afterwards) sung in the streets. Malmsbuiy adds,
that Aldhelm, anxious to instruct his countrymen,
then semi-barbarous, and inattentive to their
religious duties, took his station on the public
bridge, as if a singer by profession, and, by mix-
ing sacred with lighter topics, won their atten-
tion, and ameliorated their minds. Bede mentions
that in a festive company the harp was sent
round, that those might sing who could. It was
a book of Saxon poems, says the above historian,
which first allured Alfred to learfi to read ; and
the fact that he bad his children taught to read
the Saxon poems, and that he himself visited the
Danish camp as a harper, which, in the reign of
his grandson, Anlaf imitated, prove the existence
of popular songs which instructed both the child
ana ttie rude warrior.
The connexion of these compositions with the
foundations of our history is clear. When
Malmsbury, after narrating the reign of Athel-
sian, proceeds to describe his origin from Ed-
ward's amour with a shepherd's daughter, he says,
The following facts I have taken rather from the
iongs (cantilenio) worn out by the course of time,
than from books composed for the instruction of
posterity.
A curious fragment of a ballad, composed by
Canute the Great, says Mr. Turner, has survived
to us. As this prince was sailing by tho abbey,
in the isle of Ely, he heard the monks chanting
their psalms and anthems, and was so struck
with tne interesting melody, that he composed a
little Saxon ballad on the occasion, which began
thus; —
QDefie pmjen iSe mnnechep binnen 61y,
Tha Cnur chin; |\evtSe|\ by
RopeiS Cnirep, noe|\ iSe laoto
Ant he|\e pe ^ep munechef r*^Z'
Meny sang the ai^sXs a Ely
When Canute the king was sailing by ;
Row, ye knights, near the land.
And let us hear those monka' song.
In Domesday-book, the Joculator Regis, who
was evidently a minstrel, is mentioned as having
lands assigned for his maintenance in Gloucester-
shire, Du Cange, iii. 1543; and in the batle of
Hastings, Tarblessen or Taillefer, an esquire in the
conqueror's army, obtained permission, as a sort
of forlorn hope, to lead the van, and threw him-
self upon the English spears, singing the popular
ballad. Chanson de Roland, Id. iv. 769. Sub-
sequent to the conquest we meet with many
genuine English songs : Horn Child : the Squire
of lowe Degree : and a Lytele geste of Robin
Hoode, have been pointed out as tales without
foreign admixture. Richard Coeur de Lion was
at once the hero of chivalry and the patron of
song : his well known deliverance from captivity
in Germany is connected by history with our
subject ; and the celebrated Scotch novelist has
well availed himself of all the romantic truths
of the story. Edward IV. incorporated the
Minstrels by charter, and they were protected
by a corporation under the government of a
marshal and two wardens. This charter was
renewed by Henry VIII. But by statute 39
Eliz. the profession was visited with the last dis-
grace, and minstrels were included and made
mnishable among ' rogues, vagabonds, and sturdy
Our older ballads are all in the northern dia-
lect : but singularly enough, on the accession of
the Stuarts, we find the whole spirit of these com-
positions evaporate ; and English minstrelsy be-
came extinct. See Percy's Reliques of English
Poetry : also Dr. Bumey's History of Music : Sir
Walter Scott's Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border ;
and Warton's History.
BALLADUK, a town in the desert of Syria,
140 miles E.N.E. from Damascus.
BALLAGHAN Point, at the south-west en-
trance of Carlingford Bay, a cape on the east
coast of Ireland. Eleven miles S. E. of Newry.
Long. 6*» 4' W., lat. 53** 58' N.
BALLAGHAN, or Ballaghy, a town of
Ireland, in the county of Sligo, and province of
Connaught. Twenty miles south of Sligo, and 1 05
from Dublin Long. 9** 50* W., lat. 53** 48* N.
BALLAGHNEED, a village of Ireland, in
Tyrone, with a good inn, seventy-eight miles
from Dublin.
BALLAGHY, three towns in Ireland, viz. 1
in Londonderry, ninety-two miles from Dublin.
2. in the county of Mayo, ninety-seven psiles
from Dublin. And 3. in Sligo. See Bai^
LAGRAN.
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426
BALLAST.
B ALLAMONOy a village in the Isle of Man,
near Castletown.
BAIXAN, a town of France, in the depart-
ment of the Sarte, seated on the Ome. Long.
20' E.,lat. 48^10' N.
BALIANDEN. See Ballenden.
BALLANI, a species of sheli-fish, abont a
finger's lengthy which abound in the harbour of
Ancona, and lodge among the stones. They are
much valued at Rome, whither great quantities
are sent.
BALLANTRAE, a small post-town and pa^
rish of Scotland, in the county of Ayr. The
village stands at the mouth of the Stinchar.
It carries on a salmon-fishing and some cotton
manufactures. DisUnttwAity-eight miles S. S. W.
of Ayr.
BALLAPATTY, a town of the Carnatic,
in Hindostan, twelve miles west of Vencatigherry.
BALLAPILI.Y, a town of Hindostan, in Ae
ceded Balaghaut district of Commim. Long.
78** 38' E., lat. IS** N.
BAL'LARAG, v. a. A ludicrous and low
word, purporting to bverpower by word or act ;
to bully; to threaten. It is still used in the
north, and pronounced bulfyrag.
On Mindcn's plains, ye meek mounseen ;
Remember Kingsley's grenadiers.
You vainly thottght to haUyrag us.
With your fine squadron off Cape Iiagos. WarUm,
BALLARD (George), one of those occa-
sionid geniuses in lower life which shoot up
without culture, was bom at Campden, in Glou-
cestershire. Being of a weakly constitution, his
parents put him to a habit-maker ; and in this
situation he mastered the Saxon language. The
time he employed in leamine it was stolen from
sleep, after the labor of the day was over. Lord
Chedworth, and the gentlemen of his hunt, who
u^ed to spend about a month of the season at
Campden, heard of his fame, and generously of-
fered him an annuity of £lOO, but he modestly
told them that £60 was fully sufficient to satisfy
both his wants and hi^ wishes. Upon this he
retired to Oxford, for the benefit of me Bodleian
library ; and Dr. Jenner, president, made him
one of the eight clerks of Magdalen College.
He was afterwards one of the University bea-
dles, but died in June, 1755, rather young;
which is supposed to have been owing to too in-
tense application. He left large collections be-
hind him, but published only Memoirs of Bri-
tish Ladies, who have been celebrated for their
Writings or Skill ia the learned I^mguages,
Arts, and Sciences, 1752. 4to. He drew up an
account of Campden church, which was read at
the Society of Antiquaries, November 21, 1771.
Ballard, ,Cape, a cape of Newfoundland.
Long. 52* 26' W., lat. 46° 55' N'.
BallarpVPoint, a cape on the west coast
of Ireland, in the county of Clare. Longitude
9^ 32' W., lat. 52° 42' N.
BALLARE, in middle-age authors, to dance.
BALLARINA, in ornithology, a name under
which Olina describes the white-w^tail, mota-
cilla alba.
BALLAS, a trading place on the left bank of
the Nile, Upper Egypt, where a great quantity
of earthen pots of a peculiar kind are i
tured. Ten miles south of Dendera.
BALLASSA-GYARMATH, a considerable
market-town and castle of Hungary, in the
county of Neograd. It suffered dreadfiilly by a
conflagration in 1800 ; when no less than 568
houses were destroyed, and only fifty, with the
town-house, left standing.
BALLASEDERE, a town of Ireland, in die
county of Sligo, 100 miles from Dublin, near a
water-fall.
BALLAST, v.&n. ^ Ang.-Sax. hlsstan,
Bal'lastury. ) be-hlaestan, to lade,
load, or fraught a ship. Past participle hkested,
be-hlssted, loaded or lacfen. Dut. and Ger
ballast. It is applied to that lading or loadiog
which is used to steady a vessel in Uie water, or
to steady any thing in its motion or action. See
Navigation, for the niutioal illustration of the
term.
'Mongst friends ?
If brothers : — ^Would it had been so, that they
Had been my father's aona ! then had my pine
Been less ; and to more equal baUaatmg
To thee, Posthomus. 8habp§aK.
There most be middle cooneeUort to keep thiag*
steady ; for, without that baUatt, the ship will roU too
much. Boooa.
While thus to battati love I thought.
And to more steadily t' have gone,
I saw I had love's pinnace overfraugku Dmm.
Now you have given me virtue for my guide.
And with true honour hAln^A&i my pride.
Diydae.
Why should he sink where nothing seem'd to preas?
His lading tittle, and his haSloM less. &n/>.
Those men have not froflcut enough of humility and
fear. ^
Ballast, in navigation. The principal ob-
ject is to make a vessel sink to a proper depth io
the water, that she m^ steadily carry a suffi-
cient quantity of sail. There is often great dif-
ference in the proportion of ballast required to
prepare ships of equal burthen for a voyage ;
the quantity being more or less according to the
sharpness or flatness of the ship's bottom, which
seamen call the floor.
Tha properly ballasting of a ship is amongst
the most important duties of the skilful mariner ;
for, although it is known that ships in general
will not carry a sufficient quantity of sail, till
they are laden so deep that the surface of the
water will nearly glance on the extreme breadth
amidships, yet there is more than this general
knowledge required; since, if she has a great
weight of heavy ballast, as lead, iron, &c. in the
bottom, it will place the centre of gravity too
low in the hold; and, although this will enable
her to carry a great sail, she will nevertheless
sail heavily, and run, in rolling, the risk of being
dismasted.
The ballast, therefore, should be so disposed
that she may be duly poised, and maintain a
proper equilibrium on Uie water, so as neither
to be ti>o stiff nor too crank: in the first, al-
though the ship may be fitted to cany a great
sail, her velocity will not be proportioaably in-
creased ; whilst her masts are endanged by her
sudden jerks and laboring: and, in the la^ she
Digitized by
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BALLAST.
427
"vpill be incapable of carrying sail without the
risk of upsetting. The former is occasioned by
disposing too great a quantity of heavy ballast in
the bottom, which brings the centre of gravity
near the keel; and, that being the centre about
which the vibrations are made, the lower it is
placed, the more violent will be the motion of
rolline. Crankness, on the other hand, is occa-
sioned by disposing the ship's lading so as to
raise the centre of gravity too high, which endan-
gers the mast in carrying sail when it blows
hard : for when the masts lose their perpendi-
cular, they strain in the nature of a lever on the
Bhrouds, which increases as the sine of their
obliqui^.
As a general principle, it may, therefore, be
observed, that ballast should be placed round
and near the centre of gravity of the ship, because
it will prevent the pitching being so violent as it
would be if it were carried much fore or aft of
that point. When a vessel is passing over a
wave, she will be at one time supported below
the centre of gravity; and immediately after,
her head will incline downwards, or, as it is
termed, she will pitch ; when it is evident, that
the nearer the weight is to the point over which
the vessel is supported, the less violent will the
motion be. But this rule stands in need of fre-
quent modifications : for *which reason, a large
quantity of shifting ballast is allowed in the Royal
navy. Indeed, throughout the whole practice,
as we are finding a remedy for one fault, we are
in danger of running into another; and much of
the final distribution of ballast depends upon
knowing well the peculiarities of the vessel, and
observing experimentally, how different winds
and calms affect her.
The
following
was, until
lately, the Ballast allowed to our Men of War :
Shingle
,
Shingle
1 Gnna.
ToBnage.
TronTons.
Tons.
Guns.
Tonnage.
Iron Tons.
Tons.
110
2290
180
370
36
870
65
160
100
2090
180
370
32
700
65
140
98
2110
160
350
28
600
60
100
90
1870
160
350
24
500
50
80
80
1620
140
300
22
450
50
70
74
1700
80
270
20
400
50
60
64
1370
70
260
Sloop.
300
50
40
50
1100
65
170
Brig.
160
30
15
44
900
65
160
Cutter.
20
Seldom
38
930
70
170
Sloop,
15
any.
The general practice then was, first, to stow
the iron ballast fore and aft, from bulkhead to
bulkhead, in the main hold, next to fir cants,
nailed on the limber stmkes, on each side of the
kelson, five or more inches clear of the limber
boards ; and winged up three or four pigs above
the floor-heads in the midships, or bearing part
of the ship, with two tiers of pigs in the wake
of the main hatchway, &c. • The shingle ballast
was spread and levelled over the iron ballast, on
which was stowed the lower tier of water-casks,
with the bungs up, and the bilge dear of the
sides. The midsnip tiers were first laid, and
the casks sunk about one quarter of their dia-
meter into the shingle ; the sides being filled in
with small casks, as half-hogsheads, Sec.
Since the introduction of iron tanks, shingle
ballast has been altogether laid aside, and iron
ballast only employed, the present proportion
of which, according to the practice of the navy^
is as follows : —
Table of the proportion of Iron BalUut at present
allowed in the navy, tn proportion to their ton-
nage.
To all three-deckers, |th of computed ton-
nage.
To two-deckers and oak frigates ^j^tb ditto.
To fir frigates j^ths of ditto.
To 22-gun ships and sloops, ^th ditto.
To brigs, sloops, &c. ^th ditto.
Smaller vessels' are not submitted to these
rales ; but are ballasted as circumstances may
require, according to the judgment of their offi-
cers. In ships of the line, sixteen ton of the
above, called shingle ballast, is moveable as
circumstancesr require, and halif that quantity to
frigates.
Additional ballast, to the amount of one-third,
and even one-half, of the original quantity is
sometimes, however, demanded : and the table
only exhibits the Official and ordinary allowance.
la the merchant-service, the stowage consists,
besides the other ballast, of casks, cases, bales,
box«s, 8tc. all carefully wedged off from the
bottom, sides, pump-well, &c. and great atten^
tion is paid that the most weighty materials are
stowed nearest to the centre of gravitjr, or bear-
ing of the ship; and higher or lower m the hold
agreeably to the form of the vessel. A fiiU low-
built vessel requires them to be stowed high up,
tiiat the centre of gravity may be raised, to keep
ber from rolling away her masts, and from being
too stiff and laborsome ; as, on the contrary, a
narrow high-bnilt vessel requires the most
weighty materials to be stowed low down, neaN
est the kelson, that the centre of gravity may be
kept low, to enable her to carry more sail. To
yachts and other small vessels, both in the navy
and merchant-service, the ballast is sometimes
lead, worked between the timbers.
^ the 19 Geo. II. it is enacted, that if any
Digitized by
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BAL
428
fiAL
iiflsteT or owner, or any person acting as master
of any ship or other vessel whatsoever, shall cast,
throw out, or unlade, or if there shall be thrown
out, &c. of any vessel, being 'within any haven,
port, road, channel, or navigable river within
England, any ballast, rubbish, gravel, earth,
stone, wreck, or filth, but only upon the land,
where the tide and water never flows or runs ;
any one or more justices for the county or place
where, or near which the offence shall be com-
mitted, upon the information thereof, shall sum-
mon or issue his warrant for bringing the master
or owner of the vessel, or other person acting as
such, before him ; and, upon appearance or de-
fault, shall proceed to examine the matter, and
upon proof made thereof, either by confession of
the party, or on view of the justice, or upon the
oath of one or more creditable witnesses, ne shall
convict the said master, &c. and fine him at his
discretion for every such offence, any sum not
exceeding £5, nor under 50«, &c.; and for want
of sufficient distress, the justice is to commit the
master, or person acting as such, and convicted
as aforesaid, to the common jail or house of cor-
rection, for the space of two tnonths, or until
payment of the penalties.
Besides the above general act, there are the
6 Geo. II. c. 29, and the 32 Geo. II. which re-
gulate the ballasting of merchant-vessels in the
river Thames, placing it under the direction of
the corporation of the Trinity-house.
To trench the ballast, denotes, to divide the
ballast into two several parts or more, in the
ship's hold, commonly done to find a leaJt in the
bottom of a ship, or to undock her.
Shooting of the ballast is when it runs over
from the one side to the other. Hence, it is that
corn, and all kinds of grain, is dangerous lading,
for that is apt to shoot. To prevent which, they
make poucles; Uiat is, bulkheads of boards,
to secure it from moving about^
BALLATAR Crag, a rocky hill in Aber-
deenshire, whose tremendous impending rocks
seem to threaten the astonished traveller with in-
stant destruction.
BALLATIGNES, in middle age writers, dan-
cings.
BALLATOONS, large heavy luggage-boats,
used for carrying wood by the river from Astra-
khan and the Caspian Sea from Moscow. They
will carry from 100 to 200 tons, and have from
100 to 120 men employed to row and tow them
along.
BALLANTYNE (John), was a native of
Kelso, in Roxburgshire ; and at an early age en-
tered into business as a printer. He, with his
brother, distinguished himself by the great im-
provement of the art, evinced in the extensive
publications which have of late years issued firom
their press. He was at one time a proprietor of
the Kelso Mail; and subsequently ushered into
the world the publications known as the Wa^
verly novels. He was possessed of sufficient
literary talents to be thought at one time to be
their author. He died in 1821.
BALLEBHGDAN, the original name of the
parish of Ardchattan, Argyleshire.
BALLENA, Punta de la, a point of land on
the east coast of the island of Margaritta:
another in Chili, on the coast of the province ot
Quillota : another in the kingdom of Quito, and
on the shore of the South Sea.
Ballena, a river of Florida, which ihlls into
the Atlantic.
BALLENDEN(Sir John), a Scottish poet, in
the reign of James V., descended from an an-
cient family in that kingdom. His father, Mr.
Thomas Ballenden, of Auchinoul, was director
to the chancery in 1540, and clerk register in
1541. From one of his poems we learn, tliat in
his youth he had some employment at the court
to king James V. and that ne was in great favor
with that prince. Having taken orders, and been
created D.D. at the Sorbonne, he was made
canon of Ross, archdeacon of Moray, and cleik
register ; but viras afterwards deprived of that^
employment by the factions of the times. How-'
ever, in the reign of Mary, he recovered that
office, and was one of the lords of session. Be-
ing a zea)ous papist, he, in conjunction with Dr.
Laing, was extremely assiduous in retarding the
progress of the reformation ; till at last, finding
the opposition too powerfiil, he quitted Scot
land, and went to Rome, where he died in 1550.
He ij generally esteemed one of the best Scot-
tish poets of that age. His works are, 1. The
History and Chronicles of Scotland of Hector
Boies (Boethius), translated by Mr. John Bal-
lenden, Edinb. 1536. 2. Cosmography to the
History of Scotland, with a PoeticS Proem. 3.
A Description of Albany. 4. Translation of
Boethius's Description of Scotland. 5. Epistles
to king James V. — Bale says he had seen these
letters. 6. Several poems in Carmichael's Col-
lection. 7. Virtue and Vyce, a poem addressed
to king James V.
BALLENGARY, a town of Ireland, in the
county of Kerry, on the mouth of the Shannon,
near Ardfert.
BALLENSTEDT, an ancient county and
castle in the principality of Anhalt-Bembuig,
Germany, on tne confines of Quedlingburg. It
is the ordinary residence of the prince of Anhalt,
and contains a riding-house, a theatre, and
beautiful gardens. At the foot of a hill on the
rivulet of Getel. Population 2500. Eighteen
miles south-west of Bemburg, twenty-seven
north-east of Nordhausen. Long. 11® 25' £.,
lat. 51** 45' N.
BALLERINI (Peter and Jerome), two bro-
thers, Italian priests, natives of Verona. Peter
was bom in 1698, and Jerome in 1702. They
wrote in conjunction, several learned and in-
genious poems, and published various editions of
ecclesiastical authors.
BALLEROY, a town and castle of France,
in Normandy, with 1180 inhabitants, and several
iron mines, and forges. It stands on the Dromme,
and is the head of a canton, in the department
of Calvados, arrondissement of Bayeux. Seven
miles S.S.W. of Bayeux, eighteen south of Can.
BALLERUS, in ichthyology, a species o
fresh water fish of the leather mouthed kind,
which appears to be the same with the caicassius,
or carcassi tertium genus.
Ballerus is also a name given by Aris-
totle to that species of cyprinus called blicca,
and pleysta, and pallerus, by modem writers.
Digitized by
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BAL
429
BAL
BALLET, a dramatic &ble represented by
action, music and dancing. The origin of the
, badlet is to be traced to the meretricious taste of
the Italian courts, and succeeded the more
dangerous but more manly amusement of tlie
tournament. The interview between our Henry
, VIIL and Francis I. of France, in tlie field of
I the cloth of gold, presents us with an early speci-
men of these entertainments. In the next cen-
I tury they reached the summit of their glory in
the splendid pomps of the courts of Tuscany
and Lorraine. The genius of Ben Jonson, and
even that of Shakspeare, was matured amidst the
scenery connected with the Italian ballet : but it
found its most zealous patron in Louis XIV. ;
and probably the most magnificent ballet ever
Serformed, was that which this prince comman-
ed and bore a part in, in the year 1664. In
honor of this memorable f&te , tlie name of the
Carousel has been given to the spot of its cele-
bration ; and the theatres of England, France,
and Italy, have been always striving since in
amicable warfare, to sustain the public par-
' tiality for these spectacles.
Ballets, or Balls, in heraldry, make a fre-
quent bearing in coats of arms, though never
so called ; for, according to their several colors
they have different names ; as besants, when the
color is or; plates when argent; hurts when
azure ; torteaux when gules; pomies when vert;
pellets or agresses when sable; golpes when
purple ; orenges when tanne ; and guzes when
sanguine.
BAL'LETTE, n. f. Fr. hatlette. A dance
in which some history is represented.
BALLEXARD (n.), a citizen of Geneva, bom
in 1726. He wrote a treatise on the physical
education of children, which gained the prize
from a society in Holland ; and a dissertation on
the question, what are the principal causes of the
deaths of children? He died at Geneva in
1774.
. BALLI (Joseph), a scholastic divine, bom at
Palermo in Sicily. He was a canon of Bari, in
the kingdom of Naples ; and author of De Fac-
cunditate Dei, and De Morte Corporam Natura-
Hum. He died at Padua in 1640.
BALLI ACE, in ancient geography, a town of
Illyria, in the vicinity of Apollonia. .
BAL'LIAGE, -a duty payable to the city of
London, for the goods ana merchandise of aliens,
according to the charter 16 Car. II.
BALLIANI (John Baptist), a native of Ge-
noa, bom in 1586. He rose to be a member of
the senate, and wrote a treatise on the Natural
Motion of Heavy Bodies, 1646. He died in
1666.
BALXIARDS, fi. «. From ball and yard, or
stick to push it with. A play at which a ball is
driven by the end of a stick; now cogmiptly
called billiards. Dr. Johnson says ; but biUiardt
is not a cormption, being the Fr. billard, from
biile, the term tor the ball used in playing.
With dice» with cards, with hatUarda far unlit.
With shuttle-cocks misMemiog manly wit.
Cieo. Let it alone ; let va to HUiardi;
Coiat, Clftarmian.
8hahpeare» Antanjf and Cleopatra*
BALLIBAY, a market-tovm of Ireland, in the
county of Cavan, fifty-three miles from Dublin.
BMXICORA, a borough town of Ireland, in
the county of Cork.
BALLIMORE, a town of Ireland, in the
county of Westmeath. It was taken in 1691 by
General Gingle ; and burnt by the military, in
the rebellion of 1798. Distant from Athlone ten
miles north, and fifty firom. Dublin.
BALLIN (Claude), a celebrated French artist,
bom in 1615. His &ther was a goldsmith, and
under him he learned that business. When
about nineteen years of age, he displayed un-
common genius, by making four silver basins,
on which were represented the four ages of the
world. These were purchased by Caidinal Ri-
chelieu, and he was employed to make four rases,
after the antique, to match them. He afterwards
executed handsome pieces for Louis XIV. and
after the death of Vann, he succeeded as director
of the mint, for casts and medals. ' He died in
1678.
BALLINA, or Belleek, a town of Ireland,
in the county of Mayo ; fourteen miles north of
Castlebar, and 120 from Dublin. It has a con-
siderable salmon fishery; and in 1798 was
taken by the French troops who landed in Ireland
under General Humbert. •
BALLINACARGY, a town of Ireland, in
West Meath, about forty-six miles from Dublin.
BALLINACHORA, a town of Ireland, near
Middletown, in Cork.
BALLINACOURTY, Point, a cape on the
south coast of Ireland, in the county of Watw-
ford, on the north side of Dungarvan Bay. Dis-
tant four miles east of Dungarvan.
BALLIN AGAR, a town of Ireland, in King's
county, Leinster, forty-one miles from Dublin.
BALLINAKIL, a market town of Ireland, in
Queen's county ; a borough previously to the
Union. Here are woollen manu&ctures, and the
ruins of a castle, fourteen miles west of Carlow,
fiibr-eight from Dublin.
BALLINAKILL Harbour is on the west
coast of Ireland. Forty miles north-west of Gal-
way. Long. 9** ^8' W., lat. 53** S4' N.
BALLINALACK, a town in West Meath,
Ireland, about fortv-eight miles from Dublin.
BALLINAMORE, a town of Ireland, in
the county of Galway, eighty-four miles from
Dublin.
BALLINANAGHT, a town of Ireland, in the
county of Cavan, fifty-four miles from Dublin.
BALLINASLOE, a town of Ireland, in the
county of Roscommon, seventy-two miles from
Dublm. It is noted for its great fairs of cattle,
wool, &c. Of sheep there will sometimes
80,000, or 90,000, be seen together here.
BALLINAVAR, a town of Ireland, in Cork.
BALLINDAGGIN, a town of Ireland, in the
county of Mayo, nearly 100 miles from Dublin.
BALLIN EKIL, a borough town of Ireland,
in Queen's county.
BALLINGARRY, a tovra of Ireland, in the
county of Limerick, 122 miles from Dublin.
BALLINROBE, a town of Ireland, in Mayo,
where the assizes are sometimes held. It is
112 miles from Dublin. Long. 9* lO' W., lat,
53° 40' N.
Digitized by
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430
BAL
- BALLI^TOGHER, a town of Sligo, Ireland.
BALLINTOY, a town of Ireland, on the
coast of Antrim. It produces coals. It has
a tolerable good harbour, which has been im-
proved by a parliamentary grant. A short dis-
tance to the eastward is the small island of
Carrick-a-rede, separated from the laod by a
chasm of sixty feet, of a frightful depth, which is
passed by means of two cables stretched across.
BALLINTRY, a village and parish of Ireland,
on the coast of Aiitrim. Several ancient fortifi-
cations are within its precincts, and there is a
cromlech near the villaee. Other antiquities are
also found here. It is twent)r miles north of
Bailymena, and 150 from Dublin.
RALLISTA, Lat. from PaXKtiv, to shoot, a
machine used by the ancients for shooting darts ;
it resembled in some measure our cross bow, Ve-
«etiu8 informs uj, that the ballista discharged
oarts with such rapidity and violence, that nothing
could resist their force: and Athenseus acds, tliat
Agistratus made one of little more than ^wo feet
in length, which sliot darts 500 paces. See Ab-
TILL£RT.
Ballista, in pracucal geometry, the geomet-
rical cross, oiliea also Jacob's staff. See Cross
Staff.
Ballista, or 0$ BalIistje, is a name given
by some anatomists to the first bone of the tar-
sus, otherwise called talus and astragalus.
BALLISTARII, or Ballistrarii, in anti-
quity, slidgeis or soldiers who fought with the
ballists. There are two kinds of ballistarii ; the
one, called also manuballistarii, or manuballistae,
cast stones and other missive weapons, with the
hand. The others, called also carroballistarii,
or carroballiste, made use of a machine. The
ballistarii were scarcely heard of before the age of
Constantine.
BALLISTAEIUS is also used, in writers of
the middle age, for a cross bowman, or arbaletier.
BAL'USTER. See Balluster.
BALLISTEUM, or Ballistrvea ; from/3aXX«,
to toss, to throw, or to shoot; in antiquity^ a mi-
litary song or dance used on occasions of victory.
Vopiscus has preserved the ballisteum sung in
honor of Aurdian, who, in the Sarmatian war,
was said to have killed forty-eight of the enemy
in one day with his own hand. The ballistea
were a kind of popular ballads, composed by
poets of the lower class, without much regard to
the laws of metre.
BALLISTICA, or Ballistics the art of
throwing heavy bodies. F. Mersennus has
published a treatise on the projection of bodies,
under this title.
BALLIUM, old law Latin, bail.
Balliuic, in archsologia, the court of a forti-
fied castle. The outer ballium was immediately
within the gates, separated by a wall from the
inner ballium, which contained the apartments
for the garrison and the keeper. St. Peter, in the
Bailey at Oxford, stands in the outer ballium of
Che castle. The Old Bailey and New Bailey in
London were in similar positions in regard to the
walls of that city ; and hence are their names.
BALLIVUS. See Bailiff.
BALLOCH, a lake of Perthshire, in the
parish of Muthil, about half a mile in <
ference.
BAL'LON, ) Fr. bahn, a little ball or pack ;
Bal'loon. ) also a foot-ball. Dut. hmoen^
Germ, balluyn, Span, hcdon^ Ital. haUone. A
name given to a certain game played with a
ball filled with wind.
Many other tporti and recreations there be mach
in use, as foot-lmlU bailoume, quintan, &c and many
such, which are the common recreations of the countiy
folks. Burton's Anatomy of MdancMg,
Sir Pet. Faith, I was so entertained in the pro-
gress with one count Bpemoun, a Welsh knight : we
had a match at baloon, too, with my lord W'.chum,
for five crowns. O, sweet lady, 'tis a strong game
with the arm. Eattward Hoe,
Ballon, or Ballone, an ancient castle^
seated on the sea-coast, in the parish of Tarbat,
in Ross-shire; which exhibits a monument of the
taste and grandeur of former ages.
Ballon, a town in the province of Maine,
France, on the Ome, with 3560 inhabitants. It
is the chief place of a canton in the department
of the Sarthe, arrondissement of Le Mans ; and
has manufiictures of stamine and other Hnen
cloths. Ten miles north-east of Le Mans, six-
teen south of Alenpon. Also a town of France,
in the department of the Lower Charente, arron-
dissement of Rochefort; nine miles south-east of
La Rochelle.
Bal'loon, n.s. In chemistry, a large globu-
lar glass flask, with a short neck, generally used
as a receiver in distillations.
In architecture, a ball or globe placed on
the top of a pillar.
In fire-works,abalI of pasteboard stuffed with
combustible matter, whicn, when fired, mounts
to a considerable height in the air, and then
bursts into briglit sparks resembling stars.
In aerology, a hollow vessel of silk, which is
filled with inflammable air, and ascends with
considerable weight annexed to it, into the atmos-
phere. Though of modem introduction, by the
following citation it looks as if the existence of
such a machine had been known 150 years since :
* Like baUoonet fiill of wind, the more they are
pressed down, the higher ther rise.* — Htwyf
Sermmu (1658) p. 115; See Aerovautics.
Balloon, in a general sense, signifies any
spherical hollow body, of whatever mattitr it
be composed, or for whatever purposes it be
designea.
Balloon, in ibe French paper trade, is a
term for. a quantity- of paper, containing twenty
four reams.
Balloon likewise denotes a kind of game
something resembling tennis, llie hsAXoa is
played in the open field, with a great round ball
of double leather blown up with wind, and thus
driven to and fro with the strength of a man's
arm, fortified with a brace of wood.
Balloon, or Balloen, is particulaiiy used
among voyagers for the state oarges of Siam.
These balloons are a kind of brigantines, managed
with oars, of very odd figures, as serpents, sea-
horses, &&C.; but, by their sharpness and number
of oars, of incredible swiftness. They are said
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431
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to be made of a single piece of timber, of uncom-
mon length; they are raised high, and much
decorated with earring at head and stem : some
are gilt over, and carry 120 or 150 rowers on
each side. The oars are either plated over .with
silver, gilt, or radiated with gold; and the dome
or canopy in the middle, where . the company is
placed, IS ornamented with some rich stuff, and
furnished with a ballustrade of ivory, or other
costly matter, enriched with gilding. The edges
of the balloon just touch die water, but the
extremities rise with a sweep to a great height.
Some are adorned with a variety of figures, made
of pieces of mother of pearl inlaid : the richer
sort, instead of a dome, carry a kind of steeple in
the middle: so that, considering the sleudcrness of
the vessel, which is usually 100 or 120 feet long,
and scarcely six broad, the height of two ends,
and of the steeple, with the load of decorations,
it is a kind of miracle that they are not overset.
Balloon, or Ballot, in the French glass
trade, signifies a certain quantity of glass plates,
smaller or greater accordii^ to their quality.
The balloon of white glass conUins twenty-five
bundles, of six pltftes per bundle; but the balloon
of colored glass is only twelve bundles and a
half, and of three plates to a bundle.
Balloon, Air. See AtaoNAUxics, &c.
BALXOT, V, & n.'\ Fr, balloUer, Ital. baU
Ballota'nt, tlotare, from Gr. /SoXXm,
Ballot'atiok, ^from ball, Skinner. A
Ballot'in. j particular mode of elec-
tion. This is managed by putting little balls or
tickets of different colors, black and white, pri-
vately into a box, which has two compartments;
by counting the balls it is known wha^ is the re-
sult of the poll, without any discovery of the
respective voters.
The greatest of the pariiament men bated this de-
sign of rotation and baOoHng, as being against their
P*^^'- Wood't AihenUB Oxaniemm.
Whereupon eight haHaimM, or pages, take eight of
the boxes, and go four on the one side, and four on
the other side of the house ; and every magistrate and
senator holds up a litde pellet of linen as the box
PM*^ between his finger and his thumb, that they
ntaj aod he has bat one, and then puts it into the
■■"■•• Barrmgton's Oceana,
No competition arriving to a sufficient number of
balls, they fell to ballot some others. Wotton,
The election of the duke of Venice Is intricate and
carious, consisting of ten several baQfitotioM^ Id,
Giving their votes by baOoiiing, they lie under no
•^•- Swift.
BALLOTA, White Horehoond ; in botany ;
a genus of the gymnospermia order, and didy-
namia class of plants; ranking, in the natural
method, under the forty-second order, verticillata.
The calyx has five teeth, with ten stria; and the
upper lip of the corolla is cienated. It is a com-
mon weed growing on the sides of banks in most
parts of England, as also in walks near towns
and villages in Scotland; so is seldom admitted
jnto gardens. The flowers are in whorls, upon
branched peduncles, and lean on one side of the
«talk; they are commonly of a dull red color, but
•ODietunes white. It was formerly used in hys-
teric cases, but is now fallen into disuse. The
Swedes reckon it an almost universal remedy in
the diseases of their cattle. Horses, cows, sheep,
and goats, refuse to eat it.
BALLOTADE/ See Balotade.
BALLRIENAN, a pleasant peninsula of Ire-
land, in the county of Louth ; in which there are
relicsof a Druid's Grove; supposed to have been
the chief seat of the Arch-Druid.
ball's Bay, a bay on the east coast of Nor-
folk island, in the South Pacific.
Balis, a river of West Greenland, which
runs into the sea, in long. 50** l(f W., lat. 64**
30' N.
' Ball's Pyramid, a small island in the South
Pacific, discovered by lieutenant Ball in 1788.
Long. 159** E., lat. 31° 35' S.
BALLSTOWN, a thriving town of the state
of New York, situated in Saratoga county, thirty
miles north of Albany.
Also a town of Worth America, in Lincobi
county, district of Maine, 195 miles north-east
of Boston.
BALLUNTEE, a town of Hindosta^i, ip Orissa,
thirteen miles south-east of Cuttack.
BALLUSTER. See Baluster.
BALLUSTRADE. See Balustrade, and
Architecture, Index.
BALLY, a small island in the Eastern seas,
separated from the west coast of Bachian by a
channel about five miles wide. Lat. 0° 30' S.
Bally, a large town on the east coast of the
island of Lombhook, about fifteen miles from the
entrance of the strait of Alass. The inhabitants
trade principally for rice with the Dutch settle-
ments. Long. 116° 28' E., lat 8« 31' S.
'Bally, a Gaelic word, analagous to Bal,
which makes part of the names of above 100
places, mostly small towns, or villages, in ^re-
land; of which we can only notice a few of the
principal. The word seems to be a corruption
of the term Ballibetagh, anciently used to express
a town land able to maintain hospitality.
Bai^lycastle, a sea-port of Antrim, about
thirty miles north of Carrickfergus, and 113
from Dublin: noted fi)r its chalybeate spring
and collieries.
Ballyconnel, a town of Cavan, in Ulster,
sixty-seven miles from Dublin, and eleven north-
east of Cavan.
Ballycotton Bay, a bay on tHe north-west
coast of Ballycotton island.
Ballycotton Island, an island of St»
George's channel, on the south-west coast of Ire-
land, four miles off Cloyne. Long. 7° 59* W.,
lat. 51® 50' N. It is a great resort of sea-fowl,
and porpoises frequently come ashore here.
Ballydovilin Bay, a bay on the soutli-west
coast of Ireland. Long. 9° 32' W., lat. 51*
2rN.
Ballyela Bay, a bay on the west coast of
Ireland, 128 miles east of the south Arran islands.
Ballygabi BOON, in Kerry, Munsler; noted for
producing great quantities of cyder.
Ballygilly Head, a cape on the east coast
of Ireland.
Ballyuays, a market town of Ireland, county
of Cavan, fifty-seven miles 'from Dublin, and once
a considerable place.
Digitized by
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BAL
432
BAL
Ballyiiolm Bay, on the coast of Down,
between Carrickfergus and Copland islands.
Ballyuooly, in Cork, seated on the Black-
water, in a woody country; 111 miles from
Dublin.
Bally LFSP Bay, a harbour on the north-
west coast oi Ireland, due west from Sligo Bay,
and east from Broad-haven. Dunsinehead is
its eastern limit.
Ballymahon, a town in Longford, fifty-two
miles from Dublin. Long. 7° 56' W., lat. 52**
31 N.
Bally MEN A, a market town of Antrim, on the
river Maine, Ireland. It has a town-house, in
which the quarter-sessions are held ; and a linen
manufacture is carried on here. Twenty miles
north-west of Belfast, and ninety-three nortli of
Dublin.
Ballynahikch, a market town of Down, in
Ireland, seventy-six miles from Dublin. In its
neighbourhood is a chalybeate spring. Here, in
1798, the rebels were defeated after a bloody
engagement on Lord* Moira's estate, and the
greater part of the town was at that time destroyed.
Ballyqxjinton PorNT, a cape of Ireland,
seven miles east of Down-patrick.
Ballyraghan Bay, a bay on the west coast
x>{ Ireland, in the north part of the county of
Clare. Long. 9o g' w , lat. 53** 7' N,
Ballyshannon, a town oflreland, in the county
of Donegal, situated on a bay at the mouth of a
river flowing from Lough Erne, which is here
crossed by a bridge of fourteen arches. Here are
two fisheries of eels and salmon. Fish and grain
are the chief exports. The imports, timber, rock
salt, iron, earthenware, and other commodities in
small quantities. Distant forty miles south-west
of Londonderry, and 100 from Dublin.
Ballytore, a beautiful village, on the river
Gris, in Kildare, twenty-eight miles from Dublin.
B ALLY YOG Y Head, a capc in Cork, opposite
to Mizeu Head, between which there is a large
bay.
BAL'M, V. & n. I Gr. pakeafiov, Lat. bal-
Balm'y, S samumy Fr. baUarme, haulme,
Ital. balsamOf Goth, balsarif Ang.-Sax. baldsame,
balzame, Germ, and Swed. balsam, Dut. balsem.
Applied to a fragrant shrub, as balm-mint ; the
sap of a shrub, as balm of Gilead ; to fragrant
ointment ; to any thing fragrant, sweet-smelling,
soothing, Unifying, lulling, mitigating, either
literally or metaphorically, To balm, is to wash
with balm, or any thing softening, fragrant, and
antiseptick. See Embalm. Of balm-mmt, the
species are 1. garden balm; 2. garden balm, with
yellow variegated flowers; 3. stinking Roman
balm, with soft hairy leaves.' — Miller. * Balm
of Gilead is the juice drawn from the balsam-
tree, by making incisions in its bark. Its color
is first white, soon after green ; but when it comes
to be old it is of the color of honey. The smell
of it is agreeable, and very penetrating ; the taste
of it bitter, sharp, and astringent. As little
issues from the plant by incision, the balm sold
by the merchants is made of the wood and green
branches of the tree, distilled by fire, which is
generally adulterated with turpentine.' — Calmet.
* It seems to me that the zori of Gilead, which
vre render in our Bible by the word balm, was
not the same with the balsam of Mecca, but only
a better sort of turpentine, tlien in "use for the
cure of wounds and other diseases.* — Frideaui't
Cannex.
In May that mother is of monethes glade.
That the freshe flouris ali^ blew, white, and rede,
Ben quicke ayen, that winter ded had made.
And full of bourne, is fleting eneiy mede.
Chauetr,
But forbeare to speake
Of baths, or bahning, or of beaaty now.
Chapman, Homer^t Od^teg.
We saw thee in thy AoZmy-nest,
Bright dawn of oar eternal day;
We saw thine eyes break from the east,
And chase the trembling shades away.
CnAme.
Upon an hill a bright flame I did see.
Waving aloft with triple point to sky.
Which like incense of precious cedar tree.
With baimy odours fill'd th' ayre fane and nie.
Spenur.
Where many groomes and squyres ready were.
To take him from his steed full tenderiy.
And eke the fayrest Alma mett him there.
With bairn and wine, and costly spicery.
To comfort him in his infirmity* U.
This is most strange ;
That she, that even but now was your best object,
The argument of your praise, bahn of your age.
Most best, most dearest, should, in this trice of time.
Commit a thing so monstrous^ to dismantle
So many folds of favour. ShtUupeare. Lear.
As bees
In spring time, when the sun with Taurus rides.
Pour forth their populous youth about the hive
In clusters ; they among fresh dews and flowers
Fly to and fro, or on the smoothed plank.
The suburb of their straw-built citadel.
New rubb'd witk baim, expatiate and confer
Their state-affairs. MUm.
Now gende gales
Fanning their odoriferous wings dispense
Native perfumes, and whisper whence they stole
Those baimy spoils. U-
Publicola, with healing hands shall pour
Balm in their wounds, and shall their life restore ;
Greek arts, and Roman arms, in her conjoined,
- Shall England raise, relieve oppress'd mankind.
Maroefl,
So weak are human kind by nature made.
Or to such weaknes by their vice betrayed
Almighty vanity ! to thee they owe
Their zest of pleasure and their balm of woe.
Yatms.
O smile, ye heavens, serene ; ye mildews wan.
Ye blighting whirlwinds spare his baimy prime.
Nor lessen of his life the litd^ span. BaaUie.
. Balm, in botany. See Melissa.
Balm, or Balsam. See Balsam.
Balm mint. See Balm.
Balm of Gilead, the English name of the
dracocephalum canariense, or canary dragon's
head.
Balm of sulphur. See Sulphur.
BALMUR^UM, the name given by Leslie to
the ancient abbey of Balmerino, which was
founded A. D. 1229, by king Alexander II. and
his mother Emergaida, widow of William the
Lion. That princess lies interred in the abbey
church. See Balmerino.
BALMURENACH, the original name of Bal-
merino.
Digitized by
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BALOOCHISTAN
433
BAIJ9AG0¥nN, a tmall river of Scotland, in
Koss-sbive, which bounds the parish of KiUnuir
Easter, on the east.
BALNAHUAICH, one of the western isles of
Scotland, on the coast of Argyllshire, and in the
parish of Jura, on the north end of that island.
Mr. Stewart, minister of Jura and Colonsay, in
his statistical report of these parishes to Sir J.
Sinclair, states me population of this island in
1793 at 98 families, and 133 souls. It abounds
with excellent slates.
BALNAVES (Henry), a Scottish protestant
divine, bom in Fife, in the reign of James V.,
and educated at St. Andrew's. He went to
France to finish his studies; and returning to
Scotland, was admitted into the family of the
earl of Arran, then regent; but in 1542 the earl
dismissed him for having embraced the protes-
tant religion. In 1554 he joined, says Mackenzie,
the murderers of cardinal Beaton; for which he
was declared a traitor, and excommunicated.
While that party were besieged in the castle of
St. Andrew^ they sent Balnaves to England,
who returned with a considerable supply of pn>-
visions and money ; but being at last obliged to
eurrender to the French, he was sent with the
rest of the garrison to France. He returned to
Scotland About 1559 ; and having joined the con-
gregation, he was appointed one of the commis-
sioners to^treat with Uie duke of Norfolk on the
part of queen Elizabeth. In 15C3 he was made
«ne of the lords of session, and appointed by the
general assembly, with other learned men, to re-
vise the Book of Discipline. Knox, his fellow*
laborer* gives him the character of a veiT
^earned and pious divine. He died at Edinburgh
in 1579. He wrote, 1. A Treatise concerning
Justification, Edinburgh, 1530, 8vo. 2. A Cate-
chism, or Confession of Faith, 1584, 8vo.
BALNEAL', ad, -n These, with 6«ii and
BAt'KEARY, n. s. tbagnioj are derived from
Balm'eation, £the Lat. halntum, which
Baln ^ATORY, ad. ) signifies a bath. To wet,
to wash, to bathe.
Others attribute this haUtal beat to the sun, whose
all-scorchxng beames penetrating the pores of the
earth, do heat the waters. JSToweU'f Lsitert,
The ftolneartef and bathing-plaees he exposeth UDto
the summer setting. BrownU Vtdgar Erroun.
As the head may be disturbed by the skin, it may
the same way be relieved, as'is observahle in baimea-
tkmt, and fomentations of that part. Id,
BALNEARIl Sbrvi, in antiquity, servants
4>r attendants belonging to the baths. Some weie
appointed to heat them, called fbmicatores;
others were denominated capsarii, who kept the
clothes of those that went into them; others
alipta, whose care it was to pnll off the hair ;
tthersunctuarii, who anointed and perfiuned ^e
todv.
BALNEARIUS Fub, or Balnearium Fur,
in antiquity, a kind of thief who practised steal-
ing the clothes of persons in the baths. This
Crime was reckoned a kind of sacrilege ; for the
tot baths were sacned; hence they were more
severely punished than common thieves, who
li'ole <^ut of private houses. The latter were ac-
quitted with paying double the value of the thing
Vol. Ill
stolen; whereas the former were punished with
death.
BALNEGLERA, a town of Ireland, in the
county of Armagh.
BALNE'UM, n. a vessel used in chemistry.
Balnbum, a term used liy chemists to sig-
nify a vessel filled with some maiter, as sand,
water, or the like, in which another is placed
that requires a more gentle heat than the naked
fire. See Chemistry, Index.
Balneum Arevosum, a sand bath.
Balneum Foenz, a hay bath, is when a body
IS laid to digest in moist hay, whose heat is like-
wise directed by the application of water.
Balneum Maria is by some so called, as
being supposed to have been first invented by
the blessed Virgin; but' by others, with more
propriety, it is called
Balneum Maris, or sea bath, in reg&rd tlie
vessel here floats as it were in a sea. Here the
cucurbit is pUced in hot water, which warms the
matter contained, and disperses it for exhalation.
Balneum Minerals, or mineral bath, is
used by some chemists for aqua regia.
Balneum Rorxs, or Roritum, is a fiimace
where the cucurbit, or distilling vessel, is only
suspended over the vapor of water, and not in
contact with the water itself.
Balneum Siccum, or Arenosum, a dry or
sand heat
Balneum Vaporarium, or the vapor bath;
the same with Balneum roris.
BALOLY, a town of Hindostan, in the dis-
trict of Dowlatabad, thirty-five miles E.N. E. of
Ottdighir.
BALONGO, three islands in the bay of Ben*
gal, near the coast of Arracan. Long. 93^ to 93o
%(/ E., lat. 19^ SC to 20* 5' N.
BAIX)NICH, in the ancient materia medica,
a name given by Avicena, Averrhoes, and others,
to a kind §f camphor, which they describe as
coarse, brown, and of less value than the odier
sorts. This is probably the same with our rough
camphor, as brought over to us from the Euf.
Indies.
BALOOCHISTAN, Balochasthan, or, ac-
cording to some, Belujistan, a large province
west of the Indus, bounded on the nordi by
Seistan in Persia and Candahar, on the south by
the sea, on the «ast by the province of Sinde and
Shekarpoor, and on the west by Mekran in
Persia. It comprehends all that space of terri-
tory lying between the ^S^ and 30° of north la-
titude, and the 62° and 69° of east longitude.
The political limits are, however, difficult to de-
fine with accuracy, from the perpetual fluctua-
tions to which they are subject The province is
extremely mountainous, peopled by warlike semi-
barbarous tribes, and was scarcely known to
Europeans till the years 1809 and 1810, when it
was visited by Mr. Pottinger and a few other
officers in the East India Company's service. At
that time the whole country of Baloochistan was
divided into the followinff provinces :— 1 Those
of Jli^aw&n and Slur^&n, and districts of
KelHt. 2. Macran and Les. 8. Kohistan, the
mountainous region west of the desert. 4. The
desert. 5. Cach Gand&vah and the district of
Herrend Dfi^el. 6. The province of Sindli.
2 F
Digitized by
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434
JjAtOOCHISTAir
The principal provinees at pi^Mnl are Jala-
xTza, Saiawan, Zukree, Mekran, Lus and Mutch,
although this includes territories not properly
subject to Mahmood Khan, the jpresent Ameer of
KeliLt, the capital.
To the south Baloochistan Proper commences
at Kohinee, twenty-fi^e miles N. £. from Bayla,
in lat. 26'' 35' N., and extends to Noo^ky,
seventv-nine miles N. W. from Kelatj in lat 30^
N. The country is described generally as a con-
fused heap of mountains, through which the
roads lead for the most part in water-counes,
and the beds of small rivers.
Tlie principal mountainous range, called by
Mr. Pottinger Brah^ic, from' the BrahCits who in-
babit it, rises abruptly out of the sea to a
considerable height at cape Mow&rl, the Monze
of the Maps, in lat. 25^ N^ and long. 66® SS' £.
whence it runs in a north-east direction, after-
wards to the north, and at last resuming it^ ori-
ginal course sinks into moderate hills and unites
with the lowest ridges of the chain that traverses
Afghlmistkn. Anciently this chain formed the
ieparating boundary between Persia and India.
Near the Indian Ocean it is not more than thirty
miles in breadth; but about the same distance
from the shore it breaks into a variety of branches,
and stretches over the whole country, west and
north, in which direction it unites itself with the
Persian ranges, ending abruptly in the sea, or
sinking in &e sandy region which divides the
^ cultivable territory from the ocean. The general
' inclination of the boldest ridges is from the
north-east to the south-west, whence it becomes
highly probable that the Brahiiic range is a pni<-
longation of the Hindii Cush, the Emodus of the
tticients, in which the HezSrah range or Paroj^a-
misus, extending as far as the Caspian, has Itk
origin. With Uiis latter chain the western ex-
tremity of the Brah(uc mountains* extending
north beyond Ibe main body of Iflghlands, is
thought to be united ; a branch which lying be-
tween Seis(ftn and Kirm&n forms the eastfem
boundary of the Persian empire. Another di-
vision of this range extends from their south-
western angle, and, running nearly parallel with
the main heights in that direction^ forms at last
a junction with the mountains of L&ristan, in
Persia, and sends but many collatertd ramifica-
liona terminating in iieadlahds on the coast of
Macrim. In the western *parta of that province
the mountains reccfil on the principal body, and
Ibftn a complete mass of mountains, irregularly
crowded, which the natives denominate Kohistkn,
or ^he highlands. The length of this range is
stated at 350 miled, and the breadth of the
loftiest ridge at nearly 200. The town of Kelftt
stands upon the highest level; the extraordinary
elevation of which is supposed to exceed by one-
' eighth the highest peaks of the Pyrenees ; a fibct
which is confirmed by the severity of its winters,
and by the great height of the bold defiles beiid-
ing down to the northern desert.
In this mountainous country, filled probably
with primitive rocks, the soil is generally barren;
but in the upper provinces rich min crops are
gathered in from fields which to ue sight exhibit
scarcely any thing but pebbles. The lowlands
ol Caeh Gand&vah, tooMd by the alluvions of
die Indus, are extrmely fertile, prOdodsgMh,
cottob, indigo, and oil. The vallevs of Wudd,
Khozdar, and Sohrab, are capable ot cultivation.
The precious metals, togetner with lead, irpn,
copper, tin, and antimony, abound in many
parts of the country ; as also rock-salt, nitre, axu
several medicinal minerals of great vahie.
The whole of this region, though mountainous,
is remarkably destitute of water. It has not a
single river that is navigable ; boton the northern
side the hills are a few brooks and mountain U>r-
renCs ; but these, with the exception of the Budar,
are frequently dried up bv the intense avidity of
thte lowland climate. The stream, known by
different names in different parts of its coone,
as Budar, Mulidani, Blia^ar, Desti, hx^ is
supposed to have been formerly much la^r and
more imporiant than at present ; its source is in
the distnct of Gannsail, neak* the banks of the
Helmind, or Hindmind; but has never been
traced by Europeans beyond the parallel of 29^
fh>m ^ ocean. At the distance of a bundred
yards from tlie beach it is not more than twenty
mches deep ; more remote from the shore, how-
ever, its maignitude increases ; and in the district
of Penj-gfir it has a copious and perpetual stream.
The climate, and consequently the seasons,
are very different in different parts of the conn-
tiT. In tlie loftiest regions they resemble those
of the southern and middle .parts of Enrope,
whilst, in the maritime provinces and desert^
they approximate to that of the tropics, and are
subject onlv to three changes, introducing the
hot, the cold, and the rainy periods. In J 'hU&w^
and Sarfiw^ the spring commences towards die
end of February; the summer at the beginning
of May; the autumn succeeds and continues
through August and September, afker which k
severe winter concludes the year. The rains in
the level sands of Macr&n continue through
February and Maroh, and afterwards return in
June and July, the latter being occasioned by a
south-west monsoon. The hot season lasts from
March till October, including the second rains,
after which the cold succeeds and continnes from
November till February. I'he aridity and drought
in Macr&n are so extreme in the summer as to
render the country scarcely habitable. Kohist^
has a climate of medium temperature ; and Cack
Gand&vah, where the heat is so intolerable in the
Slimmer, has scarcely any winter at all.
So great a variety of climate is capable of pro-
ducing a great variety of vegetation ; and after
Nadir Shah, in 1739, granted the whole of this
territoiy to Nasir Khain, that prince endeavoured
to inspire his subjects with the love of hgricul-
ture, and gardening. With this view, he ndt
only introduced various fruits from Cabul,
but almost all the productions of temperate and
tropical climes, nuUierotis kinds of whidi aite
still to be found in some part or other of these
dominions. All the different kinds of European
grain, madder, cotton, indigo, esculent vege-
tables, &c. are produced in pea abundance;
wheat is sown in August and reaped the follow-
ing June; barley is sown in September, and
reaped in May. Madder, after lying in die
ground three years, is brought to great perice-
tion. U^pnsht, or cimeV&grass, a hupge species
Digitized by
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B A L O O C H I S T A N.
486
of clover (peihaos lucern)y produce! Uro ciopt
m a month, and lasts for six or settD years. Toe
provinces of Maciftn and Les, <>r lio, yield a
crop of grass in each of the rain MOiofis. The
palms throughout the whole r^ .<ion give a large
quantity of dates, and, the itipregnation of the
female blossoms being carefully attended to, the
varieties are almost innumerable. Rice is also
plentiful, and forms a great part of the food of
the inhabitants ; bi>«ides which, they have bajri
(holcus spicattts); jowart, (holcns rosghum);
mung, (phaseoius mungo); mayi, dal, urad, and
matar, (leguminous vegetables); channiiy (cicer
arietmum); and til, (sesamum). Among the
timber trees of Baloocbistan may be enume-
rated, the B&bal, (mimosa fieimesiana) ; lai, (ta-
marix); mulberry, nim, (melia azad lirachta);
pipal, (ficus religiosa); sisi^, (dalbergia sissoo);
chinar, (oriental plane); mango, walnut, and
sycamore. The common European forest trees
are wanting. The apOrs, a species of the zizy-
phus, resembles the jujube, and tamarind. The
wood of the former has much the appearance ot
teak, and both are remarkably hard and durable
The birds and animals are of numerous species,
from the great diversity of climate. Most of our
domestic fowls are common, with the exception
4>f ducks, geese, and turkies. The magpye, a
bird unknown in India, is not uncommon about
Kellit. Flamingoes and Horicans (otis houb&ra)
are found in the lower districts. Poisonous rep-
tiles are lest frequent than in India. Fresh-
water fish are exceedingly scarce. The horse's
of Baloocbistan are strong, but very vicious ;
their sheep are broad tailed, of the description
of the Persian dunbah. Camels and dromeda-
ries are the most common beasts of burthen, the
latter of which, with only on^ hump on it« back,
is remarkable for its strengtii, swiftness, and
power of abstinence. Wild and very fierce dogs
are found in the woods : and the breed of those
that are tame, especiallv the shepherd's dog and
the greyhoiAd, is an object of particular atten-
tion.
The inhabitants have been divided into four
classes : — 1. The Baloochees ; 2. fbe Brahooees ;
3. the Debwkfs ; 4. the Hindoos. The two first
4)f tliese, speaking different languages, are evi-
dently distmct races, formim^ together the ma-
jority of the inhabitanu. Mr. Pottinger thinks the
upper and inhospitable regions of Jli&lawto and
Sar&w&n were first peopled by the Hindoos, who,
in the early part of the eighth century, fled from
the victorious armies of Mahmdd Sabuctagin and
his soA MasCidd. The two principid tribes above-
named are divided into many different kheils, or
tomuus, but dieir actual iiumber has never been
a;9certained.
fi. The Balooches, cal\edi Nharree, or Ruk-
shani, inhabit that part of the country lying west
of the desert, and are a tribe containing 1000
fighting men ; by whom the judgalls or culti-
vators have been nearly exterminated out of
Northern Mekran. Mr. Pottinger thinks they
are descendants of the Turcuraan soldiers, who
served in the armies tif the Seljdk dynasties, and
were dispersed when those dynasties were over-
turned ; on which supposition, the first establisb-
ibenlof Ae Balooches in the mountainous regions
east <^ Persia, must be rcterred to toe fifth
cestory of the Hegindi, answering to the eleventh
of the Christian era, when they begin to be
named by ^e Asiatic historians. But die Lord's
prayer in their language, published by the baptist
missionaries at Seriimpor, affords us evidence of
its having been derived fiiom a Tartarian dialect ;
also, we may observe, that the Bel^hiki, or
Bel^di, commonly spoken, is evidently a cor-
rupt dialect of the Persian, approaching to that
of the Curds, on the western side of Persia, at
the BiahOiki, or Br&hd, does to the Hinduw^
spoken in the Penj-4b.
Whatever be their origin they are found in thff
greatest numbers in the northern and eastern
provinces, and are divided into three leading
tribes, — the Nhin'iis, Rinds, and Magbsis, <J
which the first and last are most important ; the
fonner on the western side of Baloocbistan ; the
latter on the low lands of Cuch Gundkva, at tha
eastern foot of the mountains. These tribes art
again subdivided, and those of Rind and Miv-
gree^ who formerly emigrated from Mekran, and
live in villages, retain the appellation of Too*
mun^,
The Balooches are gederally tall and hand-
some, but not athletic; patient, and full of
courage. They delight in predatory excuraion^ '
called chapaus, greatly resembling the forays el
our northern holders m the sixteenth century.
On these occasions ^ev are mounted on drome-
daries, provided with dates, bread, sour cheese,
and water, and march without halting to the
pkice they mean to attack; here they conceal
themselves in a wood till night, and when the
inhabitants are asleep, hasten forwards, bumin^^
destroying, and carrying off whatever comes m
their way. These diversions occasion frequent
warfare ; but hospil^ty is nevertheless genera},
and pilfering despised. Their domestic habits
are pastoral, and Uieir subjection to the chie£i
voluntary. They reside in tentt, or ghedlms of
black folt, or coarse blanket, stretched over n
frame of wicker-work, formed of twigi of the gai,
or tamarisk ; an assemblage of whidh light habi-
tations forms a tliman or village, and its inhaVn
tants a kheU or family. The men art indolent,
and great loven of opram, though not aecuttoved
to any other species of intoxication. They w»
less jealous of their wives than Muisulmans ge-
nerally ; of which, though their religion allows
a plurality, they comRionly have only one. Their
regard to the sanctity Of marriage it txemplary,
and many of their customt appear to otiai^
note in the law of Mos^. A widow must be
married by her husband's next brother } adulteiy
is punishable by the death of both parties ; iw-
confinence before marriage authorises divorce
afterwards, -fh^ sang or premise of marriage is
inviolable ; and a betrothed virgin is eottti&ied
as having nearly the tamt ri^rtt at a uairied
Woman.
Their clothing consists of a long thirt, afad
trowsers of blue and white calioo, together wi&
a quilted cap, round which, when they are in
full dress, a shawl is twitted ; in winter thick
warm surtottts are worn by all classes. The
women when young tress their hair, and twist^ it
round their heads, foimiAg th^ ends itite a kaat
aF2
Digitized by
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436 B A L O O C H I S T A N/
on the crown, so as to give it the appearance of olT the women, who eometimes asiist in out-door
a cap. Their dress in other respects resembles work, and are seldom secluded from the society
that of the men, but exposes the bosom as much of the men. The common 'dress used in this
as the tunic worn by the females of Persia, part of the province 4s an under coat, which fits
When out of doors they are completely veiled. close to the body and is worn over die pyrahun
The soldiere, although awkwardly accoutred, or shirt: dieir trowsers are gathered up at the
are excellent marksmen ; to kill a lark or spar- ankle, and a small round flat-topped cap of felt
TOW with a single ball at the distance of fifty or silk is the only covering of the head. The shep-
sixty yards is not considered by diem as any herds wear a white felt garment above die shirt
proof of dexterity ; and the n^zah-b&zi, or spear in winter, with cloth browsers and a felt cap.
play, their fovorite diversion, evinces not only The females wear a kind of stays which lace be-
considerable skill, but superior muscular strength, hind, and give them an appearance similar to
It consists in the rider piercing a wooden stake, that of the peasants in Switzerland. It has also
driven into the grouna, with the point of his been observed that with the exception of the
spear while his horse is at full speed; and re- shepherds, the Brahooees never increase their
guires the most critical management of both clothing in the severest weather. The common
orse and spear at the same instant of time. On language is die Kooigalee.
the whole, die similarity between the manners 3. The DehwJirs, or Dehkins, i. e. villajrers,
of thisj)eople and Uiose of the Curds and wan- are exclusivel> employed in agriculture, and hold
dering Turcum&ns, die Yatiik of die Turks, found their lands by a sort of feudal tenure, being bowid
in every part of Anatolia, render the above con- to provide die khan*s guests widi water, fuel,
jecture as to their origin highlv probable. provender, &c. ; to attend him in bis bunting
2. The Brahooees, or Brinu/s, are a strong excursions, and to supply him with couriers
hardy race of men, with uncommoidy short and when required, in oonsiaeration of which they
thick bones. Their cast of countenance is dif- arc exempted from all military duties.; they are
ferent from die Balooches and Asiatics, generally tacit, harmless, and submissive to die odier
exhibiting a roundness of fdice, and bluntness of tribes. They differ considerably from all the
features, somewhat resembling Europeans. They odier inhabitants of die province, being uncomely
are divided into separate trilii, die principal of in appearance, low in stature, coarse in features,
which are the following : with nigh cheek bones, but possessing a more
Sffen ^^^» 9^ humored and honest expression of
The Kumburanee, or die tribe of the chief * countenance. They never nugrate, and ih^lj^
Mahmood KhaL, estimated at . . . 1,000 pjage « pure Persian. Mr. Pottinger from dus
The tribe of Mengil . ..... .12,000 latter circumstence concluded dutdiey sprang
Zukree • 6 000 '^"^ ^* Gebrs, or followers of Zoroaster, who
Panduiani ''*'*''''' ^'qqq fled before the victorious arms of the Mussul-
jjjjjgj-i 6*000 ™*'^ ^ut, aj^iinst this opinion, their dispersion
Imaum Hosieing ! .' .' ! ! ! ! '. 4!ooo through othei parts of Asa, diw corresDondcnce
^^e ...,..•• %^ ^ith die t^jies of Afghanistfin, together widi
•^ '^ ' their xealotts observance of the Sunnah, power-
They are hard-working people, of voracious fully militate,
appetites, devouring their animal food almost 4. The Hindoos are few in number and carry
raw. When they cure their meat« it is effected on the miserable traffic of the country, acting as
by drying it in the sun, and smoking it over a money-changers and agents to the native chiefs,
fire ; after which it .will keep for several months,. Many of them are not so indigenous as they have
and in flavor very much resembles rein-deer's been generally represented, but are merchants
tongue. The people generally are less ferocious from Multan. The Hindoos are supposed to
than their neighbours, for which reason the have been the first setders in these mountains,
foireniment of their chiefs asssumes a more des- and were long tolerated by their Mussulman con-
poidc character. They are disinterested, placa- querors, who, according to cunent traditions,
ble, and humane ; the very reverse ot the were first admitted into &eir impregnable retreats
Baloochees, and the uncouthness of their manners as traders, where being indulged with too much
is to be attributed solely to their want of civi- lenience, they finally subvertMi the government,
lisation. All the Baloochees are excellent work- Numerous Hindoo occupiers, however, still re-
men, but none are equal to die Brahooees in mained in the country, till within the last two
strength and courage.' Broad sword exercise, centuries, when the barbaritv of the Mahomme-
and shooting at a mark, are their common diver- dan tribes increased to such a degree that do
tions ; in both of which thev are said to excel, medium could be observed, and the native Hin-
Their breed of shepherds' dogs is excellent; dops, with the exception of a few merchants, nn-
greyhounds are also trained auKMigst them with derwent compulsoi^ conversion, or fled die
great care, and a single one is firequendy ex- country. The remaining few have however oon-
changed for two cameb, or sold for 400 rupees, siderably degenerated fnm the laws of the Sh4s-
Their breed of horses is largt and hardy, equally ter ; chey eat animal food, use leadiem bags, and
accustomed to the heat of Gund&va and the cold * in many other respects violate their religious
of Kelftt, but they are often vicious. tenets, and perhaps it is this partial conformity
The Brahooees, in religion, are strict observers which constitutes the true principle of their ti^e-
of the Sunnah,or die traditional lawof theMussul- ration.
mans, in which respect diey approach nearer to the Of die divisitms of Baloochistan generally.
Talks diaa the Persians. They are not jealous Jh4Uw4n and Siriwin, widi die intennediaM
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BALOOCHISTAN.
437
dittricty «itendtiig to die north and north-cist,
and boanded by that part of the BrahOic moun-
tains which is beyond the twenty-sixth degree of
north latitnde, come fint under our considera^
tion. Jb&Uw&n is the most southerly, contain-
infi: six t'hacs or districts, each governed by a
different chief. Zehri, the largest town, is sur-
rounded by a mud wall, and contains 3000
houses. There are no streams in the whole pro-
vince more than ten inches deep in the dry sea-
son, and water can be obtained only by digging
in the beds of torrents. Kelfitt properly belongs
to S&r4wto, bnt the usurpations of the ihkn have
rendered it nearly a distin9t province. To the
north of it, bounded by the Afji^h&n hills and the
desert east of Kandahir, lies S&riw&n, divided
into inferior districts, and occupied by migra-
tory tribes of the BikhCiics. The piovince is
mountainous, not possessing a single level of
more than a few miles ui circumference, except
a naked plain qf about thirty miles in exfent,
called the Defthti-b^aulat, or Pennyless Desert,
forming a remarkable gap in the northern front
of the great chain. The southern province is
fertile, having frequent rains, but the least popu-
lous ; Kelftt is considered the capital of Baloo-
chistan generally.
Nooshky is a small tract of about thirty-six
square miles, lying at the base of the Kelat
mountains. It is an arid tract, the sand hills of
which shift with the winds- A few patches of
cultivable land are nevertheless met with occa-
sionally ; and a small stream, called the Xysur,
issuing from the hills^ irrigates the portion of
country immediately contiguous. The inhabi-
tants dwell under black felts stretched over a
frame of wickerwork made of the guz plant, by
which they are sheltered from the heat of the
sun. The soil being sandy, the heat is excessive
in the summer ; the stream fiiils in the valley,
and the inhabitants migrate to the mountains for
cool air and water.
The fine valley of Sohrab extends north and
south about fifty miles in length by twelve in
breadth. The water firom the hills tuns through
.its centre, and around it are scattered a few vil-
lages.
The two provinces of Les and Macrfut are in-
cluded between the higher ridges of the Brahfiic
chain and the Indian Ocean, and are varied by
intersections of such branches of these hills as
diverge towards the sea. On the north lie the
regions of Jliai&w&n, S&HKw&n,and Kelftt, toge-
ther with Kehistan and the desert; smd on die
west the Persian litrist&B. Lus or Les, signifying
in the Jedg^i language a valley or plain, pre-
sents a perfectly level surface for about ninety
miles by fifty, enclosed on three sides by lofty
mountains passable by only five lekhs, or defiles,
two in the eastern and western, and one in the
northern branch of this great chain. This is a
fertile province, watered by two small rivers,
Habb and Puridi (the Arabis of the ancients),
Md together with Macxin formed a part of the
Persian empire. The sovereignty is at present
held on m feudal tenure under the khan oi^Kelat.
B€ik, the capital, stands on a rocky eminence
on the northern bank of the Pur&li. Many of
the mhabxtanii are merchants from Multan and
Shidurpdr, west of the Indus, and their immuni-
ties are considerable.
The population of Lus is about 26,000, who
are of me same tribe, though' distinguished by
the different names of Jedgil, Jok'hya, J^t'h,
and Numri. They are an indolent and curious
people ; the men athletic and middle-sized, tlie
women plain, and dirty. Their manners, appear-
ance, and language, prove that they must .have
been derived originally from Hindostan; and
the latter called Jedgali or J^t*hgfili has a close
affinity with that of Sind'h. They are food of
intoxicating drugs, and nearly one third part of
them are migratory.
Of Makran there are fourteen districts, several
of which are uninhabited. Water is extremely
scarce throughout the whole territory, a great
part of which consists of barren mountains with
nere and there a fertile valley, or an island of
palms emerging from the waste, similar to those
found in the vast deserts of Africa. Many of the
streams of this region, now trifling brooks, were
formerly navigable. In one of these, namely,
Ag'hon Nad), is a celebrated well called Anil^
Cund, or Fathomless Abyss, the depth of which
is not known. The Hindoos attribute the dig-
ging of it to C41i, whose shrine at Hinglatz or
Hing-14j, just above it, is the resort of numerous
pilgrims. The river Dest waters the district of
k«dge, or Kej, which receives its name from the
capital of the province. This ancient town car-
rimi on formerly a considerable trade with Kaa-
dahdr and the north of India, but has gone to
decay since its governors threw off their alle-
giance to the kli4n of Kelftt It has many -ad-
vantages of site, and covers three sides of the base
of a UIl, on the summit of which is a castle
deemed impregnable.
Kohistan is surrounded on the east, north, and
west, by sandy deserts, with the exception of a
narrow range of hills which connect it on the
north-west with the Paropainisus of the ancients,
and on the south it is bounded by the BrlthOIc
chain, of which it forms one of the extremities.
It is divided into two districts, the Maid4ni or
plain, and the Chopaki or hilly country. Water
IS extremely scarce and the population scanty,
-consisting chiefly of Belfiches. It abounds with
salt and chalybeate springs, with numerous mi-
neral productions, and its hills occasionally be-
tray a volcanic origin.
The desert, 300 miles long and 200 broad,
is traversed by the Helmind or Hermend, the
natural boundary of Baloochistan, and separated
on the westt by a narrow range of hills from the
deserts of Kirm&n. Its utmost extent includiag
the latter is about 600 miles diagonally from east
to west, and 500 miles from north to south, and
is bounded on the north and east by the moun-
tains of Afghanistan.
This vast ocean of sand is composed of par-
ticles so light that when taken up into the hand
they are little more than palpaole, and when
agitated by the winds are thrown into an irre-
gular mass of waves running east and west.
Most of these banks rise perpendicularly from
ten to twenty feet on the leevrard side ; and, from
the redness of their appearance, might be taken
for bnck walls, whilst the windward side slopes
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438
B A L O O C H I S T A N.
off with a gradual decUrity to the base of the
next bank or waye. The camels are with diffi-
culty driven up the perpendicular or leeward
sides of these sandy hills ; but on the shelving
sides they ascend with laborious perseverance,
and, having reached the summit of a wave, drop
most expertly on their knees and slide down with
the sand to the bottom of the next hollow.
These mountains of Sand are observed to be
succeeded by hard black gravel, without the least
appearance of vegetation, and bare stony hilis
lying at the base of the mountains, are the first
ascent towards higher and less barren regions.
Throughout th^ whole desert the sands are ex-
tremely hot, and the fine particles, ntised by the
wind, getting into the eyes, nostrils, and mouth
of the traveller, cause an extreme degree of
painful irritation and thirst.
. Hie Regency of Sind'h and also Cach Gan-
d&vah, east of the BrahCiic chain of mountains,
between India ind Persia, though commonly in-
cluded in the kingdom of fialoochistau, belong
more properly to Hindostan.
With respect to the history of Baloochistan
antiauity is almost silent. The mountainous tract,
whicn forms the central and most important part
of this territory, appears to have been unknown
to the ancients, and was perhaps uninhabited up
to the period of the Mahommedan conquests in
the seventh and eighth centuries of the christian
era. Alexander marched from Pattal^, (T'hatt
liah or Tattah) on the Indus, through the ter-
ritory of the Arabits, still indicated by the cape
called Arabia by the natives, the Arahoh of the
maps, thence he advanced into the country of
die Otei'tJB in his way to Oedrosia or Macron,
where the greater part of his troops are said to
have perished from thirst, famine and fatigue.
'Craterus who comms^nded, with another part of
his army, passed by a circuitous route -tnrough
Arachosia and Drangiana, the Kandahar and
SeistAn of modem geography ; countries placed
in a higher latitude, south of the extreme deserts
which separate the Beldches from Persia and
Afghan islAn. The Mahommedan invaders fol-
lowed the track of Alexander, whilst the Sultans
of Ghaznah, who made themselves masters of the
level country to the mouth of the Indus, and
the coast as far as the confines of Persia, never
descended the hills. The Persian historians say
the idolatrous Hindoos were driven into these
retreats ; but, since the present occupiers betray
no affinity with the natives of India m customs,
features, or language, the origin already as^
signed is more probable. They diemselves
affirm that they are the original natives of the
hills, and that their name Br&hii€ is derived from
Bardhi mountains, whilst the inliabitants of the
pUun are called N'h&rids or Nardhis, Lowlaiiders.
The most ancient traditions do not carry the
origin of the Mussulman government further
back tlian seven generations.
About two centuries ago the city of Kel&t
with the surrounding country was possessed by
Sewah Rajah a Hindoo, and the Balooches
tended flocks of sheep in the moimtains. To
protect the inhabitants from the depredations of
a people residing in the low country between
Kellt, Shade, and Shekirpoor, the rajah sent
ibr Kumber a Baloochy cbiaf» and. took lun wlo
his service, aUowing him five bundles of grass and
wood per day for each man. This auxiliary
siiortly after seised the government, and raised
the tribute to a hundred bundles, besides a con-
tribution of horses, camels, and footruiinera.
This tribute is still occasionally exacted by the
Khan of Kelftt, and paid by the detmars or pea-
sants in the immediate vicinity.
Kumber the first usurper was succeeded by his
son Sumbar, the fatlier of the next prince, Ma*
hommed Khan, who in his turn was succeeded
by his son Abdolla Khan. This prince conquered
a considerable part of Cach Gandivah, till then
subject to the Nuww^bs of SindTi. About that
time the celebrated N&dir Sh&h parried his vic-
torious arms into India ; and while at KandahAr
sent an army into the mountains of the Beldches.
Abdu'lhih sent his two sons as hostages to the
conqueror's camp ; afi^r which he was allowed
to continue in his government as a feudatory of
Persia. Upon the death of Abtiu'llah, Nasir
Khan his younger son, by the advice of N4dir
Sh4h, put to death his elder brother, who had
succeeded to the sovereignty, and took possession
of the Gad'hi or throne ; and having performed
some imporiant services to his patron, was re-
warded by the donation of several provinces^
and, being a man of considerable abilities, grealljr
enlarged his dominions, so that at his death, in
1795, the territories descended to his son and
successor Mahmood Khan in a very flourishing
and prosperous stale. This prince is now about
twenty -nine years of age ; but his talents being
very inferior to those of his father, the dominions
of Kelftt have been greatly curtailed by the
Ameers of Sinde and other neighbouring pro-
vinces. His brother Mustapha Khan, who is
about one year youngar than the sovereign, is,
however, of an active martial disposition, and
bids £ur on bis accession to restore the empire
and improve the hereditary dominions. The
territory at present subject to Mahmood Khan,
comprises tne higli hilly country of Sewislan,
and the low lands of Cutch Oundava and
Amund, Dajil to the eastward ; bounded on
the norUi by Khorassan ; on the south by Los
and Sinde; o& the west by Mekran ; and on the
east by Sinde. His clear revenue is about tfarae
lacks of rupees, and is collected from Amund
Dajil, Cutcn Gundava, and the bazaar toUs of
Keiat. The Khans of Baloochistan aeknowlaJge
the paramount authority of the Cabul sovereigusy
to whom they are feudatories ; but their obedi-
ence is in proportion to the talents of the reigning
prince, and the political circumstances of the
Cabul government. The present territories of
Mahmood Khan are supposed capable of raisaog
an armv, in^try and caTalry, of 2^,P0O men,
although formerly the sovereign could saise
60,000. See Chrittie, Khaieir, ^c.
It was probably without intention that UmAr
Khin laid the foundation of the present ^ver»-
ment, which is rather a militaiy republic than an
absolute monarchy. The Serdto or cbie6 hold
their lands on feudal tenure, each tribe cfcooaes
its own Serdir, in whose family die ofiice becomes
hereditary. The general. administiaUaQ sb» how-
ever, stUl vested in ibe Khte of Kdltt. £«di
Digitized by
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BAL
419
BAL
Serd&r in tone of war attends with his quota oi
troopsy and is bound to obey the orders of the
sovereign ; but if to his own detriment, receiTes
compensation.
A new code of laws was established by Nasir,
of which the Koran is the standard, accompanied
however by the following iipproveznents. In
cases of murder where the deceased is a fo-
reigner, every one concerned in the crime is im-
mediately executed without commutation. Bur-
Slaries and night robberies are punished with
ieath. Adultery may be aven^ by the hus-
band ; but the clearest testimonials of guilt are
required ; and if he &ils of producing these he
is liable to severe punishment. Minor offences
are cognizable by the Serdlu' of the Khe'il, or
&mily, with an appeal lying to the Serd&r of the
whole tribe, and ultimately to the Khftn himself,
who commonly consults the heads of his family
before he deades on any intricate cause. No
execution can take place without an order from
the sovereign, except in case of the murder of a
traveller on his roaa, when, as a speedy execution
b necessary, the nearest chief is empowered to
enforce the penalty of the law.
BALOR, a town on the east coast of the island
of Luion. Long. 122*» 5' E., lat 15" 18* N.
BAL'OTADE, n. s. The leap of an horse, so
that when his fore-feet are in the air, he shows
nothing but the shoes of his hinder feet, without
verking out. A balotade differs from a capriole ;
for when a horse -works at caprioles, he yerks
out his hinder legs with all his force. — Farrier*$
Dictionaru,
'' BALOtE, a town on the east coast of the
island of Mindoro. Long. 131" 15' £., lat.
13" 3' N.
BALOU, a town of Armenia, twenty-five miles
north-west of Khars.
BALREMIT Bay, a bay on the east coast
of the island of Colonsay, one of the Hebrides.
Long. 6" r W., lat. 56" 6* N.
BALRIE Castle, a very ancient fort, now in
ruins, situated on an eminence at the west end
of the rooss of that name, Angusshire, Scotland.
It was destroyed by the marquis of Argyll in
1640. The walls are eight foet thick. This
castle and the adjacent lands were the property
of the last viscount Fenton.
BALROTHERY, or Balkuudery, a town of
Ireland, in the county of Dublin, fourteen miles
from the city and one fiiom the sea.
BALSA, an ancient town of Lusitania in the
Ager-Cunaeus ; now called Tavira, in Algarva.
Bai^av, or Native Balsam, an oily, resinous,
liquid substance, flowing either spontaneously,
or by means of incision, from certain plants.
There are a great* variety of balsams, particularly
distinguished by the names of the substances
from which they are obtained ; and which will
be found explained under their names as they
occur.
BAL'SAM, -\ Of the same deri-
Balsam^atiom, f vation as hdm^ but
Balsam )cal, ^more limited in its
Balsam'ick, n. & o^f. i application. It is al-
Baisam'ous. j most exclusively used
p designate an unctuous or oily mixture, gene-
nUy attended with 'firagranoe.
Qheold I sigh out my (|«yi in griel^
And, M my beads, count miaeriet ;
Uy mind would meet with no relief.
For all the haUam of my eyet. 8tev9nm^
Brave spirits are a laimm to tbemselvet.
There is a nobleness of mind that heals
Wounds beyond salves. Cartwrighl^
Is this the hakam that the usuring senate
Pours into captains' wounds? tial banishment!
It comes not ill \ I hate not to be banish'd j
It is a cause worthy my spleen and fury>
That I may strike at Athens. Shakapemt^
Christ's blood our haliam ^ if that cure us here.
Him, when our judge, we shall not find severe.
That this herb [ros-solis] is the cause thereof » shep-
herds affirm and deny ; whether it hath a cordial vir-
tue by sudden refection, sensible experiment doth
hardly confirm ; but that it may have a hal$amwd and
resumptive virtue, whereby it becomes a good medi*
cine in catarrhes and consumptive dispositions, prae^
tice and reason conclude. Brown** Vtigar ErrtliKrf,
The Britons squeeze the works
Of sedulous bees, and mixing odorous herbs.
Prepare haltomie cups, to wheezing lungs
Medicinal, and shoit-breath'd ancient sires.
Now the radical moisture is not the tallow or ttX
of animals, but an oily and baitamaiu substance ; for
the fst or tallow, as also the phlegm or watery piarts,
an cold ; whereas the oily and halnmom parts are of
a lively heat and spirit. 8l0m§,
Balsam Apple. Lat. momordiea. An annual
Indian plant.
Balsam Tree. This is a shrub which scaxM
grows taller than the pomegranate-tree ; the blof^
soms are like small stars, very fragrant ; whence-
spring out little pointed pods, enclosing a frdit
like an almond, called carpobalsamum, as the
wood is called xylobalsamum, and the juice opo-
balsamum.
BALSAMATION is used by some writers for
the art or act of embalming dead bodies. Dr.
Hook speaks of an universal balsamation, or
method of preserving all kinds of bodies from
corruption, invented by Dr. Elshot.
BALSAM£L£ON, in the materia roedica,
a name given by some to the balm of Gilead.
' BALSAM EL^UM, in ecclesiastical writers,
the sacred chrysm.
BALSAMINA Scamdens, a name given to the
large fruited white briony of Ceylon.
BALSAMINE, Female, in botany, the name
given by Toumefort to a genus of plants, calldc
bv Linnaus, impatiens, and belonging to the class
of syngenesia raonogainia.
BALSAMITA, a species of tansy.
BALSAMICA. See Balsamics.
BALSAMICS, Baisamica, Latin, i. e. miti-
gating ; this term includes medicines of vety
different qualities, as emottieots, detergents, re^
storetives, &c. ; but in all these kinds there are
these requisites, that they be soft, yielding, and
adhesive; and by their smallness they have a
ready dispositiou'to motion. Medicines of this
tribe are generally required for complaints whose
seat is in the viscera ; and as they cannot be con-
veyed there but by the common road of the cir-
culation, it follows that no great effects can ^e ex-
pected from them but by their long cOkitinuatiqp.
Digitized by
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440
BALTIC SEA.
Hoffman calls by the name of balsamics 'ibose
medicines ^hich are hot and acrid, {flso the
natural balsams, gums, &c. by which the vital
heat is increased.
BALSAMITA,in botany, a genus of plants,
of the class syngenesia, and order polygamia
aequalis. Its generic character, is receptacle
naked, pappus none, calyx imbricate. It c6n-
tains four species, of which the only one re^
quirinfi: notice is the B. vulgaris (tanacetum balsa-
mita of Linheus) common costmary, or alecost.
Its stem is herbaceous, leaves oval, dentate ; in-
ferior petiolate; superior sessile, auriculate at
the base, flowers corymbose. It is a pe^ennial
plant, native of the south of France and Italy;
and was formerly prescribed in the pharmacopceias
as a carminative.
BALSAS, a town of Peru, in the province of
Chachapuyas, on tlie east shore of the Amazons,
forty miles north of Caxamarca. Lat. 6° 16' S.
BALSEY Clift, a high land on the east coast
of England, between Orford and Harwich.
BALSO, a river of Quito, which, after wind-^
ing through forests, enters the Bobonasa.
BALSTAL, a well-built market town of Swit-
zerland, in the canton of Solothum. The inha-
bitants carry on a great trade between Bale and
Solothum. Ten miles north-east of Solothum.
BALSAMON (Theodore), patriarch of Anti^.
och in the twelfth century. He wrote a number
of works on the canon law, which were printed
at Paris, in folio, in 1620.
BALSHAM, or Belesale (Hugh de), the
tenth bishop of Ely, in the thirteenth century, was
first a monk, and afterwards subprior of the Be-
nedictine monasteiy at Ely. In 1247 he was
diosen bishop by the convent. But king Henry
III. who had recommended his chancellor Henry
de Wengham, refused to confirm his election ;
whereupon Balsham went to Rome to be con-
firmed by the pope ; which, however, was not
done for ten years, when at last his holiness con-
firmed his election in 1257. Bishop Balsham
then executed what he had long intended ; by
laying the foundation of St Peter's College, Cam-
bridge, the first in that University, which has
immortalised his name as the patron of literature.
He was also very charitable to the poor. He
died in 1286, and was buried in the cathedral of
Ely. •
BALTA, or Baito, a town of European Rus-
sia, the capital of a circle in the government of
Podolia, situated on the Kadyma, a tributary
stream of the Bog. Before the annexation of
this part of Poland to Russia, one half of Balta
belonged to the . palatinate of Braclaw, and the
other to Tartary . In 1 767, in the war which broke
out between the Russians and Turks, the town of
Balta was laid in ashes by the former. Sixty-
five miles N. N. £. of Bender.
Balta, one of the smaller Shetland islands,
near the east coast of Unst. Long. 4® 2* W.,
lat61°rN.
BALTAGIf among the Turks, porters, and
hewers of wood, in the court of the grand seig-
nior; who also mount on horseback when the
emperor rides out. Part of them, who, for that
purpose, must be castrated^ keep watch at the
g3l«s of the first and second courU of the ser-
aglio. These last are called capigi, and theii
commander capigi pacha.
BALTCHUTZKO, a town of Asiatic Russia,
in the government of Kolhy van.
BALTEATUS, in entomology, a species of
cimex, inhabiting South America. 2. A species
of elater, of a black color ; anterior half of
the wing cases rufous. Linn. Fn. Suec. A native
of Europe.
BALTEUS, in entomology, a species of cer-
ambyx, that inhabits Lusitania. The thorax
spinous; body ferruginous; abdomen ovate;
wing cases with a blackish band. Linneus.
BALTHASAR (Christopher) a learned French
author of the seventeenth century. He followed
the profession of an advocate ; but having em-
braced the protestant religion, from pleading at
the bar, he became a champion for the refoimed
churches ; and in 1659 a pension was settled
upon him by the national synod at Loudon, in
consideration of his services. He displayed
great abilities in combating Baronius.
BALTHAZARINI, an Italian musician of
the sixteenth century, who was a great &vorite
at the French court in the reign of Henry III.
He composed a ballet, which he called Ceres and
her Nymphs, in 1531, designed for the marriage
of the duke de Joyeuse with Mademoiselle de
Vaudemont, the queen's sister; and this is
thought to have been the origin of the ballet he-
roique, in France.
BALTHEUSOaioNis, the belt of Orion, in
astronomy, a part of the constellation of Orion,
consisting of three bright stars of the second
magnitude, placed nearly in a right line in
Orion's girdle.
BALTHICA, in conchology, a species of id-
Una that inhabits the Baltic Sea; the shell
roundish, smooth outside, carnation color. linn.
Fn. Suec. About the size of a horse-bean, and
very rarely larger; extremely thin, pellucid,
brittle, and white within. Chemnitz, &c^
Balthica, a species of helix, found on the
shores of the Baltic; the shell imperforated,
ovate, and pointed ; with elevated wrinkles; aper-
ture ovate, and very ample. Linn. Fu. Suec.
This animal is black, with two tentacula; shell
pellucid, and with four whorls.
BALTHICUS, a species of nautilus, of the
smaller kind, that is found adhering to the roots
of fuci. This shell is sometimes opaque, some-
times glossy, frequently pellucid ; and the wreaths
either smooth, striated, ribbed, or tuberculated.
It is specifically distinguished by being white,
convex, aperture linear, and the first wreath
much larger than the others. Schroeb.
BALTIA, an island in the Baltic Sea whidi
gives name to it.
BALTIC Sea. A laige gulf of the Gi'rman
Ocean, penetrating the upper part of Europe,
and surrounded by die coasts of Denmark^
Sweden, Russia, Germany, and Prussia. It is
.600 miles in length ; from eighty U> 150 miles in
breadth, commencing at the Danish islands of
Funen and Zealand; it stretches beyond the
sixty-fifth degree of latitude, including an area
of surface equal to 10,000 square leagues. The
two extreme divisions of this sea are the Gulfs
of Bothnia and Finland; the former ranning
Digitized by
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BALTIC SEA.
441
east to the Ticinity of Petersburg, the lattisr ex-
tending north till it penetrates the arctic regions.
Its access is through a uarrow winding chan-
nel, or strait, on the west of the European con-
tinent, the northern part of which^ communi-
cating with the ocean on the south-west, is called
the Scaggerack; the middle consists of the
Great and Little Belts, and the southern part
of the Cattegat. This entrance to the Baltic is
sometimes called the sound. It is also connected
tiear Pillau and Memel by narrow passages with
two large lakes called the Frische Haff and
Curische Haff.
The proximity of the coasts and islands, the
liballowness of the waters, the flatness of the
Prussian shore, the ruggedness of that of Sweden,
the frequent and sudden changes of the winds,
and the violent storms with which they are at-
tended, render this sea Tery dangerous for navi-
gators, although the breakers are much less for-
midable than those in the German Ocean. The
general depth of the Baltic is from fifteen to
twenty fathoms, although in some places it is
much less, and in others much more. Like other
inland seas the Baltic has no tides, or, if it has,
they are scarcely perceptible ; but a strong cur-
rent generally sets towards the ocean, which,
when checked by a west wind forcing the Waters
in a contrary direction through the straits, causes
the Baltic to rise much above its ordinary level.
The waters of this sea are colder and less salt
than those of the Northern Ocean ; from which
circumstance, together with the deficiency of
tides, it is usually for about three months of the
year so completely frozen as to admit in many
places of a passage over the ice. Tlie ice in tlie
southern part begins to break up in April, al-
though the two gulfs are not generally cleared
before the middle of May.
Numerous rfvers, of different degrees of im-
portance, empty themselves into this sea, which
greatly contribute to the freshness of its waters,
and, together witli the diminished evaporation «f
the nortiiem regions, occasion the current to*
which we have already referred. The chief of
them are the Wamow, the Oder, the Peene, the
Persante. the Wipper, the Vistula, the Pregei,
the Memel or tne Niemen, the Dwina, the
Aura-Jocki, the Cano, the Tomeo, tKe Skel-
leftea, the Pitea, the Lulea, the Umea, the An-
germany, the Motala, the Luii^na, and the Dal.
The earthy particles conveyed into the bed of
the Baltic by means of streams, rivers, &c. are
said to cause the depth of this sea to diminish at
the rate of four feet in a century ; and Mr. Von
Buck, in his Travels in Sweden and Lapland,
observes with respect to the Bolhnian Gulf, that
the sea-bays have become marshes by the conti-
nual decrease of the g^lf waters ; and that we
may Soon expect to see the site of that aquatic
region covered with fields and cottages.
The islands of the Baltic are numerous, one
chain of which, reaching from Finland to Swe-
den, divides the southern part of the sea from
the northern, commonly called the Gulf of Both-
nia. The chief of the Danish islands forming
the immediate seat of the govemmnent are Zea-
land and Funen. Near £e shores of Livonia
«re the islands Dago and Oesel. Gothland and
OeUnd belong to Sweden ; Rugen to Pomerania;
and Moen, Bornholm, Falster, Alsen, Laaland,
together with several others, are subject to the
Danes.
Considerable fisheries are formed on some
of the coasts of the Baltic, and Mr. Fischer, a
naturalist of Livonia, enumerates nearly fifty dif-
ferent species of fish in the waters of that pro-
vince ; we principal of which known as articles of
commerce are salmon, pike, streamlings, and lam-
preys. The fishes most common in the Gulf of
Finland are salmon, sterlets, and carp. Stur-
geon is found in the Gulf of Cronstadt, and
smaller fish are takeU from the gulfs and bays on
the eastern parts of this sea. The herring and
pilchard fisheries are considerable. Amber is
also a production of this sea. It is thrown by
the frequent stomis on the coasts of Prussia and
Courland, and is found in beds near Pillau at the
depth of ninety or a hundred feet.
The general commerce of the Baltic is very
considerable, since it washes the shores of Den-
mark, Sweden, Russia, Prussia, and part of
Germany; it has a communication with the Cas-
pian Sea, by means of the canals of Ladoga,
Vyschnei-Volotschok, and Maria, thus opening .
facifties for conveying the commodities of nor-
thern Europe into the interior of Asia.
All vessels that pass in or out of the Baltic pay
a certain duty to tne Danish government, for the
maintaining of light-housres, &c. This toll is
received st ElsinOre, where the vessels are regu-
larly entered in the national register, a view of
which for the years 1816 and 1817, will enable
the reader to form some idea of the comparative
importance of the Baltic commerce.
Jit 1816 were registered the following veueli :—
From the
From the
North Sea.
Baltic
America
83
85
Bremen . •
5i5
56
Danish . •
408
379
Dutch . .
473
403
English . .
942
906
French . .
8
8
Hamburgh .
18
18
Hanover . .
113
111
Lubeck . .
23
22
Mecklenburg
126
127
Norwegian .
396
398
Oldenburg .
16
13
Pappenburg
22
17
Portuguese .
25
23
Prussian . .
5'i5
.489
Rostock . .
65
68
Russian . .
208
191
Spanish . .
5
4
Swedish . .
1097
945
4608
426*.
Total number tb
4608
it passed the >
B16 . . $
8871
Sound in 1
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442
BAITIC SEA.
In 1817 were regultred ihifiMa»mg vei$d» >-
America
Bremen 4 *
Danish
Dutch
English
French
Hamburgh
Hanover .*..,•
Mecklenburgh
Norwegian
Prussian
Russian *..,...
Swedish
Other nations
Total number of vessels firo-n J
the North Sea ... J
From the Baltic the same year
Total number of ships that)
passed the Sound m 1817 {'
From the
North 6ea.
68
11
463
695
2088
22
4!^
212
169 .
470
§17
197
104*
366
6758
6390
13,148,
in coi»Ma<9>ce of ih449^ changeji of 'Tnod,u-
legular aep^s, and fUong currents, mm of
which, (sypecially towards the noi:th, liie tnnce
in the cour^ of. a year. The superior and info-
jfioT currents of the Sound ate remarkable.
These were discovered ^ret by somq of our own
cQuntTyix^en, who, being in a boat in the middle
of th^ clmimeH found that they dr^M towards
th^ Cattegat; but upon letting down a loa^fd
bucket tq the depth of four or five ^tbpmi
^und that their boat becaipe stationary, and
upon sinking the bucket still deeper, the boat
drifted in a direction diametrically opposite to
tb^ fuper^cial current.
By ^e transfer of Swedish Pomeiaai^ to
Prussia, pf $we4i8h Finland to Russia, and of
Norway tp Swed^, the commerce and resources
of the Badtic nations have undergone a consider-
able change.
The following is a sketch of the staple aitidn
of their comiperce at the beginning of the pre-
sent century.
Danish vessels visit the ports of Mecklenboi]^
and Fomerani^, with horses, bullocks, butter,
cheese, fish, fish-oil, colonial produce, &c.; and
receive ip return, diread, linen, brandy, wool,
hardware, paper, ^. To Petersbuigh, Rigajr
and Memel, the Danes send herrings and dried
^sh, woollen manufactures, salt of France, Spain,
and PoEtugal, India and China goods, oyster*,
and dognskin gloves; for which they receive
The winds are extremely var^al^le in tb^ Qaltic ;
bul they blow most commonly from the east in the
spring, and from the west in autumn; calms are pota^l), planks, lire-wood, flax and hemp, cor-
seldom experienced except in the middle of the
summer. The irregular variations of the level of
the Baltic somewhat resemble tides, and occur
generally in autumn, when the weather threatens
rain. These sensible swells frequently last for
weeks together, and their maximum rise being
three feet and a-half, all the low lands are inun-
dated. On these occasions, the fresh-water lakes
which communicate with the sea are rendered
brackish. In the Gulf of Bothnia, the &11 of the
water is usually succeeded by north winds,
whereas, at Stockholm, these winds follow the
elevation. M. Kraft, who was professor of ex-
perimental philosophy in the imperial academy
dage, iron, copper, linens, an4 com. To Hol-
land, DenmarV exports rape-seed, salted and
dried fish, and timber; and receives spices,
drugs, com, pipes, and p^>er. To England,
hides, bar-iron, kelp, furs, tar, timber, &c.
The return^ are, hardware goods, woollens, cot-
tons, hats, and colonial produce. From the
official account of the real value of the imports
into Denmark firom Great Britain, firoro the 5th
January 1798, to^the 5th January 1808, laid
before Parliament, In consequence of the attack
on Copenhagen, it appears, that from 1798 to
1803, they are rated about half a million ; and
that from 1803 to 1808, they varied from two to
at Petersburgh, published a treatise on the inun- six millions. France receives firom Denmark,.
dations of the Neva at the autumnal equinox, m
which he observes, that three or four days before
or after the full or new moon, a violent north-west
wind drives the waters of the Northern Ocean, dur-
ing the influx of the tide, into the Baltic, and is im*
mediately succeeded by a south wind in that sea
and the Gulf pf Finland, to the concurrent effect
of which he attributes the phenomena in ques-
tion ; but Schultens, a learned Swede, who had
closely studied the physical geography of the
Baltic, attributed all the irregular elevations of
this sea to. the unequal pressure of the atmos-
phere on different portions of the water, de-
ranging, in his opinion, their common level. He
was led to this conclusion by having observed
repeatedly, that when the waters were about to
ri^se, tkhe barometer fell, and that when the wat^
were about to fidl the barometer rose.
The waters of the Baltic are of different de-
grees of saltness in d^ifferent places, and in the
same places at different seasons, and during dif-
ferent winds. The waves are short and broken,
horses, butter, cheese, fish, &c. ; and returns salt,
wines, brandy, fraits, silks, &c. The exporU to
Spain and Portugal are nearly the same as to
France ; the imports also are me same, with the
addition of wool and American produce. To
the Mediterranean, Denmark sends fish, salted
provisions, butter, iron, &c.; and receives wines,
brandy, oils, finit, and salt. The Danes derive
great profit from hiring their vessels to the porta
of Italy, as their flag is generally respected by
the Barbery States. The exports to the Fstroe
Islands are wheat, floor, brand^, tea, coffee,
sugar, linens, £».; the imports are dried and
salted fish, fish-oil, feathers, hides, tallow, and
worsted stockings. The exports to, and imports
from, Iceland, are nearly the same , the impoits
from Greenland are whale-oil and bone, 8eal-«il
and skins, eider down ; the exports nearly the
same as to the Faroe and IceMa Islands. Ueo-
mark has also a trifling trade to the £a9t and
West Indies.
lu 1807 the Danish fleet consisted of twenty-
Digitized by
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BAX. 448 BAL
six tail of the line ; sixteea frigatej ; nine sloops, twenty 91* flirty tons axe employed in loading
and thirty gun^vessels. and discnaiging these vessels at Cronstadt, that
The foreign oommerce of Sweden ii confined cannot enter the Neva. At the close of 1807,
to what are called staple towns, which alone the Russian fialttc fleet consisted of twenty sail
have custom-houses ; they are Stockholm, Got- of the line, fourteen frigates, six brigs and cutters^
tenbuTgh, Warbei^g, Halmstad, Nordkoeping, and nineteen small cxm ; and the Baltic flotilla,
Landscrona, Carlscrona, Christianstad, Carl- of twenty galleys, twenty-five floating batteries^
shaum, Calmar, Westerric, Uddervalla,* Mar- eighty-one gun-boats, and sixteen yaub.
9trand, Gefle; and Abo and Wasa in Finland, Baltic Poat (formerly Eogcrwick, from the
now given up to Russia. The foreign commerce island of Roog, on which it is built), a sea-port of
is supposed to be divided among these cities^ European Russia, in Esthonia, liow the govern-
as follows : ment of Revel, at the influx of the rivulet of Pa^
Stockholm ^s of exports, and | of imports, dis into the Baltic. The fortifications were begun
Gotenburgh ^hs i by Peter I. but discontinued by Catherine II.
The other ports i^ths } Were they completed, few harbours would equal
To the foreign parts of the Baltic, Sweden ex- it in size^ depth, or security. Thirty-ei^ht miles
|>orts iron, steel, copper, lime, alum, and' her- west of Revel, 160 north of Riga, and 220 west
rings, and receives corn, hemp, tallow, and hy sou^ of St Pe^ersburgh.
bides. To Holland, iron ; and receives spices, BALTIMORA, in botany, a genus of the po-
tobacco, prepared colors and papers. To £ng* lygamia necessaria order, and svn^enesia class of
land, she exports iron, timber, pitch, tar^ potash, plants. The receptaculum is chaffy ; there is no
and herrings ; her imports are lead, tin, leather, |>appus ;. the calyx is cylindrical and polyphyl-
bear, butter and cheese ; and every kind of ma- lous ; and the ray of the corolla is auinqueflo-
nu&cture and colonial produce. In France, ^ous. There is but one species, viz. a. recta, a
Spain, and Portugal, the exports are iron, steel, native of Maryland. It is allied to Milleria.
copper and brass, and wines, brandy, fruits; oil . BAIiTIMORE, a large, populous, and well
and sil!<s are the returns. To Italy and the cultivated county pf the western shore of Mary-
Levant she exports all her territorial produo- land, is bounded on the east by Harford county
tions; and receives salts, spices, fruits, and cot- 9^ the Chesapeak, north by Yorkcounty^ Penn-
ton. There are from four to six ships of 600 to sylvania, south by Anne-Arundel county, south-
1000 tons bnrden in the East India trade. In west by a small point of Montgomery, and west
1800 she bad above 20<H) merchant vesieli gf by Frederick. It is tliir^-six miles from north
twenty tons and upwards y but the ruptMre with to souths and forty-five from east to west, and
England and cession of Finland reduced them, eontaiqed in 1820, 24,58Q white, and 33,463
in 1810, to 1500. In 1809 her navy was re- total population, exclusive of the city of Baltic
duced, in consequence of her wars with Russia, vaove. In this county are found vast quantities
to thirteen sail of the line, nine or ten frigates, o^ ^^^ o^ of the best quality, and it is watered
and about 150 vessels of the fiotilbt by numerous rivers.
The Prussian ports, including Dantzic, export Baltimore, the largest city in Maryland, die
almost the whole of the commercial productions third in population^ and the fourth in commer-
of Poland, consisting of com, fir planks and ^i^ importance in t)ie United States, is built
rafters, masts, hemp, tar, pitch, potash, hides ^?o^ & o^yi which opens from the north side of
and tallow, leather, honey and wax ; besides f^sttapsco river, and affords a spacious and couve-
I'omeranian oak, brandy, woollens, linens, ca- ^^^°t harbour. The strait which connects this
viar, and amber* The imports are wines, coffee, W yith the river is scarcely a pistol-shot across,
sut^ar, tobacco, spices, salt, iron, copper, Spanish ^^ ^ ^^U defended by fort M' Henry. A small
wool, herrings, and flax seed from Livonia and ^^^9 called Jones's Falls, empties into the north
Courland. Towards the close of the last cen- ^^^1^ ^^ the harbour, and divides the city into two
tuiy, the merchant marine of the Prussian ports P^^^ called the Town and Fell's Point, con^
ou the Baltic, consisted of betsween 900 and Dieted by bridges. At Fell's Point the water \s
1000 ships. Salted and smoked meat, hides, ^^P eno^gh for vessels of oOO or 600 tons, but
wool, butter, cheese, com, and fruits, are the ^^°^ larger than 200 tons can go up to the city,
-exportsof that part of Pomerania which belonged Baltimore is well situated for commerce. It
Co Sweden and Mecklenburgh ; the com of the supplies Maryland, and large portions of Penn*
btter is principally taken off by England; that sylvaniaand die western states with foreign goods,
of Pomerania, as well as the fruits, used to go to ^^ '^ supposed to contain nearly 70,000 inha-
Sweden. bitants. Its rapid growth may be uus exhibited :
The exports and imports of Russia, in the In 1765 the population was 300
Baltic, in the beginning of this century, were 17^ 18,503
Exports. ImpoTts. 1^10 46,555
Roblet. Rublei. ' 1820 62,627
In 1802 - 47,000,000 33,000,000 t ^-»^^ u ^ *- -
1804 - 45 000 000 07 noA nnn ^° ^^^ ™ tons of shipping trading here
1805 . 52:000:000 iffiooo '^^^}y^^' , IP 1816 101,960, in 533 foreign
^ , - , ' ' ,vw,wv ^^ ^^j coasting vessels Baltimore cannot be
rhe number of her merchant-vessels that na- considered on the whole a very healthy place, al-
vi|ate the BalUc and the Ocean, do not exceed though the atmosphere is said to have becom<^
. fifty; perhaps 100 smaller vessels cany on the less humid of late: in autumn, the most unih-
coasting-trade here ; and about 100 craft of vorable season, the opulent portion of the* in-
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BAL
444
BAL
habitants geneFally retire to their country seats in
the neigh^urhood. It is in general well built,
most of the houses being of brick, and many
lately erected displa^g considerable taste. Its
general plan is similar to that of Philadelphia,
the streets crossing each other at right angles.
Some of these are spacious, one in particular is
about a mile long, and eighty feet wide, running
«ast and west, nearly parallel to the water. The
ground on the north and east of the city rises to
a considerable elevation, and with the number of
ships in the harbour forms a scene very interest-
ing. The principal public buildings are a court-
house, penitentiary, jail, almshouse, hospital,
theatre, exchange, museum, a gallery of paint-
ings, and a public library, possessing about
10,000 volumes. Besides these there are ten
banks, and thirty-one places for public worship,
belonging to nearly all the denominations of reli-
gious professors to be found in the United States.
The exchange is a vast pile of buildings very
lately erected, 366 feet in length by 140 in
breadth, comprising four wings.' . The Roman
Catholic cathedral, the Unitarian church, St.
Paul's church, the Court-house, and the Union
bank, are all spacious and elegant structures.
The Washington monument is another ornament
to this city. It stands in an elevated situation,
at a short'distance above the compact part of the
town. The base is fifty feet square, and twenty-
tliree high, on which is placed another square of
about ludf ihe same size and elevation. Upon
this stands a column of twenty feet diameter at
the bottom, and fourteen at the top, on which
the statue of Washington is placed, 163 feet from
the ground. Its literary and scientific institutions
are very respectable. St. Mary's college was
incorporated as a university in 1806, and is well
endowed. It has a good libraiy wi^ a philoso-
phical and chemical apparatus ; and is under the
direction of a president, a professor of divinity,
one of moral, and one of natural, philosophy, one
of the belles lettres, four of languages and ma-
thematics, besides eight assistant tutors. The
number of students is generally about 140; but
they are admitted at a much earlier age than in
the universities of England. The medical college
was founded in 1807. It received a new charter
in 1812, when it was denominated the univeirsity
of Maryland, and was authorised to annex the
other faculties of languages, arts and sciences, law
and divinity, to that of physic ; but the medical
department was the only one lately in operation.
The building is spacious and elegant, and the
instruction is under the direction of a provost
and six professors of anatomy, &c. There is ano-
ther literary institution, called the Baltimore
college. Four daily liewspapers are published
here. A great number of nour mills, forges, &c.
are placed on the stream, within a few miles of
the town, and add greatly to its trade. In 1814
an attack was made on this city by the British
troops under General Ross, but they were re-
pulsed and their commander shun : a stone struc-
ture, called the Battle monument, has been erected
to commemorate this circumstance. Lat. 39° 17',
long. 760 36'.
Baltimore, a town of Ireland in the county
of Coik, on a head land, runninsc into the spa,
five miles north-east of Cape Clear.
Baltimore Biro. See Oriolus.
BALTINGLASS, a town of Ireland in the
county of Wicklow, where are manufactures of
woollen, linen, and diaper. It is situated on the
Slaney, twenty-nine miles south of Dublin.
BALTUS (John Francis), a French Jesuit,
bom at Mentz in 1627, was librarian at Rheims,
and wrote an Answer to Fontenelle's History
of Oracles, printed at Strasburg, 8vo.
BALTZAR (Thomas), an eminent musical
composer, and ihe finest performer on the violin
of his time, bom in Lubec. He came into Eng-
land in 1658, and lived about two years with Sir
Anthony Cope, of Hanwel, in Oxfordshire. He
was the great competitor of Davis Mell, who,
though a clockmaker, was^ till Baltzar came
hither, allowed to be the finest performer on the
violin in England ; and after his arrival he divided
with him the public applause, it being agreed
that Mell excelled in the fineness of his tone and
the sweetness of his manner, but Baltzar in the
power of execution and command of the instru-
ment. It is said of the latter that he first taught
the English the practice of shifting, and the use
of the upper part of the finger-board. Baltzar
shortenea nis oays by excessive drinking, and was
buried in Westminster abbey, in 1663.
BALVAG, a river of Perthshire, which runs
through and connects the lakes, Lochdoine, Loch-
voil and Loch-Lubnaig, in the parish of Bal-
quhidder. It abounds in trout of different species,
diar, &c. and has occasionally a few salnum.
BALVAIRD, a district of Perthshire, in the
parish of Aberoethy, memorable for one of those
monuments of ancient ingenuity and superstition,
called rocking stones. It is mentioned by Bu-
chanan, but has long ago lost its motion ; being
choked up with ^rth and gravel. There is
another, still movable in the parish of Dron.
Balvaird Castle, an ancient edifice in
Perthshire, among the hills, in the south-west
comer of the parish of Abemethv ; which be-
longed originally to the Murrays of Balvaird, and
is now, along with the estate, the property of the
earl of Man^eld.
BALUE (John), a native of France, bom
about 1420. His parents were in low circum-
stances, but by art and servility he obtained be*
vera! rich preferments, and at last was made
bishop of Angers, when his old patron of that
see was deposed. He afterwards got a cardinal's
hat firom Paul II. But a correspondence which
he had engaged in with the dukes of Burgundy
and Bern, to the disadvantage of Louis, being
discovered, he was seized and confined in an iron
cage eleven years. After his liberation he went
to Rome, irom whence he was sent as legale by
Sixtus V. to France. He died in 1491.
BALVENIE, or Balvent, a mountainous
district of Scotland, in the county of Bamff, on
the western side, watered by the Spey, where
there is a noted rock, which produces hones ana
whet-stones sufficient to* supply the whole island
Here are also veins of alum-stone, and springs of
alum water.
Balvehy Castle, an ancient foit ; and
Digitized by
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BAL
445
BAL
Balvemt Crag» a remarkable hill or rock, in
the parish of MortUch ID Banfihire, exhibiting,
with the adjacent grounds, a great deal of picto-
resque rural sceneiy, and a pleasing mixture of
the sweet and the wild.
BALUSTER, n, i. "J Fr. 6atftirtrp,Span.
Balustradr, ft. f. ybalamter, Ital. ba-
Balus'tered, por^ & «$'. J lattttrio,GT.pakettf
irioy, the flower m blossom of the pomegranate.
Dr. Johnson, however, derives it from the Italian
baUitrierat a spike-hole, or loop-hole, to shoot
out at. Babitier is sometimes corruptly written
hamtter* A small column or pilaster from an
inch and three quarters to four mches square, or
diameter : their dimensions and forms are various.
They are frequently adorned with mouldings;
they are placed with rails on stairs, and in the
fronts of galleries in churches. BaUatert, when
eontinued form a balustrade.
This ihoold fint haw been plukched over, and
railed abont with haiutign, Carew.
The tenrMee and halmaradm built along the river, are
now overgrown with roeee. Bwk^^mnn^t Tnietb.
Here is a viita, there the doon unfold,
Balooniee here are teluifred with gold.
Dfydm's Art of Poetry.
Balvstradb, ft. f.; from baluster; an as-
semblage of one or more rows of little tuined
pillars, called ballusters, fixed upon a terrace, or
we top of a buildmgy for separating one part
from another.
BALUZE, (Stephen) a French writer, bom in
1641, and educated at Toulouse, where he was
patronised by the archbishop, after whose death
ne was appointed librarian to M. Colbert. In
1693 the king made him professor of canon law,
and gave him a pension, with the post of direc-
tor of the royal college, for writing the lives of
the popes of Avi^on ; both of which advantages
he soon lost in the fluctuation of court parties ;
having inserted some offensive notes in nis Ge-
nealogical History of the house of Auvergne. He
is much more famed for collecting ancient MSS.
and illustrating them with notes, than for his own
compositions. He died in 1718.
BALYUR, or Baliur, a sea-port of Africa,
in the kingdom of Dancali, about fourteen hours
Journey west from Babel-Mandel. It is remark-
able only for being the landing place of the Abys-
sinian patriareh, Alphonsus Mendez, with his
Jesnits and Portuguese, April 3d, 1724.
BALZAC (John Lewis Guez de), bom at An-
goulftme in 1 695. Voltaire allows him the merit
of having given numbers and harmony to the
French nrose, but censures his style as bombastic.
Cardinal Richelieu gave him a pension of 2000
livres, with the titles of counsellor of state and
historiographer of France. He died in 1654;
and was buried in the hospital of Notre Dame
des Anges, at Angouldroe to which he bequeathed
12,000 livres. Besides his Letters, he wrote a
work called (Euvres Diverses, i.e. on various
subjects ; The Prince ; The Christian Socrates,
&c. ; and many other pieces, which have been
published in two volumes folio.
BAM, Beam, being initials in the name of
any place, usually imply it to have been woody ;
frwn the Sax. beam, which we ?ise in the same
sense to this day^^OtAton.
BAMAH, a high place in Jerusalem, whei*
there was an idol temple.
BAMBA, the largest province of the kingdom
of Congo, in Africa. It is situated between the
rivers Ambrix and Csanza ; the last of which parts
it from Pemba on the east, as the Ambriz does from
the province of Sogno on the north. Along the sea
ooasts it extends on the north to the river Lelunda ;
and on the south to the Danda, which parts it
from the kingdom of Angola. The governors of
this province bear the tiUe of dukes, and are al-
most independent of the king. The soil is rerj
fertile, ana would produce sdl the necessaries oif
life in great plenty, were the inhabitants indus"
trious in its cultivation. The sea coasts produce
a vast quanti^ of salt, which could be purified
with little trouble. The fishery of the zimbi., or
little sea-snail, is here carried on, whose sheU is
the current coin, not only in this and the neigh-
bouring kingdom, but also in the most distant
parts of Africa. Here are also said to be mines
of gold, silver, quicksilver, copper, tin, and iron,
but the iibn mines alone are allowed to be
worked. Bamba, the capital, is thirty leagues
inland. The other chief towns are, Panza or
Penga, in a plain between the rivers Ambriz and
Loze, and MosuUa or Marsoula.
BAMBARAH. an ancient city of Sinde, in
Hindostan, supposed to have b^ the ancient
Braminabad, a city which, in the tenth century,
was the residence of a dynasty of Hindoo princes,
when it had regular bastions (and corresponding
defences), to the number of 1400, seventy yards
BAMBARRA, one of the largest and most
powerful kingdoms of central Africa, bounded
on the west by Kaarta and Manding, on the
south by Ludamar and Beeroo, on the east by
Tombttctoo and Baedoo, and on the south by
Kong and Mamana. It is generally placed be-
tween IS"" & IS"" N. lat. and about 20^ W. long.
The country, though in some parts desert, h in.
general very feftile, and often reminded Mr.
Park, he tells us, of the finest parts of Engand.
Besides the usual productions of this part of
Africa, it yields the shea tree, the kernel of which
forms a species of vegetable batter. The Niger
traverses it from west to east, and is navigable by
canoes through the whole extent of Bainbarra.
The inhabitants tan sheep and goat skins, smelt
iron, are pretty good smitns, and make a tolerar
ble sort of beer of durrah, (sorghum vulgare),
and the lotus-berries, (zyzyphus lotus). The
land about ICabba was so well cultivated, as to
remind Mr. Paric of England. Their language
is a dialect of the Mandingo. Their canoes are
large, formed of two trunlu of trees joined to-
aether, but have neither sails nor masts. Mr.
Pdrk, in travelling, passed through many popu*
lous towns. Sego, tne capital, he supposed to
have 30,000, Sansanding, 10,000 or 11,000, and
Jenne probably more inhabitants. Baedoo is
tributary to the king of Bambarra, and some
accounts represent Tombuctoo also to have fiillen
under bis dominion. The inhabitants consist of
a mixture of Moors and Negroes ; and though
the sovereign is a Negro, the administration of
many of the towns is in Uie hands of the Moors.
That people are the most intelligent, active, and
Digitized by
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446
BAMBOO.
commercial of the two ; but their character is
narsh, severe, and intolerant ; whereas the Ne-
groes are gentle and kind, the influence of which
Mr. Park frequently experienced. The slaves
brought from Bambarra are the most valued of
any, both on the coast, and in Barbary. The
trade with the coast is carrie»l on by slateas, or tra-
yelling m<%rchants; that with BsUrbary by the
Moors from across the desert, either directly into
Bambarra, or through the channel of Tombuo
too ; and althotigh Bambarra itself does not pro-
duce gold,, it is the medium through which that
of Manding, Kong, and Bambouk, is trans-
mitted to many other parts of the continent. Mr.
Park could form no satisfactory conjecture of the
number of the inhabitants altogether. The name of
this country was hardly known a few years ago.
Its only traces in history are, that Mouette, in bis
History of MeulyAichy, (MCil^i Rashld,) tells
us, when Sidi Ali, the Moriibit, who had reigned
at S(is, was obliged to fly into Nigritia, he took
refuge with the king of Bambarra, and raised an
army of negroes, whom he led into the empire of
Morocco. This enabled Miil& t Ismail, the suo
cesser of Rashld (Archy) to make the conquest
of Tombuktii. Thence arose the influence of the
Moors over the Negro countries. Their conver-
sion to Mahommedanism is probably of more
modern date. Mungo Park's kind reception here,
together with the tresitment Mr. Docherd expe-
rienced, during a residence of several months on
the banks of the Joliba, inspires the hope that
we might establish a friendly intercourse between
S^g6 and the coast Mr. O'Beime was sent, in
March 1820, by the governor of Sierra Leone on
t mission to the Alm&mi (Im^) of Timb6, and
fomid there an envoy from Dhaa, king of S^g5,
sent to apologize to the governor for 8ie deten-
tion of Mr. Docherd. Lieutenant Lang of the
second West India regiment, offered to accom-
pany this envoy back to S^g6 ; and the envoy
quitted Sierra Leone for FCitah Jallon, in July
t821 ; but the final result of these measures we
have not learned.
BAMBERG, a large handsome town and bi-
shopric of Franconia in Germany, now forms
part of the circle of the Maine and of Reizat, in
Bavaria. It was formerly imperial, and the
bishop was director of the circle of Franconia.
He enjoyed the privileges of an archbishop, im-
mediately under the pope, and was the fourth
among the spiritual princes of the empire. In
1007 the emperor Henry II. created his chan-
cellor the first bishop of Bamberg, and the succes-
sion was regolai until it was secularised and as-
signed to Bavaria in 1803. The diocese included
1480 square miles, and more tiian 200,000 inha*
bitants. The number of towns was nineteen.
The bailiwics exceeded fifty, and the villages and
hamlets were estimated at 1200. The whole of
Samberg, including the secularised convents, is
supposed to yield about £150,000 a year to the
crown of Bavaria. The country produces plenty
of com, fruits, and liquorice, and the manufac-
tures of chintz and iron are flourishing. The
town has an university, founded in 1147 ; and is
situated at the confluence of the rivers Maine and
JB«idnitK It is in part surrounded by walls and
ditches The cathedraH vith its four towers and
rich treasury, the abbey of St Midiadsbeig^ die
ten monasteries and nunneries (now mostly sup*
pressed), the sixteen churches, the fifteen chapels,
the new episcopal residence of Petersburgh, built
by bishop Lotharius in 1702, the tombs of the
emperor Henry IL and his wife, of Conrade III
ana pope Clement IL, are all worthy of regard
A Carmelite monastery, which is now secularised,
contained a library of 14,000 volumes, besides
many curious manuscripts ; and valuable collect
tions of books exist in the cathedral church and
in the abbey of St. Michaelsberg. This last esta>
blishment stands on a hill, and commands a de-
lightful prospect. The university was converted
into a lyceum in 1802. This place is noted for
its abundant vegetable markets; not less thaa
400 market-gardeners being resident here. It has
been laid under several contributions by the Rus-
sians and the French. It is supposed to contain
20,000 inhabitants.
Bamberg, a town of Bohemia, situated at the
foot of a mountain, in long, le"* AO' £., Ua. 49^
53'N.
BAMBELE, in zoology. See Rutilus.
BAMBO, in commerce, an East Indian mea>
sure, containing five English pints.
BAMBOCCIO, a celebrated painter of con-
versations, landscapes, cattle, &c. was bom at
I^ieren, near Naarden^ in 1613. His name was
Peter Van Laer; but in Italy they gave him the
name of Bamboccio, on account of the uncommon
shape of his body, the lower part being one-third
part longer than the upper, and his neck so short
that it was buried between his shoulders. He
had, however, an ample amends for the unseem-
liness of his limbs, in the superior beauties of his
mind ; he was endowed with an extensive genius ;
and, indeed, he had an universal taste for eveiy
part of painting. See Van Laer.
BAMBOO, an Indian plant of the reed kind.
It has several shoots much larger than our ordi-
nary reeds, which are knotty, and separated
from space to space by joints. The importance
of this plant to vast regions of the East, maof wdl
.excuse our dwelling on some modes of its culture^
and its peculiarities.
Botanists ha?e generally ranked it with cnhet
reeds. Linnaeus, in the Systema Naturs, describes
two species, under the genus bambnsa, which is
characterised by scales three, covering the spike*
lets, which are about five flowered ; oUyx Booe;
corolla, a two valved glume ; style bifid ; seed
one. But Loureiro, who saw it in its own eli-
mate, characterises it as having flowers with six
stamina ; panicle diffiised, with imbricate spike*
lets; branches of the eulra spiny; calyx one
flowered. We aball not disouss its minuie boift-
nical charactere, as it is the practical culttvatios
and great utility of the plant to which we would
engage the reader's attention.
A native of the warmer climates only, though
often growing luxuriously beyond the tropics, the
bamboo rises to the height of forty, sixty, or ereo
eighty feet, with a slender, hollow, shining, stem.
Many, however, are only twelve or fifteen feet
high ; and those which attain the greatest height
here mentioned are rather to be viewed as over-
grown. The stem is extremdy slender, some-
times not exceeding the thieknese of five wche»
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B A MB O O.
447
in them whidi ue fifty feet high, attd in Others,
beine fifteen or eighteen in diameter ; the whole
divided into joints separated by knots or inter-
nodes, between which are distances var3ring from
a few inches to several feet. Alternate branches
' spring from tiie base to the top ; tvfaich, with the
pointed leaves of the knots, give.the whole tree
' a most elegant appearance.
' It will sometimes vegetate three or four inches
' in a single dav, and it has been seen to rise
twenty feet, and as thick as a man's wrist, in five .
' or six weeks. Its full dimensions are frequently,
dierefore, attained in a year ; and the only change
' afterwards, is greater thickness and induration of
' the wood. Towards the root it is solid and com-
' pact ; and the cells of the stem become wider
> in proportion as they ascend. In Malabar it is
said to bear fruit when fifteen years old, and that
^ it then dies.
There seem to be several species which have
> not yet been recognised by svstematic botanists.
An observer of the bamboos of China, in general,
considers that there are nine species or varieties,
and an observer of those in Cochin-China, admits
i of eight. The former judges the difference to
consist, first, in the size and height, for there is
I here the greatest disparity in those that are full
t grown ; and it has been supposed that some, if
not aU species, originally spring of their ultimate
f diameter, which receives no accession. Secondly,
( the distance of the knots, or length of joint,
which, in certain species of full-grown bamboo, is
[ only four inches, while, in others long and slen-
t der, they are nine or ten feet asunder. Thirdly,
I in the color of the wood, which is whitish, yel-
low, brown, pale blue, or speckled. Fourthly,
F in die size ana form of the knots, some swelling
out from the stem above and below ; some en-
circling it like a cord ; and those of the most sin-
gulair kind, which do npt penetrate within to
interrupt the tubular part of the bamboo. Fifthly,
> by the surface and figure of the intemodes being
channelled or covered with tubercles ; and a kind
'is said to exist, called the square bamboo. The
, varnished sur&ce is also of different quality.
Sixthly, the substance and thickness of the wood,
, which, varying without any relation to the dimen-
sions of the plant, afford sufficient characteristics
I for constitutmg a species. The wood is either soft
^ and teiider, or very hard and of great strength;
, and the stem is either very thin and hollow, Or
^ almost, totally filled up and solid, like other trees.
But elsewhere, in Bangalore for example, this
^lidity is not ascribed to the difference of spe-
cies, but to the tardiness of its growth in stony-
CBs. Seventhly, it is said that there are bam-
entirely devoid of branches, however old
they may be; while others protrude as they
i^pring from the earth. Eignthly, there is a
great difference both in the hue and figure of the
leaves, as also in their size; they are bhiish, ash-
color, reddish, or mottled. Some are so large
as to make good fans. Ninthly, the roots, though
knotty, are found in one species to penetrate
into the earth like a tuft of filaments.
This plant is to be found growing wild in most
parts of the east, and is resorted to as occasion
I . requires. It is replarly cultivated in plantations
in the more genial climates, and preserved in
othcn in green-houses^ 8tc. It succeeds best in
tow sheltered spongy grounds, but the immediate
contact of the root with water is said to b^ fktal
to it. They propagate it by shoots, deposited in
pits at the close of autumn or commencement of
winter, eighteen inches or two feet deep; and if
it be designed to obtain bamboos of emsiderable
size, the scyons are cut over as tliey springs up.
It flourishes but in large pl^tatiohs, as the plants
yield considerable shelter to each other ih their
progress. As diey run from the ground they dre
propped up and trained with rods of a prbper
nei^t; and if complete plants, are cut bver, ih
order to obtain suitable shoots, which are chiefly
sought after. This, also, makes ^e root strike odt
and take a secure hold of the ground. The planta-
tion, in rainy seasons, is gen'eraHy drained by a
ditch, as it decays very fast in too damp gtoimds.
To obtain good Bamboos, it n not uncommon to
t^e a vigorous root with firm wood, and txansplant
it, leaving only four or five inches above the joint
next the ground. The cavity is then filled with a
mixture of hone-litter and sulphur. Sometimes
the shoots are destroyed at an early stage during
three successive years ; and thbse springing in the
fourth are then teid to resemble the parent tree.
The earliest shoots of this plant are edible,
and arc served up at table in autumn like aspa-
ragus; in a simihir manner with that vegeta-
ble, also, they are earthed over to keep them:
they a^e also salted and eaten with rice. A
fluid of gratefiil taste arid odour is yielded (torn
the hollow joints as the plant grows up, afford-
ing an agreeable beverage. In its further
progress this becomes a concrete substance
called tabaxir or tabascbeer, highly valued
for its medicinal properties, and apparently a
species of siliceous earai. It resists the impres-
sion df acids, Is indescructible by fire, and with
alkalies forms a transparent glass. A decoction
of the leaves of the bamboo is recotnmended in the
east for coughs and-sore-thkoat ; the barkfo^ fever
and vomiting; thebt^ds as a diuretic; and a com-
pound of the root with tobacco-leaves, betel-nnlt,
and oil, forms an efficacious oxntmedt. Many
of the poorer classes in tiie most populous
countries subsist entirely upon it in times of
scarcity. The Hindoos eat its seeds rotot^
mixed with honey as a delicacy, equal quantities
of each beine put into a hoUow joint, coated
externally wiSi day.
From the copious draught which a joint of the
bamboo naturally yields, miinkind are taught its
use as a vessel for carrying water, and in some
places no other bucket is employed. Many
eastern nations build their houses solely of tire
bamboo-wood; entire, it forms their posts or
columns; split up, it serves for floors or rafters;
or, interwoven in lattice-work, it is employed
for the sides of rooms, admitting light and air.
The roof is sometimes, also, of bamboo, fi>r
which two of its species are described to be
specially adapted*; and when split, which is
accomplished with the greatest ease, it can be
formea into lath or planks. Vessels of aU kinds
are framed out of it likewise, and fitted for sea.
The hull is taken from the stem ; and some of the
strongest plants are selected for masts of boats.
In Baigal, a boat of four' or five tons maybe
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BAM
448
BAM
furnished with both maat and yard from the same
bamboo, at the cost of threepence; and the masts
of larger vessels are sometimes formed by the
union of several bamboos built up and joined.
Those of considerable dimensions are used in the
higher yards of larger ships, for which, by their
great strength and lightness, they are well
adapted.
This important plant is also employed in the
construction of agncultural and domestic imple-
ments; and in all materials and implements,
reouired in fisberr, with the exception of hooks
ana nets. In Thibet bows are made of it, by the
union of two pieces with many bands; and in the
same country also, it is employed for pipes, in
transmitting water, for several miles, to reservoirs
or gardens. A single joint is sufficiently capacious
to serve as a bucket; and in some places, no
other is used. In the south-west of Asia, a species
of slender growth supplies writing-pens or reeds.
Baskets, cages, hats, and various ornamental
articles, are to be added to the catalogue of its
extensive uses. By a particular process in
bruising and steeping the wood or iMirk, also,
a paste is procured that is made into paper. In
short, as it has justly been observed, from its
▼ery origin until its decay, it never ceases to pro-
duce something beneficial — all that composes a
bamboo is profitable, of whatever species it may
be. The artists of China have each made their
choice, and in the works they produce, show the
advantage they have derived ^m it. Its uses
are so numerous, so various, and so beneficial,
•that it is impossible to conceive how China
fOOuld now dispense with this precious reed. It
is no exaggeration to affirm, tnat the mines of
4his vast empire are of less importance to it than
the possession of the bamboo.
Bahboo, in botany, the trivial name of a spe-
cies of arundo. See Arumdo.
Bamboo Habit, a Chinese contrivance by
which a person who does not know how to swim
may easily keep himself above water. The fol-
lowing account of it is taken firom a letter to the
author of die Seaman's Preservative. < In the
year 1730 I was passenger in a ship from Bata-
via to China, burden about 400 tons, called the
Pridae, Francisco Xavier, commander, freighted
by the English, Chinese, and Portuguese. Near
the coast of China, we met with one of those
storms called atuifoon (tau song), or a great wind,
which carried away all our masts, bowsprit and
judder ; and in our hold we had six feet of water,
expecting every moment the ship would founder.
We consequently were consulting our preserva-
tion ; the English and Portuguese stooa in their
shirts only, r«bdy to be thrown off; but the Chi-
nese merchants came upon deck, not in a jacket,
but I will call it a bamtxx) habi^ which had lain
ready in their chests against such dangers ; and
it was thus constructed ; four bamboos two before
and two behind their bodies, were placed hori-
zontally, and projected about fwenty-eight
inches. These were crossed on each side by two
others^ and the whole properly secured, leaving a
space for their body ; so that they had only to put
it over their heads, and tie the same securely
which was done in twp minutes, and we were sa
tisAed they could not possibly sink.'
'JjEyV,'^ Acantwoidootnsedy
a, n. >say3 Johnson, in pure,
BAMBCyOZLE, V.
Bambo'ozleb,
Bambo'ozling. 3 or grave writings. ~ To
delude, to mislead, to cheat, to cozen, to deceive,
to beguile. Synonymous with another cant term,
to fttonbug^ or to take in.
After Nic had hmAoofiM John awhile, John called
for coanters. Swift.
There are a set of fellows they eall bsnteren ud
hamhooMUn, that play aoch tracks. ArbmlhmL
But, Ays I, sir, I perceive this is to you all ham-
hooMlimg; why you look as if you were Bon Diego to
the tune of a thoosaad pounds. Tatter, No. 3).
BAMBRIDGE, or Bainbridgb (Christo-
pher), L.L.D. arohbishop of York, and cardinal,
was bom at Hilton in Westmoreland, and edu-
cated at Oxford. He rose gradually from being
rector .of Alter, prebendaiy of Salisbuiy, dean of
York and Windsor, &c. lo one of the highest dt(*-
nitics of the churoh. In 1495 he was elect^i
provost of Queen's college. In 1507 he was
appointed bishop of Windsor, and next year
archbishop of York. He was employed in dif-
ferent emoassies to foreign princes ; particulariy
to the emperor Maximilian 1., Charles VIII. king
of France, &c. But he chiefly distingoisbed
himself in the embassy fiom Heniy VIII. to pope
Julius II. who created him a cardinal, with the
title of St. Praxede, in 1511, and appointed him
legate of the eccfesiastical army, tnen besieging
^istia. In return, our new cardinal prevailed
upon Henry VIII. to take part with the pope
against the king of France. There are extant m
Rymer*s Fcedera, two letters ; the one horn caiw
dinal Bambridge to king Henry VIII. respecting
the pope's bull, giving him the title o£ Defender
of the Faith; and the other from cardinal Sini^
galli, to that monarch, acquainting him he had
delivered the instrument to cardinii Bambridge.
He died at Rome in 1514, being poisoned by a
domestic, in revenge for his having strack him.
BAMBOROUOH, or Bambbouch, a parish
and castle of Northumberland, on the sea coast,
five miles east from Belford, and 329 north
from London. It was once a ro^ borough, and
sent two members to parliament The castle
stands upon a rock, almost perpendicularly to
the sea, and 150 feet above its level. It is acces-
sible only on the south-east side. On this spot,
according to historians, stood a palace of the
Northumbrian kings, built by Ina in 559. la
the reign of queen Elisabeth^ Sir John Forster,
warden of the marches, was made governor of it
after die battle of Musselburgh ; and subsequently,
to his great credit, bis relative. Crew, bishop of
Durham, purchased and bequeathed it to dtt-
ritableuses. In 1757 the trustees of this diarity re-
paired the great tower, and formed the upper build*
ings into granaries, for the sale of ooni to the
poor, at a cheap rate. A constant watdi on the
top of the tower is said to be kept, whence signals
are made when any vessel is discovered in dis-
tress, and boats arc able to put oif firom Holy
Island when none from the land can pass the
breakers. During a storm horsemen patrol the
coast, to the extent of eight miles, from sun-set
to sun-rise, to give notice in case of shipwrecks
to the castle, and w'nere the unfortunate mariner
finds an hospitable asylum. Upwards of thixCy
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BAM
boats are alwajrs in readiness for this ;i^od work.
At the expense of this fund, the last offices are
also performed over the bodies of such persons
as may be cast on shore. Within the castle
walls are to be found a school, a valuable library,
an infirmary, which receives more than 1000
patients yearly, and a dispensary.
BAMBOUCH, or Bahbtcb, called also Ma-
gog and Hierapolis, an ancient city of Syria, not
nr from the Sejour, and fifty miles distant firom
Aleppo. It is situated in a valley, watered by a
stream conveyed by aqueducts to the town from a
hill twelve miles south, and in some parts by a
channel twenty feet under the earth. The an-
cient town was surrounded by walls above thirty
feet high, and nine feet thick, strengthened by
towers at the distance of fifty paces from each
other ; it was entered by four gates fifteen feet
wide, defended by a tower on each side, cased,
as thev still appear, both extecnally and inter-
nally, by hewn stone ; the top was gained by a
flight of steps built on arches. Various remains
of the structures and sculptures of different
nations and dates appear here.
BAMBOUK, or Bambuc, a country of Africa,
which the Abbe Raynal states to be situated in
the interior, under the twelfth or thirteenth de-
gree of north latitude. It is not subject to a parti-
cular king; but governed by vilUge lords, called
fariros. These hereditary and independent chie6
are obliged to unite for the defence of the state,
when. it is either attacked as a conmiunity or
only in one of its branches. The territory of
4his aristocratical state is dry and barren. It
produces neither maise, rice, nor pulse. The
•insupportable heat it is subject to, proceeds in
part from its being surrounded by high moun-
tains, which prevent the wind from refreshing the
air. The climate is as unwholesome as it is dis-
agreeable ; vapors, which continually issue from
the bowels of a soil replete with minerals, render-
ing it unfit to live in, especially to stransers. Its
gold has made it an object worthy of notice ;
gold, which in the eves of the covetous man
seems to compensate for all tlie evils of nature,
though in reality it increases them Sensible
and judicious merchants, adds this author, have
chosen to limit themselves to a commerce much
more important, which is that of slaves.
Almost all that is known of this state is de>
rived from a Frenchman named Compagnon,
who passed a year, and a half there in the l^gin-
ning of the last century. Labat, Afric^ue Occi-
dentale, iv< 5. He describes it as divided into
three provinces, Bambouk Proper, Kincodon,
and Satadore, each of which abounds with gold,
but the first most particularly. The, principal
lepositories are at Rakkon, l^mayla, Hambia,
and Hombadyria, at each of which appears a
conical hill of moderate elevation, eveiy part of
which contains gold, combined with earth, sand-
stone, lapis lazuli, &c. Tliey obtain 4he metal
by di^ng deep pits, and delivering the eaith to
the women, who cary it to the streams, and sepa-
rate the gold by the simple piocess of a^tation
in water, after the manner described in Mr.
Park's second journey. When the other sub-
stances are bard, the whole is previously pounded.
Inose pits being only six Met square often fall
Vjol, IIL
in, and bury the workmen. Bambouk appears to
be the main source of that laige quantity of gold
which is on one side conveyed down the Gambia
and Senegal, and traverses the desert on the other
into Barlnry. The population is almost entirely
of the Mandingo race. It is remarkable, how-
ever, that although they profess Mahommedanism,
no marabout or priest is suffered* to reside amongst
them : it is said they were all expelled some years
since, being detected in a conspiracy to seize the
government It is also said that they are very
jealous of European visitors; and that the Por-
tuguese and French have each in vain endeavoured
to establish themselves here.
BAMBYCE, an ancient city of Parthia, called
also Hierapolis : fimious for the rich and mag-
nificent temple of Atergatis, which was plundered
by Crassus.
BAMEENY, Vahani, an island lying off the
coast (ff Chittagong, in the province of Bengal,
formed by the sediment deposited by the cnreat
River Megna. It is twelve miles long by cuiout
five broad. The East India company have here
an extensive establishment for the manufacture of
salt, of which they retain the monopoly.
BAMFF, or Banff, a county of Scotland, com-
prehending Strathdovem, Boyn, Ernie, Strath-
aven, Balvenie, and part of Buchan, extends
fifty miles from east to west, and thirty in breadth
from north to south. On the south it is separated
from part of Buchan by the river Ugie ; on the
east it is bounded by the Deveron and ibe Ger-
man Ocean ; on the west by the Spey and the
county of Moray ; on the south-west by Badenoch
and the Braes of Mar ; and on the north by the
Moray Frith. The face of the country is agree-
ably diversified with hills and dales, woods and
rivers ; and exhibits many seats and plantations.
The air is pure, the climate healthy, and the soil
fertile, producing plentiful crops of com. The
pasture grounds feed sheep, cattle, and horses ;
the arable lands produce plenty of com ; while
the rivers and sea supply great quantities of fish.
The manufactures of this county never were
considerable ; and those of yam ana cloth, as well
as the cotton manufitcture, have declined of late.
Coarse woollen stufis are made for the use of
private families and tan-works ; breweries, rope
works, &f^ have been established on a small
scale. The principal exports of Bamff are grain,
fish, butter, cheese, yam, and linen ; while the
imports are flax, hemp, leather, iron, coals, wood,
ana wine. Various minerals bave been found in
different parts of the shire ; and a piece of amber,
as large as a horse, was once cast ashore on the
beach. Gordon castle, and several other seats of
the duke of Gordon are situated in this county.
It sends a member to parliament. Here are nu-
merous remains of antiquity, consisting of cairns
and tumuli, exhibiting the triumphs of our an-
cestors over the Danes, whose sculls they have
built into the solid walls of churches. Also the
mins of several forts, castles, and monasteries.
The valued rent of the county is £79,400 Scots ;
and in 1811, according to the assessment of the
property tax, the real gross rent of the lands was
£79,396 3s. 4d., and of the houses £5514. 2s.
sterling.
Bamff, the cnpital of the county, is pleasantly
3G
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BAM
situated on the south side of a hill, at the mouth
of the Deveron. A fine bridge ol seven arches
crosses the river. It has several good streets ;
of which that with the towu-house in it, adorned
with a new spire, is very handsome. This place
was erected into a borough by a charter from
Robert 11. dated October 7th, 1372, endo^ng it
with the same privil^es, and putting it on
the same footing with the burgh of Aberdeen ;
but tradition says it was found^ in the reign of
Malcolm III. The harbour is bad, as the en-
trance at the mouth of the Deveron is very un-
certain, being often stopped by the sands, which
are continually shifting in grett storms ; the pier
is therefore plac^ on the outside, and defended
by a half-moon battery of eig^t guns. Manu-
factories of thread, cotton, and stockings, axe
carried on to a considerable extent, and great
quantities of salmon ?je annually exported . About
Troop-head, some kelp is made ; and the adven-
turers pay the lord ot the manor £50 yearly for
the liberty of collecting tiie materials. Near the
•town is a magnificent seat of the earl of Fife. It
lies in a beautiful plain washed by the Deveron,
the lofty banks of which, clotlied with wood on
the opposite side, afford a delightful contrast to
the soft vale beneath.
Bamff has two fairs, on the first Tuesday in
February, and the third Tuesday in December,
both old style. Long. 2*» 15' W., lat. 57* 35' N.
The parish is about six miles in length, and two
in breadth. The sea coast is bold and rocky. A
great part of the perish, though it might be easily
converted into arable land, is occupied in pas-
turage. Population about 3000.
BAMIAN, an ancientcity and province of Asia,
to the north-west of Cabul, ten days journey
from Balkh. It is remarkable alike for having
been once the metropolis of Buddhism, and for
its dreadful catastrophe, when taken by Jenghiz
Khan in 1221. At that time it belonged to Sul-
tan Jalallodin, the last of the famous Mahmud
of Gazoi's race. Jenghiz was about to attack
Gazna, that prince's capital, but was stopped by
the garrison of this place, which he had hoped
would give him no trouble. In this, however,
he was disappointed. The people had for a long
time expected an attack, and bad therefore ruined
the country for five or six leagues round, while
the peasants had carried away the stones, and
every thing that could be of use to the besiegers.
Accordingly Jenghiz Khan having erected wooden
towers, and^ planted his engines upon them, was
obliged to suspend his operations, till millstones
and other materials could be brought from a great
distance. The walls of the city were very strong,
so that the engines of the Moguls made little im-
pression , and the garrison, making frequent and
rurious sallies, cut off whole squadrons of his
troops, and frequent^ overthrew his towers and
engines. This so exceedingly chagrined Jenghiz
that he swore to be revenged. To exasperate
him yet &rther a young prince, his grandson,
was accidentally slam in Sie siege. At last, there-
fore, by the numberless multitude of the Moguls,
who continued their attack without intermission,
the city was taken, its walls had been ruined in
many places, and the bravest soldiers and officers
of the ffarrison slain in its defence. The
mother of the young phnce, who had been killed,
entered with the troops, and caused the tltrnattol
every one of the inhabitants to be cut, we an
told» without exception, and even gave ordcra to
destroy the women with diild, thai not an infant
mifi^t be left alive 1 Furdier, to gratify the rage
of this inhuman monster, the buildings were all
levelled with the ground ; the cattle, and every
living creature, destroyed; insomudi ^t the
hardened Moguls themselves gave this place the
name of Maubalig, or the unfortunate city. A
castle has since b^ built out of its ruins.
The place now appears surrounded with grot-
toes, or caverns (several of whidi are inhabited),
excavated from an insolated mountain. Many
of these abound with carved work and sculptures,
and the remains of ancient paintings. Mr. Wil-
ford (As. Res. vi. 462), says < it was formerly
called Buddli V&miyan, < the most beautiful and
excellent,' (a name still frequently given it by
the followers of Buddha), and maliciously cor-
rupted by the Mussulmans into Bot-l^raiykn,
Mdolatrous B4miy^.' It has been called by
historians the Thebes of the east ; and here are
two colossal statues, seventy-five feet high, hewn
out of the rock, standing in alto relievo against
the wall of the niches in which they are enshrined.
A third, of less colossal dimensions, being only
fifteen cubits high, stands at a small distance.
The orthodox say ^ey represent B^ima and his
family; tile Buddliisti maintain that they are
Shiihkmi and his disciples SiM\k ; while the
Mussulmans affirm that they are no other than
Adam and Eve, in the shape of Cayfimans, and
his consort Between these opinions it would
be presumptuous for us to decide. A door, be-
tween the legs of the largest, opens into a temple
still served by a few Bmhmins. The province
contains several villages, and decent towns.
BAMIER, a plant common in EgypL It pro-
duces a pyramidal husk, with several eofmpart-
ments, ot the color of alemon, and filled with
musky seeds. The husk dressed wtfh meat is a
wholesome food, and of a very agreeable flavor.
The Egpytians make great use of it in their
ragouts.
BAMMAK0O, a considerable town of Bam-
barra, in Africa, situated on the Niger, at the
point where the navigation higher upwards is
mtemipted by cataracts. It carries on a great
trade in salt It is 1 80 miles south-west of Sego.
Lone. 5** 48' W., lat 12** 50' N.
BAMOO, a province on the north-east frontier
of the kingdom of Ava. Also a town situated
on the river Irrawaddy, 170 miles N. N. E. of
Ummerapora, where a considerable trade is car-
ried on with the Chinese.
BAMORI, a village in Northern Ilindostan,
where an annual fair is held, to exchange the
productions of the mountaineers and the inha-
oitants of the lovr countries.
BAMOTIi-BAAL, one of the towns of the
tribe of Reuben, whidi seems to hare had a tem-
ple of Baal on an eminence; lying eastward,
near the river Amon, and the territory of Moab.
Jerome calls it Bamoth, a city of the Amorites,
beyond Jordan, in the possession of the sons of
Reuben. Whether it was the same with that
mentioned in Numbeisi xxi. is doubtful, but it
appears to have been the place of encampment
of the Israelites, and of BaUaro's first station
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451
whpro he had the first view of the rear of the
^AMPFYLDE (Sir Charles Warwick), a
baronet of one of the oldest and most distin-
guished families in Devonshire. He sat in seven
parliaments for the city of Exeter, was well
Known upon the turf, and moved in the first cir-
cles of rashion. He received his death from an
assassin named Morland, whose wife had lived
in his service. The shocking act was perpe-
trated almost at his own door in Montague
Square, where the inurderer vwdted his approach,
and after a short conversation, first discnarged a
pistol at his victim, and with a second blew out
bis own brains. April 19th, 1822.
BAMPLASOY, a town of Lower Siam, on
the Gulf of Siam. Long. 101« 36' E., lat. 3°
35' N.
HAMPTON, or Bampton in the Bush, a
market town and parish of the county of Oxford,
situated on the river Isis. It has a spacious
church, a charity school for twenty children, and
the remains of an ancient castle. Trade and
manufacture are carried on here in leather articles
to a considerable extent. Population 1232.
Distant ten miles from Oxford, and sixty-nine
and a half W.N.W. from London.
Bauptok, a market town and parish of Eng-
land, in Devonshire, situated on a branch of the
Exe called Batham, or Batherm, where the Ro-
mans are supposed to have had artificial hot-
badis, and there is still a chalybeate spring in the
vicinity. It carries on a small manufacture of
serge and pottery. John de Bampton, a Carme-
lite monk, who first read Aristotle at Cambridge,
and died in 1361, was a native of this town. A
battle was fought iiere in 614 or 6?0, between the
West Saxons and the Britons, wherein the latter
suffered great loss. Population 1452. Distant
from Tiverton five miles north, and 164 west of
London.
BAN, v,k. n. i Germ, banneny bann. A word
Ban'ntno. 1 exceedingly various in its appli-
cations. Its primary meaning seems to be that
of a public proclamation ; whether the matter in-
volved were agreeable or otherwise. It generally
signifies, however, proclamation with authority ;
to command, or to forbid; to excommunicate,
and to curse.
I bar it in the interest of my wife ;
Tift she it subcontracted to tliis lord.
And I her hosband contradict your bam*
ShakBpeare.
Ah, Glo'ster, bide thee from their hateful looks ;
And in thy closet pent up, rue my shame.
And ban thine enemies, both mine and thine. Id.
Bold deed to eye
The aacred fruit, sacred to abstincace.
Much more to taste it, under b<m to touch.
To drMT her neck into the baiu.
Mikon,
Hudibra*.
Shall we think that it ba$9eih the work which they
I'-ftTe behind them, or taketh away the use thereof?
Hooker.
Before these Moors wrnt a Numidian priest bellow-
ing oat charms, and casting serowls of paper on each
side, wherein he cursed and banned t)io Christians
Knnflti.
He proceeded so far by treaty, that he was pxoffer-
ed to have the imperial ban taken off Altapinus, upon
•ubmissioa. HowelL
Ban op the Empire, a public censure, by
which the privileges of any German prince are
suspended.
Bak, in commerce, a sort of smooth fine mus-
lin, which the English import from the Last
Indies. The piece is almost a yard broad, and
runs about twenty yards and a half.
Banns op Marriage. The instrument which
publishes the bands or obligations of matrimony
into which the parties enter, to the end that if
any man can say against the intention of the
parties, either in respect of kindred or otherwise,
they may take their exception in tine. And, in
the canon law, 'banna sunt proclamationes sponsi
et sponss in ecclesiis fieri solite.' Among the
variety of applications, says a writer in the Enw-
clopsdia Metropolitana, all deducible from its
primary meaning, bcai signified a solemn assem-
bly of the nobility, to attend the king in arms,
summoned by proclamation. To be put under
the ban of the empire, in the ancient German
constitution, was to be interdicted from all inter-'
course with society. The imperial ban was di-
rected against cities, as well as persons, and de •
prived those who incurred it of all their dignities
and privileges.
BANAGHER, a town of Ireland, in King^f
County, seated on the Shannon, over which it has
two bridges. It is about fifteen miles south of
Athlone, and sixty-six fix)m Dublin.
BANAGROTH, a town of Ireland, in King's
County, Leinster.
BANANA TREE. See Musa.
BANARES, or Benares (Varanasi), a large
district or zemindary in the province of Allaha-
bad, situated principally between the twen^-
fourth and twenty-sixth degrees of north latitude.
When ceded by Asoph ud Dowlah, the Nabob
of Oude, in 1775, it was divided into six and a
half pergunnahs, containing an aggregate of
1^,000 square miles, of which 10,000 are a fer-
tile and richly cultivated flat, on both sides oi
the Ganges. The chief districts are Benares,
Gazypoor, Jionpoor, and Chunar. In the Insti-
tutes of Acber, A. D. 1583, Abul Fazel describe?
it ^ follows ; * Sircar Benares, containing eight
mahals, measurement 136,663 beegahs, revenue
8,169,3181 dams.— Seyurghal 338,184 dams.
This Sircar furnishes 830 cavalry, and 8400
infantry.' The gross revenue in 1813 amounted
to 4,562,707 rupees; £570,338. 7s. 6d. of our
money. At Chunar-gurTi, Mirz4-piir, and Gh^i-
pdr, are large stone quarries ; at which, on pay-
ing a moderate duty, any one may work ; and
the receipt for such licenses in 1816 amounted to
37,086 rupees, or £4635. 15*.
The atmosphere of this province is severe, and
in winter renders fires indispensable; but for
three months after March, becomes so heated by
the setting in of the hot winds, as to destroy all
verdure, and would jjrobably prove destructive
to all European artificial grasses, were the culti-
vation of them introduced. Garden-stuff of dif-
ferent kinds for Europeans, flax for oil, grains^'
and sugar, are nevertheless produced b^ the na-
tivps dirring the cold season. The use of flax as
2 G2
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B A N A R E S.
an article of clothing is not here understood.
Kvery held of barley contains a mixture of grain
or peas ; and at the distance of six or ten feet
is planted a beautiful yellow flowering shrub,
used in dyeing.
The principal manufactures ar^ plain and
flowered muslins, chiefly made in the northern,
baf^ in the western, and sanaes in the eastern
parts of the province. Tissues, brocades, and
ornamented gauzes, are articles of general manu-
^cture, from the Ganges and Goomty to the Ca^
ramnassa and Soane. The apparatus for the sugar
manufactory is extremely simple ; a stone mortar
and wooden pistem, turned by two bullocks,
constitute the most expensive part of the opera-
tion ; the boiling pots are of common earthen-
ware ; the whole, in value, not exceeding twelve
rupees. Salt is manufactured at Banares. In-
digo and opium are annually raised and exported
from many parts of the.province.
The country is well supplied with water, and
washed by several noble rivers and streams ; of
which the Ganges, the Goomty, the Caramnassa,
and the Soane, are the most important ; the two
latter forming Uie natural boundaries of the pro-
vince. The space from Patna to Buxar, Gazy-
j^r, Banares, and Mirzapoor, presents a beau-
tiful and highly fertile country, adorned with
numerous clumps of mango-trees, which give the
whole region the appearance of a forest, affording
a shady retreat for cattle. The territory on both
sides of the river, above Mirzapoor, formerly
belonged to the Nabob of Oude, and exhibited a
strong contrast to the flourishing state of the
Banares districts, which in point of prosperity,
perhaps excel all others in India, with the ex-
ception of Burdwan in Bengal.
The population of the province, according to
the census taken in 1801, under the direction of
the Marquis Wellesley, at that time governor-
general, amounted to three millions, in the pro-
portion of one Mahommedan to five Hindoos.
The code of regulations for Bengal has, with
very little alteration, been extended to Banares.
The Brahmins, however, from the great venera-
tion in which they are held by the people, are
indulged with some peculiar privileges. Tlie
punishment of death in capital offences is com-
muted for transportation, and the process against
them in criminal charges is somewhat different
from that of Hindoos of a lower caste. Several
evil practices of the Brahmins were, nevertheless,
at the same time suppressed ; as, the holding out
the threat of obtainmg spiritual vengeance on
their adversaries by suicide ; the exposure of the
life, or actual sacrifice, of their own children, or
ne&j relations ; occurrences which are now sub-
ject to the usual course of criminal law. One
tribe of Hindoos, residing in the province, called
Rajcoomars, were accustomed to destroy their
female infants, from the difficulty experienced in
getting them suitably married. Mr. Duncan,
'9ie resident, prevailed on them to desist from
this practice ; and the observance of it subjects
the offender to the ordinary punishment of murde^.
The most remarkable events in the history of
this pfovince are the following : — Musuram, the
mndlhther of Cheit Singh, possessed originally
But half the village of Gungapoor; by additions
to which; he laid the foundation of the zemindaiy,
or lordship, of Banares. At his death, in 174C,
his son and successor Bulwant Singh ascended
the throne ; and afier a reign of thirty years, in-
creased the provincial territories to their present
dimensions. Cheit Singh Rijii received the
zemindary in 17B0; but firom his refractory
conduct, vns expelled the province by Mr.
Hastings, within one year after his aooession.
He lived at Gw41iy^ till 1810, and his lands
are still "held by a collateral branch of the same
family, with an annual profit exceeding ten per
cent, on the revenue, denved from them by the
government. Tennant, J. Grant, Colebrooke,
fifth Reporty Hamittofif SfC.
The chief towns in the Banares zemindaiy, are
Banares, ib Sanscrit, Vkrk Nash), from the two
streams, Vkrk and Nashl. It lies in lat. 25'' 30^
N. and long. 83^ £., on the northern bank of the
Ganges, which here forms a fine sweep of about
four miles in length. Its elevation above the
water is evident from the G*hats, or landing
places, compos^ of large stones, to the height of
thirty feet, and are supposed to have been
erected by pious Hindoos, as acts of public
charity. The town rises like an amphitneatre
^m this basis on the external curve of the river,
and ma^ be seen at once from the opposite shore,
which forms an extensive level.
The great narrowness of the streets gives it
the ususd appearance of an Asiatic town, and the
houses, which are six stories high, close to eadi
other have terraces on their summits, and ex-
tremely small windows, to keep them cool and
prevent inspection. 'The opposite sides of the
streets in some places approach to each other so
closely as to be united by galleries. The number
of houses built of stone and brick, are stated at
12,000, those of mud at 16,000. The inhabitants
are more than 600,000, of whom one tenth are
Mahommedans; and during the great Hindoo
festivals, the concourse is immense. Ck^, ot
C4shl, the splendid, as the Indians commonly
call it, is one of the most sacred places in the
whole of India ; the country for ten miles round
is thought holv land, and- the famous lingam, sup-
posed to be Siya, or Mah^-D66 himself, in a state
of petrifection, attracts the veneration and alms of
myriads. The representatives of this invahiable
relic in different parts of the city are said to be
at least a million, and one pilgrim b repotted to
have travelled sixteen times from Banares, an-
ciently C^, to Ram^swara or Ramisseran, op-
« posite Ceylon. Devout Hindoos come to end
their days at Banares, the same as pious Jews go
to die at Jerusalem : and so ereat is the holy
sanctity of the place, that to die there is suffi-
cient to preserve even beef-eating Englishmen
from the black realms of the Indian Pluto,
the Hindoo Pat&ia. One Englishman the Biab-
mins say did get to heaven by departing this
life at Banares, and his meritorious decease is
said to have been still further sanctified by the
bequest of a laree sum of money for the crectioD
of a temple under the direction of his spiritual
solicitor. So holy is this celebrated city that
many foreign Hindoo Raiahs have vakeds or
delegates residing here, who perform for them
the requisite sacrifices and ablutions.
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BAN
Clisi, the ancient name of this city, is still re-
tained in preference to its modem name Banarea,
although mere are no notices concerning it in the
"works of ancient geographers. It is remarkable
that they should omit this celebrated city, and at
the same time specify Mathura or Mcthora and
Clisobara, whicn are near the Jumna.
Banares is regarded as the ancient s^t of
Brahminical learning ; and within the last cen-
tuiy the moon beams of science have in some
measure relieved the intellectual gloom which
lowered upon the dark hemisphere of tlie inha^
bitants. Jaya-Singlia, R&j^ of AmVh^r, at the
close of the seventeenth century erected an ob-
servatory in this city. (Philosophical Transac-
tions, vol. Ixvii; and Asiatic Kesearches.) A
college has also been erected by the British
government, for the instruction of Hindoos
in their own literature; but the influence and
prejudices of the Brahmins have prevented any
considerable diffusion of learning among the
natives. Reading and writing are however taught
here, upon a plan strongly resembling that of
some modem institutions in our own country.
The boys are collected on a smooth flat of sand,
on which, with the finger or a small reed, they
trace the letters in the sand, and learn to pro-
nounce them at the same time.
The number of pious foundations in Banares
is very great. Hindoo temples are scattered all
over the city and the surrounding plain. The
principal one is called Visw^swar or Bis^sar,
and b dedicated to Siva, whose sacred relics
it contains. Aurengzebe, to mortify the Hindoos,
built a splendid mosque on the highest ground
of the city, and what was worse than all, on the
sacred mins of a Hindoo temple, which viras
destroyed to make room for it. The minarets of
this edifice command an extensive view of the
city, and open some of the finest prospects of the
surrounding country. •
The handsome houses of the English exhibit
an unusual nakedness firom the want of trees ;
but this in India is absolutely necessary, from the
swarms of mosquito^ to which they afford a
favorite resort. The Rajah resides at Ramna-
gur on the opposite side of the river, five miles
from Banares. In this city are upwards of 8000
houses occupied by mendicant Brahmins, who
have nevertheless considerable properW of their
own. Europeans in this place a^ few, con-
sisting chiefly of a judge, collector, and registrar,
a few other civil servants connected with the
company's establishment, together with a few
private merchants and planters.
Banares is the chief mart for gems and
diamonds, which are brought principally from the
Bundelcund country. Mercnants and bankers
are numerous and wealdiy, arising from the great
trafHc of which this city is the site. The land is
extremely high priced, and law suits respecting
it are unceasinff. The division of the court of
circuit comprdiends the following districts.
1. Mirzapoor. 2. Allahabad. 3. Bundelcund.
4. Juanpoor. 5. Gooracpoor. 6. City of Ba-
nares.
C^i does not appear to have been known to the
Greeks, and was probably subject to the Hindoo
sovereignty of Canoj. In the year 1017 Sultan
Mahmood of Ghizni took possession of it, to-
gether with the town of Casum or Casuma, now
Patna, and went as Bar as the country of Ouga-
nam or Unja, west of the Cossimbazar river.
The following year he overran these countries a
second time, and penetrated as far as Kisraji,
Cachlia Raja, or Cooch Bahar, from which
period the Hmdoos in this part of India remained
unmolested by the Ms^ommedans till the close
of the twelfth century, when it was .finally in-
cluded within the Mosul empire. In 1775
Banares was ceded by Uie Nabob of Audit or
Oude, since which for the most part it has en-
ioyed uninterrapted tranquillity ; and the inha-
bitants, are fiilly sensible of the advantages they
derive from living under the British government,
with respect to the security of their persons and
property.
On the 14th of January, Mr. Cherry the resi-
dent, and three other English gentlemen, were
treacherously murdered by Vizier AH, the de-
posed Nabob of Oude, and spurious son of the
fate Asoph ud Dowlah. Mr. Davis would also
have fallen a sacrifice had he not, from the top of
a narrow winding stair^^ase, on the flat root of
the house, defended himself and family with a
short spear till assistance could be procured.
The travelling distance from Banares to Cal-
cutta by Birbhoom is 460 miles, by Moorsheda-
bad 565, from Buxar seventy, Allatiabad eighty-
three, Calpy 239, Kanoge 259, Bareily 345
miles. See Lord ValerUiay third Register, Wil-
fordf and Rennel.
BANBURY, a borough and market town in
the hundred of that name, Oxon, seventy-one
miles from London; containing 3400 inhabitants.
It stands on the river Charwell, on the road from
Buckingham to Bridgenorth, and was first made
a borough by queen Mary. Its privileges were
afterwaj^s confirmed and enlarged by James I.
and George I. It is now governed by a mayor,
high steward, recorder, six buiigesses, and thirty,
assistants; has a town-clerk, and two Serjeants*
at-mace, and returns one member to parliament
The land in, this neighbourhood is particularly
fine pasture, and the town was noted, in Cam-
den's time, for the excellence of its cheese, as it
is now for cakes and ale. When Holland was
employed in translating the Britannia, Camden
visited the printing-offce, and found that to his
own observation, Uiat Banbury was famous for
cheese, the translator had added cakes and ale.
Thinking this remark too trifling, he changed
the last word into zeal; and this gave much un-
intentional offence. In his MS. sopi^ement to
the Britannia, in the Bodleian library, is the fol-
lovring note: * Put out the word zeale in Ban-
bury, where some think it a disgrace, when as
zeale with knowledge is the greatest grace among
good Christians.' In the adjacent fields Roman
coins have often been discovered, and the pyrites
aureus, or golden fire-stone. A castle veas built
here in 1125, which was entirely destroyed in
the civil wars of Charles I, Plush is taanuiac-
tured here, and the trade of the town is greatly
enhanced by the proximity of the Thames and
Severn canal. Here are held, annually, seven
fiurs : those for hiring servants are called mop
fairs. The church, having been of late re-
built, is large though not handsome. Tlie
market on Thursday is reckoned the best iu the
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454
BAN
county for com, cattle, atid all kinds of pro-
▼isions.
BANC, or Benca, in law, a tribunal, or judg-
ment-^seat: Hence,
Banc, Common, means the Court of Common
Pleas ; and
Banc, King's, the Court of King's Bench.
BANC A, an island of the Indian Ocean, be-
tween Sumatra and Borneo; from the first of
which it is separated only by a narrow channel.
It is celebratea for its tin mines, the annual profit
of which to the Dutch is estimated at £150,000.
It is mountainous and woody. There are seven
mines, which give employment to 25,000 men,
originally a Chinese colony, and nominally un-
der the direction of the sultan of Palembang, but
in reality working for the profit of the Dutch
East India company. The metallic sand is said
to yield 70 per cent. Very little is sent to Eu-
rope ; the Cninese are very skilinl in adulterating
it. This island, which nad been captured by
our forces during the late war, with roe rest of
the Dutch possessions in the East Indies, was
ffi^en up at the peace of 1814. It had been
formally ceded to us by Najmu'dd)n, sultan of
Palembang, in 1812, on condition of his being
placed ymdet our protection, but this stipulation
was disregarded by the Dutch authorities in Java
in 1818; and they hacre since that period been
at war with the sultan. The straits of Banca
aflford a safe passage with a fitvorable monsoon ;
but as shoal water sometimes occurs, and there
are occasionally coral reefs, they require great
care and attention in navigating them. The
Banca islands in 2° 22' S. lat., and 105° 41' £.
long., afford shelter from S. W. by S. to N. W.
ivith a good supply of water and fbel.
Banca, a small island of a cluster still smaller,
lying off the north-east extremity of the island of
Celebes, which are much frequented by the Ma-
lay pirates. Fish, turtle, and miits, are plentifnl.
Long. 125° E., lat. 1° 50* N.
BANCAL, an East Indian weight, containing
16tJj drams Avoirdupois.
BANC ALIA, oldlaw,Lat.cushions for benches.
BANCALIS, a sea-port town on the east coast
of Sumatra, where the Dutch have a settlement.
It lies 130 miles west of Malacca.
BANC HI (Seraphin), archbishop of Angou-
16me. He was at nrst a priest of the Dominican
order at Florence; but in 1593 one Peter Bar-
nere, a hot-headed fanatic, having communicated
to him his purpose of murdering the king, Ban-
chi prudently revealed the matter to a nobleman,
by which the horrid design was prevented from
being executed. He was rewarded with the
archbishopric of Angoul^me. He afterwards re-
signed his charge, and retired to St. James's mo-
nastery at Paris, where he continued till his death.
BANC HO, or Banquho, thane of Lochaber,
the grandfather of Walter, the first lord high
steward of Scotland, and the progenitor of the
royal house of Stewart. He gained several great
victories over the Highlanders and Danes, in the
reign of Donald VII. but his glory was tarnished
by joining Macbeth in the conspiracy against
•hat monarch ; and he was murdered by the ty-
rant Macbeth about A. D. 1046.
l^ANCl Jt's, the privilege of having a bench
was anciently allowed to the kins's judgia qii»
summam administrant justitiam. Inferior courts,
as courts baron, hundred courts, &c. were not
allowed that prerogative ; and even at this day
the hundred court at Freebridge, in Norfolk, is
held under an oak at Gey-wood ; and that of
Woolfry, in Herefordshire, under an oak near
Asbton, in that county, called Hundred oak.
BANCK (Peter Vander), an engraver of con-
siderable repute, bom at Paris, and bred under
the celebrated Francis de Poilly. He came over
into England with Gascar, the painter, about
1674 ; and married the sister of Forester,
Esq. He was a laborious artist : but the pay he
received for his plates being by no means ade-
quate to the time he bestowed upon them, he
was reduced to want ; and, retiring from busi-
ness, sought an asylum in the house of his brother-
in-law. He died at Bradfield, and was buried
in the church in 1674; leaving his widow in
possession of the chief part of his plates, which
she disposed of to Brown, a print-seller, to great
advantage, and left an easy fortune. His cliief
employment was engraving portraits; and accord-
ing to Virtue's account of him, published by
Walpole, he was the first in England who en-
graved them on so large a scale. Like many of
Poilly*s disciples, his great merit consists in the
neat management of the mechanical part oC
the art.
BANCO, an Italian word, which signifies
bank, and commonly used to signify the bank of
Venice.
BANCOOK^ a town in the kingdom of Siam,
in Asia, with a fort, which was once in the pos-
session of the Fiench, but they were driven irom
it in 1688. The houses are made of canes, cover-
ed with palm leaves, and the inhabitants go
ahnost naked. It is forty miles south of the city
6f Siam.
BANCROFT (Richard), archbishop of Can-
teibury, was bom at Famwordi, in Lancashire,
in 1544, and studied at Cambridge,where he took
his degrees of B. A. M. A. and D. D. After
passing successively through several gradations in
the church, he was, in 1597, appointed bishop of
London. In 1600 he was sent by queen Eliza-
beth to settle some difference between the Eng-
lish and the Danes. He also interposed in the
disputes between the secular priests and the
Jesuits, and furnished arguments to the former.
In 1603 he was at the conference at Hampton
Court, between the bishops and the Presbyterian
ministers, and was appointed a commissioner for
regulating church afiaiis. In 1604 he was ap-
pointed president of the convocation, and soon
after elected archbishop of Canterbury, which
was confirmed by king James I. His last pro-
motion was in 1610, to be chancellor of the uni-
versity of Oxford, which he did not long enjoy,
for he died in 1612, of the stone, at Lambeth.
Bancroft (John), bishop of Oxford, a nephew
of the above, bom in Oxfordshire. In 1592 he
was admitted of Christ Church, in Oxford. In
1609 he wa^ chosen master of University College,
where he continued above twenty years; during
which time he was at a great deal of labor as
well as expense to recover the ancient lands be-
longing to that found^on. He was made bishop
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BAN
455
BAN
of Oxford in 1622, and he bailt the palace of
Cuddesden for that see. He died in 1640, and
was interred in the church of Cuddesden.
BAND', V. & n.-\ Dut. hendcy Sax. bandy
Band' AGE, f Goth, bandit Celt, ban* A
Bakd'or, ^tie. The noun upon which
Band'cr. j the yerb to bapd is fomoedy
is the past participle of the verb to bind. To tie,
fasten, unite, join, yoke together; mutual engage-
ment; promise; to be in bonds or bondage; to
confederate for one common purpose. Band, in
our old writers, is frequently written bende.
With a bend of gold taMtled,
And knoppoB fine of gold amiled. Cbmtoer.
The botiler ii not my friend,
Whiche halhe the key by the hgndg,
Gower.
Then mong it were, that any other twaine
Should in love's gentle band combyned bee,
Bnt those whom heaven did at first ordaine.
And made out of one modld the more t' agree.
And when it was day, ceitain of the Jews handed
together, and bound themselves under a curse, that
they would neither eat nor diink till they had killed
Paul Bibb. Aett ch. xxiii. ver. 12.
Ybrke and his htmden proudly pressed in,
MtrtCT JOT 3tog%ttWtt9*
Men's hearts are growne so fidse, that most are loath
To trust each other's words, or ha$»da, or oath ;
For though we had in every part an eje.
We could not search out all hypocrisy.
• (Tmv^s fPiOer.
Like Maia's son he stoo4r
And shook his plumes, that heavenly fragrance fill'd
The circuit wide, strait knew him all the bandt
Oi angels under watch ; and to his state.
And to his message, high in honour rise. UiUim,
What multitudes
Were bond^ to oppose his high decree. Id.
Now strike the golden lyre again,
A louder yet, and yet a louder strain.
Break his hmd* of sleep asunder,
. And rouse him like a rattling peal of thunder.
Drydm^
The queen, in white array, b^ore her ftoml.
Saluting took her rival by the hand. id.
On a sudden, methought, this select band sprang
forward, with a resolution to climb the ascent, and
follow the call of thia heavenly musiek. Ta/dar,
Strait the three handi prepare in arms to join.
Bach ha$»d the number of the sacred Nine. Pope
He took his lodging at the mansion-house of a
taylor's widow, who washes, and can cle^-starch his
hastdM. Addison,
Zzaik, too, had a place among the rewt, with a ban"
doge over her eyes ; though one would not bave ex-
pected to have seen her represented in snow. Id,
Cords were fastened by hooks to my bandt^u, which
the workmen had girt round my neck. Sw^,
Pride in their port, defiance in their aye,
I sec the lords of human kind pass by ;
Intent on hi^ designs, a thougl^tful btmd.
By forms unfashioned, fresh inm naUxie's hand.
Fierce in their ^tive hardiness of soul.
True to imagin'd right, above control ;
While e'en the peasant boasts these rights to scan.
And leaxns to venerate himself as man.
(hld9mA*M TnmUer.
Whib her snowy h;in ! -
From h^r fair brow, her golden hair uubiud.
And of her zone unloose the silken bands.
More passing bright unvcil'd her beauty stands.
Mrs, Tighe.
Pirate, thou know'st me not — ^hut I am one
Grateful for deeds thou hast too rarely done ;
Look on me — and remember her thy h&nd
Snatch'd from the tame^, and thy more fearful band.
Bjfron.
Band', in arcbitecture, a low flat moulding,
otberwise called a/acc, from/oscui.
Band is also the denomination of a military or-
der in Spain, instituted by Alphonsus XI. king of
Castile, for the younger sons of the nobility, who,
before their admission, must serve ten years at
least, either in the army or at court; and are
bound to take up arms for the catholic fiuth
against the infidels.
Band of Pensioners, a company of 120
gentlemen, who r^eive a yearly allowance of
£lOO for attending on his majest}* on solemn
occasions.
Bands of a Saddle are two pieces of iron
nailed upon the bows of the saddle, to hold
the bows in the right situation.
BAN DA Islands^ a group -of islands in the
Eastern ocean> about 130 miles £. S. £. from
Amboyna. They strictly include ten sepa-
rate isles, Banda Neira, BandaLantoir, Pulo Ay,
Pulo Rondo, Pulo Pisang, Rosingen, Crak%
Capella^ Souangy, and Gonong Apee, the last
being a volcanic islet, rising 2000 feet above the
level of the sea. They are all small; Banda
Proper, or Lantoir, one of the largest, is only
about eight miles long, and not more than three
broad ; Neira, another of the most considerable,
does not contain much more than two- or three
square miles. Their rich black soil makes tbem
generally fertile in tropical fruits ; but their chief
and well known produce is nutmegs, for the cul-
tivation of which Neira, Lantoir, Pulo Ay, and
Pulo Rondo, are laid out in parks or plantations.
The plant attains the size of^ a pear-tree, with a
leaf resembling that of the laurel, and the fruit,
envelop^ in a membranaceous covering of mace,
is contained in a husk. It is of the shape of a
pear when ripe, and approaches the size of an
apricot : it is then pullea and put into a dryiner-
house or kiln, where it is exposed during three
months to a slow fire : the husk or shell is now
broke, and the nutmeg instantly placed among
lime, to prevent the attack of insects. It is after-
wards made up into packages of 200 pounds
each, for exportation. £ach tree produces about
ten pounds yearly, and an oil is extracted from
the unripe and damaged fruit. Nutmeg-trees
require incessant care; a great proportion of
them are barren, a defect which cannot be dis-
covered before the twelfth or fourteenth year.
From this period they continue bearing until the
age of twenty, four years after which they perish.
The total quantity produced in the four islands.
the Dutch would never suffer to be ascertained.
When they were captured in 1796, a half year's
crop was found to amount to 81,618 pounds of
nutmeg, and 23,885 pounds of mace. Formerly
the average sales were estimated at 350,000
pounds of nutmeg annually, and 100,000 pounds
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456
BAN
of mace. For many of the necessaries of life
these islands depend upon Java. The Dutch
having subjected the onginal inhabitants, were
the first European occupiers of the Banda idands.
And their most extraordinary policy was to cul»
tivate a portion, and carefully extirpate the trees
in all the other islands. This was obviously a
check upon the population. By a census taken
in 1796, they were found to be 5763 ; in 1814
they were estimated at little more than 4000 ;
about three-fourths of whom were slaves. The
accounts therefore which formerly stated them at
15,000 whites, were most likely exaggerated.
The seat of government is Neira, where there
is a good harbour, and two fortresses, public ma^
gazines and storehouses, for the produce of the
numieg plantations. Garrisons have always been
maintained in these fortresses ; but they were taken
possession of by Admiral Rainier in 1796, with
little opposition. . Being restored to the Dutch
by the peace of Amiens, they were again taken
by the English in 1810; and revertwl to their
former masters at the general peace of 1814.
The latitude of these islands is between 4° and
5*" S. and the longitude about 130^ £.
BANDALEER, or Bandeleer, in military
afiairs, a large leathern belt, thrown over Uie
right shoulder, and hanging under the left arm ;
worn by the ancient musqueteers, both for the
sustaining of their fire-arms, and for the carriage
of their musket-charges, which being put up in
little wooden cases, coaled with leatner, were
hung, to the number of twelve, to each ban-
daleer.
BANDALUSAN, a small ishmd in the East-
ern Indian sea, near the south coast of Mindanao.
Long. 122* 58* E. lat. T" 12' N.
BANDARRA (Gonzales), a Portuguese iaiia^
tic of the sixteenth century, who, pretending to
be a prophet, raised some disturbance, and in
1541, maae a narrow escape from being burnt for
heresy, by the inquisition. He died in 1556.
BAND'BOX, n. ». From band and box. A
slight box used for bands, and other things of
small weight.
My friends are suTprised to find two hcmUnxM
among my books, till I let them see that tbey are
lined with deep eradition. Adii$OH,
With empty ha$»ihos she delights to range.
And feigns a distant errand from the 'Change.
Oai^i Trinia,
BAND'ELET, II. f . Yx^handeleU In archi-
tecture, any little band, flat moulding, or fillet.
BANDELLO (Matthew), bishop of Agen, was
bom at Castelnovo, in the Milanese^ about the
end of the fifteenth century. He was first a Do-
minican monk, and distinguished himself by
writing novels in the manner of Boccacis. When
his country was invaded by the Spaniards he
went to France, and there, in 1550, obtained the
bishopric of Agen, but resigned it in 1555. He
died m 1561. The best edition of his novels is
that printed at London, in four volumes, 4to.
1740. '
BANDEL^ a sea-port of Japan, on the north-
west coast of the island of Niphon. Lonir. 131*
45' E., lat. 34^ 46' N.
Ban DEL D* Agoa, a sea-port on the east
coast of Afiica, snpposed by Dr. Vincent to be
the Zergi& of Ptolemy. Long. 49"" E., lat 8
20' N.
Bandel Caxts, a sea-port on die east coast
of Africa, supposed by Vmoent to be the Opone
of Ptolemy. Lat. B** 15' N.
Ban DEL Velho, or Old Port, on the coast
of Ajan, supposed by Vincent to be situated
on what the Periplus calls the Little Coast
Gosselin imagines it to be the Rhapta of Ptolemy
and the Periplus. Fifty miles N. N. £. of Ma^
dasho.
BANDEN, a hill of Scotland, in Fifeshire,
which commands an extensive view of the Strath
of Eden, from Kinross to St Andrew's Bay.
The remains of an ancient rampart and circum-
vallation, 200 yards in diameter, and of a circu-
lar form, are to be seen upon it.
BANDER-ABASSL See Gombron.
BANDERAS, a large bay in the Pacific
Ocean, on the west coast of Mexico, between
Cape Corientes and Tintoque Point. Lat 20**
30' N.
BANDER-CONGO, a small sea-port town in
Asia, seated on the east side of the Persian
Gulf; eighty miles west of Gombron; and 190
of Bander- Abassi.
BANDERET, a ceneial, or one of the com-
manders in chief of the forces. Thb appellatioo
is given to the principal commanders of the troops
of the canton of Berne, in SwiUeriand, where
there are four banderets, who command all the
forces of that canton.
BANDEROLL, a little flag, in form of a g»>
don, extended more in length than in breadlh,
used to be hung out on die masts of vessels, &c.
Band Fish, in loology, the English name of
the cepola rubescens.
BANDL See Angola.
BANDINELLI (Baccio), a celebrated sculp-
tor- and painter of Florence, bom in 1487.
Hiough he distinguished himself by his skill in
both lines, he chiefly excelled in sculpture ; and
his group of the Lacoon is much admired. He
died in 1559.
BANDIT, ». -J Ital. ben and ^to. It
Band'itto, n. Sis the past participle of
Band'itti (plural). 3 dicere^ united to ban, ex-
communicated or banished; and thus signifies
one declared to be banished. An exile or oat-
law. Banditti are not only outlaws, but robbers,
who commit their depredatirns in concert. Men
who place themselves without the pale of society,
that they may commit aggressions upon its peace
and property.
A Romaa sworder, a&d hm^itto aUv«,
Mnrder'd 8we«t Tally.
No savage fierce, Imi^,
WUl dare to soil her vizgin pnri^.
Jut aa mach fidelity min^kt be expected from them
in a common canae, as there n among n titMp of
honeit, mardering, and raviahiag hitniUt. Drydm.
No hanUt fierce, no tyrant mad with pride.
No cavemM hermit, rests self-satiafyM. Aps.
Who Are they who can be said to be govem'd by
laws of their own making f I know of no anch per-
sons ; I nerer heard or read of any such, except, per-
haps, among pirates, and other hamMtti,yfho, tno^li^
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BAN
4ff7
BAN
on aH laws, divine and human, xvfhae to be goremed
in any other way than by their own licentious regu-
BeaiHe.
Bahditti. Biydone, in his Tour through
JSidhr, informs us, that in the eastern part, called
Val Demoni, from the devils that are supposed to
inhabit Mount Etna, it ^as in his time found
altogether impracticable to extirpate the banditti;
there being numberless carems and subterrans-
ons passages round that mountain, where* no
troops could possibly pursue them : besides they
"Were known to be perfectly determined and reso-
lute, never failing to take a dreadful revenge on
all who offended them. Hence, the prince of ViUa
Franca embraced it, as the safest, wisest, and
most political scheme, to become their declared
patron and protector. Such of tKem as thought
proper to leave their mountains and forests,
though perhaps only for a time, met with en-
couragement, and a certain protection in his
service, where they enjoyed his confidence, which
in no instance were they found to abuse. They
were clothed in the prince's livery, and wore a
badge of their order, which entitled them to uni-
▼enal fear and respect from the people. The
persons of those whom they accompanied were
ever held sacred. For this reason travellers
chose to hire a couple of them from town to town;
and many thus travelled over the whole island
with them in safety.
Banditti Island, an island on the east-
em Indian sea, at the south entrance of the
straits of Lombhook, about twenty miles in cir-
cuit, iong. 115*» 35' E., lat. 8* AC N.
Ban Doo. In xoology, a name of the canis
molossus, or mastiff. But Dr. Johnson observes,
that the original of this word is veiy*^doubtful«
Caius, De Canibus Britannicis, derives it from
bandf that is, a dog chained up. Skinner inclines
to deduce it from banOf a muraereri May it not
come from ban^ a curse, as we say a curst cur ; or
rather from bmmdf swelled or huge, a Danish
word ; from whence, in some counties, 'they call
a great nut a fton-nut. A kind of large dog.
Or privy, or pext, if any bin.
We hav« great taiirfoyt will tear their akin.
The tune of night when Tioy was aet on fire.
The time when acreeeh-owU cry, and bmtdegt howL
8haktp§&r». Hmr^ VI.
Then, Somerset aaya, aet the Umdog on the bull.
BANDON, or Bandon-b&idoe, a considerable
borough town of Cork, in Ireland, situated on a
river of the same name. It is called bv the Irish,
Drohed (the bridge), and was founded by the
first eari of Coik in 1610. The walls were de-
molished by the Irisli, in 1689, and, in conse-
quence of this violence, papists were long pro-
hibited from residing in the town., l&ndon
principally belongs to the duke of Devonshire
and the earl of fiSmdon. It returns one mem-
ber to the imperial parliament. The cotton
manufactory used to flourish here, and great
numbers of workmen are still employed on linens,
camlets, and woollens. The population is i0,179;
distance from Cork thirteen miles: from Dub-
lin, 113.
BANDORA, a town of the island of Sal-
sette, on the west coast of the peninsula on this
side the Ganges.
BANDORE, a musical instrument with stringy,
resembling a lute, said to have been invented in
the fourth year of queen Elizabeth, by John
Rose, a citisen of London.
BANDROL, banderol, Fr. A litde flag,
or streamer ; the little fringed silk flag that hangs '
on a trumpet.
BAND.UM, or Band, is used, in middle age
writers, for a flag or banner.
BANDURI (Anselm), a learned Benedictine,
bom at Ragusa, in Dalmatia. He studied in
France, and applied himself princi|^ly to anti-
quities. He published. The Antiquities of Con-
stantinople, two volumes, folio ; and Numismata
Imperatorum Romanorum, a Trajano Decio ad
Paleologos Augustos, 1718. He died at Paris in
1743.
BAN'DY,v., fi.f.,&a4f. Fr. froiufer, to make
crooked. A club turned round at bottom for
strikii^ a ball at play; hence to bandy is to beat
to and fro from one to another, to agitate, to toss
about, to give and take reciprocally, to contend
as at some game, in which each strives to drive
the ball his own way.
The ihoothig itan, •
Which, in an eye*bright evening, aeem'd to frdl.
Are nothing bat the balls they loae at toidfr.
Bnw§r'» Lmgm, vu 6w
They do oumingly, from one hand to anodier,
lii% the service like a tennis-ball. Spmmr.
Do yon fcawrfjf looks with me, you rascal f
oMAJk^peaiw*
No simple man that sees
This fiMtiooa hamdgittg of their frtvooritea,
Bnt that he doth preaage some ill event. 14,
Had ahe affections and warm youthful blood.
She would be as swift in motion as a ball.
My words wonld fcawdjf her to my sweet love.
And his to me. /dL
Could set np grandee against grandee.
To squander time away and ftmd^ ;
Made lords and commoners lay sieges,
' To one another's privileges. Hmdibrat.
They now begun
To spur their living engines on ;
For as whipp'd tops, and handed balls.
The learn'd hold, are animals ;
So horses they affirm to be.
Mere engines made by geometry. Id
And like a ball, btm^*d 'twist pride and wit.
Rather than yield, botii sides the prise will quit
This hath been so handud amongst us, that one can
hardly miss books of this kind. Xedba.
Ever since men have been united into governments,
the endeavonn alter universal monarchy have been
Isiidisrf among them. Swifi,
He that is employed, has no leisure to move in the
little disputes and quarrels which trouble the peace
of the mind, and which are chie6y kept up and hm^
ditd to and fro by those who have nothing else to do.
What vigorous arm, what repereussive blow,
~ ' the mighty globe still to and fro.
She calls it witty to be rude.
And placing raillery in railing,
Wfll tell aloud your greatest fruling;
Nor make a scruple to expose
Your AoN^leg, or crooked nose. Sw^k*
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BAN
Hie iy»Urfi«ii« had a one-eyed btmd^4egg9d prince *,
such a person woald have made but an odd figure.
CoUier.
Bavdv Legs, are legs distorted, turning
titber inward or outward on either side ; arising
from some defect in the birth, or imprudence in
the nurse, endeavouring to make a emld stand or
walk before his leg^ were strong enough to sus-
tain the weight of his body. See Vau^us.
BANE', V. &n.-) Sax; bona, a murderer,
Bane'ful, > according to Dr. Johnson;
Bane'fulness. 3 but it may be referred to the
Goth, ftmifoi, ulcers, sores, wounds^ or to bane,
destruction, death. To poison, to render poi-
sonous, to destroy ; to cause destruction or ruin.
For in his hunting hathe he swiche delite.
That it is alle his joye and appetite.
To ben himself the grate hart's Aom. Ckemeef.
Help me, ye hfutefiM byrds ! whose shrieking sound
Is signe of dreary death, my deadly cries
Most mthfolly to tunei fijpcMfr.
Another righteous doom I saw of gveedy gain,
Whh busy cares such treasaws oft pi«eerved.
Are to their kwe. iBsrf ofAapny.
The country people use kitchen physiek, and common
experience tells us, that they IWe freest ftom all
manner of infiimities that make least use of apothe-
caries' ^ysiek. Many are pTertbiown by preposte-
rous use qI \i» and thereby get their hone, that might
otherwise have escaped.
BurUm'i Anatomy of MelanehQig.
Lest Rome herself be hcMO unto herself.
And she whom mighty kingdoms court'sy to>
Like a forlorn and desperate cast away.
Bo shameful execution on herself. Shahtpeaty,
Begone, or else let me. Tis bane to draw the. same
air with thee* ^^» Jonton,
All good to me becomes
Bmno'; but in heaVn much worse would be my state.
Iflftofi.
They with epeed
Their course through thickest constellaitaons htild.
Spreading their bane. Id.
Insole^xcy must be repressed, or it will be the bane
of the Christian religion. , Booker,
Who can omit the Oracchi, who declare
The Scipios' worth, those \hunderbolts of war.
The double bane of CarAage ? Dryden.
False religion is, in its nature^ the greatest hane
and destruction to government in the worid. 'South,
For voyaging to learn the direful art.
To taint with deadly drugs the barbed dart;
Observant of the gods, and sternly just,
llus refus'd t' impart the hantfui trust Pep*.
Thus am I doubly arm'd ; my death and life.
My hane and antidote, are both before me.
This in a moment brings me to my end \
But that informs me I shall never die. AdSmon.
Thy sins are of so Inmefyd a nature, that they poison
even the blood of Cltrist unto thee.
Sopkint 9 Sertneni*
Then would'st thou steer, where fortune spreads
the sails?
Go flatter vice, for seldom flattery fails.
Soft through the ear the pleasing bane distils;
Delicious poison ! in perfumes it kills ! Broome,
O ba$ie of good, seducing cheat.
Can man, weak man, thy power defeat? Gay.
Beneath the gloomy covert of a yew.
That Uints the grass with sickly sweaU of dew ;
No verdant beauty entertains the sight.
But Aone/W hemlock, and cold aconite. Qarth.
BAN
When it is now clear beyond all dispute, that the
criminal is no longer fit to live upon the earth, but
is to be exterminated as a monster, and a hane to
human society^ the law sets a note of infamy upon
him, and puts him out of its protection. Bheketane.
So gentle life's descent.
We shut our eyes, and think it is a j^ain ;
We take faff days in winter for the spring ;
And turn ear blessings into hane. Yemag.
But quiet to quick bosoms is a hell.
And there hath been thy htme. Bgnn,
Ba»e Berkies, a name given to te suetsa
spicata, or herb Christopher.
Banewort, n. «. From bane and wort. A
plant, the same with deadly nightshade.
BANG', ».&n. Dut biengeler, to beat with
sticks, clubs, &c. Swed. &na, to strike. A
northern provincialism, to beat. To beat, or
strike, to hit hard ; to give repeated heavy blows.
Figuratively applied to speech ; thus to iBftgne-
bang, is to scola, and overpower o^rs by viru-
lent noisy abuse.
The desperate tevipest hath so bot^d the TiMb,
That their designment halts. Shakipeart,
You should accost her with jests fire-new from
the mint; you should have bat^ the youth into
dumbness. Id,
I am a bachelor.^-That's to say, they are fools that
marry ; youll bear me a bang for that. id.
With many a stiff twack, many a bnny^
Hard crab-tree and old iron rang. Atdftras^
I heard several bangt or buffets, as I thought, given
to the eagle that held the ring of my box in his beak.
Sm^*e OnlMeer.
He having got some iron out of the earth, put it
into his servant's hands to fence with, and bony one
another. Xeoftf.
Formerly I was to be bnt^ beoanse I was too
•trong, and now, because I am too weak, to resist ; I
am to be bron|^ down whca too rich, and
when too poor.
But, dear MJr. Bi^keMtaff, conviMa 'em. tbait
haish and irregular sound is BotluniBony; ••
is ba9^fuig a cvahion, oratosy, 2M«r.
BANGALOOR, or Banoai/>br, a Ibrtresb in
the peninsula of Hindostan, sev^iiy^fbfiir miles
from Seringapatam, the eapttal of 4he Mysore.
Hyder AH constructed the fort there, which Tippoo
Saib destroyed, as useless against Europeans.
Here, however, be buih a palace, and taid out
extensive gardens. It is a good place tor trade,
especially in the betel-nut, black-pepper, and
sandal wood. Woollen cloths, &c., and a kind
of strong silken stuff, are manxifectured here.
Bangaloor was annexed to the Mysore in 1797,
was taken by assault, under lord ComwaHis, and
plundered by the army.
BANGASSI, a large fortified town of Footer
doo, in Africa. Long. €*» 45' W., lat, 15*» lor N.
BANGERMOW, a considerable town of Hin-
dostan, in the province of Oude. Long. tO"
25' E., lat. 26^ 48* N.
BANGEY, a cluster of small islands m Ae
Molucca passage. Long. 124* 15' E^ lat
1° 45'.
BANGIUS (Peter), a SwediA divittB,^bom at
Helsingborg in 1633. He became ';
theology at Abo, where he continued thirtjr-two
years; and in 1683, obtained the bishopric of
of
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BAN
459
BAN
NVyborg. He died in 1696, leaving, besides
other works, an Ecclesiastical History of Swe-
den ; and a Treatise on Sacred Chronology.
Bangius (Thomas), a Danish divine, bom in
1660, he was professor of divinity, philosophy,
and Hebrew, at Copenhagen ; and distinguished
himself as an elegant Latin writer, on the origin
of languages, and other subjects. He also pub-
lished a Hebrew lexioon. He died in 1661.
BAN'GLE, V. a. To waste by litde and little ;
to squander ouelessly ; a word now used only in
conversation.
Batwitt hop« snd fear — betwixt ftiUing m, falling
out, &e. we biigb aw«y our beet dayi, befool out out
times. Bmion*$ Anatomy of Melmchokf.
If we hangU away the legacy of peace left ut by
Christ, it is a sign of our want of regard for him.
JhOyofMm,
Baj^gle Ears^ an imperfection in a horse, re-
medied in the following manner: — Place his ears
' in such a manner as you would have them stand ;
bind them with two little boards so last that they
cannot stir, and then clip away all die empty
wrinkled skin close by the head.
BANGLOR, a town in the Mysore territory,
twenty miles south-east from Bangaloor.
BANGOR, an episcopal city of Caernarvon-
shire in North Wales. In ancient times it was
so considerable, that it was called Bangor the
Great, and defended by a strong castle ; but it is
now a small place ; the principal buildings be-
ing the cathedral, the bishop's palace, and a
free school. The see is of gr^ antiquity. The
church is dedicated to St. Daniel, who was bishop
about A. D. 516; but for near 580 yearaafto^
wards, there is ho certainty of the name of his
successors. Owen Glendower greatly defaced
the cathedral church ; but bishop Dean repaired
it again. This see met with a still more avari-
cious ravager than Owen Glendower, in the per-
son of Bishop Bulkeley ; who not only alienated
many of the lands belonging to it; but even
sold, it is said, the bells of the chuirch. This
diocese contains the whole of Caernarvonshire,
except five parishes, the whole of Anglesey, and
part of the shires of Denbigh, Merioneth, and
Montgomery ; in which are 107 parishes, whereof
thirty-six are impropriated. It has three arch-
deaconries, viz. Bangor, Anglesey , and Merioneth;
of which the two first are commonly annexed to
the bishopric for its heiXxx support. The pre-
late is a suffragan to the metropolitan see of Can-
terbury. The present cathedral was built during
various parts of the sixteenth century, and com-
prises a choir, nave, transepts, two aisles, and a
quadrangular tower at the west end. The ex-r
treme length from east to west is 214 feet.
The town of Bangor is in a narrow valley
between ridges of rock. It has a fine opening
to the Menai, and consists of one well-built
street. A chain-bridge has lately been opened
over the Menai strait, which connects the main
land with Anglesey. The population in 1821
^as 3579. The new harbour was made by the
late Dr. Warren, bishop of Bangor; the en-
trance of the strait is aifiicult for ships of bur-
den, except at bigb water. Bangor has a market
on Wednesday, and three fairs, 5th April, 25th
June, and 25th October. Lat. 53'' 20'., long.
4^ lO' W. 236 miles north-west from London,
by Oswestry, and 244 by Aberconway.
Bangor, a town of Ireland, in the county of
Down, on the south shore of Carrickfeq^
Bay. Before the Union, it sent members to
parliament.
Bjlngor, Iscoed, a parish in the hundred of
May lor, Flint, eleven miles west from Whit-*
church, Salop, where formerly stood one of the
most ancient and extensive monasteries in Eng-
land, in which 1200 monks were destroyed hf
Bthelfrid. No traces of the structure remain;
but here is an elegant ancient bridge of five
arches. The meadows in the neighbocuhood are
so rich in pasture, that they have been let for
eight or nine pounds per acre, per annum.
Bangor, a township of the United States, in
Hancock county, distnct of Maine, on the west
side of the Penobscot, 280 miles north-east of
Boston.
BANGORI, a town of the peninsula of Ma-
lacca.
BANGORIAN Controverst, so called fihom
Dr. Hoadly, bishop of Bangor. It arose from a
sermon preached by him bSore his majesty king
George I. at the royal chapel, St. James's, on.
Sunday, March 31, 1717. Mr. Belshara, in his
Memoirs, vol. i.p. 174, gives the following ac-
count of this controversy. * As the foundation
of this famous discourse, the bishop chose the
declaration of Christ to Pilate : My kingdom is
not of this worid : and the direct and undis-
guised object of it was to prove that the king-
dom of Cluist, and the sanctions by which it is
supported, were of a nature wholly intellectual
and spiritual ; that (he church, taking the term in
its most unlimited signification, (Ud not, and
could not, possess the slightest degree of audiority
under any commission, or pretended commission,
derived from man; that the church of England,
and all other national churches, were merely civil
or human institutions, established for the pur-
pose of difiusing and perpetuaiting the knowledge
and belief of Christianity, which contained a
system of truths, not in ^their nature differing
from other truths, except by their superior weight
and importance, and which were to be inculcated
in a manner analogous toother truths ; demand-
ing only from their more interesting import,
propoitionably higher degrees of care, attention,
and assiduity in the promulgation of them. It
is scarcely to be imagined, in these times, widi
what degree of fiadse and malignant rancor, these
plain, simple, and rational principles were at-
tacked by the zealots and champions of the
church. See Hoadly. On the meetmg of
the convocation, a committee was appointed to
examine this fiimous publication, and a repre-
sentation was quickly drawn up, in which a most
heavy charge was piused upon it, as tending to
subvert all government and discipline in the
church of Christ ; to reduce this kingdom to a
statejof anarchy and confusion; to impugn and
impeach the royal supremacy in matters eccle-
siastical, and the autnority of the legislature to
enforce obedience in matters of religion, by se-
vere sanction. A sudden stop, however, was
put to these disgraceful proceedings, by royal
prorogation; and from tliai period the convoca-
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BAN
460
BAN
tion has never been convened, but as a matter of
mere form, and for the purpose of being again
prorogued. The controversy which then com-
menced was carried on for several years, with
great ability and animation on the part of the
bishop, aided by various excellent pens, though
opposed by men whose learning and talents
gave an artificial lustre to bigotry and absurdity.
No controversy, however, upon the whole, ever
more fully and completely answered the purpose
intended by it. The obscurity in which this
subject had been long involved, was dissipated;
the public mind was enlightened and convmced ;
church authority, the chimera vomiting flames,
was destroyed ; and the name of Hoadly will
be transmitted from generation to generation, with
increase of honor, of esteem, and grateful vene-
ration.'
BANGUE, a species of opiate, much used
throughout the east, for drowning cares and in-
spiring ioy. By the Persians it is called beng ;
by the Arabs, esscar, corruptly asseral, and as-
fiarth; by the Turks, bengitie, and vulgarly mas-
tack ; by European natundists, bangue or bange.
It is the leaf or a kind of wild hemp, growing in
the countries of the Levant, and differs little,
either as to the leaf or seed, from our. hemp, ex-
cept in size. Some have mistaken it for a spe-
cies of Althea. There are various manners of
preparing it; Olearius describes the method
used in Persia. Mr. Sale tells us, that, among
the Arabs, the leaf is made into pills or con-
serves. But the most distinct account is given
bj Alexander Maurocordato, counsellor and phy-
sician of the Ottoman Porte, in a letter to vVe-
delius. According to this author, bangue is made
of the leaves of wild hemp, dried in the shade,
then ground to powder ; put into a pot wherein
butter has been kept ; set in an oven till it be^ns
to torrify ; then taken out and pulverised again ;
thus to be used occasionally, as much at a time
as will lie pn the point of a knife. Such is the
Turkish bangue. Bangue in reality, is a succe-
daneum to wine, and is therefore much used in
tliose countries where Mahommedanism is esta-
blished.
BANGUEY, an island in the eastern seas,
lying off the north coast of Borneo, and separated
by a channel, three miles wide, from the island
or Balambangan. It is about twenty-three miles
in length, by eleven in breadth, and its shores
are frequented by abundance of turtle. Long.
lir'25'E., lat. ns'N.
BANIAK, an island in the eastern seas, off the
west coast of Sumatra, opposite to the mouth of
the Sinkell. It is one of a cluster, and b about
seventeen miles in length, by seven in average
breadth. It is known l«y a peaked hill, resembling
a sugar-loaf. Sea slug, or biche-de-mar is ol:^
tained here. The inHabitants are of the Maruwi
race, but speak a language peculiar to them-
selves. Long. 96** 48' E., lat. 2** IC N.
BANIALUCH, or Bakjaluka, a city of
European Turkey, the capital of Bosnia, upon
the frontier of Cioatia, on the rivgr Verbas.
The houses, which amount to 3000, ta^ meanly
built, and the suburbs are chiefly inhabited by
Gred^ Long. 18* 20* E., lat. 44<» 20* N.
BANIAN Days, in marine languaffe, a term
among sailors, for those days in which they have
no flesh meat It seems to be derived from the
practice of the people mentioned in the next
article.
Bakiaws is sometimes taken as a name for a
religious sect ih the empire of the Mogul, and
sometimes extended to all the idolaters of India,
as contradistinguished from the Mahommedans :
in which sense. Banians include the Brahmins
and other castes. At other times it is restrained
to a peculiar caste or tribe of Indians, whose
office or profession is trade and merchandise;
in which sense Banians, signifying bankers,
stand contradistinguished firdm Brahmins, Cut-
tery, and Wyse, the three other castes into which
the Indians are divided. The four castes are ab-
solutely separate as to occupation, relation, mai^
riage, &c. though all of the same religion ; whidi
is more properly denominated the religion of the
Brahmins, who make the ecclesiastical tribe, than
of the Banians, who make the mercantile. The
proper Banians are called, in the Shaster, or
Dook of their law, by the name of Shuddery;
under which are comprehended all who live
after the manner of merchants, or that deal and
transact for others, as brokers ; exclusive of the
mechanics or artificers, who make another caste.
These Banian^ have no peculiar sect or religion,
unless it be, that two of the eight general pre-
cepts given by their legislator, Bremaw^ to the
Indian nation, are, on account of the piofieasion
of the Banians, supposed more immediately to
relate to them, viz. those which enjoin veracity in
their words and dealings, and avoiding all prac-
tices of circumvention in buying and selling.
Some of the Banians, quitting their profession,
and retiring from the' world, commence religious,
assume a peculiar habit, ahd devote themselves
more immediately to God, under the denomina-
tion of Vertea. These, though they do not
hereby change their caste, are conunonly reckoned
as Brahmins of a more devout kind ; as monks in
the Romish church, though frequently not in
orders, are reputed as a more sacred order than
the regular clergy. Gemelli Carreri divides the
Banians into twenty-two tribes, all distinct, and
not allowed to marry with each other. Lord
assures us they are divided into eighty-two castes
or tribes, correspondent to the castes or divisions
of the Brahmins or priests, under whose discipline
they are, as to religious matters, though the
generality of the Banians choose to be under the
direction of the two Brahmin tribes, the Vimlna-
granaugers and Vulnagranaugers. The Banians
are represented as great f/ucton, by whom most
of the trade of India is managed ; in this respect
equal to the Jews and Armenians, and not be-
hind either, in point of skill and experience, in
whatever relates to commerce. Nothing is
bought but by their mediation. They seem to
claim a kind of jusdivinum to the administration
of the traffic of the nation, grounded on their
sacred books, as the Brahmins do to that of reli-
gion. They are dispersed, for this purpose,
through all parts of Asia, and abound in Persia,
particularly at Ispahan and Gombroon, where
many of them are extr«nely rich, yet never
above acting as brokers. But it has been justly
said by a late writer, that the name Banian was
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BAN
originally given by Europeans to almost all
Hindoos; and that generally what we read of
their peculiar tenets, their abhorrence for meat,
&c. is, in lact, the practise of all conscientious
Hindoos. «
Banian Tree. See jFicus.
BANICA, a town in the island of Hispaniola,
forty miles south-east of Cape Fran9ois. Also
the name of a small river in tae same island.
BANJAR Massin, or Bagnar Messin, a
town and district of Borneo, on a river of the
same name, which falls into the sea near the
southern extremity of the island. The district
produces diamonds, gold dust, iron, canes, and
Sepper, the last of which is its staple commo-
ity. Gold is obtained here in bars, and the
I country is celebrated for the quality of its steel.
The imports are slaves, birds' nests, nutmegs, and
I tortoise shells, which are all re-exported from
t Borneo. The rajah, or sovereign, formerly re-
sided at a place called Cagu-Tangie, or Uota-
[ Tengah, but he directed a city to be built at
Martapura, whither he transferred his abode in
1 771 , changing the name of Martapura to Bunire
i Kintjana. His power is considerable. A Dutch
t commercial establishment on the banks of the
I river, at the end of the village of Baniar Massin,
( called Tatas, consists of an octagonal fort, sur-
TOi^nded by palisades, with bastions towards the
I river side ; it was built in 1709. They had, by a
I previous treaty in 1648, compelled the king to
relinquish for their benefit the whole pepper
, trade. The king has, in return, been protected
, by the Dutch from the unsettled predatory tribes
, in his neighbourhood. In the beginning of the
I seventeenth centurv, an establishment was at-
, tempted here by the English East India Com-
, pany, but the settlers were resolved to abandon
\ the place. During the late war, however, the
, Dutch fort was occupied by the British. The
town of Banjar Massin formerly stood eighteen
miles up the river, but has been transferred six
miles lo^er down. It consists of about 300
houses. Long. 114^ 55' E., lat 3" S.
I BANIASS, or Panaas, anciently Cssarea
Philippi, a village of Syria, near the source of a
river, which has been commonly supposed to be
the Jordan. This stream rises near a remarkable
.gro^^o in a rock, on the declivity of which are
seen some ancient Greek inscriptions to Pan and
the nymphs of the fountain. The vestiges of a
flourishing ciw are still to be seen ; but there are
no remains of'^tbe temple which Herod the Great
erected .in honor of Augustus. The fort of
Baniass, built in the time of the caliphs, stands
on the summit of a lofty mountain. Around is
an agreeable country, but pantliers, bears, wolves,
and hysnas, are numerous. There as also great
abundance of game. Distant two leagues west
of the lake Phiala, or Birkel-«1-Ram.
BANIER (Anthony), licentiate in Uiws, mem>
ber of the academy of inscriptions and belles
lettres, and ecclesiastic of the diocese of Cler-
mont, in Auvergne ; died in November 1741,
aged 69. He is principally celebrated for his
translation of the Metamorphoses of Ovid, with
remarks and explanations, which was published
in 1 739, at Amsterdam, in folio, ornamented with
coppei-plates, by Picart; and reprinted at Paris,
^738, in 2 vols. 4to; and for his Mythology
explained by History, a work full of the most
important information, and printed at London in
1741, in 4 vols. 8vo.
BANILLIA, in the materia medica, a name
used by some for the vanillia, or vanilloes, used
in making the scented chocolate.
BANISERLIE, the capital of Dentila, in
western A&ica. It is a Manommedan town.
BANISH, ^ See Ban. Sax. /orfr^rjierf,
Banish'er, fa banished nan. In Fr^ ban-
Banish'iient, 1 fu'r, Germ, bannen^ to put out
Ban'nition. 3 of a community l^ a nan or
civil interdict, which was formerly either eccle-
siastical or civil. BanUhmetUf cxt/e, and eipul-
tion, all include the idea of exclusion or coercive
removal, but in other respects they differ. Bo-
nUhmeni follows from a aecree of justice ; esile,
either by the necessity of circumstances or an
order of authority ; banUhmeni is a disgraceful
punishment inflicted by tribunals upon delii>-
quents ; esUe is a disgrace incurred without dis-
honor; exi/e removes us from our country;
banishment drives us from it ignominiously.
Banishment and espulnon^ both mark a disgrace-
ful and coercive exclusion. But banishment is
authoritative, the public act of government;
expidmn is the act of a private individual, or a
smalt community. Bamshment always supposes
a removal to a distant spot, to another land ; es-^
pulsion never reaches beyond a particular house
or society. Banishment and expulsion are like-
wise used in a figurative sense, although exile is
not : in this sense btmishmeni marks a distant and
entire removal ; expulsion a violent removal ; we
banish that which it is not prudent to retain ; we
expel that which is noxious. Hopes are banished
from the mind when every prospect of success
has disappeared ; fears are vanished when they
are altogether groundless; envy, hatred, and
every evil passion should be expelled from the
mind as disturbers of its peace ; harmony and
good-humor are best promoted by banishing finom
conversation all subjects of difference in rdigion
and politics ; good morals reouire that every un-
seemly vrord should be expelled.
This is thy mortal fof*, this is Arcite»
That fro thy lond is baniihed on his hed.
For which he hath deserved to be ded.
Chaucer.
Plato made it a great sigae of an intemperate and •
corrupt commonwealth, where lawyers and physicians
did ahoimd ; and the Komans distasted them so much
that they were baaMied out of their city, as Pliny and
Celsus relate, and for 600 years not admitted.
Burton** Anatomy of Mdameholjf,
Oh, £are thee well I
Those evils thou repeat'st upon thyself
Have hanish'd me from Scotland. SkaJupeare.
Marius then fetching a deep sigh from his heart,
gave him this answer, ' Thou shalt tell Sextilins, that
thou hast seen Cains Marius, hamtkoi out of his coun-
try, sitting amongst the ruins of the dty of Carthage.'
North, Phttarch.
They refused to do it (take the oaths), and wen
upon Utat condemned to perpetual hamthment, as men
that denied allegiance to Uie king, and by this an
engine was found out to battisk as many as they
pleased. Biihep Burnet's Own Tttnet,
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BANK.
As I hxve your express orders not to restore any
person who has been sentenced to banithmem, either
by myself or others ; so ' I have no directions wilh
respect to those, who having been bamthtd by sone
of my predecessors in this government, have by them
also been restored. MeUnatk't PUngf
Every professor do continue in his office during
life, unless in case of such misbehaviour as shall
amount to barmition by the university statutes.
* Blachttone** dmunetUariei.
Thus I alone, where all my freedom grew.
In prison pine, with bondage and restraint ;
And, with remembrance of the greater grief.
To bamiih the less, I find iby chief eeiiof.
Earl of Suarvy.
Then came the autumne, all in yellow elad.
As thoi^;h he joyed in his plentious store.
Laden with fruits that made him laugh, full glad
That he had btuusht hunger, which to fore
Had by the belly oft him pinched sore ;
Upon his head a wreath that was enrol'd
With ears of come of every sort he bore.
And in his hand a sicl^e he did holde.
To reap the ripen'd fruit the which the earth had yold.
8pemer*s Faerie Queene.
If sweet content is banith'd from my soul.
Life grows a burthen and a weight of woe.
Joy to that happy pair.
Whose hopes united baniA our despair.
it(Kneu»
JBonuA business, bamih sorrow.
To the gods belongs to-morrow. Cowley,
It is for wicked men only to dread God, and to en-
deavour to baeSA the thoughts of him out of their
jnittds. TiUoUmi,
Successless all her soft caresses prove.
To banUh from his breast his country's love.
Pope,
BANISTER (John), a physician and surgeon
in the reign of queen Elizabeth, was educateid at
Oxford, where, says Anthony Wood, he studied
logic for a time ; but afterwards applied himself
solely to physic and surgery. In 1573 he took
the degree of M. B. and, obtaining a licence from
the university to practise, settled at Nottingham,
where he lived many years in great repute, and
wrote several medical treatises. His works were
collected and published in 1633, 4to.
Banister, me same with Baluster.
BANISTERIA, in botany, a genus of the
trigynia order, and decandria class of plants,
ranking in the natural method under the twenty-
third order, trihilatae. The calyx is quinque-
partite, with nectarious pores on the outside of
the base ; the petals are roundish and ungulaled ;
ait seeds are three, widi membranaceous wings.
There are seven species, all natives of warm
<»untries, but possessing no remarkable pro-
perties. An American and West Indian genus,
containing twenty-four species, has been figured
and described in Cavanilles, ' Monadelphise
classis dissertationes decem.'
BANK.
BANK', V. k n. Junius derives this word
from the Dutch banckcy which signifies to beat,
to strike, as the waves perpetually strike against
the shores of the sea, and the current of the river
presses against its sides. Skinner is content, as is
Johnson, with the Ang.-Sax. banc, tumulus.
Wachter has banc, a hill, mound, heap, and any
eminence, or rising place. It is transferred, he
adds, to all eminent or rising places for sitting
or lying, as banks of oars were not on the same
level in ancient ships, but seats raised above one
another. It may thus be applied to any thing
raised to confine a current of water; to any
mound or elevation designed as a barrier to pro-
tect or defend from the incursions of warriors ;
or to facilitate the subjugation of forts and cities ;
and to the raised table or counter of merchants,
traders, or money-changers. To bank is to con-
fine or surround with banks; to throw up em-
bankments. On the authority of Steevens, the
commentator on Shakspeare, it has been suggests
ed, that to bank may mean to sail along the
banks.
They besieged him in Abel of Bethmaachah, and
they cast up a bank against the city ', and it stood in
the trench. Samuel.
When it was day they knewe not the lande, but
they spyed a certayne hauen with a banke, into which
they wers minded (if it were possible) to thrust in
th|B ship. Bible, 1651.
Have I not heard these islanders shout out
* Vive ie roy,' as I have battli^d their towns T
Shakspeaire,
Have you not made an universal shout.
That Tyber trembled underneath his bank? U,
Richmond, in Devonshire, sent out a boat
Unto the shore, to ask those on the banke.
If they were his assistanU. /d.
How sweet the moon-light sleeps upon this &adb/
Here will we sit, and let the sounds of musick
Creep in our ears ; soft stillness, and the nighty
Become the touches of sweet harmony. id.
That strain again, it had a dying fall ;
O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet south
That breathes upon a batUk of violets ;
Stealing and giving odour. Id.
Plac'd on their banke the lusty Trojans sweep
Neptune's smooth face, and cleave the yielding deep.
Waller.
Mean time the king with gifts a vessel stores.
Supplies the baitke with twenty chosen oan.
That banke of oars were not in the same plane, but
raised above one another, is evident from descriptions
•f ancient ships. AHieikmee.
A brook whose stream so great, so good.
Was ^ov'd, was honour'd as a flood ;
Whose banke the Muses dwelt upon. Craeham.
Tis happy when our streams of knowledge flow
To fill their banke, but not to overthzow. "^
O early lost! what tears the river shed.
When the -sad pomp along his hanke was led !
Pepe.
Amid the clifls
And burning sands, that tedl the shnbby vales.
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My haMki they dMfoMiished witfa beet,
WhoM muiWor inWies one t» iksep.
My grottos mxt shaded wkh tnes.
And my halb ave wfalbe «ver with theep.
I leldom have met with a kiae.
Such health do my foontaina bestow.
My fountains all boidered with moss.
Where the hare-bells and violets grow.
An intercoarse of commerce and langoage was gra-
dually established between the opposite hank$ of the
Danube, and affcer Dacia became an independent
atate^ it often proved the firmest barrier of the empire
against the invasions of the savages of the north.
Gibbom.
On every hank, and nnder every shade,
A thousand youths, a diousand damsels play'd ;
Some waatottly were tripping in a ring.
On the soft border of a gnshhtg spring.
Sir WiUkmJimea,
la it owing to Christianicy, or tb the want of it, that
tke bamht of the Nile, whose constantly renewed fer-
tility is not to bo impaiMd by neglect, or destroyed
by the ravages of war, serve only fcrthe scene of a
ferocious anarchy, or fivrthe supply -of unceasing hos^
tilities ? Arfey.
Bank', v. A; n. *1 ^ commercial
Bamk'ee, / application of the
Bame'rupt, t;., n, s^ & at^. > former word. In
Ban&'rvptcv, ithis sense, bank
Bavk'erout, v. & h, J is a receptacle for
money, and to bank is to deposit money in such
receptacle. Bankrupt is of more general appli-
cation, extending to persons who are dealers in
any commodity, or who cany on any trade or
business, it is derived from ttie Fr. httnqwrcute^
or the ital. haneoroUo. It signifies one whose
bench or table has been broken ; that is, whose
debts exceed his means of payment. The Bank"
rupt laws accurately define this species of ofibnce
or misfortune.
But natheless I toke unto oat dame.
Your wif at home, the same gold again
Upon your bmehe, she wote it wel certain.
By oertain tokenee that I ean hire tell. Cktmeer.
He hadde openly preached in the temple, he had
overthrown the baitker^8 tables, and drieven oute of the
temple too. 8k Thomas Mart's Works,
Periutt gathered together a power, neither in num-
ber nor in hardiness contemptible ; but in their for-
tunes, to be feared, being kmkrupU, and many of
them felons. Baoon.
Wherefore do you look
Uoon that poor and biokea flunik'n^ theft f
Skaktpmra. Am 90H Uko U.
Ross. The earl of Wiltshiio hath the realm in
^ farm.
WILLOD6HBY. The king's grown bat»krupt,.lik» a
broken man. Id, lUchard II,
Dainty bits
Make rich the ribs, but bankerout the wits. * Id.
Unless we had rather think both moral and judi-
cial, full of malice and deadly purpose, conspired to
let the debtor Israelite, the seed of Abraham, run on
upon a bankrmet score, flattered with insufficient and
ensnaring dischavges.
JfJUofi. DootriHB, 8fe. of Dworee.
This dopie, be pens a prodamatien stout.
In rescae of the bamkar^s bastkoroui, MarveB.
The money of widows and orphans employed.
And iha.bmkors quite broke. Id-
GoNZ. There's the quintessence.
The soul and grand elixir of my wit.
For he (according to his noble nature)
Will not be known to want, though he do want.
And will be hamknpiad so much the sooner.
And make the soblobt of our scorn and laughter.
Beaunoat smd Fletckar.
By powerful channs of gold and silver led.
The Lombard banktrs, and the 'change to waste.
Vrjt/dm.
Whole droves of lenders crowd the banker*s doom.
To call in money. Id,
In vain at court the bankmpt pleads his oanse.
His thankless country leaves him to her lasrs.
Ptpa*
Or at some baatker's desk, liae many more.
Content to tell that two and two make four.
His name had stood in city annals fair.
And prudent dullness mark'd him for a may'r.
Ckurcka,
Here is again discovered the inhabitant of Cheap-
side, whose head cannot keep his poetry unmingled
with trade. To hinder that intellectual bankn^fftcjf,
whseh he affects to fear, he will erect a bank for wit.
Joknsom's Lifs of BUsckmora,
By an aet of insolvency all pexaons who are in too
low a way of dealing to bo bankrupts, or not in a mer-
cantile state of life, are discharged from all suits and
imprisonments, by delivering up all their estate and
effects. Blackstom,
That banknqHcjf, the very apprehension of which
is one of the causes assigned for the &11 of the mo-
narchy, was the capital on which the French republic
opened her traffic with the world. Bwke.
. Had every particular banking company always un-
derstood, and attended to its own particular interest,
the circulation never could have been overstocked
with paper money. amith't Wealth of Nations,
^1. BANK, Bankers, Banking. The term
bank has two distinct significations; one in refer-
ence to commerce, implying a place of deposit or
store-house; the other relating to geography and
rural economy, implying an elevation of the earth,
either natural or artificial ; and either below or
above the surfitce of the water, in rivers as well
as in the ocean. It is further a technical term
in law; the judges of the supreme court of law,
when sitting in judgment collectively, are said to
sit in bank, barque, or banco. See Jurispru-
dence. It is also a military term, denoting
an elevation of earth within the parapet of a for-
tification, generally between two and three feet
high, or more, according to the height of the
parapet; being about four feet and a half lower
than the top of the parapet, three feet broad,
ascended at intervals by steps, by which the gar-
rison get up to fire on, or to observe the proceed-
ings of, the besiegers.
, 2. We will now proceed in tiie endeavour to
illustrate the term bank, in conjunction with
bankers and bankyig, as referable to commerce, by
showing, 1st, the probable origin or derivation of
the term; 2nd, the origin or rise, and nature of
hanking institutions ; 3rd, their progress, practice,
and present state, throughout the commercial
world; and 4th, their influence and effect on the
social and moral rehttions, and condition of
mankind.
3. Bank, in its present application as a com-
mercial term, appears to have had its origin in
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BANK.
Italy, where, in the in&ncy of Euiopeaik oora-
merce, the Jews were wont to assemole in the
market-places of the principal cities and towns,
seated on benches, ready to lend money ; first on
the reputation and written bond or acknowledg-
ment, singly or jointly, of borrowers; but (as
will be more fully shown hereafter), as' there is in
the lending and borrowing of money an immuta-
ble tendency to demoralise and derange society,
confidence and reputation soon became mere bye-
words; and, instead of bonds and written obliga-
tions, money was only lent upon the security of
commodity or produce, by which localised
places of deposit or storing became necessary;
and hence, banking, in its origin, bore an ana-
logy to our present system of pawubroking;
while the term bank is supposed to ha^e been
derived from the benches and tables in the nuir-
ket-places, at which the money-lenders used to
transact their business; tlie Italian word banco,
signifying a bench, derived probably from the
Greek word rpaircCa, signifying both a bench
and a table, as does aUo the Spanish word
banco; in reference to which the money-lenders
obtained the name of benchers or bankers; the
Jews of Lombardy being among the first people
!n Western Europe who carried into practice the
principle of lenaing money on the security of
commodity ; their repositories partially obtained
the name of Lombara-houses.
4. The Lombards were a Scandinavian tribe,
who first figure in history about the year 378 ; but
it was not till 568 that they established themselves
in Italy; at which period they made Pavia the
capital of their kingdom. It must have been,
therefore, subsequent to this period that bank-
ing institutions assumed any tning like a perma-
nent character. Lending and borrowing, how-
ever, appear to have prevailed an all ages, or \oiag
before the intervention of money, to facilitate the
interchanj^ of commodities; and in all ages, as in
the present day, appears to have been productive
of extortion and social derangement: see the
Mosaic code, Exodus, ch. xxii. v. 14 and 22,
and Deuteronomy, ch. xxiv, v. 6 and 10, and by
the narrative of St Matthew, ch. xxi, v. 12, it
will be seen that tables in the market or public
places were in use in his day, for the accommoda-
tion of money-lenders.
5. The restless disposition of the Lombards
tended to excite a spirit of activity and enterprise
througliout all the Italian states; by which the
people of those countries became the merchants
or distributors of the products of Asia over all
the western and northern parts of Europe. It
was towards the close of the seventh century, after
the Mahommedans had obtained possession of
Egypt, that the chief depdt of the products of
the east was transferred from Alexandria to Con-
stantinople, and afterwards to Venice, that com-
merce began to resolve itself into a more regu-
lar system than had ever before been practised, and
a methodical and demonstrative oraer of keeping
accounts was devised and adopted. See Book-
keeping. This, in the progress of time, elicited
rew ideas on the economy of payment; and
uitout the middle of the twelftn century the
blink of Venice, so long celebrated throughout
tlie commercial world^ and which may be r^;ard-
ed as the foundation of the piesent system of
banking, was established; and nad the operations
of the bank of Venice been confined to the legi-
timate object of facilitating commercial inter*
change, its socialising capabilities would hare
rendered it worthy of the celebrity it so long
enjoyed; but, whilst the principles of its eco-
nomy are entitled to the highest admiration,
it seems to have been established in tyranny,
with a view to political aggrandisement, and
throughout the whole course (m its career to hare
been perverted to the worst of purposes.
6. It was tlie desolating system of the cru-
sades, and not the socialising principle of facili-
tating commercial interchange, which gave rise to
the bank of Venice. The first cmsade embaiked
from the shores of the Adriatic, under the auspi-
ces of Pope Urban the Second, in 1095; and
from the ascendancy and infiuence which the
Venetians, by theic extensive commercial inter-
course, had then acquired over every part of -
Western Asia and Europe, they became the
principal agents of the crusaders, as well for the
wealthy individuals who embarked in those chi-
valrous exploits as for the several governments
to which they respectively belonged. The fruits
of extortion, so likely to result from such a sys-
tem, excited the cupidiw and avarice of the
Venetian senate, whicn led, in 1176, aome say in
1157, to the establishment of the bank, under
the authority and pretended guarantee of the
state, the crusading agency previously having
rested exclusively with individuals.
7. The original subscription fund of the bank of
Venice was 2,000,000 Venetiaa dncats, equal to
£433,333 ; but, by a solemn edict of the senate^
the whole trading community of the lepuhhe
were oompelled to deposit their money m As
bank, with which a credit was opened equal to the
deposit made, which could only be nade avail-
able for transfer, so that not only the subscribed
capital but also the aggregate amount of the <lep<>-
sits resolved themselves into a national debt, 'nie
whole amount of the intrinsic money, subscribed
and deposited, having* been applied by the 8e>
nate towards aiding the views of the crusaders,
and other external purposes, an ideal capital,
or mere denomination of amount was thus
created to adjust the operations of commeicial
interchange.
8. Whether the transfers at the bank in die
early period of its establishment required jp«f-
sonal attendance, as is the case in transferring
the national debtrstock at the bank of England
in the present day; or whether effected, on
written orders corresponding to the checks in the
present English practice of banking ; does net
appear : but, be tnat as it might, derangements
in the social economy of the state soon ensued;
the agio or difierence between the current money,
and transferable amount at the bank, attained
the rate of thirty per cent.^ Yet such was die
insidious and illusive nature' of the bank system,
that the bank increased in popularity in propor-
tion to the extent of the derangement which
ensued ; die inconvenience frequently occasioned
in the minor transactions of comment as well
as on occasions of citizens or strangers requiring
money to defray the expenses of foreign iounevs^
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466
iied ill iUe cotjne of time to the bank paying out
money. Yet such was t))e influx of money,
which the crasading annaments brought from all
pans of western Europe, that after the system
of making payments in money was practised,
liie deposits always exceeded the demands*
9. At a later period, when the Venetians them-
selves turned crusaders against the Turks, the
subscription-fund of the bank was increased to
5,000,000 of ducats; the whole of which was
made use of by the senate, to aid them in their
operations of warfare ; and, as previously ftated^
throughout the whole period of its career, it was
made an instrument ol aggression in aid of poli-
lical aggrandisement: yet such was the fortuity
of circumstances, and, for several centuries having
no rivalry, its integrity does not appear ever to
have been questioned ; the derangements occa-
sioned by the fluctuation of the agio led ulti-
mately to an edict of the senate, fixing it at
twenty per cent., at which rate it continued up
to the period of the extinction of the republic in
t797, see Venice.
10. In the fourteenth oentuiy the Genoese
began to rival the Venetians in their commerce,
and in 1345 a bank was established at Genoa;
but the more &vorable local position of Venice
retained for it an undiminished political impor-
tance, and although the Genoese were very
successful in their commercial career, their bank,
relatively to that of Venice, was an insignificant
establishment ; it ne? ertheless was enabled, in the
fifteenth century, to advance considerable sums
to Spain, and other governments; but in 1751 it
was deemed insolvent to a very considerable
amount, and in 1 798 the establishment was finally
dissolved and broken up by Buonaparte.
1 1. No further progress appears to have been
made in the fonmilion of banking institutions,
until after the discovexv by the Portuguese, in
1 497, of the passage to Asia by the Cape of Good
liope; and even then, more than, a century
elapsed before another bank was established.
It was at the commencement of the seventeenth
century, when Amsterdam had become the chief
mart of European commerce, that a bank was
established in that city in 1609 ; and, as the cir-
cumstances which led to, and the conduct which
dictated, the fbrmatioo of this bank, «)pear to
have been purely commercial and social, void of
all speculative and politioBl influence, and its
economy essentially different from either those
of Venice or London, it merits the most ample
elucidation of the details of its system on our
part, and the utmost attention on the part of the
enquiring reader.
12. Banking, in its economy, resolves itself
into thiree distinct orders of practice, viz. 1. of
deposit, transfer, and agency; 2. of discount,
simply ; and, 3. of discount and circulation : a
banking establishment may, therefore, be formed
for carrying on either any one of these orders of
practice separately, or two, or all collectively ;
and either, and all of them are liable to be made
instruments of oppression by partial application,
or by perversion to impolitic and bad purposes :
a more ample elucidation of the details of each
order of practice will appear hereafter (see
section 14.), the analysis being exhibited in this
Vol. 111.
place, that the distinctive character of the bank
of Amsterdam may be the better understood.
13. The circumstances which gave rise to the
establishing of the bank of Amsterdam, were the
great variety of clipped and debased coins which
its extensive commerce, at the close of the six-
teenth and commencement of the seventeenth
century, brought into that city. The constant
variations of value of these coins occasioned con-
tinual disputes and inconveniences in the adjust-
ment of payments, more especially so in the
payment of foreign bills of exchange ; to obviate
these disputes and inconveniences, it was, that
the bank was established in 1607, on the legiti-
mate and social principle of deposit, transfer, and
agency ; the security of the deposits being gua-
ranteed by the corporation of tne city, by whom
its managers were appointed, and who thereby
constituted themselves the agents of the establish-
ment; the expenses of which, and its n^nage-
ment, being defrayed by fees on opening of
accounts, transfers, &c. This system or practice
of banking, it will be seen, requires no sub-
scribed or fixed capital.
14. The bank or Amsterdam received coins of
all descriptions at a fixed value, according to
their weignt and fineness, deducting an amount
equal to the expense of coinage into the standard
coin of Hollana ; not tliat the various coins so
paid in should be converted into standard coins,
out that a credit should be placed on the bank
books to such an amount, aAer the seignorage
and fees had been deducted; the amount so
credited then constituted bank-money. It was
in the next place enacted, that all payments of.
600 guilders, s= to £52. lOs., in amount, and
upwards, whether on internal or foreign account,
should be made in bank money ; and as these
regulations immediately occasioned an agio or
diierence of value between baok-money and
currint mon^, it as immediately became com-,
pulsoiy on the part of every man of business
either to open an account at the bank, or to sub-
ject himself to the caprice of a fluctuating agio,
to enable him to make his payment through the
medium of those who had an account.
15. The distinction between the practice of
the banlfr of Amsterdam and the bank of Venice,
is this, viz. That the bank of Venice appropriated
its subscribed capital, as well as part of its de-
posits, to extemsl purposes, and created an ideal-
sum by means of transfers to a corresponding
amount, whereby to adjust the internal payments
of the public ; whibt the bank of Amsterdam
retains its deposits within the walls of its own
establishment ; and when we come to treat of the
practice of the bank of England, that will be
found to present additional features of practice
deserving the utmost possible attention, as well
in reference to a comparison with the practice of
the banks of Venice and of Amsterdam, as for the
influence and effects of its own operations upon
the general interests of the country at large.
16. In addition to the transactions of the bank
of Amsterdam, as detailed in sect. 14, the bank
also gives credit on its books upon deposits of
gold and silver bullion, at the rate of five per
cent, below the mint price of the bullion. In
making these deposits, which are made more for
2 H
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BANK.
safe keeping, and the riew of reserving them fer
articles of merchandise, than for convei^sion
into coin, the bank grants a recipice, receipt, or
warrant, entitling the holder to take out the bul-
lion again at any time within six months, upon
- transferring to the bank an amount of bank mo-
ney equal to that for which credit had been
given in its books when the deposit was made,
and upon paying one-fourth per cent, for the
keeping, if the deposit was in silver, and one-
half per cent, if it was in gold ; llie recipice ex-
pressing, (hat in default oi soch payment, upon
the expiration of the term of six months, the be-
i^fit of the recipice becomes forfeited to the
bank, while the amount credited against the de-
posit resolves into bank-money ; leaving a profit
to the bank proportionate to the difference be-
tween five per cent, below the mint price, and tiie
value of the bullion in the market.
17. This species of deposits are, in the first
instance, more generally made when the mercan-
tile price of bullion is so far below the mint
price as to become an article of speculation, and
the profits to the bank upon this branch of its
business are considerable, by the forfeiture of
some of the Tecipioes ; but more particulariy so
from the fi«quent renewals. The creditors of the
bank, in bank-money, and the holders of reci-
pices, are vegafded by the bank as two distinct
classes of creditors : hence the creditor in bank-
money, having no recipice, cannot draw out bnl- ,
lion without first going to market to buy aTeoipice,
nor can the holder of a recipice draw out his
bullion, in the event of his 'having sold the bank-
money assigned to him on making the deposit,
without first going into the market lo repuvchase
bank money, and reassigning lihe same to theibank.
18. in a city of extensive and complicated
commercial interchange, like Amsterdam, these
regulations of the bank necessarily occasion 'coiv-
tinued demandsfor both bank-money and bullion,
and gave rise to a system of jobbing and trick,
precueiy similar to the jobbing and tricking in
time bargains upon the stock exchange in
London ; and at one period the agio was wont
to fluctuate from eight to ten per cent. To keep it
within certain bounds, however, the bank of
Amsterdam resolved at all times to grant 100 of
bank for 105 of current money ; or rather to sell
bank-monev at an agio of 5 per cent. In conse-
quence of this resolution, the sigio was prevented
ever exceeding that rate; and the fiuctootion now
seldom exceeds 9| per cent, between \\ and 4.
10. In addition to the seignoiage dedncted on
first opening an account with the bank in monev,
see sect. 14, a fee of ten guilders, = to 17s. 6a.,
is also charged; and for every renewed account,
3 guilders 3 stivers; for every transfer, 5 sa-
vers, = 3d. j^ of a penny, and in order to dis-
courage a multiplicity of small transactions, if
the transfer is tor less than 300 guilders, the
charge is six stivers; for neglecting to balance ac-
counts regularly twice a-year, a fine of twenty-
five guilders is exacted; and in case of attempting
to overdraw an account a fine of 3 per cent, on
the sum so attempted to be overdrawn is also
levied, in addition to setting aside the order.
These several fees, fines, and deductions for
seignorage, together with the profits which occa-
sionally arise by the sale of bank-nx)ney, to
maintain an equilibrium in the agio, and the for-
feiture of bullion recipices, produce a considera-
ble revenue to the city, over and above what
suffices to defray the expenses of the establish-
ment. Public utility, however, and not revenue,
was the original, and up to this time, has continued
the ruling object of Hie establishment, and the re-
venue derived fit>m it is the natural result of its
invariable rule of practice, nhich, whether the
best that can be devised or t ot, its certainty aod
impartiality has obtuned for it the sanction and
<sonfidence of all who have been concerned in it.
20. How fiff the system or practice of the
bank of Amsterdam^ approximate to perfection
or utility will more fully apjsear as we proceed
to illnstmte the various prao^es of banking in
England, and in other jMtfts of the world. The
direction of the bank of Amsterdam is vested in
four reigning burgo-^nasters (aldermen), who are
changed every year. Each new set of burgo-
masten, on induction to liheir chso^, are con-
ducted to the bank, inspect the deposits, com-
pase them with the books, and acknowledge the
same upon oath, delivering it over at the end
of the ^ear widi the same formal solemnity to the
set which succeeds ; and highly to the credit of
the corporate body of the city of Amsterdam,
both in its oollective, and in its individual capa-
city, in reference to the direction of the bank,
not only has no mahremition been proved, bat
DO imputation ever brought against them ; nor
have the politiod convnlsions, by widefa Holland
has at times been surrounded, and in which it
has been mvolved, ever induced the bank to
•wepve from the strict rale of its eetablished regu-
kuions ; and such has ever been llie confidence
in the integrity of its Erector, that it has at
times been the depositary of the money treasure
of the opulent individuals of surrounding states.
21. Of ihe extent of the deposits of ihe bonk
of Amsterdam at different periods, the informa-
tion k very imperfect ; it may, at times, probably,
have amounted to a sum equal to fire, six, or
seven millions sterling, and probably more, hot
on an average they probably have not, at past
periods, nor do not at the present time, exceed
three to four millions, or from forty to fifty
millions of guilders.
22. As commerce extended itself over the
north of Europe, banking institutions were es-
tablished in diflerent pavts of Oermany^ but there
were none that obtained any great celebrity,
except those of Hamburgh and Nnremburg.
That of Hamburgh was established in 1619, on
principles, and for objects, not vseiy dissimilar
to those of Amsterdam, viz. those of deposit,
transfer-agency and public utility. Instead of
coin the deposits are made in silver bullion of a
given fineness, ^against wbich credits are opened,
either for transfer, or for withdrawing die bulboa
at pleasure, subject only to a trifling charge for
deposit, or safe-keeping. The general practice
of the bank of Hamburg is less formal, and more
simple, than that of Amsterdam ; and has been
produ6tive of great advantage to the city, and
nas maintained an unsullied integrity. The ex-
penses of its management have been, and still
continue to be, defrayed by fees, or transfers, *cc
similar to those of Amsterdam. It was plunderec
of a considerable portion of its deposits by the
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BANK.
467
French geiMral, Daroiuty in 1813^ a part of
which were restored l^ the Bourbon government
at the peace of 1815.
23. In 1635 the bank of Rotterdam was
established, under regulations sonevhaft difierent
in detail from those ctf either Amsterdam «r Ham-
buig, but upon the principle of deposits, transfer,
and i^ncy.
24. About the sixth or seventh decenary of the
seTenteenth century, an individual of the name of
Pabnshut, in Stockholm, established a bank for
the purposes of exchange, discount, and oirottla-
tion ; that is, he bought and sold bills of exdiange,
lent money at interest, and issued notes, which
became a cireul&ting medium, or token of inter-
change, £» the amount d)ey represented; na-
turally enough, altbou^^ Palmsaat originally
poss^sed, relatrrelv, great resousces, derange-
ment and embarrassment soon overtook him, but
inflate with his notions of ideal wealth, he ap-
plied to the king, Charles XL, whom heimduoM
to become his patron in the lormation of a royal
bank, which, under Pabbshut's directions, soon
obtained a general confidence ; and, in 1688,
the direction was transferred to the assembly of
the states of the kingdom, the king declaring
himself and his anccessors, protectors of the
bank, but renouncing all interference in the dis-
posal of the money. The states being thus
declared guanmtees, proprietors, and directors,
under the regulations which they established, the
bank became a bank of deposit, discount, and
circulation. Depositors were allowed interest at
the rate of 6 per cent. ; and the deposits, together
with notes of circulation, appropriated to dis-
counts, on collatend secnrities, at the rate of 8
per cent. The kiag^f revenues were ate depo>-
sited at the bank ftee of interest. The institution
immediately became popular, and all who had
surplus money, in every part of the kingdom,
poured it into the bank, so that, by the close <n
the oentwy, the interest on deposits had been
proeressively reduced Irom 6 to 2 per cent, and
on discounts from 8 to 3 per cent
25. Like all institutions founded on specula-
tive principles, the bank of Stockholm was aoon
destined to experience a leverae.of fortune, and
to become an instrument of political perversion.
The chivalrous emloits of Charles XIL led to
such a drain .of the intrinsic resources of the
bank, during the four years, 1714 — 1717, the
period of the king's residence in Turkey, after
the battle of Pultowa, and when the corrupt
and profligate Goertz was minister of finance,
that the revenues •usually deposited with the
bank, were unequal to diamrge even the. in-
terest much less contribute towuds any repay-
ments. This dilapidation of the resonroes, and
credit' of the bank, led to the mortgaging of other
revenues of the crown, and a declaration on the
part of the king, that no fiuther drain should be
made upon the bank until its resources and credit
were fully reatorwl : these measures produced a
prtial reaction in favor of the credit of the
l>ank ; but it proved only temporary, until an
expedient of tne minister Goerts unexpectedly
diverted all the disposable wealth of the kingdom
into the bank.
26. Whilst the declaration and resolve of the
king to restore the resources and credit of the
bank were adhered to, it deprived Goertz of the
adequate lunds to carry on his political in-
trigues, and to supply the king with soflScient
means to maintain his regal importance ; under
these circumstances, he resorted first to fines and
penalties, and ultimately to a species of confis-
cation, by demanding all the plate, jewels, and
coin in me kingdom Co be placed at his disposal,
for which he gave copper tokens, representing
ninety-six times the intrinsic value of the metal,
(patper money in effect) This measure led all
wose who possessed such disposable means to
confide in tne rc^td pledge, rather than yield to
the exaction of Goerts. And tiiey consequently
in secret conveyed all their treasure to the bank.
Goertz, chagrined at being thus disappointed, ap-
plied to the king and advised him to seize all the
treasure deposiled in the bank ; but the king
refiised lo comply, and prohibited Goertz from
e^en making mr proposal on the subject, con-
trary to the pleage which he had solemnly
made. ^
27. This decision of the long reinstated con*
ifidenoe in, and fully re-estabhshedy the resources
and ciedit of the bandc, so that on the declaration
of war against Russia, in f 741 , the bank presented
the king with a donation of 100,000 Swedish
silver dollars, equal to about 7600, and sup-
plied another 500,000 dollars, as a loan without
interest, and subseqnentiy to that period it fre-
quenUy advanced considerable sums to tiie
crown, and to die board of msnafiK^tures under
the guarantee of the stetcs.
28. The resourees and credit of the bafdL
being thus re-established, it was divided into
two departments, iane and toear«<, or loain, and
exchange banks; the foimer corresponding in
its practice with tiie praqtioe originally estab-
lished in Lombardy, (see sect. 8.) and precisely
similar in principle to the practice of pawn-
broking in England at the pitsent day. Whilst
the practice of the wexel or eaofaange bank, is
that of deposit, discount, and oiroulation. The
(loan bank lends moo^ on gold and silver bul-
lioo, copper, and its own stook, to tiieir foM
value, at the rate of three per cent, and on tiire^
fourths of the value of iron, at the same rate of
interest ; and on l|mds and houses at the rate of
six per cent, four for interest, and two as a
sinking fund, until the whole sum advanced is
repaid. Jewels were at one time advanced
upon, but the bank having once been defrauded if
a considerable oxtent by them, resolved nevei
again to make advances on those articles.
29. The wexel or exchange bank receives
money on deposit, for which it allows two per
cant, and issues notes, with which, together with
its deposits, it discounts bills of exchange*; this
practioe, which is the one originally pursued by
Palmshut, (see sect. 24.) involves ruk, and leads
to certain loss ; the issuing of notes, having no
intrinsic value, sustains the loss as lonjr as the
notes retain confidence ; but when ihat fails, de
rangement necessarily ensues, all this befell the
wexel or exchange bank of Stockholm, within
the short space of twenty-five years ; and in 1766
the bank was on the verge of bankruptcy and
final dissolution, when, by the interference ef the
2H2
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468
BANK.
states, a loan of three millions of rix dollars,
equal to about £700,000, was raised to liquidate
the excess of notes in circulation ; since the
period of 1766 successive re^^ulations have been
resorted to, to preserve the credit of the bank,
and a committee, composed of a certain number
of persons from each of the three states of the
kingdom, viz. the nobles, clergy and burgheis,
has been appointed, to inspect triennially the
general state of the bank and its accounts.
30. Under. the guardianship of the States, the
wexel bank of Stockholm retains its place among
the other institutions of the kingdom, but it has
no importance externally, nor does the extent of
its operations equal the operations of several pri-
vate banking establishments in some of the pro-
vincial towns in England ; it is the various kinds
of practice of banking, however, and not the
extent of the operations, which most demand
attention ; and on that ground it is, that the bank
of Stockholm has here been enlarged upon, much
beyond what the extent of its operations would
otherwise have rendered necessary.
31. Bank of England. — We now come, in
order of time, to treat of the bank of England ;
an establishment, whether considered with respect
to the magnitude of its operations, or its influence
upon the social relations of mankind, without
a parallel in history ; and from the period of its
foundation, but more especially since the period
of 1793, it has become so interwoven with the
government, and. the collective interests of the
nation, as to render it difficult to treat of one,
without entering largely into the details of the
other. We will endeavour, however, to confine
our elucidation of the bank, as far as it is con-
nected with the government and the nation, as
much as possible within the limits of those cir-
cumstances of the nation, in which the character
and interests of the bank have been more imme-
diately involved.
32. Although by its peculiar constitution, and
tejms of its charter, as well as in all the details
of its practice, the bank of England appears to be
an independent trading company, ana although
its operations combine all tne various kinds of
practice in banking (except the original one, of
lending money on pledges,) viz. exchange, de-
posit, transfer, discount, agency, and circulation,
and each and all of these, oii a more extended
scale than ever was, or perhaps ever will be,
practised in any otner establishment, it is, and
ever has been, from its foundation, materially
connected with all the financial operations ot
the government, and partakes therefore far more
of a political than of a commercial character. This
indeed has been considered by some writers
raid financiers an alarming excrescence ot^ both
our commercial and political systems. But we
proceed to illustrate the progress of its career.
33. It appears to the writer of this paper
that instead of desirableness and necessity
dictating its origin, and instead of being founded
like the bank of Amsterdam (see sect. It) on
the broad and social basis of public convenience
and public utility, the origin of the bank of
England was a mere project, which fortuitous
circumstances alone have hitherto protected
in an unexpected manner The original
Projector of this memorable institution wsis a
[r. W. Paterson, who, after numerous applications
on the subject to the privy council, at length
succeeded in the the year 1693, in obtaining
its consent to the project, and an act, 5th and
6th William and Mary, c. 20, for granting to
their Majesties severa^ rates and duties upon
tonnage of ships and vessels, and upon beer, ale,
and other liquors, for securing certam recom-
pences and advantages in the said act, mentioned
to such persons as shall voluntarily advance the
sum of £1,500,000 towards carrying on the war
against France ! Section 19th of &e said act,
enacts that ' Their Majesties may make commis-
sioners take subscriptions for £1,200,000. The
sum of £100,000 to be annually appropriated to
the subscribers ;* and by section 20th it was fur-
ther enacted that, 'Their Majesties may appoiat
rules for transferring, and make the subocnbers a
corporation by the name of ' The governor and
company of the bank of England.' '
34. Under the authority of the aforesaid act,
subscriptions were immediately entered into, and
before the 1st of Jan. 1694, the whole sum was
subscribed, and on the 27th of July, in that
year, the charter of incorporation was executed,
its duration being limited to eleven years, viz.
firom the 1st of August, 1694, to the 1st of August,
1705, after which date the corporation was deter-
minable upon twelve months notice, and repay-
ment of the £1,200,000 advanced. At this time
(1694), the rate of interest was 6 per cent, per
annum ; but by the terms of the-contract for the
above £1,200,000, the corporation were to receive
8 percent, per annum, and £4000 per annum for
management, or trouble of transferring and ap-
portioning ihe interest among the numerous
subscribers.
35. Such were the circumstances, and such
the origin of the bank of England, neither of
which it will be seen bear any analogy to the
circumstances and origin of the banks of Venice,
Amsterdam, Hamburgh, or Stockholm ; but before
we proceed further in exhibiting the progress of
the bank of England, it may be well to show
what the state and practice of banking in Eng-
land was, prior to the formation of that establish-
ment ; and when the circulating medium of the
country was exclusively metallic. At an early
period of England carrying on an external com-
merce, when she received from Holland and
Germany almost every species of manu&cture ia
exchange for grain and wool, and other produc-
tions of the soil and mines, England then had
her loan banks, or Lombard houses, for lending
money on pledges (see sect. 3), hence the etymo-
logy of Lombard-street, in the vicinity of the
Koyal Exchange, in London. At a more recent
period the goldsmiths became the bankers, first,
merely as places of deposit or safe keeping, and
aftenrads for discount ; and for more than a
century prior to the establishment of the bank of
England, and circulation of paper money, the
goldsmiths held the same rank and importance
in commerce, and exercised similar functions, as
the private bankers do at the present day. Bat
the establishment of the bank of England did not
merely divert the transactions of private deposit
and discotint into new duionels, oat it will be
Digitized by
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BANK.
469
seen, as we proceed, that it had the effect of
changing the whole social economy of the
statp
36. The Bank of England being established,
the charter directed that its management should
be vested in a governor, deputy governor, and
twenty-four directors, to be elected by the holders
of the stock, a clear possession of £500 of which
for six months constitutes a Qualification to vote,
the qualification of a director being the possession
of £2000 of the stock, of a deputy governor,
£3000 of do. and of a governor £4000 of do.
So far as we have here described the transactions
of the Bank of England, it seems confined to the
mere raising of a loan of £1,200,000, for the use
of goyemment, at 8 per cent, per annum, and
which was in (act, the foundation of the Funding
System, or National Debt; to prevent enlarging
upon which here, see each of those subjects under
their respective heads, and in conjunction with
them see also Ci aculating Medium, Exch ai^ge,
Bills of. Exchequer Bills, Money, Paper
Money, and Tallies. Of the nature and ex-
tent of the practice of the Bank of England,
in deposit, transfer, discount, and circulation,
during the early period of its establishment, but
little seems to be known; and, indeed, for
some time, its transactions seem to have been
very much confined to trading in the government
securities, and notes of its own circulation. At
the Exchequer, then, as is still the case, accounts
were kept by tallies, similar to accounts of bakers
in those pans of the country where the weight of
the loaf varies, and the money price remains
fixed ; notches are cut in a piece of stick, to de-
note so many loaves of biread, the stick is split,
the buyer holding one part and the seller the
other, so with the accounts of money at the
Exchequer of enlightened England, at the period
of establishing the Bank of England, and so the
practice continued in 1826.
37. The first and second years after the
establishment of the Bank, these Tallies were a
trading and speculating commodity, as stock and
exchequer bills are at the present day, and such
was the state of the credit of the nation at that
time that the tallies were at a discount of 20 to 40
per cent, against the sealed notes of the Bank,
and the notes of the bank at a discount of 20
per cent, against the standard coin of the realm.
With the view of equalising these disparities of
value between the bank and national securities,
and the standard coin of the realm, an act was
passed in 1 697, 8 and 9 Will. 3 cap. 20, empower-
ing the Bank to receive subscriptions ror the
enlargement of their stock, four-fifths in tallies,
and the remaining fifth in Bank notes. The
amount of tallies ingrafted under this act was
£l ,001 ,1 7 1 . 1 Of . subject, like the original subscrip-
tion to an interest of 8 per cent, per annum, and
the charter was extended to the 1st of Aug. 1710.
In 1708, another act was passed, 7 Ann. cap. 7,
under which the bank further lent the govern-
ment the sum of £400,000 vrithout interest ;
thereby reducing the interest on £1,600,000 to
6 per cent. The Bank at this time held Exche-
quer bills to the amount of £1,500,000, which,
with an arrear of interest of £275,027. 17f . lO^d.,
were cancelled (funded) at the rate of 6 pi^r
cent, per annum. For these acts of condescension^
the charter of the Bank was extended, to Aug. 1,
1732, and the company authorised to take in
subscriptions, to double their capital. In
1709 a call of 15, and in 1710 a further call of
10 per cent, was made, and in 1713 another act
was passed, 12 Ann. cap. 11, extending the char-
ter, to Aug. 1, 1742, then, as before, determinable
after twelve months notice, and repayment by
the government, of all sums borrowed.
38. In 1717 another act was passed, 3 Geo. I.
ch. 8, authorising the funding of a further amount
of exchequer bills of £2,000,000, at five per cent,
per annum; to which rate the interest on
£1,775,027 was also reduced after midsummer
1718. In 1722, by another act, 8 Geo. I, cap. 21,
the bank was authorised to purchase stock of the
South Sea Company to the amount of £4,000,000,
which stock bore an interest of five per cent, per
an. but was reduced to four per cent, after mid-
summer 1729. To effect this purchase the capi-
tal was increased £3,400,000; and in 1727, pur-
suant to the act of 1 Geo. II, cap. 8, £1,000,000
of the £1,775,027. 17s. lO^d, funded in 1708,
at six per cent, was paid off, and the interest
on the £2,000,000, funded in 1717, reduced
from five to four per cent, and under the autho-
rity of the same act ; in 1728, £1,750,000 was
further advanced to government at an interest of
4 per cent ; and, iu &e following year, pursuant
to the act of 2 Geo. II, cap. 3, the remainder of
the £1,775,027. 17s. lO^d- funded in 1708,
together with £500,000 of the amount funded
in 1717, was paid off by the government; who
borrowed, under the authority of the said act,
the sum of £1,250,000, at an interest of 4 per
cent, per annum from midsummer 1729.
39. In 1738 another act was passed, 11 Geo.
II, cap. 27, authorising the paying off a further
portion of the bills fiinded in 1717, to the amount
of £1,000,000; and in 1742, by the act of 15
Geo. II, cap. 13, £1,600,000 was advanced to
government without interest, on condition of tlie
bank being authorised to increase their capital
stock, and the charter being extended to Aug. 1,
1764. The capital stock was accordingly in-
creased £840,004. 5s. 4d. The pretension set
up in reference to this £1,600,000, was the reduc-
tion of the rate of interest on the original
£1,200,000, and the £400,000 advanced in
1708; by the receipt of which latter sum the
interest on the £1,600,000 was reduced to 6 per
cent. ; and, by the receipt of a corresponding sum
without interest, it made the interest on the
£3,200,000 equivalent to 3 per cent But this
seeming reduction in the rate of interest is a delu-
sion ; for, however anomalous it may at first seem,
as the rate of interest progressively became
reduced from 8 to 3 per cent, the pressure of the
exaction on the people, as will clearly appear
hereafter, progressively and virtually incres^ed.
So far, therefore, from the £1,600,000 being
entitled to be regarded as a boon to the public,
it appears to us as neither more nor less than a
bribe to reconcile an unsuspecting people to an
extension of the charter.
40. In 1746 another act was passed, 19 Geo.
II, cap. 6, authorising the fiinding of exchequer
bills, issued in anticipation of the tax on license
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for retaiUng spifilaoui liquors, to the amount of
£986,800, at the rate of 4 per cent, per annum,
and for authorising the bank to increase their
capital stock 10 per cent which was done in
pursuance diereof. The total sum adTanced by
the bank to the government, now amounted to
£11,686,800, and 3ie capital on which the stock-
holders divided was £10,780,000. Of the amount
advanced to government £3,200,000, (see preced-
ing section) vras at an interest of 3 ner eent. ; part
of the bills funded in 1717 remainea at 5 per cent,
and the remainder at 4 per gent. ; in reference to
which, in 1749 an act was passed, 28 Geo. II,
cap. 1, determining that from Christmas 1750 the
interest on the whole £8,486,800 shouki be re-
duced to 3^ per cent, and from Christmas 1757
it should ^Ttner be reduced to the same rate as
the £3,200,000, viz. 3 per cent. Fifteen years
now elapsed vnthout any change in the terms of
the charter, or accounts with the government,
when in 1764, pursuant to the act of 4 Geo. Ill,
cap. 25| the bank advanced £1,000,000 for two
years without interest, and gave bonus to the
exchequer of £110,000, for the eztoision of their
charter to the 1st of August 1786.
4 J . In 1781, pursuant to an act passed that year,
the charter was further extended to the 1st of
Angust 1612, and £862,400 more added to the
capital stock, in return for the loan of £2,000,000
for three yeam at 3 per cent.; and in 1800, pur-
suant to an act of 48 Geo. Ill, the charter was fur-
ther extended to the 1st of August, 1833, on con-
dition of advancing £3,000,000, for the service of
the year 1800,on exchequer bills, to be discharged
without interest in 1806. Such vras the state of
the bank of England in 1800 in reference to its
permanent advances to the government and ex-
tent of its permanent capital, which we will here
briefly recapitulate. In the session of parliament,
1822, a« account of the total amount of debt due
to the bank of England, distingui^ing funded
from unfimded, the periods when contracted for,
&c. &c. was laid before the house (paper No.
190), which, up to the period of 1746, will be
seen to correspond with the amounts pienousty
enumerated, vis:
Aimoft
1694
1697
1708
1717
1722
1728
1729
1742
1746
Paid off in
1707
1728
1729
1738
Acts.
5W.&M.
8&9Wm.
7 Anne,
c.20
c. 19
c. 7
3 Geo. I.
8
1 Geo. II.
2
15
19
c. 8
C.21
c. 8
c. 3
C.13
c. 6
Original Subscription ....
Ingrafted Tallies
Exchequer-Bills cancelled . • .
Advanced without interest . . .
Exchequer-Bill* cancelled . . .
Transfer tnfOk South-Sea Company
Advanced
Ditto
Ditto
Exchequer-Bills cancelled . . .
Total Sum advanced . . .
Ingrafled Tallies . . .
Part of £1,775,028
Remainder of ditto
And part of £2,000,000 of 1717
Further part of £2,000,000 of 1717
Nett amount of permanent Debt in 1746, and as 1
it stood up to 1816 . > S
£1,200,000
1,001,171
1,775,028
400,000
2,000,000
4,000,000
1,750,000
1,250,000
1,600,000
986,800
£1,001,171
1,000,000
775,028
500,000
1,000,000
£15,963,999
4^76,199
£11,686,800
42. In 1816 a further advance vras made of
£3,000,000 ; and in 1823 a contract was entered
into for the bank to advance the government the
sum of £l3/)89,419, in thirteen irregular instal-
ments, between the 4th of April, 1823, and the
6th of July, 1828, in consideration of an annuity of
£585,740 for 44 years, from the 10th of Oct 1823.
The first of these transactions resolves itself into
a bonus to the bank equivalent to from £7,000,000
to £8,000,000 ; the latter being to a certain ex-
tent a contingent transaction, may prove disad-
vantageous to the public to the extent of from
five to ten or fifteen millions, and under any
circumstances that can possibly occur is equiva-
lent to another bonus to the bank of at leasf
£2,000,000. The first tmnactkn is siaaple and
conclusive, and will be seen to involve motal as
well as pecuniary features, demanding tbe very
serious consideration of the public. The other
is one of tbe most complex and equivocal
ttansactiofns which the whole histoiy of British
financiering, with all its profligacy and tortuosity,
exhibits since the commenoenienf oi war in
1793. A more circumstantial accomit of tbe
nature of both transactions vrill be fbfltnd in Aeir
order of time further on.
In die mean time, ihe following is a reca-
pitulation of the augmentations of capital, on
which dividends were made to the propiietoit
of stock, viz.
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Anno.
i 1694
1697
1708
1709
1710
1722
1742
1746
1781
Original Subscription
Ingrafted Tallies . .
Doubled ....
Call of 15 per cent. .
Ditto of 10 per cent
Additional Subscriptions
Ditto Ditto .
CaH of 10 per CenL
Augmented . . .
Augmentadon.
£1,200,000
1,001,171
2,201,172
656,204
501,449
3,400,000
840,004
980,000
862,400
Aggregate.
£1,200,000
2,201,171
4,402,343
5,058,547
5,559,996
8,959,996
9,800,000
10,780,000
11,642,400
43. And the foUowtng shows the rate and amount of dividends, per annum, at di£ferent periods,
up to 1807, vix.
1694—1696
1697—1707
1708—1729
1730—1741
1742—1746
1747—1752
1753
1754—1763
1764—1766
1767—1760
1781—1787
1788—1806
1807—1815
1816—1823
1824—1826
Rateptr
3 ye«rs
11 T
22
12
5
6 .
10
14
7
19
9
8
3
8
9
9to
6&
6&
5
41 & 5
4*
5
H
6
7
10
8
5*
(actual)
(estimated)
(actual)
divided.
£96,000
198,105
450,000
520,200
563,000
539,000
512,050
485,100
539,000
592,900
698,544
814,968
1,164,240
1,455,300
1,164,240
44. Thus, as stated in sect. 39, it is seen, that
whilst the bank affects to lend the public its
money at 3 per cent, per annum, the public,
since 1807, have virtually been taxed at tne rate
of 10 per cent, to the extent of £1,164,240 per
annum ; nor is this all, for, by a return made to
parliament in the session of 1819 (Paper, No.
347), in addition to the above exorbitant exac-
tion, resulting from the illusive and peculiarly
involved nature of the transactions of the govern-
ment with the bank, it appears that the following
sums were divided amoi^ the siodt-holders as
bonuses, viz.
Anno.
Amount.
June, 1799
May, 18QI
Nov. 1802
Oct. 1804
— 1805
1806
10 percent, on the £11,642,400 ...
5 on ditto ....
£1,164,240
582,120
291,060
582,120
582,120
582,120
5 ' on ditto ....
5 on ditto ....
5 on ditto ....
Total as Bonus . . .
£3,783,780
And profuse as all this may seem in favor of the
holders of bank-stock, and oppressive as it must
be to the public, it sinks into comparative insig-
nificance when oompared with the transactions
of 1816 and 1823, tne nature of which shall be
elucidated by and by; it seeming first desirable
to take a retrospective view of the transactions
of the bank, inaependent of its permanent ad-
vances and augmentation of its permanent ca-
pital.
45. By the stat. of 6 Anne, cap. 22, it was
enacted, ' for securing the credit of the Bank of
£ngland, that no other banking company in
England should consist of more than six per-
sons, empowered to issue bills or notes payable
on demand, or for any time less than six months.'
And the act of 15 Geo. II. cap. 13, which ex-
tended the privileges of the charter to 1764, also
enacted, Uiat the acts of 7 and 12 Anne, and all
all other acts for determining the corporation,
should be void; and that the governor and com-
pany of the bank should remain a body corpo-
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rate and politic for ever, subject to such restric-
tions and regulations as were contained in the
acts and charters then in force, and by the same
statute it was also liirther enacted, ^ that persons
forging, counterfeiting, or altering, any bank-
note, bill of exchange, dividend, warrant, or any
bond or obligation, under the company's seal,
or any indorsement upon it, or knowingly utter-
ing the same, shall suffer death, without benefit
of clergy ;' and further, * that the company's
senrants breaking their trust to the company, shall
also suffer death, as a felon, without benefit of
clergy/ The same statute also further enacts,
* that when at a court of directors of the bank,
neither the governor nor deputy shall attend in
two hours i^r the time appointed for business,
then any thiiteen or more of the directors may
choose a chairman for the time for the despatch
of business, and that such court shall be as valid
as if either the governor or deputy-governor had
duly attended/
46. As stated in sect. 36, the information is
imperfect as to the extent of the transactions of
the Bark of England in deposit^ transfer, dis-
count, and circulation, durii^^ the earlier period
of its establishment ; nor does it appear that the
notes of the bank were ever at a discount against
the standard coin of the realm after 1697, until
1798. In addition to the monies permanently
advanced to the government, it was the practice
of the bank to advance money in anticipation of
the land and malt taxes; and to make other
temporary advances on exchequer-bills and other
floating securities ; we have not been able to ob-
tain any circumstantial account of the extent of
these advances at an earlier date than 1777;
from which period an account of advances by
the bank to government on land, malt, exche-
quer-bills, and other securities, on the 25th of
February on each of the twenty years preceding
the 25th of February, 1797, was laid before par-
liament, vide Appendix, second Report of the
Select Committee on the Expediency of the Bank
resuming^ Cadi Payments, 1819. Comxnons re-
print, fol. 31 5y of which die following is a copy.
On the
25t]i Feb.
Und mnd Malt.
Exchequer-Bills.
IVeasory-BilU.
Total,
1777
£4,912,000
5,251,000
£2,500,000
2,500,000
£7,412,000
7,753,760
1778
£2760
1779
5,682,000
2,769,000
15,664
8,466,664
1780
5,613,000
3,104,400
33,582
8,750,982
1781
5,517,000
262,230
49,541
8,188,841
1789
5,659,000
4,289,050
43,628
9,991,678
1783
4,962,000
4,662,200
4871
9,629,071
1784
3,901,000
3,641,000
23,853
7,565,853
1785
3,102,000
3,900,000
28,200
7,030,200
1786
2,307,000
4,303,200
24,672
6,634,872
1787
2,809,000
4,334,200
1696
7,144,896
1788
2,636,000
4,707,400
4299
7,347,699
1789
2,92i3,0OO
5,000,200
20,235
7,948,435
1790
2,882,000
5,006,500
20,468
7,908,968
1791
3^334,000
6,247,100
22,878
9,603,978
1792
2,802,000
6,636,600
26,999
•9,839,338
1793
2,698,000
5,939,600
52,359
9,066,698
1794
2,915,b00
4,777,600
717,175
8,786,514
1795
4,291,000
4,329,000
2,117,491
11,114,230
1796
5,536,000
5,265,000
540,991
11,718,730
• The totals in tmeh of the five last years include £376,739 lent oat of the
interest.
unclaimed dividends, without
47. The earliest account of the unount of
bank-notes in circulation which we have been
able to obtain is the following, which was deli-
vered to the House of Commons on the 18th of
March, 1797, and exhibits the amount of notes
in circulation on the 25th of February, in ^ch
of the ten years, 1787—1796, vix.
t787 £8,688,570
1788 9,370,350
1789 9,905,240
1790 10,217,360
1791 11,699,140
1792 11,349,810
1793 11,493,125
1794 10,699,520
1795 . . . , • . 13,539,160
1796 11,030,110
As we are now approaching a most important
period in the historir of the transactions of the
Bank of England, it will be well for the earnest
enquirer after truth to bear in mind, that te
notes in circulation up to the period of 1797,
were convertible into gold on demand, at die
rate of 77f . tO^d. per oz. ; and when the above
statement is compared with the preceding one, of
the amount of the temporary advances to the
government, and the following one, of the
amount of cash and bnllion in hand, and bills
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472
discounted, it will be seen that the issue of notes
appears to have been regulated more in reference
to the amount of the temporary advances to the
government, than to the means of paying them
in gold on demand, as will be seen by rfie follow-
ing statement of die amount of cash and bullion
on handy notes in circubtien, bills discounted
aod advances to government, on an average in
the months of March, June, September, and
December, in each of ihe five years, 1793 —
1796, viz.
Cmah and Bullion
BUh DiMoonted.
Average of Notet
Average of Advanca
1
on hand.
in Cireolation.
to Government.
1793
March . .
£3,508.000
£4,817,000
£11,963,820
£8,735,200
June . . .
4,412,000
5,128,000
12,100,650
9,434,000
September . .
6,836,000
2,065,000
10,938,620
9,455,700
December
1794
March. . .
7,720,000
1,976,000
10,967,310
8,887,500
8,608,000
2,908,000
11,159,720
8,494,100
June
8,208,000
3,263,000
10,366,450
7,735,800
September
8,096,000
2,000,000
10,343,940
6,779,800
7,768,000
1,887,000
10,927,970
7,545,100
1795
March . . .
7,940,000
2,287,000
12,432,240
9,773,700
June . . .
7,356,000
3,485,000
10,912,280
10,879,700
September
5,792,000
1,887,000
11,034,790
10,197,600
December
4,000,000
3,109,000
11,608,670
10,683,100
1796
March . . .
2,972,000
2,820,000
10,824,150
11,351,000
June . . .
2,582,000
3,730,000
10,770,i00
11,269,700
September
2,532,000
3,352,000
9,720,440
9,901,100
December
1797
2,508,000
3,796,000
9,645,710
9,511,400
February 26 .
1,272,000
2,905,000
8,640,250
10,672/490
48. By the above statement, it is seen, that
with £8,640,250 of notes in circulation on the
25th of February, 1797, £1,272,000 value of
gold only remained in the bank, whilst the de-
mand for gold continued daily to increase;
under which circumstances, on the 22d of Fe-
oniary, a committee was appointed by the privy
council to investigate the affairs of the bank,
which committee, on the 26th of the same
month, reported, that the total assets of the bank,
exclusive of the £11,686,800 permanent debt of
the government (see secL40, 41), was £l 7,597,298;
whilst the whole of the demands upon the bank
amounted to only £13,770,390, leaving a dear
balance in its favor of £3,826,903, exclusive of
the permanent debt due from the government.
Upon this report, the privy council instantlv is-
sued an order prohibiting the directors of the
bank from issumg any more cash (specie) in
payment, until the sense of parliament on the
subject was obtained. From the statement of
£13,770,390 being the amount of demands upon
the bank, and £8,640,250 being the amount of
notes in circulation, as per statement in the pre-
ceding section, it appears that ihe demands of
depositors and otner creditors mi^t have
ammmted to £5,130,140 ; and in like manner,
£17,597,298 being the whole of the assets, and
£10,672,490 thereof consisting of claims on the
government, £2,905,000 in bills discounted, and
£1,272,000 in specie, it leaves £2,727,808 to be
assigned to some specified items; including, no
duubt the bank premises and probably some
other property in iief, in houses or lands, &c. &c.
The transactions and state of the Bank of Eng-
land, as detailed in this section, bring its his-
tory down to that eventful and important period
when the peculiar nature of its connexion with
the government first openly developes itself. To
obtain a more comprehensive and distinct view
of the subject, the reader will do well to refer, to
the journals and proceedings of parliament for the
^ear 1797, and to examine the subject attentively,
m relation to the nature and amount of the
loans, and extent of the revenue and expenditure
of the government at that period, as exhibited in
Mr. Marshall's Statistical Illustrations of the
Finances, Revenues, &c. &c. of the British Em-
pire. See also the articles Funding, Loans,
Sinking Fund, and Revenue, in the subsequent
parts of this work.
49. It was on a Sunday evening that the order
of the privy council, adverted to in the preced-
ing section, was transmitted to the bank, and
on Monday morning the following notice was
published by the directors of that establishment,
viz.
« Bank of England, February 27, 1797.
' In consequence of an order of his majesty's
privy council, notified to the bank last night, a
copy of which is hereunto annexed,
' The goyemor, deputy-governor, and directors
of the BbldDl of England, think it their duty to
inform the proprietors of the bank-stock, as wpH
as the public at large, that the general concerns
of the bank are in the most afBuent and flourish-
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BANK.
ing sitnation, and luch as to preclude every
doubt as to the security of its notes.
<The directors mean to oontinue their usual
discount for the accommodation of the commer-
cial interest, paying the amount in bank notes ;
and the diviaend warrants will be paid in the
same manner.
(Signed) * Francis Martin, Sec.'
50. The consternation of the public at this notifi-
cation was extreme, but as a proof of the secret
workings and illusive nature of the system, a
meeting was held the same day at the mansion
house, at which the lord mayor (Watson), presi-
' ded, when the following iBsolution was unani-
mously agreed to, viz. 'lliat we the undersigned,
being highly sensible how necessary the preser-
vation of public credit is at this time, do most
readily hereby declare, that we will not refuse to
receive bank notes in payment of any sum of
money to be paid to us; and we will use oar
utmost endeavours to make all our payments in the
same manner.' This singular specimen of sub-
serviency to speculative expediency was signed
by the lord mayor and all present, and ultimately
obtained upwards of 3000 signatures. We will
not here enquire what portion of their names
have since been exhibited on the bankrupt or
other lists of insolvency ; but we must regard the
conseqences to have been the degradation of an
alarming portion of the total population of the
kingdom to the rank of paupers, with all the
consecutive concomitants of demoralisation and
crime.
51. On the same day (27th Feb.), a message
was delivered from the king to both houses of
parliament, to the following effect, viz. ' That an
unusual demand of specie having been made
from different parts of the countiy, on the metro-
polis, it had been found necessary to make an
order of council to the directors of tne bank, pro-
hibitins: the issuing of any cash in payment, till
the seuse of parliament could be taken on the
subject.' In the upper house, Lord Grenville,
who was then secretary of state for the foreign
department, moved, *That the communication
from his Majesty should- be taken into consider-
ation the foUowiug day,* when in pursuance of
the motion, after much circumlocution, Lord
Grenville stated that he had two motions to sub-
mit to the consideration of their Lordships, first,
'That a humble address be presentea to his
Majesty, to return thanks for his gracious com-
munication, and to assure his Majesty that he
might rely with the utmost confidfence on the
wisdom of parliament, to call forth, in case of
necessity, the extensive resources of the king-
dom.' This was agreed to, nemine contradicente.
The other motion was for 'The appointment of a
select committee of nine lords, to examine and
report on the outstanding debts against the bank,
the state of the funds for discharging the same;
the cause that rendered the order of council
necessary, and which might justify the members
of that house for taking the proper steps for the
confirmation and continuance of that measure.'
This motion gave rise to considerable discussion,.
in which the Duke of Bedford moved as an.
amendment, * To leave out all that part which
related to the committee reporting th^ dpinkm
on the continuance of the measure.' In support
of which amendment, the Marquis of Lansdowne
said, ' That noble Lords would do him the jus^
tice to recollect, that not one session had ^^^ssed
over, since the fatal commencement of the war in
1793, in which he had not, to use a vulgar but
strong expression, bored their Lordsbins with his
prophetic admonitions, and proceedea to iilos-
trate the nature of public credit, by saying, that
it was to the people of Great Britain, wl^t the
soul of man was to his body. It was pare soul:
it was immaterial in itself and yet it was that
which gave to substance its functions. It was not
property, for no branch of the body could call it
Its own. It was not the king's credit, nor was it
the credit of parliament ; it was public credit,
which did not look to security alone as its basis,
but which always connected security with
punctuality.'
52. The shock which had been given to public
credit, the noble marquis stated, proceeded from
deep, progressive, and accumulated causes;
causes which all diinktng, all honest men, had
long deplored, and which had grown to a head
unclQr the unhappy and ill-requited confidence
which had so fatally been placed in tbe king*s
ministers. In endeavouring to ascertain toe
causes that had brought on the dilemma, one
cause was manifest; the inordinate increase of
expenses, of places, and establishments, in eveiy
comer of the empire, which had grown to a
height beyond every thing that tbe mind could
previously have conceived ; it was, said the noble
marquis, incredible and scandalous ; the increase
of fees, of salaries, of places and pensions, of
new boards of commission, and new appoint-
ments of all kinds, had not only served to open
all the gates of waste and profusion, but to beat
down and destroy all the checks of control, and
all the means of correction. Waste and extrava-
gance had been systematised ; one scene of abuse
countenanced and protected another, and all the
comers of the earth were witnesses to tbe ruiooos
waste of the treasures of the British people. In
this strain, with unabated ardor, dia the noUe
marquis continue to depict the fata) eoaseqnenocs
whicli must inevitably ensue from the continn-
ance of such a system, and concluded a most pa-
triotic appeal to the British parliament, by call-
ing upon his compeers to mark his prophecy, and
not to disdain his counsel, while yet in time, for
said his Lordship, if you attemjyt to make bank
notes a legal tender, then credit will perish. They
may go on for a time, but their end is certain
rain. The earnestness and force of tfus appeal
drew the Lord Chancellor from his seat, to state,
'That he had deprecated the ideaof ibrchag bank
Saper into circulation, by making it a legal ten-
er, and he would take upon himself to sary,tliat
it then had never been conceived, that it would
be wise or pradent to make bank notes a legal
tender. After which, their lordships dividfd on the
amendment of the dwke of Bedford ; twelve fttfr
and seventy-eight against it. Albr which tbe
original motion for a committee of enquiry was
carried without a division,
53. Similar proceedint^ took place in the
common? on the sn-Tie day, where, in reply to
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476
some observations by Mr. Fox, Mr. Pitt stilted
that perceiving some suspicions were entertained
that the measure adopted for succouring public
credit, was designed to be permanent, he assured
the house, 'That nothing could he farther from his
intention.' An amendment similar to that of the
duke of Bedford, in the lords, was moved in the
commons by Mr. Sheridan,. which was rejected
by 244 against eighty-4ix, when the original mo-
tion 'for a committee was carried without a
division. On tiie 6th of March the lords' com-
mittee reported to the house that it was necessary
to ' conunue and confinn the measares already
taken, for sudi lime, and under such limitations
and restrictions, and with such power of discon-
tinuing the same, as to the wisdom of parliament
might seem expedient.' And thus a system of
paper money, without reference to any standard,
either of value or quantity, was established, the
duration and progress of which vnll appear, as
the elucidation of the transactions of the bank
is here farther proceeded in.
54. On the re^assembling of parliament in
November of the same year (1797), the commit-
tee of secre^, appointed to ^enquire into the
expediency of continuing the restriction on the
bank, reported, that the total assets of the bank,
exclusive of the £11,686,800 of permanent debt
due from the government on the 11th of Novem-
ber, was £21,418,640 (see sect. 48 for the amount
on the 25th February preceding), and that the
total amount of outstanding demands was
£17,578,910, leaving a balance on that date in
favor of the bank of £3,839,730. The report
further stated that the advances of government
had been reduced to £4,258,140, and that the
casAi and bullion in the bank had increased to
nearly £6,500,000 or upwards, or five times its
amocmt on the February preceding ; all this be-
ing true, it will be seen that the discounts of
commercial bills must have been increased in
the proportion of about £8,000,000 against
£2,905,000, the amount in February, but it will
seem, on reflection, and on comparison with the
advances to the government, as exhibited in the
appendix at the conclusion of this article, that
the whole report was a singular misrepresenta-
tion of the fects of the case, to answer the
purposes of the moment; at all events, it will be
seen that both the temporary advances to the
government, and issue of notes, progressively
increased from the close of the year 1797
up to the peace of Amiens in 1802-3, and
the following statement exhibits the progress and
duration of that restriction, which the Lord
Chancellor in the Lords, and the finance minis-
ter in the Commons, so solemnly declared was
to be only temporary.
55. The first act passed, relating to the subject
was dated the 3d March, 1797, 37 Geo. Ill, cap.
28, authorising the issuing of notes for £l and
£2 each ; the amount of such notes in circulation
on the 26th August of that year was £934,015;
for the progressive increase of their circulation
see appendix.
ACTS RELATING TO RESTRICTION.
Year of Reign.
Date of Act
Purport and Duration.
37 Geo. III. cap. 45.
— — — 91.
38 — — 1.
42 — — 40.
43 — — 18.
44 -- —
1.
3d May, 1797. 1
22d June, 1
30th Nov. (
30th April, 1802.
28th Feb. 1803. \
15th Dec. ]
Indemnity for order in council, and to continue
during the following month of June.
Extended to one month after the meeting of the
next session of parliament.
Further extended to one month after the ratifi
cation of a definitive treaty of peace, which
took place on the 25th March, 1802.
Further extended to 1st March, 1803.
Still further, to six weeks after the meeting of the
next session of parliament.
Again, to six months after the ratificaUon of a
definitive treaty of peace. j
This brings the history of the restriction down
to a most interesting and important period of its
operation ; so far, it is imporunt to understand,
that notwithstanding the introduction of paper as
a circulating medium, gold at the rate of 77s.
lO^d. per ounce continued to be the legal stand*
ard of value, and such was the incongruity of
British legislation at this period, that whilst
landlords and other creditors were authorised by
law to enforce payment in gold, the acts previ-
ously enumerated precluded the gold from being
had, wherewith either to pay rents, or make any
other payments ; such however was the insidious
workiog of the system, that up to the period of
1809 no derangement in the social economv of
the state, resulting from such incongruity of le-
gislation was perceptible.
56. In 1800 foreign gold coin commanded
about 5s. to 7s. per ounce more than its equiva-
lent value to British coin ; but the short peace of
1801-2 occasioned a cessation of demand, and the
price again became merely nominal. From
March, 1804, to October, 1805, standard gold
sold at £4 per ounce ; and from October, 1805,
to February, 1809, no price was anoted ; in the
meantime, however, aU the gold coin of the
realm had gradually disappeared (for the quan*
tity coined in each year smce the restoration of
Charles II. in 1663, see Statistical Illustrations,
folio 47, and the article Mint in a subsequent
part of this work), partly for internal purposes of
manufacture and ornament, and partly in aid of
the external purposes of the war; not directly
and openly for thul purpose, but the excess of
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476
BANK.
bills drawn by the commissariat and other agents
of the government, on account of the expenses of
the W9J in different parts of the world, occasioned
the bills to be drawn at a discount of 10 to
15 or 20 per cent, and at such depreciation, in-
stead of being left to operate as mere extraneous
equivalents of commercial exchange, they became
an object of speculation against bullion, in refer-
ence to the standard price of gold in England.
57. To render the circumstances of this very
interesting and important period of the bank
restriction act somewhat more intelligible to such
readers as are not practically familiar with the
complicated involutions of exchanges, it may not
be irrelevant to state (taking the mint of France
as the means of illustration), that according to the
mint regulations of England and France, twenty-
five francs, twenty centimes in France are equal
to £l in England ; but, in consequence of the
excess of bills above adverted to, in May, 1809,
the £l English in France would not obtain more
than twenty francs; consequently, as lon|[ as gold
could be obtained in England at the mint price
of 77s. lOJd. per ounce, it yielded a profit in
France of upwards of 20 per cent, against tliat
rate of exchange, but such a disparity of value, as
might naturally be expected, excited a spirit of
speculation and competition, which raised the
price of gold to a premium equal to the discount
on the bills. So that in May, 1809, gold com-
manded £4. lis. per ounce; this disparity be-
tween the mint and trading price of gold excited
an universal hubbub in every part of the country,
and in February, 1810, a committee of parlia-
ment was appointed to enquire into the cause of
the high price of bullion, and to take into con-
sideration the state of the circulating meditlm,
and of the exchanges between Great Britain and
foreign parts. This committee sat from the 22d
of February to the 25th of May, during which
time it took the opinions of thirty different per-
sons, whose trading transactions and influence
were thought to be such as qualified them to
tiirow much light on the subject ; but whether
ignorant of the combination of causes that did in
reality produce the disparity of value, or whether
selfish motives led them to conceal their better
judgment, certain it is, that although much in-
teresting matter-of-fact information is here and
there interspersed through different parts of the
evidence, as a whole, it is completely destitute
of every thing like a solution to the question
proposed. In proof of this conclusion see article
Exchange, in a subsequent part of this work ;
and in proof of the futility of the labors of the
committee, and of the frivolousness of the evi-
dence in a general sense, bullion continued
gradually to advance, and the exchanges pro-
gressively to depreciate, until on the 18lh Sep-
tember, 1812, gold commanded £5. lis. per
ounce.
58. Such an extreme disparity of value had
previously excited every species of contrivance
to collect gold, and was beginning to lead to
tuch general derangements in the internal econo-
my of the state, in selfish and avaricious indivi-
duals availing themselves of the point of law, which
authorised them to demand ana enforce payment
iu gold, in cases where by the nature of the obli-
gation, payment in current money only was
implied, that on the 24th July, 1811, an act was
passed, 51 Geo. III. cap. 127, to make the bank
of England notes a legal tender in all payments,
which by the act of the 38 Geo. III. cap. 1. (30th
Nov. 1797), were only so in private transactions,
after having been accepted as such, but which
were ordered to be received as cash by all the
collectors of taxes and duties. The title of the
act for making the bank of England notes a legal
tender, in conjunction with a consideration of
the circumstances which led to it, is curious, and
deserves attention. It is as follows, viz. ' For
making a more effectual provision for preventing
the current gold coin oi the realm from being
paid or accepted for a greater value than the
current value of such coin ; and for preventing
any note or bill of the governor and company of
the bank of England from being received for any
smaller sum than the sum therein specified; and
for staying proceedings upon any distress by
tender of such notes.' To continue in force till
the 25th of March, 1812, and no longer.
59.* By another act in the following session,
52 Geo. III. cap. 50. dated 5th May, 1812, the
preceding act was extended to three months after
the commencement of the next session of parlia-
ment, and no longer; and by 53 Geo. Hi. cap.
5, 22d Dec. 1812, further extended to 25th
March, 1814 ; and by 54 Geo. III. cap. 52, 4th
May, 1814, to as long as restriction continues;
54 Geo. III. cap. 19, 18th July, 1814, restric-
tion extended to 25th March, 1815; 55 Geo. III.
cap. 28, 23d March, 1815, further extended to
5th of July, 1816; 56 Geo. III. cap. 40, 21st
May, 1816, still further to 5th of July, 1818;
58 Geo. III. cap. 37, 28th May, 1818, again to
5th of July, 1819; 59 Gee. III. cap. 23, 6di
April, 1819, restriction extended indefinitely;
59 Geo. III. cap. 49, 2d July, 1819, restriction
limited to 1st of^May, 1823 ; and in the interim
the bank empowered to. exchange bullion in
quantities of not less than sixty ounces for their
notes, between the 1st of February and 1st of
October, 1820, at any rate between 81s. and 79s.
6d. per ounce; and from the 1st of October,
1820, to the 1st of May, 1821, at any rate be-
tween 79s. 6d. and 77s. lO^d. per ounce; and
from the 1st of May, 1821, to 1st of May, 1823,
at 77s. 10|d. per ounce ; when gold coin again
became a general circulating medium, and, as
will be seen by the statement at the conclusion
of this article, the £l and £2 notes of the
bank of England were withdrawn from circu-
lation, and to meet this change in the circulating^
medium in the years 1821 and 1822, gold to the
amount of £14,877,547 was coined at the roinu
Such is the history of the bank restriction act,
which in February, 1797, was in both houses of
parliament so solemnly- declared to be only a
temporary measure, but which continued through
a period of twenty-six years.
60 Preparatory to returning again to a gold
circulating medium, a committee was appointed
in each house of parliament, in 1819, to enquire
into the state and affairs of the bank, with refer-
ence to the expediency of the resumption of cash
pf^yments, when, after taking the opinion of about
thirty persons, the act of 2d July, 1819, 59 Geo.
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BANK.
477
III. cap. 49. was resolved upon, and in the
course of the enauiry on the 31st of March,
1819, the hank exhibited the following account
of the state of their affairs, viz. 'That the whole
of the claims upon them on that date amounted
to £33,948,560, of which £24,710,770 was notes
ii^ circulation, and £9,237,790 in deposits and
other debts, against' wliich their assets in cash
and bullion, bills discounted, and government
securities, amounted to £39,179,750, leaving a
balance in favor of the bank to the amount of
£5,231,190, exclusive of the £11,686,800, per-
manent debt of the government, as exhibited in
sect. 41, and £3,000,000 added in 1816.' Flat-
tering as all this may seem on a superficial view
of the subject, and confident as opinion generally
was, of the country having escaped the peril, so
earnestly warned of by Lord Lansdowne, in sect^
51, a short period only elapsed before the effects
of the system, spectre-like, returned in a more ter-
rific form than ever. Preparatory to the return
to cash payments* in 1823, through the years
1821 and 1822, the bank had progressively
diminished the issue of its notes from an average
of £22,550,000 in December, 1820, to an aver-
ageef £16,393,000 in December, 1822; a depres-
sion in the money value of all the products of
industry, without any parallel since the com-
mencement of the war in 1793, followed this
diminution of circulating medium. But the
ordeal of the experiment of paying gold on de-
mand having been got over, the cupidity of
avarice again began to operate, and notwith-
standing the accession to the circulating medium
of the £14,877,547 of gold coined in the years
1821 and 1822, the bank again showed a dispo-
sition to force its notes into circulation, so far,
that instead of gold supplying the place of paper
for six weeks preceding the 5th of January, 1825,
the bank of England notes in circulation again
exceeded an average of £20,000,000 ; and those
ofcountry bankers had increased from £4,293,1 64
in 1822, to £6,724,069 in 1824, and £8,755,307
in 1825.
61. The facility of raising money among indi-
viduals, which this redundancy of circulating
medium afforded, gave rise to an extent of spe-
culation, far, very far, exceeding the notable
South Sea and other adventures at the commence-
ment of the preceding century. (See the article
CoMPAW Y, in a subsfxjuent part of this work, for
an elucidation of the extent and consequences of
the folly at both periods.) Towards the month
of September, however, the speculations generally
began to be considered equivocal in their results ;
the first perceptible shock to what is technically
termed credit, was experienced on the 24th of
October, in the suspension of payment of one of
the most eminent commercial establishments in
London, or the commercial world (Mr. S. Wil-
liams, an American). After this, a month passed
away in gloomy suspense, till on the 25th of
November an extensive banking establishment at
Plymouth (Sir W. Elford, Bart, and Co.) was
the next evidence of the unsoundness and im-
policy of the paper money system. This failure
strengthened the doubts of the stability of others,
and suspicion falling on all the banking establish-
ments in the west of England, it produced in
London such a demand for gold, as excited ap^
prehensions for the consequences to which it
might lead ; in the meantime the bank of Eng-
land had been progressively narrowing its issues,
till the amount at the end of November was
reduced again to £17,500,000. On the 9th of
December the suspension of payment was
announced of an extensive banking establishment
at York (Messrs. Wentworth, Chaloner and Co.),
having branches at three or four other towns in
the county, and their own house of agency in
London; consternation now became general, and
the directors of the bank of England, who had,
as we contend, contributed to bring on the de-
rangement, by the fietcility which they afforded to
get their notes into circulation, in discounting
three and four months bills at 4 per cent, per
annum, now as suddenly took steps which acce-
lerated the derangement. On the 13th of Decem-
ber the following notice was issued, viz. : —
Bank of England.
* Resolved— -That from and after tl;c 13t!i
instant, no bills or notes will be discounted
under 5 per cent, per annum.'
62. This notification added considerably to the
consternation : an extensive private banking
establishment, deemed one of the most reputable
in London, had previously suspended its pay*
ments, and on the following morning two others
were reduced to the' same alternative ; it would
be difficult, and at all events it would exceed due
limits here, to describe the dismay and confusion
that now prevailed ; and with the view of endea-
vouring to allay the ferment, a public meeting
at the Mansion House, as on the memorable 27th
of February, 1797, took place on the 13th of
December, 1825, when about 700 signatures
were obtained to the following resolutions : viz.
'1. That the unprecedented embarrassments
and difficulties under which the circulation of
the country at present labors are mainly to be
attributed to a general panic, for which there
are no reasonable grounds; that this meeting
has the fullest confidence in the means and sul^
stance of the banking establishments of the
capital and the country, and they believe that
the acting generally upon that confidence would
relieve all those symptoms of distress which now
show themselves in a shape so alarming to the
timid, and so fatal to those who are forced to
sacrifice their property to meet sudden demands
upon them, which it is no imputation upon their
judgment and prudence not to have expected.
^ 2. That it having been stated to this meeting,
that the directors of the bank of England are
occupied with the remedy for a state of things so
extraordinary, this meeting will refrain from any
interference with the measures of the directors of
the bank, who, they are satisfied, will do their
duty towards the public.
* 3. That having the firmest confidence in the
stability of the public credit of the country, we
declare our determination to support it to the
utmost of our power.
< 4. That it is the opinion of the meeting that
declarations of a similar description with the
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478
BANK.
present, in the country towns, where the hanking
establishments may appear to deserve them, may
be productive of mucli benefit in restoring gene-
ral confidence/
63. Although it was generally believed that
the bank of Engliind bad been drained of nearly
the whole of its stock of gold, during the memo-
rable week between the lOth and 18th of Decem-
ber; yet on an average of the five weeks between
the latter date and the 22d of January, 1826, the
issue of bank of England notes hsid been in-
creased to £25,310,000.; and thai this lavish ex*
perimental issue did not lead to the necessity of
again resorting to a restriction Act, was owing
entirely to circumstances not at all* contemplated
in the deliberations which led to the increased
issue of notes, and which, in fact, seem to have
been issued with very little calculation on the
consequences to which they might lead.
64. Notwithstanding 4lie declaration at tiie
Mansion House, on the 13th of December, that
the embarrassments and difficulties under which
the circulation of the country then labored, were
mainly to be attributed to a general panic, for
which there were no reasonable grounds; accord-
ing to a return laid before the House of Com-
mons on the 27th of February, 1826; in the
interval of the end of October, 1825, and that
date, fifty-nine banking establishments, com-
prising 144 partners, had been declaied bank-
rupt, about twenty others insolvent, and every
succeeding week continued to add firom seventy
to 100 merchants, manufacturers, and traders, to
the bankrupt list, and thousands to the lists of
insolvency ; whilst half a million of fiuniiies in
the several manufacturing districts were driven
to the verge of starvation,. in C9nsequenoe of the
destruction of confidence, anii suspension of
commercial operations, which the uncertain isane
and uncertain value of the circulating medium
in great part occasioned.
65. Having now brought the history of the
bank of England fiom fhe time of its foundation
down to the period of this sheet going to press,
in May, 1826, in reference to its circulation, we
will now proceed to bring down its history from
sect. 44, in reference to its agency and connexion
with the government. Sect. 34 shows that it
originated in the raising of a loan of £1,200,000
for the use of the government, at an interest of
8 per cent per annum, and £4000 per annum
for agency; and that that transaction was, in
fact, the foundation of the fimding system, which
has led to an extent and pressure, of taxation
without any parallel in the history of society,
and which the bank of England has been the
main instrument inoocadoning. Sect 42 shows
fhe progress of the advances made by the bank
to the government up to 1781 ; which advances,
in addition to the interest, were all subject to a
charge for agency ; as was also all other sums
raised by lottery, or borrowed by the govern-
ment from individuals during the war, from
1702 to 1713, the total sum then amounting to
£52,145,363. The terms of agency up to 1726
had varied according to circumstances, at which
time it was fixed at £360 per million, afterwards
increased to £562. 10s. per million; after the
peace of Versailles in 1782, when the total sum
amounted to £249,000,000, the terns w^re n-
duced to £450 per million, at which rate it con-
tinued up to 1807, when it was reduced to £340
per million, on £600,000,000., and £300 for
every million above that sum; during the exac-
tion of the property tax, the bask received at the
rat^ of £1250 per'million, oh such portiops of
the tax as were paid in to the bank direct, and
£805. 15s. 10<2. per million OB about £600,000,000
paid in on accoimt of loans between the Ist of
February, 1793, and the 5th of January, 1833;
these several charges (including £4000 to £6000
per annum for management of lotteries), and
most of which charges are likely to contimie, at
all events up to the period of the continuance of
the charter in 1833, ainoe the commencement of
the present century, haveaveiaged aboui £275,000
per annum.
66. Independently of the above species of
agency, sufa^t to specific diarges, the whole re»
oeipt of taxes of Great Britain passes through
the Bank of England, which, since 1803, hm
averaged upwar& of £50/K)0,000 per annum;
upon this branch of its agency the oank makes
no direct change, but as each separate depart-
ment, paymaster, or accountant of the govein-
ment, upwards of fifty in number, has its se-
parate aoconnt at the bank, and each holding a
provision for the progress of its paymenls,it
leaves a permanent balance in the bands of the
bank of nom fonr to seven miUioos per annum,
and during several of the last years of the war
from ten to fifteen millions per annum. The
following is a statement of the amount in each of
the eight years 1818— '1825 aoeondtag to returns
made annually to pariiaaunt, vis.
Year*.
Maximum.
Minimmn.
the Year.
1818
1820
1
2
3
4
5
8,852,078
5,861,631
7,096,874
7,690,046
8,305,174
10,359,773
9,239,024
5,709,487
2,246,598
2,302,591
2,867,851
3^698,764
5,000,12/
3,197^90
7/)l9,071
3,713,441
3,920,157
4,107,853
5,526,635
7,222,187
5,347,314
67. By means of these balances, deposits of
individuals, and the circulation of its notes (and
the drcula^on of its notes, be it remembered,
creates the means of the balances and depo-
sits), the bank discounts the bills of indi-
viduals, makes the teniporaiy advances to go-
vernment on interest, and buys exchequer bills
and other government securities, bearing interest ;
all these it is, in addition to the specific cbaige
of £275,000 per annum specified in sect 65, and
3 per cent on the £14,686,800 snecified in
sect 41, that enables the directors of the bank U
divide the enormous amount of £1,455,300 per
annum among the holders of the £14,553,000 of
stock, as specified in sect.43. This profuse di-
vidend occasions the nominal £lOO of stock on
the bank books, to be saleable for transfer pro-
portionate to the current rate of interest, be it
3, 4, or 5 per cent per annum. Hence, on the
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BANK.
470
lOth of MftT, 1816, £100 of node command^
£268, and this leads qs to an eliiddadon of the
tranaactian adyerted to in vect. 42. In 1816 the
directois of the bank ofifered to lend the govern-
ment a further sum of £3,000,000 during the
contmaaoce of their charter, at the moderate
rate of interest of 3 per cent, per annum, the
current rate then being about £4. 5s. per
cent. ; and such was the blindness, as the writer
of this paper regards it, of the government at
that time, that the Chancellor of the Exchequer
actually held it up in parliament as one of the
most disinterestea acts of kindness and genero-
sity of a pnbHc body that he had ever known :
but the reader should mark the sec^uel.
68. There was another proposition connected
wkh the transaction on the part of the directors
of the bank, to the following purport, viz. That
they should be empowered to add 25 per cent,
to their then permanent capital of £11,453,330.
This being complied with, what did the trans-
action amount to ? Certainly to empower the
then holders of bank stock to levy a contribu-
tion of from £7,000,000 to £8,000,000 O" the
public for their own exclusive benefit, be'^use
no new subscription was called for, nor was the
£3,000,000 purported to be lent, the property
of the bank, out simply a reduction of the ba-
lances of the public money, which the bank held
as the agent of the public ; which by this act
they were empowered to convert either into a
marketable commodity at from £262 to £220 for
every £l00, or to retain it as a permanent ac-
cession of capital equivalent thereto.
69. Another transaction between the bank and
the government, equally disadvantageous to the
public, took place in 1823, act of 4 Geo. IV.
cap. 22. This act, which, under the title of Mili-
tary and Naval Pension Bill, was nrtually an
act to raise money for the purpose of sustaining
a sinking frind^ granted an annuity to the bank
of £585,740 for forty-fbur yem, from the 5th of
April, 1823, in consideration of the bank paying
to the government the sum of £13,089,419 in
thirteen irregular* instalments between the 5th of
April, 1823, and the 5th of July, 1828. As the
actual result of this transaction depends upon
the rate or terms at which the £13,089,419 or
a corresponding sum, may be expended in the
purchase of 3 per cent, stock, prior to the pay-
ment of the last instalment, we are of course (in
May, 1826) precluded from stating with accuracy
the precise extent of its disadvantage to the
public. But, according to one (the eighteenth)
of a series of resolutions on the state of the
nation, submitted to the consideration of par*
liameot, by Mr. Hume, on the 4th of May, 1826,
it appears that £6,917,569 of the amount re-
eeivea up to the 6th of January, 1626, had been
expended at a rate equivalent to £7,858,188 of
3 per cent, stock, whilst the equivalent of 3 per
cent, stock given for that portion of the amount
was £9,476,110, consequently a bonus to the
bank equal to £1,617,922 of 3 per cent, stock;
but, by mathematically correct working of the
transaction' in 1824, when the 3 per cent stock
was at 95, and assuming that rate for the ex-
penditure of the remainder of the instalments
then to be paid, the result would have been on
the 10th of^ October, 1828, a cancelling of per-
petual annuity to the amount of £365,880, leaving
an excess of £219,852 per annum, payable for
38i years, equivalent to an annuity in perpetuity
of £146,962; and supposing from the date of
the last instalment in 1828, 3 per cent, stock
should recede to 60, or the rate of mterest become
permanent at 5 per cent, per annum, the excess
of the annuity of £219,852 for 38 J years, would,
at the expiration of that period, be equal to
£29,381,900 of 3 per cent, stock, or an annuity
in perpetuity of J&81,457, consequently a dis-
advantage to the public to that extent for ever.
70. The following is a Statement of the Income of the Bank at the period of this article going
to press.
Interest on the £14,686,800 permanent Debt of the Government, at 3 per cent
Annuity for 44 years, from 5th of April, 1823 . •
Charge for transfer of the Puiolic Funds, and Payment of the Annuities, about
Interest on Notes in circulation, say £20,000,000, at an average of 4 per cent.
Total
From which the following charges and liabilitiee must be deducted, viz.
Salaries nf about 1000 Clerks
Stationary, Coals, Candles, and House Expenses
Repair of Buildings, Taxes, &c
Composition for Stamps '
Loss on Bills Discounted
Law Expenses, Gratuities, &c
Net Income
£250,000
50,000
20,000
50,000
50,000
20,000
£440,604
585,740
275,000
800,000
£2,101,344
440,000
£1,661,344
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Being upwards of 11 per cent, on the amount of
stock constituting the permanent capital annually
divided upon, against which, however, £5,000,000
of the loan of 1823, for which the annuity of
£585,740 was obtained, remains to be paid up ;
but, if the resources of the bank have hitherto
been such as to enable it to advance the
£8,000,000 without entrenching more than 2
per cent upon its profuse income, but little
doubt remains that it will be able to fulfil the
contract without any further entrenchment, and
if so, the whole annuity then remains clear income
for the remainder of the period, viz. 38^ years.
The amounts deducted from the gross income are
entirely assumed, there being no authentic data
before the public on the subject, they probably
exceed the actual expenses.
71 . In the preceding view of the total income
of the bank,^no notice is taken of interest on the
temjporary advances to the government, nor of
Sronts by discounting, nor of interest that may
e derived from the balances held by the bank,
due as well to depositors as to the government ;
because the first, that is, the temporary advances
to the government wholly, and the odiers pai^
tially, merge in the aggregate amount of interest
derived from the circulation of its notes.
72. In addition to the Bank of England there
are about seventy private banking establishments
in London, for the purposes of deposit, transfer,
and discount only ; and about 700 others, spread
over the several counties of England and Wales,
and thirty-two in Scotland ; the greater portion
of which circulate their own notes, in addition
to acting as banks of discount, deposit, and
transfer. But as, at the period of this article
going to press, proceedings are pending in par-
liament which threaten a change in the banking
system, calculated to change these arrange-
ments entirely, we refer the reader to the
article Circulating Medium, in a subse-
quent part of this wofk, for a continuation of
the history and practice of banking in England,
Scotland, and Ireland, as well as in France,
America, British India, New Sodtii Wales, and
the Cape of Good Hope. See also Savings'
Bank, under the head Savings.
73. STATEMENT.
Years.
1792
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1800
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1810
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
1820
21
22
23
24
25
26
Bank Notes and Bank Post Bills in circu-
lation on the 25th or 26th February.
BankNotes ;
of £5 and \ Bank
upwards. |Post Bills.
10,394,106
10,780,643
10,079,165
12,968,707
10,266,561
8,167,949
10,856,188
10,576,510
13,106,368
12,975,006
12,038,970
11,796,424
12,054,943
11,403,290
11,994,350
12,274,629
13,746,598
12,730,999
13,650,592
15,110,688
14,523,049
14,567,267
15,632,250
16,394,359
15,307,228
17,538,656
19,077,951
16,549,270
15,393,770
15,766,270
15,178,490
15,749,980
17,469,210
755,703
647,738
618,759
570,456
643,133
474,615
551,549
607,907
723,600
954,982
803,499
820,039
848,894
1,029,580
725,786
724,485
742,671
944,727
907,620
1,133,419
1,059,854
1,034,882
1,091,242
1,184,459
1,336,467
1,376,416
1,838,600
1,602,390
1,401,200
1,606,820
1,609,620
1,747,160
2,246,040
^ -op
1,442,348
1,451,728
1,406,708
2,647,526
2,616,407
2,960,469
4,673,515
4,801,596
4,428,360
4,206,230
4,103,785
4,338,951
5,871,069
7,140,726
7,415,294
7,7p5,322
8,371,923
9,094,552
9,036,374
8,143,506
7,362,492
7,276,590
6,689,130
6,451,520
1,384,360
692,110
491,370
1,559,756
Total.
11,149,809
11,428,381
10,697,924
13,539,163
10,909,694
8,601,964
12,850,085
12,636,145
15,236,676
16,577,514
15,458,876
15,576,932
17,577,352
17,234,466
17,148,446
17,205,344
18,593,054
18,014,677
20,429,281
23,384,833
22,998,197
23,307,471
25,095,415
26,673,370
25,680,069
27,058,578
28,879,043
25,947,637
23,484,100
23,824,610
18,172,470
18,189,450
19,736,986
21,060,145
23,673,737
Total on
the 25th or
26th of
August.
11,006,969
10,838,214
10,628,220
11,458,382
9,531^35
10,568,216
12,191,025
13,259,873
14,735,378
14,970,321
16,887,113
17,035,959
17,323,994
16,296,178
19,072,893
20,034,112
17,365,266
19,357,241
24,446,175
23,793,115
23,482,910
24,024,869
28,979,876
27,024,049
27,075,854
30,099,908
26,602,837
25,657,610
24,533,160
20,327,753
18,142,700
19,582,348
20,293,326
19,290,570
Amount of Debt due to
Bank fromOovemment.
On 25th
or 26th of
February.
10,968,306
10,529,828
10,816,867
13,118,013
12,717,239
10,181,862
9,807,814
10,082,739
13,201,639
15,289,439
14,284,239
9,595,939
11,715,239
17,202,739
14,663,339
13,763,539
14,364,939
15,400,139
15,017,839
18,068,439
22,551,739
25,893,939
24,484,039
28,032,739
19,865,039
26,373,570
28,035,523
23,727,720
23,005,204
16,641,620
14,188,200
14,969,554
15,600,780
19,679,288
18,724,246j
On 25th
or 26th of
August.
11,684,484
11,851,388
8,737,806
13,460,144
10,454,614
7.145,134
9,444,976
8,986,439
12,899,239
11,948,539
13,552,339
13,635,239
15,304,439
11,745^39
14,445»339
13,665,399
15,077,539
16,009,399
17,680,739
22,696,239
21,957,639
25,731,239
25,814,539
24,955,839
27,222,845
28,300,209
28,087,860
25,546,230
20,826,447
17,214,325
15,450,958
15,319,316
15,884,468
18,261,100
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480*
Baiu», Satikos". These admirable insti-
tutions form a striking feature in the moral his-
tory of modem Britain. In former times every
charitable institution was exclusively a subscrip-
tion of the rich for the benefit of the poor : these,
roost happily, like their kindred Friendly Socie-
ties, are composed of contributions from among
the poor, co-operating for their own benefit, and
conscious that U)ey are promoting primarily their
own interest. The success of these plans has-
been surprising, considering the peculiar crisis
at which they have originated — that of unques-
tionable distress and nressure on all ranks (espe-
cially the middle and lower ranks) of society ;
to say nothing of the spirit of undue dependence
engendered in this country by the poor laws.
The eccentric but philanthropic Jeremy Butham
was the first, we believe, who invited the public
attention to a distinct banking system for the
poor. He proposed to establish what he calls
a Frugality Bank, so fiir back as the year 1797,
in Young*s Annals of Agriculture. The scheme
involves more than the mere deposit of money,
and has never, as we understand, been acted
upon ; but, like most of his projects, it contains
many useful hints, and may do good by rebound.
The wants to which it was by him designed te
operate as a remedy were :—
1 . Want of physical means of safe custody,
such as lock-up places ; thence, danger of depre-
dation, and accidental loss.
2. Difficulty of opposing and never-yielding
resistance to the temptations afforded by the in-
struments of sensual enjoyment, where the means
of purchasing them are constantly at hand.
3. Want of the means of obtaining a profit by
the savings of the poor, or the use of them in
portions adapted to their peculiar exigencies.
4. Want of a set of instructions and mementos
constantly at hand, presenting to view the seve-
ral exigencies, dr sources of demand for money
in store, aod the use of pr<)viding it.
He next proceeded to sketch the properties
which appeared to him to be desirable in a sys-
tem of rrugality banks, commensurate to the
whole popuktion of the self-maintaining poor.
These were,
1. Fund, solid and secure.
2. Plan of provision all-oomprehensive.
3. Scale of dealing commensurate to the pecu-
niary fkcultiet of each customer.
4. Terms of dealing sufficiently advantageous
to the customer.
5. Places of transacting business suitable ;
vie. in point of vicinity, and other conveniences.
6. Mode of transacting business accommo-
dating.
T. Mode of operation prompt.
8. Mode of book-keeping clear and satis&ctory.
In 1803 the well-known authoress Mrs. Pucilla
Wakefield projected the first bank that was ever
actually instituted for the benefit of the poor at
Tottenham. In the Reports of the Society for
Bettering the Condition of the Poor, vol. iv., it
is said, * for the purpose of providing a safe and
convenient place of deposit for the savings of
laboFers, servants, and other poor persons, a cha-
ritable establishment has been lately formed at
Tottenham in the county of Middlesex. It is
guaranteed by six trustees, who are gentlemen
of fortune and responsibility, most of them pos-
sessing considerable landed property. This ren-
ders it as safe and certain as institutions of this
kind can be, and insures it from that fluctuation
of/ value to which the public funds are liable.
The books are kept by a lady, and never opened
but on the first Monday in every month, either
for receipts or payments. Any sum is received
above !«., and five per cent, is given for every
20<. that lies twelve kaleoder months; every
person so depositing money being at liberty to
recal it any uay the books are opened ; but no
business is tran.«acted at any other time. The
money so collected is divided equally between
the six trustees. For every additional £100 a
new trustee is to be chosen ; so that a trustee
can only risk his proportion of £100. None but
the laboring classes are admitted to this benefit ;
and there is no restriction as to place of resi-
dence.
' Oifservatiom, — ^These few simple rules are all
that have hitherto been found necessary for tlie
establishment of ^is charity. It is not sufficient
to stimulate the poor to industry unless they can
be persuaded to adopt habits of frugality. The
season of plenty should provide for the season
of want, and the gains of summer be laid by
for the rigors of winter. Bat it must be obvious
how difficult it is for even the ' sober laborer to
save up his money, when it is at hand to supply
the wants that occur in his fiimily. For those of
intemperate habits, ready money is a very strong
temptation to the indulgence of those pernicious
propensities. Many would try to make a little
hoard for sickness or old age, but they know not
where to place it without danger or inconve-
nience. They do not understand how to put
money in, or to take it out of the bank ; nor will
it answer for small sums, either in point of trou-
ble or of loss of time. The same causes fre-
quently occasion thoughtless servants to spend
all their vrages in youth, and in consequence to
pass their old age in a workhouse.*
In 1807 the Rev. Henry Duncan, minister of
West Colder, in Scotland, established in his
parish a similar institution, which he described
in a pamphlet that exhibits his accurate ac-
quaintance with the difficulties and encourage-
ments of these schemes.
* Those who are at all acquainted with the
history of friendly societies,' he well observes,
* must be aware that they owe much of their
popularity to the interest excited among the lower
orders, by the share to which each of the mem-
bers is admitted in the management of the insti-
tution. The love of power is inherent in the
human mind, and the constitution of friendly
societies is calculated to gratify this natural
feeling. The members find, in the exercise of
their functions, a certain increase of personal
consequence, which interests their self-love in
the prosperity of the establishment. Besides, by
thus having constantly before their eyes the ope-
ration of the scheme, in all its details, they are
more forcibly reminded of its advantages ; and
not only induced to make greater efforts them-
selves for obtaining these advantages, but also
to persuade others to follow their example. Hence
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it happens tnat a great number of active and
jealous supporters of the institution are always
to be found amongst the members of a friendly
society, who do more for the success of the estab-
lishment than can possibly be effected by the
benevolent exertions of individuals in a higher
station.' Mr. Duncan therefore fonnd it expe-
dient to give the contributors themselves a share
in the management of the institution ; and that
share was well chosen. The contributors in a
body were not fit to be the acting parties ; but
they were fit to choose those who should act.
* A general meeting is held onoe a year, oon-
sisting of all the members who have made pay-
ments for six months, and whose deposits
amount to £l. By this meeting are chosen the
court of directors, the committee, the treasurer,
and the trustee, the functionaries to whom the
executive operations are confined : and by the
annual meeting also are reviewed and controlled
the transactions of the past year, with power to
reverse the decisions of the committee and court
of directors ; and to make new laws and regula-
tions, or alter those already msfie. The society
consists of two sorts of members, the ordinary,
and the extraordinary and honorary. The
general meetings alone have the power of elect-
ing honorary members; but the bank trustee,
the lord-lieutenant and vice-lieutenant of the
county, the sheriff-depute and his substitute, the
members of parliament for the county and burgh,
the ministers of the parish, with certain magis-
trates of the town, are honorary members ex offi-
cio; and there are certain regulated subscrip-
tions or donations, of no great amount, which
constitute the person paying them, ipso facto, an
extraordinary or honorary member. From this
list of honorary and extraordinary members the
ciioice of functionaries by the general meeting
is annually to t>e made, provided a sufficient
number of them should be disposed to accept of
the oihces designed ; if not, from such of the
ordinary members as make deposits to the
amount of not less than £2 129. in the year. De-
posits are received in sums of 1«., bear interest
at the amount of £l ; and are always payable at
compound interest on a weeks' notice.
In 1814 the first Edinburgh bank for savings
wos founded on a modification of the above plan.
The bank for savings at Liverpool was estab-
lished in the year 1 81 3, by the Society for Better-
ing the Condition and Increasing the Comlbrts'of
the Poor, in the Town and Neighbourhood of
liverpool. ' This establishroent was suggested,^
says one of the managers, < by the numerous in-
. stances which had come to the knowledge of the
society, in which the industrious had lost thoir
savings from the failure of the persons in whose
hands they were placed^ The committee were
anxious to hold out every possible inducement
to the lower ordersi for depositing their surplus
earnings, consistent with a proper prudence and
caution. Many gentlemen were of opinion that^
in such a town as Liverpool, five per ^ent. might
at all tiroes be obtained on good security; and
as the society had an office and clerk of their
own, where and by whom the deposits might be
received, without any additional expense, it was
determined that five per cent, should be the rate
of interest given. However no sum was to bo
entitled to Uiat interest till it had been in tha
fund for one year at least; if taken out' before
that period four per cent, only was to be allowed.
The bank continued under these regulations till
the beginning of 1815, at which period above
£900 were deposited in it We had plaeed £300
upon mortgage, and the remainder was vested in
the navy five per cents, at such prices as to yield
more than five per cent. When, however, vre
found that the fund was likely to increase to
a very considerable extent, and that, as we were
personally responsible for the money, we should
always be liable to the sudden fiuctuation of
stock, and might, upon any sudden disaster,
have a run upon us, which would compel us to
sell out, perhaps at a considerable loss, it was de-
termined in future to limit the receipts into the
Mechanics Fund to £5 for one individual, and to
establish a higher bank, under the name of the
Provident Institution, into which the depositors
might remove their money when it reached tbat
sum (£5) ; and where it might be allowed to ac-
cumulate to any amount. The principle of the
bank is, that every person becomes a proprietor
of stock to the amount of his deposit, and shaQ
receive the interest annually, after deducting ooe-
twentieth for the necessary expenses of manage-
ment. This one-twentieth, together with the
farthings, which are not paid, is reserved for the
above purpose; and, should any surplus remain
at the end of five years, it is to be divided amongst
the then existing proprietors. One or more even
pounds will be at any time received ; but the
fractions of pounds must always accumulate in
the lower fund. By this means we have reduced
the Mechanics' Fund to about £450 ; the re-
mainder has been transferred to the Provident
Institution, and about £l200 have been depo-
sited in addition to it since July last.'
We need not add to these abstracts any ac-
count of the almost numberless Saving Banb
now existing in the country. Their principle
is fiimiliar to all classes, and information on the
subject is so easy of access that we do not think
it right to occupy our space with any observa-
tions of our own. The government have acted
the part which became them as to these institu-
tions, and have afforded them the sanction and
security which were essential to their permanence
and prosperity; and the public mind has caoght
the impulse to such an extent as is likely to give
them a lasting and universal establishment
We make but two concluding remarks:— I.
One of the great advantages of tne saving bank
over the friendly society is that it has the benefit
of survivorship. If the contributor to a saving
bank dies, the whole o*f his contribution remains
to his fiimily. If, on the contrary, the member
of a benefit society dies, the whole of his pro-
perty, except the sums ordinarily allowed to ti>e
widow, and sometimes to his children, is lost
to his family.
2. Another great advantage of saving banks over
benefit societies, constituted as tliese last ordi-
narily have been, is, that the benefit societie.>
have been the prolific source of contention and
immorality ; whereas the scheme of saving banks
appears liable to no such abuse.
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B A ^^ R R U P T S.
481
B ANK AFALET, a game of cards played thus :
after cutting the card& into as many parts as there
are players,every man lays what money he chooses
on his card ; and according to the value of his
card, above or below those of the other game-
sters, the dealer wins or loses. .The ace of dia-
monds is the best card ; the ace of hearts next ;
the ace of clubs after it; then the ace of spades ;
and so of the rest of these suits in order, accord-
ing to their rank. The cheat depends on secu-
ring an ace, or such other sure winning card ;
which are known to the sharper by some secret
mark.
Bankers, in antiquity, were called argentarii,
and nummularii; by the Greeks rpairc&rai, coX-
XvjSirat, and opyvpa/uMjSoi. Their chief business
was to put out the money of private persons to in-
terest: they had tlieir boards and benches for
this purpose in all the markets and public places,
'Where they took in the money from some, to lend
it to others. The Romans had two kinds of
"bankers, though their office was much more ex-
tensive than that of the bankers among us, theirs
being that of public officers, in whom were united
the Amctions of a broker, agent, banker, and no-
tary ; managing the exchange, taking in money,
assisting in buying and selling, and drawing the
writings necessary on all these occasions.
Bankers, in bricklaying, pieces of timber
•whereon bricks are cut. V:\e banker is six feet
•long or more, according to the number of men
to work at it, and nine or ten inches square; it
is to be laid on two piers of timber, three feet
«igh from the floor.
Bankers, in the court of Rome, are persons
authorised, exclusively, to solicit and procure by
their correspondents at Rome, all bulls, dispen-
sations, and other acts despatched at the ]^pal
dataiy, or in the legateship of Avignon. They
were common in all the cities of France that bad
a parliament, or a presidial before the revolution ;
and were erected into a regular and hereditary
office, by an edict in 1673. They owed their
ori<Tin to the Guelphs, who took shelter at Avig-
non, and in other cities within the jurisdiction of
the pope, in the time of the civil wars of Italy.
But the beavy extortions they practised towards
their clients, soon rendered them odious, and oc-
•casioned several denominations of reproach, as
eoarcini, caturcini, caursini, corcini, &c. from the
city Cahors, the native place of pope John XXII.
in whose pontificate they were in their highest
power.
Bankers, in seamens' language, vessels em-
ployed in the cod-fishery on the bulks of New-
foundland.
Banking, in architecture, the making of
banks to oppose the force of the sea, rivers, or the
like, and secure the land from being overflowed
thereby. With respect to the water which is to
be kept out, this is called banking ; with respect
to the land, which is thereby to be defended, em-
banking.
BANKALA, an island in the eastern seas, off
the coast of Celebes, about twenty miles in cir-
cumference. Long. 122** 51' E., lat 2** 30* S.
BANKAPOUR, or Bancafoor, a fortress of
l^indo^tan, in the Mysore, now dismantled.
Vol III.
Distant 108 miles N. W. of Seringapatam, and
sixty S. W. of Bednore.
BANKINSKOI, a town of Siberia, in the envi-
rons of Lake Baikal. Long. 117° 14' £., la(.
51*» 11' N.
BANKMORE, a sand bank in the Irish Sea,
one mile south of Pontaferry harbour, in the
county of Down.
BANKODANG, a small island in the Eastern
Indian sea. Long. 118*' 2' E., hit. 5" 12' S.
BANKOSSEI, a town of Lower Siam, on the
west side of the gulf. Distant seventy miles south
of Juthia. Long. 100° 38' E., lat. 13° 12' N.
Bankrupts, Laws respecting. The title of
the first English statute on this subject, 34 Henrv
VIII. cap. 4, which is said to be < against such
persons as do make bankrupt,' is a literal translation
of the French idiom, qui font banque route. The
3d of Elizabeth followed, all of the provisions
of which were incorporated in 1 Jac. I.
A bankrupt, according to these statutes, was con-
sidered as a criminal or offender, 1. Jac. I. c. 15.
sect. 17 ; but at present the laws of bankruptcy
are regarded as calculated for the general benefit
of trade, and being founded on broader views of
humanity and justice, confer some privileges not
only on the creditors, but also on the b^rupt
himself : on the creditors^ by compelling the bank-
rupt to give up all his effects to mcir use, without
any concealment;— and on the debtor, by ex*
empting him from the rigor of other parts of the
law, whereby his person might be confined at the
discretion of his creditor, though in reality he lias
nothing to satisfy the debt; and, together with
the liberty of his person, affording him, on cer-
tain conditions, some pecuniary provision for bis
future maintenance. In this respect our legislar
tures seems to have attended to the example of
the Roman law. We mean not the terrible law
of the XII tables ; whereby creditors miglit eut
the debtor's body into pieces, and each of them
take his proportionable share : if indeed that
law, de debitore in partes secando, is to be un-
derstood in so barbarous a light; nor do we mean
those less inhuman laws (if they may be called
so, as their meaning is indisputably certain), of
imprisoning the debtor's person in chains, subjectr
ing him to stripes and hard labor at the mercy
of hii creditor ; and sometimes selling him, his
wife, and children, to perpetual foreign slavery
trans Tiberim ; an oppressionwhicb produced so
many popular insurrections, and secessiona to tha
mons sacer. Laws e(|ue]ly barbarous are quoted by
Blackstone, as exisuog in P^gu, and the adjacent
countries of the East, where the creditor is entitled
to dispose of the debtor himself, and likewise of,
or appropriate, his wife and children : though in*
deed by doing so, the debt is understood to be
discharged. But we mean the law of cession in-
troduced by the Christian emperors; whereby,
if a debtor ceded or yielded up all his fortune to
his creditors, he was secured from imprisonment,
* omni quoque corporuli crudatu semoto.' For,
as the emperor justly observes, ' inhumanum
erat spoliatum fbrtunis suis in solidum damnari.'
Thu!i fiur was just and reasonable ; but, as the de-
parting from one extreme is apt to produce its
opposite, we find it afterwards enactea, that if the
21
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BANKRUPT.
Maotf Wy any ttii4brMeeft aocitel^ wu raduMd
to low circumstaDces, and ^noold ywear thai Im
had Dot sufficient teft to pay hi»debt«» be should
not be compelled to cede or gi«e ap eyen thai
which he had Id his possession; a law which,
under a false aotion of humaDity, teems to be
fertile ofperjuiy^ ahiuiidrty, and kijosticeb The
laws of England, more wisely, have steered be-
tween these extremes : providing at once fl^nst
the inhamanity of the creditor, who is not suf-
fered to coafrne an honest bankrupt after his
effects are delivered Mf ; and at the same tame
taking care that all his just debts shall be paid^
so £ir as the eflecU will extend. But still they
sore cautious of encouraging prodigality and ex-
travAffanoe by this indulgence to debtors : and
therefore they allow the benefit of the laws of
bankruptcy to none but actual traders ; since that
Mt of men are, generally speakings the only per-
sons liable to accidental losses, and to an inabi-
lity of paying their debts, widumt any fault of
their own. If persons in other situations of life
fun in debt wittioat the power of payment, they
fDQSt take the cons6(|uences of their own indis^
cretioa, even though they meet with suddea ao*
cidents that may reduce tfaeif foi;tuiies ; for thft
law holds it to be an unjustifiable practice, for any
person but a trader to encumber himself with
debts of any coiisideraliie value. If a gentleman,
or one in a liberal profession, at the time of con-
tracting his debts, has a sufficient fund to pay
them, l^e delay of payment is h species of dist
honesty, and a temporary injustice to his creditor ;
and if, at such a time, he has not sufficient fund,
the dishonesty and iojustioe is, the gMates. Hit
oannot, therefore, mnmrar, if he sufier the pu-
niahment which be has voluntarily drawn upon
himself. But in mercantile transactions, the
oase is far otherwise. Trade cannot be carried
on without mutual credit on both sides ; the con-
tracting <rf debts is therefore here not only iusti-
iiable but necessary. And if by aocideDlel
calamities, as by the loss of a ship in a tiempesi,
the failure of brother traders, oc by the non-pay-
ment of persons out of trade, a merchant or
trader becomes incapable of discharging his o^rn
d^ts, it is his miafinrtune and not his feult^ Such
is tiie spirit of oue law : which has been rendered
more simple in the mode of itS: execution of late
by the comprehensive statute 6 Geo. IV. cap. 16.
which, repealing the greater part of the former
statutes on this subject, dictates a line of practice
which Biay be conveniently considered under, 1.
Who may become bankrupts. 2. What is an
act of bankouptcy. 3. Proceedings thereon up
to, and inchasive of the meetings of creditors. 4.
£flBCts to the bankrupt and his creditors*
I. J^ertofu wKo tna^ become bankrt^t9 are d}e-
fined lo be« all bankers, brdkets, and persotis
using the traSle or profession of a scrivener, re-
ceiving other men's monies or estates into their
trust or custody, and persons insuring ships or
their freight, or other matters, against penis of
the sea, warehousemen, wharfinger, packers,
builders,* carpenters, ^ipwrights, victuallers,
keepesB of inns, taverns, hotels, or coffee-houses,
dyers, printers, bleachers, fullers, calenderers,
. cattle or sheep salesmen, awi all persons using
the trade of merchandise by way of bargaining,
exofaaffe^ t^axtenqg, commission, consignment,
or otherwise, in gross or by retail ; and all per-
«ons who,, either for themselves or as agents or
fiictors for others, seek their living by buying
and selling,' or by buying :uid letting for hire, or
by the workmanship of goods or commodities,
shall be deemed traders liable to become bank-
rupt : Provided that no farmer, graiier, common
laborer, or workman for hire, receiver-general of tlie
taxes, or member of or subscriber to any Incorpo-
rated commercial or trading companies, establish-
ed by charter or act of parliament, shall be deemed,
as such a trader, liable to become bankrupt.
II. An act of banjcryptcif is committed. 1.
*. If any trader shall depart this realm, or beiog
out of this realm shall remain abroad, or de-
part from his dwelling-house, or otherwise ab-
sent himself, or begin to keep his house, or sufier
himself to be arrested for any debt not due, or
yieU himself to prison, or suffer himself to be
outlawed, or procure himself to be arrested, or
his goods, money, or chattels, to be attached, se-
questered, or taken in execution, or make or
cause to be made, either within thi^ realm or
elsewhere, any fraudulent grant or oonveyanoe
of any of his lands, tenements, goods, or chattels,
or make or cause to be made any fraudulent
surrender of any of his copyhold lands or tene-
inent9» ov make or cause to be made any fraudu-
lent gift, delivery, or transfer of an^ of his goods,
or chiitteU; every such trader doing, sufferiof^
procuring, executing, permitting, making, or
eansiog tp be iqade any of th^ acis, deeds, or
matters aforesaid, with intent to defeat or delay
his creditors, shall be deemed to have thereby
committed an act of bankruptcy.
2. 9ut where any trader shall execute any
Qonveyance or assignment, by deed, to a trustee
or trusteeSj of all his estate and effects for the
benefit of all tho creditors of such trader, the
execution of such deed shall not be deemed an
act of bankruptey, unless a commission issue
against such trader withiu six calender months
from the execution thereof provided that such
deed shall be executed by every such trustee
within fifteen days after the execution thereof by
the said trader ; and that the execution by such
tr^er and by every such trustee be altered by
an attorney or solicitor; and that notice be
given within two months after the execution
thereof by such trader in the London Gazette,
and two London daily newspapers ; or in case
the trader does not reside within forty miles of
London, in the London Gaaette and in one Lon-
don daily newspaper and one provincinl news-
paper, published near to such trader's residence ;
such notice containing ibe date and ea^ntion of
such deed, and the name and place of abode
respectively of every such trustee, and nf snoh
attorney or solicitor.
3. Other acts of bankruptcy aie lying in prison
fi>c debt twenty-one days; esoapiog out of prison
or custody ; or, which is the most novel and im-
portant feature 'Of this act, — If anv trailer shall
file in the office of the Lord ChanoeUoff*s aecretary
of bankrupts, a declaration in writing attested by
an attorney or solicitor, tha^ he is insolvent, or
unable to meet his engagements, the seoretary of
bankrupts or his dep^^v i^ then to aim a incuKi*
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BANKRUPT.
483
randum that such declaration hath been filed,
which is authority for the printer of the London
Gazette to insert an adTertisement of such decla-
ration therein ; and every such declaration shall,
after the advertisement inserted, become an act
of bankruptcy committed by such trader at the
time when such declaration was filed: but no
commission can issue thereupon, unless it be
mied out within two calender months next after
its insertion, nor unless such advertisement shall
have been inserted in the London Gazette within
eight days after such declaration was filed ; and
no docket can be struck upon such act of
bankru^vtcy before the expiration of four days
next aner insertion of such advertisement, in
case such commission is to be executed in Lon-
don, or before the expiration of eight days next
after such insertion, in case such commission is
to be executed in the country.
A further provision upon this point, and which
seems desijl^ned to encourage a settlement of in-
solvents* affairs in this vray is, That no commis<
sion under which the adjudication shall be
grounded on the act of bankruptcy being the
filing of such declaration, shall be deemed in-
▼alia by reason of such declaration having been
concerted or agreed upon between the bankrupt
and any creditor or other person.
If any trader having privilege of parliament
£ttdl\ commit any act of bankruptcy, a €ommi$«
sion of bankrupt may issue against him, and the
commissioners and all other persons acting under
such commission, may proceed thereon in like
manner as against other bankrupts, only such
person shall not be subject to be arrested or im-
prisoned during his privilege, except in cases
made felony by this act.
III. Froceedings hereupon. •!. The Lord
Chancellor has power upon petition stating to
him in writing that any trader has committed
any act of bankniptcy, by any creditor or
creditors of such trader ; if one being a credi-
tor for £100, if two for £1^0, and if three
being creditors for £200 ; by commission under
the great seal, to appoint such persons as to
him shall seem fit, to have full power and
audiority to take such order and direction, vrith
Ihe body of the bankrupt, as herein after men-
tioned, as also with all his lands, tenements, and
hereditaments, botii within the realm and abroad,
^Rdiich lie shall have in his own right before he
became bankrupt, as also with all such interest
in any such lands, tenements, and hereditaments
as sach bankrupt may lawfully depart with all,
«nd wkh all his money, fees, offices, annuities,
goods, chattels, wares, merchandise, and debts,
wheresoever they may be found or known, and
to make sale thereof, &c. for satisfaction a/id
payment of the creditors.
Xbe petitioning creditor must prosecute a
commission at his own costs, until the choice
of assignees ; or the commissioners may appoint
temporary assignees. Any creditor or creditors
whose debt or debts is or are sufficient to entitle
him or them to petition for a commission against
all the |>artners of any firm, may petition tor a
commission against one or more partners of such
fioDy and every comimssion issued upon sudi
i tbtU be \'alid although it does not in-
clude all the partners of the firm, and in e%ery
commission against two or more persons it shaii
be lawful for Ihcf Lord Chancellor to supenede
such commission as to one or more of such pei^
sons,' and the validity of such commission snail
not be thereby affected as to any person as to
whom such commission is not ordered to be su-
perseded, nor shall any snch person's certificate
be thereby affected. Auxiliary commissions for
the proof of debts or examination of witnessea
may also be issued by the chancellor. But the
examinations are to be annexed to the original
commission.
2. The commissioners take oath impartialLy
and honestly to execute theif office; and they
take a fee of twenty shillings for every meeting and
for the signature of eveiy deed and conveyance,
and the bankrupt's certificate. The fiist duty is,
upon proof made before them of the petitioning
creditor's debt or debts, and of the trading and
act or acts of bankruptcy of the perwo or per-
sons against whom such commission is issued,
to adjudge such person or persons bankrupt.
Then the commissioners ^ shall forthwith cause
notice of such adjudication to be given in the
London Gazette, and shall ther&y appoint
three public meetings for the bankrapt to sur-
render and conform, the last of which meetings
shall be on the forty-second day hereby limited
for such surrender.' No commission shall abate
by reason of a demise of the crown, and (if by
reason of the death of commissionen, orjbr aay
other catise, it becomes necessary) any commis-
sion may be renewed, but only half the foes
usually paid upon obtaining commissions shall
be paid for the same ; and if any bankrupt shall
die after adjudication, the commissioners may
proceed in the commission as they might have
done if he were living.
3. The messenger of the commissioners may
break open the bankrupt's doon, &c. and seize
upon his body or property ; and if the bankrupt
be in prison or in custody, it shall be la\rful for
the person so appointed as aforesaid to seize any
property (his necessary wearing apparel only ex^
cepted) in the custody or possession of such
bankrupt, or of any other person, in any prison
<^ place where such bankrupt is in custody.
But, in ordinary cases, the messenger proceeds
quietly to enter on the bankrupt's premises, and
take possession of his goods. The commissioners
are empowered to summon persons suspected of
having Dankrupt'« property in their hands, &c.;
and compel them to produce books^ &c. under
pain of being committed to prison without bail,
fhey may even summon the bankrupt's wife.
And the concealment of his effects subjects other
parties to a fine of £lOO.
4. At the three several meetings appointed by
Ae commissioners, and at every other meeting by
diem appointed for proof of debts (whereof, and
of the purport whereof, ten days notice shaU
have been given in the London Gazette), every
creditor of the bankrupt may prove his debt by
his own oath ; and all bodies politic and public
companies incorporated or authorised to sue or
bring actions, either by charter or act of paiw
liament, may prove by an agent, provided sucfa
agent shall in his deposition swear that be is soen
2 I 2
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484
BANKRUPT.
ag«nt« and that he is authorised to make such
proof; and if any creditor shall live remote from
the place of the meeting of the commissioners,
he may prove hy affidavit, sworn before a master
in chancery, ordinary or extraordinary ; or if such
creditor shall live out of En^^land, by affidavit
sworn before a magistrate where such creditor
shall be residing, and attested by a notary public,
British minister, or consul : and no creditor shall
Say any contribution on account of any such
eot ; provided, that it shall be lawful for the
said commissioners to examine upon oath, either
by word of mouth or by interrogatories in writing,
every person claiming to prove a debt under the
said commission, or to require such further proof,
and to examine such other persons in relation
thereto, as they shall think fit. Bond fide credi-
tors are admitted to prove a debt notwithstanding
any secret act of bankruptcy, before it was con-
tracted, and, as special debts, the commissioners
may oider six mouths wages of servants or clerks
to be paid in full ; but of more than six mohths*
wages, the residue must be proved as an ordinary
debt; and debts not payable at the time of the
bankruptcy may be proved, deducting rebate of
interest; and tne actual interest due on bills of
exchange, &c. at the date of the commission.
Sureties and persons liable for the debts of bank-
rupts can only prove, after having paid such
debts. The value of annuities, however, may
be calculated and proved ; but other debts con-
tingent at the time of the bankfuptcy, are pro-
vable aflter the happening of the contingency.
The commissioners may convey the personal
estate, debts due to the bankrupt, and all his
property to the assignees.
5. At the second meeting appointed by the
commissioners, or any adjournment thereof, the
assigLees of the bankrupt's estate and effects are
chosen ; and all creditors who have proved debts
under the commission to the amount of ten
pounds and upwards entitled to vote in such
choice ; and also any person authorised by letter
of attorney from any creditor or creditors, upon
proof of the execution thereof, either by affidavit
sworn before a master in chancery, ordinary or
extraordinary, or by oath before the commission-
ers viva voce ; and that the commissioners having
power to reject any person so chosen who shall
appear to them unfit to be such assignee, and
upon such rejection a new choice of another as-
signee or assignees shall be made. And a joint
creditor is entitled to prove under a separate
commission, for the purpose of voting in the
choice of assignees.
'6. If any person against whom any conmnis-
3ion has been issued, or shall hereafter be issued,
whereupon such person hath been or sh§ll be
declarea bankrupt, shall not, before three of the
clock upon the forty-second day after notice
thereof in writing to be left at the usual place of
a' ode of such person, or personal notice in case
such person be then in prison, and notice given
in the London Gazette of the issuing of the com-
mission, and of the meetings of the commis-
sioners, surrender himself to them, and sign or
subscribe sudi surrender, and submit to be exa-
mined before them, from time to time, upon
oath, or, being a Quaker, upon solemn affirma-
tion ; or if any such bankrupt upon i
nation shall not discover all his real or pencmal
estate, and how and to whom, upon whatt consi-
deration, and when he disposed of, assigniKl, or
transferred any of such estate, and aU books,
papers, and writings relating thereunto (except
such part as shall have been really and bon& fioe
befove sold or disposed of in the way of his trade,
or laid out in the ordinary expense of his&mily) ;
or if any such bankrupt shall not upon such ex-
amination deliver up to the commissioners all
such part of such estate, and all books, papers,
and writings relating thereunto, as be in hb pos
session, custody, or power, (except the -necessaiy
wearing apparel of himself, his wife and chii-
dren); or if any such bankrupt shall remove,
conceal, or embezzle any part of such estate, to
the value of £lO or upwards, or any bookj of
account, papers, or writings relating thereto,
with intent to defraud his creditors, every sack
bankrupt shall be deemed guilty of felony, and
be liable to be transported for life, or for such
term, not less than seven years, as the court be-
fore which he shall be convicted shall adjudi^
or shall be liable to be imprisoned only, or im-
prisoned and kept to hard bbor in any common
gaol, penitentiary house, or house of correction,
for any term not exceeding seven years. But
the lord chancellor, or the commissioners have
power, as often as they shall think fit, from time
to time, to enlarge the time for the bankrupt sur-
rendering himself, so as every such order be
made six day J at leftst before the day on which
such bankrupt was to surrender himself; and aa
allowance is to b^ made to the bankrupt for his
maintenance, out of his estate, until he smdl have
passed his examination. The bankrupt shall also
be free from arrest or imprisonment by any cre-
ditor in coming to surrender; and after stidt
surrender during the said for^-two days, and
such fiiidier time as shall be allowed him for
finishing his examination, provided be was not in
custody at the time of such surrender; and i£
such bankrupt shall be arrested for debt, or <m
any escape warrant in coming to surrender, or
shall after his surrender be so arrested within the
time aforesaid, he shall, on producing the sum-
mons under the hands of the oommiisioneffs to
the officer who shall arrest him, and giving such
officer a copy thereof^ be immediately discharged ;
and if any officer shall detain any such bankrupt
after he shall have shown his summons to him,
so signed as a£>resaid, such officer shall forfeit
to such bankrupt, for his own use the sum of £S,
for every day he shall detain such bankrupt, to
be recovered by action of debt in any court of
record at Westminster, in the name of such bank-
rupt, with full costs of suit
IV. The effects of the$e promiom wUk regard
to the bankrupt and his creditors are, 1. All pre-
vious conveyances of property, made whila he
was insolvent, become void (except upon mar-
riage of his children or for some valuable consi-
deration).
2. He is no longer entitled to leases, or ^ree-
ments for leases, nor liable for rents or cove-
nants ; but his assignees may elect to abide by
or abandon a lease or agreement, and execute
all powers previously vested in bankrupts. But
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BANKRUPT.
485
alt conrvyaaces by, and all oontncU and other
doings and transactions by and with any bank-
rnpt, bonft fide made and entered into more than
two calendar months before the date and issuing
of the commission against him, and all execu"
tions and attachments against the lands and tene-
ments or goods and chattels of such bankrupt,
bon& fide executed or levied more than two ca-
lendar months before the issuing of such commis-
sion, shall be valid, notwithstanding any prior
«t of bankruptcy by him committed ; provided
the person or persons so dealing with such bank-
rupt, or at whose suit or on whose account such
execution or attachment shall have issued, had
not at the time of such conveyance, contract,
dealing, or transaction, or at the time of execut-
ing or levying such execution or attachment, no-
tice of any prior act of bankruptcy by him com-
mitted : payments made by and to the bankrupt
without notice, are valid, notwithstanding an act
of bankruptcy. And no person or body corpo-
rate, or public company, having in his or their
possession or custoay any money, goods, wares,
merchandises, or effects belonging to any bank-
rapt shall be endangered by reason of the pay-
ment or deliveiv thereof to the bankrupt or his
order; provided, such person or company had
not at the time of such aelivery or payment, no-
tice that such bankrupt had committed an act of
bankruptcy.
3. Every bankrupt who shall have duly sur-
rendered and conformed himself to the laws in
force concerning bankrupts at the time of issuing
the commission against him, shall be discharged
from all debts due by him when he became bank-
rapt, and from all claims and demands provable
under the commission, in case he shall obtain a
certificate of such conformity, so signed and al-
lowed, and subject to such provisions as herein-
after directed; but no such certificate shall
release or discharge any person who was partner
with such bankrupt at the time of his bankruptcy,
or who was then iointly bouiMl, or had made any
joint contract with such bankrupt. Such certifi-
cate shall be signed by four-fifths in number and
value of the creditors of the bankrupt, who shall
have proved debts under the commission to the
amount of twenty pounds or upwards, or after
six calendar months from the last examination of
the bankrapt, then either by three-fiflhs in num-
ber and value of such creditors, or by nine-
tentbs in number of such creditors, who shall
thereby testify their consent to the said bank-
rupt's discharge as aforesaid ; and no snch cer-
tificate shall be such discharge, unless the
commissioners shall in writing, under their
hands and seals, certify to the Lord Chancellor
that such bankrupt has made a full discovery of
his estate and effects, and in all things conformed
as aforesaid, and that there does not appear any
reason to doubt the truth or fulness of such dis-
covery, and also that the creditors have signed in
manner hereby directed, and unless the bcmkrupt
make oath in writing that such certificate and
coRS^t were obtained without fraud, and unless
such oertificate shall, after such oath, be allowed
by the Lord Chancellor, against which allowance
any of the creditors of the bankrupt iftay be heard
before the Lord Chancellor. But the commis-
sioners shall not sign any certificate unless they
shall have proof, by affidavit in writing, of the
signature ot the creditors thereto, or of any per-
son thereto authorised by any creditor, and of
the authority by which such person shall have
so signed the same ; and if any creditor reside
abroad, the authority of such creditor shall be
attested by a notary public, British minister, or
consul ; and every such affidavit, authority, and
attestation, shall be laid before the Lord Chan-
cellor, with the certificate, previous to the allow-
ance Uiereofl
Any contract or security made or given by
any bankrupt or other person unto or in trust for -
any creditor, or for securing the payment of any
money due by such bankrupt at his bankruptcy,
as a consideration or with intent to persuade such *
creditor to consent to,^ or sign such certificate,
shall be void, and the money thereby secured or
agreed to be paid shall not be recoverable, and
the party sued on such contract or security may
plead the general issue, and give this act and the
special matter in evidence. And, finally, any '
bankrupt who shall, after this certificate shall
have been allowed, be arrested, or have any ac-
tion brought against him for any debt,, claim, or
demand, hereby made provable under the com-
mission against such bankrupt^ shall be dis-
charged upon common bail, and may plead in
general that the cause of action accrued before
he became bankrupt, and may give this act and
the special matter in evidence, and such bank-
rupt's certificate, and the allowance thereof, shall
be sufficient evidence of the trading, bankruptcy,
commi.<«sion, and other proceedings precedent ta
the obtaining such certificate ; and if any such
bankrupt shall be taken in execution, or detained
in- prison for such debt, claim, or demand, where
judgment has been obtained before the allowance
of his certificate, it shall be lawful for any judge*
of the court wherein judgment has been so ob-
tained, on such bankrupt's producing his certifi-
cate, to order any officer who shall have such/
bankrupt in custody by virtue of such execution,
to discharge such bankrupt without exacting any.
fee, and such officer shall be hereby indemnified
for so doing.
It is nevertheless provided that if any person
who shall have been so discharged by such certifi-^
cate as aforesaid, or who shall have compounded
with his creditors, or who shall have been dis-
charged by any insolvent act, shaH be or become
bankrupt, and have obtained or shall hereafter
obtain such certificate as aforesaid, unless his
estate shall produce (after all charges) sufficient
to pay every creditor under the commission fif-
teen shillings in the pound, such certificate shall
only protect his person from arrest and imprison-
ment, but his future estate and effects (except his
tools of trade and necessary household furniture,
and the wearing apparel of himself, his wife and
children), shall vest in the assignees under the
commission.
A scale of allowance on the other hand is
made for every bankrupt who shall have ob-
tained his certificate, if^ the net produce of his
estate shall pay the creditors who have proved
under the commission ten shillings in the pound;
in which case he shall be aUowed five per cent.
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486*
BANKRUPT.
out of such prodttcey to be paid Uira by the as-
signees, pronded such allowance shall not exceed
four hundred pounds; and every bankrupt, if
such produce shall pay !fttch cfeditors twelve
shillings and sixpence in the pound, shall be al-
lowed and paid as aforesaid seven pounds ten
shillings per cent., provided such allowance shall
not excecn five hundred pounds ; and every bank-
nipt, if such produce shall pay suoh creditors
fifteen shillings in tiie pound or upwards^ shall
be allowed and paid as afor^aid ten pounds per
cent., provided such allowance shall not exceed
six hundred pounds ; but if such produce shall
not pay such creditors ten shillings in thepound^
such bankrupt shall only be allowed and paid so
much as the assignees and commissioners shall
think fit, not exceeding three pounds per eent
and three hundred pounds.
As to the important point of making dividends,
the commissioners shall, not sooner than four
nor later than twelve calendar months from the
issuiug the commission, appoint a public meeting
(whereof and of the purport whereof) they shall
pn^e twenty-one days notice in the Ijondon
Gazette), to make a dividend of the bankrupt's
estate, at which meetii^g all creditors who have
not proved their debts shall be entitled to prove
the same; and the said commissioners at such
meeting shall order such part of the net produce
of the bankrupt's estate in the hands or the as*
spaces, as they shall diink fit, to be forthwiA
divided amongst such creditors as have proved
debts under the commission, in proportion to
their respective debts, and shall make an order
for a dividend in writing under their hands, and
shall cause one part of such order to be filed
afflongM the proceedings under the commission,
and shall deliver another part thereof to the a»*
sfgnees, which order shall contain an accoutit of
the time and place of making such order, of the
amount of the debts proved, of the money r^
maining in the hands of the assignees to be di*
vided, of how much in the pound is then ordered
to be paid to every creditor, and of the money
allowed by the commissioners to be retained by
the assignees, with their reasons for allowing the
same to be so retained; and tlie assignees, in
pursuance of such order (and without any deed
of distribution made for that purpose), shall forth-
with make such dividend, and shall take receipts
io a book to be kept for that purpose from each
creditor, ibr the dividend received by such credi-
tor; and such order and receipt shall be a dis-
charge to every such assignee tor so much as he
shall pay pursuant to sndi order ; and no divi^
dend shall be declared, unless Uie accounts of
the assignees shall have been first so audited as
aforessio, and such statetnent delivered by them
upon oath as aforesaid.
No creditor having security for his debt, or
having made any atttichment in London, or any
other place, by virtue of any custom there used,
of the goods and chattels of the bankrupt, shall
receive upon any such security or attachment
more than a rateable part of such debt, except in
respect of any exeeiHi6n or extent served and
levied, by seisure upon, or any mortgage of or
lien upon any part of the property of such bank-
fnpt before the banknlptcy; provided that no
creditor, tliough for a valuable consideration,
who shall sue out execution upon any judgment
obtained by default^ confession, or nil dicit, shall
avail himself of such execution to the prejudice
of other fair creditors, but shall be paid rateable
with such creditors.
If the bankrupt's estate shall not have been
wholly divided upon the first dividend, the com-
missioners shall, within eighteen calendar months
afier the issuing of tHe commission, appoint a
public meeting (whereof, and of the purport
whereof, they shall give twenty-one days notice
in the London Gazette), to make a second divi-
dend of the bankrupt's estate, when all creditoi?
who have not proved their debts may prove the
same ; and the commissioners at such meetins",
after taking such audit as herein-before directeo,
shall order the balance in the hands of the as-
signees to be forthwith divided amongst such of
the creditors as shall have proved their debts ;
and such second dividend ^all be final, unless
any action at law or suit in equity be depending,
or any part of the estate be standing out, not sold
or disposed of, or unless some other estate or
effects of die bankrupt shall afterwards come to
the assignees, in which case they shall, as soon
as may be, convert such estate and effects into
money, and within two calendar months after dw
same sliall be so converted^ divide the same in
manner aforesaid.
Lastly, if any assigtiee, under any commission
of bankrupt, shall have, either in his own hands
or at any banker's, or otherwise subject to his
order or disposition, or to hb knowledge in the
hands of, or in the order and disposition of him-
self and any co-assignee or co-assignees, or of
any or either of them, any unclaimed dividend
or dividends, amounting in the whole to the sum
of fifty pounds, and shall not within six months
after this act shall have taken effect, or two
calendar months after the expiration of one year
after the declaration and order of payment of
such dividend or dividends made by the com-
missioners, either pay to the creditor or creditors
entitled thereto, or cause a certificate thereof to
be filed in the office of the Lord Chancellor's
secretary of bankrupts, containing a full and true
account of the name or names of the creditor or
creditors to whom such unclaimed dividend or
dividends is or are respectively due, and of the
amount of such dividend or dividends respec-
tively (such account being signed by the assignee
or assignees rendering the same, and attested by
the solicitor to the commission, or the solicitor
to the assignee or assignees signing the same),
such assignee or assignees shall be charged, in
account with the estate of the bankrupt, interest
lipon such unclaimed dividend or dividends, to
be computed froip the time that sucb certificate
Is hereby directed to be filed, at the rate of five
rnds per centum per annum, for such time as
shall thenceforth retain the same, and also
such further sum as the commissioners shall
think fit, not exceeding in the whole twenty
pounds per centum per annum ; and the Lord
Chancellor, or the said commissioners, naay order
the investment of any unclaimed divid<mds in
the public funds, or in any govemmeot security,
for or on aoc<tamt of the creditors entitled, and
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BANKS.
4R7
•tAjecl U> sadi order as the Lord Ghano«lkNr
inay think fit to make tt^pectiiig the same, who,
if he shall think fit, may, after the same shall
have remained unclaimed for the space of three
yean from the declaration of such dividends by
the commissioners, order ibe same to be divided
amongst and ^id to the other creditors, and Che
proof of the creditors to whom such dividends
were allotted shall horn thencefotth be considered
ad void as to the same^ bal renewable as to any
fatirre dividends, to place them pari passu with
the odier creditom, but not to disturb any divi-
dends which shikll htfve been previously made.
We have thus fully staled the general pro-
visions of the lane act, as «sefiil to all persons
cormected with tvade; moie minttte provisions
wilt oC course engage the attenlien aad require
the aid of professional men.
BANKS, Cape, the north-east point of Bo-
tatay Bay, on the east coast of New Holland.
Banks' Island, an iskmd of New Zealand,
off the nortb-east coast of Tavai Poenamraoo.
Il is aboot sixty mikes in ciroumfefence, and suf-
ficiently high to be visible at the <tistance of
twelve or fifteen leagues. It is barren but inha-
bited. Distant fifteen miles from Tavai Poe-
tiammoo. The south pesnt lies in long. 186'' 30*
W., Inlitade 43^ sr ft. Aleo, an island in the
Nohh Fadfic, near the west coast of North
America, abomt sifxtf miles long, and five broad.
Long. «9* 45' to 130^ 10 W^ lat 60*» 30' N
Bakks' PeiRT, ft harbour on the north-wi
coast of America, south-east finom Cape Edge-
cumbe, and northnwest from Sea Otter Sound.
Banks (Sir John), Lord Chief Justice of the
Common Pleas, in the leign of Charles I^ was
bom at Keswick, in Cumberland, in 1589. Ue
studied at Oxford, but took no de^^ee: applying
fo fbe )aw, his «siraordinary reputation in that
profession soe* veeoiBmended him to the king,
who made fahn attoitiey to the piinee in 1629 ;
knighted him, and appointefl iiim attorn^
gencMl in 1634 ; lord ciHef justice in 1640 ; and
a member of the privy council in 1642. In
these perilous times, he discharged the duties of
bis important and arduous offices with very ge-
neral approbation. Bat at last lost his pefra-
larity, by declaring firom the bench, in the eura-
mer circuit, that the actions of Essex, Man-
chester, and Waller, were treasonable ; and the
Commons voted him a traitor. Meantime bis
lady, being w4th her fiunily at his seat at Corfe
CasUe, in the isle of Purbeck, was summoned to
surrender by the friends of the parliament; but
refused, though she had then only hvt men in
the castle, and sustamed a siege, by William
Earl, with not move than forty men. At last lady
Banks was relieved by the arrival of lord Caernar-
von with a body of hone. Sir John continued
with the king at Oxford till 1644, when be died.
Banks ^John), an finghsh omthor, bam at
Sunning, in BeiMMre in 1709. He was bred
a weaver at Reading, but gave up that business
and went io London, where be became a book-
seller. Not succeeding ia this, he p«bli4hed
-various tracts, particularly a <CTitical Reriewof
Ihe Life of Olfvet Cromwell, which met with
a favorable reception. lie died in 1761.
Bavks (Thomas), an eminent English sculptor.
was bom in 178^, and was son of Mr. William
BanksL steward of the duke of Beaufort, illc
was educated with Kent, the well-known archi-
tect of that period ; but afterwards, showing a
preference for sculpture, studied it at the Royal
Academy with great success, and was elected to
be sent as one of its students to Italy. Here he
executed several good pieces, particularly a*
basso-relievo of Camctacus, in the possession of
the duke of Buckingham; and a Cupid catching
a butterfly, which was afterwards purchased by
the empress Catharine. He went from Italy to
Russia, where he staid two years, and returned to
his own country to acquire both fame and for-
tune. Among his works are a colossal statue
exhibitiug Achilles mourning the loss of Briseis,
in the h^l of the British Institution; and the
monument of Sir Eyre Coote, in Westminster
Abb^. Mr. Banks was elected a member of
the Royal Academy not long after his return
from Russia, and finished his useful life in
February 1805.
Bakcs (Sir Joseph), the late celebrated natu-
ralist, was the son of William Banks, Esq. of
Revesby Abbey, Lincolnshire, * where he vraS
bom in 1743. He received his education at
Eton and Oxford, where he continued till the
death of his father. In 1765 he made a voyage
to Newfoundland and Labrador, for the purpose
of making researches relative to natural nistonr;
and in 1763 embarked with his friend^ Dr. Co-
lander, in the first voyage round the world made
by the great captain Cook. In the course of
this expedition Mr. Banks, in traversing the
locks ot Terra del Fuego, narrowly ^cap^ pe>
rishing from intense cold. In consequence of a
misunderstanding with captain Cook, he did not
{'oin, as he intended, in tne expedition of 1772;
tut the same year undertook a voyage to th^
Western Isles of Scotland and to Ice^hud, in the
course of which he made important additions to our
knowledge of those regions. About this time he
received the compliment of a diploma of LL. D.
from his alma mater. In 1778 he was made a
baronet and elected president of the Royal So-
ciety. Some unpleasant dissentions, which
arose in the society not long after, were almost
the only circumstances which occurred to inter-
rupt his tranquillity. These, however, subsided,
and the remainder of his life was passed amongst
sci€!rititic associates, and the prosecution of r^
searches connected with natural history. His
house was always open to the leamecl world.
He died June 19, 1820, at his seat at Spring
Orove, Middlesex. The published writings ^
Sir Joseph Banks are neither numerous nor im-
portant. They consist of papers in the Philoso-
phical Transactions, Uie Archeologia, the Trans-
actions of the Horticultural Society, and other
periodical works ; and a small tract, entitled A
khort Account of the Causes of the Diseases in
Com, callkl by Farmers the Blight, the Mildew
and the Rust, with plates. Loudon, 1803, 4ta
This impression was only for private distribution ;
but an edition in 8vo. was published in 1805.
Sir Joseph possessed a noble library of works on
natural history, of which an admirable cataloghe,
in five vols. 8vo. was compiled by his librarian
Mr. iJryandcr.
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BAN
48S
BAN
Basks-Brae, a hill of Scotland, in Renfrew-
shire, on the south-west border of the parish of
Kilbarchan, beautifully adorned with plantations.
BANKSIA, in entomology, a, species of pa-
pilio, (nymph), with angulated wmgs; brown
above, with a yellowish disk. Fabricius. It is a
native of New Holland, and the papilio ismene
of Cramer.
Banksia, in botany, a genus of the monogy-
nia order, and tetandria class of plants. The
amentum is scaly, the coit>lla consists of four
petals. The antnere are in the cavity of the
folds and sessile; the capsule is bivalyalar; and
the seed is solitary, and bipartite. There are
four principal species, viz. 1. B. dentata; 2. B.
ericcefolia ; 3. B. integnfolia ; 4. B. serrata ; all
natives of New Holland. See Mr. Brown's
Transactions of the Lintfeean Society^ vol. x.
p. 202; and Commentaries to the Hortus Kew-
ensis, vol. i^ p. 213.
Banksu Abyssinica, a beautiful Abyssinian
tree, so named by Bruce.
BANKSII, a species of scarabsusmelontha;
described by Fabricius, from a specimen in the
museum of Sir Joseph Banks. The head and
thorax are black; wmgK:ases villose, and legs
testaceous ; abdomen short and retuse.
Banksii, a species of cimex (reduvius), that
inhabits India. It is rufous above, with black
wings; abdomen deep black; border rufous.
Banksii, a species of chrysomela that inha-
bits Calabria. It is brassy above, beneath tes-
taceous.
Bakksii, a species of cerambyx (lamia), that
is found at the Cape of Good Hope. It is of a
grayish color ; thorax slightly spined ; wing-cases
speckled with ferruginous, and marked with two
cinereous bands.
BANLEUGA, Bamleu, or Bannileuga, in
writers of the middle age, the territory within
which the jurisdiction of municipal magistrates,
or ordinanr judges of a city, town, or the like,
is confined : so called, because within this tract
they make their proclamations, prohibitions, and
other acts of justice and policy, comprised under
.the name of ban or bannum.
BAiNMORE, EiLAN Nan, Gael. i.e. the
island of great women; the ancient name of the
.island of Eigg.
BANN, from the Brit, ban, i.e. clamor, a
proclamation, public notice, command, or prohi-
bition.
Bamn, in ancient jurisprudence, denoted
proscription or banishment for a crime proved ;
oecause anciently published by sound of trumpet;
or, as Vossius thinks, because those who did not
appear at the above-mentioned summons, were
punished by proscription. Hence, to put a
prince under the bapn of the empire, is to de-
clare him divested of all his dignities. The
sentence denotes an interdict of ail intercourse
and offices of humanity with the offender; the
form of which seems taken from that of the Ro-
mans, who banished persons by forbidding them
the use of fire and water. Sometimes also ci-
ties were put under the imperial bann; that
is, stripped of their rights and privileges. The
word also denotes a pecuniary mulct, or penalty.
laid on a delinqaent for offending against a bum.
Bamn, in military affairs, a proclamation
made in the army by beat of drum, sound of
trumpet, &c. requiring the strict observance of
discipline, either for the declaring a new officer,
or punishing an offender.
Bann, a river of Ireland, descending from
the north of the mountains of Moume, and flow-
ing north-west into th^ Longh Neagh : again is-
suing from the north side of that l^e, it passes
Coleraine, and enters the sea a few miles east of
Lough Foyle. Its course, including the lough,
is about seventy miles; and, with die canal of
Newry, which joins it to ^e Irish sea, it makes
the north-east portion of Ireland a peninsula.
Bann, or Bann us, a title anciently given to
the governor or viceroy of Croatia, Dalmate,
and Sclavonia.
Bann, Episcopal, bannus episcopaUs, s
mulct paid to tlie bishop by those guilty of sa-
crilege and other crimes.
Bann of Harvest, or Vintage, &,c. in the
ci-devant French customs, imported a piohibitioa
to reap, or gather the grapes, without tne leave of
the lord.
Banns of Marriage are solemn notices of
matrimonial contracts, made in the parisWhurch
before marriage ; that if there be any objectioos
to either party as to prior engagements, &c.
there may be an opportunity of midung them.
The publication of banna, popularly called
asking in the church, was intended to prevent
clandestine 'marriages : but a licence may be ob-
tained for the marriage, and then this ceremony
is omitted : but ministers are not to celebrate
matrimony between any penons without a li-
cence, except the banns have been first pub-
lished tliree several times upon pain of suspen-
sion, &c. The use of matnmonial banns is said
to have been first introduced in the Gallican
church, though something like it obtained even
in the primitive times: and it is this thatTer-
tullian is supposed to mean by trinundina pro-
mulgatio. The council of Lateran first extexMled
and made the usage general. By the ordinance
of Blois, no person could validly contract mar-
riage, without a preceding proclamation of three
banns; nor could any person whatever be ex-
empt except for the two last.
Banns, Papal, solemn anathemas, or excom-
munications, attended with curses, &c.
BANNAGIi£R,orBANAGHER, a town of Ire-
land, in King's county, Leinster, on the Shan-
non, fifteen miles south of Athlone.
BANNALEC, a town of Brittany, France,
department of Finisterre, arrondissement of
Quimperl^, the head of a canton ; has 4700 in-
habitants. It is four miles fiom Rosrporden
and six from Quimperl^.
, BANNALIS MoLA, or Bannal Mill, a kind
of feudal service, whereby the tenants of a dis-
trict are obliged to cany their com to be ground
at a certain mill, or to be baked at a certain
oven, for the benefit of the lord. This in Scot-
land is called thirUge.
BANN EC, an island in the English channel,
near the coast of France. Long. 4** 66. W., lau
48* 25' N.
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BAN
489
BAN
BAlTOER, -^ Fr. hanrnercy Ital. bandar ban"
Ban'nered, Idieray Ger. banner, Swed. baner,
Ban'nebet, rDut. baniere. In old Sax. ban-
Ban'nerol. j segn is the ensign or banner.
Prom btmdvOf signwn; bandvjan, significare.
Sannerolf or more properly banderol, is deriyed
from banderolUy Fr. Spenser writes it bannerall ;
and the old Fr. is banneralU. The banner,
bandroU, or bansegn, is probably the sipi of
union, which fietstened to a pole, may be furled
and unfurled at pleasure, like a roll of canvass
or silk ; and which armies and other bodies of
men elevate as a - standard, which distinguishes
the party and cause which they have espoused,
or the common purpose to which they have
bound diemselves. * We find (say the writers
in the Encyclopaedia Britannica), a multiplicity
of opinions concerning the etymology of the word
banner ; some deriving it from the Latin bandum,
a band or flag ; others from the word bann^ to
summon the vassals to appear in arms ; others
again from the German ban, a field or tenement,
because landed men alone were allowed a ban-
ner ; and finally, there are some who think it is a
corruption of panniere, from pannus, cloth ; be-
cause banners were originally made of cloth.
liift ye ap a batmer upon the high mountaiot.
Itaiah
Then lo tryamphe '. 0 great beaatie's queen.
Advance the baimer of thy conqaeit hie.
Spetuer.
Prom France there comes a power who already
Have lecret spies in some of our best ports.
And are at point to shew their open banner.
SfULHtptom,
All in a moment through the gloom were seen
Ten thousand bamten rise into the air.
With orient colours waving. HiUon,
A gendeman told Henry, that Sir Richard Croftes,
made banneret at Stoke, was a wise man ; the king
answered, he doubted not that, but marvelled how a
fool could know. Camden,
King Oswald had a ban$terol of gold and purple set
over his tomb. /d.
Philip Augustus, and Richard the First, are the
only kings of France and England who have fought
under the same bamten. Gibbon,
Banner, in heraldry, such a
flag is borne as a charge, in
coats of arms, and when open
and flying is called * the banner
disveloped,* as ' the field is Ju-
piter, inree banners disveloped,
m bend Sol,' which are said to
have been the arms of the king-
dom of Baldachia.
Banner of Denmark,
Banner, was a ^mouo map^ical standard, taken
from the Danes by Alfred the Great, in spite of
its miraculous powers and properties, which are
thus described by Sir John Spelman. * It was
a banner with the image of a raven magically
wrought by the three sisters of Hungar and
Hubba, on purpose for their expediiion, in re-
venge of their father Lodebroch*s murder, made,
they say, almost in an instant, being by them at
once begun and finished in a noontide; and be-
lieved by the Danes to have carried great fk-
tali^ with it, for which it was highly esteemed
by them. It is pretended, that bong carried in
or the Danish
battle, towards good succe^ it wottld always
seem to clap its wings, and make as if it would
fly; but towards the approach of mbhap, it
would hang down and not move !*
The Banner op France was the largest and
richest of all the flags borne by the ancient
kings in their military expeditions. St. Mar-
tin's cap was in use 600 years as the banner of
France; it was made of taifety, painted with the
image of that saint, and laid one or two days on
his tomb to prepare it for use. This was suc-
ceeded by the &mous auriflamma, or oriflamme.
About the year 1100 was introduced a more
pompous apparatus; the mode of which was
borrowed from Italy. The banner-royal was
fastened to the top of a mast, or some small tree
planted on a scaffold, borne on a chariot drawn
by oxen, covered with velvet housings, decorated
with devices, or cyphers of the reigning prince.
At the foot of the tree was a priest, who said
mass early every morning. Ten knights mounted
guard on the scaflbld night and day, and as
many trumpets at the foot of the tree never
ceased flourishing to animate the troops. This
cumbrous machine continued in use about 130
years. Its post was in the centre of the army.
And here the chief feats were performed to carry
off and defend the royal banner : for there was
no victory without it; nor was an army reputed
vanquished till they had lost this banner.
Banneret, from banner. A knight made in
the field, with the ceremony of cutting ofl* the
point of his standard, and making it a banner.
They are next to barons in dignity ; and were
anciently called by summons to parliament. It
is also the name of an oflicer or magistrUe of
Rome towards the close of the fourteenth cen-
tury. The people of that city, and throughout
the territory of the church, during, the disputes of
the antipopes, had formed a kind of republican
government, where the whole power was lodged
in the hands of a magistrate, called senator, and
twelve heads of quarters called bannerets,by rea-
son of the banners which each raised in his district.
Bannerets, an ancient order of knights, or
feudal lords ; who, possessing several large fees,
led their vassals to battle under their own flag or
banner, when summoned thereto by the king.
They are also called in ancient writers milites,
vexilliferi, and vexillarii, bannerarii, bannarii,
banderisii, &c. There are two kinds of knights,
great and little; the first whereof were called
bannerets, the second bachelors ; tlie first com-
posed the upper, the second the middle nobility.
The banneret was a dignitary allowed to march
under his own flag, whereas the bachelarius eques
followed that of another. To be qualified for a
banneret, one must be a gentleman of £&mi1vy and
must have a power to raise a certain number of
armed men, with estate enough to subsist at least
twenty-eight to thirty men. This must have
been very considerable in those days ; because
each man, besides his servant, had two horsemen
to wait on him armed, the one with a crossbow,
the other with a bow and hatchet. As he was
not allowed to be a baron who had not above
thirteen knights' fees, so he was not admitted to be a
banneret if he had less than ten. The order of ban-
neret, according to Spelman, was a middle one,
bptween a baron and a simple knight; called
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490
BANNOCK-BURN.
sometimes aIbo vexillarim minor, to distinguish
him fi^m the greater, that is from the baron, to
whom alone properly belonged the jus vexiUi, or
privilege of the »qnare flag. Heftce the banneret
was also called bannecetas, qfuasi bait» minor ; a
void frequetitly used by Emglish writers in the
same sense as banneret was by the French, though
neither of them occur befoire the time of Edward
II. Some will hare bannerets to ha?e originally
been persons who had some portion of a barony
assigned them ; and enjoyed it under the title m
baro proximus^ and that with the same prerogfr*
ttves as the baron himself. Some again find the
origin of banner;^ in France, others in Brittany,
others in England. These last attribute the insti-
tution of bannerets to Conan^ lieutenant of Max-
imus, Who commanded iSbe Roman legions in
England under Ae empire of Grattan in 383.
This general, say they, revolting, divided EogUuid
into forty cantons, and in these cantons distri*"
buted forty knifl^^ to whom he gave a power
of assembling^ on occasion, under theif several
banners, as many of the eflbctive men as were
found in their respective districts : whence they
are called bannerets. However this be, it appears
from Froissard, Sec. that anciently such of the
military men as were rich enough to raise and
subsist a company of armed men, end had aright
to do so, were called bannerets. Net, however,
that these qualifications rendered them knights,
bttt only bannerets ; the appellation of knight
being only added tiiereto, because they were sim*
pie knights before. Bannerets were second to
none but knights of tiie garter. They w«re repu-
ted the next degree below the nobili^, taking
precedence next to the knights of the bath» and
were allowed to bear arms with supporlefs, which
hone else may tmder the degree of a baron. In
France, it is ^aid, the dignity was hereditary, but
in England it died witii the person who gained
it The order dwindled on ibe institution of
baronets bv king James I., Sir John Smith
made so after l^gehill-figbl, lor rescuing the
standard of King Charles 1, being the last
banneret, until the late Sir William Erskine,
t>n his return firom the continent in 1764, was
made a knight-banneret in Hyde Park by
bis late Majesty, in consequence of his dis^
tinguished conduct at the battle of Enudorff.
But he was not acknowledged as such in this
country, although he was invested with the order
between the two standards ofthe fifteenth regiment
of light dragoons, becauae the ceremony lud not
take phK« where the engagement happened.
Captain Troilope of the R^al Navy was another
knight-biinneret, created by Geo. HI., after lord
Duncan's victory at CaoMperdown^ but as this
involved some heraldic difficulties on points of
precedency, and there was some apprehension
of jealousy on the part of baronets, tne practice
was discontinued. In Switserland the banneret
was a civil officer like the Gonfalonier in some
of the It^ian republics; and at Lausanne the
title was ootiferrea on those magistrates who had
the privilege of caivying the banner of that city
at the oonfederadon of tbe cantons.
The fbrm of creating bannerets was on a day of
battle ; the candidate presented his flag to the king
or general, who cutting ofi* the train or skirt
thereof and making it a squaee, returned it again,
the proper banner of bannerets^ ^ho are oeace
sometimes called knights of the square fl^^.
There seems to have been bannerets created
either in a different manner, or by others than
the sovereign; since King James, in the patent
of baronets, gives them precedence to all knights
bannerets, except such as are created by the
king himself in the field ; which implies, either
that there are some of this order created out of
the field, or by inferior persons.
Bannerol, more properly Banderol* from
handeroUy Fr. a little flag or streamer.
BAN'NIAN, », t. 1. A man's undress, or
morning gown, such as is worn by the Bannians
in the East Indies. 2. A native of India ; now
usually applied to a Gentoo servant employed in
managing the commercial affairs for Englishmen.
Bannian-Dat, in common pariance, a day
of self-denial ; of shifts and expedients ; derived
probably from sacred or &st-day.
Bannian-Tree. a sacred fig-tree, growini? in
India, called by our old herbalists * (he arched
Indian fig-tree;* from the various branches of
which grow little sprigs downwards, till thay
reach the ground, take root, as Milton has
observed.
And daughtflrs gnrbw
About the mother tree, a pillar'd shade.
High o'er-arch'd, and tehoiog itaiki Ixiiffeea.
BANNIANS. See Banians.
BANNIER (John), a SwediA geneml, bora
in 1601. He served under Qustavus Adolphus^
and on his death became commander-in-chief.
After gaining many victories, and taking several
important places, fortune favored the imperial-
ists, and they at last drove him out of Bohemia.
He died in 1641, on his retreat from the German
dominions.
BANNIMUS, q. d. we banish, from the obso-
lete verb hanmo, the form of expulsion of any
member from the University of Oxford, by affix-
ing the sentence up in some public place, as a
promulgation of it.
BANNITUS, an exile or outlaw.
BAN'NOCK, n. s. A kind of oaten or peas-
meal cake, mixed with water, and baked upon
an iron plate over the fire ; used in the northern
counties, and in Scotland.
Bannocks differ from cakes, in being
thicker and softer ; and their taste is thought to
be Improved by being baked in the embers, or on
a stone placed before the fire, or a slate above it.
Bannock-burn, a village of Scotland, in Stir-
lingshire, seated on the Bannodi, from whence
it is named, famous for the decisive battle fought
near it between king Robert Bruce of Scotland,
and Edward II. of Ensland. A.D. 1314.
It is to be regretted Uiat to poetical narratives
only (that of the Scottish poet Barbour particu-
larly) we must look for the existing detail of
the events of tliis memorable day. They, how-
ever, were so important, and have since been so
firequently alluded to by poets and historians,
that we cannot omit to furnish the reader with
the best account we can dijg^est. On Saturday
the 22d of June, bruce having received intelli-
gence that the English had reached Edinburgh,
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491
drew hfs tetay bbt Of !Ht encampment to take up
a position in the neighbourhood of Stirling.
Here hfe occupied a wood, extending ^>n the
right towards me church of St. Ninran, and on-
the left neatly, ii is supposed, in the direcrion of
ihe road from Edinburgh to Stiriinp:; directinj^
a number of small pits to be dug knee-deep, and
covered with turf, which concealed at the bottom
a kind of spikes called calthrops, designed for
the deatfuction of the enemy's cavalry. The po-
sitaou was besides protected by a neighbouring
morass. On Sunday, the 23d, an alarm being
given of the approach of the enemy, Brace prfe-
pared to receive them. His army heard mass :
and in answer to a proclamation that whoever
would, might retire, all unanimously declared
their reaolation to conquer with him or die. His
right wing was commanded by his brother Ed-
ward, the left by lofd Douglas «nd the younger
Stewart, and the centre by his nepkew, Randolph^
earl of Murray, while he himself commandea a
reserve posted on a rising ground: Th« English
army meanwhile had sent a squadron of 800
horse for the purpose of gaining Stirling castlis
by a circuitous route, which the king perceiving,
reproached the earl of Murray with reacving the
place exposed, and the latter hastened with 500
spearmen to turn the enemy, an object which he
with difficulty accomplished. The van of ^e
English army soon after appeared in sight.
Henry de Bohun, a knight of the Hereford fa^.
mily, advancing a bbw-shot before his comrades,
now distinguished ' the Bruce' from a crown sur-
mounting his helmet, and the manner in which
he disposed his troops, he himself being in ad^
?ance of his front. The Englishman advanced
upon him, but his spear missing the king, the
latter, rising in his stirrups, cleft his opponent's
helmet with a single blow of his battle-axt, and
Bohun fell : tliis was the only memorable ev^nt the
first day. At the succeeding dawn Bruce reminded
his troops of the past conduct of the enetny be-
fore them, their usurpation of the government of
the country, and their barbarous treatment of
those that had fallen into their hands, Aat they
therefore were now to iight for alt they held dear^
their own liberty, and the comfort and existence
of their families. He showed them his exoctlcnt
position, urged the toecessity fe^ otder, «nd to
preserve their line unbroken, while he pvomited
the amplest rewards to all who exerted them^o
selves, and to their heirs if they fell. At day-
break Maurice, Abbot of Inchaffiray, leelelintted
mass in front of the army^ and exhorted the sol-
diers, bearing k crutiifix In his hand. The troops
now breakfegted on the ground, atid Brtioe cre-
ated some of the most distingui^ie^ of his ^*
lowers knights. Edward al:*o in ^ts^ com*
manded tlie English army, attended by a body-
guard of 500 cavalry : among his troops were
52,000 archers. He likewise "was cxmftdent "Of
victory, but the same unanimity did not bubsist
as among his foes ; and die Scottish hott having
knelt to utter a prayer and receive beMdieUon,
be exclaimed to those around hiftft * Behold,
they kneel for mercy!* But they quktly unde-
ceived him; — the armies approached, and a
contest ensued, unexampled in die annals of
British hbtory The English van, compost of
caivalry, charged the right vring of the Scots in
full gallop. Here Edward Bruce commanded,
and received them with intrepidity. While this
wing was engaged, Randolph advanced to meet
the main body of the enemy ; and the left wing
also hastened into the conflict. Repeated charges
of cavalry in vain attempted to break the Scottish
line — ^it was impenetrable; everywhere they
were resisted and driven back. At this time the
battle became general. The Scots were annoyed
by the English archers ; but they fought despe-
rately with their spears^ swords, and knives, and
also with iron clubs or maces, and found the ad-^
vantage of acting in a compact body, while the
English forees were too unwieldy to be concezi-
trated. The Scots were also protected by their
light mrmour^ which at the same time did not
restiain thmr movements. Edward, the king's
brother, was hard pressed by the English cavalry,
and Murray, making a movement to his support^
vras almost overwhelmed by the multitude of
the enemy^ who presented a vast and extensive
front« The Scottish king now directed Sir Ro-
bert Keith to take the archers in flank with 500
horse, and their impetuosity proved irresistible.
The enemy were overthrown, and fled with pre-
cipitation. The earl of Gloucester, endeavour^
ihg to rally the fugitives, was unhorsed and
slain. The numbers of the English finally proved
their destruction : for those who recoiled threw
the rest into disorder, and those who fell were
trampled to death. The battle, notwithstanding,
continued to rage, and victory was long and fu^
riotosly contested. But, at length, the retainers
of the Scottish camp, who had previously been
sent to a valley in the rear, suddenly appeared
on a neighbouring height, and the enemy, be-
lieving it a strong reinforcement, took at once to
flight. Edward, with 500 horse, sought shelter
in Stirling castle, but the governor found means'
to dissuade him from remaining there. The rout
of his army became complete. Some sought re^
ft^e among the rocks ot the castle, others hur"
ried to the river Forth, and they were drowned ^
-b«t th« most terrific carnage was in the valley of
the Batnockf for the ascent towards the east
beiniC difficult, and probably impeded by wood,
the f^igitives were exposed to inevitable destruc-
tion. Scarcely any who took that direction es-
ca|»ed ; and the course of the river is said to have
been completely dammed up by the English
who were slain. Edward, Itotly pursued, con-
tinued, his flight, followed by sixty horse, to
Wiachburgh, twenty miles from the field of
bttttU» where, again mounung, the pursuit was
<»ntinued to Dunbar castle, whence he was
>iltiaMitely conveyed by a vessel to England*
The loss on both sides in this memorable battle
was immense. Barbour asserts that the English
huA 30^000 men and 200 kniights killed : but the
truth. of this calculation is questionable, as it is
mid elsewhere that only forty-two knights were
Skdin, «nd sixty made prisoners, ^arbour A\s>a
affirms thiA only two Scotsmen of note fell on
the eccftsioth Sir William Vipont and ^ir Walter
Ross. Tiie earl of Gloucester's {ate, who was
the near relative to Edward, was much la-
mented ; and historians state that had the Scots
known him he would not have fallen. His body
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492
BAN
was carried to St. Ninian's church, and sent
with that of lord CUflford to England. ' O day
of vengeance and fatality/ one of our hbtorians
exclaims, * hateful accursed day, to he blotted
from the circle of the year; a day which taiv
nished the glory of England, despoiled our na-
tion, and enriched its enemies to the amount of
£200,000. How many valiant youths and il-
lustrious nobles, how many excellent horses and
beautiful arms, how many precious vestments
and golden vessels, were lost in that single unfor-
tunate day/ The privy seal of Edward was
among the spoils, and afterwards restored by
Robert. He is said, indeed to have acted upon
this victory with that clemency and moderation
which has rarely been equalled.
The consequences of this great battle were the
surrender of the fortresses of Scotland to Bruce,
the liberation of the inhabitants from a foreign
yoke, and the firm establishment of that prince
upon the throne. Memorials of it are said still
to remain near the spot, where armour and
weapons are frequently dug up ; and at an inter-
val of 500 years the inhabitants of the vicinity
met on the 24th of June 1814, to celebrate the
tritimph of their ancestors. Sir Walter Scott
has commemorated it with enthusiasm in his
Lord 6f the Isles.
BANNOW, a town of Ireland, ten miles
south-west of Wexford.
BANNUM, in law, the utmost bounds of a
manor or town ; bannum capitis was a mulct paid
in cattle.
BANNUS Dei, the bann of God, an expres-
sion used by writers of the middle age, for
excommunication.
B ANNUS Regis, a proclamation of silence
anciently made by the court, before the encounter
of the .champions in a combat.
BANOLAS, a town of Spain, m Catalonia,
district of Gerona, with 3000 inhabitants, and a
considerable trade in linen.
BANGS, a town of Leon, Spain, thirty miles
from Plasencia, in Estremadura. The nnmber
of families is about 300, who are employed prin-
cipally in the manufacture of linen. It takes
its name from the hot sulphureous baths to the
north-east of the town. Here are to be seen the
remains of a Roman mound or dyke. The
territoiy is covered with olives, chestnuts, and
vines ; the last produces annually 15,000 arobas
of wine.
BANOY, the name given by the people of the
Philippine Islands, to a species of nawk, some-
what larger than our sparrow-hawk, of a yellowish
color on the back and wings, and white under
the belly. It is the most common species of
hawk in that part of the world, and is very
voracious.
BAN'QUET,«. &ii.^ Fr. banquet, Ital.
Ban'quetant, IbanchettOf Span. 6af»-
B ANQUET^EB, & queUf vanqueto; Germ.
Ban'quetimo. 3 and Dut. bancket.
Derived from bank, a bench or table, around
which messmates or companions sit to eat or
feast together. It now signifies a luxurious and
sumptuous entertainment. Whether the feast, or
the aessert which succeeds it, or both.
Shall the compamons make a banqmet of him T —
Shall they part 1dm among thr merchant- ** J^^b,
In which how many wonders doe they nsdi^
To their oonoeipt that othera ne*<er sae !
Now of her smUes with which their scales tfcey fcedi.
Like gods with nectar in their b^nkeU free. 4*""^
The mind shall 60119110^, tho' the body piae :
Fat paunches make leaa pates, and dainty fate
Make rich the rihs, bat baakeroat the wiu.
Welcome his fiiends.
Visit his countrymen, and bamquet theio. h.
In his commendations I am fed ;
It is a hanqugt to me. ^
You cannot have a perfect palace, except yi« hax
two sides ; a side for the bimquei, and a side fo c^
household ; the one for feasto and triampfaay aad ex
other for dwelling. ^•t*-
They were banqueted by the way, and i^b aeisr
they approached, the more increased the nobSiij.
Sir J. JSiyvR
In a ftonfwefM^house, among certain pleasaitf Qu,
the table was set near to an excellent water-wort.
Home then, my lambs \ the flailing dio|w eadbrr:
To-monow shall ye feast in pastnrea new.
And with the rising sun, 6a«9iM< on pearled dew.
F^tAa^e FmfU l^L
When Yenus was bom all the goda were laviieia
ByBiimi*e Anafems ef Mtiami^
If a fasting-day come, he hath on that daja 1«>
qaet to make. "*
At that tasted £nut.
The sun, as from Thyestan bamjmet, tozm'd
His course intended. M
So long as his innoceaoe is his repeat, he feia
and ftoNfiffte upon bread and water. SM.
That dares prefer the toils of Hercnles.
To dalliance, tenju^ft, and ignoble eaee.
Dffim,
At the walk's end behold, how rais'd en high»
A btrnquet-houee salutes the southern sikj. &
I purpos'd to unbend the erenlng he«i».
And banquet private in the women's bow'zs.
nor
With royal banqueti feasts my longing saeU
And seals his truth with sacramental wioc.
Ban9Uetivg-House, Banquetikc Row
The ancient Romans supped in the atrius* er
vestibule of their houses ; bat, in after-ni^..
magnificent saloons, or banaueting rooms, «e?e
built for the more commodious and spleadi^
entertainment of their guests. Lucnlli^ ind
ieyenl of these, each distinguished by the xam
of some god ; and there was a particular mie «t
expense appropriated to each. Plutarch ifhm
with what ms^ificence he entertained Gccn
and Pompey, who went with desig^ to surphse
him, by telling only a slave who waited, ihas tk
cloth ^ould be laid in the Apollo. The empotf
Claudius, among others, had a splendid baoqii^
ing room named Mercury. But eymj thing sf
this kind was outdone by the lastre of that oeir
brated banqueting house of Nero, called doavs
aurea; which, by the circular motion of ib
partitions and ceilings, -imitated the revoluiMra
of the heavens, and represented the dilfefeDt«e9i>
sons of the year, whicn changed at eveiy semcf,
and showered down flowers, essences wed \<r-
fumes, on the guests. See Saloon.
BAN QUETTE, n. $. Fr. in fortificaf irn, 3
small bank at the foot of the parapet, fg? the
soldiers to mount upon when they fife.
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BAN
BANSTICKLE, in ichthyology. See Gas-
TEROSTEUS.
BAN'STICKLE, n. s. A smaU fish, called
itickleback.
BANTAM, a large town of the island of Java,
n the East Indies, once the capital of an indepen-
lent stale. But its harbour has been gradually
choked up with soil from the surrounding hills :
ind the air is so unhealthy that its inhabitants
lare been compelled to desert the place almost
entirely. In 1595 the king of Bantam called
n the assistance of the Dutch of Java, against
he Portuguese, and as a return for their aid
illowed them to build a factory here, where also
he English, under Captain lAncaster, established
me in 1603. At this time the sovereign had a
:omroerciaI navy of his own, and until the latter end
>f the seventeenth century, when he sent an
embassy to England, to request assistance against
he Dutch. In the following year the latter took
lis capital, and in 1683, they entirely dispossessed
lira of die government; the English factory
vithd rawing to Surat.
The Dutch East India Company now keep a
^rrison here, nominally to defend the king, but
n fact to have him always in their own power,
nie chief authori^ on the part of the Dutch East
India Company was vested ina seninr merchant,
vith the title of Commandant, who had the
nanagement of the trade, which consisted chiefly
n pepper and some cotton yarn. To the com-
nandery at Bantam belonged the residencies of
Lampong, Toulang, Baunang, and Lampong
iamanca, situated on the southern part of Suma-
:ra. The sovereigns possess the power of life
ind death over their subjects, but pay an annual
:ribute of six million pounds of pepper to the
Dutch.
The climate of Bantam, says Mr. Hamilton, is
till more pestilential than that of Batavia, of
vhich JSL remarkable instance is mentioned. On
he night of the 18th March 1804, the king of
bantam was murdered by one of his grand
lephewii, who had concealed himself under his
ted, and who was afterwards discovered and put
o death. An embassy was sent from Batavia, to
ilect and instal the new king in the name of the
Dutch Company, part of which ceremony consists
n having him weighed in a pair of scales at the
>alace gate, after having feasted for fifteen days,
this deputation was composed of a counsellor of
India, four senior merchants, a major, lieutenant,
lerjeant, two corporals, eighteen French and
eighteen Dutch grenadiers. The external forms
>ccupied fifteen days; at the end of which time,
>r soon after their return, the whole of the Euro-
>ean grenadiers and subalterns died, except two
>r three of the French who escaped. The coun-
lellor, bis wife who had accompanied him, the
najor and four merchants, all returned with putrid
even, which brought them to the brink of the
frave, and the secretary died. In 181 1, after the
conquest of Batavia, the town and district of
Bantam surrendered to the British arms without
resistance. Bantam was restored to the Dutch
ay the peace of 1814. Long. 106* 31' E., lat. 6°
14' S.
Baktam, or dwarl cock, in zoology, a well
known variety of the species pliasiaaus gallus.
See Pbasiakus.
Bantam Wobx, a kind of painted or carved
work, resembling that of Japan, only more gaudy.
Some are flat, lying even with the black, and
others highly embossed, as we find in many large
screens. The Japan artists work chiefly in gold
and other metals; and those of Bantam generally
in colors, with a small sprinkling of gold here
and there : for the flat Bantam work is done in
colors mixed with gum-water, proper for the
thing designed to be imitated.
BANTER, w.&n, ^ The derivation unknown.
Ban'terer, S Perhaps from badiner^ Fr.
Ban'tering. 3 It signifies to mock with
ridicule. A lighter kind of raillery. Playing
upon the fretfulness of the testy, the simplicity
or the ignorant, the self-importance of the proud,
and the conceitedness of the vain. It is some-
times employed against the infirmities of the
good and the virtuous. A species of humor
that is more allied to malignity than kindness^
and which sometimes meets with its reward.
'Tiff thoi, maliciottB deity.
That thoo hast banter'd wretched me;
Thus made me vainly loee my time,
Thof fool away my yoathfol prime.
WaM. Onkmng dm / mmkt mw.
The magistrate took it that he bantered him, and
bade an officer take him into custody. VEatrange,
It is no new thing for innocent simplicity to be the
subject of haniering drolls. Ji,
This humour, let it look never so silly, as it passes
many times for frolic and hanter, is one of the most
pernicious snares in human life. /if.
What opinion have these religions hmtehn oi the
divine power? Or what have they to say for their
mockery and contempt? /^^
And the grave affairs of state have been treated
with an air of irony and banter, ShafteAwy,
Could Alcinotts' guests withhold
From scorn or rage ? Shall we, cries one, permit
His lewd romances, and his hcM^ring wit? Tate.
Metaphysicks are so necessary to a distinct concep-
tion, solid judgment, and just reasoning on many sub-
jects, that those who ridicule it, will be supposed to
make their wit and bmter a refuge and excuse for
their own laaness. Warn*
BANTIUS rL), a spirited youth of Nola,
whom Hannibal found almost dead among those
who had fellen in the battle of Canna. Having
been kindly treated, and sent home with great
generosity, he took it into his head to betray his
country to such a humane enemy; but Marcellus,
the Roman general, being informed of it, repri-
manded Bantius, and he afterwards continued
steady in the Roman interest
Bantling, n. f. if it has any etymology,
it is perhaps corrupted from the old word baimy
hainilingy a little child. A low word ; so says
Johnson. But it is usually applied to a child
bom, or at least begotten, before marriage.
If the object of their love
Chance by Lucina's aid to prove.
They seldom let the bantUttg roar
In basket at a neighbour's door. Prior.
BANTRY Bat,, called also Beerhaven, a
capacious bay of Ireland, ou the coast of Cork,
capable of containing all the shipping of Europe.
It is twenty-six miles long, mree broad, and
forty fiithoms deep in the middle, where are two
small islands. Bear and Whiddy. Coral is
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494
BAP
dredged fromlhe bottom of the hav, and uied as
manure in the neicrhbourhood. Fish were for-
merly Tery plentiful here ; but of late the business
has declined. In May, 1689, a French fleet,
which had brought succours of arms, ammuni-
tion, and money, to the adherents of king James,
was attacked in this hay by Admiral Herbert ;
and in December, 1796, another French fleet,
consisting of seven sail of the line, two frigates
armed en flute, and seventeen transports, an-
chored here fot a few inys, and landed an
officer aad eight msB ifi a boat, who were taken
prisoners.
Bantry, a lartre barren barony of Ireland, in
ibe county of Cofk,
B^iiTJtY, a se»-poirt town of Ireland, in the
county of Cork, and province of Munster, seated
, o& the bay, about thirty mU^ west of Cork, and
164 south-west of Dublin.
BANYAN Ta», in botaay, a name sometimes
given to the flcus Indica.
BANYOUWANGY, a Dutch settlement of
Java, containing the residence of ar native chief.
The Dutch garrison the fort to protect themselves
and commerce from the numerous pirates of the
straiu of Bail.
BAN2A, A Iowa ol* Congo Proper, on the
river Zaire.
BAOBAB, the name given by Prosper Albi-
nus to the African calabash. I^e Aoanronia.
This iff the largest vegetable production known:
although the trunk is not above twelve or flfteen
feet high, it is from sixty to eighty-flve feet round,
and the lower branches extend almost horizon-
t^ly ^out sixty feet. Their own weight bending
Ihese extremities to the ground, they form an
hemispherical mass of verdure about 120, and
4M>metimes 150, feet in diameter. The flowers
of this plant are in proportion to the size of the
tree, and are followed by a fruit pointed at both
ends, about ten inches long and five or six broad,
covered with a kind of green down, under which
is a hard, black, radiated, rind. The fruit hangs
to the tree by a pedicle two feet long. It con-
tains a whitish, spongy, juicy, substance of an
acid taste, and seeds of a brown color, of the
shape of a kidney bean, which are called goui
When dry, the pulp by which the seeds are sur-
rounded, is powdered, and brought into Europe
under the name of terra sigillata lemnia. Tue
kernel contains a large proportion of alkali,
when burnt, and the negroes mix it with palm
oil to make soap. The bark is called lalo; the
negroes dry and powder it; after which it is pre-
served in little cotton bags, and two or three
pinches are put into their food : it is mucilagi-
nous and supposed tf> check perspiration. This
tree is a native of the west coast cf Africa, &om
the Niger to the kingdom of Benin.
BAOL, a smdl kingdom of wHtem Africa,
.between Uie Senegal and Gambia. It lies south
of Cavor, by which it has recently been con-
quered. It has a capital of the same name.
BAPAUME, a strong town of France, in the
ci-devant French Netherlands, now included in
the department of the Straits of Calais. Fine
thread and lawn are made here. De V^ille and
Vauban fortified it in 1 641, and France obtained
the cession of it in 1659. Situate eighteen miles
south-east of Arras.
BAPHE, in the writings of the ancients, a
word used to express t(>at fine red color with
which they illuminated the capital letters in ma-
nuscripts, at the beginning of chapters. It is
also called by some encaustum sacra, and by
others coccus and cinnabaris. It was a very ele-
gant color, and said to have been prepared of the
purple taken from the murex and some other
mgredients. It was called encaustuin, • from its
resembling the fine bright red used in enamels.
BAPTiE, in antiquity, an efleminate volup-
tuous kind of priests of the goddess Cotytto, at
Athens ; so called firom their staied dippings and
wttshings, by way of purification; flietr rites vrere
performed in the night, and consisted chiefly d[
lascivious dances. Eupolis having composed a
comedy to expose them, entitled pairroQ, they
threw him into the sea, to be revenged ; and the
same fate is also said to have befallen Cratinus^
another Athenian poet, who had written a comedy
against the Baplse, nnder the same title. Others
deduce the denomination Bapts firom the prac-
tice of dyeing and painting their bodies, especi-
ally their eyebrows, and officiating at the service
of their deity, with the parade and demureness
of women. Juvenal descnbes them in this light.
Stat. ii. ver. 91.
BAPTES, in natural history, a namie given
by the ancients to a fossile substance ns^ iq
medicine ; they have left us but very short de-
scriptions of it. Pliny only tells us, that it was
soft and of an agreeable smell. Hence Agricola
judges, that it was probably one of the bitumens.
BAPTIS£CULA,in botany, a name given by
some authors to the blue com-flower, caUed the
cyanus or blue-bottle.
BaPTISIA, in botany, a genns of plants,
class, decandria ; order, mooogynia. The gen-
eric character is : cal. semi ft>iir*ftvefid, bilabi-
ate : COR. papilionaceous, petals nearly equal in
length: vexii.lum reflected laterally : stam. de-
ciduous; legume ventricose, pediceHaie, maoy-
teeded. — Hort. Rew. it is a genus closely allied
to podalyria, and containing fear species.
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BAPTISM.
BAPTISM,
BAP^rrzEy V.
Bapti'zer, n.
Bap'tismal,
Bafi'ist,
Bap'tistert,
Baptist'ical,
Bapti'zation.
Derived from the Gr. pairrtf
nnd Panic**- The primary
meaning is to dip, to phing^,
toimmerge. Protestant Chris-
'"tians use it strictly in its pri-
mary sense, or with greater
latitude of meaning, accord-
. . ,^„.J ing to their respective tenets,
on the subject of the nte of baptism, as an ordi-
nance of Christianity. It is sometimes employed
figuratively, to express overwhelming sorrows;
the covering of the earth by the de^ of heaven;
and the sacred influences of the spirit of God in
cleansing the heart.
I have a haptitm to be baptiged with, and how am
I ttraitened till it be accompliahed. £«A«.
Certes, if he be taptued without peniteAce of hia old
(Ut, he veeeiveth the ma^ of be^timt, bat not the
grace, ne the reminion of his sinnet, til he hare
veray npentanee. Chameer. The Pertmu ToU*
Speak, my Lord ;
And ve will haav, note, aad belaaiva in heart,
That what you speak is in yovr conscienea wuh'd
As pore as sin with baptimn, Shakipmn,
His hapiitme gives virtue to onrs. His last aiotiflin <
(or rather passion) wm his Aopltmy with blood; his
first was his hapttmUion with w^r: both of them
wash the world from their sins.
BaJTi ConttmplaiUmi^
BtpHim is given by water, and that prescript form
0f words wht(^.the church of Christ dodi use.
Ha to. them shall laave in change.
To teach all nations what ot him they leavn'd.
And his salvation ; then who shall believe,
Baptumg in the profluent stream, the sigA
Of hashing them from guilt of sin to Ufa,
Pure, and in mind prepared, if so befal.
For death, like that which the Redeemer died.
MtUm.
Let us reflect that we are Christians : that we are
called by the name of the Ron of God, and haptttted
into) an irreeondleahle enmity with sin, the worid, and
the devil. Rogen.
The sacramant oi haplitm was supposed to eontain
a fall and absdnta expiatiott of sin ; and the soul was
instantly restoved to its original foxiiff, aad antitlad
to the promise of eternal salvation, Cikken,
Philosophy, hapiu^d
In the pure fountain of eternal love,
Has eyes, indeed ; and, viewing ill she sees
As meant to indicate a God to man.
Gives him his praise, and forfeits not her own.
Cowper's Tatk,
Pass not unblast the genius of the place !
if through the air, a aephyr more serene,
WinnMr the brow, tis his ; and if ye traea
Along bis margin a mora eloquent gveen.
If on the heart the freshness of the scene
Sprinkle iu coolness, and faom the dry dnsi
Of weary life a moment lave it clean
With nature's tepfiim, — 'ti» to him ye asnst
Pay orisons for this suspension of disgusL
^yroN, ChUdBBmtHd.
Baptism has been defined^ a New Testaiaent
ordinance, appointed by our Lord ieras Christ,
'jcs the first or mitiatoiy spbcrameat of the Gospel
dispensation, whereby its subjects ave adnrittea as
visible membeiRS of liiat spiritual society o^
believers, which is scripturallv denominated the
* Church of Christ,' and entitled to all the privi-
leges of church communion. The derivation of
the word is from the Greek jSairrt^si, which lite*
rally signifies dipping or immersion, but is often
used in a lower sense to express the legal ablu-
tions and washings of the ceremonial law. SeeHeb.
ix. 10. and Mark vii.8. Baptism is denominated
or described by various ecclesiastical writers, in
other ways; it is sometimes called palingenesia,
the laver of regeneration, salus, salvation; er^pa-
yic» signaculum Domini, or signaculum fldei, the
seal of fruth ; mysterium, mystery ; sacramentum
fidei, the sacrament of &ith, &c. Sometimes it
was called viaticum, from its being administered
to departing persons ; sometimes sacerdotium
laici, the lay priesthood, because allowed in cases
of necessity to be conferred by laymen; some-
times the great circumcision, because it suc-
ceeded in the room of circumcision, and was to
be a se!(l of the Christian covenant, as that was
the seal of the covenant made with Abraham. As
it had Christ for its author, it was anciently styled
Aftfpor and ^opiffyia Kvpcov, the gift of the Lord ;
sometimes simply ^i#pov, by way of eminence.
And as it made men members of the church, it
had the ride of TcXnwffic, and TcXaii, the conse-
cration, and consummation; because it gave
men the perfection of Christians, and a right to
partake of the To TtXftov, which was the
Lord's Supper, it was also entitled /iviytfi^ and
fWYoyoyia, the initiation, as it admitted men to
all the sacred rites of the Christian religion.
Purification by water seems so natui^ an em-
blem to express mental purification, that the use
of it has prevailed amongst nations who were
never enlightened by revelation ; water was used
in Ae religious ceremonies botii of the Egyptians
and Greeks; and Grotius is of opinion tjiat it
orizinated at the time of the deluge. Accordine
to Clemens, Alexandrinus, and Tertullian, pun-
fication, by vrater, was the first ceremony per-
fmned at initiation into the Eleusinian myste-
ries, which were derived from Egypt ; and Hesy-
obius renders the word vipavoc, or the waterer, by
• oyvwrtK rmp JSKtvnvwv, Ibe priest whose
oftce at tbe Eleorinian mysteries was that of pu-
riftriag.
TV Jews flie said by many writers, to have
used Baptism together with circumcision and sa«
crifioe in the admission of male proselytes : all
these ceremonies, according to the same authors,
having been observed in their own admission into
covenant with the Deity at Sinai, when they
washed their clothes, and sanctified themselves.
See Ezod. xix. 10. — 14. The female proselyte
was admitted by baptism and sacrifice, and in
cases where the proselyte had children, they
both circumcised and baptised, or baptised them
only, according to their sex. The baptism of a
proselyte was what they called metonymioally
nis regeneration, or * new birth.'
The connexion, or rather the similitude be-
tween Jewish and Christian baptism has been
thus exhibited by Dr. Wall's celebrated treatise
rpon the latter institution .
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BAPTISM.
1. Hie Jews required of proseljtea a renun-
ciation of idolatry, and to believe m Jehovah.
3. The Jews interrogated the proselyte while
standing in the water.
3. The Jews baptised the in&nt children of
proselytes.
4. The Jews required for an infant proselyte
that either his father, or the church of the place,
or three grave persons should answer for the
child.
5. A Jewish proselyte was said to be bom
again, when baptised.
6. The Jews told the proselyte that he was
now clean and holy.
7. The Jews declared the baptised to be under
the wings of the Divine Majesty, or Shechinah.
8. At the paschal season, the Jews baptised
proselytes, that they might eat the passover.
9. The Jews had their proselytes of the gate.
The above statements are ingeniously drawn
from the writings of Maimonides and the Baby-
lonian Talmud, which was completed at the close
of the fifth century, and of course affords an his-
torical testimony of facts existing and believed in
at that time. Spencer, who is fond of deriving the
rites of the Jewish religion from the ceremonies
of the Pagans, lays it down as a probable sup-
position, tliat the Jews received the baptism of
proselytes from the neighbouring nations, who
were wont to prepare candidates for the more
sacred functions of their religion by a solemn
ablution ; that, by this affinity of sacred rites,
they ''might draw the Gentiles to embrace their
religion, and that the proselytes (in gaining of
whom ihey were extremely diligent) might the
more easily comply with the transition from
Gentilism to Judaism. In confirmation of this
opinion he observes, first, that there is no divine
precept for the baptbm of proselytes, God
naving eqjoined only the rite of circumcision
for the admission of strangers into the Jewish re-
ligioio^ Secondly, that, among foreign nations,
the^ Egyptians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, and
others, it was customary that those who were to
be initiated into their mysteries, or sacred rites,
should be first purified by dipping their whole
body in water. That learned writer adds, as a
farther confirmation of his opinion, that the cup
of blessing likewise, added to the paschal supper,
seems plainly to have been derived from a pa^n
original : for the Greeks, at their feasts, had one
cup, called iroriypcov aya^ iatuovoct the cup of
the good demon or god, which they drank at
the conclusion of their entertainment, when the
table was removed. Since, then, a rite of Gen-
tile origin was added to one of the Jewish sacra-
ments, viz. the passover, there can be no absurdity
in supposing, that baptism, which was added to
the other sacrament, namely, circumcision, migfat
be derived from the same source. In the last
place, be observes, that Christ, in the institution
1. The Christians required to renounoe the
devil, and all his works, and to believe in the
Trinity.
2. The Christians put interrogatories as the
catechumen was about to enter the water^ when
he had before answered in the congregation.
3. The Christians baptised in&nts.
4. The Christians observed a similar custom.
5. Our Saviour and the Apostles call baptism
regeneration, or being bom again.
6. The same term is used in the New Testa-
ment : the baptised Christians are called the
saints, the holy, the sanctified — ^sanctified with
the washing of water.
7. Among Christians this was shown by the
gifts of the Holy Ghost: to this end the lay-
ing on of hands was used, a custom, probably
taken from the Jewish church.
8. Tlie Christians at Easter administered bap-
tism in a solemn maxiner.
9. The Christians had their catechumens, or
competentes.
of his sacraments, paid a peculiar regard to those
rites which were borrowed from the Gentiles;
for, rejecting circumcision and the paschal supper,
he adopted iiito his religion baptism and the
sacred cup; thus preparing the way for the
conversion and reception of the Gpntiles into his
church.
Some able critics, however, who oppose
the general conclusions of the Baptists upon
this subject, agree with tliem in discarding
these alleged proofii of the connexion between
the Christian institute and Jewish proselyte
baptism. The learned Owen says : — 'The opi-
nion of some learned men, about the transferring
of a Jewish baptismal rite (which, in reality, did
not then exist), by the Lord Jesus for the use ol
his disciples, is destitute of all probability.* And
in his exercitations on the epistle to the He*
brews, Exercitat. xiv. < From this latter tem-
porary institution (the washing of their clothes
commanded upon tlie Israelites at Sinu) such as
they had many granted to them in the wilder^
ness, before the giving of the law, the Rabbins
have formed a baptism for tliose that enter into
their synagogue ; a fancy too greedily embraced
by some Christian writers^ who would have the
holy ordinance of the Church's baptism to be
derived from thence. But this washing of their
clothes, not of their bodies, was temporary,
never repeated ; neither is there any thing of any
such baptism or washing required in any prose-
lyte, eittier man or woman, where the laws of
their admission are strictly laid down. Nor are
there the least footsteps of any such usage among
the Jews until after the days of John the Baptist,
of whom it was first taken up by some ante-
mishnical Rabbins.* Jennings, in his Jewish
Antiquities, (vol. I. p. 134, 8.) a work recom-
mended by the bishop of Lincoln, and placed in
the first class of those which eveiy clergyman
ought to possess; says it is more likely the Jews
took the hint of prosdyte-baptism fiom the
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497
Christians after our Siriour's time, than that he
borrowed his baptism from their's; which, when-
ever it came into practice, was one of those addi-
tions to the law of God, which he severely cen-
sures. There wants more evidence of its being
as ancient as our Saviour's time, than I appre-
hend can be produced} to ground any argument
upon it in relation to Christian baptism. We
therefore dismiss this form of the admission of
proselytes, as uncertain.' And Dr. Lardner,
works, vol. V. p. 601, 2. : * I pay no regard to
what tiic later Jewish Rabbins say of the method
of initiating proselytes, by circumcision, bap-
tism, and sacrifice ; who have made void not only
the moral (with which our Lord often charged .
them, as Matth. xv. 1 — 9, Mar^^ vii. 1 — 15, and
other places), but also the ritual part of the law
of God . Indeed, they had corrupted the Mosaic
ritual by numberless additions, before the coming
of our Saviour. As appears from the text of St.
Mark just referred to. Nor have they ceased to
do the like since.
' I think, as before said, that women were first
baptised under the evangelical dispensation. I
am also of opinion, that our blessed Lord's fore-
runner first made use of baptism as an initiating
ordinance; and therefore he was called the
Baptist, O BairrMTQc- Matth. iii. 1, and in many
other places. Nor am I singular in this opinion.'.
From this alleged Jewish ordinance, as Jen-
nings has observed, some- sects infer, tiiat under
the Christian dispensation baptism is only to be
administered to converts from Judaism, Mahom-
medanism, paganism, or some other religion, and
to tlieir descendants bom before their conversion
«Bd baptism, but to none bom after. Mr. Emlyn,
in particular, (Previous Qnesti<Mi to several
Questions, or Valid and Invalid Baptirai), in-
sists upon this argument against the constant and
universal obligation of inftunt baptism. And
the Society of Friends ground on this their prin-
cipal argument for rejecting baptism with water
as a ' carnal washing.' 1^ Mr. Gtumey's late
defence of the ' Peculiarities of Friends,' p. 67,
See.
Tbe baptism of John naturally presses upon
our consideration at the commencement of eveiy
enquiry upon this subject. Its divine original is
expressly taught, John 1 and 33, and its object
was to prepare the way for the Messiah by call-
ing a general attention to him and preaching the
secessity of repentance. The Jews seem to have
expected a general baptism at the coming of the
IVicssiah, and accordingly express litde surprise
It the fact of tbe baptism itself, but ralber ques-
ion tbe authority of John to administer it.
' Why baptisest thou then if thou be not Christ,
leitber Elias, nor the prophet?' J<^ uniformly
)ore testinBony to the more glorious petsoa and
jfiice of the Messiah; ' I indeed,' saia he, * bap-
:ise you with water; but there standcth one
unong you whom ye know not, he shall bap-
tise you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:'
wd, agreeably to the nature of his mission, he
taught them that his baptism was of no more
force after the entrance of the latter upon his
public ministiy; ' He must increase, but I must
jecrease;' * 1 know him not but that he should
bue blade manifest to Israel; therefore am I come
Vol. III.
baptisin<( with water;' and the whole of his
ministry received a perfect accomplislmjent,
when, amidst the admiring multitude:!, assembled
on occasion of his baptising his great successor,
there came a voice from heaven, saying, * this is
my beloved sou, in whom I am well pleased,
hear ye him.* The cause of Christian oaptism
has frequently been advocated, and, as some
have thought, illustrated, from the baptism of
John ; but John, according to the scriptures, is
to be considered as a member of the Old Testa-
ment church, agreeably to our Lord's language,
* the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater
than he.' The nature and obligation of baptism,
as a Christian ordinance, is to be placed on dif-
ferent and on better grounds.
1 . Tlie first thing to be considered is the oriei-
nal institution of this sacrament by our Lord
himself, as a means of admission into his church.
He gave the universal commission to the dis-
ciples after his resurrection from tbe dead, ' Go
ye and teach all nations, baptising them in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost. He that believeth and is baptised
shall be saved, he that believeth not shall be
damned,' Mark, xvi, 15, 16. As a sacrament of
initiation, baptism, according to the majority of
writers on this subject, corresponds with circum-
cision in the Jewish establishment, being the
badge of distinction between the churc^i and the
world. The analogy between these two ordi-
nances appeared so forcible to the church in the
time of St. Cyprian, that his opinion was request-
ed upon the point, whether baptism ought not to
be delayed till the eighth day after the birth
of a child, in order that the resemblance between
the Jewish and Christian sacraments might be
moie perfectly exhibited. Gregory Nazianzen
was an advocate for the eighth day. Cir-
cumcision has been considered, from a very
remote period, as a type of baptism, and those
arguments in behalf ot infant baptism have been
deemed valid, which are drawn ftom the prac-
tice of circumcision under the ceremonial law.
St. Paul himself, appears to teach the analogy
of the two ordinances in the following language,
found in Col. ii. 11. 'In whom ye are circum-
cised with the circumcision made without hands,
in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by
the circumcision of Christ (or Christian baptism),
buried with him in baptism.'
That baptism must be received by all believers,
is evident from the very language of the original
institute, * he that believeth and is baptised shall
be saved,' and so strongly did the early fathers
feel the necessity of it, that they frequentiy ex-
pressed their doubts as to tbe safety of infants
who died in an unbaptised sUte. Whether it be
possible for a man to be saved in an unbaptised
condition the church of England nowhere
decides ; but the scriptures have been thought to
lean to the side of absolute necessity, in our
Lord's words to Nicodemus, John, iii, 5,
' Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man
be bom again of water and of the spirit, he can-
not enter into the kingdom of God.' The fkthers
generally supposed this intended to express the
alMolute necessity of baptism : the ft>rmer part of
the verse evidenUy aUudiag to the outward form
2 K
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BAPTISM.
of adminifltnition by water; the latter, to the sub-
sistance of an inward grace by the spirit of God;
constituting, in reality, that regeneration of the
mind of which the outward regenerative rite is
an imperfect representation. Hooker's language
upon the necessity of the exterior ordinance is,
' If Christ himself, which giveth salvation, do
require baptism it is not for us, that look for sal-
vation, to sound and examine him whether
unbaptised men ms^ be saved, but seriouriy to
do what is required, and religiously to fear the
danger which may grow by the want thereof/
2. The second thing worthy of consideration
is the proper subjects to whom baptism may
be administered^
The church of England admits, equally, to the
sacrament persons of both sexes, adults or chil-
dren. Considerable opposition of opinion, never-
theless, prevails at present, with respect to the
validity 0/ infant baptism and its benefits ; for
an hisU>ri6il sketch ot the ceremony, see Pjedo-
BAPTiKT. It may be sufficient to our present
enquiry to observe, that there is no church in
the world, the Baptist excepted, that does not
admit of infant baptism, and that the question
was never agitated upon any considerable scale un-
til the period of the reformation. The service found
in the Common Prayer for the baptism of such
as are of riper years, was added at the review oh
the restoration of Charles IL in consequence of
the growA of Anabaptists, who had become so
numerous in the preceding oentnry, that it was
necessary to have a form fitted for dieir service.
Clinical Baptism, which was used in the
first centuries of the christian era, was baptism
administered to a person on his death-bei; of
which custom, mention is made by Cyprian and
£usebin&, by Epiphanius in Heres. Cerinth, and
by other writers of the fourth and fifth centuries.
In a case where a heathen in his last sickness,
was converted to the Christian religion, such a
baptism became necessary. But, in consequence
of the superstitious notion that baptism alone
washed away all the sins of the past life, many
persons delayed the consideration of Christianity
till their last moments, intending just at that cri-
sis to make use of baptism, and thus die in the
hope of heaven. Gregory Nyssen, Chrysostom,
Nazianzen, and other fathers of the church,
inveighed against this delusion in ^e most
powerful language. The two most remarkable
instances of the superstition alluded to, are
found in the emperor Constantine and his son
Constantius, who wer6 both baptised on their
death-beds. But, since in ail cases the sincerity
of death-bed religion is, to say the least, doubtful,
it was decreed bv the council of Neocesarea,
A. D. 350, and of Laedicea, 363, diat no clinic
should ever be admitted to the order of presbyter.
d. The third enquiry on this subject respects
the persons in whom is vested the ofiice ot ad-
ministering this sacrament. The right of bap-
tising has generally been committed to tne
clergy of all communions. It belongs to bishops
and presbyters as a part of their office, althougn,
from the example of Philip, it appears that dea-
cons have a diTine authority for performing it,
perhaps equal to eitiier of the two former. In
our eatabUthed cbuch deacons are empowered
to baptise only in the absence of the priest, t
limitation whidi is intended out of respect to Uw
higher orders of the clergy. Different opinions
appeal to have been held^y the fathers upon the
subject of lay-baptism. Tertullian admits laymea
to administer it in cases of urgent necessity : tl)e
same sentiment was expressed by St. Jerome.
and by the council of Eliberis, A. D. 305. Cal-
vin also confesses the antiquity of the opinion.—
Inst 1. iv. c. XV. sec. 20. Basil however held
the contrary option, and the apostolic, Const
c. It. I. iv., forbids laymen to baptise. It is how-
ever one thinff to dispute the right of a layman
to baptise, and another thing to deny the spiritoal
validity of a sacrament so administered, especially
since several of the ancient fiithers adlowed the
validity of the ordinance even when administered
by women. Baptism by laymen ia at present
unknown in our national church, it may never-
theless be interesting to our readers to notice
some of the ancient canons upon the subject,
made in England by the Pope*s delegates, daring
the thirteenth century. In the constitution of
Edmund, archbishop of Canterbury, A.D. 1236,
26 Hen. III., there is this direction :— < Item in-
terroget sacerdos laicum diligentur, dim in neces-
sitate baptizaveret puerum ; quid dixerit, etiam,
quid fecerit. Et si diligenti pneoedente inoui-
sitione famlL sibi fide plenfiL, invenirit Jaicnm dis-
tinck^ et in fonn& ecclesis baptizasse, sive m
Latino, sire in GllIico,siveinAnglico, approbet
fectum. Si verb baptizatus fuerit pner a laico,
precedentia et toubsequentia mersidDem explean-
tur vel suppleantur ^ sacerdote.' ' When a lay-
man has, upon urgent necessity, baptised a child,
the priest shall enquire diligently with what words
and acts it was performed, and if upon diligent
enquiry hC find, and is well persuaoed, that tlie
layman did distinctly, and according to fbe
forms of the church, whether in Latin, French,
or English, baptise the child, he shall confirm
the proceeding : but in this case the rites preced-
ing and following the immersion shall be supplied
by a priest.' By another constitution or the
same archbishop, order was given, that in casei
of child-birth tne attendants should hare water
ready at hand to baptise the child if nocessity
required. The legantine conslitutiofis of Otbo
the year following gave order that laymen should
be instructed how to baptise ; which was again
enforced by the constitution of Otobon, another
legate, in 1260. It would perhaps, under all
circumstances, be difficult to decide the point,
whether this earnest solicitude to prevent any
child dying unbaptised was the efiect of a de-
plorable superstition, or a profound policy on
the part Of the clergy, but evidently the compli-
"anoe arose from ignorance on the part of the
people. It is also certain, that in consequence
of thew institutions baptism became veiy pre-
valent, for we find a constitution of archbtsaop
Peccham, in a provincial synod held at Readiai
in 1279, enjoining that baptism by laymen shooM
not be repeated ; and, in casies where it appeared
doubtfiil, whether the child had been baptised or
not that the form should be used, which is still
preserved in our lituigy. * If thou art not aUeady
baptised, I baptise the^ &o.' In the liturgy, of
Edward VI. there is internal evidence that the
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499
form of priT^ite In^ptism was mten^^ for the use
of the la^ty, as well as the clergy, at least in cases
of extreme danger. Jn the f^ticlcs drawn up by
the ooDTocation, A.D. 157^, the twelfth takes
ootioe of a douU which hr^d frequeni^y i^isen ;
namely, vhetljier th^ fprm of private baptism
might oe sbdmipUtmd l>y Ipymefi or po. The
convocation decided jn the negative; b\^t t)iis
article, though existing in the MS., was never
printed, and tl^e question still remained till the
conference at Hampton Court, which took pl4ce
in the first year of the reign of James I.,
when the fyna itself was so altered as to ex-
clude lay baptism altogether. Upon the whole,
then, it appears ^that lay baptism is now ex-
cluded horn t)>e church of England, there exist-
ing no necessi^ for it, but that the church does
not say th^t lay baptism is no baptism-'
4. The fourth enouiry is, what facts go to con-
stitute baptism. Tnese, with reference to the
outward administration of it, are two ; n^ely,
the application of water, aiid the using of the
original words of institution — * I baptise thee in
the name of the Father, and pf the Son, and of
the Hobr Ghost'
The Baptists consider that it is ^ essential
part of baptism that the subject should be atp-
plied to the water and immersed in it, for which
reason manv of them abstain irom Christian com-
munion with members of other churches, consider-
ing them as unbaptiaed persons. It is cer]Uun that
the literal meanmg of the word baptism is iip-
roersion, wbich is further confim^ed by the pxac-
tioe of the ancient churdi ; but whether immersion
be esseitial to the constitution of the ordinance,
is in our opinion a separate enquiry. The
practice of sprinkling in some cases was adopted,
and even JQStified by all the parties^ ^s in the
baptism of sick persons and weak cluldren. It
follows that baptism is valid where immersion is
not used, and therefore that immersion is no
essential part of it; besides which, there is a
strong probability jkhat in the baptism of the
jailor, Acts xvi. 33, immersion was not resorted
to. With respect to the practice of our estab-
lished church, dipping appears to have been the
regular and established mode, and was general at
the Reformation ; but, in 1644, when the Presby-
terians had the ascendancy, the original practice
of the church began to decline, anoT after seversd
centuries had elapsed, the present mode became
universal. It contributed not a little to the
cause of aorinkling, that during the bloodv reign
of queen Mary, many pif our Protestapt divines,
flying into Germany and Switzerland, and re-
taming when, queen Elizabeth came to die crown,
brought back with ^em a great zeal for the pro-
testant churches beyond sea, virnere ^they bad
been sheltered and received"; and having ob-
served, that at Geneva and some other places,
baptism was admitiistered by sprinkling, they
introduced the same practice into the churches
of England.
The next point essential to a valid baptisQif is
that it be administered 'in the name of the Pa-
ther, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost/ A
baptism not thus administered, or administered
without water, the church of England considers
no baptism, and would insist on a proper sub-
mission to the sacrament. But sundry passages
occur in the new testament which relate to the
administering of baptism in the name of Christ
alone, as Acts ii. 38; viii. 16; xx. 48; xix. 5;
Eom. vi. 3; Gal. iii. 27; accordingly in St.
Basirs time, the question was agitated, and some
contended that baptism ought to be thus adminis-
tered. But being baptised in the name of Christ
implies being baptised ' in the name of the Father,
kcJ because these were points in which aU cate-
chumens were instructed, and in which every bap-
tised Christian was supposed to be established.
Th^ fojlpwing illustration of |his subject, taken
from Dr. Ligfatfqot> Harmony of the New Tes-
tament, Acts ii., is worthy the attention pf the
reader. 'Three thousand converted are baptised
in the name of the Lord Jesus,' verse 38, which
no whit disagreeth from the command, ' Baptise
in the naoie of the Father, and of the Son, &c.
Matt. XX viii. 19. For the form of baptism in
these first days of the gospel, of which the New
Testament giveth the story, may be considered
under a threefold condition. 1. John the Bap-
^st baptised ip the n^e pf Messias, or Christ
that was then ^rjeady to come, but that Jesi^s of
Nazaiejth was he, ^e hunself knew npt till he had
run a good part of his cpurse, John, i. 31 ', 32.
The disciples baptising the Jews, baptised them
in the name of Jesus, upon this reason, because
t^e great point ot controversy ^en in the nation
about j^ess^s was, w^i^er Jesus of Nazaratb
were he or no. All the nations acki^owled^d
a ])XessiaiS, but the most of tnem ^ijbomin^d that
Jesus of Illazareth iphould bie thought to be he,
therefore jthose that by the preaching of the gos-
pel came to acknowledge him to be Messias,
were now baptised in his name as the critical
badge of their embracing the tn^ ])i(essias. But
^d, where the question was not on foot, tl^ey
baptised in the iiame of the Father, and of the
S^on, and of the Holy Ghost. And so that bap-
tising in the name of Jesus was for a season for
the settling of the evidence of his being Messias,
and when th^ was thoroitgh,ly establi^ed, then
it was used no more; but baptism was in the
name of the Father, and of the Son, &c. Of the
same cqgnizance were those extraordinary giib
pf the spirit evidences of Jesus his being the
Messias, and ;cneans of conveying tbe gospel
through the world, and when bow these were
well established, then those gifb ceased forever.'
See also his sermon c^ Matt, xxviii. 19, where it
is proved that John baptized in the name of Mes-
sias now coming.
According to the geuend sentiment among
Christians this sacrament c^be received but once,
thus expressed in the Nicene.creed, * I believe m
one baptism for the remission of sins.' The cases
mentioned in ecclesiastical history to the con-
trary, are derived from the re-baptising of per-
sons who had been baptised by heretics, the
validity of which the orthodox, or party baptising,
denied and said that it was no baptism. The
sut^ect was therefore in those cases considered
as an unbaptiaed person.
5. Our next object vrill be to illustrate the
time, place, and manner of baptism. In the
earliest ages of the church, there was no stated
time or place fiw the reception of bfiptism- A(^er-
2 K 2
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BAPTISM.
wares Easter, \\liitsuntide,and Epiphany, became
solemn seasons, out of which baptism was not
administered, except in cases of nfecessity. The
catechumens, who were to receive it at these
times, were called coropetpntes ^ and to these it
is that St. Cyril addresses his catechises. In the
apostolical age, and some time after, before
churches and baptisteries were generally erected,
they baptised in any place where they had con-
venience; as John baptised in Jordan, and Philip
baptised the eunuch m the wilderness, and Paul
the jajlor, in his own house. But in after ages,
baptisteries were built adjoining to the church ;
and then rules were made, that baptism should
ordinarily be administered nowhere but in those
buildings. Justinian refers to ancient hiws, ap-
pointing that none of the sacred mysteries of the
-church should be celebrated in private houses.
Men might have private oratories for prayer ia
their own houses ; but they were not to adminis-
ter baptism or the eucharist in them, unless by a
particular license from the bishop of the place.
Such baptisms were frequently condemned in the
ancient councils, under the name iropo/Sairnir-
fiara, baptisms in private conventicles. As to
the attendant ceremonies and manner of baptism
in the ancient church : The person' to be bap
tised, if an adult, was first examined by trie
bishop or officiating priest, who put some ques-
tions to him ; as, first. Whether ne abiurea the
devil and all his works ? secondly, Whether he
gave a firm assent to all the articles of the Chris-
tian faith? to both which he answered in the
affirmative. If the person to be baptised was an
infent, he answered by his sponsors or god-
fathers. After the questions and answers fol-
lowed the exorcism : The minister laid his hand^
on the person's head, and breathed in his face,
to expel the devil from him, and prepare him for
baptism, by which the holy spirit was to be con-
ferred upon him. After exorcism, the minister,
by prayer, consecrated the water. The person
was then baptised * in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.' In
performing the ceremony, the usual custom (ex-
cept in clinical cases, or where there was scarcity
of water), was to immerse and dip the whole
body. Thus St. Barnabas, describing a baptised
person, says, ' We go down into the water full of
sin and filth, but we ascend bearing fruit in our
hearts.' And this practice was so general that
-we find no exceptions made in respect either to
the tenderness of infants, or the bashfulness of
the other sex, unless in case of sickness or other
disability. But to prevent any indecency, men
and women were baptised apart ; and either the
baptisteries were divided into two apartments,
one for the men, the other for the women, as
Bingham has observed^; or the men were bap-
tised at one time, and the women at another, as
is shown by Vossius, from the Ordo Romanus,
Gregory's Sacramentarium, &c. There was abo
an order of deaconesses, one part of whose busi-
ness was to assist at the baptism of women.
These precautions, however, rather indicate a
scrupulous attention to delicacy, than imply any
indecency in the circumstance of immersion it-
idf. From the candidates being immersed, there
'>l no Ttason to infer that they were naked : The
S resent baptists never baptise naked, though
ley always immerse. After immersion, followed
the unction ; by which (says St Cvril) was sig-
nified, that they were now cut off from the wild
olive, and were ingrafted into Christ, the true
vine ; or else to show that they were now to be
champions for the gospel, and were anointed
thereto, as the old athletse were against their
solemn games. With the anointing was joined
the sign of the cross, made upon the forehead of
the person baptised ; which being done, he had
a white garment given him, to denote his bemg
washed from the defilements of sin. From this
custom die feast of Pentecost, which was one of
the annual seasons of baptism, came to be called
Whit-sunday, i. e. Wliite Sunday. This garment
was afterwauds laid up in the church, that it
might be an evidence against such persons as
violated or denied that fiuth which they had
owned in baptism. The person baptised was
then, according to Justin Martyr, 'received into
the number of the faithful, who sent up their pub-
lic prayers to God, for all men, for themselves,
and for those who had been baptised.'
Hie Form of Baptism in the church of Rome
is as follows :~ When a child is to be baptised,
the persons who bring it, wait for the priest at the
door of the church, vmo comes thither in his sar-
plice and purple stole, attended bv his clerks.
He begins witn questioning the god&ther, whe-
ther they promise, in the child's name, to live and
die in the true catholic and apostolic fiuth, and
what name they would give the child. Then fol-
lows an exhortation to the sponsors : after which
the priest calling tlie child by its name, asks it.
What dost thou demand of the church? The
godfather answers, eternal life. The priest goes
on : If you are desirous of obtaining eternal lifSe,
keep God's commandments, thou iaXi love the
lord thy God, &c. After which he breathes three
times in the child's face, saying. Come out of this
child, thou evil spirit, and make room for the
Holy Ghost 1 This said, he makes the sign of
the cross on the child's forehead and breast, saj-
jng. Receive the sign of the cross on thy fordiead,
and in thy heart. Then taking off his cap, be
repeats a short prayer; and laying his hand softly
on the child's -hc^, repeats a second prayer:
which ended, he blesses some salt, and putting a
little of it into the child's mouth, pronounce
these words, Receive the salt of wisdom. All
this is performed at the church door. The priest,
with the godfathers and godmothers, coming
into the church, and advancing towards the foot,
repeat the apostle's creed and the Lord's prayer.
Being come to the font, the priest exorcises the
evil spirit again ; and taking a little of his own
spittle, with the thumb of his right hand, robs it
on the child's ears and nostrils, repeating, as he
touches the right ear, the same word (Ephatha be
thou opened), which our Saviour made use of to
the man bom deaf and dumb. Lastly, they pull
off its swaddling-clothes» or strip it below the
shoulders, during which the priest prepares the
oils, &c. Hie sponsors then hold the child
directly over the tout, observing to turn it doe
east and west : whereupon the priest asks the
child, Whe^er he renounces the devil and all hi«
works? sv>d the srodfather having answered m
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501
the affiimatiTty the priest anoints the child be-
tween the sbouldera ra the form of a cross. Then
taking some of the consecrated water, he pours
part of it thrice on the chUd's hiead, at each per-
lusioD callin{f on one of the persons of the Holy
Trinity. The priest conclaaes the ceremony of
baptism with' an exhortation. The Romish church
allows midwives, in cases of danger, to baptise a
child before it is come entirely out of its mother's
womb : where, it is to be obsenred, that some
part of the body of the phild must appear before
it can be baptised, and that it is baptised on that
part which first appears : if it l>e tne head, it is
not necessary to re-baptise the child ; but if only
\ foot or hand appears, it is necessary to repeat
baptism. A still-bom child, thus baptised, may
be buried in consecrated ground! The Greek
:hurch differs from the Romish, as to the rite of
baptism, chiefly, in performing it by complete
immersion.
Fo&MS or Baptism in the Church of England,
rhe forms of administering baptism among us
3eing too well known to require a particular de-
icription, we shall only mention one or two of the
nore material differences between the form, as it
;tood in the liturgy of king Edward, and that
n the English Common Prayer Book at present.
[lie form of consecrating the water did not make
'. part of the office in king Edward's litui]^^, as
t does in the present, because the water in the
ont was changed, and consecrated but once a
Qonth. The form likewise itself was somethinff
i fferent from that now used ; and was introduced
rith a short prayer ; that Jesus Christ, upoh
^hom (when he was baptised), the Holy Ghost
arae down in the likenen of a dove, would send
own the same Holy Spirit, to sanctify the foun-
lin of baptism ; which prayer was afterwards
ift out at the second reriew. — By king Edward's
rst book, the minister is to dip the diild in tl e
ater thrice; 1st, dipping the riffht side; 2dly,
e left ; the 3d time, dipping the race toward the
nt This trine immersion was a very ancient
ractice in the Christian church, and used in
>Dor of the Holy Trinity ; though some later
riters say, it was done to represent the death,
irial, and resurrection of Christ, together with
s three days continuance in the grave. After-
ards, the Arians, persuading the people that it
as used to denote that the three persons in the
rinity were three different substances, the or-
odox left it off, and used only one single immer-
[>n. By the first common prayer of king
dward, after the child was baptised, the god-
thers and godmothers were to lay their hands
>on it, and the minister was to put on him the
bite vestment commonly called the chrysome,
id to say, ' Take this white vesture, as a token
the innocency, which by God's grace, in the
>ly sacrament of baptism, is given unto thee;
d for a sign, whereby thou art lulmonished, so
ngr as thou livest, to give thyself to innocence
living, that after this transitory life thou may-
t be partaker of the life everlasting. Amen.'
i soon as he' had pronounced these words, he
IS to anoint the mftint on the head, saying,
ilmightv God, the father of our Lord Jesus
irist, who hath regenerated thee by water and
e Holy Ghost, and hath given unto thee remis-
sion of all thy sins ; mar he Touchsafe to anoint
thee with the unction of his Holy Spirit, and bring
thee to the inheritance of everlasting life. Amen.'
This was manifestly done in imitation of t^ie
practice of the primitive church.
The only human institutions connected with
baptism in our established church, at present, are
two, namely, sponsors and signing with the
cross. Sponsors, or godfathers, called in ancient
ecclesiastical writings, patrini, and dvuSoxoi, or
susceptores, are mentioned as early as TertuUian.
Cyril oftAlexandria, A. D. 412, mentions the
susceptor as saying Amen for the child baptised.
It is also evident that in the second century there
were attendants upon the children to be baptised,
whose distinct office was to receive them from
the priest, and who, it is highly probable, an-
swered for them at the font ; but that the prac^
tice was not used in the days of the apostles is
evident, since it is not mentioned by Justin
Martyr- The sign of the cross is a ceremony
against which much censure has been levelled.
It was used as eariy as the third century, and,
althoiigh many efforts were made at the reforma-
tion to abolish it, has been carefully' preserved.
Other customs, however, have by different
churches, and in different ages> been introduced
into the celebration of this sacrament, which are
now totally disused, or retained only in the
church of Rome. They may be enumerated in
the following order : 1. Trine immersion, already
alluded to, the practice of which commenced
about the opening of the fourth century. Al
though prescribed in the English church by the
prayer-book, 2 of Edward VI., this form was
afterwards omitted. 2. Chrism, or unction, as
mentioned by Tertullian, Cyprian, Cyril, and
Chrysostom. It was peiformed with plain oil
before baptism, and with unguent afterwards.
3. Tertullian mentions the practice of giving
milk and honey to persons after baptism. This
ceremony, which after a few centuries was dis-
continued, has been derived by some learned
men from the Jewish customs at proselyte bap-
tism. 4. Exorcism, or putting the baptised per-
son upon his oath, and declaring to him bis
obligation to renounce sin, was used in the
ionrth century. This ceremony abounds, with
corruption in the church of Rome. 5. Candles
light^ after baptism, and placed in the hands of
the person baptised, as an emblem of the illumi-
nation of the spirit, was a ceremony used as
early as the fourth century. 6. 'fhe chrisom, so
called in the English church, was a white gar-
ment or surplice, put on immediately after bap-
tism. 7. Easter and Pentecost were considered
solemn times for the administration of baptism,
as early as the second and third centuries.
8. Salt was not given to the baptised till the
eighth century; nor, 9. The ears touched with
spittle till the ninth.
6. Our sixth object will be to exhibit some of
the most popular heresies which have prevailed
at different ^riods respecting baptism These
arose chiefly in the second and three following
centuries. 1. In the second century Marcion
permitted women to baptise ; affirmed that none
out virgins, widows, or celibates, were tit sub-
jects for baptism ; and allowed baptism to b«
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BAPTISM.
xepeated thnce. 'Die Mootanbto baptised the
d^. The Valentmians, instead of baptising in
the name of the Father, &c. used a mystical fonn
in the name of the Unknown Father of all things,
in the Truth the Mother of all things, in him
that came down on Jesns, in the union and re-
demption, and communion of powers Instead
of using water they poured a mixture of oil and
water on the head, after which they anointed tlie
persons so baptised. 2. In the third century
arose the heresy of the Manichees, who affirmed
that baptism by water was not necessafy to sal-
vation, and accordingly neglected it. 3. The
fourth century was remarkable for the heresy of
Arius, who baptised in the name of the Sou onfly.
4. Pelagius, m the ii(Ui century, affirmed that
infants were baptised for other reasons^ and not
because 6\' origmal sin.
7. Several laws hare passed in different a^
for enforcmg and* restricting btotism. In the
ancient church, baptism was "frequently con- '
fened on Jews by violence; but the church
never seems to have Allowed of force on this
occasion. By a canon of the fourth council of
Toledo, it is expressly forbidden to baptise any
against their wills. That which looks most like
force in this case, allowed by law, were tW6
orders of Justinian ; one of which appoints the
heathens, and the other Samaritans, to be bap-
tised, with their wives and children and servants,
under pain of confitcaiion. By the ancient laws,
baptism was not to be Conferred on image-makere,
stage-players, gladitttors, aurigsK or puMic drivers,
mi^cians, or even stroUins beggars, till they
quitted such professions. Slaves were not at--
lowed the privilege of baptism witliout the tes-
timony and consent of their masterr; excepting
the slaves of Je^s, heathens, and heretics, who
were not only admitted to baptism, but, in con-
sequence thereof, had their lireedom. Vossius
has a learned and elaborate woik, De Baptismo,
wherein he accurately discusses all the questions
concerning baptism according to ihe doctrine of
the ancients.
8. Baptism for the Dead was a sort of vies-
riotts baptiiim, formerly in use, where a person
dying without baptism, another was baptiiied in
ms stead. Bi. Chrysoitom tells us, this was
practised among the Marcionites with a great
deal of ridiculous ceremony. After any catechu-
men was dead, they hid a living roan under the
bed of the deceased ; then coming to the dead
man, they asked him, whether be would receive
baptism ? and he making no answer, the other
answered for him, and said, he would be bap-
tised in his* stead; and so they baptised tne
liring for the dead. Epiphanius assures us, the
like was also practised among the Corinthians.
This practice tney pretend to be founded on the
apostle's authority ; alleging that text for it, If
the dead rise not at all, what shall they do who
Sive baptised for the dead? This text, indeed,
has given occasion to a great variety of different
systems and explications. Botius enumerates no
less than nine different opinions among divines
concerning the sense of the phrase. St. Ambrose
and Walafred Strabo seem clearly of opinion,
that the apostle had respect to such a custon*.
then in being; and several modems are 6f the
same opmRm, as BarMitus^ Jds. Scaliger, Jiu-
tellus, and Grotiua., But Bellarmin, Slmeros,
Menochius, and several other Roman catholics,
undeKitand it of- the baptism of tears, and pe-
nance, and prayers, whidi the living undergo for
the dead ; and thus allej^ it as a proof of the
belief of purgaiory in St. IHrnVs days. Some
protestant divines read the passage, baptised
mto death ; and illustrate it by the context; paN
ticulariy the wovds * being buried with Christ hj
baptism into deah* Paul, they say, is pforing
tile resurrection by that of our Saviour, and the
strength of his argument is, (1 Cor. xv. 16, 17,
29.) <If Christ be not raided, and if die dead
rise not, what shall they do who ate baptised
into his death V This appears the most probable
interpretation 6f the text
Baptism of the Deav was a custom which
anciently previ^led among some people in Africa.
The thira council of Carthage speaks of it as a
thing tiiat ignorant Christians weic fond of.
Gregory Naziansefi also takes notice of the same
superstitious opinion prevailing among some
who delayed to be baptised. In his address to
this kind of men, he asks whether they staid to
be baptised af^r death ? Philastrins also notes
it as me general error of tiie Montanists or Cauir
Phrygians, that Ihey baptised men after deadi.
The practice seems to be grounded on a vain
opinion, that, wben men had neglected to receive
iNiptism in their life-time^ some compensation
might be made le»r this omission by receiving it
afler death.
Baptism op Belis, a superstitions custom
practised in the drardi of Rome, whereby the
bell was supposed to be rendered capable of
driving away tempests and devils. It is first
taken notice of in the capftulars of Charles the
Great. Baronius carries its antiquity no higher
tiian die vear 968, when the greatest bell of the
church or Lateran was christened by pope John
III. In 1581 it was complained of in the cen-
tum gravamina of the German nation, drawn up
in the nublic diet at Nuremberg. In this cere-
mony me bell wiAs provided with god Others, who
made responses, and gave it a name ; after which
theydotiked it with a new garment, as Christians
used to be dotfaed on coming out of the water.
Baptism, Fiae, spoken of by St. John the
the Baptist, has occasioned much conjecture.
Some of the fathers held that believers, before
they enter paradise, are to pass through a cer-
tain fire, which is to purify Uiem from all re-
maining pollutions. Otiiers, with St. Basil,
understood it of (he fire of hell ; others of that
of tribulation and temptation. Others, widi St.
ChiysostcMn, will have it io denote an abundance
of graces. Others suppose it to mean the descent
of the Holy Ghost on tne aposties, in the fonn of
ftery tongues. Lastiy, others maintain that the
words 'with fire' are an interpolation. Some
MS. copies of St Matthew, indeed, want these
words ; but still they are to be found in St Mark
and St Luke. The ancient Seleucians and Her-
minians, understanding it literally, maintained
that material fire was necessary in the adminis-
tration of baptism. But we do not find how, or
to what part of the body, diey applied it, or
whether they were satisfied with obliging the
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BAPTISTS.
603
peraoa boptifed to pass through the fire. Valen-
tinus, according to Tertullian, rebaptized all viho
had received water baptism, and conferred oq
them tha baptism of fire. Heracleon, cited by
Clemens Alexandriniui^ says that some applied a
red hot iron to the ears of the person baptised,
as if to impress some mark upon him ! It many
of the plainest texts of Scripture had not been
miiconstnied by ienorance, and darkened by
knavery, one ytoM be surprised that ever this
text should have occasioned the smallest contro-
versy. The oomext suggests one good interpre-
tation. The Baptist spoke to a mixed multitude',
many of whom were or would be believers, and
many of whom never did believe the gospel. He
therefore teUs them &at One, mightier than he,
should baptise them (the one class) with the
Holy Ghost, and (the other) *witli fire;' that he
will thoroughly purge his floor and gather his
wheat into his gamer; but he will bum up the
chaff, &c. Other passages of the New Testament
speak of a 'fiery ttial,' which is to try all faithful
believers, as no < strange thing/ 1 Pet.iv. 12; and
Jesus Christ, aliuding to his own sufferings, as-
sured his immediate followers ' that they should
be baptised with the baptism 'wherewith he was
baptised.' Probably therefore we unite the best
interpretations of the passage by considering it
to r«er to the baptism of Ae day of Pentecost
literally, and symbolically to the Christian's
share of afflictions in tliis suffering and vain
vrorld.
BAPTISTS, a general name by which those
Christians are distinguished who deny the validity
of infant baptism, and restrict the administration
of that sacrament to persons capable of believing
and understanding the religion into which they
are Mkus initiated. They al^d maintain generally
that immersion is necessary to constitute a scrip-
tural baptism. Like all other denominations of
Christians, they call in the evidence of antiquity ;
and their pretensions, if founded on fact, as will
\e seen hereafler, are considerable. Thev affirm
that in&nt baptism was unknown before the third
century, was established in the fourth and fifUi,
and prevailed generally till the Reformation ; that
tsven in the dark ages some traces of pure bap-
tism are* discernible; that the ancient British
church, before the arrival of St. Austin^ did not
baptise infants; that Brano and Beiengarius in
the eleventh 4!entury, the Waldenses, the Lol-
lards, and the Wickiiffites, opposed in&nt bap-
tism, together with William Sawtre, the first
Lollard martyr in England, who was burnt A. D.
1401, m the reiga of Heniy IV. This is certain,
with respect to their antiquity, that at an early
period ot the Reformation disputatioBS were held
at Zurich, Bale, and Berne, upon iufituit baptism.
To the elass of Baptists bdoag the ancient No-
vatians, Cataphrygians, tiie DonatistSi the Ana-
kftptistsand Mennonites of Germany, and odiers,
mo, though they differed widely in their opinions
upon other subjects, held the same general views
with respect to the initiatory sacrament.
Although the term Anabaptist has been pro-^
auscuouslY used as a general name by whicn to
distinguish Baptists or re-baptisers, still we must
distinguish between tlie Baptists in oeneial and
tha Anabaptists of Germany^ fof whi<m tee axtide
Ahabaptist. It would be equally uncandid
and unjust to confound, with the ijtttr enlh«-
siasts, so respectable and consistent a body of
Christians as the Baptists are, merely from a coin-
cidence of opinion on the subject of baptism,
especially since the wild doctrines of the latiei*
on the subject of civil government have always
been disclaimed by the former, although it must
be confessed a difficulty to distinguish them for
some year^'af^er the Reformation.
The Baptists in England separate from the es-
tablishment for the same reasons as their brethren
of the other denominations do ; and from the ad-
ditional motives derived from their particular
tenets respecting baptism. The constitution of
their churches, and their modes of worship, are
congregational or independent ; in the exercise
of which they are protected in common with
otfier dissenters, by the act of toleration. Before
Ais act they were liable to pains and penalties as
nonconformists, and often ipr their peculiar sen-
timents as Baptists. A proclamation was issued
out against them, and son^e of them were burnt
in Smithfield in 1538. Many of them were per-
secuted as Anabaptists in the reign of Elizabeth,
charged with holding opinions which tended to
anarchy. Indeed, during the latter part of Eliza-
beth's reign, the powers of the Star Chamber, and
the High Commission, i ad almost destroyed dis-
sent ; the Baptists fled the countiv, and settled
l^ncipally in Holland.^ Mr. Smyth, a beneficed
elergyman who had seceded from the establish-
ment, founded a Baptist church of English refu-
g^ees at Amsterdam. He appears to have been
an Arminian in point of sentiment; but in hb
settlement over this people we have the earliest
evidence of the existence of regular Baptist
churches. Mr. Sm^th died in 1610, and was
succeeded in his ministry by Thomas Helwisse,.
who shortlv afler returned with his congregation
to England, and settled in London. The severi-
ties exercised by king James I. at this time
against the Puritans and Baptists, called forth
some able writings in explanation and defence of
Aeir principles. A petition was presented to
e lament in 1620, after which the Baptists were
Uy'acknowledged as a body distinct from the
Anabaptist, although considerable prejudice
existed against them^ even to the time when
4»ishop Taylor vnote hit Liberty of Prophecying.
it was particularly unhappy for their cause that
die fifth monarchy men, of Cromwell's time,
were diiefly Baptists. T^e year 1633 affords us
the earliest records remaining of a particular
baptist church in London, formed under a Mr.
Spilsbufy. The persons who formed this con-
gregation had separated from one of the inde-
pendent persuasion ; and, conceiving the right of
administering baptism to descend in uninter-
rupted succession, sent one of their members
over to Holland to receive that ordinance, and
bring it over to them.
They might, it is true, have received baptism
firom some member of Mr. Spilsbury's congrega-
tion; but that body being Particular or Cal-
vinistie Baptists would not have any connexion
with the Arminian or General Baptists. Be-
tween these two denominations there never wa5
much intercourse, nor is there at the presen*
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BAPTISTS.
flay. After the murder of Charles I. both the
Baptists and Independents suffered much from
the intolerant spirit of the Presbyterians ; but in
the short pariiament of Cromwell, commonly
called * Praise God Barebone's parliament,' from
the circumstance of Mr. Barebone, a Baptist mi-
nister, having made himself conspicuous in it,
the Baptists appear to hare had some influence.
Great suspicion, nevertheless, rested upon them
^neraily ; especially as amongst the Baptists at
hat period were found some who opposed the
Protector's government, and advocateci republi-
can principles, and others who believed the near
approach of Christ to reign upon the earth, and
were ever ready to promote by the sword the
establishment of what was called by way of con-
tempt tlie fifth monarchy. A conspiracy of the
fifth monarchy was defeated by Cromwell, in
1650, and Harrison, the regicide, at their head,
was imprisoned for life ; but upon the restora^
tion the Baptists publicly disclaimed Anabap-
tist principles, and presented the king with a
confession of their mith. A second conspiracy
of the same deluded class took place in 1661,
after which the Baptists repeated tneir disavowal
of Anabaptist principles, and, with the excep-
tion of their sufferings in common with their dis-
senting brethren during the period between the
B^toration and the Revolution in 1688, from the
rigorous measures employed to compel them to
conform, neither the general nor particular Bap-
tists have since that period suffered any consi-
derable molestation. The particular Baptists, at
a general assembly held in London in the year
1689, professed their belief in the distinguishing
doctrines of Calvinism, which are still the general
sentiments of all their churches. As a body they
are highly respectable, and rising in importance.
They have several academies for the education of
students for the ministry in their congregations,
the oldest of which is at Bristol ; and also two
exhibitions for students to be educated at one of
the universities in Scotland, given them by Dr.
Ward of Gresham college.
Both the particular and the $;eneral (or Armi-
nian) Baptists had formerly messengers of their
churches who exercised a species of episcopal
authority ; but their only church officers, at the
present time, are ministers or pastors, and dea-
cons. Their churches are not parochial, or con-
fined to certain districts, but congregational and
independent, every congregation being empow;-
ered to prescribe its own rulers. The meetings
of the messengers and members of the different
congregations are not for the general govern-
ment of the body, but for mutual advice and
encouragement
A considerable controversy has of late agitated
both the above denominations of Baptists, on the
question of open communion, namely, whether
persons who have been baptised in infancy may
be admitted without any further baptism to the
other sacrament when they arrive at years of dis-
cretion, provided in other respects they are
thought proper persons. On this particular the
teachers of both denominations are roach divided
in opinion, and frequent pamphlets have been
written on both sides.
SCOTCH BAPTisTfiy a denomination of
Christians in Scotland, who pio&ss to deduce
their original from the apostolic a|^ Their views
of the initiatory sacrament, and arguments
against the validity of infant baptism, are the
same as those held by Baptists generally, bat
their collateral opinions, especially on the sub-
ject of church government, are peculiar. They
stand in no particular connexion with any other
class of Baptists, either abroad or in England,
although they have churches and brethren in
their own communion in London and other
places. It was not known till lately that a so-
ciety of Baptists had existed in Scotland before
1765, but now the fact is ascertained that such a
society did really exist, and usually met both in
Leith and Edinburgh as hi back as the middle
of the last centuiy. At the period already al-
luded to, the Baptist profession publicly revived,
first in Edinburgn ana afterwards in other places,
so that now there are disciples and brethren in
all parts of the kingdom.
They are generally remarked for their unity
and love to each otlier, to which is superadded a
firmness in maintaining their religious opinions.
I. They hold, from the New Testament, that
each church planted by the apostles was a single
congregation, and met together in one place.
Acts ii. 1. 46; iv. 31; and v. 12; 1 Cor. xi.
18. 20; so that it was composed of visible be-
lievers; 1 Cor. i. 2; Philip i. 1; Col. i. 2;
that it had a plurality of elders, or bishops, to
rule and labor vi the word and doctrine ; (Acts
xiv. 23 ; XX. 17 ; Philip i. 1 ; Titus i. 5 ; 1 Tim.
V. 17; also a plurality of deacons to minister
in the proper application oi the church's bounty ;
Acts vi. 1—17; Philip i. 1; and that both
were chosen not by their academical abilities,
but by their characters laid down in 1 Tim. iiL
1 — 16 ; Tit. i. 5^-10 ; and set apart by the laying
on of hands; AcU vi. 6; 1 Tim. iv. 14; v. 22.
II. They aim at the faithful and impartial exer-
cise of discipline, according to the several rules
laid down in the New Testament; Matt. xvii. 15 —
17; 1 Cor. v.; 2Thess. iii.6— 15; 2Tim.iii.5.
Tit. iii. 10, 18. Gal. vi. 1 Jude 22, 23. Such
discipline, they say, is essential to the very being
of a christian church ; but altogether impiacb-
cable in any other society. III. Th^ receive
none into church-fellowship but such as make a
scriptural profession of their &ith in Christ, and
ahoyr their readiness to observe ^hatsoera he
enjoins; and they retain none in their com-
munion who visibly depart, in any instance, horn
the fiiith and obedience of the gospel, and are
proof against all the instituted means of recoveiy.
IV. They hold that the rule of forbearance is
divine revelation, making all due allowance ibi
differences in natural tempers, capacities, growth
in grace, &c. and exercising all long^^ufEeiiog,
lowliness, and medtness, in their eodeavoors to
reclaim an erring brother. V. They consider il
their duty to be all of one mind, in every thiog
that regards their fiuth and practice as a body.
Acts iv. 32. 1 Cor. i. 10. 2 Cor. xiii. 11. Philip^
i. 27. ii. 2. 1 Pet. iii. 8. Nothing is decided
among them by human influence or policy, or
by majority of votes, but by the unanimous con-
sent and explicit agreement of every nwoiber.
VI. They meet every first day of the week hw
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BAPTISTS,
505
TcasoM and ends giten in Matt, xxvii. 1—7.
Luke zxiv. John xz. 19, 26. Acts ii. 1. zx. 7.
1 Cor. zi. 18. 20. zvi. 2. Rer. i. 10. When
they dbseire die following institudons of dirine
ivorship : 1. The pablic reading of die scrip-
tures Of the Old ana New Testaments, from what
is written. Acts xv. 20, 21. Col. iv. 16. 1 Thess.
▼. 27. 1 Tim. iv. 13. 2. The mutual exhorta-
tion of the brethren^ which is attended to on the
morning of Lord*s day, immediately after the reed-
inf(of tlie scriptures. Col. iii. 16. 1 Thess. it. 18.
Heb. iii. 13.; x. 24, 25. 3. Preaching and ex-
pounding the word, which is done by the elders
and pastors. 1 Pet v. 2.*1 Tim. ▼. 17. Acts v.
42. XX. 20. 2 Tim. iv. 2. 4. The public prayers,
not only of the elders, but also or the brethren,
as was exemplified in the first churches. Rom.
zii. 12. 1 Cor. xi. 4. xiv. 14. £ph. vi. 18.
1 Tim. ii. 1, 2. Jas. ▼. 16. Jude 20. To these
prayecs and thanksgiyings, the whole church say
Amen. 1 Cor. xiv. 16. 5. The singing oif
praise. Matt. xxvi. 30. 1 Cor. xiv. 15. In
doing which they use the Psalms of David, and
other spiritual songs. £ph. v. 19. Col. iii. 16.
6. The fellowship, contribution, communication,
distribution, or well doing, as in Rom. xvi. 26.
2 Cor. ix. 13. Philip, iv. 14, 15. 1 Tim. vi.
18. Heb. xiii. 16. i. e. the collection for the
support of the poor saints, and other necessary
uses. See Acts ii. 41. and 1 Cor. xvi. 1, 2.
7. The breaking of bread, or the Lord's supper :
this they observe eveiy Lord's day without any
regard to preparation and thanksgiving days, as
the church at Troas came together diiefly for
that end on the first day of the week. Acts xx. 7.
8. In the interval of public worship, they have
the feast of charity, in an appropriate pbce, and
generally contiguous to the ordinary place of
meeting for worship, where every member may
attend. Its nature is to promote love, pleasure, ha>
mony, and mutual edification among the brethren,
also for disengaging the minds of die members,
from the time and care spent in preparing a diet
at their own houses on that day ; tor refreshing
those who come from a distance, and for afibrding
a moderate repast to the poorer members. These
love feasts they deduce fit)m the apostolic
churches. Acts ii. 46. xx. 11. 1 Cor. xi. 20,
21, 22. Jude 12. 2 Pet. ii. 13. VII. They
consider it their duty to join fasting with prayer,
on particular occasions. Matt. ix. 25. Acts xiii.
2. compare Isaiah Iviii. 5. with James iv. 8 — 10.
VIII. They use the kiss of charitv on various
occasions ; such as, the reception of a new mem-
ber, the forgiveness of offences, the reconciliation
of differences, the setting apart of office-bearers,
the departure or return of brethren, &c. Rom.
xvi. 16. 1 Cor. xvi. 20. 2 Cor. xiii. 12. 1 Thess.
V, 26. 1 Pet. V. 14. IX. They wash the saints'
feet, even literally, and that not as a ceremony,
but whenever it can be of real service to a bro-
ther ; the men perform that service to those of
their own sex, and the women to their's only.
John xiii. 14, 15. X. They abstain from eating
of blood and strangled, or * flesh with the blood
thereof;' because these were not only forbidden
to Noah and his posterity. Gen. ix. 3, 4 ; but
also under the gospel. See Acts xv. 28, 29. xvi.
4. and xxi. 25. Rex. ii. 20. 24. and ver. 52.
XI. They do not find diemselves at liberty to
eat a common meal with persons excommuni-
cated from their fellowship ; but they do not set
aside any natural or relaUve duty. Matt xviii.
17. Luke XV. 2. Acts x. 28. 1 Cor. v. 9, 10,
11. And XII. They consider themselves subject
to the powers that be in all lawful civil matters,
Rom. xiii. 1 — 6. 1 Pet. ii. 13 — ^16. to honor
them, ver. 17. pray for them, 1 Tim. ii. 2. pay
them tribute, Rom. xiii. 6, 7. and rather to suffer
patiendy.fbr a good conscience, than in any case
to resist them by force. Acts v. 29. 1 Pet. ii.
19 — 24. Theremre they can have no fellowship
with any who are known to be disaffected to
government; Prov. xxiv. 21.
BAPTISTERY, in* ecclesiastical writers, was
one of the exedrte, or buildings distinct from tlie
church itself; and consisted of a porch or anti-
room, where die persons to be baptised made
their confSession of faith, and an mner room,
where the ceremony of baptism was performed.
Thus it continued till the sixth century, when the
baptisteries began to be taken into the church
porch, and afterwards into the church itself. The
ancient baptisteries were commonly called fo-
n?9/Ma, photisteria, q.d. places of illumination;
either because that name was sometimes given to
baptism, or because they were the places of
an illumination, or instruction, ,preceaing bap-
tism ; where the catechumens were taught the
first rudiments of the Christian faith.
Baptisteries in general are either octagonal or
circular, surmounted with a dome, and as the
font is usually placed at the entrance of the
church to represent the initiation of the new
christian, so the baptistery is situated at the
approach to the western or principal gate. These
edifices are of very high antiquity, since one
was prepared for the ceremonial of the baptism
of Clovis ; and, as the times of baptising returned
but seldom, diey have been usually very ca-
pacious. In Italy, although the churches were
numerous, in some of the most considerable cities
there was only one general baptistery, to which
they all resorted. This was dedicated to John
the Baptist, and the church to which it was at-
tached, assumed the pre-eminence connected
with the church of Santa Sophia. At Constanti-
nople was a spacious baptistery, in which we read
of ancient councils assembling. Of the baptis-
teries of Rome, the Lateran is the most ancient,
in which some antiauaries are said to have disco-
vered the remains of the Thermae, anciently within
the precincts of the imperial palace. The bap-
tistery of Pisa, both externally and internally,
presents a fine display of the most exquisite
workmanship, and accordingly has greatly excited
the admiration of modern travellers, among whom
we may distinguish the celebrated Joseph Ad-
dison . Hie baptistery of Florence is remarkable
for the beauty of its gates. Here also are to
be seen the has reliefs, of which Michael Angelo
was so enamoured, that he exclaimed th^ de-
served to be poruds of paradise. The Italian
baptistery in appearance is. not very dissimiUr
to the octagon in Ely cathedral at the intersection
of the transepts and nave ; but it does not ap-
pear from history that any building especially
devoted to the purpose of baptism, was ever
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BAPTIST MISSION.
erected in Ecgland. Many of the fonta id our
churches are nevertheless highly interesting to
the antiquarian, that of Bridekirk in Cumberland
is of Danish origin, and that which was removed
from the churdi of St. Peter in the east, Oxford,
exhibited proofs of an antiquity almost as early.
See FoMT.
Upon fonts and baptisteries in general, the
following curious inicnptioa is frequently found,
especially upon those which are ancient:
'NI'^ON ANOMHMATA MH HOKAN (TtrlVJ
The pious monks often exercised their gifts in
formmg acrostics and ehronograms ; but this line
exhibits the happiest instance of the amphisbena;
the words being exactly the same whether we
read the line backwards of forwards.
Baptist Mission. — While the Missionary
Societies of various denominations have an ul-
terior object in view, too high and sacred for
much discussion in books of human science,
there are collateral benefits to mankind, which
gradually accompany their march, that fall strictly
wiidiin our sphere to record. The bearing of
these societies, on our acquaintance with the
physical and politioal geography of the globe,
and on the study of its lavages, ancient and
raoderuy is obvious : while the very object al-
luded to, and a missionary «dor for its accom-
plishment, has armed, and wiH am, the traveller
aod the scholar (when a missionary), with a
patient and persevering zeal, to be imbibed, per-
haps, in DO odier school. It will be principally
to the literary and scientific aspect of these in-
stitutions that we shall, in this work, direct the
attention of the reader ; b«t we purpose, ia so
doing, to insert a slight sketch of the rise and
progress of all ^ reputable societies of this kind.
Among Protestants, it may be said, that in
1732 the Unilas Fradmrn, or Moravian brethren,
led the way in tliese benevolent enterprises.
They became deeply impressed with the fact that
so many millions of the human race were silting
in darkness, and held in bondage by idolatry and
vice ; and they formed themselves into a small
society for endeavouring to convey the benefits of
Christianity to heathen nations. At first their
beginnings were very sn^ill, but they now possess
between forty and fifty setdemonts, empk)ying
from 160 to li80 missionaries. For six^ years
this society pursued its way, in she most unos*
tentatious and silent manner, before any others of
a like nature were fbnned.
Oct. 2, 1792, a few Baptist ministeis meeting
at Kettering, Northamptonshire, entered into a
series of resolutions for the formation of a so-
ciety, to be called The Particulaf (or Calyinis-
tic) Baptist Society for propagating the Gospel
among the Ueathea. * But so fiu,' say they,
' were we from having in view the exclusive pro-
snotion of our own peculiar principles as Bap-
ibts, that we were determiiMd from tne beginning,
if no opportunity ap^eaiied for sending ont Miik
aionaries of our own, that we would assist other
societies already in being amongst the Presby-
terians and the Moravian^.' The names of the
fiiat committee were John Ryland, Reynold Hogg,
William Carey, John Suleliff, and Andrew Ful-
ler. Reynold Hogg was chosen Treasurer, and
Andrew Fnlier, Secretary.
Nov. 13. — ^The committee meeting again at
Northampton, learned that a Mr. John Thomas,
a suigeoD, who had been several years in Ben-
gal, and during that period had occasionally
prnuihed die gospel to the natives, was then in
London. He was said to be endeavouring to
establish a fund for a mission to that country,
and to be desirous of engaging a companion tci
return with him. Enquiry was made concemin.,'
Mr. Thomas, as to his character, principles, &c. ;
and the accounts which were received provir;^ .
satisfiictory, the committee resolved to invite liini
to go out as one of their missionaries, and to en-
deavour to fttifiish him with a colleague. Mr.
Carey, on being asked if he were willing to
accompany Mr. 'Awmas, answered readily in the
affirmative. And thus was fimished to the so-
ciety one of the most useful laborers in the
missionary field, and ultimately one of the most
profound of oriental scholars, from the bnmble
station of an uneducated provincial dissenting
minister.
The next step was to calculate the expense ef
seiiding them out, and to obtaun the means of
defraying it The expense was estimated at
£500, which sum required to be raised in about
three or four months. To accomplish this the
committee frankly stated to the religious public
tkeir plan, requesting that so iar as it appeared
to be deserving of encouragement, they wooki
enoottrage it. Letters also were addressed to the
most active mimstersof the denomination through-
out the kingdom, requesting Ifcehr concurrence
and assistance. The result was, that more than
twice the s^m which had been af&ed for was
eoUected ; yet, when the work was finished, the
actual expense had so (ar exceeded the estimate,
that there were only a few pounds to spare. A
principal cause of this was, that the whole of the
new missionary's fiimily were induced to ac-
company kin.
The first laborers in this mission sailed on
June 13, 1793, on board the Princessa Maria,
a Danish Indiaman ; but no tidings of their pro-
ceedings arrived in this country until July or die
following year. For the first three or four months,
it seems, Mr. Carey found himself in consider.
9Ade pecuniary difficulties. The investment
which was taken out for Cheir immediate sup-
port, was sudk ; and he, vritb his wife and fronny
m a foreign land, were utterly destitote of the
means of subostence. He now, therefore, en-
quired for secular t>ccupa.tion ; and eariy in
March,1795, received an invitation from Malda,to
take the superintendance of an indigo fiictory . His
colleague also, Mr. Thomas, who had stopped at
Calcutta, under an idea of supporting himself by
his proll^on, received, a little before, a similar
invitation.
Mr. Carey accepted the superintendence of an
indigo fiunory at Mudnabatty, and Mr. Thomas
of another at Moypauldiggv, both in the neigh-
bourhood of Malda. Here uiey considered thm-
selves capabte of watching the best opportnni^
for proceeding with their noble undertaking in
commg out; and letters were sent to England,
expressing their great pleasure in being able to
decline, at present, any further assistance from
the Society'* foods.
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BAPTIST MISSION.
507
At home, about this time, hro young men,
Mr. Jacob Grigg, and Mr. James Ilodwaj, had
)ffered themselves as missionaries, and being
considered suitable persons, the committee te-
lolved on another mission, i. e. to Africa, in (he
leighbourhood of Sierra Leone. In the autumn
>f 1795, the missionaries left England; but
Itrough the indiscretion of one of dtem, and the
U heaJth of the other, ihe undertaking fiiiled.
in the spring of 1796, a Mr. J. Fountain offer-
ttg himself as a missionary, was accepted, and
ent out to join his brethren in India.
During the first year of his residence, Mr.
3arey had repeated attacks of an intermittent
hvei with a dysentery. Mrs. Carey also, and
heir eldest son, were much a£9icted ; and their
bird son, Peter, died at fire years of age. As
toon as they were able to apply themselves to
he work, they set up schools at their respective
ketones; preached every Sunday, and frequently
m week days ; and Mr. Thomas being particu-
arly attentive to the poor, in administering me-
iidnes, &c. to (hem ; many people, besid^ the
vorkmen, attended flieir preaching. Two
Englishmen, a Mr. Long and a Mr. Powell, who
lad settled in Bengal, joining in the views of tiiis
ittle band, on Nov. 1, 1795, they, with (he mis-
lionaries, formed a church, and commemorated
he sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Mr. Long
vas afterwards excluded for improper conduct ;
mt Mr. Powell continued an useful character till
lis death, which was at Dinagepore, on Sept.
15, 1802. An European or two were joined to
his body, from 1796 to 1800 ; a spirit of cnquiiy
Nras awoke among the natives, and a school
erected at Dinagepore ; but no native converts
nanifested, as yet, sufficient boldness to shake
»flr caste for the benefit of the new faith.
The missionaries, however, were not easily dis-
ouraged. They requested ner helpers from
ome, and particularly some one wno should
inderstand the printing business. Accordingly,
1 the spring of 1799, Mr. and Mrs. Marshman,
Ar. and Mrs. Grant, Mr. and Mrs. Brunsdon,
rf r. William Ward, and Miss Tidd, etfibarked
>r India. Mr. Ward being a printer, and Mr.
nd Mrs. Marshman having kept a school,
lieir instructions were, to * beware, both from
principle of conscience, and from a regard to
leir own interest, and that of tlie mission, of
jtermeddling with any political concerns — to be
bedieot to the laws in all civil afiairs — to re-
pect magistrates, both supreme and subordinate,
nd teach the same things to others — in fine, to
pply themselves wholly to the all-important
oncems of that evangelical servicp to which
ley had so solemnly dedicated themselves.'
loreover, that ' however gross might be the
lolatries, and heathenish superstitions that
lisht fidl under their notice, they should se-
ulously avoid all rudeness, insult, or interrup-
on, during the observance of such superstitions,
bserving no methods but those of Christ and his
postles, namely, the persevering use of scripture^
iatsoUf prayer, meekness, and love.'
Mr. Carey was anxious that the new mission-
ries and their wives might bo permitted to pro-
eed and settle in the neighbourhood of MsJda.
le had taken a small place at Ridderporc, about
twelve miles distant, where he intended to eurj
on a little business, and to erect some dwellings
for them. The refinquishing of this undertak-
ing would be a loss of £500. But the British
authorities were inflexible in tiieir opposition to
his plan of increasing his establishmeut. Mr.
Carey, therefore, determined to rernove to the
Danish settlement of Serampore, where his bre-
thren had arrived.
This miportant step was accomplished Janttary
10, 1800, and the next day he was introduced to
the governor, who received him in a very friend-
ly manner. The first object of attention was to
settle a plan of internal government. All the
missionaries determined to consider themselves
as one fiunily ; the^ were to preach and piay in
tarn ; one tosupemrtend the affairs of the &mily
for a month, and then another. Mr. Carey was
appointed treasurer and keeper of the medicine
cnest ; Mr. Fountain librarian. Saturday even-
ing was devoted to adjusting any differences
which might arise during the week, and pledg-
ing themselves to love one another; finally, it
was resolved that no one should engage in any
private trade ; but that whatever was done by
any member of the fkmily, should be done for
the benefit of the mission.
The first sheet of the Bengalee New Testament
was printed May 16. They worked off* 2000
copies, besides 500 of the gospel hj Matthew,
fbr immediate distribution. E^riy in June they
opened a Bengalee school, in which the children
or those natives who chose to send them, were
taught gratis ; and b^ the 20th of July they had
forty pupils. A native, named Gokool, also ap-
peared exceedingly attentive to their ministry.
On the 22d of December, Gokool, and a man
named Kristno, came and ate in public with the
missionaries, by which act they threw off* their
caste. All who witnessed it were surprised ; it
was so universally said, No one would lose
caste for the Gospel.
' Thus the door of faith is opened to these Gen-
tiles— ^who shall shut itf said Mr. (now Dr.)
Marshman. * The chain of the caste is broken,
who shall mend it?' llie same evening Gokool,
without his fkmily, and Kristno with his, came
and offered themselves willingly to the church,
each making a solemn profession of faith in
Christ, and of obedience to his commands. It
was soon noised abroad that these people had
lost caste ; and now a time of trial drew near.
The next day a great company of people assem-
bled, two thousand or thereabouts, pouring out
their execrations upon them. Taking them by
force, they first dragged them before Uie Danish
magistrate; but he, instead of censuring, com-
mended them fbr what they had done. Being
dismissed, they came a second time with Kristno
with a new charge, accusing him of refusing to
deliver up his daughter to a man who had con-
tracted for her in marriage. The magistrate,
however, defended Kristno, and assured the
girl that she should not be compelled to marry
the man against her consent. Tne governor also
promised the missionaries that they should not
be interrupted in baptising. The hubbub that
had thus been raised, did not shake the resolution
of Kristno; but his family, and Gokool, were in-
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BAPTIST MISSION.
timidated by it. On the 27Ui they sent to the
misdion-house, sayinff, * they wished to put off
their baptism for a few weeks/ The next day
(the 28tn) was the time appointed for baptising.
Kristno came forward, ana with Felix Carey, was
baptised in the Hoogiv. A considerable num-
ber of Europeans and natives attended; many
of whom appeared to be struck with the so-
iemnity of toe ordinance. Shortly after, a Mr.
Fernandez, and Joymooni (Kristnoo's wife's
sister), were baptised, and joined ttie church.
At a meeting on the 22d, she said, < She had
found a treasure in Christ greater than every
thing else in this world.' Kristnoo said his
chief ' thoughts now were about the salvation of
others.'
The effect of diese baptisings was, that all the
children of the Bengalee school were taken
away by their parents, lest they should be made
Christians ; and the only children left for instruc-
tion were those of Kristno, to whom the mis-
sionaries now paid the greater attention, and
amongst whom there were some hopeful ap-
pearances. The baptised Hindoos appeared to
improve much in knowledge and affection.
Their manner of speaking was singular and
impressive. ' Christ (said one) is my joy, my
hope, my all. If worldly things draw my mind
from him, I say, mind, why dost thou leave
Christ? There is no other Saviour. If t^iou
leave him, thou finUest into hell.' * I was for-
merly,' said another, ' in prison; the light of
tlie Gospel came to ihe prison door, and> I got
outr
About this time Mr. Carey was appointed by
Marquis Wellesley to a professorstup in the
New College of Fort William. When an appli-
cation was made to him on the subject, he nad
some hesitation as to complying with it, lest 'it
should interfere with his proper work as a mis-
sionary. Nor did he accede to the appointment
till he had consulted widi his brethren, who
thought that it might promote rather than ob-
struct the great objects of the mission. Every
temporal advantage that might arise from it
would, on the ground of their established rules,
be only so much added to the missionary stock.
And here let us add, that steadily, and when
these advantages have risen to several thousands
per annum, has this good man added them to
that stock.
On the morning of May 8th, during our short
war with the Danes, the British flag was hoisted
at Serampore. At ten o'clock the missionaries
were ordered to appear at the government house.
On presenting themselves, they were treated with
the utmost civility, both by the late Danish
governor, and the English commander, and told
to go on with their school, preaching, &c. in the
same peaceable v?ay as before. — On the 29th,
Gokool, who had feinted at the outset, came for-
ward again, and on June 7th, he was baptised.
Kristno was now in the habit of talking to his
neighbours who came to him at hb work, in some
such strain as this: — ' In all your worship there
is no fruit None of the debtas died for sinners ;
bat Jesus Christ came into the world for this.
This is the greatest love I ever heard of. At
the house of the missionaries I have seen such
love as I never saw before. When a man
believes in Christ he gets a new mind. This is
the fruit of becoming a Christian, &c. &c.'
The missionaries from such specimens hoped
that he would soon be able to preach Christ to
his countrymen.
During this month, Mr. Ward and Kristno
visited certain parts of the country from whence
persons had come for religious instruction, preach-
ing and distributing papers as they proceeded;
and some of the women went to visit tneir female
relations up the country, where they also con-
versed about the gospel. Mr. Ward in his ex-
cursion was detained by a police officer, on the
ground < that the company had given no orders
for the natives to lose caste.' Mr. W. assured
him that the papers were entirely religious; and
on his offering to sign them with his own name,
the officer released him. The papers thus signed
were sent to Calcutta, and examined. Some
alleged, that it was improper to attack the reli-
gion of the natives; but others answered that
diere was nothing more in the papers than had
been always tolerated in the Roman Catholics
in the company's territories. Nothing therefore
came of it; and during the administration of
Marquis Wellesley, no more was heard of the
subject.
In the course of this year, colonel Bie trans-
mitted to his government an account of the set-
tlement of the missionaries at Serampore, in con-
sequence of which his Danish majesty directed
the Royal College of Commerce at Copenhagen
to signify his pleasure to the governor of Senm-
pore, that the society of missionaries be con-
sidered as under his majesty's protection and
patronage, which they accordingly signified by a
letter, bearing date Sept. 5, 1801. The gover-
nor-general tdao of British India was ples^ tc
assure one of the missionaries, that he ' was per-
fectly acquainted with all the concerns and opera-
tions at Serampore, and felt great satis&ctioo at
their affairs being attended with a degree of
success'.
In the beginning of 1802 the mission had bap-
tised seven natives.
On the 4th of April, a native who had previ-
ously lost caste, of the name of Syam Da«, was
baptised. He proved to be a simple-hearted
good man, and was instnimental to tne conver-
sion of one of his neighbours, Bharut; bat died,
or was murdered on a journey in the autumn ot
the same year, about five -months after his bap-
tism. About this time a brahmin came to Seram-
eire, who lived with Dulol, a famous leader of a
indoo sect. They are a kind of Deists, setting
light by the superstitions of the country, and by
the caste; but making light also of sin, and a
future state. He said thact Dulol sent him to
get baptised first, and that he himself would fol-
low, and bring with him an hundred thoosand
disciples I The missionaries had no faitti n
this tale; but thought it right to pay him a visit
Mr. Carey, Mr. Marshman, and Kristno (who
had formerly been one of his disciples) tber«fore,
set off for Ghospura, the place of his residcocf .
They perceived him to be what they expected,
a designing man, living in xUte only upon m
creduU^ of his ^llowen.
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BAPTIST MISSION.
609
On May lOtb, Mr. Ward and Mrs. Fountain
vn^ra married. Heretofore the marriages had
been performed by an English clergyman; but
the missionaries having been advised to marry
their own people, they, with the concurrence of
^ civil authorities, drew up a simple form for
the purpose ; and the business was conducted to
the satisfaction of all present. In June or July
"five more natives were baptised at Senimpore.
Towards the end of this last month, a Mussul-
man, whose name was Moorad, came from Ponche-
taluckphool, or as they usually call it by wa^ of
contraction, Luckphool, with an invitation from
a considerable number of people in that part of
the country to go and preach tne gospel to them.
Mr. Marshman, accordingly, set out on the 10{h
of August, taking Petumber Mittre and Bharut
with him. At Luckphool, they halted under a
large tree, which was the appointed place for
hearing; the people came together and received
them sitting aown on the grass, and after having
heard with much earnestness for about half an
hour, entreated the preacher to rest, and take
refreshment He did so, and then renewed his
subject. They spent the evening, sitting round
him, and asking questions on Christ, the resur-
Taction, a future state &c.
These people, amounting to some hundreds,
had, for the last fourteen years, begun to dislike
the idolatry of the country ; and attaching them-
selves to a grave elderly man, as their goroo or
teacher, had from that time been enquiring after
the right way. Neelo, for that was the old man's
name, had taught them that there was one God,
whom he calleid father, who alone was to be
worshipped; that sin was to be forsaken; and
that a nurther revelation was to be expected. It
was in consequence of his having heard of the
missionaries thstt Moorad was sent to Seram-
pore, to request them to come and visit them.
After the worship, as above related, the old man
took Mr. Marshman aside for private conversa-
tioDy and appeared to be very averse to Brahmin-
isin, and friendly to the ffospel as opposed to it;
recommending it also to his people, as being the
reyelation which he had given them to expect.
-In returning home, Mr. M. called on another
goTOo, who had nearly 20,000 followers. His
name was Seeb Ram Dass, and his residence at
Juggerdandakatt^. There was much less pomp
and artifice in him than in Dulol; and less con-
viction and affection than in Neelo, and his
people at Luckphool. The general impression
was, that these people were loosened from the
Hindoo and Mahommedan systems, which marked
the hand of providence, and might be introduc-
tory to the gospel.
uuring this year Mr. and Mrs. Chamberlain
w«re sent out l^ the committee to assbt in the
labors of the India mission. About the same
time, the missionaries purchased the house and
premises adjoining their own. The garden and
out-buildings contained more than four acres of
land. By this addition they had room not onty
for the schools, and for the printing and binding
boniness, but also for any new missionaries that
might arrive. They made themselves trustees
for the society, as they had done in the fir^it pur-
chase. Towards the end of January, 1803, be-
sides the New Testament, the first volume of
the Old, the Psalms, and a part of Isaiah, were
finished, and began to be a good deal read in
different phices. A new fount of Naggree types
was nearly completed ; and a house was taken
in Calcutta for preaching to both Europeans and
natives.
In February they speak of the affairs of the
mission growing more and more weighty.' Se-
veral new enquirers arrived ; amongst whom was
Sheetaram, a soodQ^, from Bishoohurry; in Jes-
sore, and who on the 27th was baptised. The
zeal, the simplicity, and the good conduct of this
man proved, as will be seen, a great blessing to
several of his relations and neighbours.
In April two of the native converts intermar-
ried. The ceremoijy was conducted much in the
same way as Mr. Ward's had been. Mr. Carey,
after explaining the nature and ends of mamage,
and noticing the impropriety of the Hindoo cus-
toms, read certain portions of scripture, and
after them the marriage agreement. The parties
then joined hands, promised love, faithfulness,
obedience, &c. ; ^en signed the agreement, to
which others added their names as witnesses. A
prayer for adivine blessing followed, and the whole
was conclucfed with a temperate and cheerful repast
of raisins, plantains, &c. The day following they
had a supper at the house of Kristno, the bride's
father, where all sat down together without dis«
tinction of color or country. This to the spec-
tators was quite a new thing. During this month
several of the native brethren, as Kristno, Pre-
saud, Ram Roteen, &c. went into the villages to
talk with the people about Christ. They were
treated with aouse, but bore it with Christian
meekness, telling their abusers, that they ' only
did what eveiy sect did, who, whether Hindoos
or Mussulmans, were allowed to perform their
pooijahs in the streets; and that insults, stripes,
and even death were good for them, so that God
by them did but turn their hearts.'
Frequent additions were now made to the
Baptist flock here ; nor did the diligence of the
missionaries slacken in their noble work of trans-
lating the scriptures.
In August, a new and improved edition of the
Bengalee New Testament was begun, as only
600 copies remained of the first impression. In
September, the convert, Gokool, seemed to be
drawing near his end. But his mind was
steadily fixed in the faith of Christ, and on die
7th of October he died. ' About two hours be-
fore his death,' says Mr. Marshman, ' he called
the native brethren round him to sing and pray.
. He was perfectly sensible, resigned, and tranquil.
Some ot the neighbours had been trying to per-
suade him to employ a native doctor ; but as
all their medicines are accompanied with hea-
then incantations, he refused them, saying, he
would have no physician but Jesus Cnrist.
* How is it,' 'said Uiey, *that you, who have
turned to Christ, should be thus afflicted ?" My
affliction, replied he, is on account of my sins:
my Lord does all things well. Observing Komal
to weep (who was a most affectionate wife) he
said, why do you weep for me? His tranquil
and happy end made a deep impression ou
all arouna. They said one to another, May my
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J3 APT I ST MI SSI OK.
mind be as Gokoors was.* His fimeraly in the
European manner^ made abo a considemble im-
pression on the natives. On the 23d, a brahmin
from Assam was baptised.
During this year, the society presented a copy
of the Bengalee New Testament, and of the penta-
teuch, to his majesty> Geo. III. by the hands of
Robert Bowyer, Esq. His majesty was pleased
Saciously to accept of them, and to direct that his
anks should be given to the society. During
this year also a plan was laid for translating the
scriptures into various othe/ eastern languages.
In February, 1804, these worthy laborers had
the happiness of devolving a portion of their
work upon two native teachers, and ordained
Kristno and Petumber Shingo to the work of the
ministry, with prayer and the imposition of
hands. In the course of the year, fourteen more
natives were baptised.
About four years previously, Mr. Ward being, on
a visit at Calcutta, went with Kristno to a village
called Ramkreeshnopore, on the other side of the
river, opposite Calcutta. Here they left a num-
ber of small tracts, and a New Testament. Till
now the effects were unknown. Kristno, on re-
visiting tlie village, meets with a byraggee, who
tells him that the books have been read, and that
several persons are convinced by them.
In November and December twenty-one per-
sons were baptised, seven of whom came from
Kristnopore, and were the fruits of the New
Testament and tracts which were left at that vil-
lage. One of Oiem, named Kristnoo Dass, re-
ferring to Mr. Ward's having declared that * it
was for the use of the whole village, and that he
who coald read the best should keep it, and
read it to all who wished to hear it,' said, ' he
had got it, and that the reading of it had changed
his ideas, and made him leave off idolatry, and
put his trust in Christ.' The Testament was
produced, and was nearly worn out by reading.
Ten out of the twenty-one were baptised on No-
vember dd. 'A solemn seriousness,* says Mr.
Biss, 'pervaded the company. Some who
seemed to know nothing of the power of religion,
nevertheless shed tears.^ At the Lord's supper
there was great joy through the whole church,
singing, and making melody in our hearts to the
Lord.'
In the autumn of this year, captain Wickes
being in London, the committee sent by him
1000 guineas, which had been collected in Eng-
land, Scotland, and Ireland, towards the transla-
tion of the Scriptures into tlie eastern languages.
On the captain's arrival in America, he expressed
a wish in the public papers, that the friends of
religion in his country would add something to
it. The result was, that by the generous exer-
tions of the different denominations, the original
sum was considerably more than doubled, and
sent in dollars to Serampore.
We have been followmg this band of brethren
to the period of their cause taking that deep and
well grounded root in India, from which it will
not quickly be removed. But their steps were
not everywhere encouraged. Both at home and
in India, British authority and influence were oc-
sionallv arrayed against them. When, on the
2'dd of August, Messrs. Chatcr and Robinson
arnved, a demur was made m to their being oer
mitted to proceed to Serampore. Next day, Mr.
Carey was told by the magistrates that they had
a message for him, 'that as government did not
interfere with the prejudices of the natives, it
was the governor-general's reauest that Mr.
Carey and his colleagues would not* As ei-
plained by the magistrates, this request was said
to be a kind of order. ^They were not to preach
to the natives, nor suffer the native converts to
preach; they were not to distribute religious
tracts, nor suffer the people to distribute them;
they were not to send forth converged natives
nor take any steps, by conversation or otherwise,
for persuading the natives to embrace Chris-
tianity. Mr. Carey enquired whether they had
&ny written communication with tlie governor-
general; and being axiswered in the negatiTe,
took leave. ThLs however, it was afterwards
said was not meant ' to prohibit Mr. Carey or
his brethren from preaching at Serampore, or in
their own house at Calcutta ; only they mustnoc
preach at the loll bazaar. Nor was it intended to
prevent Uieir circulating the scriptures, hut
merely the tracts abusiiM^ the Hindoo religioo r
or to forbid the native Christians conversing with
their countrymen on Christianity, only they must
not go out under the sanction of the misnoo-
aries.'
In a conversation that took place between &e
magistrates and a friend of the missioovies, tfaej
acknowledged themselves 'well satisfied with
their character and deportment.' Messrs. Chater
•and Robinson, however, were commanded to
veturn to Europe.
A tract, about this time, was translated and
sent to England, in which the missionaries were
represented as calling the natives ' barbarians,*
and their shasters ' barbarian shasters,' when io
the original they had only intreated ihem not to
reject the bible as being the shaster of the hai-
barians, or ' M'leeches, a name by which they
designate all who are not of the caste. Ai^
this a pamphlet appeared by Mr. Twining,
and was followed by several more, irritten by
mjajor Scott Waring, and others: some openK
espousing the cause of idolatiy, and most ot
tliem filled with unfounded statementSp and iaef>
fectual endeavours to trace the V^ell^re mutiny
to the attempts at christianising the nauves.
The charges produced in these pamphlets were
answered' by the friends of the mission. Not
long after, a tract which had been printed in
Bengalee, and which in that language contained
nothing offensive, was put into the hands of a
native to be translated into Pernc. The transla-
tion being finished, it was, through the ptessoie
of business, inadvertently printed off. witnout be-
ing first inspected by the missionaries ; and the
translator having introduced various strong epi-
thets, calling Mahomet a tyrant, &c. which it
was alleged would irritate his followers, the Bri-
tish authorities took it up in a serious icaooer.
Mr. Carey being sent for, readily acknowledged
the impropriety of the epithets, and promised to
enquire into the affair. Had the object of the
party been ' merely to prevent the disturbance
of the public tranquillity, things would have is-
sued here. But proceedings were commenced
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BAPTIST MISSION.
511
which thTettened min to the migsion. In oon-
sequenoe, however, of ao explanalioti, and a
respectful memoritd presented to the goreraor-
general, the most Serious part of the proceedings
was revoked ; and when two of the missionaries
waited on his lordship to thank him for his
candour' in regard to their memorial, he replied^
that nothing more Was necessary *thaii a mere
examination of the subject, on which every thing .
appeared in a clear and iavotable light. The
missionaries however, were required, in future,
not to print any tracts withont first submitting
them to the inspection of government.
In 1807 new rules were formed suited to the
present state of the mission, every station being
independent of the other, but all tinited as a ge-
neral body. A considerable advance was made
in ten of the translatiotis : two new founts of
type completed, viz. the Orissa arid the Mahratta,
and two others begun, viz. tiie Burmah and Chi-
nese; a new and improved fount of Nagree also
begun. With respect to printing, an impression
of 1500 copies of the fourth volume of tne Ben-
galee Old Testament, containing all the prophets,
I was completed; the third volume, comprising
, the histoncal books, being in the press ; an edi-
tion of 10,000 copies Of Luke, the Acts, and
the epistle to the Romans was completed ; the
New Testatnetit in the Sungscrit and Orissa
, considerably advanced; and the Hindostanee,
, Mahratta, and Guzuratee, put to press.
Januaiy 28, 1808, Serampore waSi taken by
I the English, but without making any difference
, in the situation of the missionaries. Mr. F.
Carey, having stndied medicine at Calcutta, in-
troduced the vaccine inoculation at Rangoon.
After having inoculated about fifty in the city
with success, he was sent for by the governor to
perform the operation on his children, lliis
circumstance proved favorable to their settling
as missionaries.
During this year the Danish clek^gyman at
Serampore being dead, a question was moved
among the inhabitants who should Succeed him?
The majority expressed their wish, that the mis-
sionaries might be permitted to do so. A peti-
tion was accordingly presented to the governor-
general for the purpose, which being granted,
the parish church has from that time, about Sep-
tember, been occupied by some of the Baptist
brethren. They accept of no pecuniary reward
for their services.
Towards the latter end of September &ere was
a second examination of the lads engaged in the
study of the Chinese language, held at Seram-
pore ; at which were present the vice-president
of the Asiatic Society, with sevend other Euro-
pean gentlemen, who expressed their satisfaction
in very strong terms. The missionaries now oc-
cupy the ten following stations, viz.
llootan. Missionary, Robinson.
Dinagepore, Fernandez.
Saddamahl, Wm; Carey.
Goaroalty» Mardon.
Miniary, Moore.
Cutwa, Chamberiain.
Jessore, Carapeit ChAter.
Serampore, Carey, &c.
Calcutta, Carey, &c.
Uangoon, ...... Chater and F. Carey.
In the month of March, 1809, they finished the
Orissa New Testament. Towards the close of
this year an improved paper manufacture was
established in Serampore. * Tlie Benevolent In-
stitution had increased to nearly ninety children,
and a humane medical gentleman prescribed and
iumished medicines for it and the family gratis.
Access was allowed, and the gospel freely
preached amongst ib'e soldiers and their wives in
the fort. In all the stations 106 were baptized
during the year.
From the commencement of the following year,
the missionaries speak of themselves no longer
as a single mission, but as divided into five mis-
sions, according to the different lani^ages of the
country, and which they designate, the United
Missions in India. These are the Bengal, the
Burtnan, the Orissa, the Bootan, and ^e Hin-
doost*han. The Bengal contains five stations,
the Hittdoost^han two, and the rest one each.
In March the New Testament in the Hindee
and Mahratta languages, the Pentateuch in Sung- *
sent, and the Prophetic books in Orissa, were
finished at press; and considerable numbers of
them were sent and distributed in the respective
oountries, from whence they afterwards received
intelligence of their being read and understood.
In April the plan suggested by Dr. Bell and
improved by Mr. Lancaster was introduced by
Mr. Marshman into the school at Calcutta, by
Which the number of children could be greatly
increased, and the expense contracted. Ground
was purchased, and a new school-house erected,
near the chapel, ninety feet by seventy, which
Would contain 800 chjdren. Among the chil-
dren in this school was a Malay boy, bought by
Captain W. out of the hands of persons who
were fattening him for sale to the Batta can-
nibals 1
On the 11th of March, 1812, occurred a me-
morable calamity for Che mission, the spacious
printing-office at Semmpore was consumed hj
fire, with all the types, many valuable MSS.
and a large quantity of paper; the whole
amounting to a loss of nearly £10,000. The
missionaries, though much affected, were not
greatly disheartened, nor in any degree induced
«o relax their efforts. New founts of type, in all
the eastern languatces, were cast, as soon as pos-
sible, from the melted metal recovered firom the
ruins ; and the printing of the Scriptures was
resumed, as fost as they could be prepared.
On the 19th of Februasy the following year,
the Tamnl New Testament was finished at the
press, and on the 20th was laid before the Cal-
cutta Auxiliary Bible Society, at their anniver-
versary. This edition, consisting of 5000 copies,
was. begun in April 1812, and completed in ra-
^r more than ten months.
The progress of the translations, during this
year, cannot be better described than in an ex-
tract from a letter of Dr. Carey, dated Decem-
ber 14.— 'We are, at dkis time, engaged in
translating the Bible into twen^-one langu^ies
including the Bengalee, which u finished. This
week, we obuined a penon to assist in the trans-
lation of the Scriptures into the Kassai language.
About a fortnight ago we obtained help for the
Sindh and Wuch. I believe we have now all
the languages in that part, except that of Kutch,
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BAPTIST MISSION.
which, I hope, will soon be brought within our
reach. We have not yet been able to secure the
languages of Nepala, Bootan, Munipoora, and
Siam, and about five or six tribes of moun-
taineers: besides these, I am not acauainted
with any language on the continent ol India,
into which the word of God is not under tran»-
' lation.'
At the public disputation of the students of
the college of Fort William, held before Lord
Minto as visitor of the college, on September
20th, his lordship, after enumerating their recent
labors, concludes thus : * I profess a very sincere
Sleasure in bringing the literary merits of Mr.
larshman and the other Reverend Members of
the Serampore Mission to the notice of the pub-
lic, and in bearing my testimony to the great and
extraordinary labors which constancy and energy
ki their numerous and various occupations have
enabled this modest and respectable community
to accomplish. I am not less gratified by the
.opportunity which their literary achievements
afford, of expressing my regard for the exemplary
worth of their lives, and the beneficent principle
which distinguishes and presides in the various
useful establishments which they have formed,
and which are conducted by themselves.* The
stations occupied by the mission in 1814 had
increased to twenty-four.
In 1815 the society had to sustain one of its
greatest losses at home in the death of their
secretary, the Rev. Andrew Fuller, who expired
at Kettering, after a short illness, on May 7th.
He had sustained tliis arduous and important
office ever since the commencement of the society
in 1 792 ; and at length fell a sacrifice to its ac-
cumulated carefi and labors. At the next meeting
of the committee, Dr. Ryland, of Bristol, was re-
quested to undertake the office, pro tempore ; and,
at the annual meeting, held at Northampton, in
October, this appointment was confirmed, and
Mr. Hinton, of Oxford, associated with the Doc>
tor, as joint-secretary. November 27th the mis-
sion prembes were visited by the Right Hon.
Earl Moira, the bishop of Calcutta, and other
distinguished personages, who expressed their
high gratification with what they saw. On
December 15th the settlement was restored to
the Danish government.
January, 1818, say the missionaries, ' In the
Bengalee we have commenced a new edition, of
5000 copies, of the whole Scriptures, in a new
and much-reduced type, reduced by brother
Lawson, when he resided at Serampore. By
means of this alteration we shall be able to com-
prise the whole Bible in one large octavo volume
of 850 pages ; which has hitherto occupied five
volumes, of 800 pages each. The brethren in-
tend to print 5000 additional Testaments, form-
ing a thin volume, of about 180 pases. In the
Sungscrit, the Latin of the east, and intelligible
to almost all the learned men throughout Hin-
doostan, the Historical Books have been com-
pletedy and the printmg advanced to the middle
of Jeiemtah. We therefore expect to compleie
tbis voluine within the next three months, and
shall then have printed the whole of the Scriptures
ta that language. The Hindee Bible is still
(urther idrvaoed; and we fully expect that
within a month the last part will be ready for
distribution. We shall then hare printed (he
first edition of the whole Scriptures, with a second
edition of the New Testament. In the Mahratta
the historical books have been printed ofT, since
the last Memoir, and the Hagiographa advanced
to the middle of Proverbs. In the Sikh, the
Pentateuch is just completed, and the historical
books begun. In the Chinese we have just com-
pleted the Pentateuch, and are now proceeding
with a second edition of the New Testament. In
the Telinga the New Testament is printed as hr
as the Thessalonians ; and we hope to have
finished the volume ere this reaches you. In the
Pushtoo Testament the printing is advanced as
far as the first of Peter; and in the Assam and
Wuch, to the Romans: while, in the Bnij Bhassa,
although a delay has arisen in consequence of
tlie distance of brother Chamberiain's station,
who was superintending the version, we are pre-
paring to proceed with the version as before. In
the Kurnata we have finished Mark, and are pro-
ceeding with Luke: white in the Kunkuna, the
Mooltanee, the Sindhee, the Kashmere, the
Bikaneer, the Nepal, the Ooduypore, the Mar-
war, the Joypore, and the Khassee, not moeh
progress in printing has been made since the
last Report. As soon, however, as the Hindee
and Sungscrit versions are completed, it is in-
tended to proceed with them. These transUiions
were never advancing more rapidly than at
present. The office now furnishes onr venerable
editor. Dr. Carey (independently of the Chinese
proofs it forwards to Dr. Maishman) with twelve
rah per week, on an average. To which may
added, that opportunities of distribnting the
Scriptures, when printed, are becoming more
extensive.'
Copies of the New Testament, in Tuknis kn-
guages, as printed and published at Serampore,
were presented by Mr. Ward at the Amiual
Meeting of the British and Foreign Bible Society,
in 1820; and two years after, the Chinese Bible
complete, the result of sixteen years labor on the
part of Dr. Marshman, was presented on a simi-
lar occasion, by his eldest son, t^ien in England.
At that time, 1822, the New Testament had been
printed and published in twenty-one different
languages, and the work was proceeding in ten
others. Four versions, after having been carried
to a certain point, had been resigned to other
individuals, whose local residence afforded
greater facilities for completing them; and ten
besides were suspended, principaUy because the
requisite pecuniary means were wanting.
In 1819 a new station was fbimed in the island
of Ceylon, at a place called Uangwell, about
fourteen miles from Colombo. Mr. Siera re-
moved hither, and a small church was subse-
quently formed under his direction. The trans-
lation of the whole Bible into Cingalese, by the
united efforts of Messrs. Chater, Annoar, and
Clough, was completed about the end of 18SS.
No part of the missionary undertakings of this
society has succeeded more satisfactorily than the
Jamaica mission. In 1819 two gentlemen left
England for Kingston and Spanish town; a
spacious chapel has been butU at the former
place.
Digitized by
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BAPTIST MISSION.
613
In the year 1822 the number of members in
the church exceeded 2,000 : Mr. Knibb arrived
this year to take charge of a free school, estab-
lished and maintained by the congregation ; and
Mr. Tinson to commence a new station in a dis<
tant part of the island. A station has been also
formed in the north-west part of the island, on an
estate in the parish of St. Jaroes*s ; the owners
of which had long been &vorable to the instruc-
tion of their negroes.
Id consequence of facilities afforded by some
pious gentlemen, in the habit of trading to that
quarter, the committee were induced, in 1822t
to turn their attention ftirther westward still, and
to send out Mr. James Bourne as a missionary to
the bay of Honduras, South Ainerica.
At home, the business of the society having
become &r more extensive than formerly, some
alterations were made in the manner of con-
ducting it. At the General Meeting held at
Cambridge, October, 1819, it was resolved that
a central committee should be formed out of the
general committee, who should meet monthly,
in London, for the transaction of business; and
from that time the Annual Meeting of the society
has been held also in the Metropolis, in the
month of June. Mr. Hinton, of Oxford, incon-
sequence of his other numerous and important
engagements, had resigned the office of joint
secretary, in October, 1817, on which Mr. Dyer,
then of Reading, now of Battersea, was chosen
assisUnt secretary to Dr. Ryland, and, in the
following year, requested to devote himself ex-
clusively to the service of the mission, as joint
secretary. In 1820 premises were engaged for
the society in London, and at length a suitable
house purchased, at No. 6, Fen Court, Feachurch
Street, where its still increasing business is now
carried on.
Exclusive of the Chinese, the New Testament
is Dublished and sent into circufation in twen^
of tne languages of India. They are :
1. The Bengalee, 6th )
edition in the press S
TheHindee, 2dedi-^
tion in the press $
The Simgscnt, 2d)
edition in the press S
The Orissa, 2d edi- )
tion in the press )
5. The Mahratta, 2d j
edition in the press S
The Telinga .
The Sikh . .
The Gujuratee
The Kunkuna
10. Ttie Kumata .
The Pushtoo or AflT- 1
Finished
»t;
ghan
The
The Wutch or Mid-
tanee
The Bikaneer . .
^5. The Kashmeer
The Bhugulkhund
The Martfwar .
Vox. III.
i
1794
1802
1803
1803
1804
1805
1807
1807
1808
1808
1811
1811
1812
1813
1810
1814
1814
1801
1811
1810
1811
1811
1818
1815
1820
1819
1822
1819
1819
1819
1820
1820
1821
1821
1812
1821
1815
1822
1815
1822
1806
1817
TheNepalee . . .
The Harotee . .
20. The Kanoja . . .
The Chinese, 2d edi- ^
tion of the gospels >
printed J
From this view of the translations, and of the
time whem they were respectively begun and
finished at press, it will be evident that none ot
them have been brought hastily through the press.
Seven years have formed the shortest (feriod
which bias been occupied, even by those in which
the terminations were the pearest akin to those
in the neighbouring dialects : we have before us
the most honorable and competent eastern tes-
timony to the corrrectness of tnese versions.
The following list exhibits ten other versions
now or recendy in the Serampore press, with the
period of their commencement, and the state of
their progress.
Gur-
Begon. Printed to.
1814 PhU. iii. 9
1814 2 Cor. xiii. 4
1814 Rom. xiii. 4
1814 Acts xix. 29
1815 Phil. i. 10
1815 2 Cor. ii. 9
1815 Luke x. 23
1816 Rom. xiv. 13
1816 Luke xi. 21
1817 Matt.xxvii.8
The Jtfmboo
The Mtmipoor
The Mugtfclh .
TheKhasee
The Oojjuyunee.
TheBruj . .
The Kumaoun
The Bhtttneer .
The Sree-nugar, or
wal
The Palpa .
To these we may add the Ky thee edition, which
is the Hindee in the. current Naguree character,
chiefly used by the mercantile and trading chisses,
and in which at the earnest request of the late
Mr. Chamberlain, they prepared a fount of types
for the sake of printing the New Testament.
We are able further to submit to the reader a brief
view of what have been done by this society re-
lative to the Old Testament, as well as the New.
State of the Vernons of the Old Tutament.
The Bengalee, second edition ad^^mced to 1 Sam*
XX.
The Simgscrit, second edition advanced to Exod.
xxxi.
The Orissa, first edition finished at press in
1819.
The MahratU, first edition printed off in 1820;
The Chinese, finished at press April 1822.
The Sikh, Pentateuch, and Historical Books,
printed ; Prophetic printed to Jer. xiii.
The Assamee, Pentateuch finished. Historical
Books begun.
The Pushtoo or Afighan, Pentateuch advanced
to Deut. XXX.
The Kashmeer, PenUteuch advanced to Gen.
xxxvi.
The Teltnga, Pentateuch printed ; and the ver-
sion resigned to the Madras Bible Society.
The Old Testament now printed off in Chi-
nese, forms the sixth version completed here of
the whole Scriptures in the different Indian lan-
guages. This was finished at press in April this
year; af^er sixteen years of unremitting labor.
2L
Digitized by
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BAP
514
We doae with a fao-simile of a printed passage, in thirteen of those eastern laugu^^es, in which
the Scriptures haye been published in the whole, or in part, by this Society.
Text.— 'The people which nt in darimeu tew great light,' &e. — ^Hatt. iv. 16.
CI nt5 31^^$ ^tfifltfeT 3 Wat ^ «iwi
7^QZ(ji» t&^aG«o ^2(d(SlSd fCAS^
€^ f # 7^ ^ M ^ 9f J9r
No. 1.
The Bengalee.
2.
The Orissa.
3.
The HindooBtanee.
4.
The Sungskrit.
5.
The Telinga.
6.
The Kumata.
7.
The Affghan.
8.
The Burman.
9.
The Tamul.
10.
The SiDgalese.
11.
The Malay.
12.
The Chinese.
13.
The Multanee.
Baptists (John Monoyer), an artist, bom in
Lisle in 1635, -who received his education at
Antwerp^ and in his first years was intended for
a painter of history ; but his genius more strongly
inclining him to the representation of flowers he
applied his talents to those subjects, and became
in that style one of the greatest masters. The
disposition of his objects is elegant and beautiful ;
ana his compositions are easily known in that
respect. The duke of Montague employed him
in conjunction with La Fosse and Rousseau, to
embellish his house, now the British Museum ;
where are some of the finest performances of
Baptist. A celebrated work of nis is a looking-
glass in the ro^ palace at Kensington, which
he decorated with a garland of flowers for Queen
Mary II. who sat by him during the greatest
part of the time he was painting it Baptist
aied in 1699, leaving a son, Anthony, who
painted flowers in his tatlier^s style.
Baptiste (John Caspars), bom at Antwerp,
was the disciple of Boschaert. During the civil
war he came to England, and entered into the-
service of General Lambert ; but after the Testo-
ration was engaged by Sir Peter Lely to paint
the postures and draperies of his portraits ; and
he has been called Lely*8 Baptist. Kneller also,
and Riley, employed him for the same ^rpose.
In the ludl of St. Bartholomew's hospital is a
portrait of King Charles 11. painted by this ar-
tist, who died in 1691.
BAPTISTIN (John Baptiste Stuk), an Italiao
musician, was ^ native m Floraace. He was a
good composer, but is chiefly famed as hating
first brousht the violincello into 6slnon io
France. He died about 1 740.
BAR', v. & fi., > From the Ang.-Sax. bairgan,
Bar'ful. Sbeorgan, birgan, byrgan, lite-
rally to prevent, to keep out, or obstruct, to
guard, to secure, to fortify, to prohibit Chaucer
once uses it in a metaphorical sense, * covered
with precious cloth and nch, barred (that is striped
and crossed in the form of bars) and platea of
gold and silver.'— 7%6 Penone$ TaU, But we
meet with it in other parts of bis writings, em-
ployed according to the common acceptaboo.
He rode but homely in m medlee eote»
Girt with m seint of tilke, with &arr«» tenell.
He was short shulderc^, brode, a tlukke giurre,
Ther 'nas no dore that he 'nolde heve of kmm.
Or breke it at a renning with his hede. Z^.
He brcake the borrvr, and through the timber pcarU
So large a hole, wherby they might disceme
The hoase, the court, the secret diambers eke
Of Priamos, and anncient kings of Troy. Smtejl,
Deep in the bottom of an huge great rocke
The dongeon was, in which her bound he leite.
That neither yron AwT«r, nor braaen locke»
Did need to gnard from force or aeewt dieft.
Digitized by
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e
BAR.
615
Hath he Mt hounds between rheir lore and me ?
I un their mother, who shall 6itr them from me ?
My duty cannot toffer
T* obey in all your daughter's hard'eommands ;
Though their ix\junction he to ftor my doon»
And Ifi this tyranaons night take hcdd upon you.
Id.
When law can oo no right.
Let it be lawful, that law bar no wrong. Id,
Viola. Ill do my best
To woo your lady \ yet, a barnfittt strife.
Whoe'er I woo, myself would be his wife.
Id.'Twelflh Night,
Ye sit like pris'ners, borr*d with doors and chaines.
And yet no eare perpetnai care restraines.
Bemmumi, Of Tnte Liberty .
Hard, thou know'st it, to exclude
Spiritu^ substlkaee with onrpoieal bar. MUtom,
These 6or« endoee that wider dim,
Of those wild creatores called men. MarveU.
Our hop^ of luly, not only lost.
But shut from eT'iy shore, and harr'd from ev'iy coast.
Dryden.
When yon bar the window shutters of your lady's
bed-chamber at nights, leave open the sashes, to let in
*ir. Swiji,
What is a greater pedant than a mere man of the
town? Bar him the playhouses, and yon srrlhe bim
dvaah, "Addimm.
With emulation fir'd.
They strain lo lead the field, top the barr'd gate.
O'er the deeo ditch exulting bound, and brush
The thr.ray-twining hed^e. Soitmvitle, The Ckaee,
The folded spates would 6or iny progrdis now.
But that the lord of this enclos'd demesne.
Communicative of the good he owns,
Admiu me to a share ^ the guiltless eye
Cominiu no wrong, nor wastes what it enjoys.
Cowper'i Toik,
Bar, in law, is a peremptory exception against
a demand or plea brought by the defendant in an
action, that destroys the action of the plaintiff for
ever. It is divided into a bar to common intent,
and a bar special ; a bar to common intent is
an ordinary or general bar, iliat disables tlie de-
claration or plea of the plaintiff; a bar special,
is that which is more than ordinary, and falls out
in the case in hand, upon some special circum-
stance of the fact.
Bab, in heraldry, one of the honorable ordi-
naries, consisting of two horizontal lines drawn
across the escutcheon, as in fig. 1. The bar dif-
fers from the feste in three particulars, namely,
that it occupies a fifth part of the field instead of
a third; it is not limited to any part of the
escutcheon, and is never borne single. It has
two diminutives, namely, the closet (fig. 2), which
is half the bar, and the barruU (fig. 3), which is
half the closet. Of the closet there may be five
in one field ; but the barrulet can be borne only
in couples. Bars-gemeliet are so called when
they stand in couples, as in fig. 4, * The field is
argent, a fesse between two bare, pemelles guleM,
by the name of Badlemere.'
Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 4.
§98
Bar, in African traffic, is used for a denomi-
nation of price : payment being formerly made
by the negroes almost wholly in iron bars.
Bab, in courts of justice, is an enclosure
made with a strong partition of timbef, where
the council are placed to plead causes. It is
also applied to the benches where the lawyers
or advocates are seated, because anciently, there
was a bar to sepante the pleaders from the at-
torneys and others. Hence our lawyers, who are
called to the bar, or licensed to plead, are termed
barristers, an appellation equivalent to licentiate
in other countries.
Bab of gold or silver, is a lamp or wedge from
mines, melted down into a sort of mould, and
never wrought.
Babs of a hone, are the upper part of the
gums between the tusks and grinders, which
bear no teeth, and to which the bit is applied,
and by its friction the horse is governed.
Bars, in music, are strokes drawn perpendi-
cularly across the lines of a piece of music ; used
to regulate the beating or measure of musical
time. The use of bars in music is a modem in-
vention. Thev cannot be traced higher than the
year 1574, and seem not to be in ecneral use till
about the ifiiddle of the seventeenth century. It'
is not easy to imagine how music in many parts
could be composed without bars, or how Che
maxima, or larce, equal to eight semibreves»
could be divided into bars of one or two semi-
breves in each. See Battuta, and Time-table.
A double b^ implies the end of a strain. When
double bars are dotted on both sides, thus,
tlie dots imply a repetition of
each Strain ; but if dotted only on w
one side, that strain only which ;||» -
precedes or follows the dots, is to " ■
be repeated.
Bar, in geography, (Gael, a hill or brae), the
name of seversu places in different parts of £u- .
rope : such as,
Bar, a ci-devant duchy of France, bounded
on the east by Lorraine, on the north by Luxem-
bourg, on the west by Champagne, on the south
by part of the same country and by Franche
Comt^ ; it is crossed by the Meuse from south
to north, and watered by several other rivers,
which render it very fertile. It was divided into
four bailiages, viz. BassSgni, Bar, St. Michael,
and Clermont. The chief towns are Bar-le-Duc,
Clermont, St Michael, Longwy, Pont-a-Mous-
son, and Stenay. In 1736 it was given to Sta-
nislaus, then kme of Poland.
Bar, a city of Poland, in Podolia, seated on
the river Kiov, and strongly fortified ;, forty-eight
miles north-west of Braclaw, and sixty-five
north-east of Kaminieck.
SL2
Digitized by
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BAR
616
BAR
Bar, a town in the province of Bahar, in the
district of the same name, thirty-five miles E. S. E.
of Patna. Long. 86** 46' E., lat. 25° 28* N,
Bar, a hill of Scotland, in Renfrewshire, in
the parish of Kilbarchau, on the top of which
are the remains of an old encampment, consist-
ing of a semicircular parapet of loose stones to-
wards the south, and defended od the north b^
perpendicular basaltic rocks. Tradition says it
was an encampment of the celebrated Sir William
•Wallace ; and the people show a pmnacle of rock
where they say he sat, while he enticed the Eng-
lish forces into a bog at the bottom of it, where
they perished. But Mr. Maxwell, the minister
of the parish, concludes it to be Danish from its
form, and from the silence of historians respect-
ing this anecdote of the Scots patriot. Mr.
Maxwell also mentions it as a singular fact in
natural hijstory, by no means consonant to the
prevailing theories, that these perpendicular ba-
saltes are incumbent upon coal, formerly wrought
to a great extent.
Bar, or Barr, a small but thriving town of
France, in the department of the Lower Rhine,
sixteen miles soatn-west from Strasburg. It has
a population of 4100 souls.
Bar-le^Mont, a town of France, in the ci-
devant French Netherlands, now in the depart-
ment of the North ; fifteen miles south of IVtons,
situated on the Sambre.
- Bar sur Aube, an ancient town of France, in
the department of Aube, and ci-devant province
of Champagne, twenty-six miles east of Troyes,
famous for its excellent wines. The manufac-
tures are soap, linen, serge, and leather. Here
are also some ^ood iron-works. It is the capital
of an arrondissement, containing 44,000 inhabi-
tants.
Bar sur Ornain, or Bar-le-Duc, a town of
France, in the department of Meuse, and the ci-
ievant capital of the duchy of Bar. It is seated
on the declivity of a hill, and divided into the
higher and lower town ; the lower town is
watered by the rivulet Ornain, which abounds
with excellent trout. The population nearly
10,000. Here are manufactures of calicoes,
woollen stuffs, stockings, hats, and leather ; also
a good trade in grain^ wood, brandy, win?, and
hemp. Forty-two miles west of Nancy, and 133
cast of Paris. Long. 52^ 15* E., lat. 48^ 47' N.
Bar-sur-Ssine, a town of France, in Bur-
gundy^ on the Seine ; formerly the capital of a
county of the same nan»e, now of an arrondisse-
ment in the department of the Aube. In it are
460 houses, and 2270 inhabitants, with manufac-
tures of knives, leather, and woollen eaps, and
a trade in wine, grain, and paper. Eighteen
miles south-east of Troyes, and 110 south-east of
Paris. Ix)ng. 4^ 2r E., lat. 48° T N.
Bars-oemel, or bars-gemelles, are diminu-
tives of the bar, and are placed in pairs, or two
and two on a shield. Tney derive their name
from the Latin gemelli, twins.
BARA, a festival celebrated with much mag-
nificence at Messina, and representing tlie as-
sumption of the Virgin. The bara, though used
as the general denomination of this festival, sig-
nifies more particularly a vast machine fifty feet
high, at the top of which a young girl of four-
teen, representing the Virgin, stands upon the hand
of an image of Jesus Christ. Round him turn
vertically, in a circle, twelve little children,
which represent the seraphim; below them, in
another circle, which turns horizontally, are
twelve more representing the cherubim; b^tow
these a sun turns vertically, with a child at the
extremity of each of the four principal radii ot
his circle, who ascend and descend with his ro-
tation, yet still stand upright. Below the sun is
the lowest circle, about seven feet from the
ground, in which twelve boys turn horizontally
without interruption : these are intended for the
twelve apostles, who are supposed to surround
the tomo of the Virgin at the moment when she
ascends into heaven. This description of such a
complication of superstitious whirligigs may
nearly turn the stomachs of our delicate readers;
but think of tfie poor little cherubim, seraphim,
and apostles, who are twirled about in this pro-
cession ! * For,' says M. Houel, in his Travels
through Sicily, ' some of tliem &11 asleep, many
of them vomit, and several do still worse :' but
these unseemly effusions are no drawback upon
the edification of the peopl<^ and nothing is
more common than to see &thers and motibers
soliciting vrith ardor for their boys and girb
the pidus distinction of puking at the baia.
This machine is not drawn by asses or mules,
but by a multitude of robust monks !
Bara, in ancient geography, 1. a small islaad
in the Adriatic, opposite to Brundnsinm; the
Pharos of Mela : 2. A Frith, or arm of the sea of
Britannia, supposed to be the Murray frith.
Bara, orBARRAY, one of the Western Islands
of Scotland, eight computed miles in length, and
from two to four in breadth.
BARABAIAN Desert. See BARABiyzuvs.
BARABBAS, from p, a son, and KSK, a &-
ther, a notorious robber and murderer, whom
Pilate, wishing to save Jesus, offered for execu-
tion to the Jews; but they, instigated by their
rulers, saved the murderer, and murdered die
Saviour of mankind.
BARABINZIANS, a tribe" of Tartars, who
live on both sides the river Irtisch. They seem to
derive tlieir name from the Barabaian desert,
whose lakes supply them abundantly with fish,
on which, and their cattle, they chiefly subsist
BARABRAS, a people of Lower Nubia, con-
tiguousto Egypt. They are a distinct race from
their neighbours, and of unknown origin.
BARACHAN, a creek on the western coast of
Scotland, on the Ross side of the Sound of Eye,
where vessels of considerable burden may an-
chor in safety.
BARACOA,a sea^-port on the noTth-«ast coast
of the i^nd of Cul», fifty miles north-east of St
Jago.
BARAD^US , Jacob, or Jacob Zanzalus, a
monk of the sixth century. He was a Syrian by
birth, and a disciple of Eutyches and Dioscorus.
He maintained that there is but one nature vl
Christ; and his doctrines spread so much in
Asia and Africa that ^e Eutychians were swal-
lowed up bv that of the Jacobites, which also
comprehended all the Monophysites of the east
His party made him bishop of Edessa. He
died m 5B8.
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BAR
617
BAR
BARAK, pa, i. e. lightning; the son of
Abinoam, of Kedesh Napthali, one of the deli-
verers of Israel from the oppression of the Ca-
naanites. See Judjres iv.
BARAKAN, or Parkak, a town of Hungary,
fonnerly fortified, in the farther circle of the
Danube, where the Turks were defeated, and
the town recovered by the Imperialists, who took
it by storm in 1684. It is opposite to Gran, of
which it is reckoned a part.
BARALIPTON, among logicians, a term de-
noting the first indirect mode of the first figure
of syllogism. A syllogism in baralipton, is
vhen the two first propositions are general, and
the third particular, the middle term being the
subject in the first proposition, and the predi-
cate in the second. The following is of this
kind :
Ba. Every evil ought to be feared ;
B A. Every violent passion is an evil ;
LIP. Therefore something that ought to be*
feared is a violent passion.
BARALLOTS, in church history, a sect of
heretics at Bologna, in Italy, who had all things
in common, even their wives and children I
Their facility in complying with all manner of
debauchery made them get the name of obe-
dientes, or compliers.
BARAN, a river rising in the Hindoo Kho
mountains, and flowing through the north-east of
Cabul.
BARANCA DE Malambo, a town of Terra
Pirma in America, with a bishop's see and a
gt>od haven. It is a place of great trade, seated
on the river Magdalena, seventy-five miles
north of Carthagena.
BARANGI, ofiBcers among the Greeks of the
lower empire, who kept the keys of the city
gates where the emperor resided. Codiuus
says, they stood guara at the door of the em-
peror's bed-chamber and dining-room. Codinus
and Curopalata observe, that the name is English,
formed from bar, to shut ; and that the barangi
were Englishmen by country; Anglo-Danes,
who, being driven out of England, were received
into the service of the emperor of Constantinople,
and made guards or protectors of his person.
Whence they are called in Latin (Cujaccius),
protectores; by others, securigeri, as being
armed with securis, a battle-axe. Codinus adds,-
that they still spoke the English tongue. Anna
Comnena says, the barangi came from the island
Tliiile ; by which is doubtless meant our island.
Yet Nicetas make^ them Germans; a mistake
easy to ^e made at that distance, considering the
relation the Anglo-Saxons bore to Germany.
There were barangi as early as the emperor Mi-
chael Paphlagonius. in 1035, as appears from
Cedrenus; but they were then only common
soldiers, not a life-guard. Their commander was
called amo\o$oc, importing a person who always
followed the emperor.
BARANTA, a West Indian balsam.
BARANVAT, a county of Lower Hungary,
I'Ounded by the Danube, Sclavonia, and the
counties of Tolna and Schumeg. It abounds in
grain, fruit, wine, cattle, and garaa. Its capital
i^ Funf kirchen, and it has a population of 1 40,000
persons.
BARANZANO (Redemptus), a Bamabite
monk, bom in Piedmont in 1590. He became
professor of philosophy and mathematics at
Anneci, and was highly esteemed by lord Bacon,
who corresponded with him. He died at Mon-
targis in 1622. He wrote, 1, Uranoscopia, sen
Universa Doctrinade Ccelo, fol. 1617; ^, Cam-
pus Philosophicus, 8vo. 1620; 3. De Novis
Opinionibus r hysicis, 8vo. 1617.
BARA-Picklet, bread made of fine flour
kneaded with barm, which makes it very light
and spongy : bara being the Welch for bread.
BARATHIER(Barthelemy),an Italian lawyer
of the fifteenth century. He was born at Plar
centia, and became professor at Pavia and Fer-
rara. He published a New Digest of the Feudal
Law, at Paris, in 1611.
BARATHRA, a name of the Serbonian bog.
BARATHRO, a glutton. See Barathrum.
BARATHRON, solemn games held at Thes-
protia.
BARATHRUM, Papappov, in antiquity, a
deep dark pit at Athens, into which condemned
persons were cast headlong. It had sharp spikes
at the top that no man might escape out ; and others
at the Dottora, to pierce and torment such .as
were cast in. Its depth and capaciousness made
it to be applied proverbially to a covetous per-
son, a glutton, called barathro by the Romans,
and a common prostitute.
Barathrum, in physiology, a baleful cavern,
inaccessible on account of its foetid, or poisonous
fumes ; sWled by others fossa charonia.
BARATIER (Philip), a most extraordinary
instance of early and rapid exertion of mental
faculties. This surprising genius was the son of
Francis Baratier, minister of the French church
at Schwabach, near Nuremberg, where he was
bom January 10, 1721, The French was his
mother-tongue, and High Dutch the language of
the place; but his father talking Latin to him,
that language became as familiar to him as the
rest: so that without knowing the rules of
grammar, he, at four years of age, talked Freneh
to his mother, Latin to his father, and High
Dutch to the maid, or neighbouring children ;
and all this without mixing or confounding the
respective languages. About the middle of his
fifth year he acquired Greek in like manner; so
that in fifteen months he perfectly understood all
the Greek books in the Old and New Testament,
which he r^ily translated into Latin. When
he was five years and eight months old, he en-
tered upon Hebrew ; and in three years was so
expert in the Hebrew text, that from a bible
without points, he could give the sense of the
original m Latin or French ; or translate extem-
pore the Latin or French versions into Hebrew,
almost word for word ; and had all the Hebrew
psalms by heart. He composed, at this time, a dic-
tionary of rare and difficult Hebrew words, with
critical remarks and philosophical observations, in
about 400 pac^es in 4to ; and, about his tenth
year, amused himself for twelve months with the
rabbinical writers. With these he intermixed a
knowledo:e of the Chaldaic, Syriac, and Arabic ;
and <icquired a taste for divinity and ecclesiastical
antiquity, by studying the Greek fathers and
councils of the first four ages of the church. In
*he midst of these occupations, a pair of globes
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618
BAR
coming into his possession, he coafd, in ten days
time, resolve all the problems on them ; and in
about three months (in January, 1735), devised
his project for the discovery of the longitude,
which he communicated to the Royal Society at
London and the Royal Academy of Scien9cs at
Berlin. In June, 1731, he was matriculated in
the university of Altorf; and at the close of
1732, he was presented by his father at the meet-
ing of the reformed churches of the circle of
Franconia; who, astonished at his wonderful
.alents, admitted him to assist in the deliberations
of the synod ; and to preserve tlie memory of so
singular an event, it was ordered to be registered
in their acts. In 1734 the margrave of })ran-
denburgh Anspach granted this young scholar
the use of whatever books he wanted from the
Anspach library, together with a pension of fifty
florins, which he enjoyed three years; and his
father receiving a call to the French church at
Stettin, in Pomerania, young Baratier was, on
the journey, admitted M. A, with universal ap-
plause at we university of Halle ; at Berlin he
was honored with several conversations with the
king of Prussia, and was received into the royal
academy. Towards the close of his life he ac-
quired a taste for medals, inscriptions, and anti-
quities: metaphysical enquiries, and experimental
philosophy, intervening occasionally between
these studies. He wrote several essays and dis-
sertations ; made astronomical rediarks and labo-
rious <»]culations; and took great pains towards
a history of the heresies of the anti-tr^nitarians,
and of the thirty years' war in -Germany. His
last publication, which appeared in 1740, was on
the succession of the bishops of Rome. The final
woriL he was engaged in, and for which he had
collected many materials, was Enquiries concern-
ing the Egyptian Antiquities. But the sub-
stance of this blazing meteor was now nearly
exhausted ; he was always weak and sickly, and
died October 5, 1740, aged nineteen years, eight
months, and sixteen days. He published eleven
different pieces, and left twenty-six MSS. on
various subjects, the contents of which may be
seen in his life, written by M. Formey, professor
of philosophy at Berlin.
BARATOR, or Barretor, in law. Lambert
derives the word from the latin balatro, a vile
knave; but the proper derivation is from the
French barrateur, i. e. a deceiver; and this agrees
widi the description of a common barretor in
lord Coke's report, viz. that he is a common
mover and maintainer of suits in disturbance of
the peace, and in taking and detaining the pos-
session of houses and lands, or goods, by false
inventions, &c. And, therefore, it was adjudged
that the indictment against him ought to be in
these words, viz. that he is communis malefactor,
calumniator et seminator litium et discordiarum
inter vicinos suos, et pacis regis perturbator, &c.
It is said that a common barretor is the most
dangerous oppressor in the law, for he oppresseth
the innocent by color of law, which was made
to protect them from oppression.
Baratry, or Barratry, in a shipmaster,
is his cheatinff the owners. If eoods aelivered
on ship-board are embezzled, all the mariners
ought by the maritime law, to contribute to4he sa-
tisBsLction of the party that lost his goods, and the
cailise is to be tried in the admiralty. In a case
where a ship was insured against the baratiy
of the master, &c. and the jury found that the
ship was lost by the fraud and negligence of the
master, the court agreed, that the fraud was
baratry, though not named in the covenant ; bat
that negligence was not.
Baratry, or Barretrt, from baraterie, Fr.
fraud ; in law, is the offence of frequently stiniDg
up suits and quarrels between his majesty's sub-
jects, eitlier at law or otherwise. The punish-
ment for this offence, in a common person, is by
fine and imprisonment : but if the offender, as
is too frequently the case, belongs to ^e profes-
sion of the law, the barator who is thos able as
well, as willing to do mischief, ought always to
be disabled for practising for Uie mtnre. And,
indeed, it is enacted by statute 12 Geo. I. c. 29,
that if any one having been convicted of foigeiy,
perjury, subornation of perjury, or commcm bar^
retry, shall practice as an attorney, solicitor, or
agent in any suit, the court, upon compl^nt,
shall examine it in a summary way; and if
proved, shall direct the offender to be tramsported
for seven years. Hereunto also may be referred
another offence of equal malignity and audacious^
ness, that of suing another in the name of a fic-
titious plaintiff, either one not in being at all, or
one who is ignorant of the suit. This offence, if
conunitted in any of the king's superior courts,
is left, as a high contempt, to be punished at
their discretion : but in courts of a lower degree,
where the crime is equally pernicious, but the
authori^ of the judges not equally extensive, it
is directed by statute 8 E\iz. c. 2, to be punished
by six months imprisonment, and treble damages
to the party inju^.
Baratry is also used for bribery or corrap-
tion in a judge, giving a false sentence for money.
Baratry is also used, in middle age writers,
for fraud or deceit in making of contracts^ sales,
or the like.
BARATZ, Turkish, letters-patent granted hy
the Turkish emperors to the Greek patriarchs,
bishops, &c. for the exercise of their ecclesias-
tical functions. This baratz gives the bishops
full power and authority to establish and depose
the mferior clergy, and all other religious per-
sons ; to grant licenses for marriages, and issue
out divorces ; to collect the revenues belonging
to the churdies; to receive the pious l^ades
bequeathed to them; in short, to enjoy all the
privileges and advantages belonging to' th«ir
nigh station: and all this (as it is expmsed in
the . baratz itself), ' according to the vain and
idle ceremonies of the Christians.'
BARB', 17. & n. -V TT.harbierJ>ox.barhe€rtm,
Barb'ated, f Lat barba. The etymology
Barb'ej), \. doubtful. It signifies a
Barb'er, v. & n. i beard; hence it has grown
Barb^'et. J to mean a covering and
protection ; as armour and trappings for IrarMs^
a hood or mu£9er for the head and lower part of
the &ce and shoulders. It has also been ex-
tended in its application to the jags or reversed
points of an arrow or hook. To baib, is to cut,
to shave, or to dress out the beard. Barb, con-
tracted from Barbaiy, signifies a Barbery hone
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BAR
519 BAR
For of a MMtio ihit d«k» mnk9 the kyng on the
brow, right niuler tho defenoo of the hedpece, on the
very coyfb tcall or bawenet pece^ whereunto the ftor-
het for power and defence it chemeld.
ffaU. Kmg Hemy VJJL fbl 133.
But let be this, and tell me how yon fare.
Do way your harU, and shew your face bare.
Bo way your boko, rise up and let uf dance.
And let ▼• done to May some obsenraunce.
Chamcar. Troiha amd Cmeidt,
Two manner of arrows heades sayth Pollux, was
used in olde time. The one be caUeth tyxi«f, de-
■cribinge it thus, haTing two points or ftortev, looking
^ backwarde to the stele and the feathers, which surely
[ we call in SngUshe, abrode arrowe head or a swalowe
I tayle. Bogv Amham, TwephUm,
Thanked they werefinmi the senate, and presents
i were sent unto them, to wit, a ehaine of gold wei^«
ing two pounds ; ceitaiii golden eups of fmue ponnde
weight; a brnye oootier tarfted and trapp'd, and an
I horseman's armour. BoUmid. Lkma,
Shave the head, and tie the beard, and My it was
\ the desire of the penitent to be so barbed befiore his
deatlu Shakqmn,
Gxim-visag'd war hatib amooth'd his wrinkled front;
* And now-- instead of mmiuting barbed steeds.
To fright the soul of fearful adversaries.
He capers nimbly in a lady's chamber.
To the lascivious pleasing of a lute. Id,
Their hones were naked, without any &orft>; for .
albeit many brought barh$, few regarded to put them
on. Hagfward,
The stooping scythe-man, that doth bmb the field.
Thou mak'st wink-sure ; in night all creatures sleep.
Manton, Malcontent,
Ho drizzling show'r.
But rattling storm of arrows, bmb'd with fire.
UiUm.
Thy boisterous looks
Ko worthy match for valour to assail.
But by the harbet'i raiorbest subdued. Id,
A wafriour train
Hat like a deluge pour'd upon the plain ;
On bmrhed steeds they rode, in proud array.
Thick as the college of the bees in May.
Dryden'tFoNst,
Nov less the Spartan feas-'dlieiore he found
The shining btwh appear above the wound. Pope,
Watermen brawl, eoblen sing; but why must a
barber be for ever a politician, a musidan, an anato-
mist, a poet, and a physician ? Taker, No. 34.
I cannot lay so much stress on a plate and descrip-
tion, given by Plot, of a dart uncommonly barbated.
trarton*
To make a fine gentlemen several trades are re-
quired, but chiefly a bafber. You have undoubtedly
heard of the Jewish champion, whose strength lay in
his hair; one would think the English were for
placing all wisdom there; to appear wise nothing is
more requisite here thsn for « man to borrow hair
horn the heade of all his neighbours, and dap it like
abuahenhia own.
OeUmmih, CUiMem of the Werid,
Straight as above the surfaee of the flood.
They wanton rise, or uig'd by hunger leap.
Then fix, with gentle twitch, the barbed hook.
Hoiseo brought Aom Baibary are eonmonly of a
light dender siee, and very dear, usually chosen tnm
stdlions. Barbe, it is said, may die, Imt never grow
old ; the vigour and mettle of barb$ never eease bat
uith their Ufe. Farrier'* MHeHomarg^
Thoyar«iH-li«iIk»
Pin-buttoek'd like your dainty barbarkt.
And weak i' the pasterns.
BeotimoMl and Fleli*hcr^
But why should you who still succeed.
Whether with graceful act you lead
The fiery batrb, or with as graceful motion tresf*
In shining balls, where all agree
To give the highest praise to thee.
Vertea to Lamdomne,
Baeb is also used for tae Barbary pigeon, caUed
Jby Moore the oolumba numidica. Tliis biid is
but a small uigeon, and has a very short bid^k
like a buUfinciii with a small water, and a naked
circle of tuberose red flesh round the eyes ; the
iris of the eye is of a pearl color, and the broader
and redder this circle round them is, the more
the pigeon is valued; but this is always narrow
while they are voung, and does not arrive at its
iaiX breadth till they are four years old. Some
of this species have a tuft of feathers behind
their head, and others not. The red circle round
^eir eyes grows pale and whitish if they become
sick, but alwavs recovers its redness as they
grow well. Their i>roper color is black or dun.
There are likewise pied ones; but they are of a
mixed breed and not so valuable.
BARBAf in botany, a species of pubes, or
down, with which the surface of some plants is
covered. The term was invented by l^nneus,
and by its application in the Species Plantarum,
seems to signify a tufi or bunch of strong hairs
terminating the leaves. The mesembrvanthemum
^arbatum, a species of marypld, furnishes an ex-
ample. The word is also often used in composi-
tion to form the trivial names of several plants.
Baeba Aeon, in. botany, a name given by
some authors to ^e common great house-leek.
Baeba Capeje, in botany. See Sp!ejea. Of
this genus Mr. Toumefort allows only one spe-
cies, the comiDoA barba caprs, or, as it is called
by some, drymopogon.
Baeba Jotis, in botany, a species of anthyllis.
Baeba (Alvarez Alonio), curate of St Ber-
nard de Potod, in the seventeenth century. He
was authof of a curions book on metallurgy,
published at Madrid in 1620, quarto, and again
in 1730, abridged in French, 12mo.
BAR'BACAN, n. «. Fr. barbacane, Span, bar-
baeana. A fortification nlaced before the walls of
a town. A fortrev at tne end of a bridge. An
openinff in the wall through which the guns are
levelled.
Within the barhaeam a porter sate.
Bay and night duly keeping watch and ward :
Nor wight nor word mole pees out of the gate.
But in good order, and with due regard.
Fasris Qneene.
Babbacak, or Baebicav. See Castle.
BABBADENSIS, in conchology, a SMcies of
voluta, inhabiting the' American seas. The shell
is an inch and a half long, tapering; color red-
dbh, with very fine transverse strise. .
Baebadsnsis, in ornithology, a species of
psittacus, the ash-firouted parrot of Latham. This
oird is green; about the size of a pigeon, and
inhabits Barbadoes.
BARBADILLO (Alphonsus Jerom de Salas\
a Spanish dramatic writer, born at Madrid. He
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BARBADOES..
was author of several comedies, and of the Ad-
ventures of Don Diego de Noche, 1624, 8vo.
BARBADINO, a learned Portuguese. He
wrote and published at Paris, in 1746, a book
in his native language. On the present sUte of
Literature in Portugal. This work was attacked
with CTcat severity by a Portuguese Jesuit, and
defended by Don Joseph de Maymo.
BARBADO, a district in the island of Arl)e,
which produces excellent wines. See Arbe.
BARBADOES, the most easterly o( all the
Carribee Islands, subject to Great Britain, and,-
according to the best ffeographeis, lying between
59** SC and 62** 2' W. long., and between 12''
56' and 13® 16' N. lat It is seventy miles from
St. Vincent's. Its extent is not certainly known ;
but, according to Edwards, the length of the
island is twenty-one miles, and its br«idth four-
teen. From the returns to parliament in 1811,
tt appears that ^e population of its different pa*
rishes vras at that Ume as follows : — viz.
Parishes.
WhitM.
Free color.
Slaves.
St. Michael .
5405
1551
12,198
Christ Church
1570
66
9234
St. Philip .
1510
212
9682
St. John . .
1148
887
58
St. Joseph .
1066
77
3104
St. Andrew .
571
165
3249
St. Lucy . .
1043
34
5282
St. Peter . .
1356
223
5725
St. James .
708
33
4295
St. Thomas .
773
31
4003
St. George .
1139
lis
5428
16,289
3392
62,258
The whole population of the island, therefore,
was 81,939; and from this statement it appears
that the number of slaves had been nearly sta-
tionaiy during a period of thirty years, i. e. from
1781 to 1811 ; for it was affirmed by Mr. Wil-
berforce, in the House of Commons, in the
course of the debates on the slave trade, that in
the former of these years there were 63,248
slaves on the island; in 1786 the number was
62,115; and in 1811 they were, as we see,
62,258. Baibadoes is supposed to have attained
the summit of prosperity more than a century
ago; and between the great planters and the
people of color here there is a numerous and
remarkable class of inhabitants, descended from
the original settlers, who have no precise know-
ledge when their ancestors arrived at the island.
These, consequently, consider it as their coun-
tiT, and do not look back, therefore, like the
planters or the negroes, tu early associations or
other scenes as their home. At a distance, Bar-
badoes presents a brown and nearly uniform
surface; and the West Indians generally think
it a very flat country; but on a nearer approach
the prospect improves, and the scenery becomes
more diversified. The ground rises in singular
and almost regular nidges from the shore.
Rugged acclivities of about 100 feet eadi are
separated by plains or terraces, nearly half a
mile broad, and daese, higUy cultivated, hm
a strong contrast with the Uack rocky precipioes
and bold promontories, projecting over deep
ravines covered with dark foliage, by which th^
are surrounded.
When Barbadoes was first settled by the
English, in 1605, few or no (quadrupeds were
found upon it except hogs, which had been left
there by the Portuguese. For convenience of
carriage to the sea-side, some of the plantsn
at first procured camels, which undoubtedly
would, in all respects, have been prefierableto
horses for their sugar and other wofks; but the
nature of the climate disagreeing with that ani-
mal, it was found impossible to preserve the
breed. Some gentlemen of small fortune in
England resolved at this time to become adven-
turers thither. The trees were large, and of a
wood so hard and stubborn that it was with
great difficulty they could dear as much groond
as was necessary for their sabsistenoe ; bat by
unremitting peneverance they bioogfat it to yield
Uiem a tolerable support They found dm
cotton and indigo agreed well with the soil; end
that tobacco, which was beginning to come into
repute in England, answered tolerably welL
These prospects, tc^ther with the storm be-
tween the king and parliament, which was be-
ginning to break out in England, induced mxaj
to transport themselves into this island : and so
great was the increase of people in Barbadoes,
within twenty-five years alter its first settlement,
that in 1650 it contained more than 50,000
whites, and a much greater number of negro and
Indian slaves. They now applied for horses to
Old and New England*. fit>m the former they
had those that were fit for show and dmight;
from the la^er those that were proper for mount-
ing their militia, and for the sadd&e. They had
likewise some of an inferior breed from Curanao^
and other settlements. They are reported to
have had their first breed of black cattle fiorn
Bonavista and the Isle of May ; they now breed
upon the island, and often do the woork of hocKS.
Tne sugar, which soon afier this was coltivated,
rendered tliem extremely wealthy. The number
of slaves, therefore, was still augmented ; and m
1676 it is supposed diat they amounted to 100,000,
which, together with 50,000 whites, made 150,000
on this small spot : a degree of population un-
known in Holland, in China, or any other part of
the world most renowned for numoert. At this
time Barbadoes employed 400 sail of ships, one
with another 150 tons, in their trade. Tnar an-
nual exports in sugar, indigo, ginger, oottoo,
and citron-water, were above £350,000; and
their circulating cash at home was £200,000.
Such was the increase of population, trade, and
wealth, in the course of fifty years. The asses here
are veiy serviceable in carrying burdens to and
from the pUntations. The hogs of Baifaadocs are
finer eating than those of Britain, but the few
sheep they have are not near so good. They
likewise have goats, which when young are ex-
cellent food. RaaM>ns and monkeys are also
found here in great abundance. A variety of
birds are produced on Barbadoes, of which the
humminff-oiid is die most remarkable. Wild fowl
do not <men frequent this island ; but i
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BARBADOES.
621
teal are ftnind near their ponds. A bird whidi
they call the man of war, is said to meet ships
at twenty leagues from land, aod their return is
to the inhabitants a sure sign of the arrival of
these ships. When the wind blows from the
south and south-west they have flocks of cur-
lews, ploveirs, snipes, wild pigeons, and wild
ducks. The wild pigeons are very fat and plen-
tiful at such seasons, and rather larger than those
of England. The tame pigeons, pullets, ducks,
and poultry of all kinds, that are bred at Barba-
does have also a fine flavor, and are accounted
more delicious than those of Europe. Their
rabbits are scarce ; they have no hares ; and the
few deer they have are kept as curiosities. The
insects of Barbadoes are not venomous, nor do
either their snakes or scorpipns ever sting. The
mosquitoes are troublesome, and bite ; but are
more tolerable in Barbadoes than on the conti-
nent. Various otiier insects are found on the
island, some of which are troublesome, but in no
greater degree than those that are produced by
every warm summer in England. Oranges and
lemons grow in Barbadoes in great plenty, and
in their utmost perfection. The lemon juice
here has i^ peculiar fragrancy. The citrons of
Barbadoes afibrd the best drams and sweetmeats
of any in the world, the Barbadoes ladies excel-
ling in the art of preserving the rind of the fruit.
The pine-apple is also a native of Barbadoes,
and grows there to much greater perfection than
it can be made to do in Europe. A vast num-
ber of diflierent trees, peculiar to the climate, are
also found to flourish m Barbadoes in great per-
fection, such as the aloe, mangrove, calalxish,
cedar, cotton, ginger, plantains, guavas, mastic,
&c. Here likewise are produced some sensitive
plants, with a good deal of garden^stufi*. Bar-
badoes u well supplied wi& fi^; and some
caught in the sea surrounding it axe almost pe-
culiar to itself, such as the parrot-fish, snappers,
gray cavaJlos, terburas, and coney-fish. The
mullets, lobsters, and crabs, caught here are ex-
cellent; and the green turtle is perhaps the
greatest delicacy that ancient or mcniem luxury
can boast of. At Barbadoes this delicious shell-
fish seldom seUs for less than a shilling a pound,
and often for more. There is found in this
island a kind of landHsrab which eaLt herbs
whereever it can find them, and shelters itself in
houses and hollows of trees. According to re-
port they are a shell-fish of passage ; for in March
tliey travel to the seain great numbers. See Cancer.
Barbadoes is considered by some writers as
having its fertility diminished by long cultiva-
tion; and its produce is, ^erefore, bought to
be little in proportion to the quantity of land.
The soil chiefly tests upon a basis of calcareous
rock, formed of roadnpores and other marine
concretions. In some places it is composed of a
deep black mould ; red earth, of the same kind
as in .Tamaica, is also found, and sometimes the '
surface consists of a species of light white earth,
>^bich is chiefly indurated .argil, bleached by ex-
posure. Barbadoes on the whole must be con-
sidered as an important possession : its situation
renders it the key to the Weit Indies ; and its
fine bay aflords an excellent rendezvous for snip-
IMDgy vhsle the salubrity of its climate exceeds
that of most of the other West India islands.
But it has been thought to decline considerably
since the year 1787, a circumstance ascribed to
the dreadful succession of hurricanes with which
it has been visited. The capital of the island
was scarcely risen from the ashes to which it had
been reduced by fire, when it was torn from its
foundations, and the whole country made a scene
of desolation by the storm of the 10th of October,
1780. Above 4000 of the inhabitants miserably
perished, and the damage of property was com-
Suted at above one million sterling. Indepen-
ent of those sudden calamities^ arising from the
fiiry of the elements, its inhabitants are also sub-
ject to a distressing malady, in the form of an
elephantiasis, so peculiar to this island that it
has obtained the appellation of the Barbadoes
disease. Dr. Pinckanl, however, describes the hea't
as less inconvenient than he expected. In the
harbour, and placed in the shade, die thermo^
meter seldom rose higher than 84^, and never
exceeded 86°. The inhabitants may be consi-
dered in three classes, viz. the roasters, white
servants, and blacks. The former are either
English, Scots, or Irish ; but the mat encou-
ragement given by government to me peopling
this and ouer West India islands, indooed some
Dutch, French, Portuguese, and Jews, to settle
among them with their estates ; by which, after
a certain time, they acquire the rights of natura-
lization in Great Britain. The white servants,
whether by covenant or purchase, are said to
live more easy lives than the day-laborers in
England ; and when they come to be overseers,
their wages and other allowances are consider-
able. The earliest planters of Barbadoes were
reproached with cruelly forcing into slavery the
Indians of the neighbouring continent ; and the
history of Inkle and Yarico, which Mr. Addison,
in his Spectator, has recorded for the detestation
of mankind, took its ;ise in this island. For the
treatment of the negro slaves in this and other
islands, see Negro, Slave, and West Indies.
St. Vincent may be seen from Barbadoes in a
clear day. It is twenty-five miles only from St.
Lucia; twenty-eight south-east from lif artinico ;
sixty north-east from Trinidad ; and 100 south-
east from St. Christopher.
Barbadoes, Flower-Fekce. See Poinciaka.
Barbadoes Tar; a bituminous substance,
differing little from the petroleum floating on
several springs in England and Scotland. It
is a mineral fluid of the nature of the thicker
fluid bitumens, of a nauseous bitterish taste^
very strong and disagreeable smell, found in
many parts of America, trickling down the sides
of the mountains, and sometimes floating on the
surface of the waters. It has been greatly recom-
mended in coughs, and other disorders of the
breast and lungs.
BARBANA, a district and village of the late
maritime Austria, in the province of Istria, seated
on the Arza, with two forts.
BARBARA, in logic, the first mode of the
first figure of the syllogisms. A syllogism In bar-
bam is that whereof all the propositions are uni-
versal and affirmative; the middle term being the
subject in iSie first proposition, and attribute or
predicate in the secona. — Example:
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BAR Whoever suffers a inan to starve, whom
he is able to sustain, is a murderer :
BA Whoever is rich, and rehiseth to give
alms, suffers those to starve, whom
he is able to sustain :
RA Therefore, whoever is rich, and refuses
to ^ve alms, is a murderer.
Ba&bara, sister and successor of Zingha,
queen of Angola. >
Barbara, St. an island on the coast of Brasil.
Barbara, St. the capital of New Biscay, t
BAllBARANO, a district of maritime Austria,
in the Vicentino,on the banks of theBaochiglione,
among tlie Berean hills, containing one tovn« of
thesame name, &c., and fifteen populous villages.
BARBARIANI. See Barbelicotjs.
BARBARICAHII, in antiquity, 1. artists,
who» with threads of divers colors, expressed the
figures of men,, animals, &c. or, whose businestf
was to gild and decorate shields and helmets
with jifold and silver. They were so called,
because they learned these arts from the Phryf-
gians, who were particularly denominated ban-
barians, in regard of their opposition to the
Greeks. The name is sometimes also written
hranbaricarri. 2. Soldiers, or officers, who wore
masks and viiards thus adorned with gold and
silver.
BARBARICUM, in ancient writers, 1. A
military shout raised by the soldiers on point of
engagement; so called from the barbarians, in
whose armies this method much prevailed : 2. A
war or expedition undertaken against the bar-
barians; Quousque ad ipsum tempusquo barba-
ricum exortem est inter nos et vos: 3. Ab
armory, or magazine, wherein the Greek em-
perors kept the spoils taken from the barbarian*.
Barbaricum , m botany, an appellation given
by the modem Greeks to rhubarb; so called from
the sinus barbaricus, by the way of which this
root was first brought to them. •
BARBARICUS, in entomology, a species oi
cimex (reduvius) of a black color; thorax an4
wing-cases obscure ferruginous, and a little
white line on the middle of the scutellum. A
native of Barbaiy. Gmelin.
Barbaricus, in ornithology, a species of ralr
lus that inhabits Barbary; the Barbary rail ojp
Latham; and, 2. A species of turd us, of a green
color, with the breast spotted with white; rump
and tip of the tail yellow. It is the grive basr
sette ae Barbaric of Buffon^ and the Barbaiy
thrush of Linnxus.
BARBARIES, that rudeness of mind where-
in the understanding is neither fumbhed with
useful principles, nor the will with good inclina-
tions.
BARBARIZE,
Bar'barism,
Barba'rity,
Barba'rian, n. & atU.
Barba'rick, n. & aaj,
Bar'barous,
Bar'barously,.
Bar'barousness.
lisation. It seems to have signified at first only
foreign or a foreigner. The Greeks applied it to
all nations but themselves, and conveyed by it
an idea of disoaiagement and contempt. It is
1
Gr. /3ap/3apoc, Lat
barbanUf of uncertain
etymology, applied
to any nation, person,
''or thing, whicn indi-
cates a want of cul-
ture. It is opposed
in all respects to civi«
now applied to every species of wildness, fitrw>-
ness, and cruelty ; to untaught aarages; to mcn-
sters vritbout pity; to ignorance of arts and
want of learning; to inaccuracies, vulgarisms,
impurities of speech and language; and to inci-
vility of manners. Brace has shown, that bar-
barick, barbarine^ and harberinf are names derived
.from Berber pr Berber, the native name of the
coast of the troglodjfie, icfathyophagi, and shep-
herds. It goes down the vrikole western coast of
the Red Sea. The Egyptians hated and feared
them. It was therefore in Egypt a term both of
dread and contumely ; in which sense it passed
to the Greeks, and £rom them to the Romaas.
To barbarUef is to reduce to a state of barbarim ;
to make> or cause to be made, fierce, cruel, and
uncivilised.
Nor were the Cerinthiaiu proude only by reuoa
of their welthe, but alio because they were learned in
the Cbeciaxw' philosophy, and therefore despised tfacjr
Mche as were not leanxsd therein as mde and bar-
VdJL
What need I say more to yon t What ear is lo
barhcavm; bat hath heard of AmphialosT fiUsQ^.
The doubtful damsel dare not yet commit
Her single person to their harhmrtmt tx%th.
Spetuer. Faerie Queme.
I have for harharitm spoke more
Than for that angel knowledge you can say.
Thoo art a Roman ; be not harharom. Id.
Ko joyfol tongue gave him hts welcome home ;
But dust was thrown upon his sacred head ;
Which with such gentle sorrow he shook oCT^
His face still combating with tears and smiles.
The badges of his grief and patience.
That had not God for some strong purpose tteel'd
The hearts oimen, they most perforce hava melted,
And harharitm itself have pitiad him. U,
I would they were harhariam, as they are.
Though in Jtome littered. Id. OorioUmm,
Moderation ought to be Imd ia iemperiiig aad iii»-
naging the Irish, to bring them from thaur deiigfat «f
licentious harharum unto tho love of goodnesa aad
civility. .Spamr'M bdmL
Divors great monarehiea hatve risen from haihanm
to civility, and fallen again into ruin.
Dmomem hdmtL
A Aofiofwurcoantiy mast be broken by war, befeie
it be capable of government; and when snbdned, if it
be net well planted, it will eftsoons retnm to hat-
. He left governor, Philip, for Us cooatiy a Pfarj^
gian, and for manners more harhatmu thaa he thatiei
him there.
Our groaning ooontzy.bled at every ^
When murders, rapes, and massacrea ptcvail'df
When churches, palaces, and cities bbU'd^
When insolence and haiharitm triomph*d«
And swept away distinction.
By their hurharmt usage* he died within a few
days, to the grief of all that knew him. Clanmdm.
And they did treat him with all the nadeness, re-
proach, and harharitif, imaginable. U.
The barhanvrnteat of the trial, and the pemasives
of the clergy, prevailed to antiquate it.
HoWm Cewiaa Lam.
The gorgeous East, with richest hand,
Show*rs on her kings hurharick p^arl and gold.
Pm
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Next-Petraardi JMiovr'4, «ftd in hUs we tee
I What rhyme, improv'd in all its height, can be ;
1 At best a pleasing sound, and sweet harharitp.
Drydm.
They who restored painting in Germany, not hav-
ing those reliques of antiquity, retained that hairharma
manner. Ji.
Latin expresses that in one word, which either the
' harhmrUy or narrowness of modem tongues cannot sup*
I ply ia more. Id^
The genius of Raphael hatving noceeded to tha
I time« of batbantm and ignoranoe, the knowledge of
1 painting is now arrived to perfection.
Id. Jhiftunojf, Pnfaee.
The language is as near approaching to it, as our
^ modem harbarittn will allow ; wjbich is all that can be
expected from any now extant.
' Id. Jueenai, Dedioation.
The eastern front was glorious to behold.
With diamond flaming, and harbarich gold,
f Pope.
, Some felt the silent stroke of moold'ring age,
, Barharmm blindness. Id,
We bmhanmtfy call them blest.
While swelling coffers break their owner's rest.
' Jixcellencies of musick and poetry are grown to be
little more, but the one fiddling, and the other
I rhiming; and are indeed very worthy of the igno-
rance of the friar, and the harbaroutne$$ of the Goths.
Temple.
Proud Greece all nations else harbariam held.
Boasting her learning all the world excell'd.
Demham,
There were not different gods among the Greeks
and harbariam, StiUmgfieet,
But with descending show'rs of brimstone fir*d.
The wild barbarian in the storm expirM. Addison,
She wishes it may prosper ; but her mother used
one of her nieces very barbaroudjf, Spedaior,
Thou fell barbarian.
What had he done? What toold provoke thy
madness
To assassin*^"* so great, so brave a man?
A. Phimpe.
This moon, which rose last night, round as my
shield.
Had not yet fill'd her horns, when by her light,
A band of fieice barhdriam, from the UHs,
Rush'd like a torrent down npoi the vale.
Sweeping our flocks and herds. Hornef
The barbariant of Germany, still faithful to the
maxims of their ancestors, abhorred the confinement
of walls, to which they applied the odious names of
prisons and sepulchres ; and fixing their independent
habitations on the banks of rivers, the Rhine, the
Moselle, and the Mouse, they secured themselves
against d&e danger of a suiprise, by a rade and hasty
fortification of large trees, which were felled and
thrown across the roads. Gtftten^
We shall be bmhariaed on both sides of the water,
if we do not see one another now and then, we shall
sink into suiiy brutish Johns, and yon will degene-
rate into wild Irish.
Burhe. Letter ie Sir C, Binghmn,
That saddening hour when bad men hotlier press.
But these did shelter him beneath their roof.
When less bmrbarianM would have ch'eer'd him less.
And fellow-countrymen have stood aloof —
In aught that tries the heart, how few withstand
the proof! Bifnm, ChUde Barcid.
We retain from a preceding worjc of thia kind
an illustration of this subject; not the most glar-
ing, perhaps, vhich has happened in the same
quarter of the world ; a^ it xlUplays at once the
savage cruelty of a man bred among Christians,
and the noble disinterested friendship and true
greatness of soul, in those too often considered
barbarians. A planter in Virginia, who was
ownec of aoonsiaerable number of slaves, instead
of r^^rding them as human creatures, and of
the same species with himself used them with
the utmost cruely, whipping and torturing them
for the slightest mults. One of these, thinking,
any change preferable to slavery under such a
barbarian, attempted: to make his escape among
the mountain Indians; but unfortunately was
taken and brought back to his master. Poor
Arthur (this was his name) was immediately
ordered to receive 300 lashes. These were to
be given him by his, fellow slaves, among whom
there happened to be a negro whom the planter
bad purchased on the preceding day. This slave^
the moment he saw the unhappy wretch destined^
to the hishes, rushed forwara, clasped him in
his arms, and embraced him with the greatest
tenderness: the other returned his transports,;
and nothing could be more moving than their
mutual ^bemoaning each other's misfortunes.
Their master was soon given to understand tha^
they were countrymen and in^mate friends; and,
that Arthur had formerly, in a battle with ^
neighbouring nation, saved the life of hb friend
at the expense of his own. The newly purchased,
negro thcew himself at the planter^s feet, with,
tears, beseeching htm, in the most moving maui-
ner, to spare his friend, or at least to permit
him to undergo the punishment in his stead,,
protesting he would rather die ten thousand
deaths than lift his hand against him. But the
haughty planter, looking on this as an affront to
the absolute power he pretended over him,
ordered Arthur to be immediately tied to a
tree, and his friend to give him the lashes; tell-
ing him that for every lash not well laid on, he
should himself receive a score. The negro,
amazed at a barbarity so unbecoming a human
creature, with a generous* disdain refused to
obey him, at the same time upbraiding him with
his cruelty ; upon which, the planter turning all
his rage on him, ordered him to be immediately
stripped, and commanded Arthur, to whom he
promised forgiveness, to give his countryman
the lashes which he himself had been destined to
receive. This proposal vras heard with scorn,
each protesting he would rather suffer the most
dreadful torture than injure his friend. This
generous conflict, which must have raised the
strongest feelings in a breast susceptible of pity,
did but the more inflame the monster, who now
determined th^ should both be made examples
of, and, to satiate his revenge, was preparing t6
begin with Arthur, when the negro drew a kniie
from his pocket, stabbed the planter to the heart,
and, at the same time struck it to his own,
rejoicing with his last breath, that he had
avenged his friend, and rid the world of such
a monster.— Eiwycfo. Pertkemit.
BARBARISM, a name applied by JSt. £pi«
phanius, to the most ancient of the four primitive
religions; that which worshipped hills, trees,
and ^uiitains.
BARfiAROLOGIA,barbarology, a word used
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BARBAROSSA.
by Isidore, to express that species of writing,
wherein foreign words are adopted, or as he rtyles
it, irftruded into the Latin language.
BARBAROSSA (Aruch), and his brother
llayradin, were famous corsairs, the sons of a
potter in the isle of Lesbos ; who being of a rest-
less and enterprising spirit, left their father's em-
ployment, and joined a crew of pirates. They
soon distinguished themselves by their zeal and ac-
tivity, and, becoming masters of a small brigan-
tine, they carried on their depredations with such
success and conduct, that they were soon pos-
sessed of twelve galleys, besides smaller vessels.
Of this fleet Aruch, the elder brother, was ad-
miral, and Hayradin the second in command ;
they called themselves the iriends of the sea, and
the enemies of all who sailed upon it ; and their
names became terrible, from the straits of the
Dardanelles to those of Gibraltar. With such a
power they wanted an establishment; and the
opportunity of settling themselves offered in
1416, by the inconsiderate application of Eutemi,
king of Algiers, to them for assistance against the
Spaniards. The active corsair gladly accepted
the invitation, and, leaving his brother Hayradin
with the fleet, marched at the head of 5000 men
to Algiers, where he was received as their de-
liverer. Such a force gave him the command of
the town ; and observing that the Moors neither
suspected him of any bad intentions, nor were
capable, with their light-armed troops, of oppos-
ing his disciplined veterans, he secretly murdered
the monarch he came to assist, and caused him-
self to be proclaimed king in his stead. The
authority thus boldly usurped, he endeavoured to
establish by arts suited to the genius of the
people he had to govern ; by Uberality without
bounds to those who favored his promotion ; and
by cruelty no less unbounded, towards all whom
he had any reason to distrust. See Algiers.
The Arabians, alarmed at his success, implored
the assistance of Hamidel Abdes, king of Tunis,
to drive the Turks out of Algiers. That prince
readily undertook to«do what was in his power
for this purpose, and, upon their agreeing to
settle the kingdom on himself and his descen-
dants, set out at the head of 10,000 Moors.
Upon his entering the Algerine dominions, he
was joined by all the Arabians in the country.
Barbarossa engaged him, with only 1000 Turkish
musqueteers and 500 Granada Moors ; totally
defeated his numerous army ; pursued him to the
very gates of his capital, which he easily made
himself master of; and, having given it up to be
plundered by his Turks, obliged the inhabitants
to acknowledge him sovereign. This victory,
(which was chiefly owing to his fire-arms), wzs
followed by an embassy irom the inhabitants of
Tremecen, inviting him to come to their assistance
against their prince, with whom they were dissa-
tisfied on account of his having detlironed his
nephew, and offering him even the sovereignty, in
case he accepted of their proposal. The king of
Tremecen, not suspecting the treachery of his
subjects, met the ^rant with an army of 6000
horse and 3000 foot; but Barbarossas artillery
^ve him such an advantage, that the king was
at length forced to retire into the capital ; which
be had no sooner entered, than his head was cut
off, and sent to Barbarossa, with a firesh ravitatioa
to take possession of the kingdom. On his ap-
proach ne was met by the inhabitants, whom he
received with great complaisance,' and many fair
promises ; but ^^eginning to tyrannise as usual,
nis new subjects soon convinced him that they
were not so passive as the inhabitants of Algiers.
He therefore entered into an alliance with the
king of Fer ; after which he secured the rest of
the cities in his new kingdom, by garrisoning
them with his own troops. Some of diese, how-
ever, revolted soon after ; upon which he sent one
of his corsairs, named Escander, a man no less
cruel than himself, to reduce them. The Treme-
cenians now began to repent of their having in-
vited such a tyrant to their assistance ; and con-
sulted how to bring back their lawful prince Abn-
cben-Men : but their cabals being discovered, a
great number of the conspirators were massa-
cred in the most cruel manner. The prince
escaped to Oran, and was taken under the pro-
tection of the marquis of Gomarez, who sent
immediate advice of it to Charies V. then lately
arrived in Spain, with a powerful fleet and army
That monarch immediately ordered the young
king a succour of 10,000 men, under the com-
mand of the gbvemor of Oran ; who, under the
guidance of Abuchen-Men, began his march to-
wards Tremecen ; and in their way were joined
by prince Selim, with a great number of Arabs and
Moors. The first thing they resolved upon xns
to attack the important fortress of Calau, situated
between Tremecen and Algiers,and commanded by
Escander at the head of about 300 Turks. They
invested it closely, in hopes that Barbarossa would
come out of Tremecen to its relief, which would
give the Tremecenians an opportunity of keeping
him out. That tyrant, however, kept close in
his capital, being embarassed by his fears of a
revolt, and the delays of the king of Fez» who had
not sent the auxiliaries he promised. The gar-
rison of Calau, in the mean time, made a biave
defence ; and, in a sally, cut off near 300 Spa-
niards. This encouraged them to venture a se-
cond time ; but they were now repulsed with a
great loss, and Escander himself wounded : soon
after which, they surrendered, but were all mas-
sacred by the Arabians, except sixteen, who
clung close to die stirrups of the king, and of the
Spanish general. Baroarossa being now in-
formed that Abuchen-Mcn, with his Arabs, ac-
companied by the Spaniards, were in full march
to lay siege to Tremecen, came out at the head
of 1500 TurkSy and 5000 Moorish horse, in order
to break his way through the enemy ; but be had
not proceeded fei, before his council advised hiro
to return and fortify himself. This advice was
now too late ; the inhabitants being resolved to
keep him out, and open their gates to their own
lawful prince as soon as he appeared. In this
distress Barbarossa saw no way left but to 'retire
to the citadel, and there defend himself till he
could find an opportunity of stealing out with
his men and all nis treasure ; but, his provisions
failing, he took advantage of a subterraneo'is
back way, and, taking his immense treasure with
him, stole away as secretly as be could. His
flight, however, was soon discovered; and be
was so closely pursued, that to amuse, as he
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hoped, the enemy, he caused a great deal of his
moneyy plate, jewels, &c. to be scattered all the
way, thinkinji: they would not fail to stop their
pursuit to gather it up. This stratagem, how-
ever, foiled,, through tlie vigilance of the Spanish
commander, who being at the head of the pur-
suers, obliged them to march on, till he was come
up close to him on the banks of the Huexda,
about eight leagues from Tremecen. Barbarossa
had just crossed the river with his vanguard,
when the Spaniards came up with his rear on
the other side, and cut them all off; and then
crossing the water, overtook him at a small dis-
tance from it. Here a bloody engagement en-
sued, in which the Turks fought like lions ; but
being at length overpowered by numbers, they
were all cut to pieces, and Barbarossa among the
rest, in the forty-fourth year of his ^e, and four
years after he had raised himself to the royal
title of Jigel of the adjacent country ; two years
afler he had accomplished the reduction of Ti^me-
cen. ' His head was carried to Tremecen, on
the point of a spear; and Abuchen-Men pro-
claimed king, to tne joy of all the inhabitants.
A few days after, the king of Fa appeared at the
head of 20,000 horse, near the field of battle ;
but hearing of Barbarossa's defeat and death,
marched off with all possible speed.
Barbaeossa (Hayradin)y upon his brother's
death, assumed the sceptre at Algiers with equal
abilities, but with better fortune ; for the ^pa^
niards, sufficiently employed in Europe, giving
him no disturbance, he regulated the interior po-
lice of his kingdom with great prudence, earned
on his naval operations with vigor, and extended
his conquests on the continent of Africa. But
perceiving that the Moors and Arabs submitted
to his government with the utmost impatience,
and being afraid that his continual depredations
would one day draw upon him the arms of the
Christians, he put his dominions under the pro-
tection of the Grand Seignior, and received from
him a body of Turkish soldiers, sufficient for his
security against his domestic, as well as his fo-
reign enemies. At last the fame of his exploits
daily increasing, Solyman, the Turkish emperor,
offered him the command of his fleet, as the only
person whose valor and skill entitled him to
command against the famous Andrew Doria.
Proud of this distinction, Barbarossa repaired to
Constantinople; and ¥ritha wonderful versatility
of mind, mingling the arts of a courtier with the
boldness of a corsair, gained the entire confi-
dence both of the sultan and his vizier. To them
he communicated a scheme he had formed of
making himself master of Tunis, the most flourish-
ing kingdom at that time on the coast of Africa;
which being approved of, they gave him what-
ever he demanded for carrying it into execution.
He obtained it in a manner similar to that by
which his brother gained Algiers ; but was driven
from it by Charles V. in 1536. After this he
mvaged several parts of Italy, and reduced Ye-
toen, in Arabia Felix, to the Turkish government.
He died in 1547, aged 80. See Algiers.
Barbarossa was also a title or surname of
Frederick I. emperor of Germany, one of the
first sovereigns in Europe who ventured to speak
fireely of the papal hierarchy, and the pride of
the popes. Of the cardinals he said, Cardina*
lis non esse pradicatores sed praedatores ; — the
cardinals were not preachers, but plun'lerers.
This was so early as A.D. 1155. See Ger-
many.
Barbarossa, in entomology, a species of
scarabsus, a native of New Holland. The an-
terior part of the thorax is scabrous ; horns o^
the head recurved and short.
BARBAROUX (Charles), a French republi-
can, and a sufferer by the guillotine. He was a
native of Marseilles, and became a member of
the national assembly. He was a great adver-
sary to Robespierre and Tallien, against whom
he brought many charges. He likewise proposed
the trial of the king and the royal family. On
the overthrow of the Girondist party, he was
arrested, but found means to escape. Some
time after, however, he was seized, and brought
to the guillotine at Bourdeaux, on the 25th of
June, 1794.
BAKBARUS (Daniel), a noble Veneti^, pa-
triarch of Aquileia, and fiunous for his learning,
was ambassador from Venice to England ; and
one of the fathers of the council of Trent, where
he acted with great zeal for the interest of the
pope. He wrote, 1. A Commentary upon Vi-
truvius. 2. Catena Grsecorum Patrum m quin-
Quaginta Psalmos lAtine versa. 3. La Pratica
aella Perspectiva. He died in 1569, aged 41.
Barbarus (Francis), a noble Venetian, of the
same family with Daniel. He was bom in 1 398,
and gained great fame in tlie fifleentli century,
not only for his learning, but for a skilful address
in the management of public affairs. He wrote
a book De Re Uxoria, on the Choice of a Wife
and the Duties of Women; and translated
some of Plutarch's Lives. He died in 1454.
His book, De Re Uxoria was printed at Paris in
1515, and his Letters in 1743.
Barbarus, (Hermolaus), grandson of Fran-
cis, one of die most learned men of the fif-
teenth century. The public employments he
was entrusted with early, did not prevent him
from cultivating letters. He understood the
most difficult authors ; wrote a celebrated para-
Ehrase upon Aristotle; and corrected and trans-
ited Dioscorides, and added a commentary.
But of all his works none gained him so much
reputation as his commentary upon Pliny;
wherein he corrected above 5000 passages, and
occasionally restored 300 in Pomponius Mela.
Pope Innocent VIIL to whom he was ambas-
sador, conferred upon him the patriarchate of
Aquileia. He imprudentlv accepted it without
waiting for the consent of his superiors ; though
the republic of Venice had made laws forbidding
the mmisbers they sent to the court of Rome to
accept any benefice. The haughty aristocrats
were inflexible ; and not being able to gain any
thing upon them either by flattery or his Other's
interest, the father died of grief, and the son soon
followed him.
Barbarus (Hermolaus), was a nephew of
Francis, and distinguished himself by his know-
ledge of the Greek language. At the age of
twelve years he translated some of iEsop's Fables
into Latin. He was successively bishop of Tre-
visa and of Verona, and died at the latter in 1470.
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B A R B A R Y.
Barbarus, in entomology, 1. A species of
papilio; the wings without tails, and blueish.
2. A species of tenebrio, of a black color, and
▼ery glossy. 3. A species of cryptocephalus
that ii3iabits Barbaiy.
Barbarus, in ichthyology, a species of syng-
nathus, found in European seas.
Barbarus, in ornithology, a species of brown
Tulture that inhabits Baibary, and some other
parts of Africa. The vultur barbatus, Briss. Om.
and bearded vulture of Edwards and Latham.
Also a species of Falco, called by- the English
writers Barbary feicon.
BARBARY, a part of Africa, including the
states of Fez, Algiers, Morocco, Tripoli, and
Tunis. This country contains almost tne whole
of what the Romans possessed of the conti-
nent of Africa, excepting Egypt. It stretches
in length, from east to west, from Egypt to the
straits of Gibraltar, full 35® of longitude ; and
from thence to Santa Cruz, the utmost western
«dge of it, about six more, in all 41°. On the
south, indeed, it is confined within much narrower
bounds, extending no further than from 27** to
35i° N! lat In this view of it Barbary begins
on the west of the famed mount Atlas, called by
the Arabs Al Duacal, enclosihg the ancient king-
doms of Suez and Dela, now provinces of Mo-
rocco ; thence stretching along the Atlantic to the
pillars of Her<Ailes at cape Finisterre, then along
the coast of the Mediterranean, it is at last
bounded by the city of Alexandria in Egypt. In
the ancient world this comparative desert was
rendered interesting by being the seat of the
•Carthaginian empire ; and portions of it wero
then so fruitful, tnat Northern Africa was some-
times denominated the |^nary of Italy.
Concerning the origm of the name there are
many conjectures. According to some, the Ro-
mans, after they had conquered this large tract of
country, gave it the name of Barbary, out of dis-
like to the manners of the natives, according to
their custom of calling all other people but them-
selves and the Greeks, Barbarians. Marmol, on
the contrary, derives the word Barbary from Ber-
ber, a name which the Arabs gave to its ancient
inhabitants, on account of the barrenness of the
country, and which they retain to this day in
many parts of it, especially along the great ridge
of the mountains of Atlas. According to Leo
Africanus, the name of Barbary was given by the
Arabs on account of the strange language of the
natives, which appeared to them more like the
grumbling of brutes than articulate sounds.
Others derive it from the Arabic word bar, signi-
fying a desert, which was given by one Afncus,
a kiug of Arabia, from whom the whole continent
of Africa is said to have taken its name ; and
who being driven out of his own dominions, and
closely pursued by his enemies, some of his retinue
called out to him Bar-bar ; that is, To the desert,
to the desert ; from which the country was after-
wards called Barbary.
Gibbon (Decline and Fall Rom. Emp. ▼. ix.)
jays that the history of the word Bar-bar is divi-
sible into four periods. 1. In the time of Homer,
when the Greeks and Asiatics might probably
use a common idiom, the imitative souna of Bar-
bar, was applied to the ruder tribes, whose pro-
nunciation was most harsh,' vrfiose grammar iw
most defective. KapE; BoDfitip^fwHn (Iliad, ii.
867. with the Oxford Scholiast, Clarke's Annota-
tions and Henry Stephens*s Greek Thesaoras, too.
i. p.720.) 2. From tlie time, at least, of Herod».
tus, it was extended to all nations who were
strangers to the language and roannen of the
Gre^s. 3. In the age of Plantus, the RonudH
submitted to the insult (Pompeius Festus, 1. ii.
p. 48. ed. Dacier), and freely gave themselves tbe
name of Barbarians. They insensibly daioied ao
exemption for Italy, and her sabject prorinoo,
and at length removed the disgraceful appeUatioo
to the savage or hoistile nations beyond the paie
of the empire. 4. In every sense it was dae to
the Moors ; the fkmiliar word was bommed from
tiie Latin provincials by the Arabian tonqoeron,
and has justly settled as a local denomination^
(Barbary) along the northern coast of Africa.
By the Romans, this country was divided into
the province of Mauritania, Africa Propria, &c
and they continued absolute masters of it fimn
tlie time of Julius Cssar tiU A. D. 428. Atthat
time Bonifacius, the Rt^man governor of theiepT»-
vinces, having t}i rough the tveachery of Stilts
been forced to tevolt, called to his assistance
Genseric king of the Vandals, who had been sooe
time settled in Spainl The terms ofirefed,aceoi-
ding to Procopius were, that Genseric should faa?e
two thirds, and Boni&cius one third, of Africa,
provided they could maintain themselves against
the Roman poweir; and to accompliaih this thcf
were to assist eaich other to the utmost. Hiu
proposal was instantly complied with ; and Gen-
seric set out from Spain in May 428, with an amj
of 80,000 men, according to some, ot only 24,000
according to others, together with their wim,
children, and all their effects. In the mean time
Uie Empress Placid ia, having discovered the Ine
cause or Bonifacius's revolt, wrote a most obb^
ing letter to him, in which she assured him of
her favor and protection for the future, exhortiog
him to return to bis duty, mad exert his iimal
zeal for the wel&ro of the empire ; by driving o«t
the Barbarians, whom the malice of his <
had obliged him to call in for his own taktj and
preservation. Boni&cius readily complied, and
offei^ the Vandals ooDiideiable sums if tbey
would return to Spain. But Genseric, alxtad<f
master of the greatest part of the country, refinai-
ing a sc6mful answer, and felling laexpeetedlj
on him, cut most of his men in pieces, ana
obliged Boni£acius himself to fly to Hippo, wiudi
he invested in May 430. The siege lasted tfil
July 431, when the Vandab were fiiroed, byafih
mine that began to rage in thdr camp, to diop
the enterprise, and to retire. Soon after, Boni-
fiacius having received two rdnforoGBnents, one
from Rome, and tiie other, under the ceMnaied
Aspar, from Constantinople, n Tesdution was
taken by the Roman geuends to ofifer die enennr
battle. A bloody engagement ensued, in wlucn
the Romans were utterly defeated, a prodigious
number of them taken, and the leat obliged to
shelter themselves among the rocks attdmoontaiBS.
Aspar, who commanded die eastern troops,
escaped with difficulty to Constantinople, and
Bonifacius was recalled to Italy. Upon tbeir de-
parturo, the VahdaU overranall Africa, commitiioff
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B A R B A R Y.
627
eTeiywhere the roost terrible ravines, which
struck the inhabitants of Hippo with such terror^
that they abandoned the city, which was first
plundered, and then set on fire bv the victorious
enemy ; so that Cirtha and Carthage were now
the only strong places possessed by the Romans.
In 435, Genseric, afraid of an attadk by the united
forces of ^e eastern and western empires, con-
cluded a peace with the Romans, who vielded to
him part of Numidia, the province of Piocon-
sulans, and Byzacene, for which, according to
Prosper, he was to pay a yearly tribute to the
emperor of the east. Genseric delivered up his
son Hunneric by way of hostage; but so great
waiB the confidence which the Romans placed in
that barbarian, that some time after they sent him
back his son. Of this they soon had reason to
repent ; for in 439, the Romans being engaged in
a war with the Goths in Gaul, Genseric laid hold
of that opportunity to seize upon the city of Car-
thage; by which he considerably enlarged his
Ainc&n dominions. Valentinian, however, re-
tained as long as he lived, the two Mauritanias
-with TripoUtana, Tingitana, and that part of
Numidia where Cirtha stood. On taking Car-
thage, Genseric made it the seat of his empire ;
and in 440 ravaged the island of Sicily, and laid
siege to Palermo. Not being able, however, to
reduce that place, he soon returned to Africa with
an immense booty, and a vast number of captives,
Being now become formidable to both empires,
'Fbeodosius, emperor of the east, resolved to assist
Valentinian agamst so powerful an enemy. Ac-
cordingly, he fitted out a fleet consisting of 1100
large ships ; and putting on board of it the flcwer
of his army, under the conduct of Arcovindas,
Ansilus, and Germanus, he ordered them to land
in Africa, and joining tiie western forces there,
to drive Genseric out of the countries he had
seized. But the latter, pretending a desire to be
reconciled vrith both empires, amused the Roman
general with proposals of peace, till the season
for action was over; and, next year, Theodosius
being obliged to recal his forces to oppose the
Iluns, Valentinian found it necessary to conclude
a peace with the Vandals ; and this he could ob-
tain on no other terms than yielding to them the
Quiet possession of the countnes they had over-run.
So powerful was Genseric now become, or rather
•0 low was the Roman empire by this time re-
duced, that in 455 he took and plundered the city
of Rome itself (See Rome), and, after his return
to Africa, made himself master of the remaining
countries held by the Romans in that part of the
world. Hereupon Avitus, who had succeeded .
Valentinian in the empire, despatched ambassa-
dors to Genseric, putting him in mind of the treaty
he hsd concludea with the empire in 442; and
threatening if he did not observe the articles at
that time agreed upon, to make war upon him,
not only with his own forces, but with those of his
allies the Visigoths, who were ready to pass over in-
to Africa. To this Genseric was so far nom paying
anv regard that he immediately put to sea vn&
a fleet of sixty ships ; but being attacked by the
Roman fleet under Ricimer, he was utteriy de-
feated, and forced to fly back into Africa. He
returned, however, soon after, with a more power-
ful armament, committing great ravages on the
coast of Italy : but in a second expedition he was
not attended with so good success ; the Romans
falling unexpectedly upon his men, while busied in
plundering the country, put great numbers of
them to the sword, and among the rest the brother-
in-law of Genseric himself. Encouraged by this
advantage, Majorian, then emperor, resolved
to pass over into Africa, and attempt the recovery
of that country. For this purpose ne made great
S reparations ; but his fleet being surprised and
efeated by the Vandals, through the treachery oC
some of his commanders, the enterprise miscarried.
'Notwithstanding this misfortune, Majorian per-
sisted in his resolution, and would in all likelihood
have accomplished his purpose, had not he him-
self been murdered soon after by Ricimer. After
his death Genseric committed what ravages he
pleased in the poor remains of the western em-
pire, and even made descents on Peloponnesus
and the islands belonging to the emperor of Con-
stantinople. In revenge, Leo made vast prepa^
rations n>r the invasion of Africa, insomucn that,
according to Procopius, he laid out 130,000
pounds weight of gold in the equipment of his
army and navy. The forces employed on this
occasion were sufficient for expelling the Vandals,
had they been much more powerful than they were ;
but the command being given to Basiliscus, a
covetous and ambitious man, the fleet was ut-
terly defeated through his treachery, and all the
vast preparations came to nothing. By this last
defeat the power of the Vandals in Africa was
fully established, and Genseric made himself
master of Sicily, as well as all the other islands
between Italy and Africa, without opposition from
the western emperors, whose power was entirely
annihilated, A. D. 476. Thus was the Vandalic
monarchy in Barbary founded by Genseric, be-
tween the years 428 and 468. That prince's
government, in his new dominions, presents no
very agreeable prospect. Being himself a barba-
rian in the worst sense of the word, and an utter
stranger to every useful art, he displayed his
prowess by tlie destruction of all the monuments
of Roman greatness, which were so numerous in
the country he had conquered. Instead of
improving the country he laid it wake, by de^
mojishing all the stately structures both public
and private with which those proud conquerors
had adorned this part of their dominions. Mo^
numents which the Romans had been at an
immense expense to erect, the barbarous Van-
dals reduced to heaps of ruins. Besides this
kind of devastation, Genseric made his dominions
a scene of blood, by persecuting the orthodox
Christians; being hiroself,as well most of his coun-
trymen, zealously devoted to the Arian party. He
died in 477, after a reign of sixty years ; and
was succeeded by his son Hunneric, who also
proved a still greater tyrant than his father, per-
secutine the orthodox with the utmost fury ; and,
during ni» short reign of seven years and a half,
destroying moro of them than Genseric had done
in all his life. He died miserably; his flesh
rotting upon his bones, and crawling with worms,
so that he looked more like a dead carcase than
a living man. Concerning his successors Gun-
damund, Thrasimund, and Hilderic, we find
nothing remariiable, except that Ht^y sometimes
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B A R B A R Y.
persecuted, and sometimes were &voTable to, the
orthodox. Hilderic by iavoring them was ruined ;
for, having published, in the beginning of his
reign, a manifesto, wherein he repealed all the
acts of his predecessors against them, a rebellion
was the immediate consequence. He was de-
posed in the seventh year of his reign by Gilimer,
a prince of the blood-royal, who caused Uie king
with all his family to be closely confined, and
himself to be crowned at Carthage. Gilimer
proved a greater tyrant than any that liad gone
before him. lie not only continued the perse-
cutions of the orthodox, but horribly oppressed
the rest of his subjects, so that he was held in
universal detestation, when the Greek emperor
Justinian projected an invasion of Africa. This
expedition is nibled to have been occasioned by an
apparition of Lstus, an African bishop, who had
been murdered some time before, and now com-
manded the emperor to attempt the recovery of
Africa, assuring nim of success. Justinian, not-
withstanding his being at that time engaged in a
war with Persia, now, therefore, sent a powerful
fleet and army to Africa, under the command of
the celebrated Belisarius. At this time Gilimer
was so much taken up with his pleasure that he
knew little or nothing of the. formidable prepa-
rations against him. On the arrival of Belisarius,
however, he put himself in a posture of defence.
The management of his army he committed to
his two brothers, Gundimer and Gelamund, who
accordingly attacked the Romans at the ^head of
a numerous force. The engagement was long
and bloody ; but at last the Vandals were de-
feated, and the two princes slain. Gilimer, in
desperation, sallied out at the head of his corps
of reserve, to reuew the attack with the utmost
rigor; but by his own indiscretion lost a fair
opportunity of defeating the Romans. For as
soon as they perceived Gilimer hastening after
them at the head of a fresh army, they fled and
the greatest part were dispersed in such a manner,
that, had the king followed them close, they must
have been totally cut off. Instead of this, how-
ever, stumbling on the body of one of his slain
brothers,, the sight of it made him lose all thoughts
of the enemy ; and instead of pursuing them, he
spent his time in idle lamentations, and in bury-
ing the corpse with suitable pomp. Belisarius
had thus an opportunity of rallying, which he
did so effectually, that, coming unexpectedly
upon Gilimer, he easily gained a new and com-
plete victory over him. Thk defeat was followed
by the loss of Carthage, which the barbarians had
been at no pains to put into a posture of defence.
Gilimer, having in vain solicited assistance from
the Moors and Goths, recalled his brother Zano
from Sardinia, resolving to make one desperate
attempt to regain the kingdom, or at least recover
the captives. The consequence was another en-
gagement, in which Zano was killed with 800
of nis choicest men, while the Romans lost only
fifty; after which Belisarius, moving suddenly
forward at the head of his army, feU upon the
camp of the Vandals. This GUimer was no
sooner apprised of than be fled towards Numidia
in the utmost consternation. As soon as the
flight was known among his troops, they aban-
4oned their camp to the Romans^ who plundered
it, and massacred all the men that were left, car
rying the women captives. Thus a total end
was put to the power of the Vandals, and the
Romans once more became the masters of Bar-
bary. The Vandal inhabitants were permitted
to remain, on condition of exchanging Uie heresy
of Arius for the orthodox &ith. Gilimer fled to
Medamus, a town situated on the top of the
Papuan mountains, and almost inaccessible bj
its height and ruggedness. The si^^e of this
place was committed to Pharas, an officer of
great experience, who having shut up all avenues
to the town, the fugitive was reduced to the great-
est straits for want of provisions. Pharas being
apprised of the distress he was in, wrote him a
friendly and. pathetic letter, exhorting him to put
an end to the distress of himself and his friends by
a surrender. This Gilimer declined ; but at the
same time concluded his answer with a most sub-
missive request, that Pharas would so tax pity his
great distress as to send him a loaf of bread, a
sponge, and a lute. This strange request surprised
Pharas, but was explained by the messenger, who
told him that the king had not tasted any baked
bread since his arrival on that mountain, and ear-
nestly longed to eat a morsel of it before be died;
the sponge he wanted to allay a humor that had
arisen in one of his eyes; and the lute, on which
he had learned to play, was to assist him in setting
some elegiac verses, ne had composed on the sub-
ject of his misfortunes, to a suitable tune. At
this mournful report, Pharas could not refrain
from tears, and immediately despatched the mes-
senger with the things he wanted. Gilimer had
spent nearly three winter months on the summit of
this inhospitable mountain^ his miseij hardening
him against the thoughts of surrendering, when a
melancholy scene in his own family at once re-
conciled him to it. This was a bloody straggle
between two boys, one of them his sister's son,
about a flat bit of dough, laid on the coals ; which
the one seized upon, burning hot as it was, and
clapped into his mouth, but the other by dint of
blows forced it out, and eat it from him. The
quarrel, which might have ended ^.tallv, had not
Gilimer interposed, made so deep an impression
upon him, that he immediately despatched a mes-
senger to Pharas, acquainting him that he was'
willing to surrender nimself and all his effects
upon Uie conditions he had offered, as soon as he
vras assured that they were embraced by Belisarius.
Pharas lost no time in getting them ratified and
sent back to him. Gilimer was fiterwaids brought
in golden chains before Justinian, whom he be-
sought in the most submissive manner to save bis
life. That emperor treated him with a degree of
humanity he little merited ; allowing him a hand-
some yearly pension to live upon as a private
gentleman. But his mind was too much unsettled
to enjoy the sweets of a private life ; so that, op-
pressed with ^ie^ he died in the first year of his
captivity, five years after he had been raised to the
throne, A. D. 554. Barbaiy being thus ag^n
reduced under the power of the Romans, its his-
tory falls to be noticed under that of Roue. In
the khalifat of Omar this country was reduced
by the Saracens, as the reader will find under the
article Khalifs. It continued subject to the
khali^ of Arabia and Bagdad till the rdgn of
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B A R B A R Y.
629
Haroun Al IU9chidf who having appointed Ibra-
him £bn Aglab, governor of the western parts of
his empire, that prefect took the opportunity,
first or assuming greater powers than had been
granted by the khalif, and then erecting an inde-
pendent principality. The race of Aglab con-
tinued to enjoy their new principality peaceably
till the ^ear of the Hegira 297 or 298, during
which time they made several descents on the
bland of Sicily, and conquered part of it.
About this time, however, one Obeidallah re-
belled against the 'house of Aglab, and assumed
the title of khalif of Kairwan, the ancient Cyrene,
and residence of the Aglabite princes. To give
the greater weight to his pretensions he also took
the surname of Al Mohdi, or Al Mohedi, the
director. He pretended to be descended in a
right line from Ali £bn Abu Taleb, and Fatema
the daughter of Mahomet; for which reason
the Arabs called him and his dependents Fate-
mitesw He likewise encouraged himself and his
followers by a traditional prophecy of Mahomet,
that at the end of 300 years the sun should rise
out of the west. Having at length driven the
Aglabites into £gYpt, where they became known
by the name of Magrebians; he extended his do-
minions in Africa and Sicily, making Kairwan
the place of his residence, in the 300th year of
the Hegira, Habbasah, one of Al Mohdi's gene-
rals, overthrew the khalif Al Mokhtader's forces
in the neighbourhood of Barca, and made him-
self master of that city. After which he reduced
Alexandria; and was making great progress in
the conquest of the whole country, while Al
Mokhtader sent against him bis generals Takin
and Al Kasem, widi an army of 100,000 men.
Habbasah, being informed that the khalif's troops
were in motion, advanced at the head of his
axmy to give them battle, and at last came up
with, them in an island called by the Arabs Ard Al
Khamsin. Here he attacked them with incredible
bravery, notwithstanding their force was much
superior to his ; but the approach of night
obliged both generals to souna a retreat The
action therefore was by no means decisive, though
extremely bloodv, the khalifas generals having lost
20,000 men and Habbasah 10,000. The latter,
however, durst not renew the fight next morning ;
but stole off in the night, and returned home, so
that Al Mokhtader in effect gained a victory. In
the 302d year of the Hegira, however, Habbasah
returned, possessed himself of Alexandria a se-
cond time, defeated a body of the khalifas forces,
and killed 7000 upon the spot. In the 307th
jeaTy Abul Kasem, son to Al Mohdi, entered
Egypt with an army of 100,000 men. At first
he met with extraordinary success, and overran
a considerable part of that fine country. He
made himself master of Alexandria, Al Tayum,
Al Baknasa, and the isle of Ashmaryin, penetra-
ting even to Al Jizah, where the khalifas army
uader the command of Munes was posted to op-
pose him. In this country he maintained himself
till the 308th. year of the Hegira, when he was
entirely defeated by Munes, who made himself
master of all his baggage, as well as of the plunder
he had acquired. This obliged Abul Kasem to
Hy to Kairwan with the scattered remains of his
army, where he remamed without making any
Vol.. Ill
further attempt on Egypt. Al' Mohdi reigned
twenty-four years, and was succeeded by Abul
Kasem, who then took the name of Al Kayem
Mohdi. During his reign we read of nothing
very remarkable, except the revolt of Yezid Ebn
Condat, a man of mean extraction, but who,
having been raised to the dignity of chancellor,
found means to create such a strong party, that
the khalif was obliged to shut himself up in the
castle of Mohedia. Yezid, being then at the
head of a powerful army,, soon reduced the
capital of Kairwan, the cities of Al Rakkada and
Tunis, and several other fortresses. He was no
less successful in defeating a considerable number
of troops which Al Kayem had sent against him ;
after which he closely besieged the khalif himself
in the castle seven months, when the khalif died,
in the twelfUi year of his reign,, and 334tii of the
Hegira. Al Kayem was succeeded by his son
Ishmael, who immediately took the title of Al
Mansur, but concealed the death of his father
till he had made preparations for reducing the
rebels. In this he was so successful, that he
obliged Yezid to raise the seige of Mohetdi, and
in the following year obliged him to shut himself
up in the fortress of Kothama, where he besieged
him in his turn. Yezid defended the place a long
time with desperate bravery, but, finding the gar-
rison at last obliged to capitulate, he made shift
to escape privately. Al Mansur despatched a
body of forces in pursuit of him, who overtook,
and brought him back in fetters, after a vigorous
defence, in which Yezid got several dangerous
wounds, of which he died in prison. After his
death Al Mansur caused his body to be flayed,
and his skin stuffed and exposed to public view.
For Al Mansur's exploits in Sicily, see that
article. Nothing fartner remarkable happened in
his African dominions. He died after reigning
seven years and sixteen days, in the 341st of the
Hegira, and was succeeded by his son Abu Zam-
min Moab, who assumed the surname of Al Moez
Ledinilloh ; and maintained a bloody contest with
Abdalsahman, khalif of Andalusia : for a particu-
lar account of which, see Spain. In the 347th
year of the Hegira, beginning March 25th A. D.
958, Al Moez sent a powerful army to tlie western
extremity of Africa, under the command of Abul
Hasan Jawhar, one of his slaves, whom he had
advanced to the dignity of vizier. Jawhar first
advanced to a city called Tahart, which he be-
sieged for some time ineffectually. From thence
he marched to Fez, which he took at last by storm
in the following year. But the greatest achieve-
ment performed by this khalif was his conquest
of Egypt, and the removal of the khalifat to that
country. This conquest, though long projected,
he did not attempt till the year of the Hegira 358.
Having then made all necessary preparations for
it, he committed the care of that expedition to
an experienced general called Giafar, but in the
mean time, this enterprize did not divert Al Moez
from the care of his other conquests, particularly
those of Sicily and Sardinia ; to the last of which
he sailed in the year of the Hegira 361, continu-
ing a whole year in it, and leaving the care of his
A&ican dominions to an experienced officer
named Yusef Ben Zeiri. He sailed thence the
following year for Tripoli in Barbary, where he
2 M
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B A R B A R Y.
had not staid long, before he received the agree-
able news that his general had made himself
roaster of Alexandria. He lost no time, but im-
mediately embarked for it, leaving the government
of his old African dominions in the lumds of his
trusty servant Yuse^ and arriving safely at that
port was received with all the demonstrations of
joy. Here he began to lay the foundations of his
new Egyptian dynasty, which put a final end to the
old one of Kairwan, after it had continued about
sixty-five years. Al Mqez, however, preserved
all his old dominions of Barbary and Africa Pro-
per. But the avarice of the governors, whom he
appointed, occasioned them to run quickly to
decay ; particularly the new and opulent metro-
polis of Mohedia, on which immense sums had
been lavished, so as to render it not only one of
tlie richest and stateliest, but one of the strongest
cities in the world. But the wealdi and splendor
of this once famed, short-lived state, took their
lea^e of it with the departure of the khalif Al
Moez. The whole maritime tract from the Eyp-
lian confines to the Straits of Gibraltar has since
become the nest of the most odious piratical
crew that ever existed. Under the article Al-
giers we have given a short account of the
erection of a new kingdom in Barbary by Texe-
fien ; which, however, is there no &rther conti-
nued than is necessary for connecting the history
of that country. A general history might here
be given of the whole country of Barbary ; but
as that would occasion repetitions under the ar-
ticles Morocco, Tripoli, Tunis, &c. we must
refer to these articles for the rest of its history, as
well as for other particulars not here mentioned.
The great natural feature of this region, and
that which appears to exempt it firom the sterility
by which it is surrounded, is the mountain chain
of Atlas. This celebrated range, which ancient
fable imaged as the prop of heaven, has its loftiest
pinnacles in the west, immediately behind Mo-
rocco ; but it extends in various branches, which
Imve been little explored, and at different heights^
along the whole southern frontier of Algiers and
Tunis, leaving a fertile tract of from 50 to 200
miles on the shores of the Mediterranean. Lime-
stone is the predominant rock of this range, which
in the western and loftier ranges appears in the
form of marble, and afterwaurds m the looser
forms of secondary limestone. The marbles of
Numidia are well known in history. The me-
tallic products are not well ascertained, from the
unskilful manner in which they have been
worked. Silver, copper, and lead, are found to
a considerable extent in Algiers and Tunb.
Iron, lead, copper, silver, antimony, and a mix-
ture of antimony, lead and gold, are found in the
mountainous districts; but none of them are
worked to any great extent Salt, in many
places, especially in the southern countries bor-
dering upon the Great Desert, completely im-
pregnates die earth ; and the water of the springs
and pools, when evaporated, leaves a thick crust
of saline matter: in others it appears in large
solid masses. Springs, some of them hot, con-
taining other mineral substances, particularly
sulphur, are frequent; indicating the presence of
great internal heat. At Hamman Mescouteen,
near Constantia, the waters of a spring absolutely
cakine the rock over which they pass.
Much of the general character and produc-
tions of this entire region appears in our article
Algiers, above referred to: the whole is ill-
cultivated. Of the improvements in agriculture
they have no notion ; and their industry is con-
stantly checked by the pressure of a short-sighted
and iniquitous government. Burned stubble
and the litter of the cattle turned out upon the
fallows, is the only manure they use. Their
ploughing is done by a wooden plough, drawn
by a single yoke of oxen, going over not more
than one acre in a whole day. Two busheb and
a half per acre is their ordinary allowance of
seed-corn, and 1200 per cent, the return ex-
pected. Or. Shaw found the Asiatic cnstoms
mtroduced by the Arabs everywhere prevailing;
the ox is driven round the circular threshing-
floor, to tread out the com, which is aflenvards
winnowed by being thrown up against the wind,
just as it was in Judea three thousand years ago.
(Deut. XXV. 4. Is. xxx. 24.) Tbe grain is depo-
sited in large subterraneous magazines called
matmors, each containing at least 500 bushels.
Wheat, maize, and different species of millet
(sorghum), pulse, vetches, lentils, and caravances
(garbanzos), chich-peas, (cicer arietinum), are
their agricultural objects. Neither oats nor hay
are used ; but, as in western Asia, barley and
chopped straw are substituted for them. Hemp,
flax, cotton, and tobacco, make up the remainder
of tiieir field produce. Their gardens abound
with figs, melons, oranges, lemons, and limes;
vineyards and olive-yards are seen on tlie plains
and declivities, and our common forest-trees,
corks and evergreen oaks, in the woods. There
are also some inferior kinds of fruity sach as
the jujube, lote-tree (zizyphus lotus), elseagnus,
argan (elaeodendrum arg.), diospyros lotus,
celtis australis, and cornelian cherry (comus
mascula), not common among us: some gum
resins, such as galbanum, opopanax, ammonia-
cum, and sandarac, the produce of the Ar&r, or
Juniperus communis, and medicinal herbs, such
as wormwood, orrisroot (iris Germanica, Floren-
tina), colocinth, or coloquintida, &c.
The climate is upon me whole temperate and
salubrious, with considerable variations in the
different regions. The formidable scorpion, the
boa constrictor, and above all the dreaded locust,
appear here; the latter in those prodigious
swarms that convert a < garden of Eden into the
wilderness.' Here also range the lordly lion,
(who is nowhere seen more strong or ferocioos\
the panther, and the hyena. The last b said,
however, not to manifest in its wild state that
fierceness which it displays in our menageries,
and which is generated by confinement. It sel-
dom attacks man, unless molested by him ; and
boys are sometimes seen leading it about with
ropes. It remains all day in its cave, staring
with its eyes fixed, and comes out in the night,
chiefly after dead bodies. The same is observa-
ble of the jackal, here called the deeb, about
half the size of die hyena. 'Die animal most
valued is the antelope or gazel, whose beauty is
the object of universal admiration here; the
term gazel being employed as the highest praise
to a beautiful woman. The mutton is very Ui
here, but it is eaten as a great delicacy. The
sheep of eastern Barbary, according to Shaw,
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B A R B A R Y.
631
have fleeces coaise and hairy, like those of the
goat; but Morocco contains some breeds with
very fine wool. That territory produces likewise
i the breed of goats whose skins yield the leather
so much esteemed in Europe. The finest species
is produced in Tafilet, on the southern side of
the Atlas. They are tanned with the leaves of a
: shrub called tizre, which are thought by some to
i give them their peculiar softness and pliability.
: The tanners, however, conceal as much as pos-
; sible the processes employed.
The government of each of the four states,
[ Morocco, Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, is essen-
tially despotic. For any varieties in their parti-
i cular forms, we must refer the reader to the sepa-
I rate articles. The general population of Barbary
; consists of, 1 . Moors, who are the ruling race ;
[ 2. Jews; 3. Arabs; and 4. Brebers, or ancient
I natives. The Moors are the chief inhabitants of
I the towns and cities. The term may be consi-
; dered as including that portion of the Mahom-
p medan conauerprs of northern Africa who have
I habituated tnemselves to a settled mode of life,
f along with all the inhabitants who have been
, incorporated with them, and trained to the same
religious habits, which here regulate all the social
. relations, and extend their influence to the mi-
' nutest practices of life. The daily ceremonies of
.' worship are very numerous. Prayer is repeated
[ five times a day, once before, once after sun-set,
\ and three times in the course of the day; the
,' crier each time from the top of a minaret loudly
\ announcing the hour. Necessity allows the Moor
to worship in any spot where he may be placed,
at these hours ; but such devotions are not con-
sidered equally beneficial with the public ones.
At the door of the mosque is a bath for ablution ;
\ and no worshipper must enter unless barefooted.
Mr. Addison relates the contempt with which a
Moor once spoke to him, of the indecencies of
our admitting into Christian places of worship
' * women, clogs, and dirty shoes,' all of which are
here excluded.
The Jews, who are numerous, are the objects
of constant insult and oppression. They are
envied for their wealth, despised for their avarice,
and abhorred as enemies to the faith ; and, as in
most of the states there exists no law for their
protection, the hardships of their situation are no-
where greater. As they form, however, the only
class capable of managing trade or money con-
cerns, tney make immense profits, the opportu-
nity of reaping which no oppression can induce
them to relinquish. The Arabs occupy, with
their flocks andherds, all the interior and pastoral
districts. They live in movable villages or douars
composed of tents, which are generally arranged
in concentric circles, around the habitation of the
sheik. They are made of camels' hair and the
fibres of the palm tree. In removinff, th^y place
on the backs of camels the women, cnildren, and
young animals, the latter enclosed in baskets,
the interior government of these villages is en-
tirely conducted by their own chief or sheik, who,
when the supreme government is weak, often sets
it at defiance. The Brebers inhabiting the
mountain districts haire a language of their own,
which seems to be indigenous. They live in
small fixed villages, and cultivate the ground.
They also elect their own sheik, and have some
forms of popular government ; are very strong,
athletic, ana formidable. Their chief amuse-
ment consists in the use of the musket.
With respect to the habits and manners of
Barbary, nowhere is grovelling ignorance sub-
ject to a worse tyranny on the part of knavish
priests, called here marabits, or as the word is
commonly written in Europe, marabouts. These
men, affecting a scrupulous observance of the
Koran, and continually repeating favorite texts,
gain the reputation of extraordinary sanctity, and
soon persuade the people to beHeve them the
favorites of heaven. Some pretend to miraculous
powers ; otners practise the arts of divination,
and all deal in charms, from the sale of which
they make ereat profits. The greater part wan-
der about througn the country, professing to live
on charity, (they call themselve dervises or fakirs,
i. e. poor men,) and doing far more mischief than
the mendicants in Popish countries. Amongst
all classes in Barbaiy their influence is uncon-
trolled. At the great festivals they give an en-
tire loose to religious phrenzy, heightened pro-
bably by large doses of opium, and the excesses
in which they then indulge are truly horrible.
Mr. Lyon (Travels, ii.) saw a man thrust his
hand into the side of a living ass, tear out his
bowels, and devour them I Idiots and madmen
are, on the same stupid principle, considered as
half-inspired, and are therefore looked upon with
veneration, and allowed to do all the mischief
which their bewildered imagination suggests.
The most simple arts are little known here.
Though the hardest stone and better materials
abound, timber, we are told by travellers, is
almost ti^e only thing used for building. They
have, however, in some parts, a sort of artificiid
stone, called tabiah, a mixture of lime, sand,
and pebbles, put into a wooden frame of the pro-
per size and snape, and beaten down with square
rammers; anda nard and durable cement, a com-
pound of sand, wood ashes, and lime beaten toge-
ther for three days and nights without intermission,
and frequently sprinkled with oil and water.
Another cement used by them is made of tow,
lime, and oil. The houses are built round
(sometimes paved) square courts, into which the
windows open ; the lower part is used as stables
or out-houses, the upper part for the apartments
of the fisimily. In each story is an open corridor,
with which stair-cases from below and all the
chambers communicate. Sometimes a fountain
appears in the centre of the court, and au awn-
ing is stretched across from side to side. The
ordinary houses seldom have more than one
story, about sixteen feet high, with an apartment
on each side of the court ; and the windows being
small, the want of light and air are insuflerable to
Europeans. No fire-places appear : a charcoal
fire, m an earthem chafing dish, placed in one
comer of the court, serves to cook the dinner ;
and mattresses on the floors, with large cushions
against the walls, are the seats by day and beds by
night : at one end of tlie room, a raised platform
sometimes receives the beds. Their household
utensils consist of a few pewter plates, spoons
and basins, wooden bowls, earthen pots, and
iron ladles, some China plates for show, and
2M3
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532
B A R B A R Y.
perhaps a tea equipage. The roofs of their
houses are flat, and in the cool of the day are
much used by the females. The rich have often
a small additional building, called dliyyali, for
the accommodation of strangers. It is like ano-
ther house on a small scale, and is placed over
the gateway at the entrance, exactly answering
to the upper chamber of the Jews. Boarded
ceilings, diversified by painted lattice work, walls
covert half-way down with gilt and painted
wainscoting, hangings of different colored cloths,
or tyger-skins, filling the interval between the
wainscot and the floor, looking-glasses, clocks,
or arms arranged in fanciful patterns, are the de-
corations of their rooms ; and the courts of better
houses, paved with marble and elegantly covered
above, form an agreeable saloon for their com-
pany.
Eastern Barbary is distinguished by several
Doble monuments of antiquity. The traces of
Punic architecture indeed have in a great mea-
sure disappeared; and the labors of that cele-
brated people are only attested by subterraneous
ruins,particularly those of the celebrated aqueduct,
by which water was conveyed to it from the dis-
tance of upwards of sixty miles. The whole
course of it may still be traced ; and several
arches are entire, seventy feet high, and sup-
ported by columns sixteen feet wide. The
architectural ruins being of Roman erection, are
chiefly of the composite order, the favorite one
of that people. Tne temple at Spaitla appeared
to Bruce to present a specimen superior to what
is to be found on any other spot. In conse-
quence of recent excavations, some very valua-
ble remains of statuary have been dug up; and
it is probable that, by the continuance of similar
researches, further valuable discoveries might be
made.
The dress of the inhabitants of Barbary is cum-
bersome, and unlike those of eastern climates ge-
nerally. . The men wear a red woollen skull-cap,
called Fez, (where it is manufactured,) and a white
shawl twisted round the head ; linen and woollen
trowsers, a cotton or silk shirt, a tunic called
kafUui, with or without sleeves, having rows of
buttons down the front, kept close to the body
by a sash folded round the waist ; and a pair of
yellow slippers. The better sort have a strip of
velvet passed over the right shoulder, by which
they suspend the sabre ; and the dagger is stuck
into the folds of the sash.
The arrangements in Barbary regarding the
female part of society are the same as in all Ma-
hommedan countries. The harem is supplied
chiefly from Constantinople, bv Georgian or
Circassian slaves, trained for this purpose by
persons who carry on this employment as a trade.
The interior arrangements appear to differ con-
siderably in the different states, and, so far as
known, will be described respectively under each.
The women are fattened to make them plump, the
grand criterion of beauty ; and their under dress
resembles that of the men. Two broad straps
pass over the shoulders from their girdle, and
are crossed upon the breast. Their hair, as in
the east, is tressed and braided, and a handker-
chief is tied close round the head. They wear
earrings from the upper and lower parts of the
ears, and upon their ancles gold and silver rings.
Their slippers are always red, and usually em-
broidered. Veils and hayics, and sometimes
straw hats, form a part of their dress out doors.
A black stripe down the forehead, along the
nose, chin, and throat, is considered as a great
improvement of their beauty. This b very con-
spicuous in a plate of the Tripolitine costume,
given by Captain Lyon, p. 7. They use a
profusion of hinna, for giving a red tint to their
nair and fingers, and stibium (al-cohl), to blacken
the inside of their eye-lids. Some days before a
marriage the bride b visited by her female
friends, and the bridegroom parades the streets
on horseback, attended by his associates, a band
of music, musketry, shouting, racing, &c. an-
nounce his expected joys. On the wedding
day the bride is carried through the town in a
sort of sedan-chair, fixed on the back of a mule
or camel, (see plate at p. 299, Captain Lyon's
Travels,) covered with silk or linen. In this at-
tire, surrounded by torches, drMms, and musketry^
large bodies of her relations attend her home. Nor
are the attendants of the bridegroom less daz-
zling and noisy. Arrived, the company retire,
and he is left alone with his wife, whose veil he
then removes for the first time.
The amusements in Barbary are the indo-
lent Asiatic ones of smoking, tea, and pompous
talk, or the most violent exercises, such as play-
ing with the ierid, (see Jerid,) leap-firog, foot-
ball, and a few more such game^ probably
borrowed from Spain ; but one is quite peculiar
to themselves : it consbts of a sort of mooL-fight ;
parties of horsemen riding full speed at eadi
other, discharge their pieces, then wheel round
and retreat. Thb is much like the game with
the jerid ; but to improve it they ride full gallop
towards a wall, approach it as near as possibl^
then stop short and fire. Sometimes, instead of
chasing a wall for thb purpose, they chase
a friend, when they think they cannot do him a
greater honor, that by galloping up and dis-
charging their muskets full in hb nee. llieir
lively musical airs are said to be simple and
beautiful; but their serious ones dull and te-
dious. In riding they have a thong attached to
the rein, which serves as a whip. Their spur
is a long spike loosely attached to the foot, and
carefully kept from the horse's side, except in
case of need.
The principal and best manufacture here b
morocco leather. Good carpeting b also made :
mats of the palmetto; and cotton, silk and wool-
len cloths. Their swords and gun-barreb are
also of home make. An inland traflic is main-
tained, by periodical fiurs ; but the caravans,
protected by their numbers, are the only safe
medium of general commerce.
BARBASTELLUS, Vespsatilio, m zoology,
the tailed bat, with elevated hairy cheeks, and
large ears, angulated on the lower part, the bar-
bastelle of Buffon and Pennant.
BARBATA, in entomolognr, a species of
brown cantharb that inhabits Germany. 2. A
species of cicada (deflexa), of a brown color, with
greenbh abdomen. 3. A species of phal«na
that inhabits Barbary. 4. A species of pimeliay
(Helops Fabr.) inhabiting Saxony. Fabndiis.
Digitized by
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BAR
633
BAR
Barbata, in natural bistoiy, a species of co-
rallina, about three inches in length, that grows
on the shores of Jamaica. Ellis, in his work on
coralline, calls it the rosary or bead-coralline of
Jamaica ; it is the bead-band string of Plunket,
and corallina major, nenro cassiori fiiciformi in-
termedia breviora nectente of Sloane. (Hist.
> Jam.) Also, a species of Nais.
Barbata, in ornithology, is a species of frin-
gilla of Chili ; and a species of muscicapa, inha-
biting Cayenne : call^ by Linnaeus, me whis-
kered fly-catcher.
BARBATED Leaf, in botany, a leaf termi-
nated by a bunch of strong hairs.
BARBATELLI (Bernardino), otherwise called
Pochctti, an eminent painter of history, fruit,
animals, and flowers, was bom at Florence in
1542. He was the disciple of Ridolfo Ghirlan-
daio at Florence, from wnose school he went to
I Rome, an'd studied therewith such uncommon
assiduity, that he was frequently So absolutely
engrossed by the objects of his contemplations,
as to forget the necessary refreshments of sleep
and food. His touch was free, light, and delicate,
, aod the coloring of his objects inexpressibly true.
The historical pieces which he designed were
much admired. He died in 1612.
BAjElBATINA, a seed wh'ich is thought effica-
cious in extirpating worms from the human body,
to which children are chiefly liable. It comes
from Persia, and the borders of Russia. It
• ought to be chosen plump, of an agreeable scent,
and very green : special care must be taken that
the color be not dyed, and that the seed of sou-
I tfaemwood be not sold instead of it.
BARBATULA, in ichthyology, a species of
cobitis, with six cirri ; head unarmed and com-
pressed; the bearded loche of English writers;
enchelyopus, &c. Klein ; cobitis fluviatilis, Ray ;
fundulus, Marsden. It is a native of Europe
and Asia; and is most frequent in fresh- water
streams, and lakes in mountainous countries.
From its habit of lurking at the bottom of the
water, on the gravel, it has been called the
groundling; but the latter name is now more
generally given to the spiny loche, a fish distin-
guished from the present by having a forked
spine under each eye, and is tnat species of cobi-
tis, which Gmelin calls tenia. This is a fertile
creature. We are told by Mr. Pennant, that it
is frequent in a stream near Amesbury in Wilt-
shire, where the sportsmen, through frolic, swal-
low it down alive in a glass of wine. It is also
found in great abundance in France.
• BARBATUS, in entomology, a species of ce-
rambyx (prionus), of a large size that inhabits
Sooth America. Also a species of scarabsus,
unarmed, smooth, and black; vent bearded.
(Fabricius.) A native of India.
Babbatvs, in ichthyology, a species of gobius.
2. A species of lophius, of a depressed fonn,
with the lower jaw bearded. (Montin. act. suec,
1779.) Inhabitmg the seas in the northern parts
of Europe.
Barbatus, in ornithology^ a species of faico,
of a whitish red color, with brown back : the vul-
tus barbatus, Linn., and vulturine eagle of Albinus.
Babbatus Piscis, in ichthyology, a name
given by Salvian and others, to the Silurus, or
sheat-fish ; the Glanus of Pliny, and the ancients.
This Artedi describes under the name of silums.
with four cirri at the mouth. By this it is dis-
tinguished fix)m the fish called the alkussa, or
lake, which, though a genuine species of the
silurus, has one b^ird.
BARBAULD (AnnaLetitia), was tlie daughtei
of the Rev. John Aikin, of Kibworth, in Leices-
tershire, and bom June 20, 1743. She received
from her father, who in the early part of her life
presided over a dissenting academy at Warring-
ton, an excellent classisal education, to which she
was indebted for the full development of her
great natural talents. Her first production was
a small volume of miscellaneous poetry, printed
in 1772, which in the year follovring was suc-
ceeded by a collection of pieces in prose, pub-
lished in conjunction vrith her brother. Dr. John
Aikin, of Stoke Newington. She accepted, in 1774,
the hand of the Rev. R. Barbauld, with whom
she took up her residence at Palgrave in Suffolk,
and there composed the work on which her re-
putation is chiefly founded, viz. Early Lessons
and Hymns for Children, pieces of standard
merit, in conveying the first rudiments of instruc-
tion. In 1785 she accompanied her husband on
a tour to the continent, and on their return they
resided for several years at Hampstead ; in 1802
they again removed to Stoke Newineton, in order
the more constantly to enjoy her brother's society.
In 1812 appeared the last of her publications,
entitled Eighteen Hundred and Eleven, a poem ;
previous to which she had amused herself by aelect-
mg and editing a collection of English novels,with
critical and biographical notices. A similar selec^
tion followed, from the best British Essayists, since
the reign of Anne, and another from Richardson's
manuscript correspondence, with a memoir and
critical essay on his life and writings. Mrs. Bar-
bauld died at Stoke Newington, March 9, 1825,
in her eighty-seoond year.
BARBAZAN, (Stephen) a French author,
bom at Saint Fargeau, in the diocese of Auxerre,
in 1696, and died in 1770. He wrote Instruc-
tions from a Father to a Son, 8vo. 1760; but he
is chiefly filmed as the editor of old French books,
particularly Tales and Fables of the twelfth and
thirteenth Centuries, 3 vols. 12mo. Few persons
were so well acquainted as he was with the an-
tique French language, and he had almost an
equal knowledge of the provincial dialects.
BARBE, or Barbette, in the military art.
To fire in barbe means to fire the cannon over the
parapet, instead of firing through the embrasures ;
m which case the parapet must not be above
three feet and a half high.
Babbe, or Barb. See Barb.
Barbe, or Barde, is an old word, denoting
the armour of the horses of the ancient knights
and soldiers, who were accoutred at all points.
It is said to have been an armour of iron and
leather, wherewith the neck, breast, and shoulders
of the horse were covered.
Barbe, St. a town of Biscay in Mexico, near
which are rich silver mines^ 500 miles north-west
of the city of Mexico. Long. 110° 5' W., lat.
26** 10' N.
The Barbe, or Barb, of zoology and com-
merce, brought from Barbary, is a horse much
esteemed for its beauty, vigor, and swiftness.
It has a long fine neck, not overcharged with
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634
BAR
bair, well divided from the withers : the head
small and beautiful; the ears handsome; the
shoulders light and flat; the withers thin and
well raised; the back straight and short; the
flank and sides round, and the belly not loo
large. Tlie haunch bones are properly concealed ;
the crupper is somewhat long, and the tail placed
high; the thigh is well formed, and rarely flat;
the limbs are fine, handsome, and not hairy ; the
tendon prominent, and the foot well made ; but
the pastern is often long. They are of all colors,
but generally gray. In their movements they are
apt to be careless, and require to be checked, gray
They are swift, nervous, light, and make very »^«^'^
fine hunters. These horses are much sought after
for improving a breed. They are seldom, how-
ever, above four feet eight inches, and never exr
ceed four feet nine inches, or 14^ hands ; but
they produce foals which grow larger. Those of
the kingdom of Morocco are said to be the best,
and next to these the barbs from the mountains. The
horses from Mauritania are of an inferior quality,
as well as those of Turkey, Persia, and Armenia.
(Bufibn's Nat. Hist. vol. iii. p. 357.) It is a
maxim, that barbs grow ripe, but never grow old,
because they retain their vigor to the last, which
makes them prized foY stallions. In Numidia,
the race of horses is much degenerated. The
Tingitanians and Egyptians have had the repu-
tation of preserving the best breed. Some of
these are sixteen hands high, and all of them
shaped, according to their phrase, like the ante-
lope. The good qualities of a Barbary horse,
besides the supposed one of never lying down,
and of standing still when the rider drops his
Lenglet's Chronological Tables ; also, La Croix's
Modem Geography, and the two last volumes of
Bibliotheque de France. Besides which, he trans^
lated into French, Strahlenberg's Description of
Russia, &c. He died in 1781.
Barbeau, a river of Canada, which runs into
the Utawas. Long. 7eP 55' W., lat. 45** 5' N.
Barbed, in heraldry, the five petals or leaves
which appear on the outside of a full blown rose
are called barbs ; and are thus cmblaioned : a
rose gules barbed and seeded proper, the rose b
red, the barbs ffreen, and the seeds yellow or
gray. A barbed arrow, signifies an arrow whose
head is pointed of an angular form, and jagged.
A barbed horse is a horse barbed at all points,
that is, a war-horse completely armed, furnished,
and accoutred.
Barbed Cross, in heraldry,
a cross, the extremities whereof
are like the barbed irons used
for striking fish.
BAR'BEL. A fish so called by feason of the
harby or wattels, at his mouth, which are under
his nose or chaps, so says old Izaak Walton. It
is the vulgar name of the cyprinus baibus, which
cost the fisherman so dear, when he presented it
to the gloomy and savage Tiberius, at Captva.
The lavish slave
Six thousand pieoos for a harM gave ;
A sesterce for each pound it weigh'J^ as they
Gave out, that hear great things, but greater say.
Dmke.
Barbel, iu heraldry, is understood of a cock,
bridle, are to "have a long walk, and to stop when his comb and wattles are of a different co-
short, if required, in full career. The barb is lor from the rest of tlie body; in which case he
very lazy and negligent in his general motions ; he is said to be barbed and crested,
will stumble in walking upon the smoothest Barbel, in ichthyology. See Ctprikcs.
ground ; his trot is like that of a cow, and his BAB.BELA, or Verbela, the branch of the
gallop very low, very easy to himself. This sort Zaire or Congo which comes from the south, and
of horse, however, is for the most part sinewy, is considered by the Portuguese geographers as
nervous, and excellently winded ; it is therefore the principal one. It is said to take its rise in
good for a course, if not overweighted. The the kingdom of Matamba.
mountain barbs, which are the largest and BARBELICOT^, an ancient sect of Gnos-
strongest, are much esteemed: common barbs tics, spoken of by Theodoret. Their doctrine was,
have been usually bought in Provence and Lan- that one of the .£ons, possessed of immortality,
guedoc in France, at a moderate price ; anid many had commerce with a virgin spirit named Barbe-
of our persons of fashion in England have them loth, who demanded of him, first prescience, then
from thence. Barbs, amongst us, fall short of the incorruptibility, and lastly eternal life ; all which
swiftness attributed to them in their native coun- were granted to her : that being one day in a
try ; this may be accounted for, partly from the gayer humor than ordinary, she conceived and
smallness and lightness of their riders, and partly afterwards brought forth light, which being per-
from their not being loaded with heavy saddles fected by the unction of the spirit, was called
and bridles, as in Europe, nor even with shoes. Christ : the child Christ desired to have under-
An Arab saddle is only a cloth girt round with a standing, vsy, and obtained it ; after which, un-
pair of light stirrups, and a sort of pummel to derstanding, reason, incorruptibility, and Christ
sustain them. united together ; and from their union arose au-
fiostord-BARBS, are those descending from togenes avrwyevifc. To these fables, they add
English mares, covered by barb stallions, and divers others. They were also denominated Bar-
who are, by experience, found both better shaped, bariani.
stronger, and fitter for the saddle, than their BARBELOTH. See the last article,
sires. Phil. Trans. No. 105. BARBER-Ciiirurgeons anciently had a lute,
BARBEAU de la Bruyere (John Lewis), a viol, or some other musical instrument, as part
celebrated French chronologer, bom at Paris in of the furniture of their shops, which were fie-
1710. He published an historic map of the quented by persons above the ordinary level,
world, in which geography, chronology, and his- who resorted to the barber either for the core of
tory, are combined in one view ; and an edition, wounds, or to undergo some chiruigicai opera-
a great part of which he compiled, of the Abb^ tions, or, as it was then called, to be tnnmied
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BAR
a word that signified either shaving or cutting
and curling the hair ; these, together with letting
blood, were the ancient occupations of the bar-
ber-snrgeons. As to the other important branch
of surgery, the setting of fractured limbs, that was
practised by another class, called bone-setters, of
whom there are hardly any now remaining. The
musical instruments in their shops were for the
entertainment of waiting customers ; and an-
swered the end of a newspaper, with which those
who now wait for their turn at the barber's amuse
themselves.
Barber, Chirurgeons, in heraldry, were in-
corporated by king Edvirard IV^., but the barbers
were separated from the surgeons
by 18 Geo. 2, c. 15. Their arms
are, * A St. George's cross gules ;
thereon a lion pass^ gardant,
or quarterly ; the first and fourth
a chevron between three fleams;
the second and third per pale
argent and vert, a rose, gides,
crowned, and seeded or.
Barbers of Eoimburgh were formerly united
in one incorporation with the surgeons; but
about the year 1720, some disputes arising about
precedency, a process commenced before the
Court of S^ion, which ended in a total separa-
tion of these two bodies ; and the surgeons were
found entitled to retain the charter and privileges
of the incorpomtion. The barbers have ever since
met as a regular, but unincorporated society ; and
though they retain some of their former privileges,
such as their preses being one of the governors
of the Trades Maiden Hospital) &c. they have no
representative in the town council, nor even the
shadow of a vote in the election of a member
of parliament. Mr. Creech, in his Statistical
Account of Edinburgh, records a revolution of a
different nature in that society, which afibrds an
instance of the rapid progress of refinement, or,
as a philosopher would express it, the rapid in-
crease of luxury, in the metropolis of Scotland.
' In 1 763,' he says, ' there was no such profession
known as a perfumer ; barbers and wigmakers were
numerous, and were in the order of descent bur-
gesses : hairdressers v^rere few, and hardly per-
mitted to dress hair on Sundays ; and many of
them voluntarily declined it. In 1783 perfumers
had splendid ^ops in every principal street :
Some of them advertised the keeping of bears, to
kill occasionally, for greasing laaies* and gentle-
mens* hair, as superior to any other animal fat.
Hairdressers were more than tripled in number ;
and their busiest day viras on Sunday. There
was a professor who advertised a hair-dressine
academy, and gave lectures on that noble and
useful art.'
Barber's Pole. See Appellation.
BARBERINO (Francis), one of the most ex-
cellent poets of his age, was born at Barberino,
in Tuscany, A. D. 1264. As his mother was of
Florence, he settled in that city ; where his pro-
fession of the law, but especially the beauty of his
poetry, raised him a very considerable character.
The greatest part of his works are lost ; but his
* Precepts of Love, amoral poem, calculated to in-
struct all who have a regaiti for fflory, virtue and
eternity,' has had a better &te. It was published
at Rome, adorned vi^ith beautiful figures, in 1640,
by Frederick Ubaldini ; who prefixed the au-
thor's life ; and, as there are in the poem many
words which are grown obsolete, he added a
glossary to explain them, which illustrates the
sense by the authority of contemporary poets.
BARBERINO, a town of Italy, in Tuscany,
situated at the foot of the Appenine mountains,
twelve miles south of Florence.
Barberry, in botany. See Berberis.
BARBERSTOWN, a town of Ireland, in the
county of Kildafe, Leinster, twenty-three miles
from Dublin.
BARBESULA, in ancient geography, 1, a
town, and 2. a river, of Baetica ; 3. a colony in
the resort of the Conventus Gaditanus in Spain :
now Marbella, in Grenada.
B ARRET, in natural history, a name given by
M. Reaumur, and other of the French writers, to
a peculiar species of the worms which feed on
the pucerons or aphides. See Aphis.
B ARRET, in zoology. Bufibn calls the water-
dog of Pennant, canis aquaticus of Gmelin, &c.
le grand barbet ; and canis minor Gmel. le petit
barbet. Hist Nat.
Barbet, in ornithology, the English name of a
^nus of birds in Latham's Synopsis, correspond-
mg with &at of bucco, Linn. See Bucco.
Barbets, the name of the inhabitants of seve-
ral valleys in Piedmont, particularly those of
Lucem, Angrona, Perusa, and St. Martin.
BARBEYRAC (Charles), an eminent physi-
cian, bom at Cereste, in Provence, in 1629. He
studied at Montpelier, and afterwards settled
there. The celebrated Locke, with whom he
was in friendship, compared him to Sydenham.
He died in 1699. He was author of Trait^s nou-
veau de Medicine, &c. 12mo. 1654 ; and Ques-
tiones Medicae Duodecim, 4to. 1658.
Barbetrac (John), was bom at Besiers,
in Lower Languedoc, in 1674. He was made pro-
fessor of law and history at Lausanne in 1710,
which he enjoyed for seven years. In 1717 he
was professor of public and private law at Gron-
ingen. He translated into French, Pufi*endorf *s
Law of Nature and Nations, and his Duties of a
Man and a Citizen ; to both which he wrote ex-
cellent notes, and to the former an introductory
Preface. He translated also Grotius*s treatise
)e Jure Belli ac Pacis, vnth large and excellent
notes ; and several of Tillotson's sermons. He
wrote a work entitled Traits de Jeu, 2 vols. 8vo.
BARBEZIEUX, a town of France, in the
province of Saintonge, with 2452 inhabitants,
and the title of marguisate. It is the capital of
an arrondissement of^ six cantons, in the depart-
ment of the Charente. Here are thriving linen
manufactures ; and in the neighbourhood there is
a mineral spring. Twenty-eight miles south-east
of Saintes, and forty-four north-east of Bourdeaux.
Long. 0° 4' VV., lat. 45'' 28' N.
BARBI, in natural history, a species of echino-
rhynchus, of an ovate shape, yellow color, fias-
ciated; neck long, white, cylindrical; and
cyalhiform (glass or pot-shaped) at the end,
found in the intestine of the barbel.
BARBICAN. See Barbac an.
Barbican, in ornithology, the name of the
Gmelinian bucco dubius, or doubtful barbet, in
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536
BAR
Boffon's Hilt. Birds Barbu is also a name
given by that writer to all the birds of the bucco
genus, which he describes.
BARBICANAGE, or Barbicanaoixjm, in
our old writers, money given for the maintenance
of a barbican, or watch tower; or a tribute
towards repairing or building a bulwark.
BARBICON (Barbicon de Cayenne), in or-
nithology, the name of the Muscicapa barbata of
Gmelin, in Buffon's History of Birds.
BARBICORNIS, in entomology, a species of
brentus that inhabits New ZeaUnd, the curculio
barbicomis of Fabricius. 2. A species of ceram-
byx. 3. A species of cimex (reduvius), of
Sierra Leone. 4. A species of tipula.
BARBIER (M.), an English smger, who ap-
peared on the revival of the opera of Almahide,
m 1711. Her timidity on tnis occasion gave
birth to an admirable Spectator (No. 131), in
which Addison apologises for and commends
her diffidence and modesty. This lady was a
native of England, who continued to sing at the
opera several years, and afterw ^ds was a &vor-
ite concert and playhouse singer till the year
1729. In 1717 it seems she had somewhat van-
quished her bashfulness in private. Her elope-
ment from her father's house gave occasion to
the following elegant lines by Hughes : —
All, who in town or coontzy dwell.
Say, can yoa tale or tidingt tell
Of Tortorella's hasty flight?
Why in new groves she takes delight ;
And if in concert, or alone.
The cooing mnrmurer makes her moan?
Now learn the marks, by which yoa may
Trace out and stop the lovely stray.
Some wit, more folly, and no care.
Thoughtless her conduct, free her air ;
Gay, scornful, sober, indiscreet.
In whom all contradictions meet.
Civil, affronting, peevish, easy,
Form'd both to charm you and displease you ;
Much want of judgment, none of pride.
Modish her dress, her hoop full wide ;
Brown skin, her eyes of sable hue.
Angel when pleased, when vexed a shrew.
Genteel her motion when she walks,
SweeUy she sings, and loudly talks ;
Knows all the world, and iu affairs.
Who goes to court, to plays, to prayers.
Who keeps, who marries, fails or thrives.
Lead honest or dishonest lives ;
What money match'd each youth or maid.
And who was at each masquerade ;
Of all fine things in this fine town.
She's only to herself unknown.
By this description, if you meet her.
With lowly bows, and homage greet her !
And if you bring the vagrant beauty
Back to her mother and her duty.
Ask for reward a lover'r bliss.
And, if she^l let you, take a kiss ;
Or more, if more you wish, and may.
Try if at church the words she'll say.
Then make her, if you can obey.
BARBIERI (Giovanni Francesco), otherwise
called Guercino da Cento, an eminent histori-
cal painter, was bom at Cento, near Bologna, in
1590. He was the disciple of Benedetto Oen-
nari, but afterwards studied in the school of the
Caracci, though he did not adopt the manner of
that famous academy. He preferred the style of
Caravaggio to that of Guido or Albano, imagin-
ing it impossible to imitate nature truly^ withont
the assistance of strong lights and strong shadows.
In effect, by this opposition, h^ gave such force
to his pictures, that few, except those of Cara-
vaggio, can stand near them, and not seem feeble
in their effect ; however, his manner is censured
as not being like nature, because it makes objects
appear as if they were seen by a candle4igfat, or
a sun-beam, which alone can justify the dee|mess
of his shadowing. His princpal attention seems
to have been fixed on perfection in coloring ; he
saw the astonishing effects produced by the color-
ing of the celebrated Venetian masters ; and ob-
served that notwithstanding any imperfection in
regard to correctness or elegance, their works
were the objects of universal admiration. On this
account he devoted his whole study to excel in
coloring; being convinced that few are qualified
to discern the elevation of thought which consti-
tutes the excellence of a composition ; that few
are touched with the grandeur or beauty of the
design, or have a capacity to examine the correct-
ness of a painting ; but that every imperfect judge
may be sensibly affected by the beauty of the
coloring. His taste of design was natural, easy,
and often grand, but without any extiaoidinary
share of correctness or elegance. The airs of his
heads are often deficient in dignity, and his local
colors want truth. However, there is great har-
mony in hii colors, although his carnations are not
very fresh ; and in all bis works there is an expres-
sive imitation of life, which will always render
them estimable. Towards the decline of hia life, he
observed that the clearer and brighter style of
Guido and Albano had attracted the admiration
of all Europe ; and therefore he altered his man-
ner, even against his own judgment. But he
apologised for that conduct, hj declaring that in
his former time he painted for mme, and to please
the judicious ; and he now painted to please the
ignorant, and enrich himself. He died in 1666.
The most capital performance of Barbieri is the
history of St. Petronilla which is oonsidertd as
one of the ornaments of St. Peter's, at Rome.
Barbieri (Paolo Antonio, da Cento), painter
of ^ still life and animals, was the brother of Gio-
vanni, and horn at Cento in 1596. He diose for
his subjects, fruit, flowers, insects, and animals ;
which he painted after nature, with a lively tint
of color, great tenderness of pencil, and a strong
character of truth and life. He died in 1640.
BARBIGEROUS, bearded.
BARBILLONS, in entomology^ are certain
bodies, usually two in number, placed under the
head of an insect, and movable at pleasure, some-
what resembling hands or fingers placed on a
short or broken arm. The word is a diminutive
of the French barbe, the beard.
BARBING, is sometimes used in ancient
statutes for shearing. Cloth is not to be export-
ed till it be barbed, rowed, and shorn. 3 Hen.
VII. c. 11.
BARBISTON, an ancient castle in the parish
of Dalrymple, in Ayrshire, near which a batde
was fought. The dates of 1 340 and 1346, aie oo
some stones in the old vaults.
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BAR
BARBITOSy or Barbitok, an ancient instru-
ment of music^ mounted with three strings ; others
sav seven, much used by Sappho and AIc«us ;
whence it is also denominated lesboum. It is
said to hare differed from the lyre and cithara.
Strabo makes it the same with the sambuca. It is
represented as yielding a ffrave,deep» sound, and on
that account peculiarly ntted for Doric composi-
tions. Anacreon is saia to have been the inventor.
BARBLE) or Bakbel, in ichthyology. See
Ctpbimus.
BABBLES, Barbes, or Barbs, in farriery,
the knots or superfluous flesh that grow up in the
channels of a horse's mouth; that is, in the inter-
vals that separate the bars, and lie under the
tongue. These obtain in black cattle as well as
horses, and obstruct their eating. For the cure,
they cast the beast, draw out his tongue, and clip
off die barbies with a pair of scissars, or cut them
with a sharp knife; others bum them off with a
hot iron.
BARBO, a river of Mexico, which rises in the
province of Honduras, and nins into the Spanish.
Main, forty miles south-east of Cape Camaron.
BARBONI, in ichthyology, a name given to
the mullus baj-batus, a fish greatly esteemed at
table, and caught in the Mediterranean and some
other seas.
BARBONNE, a town of France, in the depart-
ment of the Marne, five miles from Sezanne.
BARBORA» a maritime town of Africa, in the
kingdom of Adel.
BAHBOUR (John), archdeacon of Aberdeen,
was esteemed an elegant poet in the reign of
David I. He wrote the history of Robert the
Bruce, in an heroic poem, which is still extant,
and contains many tacts and anecdotes omitted
by other historians. An edition of this book
was printed at Glasgow, 8vo, in 1762: en-
titled The Acts and Life of the most victorious
conqueror Robert Bruce, king of Scotland, where-
in also are contained the martial deeds of the
raliant princes Edward Bruce, Sir James Doug-
lass, Earl Thomas Randall, Walter Steward, and
sondiy others. In one passage he calls it a ro-
mance ; but that word was then of good repu-
tation. The Romaunt of romaunts has been
applied to true liistory ; as well as the Ballad
of ballads to a sacred song. Mr. Pinkerton pub-
lished an edition in 1790, from an ancient MS.
BARBUD, a Persian musician in the service
of Kosru Parvis, whose name was afterwards
adopted to signify the tnaster of music. Barbud
is atso the name of a sort of lyre in use among
the Persians.
BARBUDA, or Berbuda, one of the British
Carribee islands, about twenty miles long, and
twelve broad. It is low land, but fruitful and
pretty populous, abounding in cattle and fruits,
especially in cocoa trees, which are here ex-
tremely fine. It also yields cotton, pepper,
tobacco, indigo, ginger, and sugar-cane, besides
fine woods, herbs, and roots, with which it is
plentifully stocked. Several species of snakes
are found in this island, some of^ which are harm-
less, while others are exceedingly venemous.
V^znongst the latter is one having a flat head,
-wbose bite occasions instant death. The island
has no harbour, but a well sheltered road on the
west side. ■ Tlie inhabitants are about 1500, and
follow husbandry, finding always a ready mar-
ket for their com and cattle in the sugar islands.
Barbuda is the property of the Codrington fami-
ly, who have great numbers of negroes here, as
well as in Barbadoes. That family have one
merit which few slave-holders can lay claim to :
they have given large benefactions . to instruct
their slaves in Christianity. Barbuda lies about
twenty miles north-east of St. Christopher's, and
forty-five north of Antigua. Long. 61** SC W.,
lat. 18° 30' N.
BARBUE, a river of North America, in the
north-western territory, which runs west by
north, and falls into the Lake of Michigan. It is
about 150 yards broad at the mouth.
BARBUL£ in botany, a name given by
Pliny to the semi-flosculi.
BARBURY Castle, and Barbort Hill,
places in Wiltshire, west of Ogbom St. George,
and near Marlborough Downs. There formerly
stood here a castle of considerable magnitude,
surrounded by a double moat; and on the ad-
jacent plain are niany barrows, which seem to
indicate that a great battle was fought on this
spot, at some remote period.
Barby, a county in the Prussian states on the
Elbe, between Magdeburg and Anhalt, consist-
ing of the bailiwics of Barby, Rosenburg, WaU
ther-Nienburg, and Muhlingen. On the death
of the last of the counts in 1659, Barby Propr
came to the elector of Saxony, and after formmg
part of Jerome Buonaparte's kingdom of West-
phalia, was annexed to Prussia in 181 5.
Barby, the chief town is situated on the Elbe,
near where it receix'es the Saale, and has 2900
inhabitants. It is well built, has an old castle,
and is the seat of the superintendant of eight
churches in the county. The Moravian brethren
obtained permission in 1749 to remove hither
their acaaemy and theological seminary, and
thev founded an academical college in 1 754. They
had here also a school and chapel, an observatory,
and a cabinet of natural history ; but the greater
number of these establishments have been trans-
ferred to Niesky, inUpperLusatia. Fourteen miles
north-west of Dessau, and fourteen S. S. E. of
Magdeburg. Long. 11** 58' 4r E., lat. 51° 59* N.
BARB Y LA, in botany, a name by which The-
ocritus and other of the early writers, have called
the common damask prune.
BARCA, a large country of Africa, lying on
the coast of the Mediterranean sea, between the
kingdoms of Egypt and Tripoli, extending in length
from east to west from 39° to46°£. long., and in
breadth from north to south about thirty leagues,
as is generally supposed. It is for the most part,
especially in the middle, a dry sandy desert ; on
which account the Arabs call it Sahart, or Ceyart
Barka, that is, the desert or road of whirlwinds
or hurricanes. It labors almost everywhere un-
der a great scarcity of water ; and except in the
neighbourhood of towns and villages, where the
ground produces some small quantities of grain,
such as millet, and some maize, the rest is in a
manner quite barren and uncultivated, or rather
uncultivable : and even of that small quantity
which those few spots produce, the poor inhabi-
tants are obliged to exchange some part with their
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BARCELONA.
indigent neigbbouis, for dates, sheep, and camels,
which they stand in greater need of than they, by
reason of their great scarcity of grass and other
proper food ; for want of which, those that are
Drought to them, seldom thrive or live long. In
this territory stood the famed temple of Jupiter
Ammon: and notwithstanding the pleasantness
of the spot where it stood, this part ot the country
is said to have been the most dangerous of any,
being surrounded with such quick and burning
sands as are very detrimental to travellers ; not
only as their feet sink into theoi, but being light
and heated by the rays pf the sun, they are easily
raised by every breath of wind ; which, if it chance
to be in their faces, almost bums their eves out, and
stifles them for want of breath ; or, if vehement,
often overwhelms whole caravans. Against this
temple Cambyses, king of Persia, despatched an
army of 50,000 men. They set out from Thebes,
in Upper Egypt, and under the conduct of pro-
per guides, reached the city of Oasis, seven aays
journey from that place : but what was their fate
afterwards is uncertain ; for they never returned
either to Egypt or to their own country. The
Ammonians informed Herodotus, that, after the
army had entered the sandy desert which lies be-
yond Oasis, a violent wind began to blow from
the south at the time of their dinner, and raised the
sand to such a degree, that tlie whole army was
overwhelmed and buried alive. Concerning the
government or commerce of this country we know
nothing certain. The maritime towns are under
the nominal protection of the Porte, and the whole
country is subject to Tripoli, the bashaw of which
appoints a sangiack, who resides at Deme, the
capital of Barca.
Barca, a sea-port town in the territory of the
same name. Long. 20*» 25' E., lat. 32* 26' N.
BARCALAO, a Spanish word, Which the
French pronounce baccala, or baccaliau. By
this last name the Basques most commonly call
the fish which we style cod ; and those people
call also the island which we call Newfoundland,
the isle of Baccalian, cod island, because of the
great plenty of cod caught there.
BAKCALON, an appellation given to the
prime minister of the king of Siam, who super-
intends every thing relating to commerce, both
foreign and domestic, as well as the king's
magazines.
BARCA-LONGA, a large Spanish fishing-
boat, navigated with lug-sails, and having two or
three masts, very common in the Mediterranean.
BARCALORE, a town of Cochin, twenty-two
miles east of Cranganore.
BARCANS, the natives of Barca, which see.
BARCARIA, old law Lat, a, barkery or tan-
house.
BARCARY, bergerie, Fr. a sheep-cote.
BARCAS, a town of New Mexico, in the in-
tendancy of Guadalaxara, which has a numerous
population of Spaniards, Mestizoes, and Mu-
lattoes.
BARCATTY, a town of Cochin, on the con-
fines of Dindigul, sixty miles east of Cochin.
BARGE, the chief city in the province of
Barca, about nine miles from the sea. It was
founded by the brothere of Arcesilaus, king of
Cyrene, 515 years before the Christian era.
BARCELONA, a handsome, rich, and strong
city of Spain, in the province of Catalonia, of
which it is the capital. It is situated by the sea
side, of a form between a square and an oval;
surrounded with a good brick wall, round which
is another, with fourteen bastions, hom-works,
ramparts, and ditches; the ramparts are high,
broad and spacious. This city, which is reckoned
the second in Spain in population, b dirided
into two parts, the Old and the New, separated
from each other by a wall and a large ditch;
the streets are handsome, well paved with lar^e
stones, wide, and very clean. It is a bishop's
see, the seat of a captain-general, a governor,
and a royal audiencia; and here the archives of
the kingdom of Arragon are preserved.
The Barcelonians have also a fine univeisity,
and various institutions for the promotion of lite-
rature, arts and sciences; the academies for juris
prudence, natural philosophy, medicine, history,
and the fine arts, are celebrated throughout Spain.
The most remarkable buildings are the cathedral,
which is adorned with two high towers; the
church of the Virgin Mary, the palace of the
bishop, that of the inquisition, and several religi-
ous houses ; add to these the palace of the viceroy,
the arsenal, which contains arms for 1000 men,
and a cannon-foundry, the exchange, where
the merchants meet, the' tersana, where they
build the galleys, and the palace where the nobi-
lity of the country meet, called La Casa de la
Deputation. This last is built with fine large
free stone, and adorned with columns of marble:
there is in it a large hall, with a handsome por-
tico. There are several fine squares, particalarly
that of St. Michael, into which adi the great
streets run.
This city was originally founded by Hamilcar
Barcas, and from him called Barcino. It was
reduced by the Romans, and continued subject
to them till Spain was over-run by the Goths
and Vandals. In the beginning of the ninth
century Barcelona was in die hands of the Sara-
cens, under the government of one Zade. The
government having more than once abused the
clemency of Chariemagne, at last irritated Louis
king of Aquitain, his son, to such a degree, that
he gave orders to his generals to invest the city,
and not to rise from before it till they had put
Zade into his hands. Zade made a most obsti-
nate resistance, so that the siege lasted many
months; at last, finding it impossible to preserre
the city much longer, and being destitute of all
hopes of relief, he determined, or rather was
compelled by the inhabitants, to go to the Chris-
tian camp and implore the emperor's mercy; and
being sent prisoner to Charlemagne, he was con-
demned to perpetual banishment. The people
gaining nothmg by this expedient, continued to
hoi d out for six weeks longer, when Louis him-
self took the command of the siege. To him
they made a proposal, that if he would allow
them to go where they pleased, they would sur-
render. Louis, having agreed to this, made his
Sublic entry into Barcelona, where he formed a
esign of extending his &ther*s dominions as hx
as the Ebro; but being recalled before he could
put his design in execution, he appointed ooe
Bera, count of Barcelona. The city continued
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BARCELONA.
639
subject to him and hii successors, who enjoyed
the title of counts of Barcelona, from A. D. 802
to 1131; during which time nothing remarkable
occurred, except that the city was once taken by
the Moors, but soon after retaken by the assist*
ance of Louis IV. king of France. In 1131 it
was united to the crown of Arragon by the mar-
riage of Raymond V. count of Barcelona with
the daughter of Ramiro the monk, king of Arra-
gon. In 1465 the Catalonians revolted against
John II. king of Arragon, out of hatred to the
queen Donna Joanna ; the consequence of which
was, that Ba»xielona was besieged by that monarch
in 1471. Various efforts were made by Louis
XI. of France and the duke of Lorraine to raise
the siege, but without effect. Things at length
were brought to the utmost extremity, when the
king offered to pardon them all, without the
smallest punishment either in person or property,
provided they would submit; but these terms
they rejected, chiefly through Uie influence of the
count ie Pailhars, who had been pardoned the
year before. The army on the other hand, was
very earnest in being led on to the assault, in
hopes of plunder. 'Ae king, however, wrote a
letter to tne citizens, dated the 6th of October, in
terms as affectionate as if he had been writing to
his children, bewailing the miseries they had
brought on themselves, and concluding with a
protestation that they, and not he, must be
answerable for the consequences. Upon this,
they sent deputies to the king, and made a capi-
tulation on the 17th of that month. In this me
king acknowledged they had taken up arms on ,
iust motives; mcS forgave everybody except Pail-'
hars, who wa^ however, suffered to escape. On
the 22nd of October the king made his entry into
the city, and confirmed all their ancient privi-
leges. In 1697 Barcelona was taken by the
French, after a bloody siege of fifty-two days ;
and the loss of this city had a considerable effect
in disposing the Spaniards to agree to the treaty
of Ryswick. In queen Anne's time it was taken
by the allies, under the earl of Peterborough,
Oct. 4, 1705 ; but, being afterwards shamefully
denied assistance by the English ministry, was
obliged to submit to Philip V. by whom the
whole province was deprived of its ancient pri-
vileges, in 1714; for a particular account of
which, see Spain.
Th« port of Barcelona is wide, spacious, deep,
and safe ; defended on the one side by a great
mole, and on the other sheltered from the west
wind by two mountains that advance into the sea,
and form a kind 6f promontory ; the mole is 750
paces long, with a quay, at the end of which is
a light house and a smsdl fort. One of the moun-
tains, called Montjoui or Mount Joy, is very
high, and rises in the middle of the plain near
the city : it is covered with gardens, vineyards,
groves of trees, and has a strong fort for the
defence of the city; this mountain being a rock,
yields an inexhaustible quarry of fine hard free-
stone. Barcelona is a place of great trade. Tlie
number of ships whicn arrived here in 1803,
before its commerce was impeded by the penin-
sular war, has been stated at 1333, 927 of which
were Spanish, and the remainder belonged to
other nations. The manufacturing establish-
ments are calico presses, looms for silk, wool.
and cotton, hats, laces, ribbons, stockings, and
soap. Here, also, are fabricated excellent mus-
kets, pistols, swo<ds, and other small arms, not
only for the army at home, but for Naples and
America. There are, besides, several steel and
brass works. It has, also, a good trade in
linen, copper, and brass, from Germany. An-
other extensive article of its trade is salt fish,
from Newfoundland, the chief trade for which is
with England.
When the trade with Mexico was first opened,
in 1778, the Barcelonese merchants soon distin-
guished themselves by successful enterprises in
it. Twenty-three ships, whose cargoes of Spa-
nish produce was valued at £85,000 English,
and the foreign fireight at £25,000, cleared out
here the first year. In ten years after, the goods
thus exported amounted to £400,000, and the
return cargoes to £450,000. The present export
and iijiport trade are taken together at £1,750,000,
and the population at about 112,000.
At Barcelona Charles III., of the house of
Bourbon, landed horn Naples in 1759, to take
possession of the throne of^Spain. On the 16tb
February, 1808, it was ^surprised by a body of
French troops under general Duhesme. They
arrived in the neighlx>uhood on the 13th of
February to the number of 10,000; and, hav
ing requested permission to halt and refresh
themselves on tneir way to Valencia, the gates
were opened to receive them, and they were
hailed as friends and allies. On the 16th, having
assembled on the parade, as if for die purpose of
continuing their march, they filed off m two
divisions, one to the citadel, the other to Mon-
jui, a fort upon a hill which commands the town,
and having summoned those posts, they were
immediately surrendered. Barcelona continued
in possession of the French until the year
1814.
Barcelona, one of the principal provinces
of the government of Cumana, South America:
bounded on the west by Cumana, east by the
Caraccas, and south by the river Orinoco, which
also divides it from Guiana. Here commence
those immense plains, covered with excellent
pasturage, which, uniting with those of the Ca-
raccas, extend as far south as the Orinoco. They
were formerly well stocked with cattle, 8000 or
9000 head beinz killed annually, in salting of
which the inhabitants exhibited great skill. In
the province are four remarkable ^t^pits ; but of
late the supply is much diminished. This pro-
vince declared its independence in 1811, and is
now a part of (he republic of Columbia.
Barcelona New, the capital of the foregoing
province, is situate in a plain on the left bank of
the river Neveri, half a league distant from
the sea, in 10** 10* N. lat. and 64« 47' W.
lon^. It is twelve leasues from Cumana in
a direct line ; but the windings which it is neces-
sary to make to avoid bad roads, make it a
journey of twenty hours. It is reckoned ten
marine leagues by sea from the port of Barcelona
to that of Cumana.
On ascending on the east side of the river,
about four miles from its mouth, we observe, on
an eminence which bears the name of the city,
a fort erected for the protection of vessels which
anchor not far from it, in a bay so shallow as not
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BARCLAY.
to be capable of admitting veesels of considerable
size. This port, if it may be so called, affords
no shelter but against the breeze : but at the dis-
tance of one league to the north, the island of
Borracha, inhabited by fishermen, presents, on
its south side, a safe harbour for snips of the
largest size. From the hill of Barcelona, the
coast runs to the north-east, as far as Cumana,
'which is at the dbtance of two leagues. That
space is filled with a chain of islands, not far
removed from tlie coast. Some of these are pro-
vided with bays and ports; but they are ot no
great consequence.
Barcelona has a population of fourteen thou-
sand souls, a single parish church, and an hospi-
tal for the Franciscans who support the missions
of this part. It is neither handsomely nor agree-
ably constructed. Its unpaved streets are ex-
tremely muddy in rainy weather; and in dry
seasons they are covered with a dust so light
that the least breath raises it in the air. The
immense quantity of hogs fed there, induce in
the city a number of stinking and infectious sties,
which corrupt the air and frequently create dis-
eases. In 1803, however, the commandant of
the place took measures for removing from the
town an infection which could not but poison its
residence. This town had, in 1807, a population
of 1 5,000 persons ; half whites and halt mulattoes
and negroes.
Hides, tallow, oxen, mules, jirked and salted
beef, are the great articles of trade here; in
1800 eight thousand mules left this port for the
West India islands. The annual value of the
trade is computed at 400,000 dollars.
BARCELONETTA, asmall and new town of
Spain, in Catalonia, a suburb of Barcelona. It
stands on the south-east of tliat city, between
the harbour and the light-house, and was built
by the marquis de la Mina, then captain-general
of Catalonia, about the middle of the last century.
In consists of a square, laid out in twenty-four
streets, composed of brick houses, all built upon
the same plan, which gives it a neat appearance.
The number of houses is stated at 600, and that
of the inhabitants at 10,000, the major part of
whom are soldiers, sailors, and persons other-
wise connected with the navy. Tne church is a
handsome structure, in the form of a Greek
cross.
BARCELONNE, a town of France, in the
department of the Gers, arrondissement of Miran-
de, on the river Adour. Population 840. Nine
miles south-west of Nogaro, twenty-seven W. N.
W. of Mirande.
Barc£lonn£, a small town of France, in the
department of the Drome, arrondissement of
Valence, five miles east of Valence.
Barcelonnette, a town of France, in the de-
partment of the Lower Alps, and capital of the
province and valley of this name.
The arrondissement contains above 18,000
inhabitants, in four cantons. Population of the
town 1900. The only objects of trade are com
and cattle, particularly sheep. Near this place
is a passage across the Alps to Coni ; ana the
district was the scene of various military opera-
tions in the campaign of 1799. Twenty-eight
miles north-east of Digne, twelve miles south-
east of Embrun, and fifty-six north-west of Nice-
Long. 6° 44' E., lat. 44° 23' N.
BARCELORE, a town of Hindostao, in
Canara, on tlie banks of a broad river, about
four miles from the sea. It once belonged to
the Portuguese, from whom it was captured bv
the Dutch, who immediately began to esUblish
a settlement here. It was formerly the capital of
an independent state, which in 1575 was ruled by
a female sovereign, and the daughters of the
family have since succeeded. Barcelore canies
on considerable trade with the Arabs of Maskat,
exporting rice, the chief product of the country,
and pepper, and receiving horses and dates n
return. This port is supposed to have been the
Barace of the ancients. Long. 74° 46' E., lat
13° 45' N.
BARCELOS, a town of Portugal, in Eotre
Duero-e-Minho, ten miles west of Braga,and
twenty north of Porto, seated on the river Sou-
rilla.
Barcelos, a town of Portugal, with the title
of a duchy, seated on the river Cavado, o?er
which there is a handsome bridge.
BARCES, or Berches, were formerly a kind
of ship guns, not unlike sakers, only shorter,
thicker in metal, and wider bored.
BARCINO, in ancient geography, a town of
the Tarraconensis in Spain, and capital of the
Laletani; now called Barcelona.
BARCLAY (Alexander), a learned monk in
the reign of Heury VIII. Where he vtas bom,
has been subject of contention among his biogra-
phers. Bale, his contemporary, says he was lx>m
in Somersetshire. There is indeed a village
of his name, and a numerous fiunily, in thtk
county. Pits thinks he was bom in Devonshire.
Mackenzie is positive he was a Scotchman; bat
without proof, unless we admit as such his name
Alexander. He was, however, educated at
Oriel College, Oxford. Afterwards he went
abroad, and continued some time in France,
Italy, and Germany, where he acquired a com-
petent knowledge of the languages of those
countries. On his return to England he was
made chaplain to his patron the bishop of Tyoe,
who appointed him a priest of St. Mary, at
Ottery College in Devonshire. After the bishop's
death he became a Benedictine monk of Ely.
On the dissolution of that monastery he obtained
a vicarage in Somersetshire; and, in 1549, being
D. D., was presented to that of Great Baddow
in Essex. In 1552 he was appointed rector of
Ailhallows, which he enjoyed but a short time;
for he died at Croydon in June following. Be
improved the Englbh language, and was nne of
of the politest writers of his time. He composed
several original works; but was chiefly remaik-
able for his translations from the I^tin, Italian,
French, and German languages^ His version of
Sailust's Jugurthine war is accurate, and even
elegant. His lives of several saints, in heroic
verse, are still in MS. His Stultifera Navis, or
The ship of fools, is the most singular of bis per-
formances. It was printed by Richard Pynson
at London, 1509, in folio; and contains a variety
of wooden plates, which are worthy the inspec-
tion of the curious.
Barclay (John), son of William, was bora
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BARCLAY.
541
in France, at Pont-a-Mousson, and was lo great
favorite of the Jesuits, that they used all their
efforts to engage him in their society. But his
father prevented this, and carried him T^ith him
to En^and. Previously to this young John had
already commenced author, for he had published
A Commentary upon the Thebais of Statins, a
X^atin poem on the coronation of King James,
and the first part of Euphormio, in 1603. He
returned to France with his father in 1604 ; and
after his death went to Paris, but returned soon
after to London, where he was in 1606. He
published The History of the Gunpowder Plot,
a pamphlet of six leaves, printed at Amsterdam.
He puolished at London in 1610, An Apology
for tne Euphormio, and his father*s treatise De
PotesUte Papae. And at Paris, in 1612, he pub-
lished a book entitled Pietas, in answer to Car-
dinal Bellarmin, who had written against his
father*s book, on the power of the Pope. Two
years after he publisned Icon Animorum. He
. was invited to Rome bv Pope Paul V. and re-
[ ceived a great deal of civility from Cardinal
Bellarmin, though he had written against him.
He died at Rome in 1621, while his Argenis was
printing at Paris. This celebrated work has
since gone through a great number of editions,
and has been translided into most languages.
M. de Peiresc, who had the care of the first
'- edition, caused the effigies of the author to be
' placed before the book ; and the following dis*
tich, written by Grotius, was pat under it :
Gente' Caledonios* Gallot naudibos, hie est,
Romun Romano qui docet ore loqoi.
Babclat (Robert), one of the most eminent
i among the Quakers, the son of Colonel David
' Barclay, descended of an ancient family, was
bom at Edinburgh in 1648 He was educated
under an uncle, who was principal of the Scots'
college at Paris, where the Papists used all their
efibrts to draw him over to their religion. He
joined the Quakers in 1669, and distin-
guished himself by his zeal and abilities in de-
fence of their doctrines. His first treatise in
their defence was published atAberdeeninl670.
. His father the colonel had joined them in 1666.
In 1676 he published in Latin at Amsterdam his
Apology for the Quakers ; which is the most ce-
lebrated of his works, and esteemed the standard
\ of the doctrine of the Quakers. His Theses
Theologicte, which were the foundation of this
work, and addressed to the clergy of what sort
. soeter, were published before the writing of the
! Apology, and printed in Latin, French, High
Dutch, Low Dutch, and English. He trans-
lated his apology into English, and published it
in 1678, with a dedication to king Charles II.
which is remarkable for the uncommon frankness
and simplicity with which it is written. Amongst
many other extraordinary passages, we meet with
the following: * There is no king in the worid,
who can so experimentally testify of God*s pro-
^ vidence and gcModness; neither b there any who
rules so many free people, so many true chris-
tians ; which thins renders thy government more
honorable, thyself more considerable, than the
^ accession of many nations filled with slavish and
superstitious iouls. Thou hast tasted of pros-
perity and adversity; thou knowest what it is to
be banished thy native country, to be overruled
as well as to rule and sit upon the throne ; and
being oppressed, thou hast reason to know how
hatefiil the oppressor is both to God and man :
if, after all mose warnings and advertisements,
thou dost not tarn unto ue Lord with all thy
heart, but forget him who remembered thee in
thy distress, and give up thyself to follow lust
and vanity, surely great will be thy conderonft-
tion.' He travelled with the fiunous William
Penn through the greatest part of England, Hol-
land, and Germany, and was everywhere re-
ceived with the highest respect ; for though both
his conversation and behaviour were suitable to
his principles, ,yet there was such liveliness and
spirit in his discourse, and such serenity and
cneerfulness in his deportment, as rendered him
extremely agreeable to all sorts of people. He
returned to his native country, spent the re-
mainder of his life in a quiet and retired man-
ner ; and died at his house at Urie, on the 3rd of
October 1690, aged forty-two. He wrote other
works; particularly, 1. A Treatise on Univer-
sal Love. 2. The Anarchy of the Ranters ; a
turbulent sect with whom the enemies of the
Quakers endeavoured to confound them. 3. A
Letter to the Ministers of Nimeguen. 4. The
Possibility and Necessity of the Inward Revela-
tion of the Spirit of God, &c. &c.
Barclay (William), a learned civilian, was
bom in Aberdeenshire, in 1541. He spent the
early part of his life, and much of his fortune,
at the court of Mary Queen of Scots, firom whose
&vor he had reason to expect preferment. In
1673 he went to France, and at Bourges com-
menced student of civil law under the famous
Cttjadus. He continued some years in that se-
minary, where he took a doctor's degree ; and
was soon after appointed professor of civil law
in the university of Pont-a-Mousson, then
founded by the duke of Lorraine. That prince
afterwards made him counsellor of state and
master of requests. Barclay^ in 1481, married
Ann de Malleville, a Frencn lady, by whom he
had his celebrated son, John. This j(mih the
Jesuits would gladly have received into their
society. His fiuher refused his consent, fer
which reason they contrived to ruin him wiUi the
duke. Barclay embarked for Britain, where
James I. ofiered him preferment, if he would
join the church of England : but not choosing
to comply, he returned to France in 1604 ; anc^
soon after, was appointed professor of civil law
in the university of Angers, where he died in
1605, and was buried in the Franciscan church.
He wrote elaborately in defence of the Divide
Rights of Kings, in answer to Buchanan and
others. His works are. 1. De Regno et Regali
Potestate, &c. 2. Commentarias in tit Pandec-
tarum de Rebus Creditis, et de Jure-jurando.
3. De Potestate Papae, &c. 5. Praemetia in vi-
tam Agricolse.
Barclay, Castle Hill of, and Barclay
Moat, or Merklavd of, two relics of Danish
forts, on the banks of the Urr, in the parish of
Colvend, in Kircudbrightshire.
BARCLOSH, an ancient edifice in the parish
of Kirkgunzeon, which seems to have been built
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BARDS.
as a place of refuge, being remote, iDaccessibie,
and more defended by nature than art. It belongs
to the family of Henries.
BARCOCHABy or Barcochebas, a Jewish
impostor, whose real name was Akiba ; but he
took that of Barcochab, which signifies the Son of
a Star ; in allusion to the prophecy of Balaam,
* There shall a star arise out of Jacob.' He pro-
claimed himself the Messiah; aqd talking of
nothing but wars, victories, and triumphs, made
his countrymen rise against the Romans,, by
which means he was the author of innumerable
disorders ; he ravaged many places, took a great
number of fortresses, and massacred an infinite
multitude of people, particularly the Christians.
The emperor sent troops to Rufus, governor of
Judea, to suppress the sedition. Ruius, in
obedience, exercised a thousand cruelties, but
could not fini^ his attempt The emperor
was therefore obliged to send Julius Severus^ the
greatest general of that time ; who attained his
end without a direct battle : he fell on them se-
parately; cut off their provisions; and at last
the whole contest was reduced to the siege of
Bitter, in the ei^teenth year of Adrian. The
impostor perished there. This war cost the
Romans a great deal of blood.
BARCO-LONGA. See Barca-Longa.
BARCONE, a short broad vessel, of a middle
size, used in the Mediterranean sea for the car-
riage of com, wood, salt and other provisions,
from one place to another.
BARD', J Fr. harder, Dut. bardereny fha-
Bard'cd. 5 Itrare, phaleris omare. This word,
of so frequent occurrence in the ancient chro-
nicles, is probably no more than a corruption of
barb. They are apparently of similar origin,
and it is certain tnat they are used synony-
mously. See Barb.
I saw the miuter of the new band-men of arms, &c.
some with feathers, ■tavet, and pencilt of their
oolonn ; some with sleeves and half coats ; some with
torcb and sUves, &c.
BvmefB Hktory of th§ Reformaium,
Bard', n The bard, was the poet, the
Bar'dick, f musician, and the historian, of
Bar'dish, ^ancient times. The kind of son?
Bard'ling. J which the bards sung, is called
hardituty by Tacitus; and barditta is derived
by Waditer from the Germ, barteny vugnare.
The bards were, therefore, originally tne com-
posers of the war-song, the sone of battle, and
their task was to inspire ^e love of martial
fame, by impassioned tales of heroic deeds. The
title is now given to poets without discrimina-
tion.
There i* among the Irish a kind of people called
hards, which are to them instead of poeta ; whose pro-
fession is to set forth the praises or dispraises of men
in their poems or rhime ; the which are had in high
regard and estimation among them.
I^pemmr m Jr^and,
And many hardi that to the trembling chord.
Can tune their timely voices cunningly.
Faerie Queene.
Then you that valiant soules and slaine in warre.
Do celebrate with praise that neuer dyes.
Yon barda securely sing your elegyes. Mojf. Lueam,
And indeed my jealousy hath oft vtsed me vith
particular inquisition of whatsoever recurs, betring
not a mark of most apparent truth, ever since I foond
so intolerable antichronisms, incredible repoits, tnd
bardie impostures ; as well from ignorance as sssumed
liberty of invention in some of our ancients. SeUen.
The bard who first adom'd our native tongue
Tun'd to his British lyre this ancient song,
Which Homer might without ai blush reheatse.
IhyJen,
Rapt into future times, the bard begun ;
A virgin shall conceive, a virgin bear a son ;
Fh>m Jesse's root, behold a branch arise.
Whose sacred flow*r with fragrance fills the skies ;
Th' etherial spirit o'er its leaves shall move.
And on its top descends the mystic dove.
Piqvf'c JfoMi
By Pella's hard, a magic name.
By all the grieCi his thoughts could frame.
Receive my humblest rite :
Long, Pity, let the nations view
Thy sky-worn robes of tenderest blue.
And eyes of dewy light !
CoOm's (hU to PUg,
Faith let him 'scape, let love and fame sorvive,.
With your kind sanction keep bis scenes alive ;
Try to approve (applaiid we will exempt)
, Nor crush the bardimg in this hard attempt.
Cmmkigham, A ProUtgao to Zoos and Fmt,
The Welsh, kept in awe as they weire by the Ro-
mans, harassed by the Saxons, and eternally jealou
of the attadcs, the encroachments, and the neighboor-
hood of aliens, were on this account attached to their
Celtic manners; this situation, and these cixcnm-
stances, inspired them with a pride and an obstinacy
for maintaining a national distinction, and for pre-
serving their ancient usages, among which the hariie
profession is so eminent.
Wartoii'i Hittorp of Em/Ush Poettjf,
Their ashes flew ;
No marble tells us whither. With their names
No bard embalms and sanctifies his song ;
And history, so warm on meaner themes.
Is cold on this! Cowper't Totk.
Bard, in antiquity, denotes one who was a
poet by genius and profession ; and * who sun j
of the battles of heroes, or the heaving breast!
of love.' Ossian's poems, i. 37. Lord Kaimei
justly observes. Sketches i. sec. 2. that the ca-
riosity of man is great with respect to the trans-
actions of his own species; and when such
transactions are described in verse, accompanied
with music, the performance is enchanting. Aa
ear, a voice, skill in instrumental music, and
above all the poetical genius, are reouisite to
excel in that complicated art. As sudi talents
are rare, the few that possessed them were highly
esteemed ; and hence the profession of a bsrd,
which, besides natural talents, required more
culture and exercise than any oUier known ait
Bards anciently were capital persons at eveiy
festival and at every solemnity. Their sopgs,
which, by recording the achievements of kiogs
and heroes, animated every hearer, must have
been the entertainment of every warlike natioo.
Demodocus is mentioned by Homer as a ce-
lebrated bard ; and Phemius, another bard, is
introduced by him deprecating the wrath of
Ulysses, Odyss vii. and urging him to
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BARDS,
543
—• "- spare the poet's erer gentle kind.
A deed like this thy future fame would wrong.
For dear to gods and men is sacred song.
Save then the poet, and thyself reward
^s thine to merit, mine is to record.'
Cicero reports, that at Roman festivals, an-
ciently, the virtues and exploits of their great
.men were sung. The same custom prevailed
in Peru and Mexico, as we learn from Garci-
lasso and other authors. We have for our au-
thority Father Gobien, that even the inhabitants
of tlie Marian islands have bards, who are
greatly admired, because in their songs are cele-
brated ^e feats of their ancestors.
Bards, Celtic, British, &c. In no part of
the world did the profession of bard appear with
such lustre as in Gaul, in Britain, and m Ireland.
Wherever the Celtae or Gauls are mentioned by
ancient writers, we seldom fail to hear of their
druids and their bards ; the institution of which
two orders, was the capital distinction of man-
ners and policy. The druids were philosophers
and priests ; the bards their poets, and recorders
of heroic actions : and both these orders seem
to have subsisted among them, as members of
the state from time immemorial. The Celtae
possessed, from many remote ages, a system of
diMcipline and manners, which appear to have
had a deep and lasting influence. Ammianus
Marcellinus, lib. xv. c. 9. gives them this tes-
timony, that they cultivated the study of the
most laudable arts; introduced by the bards,
who sung in heroic verse the gallant actions of
illustrious men; and by the ^ids, who lived
together in colleges or societies, after the Pytha-
gorean manner, and philosophising upon the
highest subjects, asserted the immortality of the
soul. Though Caesar, in his account of Gaul,
does not expressly mention the bards, yet it is
plain, that under tlie title of Druids, he com-
prehends that whole college or order ; of which
the bards, who probably were the disciples of
the druids, undoubtedly made a part. According
to his account, the druidical institution first took
rise in Britain, and passed from thence into
Gaul ; so that they who aspired to be thorough
masters of that learning were wont to resort to
Britain. He adds too, that such as were to be
initiated among the Druids, were obliged to
commit to their memory a great nun&er of
verses, insomach that some employed twenty
years in this course of education ; and that they
did not think it lawful to record these poems in
writing, but sacredly handed them down by tra^
dition from race to race. So strong was the at-
tachment of the Celtic nations to their poetiy
and their bards, that amidst all the changes of
their govemmetit and manners, even long after
the order of the Druids was extinct, and the
national religion altered, the bards continued to
flourish ; not as a set of strolling songsters, like
the Greek 'Aoi^oi or rhapsodists, in Homer's
time, but as an order of men highly respected in
the state, and supported by a public establish-
ment. We find tnem, according to Strabo, and
Diodorus, before the age of Augustus ; and we
find them remaining under the same name, and
exercising the same functions as of old, in
Ireland, and in the north of Scotland, almost
dovm to our own times. It is well known, thati
in both these countries, every regul as or chief, had
his own bard, who was considered as an officer
of rank in his court.
Of the honor in which the bards were held,
many instances occur in Ossian. They were the
ambassadors between contending chiefs; and
their persons were held sacred. * Cairbor feared
to stretch his sword to the bards, though his soul
was dark. Loose the bards (said his brother
Cathmor), they are sons of other times. Their
voice shall be heard in other ages, when the kings
of Temora have failed. * Ossian ii. 22. Th^
and the Druids were exempted from taxes and
military services, even in times of the greatest
danger : and when they attended their patrons in
the field, to record and celebrate their great ac-
tions, they had a guard assigned them. At all
public assemblies they were seated near the per-
son of the king or chieftain, and sometimes even
above the greatest of the nobility and chief officers
of the court. Nor was their profession less
lucrative than it was honorable. Besides the
valuable presents which they occasionally received
from patrons, they had estates in land allotted
for their support. So great was the veneration
which the princes of those times entertained for
their poets, and so highly were they delighted
with tneir strains diat they sometimes pardoned
even their capital crimes for a song. We may
reasonably suppose that a profession so honorable
and advantageous would not be deserted. It was
indeed much cultivated, and the accounts which
we have of the number of bards in some countries,
particularly in Ireland, are hardly credible. We
often read, in the poems of Ossian, of 100 bards
belonging to one prince, singing and playing in
concert for his entertainment. £very chief bard,
who was called allah redan, oi doctor in poetry,
was allowed to have thirty bards of inferior note
constantly about his person ; and every bard of
the second rank was allowed a retinue of fifteen
poetical disciples.
Though the ancient South Britons had originally
the same taste and genius for poetry with those
of the north, yet none of their poetical composi-
tions have been preserved. Nor « can we be
surprised at this. After the provincial Britons
had submitted to the Roman government, yielded
up their arms, and lost their martial spirit, they
could take little pleasure in hearing or repeating
the songs of their bards, in honor of the glorious
achievements of their brave ancestors. The Ro-
mans also, though they did not exercise tlie same
barbarous policy, which was long after practisedby
Edvrard I. of putting the bards to death, would
at least discourage them, and discountenance the
repetition of their poems. These sons of the
song being thus persecuted by their conquerors^
and neglected by their countrymen, either aban-
doned their country or their profession ; and their
songs, being no longer heard, were soon forgotten.
It is probable that the ancient Britons, as well
as many other nations of antiquity, had no idea
of poems that were made only to be repeated,
ana not to be sung to the sound of musical in-
struments. In the first stages of society in all
countries, the two sister arts of poetry and mu-
sic seem to have been always united ; every poet
O
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544
BAR
was a muaician, and sung his own verses to the
sound of some musical instrument. Tliis, we are
directly told by two writers of undoubted credit,
was the case in Gaul, and consequently in Bri-
tain, at this period. ' The bards, ' says Diodorus
Siculus, lib. Y. sect, 31, 'sung their poems to
the sound of an instrument not unlike a lyre.'
* The bards, ' according to Ammianus Marcelli-
nus, lib. XV. c. 9, ' celebrated the brave actions
of Ulustrious men in heroic poems, which they
sung to the sweet sound of tne lyre.' This ac-
count is confirmed hy the general strain, and by
many particular passages, of the poems of Ossian.
* Beneath his own tree, at intervals, each bard sat
with his harp. They raised the song and touched
the string, each to the chief he loved. Vol. ii. p.
112. The invention of writing made a consider-
able change in the profession of the bards. It
is now agreed, that no poetry is fit to be accom-
panied with music, but what is simple : a com-
plicated thought, or description, requires the
utmost attention, and leaves none for tne music ;
or, if it divides the attention, it makes but a faint
impression. The simple operas of Quinault
bear away the palm from eveiy thing of the kind
composed by Boileau or Racine, who were poets
of a higher order. But when a language is
enriched with variety of phrases, fit to express
the mosi elevated thoughts, men of genius aspired
to the higher strains of poetry, leaving music
and song to the bards ; wnich distinguished the
profession of a poet from that of a bard. Homer,
in one sense, may be termed a bard ; for in that
character he strolled from feast to feast. But he
was not a bard in the original sense; he, indeed,
i^ited his poems to crowded audiences ; but his
poems are too complex for music, and he probably
did not sing them, nor accompany them with the
lyre. The troubadours of Provence were baids
in the original sense, and made a capital fi^nire in
the days of ignorance, when few could read, and
fewer write. In later tiroes the songs of the bards
were taken down in writing, which gave every
one access to them without a bard ; and the pro-
fession sunk by degrees into oblivion. Among
the Highlanders of Scotland reading and writing,
in their own tongue, is not common even at pre-
sent ; and that circumstance supported long the
bard profession among them, aner it was dropt
among the neighbouring nations.
Among the ancient British bards the most ce-
lebrated is the great Merl3m, whose true name,
according to Lhuyd, is Merdhym. The genea-
logical sonnets of the Irish bards are still the
chief foundations of the ancient history of Ireland.
In the Highlands of Scotland there are consider^
able remains of many of the compositions of their
old bards still preserved. But the most genuine
entire and valaable remains of the works of the
ancient bards, and ])erhaps the noblest specimen
of uncultivated genius, are the poems ot Ossian
the son of Fingal, a king of the Highlands of
Scotland, who flourished in the second or third
oentuiy ; collected by Mr. M'Pherson, and by
him translated from the Erse, or Gaelic, lan-
guage into English.
BARDiE, in antiquity, housings for horses.
BABDANA, or Buedock. See Arctium.
BARDARIOT/E, in antiquity, a kind of an
cient guards attending the Greek empeior, armed
. with rods, with which they kept off the people
from crowding too near the prince when on horse-
back. Their captain or commander, was deno-
minated primivergius. The word was probably,
formed firom the Barda, which see.
BARDAS, the brother of the empress Theo-
dora, and uncle of the &mous Photius, is said to
have had no other good quality besides that of
loving the sciences, which he establiriied in the
Eastern empire; for he was treacherous, cruel
and ambitious. In A.D. 856 he a<Ma«^w»aM
Theoctistes, general of the emperor Michael's
forces, and obtained his post. He caused the
disgrace of the Empress Theodora ; and St. Ig-
natius, patriarch of Constantinople, reproaching
him for his vices, he had him deposed in 848, to
make room for Photius. He was f^^nf^natfd in
866 by Basilius, afterwards emperor.
BARDED, in heraldry, is used in speaking
of a horse that is caparisoned. He bears sable
cavalier d'or, the horse barded, argent.
BARDELLE, in the menage, a saddle made
in form of a great saddle, but of cloth stuffed with
straw, and tied tight down with packthread,
without either leather, wood, or iron. In Italy
they trot their colts with such saddles; and those
who ride them are called Cavalcadours, or
Scozone.
BARDESAKES, a Syrian of Edessa in Me-
sopotamia, bom in the middle of the second
centuiy, who became eminent, after his conver-
sion to Christianity, for his zeal against heretics;
against whom, we are informed by St. Jenmie
and Eusebius, he wrote a multitude of books;
yet he himself fell into the errors of Valentinus,
to which he added some others of his own. He
taught that the actions of men depend altogedieron
iate, and that God himself is subject to necessity.
BARDESANISTS, a sect of ancient heretics,
thus denominated from their leader fiaidesanes.
They went fiirdier than their teacher, and denied
the resurrection of the body, and the incamatioD
and death of our Saviour ; holding that these were
only apparent or fantastical, l^ey maintained
that the supreme God, being free from all impo-
fection, created the world and its inhabitants pure
and incorrupt : that the prince of darkness, who
is the fountain of aU evil and miseiy, enticed men
to sin; in consequence of which, God permitted
them to be divested of those ethereal bodies, with
which he had endued them, and to feU into slug-
gish and gross bodies formed by the evil princi-
ple: and that Jesus descended firom heaTen,
clothed not with a real but aerial body, to recover
mankind fixMn that body of corruption which they
now carry about them ; and that he will raise the
obedient to mansions of felicity, clothed with
aerial vehicles, or celestial bodies.
BARDEWICK, a town of Germanr, in the
circle of Lower Saxony, and duchy or Loneo-
burg; formeriy a very large place, but being
ruined in 1 1 89, by the Duke of Saxony, has never
yet recovered itself. It is seated on the Ilmeoan,
seven miles north-east of Lunenburg,and seventeen
south-east of Hamburg. It belongs to the kiiig-
dom of Hanover.
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BARDy a tmall fort and town in the valley of
Aosta, in Piedmont. The fort commanded the
pass from the Valais into Piedmont. It was taken
by Buonaparte in 1800» after his passage of the
Great St Bernard, and is now dismanded.
BARDIy a town of Italy, in the duchy of
Placentia, on the Genoese frontier. It is near
the river Cero, has a magnificent castle, and is
thirty miles south-west of Parma.
BARDOWIE) Loch, a lake of Stirlingshire,
in the parish of Baldemock, extending about
seventy acres, and containing plenty of pike and
perch. The mansion»house of Bardowie lies
within a few paces of it»
BARDSEY, an islan<A in the Irish sea, on the
coast of Wales, about two miles long, and one
broad, with a small harbour on the sontl^^ast side.
There is good anchorage within the bay, but the
entrance is difficnlt for large ships. It forms
the nor& point of Cardigan bay, and formerly
conbdned a well-endowed monastery. Long.
5*» 4' W., lat. 52** 4^ N.
BARDT, a river of Germany, in Pomerania.
Bardt, a strone and rich town of Germany,
in the duchv of romerania, with a castle and
spacious harbour. It was subject to the Swedes
till 1815, but now belongs to Prussia; and is
situated near the Baltic sea, twelve miles west
by north of Stialsund.
BARDUS, a druid, the son of Dryis, and the
fifth king of the Celtte.
BARE', V. & atg, ^ Heb. parah, to lay bare,
Bare'bomes, and har^ pure, Goth.
BareI'faced, bairhtjan, Germ, haren,
Barefa'cedlt, Dut. baereny old Sax.
Barefacbd'mess, abarian. It signifies the
Bare'foot, absence of ornament, of
BARE'oVAWir, ^concealment. It is the
Bare'heaDi condition of nudity, of
Bare'legoed, destitution, of leanness
Bare'lt, and poverty, of rigid com-
Bare'necked, pleteness, without any
Bars'kess, (he least appendage. The
Bare'worn. J verb represents the act of
strippii^ ofi^, of uncoverinff, ot bringing to light
and exposing what was hidden, of rendering de-
fenceless. Sarefaeed denotes the absence of all
disguise, or all shame ; when applied to express
impudence, it characterises the individual as
more than ordinarily lost to all sense of de-
corum.
Him thought ha rode al of the newe get ;
Diachevele ; enf his ceppe, he rode idl han ;
Swiche glucn eyea hadde he as an bare. CAmost.
Thereto he hath a groom of evil guise.
Whose scalp is bare, that bondage doth bevray.
Which pols and pils the poor in piteous wise.
Bat he himself upon the riche doth tyrannise.
Spamr,
For other meed may hope for none of mee.
To whom nought else out tan lifo doth rcmame.
And that so wretched one as ye do see.
Is liker to lingering death than loathed life to bee.
^^
How many flies in hottest sammer's day.
Do seize upon some beast, whose flesh is ban,
fbat all the place with swaimes do overlay.
And with their little stings do feilv fai9
Vot. TIL
So many theeves about him swarming are.
All which do him assayle on every side.
And sore oppress, ne anj him do spare. Id,
You have an exchequer of words, and no other
treasure fur your followers ; for it appears by theii
bare liveries, that they live by your bare words.
8halitpear9»
So you serve us
TBI we serve you ; but when y6u have our roses,
Yoo ftorely leave our thorns to prick ourselves.
And mock us with our bareneu. Id,
To feed were best at borne.
From thence, the sauce to meat is ceremony.
Meeting were bare without it. Id,
For their poverty, I kno^ not where they had that ;
«mI for their barmeu, they never learned that of me.
Id.
She must have m husband ;
I must deaet barejboi on her wedding-day. Id.
Ambitious love hath so in me offended.
That barefoet plod I the cold ground upon
With sainted vow. Id,
The duke of Lancaster is dead ;
And living too, for now his son is duke ■ ■
^^^Barefy in title, not in revenue.
I^Rkhardll,
He bareheaded, lower than his proud steed's neck.
Bespoke them thus. Id.
Here comes lean Jack, here comes bar^one ; how
long is it ago. Jack, since thou sawest thy own kacet
JU. Hemy IV,
Yonr French crowns have no hair at all, and then
you will play barefaeed.
Id. Mideununer Night't Dreum
« Going to find a barefoot brother out.
One of our order. Id. Rotneo and JuUet,
Know, my name is lost.
By treason's tooth baregrutton and cankerbit.
Id. King Lear,
The external administradon of his word, is as well
by reading barely the Scripture, as by explaining the
same. Hooker,
A desire to draw all things to the determination of
bare and naked Scripture, hath caused much pains to
be taken in abating the credit of man. /dL
That which offendeth us, is the great disgrace which
they offer unto our custom of bare reading the word of
God. Id,
Were it for the glory of God, that the clergy should
be left as bare as the apostles, when they had neither
staff nor scrip ; God would, I hope, endue them with
the self-same affection. Id, Prefaee.
He barely nam'd the street, promis'd the wine.
But his kind wife gave me the very sign. Dtnme,
He himself, with a rope about his neck, bare/boted,
came to offer himself to the discretion of Leonatus.
ONllMsy.
Next, before the chariot, went two men bareheaded,
Baeom,
There is a fabulous narration, that an herb groweth
in die likeness of a lamb, and feedeth upon the grass,
in such sort as it will bare the grass round about.
Id. Natural Hietory,
Though the lords used to be covered whilst the com-
mons were iore, yet the comn|ons would not be hare
before the Scottish commissioners ; and so none were
covered. Clarendon.
The animosities increased, and the parties appear*
ed barefaced against each other. Id.
According to their growth and years, they did
change the exercises of their bodies *, they did shave
their hea«ls,- ihey went &ar»-2ej|;^,they were constrain*
rd to play naked together the most part of their time.
North. PkttOkvK
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Being tnmmer he would go ont bare-neckid to the
wasU to work in his ground among his servants and
other workmen. ^^-
How they stood
Their glory withcr'd : as when heaven's fire
Hath scath'd the forest oaks, or mounuin pines.
With singed top their stately growth, though bare.
Stands on the blasUd heath. MiUon,
God said.
Be gathered now, ye waters under heav'n.
Into one place, and let dry land appear.
Immediately the mountains huge appear
Emergent, and their broad bare backs upheave
Into the clouds, their tope ascend the sky. Id.
He scarce had said, when the bare earth, till then
Desert and bare, unsightly, unadorn'd.
Brought forth tlie tender grasn, whose verdure clad
Her universal face with pleasant green. Id,
Nor are men prevailed upon by bare words only,
through a defect of knowledge ; but carried, with
these pufis of wind contrary to knowledge. South,
Were it stripped of its privileges, and made as like
the primitive church for its barenese as iu purity, it
could legally want all such privileges. Id.
He held a stirrup, while the knight.
From leathern barebanea did alight. Hudtbras.
He bar'd an ancient oak of all her boughs ;
Then on a rising ground the trunk he plac'd.
Drjfden.
Then stretched her arms t' embrace the body bare ;
Her clasping hands inclose but empty air. Id.
It is most certain, that barefaced bawdry is the
poorest pretence to wit imaginable. Id,
In the old Roman statues, these two parts were
always bare, and exposed to view as much vt\ our
hands and face. Addison.
Envoys describe this holy man, with liis Alcaydes
about him, standing barefoot, bowing to the earth. Id.
For virtue, when I point the pen.
Bare the mean heart that points beneath a star ;
Can there be wanting to defend her cause.
Lights of the church, or guardians of the laws? Pope*
Making a law to reduce interest, will not raise the
price of land ; it will only leave the country barer of
money. Lodte.
Though only some profligate wretches own it too
barefacedly, yet, perhaps, we should hear more, did
not fear tic people *s tongues. Id,
If to some common's fenceless limits stray 'd.
He drives his flocks to pick the scanty blade.
Those fenceless fields tlte sons of wealth divide.
And even the bare'VDom common is deny'd.
Goldsmith. The Deserted VUlage.
Nor stoop'd at barren bare necessity ;
But still advancing bolder, led him on.
To pomp, to pleasure, elegance, and grace.
And breathing high ambition through his soul.
Set science, wisdom, glory in his view.
And bade him be the Lord of all below. TTumuom,
O may no winter season, bare and hoary.
See it half finished : but let autumn bold.
With universal tinge of sober gold.
Be all about me when I make an end.
Kent's Endymion.
How well such deed becomes the turban'd brave —
To bare the sabre's edge before a slave !
Byron's Corsair.
Barefoot Augustines, Barefoot Carme-
LTTES, are religious of the order of St. Austin and
St. Carmel, who live under a strict observance,
and go without shoes, like the Capuchins. There
are bai*efoot fathers of mercy. Formerly there
were barefoot Dominicans, and even barefoot
nuns of the order of St. Augustin.
Barefoot Festivals. 'Die Greelu, Romans,
and Barbarians, have a feast called nudipedalit,
or the barefoot festival. The Abyssinians nevtr
enter their churches, nor the palaces of kings aad
great men, but barefooted.
Barefooted, in antiquity. Sagittarius has a
dissertation on those who went barefooted %mong
the ancients, De Nudipedalibns Veterani ; where-
in he treats 1. of such as went barefooted in
journeys, either out of choice or necessity: 2.
of barefooted religtous penitents; and, 3. of the
Levin.
BAREGES, or Barreges, a rugged valleyof
Gascony, now included in the department of the
Upper Pyrenees, arrondissement of Aigellez. The
village of Bareges, or Barreges les Bains, fics at
the foot of the I^renees, contains about 60 houses,
and 670 inhabit^ts, and is toied for iKA mioeral
waters, the principal ingredient in which is so^
phurate of potash. The springs are of diflerent
degrees of heat, from 73"" to 120'' of FahrenheiL
Their water is limpid, unctuous, and chiefly
recommended in coosomptions, and in itieunntic
and cutaneous diseases ; they are used hodi for
bathing and drinking. The village is ten miles
south of Bagneres. Long. 0" 8' £,, lat. 42'' 63'N.
Barebeaded Women, in antiquity. The
Roman women, in times of public distress and
mourning, went bareheaded, with their hiir
loose.
BAREILY, a district of Hindostsh, to fhe
east of the Ganges, between the 27th and 29th
degrees of northern latitude. Under the Mognl
government it was included in the proTioce of
Delhi, but was in &ct a part of Kuttaher; in
modem times known by the appellation of Ri^il-
cund. It is very fertile, and well watered. The
principal towns are Bareily, Anopsheher, Bada-
yoon, Pillybcet, Moradabad, Rampoor, Siuahol,
and Amroah. Towards the end of tne seteoteaidi
century this country was taken possession of by
the Afghan chiefs of the tribe of Roh, and re-
maioed in their possession till 1774, when it was
conquered by Shuja Addowleh, under whose,
and his successor's jurisdiction, it was cnielly
harassed and depopulated; bnt, having been
ceded to the British in 1802, it is daily reoom-
ing.
Bareily, a city of Hindostan^ and capital of
the above district, is situated on Uie banks of the
Sunkra river, about forty miles east of the Ganges.
It was the capital of Haiiz Rahmut, Ae Robilla
chief, slain at the battle of Cutterah in 1774; it
is a hurge and populous town, and the seat of the
British judicial establishment of the proriace.
Long. 79** 21' E., lat. 28**.
BAREITH, a ci-devant margravate of Ger-
many, in the east division of Fronconia, subject
to the Brandenbuig fiimily, and thence styled
Brandenburg-Bareith.
Bareith, a tpwn of Germany in Franconia,
in the margrevate, with a famous college belong-
ing to the margrave of Brandenbui^gb-Bareith. It
is fifteen miles south by east of CiUmbach.
BARENTS (Dieterich), an excellent painter,
born at Amsterdam, and the son of an industrious
but middling artist. He studied in Italy, and becuM
the&vorite disciple of Titian, with whom he lind
along time; but at length returned toAmstPidam,
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Inhere he perfamied amny extnordinary pieces.
He died in 1582, aged forty-eight.
BARENTON. a town of France, in the de-
partment of the Channel, twenty miles £. S. E. of
Avranches.
BARETTI (Joseph), an ingenious writer of
the eighteenth century, was the son of an archi-
tect at Turin. We hiave no account of the early
part of his life ; but his writings show that he had
travelled through various countries. lie came
to England in 1750 ; and, in a short time, he ac-
quired such a knowledge of the English language
as to write it with fiicility and correctness. Be-
coming acquainted with Dr. Johnson about 1753,
he was by him introduced, as a teacher of the
Italian language, to the family of Mr. Thrale.
In 1760 he went back to Italy, and commenced
a periodical work, entided Frusta Litteiaria,
which was published at Venice; but the freedom
of sentiment which appeared in it, giving offence,
obliged him to leave that country, and he re-
turned again to England. He was tried at the
Old BaiW, in 1769, for killing a man who had
assaulted him in the Havmarket, and was ac-
quitted. In 1770 he published his Travels through
France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy, in four vols.
8vb. When the Royal Academy was established,
he was chosen secretary ; and during Lord North's
administration he obtained a pension. He died
in 1789, aged about seventy-tnreep His temper
was pleasant, and hb disposition liberal. His
works are : 1. A Dissertation on the Italian
Poetry; 2. An Introduction to the Italian Lan-
guage ; 3. The Italian Library, 8vo. ; 4. A Dic-
tionary, English and Italian, 2 vols. 4to. ; 5. A
Grammar of the Italian Language, Bvo. ; 6. An
Account of the Manners and Customs of Italy,
3 vols. 8va ; 7. An Introduction to the roost use-
ful European Languages, 8vo.; 8. A Dictionary
English and Spaniui, 4to. ; 9. Tolondron, Speeches
to John Bowie, about his edition of Don Quixote,
6vo. ; and bther tracts.
BAR-FEE, a fee of twenty pence, which every
person acqmtted of felony pays the gaoler.
BARFLEUR, a Cape of France, in the de-
partment of the Channel, twelve miles east of
bheibourg. Near this cape part of the French
navy was destroyed in 1692, the day after the
victory of La' Hogue, obtained by the confederate
fleet under Admiral Russel.
Barfleub, a town of France in the depart-
ment of theCLannel, arrondissementof Valognes.
It contains about 140 houses; and 900 inhabi-
tants. Its haibouT, which is now choked up with
sandy was in former times the best on the coast.
Here William the Conqueror equipped the ex-
pedition which effected the conquest of England.
In the year 1346 it was taken and destroyed by
the English army, in the same campaign in which
^ey fought the battle of Cressy. Since that time
the port has been neglected, and is now fre-
quented only by stnall vessels. The tnule is
confined to nsh, fresh and salted. Twelve miles
east of Cherbourg. Long. 1*» 10' W., lat. 49°
40* N.
BARGA, a town of Italy, in the grand dudiy
of Tuscany, on the Serchio. It is the capital of
h vicariat, bordering on the principality of Lucca,
«nd contains 9000 inhabitants. In the neigh-
bouring Appenines is fonnd beautiful jasper*
Six miles from Lucca.
BAR'GAIN, V, & n.^ See to Bar. Gotl*.6flir-
'Bar'gaininc,
Bar'gaineu,
Bar'oaimer.
To make a confirmed agreement. A contract
either with or without purchase, usually held
binding.
I do thee no wrong. IMd I not hargojfns wiih ihoe,
•o that thou shouldcste haue a denarye for thy dajes
laboure ? Thou haste done thy labouro, ihou haste
thy couenaunte : I have nothing more to doe with thee*
Udall. Matthew, chap. xz.
Henry is able to ennco his queen.
And not to seek a qneen to make him rich.
So worthless peasants bargain for their wives.
As market'men for oxen, sheep or horse.
6hak»pear§,
No longer than we well could wash our hands.
To clap this royal bargain up of peace •
Heaven knows they were besmeared and overstained
With slaughter's pencil. Td.
No bargami break that are not this day made. Id,
Hold, sir, for God's sake : now your jest is earnest :
Upon what bafgMH do you give it me. Id.
What is marriage but a very bargain? wherein \%
sought alliance, or portion, or repuution, with somo
desire of issue y not the faithful nuptial union of man
and wife. Bacon,
For those that are like to be in plenty, they may
be btagaintd for upon the ground. Id,
There was a difference between courtesies received
from their master and the duke \ for that the duke's
might have ends of utility and bargain, whereas their
master's could not. Id,
No more can be due to me.
Than at chs bargain made was meant. Dunne,
Where sold he bargaint, whipstitch ?• Drgden,
As to bargaint, few of them seem to bo excellent,
because they all terminate in one single point. Swift.
No maid at court is less ashamed,
Howe'er for selling bargaint famed. Ids
Give mo but my price for the other two, and you
shall even have that into the bargain, i'Betrange,
He who is st the charge of a tutor at home, may
give his son a* more genteel carriage, with greater
learning into the bargain, than any at school can do.
Xodke.
It is possible the great duke may bargain for the re-
public of littcca, by the help of his great treasures.
AdditoH on llalg.
All offer incense at my dirine.
And I alone the bargtdn sign. Gag,
What is all righteousness that men deyiee.
What ! but a sordid bnr^ain for the skies ;
But God as soon would abdicate his own.
As stoop from heav'n to sell the proud a throne.
Cowper,
It is adjusted, however, not by any accurate mea-
sure, but by the higgling and bargaining of the market,
according to that sort of rough equality which though
not exact, is sufficient lor carrying on the business.
Smith, Wedth of Nationt,
Bargain, in the old Scottish writers, is ap-
plied to an armed fight or battle. A battle
where both parties hare settled the preliminaries
of weapons and manner of- fighting, and are so
fiu on equal terms of security and defence. In
this sense it is used by Chaucer in the Ilomaunt
oftheRofe.
2N2
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BAR 548
This M the Btnfe, and eke the afliraie.
And the baull that lasteth aie.
This bergaine end may neuer take
But if that she thy peace wil make.
Bargain and Sale, in the English law, re-
quires to be farther explained. It is a contract
whereby the bargainer, for some pecuniary con-
sideration, bargains and sells, that is, contracts to
conrey the land of the bargainee; and becomes
by such bargain a trustee for, or seized to the use
of, the bargainee ; and then the statute of uses
completes the purchase : or, as it hath been ex-
pressed, the bargain first vests the use, and theii
the statute vests the possession. But as it was
foreseen that conveyances thus made would want
all those benefits of notonety which the old com-
mon law assurances were calculated to give ; to
prevent clandestine conveyances of freeholds, it
was enacted by statute 27 Hen. VIII. c. 16. that
such bargains and sales should not enure (be avail-
able) to pass a freehold, unless made by indenture,
and enrolled within six months in one of the
courts of Westminster-hall, or with the custos
rotulorum of the county. Clandestine bargains
and sales of chattel interests, or leases for years,
were thought not worth regarding, as such in-
terests were very precarious till about six years
before ; which also occasioned them to be over-
looked in framing the statute of uses : and there-
fore such bargains and sales are not directed to
be enrolled. This omission has given rise to the
Fpecies of conveyance by lease and release.
" Bargains, in commerce, are distinguished, at
Amsterdam, into three kinds, viz.
Bargains, Conditional, for goods which
the seller has not yet in his possession; but
which he knows have been bought for him by his
correspondents abroad, and which he obliges
himself to deliver to the buyer, on their arrival,
at the price and conditions agreed on.
Bargains, Firm, those wherein the seller
obliges himself to deliver to the buyer a certain
quantity of goods, at the price and in the time
agreed on.
Bargains, Optional, those wherein a dealer
obliges himself, in consideration of a premium
received in hand, either to deliver or take a cer-
tain quantity of goods at a fixed price, and within
a time limited : but with a liberty of not deli-
vering or not receiving them, if he thinks proper,
upon forfeiture of their premium.
Bargains, Forehand, are those wherein
goods are bought or sold, to be delivered at a
certain time afterwards, some part of the price
being advanced.
BAR'GE, -) SeetoBAR. Dut.6argi>, low
Bar'ger, >Lat. bargGf Goth, bairgany to
Bar'geman. 3 strengthen. A barge, says
Tooke, is a strong boat, and this is still its widest
meaning, as in coal barge, &c. &c.; but it has
also grown to mean, not merely a boat massy and
sea worthy, but one of pleasure; light, airy, and
elegant, more remarkable for beauty dian strength.
So mykcll was J^at harge, it might not lightly suit.
And so bevy of charge, and |)e wynde gam faile.
R. Brmne,
He knew wel alle the havens, as they were,
Fru Gotland to the Cape de Finistere,
bar
And enery creke in Bretagne and fca flpaJna ;
His barge ydeped was the Magdelaine.
doMcsr. Prologui.
Many wafarers make themselves glee, by pntcing
the inhabitants in mind of this privilege ; who again,
like the Campellians in the north, and the Londoo
bargen, forslow not to baigne them.
Corew 9 Sumjf cj ContwaB,
Eno. I will tell yon.
The barge she sat in, like a bumishM throne.
Burnt on the water ; the poop was beaten gold.
Purple the sails ; and so peifomed, that
The winds were lovesick with them ; the oai» weie
silver ;
Which to the tune of flutes kept stroke, and made
The water, which they beat, to follow faster.
As amorous of their strokes.
Shakspeare. Antoi^ and CZsipafia
Plac'd in the gilded barge.
Proud with the burden of so sweet a charge ;
With painted oars the youths begin to sweep
Neptune's smooth face. WaOer,
Barges are vessels of state, furnished wiih
elegant apartments, canopies, and cushions;
e(f nipped with a band of rowers, and decorated
with Bags and streamers: they are generally used
for processions on the water by noblemen, offi-
cers of state, or magistrates of great cit ies. Those
annually exhibited on the Thames, at the electira
of the lord mayor of London, are uncommonly
elegant.
Barges for the use of admirals and awtaioi
of sliips of war, are smaller and of a lighter name,
and may be easily hoisted into or out of the^ps
to which they belong.
Barges of Burden, are for lading and dis-
charging ships, and removing their cargoes from
place to place in a harbour.
Barge, in ornithology, a name used liy some
authors for the god wit or stone-plover; the sgo-
cephalus.
Baroe, or Barges, a town of Piedmont ia
the district of the Four Valleys; seven miles
south of Pi^arolo, or Pignerol.
Barge-couples, in architecture, abeun mov>
tised into another, to strengthen the building.
Barge-course, with bricLlayera^ a term used
for that part of the tiling which projects over,
without the principal rafters, in aU sorts of
buildings where there is either a gable or a kirkin
head.
BARGH-MASTER, Barker, or Bar-Mas-
ter, from beirg-meister, Ger. ie. master of
mines ; in the royal mines, the steward or judge
of the barmote. The bar-master keeps two
great courts of barmote yearly ; and eve^ week
a small one, as occasion requires.
Barge MOTE, or Barmote, a oonit whidi
takes cognizance of causes and disputes between
miners. By the custom of the mines, no penon
is to sue any miner for ore debt, or for ore, or
for any ground of variance, but only in tiie court
of barmote, on penalty of forfeiting the debt, and
paying the chai^fi^ at law.
BARGRAVE (Isaac), an EngUsh divine, bom
in 1586, and educated at ClarehaU, Cambhdge.
He was appointed chaplain to James I.; and in
1 6^5 was made dean of Canterbury. When the
civil war commenced he was imprisoned in the
Fleet, 'by colonel Sandys, a man whom he bad
saved from the gallows ! He died in 164S.
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BARJAPOOR.
549
BARIy a province in the kingdom of Naples,
which has the Gulf of Venice to the north, the
Terra d' Otranto to the east, Basilicata to the
south, and Capitanata to the west. It contains
1760 square miles, and 290,000 inhabitants, and
is rich in grain, wine, oil, cotton, fruit, and saf-
fron. The chief town, called Bari, lies on the
Gulf of Venice, and is well fortified ; it is a
trading place of some consequence, with 18,000
inhabitants. The principal objects of its trade
are wine, oil, and fruit; and a great deal of linen
is woven here for inland consumption. It has
he title of a duchy, and b an archbishop's see.
Eighteen miles east of Trani, 120E.N.E. of
Naples. Long. 16^ 52' E., lat. 41*» 15' N.
Bari, a town of Hindostan, in the province
of Bejapoor, thirty miles south-west of Raibaug.
BAIUAPOOR, Bejapoor, or Bija-pur, (a
cormption of Viiaya-puri, the impregnable, the
ancient name of the capital ;) is a large province in
tlie Deccan, extending from the fifteenth to the
nineteenth degrees of north latitude. It is bound-
ed on the north by the province of Aurungabad,
south by the Toombuddra River and North
Canaia district, east by Aurungabad and Beeder,
and on the west by the Indian Ocean ; including
a superficial area of 350 miles in length, by 200
the average breadth. The chain of the western
Ghants traverses the province at a moderate dis-
tance from the coast, with which it is in perfect
parallel ; the surrounding region is mountainous,
but the eastern part is more level, watered by
several fine rivers, particularly the Krishna, the
Beemah, the Toomouddra, and the Gutpurba;
the latter of which, before tiie year 1790, termed
the separating boimdary between the dominions
of Tippoo and the Mahrattas. The productions
ot this province are the same as of the Deccan
gnerally ; the internal traffic is considerable, and
the banks of the Beemah, celebrated all over the
continent for their superior breed of horses, sup-
ply the best cavalry in the Mahratta armies.
The most remarkable natural features of the
province are rivers, of which the Krishna, de-
riving its name firom the dark color of its waters,
or from its mythological connexion vrith the
Indian Apollo, the Crishna of the Hindoos, is the
most important Emerging firom the western
Ghauts, torty-two miles from the coast, this river
takes a southrwest direction, fiadls in with the
Warnah about Merich, and then rolling its vast
stream to the east receives the principal riVers
whi1;h diversify this part of India in its course,
and at last empties itself by three channels into
the Bay of Bengal. Although from its lofty
banks, which do not admit of extensive irriga-
tion, tnis river contributes less to the fertilisation
of the ccrantiy than others of inferior importance,
it is perhaps more abundant in gems than any
other river of India; gold, chalcedonies, cats-
eyes, onyxes, and even diamonds, being found
10 its bed.
Of tlie province generally, four-fifths have long
appertained to the Mahrattas, and the remainder
to the government of Nizam. The Peshwa,
though nominal lord of the whole, has little
effective jurisdiction. The population is esti-
mated at seven millions, of wnom one-twentieth
part are MaHommedans, and the rest Hindoos of
the Brahminical order. Two languages gene-
rally prevail ; the Canara on the north, the Mah-
ratta on the south of the river Krishna; which
also forms an interesting line of separation be-
tween the two different sMcs of building, the
houses to the south being covered vrith clay or
mud, and flat roofed, those to the north having
the roofs pitched and thatched.
At the conclusion of the war between the
British and Sindia in 1804, the Mahratta terri-
tories of this province exhibited a scene of the
greatest anarchy. The authority of the Peshwa
was resisted by the chief of every petty village.
Tlie chiefs of the various banditti were almost
innumerable; amongst whom Goklah, Appah
Saheb, and Bala Saheb (the sons of Purseram
Bhow, and heads of the Putwurden family), Ap-
pah Dessaye, Furkiah, Bapoojee Sindiah, Mada-
row Rastiah, the Rajah of Colapoor, Futteh Sing
Bhoonslah, Chintamuny Row (the nephew of
Pursenun Bhow), Tantia, Pimt Pritty Niddy,
and others, presented formidable obstacles to the
return of peace and tranquillity. The country had
likewise oeen otherwise ravaged and depopu-
lated, from the laxity of its internal government,
and the rapid succession of governors appointed
by the Pesnwa, the preceding one uniformly op-
posing his successor. The chie& above-namec
although commonly dbtineuished by the name
of 'Southern Jaghiredars, were properly the
Serinjamy Sirdars of the Poonah state ; the pos-
session of whose lands being granted for the pay-
ment of troops employed in state service, might
be changed annually; although in this instance
the landb themselves, vrith several other species
of property, had been retained for many years.
Amidst the confiisions consequent on so em-
barrassed a state of government, the British em-
pire interposed her arbitration, ascertained on the
part of the Peshwa to what extent of service he
was entitled from the Jaghiredars, and, on the
part of the latter, engaged to guarantee their pos-
sessions, and protect Uiem from the oppressions
of the Peshwa's government. General Welles-
ley (now duke of Wellington) expressed his
disapprobation of the projects of vengeance
which the above sovereign had formed against the
Putwurden fiunily, and others of the Mahratta
state in immediate subjection to Poonah ; and
in his inarch southwards in 1804, entered into
negociations with the chie£i, adjusted the dissen-
sions of the sovereign, and by the able co-opera-
tion of Col. Close and Mr. Strachey succeeded in
what the home government contemplated, the
final settlement of these complicated claims.
That it was effected without bloodshed, is to the
honor of British prudence and benevolence.
MSS. Ferishta, Moor, Wilks, Scott, &c.
The territorial divisions of the province are as
follows :— 1. The C6ncan ; 2. Cola-pur ; 3. Mur-
tezk-ab^d; 4. Ased-nagar ; 5. District of Bijk-
pfir; 6. Skaur; T.Rai-chdr; 8.Mudgal; 9.Ga-
jindra-gar'h; 10. Anigiindi; 11. Bauc^-pdr;
12. Gandac; 13. NCirgul; 14. Azim-nagar; 15.
lUi-b&gh.
1 . The first of these divisions, C6ncan, Cancana,
or C6can, includes a portion of territory 220
miles in length, and thirty-five in breadth, occu-
pying the whole sea coast of the province. It is
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BARJAPOOR.
bouaded on the north by the river Sliwatr),
ivhich separates it from Calylint, on the west by
the Indian Ocean, on the south by Canara, and
on tl)e east by the G'hats or Ghauts. Formed
by the gradual decUyity of the mountains towards
tlie sea, it presents a very unequal surface, inter-
sected by numerous streams and torrents, together
with a coast diversified with bays and inlets^
although without deep and spacious harbours.
The soil below the Ghauts is fertile, producing
grain, hemp, cocoa-nuts, &c. The trees planted
near the coast are, however, more vigorous and
fertile than those cultivated higher up the coun-
try, which is commonly attributed to the sea air.
The language of the province is peculiar, pos-
sessing a great resemblance to the Sanscrit, from
which some imagine it is derived. It is chiefly
cultivated by the Brahmans, a peculiar race, not
acknowledged by their brethren in the rest of
India.
The principal divisions of the provirice are
Concan, B^honsala, and Goa. The former in-
cludes Fort Victoria, a fortress at the entrance of
the Banciit river. This division, comprehend-
ing nine villages, was taken by tJie British forces
in 1756. So great is the advantage of living
under the British government, that in 1812 the
population had nearly doubled within the last
ten years. B'honsala, the second division of the
Concan, is abeautiiiil district formed by a gentle
slope of hills descending from the western Ghauts
to the sea, and watered by numerous rivers and
mountain torrents. like the former, it has seve-
ral strong posts or rocky heights, difficult of
access.
Though thinly peopled, the soil is extremely
fertile, producing cocoa, betel nuts, ginger,
sugar, cardamoms, pepper, and other tropical ve-
getables in great abundance. Iron is also found
in the mountains, tliough wrought in a very
clumsy manner by the natives. Goa, now in
possession of the Portuguese, forms the southern
division of the Concan. Its capital, bearing the
same name, although digniAed by many noble
churches and publicbuildings, is nearly deserted
from the unhealthiness of its climate and the
terrors of the Inquisition. So great is the fecun-
dity of the Roman church in this settlement, that
in the year 1808 were found no fewer than 2000
ecclesiastics, although the whole extent of the
territory does not excee(l 400 square miles. Tlie
trade has very much declined, and the wretched-
ness of the country presents a very strikinj^ con-
trast with the English settlements in its vicinity.
where every luxury is to be found. It had for-
meriy a considerable manufacture of arack, a
spirituous liquor made from toddy, or tAri, ex-
tracted from the trunks of palm trees ; but this is
now superseded by a similar spirit at Batavia, of
which rice and sugar are the principal ingre-
/iients. The dialect that is used here is a bar-
oarous mixture of the Portuguese, Canarai and
Mahratta languages. This place has beenv ren-
dered interesting to the Eniflisji reader by the
visit which Dr. Buchanan paid to it, a full ac-
count of which is inserted in his Christian
Researches.
a. ColA-pir, or Cola-poor, according to the
finrmer division of the province, was in the Ser-
car of R6ib&gh, and snbsequently formed a small
independent state, composed of several districts
above and below the mountains, but so inter-
mingled with the neighbouring states as not to be
easily discriminated.
3. Mortezabad, a contraction of Mortesa-abad,
is a small hilly division of the province, at a much
greater elevation above the sea than the Cdncan,
and is traversed by the Krishna, which rises at
Mah&baliser, within the same division of Bf)4p
p^r. Among the most remaricable places' of this
province is the hill-fort of Satarah, a strong-hold
of no small celebrity in the Mahratta annals,
standing in lat. 17** AX N., and long. 74** 12 E.,
on the pinnacle of a lof^ hill, ami accessible
only by a narrow winding path, which admits no
more than one person at a time. Its name,
which signifies ' seventeen,' answers to the re-
puted number of its towers. A wall of solid
rock encloses it on all sides to die height of thirty
or forty feet. Similar sites are Sound in the sur-
rounding country, and are occupied by fortresses,
which, to a native army, must be neariy im-
pregnable. Kelingah is considered as ^most
capable of baffling European skill if resolutely
defended.
4. Ased-nagar (the city of Lions) is another
division of this province. Its chief town is Pun-
dar-p6r, a large well-built handsome town, and,
what is more extraordinary in au Indian city,
has several broad well-paved streets. The mar-
Icets are supplied with native productions and
English manufactures. The banks of die river
are lined with stone walls, and handsome flights
of steps lead down to the water. The soil around
is fertile, but little cultivated; the Brahmins
considering it too sacred to be used for the un-
holy purposes of producing fruit for mortals.
5. Bejapoor, or Vijayapura, the Impregnable,
The chief city, of the same name as, and formerly
the capital of, the province, h^s, by European
travellers of the last three centuries been deno-
minated Viriapoor. ' The wall of the city was
twenty feet thick^ surrounded by a ditch of vast
dimensions, excavated out of the solid rock, from
the berme of which the curtain rises nearly forty
feet, composed of huge stones strongly cemented,
and frequently adorned with sculptural repre-
sentations of lions, tigers, &c. llic tov^ers whidi
flank the wall are numerous and of vast siie,
occurring at intervals of 100 yards. The fort i*
one of the largest in the world, and, measured
by the counterscarp of the surrounding ditch, is
no less than eight miles in circumference, and
adorned with a spacious courtway firom 150 to
200 yards broad. Within the citadel were the
king s palace, the houses of the nobility, together
with several large magazines ; and wiUiout the
walls were large suburbs, adorned widi noble
palaces.
The rock on which the city stood furotdied
abundance of stone for public and private build-
ings, and die style of their architecture unites
elegance with solidity. The dty is well watered
and the soil rich : large sums of money, with
other valuable articles^ are also found among
its ruins. It is said, in its most flourishing state,
to have contained 984»000 inhabited bouses and
1600 mosques.
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BAR 561 BAR
Sftvend enormoos pieces of cannon, to the its growing on a still drier Salter earth, consa-
namber of twelve, are to be seen here, corres- quently it is impregnated with a stronger salt,
pondingwith the magnitude of the fort, of which It does not rise above two inches out of the
the three largest are of the following dimen- ground, spreading out into little tufb. lU
flioos : sprigs are much flatter and more pulpy than those
1. A Malabar gun. of barilla, and are still more like samphire. It
Feet. Inchet. is sown but once in three, four, or five years,
Diameter at the breech 4 5 according to the nature of the soil. Soza, when
Length from breech to muzzle . . 21 5 of the same size, has the same appearance as
Ciioumference of the trunnions .47 gazul, but in time grows much larger, as its na-
Diameter at the muzzle 4 3 tural soil is a strong salt marsh, where it is to be
Ditto of the bore 1 9 found in large tufts of sprigs, treble the size of
2. A brass gun cast by Aurengzebe to comme- ^'^^^ and of a bright g^««°/^^«^' ^^^^^^
mor^ the conquest of Bejapoor. ^^^ ^^ ^« \«*V ^T 5 v.Tw Wnm^^
Feet Inchef 9^^^^ color, incUnmg to red, which last becomes
Diameter at the breech 4* lOi * by degrees the color of the whole plant From
Ditto at the muzzle 4 8 ^^ beginning it grows upnght, and much resem-
Ditto of the bore .. : a 4 bles a bush of young rosemary. Its natur^
Le^j-jjj 14 1 soil IS on the declivities of hiUs near the salt
Circumfe'r^^'inthe middli ! 1 '. 13 7 ^arshw, or on the edges of the small drains or
channels cut by the husbandmen for the purpose
3. The gua called High-flyer. of watering tlie fields ; before it has acquired iu
Feet Incbe*. foU growth, it is very like the barilla of those
Length 30 3| seasons in which the ground has been dunged
Circumference at the breach ... 9 2 before sowing. In those years of manuring, ba
Circumference over the smallest riUa, contrary to its usual nature, comes up with
part of the moulding 6 0 a tinge of red, and when burnt falls far short of
Diameter of the bore 1 1 its wonted goodness, being bitter, more impreg-
Tbe brass gun is fixed on its centre on an im- nated with salt than it should be, and raismg a
mense iron, festened in the ground, and grasping blister if applied for a few minutes to the tongue.
its trunnions in the manner of a swivel, its Barilla contains less salt than the others; when
breech resting on a block of wood supported burnt, it runs into a mass resembling a spongy
by a thick wall, so that it cannot recoil. For the stone, with a faint cast of blue. Gazul, after
calibre of this gun an iron ball weighing 2646 burning, comes as near barilla in its outward
pounds would be required. The two other guns appearance as it does while growing in its ve-
are constructed of bars of iron hooped round, getable form ; but, if broken, the inside is of a
not upon carriages, but lying on blocks of wood, deeper and more glossy blue. Soza and salicor
The other provinces above enumerated, as be- are darker, and almost black within, of a heavier
longing to the territory of Barjapoor are of minor consistence, with very little or no sign of spon-
importance, and capable of affording but little giness. All these ashes contain a strong alkali ;
interest. but barilla the best and purest, though not in
BAR-JESUS, or Elymas, a Jew, who pre- the greatest quantity. Upon this principle, it is
tended to be a magician ; and endeavouring to fittest for making glass and bleaching linen ; the
obstruct Paul and Barnabas, was miraculously others are used in making soap. Each of them
struck blind, Acts ziii. 8. — 12. would whiten linen; but all except barilla would
BARILHA, or Babilla, in botany, a plant bum it. A good crop of barilla impoverishes
cultivated in Spain for its ashes, from which the the laud to such a degree, that it cannot bear
purest kinds of mineral alkali are obtained, good barilla a second time^ being quite ex-
There are four plants, which in the early part of hausted. For this reason the richer farmers
their growth, bear so strong a resemblance to lay manure on the ground, and let it lie fallow
each other, that they would deceive any but the for a season, at the end of which it is sown afresh
&rmer or critical botanist. These four are, ba- without any danger, as the weeds that have
rilla gazul, or as some call it, algazul, soza, and sprung up in the year of rest have carried ofl* all
salicomia, or salicor. They are all burnt to tne pernicious effects of the dung. A proper
ashes, but applied to different uses, being pos- succession of crops is thus secured by manuring
sessed of different qualities. Some of the far- and following the different parts of the farm,
jners mix more or less of the three last with the each in their turn. The poorer cultivators cannot
first; and it requires a complete knowledge of pursue the same method for want of capital ; and
the color, taste, and smell of the ashes to be able are therefore under the necessity of sowing their
to detect their knavery. Barilla is sown afresh lands immediately after manuring, which yields
every year. Its greatest height above ground is them a profit just sufficient to afford a present
four inches : each root pushes out a vast number scanty subsistence, though the quality and price
of little stalks, which again are subdi? ided into of their barilla be but trifling,
^mailer sprigs resembling samphire; and altoge- Babilla, Babillia, or Babiglia, in the
ther form a large spreading bush. The color is glass trade, is a sort of pot aslies imported from
bright green ; as the plant advances towards ma- Spain, inferior in goodness to those of the levant,
turity, this col^ gradually changes to a dull called polverine when loose, small, and in pow
green tinged with brown. Gazul bears the der, and rochetta when in hard rocky lumps
greatest affinity to barilla, both in qualitr. and The frit made of these becomes fine and clear
appearance . the principal difference consists in crj'stal glass, especially that from the rochetar, or
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BAR
the polTchne in lumps ; but the barilla of Spaiuy
though it be usually fatter, yet makes not a glass
so white, but usually inclining to a bluish color.
The method used in making barilla is the same
as that followed in Britain in burning kelp. The
plant as soon as ripe is plucked up and laid in
heaps, and then set on fire. The salt juices run
out below into a hole made in the ground, where
they run into a vitrified lump, which is left about
a fortnight to cool. An acre may give about a
ton.
BARILLARIUS, an ancient officer in monas-
teries and great households, who had the care of
the casks and vessels of wine, &c.
BARJOLS, a small populous town of France, .
in the department of the Var, (a part of the ci-
devant province of Provence,) nineteen miles
from Riez«
BAR-JONAS, a Syriac designation of St.
Peter, importing that he was the son of Jonas.
BARITONO, in music, denotes a voice of
low pitch, between a tenor and a base.
BARIUM, in ancient geography, a town pf
Apulia, on the Adriatic; so called from the
founders, who* being expelled from the island
Bara, built this town.
Barium, the metallic basis of the earth barytes,
and so called by its discoverer, Sir H. Davy.
Take pure barytes, make it into a paste with
water, and put this on a plate of platinum. Make
a cavity in the middle of the barytes, into which
a globule of mercury is to be placed. Touch
the globule with the negative wire, and the pla-
tinum with the positive wire of a voltaic battery
of about 100 pairs of plates in good action. In a
short time an amalgam will be formed, consisting
of mercury and barium. This amalgam must be
introduced into a little bent tube, nuuie of glass
free firom lead, sealed at one end, which l^ing
filled with the vapor of naphtha, is then to be
hermetically sealed at the otner end. Heat must
be applied to the recurved end ofthe tube, where
the amalgam lies. The mercury will distil over,
while the barium will remain.
* This metal,' says Dr. Ure, * is of a dark gray
color, with a lustre inferior to that of cast-iron.
It is fusible at a red heat. Its density is supe-
rior to that of sulphuric acid ; for, though sur-
rounded witfi globules of gas, it sinks imm^iately
in that liquid. When expc^ to air it instantly
becomes covered with a crust of barytes ; and
when gently heated in air, bums with a deep red
light. It effervesces violently in water, convert-'
ing this liquid into a solution of barytes.' Sir 11.
Davy thinks it probable that barium may be
procured by chemical as well as electrical decom-
position. When chloride of barium, or even
the dry earth, ignited to whiteness, is exposed to
the vapor of potassium, a daik gray substance is
found difiusea through the barytes or the chloride,
not volatile, which effervesces copiously in water,
and possesses a metallic appeeurance, which dia*
appeaijs in the air. The potassium, by being thus
transmitted, is converted into potash. From in-
direct experiments Sir H. Davy was inclined to
consider barytes as composed of 89*7 barium -|-
10-3 oxygen = 100. This would make the
prime equivalent of barium 8*7, and that of ba-
rytes 9-7, compared to that of oxygen 1-0 ; a
determination ncariy eiacL Dr. Clazke of Cam-
bridge, by exposing dry nitrate of barytes on char«
coal, to the intense heat ofthe condensed bydroxy-
gen fiame,observedVnetalUo-looking globules in the
midst of the boiling fluid, and the charcoal was
found to be studded over with innumerable globules
of the most brilliant lustre and whiteness. On let-
ting these globules fall from the diAicoal into
water, hydrogen was evolved in a continued
stream. When the globules axe plunged m
naphtiha, they retain their brilliancy fasit a few
days. Barium combines with oxygen in two
proportions, forming, 1st barytes, and 3d. the
deutoxide of barium. See Barytes.
BAR'K, v. & n. "v These have the same ori-
Bar'kbabed, f gin with the words barge,
Bar'ky, i&c. The root from
Bar'ker. J which th^ are derived
conveys the idea of security and defence. Sec
Bar. The defence of a tree is its bark. It is
that which protects it from the weather. Hence
the application of the term to the rind or out-
side covering of the trees. To burkj is used in
opposite senses. It signifies either to strip off,
or to cover, as with baxk.
And M in winter leaves ben binft,
Ech after other til trees be bare.
So that there nis but barke and braunch ylaft.
Chameer. TroUm umd Cftmk,
In a walnote, without yt a byter hmrke.
And often |iat biter harke, be ^ shall awcye,
Ys a cnmal of oomfort. Pmt Phugknm
Thy palate then did deign
The roughest berry on the mdest hedge ;
Yea, like the stag, when snow the pastors sheets.
The barh of trees, thon brow'sd.
Shaktpeare, AmUm^ mid CUopaln,
So doth the woodbine the sweet honeysuckle.
Gently entwist ; the female ivy so
Enrings the barkif fingers of the elm.
Id, Miimmmer^9 Nighi Dnmu
What craftsman ait thou, said the king,
I pray thee tell me trowe,
I am a barker, sir, by my trade ;
Now tell me what ait thoaf
Bduard IV. amd Tamter of Tmmoartk, m Peng.
The cause is, for that trees last according to the
strength of their s^ and juice ; being -well mnnited
by their bark against the injuries of the air.
Bacon's Naimr^ Hidery,
Perhaps some cold bank is her bolster now.
Or 'gainst the bark of some broad elm.
Leans her nnpillow'd head fraught with sad feais.
The slant lightning, whose thwazt flame driv'n dova.
Kindles the gummy bark of fir or pine.
And sends a oomfoitable heat from fax.
Which might supply the sun. Id*
111 carve thy name on ftsHb of trees.
With true love knots and flourishes.
That shall infuse eternal spring
And everlasting flourishing.
For oft engendered by the hazy novth.
Myriads on myriads, insect armies warp
Keen in the poison'd breese, and wasteful eat
Through buds and bark into the blackened core.
Their eager way.
Wand 'ring in the dark.
Physicians for the tree have found the bark*
Drydm.
The severest penalties ought to be put npon barkiaf
any tree that is not felled. TempU^
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BAN
Th«to tnm, after thaj am b&HM and cat into
fthape, an tombled down from the moontaius into the
atream. Adduen,
Excorticated and barh-bared txeet maj be preserved
bj noarifthing op a ahoot from the foot, or below the
■tripped place, catting the bodj of the tree sloping off
K little above the shoot, and it will heal, and be covered
with hark, Mortimer,
In the kingdom of Honomotapay thej have a me*
tKod of deddhig lawsuits equally whimsiaJ and imeer*
tain. The witness for the plaintiff chews the bark of
a tree, endued with an emetic quality ; which, being
ruflieiently masticated, is then infused in water, which
is given the defendant to drink.
Bae'k, o. & ». ) Derived from the same
Bar'ker, ) word as the preceding. Its
primary sense is to guard and defend. Thus
w bark of & dog is his own defence and ours.
It apprises of danger, expresses anger, and ex-
cites fear. To barkj therefore, is to make a
noise, either to annoy others, or to protect our-
selves.
Tile is the vengeance on the ashes cold.
And envy base, to imrk at sleeping fame.
Spmttr*i Faerie Queene,
You dare patronage
Hie envious harHttg of your saucy tongue
Against my lord.
Sent before my time
Into this breathing world, scarce half made up.
And that ao lamely and unfashionably.
That dogs bark at me. Id. Biehard IIL
Why do your dogs beirk sof be there bears i' th'
townt Id,MerryWtnetofWind9or,
What hath he done more than a base cur? barked
«nd made a noise ? had a fool or two to spit in his
mou^hf But they are rather enemies of my fame
than me, these barken. Ben Joiutm,
Her clacking mill, driv'n by her flowing gall,
Gould never stand, but chide, rail, bark, and bawl.
Her shield no word could find, her tongue engrossed
them all. Fleteher't Parple ItUmd.
And when mere age and strength more fierceness
lent.
She taught him in a dark and deaart wood*
With force and guile poor passengers to slay, *
And en their flnh his barbag stomach stay.
And with their wretched blood his fiery thirst allay.
U.
I have oft heard
My mother, Cbce, with the graces three.
Amidst the iow'ry kirtled Naiades,
Culling their potent heibs and baleful drugs.
Who as they sung would take the prison'd soul.
And lap it in Blysium ; Scylla wept,
Xnd. chid her baekie^ waves into attention.
And fell Charybdis murmur'd soft applause.
JtfiSloii.
Bak'k, ) The barh are all of a family ;
Bar'kmek, ) for their great progenitor, see to
Bar. a barky says Tooke, is a stout vessel, in
the same sense that barge is a strong boat, im-
plying safety and defence. The word, however,
does not always convey this its primary meaning.
It is frequently appliecf indiscriminately to small
ships employed either for commerce or plea-
sure.
Like as a ship with dreadful storme long tost.
Having qient all her mastes and her ground-hold,
Now fsr from harbour, likely to be lost.
At last some fisher harhe doth neare behold.
That giveth comfort to her courage cold. Spenter.
And I, in such a desperate bay of death.
Like a poor bark, of sails and tackling reft, '
Rush all to pieces on thy rocky bosom.
SMkepeartt
The duke of Parma must have flown, if he would
have come into England: for he could neither get
bark nor mariner to put to sea.
Bacom, on ike War wilh S^pam,
O my soul's joy :
If after every tempest come such calms.
May the winds blow till they have waken'd death !
And let the labouring bark dimb hilb of seas,
Olympus-high ^ and duck again as low
As hell's from heaven I If it were now to die,
Twere now to be most happy ; for, I fear.
My soul hath her content so absolute.
That not another comfort like to this
Succeeds in unknown fate. 'd.
Whilst I, in vale of teais, at anchor ride
Where winds of earthly thoughts my sails misguide.
Harbour my fleshly bark safe in thy wounded side.
Fletcker'i Purple hlnad.
Some have the boots of their own life to guide.
Some of whole families doe row the bar^.
Some govern pttty townships too, beside
(To those compar'd which of small barkea have
charge)
Some others ruli great provinces, and they
Resemble captains of huge Argosies ;
But when of kingdomes any gayne the sway.
To generals of fleeU we liken these. GeorgeWUker.
When they come near the shore the frorAssMii leap
out of the barke into the sea to keep the barke right,
that she cast not thwart the shore.
BaMifft. Vojfagei, 4^
It was that fatal and perfidious bark
Built in th' eclipse, and rigg'd with curses dark.
That sunk so low that sacred head of thine, ifiiton.
Who to a woman trusts his peace of mind,
TtomH a frail bark with a tempestuous wind.
GroMoiDe.
Like a flag floating when the bark*9 ingulph'd.
It floats a moment, and is seen no more ;
One Cvsar lives, a thousand are forgot. Yemig.
Ill fares the bark with trembling wretches charg'd
That toes'd amid the floating fragments, moors
Beneath the shelter of an icy isle
While night o'erwhelms the sea, and honor looks
More horrible. Tkomton.
My sole resourses in the path I trod
Were these — ^my bark — my sword — ^my love — my
God'
Hie last I left in youth — ^he leaves me now— -
And man but works his will to lay me low.
Byroa i Cortatr.
Bark, in the anatomy of plants, is that exte-
rior coat of trees, corresponding to the skin of an
animal. For its organisation, &c. see Botany.
As animsis are furnished with a panniculus adi-
posiis, usually replete with iat, wnich invests and .
covers all the fleshy parts, and screens them from
external cold; plants are encompassed with a
bark replete witn &tty juices, by means whereof
the cold is kept out, and in winter the spiculse
of ice prevented from fixing and freezing the
juices in the vessels : whence it is that some sort
of trees remain ever-green all the year round, their
barl^s containing more oil than can be spent and
exhaled by the sun, &c. The bark has its pecu-
liar diseases, and is infested with insects pecu-
liar to it. It appears from the experiments of
Buffon, that trees stripped of their bark the whole
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554
BAR
lenf^th of their steins die in about three or four
years. But it is very remarkable, that trees thus
stripped in the time of the sap, and suffered to
die, afford timber heavier, more uniformly dense,
stronger, and fitter for service, than if the trees
had been cut down in their healthy state. Some-
thing of this nature was observed by Vitruvius
and Evelyn. The ancients wrote their books on
bark, especially of the ash and lime tree, not on
the exterior, but on the inner and finer bark
called philyra ; and this custom is yet frequent
in the east. Many kinds of bark are used in the
arts. Some in agriculture and in tanning lea-
ther, as the oak bark ; some in physic, as the
Jesuit's &c. others in dyeing, as the bark of
alder and walnut trees ; others in spicery, as cin-
namon, mace, cassia lignea, &c. ; and others for
divers uses, as the bark of the cork tree, &c. In
the East Indies they prepare the bark of a cer-
tain tree so as to spin like hemp. After it has
been beaten and steeped in water, they extract
long threads from it, which are something be-
tween silk and common thread ; being neither
so soft nor so glossy as silk, nor so rough and
hard as hemp. They mix silk with it in some
stuffs, and these are called millaes, and cherque-
molles. The Japanese make paper of the bark
of a species of mulberry tree. See Morus. In
the island of Otaheite, the natives make their
cloth, which is of three kinds, of the bark of
different trees ; the paper-mulberry above men-
tioned, the bread-fruit tree, and the cocoa-tree.
That made of the mulberry is the finest and
whitest, and worn chiefly by the principal peo-
ple. Of the bark, too, of a tree which they call
poerou, the hibiscus tiliaceus of Linnfeus, they
manufacture excellent matting; a coarse sort
which serves them to sleep upon, and a finer to
wear in wet weather. Or the same bark they
also make ropes and lines, from the thickness of
an inch to the size of a small packthread.
Bark, Jesuit's, or Bark by way of eminence,
quinquina, or cinchona. See Cinchona.
BiRK, Indian, Thuris cortex, a medicinal
bark, brought from the East, rolled up like cin-
namon ; of a rusty color, a warm aromatic bitter
taste^ and pleasant smell ; sometimes used in fu-
migation against fits of the mother.
Bark, in navigation, is a general name given
to small ships ; it is however sometimes peculiar-
ly appropriated to those which carry three mari-
ners, who are trained up in the coal trade. Some
apply this distinction to a broad stemed ship,
which carries no ornamental figure on the stem
or prow.
Bark, Long, is a small ressel without deck,
and longer and lower than the common barks,
being sharp before, and commonly going both
with sails and oars. It is built after the manner
of a sloop, and in many places is called a double
sloop.
Bark, Water, a little vessel used in Holland
for the carriage of fresh water to places where it
is wanting, as well as for the fetcning sea-water
to make salt of. Water barks have a deck, and
are filled with water up to the deck.
Bark Bed, in gardening, is that sort of hot-
bed which is either wholly or principally con-
stituted of tanner's bark. This bed, from its pre-
ienring the most nniferm and regular degrees of
heat, is found by much the most useful in the
propagation and culture of all kinds of tender
exotic plants that are brought from warm cli-
mates, and which stand in need of the continued
assistance of artificial heat in this part of the
world. Beds of this nature, with a little trouble
in the management of them, are found sometimes
to support a pretty uniform and regular terape
rature for a considerable length of tame. Tb^
are generally employed in hot-houses, being
formed in pits or carities' constructed for the
purpose, frequently the whole length of the
nouse, six or seven feet in width, and three in
depth, being enclosed by means of brick-woik.
See Bark Pit.
In these beds the pots of tender exotics are
plunged and supportea ; while they at the same
time afford the nouses or stoves degrees of heat
that may be proper for the growth and support
of other plants tnat do not require to be plunged
into the oeds. Bark hotrbeds are likewise occa-
sionally formed in pits, constructed for tfaem in the
open ground, seplarately and detached from the
hot-house. "These are walled round with bricks,
chiefly above the surface of the ground, bavin? a
frame or coping of wood upon the top, on which
glass lights are fixed so as to slide with facility.
See Bark Pit.
Beds formed of bark are also employed with
success in various sorts of early productions, as
early strawberries, melons, peas, French beans,
&c., and, by the regular and moderate heat
they afford, they mostly bring them forward in the
greatest perfection. They are likewise made use
of in forcing different sorts of curious flowers,
of the bulbous, tuberous, and fibrous*rooked kinds,
into early bloom — as hyacinths^ dwarf-tulips,
narcissus, jonquils, anemonies, ranunculuses,
pinks, &c. also many flowering plants of the
small shrubby kind, as roses, hypericoms, fcc.
Bark beds are also employed with great advan-
tage in forcing frames for the purpose of pro-
ducing early fruit of the apricot, peach, and
grape kinds. See Forcing Frames and Hot-
Walls.
Hot-beds constituted of bark, from the slow
and regular manner in which the heat is in
common evolved, are not so liable, as those of
dung, to injure die plants by their steam ; tbej
are therefore to be preferred for all the more im-
portant purposes of forcing, where the material
can be obtained. The heat of them may be per-*
petuated for a great length of time, by faATing le-
course occasioinlly to &e practice of forking or
turning them over, adding in such operatiolis
about a third part of new tan or bark. The beds
are, however, to be wholly, or in great part, n-
newed every autumn and spring.
Bark Mill, a mill constructed for the pur-
pose of grinding and preparing bark till it is fit
for the use of the tanner. Bark mills, like most
other mills, are worked sometimes by means of
horses, at others by water, at others by wind, or
by steam. Several of these mills are described
in different volumes of the Repertory of Arts and
Manufactures, and an ingenious one in Gregory's
Mechanics, vol. ii. Mr. Chapman*s simple ma-
chinery for this purpose (for which he took out a
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BAE
patent in July 1605) is thus daieribed, as bdaw,
in No. 3, of cfae Retrospect of Arts and Manu-
factufes. It may be worked by lioxses, or in any
of the usual ways. A large horizontal face-wheel
gives motion to a horizontal tumbling shaft,
which unites with the gudgeon of a large rag-
bariel : two other cylinders are posited horison-
tally with respect to this rag-barrel, one on each
side; one of these is a smaller rag-barrel, the
other is a 'spike^roller. A moderate-eized wheel
at one end of the larger rag-barrel has its teeth to
play into the leaves of a pinion on the end of the
spike-roller, thus communicating motion to that
roller and to a large ily-wheel turning on the
same axis: two or three other smaller wheels
and pinions communicate motion from the lareer
to the smaller barrel, and in such manner that
the latter has a considerably less Telocity than the-
former, and turns the contrary way. A hori-
zontal hollow frame contains the barrels and
spike-roller, and the bottom plate of this is
movable by means of screws, so as to be capable
of adjustment, and placed at a suitable distance
from the rag-barrel, to act as a grinding-plate.
Two screws, whose heads are at one end of
this frame, serve to place the smaller rag-barrel
at a convenient distance from the larger. This
large barrel has about twenty rows of plates with
their indentations turning downwards, while the
indentations of the smaller barrel project up-
wards ; so that this latter barrel gathers the bark
and holds it fast, while the larger one tears it to
pieces ; and the spike-roller on the other side of
this larger barrel keeps it clean. A sloping
spout conveys the torn bark flrom the grinaing-
plate to an inclining cylinder, posited like the
cylinders in dressing machines for flour-mills:
tlie wires of this cylinder are of two difif^rent
kinds with respect to fineness, the coarsest beins
lowermost ; and beneath it two bins are placeo,
the one to receive the finer dust, the otner the
coarser or hand-dust from the cylinder; and
next to these stands a basket to receive the torn
bark as it passes through the cylinder.
Bark Fit, a pit or cavity of a long, square, or
other form, a yard or more in depth, appertain-
ing to a hot-hbase or stove, &c. and being formed
internally, or detached externally, in which to
make tan or bark hot-beds, commonly called
bark beds. The dimensions are four, five, or
six feet in width, or more, having length in pro-
portion to that of the hot-house, &c., and when
in detached pits, such as may be required. In
both methods they are formed by a low surround-
ing brick-wall, about a yard in height in the in-
ternal pits, and in the external ones three or four
feet in front, by four or five in the back wall,
riiese different sorts of pits are indispensably ne-
cessary, where bark beds are intended, to make
:he beds in, as the short loose nature of the tan
wrill not admit of being formed into compact re-
nilar beds without the aid of such kinds of en-
closed pits to confine it close together within the
imits that are requisite in the formation of the
3eds.
Bark pits are neces.«ary for various purposes,
11 all hot-houses or stoves, and occasionally in
orcing-houses, &c. And detached bark pits,
listinct from the hot-housf', are likewise very
xuefiU in aU extensive gavdeos oa many oooa*
sions, being of great service in the culture of
many sorts of tender exotics, and in raising va-
rious kinds under different methods of propaga-
tion, as well as for raising and nursing those of
similar kinds in their young and tender growth ;
also occasionally for forcing and raising early
productions of several sorts of hardy plants in
the greatest perfection.
Hot-houses, or stoves of the common widtb>
have in geneml only one pit, extending length-
ways of them, as described above ; but, if they are
of considerable extent in length, the pit is some-
tiroes divided in the middle by an intervening
passage, to render it more convenient in per-
forming tlie necessary culture of the plants.
Some hot-houses, however, of very great width,
have two internal bark |its ranging parallel
lengthways, with an alley or passage extending
between them, which renders tnem more commo-
dious in giving the requisite culture to the plants
that are plunged in the beds, than if the whole
was in one extremely wide pit, in which it would
often be very inconvenient to come at the plants
placed towards the middle of them ; so that two
parallel pits, four or five feetwide each, become
more eligible than one of eight or, ten feet, and,
by having an intervening passage, give a larger
scope, and afford a better current of air, for the
growth of the plants in the beds, as well as ad-
rait of viewing them to greater advantage and
effect.
Detached bark pits should always be erected
in warm dry situations, in a southerly aspect,
and be constantly ranged lengthways in the di-
rection of east and west, or nearly so, in order
to have the whole flront incline ftillv to the south
sun, in a sloping manner, on which to place the
glasses in the same position, being |enerally sta-
tioned either contiguous to the hot-house or
stove, but at a proper distance in front of it, as
the situation and convenience of the place may
admit ; or they may be erected at one or at bom
ends, extending in a line with it but separated
by a passage, between them. But detached bark
pits are sometimes fi>rmed with ridged tops, like
the roo6 of houses, the glasses sloping tp both
sides, being ranged lengthways north and south,
in order to have the benefit of the sun equally on
boA sides, and used for the same purposes as
the otfiera; though the common south-fronting
pits, extending east and west, are more generally
adopted, being less expensive in glass-work, &c.
and, in general, more convenient for different
purposes of the forcing kind. They should be
constructed with walls of brick-work, forming
the upright sides and ends nine inches thick ;
and where fire-flues are intended, the back wall
should be of a proper thickness from the bottom
to admit of having flues in the upper parts, a
fire-place being contrived externally at the
bottom at one end; or, in considerably ex-
tended pits a double fire-place may be fonned
in the middle, beliind, or one at each end, either
endways or in the back part, as may be fought
the most convenient. Some detached pits are
formed of wood-work only, by means of post
and planking, serving for particular occasions,
where no fire heat is required, as flues for that
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purpose cannot be admitted in fuch kinds of
pits ; where additional heat is occasionally ne-
cessary in such pits, it is effected by applying a
strong lining oi hot dung to the outsides; by
which a go^ constant heat may be supported.
In these bark pits sometimes the younger pine-
apple plants are deposited and nursed for the
first year; they are likewise occasionally used
for the purposes of propagating, raising, and
nursing tender plants in spring and summer, &c.
also for forcing early esculent crops, flowers, &c.
The principal detached bark pits should, bow*
ever, be formed with brick-work walls ; as being
the most effectual for general use, and of the
greatest duration.
BARKARY, a tan-house, or place to keep
bark in, for tanners.
BARK-BINDING, a distemper incident to
trees ; cured by slitting the bark, or cutting along
the grain.
' BARK-GALLING, is when the trees are
galled with thorns, &c. It is cured by binding
clay on the galled places. .
BARK HAM (Dr. John), a learned dirine and
antiquary, bom at Exeter about 1572, and edu-
cated at Oxford. He possessed successively se*
veral preferments, and died at Booking in £isex,
of which he was rector and dean, 1642. He
was an accomplished scholar, and an exact his-
torian. He had an excellent collection of coins
and medals, which he gave to archbishop Laud,
and which Laud afterwards left to the university
of Oxford. Speed acknowledges the assistance
he had from Barkhara, whom he styles ' a gen-
tleman, composed of learning, virtue, and cour-
tesy.' The ' Annals ' of John and Henry II. are
reckoned to be chiefly of his writing. He had
also the principal hand in < Guillim's Display of
Heraldry,? 1610, fol.
Barkam-sted. See Berkhamstead.
BARKING OF Trees, the peeling off the
nnd or bark. This must be done, in our climate,
in the month of May, because at that time the
sap separates the bark from the wood. It would
be very difficult to perform it at any other time of
the year, unless the season was extremely wet
and rainy ; for heat and dryness are a very great
hindrance to it.
Barking, a town of Essex, on the river
Roding,' near the Thames, chiefly inhabited by
fishermen. It once had a large monastery. The
Danes destroyed the town in 870, but it was re-
built soon after the coronation of William the
Conqueror. The soil of the vicinity is remark-
ably rich, but the air is unhealthy. Goods are
brought up from the Thames in vessels to its
quay. It is seven miles from London, has a
fair October 22d, and a market on Saturday.
BARKSDALE (Clement), a learned writer,
bom at Winchcombe, in Gloucestershire, in
1609. He received the first part of his educa-
tion at Abingdon-school, ana afterwards went
to Oxford. He became master of the grammar-
school at Hereford; but when the rebels took
that city, he removed to Hawling, in Glouces-
tershire, and opened a school there. At the Re-
storation he was presented to the living of Naun-
ton, and died there in 1687. His writings are,
1. Monumenta Literaria: sive obitus Elogia
Dactoram virorum, ex Historiis J. A. Uniim,
4to. 2. Nympha Libethtis, or the* Cotswold
Muse, 8vo. 1651. 3. life of Hugo Grotius,
12mo. 1652. 4. Memorials of WorSiy Persons,
12mo. 1661 ; and other tracts. He also pub-
lished several sermons.
BARKWAY, a town of Hertfordshire, on the
nroad from London to York; three mfies
Royston, eighteen from Cambridge, aad
thirty-five from London. It has a £ur July 20,
and a market on Friday.
BARLAAM, a learned monk of the fourteendi
century, was a native of Calabria. Having gone
to Constantinople to study the Greek language,
he gained the mvor of the emperor Androniciis,
of whom he received the abb«y of Sl Sarionr,
and was employed to negociate a reunion between
the two churches. The emperor also employed
him to solicit the assistance of the Christian
Erinces against the infidels j and on his retara
e occupied his pen in writing against tlfe La-
tins. He, however, quickly changed his princi-
ples on being made bishop of Gerace, in Italy,
and commenced an opponent of the Greeb.
He died in 134'8. His letters were printed in
Ingolstadt in 1604. He was a great oppooeni
of Greg. Palama and the He^chasts.
Barlaamites, in church history, the foUoweis
of Barlaam.
BARL^US (Caspar), professor of philosophy
at Amsterdam, and one of the best Latin poets
of the seventeenth century. He defended Ar-
minius; and showed hb abilities as an historian
by his relation of what passed in Brasil, during
the government of prince Maurice, of Nassau^
published in 1647. He died in 1648.
Barl£US (Lambert), professor of Greek at
Leyden. In conjunction with Rivius, he trans-
lated the confession of the reformed churches
into Greek, and published the Timon of Ludan,
with notes; also. Annotations on Hesiod's
Theogony. He died in 1655.
BARLAND (Adrian), a learned Dutch critic,
was professor of eloquence at Louvain. He
published Notes on Terence, Virgil, Pliny the
younger, and Menander; Aji Abridgement of
Universal History ; The Chronicles of the Dukes
of Brabant ; De Literatis urbis Romae Priocipi-
bus, &c. He died at Louvain in 1542.
BARLERIA, Snap-Dragon, in botany, a
genus of the angiospermia order, and didy-
namia class of plants, ranking in the natural
method under the fortieth order personate: cau
quadripartite, two of the stamina much less
than the rest ; the capsule quadrangular, bilo-
cular, bivalved, elastic, and without claws ; and
the seeds are two. There are tea speaes;
all natives of the warm parts of America, and
therefore required to be kept in a stove, and
treated like other tender exotics. They possess
no great beauty nor any remarkable property.
BARLETTA, a sea-port town of Italy, in Na-
files, in the Terra di Bari, with a bisbop*s see.
t is situated on the Gulf of Venice, diirty miles
south-east of Manfredonia.
Barletta (Gabriel), a Dominican of singular
feme in the fifteenth centuiv. He was bora at
Barietta, in the kingdom of Naples, about 1400.
'His sermons>' says Dr. Watkinsi < exhibit such
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667
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a Biixlan of feligioas and eomic expressions,
•oblime and vulgar ideas, the serious and the ri-
diculous, and, what is more remaricable, the
whole written in such a haiharous language,
compounded of Greek, Latin, and Italian, as to
have rendered them one of the most extraordi-
naiy productions of literature. Such, however,
was his £Eune among his contemporaries, as to
bave occasioned this proverb: ^nescit piedicare
qui nes^it Barleitare/ From this singular and
raie merit, his sermons were eagerly sought after
and lead, and thej quickly passed through more
than twenty editions. The best is that of Ve-
nioe, in 1577, two vols. 8vo.
BAHLEY, n. i. derived by Junius from 13
hordeum . ; grain of which malt is made. It hath
a thick spike ; the calyx, husk, awn, and flower,
are like those of wheat or lye, but the awns are
rough; the seed b swelling in the middle, and^
for the most part, ends in a sharppoint, to which
the hvaka are closely united. Tne species are,
1. Common long-eared barley. 2. Winter or
equarebarley, by some called htg. 3. Sprat bar-
ley, or bati edoor barley. AW these sorts of bar-
ley are sown in the spring of the year, in a dry
time. In some venr dry light land, the barley
is sown early in March ; but in strong clayey
•oils it is not sown till April. The square barley,
or bigf is chiefly cultivated in the north of Eng-
land and in Scotland; and is hardier than the
other wotts.^—MiUer, Barley is emollient, moist-
ening, and expectorating ; barley was chosen by
Hippocrates as a proper food in inflammatory
distempers.— *ilr6tf<Aiii>< on Aliments.
Ba'rletbbake, n. t . a kind of rural play.
By neighboun pnis'd she went abroad thereby,
At haiUjfhrakt her sweet swift feet to tiy. Siiu^.
Ba'blet-bboth, n. $. from barley and broth;
t a low word sometimes used for strong beer.
I Can sodden water
A drench for sarreyn'd jades, their lariey hnth.
Decoct their cold blood to such valiant heat f
t Shakspean.
Barley-cobn, n. $, from barley and corn ; a
! grain of barle;^ ; the begmning of our measure of
length; the tmrd part of an inch,
f A long, long Journey, choak'd with brakes and thorns,
b HI meator'd by ten thoosand barkjf conu. TiekeU
Bablbt-vow, n. t . from bariey and mow ; the
place where reaped barley is stowed up.
inienever by yon haHey mow I pass.
Before my eyes win trip the tidy Uss. 0^.
\ Babley Bibd, in zoology, a name given in
, Sussex to the fringilla spinus, or siskin, on ao-
, count of its visiting them in barley time.
Babley, in botany. See Hobdeum and
Agbicultvm. The principal use of barley in
England is for makingbeer; in order to which
it is first malted. See Bbewivo. The Spaniards,
among whom malt liquors are little known, feed
their horses with barley as we do with oats. In
this country barley is a frequent ingredient in
broths.
6\BLEY, Fbekch, and Babley, Pxabl,
barley freed of the husk by a mill ; the distinc-
tion between the two being, that the pearl
barle? it reduced to the size of small shot, all
but the very heurt of the grain being ground
away.
Babley-Wateb is a decoction of either of
these, reputed soft and lubricating, of frequent
use in physic. This well known decoction is a
very useful drink in many disorders; and is re-
commended, with nitre, by some authors of re-
putation, in slow fevers.
Babley-Bboth. See Bablby.
Babley-Cobn , is used to denote a long mea-
sure, containing in length one-third of an inch,
and in breadth one-eighth. The French carpen-*
ters also use barley«K»m, grain d*orge, as equi-
valent to a line, or one-twelfUi of an inch.
Babley-Cobn, grain d'orge Fr. ; is also used
in building foY a little cavity betireen the
moulding of joiners' work, serving to separate
or keep them asunder; thus called, because
made with a kind of plane of the same name.
BARLOW (Francjs), ^ an English painter,
bom in Lincolnshire. On his coming to London,
he was placed with a limner ; but his genius led
him chiefly to drawing of birds, fish, and otlier
animals. There are six books of animals from
his drawing^, and his etchings are numerous;
his illustrations of i&sop is his greatest work.
He died in 1702. There is something pleasing
in his composition and manner, though neither
is excellent. His birds, in general, are better
than his beasts.
Bablow (Thomas), bom in 1607, was ap-
pointed fellow of Queen's college, Oxford, in
1633, and two years after was chosen reader of
metaphysics to the university. He was keeper
of the Bodleian, and in 1657 was chosen provost
of Queen's college. After the Restoration, he
was nominated one of the commissioners for re-
storing the members expelled in 1646. He
wrote at this time The Case of Toleration in
Matters of Religion. In 1675 he was made
bishop of Lincoln. After the popish plot, he
published several tracts against the Roman Car
tholics; in which he shows an uncommon ex-
tent of learning and polemical skill. When the .
duke of York^ however, was .proclaimed king, ho
took every opportunity of expressing bis affec-
tion towards him ; but after the Revolution, as
readily voted that the king had abdicated his
kingdom; and was very zealous in excluding
those clergymen who refused the oaths. His
moderation, to call it by the softest name, was
very great ; so great, indeed, as often to bring
the firmness of his character into question. But
casuistry, which was his most distinguished ta-
lent, reconciles seeming contradictions. He died
at Buckden, in Huntingdonshire, in 1691, aged
e^h^r-five.
Bablow (Joel), an American poet, the
author of the Columbiad, was bom at Reading,
in the state of Connecticut, in the year 1 757. He
. received his education at Dartmouth Colle^ ;
and in the latter part of the straggle which hb
country maintained for independence, served in
he armv. When his services were no longer re-
tuired m the capacity of a soldier, he commenced
the task of benefiting his country, and promoting
his own fortune as a public wnter; and, having
enpged in partnership with a bookseller and
prmter at Hulford^ conducted a newsraper there
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BARLOW.
for two yekn. His edncatioli had been directed
tn the profession of law, although the troubles of
tlie American union had, for a time, diverted his
mind fvorn legal pursuits ; and on the restoration
of tranquillity, and the establishment of inde-
pendence, he resumed his original determination.
He was accordingly called to the bar in 17B5,
and practised for some time with success. Two
years afterwards he published his Vision of Co-
lumbus, a poem in nine books, which em-
braced almost all the events of the epic, which
^e subsequently gave the world under the title
of the Columwad. In the same year, or nearly
about the same time, he accepted of the situation
of agent to the Ohio Land Company. In this
t».pacity he came to England to sell their lands,
and to engage settlers to occupy them. The
same employment led him to France, where he
remained durhig the era of the French revolu-
tion ; and as he witnessed in his own country a
straggle for liberty and independence, ending in
the most brilliant success, so he sympathised,
without reserve^ in the feelings of the French
popular party, and anticipated from th^r efforts
the most glorious results. Neither the precipi-
tate violence with which the demagogues pro-
secuted their objects of reform, nor the atrocities
df a licentious mob, who received the watch-
word of havoc and bloodshed from the fierce
spirits now called into action, nor the acts of
tyrannical injustice committed under the sacred
<name of liberty, could deter this intrepid repub-
lican from admiring and applauding tne work of
revolutiOtt. Nor was he satisfied with bestowing
%n ft his own individual tribute of encourage-
ment and approbation. He offered himself as
one of the aeputies from the London Constitu-
tional "Society, who should carry to ^e hall of
'the French convention lihe congratulations of
Eneland upon the glorious prospect of a regener-
ated people, and to unite their wishes with that
assembly for the general diffusion over the world,
df the freedom that assembly had conferred on
their country. About the same time he pub-
lished three political pamphlets, containing his
opinions on passing events, and preaching the
doctrine of reform. One of these is entitledt
Advice to the privileged Orders, and was a,
Ihe time read with great avidity. His political
lucubraitions, and the part he took in conveying
to the national convention of France the address
of English subjects, were regarded with a jealous
eye by the administration of this country, and
rendered it unadvisable in him to return to
Brttiiin. He continued therefore at Paris, and
was much connected with ttie leaders of the Gi-
ronde party. Washington, being then president
Of tke United States, appointed him, in 1795,
envoy to the Batrbary powers, and with them, in
the following year, he negocialed treaties of
peace. From the year 1796 till 1804, he prin-
cipally resided at Paris, kept an elegant house,
entertained occasionally the Americans, or the
Yew English who could visit that city, and gained
the esteem of the natives by the politeness and
urbanity of his manners, lie thus had the mis-
fortune to see the tree of liberty, Whose roots had
been watered with the best blood of France, cut
dotra by the axe of a military despot He had
the misfortune to see tbo«e ferocfons eitiBBiit
who, at first, pretended a desire to lediw under
its shadow, only maddened with its fruits, and,
in the paroxysms of the fury which they inspifed,
rushing forth to conquer and oppress the nafim.
In 1804 Mr. Barlow resolved to return lo Ame-
rica, and in his way thither visited Strand, in
the metropolis he was well received by muiy who
had experienced his hospitality at Paris, and re-
mained for a few months to enjoy their society.
He was cured of his admiration for French
liberty, and deplored the estaUishment of the
imperial power ; but bis preference for a re*
puDlic seemed to have remained undiaaged.
After returning to America, he occupied him-
self with revising, emending, and- enlarfring his
poem on American history, which, upoa republi-
cation> he entitled the Columbiad. It appeared hi
1808, in a splendid volume, printed at Phiia<
delphia, adorned with engravings, and was Ihe
most magnificent work that had issued f roAi the
American press. But its reception in the lite-
rary worid was not coaformable> with the splen-
dor of its appearance. It was read and criti-
cised in this country when it first appeared, but
it never bad much cireulatioB, and we believe |
as now almost forgotten. Mr. Barlow's prin-
ciples and conduct could not ^1 to render hin
a favorite with the ruling party in the American
states^ and as he was» from long residence in
Paris, well acquainted with the French chaiM-
ter, and the principles of the French gOTeranent,
he was employed by president Maddison, m
1812, in amission to r ranee. The relaiioas ef
America with the French empire were then in a
very intricate undecided state, but requiring a
speedy understanding and prompt adjustment ;
and as the emperor, in his Russian expeditioa,
had carried the powers of the government along
with him, Mr. Barlow set out from Paris to en«
counter Uie severities of a Polish winter in ob-
taining an interview with the Great Napoleon.
He was not favored with a sight of the empe^
ror ; and though he lived till he returned from
Moscow, the swords of the Cossacks had ren-
dered his lustre less dazzling, and a treaty of
alliance with him of less importance. He died
near Cracow, in Poland, about the beginning of
December, 1812.
Barlowe (William), bishop of Chidieitery de-
scended of an ancient famfly in Wales, was
bom in the county of Essex. In Ins JT^nth he
favored the Reformation ; and went to Uennany
to be instructed by Luther and other preaehers
of the new doctrine. How long he continued a
Protestant is uncertain: but he wa» a r^ular
canon in the Augustine monastery of St O^rth,
in Essex^ and studied at Oxford with the bromers
of diat order, where he took the degree of D. D.
He was then made prior of the convent at
Bisham, in Berkshire ; and afterwards succeeded
to the several priories of Blackmore, T>ptree,
Lega, Bromhole, and Haverford West. On the
dissolution of abbeys, he resigned not only with
a good grace, but persuaded several abbots to
follow his example. Henry VII. was so pleased
with his ready obedience on this occasion, that
he sent him, in 1535, on an embassy to Scot-
land; in the same year made him bidiop of Su
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669 BAR
Asaph; m two months after transUilfid him to
the see of St. David's, and in 1547 to that of
Bath and Welb. During diis time our good
bishop, as Appears from his epistle to the king,
was, or pretended to be, a staunch papist. It
was written in 1533, tod in it he regrets that he
had * made certayn bokes, and soffired them to be
imprinted, as the tretise of buryaU of the masse,
&c. In these tretises I perceive and acknow-
ledge myself grievously to have erred against the
blessed sacrament of the altare ; disallowing the
masse and denying purgatory, widi slanderous
infamy of the pope and my lord cardinal,' &c.
However, when £dward Vi. came to Ae crown,
he was ^in a protestant; and for that reason,
on queen Mary^ accession, was deprived of his
bishopric, and sent prisCner to the fleet, where
he continued some time. At length he found
means to escape, and join die other Ebglish Pro-
testants in Germany. Upon queen Elizabeth's
accession, he was raised to the see of Chichester,
and soon after made a prebendary of Westmin-
ster. He died in 1568, and was boried at Chi-
chester. He had five daughters, each of whom
married a bishop. He wrote, 1. The BuryaU of
the Masse. 2. The Climbing of Fryers and
Religious Persons, portred with Figures. 9.
Christian Homelies. 4. A Book upon Cosmo-
graphy. 5. The Godly and Pious institution of
a Christum Man, commonly called the Bishop's
Book ; and several other works. He is said to
have been the translator of the Apocrypha, as
far as the Book of Wisdom. • His letters to M.
Parker, are in MS. in Corpus Christi College,
Cambridge, Misc. i. 445.
Bablowe (William), a mathematician and di-
vine, the son of the bishop, was bom in Pem^
brokeshire, whilst his father was bishop of St
David's. In 1560 he was entered ot Baliol
college, Oxford; and in 1564 took a degree in
arts, which having completed by determina-
tion, he left the imiversity and went to sea;
hut in what capacity is uncertain: however, he
acquired consiaerable knowledge in the art of
navigation. About 1573 he became prebendary
of Winchester, and rector of Easton near that
'crtY. In 1 588 he was made prebendaiy of Litch-
field, which he exchanged tor the place of trea-
surer. Some years after, he was made chaplain
to prince Henry, the son of king James I. ; and
in 1614 archdeacon of Salisbury. He was the
first writer on the magnet He died in 1625,
aodwas buried at Easton. His works are, 1.
The Navigator's Supply, containing manv things
of principal importance belonging to Naviga-
tion, and the use of divers instruments framed
chiefly for that purpose. Load. 1597, 4to. De-
dicated to Robert, earl of Essex. 2. Magnetical
Advertisements, or divers pertinent observations
and approved experiments concerning the natuite
and properties of the Loadstone. Lond. 1616,
4io. 3. A Brief Discovery of the idle animadver-
sions of Mark Ridley, M. D. upon a treati:fe en-
titled Magnetical Advertisements. Lota. 1618, 4t0.
BARM. Goth, barm, Ang. Sax. barm, beatm.
To cherish ; to foster as in the bosom.
And in hire bamte this litel child the leld.
With fall sad face, and gan the child to bletse.
And lolled it, and a&er gan it kinsc.
Chaucer, The Clerhm Tdir.
A aeint tke wered, barred all of ailk,
A barmeeUah eke at white as morwe milk.
Id. The Mmsree TeXs.
BAaif', ) Welsh, hurm. Sax. beOjim. Yeast :
Barm'y. S the ferment put into drink, to make
it work ; and into bread to lighten and swell it.
Are 3roa not he
That eoine*ime makes the drink to bear no fterm $
Mifliead ni|^t waad'ien, Imnghing at their harm T
Try the force of Imagination ii|Km staying the woick.
ing of beer, when the ftorm is )^ infte it* JSomh.
Tfaeir jovial nights in frolics and in play
They pass, to drive the tedious hours away ;
And their cold stonuichs with orewn'd goblets cheer.
Of windy cidw, and of Aomiy beer. Drpdmt*
Barm is ssdd to have been first used by the
Celtie in the composition of bread. About the
time of Agricola's entrance into Lancashire, a new
sort of loaf had been introduced at Rome ; which
Was formed only of water and flour> and much
esteemed ibr its lightness ; and it was called the
water-cake from its simple composition, and die
Parthian roH from its original inventors. But
even this was not comparable to the French or
Spanish bread for its lightness. The use of
curmi, see Ale, and the knowledge of brewing,
had acquainted the Celtse with an ineredient
for their bread, which was much better calculated
to render'it light and pleasant, than the leaven,
the eggs, the milk, or the wine and honey d
other natiops. This was the spume which arose
on the surface of their curw in fermentation, and
which the Welch denominate burm, and we
barm. The Celtse of Gaul, of Spain, and most
probably, therefore, of South Britain, had long
used it; and their bread was, in consequence of
this, superior in lightness to that of any ether
nation in the world. See Baking, Bread, and
Yeast.
'BAR-MASTER. See Bargh-Masteb.
BARMEKIN, a hill of Scotland, in thepa^
rish of Echt, in Aberdeenshire^ of a corneal
shape. On die top of it are the remains of an
ancient fortification, respecting which tradition is
silent. Two dry stone walls and three ditches,
all circular, are visible. The inner wall ap*
pears to have been twelve feet thick, and 330
yards in circumference: the outer about six
feet thick and the outer ditch 560 yards in cir-
cumference.
BARMOU'ni, a small market and sea<>ort
town, in Merionethshire, South Wales. It is
very pleasantly situated, and is much frequented
as a bathing-place : 222 miles from London, aod
ten from Dalgellv,
BARMINE denotes such mine or ore as is
adjudged at a court of Barghmote.
BARMOTE. See Barghmbte.
BARN, 17. & n. See to 6ar, bakgain, Goth, to
defend; to protect. A covered enclosure in
which grain, &c. is protected and defended.
But of herr songe it was as load and yeme
As any swallow sitting on a heme -,
Therto she^coad skip and make a game
As any kid or calf Ibllowing Us dame. Ckneir.
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660
BAR
Wh51e tha cock wl^ UtcIj din
Scatten the rear or darknees thin.
And to the stack or the ham door
StouUj stmts his dames before. MKUam.
And as an owl that on a batm
Sees a mouse creeping in the com
Sits stUl, and shuts his round blue eyes
As if he slept, until he spies
The little beast within his reach.
Then starts and seises on the wretch. Hudihnt.
In vain the harm expect their promis'd load ;
Nor harm at home, nor reeks are heap'd abroad.
Diyden.
I took notice of the make of harm here: having
laid a frame of wood, they place, at the four comers,
four blocks, in such a shape, as neither mice nor
vermin can creep up. > Addiron,
An owl of grave deport and mien.
Who (like the Turk) was seldom seen«
Within a ham had chose his station
As fit for prey and contemplation. €fajf»
As near a ham, by hunger led,
A peacock with the poultry fed ;
All viewed him with an envious eye
And mock'd his gaudy pagaentry. Id.
Barn. See Bearn. The past participle of
hemxM^ to bear a child; bearem or bom; still in
use.
Goodlucke (and't lae thy will), what have we here !
meicy on's, a harm, a very pretty harm,
Shahpeare. Wiater Nighf* 7ai^
BARNABAS (St.), was bom at Cyprus, and
descended of the tribe of Levi, whose Jewish
ancestors are thought to have retired thtdier to
secure themselves from violenoe during the
troublesome times in Judea. His proper name
was Joses, to which, after his conversion to
Christianiw, the apostles added that of Barna-
bas, signifying the son of consolation. The
time of hv o^nveision is uncertain; but he is
generally esteemed one of the seventy disciples
chosen by our Saviour himself. At Antioch.
Paul and Barnabas had a contest, which ended
in their separation : what foUowi^ with respect
to St. Barnabas is not related in the Acts of the
Apostles. Some writers say, he went into Italy,
and founded a church at Milan. He suffered
martyrdom at Salamis, where some Jews, being
come out of Syria, assailed him as he was dis-
Suting in the synagogue, and stoned him to
eath. He was buried by his kinsman Mark,
whom he had taken with him, in a cave near
that city. The remains of his body are said to
hare been discovered in the retgn of the emperor
Zeno, with a copy of St Matthew's Gospel,
written with his own hand, lyins on his breast.
Barnabas's Day (St.), a Christian festival,
celebrated on the 11th of June.
Barnabas's Epistle (St.), an apocryphal
work ascribed to St. Barnabas, and frequently
cited by St. Clement of Alexandria and Origen.
It was first published in Greek, from a copy of
father Hugh Menard, a Benedictine monk. An
ancient yersion of it was found in a MS. of the
abbey of Corbe^, near 1000 years old. Vos-
sius published it in 1656, with the epistles of
St. Ignatius.
Barnabas's Gospel (St.), another apocryphal
work, ascribed to St. Barnabas, the Apostle,
wherein the history of Jesus Christ is related in
a oMnner very different from the account given
us by the four EyangeUsts. The Mahommedana
have this gospel in Arabic, and it corresponds
very well witn those traditions which Mahomet
followed in his Koran. It was, probably, a
forgery of some nominal Christians ; and aner«>
ward^ altered and interpolated by the Mahom-
medans, the better to serve their purpose.
BARNABITES, a religious order, founded in
the sixteenth century by £ree Italian gentlemen,
who had been advised by a famous preacher of
those days to read carenilly the epistles of St.
Paul. Th^ are regular priests of die conzr^a-
tion of St. Paul ; hence they were called Clerks
of St. Pa!ul; and Bamabites, because they per-
formed their first exercise in a church of St*
Barnabas, at Milan. Their habit is black; and
their office is to instruct, catechise, and serre in
mission.
BA'RNACLE, n. t., probably of beajin. Sax. a
child, and aac. Sax. an oak. A kind of thell-
fish that grows upon timber that lies in the sea.
A bird, like a goose, fiibulously supposed to
grow on trees.
It is beyond even an elheiit'e crcdnlity and impo-
denee lo affinn, that the lint men Bki^t grow upom
trees, ae the ttery goee aboat haniaeler; or might be
the lice of some vast prodigious animals^ whose spe-
cies is now extinct.
And from the most refin'd of sainta
▲s naturally grow miscreants.
As hamocUr turn Soland geese
In th' islands of the Orcades.
Barnacle, an instrument made commonly of
iron for the use of farriers, to hold a horse by the
nose, to hinder him from struggling when an in-
cision is made. It is also called horse-twitcber,
or brake. The barnacle differs from pinchers, as
the Utter have handles whereby to npld then ;
whereas the former is &stened to the note with
a lace or cord.
Barnacle, in ichthyology, a kind of shell-
fish, which cleaves to the bottoms and sides of
ships in certain seas; the same with .what is
called by sailors clam; by naturalists, cond>a
anatifera. There are divers species of shell fishes
included under the denomination barnacles:
some reduce them to two, vis. the balanus and
pinna marina. See an account of several rare
species of barnacles, by John Ellis Eaq. Philoao-
pnical Transactions, vol. i. part u. No. 113.
Barnacle or Bernaclb, a species of Anas,
common in the western isles of Scotland. — See
Anas. Concerning the origin and species of
this bird many fables have b^ advanced. Seve-
ral authors have represented it as the produce of
a shell-fish ; but later naturalists, on better
grounds, refer it to the natural manner of gene-
ration; making it a real goose, produced like
others from an egg. Some redcon the barnacle
the same vrith the anser Scoticus, or Soland goose ;
others will have it to be the same widi the French
macreuse. Dr. Robinson makes the barnacle to
be of die goose, and the macreuse of the dnck
kind. The same author shows, that the mac-
reuse is the scoter, or anas niger minor, described
by Ray and Willugliby, contrary to die opinion
of Mr. Cattier, who took it for the greater coot
of Bellonius.
BARNADESIA, in botany, a genus of the
polygamia sequalis order, belonging to the syn-
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\ I
^ f
ill 111
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BAR
5G1
BAR
genesia class of plants ; the characten of which
are: the cor. is radiated; the cal. is naked,
iiflbricated, and pungent; the pappus of the
rays feathery, of the disk bristly and retrofracted.
There is but one species, yiz. B. spinosa, a native
of America.
BARNARD, or BBRNAan (John), the son of
John Barnard, gent, was born at Castor in Lin-
colnshire, and educated at Cambridge. After
several preferments, he was made a prebendary
of the church of Lincoln. He wrote Censura
Clerica, against scandalous ministers not being
fit to be restored to church livings ; the Life of
. Dr. Hey 1 in ; and several other works. He died
at Newark, Aug. 17th, 1783.
Barnard (Sir John), M.P. for London, a
spirited member of the opposition party, in the
reigns of Geo. L and II. He was bom at Read-
injg^ in Berkshire ^in 1685. His &ther was a
wine merchant, to 'whose business he succeeded.
He particularly distinguished himself, on being
appointed by the body of wine merchants to
state before the house of lords their objections to
a bill then pending in that house ; and, from the
abilitities he displayed on that occasion, was no-
minated, in 1721, candidate for the city of Lon-
don, and elected the following year. In 1 725
he receiyed the thanks of the common council,
for opposing a bill introducing a change in the
city ejections. In 1727 he presented a bill for
the better regulation of seamen. In 1730 he
made a violent opposition to the bill prohibiting
British subjects from lending money to foreign
princes. In 1732 he received the honor of
knighthood from Geo. II. whom he attended
with an address; and, in 1733, he acquired
much popularitv in opposing Sir R. Walpole's
excise bill, which was at last obliged to be relin-
quished. In 1735 he introduced a bill to limit
the number of play-houses, which passed two
years after, and is still in force. In 1737 he
formed a scheme for reducing the interest on the
national debt, which was idterwards adopted.
In 1786 h^ and his brother-in-law, Sir R. Gods-
chall, were elected sheriffs, and in 1738 he was
chosen lord mayor of London. He died at
Clapham in 1766, aged eighty, after repeatedly
receiving the thanks of his fellow citizens for hi^
public conduct.
Barnard, a township of Vermont, in Wind-
sor county; sixty-five miles north-east of Ben-
nington.
Barnard's Castle, a town and barony on
the Tees, in the county of Durham, belonging to
the earl of Darlington. It is fifteien miles from
Richmond, thirty south-west of purham, and
244 north-west of London ; has a market on
Wednesday, and fairs on Whit-wednesday, St.
James's day, and 25th July.
BARNAUL, a town of Siberia, on the river
of the same name, which lalls into the Obi. It
consists of 1000 houses, built chiefly of wood,
with several pubnc edifices of stone. This town
is the seat of the supreme chancery of the mines
contained in thi> great Altaian mountain chain,
and has under its Jurisdiction 40,000 peasants.
Many of the found nes, however, are alnmdoned
from the want of fuel, which has been exhausted.
There is still ono mine in the vicinity of Barnaul,
Vol. UI.
very productive both in gold and silver. A
foundry of bells, and manufactories of tiles and
glass, are carried on in the town. Distant 100
miles south-east of Kolhyvane.
BARNAVE (Anthony), a victim of French
republicanism, was bom in 1762. Having be-
come a member of the national assembly, he was
there distinguished by the warmth and zeal which
he displayed. On the stopping of the king at
Varennes, he was appointed to conduct his mar
jesty and family to Paris, in doing which he
showed the most resnectful attention to the royal
captives. He was afterwards accused of being a
royalist, and guillotined at Paris in 1794. .
BARNAY, an ancient fort of Dunse, in Ber-
wickshire. Dr. Anderson of Chimside says,
these Bamays, or Bamekins, were a kind of forts
commonly placed, during tiie feudal system, at
some distance from the baron's castle, to defend
the bridge or passage to it
BARN£S (Joshua), a learned divine, bom in
London in 1654. He was educated at Christ's
hospital, from whence he removed to Emanuel
college, Cambridge, where he was chosen queen's
proitNSor of Greek in 1695 ; a language he wrote
and spoke with the utmast fiicility. His first
publication was a whimsical tract, entitled (/cra-
nia, or a New Discovery of the little sort of people
called Pygmies. After that appeared his Life of
Edward III. In 1700, when he had published
many of his works, Mrs. Mason, of Hemmingfbrd,
in Huntingdonshire, a widow lady of between forty
and fifty, with a jointure of x200 per annum,
came to Cambridge, and desired leave to settle
£100 a-year upon him after her deaUi ; which he
politely refused, unless she would also con-
descend to make him happy with her person ;
and they were accordingly married. He wrote
several other books, viz. Sacred Poems; the Life
of Oliver Cromwell, the Tyrant; several dramatic
pieces ; a Poetical Paraphrase on the History of
Esther, in Greek verse, with a Latin translation,
&c.; and he published (editions of Euripides^
Anacreon, and Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, with
notes and a Latin translation. This excellent man
died in 1712, in the fifty-eighth year of liis
age.
Barnes (Robert), a martyr for the doctrines of
Luther, was brought up to the church, obtained
the degree of D. D., and became chaplain to
Henry VIII., by whom he was sent to Germany,
to consult with the divines of diat countv re-
specting the lawfulness of his divorce. While
in that country he adopted the doctrines of the
Reformation, and on his return to England pro-
pagated his new opinions with such xeal that he
was taken into custody, brought to the stake,
and burnt at Smithfield in 1540. He was author
of a treatise on Justification, and several other
tracts.
BARNET, Chipping Barnet, or High Bar-
net, a town on the top of a hill, partly in Mid-
dlesex, and partly in Hertfordshire, eleven miles
north by west of London. It is a great thorough-
fiire; has a market on Wednoday, and two
fairs, on April 8th, 9th, lOth, and September 4th,
5th, 6th. Near it two great battles were fought
between the houses of York and Lancaster, in
1468, and 1471 ; in the last of which the earl of
20
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BAR
562
BAR
Warwick and 10,000 men weK alain. Iq If 40
Sir Jeremy Samhrooke, Bait, erected a stone
column with an inscription on the spot.
BARN £V FXDT (John d'Olden), thecelebmted
statesman, and one of the founders of the civil
liberty of Holland, was born about 1550. He
haid a noble bold air, an exproaisive eye, and
wa» an able speaker. He possessed a genius
equally suited to coipmeroe, finance, and nego-
eiatien; the art of pushing any favoiite point
wi^out seening importunate, and of withdraw-
ifig without appearing indolent; the singular
ialent of penetrating the secrets of others, whilst
be concealed his own. His merit raised him to
the first dignitiee in the goyemment, where he
showed himself an enemy to injustice, bribery,
.parties, and novelties, even though they might
appcnr useful. He undertook to restore the
credit of his country, and had the good fbitune
to succeed. He was the chief author of the truce
in 1599, which was concluded for twelve years,
A>etween the Arch Duke and the states. He
bad, by his assiduity prevented the latter from
takiag part in the troubles of Bohemia, of which
•Maurice, prince of Oran^, was willing to avail
himself, to advance his fortune. Rarneveldt,
who petfceive4 the designs of this ambitions
^wrinee, judged it was his duty to oppose him,
4ind Maurioe never pardoned his seal fov the li-
berty of tbe republic ; but having got his partisans
p> iMscoae him of a design to deliver his eonntr^
into the hands of the Spanish moneroh» fn this
Absurd eharge, he was tried by twenW-fix com*
inissaries deputed from the seven provmqee, oooi-f
demped to. lose hisU(e and his fortuieoimfiscated.
lie heard the sentence with great eompwure,
* I have served the states,' said he, * thirty yean
«9 pensionary of Holland, and the city of Rotter->
dcim ea pennonary tea years before. My laboft
•Dd fidelity deserved another reward. If you
will bave my blood, it should seeei^ thf4 yQ\i
might spave my fortane, and not min, en my
«M9Q0unt, my wife aad' children.' He was be«
tiei^ed in 1619.
.BAaNi:vEu>T(HenatusandWilliam),soBsefthe
tbQvc, with a vww of revenging their ftither*»
death, formed a conspiracy against the stadtbolder^
wbich was discovered- William fled ; but B««atus
was teken and condemned to die ; which ftital
Mauaehuielt^ bounded on tke east and asuth
by the Atlaalic Ocean, north by Cape Cod Ba^
west by,Buzsard's Bay, and aortfa-weit b3r Fly-
mouth oounty, where it is but Ibur miles bmd
This oounty lies neariy in the form of a msn's
arm when bent, with his hand turned inwards.
The whole ettent on tlie outer shore, from Wood-
end to Buzaard*s Bay, is about 120 miles; and
the inner shore on Cape Cod is nearly seventy ;
its greatest breadth ia not more than two milei.
It is in general a barren sandy soil, perhaps more
en than amy other part of the eastern states. Tin
trees which grow here are mostly piteb-pine.
it abounds with ponds of fresh wat^r, generalW
well stored with nsh. The princi^ nreduee is
Indian com and rye. It is divideo into ten
townships, via. Bamataple, Falmouth, Sandviii,
Yarmouth, Harvrioh, Eastham, WdlBeet, Chat*
ham, Truro, and Province-town. The chief
towns are Barnstable and Falmouth.
Bahnstablb, a port of entry and post town of
Massachusetts ) situated in the above county, st
the bead of a bay of its own ^me. it ii
seventy-two miles south*«ast by soutb ef Bofiton,
and 119 of Philadelphia, Long. '(^ 5' B. ht,
44° 43' N.
Baiitstabls, or BAftifSTAFi.^ a •mrmrt
t«WB of Devonshire, eeated on t^ nvw Taw,
over which there is a good bridge. ItiiikcsN
poratien town, and sends two memben to par-
tivnent. It liet thiity-sU miles north ef Esettr,
and 191 from liOndon, has a market on Fridsy,
and ^ra, Friday befiDre April 91, Septembei 19,
4od second Friday in Deoemhv, which lait te
dmp toll free.
BAANSTEAD, a tonmdup of New Hsnp*
shire, in Stafford cottnty, thirty-^o mil«s noim-
wMt of Portfmou^
BARNWELU i e. Bcifu'e Well, a vBm
about half fi mile north-east of Cambridge. Is
1091^, ^ P^<^7 ^^i fbunded in Cambridge »
honor Of St. Giles, by liugplina, a Nonnan lady,
t^aganiu Peverell, a fevorite of Henry U re-
ceived a gra^t of the property; and fiitop 4e
vte upon which i\ had been commn«4 K»
4ma)Uhe transferred i| to the spot now called
Bt^well, where mai\y of the ancient wnlli still
remaiti. A pottery i^r is held yearly heie> (m i
common called Midsummer-ereen, whidi cMr
menoes on Srt. John's day, and lasu a lortnigbt
eircivmstfMK^e has immortalised the memory«f his ... ,_ ^,_„__ _ ,_,, . _._ . . _
moU^er, of whom the following aaeodote is re- It assumed a legal form as early as the lei^ ^
corded, She soliclteda pardon for Henatua; upon Henry III., and is proclaimed by the heads of
which Maurice expreraed his surprise, that she the university. Another fiur, called ^M>ndge
should do that for her son which she had not to, azmually held in a meadow in this fW^
done for her husband* To this jhe replied with in- has been traoe< by Dr. Stnkely to the timei of
^igl^ation, < { would not aak a ]M^on for my Caiaoains. Assured dooumenu fiace it up to
h«)9baod, be<»iise he was innocent. I solicit it king John, who granted it for the use and lasia-
for my son, because he is guilty.' tenance of a hospital of lepers, whi<^ beiepoi^
QAB|fEVBi.irr, an island, south of Terra del sessed a chapel dedicated to St. Mary Mag4eles»
Fuego. Long. 66° 58* W., lat. 55*» 49' S. which is atiU in existence. By a charter w
BAHNFIARP, in ornithology, the name of a Henry VIIL this fhir was traiftned to tt»
bird usually seen at sea, and esteemed as a fore- mayor and eorporation of Cambridge <* "^
Wier of bad weather. It is about the size of a payment of 1000 marks. On the fourth of Sen-
sparrow, its neck and back are black, and ito tember the ground is marked out Ob ««
WeasI and belly gray; its fetA are red, and ito eighteenth, the university officers fint,aiid men
hill black and lomewhat broful. It skims very the oiJicers of the corporation, proclaim the wr.
nimibly along the sur^Eioe of the vrater. which lasto fourteen daya. One of these days
BaHNSTABI^E. a cQiftn^ and peninsuU of (September %5) is a^pioprialed to ^ m« ^
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BAROMETER,
563
hoiscs. It was fonxMrly the largtet Mt in Bag-
had; and vna attended in the jrear 1605 by
Hackney coaches from London.
BARO, or Baron (Peter), was born at Estam-
pes in France, and educated in the university of
fiourges, where he was admitted a licentiate in
the law : but, being of the Protestant religion,
he was obliged to leave his native countiy to
avoid persecution ; and withdrawing into Eng-
land, was kindly entertained by Lord Burleigh.
He ^fterw^^ds settled at Cambridge; and by
Lord Burleigh's recommendation, was, in 1674,
choien proi^or of divinity there. For some
years he quietly enjoyed his professorship ; but
at last a restless motion was raised against him,
by his opposing the doctrine of absolute predes-
tination, which rendered his place so uneasy that
he left Ae university, and settled in. London.
He wrote, 1. In Jonam Prophetam Pr«lectiones
mix; 2. De Prestantia et Dignitate Divins
Legis; and other pieces. He died in London,
about 1600.
BAROCCI, or Bamozzi (Francis)» a noUe
Venetian, who distinguished himaelf in the latter
half of the sixteenth centuiy by his erudition,
and his e^ensive knowledge of mathematics. He
had, however, the weakness to believe in magic,
and his attempts to practise it brought him into
the hands of the Inquisition, from which he es-
caped with difficulty, by the payment of a heavy
fine. His published works are, Translations
from Proclus and Hiero ; four books o6 a Treatiat
OB Cosmography ; a Treatise on Geometry ; and
a curious volume, intituled^ U liobilisamo ed
Antichissimo giuco Pitagorico chiamata Bitmi>-
machia,* ciofe battaglia di consonanze di ouined,
with figures, imitated from the Latia of Buxerius.
Among his MSS. is a description of Crete.
BAROCCIO (Frederic), a celebrated painter,
bom at Uibino. In his youth he travelled to
Rome, where he painted several things in fresco.
K« then returned to Urbino : and giving himself
up to intense study, acquired a gnat name in
painting. His genius particularly led him to
religious subjects. At his leisure hours he
etdied a few prints from his own designs ; which
are highly finished, and executed with great soft-
ness and delicacy. The Salutarion is his capital
performance in that w^ : of which we addom
meet widt aov impressions, but those taken from
the retouofaed plate^ which ace very harsh. He
died at Urbino in 101 3> at the age of eigh^-four.
BAROCHAN, a barony in the pariah of
HonstouB, va Rcnfrewshise, bdonging to an an-
cient foinily of the name of Fleming, whose an-
cestors came from Flanders in &e reign of David
I-y and one of whom was killed at the battle of
Floddon. It had a very ancient cross on libe
ride of the public road, which was removed
by the proprietor, Malcolm Fleming, £sq. to a
hiU where tne old mansion-boose stood. In the
fo>Bt of this cross, there sire two rows of images,
four in each row, with long garments and dubs
mr their shqulders. Tradition is silent respect-
ing it. The barony abounds in free-stone, coals,
and liQie-stone, aind the mansion-house is ocna^
mented with plantations of ash^ piane, oak, lanph,
and fir.
BAROGHE, ox Bmacb, capital of a district
of tb« s%me woe, in the proirinoe of Qujrat, on
the north biwk of tl^ NoA^wld^ti. (t is Trailed
round, and wi|s formerly ^ plaofi of grea^ trade.
It is now inhabited by ^reavers and maviufapturem
of cotton cloth. Her^ th^ have the best cotton
in the world, and of consequence the best b^fras
are manufactured in this p^ce. The waters of
the Nerbuddah ar« «Jso s^id to bav< the peculiar
property of bleaching cloth^ tp a pure white.
Baroche was ceded to Madbajee Siudia ii) 1782,
but was retaken from his successor, Dowlet Row.
in 1803, by Sir Arthus Wellesley, and has ever
since remained iu possessiofi of the British.
Long. 7a° 5' £., Ut. a2** IS N.
BAROCO, in logic, a term given to the fourth
mode of the ^eoond qgure of syllogisms. A syllo*
gism iu barooo has the irsjt proposition u^iv^rsal
and affirmative, but the secopd and die third par-
ticular and negative, ^d the middle term is the
predicate in the t^ tol propositions. Example :
Ba Every maq is^ a two-legged animal :
Ro But every apiqial ^ not two-legged ;
GO Therefore every animal is not a man.
BAROM'ETER, ) From /Sapoc, weight, and
Barometr'ical. i uiTpoVf measure. A ma-
chine for measuring tne weight and variations
of the atmosphere, ' in order to determine the
changes of the weatfier, the elevation of particular
parts of the earth's surfece, &c.
The measuring the heights of mountains, and
finding the elevation oif places above the level of the
sea, ^ath been much promoted by bmrometrieal expe-
riments, founded upon that essential pronerty of the
air, its gravity or pressure. As the column of mercoxy
in the karomHm' w counterpoised by a cohmm of aif
of equal weight, so whatever causes make the air
heavier or lighter, the pressure of it will be thereby
inoeased or lessened, and of oonseqoenee the mercwy
will rise or hWi Barri$,
He is very accurate in making harometrieai and
thermometncal instruments. Bmh, PhjfnethThBoL
Barometilr. The name baroscope, signifying
an isMiicaiioB of weight) was originally given te
the mercurial tube by Sinclair, professor of ohilo-
sopby in the university of Glasgqw, in Charles
II. reign: but Uie more definite one of b^iro-
meter, obtained universally a short time after'-
wards. The barometer is founded upon the
Torricellian experin^ent, so called from Torricelli
the inventor of it, f^ Flpiepee, iu 1633 i it if a
glass tube^ fiUfd wi^ mercury, horixontally «e9le4
at one end ; the other opea. ao4 immerged in a^
basin of stagnant ta^rcury ; sp that, as the w^ght
of the atmoflq[4iere dimiujsheft, the inensuii in the
tube will descend, an4, as it incrfases, th^ mer-.
cury will aspepd; tii» oolumii o^ mercury sus-
pended iq the tiibe being al^^ays «qual to the
weight pf tbp ineuw^ent ?itn|Ofpher^. It was
long the camimm opifiipp ^^npng phUoao-
phen, that the weol Qf ifater in numps wa»
owing to what tb^y ofOl^ti nature's abhorrence of
a vacuum ; and thiit thuf flui4$( might be raised
by suction to any h^f^ht wH^t^er. But an acci-
dent having, ^y in t)ie qey^nt^enth century,
disoQvcff^ th9^ wH^ 9puld RQt be lai^d in i^
pump, ^%» thfi inciter lyfM^bpd to within thirty-
three fefft ef the water in the well, '^ was con-
jectuied by Galil^, yA^ flf)uri4he4 ^bou| tb|$
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time, that there might be some other cause of the
ascent of water in pumps, or at least that this
abhorrence was limited to the finite height of
thirty-three feet. Being unable to satisfy himself
on this head, he recommended the consideration
91 the difficulty to Torricelli, who had been his
disciple. After some time Torricelli suspected
that the pressure of the atmosphere was the cause
of the ascent of water in pumps ; that a column
of water thirty-three feet high was just a counter-
poise to a column of air of the same base, and
which extended up to the top of the atmosphere ;
and that this was the true reason why the water
did not follow the sucker any farther. And this
suspicion was soon after confirmed by various
exjpieriments. Torricelli considered, that if a
column of yater thirty-three feet high were a
counterpoise to a whole column of the atmos-
phere, then a column of mercury of about two
feet and a half high would also be a counterpoise
to it, since quicksilver is nearly fourteen times
heavier than water, and so the fourteenth part of
the height, or nearly two feet and a half, would be
.as heavy as the column of water. This reasoning
he soon verified ; for having filled a glass tube
with quicksilver, and inverted it into a basin of
the same, the mercuij presently descended till
its height, above that m the basin, was about two
feet and a half, just as he expected. And this is
what has, from him, been called the Torricellian
experiment. The new opinion, with this confirm
mation of it, was readily acquiesced in by most
philosophers, who repeated the experiment in
various ways. Some, however, still adhered to
the old doctrine of Linus, and raised sevenu
obj^ions aginst the new one ; such as that there
was a film or imperceptible rope of mercury,
extended through the upper part of the tube,
which suspended the column of mercury, and
kiept it from falling into that in the basin. But
this and other objections were soon overcome by
^additional confirmations of the true doctrine;
particularly by varying the elevation of the place.
It was hinted by Descartes and Pascal, that if
tiie mercury be sustained in the tube by the pres-
sure of the atmosphere, by carrying it to a higher
situfttion it would descend lower in the tube,
having a shorter column of the atmosphere to
sustain it, and vice versa. And Pascal engaged
his brother-in-law, M. Perier, to try that experi-
ment for him, being more conveniently situated
for that purpose than he was at Paris. This he
accordingly executed, by observing the height of
the quicksilver, in the tube, first at the bottom of
a mountaia in Auvergne, and then at several
different altitudes ; wherein it was found that the
mercury fol^ lower and lower all the way to the
top of the mountain ; and so confirming the truth
of the doctrine relating to the universal pressure
of the atmosphere, and the conseauent suspen-
sion of the mercury in the tube of the barometer.
Thus, by the united endeavours of Torricelli,
Descartes, Pascal, Mersenne, Huygens, and
others, the cause of the suspension of the quick-
silver in the tube of the barometer became pretty
generally established. It was some time, how-
ever, after this general consent before it was
known that the pressure of the air was various at
different times at the same place. This could
not, however, remain long unknown. The fre-
Suent measuring of the column of mercury soon
lowed its variations in altitude ; and experienos
and observation taught that those variarions in
the mercurial column were always succeeded )>y
certain changes in the weather, as to rain, winJ,
frosts, &c. Hence this instrument soon came
into use, as the means of foretelling the changes
of the Weather ; and on this account it obtained
the name of the weather-glass, as it did that of
barometer from its measuring the weight or pres-
sure of the air.
It should not be forgotten that Pascal and his
brother-in-law seem clearly to have seen the po^
sibility of those numerous experiments of modem
times, for ascertaining the altitude of mountains by
the barometer. Early in the moming-of the 1 9th of
Sept. 1648, the latter assembled with a few friends
in the garden of a monastery, situate near the lowest
part of the city of Clermont, where he had
brought a quantity of mercury, and two glass
tubes hermetically sealed at the top. Having
filled and inverted them as usual, he found the mer-
cury to stand in both at the same height, namely,
26 inches and 3f lines, or 28 English inches ;
when leaving one behind, in the ci]^tody of the
subprior, he proceeded with the other to the
summit of the mountain, and repeated the expe-
riment. Here the party were surprised and de-
lighted to see the mercury sink more than three
inches under the former mark, and remain sus-
pended at the height of 23 inches and 2 lines, or
24*7 English inches. In his descent from the
mountain, he observed, at two several stations,
that the mercury successively rose; and, on his
return to the monastery, found it stood exactly
at the same point as at first. Encouraged by the
success of this memorable experiment, Perier re-
peated it on the highest tower of Clermont, and
noted a difference of two lines at an elevation of
twenty toises. Pascal, as soon as the intelligence
reached him at Paris, made similar obseivatioiis
on the top of a high house, and in the belfry of
the chur<m of St. Jacques des Boucheries, near
the border of the Seine ; and so much was he
satisfied with the results, that he immediately
proposed the application of the barometer fx
measuring the relative height of distant places on
the earth's surface. The substance, uierefore,.
of all that has since been more accurately ascer-
tained, was thus at once discovered. Pascal, it is
well known, was attacked and persecuted as a
heretic by the Jesuits, for these and similar par-
suits ; and when no other weapon would avail,
they contested the originality of his experiments.
Their base conduct on this occasion, however.only
stimulated his anlor, and gave a keener eage to
that wit, which he afterwards directed with such
overwhelming energy against this insidious order
of the priesthood. In 1653, he composed, thoo^
they were not published till after his d«ilh,two
short but perspicuous treatises, On the Equili-
brium of Liquors, and On the Weight of the
Mass of Air. Hie laws of the equilibrium of
fluids are here beautifully deduced from asinf^
Srinciple. In those tracts, he likewise gives a
ascription of the hydraulic press. It has, how-
ever, been truly remarked, tnat the intention of
*heae philosophers, was merely to ascertain wbe-
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666
ther the height of the mercury was affected by
being carried to different altitudes, and it was
some time afterwards that theorems and formulae
were invented for the purpose of barometrical
measurement ; the balance between the mercury
and the atmosphere was indeed known, but the
▼alue of the weights remained to be determined.
The. first thing necessary to be ascertained was
the law of the cond^ension of air under different
pressures. Mariotte in France, and Boyle and
Xownley in £n|land, found from experiment
that the density of this fluid was proportional to
the compressing weight; but this law is only
true when the temperature of the air remains
constant ; and attention was not at first paid to
this important restriction, which in feet could
not be indicated by experiments where the com-
pressed volumes of air differed but little from
each other in respect to temperature.
The law of compression bemg otherwise known,
Halleymade use of it f^r calculating the decrease
of density in the beds of the atmosphere at vsr
rious altitudes; and thus led to the mathematical
formuls, by means of which the difference of
altitude of two places may be calculated fi-om the
heights of the mercury in the barometer observed
at each of them. Newton, in his Principia, per-
i^ted Halley's theory, by. showing that reganl
was to be paid to the diminution of gravity, ac-
cording as tlie distance from the surfece of tlie
earth increased ; but, what is very remarkable,
he, as well as Halley, omitted to consider the
effect of the variations of heat, and of the pro-
gressive decrease of the temperature and density
of the different stiata of the atmosphere. The
barometrical formuls thus obtained, without the
correction which renders them applicable to all
temperatures, could only furnish a very imper-
fect approximation, and therefore philosopners
and mathematicians, who endeavoured to apply
tliem, found that they succeeded only in a few in-
stances, and that generally the results seemed to
be subject to various errors, vrhich appeared to
follow no law. Hypotheses were theretbre formed
for explaining these irregularities ; but some
maintained that no dependence whatever was to
be placed upon such tneorems ; and others, that
they ought to be wholly excluded from works of
science. No person seems to have conjectured
tite true cause ; and the omission is the more re-
markable, when we reflect that Bouguer and
Lambert, men of such peculiar and opposite ta-
lents; the one a most accurate observer and
philosopher, and the other a very inventive and
acute mathematician, were both much occupied
with this instrument^ and its application.
Deluc at last discovered the true source of
these errors and anomalies, by searching in the
observations themselves for the correspondence
between the temperature of the air ana the cor-
rection which the general formula required. Nu-
merous experiments on the comparative expan-
sions of air and mercury enabled nim to perceive
the law that those corrections ou^bt to follow,
and the quantity in all cases which should be
assigned to them.
TmB remarkable discovery, by giving to the
b.'uometrical formula an unexpected accuracy,
;»aimated the zeal of philosophers, and obstrrva-
tions were multiplied to a great extent. Dr. Mas-*
kelyne undertook to reduce the new formula into
English measures, while Playfair added a correc-
tion for the variation of gravity in diffeicnt
latitudes^ Sir George Shuckburgh, by very exact
measures, verified the results of M. Deluc, and
gave them a greater degree of precision : General
Roy also made an application of it at a great
number of places in the progress of his survey :
the Alps were levelled by MM. Saussure and
Pictet ; the Pyrenees by M. Ramond, and the
Andes by Humboldt ; and the barometer ren-
dered portable, became an indispensable instru-
ment to all well-informed travellers.
Still the theory of barometrical levelling was
far from being brought to its most simple terms.
M. Deluc had adapted the constant co-efficient
of his formula to a certain degree of the thermo-
meter, which he called the normal temperature,
and which he had fixed from the condition, that,
for this temperature, the difference of level be-
came a decimal multiple of the difference of the
tabular logarithms of the observed barometrical
heights. All the corrections relative to tempe-
rature which the formula required, commenced,
therefore, according to M. Deluc, at the normal
temperature ; in consequence of which this point
of commencement changed whenever the formula
was applied to any other measures than French
toises. These variations were very inconvenient :
and it appeared much more natural to make all
the corrections commence at some fixed term, as,
for example, the freezing point, which is given
by experiment, and common to observers of all
countries. Iliis is what Laplace has done, in a
chapter pf his M^canique Celeste, in which he
has established the requisite formula upon the
most simple and accurate data. He determines
the correction for temperature relative to the ex-
pansion of air, according to the experiments of
M. Gay Lussac ; but he has modified his resuUi
in such a manner as to take into the account the
humidity of the atmosphere ; and, what is very
fortunate, the sum of this correction and the co-
efficient of the expansion of air is just equal to
1^. With respect to the expansion of mercury^
Laplace employed the values obtained, in con-
junction with Lavobier, in experiments on the
expansion of bodies, of which tliere unhappily
remains only a small number of results. Finally,
he determined the general co-efficient of the for-
mula from barometrical observations themselves,
by combining for this purpose, a great number of
experiments made in the Pyrenees by M. Ra-
mond, with a degree of care and an accuracy
before unknown in this science. The value of
this co-efiicient has since been confirmed in a di-
rect manner by the experiments made by M.
Arago and M. Biot, on the comparative weight
of air and mercury ; so that all tne elements of
the barometrical formula, the research of which,
has cost travellers so much labor, has been ob-
tained directly, and with great accuracy, without
quitting the chemical laboratory. Laplace's for-
mula, founded upon data so exact and so ably
combined, coincides vrith observations better than
any other in which these advantages are not
united, and the rigdrous proofs to which MM.
Ramond and Daubusson have submitted it ex-
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BAROMETER.
perimentaUy, have demonstrated its utility^ It
still remaikied, however, to render die observa-
tions comparable with each other, though made
with different barometers ; which has also been
done by Laplace, who has shown that the diffe-
rent indications of these instruments^ in circum-
stances otherwise equal, are the effect of capillary
attraction, aAd has given tables for correcting this
effect.
The barometrical formula being thus improved,
observations with that instrument have been con-
siderably multiplied^ and carried to a degree of
pecisiou almost incredible ; a precision which
nas already led to the idea of distinguishing every
place on the globe (in addition to its latitude
and longitude) by its height above the level of
the sea, or rather by its distance from the centre
of the earth ; which corresponds in principle
with the determination of the position oi a point
in absolute spacer, by means of three rectangula/
.co-ordinates ; widi this view various tables have
been computed, and principles of approximation
and compensation invented, highly creditable to
their respective authors.
It remains only for us to describe the progres-
sive improvement of this instrument. 1. The
common, or Torricellian barometer, is repre-
sented in our plate Barometers, %• 1 • A B is a
glass tube, of i, or |, or ^ inch wide (the wider
the better), and about thirty-four inches long^
being close at the top A, and the open end B im-
mersed in a basin of (juicksilver C D, which is
the better the wider it is. To fill this, or. any
other barometer, take a clean new glass tube, of
the dimensions as above, and . pour into it well
purified quicksilver, with a small funnel either of
glass 01^ paper, in a fine continued stream, till it
wants about half an inch or an inch of being fliU;
then stopping it close with the finger, invert it
slowly^, and the air in the emp^ part will aacend
gradually to the other end, collecting into itself
such other small air bubbles as unavoid$ibly get
into the tube among the mercury^ in filling it
With the funnel : and thus continue to invert it
several times, turning the two ends alternately
upwards, till all the air bubbles are collected and
brought up to the open end of die tube, and till
the part filled shall appear, without speck> like,
a fine polished steel rod. This done, pour in a
little more quicksilver to fill the empty part quite
full, and SD exclude all air from the tube ; then
stopping the orifice agaip with the finger, invert
the tube, and immerse the finger and endy thus
stopped, into a basin of purified quicksilver. In
this position withdraw the finger, 6o shall, the
mercury descend in the tube to some place^ as G^
between twenty-eight and . thirty-one inches
above that in the basin at F, as. these are the
limits between which it alwavs stands in this
pountry, on the common surmce of the earth.
Then measure, from the surfece of the quicksilver
in the basin at F, twenty-eight inches to K, and
thirty-one inches to I, dividing the space be-
tween Ihem into inches and tenths, wnich sure
marked on a scale placed against the side of tne
lube; ana the tenths are subdivided into hundredth
parts of an inch by $l sliding index carrying a
vernier or nonius. .These three inches, between
twenty-eight and diirty-one, so divided, will
aft^er for ^l the ordinary ^urtobses of a ili-
tionary or chamber barometer ; but for expeif-
ments oh altitudes and depths, it is proper to
have the divisions carried on a little higher np,
and a great deal kywer. In the proper filling
and otherwise fitting up of the barometer, se?eiil
circumstances are to be carefiilly .noted ; as, that
the bore of the tube foe pretty wide, to allow Ok
freer motion of the quicksUver^ without beiiig
impeded by an adhesion to the sides ; that the
basin below it be also pretty large, in order that
the surface of the mercury at F may not sensibly
rise or fall with that in the tube.; (iiat the bottma
of the tube be <cut off rather obliquelv, that whea
it rests on the bottom of tiie basih mere may be
a firee passage for the quicksilver; and tiiat, to
have tlie quiduilver very pure^ It is best i6 Ml
it in the tube, which \vill expel all the air (mm
it. This barometer is commonly fitted on in
a neat mahogany case, together with a mer-
momefier %nd hygrometer, as represented in
fig. 2. As the scale of variation is smatt^ benig
included within three inches 'm the commoii
barometer, several contrivances hav% been de-
vised to enlarge tlie scale, or to rtader the mo-
tion oAhe quicksilver more sensible.
Descartes su§^;ested a method of increasng die
sensibility of this instrument, which was exbcated
by Huygens. t*hi8 was effected b^ making the
barometrical tube end in a pretty tirge cylindri-
cal vessel at top^ into which was inserted abo
the lower or open end of a mudh finer tube than
the former, wnich was partly filled with water,
to give little obstruction by its weight to the mo-
tion of the mercury^ while it moved through a
pretty long A>ace of the yery fine tube by a small
variation of tne mercury below it, and so rendered
the small changes in the state of the air very sen-
sible. But the inconvenience was. that the air
contained iti the water gradually disengaged it-
self, and escaped into the vacuum in the top of
the small tube, till it was collected in a body
there, and by its elasticity preventing the free
rise of the fluids in the tubes, spoiled the instrq-
ment as a barometer. And inis is the reason
why a water barometer cannot succeed. Thb in-
strument) however, is represented in fig. 3.
C D is the vessel^ in which is united the upper
or small water tube A C, with the lower or mer-
curial one C B. To remedy this inconvenience,
Huygens thought of placing the mercury at top,
and the water at bottom, which he thus contrived.
ADG, fig. 5> is a bent tube hermetically sealed
at A, but open at G, of about one line in diameter,
and passing through the two equal cyhadrical
tessels^ B C> EF, which are about twenty inches
apart^ and df fifteen lines diameter, their length
being ten. The mercury being put into the tube,
will stand between the middle of the vessels £ F
and BC, the remaining space to A being void
both of air and mercuty. Lastly, commoe Water,
tinged with a sixth part of aqua regia, to prevent
its freezing, id poured into the tub^ VQ, till it
rises a foot above the mercury in D F. To pie-
vent the water from evaporating, a drop e<f 6il of
sweet almonds floats on the top of i\. But the
column of water will be sensibly affected fa^- heat
and cold, which spoils the accuracy of the instru-
ment. Although the invention of this baroneif c
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BAROMETER.
467
W98 claimed by Huygens, and aboby De la Hire, the tube^ to which is connected another ball, H,
it appears first to have been contrived by Dr. by a cord, hanging freely over a pulley, taming
HooVe in 1668, and described in Phil. Trans., an index^ KL, about its centre. When themer-
No. 185. It is most delicately movable ; and, cury rises in the part FG, it raises the ball^ and
when properiv managed, by &r the fittert for a the ether ball descends and turns the pulley,
chamber, or for amasement, by observations on with the index, round a graduated circle trora N
the changes of the atmospheric pressure. The towards M and P ; and the contrary way when
slightest breeze causes it to ris»e and &ll, and it is ^the quicksilver and the ball sink in the bent part
continually in motion. But, for philosophical of the tube. Hence the scale is easily enlarged
£
turposes, tbis^ and all other instruments of the
ina, are inferior to the common barometeri,
both on account of their being less manageable^
and also in point of accuracy. For their scale
must be determined in all its parts by the com-
mon barometer, and therefore, notwithstanding
their great range, they are susceptible of no
greater accuracy than mat wiUi which the scale
of a common barometer can be observed and
measured.
ten or twelve fold, being increased in proportion
of the axis of the pullev to the length or the index
KL. But then the friction of the pulley and
axis is some obstruction to the free motion of (ht
quicksilver. Contrivances to lessen the friction^
4c., may abo be seen in the Phil. Tram. ▼ol.<52y
art 29., and vol. 60, art. 10.
In the Philosophical Transactions, vol. 53, No.
29, Fitzgerald's improvement of the wheel
barometer is described as furnished widk twa
The horizontal or rectangular barometer of pulleys, which move on friction wheels ; each of
Bernoulli and Cassini is shown in fig. 4. AD
is a pretty wide cylindrical part at the top of the
tube, which latter is bent at right angles at B ;
the lower part, BC, being turned into the Kori*
zontal direction and closed above at A, but open
at the lower end, where however the mercitry
which turns an index on the centre of a graduated
circle. The smallest circle is four inches in
diameter, and divided into three equal parts^
each again being subdivided decimally ; uid the
changes, corresponding to the rise or 4ll of the
mercury from twenty-eight to thirty-one inches^
<aumot run out, being^ opposed by the pressure are marked on the margin of it, as they are on
of the atmosphere. Thi8» and the foregding con- the scales of the eoasmon barometers. The large
trivance of Huygens, are obviously founded on circle, which is proposed by the inventor to be
the known principles of hydrostatics, * that fluids thirty inches in diameter, is divided into three
of the same base press according to their per- hundred equal parts, and the index belonging to
pendicular altitude, and not according to the it will therefore mark distinctly to the six-
quantity of their matter ;' so that the same pves- hundredth part of an inch in the rise and fiaJI of
sure ot the atmosphere sustains the quicksilver
that fills the tube BDA and the cistern D, as
^ould support the mercury in the tube alone.
Hence having fixed upon the size of the scale,, as,
for example, the extent of twelve inches instead
of three, that is four times as long ; the area of a
section of the cylinder D must be four times
that of the tube, and consequently its diameter
double ; so that for every natural variation of an
the mercury. On the centre of this circle two
registers are fixed, which are placed along the
index when the instrument is adjusted; one of
them is carried round as the index advances, and
left round on its return ; so that their distanee
will determine the limits of the variation from
one observation to another.
Mr. CaswelPs barometer, described in the
Philosophical Transactions, vol. 24, seems to be
inch of air in the cylinder A D, there will be a as sensible and exact as any. Suppose A B C D^
variation of four inches in the tube C B. But on fig. 8, is a bucket of water, in whicn is the baros-
accotmt of the friction against the sides of the cope xreygotm^ which consists of a body
l^ass, the quicksilver is liable to break ; and the x r i m, and a tube ey z o, which are both con-
vise and fall is then no longer equable ; besides cave cylinders, made of tin, or rather glass, and
the mercury is in danger of being thrown out of communicating with each other. The bottom of
the orifice at C, by any sudden motion of the the tube, g y^ has a leaden weight to sink it, so
machine. that the top of the body nuiy just swim even with
The diagonal barometer, invented by Sir the surface of the water by the addition of some
Samuel Moreland, fig. 6, is another method of grain weights on the top. When the instroment
enlarging the natural scale of three inches per- is forced with its mouth downwards, the_water
pendicular, C D, by extending it to any length,
BC, in an oblique direction. This is liable in
some degree to the inconvenience of friction and
breaking ; and hence it is found that the diagonal
part, B C, cannot properly be bent from the per-
pendicular more than in an angle of 45% which
ascends into the tube to the height 2u, To the
top is added asmsdl concave cylinder, or pipe, to*
keep the instrument from sinking down to the
bottom : m d is a wire ; and mt^ de, are two-
threads oblique to the surface of the water, which
perform the office of diagonals : for while the in-
only increases the scale nearly in the proportion strument sinks more or less by an alteration in
of seven to five.
But the most perfect of all these instruments,
on an enlarged scale, unquestionably is Dr.
Hook's wheel barometer, fig. 7. This was in-
vented about 1668, and Lh meant to render the
alterations in the air more sensible. Here the
barometer tube has a large ball, AB, at top, and
is bent up at the lower or open end, where an
iron ball, G, ^oau on the top of the mercury in
the gravity of the air, where the surface of the
water cuts the thread is formed a small bubble^
which ascends up the thread while the mercury
of the common baroscope ascends, and vice versa.
It appears from a calculation which the author
makes, that this instrument shows the alterations
in the air 1200 times more accurately than the
common barpmeter. He observes, that the bob-
ble is seldom knofwn lo stand still even for a
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BAROMETER.
minute; that a small blast of wind, which cannot
be heard in a chamber, will sensibly make it
sink ; and that a cloud passing over it always
makes it descend, &c.
Rowning's Compound Barometer has se-
Teralconthvances for enlarging the scale, and that
in any proportion whatever. One of these is
described in the Philosophical Transactions, No.*
427, and also in his Natural Philosophy, part 2 ;
and another in the same part, which is repre-
sented in fig. 9. ABC is a compound tube,
hermetically sealed at A, and open at C ; empty
^m A to D, filled with mercury from thence to
B, and from hence to £ with water. Hence,, by
varying the proportions of the two tubes AF ana
F C» the scale of variation may be changed in any
degree.'
A Steel-yard or Lever Barometer, is repre-
sented by fig. 13, which enlarges the scale in pro-
portion of the shorter to the longer arm of a steel-
yard. AB is the barometer tube, close at A and
open at B, immersed in a cylindrical glass cistern
Cf D, which is but very little wider than the tube
A B is. The barometer tube is suspended to the
ihorter arm of an index like a steel-yard, moving
3D the fulcrum £, and the extremity of its longer
arm poipting to the divisions of a graduated
irch, with which index the tube is nearly in
equilibrio. When the pressure of the atmosphere
is lessened, the mercury descends out of the tube
mto the cistern, which raises the tube and the
shorter arm of the index, and consequently the
extremity of the longer moves downwards, and
passes over a part of the graduated arch. And
on the contrary this moves upwards when the
pressure of the atmosphere increases.
Artists, however, have of late directed their
efibrts rather to adapt barometers for particular
purposes, and to improve their accuracy of action,
than to enlarge the scale.
An instrument called the Chamber Barome-
ter, constructed by Messrs. Jones, opticians^ is
shown in fig. 11. It consists of a barometer d,
thermometer a a, and hygrometer r, all in one
mahogany frame. The thermometer or hygro-
meter of this apparatus may be separated from
the frame, and occasionally used apart if neces-
sary. The thermometer is soparated by means
of two screws a a : and the hygrometer by un-
screwing a brass pin at the back of the frame.
Th^ index of the Hygrometer is set at any time,
merely by moving with the finger the brass
wheel seen at c ; and the two sliding indexes of
the barometer and thermometer are moved by
rack work, set in action by the key g, placed in
the holes h and i. The divisions of the barome-
ter, plate h, are in tenths of an inch, from twenty-
eight to thirty-one inches, and these are subdivided
into hundreddis by the nonius or vernier scale,
on a sliding slip of brass. The vernier scale is
divided into ten equal parts, which are equal to
eleven on the scale of inches, or to eleven-tenths
of an inch. By this means the height of the mer-
cury at E is evident merely by inspection Jo the
one-hundredth part of an inch, according to the
principle of the vernier scale.
A more common sort of barometer is frequently
made, which difiers from the one above princi-
pally in tbisy that in general it is not supposed to
register to the same degree of accuracy, having
no vernier, and being meant for the common pnr^
poses of a weather-glass, its face is marked with
different words indicating the probable shades of
weather peculiar to different altitude^ of the mer-
cury. As the lowest state of the mercury in this
country is not less than twenty-eight inches, nor
the highe:it above thirty-one inches, this lowest
point on the scale, on the &ce of the instrument,
u marked stormy, and the latter very dry for
summer, and on the other side very hard frost for
winter. To the next half-inch below this highest
point are written set. &ir on the one side, and set.
fro»t on the other. At thirty inches, the word
lair is placed on the one side, and frost on the
other ; and at twenty-nine inches and a half there
is marked changeable, both for summer and win*
ter. At twenty- nine inches we have rain on the
one side, and snow on the other ; and at twenty-
eight inches and a half, much rain on the sum-
mer side, and much snow on the winter ; these
terms, for want of room, are omitted in the figure.
In the better sort of these chamber barometers
the reservoir of mercury is a leathern bag, which
is more or less compressed by the atmosphere,
according to its greater or less pressure, and the
scale is supposed to commence from the bottom
of the tube ; there is also a screw at the bottom,
fig. 29, by which the mercury may be fi^rced to
the top of the tube, and thus prevented from oscil-
lating when the instrument is removed. This
construction, however, is not sufficiently accurate
for those instruments designed for the mensura-
tion of altitudes ; portable barometers, therefore,
have several adjustments peculiar to this purpose.
Portable Barometer. — Onq of the best in-
struments of this kind, by Troughton, is exhibited
in figs. 12, 13, 14, and 15, (Barometers, plat^
II.) Its distinguishing characteristic consists in
the excellent manner in which the mercury in
the cistern is set to the zero in the scale of inches.
For this purpose a glass cylinder, of about two
inches and a half diameter, and as much in
length, contains the mercury. An external cover-
ing of hollow brass, terminating in an interior
screw a little above and below the glass, admits
external screw pieces, whose ends, well leathered,
being pressed hard against the ends of the glass,
prevent the escape of the fluid. Near the upper
end of the brass cover are two slits, made non-
zontally, one before, and the other behind, ex-
actly similar, and opposite to each other. At
bottom is a screw, seen better in the section, fii^.
13, which, acting upon the usual l^alhem bag,
' forces the quicksilver upwards at pleasure, and,
by filling every part, renders the instniment por-
table. But the primary design of the screw is,
to furnish the means of*^ adjusting the surface of
the. merciiry in the glass cistern, so as just to shut
out the light from passing between it and the
upper edges of the slits in the brass cover. This
is the mode of adjusting to zero ; and it follows
tliat the upper edges of the sUts must represent
the t>eginning of 3ie scale of inches. The firaroe
is entirely made of brass tube, and above the cis-
tern is of about 1*1 inch in diameter. The fiisi
ten inches of the lower end are occupied by a
thermometer, whose bulb, bent inwards, is con-
ceited within the frame. At about three indwt
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BAROMETER.
669
higher, it is attached to the stand by a ring, in
which the frames turn round with a smooth and
steacly motion, for the purpose of placing the in-
stniment in the best light for reading off, &c.
The actually divided scale commences at about'
fifteen inched above the zero, and is continued as
hi^h as thirty-three inches; and, by the usual
help of a vernier, is subdivided down to -001 of
an mch. A longitudinal slit, from end to end of
the divided part, exposes to view the glass tube
and mercury within it. The whole of this part
consists of two tubes of brass : in the inside of
tiie interior one, slides a cylindrical piece, and on
this is divided the vernier scale, the index to
which is the lower end of the piece. In taking
the height of the mercury, this piece is brought
down so as just to exclude the light from passing
between itself and the spherical surface of the
mercury. The screw at top, although but a short
one, performs this office in whatever part of the
scale the vernier piece may be ; for it acts upon
the interior long tube, in the inside of which the
piece is sustained by friction, and in which it is,
on every occasion, to be set by hand nearly.
The tripod is altogether similar to what Mr.
Ramsden used for the same purpose, as (ar back
as the year 1775. It affords when closed, fig.
15, a safe and convenient packing-case for the
instrument : the structure ot the staff head is cu-
rious: the principal part b a circle fig. 16,
about *75 of an inch broad, joined in three pieces;
these, althouph they seem in principle to be in-
capable of motion, yet, in practice, produce what
is fully adequate to the purpose. The three
joint-pins extend inwards, so as to pass through
a circular rim, which they hold fast ; within this
rim is hang a similar one, by two pivots; and,
inside the latter, at right angles to the pivots, are
£utened twoy's, or anj^les, in which the barome-
ter hangs by its gudgeons. Thus are brought
about, in a small compass, the means of ex-
tending the legs, of turning the instrument
about in the tripod, and an universal joint,
whereon it readily places itself perpendicular to
the horizon.
The importance of these instruments at sea,
where every real indication of the approaching
weather must be important, early suggested a Ma-^
HIKE Barometer, first invented by Dr. Hooke.*
It is contrived so as not to be affected or injured by
the motion of a ship. His contrivance consisted
of a double thermometer, pr a couple of tubes
half filled with spirit of wine ; the one sealed at
both ends, with a quantity of air included ; the
other sealed at one end only. The former of
these is affected only by the warmth of the air ;
but the other is affected both by the external
warmth and by the variable pressure of tlie at-
mosphere. Hence, considering the spirit ther-
mometer as a standard, the excess of tne rise or
^l of the other above it will show the increase or
decrease of the pressure of the atmosphere. This
instru^nent is described by Dr. Ualley, in the
Phil. Trans. No. 269, where he says, * I had
one of these barometers with me in my late
. southern voyage, and it never failed to prognos-
ticate and give early notice of all the bad weather
we had, so that I depended thereon, and made
provision accordingly ; and from my own expe-
heaoe I conclude, dial % more useful contrivance
hath not for this long time been offered for the
benefit of navigation.' Mr. Naime, an artist of
London, invented another kind of Marine Baro-
meter, bavins: the lower part of the tube, for about
two feet long, made very small, to check the vi-
brations of the mercury, which i^ould otherwise
arise from the motions of the ship. This was also
assisted by being hung in gimbals, by a part
which subjects it to be the least affected by such
motions. It was constructed for the use of Cap-
tain Phipps in his celebrated vdyage to the North
Pole. A marine barometer has also been in-
vented by M. Passemente, an ineenious artist of
Paris. This contrivance consists only in twist-
ing the middle of the tube into a spiral of two
revolutions ; by which contrivance the impulses
which the mercury receives from the motions of
the ship are destroyed, by being transmitted in
contrary directions.
Troughton's Marine Barometer may be
considered the best, perhaps, at present known.
The upper part of the tube here is four-tenths of
an inch diameter, and the smaller part only one-
fiftieth ; and, to counteract more effectually the
effects of the ship's motion, the instrument, like
the above, is suspended in gimbals, as shown in
figs. 17 and 18. The whole is attached to the
side of the cabin by two brass tubes, which slide
one within the other, and render the instrument
capable of being suspended at different distances
from the place of support ; that the bottom of it
may not strike the side of the cabin during any
heavy rolling of the vessel, the iqner tube carries
the gimbal. The external frame of the barometer
is a cylindrical tube of wood, on which the brass
sockets slide ; and in this is inserted the inner-
most pair of pivots, or universal joint, which
furnishes the instrument with a movable point of
suspension. The top is terminated with a brass
ball, of a weight nearly equal to that of the mer-
cury, &c. at &e lower end. With respect to the
position of the point of suspension, no general
rule can be given applicable to every case,
though it is a circumstance on which the oscilla-
tions of the mercury greatly depends ; it is indeed
obvious, that, though this point were accurately
determined for one particular height of the mer-
cury, it would not correspond with every other.
By this ingenious contrivance of the counterpoise
to the weight of the mercury, the centre of gra-
vity of the whole will be about the middle ; and
if the instrument were of the same specific gra-
vity throughout, the point of suspension that
would produce the smallest oscillation, would be
about one-third of the length of tlie instrument
from the top, considering the lower part as a
fixed point ; but as this is not strictly the case,
the point of suspension is best ascertained by ex-
periment. The graduation is on two scales of
ivoiy, about four incheji long, for the reception of
which two opposite quarters of the cylindrical
frame are sunk through that length, their planes
pointing towards the centre of the tube, and the
index is very light, and slides on the t^lass tube,
without touching any other part. At the bottom
is the usual screw, which, pressing up the leather
bag, prevents the mercury from oscillating when
the instr»iment is removed. For an instrument
of thia kind, lately invented by Mr. Adie, see
Stmftkioheter.
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BAROMETER.
Among bftiometers, or barcnoopesi might be
tanked a weather instrument to ascertain the
▼ariation of the atmosphere^ by the sound of a
wire, mentioned by M. Lazowski in his Tour
through Switzerland, and discovered by accident.
A clergyman, who was near-sighted, often amused
himself with firing at a mark, and contrived to
stretch a wire so as to draw the mark to him to
see how he had aimed. He observed that the
wire sometimes sounded as if it vibrated like a
ibusical chord ; and that after such soundings a
change alwlys ensued in the state of the atmos-
phere ; from ^hence he came to prediet rain or
fine weather. On making farther experiments,
it was found that the sounds were most distinct
whien extended in the plane of the meridian.
According to the 'breather which was to follow,
the sounds were more or less sofk, or more or less
continued. Fine weather was announced by the
tones oi counter-tenor, and rain by those of bass.
It has been said that M. Volta mounted fifteen
chords in this way at Pavia, to bring this method
to some precision, bnt no accounts have appeared
«f his success.
Marine barometers are now generally used on
board all ships of war add Indiamea. To Ht-
«iUt«te the keeping of a register of barometrical
observations, Mr. Ho^bu^, hydrogmpher to
the East India Company, Ins iately published «
«pt of engraved ruled sheets, adapted for the
teonvenience of navigators. In these plates the
height of the mercury, from twenty-seven to
thirty-one inches, is represented in iodies and
tehth parts, by horizon^ lines ; while each suo-
tsessive day has a space apportioned to it by ver-
rical ban. The state of the barometer at eVery
ebservation is marked with a dot; and these dots
being afterwards connected together, exhibit an
irregular wated line, stretching across the sheet,
and indicating the series of the changes of the
weather. At the lowest points, from which the
^eurve again returns, a gale generally follows.
From the observations made off the Cape of
Good Hope, during the month of May 1816, by
Captain fiasil Hall, of his Majesty's sloop Vic-
tor, k appears that whenever the mercury fell to
y, ^9*60 incnes, a storm always ensued; thecolunhn
always rose when the gale abated, and when it
reached near thirty inch^, the weather became fair. '
Those gales often came on suddenly, vrithout
any visible change in the aspect of the sky,
but the marine bammeter never failed to give
warning of their approach.
The following observations, upon the move-
ments and state of the mercury in the marine
barometer, were made by Captain Flinders, -of
his majes^'s ship Investigator, during his ex-
amination of the coasts of New Holland and
New South Wales, the Terra Aastralis of the
earlier charts, in the years of 1601, 1802^ and
1803. Phil. Trans. 180$, Part. 2. lite ba-
rometer, with which these observations wefe
made, was constructed by Naime and Blunt, and
had been used in Capuin Cook^ voyages. The
height of the mercury was taken regularly at
day-break, at noon, and at eight o'clock in the
evening The temperature of the thermometer
was also registered at the same periods. The
circumstances that led Captain Flinders to think
his observations worth attention were, the coin-
cidence that took place between the rising and
^ling of the mercury, and the setting in of
wind that blew from the sea and from off tbe
land, to which there seemed to be at least as
much reference as to the strength of the wind,
or the state of the atmosphere. Among the ex-
amples selected from the captain's journals, are
nine that relate to the south coast ; from these
it appears, generally, that a change of wind from
the northern, to any point in the southern half
of the compass, caused the mercury to rise, and
a contrary change, to fell ; and that thp mercury
stood considerably higher when the wind was
from the south side of east and west, than it did
in similar weather when the wind came from die
north side. The cause of this appears to be,
that the first proportion of air brought in from
the sea, is impelled upwards by the land whidi
it encounters, and along the inclined sur&ce of
the land, in a sloping direction : the next portioo
is» in the same manner, stopped and forced up-
wards ; but it has a shorter space to pass throoga,
because the former portion goes along two of the
sides, and the tatter along die third side of as
obtuse-angled triangle: thus, the socceedis;
portions oi air meet the summit oi land before
the first portions, and cause the latter to eddj and
stagnate; while the stream blowing above this
portion, compresses it, and augments its demitj,
whence the increased height of the barometer.
* The barometer,' says Captain Flindeis, * was
of great service to me in the investigation of this
dangerous part o^ the east coast, where the ship
.was commonly surrounded widi rocks, shoals,
islands^ or coral ree&. Near the main land, if
the sea-breeze was dying off at night, and thfc
mercury descending, I made no scruple of an-
choring near the shore, knowing that it woold
eilherbe a calm, or a wind would come off fron
the land ; but if the mercury kept up, I stretched
off, in the expectation that it woula freshen op
again in a few hours. Amongst the barrier-reefr,
when the wind was dying away, the barometa
told me, almost certainly, from what quarter it
would next spring up. If the mercuiy stood at
30° 15' or near it, and vfas risiiig, I expected the
proper trade wind ; and if higher, that K frould
be well from the southward, or would blow
fresh ; and, if it was up to 30^ SO' both. The
fiilling of the mercury to 30° 10' was an indica-
tion of a breeze from the north-eastwaid; a«l
its descent below thirty inches, that it woald
spriAg up^or shift round to the westward.' Hence,
it appears, that this skilful commander navigated
his vessel throughout those dangerous parts of
the eastern coast that are betvireen the latitudes
of 23° and 17°, pursuant to a confident deduc-
tion from his own theory.
Da. Halley*s Rulbs foe juDOfao or
THB WEATHER BY BABOMBTEftS.— I. In OSbfi
weather, when the air is inclined to lain, the
mercury ia commonly low. U. In scieDO, good,
and setded Weather, the mercury is geeoally
high. III. Upon very great winds, thoogb d«y
be not accompanied with great rain, the mercury
sinks lowest of all, according to ^ Ppi<>^ ^^
compass the wind blows from. IV. The greatest
heigms of the mercury are found upon sastedy or
north-easterly winds, other circumstances alike.
V. Ifl calm frosty weather^ the mercury comaaoBly
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BAROMETER.
571
8tan<its liigh. VI. After very great storms of Wind,
when the mercury has been very low, it generally
rises again very fast. VII. The more northerly
places nave greater alterations of the barometer
than the more southerly, near the equator.
VIII. Within the tropics, and near them, there
is lit^e or no variation of the barometer, in all
weathers. For instance, at St. Helena it is litde
or nothing, at Jamaica three-tenths of an inch,
and at Naples the variation hardly ever ex-
ceeds an Inch ; whei^s in England it amounts
to two indies and a half, and at Petersburgh to
3^1 nearly.
Mr. Kowning justly remarks, that it is not so
mucli the absolute height of the mercury in the
tube that indicates the tveatbet, as its motion up
and down, and therefore, to pass a right iudg^
menl of what t?eather is to be expected, we
ought to kno^ whether the mercury is actually
rising or falling; to which ^nd the following
rules are of use. I. If the surface of the mer-
cury is convex, standing higher in the middle of
the tube than at the sides, it is a sign that the
mercury is then rising. 11. But if^tbe surikce
19 concave, or hollow in the middle, it is then
sinking. And, III. If it be plain, or rather a
veiy little convex, the mercnry is stationary ; for
mercury being put into a glass tube, especially
a small one, naturally has its surface a little
convex, because the particles of mercury attract
one another more forcibly than they are attracted
by glass. IV. If the glass be small, shake the
tube ; then if the air be grOWn heavier, the mer-
curv will Vise about half i tenth of aki inch
higher than it stood before ; bvd if it be growh
lighter, it will sink as much. And, it itoay be
added, in the wheel 6t circular barometer, tap
the instrument gently with the finger^ and the
index will visibly stah forwards or backwards
according to the tendeiicy to rise or ikil at that
time. Tlfis proceeds from the mercury's sticking
to the sides of the tube, which prevents the
free taction of it till it be disengaged by the
shock ; atid therefore, wheh atl obtervation is to
be made with such a tube, it ought to be iitst
shaken ; for sometimes \he Mercnry will not vary
of its own accord, till the weather is present
which it ought to have indicated.
Variations of the BARoltstEli. Several
members oT a Gerrato meteorogical society bave
registered observations upon the bah>meter. The
most noted of those observers art, Steilehner,
Planer, Chirninello, and Heiftmer.
The first of these gentlemen says, riiat he
found, by several compiiralive observations, that
the greatest fall of the barom€?ler does not happen
in very rehiote places at the same time; but that
it is earlfer towaVds the West, amd later towards
the east ; and that the diflference bf the time is
nearly equal to the difference of the meridians
of the places; an AsserUon Which deserves to be
accurately examined.
M. Planer observed the barometer for a whole
year, six times every day, viz. at two, six, and ten
o'clock in the morning, and at the saine hottrs in
the alflernoon ; and found, ih ^neral, that the
barometer, between tCb in the morning and two
in the aflemoon, and between ten at night and
two in the morning, was less in its rising, and
greater in its fidl ; and that the contrary was the
case fo^t^een the boors of six , and ten in the
evening and morning.
Chiminello observed the barometer twenty-two
times a day, for three years, but he left a chasm
in the night. Which he supplied by calculation.
The principal positions which he then deduced
are, that tile barometer falls towards noon, as
well as towards midnight.
Heirimer deduced the three following general
rules from a gfeat number of accurate observa'^
tions : 1. When the sun passes the meridian,
the barometer, if in the act of falling, continues
to fall, and the falling is accelerated. 2. When
the sun passes the meridian, the barometer, if in
the act of rising, falls, or becomes stationary, or
rises more slowly. 3. When the sun passes the
meridian^ the barometer, which is stationary^
falls, if it has not risen before or after being sta-
tionary ; in which case it usually becomes sta-
tionary during the sun's passage.
From a register kept by a Mr. Dunbar, near
the banks of the Mississippi, in,N. lat. 31^ 28',
we ind diat, for the space of about four days
before, and six days after, the summer solstice,
the barometer legnh^ly rises from nine P. M. to
about six A. M. then falls till the return of the
former hour in the evening, then rises again ad
before, fcc. in alternate periods. In the first
four days the direction is ascending, and the
elevation of a line drawn through the mean is
about ih of an inch. In the latter six days the
mean line is perfectly horizontal, the elevation
each night amounting to Jj^, and the depressioh
each day to ibe same, but occupying double
time.
The celebrated Humboldt made some inter-
esting observations at Caraccas, in South America,
tMar the equator. There are, he says, four at-
mospherical tides every twenty-four hours, which
depend only on the attraction of the sun. The
mercury fails from nine in the morning to four
in the evening: it rises from four to eleven
o'cfock : it fieills from eleven o'clock till past four
in the inon^ing { and it re-ascends from that time
till nine o'clock. Neither winds, storms, nor
earthquakes^ have any influence on this motion.
Horsburgh, in his last voyage to Bombay,
employed two marine barometers, one made br
Troughton, and the other by lUmsden; with>
which he made very minute observations ; which
were published in the second part of the PhiL
Trans, for 1805; and in the Hist. Roy. Soc.
Edin. of the same year, we have a comparison
of the diurnal variations of the barometer, made
in Peyrouse's voyage round the world, with those
made at Calcutta^ by Dr. Balfour.
The agreement between these observation*
seems very remarkable. Dr. Balfour found that,.
during the whole lunation, in which he observed
the barometer from half hour to half hour, the
mercury constantly fell firom ten at night to six
in the morning ; from six to ten in the morning
it rose ; from ten in the morning to six at night.
it fell again ; and, lastly, rose from six to ten ai
night. The maximum height is, therefore, at ten
at night and ten in the morning ; and the mini-
mum at six at night and six in t)ie momini^'.
The only difference is, that in M. Lamanon*^
observations, thie minimum is stated to havehap•^
pened at about four instead of six. This, how-^
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BAROMETER.
ever, will not seem a very matenal difference,
when it is remembered, that the instant when
any quantity attaitks either its greatest or its least
state is not easily ascertained with precision.
From the observations, as detailed by M. Lamar
non, the time of the minimum seems to answer
fully as well to five as to four ; so that the dif-
ference of the results is in every view incon-
siderable, and their coincidence on the whole
not a little sin^lar. The variation in Dr. fial-
four's barometer between the nearest maximum
and minimum is sometimes about ^ of an inch,
though, in general, considerably less.
Maiiy hypotheses have been advanced to ex-
plain the cause of the variations of the barometer.
The various and often imaginary effects of
vapors of heat and winds have been employed
in framing an explication of the changes of the
atmosphere. The fact that the mercurial column
generally falls before rain, seemed at complete
variance with the intimation of the senses ; it being
a notion universally prevalent, that the air is
heavier when the sky appears lowering and ovei^
cast; another proof, it it were wanted, how
fidlacious are all current opinions in matters 6f
science.
Leibnitz endeavoured, by a sort of metaphysi-
cal argument, to demonstrate that, though a body
adds its own weight to the pressure of a fluid in
which it is suspended, yet it will cease to be
ponderous in the act of falling. This alleged
principle will not, in the actual state of science,
be thou^t to require any serious refutation. Dr.
Halley diought the winds and exhalations safficient
to account for these variations ; and on this prin-
ciple gives a theory, the substance of which may
be comprised in what follows : 1st That the winds
must alter the weight of the air in any particular
country ; and this, either by bringing together a
greater Quantity of air, and so loading the atmos-
phere or any place, which will be the case as
ofVen as two wmds blow from opposite 'parts, at
the same time, towards the same point ; or by
sweeping away some part of the air, and giving
room for the atmosphere to expand itself, which
will happen when two winds blow opposite ways
from the same point at the same time : or lastly,
by cutting off the perpendicular pressure of the
air, which is the case when a single wind blows
briskly any way ; it being found by experience,
that a strong blast of i^ind, even made by art,
will render the atmosphere lighter : and hence the
mercury in a tube below it, as well as in
others more distant, will considerably subside.
See Phil. Trans. No. 292. 2dly, That the cold
nitrous particles, and even the air itself condensed
in the northern regions, and driven elsewhere,
must load the atmosphere, and increase its pres-
sure. 3dly, That heavy dry exhalations from the
earth must increase the weight of the atmosphere,
as well as its elastic force : as we find the speci-
fic gravity of menstruums increased by salts and
metals dissolved in them. 4thly, That the air
being rendered heavier by these and the like
causes, is thence better able to support the vapors ;
which being likewise intimately mixed with it,make
the weather serene and fair. Again the air being
made lighter from the contrary causes, it becomes
unable to support the vapors with which it is
replete; these therefore precipitating^ are collect-
ed into clouds, the particles of which in their
progress unite into drops of rain. Hence be
mfers, that the same causes which increase the
weight of the air, and render it more able to
support the mercury in the barometer, likewise
produce a serene sky, and a dry season; and
that the same causes which render the air lighter,
and less able to support the mercury, lil^wiie
generate clouds and ram.
Dr. James Hutton^ in his Theory of Raio,
printed in the Transactions of the Royal Society
of Edinburgh, vol. 1, gives ingenious and plau-
sible reasons for thinking that the lessening the
weight of the atmosphere bv the fall of rain, is
not the cause of the fall of the barometer, bat
that the principal, if not the only cause, arises
from the commotions in the atmosphere, which
are chieiiy produced by sudden changes of
heat and cola in the air. The barometer, says
he, is an instrument necessarily connected with
motions in the atmosphere ; but it is not equally
affected with every motion in that fluid body.
The barometer is chiefly affected by those motions
by which they are produced, accumulations and
abstractions of this fluid, in places or regions of
sufficient extent to affect tne pressure of the
atmosphere upon the surface of tne earth. Bat
as every commotion in the atmosphere may,
under proper conditions, be a cause for rain, and
as the want o^ commotion in the atmosphere is
naturally a cause of fair weather, this instrument
may be made of great importance for the purpose
of meteorological observations, although not in
the certain and more simple manner in which it
has been with the increase of science, so sq(s
cessfiilly epplied to the measuring of heights.
See Rain.
Hauksbee*s celebrated experiment has been
quoted as confirming the theory of Dr. Halley.
That ingenious experimentalist, about the year
1 704,placed two barometers, about three feet asun-
der, with their naked cisterns in two close square
wooden boxes, connected by a horizontal brass
pipe ; one of these boxes had, inserted at right
angles, an open pipe on the one side, and a second
pipe, terminating m a screw, on the other ade ;
to this end he adapted a strong globular receiver
of about a foot m diameter, which had been
charged, by injection from a syringe, with three or
four atmospheres; then suddenly opening the
s^op-cook, and giving vent for the escape of the
air through the box and over the sur&ce of the
included cistern the mercury sunk equally in both
barometers more than two inches. This experiment
might be deemed entirely conclusive, if a minute
cireumstanoe, on which its success depends, had
not unfortunately been overlooked. It will be
perceived frem tne inspection of the figure which
Hauksbee has given, tnat the e%it pipe of the box
was considerably wider than the pipe which con-
veyed into it the stream of air. This fluids
escaping from compression, would, therefore, be
carried by its elasticity as much beyond the state
of equilibrium ; while the width of the orifice,
by facili^ting its emission, would allow the por-
tion occupying the box and the connected reser-
voir- to preserve its acquired expansion. If the
pipe of discharge from the box had been rouc^
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BAROMETER.
&73
nanower than ttie otiier, an opposite effect must
have taken place; for ^e air accumulated over
the cistern, not finding a ready vent, would remain
in a state of condensation. . This fiict is a remark-
able indication of the great delicacy required
in performing such experiments.
The same result, however, can be exhibited by
a very simple apparatus. Let a small box, or
rather a glais ball, have a short narrow tube
inserted in the one side, and another wide tube
opposite to this, with a cross slider of brass, for
contracting the orifice at pleasure ; and, to the
under part of the ball, join a long perpendicular
tube. Dent back like a syphon to more than half
its height and containing a double column of
water. Now, blow through the narrow tube into,
the cavity of the ball, while the orifice of emission
is quite opened, and .the liquor will rise several
inches in a lon^ stem ; but^ still continuing the
blast, let the onfice be gradually contracted, and
the column will first descend to its ordinaiy level,
and then sink considerably below it.
It is clear that the fall and rise of the meicary
in the barometer must evidently be occasioned
by some corresponding reduction or accumulation
of tlie atmospnere at the place of observation.
Whatever augments the elasticity of the air will
cause part of the incumbent finid to evade and
leave fov the time a diminished vertical pressure.
The ef9ux of wind might also produce a tempo-
rary reduction of the atmospheric column. But
the real difCculty consists in explaining why the
variations of the barometer should be greater in
the high latitudes than between the tropics, and
why they 30 much exceed in all cases the quantities
"which calculation might assign. On the whole,
the present state of physi^ science presents
nothing but a series of conjectures on this subject
The auffmented elasticity communicated to the
air by tlie action of heat or the presence of hu«
midity, and the reduction of the incumbent mass
by the efflux of winds> have doubtless each their
distinct influence, in disturbing the equilibrium
of the atmospheric ocean. But the effects, par-
ticularly in the high latitudes, much surpass the
regular operation of those causes. The only
node, pernaps, of rempving the difficulty, is to
take into consideration the comparative slowness
'With which any force is propagated through the
▼ast body of atmosphere. Aa inequali^ may
continue to accumulate in one spot, before the
counterbalancing influence of the distant portions
of the aerial fluid can arrive to modify the result.
In the higher latitudes, the narrow circle of air
may be considered as, in some measure, insulated
from the expanded ocean of atmosphere, and
hence, perhaps, the variations of the barometet
are concentrated there, and swelled beyond th«
due proportion.
The use «nd application of barometers in
measuring altitudes, has of late attracted more
of the attention of philosophers tlian their fa^
culty of indicating the weather. As before ob-
served, this use of the instrument was first
proposed by Pascal and Descartes. Succeeding
philosopben have been at great pains to ascer-
tain the proportion between the fall of the ba^
rometer and the height to which it is carried ;
as Halley, Mariotte, Maraldi, Scheuchzerj J.
Cassini, D. Bernoulli, Horrebow, Bouguer,
Shuckburgh, Roy, and more especially De Luc,
who has given a critical and historical detail of
most of the attempts, that have at different times
been made, for applying tlie motion of the mer-
cury in the barometer to the measurement of
accessible heights. We have noticed the re-
searches of Dr. Halley and De Lite, who intro-
duced the corrections of the columns of mercury
and air, on account of heat. The following
rules for computing heights (the principles <^
which the reader will find explained under
Pneumatics,) are given by Dr. Maskelyne, in
his Introduction tp Taylor's Tables of Loga-
rithms. The altitudes of the barometer at two
stations, with the heights of Fahrenheit's ther-
mometer attached to the barometer, and the
heights of two thermometers of the same kind,
exfK»sed to the air but sheltered from the sun, at
the' two stations being given, to find the perpen-
dicular altitude of the one station above the
other? — Put B for the observed height of the
barometer at the lower station, and 6 for that
at tlie upper station, D for the difference of
heights of Fahrenheit's thermometer attached to
the barometer at the two stations, and F for tho
mean of the two heights of Fahrenheit's thermo-
meter, exposed freely for a few minutes to the
open air, in the shade at the two stations. The
altitudes of the upper station above the lower,
in English fathoms, will be expressed as follows,
according to the respective observations of M.
de Luc, the late General R<>y, and Sir George
Shuckburgh, in which the upper sign — is to be
used when the thermometer attached to the baro-
meter is highest at the lower station, (which is
most usual,) and the lower sign 4- when it is
lowest at the lower station.
M. De Lnc ..... Log. B — Log, 6 q: 0-452 D x 1 + F — 40^ x 000223.
General Roy .... Log. B— Log. b if 00-468 D x 1 -f 1^ — 32° x 0-00245.
Sir G. Shuckburgh . . Log^ B — Log. 6^:0-440 0 x l + f"— 33°X 000243.
Mean of the two last . Log. B — Log. b ip 0454 D x 1 -f^* — 32''x 000244.
The observations of General Roy and Sir George vided by Mr. Ramsden, and with the detached
Shuckburgh having been made with barometers thermometers never exposed to the sun, appear
and thermometers constructed and accurately di- clearly to deserve the preference above those of
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574
BAROMETER.
M. de Lug. The bit of the above rales, which
is a mean between those of General Roy an4 Sir
George Shuckbur^, may be expressed in words
at lengthy as follows : take the difieienoe of the
tabular logarithms of the observed heights of the
barometer at the two stations, considering the
four first figures, exclusive of the index, as whole
numbers, and the remaining figures to the rieht
as decimals, and subtract or s2kl <^ of the di^
ftrence ef altitude of Fahrenheit'-s thermometer,
attached to the baxometer at the two stations, ao*-
. cording as it '^as highest at the lower or upper
station; thus- the height of the upper station abov4
the lower in Englnsh fathoms, will be found
nearly; to be corrected as follows: — ^Multiply
the height found nearly by the dtfierence between
the mean of the two altitudes of Fahrenheit's
thermometer exposed to the air of the two sta-
tions and 39^, and by the decimal fiaction
(H>0?44 ; the product will be the correction of
the approximate height, which added to, or sub-
tracted from the same, according as the mean
of the two altitudes of Fahrenheit's thermometer
^Bosed to the air was higher or lower than 39^,
will give the true height of the upper station
above the lower in Bnglish fothoips; which mul-
tiplied by 6, will give the true height in English
foet.
Example. Let the state of the barometers
and thermometers be as follows^ to find the al-
titude.
Thermometers.
Detached.
57
42
Mean 49|
Attached.
57
43
Barometers*
29*68 lower.
25*28 upper
Diff. 14 II
Heights. Log.
29*68 4724*689
«5-28 40277T1
from 696*868
Subtract ^ x 14 = 6*356
Height nearly z= 690*519
Multiply by 49i— 32 = 17J
Heidit nearly = 690*512
• Froduct = 21083*960
Multiply by 00244
Correction =: 39*485
Height nearly = 690*512
I
Correct height in fathoms z= 719*997
Professor Play fair, in a learned paper, printed
in the first volume of the Transactions of the
, Royal Sodety of Edinburgh, has examined all
the circumstanpes which can afiect barometrical
measurements, with his usual correctness and
perspicuity. La Place resumed the subject in his
Mecanique Celeste, and brought all the condi-
tions together in a very complicated formula, to
which we )k$ive before alluded. Such an appear-
ance of extreme accuracy, however, is perhaps
to be regarded rather as a theqretical il\usion,
Chan a view of results founded on the real state of
practice, ^iot al^, in attempting to arrive at
similar conclusion, confine hmiself to the san
a
same
remark. He sets out 4 priori from some eiteful
experiments on the relative density of air and
mercury, performed by htm in cooiunccien with
Arago. He thence infers, that in tne latitude of
Paris, and at the point of congelatioB, air, under
a mercurial pressure of 76 metres, or 29*939
Bnglish inches, is 10,463 times lighter thanmeN
cur^ at the temperature of w%ter at its lowest
contraction. This would give 26*090 feel kt
the height of a oolumn> of hMuogeneoos fluid,
whose pressure is equivalent to the eiastiGity <if
the atmosphere. The coefficient adapted to oom-
mon logarithms, and adjusted to the force of at^
traction at the level of the sea, woiUd thersfiMe
be 60,148 feet, or 18,334 metres; scarcely dif-
fering sensibly from the quantity which Raaiend
had deduced from a very numerous set of expe-
riments made by him on the Pyrenees. Bat
Biot prefers, as the coefficient, the niunber
18,993, answering for an elevation of 1200 ne-
tces, or about 4000 feet above the sea, whieh is
not far from the general level of such bbsem-
tions. The Ibimula is henoe, in English feet,
60,346 (l+*001f837 cp,s. 2^^) ( 1 + ^^^^)
If
)fi9* Y't ^^^'f^ V^ denotas the latitiylft of tlie
place, T and t the temperatures of tiie air at the
two stations, as indicated by the centesimal ther-
mometer, and H and A the heights of mercurial
columns corrected for the effects of heat
This writer has likewise given tables for ex-
pediting the calculation of b^metrical measure-
ments; in which l^e w^s anticipated, however,
by Oltmans of Berlin, who published, in 1809,
large Hypsometrical Tables, as they are called,
accopimodated to the complex formula of La
Place. Such tables might, no doubt, prove ase-
fi)l where very freai^ent computations are wanted,
as in the case of tne reduction of the numerous
observations brought home by Baron Humboldt,
for which, indeed, they were first designed. Bat
still they contain a needless profusion of figures,
and hold forth a show of extreme accuracy whicii
the nature of the observations themselves can never
justify. By barometrical admeasurements, prin-
cipally sciei^tific, travellers have of late years
been able to form vertical sections of different
countries, which contribute further to our know-
ledge of ^eir geological character than any pre-
vious mode of delii^eation. Thus Humbc^dt, in
his Geog;raphy of Plants, gives a secrion across
the American continent, one of the best and most
interesting that has yet appeared. It coosists,
in fact, of four combined sections, traversing
through an extent of 425 miles. The line b^ins
at Acapulco on the shore of the Pacific Ocean,
and runs 195 miles, about a point of the compes
towards the east of north, to the dty of Mexico ;
then eighty miles^ a point to the south of east, to
La Puebla de los Angeles ; again it holds a noftb-
east direction of seventy miles, to tbe Cms
Blanca ; and finally bends eighty miles east by
soutli, to Vera Cruz, o^ the coast of t|ie Atlantic.
A scale of altitudes is annexed, which shows tbe
vast elevation of the table-land at Mexico,
This mode of distant levelling has originated
a}so a very interesting discovery, recently made
by £ngelliardt and Parrot, two Prussian ttsvei-
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BAROMETER.
lers, in anotker quarter of oor globe ; they pro-
ceeded, on the 13th of July, 1814, from the
naoQth of the Kuban, at the island of Taman, on
the BladK Sea; and, czanining carefallv e?ery
day the slate of the barometer, they adyanoed
with fifty-one observations, the distance of 990
fersts, or 711 Sngiish miles, to the mouth of the
Terek, on the margin of the Caspian Sea. Si-
milar observations were repeated and multiplied
OB their return^ From a ailigent comparison of
the whole, it ibllews that the Caspian is 334
English feet below the level of the Black Sea.
That the Caspian really occupies a lower level
than the ocean, had been suspected before, from
a oomparison of some registers of barometers kept
at 9t Petersburgh, and on the borders of that
inknd sea ; but the last observation places the
Question beyond all doubt. It fiurther appears,
mat vrithin 950 versts> or 189 miles, of the Cas-
pian, the country is already depressed to the level
of the ocean, leaving, dierdbre, an immense
hasia, from which the waters are suppoeed' to
kave vatiied by a subterranean percolation.
Wo iubjoin a table of the altitude of some of
the most remarkable mountains, Ice. on tlie earth
above the surface of the ocean : —
Bag.lMi
Mount Puy de Dome in Auvergne, the
first mountain measured by the baro-
meter 5088
Mount Blapc x 15669
MoBteRosa f*. 15048
Aiguille d'Argentieia ( ^'P* ' ' 13409
Monastery of St Bernard 3 7044
Mount Cenis 9919
Fie de los Reyes^ .... 7690
Pic du Midi ( p^.„^ 9800
Picd'Ossano ?*7^«»ees . . . ^^^^
Canegou J . . . . 8544
Lake of Geneva 1239
Mount £tna 10964
MoDut Vesuvius .*.... 8938
Mount Hecla ip Iceland . 4887
BMwdon ...... 3555
BenMoir 3799
Ben Lawen 3858
Ben Gloe 3479
Schihallion 3461
Ben Lomond . . . 3180
Tinto . . 9349
Table UUl, Cape of Good Hope . . 3454
Ooadar, city in Abyssinia . 8440
Source of the Nile .... 8089
PicofTeneriffB 14096
Chimbora^o 19595
Cayambouro 19391
Antisaqa 19990
Pichincha 13670
CiUr of Quito . . , . . 9977
The mean height of the barometer in London,
upon an average of two observations in every
day of the year, kept at the house of the Royal
Society, fop many years past, is 29'88'; the me-
dium temperature, or height of the thermometer,
according to the same, being 58^. But the me-
diniB height at the surface of the sea, according
to Sir George Shuckburgh. (Phil. Trans. 1777.
p. 586.) b 80*04 inches, the heat of the thermome-
ter btiBg 55% and of the air 69"?.
BAaoMETRiCAL PHOSPHORUS. See Phos-
phorus.
BA'RON, ^
Ba'ronage,
Ba'iionbss,
Ba'ronet,
Ba'ronial,
Barony.
Fr. baron; Ital. barone; Sp.
ron. See to Bar. Btarganf
^to arm ; to defend ; to strengthen.
^The etymology of this word is
very uncertain. Baro, amon^
the Romans, signified a brave
warrior, or a brutal man ; and, {ix)m the first of
tbesie significations. Menage derives baron, as a
term of military dignity. — Others suppose it
originally to signify only a man, in whicn sense
baron or varon^ is still used by tlie Spaniards;
and, to confirm this conjecture, our law yet uses
baron and femme, husband and wife. Others
deduce it from 6er, an old Gaulish word, signi-
fy'm^ commander ; others from the Hebrew '\22,
of the same import. Some think it a contractiop
of par hofnmey or peer, which seems least pro-
bable. Allowing the derivation to be nx)m
bairgan, which is the suggestion of Tool^e, then
the simple idea of baron is a man of power,
armed and surrounded with abundant means of
defence. This generally implies rank ; and baron
is a title of nobility, it is likewise a name of
office.
When loue has told herr his extent
The baronage to coimsaile went.
In many sentences they fill.
And dinersly they saied her will.
Chaucer. Itonunmt o/Ag Roen
My lord, ill tell yon what,—
If my yovng lord, year son, have not the day.
Upon nine hmuror for a silken point
I'll give my tenny. Shakapeare,
Whew throngs of knight* and barvme bold
In weeds q£ peace high triumph hold.
With store of ladies, whose bright eyes
Rain influence, and judge the prize
Of wit or arms, while both contend
To win her grace whom all commend. MtUem,
Sir Edward Walker, garter and secretary of war
to King Charles the First, observes, ' That in all
Queen Elisabeth's forty-four years reign, she created
hut six earls and eight or nine banm,*
1%e second was the banma§e, the nobility and
gently who held their AervMCf of the king, and the
third was the boroughs, who held of the kii^g by lie-,
roi^, though in a conmiunity ', so that the parliament
was truly the hatremage of the kingdom. The Issser
ftorofu grew weary of this attendance.
BwDMl. HittoryofhiMowmTmm,
Coflee (which makes the politician wise.
And see thro' all things with his half shut eyes)
Bent up in vapours to the bamm'e brain
New stratagems the radiant lock to gain. Pope.
Here qiight you see
Banm and peasants on the embattled field,
81ain or half dead, in one huge ghastly heap
Promiscuously amassed. Philippe Cider, b. u.
The titl^ of hamnei, inyented by Saltshury, was
sold; and two hundred patent^ of that species of
knighthood were disposed of for sq many thousand
pounds. Hwne, HUterjf of England. King Jamee let*
A baron is the most general and universal title of
nobility ; for originally every one of the peers of supe-
rior rank had also a barinjf annexed to his other
titles. But it hath sometimes happened, that when
an ancient baron hath been raised to a new degree of
peerage, in the ooufse of a few generations the two titles
have descended difiHrenUy. BhekefoMTtC
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67«
BARON.
Baron (Robert), a dramatic author, who
lived during the reign of Charles I. and the
protectorship of Oliver Cromwell. He was edu-
cated at Cambridge, after which he became a
member of tlie society of Gray's Inn. During
his residence at the university he wrote a novel,
called the Cyprian Academy, in which he in-
troduced the first two of the dramatic pieces
mentioned below. The third of them is a much
more regular and perfect play, and was probably
written when the author had attained a riper
age. Their names are, 1. Deorum Dona, a
masque. 2. Gripus and liegio, a pastoral. 3.
Mirza, a tragedy. Mr. Baron was intimate with
the celebrat^ Mr. James Howell, the traveller,
in whose collection of letters there is one to this
gentleman, vol. iii.let. 418, who was then at Paris.
To Mr. Howell, and tl^ie ladies and gentlewomen
of England, he dedicated his romance.
Baron. This title in ancient records was ap-
plied to all the nobility of England, because
regularly all noblemen were barons, though they
had also a high'^r dignity.. But it has sometimes ,
happened, that when an ancinnt baron has been
raised to a new degree of peerage, in the course
of a few generations the two titles have descended
differently ; one perhaps to the male descendants,
the other to the heirs general; whereby the
earldom or other superior title has subsisted
without a barony : and there are also modem
instances, where earls and viscounts have been
created without annexing a barony to their other
honors: so tiiat now the rule does not hold
universally that all peers are barons. The origin
and antiquity of barons has occasioned great
enquiries among antiquaries. The most pro-
bable opinion is, that they were the same with
our present lords of manors. It is said the
original name of this dignity in England -was
vavassour, which by the Saxons was changed
into thane, and by tne Normans into baron. It
may he collected from king John's magna charta,
that originally all lords of manors, or barons, had
seats in the great council of parliament; but
such is the deficiency of public records, that
the first precept to be found is of no higher
date than the 49 Henry III. which, although
it was issued out in the king's name, was neither
by his authority nor by hk direction : for the
king himself, his son prince Edward, and most
of the nobility who stood loyal to him, were then
prisoners in the hands of the rebellious barons ;
having been taken in May preceding, at the
battle of LeweSy and so continued until the battle
of Evesham, in August the year following;
when, by ttie escape of prince Edward, he
rescued the king and his adherents out of the
hands of Simon Mountford, Earl of Leicester.
It cannot be doubted, but that several parliaments
were held by Henry III. and Edward I. yet no
record is to be found, giving any account of
them, except the fifth of Edward I. until the
twenty-second year of that king's reign.
Before the 49 Henry, III. the ancient par-
liaments consisted of the archbishops, bishops,
abbots, earls, and barons. Of these barons
there were two sorts; the greater barons, or
the king's chief tenants, who held of him in
(capite by barony; and the lesser barons, who
held of the first by military service in c\pite.
The former had summons to parliament by
several writs ; and the latter (i. e. nil those who
were possessed of thirteen knight's fees and a
quarter) had a general summons from the sheriff
in each county. Thus things continued till the
49 Henry III. when, instead of keeping to the
old form, the prevailing. powers thought fit to
summon, not all, but only those of the greater
barons who were of their party ; and, instead
of the lesser barons who came widi large retinues,
to send their precepts to the sheriff of each
county to cause two knights in every shire to be
chosen, and one or two burgesses for each
borough, to represent Uie body of the people
residing in those counties and boroughs ; whidi
gave rise to the separation into two houses of
parliament. By deirrees the title came to be
confined to the greater barons, or lords of par-
liament only ; and there were no other barons
among the peerage but such as were summoned
by writ, in respect of the tenure of their lands
or baronies, till Richard II. first roide it a mere
title of honor, by conferring it on divers persons
by his letters patent.
Barons by ancient tenure, were those who
held certain territories of the king, who still re-
served the tenure in chief to himself. We also
read of barons by temporal tenure ; who are
such as hold honors, castles, manors, as heads of
their barony, that is, by grand seijeantry ; by
which tenure they were anciently summoned to
parliament. But at present a baron by tenure
IS no lord of parliament, till he be called thither
by writ. The barons by tenure, after the con-
quect, were divided into majores and minores,
and were summoned accordingly to parliament;
the majores, or greater barons, by immediate
writ from the king ; the minores, or lesser barons,
by general writ from the high sheriff, at the king's
command. Anciently they distinguished the
greater barons from the less, by attributing high,
and even sovereign jurisdiction, to the former,
and only inferior jurisdiction over smaller matien
to the latter.
Wlien a baron is called up to the hoose of
peers by writ of summons, the writ is iu the
king's name, and he is directed to come to the
parliament appointed to be held at a oertain
time and place, and there to treat and advistf
with his majesty, the prelates, and nobility, about
the weighty affairs of the nauon. The cereoMJoy
of his admission into the house of peers is this :
He is brought into the house between two barons,
who conduct him to the Lord Chancellor, his
patent or writ of summons being carried by a
king-atrarms, who presents it kneeling to the
Chancellor, who reads it, and then congratulates
him on his becoming a member of the honse of
peers, and invests him with his pariiamentaiy
robe. The patent b then delivered to the clexk
of the pariiament, and the oaths are administered
to the new peer, who is conducted to his seat on
the barons' bench. Some barons bold their
seats by tenure. The coronation robes of a ba>
ron are the same as an earl's, except that he has
only two rows of spots on each shoolder. In
like manner his parliamentary robes h&ve bat
two guards of white fur, with rows of gad laca.
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BARONS.
577
tn other respects they are th« same wHh those
of other peers.
A Baron's qoronety in herald-
ry, is a gold circle, on iwhicfa are
six pearls, which were assigned
to barons by king Charles II.
after the Restoration. Previously
to this time the barons wore
scarlet caps, turned up with
ermine, and on the top a tassel
of gold. Though called pearls, the -globes round
*he coronet are always made of silver. His cap
is the same as a viscount's. His style is Right
Honourable ; and he is addressed by the king Of
queen, Right Trusty and Well Beloved. See
Sabont.
Barom and Fexme, in English law, husband
and wife. They are deemed but one person ; so
that a wife cannot be witness for or against her
husband, nor he for or against his wife, except
in cases of high treason.
Baron and Femme, in heraldry, is when the
coats of arms of a man. and his wife are borne
par pale in the same escutcheon, the man's being
always on the dexter side, and the woman's on
the sinister; but here the woman is supposed
not an heiress, for then her coat must be t>ome
by the husband on an escutcheon of pretence.
Baron, Lord Chief, the president of the
court of Exchequer.
Barons of the Cinque-Ports, are members
of the bouse of commons, elect^ by the five
ports, two for each port. Those who have been
mayors of Corfe-castle, in Devonshire, are like-
wise styled barons ; and formerly the principal
citizens of London were honored with the title
of baron. See Cinque-Ports.
Barons of the Exchequer, four judges in
England, and five in Scotland, to whom the ad-
ministiation of justice is committed, in causes
between the king and his subjects, relating to
matters concerning the revenue. They were
formerly barons of the realm, but of late are ge-
nerally persons learned in the laws. Their office
is also to look into the accounts of the king, for
which reason they have auditors under them. See
Exchequer.
BAHONAGIUM. See Barony.
Baronets of England. The dignity of
baronet is given by patent. The order was
founded by King James I. at the suggestion of
Sir Robert Cotton, in 1611, when 200 baronets
were created at once ; to which number it was
intended they should always be restrained : but
it is now enlarged at the king's pleasure, without
limitation. They had several considerable pri-
vileges given them, with an habendam to them
and their heirs male. They were allowed to
charge their coat with the arms of Ulster, which
are, in a field argent, a sinister hand, gules ; and
that upon condition of their defending the pro-
vince of Ulster in Ireland against the rebels,
who then harassed it extremely : to which end
they were each to raise and keep up thirty
soldiers, at their own expense, for three years
together, or to pay into the exchequer a sum
sufficient to (io it ; which, at eight-pence per day
per head, was £1095. So that, including fees,
tlie expense of this dignity may be about £1200
Vol. III.
sterling. To be qualified for it, one must b« a
gentleman bom, and have a clear estate of £1000
per annum. Baronets take place according to
the dates of their patents ; by the terms of which
no honor is to be erected between barons and
baronets. The title, Sir, is granted them by a
peculiar clause in their patents, though they be
not dubbed knights : but both a baronet and his
eldest son, being of fiill age, may claim knight-
hood. The first English baronet was Sir Nicholas
Bacon, of Redgrave, in Suffolk, whose successor
is therefore styled primus baronetorum Anglis.
If a baronet be named at an installation as
proxy for a knight of the Bath, it appears es-
sential that he should be knighted for the
occasion ; thus Sir George Osborne, Bart, was
knighted by king George III. A baronet takes
precedence of all knights, except bannerets.
Baronets' mark ; the arms of
the province of Ulster, viz.
argent, a hand, gules, in a
canton, or in escutcheon, are
borne by every baronet, as in
the annexed example. 'He
beareth, or, between two
chevronels, three trefoils, slip-,
ped, sable,' as in the arms of the Abdy family.
Baronets of Ireland. In Ireland, an he-
reditary dignity somewhat similar to knighthood,
appears to have been occasionally conferred in
the earliest times ; and the knights of Kerry and
of Glyn are yet permitted to bear distinctions
bestowed on their ancestors by the ancient so-
vereigns of the country. The order of baronets,
however, was likewise instituted here by James
I. in the eighteenth year of his reign, for the
same purpose, and with the same privileges
within the kingdom of Ireland as he oad con-
ferred on the like order in England ; for which
the Irish baronets paid the same fees into the
treasury of Ireland. The first of that kingdom
who was advanced to this hereditary dignity was
Sir Francis Blundell, then secretary for the
affairs of Ireland. Several more have been
added, no number being limited ; but since the
union in 1801, none have been created otherwise
than as baronet<i of the united kingdom.
Baronets of Nova Scotia, and Baronets
OF Scotland. The order of knights baronets
was also designed to be established in Scodand
in 1621, by James I. for the plantation and cul-
tivation of the province ot Nova Scotia, ia
America ; but it was not actually instituted till
the year 1625, by his son Charles I. when the
first person dignified with this title was Sir Ro-
bert Gordon, of Gordqnstone, a younger son of
the Earl of Sutherland. The king granted a
certain portion of land in Acadia or New
Scotland, to each of them, which they were to
hold of Sir William Alexander, afterwards Earl
of Stirling, for their encouragement who should
hazard their lives for the good and increase of
that plantation, with precedency to them, and
their heirs male for ever, before all knights called
equites aurati, and all lesser barons called
lairds, and all other gentlemen,x except Si:
William Alexander, his majesty's lieutenant in
Nova Scotia, his heirs, their wives and children ;
that the title of Sir should be prefixed to their
2P
Digitized by
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BAR
678
BAR
Christian namey and Baronet added to their sur-
name ; and their own and their eldest sons' wives
should enjoy the title of Lady, Madam, or Dame.
His majesty was so desirous of adding every
mark of dignity to this, his favorite order, that
four years after its institution, he issued a royal
warrant, granting them the privilege of wearing
an orange ribbon and a medal : which last was
present^ to each of them by the king himself,
according to the words of the warrant All the
privileges of the order, particularly thu of
wearing the medal, were confirmed at the king's
request by the convention of estates in the year
1630 ; and, in order to establish them on the
most solid foundation, they were again con-
firmed by an act of the parliament of Scotland
in 1633. The premier baronet of Scotland, at
present, is Sir Richard Strachan ; and the num-
ber of the order, exclusive of such titles as are
merged in peerages, is 135. Since the union
the power of the king to create new baronets
withm Scotland is held to have ceased.
BARONI (Adriana), baroness of Piancaretta,
in Mantua, an eminent singer, sumamed the fair,
on account of her uncommon beauty. See next
artide.
Baronx (Leonora), and her mother, Adriana,
were both distinguished for their extraordinary
musical talents. Leonora was born at Naples,
f>ut spent the greatest part of her life at Rome.
She had less beauty than her mother ; but ex-
celled her in profound skill in music, the fineness
of her voice, and the delicacy of her manner.
Mr. Bayle styles her one of the finest singers in
the world ; she was equally eminent as a com-
poser, and was accordingly, as well as her
mother, celebrated by the wits. In 1639 there
was published, at firacciano, a collection of
Latin, Greek, Italian, Spanish, and French
poems, in her praise, with this title, Applausi
roetici alle Glorie della Signora Leonora Ba-
roni. Among the Latin poems of Milton there
are three addressed, Ad Leonoram Romae ca^
nentem, wherein this lady is celebrated for her
singing, with an allusion to her mother's ex-
quisite performance on the lute. A fine eulogium
on her is contained in a discourse on the music
of the Italians, printed with the life of Malherbe,
and some other treatises at Paris, in 1672, in
12mo. It was composed by M. Maugars, prior
of St. Peter de Mac, the king's English inter-
preter, who says, < her singing threw me into
such raptures, that I forgot my mortality, and
thought myself amon? the angels, enjoying the
felicity of the blessed r
BARONLff: Caput. See Caput.
BARONIS, a mountain of Chaus, in Barbary,
three miles north of Fez. It produces red grapes,
of which they make good wine, and is surrounded
by villages.
BARONIUS (Caesar), vras bom at Sora, in
1538, and studied at Rome, under Philip de
Neri. In 1593 he was made general of the con-
gr^tion of the Oratory, on the resignation of
PhUip de Neri, the founder. Pope Clement VIIL
made him his confessor, and created him a car-
dinal in 1496. He was afterwards librarian to
the Vatican; and died in 1605, at sixty-eight
years cf age. He wrote several wotks, tlie prin-
cipal of which is his Anoales EccMastici, from
A. D. 1 to 1198, in twelve vols, folio; which
has been abridged by several persons, paiticnlaify
by Henry Spondaeus, Bkovius, and Ludovioo
Aurelio.
BARONSTOWN, a town of Ireland, in
the county of Loudi, six miles W.N. W. of
Dundalk.
Baaovy, Babonia, or Babovagium, may
be considered as a lordship, held by some service
in chief of the king, coinciding with what is
otherwise called grand serjeanty. Baronies, in
their first creation, moved from the king hinnel^
the chief lord of the whole realm, and cookl be
holden of no other lord. For example, the king
enfeoffed a man of a great seigneorie in land, to
hold to the person enfeoffed wad his heirs, of the
king and his heirs, by baionial service; to wit,
by the service of twenty, forty, sixty, knights,
or of such other number of knights, as the king
by his feofl^ent limited or appointed. In the '
ages next after the conquest, when a gnat loid
was enfeoffed by the king of a large seigneaiie,
such seigneurie was called barony, bat mote
commonly an honor; as, the honor of Okwces-
ter, the honor of Wallingford, and the like.
There were in England certain honors, which
were called sometimes by English and somrtimpi
by foreign names. This happened when the
same person was lord of an honor in Normandy,
or some other foreign country, and also of an
honor in England. For example, WilHasa de
Forz, de Force, or de Fortibus, was lord of the
honor of Albemarle in Normandy: he was abo
lord of two honors in England ; to wit, the honor
of Holderoess, and the honor of Skipton in Cn-
vene. These honors in England were sometimes
called by the Norman name, the honor of Albe-
marle, or the honor of the ea^l of Albemaile. In
like manner the earl of Briunnie was lord of the
honor of Britannie in France, and also of the
honor of Richmond in England; the honor jof
Richmond was sometimes <^led by the foreign
name, the honor of Britannie, or the honor of
the Earl of Britannie. This serves to explain
the terms honor Albemarlie, or comitis Albe-
marlise in Anglia ; honor Britannia, or oomitis
Britannie in Anriia; not that Albemarle or Bri-
tannie were in England, but that the same per-
son respectively was lord of eadi of the nid
honors abroad, and of each of the said bonon in
England. Tlie baronies bebnging to ~
are by some called regalia, as bemg held
on the king^s liberality. These do not coo
one barony alone, but in many; for tot <
baronift quot majora predia. A barony, accord-
ing to Bracton, is a right indifisible. Where-
fore, if an inheritance be to be divided among
co-partners, though some capital messuage may
be divided, yet if the capital messnage be the
head of a county or barony, it may not be par-
celled : and die reason is, lest by this division
many of the rights of counties and baronies by
degoses come to nothing, to the preiudice of the
realm, which is said to be composed of oomties
and baronies.
Baront of Glasgow. See Glasgow.
BAROPTIS, or Baroptinus lapis^ among
ancient naturalistSi a species of stone^ supposed
Digitized by
Googl(
BARRACK.
579
to have woDderful Tirlnef against ▼enemons bites,
externally applied. Pliny has left us but a very
short description of it; he says, it was black ia
color, but variegated with large spots of red
and white.
BAROSy or Bakios, a sea-port of the island
of Celebes, having a Dotdi factory and settle-
ment. There is a good trade here in opium.
Long. 119*" 15' E., lat. 1* 24' S.
BA'ROSCOPE, n. s. Bopoc and fntortm, an
instrument to show the weight d the atmosphere.
See Barometer.
If therfl vat alwmyt » calm, the eqnilibriom could
only be changed by the contents ; where the winde
are not variable, the altcratioat of the barotoopp are
veiT imall. ArbtMmai,
BAROTH, a market-town of Transylvania,
on the Aluta.
BARQUETTE, or Barchbtta, denotes a
lesser sort of bark^ used in the Mediterranean,
for the service of galleys, as boats and shallops
are for other ships.
BARQUISIMETO, a city of South America,
in the niovince of Venezuela, founded by the
Spaniaros iti 1552. It is placed on an elevated
plain, and enjoys great compaiakive coobess.
The most constant and equal wud which prevails
IS the north-east, and, whenever the rays of die
sun are not tempered by it, ihe thermometer of
Fahrenheit rises to 82^ and 84^. In the surround-
ing plains and hills excellent pasture encou-
rages the rearing of all sorts of cattle. Many of
the dtizens prefer this speculation, and find it
to their advantage, although at the same time
they cultivate the sugar-cane and wheat. Fmm'
a freshness preserved by irrigation the vales pro-
duce cacao abnndantW, and of a good quality ;
and the sides of the hills have lately been em-
ployed in the culture of coffee. Inere axe in
this place from 11,000 to 12,000- inhabitants,
and the upect of the city announces ease and ^
affluence. The houses are well built; the streets
straight, wide, and airy. The parish church is
handsome, and served by two priests. The judi-
cial and police duties are dis(:harged by a com-
mon council and lieutenant. Barquisimeto is
120 miles W.S.W. of Caraccas, 450 N.N.E. of
SanU F^ and ibrty-five N. N. E. of Tocuyo.
BAR Dice, a species of fidse dice, so formed
as that they will not easily lie on certain sides,
or turn up certain points. Bar dice stand oppo^
sed to flat dice, which come up on certain pomts
oftener than they should do.
Barr, or Barra, a smaH kingdom of Africa.
See Barra.
Barr, St. the tutelar saint of the island of
Barray, which was named after him. His holi-
liday is the 25th of September. On thn day the
priest says mass, and all those of the Romish
religion used punctually to attend. See Barry.
BAHRA, a hill of Scotland in Aberdeenshire,
in the parish of Bourtie, on the top of which are
still distinctly visible the remains of an ancient
camp, of a circular form, surrounded with ditches,
and extending to near three acres.
Barra, in commerce, a long measure used in
Portugal and some parts of Spain, to measure
woollen cloths, linen cloths, and serges. There
are three kinds; the barra of Valencia, thirteen
of which make twelve yards and six seventh.
English measure; the barra of Castile, seven of
which make six yards and four sevenths ; and the
barra of Arragon, three of which make two yards
and four seventlis English.
Barra, in law. See Bar.
Barra, a kingdom of the western coast of
Africa, at the mouth of the Gambia, fourteen
leagues in breadth, and eighteen long, according
to Golberry. It contains a population of 200,000
souls, chiefly of the Mandingo race, lealous
Mahommedans, and acute in commercial trans-
actions. The capital is
Barra Ikding, where a considerable trade is
carried on to Barraconda in maize, elephants'
leeth, gold dust and cotton cloth. Every vessel
entering the Gambia here pays a tax of about
£20 sterling to the king of Barra.
BARRABA, . or Barrada, a tract of land in
Siberia, lying between the rivers Irtisch and Oby,
in the province of Tobolsk. It is uninhabited,
but not through an^ deficiency of the soil; for
that is excellent for tillage, and part of it might
also be laid out in meadows and pastures. It is
interspersed with a great number of lakes, which
abound with carp/ and the country produces
great numbers of elks, deer, foxes, ermine, and
squirrels. Between the Irtisch and Oby are some
copper-mines.
BA'RRACAN, n,t. Fr. bouracan, or barracan,
a strong thick kind of camelot.
Barracan, or Barracan, is something like
camlet but of a coarser grain. It is used to make
cloaks, surtouts, &c. to keep off rain. Barracans
are chiefly made in France, as at Valenciennes,
Lisle, Abbeville, Amiens, and Rouen. Those of
Valenciennes are the most valued.
BARRACIDA, in ichthyology, a species of
pike. See Esox.
BA'RRACK, n. i. Span, harracca. Little
cabins made by the Spanish fishermen on the sea
shore; or little lodges for soldiers in a camp.
It is generally taken among us for buildings to
lodge soldiers. It is not found in our early lexi-
cographers. Perhaps from barricadOy barrique.
See Barricado.
Like onn it should wholly be composed of natural
subjects ; it ought only to be enlisted for a short
and limited time ; the soldiers also should live inter-
mixed with the people ; no separate camp, no 6ar-
foob, no inland fartrewes^ should be allowed.
Modem military, men have alwajrs thought
barracks very convenient, when there u suflicient
room to make a large square, surrounded with
buildings; because the soldiers are easily con-
fined to their quarters, and the rooms being con-
riguous, orders are executed with prinu^y ftnd
expedition; and ^e troops have not the least
connexion with the inhabitants of the place.
This prevents quarrels and riots. Those for the
horse were formeriy called barracks, and those for
the foot, huts; but now barrack is used indiffer-
ently for both.
Much opposition was made in paxUament dur-
ing the late war to the erection of barradcs, as
inimical to the liberties of Britain, by tending to
estrange the soldiers from the citizens; thus ren-
dering the former fit tools to enslave the latter,
2P2
Digitized by
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580 BARRACK.
should any future kiog or ministry wish to change 5. Soutli-westera, containijig Hampshire and
the constitution, or compel the people to submit Dorsetshire.
to unpopular and arbitrary measures. Plausible 6. Isle of Wight.
as these arguments may appear, there are othen 7. Western, containing DeTonsihire, Cornwall,
that have also considerable weight, on the side and Somerset.
of these establishments : in regard to the morals of 8. Seyem, containing Gloucestershire, Wor-
the people, we are persuaded the most virtuous cestershire, Herefordshire, Monmouthshire, and
country town or village will be proportionally South Wales.
corrupt as soldiers are quartered among them ; 9. North-western, containing Cheshire, Shrop-
and the (act is, that the soldiers land the citizens shire, Lancashire, North Wales, and the Isle of
may be too much as well as too little inter- Man.
mixed. 10. London.
Until the year 1793, barracks were neither 11. Home, containing Middlesex, Surry,
numerous in Great Britain, nor were they under Hertfordshire, and part of Kent,
the control and management of a separate and 12. North-inland, containing Derbyshire, Not-
peculiar board. In January 1793, a superinten- tinghamshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, I^-
dant-general of the barracks was appointed ; and, cestershire, and Rutlandshire,
on the 1st of Ma^ that year, the king's warrant 13. South-inland, containing Bedfordshire,
was issued for their regulation. Greater powers Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, and Bucking-
were given to him in the year 1794 ; but as these hamshire.
seemed to interfere with the duties and powers 14. Jersey, Guernsey, and Aldemey.
of *the Board of Ordnance, a new warrant was ^^
issued in the year 1795, defining and limiting ScoxLANn.
the respective duties and powers of the Board of Northern, containing Caithness, SndietlaDd,
Ordnance, and the superintendant-general, or Ross-shire, Invemess-shire, Nairnshire, Moiay-
barrack-master-general, as he was now called, shire, and Bamflbhire.
The salaries and extra pay of the barrack-master- Western, containing Aberdeenshire, Argyle-
general and his officers amounted in 1796 to shir^, Ayrshire, Bute, Kincardineshire, Lanark-
£9524. 17s. 2d. The establishment was after- shire, Renfrewshire, and Wigtonshire.
wards considerably increased, in proportion as Centre, containing Angusshire, Clackmannan-
the number of barracks throughout the kingdom shire, Dunbartonshire, Fifeshire, Kinross-shire,
increased, and by the creation of some new offi- Perthshire, and Stirlingshire,
cers, among whom was a law clerk. In 1806, Southern, containing the I/>thians, Berwidk-
their salaries amounted to £19,329. 4s. lOd. shire, Peeblesshire, Selkirkshire, Roxbuigfashire,
During this year the commissioners of military and Dumfriesshire,
enquiry recommended that the offices of barrack- On the 14th of July, 1805, there were in
master-general, and deputy barrack-master-gene- Great Britain and Jersey, &c.
ral, should be totally abolished, and that the Bstablished barracks of brick and stone . . 84
superintendence of the barrack establishment wood 12
should be vested in commissioners. This sug« Temporary barracks 75
gestion, and some others relative to the mode of rented 41
transacting the business of the department, and —
preventing useless and extravagant expenditure, 2^^
have been followed; and the barrack establish- The following statement exhibits the several
ment is now under the direction of four commis- particulars of the total expense incurred by ilie
sioners, one of whom is generally a military man. nation for barracks, and the barrack-office, in
As It frequenUy hapjpened that it was abso- Great Britain, between the 25th of December
lutely necessary to bmld barracks on an emer- 1792, and the 10th of November 1804:
gency, government was often obliged to pay an
extravagant price for the land which they needed , * '• "'
for their erection; in Older to remedy this evil, it Buildings and purchases of land 3,930,223 5 8
was provided by the act, usually called the Forage 846,246 7 10
defence act, 43d Geo. III. ch. 55, that justices Beer ........ . 643,030 9 6
of the peace might put any general officer into ^^^^als, candles, furniture, rents, repairs,
the possession of such ground as he might deem supplied by barrack-masters, and
fit for the erection of barracks; the value of it to salaries 1,685,487 8 0
be setUed afterwards by a jury; provided, how- Office-establishment . . . 256,129 10 4
ever, the necessity for such ground was certified Fees at War-office 80,346 3 6
by the lord lieutenant, or two deputy lieutenants Insurance 1,519 2 2
of the county. The foUowing are the barrack Additional renU 36,860 13 5
districts in Great Britain : Lodging money to officers . . 139,582 16 0
1. Northern, containing Northumberland, Eng:ines 11,866 0 5
Cumberland, Westmoreland, and Durham. Bedding, furniture, «cc. issued by the
2. York, containing Yorkshire. barrack-office, and in store 1,357,215 7 3
3. Eastern, containing Norfolk, Suffi>lk, Cam- Miscellaneous .... . . 35,498 4 8
bridge, Huntingdonshire, and all Essex, except _ , TTHTITT^
Tilbunr-fort. ^ ' ' ^ Total, £9,024,005 8 9
4. Southern, containing Kent, Tilbury-fort, The annual expense, during the last war,
and Svstex. rtried from £350,000 to £500 000; in the year
Digitized by
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BAR
581
BAR
1814, it was £309,826. The peace estimate for
1816 is £173,500. In Ireland, where barracks
are more numerous, the expense, in 1814, was
£360,515, and the peace estimate for 1816 was
£213,000.
See first, second, third, and fourth Reports of
the Commissioners of Military EnquiiY, 1806;
Finance Reports and Estimates laid bemre Par-
liament for 1814 and 1816, &c.
Barrack Allowance, a snecific allowance
of bread, beer, coals, &c. to the regiments sta-
tioned in barracks.
Barrack Guard, the principal guard of a
regiment in barraclu; the officer of which is
responsible for the r^fularity of the men, and
for all prisoners duly committed to his charge
while on that duty.
BARRACK-XASTER-OBiiERAt, a staffofficer at
the head of the barrack-department, who has
a number of barrack-masters and deputies
under him, that are stationed at the different
barracks. He has an office and clerks for the
despatch of business; and to this office all
reports, &c. respecting the barrack department
'. are made.
BARRACOL, in ichthyology, a name given
by Artedi, firom the Venetians, to the species of
ray fish called by Bellonius and Gesner mirale-
tus, and by others raia oculata Isvis. The spe-
cific name of Artedi carries in it a much better
character of the fish; he calls it the ray, with a
' smooth back and belly ; and with the eyes sur-
rounded with a series of spin^, and three other
rows of them on the tail.
BARRACONDA, a considerable town in cen-
tral Afirica, about 400 miles up the Gambia, where
' very formidable cataracts obstruct the navigation
of the river, and prevent any but the smallest
canoes from passing. The tide flows up to this
pUce. Long. 13*» W., hit 13** 36' N.
BARRACUDA, a species of esox.
BARRADA, or Barraoys, a river of Syria,
risiog at Barraud, twenty-four miles west of Da^
mascus. Receiving the Fich6e, it divides into
seven' branches, six miles firom that city ; the
fourth alone, which washes the northern walls,
preserving the original name. All the different
branches sAerwaras rejoin the main stream,
which is discharged <into a lake twenty-one
miles north-east.
BARRAGAN, a river of the province and
government of Buenos Ayres, which runs north,
and enters the Plata.
BARRAGAN, Bay or, in the La Plata, about
twelve miles below Buenos Ayres, to the south-
east. Ships discharge, in lighters, their car^
goes in the roadstead of Buenos Ayres, and
theo go to the bay of Barragan to wait for
their cargoes out. The land about it is low, and
tlie bay therefore. much exposed, nor can ships of
any burden come within two or three miles of
the shore. Some banks under water, how-
ever, meet the force of breakers, but there is
little security, when a storm comes on, against a
ship's parting from her ground-tackle, and being
driven on them. The river running into the bay
can receive vessels drawing twelve feet water,
but none larger.
BARRAI SciABiAT, the Arabian name given
to the desert of Natron in Egypt, situated to the
west of the Delta, and the south of lake Maz«o»
tis. It contains the two hikes Nedebe and Lebe,
from which the Natron is drawn, and is pervaded
by a vast and deep ravine, called the Bahr Be-
kone, or river without water. This desert is
celebrated for the great number of monasteries
which were founded in it at a former period.
BARRAMAHAL, adistrict in Southern India,
situated between twelve and fourteen degrees of
north latitude, consisting of twelve places, which
the name is said to signify. These are Krish-
nagiry, Jacadeo, Varinaghada, Maharay-gfaada,
Bujungaghada, Tripatura, Vanambady, Ghan-*
ganaglmda, Sudarsaanarghada, and TatucaUu.
This district was ceded to the^British by Tippoo,
m 1793. The inhabitants are* Hindoos.
BARRATI, Barred, in ecclesiastical history,
an appellation given to the Carmelites, after they
were obliged to lav aside the white cap, and
wear cowls striped black and white.
BA'RRATOR, 1. 1 From 6ara<,old French;
Ba'rratry, t. S from which is still retained
hanUeiBr, a cheat; from the Dano^orman baret,
our lawyers have hareiter^ barettry, a wrangler
and encourager of law-suits; one who harasses
the bar or courts with importunate litigations.
Lord Coke defines barrator to be a common
mover and maintainer of suits, in disturbance of
the peace. This exciting and fomenting of liti-
gious quirreU is an offence by common law, and
punishable by fine and imprisonment; and if the
iMnator be an attorney, a statute of the 12th of
George the First provides that he shall be inca-
pacitated firom practising for the future, under
pain of seven years' transportation.
Will it not reflect as much on thy character, Nic,
to tun barrator in thy old dayt, a itirrer-ap of qnar-
reU amongst thy aeighbonn t
Arbaikmoet Huiory ofJolm BM,
Th arrant icwralry, that bears
Point blank an action 'gainst our lawa.
Barratry,' in commerce. See Baratry
and Insurance.
Barratry, in the law of England, has been
noticed. See Baratry. The term, however, is
of foreign origin; and in Italy, and other coun-
tries, seems ordinarily to have been applied to
the traffic of ecclesiastical benefices ; but was
afterwards used in a more general sense, as ap- '
plicable to all corrupt buying and selling of jus-
tice. In Scotland it signified the corrupt pur-
chasing of benefices or offices of collection, from
the see of Rome, by persons who left the realm
for that purpose ; a practice which had become
fi«quent, and was in various respects injurious
to the realm ; as a means of carrymg money out
of it, without any return of value, as prejudicial
to the right of patronage in the king or others,
and to the free elections of the monks in the mo-
nasteries, both which the pope by prevention
pretended to exclude; and as contributing to
raise the rate of taxation upon benefices, by the
false accounts which those suitors for the office
of collector carried to the pope.
BARRAUX, or Fort jBarreaux, a fortress
of France, iq Dauphiny, on the borders of Savoy,
now included in the department of the Isere, ar-
rondissement of Grenoble. It stands on the
right bank of tlie river Isere, near the entrance
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of the valley of Gretivaudaii, on the road- from
Grenoble to Chambeny^ eighteen miles north-
east of the former town. The fort was erected
at a great expense by Charles Emannel, duke of
SaToy, in 1597, and is strong both by nature and
art. The French, howefer, got possession of it
in a single night, and is retained it at the peace of
Vervins, on the plea that it was built on French
ground. Population 1320.
BARRE (Louis Francis Joseph de la), an in-
genious writer, bom at Toumay, in 1688. He
received his education at the college of St Barbe,
at Paris, where he assisted Anselm Banduri in
his extensive work, Imper. Orientale, Recueils
de Medailles des empereurs, after which he had
a pension given him by the grand duke of Tus-
cany. He also published Memoirs for the His-
tory of France and Burgundy, and various other
works. He di^ in 1738.
Biere' or Barry (Madame Du), the favorite
mistress of Louis XV. She is said to. have been
one of the richest women in France. She was
condemned by Ihe revolutionary tribunal of Paris,
as a conspirator against the republic. Her beha-
viour was marked by unusual cowardice. The ex-
ecutoiner was obliged to support her all the way
to the scaffold, and he required two assistanu
to lift her upon it ; after which she exerted all
her strength to prevent being fastened to the
pkmk. She was guillotined on the 9th December
1793.
Bares', a township of Worcester county, Mas-
sachusetts, twenty-four miles north-west of Wor-
cester, and sixty-six west of Boston. Also a
township of Pennsylvania, in Huntingdon county.
BA'RREL, V. & n. Fr. barril, Ital. barrUe,
Span, barril. Junius says, perhaps from barrey
rtpagulum (see To Bar); because liquids are
held or contained in a cask, quasi in quondam
repagulo ; as if under bar, or in a stout strong
vessel stopped dose. It is applied to any thing
hollow, as to the ear, the barrel of a fl;nn, a cy-
linder about whiph any thing is wound. It also
denominates a particular measure.
I woald have their beef beforehand harrdUd, which
nay be used as it needed. Spuuer on Irtiamd.
Barrel up earth and tow some seed in it, and pat
it in the bottom of a pond. Boetm,
It hath been observed by one of the andents, that
an emp^ bami, knocked upon with the finger, giveth
a diapason to the sound of the like bofrrA fiilL Id,
Trembling to approach
The little barrel which he fean to broach.
Drydem.
Several colleges, instead of limiting their rents to
a certain sun, prevailed with their tenants to pay the
price of so many ftarr«Ii of com, as the market went.
Swiji.
Take the bami of a loog gun perfectly bored, set
it upright, with the breech upon the ground, and take
a bullet exactly fit for it; then, if you suck at the
month of the harrA ever so gently, the bullet will
come up so forcibly, that it will haard the striking
oat your teeth. -I^^*
Your string and bow most be accommodated to
your drill ; if too weak, it will not cany about the
barrvl. JfMron.
Barrel, in mechanics, a term given by
watch makers to the cylinder about which the
spring is wrapped ; and by gun-emiths to the
cylindrical tube of a gun, pistol, Ice. through
which the ball is discharged.
Barrel of a Pump, is the wooden tube
which makes the body of the engine, and whoe-
in the piston moves.
Barrel of Eels and Barrel of Salmov,
ought to contain forty-two gallons each.
Barrel of Soap must weigh 2661b.
Barrel, or Barille of Florence, is a liquid
measure, containing twenty flasks* or one-third
of a star or staio.
Barrel, or Barique of Paris, contains 310
pints, or twenty-six septiers and a half; fear
Dariques make Uiree muids, or one tun.
Barrels, in artillery, are used lor holding
powder, small-shot, flmts, . sulphur, salt-petre,
resin, pitch, quick-match, &c Bairels filled
with earth serve to make a parapet to cover the
men, like gabions and canvas bags.
Barrels, Fire, are casks of (fivers canncities,
filled vrith bombs, grenadoes, fire pots, ecc and
mixed with great quantities of tow soaked in
petroleum, turpentine, pitchy &c. used by the be-
sieged to defend breaches. .Some are mounted
on wheels, filled with composition, and inter-
mixed widi loaded grenades, and the outside fiill
of sharp spikes; some are placed under ground,
which have the effect of small mines i othen are
used to roll down a breach, to prevent die ene-
my's entrance. Composition, oomed powder,
thirty pounds, Swedish pitch twdve, nltpetre
six, and tallow three. Not used now. See Firs
Ship
Barrels of Gunpowder are about sixteen
inches diameter, and thirty or Adrty-two inches
long, holding 100 pounds of powder; bnt die
quantity put into a whole barrel is only ninety
pounds, mto a half barrel forty-five pounds, and
a quarter barrel, used for rifle powder, <wly
tweoty-two pounds and a half; this propoi^
tlon leaves a space for the powder to aepaiate
when rolled, or otherwise it would always be in
lumps, and liable thereby to damaae.
Barrels, Budge, hold ficom foittj to sixty
pounds of powder ; at one end is fixed a leathern
iMg with orass nails : they are used an actual
service on the batteries, for loading the gnns and
mortars, to keep the powder firom firing by ac-
cident. •
Barrels's Sound, on the north-west ooast of
America, is situated aJiout six leagues north-west
of Washington, or Charlotte Islands. Long. 131*
W., lat 52** N.
Barrelling of Hbrrincs. See HsaRivo
Fishery.
BA'RREN, adj. ^ Barren, i. e. ivr^,
Ba'rrenly, atft;.> stopped, shut, strongly
Ba'rrenness,^. 3 closed up, which cannot
be opened, from which can be no spirit or
issue.— Too/ce. See To Bar. Thus it is ap-
plied to sterile ground, unfiruitfiil trees, unpro-
lific animals; to unimaginative and uninstructed
minds ; to professedly intellectual works, desti-
tute of thought, and originality; to whatever is
useless and unproductive.
But I that am exiled ; and lwrm§
Of alle grace, aad in so gret despaire.
That there n'u ecthe, water, fiic> ne aire.
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Ne cimtut that of him maked !•
That may me hale, or don comfoit in thia.
Chcmetr»
Glad waa the markis, and hia folk therefore.
For though a maiden child come all before
She may unto a knave child atteine,)
By likelyhed, lin ahe n'is not harrwt*. Id,
It ia a darkaome delve, farre under ground,
With thomea and harrmi brakea environed round.
That none the aame may eaaily out-win ;
Yet many waiea to enter may be found.
But none to iaaue forth when one ia in :
For diacord harder ia to end than to begin.
Thou iamwM ground, whom winter'a wrath hath
waated.
Art made a mirror to behold my plight.
Whilome thy freah apring flowr'd, and after haated
Thy summer proude with daSbdilleea dight ;
And now ia come thy winter'a atormie state.
Thy mantle mard wherein thou maakedst late. li*
Yet, O moat bleaaed Spirit ! pure Lampe of Light,
Eternal Spring of Grace and Wiaedom trew,
Vottchaafe to ahed into my hamm apright
Some little drop <rf thy celcatial dew.
That may my rimea with aweet anfnae embrew.
And give bm worda equal unto my thought.
To tell the marveilea by Thy merde wrought. /d.
It is one eapecial praise of many, which are due to
thb poet, that he hath laboured to reatore aa to their
rightfull heritage anch good and naturall Engliah
wordea aa have beene long time out of use and almoat
dean diahcrited, which ia the only cauae that our
mothn tongue, which truly of itaelf u both full enough
lor proae, and atately enough fer verae, hath long time
been counted moat ftorrm and bare' of both.
(MhfM M ^pmmr, prefixed to hit Workt.
There ahall not be male or fomale lorrieii among
you, or>among your cattle. Jwrfeiwieay.
Give me no help in lamentationa \
1 am not'ftorraM to bring forth laments. Bhaktpean,
There be of them that will make themaelvea laugh,
to set on aome quantity of harrmi apecutora to laugh
too. Id,
Forget not in your speed, Antoniua,
To touch Calphnmia ; iat our elders aay
The borrm, touched in this holy chaae.
Shake off Uieir ateril curae. Id,
The aituation of thia dty ia pleaaant, but the wmtw
ia naught, and the ground hamm^ 2 Kmg^
Within the aelf aame-hamlet, landa have divera
degrees of value, through the diveraity of their fer-
tility or harrameu, Bcnm,
The importunity of our adversaries hath conatrain-
ed ua longer to dwell than the harremeu of to poor a
cauae could have aeemed either to require or to admit.
Hooker,
Straight mine eye hath caught new pleaaurea
Whilat the landarape round it meaaurea ;
Ruaaet lawna and follow* gray.
Where the nibbling flocka do atray ;
Mountaiaa, on whoae hamm breaat
The lab'ring douda do often reat ;
MeadowB trim, with daiaiea pied.
Shallow brooka, and rivera wide. Mitan,
They led the vine
To wed her elm; ahe spoua'd aiwut him twinea
Her marriageable anna, and with her brings
Her dow'r, th' adopted cluatera, to adorn
His 6arran leavea. Id
I pray'd for children, and thought hameimm .
In wedlock a reproach. Id.
No more be mentioned then of violence
Againat ouadvea \ and wilfol toranmii
That cata off ua from hope; Id,
The adventorea of Ulytaea are imitated in (he
JBneia ; though the aoddenia are not the aame, which
would have argued him of a total harromMU of invention.
Drydem.
Tdemachua ia far from exalting the nature of hia
country ; he confeaaea it to be harrmu Pope,
Some achemea will appear 6arren of hints and mat>
ter, but prove to be fruitful. Sirift.
Without the evening dew and ahow'rs.
The earth would be a harreik place.
Of treea, and plants, of herbs and flow'rs.
To crown her now.enamell'd foce.
CWJea C!»Mon.
Thia heart, by age and grief congealM,
la no more aendble to love'a endearmenta.
Than are our i^rreii rocka to mom'a aweet dew.
That calmly tricklea down their rugged cheeka.
. JftVar^a MiAomat.
There ia a power upon me which withholda
And makea it my fotality to live :
If it be lifo to wear' within mysdf,
lliia haertimiw of apirit, and to be
My own aoul'a aepulchre, for I have ceaa'd
To juatify my deeda unto myaelf^
The laat infirmity of evil. Byron.
Bakben Islahd, an island in the bay of
Bengal, about eighteen miles in circumfor-
ence; the vegetation consists' principally of
withered shrabs and trees. , It contains a vol-
cano 1800 feet above the level of the sea. Im-
mense columns of smoke and showers of red-hot
stones, some of tliem three or four tons weight,
are discharged from it. Distant (brty-five miles
east of the Lower Andaman Island. Lat. 12^
15' N. Also a small island in Chesapeake bay,
north-east from the mouth of Patuzent river.
Long. 76° 22* W^ lat. 38'' 34' N.
Barren Island, Cape, an island of the South
Pacific Ocean, in Bass Straits, between Great
Island on the north, and Clarke's Island on the
south. It is about twenty miles in length, and
ten in breadth, chiefly covered with low veceta-
• tion. Here are found the peculiar quadrupeds of
the Australasian regions, tne kangaroo^ wombat,
and duck-billed ant eater.
Barrenness. See Sterility.
Barren-wort. See EpiXEDiifM.
BARRERIA, in botany, a genus of plants,
class pentandria, order monogynia. Its generic
character is cal. quinauedentate ; cor. rotate,
divisions scrobiculate ; nlaments dilated ; anth.
tetragonal, marginate, margins cohering. The
duly species of this genus is the B. theobrome-
folia, a tree of about fifty feet in height, a native
of Cayenne.
BARRETRY. See Barratry.
BARRETT (Geoige), an eminent landscape
painter, was bom in Dublin abdut 1732. By
natural genius and application, he acquired, with-
out a teacher, such skill in the art of painting,
as to obtain the premium of £50 offered by
the Dublin society for the best landscape in oil.
He afterwards went to London, and there, in
1763, the premium of £50 for the best land-
scape, was adjudged to* him by the society for
the encouragement of arts, &c. He was one
of the original planners of the Royal Academy, of
which he became a member. He died in 1784.
Barrett (William,) an eminent surgeon, born
in Somersetshire. He settled at Bristol, and
gained great reputation in bis business. In 1788
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he published a history of the city of Bristol, in
one vol. 4to. tiie materials of which he had em-
ployed upwards of twenty years in collecting.
He died in 1789. Mr. Barrett was the early
patron of the celebrated Chatterton.
BARRiCA'DB,t>.&n.^ From barr^ to stop,
Barr ic a'do, v. & n. f bar, or* obstruct. A
Ba'rrico, 1 fortification ; any thing
Barrier. 3 fixed to hinder entrance ;
barrier likewise signifies boundary or limit; a
bar to mark the limits of any place.
Why it hftth bay windows, transparent as Amtmo*
doet ; and the clear stones to the north are as lustrous
as ebony ; and yet complainest thou of obstructions.
Shak$peare.
The access was by a neck of land, between the sea
on one part, and the harbour water, or inner sea on
the other ; fortified dean over with a strong rampier
and hanicado. Bacon,
For jnsts^ and tourneys, and barrien, the glories of
them are chiefly in the chariou, wherein th^ chal-
lengers make their entries. Id.
Fast we found, fast shut
The dismal gates, and barricado^d strong ! Milton.
He had not time to barricadu the doors ; so that the
enemy entered. Clarendon.
The truth of causes wo find so obliterated, that it
seems almost barrieadoed from any intellectual ap-
proach. Harvey,
This he courageously invaded.
And having enter'd, barricaded,
Insoonc'd himself as formidable
As could be underneath a table. HtuUbrat.
Pris'ners to the pillar bound.
At either barrier plac'd ; nor, captives made.
Be freed, or ann'd anew.. Drydem.
The queen is guarantee of the Dutch, having pos-
session of the barrier, and the revenues' thereof, be-
fore a peace. Swift,
But wave what'er to Cadmus may belong.
And fix, 0 muse, the barrier of thy song
At Oedipus. Pope's StaHut.
How instinct varies in the grovelling swine.
Compared half reas'ning elephant! with thine :
Twixt that and reason what a nice barrier !
For ever separate, yet for ever near. Pope.
Safe in the love of Heav'n, an ocean flows
Around our realm, a Aorrter from the foes. Id.
Now an the pavement sounds with trampling feet.
And the mix'd hurry barrieada the street ;
Entangled here, the waggon's lengthened team. Ot^,
If you value yourself as a man of learning, you are
building a most impassable ftarrter against improve-
ment. Wattt.
The barrier wall, the river deep and wide.
The horrid crags, the mountains dark and tall.
Rise like the rocks that part Hispania's land from
Gaul. Byron.
Barricade, in military afiairs, is usually
formed when time permits, of pales or stakes
crossed with batoons, and shod with iron at the
feet, and set up in passages or breaches.
Barricade, in naval architecture, a strong
wooden rail, supported by stanchions, extending
across the foremost part of the quarter deck. In
a vessel of war, the vacant spaces between the
stanchions are commonly filled with rope-mats,
cork, or pieces of old cable ; and the upper
part, which contains a double rope-netting above
the rail, is stuffed with full hammocks to inter-
cept the motion, and prevent the execution of
imall shot in time of battle.
BARRIER, in fortification, a kind of fence
made at a passage, retrenchment, &c. to stop up
the entry. It is composed of great stakes,
about four or five feet nigh, placed at the dis-
tance of eight or ten feet from one another, with
transums, or ovcrtliwart rafters, to stop either
horse or foot, that would enter or rush in with
violence: in the middle is a moveable bar of
wood, that opens or shuts at pleasure. A bar-
rier is commouly set up in a void space, between
the citadel and the town, in half-moons, &c.
Barrier Islamdh, a range of islands near the
east coast of New Zealand, thirty miles in length,
at the mouth of the river Thames. Long. 184**
2rW.,lat. SfiOll'S.
BARRIERS, styled the jeu de barres, French,
was a martial exercise of men armed and fightinv
together with swords, within certain bars or rails
which separated them from the spectator. It is
now disused.
BARRIGA Negra, a river in*the vice-royalty
of Buenos Ayres, South America, which has its
rise about 160 miles north-west of Monte Video,
and after being augmented by the accession of
several streams, &lls into lake Meri. The coun-
try around is well watered, mountainous, and
woody. Here are numbers of great breeding
estates for cattle.
BARRING A Vein. See To Bar.
BARRINGTON (John Shute, Viscount), a
distinguished theologian, was the youngest son
of Benjamin Shute, Esq. a merchant and a pro-
testant dissenter. lie was bom in 167B, and re-
ceived part of his education abroad. On his re^
turn to London, he studied in the Inner Temple,
and in 1701 distinguished himself as a writer in
favor of the civil rights of the dissenters. Being
employed by Lord Somers to engage the Presty-
tenans of Scotland to favor the union between
the two kingdoms, he was in 1708 rewarded by
the place of commissioner of the customs, from
which the tory ministiy of Anne removed him.
About this time an ample fortune was left him
by Francis Barrington of Tofts, Esq. whose name
he assumed. On the accession of George I. he
was chosen member of parliament for BowidL-
upon-Tweed, and in 1720 was raised to the
peerage by the title of viscount Barrington of
Ardglass. Unfortunately he became connected
with one of the bubbles of that time, called the
Harburgh Lottery ; and was in consequence ex-
pelldl the House of Commons ; a censure which
he scarcely merited, as the misconduct seems to
have rested principally with the ministzy of Ha-
nover. But his strong opposition to Sir Robert
Walpole is thought to have produced this seve-
rity. In 1725 Lord Barrington published bis
* Miscellanea Sacra,' 2 vols. 8vo., since reprinted
by his son, thp late Bishop of Durham, 3 vols.
8vo. 1770. In the same year he puUtdied ' An
Essay on the several Dispensations of God to
Mankind,' 8vo. and was also the author of va-
rious other tracts relative to toleration in matters
of religion. He died in 1734, leaving several
children, of whom live sons rose to high stations
respectively in the state, the diurdi, the law, the
army, and the navy ; the youngest of them was
the late venerable Bishop of Duiham. Lord
Barrington was the friend and disciple of Ix)cke ;
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xaad although bred a Dissenter, and a leader of
that body, was aLto a frequenter and communi-
cant of the Church of England.
Basrihoton (Daines), fourth son of viscount
Harrington, was distinguished as a lawyer, anti-
quary, and naturalist He was bom in 1727,
and, after preparatory studies at Oxford and the
Inner Temple, was called to the bar. He held
several offices previous to his being appointed a
Welch judge in 1757, and was subsequently se-
cond justice of Chester till 1785, when he re-
signed that post, and thenceforward lived in
retirement, in the Temple, where he died, March
1800. His works, which are numerous, consist
Srincipallv of papers in the Transactions of the
Loyal and Antiquarian. Societies, of both which
learned bodies he was a fellow; Observations
on the Statutes, chiefly on the more Ancient, &c.
1766, 4to.; an edition of Orosius, with the
Anglo-Saxon version of king Alfred, and an
English translation and notes, 1773; Tracts on
the Probability of reaching the North Pole, 1775,
4to. occasioned bv the arctic expedition of Capt.
Phipps, afterwards Lord Mulgiave.
mRRiMGTON, a township of Nova Scotia, in
Queen's county, on the east side of the bay of
Fundy. 2. A township of New Hampshire, in
Stafford county, about thirty miles north-west of
Portsmouth. Alum is found here. 3. A town-
ship of 'Rhode Island, in Bristol county, on the
north-west branch of the Warren, seven miles
south-east of Fox-Point, in Providence.
Barrington, Grsat, a township in Berkshire,
county of Massachusetts. It lies 140 miles west
of Boston.
BARRINGTONIA, in botanv, a genus of the
polyandria order, belonging to the monadelphia
class of plants, the characters of which are : one
female, the calyx dephillous above ; with a druoa,
which it crowns ; and the seed is a quadrilocular
nut. There is but one species known, viz. B.
speciosa, a native d China and Otaheite.
BA'RRISTER; from harr, and esters to re-
main or continue : thus the combination of the
two forms, barrester, one who takes his sta-
tion at a bar ; who continues there— that is who
carries on his profession at the bar; a pleader of
causes.
Jollier of this state.
Than are new-benefic'd minittert; he throws,
' Like nets or lime-twigs, wheresoe'er he goes.
His title of barruter on every wench.
And wooes in language of the Pleas and Bench.
Dotme,
This being reveal'd, they now begxm
With law and oonsdenoe to fsll on.
And laid abont as hot and brainsick.
As th' ntter horritter of Swanswick.
Barristers are sometimes termed juriscon-
sulti ; and in other countries called licentiati
in jure. Anciently barristers at law were called
apprentices of the law, in Latin, apprenticii juris
noDiliores. The time before they ought to be
called to the bar, by the ancient oitlers, was eight
years, now reduced to five; and the exercises
done by them, (if they were not called ex (gratia)
were twelve grand moots performed in the mns of
(chancery in the time of the grand readings, and
twenty-four petty moots in the term times^ before
the readers of the respective inns : and a barris-
ter newly called is to attend the six (or four)
next long vacations the exercises of the house,
viz. Lent and Summer, and is thereupon for
those three (or two) years styled a vacation bar-
rister. The duties of a barrister are to be consi-
dered honorary, and he can maintain no action
for his fees, which are reckoned a gratuitv, not a
hire ; and which cannot be even demanaed by a
barrister without doing wrong to his reputation.
BARRITUS is a word of German original,
adopted by the Romans to signify the general
shout usually given by the soldiers of their armies
on their first encounter after the classicum or
alarm. This custom, however, of setting up a
general shout was not peculiar to the Romans,
but prevailed amongst tne Trojans according to
Homer, amongst the Germans, the Gauls, Mace-
donians, and Persians. See Classicvm.
BARROS (John de), a celebrated Portuguese
historian, bom at Visere, in 1 496. He was edu-
cated at die court of king Emanuel, among the
princes of the blood, and made a great progress
m Greek and Latin. The iofont John, to whom
he attached himself, and became preceptor,
having succeeded the king his &ther, in 1521,
Barros obtained a place in this prince's house-
hold ; and in 1522 was made governor of St.
George del Mina, on the coast of Guinea. The
king, having recalled him to court three yeais
after, made him treasurer of the Indies, and this
post inspired him with the thought of writing
this history; for which purpose he retired to
Pombal, where he died in 1570. His history of
Asia and the Indies is divided into decades ; the
first of which he published in 1552, the second
in 1553, and the third in 1563; but the fourth
decade was not published till 1615, when it ap-
peared by order of Philip III. who purchased
the MS. Several authors have continued it, so
that we have at present twelve decades. He
left many other worics.
BARROW, n. i. hepe\>e, Sax. supposed by
Skinner to come ftombear; any kind of carriage
moved by the hand ; as a hand-barrow, a ftame
of boards, with handles at each end, carried be-
tween two men; a wheeL-barroWf that which one
man poshes forward by raising on one wheel.
Have I lived to he carried in ahasket, like a barrow
of batcher's oSal, and thrown into the Thames.
No banou^i wheel
Shall mark thy stocking with a miry trace. (Tay
Ba'rrow, n. t. bepx- Sax. a hog; whence
barrow grease, or hog's lard.
' His life was like a barrow hogge.
That liveth many a day.
Yet never once doUi any good.
Until men will him slay.
. TheJowof KeiMM, m Pergr.
And therefore take my words thos, that 1 mean no
other swine but soch as tfkA and root in the field :
among which the female, especially a gnelt that never
Arrowed, is more effectoal than a (tame) bore, barrow
hog, or a breeding sow. HoUand't P/tme.
Barrow, whether in the beginning or end of
names of places, signifies a grove ; from bea|i|»e,
which the Saxons used in the same sense. Gib$on,
Barrow is likewise used in Cornwall for a
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686
-BAR
hilkiolc, under ivhicb, in old times, bodies hare
been buried. See Barrows.
Barrow, a river of Ireland, wbicb rises in
Queen's county, and passing by Port-Arlington,
Monastereven, Atby, Carlow, &c. is joined by
the Nore before it arrives at Ross, after which,
continuing south, it joins the Suir in Waterford
Haven. ^
Babrow, a river of Westmoreland, which
runs into the Burbeck, near Howse-house.
Barrow Tlsaac), an eminent mathematician
and divine, oi the last centuiy, was the son of Mr.
Thomas Barrow, a linen^raper in London, where
he was bom in 1630. He was at first placed at
the charter-house school for two or three years;
where his behaviour aflforded but little hopes
of success in the profession of a scholar, out
being removed thence his disposition took a
happier turn ; and having soon n^e a suffi-
cient progress in learning, he was admitted a
pensioner of Peter House, Cambridge. He now
applied himself with great diligence to the study
of ail brandies of literature, especially that of
natural philosophy.^ He afterwards turned his
attention to physic, and made a considerable
progress in anatomy, botany, and chemistry;
after which he studied chronology, astronomy,
and geometry. He then travelled mto France
and Italy, ind in a voyage, from Leghorn to
Smyrna, the ship being atta^ed by an Algerine
pirate, he staid upon deck, and with the greatest
intrepidity, worktd the guns, till the pirate, per-
ceiving the stout resistance the snip made,
sheer^ ofi* and left her. At Smyrna he met
with a most kind reception from Mr. Bretton,
the English consul, upon whose death he after-
wards wrote a laitm elegy. From thence he
proceeded to Constantinople, wiieie he received
similar civilities from Sir Thomas Bendish the
English ambassador, and Sir Jonathan Dawes,
with whom he afterwards preserved an intimate
friendship. At Constantinople he read the works
of St. Chrysostom, once bishop of that see, whom
he preferred to all the other fathers, and about
a year after he returned to Venice. From thence
he came home in 1659, through Germany and
Holland ; and was ordained by bishop Brovmrig.
In 1660 he was chosen to the Greek professorship
at Cambridge, and gave lectures upon Aristotle's
rhetoric. In 1662 he was appointed professor of
geometry in Gresham cofiege, and in 1603
elected a fellow of the Royal Society, in the first
choice made by the council after their charter.
The same year he vras chosen professor of mathe-
matics at Cambridge, and resigned his professor-
ship of Gresham college. In 1669 he resigned
his mathematical chair to his learned Mend
Isaac Newton, being determined to give up the
study of mathematics for that of divinity.. Upon
quitting his profenorship, he was only a fellow
of Trinity college, till his uncle gave him a small
sinecure in Wales, and Dr. Seth Ward, bishop
of Salisbury conferred upon him a prebend in
his church. In 1670 he was created D. D. by
mandate; and, upon the promotion of Dr. Pear-
son, master of Trinity college, to Ae see of
Chester, he vras appointed to succeed him l>y the
king's patent, dated the 13th of February, 1672.
When the king adyanoed him to this dignity, he
said, * he had given it to the best scholar in Eng-
land.' In 1675 he was raised to be vice-chancd-
lor of the university. He died on the 4th of May,
1677, in the forty-seventh year of his age, and
was interred in Westminster abbey, where a
monument adorned with his bust was soon after
erected. Among other instances of his wit and
vivacity, is related the following rencontre be-
tween him and the Celebrated I^rd Rochester.
These two meeting one day at the court, while the
doctor vnis king*s chaplain in ordinary, Rodies-
ter, thinking to banter him, vridi a ^ppant air,
and a low formal bow, accosted him witn, ' Doc-
tor, I am yours to my shoe-tie f Barrow, per-
ceiving his drift, and determined upon defenain|
himself, returned the salute, with, * My lord, I
am yours to the ground.' Rochester, on this,
improving his blow, returned it with, < Doctor, I
am yours to the centre ;* which was as smartly
followed up by Barrow, with, ' My lord, I am
yours to the antipodes.* Upon whidi, Roches-
ter, disdaining to be foiled by a musty old piece
of divinity, as he used to call him, exclaimed,
* Doctor, I am yours to the lowest pit of hell ;*
upon which, Barrow turning upon his heel, with
a sarcastic smile, archly replied, * Itiere, my lord,
I leave you.'
Of Dr. Barrow's numerous works, the princi-
pal are, 1. Euclidis Elementa, 8yo. Cantab.
1655. 2. Euclidis Data, 8vo. Cantab. 1657.
3. Lectiones Optics XVIII. 4to. Lond. 1669.
4. Lectiones Geometries XIII. 4to. Lond. 1670.
5. Archimedis Opera, Apollonii Conicorum,
libri IV; Theodosii Sphencorum, lib. III. &c.
4to. Lond. 1675. 6. Lectio, in ^uaTheoremata
Archimedis de Sphsra et Cylmdro eihibeo-
tur, 12mo. Lond. 1678. 7. Mathematics
Lectiones, &c. Lond. 1683. 8. Theological
Works in 3 vols. fol. Lond. 1683, published by
Tillotson. 9. Isaaci Barrow Opuscula, &c. fol.
Lond. 1687.
Barrows, in ancitot topography, axtificiai
hillocks or mounts, met witn in many parts of
the world, intended as repositories for me dead,
and formed either of stones heaped up, or of
earth. For the former, more generally known
by the name of cairns, see Cairks. Of the lat-
ter Dr. Plott takes notice of two kinds in Oxford-
shire : one placed on the mHitary ways ; the other
in the fielos, meadows, or woods ; the first sort
doubtless of Roman ere^ion, the other more
probably erected by the Britons or Danes. We
nave an examination of the barrows in Cornwall
by Dr. Williams, in the Phil. Trana. No. 458,
from which we find that they are generally com-
posed of foreign or adventitious earth ; that is,
such as does not rise on ^ place, bot is fetched
from some distance. Monuments of this kind
are also Tery frequent in Scotland. On digging
into the barrows, nms have been found in some
of them, made of calcined earth, and containiDg
burnt bones and ashes ; in others, stosie cheets
containing bones entire ; in others, bones ncitbcr
lodged in chests nor deposited in urns.* Thtat
tttmuU are round, not greatly elevated, and ge-
nerally at their basis surrounded with a Cms.
They areof different sires ; in proportion, it is tup-
posed, to the greaitness, rank, and power, of the
deceased pezson. The links of t^ail, ia Sand-
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687
wick, one of the Orkneys, abound in round
barrows. Some are fonned of earth alone, others
of stone covered with earth. In the former was
found a coffin, made of six flat stones. They
are too short to receive a body at full length :
the skeletons found in them lie with the knees
pressed to the breast, and the legs doubled along
the thighs. A bag, made of rushes, has been
found at the feet of some of these skeletons,
containing the bones, most probably, of another
of the family. In one were to be seen mul-
titudes of small beetles ; and as similar insects
have been discovered in the bag which enclosed
the sacred ibis, we may suppose that the Egyp*
tians, and the nation to whom these tumuli be-
longed, might have had the same superstition
respecting them. On some of the corpses in-
terred in this island marks of burning were ob-
served. The ashes deposited in an urn, which
was covered on the top with a flat stone, have
been found in the cell of ooe of the barrows.
This coffin or cell was placed on the ground,
then covered with a heap of stones, and that
again cased with earth and sods. Both barrow
and contents evince them to be of a different age
from the former. Thtise tumuli were in the
nature of family vaults: in them have been
found two tiers of coffins. It is probable, that
on the death of any one of the ramily, the tu-
mulus was opened, and the body interred near its
kindred bones. Ancient Greece and Latium
! concurred in the same practice with the natives
! of this island. Patroclus among the Greeks,
[ and Hector among the Trojans, received but the
same funeral honors with our Caledonian heroes;
and the ashes of Dercennus the I^urentine
monarch had the same simple protection. The
urn and pall of the Trojan warrior might per-
haps be more superb than tliose of a Bntisk
; leader : the rising monument of each had the
common materials from our mother earth. See
Homer's Iliad, xxiv. 1003. The Grecian bar-
, rows, however, do not seem to have been all
: equally sim|)le. '^e barrow of Alyattes, &ther
of Croesus king of Lydia, is descrifcled by Hero-
dotus as a most superb monument, inferior only
to the works of the Egyptians and Babylonians.
It was a vast mound of earth heaped on a base-
ment of large stones by three classes of the
people : one of which was composed of girls,
who were prostitutes. Alyattes died, after a long
leign, A.A.C. 563. Above a century inter-
vened, but the historian relates, that to his time
five stones (spoc termini or stelae) on which let-
ters were engraved, had remained on the top,
recording what each dafis had performed ; and
from the measurement it appeared, that the
greater portion was done by the girls. Strabo
likewise has mentioned it as a huge mound,
raised on a lofty basement by the multitude of
the city. The. circumference was six stadia or
three quarters of a mile ; the height two ple-
thra or 200 feet ; and the width thirteen pletnra.
It was customary among the Greeks to place on
barrows, either the image of some animal or
stelae, jommonly round pillars with inscriptions.
The &mous barrow of the Athenians in the plain
of Marathon, described by Pausanias, is an in-
stance of the latter usage. An ancient monu-
ment in Italy, by the Appian way, called the
sepulchre of the Curiatii, has the same number
of termini as remained on the barrow of Alyattes,
the basement which is square, supporting five
round pyramids. Of the barrow of Alyattes,
the apparent magnitude is described by travellers
as now much diminished, and the bottom ren-
dered wider and less distinct than before, by the
gradual increase of the soil below. It stands in
the midst jof others by the lake Gygaeus ; where
the burying place of the Lydian princes was
situated. The barrows are of various sizes,
the smaller made perhaps for children of the
younger branches ot the royal &mily. Four or
five are distinguished by their superior magni-
tude, and are visible as kills at a great distance.
That of Alyattes is greatly supererainent All
of them are covered with green turf, and retain
their conical form without any sinking in ctf the
top.
3aekows, American. Barrows are also
found in great numbers in America. These are of
different sizes, according to Mr. Jefferson ; some
of them constructed of earth, and some of loose
stones. That they were repositories of the dead
is obvious ; but on what particular occasion con-
structed, b matter of douM. Some have thought
they covered the bones of those who have fallen
in battles, fought on the spot of interment
Some ascribed them to the custom said to pre-
vail among the Indians, of collecting, at certain
periods, the bones of all their dead, wheresoever
deposited at the time of death. Others again
supposed them the general sepulchres for towns,
conjectured to have been on or near these
grounds; and this opinion was supported by
Sie quality of the lanos in which they are found
(those constructed of earth being generally in the
softest and most fertile meadow grounds on river
sides\ and by a tradition said to be handed
down from the aboriginal Indians, that when
they settled in a town, the first person who died
was placed erect, and earth put about him, so as
to cover and support him; that when another
died, a narrow passage was dug to the first, the
second reclined against him, and the cover of
earth repkiced, and so on. ' There being one of
these barrows in my neighbourfaood (says Mr.
Jefferson), I vrished to satisfy myself whether
any, ana which, of these opmions were iust.
For this purpose I determined to open and ex-
amine it thoroughly. It was situated on the low
grounds of the Rivanna, about two miles above its
principal fbric, and opposite to some hills, on
which bad been an Inaian town. It was of a
spheroidical form, of about forty f^et diameter
at the base, and had. been of about twelve feet
altitude, though now reduced by the plough to
7|, having been under cultivation about a dozen
years, l&ore this it was covered with trees of
twelve inches diameter, and round the base was
an excavation of five feet depth and width,
whence the earth had been taken of which the
hillock was formed. I first dug superficially in
several parts of it, and came to collections oi
human bones, at different depths, from six inches
to three feet below the surface. These were lying
in the utmost confusion, some vertical, some ob-
lique, some horiiontal, and directed to eveiry
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BARROW.
point of the compass, entangled, and beld to-
gether in clusters, by the earth. Bones of the
most distant parts were found together ; as, for
instance, the small bones of the foot in the hol-
low of a skull, many skulls would sometimes be
in contact, lying on the face, on the side, on the
back, top or bottom, so as on the whole to give
the idea of bones emptied promiscuously from a
bag or basket, and covered over with earth,
wiUiout any attention to their order. The bones
of which &e greatest numbers remained, were
skulls, jaw-bones, teeth, the bones of the arms,
thighs, legs, fee^ and hands. A few ribs re-
mained, some vertebrffi of the neck and spine,
without their processes, and one Instance only of
the bone which serves as a base to the vertebral
column. The skulls were so tender, that they
generally fell to pieces on being touched. The
other bones were stronger. There were some
teeth which were judged to be smaller than those
of an adult ; a skull which, on a slight view, ap-
peared to be that of an infant, but it fell to
pieces on being taken out, so as to prevent satis-
factory examination ; a rib, and a fragment of
the under jaw of a person about half grown ;
another rib of an infant ; and part of the jaw of
a child, which had not yet cut its teeth. This
last furnishing the most decisive proof of the
burial of children here, I was particular in my
attention to it. It was part of the right half of
the under jaw. The processes by which it was
articulated to the temporal bones were entire ;
and the bone itself firm to where it had been
broken off, which, as nearly as I could judge,
was about the place of the eye-tooth, its upper
edge, wherein would have been the sockets of
the teeth, was perfectly smooth. Measuring it
with that of an adult, by placing their hinder
processes together, its broken end extended to the
penultimate grinder of the adult. This bone
was white, all the others of a sand color. The
bones of in&nts being soft, they probably decay
sooner, which might be the cause so few were
found here, I proceeded then to make d perpen-
dicular cut through the body of the barrow, that
I might examine its external structure. This
passed about three feet from its centre, was
opened to the former surface of the earth, and
was wide enough for a man to walk through and
examine its sides. At the bottom, that is, on- the
level of the circumjacent plain, I found bones ;
above these a few stones, brought from a cHff a
quarter of a mile off, and from the river one
eighth of a mile off; then a large interval of
earth, then a stratum of bones, and so on. At
one end of the section were four strata of bones
plainly distinguishable : at the other, three; the
strata in one part not ranging witli those in
another. The bones nearest Sie surface were
least decayed. No holes were discovered in any
of them, as if made with bullets, arrows, or other
weapons. I conjectured that in this barrow might
have been 1000 skeletons. Everyone will readily
seize the circumstances above related, which
militate against the opinion that it covered the
bones only of persons fallen in battle; and
against the tradition also which would make it
the common sepulchre of a town, in which the
bodies were placed upright, and touching each
other. Appearances certainly indicate that it
derived both origin and growth from the ac-
custoirary collection of bones, and deposition
of them together ; that die first collection had
been deposited on the common surface of the
earth, a few stones put over it, and then a co-
vering of earth ; that the second had been laid
on this, had covered more or less of it in pro-
portion to the number of bones, and was then
also covered with earth, and so on. The fol-
lowing are the particular circumstances which
give it this aspect. 1. The number of bones.
2. Their confused position. 3. Their being in
different strata. 4. The strata in one part baring
no correspondence with those in another. 5. The
different states of decay in these strata, whid
seem to indicate a difference in the time of in-
humation. 6. The existence of infant bones
among them. But on whatever occasion tbey
may have been made, they are of considerable
notoriety among the Indians: for a party passing,
about thirty years ago, through the part of the
country where this barrow is, went torongfa the
woods directly to it, without any instructions or
enquiry ; and having staid about it some time,
vnth expressions which were construed to be
those of sorrow, they returned to the high road,
which they had left about half a dozra miles to
pay this visit, and pursued their journey. There is
another barrow, much resembling this io the low
grounds of the south branch of the Shenandoah,
where it is crossed by the road leading from the
Rockfish gap to Staunton. Both of mese hare,
within these dozen years, been cleared of their
trees and put under cultivation, are much re-
duced in their height, and spread in width, bj
the plough, and will probably disappear in time.
There is another on a hill in the Blue ridge d
mountains, a few miles north of Wood's gap,
which is made up of small stones thrown to-
gether; This has been opened and found to
contain human bones as the others do. There
are also many others in other parts of the
country.' In South Africa, to the north of the
Hottentots, innumerable barrows are described
to have been seen by Dr. Sparrow, (Travels ii.
264.) In New Caledonia, also, Mr. Foster met with
a barrow four feet high, surrounded by an en-
closure of stakes. But the most recent disco-
veries of the kind, in countries removed fro's
all intercourse with Europe, have been made
by Mr. Oxley during his expedition into the in-
terior of New South Wales, in 1817-18. On
his return, he passed two native burial places.
The first presented a raised mound of earth,
under whicn were some ashes ; but there was no
decisive proof whether they were from wood or
bones. A semicircular trench was dog round
one side of the barrow, as if designed to afford
seats for persons in attendance. l%e secood
appeared not to have been constructed more than
a year or two ; and, from the care displaced in
it, evidently belonged to some personage of dis-
tinction. The form of the whole was semicir-
cular. Three rows of seats occupied one half;
the grave and an outer row of seats the od^.
Tlie seats formed segments of circles of fifom
forty to fifty feet, and were raised b|f the soil
being trendied up between them. The grare
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589
BAR
was shaped into an oblong cone, five feet
high and nine long. On opening this barrow, a
.ayer of wood presented itself, about two feet
aeneath the surace, forming a sort of arch, which
supported the upper cone. Beneath this were
placed several sheets of dry bark ; then dry grass
and leaves, to which no damp had ever pene-
trated. The body, which was fresh enough to
be extremely offensive, was deposited, at the
depth of four feet, in an oval grave, as many
feet long, and about two feet broad. The legs
were bent quite up to the head, and the arms
were placed between the thighs. The fiice was
downwards. The direction of the corpse was
east and west, the head being to the east. The
body was carefully wrapped in a great number
of opossum skins. The head was bound round
by the common -net and girdle of the natives.
Over the whole was si larger net. Two cypress
trees were to the west and north of this barrow,
distant about fifty feet. The sides of them to-
wards the sepulchre were barked, and curious
characters were deeply engraven in them.
Barrow, Little, a river of Ireland, which
&IIs into the Barrow, about four miles east of
Portarlington.
Barrow, Poutt, a cape on the south coast
of Ireland, in the coun^ of Cork, five miles
east of Kinsale. Long. 8° 21' W., lat. 51*
43' N.
Barrow's Strait, a considerable strait of the
Northern Ocean* so named by Captain Parry, in
one of his voyages, in honor of Mr. Barrow of
the admiralty.
Barrow upon Soar, a village in Leicester-
shire ; the birth place of bishop Beveridge. It
is celebrated for producing a hard blue stone,
which, when calcined, makes a lime fit for a
strong cement, and adapted to all works under
water. The Barrow blue stone was conveyed to
Kamsgate for the building of the piei and was
found to succeed, after the Dutch tarras mortar
had fiiUed.
Barrows, in the salt works, are wicker cases,
almost in the shape of a sugar loaf, wherein the
salt is put to drain.
BARRSTOBRICK, a rocky moorish hill, in
the county of Kirkcudbright and parish of Tong-
land, where the unfortunate Mary, Queen of
Scots, rested and refreshed herself with a few
feithful friends, in 1568, after the fatal battle of
Langfide; on her way to the Abbey of Dun-
di«nnan. From this circumstance tiie farm on
that part of Barrstobrick has ever since been
called Queen's Hill.
BARRU£L(Augustin), a French ecclesiastic,
and a literary man of some eminence during the
French revolution, commenced his career in 1774,
with an ode on the accession of Louis XVI.
Soon after he united with Freron in the compo-
sition of the Aun^e Litteraire. In 1788 he
became editor of Le Journal Ecclesiastique,
which he carried on till July 1792. In 1794 he
had escaped, from the opposition his sentiments
encountered in Paris, to England, and published
his History of the French Clergy during the Re-
volution. In 1796 appeared the first two volumes
of the work by whicn he is best known, Memoirs
for a History of Jacobinism, Impiety, and Anar-
chy, the remaining part of which followed some
years after. Thou^ an exaggerated production,
it supplies many facts not otherwise to be found
recorded. He returned to France in 1802, and
did Oct 5, 1820, at the age of seventy-nine.
'BARRULET, in heraldry, the fourth part of
the bar, or the one half of the closset, an usual
bearing in coat-armour.
BARRULY, in heraldry, b When the field is
divided bar-ways, that is, across from side to
side, into several parts.
BARRY (James), a celebrated painter, was
bom at Cork on the 1 1th of October, 1741 / His
father's occupation was that of a coasting-trader,
and, anxious to engage his son in the same busi-
ness, he carried him along with him in several
voyages. The mind of Barry^ however, averse to
such an employment of his t^ents, was engaged
at all leisure moments in sketching and drawing ;
and his fiither, perceiving the impossibility of fix-
ing his choice in a seafaring profession, allowed
him at last to pursue the natural bias of his dis-
position. His eager thirst of knowledge, and
his persevering industry in acquiring it, now
excited the admiration of all his acquaintance,
and carried him forward to improvement and
information far beyond his years. He read all
the books that his slender finances could com-
mand, or the kindness of his friends su(>plied;
and his unwearied diligence allowed him no
time for frivolous amusement, and little for re-
pose. But he devoted a part of every day to the
exercise of his pencil, and at a very earl^ age
furnished designs for a volume of fables, prmtd
by an Irish bookseller. He was seventeen years old
when he attempted oil painting; but his progress
in this first art must have been extremely rapid,
and his execution of individual pieces uncom-
monly quick, since we find him in less than five
years not only finishing several large paintings,
but producing that work which drew nim from
theobscurity of a provincial town, and gave him a
high place among the artists of his country. The
subiect that he chose for Htns picture was an old
thiditionary story concerning tne arrival of Saint
Patrick in Ireland; and as soon as he had
finished it he set out with it for Dublin. With-
out acquaintance or recommendation of any
kind, he obtained leave to expose his piece in an
exhibition of paintings, whicn was just opening
upon his arrival, and had the happiness to see
it marked out by public approbation and ap-
plause. He shortly after was introduced to the
acquaintance, and soon obtained the friendship,
of Burke. With that great man he repaired
to London, as p better field for the display of his
talents, and, under his patronage, was introduced
to several artists of eminence. The talents of Mr.
Barry were here universally acknowledged to be
great ; but in proportion as nature had been libe-
ral, his friends and himself felt the importance
of seconding her views, by embracing every at-
tainable opportunity of improving her gifts. The
most important part of a painter's education
having for a long time been considered to be a
short residence in Rome, Bany, was enabled
to visit, by the assistance of the Burkes, that seat
of the arts. There he remained neariy five years,
engaged in the deepest researches on the princi-
ples of his art, and in the most laborious exami-
nation of its noblest specimens. For three years.
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BARRY.
he mentions in a letter to Sir Joshua Reynolds,'
he was so completely occupied in studying^ the
inimitable mooels of perfection bestowed upon
the world by the genius of Michael Angelo, Ka-
phael, Titian, Guido, and other celebrated masters,
that he could not spare two hours for any other
employment. Nor was any of this portion of
his time spent in copying them, — ^it was entirely
devoted to a minute and critical examination of
their pecul^ manner and characteristic excel-
lencies. In 1771 he returned to his native
country, and soon displayed the extent of his
powers, and the improvement of his taste, in se-
veral masterly app^s to public admiration. His
first was aVentis, in wtuch he embodied an
amazing assemblage of beauty and grace. The
subject he chose for the following year was like-
wise mythological, being a representation of Ju-
piter and Juno on Mount Ida. But Mr. Barry's
chief object of ambition was to be employed in
some national work, which should raise the cha-
racter of his country, while it should confer per-
manent reputation on his own name. He nad
beheld at Rome the works of Raphael and
Midiael Angelo on the walls of the Vatican, and
he saw what splendor magnificent edifices, and
noble designs m painting, mutually diffused over
each other. He therefore concurred with ala-
crity in a proposal made to decorate the cathe-
dral of St. Paurs with paintings, and offered his
services as one of the artists. But this design was
reliquished, owiugto the opposition of the primate
and the bishop of London. A proposal that was
made soon anerwards to Barry and his brother
artists, to decorate the great hall of the Society
of Arts with historical and allegorical paintings,
failed, to his great mortification, like the former.
Bent on his great object, he offered to execute
this work by hinuelf, and the only condition that
he stipulated for was, that he nught be allowed
to proceed to the end of his designs without in-
terference or control. The condition was agreed
to, and the work will remain a lasting monumen(
of his fame. We have not space in this short
sketch to describe his beautiful and ingenious
designs ; we must therefore refer our readers to
his own writings for their details, and to the pic-
tures themselves, for a knowledge of the feeling
of that excellence; to which his own description
can do justice no more than that of others can
convey. Dr. Johnson observed, upon seeing them,
that they displayed a grasp of mind which was
nowhere else to be found. This great work was
unproductive of emolument to the author. But
the society voted him their gora medal, 250
guineas at different periods, and allowed him
Uie profits of exhibitions, which amounted to
£500. It is not very pleasing to follow the
artist through the remaining part of his life.
In 1777 he was made a Royal Academician, and
in 1780 profiBSSor of painting in the academy,
which situation he lost in 1799, in consequence
of his extreme anxiety to induce the academy to
appropriate the receipts of the eidiibitions to the
formation of a gallery of old masters for the xise
of the pupils. Soon after, the earl of Buchan set
on foot a subscription- for him, which amounted
to about £1000. Witfi this it was intended to
purchase an annuity for him, when he was seizol
with a pleuritic fever, which carried him off on
the 22d of February , 1806, aged sizbr-five. ' Mr.
Bany, as an artist,' Mr. Hazlett has well said,
' as a writer, and a man, was distinguished by
n inequality of powers and extreme contn-
>ns in character. He was gross and refined
at the same time; violent and urbane; sociable
and sullen ; inflammable and inert ; a^ent and
phlegmatic ; relapsing from enthusiasm into in-
dolence ; irritable, h^strong, impatient of re-
straint; captious in his intercourse with his
friends, wavering and desultory in his profession.
In his personal habits he was careless of ap-
pearances or decency, penurious, slovenly,
and squalid. He regarded nothing but his im-
pulses, confirmed into incorrigible habits. His
pencil was under no control. His eye and his
nand seemed to receive a first rude impulse, to
which he gave himself up, and paid no regard
to any thing else. The strength of the original
impetus only drove him fiirther from his object.
His genius constandy flew off in tangents, and
came in contact with nature only at salient points.
His enthusiasm and vigor were exhausted in
the conception; the execution was crude and
abortive. His writings are a greater acquisi-
tion to the art than his paintings. The powers
of conversation were what he most excelled in ;
and the influence which he exercised in this way
over all companies where he came, in spite of die
coarseness ot his dress, and the frequent rude-
ness of his manner, was great. Tauke him for
all in all, he was a man of whose memory it is
impossible to think without admiration as well
as regret.* Towards the close of life he was
doubttess occasionally deranged. His works
are collected in two quaitq volumes, 1809,
of which his Lectures are deemed the best
part.
Barrt (Girald), commonly called Giialdos
Cambrensis, Girald of Wales, an historian and
ecclesiastic in the reigns of Henry II. and
Richard I., was bom at the casde of Manoibier,
near Pembroke, A. D. 1146. By his mother be
was decended from the princes of South Wales,
and his fiither, William Barry, was one of the
chief men of that principality. Being a yoanger
brother, and intended for the church, he was sent
to St. David's, and educated in the femilyof bis
uncle, who was bishop of that see. He admow-
ledges, in his history of his own life and acdons,
that in his youth he was too playful ; but being
reproached for it by his preceptors, he becanae a
very hard student, and excelled all his scboo.*
fellows. When he was about twenty years of
age he was sent, A. D. 1166, for improvanent,
to the university of Paris ; where he continued
five years. On his return to Britain he entered
into holy orders, and obtained several benefices
in England and Wales. Observing that his
oountiymen were backward in paying the tithes
of wool and cheese, which he'was afraid would in-
volve them in eternal ruin, he applied to Rkbard,
archbishop of Canterbury, and was appointed
his legate in Wales for rectifying that disorder.
He executed his commission with great spirit ;
excommunicating aU who refused to save their
souls by surrendering the tithes of cheeie and
wool. Not satisfied with enricbing, he also at^
tempted to reform, the clergy ; and i^rted the
archdeacon of Brecon, for the nnpaidonable
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BARRY.
691
crime of matrimony. The Door old man refusing
to put away his wife, was deprived of his arcb^
deaconry ; which was bestowed upon our zealous
legate. Ilts great vigor involved kirn in many
auarrels. His uncle, the Sishop of St. David's,
ying A.D. 1176, he was elected his successor
by the chapter : but this election having been
made contrary to the inclination of Henry II.
he did not insist upon it, but went again to
Paris to prosecute has studies, in the civil and
canon law, and theology. Having spent about
four years at Paris, he returned to St David's,
where he found every thing in confusion ; and the
bishop being expelled by the people, Ke was ap-
pointed adxninistrator by the archbishop of Can-
terbury, and governed the diocese in that capacity
till A.D. 1184, when he was restored. About
the same time he was called to court b^r Henry
the Second, appointed one of his chaplains, and
sent into Ireland A. D. 1185, with prince John.
By this prince he was offered the united bishop-
rics of Femes and Leighlin, but declined them,
and employed his time in collecting materials for
bis Topography of Ireland, and his hLstoiy of the
conquest of that island. Having finished the
former work, which consisted of three books, he
published it at Oxford, A.D. 1287, in the follow-
mg curious manner, in three days. On the first
day he read the first book to a great concourse of
people, and afterwards entertained all the poor
of tne town; on the second day he read the se-
cond, and entertained the doctors and chief
scholan ; and on the third day he read the thiid
book, and entertained the young scholars, sol-
diers, and burgesses. 'A most glorious specta-
cle 1' says he, ^ which revived the ancient times
cf the poets, and of which no example had been
seen in England.* He attended Baldwin, aroh-
bishop of Canterbury, in his progress through
Wales, A.D. 1186, m preaching a croisade for
the recovery of the Holy Land; in which he teUs
OS he was tar more successful than the primate ;
and that the people were prodigiously affected
with his Latin sermons, which they did not un-
derstand, melting even to tears, and coming in
crowds to take the cross. Although Henry II.
entertained the highest opinion of his abilities,
he never advanced him to any higher dignity in
the church on account of his relation to the
roinces of Wales. But on the accession of
Richard I. A. D. 1189, his prospects of prefisr-
ment became better, for he was sent for by that
prince into Wales to preserve the peace of that
countrv, and joined in commission with William
Longchamp, bishop of Ely, as one of the regents
of the kingdom. He did not however, improve
this favorable opportunity, refusing the bishopric
of Bangor in A. D. 1190, and that of Landaff the
year after, having fixed his heart on the see of
St David's, the bishop of which was very old and
infirm. In A. D. 1192 the sUte of public affiurs
and the course of interest at court became so un-
&Torable to our author's views, that he deter-
mined to retire. At first he resolved to return
to Paris to prosecute his studies; but meeting
with difficulties in this, he went to Lincoln,
wbere William de Monte read lectures in theo-
1^ with great applause. Here he spent about
six years studying divinity, and composing vari-
ous works. The see of St David's, wnich had
long been the obiect of his ambition, now be-
came vacant, (A. D. 1 198) and brought him again
upon the stage. He was unanimously elected by
the chapter; but met with so powerfiil an adver-
sary in Hubert, archbishop of Canterbury, that it
involved him in a litigation which lasted three
years, cost him three journeys to Rome, at a
great expense, and in which he was at last de-
feated, A. D. 1203. Soon after, be retired from
the world, and spent the last seventeen years of
his life in a studious privacy, composing many
books, of which we have a catalogue in the Bio-
graphia Britannica. ThatGirald of Wales was a
man of uncommon activity, genius ^d learning,
is undeniable; but these and his other good
qualities were much tarnished by his insuffera-
ble vanity, which must have been as offensive to
his contemporaries, as it is dbgusting to his
readers.
Barry (James, baron. Santry), was also a
descendant of the ancient princes of Wales. Be-
iiig bred to the law, he was appointed king s ser*'
jeant for Ireland in 1629. In this station he
was noticed by Lord Wentworth^ afterwards earl
of Strafford, who promoted him to be second
baron of Exchequer in 1634. Barry was not un-
grateful. In 1640, when the Irish parliament pro*
posed sending over a committee to impeadi Lord
Strafford, he did his utmost to oppose the mea-
sure, though his efforts proved fruitless. 'During
the commotion and revolution that followed, we
hear nothing of Mr. Barry; but in 1660 he was
appointed chairman of the Convention, which
voted for the restoration of monarchy ; and in the
end of that year, king Charles IL showed his
3 union of bis services, by appointittg him Lord
hief Justice of the King's Bench, and a privv
counsellor, and creating him a peer of Ireland.
He did not live to see a third revolution, for he
died in 1672.
Barry, a hill of Scotland, .in Angusshire,
three miles north of Belmont, and 688 feet in
height. Tradition says, that queen Guinever or
Vanora, the wife of Arthur king of the Britons,
was confined upon it, after having been taken
prisoner in a battle between that prince and the
Scots and Picts. Dr. Playiair has given the fol-
lowing particular account of this hill. 'Barry-hill,
the supposed place of Vanora's confmement, merits
some descriptiozu It is one of the Grampians,
one mile and a half north-east of Alyth. It
commands an extensive view of Strathmore, and
of several remarkable hills in the Sidlaw range>
viz. Dunsinnan, Kinpumie, Sidlaw, Finhaven, &c.
all of which might have been anciently used as
watch towers, or places of defence. History in-
forms us that the Picts kept possession of Dun-
barry, and the adjacent country, from a remor^
period to the ninth century, or later ; but the
precise dates of their settlement in these parts,
and of their expulsion, cannot be ascertained.
The hill itself is of an oval form. lu summit
was levelled into an area 180 feet long, and se-
venty-two or seventy-four broad. Around the
area a mound of earth was raised, from six
to eight feet high, and ten to twelve broad
at top. On this mound a wall of free stone
was built without any cement whatever. The
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592
BARRY.
foundatioii of the wall was composed of rough
granite, and still remains. It is of the same
breadth with the summit of the mound ; but
the height of the wall cannot be known ; Gor-
donis estimate of it is extremely erroneous.
Among the ruins there are several pieces of vitri-
fied stone; but these yitriiications must have
been accidental, as they are few and inconsider-
able. Along the west and north borders of the
area, barracks, or huts, were built of dry stone,
and sufficiently sheltered by the mound and
wall'; but no structures of this sort can be traced
in the south part of the area. As the north and
west sides of the hill are steep, and of difficult
access, there was no need of an outer ditch in
those quarters : but, towards the south and east,
where the hill gently slopes^ there is a ditch ten
feet broad, and from twelve to sixteen feet below
the foundation of the wall. At the south-east
extremity of the fort, a narrow bridge was raised
over the ditch, eighteen feet long, and two broad,
except towards each end, where the breadth was
increased. It was composed of stones laid to-
gether with much art and vitrified above, below,
and on both sides ; so that the whole mass was
firmly cemented. That an opening was left
below after the process was finished is doubtful.
On the upper part of the bridge a stratum of gra-
vel was laid, to render the passage smooth and easy.
This is the sole part of the fort intentionally vitri-
fied. A few yards distant from the ditch there
is an outer wall, the foundation of which is about
three feet lower than the summit of the mound.
The approach to the fort is fit>m the north-east,
along the verge of a precipice; and the entrance
was secured by a bulwark of stone, the ruins of
which are extant There is no vestige of a well
within the fort; but westward, between the basis
of the mound and the precipice, there was a deep
pond or lake, recently fillea up by the tenants in
that neighbourhood. About a quarter of a mile
eastward, on the declivity of the hill, there are
some remains of another oval fort, of less extent
than the preceding, consisting of a strong wall
and ditch. Tradition says, that there was a sub-
terranean communication between these forts,
which b not improbable. From the account
now given, it would appear, 1. That both were
constructed before the Romans introduced the
art of building vrith lime and other cement, 2.
That the Picts and ancient Scots had stone edifi-
ces, which M^Pherson is not inclined to admit.
3. That they sometimes vitrified particular parts
of their forts, to render them the more durable.
BARRY, Barra, or Bara, one of the wes-
tern isles of Scotland, lying in the Atlantic
Ocean ; eight miles south from that of South Uist.
Ita extent has been strangely misrepresented,
some stating it at five miles long and three broad,
and others reducing it to a mere rock, half a
mile in circumference, and inhabited only by
solan geese and wild fowls ! ft is at least twelve
English miles long, and from three to six broad ;
being intersected in difierent places by arms of
the sea; separated from the island of Watersay,
by a channel of one mile. It has a barren ap-
pearance,* from the great quantity of rocks to be
seen every where ; but on the north end, in good
seasons, it may vie in fertility with any ground
of equal extent in Scotland. In the middle ani
south end there are very high hills, whidi are a
mixture of green, rock and heath, and seem fitted
for sheep-walks, if the island were near a good
market The west coast is low and flat; the
soil, fine shell sand, m many parts verv feitilt ;
but the ground rises to the east coast, where it is
barren, and breaks ofi* abrupt, irrei^lar, and
steep. In some parts, where the soil is rock^
and uneven, it admits not of being plowed ; h
is cultivated, therefore, by a kind of crooked
rde, called' cashroom. The inhabitants are
ut 1500. Long. 7° 2(f W., lat 56** 55' N.
Barry, a town of Ireland, in the county of
Longford, fifty-four miles from Dublin.
Barry, a small island in the Bristol cbanneK
near the south coast of Wales ; distant three
miles west of Fiat Holm. Its name is said to be
derived firom a hermit, St Banich, who died
there in 700. Giraldus Cambrensis states, that
in a rock near the entrance of the island there is
a small cavity, to which, if the ear be applied,
a noise is heard like that of smiths at work, the
blowing of bellows, strokes of hammers, grind-
ing of tools, and ' roaring of furnaces,' and Sir
Richard Hoare adds, that towards the southern
part of the island, on a spot, called Ndl's point,
IS a fine well, to which great numbers of women
resort on Holy Thursday : having washed their
eyes at the spring, each drops a pin into it Tht
landlord of tne l§>arding-hoUse (for the island is
frequented by bathers) informed Sir Ridiard
Hoare, that in the last cleaning of the well be
took out a pint of these votive offerings.
Barry, in heraldry, is when an escutcheon is
divided bar-ways, that is, across from side to
side, into an even number of
partitions, consisting of two or
more tinctures, interchangeably
disposed. It is to be expressed
in the blazon by the word barry,
and the number of pieces must
be specified ; but if tne divisions
be odd, the field must be first named, and the
number of bars expressed.
Barry-bbvdy is when an
escutcheon is divided evenly , bar
and bendways, by lines drawn
transverse and diagonal, inter-
changeably varying the tinctures
-of which it consists, thus:
Barry-pily, is when a coat
is divided by several lines drawn
obliquely from side to side,
where they form acute angles,
thus:
BARSA, in ancient geography, an island on
the coast of France, in the English channel ; now
called Basepool, according to some ; according
to others, Bardsey.
BARSABAS; from n3, a son, and HOt, rest;
a name of Joseph, sumamed Justus, who was
competitor with Matthias for the apostleship, and
is said to have been one of the seventy disciples.
Bars ABAS (Judas), a member of the synoJ at
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BAR
BAR
Jerusalem, who was sent with Paul, Barnabas, BAKSE, id ichthyology, an English name for
and Silas, to publish their decree against the the pearch, still used for the same fish in the
Judaising teachers among the Gentile churches Saxon language, and one of the many Saxon
at'Antioch. He is also styled a prophet: Acts words we have retained.
XV. 32. BARSICK, a head land on the coast of the
BARSAC, a town of France, in Guienne, in island of South Ronaldshay, one of the Orkneyi,
the Bourdelois, on tlie left bank of the Garonne ; V^hich is 250 feet perpendicular above the level
contains 480 houses, and belongs to the depart- of the sea.
ment of the Gironde, arrondissemeot of Bour-
deaux, eighteen miles south-east of Bourdeaux.
It is not^ for its excellent wine.
BARSALLACH, Point, a cape of Scotland,
on the coast' of the county of Wigton, in the bay
BAK-SUR-AUBE. See Bar.
Bap-9ub-s£1ne. See Bab.
BA'RT£tt, v. & n. ^ Fr. barater; Ital. bar-
Bab'ter£Rj >rtUare; Span, barrator,
Bar'tbry . ) from barat, craft, fraud. It
of Luce, eight miles north-west of Burtowhead. is now, however, no longer used in this ill sense
Long. 4^ 35' 17" W., lat. 54° 48' N.
BAEISALLI, or Barsallo, a kingdom of
Africa, bordering on the Gambia, inhabited by a
trioe of negroes called Jalofis. Their govern-
ment is a -despotic monarchy; all people being
obliged to prostrate themselves on the earth when
any of the royal family makes his appearance.
It is divided in to a number of .provmces, over
which governors are appointed, called bumeys.
It signifies a particular mode of exchange. Ex-
change is the general term signifying to take one
for another. To barter is to exchange one ar-
ticle, of trade for another. The words tliat bear
a near affinity to this are truck and commute ;
but their precise .difference is this : truck is a
familiar term to express a fiaimiliar action for
exchanging one article of private property for
another; and commute is applied to the ex-
The Mahommedan U the professed religion, but changing one mode of punishment for another.
little regard is paid to that part of the impostor's
laws which forbids the use of wine ; for tne king
cannot live without brandy ; nor is he ever more
devout than when he is intoxicated. . When he
wants a fresh supply of this liquor, or of any
other commodity, he seizes a certain number of
his subjects, and sells them as slaves.
BARSANIANI, in church history, a sect who
held the errors of the Severians and Theodosians.
BARSANTI (Francisco), an eminent musi-
cal performer and composer, was bom at Lucca
about 1690. He studied the civil law in the
university of Padua ; but af^er a short stay there
preferred music, and put himself under the tui-
tion of some of the ablest masters in Italy.
Having attained to a considerable degree of
proficiency in practical composition, he resolved
to settle in England, and came hither with Ge-
miniani, in 1714. He was a good performer on
the hautboy and flute. He was many years a
performer at the opera-house ; and at last went
to Scotland, where he improved the music of J^^^^^^^
that country, by making basses to a great num-
ber of the most popular Scots tunes. About
1750 he returned to England; but, being ad-
vanced in years, he went into the opera band
as a performer on the tenor violin ; and in the
summer season into that of VauxhalL At this
time he published twelve concertos for violins ;
and shortlv after, Sei Antifone, in which he en-
deavourecf to imitate the style of Palestrina, and
the old composers of motets ; but so little profit
resulted, that, towards the end of his life, the
industry and economy of an excellent wife, whom
he had married in Scotland, and the labors of a
daughter whom he had quaUfied for a singer, but
ivho afterwards became an actress at Coveut
Garden, were his chief supports. Miss Barsanti
went on tlie stage in consequence of her entirely
losing her singing voice by catching cold. Col-
man engaged her as a comic actress for the
Hay market theatre, and she gained mat ap-
plause. She afterwards went to Ireland, became
a favorite there, and married Mr. Daly, the
manager of the Dublin theatre.
Vol. Ill •
We may exchange one book for another ; traders
barter trinkets for gold-dust ; coachmen truck a
whip for a handkerchief; government commutes
the punishment of death for that of banishment.
For him wm^T exchan^d and r&nsom'd ;
Bat with a baser man of armt by far
Once^ in contempt, they would have barter'A me.
Shakkpean.
From England they may be furnished with luch
things at they may want, and in exchange or harttr
■end other things with which they may abound.
As if they scom'd to trade and barter.
By giving or by taking quarter. Hudibrat.
A man has not every tiling growing upon his suil,
and therefore is willing to barter with his neighbour.
CoUier.
1 see nothing left us, but to truck and barter our
goods, like the wild Indians, with each other. Swifi.
He who compteth English with foreign words, is
as wise as ladies that exchange plate for china ; for
which the laudable traffick of old clothes is much the
It is a received opinion, that, in most ancient ages,
there was only hartery or exchange of commodities
amongst most nations. Camdm*» Bmm,
Then as thou wilt dispose the rest.
To those who, at the market rate.
Can bairter honour for estate. Prior%
If they will barter away their time, methinks they
should Kt least have some ease in exchange.
Deoay of Piety.
He also bartered away plums, that would have
rotted in a week, for nuts that would last good for his
eating a whole year. Locke,
At the same time those very men tear their lungs
in vending a drug, and show no act of bounty, except
it be that they lower a demand of a crown to six, nay
to one penny. We have a contempt for such paltry
barterert. Tatler. No. 4.
The tnoft ancient and most obvioos sort of pommei^
cial contract is barter, or the exchange of goods for
goods. But, where there is no other sort of com-
merce, contracts of barter must be liable to great is«
equalities. Beattie. Morai Science.
Some men are willing to barter their blood fee
lucre. Burke,
2Q
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BAR
: Barter. See Arithmetic, Index.
Bakth, or Bart (John), a French admiral , bom
at Dunkirk in 1651 . He left his father, who was
a poor fisherman, and entered into the navy,
where he distinguished himself by his valor.
Having, in 1692, obtained the command of a
squadron of frigates and a fire ship, he destroyed
eighty-six English merchant ships, made a de-
scent on the English coast, near Newcastle, where
he set fire to several houses, and returned to Dun-
kirk with prizes valued at 500,000 crowns. In
1696 he was appointed with a squadron of six
ships, to convoy a fleet laden with com, and be-
fore he fell in with it, it had been captured by a
Dutch squadron of eight men of war. Though
his numbers and strength were so much less, he
not only retook the prizes, but the y^r ships.
For this action a patent of nobility was granted
him. He died at Dunkirk in 1702.
BARTHELEMY (John James), a celebmted
French writer, borh at Cassis, in Provence, in
1716. He was sent to school at Marseilles, and
admitted into the college of the Oratory, where
his promising genius was discovered, and encou-
raged, so that he made a rapid progress in learn-
ing. But his design bemg for the church,
it was necessary for him to leave the Oratory,
and go for philosophy and theology to the Jesuits.
Here he acquired, more by his own labor and
perseverance than by the instructions of the pro-
fessors, a knowledge of the Greek, Hebrew,
Chaldean, Syriac, and Arabic languages. Before
Barthelcmy left Marseilles, and when about
twenty-one years of age, the merchants of that
city having met with a Jew boasting of his learn-
ing, and wishing trial to be made, by introducing
him to some learned man, with some difficulty
got him to engage with the Jew ; and Barthe-
leroy came off with the character of a prodigy of
oriental learning. After finishing his education
at the seminary, he retired to Aubagne, and
spent some time with his family, by whom he
was highly esteemed. But he often visited Mar-
seilles, for the company of learned men ; and he
was particularly taken up with one M. Cary,
who had a fine cabinet of medals and an exten-
sive library. He also associated himself with
Father Sigaloux, in making astronomical obser-
vations. At last, however, he resolved to devote
himself to literature, and accordingly went to
Paris ii 1744. He was recommended to M. de
Boze, keeper of the medals, and secretary of in-
scriptions and belles lettres, who received him
kindly, and paid him every possible attention ;
and, m a sliort time, on account of the age and
infinnity of M. de Boze, Barthelemy was chosen
his assistant in the care of the cabinet of m«>dals;
in arranging which he labored incessantly. Some-
time after he was nominated secretary to the
academy of inscriptions ; and on the death of his
colleague M. de Boze, in 1753, he succeeded
him as keeper of the cabinet. In 1755 he visited
Rome and Naples; the latter being then pecu-
liarly interesting to an antiquarian by the recent
discoveries in its neighbourhood. Here, among
the numberless curiosities that drew his attention,
the manuscripts saved from the ruins of Hercu-
laneum were particularly noticed; and he was
aniious to have a specimen of the ancient writing
in the Greek MSS. but those who had the care
BAR
of them, from their injunctions, coiold not gratify
him. On this be begged a sight of a page for a
iew minutes. It contained. twenty-eight lines,
which he read over attentively, and, retiring to a
comer, transcribed the whole, and sent the fee
simile to the academy of belles lettres. About
the end of 1758, the duke de Choiseul, having
been appointed minister fbr foreign afiairs, gave
him a pension of £250, and in 17G5 conferred
on him the treasurership of St. Martin de Toun ;
to which in 1758, he added the place of secretary-
general to the Swiss guards in 1768 appeared
his great work, the fruit of thirty years labor,
entitled. The Voyage of the younger Anadiarsis
in Greece ; in which the traveller gives an account
of the customs, government, and antiquities of
the country he visited ; remarks on tfte music of
the Greeks, on the library of the Athenians, and
on the customs of all the surrounding states. In
1789 Barthelemy became a candidate fbr a chair
in the French academy ; and so great was the
reputation he had gaihed by his writings, that
this learned body elected him by acclamation.
The speedi he delivered on the occasion, fer
modesty and simplicity, is deservedly celebrated.
In consequence of the revolution, be was re-
duced to a pittance merely sufficient to furnish
the necessaries of life ; yet, in 1790, when M. de
St. Priest ofiered him tlie place of librarian to the
king, he expressed his gratitude, but declined
accepting, lest it should interfere with his'ooca-
pations in the cabinet, which he still continued
to enrich. In 1792 his strength began to feil,
and, in 1793, now a feeble old man, he was
arrested as an aristocrat, and hurried to prison ;
but was liberated the same night, by order of the
committee. He died in 1795, regretted by all
his relations as their common father. Besides
his Anacharsis, he was author of many papers,
principally on medals, in the collection ot the
academy of inscriptions, &c.
Barthelemy (St.), a town of France, in the
department of the Lot and Garonne, arrondisse-
ment of Marmande, with 2300 inhabitants. Nine
miles east of Marmande, dnd twenty-four north-
west of A gen.
BARTHIUS (Gaspar), a learned and copious
writer, bom at Custrin, in Brandenburg, in 1576.
Mr. Baillet, in his En&ns Celebres, tells ns, that
at twelve years of age he translated David's
Psalms into Latin verse of eveiy measure, and
published several Latin poems. Upon the death
of his father (who was professor of civil law at
Frankfort, counsellor to the elector of Branden>
burg, and his chancellor at Custrin), he was sent
to' Gotha, tlien to Eisenach, and afterwards, ac-
cording to custom, went through all the difi^nt
universities in Germany. He afterwards ?irited
Italy, France, Spain, England, and Holland,
improving himself by the conversation and worits
of the leamed in every country. He studied also
the modern languages, and his translations from
the Spanish and French show that he was not
content with a superficial knowledge. Upon
his return to Germany he led a letind life at
Leipsic, his passion for study having made him
renounce all sort of employment He wrote a
vast number of books; the principal of which
are, 1. Adversaria^ a large volume jn folio; the
second and third volumes of which he left in
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lis. 2. A TranaJatloD of Mjoiua Goesbus. 3.
A la!ge yolume of Notes upon Claud ian, in 4to.
4. Three large volumes upon Statins, kc. He
died at Leipsic, in 1658, aged seventy-one.
BARTHOLINA, in botony, a genus of plants,
named after the naturalist Bartholinus. Class
and order, gynandria monogynia. Natural
order, orcbidea;. Essential character : cal. tu-
bular at the base : pet. united to the base of the
lip, whose spur is shorter than thegern^en* Stalks
of the pollen elongated ; their cells laterally
fixed; glands distinct, half covered by the ex-
terior lobe. The principal species is, B. pecti-
nata. Fringed barthoUna.
BARTHOLINUS (Ga-spar), a learned phy^
sician and anatomist of the seventeenth cen-
tury, bom at Malmoe, in Schonen, which then
belonged to Denmark. At three years of age
he had such a quick capacity, that in four-
teen days he learned to read ; and, in his 13th
year, he composed Greek and Latin orations,
and pronounced them in public. When he was
about eighteen he went to the university of
Copenhagen, and afterwards studied at Kostook
and Wittembei^g. He afterwards travelled, and
096 BAR
mia Caspari Bartholini Parenfll novis Obsem^
tionibus primum locupletata. 8vo. 2.DeMonstris
in Natura et Medicine, 4to. 3. De Aimillis Vete-
rum, 8vo; and several other works. This great
man died in 1680.
BARTHOLOMEW (St.); from n3, a son,
nSn, elevating, and O'D, waters ; one of the
twelve Apostles, and generally believed to be the
same witn Nathanael, for the following reasons ;
1. John never mentions Bartholomew but Na-
thanael ; 2. the other Evangelists never mention
Nathanael but Bartholomew: 3. John classes
Philip and Nathanael, as the others do Philip
and Bartholomew: 4. Nathanael is mentioned
with the other apostles that met our Lord, after
his resurrection, at the sea of Tiberias : and 5.
Bartholomew is not a proper name, but a patro-
nymic signifying the son of Tolmai or Thilomcos ;
a mode of denomination common among the He-
brews, and other ancient nations (seeBARJONAs),
and which still prevails in some modern nations;
for instance in Russia, where Petrowitz, Alexio-
witz, Alexandrowitz, &c. signify, the son of Peter,
Alexis, Alexander, &c. It is said that this
apostle travelled as fer as India, to propagate the
neglected no opportunity of improving himself gospel : and Eusebins relates, that a famous phi-
at the different universities which he visited* losopher and Christian, named Pantsenus, desiring
He vras, in 1613, chosen professor of physic in
that university, which he enjoyed eleven yeiurs ;
when, falling into a dangerous illness, he. made
a vow, that if it should please God to restore
htm, he would solely apply himself to the sludy
of divinity. He recovered and kept hisi word ;
and soon after obtained the professorship . of
divinity^ and the canonry of Roschild. He died
in 1629, having written several small worics,
chiefly on metaphysics, logic, and rhetoric.
Bartholinus (Thomas), a celebrated physi-
cian, son of the former, bom at Copenhagen, in
1616. After studying some years in lus own
to imitate the apostolical • zeal in propagating
the fiuth, and travelling for that purpoK as far
as India, found there, among those who yet re-
tained the knowledge of Christ, the gospel of St.
Matthew, written by St. Bartholomew. From
thence he returned to the more northern and
western parts of Asia, and preached to the people
of liierapolis ; then in Lycaonia ; and lastly, at
Albania, a city upon the Caspian Sea, ; where
his endeavours to reclaim the people from idolatry
were crowned with martyrdom, he being flcad
alive, and crucified with his head downwards.
Bartholomew, Cape, the southernmost point
country, he, in 1637, went^to Leyden, where be of Staten-Land, in Le Maire straits, at the south
studied physic three vears * He then travelled extremity of South America,
into France; and resided two years at Paris and Bartholomew, St., one of the Caribbee
Montpelier, for improvement. Afterwards going islands^ to which, in 1748, a colony was sent by
to Italy, he continued three years at Padua ; and ' the French, by whom it was ceded to Sweden in
at leng^ went to Basil, where he obtained the 1785. It is reckoned about fifteen miles in cir-
degree of doctor of philosophy. Soon after, .he
returned to Copenhagen ; where, in 1647, he
was appointed professor of mathematics; and,
in 1648, of anatomy, a branch better suited to
his genius and inclination ; which he discharged
with great assiduity for thirteen years, and dis-
tinguished himself by making several discoveries
with respect to the lacteal veins and lymphatic
vessels. Hia close application, however, having
rendered his constitution very infirm, he, in
1661, resigned his chair; but the king of Den-
mark allowed him the title of honorary professor.
He now retired to a little estate he had purchased
at Uagested, near Copenhagen, where* he hoped
to have spent the remainder of his days in peace
and tranquillity ; but his house being burnt in
1670, his library, with all his books and MSS.
was destroyed. In consideration of this lou the
king appointed him his physician, with a hand-
tome salary, and exempted his land from all
taxes ; the university of Copenhagen also ap-
pointed him their librarian; and, in 1675, the
King did him the honor to give him a seat in the
grand council of Denmark. He wrote, 1. Anato-
cumference, and is now the only island which
Sweden possesses in the Columbian Archipelago.
It is very fertile, producing sugar, tobacco, cot-
ion, indigo, and cassava, but having no water,
except what is supplied by the rains, is not much
resorted to. • Many of the trees are valuable ;
the aloe is held in high estimation, and there are
others from which a gum of excellent cathartic
qualities is extracted. The branches oi" the pa-
rotane growing downwards, take root and rise in
fresh stems; forming an almost impenetrable
barrier. The species called sea trees, line many
parts of the shore. The island also produces
lignum vits and iron-wood ; and a great variety
of birds. The inhabitants also export a peculiar
kind of lime-stone. The coast is surrounded
with rocks, and cannot be safely approached
without a pilot ; but it has a very capacious and
well-sheltered harbour, capable of receiving and
sheltering the largest fdiips. About half the in-
habitants are Irish Iloman Catholics, whose an-
cestors settled here in 1666.
Bartholomew, St. a river of South America,
3Q2
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in the province of Autioquia, which falls into the
tfftdalena.
Bartholomew (St.), one of the islands of the
New Hebrides, in the South Pacific, three leagues
from the norUi-west point of Mallicolo, from
which it is separated by a channel, called Bou-
gainville's pAssage. It is from six to seven
leagues in circumference. Long. 169° 23' E.,
iat. 15*'41'S.
Bartholomew's Day (St.), a festival of the
Church, celebrated on the 24th of August. This
day has been rendered infamous in the annals of
France, for the massacre of the protestants in
1572, by the order of the bloody Catharine de
Medicis, and her tjrraimical son, Charles IX.
On Bartholomew's day also, jn the year 1662,
the act (^ nniforroitv, which obtained the royal
assent on the 19th of May, took place, in conse-
quence of which about 2000 ministers relin-
quished their preferments in the church of Eng-
land. The liturgy/ with its alterations, caire out
of the press on ^utholomew eve, and the follow-
ing day was the ultimate time fixed by the act for
the subscription ; so that all those throughout the
kingdom who conformed, except a few in Lon-
don, subscribed in ignorance of its contents.
' Bartholomew's day,' says Mr. Locke, * was
fittal to our church and religion, by throwing out
a very great number (about two thousand) of
worthy, learned, pious, orthodox divines, who
could not come up to this oath, and other things
in that act And so great was the zeal in carry-
ing on this church affair, and so blind the obe-
dience required, that if you compute the time
of passing this act with that allowed for the clergy
to subscribe the book of common prayer thereby
established, you will find it could not be printed
and distributed so as that one man in forty could
have seen and read the book they did so perfectly
assent and consent to.' — ' The matter was driven
on,' says bishop Burnet (Hist, of his Times, volt
i. p. 212, 8vo.) * with so much precipitation, that
it seemed expected the clergy should subscribe
implicitly to a book they had never seen. This
was done by too many, as the bishops themselves
informed me.* Among these were several, who,
according to Mr. Locke's description of them,
were ' taught rathef to obey than to understand.'
Bartholomew's Gospel (St.), is mentioned in
the preface to Origen's Homilies on St. Luke,
and in the pre&oe to St. Jerome's commentary
OB St. Matthew ; but generally regarded as spu-
rious ; and placed by pope Gelasius among the
apocryphal books.
Bartholomew's Hospital (St.), an institution
for the reception of sick and wounded poor per-
sons, situated on the south-east side of Smithfield,
and incorporated by the name of the hospital of
*he mayor, commonalty, and citizens, of London,
governors for the poor, called Little St. Bartho-
lomew's, near West Smithfield. The building
formerly belonged to the prioiy of St. Bartholo-
mew, in Smithfield, founded by one Rahere,
aboiit 1102. At the dissolution of the monaste-
ries, Henry VIII. left 500 marks a year to it, on
condition that the city should add 500 marks
per annum for the relief of the sick and poor
people ; but it was more largely endowed for the
benefit of sick and lame persons only, by Edward
VI. and the munificence of the city and private
benefactors. This hospital having escap»ed the
dreadful fire in 1666, was repaired and beautified
by the governors in 1691. But the buildings be-
came at length so ruinous, that a subscription was
entered into in 1729, for defraying the expense
of rebuilding it, on a plan comprehending four
detached piles of building, to be joined by stone
gate-ways, about a court or area. The four
piles w^re erected and finished ; one of these
piles contains a large hall for the governors at
general courts, a counting-house for the coo>-
mittees, and other necessary offices ; the other
three piles contain wards for tlie reception of the
patients, &c. It is governed by a president,
treasurer, &c. It is attended by three physicians,
and three surgeons, besides as many assistant
surgeons. It has an apothecary, a chaplain, cook,
steward, renter, matron, and porter. Since its
enlargement, it is capable of accommodating 820
patients ; it extends relief also to a great number
of out-patients.
BAKTHOLOMITES, a religious order, found-
ed at Genoa in 1307; the monks leading ^-eiy
irregular lives, the order was suppressed by pope .
Innocent X. in 1650, and their effects confiscated.
In the church of the monastery of this order at
Genoa, is preserved the image which it is pre-
tended Christ sent to king Abgarus.
BARTLEMAN (J.), a very celebrated bass-
singer, was educated under Dr. Cooke, and
brought up in the choirs of the Chapel Royal and
Westminster abbey. His first appearance as a
professional singer was at the concerts at Free-
masons' Hall, where the compass and sweetness
of his fine baritone voice raised him at once to the
top of his profession. He was immediately en-
gaged in the ancient concerts, and became even-
tually one of the proprietors and conductors at
the Hanover-square rooms. He died in 1820,
and was buried in ^e cloisters of Westminster
Abbey, most of his professional associates of emi-
nence attending the funeral. - There is a hand-
some tablet erected there to his memory.
B ARTOLOCCI (Julius), a learned monk, and
professor of Hebrew at Rome, was born at Cela-
no, in 1613 ; and distinguished himself by writ-
ing an excellent Latin catalogue of the Hebrew
writers, in 4 vols, folio ; a continuation of which
was drawn up by Imbonati his disciple. He died
in 1687.
BARTOLOM£0(Francisco), whose realaame
was Baccio, a celebrated painter, bom at Savig-
nano, near Florence, in 1469. He was the dis-
ciple of Cosimo Rosselli, but owed to the woiks
of^Leonardo da Vinci his extraordinary skill in
painting. Raphael, after quitting the school of
rerugino, studied perspective under him,
with the art of managing and uniting colors.
In 1500 he turned Dominican friar ; and some
time after was sent by his superiors to the
convent of St. Martin, in Florence. He painted
both portraits and histories ; but his scrupuIoiB
conscience would hardly ever suffer him to draw
naked figures, though nobody undentood thera
better. He died in 1517, aged 48.
BARTOLOZZI f(Francis), an emment en-
graver, was bom at Florence in 1728. His &thcr
was a silversmith, and he was intended for th<
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same basineiSy but displayed so much taste and
execation at the fint handling of the graver, that
he was placed at the Florentian academy, under
Gaetano Biagio and Ignazio Ilugfotd. Here
Giovanni Cipriani was his feUow-pupil. He was
subsequently articled to Joseph Wagner, of Ve-
nice, who employed him too much in copying
from inferior masters. When this engagement
was expired, he married a respectable Venetian
lady, and accepted the invitation of cardinal
Bottari to repair to Rome. Here he engraved his
fine plates from the life of St. Nilus, and the
heads of painters for a new edition of Vasari.
He returned to Venice, where Mr Dalton, libra-
rian to George IH. employed him to engrave
some of the drawings of Guercino, and, pleased
with the execution of them, offered him £300 per
annum to accompany him to England, and work
on his account, under this engagement he com-
pleted his beautiful collection of Guercinos. Af-
terwards he worked on his own account, and for
Mr. Alderman Boydell. He was highly distin-
guished for the elegance of his designs for the
benefit tickets of the higher performers of the
Opera-house; and hearing that the celebrated
Strange said he could execute nothing else, in a
fit of emulation he produced his Clytie, and Vir-
gin and Child, from Carracci and Carlo Dolci.
About this time the red dotted or chalk manner
became prevalent ; and Bartolozzi contrived to
execute it so beautifully as to assist in seducing
the public taste from the superior ^d legitimate
style of the line. He was elected a member of
the Royal Academy, on its institution. In 1802
he accepted an invitation trom the Prince R^^t
of Portugal, to superintend a school of engravers
at Lisbon, with a pension of £100 per annum, a
handsome house, and the produce of the engrav-
ings. It is said a pension of £400 was offered to
him to remain in England; but that he would
accept it only on condition that government
would explain the matter to the prince Regent of
Portugal. It is quite clear that all his {>ast labors
had left him in real need of one appointment or
other. This interference being deemed improper,
he bade England farewell, in his seventy-nfth
year, and was received at Lisbon with great dis-
tinction. He died in that capital in his eighty-
eighth year. Few artists have readied so dis-
tin^ished a rank in every species of engraving,
as Bartolozzi. His etchings in imitation of the
drawings of the great masters, admirably repre-
sent the character and spirit of the originals ; and
his Marlborough gems, musical tidkets, and
prints for Boydell's Shakspeare, exhibit exquisite
proo& of taste- Hewas so generous as to finish
a plate left incomplete by Ryland, at the request
of that unhappy man, while under seutence of
death for forgery, and exhibited many other
traits of a humane and benevolent unitea with a
thoughtless character. Among the pupils of
Bartolozzi were Sherwin, Tomkins, Cheeseman,
and the two Vandramini.
BARTON-ON-HUMBER, a market-town
and parish in the hundred of Yarborough, and
county of Lincoln, 167 miles north from London;
containing 2500 iuhabitanU*. It is seated on the
south side of the U umber, over which there is a
ferry into Yorkshire, neariy six miles and a half
across. There is a great trade in com and flour,
as well as bricks and tiles, carried on, and a ma-
nufactory of Paris whiting. The town consists of
several streets irregularly built, and has two parish
churches, the livings of the two parishes being
united. Market on Monday.
Barton (Eliz.), commonly called The Maid
of Kent, was a religious impostor in the reign o\
Henry VIH. She was originally a servant at
Aldington, in Kent, who had long been troubled
with convulsions, which distorted her limbs and
countenance, and threw Her body into the most
violent agitations. After she recovered, she is
said to have counterfeited the same appearances.
Masters, the minister of Aldington, with other
ecclesiastics, thinking her a proper instrument
for their purpose, persuaded ner to pretend that
what she said and did was by a supernatural im-
pulse, and taught her to act her part in the most
perfect manner. Thus she would lie as it were
m a trance, Uien, coming to herself, would break
out into pious ejaculations, hymns, and prayer ;
sometimes delivering set speeches^ sometimes
uncouth monkish rhymes. She pretended to be
honored with visions and revelations, to hear
heavenly voices, and the most ravishing melody.
Amongst other wickedness of the times, she de-
claimed against heresy and innovations ; exhort-
ing the people to frequent the church, to hear
masses, to use frequent confession, and to pray
to our lady, and the saints. This artful manage-
ment, together with her great exterior piety, and
austerity of life, not only deceived the vulgar, but
the celebrated Sir Thomas More, bishop Fisher,
archbishop Warkam, &c. : the last of whom
appointed commissioners to examine her. She
now declared, that the blessed Virgin had ap-
peared to her, and assured her that she should
never recover, till she went to visit her image, in
a chapel of the parish of Aldington. Thither she
accordingly repaired, processionally, and in pil-
grimage, attended by above 3000 people, and
many persons of quality of both sexes. She fell
into one of her trances, and uttered many things
in honor of the saints, and the popish religion.:
for herself, she said that by the inspiration of
God, she was called to be a nun, and that Dr.
Booking was her ghostly father. Booking was a
canon of Christ's church, Canterbury, and most
probably associate in carrying on the imposture.
Meanwhile, the archbishop ordered her to be
admitted into the nunnery of St/Sepulchre, Can-
terbury ; where she had frequent inspirations and
visions, and pretended to work miracles for all
such as would make a profitable vow to our lady.
The priests, her managers, having so finr suc-
ceeded, now announced the great object of her
mission, i. e. to proclaim, that ' in case the king
should divorce queen Catherine of Arragon, and
take another wife during her life, his royalty
would not be of a month's duration, but he should
die the death of a villain.' Bishop Fisher, and
others in the interest of the queen, and of the
Romish religion, hearing of this, held frequent
meetings wi& the nun, the fathers and nuns of
Sion, the Charter-house, Sheen, &c. Encouraged
by the lenity of the government, the ecclesiastics
in this conspiracy resolved to publish the reve-
lations of the nun, in their sermons, throughout
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the lingdoin : they had communicated them to
the pope'8 ambassadors, to whom also tfiey iiK
trodueed the maid of Kent ; and they exhorted
qaeen Cayenne to persist in her resolutions.
At length this confederacy began to be a very
serious affair, and lierry ordered the maid and
her accomplices to be examined in the star-cham-
ber. Here they confessed all the particulars of
the jmposture, and afterwards appeared upon a
scaffold erected at St. Paul's
where the
articles of their confession were publicly read in
their hearing. Thence they were conveyed to the
Tower, until the meeting of parliament; who,
having considered the affair, pronounced it a
conspiracy against the king's life and crown. Tlie
nun, with her confederates. Masters, Bocking,
Deering, Able, &c. were attainted of high treason,
and executed at Tyburn, April 20, 1534 ; where
she confessed the imposture, laying the blame on
her accomnlices the priests, and craving pardon
of God ana the king.
BARTRAMIA, in botany, pellitoty: a genus
of the deeandria monogynia class of plants ; the
calyx of which is a perianthium, cut into five
parts ; the corolla consists of five wedge-shaped
petals ; the fruit is globular, and the seeds are
four in number, convex on one side, and angular
on the other. It was so named in honor of a
friend of Linnsus, J. Bartram. Eight species
are described in English Botany.
BARTSIA, in botany, a genus of plants,
named after Linnstis' unfortunate friend, John
Bartsch, MD. Class didynamia ; order angiosper-
roia. Its l^enerie oharactersiure, cal. perianth oae^
leav^: cob. monopetalous : stam. filaments
four: ANTE, oblong: pist. germ ovate; style
filiform ; stigma obtuse : per. capsule ovate :
SEEDS numerous. The species are mostlyperen-
nials, a»— B. coccinea, pedicularis, sen crista
galli, &c. seu horminum, kt. Red bartsia, nar
tive of Virginia. B. pallida foliis ahemis, £cc.
seu foliis lanceolatis, etc. Pale-flowered bartsia^
native of Siberia. B. alpina foliis oppositis, See.
Staehelinia foliis, &c. Staehelinia alpina, eu-
phiasia caule, &c. Euphrasia rubra, &c. Cha-
medry vulgare, &c. Clinopodium alpinum, &c.
Teucrium alpinum, cratseogonon, seu pedicularis.
Alpine bartsia, native of Britain ; but the B. vis-
cosa, 'euphrasia latifolia, seu alecterophos, &c.
Viscid bartsia, or yellow marsh eye-bright, native
of Britain, is an annual. B. viscosa, marshy, or
yellow marsh eye-bright, was found by Mr.
Lightfoot in bogs and marshy places about Loch-
Goyl, near Loch-Lcng, in die district of Cowal
in Argyllshire. The plant is about teft or twelve
inches high, with an erect stalk, downy and un-
briuiched : the leaves are sessile, spear-shaped,
and a litde viscous; the flowers are yellow, and
the phmt dyes black. It is likewise feund in
manny places in Cornwall in England.
BARuCH, the son of Neriah, the disciple and
amanuensis of the prophet Jeremiah. Josephus
tdls us he was descended of-a noble family : it is
said in his prophecy -that he wrote it at Babylon,
but at what time is uncertain.
Barucb*s Prophecy, one of the apocryphal
books subioined to the canon of the Old Testa-
ment It has been reckoned nart of Jeremiah*s
prophecy, and is often citea by the ancient
BAR
fethers as such. It is difficult to detennine in
what language it was originally written. Hieie
are thiee copies of it extant; one in Greek, the
other two in Syriac.
BARULES, in church histOTT, heretics who
held that the Son of God had only a phantom of
a body, that souls were created before the worid,
and that they lived all at one time.
BARUTH, an ancient town of Turkey, in
Syria, with a Christian church of the Nestonan
persuasion. It is situated in a fine fertile soil,
but is inconsiderable now to what it was for-
merly.
B a RUTH, an Indian measure, containing seven-
teen gantatis: it ought to weigh about three
pounds and a half English avoi^upois.
BARWICK(John),an English divine of the
seventeenth century, was bora at Wetherslack m
Westmoreland, ii\ 1612. He studied at Cam-
bridge, where he took his degrees of B. A. and
M.^ in 1635 and 1638. When the dvn war
brok^ out he conveyed the university's plate, hj
their order, through bye roads to supply the Ung,
who was then in great necessity. Torough this,
and other acts of loyalty, having rendered himself
obnoxious to the parliament, particularly by keep-
ing up a secret correspondence with the royal
party, both before and after the king's deatii, he
was at last committed to the tower, where he
suffered great hardships for fifteen months, bat
was at last discharged, 1652, and, to the surprise
of many, in better health thauwhen he was in-
carcerated. Upon the' restoration he was made
dean of St. Puul's in 1661 ; in which sUtion he
repeatedly h\irt hto health, ' by his exertion in
patting in order the archives of that diurch.
He died of a pleurisy in 1664. His diief woik
was a Treatise Against the Covefumt, wfaidi he
published before the king's death.
BARWidK (Peter), physician to kingCharies
II. brother of die dean, was bom in 1619, and
studied edso at Cambridge, where he took the
degree of M. D. in 1655. Having settled in
London, he soon rose to fame In his profiessioii,
by writing a defence of Dr. Har\»ey*s discovery
of the circulation of the blood. He was eqoally
active and useful during the plague, and was no
less successful in curing the small pox. He not
only gave advice and medicines gratis to the
e»or, but also supplied their other necessities,
e was. particularly kind to the sufierers for roy-
alty. * He wrote the Ufie of hu brother in Latin,
in 1671, which he deposited in the college library
at Cambridge, and in 1693, when in his seventy-
fourth year, added an appendix in defence of the
Bcc«v BaaCiuai of king Charles I. He died in
1705, aged e^hty-six.
BARYPYCNi; Pofwwnw; in the ancient
music, such chords as rormed the gravest notes of
the several spissa. There were fiwbarypycni in
the scale. Seb PtcVi.
BARYTES, m chemistry, a genus of eardis,
which by Bergman, Lavoisier, and odier eminent
chemists, has been considered as a refractory
metallic oxvd. This supposition has been coo-
firmed by the experiments of Benelius and Poo-
tin, who, led by Sir H. Davy's decomposition of
potash and soda by galvanism, subjected this
earth to the same agent Their experiments were
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BAR
attended witli complete success, and have been
since Terified by Sir H. Davy himself. To this
metallic basis Davy gave the name of Barium,
which see.
' Pure barytes, ' says Dr.Ure, ' is best obtained
by igniting, in a covered*crucible, the pure crys-
tallised nitrate of barytes. It is procured in- the
state of hydrate by adding caustic potash or soda
to a solution of the muriate or nitrale. And ba-
rytes, slightly colored v?ith charcoal, may be
obtained by strongly igniting the carbonate and
charcoal mixed together in fine powder. Barytes
obtained from the ignited nitrate is of a whitish-
gray color ; more caustic than strontites, or per-
haps even lime. It renders the syrup of violets
green, and the infusion of turmeric red. Its
specific gravity by Fourcroy is 4. When water
in small quantity is pourea on the dry earth it
slakes like quicklime, but perhaps with evolution
of more heat. When swallowed it acts as a vio-
lent poison. It is destitute of smell. When pure
barytes is exposed in a porcelain tube, at a neat
verging on ignition, to a stream of dry oxygen
gas, it absorb the gas rapidly, and passes to the
state of deutoxide of barium. But when it is
calcined, in contact with atmospheric air, we ob-
tain at first this 'deutoxide and carbonate of ba-
rytes ; the former of which passes very slowly
into the latter, by absorption of carbonic acid from
the atmosphere.'
Again — 'water at 50°, Fahrenheit, dissolves
one-twentieth of its weight of barytes, and at
212° about one-half of its weight; though M.
Thenaid, in a table, has stated it at only one-
tenth. As the solution cools, hexagonal prisma,
terminated at each extremity with a four-sided
pyramid, form. These crystals are often attached
to one another, so as to imitate the leaves of fern.
Sometimes they are deposited in cubes. They
contain about 53 per cent, of water, or 20 prime
proportions. The supernatant liquid is barytes
water. It is colorless, acrid, and caustic. It
acts powerfully on the vegetable purples and
yellows. Exposed to the air it attracts caibonic
acid, and the dissolved barytes is converted into
carbonate, which fidls down in insoluble crusts.
It appears from the experiments of M. BerthoUet
that heat alone cannot deprive the crystallised
hydrate of its water: After exposure to a red
heat, when it fuses like potash, a proportion .of
water remains in combination. This quantity is
a prime equivalent = 1-125, to 9*75 of barytes.
The ignited hydrate is a solid of a whitish-gray
color, caustic, and very dense. It fuses at
a heat a little under a cherry red ; is fixed in
the fire; attracts, but slowl;^, carbonic acid
from the atmosphere. It yields carburetted
hydrogen, and carbonate .of baiytes when
heated along, with charcoal, provided this be
xiot in excess.'
'Sulf^ur combines with barytes, when tliey
are mixed together, and heated in a crucible.
The same compound is more economically ob-
tained by igniting a mixture of sulphate of
barytes and charcc^ in fine powder. This sul-
phuret is of a reddish-vellow color, and when
dry without smell. When this substance is put
into hot water a powerful action is manifested.
The water is decomposed, and two new products
are formed ; namely, hydrosulphuret, and hydix>-
guretted sulphuret of barytes. The first crystal-
lises as the liquid cools; the second remains
dissolved. The hydrosulphuret is a compound
of 9*75 of barytes with 2*125 sulphjaretted hy-
drogen. Its crystals should be quickly separated
by filtration, and dried bypressure between the
folds of porous paper. They are white scales,
have a silky lustre, are soluble in water, and yield
a solution having a greenish tinge. Its taste is
acrid, sulphurous, and, when mixed with the hy-
droguretted s^lphu^et, eminently corro^ve. It
rapidly attracts oxygen from the atmosphere, and
is converted into the sulphate of barytes. The
hydroguretted sulphuret is a compound of 9*75
barytes wtth 4-125 bisulphuretted hydrogen; but
contaminated with sulphite and hyposulphite in
unknown proportions. The dry sulphuret con-
sists probably of 2 sulphur-f 9-75 barytes. The
readiest way of obtaining bai7tes water is to boil
the solution of the sulphuret with deutoxide of
copper, which seizes the sulphur while the hydro-
gen flies off, and the barytes remains dissolved.
Fhosphuret of barytes may be easily formed by
exposing the constituents together to heat in a
glass tube. Their reciprocal action is so intense
as to cause ignition. Like phosphuret of lime,
it decomposes water, and causes the disengage-
ment of phosphuretted hydrogen gas, which spon-
taneously inflames with contact of air. When
sulphur is made to act on the deutoxide of ba-
rytes, sulphuric acid is formed, which unites to a
portion of the earth into a sulphate. ' Its salts
are all, more or less, white and transparent : the
soluble sulphates make, with the soluble salts of
banrtes, a precipitate insoluble in nitric acid ;
and they are all poisonous except the sulphate.
See Uie respective Acids, for the most usdul.
BARYTONO, in the Italian music, answers to
our common pitdi of bass.
BARYTONUM; from fiapvc, grave, and
rovoc, accent; in the Greek grammar, denotes a
verb, which having no accent marked on the last
syllable, a grave accent is to be understood.
BARZILLAI; from Sn3, iron, Heb.: l.A
Gileadite of Rogelim, who supplied David and
his few faithful friends with provisions, while
they lay at Mahanaim, during the usurpation of
Absalom (2 Sam. xvii. 27 — ^29); 2. A Simeonite
of Meholah, the father of Adriel, one of Saul's
8ons-ii>-law (1 Sam. xviii. 19); 3. A priest who
married a daughter of the hospitable Barzillai,
and whose descendants returned from Babylon.
Neh. vii. 63.
BAS, an island of France, on the coast of
the department of Finisterre, to which department
it belongs ; it is about a league in length, and is
situated two leagues north of St. Pal de Leon.
Bas (James Philip Le), a n^odem French en-
graver, by whom we have some excellent prints.
His great force seems to lie in landscapes and
small figures, which he executed in a superior
manner. His style of ennaving is extremely neat;
he proves the freedom of the etching, and Harmo-
nizes the whole with the graver and dry point.
We have also a varie^ of petty vignettes by this
artist. He flourished about the middle of the
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BASALT.
present century; but we have no account of the
time of his birth or death.
BASAAL, in botany, an Indian tree which
grows about Cochin.
BASALI'^ES, a word used by Salmasius for
Basaltes.
BASALT, Artipicial, or black porcelain, a
composition, having nearly the same properties
with the natural basaltes, invented by Messrs.
Wedgwood and Bentley, and applied to various
purposes in their manufalure.
Basalt, or Basaltes; from basal, iron, or
pavamZtt, diligenter examino; in natural history,
a heavy, hard stone, chiefly black or green, con-
sisting of prismatic crystals, the number of whose
sides is uncertain. The English miners call it
cockle; the German schoerl. It abounds in gi-
gantic masses in every part of Europe, and is now
regarded by mineralogists as one of the most
remarkable species of trap rocks. Basaltes vras
originally found in columns in Ethiopia, and
fragments of it in the river Tmolus, and some
pther places. We now have it frequently both in
columns and small pieces, in Spain, Russia, Po-
land, near Dresden, and in Silesia ; but the most
magnificent ranges of basaltic columns in the
world are those called the Giant's Causeway, in
Ireland: and next to them, perhaps, those of
Staffa, one of the western isles of Scotland. Great
quantities of basalt are likewise found in the
neighbourhood of Mount iEtna in Sicily, of
Hecla in Iceland,- of the volcano in the island of
Bourbon, and in the ci-devant province of Viva-
lais in the south of France. It is found there-
fore in the neighbourhood of active volcanoes,
and one of the great questions that geologists
have agitated is, whether it does not always de-
monstrate the existence of some extinguished
volcano in its vicinity.
The rocks of the Cyclops, in the neighbour-
hood of £tna, exhibit very magnificent basaltic
C" IS, One is an island composed of lava, on a
of basalt, of no uncommon nature ; above
which there is a crust of pozzolana, combined
with a certain white calcareous matter, hard and
compact ; and which, as h is composed by the
action of the air, appears like a piece of knot^
porous wood. That rock, at some former period,
became so hard as to split ; and the clefts were
then filled up with a very hard and porous mat-
ter like scoriae. This matter afterwards acquiring
new hardness, also splits, leaving large interstices,
which in their turn have been filled up with a
species of compound yellow matter. The island
was formerly inhabited; and there remains a
flight of steps leading from the shore to the ruins
of some houses, which appear to have been hewn
in the rock. These basaltic columns, at first
view, seem to resemble those of the Giant's
Causeway, and others commonly met with : But
on a nearer inspection, we find this difference,
that the former are assembled in groups of five or
six about one, which serves as their common cen-
tre, and are of various sizes and forms ; some ,
square, others hexagonal, heptagonal, or octago-
nal. It seems also peculiar to that neighbour-
hood, that some portions of the basaltic formation
piesent the likeness of cannon or hollow cylinders,
varying in their diameters from six« inches to
twenty' feet ; but these descriptions not being so
well authenticated as some whieh we possess q(
basaltes nearer home, we mav proceed to remark,
that in Ireland the basalt forming the -Gianfs
Causeway rises far up the counUy, runs into the
sea, crosses at die bottom, and rises again on the
opposite land. The immense pilhirs of it have
been very particularly described and examined
in a work entitled Letters concerning the north-
em coast of the county of Antrim ; fromr which
the following brief particulars are extracted :—
' 1. The pillars of the Causeway are small, not
^very mucn exceeding one foot in breadth, and
thirty in length; sharply defined, neat in their
articulation, with concave or convex terminations
to each point. (Basaltes, fig. 5.) In many of
the capes and hills they are of a laiger size,
more imperfect and irregular in their figure and
articulation, having often flat termiiiationtt to 6>eir
points. At Fairh^ they are of a gigantic ma^
nitude, sometimes exceeding five feet in bread£,
and 100 in length ; often apparently destitute of
joints altogether. Through many parts of the
country this species of stone is entirely rude and
unfbrmed, separating ^n loose blocks; in which
state it resembles the stone known in Sweden by
the name of trappe. 2. The. pillais of the
Giant's Causeway stood on the level of the beach,
whence they may be traced through all de-
grees of elevation to the suhimit of the highest
grounds in the neighbourhood. 3. At the Cause-
way, and in most other places, they stand per-
pendicular to the horizon. In some of the capes,
and particularly near Ushet harbour, m the isle of
Baghery, they lie in an oblique position. At
Doon Foint, in the same island, and along the
Balintoy shore, they form a variety of ngahr
curves. 4. The stone is black, dose, and uni-
form ; the varieties of color are blue, reddish,
and gray ; and of all kindji* of grain, from extreme
fineness to the coarse granulated appearance of a
stone which resembles imperfect granite, abound-
ing in crystals of schorl, chiefly black, though
sometimes of various colors. 5. Though the stone
of the Giant's Causeway be in general compact
and homogeneous, yet it is remarkable that the
upper joint of each pillar, where it can be ascer-
tained vrith any certaipty, is always rudely
formed and cellular. Tile gross pillais also,
in the capes and mountains, frequently abound
in these air-holes through all their parts, which
sometimes contain fine clay,' and other am-
Tently foreign bodies : and the irregular oas-
altes beginning where the pillars cease, or lying
over them, is in general extremely hoeey-
•ombed; contaitiing in its cells ciyftals trf*
zeolite, little morsels of fine brown clay, SDme-
times very pure steatite, and in a few insttmces,
bits of agate.'
In St^ one of the western isles of Scodaad,
the whole end of the island is supported by
ranges of pillars, mostly about fifty feet high»
standing in natural colonnades, according as Uic
bays and points of land have formed themselves,
upon a firm basis of solid unformed rock. Above
these, the stratum, which reaches to the soil or
surface of the island, varies in thidcness, as the
island itself is formed into hills or valleys, each
hill, which hangs over the valleys below, ibrow
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m^ an ample pediment. Some of these, above
sixty feet in thickness (torn the base to the point,
are farmed by the sloping of the hill ou each side,
almost into tne shape of those used in architec-
ture. Sir Joseph Banks observed that the bend-
ing pillars of Stafi^ differ considerably from those
of the Giant's Causeway. In Staffii they lie
down on their sides, each forming the segment
of a circle ; and in one place a small mass of
them ?ery much resembles the ribs of a ship.
Those of the Giant's Causeway, which he saw,
ran along tlie hce of a high cliff, bent strangely
in the middle, as if unable at their first form-
ation, while in a soft state, to support the mass
of incumbent earth.
Sir William Hamilton informs us, that in 1779
he picked up some fragments of laige and regu-
lar crystals of close-grained lava or basalt, in the
neighbourhood of Vesuvius, the diameter of
which, when the prisms were complete, might have
been eight or nine inches. He observes, that
Vesuvius does not exhibit any lavas regularly
crystallised, and forming what are ealled Giants'
Causeways, except a lava that ran into the sea,
near Torre del Greco, in 1631, which has a small
degree of such an appearance. As the fragments
of basaltes which be found on this mountain,
however, had been evidently thrown out of the
crater in their proper form, he puts the question,
'May not lavas be more ready to crystallise
vfithm the bowels of a volcano than after their
emission? And may not many of the Giants'
Causeways already discovered be the nuclei of
volcanie mountains, whose lighter and less solid
IKurts may have been worn away by the hand of
time ? Mr. Faujas de St. Fond gives an exam-
ple of basalt columns placed deep witliin the
crater of an unextinguished volcano.'
We suppose this writer to allude to the moun-
tain of Aisa, called La Coupe, or the Col d'Aisa,
situated near the village Entrague, in the Viva-
rais. This village, according ^o St. Fond, is
placed on a kind of platform of volcanic matter
above the torrent of the Volant, which has here
excavated a bed of great depth and width, boi^
dered on the right and left by grand ranges of
basaltic columns. In the midst of a prodigious
rampart of these columns, at different levels, may
be seen a current of lava descending from a
neighbouring mountain, and joining the columns
that bolder the river. Here we see, in the most
unequivocal and convincing manner, that the
lava, under the form of hard and compact basalt,
has flowed at several times from the mountain,
and has formed the great causeways at different
heights, to which the lava is still united and ad-
hering. We may follow the current of basalt up
the declivity of the mountain, which has a conical
form and a great elevation, and is entirely vol-
canic from the base to the summit. According
to St. Fond, it is the most remarkable and best
characterised crater in all the Vivarais.
All the base of the conical mountain I^ Coupe
is covered by porous and cellular lava in detached
irregular masses, heaped on each other, so as to
leave no doubt that tney have', been ejected in a
liquid state by one or more formidable eruptions,
and have taken their forms as they fell at the foot
of the cone. On reaching the summit or edge of
the crater, we may see the whole mountain, which
forms a regular cone resembling that of Vesuvius.
The edges of the crater are steep, and formed in
the shape of a tunnel ; the greatest diameter be-
ing from 140 to 150 toises, and the depth about
60k) feet. The lavas are colored, and converted
into a kind of puzzolani, and mixed with great
masses of black and sharp scoris,' which makes
the descent difficult. At the bottom of this in-
verted cone is a magnificent plantation of chest-
nut-trees, which have flourished astonishingly in
this ancient mouth of a volcano, having no other
soil than the dry and friable puzzolani. It may
be noticed, that the crater of Vesuvius was lined
with lofty trees at the period of its eruption in
1631. At the bottom of the crater, in La Coupe,
we may observe a breach or opening on the side
facing the houses of the Col a'Aisa; there is a
general inclination to this opening, which has
served to give a passage to the lava. When we
are arrived at the opening we may observe »
stream of lava coming from the interior, and
taking its cpurse down the mountain, it descends
in a waving direction amidst the porous lavas.
This current is a true black basalt, compact and
similar to that of the columns ; in certain parts
its surface appears blistered, and in other places
it becomes porous. Following the current of lava,
after it has crossed the path, which is at the foot
of the mountain, we may trace its course to the
bed of a torrent not far from the high road. There
may be seen, says St. Fond, a spectacle most
gratifying to the geologist ; for the lava whilst
still on the descent, and before it had reached the
level ground, has effected a prismatic form ; and
the lava at the bottom has formed a beautiful
colonnade.
There is a similar conical mountain in the Viva-
rais, with a distinct and much larger crater,
called La Coupe de Jaujeac. The river Vignon
flows at the foot of it. On its banks are immense
ranges of basaltic columns, the most elevated of
any in the Vivarais. They enclose the borders of
the river on each side for more than a league.
Some of the prisms rise in one shaft to the height
of fifty feet ; m other parts, the articulated columns
form a kind of regular causeway. In some places
the columns are bent, and abovewe see immense
ramparts of basalt, of more than 140 feet in
height, in several range^, spreading out like a
fan, and diverging in eveiy direction. On the
left, the current of basalt covers several little hills
of granite, and is moulded upon them. In some
parts the compact lava forms one solid mass ; in
other places it is arranged in great beds. Nothing
can be more grand and varied, says St. Fond,
than the courseof the river Vignon to the Ardeche,
where the great current' of lava joins the streams
that have flowed from the volcanoes of Thueyts
and Neyrac. — Faujas St, Fond sur ki VoUans
eteint% du Vivarait et du Velay,
Having noticed the principal localities ot
basalt, we may now observe that the structure or
form in which it appears, presents one of its most
striking peculiarities. This would .seem to be
essentially the same in the various and immense
stores of* it yet discovered; so that the accurate
description of one basaltic deposit might serve,
as far as any purposes of science are concerned,
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for that of any other. Mr. Hamilton, for instance,
the author of the Letters on Antrim, describes
the Giant's Causeway in language which might
at once be applied to the picturesque pillars of
Statfa; telling us that the pillars of the former,
varying in their length and thickness from 30
feet to 100, and from one foot to five respectively,
rise fVom the level of the beach, and ascend
^^daatly into the greatest elevations of the
neighbouring hills. These colonnades, we are
also informed, are generally perpendicular to the
horizon, and particularly at ike causeway itself;
but it is added that, in the vicinity, they are not
unfrequently observed lying in an oblique posi-
tion, and assuming a great variety of regular
curves. The same fiicts are recorded in reference
to the famed rocks of the Cyclops. The columns
there, as at Staffa and Antrim, are of various
sizes and forms, as we have indeed already
noticed ; some being four-sided, others hexagonal,
heptagonal, octagonal, and even nine-sided;
which last is the rarest form which basalt ever
assumes. Tlie position, too, is equally various ;
some standing erect, whilst others are laid on
their sides, piled above one another like sacks of
com in a granary. The jointed columns too are
of ever-varying lengths and joints ; some a few
inches, others many feet long, found occasionally
bent, but generally nicely fitted up, as by the
bands of a most skilful mechanic.
Kirwan is also of opinion, that the basaltes
owe their origin both to fire and water; they
seem to have been at first a lava, he observes ;
but this, while immersed in it water, was so dif-
fused or dissolved in it with the assistance of heat,
as to crystallise when cold, or coalesce into regu-
lar forms. That basaltes is not the effect of mere
fusion, he concludes from comparing its form
with its texture. Its form, if produced by fusion,
ought to be the effect of having flowed very thin ;
but in that case its texture should be glassy:
whereas it is merely earthy, and devoid of cavities.
Hence, we may understand how it comes to pass
that lava perfectly vitrified, and even water, have
been found enclosed in masses of basaltes.
It is known, in confirmation of this reasoning,
that when lava runs into the sea, it does in most
cases actually assume •the basaltic structure
more or less perfectly : and, it is worthy of par-
ticular observation, that all the columnar trap
which has attracted any attention on account of
its regularity or beauty, is cither altogether insu-
lar or situated near the ocean.
As to its formation and analysis :— 'Ten years
ago,' says Mr. Bergman,* it was a general opi-
nion, that the surface of the earth, together with
the mountains, had been produced by moisture.
ft is true that some declared fire to be the original
cause, but the greater number paid little atten-
tion to this opinion. Now, on the contrary, the
opinion that subterraneous fire had been the
principal agent gains ground daily ; and every
thing IS supposed to have been melted, even to
the granite. My own opinion is, that both the
fire and water nave contributed their share in
this operation ; though in such proportion that
the force of the former extends much farther than
the latter ; and, on the contrary, that the fire has
only worked in some parts of the surface of tfie
ALT.
earth. It cannot be doubted that there has been
some connexion betwixt the liasaltic pillars and
subterraneous fire ; as they are found in places
where the marks of fire are yet visible ; and as they
are even found mixed with lava, tophus, and other
substances produced by fire. As hi as we know,
nature makes use of three methods to produce
regular forms in the mineral kingdom. 1. That
of crystallisation or precipitation. 2. The cftist-
ing or settling of the external sur6ce of a liquid
mass while it is cooling : and 3. The bursting of
a moist substance while it is drying. 1 . The Itft
method is the most common ; but to all appear-
ance, nature has not made use.of it in the present
case. Crystals are seldom or never found in any
quantity running in the same direction ; but either
inclining from one another, or, what is still mortr
common, placed towards dne another in sloping
directions. They arc also generally separated a
little firom one another when they are regular.
The nature of the thing Teqtiires this, because the
several particles of which the crystals are com-
posed must have the liberty of obeying chat
Cer which afibcts their donstitution. The
Itic columns on the contralry, whose height
infrequently from tliirtyto forty feet, are placed
parallel to one another in considerable numbers,
and so close'Vogether that' the point of a knife
can hardly be introduced between them. Be-
sides, in most places, each pillar Is divided into
several parts or joints, which Seem to be placed
on one another. And indeed it is not vncom-
mon for crystals to be formed one'above another
in different layers, while the s6lvetit has been
visibly diminished at different times : but then the
upper crystals never sit so ' exactly upon one
another as to prodnce connected {irisms of the
same length or depth in all the strata taken t>
gether; but each stratum, separately taken, pro-
duces its own crystals. Precipitation, botn in
tlie wet and dry way, requires that the particles
should be free' enough to arrange themselves in a
certain order ; and as this is not practicable in a
large melted ma^, no crystallisations appear, ex-
cepting on its surface or in its cavities.
Bergman found that the component parts of
various specimens of Basaltes were, at a medium
52 parts silex, 15 alumina, 8 cartxmate of lime,
and 25 iron.
Several modem mineralogiste have analysed
basalt, and other trap rocks, to discover their
affinity with one another, and to the lava of rfA
canos, of whiththey ai* all conceived to be
only varieties. Indeed the fiicts we have already
given of the basaltic formations in France, «em
to put the question at rest The following results
obtained by Dr. Kennedy, are extracted from
the Edinburgh Philosophical Transactions.
The basalt firom Staffa contains in 100 parts
Silex 48
Argil 16
Oxide of iron .... 16
Lime 9
Soda ...... 4
Muriatic acid ... 1
Lews 6
100
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603
The la?a of Cataaea, Mount iEtua, contains
in 100 parts,
Silex 51
Argil 19
Oxide of iron .... 14*5
Lime 9*5
Soda 4
Muriatic acid . . . • . 1
Loss 1
100
The greenstone of Salisbury craig, contains in
100 parts,
Silex 46
Argil 19
Oxide of iron .... 17
Dme 8
Soda 3-5
Muriatic acid .... 1
Loss 5*5
100
The lava of Santa Venese, Mount iEtna, con-
tains in 100 parts,
Silex 50-75
Argil . . .
Oxide of iron .
Lime . . .
Soda . . .
Muriatic acid .
Loss . . .
17-5
14-25
10
4
1
2-95
100
The greenstone of Calton hill, at Edinburgh,
contains in 100 parts,
Silex ...... 50
Argil 18-50
Oxide of iron .... 16-75
Lime ...... 3
Soda 4
Muriatic acid .... 1
Loss 6-75
in basalt or wacke. Color Telvet-black. Lustre
vitreous. Scratches glass. Sp. gr. 3*25. Fuses
with difficulty into a black glass. It consists of 47
silica, 26 alumina, 8 lime, 2 ms^nesia, 15 iron,
and 0-5 water. It is found in the basalt of
Arthur's Seat, in that of Fifeshire, and in the
isles of Mull, Canna, Eigg, and Sky. It is found
also in the basaltic and floetz trap rocks of Eng-
land, Irebmd, Saxony, Bavaria, Hungary, France,
and Spain.
BASAN. See Bashait.
BASANITE, in mineralogy, is a variety of
silicious slate, commonly known under the name
of touchstone, and has been used both in ancient
and modern times, to determine the purity of
|[old and silver by Uie color of the streak which
those metals leave when rubbed on it. The per-
manency or otherwise of the streak, under the
application of nitric acid, is a further test of the
purity of gold. Other stones have been occasion-
ally applied to this purpose. See Assay.
BASANWOW, in the Celtic mythology, was
the son of Diodes, the king of the Sicambrians.
He disappeared suddenly, after having reigned
thirty-six years, was supposed to have ascended
to heaven, and was honored by the Germans as
the god of armies.
BASARTSCHIK, a considerable town of
European Turkey, in Romania. It is well built,
and has clean and broad streets. It b situated
on the river Maritz.
BASARUCO, in commerce, a small base coin
in the East Indies, made of very bad tin. Of this
coin there arc two sorts ; the base sort is one-
sixth lower in value than the good. Three
basarucos are equal to two reee of Portugal.
BAS-BRETON, the language of the natives
of Bretagne, or Brittany.
BASCANIA, in antiquity, ridiculous or gro-
tesque figures, hungup by the ancient smiths be-
fore their furnaces, as charms against envy.
BAS-CHEVALIER. See Bachelor.
100
The amorphous basaltes, known by (he name of
Rowley Rag, the ferrilite of Kirwan, of the speci-
fic gravity of 2*748, afforded Dr. Withering 47-5
of silex, 32*5 of alumina, aiid 20 of iron, at a
very low degree of oxidation. Klaproth gives,
for the analysis of the prismatic basaltes of Ha-
senberg, silex 44-5, alumina 16-75, oxide of iron
20, lime 9*5, magnesia 2-25, oxide of manganese
0-12, soda 2-60, v^ter 2. On a subsequent
analysis, with a view to detect the existence qf
muriatic acid, he found slight indications .of
it, but it was in an extremely minute piopor-
tion.
On the whole, the affinity between lava and
trap rock formations seems established, but for
further information we would refer the reader to
the interesting work of Dr. M'CuUoch, on the
western isles; Dr. Bout's Essai Geologique sur
r Ecosse, Necker de Saussure ; and the Geologi-
cal Essays of Messrs. Buckland, Conybeare, and
Daoting. ■
BASALTIC HoRNEBLENDB, ocGurs usually
in opaque six-eided single crystals, which some-
times act on the magnetic needle. It is imbedd^
BASE, V. It. & aegr
Baseless,
Ba'sely,
Ba'seness,
Bassborn,
Bas£>String
Derived from Baoic,
that upon which we tread,
stand, or go, from Bacvw,
^Boivctv, to go. Thus it
meaas with regard to
locality, any thing low ;
the lower part of a pedestal, and the foundation
on which it rests ; any thing spurious or mixed.
It is metaphorically applied to sounds ; to dis-
positions of the mind; to actions; to general
character. Thus it signifies whatever is lowered,
degraded, disgraced, shameful, vile, mean, and
worthless. It is, however, a stronger term of
reproach than those employed to express its
meaning : mean and vile, especially, convey a
very inadequate sense of it. Bate mariis a nigh
degree of moral turpitude; vile and mean de-
note, in different degrees, the want of all value
or esteem ; what is base excites our abhorrence ;
what is vile provokes disgust; what is mean
awakens contempt. A base voice or sound,, is a
low deep voice or sound.
Mete the space from thy foot* to the horn of the toore.
(^meer, Attroiabie.
And I will yet be nunc vile tbiiii thii, and will be
h^t^ in nine own stghL 2 Sam,
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604
BASE.
. Upon this hoMt a c^iriout work is raU'd,
Like undivided brick, entire and one ;
Though soft, yet lasting, with just balance pois*d ;
Distributed with due proportion.
P. Fktcher. Purple Island.
Instead of music, and ba$c flattering tongues.
Which wait to first salute my lord's uprise ',
The cheerful lark wakes him with early song.
And birds' sweet whistlii^ notes unlock his eyes. Id,
By him Andicou pac'd of middle age.
His mind as far from rashness, as from fears ;
Hating bate thoughts, as mnch as despesate rage*
' The world's loud thunderiags he unshaken hears,
VtT will he death or life, or seek or fly ;
Ready for both — He is as cowardly
Who longer fears to live, as he who fears to die. Id.
What if it tempt thee tow'rd the flood, my lord ?
Or to the dreadfiil summit of the cli£f.
That beetles o'er his &Me into the sea? Shakgpean,
If that rebellion
Came, like itself, in baee and abject routs.
You, reverend &ther, and these noble lords.
Had not been here. Id.
It could not else be, I should prove so ha$e
To sue and be denied such common grace. Id,
Why, butardt wherefore baeef
When my dimensions an as well compact
As honest madam's issue. Id,
The king is not himself, but 6aMfy led
By flatterers. Id,
Why brand they us
With bate? with batenem? bastardy? Id.
I have sounded the very boss-string of mortality.
Id, Henry IVth.
Men of weak abilities in great place,' arc like little
statues set on great baeef, made the less by their ad-
vancement. Bacon.
Insurrections of base people are commonly more fu-
rious in their beginnings. Id,
In pipes, the lower the note holes be, and the fur-
ther from the month of the pipe, the more boat sound
they yield. Id,
The just and measured proportion of the air per-
cussed towards the baseneu or trebleneas of tones, is
one of the greatest secrets in tho contemplation of
sounds. Id,
This young lord lost his life with his father in the
field, and with them a baee son. Camdm'e Rem,
A lieutenant baadjf gave it up, as soon as Essex in
his passage demanded it. Clarendon,
If fortune hath envyed me wealth, thieves have
robbed me, my father have not left mc such revenues
as others have, that I am a younger brother baadjf
bom, of mean parentage, a dirt-dauber's son, am I
therefore to be blamed ? an eagle, a bull, a lion, is
not rejected for his poverty, and why should a man ?
'Tis fortune's fault ; not mine. Anai, Mekmcholy,
Swinish gluttony
Ne'er looks to heaven amidst his gorgeous feast.
But with besotted bate ingratitude
Crams and blasphemes his feeder. MUton*t Coimu,
Phalasttts was all in white, having his ftosef and
caparison embroided. Sidn^.
Since the perfections are such in the party I love,
as the feeling of them cannot come onto any onnoble
heart ; shall that heart, lifted np to such a height, be
counted base. Id,
We hold, that seeing there is not any man of the
Church of Bngland but the same man is also a mem-
bet of the commonwealth, nor any member of the
commonwealth which is not also of the Church cf
England ; therefore, as in a figure triangle, the bate
doth differ from the sides thereof, and yet one and
tiic self •same line is both a bate and also a side ; a
Id,
tide simply ; a bate if it chance to be tho bottom aad
underlie the rest : so, albeit, properties and adioos of
one do cause the name of a commonwealth, qoaUdes
and functions of another sort, the name ol the church
to be given to a multitude, yet one and the lelf-ssme
multitude may in such sort be both.
Hooker. Bedet. PeL
Which when the cruel Amaoon peroeiv'd
She 'gan to storme, and rage, and rend her gall
For very fell despight, which she conceiv'd
To be so sconied of a bace-b<Mrn thrall.
Whose life did lie in her least eye-lids' fall.
Such is the power of that sweet paasion.
That it all sordid batenett doth expel.
The silver-sounding instruments did meet
With the bate murmur of the water's hil ;
The water's fall, with difference discieet.
Now soft, now loud, unto the wind did call ;
The gentlo warbling wind low answered to all.
If the lords and chief men degenerate, what shall
be hoped of the peasants and bater people.
Id. On IreUed,
Oh ! she is the pride and glory of the world ;
Without her all the rest is worthless drossy
Life a &o«8 slavery ; empire but a mock y.
And love, the soul of all, a bitter curse.
Roehetter't Valetdimmn.
Nor shall it e'er be said that wight.
With gauntlet blue and batet white.
And round blunt truncheon by his side.
So great a man at arms defy'd. HwdibroB.
He, whose mind
Is virtuous, » alone of noble kind ^
Though poor in fortune, of celestial race ;
And he commits the crime who calls him hate.
Dryden.
At thy well-sharpen'd thumb, from shore to Khorp,
The trebles squeak for fear, the batet roar. Id.
Your soul's above the batenett of distrost.
Nothing but love could make you so oj^tist. Id,
We alleged the fraudulent obtaining his rateas,
the batenett of his metal, and the prodigioos som t»
hf coined. &pi/>.
When a man's folly must be spread open before the
angels, and all his batenett ript up before those pare
spirits, this will be a doable hell. SoiOk
It is bate in his adversaries thus to dwell upon th ^
excesses of a passion. A tterhurit .
At the first grin he cast every human featurf> out
of his countenance ^ at the second he became the head
of a 6as8-viol. AdditM.
A guinea is pure gold, if it has nothing but gold la
it, without any alloy or bater metal. Wattt,
But see thy &a«e«bom chUd, thy babe of shame.
Who, left by thee, upon our parish came. Gog.
Those wise old men, those plodding grave ataxe
pedants.
Forget the course of youth ; their crooked Prudence,
To batenett verging still, forgets to take
Into their finespun schemes the generwis heart.
That through the cobweb system bursting lays
Their labours waste.
rAomsoa's Tattondamd %faiiirfrr
When men of rank sacrifice all ideas of dignity to
ambition without a distinct otgect, aad woik wiih
low instruments for low ends, the whole cumpnettiap
becomes low and bate, Bm^
Oh, ye seven hills ! awaken,
Ero your very bate be shaken. Bj/roL.
Base. A game or play; to keep nonr^
about one spot of ground.
The first day of the challenge at baee, or rsansng,
the king won. Bmmei*t Mitt. e/Bef^^^
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B A S li.
605
Base, in arcliitectxiie, is used for any body
which bean another, but particularly for the
lower part of a column and pedestal. The
ancients, in the early times of arcnitecture, used
no bases. The doric columns in the temple of
Minerva at Athens have none, biit stand immedi-
ately upon the floor of the porch. Columns
afterwanis came to be supported on square pieces
called plinths, and after that on pedestals. The
base of a column, of whatsoever order, on a pe-
destal, is that part which coraes between the top
of the pedestal and the bottom of the shaft of the
column ; when there is no pedestal, it is the pant
between the bottom of the column and the plinth :
some have included the plinth as a part of the
base, but it is properly the piece on which the
base stands, as toe column stands upon that.
The pedestal also has its base as well as the co-
lumn, and the pilaster. The base of columns is
differently formed in the different orders ; but in
general it is composed of certain spires or circles,
and was thence in early times called the spire of
a column. These circles were in this case sup-
posed to represent the folds of a snake as it lies
rolled up ; but they are properly the represen-
tations of several larger and smaller rings or circles
of iron, with which the trunks of trees, which
were the ancient columns, were surrounded to
prevent their bursting; these were rude and irre-
gular, but the sculptor who imitated them in stone
found the way to make them elegant. The base
is different in the different orders : thus,
Base, Composite, has an astragal less than
the Corinthian.
Base» Corinth I AKy has- two toru8es,two sco-
tias and a fillet.
Base, Doric, has an astragal more than the
Tuscan, though that was introduced by the mo-
dems.
Base, Ionic, has a lage torus over two slender
scotias, separated by two astragals: though in
iI>o most ancient monuments of this order there
are no bases at all; which the architects are at a
loss to account for.
Base, Tuscan, is the most simple of all others ;
coiisisting of a single torus besides the plinth.
Base, in chemistry. See Basis.
Base, in fortification, the exterior side of the
polygon, or that imaginary line which is drawn
trom the flanked angle of a bastion to the angle
opposite to it.
Base, in geometry, the lowest side of tlie
perimeter of a figure.
Base op a Conic Section, a right line in the
hyperbola and parabola, arising from the com-
mon intersection of the secant plane and the base
of the cone.
Base op a Rectangled Triangle, the side
opposite the right angle, i. e. the hypothenuse.
i)ASE OF A Solid Figure, the lowest side, or
tliat on which it stands.
Base of a Triangle, any side thereof is occa-
sionally so called; though properly it is the
lowest side, or that -which lies parallel to the
horizon.
Base, in gunnery, the least sort of ordnance,'
the diameter of whose bore is 1} inch, weight
200 pounds, length 4 feet, load 5 pounds, shot
1^ pound weight, and diameter | inch.
Base Court, in law, sometimes signifies any
court not of record. — Such, is the Court-baron.
Base Estates are such as base tenants have
in their lands.
Base Fee, a tenure in fee at the' will of the
lord, as distinguished from soccage, or free
tenure; but, according to Lord Coke, a base
fee is what may be defeated by limitation, or on
entry, &c.
Base Tenure (bassa tenura), holding by viU
lenage, or other, customary service; as distin-
guished from the higher tenures in capite, or by
military service.
Base, in music, see Bass.
Base, in trigonometry. See Altern Base.
Base Knights, the inferior order of knights,
as distinguished from barons and bannerets, who
were the chief or superior knights.
BASELLA, climbing nightshade, from Malabar.
A genius of the trigynia order, belonging to the
pentandria class of plants ; and in the natural
method ranking under the twelfth order,
holoracesp. The calyx is wanting; the corolla
is seven-cleft, with the two opposite divisions
broader and at last berried, there is one seed.
1. B. alb», with oval, waved, flaccid leaves, and
small flowers and fruit. These plants will climb
to a considerable height, and send forth a great
number of branches ; so they should be trained up to
a tiellis; or fastened to the back of the stove ;
otherwise they will twist themselves about what-
ever plants stand near diem, which will make a
very disagreeable appearance. 2. B. rubra,
with red leaves and simple footstalks, has thick,
strong, succulent stalks, and leaves which are of
a deep purple color. — ^This plant will climb to
the heignt of ten or twelve teet, provided it is
kept in a stove ; but in the open air it will not
grow so large in this country ; nor will the seed
come to perfection unless in very warm seasons.
The flowers of this plant have no great beauty,
but it is cultivated on account of the odd appear-
ance of its stalks and leaves, and the flowers of
a whitish green color tipped with purple.
BASELLI or Basels, in our old historians,
a species of coin abolished by King Henry II.
A. D. 1158.
BASEMENTS, in architecture. See Archi-
tecture, Index.
BASE Ring of a cannon, is the great ring next
behind the touch-hole.
Base Rocket, in botany. See Reseda.
BAS-EN-BASSET, or Basset, a market town
in the department of tiie Upper Loire, France,
arrondissement of Issengeaux. It is the head of
a canton and has 5000 inhabitants. Here are
manufectures of blond lace, tobacco-pipes, and
earthenware. It is three miles north-west of
Monbtrol, and twenty north-east of Le Puy.
BA'SENET, Fr. bastinet ; Old Eng. bamyt ;
a little bowl, a small basin; a part of military
equipage, a kind of helmet or head-piece, worn
originally by the French men at arms.
Notwithstanding at the last the king made him put
on hit ba$met, and then took a sard with both hi«
haada, and atrangly with a good will ttrake him on
the necke) and the same day hoe made three other
dtiaens knights for his sake in the tame place.
Stow, Ann. 1381. R. 3
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BAS
606
BAS
' . ' Therefon he would her do« away all dz«a<l ;
And that of him shee mota aaaur'd atand.
He tent to her his ba$engt, as a laithful band.
Spemer, Faerie Queene.
BASH, «. n. ^ See To Abash. This
Bash'j
Bash'
Bash']
Bash'fulness,
imafl^nes them derived from base or mean ; Min-
sheu from verbaeten, Dut., to strike with asto-
nishment ; Junius from ^9ic, which he finds in
liesychius to signify shame. The conjecture of
Minsheu seems most probable. It is sometimes
used as synonymous with modest and modesty ;
but not with a nice regard to accuracy. Modest
signifies setting measure to ones estimate of one-
self; but hashjul,^ lady to be abashed. Modesty
is a habit or principle of the mind ; bashftdneu
is a state of feeling. Modesty is at all times be-
coming ; hashfulnets is only becoming in females,
or very youns persons, in the presence of their
superiors. Modesty discoTers itself in the ab-
sence of every thing assuming, whether in look,
word, or action ; bathfidness betrays itself by a
downcast look, and a timid air. A modest de-
portment is always commendable; a bashful
temper is not desirable.^- Cra&6.
Are you not ashamed, htuh you not to broach and
set abroad, in the view and face of the world, such
mockeries of religion ? HoUtmd*M LMm, fol. 320.
It might be either for the lacke of leamyng and
good bryngyng up ^(a great and common fault in
great princes of Germany), or els for his bashful na-
ture in youth, which propertie Xenophon wittely
faynged to be in Cyrus at lyke yeares, judging baMh-
jQneu in youth, to be a great token of virtue in age.
Aicham. Report and Di$coune,
He looked with an almost bathful kind of modesty;
aa if he feared the eyes of man. Sidney,
They baJu not to deftie tiie wivBs of other men.
Bale OH the ReaelaiumM,
Ah ! tee the virgin rose, how sweetly shee
Both first peep forth with ba$hfid modestee.
That fairer seemes the lesse ye see her may !
Lo ! see soone after, how more bold and free.
Her bared bosom she doth broad display !
Lo ! see soone after, how she fades and falls away.
Spefuer.
His countenance was bold, ahd hashed not
For Ouyon's looks, but scornful eye glance at him
shot. Id,
I never tempted her with word too large ;
But, as a brother to a sister, show'd
Bash/yl sincerity with comely love. Shakapeofe.
Hence bashjwd cunning ?
And prompt me plain and holy innocence. Id,
Another, through hashJvJness, suspicion, and timo-
rousness, will not be seen abroad, loves darkness as
life, and cannot endure the light, or to sit in light-
some placeti ; his hat still in his eyes, he will neiiher
see, nor he seen by his good will. Anat, MeL
Her golden hair, her silver forehead high.
Her teeth of solid; eyes of liquid pearl ;
But neck and breast no man might bare descry.
So sweetly modest was this bashful girl.
Fiete/ier's PurpU Island,
There are others, who have not altogether so much
of this foolish bashfuUiess, and who Mk every one's
opinion. J}fyda$.
Our author anxious for his hone to-night.
And hash/id in his first attempt to write.
Lies eautioosly obscure. Addison,
Mere bashfidnem without merit is awkwardness. U.
Boubtleas there are men of great parts thtt »n
guilty of downright bashfulness, that by a stiange he-
sitation and reluctance to speak, murder the finest
and most elegant thoughts, and render the most lively
conceptions flat and heavy. Toiler, No. 252.
Our orators, with the most fanlty beskftdnm, sem
impressed rather with an awe of ^eir aodieoee tkaa
with a just respect for the truths they are about to
deliver ; they, of all professions, seem the most hadh
ftd who have the greatest right to glory in their com-
mission. Goldsmith, BsseglU.
So bright the tear in Beauty's eye,
liove half regrets to kiss it dry.
So sweet the blush of bashfulness^
Even pity scarce can wish it less. Bfroo.
BASHAN, or Basan, a kingdom beyond Jor-
dan, mentioned in Scripture. By Josephus,
Eusebius, tod Jerome, it is called Batanc. \VheD
the Israelites entered the land of Canaan, the
whole country beyond Jordan, from that of the
Moabites or Arabia, as far as mount Uermoo
and Lebanon, was divided into two kingdoms,
viz. those of the Amorites, and the Bashaaites :
the former to the south, and the latter to the north.
Tlie kingdom of the Amorites extended fiom the
river Amon and the country of Moab, to tlie
river Jabbok ; which, running obliquely from the
east, was at the same time the boundaiy of the
Ammonites, as appears from Numb. xxi. 24. and
Deut. ii. 37. and lii. 16. It fell to the lot of the
Reubenites and Gadites, and Bashan, to the half
tribe of Manasseh. To this was annexed a part
of the hilly country of Gilead, and the district
of Argob ; yet so that Bashan oontinued to be
the principal and greatest part : but af^r the
Babylonish captivity Bashan was subdivided, so
that only a part was .called Batanea or Basan,
another Trachonitis, a third Aurunitis or Ituna,
and some part Gaulonitis ; but to settle the limits
of each of these parts is now impossible. Bashan
was a country ^Eimous for its pastures, and bneJ
of large cattle.
Bashan, a mountain in the above kingdom,
which seems to have retained its original oame
long after the Israelites were in possesion of
that country ; at least is often mentioned with a
reference to its original inhabitants, who were
idolaters and enemies to Israel. In this respect
bringing back from Bashan, signifies the deliTe^
ance from bondage, even death. Bashan is re£e^
red to in another view : the country is exceedingly
fruitful, and is therefore used to represent a
flourishing state.
BASIIANITES, the people of Bashan.
BASHAR £bn Motamer, a principal man
among the Motazalites, who varied in some points
from the general tenets of the sect, extending
man's free agency to a great length, even to the
mak ing him independent He asserted, that Cod
is not always obliged to 'do that which is best,
for that, if he pleased, be could make all men
true believers. Accordingly he taught that God
might doom an in&ntto eternal punishment; bat
taught at the same time, that he would be oniusi
in so doing I
BASIIARIANS, a sect of Mahommedans, a
subdivision of the Motazalites, who maintain the
tenets of Bashar £bn Motamer. See last artide.
Bashaw, Pascua, or Pacha, a Turkish ro-
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BASHKIRS.
607
vernor of a province, city, or other district. All
Kcypt is, on the part of the grand seignior, go-
verned by a bashaw, who has in reality but little
power; but seems principally to be meant for
communicating to his diiran of beys, and to the
divans of the several military ogiacs, the orders
of the grand seignior^ and to see that they be
4)xecuted by the proper officers. When a bashaw
farms a country of the grand seignior, the fines
that are paid, when any life drops upon the
lands, belong to him. Originally all the lands of
Egypt belonged to the grand seignior; and he
still looks on them as his own : but his power
being now lost, they all go to the next heir ; who
must, however, be invested by the bashaw, and
ne is therefore glad to compound for a small sum^
The nature of the bashaw s office requirns him
to be ever attempting means to cut off such as
are too aspiring, or engaged in designs that may
be any way prejudicial to the Porte. This often
occasions his own deposition ; but he is uncon-
cerned about that, as his person is always sacred ;
and his losing his post is only a step to higher
preferment Bashaws include beglerbegs, and
Honietimes sangiachegs; though a distinction is
sometimes made, and the name bashaw is appro-
priated to the middle sort or such as have two
I ensigns or horse>tails carried before them. Those
who have the honor of three tails, are called
^ beglerbegs ; and those who have only one, san-
giachegs. The appellation of bashaw is also
I given by way of courtesy, at Constantinople, to
3ie lords about the grand seignior's court, the
oflScers in the army, and almost every person of
any figure. A bashaw is made with the solem-
, nity of carrying a flag or banner before him,
accompanied with music and songs by the Miria-
^ lem, an officer whose business it is to invest the
bashaws. Bashaw, used absolutely, denotes the
Eriroe vizier; the others of that denomination
eing distinguished by the addition of the pro-
vince, city, or the like, which they have the
command of; as the bashaw of Egypt, of Pales-
tine, .&c. The bashaws are the emperor's
sponges. We find loud complaints among the
Christians who reside in Turkey, of their avarice
and extortions. As they buy their eovernmenU,
every tiling is venal with them. When glutted
with wealth, the emperor frequently makes them
a present of a bow-string, and becomes heir to
all their spoil. There are also sub-bashaws, or
<leputy-govemoni under the bashaws.
Bashaw, Captain, is the title of the Turkish
high admiral.
BASHEE Islands, five islands in the Chinese
sea, and two islets, almost wholly rock, visited
by Daropier in 1687, and so named from an
agreeable intoxicating liquor found here, made
from the sugar-cane. The principal one is
Orange Island, being about twenty-two miles
long, and six broad. The other are Monmouth,
Grafton, Goats, and Bashee Proper. The soil is
very fertile in the productions of these seas : in
1783 the Spaniards formed a settlement on the
Bashee islands, in order to procure the gold
which is said to be washed down by the torrents.
The natives iabricate it into wire for ornaments.
BASHEMATH, the daughter of Ishmael, one
of Esau's wives . It appears to have been also a
name of Adah, his first wife. See Gen. xxvi. 84.
And XXX vi. 2.
BASEDOW (John Beraaid), a celebrated
writer, bom at Hamburgh, in 1 723. After study-
ing under Reimarus, he went to Leipsic ; and in
1753 was chosen professor of moral philosophy
and the belles lettres at Soroe, in Denmark.
But having divulged some opinions in religion
difiering widely from Lutheranisro, he was re-
moved from this situation; upon which he
formed a plan of reformed education, and raised
considerable sftras of money for perfecting it
His plan, however, after a partial trial, proved
unsuccessfiil ; and he died through intemperance
and dissipation in 1700. His writings, though
fiiil of dogmatical assertions and fanciftil opinions,
show him to have been an ingenious man.
BASHILO, a river of Abyssinia, which sepa-
rates Begamder firom Amham, and falls into tlie
Bahr-^-Azergue, thirty miles south-east of Alata.
BASHKIRS, or Baschkirs, a people of the
Russian empire. They call themselves Bash-
kourt; and derive their origin partly from the
Nogay-Tartars, and partly horn the Bolgarians.
Probably they are Nogays, whom the Bolgares
adopted among them : their country at least is a
part of the ancient Bolgaria. They formerly
roamed about the southern Siberia under the
conduct of their own princes : but to avoid the
molestations of the Siberian khans, settled in
their present possessions, about the rivers Volga
and Ural, and were subject to the Kazanian
khanate. On the overthrow of that state by czar
Ivan II. they voluntarily took refuge under the
Russian sceptre : they afterwards, however, fre-
ouently revolted against the government, whereby
their prosperity as well as Sieir population has
been considerably diminished. In the year 1770
they consisted of 27,000 ^onilies, having their
homes in the governments of Usa and Perme.
The Bashkiis have been long without khans ;
and all their nobility have been gradually de-
stroyed in the civil wars. At present every tribe
or wolost chooses for itself one or more ancients,
or starschinis; and the whole nation composes
thiity-four wolosts. The huts or houses, which
they inhabit during winter, are built after the
Russian fashion ; &e principal part, which the
family commonly possesses, is furnished with
large benches, which serve for beds ; the chim-
ney, of a conical form, and of the height of an
ordinary man, is in the middle of this division,
and so ill constructed, that they are very liable
to smoke : on this account the Bashkirs are very
subject to various complaints of the eyes. In
summer this people inhabit what the Russians
call jurtes ; they are tents or covers of felt, which,
like the huts, have several divisions and a chim-
ney in the centre. A winter village contains
from ten to fifty huts ; but the summer encamp-
ment never exceeds twenty jurtes. These, jurtes
are a kind of barracks.
The bashkirs have some knowledge of the art
of writing, and have schools ; but as it is from
their own nation that they elect their priests and
the instructon of youth, they remain m the pro-
foundest ignorance. With some knowledge of
tillage, they retain a liking to the pastoral life ;
which spoils them for agriculture. They sow
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BASHKIRS.
r>ut tittle grain ; consequently their hanrests af-
ford them^ only few resources for the winter,
being far from sufficient for their whole con-
sumption. They apply with greater success to
the cultivation of bees ; making hollows in the
trees to serre the purposes of hives : which, to
secure from the attacks of the bears, they have
invented a variety of ingenious contrivances, both
as weapons and traps. One man, in frequent
instances, is known to possess at least 500 hives.
They have the art of nnding out the mountains
that contain mines ; but, like the Tartars, they
would thiok themselves disgraced by working
them themselves. It must be owned, however,
that they have not the strength of body which
that labor requires. Their practice is to Let them
out for a term of sixty years to Russian con-
tractors ; assigning to mem at the same time a
tract of forest necessary for the forges. The
poorest of them serve for wages in transporting
the ore.
The women understand the art of weaving,
fulling, and dyeing narrow coarse cloths ; they
likewise make the clothes for the whole fomily.
They make ,a small quantity of linen of hemp ;
tmt they prefer weaving the filaments of tue
common nettle, as that plant requires no 'culture,
and the linen they make of it is extremely coarse.
They have not the unwholesome practice of
steeping their hemp or their nettles in water, but
leave them to dry in the air on the top of their
huts during the autumn and winter; tnen strip-
ping off the bark, they poimd them in wooden
mortars. The men follow the more difficult
business of making felt, and of tanning leather.
Both sexes wear shirts of tlie cloth made of net-
tles; they also wear wide drawers, which de-
scend to the ankle-bone, and a sort of slippers,
like people in the East. Both men and women
wear a lonz gown, that of the men being gene-
rally of red cloth bordered with iiir ; this thev
bind round their middle with a girdle, or with
the belt to which thejr fix their scimitar. The
]>oor have a winter pelisse of sheep-skin, and the
rich wear a horse-skin in such a manner that the
mane covers their back and waves in the wind.
• The cap is of cloth like the frustum of a cone,
and ten inches high; and that of the rich is
usually ornamented with valuable fiirs. The
gown of the wives is made of fine cloth or silk,
buttoned before as high as the neck, and fastened
by a broad girdle, which the richer classes have
made of steel. Their necks and throats are
covered with a sort of shawl, on which are s(»veral
rows of coins, or a string of shells.
The principal wealth of this people consists in
their flocks ; it is especially from their horses that
they derive the necessaries of life ; meat, milk,
vessels, garments. They have nearly as many
and even rather more sheep than horses; and
their homed cattle are about half as numerous ;
they likewise bring up some goats, and only the
rich have camels. A man of the ordinary class
has seldom fewer than between thirty and fifty
horses, manypossess 500, and some 1000, 2000,
and more. Their sheep are of* the broad-tailed
species ; they esteem tne others for the fineness
of their wool.
The most opulent of the Bashkirs are those
who dwell to the east of the Ural, and in the
province of Isset. Some of them are owners of
not less than . 4000 horses, who fatten in the
richest pastures: the wasps and gnats oblige
them in the month of June to quit these fine
meadows, and retreat to the mountains; the
horses then lose their flesh and pine away, bat
regain their pristine vigor on coming down
again to the plains in the month of July.
Though the Bashkirs experience a long and
very severe winter, yet they abandon their flocks
and droves to the inclemencies of the season.
They, have neither granaries nor bams ; they only
lay up a little hay, which they range in cocb
round the trees, reserving it for the distempered
cattle. Those that are healthy pick up a little
grass or moss from beneath the snow, and are
often reduced to the necessity of feeding on die
bark of the young elms. No fiuther attention is
paid to the camels than to wrep them in some
wretched coverings of felt, which they sew about
their body. The cattle towards the end of the
winter are become lean, weak, and emaciated.
Though the females are never kept apart from
the males, they rarely bring forth out of season ;
because the exhausted state of the flocks and
herds, during the winter, is un&vonible to genera-
tion. Neither the Bashkirs nor the Ralmucs
suffer the colts and the calves to suck their dams
except during the night, their practice being to
milk them in the day-time for their own adnn-
tage ; kumiss, prepared from mare*s milk, being
their favorite liquor. (See Kumiss.) They are
also fond of a mixture of sour milk and mead.
called arjan. In the spring they drink the sap of
the birch, which they collect by means of deep
incisions in the trees.
Their arms are the bow, the lance, the hehnet,
and coat of mail ; from the Russians they obtain
sabres, mosquets, and pistols. A Ba^ddiian
army presents a truly curious spectacle; ob-
serving no order in mairching, they only form into
ranks when they halt. Every one leads a hone
in his hand, which carries all his provisions . the
load, however, is not heavy ; consisting only of
cheese, some com dried in the kiln, and a hand-
mill to grind it to meal. With the meal they
form a ball which they swallow, and which serro
them for bread. Each warrior, dressed in his
long gown, equips himself as he dnxnes or as he
can. One has procured for himsdf the vaiioca
kinds of i^rms, and carries a whole arsenal with
him ; the other scarcely possesses more than one
ill-conditioned weapon. Such troo« as these
rendered the armies of the ancient Persians at
once so numerous and so little formidable.
They are all well mounted, are skilfol in draw-
ing the bow, and dexterously manage their horses.
A small number of Bashkirs are easily victorioos
over a numerous squadron of JLirgfanes; some-
times one of their regiments will traverse a whole
horde of Kirghises, put to flight by their veiy
looks all the enemies they meet, and retoro tri*
umphant without having sustained the slightest
loss. The military service which they are boond
to perform, and the only point in wkidi fliey are
galled by the Russian yoke, consists in famish-
ing, in time of war, 3000 cavalry, which form
thirty troops of 100 men each. The Basiikinans
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are the mott negligent and slorenly of the Tar-
tan. In commerce they are the least intelligent;
but, at the same time, they are th^ most hospi-
table, the most lively, and the most brave.
Their diversions at any religious festival, or at a
marriage, consist in numerous libations of sour
milk, singing, dancing, wiestling, and horse-
racing, in which they excel. In their songs they
enumerate the achievements of their ancestors, or
their own, and sometimes their amorous adven-
tures. Their songs are always accompanied with
gestures, which render them very theatrical.
Among them old age meets with the greatest re-
several of them in a vnlgar Greek translation of
our Church Catechism. The effect of it was so
remarkable, that it drew envy, and consequently
persecution, upon him from the Latins. This
occ^oned his voluntary recess into the Morea,
where the metropolitan of Achaia prevailed upon
him to preach twice in Greek, at a meeting of
some of his bishops and clergy, which was well
taken. At his departure he left him a copy of the
catechism above-mentioned. From thence, after
he had passed through Apulia, Naples, and Si-
cily again (in which last, at Messina, he officiated
ibr some weeks aboard a ship), he embarked for
spect. In their entertainments, it occupies the Syria; and after some^month; stay at Aleppo,
place of honor ; and the stranger, to whom where he had frequent conversation with the pa-
compliments are paid, is always set among the triarch of Antioch, then resident there, he lett a
old men. The language of these people is a copy of the Church Catechism, translated into
Tartar dialect, very different from that spoken at Arabic, the native language of that place. From
Kasan. The Bashkirians are, like most of the Aleppo he went in 1652 to Jerusalem, and so
Tartars, Mahommedans ; but though they have
their mosques, their molaks, and their schools,
they are much addicted to superstition and sor-
cery. Their sorcerers challenge even the devil,
and pretend to engage with him in combat ; and
thus they delude the credulous vulgar, who con-
sult them in their distress, and particularly when
travelled over all Palestine. At Jerusalem he
received much honor, both from the Greeks and
Latins. Returning to Aleppo, he passed over
the Euphrates, into Mesopotamia, where he in-
tended to send the Church Catechism in Turk-
ish, to some of their bishops, who were mostly
Armenians. This Turkish translation was pro-
they lose any of their mares. ' Tooke's View of cured at Constantinople. After his return from
Russia, vol. i. p. 473. Chantreau's Traveb, vol. Mesopotamia, he wintered at Aleppo, where he
i. p. 281. received several courtesies from the consul, Mr.
jBASHUYSEN (Heniy James Van), a learned Henry Riley. In the beginning of 1653 he de-
and ingenious divine, bom at Hanau, in 1679, parted from Aleppo, and came to Constantinople
where he became professor of the Oriental Ian- oy land, being 600 miles, without either servant,-
guages, and ecclesiastical history. He was after- or Christian, or any man with him, that could so
wards professor of divinity, and member of the much as speak the Frank language : yet, by the
royal society at Berlin ; and had a printing press help of some Arabic he had picked up at Aleppo,
in his bouse, from which be sent abroad some he performed that journey in the company of
curious tracts, principally on rabbinical learning, twenty Turks, who used him courteously be-
He died in 1758,
BASIA Ultima. See Ultima.
BASIATRAHAGI, in boUny, a name used
by some for the common polygonum, or knot-
grass.
EASIER, or Basire (Isaac), a learned and
active divine in the seventeenth century, was bom
in the isle of Jersey, in 1607. For some time
he was master of the college or free-school at
Guernsey: but, at length, became chaplain to
Thomas Morton, bishop of Durham, vno gave
cause he was physician to them and their friends.
Afier his arrival at Constantinople, the French
Protestants there desired him to be their minister,
though he declared to them his resolution to
officiate according to the English liturgy, and
promised to settle on him, in three responsible
mens' hands, a competent stipend. Upon the
Restoration, Dr. Basier was recalled by king
Charles II. to England, in a letter written to
Prince Ragotzi. But this unfortunate prince
dying soon after, of the wounds he received in a
him the rectory of Stannope, and the vicarage of battle with the Turks at Gyala, the care of his
Egglesdiff, in' Durham. In July, 1640, he had
the degree of D. D. conferred upon him at Cam-
bridge, by mandate ; and at Oxford the Novem-
ber following. About that time he was made
chaplain in ordinary to king Charles I. and got
several other preferments, but did not long enjoy
them; for, in the beginning of the civil wars,
being sequestered, plundered, and forced to fly,
be repaired to king Charles at Oxford, before
whom, and his parliament, he frequently preached.
Upon the surrender of the Onord garrison to
TOiiiament, unwilling to stay any longer in the
British dominions, he resolved to go and propa-
gate the doctrine of the English church m the
East, amon^ the Greeks, Arabians, &c. Leaving,
therefore, his family in England, he went first to
Zante, an island near tlie Morea, where he made
lome stay ; and had good success in spreading
among the Greek inhabitants the doctrines of the
Kiislish church, the sum whereof he imparted to
•Voulll.
solemn obsequies was committed to the doctor
by his relict. Princess Sophia, whereby he was
kept a year longer out of England. ' At length,
returning in 1661, he was restored to his prefer-
ments and dignities; and made chaplain in ordi-
nary to king Charles II. He wrote several
books on divinity. Having for many years after
the Restoration, quietly enjoyed his large re-
venues, be died in 1676, aged sixty-nine. He
wrote, 1. Deo et Ecclesis Sacrum, &c. 4to.
Oxon. 1646; and 8vo. London, 1668. 2. Dia-
triba de Antiqull Ecdesie Britannic« Libertate,
Svo. Brug« 1656, which was translated into Eng-
lish under the title of The Ancient Liber^ of the
Britannic Church, &c. Svo. 1661. 3. The His-
tory of the English and Scotch Presbytery, Svo.
London, 1659, 1660. 4. Oratio Privata, boni
Theologi. (speciatim Concinnatoris Practici)
Partes Pnecipuas coniplectens, 8vo. London,
1670. 5. The Dead Man's Real Speech, &c.;
2R
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a funeral Sermon on the Death of Dr. John
Cosin, Bishop of Durham, 8vo. London, 1673.
BASIL, in botany. See Octmum.
Basil, or Basle, a canton of Switzerland,
gee Basle.
Basil, in mechanics, the name, among joiners,
for the sloping edge of a chisel, or of the iron of
a plane. To work on soft wood, they usually
make the basil twelve degrees, and for hard wood
eighteen ; it being remarked that the nh>re acute
the basil is, the letter the instrument cuts ; and
the more obtuse, the stronger, and fitter it *s for
service.
Basil, American Fij;ld. See Monarda
Basil (St.), the Great, one of the most
learned and eloquent doctors of the church, was
bom at Casarea in Cappadocia, about A.D: 328 ;
and went to finish his studies at Athens, where
he contracted a strict friendship with St. Gregory
Nazianzen. He returned to his native country
in 355, where he taught rhetoric. Some time
after, he travelled into Syria, Egypt, and Lybia,
to visit the monasteries of these countries ; and
the monastic life so much suited His disposition,
that upon his return home he resolved to follow
it, and he was the first institutor thereof in.Pon-
tus and Cappadocia. His reputation became so
great, that, upon the death of Eusebius, bishop
of Cffisarea, in 370, he was chosen his successor.
It was with some difficulty that he accepted of
■ this dignity ; and no sooner was he raised to it
than the emperor Valens began to persecute him,
because he refused to embrace the Arian doc-
trine. He uSed his utmost endeavours to bring
about a re-union between the eastern and western
diurches, who were then much divided, not only
aoout points of faith, but with regard to Meletius
and Paulinus, two bishops of Antioch ; a dispute
wnich was not terminated till nine months after
bis death. Basil had a share in all the disputes
which happened in his time in the east, in regard
to the doctrine of the church; and died January
1, 379. — ^There have been severjal editions of his
works in Greek and Latin. Tlie best is that of
Father Gamier, printed in Greek and Latin, in
three volumes folio. St. Basil's style is pure
and elegant, his expressions are grand and sub-
lime, and his thoughts noble and majestic.
Erasmus places him among the greatest orators
of antiquity.
Basil (St.), order of. The most ancient of
all the religious orders. See Basilian.
Basil Stone. See Thymus.
Basil, Syrian Field. See Zjziphora.
Basil, Wild. See Thymus.
Basil, a physician and heretic, whom Alexius
Comnenus caused to be burnt alive in 1118.
He held that God had anotlier son besides Jesus
Christ, called Sathanael, who, having revolted
ftom his duty to his father, was expelled heaven,
and cast to the earth, with the angels whom he
had influenced to take part with him* and that
Jesus Christ was afterwards sent to destroy his
power, who.shut him up in hell, and altered his
name by cutting of the last syllable. He allowed
his followers every thing in common, not ex-
cepting their wives.
BASILAN, one of die Philippine islatads, in
the midst of a cluster of smaller ones, off the
south-west extremity of Magindanoa. It ii
mountainous, and about sixty miles m circom-
fersnce, abounding in rice, sugar-cane, and
bananas. Wild hogs and deer are die principal
animals of Jhe interior, which is waterea by con-
siderable streams, but thinly peopled. DistaDt
eighteen miles from Magindanao. Long. 1*21^
E., lat. 5° 5(f N.
BASILARE Os, in anatomy, a barbarous de-
nomination given to the OS sphenoides, on acconnt -
of its being situated at the bottom or basis of the
skull ; or because a great part of the brain rests
hereon, as on its basis.
BAS ILEUS, pamytvc, a title assumed by the
emperors of Constantinople, exclusive of all otbe
princes, to whom they give the title rex, king.
The same quality was afterwards given by them
to the kings of Bulgaria, and to Charlemagne,
frotn the successors of which last they en
deavoured to wrest it back again. The title bi-
sileus has been since assumed by other kings,
particularly the kings of England, Ego Edgar
totius Anglis basileus confirmavi. ' Hence also
the queen of England was intitled basUea and
basilissa.
Basileus, in ornithology, a name by which
several of the old authors called the regulus cris-
tatus, or golden-crowned wren.
BASILIAN Monks, the religious of the order
of St. Basil. That saint having retired into a
desert in the province of Pontus, founded a mo-
nastery for the convenience of himself and his
numerous followers ; and for the better regulation
of the new society, drew up in writing the orders
and rules he would have them follow. This
order soon spread all over the east ; nor was it
long before it passed into tlie west. The mle of
St. Basil was approved by Pope libcrius, the
same year in which it was written and published ;
and afterwards by several other popes; and, in
these last ages, by Pope Gregory III. who ap>
proved the abridgment made of it by cardiiol
Bessarion, in the pontificate of Eugenius IV.
Some authors pretend, that St. Basil, before he
died, saw himself the spiritual lather of more
than 90,000 monks, in the east only. Hot this
order, which flourished so greatly for more than
three centuries, was afterwarcTs considerably di-
minished by heresy, schism, and a change of
empire. The greatest storm it felt was in the
reign of Constantine Copronymus ; who per-
secuted the monks of St. Basil, imprisoning some,
and banishing others; insomuch that the mo-
nasteries were abandoned and spoiled of all their
goods. The historians of this order tell us, that
it has produced 1805 bishops ; and beatifi^, or
acknowledged as saints, 3010 abbots, 11,805
martyrs, and an infinite number of confeswis
and virgins. They likewise place among the re-
ligious of the order of St. Basil, fourteen popes,
some cardinals, and a very great number of pa-
triarchs, archbishops, and bishops; and they
boast of several emperors and empresses, kings
and queens, princes and princesses, who have
embraced its rules. This order was introdaced
in the west in 1057 ; and was reformed in 1569
by Pope Gregory XIII. who united the religioas
of this order in Italy, Spain, and Sicily into one
congregation; of which the monastoy of St
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BAS
611
BAS
Saviour at Mcasma is the chief, and enjoys
pre-eminence ov«r the reat. Eadi community
has its particular rule, besida the rule of St.
Basil, w.hich is very general, and prescribes
little more than the common duties of a Christian
life.
Basiltans. See Bogomtlt.
BASILIC, or BAfiiucr, /SamXicif, a royal
house, in the ancient architecture, denotes a kind
of public ball or court of judicature, where the
princes or magistrates sat to administer justice.
jThe basilicB consisted of a great hall, with aisles,
porticoes, tribunes, and tribunals. The form was
generally that of a paralltdogram. The bankers
had one part of the basilica allotted for their re-
sidence. The scholaxs also went thither to make
their declamations, according to the testimony of
Quintilian. In atfter times the denomination
basilica was also given to other bnildingst of
public use, as town-houses, exchanges, burset,
and the like. The Roman basilica were covered,
by which they were distinguished from the fora,
which were public places open to the air. The
first basilica was built at Rome by Cato the
elder, whence it was called Portia; the second
was called opimia ; &e third was that of Paulus,
built with a great expense, and with much mag-
nificence, whence it was called by some regia
Pauli ; another was built by Julius Csser, called
basilica julia ; of which Vitruvius tells us he bad
the direction. There are eighteen or twenty
others.
Basilic is also used in ecclesiastical writers,
for a church. In this setu£, the wovd ^qnently
occurs in St. Ambrose, St. Austin, St. Jerome,
Sidonitts Appollinaris, and other writers of die
fourtib and fifth centuries. I| ia thought thM the
name was thus applied, from many of the an-
cient churclies having been formed (k the Roman
halls. In reality, on the conversion of Coti-
stantine, many otf the ancient basilica were given
to the chufch, and turned to another use, vis.
for Christian assemblies to meet in ; as may he
collected from the passage in Ausonius, where
speaking to the emperor Gratian, he tells him,
the basilice, which heretofore were wont to be
filled with men of buaioeas, were now thronged
with votaries praying for his safety : by which he
roust needs mean, tkktthe Roman halls or courts
were turned into Christian churches : and hence
the name came tQ be a general name for churches
in after ages.
Basilic, is diiefiy applied, in modern times,
to churches of royal foundation; as those of
St. John de Lateran, aad St. Peter of the Va-
tican, at Rome, founded by the emperor Con-
stantine.
Basilics, among the ancient Franks, were
little chapels buih over the tombs of their great
men, so called, as resembling the figure of the
sacred basilicte, or churches. Persons of inferior
condition had only tumbc or porticuli erected
over the^ By an article in theSalique law, he
that robbed a tumba or porticulus, was to be
fined fifteen soUdi ; but he that robbed a basilica,
thirty eelidi.
Basilios, in literary history, a name supposed
to hare baen given by tiie emperor Leo to a col-
lection of laws in honor cpf his father BasUius I.
who began it A. D. B67, and in the exeeutton
chiefly made use of Sabbathius Protospatharius,
who carried the work as far as forty books, Leo
added twenty books more, and published the
work in 880. The whole, thirty years after, was
corrected and improved by Constantine Por-
phyros:enitus, son rrf Leo : whence many have
held him the author of the basilica. Six* books
of the basilica were translated into Latin in 1557,
by Gentian Hervetus. An edition of the Greek
bosilics, with a Latin version, has been since
published at Paris, in 1647, by Ahnibal Fabrot-
tus, in seven volumes. There are still wanting
nineteen books, which are supposed to be lost.
Fabrottus has endeavoured to supply in some
measure the defect, from the synopsis of the basi-
lica and the glosses, of which several had been
made under the succeeding emperors, and con-
tained the whole Justinian law, excepting the
superfluities, in a new and more consistent order,
together witn the later constitutions of the em-
perors posterior to Justinian.
BASILICA, in anatomy, the interior branch
of the axillary vein, running the whole length
of the arm. It is one of the veins opened in
bleeding.
Basilica, or Basilicus, in astronomy, a
fixed star of the first magnitude, in the constel-
lation Leo; called also Regulus and Cor Leonis.
Basilica Julia not only served for the hear-
ing of causes, but for the reception and audience
of foreign ambassadors. It was supported by
100 marble pillars in four rows, and enriched
with decorations of gold and precious stones.
In it wero thirteen tribunals or judgment seats,
where the pretors sat to despatch causes. See
Basilic
Basilica, Moderk. Palladio gives thU name
to the civil edifices which are found in many
Italian cities, and the destination of which is en-
tirely similar to the antique basilica. * In imi-
tation of the ancients,* says this celebrated ar-
chitect, 'the cities of Italy construct public halls
which may rightly be called basilics, as they
form part of the habitation of the supreme ma^
gtstrate^ and in them the judges administer jus-
tice.' * The basilice of our time,' he continues,
* differ in this from the ancient ; that those were
level with the ground, while ours ace raised upon
arches, in which are shops for various arts and
merchandise of the city. There the prisons are
also placed, and other buildings belonging to the
public business. Another difference is, that the
modern basilice have the porticoes on the out-
side, ^v!lile in the ancient they were only in the
interior. Of these halls there is a very noble
one at Padua; and another at Brescia, remark-
able for its size and ornaments.' The most ce-
lebrated of this kind is tha#of Vicenza; the
exterior part of which was built by Palladio, and
the whole so much altered that it may pass for
his work. The body of the building is of muc!i
greater anti<}uity, though the date of it is un-
knovm. Time, and various accidents had re-
duced this edifice to such a state of decav, thai
it was necessary to think seriously or pre-
venting its total ruin : for this purpose the moat
eminent arehitects were consulted^ and the de-
sign of Palladio was approved. He removed
9R3
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the ancient loggias, and substituted new porticoes
of a very beautiful invention. These form two
galleries in height, the lower order of which is
ornamented wi£h Doric engaged columns, at
very wide intervals, to answer to the internal
pillars of the old buildings ; the space between
each column is occupied by •an arch resting on
two small columns of the same order, and a pi-
laster at each side against tlie large columns,
which leaves a space between it and the small
columns of two diameters The upper portico
of Ionic columns is disposed in the same manner,
and a balustrade is placed in the archway. The
entablature of the large orders is profiled ove^
each column.
This edifice is about 150 feet long and sixty
feet broad ; the hall is raised above the ground
twenty-six feet; it is formed by vaults supported
on pillars, and the whole is covered with a
wooden dome,
BASILIC ATA, a territory of Italy, bounded on
the north by the provinces of Otranto, Bari, and
Capitanata, on the west by the Principato, and a
small part of the Tuscan Sea, on the south by Ca-
labria, and on the east by the Gulf of Taranto.
It is watered by several rivers; but as it is almost
all occupied by the Appennine mountains, it is
neither very populous nor fertile; however, it
produces enough to maintain its inhabitants, and
has a small quantity of cotton. The principal
towns are Acerenza the capital, Melfi, Tursi, R&-
poUa, Muro, Lavello, Tncarico, Monte Peloso,
and Venesa, which are all episcopal sees. Its
extent is about 1,605,047 moggie; five moggie
being equivalent to four £nglish acres ; and it has
a populatign of nearly 330,000 souls.' It is
watered by the Basiento, and several other
streams. In this province are the ancient ruined
cities of Heraclea and Metapontum.
BASILIC!, ^ACFiXucei, in the Greek empire,
was a denomination given to the prince's man-
datories, or those who carried his orders.
Basilicon, in pharmacy, a name given to
several compositions to be found in ancient me-
dicinal writers. At present it is confined to
three officinal ointments, distinguished by the
epithets black, yellow, and green. See Phar-
macy, &c.
Basilicon, or Basilzcum, in phaimacy, is
callee tetrapharmacum, as being composed of
four simples, viz. resin, wax, pitdi, and oil of olive.
BASlLICUS Sinus, in ancient geography,
the gulf of Mellasso, in Asia Minor, which sepa-
rates Lycia and Caria.
BASILIDES, an Egyptian, who lived near
the beginning of the second century. He was
educated in the Gnostic school, bver which
Simon Magus is once said to have presided ;
and with whom h^pgieed that Cluist was a man
in appearance, that his body was a phantom, and
.hat he gave his form to Simon tne Cyrenian,
who was crucified in his stwui. We learn from
Eusebius, that this heresiaich wrote twenty-
four books upon the gospel, and that' he forged
aeveral prophets; to two of which he gave the
names barcaba and barcoph. We have still the
firagnent of a Basilidian gospel.
BASIUDIANS, a denomination, in the sfr-
oond centuiy, ftom Basilides, chief of the Egyp-
tian Gnostics. They acknowledged, accordmg to
ancient writers, the existence of one supreme
God, perfect in goodness and wisdom, who pro-
duced from bis own substance seven beings, or
aions, of a most excellent nature. Two of these
aions, called dynamis and sophia, i.e. power
and wisdom, engendered the angels of Ae highest
order. Th^ angels formed a heaven for their
habitation, and brought forth other angelic beings
of a nature somewhat inferior to their own.
Many other generations of angels followed. New
heavens were also pieated, until the number of
angelic orders, and of their respective heavens,
amounted to 365, and thus eoualled the days of
the year. All these are under the empire of
an omnipotent Lord, whom Basilides called
Abnoas. The inhabitants of the lowest heavens,
which touched upon the borders of the eternal,
malignant, and self-animated matter, coDceired
the design of forming a world from that con-
fused mass, and of creating an order of beings
to people it. This design was carried into exe-
cution, and was approved by the supreme God,
who to the animal life, with which only the in-
habitants of this new world were at first en-
dowed, added a reasonable soul, giring at the
same time to the angels the empire over tbem.
These angelic beings, advanced to the gorero-
ment of the world which they haul created, fell
by degrees from their original purity, and soon
manifested the fatal marks of their depiavity
and corruption. They not only endearoured to
effiu» in the minds of men their knowledge of
the supreme Being, that they might be wor-
shippea in his 8teul| but also began to war
against each other, with an ambitious view to
enlarge eveiyone the bounds of his respectrre
dominion. The most arrogant and turbulent of
all tliese angelic spirits, was that whidi piesided
over the Jewish nation. Hence, the mpieme
God, beheading with compassion the miseiable
state of rational beings, who groaned under the
contest of these jarring powers, sent ham heaven
his son Nus, or Christ, the diief of the aions,
that, joined in a substantial union with the man
Jesus, he might restore the knowledge of the su-
preme God, destroy the empire of those angelic
natures which presided over the world, and per*
ticularly that or the arrogant leader of die Jewish
people. The god of the Jews, alarmed at this^
sent forth his ministers to seize the man Jesos
and put him to death. They executed his oom-
mands; but their cruelty could not extend to
Christ, against whom tiieir efforts were viin.
Those souls who ob^ the precepts of the Son of
God, shall, after the dissolutiou of their mortal
firame, ascend to the Father, while their bodies
return to the corrupt mass of matter whence they
were formed. Disobedient spirits, on the con-
trary, shall pass successively into other bodies.
There are several gems still subsisting, inscribed
with the name Abraxas, which were used by the
Basilidians as amulets against diseases and evil
spirits. See Abraxas. ^
BASILIGOROD, or Vasiligorod, a town of
Russia, seated on the Volga, where the Saia &Us
into it. The inhabitants are employed in agri-
culture and fishing. It is 1 12 leaguesfromMoaoow.
BASILINEA, in entomology, a species of
phalcna, a native of Austiia.
BASILIPOTAMO, the ancient Eofolas, a
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mer of European Turkey^ in the south of the
Morea, which fidls into me Gulf of Kolokythia,
about four miles to the N. N. £. of the town of
that name.
BASILIPPUM, in ancient geognphy, a town
( of Bstica, in Spain ; now called Cantillana, a
citadel of Andalusia, above Seville, on the Gua-
daiquiver. ,
BASILISCUS, in alchemy, the sublimate
mercury of the philosophers.
Basiliscus, m omitnology, a name given by
some of the old authors to the regulus cristatus,
^ or golden-crowned wren. It is a diminutive of
I basileuS| king, another of its names, because of
its golden crown.
Bksi liscits/Basilicus, in zoology, a species of
\ lacerta, which, according to linnteus, has the tail
long and round, dorsal fin radiated, and back of
the head crested. This is the basilisk of modem
naturaUsts, and seems to unite the two genera of
lacerta and draco. The remarks of Dr. Shaw,
in the Gen. Zool. on this extraordinary creature,
are highly interesting, and ought not to escape
attention. It is, accordiny to this writer, parti-
cularly distinguished by a long and broad wing-
like process or expansion, continued along the
whole length of the back, and to a very consider-
able distance on the upper part of the tail, and
furnished at certain distances with internal radii,
anatagous to those in the fins of fishes, and still
more so to those in the wings of the draco volans,
or flying lizard. This process is of different ele-
▼ations in different parts, so as to appear strongly
sinuated and indented, and is capable of being
either dilated or contracted at the pleasure of Uie
animal. The occiput, or hind part of the head,
is elevated into a very conspicuous pointed hood,
or hollow crest.
' Notwithstanding its formidable appearance,'
adds this author, 'the basilisk is a perfectly
harmless animal ; and like many others of the
lizard tribe, resides principally among trees,
where it feeds on insects, &c. It has long ago
been admirably figured in the work of Seba; and
as it is an extremely rare species, ftzs sometimes
been considered, from the strangeness of its form,
as a fictitious representation. There is, how-
eirer, in the Britisn Museum, a very fine speci-
men, well preserved in spirits, and which fiilly
confirms the excellency of Seba^s Bgure ; fiom
which, in all probability , Linnxus himself, who
never saw the animal, took his specific description.
The color of the basilisk is a pale cinereous brown,
with some darker variegations towards the upper
part of the body. Its length is about a foot and
a half. The young or small specimens liave but
a slight appearance either of the dorsal or caudal
process, or of the pointed occipital crest. The
basilisk is principally found in South America,
and sometimes considerably exceeds the length
before mentioned, measuring three feet, or even
more, from the nose to the extremity of the tail.
It is said to be an animal of great agility, and is
capable of swimming occasionally with perfect
ease, as well as of springing from tree to tree by
the help of its dorsal crest, which it expands in
order to support iU flight'
Among tne French naturalists, the iguane is a
distinct genus of the oviparous quadrupeds, in
which the Linnean lacerta basiliscus is included
under the name of basilisk.
The basilisk of the ancients existed only in
the glowing fancy of their poets : they feigned it
to l^ the most malignant of all poisonous ser-
pents; as a creature whose breatn empoisoned
the very air, and whose baneful glance would
alone prove &tal to all other animals. A crea-
ture gifted with such extraordinary powers could
have no common origin, and therefore it was as-
serted to be the produce of the egg of a cock
brooded upon by a serpent. Galen says its
color is yellowisn, and that it has three little
elevations on its head, speckled with* whitish
spots, that have somewhat the appearance of a
crown, ^ian, Matthiblus, Pliny, Lucan, and
others of the most distinguished ancients, relate
many marvellous properties of this creature; but,
notwithstanding tneir authority, the basilisk, at
they represent it, is most unquestionably fabulous.
It u needless to add to this article any of the
fid>les of Jerome Lobo, although Dr. Johnson
has received some of them with an unwarrantable
degree of credulity. The learned Prosper Al-
Einus informs us, on the authority of some re-
itions, which he seems to have credited, that
near the lakes contiguous to the sources of the
Nile, there is a number of basilisks, about a
palm in length, and the thickness of a middle
finger; that they have two large scales which
they use as wings, and crests and combs upon
their heads, from which they are called basilisci
or reguli ; that is, crowned, crested, or kingly
serpents. And he says, that no person can ai>*
proach these lakes, without being destroyed by
these crested snakes. Our traveller, Mr. Bruce,
observes, that having examined the lake Goode-
roo, those of Court Ohha and Tzana, the only
lakes near the sources of the Nile, he never saw
one serpent there, crowned or uncrowned ; and
that he never heard of any : and, therefore, he
believes this account as fabulous as that of the
acontia, and other animals, mentioned by Prosper
Alpinus, lib. iv. cap. 4. . The basilisk is a species
of serpent frequently mentioned in scripture,
though never described farther than that it cannot
be chanued so as to do no hurt, nor trained so
as to delight in music i which all travellers who
have been in Egypt allow is very possible, and
frequently seea, Jerem. viii. 17.: rsalm ix. 13.
However, it is tlie Greek text that calb this ser-
pent basilisk; the Hebrew generally calls it
tsepha, which is a species of serpent real and
known. Our Englisn translation very impro-
perly renders it cockatrice, a fabulous animal
that never did exist. The basilisk of scripture
seems to have been a snake, not a viper; as its
eggs are mentioned,, Isaiah ix. 5 : whereas it is
known to be the characteristic of the viper to
bring forth living young. Bruce" t Travels in
Abyuiniaf vol. v. p. 201 .
BA'SILISK, n. s, Lat. hoiUitcut, firom Gr.
^iXMrcoc, of jSatnXfvc, a king. A serpent, thus
denominated either because its head is adorned
with a tuft like a diadem, or because of its supe^
nor strength it is the monaroh of the reptile
tribes. To this creature is ascribed the power
of fascinating its victims with its eyes. See the
article Basiliicus.
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That tletli riiht m tU hmUctk iledi folk by » t«.
nime of his sight. Chauotr. Th§ Pgnme* TtU,
BariiiskM! whose breath
Is lining poison* and whose looks are death.
Make me not sighted like the batilitk;
Vrt look'd on thousands who have sped the better
fiy tty regard, but kill'd none so. SAdbpeorf.
Thine eyes, kweet lady, hare infected mine.
Ladt An MB. Would they were hatUiikt to strike thee <
dead, Jd.
The batUiMk was a serpent net abor* three palms
long, and differenced from other serpents by advaae>
ing his head, and some white marks or coronary spots
vpon the crown. ' BrowmU Vulgmr Erroun,
Ba'silisk. a species of cannon or ordnance.
We practise to make swifter motions than any yon
have ', and to make them stronger and more violent
than your's are ; exceeding your greatest cannons and
kuiliski. Bacon,
Ybnr eyes, which hitherto hava borne in them
jigaintt the French, that met them in their bent.
The Iteal balU of mardering hamHtk», Shak^mn.
And thou haat talkM
,0f salUes, and retires } of trenohti, tentt.
Of palisadoes, fitontien* pampcia ;
Of kuiimktf of cannon, cnlwiinf
Of prisoner's ransom, and of soldiers slain. M.
Basilisk, in military affairs, a piece of oid*
nance ; thus denominated from its i^semblance
to the supposed serpent of that name. The
basilisk has thrown an iron ball of 200 pound
weight. It was much talked of in Uie Uroe of
Soljrman, emperor of the Turks, in the wars of
Hungary, but seems now out of use. Pauluft
Jovius relates the terrible slaughter made by «
shigle ball from one of these basilisks in a Spanish
ship; after penetrating the boards and planks i&
the ship's head, it killed above thirty men. Mas-
seus speaks of basilisks made of biass, which
were drawn each by 100 yoke of oxea. Modem
writers also give the name basilisk to a much
nnaller and more sizeable piece of ordnance^
which the Dutch make fifteen feet long> and the
French only ten. Tt carries forty-eight poimdB.
BASILISSA. See Basileus.
BASILIUS I. sumamed the Macedonian,
emperor of the Greeks. He was a common
soldier, and of an obscure family in Macedonia,
and yet raised himself to the throne : for, having
pleased the emperor Michael by his address in
the management of his horses, he became his
first equerry, and then his great chamberlain.
He at length assassinated the famous Bardas,*
and was associated to the empire in 849. He
held the eighth seneral council at Constanti-
nople; deposed the patriarch Photius, but in
658 restored him to the patriarchate ; and de-
clared against the popes, who. refused to admit
him into their communion. He was dreaded by
the Saracens, whom he frequently vanquished ; and
loved by his subjects for his justice and cle-
mency. He died in 886. Under his reign the
« Russians embraced Christianity, and the doctrine
of the Greek church.
Basilxus II. succeeded Romanus II. as em-
peror of Constantiiwple, A. D. 903, and reigned
along with his brother, Constantine IX., six
years. Tliis monarch is by some historians and
chronologists confounded with Basilius IIL who
had also a brother colleague, called Constantine.
See the next article.
Ba8ili0s III. sQcceeded John Sbhko, «
peror of Constantinople, A. D. 975, and itigGd,
aWng with his brotner Coostentine X^ far x
less a period than fifty years. Ho bra^ic-
vived nim Aiee yean, die one dying m 10^
and the other in 1098. See CoKSTAsnsoru.
BASILUZZO, one of dM lipaii vkak
, BA'SIN, n. > Fr . ba$m ; Ital. hadk, hta^i
Ba'sineo. I U is often written boson, br. u
according to etymology. It is a term wUeb ^
agnates a ressel in common nse. It is afaoip-
plied to any hollow place capadons of hqadi
and is technically employed oy anatwni^h laj
artizans, to express any sabstsnoe boUowcd out, i
round cavity, or a concave.
Bat let « go now t» that iMitfibU ft«cria(«f in>
lation sod ou^jiiistion^ at don tfaew hkt catka-
toort and nigrouaBcen in bmnm full of vatcr^srai
bright sword in a chrda or in a fire, or ia tAdae
hone of a thepe : I cannot «ayn but that ikv b
cnisedly and damnably ayenst Cxist» and aiii si
fbith of holy chirche. Chamoer, The Penmt 7*.
After that he ponred water into a lam, od li-
gaane to wash his disdples feet. BitSt, \lal
Let one attend lum with a iflver ham,
rvli OX lotO'watev^ and bentarewM viu ioiniL
Wo have Hole well* iat iafoauMa, wkm tk «i»
take the viitaat quicker and better than iaveMbad
And aend bar hflne
Divested to her flannoU in a cast*
And let her footman beat the bawm aim W.
With scornful sound of ham», pot and pao,
Tbey thought to drire him thence, like lea c
swarms. Hot. And,
The jttting land two ailipl« bays drrido ;
The spadous km$im aiehlng rocks indoK,
A sure defence from every atoim thtt blow f^-
On oee side of the walk ycm tea the hettw iffv
wilh iU several little ptantataons lying coanfcjS'?
under the eye of the beholder. %«*•
If this rotation does the oeas afEKt,
The rapid motion rather would ^jeet
The stores the low capecioos caves cueac,
And fromnts ample ftoaus cast the aaia*
From step to step, with anilen aomid,
The fbrc*d caai»des indignant leap;
Kow sinking fill Uie htuem't tteasvr'd raai;
There in a dull stagnntion deoa'd to^
Mamm. OisfBawi^-^
Thy kQtm*d riven and UBfniaen'd Mat.
BASING, a vUlage of Hampditie, foc^ -
Basingstoke, near which, in 871, AM ^
defeated by the Danes. It is eqpnlly meMn-
ble for tne protracted siega sn^uoed hat ^
John, the fifth maiquts of WdtiUfi, inbsas:
of Basing-hous^, against the forces of te P^^^
ment. The investment ccMnnenced Aku^
1643, and the answer made by theBSi?!^-
the first summons was, that * if the fciaf 1»^*
more ground in England than Basing4i«^ ^
would maintain it to tlve uttermost' It stood (^
till October, 1645, when CiooiweU took it -1
storm, and burnt it to the groaad. A skix
still exists in the neighbourhood, 'dabtnispfc
as when Basing-house was taken ;* aad taHi^
refers this to the suipfMe of the anisoa, ^'■
were at cards when &kally assaulted. Be ^'
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[Ois had written with adiamond on ererr pane of
;la9s, Aymez Loyault^, which is atiU the family
aotto. The plunder obtained by the parliament
anr forces amounted to £200,000, but their loss
>efore the walls exceeded 2000 men. See Journal
»f the siefi^e of fiasing-houte, Oxford, 1645.
BiVSINGE (John), more commonly known
>y the name of Basingstochius, or de Basing-
toke, was bom at Basingstoke, a town of
iampshire, and from thence took his surname,
ie was a person highly eminent for ▼irtue and
earning. For baring very good natural parts, he
0 improved them by study, that he became a
>Mect master of the Latin and Greek languages,
m eminent orator, a complete mathematician, a
ubtle philosopher, and a sound divine. The
bundation of his great learning he laid in the
inivenity of Oxfordj and, for his further im-
>rovement, went to Paris, where he resided some
^ears. He then travelled to Athens, where he
nade many curious observations, and perfected
limself in his studies, particularly in the k cow-
ed ge of the Greek tongue. At his return to
England, he brought over with him several curi-
)us Greek manuscripts, and introduced the use
»f the Greek numeral figures into this kingdom,
ie became also a very great promoter and
mcourager of that language, which was much
leglected in these western parts of the world;
ind to fticilitate it, he translated from the Greek
nto Latin a grammar, which he entitled The
^onatus of the Greeks. He was archdeacon of
London, and afterwards, of Leicester. , He died
n 1262.
BASINGSTOKE, a market town in Hamp-
ihire, which by means of a canal, begun in 1778,
carries on an extensive trade. Population in
1821, 3165. The church is a vicarage^ in the
patronage of Magdalen college, Oxford. One of
ts vicars. Sir George Wheeler, the celebrated
sastem traveller, annexed a library to the church.
This town was the birth place of Joseph and
rhomas Warton, whose father was vicar. It lies
lixteen miles north-east of Winchester, and forty-
nx from London.
BASIOGLOSSUS, a muscle arising from the
3ase of the os hyoides. See Anatomy.
^ BASIS. Lat. 6aftt ; fiamcy from /Soibw, I go.
^ Base. The foundation or the first principle
>f any thing ; the lowest of the three principal
parts of a column, which are the basis, shaft and
»pital.
It miut follow, that Pandite, being nitod to tlus
leight, mutt have the compass of the whole earth for
1 batit and foundation. Raleigh,
How many times shall Caesar bleed in sport.
That now on Pompey's baaU lies along
Ko worthier than the dust! Skakspeare*
Ascend my chariot, guide the rapid wheels
That shake heaven's ham, Nikon,
In altarwise a stately pile they rear ; «
The hadi broad helow and top •dvane'd ia air.
Drjfdm.
»— The frikndabipa of the world are oft
Confederacies in vice, or loagnes of pleasure ;
Ours has severest virtue for its ham, Additon,
Or if DO bam bear my rising name,
3ut the fairn ruins of another's fame,
rhen teach me, heaven ! to scorn the guilty bays.
Drive from my breast that wretched lust of praise.
Pops. Temple of Pome,
Basis, in ancient music and poetry, denotes
the equability of sounds proceeding in the same
tenor, and stands, contradistinguished from arsis,
or elevation, as well as from thesis or depression.
Basis, or Base, in chemistry, any boay which
is dissolved by another body, which it receives
and fixes, and with which it forms a compound,
may be called the basis of that compound.
Thus, for example, the bases of neutral salts are
the alkaline, earthy, and metallic matters which
are saturated by tlie several acids, and form with
them these neutral salts. In this sense it is that
these neutral salts are caUed salts with earthy
bases, salts with alkaline bases, salts with metal-
lic bases; also the appellations basis of alum,
basis of nitre, basis of Glauber salt, basis of
vitriol, &c. signifying the arrillaceous earth,
which, with the vitriolic acid, forms alum ; the
vegetable alkali, which, with the nitrous acid,
forms nitre; the mineral alkali, which, with the
vitriolic acid, forms Glauber's salt; and the metal
which, with the vitriolic acid, forms a vitriol ;
because the substances are supposed to be fixed,
nnactive, and only yielding to the action of the
acids, which they fix, and to which they give a
body and consistence.
Basis or Bask, in geometry. See Base.
Basis, in oratory, denotes the fourth member
of a complete exordium, being that which sne-
ceeds the apodosis, and prepares the vray for the
proposition.
Basis, in pharmacy, the principal ingredient
in compound medicines.
BASIUM, Lat. a kiss, a word used by che-
mists, for an extemporaneous tincture of iron and
copper, invented by Closseus.
BASK, v. a, iLn,'i Backeren, Dutch, pro-
Basking. { bably from the verb to
bake ; to vrarm by exposure to heat, whether of
the sun or fire ; to Ke in the warmth, used, says
Johnson, almost always of animals ; and, if in
the term animals he includes man, he is not far
from the truUi ; though it i6 sometimes applied
to reptilee.
As I live by food, I met a fool.
Who laid him down, and hask'd him in the sun.
And rail'd on lady fortune in good terms.
In good sat terms, and yet a motley fool.
Loue in her sunny eyes does hoiking play,
Loue walks the pleasant maoes of her hair;
Ijoue does em, both her lips for ever stray.
And sows and reaps a thousand kiasea there.
Ceud^, The Cketige,
Then lies him down the lubber fiend.
And stretch'd out all the chimney's length
BaJa at the fire his hairy strong^
'TIS all thy business, business how to iban.
To haek thy naked body in the son. Dryden,
About him, and above, and round the wood.
The birds that haunt the bovdess of his flood ,
That bath'd within, or baik*d upon his side,
To tuneful songs their narrow throats applied. Xtf.
Some in the fields of purest ather play.
And bath and whiten in the blaze of day. Pope,
Unlock'd in covers let her freely run
To range thy courts, and hash l3«ibre the sun.
TiekeU,
O life 1 thou universal wish ; what art thou ?
Thon'rt but a day — a few uneasy hours :
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Thy mom is greeted hj tbe flooks and heidi.
And every bird that flatten with ite note,
Salntee thy riaiag fun : thy noon approaching.
Then haate the flies, and every creeping insect.
To hath in thy meridisn ; that declining.
As quickly they depart, and leave thy evening
To moam the absent ray : the night at hand.
Then croaks the raven conscience of time migpent.
The owl despair screama hideous, and the bat
Confusion, flatten up and down :
Life's but a lengthen'd day, not worth the waking for.
Howard** Charlet L
The naked negro, panting at the Line,
Boasts of his golden sands and palmy wine ;
Baaki in the glare, or stems the tepid wave.
And thanks the gods for all the good they gave.
CMdmuthU TranOUr.
Too late, all lost, for ever lost, he sees
The envy'd saints triumphing from afar,
And angels ba$bing in the smiles of God. Rowe,
Childe Harolde btuk*d him in the noontide sun
Disporting there like any other fly.
Byron. Childe BarM,
BASKERVILLE (John), an eminent artist,
especially in letter-founding and printing, was
bom in 1706, at Woverley in Worcestershire,
and was heir to an estate of about £60 a year;
the whole income of which he allowed to his
parents till their deaths. In fais early years he
conceived a love for fine writing, and cutting in
stone; and, being brought up to no particular
profession, he commenced writing-master in Bir-
mingham when about twenty years of age. The
improvements in different manufactures there
^ soon drew his attention, and he applied to the
japan business, which he carried on for a long
time with distinguished excellence and success.
In 1750 he applied himself to letter-founding,
the bringing of which to perfection cost him
much labor and expense. In a few years he
proceeded to printing; and his first work wa^s an
edition of Virgil, in royal 4to. which now sells
for three guineas. He obtained leave from the
university of Cambridge to print a bible in royal
folio, and editions of the common prayer-book,
in three sizes; for which he paid a large sum!
He afterwards printed Horace, Terence, Catullus,
Lucretius, Juvenal, Sallust, and Florus, in
royal 4to; Virgil in 8vo.; and several books in
12mo. He published, likewise^ some of the
English classics. These performances are the
best testimonies of Mr. Baskerville's merit; and
his name i& deservedly ranked among those who,
m modem times, have brought the art of print-
ing to its greatest perfection. Not meeting, how-
ever, with that encouragement from the book-
sellers, which he expected, he set up a letter-
foundiy for sale, a little before his death. He
died without issue in 1 775.
Baske&ville (Sir Simon), an eminent anato-
mist, and physician to king James I. and Charies
I. was the son of Thomas BaskervUle, apothecary,
tod bom at Exeter in 1573. He studied at
Oxford, where he early displayed his abilities,
and at last took his degrees of B. D. and M. D.
m 1611. He afterwards settled at London,
where he became a member, and was for some
Ume president of the college of physicians. His
reputation for learning and medicine, attracted
the attention and esteem of the two sovereigns
above-mentioned, the latter of whom kmghled
him. He wrote some memoirs of his own life
and times, and died in 1641, aged sixty-eight.
BA'SKET, n. s. basged, welch; ftorotsfa,
Latin ; perhaps, from the French ftoste, or firom
some British word signifying rush ; basket is a
vessel or utensil formed of osiers, rashes, of
twigs, splinters, or other slender bodies inter-
woven.
For I wol proche and beg in sondzy londes^
I wol not do no labour with min hondes,
Ne make hatketie9 for to live there by.
Because I wol not beggen idelly.
GftoMosr. The Pardonent Tie,
Here is a htukei: he may creep in, and thnnr <oal
linen npon him, as if going to backing. Fhahtpttrrc.
Set down the baakei, villain: — Somebody call mj
wife : — Yon youth in a btuhet oome out here. IL
He threw out, to save life.
Your British htuhetf, with a thousand dishM.
Hofydttg'iJmmal,
Poor Peg was forced to go hawking and puddling;
now and then canying a hadlet of fish to the market
Arhdhmt.
His puissant sword unto his side.
Near his undaunted heart, was ty'd.
With AosM-hUt that would hold broth.
And serve for fight and dinner both. Ha£5rai.
There was a time.
When other regions were the swain's delight ;
And shephcrdless Britannia's rushy vales.
Inglorious, neither trade nor labour knew.
But of rude hatkeU, homely rustic geer.
Woven of the flexile willow. Dyer. The Fkeoe.
Basket, as a measure, denotes an unceitain
quantity; as, a basket of medlers is two bu^ls,
of assafcetida from twenty to thirty pound weight.
The ancient Britons were noted n>r their inge-
nuity in making baskets, which Ihey exported in
large quantities. They were of very elegant
workmanship^ and bore a high price. Martial
takes notice of them: —
Barban de pictis veni bascauda Britannis,
Sed me jam mavult dicere Roma suam.
' A basket I, by painted Britons wrought.
And now to Rome's imperial city brought'
Baskets are generally made of osiers, stripped
of their t>ark, and dressed according to the design
of the basket. Large baskets or hampen are
made without any preparation but soakmg the
wood, which is necessary for every size of bas-
ket. No great capital of money or ingenuity is
requisite to follow the business of a basket-
maker; yet some practice as well as dexterity
would seem necessary in forming fruit baskets
used on tables, work baskets, table mats, &c.
Basket, Corbeille, in architecture, a kind
of vase, or figure piece of sculpture, in form of
a basket, filled with flowers or fruits, serving to
terminate some decoration.
Basket Fish a species of sea-star. See As-
TERI^S.
Baskct-kakiko, the weaving of leeds, twigs,
or leaves together, for baskeu, is an art in use
among the rudest nations of the world ; even as
inferior specimen is seen among tfie natives of
Van Diemen's Land, consisting of a bunch of
rushes tied together at each end, and spread oot
in the middle. Otlier tribes of this neigbbour-
hood make a basket of leaves interwoven, lo skil-
fully executed, that it retains either milk or water
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V^ eaily in our history it is recorded that oiir
ancestors made baskets, which were celebrated
at Rome. At the same period, shiel4s of wicker-
work, plain or covered with hides, were common
ih Britain ; wicker boats, &c. Herodotus speaks
of boats of this kind, covered with bitumen, on
the Tigris and Euphrates. Such boats, about
seven feet in diameter, are said to be used at the
present day on these rivers ; and similar ones, we
know, are employed in crossing the most rapid
streams of Inoia. They are generally of a shal-
low construction, from three to fifteen feet in dia-
meter ; some will carry thir^ men. They are
made thus : — A number of pieces of split oam-
boo, twenty for example, are laid on the ground,
crossing each other near the centre, and there
fastened with thongs ; the ends of the bamboos
are then elevated by several persons, and fixed
asunder at due distance by means of stakes, in
which position they are bound by other long slips
of bamooo. The latter are introduced alternately
over and under the pieces first crosied, and tied
at the intersections to preserve the shape. This
being completed, beginning from the oottom to
the centre, the parts above the intended height or
depth of the basket-boat are cut off, and it is
liberated from the stakes reversed, and covered
with half-dressed hides sewed together with
thongs. Six men will make one of these boats
in as many hours. They are navigated by pad-
dles where the water is aeep, or are pushed over
a shallow bottom with long poles; and the pas-
sengers are kept dry by planks at the bottom.
The basket-boats on the river Kristna, in Uindos-
tan,' are about twelve feet in diameter, and four
feet deep. Armies have been enabled by these
conveyances to continue their march, and even
lieavy artillery has been transported by them.
Sometimes they are toweJ by bullocks. In other
parts of the world, houses, cottages, fences, and
• gates, are formed of basket or wicker-work. On
the continent, a two-horse carriage, called a Hol-
stein waggon, of very considerable size, and fit to
carry several persons, is composed of basket-
work ; the same is done in Great Britain with
regard to the bodies of gigs ; and an appendage
of the stage-coaches, we know, is literally de-
nominated the basket.
This is an art therefore, however numble in
some of its branches, too extensively and too ser-
viceably in exercise not to merit more att^tion
than books of science have usually bestowed upon
it. The materiab employed have been very vari-
ous. Twigs, branches, straw, and whalebone,
rushes, roots of plants, the bowing bamboo, and
the supple osier. The natives of some parts of
South America make baskets of rushes, so closely
interwoven as to hold water, and thousands of
them are annually sold throughout the new re-
publics. The Caffres and Hottentots are alike
skilful with roots. Osiers or willows, however,
are most adapted for this use. These are either
taken entire, cut from the root, split asunder, or
stripped of their bark, according to the work to
be produced ; in the latter case, they are previ-
ously well soaked. The stripping is performed
by arawing the willows through an iron-edged
instrument called brakes, which removes the bark,
and the willows are then cleaned, so &r as neces-
sary, by the manual operation of a sharp knife. *
Next they are exposed to the sun and air, and
afterwards placed in a dry situation. But it is
not less necessary to preserve willows with their
bark in the same manner, for nothing can be
more injurious than the humidity inherent in the
plant ; and previous to use, they must be soaked
m water some days. The barked or white osier
is then divided into bundles or feggots according
to size ; the larger being reserved to form the
strong work in the skeleton of the basket, and
the smaller forveeaving the bottom and sides.
Should the latter be applied to ordinary work,
they are taken whole, but for implements of
slight and finer texture, each osier is divided into
splits and skeins ; which names denote the dif-
ferent degrees of size to which they are reduced.
Splits are osiers cleft into four parts, by means
ot a particular implement employed for that pur-
pose, consisting of two edge tools placed at right
angles, whereby the rod is longitudinally divided
down the pith. These are next drawn through
an implement resembling the common spoke-
shave, keeping the^grain of the split next the
wood or stock of the shave, while the pith is pre-
sented to the edge of the iron, which is set in an
oblique direction to the wood : And, in order to
bring the split into a shape still more regular, it is
passed through another unplement called an up-
right, consisting of a flat piece of steel, eaich end
of which is fashioned into a cutting edge, like
that of an ordinary chisel. The flat is bent round,
so that the two edges approach each other at a
greater or less interval by means of regulating
screws, and the .whole is fixed in a handle. By
passing the splits between l^e two edges, they
are reduced to skeins, the thickness of which is
determined by the interval between the edges of
the tool. All the implements required by a bas-
ket-maker are few and simple : they consist,
besides the preceding, of knives, bodkins, and
drills for boring, leads for keeping the work
steady while in process, and where it is of small
dimensions, a heavy piece of iron, called a beat-
er, which is employed to beat the basket close as .
it is augmented.
In making an ordinary basket, the osiers are laid
out in a length considerably greater than that of
the finished work. They are ranged in pairs on
the floor parallel to each otlier, at small intervals,
in the direction of the longer diameter ; and this
may be called the woof, for basket work is in
fact a web. These parallel rods are then crossed
at right angles by two of the largest osiers, vrith
the Uiick ends towards the workman, who places
his foot upon them; and weaving each alter-
nately over and under the parallel pieces first
laid down, they are by that means confined in
their places. The whole now forms what is
technically called the slat or slate, which is the
foundation of the basket. Next, die long end of
one of the two rods is taken, and woven under and
over the pairs of short ends all round the bottom,
until the whole be woven in. The same is done
with the other rod; and then additional long
osiers are also woven in, until the bottom be of
sufficient size, and the woof be occupied by them.
Thus the bottom, or foundation on which the
superstructure is to be raised, is finished ; and
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this latter part is acoomplisfaed by riiarpening tiie
Uige ends of as many Wg and stout osiers as
may be necessary to form the ribs or skeleton.
These are forced or plaited between the rods of
the bottom, from the edge towaids the centre,
and are turned up in the direction of the sides ;
then other rods are woven in and out between
each of them, until the basket is raised to the in-
tended height, or, more correctly speaking, the
depth it is to receive. The edge or brim is
finished by turning down the perpendicular ends
of the ribs, now protruding and standing up over
each odier, whereby the whol« are firmly and
compactly united. A handle is adapted to the
work, by forcing two or three osiers sharpened
at the end, and cut to the requisite length, down
the weaving of the sides, close together; and
they are pinned fast, about two incl^s from the
brim, in order that the handle, when completed,
may be retained in its proper position. The
osiers are then either bound or plaited, in such
fashion as pleases the taste of the artist This is
the most simple kind of basket; some are of
finer materials, and nicer <i«ecution. The skeins
are frequently smoked and dyed, of different
colors, by intermixing which, a good effect is
produced.
At Liverpool, where there is an asylum for the
blind, this art has, from its happy simplicity,
been extensively taught, and is practised with
success. In the city of Edinburgh, a number of the
blind find similar employment in a blind asylum.
Some of the best materials for basket-making
have been imported into Great Britain from
France and Holland ; but the duration of the war
induced the inhabitants of this country to endea-
vour to obtain a home supply ; and Mr. Philips,
of Ely, has received a premium from the Society
of Arts, on account of his excellent observations
on this subject. He also has been very success-
ful in his cultivation of the osier. Of nine or
ten species of osier, be remarks that only one, the
grey or bhnkled osier is of any use. See Trans-
actions of the Society, and our article Osier.
Basking Shark, in idithyology, a species of
!>hark, the squalus maximns of Linnsus, so
called from its lying in the sun on the surfece of
the water. This fish inhabits the Arctic and
European seas, feeds on the smaller cetaceous
animals, and grows to a prodigious size, but is
not very fierce. The liver is very large, and
produces mudi oil. See Squalus.
BASLE, Bale, or Basil. One of the nine-
teen cantons of Switzerland, which joined
the confederacy in the year 1501. It is bound-
ed on the south by the canton of Solothum ;
on the north by the Brisgau; on the east by
Frickthal ; and on the west by part of Solothum,
the former diocese of Basle, and the Sundgau ;
being upwards of twenty miles in length, and
about eighteen in breadth. It contains three
towns, twentynieven parishes, seven bailiwics,
and 38,000 inhabitants ; the supposed area being
about 181 square miles. Altbougn the mountains
are barren, the lower parts are fruitful in com
and wine, and fit for pasture; hemp also abounds
here. It has many medicinal springs and baths,
and the air is whoLesorae and temperate. The
people are proteatants : both men and women for
the moft part wear the French dress ; but Ae lan-
guage commonly spoken is German, though the
French aho is mucn used. By the constitution of
1803, the legislative power is vested in the lan;e
council of 135, elected from among the citizens
at large ; it assembles every half year in the town
of Basle, and sits for a fortnight at a time. The
executive power is intrusted to the small council
of twenty-five, chosen from among tlie members
of the large council, and having at its head two
burgomasters, who preside alternately. The
whole canton is divided into the three districts of
Basle (the town), Wallenburg, and Liestal, each
of which is subdivided into fifteen corporations.
Every inhabitant who rents land or houses to the
value of 500 Swiss francs, has a seat in one of
these corporations, and is by virtue of it entitled
to vote at the election of members for the large
council. This canton sends three representatives
to the diet. Before the revolution its government
was aristocratical ; and its revenues arise chiefly
from secularised abbeys, and imposts on goods
carried through the country, to and from France,
Italy, and Germany. Besides the military esta-
blishment of the city of Basle, there were two
provincial regiments, consisting each of ten com-
panies, and a troop of dragons. At present the
country furnishes two regiments of militia, each
consisting of nine companies of fusileers, a com-
pany of grenadiers, and one of dragoons. Ma-
nufacturing establishments are found in every
comer, particularly for those of silk, cotton,
ribbons and paper. The clergy forn* ^^ the capital
a convention, and in the country three chapters ;
over all these the first pastor of the cathedral pre-
sides. Basle was the nrst canton which separated
from the Helvetic confederacy, and adopted the
new constitution ; an(^ here, it is said, the first
paper of modem times was manufactured.
Basle, or Bale, the capital of tliis canton, is
the largest city in Switzertand, having upwards '
of 200 streets, and six market-places or squares.
Its environs are exceedingly beautiful, consisting
of a fine level tract of fields and meadows. The
city is divided into two parts by the Rhine, over
which there is a handsome bridge ; the larger
on the side of Switzerland, the lesser on thai of
Germany. It is thought by some to have risen
on tlie rains of the old Augusta Rauraconim.
For its name it is indebted to Julian the Apos-
tate, iwho named it in honor of his mother
Basilina. The houses are well built, but thinly
popled, Basle containing at present only 15,000
inhabitants, whereas in former times the town
was crowded to excess. A hereditary enmity
subsists between the inhabitants of the two divi-
sions. The minster, or cathedral church, tb^
town-house, and the arsenal, are objects worthy
of attention. The university, founded here in
1459, has an excellent library, a cabinet of me-
dals, and botanic garden ; the town has given
birth to a number of eminent characters, particu-
larly CEcolampadius, Gryncus, Buxton, Wet-
stein, Hermann, the BemouiUis, and Euler;
Erasmus too resided here for many years, and
lies interred in the cathedral. The commerce is
extensive and flourishing, and is maintained
chiefly by the manufecture of silk ribbons. The
other manufJBictures of consequence are, silk stuff%
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619
BAS
oottoii, paper, linen, and glores ; there are also
considerable bleachfields and dye-hou8e«|. The
highest administrative power belongs to the large
council of 360, out of which are chosen the mem-
bers of the smaller council of 60. The Teutonic
and Maltese orders have each a commander at
Basle. It was remarked as a singularity in the
clocks of this town, that they always struck an
hour sooner than elsewhere ; but this peculiarity
no longer exists. Basle was formerly a city of
the empire, and only ceased to be so on its join-
ing the Swiss confederacy in 1501. Here was
held a &mous ecclesiastical council, between the
years 1431 and 1444.
Basle was once the name of an independent
bishopric, which had the Sundgau toJhe north,
the canton of Basle to the east, mat ofoolothum
to the south, and Tranche Comt^ to the west.
The bishop was a prince of the empire, and had
a seat and vote at the diet of the Upper Rhine.
lie was at the sanie time in alliance with the se-
ven catholic cantons, but was never called to the
meetings of the Swiss diet. His ordinary resi-
dence was at Porentrui. The whole bishopric
contained, on 420 square miles, between 39,000
and 40,000 inhabitants. The nett revenue was
valued at £20,000 sterling, to which the mines
contributed between £3000 and £4000. In 1792
the French took possession of that part of the
bishopric which belonged to the German empire,
and formed it into a department of their republic,
under the name of Mont Terrible, with which
they soon after incorporated seversd of the other
districts that were previously connected with
Swiuerland. After this it was included in the
department of the Upper Rhine. In 1815 the
bishopric of Basle, with the town and territory of
•Bienne, was united to the Swiss republic, by the
congress of Vienna, and now fonns part of the
canton of Berne.
BASMAN, an island in the Persian golf, five
miles long, in the centre of which is a high hill.
Lat. 25° 24' N.
BASNAGE (Henry), Sieur de Beauval,
second son to Henry Ekksnage, and brother to
James. He was admitted adyocate in the par-
liament of Rouen, in 1679. He did not follow
the bar immediately upon his admission ; but went
to Valencia, where he studied under M. de Mar-
ville. Upon his return, he practised with great
Sratation till 1687, when the revocation of the
ict of Nantz obliged him to fly to Holland,
where he composed the greatest part of his works,
uid died in 1710. His chief work is Histoire
aes Ouvrages des S9avans. Rotterd. 24 vols.
in 12mo. l^is work was begun in September
#687, and continued till June 1709. When he
arrived in Holland, Mr. Bayle, through indis-
position, had been obliged to drop his Nouvelles
de la Republiqne des Lettres, which induced
Mr. fiasnage to undertake a work of the same
kind, under a different title.
Bas2Vage (James), a learned author, and pas-
tor of the Walloon church at the Hague, was
bom at Rouen in Normandy, in 1653. He was
the son of Henry Basnage, one of tiie ablest
advocates in the parliament of Normandy. At
aeventeen years of age, after he had made him-
self master of the Greek and Latin authors, as
well as the English, Spanish, and Italian lan-
guages, he went to Geneva, where he began his
divinity studies under Meslrezat, Turretin, and
Tronchin; and finished them at Sedan, under
die professors Jurieu and Le Blanc de Beaulieu.
He then returned to Rouen, where he was received
as minster, September 1676; in which capacity
he remained till 1685, when, the exercise of the
Protestant religion being suppressed at Rouen, he
retired to Rotterdam, and was a minister pen-
sionary there till 1691, when he was chosen pas-
tor of the Walloon church of that city. In the
year 1709 Pensionary Heinsius got him chosen
one of the pastors of the Walloon church at the
Hague, Intending not only to employ him in
religious but in state afiairs. He was employed
in a secret negociation with Marshal d'Uxefles,
plenipotentiary of France at the congress of
Utrecht; and he executed it with so much suc-
cess, that he was afterwards entrusted with seve-
ral important commissions, all which he dis-
chargea in such a manner as to gain a great cha-
racter for his abilities and address; a celebrated
modem writer has therefore said of him, that he
was fitter to be a minister of state than of a
C' h. ' The abbe du Bois, who was at the
^le'in 1716, as ambassador plenipotentiary
from France, to negociate a defensive alliance
between France, England, and the States Gene-
ral, was ordered by the duke of Orleans, regent
of France, to apply himself to M. Basnage, and
to ft)llow his advice ; they accordingly acted in <
concert, and the alliance was conchided in
January 1717; and in return for his services he
obtained the restoration of aU his property in
France. The catholics esteemed him no less
than the protestants; and the works he wrote,
which are mostly in French, spread his reputa-
tion almost all over Europe; among these are, 1.
The history of the Religion of the Reformed
Churches. 2. Jewish Antiquities. 3. The His-
tory of the Old and New" Testament; and many
others. He died Sept. 12; 1723.
BASNET (Edward), dean of St. Patrick's,
Dublin. He was bom in Denbighshire, in
Wales, and was preferred to the dean of St. Pa-
trick's about 1537. He was a zealous promoter
of the Reformation, and in 1539, when the re-
bellion of O'Neal broke out, he laid aside the
dress of the dean for that of the soldier, and
joined the army under the lord deputy. For his
good services ne was made a privy counsellor,
and besides other marks of royal favor, had the
lands of Kiltearn^ in the neighbourhood of Dub-
lin, assigned to him by the crown. He died in
the reign of Edward Vl. »
BASNETUM, low Lat. a helmet. Bailey,
Bason, bassin, Fr. See Basin.
Bason, in anatomy, pelvis. 1. Around ca-
vity in form of a tunnel, situate between the an-
terior ventricles of the brain, descending from its
base, and ending in the point at the ghmdula
pituitaria. It is formed of the pia mater, and
receives the pituita, which comes from the brain,
and passes throu^ the pituitary gland, and
thence into the veins. 2. That capacity is also
called pelvis, or bason, which is foriuea by the
ossa ilia and os sacrum, and contains the blaudder
of urine, the matrix, and the intestines.
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BasoNi in glass-grinding, or dish. Glass-
grinders use various kinds of basons, of copper^
iron, &c. and of various forms, some deeper,
others shallower, according to the focus of the
glasses that are to be ground. In these basons,
convex glasses are formed, as concave ones are
on spheres or bowls. Glasses are worked in
basons two ways. In the first, the bason is fitted
to the arbor, or tree of a lath, and the glass, fixed
with cement to a handle of wood, is presented
and held fest in the right hand within tne bason,
while the proper motion is given by the foot of
the bason. In the other, the bason is fixed to a
stand or block, and the glass with its wooden
handle moved. The movable basons are very
small, seldom exceeding five or six inches in
diameter ; the others -are larger, sometimes above
ten feet diameter. After the glass has been
ground in the bason, it is brought smoother
with grease and emery, polished with tripoli, and
finished with paper cemented to the bottom of
the bason.
Bason, in hat-making, a large round shell or
case, ordinarily of iron, placed over a furnace ;
wherein the matter of the hat is moulded into
form. The hatters have also basons for the brims
of hats,, usually of lead, having an aperture in the
middle, of a diameter sufficient for the largest
block to go through.
Bason, in hydraulics, a reservoir of water, as
the bason of a jet d*eau, or fountain ; the bason
of a port or harbour, of a bath, &c. Basons
are made with clay, cement, or lead ; but the
diameter must be made four feet longer on each
side than the bason is to be. This will be taken
up by the walls of clay. For the same reason,
it must be dug two feet deeper than the intended
depth of the water ; because it is to be laid over
eighteen inches thick with clay, and six inches
with gravel and paving. The wall is to be made
with shards, ruboish, or flints, with the natural
earth for mortar ; and the day must be well
worked, and trod firnily down with the naked
feet The way of making them with cement is,
to allow one foot nine inches every way for the
work ; then cut the banks perpendicularly, and
raise a wall of masonry a foot thick, made of
pebble stones, or the like, laid in a mortar of
time and sand ; the bottom is then to be covered
. to the same thickness ; and then the solid lining
of the cement is to be backed up i^nst the
walls, and over the bottom. This is to be made
of small flints in beds of mortar, made of lime
and cement. When this solid is eight inches
thick, it must be plastered over the whole surface
with cement, welt sifted, before it be mixed with
the lime ; and with this it is to be wrought over
smooth . with a trowel. The proportion of this
cement should be two-thirds of tne cement, or
powdered tile, to one-third of lime ; and this
cement has the property of hardening so under
water, that it will become like stone or marble,
and it will not be subject to decay for a long
time. After the finishing, the bason should, for
four or five days, be anointed over very often
with oil, or bullock's bloody to keep it from
flawing or cracking in the drying ; and after this,
the water should be let in as soon as may be.
The leaded basons are made with walk a foot
thick, and a bottom of half a foot These most
be of rabble stones cemented with plaster; for
the lime will injure and eat the lead. Tlie sheets
of lead are to be spread over these walls and
bottom, and seamed with solder. These basons,
however, are but little in use now, (torn the ex-
pense of making them, and the danj^r of the
lead being stolen. The waste pipes of foantains
ought always to be made large enough for fea:
of choking. When the waste water is to be
carried off in common sewers, it may be earned
away in drains, or earthen pipes ; but when it is
to serve for basons that lie below it, it is to be
conveyed in leaden ones. — There are divers torts
of basons ; as
1. Bason en CoQt7iLLE, that shaped like a
shell. •
2. Bason, Figubed, that whose plane or cir-
cumference makes several turns and returns,
either straight, circular, or the like. Such are
most of the basons of fountains at Rome.
3. Bason with a Balustrade, that whose
cavity is surrounded with a balustrade of stooe,
marble, brass, or the like.
4. Bason with a Trencb, bassin a rigde,
that whose border being of marble, or other
stone, has a trench cut in it, wheoce, at
oe^n distances, springs out a thread of water,
which lines the trench, and forms a kind of nape
or gargle around the balustrade. Such is that
of the fountain of the rock of the Belvidere at
Rome.
Basok, in ship-building, a circular dock for
the reception of ships.
Bason, Sale by the, at Amsterdam, is ased
for the public sales made under thedirectioD
of the vendu meester ; so called, by reason that,
before adjudging the lot or commodity to the last
bidder, they strUie a brass bason, to give notice
of it
Basons of a Balance, two pieces of brass,
or other matter, fastened to the extremities of the
strings ; the one to hold the weight, the other
the thing to be weighed.
BASOUDHA, a town of Hindostan, m the
district of Bilsah.. Long. 78*» 13' E., lat 23"
54' N.
BASQUE Island, an island in the rirer St
Lawrence, near the coast of Lower Canada.
Long. 68® 52' W., lat. 48* 15' N.
BASQUES Les, or Fremco Biscay, a district
of Gascony, France, which has the Bay of
Biscay on the west, the river Adour and the
Landes on the north. Beam on the east, and the
Pyrenees on the south. It was formerly subdi-
vided into the three territories of Labour, Lower
Navarre, and Soule, and is now included in lfa#
department of the Lower Pyrenees. It is reiy
mountainous, and rather bajren ; it rears, how-
ever, a number of cattle. The inhabitants ase
a dialect which resembles that of the Spanish
Biscayans, and is supposed to be a variety of the
Celtic. The agility of the inhabitants is pro-
verbial. It is not easy to imagine moie ^ac^
and expression than they display in their mo-
tions, or the spirit and activity of their dances.
Basques, Rio de, a river in Uie province and
government of Costa Rica, kingdom of Guat^
mala, which &Us into the Atlaofk.
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BASQUEVILLE, or Baqueville, a town of
TraDce, in Lower Normandy, with 2190 inhar
bitants. Here are manufactores of serge, matrasses,
and woollen stufis. It had the tide of county
before the revolution, and is now the head of a
canton, in the department of the Lower Seine,
arrondissement of Dieppe. It is ten miles S. W.
of Dieppe, and twenty-eight N. of Kouen.
BASHAH. SeeBASsoRA.
^ BASRODE, a town of the Netherlands, in
Flanders, on the Scheldt, near Dendermonde.
It contains 2150 inhabitants.
BASS, ) This is the word from which
Ba'ssock. y basket is supposed to be derived ;
our gardeners even now call the soft sedge or
rush with which they bind plants batty which is
the meaning of the word m. the following cita-
tion from Mortimer.
Having voollen yam, baa$ mat, or sock like, to
bind them withal. Martmer'a Htubandry,
BASS, n. «., in Cumberland, a river-fish, of
the perch kind ; in Hampshire, a sea perch.
Bass, in gardening, a soft kind of sedge or
rush, used in binding plants, &c.
Bass, in geography, an insulated rock, about
a mile in circumference, in the mouth of the
Frith of Forth, at a small distance from the town
of North Berwick, in East Lothian. It is steep
and inaccessible on all sides, except on the
S. W. and even there it is with great difficulty
that a single man can climb up with the help of
a rope or ladder. It was formerly kept as a
garrison. A party of the adherents of James
VII. surprised it at the revolution, and it was
the last place in the three kingdoms that sub-
mitted to the new government ; upon which its
fortifications were ordered to be neglected. In
summer this remarkable rock, which rises to a
great height above the water, in form of a cone,
is quite covered with sea-fowl, which come hither
to breed. The chief of these are the solan geese,
(See Bassamus), which arrive in June, and retire
in September. At that period these birds are so
numerous that thev almost darken the air ; and
the surface of the Bass is so covered with nests,
eggs, and young, that it is difficult to walk
without treading on them. The ruins of the old
castle, which was once the state prison for Scot*
land, are situated at the north end of the pre-
cipice, which overhangs the sea in a tremenaous
manner. The Bass also contains a small warren
for rabbits, and pasture for a few sheep. There
is a beautiful spring of water in the centre, high
on the rock. The force of the tides has now
almost worn a hole through this rock. Long.
2^* 15' W., lat. 56^ 3* N.
Bass, in music, of uncertain etymology;
whether from the Greek word fiavtc, a founda^
lion; or from the Italian adjective basso, low;
the lowest of the four parts of music, but the
most important, as it is upon that the chords
proper to constitute a particular harmony are
determined . Hence the maxim among musicians,
that when the bass is properly formed, the har-
mony can scarcely be bad. It is the part of the
concert which is the most heard, which consists
of the gravest and longest sounds ; or which is
played on the largest pipes or strings of a common
instrument, or an mstrument larger than ordi-
nary, for the purpose. Musicians generally bold
the bass the principal part of a concert, and the
foundation or the composition; though others
will have the treble the chief part. Tl^ late in-
genious Dr. Franklin, in his very curious letter
to Lord Kaimes on this subject, declares it to be
his opinion that the bass is unaecessary to some
tunes, and gives some reasons in support of it,
which the curious may see there. Lxper. Ob-
serv. &c. 4to. fifth edit p. 489. Rousseau ap-
pears to have been of the same opinion. See
Diet, de Musique, an. 1768.— Bass clitT, or F
cliff, the character is marked thus-
Bass, Counter, is a second or double bass,
where there are several in the same concert.
Bass Harbour, a harbour in the Eastern seas,
formed by several small islands, off the coast of
Malacca, fdrty-five miles W. of Qiieda.
Bass Island, an island in Lake Erie, four
miles N. of Sundusky.
Bass River, a river of East Greenland, which
runs into the sea. Long. ^O"" 10' W., lat. 64^
30' N.
B ass-Relief. Whatever figures or repre-
sentations are cut, stamped, or otherwise wrought,
so that not the entire body, but only part of it,
is raised above the plane, are said to be done in
relief, or relievo ; and when that work is low,
flat, and but little raised, it is called bass or low
relief. When a piece of sculpture, a coin, or a
medal, has its figure raised so as to be well dis-
tinguished, it is called bold, and we say its relief
is strong. Bass-reliefs of the Trajan and Anto-
nine columns have been copied by Bartoli, and
explained by Bdlori, &c. Those of the arch of
Severus by Suaresius. Some have also made
maps of prospects of countries in basso-relievo.
Phil. Trans. No. 6, p. 99. See Basso Rilievo.
Bass, Thorough, is the harmony made by
the bass-viols, or theorbos, continuing to play
both while the voices sing and the other instru-
ments perform their parts, and also filling up the
intervals when any of the other parts stop. It is
played by figures marked over tne notes, oa the
organ, ^inet, harpsichord, &c. and frequently
simply and without figures on the bass-viol and
bassoon.
Bass-viol, a musical instrument of the same
form with that of a violin, but much larger. It
is struck with a bow, as that is ; has the same
number of strings ; and has tight stops, which
are subdivided into semi-stops: its sound is
grave, and has a much nobler effect in a concert
than Uiat of the violin.
Bass Strait, so called from the name of its dis-
coverer, separates Van Diemen*s Land from New
Holland, and is not more than fifty leagues wide.
It contains a chain of small islands, which run
north and south. Van Diemen's land, which
was hitherto supposed to be a part of New Hol-
land, is thus ascertained to be a detached island ;
as, proceeding through this strait, Mr. Bass ac-
tually circumnavigated it. This discovery is not
only interesting, as it establishes this geographi-
cal fact, but may be useful^ aa it expedites the
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passage firom the Cape of Good Hope to our
settlemeDt of Port JacJuon.
BASSA. See Bashaw.
Bassa, or Grand Bassa, a country on the
west coast of Africa, about 400 miles south
of Sierra Leone, where the American coloniza-
tion Society has obtained a grant of land from
the king for a settlement. One of their agents
describes the Bassas as living in small Tillages,
or clusters of cottages, in each of which there is
a head-man, who has a plurality of wives, and is
the owner of all the people in his town. The
inhabitants of each village cultivate the ground
in common, which is chiefly done by the women
and boys; the men employ themselves in fishing,
hunting and trade, and in directing those under
them. The adults wear a piece of narrow clodi
about their loins ; but the children are not bur-
dened with any kind of clothing. They are very
fond of beads, and various other ornaments; and
are represented as good-natured peo^Ae, but ex-
tremely ignorant and superstitious, depending
solely upon their gree-grees and devil worship,
to whom they make daily sacrifices, and even
dedicate a part of their regular food.
Bassac, a town of France, in the Angoumois,
department of the Charente, arrondissement of
Cognac, where vras formerly an abbey. The
number of inhabitants is about 1000. On the
13th of March, 1569, a battle was fought near
this place between Ae Catholics and Protestants,
in which the latter were defeated, and a prince
of Cond^ was killed. It is on the right bank of
the Charente, not far irom Jamac, aad fifteen
miles £. S. £. of Saintes.
BASSAD, or Bbid, au Arabian name for the
purple fttctts of the Greeks, used by the women
to paint their cheeks, and t y the dyers of cloths.
It nas been misunderstood oy late authors, and
interpreted coral; but the eiror of this is evident,
since oond has none of these properties. See
Makgiak.
BASSAN (Giaoomo de Pont), or ls Bassav,
a celebrated Venetian paanter, bom in 1510.
His subjects generally were peasants and vil-
lagers, cautle, Undscapes, and historical designs;
the figures were well designed, and the animals
and landscapes have an agreeable resemblance
of simple nature. His compositions cannot boast
of much elegance ; but they have abundance of
force and tmth. His local colors are well ob-
served, his carnations brilliant, and the chiaro-
scuro and perspective well understood. His
touch is free and^pirited, and the distances in
his landscapes are always true, but sometimes too
dark in the nearer parts. His works are spread
all over Europe : many of them were purchased
by Titian; and there were several in the late
French king's cabinet, the royal palace, and the
Hotel de Toulouse. They are readily known
from the similitude of characters and counte-
nance in the figures and animals. Ice., and par-
ticularly from a violet or purple tint that pre-
dominates in them all. But the genuine pictures
of his own hand are not so easily ascertained ;
because his sons were mostly employed in copy^
ing the works of their fiither, which he sometimes
retouched. As he lived to be very old, he
finished a great number of pictures; yet from
this circumstance his genuine pictures are not
commonly met with. But the true pictares o.
Giaoomo always bear a considerable price. Ue
was also a lover of music and gardening, and
used to intermingle among his plants figures of
serpents, drawn so much to the life thai his visi-
tors were apt to mistake them for real ones.
Hannibal Caracci himself when he went to see
him, was so far deceived by the figure of a book
upon the wall that he went to take it off the sup-
posed shelf, fle died in 1529.
Bassan (Leander and Francis), sons of
Giacomo, inherited their Other's genius for
painting, and distinguished themselves in the
art; but unfortunately they also inherited a
species of lunacy from their mother, which
snortened their lives and their usefolness.
BASSANI (Giovanni Battista), maestro di
capella of the cathedral church of Bologna, about
the middle of die last century, was a very
voluminous composer of music, having published
no fe^er than thirty-one different wotlLs. He ii
equally celebrated as a composer for the church
and for concerts; and being also a celebrated
performer on the violin, he taught Corelli. His
compositions consist of masses, psalms, motets
with instrumental parts, and wnatas for violins:
his fifth opera in particular, containing twelve
sonatas for two violins and a bass, is muck
esteemed ; it is written in a style wonderfully
grave and pathetic. He was one of the first who
composed motets for a single voice, with accom-
paniments of violins ; a practice liable to objec-
tion, as it assimilates church-music too nearty to
that of the chamber. Two of his operas, viz. die
eighth and thirteenth, were printed in London,
by Pearson, above fifty years ago, widi die title
of Harmonia Festiva.
BASSANO, a floorishmg town of Italy, on die
river Brenta, in the Venetian territory. It is
scarcely one Italian mile in circuit, but has
spacious suburbs,, and contains, according to the
last French enumeration, 11,500 inhabitants. A
stone bridge, 182 feet in length, connects it with
die large village of Vieantino. The neighbour-
hood is highly fiivorable to the cultivation of the
vine and olive, and a good trade is carried on
in silk, cloth, and leather'. Theextensiveprintiog-
office of Remondni issues a number of el^iant
publications. In the kingdom of Italy this town
belonged to the depattment of the Tagliamento :
Buonaparte erected it into a duchy, with £2,500
sieriing annual revenue, which he conferred m
1809 en Maret, bis minister for foreign affidn.
It is twelve miles north of Vicenza, and twenty
west of Treviso. Long. 11* 4^ E., laL 45**
46' N.
Bass A NO, or Bassavella, a small town in the
Papal states, die head of a duchy, belonging to
the house of Colonna. It gives name to die Uke
of Bassano, from which issues the river La
Barca, the ancient Cremera. Here vras bom the
celebrated Venetian printer, Aldus Manntius.
Three miles west of Orta.
Bassano (St.), a small town of Italy, in die
duchy of Milan, and district of Lodi.
BASSANUS, in ornithology, a species of Pe>
lecanus, as large as a common goose, with a
wedge-shaped tail; body white; bin and pri-
mary quill-feathers black; and foce blue. Gmcdio.
Latham, &c.
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This is the common gamiet, or solan goose,
a bird found in great plenty on all the northern
coasts of Britain, but rather less common to the
southward. The adult birds have the plumage
nearly all white ; but during the fint years it is
of a dusky color, and only speckled with white.
The bill is bluish-ash color, about six inches in
length, and has the nostrils placed in a furrow ;
the mouth within is black ; the throat is bare ;
and the skin very dilatable, forming a pouch of
efficient size to contain five or six herrings ; the
legs are black, marked with a stripe of pea-
t,rreen before ; and the claw of the middle tOe is
pectinated. The males and females are veiy
much alike in plumage. The gannet is par-
ticularly abundant in the isleof Ailsa in the nrth
of Clyde ; the rocks adjacent to St. Kilda ; the
stalks of Souliskerry, near the Orkneys; the
Skelig isles off the coasts of Kerry, Ireland';
and the Bass island in the firth of Edinburgli.
Dr. Hervey gives some account of the latter in
these words. 'There is a small island, called
by the Scotch Bass island, not more than a mile
in circumference ; the surface is almost wholly
covered during the months of May and June
with nests, eggs, and young birds; so that it is
scarcely possible to walk without treading on
them ; and the flocks of birds in flight are so
prodigious as to darken the air like clouds ; and
their noise is such that you cannot without dif-
ficulty hear your next neighbour's voice. If you
look down upon the sea from the top of the pre-
cipice, you will see it on every side covered
vnth infinite numbers of birds of different kinds,
swimming and hunting for their prey; if in
sailrag round the island you survey the hanging
cliffs, you see in every cragg or fissure of the
broken rocks innumerable birds of various sorts
and sizes, more than the stars of heaven when
viewed in a serene night ; if from afar you see
the distant flocks either flying to or from the
island, you would imagine them to be a vast
swarm of bees.
'The gannet,' observes Dr. Latham, 'inhabits
the colder parts of this kingdom, and more es-
pecially several of the northern isles, and in par-
ticular that of Bass in Scotland, whence the
name. It generally first makes its appearance
in March, and after making a circuit of the
island, departs in October or November. This
race seems to be in pursuit of the herrings and
pilchards, whose* motions it watches; and the
fishermen know the coming of these fish by the
appearance of the birds. That this is tiie in-
ducement seems probable, as they are likewise
seen, in the month of December, as far south as
the coast of Lisbon and Gibraltar, plunging for
sardinae. The gannet is also common on the
coasts of Norway and those of Iceland, and now
and then met with on the southern coast of
Greenland. In Amerfca it is found on the coasts
of Newfoundland, where it breeds, migrating in
winter as far as Carolina : said also to have been
met with frequently in the southern ocean ; but
we are not clear whether the sort meant by them
is the common gannet, or the lesser one.'
'The gannets,' Mr. Pennant remarks, 'are
birds of passage. The first appearance in those
islands beinjr in March^ and their continuance
till August or September, aocording as the in-
habitants take or leave their first egg; but in
general the time of breeding and that of their
departure seems to coincide with the arrival of
the herring, and the migration of that fish, which
is their principal food, out of those seas.' ' I
have in the month of August,' he adds in another
place, ' observed in Caithness their northern mi-
grations. I have seen them passing the whole
day in flocks, from five to fineen in each. In
calm weather they fly high, in storms they fly
low and near the shore ; but never cross over
land, even when a bay with promontories inter-
venes, but follow at an equal distance the course
of the bay, and regularly double every cape. I
have seen many of the parties makp a sort of
halt for the sake of fishiiig ; then, darting head-
long into the sea, make the water foam and
spring up with the violence of their descent:
uter which they pursued their route. I enquired
whether they ever were observed to return south-
ward in the spring, but was answered in the ne-
gative ; so that it appears, they annually encirde
&e whole island.'
They are well known on most of our coasts
by different names. In Cornwall and in Ireland
they are called gannets, aiKl by the Welsh gan.
It comes on the coasts of Cornwall in the latter
end of the summer or beginning of autumn,
hovering over the shoals of pilchards that come
up through the St. George's channel from the
north sea. The gannet seldom comes near the
land, but is constant to its prey ; and when the
Silchards retire, which happens about the end of
fovember, they are seen no more.
The nest of the gannet is composed of various
materials, such as grass and water plants, inter-
mixed wilh any thing the birds find floating on
the water. Each bird, if ondislurbed, would
lay only one egg in the year ; but if that be taken
away they will lay another, and if that be taken
away also, they will lay a third, but no more.
The young gannets, as well as the eggs, are
eaten. Martin assures us, that the inhabitants
of St. Kilda consume annually no less than
22,600 young birds of this species, besides an
amazing quantity of their eggs ; these being their
principal support throughout the year: they
preserve their eggs and fowls in pyramidal stone
buildings, covering them with turf ashes to pro-
tect them from moisture. This is a dear-bought
food, and earned at the hazard of their lives,
either by climbing the most difficult and narrow
paths, where to appearance they barely cling,
and ^lat too at an amazing height above the
raging sea; or else, being lowered dovm from
alx)ve, they collect their annual provision, thus
hanging tnidway 11 the air, ana placing their
whole dependence on the uncertain footing of
one person who holds the rope by which Uiey
are suspended at the top of the precipice. The
young birds are a favorite dish with the north
Britons in general, during the season they are
constantly brought frotn the Bass isle to Edin-
burgh, and are roasted and served up a little
before dinner as a whet : the price they are sold
for in the markets is twenty-pence a piece.
The following account of the gannets in the
isle of St. Kilda is given by Mr. Macauley:
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' T^e rocks are m Bummer totally covered ^th
the solan geese and other fowls, and appear at
a distance like so many mountains covered with
snow. The nests of the solan geese, not to
mention those of other fowls, are so close, that
when one walks between them, the hatching fowls
on either side can alwajs take hold of one's
clothes ; and they will onen sit till they are at-
tacked, rather than expose their eggs to the
danger of being destroyed by the sea gulls : at
the same time an equal number fly about, and
furnish food for their mates that are employed in
batching ; and there are, besides, large flocks of
barren fowls of the difierent trib^ that frequent
the rocks of St. Kilda.
'The solan geese, almost equal the tame
ones in size. The common amusement of the
herring-fishers shows the great strength of this
fowl. The fishers fix a herring upon a board,
which has a small weight under it tp sink it a
little below the sur&ce of th^ sea : the solan
goose observing the fish, darts upon it perpen-
dicularly, and with so much force, that he runs
his bill irrecoverably through the board, and is
taken up directly by the fishers.
* The solan seese repair to St. Kilda in the
month of Marcn^ and continue there till after
the beginning of November. Before the middle
of that montib they, and all the other sea-fowls
tliat are fond of thb coast, retire much about the
same time into some other fiBtvorite regions ; so
that not a single fowl belonging to their element
is to be seen about St. Kilda from the beginning
of winter down to the middle of February.
Before the young soland geese fly off, they are
larger than their mothers, and the faX on their
breast is sometimes three inches deep. Into
what quarter of the world these tribes of wild
fowl repair, after winter sets in, whether into the
northern ocean, the native country and winter-
quarters of herrings in general, or into some
other region near the sun, or whether they be of
the sleeping kind, they who pry into the myste-
ries of natural history, or have conversed much
with writers of voyages, can best explain. I shall
only pretend to say that these difierent nations
of the feathered kind are taught to choose the
most proper habitations and feedii^g places, and
to shift their quarters seasonably by the unerring
hand of God.
* From the account given above of the multi-
tudes.of ' sea-fowls that seek their food on this
coast, we may justly conclude that there must be
inexhaustible stores of fish there. Let us for a
moment confine our attention to the consump-
tion made by a single species of fowls. The
solan goose is almost insatiably voracious ; he
flies with great force and velocity, toils all the
day with little intermission, and digests his food
in a veiy short time ; he disdains to eat any
thing worse than herring or mackerel, unless it be
in a very hungry place, which he takes care to avoid
or abandon. We shall take it for granted that
fhere are a hundred thousand of that kind around
&e rocks of St Kilda; and this calculation is
ty far too moderate, as no less than twenty thou-
sand of this kind are destroyed every year, in-
cluding the youLg ones. \Ve shall suppose, at
the same time^ that the solan geese sojourn in
these seas for about seven months in the year ;
that each of them destroys five herrings in a day,
a subsistence infinitely poor for so gfeedy a
creature, unless it were more than half supported
at the expence of other fishes. Here we have
100,000,000 of the finest fish in the world de-
voured aimually by a single species •f the St.
Kilda sea-fowls,' &c.
It is proper to observe that le grand fou of
Brisson and Buffon, and great booby of Cat^by,
an inhabitant of the sea-shores of Florida, is
supposed to be the young or at least a variety of
pelecanus bassanus ; and that observed by nari-
gators so common on Ascension island, peleca-
nus piscator, a different species.
BASSATERRE. See Basse-Teres.
BASSEE, La, in geography, a town of
France, in the department of the North, the ci-
devant French Netherlands, remaikable on ac-
count of the many sieges it has sustained. It is
seated on a canal which fiills into the river
Deule; eighteen miles south-west of Lille.
Its prineipal commerce is in cattle, linen, and
turf; Population about 2200.
Basse, in ichthyology, the English name of
the searwolf^ the lupus piscis of authors. The
Greeks have called this labrax ; and some of the
later writers, as Paulus Jovius and others, spigola.
It is properly a species of pearch, and is dis-
tinguishea by Artedi by the name of the pearch
wiUi thirteen rays in the second fin of the back,
and fourteen in the pinna auri. See Lupus,
Marinus.
Bassb, in writers of the middle age, a collar
for cart-horses, made of flags. Hence also the
round, inatted cushion of flags, or hassock, used
for kneeling in churches, is c^led basse ; in Kent
a trush.
Basse-<our, in building, a court separated
from the principal one, and destined tor the
stables, c(nch-houses, and livery servants. lo
the country it is applied to the yard, or place
where the cattle, fowls, &c. are kept.
Basse Enciente, or Basse Enclosure, in for-
tification, a false trench, made to hide arnl one.
BASSEEN, a sea-port of Hindostan, the pro-
vince of Aurungabad, separated from the island
of Salsette by a narrow strait, in long. 72^ 54' £.,
lat. 19° 18' N. The district around is in a vety
improved state of cultivation, although under a
Mahratta government Many of the cultivators
are Roman Catholics. The Teak forests, which
supply the marine yard at Bombay, lie along the
western side of the Ghaut mountains, to the
north and north-east of Basseen . In 1 780 it was
taken from the Mahrattas by the British, but re-
stored in 1782. Distant 27 miles nocth of
Bombay, and 152 south of Surat.
BASSEIN, or Persaim, a du in the south-
west part of Pegu, where the British ibnneriy
had a factoiy ; but ihe Bunnans now prevent any
European vessel from entering this branch of the
river Irrawaddy. Long. 95** E., lat. 16° 50' N.
BASSEN, or Bassuk, a small town, castle,
and lordship of Germany, in the county of
Hoya, in Westphalia, with a Lutheran abbey.
It belongs to Hesse Cassel ; but the abbey stands
under the sovereignty of Hanover. Sixteen
miles west of Hoya.
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BAS
625
BAS
BASSES, a numerous cluster of islets, called
che Thousand isles by Maurelle, oif the north-west
point of New Guinea. The most south is iu
lonj?. 139® ar E., lat. 1** 40' S.
BASSET, or Bas£tte, a game at cards, said
to have been invented by a noble Venetian, for
^wbich he was banished. It was iirst introduced
into France by Signior Giustiniani, ambassador of
A^euice, in 1674. Severe laws were made against
it by Louis XIV., to elude which they disguised
basset under thef name of pour et contre, that is,
* for and against,* which occasioned new arrets
and prohibitions of parliament. The parties con-
cerned in it are a dealer or banker ; his assistant,
who supervises the losing cards ; and the punter,
or any one who plays against the banker. The
other terms used in this game are : 1. The fasse
or face, which is the first card turned up by the
tailleur belonging to the pack, by which oe gains
half the value of the money laid down on every
card of that sort by the punters. 2. The couch,
or first money which Qvery punter puts on each
card ; each person that plays having a book of
thirteen several cards before him, on which he
may lay his money, more or less, at discretion.
3. The paroli, which is, when a punter having
won the first stake, ind having a mind to pursue
his (^'ood fortune, crooks the comer of his card,
and lets his prize lie, aiming at a sept et le va.
4. Ihe masse; when having won the first stake,
the punter is willing to venture more money on
the same card. 5. The pay; when the punter
having won the first stake, be it a shilling, bal^
crown, guinea, or whatever he laid down on his
card, and not caring to hazard the paroli, leaves
off, or goes the pay : in which case, if ^he card
turn up wrong, he loses nothing, having won the
couch before; whereas, if it turn right, he by
this adventure wins double the money staked.
6. The alpiew; much the same with paroli, and
used when a couch is won by turning Up or
crooking the corner of the winning (»rd. 7.
Sept et le va, the first great chance or prize,
when the punter, having won the couch, makes
a paroli, and goes on to second chance ; so that
if his winning card turns up again, it comes to
sept et le ?a, which is seven times as much as he
laid down on his card. 8. Quinze et le vaisthe
next higher prize, when the punter, having won
the former, is resolved to push his fortune, and
lay his money a second time on the same card
by crooking another comer ; in wliich case, if it
comes up, he wins fifteen times the money laid
, down. 9. Trent et le va is the next higher
prize, when the punter, crooking tlie fourth cor-
ner of his winning card, if it turn up wins thirty-
three times the money he first staked. lO.Soixant
^i le va is the highest prize, and entitles the winner
to sixty-seven times his first money ; which, if it
were considerable, stands a chance to break the
bank : but the bank stands many chances first of
breaking the punter. This cannot be won but
by the tailleur's dealing the cards over again.
The rules of the game of basset are as follows : 1 .
The banker holds a pack of fifty-two cards, and
having shu£Bed them, he turns the whole pack at
once, so as to discover the last card ; after which
be lays down all the cards by couples. 2. The
Vol. III.
punter has his book of tlurteen cards in hii hand,
ft-om the king to the ace ; out of these he takes
one card, or more, at pleasure, upon which he
lays a stake. 3. The punter may, at his choice,
either lay down his stake before the pack if
turned, or immediately afler it is turned, or
after any number of couples are down. 4. Sup-
posing the punter to lay down his stake after the
pack is turned, and calling 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, &c. the
places of those cards which follow the card in
view, either immediately after the pack is turned,
or after any number of couples are drawn. Then,
5. If die card upon whicn the punter has laid a
stake comes out in any even place, except the
first, he wins a stake equal to his own. 6. If the
card upon which the punter has laid a stake
. comes out in any even place, except the second,
he loses his stake. 7. if the card of the punter
comes out in the first place, he neither wins nor
loses, but takes his own stake again. 8. If the
card of the punter comes out in the second place,
he does not lose his whole stake, but only one-
half; and this is the case in which the punter is
said to be faced. 9. When the punter chooses
to come in after any number of the couples are
down, if his card happens to be tut once in the
pack and b the last of^all, there is an exception
m>m the general mle : for though it comes out in
an odd place, which should entitle him to win a
stake equal to his own, yet he neither wins nor
loses from that circumstance, but takes back his
own stake. This game has been the object of
mathematical calculations. M. de Moivre solves
this problem : to estimate at basset the loss of
the punter under any circumstance of cards re-
maining in the stock when he lays his stake, and
of any number of times that his card is repeated
in the stock. From this solution he has formed
a table, showing the several losses of the punter
in whatsoever circumstances he may happen to
be. From this table it appears, 1. llie fewer the
cards are in the stock, the greater is the loss of
the punter. 2. That tlie least loss of the punter,
under the same circumstances of cards remaining
in the stock, is when his card is but twice m it ;
the next greater when but three times; still
greater when four times ; and the greatest when
but once. The gain of the banker upon all the
money adventured at basset is 15s. m. per cent.
Basset (Peter), a gentleman of a good family,
was chamberlain, or gentleman of the privy-
chamber, to Henry V. a constant attendant on
that brave prince, and an eye-witness of his most
glorious actions at home and abroad ; all which
he particularly described in a work entitled. The
Acts of King Henry V. which remains in MS. in
the college of heralds.
BASSE-TERRE, the chief town of St. Chris-
topher's, in the West Indies, situated at the south-
east end of the island, and at the mouth of a river
opening into a bay called Basse-Terre road. It
consists of a long street, containing 800 houses,
is a place of considerable trade, and defended by
three batteries. Long. 62** 36' W., lat. 17** 24' N .
Basse Terre, Fort oe la, a castle of the
island of Guadaloupe, on the west coast. ' It ii
also the name of a part of tlie island, between a
point of which, called Grosse Mome, to that of
3S
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626
BASSO RILIEVO.
A.ntigua in the Grande Terre, the basin called
the Great Cul de Sac is five or six leagues in
len^h, and affords safe riding for ships.
BASSETING, in the coal mines, denotes tlie
rise of the vein of coal towards the surface of the
earth, till it comes within two or three feet of the
sur£eu!e itself. This is also called by the work-
men croppine ; and stands opposed to dipping,
which is tne descent of the vein- to such a aepth
that it is rarely, if ever followed to the end.
BASSETTO, a bass viol of the smallest siie.
BASSEVILLE (Citizen), secretary to the
French legation at Rome, one of the many vic-
tims to the French revolution, but who fell, not
by the hands of the zealots of liberty, but by the
daemons of despotism and priestcraft, in March
1793. Having received orders from the Con-
vention to put up the arms of the republic over
the consular house, instead of those of the ci-de-
vant royalty, the popular furor was excited; and,
though Basseville himself, being a man of mode-
rate principles, was against the measure, the blind
zealots of superstition stabbed him in the belly
with a razor, in the house of Moutte the banker,
which they afterwards plundered and burnt,
calling out ' Long live the pope ! — Long live reli-
gion ! ' &c. Baaieville died in thitty-six hours;
and the convention decreed a pension to his
widow, wiUi reyersion to his child, whom they
also decreed to be educated at the public
expense.
BASSI (Laura)^a celebrated Italian lady, of
the eighteenth century. She received a liberal
education, not only m the branches considered
as belonging to her sex, but in the languages and
sciences ; and such was her progress in learning,
that in 1732, she got the title of Doctor of Pm-
losophy. In 1745 she read lectures on experi-
mental philosophy, and continued to do so
during her life. She married Dr. Verati, and
preserved an excellent character, as the practiser
of every virtue. She died in 1778.
BASSIA, a genus of the monogynia order, be-
longing to the dodecandria class of plants, the
characters of which are : The cal. is quadriphyl-
lous ; the coa. octofid, with the tube inflated ;
the STAM. are fifteen ; and the drupe is quin-
quespermous. There is but one species, viz. B.
.longifolia, native of Malabar.
BASSIGNY, a district of France, belonging,
before the revolution, to Upper Champagne, and
the duchy .of Bar. At present it is included in
the department of the Upper Mame, with the
exception of some small portions which are in
the departments of the Vosges and Maese. There
is in It a small town of the same name, but ^e
chief places are Chaumont and Vaucouleurs.
BASSINGTHWATE, or Bassenthwaite,
Water, a lake in Cumberland, four miles long,
and one broad, having on one side the vale of
Bassingthwate and the lofty Skiddaw, and on the
other Ae steep woody mountains of Withop.
BASSO, in music, generally signifies die bass,
but sometime^ in pieces of music for several
voices, the singing bass is more particularly so
called. Thus also.
Basso Conceetantc> or Recitante, implies
the bass of the little chorus, which plays through-
out the whole piece.
Basso Coktinuo, the continual or thorough
bass, distinguished with figures over the notes,
for the organ, harpsicord, or theorbo. It origi-
nally meant the accompaniment to the higher parts
of a sonata, &c. in whatever cliff it was written.
Basso Rilievo. Italian. In sculpture, a
modem term for that kind of sculpture in wlUch
the figures do not stand out from the ground in
their ftill proportion. The term belongs exclu-
sively to later times. Pliny (xxxiii. 11.) applies
the word avayXvicTa to workmanship of this xind ;
but it is a term by no means so distinctive as the
Italian basso-rilievo. All works in sculpture are
classed as bassi rilievi when the subjects repre-
sented are not isolated, but adherent to the
ground, whether they are of a similar or different
material, and appliM or fixed to the ground, or
form a part or the material in which they are
wrought. There are three sorts of relief in sculp-
ture, alto rilievo, mezzo rilievo, and basso lilievo.
Strictly taken, alto rilievo is that relief in which
the fibres are entire, or nearly so, being attached
only m a few places, and are relieved from the
ground like the metopes of the Parthenon ; mezzo
rilievo is that in which half the figure stands clear
from the ground, and the other appears buried
therein; and basso rilievo that in which the
figures lose their projecture, and are represented
as nearly flat, like the Panatheneic procession of
the same temple. Custom, however, has nearly
abolished two of these terms ; and basso rilievo
is often applied to each sort, be the projections
what they may.
The true basso rilievo, which has but small
projectipn, requires more skill in the sculptor
than that in which the projection is more con-
siderable; because it is extremely difficult to
give a natural effect to a figure which is of its
S-Qper height and size, but fells short of its real
icxness. WlMt is more difficult even than this,
in the style of sculpture now under consideratioo,
ispicturesque composition in grouping the figures,
because the artist cannot, as in painting, employ
different backgrounds remote from each other;
and as the shadows in sculpture are real, and not
imitative, he must calculate bis composition, and
arranffe its form for the light in which it b to be
placed.
The ancients used bassi rilievi in decorating
architectural designs, and in omameDting their
domestic fiimiture. All nations, however, in the
history of the arts have used them, and they re-
semble in style that of their other works. The
Egyptians ornamented their temples with an innu-
merable quantity of figures and hieroglyphics, of
which the greater part have the oatlmes only
suiJc, and me area thus formed only pamted;
but many of them are of the class bassi relievi
(See Denon's Traveb iU Egypt, Captain Norden,
and Dr. Pococke; also the Egyptian sculp-
tures in the British Museum, those brought to
Europe by Belzoni, &c.) Their manner of exe-
cuting these sculptures is singular: they first
channelled an outline in the stone, and sunk it
round the figure, so that it did not project bej(»d
the original face ; being in &ct more a species of
engraving than sculpture. The cabinet of the
ro^ library at Pans possesses a very corioos
Egyptian sculpture dius wTQught, and many of
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BASSO RILIEVO.
627
4w same description are found in Egypt, princi*
pally on the frontispieces of the temples where
the Scarabeas extends his reign. The Persians
were also partial to the use of bassi rilievi, as in
the walls of Tschelminar, the ancient Persepolis.
(See Persepolis.) They aze executed in very
high relief.
The Etruscans also used bassi rilievi; but
Winckelman errs in attributing to this people all
those works in which the figures are clothed in
draperies, with straight square folds, designed in
a stiff formal st^le like the antique altar of the
Cardinal Albani, on which is represented their
twelve principal god). On the oontiary, e?eiy
well intbrmea archaiologist allows these and
other similar monuments of art to belong to the
very earliest period of the Greeks. S6me basn
rilievi of clay, painted in water colors, found near
the country of the Volseii, which are preserved
in the cabinet of Cardinal Borgia, and published
under his patronagje, prove, beyond a doubt,
that the Etruscans, Uke the Greeks, often painted
their sculptural figures.
The bassi rilievi used by the ancients were
often formed of baked clay : sometimes of ivoiy
and various metals, but oftenei of marble.
Among the most celebrated Greek bassi rilievi
of antiquity are those which Phidias carved in
ivory, upon the shield and the base of the statue
of Minerva at Athens. Those which ornamented
the throne of Jupiter Olympus, executed by Al-
camenes; those of Apollo, at Amycls, in Laco-
nia ; the bassi rilievi of the temple of Hercnlas,
at Thebes, executed by Praxiteles ; those of the
temple of Delphos, the joint work of Praxias and
Andrpetbenes; the celebrated funeral monument
of Mausolus, called the mausoleum, executed by
Scopas, Bryaxis, Timgtheus, and Leochares ; the
thirty-six columns of the temple of Diana, at
Ephesus, &c.
The sculptures in the metopes and pediments
of the Parthenon at Athens, which were entire in
the time of Spon, who has described them, are in
alto rilievo, like statues affixed to a back ground
of marble. Their great size and height preserved
them from those accidents to which they would
have been liable in a lower situation, and to
which, on the sa^ne account, they gave a less
projection. Many of these invaluable relioB of
the brightest days of Grecian art, were brought
to England by Lord Elgin, and are preserved in
the British Museum,
As the greater part of the antique bassi rilievi,
now remaining, are executed in marble, they
form the principal criterion by which we can
judge of the excellency of their jKulptors. Many
of the best preserved were used to ornament their
altars, as is seen in those which are in the muse-
um capitolinum. One of these represents the
educaUon ^f Jupiter, and the others the labors
of Hercules. They were also used as decorationa
to the bases of statues, and oftener to their tombs;
and even sometimes to the pedestals or stones on
the margin of wells, as may be seen on one be-
longing to the hist-named museum, representing
the education of Achilles ; and a beautiftil one of
nymphs and fiiwns, in the British Museum.
The Romans made use of bassi rilievi to
commemorate victories and embellish columns.
triumphal arches, &c. But the greater number
now preserved were attached to sarcopliagi.
The custom of burning their dead had fiilleninto
disuse, partly from a scarcity of fuel, and partly
because they had acquired many of ^e religious
opinions of the eastern nations, fifom whom they
adopted the mode of occasionally interring tlie
bodies of their dead in coffins of marble, and
other valuable materials. Their numbers at
length became immense, both in the city and in
the environs of Rome, if we may judge only
from those whidi are to be found in the cabinets
of the curious. The bassi rilievi, with which
these sarcophagi are ornamented, are usually
wrought with little cfl^, and by sculptors of mi-
nor t^ents ; but tbey preserve to us many of the
finest compotfitions of their greatest artists, which
were the aamiration of antiquity I In many of the
Greek bassi rilievi, the &ce of the deceased only
is finished, and many antiquaries, fram this cir-
cumstance, have conjectured that it was a sort of
manuiacture in Greece, to make sarcophagi for
the Romans, and that they were to be finished
after they were sold. The bad style of these
sculptures is no reason for supposing that these
marbles were not carved in Greece, because in
the time of the emperors, the best Grecian artists
were removed to Rome, and those of meaner
talents remained at home. From the great quan-
tity s>f marble that Attica, and indeed all Greece,
possessed, it is natural to suppose that those
sculptora who remained behind in their country
would execute bassi rilievi for sarcophagi, when
so ready a sale was found for them at Rome.
Many archaiologists have supposed that the
greater part of the compositions which are found
on these sarcophagi, were copied from the gpreat
mastersi of which the originals Tas the paintings
of Paneenus and Polignotus in tne ^oekile, &,c.)
periiQied,when the cities of Greece were pillaged
and ransacked.
The study of the ancient bassi rilievi is of great
service in the history of the arts; as from them
may be collected, many important facts of the
mythology, customs, costume, &c. of the ancients.
The finest collections of bassi rilievi now exist-
ing, are those of the British Museum, formtriy
the Townly collection; the Elgin marbles in the
$une museum; the collections of Mr. Thnraas
Hope, and Mr. Soane, the professor of architecture
in tne Royal Academy of London ; and several fine
casts in the Royal Academy. In Paris they had.
some fine antique bassi rilievi in the Royal Mn*
seum ; in the museum of the Augustine; and
many private collections. The. application of
bassi nlievi among the modems is the same at.
among theanci^ts; being used to decorate pub*
lie buddings, palaces, churches, triumphal arches,
theatres, concert rooms, and private houses ; fur
niture, tombs, and other subjects of omamentA.
architecture. The most celebrated spedmeos of
bassi rilievi (properly so called) of modem art
in England, are those of the t]finpannm of the
pediment of the East India house, by Bacon;
the monument of Captain Millar in apennetof
St. Paul's cathedral, by Flaxman. Several others
on the public monuments, erected in that cathe-
dral, and in Westminster abbey, by Baeon,
Banks, Bacon, jun. Rossi, Chantrey, kendrick^
2S3
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BAS
628
BAS
Hopper, and Westmacott. And on (he conti- Baharin, and coffee from Mocha, iron, lead,
nent, *most of the sculptures are thus decorated, and woollen cloth, from Europe. Some of these
and embrace the names of the most celebrated commodities are shipped on board small Arabian
artists. The French critics particularly admire vessels; but the greater part is brought by £u-
the bassi rilievi on the Porte St. Denys, begun ropean vessels. Yet all European commodities
by Girardon, and finished by Michel Anguiere, are ^^ here ; a decided preference is given to
and those on the Fountain of the Innocents, called articles of English manufacture, especially broad
the Nymph's Fountain, by the celebrated Jean cloth and watches. Many of the products of other
Goujon. countries are re-exported, and an eictensive traffic
Basso Ripieno, the bass of the ground chores, ^ carried on in horses, which, being very strong
or that which plays only in particular places. ^^ beautiful, are exported by the English. Its
Basso Violino, the bass for the bass viol.
BASSOON, bus sorij Fr. low sound ; an in-
strument which forms the natural base to the
hautbois. It is played like that instrument, with
a reed, and forms a continuation of its scale
downwards. The reed is fixed to a crooked
mouth-piece issuing from the side of the bassoon.
Three keys communicate to the ventages which
otherwise are too' remote for fingering. The
population was estimated by Mr. Parsons, who
was here in 1775, at 200,000 ; but it is now
thought not to exceed 60,000 ; but it is still the
second city of the pachalic of Bagdad. It fell
into the hands of the Turks, (who took it from
the Persiatis) in 1688 ; was re-taken by Persia in
1777, but resigned to the Turkish army the fol-
lowing year. The Arabs expelled the Turks in
1787, but the latter, under Soliman Pach% of
Italian name fagotto is derived from its appear- Bagdad, regain^ it shortly after, and have held
ance ; it consists of four tubes bound together so
as somewhat to resemble a fagot. Its compass
is three octaves, from double AA in the base, to
a in the second space of the treble.
. BASSORA, Balsora, Bossora, or Basra, a
city between Arabia and Persia, situated in the
it ever since. It is distant from Ispahan 210
miles south, 903 from Alexandietta, and 1815
south-east from Constantinople. Long. 44° 46'
E., lat. 30° 32' N.
BASSO VIA, in botany, a genus of plants of
the class pentandria, and order monogynia. Its
extremity of the deserts of Irak, a little west of generic characters are, cal. perianth one-leaved :
the Tigtis, where it is navigable for vessels of ^^^- one-petalled : stam. filaments five; anthers
600 tons, and not far from its junction with the ovate ; pist. germ ovate ; style short ; stigma
Euphrates. It was built by Uie khaliff Omar, in thickish : per. berry ovate ; seeds very many.—
the fifUi year of the Hegira, for the sake of carry- Th® only species is the B. sylvatica, a perennial,
ing on more commodiously an extensive com- native of Guiana,
merce between the Syrians, Arabians, Persians, BASS Viol. See Bass.
and India. It is at present a famous emporium BASSUM, a district in the province of Nan-
of Eastern commerce, and stands upon a thick ^^^9 ^ ^^ Nizam*s dominions, Hindostan. It
stony soil, as the name imports. That mouth of ^'"^ ^'n uneven hilly surface, intersected by several
the Tigris which empties itself into the Persian small streams, which flows into the Godavery;
Gulf after passing the town, is called from it, ^md it lies between the twenty-first and twenty-
the Bay of Bassora. The circumjacent country is second degrees of north latitude. The chief
regarded by the Arabs as one of the m68t delight- ^^^ ^ Bassan, which is situated six miles from
ful spots in Asia, and is certainly one of the most ^^ Gim^ Very little is known respecting this
beautiful tracts in the world; however, the hot P^5 PlJ?^^^®"^'
winds that frequently blowliere are very trouble-
some to travellers, and sometimes overwhelm
them with sand. The city is inhabited by Nes-
torians, Jews, Mahommedans, and Chaldean
Christians, or Christians of St. John, which last
are pretty numerous. The walls are about seven
miles in circuit, and twenty-five feet thick. The
city is entered by five gates ; but much of this
space is occupied by plantations and gaitiens, in-
terspersed with canals, which are cleansed by the
tide flowing into them twice every day, to the
height of nine or ten feet. The city is indiffer-
BAST, lime tree bark made into ropes or
mats.
BASTAGA, from j3a?a^<y, portare, to cany,
the office of carriage or conveyance.
BASTAGARII, in ecclenastical antiquity,
those who carry the images of saints at fHO-
cessions.
, BA'STARD, ». II. & a^jr.-j Baf*i«M,Weldi,
Ba'stardize, th(tttarde,¥T. of [cm
Ba'starolt, ^ birth, from base,
Ba'stardy. * and oid, A. S., the
^ . -„ one signifies mean, disgraceful; and the other
ently built ; the houses very mean, and con- source and origin; thus bastard means base-
strncted chiefly of clay; the streets are irregular, bom. It is al^ applied to any thing not pn>-
and notwithstanding the advantage of the canals, ceeding from a legitimate source ; to whatever is
are kept in a filthy state. Even the bazaars, spurious or mixed. In the earlier writers it is
though containing the richest products of the not uncommon to meet with bast without the
East, are but miserable edifices. The English termination ard.
factory is the best building in the city. The
abbe Raynal describes its trade as consisting of
lice, sugar,, plain striped and flowered mus-
lins from Bengal, spices from Ceylon and the a„^ .^ v / * \ «■ • « • v
Molucca islands, coarse white and blue cottons, fjlijl '^"^ ^""7 ^T^ ^f?^ !l/^,
'Z.'^^r^'fi. cardannun pepper, Sanders! "S^X:^. ^:l,^VlT^^
wood, from Malabar, gold and silver stuffs, tur^ again committed to the coiTodie of the naen<»*
tians, shawls, mdigo, from Suiat, pearls from woolfe. Cfrafitm. Bidmi III.
When he was uyned. he M&t to Harald,
And said that a bastard no kyngdom tuld hald.
ft. Bi
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629
And (Nier this he (Sir H.' Bolyftgbrooke) hadde of
boMt, whlehe after were made legyttyxnat, by dame
Katheryne Swynforde iii aonnya.
Fabsfam, Atm. 1386. R. 2.
When thoa shalt find the catalogue enroU'd
Of thy misdeeds, there shall be writ in text.
Thy bottardmg the issues of a prihce.
F<frd*t Love'i Sacrifice.
Peaee is a very apoplexy, lethargy, insensible, a
lock. And the reason of our law, he continues,
is surely much superior to that of the Roman, if
we consider the principal ^nd and design of
establishing the contract of marriage, taken in a
civil light, abstractedly from any religious view;
which has nothing to do with the legitimacy or
illegitimacy of the children. The main end and
design of marriage, being to ascertain and fix
getter of more ha$tafd children than war's a destroyer «pon some cerUm person, to whom the care, the
of men. Shaktpeare.
I should have been what I am» had the maiden-
licst star in the firmament twinUed on my bartard-
ising. Id,
Once she slandered me with btutardjf ;
But whether I be true begot or no.
That still I lay upon my mother's head. Id,
Words
But rooted in your tongue ; baatardi and syllables
Of no allowance to your bosom's truth. Id.
Score a pint of bastard. —
Then your brown bastard is your only drink. Id,
We are bastards all ;
And that most venerable man, which I
Did call my father, was I know not where
When I was stampt ; some coiner with his tools
Made me a counterfeit : yet my mother seem'd
The Dian of tMit time : so doth my wife
The nonpareil of this. Dotme,
Good seed degederates, and oft obeys
The soil's disease, and into cockle strays ;
Let the mind's thoughts but be transplanted so
Into the body, and bastardly they grow. Id,
She lived to see her brother beheaded, and her
two sons deposed from the crown, bastarded in their
blood, and cruelly murdered. Bacon.
lie
That kills himself t' avoid misery, fears it.
And at the best shows but a bastard valour.
Massinger.
Of all passions, as I have already proved, love is
most violent, and of those bitter potions which this
low-melancholy affords, this bastard jealousie is the
greatest, as appears by those prodigious symptoms
which it hath, and that it produceth.
Bwton's Anatomgf of Mdanchci^.
In respect of the evil consequents, the wife's adul-
tery is worse, as bringing bastardy into a family.
Taylor.
Him to the Lydian king Lycimnia bare.
And sent her boasted bastard to the war.
Dryden.
Men who, under the disguise of publick good, pur-
protection, the maintenance, and the education
of the children, should belong: 1. Because of
the very great uncertainty there will generally be,
in the proof that the issue was really begotten by
the same man ; whereas, by confining the proof
to the birth, and not to the begetting, our law has
rendered it perfectly certain what child is legiti-
mate, and who is to take care of the child. 2.
Because by the Roman law a child may be con-
tinued a bastard, or made legitimate at the option
of the father or mother, by a marriage ex post racto ;
thereby opening a door to many frauds and par-
tialities, which by our law are prcrented. 3.
Because by those laws a man may remain a bas-
tard till forty years of age, and then become legi-
timate by the subsequent marriage of his parents ;
whereby the main end of marriage, the protection
of infants, is totally frustrated. 4. Because this
rule of the Roman law admits of no limitation as
to the time, or number, of bastards to b^ so legi-
timated ; but a dozen of them may, twenty years
ai^er their birth, by the subsequent marriage of
their parents, be admitted to all the privileges of
legitimate children. This is plainly a great dis-
couragement to the matrimonial state ; to which
one main inducement is usually not only the
desire of having children, but also the desire of
procreating lawful heirs. Whereas our constitu-
tion guards against this indecency, and at the
same time gives sufficient allowance to the frail-
ties of human nature.
By the law of Scotland, following the canon
law, bastards may be legitimated, or made Law-
ful, 1. By the subsequent intermarriage of the
mother of the child with the father; and this legi-
timation entitles the child to all the rights of law-
ful children. The subsequent marriage, which
produces legitimation, is considered by the law
to have been entered into when the child legiti-
mated was begotten ; and hence, if he be a male.
sue their o^m designs of power, and such kuLd ^^ excludes, bv his right of primogeniture, the
- Jons procreated after the marriage, from the suc-
cession of the father*s heritage, though these sons
were lawful children from the birth. Hence,
also, those children only can be thus legitimated,
who are begotten of a woman whom the father
might at that period have lawfully married. 2.
Bastards are legitimated by letters of legitima-
tion from the sovereign
A bastard, as such, is excluded by the Scottish
law. 1. From his ilather's succession; because
law knows no father who is not marked out-by
marriage. 2. From all heritable succession,
civil and canon law. The civil and canon laws whether by the father or mother; because he can-
honours as attend them. Temple*
Not more of simony beneath black gowns,
Not more of bastardy in heirs to crowns. Pope,
A basUwd, by our English laws, is one that is not
only begotten, but born, out of lawful matrimony.
BlackMione*s Commentaries,
And these are men, forsooth !
Heroes and chiefs, the flower of Adam's bastards,
Byron.
Bastards; in the English law. The cele-
brated Blackstone observes in his Commentaries
on the difference between our common and the
do not allow the child to remain a bastard, if the
parents afterwards intermarry : and herein tliey
diflfer most materially from our law; which,
though not so strict as to require that the child
should be begotten, yet makes it an indispensible
conation that it should be bom after lawful wed-
not be pronounced lawful heir by the inquest, in
terms of the* brief. And, 3. From the movable
succession of his mother ; for though the mother
be known, the bastard is not her lawfiil child,
and legitimacy is implied in all succession con-
ferred by law. Yet a bastard, though he cannot
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630
BASTARDS.
succeed jure sanguinifi may tuooeed hj desUna-
tiony where he is specially called to the succeasioD
by an entail or testament
Every attempt to introduce the ciyil law. in
tliis respect) into England, by declaring chilaren
legitimated by a sulMequent marriage, has been
steadily i«|e(^. It was upon an occasion of
this kind, tluit the barons of England, assembled
in the parliament of Merton, A.D. 1272, made
that &moos answer, « Nolumus leges Anglie
mutare.* 20 Hen. IIL cap. 9.
From what has been said it appears, that all
children bom before matrimony are bastards by
our law : and so it is of all children bom so long
after the death of the husband, that, by the usual
course of gestation, they could not be begotten
by him. But this being a matter of some uncer-
tainty, the law is not exact as to a few days.
But if a man dies, and his widow soon after
marries again, and a child is bom withir such a
time as that by the oounie of nature it might hare
been the child of either husband : in this case, he
is said to be more than ordinarily legitimate'; for
he may, when he arrives at the yearn of discre-
tion, choose which of the fathers he pleases. To
prevent this, among other inconveniences, the
civil law ordained that no widow should marry
infia annum luctus; a rale which obtained so
early as the reign of Augustus, if not of Romu-
lus: and the same constitution was probably
handed down to our early ancestors from the
Rdmaos, during their stay in this island : for we
find it established under the Saxon and Danish
governments.
As bastards may be bom before the coverture
of marriage-state is begun, or after it is deter-
mined, so also children bom during wedlock
may in some circumstances be bastards. As if the
husband be out of the kingdom of England, or as
the law loosely phrases it, extra quatnor maria,
for above nine months, so that no access to his wife
can be presumed, her issue during that period
shall be bastards. But generally during coverture,
access of tlie husband shall be presumed, unless
the contrary shall be shown ; which is such a
negative as can only be proved by showing
him, to be elsewhere; for the general rale is
Sraesumitur pro legitimatione. But modem
ecisions have considerably narrowed this rule.
It is now held that the husband's 'being within
the four seas is not conclusive evidence of the
legitimacy of the child, and it is left to a jury to
determine whether the husband had access or
not. 3 P. W. 275, 276. 2 Str. 925. And evi-
dence may be given, that the husband was from
natural or incidental causes impotent. 2 Stra. 940.
1 Roll. Abr. 358. 1 Salk. 123. But in this latter
case an impossibility must be proved, and not a
bare improbability. In a di voroe, a mensa et thoro
if the wife breeds children they are bastards ; for
the law will presume the husband and wife con-
formable to tne sentence of separation, unless ac-
cess be proved ; but in a voluntary separation by
agreement, the law will suppose access, unless the
negative be shown. So also if there be an appa-
rent impossibility of procreation on the part of
the husband, as n he oe only eight years old, or
the like, there the issue of the wife shall be
bastards. Likewise, in case of divorce in the
spiritual court a yinculo matrimonii, all tlia i
hom during the coverture are baslard» ; because
such divorce is always upon some came that
rendered the marriage unlawful and null from
the beginning.
As to the ri^ts apd incapacities which appertain
to a bastard: the former are very few, being
only such as he can acquire ; for he can inherit
nothing, being looked upon as the son of nobody,
and sometimes called filiusnulliusisometimes filius
populi. Yet he may gain a surname by reputa
tion, though he has none by inheritance. All
other children have their pnmary settlement in
their father's parish : but a bastard in the parish
where bom, for he hath no fitther. However, in
case of fraud, as if a woman be either sent by
order of justices, or comes to beg as a vagrant,
to a parish whidi she does not belong to, the
bastard shall, in the first case, be settled in the
parish from whence she was illegally removed ;
or in the latter case, in the mother's own parish,
if the mother be apprehended for her vmgiancy.
Bastards also bom m any licensed hosfwtal for
pregnant women, are settled in the parishes
m which the mothers belong. The incapacity of
a bastard consists princifnlly iif this, that he
cannot be heir to any one ; for being nullhis fi-
lius, he is therefore of kin to nobody, and has no
ancestors from whom any inheritable blood can be
derived. Therefore, if there be no other claim-
ant upon an inheritance than such illegitimate
child, it shall escheat to the lord. And as bas-
tards cannot be heirs themselves, so neither can
they have any heirs but those of their own bodies.
For as all collateral kindred consists in being
derived from the same conmion ancestor, and as
a bastard has no legal ancestors, he can have no
collateral kindred ; and consequently can have
no legal heirs, but such as chum by a lineal de^
scent nrom himself. And therefore, if a bastaid
purchases land, and dies seised thereof vrithoot
issue, and intestate, the land shall escheat to the
lord of the see. A bastard was also, in strict-
ness, incapable of holy orders ; and thoueh that
were dispensed with, yet he vras utterly disqoa-
lified from holding any dignity in the diurch ;
but this doctrine seems now obsolete ; and in
all other respects there is no distinction between
a bastard and another man. And really any
other distinction but that of not inheritii^, which
civil policy renders necessary, wonli^ with re-
gard to the innocept ofipring of his pareof s
crimes, be odious, unjust, and crael, to the last
degree ; and yet the civil law, so boasted of for its
equitable decisions, made bastards in some cases
incapable even of a gift from their parents. A bas-
tard may, lastly, be made legitimate and capable
of inheriting by the transcendant power of an act
of parliament, and not otherwise : as was done in
the case of John of Gaunt's bastard children, by
a statute of Richard II.
The principal duty of parents to bastard
children, by the English law, is that of mainte-
nance. For though bastards are not looked upon
as children to any civil purposes ; yet the ties of
nature, of which msuntenance is one, are not so
easily dissolved ; and they hold indeed as to many
other intentions ; as particularly that a man shall
not marry his bastard sister or daughter, &c. Tht
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BAS
631
BAS
method in which the English law proTides main* riting fiom their fiidiers, put themBelvet at the
tenance for them is as follows : When a woman head of robbers and plunderers to maintain
is deliTered, or declares herself with child, of a themselves.
bastardy and will by oath before a justice of the
peace charge any person with haringgot her with
child, ^e justice snail cause such person to be ap*
prehended, and commit him till he gives security,
either to maintain the child, or appear at the next
Bastaeds, in the sea language, large sails of a
galley, which will make way with a slack wind.
Bastaed CEnAE Teee, called guazuma in the
West Indies.
Bastaed Flowee Pence. See Adenantheea.
quarter-sessions to dispute and try the &ct. But The flowers of this plant bruised and steeped in
if tlie woman dies, or is married, before delivery, breast milk are a gentle anodyne, for whicn pur-
er miscarries, or proves not to have been with pose they are often given in the West Indies to
child, the person shall be discharged ; otherwise quiet very young children. The leaves are used
the sessions, or two justices out of the sessions, in Barbadoes and the Leeward islands. In Ja-
«ipon original application to them, may take or- maica the plant is called Sena,
der for the keeping of the bastard, by me charg- Bastaed Hemp. See Datisca
ing of the mother or the reputed father with the Bastaed Roceet. See Resed .
payment of mon^ or other sostentation for diat Bastaed Scaelet is a name given to red dyed
purpose. And- if such putative &ther, or lewd with bale-madder, as coming nearest the bow-dye,
naotner, run away from tne parish, the overseers or new scarlet.
by direction of two justices may seize their rent, Bastaed Stae of Bethlehem. See Albvca.
goods and chattels, m order to bring up the said BASTARDY, aocordins to Eustathius, was
bastard child. Yet such is the humanitv of our held among the Greeks as honorable as legitima-
laws, that no woman can be compulsively ques- cy, down even tP the time of the Trojan war ;
tioned concerning the fiitherof her child till one but the course of antiaui^ seems against him.
month dier her delivery ; which indulgence is, The ancient Greeks indeed, appear to have been
however, very frequently a hardship upon ^ proud of their reputed descent from the gods,
rishes, by giving the parents opportunity to escape, out Potter and others show that there never was
By the stat. 18 £liz. e. 3, two justices may
itt. e _
take^order for the punishment of the mother and
reputed father ; but what that punishment shall
be, is not therein ascertained : though the con-
temporary eEpositioD was, that a corporeal pu-
nishment was intended. By stat 7 Jac. I. c. 4.
a specific punishment, via. commitment to the
house of correction, is inflicted on the woman
only. But in both cases, it seems that the pe-
nalty can only be inflicted if the bastard becomes
chargeable to the parish ; for otherwise the very
maintenance of the child is considered as a de-
gree of punishment By the last mentioned sta^-
tute the justice may commit the mother to the
house of correction, there to Hm punished and
set on work for one year ; and in case of a second
ofience, till she find sure^ never to ofiend again,
a time when bastardy was not a disgrace. In
the time of our William the Conqueror, however,
it seems not to have implied any reproach, that
monarch himself not scrupling to assume the
appellation of bastard. His epistle to Alan, count
of Bretagne begins. Ego WiUielmus,cognomento
bastardus.
Bastaedy, in relation to its trial in law, is
distinguished into general and special.
Bastaedy Geneeal, is a certificate from the
bishop of the diocese, to the king's justices, after
inquiry made, whether the party is a bastard or
not, upon some question of inheritance.
Bastaedy Special, is .a suit commenced in
the king's courts, against a person that calls
another a bastard.
Bastaedy, Aems of, should be crossed with a
It was enacted by statute 21 Jac. I. c. 87. that bar, fillet, or traverse, from the left to the right,
if any woman be delivered of a child, which if They were not formerly allowed to carry the
bom alive, should by law be a bastard, and en*
dea?onr8 privately to conceal its death, hj buiy-
ing the child or the like; the mother so oronding
shall suffer death, as in the case of murder, un-
less she can prove by one witness at least that
the child was actually bom dead. This law is
to be met with also in die criminal codes of
many other nations of Europe ; as the Danes, the
Swedes, &c. but it has been repealed 1^43
Geo. III. c. 58. called Lord Ellenborough's act.
Women can only be convicted of murder in this
arms of their father, and therefore thev invented
arms for themselves ; and this is still done by the
natural sons of a king.
BASTARN^ or Basteemjb, a people of
German original, mannere, and language, who
estended themselves a great way to the east of the
Vistula, the east boundary of Germany among
the Sarmats, as far as the mouth of the Ister
and the Euxine, and were divided into several'
nations.
BASTARNIC^ Alps, in ancient geography,
case on proof of the diild being actually bom mountains extending between Poland, Hun^y,
alive : but in all cases when a child would
ha-ve been a bastard, are punishable for conceal-
ment of birth, whether the child be bora ali?e or
otherwise, by imprisonment for two years.
Bastards, in nistory, a troop of iMuiditti who
rose in Guienne about the beginning of the
fourteenth century, and joining with some English
parties, ravaged the country, and set fire to the
eity of Saintes. Mezeiay s^pposes them to have
and Transylvania, called also the Carpeu, and
now the Carpathian mountains.
BASTAVGE, a bay on the east side of Yell,
one of the Shetland islands. Long, l"" 16' W.,
lat. 60** 59* N.
BASTE', -) Participle pass, ftotfec?,
Bastika'de, v. & n. >or batten, Fr. boitofmer,
Bastina'do^ v. & n. 3 Bosalo, in the Armorick
„_^ ^ rr dialect, signifies to strike with a stick; from
consisted of the namnd sons of the nobility of whidi perhaps batton a stick, and all its deriva^
Goienney who being escluded the right of inhe- tives^ or colbterals, may be deduced ; to strike^
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632
B A S T I L E.
V<eat, bang, bethwack with a cudgel ; so Cotgrave.
Applied to noisy abuse with the tongue.
What cannoneer begot this lusty blood ?
He speaks plain cannon, fiie, and smoke and bounce ;
He gives the boitinado with his tongue ;
Our ears are cudgell'd ; not a word of his
But buffets better than a fist of France.
Zounds ! I was never so bethump'd with words
Since I first call'd my brother's father dad.
But this courtesy was worse than a hattmado to
Zelmane ; so with rageful eyes she bade him defend
himself. Sidney,
I am not apt upon & wound.
Or trivial basimg, to despond ;
Yet, I'd be loth, my days to curtail.
Hudibras,
, The beaten soldier proves most manful.
That like his sword endures the anvil.
And justly's held more formidable.
The more his valour's malleable.
But he that fears a battinado.
Will run away from his own shadow. Id,
Quoth 8he,'l grant it is in vun
For one that's btuted to feel pain ;
Because the pangs his bones endure
Contribute nothing to the cure. Id,
Basfmgt heavy, dry, obtuse.
Only dulnesa can produce ;
While a little gentle jerking
Sets the spirits all a-working. Swijt,
Nick seized the longer end of the cudgel, and with
it began to hastinndo old Lewis, who had slunk into a
ccmer, waiting the event of a squabble. Arbuthttot.
In Turkey, says Montesquieu, where little regard
is shown to the lives and fortunes of the subject, all
causes are quickly decided. The bashaw, on a sum-
mary hearing, orders which party he pleases to bo
bastinadoed, and then sends them about Uieir business.
Blackstone's Commentariea,
Basie, v. To baste meat ; to drop butter, or
any thing else ubon it as it turns upon the spit.
This was former1^^!rwith a stick covered with fat,
and it is therefore probable, that the term to
baste, to strike with a stick, came at length to be
thus employed.
Sir, I think the meat wants what I have, a basting.
^Uihspear^.
The fat of roasted mutton falling on the birds, will
serve to basie them, and so save tin<e and butter.
Swift,
Baste', v. Besten, To sew or stitch together
slightly. Fr. batter, to stitch.
And on her legs the painted buskins wore.
Basted with bands of gold on every side ;
And mailes betweene; and laced close afore.
Spenser. Faerie Qtieene,
Shall the proud Lord
That bastes his arrogance with his own scam.
And never suffers matter of the world
Enter his thoughts ; saire such as do revolve
And ruminate himself, shall he be womhipt ;
Of that we hold an idol more than he.
Shakspeare, Troihis and Cresstda,
BASTERNA, a kind of vehicle, or chariot,
used by the ancient Roman ladies. Papias thinks,
that bastema was first written for restema, but
the word seems better derived from the Greek
PacaZuj porto, I carry. Salmasius observes, that
the basterna succeeded the lectica, or litter ; from
which it differed very little, except that the litter
was borne on the shoulders of slaves, and the
bastema drawn by beasts. The inside they cal-
led the cavea, or cage: it had soft cushions o
beds, and glanes on each side like our chariots
Bastemae passed from Italy into Gaul, and thence
into other countries; and to this we owe our
chariots, which, though we call them currus, yet
they have no conformity to the ancient curras,
but are in effect bastems improved. The bas-
tema appears also to have been used in war, for
carrying baggage.
BASTI, in ancient geography, a town of the
province of Betica in Spain, situated to the west
of the Campus Spartanus, now called Baza ia
Granada.
BASTIA, a sea-port town of Albania, in Tur-
key in Europe, over against the island of Corfu.
Bastia, a town of the island of Corsica, oo
the north-east coast, seated on a hill, in the foim
of an amphitheatre. It is ill built, and has nar-
row streets, but is defended by a citadel, and has
a safe but not very commodious harbour. The
inhabitants carry on a considerable trade in wine,
skins, pulse, oil, and figs, and the stilettos made
here are much valued by the Italians. In 1745,
it was bombarded and taken by the English, but
restored to the Genoese the following year. The
Ajustrians and Piedmontese besieged it unsuccess-
fully in 1 748 . It was annexed to France in 1 768»
and with the exception of a short period alter its
capture by the English in 1794, has remained
ever since in the hands of that power. It con-
tained a population of 11 or 12,000 souls, and
before the French revolution it was the capital of
the island, the seat of the governor, and of the
principal offices of state, and courts of justice,
it was also the see of the bishop of Marian and
Acci. On the new modelling of the French ter-
ritory in 1791, it was created the capital of the
department of the Golo,and subsequently the head-
?uarters of the twenty-third military division,
t is now the chief town of an arrondissement in
the department of Corsica, the residence of a sub-
prefect, and the seat of a civil and a commetcial
tribunal. Thirty-three miles E.N.E. of Calvi*
and fifty-eight north-east of Ajaccio. Long. 9^
26' 30" E., lat. 42° 41' 36* N.
BASTI DE DE Clerence La, a town of Lower
Navarre, France, the head of a canton in the
department of the Lower Pyrenees, arrondissement
of Bayonne. It is about six miles £. S. £. of
Bayonne, and has 2000 inhabitants.
Bastide, La, a town of France, in Quercy,
the head of a canton in the department of the
Lot, arrondissement of Gourdon, with 1200
inhabitants, ten miles south-east of Gourdon.
Bastide DE Seron, La, a town of France, in
the county of Foix, department of the Arriege,
arrondissement of Pamiers, with 1760inhalHtants,
nine miles W. N. W. of Foix, and twelve north-
west of Tarascon.
BA'STILLE, or-j BoMtUU, Fr., hastUk, Sp.
B ASTi LE, > from French bastir, to build,
Ba'stillions. 3 probably from the Greek
and Latin basis, q. d. basUare, i. e. to raise upon
a basis or foundation ; applied to military for-
tresses, and to places of special defence, and of
confinement.
These lordea caused basSUes to be made voonde
abont the cytie, with which they tronUed their ene-
mies and assaulted the walles. HaiL EMgEawjfVl,
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B A S T I L E.
633
The sanK seaion Atfo wu a capytayne at Calais,
Sir Johan Delnarnes, who receyued the bysahoppe
and hit company with grete ioye ; and so they landed
lytell and lytell, and all their hones and baggage,
and 60 lodged in Calays, and thereabout in ba$iylls9
that they made dayly. Froissart. Cronyc/^, v. i.e. 329.
Our soldiers rose at the call of their captains, and
removed their munitions farr from the wall, providing
to fight more close and short along the high bastile$,
or countermures, which now^ that they were finished,
overtopped the walh. ^ Holland. Ammianut.
Thus fortune fares her children to cmponnd.
Which on her wheel their baitiUi bravely beeld.
Mirror for Magittrotet,
Near which there stands
A battUe built to imprison hands. Hudihnu,
Bastile, anciently used as a common name
for a prison, under the feudal system in our own
country, was a name particularly applied to
several state prisons in France: but that which
was termed tne bastile, by way of distinction,
was situated near the gates of Paris, on the road
to St. Anthony. The building was originally
commenced by order of Charles V., and finished
in 1383 under the reign of his successor. The
original projector was Hugh d' Aubriot, mayor of
Paris, who laid the first stone of the foundation
on the 22d of April, 1370. Descended from an
obscure parentage, this person liad been raised by
his merit into the favor of his sovereign, and so
unqualified was the confidence reposed in him,
that the charge of the capital was committed ex-
clusively to his care.
The bastile, as planned by d' Aubriot, consisted
only of two round towers, one on each side of the
road leading into Paris, from the suburbs of St.
Anthony, and united by means of a strong high
wall, in the centre of which was the gate of the
town. Several additional towers were afterwards
erected, and in the succeeding reign two com-
plete courts were formed by means of intervening
walls, which composed the body of the edifice.
The road itself turned off to the right of the cas-
tle, and left the whole building enclosed by a
deep ditch, and secured by a counterscarp of
nearly thirty-six feet from the bottom. The
usual entry into the bastile was from St.
Anthony street. Above the first gate was an
armoury, and on the right side of the entrance a
guard room, The first enclosure, from which a
gate led to the arsenal, contained barracks for the
garrison, coach houses and stables for the gover-
nor and officers, shops for the sutlers, &c. A
draw-bridge led firom the court into the second
enclosure, on entering which, was a guard-room
to the lefl, and the governor's house to the right ;
and at the end a terrace, on which stood a pavi-
lion, with beautiful walks, shaded with rows of
trees. Opposite the governor's house was the
entrance into the castle, and between the two were
kitchens and other conveniences, erected on a
blind bridge thrown across the ditch. From the
second court was a draw-bridge, which led into
the castle, and within the gate was another guard-
room. The first court was 102 feet long, and
seventy-two broad. It had six towers, and was
terminated by a modem building, on the ground-
floor of which was the council chamber and
library, and over it the apartments of the Lieu-
tenant du Roi, the surgeon, major, and other
officers, together with some rooms appropriated
for prisoners of distinction. The second court
was seventy-two feet long, and forty-two broad,
containg two towers, and lodgings for persons
belonging to the castle.
The prisoners were chiefly confined in the
towers of the bastile, the entrances to which
were secured hy double doors of oak, and con-
ducted to a winding stair-case, lighted by narrow
grated windows, which led to the rooms above,
and the dungeon below. The dungeons had no
fire place, and instead of windows a small cre-
vice towards the ditch, that served the twofold
purpose of letting in air and light. They were
arched, paved, and lined with stone, and were
said to be places for the temporary punishment
of those unhappy persons who might attempt to
make their escape. In these dungeons the un-
fortunate princes of Armagnac, sons of James,
who was beheaded, were confined by Louis XL,
the oldest of whom lost his senses in prison, and
the youngest, obtaining his liberty on the death of
the tyrant, related a tale of suffering which, if
it were not corroborated by the most unqualified
evidences, would almost exceed belief. Above
each of these dungeons were four stories, con-
taining each a single room, some of them having
a small dark closet adjoining them, indented in
the thickness of the wall. The rooms had each
one window, glazed within, and doubly grated, '
one near the centre of the wall, and again at its
exterior surface. Each room had a fire place
and stove, the vents of the chimneys being se-
cured by strong iron grates. The double doors
were secured by several locks and bars, and
many of the rooms had double ceilings ; the first
was composed of la(h and plaster, and the second
of oak, supporting the floor of the room imme-
diately above. The walls and ceilings of these
apartments were all plastered and white-washed,
and the floors laid with tile or stone ; they were
perfectly dry, owing to the extreme thickness of
the building, being nearly seven English feet in
diameter at the top, and gradually increasing
downwards to the foundation. The three first
stories were irregular polygons of about eighteen
feet in diameter, and as many, in height ; but the
fourth, or top room, called calotte, was neither
so large nor so high as the others, and was
arched to support the stone roof or platform with
which it was overlaid.
Such was the place of horror, in which hun-
dreds were connned at the canrice of an arbi-
trary monarch, or minister ; and so rigidly were
the wretched victims conceded, that many have
been shut up for years, cut off from all commu-
nication with mankind, except the turnkeys and
keepers of the prison, and neither friends nor
relations have • known what was become of the
persons so mysteriously lost.
The officers who had the charge of the bastile
were a governor, lieutenant du roi, a mayor,
two adjutants, a surgeon and his assistant, a
chaplain, and four turnkeys : these, with a com-
pany of invalids and ofiicers, lodged in the castle ;
oesides whom, a physician, two priests, a keepei
of records, a clerk, a superintendent of buildings,
and an engineer, who lodged in the town, his
services being only occasionally required.
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B A S T I L E
The king allowed the governor a daily sum
for the maintenance of each prisoner, according
to his rank in Society ; namely,
liivres*
For a prince of the blood , . . 50 per day.
For a marshal of France ... 36
For a lieutenant-general ... 24
For a person of quality or a member
of parliament ...... 15
For an oidinary judge, a priest, or
persons in the finances ... 10
For a respectable citizen ... 5
which, together with an additional salary for
firing, candles,' washing, ficc., more than indem-
nified him for the expenses of the prison.
The mode of arresting prisoners was by ^ettres
de cachet, which were sometimes signed by the king
himself, and always countersigned by the minister
of Paris, or one of the secretaries of state. We
subjoin the following as a copy of one of these
hm instruments.
* MON CODSIN,
' Etant peu satisfait de votre
conduite, je tous fiiis cette lettre, pour vous
dire, que mon intention est qu' aussitot qu' elle
▼ous aura ii6 remise, vous aycz k vous rendre en
mon chiLteau de la Bastile, poury rester ^usqu' k
nouvel ordre de moi. Sur ce je pne Dieu
qu'il Tous ait, mon Cousin, en sa sainte garde.
Ecrit it Vennilles, 25 Juin, 1748.
' Sign^ Louis,
• Voyer d' Argenson.'
The aboTe was inscribed,
< A mon Cousin, le Prince de Monaco, Briga-
dier en mon Infanterie.
Every prisoner, on coming to the Bastile, had
an inventory made of every thing about him.
His trunks, doUies, linen, and pockets, were
searched, to discover whether there were any
papers in them relative to the matter for which
ne was apprehended. It was not usual to search
persons of a certain rank ; but they were asked
for their knives, razors, scissars, watches, canes,
jewels, and money. These were put into a box,
and labelled, with the tower and number of the
chamber in which he was to be confined, and by
which he was afterwards called ; so that the name
of a prisoner was never pronounced, nor even
known, among the inferior officers of the Bastile,
the appellation being No. 1, de la Bertaudiere;
No. 2, dn Tr^sor; No. 3, de la Libert^, '&c.
After this examination of his person, the pri-
soner was usually conducted to his apartment,
where he was carefiilly locked up, and an invalid
soldier appointed' to attend him, who slept near
him and waited upon him. The unhappy vic-
tim soon found that in this castle all was mystery,
tric|c, artifice, and treachery; the attendant
conveyed all his words to the police, while the
officers, turnkeys, va}ets, &c. used every effort to
draw him on to speak against government, merely
for the purpose of getting a reward for revealing
what was said. On a prisoner*8 first entrance,
lie was not permitted to write to any person, not
tven the lieutenant of the police. When a per-
son had obtained permission to write to the Uncr
gentleman, he might solicit the inda^enoe of
being allowed to address a lettier to his fiunily,
and reoeive their answers, which on some oeoa- j
sions was granted ; but letters when sent were
commonly intercepted, and seldom delivered to
the friends. The officers of the staff took the
charge of conveying the letters df the prisoners
to the police, by whom they were sent regularly
twice a day, and suitable answers were addressed
to the major, vrho communicated them to the pri-
soner; bu* if no notice was taken of any request
contained in the letter of the prisoner, it was to
be considered as a nfiual. A Ofiminal might
ask to see the lieutenant of the police when he
came to the Bastile, and in that case the eonver-
sation always turned upon the cause of his con-
finement. This gentleman would sometimes ask
for written and signed declarations, and on these
occasions nothing that the prisoner wrote or said
was forgotten. A person confined in the Bastile
was never anticipated in any thing — he must ask
for every thing ; even for permission to be shaved,
an office always performed by the suigeop ; who
also fiimished sick or indisposed persons with
sugar, coffee, tea, chocolate, confections, and the
remedies necessary for their complaints. Their
hour of dining was eleven, and ot sopping, six ;
and the time Slowed for walking was commonly
one hAur in the day, sometimes an hour in the
mominff and an hour in the evening, in the great
coxlA of the fortress.
To give the reader some imperfect idea of die
internal discipline of the BasHle, under its mildest
regime, we sliall quote a short extract from the
account of a prisoner, once confined tiiere. —
'About five in the morning,' says he, 'on the
2d of April, 1771, 1 was awaked by a violent
knocking at my chamber door, and was com-
manded in the name of the king to opeo it. I
did so, and an exempt of the police, three men
and a commissary, entered my room. They de-
sired me to dress myself, and began to search the
apartment. They ordered me to open my
drawers ; and having examined my p^wrs, they
took such as they chose and put ihem into a box,
which, as I understood afterwards, was carried to
the police-office. The commissary asked me my
name, my age, the place where I was bom, how
long I had been at Paris, and the manner m
which I had spent my time. The examination
was written down ; a list was made of every thing
found in die room, which, with the examination,
I was desired to read, and sign. The exempt
then told me to take all my body-linen, and sodi
clothes as I chose, and to come with them.
Having shut and sealed the drawers, they desired
me to follow ; and in going out they locked the
chamber door, and took me key. On coming
into the street I found a coach, into which I was
desired to go, and the others followed me. After
sitting for some time, the commissary told me
they were carrying me to the Bastile, and soon
afterwards I saw the towers. They did not go
the shortest and direct road : the coach slopped
at the gate in the street of St. Anthcmy. 1 saw
the coachman make signs to the sentinel, and
soon after the gate was opened; the goaid was
under arms, and the gate shut again. On coming
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635
to Ifae fint diaw-lnridge, it was let down, the
govd there also being under arms. The coach
went on and entered the castle, where a third
guard was stationed. I was conducted to a room
Siat I heard named the council ehamber. After
an eiamination similar*to that of the commissaryy
1 was desired to empty mv pockets, and laj wlmt
I had in them on the table. My handkerchief
and snuff-box being returned to nie, my money,
watch, and indeed ereiy thing else, were put
into a box, and an inyentory having been made^
were sealed up in my presence. The major then
called for the turnkey, vHiose turn of duty it was,
and asked what room was empty. He said the
calotte de la Bertaudiere. He was ordered to
convey me to it, and to carry thither my linen
and my clothes. The turnkey having done so,
left me and locked the doors. The weather was
still extremely cold, and I was glad to see him
return soon after with fire-wo<Ki, a tinder-box,
and a candle. He made my fire, but told me,
on leaving the tinder-box, that I might in future
do it myself when so inclined. At eleven the
tumkev entered with my dinner, ^Having spread
the table with a clean napkin, he pl^ea the
dishes on it, cut the meat^ and retired, taking
away die knife; the dishes, plates, fork, spoon,
and goblet were of pewter. The dinn^ con-
sisted of soup and bouillie, a piece of roasted
meat, a bottle of good table wine, a pound loaf
of the best kind of household bread. In the
evening at seven he brought my supper, which
consisted of a roast dish, and a ragout The
same ceremony was observed in cutting the meat,
to render the knife unnecessary to me. He took
away the dishes he had brought for dinner, and
returned at eight next morning to remove ^
supper thinss. Fridays and Saturdays, being fest
or maipe days, the c&nners consisted of soup, a
dish of fish, and two dishes of vegetables; die
suppers of two dishes of garden-stuff, and an
omelet, or something made with eggs and milk.
The dinners and suppers of each day in the week
were different, but eveiy Friday was the same;
so that the ordinary class of prisoners saw in the
course of the first week their bill of fiue for fifty
years, if ther staid so long. I had remained in
my room about three weeks, when I was one
morning carried down to the council chamber,
and again examined by the commissary. He
then asked if I had any knowledge of some works
he named, meaning those which had been written
by me, if I was acquainted with the author of
them, whether there were any persons concerned
with him, and if I knew whetner they had been
printed? I told him that as I did not mean to
conceal any thing, I should avoid giving him
needless trouble ; that I was mvself the author
of the works he had mentioned, and guessed I
was there on that account ; that they never had
been printed ; that the work which I conceived
was the cause of my confinement had never been
shown to any, but one person, whom I thought
my friend, and having no accomplices, the offence,
if there was any, rested solely with myself. He
said my examination was one of the shortest he
had ever been employed at, for it ended here.
I was carried back to my room, and the next day
vas shaved for the first time since my confine*
ment, it being usual never to shave a prisoner
till after his first examination. A few days after-
wards I wrote to the lieutenant of the police,
requesting to be indulged with the use of tK>ok»,
pen, ink, and paper, which was granted ; but I
was not allowed to go down to the lib*vy (a col-
lection of about 500 volumes, founded by some
prisoner in the early part of the eighteenth cen-
tury) to dioose the books. Several volumes^were
brought to roe by the turnkey, who, when I de-
sired it, carried them back and brought others.
After m V last examination I was taken down
almost daily, and allowed to walk about an hour
in the court within view of the sentinel ; but my
walks were frequently interrupted, for if anyone
appeared the sentmel called out * au cabinet V
and I v^as then obliged to conceal myself hastily
in a kind of dark closet in the vrall.
' The sheets of my bed were changed once a
fortnight I was allowed four towels a-week, and
my linen was taken to be washed every Saturday.
I had atallow candle daily, and in the cold season
a certain number of pieces of fire wood. After
being detained above eig^t months I was in-
formed that an order had come to discharge me.
I was desired to go down to the council chunber,
every thing I had brought with me was returned,
together vrith the key of my apartment, which I
found exactly in the state I left it During my
confinement I wrote many letters to sereiml of
my friend^ which were always received with
civility, but not one of diem had been deli-
vered.'
The above was a case of uncommon indul-
gence, and displays a lenity unusual in the Bas-
tile. In common cases the course pursued was
as follows : — The prisoner, a few days after his
entrance into the Bastile, was brought down to the
council chamber, where a commission of interro-
gatory was executed by the lieutenant of the
police, a counsellor of state, a master of re-
2uests, a counsellor or a commissioner of the
'hatelet When the lieutenant of the police
did not himself interropale, he casually came at
the end of the exammation. These commis-
sioners were mere tools. Frequently they at-
tempted to frighten a prisoner: laying snares
for nim, and employing the meanest artifices to
draw a confession fix>m nim. With this insidious
view, it was customary to pretend proofr, and
exhibit papers without suffering him to read
them; asserting that they were instruments of
unavoidable conviction. Their interrogatories
were always vague, and turned not only on the
prisoner's own words and actions, but on his
most secret thoughts, and on the discourse and
conduct of persons of his acquaintance, whom
they likewise vrished to bring into question. The
examiner usually told the prisoner that his life
was at stake ; that on that day his &te depended
on himself; that if he made a friir declaration,
they were authorised to promise him a speedy
release; but if he refiisea to confess he would
be given up to a special commission : that they
were in posstjssion of decisive documents, and
authentic proofs^ more than sufficient to ruin
him; thatnis accomplices had discovered all;
that the government nad unknown resources, of
which he could have no suspicion. The pri-
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B A S T I L E.
soners were thus beguiled by raried and infinitely
.multiplied interrogatories ; by promises, caresses,
menaces, &c. If the prisoner made the re-
.quired confession, the commissioners then told
him that they had no precise authority for his
enlargement, but they had every reason to ex-
pect it ; that they were going to solicit it, &c.
■The prisoner's confession, far from bettering his
condition, usually gave occasion to new interro-
gatories, often lengthened his confinement, drew
in the persons with whom he had connexions,
and exposed himself to new vexations. But
although there were rules adapted to all oc-
casions, yet every thing was subject to excep-
tions arising from influence, recommendation,
protection, intrigue, &c. Very frequently, per-
sons confined on the same account were treated
very differently, according as their recommenda-
tion was more or less considerable. The falsest
things were told the prisoners vrith an air of
sincerity and concern ; as Mt is very unfortunate
that the king has been prejudiced against you.
His majesty cannot hear your name mentioned
without being irritated. The affair for which you
have lost your liberty is only a pretext. They
.had designs against you before, you have power-
ful enemies' These discourses were the etiquette
of the place. It was in vain for a prisoner to
ask leave to write to the king, for he never could
obtain it. What constituted the perpetual and
most insupportable torment of this cruel and
odious inquisition, was the vague, indeteiminate,
false, or equivocal promises, inexhaustible and
constantly deceitful hopes of a speedy release,
exhortations to patience, and blind conjectures,
of which the lieutenant of the police and his
officers were very lavish. To cover the odium
of the barbarities exercised here, and slacken the
zeal of relations or patrons, to obtain justice for
incarcerated innocence, the most absurd and
.contradictory slanders against the prisoner were
frequently published ; whilst the true causes of
imprisonment, and real obstacles to his release,
were concealed. These resources, so infinitely
varied, were inexhaustible. When a prisoner
who was known and protected had entirely lost
his health, and his life was thought in danger, he
was always sent out ; the ministry not choosing
that persons well known should die in the Bas-
tile. Whenever a prisoner happened to die
there, he was interred in the Parish of St. Paul,
under the name of a domestic ; and this falsity
.was also written in this register of deaths, in
order to deceive posterity. But there was another
.register in which the true names of the deceased
were ^tered ; though it was not without great
difficulty that extracts could be procured from it:
and when this indulgence was granted, the com-
missary of the Bastile was first to be informed of
the use the family intended to make of the extract.
Singular Distress of an aged Prisoner
IN THE Bastile. Nowhere else on earth, per-
haps, has human misery, by human means, been
rendered so lasting, so complete, or so remediless,
as within the dire walls of the Bastile of France.
This the following case, the particulars of which
are translated from that elegant and energetic
writer M. Mercier, may sufficiently show. The
lieiuous offence which merited an imprisonment
surpassing torture, and renderii^ dekfh a bles-
sing, though for obvious reasons not specified hy
our author, is known from other sources to have
consisted in some unguarded expression of dis-
respect towards the Gallic monarch Louis XV.
Upon the accession of his late unfortunate suc-
cessor, the ministers then in office, moved by hu-
manity, began their admhiistration with an act
of clemency and justice : they inspected the re^
gisters of the Bastile, and set many of the pri-
soners at liberty. Among the number was an
old man, who had groaned in confinement, for a
period of forty-seven years, between four thick
and cold stcne-walls. Hardened by adversity.
Which strengthens both the mind and the consti-
tution, when men are not overpowered hy it,
he had resisted the horrors of his long im-
prisonment with an invincible and manly spirit.
His locks^ white, thin, and scattered, had almost
acquired the rigidity of iron ; whilst his body^
environed for so long a' time by a coffin of stone,
haa borrowed from it a firm and compact habit.
The narrow door of his tomb, turning upon its
grating hinges, opened not as usual by halves ;
and an imknown voice announced his liberty,
and bade him depart. Believing this to be a
dream, he hesitated ; but at length rose up and
walked forth with trembling steps, amazed at the
space he traversed : the stairs of the prison, the
halls, the court, seemed to him vast, immense, and
almost without bounds. He stopped from time
to time, and gazed aromid like a bewildered
traveller : his vision was with difficulty recon-
ciled to the clear light of day : he contemplated
the heavens as a new object : his eyes remained
fixed, and he could not even weep. Stupified
with the newly acquired power of changing his
position, his limbs, like his tongue, in spite of
his efforts, refused to perform their office ; at
length he got through the formidable gate which
so long before had closed upon him. When he
felt the motion of the carriage designed to con-
vey him to his former habitation, he screa.'ned
out, and uttered some inarticulate sounds ; and
as he could not bear this new movement, he
was obliged to descend. Supported by a bia;e-
volent arm, he sought out the street where he
liad formerly resided: he found it, but no trace
of his house remained : one of the public edi-
fices occupied the spot where it had stood. He
now saw nothing that brought to his recollection,
either that particular quarter, the city itself,
or the objects with which he had formerly
been acquainted. Tlie houses of his nearest
neighbours, which were fresh in his memoiy,
had assumed a new appearance. In vain were
his looks directed to all the objects around him;
he could discover nothing of which he had the
smallest remembrance. Terrified, he stopped
and fetched a deep sigh. To him, what did it
import that the city was peopled with livin?
creatures ? none of them were alive to him ; he
was unknown to all the world, and be knew
nobody : and whilst he wept, he regretted his
dungeon. At the name of the Bastile, which he
often pronounced, and even claimed as an asylum,
and the sight of his clothes that marked a for-
mer age, the crowd gathered round him : cu-
riosity, blended with pity, excited their attention.
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637
The most aged asked him many questions, but
had no remembrance of the circumstances he
recapitulated. At length accident brought in
his way an ancient domestic, now a super-
annuated porter, who, confined to his lodge for
^f^cen years, had barely sufficient strength to
open the gate : he did not even know the master
he had served ; but informed him that grief and
misfortune had brought his wife to the grave
thirty years before, that his children were gone
abroad to distant climes, and that of all his rela-
tions and friends none now remained. This re-
cital was made with the indifference which people
discover for events long passed, and almost for-
gotten. The miserable man groaned, and groaned
alone. The crowd around, offering only un-
known features to his view, made him feel the
excess of his calamities even more than he would
have done in the dreadful solitude that he had
lately quitted. Overcome with sorrow, he pre-
sented himself before the minister, to whose hu-
manity he owed that liberty which was now a
burden to him. Bowing down, he said, ' restore
me again to that prison from which you have
taken me : I cannot survive the loss of my
nearest relations; of my friends; and, in one
word, of a \yhole generation. Is it possible in
the same moment to be informed of tnis univer-
sal destruction, and not to wish for death ? This
general mortality, which to the rest of mankind
comes slowly and by degrees, has to me been
instantaneous, the operation of a moment.
Whilst secluded from society, I lived with my-
self only ; but here I neither can live with my-
self nor with this new race, to whom my anguish
and despair appear only as a dream. There is
nothing terrible in dying; but it is dreadful
indeed to be the last.' The minister was melted ;
he caused the old domestic to attend this unfor-
tunate person, as only he could talk to him of his
family. This discourse was the single consolation
that he received : for he shunned all intercourse
with a new race, bom since he had been exiled
from the world ; and he passed his time in the
midst of Paris in the same solitude as he had
done whilst confined in a dungeon for almost half
a century. But the mortification of meeting no
person who could say to him, < we were formerly
known to one another,' soon- put at end to his
existence.
The man with the mask was the most astonish-
ing prisoner ever known to have been within the
waJls of the Bastile ; of whom, notwithstanding
all the curiosity and conjecture that have been
employed to ascertain his quality and pedigree,
notning authentic has tran.«pired to the present
time. In 1698 he was brought from the island'of
St. Marguerite by Mons. de St. Mars, the newly
appointed governor of the Bastile, was attended
with the greatest respect, maintained a sumptuous
table, and had every possible indulgence shown
him till the time of his death in Nov. 19, 170^.
This mysterious prisoner, on his removal to the
Bastile, was carried in a litter, accompanied by
several men on horseback, who had orders to put
liim to death if he made the smallest attempt to
show his face or otiierwise discover himself.
His hce was concealed by a mask of black vel-
vet with. springs of steel, which were so contrived
that he could eat without taking it off. A phy-
sician of the Bastile, who had often attended nim,
said he had never seen his face, though he had
frequently examined his tongue and other parts o.
his body ; but added, that he was admirably well
made, that his skin was brown, his voice interest-
mg; that he was very accomplished, read much,
played on the guitar, and had an exquisite taste
for lace and fine linen.
The pains taken for his concealment shows that
he was a person of considerable quality and im-
portance, and from the following circumstances
It appears singular that he was never discovered.
Whilst at St. Marguerite, he one day wrote
something with his knife on a silver plate, and
afterwards threw the plate through the window
towards a boat which lay near the tower. A
fisherman took up the plate and brought it to the
governor, who, with great ajtonishment, asked
the man if he had read the writing or shown it
to any other person ; and, although he answered
in the negative, put him into confinement till he
was perfectly satisfied, after which he dismissed
him, saying, ' It is lucky for you that you can-
not read.' The abb^ Papon says, in the year
1778 I had the curiosity to visit the apartment -ot
this unfortunate prisoner: it looks towards the
sea. I found in the citadel an officer in die inde-
pendent company there, ^venty-nine years of
age. He told me that his Either had often
related to him that a young lad, a barber, having
seen one day something white floating on the
water, took it up. It was a very fine shirt, writ-
ten almost all over; he carried it to Mons. de St.
Mars ; who, having looked at some parts of the
writing, asked the lad, with an appearance ot
anxiety, if he had not had the curiosity to read
it. He assured him that he had not, but two
days afterwards the boy was found dead in
his bed.
Mons. de Jonca, for many years Lieutenant du
Roi, kept an exact ioumal ot all that passed in
the Bastile. He thus records tlie death of the
black mask. ' Monday, Nov. 19, 1703. The
unknown prisoner, tvhom Mons. de St. Mars
brought with him from the island St. Marguerite,
where he had been a long time under his care,
and who has always been masked with a mask Ot
black velvet, found himself worse yesterday in
coming from mass and died this evening at ten
o'clock, without any great illness. The smell,
however, is not less offensive. Mons. Girault,
our chaplain, confessed him yesterday, his death
being sudden he had not an opportunity of
taking the sacraments ; but our chaplain exhorted
him a few minutes before he expired. lie was
buried on Tuesday, the 20th of November, in
the burying-place of our parish of St. Paul. Ilis
burial cost forty livres.'
Immediately after the prisoner's death his apparel,
linen, clothes, mattresses, and every thing that had
been used by him, were burnt; the wtdls of his
room were scraped, the floor was taken up, and
every precaution used that no trace of him might
be left behind; and yet there are traces. When
he was on the road from St. Marguerite to his
last residence, Mons. de St. Mars was overheard
to reply to a question of the prisoner, relative to
any design against his life. * No, prince, your
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638
BAS
life u in safety; you must only allow yourself to
be conducted.' A prisoner told Mons. la
Grange Chancel that ne was lodged, with other
prisoners, in the room immediately over this cele-
Drated prisoner, and found means of speaking to
him by the vents of the chimney ; but ne refused
to mform them who he was, alleging, that it would
cost his own life, as well as the lives of those to
whom the secret might be revealed . Various have
been the mdividuak supposed to be the masked
prisoner ; particularly tne duke de Beaufort, the
count de Vermandois, a foreign minister, and the
duke of Monmouth, have been conjectured in turn.
Collateral facts, nevertheless, demonstrate that
neither of these could have been the person.
Voltaire, who has expressly written on this mys-
terious affair, says, that the secret was knovm to
Mons. de Chamillard, and that the son-in-law of
that minister conjured him on his death-bed, to
tell him the name of the man with the mask ; but
he replied that it was a secret of state which he
had sworn never to divulge. The most singular
circumstance of the whole, perhaps, is, that dur-
ing the confinement of this man with the mask
no person of importance was'missing in Europe;
whence it has been thought that he was the twin
brother of Louis XIV., whose birth was concealed
by the advice of cardinal Richelieu, but himself
preserved, lest, by the death of his brother, it
should be necessary to &vow him.
Upon the whole, after a long series of oppres-
sions, the horrors of the Bastile becaime so noto-
rious that in July, 1789, the peojple made an
attack upon the building, whicn held out a few
hours and afterwards surrendered. The govern
nor was seized, carried through the streets, and
afterwards beheaded. The major, aid-major, and
lieutenant of the invalids, were killed in the streets.
One soldier was killed and four wounded in the
defence; but numbers were wounded, another
killed, and two hanged, at the Gr^e, by the
populace, as soon as they gained possession; the
pnsoners were feasted and made public spectacles
in Paris, the governor's house and adjacent build-
ings were levelled, and the mayor afterwards
decreed that the whole edifice should be demo-
lished. See Boulanvilliers' Histoire de I'ancien
Gpuvemement, tom. iii.; Memoiresdu Mar6cbal
Due de Richelieu The History of the Bastile,
Lond. 1790, 8vo.
BASTIMENTGS, several small islands near
Terra Firma, in South America, at the moutib of
the bay of Nombre de Dios, east of Porto-Bello.
These islands form a very good port which
serves as a watering-place for smugglers. Here
admiral Hosier lay with a Britisn sauadron
many years ago, and the station being unbealthy
it proved fiital to himself and the greater part of
his men. Long. 79*^ 40* W., lat. 9** 32* N. It
was on this circumstance that Glover, the author
of Leonidas, grounded his spirited ballad of
Hosier's Ghost.
Babtinade, Bastonade, or Bastonado, the
punishment of beating a criminal with a stick.
It was in use among the ancient Greeks, Romans,
and Jews, and still is among the Turks. The
Romans called it fiistigatio, tustium admonitio,
or fustibus csdi ; which differed from the flagel-
latio, as the former was done with a stick, the
latter with a rod, or scourge. The fustigatioo
was a lighter punishment, inflicted on freemen ;
the flagellation more severe, and reserved ibrslaves.
It was also called tympanum, because the patient
here was beaten with sticks, like a drum. It is
much used in the East to this day. The method
there practised is this : the criminal being laid on
his belly, his feet are raised, tied to a stake, and
held fast by officers for the purpose, in which
posture he is beaten by a cudgel on the soles of
nis feet, back, chine, &c. to the number of 100
or more blows. Dr. Shaw suggests (Travels, p.
253.), that it was probably in this manner that
St. Paul was * thrice beaten with rods.*
BASTION, n. s. Fr. bastion, A huge mass
of earth, usually faced with sods, sometimes with
brick, rarely with stone, standing out from a
rampart, of which it is a principal part, and was
anciently called a bulwark.
And with five haMtiont it did fence.
As aiming one for every tense.
To ward : bat how ? ay there's the qneition :
Fierce the assault, nnarm'd the I
Bastion, in fortification, a lar^ mass of earth
at the angles of a work, connecting the curtains
to each other. It is formed by two &ces, two
flanks, and two demigorges. The two faces fonn
the saliant angle, or ande of the bastion ; the
two flanks form with the faces, the epaules or
shoulders ; and the union of the other two ends
of the flanks with the curtains, forms the two
angles of the flanks. There are various kinds of
bastions: such as, — Battion composed^ when
two sides of the interior polygon are very une-
qual, making the gorges also unequal. Aatum
cut, or Bastion with a tcnailUy is that whose point
is cut off, and which instead thereof has a re-en-
tering angle, or an angle inwards, with two points
outwards. It is used either when vrithout such a
contrivance the angle would be too acute, or when
water or some other impediment binders the
carrying on the bastion to its fiill extent Bastiom
deformed, is when the irregularity of flie lines
and angles throws the bastion out of shape ; as
when it wants one of the demigorges, one side of
the interior polygon being too short, &c. Bastion
fiat, is one built in the middle of the curtain,
when it is too long to be defended by the usual
bastions of the extremities. Bastion kalfj or Dasi-
bastion, also called an epaulement, has but one &oe
and flank. Bastion, solid, is one entirely filled
up with earth to the height of the rampart, with-
out any void space towards the centre. Bastion,
void, or hollow, has the rampart and parapet rang-
ing only round tlie flanks and spaces, so that a
void space is left within towards the centre,
where the ground is so low that if the rampart
be taken, no retrenchment can be made in the
centre, but what wiU lie under the fire of the be-
sieged.
BASTOGNE, or Bastognac, a large town
of the duchy of Luxemburg, in the Netheriands.
It carries on a considerable trade in com and
cattle, and was formerly mucb more flourishing
than at present ; but is still, after Luxembuii^
the best town in this part of the Netheriands
The French took it in 1688, and demolished the
fortifications. Twenty-two miles north-west of
Luxemburg, and thirty-five south of liege.
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630
BAT
Bastok, Baton, or Batton, in heraldij. See
Batton.
Baston, Batoon, in architecture, a moulding
in the base of a column, called also torus. See
Architecture, Index.
Baston, in law, one of the serrants to the
warden of the Fleet-prison, who attends the king's
courts with a red staff, for taking into custody
such as are committed by the court. He also at-
tends on prisoners who are permitted to go at
large by licence.
Baston (Robert), a Carmelite monk, prior of
the convent at Scarborough, and poetlaureat and
public orator at Oxford, in the fourteenth century.
£dward I. in his exnedition inta Scotland in
1304, took Baston witti him to celebrate his rio-
tories oyer the Scots ; but the poet being taken
prisoner, was obliged to change his note, and
sing the successes of Robert Brace. He wrote
several books in Latin, on the Wars of Scotland,
the Luxury of Priests, Synodical Sermons* &c. ;
and also a volume of Tragedies and Comedies
in English. He died about A. D. 1310.
BASTONIER, or Batonier, one who keeps
the staff of a community, and carries or follows
it in processions.
BASTWICK (Dr. John), bom at Writtie, in
Essex, in 1593. He was educated at Emanuel
College, Cambridge, from whence he went to
Padua, where he took his degree of M. D. He
afterwards practised physic at Colchester; but
being a man of warm, imagination, and a good
Latin scholar, he used great freedom in writing
against popery. About 1633 he printed in Hol-
land a Latin treatise, entitled Elenchus religionis
Papisticae, with Flagellum Pontificis et Episco-
porum Latialium, in which the English prelates,
thinktne themselves aimed at, he was fined
£1000 m the high commission court, excommu-
nicated, prohibited from practising physic, his
hooks ordered to be burnt, and himself to remain
in prison until he recanted. Instead of recanting,
he wrote in prison, Apologeticus ad pnesules
Anglicanos; and another lx>ok called, The Li-
tany ; wherein he severely exclaimed against the
proceedings, and taxed the bishops with an in-
clination to popery. He was now condemned
by the star-cnamber to pay a fine of £5000, to
be pilloried, lose his ears, and endure perpetual
imprisonment. The parliament in 1 640 reversed
theie proceedinffs, and ordered Dr. Bastwick a
reparation of £5000 out of the estates of the
commissioners who had prosecuted him.
BAT, V. & n.-s BatE, Sax. This word seems
Ba'tlet, f to have given rise to a great
Ba'toit, t number of words in many lan-
B'atteb. -'guages; as,(«rffre,Fr.tobeat;
hatan^ haitle^ beat, hatty^ and others. It proba-
bly signified a weapon that did execution by its
weight, iti opposition to a sharp edge ; whence
whirlbat and brickbat ; a heavy stick or club : the
citation of Spenser gives another meaning, which
agrees vrith the provincial usage of the word in
Sussex, where a walking-stick is called a hat;
the bat is also now a common word for what
was once the stick in driving back the ball at the
game of cricket.
But while he spake, lo Judas, oon of the twelve
laaae, and with him a freet company with swerdis
Widiffe, ». Matt, xxvi. 47.
Id.
Here were we fint ^hatred with the daitei
Of our owne foen from the hye templet top.
f Surrey.
Bat neither iword nor dagger he did beare ;
Seemei that no foet revengement he did feare ;
Instead of them a handsome bai he held»
On which he leaned, as one far in elde.
Estsoones the ape himself gan to vpreare
And. on his shoulders high his bat to beare.
As if good service he were fit to doe.
Nay, come not near the old man, keep out, che vor*
ye, or I'se try whether your costard or my ^/ be the
harder. Shakapeare,
And I rememher kissing of her hatUft [a handle
used in beating linen when taken out of the buck] and
the cows' dugs that her pretty chopped hands had
milked. Id.
They were fried in arm chairs, and their hones
broken with bait. HaktwUl,
Wt came dose to the shore and offered to lead ;
but straightway we saw divers of the people with
AoHont in their hands, as it were forbidding us to
land. fiooon.
Oet me a baton ; 'tis twenty times more court-like,
and less trouble ; and yet you wear a sword.
BeaumoHi ltd Fletcher. Elder Brother.
That does not make a man the worse.
Although his shoulders with batoon
Be daVd and cudgell'd to some tune. Hudibrat.
BAT, ^ Skinner's conjecture that
Ba-Keted, this word is derived from -the
Ba'T'tish, i old Saxon word bat, a boat,
Bat'fowler, I because the creature it dc-
BAT'fowLiNG, scribes, with its wings ex-
Bat'ty. J panded, resembles a boat
impelled by oars, is more ingenious than solid.
Our ancestors were accustomed to denominate
the animal back ; it is called so in Huloet's old
dictionary; that and reremouse appear to have
been the usual words for it ; ^ the otner &ce had
wings like a backe or flindermouse.' See Knight.
Tryal of Truth, 1580, fol. 96; from lience,
probably. Dr. Jamieson's derivation of backie-
bird, its modem name in Scotland; we know
not the reason for the change into bat.
Sttihtbat hath flown
His cloister'd flight, ere to black Hecate's summons
The shard-borne beetle with his drowsy hums
Hath sung night's yawning peal, there shall be done
A deed of dreadful note« Shakipearw,
Wool of bmt, and tongue of dog.
Adder's foi^ and blind worm's sting,
Lisard's leg and owlet's wing.
For a charm of powerful trouble.
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble. Id.
GoN. You are gentlemen of brave' mettle; you
would lift the moon out of her sphere if she would
continue in it five weeks without changing.
8bb. We would to, and then go a bat-fneimg.
Yet oonld his bei^d legions euly see
In this daik chaos. Fletektr. Pmpk Idmd.
Bat then grew reason dark ; that she no more
Could the fair forms of good and truth diseem ;
Batt they became, that eagles were before ;
And this they got by their desire to learn. Daieiet.
Some animiJs are placed in the middle betwin
two kinds, as batt, which iutve something of birds
and beasts. Xoefte.
Where swallows in the winter season keep.
And how the drowsy bat and dormouse sleep. Gay,
Bodies lighted at night by fire, must have a
brighter lustre than by day, — aa sacking of cities, btit-
fouling. Peacham,
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640
B A T A V I A.
Far different there fiom all that charm'd before.
The various terrors of that horrid shore ;
Those matted woods where birds forget to sing.
But silent bat$ in drowsy dusters clin^. GoUkmith,
The birds of passage would in a dark night imme-
diately make for a light-house, ana destroy them-
selves by flying with violence against it, as is well
known to bat-fbwlen.
Bat, Batch, Bate, or Batz. See Batz.
Bat-Fowlino, a particular manner of bird-
catching in the night-time, while they are at
roost upon perches, trees, or hedges. They light
torches or straw, and then beat the bushes : upon
which the birds, flying to the flames, are caught
either with nets or otherwise.
Bat, in zoology. See Vespertilio.
Bat-Horses, or Baw-Horses, in military af-
fairs, baggage-horses belonging to the officer
when on actual duty. Bat-men, or Baw-men,
originally servants hired in war time to take care
of the horses belonging to the artilleiy, &c. The
same name is now given to those who are ex-
cused regimental duty for the express purpose of
attending to the horses belonging to the officers.
BATA, in botany, the MusaParadisiaca of Lin-
naeus.
BATACOLO, a small fort and garrison on the
east of the island of Ceylon. Lat. 7° 45' N.,
long. 81° 60' £. This place has little or no con-
nexion with the south and west parts of the
island, the harbour being incommodious. Here
is also an uncommonly bold shore, and immense
rocks of very grotesque figures, such are the
Friar's Hood, die Elephant, and the Pagoda
Jlocks.
BATANY, Batakg, or Batany Hook, a sea-
port town on the east coast of the island of Gi-
lolo, where cruizing vessels were formerly kept
by the Dutch for the prevention of smuggling.
There is a spacious natural fortress on a point of
land of very difficult access, and containing se-
veral houses and gardens. The whole area thus
surrounded is about three miles in circum-
ference.
BATARDEAU, in bridge building. See
Coffer-dams.
BATATAS, in entomology, a species of aca-
rus, found on the potatoe in Surinam, and some
other parts of South America. It is rather rough
and sanguineous ; anterior legs as long as the body.
BATAVA, in ancient geography, a citadel of
Vindelicia, so called from the Cohors Batava, in
garrison under the commander in Rhaetia ; now
Passau ; being called Batau, from the Batavi ;
then Bassau, and Passau ; situated in Bavaria,
at the confluence of the Danube, Inn, and Iltz.
See Passau.
BATAVI, the ancient Batavians, a branch of
liie Catti, who, in a domestic sedition, being ex-
pelled their country, occupied the extremity of
the coast of Gaul, or the modem Holland, at that
time uninhabited, together with the island, called
from them Insula Batavorum, situated among
shoals. Thus, Lucan, 1. 1, v. 431.
Vangiones : Batavique truces^ qaos sere recnrvo
Strldentes acuere tubse :
Tlieir name Batavi they carried with them from
Germany, there being some towns in the territory
of the Catti, called Battenberg, and Battenhau-
sen. The bravery of the Batavi, especially the
horsemen, procured them not only great honor
from the Romans, being called their brothers and
friends ; but an exemption from taxes, being
obliged only to furnish men and arms.
BAT A VIA, a city on the north coast of the
island of Java, the capital of the Dutdi settle-
ments in the East Indies. It stands at the
mouth of the river Jacatra, in the bosom of a
large commodious bay, which is one of the
safest harbours inlndia. Lat. 6** 12' N., long. 107"
4' E. The Jacatra passes through the midst of
the town, and forms various canals of nmnin?
water, all faced with freestone, and adorned with
trees : over these canals are upwards of fifty
bridges, besides those which lie without the town.
The streets are all perfectly straight, and each,
on an average, thirty feet broad. The houses are
built of stone. The city is about a league and
a half in circumference, and has five gates ; bat
there are far more houses without than within
them.
A circular range of islands protects the har-
bour of Batavia from any heavy swell, and ren-
ders it safe anchorage, these are Onrust, Edam,
Cooper's Isle, and Purmerend, containing ware-
houses, hospitals, and naval arsenals. From the
roadstead there are scarcely any of the buildings
of Batavia visible, except the great church, the rest
being hid by the palms and other high spreading
trees.
Batavia is well fortified, and the approaches
both by sea and land are secured by strong out-
works. On an island, at the entrance of the har-
bour, there is a fort which commands that
passage, and protects the extensive dock-yards.
The citadel, on the east bank of the Jacatra, is a
regular fortress, built of coral rock : it contains
the house of the governor-general of the Indies,
and the principal authorities. The great church
is said to have cost £80,000 ; but the public
buildings, generally, are inferior. There are be-
sides five other Christian churches, a mosque,
and a temple belonging to the Chinese; the
stadt-house, bridewell, infirmary, orphan-house,
and two public hospitals, one of which is in the
island of Purmerend. Here are also arsenals and
magazines, well stocked with military stores and
ammunition. The government consists of a
council formed by the governor-general of the
East Indite, who is president, the director-gene-
ral, or governor of Java, nine members, and two
secretaries. The power of this body is absolute ;
and the governor-general may, on his own re-
sponsibility, adopt any measures rejected by tlie
others. The police and criminal magistracy is
under a Fiscal, who can levy fines and inflict
punishments at discretion. The regulation of all
matters relating to navigation are under the
marine fiscal ; and a Shkh-bender, or captain of
the port, acts as consul-general for all naiions.
A garrison of about 5000 men was main-
tained by the Dutch, in Batavia, before it
was caj^tured by our troops, under Sir Samuel
Auchmuty in 1811. At that period the number
of inhabitants was 47^217.
In 1792 this city contained upwards of 5000
houses liable to be rated ; and a population of
115,960 souls, of which 6000 were citizens*
22,000 Chinese, and 17,000 slaves ! The total
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B A T A V I A.
641
population of Batavia and its immediate depen-
dencies, is estimated at 150,000 souls. The
last census of the town is as follows :
Europeans, 543; Arab, 318; Javanese, 3331 ;
Bali-men, 7720 ; M oluccans, 82 ; native Dutch,
1485: Malays, 3155; Macassars, 4115; Sum-
bayans, 237; Timorotes, 24 ; Chinese, 11.854;
Slaves, 14,239.
The principal articles imported are cloths,
drugs, and bpium, from Bengal ; camphor, ben-
zoin, birds-nests (hirundo esculenta), coa-lin,
and ivory, from Sumatra; gardens-seeds, butter,
Madeira and Cdnstantia wines, from the Cape of
Good Hope; porcelain, tea, silks, nankeens,
alum, borax, sulphur, cinnabar, mother of pearl,
paper, sweetmeats, and tobacco, irom Cnina;
copper, swoid-bUdes, camphor, soy, porcelain,
lackered ware, and silks, from Japan. The ex-
poru from Batavia are pepper, sugar, rice, coffee,
and anack; sanchCi, (burnt wine.) a kind of
Chinese arack. To China, besides these arti-
cles, they send birds-ncsts, of ;the edible swal^
low, ^bicho do mar, sea-slug, or holothuria;
cotton, spices, tin, rattans, sapan-wood, sago,
and wax. To Borneo and the Moluccas, piece-
goods, opium, md a few European articles. To
the other Dutch settlements, rice. Bullion was
the principal article imported from Europe be-
fore the French revolution.
Batavia has always been unhealthy ; and the
mortality in tlie garrison of the fort is almost in-
credible. This arises evidently from the pecu-
liar position of the town, and its injudicious or-
naments. The plain around b flat, and filled
with rice grounds, which must necessarily be often
laid under water; while the streets have each its
canal and row of evergreens, which at once oc-
casion pestiferous exhalations, and prevent a
liee circulation of tlie air. A part of the plain,
also, on the left of the fort, is an impracticable
morass. The thermometer at Batavia is seldom
above 90^, and usually as low as 84^ : hence it is
not excess of heat that makes it so unhealthy, yet
such is the mortality, that one-fifth of the Euro-
pean inhabitants die annaally.
Amongst other causes of mis, however, the in-
temperance of the mode of living must not be
overlooked. The vile habits of the Pagan and
Mahommedan natives are but too contagious
with the Europeans. The multitude of domestic
slaves is a source of the worst habits : and most
of the female part of society are a degenerate,
•debased race, lost in indolence and sensuality.
* Notwithstanding the republican form of the
Dutch government,* says Mr. Hamilton, ' in no
part of Uie world is the distinction of ranks so mi-
nutely and frivolously attended to as at Batavia,
and the salaries allowed to the Dutch Company's
servants being inadequate to the support of the
establishment they think necessary tor the sup-
port of their dignity, corruption and bribery are
universal. . In society every individual is as stiff
and formal, and as feelingly alive to every infrac-
tion of his privileges, as if his happiness or mi-
sery depended on Uie due observance of them.
Nothing is more particularly attended to at en-
tertainments by the master of the house, than the
seating of every guest) and drinking their healths
in the exact order of precedency.
Vol III.
To provide against future disputes on the
subject of precedency, the respective ranks of
all the company's servants were ascertained by a
resolution of government, which was revised and
renewed in 1764.* The act by which these rules
were first established consists of 131 articles, and
enters into the most minute details respecting
tlie carriages, horses, chairs, servants, &c. &c. of
the company's servants.
' By the eighth article, little chaises for children,
drawn by the hand, must not be gilt or painted
but in exact proportion to the rank of the pa-
rents. Ladies whose husbands are below the
rank of counsellors of the Indies, may not wear
at one time jewels more in value than six thou-
sand rix dollars : wives of senior merchants are
limited to four thousand ; others to three, two,
and one thousand rix dollars. ,
'Article forty-ninth permits ladies of the higher
ranks to go abroad witn three female attendants,
who may wear ear-rings of single middle sized
diamonds, gold hair pins, petticoats of cloth, of
gold, or silver gauze; chains of gold and of
beads, and giitlles of gold; but they must not
wear diamonds, pearls, nor any kind of jewels in
their hair. Wives of senior merchants may have
two, and ladies in an inferior station one female
attendant, who may wear ear-rings of small dia-
monds, gold hair pms, a jacket of fine linen, and
a chintz petticoat ; but no gold or silver stuffs or
silks, or any jewels, true or false pearls, or any
ornament of gold. The eighu-third article recom-
mends to the Dutch East India Company's ser-
vants in Bengal, not to surpass their predecessors
in pomp of dress and appearance ; and the 110th
permits the director of the factory at Surat, when
he goes abroad in state, to carry among other
things, four fans, made after the fashion of the
country, with the feathers of the bird of para-
dise and cow-hair, with gold cases and hands.
It is remarkable, that in these regulations the
tax on carriages increases downwards, from the
higher to the lower ranks, andr penalties are
attached to the infraction of these statutes.'
The Chinese, who are the most effective part of
the population, are indefatigably industrious, but
notorious at the same time for cunning and dis-
honesty. * The Dutch,' they say, * have only one
eye, but the Chinese have two.' All the mecha-
nic trades are carried on by them ; and the more
wealthy are merchants, some of whom &rm the
customs and taxes. They inhabit a separate
towuyor campong, close to the city ; it is thronged
with men and pigs, of which tlie Chinese keep
some hundred tnousands. The Malays, who are
Mahommedans, have a bad character ; but they
have been misrepresented by the Dutch, whose
narrow, tyranniod policy has alienated the affec-
tions of most of the natives. The Amboynese, .
generally employed as builders, are bold and tur-
bulent.
The foundations of Batavia were laid in 1619
by the Dutch commodore Koen, and so
prompt and successful were his companions,
that it soon became the metropolis of tne East
India possessions. In 1629 it compelled an
army of 200,000 Javanese to retire, after a siege
of several months. Not long after, the viceroy
rebelled against the emperor of Java : the Dutch
2T
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BATE.
did not fiiil to turn this circumstance to their own
advantage ; and at length contrived to get these
sovereigns completely into their power. Their
avarice and injustice, however, made the natives
v<vy anxious to emancipate themselves, and in
1722 a general conspiracy was discovered, only
just in time to prevent its execution. In 1740,
not twenty years afterwards, 12,000 Chinese were
massacred in one day, by order of the governor,
on d)e plea, reaf or pretended, of a similar
movement.
In 1798 a new camp at Welte Freden was
established in a woody plain, a league and a half
up the country. The road to it is along a fine
causeway, widi country seats on one side, and
on the other a navigable canal. The barracks,
which are built of wood and stone, occupy a
third of Uie ground on the opposite side of the
entrance. The Tannabang, a large Malay village,
in which there are several Chinese families,
stands on a height two leagues and a half from
the city. Mester Comelis is a small fort, a
league beyond Welte Freden, surrounded by
small Javanese, Malay, and Chinese villages.
The ground rises insensibly to Mester Cor-
nells, which is seen half a mile off. This
fort lies in a hollow, on the bank of the great river,
commanded by a small height. On the right and
left of the road are bamboo barracks for the
Maduran artillery, of which this is the dep6t.
The fort is built of stone, but is not strong, the
demi-bastions being scarcely two feet thick, by
four high, and surrounded by a dry ditch. The
entrance is by a stone bridge, within which is
the guard-house, and near to it another house
occupied by the European artillery. The fort is
quitted by another bridge on the opposite side,
communicating with a range of wooaen barracks,
in which are the artillery officers and companies
imder training.
The whole of the Dutch policy here has been
wretchedly arbitrary and severe ; and although
Sir Stamford Raffles, the British governor, dur-
ing our possession of the place, very successfully
lelormea their system, the new authorities are
said to have returned to it. But Sir Stamford
observes, ' of the splendor and magnificence which
procured for thb capital the title of the Queen of
the East, little is now to be found. Streets have
been pulled down, canab half filled up, forts de-
molished, and palaces levelled with the dust. The
stadt-house, wnere the supreme court of justice
and magistracy still assemble, remains; mer-
chants transact their business in the town during
the day, and its warehouses still contain t:se
richest productions of the island, but few Euro-
peans of respectability sleep within its limits.'
Batavia, the ancient name of Holland. See
Batavobum.
BATAVIAN Republic, one of the late de-
mocratic states, formed upon the plan of the
French republic, out of the ci-devant United
Provinces, or States of Holland. The Stadhold-
erate was abolished in 1795, and the republic
established March 1796. On the 24th ot May
1806, it was converted into a kingdom, and Prince
Ix>uis Napoleon appointed hereditary and con-
stitutional king of Holland. See Holland.
BATAVORUM Oppidum, in ancient geogra-
phy, a town in the island of Batavia, mentioned
by Tacitus : some suppose it to be Nimeguen.
BATCALE, or Batacole, a sea-port on the
coast of Malabar, Hindostan, where the Eait
India Company formerly had a settlement In
1 670 all the settlers were murdered by the natives ;
but it was again ceded to the company. Twenty
miles north from Barcelore.
Batchelor's Pear, a name g^ven.to a species
of nightshade. See Solan uh.
BATCH, the past participle of bahm, to
bake ; any entire quantity ; a oatch of bread is
the bread baked at the same time.
How now, thoa core of envy.
Thou crnsty batch of nature, what's the news ?
Ssoepc he were of the Mtme metl and haich.
BATCHIAN IsLANn, one of the Moluccas,
separated from Gilolo by a narrow strait, and
situated between the equator and the first degree
of south latitude. It is of an irregular shape, in
length about fiffy-two miles, by twenty the
average breadth. In 1 775 the Sultan of Batchtan
claimed dominion over the islands of Ooby, Ce-
ram, and Goram, but was himself entirely sub-
ject to the influence of the Dutch. Tbe inhabi-
tants of Batchian are Malay Mahommedans.
BATE, -1 Dr. Johnson thinks it is con-
Ba'ta^lc, >tracted from debate; ^nner
Ba'teful. J imagines that it is derived from
Ang. Sax. beatan to beat to strike ; Todd says
positively it is from the Saxon bare, contention,
strife or a make-bate.
Among whioh foolet (matk Baldwiae) I am one.
That woold not etay iDjself in mine eetate ;
I thought to rule, bat to obey to none.
And therefore fell I with my king at Aote.
JttfTOT jvt Jfie^iiifinfei.
Naked as from the womhe we came, if we depart.
What toyle to seeke that we must leve ! what haic
to vex the heart?
What lyef leade tcstcy men, they that oonsnme iheir
days
In inwarde froets, ontemper'd batei, at ttzyef with
sum alwaies. Smttg, Kodtt, chap. ir.
Pletyng the lawe'
For ev'iy strawe.
Shall prove a thrifty man.
With hoU and strife^
But by my life
I cannot tell you whan. Sir Tko^ Mwe.
Breeds no hate with telling of discreet atoriea.
An honest, willing, kind fellow, as ever
shall oome in house withal ; and I warrant you no
tell-tale nor no breed4ate. /d.
This sour inlbrmer, this iois-bieeding spy.
This canker that eats «p love's tender spring.
This cany-taie, dissensious jeahrasy.
That sometimes true news, samctiBMa Idae, dock
bring. id, VaaamtiAdam.
These appear unto us like unto the haimiU groond
lying betwixt England and Scotland, (whilest as yet
two distinct kingdomes) in so dubious a postore it is
hard to say to which side they do belong.
FuOnr. Generrd Worthia.
BatabU ground is terra pngnabilis BaiaNe ground
seems to be the ground heretofore in question, whether
it belonged to £ngland or Scotland, lying between
both kingdoms. Otmdl,
He knew her haunt, and haunted in the same.
And taught his sheep her sheep in food to *^»«^^
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BATE.
643
Which MMm ao it did katefid qaetlion frame.
Be might oft knees confer hie guilhr l>»rt. Sidiup.
Bate» "x Contracted from abate, old
Bate'less, f Saxon; to beat down; to de-
Bate'mekt,! press; to lessen; to diminish;
Ba'tiKo. 3 to sink; or cause to sink; to
cut off; to take away ; to remit
Shall I bend low, and in a bondtman't key,
With, baud bieath, and whiap'ring hnmblenen.
Say tfiit? ShaJupeart, Merchant of Vemce.
GoN. Sir, we were talking, that oar garments seem
now as fresh, as when we were at Tunis, at the mar-
riage of your daughter : who is now queen.
A NT. And as Uie rarest thing that e'er came there.
Bate, I beseech you, widow Dido. Id. Tempeat.
Baidolph, am not I fallen away vilely since this
last Section? Do I not bate? Do I not dwindle?
Why my skin hangs about me like an old lady's loose
gown. Id. Henry IV.
Yet I argue not
'Ghunat Heaven's hand or will, nor bate a jot
Of heart or hope; bttt still bear up and steer
Right onward. MUUm.
Abate thy bpeed, and I will bate of mine. Dr$d^,
When the landholder's rent falls, he must either
hate the labourer's wages, or not employ or not pay
him. Loche.
To abate, is to waste a piece of stuff: instead of
asking how much was cut off, carpenters ask what
batemeia that piece of stuff had.
Jfojwn'tf Mee^atueai Bxerdaee.
But I hate disputes ; and (therefore ba^ religious
points, <or sach u touch society,) I would subscribe to
nny thing which does not choak me In the first pas*
•age, rather than be drawn into one. SUrtie.
Bate, v. a term in &lconry; to flatter the
wings, as preparing for flight, particularly at the
sight of prey : probably from oattre, Fr.
All plumed like eatridges that wing the Vind ^
Baud like eagles having lately bathed.
Shahrpeare. L Hemg IV,
Hood my unmann'd blood batiig in my cheek.
Id. Romeo and JvUet,
It is a natural action with birds, after bathing,
to shake the moisture from their wings; al»>
when desirous of their food or prey, as in the
following passage :
No sooner are we able to prey for ourselves, but
they brail and hood us so with sour awe of parenU,
that we dare not o£fer to bate at our desires.
AtbmnaMor. OU Play vii. 179.
The true meaning of the word is beautifully
exemplified in the following passage of Bacon :
Wherehu (vis. in matters of business) I would to
God that I wens hooded, that I saw less; or that I
could perform more ; for now I am like a hawk that
haiea, when I see occasion of service ; but cannot fly
because I am ty'd to another's first*
Bate (George), an eminent phy^cian, bom
at Maid's Morton, near Buckingham, in 1606.
In 1639 he obtained a licence, and for some
years practised in and about Oxford; chiefly
among the Puritans. In 1637 he took his de-
gree of M. D., and became so eminent, that when
king Charles I. kept his court at Oxford he was
his principal physician. When the king's affairs
declined. Dr. Bate removed to London, where he
became physician to the Charter-house, hWovr of
the college of physiciaYiS| and afterwards princi-
pal physician to Oliver Cromwell. Upon the
restoration he again got into favor with the royal
party, was made principal physician to king
Charles II., and fellow to the Roya. Society ;
and this, as we are told by Wood, owing to a
report raised by his friends that he gave the pro-
tector a dose which hastened his death. Dr.
Bate wrote in Latin a history of the civil vrars in
England, and some other tracts on physical sub-
jects. He died at his house in Hatton-garden,
and was buried at Kingston-upon-Thames ir.
Surrey.
Bate (John), prior of the monastery of Car-
melites at York in the fifteenth century, was borr.
in Northumberland, and educated at York and
Oxford. Bate abimdantly answered the hopes
conceived of him, and became an eminent phi-
losopher and divine, remarkable for his skill in
the Greek tongue. He took the degree of D. D.
at Oxford, and afterwards distineuished himself
as an author. The Carmelites of York were so
sensible of his merit, that, upon a vacancy, they
offered him the government of their house ;
which he accepted, and discharged that office
with great prudence and success. He died in
1423, in the beginning of the reign of Henry IV.
Bate (Julius), a voluminous author, and an
intimate friend of the celebrated Hutchinson ; by
whose recommendation he obtained from Charles,
duke of Somerset, a pr^ntation to the living of
Sutton in Sussex. His publications were : 1. An
Essay towards explainmg the first Chapter of
Genesis, in answer to Mr. Warburton, 1741, 8vo.
2. The Philosophical Principles of Moses as-
serted and defended against the Misrepreslenta-
tions of Mr. David Jennings, 1744, 8vo. 3.
Remarks upon Mr. Warburton*s Remarks, shew-
ing that the Ancients knew there was a Future
State, and that the Jews were not under an equal
Providence, 1745, 8vo. 4. The Faith of the
Ancient Jews in the Law of Moses, and the Evi-
dence of the Types, vindicated in a Letter to Dr.
Stebbing, 1747, Svo. 5. Micah, v. 2. and Mat-
thew, ii. C. reconciled, 1749, Bvo. 6. An He-
brew Grammar, formed on the Usage of the
Words by the Inspired Writers, 1750, Bvo. 7.
The Use and Intent of Prophecy, and History of
the Fall, cleared, 1750, Oto. ; this was occasioned
by Middleton's Examination of Sherlock. 8. The
Blessing of Jndah and Jacob considered, and the
^ra of Daniel's Weeks ascertained, in two Dis-
sertations, 1753, 8vo. The Integrity of the He-
brew Text and many Passages of Scripture
vindicated from the Objections and Misconstruc-
tions of Mr. Kennicot, 1755, Svo. 10. A Reply
to Dr. Sharp's Review, and Defence of his Dis-
sertations on the Scripture Meaning of Eloim
and Berith, !755, Bvo. 11, A Reply to Dr.
Sharp's Review and Defence of his Dissertation
on tne Scripture Meaning of Berith ; with an
Appendix in Answer to the Doctor's Discourse
on Cherubim, Part II., 1755, 8vo. 12. Remarks
upon Dr. Benson's Sermon on the Gospel Method
of Justification, 1755, 8to. 13. Critica Hebrsa,
or a Hebrew English Dictionary without Points,
&c. 1764, 4to. 14. A new and literal Transla-
tion from the original Hebrew of the Pentateucli
of Moses, and of the Historical Books of the Old
Testament, to the end of II. Kings ; with Notes
critical and explanatory, 1 737, 4to. This learned
writer died April 7th, 1771.
Bate, or Bhatta Isle an island of the pro-
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BATH.
?ince ox Oujrat, Hindostan, at the south-west
extremity of the gulf of Cutch. It possesses a
good harbour, and a fort, but is very barren. Tht
town consists of about 2000 houses, principally
inhabited by Hindoos. Long. 69° 21' £., lat.
22* 22' N.
BATECUMBE, or Badkcombe (William), an
eminent mathematician, supposed to have flou-
rished about 1420, in the reign of Henry V. He
studied at Oxford, where he applied himself to
natural philosophy, but chiefly to the mathe-
matics, in which he made a very great proficiency.
His writings are: 1. Of the Formation and Use
of the Concave Sphere. 2. Of the Solid Sphere.
3. Of the Use of the Astrolabe. 4. Philosophi-
cal Conclusions.
BATEMAN (William), bishop of Norwich in
the fourteenth century, was bom at Norwich.
In 1328 he was collated to the archdeaconry of
that see : soon after, he went to Rome, where he
so distinguished himself that he was promoted by
the pope to the place of auditor of the palace.
He was likewise advanced by him to the deanery
of Lincoln ; and sent twice as nuncio to endea-
vour to procure a peace between Edward III.
ind'thc king of France. In 1343 he appointed
him bishop of Norwich^ and consecrated him
with hb own hands. In 1347 bishop Bateman
founded Trinity-hall in Cambridge, for the study
of the civil and canon laws; and another hall
dedicated to the Annunciation of the Virgin
Mary, for the study of philosophy and divinity.
He was often employed by the king and parliar
ment in afiairs of the highest importance. • In
1354 he was, by order of parliament, despatched
to the court of Rome, with Henry duke of Lan-
caster, and others, to treat, in the pope's presence,
of a peace. This journey proved fatal to him ;
for he died at Avignon, where the pope resided,
HI 1354-6, and was buried with great solemnity
in the cathedral church of that city.
BATENITES, a sect of apostates from Ma-
hommedanism dispersed through the East, who
fell into the same abominable practices vritb the
Ismaelians and Karmatians. Tne word properly
signifies esoteric, or people of inward or hidden
light ; they are also called Batenians.
BATES (William), D.D. an eminent non-
conformist divine, bom in November 1625,. was
admitted of Emanuel college, Cambridge, and
thence removed to Kind's college in 1644. He
was one of the commissioners, at the conference
in the Savoy, for reviewing the Litur^, and was
concerned in drawing up the exceptions against
the Common Prayer; however, soon after the
Restoration, he was appointed chaplain to king
Charles II., and became minister of St. Dun-
stan's in the west, but was deprived of that bene-
fice for nonconformity. He bore a very high
character; and was honored with the fiiendship
of the lord keeper Bridgman, the lord chancellor
Finch, the earl of Nottingham, and archbishop
Tillotson. At the Restoration he was oflered
the deanery of Litchfield, which he refiised. He
published Select Lives of illustrious and pious
Persons, in Latin. His works, except his Select
lives, have been printed in one volume in folio.
He died July 14th, 1699. Dr. Bates was well
acquainted not only with theology, but with
poetry and the belles lettres ; hb styklaile
much and justly praised for iti eiegBce; jl
has obtained for him the appelbtioa ^^s»
tongued Bates.
Bath, one of the most elegant dtis c tr
kingdom, and a bishop's see; is vtaasd s
delightful vale, and on the accliritj of i L
facing the south and south-east, id tbeoorMi
extremity of Somersetshire, near the bordse
Gloucester and Wilts. Itistwdw miksf-.
Bristol, nineteen from Wells, thirty-e^t-
Salisbury, forty-two from Gloooester, sxtr k
Oxford, and 105 from London, by way of I:;-
penham, or 107 through Devises ; Boni»akb
an amphitheatre of hills, of oonsidenbkttiv
tion, it enjoys, by means of the mo A«i
. which is here of considerable DBgutde, e
passes through a great poition of die on..
direct communication witn the Briitol dass:
the Kennet and Avon canal, which hexbSst
the Avon, completes the inland oosudoszcl
by water, from London.
This was ren early afcforitestaiioBafa
Romans, and called by them Aqoa Solis, Its
Calidi, Badinia, and Therms AchamaoiBo. h
1755 the abbey-house or prioiy was takaor-
and, about twenty feet below thesDifatt,^?
discovered the remains of numeroasRom^
and sudatones, or sweating rooms, drcsbr.ff^
circular, and oblong; pa^ with sisk^^k-
stones, with appropriate aoartmeots x^oox
beautifully ornamented with tessdKei ^
ments, &c. Such were the frtgidaiiiun,a:6:
room, where the bathers undrosed ; tfae^-^-
rium, or warmer apartment, witiiin, si?
oleothesion, a small room comainiDgoli,*!^
ments, and perfumes; under these «ef«^^
ingeniously contrived to convey and mi- ^
warmth required for the apartmems ib« ^
444, when the Romans left this country, 'i-'^
extended 12,000 ieet in length, aod li^ -
breadth ; and was surrounded by a »^ e3
feet thick, and twenty feet high ; some re*^
of which are now to be seen. 1^ ^f^ r^
have been taken down at different tinia >
west gate lately), to open and impioR ^ ^
proaches.
Various other vestiges of this peopk a? i^
possession of pnvate individuals, Wmoitff^
are preserved and classed in a building ei«^^
that purpose, by the corporation; amos^'*
are the remains and fragments of colaBft '«'-
nices and capitals, of a magnificent tnapie,^^'
cated to Minerva, by Julius Agricoh. « ^
present site of the great pump-ioom.
The coins which have been feiii»d,««*^
those of Claudius, Vespasian, Tttjan, .^
Antoninus Pius, Sevenis, Maximian, Cas3^
and Constantine. Near the burial pl«o<J^
soldiery, under Lansdown, qaantitie! rf'^
fibulae, anuillae, and diains, have beend^
By the Saxons, Bath was known asAcff^
nes-cea|-qi, the city of sick men; A^^*"^-
t«m, and Lette«un. It was a lwi?l» »"V
the kingdom of Wessex. lo 775 it *«,^
by Oflfe, king of Mercia, who etaWisW^
college of secular canons. ^^^^^Z^
of the Danes in the eighth cenniiy, ftj^
almost destroyed; but, in the mgn rfAas**
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BAT H.
645
it once more recovered its grandeur. Coins
were at this time struck, and the grants to the
monastery here augmented. King Edgar was
inaugurated here, and gave many privileges to
the town. Manv of the Danish monarchs re-
sided here. In the early part of the Confessor's
reign it was held hy his consort Editha; hut it
reverted to the crown after her father's death,
and was attached, to the royal demesnes in the
time of William the Conqueror. In the reign of
William Rufus, during the insurrection of Odo,
bishop of Bayeux, and the Norman lords who
espoused tl.e cause of the unfortunate Robert, it
was plundered and burnt. The city owes its
restoration to the liberality of John de Villula,
a native of Tours, who purchased it of William
II. for 500 marks, and obtained leave to remove
the bishop's seat from Wells hither, uniting it to
the monastery and church. He may indeed be
considered as its second founder; all the public
edifices were rebuilt by him; and, becoming
bishop of the see in the reign of Henry I., he
bestowed large endowments on the monastery.
The monks, at this and subseouent periods, are
said to have greatly encouragea manufactures of
woollen cloth. Corruption, however, crept among
them, along with the rest of the religious orders ;
and, in the reign of Henry VII., bishop King
was compelled to introduce several regulations to
correct their excesses. Bath is indebted to this
prelate for her beautiful Abbey-church, &c., de-
dicated to St. Peter and St. Faul, built in the
form of a cross, and considered to be one of the
finest specimens extant of the pure Gothic archi-
tecture. It was begun by him in 1495, and
finished in 1532. The dimensions of the win-
dows are nearly uniform; they are large and
beautifully formed : firom the centre of the croes
rises a tower 162 feet high, crowned with light
open battlements. The body of the abbey is
210 feet long from east to west, and 126 from
north to south; and the breadth of the body and
aisles is seventy-two feel. The principal en-
trance at the west is dirough a fine archcKl door-
way, and the attention of visitors is forcibly
arrested by the excellent proportion and beauti-
ful symmetry of this noble pile. In the interior
is a handsome altar-tomb to the memory of
bishop Montague. The vestry contains a small
library, found^ by bishop Lake. . Bath has four
parishes, each of which has its church. The
abbey church is in the parish of St. Peter and St.
Paul; the names of the three others are St.
James's, a freestone building, erected in 1768, at
the west end of which is a square tower, contain-
ing eight bells : St. Michael's, which was begun
in 1734, has a fine dome, and is of the Doric
order : Walcot church is dedicated to Sl Swithtn,
and was rebuilt in 1780; this parish has a
church entirely devoted to the accommodation
of the lower orders, and contains four chapels of
ease. In the reign of Elizabeth, the several
parishes of Bath were consolidated into one
rectory.
Here are also two reading-schools, many pub-
lic libraries, and literary and philosophical insti-
tutions, the West of England Agricultural Society.
&c.
Nor is Bath deficient m charitable establish-
ments. Here is a great hospital and infirmary,
capable of receiving 150 patients, who have
advice and the use of the waters gratis ; Bellot's
hospital, and the Black alms; the Stranger's
Friend Society; the Eye Infirmary, and the
Puerperal, or Child-bed Society. The free
Grammar-school, and Blue-coat school, are also
well-conducted establishments. The places of
divine worship for dissenters are numerous;
that belonging to the Roman Catholics was for-
merly the theatre.
By the census returned to parliament in 1021,
Bath contained 5127 houses and 36,811 inha-
bitants ; exclusive of the out-parishes of Bath-
wick, Bathhampton, Batheaston, and Bathford.
The city was at one time governed by a steward ;
but, in 1590, queen Elizabeth granted it a char-
ter, declaring it a city, sole in itself, and vesting
the government in a mayor, recorder, ten alder-
men, and twenty-four common-council; from
the body of aldermen the mayor is elected, and
from the council are chosen the chamberlain,
two bailiffs, and two constables, annually. It
sends two members to parliament, who are
elected by the corporation. The see of Bath
and Wells comprenends the whole county of
Somerset, except a few churches in Bristol, and
contains 388 parishes, and 503 churches and
chapels. Sixty of the parishes are impropriate.
The bishop's palace is at Wells. The vicarage
of the abbey is included in the rectory of Ba&,
and Walcot is a rectory. Bath races are held in
September, on Lansdown, one of the highest hills
near the city, about three miles in extent. On
this down is also held an annual fidr, on the 10th
of August, for cheese, cattle, horses, and all kinds
of merchandise, and a fair is also held in Hollo-
way, on the other side of the city, May 14th;
two other fidrs are held in the town.
By &r the largest and finest part of this beau-
tiful city is without the walls, particularly
Queen Square, in the midst of which is a garden
with gravel walks, and having an obelisk tn the
centre. Another principal ornament of this *part
of the town is the King's Circus, with three
openings at equal distances, leading into as many
streets. The fronts of the houses are adorned
with three rows of columns, in pairs of the Doric,
Ionic, and Corinthian orders, standing over each
other, and the frieze is embellished with sculp-
ture. In the centre is a large covered reservoir
of water, filled from springs rising in the adjacent
hills, and serving for tne supply of the neighbour-
hood.
The Royal Cresent is another striking object :
the whole extensive ^nt is of an elliptical form,
consisting of thirty-one noble stone houses, uni-
formly built, with rustic basements, surmounted
wirii columns of the Ionic order. It stands on
an eminence, with an open and gentle declivity
or lawn of twenty acres before it, down to the
Avon, commanding delightful and uninterrupted
prospects of the city, the vale below, and the
river as it meanders towards Bristol ; as well as of
the opposite hills, and numerous villas, ham-
lets, and roads, which intersect and adora it.
Behind this crescent rise St. James's Square,
Lansdown Crescent, Somerset Place, Camden
Phce, Portland Place, Catherine Place, Mount
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BATH.
ZioD, a lar^e extent of buiidingi on the summit
of Beacon Hill ; Cavendish Crescent and Place,
I^nsdown Grove, LAnsdown Place, snd Belle
Vue. Besides these are Belvidere, Belmont, and
Paragon Buildings, Marlborough Buildings,
Burlington Place, and many other intenrening
the entrance from ike London' Road, are man)
new ranges of magnificent buildings, with paved
terraces, called Kensington, Piccadilly, Grosve-
nor Place, and Walcot Terrace.
The amusements of Bath are under ihe snper-
intendance of two masters of the ceremonies, who
streets and buildings. Nothing indeed can be are elected to that office by the subscriber to
more picturesque than the appearance of this the assemblies, balls, &c., one of whom presides
part ot the town. at the Upper Rooms, and the other at the Lower
Across the Avon, on the eastern side of the city. Rooms. Besides these, there is a third appointed
stands Fulteney. Bridge, an elegant structure, of to preside at the city assemblies at tne Tcwu
one arch, covered on each side vnth shops, and Hall. The lodging-houses are numeions and
leading immediately from High Street, in the commodious, and adapted to all ranks who may
centre of the city, to Bathwick, where several
elegant new erections have lately arisen. I^aura
Place, which is a square, built in the form of a
lozenge, is peculiarly beautiful; and passing
be induced to seek benefit from these salutary
waters. Sedan-chairs are established here, die
(ares of which are r*ettled by the mayor and
justices ; and here are also hackney-coadies ana
through the centre of this place diagonally, in a chariots, regulated as in London. Besides the
direct line from the bridge, is Great Pulteney Assembly Rooms and Pump Room, which are
Street, of considerable length, uniformly built, the usual promenades for persons of fashion, in
and lighted with gas. At the distant extremity of wet or unfavorable weather; and die Riding
this street, in front, is Sydney Gardens, or Vaux- Schools, which are the resort of equestrians on
hall, which -range and expand up the side of similar occasions; the neighbourhood of Balh
Claverton Hill, and are very tastefblly laid oat. abounds with beautiful vralks and rides, and
Here also runs the Kennet and Avon canal, or- particularly Clavertop Down, and lansdown for
namented with two cast-iron bridges in the the latter, affording the most salubrious air, and
Chinese style. At the top of the hill is an ex-
tensive plantation of firs. Around Sydney Gar<
dens extends Sydney Place, an admirable speci*
men of architectu^re, forming an area, of which
the most extensive prospects.
The old bridge over the Avon is a handsome
structure, with stone balustrades. The inter-
course between Bath and Bristol is very great,
the fsardens are the centre. In one of the wings and besides carnages for the conveyance of goods,
of this place her late majesty, queen Charlotte,
resided during her illness in 1817; and near it
Stands the elegant new parish church of Bath-
wick, built in the modem gothic style, and
dedicated to St. Mary.
and private carriages of every description, there
are not less than forty stage-coaches, that rega-
lariypass forward and backward between the
two cities. The whole city of Bath is amply
supplied vrith the most excellent spring-water.
In the south-east part of the town is Orange brought from the neighbouring hills, and distii-
Grove, a spacious area, planted with elms, and butea to every house by means of l^den-pipes.
having an obelisk in its centre ; adjoining to this The Guildhall, situate on the east side of
are the walks where the Old Assembly Rooms High Street, is worthy of such a city. Besides
are situated, and near to them are the North and the Vestibule and the Ifublic Hall, for the city
South Parades. Tliese are two elegant rows of sessions, court of record, justices' meetings, court
hous^, each 580 feet long, elevated on arches, of conscience, and other public business, is a
and uniformly built, with paved terraces in front,
fifty-two feet wide: whence are extensive and
enchanting views of Prior Park, the magnificent
seat of the late Ralph Allen, esq. Beechen
Cliff, with its hanging woods, ana Claverton
Hill, richly diversified with villas and enclosures,
and crowned with an ornamental castellated
structure, which is surrounded with a plantation
of firs, to a considerable extent. In the gardens
record-room, the town-clerk's and other offices,
and above stairs is a noble banqueting and ball-
room, vrith a music-gallery, tea-room, drawing-
room, &c. Behind this elegant structure is the
market-place, which is exceedingly commodious,
spacious, well paved, and under cover. The
markets are hela daily for all kinds of provisioo ;
and in point of supply and regulation are ex-
celled by none in England. The principal day»
below the South Parade, on the banks of the for butchers* meat, are on Wednesday and Satar-
Avon, is now building an elegant new square,
to be called Kingston Square, which, with the
intended new streets, and a spacious esplanade
next the water, will occupy the whole space of
ground between the city and the river on that
side. On the lower side of the town are mSmy
ranges of building, which, in most other places,
would be deemed fine; among these are St.
James's Parade, and Westgate Buildings, and
adjacent to Kingsmead Square are New King
Street, Green-Park Place, east and west; forming
two sides of a triangle, the base or hypothenuse
of which opens to the river, and Brunswick
Terrace, and Kingsmead Terrace, pleasantly over-
day; and for fish, Monday, Wednesday, and
Friday. The city prison is a handsome edifice,
built of freestone, near the river in Bathwick.
After this general outline of the place, the seve-
ral public baths next claim attention— 4hese are,
the King's, the Queen's* the Cn^s, the Hot, anJ
the Corporation baths, which are the propert)
and under the superintendence of the corpo-
ration ; besides which are the Kingston, or Abbey
baths, now the property of lord Manven^ vrhich
are commodiously fitted up, and where invalids
are accommodated at any hour of the day o*
night. The taste of the waters is pleasant
impregnated vrith a vitriolic principle, which
looking the meadows, and commanding views of yields, upon evaporation, a small portion of
the surrounding country. neutral salt, with a calcareous earth and itDO.
On the north-eastern extremity of the town, at They prove highly serviceable in bilious
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BATH.
647
plaints, as well as in nervous, paralytic, rheu-
matic, and goutjT disorders. Th% King's bath is
a laige basin of sixty-fiTe feet by forty, and con-
tains rather more than 346 tons of water, when
filled to its usual height. A brass hand-rail, of
an octagonal form, encloses the centre : under it
is a large reservoir, into which the main spring
rises with great force, and from whence the water
is conveyed, in its greatest purity, by means of
pipes, to the pumps above, for drujking, as well
as distributed with more equable heat through-
out the bath, in which the main spring has its
source; the sides of the bath are surrounded
by a handsome colonnade of the Doric order, to
shelter the bathers from tlie inclemency of the
weather. Two commodious rooms are connected
with this bath, fitted up with pumps and pipes
to direct the hot vrater to any particular part of
the body. The Queen's bath, which is attached
to the King's, and opens into it, forms a square
of twenty-five leet, and is furnished with similar
conveniences; itstempexature is somewhat lower.,
The Cross bath received its appellation from a
cross erected in its centre by the earl of Mel-
fort, in the time of James II. which is now
removed. It is situate at the western extremity
of Bath-street, about 150 yards from the two
former, is of a triangular form, and has a small
neat pump-room attached to it. Fahrenheit's
thermometer rises 'in it to between 93 and 94.
The Hot bath stands about forty yards south-
west of the King's, and is so called from the su-
perior heat of its waters, which approaches to 117
of Fahrenheit. This structure, which is about
fifty-six feet square, was built under the direction
of John Wood, Esq. The usual time of bathing
in the King's and Cross baths is between six and
ten in the morning, after which time the water is
discharged, and the springs afford a fresh supply
of water for the next dav. The seasons for
bathing are the spring and fall.
Dr. Uiggens has proved that a Winchester
gallon of Bath water contains.
oz. dwt. gr.
Calcareous earth combined with
vitriolic acid in the form of
selenite • • . • ^ ^ ^^^
Calcareous earth combined with
acidulous gas 0 0 2?ft
Marine salt of magnesia ... 00 22^
Sea salt - 0 1 14*
Iron combined with acidulous
gas
0 0 Of,
Acidulous gas, besides that which
is contained in the above eartii
andiron 12 0 0
Atmospheric air .... * . 20 0
Dr. Monro gives the highest degree of heat
attributed to them by
From the
pump
the
be-)
r King's bath
^ Hot bath. .
(.Cross bath .
Dr.
Howard.
113
115
108
Dr.
Dr.
Charlton.
Lucas.
116
119->
f ^
116
119 S . .
. ^ Fahrenheit's
110
1145
(. thermometer;
and states that on evaporation, a gallon has been
found to contain of ijon j^ ^' A P^ ^^ ^ SF^ ° »
calcareous eaith 22^ grains, selenite 31 ^ grains,
Glauber's salt 25} grains, sea salt 51i grains,
which were mixed with an oily matter, but not
more so than is common to sdl waters. From
this it appears that the Bath waters are acidulous
chalybeates, in which iron and earth are kept
suspended by means of aerial acid ; and that they
are impregnated with a small portion of selenite,
sea salt, and muriated magnesia. They were
for a long time esteemed sulphureous; but they
clearly are not, for they do not affect the color
of silver or metallic solutions, nor produce any
other effect of v^ater impregnated with suli)hur.
There u some probability that azotic gas is an
active ingredient in them, but this has not been
properly ascertained. Dr. Gibbes has lately
added to their impregnations the silicious earth.
But their contents have never been sufficiently
investigated to account for all their effects. They
operate powerfully by urine, and promote per-
spiration ; if drank quickly and in large draughts
ihey purge, but if taken slowly and in small
quantities have an opposite effect. These waters
are adapted to atonic j^ut, to visceral obstruc-
tions, nephritic complaints, dyspepsia, and to
weak and exhausted constitutions; they relieve
externally in all the coipplaints for which the
more stimulant power of the balneum is em-
ployed. To the young and plethoric they are
trequently injurious; uid unless some evacua-
tions are premised, they often disagree with the
patient, occasioning headache, heat in the hands,
drowsiness, and giddiness.'
J The other public buildings in Bath are the
upper and lower assembly rooms. The former^
in the immediate vicinity of the circus, was
finished in 1791, at the expense of £20,000 ; the
ball room is 105 feet long, forty-three wide, and
twenty-two high ; one of the card rooms is an
octagon, forty-eight feet in diameter, the other it
seventy feet by twenty-seven; these, with the
tea and coffee rooms, library, billiard room, and
other appropriate apartments, form the most su-
perb suite of rooms dedicated to pleasure, in the
kingdom. The lower assembly rootns, near the
parades, are also very elegantly fitted up, and
Doth are appropriated chiefly to public meetings,
promenades, balls, concerts, cards, and other
amusements, during the winter and spring sea-
sons. The pump room presents \mrivalled
attractions ; it was built in 1797, is eighty-five
feet long, forty-six w ide, and thirty-four high ;
the interior is adorned with columns of the Corin-
thian Older, crowned with a rich entablature.
In a recess at the west end is a music gallery,
and at the other end is a marble statue of Beau
Nash ; here the company promenade and drink
the waters from eight or nine till three, attended
by an excellent band of music. The theatre, on
the south side of Beaufort-square, was opened in
1805, and in point of size, elegance of structure,
and magnificence of decoration, is superior to
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648
BATH.
any provincial theatre. "Die company of per-
formers hare long been esteemed the best out of
the metropolis.
Bath, a town of Berkely county, Virginia. It
is situated at the foot of a small mountain, known
W the name of the Warm Spring mountain.
Contiguous are springs much celebrated. The
country round is agreeably variegated with hills,
and the soil rich and wdl cultivated. It is thirty-
five miles from Winchester, twenty-five from
Martinsburg, and 269 from Philadelphia.
Bath, a large mountainous county of Virginia,
sixty miles in length, and fifty in breadth. It is
bounded on the east by Augusta, on the west by
Green-brier county, on the north by Pendleton,
and on the south by Botetourt. In this county
are two springs remarkable for their medicinsd
quality. They are called the worm and hot
spring, and rise near the foot of Jackson's moun-
tain, but more generally known by the name of
the Warm-Spring-Mountain. The hot spring, so
called from its possessing a greater degree of heat
than the warm spring, has frequently been so hot
as to have boiled an egg. Some believe its heat
to be now diminished. The stream which issues
from it is small. A fountain of common water,
which rises near i1^ margin, gives it a striking
appearance. The warm spring rises about six
miles firom the former, and issues with a bold
stream sufficient to turn a grist mill, and to keep
the water of its basin, which b nearly 100 feet
in circumference, at the vital warmth. The water
is strongest in the hottest weather, which occa-
sions their being visited in the months of July
and August. They remove rheumatisms and
various other complaints. It rains here four or
fire days every week.
Bath, a town of the United States, New York,
in the county of Steuben, handsomely situated on
the east side of the river Conhocton. It con-
tained in 1813, when its trade and population
were rapidly increasing, fifty houses and stores,
besides the country buildings. The Conhocton
is here seventy-five feet wide, and is navigable
for boats to the Tioga. It is forty-two miles
south-east from Williamsbuif^, and 200 north
fix>m Philadelphia.
Bath, a small town of Hyde county, North
Carolina; situated near a bay which sets north
from Tar river, leleven miles east by south of
Washington, and sixty-one south by west of
Edenton.
Bath, a village in the island of Jamaica, so
named fix)m a &mous hot spring in its vicinity.
The water is sulphureous, and too hot to admit
a hand being held in it.
Bath, in Jewish antiquity. Some distinguish
five kinds of Hebrew measures so called, viz. the
greater bath containing eighty pounds of water,
or, according to Josephufr, 1440 Roman ounces;
tlie second bath contaming 100 ounces; the third,
66f ounces; the fourth containing 25 ounces;
and the fifth, 6} ounces of water. Some have
estimated the sacred 'bath at half as much again
as the common bath ; but there is no sufficient
reason for this distinction. The word, in Hebrew,
signifies literally a daughter. See Bath-kol.
Bath, in metallurgy, is used to signify the
fusion of metallic matter in certain operations.
Iti refining or capelling, for example, the metal?
are said to be m bsSti when they are melted :
thus, bath of gold signifies melted antimony when
gold is purifieid in it; and bath of the kiag is Ibe
title given to melted antimony by jdcheraists,
who style gold the king of metai^s, oecaiise gold
onhr can resist the 8/6tion of antimony.
oath. Knights of the, a military order of
England, concerning the origin of which antiqua-
ries difier. The most prolMtble account is that
the ancient Franks and inhabitants of Lower Ger-
many, with whom it is highly probable the Saxons,
who invaded England, had the same descent,,
introduced it, wi& other customs, upon their
settling here. These ancient Franks, when they
conferred knighthood, practised bathing amongst
other rites, beftwe they performed their vigils;
and they were hence denominated Knights of the
Bath. Henry IV., on the day of his coronation
in the tower of London, conferred the degree
upon the forty-six esquires, who had watched all
the night before, and had bathed themselves.
From Siat time it was customary with our kinp
to confer this dignity preceding their coronatioDs,
the coronations of their queens, the births and
marriages of the royal issue, &c. ; several knights
of the bath were made at ihe coronation of king
Charles 11. in 1661 ; after which the order wis
neglected until 1725, when George I. revived it,
and ordered a book of statutes for the govern-
ment of it By this the number of kni^ts is
fixed to thirty-eight, viz. the sovereign, and thii^-
seven knights-companions. The apparel of a
knight of the bath is a red fiir coat, lined and
edged with white, girded about witii a white gir-
dle, without any ornament thereon ; the mantle is
of the same color and lining, made fest about the
neck with a lace of white silk, having a pair of
gloves tyed therein, with tassels of nlk and gold
at the end; which mantles are adorned upon tlie
left shoulders with tfie ensign of the order, being
three imperial crowns, or, surrounded with tli«
ancient motto of this knighthood, Tria jnncta in
uno, wrought upon a circle gules, with a gloiy
or rays issuing from the centre, and under it the
lace of white silk heretofore worn by the knights
of the bath. They have red breeches and stock-
ings, and have wtute hats, with a plume of while
feathers in them. The king allowed the chapel
of king Henry VII. to be the chapel of the order;
and ordered that each knights banner, with
plates of his arms and styles, shonld be placed
over their several stalls, in Uke manner as the
knights of the garter's in St. George's chapel in
the castlfrof Windsor^ and he allowed them snp-
porters to their arms. The dean of Westminster
n>r the time being is dean of the order; the other
officers are, bath king at arms, a genealogist,
registrar, secretary, gentlenmn usher, luid messen-
Ser. These several officers have their jniticnlar
uties assigned them by the statutes. The office
of genealogist is a distinct office of record, for
the pedigrees of the knights of the order and their
esquires, which are entered in a regular series,
from 1399, the period at whicK the order was
originally instituted, to the present time.
An esquire of the order is allowed to hunt and
fish in the king's royalty, and is exempt not only
ftom serving the office of high dienl^ but any
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BATHS
649
puiMShial office. To prevent anj abases in the
claiming these privileges and exemptions, the
i>llowiiig notification was inserted in the gaiette in
1803, previously to the installation of twenty-two
knights, attended by their esquires, sixty-six in
number.
' It is hereby notified, that no exemplifioate
will be issued to any esquire, from his royal
highness the duke of York, after the ensuing
installation, until it shall be certified to his royal
highness, by the genealogist, tliat the pedigree
and coat armour of the several knights and their
respective esquires have been entered in the
genealogical books of the order, in obedience to
the said statutes. Given at the Horse Guards,
this 13th day of May 1803; FaEDEaicK, acting a<«
great master of the said most honorable military
order of the bath.'
We need hardly add, that, both in the number
of knights and the brilliancv of its appearance,
this order maintained its niU splenaor at the
coronation of the fourth sovereign of the House
of Brunswick.
Bath Metal is a preparation of copper with
zinc, which gives a more beautifiil color than the
calamine used in the preparation of the common
brass. See Prince's Metal.
Baths, in ancient architecture, buildings of
various descriptions erected for the purpose of
bathing, Baths made a part of the ancient gym-
nasia, though they were frequented more for the
sake of pleasure than health. The most magni-
ficent among the Romans, were those of Titus,
Paulus yEmilius, and Dioclesian, of which there
are some ruins still remaining. It is said that at
liome there were 856 public baths. Fabricius
adds, that the excessive luxury of the Romans
appeared in nothing more visibly than in their
baths. Seneca complains, that the baths of ple-
bians were filled from silver pumps; and that
the freedmen trod on gems. Statins has plea-
santly described one in his poem upon the baths
of Claudius Etruscus, the steward of the em-
peror Claudius.
Nil ibi plebeiam ; nnsqaam Temesaea videbis
^ra, sed aigento felix propellitur unda,
Arf^entoqne cadit, labrisque nitentibos instate
Delicias mirata tvaa, et abire recusat.
Macrobius tells us of one Sergius Oratus, a
voluptuary, who had pendent baths hanging
in the air. According to Dion, Maecenas was
the first who made a bath at Rome ; yet there
are instances of public baths prior to this ; but
they were of cold water, small, and poorly deco-
rated. Agrippa, in his sedilate, built a number
of baths, where the citizens might be accommo-
dated, either with hot or cold water, gratis.
AAsr his example, Nero, Vespasian, Titufi, Domi-
tian, Severus, Gordian, Aurelian, Maximian, Dio-
clesian, and most of the emperors who studied to
t'ain the afiections of the people, erected baths
laid with the richest marble, ana wrought accord-
ing to the rules of the most delicate architecture.
The rich had baths at home, and frequently very
magnificent ones, especially after the time that
the practice of pillaging provinces had began ;
but they only used them on extraordinary occa-
sions. The great men, and even emperors them-
selves, sometimes bathed in public with the rest
of the people. Alexander Severus was the first
who allowed the public baths to be opened in
the night during the heats of summer.
Dioclesian is said to have erected baths which
would accommodate 1800 bathers. According
to Albert!, in the eighth book o^ his architec-
ture, the extent of an ancient Roman bathioi^
establishment was at least 100,000 square
feet. Now, if we consider the great extent of
their ruins, the number o( their apartments, courts,,
and halls, which were enclosed and served for
recreation and exercise, Alberti does not err on:
the side of excess. They were generally of a
square or oblong form, and surrounded with
walls; this space had three enclosures, each of
which surrounded \h€ building, as it were, one
placed within the other. The first, or what sur-
rounded the exterior, contained the halls in
which the philosophers gave their instructions.
and those which were used by the athletse. The
second division contained open places, planted
with trees, for the exercise of the youths. In the
third division, situated in the middle of the
building, were the baths, surrounded with por-
ticoes and open courts. Sometimes the entire
building was enclosed by a park, like that of
Alexander Severus, which contributed greatly to
the embellishment of the whole structure.
They were careful to place their public baths
m a warm situation ; to protect them from the
north winds, and expose them to the south or
south-west as much as possible, that they might
receive heat from the sun during the hours in
which the bath was generally used. In the
baths of individuals, especially in towns or cities,
they sometimes made a distmcuon between sum-
mer and winter baths. In the first, they placed
the cold bath towards the north, and in the win-
ter baths, towards the south.
The Greek baths were usually annexed to
palestrte or gymnasia, of which they were consi-
dered as a part. These baths consisted of seven
different apartments, usually separated from each
other, and intermixed with other buildings belong-
ing to the other sorts of exercises. These were,
first, the cold bath, frigida lavatio ; secondly, the
olaeothesium, or room where they were anointed
with oil; thirdly, the frigidarium, or cooling
'room; fourthly, the propnigeum, or eattance of
the hypocaustum, or stove; fifthly, the vaulted
room, for sweating in, or vapor bath, called
concamerata sudatio, or tepidanum ; sixthly, the
laconicum, or dry stove; seventhly, the hot bath,
called callida lavatio. The baths separate fron»
the palestrae appear to have been usually double,
one for men, the other for women ; but so near,
that the same fiirnace heated both. The middle
part was possessed by a large basin that received
water by several pipes, and was surrounded by a
balustraide, behind which there was an area for
the reception of those who waited to use the
bath. They were vaulted over, and only received
light from the top. In the Roman baths, the
first part tha( appenared, was a large basin, called
KoXvfififfipa in Greek, and natatio or piscina in
Latin, in the middle was tiie hypocaustum,
which had a row of four apartments on*eac1i
side, called balnearia; these were the stove, tlm
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660
BATHING.
bath, cold bath, and tepidarium. The two stoves^
called laconicum and tepidariiim, were circulai
and joined together. Their floor was hollow and
suspended, in order to receive the heat of a large
furnace, T?^hich was communicated to the stoves
through the vacuities of their floor. This fiir*^
nace also heated another room called vasarium,
in which were three large brazen vessels called
miliaria, respectively containing hot, warm, and
cold water; which were so disposed, that the
water might be made to pass by syphons and
pipes out of one or other of them into the
bath, in order to adjust its temperature. The
description is given by Vitruvius.
The baths or thermae of the Romans, as well as
the gymnasia of the Greeks, were sumptuously
decorated with bassi rilievi, statues and paint-
. ings; the basins were of marble, the pavements
of mosaic, and the cupolas splendidly deco-
rated. The remains of those at Rome prove,
more than any other of their architectural ruins,
the love of magnificence and luxury which char
ract^rised the ancient Romans; and as the public
baths were intended to coUect together a great
number of people, they were divided into so
many various apartments, which afibrded their
architects an ample field for the display of taste
and splendor of ornament. Agrippa ornamented
the apartments of his bath with encaustic paint*
ing, and covered the walls of the caldarium with
slabs of marble, in which were inserted small
paintings. In the earlier period of the Roman
history, before the arts and luxuries of Greece
were much known to, or practised by, the Romans,
their baths were small and simple, only calcur
lated [for the mere act of bathmg, like that of
Scipio Afirkantts, described by SeiMca. ^Wl«
the ruins of the baths of Titas, Cazacalla, Nero,
Dioclesian, and Antoninus, are the most tplcmlid
examples of these kinds of buildings, and an-
ciently contained the finest statues that were
brought from Greece. The Laocoon was fbnmd
in the baths of Titus, and the Famese Hereules
in those of Cacacalla.
In Italy and thie east, bali» on a large scale are
still constantly seen. Denon, in his Egy^ des-
cribes the hot vapor baths of the countries mrm^
which he passed; and in St Petersborgh, at Flo-
rence, and in several European capitids, these
are coming much into use.
BATHE (Henry De), a learned knigbt and
justiciary of the thirteenth ceotuiy, bom at Bathe
House, in Devonshire, the fimnly seat. In 12^
he was appointed justice of the Common Pleas;
and withm the succeeding twelve years, an itine-
rant justice for eight difierent counties. Id 1951
he lost the royal favor, and being accused of ac-
cepting bribes, pervei^ng justice, Ice. aDd, above
all, of seditiously alienating the afiectioDS of his
majesty's subjects, Henry III. became so irritated
against him, that De Bathe, either horn, his ianfy-
cence, or popularity, being acquitted of the cihnes
laid to his cnarge, Henry is said toliavededared
from the throne, that whosoever shoold kill
Henry De Bathe, should have a royal pardoo for
him and his heirs I — Not long after, however, by
the mediation of friends, and the payment of
2000 marks to the king, he was restored to fiiror,
and all his former offices, along with diat of jus-
tice of the king's bench, whidi he enjoyed till
his death in 1261.
BATHING.
BATHE', -J Ang.-Sax. hathiariy Dut. and
Bath', > Ger. baden, Swed. bada. To wet,
Bath'ing. 3 to immerse in water or other
liquid. A bath, the receptacle of the fluid, in
which subjects are coverea or immersed, is either
hot or cold, either of art or nature. It is also a
technical term in chemistry.
The sleer of himself yet saw I thei«.
His herte-biood hath bathed all hii here.
Chaucer. The Knighttt Tale,
Quod he,
Brenne hire right in a hath widi flames rede.
And as he bade right so was don the dede.
For in a haihe they gonne hire fast shetten.
And night and day gret fire they under batten.
Id, Second Nonnet Tale.
And whilst he slept she over him wAuld spred
Her mantle, C(^oarM like the starry skyes.
And her soft atme lay underneath his hcd.
And with ambrosiall kisses baihe his eyes. Spmuer,
Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds,
I cannot tell. Shakqteare. Macbeth,
Sleep,
The birth of each day's life, sore labour's bath.
Balm of hurt minds. Id,
Thereupon, belike, this humour of melancholy is
called balneum diaboli, the devil's hath ; die devil
•pying his opportunity of buch humoun, drives them
many times to despair, fury, rage, &c. mingling lua
self among ^these humours.
Bfal<m*9 Anatoaof of MdtastAis^
But lo ! the day is ended with my song.
And sporting baika with that fair ooean dimL
FUAdter, Pmpie Uemd.
Others on silver lakes and rivers haih*d
Their downy breast ; the swan, with arched ne^
Between her white wings manding pioodly, row*
Her state with oary feet. Jfibsa.
Mars could in mutual blood the centaurs taifir.
And Jove himself give way to Cynthia's wradi.
Jhydem,
She rear'd'her arm, and with her sceptre streck
The yawning cliff £rom its disparted height \
Adown the mount the gushing torrents ran.
And cheer'd the vallies ; there the heav'nly mother
Baih*d, mighty king, thy tender limbs.
Prktr. Pint B^m» ¥f CaBm.
Queen lilies : and ye painted popnlace.
Who dwell in fields,, and lead ambrosial lives;
In mom and ev*ning dew, your beaoties bmtke.
And drink the sun. Ytmmg.
Constantine survived that solemn festival about ten
months ; and, at the mature age of sixty-foor, after m
short illness, he ended his memorable life al the
palace of Aquyrion, in ihe suburbs of Nicflmedia,
whither he had retired for the benefit of the air, ai^
with the hope of recruiting his exhausted strength by
the use of the wann bath, CflUam,
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Bathing, for medicinal or salutary purposes,
demands consideration under several distinct
heads ; in the first place, as the temperature of
the bath may be concerned : thus we hare cold,
hot, and tepid or temperate baths. Secondly,
as the mode may vanr m the application of the
media employed; for immersing die body,
pouring water over the whole, or part of its sur-
face, the use of sponges or cloths to the naked
body, immersing the body in or exposing it to
vapor, and letting water fall from a greater or
less height upon the head and shoulders, are, in
foct, all varieties of bathing. We have, thirdly,
also to consider the question of specific qualities
in the agencies employed ; some substances, as
we shall see in the sequel, being used for the im-
pregnation of baths which are supposed to
operate with positive powers of a medicinal
kmd. And, lastly, it may be remarked, that the
material itself varies beyond the circumstance of
temperature or peculiar quality; for besides
water and vapor, air and earth have been
brought into requisition as subservient to the
purposes for which the practice of bathing was
instituted.
The term Cold Bath is generally made to in-
clude the whole range of temperature, from a
little above thirty-two to eighty degrees of Fah-
renheit's thermometer; by sudden immersion
in water, of this low temperature, the whole
suHace becomes contracted, the bulbs of the
hair, as a modem author states, are made con-
spicuous, and the skin, resembling that of a'
newly picked goose, has been styled cutis anse-
rina. The debility and tremor are considerable,
a sense of weight is felt in the head, the respi-
ration is quick and laborious. These appearances
are followed by a very different series. A glow
soon returns to the suHace, the weight in Uie
head is almost instantaneously relieved, and
every function appears to be carried on with
increased activity. If a person sta^ for a longer
period in the bath, die glow will be slighter
and will soon disappear, while every previous
symntom of debility will return and continue.
If this immersion be repeated at due intervals,
and the stay in the bath be not improperly con-
tinued, the general health and spirits are greatly
improved, die different necessary evacuations
properly carried on and supported, and the
body and mind appear to act with increased
vigor.
The explanation of these phenomena, says the
author from whom we extract, is not difficult :
the cold, by its sedative powers, represses the
circulation in* the extreme vessels, ana the fluids
are accumulated in die larger arteries and veins :
and he goes on to state, tnat re-action is set up
to produce the subsequent glow ; this after-glow,
however, and indeed the immediate impression
of the cold w9ter, are probably more complicated
operations than those persons imagine who readily
receive the explication of the circumstances as
referrible to a sort of mechanical action and re-
action. The cold plunge seems to affect not
merely by directing the blood inwardly upon the
large blood-vessels and viscera, but there may
be a coDStringing agency produced through the
whole series of capillary vessels; and the con-
sequent diminution of the capacity of these
vessels, or of their diameter, must, as is irell
remarked by another writer on the subject, ne-
cessarily increase that part of the resistance to
the blood's motion which is derived from its
friction against die sides of the vessels, and must
therefore tend materially to lessen its velocity.
He might have added, mat, upon this principle,
die generation of cold, or rather the subduction
of the sensadon of heat is probably in a greater
measure than would be the consequence of the
mere cold immersioa, had not this mode of ap-
plying cold some constnnging as well as mere
sedative power; this term sedative, we may here
incidentally remark, has been employed by phy*
siological and pathological writers with too much
laxity of signification.
In considering the phenomena direcdy and
indirecdy produced by cold badiing, reference
ought likewise to be had to the sensations ; for
it will be found that both the first and subsequent
effects are very materially regulated, both as to
their degree and duration, by the condition of
the percipient power. That sensation has a
great deaX to do, both with the principle of its
operation and the salutary or injurious effects of
cold bathing, has been shown with a great deal
of ingenuity by die late Dr. Currie, in his ex-
periments on cold water as a febrifiige power;
and that the glow which succeeds to the first
sensation of cold, may be ascribed in a great
measure to the increased sensibility of the nerves
after a partial torpor, cannot be denied. At the
same time it must be admitted, that there is not
only a relative but an actual increase of heat on
the suriace of the body, during the re-action
following the temporary torpor ; and it i» pro-
bable, we are told, the causes concerned in the
production of animal heat are called up into a
more vigorous exertion in a strong constitution,
whenever they are reauired for the purposes of
life; so that they at first suppljr the superficial
parts of the body, during the immersion, with
as much heat as is necessary to overcome the
painful sensation of cold ; and afterwards, by a
continuation of the same action, occasion an
actual elevation of temperature above the natural
standard.
It is worthy of remark, that re-action, as it
is called, or heat following exposure to cold
water, sometimes occurs, even when there has
been no prior depression of temperature. Dr.
Currie found that during the afiusion of a bucket
of cold saltwater on the heads and whole bodies
of two healthy persons, no depression of tem-
perature was oDservable ; but, in a minute or
two aftenvards, although they remained without
motion, the mercury rose two degrees ; and in a
diird person, of feebler constitution, although the
temperature remained equally unchanged during
the afiusion, it sunk in a minute after, half a
degree. These effects seem to be almost entirely
independent of any change in the state of the
circulation, which must be rather retarded than
accelerated, while the generation of heat is
increased. It is true that the heart might be
called into more powerful action at the same
time that the pulsation of the wrist became
feeble, from the permanent contraction of die
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BATHING.
mdial artery ; but the action of the heart would
still be exhibited by the carotids, undisguised by
this modification; and the carotids have not
been observed to beat more strongly in the cold
bath than at other times, although Dr. Currie
has remariced, that when the pulse could hardly
be felt at the wrist, the heart pulsated with great
steadiness and due force.
Much, it must be confessed, is wanting in the
way of physiological experiment before we can
satisfactorily explain the laws of temperature of
the human body, or the vascular changes thai are
concomitant with, or perhaps in some measure
the causes of, these changes ; and indeed it is not
easy to say precisely upon what principles cold
bathing, when it proves a sanauve or salutary
process, operates the beneficial purpose : a prioriy
we should scarcely have supposed that a tempo-
rary suspension, to be followed by excitation,
that excitation itself proving but transient, would
have been attended with much benefit to the
constitution; and yet we do see that much and
unequivocal good occasionally, nay frequently,
follows the temperate and judicious employment
of the agent now under consideration. Much
mischief is also the result of its indiscriminate or
injudicious use, and we shall now proceed to
point out in what cases and circumstances cold
bathing is desirable or admissible ; where it is
contra-indicated ; and in what mode it is best
administered.
It has already been intimated that cold bathing
may be used with advantage under certain modi-
fications of febrile heat ; it is, however, of the
utmost importance to attend to certain precau-
tions which its use demands, when employed as
a febrifuge. Dr. Currie tells us that cold bathing
or affusion, in fever, can only then be had re-
course to with safety and ffood effect, when the
heat of the body is steadily above the natural
standard, when there is no sense of chilliness,
and especially when there is no general nor pro-
fuse perspiration. If used during the cold stage
of fever, even though the heat be higher Uian
natural, it brings on interruption of respiration,
a fluttering, w^, and extremely quick pulse,
and certainly might be carried so far as to ex-
tinguish animation entirely. (See Medicine,
article Fever, &c).
In another affection, very opposite to fever,
viz. tetanus, cold bathing has been used with
decidedly beneficial effect ; and, in this case, it
may be remarked that the principle of its operar
tion must be different ; the shock given to the
sensations, and the whole order of organic move-
ments, being temporarily changed, having more
seemingly to do with its healing influence than
any circumstances abstractedly connected with
change of temperature. The observation is as
old as Hippocrates^ that the remedy under re-
mark is best adapted to these convulsive dis-
ordera when they are the result rather of general
mobility of a morbid kind, than connected with
local affection ; aviv iXntoc is the expression of
the Coan sage, and we allude to it partly because
it is confirmatory of what we are immediately to
advance on the objectionable circumstances to
cold bdthmg in other complamts and tendencies.
But it will not bo requisite or proper in this
article (which is intended rather for popalar than
for professional direction), to go through the
various disorders in nosological order, for whidi
the practice of cold bathing has been instituted ;
suffice it to say, that it has generally been used
and recommended in those conditions of fibroos
^ debility which are under the grade of actual
* disease, and in which those medicinal agencies
are demanded which pass under the name or
tonic. Such states are marked by irreguJaritie
in the displays of nervous power, by tremors, by
more than natural sensibility to cold, by the easy
excitation of profiise discharges from the skin,
by head-aches, listlessness, and febricula, with
lowness of spirits, irregular appetite, deficient
digestion, and torpid bowels. Individuals, in
this condition of the nervous and muscular
powers, may be greatly benefited by the daily
employment of cold water to the surfiice, in the
manner immediately to be pointed out.
But it may be right first to dismiss the modi
agitated and very interesting question respecting
the propriety of bathing or washing children;
and this, perhaps, will be best done by extracting
from a modem writer on consumption. ' Immer-
sion in cold water,' says Dr. Reid, < daring the
period of infancy, has been very generally recom-
mended, and too frequently had recourse to in
an indiscriminate manner, to preserve health and
insure hardiness. The author has remarked
several instances where sensible and sometimes
serious injury has arisen from neglecting to ob-
serve the precautions necessary to regulate the
employment of this important agent in very early
years. In infancy, danger to the lungs from
cold bathing has been stated to exist in a veiy
inferior degree ; and by the practice of dipping
in&nts in cold water, susceptibility to the in-
Clous impression of cold in succeeding years
.been tnought to be materially diminished.
This principle, in the abstract, is undoubtedly
correct ; ana, with the exception and precautioos
now to be mentioned, may be pursued with pro-
priety and advantage. Two infants may be sop-
posed of one family, with reverse constitutions ;
in the one, a general torpor, debility, and great
susceptibility to the impression of cold shall pre-
vail ; in the other, comparative vigor, activity,
and warmth. To pursue, without discriminatioii,
the same course with respect to immersion in
water with each of these children, would be
obviously improper. That degree of cold which
would refresh and invigorate the one, would
confirm debility, and augment torpor, in the
other. A bath which is not cold to the sensa-
tions must, in the first instance, at least, be re-
sorted to for the weaker in&nt; and in netther
case should immersion in cold water be practised
when the external temperature of the body is in-
ferior in decree to its general standard, wh^i
after immersion the body appears to be chilled,
or when returning heat is attended with febrile
languor, instead of the gratefiil and genial warmth
characteristic of the appropriate action of excit-
ing powers. If the practice of immersion be
guided by a cautions observance of these particu-
lars, it may be pursued with safety, and will be
attended with success; but a total neglect of
bathing wore gready preferable to the severe and
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653
incautious xnumer in which infants are frequently
exposed to these violent and rapid changes in
temperature/
We may further remaik, that, both in the
states of infancy and youth, cold bathing must
be cautiously, and only under professional per-
mission, employed, when the constitution is de-
cidedly of a scrofulous cast; and more especially
when, with that general condition of the organi-
sation to which the term scrofula would be
applied, tendencies manifest themselves of local
or topical disorder. Under the somewhat me-
chanical notion of hardening the frame, as some
inanimate bodies are hardened by being plunged
into cold media, cold bathing has been employed,
and persevered in, to a deleterious extent ; and
under the circumstances of consumptive disposi-
tion, or verging towards any internal or visceral
disorder, the shock, and irregular impulses, and
internal rushes, if we may so say, which the
frequent plunges into cold water imply, instead
of strengthening, irritate the feeble frame, and
assist the' constitutional bias towards structural
and Irremediable disorder. Dr. Beddoes pre-
sents an important and instructive example of
this principle and practice, on the audiority of
the late Dr. Pulteney. ' T. C. was rickety in hit
mfan^, and very weakly for several years after.
In the winter of 1759 he had pleuretic symp-
toms ; a rheumatic fever left him next summer
afflicted with chronic rheumatism ; he was ad-
vised to go into the cold bath ; he did so ; but on
coming out again felt such an increased load,
Minting, and anxiety, about the precordia, that
he thought he should hardly recover the shock it
gave him. Nevertheless he ventured in again a
day or two afterwards, but experienced the for-
mer ^mptoms in ah aggravated degree, and
from this time dated the a»ordcr that terminated
his life.'
As mischievous mistakes have occasionally
arisen in the practice of cold bathing, from too
abstractly considering it a tonic or strengthening
process, so much error has connected itself with
vie mode and circumstances of immersion. It
has been too generally considered that to be fitted
for immersion, the body should be cooled down
nearer to the temperature of the bath, than after
a little exercise it is made ; and that iS a person
have hurried to the side of the water into whidi
he is about to plunge, he ought to rest until part
of the artificial heat he has produced from exercise,
be dissipated in the surrounding air. This is an
erroneous motion, which Dr. Currie was the first
fullv to refute and rectify ; it is singular how
it should have arisen, since our own feelings, as
well as our observation on the instinct of animals,
aeem to direct to a different conclusion and prac-
tice. The opposite doctrine, too, was taught by
che ancients. * When we are fatigued or dried
up by exercise (says Galen, as quoted by Dr.
Young) the bath restores us to comfort, and defends
vs from fevers. A strong young man in the
country will plunge into cold water at once,
when heated, and be much refreshed by it. Ani-
mals also, wash themselves when they are hot, by
a natural idstinct, as they eat when they are hun-
gry, and seek warmth when they are cold. In
^ecs, if we had sufficient powers of discrimi-
nation, we might probably someUmes derive
material advantage from the use of the cold bath,
without premising the hot; and some persons
have been actually benefited by this remedy.
But without a more intimate knowledge of dis-
eases than we possess, we cannot generally ven-
ture on the practice ; and least of all in hectic
fevers, where there is not strength enough to bear
the shock. A stout young man having a fever
in warm weather, without visceral inflammation,
would, bring on a salutaiy prespiration by bath-
ing in cold water ; and it he were in the habit
of cold bathing, he might have recourse to it with
more confidence; but for hectic, it is unsafe,
especially where there is much emaciation ; thus
in a hot and dry summer, those who have travelled
far, and are b^ome thin and weak, have no need
of being cooled, nor would it be safe for them
to use the cold bath, without first going into the
warm. For we seem to be hardened by the cold
batb> like iron when heated first ; and if we
previously warm ourselves by exercise, the effect
IS the same.'
We have extracted these observations of Galen,
because their practical inference is precisely the
same, as that to which the good sense and phi-
losophic acumen of Dr. Currie have brought us;
and because they are strongly contrasted with the
vulgar conceit, which, almost universally, and
still too generally, prevails. It is well observed
by the writer from whom we now borrow (see
supplement to the Encyclopedia Britannica), that
Dr. Currie's relation, ot an adventure of his
own, might almost be supposed to have been
intended as a commentary on these remarks of
Galen. ' On the first of September, 1778, two
students of medicine at Edinburgh, set out on
foot on a joumev, a considerable part of which
lay along one of the rivers of Scotland. They
started by sun-rise, and proceeded with alacrity
in the cool of the morning. At the end of eight
miles they breakfested, rented for an hour, and
then resumed their journey. The day grew warm
as it advanced, and after a march of eight miles
more, they arrived heated, but not fatigued, on
the banks of the river above mentioned, about
eleven in the forenoon. Urged by the fervor of
the day, and tempted by the beauty of the stream,
they stripped instantly and threw themselves into
the river. The utmost refreshment followed,- and
when they retired to a neighbouring inn, this
was succeeded by a disposition to sleep, which
was indulged. In the afternoon they pro-
ceeded, and travelling sixteen miles further, at a
single stretch, arrived at the inn where they were
to sleep a litde after sunset. The afternoon had
been warm, and they perspired profusely ; but
the evening was temperate and rather cooL
They had travelled for some miles slowly, and
arrived at the end of their journey, stiffened and
wearied with exercise. The refreshment which
they had experienced in the morning from bathing
induced, however, one of them to repeat the
experiment, and he went perfectly cool into the
same river, expecting to relax his limbs in thf
water, and afterwards to enjoy profound sleep.
The consequences were very different. The
Tweed, which was so refreshing in the morning,
now felt extremely cold, and be left the watei
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BATHING
hastily. No genial glow succeeded, but a feverish
chill remained for some time, with a small fre-
<iuent pulse, and flying pains over the body.
Warm liquids, and frictions at length brought on
considemole heat, and towards morning, perspi-
ration and sleep followed. Next day, about noon,
they proceeded on foot, but the traveller who had
bathed was extremely feeble; and though they
had to perform a journey of a single stage only,
as some part of it was difficult and mountainous,
he was obliged to take the assistance of a carriage, ■
which overtook them on the road. It was several
days before he recovered his usual vigor.'
It b generally known that the Russian goes
reeking from a bath, heated almost to the highest
pitch of endurance, and immediately, without
staying to cool himself, rolk his naked bod^ in
snow: and the experiments made some time
since by Fordyce and Bls^den prove that a rapid
transition from high heat to cold may, under
some circumstances, be made with the utmost
safety. So erroneous is the notion we are now
combating, that the body requires to be cooled
in order to render it fit for a chilling medium.
Still, there are certaid fiEu:ts connected with the
action of cold and heat on the living system,
which prove that we must not take too precipi-
tately, or in too unqualified a manner, the reverse
rule for our guide Uirough all circumstances. As
an example, says a modem writer, of the injuri-
ous tenden<^ of a precipitate application of cold
when the body is heated, in a more than ordi-
nary degree, the sufferings of the Macedonian
conqueror, trom plunging into the river Cydnus,
have frequently been adduced. Dr. Currie, how-
ever, has endeavoured to prove, that the situation
of Alexander, previously to bathing, was different
from that more commonly imagined ; and that
his subsequent illness,' as related by his historian,
is referrible to circumstances exactly opposite to
those to which they are generally attributed.
From the length and difficult of the march, it u
natural to suppose that he must haver been cooled
as well as debilitated, by excessive perspiration
and fatigue; and under such circumstances, im-
mersion in the cold and rapid Cydnus was fol-
lowed by the consequences which we should
expect from the principles already laid down.
Other circumstances, however, have been
arrayed as evidences against the propriety and
safety of a sudden application or cold subse-
quently to violent heat Many well attested
instances are on record, of instantaneous death,
or violent disorders, which have terminated
fatally, following imprudent exposure to cold,
while the body has been overheated; and in
some of these, the application of the noxious
cause has confessedly been made previously td
the production of £Bitigne or coldness. It is by
no means uncommon for violent inflammation of
the stomach or lungs to be occasioned by large
draughts of cold water, incautiously taken to
abate thirst, consequent upon excessive heat;
and the injurious efiects of the external appli-
cation of cold water, both to the whole surrace,
and merely to a part of the body, have been
circumstantially related, in order to invalidate or
qualify the inferences of Dr. Currie.
Tliese apparently contradictory deductions,
(says lieid), on this very inteiesting sobiecty
may perhaps be in some measure reooncilad by
the following considerations : —
The state of the body, in relation to its suscep-
tibility of being acted on by cold media, has
more reference to the kind than degree of previ-
ously existing heat; or, more correctly speaking,
although an equal quantity of heat may be pre-
sent in the system, such heat may be afastraded
with greater or less fiuility and seiety, according
to the mode in which it has been generated.
The increase of temperature occasioned by what
is termed an inflammatory action pervadnig the
whole system, such as is sometimes observed in
violent mflammation of th^ lungs; that attended
with an extremely debilitated state of the vital
power, as in instances of what has been tenaed
uiproperly putrid fever; the heat consequeat
upon violent exercise, and that produced by
communication from without, as in the example
of hot baths, or exposures to other sources of
great heat, while the body continues inactive ;
are all essentially dtffeient in their nature : and,
although in each case the quantity may be equal,
and the thermometer applied to any part of the
body shall indicate the same temperature, yet
from such temperature alone it would be im-
proper to form a judgment of the expediency
and safety- of the sudden application of cold. In
the authOT's recollection a case occurred,, of vio-
lent inflamtoation of the whole thoracic viscera,
which speedily terminated in death, almost inn
mediately following a large draught of cold
water, when the body had been heated from
unusual exercise. The deceased was previoasly
to the event a strong and healthy man, in the
prime and vigor of life. In this case the iiqury
appeared to arise, not from the sudden abs^ac-
tion of heat, but from the precipitate interrup-
tion of those actions by which the increase of
temperamro had been generated. Had the seme
quantity of water equally cold been suddenly
swallowed by a person oppressed and debilitated
by febrile heat and irritation, these fatal oonse-
auences would not have succeeded, because in
lis latter case the cold fluid would have oper-
ated in deducting from the superfluous quantity
of generated and oppressive neat, and the re-
freshing sensation excited in consequenee would
have stimulated the languid frame. The same
principle likewise applies in the applioatioD of
oold media, either partial or general, to the
external surfeoe. Dr. Beddoes relates the case
of an obstinate eruptive afiRecUon being produced
on the face, in consequence of the immenioD of
that part in cdd water, when the subject of the
affection was heated and thrown into perora-
tion by play. Had this immersion imniedialely
succeeded to hot bathing, or been made during
the existence of dry febrile beat, the iniurious
effects would not have resulted; for this reason,
that the action of the cutaneous vessels would
not in the latter cases have been injuriously
interrupted, and thus indirectly stim«laled inio
inordinate excitement.
The seeming contrarieties of specniatian on dK
subject of temperature, may, perhaps, likewise,
in some measure, have arisen from the veiy im-
portant circumstances of cooling appIicatioiKt
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BATHING.
655
acting through successive moments, or by succes-
sive quantities. If a person in a heated state
drink half a pint of cool liquid, that may not
sensibly reduce him below the natural healthy
state. But if he p-'^ur down double that quantify
at once, the last half pint may be regarded as
operating upon the system reduced by the first,
and sinking into a* dangerous chilliness. So im-
mersion for a moment in a sunny river may
strengthen and refresh, as many pedestrian
travellers have experienced; whereas delay in
the water would be attended with great hazard^
on account of the continued operation of a heat-
abstracting medium upon a system sufficiently
reduced m its temperature and action by the
first plunge. Whatever might have been the
actual condition of Alexander, when he plunged
into the Cydnus, the injurious effects of his
bathing unquestionably originated from the sud-
den r^uction of heat below the standard of
health. 'Vixque ingressi subito horrore artus
rigore ceperunt: pallor deinde sufiusus est, et
totum propemodum corpus vitalis calor reli-
^uit.' in this case, perhaps, an exposure to cool
air, or immeision in water of a superior tempera-
ture, but which would nevertheless have abstract-
•ed a certain degree of heat from the languid
frame, would have displayed effects exactly con-
trary to what the historian here relates. In like
manner, the Russian, who reeking from his
vapor bagnio, immediately rolls in snow; or,
who, after immersion in a bath which has been
heated almost beyond endurance, instantaneously
plunges into contiguous cold water, requires
that the medium to which he is first exposed be
extremely great, or the succeeding cold appli-
cation would debilitate, and perhaps destroy.
Upon this principle, likewise, the statement of
Dr. Fordyce is explained, that a person passing
from a violent degree of heat to much cold, will
gradually return to his proper standard of tem-
peratare, while from a sudden change from heat
to cold, when the heat has not been so high,
diseases will often be generated.
To revert to the subject more especially under
our present consideration, we may remark, that
cold bathing will in general be found applicable
to those conditions of nervous and muscular las-
situde and weadcness, in which, though the powers
«C the system are thus below their due grade,
there is sufficient energy to insure a healthy
re-action; while its use is objectionable and fear-
ful, where local and especially visceral irritation
of a vascular kind accompanies the general de-
bility; and this condition of the frame, it is ri^ht
to remark, is of more common occurrence than
is sometimes suspected; thie topical affection
often being masked, as it were, or concealed
under the systematic weakness; and the detection
of that something which is thus preying upon the
vitals requiring frequently the nicest tact, and
most extended experience. It will have been
remarked, that the two highest of the ancient
authorities in medicine, spesJc of local and hectic
circnmstanoes as contra-indicating the propriety
of eold immersion ; and it will be recollected,
that we gave a case in point, as substantiating
the propriety of these cautions— cautions, how-
iTf which on the other hand, must not be con-
ceived and acted Upon with too much nicety, lest
we lose sight altogether of radical weakness ; and
fear to stimulate and excite, where excitation
may prove abundantly serviceable.
In regard to the mode and times of using the
cold bath, the following directions, tekea from
Dr. Willich, may be worthy attention. *lst.
Every cold bath applied to the whole body
ought to be of short duration ; all depends upon
the first impression the cold makes on the skin
and nerves, it being this impression which
hardens us against the effects of rough and cold
weather. 2d, The head should be always first
wetted, either by immersion, by pouring water
upon it, or the application ot wet cloths, and
then plunging over head into the bath. 8d, The
immersion ought always to be sudden ; not only
because it is less felt than when we enter the batli
slowly and timorously, but likewise because the
effsct of the first impression is uniform all over
the body, and the blood in this manner is not
propelled from the lower to the upper parts.
Hetice the shower bath possesses great advan-
tages, as it pours the water suddenly upon the
whole body, and thus in the most perfect manner
fulfils the three rules above speciued. 4th, The
due temperature of the cold bath can only be
ascertained in relation to individual cases, as it
extends from 33° to 56** of Fahrenheit, except in
partial bathings, where the degree of cold may,
and often ought to be, increased by ice, nitre,
alum, salt, sal-ammoniac, or other artificial
means. 5th, Gentle exercise ought to precede
the cold batfi, to produce some re-action of the
vascular system upon entering it; for neither
complete rest nor violent exercise is proper,
previously to the use of this remedy. 6th, The
morning or forenoon is the most proper time for
cold bathing, unless it be in a river ; then the
afternoon or towards the evening, when the
water has been vnurmed by the sun, and the
dinner has been digested, are the most eligible
Seriods of the day ; a light break&st will not be
etrimental before using the bath. 7th, While
in the water we should not remain inactive, but
move about in order to promote the circulation
of the blood from tiie centre of the body to the
extremities. 8th, After immersion, the whole
body ought to be wiped as quickly as possible,
with a dry and somewhat rough cloth. Mode-
rate exercise out of doors, if convenient, is pro-
per, and indeed nec^sary.*
We now proceed to the consideration of hot
or warm bathings from the temperature of ninety
to above a hundred degrees, about which much
of what is erroneous in theory has also been con-
ceived. As cold immersion was supposed to
harden, by constringing and contracting the
fibres of the body, so has it been thought that
immersion in warm water would tend to soften
and relax the material fabric of which the framfe
is made up. That there may be something of
foundation, in fact, for these notions, we would
not in ioto deny ; but it seems more consistent
with the laws that govern organised existence to
refer the effects to excitation, direcUy or indi-
rectly induced, than to imagine the fibres of the
body capable, or rather susceptible, of those
mutations that take place in inanimate matter ;
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BATHING.
and, in point or fact, we find that some indi-
vidual or individuals in some circumstances,
after a reiterated use of warm or hot water to the
whole or part of tlie body's surface, shall be ren-
dered firmer and more robust than they were
prior to the employment of this relaxing agency.
Another effect has also been attributed to the use
of hot water, or vapor, as a bath, about which
there is some reason also to doubt the full legiti-
macy of the inferences that have been deduced :
viz. its expanding or rarefying qualities, displayed
upon the fluids of the body, more especially upon
the blood ; and some writers have reasoned upon
the operation of the hot bath from beginning to
end under this assumption ; we are told, how-
ever, by experimenters, that the blood is very
little expansible by heat under any circumstances;
and it has been observed, that the mean tempe-
rature of all the fluids of the body is seldom ele-
vated more than a degree or two by a bath of any
kind ; and even if the elevation were ten degrees,
the expansion of all the circulating fluids would
not exceed the bulk of a single additional ounce
of blood or of water. So that to a certain sort of
stimulation, rather than to mechanical or chemical
impulse, are we to attribute the intemal changes
that occur in the fluids and solids of the body,
from alterations of exterior temperature. That
these changes to some extent do occur, is, how-
ever, pretty certain; and the swelling of the
veins, with, indeed, the temporary increase of
bulk in the feet, when immersed in hot water,
would seem attributable either to an entrance of
some of the fluid from without in among the
fluids of the body (the possibility of which, as
we shall immediately see, is questioned), or to
an altered state of the fluids and secretions, and
perhaps of the solids, induced by a modification
and mixture of exciting and expanding agency ;
-w hich, in our present state of knowledge respect-
ing the laws and limits of vital forces in their
contest with inanimate matter, would appear not
sufiiciently explained.
In observing upon the conditions of the body
in which warm bathing is likely to prove salutary
on the one hand, or is open to objections on the
other, it may be remarked, that some of the
circumstances which render cold bathing fearful,
cause warm bathing to be objectionable likewise.
Thus, in apoplectic fulness, in tendencies to
hemorrhage from the lungs, or from the head, in
some species of asthma, and in many of the dis-
orders ranged under the division of phlegmasis by,
.mtematic writers, we should equally avoid botn
the hot and cold bath; and were the old doctrines
of reaction and expansion permitted to explain
our objections, we should say that, in the first
case, rarefaction of fluids and consequent disten-
sion of vessel constituted the points of objection ;
while iu the other, the rush of fluids into vessels
already in a condition of over excitement ren-
dered the practise dangerous ; and to some ex-
tent, it does, we repeat, appear to us, in spite of
modem refinements in theory, that we should be
correct in our reasoning.
There is one curious circumstance connected
with the efiects of warm bathing upon the sys-
tem, which is, that it may, bv proper manage-
ment, be brought to reduce me inordinate heat
of fever; and Dr. Currie has particularly recom-
mended it with this view, ui cases where objec-
tions might lie against the employment of cold
water for the same purpose; the possession of
this property and influence may be taken in full
proof that much remains still to be explained o»
the subject of living temperature ; it should be
observed that the efiect in question is often
operated without reference to perspiration, or at
least before perspiration appears externally upon
the body; and Dr. Currie nas proposed an inge*
nious exolanation of the fact, by suggestiag-
whether the secretion of the perspirable fluid,
before it is poured out upon the surface, may
not occasion an absorption of heat and conse-
quent reduction of temperature, by the greater
capacity that the matter of perspiration has for
heat than the blood had from which it was
formed. See Tempebatuke (Animal), and
Physiology.
From the mode and kind of excitation whidi
warm bathing produces, it might be supposed
that chronic riieumatism, that old-standing affec-
tions of a paralytic kind, tha( contracted limbs
from arthritic disorders, that spasms and ob-
structions in the bowels, that many maladies
which implicate the nervous organisation witliout
producing plenitude of vessels, and that morbid
conditions of the external surface, whether of the
skin merely, or whether the cutaneous afiection
have had to do with the state of intemal mem-
branes and visceral derangement, would mate-
rially be benefited by its judicious employment —
and this we find to be the case. In several of
the functional disturbances that ^re incident to
children, arising from the extreme mobility of
the frame common to the infantile period of
existence, warm bathing, by equalising the cir-
culation, and determining, as it is expressed, to
the surkce, often proves conspicuously, and
very speedUy serviceable; but m instances of
the occurrence of disorder, whether croiipaly
convulsive, or intestinal, it is often necessary H>
premise purging or blood-letting, especsally
should the cMld be of a full habit, otherwise the
stimulating, and, if we may be permitted to siy
80, expanding power of the heated water mi^
tend to the production of vascular plenitude to
a dangerous excess. It must be allowed that
the tendency of warm bathing to occasion co-
pious perspiration is calculated, in some mea-
sure, to obviate the objection now preferred
against its indiscriminate use ; but then the mis-
chief is sometimes done before the system shall
have been thus relieved ; and we have ventured
upon this intimation, because we think, in the
general way, too little regard is given in domestic
medicine to the circumstances calculated at
once to promote the efiicacy and insare the
safety of the measure under consideratioo.
Without reference to actual or positive disease,
it may be stated, generally, that warm bathing is
serviceable in those low condidons of the ner-
vous and vascular and muscular eneigy, m
which the same use of cold water wmild prove
rather injurious than useful; it is a cammon^
and occasionally a good practice, lo pfemise its
employment when it is eventually intended that
the individual shall go into the cold h9ik ; the
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667
mulus of the fonner beiug of such kind and
tent as to insure against Sie hurtful tendency
the latter ; and the good which results from
is method would prore that the idea is erro-
ous, which supposes an individual more liahle
take cold, as it is called, while using the
a.rm bath than when not subjected to these
langes of temperature. The ancients were in
e practice of gradual transition from the hot
til or caldariuro, to the tepidarium or cooler,
id thence to the frigidariam or cold; but if
ere be any correctness in the principles above
opoundedy respecting the innoxious nature of
•la immediately upon heat, these precautions in
ference ^o successive temperatures, were un-
tcessary ; and, indeed, in some cases might be
orse than useless.
Witli respect to the tepid bath very little need
I said on the present occasion, since water from
ghty to ninety degrees is very seldom em-
oyed except as a mere abluent ; unless, indeed,
those instances of natural or artificial waters
hich are impregnated with substances that are
mceived to have a specific agency of a medical
Lture. In some disorders of the skin, indeed,
id in other chronic ailments, tepid bathing may
:casionally be advisable when circumstances
rbid the employment of water of either a very
•w or very high temperature.
The modes of using cold water are, first, by
lunging, which is the best calculated, perh&ps,
• insure all the good of bathing ; secondly, by
fusion, or pouring water over the head and
EK:k, which is especially applicable to those
ates of nervous weakness, and vascular fulness
:id head-disorder, in which the common bath
iight be objectionable ; and, thirdly, by spong-
ig the whole surface of the body immediately
pon rising from bed; which last practice may,
I the case of most individuals, be pursued with
ifety and convenience. Tlje writer of these
iinarks, sincd he has been accaitomed to daily
slution in this way, has found himself much
ss liable to catarrml disorder than before ; and
may be observed, that he tried, some years
nee, cold bathmg by immersion, without the
iT[\e agreeable or salutary consequences; but
art of this difference of effect he is disposed to
ttribute to a recent improvement in constitu-
lonal energy, which would probably insure, at
le present time, more steady re-action, and
etter general effect than formerly followed im-
lersion/
Baths with Medici val Impregnations.
n the article Waters, we purpose to enter into
somewhat lengthened detail on the virtues that
ave been ascribed to the several medicinal
p lings that are resorted to by the invalid, and
k'hich are used as remedies, some in the way
f internal administration, exclusively, others
oih externally and internally. We mean here
mncipally to confine ourselves to one or two
emarks, bearing upon the much agitated and
till unsettled question, respecting the degree of
fficacy that may be expected to attend immers-
ng the body in water, containing particular im-
jregnation, or applying such water in any manner
o the external surface.
Vol hi.
ThU question involves in it the very interesting
one of cutaneous absorption, as it has been called ;
in other words, the enquiry, whether,, while the
outer skin be whole and entire, any substances,
however subtle, can be made to penetrate throueh
it; it must, however, be recollected, that the
negativing of this proposition would not imply
the denial of all influence from exterior applica-
tions, since the materials used may be of such a
stimulating or irriuiting quality as to produce a
sort of abrasion of the scarf or outer covering ;
and since some of them being of a volatile kind,
and surrounding the subject of the experiment
vrith their fiimes, the lungs may be the media
through which the whole system may become im-
pregnated with their qualities.
Now several authors, who have written on the
subject of bathing, have all along assumed the
permeability of the outer skin to the water em-
ployed ; and one of them. Dr. Marcard, states
that the sufferings of Tantalus vrill not be rated
Tery highly by the naturalist. We have already
said that the bulk of a limb, which is immersed
in hot-water, is for a time augmented ; and this
has been attributed by those who reason on the
supposition of cutjineous inhalation, or imbibing,
to the actual penetration, through the skin, of
some iK>rtion of the fluid. Many experiments,
however, have been instituted, which seem to
prove that there is some fallacy in this conclu-
sion, and that the weight of the whole body is
not at all added to by total immersion, for some
length of time, in water even of a high tempera-
ture.
Seguin, Rousseau, Currie, and others, have
puisued a series of experiments, to which more
TOuticular allusion will be made in the article
Physiology ; and from which they infer, that,
while the skin is uninterfered with, either by
mechanical pressure or by actual abrasion, no
matter whatever, solid or fluid, medicinal or
otherwise, can be received from without, the
scarf skin being impenetrable to the most subtle
material ; in the words of Dr. Currie, * though
the exhaJants of the skin pierce the epidermis
(scarf skin), and come in contact with the ex-
ternal air, me mouths of the absorbents terminate
under it, and are covered by it; and while it
remains unirritated and entire, no absorption of
solid, liquid, or aeriform elastic fluid takes place
on the surface. In the instances,' he adds, * that
are supposed to favor the contrary opinion, it
will be found that the article absorbed is forced
through the epidermis by mechanical pressure ;
or that the epidermis has been previously de-
stroyed by injury or disease ; or, if sound, that
the article applied to it is of an acrid nature,
which first irritates and erodes this tegument,
and then, coming in contact with the mouths of
the lymphatics under it, is of course absorbed.
Seguin*s words, expressive of this &ct and prin-
ciple, are equally decided and forcible : * The
epidermis is a iMurier which no kind of virus
(and he includes all internal matters) can pass
while that tissue is in a sound state and perfectly
whole ; nor can they be absorbed by the skin.'
For a more detailed discussion of this interest-
ing topic we must refer, as abore, intimat^, to
the article Physiology. Under the word Mbdi<-
2U
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BATHING.
rxN£, too, facts in support of, and against the
doctrine of cutaneous inhalation will call for no-
tice and comment; we must here limit ourselves
to stating that the anti-absorptionists have at least
proved a great deal, so much so, that it may be
▼ery fairly doubted whether inferences respecting
impregnations of the system by baths have not
been deduced too hastily and empirically. But,
on Che other hand, it catnot be doubted that there
are substances employed which have the power
of forcibly perpeating the outer skin by their
irritating and eroding quality; and are in this
way either actually absorbed into the system ge-
nerally, or by the sympathy which the true skin
constantly keeps up with internal organs; the in-
fluence of the remedy may in this manner be
transmitted to the interior without any actual
conveyance of matter. There is still another
way in which medicinal substances may act upon
the frame without being actually received mto
it, viz. either by corrugating and strengthening,
or relaxing and mollifying the fibres of Ae body ;
thus, chalybeate may be more tonic than com-
mon water, by the tonic influence it exerts ex-
teriorly. From what we have already advanced,
however, in another part of the present paper,
it will be understood that this principle of
agency is of somewhat equivocal admission;
and that it is at any rate much modified and
limited by the laws of life.
It will not be proper to dismiss this part of
our investigation without adverting to one par-
ticular mode of exciting interior movements,
through the medium of exterior medicinals, viz.
by the use of mineral acids applied to the sur&ce
of the body; which, whether they act through
the medium of the absorbing power, or whether
their agency be effected by means of the nervous
system, and that sympathetic relation which
we have already stated the skin maintains with
internal parts ; certain it is that they do display
an influence upon the frame which gives them a
fair claim of aami:ision into the catalogue of the-
rapeutic agents. From Dr. Good's recently pub-
lished volumes, entitled the Study of Medicine,
we shall extract an account of the bath to which
we now refer.
' There is yet another remedy,' says Dr. G.
* for afiections of the biliary organs, &c. which
of late years has excited great attention, and is
now surmounting an ungenerous prejudice that
was at first very extensively directed against it —
and that is the diluted aqua regia bath, invented
by Dr. Scott of Russell Square. For nearly
thirty years he has been in the habit of using this
preparation, and has tried it in almost every va-
riety of strengths, and almost every variety of
Sroportions which the two acids that enter into
le composition may be made to bear to each
other. He commenced his experiments in India,
where, on account of the greater deeree of torpi-
tude the liver is apt to acquire than in more
temperate climates, ne was in the habit of form-
ing his bath stronger, and making it deeper than
he has found it proper to do in our own country;
and where, upwards of twenty years ago, ne
plunged the duke of Wellington into one up to
his chin, for a severe hepatic affection he was
then laboring under, and thus restored him to
health in a short time.'
In England it is not often that he finds it ne
cessary to raise the bath mudi above the knees ;
and he frequently contents himself with a mere
foot-bath or common ii^rash-hand basin alone. In
both which cases, however^ the attendants on the
patient should sponge him at the same time with
the diluted aqua regia over the limbs, and occa-
sionally over the body.
The aqua regia should be compounded of
three parts in measure of muriatic acid and two
of nitric acid ; and, in preparing them for use, a
pint of the combined acia is to be mixed with
the same measure of water. It should, however,
be observed by those who are inclmed to forai
this mixture extemporaneously at Jtheir own
houses, that, if either of the acids be poured im-
mediately on the other a large volume of very .
oflensive gas will be disengaged ; on which ac-
count it will be better to pour them separately
and slowly on their proper measures of water.
If the acids be of adequate strength, the mix-
ture, subdiluted for bathing, will, to the taste,
have the sourness of weak vinegar, and perhaps
prick the skin slightly, if very delicate, I5^t not
otherwise, afler it has been applied to the sur-
face for half an hour. But since these acids
vary much in their degree of concentration, as
distilled by difierent chemists, there will be sovm
variation in their power. The strength of die
bath, however, should not be much greater at
any time than the proportion here laid down;
for otherwise it may excite a troublesome rash,
and give a yellow hue to the nails and skin of
the feet, or whatever other part is exposed to its
action. A narrow tub, for a knee^teth, just
wide enough to hold the feet and reach the
knees, should contain three gallons of the pre-
pared bath liquor, and consequently about nine
ounces in measure of the dUuted aqua regia.
For a foot bath half a gallon may be sufficient,
and a common wash-hand basin may be em-
ployed as a vessel for the purpose. The feet
should remain in the bath for twenty minutes or
half an hour, and the legs, thighs, and abdomen,
be in the mean time frequently sponged with the
same. In the winter the water may be used
warm ; but this is not necessary in the snmmer.
The baths may be employed first daily for a
fortnight or three weeks, and afterwaxds every
other day, or only twice a week.
Dr. Scott affirms that he has employed this
process with decided advantage in almost all
cases depepdent upon a morbid secretion of bile,
whether the secretion be superabundant, de-
fective, or depraved. He finds it often, within a
few hours of the first bathing, increase the flow
of bile and ameliorate its character; and, in con-
sequence hereof excite an expulsion of daik-
colored fsces, bright colored oile, or bile of a
green brown or black color, like tar mixed with
oil. He has told me, also, that when employed
in the midst of a paroxysm of severe pain firom
spasm of the biliary ducts, or the passing of a
gall-stone, he has often known it to operate like
a charm, and produce almost immediate ease.
* This account,' continues Dr. Good, * may
be rather overcharged Iroin the ardent miikd of
its intelligent inventor ; but the process is worth
following up, and varying in other propoTtios*^
as well as employing in other fiunilies of dn-
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660
eaMB. My own use of it is at present too limited
to epeak with decision; yet so &r as I have
tried it, it has certainly appeared to me to allay
irritation, and produce a tonic effect. In two or
three instances the advanta^^ has been decisive ;
and patients who had hitherto been seldom two
months without a severe return of the complaint,
have entirely escaped, and apparently lost the
morbid predisposition. In a few other cases it
has completely fiuled/
Under the head of specific, as opposed to
common bathing, it may perhaps be right to
mention the tea water, which is generally
miagined to possess some superior, and even
different, efficacy from fresh water of the same
temperature. It is a vulgar notion that exposure
to sea water, in the way of accident or otherwise,
does not so readily engender catarrhal disorder
as would the like exposure to ordinary water ;
and if this be a well-founded notion, there would
seem to be some faculty possessed by the saline
impregnation, capable of counteracting its other-
wise injurious influence. How this operates, it
does not seem very easy to understand, and we
are disposed to suspect that there is some fallacy
in the conclusion altogether ; it may be that ex-
ternal circumstances, that habit, that the superior .
robustness of those individuals who are mainly
exposed to sea water, may assist in its compara-
tive nq;ation of deleterious influence, and that
the appendages to sea bathing may likewise act
in aid of its superior salubrity, to a greater ex*
tent than is usually conceived. While we throw
out these intimations, we would not, at the same
time, wish to be thought unjustifiably sceptical
with regard to the greater power of sea, than of
common bathing ; and it may be, that the recent
project of causing 'the waters of the ocean to
come galloping up to London,' is not mere
quackenr or chimera. . .
Dr. Parr observes that 'bathing in the sea is
on the whole preferable to common bathing, as
the heat is more uniform. It is, also, perhaps
from the agitation of the water, more refreshing.
Other causes of preference have been assigned;
one is the greater pressure of the water impreg-
nated with salt ; the other the stimulus or that
salt left on the skin. Each may have some
effect, and the latter ground of proerence is as-
suredly more certain than the former. We
cannot easily conceive how the momentary
increase of pressure can have any considerable
effect, except by the increase of momentum ; and
the Stay in the sea is ,too short to expect much
advantage from this source.'
Vapoh Baths can scarcely be considered as
specifically different from those of water, heated
to an extremely high temperature. This mode of
bathing, though lately used in this country more
than formerly, has been more freely and .'gene-
rally employed on the continent, and especially
in Kossia, where it constitutes one of the princi-
pal luxuries of the inhabitants of all ranks : and
It is there employed for a multitude of diseases.
It conveys heat more gradually than immersion
in water; at the same time, more heat can be
applied to the body, and its application may be
continued for a longer time. The vapor bath
was used by the ancient Romans, as it is by .the
modern Russians; but the former, as we have
observed in a former part of tlie present article,
did not practise the sudden transitiou which is
common with the latter. See Vapor.
Aia Bato. The celebrated Franklin, by his
recommendation of reducing the temperature of
the skin, in exposing the n^ed body to the air
for some minutes, and thus causing a healthy
excitation and pleasant feeling, in place of febrile
irritation and morbid heat, has brought the prac-
tice of air bathing into pretty general employ.
It merelv consists in getting out of bed without
any clothing, and walking U>t a time on the cold
floor, and then either putting on the clothes, or
what is better, returning to ihe warm bed, and
lying for some time previously to dressing. This
may, indeed, be practised at any time of the night
with safety, when the individual is restless and
uncomfortable from feverish heat; the effect of it,
by the way, proves that the irritation connected
with febrile heat has reference to something be-
yond the mere augmentation of temperature,
since the re-action after returning to bed often
brings with it as great, though not so uncom-
fortable, a measure of heat as that which pre-
vailed previously to the exposure to cold; a
mild and gentle perspiration sometimes also
succeeds, which likewise shows that the capil-
lary vessels of the surface are brought into a
very different condition of being, from what was
their state prior to the temporary reduction of
temperature.
On Dry Baths, as they tiave been called, we
have very little to offer. Some time since a good
deal of attention was excited to a proposal, which
indeed was put in practice, of burying the body
in earth up to the chin, under the notion that its
attractive or absorbing powers would draw mor-
bid taints from the Ix^y, and tlius restore health.
In the commentaries of Van Swieten, on the
aphorisms of Boerhaave, the following account is
given of this practice: — ^*I have heard from a
person most deserving of credit, that through the
whole kingdom of Grenada, they have a method
of curing phthisis by an earth bath ; and I have
since read the same account in the works of
Francisco Solano de Lugue, who caused a pit to
be dug in the earth, where no plants had been
sown; and into this pit he put his patients up to .
the neck, and then covered them with the same
earth which had been dug out, and there left
them till they began to shiver, when he caused
them to be taken out and wrapped in linen
cloths, wetted with rose water.' A Dr. Graham,
too, an empiric, who gained some celebrity, pro-
posed and employed earth bathing ; a practice
(says a modem writer), which in the way he
used it, consigned some of his patients to a per-
petual mansion under the ground.
Sailors have been in the practice of employing
warm sand baths for scuxVy, and the ancients
adopted many modes of exciting perspiration by
dry heat ; it is said moreover to be a practice at
this day, in some parts, to cover the body with
horse dung, for several chronic ailments; but
these expedients are not in general thoi^ght avail-
able by individuals of the present period, wbo
make physiology and pathology the ground-woik
of their remedial plans ; and we are not, there-
2U2
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BATHING,
fore, called upon to engage in any further dis-
quisition respecting their alleged efficacy, or
supposed modes of operation.
Bathing among the Tcjrks. — In modem
Turkey, as well as among the ancients, bathing
makes a part of diet and luxury ; so that in ev^ry
town, and even village, there is a public bath.
Indeed the necessity of cleanliness, m a climate
where one perspii'es so copiously, has rendered
bathing indispensable; the comfort it produces
preserves the use of it ; and Mahomet, who knew
Its utility, reduced it to a precept. Of these baths,
and the manner of bathing, particularly at Cairo,
the following account is given by Savary, in his
Letters on Egypt : * The first apartment one finds,
in going to the bath, is a large hall, which rises
in the form of a rotunda. It is open at the
top, to give a free circulation to the air. A
spacious estrade, or raised floor, covered with
a carpet, and divided into compartments, goes
around it, on which one lays one's clothes. In
the middle of the building, a jet d'eau spouts up
from a basin, and agreeably entertains the eye.
When you are undressed, you tie a napkin round
your loins, take a pair of sandals, and enter into
a narrow passage, where you begin to be sensible
of the heat. "Die door shuts to; and at twenty
paces off, you open a second, and go along a
passage, which forms a right angle wiUi the for-
mer. Here the heat increases. They who are
afraid of suddenly exposing themselves to a
stronger degree of i^ stop in a marble hall, in
the way to the bath properly so called. The
bath is a spacious and vaulted apartment, paved
and Imed with marble, around which there are
four closets. The vapor, incessantly rising
from a fountain and cistern of hot water, mixes
itself with the burning perfumes. These, how-
f ver, are never burnt except the persons who
ire in th^ bath desire it. They mix with the
steam of the water, and produce a most agreeable
effect. The bathers are not imprisoned here as
in Europe, in a sort of tub, where one is never at
one's ease. Extended on a cloth spread out, the
head supported by a small cushion, they stretch
themselves freely in every posture, whilst they
are wrapped up in a cloud of odoriferous vapors,
which penetrates into all their pores. After re-
posing tliere some time, until there is a gentle
moisture over the whole body, a servant comes,
presses you gently, turns you over, and when the
limbs are become supple and flexible, he makes
all the Joints crack without any difficulty. He
masses (i. e. touches delicately), and seems to knead
the flesh without making you feel the smallest
pain. This operation finished, he puts on a stuff
glove, and rubs you a long time. During this
operation, he detaches from the body of the pa-
tient, which is running with sweat, a sort of small
scales, and removes even the imperceptible dirt
that stops the pores. The skin becomes soft and
smooth like satin. He then conducts you into a
closet, pours the lather of perfumed soap upon your
head, and withdraws. The ancients did more
honor to their guests, and treated them in a more
voluptuous manner. Whilst Telemachus was at
the court of Nestor, 'the beautiful Polycasta, the
handsomest of the daughters of the king of
Pylos, led the son of Ulysses to the bath ; washed
him with her own hands ; and, after anointing
his body with precious oils, covered him with
rich habits and a splendid cloak.' Piaistiatas
and Telemachus were not worse treated in the
palace of Menelaus. ' When they had admired
its beauties, they were conducted to basins of
marble, where a bath was prepared ; beautiful
female slaves washed them ; and, after anointing
them with oil, coveted them with rich tonics and
superb pellices.' The closet to which one is con-
ducted IS furnished with a cistern and two cocks ;
one for cold, the other for hot water. There you
wash yourself. Soon after the servant retnms
with a depilatory pomatum, which in an instant
makes the hair fall off the places it is applied to.
Both men and women make ^neral use of it in
Egypt. It is composed of a mineral called msma,
which is of a deep brown. The Egyptians burn
it lightly, knead it with water, mixing it with half
the quantity of slacked line. This gra3rish jnste
applied to the hair, makes it fidl off in two or
three minutes, without giving the slightest pain.
After being well washed and purifi^, you are
wrapped up in hot linen, and follow the guide
through the windings that lead to the outer apart-
ment. This insensible transition from heat to cold
prevents one from suffering any inconvenience
from it. Oh arriving at the estxade, you find a
bed prepared for you ; and scarcely are you laid
down before a child comes to press every part
of your body with his delicate fingers, in order
to dry you thoroughly. You change linen a
second time, and the child gently grates the cal-
losity of your feet with pumice stone. He then
brings you a pipe and Moka coffee. Coming out
of a stove wnere one was surrounded by a hot
and moist fog, where the sweat gushed from every
limb, and transported into a spacious apartment,
tpen to the external air, the breast dilates, and
one breathes with voluptuousness. Fertectij
massed, and, as it were regenerated, one expe-
diences an universal comfort. The blood circulates
with freedom ; and one feels as if disengaged from
an enormous weight, together with a suppleness
and lightness to which one has been hitnerto a
stranger. A lively sentiment of existence diffuses
itself to the very extremities of the body. Whilst
it is lost in delicate sensations, the soul sympa-
thising with the delight, enjoys the most agreea-
ble ideas. The imagination, wandering over the
universe, which it embellishes, sees on every side
the most enchanting pictures, every where the
image of happiness. If life be nothing but the soc*>
cession of our ideas, the rapidity wi£ which th^
then recur to the memory, the vigor with whi^
the mind runs over the extended chain of them,
would induce a belief that in the two hours of
that delicious calm that succeeds the hath, one
has lived a number of years.' Sudi are the baths,
the use of which was so strongly recommended
by the ancients, and which are still the delight at
the Egyptians. It is by means of them that they
cure rtieuroatisms, catarrhs, and such cutaneous
disorders as are produced by want of peiroiialion.
'.rhere are no people who make more trequent
use of them than the Egyptians, and diere is no
country where there are fewer asthmatic people.
The asthma is hardly known there. The women
are passionately fond of these beiAs, fieqncat
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661
(hem at least once a week^ and take with them
slaves properly qualified to assist them. More
luxurious than the men, after undergoing the
usual preparations, they wash their bodies, and
above all, their heads,' with-rose water. It is there
that female head-dressers form their long black
hair into tresses, which they mix with precious
essences instead of powder and pomatum. There
they blacken the edge of their eye-lids, and
lengthen their eye-brows with cohel, a prepara*
tion of tin burnt with gall-nuts ; and stain tlie
finger and toe nails with the leaves of henne, a
shrub common in Egypt, which gives them a
golden color. The linen and clothing they make
use of are passed through the sweet steam of the
wood of aloes ; and when the work of the toilet
is at an end, they remain in the outer apartment,
and pass the day in entertainments.
Bathing of Hawks, or Falcons, is done
when they have been thoroughly reclaimed; they
are then ofi*ered water to bathe in where they may
stand up to the thighs, choosing a temperate clear
day for that purpose. By the use oi bathing, a
hawk gains strength, with a sharp appetite, and
so grows bold.
Bath-kol, i. e. the daughter of a voice, an
oracle among the Jews, frequently mentioned in
the Talmud. It was a fimtastical way of divina-
tion invented by the Jevrs, though called by
them a revelation from God's will, which he
made to his chosen people, after all verbal pro-
phecies had ceased in Israel. It was in fact a
method of divination similar to the sortes Virgil-
ianse of the Heathens. For, as with them, the
first words they happened to dip into, in the
works of that poet, were a kind of oracle whereby
they predictea future events ; so, with the Jews,
when they appealed to Bath-kol, the first
words they heard from any man's mouth were
looked upon as a voice from heaven, directing
them in the matter they enquired about. See
Sortilege.
BATHMUS, BaBftcc, from paivta, I move;
in anatomy, an appellation given to such cavi-
ties of bones as receive the prominences of other
bones into them.
BATHRUM, a name given by ancient sur-
geons to a kind of stool or bench proper for the
reduction of dislocated bones. This is called
BaBpov 'IriroKpaTttov, or the hyppocratic stool.
Its description and use are represented at large
by Sculterus. • Arm. Chir. p. i.
BATHSHEBA, or Batshua, the daughter of
Eliam, or Ammiel, wife of Uriah the Hittite.
She was the mother of four sons by David, of
whom Solomon and Nathan are reckoned in the
genealogy of Jesus Christ.
BATHURST (Allan), earl of Bathurst, one of
the most celebrated statesmen of queen Anne's
reign, was bom in 1684. His studies and his
education were equally conducive to the brilliant
figure he was destined to make in social life and
in the senate, as a polite scholar, and a patriot.
These talents he had an opportunity of displaying
as early as 1705 ; when, at the request of his fa-
ther. Sir Benjamin, and of the constituents of Ci-
rencester, he was returned to parliament for that
borough. He distinguished hunself particularly
in the struggles and debates relative to the union
with Scotland, and firmly supported that mea-
sure. Though he consented to act a subordinate
character in die opposition planned by Mr. Har-
ley and St. John, to die measures of the duke of
Marlborough, he was of infinite service to his
a, and the loss of the battle of Almanza se-
id his efforts to dispel the intoxication of
former successes. Amidst the storms of politics
he steadily maintained a personal regard for Lord
Somers, president of the council ; and when that
nobleman was divested of office, Mr. Bathurst
preserved his esteem. In consideration of his
zeal and services, the queen advanced him m
1711, to the dignity of apeer, by the title of
baron Bathurst, of Battlesden, in Bedfordshire.
He continued, however, to speak his sentiments
with an undaunted freedom in the upper house ;
and was a formidable opponent to the court mea-
sures during the whole of Sir Robert Walpole's
administration. The acrimony of the prosecution
carried on against the earl of Oxford, lord Bo-
lingbroke, and the duke of Ormond, particularly
stimulated his indignation and his eloquence ; and
on this occasion he observed, ' that the king of
a faction was but the sovereign of half his sub-
jects.' The South Sea scheme having infected
the whole nation with a spirit of avaricious enter-
prise, an infinite number of families were involved
m ruin. Lord Bathurst publicly impeached the
directors, whose arts enabled them to amass sur-
prising fortunes; and moved for having them
Sunished by a forfeiture of their estates. When
le bill of pains and penalties against Atterbury,
bishop of' Rochester, was brought into the house
of lords, among the manv friends the bishop's
eloquence and ingenuity had procured him was
Lord Bathurst. He spoke against the bill with
vehemence, and declared, he * could hardly ac-
count for the inveterate malice some persons bore
to the ingenious bishop of Rochester, unless it
was that they were infatuated, like the wild Ameri-
cans, who believe they inherit not only the spoils,
but the abilities of the man they destroy.' Sir
Robert Walpole, having, after obstinate strug-
gles, been forced to resign all his employments,
Lord Bathurst was sworn of the privy council,
and made captain of the gentlemen pensioners,
which post he resigned in 1744. He was ap-
pointea treasurer to the Prince of Wales in 1757
and continued in the list of privy counsellors at
the accession of George III. Lord Bathurst's
integrity gained him the esteem even of his op-
ponents ; and his humanity and his benevolence^
the afiection of all that knew him more intimately.
He added to his public virtues all the good
breeding, politeness, and elegance, of social in-
tercourse. Congreve, Vanburgh, Swift, Prior,
Rowe, Addison, Pope, Arbuthnot, Gay, and most
men of genius in his own time, cultivated his.
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B A T H U R S T.
of the usurpation, appointed pbysician to Ae
state. Upon the Restoration he quitted physic;
was elected F. R. S. and president of his college ;
and having entered into holy orders, was made
chaplain to the king, and afterwards dean of
Wells. Soon after, he served as rice-diancellor
of Oxford, and was nominated by king William
and queen Mary to the see of Bristol, but refused
to accept it. He was an orator, a philosopher,
and a poet : he possessed an inexhaustible ftmd
of wit, and at eighty years of age, was a facetious
companion. Ridicule was a weapon whidi he
had always at hand. His poetical pieces in the
MusflB Anglicanae are excellent. He wrote fcre-
ral poems in English and Latin ; and died in
1704, aged eighty-four.
Bathurst, the chief town of a new settlement
friendship, and were proud of his correspondence.
Pope thus addresses him^ in his Epistle on the
Use of Riches :
' 0 teach us, Bathurst, yet unspoilM by wealth !
That secret rare, between th' extremes to move.
Of mad good natue, and of mean self-love.'
And Sterne, in his letters to Eliza, thus speaks
of him : ' This nobleman is an old friend of mine :
he was always the protector of men of wit and
genius ; and has had those of the last century
always at his table. The manner in which his
notice bogan of me, was as singular as it was po-
lite. He came up to me one day as I was at the
Princess of Wales's court; * I want to know you,
Mr. Sterne ; but its fit you should know also
who it is tliat wishes this pleasure: you have ,
heard, continued he, of an old Lord Bathurst, of near the Great Fish River, on the eastward of
whom your Popes and Swifts have sung and the colony of the Cape of Good Hope. It is r^-
spoken so much : I have lived my life wlSi ge- pidly increasing. A large inn has been already
ntuses of that cast, but have survived them ; and built for the accommodation of visiters ; and as
despairing ever to find their equals, it is some the site has been well chosen, Bathurst is ex-*
years since I have closed my accounts, and shut pected very soon to become one of the 'first towns
up my books, with thoughts of never opening iq the colony.
Bathuest, also a new British settlement oo
the island of St. Mary, at the mouth of the Gam-
bia, on the western coast of Africa. Sir Geoige
continues, ' he has all Collier, in his second report, on the settlements
them again : but you have kindled a desire in
me of opening them once more before I die,
which I now do ; so go home, and dine with
me.' * At eighty-five,' he contii
the wit and promptness of a roan of thirty; a of this coast, says, < The island of St. Maxy, upon
disposition to be pleased, and a power to please which Bathurst, the capital, is rising with the
others beyond whatever I knew I' In the latter same rapidity that the most healthful climate.
part of his life, he preserved his cheerfulness^
and was always accessible, hospitable, and be-
neficent. He delighted in rural amusements ; and
enjoyed the shade of many a lofty tree which he
had planted himself. Till within a month of his
death, he constantly rode out on horseback two
hours before dinner, and drank his bottle of cla-
ret or Madeira after it. He used to declare in a
jocose manner, he never could think of adopting
Dr. Cadogan's regimen, as Dr. Cheyne had
assured him, fifty years ago, he would not live
and most fruitful and productive country could
desire, is a barren, sandy spot, in many places
scarcely above the level of the sea. Bail^ingSy
combining neatness and beauty, are appearing ;
and St. Mary bids fair to rival every spot on the
lengthened line of coast of western Africa, in
commerce and industry/
BATHUS, in entomology, a species of papiho
(Pleb. Rur.), with entire black wings, poised
with blue ; beneath white, with nameroiis blat^
dots, and a continued fiilvous band. Fafaricias.
seven years longer, unleai he abridged himself Inhabits Austria. It is the papilio battus of
of his wine. Pursuant to this maxim, having Schmetterl, and papilio telephii of Esper.
invited several of his friends to spend a few BATHYCHRUS Color, in naintingy a tens
cheerful days with him at hb seat, and being one used by the Greeks to express Wnat the Romans
evening very loth to part with them ; on his son call austerus color.
the late chancellor's objecting to their sitting u]
any longer, and adding that health and long life
were best secured by regularity, he suffered him
to retire : but as soon as he was gone, the cheer-
BATHYERGUS, finom fiaOvtpyaa^, to wwk
deeply in the earth ; in zoology, a genus of ani-
mals belonging to the order rodentia, dass
mammalia. Its generic character is, incisor teeth
fill father said, ^ Come, my good friends, since large,not covered by the lips, and wedge-shaped;
the old gentleman is gone to bed, I think we canine none ; grinders four on either side, above
may venture to crack another bottle.' He was and below, the posterior sloping deeply outwards ;
advanced to the dignity of earl in 1772; living to muzzle broad; eyes small; auricles none; tail
seethe above nobleman, his eldest son, several short and bristly ; toes five on each foot, short
years lord high chancellor of Great Britain, and and armed with thin flat nails. The two species
promoted to the peerage in 1771, by the title of are, 1. B. maritimus, lUig. Cur. ; mus mariti-
baron Apsley. Lord_ Bathurst married Catha- mus, Lin.; la grande taup du cap, Buff. ; Afri-
rine, daughter of Sir Peter Apsley, by whom he
had two sons and five daughters. He died, after
a few days ilhiess, at his seat near Cirencester,
in 1775, aged ninety-one.
Bathurst (Ralph), M. D. an eminent physi-
cian and divine, bom in 1620. He studied
divinity in Trinity College, Oxford; but the
can rat, Pen ; sand mole ot the Dutch ; about the
size of a rabbit, and of a cinereous brown oolor;
having a large head without auricles, and ^
nose slightly flattened, wriukled, and black; the
legs are short, with four toes, long clawsy and a
thumb, with a short claw on the anterior extre-
mities. Thehind legs are long, having five toes
times of confusion coming on, he applied himself armed with short claws. It inhabits the Cape,
to physic. He took the degree ol M. D. and where it is known by the name of zand mde. It
rose to such eminence, that he was, in the time burrows near the shore, and renders travelling on
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663
BAT
^DTseback dangerous. Pennant says, they some-
imes let a horse sink in them up to the
shoulders I 2. B. capensis, Cur.; mus capensis,
Lin. Pall.; taup du cap de Bonne Esperance,
Buff, Cape rat; Pen. About seven inches long,
of a dusky rufous ash brown color, with a white
f tripe round the eye and ear, and on the vertex ;
muzzle black. It is very common in the gardens
at the Cape, and called, ' bless moll.'
BATHYLLUS and Pylades, inventors of
pantomime entertainments on the stage. Ba-
thyllus succeeded in representing comedy; Py-
laaes in tragedy. The art consisted in expressing
the passions by gestures, attitudes, ana dumb
show ; not, as in modem times, in machinery,
and the fooleries of harlequin. ' They flourished
at Rome, under Augustus, about A. D. 10.
Each of them kept scholars, who perpetuated
their master's name : the followers of Bathyllus,
who excelled in the comic calling themselves
Bathylli ; and those of Pylades, who excelled in
the tragic, calling themselves Pyladae.
BAtlLDA (St.), commonly called St. Badour,
a Saxon princess, was carried away from Eng-
land by pirates, and sold to Archambaud, mayor
of the palace, where she was seen by Clovis II.,
who married her, and had by her Clotarius III.,
Childeric II., and Thierri III. She administered
the government with great wisdom after his death,
and after founding several abbeys, died about
680, in a monastery.
BATINDA, a small district in Hindostan, in .
the north-west quarter of the province of Delhi,
comprehending the Lachy jungle, celebrated for
its breed of excellent horses, said to be descended
from some of the Persian horses stolen firom the
camp of Nadir Shah, in the year 1739.
BATIS, in botany, a genus of the tetrandria
order, belonging to the dioccia class of plants,
the characters of which are: of the male, the
amentum is four ways imbricated, and both the
calyx and corolla are wanting ; of the female, the
amentum is ovate, the involucrum dyphyllous ;
calyx and corolla wanting ; the stigma is bilobate
and sessile; the berries condumate and four-
seeded. There Is but one species; viz. B.
mantima, a native of Jamaica.
Batis, in botany, the name by which Pliny
and some authors call the sea-plant samphire.
Batis, in ichthyology. See Batos, and
Raia.
BATISCAN, a river of Lower Canada, rising
in the ridge of mountains that run westerly into
the interior from Quebec. It falls into the St,
Lawrence, about fifty-four miles above that city.
At its HKMith, it is 350 yards broad, but is so
shallow as not to be accessible for boats higher
than six or seven miles up the stream, which is
also interrupted by many fells and rapids.
BATISTE, in commerce, a fine wnite kind of
linen cloth manufactured in Flanders and Picardy.
There are three kinds of batiste ; the first very
thin; the second less thin; and tiie third much
thicker, called Holland batiste, as coming very
near the goodness of Hollands. The chief use
of batiste is for neck-cloths, bead-cloths, surplices,
&c.
BATMAN, in commerce, a kind of weight
used at Smyrna, consisting of six okes. Forty
batmans make a earners load, and amount to
about 720lb. in English weight.
Batman, Persian, or Battament, is of two
kinds : one called the king's weight, batman de
chahi, or cheray, used for weighing most of the
necessaries of life, equivalent to about 12|lb.
Paris weight ; the other called batman of Tauris,
equal to 6lb. 4oz. Paris or Amsterdam weight.
These &re the proportions given by Tavemier.
Chardin rates the Persian batmans somewhat
lower, viz. the former at 12lb. 12oz. and the latter
at5lb. i4oz.
Batman, Turkish, is a)$o of two kinds ; the
larger, containing six okes, ocques,.at3|lb. Paris
weight the ocque; so tliat the batman amounts
to about 2!2|^lb. (be smaller, composed likewise
of six ocques, at 15 oz, tbie ocque, amounting to
51b. 10 oz.
BATM ANSON (John), prior of the Carthu-
sian monastery, in the suburbs of London. He
was some time a student at Oxford, and inti-
mately acquainted with Edward Lee, archbishop
of York, at whose request he wrote against Eras-
mus and Luther. He died in 1531, and was
buried in the chapel belonging to the monastery.
Bale says he, was a proud forward person ; and that
Erasmus^ in. a letter to the bishop of Winchester,
calls him .an ignorant fellpw. But Pitts gives
him the character of a man of genius, zeal, piety,
and learning. He wrote, 1 . Animadversiones in
Annotationes Erasmi in Nov. Testamentum. 2.
ATreatise against some of Luther's works. These
two he afterwards retracted. 3. Commentaria in
Proverbia Solomonis. 4. In caii^ca Canticorum.
5. De unica Magdalena. 6. Institutiones Novi-
ciorum. 7. De Contemptu Mundi. 8. De
Christo duodenni, 9. On the words Missus
est, &c.
BATONI rPompeo), a celebrated Italian pain-
ter,, bom at Lucca in 1708. Qe gained great
fame by his productions, which were eagerly
sought after by persons in the highest stations.
So tiiat honors ana riches were heaped upon him ; .
the emperor Joseph granted him ap^ltent of no-
bility. He died m 1787. One of his most ad-
mired pieces, is a representation of Simon the
magician contending with St. Peter, in the great
church dedicated to the apostle at Rome.
BATNEER, a town of Battie, and province
of Delhi, in Hindostan. It is situated on th^
borders of a sandy desert, and was formerly a
place of great consequence. It was taken by the
celebrated Timur, or Tamerlane, in the year
1398, who put all the inhabitants to death, and
burned the city. Long. 74". 45'. E., lat. 29".
28* N.
B4TON, in botany, a name by which some
authors call the true turpentine tree.
Baton, in military affairs, a staff.
Baton a di;ux bouts, a quarter-staff.
Baton de com man dement, an instrument of
particular distinction, which was f<»rmerly given
to generals in the French army. Henry III. be-
fore his re-ascension to the throne, was made ge-
neral issimo of all the armies belonging to his
brother Charles the IX., and publicly received
the baton, as a mark of high command.
Baton rouge, a flourishing post town of
Louisiana, on the east bank of the Mississippi,
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B A T T A.
about 140 miles above New Orleans. . The po-
pulation b estimated at 5000 or 6000 persons.
BATOON, in military affairs, a truncheon, or
marshars steff
Batoons of St. Paul (Bastoncini di San
Paolo), in natural history, a name given by some
of the Italian vniters, as Augustino Sdlla, and
others, to the lapides Judaici, or other spines of
echini. These are found in vast abundance in
the island of Malta; and, like almost everything
else there, are denominated from St. Paul.
BATORI (Stephen), king of Poland. He vras
bom of a noble &mily in Transylvania, and
elected prince of his native country in 1571 ;
after which he gained such reputation, that upon
the deposition of Henry, duke of Anjou, by the
Poles, his party prevailed over that of Maximi-
lian ; and, naving married the princess Anne, he
was crowned in 1576. He proved an excellent
prince, and successfully opposed both Russia
and Sweden; while he gamed great honor to
himself by bis merciful conduct in the midst of
the most horrible cruelties on the part of his
enemies. He died in 1586.
BATOS, in ichthyology, the name given by
Aristotle, and all the old writers, to the skait.
They have generally called the male batos, and
the female batis. It is a species of the raia, and
distinguished by Artedi by the name of the va-
riegated ray, with the middle of the back smooth,
and one row of spines on the tail. Albertus
calls it the rayte, and rubus.
BATRACHIA> in zoology, one of the orders
or great divisions of the class Reptiles.
BATRACHIAS Lapis, from Pca-paxot, a frog ;
the frog-stone, a name applied by different
writers to two very different substances ; some
understanding by it lumps of common flint,
accidentally formed into this figure ; and others,
those pieces of ember which contain either a
whole frog, or any part of one.
BATRACHOMYOMACHIA, from Baroor
30C, a frog, fivgy a mouse, and /laxut, a battle ;
le battle of the frogs and the mice, the title of
a fine burlesque poem generally ascribed to
Homer.
BATRACHUS, from fiaTpaxoc, a frog; in
zoology, the frog fish. A genus of animsds be-
longing to the family perca, order acanthopte-
rygii, class, pisces. The generic character is
head flattened horizontally, larger than the body ;
ventral fins straight, attached under the throat;
first dorsal fin short, supported by three spinous
rays ; second dorsal lone and soft, opposite to
which the anal fin also soft ; mouth ana gills very
large; gill flap spined; lips sometimes bearded .
This genus was established by Schneider in his
Bloch's Icthyology, and named from the im-
mense size of the head, resembling that of the
frog. The species inhabit the southern hemis-
phere, and are separated into two divisions,
those with and those without beards or cirrhi on
the lip. The principal are, 1. With beards,
B. didactylus ; two nngered frog fish, inhabits
Guinea; B. tau, toad fish; Garden states that
this animal is called by the inhabitants of Caro-
lina the ' toad fish;' by the French it has been
called * crapaud de mer.* Its habits are very
little known, but it is considered predacious.
It is found in hot climates, and is taken on the
coasts of Carolina. B. grunniens, Schneid. ;
cottus grunniens, lin. Bloch; grunting buQ
head, Shaw; grunting frog fish. This animal
is about ten inches long; of a brown color
marked with white on the sides ; inhabits Ame-
rica and ^he Indian Seas. 2. Without beards.
B. Surinamensis. B. Indicus, are founded by
Bloch, the cottus insidiator, and B. guavina
of the Havannah.
BATSCH (Augustus John George Charies),
was born at Jena in 1761. He became professor
of philosophy in the university of his native
place, where he founded a society for the study
of natural history, of which he was president
He died in 1802. His works are — 1. £lenchus
Fungorum, 8vo. 2. An Introduction to the
Knowledge and History of Vegetables, Svo.
3. Essays on Botany and Vegetable Physiology,
Svo. 4. Botany, for Ladies and Amateurs, Svo.
5. Introductory Essay to the Knowledge of
Animals and Minerals, Svo.
« BATSEN, or Bacs, a county and town of
Hungary; the county is bounded on the north
by that of of Scholt, on the south by Bodrog, on
the east by little Camania and the T^eyss, and
on the west by the Danube, whidt separates it
from Sclavonia. It is inhabited by Hungarians
and Rascians, and a few Germans. After being
united with that of Bodrog, it was separated
from it for several years, but was le-united by
Joseph II. Since the introduction of the Spa-
nish breed of sheep the trade in wool has been
very considerable. This county has been fre-
' quently the theatre of war between Austria and
Turkey. The capital, which was formeriymore
considerable tiian at present, and was the see of
a bishop, suffragan of Colocza, is situated
four miles from the north side of the Danube,
and twenty from tlje conflux of the Danube and
Drave. Twenty miles north-east of Fnnfkir-
chen, and seventy-five south of Buda. Lon^.
190. 10'. E., lat. 46°. 18'. N.
BATTA, a country of Sumatra, stretdiioi^
along the south-western shore l)etween the Sin-
kell and Tabuyong, runs across the whole idand.
This is one of those districts that have become
known to us principally by the modem mis-
sionary exertions. In the autumn of 1821 Mi.
Burton visited the interior, opposite to the East
India Company's settlement at Natal, and found
it composea of rugged hills, covered with thidc
forests, and separated by ravines which often
formed the beos of rapid rivers. His journey
extended as fiir as Mora Summa, a station which
has lately been chosen by the C<Hnpany's resi-
dent at Natal, for the purpose of maintaining a
freer communication with the Battas. This sta-
tion is situated about the middle of the range of
lofty mountains seen in a north-easteriy direction
from Natal hill, and within three days walk of
the Mendeeling country, which is spoken of in
the highest terms by the princes nearer the ^re,
who have visited it ; and is supposed to contsin
a population of 100,000 individuab. Mr. Bur-
ton says, * The country round here is the most
beautiful I have seen on Sumatra. It is culti-
vated chiefly with labangs, for several miles in
every direction. There is no sawah ground. The
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666
BatU people of this place, unlike their neigh-
bours, and unlike Batta people of other places,
live on their respectiye farms, and not collected
together in dusims (villa^). The houses scat-
tered upon the surrounding hills, reminded me
much of my &vohte Gloucestershire, as I
Tiewed them at a distance.'
The chief products of this country are pepper,
plantains, Indian com, c^phor« cotton, indigo,
caasia, and gum benzoin. Gold and sulphur
are among its mineral treasures; the first of
which Mr. B. had an opportnnity of seeing the
Battas procure firom the beds of the rivers,
in the same way nearly as in South America.
Among the animal tribes, monkeys, elephantc,
and tigers, are numerous; but there are very few
birds.
The Bjittas Mr. Burton describes as fine, tall,
stout, good-looking people, superior in s^PJ^u^
ance to the generality of the Malays. They
have a peculiarly fierce and independent look,
are well dressed in cotton cloths, manufactured
by the women, and wear English beads as orna-
ments. ' These people,' he remarks, ' are per-
fectly independent ; they have no idea of tneir
own inferiority to any people on earth, and their
carriage and behaviour tell you so. They are
▼enr poLite in their own way, are good speakers,
and know perfectly well how to manage every
point of an argument, so as to turn it to their
own advantage.
The Battas have a settled language, which is
extensively written and understood, and many
neatly executed books. The whole population
is estimated at a million, 2 or 300,000 of whom
can read. ' I have begun to read their language,'
says Mr. B., < and find there is nothing to fear
relative to its acquisition, the character is re-
markably simple, and every sound having its
representative mark, the language may be pro-
nounced correctly by any person who has ac-
quired the character, though he may not under-
stand what he reads.' Mr. Prince, the Compa-
ny's Natal resident, drew up a brief account of
the religion of these people, at the request of
Sir T. S. Raffles, firom which it appears to be
compounded of the most ridiculous and barba-
rous superstitions. They do not, however, wor-
ship images, but belieie in the existence of cer-
Uiu deities, whose attributes indicate a much
greater degree of knowledge and civilisation at
some former period. Dee Battah Assee Assee is
the Creator and Father of all things, and is sup-
posed to have appointed three brothers as his
agents to instruct mankind. ' Bataraffourou, the
god of justice; Seeree Padah, the god of mercy;
bot Mahalabhoolan, the third brother, soon dis-
agreed with the other two, separated from them,
an<l propagated tenets direcUy in opposition to
theirs. He is therefore described as the source
of * discord and contention — the instigator of ma-
lice and revenge — the inciter of anger— the source
of fraud, deceit, lying, hypocrisy, and murder.'
He has the chief influence among the Battas, and
they acknowledge that petitions are seldom of-
fered to either of the others. The only semblance
of a priest among them, is a person named Dat-
too, who is skilled in all their superstitions ; and
jhere is generally one of these to every village;
but the only religious ceremonies the existence
of which Mr. Prince could ascertain, appeared
to consist in an invocation of the manes of the
dead. * The influence of the Dattoos over the
deluded Battas is such,' says Mr. P., * that they
will not engage in any undertaking, however
trifline, without first consulting them. They ex-
pound all their religious books, and, according to
their interpretation, a day is chosen as propitious
to the accomplishment of the desired object,
whether it be a suit, a journey, or war. The
moral conduct of these people appears to be in-
fluenced by all the vile passions of an irregular
and irritable constitution. ' Truth is seldom' re^
sarded when in the way of their interests or
feelings; and honesty is never founded on prin-
ciple, but on the fear of detection. The general
tenor of their lives has obliterated the recollec-
tion and practice of the laws of Seeree Padah
and Bataragourou, and they have no priesthood
or rajah to recal them, or to reprove their obsti-
nate adherenoe to the principles of Mahalabhoo-
lan, who is certainly no other than the devil.'
One of the amusements of this people is a
peculiar and very cruel one, thus descrioed by
Mr. Burton. ' In one of the bazars,' he says,
'were about 100 persons amusing themselves
with a most crufel game. The^ drive a small
stake into the earth, and round it draw a circle,
which they divide into four equal parts ; in each
of the partitions different individuals put equal
sums of money; to the stake is tied a young
fowl, whose throat being cut, it flutters about
for a short time, and then expires. The person
whose money happens to be in the partition
where the fowl lies after death, sweeps the stakes.
The circle may be divided into as many parts as
there arepersons who wish to follow the amuse-
ment. The man officiating as cut-throat was the
imum, or priest, of the place.'
BATTJE, a people of ancient Germany, forr
merly inhabitants of what is now called Hesse.
Being dissatisfied with their situation there, they
settl^ on the island formed by the Vahalis and
the Rhine, which from them took the name of
Batavia, or Batavorum Insula. Their govern-
ment was a mixture of monarchy, aristocracy,
apd democracy. Their chief was, properly speak-
ing, nothing more than a prindpsd citizen, whose
business was rather to advise tnan to command.
The principal men who exercised jurisdiction,
and commanded the troops, in their respective
districts, were chosen, as well as the kings, in an
assembly of the people. A hundred persons,
selected from among the people, presided over
every county, and acted as chie& in the different
hamlets. The whole nation was, in some mea-
sure^ an army always in readiness. Each family
composed a bod^ of militia, which served under
a captain of their own choosing. See Batavi
and Batavorum Insula.
BATTAILj V. & n.^ Fr. battaiUe, Ital. bai-
Battail'ant, § taglioy Span, battala.
Battail'ous, > From the ancient Saxon
Batta'lion, ibeatan, to fight, or to
Batta'lia. J strike. Battdlom is hav-
ing the appearance of a battle ; battalia is the
order of IntUe ; and hattaiion signifies the divi-
sion of an army, and formerly an army itself.
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666
BAT
Sir Edward also sone )»er gile gan he knowe,
Dight him to bataUe bone, his tmmpes did be blotre.
Lest any time it were assail'd,
Fal we] about it was haUaiUd,
And round environ eke were set,
Ful many a rich and fair touret.
Chaucer. RommmtoftheRoie.
At many a noble armee hadde he be ;
At mortal haitailei, hadde he ben fiftene ;
And foughten for our faith at Tramissene ,
In listes thries— and aye slain his foe. Id,
Soon after this I saw an elephant,
Adom'd with bells and boases gorgeously^
That on his backe did beare (as katieilant)
A gilden towre which shone exceedingly.
Sprnter. Vision of the World's Vanities,
But deeds of armes must I at last be fainn.
And ladies love, to leave so dearely bought ?
What need of armes where peace doth aye rematne.
Said he, and hattailes none are to be fought ?
As for loose loves they are vaine, and vanish into
nought. Id.
He started up, and did himself prepayre.
In sun-bright armes, and battailous array ;
For with that pagan proud he oombatt wiU that day.
Id.
When sorrows oom^, they come not single spies.
But ia battalions, Shakspeare, Hamiet,
A fiery region, stretcb'd
In battailous aspect, and nearer view
Bristled with upright beams innumerable
Of rigid spears and helmets throng'd. Milton.
Next morning the king put his army into battalia.
Clarendon,
The pierc'd battaliens disunited fall
In heaps on heaps ; one fate overwhelms them all.
Pope,
Battalia, an anny ranged in ofder of battle,
or ready for engagement. The word seems formed
from the Latin batualia, sometimes also written
batalia, denoting a sort of military or gladiatorial
exercise, as fighting with foils, or tilting at a post.
In this sense, we meet with the depth of a b«itta-
lia;'to march in battalia, with tne baggage in
the middle ; to break the battalia, &c. In the
Roman battalia, the bastati made the front. It
further implies an army or considerable detach-
ment of troops drawn np in order of battle, or
in any other proper form to attack the enemy.
See Satflr
Battalion, in the British army, is an unde-
termined body of infantry in regard to number,
generally from 600 to 1000 men. The royal
regiment of artillery has consisted of ten batta-
lions, exclusive of the invalid or veteran battalion.
Sometimes regiments consist each of one batta-
lion only ; but if more numerous are divided
into several battalions, according to their strength ;
so that every one may come within the number
mentioned. A battalion of one of our marching
regiments consists of 1000 and sometimes of
1200 men, officers and non-commissioned in-
cluded. When there are companies of several re-
giments in a garrison to form a battalion, those of
file eldest regiment post themselves on the right,
those of the second on the left, and so on till the
youngest fells into the centre. The officers take
their posts before their companies, from the right
and left, according to seniority. Each battalion
is divided into four divisions, and each division
into two subdivisions, which are again divided
into sections. Hie companies oi grpnadiex*
being unequal in alt battalions, thetr^ost most
be regulated by the commanding omcer. See
Regiment.
The Triangular BAVtALtov of ancient militaiy
history, was a body of troops ranged in the form
of a triangle, in which the ranks exceeded each
other by an equal number of men. If the first
consisted of one roan only, and the diflereDce
between the ranks was only one, then its ibim
was that of an equilateral triangle : and when
the difference between the ranks was more than
one, its form waf an isoscele, having two sides
equal, or scalene triangle.
The Bound Battalion, is that in which the
soldiers are ninged in concentric circles. This
was much used by the Romans, and <:alled u»
arhem. Casar, in his Commentaries, has given
many instances.
The Sqiuire BATTAttON. M. Folard shows tt
large, in his book de la Colonne, the weakness
of the square battalion, and decries the modeni
method of ranging battalions so shallow as to
render them weak, and unable to support each
other: so that they are easily penetrated or
broken ; an essential fault in tactics. The real
strength of a corps, according to this author,
consists in its thickness, or the depth of its files,
and their connexion and closeness. This depth
renders the flanks almost as strong as the firont
He adds, that it may be laid down as a maxim,
that every battalion ranged deep, and with a
small front, will beat another stronger than itself
ranged according to the usual method. (Polyb.
tom. i. p. 7.) But this opinion of Folard has
not been adopted in modem practice ; and his
theory has been vigorously attacked by French
tacticians. They admit tlie superior sttength of
bis column to that of a modern battalion, if the
action were to be decided with pikes and swords;
but where fire arms must be used, M. Fol«rd*s
column is so very ill disposed for this purpose,
that it must infallibly be destroyed.
BATTECOLLAH, Batucata, a lu^ge open
town on the sea coast of the British district of
North Canara. The name signifies the round
town. It stands in lat. 13® 56' N., long. T4*
37' £, on the north bank of a small river,
which waters a very beautiful valley, snnonnded
on every side by hills, and in an excellent stale
of cultivation. Eight dams are yearly made, at
the public expense, in order to water the rice
grounds, which are constructed of earth, and
only intended to collect the stream. Batteoollih
contains two mosques, one of which receives an
allowance of 100 pagodas from the Company,
and the other half as much. Many of the Ma-
hommedans are wealthy, and their commercial
speculations extend to different parts of the
coast. Here are a great many guddies, or
temples, belonging to Oie followers of V^yas ; and
two Jain temples, the only remains of sixty-eight
that were ibnnerly in the place.
BATTEL, v.,n.k oj?'. a It may befron the
Battling, f Sax. batan, to bait,
Bat'table, > says Mr. Todd, But
Battler, i Mr. Stevens thinks,
Bat'ful. J that 6a# is an ancient
English word for increase. Perhaps it is from
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BAT
667
BAT
the Goth, ga-baitutnf to adf antage. Batfid is a
compound of the two participles, bat and full.
The rerb appears to be founoed upon the noun,
and to siffnity to grow fat, to get flesh, to render
fertile and fruitful. BattabU, is capable of cul-
tivation. To battel (the verb neuter) is to stand
indebted in the college books at Oxford, for
what is expended at the butteiy in the necessa-
ries of eating and drinking. At Cambridge sixe
is used in a similar sense. Hence in the former
universi^ there is a student named a batteler or
battler; m the latter a sizer. At £ton, battel is
used to describe the small portion of food, which,
in addition to the college allowance, the pupils
receive from their dames. But in every appli-
cation the word has reference to increase.
This is the gnyne of mustard sede which* wh«n it
was ao fine and ao litUe that the anleamed loit of
English me could scarce possibly fele or see it, ye of
your exceeding charirie and acle towaida year coontvy
folkea did in such wise helpe to some in the field of
Englande, and did so cherishe with the sable bailfiing
yevth of the paraphrase, that where before it was in
the eyes of the unlettered, the least of al sides, it is
now shot up, and growS much larger in bredth the .
any other herbe of ye field. UdaU. Luke, Prefaee,
The best advizement was of bad, to let her
Sleepe out her fill, without encumberment ;
For sleepe (they said) would make her battel better.
Speiuet, Faerie Qti»ene,
For in the churdi of God sometimes it commeth to
pass, as in over battle grounds, the fertile disposition
whereof is good ; yet because it exceedeth due propor-
tion, it bringeth forth abundantly, through too much
lanknesse, ^ngs lesse profitable.
Hooker, Eoelet. PU.
M assinissa made many inward parts of Barbarie
and Kumidia in Africk (^bcfore his time incult and
horrid) fruitful and battable by this means.
Bmion't Anatomy of Mdamchaly.
Thomas Sorrocold, or Sorooold, was bom in Lan-
cashire, became aAoftlsr or student of Brasen-nose
college, in 1578, aged 17 years or thersaboats.
Wood, AHmuB, Oxon,
Eat my commons with a good stomach, and battled
with discretion. • Pwitam. MaUme't SmpphmeiU.
The batftd pastnze fenc'd, and most' with quickset
mound.
The sundry sorts of soil, diversity of ground.
DrayUm, PotyUon.
Battel, in law, or Trial by wager of Bat-
tel, now disused. See Appeal.
Battel abbey. See Battel.
BATTELMA, a town of Syria, the ancient
Daphne; the scene, according to classical writers,
of the transformation of the nymph of that
name into a laurel. At a short distance these
trees are numerous. It is said that temples
dedicated to Daphne, Apollo, and Diana, stood
on this spot; and that Gallus built a church
at a later period, which Dr. Pococke conjectures
niay have been the remains of that of Apollo,
lie saw the remains of a Christian church, with
Greek inscriptions on the walls, and supposed
that it might nave received the bones of mbylas,
bishop of Antioch, and those of several other
martyrs. There are fountains, and the remains
of foundations, walls, and aqueducts, about Bat-
telma, which is five mtles south-west of Antioch.
BATTELY (John), an English divine, bom at
Sl Edmund's Bury, in Suffolk, in 1647, and
educated at Trinity college, Cambridge. Arch-
bishop Sancroft made him his chaplain, and gave
him the rectory of Adisham in Kent, and the
archdeaconry of Canterbury. He wrote Anti-
quitates Rutupinse, and Antiquitates Edmund*
burgi. He died in 1708.
BATTEN, V. a. & fi. A word, says Johnson,
of doubtful etymology. Probably of the same
derivation as battle, as it seems' to have succeed-
ed it, and to have the same meaning. It is,
however, with its predecessor, growing" fest into
desuetude. It signifies to fatten, or make fax ;
to feed plenteously; to fertilise; and to live in
indulgence.
CORio. Follow yourfanedon, go and batten on cold
bits. Shaktpeare,
A man may battem there in a week only, with hot
loaves and hotter, and 'a lusty cup of muscadine and
sugar at breakfast, though he make never a meal all
the month after. Ford. Perkm Warbeck.
We drove afield.
Battening our flocks with the fresh dews of night.
MUton,
Burnish'd and batt'nhiy on their food, to show
The diligence of careful herds below. Drydmi.
Twa mice, full blythe and amicable.
Batten beside erle Robert's Uble. Prior,
The meadows here, with batt'ning ooze enrich'd.
Give rpirit to the grass ; three cubiu high
The jointed herbage shoots. PhSiq^.
While ardent Sinus shoots a thirsty ray.
And autumn yet withholds retreating day.
They range at large, and gambol through the stream^
Frisk on the beach, or batten in the beam. Brooke.
Go thou ; the moan of woe demands thine aid ;
Pride's licensed outrofce claims thy slumbering ire ;
Pale genius roams the bleak neglected shade.
And battening avarice mocks the tuneless lyre.
Beattie.
Batten is chiefly used by joiners, in speak-
ing of doors and windows of shops, &c. which
are not framed of whole deal, &c. with stiles,
rails, and pannels like wainscoat; but are made
to appear <is if they were, by means of these bat-
tens, bradded on the plain board round Uie edges,
and sometimes cross them and up and down.
Battens of the Hatches, in sea language,
are nailed along the tarpaulings, and serve to
keep their edges close down to the hatches, in
order to prevent the water which washes over the
deck from penetrating into the lower apartments
of the ship .
BATTENBERG, a small town of Germany,
in the grand dnchy of Hesse, on the Eder, with
an old castle, a bailiwic, and 720 inhabitants.
Twent3^-five miles north of Giessen.
BATTENHAUSEN, an ancient town of Ger-
many, in the territory of the Catti.
BATTENKIL, asmall river of North America,
in the state of Vermont, which rises in Benning-
ton county, and running soutli-west, afterwards
turns directly west into the state of New York,
where -it fisUls into the Hudson, nearly opposite to
Saratofra.
BATTER, V. & n.^ Fr. battre ; Ital. battere ;
Bat'terer, f Germ, batten ; of the same
Baxter I NO, ^etymology as battailj viz.
B at'tery. j ancient Saxon beatan : ap-
. pli«d to things it signifies to beat down, to shatter.
The substantive designates a mixture of several '
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668
BAT
r beaten together with fome liquor; to
[led ftom its being so much beaten. Applied
to persons, it describes thet urmoils and violence
through which thev have passed, and the worn-
out condition in which they are left.
Man ttondeth the sinne of contomelie or ttrif and
«hMte, and baUenth and forgeth by yilians reprevingei.
Chancer, The Permmee Tale.
When Capid icaled fint the fort
Wherein my hait lay wounded tore.
The battrp was of each a sort.
That 1 must yield or die therefore.
Horace, Unceriain AuHhore,
For now were the walls beaten with the rams, and
many parts thereof shaken and battered: and at' one
place above the rest, by continual hatterie there was
such a breach, as the towne lay open and naked to
the enemy. HMtmd** Umm, foL 397.
Moreover take but three sextares or qwuts of it
being steeped, and it will yield a measure called
modius, of thicke grewel or hatter, called in Latin
puis. Id. Plime, vol. i. p. 558.
They all that charge did fcrvendy apply.
With greedy malice and importune toyle.
And planted there their huge artillery.
With which they daily made most dreadful battery,
Spenear.
Sconce call you it? so you would leave battering.
I had rather have it a head. Shaiepeare,
Many men neglect the tumults of the world, and
care not for glory, and yet they are afraid of infamy,
repulse, disgrace, thdy can severely contemn plea^
suie, bear grief indifferently : but they are quite bat--
tered and broken with reproach and obloquy.
Burton, Anat. Md.
Others to a city strong.
Lay siege eneamp'd ; by battery, scale^ and mine.
Assaulting. MUtm,
Crowds to the castle mounted up the street,
Bat^ring the pavement with their coursers' feet.
Drydan,
One would have all things little, hence has tty'd
Turkey poults fresh from th' egg in batter frj*d.
King,
If you have a silver saucepan for the kitchen use,
let me advise you to batter it well.^ this will shew
constant good housekeeping.
&ot/r« Direetiont to the Cooh,
▲s the same dame, experienc'd in her trade.
By names of toasts retails each Aalfsr'd jade. Pope,
The ordinary machines invented to batir or under-
mine the walls, were rendered ineffectual by the supe-
rior skill of the Romans. Gibbon,
Ba'tter, V, n, A word used only by work-
men.
The side of a wall, or any timber, that bulges from
its bottom or foundation, is said to batter. Mason,
^at'ter. In law, a violent striking of any
man. In an action against a striker, one may
be found guilty of the assault, yet acquitted of
the battery. There may therefore be assault
without 6a<fery; but battery dways implies an
assault.
^ Why does he suffer this rude knave now to knock
him about the sconce with a dir^ shovel, and- will
not tell him of his action of battery? Shaktpeare,
Sir, quo' the lawyer, not tp flatter ye.
You have as good and fair a battery
As heart can wish, and need not shame
The proudest man alive to claim. Hudibra*.
Battering, in the military art^ is the at^
tacking a fortiBed place or worl^ .with heavy
artillery. To batter in breach, is to play furioosl?
on a work, as the angle of a half moon, to demo-
lish and make a gap in it. In doing this, they
never fire a piece at the top, but all at the bot-
tom, firom three to six feet from die groimd.
See Battert.
Battering Ram, in antimiity, a militaiy
engine used to batter and beat down the walls o.
places besieged. It is said to have been invented
oy Artemorus of Clazomene, a Greek architect,
who flourished A. A. C. 441. It » thus described
by Josephus : A vast beam, tike die mast of a dup,
strengthened at the one end with a head of iroo,
resembling that of a ram, whence it took its name,
was hung by the middle wiUi ropes to another
beaip, which lav across two posts ; and hanging
thus equally balanced, it was by a great number
of men drawn backwards and poshed forwards,
striking the wall with its iron head. Bat this
engine did most execution when it was moooted
on wheeb, which is said to have been first done
at the siege of Byzantium under Philip of
Macedon. ^
Battering Ram, in military affairs See
•Akies.
Battering Ram, in heraldry, a bearii^ or
coat of arms resembling the iniUtary engine
above described.
BATT£RS£A, a village in Surrey, wfaidi gives
the tide of baron to the St. John family. Popn-
littion about 5000. In the church is a raonn-
ment of ♦Henry St. John, viscount Bolii^-
broke, who was bom here, and his second w£,
who was a niece of Madame de Maintenon. On
another to die memory of Sir Edward Winter,
who lived in the neighbourhood, it is related
that being a captain in die East India company's
service, in the reign of Charles 11., he was atucked
in the woods by a tiger, when, placing himself on
the side of a pond, as the tiger flew at him, he
caught him in his arms, and falling back widi him
into the water, got upon him and kept turndown
till he was drowned. On the site o( Bolingbioke
House, which was pulled down in 1775, has
been erected a horizontal windmill of very large
dimensions. The height of die main shaft is
120 feet, and the diameter at the bottom fifty-two.
In 1771, a wooden bridge was built over the
Thames at Battersea, under die direction of Mr.
Holland, at an exnense of £22,500.
Battery, in electricity, is a combinatioD of
coated surfaces of glass, commonly jars, so con-
nected together, that tbey may be chaiml at
once, and discharged by a common conductor.
Mr. Gralath, a German electrician, was the first
who contrived to increase the shock, by charging
several phials at the same time. Dr. Franklin,
after he had analysed the Leyden phial, andibond
that it lost at one surface die electric fire which
it received at the other, constructed a battery of
panes of large sash glass, coated on each side^
and connected in such a manner that the whole
might be charged together, and with the same
labor as one single pane; and by bringing all
the giving sides into contact widi one wii«, and
all the receiving sides with another, he contrived
to unite the force of all die plates, and to dis-
charge diem at once. Dr. PnesUey descnh6s a
still more complete battery, of which he sajs»
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BATTERY.
669
that after long uae he sees no reason for wishing
the least alteration in any part of it. This bat-
tery consists of sixty-four jars, each ten inches
long, and two inches and a half in diameter,
coated within an inch and a half of the top;
forming in the whole thir^-two square feet of
coated sur&ce. The wire of each jar has a piece
of Tcry small wire twisted about the lower end of
it, to touch the inside coating in sereial places;
and it is put through a pretty large piece of cork,
within the jar, to prevent any part of it from
touching the ^e, which would tend to promote
a spontaneous discharge. Each wire is turned
round, so as to make a hole at the upper end;
and through these holes a pretty thick brass rod
with nobs passes, each rod serving for one row
of the jars. The communication between these
rods is made by laying a tluck chain over them,
or as many of them as may be wanted. The bot-
tom of the box, in which the jars stand, is covered
with a plate of tin, and a bent wire touching the
plate passes through the box, and appears on the
outsicte. To thb wire any conductor designed
to communicate with the outside of the battery is
fastened, and the discharge is made by bringing
the brass knob to any of the knobs of the battery.
M'hen a very great force is requhred, the quantity
of coated surmce may be increased, or two or
more batteries inay be used. But the laigest and
most powerful battery, is that which was employed
by Dr. Van Marum, to the amazing large electri-
cal machine constructed for Teyler^s Museum at
Haarlem. This grand battery consists of a great
number of jars^ coated as above, to the extent of
about 130 square, feet; and the effects of it,
■which are truly astonishing, are related by Dr. Van
Marum, in his description of this machine, and of
the experiments made with it, at Haarlem, in 1785.
Battery Galvanic See Galvanism.
Battery, in law, is the unlawful beating of
another in breach of the peace. The least touchy
log of another's person wilfully, or in anger, is a
battery ; for the law cannot draw the line between
different degrees of violence, and therefore totally
prohibits the first and lowest stage of it; every
man's person being sacred, and no other having
a right to meddle with it, in the slightest man-
ner. Upon, a similar principle, the Cornelian
lawy de injuhis, prohibited pulsation as well as
▼«»rberation ; distinguishing verberation, which
was accompanied with pain^ from pulsation,
which was attended with none. But battery is in
some cases justifiable or lawful; as, first, where
one who hath authority, a parent or master, gives
moderate correction to his child, his scholar, or
his apprentice : second, in self-defence ; if one
strike another, or only assault him, he may strike
in his own defence ; and, if sued for it, may plead,
son asault demesne, that it was the plaint^^s ori-
ginal assault that occasioned it : third, in defence
of goods or possessions, if one endeavour to
deprive another of them, he may lay hands upon
him to prevent him ; and in case he persist with
T'iolence, may beat him away : fourth, in the exer-
cise of an office, as that of church-warden or
beadle, a man may lay hands upon another to turn
him out of church, and prevent his disturbing the
oongiegation : and if sued for this or the like bat-
tery, he may set forth the whole case, and plead
that he laid hands upon him gendy, moUiter ma-
nus imposuit, for tnis purpose. On account of
these causes of justification, battery is defined to
be the unlawful beating of another : for which the
remedy is, as for assault, by action of trespass vi
etarmis; wherein the jury will give adequate
satisfaction in damages.
Battery, in metalline manufactures, or bat-
tery works, includes pots, sauce-pans, kettles,
and the like vessels, which, though cast at first,
are to be afterwards hammered or beaten into
form. Some make battery for the kitchen, bat-
terie de cuisine, comprehend all utensils for the
service of the kitchen, whether of iron, brass, cop-
per, or other matters. Others take the term in a
narrower sense, and restrain it to utensils of brass
or copper. A society for the mineral and battery
work of England, was incorporated by queen
Elizabeth.
Battery, in the military art, is a parapet
thrown up to cover the gunners, and men
employed about the guns, from the enemy's
shot. This parapet is cut into embrasiires, for
the guns to be fired through. The height of
the embrasures on the inside b about three
feet; but they slope lower to the outride.
Their width is two or three feei,; but they open to
six or seven on the outside. The mass of earth
betwixt two embrasures, is called the merlon.
The platform of a battery is a floor of planks and
sleepers, to keep the wheels of the guns from
sinking into the earth ; and is always made slop-
ing towards the embrasures, both to hinder tne
recoil, and to facilitate the bringing back of the
gun. The powder magazines, from which the
. batteries are to be served, ought not to be far
distant from them, nor from each other. The
genial one about sixty feet in the rear of the bat-
tery, and the small ones about half that distance.
The magazines are made either to the right or
left of the battery, as the officer may think fit for
deceiving the enemy: they are commonly built
five feet under ground; taking care to secure the
•ides and roof with boards, and cover them with
earth, clay, or some such substance, lest fire
should get in to the powder. The balls are
generally piled up besioe the merlons, between
the embrasures, to be in readiness. Though in
England engineers are employed to construct
batteries, the officers of artillery, who are daily
practising the different branches of their pro-
raasion, would seem to be the fittest persons to
direct the situation and to superintend the con-
struction of their own batteries. Batteries are of
various kinds, viz.
Batteries Cross, are batteries which play
athwart one another upon the same object, form-
ing there an angle, and causing more destniction;
b^use what one bullet shsikes the other beats
dovm.
Battery a Ricochet is adapted to the method
of ricochet, or duck and drake firing, first invented
by Vauban, at the siege of Aeth, in 1692: the
guns are loaded vrith small charges, and elevated
so as to fire over the parapet; and the shot is
thus made to bound along die opposite rampart,
like a stone skimmed along the water. In a
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BATTERY.
tiege they are genendly placed at about 300 feet
before the first pamllef, perpendicular to the
faces produced, which they are to enfilade. This
method has since been applied to mortars and
howitzers with great success, which are of singu-
lar use in action to enfilade the enemy's ranks;
for when the men.perceiye the shells bounding
about with their ftizes burning, expecting them
to burst every moment, the bravest among them
will hardly have courage to wait their approach.
Battery Boxes, square boxes to be filled
with earth or dung, for the purpose of making
batteries, where gabions a^d earth cannot be had.
Battery, Comrade, or Joint Battery, is
when several guns play at the same time upon
one place.
Battery, Coffer, is that where the sides of
the wall and merlons only are formed of fascines,
and all the cavities or included spaces filled with
earth.
Battery, Covered, or Masked, is when the
guns and men are covered by a bank made of
fascines and earth, of about eighteen or twenty
feet thick, and seven or eight feet high. The
guns are generally from nine to eighteen
pounden ; sometimes twenty-four pounders are
used.
Battery D'Enfilade, is one that scours or
sweeps the whole length of a straight line.
Battery de Revers, that which plays upon
the rear of the troops.
Battery en EcbaRpe, is that which plays
obliquely.
Battery en Rouaob, id that used to dis-
mount the enemy's cannon.
Battery Nails, pins used for fastening the
planks that cover the platforms, and not made of
iron but of the toughest wood, because iron might
be dangerous, by the iron-work of the wheels
striking against them in recoiling, &c.
Battery of a Camp is usuaJly surrounded
with a trench and pallisades, at the bottom, and
with a parapet on the top, having as many holes
as there are pieces of artillery, and two redoubts
on the wings, or places of arms, capsible of cover-
ing the troops, which are appomted for their
defence.
Battery of Mortars differs from a battery
of guns; for it is sunk into the ground, and has
no embrasures, it being designed to throw its charge
up into the air. It consists in a parapet of about
twenty feet thick, seven and a half in front, and
six in the rear; of a berme about three feet broad,
according to the quality of the earth ; of a ditch
twenty-four feet broad at top, and twenty at the
bottom. The beds are not made sloping like the
platforms for guns, but exactly horizontal : they
should be nine feet long, and six broad, with
eight feet betwixt them, and nine from the part
Battery, Open, is a number of cannon, ge-
nerally field-pieces, ranged ar-breast of one
another, on a small natural elevation of the
ground, or an artificial bank of about a yard or
two high.
Battery, Sunk or Buried, batterie en terre,
is that whose platform is sunk into the ground,
so that tliere must be trenches cut in the earth,
before the muzzles of the guns, for them to fire
out at
Battery, Floati vg, a aea battery of moitais.
generally composed of old ships oonsideTed
unfit for active service, properly strengthened by
balks and other timbers. Several improvements
have been attempted on floating batteries in diis
country. Among others, a mortar battery, for
the bombardment of the enemy's ports, has been
invented by Sir W. Congreve, which is proof
both against shells and red-hot balls. It is so
contrived that the masis and sails can be secarely
diaposed of in less than a quarter of an hocr ;
so that it then presents upon the water nothing;
but a mere hull, with sloping sides, which is
rowed by forty men, under cover of the bomb-
Sroof, and may, by the peculiar construciiao of
le masts and rigging, be brought under sail
again as expeditiously as dismantled. The
rudder and moorings are wholly under wata-,
and protected by the bomb-proof. The battenr
is armed with four large mortars, for bombard-
ment, and four forty-two-pounder carrooades^ibr
self-defence; though, from being covered widi
plates and bars of iron, she can neither be set
fire to nor be carried by boarding. Pour such
vessels, though not more than 250 tons burden
each, and drawing less than twelve feet water,
would throw upwards of 500 shells into any
place in one tide, and with the greatest precision ;
Doth because from their constmctioa they have
nothing to apprehend from approaching tbe
enemy's batteries, and because from the peculiar
contrivance of the mortar-beds, the devadon of
the mortars is not afiected by the roUing or
pitching of the vessel.
BATTEURS D'Estrade, scouts, or hone-
men, sent out before, and on the wings of an
army, two or three miles, to make discoveria;
of which they are to give an acGoam to tke
general.
BATTIE (William), M. D., was bom in De
vonshire, in 1704. He received his educaooo
at Eton ; and in 1722 was sent to King's College,
Cambridge. His own indiimtion prompted him
to the law ; but his finances could not sapport
him at one of the inns of court. He therefore
turned his attention to physic, and first entered
upon the practice of it at Cambridge ; where io
1729 he gave a specimen of an edition of Iso-
crates, which in 1749 he completed in 2 vok.
8vo. He afterwards removed to London ; and
in 1738 or 1739 fulfilled by marriage a long en-
gagement to a daughter of Bamham Goode, the
under master of Eton, who is honored with a
place in the Dunciad,for leaving abased Pope, in
The Mock JEsoip. A cousin now left the doctor
£30,000. In tne dispute which the coU^ of
eysicians had with Dr. Schombeig, about 1750,
ttie took a veiv active part. In 1751 he pub-
lished De Principits Animalibus Ezercitationes,
in Coll. Reg. Medicorum, in three puts ; whi^
were followed in 1752 by a fourth. In 1757,
being physician to St. Luke's, he published A
Treatise on Madness, in <}uarto; aind in 1762
Apborismi de cognoscendis et curandis Movbis
nonnuUis, ad principia accommodati. In Feb.
1762 he was examined before a ooramittae of
the House of Comnoons, on the state of the
private mad*houses in this kingdom, and received
m their printed n^port a testimony hononble to
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BATTLE.
671
his abilitiet. In 1776 he was seized with a pa-
ralytic stroke, of which he died June 13, aged
seventy-five.
BATTIFOLIUM, or Battifollitm, a kind
of tower or defence, frequently mentioned by
Latin historians of the middle age. It seems to
have been made of wood, and erected on sudden
occasions.
^ BATTING Staff, the same with Batlet.
BATTISTA (Franco), a celebrated painter,
bom at Venice, was one of the disciples of
Michael Angelo, whose manner he followed so
closely, that, in the correctness of his -outlines,
he surpassed most of the masters of his time.
His paintings are pretty numerous, and widely
dispersed ; but his coloring being very dry, they
are not much more esteemed than the prints he
etched. He died in 1 56 1 .
BATTITURA, the scales that fly off from hot
iron, when newly taken out of the fire and beaten
on the anvil.
BATTLE, V, & n.'\ Derivation, Old Saxon,
Bat'tlement, f beatan. See Battail,
Bat^tlemented, & to fight ; ailso to prepare
Bat'tlikg. J for fight. The substan-
tive is used in various senses ; it sometimes is
applied to an encounter between opposite armies;
and to a body of forces, or division of an army ;
to the main or middle body of an army, says
Nares, between the van and rear. Crabbe traces
the verb to the Latin batuo, and to the Hebrew
4ibat, to beat, signifying a beating. The wotds
inUtle, combat, and engagement, are frequently,
but incorrectly, used as synonymes. Batties
are fought between armies only. Combats are
entered into between individuals, whether of
the brute or human ^'species. Engagements are
confined to no particular membe only to such
as are engaged.
If houses strongly bnilt.
And towers battied hie.
By force of blut be overthrown.
When Eol's impes doe file.
TurhervUie,
And he is bred out of that bloody Strain
That haunted ns in our familiar paths :
Witness our too much memorable shame.
When Cressy batteU fauUy was struck.
And all our princes captiVd by the hand
Of that black name ; Edward, black prince of Wales.
ShaUtpeare.
The English army, that divided was
Into two parts, is now coi^oined in one ;
And means to give you battU presently. Id,
The vaward, Zerbin hath in government.
The duke of Lancaster the baftett guides.
The duke of Clarence with the rereward went.
HarringUm'i Arinto,
The king divided his army into three battlet ; where-
of the vanguard only, with wings, came to fight.
Bacon,
Sidnius Dentatns fought in an' hundred battlet;
eight times in single combat he overcame, had forty
wounds before, was rewarded with 140 crowns.
Anai. MA,
He ended frowning, and his look denounced
Desperate revenge, and bwttd dangerous
To lest than gods. M^Uon,
Go Michael, of celestial annies prinoe.
And thoa in military prowess next.
Gabriel, lead forth to baUie these my eons
Invincible ; lead forth my armed sainU \
By thousands, and by millions. Id,
Just so, by our example, cattle
Learn to give one another baitU. Hudibrat,
Through this we pass
Up to the highest battlement, from whence
The Trojans threw their darts. Denkam,
Tis ours by craft and by surprise to gain :
Tis yours to meet in arms, and baUk in the plain.
Prior.
We receive accounts of ladies battUng it on both
Addinn,
Should he go farther, numbers would be wanting
To form new baitiei and support his crimes. Id.
I cannot find my hero ; he is mixed
With the heroic crowd that now pursue
The fogitives, or battie with the desperate.
Jtyron
There is given
Unto the things of earth, which time iMth bent,
A spirit's feeling, and where he hath lent
His hand, but broke his scythe, there is a power
And magic in the ruined battleuteni ;
For which the palace of the present hour
Must yield its pomp, and wait till ages are its doom
U
Wave high your torches on each crag and cliff —
Let many lights blaze on your battkmentt —
Shout to them in the pauses of the storm.
And tell them there is hope
And let our deep-toned bisll its loudest peals
Send cheerly o'er the deep
Twill be a comfort to the wretched souls
In their extremity. All things are possible ;
Fresh hope may give them strength, and strength
delivennee. Jtfolwm.
Battles, Ancient. The ancients never joined
battle without much ceremony and preparation ;
as taking auguries, offering sacrifices, haranguing
the soldiers, giving the word, or a tessera, &c.
The signals were, sounding the classicum or ge-
neral charge, and displaying a peculiar flag,
called by Plutkrch a purple robe. To which
may be added, singing poeans, raising military
shouts, and the like. A Roman legion, ranged
in order of battle, consisted of hastati, placed
in the front ; of principes, who were all old ex-
perienced soldiers, placed behind the former;
and of triarii, heavy armed with large bucklers,
behind the principes. The hastati were ranked
close : the ranks of the principes were much
opener, so that they could receive the hastati ;
and those of the triarii opener still, insomuch
that they could receive both the principes and
the hastati within them, without any disordei,
and still facing the enemy. When therefore the
hastati found themselves unable to stand the
enem/s charge, they retired gently within the
principes, where joining with them, tney renewed
the combat. If these found themselves too weak
to sustain the enemy, both retired among the
triarii, where rallying, they formed a new corps,
and charged with more vigor than ever. If these
failed, the battle was lost; the Romans had no
farther resource. The modems are unacquainted
with this method of inserting or embattling one
company into another ; without which the former
cannot be well succoured or defended, and their
places taken by others; which was a thing the
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BATTLE.
Romans practised widi great exactness. For the
velites^and in later times the archers and slingers^
were not drawn np in this regular manner, but
either disposed of before the front of the hastati
or scattered up and down upon the void spaces
of the hastati, or sometimes placed in two bodies
in the wings. These alwap began the combat,
skirmishing in flying parties with the foremost
troops of the enemy. If they were repulsed,
which was usually the case, they fell back to the
flanks of the army, or retired again in the rear.
When they retired, the hastati advanced to the
charge. As to the cavalry, it was posted at the
two comers of the army, like the wings on a
body ; and fought sometimes on foot,, sometimes
on horseback. The auxiliary forces composed
the two points of the battle, and covered the
whole body of the Romans. Other less usual
forms of battle among the Romans were the
cuneus, or wedge ; globus, or round form ; forfex,
or pair of sheers ; tarris, or an oblong square
figure ; serra, or saw. The Greeks were inferior
to the Romans in marshalling their armies, for
the battle, as they drew up their whole army in a
firont, and trusted the success of the day to a single
force. They had three forms of battle for die
horse, viz. tlie square, the wedge, and the
rhombus or diamond form. The first held best
for the defensive ; the latter for the offensive ;
the wedge being preferred as bringing most hands
to fight %
The Romans had their particular days, called
praeclares dies^ wherein alone it was lawfiil to
join battle ; and others wherein it wis unlawful,
called dies atri. The Athenians, by the ancient
laws of their country, were not to draw out their
forces for battle till after the seventh day of the
month. Lucian relates of the LAcedemonians,
that, by the laws of Lycurgus, they were not to
fight before full moon. Among the Germans it
was reputed an impiety to fight in the wane of
the moon; and Ciesar tells us that Ariovistus
was beaten by him, because, contrary to the laws
of his country, he had fought when the moon
was in her wane. The German soldiers were
intimidated with the apprehension, and afforded
Caesar an easy victory; acie commissa, impeditos
religione hostes vicit. Jerusalem was taken by
Pompey in an attack on the sabbath day, when,
by the superstitious notions of the Jews, they
were not allowed even to defend themselves.
The Romans did not carry their superstition so
for ; their atri dies were only observed in respect
of attacking ; no day was. too holy for them to
defend themselves in. Among the ancients, we
find frequent instances of battles in the night ;
it was by moon-light that Pompey beat Mithii-
dates, and Soipio, Asdrubal and Syphax.
The Greeks notified the places of^ their battles
and victories by adding the word K1K9 ; whence
Nicomedia, Nicopolis, Thessalonica, &c. The
ancient Britons did the like, by adding the word
Mais; whence Maisseveth, Malmaisbury, &c.
The English by the word field.
Battle, or Battel, a market town in the
hundred of Battle, Hastihgs rape, Sussex, twenty-
six miles south-east from Tunbridge, and fifty-six
south from London ; containing 2852 inhabitants.
The ancient name was Epiton, but the famous
l)a<'^eof Hastings gave it its presant.vame, ia
lOGO ; the conqueror first lanaed near Peven-
sey, a few n^iles distant In memory of tkis
important day, William founded a celebrated
abbey, at Heathfield, or Ueadfield plain,
called Battle-Abbey; one of those religioQs
houses which had, formerly, the privilege of
sanctuary. From its remains it appears to have
been very magnificent, they being nesiiiy a mile
in circumference: its abbot was mitred. The
gate-house is entire, and is converted into a
sessions' house. On one part of the site of the
abbey stands the fiunily mansion of the Websten.
The incumbent of the church is called the dean
of Battle. Here is a charity school for forty boys.
At no great distance is Beacon-hill, formeriy
called Standard-hill ; where the standard of the
conqueror was first planted. The town has
long been &mous for making the best gunpowder
in Europe. The market is on Tbunday, till
1600 it w%is held on Sunday : it has also a veiy
large market on the second Tuesday in every
month.
Battle-Axes weVe a principal part of die
offensive armour of the Celtas. At the siege of
the Roman Capitol by the Gauls, under Brennns,
we find one ot the most distinguished of their
warriors armed with a battle-axe. And Am-
mianus Marcellinus, many centuries aftenraids,
describing a body of Gauls, fumisbes them
all with battle-axes and swords. Some of
the weapons have been found in the sepulchres
of the Britons, on the dovrns of Wiltshire, and
in the north of Scotland. Within these four or
five centuries the Irish went constantly armed
with an axe. At the battle of Bannockbun,
king Robert Bruce clave an English diampion
down to the chine at one blow with a battle-axe.
The axe of Lochaber remained a formidable im-
{)lement of destruction in the hands of the Higb-
anders, nearly to the present period ; and it is
still used by the city-guard of Edii^nugb, in
quelling mobs, &c.
Battle Dykes, a place in the parish of
Oathlaw, in Angusshire, where there are the re-
mains of a Roman camp, and a via miiitans
connecting it with another in the parish of In-
verariw. They are supposed to have been
erected by Agricola.
Battle-Fauld, a place in Aberdeenshire, io
the parish of Longside, where there are a great
number of tumuli and other evidences, as well
as the name, confirming the tradition of its
having been the scene of a foreign invasion.
BATTLEFIELD, a small place in Shrop-
shire, about five miles east of Shrewsboiy, dis-
tinguished as the scene of the memorable battle
in which Henry IV. overthrew Hotspur's rebel-
lion, in 1402, in memory whereof he founded a
collegiate church, part of which is still used. A
mound adjoining the church-yard, marks the
burial place of the slain ; and a plot of ground
called King's Croft distixiguishes the j^toe in
which the royal tent was pitched.
BATrOLX)GIZE,^ Fr. hattologit; from
Battol'ogist, Sthe Greek PamiKojtm,
Battol'ogt. 3 which means to do as
Battus did> and whidi is described by Suidas
in these words /3arroXoyia 9 noXvX9yia, hmttolj-
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673
BAV
gy, n (he multiplying of words, &c. Heiychius
explains it ^ empty, idle, unseasonable dis-
course;' and the translation of oar Bible well
expi'eises it by ' vain repetitions/
After the eaitem mode, they wagged their bodies,
boving their heeds, and battologiMing the name Al-
loQgh Whoddaw and Mabnmet very often.
akr 7. Herbtrt't Tnwsb.p. 191.
BATTON, in merdiandise, a name gi^en to
certain pieces of wood or deal for flooring or
other purposes.
BOTTOM, Baitune, or Bas-
TON, Fr. Mton, in heraldry, a
staff truncheon, used as an abate-
ment in coats of arms to denote
illegitimacy, thus :
BATTOR Y, a name given b^ the Ilans Towns
to their magazines or fectones abroad. The
chief of these battories are those of Archangel,
Novogorody Bermen, Lisbon, Venice, and Ant-
werp.
BATRACHUS, in ichthyology, a species of
silurus, found in Asia and Africa. Toe dorsal
fin is single, and contains sixty rays*, beards of
the mouth eight Lin. Mus. Fr.— The tail is
entire.^
BATTUS, a general of the Celti, who, ac-
cording to Camden and Boetius, gave the first
check to the Roman conquests, under Augustus;
but, being routed in the reign of Tiberius, part
of them settled at the mouth of the Rhine, whera
Irom him the country was named Batavia.
Battus, an order of ci-devaot penitents at
Avignon, and in Provence, whose piety carried
them to exercise severe discipline upon them-
selves both in public and private.
Battus, in the heathen mythology, a herds-
men, whom Mercury turned into a touch-stone,
for discovering, for a bribe, what he had pro-
mised to conceal.
BATTUTA, in the Italian music, the motion
of the hand or foot in keeping or beating tinfe.
Among Italian musicians, a battuta imports, in
measure, or beating each time equally. This
usually occurs after what they call recitativo,
^vhich is rather declaiming than singing, and
in which little or no measure is observM.
BATUA, BuTUA, BuTHOE, or Buthoece, in
ancient geography, a town of Dalmatia situated
on the Adriatic ; now called Budoa ; which see.
BATUALIA, from batuere, Lat. to fence, the
exercise of those who learned to fence.
BATUATORES, ifi antiqui^, fencers.
BATUDA, a method of fishing mentioned m
some middle age writers, wherein the fish are
driven by beating the water with poles, till
flocking into one place, they are the sooner
caught.
BATTUECAS, Las, a territory of Spain, in
tHe province of Leon, almost insulated amid the
higr^ mountains of the bishopric of Coria, fifty
mites distant from Salamanca. It forms .a sort
of valley, a league in length, the inhabitants of
-vrhich are supposed by some writers to have re-
r*iained for ages unknown to the rest of Spain.
BATURIN, n town of European Russia, in
Vol. 111.
the Ukraine, on the river Sem, now in the go«
vemment of Czemigov. The castle was formerly
the residence of tlie hetman, or commandeNin-
chief of the Cossacks. On the desertion of the
hetman Mazeppa to Charles XII. of Sweden,
in 1708, the town was. taken by the Russians,
sacked and burned, and all iu inhabitants put
to the sword. The empress Elizabeth made
a perpetual grant of it, with part of the sur-
rounding country, to die hetman Rasumoski,
under whom the houses were rebuilt. It is
eighty miles £. S. £. of Ciemigov, the capital
of the province. ,
BATURIUS. See Bacubixjs.
BATUS, ns, Ileb. an Hebrew liquid measure,
containing seventy-three sextaries.
BATTU (PuLO Batu).— An island off the
western coast of Sumatra, situated immediately
to the southward of the equinoctial line. In
length forty miles, by ten the average width.
Their esports are coooa-nuts, oil, and sivallo or
sea slug. It is largely wooded, and the inha-
bitants are subject to the Rajah of Buluam.
BATTY or Bhatti, the country of the Batties,
or Bhatties, bounded on^ the north by the Pun-
jab and the river Sutuleje, east by the district
of Hurrianah, west by the desert, and south
by Bicanere. From north to south it extends
about 150 miles, and from east to west about 100,
comprehending part of the provinces of Lahore,
Delhi, and Ajmeer.
The productive part of the country is along the
banks of the river Cuggur, from the town of Futte-
habadto Batneer. The land within the influenoeof
the inundations of this river produces wheat, rice,
and barley, but the remamder of the Bhatty
country, owing to a scarcity of moisture, is ste-
rile and unproductive. The Cuggur is after-
wards lost in the sands to the west of Batneer,
though it is said formeriy to have joined the Su-
tuleje in the vicinity of Ferozepoor.
The capital is Batneer ; the other towns of note
are Arroah, Futtehabad, Sirsah, and Ranyah.
There is but little commerce carried on in this
country, the inhabitants being more addicted to
thieving than industrious pursuits. With the
exception of the sale of meir surplus grain,
ghee, and catde, the Batties have little inter-
course with the neighbouring states. Their im-
ports are coarse white cloth, sugar, and salt, but
the trade is inconsiderable. The Bhatties are
properly shepherds. Their morals are very in-
different, their neighbours describing them as
cruel, savage, and ferocious thieves from their
birth. The females are allowed to appear in
public unveiled, and without any of that con-
cealment so common over Uindostan.
BATZ, Batzen, Bat, or Bate, in commerce,
a small copper coin, mixed with a slight portion
of silver, current in parts of Germany, and in
Switzerland, and vaiying in value according to
its alloy.
BAVAR, or Bauer, or Bouwer (John Wil-
liam), was bom at Strasburgh in 1610, and be-
came a disciple of Frederick Brentel. He had
great genius, but the liveliness oC bis imagina-
tion hindered him from studying nature, or
the antique, in such a manner as to divest
himself of his German taste, though he went to
3 X
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BAVARIA.
Rome to improve himself. In Itt^iy he applied
liimaelf entirely to architecture, as far as it might
contribute to the enrichment of his landscfipes,
vthkh. were his favorite subjects; and for bis
scenes and situations, he studied the rich pros-
pects about Frescati and^TivoU. lie ^tm fond
of introducing battles, marchings of armies, skir-
mishes, and processions ; but never arrived at a
grandeur of design ; nor couVI he ever express
the naked figure. Liis pencil however was light,
bis composition good, and his general expression
beautiful. He painted in water-colors on vellum ;
his coloring is glowing, but his drawing is in-
correct, lie etdied from his own ideas nume-
rous designs from Ovid*8 Metamorphoees, very
much in the style and spirit of Callot, and died
at Vienna in 1640.
BAVARIA, now one of the principal secon-
dary states of Germany, was derived from a ciccle
of the same name, bounded by Fianconia and
Bohemia on the north, Austria on theeas^ Tyrol
on the soutli, and Suabia on the west . The ori-
ginal circle included a territory of 16,500 square
miles, covered with a population of 1,300,000
inhabitants, and before tne dismemberment of the
German empire, in 1806, formed one of its great
divisions. The numerous states which comprised
it were formed into two divisions, governed by
the ecclesiastical and secular benches, the former
including the archbishop of Saltzburg, the
bishops of Ratisbon, Passau, and Freysingen, the
princely provostship of Berchtolsgaden, with the
abbeys of St. Emerau, Niederand Ober Munster,
in the city of Ratisbon. The latter consisted of
the elector of Bavaria, the dukes of Neuburg and
Saltzburg, the Landgrave of Leuchtenberg, the
prince of Steinstein, the counts of Haag and Oiv
tenburgh, with the lords of Ehienfels, Salaburg,
Pyrbaum, Hohen-Waldeok and Breiteneck, to-
gedier with a representative from the imperial
town of Ratisbon.
The greater part of tliis circle belonged to the
elector, who was at that time one of the most
(>owerAil princes of Germanv ; and before the
French revolution wielded the imperial autho-
rity, not only over the countries of the secular
bench, already mentioned, but over the lordships
of VViesenstein, Meindilheim, and Schwabach, m
Suabia; most of the country of Erbach, in Fran-
conia ; the palatinate of the Lower Rhine, in the
circle of that name ; the principalities of Simmern,
Lautem and Veldenz ; two-thirds of the country
of »S{^nheim ; half the bfuUiage of Ilombuig in the
circle of the Upper Rhine, together with the
duchies of Juliers and Berg, in the circle of
\Vestphalia.
The ancient duchy of Bavaria formed a great
part of the circle, bordering on Austria, Passau,
and Saluburg on the east, Tyrol on the south,
Suabia on the west, Neuburg and the Upper Pa-
latinate on the north. It was formed of Upper
and Lower Bavaria, including, in round numr
bers, h territory of 13,000 square miles, and a
population of 900,000 inhabitants.
Bavaria originally made a part of the Rhetia,
Vindelicia, and Noricum, of the ancients ; and
received its Latin name Boiaria, or Boioaria,
from the Boii, a people of Celtic Gaul, who co-
lonised it at an early period. These peoph: were
governed by native priooes, tiU Oioiteasignelodk
possession of the country, and cottmntted fte
government to some of his oonnts, aad, on Ae
partition of his imperial dominions, amongst his
grandsons, Bavaria was assigned to Louis the
German. It bore the title of margrav^ue till the
year 920, when Arnold, Uie reigning prince, was
raised to the quality of duke. In 1623 Maxi-
milian I., having assisted Ferdinand 11. against
his Bohemian insurgents, vras elevated to Ae
electoral dignity, after which few events of im-
portance occurred till the year 1777, 'wlien the
disputed succession, incident on the extinction of
the reigning branch, prodnced a dispositkm in
Austria to seize the whole electorate, and annex
it to her dominions ; a measure which was happily
prevented by the prompt and energetic conduct
of Frederic II. After tne adjustment of the Aus-
trian pretensions, the electorate enjoyed the
blessings of peace till the French terolntioD,
which involved all Germany in the flames of dvA
discord. The elector remameion tbs aide of ^
imperialists till 1796, when the French maidied
a powerful army into his dominions, and con-
cluded a treaty for the cesation of hottilitics.
The year following was signed the treaty of Cam-
po-Formio, and in 1801 that of LipieviMe; by
which all the German dominions left of the BluDe,
were annexed to France, and the elector loeft Ae
palatinate qf the Bhine^ ike dnchies of Julisrs
and Deux Fonts, vrith all his poasessioos in the
Netherlands and AlsaoCy'receiving as indemnities
tlie bishoprics of Freysingen, Bambers, Augs-
burg, and Kempten, with ten abbeys, fiSeea im-
perial towns, and two imperial villages, besides
the western part of. the bishopric and town of
Passau. In the conflicts between France and the
continental powers, Bavaria remained neuter till
1805, when the elector entered into an alliance
with Napoleon, and was shortly afterwrards raised
to the dignity of king, and had his dominions
enlarged by the annexation of several impoitasit
provinces.
Shortly after the campaign of 1806, when Aos-
tri&, to purchase peace, sacrificed part of her
possessions, the kmgdom of Bavaria leoeived
still a further enlargement, by the addition of
Tyrol, Eichstadt, the eastern part of Passao,
and other territories, n^en-she began to assume
a more important station amongst the surround-
ing states. Another alteration occurred at the
dissolution of the Germanic constitution, and the
formation of the Rhenish confederation, when the
duchy of Berg was resigned- br the maigiaviate
of Anspach, together with the imperial towns and
territories of Augsburg and Nurembnrg. In
1809, Bavaria took part with France against
Austria, and again shared the spoils of conflict ;
bnt subsequently ceded some of her territories to
Wirtemburg and Wurtzburg ; and by another
alteration, which shortly followed, exchanged a
great part of TVrol for the acquirement of Bay-
reuth and Ratisoon.
Before the political proceedings of October
1809 the extent of Bavaria was calculated a
36,770 English square miles, and the population
at 3,231 ,570 ; and it furnished in time of war a
contingent of 30,000 troops. But by the treaty
concluded at that time, she acquired an additioDal
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676
tenitofy of 5&50 cquara nilts, and a popuiation
of 1,498,000, which augmeziCed the Bttfarian
territories to 49»390 aquateinfles^ and tiie pop«-
latioD to 4,723^70.
When the love of military conqueBt, and the
intoxication of unparalleled success, induced
Napoleon to niarch the French aimies to Mo8>-
cowy the Bararian troops were aaaongst those
which were destined nerer to return. The king
of Bavaria now began to apprehend the conse-
quences of this expedition upon the future sue-
cesiof the French emperor, axid just at the period
of that eventful crisis entered into a treaty with
the emperor of Austria, and joined the aHies in
breaking that thraldom under which a great part
of Europe labored. These important services
were not forgotten, and in the subsequent nego-
ciati<ms, at the congress of Vienna, the title of
king was confirmed, part of die contribution
money paid by France was assigned him, and the
support of a body of Bavarian troops at the ex-
pense of France was agreed to. Widi respect to
territory, the remaining part of Tyrol was ceded
to Austria. The grand aucHy of Wurtzburg, the
principality of Ascbafienburgh, and' the greater
part or the d^vant French department of Mont
Tonnere, were acquired; amounting to about'
4000 square miles, and more than half a million
of inhabitants.
In 1810 Bavaria was divided into the follow-
ing circles : "
CirclM.
The Main
The Rezat
The Upper Danube
The Lower Danube
The Regen .
The lUer
The Iser .
Chief towns.
Bamberg.
. Anspach.
. Eichstadt.
. Passau.
. Ratisbon.
. Kempten.
Munich.
The names of these circles are derived from
the principal rivers of the several districts, and
a slight , alteration in some of them has since
occurred. The subsequent acquisitiooa are as
follows :
Tl«prindpdityofA«*affen-j A^hag^u,.
The grand duchy of Wurtzburg . Wurtxburg.
The chrcle of the Rhine, (late ) t j
Mont Tonnere) ... J i-andan.
The population of Bavaria is by no means
equally distributed over its surface. The sides of
tlie Danube, the lower districts of the grand
duchy of \\ urtzburg some districts of the margi«-
viate of Anspach, with the recent acquisitions on
the le^ bank of the Rhine, are much more thickly
inhabited than the other parts. Indeed, much
of the southern portion consists of rugged moun-
tains and other tracts, which are scarcely fit for
habiUtion, except in the valleys formed by the
several divisions of the Alps.
Surrounded as it is by other countries, from
-which it is separated by mere arbitrary divisions,
the outlines ofBarariapresentnothing remarkable.
The surface isgreatly diversified, and the southern
regions are mountainous and woody. The ground
near the Alps lies higher than the genenl area,
fbrming an as<ienty in which numerous lakes an
embosomed, togother with vmstes and manhcs,
which lave not yet been brought to any conside-
rable pitch of cultivation. Much of the ancient
palatinate swells into mountains, which are dark-
ened with forests. The margiavtate of Anspach
is in part mountainous and sandy. But the ex-
tensive and fertile plains that stretch along the
northern and central regions, and the wide valleys
which lie to the north and north-east of Munich,
and are watered by the rivers Inn and Iser, serve to
vary the general surface, and relieve the natuml
features of the landscape.
Mountains and hills are numerous in Bavaria,
especially in Anspach, and the neighbouring dis-
tricts, together with the territories on the left
hajik of the Rhine. The Alps, branching <^ in
a lofty chain, strike out the Ime of division be*
tween this kingdom and Tyrol ; while the broken
surfoce of- Bohemia is bounded by an elevated
ranoe, the lateral branches of which diversify the
surtaoe pf the adjacent regions.
Bavaiia, from the position of its included area,
is intersected by numerous riven, which, for the
most part, became tributary to the Danube: The
Inn descends from the lofty regions of eastern
Switzerland. Like its sister streams, it soon be-
comes a rapid river; and, having collected a
great body of water, rolls north-east through the
kingdom of Bavaria, and having formed the line
of boundary between that state and Austria, foils
into the Danube. The Iser and the Lech origi-
nate in the mountains and cascades of Tyrol,
and flow through the southern regions of Bavaria.
The former passes Munich, Mosburg, and Lands-
hut, aiUr which it falls mto the Danube, oppo-
site to Deokendorf ; and the latter proceeds
ahnost due north to the same receptacle. The
Uler flows nearly parallel to the Lech, and joins
the same parent river near the city of Ulm.
The ^ab rises in the range lying between Bohe-
mia and Bavaria, and the AHmuhl in the higher
parts of the margraviate of Anspach : the former
joins the Danube, west of Ratisbon; and the
latter a few miles higher up the stream. The
Danube is the grand rjver ot Bavaria, and inter-
sects the whole kingdom, east and west, though
not without a considerable sweep towards the
north.
These nvers greatly refresh the herbage and
torranean productions of the kingdom generally,
besides answering, to a considerable extent, the
important purposes of an inland navigation.
The largest lake is that of Ammer, lying at the
foot of the Alps. Other lakes are found in dif-
ferent parts of the kingdom, but in general are
not of sufficient importance to require distinct
enumeration.
The climate and temperature of Bavaria are
various, owing to its relative situation, and the
different degrees of elevation observable upon
its surfiM^e, by which it is rendered capable of
producing all the necessaries of lifo, together
with many of its luxuries. While the vine flou-
rishes in one part, the fir attains maturity in
another ;> but the native indolence of the inhabi-
tants prevents their reaping all the advantages of
their climate ; and thousands of acres of good land
lie completely unoccupied. The valleys are gene-
rally well wa^mdy and possess a rich soU, while
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BAVARIA
the upland territories are overspread with rocks
and n>fests. The plains produce grain, fruit,
wine, hops, &c. Flax is cultivated in the dis-
trict of the Bavarian desert. Vines flourish on
the banks of the rivers Danube and Iser ; and
much excellent fruit is ^wn in the vicinity of
J^^andshut, although the most fertile parts are
frequently spotted with oases and islands of
sand, which seem at present to be incorrigible.
The mineral productions of Bavaria, comprise
copper, iron, marble, coal, gypsum, vitriol, and
several kinds of argillaceous earth, the most
noted of which is the species of clay of which
the Passau crucibles are made. Iron and copper
are the most important, and of the latter 3000
quintals are obtained annually. At Traunsteip,
near the confines of Saltzburg, are numerous rich
salt-springs, which furnish employment to a great
number of the inhabitants. Mineral waters are
also common in Bavaria, but are generally con-
sidered inferior to those found in many other
parts of Germany.
The margraviate of Anspach is noted for its
superior breed of horses, wnich have been of late
much improved by an intermixture with those of
England. The same degree of attention has
been bestowed upon their cattle, by an intermix-
ture with the Swiss breed. The coarse wool of
their native flocks has also been much improved,
by the introduction of Marines amongst the sheep,
especially in Bavaria Proper. The wild animals
of Bavaria are bears, wolves, lynxes, foxes, wild
boars, &c. The rivers are well stocked with fish,
and in some of them beavers are common.
The principal towns are Munich, Augsburg,
Bamberg, Anspach, Bayreuth, Ambers, Wurtz-
burg, Eichstadt, Passau, Ingolstadt, and Nurem-
burg, together with some others of less note : as,
Kempten, Freyshigen, Landshut, Mosburg,
Newburg, Nordhngen, Memmingen, Schweinfurt,
Straubing, and others.
Munich, the capital, is seated on the river Iser,
and in the year 1814, contained as many as
60,000 inhabitants, besides 18,659, who inhabited
the suburbs, and 26,000 strangers, who were
supposed to visit it annually. It is the centre of
the most valuable national manufactures, and
was rendered, by the concordat of 1817, the seat
of an archbishop.
The general manufactures and commerce of
Bavaria, are under a restrictive influence, from
the native indolence of the inhabitants, together
with the numerous fasts and saints' days of the
Roman church. Their manufactures, which in-
clude linen, woollen, and cotton cloths, iron, fire-
arms, earthenwares, 8tc., are chiefly directed to
the supply of their domestic wants. Augsburg
has manufactures of paper, gold, silver, jewelry,
and cotton. It is engaged in the transfer of
goods between Germany and Italy, and is the
general focus of exchange for the southern coun-
tries of Germany. Friedburg is noted for its
clocks and watches. Philosophical instruments
are made at Munich ; and it was here that the
art of lithography was discovered. Near Hohen
Aschau is an iron mine, the largest in the king-
dom, together with foundries and forges, the pro-
duce of which, with their grain, wood; wine^ salt^
and vitriol, form the chief exports.
The govemmeot of Bavaria approaches to aa
unlimited monarchy, though not without some-
thing of the representative for.«t. » The senate
meet at Munich, but seldom exercise the fonc-
tiotis of the prerogative. The crown is hereditary
in the male line; but in case of total &ilure of
the male descent, females may be invested with
the supreme power. The minority of the king
terminates with his eighteenth year, and his coun-
cil includes all the members of the royal hmilj
above a certain age, the ministers of state, and the
great ofiicers of the household. A royal com-
missioner presides over each of the circles into
which the nation is divided ; and commissaries
of police are distributed in all the pnncipal towns.
A court of appeal also, is established in each cir-
cle, to whicli causes may be removed; and there
is a supreme court at Munich, whose sentence is
final. By the new constitution of Germany, ac-
cording to the decisions of the late congr^s,
Bavaria is made the first of its secondaiy king-
doms, possesses one vote in the federative diet and
four in the general assembly.
The Bavarian army, during the late war,
amounted to 60,000 men ; but after the peace it
was reduced to 40,000. The annual revenue is
estimated at two millions ; burdened, however,
with a considerable debt.
The inferior kingdoms of Germany are of too
little importance to become principals in any
European war, but they are frequently found veiy
efiective allies. For instance, in case of war be-
tween France and Austria, the alliance of Bavaria
with the former, would bring the French troops into
the very heart of Germany ; and with the latter,
would conduct the Austrian troops to the very
borders of France. It is in this light only that
the political importance of this kingdom can be
duly estimated : a practical illustration of which
took place in 1813, when, during the crisis in
which Napoleon was endeavouring to establish
himself at Dresden, Bavaria declared in &vor of
the allies.
The prevailing religion of Bavaria is ihe Ro-
man Catholic. The inhabitants were Ibrmeily
considered some of the most intolerant in Europe,
and the Bavarian bishops being independent
princes, the power of the church knew no control ;
but by the diffusion of superior light, liberal sen-
timents began to prevail, tne temporal authori^* of
the ecclesiastics was abolishedin 1 802, as were also
many of the monastic institutions, and toleration
was regarded as a civil right There are now
two archbishops, and four bishops ; the former,
according to a concordat agreed to by the Pope
in 1817, are those of Munich and Bamberg and
the latter those of Augsburg, Wurtzbuig, Ratis-
bon, and Eichstadt. iSe influence of the chnrch
is still greater in Bavaria than in any other part
of Germany.
Bavaria has Qever risen to any remarkable
distinction. Indeed the bigotry, ignorance, and
intolerance, which formed the national cbancter
of the people, presented almost insurmountable
obstacles to all liberal and enterprising views vrith
respect to education, agriculture, and commeiee.
The almost ceaseless train of saints* days, and
holv days, seemed to breed nofliing but indolence
ana superstition. Bavaria now b^ns to emei^ge
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from her long-^^erished barbarism. Education
is attended to ; academies, lyceums, and univer-
sitieSybave been multiplied ; productions of foreign
literature have been imported, to excite the emu-
lation of native genius, and the effects of these
penerous efforts have already shone forth, in the
improved condition of society, and the gradual
advance of moral and pnysical renovation.
first is about twenty-five feet long and wide, and
varies in height from nine to eighteen feet ; the
roof being formed into irregular arches. Beyond
this is the second cave, about twenty-eight feet
long, and of nearly the same width and height
with the former. In this cave the stalactitic
crust begins to appear, and in considerable
quantity; but not m such quantity as in the
Much, however, yet remains to be done, especially tliird cave, which is beautifully hung, as it were,
in those regions which were most darkened by with this sparry tapestry. The roof now begins
religious superstition. But, calculating upon the to slope downwards, so that in the next, the last
measures ot the present government, the eye of of these caves, it is not above four or five feet in
anticipation looks through a train of consequences height. In the caves forming this first grotto
fragments of bones are found, and it is said that
they were as plentiful here as they now are in the
interior grottoes.
* The passage into the second grotto is about
to the^ distant period when the mists shall disperse,
the clouds clear up, and Bavaria aspire to an
equality with the other kingdoms of Europe.
The language of the Bavarians is a dialect of ^
the German, which, however, they have neglected six feet high, and fourteen feet wide. This
to cultivate; travellers agree in describing them grotto, which extends straight fbrward sixty feet
as the most sensual and phlegmatic of the German from the opening, and is about forty feet wide,
natioa^i. and at its commencement about eighteen feet
The Bavarians are in appearance a stout and high, would commodiously hold 200 men. Its
vigorous race of men, well adapted to bear the appearance is rendered remarkably interesting,
fatigues of war. They resemble the Irish pea- from the darkness of its recesses, and from the
santry in their propensity to drink and quarrel; various brilliant reflections of the light from the
and weir manner^ at the close of the last century stalactites with which its roofs and sides are
were coarse in the extreme. Amidst all the dirt, covered. The constant drip of water from the
indolence, and laxity of morals, which are here roof, and the stalagmatic pillars on the floor, as-
carried to excess, the Bavarian is, in general, sist in perfecting the wonders of the scene. In
feithfiil to his word; which is almost the only this grotto no search was made for bones, on ac-
good feature that is at all prominent. Many of count of the thickness of the sparry crust,
the females are lively, handsome, and graceful ; * A low and very rugged passage, the roof of
but their charms are altogether personal, since which is formed of projecting pieces of rock,
intellectual cultivation is scarcely a subject of leads to the third grotto; the opening to which is
attention. a hole, three feet high, and four feet wide. This
The antiquities and curiosities are few in num- grotto is more regular in its form, and is about
ber, but are calculated to awaken no ordinary thirty feet in diameter, and nearly round. Its
feefings of interest and astonishment. In the height is from five to six feet. This grotto is
capitad, Munich, the objects most worthy of at- very richly and fantastically adorned by the
tentton are the Cabinet of Natural Curiosities, varying forms of its stalactitic hangings. The
the Library, the Arsenal, and the Ducal Gardens, floor is also covered with a wei and slippery
The Museum contains a complete series of glazing, in which several teeth and jaws appear
busts of the Roman emperors, together with to have been fixed.
many other remarkable antiquities. Roman * From this gTX)tto commences tlie descent to
stations, roads, and coins, are frequent, and form, the interior caverns ; within only about five or six
with the churches and castles, a charming colli- feet an opening in the floor is seen, which is partly
sion of objects, highly interesting to the architect, vaulted over by a projecting piece of rock. The
the statuaxy, and the antiquarian. But all the descent is about twenty feet, and occasioned to
works of art are more than eclipsed by the more M. Esper and his companions some little fear^
magnificent wonders of nature. The scenes in lest they should never return, but remain to aug-
the interior of the mountains have oflen awakened ment the zoolithes contained in these terrific
theastonishmentofthetraveller,and left him over- mansions. This cavern was found to be about
whelmed by thcterrorofthe sublime; and no doubt thirty feet in height, about fifteen in width, and
many unexplored caverns yet remain which no nearly circular; the sides, roof, and floor, dis-
human foot has ever trod. We shall select the playing the remwns of animals. The rock itself
following instance of these amazing recesses, as is thickly beset with teeth and bones ; and tlie
described by Mr. Parkinson, for the entertain- floor is covered wiA a loose earth, formed by
ment of the reader. It is to be found in his animal decomposition, and in which numerous
curious and valuable work Tlie Organic Remains bones are imbedded.
of a former World. *A gradual descent leads to atiolher . grotto,
* Among the most remarkable of these caverns which, with its passage, is forty feet in length,
are those of Qaylenreuth, on the confines of and twenty feet in height Its sides and top are
Bayreuih. The opening to these, which is about beautifully adorned with stalactites. Nearly
seven feet and a half high, is at the foot of a rock twenty feet further is a frightful gulph, the open-
of lime-stone, of considierable magnitude, and in ing of which is abput fifteen feet in diameter; and,
its eastern side. Immediately beyond the open- upon descending about twenty feet, another
ing is a magnificent grotto, of about 300 feet in grotto, about the same diameter with the former,
circumference, which has been naturally divided but forty feet in heiglit, is seen. Here the bones
by the fonii of the roof into four caves. Tlie are dispersed about, and the floor, which is
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678
BAU
formed of animal aaxtb, has great numl^eTS of
lliera imbedded in it. The bones which are here
found seem to be of different animals ; but in
this, as well as in the former caverns, perfect and
unbroken bones are very seldom found. Some-
times a tootli is seen projecting from the solid
rock, through the stalactitic covering; showing
tliat many of these wonderful remains may here .
be concealed. A specimen of this kind, which
I possess, from Gaylenreuth, is rendered par-
ticularly interestii^ by the first molar tootn of
the lower jaw, with its enamel quite perfect,
rising through the stalactitic mass which invests
the lx)ne. hi this cavern the stalactites begin to
be of a larger size, and of a more columnar form.
*' Passing on through a narrow opening in the
rock, a small cave, seven feet long and nve feet
high, is discovered. Another small opening out
of this leads to another small eave, from which
a sloping descent leads to a cave twenty-five feet
in height, and about half as much in its diameter,
in which is a truncated columnar stalactite, eight
feet in circumference.
' A narrow and difficult passage, twenW feet
in length, leads from this cavern to another of
twenty-five feet, which is everywhere beset with
teeth, bones, and stalactitic projections. This
cavern is suddenly contracted so as to form a
vestibule of six feet wide, ten long, and nine
high, terminating in an opening close to the
floor, only three feet wide, and two high; through
which it is necessary to writhe with 3ie body on
the ground. This leads into a small cave, eight
feet high and wide, which is the passage into a
grotto twenty-eight feet high, and about forty-
three feet long and wide. Here the pxodigious
quantity of animal earth, the vast number of
teeth, jaws, and other bones, and the heavy
grouping of the stalactites, produced so dismal
an appearance as to lead M. £sper to sneak of
it as a perfect model for a temple tor a cod of the
dead. Here hundreds of cartrloads of bony re-
mains might be removed, pockets might be filled
with fossil teeth, and animal ear.th was found to
reach to the utmost depth to which they dug.
A piece of stalactite bemg here broken down,
was found to contain pieces of bones within it,
the remnants of which were lefl imbedded in the
rock.
*' From this principal cave is a very narrow
passage, terminating in the last cave, which is
almost six feet in width, fifteen in height, and the
same in length. In this cave were no animal w-
mains, and the floor was the naked rock.
' Thus far only could these natural sepulchres
be traced ; but there is reason to suppose that
these remains were disposed through a greater
part of this rock/ By what means such im-
mense quantities of animal materials were accu-
mulated in these subterraneous abodes remains
totally inexplicable, and no reasonable conjectures
have yet been offered on the subject.
BAV^ATA Terrje, i. e. a bavoch of land, an
ancient division of land, in tlie highlands of
Scotland, mentioned by the Reg^am Majestatem,
as contiiining thirteen acres, and distinguished
from a smaller portion called davata terns, a
davoch oi land, which contained only four
arali'a, or the eighth part of a ba^-ata i. e. 1 j
acres.
BAVAY, a small town of Fiance, hi the de-
partment of the north (late province of Haimndt),
to which the* French retired after Hie Inttle oF
Malplaquct, in 1709. It was taken by the
Austrians in 1793, but recovered the same year.
This was anciently the capital of the Nervii ; and
a variety of Roman medals have been found in
the neighbourhood. It has roanu&ctoties of
woollen stuffs, stockings, and iron plate ; and
was ceded to France by the peace of Kimegaen,
in 1678. It stands on the road from Maaben^ to
Valenciennes, about eight miles north-east of
Quesnoy, and nearly thirty east of Dooty.
6AUfi££'. A Scottish woid fbrahalfpemiT.
This coin, bearing the head of James the Vlili
king of Scotland, when young, has been supposed
by some to have been therefore called haathee, as
exhibiting the figure of a baby. But Dr. Jamie-
son says this is a great mistake ; the' name, as
well as the coin, being known before that prince's
reigB. Mr. Pinkerton derives it from the Frendi
boM-biUcn, or the worst kind of billon.
Tkovgli in th« drawen of my Japan bureat,
To Lady Gripeall I the Ccsan show,
Tis equal to her Ijadyahlp or me
A copper Otko, or a Scoteh hmtbee.
Bnmabm'B Mim «/ Tate.
And as to her fake aecosation of ipoil. ve did
remit us to the conscience of Mr. Rol»eit Rkbe-
son, master of the coiaing^hovse^ who from oar
hands received silver, (old, and metal, as veil
coined as uncoined, so that with oa there did sot le-
main the value of a baubee, or farthing.
Knox, HistoryofUu ReformatitmofScaila^.
BAUCHERVILLE, a port in lowerCanada,
on the south bank of the St. Lawfence, opposite
Montreal . It is beautifiilly situated, and remark-
able as the retreat of several of the okl Frendi
nobles, who spend their small incomes in a little
society of their own.
BAUCIS, in fiibulous history, a woman wlio
lived with Philemon her husband, inacott^in
Phrygia. Jupiter and Mercury, travelling in die
country, were well received by them, after baTioc
been refused entertainment by every-body ebe.
To punish the people for their inhumanity, diese
gods laid the country waste with water; buttock
Baucis and Philemon with them to the top of a
mountain, where they saw the deluge, and their
own little hut above the waters, turned into a
temple. They desired to ofiiciate in this temple
as priest and^estess, and that they might die
bom together, i»hich were granted them.
BAUCONICA, in ancient geography, a town
of the Vangiones in Gallia Belgica, supposed to
be the present Oppemheim, which see.
BAUD, a town of France in Brittany, the
head of a canton in the department of Mortulian,
arrondissement o^ Pontivy. Popuktioa 6300.
18 miles north-west of Vannea*
BAUDEKIN, BALDfCDM,and BALDAKrxrM,
in our old writers, a cloth of gold, or tiswr^ vp<*
which figures in silk, &c. were cmbroidefBd-
Some writers regard it as only a cloth of sUk.
BAUDELOT (Charies Cttsar), a learned adw-
cate of Paris,was d istinguished by his skill inancient
monuments ; he was received into the Academe
of Belles Uttres in 1705. He wrote a Treati*
on the Advantages of Travelling ; Letters and
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679
BAV
DiflKrUttiOBS oh Medals, &b ; ^ntd died ia 172?,
aged senrenty-^feur.
JBAUDIKR (Michael), of Langnedoc, lited in
the rci^n of Louis XII.^ and wrote 1. An Inven-
tory of the General History of the T^rks ; 2.
'Hie Uifltory of the Seraglio; 3. Of the religion
of the Turks; 4. Of the Court of the King of.
China; and 5. The life of Cardinal Ximenes,
kc.
BAUDISSERITE, in mineralogy, acoitapodnd
mineral, found at Baudissero in Piedmont, com-
posed principally of silver and magnesia. It
passes ihto Meerachanm, or sea froth, of which
howls of pipes for smoking are frequently made.
BAUDIUS (Dominic), a professor of history
in the university of Leyden, bom at Lisle, in
1561. He studied at Aix-ia-Chapelle, Leyden,
and Geneva, and was admitted L. L. D. in 1585.
Soon after, he accompanied the ambassadors from
the states to England, where he became acquaint-
ed with Sir Philip Sidney. He was admitted
advocate at the Hague in 1587 ; but being soon
tired of the bar, went to travel in France, where
he remained ten years, and was much esteemed.
Through the influence of Achilles de Harlai, first
president of the parliament of Paris, he wa^ ad-
initled advocate of the parliament of Paris in
159^ In 1602 he went to £ngI«Uid with Christo-
pher de Harlai, the president's son, who was sent
ambassador to Lohdon from Henry IV., but being
soon after appointed professmr of eloquence at
Leyden, he settled in that ttnitenrity. Here he
read lectures on history, and on the civil law.
In 1611 the states conferred oti him, in conjunc-
tion ilnth Meursius, the office of historiographer,
and in consequence he wrote The History of the
Truce. He was Bh elegant prose writer, as ap-
pears from bis letters, many of which were pub-
lished afler his death, and ilso an excellent Latih
poet. His poems were first printed in 1587, and
he published separately a book of Iambics in
1591, dedicated to Cardinal Bourbon. He died
at Leyden in 1613.
BAUDOBRIGA, in ancient geography, a town
of the Treveri in Germany, now Bopiptai, in the
electorate of Triers. See Boppabt.
BAUDKAND (Michael Antony), a celebrated
geographer, bom at Paris in 1633. He travelled
into several countries, and tben applied himself
to the revisal of Fermriua' Geographical Diction-
ary, which he enlarged by one half. He wrote,
1 . Notes to Papirius Masson's description of the
Rivers of France ; 2. A Geographical vad His-
torical Dictionary ; 3. Christian Geography, or
an account of the Archbi8hopric9 and Bishoprics
of the whole world; and made several maps.
He died at Paris, May 29, 1700.
BAUERA, in botany, a genus of plants, elass
polyandria, order digynia. Its generic chaorac-
' iers are : gal. inferior eight-fid : coa. eight petids,
capsule bilocular, manly seeded. The species are,
1. , B.. ivbiefbiia maddeMeaved fi^era B.
mbioidesrAudr* Eepos. t. 198, Curt. Mag. t.
715.VeDten.Ma]mais.t.96. Nativeof New South
Wales, first discovered iadiat country by Sir Joseph
Banks. It requires the shelter of a greeik-hmise,
or conservatory, and flowers during most part of
the summer and autunm. Another species is
mentioned by the name of B. bumilis, in Ait.
Epir. 364, as introduced at K'ew; from New Hoi"
land in 1805, and flowering in June and July.
BAUGE, a drugget manufactured in Bur-
gundy, with thread spun thick, and coarse wool.
BAUca*, a small town of France, in the depart-
ment of the Mayenne and Loire^ and late province
of Anjou, famous for the victory gained by
Charles VII. over the English in 14121. It is
seated on the Coesnoii, twenty-two miles east
by north of Angers, and has about 3000 inhabi-
tants.
BAUHIN (Casper, or Gaspar), an eminent
anatomist and botanist, bom at Basil in 1550.
In 1580, he was chosen first professor of these
sciences at Basil, and in 1614 was first professor
of physic, and first pbysician <^ that city, a
distmction which he held till his death, in 1623.
He wrote, 1. Anatomical Institutions ; 2. Prod-
Tomus Theatri Botanici, and other works.
BAt7BiK (John), elder brother to Caspar, a
gretft botanist, was borti abotit the middle of the
sixteenth century. He took his doctor's degree
in physic in 1562, and afterwards became princi-
pal physician to Frederick duke of Wirtemburg.
The most cotisiderable of his works is his Uni-
tersal History of Plants.
BAUHINIA, MotJNTAiR Ebony,, in botany,
a geifus of the monogynia order, and decandria
elass of plants^ ranking in the natural method
under the thirtjr-thtrd order, lomentacese: cal.
quinquefld, and dedduons ; the petals, oblong ex-
panded, and clawed, the superior one more distant,
all inserted on the calyx ; me capsule, a legumen.
There are 10species,which are propagated by seeds,
and must be sown in hot-beds, and are reared in
a bark stove. The most remarkable are : 1. B.
aculeata, with a prickly stalk, common in Ja-
maica and other American sugar islands, where it
rises to sixteen or eighteen feet ^ with a crooked stem.
2. B. acuminata, with oval leaves, a native of both
the Indies, rising with several pretty strong, up-
right, smooth stems, sending out slender branches,
garnished with oval leaves divided into two
lobes. 8. B. divaricata, with oval leaves, whose
lobes spread different ways. This grows na^
torally in great plenty on tho north side of the
island of Jamaica. 4. B. tomeotosa, with heart-
shaped leaves, a native of Campeachy ; and rises
to twelve or fourteen feet, with a smooth stem
dividing into many branches. 5. B. variegata,
with heart-shaped leaves, and lobes joining to-
gether, is a native of both the Indies. It rises
with a strong stem upwards of twenty feet, divid-
ing into many strong branches.
BAVIAN. The same as babUm, A baboon
or monkey; an occasional but not a fegular
character m the old morris dance. From Dut.
baukumf Germ, oerrian, a great monkey. He
appears in act in. scene 5, of The Two Noble
Ivinsmen, where his office is to bark, to tumble,
to play antics, and exhibit a long tail with what
decency he could. So babotun in French, and
our balfoon.
Where's the hamani
My friend, carry your tail ix^thout offence
Of seandal to the ladies, and be sore
Yon tumble with audacity and manhood ;
And when you bark, do it wttb judgment.
Beamtont and Fleicker.
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BAVIN. Brushwood) or small fiiggots, nmde
of sacb light and combustible matter, used for
lighUng fires. Still in use in some counties.
The skipping Ujuc* he ambled up and down.
With shallow jetten and rath batin wiU,
Soon kindled and loon burnt.
Shahpean. B$m$ IV.
Bantu will have their flashes, and youth their
fancies, the one as soon quench 'd as the others are
burnt. Mother Bombie, 1594.
BAVIUS and Mavius, two wretched poets of
ancient Rome, who have been
' BamnM to everlasting £sme/
In that severe line of Virgil :
Qui Baviun non odit amet tua cannina Maevi.
BAULEAH, a considerable town of Bengal,
in a very fertile country, to the north->east of the
Ganges. The East India Company have here a
very extensive ^tory for -silk, which supplies a
third part of that material exported from Bengal.
BAULOT, or Beaulieu, famous for his ope-
rations in lithotomy. He was born in 1651, of
parents in low circumstances, and he entered
early mto the army ; but after he had been some
time a soldier, he got acquainted with an empi-
rical surgeon, who pretended to cure the stone ;
and having received some lessons from this man,
he assumed the monastic habit, though he be-
longed to no religious order, calling himself
brother James. Thus he travelled through vari-
ous provinces^ and performed various operations ;
and at last went to Paris. Here his practice was
disapproved of at first; but having been success-
ful in curing a boy, his patients soon after be-
came numerous. After extracting the stone he
left the wound to heal of itself. The famous
Cheselden adopted and improved upon brother
James's method. He died in 1720.
BAUM, in botany. See Melissa.
Bauu, Bastard. See Melittis.
, Baum, Shrubby. See Molucca.
BAUM AN Isles, a cluster of islands in the
South Pacific Ocean, discovered in 1722, by the
person whose name they bear, in his voyage
round the world with M. &oggewein. They lie
in 12® of south latitude, and 173° of west longi-
tude. The largest is about twenty miles in cir-
cumference ; and the inhabttants were found to
manifest a gentle and friendly disposition.
BAUMANNIANA, in entomology, a species
of pbalsna (tortrix) that inhabits Austria. The
anterior wii^ are yellow, with two ferruginous
anastomising bands bordered with silver; poste-
rior one interrupted.
BAUMANSHOPLE, a remarkable cavern in
the Brunswick states, principality of Blanken-
burg, Germany , situated in a steep rock near
Rubeland. It consists of six or seven vaults,
communicating by narrow apertures, and filled
with stajactitic petrifactions, arranged in a thou-
sand fimtastic forms. No one has ever penetrat-
(sd to the bottom, on account of the damptness and
ioQpurity of the air, which extinguishes all
BAUME (Antony), an eminent Frendi che-
mist towards the close of the last century, who
distinguished himself by his opposition to the
theory of Lavoisier, and his coll^agijes. He prac-
tised as an apothecary at Paris, ^nd was, in 1775,
BAU
chosen a member of the Royri Acatoiy of
Sciences. On the establiriunent of the NatJonal
Institute, he was also one of its members. His
principal works are a Treatise on Theoretical
and Experimental Chemistry, and a Manual of
PharmaiOT. He also wrote a Memoir on Argil-
laceous Earths; a Dissertation on iEther, &c
He died in 1805. He also wrote a great many
articles in the Dictionnaire des Arts et Mfttieis.
Baume-les-vones, a town of France, the head
of an arrondissement, in the department of the
Doubs, seated on tlie river of that name, and having
2500 inhabitants. Five miles from this town is a
remarkable cavern, containing a small brook, said
to be frozen in summer, but not in winter. When
the peasants perceive a mist rising out of this
cave, they know that it will rain the next day.
Before the revolution there were here two &-
mous abbeys, one for males, the other for fe-
males. Sixteen miles north-east of Besanpn.
Long. 6° 25' E., lat 47^ 21' N.
BAUNACH, or Paunach, a market town of
Bavaria, capital of the district of Gleusdorf, circle
of the Maine. It is situated at the influx of a small
river of the same name into the Maine, and lay
formerly in the principality of Bamberg, in Fran-
conia. Here is a bridge across the latter river,
and the surrounding country is rich in corn and
wine. Seven miles north of Bamberg.^
BAVOSAy in ichthyology, a name given by
Italians to a species of the ray fish, now called
leviraia, and raia oxyrynchus, and by earlier
authors, raja bos, bos marinus, and leioraia. It
is distinguished by Artedi as the vari^ated ray,
with ten prickly tubercles on the middle of the
back. See Pholis.
BAUR (Frederidt WiUiam Von), a Rnssiin
Sneral, bom in the county of Hessian Hanan.
e very early entered on a military life^ and, in
1755, was in the British service as an officer of
Hessian artillery. In 1757 he was advanoed to
the rank of general and engineer ; and was aAer-
wards ennobled by Frederick II. of Pnnsta. He
entered into the service of Catharine II. empoi
of Russia, in 1769, and was by her appomted
director of the salt works in NovogoRxL He
also superintended two great works, the supply-
ing of Moscow with water, and deepening tbe
canal near Petersburg, at the end of wbidi he
constructed a commodious harbour. He died in
1783. He wrote Memoires Historiques et Geo-
graphiques sur la Valachie, &c. 8to. ; and ooo-
structed die Carte de Moldavie, poor servir de
la Guerre p* tre les Russes et le xuxcs, in sewen
sheets.
BAURAC, an ancient name for nitre, ami
some other salts, confusedly called nitre. Tbe
Arabians give the name to tincar or tincal, which,
when refined, is called borax, but when rough,
in little crystalline masses, like the small crsrstads
of sal gem, mixed with earth or other impuri-
ties, it is called tincal.
BAUTRU, a celebrated wit, and one of the
first members of the French academy, was bom
at Paris in 1588, and died there in 1665. He
was the delight of the whole court, but while be
piayed the bufibon, took the usual privilege of
saying what he pleased. Many of his bon nwts
are preserved. Once, when m Spain, baying
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681
BAW
been to see the famotis libniy of the Caculf al,
where he ibund a very* ignonnt librarian, the
king of Spain asked him what he had remarked ?
Bautru replied, that * ^e Kbrary is a very fine
one ; but your majesty should make your libra-
rian treasurer of your finances/ * Why soT
* Because/ said Bautru, < he never touches what
he is entrusted with.*
BAUTZEN, or Budissen, a considerable
town of Germany, the capital of Upper Lusatia,
in the kingdom of Saxony, with a strong ci-
tadel. It is seated on the river Spree, Siirty
miles east by north of Dresden. Including
the suburb of Seidau, it contains a population &t
11,000 or 12,000, most of whom are employed
in manufactures, of which the principal are
paper, cloth, linen, leather, and stockings. The
provincial diet assembles at Bautzen, which is
also the seat of the central post office. One half
of the parish church is given to the Catholics,
and tlie other to 'the Lutherans, the latter of whom
are about three-fourths of the inhabitants. Here
is also a collegiate establishment, called the
provostship of St. Peter, all the members of
which are Catholics, except the head, who is
a Lutheran. The funds of this institution are
extensive ; and it possesses large tracts of land,
both in Saxony ana Bohemia. .- The town-hall,
academy, orphan-house, ingenious water ma-
chines, as well as the public walks, are worthy of
attention. Bautzen has suffered much by fire,
particularly in the years 1709, 1760, and 1767.
it was also the scene of a bloody conflict between
the French and allies m 1813, in which the fcA^-
mer were victorious. The language of the Wen-
dens, or descendants of the ancient Vandab, is
spoken at Bautzen nearly as much as the modem
German.
BAW'BLE, ) Bauble, or bable, i. Low Lat.
BaWblivo. $ baubella; but that word being
fonnd only in Hoveden, it is probable that the
Bnglish may be the original, and the con-
trary; perhaps both are Irom the Fr. babiole,
Baeibalim is found in Petronius Arbiter in a
sindlar sense; and /3«/3aXca in Julius Pollux,
Tol. 16, for bracelets.— ^(iref. Skinner suggests
that it may be from babe, Ital. habolo, an infant ;
q. d. an infant's plaything. Any pretty, showy,
trifling toy. It was anciently used to signify
the badge of a fool. In its general signification
the word is still current, but the office of a fool
being obsolete, it requires, in the latter sense,
some explanation. A fooVs biawble was a short
stick, with a head ornamented with asses' ears,
&ntastically carved upon it.
An idiot holds his bauble for a god.
And keeps the oath vhich by that god he awean.
Shakspeare. Titui Andrmtieui.
It had been fitter for you have found a fool's coat,
and a haubls. Lingua, 0. PI. r. 129.
If every fool should wear a bable, fewel would be
dear. J^!f'» Prov, p. 108.
It was also the subject of another proverb,
which, as well as several allusions maae to it,
was of a licentious nature. It appears by the
French proverb, subjoined by Ray, that the
equivalent word in that language was marotte,
which is now used for a person's particular
foible, or hobby-horse, Cest-id ta murotte; it is
hi^ hobby-horse. It is in gentfral whedier ap-
plied to persons or things, a term of contempt.
And hapneth that the kynges flbole>
Sat by the fire npoa a stole,
ts he that with bis bable plaide,
nd yet he heard all that thei saide>
And thereof toke thei no hede.
Gower, Qmf. Aim,
In the reproof of chance
Lies the tme proof of men : the sea being smooth.
How many shallow hauUe boats dare sail
Upon her patient breast, making their way
With those of nobler bulk ?
But let the ruffian Boreas oiice enrage
The gentle Thetis, and anon behold
The strong-ribb'd bark through liquid mountains cut.
Bounding between the two moist elements.
Like Peneus' horse : Where's then the saucy boat.
Whose weak untimber'd sides but even now
Co-rival'd greatness ? either to harbour fled.
Or made a toast for Xeptune. Bven so
Doth valour's show, and valour's worth divide
In storms of fortune. Shakgpeare.
A banohUng vessel was he captain of.
For shallow draught, and bulk, unprizable ;
With which such scathful grapple did he make.
With the most noble bottom of oar fleet. Id,
Paper !
Black as the ink that's on thee ; senseless hoMe,
Art thou a feodaiy, for this act, and look'st
So virgin-like without. lA,
When a man begins truly to fear God, and is in the
agonies of mortification, all these new-nothings and
cariosities will lye neglected by as ftonUet do by chil-
dren when they are deadly sick. Tayloi^t Serwumt*
For who without a cap and bauble.
Having subdued a bear and rabble.
And might with honour have come off.
Would put it to a second proof. Hudtbras,
He (Cromwell) commanded a soldier to seixe the
mace : ' What shall we do with this bmUtlet Here,
take it away. It is you,' said he, addressing himself
to the house, * that have forced me to this, I have
sought the Lord, night and day, dxat he would rather
slay mo than put me upon this work/
Eume'e Hittary of Ei^knd,
If, In oar contest, we do not iaterehioifB usalnl
notions, we shaU trafiSek toys and baublet,
GovenmmU ef the Tai^gue*
This shall be writ to fright the fry away.
Who draw their little bmabUt, when they play.
Dryden,
A lady's watch needs neither figures nor wheels ;
Tis enough that 'tis loaded with b»whlet and seaU.
Prior,
Our author then, to please you, in your way.
Presents you now a bawble of a play.
In gingling rhyme. Gratmille,
A prince, the moment he is crown *d.
Inherits every virtue round.
As emblems of the sovereign pow'r.
Like other hawhle* of the tow'r. Swift,
Whate'er was light, impertinent, and vain,
Whate'er was loose, indecent, and profane,
(So ripe was folly, ifolly to acquit),
Stood all absolv'd in that poor bwMe, wit.
ChurchUL Gotham, bk. iii.
BAW'COCK. A burlesque word of endear-
ment, supposed to be derived from beau cog ;
but rather perhaps from boy and cock. It seems
to mean young cock^ or fine fellow.
Why that's my baweoeh. What has smutch'd thy
no«e? Shah^eare.
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BAW
Icftity, *weet
Id. Hewy /F.
Either from ^otofey
which mgnifies joy-
ousy frdm haudu^
"dirty, or from the
Goth, bfatuan, to
scrape togetner, thus
BAWD', «.,«.#. &Aj^.-^
Bawd'ily,
Bawd'iness,
Bawd'ry,
Bawd'ship,
Bawd'y. ^ «^..|,~ ^Qw« —
6ato(^ is a collector of filth, or obscenity. The
French have bauderief batuHe, that is pimping,
keeping a bawdy-house. It refers to obscenity
of language, and of intercourse. A bawd is
either a raAle or female pander. It is more fre-
quently applied, however, to the depraved
mother ii| the trade of debauchery, who either
facilitate the illicit intercourse of the sexes, as
procuresses, or as furnishing them with a place
of meeting. Johnson says, sotnewhat coarsely,
that bawdry is a wicked practice of procuring
and bringing whores and rogues together.
This false the«f, this tompnoar qnod the frere.
Had alway boMdet redy to his hond,
Aa any havke to liae in Englelond.
Chaucer, The Freret Tale.
This thing is wonder mervaillooa to me,.
(Sin that thy lord is of so high prudence.
Because of which men shulde him reverence^)
That of his worship rekketh he so lite
His overest sloppe it is not worth a mite,
Ai in effect to him so mote I go ;
It is all ftoudy and to sore also. Id,
But here, with al mine herte, I thee heseche
That never in me thou dcme soche folie.
As I shall saine — Methought by thy speche.
That this whiche thou me doest for companie,
I should wenen it were a bauderie :
I am not wode, all if I leud ybe :
It is not so, that wote I well parde. Id.
H'yll hang handsome young men for the soote ainne
of love.
When so his knavery himselfo a ha^ Jack doth
t»ove. Wheteieme. Old Play.
Besides, hamdry is become an art, or a liberal
science, as Ludan calls it; and there be such tricks
and subtleties, so many noises, old women, panders,
letter-carriers, beggars, physicians, friars, confessors,
employed about it; such occult notes, stenography,
polygraphy, nuntius animatus, or magnetical telling of
their minds, which Cabeus> the Jesuit, by the way,
counts fabulous and false; cunning conveyances in
this kind, that neither Juno's jealousie, nor Danae's
custody, nor Argo's vigilancy can keep them safe.
Button. Anat, of Md.
The eye is a secret orator, the first bawde, amoris
porta, and with private looks, winking, glances, and
smiles, as so many dialogues they make up the match
many times and understand one another's meanings
before they come to speak a word. Id.
Thy sin's not accidental, but a trade :
Mercy to thee would prove itself a hatod :
Tis best that thou diest quickly. Shahpeare.
She says enough ;— yet she's a simple bau>d.
That cannot say as much« Id.
Come, sing me a batedgf song ; make
me merry ; T was as virtuously given as a gentleman
need to be ; virtuous enough : swore little ; diced not
above seven times a week ; went to a bawdy-hoast,
not above once in a quarter---of an hour ; paid money
that I borrowed, three or four timet; lived well, and
in good compass : and now I live out of all order,
out of all compass. Id.
HCART. For my |wn I have once ;
when I wed sgain, may she be — uglyaa an M.heted.
YAinu lU-natored, as an old nudd-r-
BeLMOUR. Wanton as a young widows-
Sharp. And jealous as a barren wife.
Coi^reee, (Hd Bmehdat.
Now nothing left» but vither'd, pale, and shrunk.
To haimd lot others, and go shves in punk. PId|».
You may generally observe, that the appcdtM are
sooner moved tiian die passions. A sly cxptesiioa,
which alhides to haiadry, p«ts a whole torm iue t
pleasing imirk ; when a good senti^oe that describes
an inward sentiment of ^e soul, b lec^iwed widi the
greatest coldness and indUfersaee. apetuier.
Has the pope lately ah«t up the lawrfjMuMses, or
does he Aontinue to lay a tax upon ain t Bemu.
Bawdy-House. The keeping of a house of
iU-&me ii cognizable by * le temporal law, as a
common Dnisance, not only because it endsncen
the public peace by drawing together dissolate
9xA debauoied penons,and promoting quan^
but because it tefids to corrupt the maoneft of
the people by an open profession of lewdoes
(3 Inst. 205. 1 Hawk. F. C. c. 74). Those who
keep bawdy-houses are punished with fine and
imprisonment, and also such infiunoos ponish-
roent as the court shall in6ict ; and so is a lod-
ger, who keeps only a single room for sodi pur-
poses. Also person resorting to a bawdy-bonse
are punishable^ and may be bound to then good
behaviour. If i constable receives information
that a man end woman are gone to a lewd house,
he ixiay carry them before a justice of peace wiUi-
out any warrant, and the justice may bind them
over to the sessions. In London, they may carty
them to prison ; and by the custom of the dty,
whores and bawds may be carted. By stat 2^
Geo. II. c. 36, made psv^tual by stat. 28 Geo.
II. c. 19, if two inhabitants, paying scot and lot,
shall give notice to a Nonstable of any person
keeping a bawdy-bouse, the constable shall go
witn them before a justice of peace, and shall,
upon the oath of such inhabitants, that they be-
lieve the contents of such notice to be tnie, and
their entering into a recognizance of £20 each,
to give material evidence of the offence, enter
into a recognilance of £30 to pcosecole with
effect such person for such offenoe at the neu
sessions. The constable shall be paid his reason-
able expenses by the oveiseers of the poor, ascer-
tainable by two justices; and upon coovidioa of
the offender, the overseen shall pay the two in-
habitants £lO each. A constable, neglecting hi>
duty, ibr&its £20* Any person appearing as
master or mistress, or as havmg 'he -are or man-
agement of an^ bawdy-house, shall be deemed
the keeper of it, and liable to be punished -. s
such. And a wife may be itidicted and set in tlie
pillory with her husband for keeping a brothel ;
for this is an offence respecting tfa« domestic eco-
nomy and government of the boose, in which the
wife has a principal share.
Bawd-Moket, a name given *o the aleom
athamaottcum.
BAW'DRICKS, ». See Baldrick. Bt^
beltf according to Du Can^, is the ring, bek* or
girdle of a bold man, that is of a warrior. The
word ts used by Sir Thomas More, hy IlaU, and
by Fabian, and is spelt by diem varioosly, bamd-
rick, bmtdrytky and bawderyke.
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BAX
r AwAin hfr Itand a thvp %ob6 speuf i^ held.
Ami $t ber backe a boir and qairer gay,
Stoft witk steel>fa«aded darts, ivfcenwi di Aa ^oeld
The salTtge beatts in her victurioas play.
Knit with a golden bauldrick, which foh>lay
Athwart her snowy breast. Spetuer. Faerie Queene.
Fresh gariands too the virgins* teitaples erownM ;
The youths gilt swoHs wore at their thighs, Irfdi silver
hawdrie^ boand. CAapman^$ lUsd.
BAWLy v. a. & n.*^ Vossius and l^estus
Bawling, > concur in thinking that
Bawler, n. 3 this word is formed, a
sooo vocis, from the sound of die voice ; Min-
sbew and Skinner conjecture that it is from the
noise which dogs make in barking ; and Johnson
derives it from the Latin balo, to hoot, to cry
with great Tehemence, whether for joy or pain ;
tp ciy as in the market place, eitlier wares or
news ; a word always used in contempt.
Thay bawl for frtedom in their wnselets mood.
And still rSTok when ttulh would set them free.
diwUtm.
To cry the cauBo vp heretofore.
And baiH the bishops out of door. Huiibraa.
Through the thick shades th' eternal scribkr bowk.
And shakes the sUiues on their pedestals. Drjfdvn,
. From his lov'd home no lucre him can dcaw \
The senate's mad decrees ha never saw,
Xor heard at bawlmg bars corrupted law. Id,
Loud menaces were heard, and foul disgrace.
And bawling infamy, in language base.
Till seoso was lost in sound, and silence Qca the
place. fd. Fables.
So on the tuneful Maigarita's tongue
The listening nymphs and ravish'd heroes hung ;
But cits and fops the hcav'n-bom musick blame.
And battl, and hiss, and damn her into fame. StaitH.
I have a race of orderly elderly people, who can
bawl when I am deaf, and tread softly when I am
only giddy and would sleep. Sunft.
It grieved me when I saw labours which had cost
so much, bawled about by common hawkers. Id,
Fie ; fie* miss, how you bawl! — Besides, I have told
you, you Inust not call mo mother. Congreoe.
A little child was bawling, and a woman chiding it.
L'Egtrange.
If they were never suffered to have what they crird
f©r, they would never, with bawltHg and peevishness,
contend for mastery. Locke.
• My hnsband Ssok him in, a dirty boy ; it Was the
hnsiaess of the servants to attend him, the rogue did
bawi'vad make such a noise.
Arbiahnot't Bistory of John Butt,
When rosemaiy and bays, the poet*j crown.
Are bau^*d in frequent cries through all the town.
Then judge the festival of Christmas near
Christmas ! the joyous period of the year. Gay.
BAWLING, among sportsmen, is spoke of
the dogs when they are too busy before they find
the scent good.
BAWM. See Balm. Bawmed, used hy R.
Brtinne.
BAWN, n. an the Gothic laumh Germ, iatien,
a place to reside in; a dwelling; any edifice,
whether a fortification or a common habitation,
and with w^iatever materials constructed; it is
used by Spenser for an eminence. In Ireland,
says Todd, a hawn is said to be a place near
the house, inclosed with mud or stone walls, to
iteep the cattle from being stolen in the niglu.
But these sound hills and tqunn- hemma, which
yon see so strongly trenched and thrown i;qp, wero
(theyaay) at first ordained for th$ same pufpMe, that
people might assemble themselves therein, and, there«
fore, aunciently, they were called folkmotes, that is, •
place of people, to maete or talk« of any thing that
concerned any difference between parties and town-
ships, which secmeth yet to me very requisite.
Bpemer, View of the State of IreUmd.
Thus spoke to my lady the knight full of care, —
Let me have your adviee in a weighty affair ;
Thia Hamilton's hawn, whilst it sticks on my hand,
I lose by the house what I get by the land ;
But how to dispose of it to the best bidder.
For a barra^ or malt-hoose, we now must consider.
Swift. The Grand Question Debated.
BAWTREY, or Bawtky, a market town and
chapelry, in the parish of Blythe, West Hiding:
of York. It stands near the river Idle, eight or
ten miles from its fall into the Trent : is nine
miles south-east from Doncaster, and 153 from
London, and contains from 900 to 1000 inhabi-
tants. This place has much* trade from its river
navigation, having mill and grindstones from
Derbyshire, and lead, and all kinds of iron manu-
factures, from Sheffield. It is a great thorough-
fare to Scotland, and has a good market on
Thursday, formerly on Wednesday,
BAXTER (Andrew), an ingenious metaphy-
sical writer, was bom in 1686 or 1687, at Old
Aberdeen, and' educated at King's College.
About 1724 he married the daughter of a clergy-
man in Berwickshire. A few years after, he
published in 4to^ An Iaquir}r into the Nature of
the liuman Soul, wherein its immateriality is
is evinced from the principles of reason and phi-
losophy. In 1741 he went abroad with Mr.
Hay, and resided some years at Utrecht ; having
there Lord Blantyre also under his care. lie
made excursions from thence into Flanders,
Prance, and Germany ; his wife and family re-
siding, in die mean time, chiefly at Berwick. In
-J 737 he returned to Scotland, and resided till his
.death at Whittingham, in the shire of £ast Lo-
thian. He drew up, for the use of his pupils and
his son, a piece entitled Matho : sive, Cosmothe-
oria puerihs, dialogus. In quo prima elementa
de mundi ordine et omatu proponuntur, •&c.
This was afterwards greatly enlarged, and pub-
lished in English, in two volumes, 8vb. In
1750, he published an Appendix to his Inquiry.
He died April 23, 1750, after suffering for some
months unoier a complication of disorders.
Baxter, (Richard), an eminent nonconformist
divine, was bom at Rowton in Shropshire,
in 1615. He was. somewhat unfortunate iu his
tutors, who were either men of little ability, or
veiy inattentive to their charge; but his own
genius and perseverance surmounted this ob-
stacle ; and he was distinguished in early life for
his learning, as well as his piety. He was or-
dained in 1638, and upon the opening of the
long parliament, was chosen vicar of Kidder-
minster. In the heat of the civil wars he wtUi-
drew to Coventry, and preached to the garrison
and inhabitants. When Oliver Cromwell was
made protector, he would not comply with his
measures, though he preached once before him.
He came to London just prior to the deposing
of Richard Cromwell, and preached before the
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684
BAr
parliafnent the day before they voted the return
of King Charles Ili. Upon the Restoration he
was appointed one of the king's chaplains in or-
dinary, lie assisted at the conference in the
Savoy, as one of the commissioners for the set-
tlement of religion, and drew up a reformed
liturgy. About tliis time he was offered the
bishopric of Hereford, which he refused ; and de-
sired only to resume his charge at Kidderminster.
He was not, however, permitted to preach there
above twice or thrice after the Restoration. On
this he returned to London, and preached oc-
casionally about the city, till the act of unifor-
mity took place. In 1662 he married Margaret,
daughter of Francis Charleton, Esq. of Salop, a
justice of the peace. She was a woman of great
piety, and entered fully into her husband's views
concerning religion. During the plague in 1 665,
he retired into Buckinghamshire; but afterward
returned to Acton, where he staid till the act
against conventicles expired; and then his au-
dience was so large that he wanted room. Soon
after we find him imprisoned, but procuring
sm habeas corpus, he was discharged. After the
indulgence in 1672 he returned to London ; and
in 1682 he was once more incarcerated and put
to great expense. In 1684 he was again appre-
hended, and at the commencement of the reign
of James II. was tried before justice Jefferiet,
for his Paraphrase on the New Testament;
which was called a scandalous and seditious
book against the government. He continued in
prison two years; from whence he was dis-
charged, and had his fine remitted by the king.
He died in 1691 ; and was buried in Christ
Church. One of his biographers says, rather
boldly, of Richard Baxter, ' he could say what
he would, and he could prove what he said.'
He was honored, however, with the friendship of
the earl of Lauderdale, the earl of Balcarras, L.
Chief Justice Hales, Drs. Tillotson, Barrow, &c
and held correspondence with the mo$t eminent fo-
reign divines. He himself wrote above 120 books,
and had above sixty written against him. Bar-
row says, that * his practical writings were never
mended, and his controversial seldom confuted.'
Granger declares that he was a man famous for
weakness of body and strength of mind; for
liaviug the strongest sense of religipn himself,
and exciting a sense of it in the thoughtless and
profligate ; for preaching more sermons, engaging
in more controversies, and writing more books,
than any other nonconformist of his age^ He
spoke, disputed, and wrote with ease ; ami dis-
covered the same intrepidity when he reproved
Cromwell and expostulated with Charles II. as
when he preached to a congregation of mechanics.
His portrait, in full proportion, is drawn in his
Narrative of his own Life and Times; which
though a rhapsody, composed in the man-
ner of a diary, contains a great variety of
memorable things, and is itself, as far as it goes,
a History of Nonconformity. His most famous
works were, 1. The Saint's £verlasting Rest.
2. Call to the Unconverted, of which 20,000 have
been sold in one year ; and which has been trans-
lated into all the £uropean languages. 3. Poor
Man's Family Book. 4. Dying Thoughts ; and
'. the above-mentioned Paraphrase. His prac-
tical works have been printed in l&nr toIiiims
folio. See Baxterians.
BAXTERIANS, in ecclesiastical history, Aose
who adopt the doctrinal sentiments of Richard
Baxter. The opinions maintained by this excel-
lent man were conciliatory, and have, since his
time been embraced by many moderate and cukr
did men, of difierent sects and parties. Baxtei's
system was formed not to inflame the pas^oni
and widen the breaches, but to heal those wounds
of the church under which she had long lan-
guished. Some controversialists, however, were
much displeased with Baxter's attempt; and we
have heara of a piece in which supposed incoo-
sistencies in his doctrines are set m a kind of
battle-array against each other; — ^it is entitled
Richard against Baxter.
The Baxterian strikes into a middle path, be-
tween Arminianism and Calvinism, and thus
endeavours to unite both sdiemes. With the
Calvinist, he professes to believe that a certain
number, determined upon in the divine councils,
will be infallibly saved ; and with the Arminian,
he joins in rejecting the doctrine of reprobation
as absurd and impious ; admits that Christ, in a
certain sense, died for all, and supposes that su(^
a portion of grace is allotted to every man as
renden it his own fault if he doth not attain to
eternal life.
Bay, I The name of the tree which is
Bays. S translated laurel, and of which hono-
rary gariands were anciently made. Fr. 605^ a
berry, Lat bacca. To wear the 6«y(, is, in poet-
ical language, to be pre-eminent in excellence.
The honorary crown or garland, which was he-
stowed as a prize for liteiaiy or military^ or in-
deed any otner species of merit, bearing this
name.
1 have seen the wielded in great power, and ^vead-
ing himself like a green ftay-tree. Bdk.
See where she sits upon the grassie greeae,
(0 seemely sight!)
Yclad in scarlet, like a mayden queene.
And ermines white :
Upon her head a cremosin coronet.
With damaake roeee, and daffadillies set ;
Boy-loaves betweene.
And primroses greene.
Embellish the sweete violet.
So him they led through all their streetes akos*
Crowned with garlands of immortal hain.
And all the vuQar did about them throng.
To see the man, whose evexlastiAg praise.
They all wers bound to all posteritie to raise
I- can but laugh at both.
That strive and storrae with stirre omtrageotts*
For her, that each of you alike doth loth.
And loves another, with whoownow the goth.
In lovely wise, and sleepea, and spoits, and playes \
Whilcst both you here, with many a cursed olh»
Sweare she is yours, and stirre up hloodie frayes.
To win a willow bough, whilett other weans the *^^
See how the stubborn damsell dolh deprave
My simple meaning with disdaynfnll soom;
And by the toy which I unto her gave ;
Aocompu myself her captive quite fofkinie.
Tho ha^ quoth she, is of the vieton bek»»
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BAY
TMdcd lfa«m bj the Tanqoiiht as theyr atoeds,
Aad they, therewith, -doe poetes heads adome,'
To ting the gloiy of their famona deeds.
But siUi she will the coaquest challenge needs.
Let her accept me as her faithful thnUl,
That her great triumph, which mj skill exceeds,
I may in tramp of fame blase oyer all.
Then would I decke her head with glorious tqys,
And SU the world with her victorioas prayse. Id.
To take a boat in a pleasant evening, and with
musick to row upon the waters, which Plutarch so
much applaudes, iElian admires, upon the river
Penpus, in those Thessalian fields beset with green
baget, where birds so sweetly sing, that passengeis,
enchanted as it were with their heavenly musick, for-
get forthwith all labours, care and grief; or in a
fpmdilo, through the grand canale in Venice, to see
those goodly palaces, must needs refresh and give
content to a melancholy dull spirit.
Burton, Anat, Mel,
So up they rose, while all the shepherd-throng
With their loud pipes a country triumph blew.
And led their Thirsil home with joyful song :
Mean time the lovely nymph, with garlands new.
His locks in bay and honour'd pafatt-tree bound,
With lilies set, and hyacinths around ;
Ahd lord of all the year, and their may-sportings,
crownM. Fletcher't Pwjie UUmd,
Like thunder 'gainst the htty,
Whose lightning may enclose but never stay.
Upon his charmed branches. Id, Faith, ^lepherdat.
That name I say in whom the muses meete.
And with such heate his noble spirits raise.
That kings admire his verse, whil'st at his feele,
Orpheus bis harpe, and Phceboa casts his (ay*.
F.
Till critics blame, and judges praise.
The poet cannot claim his bagi. . Swift,
Say, Britain ! could yon ever boast
Three poets in an age at most ?
Our chilling climate hardly bears
A sprig of hajfs in fifty years.
While ev'ry fool his claim alleges.
As if it grew in common hedges. Id,
Bid the warbling nine retire ;
Venus string thy servant's lyre ;
Love shall be my endless tlieme.
Pleasure shall triumph over Fame :
And when these maxims I decline,
Apollo ! may tby fate be mine ;
May I grasp at empty praise.
And lose the nymph to gain the bapa. Prior,
The polish'd pillar fUfiT'rent sculptures grace,
A work outlasting monumental brass.
Here smiling loves and bacohanals appear.
The Julian star, and great Augustas here.
The doves* that round the infant poet spread.
Myrtle and bays, hang hov'ring o'er his head. Pope,
Yet sufifer me, thou bard of wondrous meed.
Amid thy bt^ to weaye tbis rural weed. Gag,
Bay', adj, "^ Lat. badiuSf old Fr. baye, bat,
Bat'a&d, y rouge brun, Ital. baiOf Gr. /3atc,
Bay'abdly. ) or paunff the branch of the palm.
Does it refer to the color of the bark ? or the
tenacity with which the branch adheres to the
tmnk; to intimate boldness, determination, or
dogged firmness ? It is applied both to signify
the color and spirit of a horse ; and also to men
who are bold^ blind, and self-willed. A 6ay
hone is one Whose color inclines to a chestnut ;
aad this color is variousp either a light bay^ or
a dark 6ay, according as it is less or more deep.
Ail beof horses are commonly called brown by
the common people. Bayard is another name
for a horse of this complexion. It was likewise
the appellation of a noted blind horse in the old
romances ; whence, perhaps, the proverbial ex-
pression ' as bold as blina Bavard/ Rinaldo's
none, in Ariosto, is called Baiardo. Tliere is
an allusion to the proverb just cited, in the old
glay entitled Match at Midnight, < Do you hear,
ir Bartholomew Bayard? But l6ap before yon
look/ Perhaps, says Nares, the whole proverb
might be * as bold as blind Bcyard, that leaps
before he looks,' in allusion to ;<riother proverb,
* look before you leap.' Biyaid occurs in
R. Brunne, and bay in Chaucer.
Upon a stede bay, trapped in Steele.
Ye ben as bold as is Bayar . the blind.
That blondereth forth, and peril careth non.
He is as bold to run against a ston.
As for to go besides in the way. CHaueer.
But PS bttiarde the blind stede
Till he fall in the ditche a midde
He gothe' there no man will hym bidde.
He stant so fer forthe out of rewle.
There is no witte that maie hym reule.
Gower. Conf, Arm,
I marvri not so much at blind Bayards, which
neuer take God's book in hand.
Bernard Gilpin't Sermont.
Who is moie bold than the ht^ford blind ?
Mirror for Magittrates.
Bay, v. &n. From the Fr. altbai, which sig-
nifies the last extremity. Its primary sense is
the barking of a dog at hand, and relates to the
condition of a stag, when the hounds are almoiit
upon him. It does not refer to the assailant,
but to his selected victim, and in the moment of
his utmost peril. It is figuratively employed to
describe the state of any thing surrounded by
enemies. It is sometimes applied to the simple
barkint; of a dog at any object. In Spenser it
is used in the sense of parley, before surrender-
ing.
So well he woo'd her, and so well he wrought her.
With faire entreatie and sweet blandishment.
That at the last unto a bay he brought her.
So as she to his speeches was content
To lend an eare, and softly to relent, Spenter
' Like dastard currcs that, havii^ at a bay
The salvage beast cmbost in wearie chace.
Dare not adventure on the stubbome pray,
Ne byte before, but move from place to place.
To get a snateh when turned is his face. Jd,
Here wast thou bay*d brave hart.
Here didst thou fall, and here thy hunters stand,
SignM in thy spoil and crimson'd in thy Lethe ;
0 world, thou wast the forest to this bart.
And this, indeed, O world, the heart of thee
How like a deer, stricken by many princes,
Host thou here lie. Shaktpeare,
What, shall one of us.
That struck the foi amost man of all tliis world.
But for supporting rubbers ; shall we now
Contaminate our fingers with base bribes ?
And sell the mighty space of our large honours,
For so much trash as may be grasped thus ?
1 had rather be a dog, and bay the moon.
Than such a Roman. Id
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MY
/<
Aq4 liy'^ «^«^ ^>^ ^n*>^y <^9f^i^
I m» with BwreiAe* ai4 Cadii0i« oiuM«
Wlitii ia the wood of Gr^ua U^ &otf '4 (h» bovr
With howuls of Spait». ti.
If hA shovld 4o aoj
He le»wf Wi biflk »aann'4i *e. FieiKh f*d VoUh
i^o.yu« bim at tif hee)i. /4^
TbU ship, for ifbee&hoiin^uxeliko •tta^vnoaf
homklft lit the Uy, sod wm negeil wd leiwbt «it^
in tii«n« by iifU«ii great thiye.
Feir liberty, pnraed md meent » prey
To lawloM power, hen tuni'4^ and stood st 6(V-
Vor flight was left» nor hopes t» fiMoe his -way ;
Embolden'd by despair, ho stood at bag;
Resolr'd on, deajth he di98i|MLtes his feaz^
And bounds aloft against the pointed apeart.
Xhrgden.
The hounds at neavsr diatamse hoarsely bt^'^k
The hunter close pursued the visionary maid ;
She rent the hear'n with loud lanenU, imploring aid.
Id. FabUi.
Joyful he know the lamp's domestic fliuae
Thot trembled thro* the window j cross the wi|y
Darts forth the barlung cur and stands at bag. Oag.
Sweet was the sound, when oft, at evening's clos^.
Up yonder hill the village murmur rose ;
There ^» I pass'd with careless steps and slow.
The mingling notes came soften'd from below ;
The swain responsive as the milkmaid sung.
The sober herd that low'd to meet their young ;
The noisy geese that gabbled o'er the pool.
The playful children just let loose from school ;
The watch-d<^s voice that ba^'dthe whisp'ring wind.
And the loud laugh that spoke the vacant mind ;
These all in sweet confasion sought the shade.
And fiil'd each pause the nightingale had made.
CMdmtUh't Deterttd ViUage.
But the hound bageth loudly.
The boar's in the wood.
And the falcon longs proudly
To spring from her hood. Bgran.
Bay. To bathe.
He feedes upon the cooling shade, and baget
Hissweatie forehead in the breathing wind.
Faerit Quegne.
in praCtioe, wd imptififl a senu-circiilaHr cweep^
like a bow. Mr. Tyiwbkt, in his GUmbut to
Chaucer, thus ezaltmia k:— ^ a laige window,
probably so calm becwue it oeenpied a whole
hm/f i.e. I^e space between two ctQ394)eaii)9.'
\Ve hare the aaihority of an old dictkmaiy for
asserting that a hc^-window ineant also a bal-
cony.
And tliere, beside, within a bag-vmdow.
Stood one in green, ful large of head and Icqglh,
And board as black as festhers of .the orow.
There stsads in sight an isle, hight Teaedan*
Rich, and of ftoie, while Priasn's kingdom sl^;
Now bat a bag, and rode unahnae foe sUpL Biwij.
Like as a ship that through the ocean wyde
Directs her course unto one certaine ooaat
Is met of many a countes-winde and tyde,
Unth which her winged speed is let and croit.
And she hetself in stonsie surges tost;
Yet making many a borda and SBanj a btg^t^
Still wianeth way, mm: haih her coapasse logi^ .
Right so it fares with me in this long way.
Whose couse is often iMf 'd, yet novar Is astray.
I'd have some pleasant lodging i' the high street, siri
Or if 'twere near the court, sir, that were ssnch better ;
Tis a sweet recreation for a gentlewoman
To stand in a bag^mndow and see gallants. JI«UEs(oa.
We have also some works in the midst of the sea,
and some bagt upon the shore for tome woiks, wherein
is required the air and vspour of the ae "*
A reverend Syracnsan merehan^
Who put unluddly into this &(^
If this law hold in Vienna ten years. 111 rent the
ftdrest house in it after threepence a baif. U>
Why it hath bag-wiadiMt transparent as banica-
does, and the clear stones towards the sonth-nocih
are as lustrous as ebony. ^
Such murmur filPd
The assembly, as when hollow rocks retain
The sound of blust'ring winds, which all ni^ kog
Had rous'd the sea, now with hoarse cadence loll
Seafaring men o'er-watch'd, whose bark by chance
Or pinnace anchors in a craggy bag
After the tempest. Xltm
„^,^., ^__ The bag of St. Nicholas, where they tot pat in,
BAY, from the old Saxon Iwgan, bygan, to lieth in sixty-four degrees, called so from the abbey
bow or bend ; it is appUed to the curvings of a there, built of wood, ^}^J^ ^I^^^^^IL^
sho.;torec^esin/^,^^^^^^^^ T^^e^ ^^^h^^ ^'f^^^^
so say Skinner and Mmsliew; Nwes thus de- ^^^ .^ besides bat six houses, wheraof oi. baih
fines It : a principal division in a building ; pro- ^^ ^^ in the fcv» •w •tP^^ ^ •"-y*
bably, as Dr. Johnson conjectured, a great ./u^,^ i^md, fall of damask and red rosea. •
square, in the framework of tlie roof, whence, ^^ wild roses. Jfitew's Utosty •/ J
bam of three bays, is a barn twice crossed by
beams; in large buildings having the Gothic
Hail, sacred aolitade ! firom this calm bag,
I view the world's tempestuous sea.
fhime^ork to support tlie roof, like Westminster
Hall, the bagi are the spaces between the sup-
porters ; houses were estimated by the number
of bays ; as a terra among builders, it also signi-
fied every space left in the wall, whether for
door, window, or chimney. See Chamben*s Dic-
tionary and JKcrw.
Coles, in his Latin Dictionary, makes a % a
space of a definite siie ; * a 6ay of building, men-
sura viginiiquatuor pedum,' i. e. the measure of
twenty-four feet.
B A Y-W I snow, from, fcay, nipra; not accord- ___ _ ^ ^
ing to Minshew, from its resemblance to a ^y of qommunication, '°*°^^^..!^"^>°°S!y^,u,i.,^
oa a coast, or round, for it was usually square : ««» • "•**y ^ -w—
Here in a royal bed the waters sleep.
When tir'd at aea, within this bag ihey i
Some of you have bag.
Blake having beard that a Spanish fltet eCa
ships, nmchTiciher than the fimner, had tske« aheker
in the Canaries, immediately made sail towards them.
He fpnnd them in the i^ of Santa Cms, dispoaed a
a furmi^able posture. The bag was secured with a
strong casde, well provided with cannon, besides
seven forts in aeveral parts of it, all united by a has
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687
HAY
They gftin l^y twU)(;ht*t hoar theb Icm^jr itl«>
T» them tho v«iy to^ks appeat to tmi^
The haven hums with many a cheering sooad.
The beacons blase their wanted stationa rounds
The boats are darting o'er the curly kagf.
And BportiTe dolphins bend them threngh the spray.
Even the hoaxte ^a-bird's shrill discordant shriek,
GreeU like the welcome of his toneless beak !
Beneath each lamp that through iu Inttice gleams.
Their fancy paints the Iricnds that trim the beams.
Bay, in "botany. See Lat7sus.
Bay, in hunting, is when the dogs have earthed
a vermin, or brought a deer, boar, or the like, to
turn head against them. In this case, not only
the deer, but the dogs are said to bay. It is dan-
gerous going in to a hart at bay, especially at
rutting time ; for then they are fiercest
Bay of Islands, a bay on the east coast of
New Zealand, so called from the number of
islands off the shore. 11 Ae is good anchorage ;
high water takes place about ei^t o'clock at the
full and change of the moon, when the peipendi-
cular rise of die tide is from six to eieht feet.
Abundance of fish frequent the bay, which the
natives take with enormous nets made of a kind
of grass, five fathoms deep, and 300 or 400 fa-
thoms long. Bround their villages nets lie in heaps,
like hay-cocks covered with tnatch, to resist the
weather. All kinds of refreshment may be had
here. Long. US' 38' W., lat. 35° 18' S.
Bay of Isles, a bay on the east coast of the
island of Georgia, so called from a great number
of small islands in and before it. Long. 37° 30
W., lat. 54° 3' S.
Bay Color, a sort of red inclining to chest-
nut, is formed from the Latin baius, and that from
the Greek PaioQ, a palm branch ; so that badius
or bay properly denotes color phoeniceus. Hence,
among the ancients, the horses now called bays,
were denominated equi palmati.
Bay, Plum. See Guaiava.
Bay, Rose. See Oleander.
Bay Salt, a variety of common salt, (muriate
of soda), obtained from sea- water, and which is
thought to possess peculiar advantages for curing
provisions. In the bay of Biscay, on the shores
of the Meditermnean, and in the Bahama islands,
the process for procuring it is thus simply car-
ried on : — ^An artificial pond is formed, of ten
inches or a foot deep, and carefully lined with
clay, at some convenient distance from the sea,
so that one end may have a ready communication
by means of a sluice, for the purpose of filling
when necessary, while at the opposite end the
brine pit communicates with smaller and 'shal-
lower receptacles. In the large reservoir the
sea-water is concentrated by evaporation, from
the action of the sun and air ; and in the smaller
ones the process is completed by removing the
crust of salt as fast as it may be formed. Thus
the salt obtained is deposited in large flattened
octohedral crystals which do not deliquesce, in
consequence of being free from the muriate of
magnesia, with which the common salt is contami-
nated. The process may be considered as one of
iie most ancient applications of chemical princi-
ples, fbr in hot climates, and especially in Egypt^ it
was taught by nature herself. See Pliny lib.
xxxi. cap. 7. Fiance is dms (bmioMd wHt^ «
very profitable article for exportation into oUier
countries. The salt made is of different colony
according to the color of the clay employed in
making the pits. That of the French is brown*
whence it is said comes the denomination of bay
salt, and it 19 usually sold wiAbout further pre-
paration ; though in some places they make il
white by refining it in lai^e nat cauldrons. The
great difiiculty which attends the making '\t in
Great Britain arises from the heat of our lummec
not beitrg sufficiently stroqg to evaporate a great
quantity of sea-water in a small portion of tin^
BAYA, in ornithology, Indian gnMibeaJk, or
Loxica Indica, rather larger than a sparrow, with
yellow brown plumage, yellowish head and feet,
a light-colorea breast, and a conic beaky very
thick in proportion to his body. This bird is
very common in Hindostan ; and described at
surprisingly sensible, feithfui, and docile. In a
sute of nature, it builds on the highest tree which
it can find ; generally on^ the palmyra or Indian
fig-tree, preferring that which overhangs a well
or rivulet. There it suspends its bottle-shaped
nest, so as for it to rode with the wind, and
places it with its entrance downwards, to secure
It from birds of prey. It is taught with ease to
fetch a piece of paper, or any small thing which
his master wants. Almost mcredible tales are
told of its docility ; and it is confidently asserted,
that if a house or any other place be shown to
him once or twice, he will carry a note thither
immediately, on observing a proper signal. They
are also trained by the youths of Bewares to
pluck off the pieces pf gold called ticas, placed
by way of ornament between the eye-brows of
their mistresses, which they brin^ in triumph to
the lover. The flavor of the eggs is said to be ex-
quisite.
BAYAMO, a town on the east part of Cuba,
on the river Estreo, which forms a bay on the
coast, twenty miles below the town. It gives
name to a channel between the small islands and
rocks called Jardin de la Reyna, on the north-
west, and the shoals and rocks which line the
coast on the south-east, simated eighty miles
W. S. W. of St. Jago Long. 70° 50' W., laj.
20° 45' N.
BAYANO, a considerable river of South Ame-
rica, in the kingdom of Terra Firma, and pro-
vince of Panama, which rises in the province of
Darien, and falls into the sea twenty-four miles
from the bay of Panama. Its mouth is in long«
78° 55' W. lat 9° 3' N.
BAYARD (Peter duTerrail de), esteemed by
his contemporaries the model of soldiers and men
of honor, and denooinated * the knight withqut
fear and without reproach,' was descended from
an ancient and noble fiimily in Dauphin^. He
was with Charles VIII. at the conquest of the
kingdom of Naples; where he gave remarkable
proofs of his valor, especially at the battle of
Fomova. He was dangerously wounded at
the taking of Brescia ; and there restored to the
daughters of his host 3000 pistoles, which their
mother had directed them to give him in order to
prevent the house from being plundered. At his
return to France he was made lieutenant-general
of Dauphin^. He fought by the side o( Francis
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BAY
I. !d-(Ke battle of Mtripan ; and that mnce af-
terwards msiMed'on being knighted by nis hand,
after the manner of the ancient 1c nights. The
che?alier Bayard defended Mezieres during six
weeks against Charles V/s array. In 1524, at
the retreat of Rebec (the general Bonnivet having
been wounded and obliged to qnit the field), the
conduot of the rear was committed to Bayard,
who, though so much a stranger to the arts of a
court that he never rose to the chief command,
Was aiwayfi called, in time of real danger, to the
posts of greatest difficulty and importance. Ue
put himself at the head or the men at arms : and
animating them by his presence and example to
sustain the whole shock of the enemy, he gained
time for his countrymen to make good their re-
treat. But in this service he received a wound
which he immediately perceived to be mortal ;
and being unable to continue on horseback,
ordered an attendant to place him under a tree,
with his fece towards the enerdy ; then fixing his
eyes on his sword, which he held up instead of
a cross, he addressed his prayers to dod ; and in
this posture calmly waited the approach of death.
Bourbon, who led the foremost of the enemy's
troops, found him in this situation, and express-
ing his regret and pity at the sight, ^ Pity not
me,' cried the high spirited chevalier, ' £ die as a
^^1 of honor ought, m the discharge of my duty ;
they indeed are objects of pity, who fight against
their king, their country, and their oath.* The
marquis of Pescara, passing soon after, manifested
his admiration of Bayard^ virtue, as well as his
sorrow for his fiite, with the generosity of a gal-
lant enemy ; and finding tlot he could not be
removed with safety from that spot, ordered a
tent to be pitched, and appointed proper persons
to attend him. He died, notwithstanding their
care, as his ancestors for several generations had
done, in the field of battle. Pescara ordered his
body to be embalmed, and sent to his relations ;
and such was the respect paid to military merit
in that age, that the duke of Savoy commanded
it to be received with royal honors in all the cities
of his dominions.
BAY AS, a town at the foot of Mount Amanus,
on the gulf of Issus (now of Scanderikn), the key
to the celebrated defile (the Py W Amanica of
the ancients), between it and Alexandretta
(Scanderiin). The neighboring country is fertile,
and the mountains, in summer time, a delightful
retreat. It is exactly opposite the Ayhs, the an-
aifent iEg», where the survey of the southern
coast of Asia Minor, by captain Beaufort, in
1812, was unfortunately terminated. The Aghlis,
in this and the neighbouring places, have long bid
defiance to the authority of the Porte. See
Beaufort*s Karamania.
BAYAZID, or Bajazid, a city of Turkish
Armenia, in the pachalic of Erzerum, on the de-
clivity of a mountain, the summit of which, as
well as the whole of this place, is strongly forti-
fied. It contains two churches, three mosques,
and an ancient monastery called Kam Rilleesea,
celebrated for its beautiful architecture. The in-
habiunts, who amount to about 30,000, are es-
teemed the most handsome and warlike people in
Armenia. The majority are Turks. Distant fifty
miles S. S. W. of Erivan, and 140 east of Er-
aerum.
BAYEN (Peter),'a celebrated French i
was bom in 1725, at Chalons sur Maine. Hav-
ing received a classical education, he studiitd
pharmacy ; and, during the seven years' war, was
chief apothecary to the French army in Germany.
He was afterwards employed in analysing the
mineral waters of France, on completing which,
he settled at Paris, where he pursued his chemi-
. cal experiments with great reputation, till his
death in 1801. He pursued a tedious but certain
mode of analysing minerals, by exposing then,
without being reduced to powder, to the action
of sulphuric acid at the temperatiue of the atmo*-
{)here; after this action nad continued for a
ength of time, he got by lixiviation the sulphates
formed by the combination of the acid with the
different component elements of the stone. Ue
did not make use of the trituration of the stone
to an impalpable powder, nor its fusion with
caustic potash, which facilitate the actieo of
acids, and which are used with so much advan-
tage at present. The account he has publisiud
of his analysis will, nevertheless^ be instructive
to the chemical student. His chemical tiacu
have been collected in 2 vols. &vo.
BAYER (John), a German lawyer and astzo-
nomer of the latter part of the sixteenth and be-
ginning of the seventeenth century, but in what
particular year or place he was bom, is not cer-
tainly known : however, bis name will be ever
memorable in the annals of astronomy , on account
of his excelleut work, published in 1603, under
the title of Uranoroetria, being a complete celestial
atlas, or large folio charts of ^ the constellatiotts,
with a nomenclature collected from all the tables
of astronomy, ancient and modem. By means
of the Greek letters, which he used as marks of
their relative magnitudes, the stars of the heavens
may, with as great facili^, be distinguished and
referred to, as the several places of £e earth are
by means of geographical tables ; and our celes-
tial globes and aUasses have ever since retained
this method. Astronomers, in speaking of any
star in the constellation, denote it bj saying it
is marked by Bayer, a, or ^, or y, &c. He greatly
improved and augmented this work by jubse^
<^uent study. At length, in 1627, it was le-pub-
lished under a new title, viz. Coelum Stelialum
Christianum, 1. e. the Christian Stellated Heaven ;
or the Starry Heavens Christianised ; in this
edition the Heathen names and charactera, or
figures of the constellations, were rejected^ and
others taken from the scriptures, were inserted
in their stead, an innovation, however, too great
for general reception. In later editions of bis
work (in those of 1654 and 1661), tke ancieot
figures and names were restored.
Bayer (Theophilus Sigfred), a learned philo>
loger and antiquarian, bora at Kooigsberg in
1694, applied himself successfully to the stody
of the eastem langua^, particularly the Chi-
nese, of which he acquired a great knowledge. —
When about tw^ity-three years. of age^ he was
appointed librarian at Komgsbeig. In 1726 he
accepted of an invitation to Petei^urgh, and was
there made professor of Greek and Roman anti-
quities. In 1730, he published a very curious
and learned work, entitled Museum Sinicum, in
2 vols. 8vo. He died at Peterabuigfa in 1733.
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689
BAYEUX, A considerable town of France
(the Beducusnm and Bajoce, of ancient geograr-
phy), in the department of Calvados, and lale
province of Normandy. It was formerly the ca-
pital of Bessin, and is still a bishop's see, whose
jurisdiction extends over ail the department. The
cathedral chureh if accounted one of the finest in
France^ and contains a celebrated piece of tapes-
try, representing the conquest ot England by
William I., supposed to have been the work 6f
his queen Matilaa. It consists of a web of linen,
442 feet in length, and about two feet in breadth.
It is situated on the river Aure, four miles from
the English Channel; and carries on a good
trade in com, cattle, hemp, and butter, as well
as in its own manufactures of lace, camblets,
dockings, and leather. Inhabitants about 10,000.
Bateux (George), an advdcate at Caen, who
obtained theprize from the academy at Rouen for
a poem on Filial Piety. He translated the Fasti
ofOvid, on which he added valuable notes,
printed in 4 vols. 8vo. He wrote also Reflec-
tions on the Reign of Traian, 4to. He was,
however, unfortunate, and having been impri-
soned at Orleans, fell in the massacre which took
place there in 1792.
BAYLA, or Bela, a town of Persia, capital
of Ae district of Lus, in the province of Mekran.
It is sititated on the north-east banks of the river
Pooralie, and about a third of it is surrounded
by a good mud wall. It consists of above 2000
mad and wood houses, of which 250 or 300 are
inhabited by Hindoos, who are well treated
here. Bayla is, on the whole, a neat town, the
residence of the jam, or chief of Lus, who seems
dependent on the khan of Relat. His durbar,
or ball of audience, is a very ordinary apartment.
l^e cemetery of the jam and his family contains
several curious tombs, ornamented with black
and white pebbles, arranged in short quotations
from the koran, and encircled with wreaths of
the same substance, which produce a pleasing
efiect. Distant 293 miles north of Kelat.
BAYLE (Peter), author of the Historical and
Critical Dictionary, was bom November 18,
•1657, at Carlat, in France, where his &ther John
Bayle was a protestant minister. lu 1666 he
went to the protestant universilv at Puylaurens,
and in 1669 removed to that ot Toulouse, whi-
ther protestants at that time frequently sent their
children to avail themselves of the learning of
the Jesuits ; but heic, to the great grief of his
father, he embraced the Romish religion; being,
however, soon sepsible of his error, he left that
university, and went to study at Geneva. After
this he was chosen professor of philosophy at
Sedan ; but that protestant university beine sup-
pressed by Louis j^IV. in 1687, he was obliged
to leave the city, and was soon after chosen pro-
fessor of philosophy and history at Rotteraam,
vrith a salary of about £45 a year. In 1682 ap-
peared his Letter concerning Comets. And
Father Maimbourg having published his History
of Calvinism, wherein he endeavours to draw
upon the protestants the contempt and resent-
ment of the catholics, Mr. Bayle wrote a piece
to. confute it. The reputation which he had now
acquired, induced the States of Friezland, in
1684, to offer him a professorship in their ut^^ver-
Vol, hi.
sity ; but he wrote them a letter of thanks^ and
declined the offer. This same yea? he began to
publish his Nouvelles de la republique des Le't-
tres. In 1686 he was drawn into a dispute with
the &mous Christina queen of Sweden. His
Journal for April had noticed a printed letter,
supposed to have been written by her Swedish
majesty to Chevalier deTerlon, wherein she con-
demns the persecution of the protestants in
France ; and had observed, that her tolerant spirit
was ' a remainder of protestantism/ This pro-
duced a letter to the philosopher, from that sin-
gular woman, in which she says, ' You express
so much respect and aiSection for me, that I par-
don you sincerely ; and I would have you know,
that notliing gave me offence but that remainder
of protestantism,, of which you accused me. I
am very delicate upon that head, because nobody
can suspect me of it, without lessening my glory,
and injuring me in the most sensible manner.
My fortune, my blood, and even my life, are en-
tirely devoted to the service of the church ; but
I flatter nobody, and will never speak any thing
but the truth.' Mr. Bayle replied in a subsequent
number of his work, to that princess's entire satis-
fact ion. The persecution which the protestants at
thistimesuffered in France affected Mr. Bayle ex-
tremely. He made occasionally some reflections
on their sufferings in his journal; and sometime
afterwards he published hb Commentaire Philo-
8ophi(|ue upon these words, 'Compel them to
come m;' and in the year 1690 appeared his fa-
mous Avis aux Refugiez, &c. which so excited
the anger of M . Jurieu, that he charged the auAor
with being a traitor against the state. Bayle
retorted with the utmost severity, and Jurieu re-
plied with equal bitterness; till at last the
magistracy of Amsterdam enjoined the contro-
versialists not to publish any thing against each
other before it had been examined by Mr. Boyer,
the pensionary of Rotterdam. In Nov. 1690,
Bayle advertised a Scheme for a Critical Dic-
tionary. Thepublic not approving his fir^tplan> he
threw it into a different lorm; and the first v(v-
lumevras published in August, 1695, the second
in October following. The work at last was ex-
tremely well received by the public; but it en«-
gaged him in fresh disputes, particularly with
M. Jurieu and the AbM Renaudot. Jurieu
endeavoured to engage the ecclesiastical assem-
blies to condemn £e dictionary; and presented
it to the senate sitting at Delft, but they took no
notice of the afihir. The consistory of Rotter-
dam granted Mr. Bayle a hearing; and after
having heard his answers to their remarks,
declared themselves satisfied. Jurieu made
another attempt witii the consistory in 1698; and
so far prevailed with them, that they exhorted
Mr. Bayle to be more canttouf with regard to
his principles in the second enlarged edition of
his dictionary, which was p^blia^ed in }702.
Bayle was a most inde&tigable writer. In one
of his letters to Maizeaux, he says, that since his
twentieth year, he hardly ren^embers to have had
any leisure. His intense application contributed
to impair his constitution, and to increase a pul-
monary disorder which had cut off several ot his
family. Judging it to be mortal he would take
no reipedies, He died tl^ twenty-eighth of De^
2 Y
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cember, 1706, after he had been writing the
greatest part of the day. Voltaire says of the
Critical Dictionary * it is tlie first work of the
kind in which a man may learn to think ;* and
remarks, that ' the decree of the parliament of
Toulouse, when it declared his will >'alid in
France, notwithstanding the rigor of the laws,'
added, < that such a man could not be considered
as a foreigner/ Bayle, however, has been more
correctly characterised as a sophist rather than a
philosopher. With great powers of distinguish-
mg truth from falsehood, he pushed enquiry into
universal doubt, and remained in doubt because
he thought indifferentism to tnith a virtue, and
therefore cultivated it. In private life he is said
to have been an unassuming and temperate man;
but his vmtings abound with the bigotry of
scepticism, and contain not a few uncharitable in-
sinuatioris against that religious zeal which he
never felt: moreover, he is notoriously indeli-
cate, and seems as if laboring to atone for dis-
tracting by debauching the tyro's mind. Lord
Lyttleton finely expostulates with him under
Uie assumed character of Mr. Locke, in his Dia-
logues of ^je Dead, vol. ii. Dialogue 24. p. 315.
* You have endeavoured,' says this excellent
writer, 'and with some degree of success, to
shake tliose foundations, on which the whole
moral world, and the great fabric of social hap-
piness, entirely rest; how could you, as a philo-
sopher, in the sober hours of reflection, answer
for this to your conscience, even supposing you
had doubts of the truth of a system, which gives
to virtue its sweetest hope, to impenitent vice
its greatest fears, and to true penitence its best
consolations ; which restrains even the least ap-
proaches to guilt, and yet makes those allowances
tor the infirmities of our nature, which the stoic
pride denied to it, but which its real imperfec-
tion, and the goodness of its infinitely benevo-
lent Creator, so evidently require V
BAYLY (Lewis), author of the Practice of
Piety. lie was bom at Caermarthen in Wales,
educated at Oxford, made minister of Evesham
in Worcestershire, about 1611, became chaplain
to king James, and was promoted to the see of
Bangor in 1616. His celebrated book was de-
dicated to Charles, prince of Wales; in 1734 it
had reached the fifty-ninth edition. He died in
1632.
BAYMES (John), an English lawyer, bom
at Middleham, in Yorkshire, in 1758. He re-
ceived the first part of his education at Rich-
mond school, and afterwards went to Trinity
College, Cambridge, from whence he removed
to Gray's Inn. He became a member of the
Constitutional Society, and wrote a number of
anonymous pieces, chiefly political, in prose and
verse. There las also been attributed to him an
Archaiological Letter on the subject of the poems
printed by Chatterton under tlie name of Row-
Icy, addressed to dean Milles. He proposed the
rcpubAcation of lord Coke's tracts, a design
prevented by his death in 1787.
Bayn£s ^Sir Thomas), an English physician,
bom about 1622, was educated at Christ's Col-
lege, Cambridge, where he applied to the study of
physic. He afterwards became professor of
music at Gresham College; and travelled with
Sir John Finch to Italy and Constantinople. He
died at Constantinople in 1681, mudi lamented
by his companion, who survived him but a short
time. They left between them £4000 to Christ's
College.
BAY'ONET,t;.&n. ¥t, hn^fonette. A short
sword or dagger fixed at the end of a musket, by
which the foot hold ofi* the horse, so called be-
cause the first bayonets were made at Bayonne,
in France.
One of the black spots is long and slender, and re-
•emblcs a dagger or bayonet. Wcviumrd.
Yon send troops to aabre and bagfomtt us into tub-
mission. Bidke.
Not a single head
Was spared — three thousand Moslem* periah'd hei^.
And sixteen haifomeU pierced die i«nukier. i^/nm.
Yoa shonld but give few cartridges to tnch
Troops as are meant to march with greatest glory ml
When matters most be carried by the touch
Of the bright boffonst, and they all should hurry <ni.
They sometimes, with a hankering for esusteaee,
I^cp merely firing at a foolish distance. Id,
The town was entered : first one *^""»t^ made
Its sanguinary way good — ^then another.
The reeking bayonet and the flashing blade
Clashed 'gainst the scimitar.
Bayonets were formerly made widi a roond
handle fitted to the bore of a firelock, and
to be fixed there after the soldier had fixed ; bat
they are now made with iron handles and rings,
that go over the muzzle, and are screwed £sst, so
that the soldier fires with his bayonet on the
muzzle of his piece, and is ready at onoe to act.
This use of the bayonet festened on the mozzle
was a great improvement, first introduced by the
French ; to which, according to M. Folaxd, they
owed a great part of their victories for some time
afterwards ; and to the neglect of this, in sue-
ceeding wars, and trusting to their fire, the sane
author attributes most of the losses they sus-
tained. Of late the bayonet has come into very
general use ; and some battles have been won l^
it without' firing a shot. It was modi encou-
raged by Frederick the Greet, who caused an
inch and a half to be added to the length of the
Prussian bayonet.
A French writer, in a work entitled L*£ssu
g^n^ral de la Tactique, has proposed a method
of exercising soldiers in a species of fencing or
tilting with this weapon. But, as another very
sensible author, Mauvillon, in his £ssai sor I'lft-
fluence de la Poudre i Canon dans I'Axt de la
Guerre Moderne, justly asks, ho'w can any man
tilt or fence with so cumbrous an instniment and
so difiicult to be handled, as the firelodc? It
seems probable that great advantage may be ob-
tained by a person who has been tanght to use
such a weapon scientifically, when coDtmding
with an individual; but the niceties of pairyin?
are not applicable to the charge in line ; a fim
grasp ana a quick and steady thrust are iriiat is
required.
BAYONNA, a well-built town of the pro-
vince of Galida, in Spain, sitaated on a small
bay of the Atlantic. It contams a coUe^ate
church, a Franciscan convent, and a hospital »
and is defended by a castle, with a governor,
and a small garrison. The inhabitants obtain
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BAZ
their livelihood by fishing. The Hay of Dayonna
forms part of the Gulf of Vigo, nine miles south-
west of Vigo, and twelve north-west of Tuy .
Bayokna Isles, or Islas de Set as de Bay-
on a Ef D'EsTEUis, two small islands, with a
number of insular rocks, situated in the Atlantic,
at the entrance of the Bay of Bayonna, o£f the
coast of Galicia, in Spain. They wete <»lled by
the ancients Insuls Deorum, or the Isles of the
Gods, and lie six miles N. N. W. of Bayonna.
BAY'GNNE, a rich, populous, and flourishing
commercial town of France, in the department
of the Lower Pyrenees. It is seated near the
mouth of the Adour, which forms a good har^
hour, and is divided into three parts : the great
town on this side the Nive ; the little town be-
tween the Nive and the Adoor ; and the suburbs
of St Esprit, chiefly inhabited by Jews, beyond
this last nver. A citadel, constructed by Vauban,
on the top of an eminence in the suburb, com-
mands both the harbour and the town, which
are iurther defended by small redoubts. A
wooden drawbridge, whidi allows vessels to pass,
and where a smul toll is levied, connects the
suburbs with the town. The ancient cathedral
is remarkable for the height of 4he nave, and the
delicacy of the pillars which support it. The
quay is an elegant and frequented promenade ;
but the most b^utiful part of the city is the Place
de Grammont The bishop was formerly suf^
fragran of the archbishop of Auch; he is now
under the archbishop of Toulouse, and exercises
jurisdiction over three departments, those of the
Upper and Lower Pyrenees and of the Landes.
Bayonne, before the revolution, was the seat of a
provincial tax-office, and court of justice. At pre-
sent it is the largest though not the chief town of
the Lower Pyrenees, and £e head of the most west-
em arrondissement, which consists of seven can-
tons, and contains 70,000 inhabitantSr^An extensive
commerce is carried on here with Spain, in which
French and foreign goods are given in exchange
for wood, iron, fruit, and the precious metals. The
principal of die roarititae trade is the cod and
iwhale fishery ; in these branches from thirty to
forty ships of 260 tons average, were lately emr
ployed. Masts and cdier wood for ship-build-
ing, brought from the Pyrenees, are exported to
Brest and other ports of France. Hams, wines,
and chocolate, are exported in great quanuties to
Various parts. The military weapon called the
bayonet was invented here in tne seventeenth
century. The language of the people is the an-
cient Biscayan or Basque, lorty-four miles
W.N.W. of Pau, and 518S.S.W. of Paris.
Long. 1« 24' W., lat. 43** 29' N. Inhabitants
about 13,000.
Bayonve Bay, or La Mer des Basques, a
part of the Bay of Biscay washing the shores of
the district of Labour in the south of France.
BAYREUTH, or Babeith, a principality of
Oerroany, formerly included in the Circle of
franconia ; now forminff a part of the kinedom
of Bavaria. It is bounded by the Upper Pala-
tinate and Bohemia on the east, and by the ter-
ritories of Nuremberg and Anspach south. Its
extent is estimated at 1760 square miles, and its
population at 200,000 souls. Qberland is a
nUiy region * the climate is cold, and much of
the soil barren, but it still afibrds good pasturage,
and black cattle of a superior breed and sheep
are reared here. The lower division, Unter-
land, is flat, and in some parts sandy; but
affords much fertile soil, and good crops of grain
and tobacco. The last is sent in great quantities
to Hamburgh and Bremen. Bayreutn is not
destitute of minerals ; iron and marble are found
in Gberland ; flax also constitutes a considerable
production here, in spinning and working which
into linen as well as into lace, a large portion of tlie
population is employed. At the peace of Tilsit,
Buonaparte appropriated this principality and an-
nexed it to the kingdom of Bavaria in 1810.
The tipper division is included in the Circle of
the Maine, the lower in that of the Rezat.
Bayreuth, or Bareith, the capital, is si-
tuated near the Maine, and is a handsome town
with broad and regular streets, entered by six
gates. Among the public buildings which de-
serve notice, are the old and new castles, the
convents and churches, the barracks, the mint,
and the gymnasium. Its chief manufactures are
cloth, c^ulhenware, and tobacco-pipes. It is
about fifty miles north of Augsburg, in N. lat.
49° 54', and E. long. 11° 17'
BAYS, in antiquity. See Bay.
BAYZE, Bays, or Baize, was first intro-
duced into England, with says, serges, &c. by
the Flemings; who, being persecuted by the
duke of Alva for their religion, fled hither about
the fifth of queen Elizabeth's reign ; and had
afterwards peculiar privileges granted them by
act of parliament 12 Charles II. 1660. The ex-
portation of bayze was formerly much more con-
siderable than now, the French having learnt to
imitate it. The English bayze, however, is still
in request in Spain and Portugal, and even in
Italy.
BAY^ZE. See Baize.
BA2^, or Ba9a, a town of Spain. See
Ba.9a.
Baza, IIoya de, See BA9A.
BAZ'AAR, n. t, Persian buzzard the market,
now written bazaar, in the commercial language
of the East Indies. A constant market ; a kind
of covered market.
This noble city (Caahan) is in conpasv not less
than York or Norwich, about four thousand families
being accounted in her. The houses are fairly l^uilt.
The buMwar is spacious and uniform, fnmxslied with
silks, damasks, and carpets of silk.
Sir T. Herberfi TraoOi, (edit. 1677 p.) 223.
Bazar, Bazaar, or Basar, a denomination ori-
ginally given by the*Turks and Persians to a kind
of exchange, or places where their finest stufis and
miscellaneous wares are sold. These are also called
bezesteins. The word is of Arabic origin, where
it denotes sale, orexphfloige of goods. Some of the
eastern bazars are open, like the market-places in
Europe, and serve for the same uses, particu-
larly for the sale of the bulky commmodities.
Others are covered with lofty ceilings, or domes,
pierced to give light ; and in these the jewellers
and other dealers in rich wares, have their shops.
The bazar of Ispahan is one of the finest places
in Persia ; yet, notwithstanding its magnificence,
it is excelled by the bazar of Tauris, which is the
largest that is known, having several times held
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BAZEEGURS.
30,000 men ranged in order of battle. At Con-
stantinople there are an old and new bazar,
which are large square buildings, covered with
domes, and sustained by arches and pilasters ;
the former chiefly for arms, harness, and the like;
the latter for goldsmiths, jewellers, furriers, and
all sorts of manufactures. See Aleppo.
BAZAS, a town of France, in the department
of the Gironde, and late province of Guienne.
It is built on a rock, and lies thirty miles south-
east of Bourdeaux. Inhabitants about 5000. It
was formerly the bishop's see of a very extensive
diocese.
BAZAT, or Baza, in commerce, a long fine-
spun cotton, whicl) comes from Jerusalem, whence
it is also called Jerusalem cotton.
BAZEEGURS, a tribe of Indians, inhabiting
different parts of Hindoostan, and recognised by
several appellations, as Bazeegnrs, Panchperees,
Kunjura, or Nuts ; they follow a mode of life dis-
tinguishing them from the Hindoos, and abstain
from intermixing their &milies with them. The
name Bazeegur is said to signify a juggler, and
some etymologists find a derivation of conjuror
from kunjura. They are found partly in wander-
ing tribes, and partly adhering to fixed resi-
dences.
The Bazeegurs are divided into seven castes,
Charee, Athbhyeea, Bynsa, Purbutteei Kalkoor,
Dorkinee, and Gurgwar ; but all the castes inter-
marry. Their own historical traditions trace
their descent from four brothers, who, finding it
difficult to provide for their followers, resolved
to separate, and direct their course respectively
to each quarter of the woiild; in consequence of
which, one of them, named Sa, arrived in Bengal,
from Gazeepour or Allahabad. His first abode
was at Hoogly, and having governed his tribe
peaceably during many years, he died at (Jncour-
poor. Sa left three sons who succeeded each
other, and the succession regularly passed through
several generations, and to Munbhungee, about
fifteen or twenty years ago. At t^at time, some
of the castes considered a woman called Toota as
tlieir chief; but the power ascribed to her seems
merely nominal. > Munbhungee, however, would
not suffer any of Toota*s people to remain in the
territory occupied by his sect; and the latter
were equally jealous of the former.
The features of the Bazeegurs do not decidedly
differ from those of other tribes around them.
Some of their women are reputed beautiful, and
are by no means scrupulous in forming tempo-
rary alliances. They are Mahommedans in food
and apparel; some traversing the country as
Maliommedan Fakeers: a particular association
among them has been accused of sacrificing
human victims. Those called Panchperees seem
to venerate a female deity. Kali, probably the
sanguinary goddess of the Hindoos. The Bazee-
gurs, properly so called, are circumcised, and
have priests to officiate at their marriages and
funerals, but their knowledge of the system of
Mahomet is very imperfect. They seem to
acknowledge an omnipotent being, and believe
that all nature is animated by one universal
spirit, to which the soul, as a portion of it, will
after death be united.
The marriage ceremony among them begins
by the bridegroom repairing to Ae but of hit
elect, and calling alowi for her Id be delivered to
him. A near relatipn, guarding the door« resists
his entrance, and pushes him away, whfle he is
the object of taunts and jocularity; at last the
bride is brought forward. Both now receive the
exhortation of a priest to practise mutual kind-
ness, and che bridegroom, marking the bride's
face witli ochre, dedares her his wedded wife,
and she, on her part, does the same in return.
The little fingers of their hands are .now joined,
and a scene of merriment commences from which
the bride alone is spared. This conaistB chiefly
in the progress to intoxication, for these people
are addicted to the most immoderate use of
spirits ; and after copious libatiooiiy a cavalcade
is formed of the whole party, which moves on to
the hut of the bridegroom. Several euigmaiical
ceremonies are performed before tiie door ; the
mother of the bridegroom advances with a :aeve
contaiiiing rice, paint, and grass, with which the
foreheads of the couple are touched, afler being
vraved around them; and the bride is led into the
house, before which there stands a small fresh
branch of the mangoe tree in an earthen pot of
water. In the evening tlie bride is conducted to
her own hut^ when the sober friends of the parties
retire ; but the majority, and generally with ifae
bridegroom among them, pass the night in a
state of insensibility on some neighbouriog plain.
The chief occupation of both the male and
female Bazeegurs consists in feats of address and
agility to amuse the public. The former are
very athletic, and the women are taught a species
of lascivious dancing. The men are also jugglei8»
tumblers, &c. The people of each set, or drsr
matis persooe, go out under a sirdar, or manager
of a company, for a definite period, generally a
year ; but no person can establish a set of actors
without permission from the Nardar Boatsh, or
chief of tne Bazeegurs, who receives a proportion
of the profits. Each of five seu at Calcutta has a
subordinate sirdar or ruler. These sirdars and the
chief, apparently constitute a court for the trial of
infrin|rements of these regulations ; and if, on ap-
plication of the tongue to a piece of red-hot iran,
a suspected person be burnt, be is declared
guilty of a fraud, which is expiated ^ a fiae, or
by the additional punishment of having hk nose
rubbed on the ground. The fine being paid, it
affords a new opportunity for gratifying the
strong propensity implanted in these people lor
ardent liquors. Sometimes differences are the
subject of reference to a larger assembly; wbeie*
before commencing the businef% both platBtiir
and defendant must provide a quantity of spirits
proportioned to the importance of die taae; the
party non-suited bears the whole expense^ and
the assembly is regaled with the beverage pro-
duced.
Some of the females practise physic, aad cup-
ping, and perform a kind of tattooing on the
skin of the Hindoos of their own sex. The men,
besides their usual occupations, collect medidDal
herbs, and a certain bua, ^e latter is dried, and
the former prepared by their wives as curatives,
especially of female complaints : thus they find
employment in the towns, in such vocations, or
by the sale of 'trinkets, though bodi aflford bat a
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BE
precarious subsistence. Some tribes also exhibit
wild beasts to the vulgar, or offer mats fabricated
by themselves for sale.
A striking coincidence has been remarked in
the mode ci life, the Tocations, manners, and
lan^age of the different sects, of these people
and those of the gipsies scattered over Europe
and Asia. Both the Bazeegurs and gipsies have
a chief or king; each has a peculiar language,
bearing some reciprocal analogy, and different
from that of the people among whom they reside.
Ill India, and m Europe, they are equally an
itinerant race; their pursuits, in so 'far as modi-
fied by the manners of countries distant from eacli
* other, are alike; for the discrepancies they exhi-
bit may reasonably be ascribeci to an insensible
acquisition of the habits of. those near whom the
vafioas tribes of mankind dwell. They are
equally indifferent as to the quality of the food
serving for their subsistence; and equally igno-
latit of systematic religious principles. All pre-
serre the strictest adherence to their own sect,
and sedulously abstain from intermixtures or
intermarriages with those of every nation : and
-wbere infringements of these rules are seen,
they ai« to be ascribed more to necessity than
hielination. Another resemblance, which has
ptobably been lost in the lapse of time, is sup*
posed to- consist in the three-stringed viol, intro-
duced into Europe by the jugglers of the t3th
oentnry, which is exactly similar to the instru-
ment now used in Hindostan. On uniting and
combining the whole features of resemblance, it
does not seem unlikely, that if Asia is their ori-
ginal country, or if they have found their way
mm Egypt to India, they may also have emi-
gfated farther at a period of remote antiquity,
and reached the boundaries of Europe.
BAZGENDGES, in natural history, a sub-
stance used by the Turks and other eastern na^-
tions in dyeing scarlet. They mix it for this
pnrpose with cochineal and tartar, in the propor-
tion of two ounces of hazgendges to one of
cochineal. It seems to be no other than the
koms of the turpentine tree. They are found
also in China. Many things of this kind were
aent over to Mr. Gcoffroy at Paris from China,
as the substances used in the scarlet dyeing of
that country, and they all proved to be the same
with the Syrian and Turkish bazgendges, and with
the common turpentine horns. The lentbk, or
mastic tree, also produces horns of a similar
kind; alt being occasioned by the pucerons,
which make their way into the leaves, to breed
tb«ir young. See Reaumur^s History of Insects,
▼ol. vi.
BDELLA, in zoology, a genus of the class
anchnides, order acem, family Rtcinie. Generic
character: palpi very slender, filiform bent,
having a seta at the extremity ; eyes four ; hind
feet the longest.
BDELLIUM, n. s. Gr. ^aeXXiov, Heb.
nVtS. An aromatick gum brought from Hie
Levant, used as a medicine and a perfume.
Bdellium is mentioned both by the ancient na-
turalistSy and in Scripture; but it is doubtful
whether any of these be the same with the modem
kind.
This bdellium is a tree of the bigness of an olive »
whereof Arabia hath great plenty> which yieldeth a
certain gum, sweot to smell to, but bitter in taste,
called also bdellium. The Hebrews take the loadstone
for Mtf/Ztum. Raleigh.
Bdellium is a gummy resinous juice, pro-
duced by a tree in the East Indies, of which we
have no satis&ctory account. It is brought into
Europe, in pieces of different sizes and figures,
externally ot a dark reddish brown, somewhat
like myrrh ; internally it is clear, and not unlike
glue. If held in the mouth, it soon becomes
soft and tenacious, sticking to the teetli. Laid
on a red-hot iron, it readily catches flame, and
bums with a crackling noise, and in proportion
to its goodness it is more or less fmgrant. Near
half of its substance dissolves either in water or
in spirit of wine ; but the tincture made with
spirit is somewhat stronger and much more agree-*
aole. Vinegar, or verjuice, dissolves it entirely.
The simple gum is a better medicine than any
preparation from it. Though one of the weakest
of tne deobstruent gums, it is sometimes used as
a pectoral and an emmenagogue with advantage.
Some authors suppose the word translated bdel-
lium (Gen. ii. 13) signifies a precious stone;
others fine crystal or steel ; and Bochart insists
tliat it denotes pearls, numbers of which are
fished near the mouth of tlie river Pison, in the
gulf of Persia.
BE, 17. ) This verb is so remarkably irre-
Be'ing, n. i gular, that it is necessary to set
down many of its terminations :
Present. I aw, thou art, he is, we are, &c.
eom, eajit, ip, ajion, Sax.
I was, thou wast or wert,
Preter \J^^' ^^»
^hewas,wevtere,iijc^
paji psjrum, Sax.
The conjunctive mood,
J be, thou heest, he he, we he, &c.
beo, bip:, beo, beon. Sax.
Its etymology is as uncertain as its forms are
irregular. Ihe simple words to which be is
prefixed, are used also in their simple form as
verbs. When employed as an auxiliary, it ren-
ders the verb passive. As a prefix, it appears in
many instances to give emphasis to the applica-
tion of the simple term. As to bedaub, to bepraise,
to besmear, ana particularly, say tlie compilers of
the Encyclopedia Metropolitana, when derision
or contempt is intended, as becvrl, in Search ;
hemuffle,%LQ. in Sterne; beprose, in Mallet; be-
scutcheon, betagged, in Churchill; betailed, in
Goldsmith. To exist, to have existence. It is
also used in our old language, for the preposition
by, and also for the participle been.
And who so saith, and weneth it he
A jape, or els a nicete.
To wene that dremes after fal.
Let who so liste a fole me call ;
For this trowe I and say for me^
That dreames signifiauncp be
Of gude and harme to many wightcs.
That dremen in hir sleep a nightes.
Full many thlnges covertly.
That jSalltn titer opeply.
Chaucer. RomamU of the Rote.
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<m
BEA
Before xhh world's great frame, in which all things
Are now contain'd found any beemg place,
lliat high eternal pow'r which now doth move
in all these thin^, movM in itself by love.
Spemer, Hymn on Heaoetdy Lev0.
Sel. Aye hopeless
Ta have the conrtesy your cradle promis'd.
But to be still hot summer's tanlings and
The shrinking slaves of winter.
GUI. Than he to,
BeUer to oease to he. ShaHupettte,
Awake ! arise ! or he for evet fall'ki. Milkm,
The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heav'n.
What matter where, if I 6s still the same.
And what I should be, all but less than he.
Whom thunder had made greater '. Here at least
We shall he free. Id,
Neither did thy wisdom herein proceed in time
only ; but in degrees \ at first thou madest nothing
absolute \ first thou madest things which should have
being without life ; then those which should have life
and bein^ ; lastly, those which have being, life, and
reason : so we ourselves in the ordinary course of
generation, first live the life of vegetation, then of
sense, and reason afterwards. HaU. Con,
O Happiness ! our heing*9 end and aim !
Good, Pleasure, Ease, Content, whate'cr thy name ;
That something still which prompts the eternal sigh.
For which we bear to live, or dare to die ;
'^'hich still so near us, yet beyond us lies ;
O'erlook'd, seen double by the fool and wise.
Pepe, Euay on Man,
Men would he angels, ahgels would Be gods \
Aspiring to be gods if angels fell.
Aspiring to be angels, men rebel.
And who but wishes to invert the laws
Of order, sins against th' Eternal cause. Id,
Tot who, to dumb fbrgetfulness a prey.
This pleasing, anxious, bemg e'er resign'd,
Left the warm precincts of the cheerfiol day.
Nor cast one longing, ling*ring look behind.
Gray's EUyg m a Country Churchyead,
From courts and thrones return, apostate praise \
Thou prostitute ! to thy first love return.
Thy first, thy greatest, once unrivalled theme.
Back to thy fountain ^ to that parent power,
WliO gives the tongue to seuud> the thought to soat ,
The soul to be. Young,
This is the bud of b»mg, the dim dawn \
Life's theatre as yet is shut> snd death.
Strong death, alone can heave the massy bar.
This gross impediment of clay remove.
And make us embryos of eaistenoe free. Id,
Count o'er the joys thine hours have seen.
Count o'er thy days firom anguish free
And know whatever thou hast been
Tis something better not to he, Byron.
BEACH, n. "j It is not to be found in
Be'ached, adj, > any of our early lexicons.
Beachy. j Dr. Johnson offer* no ety-
mology. Serenius givea the Goth, hackar, sig-
nifying the same as beach. The £ncy. Metro,
ventures to conjecture that it is derived from
beag (from higan vel hugatij to bend, to wreathe)
^vhatever girds or surrounds. The shore, parti-
cularly that part that is dashed by the waves.
The loose stones that lie between the waters*
edge and the main land.
The fishermen, that walk upon the 6eacA,
Appear like mice. Shaktpeare, King Lear,
Timon.hath made his everlaatiog maasioii
Upon the beached verge of the salt fl«Hxl ;
Which, once a day, with his embossed froth
The turbulent surge shall cover.
The beachy girdle of the ocear
Too wide for Neptune's hips. Id,
What ! are men mad ? Hath nature given them eyes
To see this vaulted arch, and the rich crop
Of sea and land, which can distinguish 'twi&t
The fiery orbe above, and the twinn'd stones
Upon the number'd beach ? And can we not
Partition make with spectacles so precious
^wixt fair and foul? M
Deep to the rocks of hell the gathered beaek
They fasten'd, and the mole immense wrought on
Over the foaming deep. JUiUem.
They find the washed amber further out upon the
beachei and shores, where it has been longer exposed.
Nor far remote
A broken tofch->-i-an oarless boat —
And tangled on the weeds that heap
The beach where shelvinf^ to the deep-
There lies a white capote !
'Tis rent in tvain — one dark-red stain
The wave yet ripples o'er in vain.
Byron, Bfide of Ahydae
6each Hill, an ancient artificial moontv
north of Coupar in Angus, on which justice is
said to have been fonnerly administered in thtf
open air. From the top of it there is a delight-
ful prospect of the meandering of the Isla, through
a fertile and extensive champaign country, varie-
gated with fruitful fields and thriving Tillages.
Some Roman urns have have been found on ihii
mount.
BEACHLEY, or Old Passage, a point of
land at the confluence of the Wye and Sems,
Gloucestershire ; which from its insulated positioo
has always been considered an important militaty
post. Earth works of ancient British origin are
still remaining ; and it is the terminating point of
Offals dyke. Here the Royalists, whom prince
Rupen had sent forth to fortify Uie point in the
wars of the commonwealth, were dislodged with
great loss^ and afterwards defeated in a pitched
battle. Tlie rovalbt commander. Sir John Wyn^
tour, is said to have escaped by a hazardous leap
from a cliff, still called WyntouT*s Leap.
BEACH Y'-IIEAD, on the coast of Sussex. It
js known to sailors by the name of the Seven
Cliffs. The summit of the higliest cliff, which
is also the highest in the south of England, is
575 feet from the base. From this promontory
to Arundel the hills are called South Downs,
and are oelebnted as sheep walks. On the
west side of Beachy*Head is an artificial ca^
vem, named Parson Darby*s Hole ; consisting of
two apartments, just above high water mark,
dug out of die soUd chalk. Tradition asserts it
to have been the residence of a recluse, who was
minister of East Dean.
BE'ACON, i;. &n.^ Sax. beacon, fiora
BE'ACONEn, > been, a signal, and bee-
Be'aconage. 3 nan, whence beckon, to
make a signal. Skinner thinks it is derived
from the Ang.-Sax be, and cennan, to ken, to
see. Any thing so placed, says the Ency. Mel.,
that it may be kenn'd, seen, or distincuisbtd ;
intended as a sign, notice, or warning, is a Ufa-
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con. Its specific description connects ^ith it
instantaneous firing, in the moment of alarm from
an enemy ; or of a constant light in tlie darkness,
to direct navigators in their course, and warn them
from rocks, shallows, and sandbanks.
Hii blazing eyes, like r«ro bright shining shields.
Did bum with wrath, and sparkled living firo j
Ail two broad beoeoiu set in open fields
Send forth their flames. Spetuer. Faerie Queene,
Modest dottbt is call'd
The heaeoH of the wise. Shaktpeare.
The king seemed to account of Perkin as a May-
game; yet had given order for the watching of
beacvru apon the coasts, and erecting more where
they stood too thm. Bacon.
No flaming beacont cast their blaze afar.
The dreadful signal of invasive war. Gajf^
On the top of the steeple there remains an iron
pitchpot, designed as a beacon, to be fired occasionally,
to alarm the country in case of invasion. It takes
its name from the Saxon becnian, to call by signs.
PentuMt'i Tour from Chetter, Hoadley Clatrch,
Wherefore, among other reasons, a suit for beacon-
age of a beacon standing on a rock in the sea, may bo
brought into the court of Admiralty, the admiral
having an original jurisdiction over beaeong.
Blackstone, Comment, III.
The haven hums with; many a cheering sound.
The heaeont blase their wonted stations round.
Byron*
Tbe bat builds in his haram bower ;
And in the fortress of his power
The owl usurps the beacon tower.
Id. Cfiuowr.
Beacons anciently were intended as signals
for the better securing the kingdom fit>m foreign
invasions.— See Signal. On certain eminent
places of the country were erected long poles,
whereon were fastened pitch barrels to be fired
by night, and to smoke by day, to give notice in
a few hours to the whole kingdom of an ap-
proadnng invasion. These served to communi-
cate intelligence as rapidly as the modem inven-
tion of the telegraph. We find beacons frequently
used amon^ the pri^mitive Britons and Western
Highlanders. The besieged x^pital of one of our
northern isles in the third century lighted up a
fire upon a tower, and Fingal knew * the green
flame edged with smoke ' to be a token of attack
aiid distress, (Ossian, vol. i. p. 195). There
are to this day several cairns or heaps of stones
upon the heights along the coasts of the Harries,
on which the inhabitants used to burn heath as a
signal of an approaching enemy.
Beaqons on the sea coasts, for guiding and
preserving vessels at sea, by night as well as by
day, are erected by the king's authority, being a
branch of the royal prerogativG. The king lias
the exclusive power, by commission under his
great sea), to cause beacons, light-houses and sea
marks to be erected in fit and convenient places,
as well upon the lands of the snbiect, as upon
the demesnes of the crown: which power is
usually vested by letters patent in the office of
lord high admiral. And W statute 8 Eliz. c. 13.
the corporation of the Trinity-bouse are em-
powerea to set up any beacons or sea-marks
wherever .they shall think' them necessary ; and
if the owner of the land or any other person
BEA
shall destroy them, or shall take down any
steeple, tree, oj other known sea-mark, he shall
forfeit £100, or, in case of inability to pay it,
shall be ipso facto outlawed.
Beaconage, a tax paid towards the main-
tenance of a beacon.
Beacon-Hill, a high rock in the parish of
MuthO, in Perthshire, irom whence a nre in the
night might be seen at the distance of fifty miles
east. The top of it is fiat, and covered with
ashes to a considerable depth. It is within two
miles of Strageath, and may be seen from Camp's
Castle, and from almost every part of a Roman
road, which runs from Strageath for several miles
eastward, in a straight line, to the parks of Gask,
where there are still tlic remains of a Roman
station. From all which it is evident that it has
been a place of signals, and hence derived its
name. It is also called Eagle's Craig.
Beacon-Hill, 1. a hill in Essex, on the south
side of the mouth of the port of Harwich, with a
light-house on it : 2. another in Wiltshire, be-
tween Mariborough and Sandy-Lane.
BEACONSFIELD, a town of Buckingham-
shire, seated on a hill in the road between Lon-
don and Oxford ; eight miles from Marlow and
Uxbridge, and twenty-five W.N.W. of London.
It has a market on Thursdav, and two fairs,
February 13th, and Holy Thursday. In its
vicinity was the residence of the poet Waller, at
Hall Bam, and of Edmund Burke, at Butler's
Court. The duke of Portland's seat, Bulstrode,
is also within a short distance. Population
about 1736.
BEACUL, a town and fortress of Hindostan,
in South Canara, on a point of land projecting
into the sea. It consisu of about 100 houses.
Long. 75° 9' E., lat. 12° 22' N.
BEAD, -N From bedcy Ang. Sax.
Bead'roll, fa prayer; the past parti-
Beai/s'man, ' Vciple of biddan, ontrcy to
BeadsVoman, i bid ; to invite ; to solicit ;
Beads'bidding, J to request ; to pray : head
is likewise a small globe, or ball of glass, or
pearl, or other substance; a number of these,
strung upon a thread, are used by Papists to
count their prapers. BeadroU is a catalogue of
prayers, or^ perhaps, originally a list of those to
DC prayed for in church, afterwards any list.
Beademany a prayer man, commonly one who
prays for another. From this use beaiU obtained
their name, which are now any small globular
body, and most frequently used to denominate
the little balls which are threaded and worn
about the neck for ornament.
A paire of Mm eke she here
Upon a Isee, all of white threde.
On which that she her bedee bede :
Bat she ne booght hem nevre a dele.
For they were given hire, I wot wele
God wote of a fall holie frere.
That said he was her father deve.
To whom she hod oftener went
Than any frere of his covent. ChMoet,
Where that old woman day and night did piay
Upon her beades dovoady penitent ;
Nine hundred Patcr-nosters every day.
And thrice nine hundred Aves the was wont to say ^
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^iid ttt avgnflttl her painAd [
Thrice cveiy diy in uhet •))« did sil^
And next her ^vrinUed skin rough aaokdoth w<
And thrice three times did fast fzom any bit.
696
BEA
An holy hoe|Mt«],
In which seven beadtmen, that had Yowtd all
Their life to service of high heaven's king.
Faane QtieeM,
It vas a friar of ohlers gimy
Walk'd forth to tell his head*^
And lie met with a lady fair.
Clad in a pilgrim's weeds. Old BaUad.
With scarfs, ilnd fans^ knd double chjUge of brav'iy.
With amber bracelets, btads, and ail such knavery.
iSKoJbpears.
Thy spirit witLhi thee hath been so at war»
That beads (tf sweat have stood upon thy brow. Id,
In thy danger
Commend thy grievance to my holy pfayer ;
For I will be thy beadsman, Valentfne. Id.
The king, for the better credit of his espials abroad,
did use to hdve th£>m cursed by name amongst the
beadfoU of the king's enemies. Baeoa's Hemy T//,*
'Twal sach a hountie
And hontmi' done to yout* poore bedes toofiMM,
I know not how to owe it, but to thanke you.
Bern Jmmm. The Sad Shepherd,
Several yellow lamps of amber, almost like beads,
with one side flat, had fastened themselves to the
bottom. Boyle,
Bring the holy watef hither.
Let us wash and pray together :
When our beads are thus united,
then the foe will fly a&igbtrd. Herrich,
For who would fob a hermit of his weeds.
His few books, or his 6eadf, or maple dish.
Or do his gray hairs any violence. MUtotk, Cemas,
Then might ye see
Cowls, hoods, and habits, with their wearers tost
And fluttered into rags ; then reliques, beads.
Indulgences, di8penses> pardons, bulls.
The sport of winds. Milton's Paradise Lost,
While the disjointed abbess threads
The giogling chain-shot of her beads* UanaB,
Tell your beads, says the priest, and be latrly
truss'd up.
For you surely to*night shall iis paradise "sup.
Prior, Timrf and Cordelier.
He taketh candle, beades, and holy watere.
And legends eke of saintes, and bookes of prayere ;
He entereth the room, and looketh round about>
And haspen the door to haspen the goblin outk
Qay, Iwaiaiim of Chmue$r,
Thy voice I seem an every hymn to hear.
With ev'ry bead I drop too eoft a tear. Po^w.
Much is the Virgin teas*d, to shrive them free
From crimes as numerous as her headsmea be.
. Bt^om.
Bead, in architecture^ a round moulding,
commonly made upon the edgie of a piece of
stuff) in the Corinthian and Roman orders, cut
or carved in short embossments, like bead^y in
necklaces. A plain bead is sometimes set on the
edge of each iaocia of an architrave, and some-
times also an astragal is thus cut. It is not
uncommon to place a bead on the Limng' board
of a door-case, or on the upper edges of skirting
boards.
Bead, in assaying, the small lump or mass
of pMre metal separated from the scoriae, and seen
disliiiet «iid.pttm in llie middle Itf Ike cupd
while in the iKre. Tlta% in «ep«rftiii|^flaTcr from
its ore by neaas ef lead, fhesiNer fettain^llie
ibrm of a bead, when the lead, tethadbdbie
assisted in the operation, is redcMced to scoria.
In this process, the bead of silver must be takn
out of the cupel as soon as it is observed to be
pure, lest, gowing eold, it tifaoald be oonghti-
nated to ^ cupel or lithaige. This bead, when
the assay is properly made, is aiwayy porous on
the under tfide. See AdsaTiire.
BtADS, in commerce, those glass glomes
tended to tbe satages on tiie coast of A&ia;
thus dcisomitwted, beosuse they an stnmg to-
gether for the convenietice of traffic.
Beads, in devotiond exercises, are much used
by Romail Catholics, as in rehearsing and num-
bering their Ave-Marias and Patfrr-oosters ; and
a similat practice prevails aiaong Ae derrises
and other religious thronghout fte East^ as well
Mahomm^aii as Heathen. The ancient Draids
appear also to have had their beads, many of
vrhich are still found ; at least, if the conjectures
of an ingenious author may be ddmitted, who
takes tliose antique glass globules, having a snake
painted toaiid them, and called adder-beads, or
snake-buttonsy to have been the beads of cor
ancient Druida.
Beads, Biddivo op the, a diarge giva by
the Romish priests to their parishioners, at cer-
tain times, fo say so many Palef-nosten upoo
their beads for a soul departed.
Beads, used in necklaces, are niade of taiioos
materials, such as steel, garnet, coral, diamoid,
amber, crystelj pastes, &c. The eommoD bbck
glass of which beads are made for necklaces, fcc
is. colored with manganese only: one pan of
manganese is sufficient to give a Uadc color to
near twenty of glass.
BEA'DLE, \ Sax. b^rt^ell, a messenger;
Beadle'ship. ) Fr. ledtau^ Span. Mf/, l>nt
bedelie. Junius derives it from Mdem, beadaM^
to bid, to tell, to order; because be prodaims
and executes the will of his superiors, Beadk-
shw is the office of a beadle, it occurs in Wood*!
Athens Oxon. vol. ii. fol. 388.
A dog'B obey'd in office.
Thou rascal beadle, hold thy bloody hand :
Why dost thou lash that whore t Shak^esrt,
And I, fonooth, in love !
I that have been love's whip :
A very beadU to a hnmonrous sigh,
A critick ; nay, a night^waU^ constable. J^-
They ought to he taken care of in this eoudiiioOf
either by the heaHe or ^ magiittatcu I^mMW.
Their common loves alevrd abandoned pack.
The beadU^s lash still flagrant on their back.
Pnsr,
Beadle is also used for an officer in universi-
ties,-whose place is to vralk before the masters
at all public processions, &c. with a msoe.
Spelman, Vossius, and Sumpc^i^ dehva bndle
from the Saxon i in which senae biahona, in aome
ancient Saxon manuscripts, are callea beadles of
God, Dei bedelli. The translator of the Saxon
New Testament renders exactor by bidele; and
the word is used in the same sense in the lavs ol
Scotland.
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Bbadli is obiefly appUed in Scotland to those
dnudi officais wbo keep the keys of the cfaiiidifis
and seatS) and occasionally attend the ministeis
and kirk sessions, in the exercise of their paiochiai
duties. The office is somewhat similar, tfaougii
not in ereiy lespwif to that of Churdi Warden
in England.
Bead-Makebs, called by the Freodi patei^
nostriersy are those «mployed in the making,
stringing, and selline of beads, for devotbinl
purposes. At Paris, before the rcTolation, there
Drere three companies of bead'-mAkers; one ^o
made them of glass or crystal; anodierof wood
and horn; aUd the thiod of amber, coral» jet,
&c.
Dlun-PaoOF, a term used by distilleifs to ex«
press that Sort of proof of the standard strength of
spirituous lit^uors, which consists in their having,
when shaken in a phial» or poured from on high
into a glass, a ci^own of buboles, which stand on
the surface some time after. This is esteemed a
proof that the spirit consists of equal parts of
Rectified spirits ahd phlegm. It however is a
fallacious rule as to the degree of strength in the
goods ; because aby thing that will increase the
tenaci^ i>f the spirit, will give it this nroof,
though it be under the due strengtlu
Beao-Proof. a method of ascertaining the
strength of spirituous liquors, invented by Mr.
<Brown of Glasgow. It consists of a number
of soiall glass globules, or beads, marked so as
to correspond with the degrees of a hydrometer.
These beads have a small glass cylinder appended
to them, which, being ground with emery, tbey are
brought to the degree of lightness required. They
are put up in a box, and being thrown into any
spirituous liquor, at a medium temperattirei say
sixty degrees of Fahrenheit, the bead which re-
mains suspended in any part of it denolea the
specific navity or the proportion of spirit it con-
tains. Thus No. 1. remams suspenaed in any
part of distilled water^ of the required tempera-
ture,, whidi is the standard from which the pro-
portion of spirit is computed. No. 32. remains
suspended in any part of pure alkohol i and all
the intermediate beads indicate various propON
tions of water and spirit in the mixmre. When
these beads are maae with accuracy, they seem
to afford a more eas^ method of ascertaining tiie
strength of spirits than any yet invented. See
Hydrometer.
BEA'GLE. Fr. biglts, perhaps from the Itel.
piccolo^ q. d. rani piccoti^ smaller dogs. A small
hound with which hares are hunted.
Shm'a • ftM^ fcra»4M«d, and one that adores rat.
The rest were variotu hantingt.
The graccfal goddeti was array'd in green ^
About her feet were little beti^ §een.
That watch'd wilh upward eyes the motions of their
queen. Drjfdm't Ftblet.
Tb plains with well-bred heagtci we repair.
And tcace the mans of the circling hare. Pcpe,
Already see the deep-moirth'd beagUt catch
The tainted mazes ; and, on eager sport
iLteat, with emulous impatience try
Bach doabtfol trace. Arnutrvng^
Bbagle, in zoology, a valuable dog^ kept etv-
tirely for hunting hares ; they are of small size,
inferior to the hare in swiftness, but possess a
very delioate stent ; and when thev have found
her, seldom (ail of running a hareiiown.
Bfjlgles are of various kinds, as the sontnem
beagle, somediing less and shorter, but thicker,
than the deep mouthed hound ; the fleet northern
or cat beagle, smaller, and of a finer shape than
the southern, and a harder runner. From these
two, by crossing, is bred a third sort, held pre^
ferable to either. To these may be added a still
smaller sort of beagles, scarce bigger than lap-
dogs, which make pretty diversion in hunting
the coney, or eveii the small hare in diy weather ;
but are otherwise unserviceable by reason of their
size.
BFAK', •% Ang.-Sax.;)yc<7n,Ger./7icA»fi,
Beak'ed, f to pick or peck, lite heak^ says
Beak'er, rthejSncyclopediaMetropolitana,
B^AK-HEAD. J is that whicn picketh or peok-
eth. It is applied generally to whatever is
pointed or sharp. Thus the bill of a bird is
called its beak ; the cup called a beaker, derives
its name from the shape of its spout. But the
Dutch beker Vossius derives from the Lat. bucan,
and thus bacar or baccar^ says the just mentioned
authority, is perhaps from Baccha, It means a
vessel or cup for wine. This is a little forced.
The term beak is now used to signify the fore-
part of a ship. In the ancient galleys it was a
piece of brass like a beak, fixed at their end, with
which they pierced their enemies. It is also
applied to a snoe peculiarly constructed, and to a
prominence of land.
Father^ I tweave by Ibis* golden heake.
Mere fair aad radiant is my bonny Hate,
Then silver Xaathns, when he doth embrace
The raddy Simois at Ida's feet fF%«MoM.
A little wren in btahe with lanrell greene that flew,
Foreshew'd my doleful death, as after all men knew.
Mimr^ Mag'mtraittB,
His rojal bird
Pfunes the immortal wing, and cloys his heak.
As when hk god is pleaa'd.
Shahpeare, CywMim.
I hoarded the king's ship, now on the beak.
Now in the waist, the deck, in eveiy cabin. Id.
The floating yessel swam
Uplifted, and secure with betthed prow.
Rode tilting o'er the waver.
MUilum, Pmradite Loii.
Be asked the waves, and ask'd the felon winds.
What hard mishap hath doom'd this gentle swaiu ?
And question'd every gust of ragged wings
That blows from eflf each hetJxd promontory :
They knew not of his story ;
And sage Hippotades their answer brings, .7
That not a blast was from his dungeon stray'd :
The air was calm, and on the level brine
Sleek Panope with all her sisters play'd.
/d. Lycidat
Him thought, he by the brook of Cherith stood i
And saw the ravens with their homy beaku.
Food to Blijah bringing ev'n and mom.
/d. PmraUm KegainBi»
With boiling pitch, another near at hand,
Frnrn friendly Sweden brought, tho seams instops \
Which well laid o'er, the salt sea waves withstand,
A-ud shako them from the rising beak in drops.
Drgdtm.
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BEAM.
The magpi«> ItgKting on tho ttock,
Stood chatt'ring with inoeMant din*
And ^th her h$ak gave many a knock.
And into pikea and motqaeteers
Stampt beaJien, cups, and poxringeit.
Budiknu.
With dnleet b(»v'iage thii the beaker crown'd.
Fair in the midft, with gilded copt aronnd.
Pope» Od§fieeg*
The hooked beak of the hawk-tribe, neparatet the
flesh from the bones of the animal which it feeds upon,
almost with the cleanness and precision of a dissect-
or's knife. Pale^$ Natwral TJMogg.
It is as if the desart bird.
Whose beak unlocks her bosom's stream^
To still her famish'd nestlings* scream,
Nor mourns a life to them transferr'd ;
Should rend her rash devoted breast.
And find them flown her empty nest
Byron* Giaom,
Beak, id ancient military a£fairs, was used for
one of the battalia, or forms of ranging an army
for battle, particularly by the Mac^onians.
Deak, in architecture, a little fillet left on the
edge of a larmier, which forms a canal^ and makes
a kind of pendent chiny answering to what
Vitruyius calls the mentum.
Beak, in farriery, denotes a little horse-shoe,
turned up, and listened in upon the fore part of
the hoof. It is used to keep the shoes fast, and
to prevent them from being sticuck off by the
horse, when by reason of any itch, or being much
^disturbed by the flies in hot weadier, he stamps
his feet violently on the ground.
Beak, in ornithology : from the form and struc-
ture of tlie beaks of birds, linneus divides this
whole family, or general class of animals, into six
■orders. See OaKiTHOLOCY.
Beak, or Beak-head, of a ship, that part
without the ship, before the forecastle, whicn is
•fastened to the stem, and is supported by the
main knee. It b usually carved and painted,
which adds beauty to utility. The beak, called
by the Greeks cfi/SoXov, by the Latins rostrum, was
an important part in the ancient ships of war,
which were hence denominated naves rostrats.
The beak was made of wood, but fortified with
brass and fastened to the prow, serving to annoy
the enemy*s vessels. Its invention is attributed
.to Pisaeiu, an Italian. The first beaks were made
long and high; but afterwards a Corinthian,
named Aristo, contrived to make them short and
strong, and placed so low as to pierce the hostile
vessels under water. By the help of these, great
havoc was made by the Syracusans in the Athe-
nian fleet.
Beaked, in heraldry, a term used to express
the beak or bill of a bird. When the beak and
legs of a fowl are of a different tincture from the
body, we say beaked and membered of such a
tincture.
BEALE, a river of England, which runs
through part of the counties of Sussex and Kent,
and falls into the Medway.
Be ALE (Mary), particularly distinguished by
her skill in painting, was the daughter of Mr.
Craddock, minister of Walton-upon-Thames,
and learned the rudiments of her art from Sir
Peter Lely . She painted in oil, water-oolots, aod
crayons, and had much business ; her poitraits
were in &e Italian style, which she acquired by
copying pictures from Sir Peter Lely's and the
royal collections. Her master, says Mr. Walpole,
was supposed to have had a tender attachmeot to
her ; but as he was reserved in commumcating to
her all the resources of his pencil, it probably
^his a gallant rather than a successful one. Dr.
Wood£dl wrote several pieces to her honor, niider
the name of Belisia. Mrs. Beale died in Pall-
mall in 1697, aged 65. Her paintings have much
nature, but the coloring is stiff and heavy.
BEALSBURG, a town of the United States
of America, in Kentucky, seated on the east bank
of the Rolling-fork. It is fifteen miles W. S. W.
of Bairdstown, fifty south-west of Frankfort, aod
890firom Philadelphia.
BEALT, Bealtu, or Bcilth, a town of
Brecknockshire in South Wales, pleasantly
seated on the river Wye. It is ninety-two miles
from Chester, sixteen north of Bredmock, and
171 from London.
BEAM, n. ") BagiM^ Goth, hem, Ang.-
Beamuke, adj, >Sax. a tree; the etymology
Bea'my. 3 uncertain; the applications
are varions. See our scientific articles under
this tenn.
Als ttraught as ony lyne
Within a beme that fro the contree dyvme,
Scho pcrcyng throw the firmameut extcndit.
To ground agayne my spirit is deacendit.
Jamee L Kvgi ^Aaiir.
With that at him his beamAUte speare he ayioed,
And thereto all his powre and might applyde. Sfom.
The staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam.
lOna
Poise the cause injustice' eqaal aeales.
Whose beam stands tore, whose rightful caaie pc-
vails. SMapMff
The building of living ci«atares is like the boiUiig
of a timber house ; the walls and other psita have
colanuis and beame, but the roof is tOe, or ksd, or
So much they could with their chariots by sm ud
exercise, as riding on the speed down a steep hiU, tt>
stop suddenly, and with short rein torn swifUy» bov
running on the beam, now on the yoke, then is the
seat. JfittMw BiA,l£^'
He beav'd, with more than human foice, to bo**
A weighty stone, the labour of a team.
And rais'd from thence he reach'd the aeighb^
Jutuma heard, and, seis'd with mortal fear,
Forc'd from the beam her brother's charioteer. ^
His double-biting axe, and beamg spear ;
Each asking a gigantic force to rear. A* ^'^'
Rouse ficom their desert dens the bristled isjie
Of boars, and beam^f stags in toils engage. U* ^^
And Uught the woods to echo to the stream
His dreadful challenge, and his clashing bsm.
Jkekm.
Upon a beam aloft he sits.
And nolds and seems to think by fits. Gag. Faii^
The pilot's fair machinery strews the deck;
And cards and needles swim in floating vicck;
The balanced mizeo, rending to the head,
In streaming ruins from the mar};in fled.
The sides oonvulsive shook on groaning 1
And rent with labour, yawn'd the pithy i
• Fateener.
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699
BEAM, V. n.
Bea'mlem,
Kea'my.
StO(
J an J
Ang.-Sax. beamum, to thiae,
> emit rays, as from tlie sun ;
i any thing radiant.
Is augbt on earth so pretious or deare
As praise and honour? or is ought so bright
iind beautiftile as glories htamet appeare.
Whose goodly light than Phosbns lampe doth
shine more clear t • ■ Spemer,
Kow shaU e wonn, on dost that aawlt and feeds,
riinb to th' empyreal cout, where these sUtes reign.
And there take view of what heavVs self exceeds ?
The eonlese stars, these lights the son distain s
Their bmmt divine, and beauties do excel
Whet here on earth, in air; or neav'n do dwell :
Such never eye yet saw, such never tongue ran tell.
Fletcher't Purple Jiiand,
Pile ten hiUs on the Taxpf'ian rock>
That the precipitation might down stretch
Below the beam *of sight.
Skahtpecare. Cariolamm,
Sank though he be beneath the wat'ry floor ;
So sinks the day-star in the ocean bed.
And yet anon repairs his drooping head.
And tricks his beamt, and with new spangled orc^
Flames in the forehead of the morning sky ;
So Lycidas sunk low> but mounted high.
MiUm, Lpeidoi.
Vo sun to cheer us but a bloody globe.
That rolls above, a bald and beamleu fire.
Drydenand Lee,
What modes of sight betwixt each wide extreme.
The mole's dim curtain, and the lynx's beam. Pope,
Truth bids me look on men, as autumn's leaves.
And all they bleed for, as the summer's diist.
Driven by the whirlwind : lighted by her beamt,
I widen my horiion, gain new powers.
See things invisible, feel things remote.
Am present with futurities ; think nought
To man so foreign as the joys possest,
Nought so much bis as those beyond the grave.
Yomg,
Attempered suns arira,
8weet-&Mia'd and shedding oft thro' lucid clouds
A pleasing calm, while broad and brown below,
Extensiye harvcals hang the heavy head.
ThomtmU Scaeont,
The ghastly form.
The lip pale qniv'ring and the beamiest eye.
Id,
But lo! from high Hymettus to the plain.
The queen of night asserts her silent reign.
Ko murky vapour, herald of the storm.
Hides her fair face, nor gilds her glowing form \
With cornice glimmering as the moon-dcvniM play.
There the white column greeU her grateful ray.
And bright around with quivering beatnt beset
Her emblem sparkles o'er the minaret.
Bjfreti, Ceftabr.
O Peace, thy injured robes upbind !
O rise, and leave not one behind
Of all thy btam^ train.
CUItm'« Ode to Peace,
One cultivated spot Uiere was, that fipread
Ita flowery bosom to the noon-day beam.
Where many a rose-bud rears its blushing head.
And herbs for food with future plenty team.
Beattie't Miiutr^,
Ream, in architecture. Some of the best au-
thors have considered the force or strength of
beams, and brought their resistance to a precise
cakulatiou: particularly M. Vari«;non and M.*
Parent. The system of the latter is as follows
When^ in a beam breaking parallel to its base
which is supposed to be a parallelogram, two
planes of fibres, which were before contiguous^
are separated, there is nothing to be considered
in th<Me fibres, but their number, bigness, ten*
sioQ before Uiey broke, and the lever by which
the^ act : all these together make the strength or
resistance of the beam to be broke. Suppose
then another beam of the same wood, where the
base is likewise a paralleloGtram, and of any big-
ness, with regard to ti)e other, the height or
thickness of each of these wheu laid horiiontal,
being divided into an indefinite number of eqiuil
parts, and their breadth into the same number,
^n each of tbeifr bases will be found an equal
number of little quadrangular cells, proportion-
ate to the base whereof they are parts. These
then will represent little bases, or, which is the
same thing, the thicknesses of the fibres to be
separated by the fracture of each beam : and,
since the number of cells is equal in each, the
ratio of the bases of both beams will be that of
the resistance of their fibres, both with regard to
number and thickness. Now the two beams be-
ing supposed to be of the same wood, the fibres
most remote from the points of stipport, which are
those which break first, must be equally stretched,
when they break. Thus the fibres, e. g. of the
tenth division, are equally stretched in each caee,
when the first breaks ; and in whatever proportion
tlie tension be supposed, it will still be tlie same
in both cases ; so that the doctrine is entirely free
and unembarrassed with any physical system. —
Lastly, the levers whereby the fibres of the two
beams act, are represented by the height or depth
of their bases ; and of consequence the whole re-
sistance of each beam is the product of its base by
its height; or, it is the square of the height mul-
tiplied by its breadth : which holds not only in case
ot paralfelograinmatic, but also of elliptic bases.
Hence, if the base of two beams be equal, though
both their heiglits and breadths be unequal, their
resistance will be as their heights alone ; and, by
consequence, the same beam laid on the smallest
r de of its base will resist more than when laid flat,
in proportion as the first situation gives it a greater
height than the second t and thus an elliptic base
will resist more when laid on its greatest axis,
than when on its smallest. Since in beams equally
long the bases determine the proportion ot their
weights or solidities, and since their bases being
eaual, their heights may be different, two beams
ot the same weiffht may have resistances differ-
ing to infinity : Uius, if in one the height of the
base be supposed infinitely great, and the breadth
infinitely small, while in the other the dimensions
of the base are infinite ; the resistance of the first
will be infinitely greater than that of the second,
though their solidity and weight be the same. If,
therefore, all that was required in architecture
were to have beams capable of supporting vast
loads, and at the same time to be of the least
weights possible, it is plain'they must be cut thin
as laths and laid edgeways. If the bases of two
beams be supposed unequal, but the sum of the
sides of the two bases equal, e. g. if they be eitlier
12 and 12, or 11 and 13, or 10 and 14, &c. so
that they always make 24 ; and hirtner , if ib^
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BEAM.
be supposed to be laid edgeways ; pursuing the se-
ries, It will appear, that in the beam of 12 and 12,
the resistance will be 1728, and the solidity or
weight 144: and that in the last, or 1 and 23,
the resistance will be 529, and the weight 23 :
the first^ therefore, which is square, will have less
than half the strength of the last, with reeard U>
its weight. Hence M. Parent remarks, that the
common practice of cutting the beams out of trees
as square as possible is reprehensible : he hence
takes occasion to determine geometrically) what
dimensions the base of a beam to be cut out of
any tree proposed shall have, in order to its be*
ing of the greatest possible strength ; or, which is
the same thing, a circular base being given, he
determines the rectangle of the greatest resistance
that can be inscribed ; and finds that the sides
must be nearly as 7 to 5, which agrees with oI>-
servation. Hitherto the length of the beams has
been supposed equal; if it be uneqttal, the bases
will resist so much the les!>, as the beams are longer.
To this it may be added, that a beam sustained at
each end, breaking by a weight suspended from its
middle does not only break at the middle, but
also at eadi extreme; or, if it does not actually
break there, at least immediately before the mo-
ment of the fracture, which is that of the equili-
brium between the resistance and the weight, its
fibres are sis much stretched at the extremes as in
the middle. So that of the weight sustained by
the middle there is but one-third part which acts
at the middle to make the fracture ; the other two
only acting to induce a fracture in the two ex*
tremes. A beam may either be supposed only
loaden with its own weight,'or with other foreign
weights applied at any distance, or else only with
those foreign weights. Since, according to M.
Parent, the weight of a beam is not onlinarily
above one-seventieth part of the load given it to
sustain, it is evident that in considering several
weights, they must all be reduced by the com-
mon rules to one common centre of gravity.
M. Parent has calculated tables of the weights
that will be sustained by the middle in beams of
various bases and (eng^hs, fitted at each end into
walls, on a supposition that a piece of oak of an
inch square and a foot long, retained horizon-
tally by the two extremes^ will sustain 3151b. in
its middle before it breaks, which it is found by
experience it will.
Beam, in heraldry, is used to express the main
horn of a hart or buck.
Beam, in hunting, the main stem of a deer^s
head, or that part which bears the antlers, royals,
and tops ; the little streaks whereof are called
circles.
Beam, or Roller, in weaving, is a long and
thick wooden cylinder placed lengtliways on the
back part of the loom of those who use the shut-
tle. The threads of the warp of linen or woollen
cloth, serges, or other woollen stuffs, are rolled
upon the beam, and unrolled as the work goes
on. That cylinder on which the stuff is rolled,
as it is weaved, is also called the beam or roller,
and is placed on the fore part of the loom.
Beam of a Balance, is that piece of iron or
wood, somewhat bigger towards the middle than
at the ends, where there are boles, throush
which run the ropes or strings which hold tne
scales; the beam is dirided into tiro«qiiaX puts
by a needle placed over it perpendiettiKly, and
the centre of jsotioa must be frfaced a little ^ve
the centre of gravity, that the beam may rest
exactly in an horizontal position. See Balavcs.
Beam of an Anchoe. The straight part or
shank of an anchor, to wh4ch the hxMrics are
fastened.
Beam of a Plough, a name given by our
fanners to the great timber of the plough, hito
which all the other parts of the plottglMaii are
fixed. This is usually made of am, and s
straight, and eight feet long in the conmioii
plough : but in the four-^ouUered plough it is
ten feet long, and its upper part is arched. Ihe
head of this beam lies on the pillow of the
plough, and is raised higher, or sunk lower, as
that pillow is elevated or depressed by being
slipped along the crow-staves. Near tiie middk
it nas an iron collar, which recetres the tow
chain from the box, and the bridle chain from
the stake or gallows of the plough is fixed in it
a little below the collar. Some inches balow tins
there is a hole, which lets'' throuo;h ihe' coulter;
and below that there are two ouer smadl ones,
through which the heads of the retches pass
These are the irons which support the sheet, and
with it the sliare. Farther backward stiU is a
larger perforation, through which the body of the
sheet pasoes; and behind that, Teiy near the ex-
tremi^, is another hole through which the pieo»
called the hinder-sheet passes. See Husbasdrt.
Beams of a Ship are the large main crass
timbers, stretching from side to sidle, which bold
the sides of a ship from felling together, and
which also support the decks and orlops of the
ship. The main beam is that next the main masi;
ana irom it they are reckoned by first, second,
and third beam. The great beam is also oaBed
the midship beam. There are usually twentr-
four beams on the lower deck of a ship «if seventy-
four guns, and to the other decks adoitioDal ooes
in propevtion as the ship lengtfiens above.
Hence the following phrases in sea language :-
B£am, Before the, signifies an arch of the
horizon comprehended between the line of the
beam, and that point of the compass which she
stems.
Beam, on the, in sea language, denotes any
distance from the ship on a line with the beams,
or at right angles wiln the keel. Any object thai
lies east or west when the ship steers nofthward,
is said to be on the starboard or larboard beam.
Beam, on the Weatbxr, signifies on the
weather side of the ship.
Beam-amtles, the oranch of a dfier's hom
next the head.
Beam-bird. See Motacilla.
Beam, Camber. See Cambra Beam.
Beam Feathers, in frdconiy, the longest
feathers of a hawk's wing.
Beam-fillino, in arehitecfeure, the filiing up
the vacant space between the aising plate and
roof with stones or bricks, laid between the raft-
ers on the aising phOe, and plastered oo with
loam; this is frequtsit where the garrets are not
pargeted or pla^itered.
BEAMINSTER, a market town of Dois^
shire, in England, seated on the river Birton, six
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BEAN.
701
*Ueft horn Bridport, ukI 141 west of London.
A considerable mviufactory of sail cloth, and
also of iron and copper floods, is carried on here.
It yns nearly destroyed by fire in 1645 and 1686,
and suffered severely from the same cause in
1781. Population 2290.
BEAN, \ Saxon bean, bien, a well
Bean'fed, > known vegetable. Etymology
Bean'shaped. y unknown. Junius derives it
from the Greek wvavw vel irvavoc; but assigns
in our opinion a veiy unsatisfeetoty reason — ^so
catted because they produce blood. And what
food does not?
E«t God wot that May thought in hire hette,
WhoB aho him mw up sittittg in his thirt,
la his night cap, and with his necke lene :
She praiseth not hii playing worth a 6sns.
Chmeer.
And worso than that bajco meat there did remain
To comfort her when ihe her house had dtght.
Sometime a barley-corn, sometime a bean.
For which she laboured bard both day and night.
I jest to Oberon and make him smilc^
When I a fat and ftsone-fed horse beguile,
Keighhig in likenesse of a silly foale.
Shaktpears,
L6ng let us walk.
Where the breeze blows fimm yon extended field
Of bloesom'd Uant, TMem$m, "Spru^,
On tuniitM feast whene'er yen please.
And riot in my hemm and pease. (7«^« Faikt,
Why does the pea put forth tendrils, the bean not ;
but because the stalk of the pea cannot support itself,
the stalk of the bean cani PiUej^
Bean. The old method of choosing king and
queen on Twelfth-day^ was by having a bean
aod a pea mixed up in the composition of a
cake. They who found these in their portion of
cake, were constituted king and queen for the
evening.
Now, now the mirth comes.
With the eake full of plums.
Where beane't the king of the spoit here ^
Besides we must know«
The pea also.
Must rerell as queene in the court here.
Heniek'M Hetper,
Cut the cake", who hath the fteone shall be kinge \
and where the <pease is she shall be queene.
NiehaVi Pngreuee,
You Okay imagine it to be twelfth day at night,
and the bean found in the comer of your eake, but it
is not worth a vetch, I assure you.
Man. New Wend. Am, Dr, 272.
Beans. * Three blue beam in a Uue bladder.'
What is the origin of this whimsical combination
of words, it may not now be easy to dbcovefi
but at least \i is of long standing.
F. Hark, doesH ratde t
S. Tes, like three blue beam in a blue bladder,
rattle bladder, tattle.
on Fortmaiut. Ane, Dr, III, p. 128.
Prior has it in his Alma : —
They say
That putthkg all his words together
Tis three bine beam ia one Uae bladder.
Oami. I. V. 36.
Bean, in botany. See Vicia.
Beaks, in antiquity, were applied to various
uses. The ancients made use or beans hi gathar-
ing the votes of the people, and for the election
of magistrates. A white Ijean signified absolu-
tion, and a black one condemnation. Bean» had
a mysterious use in the lemnialia and parentali;»;
where the master of the family, after washing,
was to throw a sort of black beaus over his head^
still repeating the words, 'I redeem myself and
Ihmil^ by these beans.' Ovid gives a lively
descnption of the whole ceremony in verse. Abh-
stinence from beans was enjoined ny Pythagoras,
one of whose symbols is, jcva/ioy avixi^Oai, ab-
stine a &bis. The Egyptian priests held it a
crime to look at beans, judging the very sight
nnclean I The flamen dialis vras not permitted
even to mention the name. The precept of Py-
thagoras has been variously interpreted: some
understand it of forbearing to meddle in trials
and verdicts, which were then by throwing beans
into an urn ; others build on the equivoque of
the word jtva/ioct and explain it by abstinence
from sexual pleasures. Clemens Alexandrinus
Sounds the abstinence from beans on this, that
ey render women barren: which is repeated
by TheophrastuSf who extends the effect even to
plants. Cicero suggests that beans are great ene-
mies to tranquillity of mind. For a reason of
this kind it is, that Amphiarus is said to have
abstained from beans, even before Pythagoras,
&at he might enjoy a clearer divination by
dreams.
Beans, in dietetics, are said to be nutritive,
but flatulent. The . horse-bean has been often
urged as a succedaneum for coffee, which in
principles it much resembles ; only that it con-
tains out half the quantity of oil. Mr. Boyle
describes several experiments of beans treated
pnenmatically to show the great plenty of air tiiey
afford, on which their flatulency is supposed to
depend. The expansion of beans in growing,
the same author found so considerable, that it
would raise a plug clogged with above an hun-
dred pounds weight.
Beans, in fiuriery. See Farriery, Index.
Beans, in fishing, with proper management,
make the finest of all baits. The method of pre-
paring them for that purpose is this: take a new
earthen pot glazed on the inside, boil some beans
in it, suppose a quarter of a peck : they must be
boiled in river water, and should be previously
steeped in some warm water for six or seven
hours. When they are about half boiled, put in
three or four ounces of honey, and two or three
grains of musk ; let them boil a little on, then
take them off the fire. They are to be used in
this manner: seek out a clean place where there
are no weeds, that the fish may see and take the
beans at the bottom of the water. Throw some
in at five or six in the morning, and in the even-
ing for some days. This will draw them to-
getlier, and they may be taken in a casting net in
great numbers.
Bean, Boo, or Bean, Buck. See Memtak-
THES.
Bean, Caper. Fabago. A plant. See Zt-
GOPBYLLUM.
BsAN-€0^, a small fishing-vessel or pilot-boat^
common on the sea coasts and in the rivers of
Portugal. It is extremely sharp forward, having
its stem bent inward above into a great curve;
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BEAR
the stem is alio pbled on the fore side with iroo,
into which a number of bolts are driven, to for-^
tify it, and rasist the stroke of another vessel,
which may iall atbwait-hause. It is commonly
navigated with a large lateen ^ail, which extends
over the whole length of the deck, and is accord-
ingly well fitted to ply to windward.
Beak-flour, called by the Romans lomen-
torn, was of some repute among the ancient
, ladies as a cosmetic, wherewith to smooth the
skin, and take away wrinkles.
Bean-fly, in natural history, the name given
by authors to a rery beautiful fly, of a pale pur-
ple color, frequently found on bean-flowers. It
IS produced from the worm or maggot called by
authors Mida.
Bean Goose, in ornithology. See Akas.
Bean, Kidney, in botany. . See Phasboivs.
Bean Kidney, Tree. See Glycine.
Bean, Molucca, or Anacardioin, the fruit of
a tree growing in Malabar and other parts of the
East Indies^ supposed by some to be the Avicen-
nia tomentosa; oy others, the bontia eerminans.
Hie fruit is of a shining black color, of the shape
.of a heart flattened, about an inch long, termi-
nating at one end in an obtu&e point, and ad-
hering by the other to a wrinkled stalk. It
contains within two shells a kernel of a sweetish
taste; betwixt the shells is lodged a thick and
acrid juice or oil. The medicinaJ virtues of anar
cardia have been greatly disputed. Many have
attributed to them the faculty of strengthening
the nerves, fortifying the memory, and quicken-
ing the intellect. Hence a confection made
from them was once dignified with the title of
confectio sapientium; but which others have
thought better deserving the name of confectio
stultorum, as instances are said to have occurred
of its having rendered people maniacal. But the
kernel of anacardium is not different in quality
from that of almonds. The ill effects attributed
to this fruit belong only to the oil contained be^
twixt the kernels, whose acrimony is so great,
that it is said to be employed hy the Indians as
a caustic. This oil is of service externally for
tetters, freckles, and other cutaneous deformities ;
which it removes only by exulcerating or excori-
ating the part, so that a new skin comes under-
neath. S«e Anacardium.
Bean Tree. See Corallodendron.
Bean Tree, Binding. 'See Mimosa.
BEAR, V,
Bear'j
Bear']
Bear']
hara^ to create.
R'ER,n.f I
r'ing, (t
r'n. ) h
«.a. pret. I bore, or Bare;
[part. pass. Bore or bom; Sax.
^Deojian, bcjian, beoran ; Gothic
*bairan; Lat. pario; and Heb.
Dr. Johnson remarks, that this
word is used with such latitude that it is not
easily explained. The general divisions of its
meaning are to yield, to bring forth; to carry,
to convey, and to transport ; to endure, to suffer,
to support, and to undergo. Yet is it in all
these various significations to be distinguished
from the words employed to. explain it. Bear
conveys the idea of creating within itself; yield
that of giving fix)m itself. Animals bear their
young; inanimate objects yield their produce,
an apple tree bears apples ; the earth yiekU fruits.
Bear marks properly the natural power of bring-
ing forth something of its own kind ; yield is saH
of the results or quantum brought fbrdi. Shnbs
hear leaves, flowers, or berries, according to their
natural properties; flowers yield seeds plenti-
fully, or otherwise, as they are influenoed by
circumstances. The second class of meanings
attaching to this word, the sense of retaining
as well as generating, is expressed by the words
carry, conoey, and trannort ; but these are not sy-
nonymous to bear. To bear is simplj to take
the weight of any substance upon one^ self; to
carry is to remove that weight fh>m the spot
where it was ; we always bear in carrymg^ bat we
do not always carry when we bear. Bom may be
applied to things as well as persons; whatever
receives the weight of any thing bears it; what-
ever is caused to move vrith any thing carries
It. Convey and transport are employed fcr such
actions as are performed not by immediate per-
sonal intervention or exertion : a porter ctrries
goods on his knot; goods are conveyed in a
waggon or a cart; they are transported in a ves-
sel. It is customary at funerals for some to Bear
(he pall, and others to carry wands or staves ;
the body itself is conve^ in a hearse, unless it
has to cross the ocean, in which case it is Inst-
ported in a vessel. In the sense of suffering and
endurance, which it the third cla.<is of meanings in
which this word is to be understood, it is likewise
to be distinguished from its exegetical representa-
tives. To suffer is a passive and involuntary act ;
it denotes simply the being a receiver of evU ; itis
therefore the condition of our beiuff ; to bear is
positive and voluntary, it denotes the manner in
which we receive the evil. To bear is a single
act of the resolution, and relates only to common
ills ; we bear disappointments and crosses ; to
endure is a continued and powerful act of the
mind. The first object of education should be
to accustom children to beer contradictions and
crosses, that they may afterwards be enabled to
endure every trial and misery. To bear and en-
dure signi^ to receive becomingly the weight
of what bendls ourselves : to supnort signifies jto
bear either our own or another s evils ; for we
may either support ourselves, or be supported
by others ; but in this latter case we bear from
(he capacity which is within ourselves ; hot we
support ourselves by foreign aid, dial is, hy the
consolations of religion, the partidpation 2n^
condolenoeof friends, and the lxxe.--CnsA>. ab
almost infinite variety of shades of meaning, ap-
proaching to and receding from these genenl
divisions, must be observed by every one at all
familiar with our best English writers.
For in tvaiuiyi of hy« btrymg fap moder was fni
dcd. IL (
For shiin neaer brere here beriet at a vyae.
Piert PlmkmatL.
Lo! a virgyn schal hane in wombo and tche cbal
here a sono, and they schvlen clepe hit natw £m»-
nuel. WieHf, Mmtt, chap. i.
*' I wd not fro the door waad
Tyll 1 have my ttaff." TLou brihowr thea hart
the todir end
Quod hi that wat within ; and ley'd it oa hit bak.
Right in the tame plate at chapmen hertA their pak.
Chamer, CoHttrbmy Tmkt^
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703
But he was mounted in hit Beat lo high.
And hi« wing-footed coursers him did beare
So fast away, that ere his ready speare
He conld advance, he farre waa gone and paat.
Yet still he him did follow everywhere. SpenMT,
Pan may be proud that ever he begot
Such a bellibone ;
And Syrihx rejoice that ever was her lot
To beam such an one. W. Shephear^t Calendar.
But fayrest ahe, when so the doth display
The gate with pearles and rabies richly dight \ ^
Through which her words so wise do make their way.
To beare the message of her gentle qtright.
Td. SomteU.
Withhold thine indignation, mighty heaven.
And tempt us not to bear above our power !
Shakipeare*
For my part, I had rather bear wtth you, than bear
ymi ; yet 1 should bear no cross, if I did fteor you ;
for I Uiink you have no money in your parse. Id,
The queen, that bore thee
Oftner upon her knees than on her feet.
Pied every day she liv'd. W.
There be some plants that bear no flqwer, and yet
bear fruit; there be some that bear flowers and no
frnit; there be some that bear neither flowers nor
Irnit. BacvHn
When with his hands did help his feet to bear.
Else could they ill so huge a burthen steer.
Fletcher'i Purple Iiiamd.
M^estic though in ruin : sago he stood
With Atlantean shoulders fit to bear
The weight of mightiest monarchiea. MiUon*
Vo keel shall cut the waves for foreign ware
For every soil Aall ev'ry product bear. Dryden,
My message to the ghost of Priam bear \
Tell him a new Achilles sent thee there.
Id. Mmd.
A guest like him, a Trojan guest before.
In shew of friendship, sought the Spartan shore.
And ravish'd Helen fkpm her husband bore. Garth.
Ye good distrest!
Ye noble few ! who here unbending stand
l^cneath life's pressure, yet bear up a while.
And what your bounded view, which only saw
A little part, decm'd evil, is no more ;
The storms of wintry time will quickly pass.
And one onboanded spring encircle all. Tkomton.
You'll see a draggled damsel here and there
From Billingiigate her fishy traffic bear. Oay.
I fancy the proper means of increasing the love we
hear our native country, is to reside some time in
a foreign one. Shemtone.
Jjet a man be brought into some such severe and
trying situation as fixes the attention of the public on
his behavioar<~the first question which we put con-
cerning him is not what does he suffer ? but how does
he bear it 7 If we judge him to be composed and firm,
resigned to providence, aud supported by conscious
'niegrity, his character rises, and his miseries lessen
'a our view Bkur.
Each bean a prize of imregarded charms. Byron.
To hear tip; to stand i\rm ivithout falling;
not to sink ; not to faint or fail.
So long as nature
Will bear up with his exercise, so long
I daily vow to vuAe it. Shdkapeare.
Persons in distress may speak of themselves with
di{tuily ; it shews a greatness af soul^ that they bear
up b^ainat the scurms of fortune. Broome.
The conscioQsness of kitegri^, the sense of » life
spent in doing good, will enable a man to bear op
under any change of circumstances. AUerbvry.
When our commanders and sohfien wei« raw and
unexperienced we lost battles and towns : yet we bore
up then, as the French do now ; nor was thsve any
thing decisive in their successes. Stmft*
To bear with. To endure an nnpleasitig thing.
They are content to bear with my absence and folly.
Sidney.
Though I must be content to hear with those that
say you are reverend grave men ; yet they lie deadly, /
that tell you, you have good faces. Shakqteare*
Look you lay home to him.
Tell him his pranks have been too broad ta &«iar vekk.
Id.
Bear with me, then, if lawful what I ask.
To bear in hand. To amuse with false pie-
tences ; to deceive.
Your daughter, whom she bore m hand to love
With such integrity, she did confess.
Was as a scorpion to her sighL Shabtpeare.
His sickness, age, and impoteaee.
Was falsely bore m hand. Id,
He repaired to Bruges, desiring of the states of
Bruges to enter peaeei^&y into their town, with a re-
tinae fit for his estate ; and bearing them in hand, that
he was to communicate with them of matters of great
importance, for their good. Bacon.
All which I sofier, playing ^nth. their hopes.
And am content to win them into profit.
And look upon their kindness, and take more.
And look on tl:at, still bearing them m band.
Ben Jonson.
It is no wonder, that some would bear the world m
hand, that the apostle's design and meaning is for
presbytety, thcmgh his words are for episcopacy.
South.
To bear off. To carry awa)*
I will respect thee as a father, if
Thou bear*9t my life off hence. Shahtpeare.
The sun views half the earth on either way.
And here brings on, snd there bean offxha day.
Creech.
Give but the word, well snatch this damsel up.
And bear her off^ Addieon. Cato.
My soul grows desperate.
I'll bear her off. A. PhOipt.
To bear out. To support ; to maintain ; to de-
fend.
I hope your warrant will bear out the deed.
Shahepeare.
I can once or twice a quarter bear oai a knave
against an honest man. Id.
Changes are never without danger, unless tho
prince be able to bear out his actions by power.
Sir J. Heyward.
Quoth Sidrophel, I do not doubt.
To find friends that will bear me out.
Hudibroi.
Company only can bear a man oitf in an ill thing.
^ ^ '^ 8outh.
I doubted whether that occasion could bear me out
in the confidence of giving your ladyship any farther
trouble. Tempie.
To bear a brain. To exert attention. Inge-
nuity or memory.
My lord and you were then at Mantua :
Jf ay, I do bear a brain.
Sftahspeard Romeo and Jtdict.
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B E A R.
Bat, stiUj take yoa httA, have ft YigiUnt
Well, sir, let me iJone, III bear a ftram.
AU Fooh, Old Play, iv. 177.
To bear six and six. An obscurephrase, occur-
ring in the Spanish Curate of Beaumont and
Fletcher.
He's the mott anant beast.
Mell. He may be more beast.
Jam. Let him bear nx and mx that all may blaae
him. £^Mii. Cvr, ii. 3.
That the object is to maike him a homed beast is
plain' from the context, bat by what allusion is not so
deai^ He b to bear nx and tix, as his arms. After
one or two unsatisfactory conjectures, it was suggested
to me that the expression most probably alluded tp
the horns of a ram, which by the aid of a little fancy
may be considered as two figures of six, placed back
to back 9 6. That this is the true interpretation there
seems no reason to doubt. Nam. GUmairy
Beabing-Clotb. The mantle or cloth with
which a child is usually covered when carried to
church to be baptised, or produced among the
gossips by the nurse.
Here's a sight for thee ; look there, a bearing-doth
tor a squire's child ; look thee here, take up, take up
boy ; open'x.
Bear',
Bear'baiting,
Bear'garden,
Bear'uerd,
BeaR'ish,
Bear'sleek,
Bear'like,
BeaK'skiv,
Bear'ward,
Bear'whelp.
Shakipeare,
Sax. bepa. Germ, baer,
LaI. urnu. Others derive
it from the Greek ptipoQ,
which they interpret pilo-
nan vUlottan (urtus, qttati
"hamu, hirtutus, fnUt hor-
rem.) A hairy shagey ani-
mal, a she bear, shaggy,
and of horrid aspect.
His sueoat was a bearakm on his back. Drpiem,
In our own language we seem to allude tp this de-
generacy of human nature, when we call men, by
way of reproach, sheepish, beariah, &c. Harrm,
I must propose some methods for the imprqrcment
of the bear-garden, by dismissing »U the bodily acroi*
to that quarter. Sjpeeimitr.
Our nobility also kept their bear-mard. Pemmtmt,
Bear, the name of two constellatioiis, called
the. greater and lesser bear; in the tail of the
lesser bear is the pole star.
The chiding billow seems to pelt the clouds.
The wind-shakM surge with high and moostrooa
Seems to cast waters on the burning bear.
And quench the guards of the ever fixed pole,
I never did like molertatioa view
Oh the enchafed flood.
Others derive it from the bear
That's fixed in northern hemisphere.
And round about his pole does make
A circle like a bear at stake.
That at the chain's and wheels about
And overturns the' rabble rout. Buttar^e Haiibrmu
E'en then when Txpy was by the Greeks o'erthrown
The bear oppos'd to bright Orion shone. Creaek,
Bear, in astronomy. See Ursa.
Bear, in loology. See Ursus.
Bear, in heraldry ; this animal occurs as a
charge in coats of arms, as, 'lie beareth, or^ a
bear passant, sable ; by the name of Fitioiine :'
and rampant, as in fig. 1.
Fig. 1. Fig. %.
Some have falsely reported, that bean bring their
young into the worid shapeless, and that their dams
lick them into form. Caknei,
A cruel beare, the which an infant bore
Betwixt his bloodie Jawes besprinkled all with gore.
I would I had bestowed that time on the tongues,
that I have in fencing, dancing, and bear-baitirtg. O,
had I but foUo:wed the arts.
Shahpeare. Twelfth Nighi.
They have tied me to a stake I cannot fly.
But bearAike I must fight the course. Id. Maebeih.
Virtue is of so little regard in these costermonger
times, that true valour is tumed bear-herd.
Id. Henry fV,
Like to a chaos, or an unlick'd bear-^help.
That carries no impression like the dam. Id. Hen. VI.
Call hither to the stake my two brave beare.
Bid Salisbury and Warwi^ come to me.
— Are these thy bean ; well bait thy bears to death.
And manacle the beanBord in their chains. Id,
Thou'dst shun a bear;
But if thy flight lay tow'rd the raging sea,
Thou'dst meet the bear i* th' mouth. Id.
COR. O, by your leave, sir,
I must be bold to raise you ', else your physio
Will turn to futher sickness. ,
Mel. Physic, bear-Jseehf
CoR. Yes •, physic ! You are mad. Ford.
The worsted bear came off with store
Of bloody wounds, but all before :
For as Achilles dipt in pond, .
Was anabaptiz'd, free from wound.
Made proof against doad-doing steel
AU over but the pagan heel —
So did our champion's arms defend
All of him but the latter end. Butler'i Hudibrae.
Bears' heads are also borne in coat
mostly erased, as in fig. 2. * Argent^ a dierroo
between three bears' heads erased, sable^ muzzled,
or ; by the name of Pennarth.'
Bear, Order of tbe, was a military order in
Switzerland, erected by the emperor Frederic II.
in 1213, by way of acknowledgment for the ser-
vice the Swiss had done him, and in favor of the
abbey of St. Ga}l. To the collar of the order
bung a medal, on which was represented a bear,
raised on an eminence of earth.
Bear, Sea. See Phoca.
Bear Island, an island in Bantry bay, Irdaad,
six miles in length, and one and a bialf broad,
billy and rugged, where batteries have been
erected for &e defence of the bay. Diatant
twelve miles from Bantry. Long. 9^ 45' W., lat.
51'' 35' N.
Bear Island, a small island in tbe Atlantic^
on the coast of Main, Long. 68^ 20* W., lat.
44** 6' N.
Bear Lake, Black, a lake of North America,
in long. 1074 W^, lat. 53| N. Tbe navigation is
full of impediments from islands and ranida.
Bear liARR, Great^ a considerable lake in tbe
north-west of America, near the arctic circle.
The North-west Expedition reached it hn the
suBuner of 1820^ ana lieutenant Franklin and his
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BEARDS.
705
party, wintered here. In the eosuing vpm^ tbey
attempted to reach the ocean by the Copper-
mine river ; but, unable to accomplish their ob-
ject, they returned to this lake the name year in
great distress, and passed a second winter in the
neighbourhood.
Sear Town, in Carolina county, Maiylftncl,
lies about seven miles north from Greensbuigfa,
and about fifteen miles south-east from Chester-
town.
BfiAR*s Breech, in botany. See Acaktbus.
Bear's College, a jocular expression for
the bear-garden, commonly called Paris garden^
From the di«t aad the knowledge
Of the stndeatt in ieoie' Mikg:
BmJ^mtm. MadkofOipt,
Bear's Ear, in botany, a name sometimes
iriveD to the primula villosa, or auricula ; also to
the saxifraga sarmentosa, or Chinese saxifrage.
Bear's Foot, a name given to the helleborus
fcetidus.
Bear's Flesb was much esteemed by the
ancients: even at this day the paw of a bear,
salted and smoked, is served up at the table of
princes.
Bear's Grease was formerly esteemed a
sovereign remedy against cold disorders, es-
pecially rheumatisms. It is now much used in
dressing ladies and gentlemen's hair.
Bear's Skik affords a fur in great esteem, and
on which depends a considerable article of com-
merce, being used in housings, on coach-boxes,
fcc. In some countries clothes are made of it,
more especially bags wherein to keep the feet
warm in severe colds. Of the skins of bears'
cubs BJtB made gloves, muffs, and the like.
To Bear a Body. A color b said to bear a
body in paintii^, when it is capable of being
^und so fine, and mixing with the oil so en-
tirely, aa to aeem only a very ^Hck oil of the same
<»lor.
BEARD, V. & n:^ The applications of this
Be'arded, Sword are better under-
Beard'less. j stood than its etymolosy ;
the full obvious meaning of it is the hair £at
grows on the lips and chin. It is supposed to
be derived from tlie German baren, to show or
manifest, because the beard is an indication of
manhood : but this is not to my mind satis&e-
tory ; its metaphorical application is to the sharp
prickles growing on the ears of com ; to the
barb of an arrow ; it also describes die hairy
tufl that grows from the chin of some animals ;
the beard of a horse is that part which bears the
curb of the bridle ; the leugtn of the beard marks
age ; to beard also is to take or pluck by the
beard in contempt or anger ; to oppose to the
face ; to «et at open defiance ; adopted, accord-
ing to Mr. Stevens, from romance ; in the old
language of which it signified, to cut off Ike beard;
beardku, yriihoui^ beard ; ^hoy.
A BMichaat wae there with a forked ierd,
Chaucer, Prologue to the Canterbury Tulee,
A FnmUein wm in this coropagnie
White WM hit herd as is the dayesie. Id,
His berd as any sowe or fox xras rede.
And thereto brode as though it were a spade.
Vol. III.
Upoa the cop right el his aoee he hade
▲ wert, and thnmm itode a tuft of heres.
Rede as ih4 brisdes of a sowes eres. Id.
' Art thoQ the caytive that defyest me.
And for this mayd, whose paVty thou dbst ta^ ?
Wilt give thy beard, though it bat little bef
Yet shall it not her leckes for raoosome fro me
free. Speneer.
He that hath a heard is more than a youth ; and
he that hath no heard is less than a man. ShtUupeare,
shall a heardlem boy,
A cockor'd silken wanton, brave •vx fields*
And flesh his spirit in a warlike soil*
Mocking the air with coloozs idly spread*
And find no check. Id,
No man so potent breathes upon the ground*
But I will heard him. Id,
• and began to hem him round
With ported spears, as thick as when a field
Of Ceres ripe for harvest waving bends
Her bearded grove of ears* which way the wind
Sways them. MUtan.
Ere on thy chin the springing beard began.
To spread a doubtful duwn, and promise man.
Prior,
3ome thin remains of chastity appeared*
Sv'n under Jove* but Icrre without a heard,
Drydem.
Would it not be insufferable for a professor to have
his authority, of forty yean standing, confirmed by
general tradition and a reverend heard, overturned by
aa upstart novelist? Zocfte.
Paints* d'ye say T
Why she lays it on with a trowel — ^Tbcn she has a
great heard, that bristles through it, and makes her
look aa if she were plastered with lime and hair.
dmgreve. Double Dealer,
The heard, conformable to the notion of my friend
Sir Roger, was for many ages looked upon as the type
of wisdom. . Ludan mere than once rallies the phi-
losophers of his time* who endeavoured to rival one
another in hearda; and represents a learned man who
stood ftfr a professorship in philosophy* as unqualified
for it by the shortness of his beard. Speeiaior,
Girt with many a. baron bold*
Sublime their starry fronts they rear \
And gorgeotts dames* and statesmen old
In bearded mi^eaty* appear. Oray,
The artilldal part ef a feather is the beard, or as
it is sometimes. I believe caHed, the vane* By the
fteordi are meant, what are fastened on each side of
the stem* and what constitute the breadth of the
feather ; what we usually strip off from one side or
both when we mako a pen«
Paleye Natural Theology,
But if thy fteortf had manlier length*
And if thy hand had skill afid streu^*
I'd joy to see thee break a lance*
Albeit against my own perchance.
Byron, Bride of Ahydoe.
I should have bearded him in halls of pride*
I should have mated him in fields of death ;
Not stolen upon his secret bowor of peace*
And breathed a serpent's venom on his flower.
Mahrrin'e Bertram^
Beards. ' Neither errors nor beards,' as arch-
bishop Tillotson says, ' are inconveniences lately
sprung up in the world.' As the distinguishing
sign of mature manhood, the beard hu in all
ages conmianded attention, and received particu-
lar veneration from the less civilised part of man-
2Z
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BEARDS.
kind. But Moses is the earliest legblator aa the
subject. The command which God gave by him
to the Israelites, *Thou shalt not mat the comers
of thy beard' (Lev. 19, 27.), seems cleariy to al-
lude to some previous -well-known custom,
probably of the Egyptians. Maimonides, as
quoted by Whitby, describes the ' five comers' of
the beard, 'none of which,' says he, * much less
all, they might shave off, as the manner of the
idolatrous priests was.' More Nevoch, c. xxxvii.
Herodotus confirms this with regard to the Egyp-
tian priests, who, as he tells us, shaved the head,
chin, and whole body. Accordingly, most of the
Egyptian figures are without beard. He further
informs us, that in time of calamity, they suffered
their beard and hair to grow. The Jews also,
in time of mourning, neglected to trim their
beards, that is, to cut off what grew superfluous
on the upper lips and cheeks. iJut occasionally
manifested their grief in great afflictions by
plucking off the hair of their beard. The vene-
ration of the Jews for this appendage of man-
hood, in the brightest period of their history, is
strongly exemplified in the indignation which
was felt by the ambassadors of David, whepthey
were outraged in this respect by Hanun the Am-
monite, 2 Sam. X. * The men,' it is said, * were
greatly ashamed,' and ' the children of Ammon
stank before David.' We were lately much
amused with the argument of a learned modem
Jew for the obligation of wearing his beard :
* two of the strongest implications,* he said, * of
the laws of his people required it ; the above com-
mand, Lev. xix. 27^ not to mar its comers, which
he contended could only apply when the beard
was worn ; and the general precept, Deut. xxii. 5,
forbidding either sex to wear tnat which * per-
taineth' to the other — a beardless face being, ac-
cording to nature, he insisted, a woman's face.'
The Assyrians, says Strabo, xvi., like the
Egyptians, permitted their beards to grow in
seasons of grief. The Persians, on the contrary,
shaved not only themselves in honor of the dead,
but docked the tails, and cropped the manes, of
their horses and mules. Compare Her. ix. 24,
II. c. 45.
According to the fables of the Greeks, when
Thetis wished to revenge the wrongs of her son,
she approached the knees of Jupiter with a kiss,
and touched his beard in supplication. In the
same manner Dolon would have besought pity
from Diomede ; and if he could have touched the
warrior's beard, his life, perhaps, would have
been secure. //. c. 454.
Athensus observes that the Greeks always wore
their beards till the time of Alexander ; and that
the first who cut it at Athens ever after bore the
addition of Kop<rric$ shaven, on medals. He re-
cords a sarcasm of Diogenes, who asked a smooth
chined voluptuary * whether he quarrelled with
nature for making him a man mstead of a
woman?* xiii. 2. Plutarch states that Alexander
commanded the Macedonians to be shaven, lest
the length of their beards should give a handle
to their enemies. But his father, as well as
Amyntas and Archelaus, his predecessors, are
represented on medals without beards. The
Greek philosophers distine:uishe(l themselves
from the vulgar by their long beards : t!ie custom,
however, was net invariable ; for the sdoliast of
Aristophanes, Nub. 120, asserts that the ancient
philosophers shaved their beards. The Greeb
continued to shave till the time of Justinian,
under whose empire long beards came again into
fashion, and so continued till Constantinople
was taken by the Turks. The Roman philoso-
phers affected to preserve the distinctive charac-
ter of the mantle and long beard. Honce
describes them :
'TonpoK quo nu
Solatun jusait sapientem pasoere bazbtm.'
Sermon, 1. ii. uL iiL r. 34^
and Aulus GelUus and Lucian express thenaselves
in a similar manner. Pereios seems to have been
so convinced of the beard's being the symbol of
vrisdom, that be thought he could not bestow a
greater encomium on Socrates than calling him
* Magistram barbatum.'
From the building of the city, till the year of
its foundation 454, barbers arc said to have been
unknown at Rome. They were first impoited
from Sicily by Publius Licinius. There is some
contradiction however on this point among the
ancient writers. Pliny, vii. 59, Aulus Gellios,
iii. 4., and Varro, de Re Rust. iL 2., concur in
the foregoing statement. livy, on the contrary,
among tlic other signs of popular moiiraing.
after the execution of Manlius Capitolina.s
which took place in the year U.C. 369, enume-
rates the letting the beard grow, which, unles
shaving had been customary, could not bar-'
been noticed. Scipio Africanus is said to ban
been the first daily shaver at Rome. SUie^
wore their beards and hair long; but, vben
manumitted, shaved their heads in the temple ot
Feronia, and put on a cap, or ' pileas,' as &
badge of liberty. Those who escaped from ship-
wreck, shaved tlieir heads; and persons acquitted
of a capital crime, cut their hair and shaved, and
went to the capitol to return thanks to Jupiter.
The Roman emperors shaved till the time of
Adrian, who retained the mode of wearing tbe
beard, as Plutarch tells us, to hide the scan in
his face.
According to Suetonius, Calig. 10., the young
Romans were first J>haved when the toga ririlis
was assumed. Macrobius, Somn. Scip. i. 6.,
says it was about the age of twenty-one. Au-
gustus did not shave before the age o( twenty-
five. Young men with a long dovni, or * lanugo,'
upon the chin, were called * juvenes barbatuli/
or * benfe barbati.' The day on which they first
shaved, among the Greeks and Romans, was -a
festival ; visits of ceremony were paid them ; and
they received presents from their fiiends, as
Juvenal, Sat. iii. 186,
' nie metit barbam, crinem hie depooit anati :
Pleua domus libis genialibas.'
The first growth of the beard being consecrated
to some god, usually to the Lares. Nero conse-
crated his in a golden box, set with pearb, to
Jupiter Capitolinus.
Persons of respectability had their children
shaved the first time by others of the same, or
greater quality, who by this means became ^♦Hi-
fathers, or adoptive fathers, of the children : a
custom which was handed dovtn to Rome Cbr:5-
Digitized by
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BEARDS-
707
tian, in wliich a person became godfather of a child
by barely toycning his beard: thus historians
relate, that one of the articles of &e treaty be-
tween Alaiic and Clovis was, that Alaric should
touch the beard of Clovis, and become his god-
&ther. This was also an ancient form of tokens
on oath, Aumoin, lib. ir.
Ecclesiastical discipline has varied much on
the article of beards : sometimes they have been
enjoined on the clergy from a notion of too
Biuch effeminacy in shaving, and that a long
beaid was more suitable to the ecclesiastic gra-
vity ; at other ^mes they are forbidden, from the
supposed danger of pride lurking beneath a
venerable beard. The Greek and Romish churches
long disputed on this important matter. Since
the time of their separation, the Romanists seem
to have given more into the practice of shaving,
by way of opposition to the Greeks ; and have
even made some express constitutions 'de ra-
<lendis barbis.' The Greeks, on the contrary,
espouse very zealously the cause of long beards,
and are extremely scandalised at the beardless
jjnages of saints in the Roman churches : There
are still extant prayers used in the latter on the
solemnity of consecrating the beard to God, when
an ecclesiastic was shaven.
The barbarous catioiis of Europe appear very
generally to have shaved, some of them reserving
the roustachios. When the Franks made them-
selves masters of Gaul, and assumed the au-
thority of the Romans ; the bondsmen were ex-
pressly ordered to shave their chins ; a law which
continued in force until the entire abolishment
of servitude in France. So likewise, in the
time of the first race of their kings, a long beard
vras a sign of nobility and freedom. Princes
-wei'e emulous of having the largest beard ; Kgin-
young king with a smooth chin, wo'dd look upon
their own as too rough. i.^e conjecture proved
right ; for they presently reduced their beards to
simple whiskers, and a small tuft of hair under
the nether lip. The people at first would not
follow this dangerous example, and the duke of
Sully nevei- would adopt it. lie kept his long
beard, and appeared with it at court, and ob-
serving himseif ridiculed by the young, said
to the king, * Sir, when your father, of glorious
memory, did me the honor to consult me on his
great and important affairs, the first thing he did
was to send away all the buffoons and stage-
dancers of his court.' Whiskers now attained their
highest degree of favor, at tlie expense of expiring
beards. A fine black whisker, elegantly turned
up, was a very powerful mark of dignity with the
fair sex, and it was no uncommon filing for a fa-
vorite lover to have his whiskers turned up,
combed, and pomatumed, by his mistress ; for this
purpose, a man of fashion took care to be always
provided with every little necessary article, espe-
cially whisker wax. Whiskers were still in
fashion in the beginning of Louis XIV's reign.
That prince, and all the great men of his reign,
took a pride in wearing them. They were the ,
ornament of Turenne, Cond^, Colbert, Corneille,
Moliere, &c. But they now underwent several
changes both in form and name: there were
Spanish, Turkish, guard dagger, royal whiskers,
&c., until their smallness proclaimed their ap-
proaching departure. In English history we
nave no such copious detaib on this mighty
subject. Although the ancient Britons are sup-
posed to have shaved all but thfe upper lip,
Edward the confessor is represented, on nis great
seal, with a large beard and mustachios. When
spies, according to William of Malraesbury, were
bard, secretary to Charlemagne, speaking of the sent by Harold into the camp of William I. they
last kings of the first race, says, they came to
the assemblies in the Champ de Mars in a car-
riage drawn bv oxen, and sat on the throne with
their hair dishevelled, and a very long beard,
crine profuso, barba submissa, solio residerent,
et speciem doipinantts efiSngerent. To touch
any one's beard, or cut off- a bit of it, was,
among the first French, the most sacred pledge
returned with an assurance of victory, since their
enemies were priests, they said, and not soldiers,
being all shaven. William the cbnqueror, on
his seal, appears with a short beard and musta-
dhios. Among the edicts which he imposed upon
the English, few were considered more op-
pressive than that which enjoined the practice o
shaving. Like a similar edict of Peter I. o
of protection and confidence. For a long time Russia, it was perpetually disobeyed, and. the
all letters that came from the sovereign had, for
greater sanction, three hairs of his beard in the
seal. . There was long in being a charter of 1 21 1 ,
which concludes with the following words :
Quod ut ratum et stabile perseveret in posterum,
prsesentis scripto^sigiUi mei roburApposui cum
tribus pilis barbs meae. In the tenth century
Robert of France, the famous rival of Charles
tlie Simple, that it might be the more con-
spicuous to his soldiers when he was in the
field, used to let his long white beard hang down
on the outside of his cuirass. French historians
describe the beard of Henry IV., deservedly
styled the Great, as diffu^tting over the counte-
nance of that prince a high degree of amiable
hatred of it led in many cases to open insurrec-
tion. The Romish clergy, it seems, assumed the
right to lep;islate for princes on this topic among
o&ers. The beard of Henry I. was loudly con-
demned by them ; Orderic Vitalis and Serlo both
denounced it from the pulpit. The king, to avoid
these fulminations, shaved the offending part;
yet within twenty years we again find it on tlje
effigy of Henry II. on his seal. In the reign of
Henry VIII. it is well known. Sir Thomas More
exhibited on the block this menoorablc orna-
ment : and perceiving it was likely to bo cut by
the axe of the executioner ; took it away, saying,
my beard has not been guilty of treason : it
would be an injustice to punish it. In Shaks-
opennessi and majestic sweetness. By the pre- pearewereadof 'your straw-colored beard, your
orange-tawny beard, your purple in-grain beard,
and your perfect yellow.' Bottom's Histrionic
Company are instructed to have 'good strings
to their beards ;' an advice which has escaped
explanation. < A beard of the General's cut' is
2Z2
mature death of that prince, the beard, hitherto
so highly respected, experienced a sudden and
fatal revolution. .Louis AlII. mounted the throne
of his father without one- Kv^ry one concluded
immediately, that the courtiers, seeing their
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BEARDS.
noticed in Henry V. * A great round beard' is
disapproved of in The Merry Wives of Windsor,
and compared to < a glover's paring knife.' Charles
I. wore mustachios and a short peaked beard :
Charles II. mustachios alone : since the Revolu-
tion, except among our modem soldiery, the face
has been entirely smooth ; — ^The Spaniards have
a proverb, which perhaps suggested the new
iashion in the Hussar regiment. Desde que no
hay barba, no hay mas alma. * Since we have
lost our beards, we have lost our souls.' Among
the European nations that have been most
curious in beards and whiskers, none have been
more distinguished than Spain.
We cannot pursue the aetails of this subject
much ^rther. The Portuguese, whose nationsQ
character is similar to that of the Spaniards, have
imitated them in this respect. We read, that in
the reign of Catherine queen of Portugal, when
John de Castro had taken the castle of Diu, in
India, he was under the necessity of borrowing
from the inhabitants of Goa a thousand pistoles
for the maintenance of his fleet ; and that, as a
security for the loan, he sent them one of his
whiskers, telling them * all the gold in the world
cannot equal the value of this national ornament
of my valor ; and I deposit it in your hands as
a security for the money.' The inhabitants of
Goa, it is said, generously returned botli the
money and his whisker. Le Comte observes,
that the Chinese affect long beards extravagantly ;
but .nature has baulked them, and only given
them very little ones, which, however, they cul-
tivate with infinite care; the Europeans are
strangely envied by them on this account. Among
the Turks it is more infamous for any one to
have his beard cut off, than among us to be pub-
licly whipt or branded with a hot iron. There
are many p^ple in that country, who would
prefer death to this kind of punishment. The
Arabs make the preservation of their beards a
capital point of religion, because Mahomet never
cut his. Hence the razor b never drawn over
tlie Grand Seignior's face. The Persians, who
clip them, and shave above the jaw, are reputed
heretics. It is likewise a mark of authoriw and
liberty among them, as well as among the Turks.
They who serve in the seraglio, have their beards
shaven as a sign of their servitude. They do
not suffer it to grow till the sultan as a reward
has set them at liberty.
Of that singular variety of our race, bearded
women, many marvellous stories are told. He-
rodotus speaks of a people above Halicamassus,
the Pedasenes, amongst whom the chin of the
priestess of Minerva regularly budded with a *
large beard^ when any great public calamity im-
pended. Her. i. 175. Hippocrates tells us of
two bearded women of respectability, Phactusa
of Abdera, the wife of Pythias, and Hamysia of
Thasos, the wife of Gorgippus. Generally, where
this peculiarity has occurred, the menses have
totally ceased. Eusebius Nieurembergius men-
tions a woman* who had a beard reaching to her
navel ; and Bartholin speaks of a bearded woman
well known at Copenhagen. Whether it cou-
yinced his imperial majesty that beards no longer
distinguished men, and therefore produced his
decne against them, we are not told ; but a woman
is said to have been taken in 1724, by tbe Pnmian
army in the battle of Pultowa, and carried to
Petersburg, where she was presented to the Czar,
Peter I. whose beard measured a yard and a halC
We read in the Trevoux Dictionary, that there was
a woman seen at Paris, who had not only a bushy
beard on her face, but her body likewise covered
all over with hair. The great Margaret, the
governess of the Netherlands, is said also to
have had a very long stiff beaid, on which she
pnded herself; and preserved it with the
greatest care. In the nursery of Albert, Duke
of Bavaria, in the time of Wolfius, there was
reported to be a virgin with a large black beaxd;
but these good ladies, young or old, have been
singularly rare in modem times, and in all well-
authenticated history.
Beards, in entomology, are two sonU, ob-
long, fleshy bodies, plac^ just above the tmnk,
as in the gnats, and m the moths and butteiflks.
Beards of Comets. See Comet.
Beards of Horses. The part UBdemea&
the lower mandible, on the outside and above
the chin, which bears the curb, is called the
beard or chuck. It should have but little flesh
upon it, without any chops, hardness, or swell-
ing ; and be neither too high raised nor too ftat,
but such as the curb may rest in its right place.
Beards op Muscles, Oysters, &c. denote
assemblaffes of threads or hairs, by which those
animals rasten tliemselves to stones. The haiis
of this beard terminate in a flat spongy mb-
stance, whidi being applied to the surface ol a
stone, sticks diereto, like the wet leather used by
boys in what they call a sucker.
Beard (John), an English actor and aingcfy
was brought up a sizer in the king s chapel. In
1737 he made nis first appearance on the stage,
at Drury-lane, in the character of Sir John Love-
rule, in the Devil to Pay. About two yeazs
after he married lady Henrietta Heibert, daugh-
ter of the earl of Waldegrave, and widow of lord
Edward Herbert; but this connexion brought
him little fortune, and though he gave up the
stage, for some time, he returned again to it, until
1758, when he joined with Mr. Rich, wliose
daughter he had married on the death of his far-
mer vrife. He died in 1763, aged seveoty-lbur.
Bearded Brothers, fratres barbati, are par-
ticularly used in ecclesiastical writers for those
otherwise called fratres conveni in the order of
Grammont and of the Cistercians. They took
this denomination because they were allowed to
wear their beards, contraiy to the rules of the
professed monks.
Bearded Husk, among florists, a husk which
is haiiy on the edges, as Uiat of the rose, ficc
Bearded Venus. The Romans paid thdr
devotions to a bearded Venus, Venen baibaUp,
supposed to have been of both sexes. A statue
of ner was found in the Isle of Cyprus.
Bearers, at funerals, is applied lo the sup-
porters of the pall. The ancients had pecnlttr
orders or officers of bearers, called by the Gieela
Koiriaroi ; by the Romans, lecticarii. TTie ves-
pillones, or bajuli, were a lower sort of beareis,
appointed Xor persons of inferior rank.
Bearers, gestantes, in writers of the middle
age, are sometimes used for a child's gosnps.
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709
BEA
because they hold the infant in their anns, and
£ resent him to the priest in the ceremony of
eiptism.
Bearers, in heraldry, or supporters, are cer-
tain figures, 3tanding on the scroll, and placed
by the side of an escutcheon, which th^ seem
to bear up. They are, chiefly, flfnircs of beasts :
figures of human creatures, used for the like pur-
pose, are more properly called tenants. Some
make another aifference between tenant and
bearer, or supporter : when the shield is borne
by a single animal, it is called tenant ; when by
two, they are called bearers, or supporters. The
figures of things inanimate, sometimes placed
aside of escutcheons, but not touching, or seeming
to bear them, though sometimes called bearers,
are more properly caTled cotises. Bearers have
formerly been taken from such animals as were
borne in the shields; and sometimes they ha?e
been chosen as baring some allusion to the
names of those whose arms they arc made to
support. F. Menestrier traces their origin to the
ancient tournaments, in which the knightis caused
theii shields to be carried by servants or pages
under the disguise of lions,, bears,, griffins, black-
amoors, &c. who also held and guarded the
escutcheons, which the knights were obliged to
expose to public view some time before the lists
were opened. But Sir G. Mackenzie says, that
the first origin and use of them are derived from
the custom of leading such a.« are invested with
any great honor to the prince who confers it, and
of his being supported by two of the quality
ipvhen he receives the symbols of such honor:
and, in remembrance of that solemnity, his arms
were afterwards supported by any two creatures
which he might choose. See Suppobters.
Bearers, in horticulture, denote the fruit
branches, or such as bear fruit. The bearers, or
bearing branches of an apple-tree, and the like,
are found to be rougher, and fiiUer of asperities
in their bark, than the other branches.
Bearers of a Bill of Exchange, denote
the persons in whose hands it is, and in favor of
whom the last order or indorsement was made.
When a bill, or order for money, is said to be
payable to bearer, it is understood to be payable
;o him who first offers himself after it becomes
juc. To be paid a bill or order of this kind,
here needs neither indorsement nor transfer; yet
t is proper to know to whom it is paid.
Bearing, in heraldry, a term used to express
L coat of arms, oi the figures of armories, by
vhich the nobility and gentry are distinguished
rom the other ranks of the people, and from one
.nother. These signs of nobility with us are
vidently a copy of the statues and images among
fie ancient Romans, which they used to expose
efore their houses on public days, and earned
efore the body at the funeral of a great person.
'he»e statues among them bore the resemblances
f their noble ancestors. And as our coats of
rms evidently were brought in the place of them,
e may date the origin of heraldry in England,
i now practised, from the time of the subversion
r the Roman empire by the Goths and Vandals;
hOy as they destroyed many liberal arts, so they
•em, in return, to have given birth to the science
' henddry; for which their posterity^ it must
be confessed, are under few obligations. These
warlike nations, having subdued the Roman em-
pire and raised their glory by military service,
oecame fond of the achievements of their ances-
tors and great men, and derived their ensigns
and titles of honor from what concerned a sol-
dier. They first distinguished the whole com-
munity into three ranks, which they named
according to the different orders of military,
miles, eques, and scutifer; and their posterity,
willing to commemorate their honors, reserved
to themselves their military ensigns, and these
became what we call bearings, or arms, the
marks of gentility or of families, some one of
which had once deserved an elevation above the
common rank of men. While the direct de-
scendant of this honorable person carried his
ensigns of honor for his distinction, the collateral
branches also were ambitious of preserving the
memory of their having belongexl to such an
honorable house; and therefore assumed the
same figure, but with some difference, to dis-
tinguish the distance from the original claim.
In process of time, other families, who had de-
served as well of their prince and country,
whether in civil or military affairs, became de- ■
sirous of the same sort of distinction, by way of
perpetual memorial of their services ; and upon
this occasion many other devices were formed
into arms, and continued down to posterity in
their several families. Armorial bearings, in the
tenth and eleventh centuries^ were single and
Slain, consisting only of few figures. Charges,
ifierences, quarterings, &c. are the inventions of
later times. See Heraldry.
Bearing, in navigation, an arch of the horizon
intercepted between the nearest meridian and
any distant object, either discovered by the eye,
or resulting from the sinical proposition ; as in
the first case, at four P. M. Cape Spado, in the
iste of Candia, bore south by west by the com-
pass. In the second, the longitudes and latitudes
of any two places being given, and consequently
the diflference of latitude and longitude between
tliem, the bearing from one to the other is disco-
vered by the following analogy : — ^As the meridi-
onal difference of latitude is to the difference of
longitude, so is radius to the tangent bearing.
Bearing is also the situation of any distant object,
estimated from some part of the ship according
to her position. In this sense, an object so dis-
covered must be either a-head, a-stem, a-breast,
on the bow, or on the quarter. These bearings,
therefore, which may be called mechanical, are
on tlie beam, before the beam, abaft the beam,
on the bow, on the quarter, a-head, or a-stern.
If the ship sails with a side wind it alters the
names of such bearings in some measure, since
a distant object on the beam is then said to be
to leeward or to windward ; on the lee-quarter
or bow, and on the weather-quarter or bow.
Bearing, in sea language. When a ship sails
towards the shore, before the wind, she is said to
bear in with the land or harbour. To let the ship
sail more before the wind, is to bear up. To put
her right before the wind, is to bear round. A
ship that keeps off from die land is said to bear
off. When a ship that was to windward comes
under a ship's stem, and so gives her the wind».
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710
BEA
she is said to bear under her loe, &c. There is
another sense of this word, in reference to the
burden of a ship ; for they say a ship bears,
when, having too slender or lean a quarter, she
will sink too deep into the water with an over-
light freight, and thereby can carry but a small
quantity of goods.
Bearing awav (as well as Bearing up) is
improperly used to denote the act of changing the
course of a ship, in order to make her sail before
the wind, after she had' sailed some time with a
side-wind, or close-hauled.
Bearikg of an Arch, or Vault, denotes
the effort which the stones make to separate by
their gravity the piers or piedroi ts. This amounts
to the same with what the French call pouss^e.
See PoussEE.
Bearing op an Organ Pipe denotes an error
or variation from the just sound it ought 'to
yield.
Bearing op a Stag, in hunting, is used in
respect of the state of his head, or the croches
which he bears on his horns. If one is asked
what a stag bears, he has only to reckon the
croches, but never to express an odd number ;
as, if he had four croches on his near horn, and
five on his far, a huntsman will say he bears ten,
a false right on his near horn ; if but four on the
near honi, and six on the far horn, he will say he
bears twelve, a double false right on the near
horn.
Bearing ofp is used by seaman, generally in
business belonging to shipping, for thrusting off.
Thus in hoisting any thing into the ship, if it
has caught hold of any part of the ship, or be-
come any way entangled, they say, bear it off
from the ship's side. So if they would have the
breech or mouth of a piece of ordnance, &c. put
from them, they say, bear off, or bear about the
breech.
Bearing sail well is said of a ship, when
she is a stiff-guided ship, and will not couch
down on a side with a great deal of sail. When
a ship is said to bear out her ordnance, it is meant,
that her ordnance lies so high, and she will go so
upright, that in reasonable fighting weather, she
will be able to keep out her lower tier, and not
be forced to shut in her ports. The ship is said
to overbear another, when it is able, in a grekt
gale of wind, to carry out more sails, viz. a top
sail more or the like.
BEARN, a ci-devant province of France
bounded on the east by Bigorre, on the south by
the mountains of Arragon, on the west by Soule
and part of Navarre, and on the north by Gascony,
and Armagnac. It had the title of Vicomte as
early as the ninth century. It was afterwards
raised to a principality, and belonged, with Na-
varre, to Henry IV. when he came to the crown.
His son, Louis XIII, united it, with that part of
Navarre which was possessed by the house of
Albret, t6 France, in 1620. It how forms with
Basques, the department of the lower Pyrenees,
and is about sixteen leagues in length, and twelve
in breadth. In general it is barren, yet the plains
yield considerable quantities of fiax, and Indian
corn. It is also rich in mines of iron, copper, and
lead, and has 220,000 inhabitants. The capital
is Pau. See Pyranees.
Bearn, a city and canton of Switzefland.
See Bern.
BEAST,
Be' astlike,
Be'astlinem,
Be'astly,
Be'astlihood,
Be'astings.
Bette, Fr. beslioj Latin*
an animal distingoished from
birds, insects, fishes, and
man ; an irrational creatare ;
or a brutal savage man, who
practises any thing contiaiy
to the decencies of life and the dictates of hu-
manity.
If that the good man, that the batet oweth,
Wol every weke, er that the cock him croweth
Fasting ydrinien of this well a draught,
As thilke holy Jew our eldre taught.
His betta and his store shall moltiplie.
Chaucer, Pardotmnt Tnk,
A heetiU man parse^ueth not tho thingis that bea
of the spyrit of God, for it is foli to Lim.
Wickliff. 1 Cor. chap. iiL
They held this land, and with their filthiness
Foliated this same gentle soil long time ;
That their own mother loath 'd their heaatUneu,
And 'gan abhor her brood's unkindly crime.
Spemer, Faerie Qaeem,
And all wylde beagtt, made vassals of his pleasures.
And with their spoyles enlarged his private treasures.
Id. Mother Hubbard'* Tak,
Not that I being a beoMt, she would have me ^
but that she, being a very beattl^f creatare, lays daim
tome. ShaJofean.
With lewd, profane, and beastlp phrase.
To catch the world's loose laughter or vain gaze.
BenJoMM.
So may we see a little lionet.
When newly whclpt, a weak and tender thing,
Despis'd by ev'ry bout ; but waxen great,
li^lirn fuller times full strength and courage bring.
The beastt all crouchen low, their king adore.
And dare not see what they contenm'd before ;
The trembling forest quakes «t his alTrighied roaz.
Fletcher. Ptmpte UlmaL
The sixth, and of creation last, arose
With evening harps and matin, when God said.
Let th' earth bring forth soul living in her kind.
Cattle and creeping things, and b&uti of th'^'aith.
Each in their kind. Mihm^
Here sat she by these musked eglantines ;
The happy flowers seem yet the print to bear :
Her voice did sweeten here thy sugar'd Unes
To which winds, trees, beatU, birds, did lend an ear.
Heaven's king
Keeps register of every thing :
And nothing may we use in vain, *
Ev'n beatt* must be with justice slain
MareM. Wmmde^ Foam,
Beat* of a bird ! supinely when he might
Lie snug and sleep, to rise before the light I
Wh^r, if his dull forefathers us'd that ay.
Could he not let a bad example die. Drjfien.
Medea's charms were there, Circean feasts
With bowls that tum'd enamour'd youths to &aaift.
li.
It is charged upon the gentlemen of the array,
that the beastly vice of drinking to excess hath been
lately, from their example, restored among us. Smip
Man cares for all ! to birds he gives his woods.
To beoMta his pastures, and to fish his floods. Fspf .
0 ye woods, spread your branches apace;
To your deepest recesses I fly ;
1 would hide with the beaett of the chase,
I would vanish from eveiy eye.
ShenOeme. FeamaU,
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Inspiring dumb
And helpless victims with n sense so keen
Of injury, with sudi loiowledge of their strength.
And such sagacity to take revenge.
That oft the beatt has seem'd to judge the man.
Cowper, Task. b. vi.
Beast, among gamesters, a game at cards,
played in this manner: the best cards are the
kin^, queen, &c. whereof they make three heaps,
ihe king, the play, t)ie troilet. Three, four, or
five may play, and to every one is dealt five
cards. But before the play begins, every one
stakes to the three heaps. He that wins most
tricks, takes up the heap called the play : he that
has the king, takes up the heap so called : and
he that has three of any sort, that is three fours,
three fives, three sixes, &c. takes up the troilet
heap.
Beast, at ombre, is when the player, or person
that undertakes the game, loses it to the other
Beyond this flood a frozen continent
Lies dark and wild, beat with perpetual storms
Of whirlwind and dire hail. Miltom.
They lay in that quiet posture, without making the
least impression upon the enemy by beatinff vp his
quarters, which might easily have been done.
Clarendon,
Tho' oft bound to peace
Yet he never would cease
To vex hia poor neighbours with quarrels.
And when he was beat
He still made his retreat
To his Clevelands, his hells, and his Carwells.
MarvM.
Some have been beaten till they know
What wood a cudgel's of by the blow ;
Some kick'd until they can feel whether
A shoe be Spanish or neat's leather.
BuOer'i Hudibnu.
He, with a careless beat
Struck out the mute creation at a heat. Dfyden.
two, the penalty of which 13 a forfeiture equid ft!^'Zirhi'„°'''"**''f.r*'^,'™^Ti.Tl
.0 the .taSe placed for. "^ ^Xtl^'XT.^^X^]
Feel and be satisfied.
! played
BEAT, t>. n.^ Sax. beatan, beotatiy Germ.
Be'ater, > batten, French, baitre, to strike,
B'eating. Neither with gentleness or vio-
lence^ with or without an instrumental medium ;
mechanical or animal motion, rising and falling.
Id,
When from the cave thou risest with the day
To beat the woods, add rotise the bounding prey.
Id.
Prior,
^ I am always beating about in my thoughts forsome-
or terminating on an object, it is used metapho- thing that may turn to the benefit of my dear coun-
rically, and applied to almost every kind of re- *^™«'»- Ad^^ion,
gular or repeated motion. ^^® persuaded him to trust the renegade with the
To Beat down, is to lessen, to depress, to ^""""^y ^.* ^ ^T^^^ '*''" ^' their ransom; as not
repel, or to conquer. ' P ' quesuomng but he would 6«rf ctotw. the terms of it.
To Beat up, is to attack suddenly ; to alarm. Our warriours propagatmg the French Ungua^i
To Beat in, is to impress or to mculcate by .t the same time xl^^bJiting doicn dieir pTe^
frequent repetition,
To Beat-adout. To try diffei'ent ways; to
search ; to hunt for any thing.
And oftentimis I finde that thei mette
With blody strokis, and with wordis grete
Assaying how ther speris weren whette.
And God it wote with many a cruel hete
Gan Troilus upon his helme to bete :
But nathelesse Fortune it naught ne would
Of eithers honde that either dyen should.
Chaucer. froiUu and Creaeide,
And now the westeme wipde bloweth sore.
That now is in his chief soveraingntee
Beating the withered leafe from the tree. Spenser,
They've chose a consul that will from them take
Their liberties ; makn them of no more voice
Than dogs, that are often beat for barking.
Skahpeare,
Mistress Ford, good heart, is beaten black and blue,
that you cannot see a white spot about her. /i.
Bid them come forth and hear
Or at their chamber door I'll beat the drum.
Till it cry, sleep to death.
A turn or two 111 iralk.
To still my beating mind.
Tlie tempest in my mind
Doth from my senses take all feeling else.
Save what bwti there,
Id.
Id.
Id,
Id,
Such an unlook'd-for storm of ills falls on me.
It beats down all my strength. Id,
Will fancies he should never have been the man
he is, had not he knocked down constables, and beai
up a lewd woman's quarters, when he he was a young
fellow. , Id,
One sees many hollow spaces worn in the bottoms
of the rocks, as they are more or less able to resist the
impression of the water that beats against them. Id.
To find an honest man, I beat about.
And love him, court him, praise him, in or out.
Pope.
A man's heart beats, and the blood circulates,
which it is not in his power, by any thought or voli-
tion, to stop. Locke.
I would gladly understand the formation of a soul,
and see it beat the first conscious pulse. Collier.
I remember, that once lying a bed, and having
been put into a fright, I heard my own heart beat,
but I took it to be one knocking at the door oftener
than once, before I discovered that the sound was in
my own heart. Reid. Ewquirg nUo the Human Mind.
Beat, in fencing, denotes a blow or stroke
given with the sword. There are two kinds of
beats; the first performed by the foible of a
man's sword, on the foible of his adversary's,
which in the 6ch()bls is commonly called batterie,
from the French battre, and is chiefly used in a
It is strange how long some men will lie in wait to .
speak, and how many other matters they will beat P'^™^^** ^ make an open Upon the adversary.
over to come near it. Bacon. ^^^ second, and best kind of beat, is performed
Wc are drawn on into a larger speech, by reason ^^ *^* ^^^ ^^ ^ man's sword upon the foible of
of their so great earnestness, who beai more and more ^ adversary's, not with a spring, as in binding,
u;)on these last alleged words. Hooker, but with a jerk or dry beat, and is therefore most
How frequenUy and fervendy doth the scripture proper for the parades without or within the
w/«i«ith,.«««. HaMewea. sword, because of the rebound a man's swoid
beat upon this caose!
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kas thereby from his adversary's, whereby he pro-
eures to himself the better and surer opportunity
•C risposting.
Beat of Drum^ in the military art, is diffe-
lently performed, according to the different pur-
poses mtended. Notice is given by it of any
sudden danger ; or, that scattered soldiers may
repair to their arms and quarters : these are called
beating an alarm, or to arms. It is also intended
to signify, according to the different manners of
sounding the drum, that the soldiers are to fall on
the enemy : to retreat before, during, or afier an
attack'; to move or march from one place to
another : to come out of their quarters, to repair
to their colors, &c.
Beats of a watch or clodc, are the strokes
made by tlie fangs or pallets of the spindle of the
balance, or of tlie pads in a royal pendulum. To
find the beats of the balance in any watch, or in
one turn of any wheel : — Having found the num-
ber of turns, which the crown wheel makes in
one turn of the wheel you seek for ; those turns
of the crown-wheel, multiplied by its notches,
give half the number of beats in that one turn of
the wheel : for the balance or swing has two
strokes to every tooth of the crown wheel, inas-
much as each of the two pallets has its blow
against each tooth of the crown wheel ; whence
it is, that a pendulum which beats seconds, has
in its crown-wheel only thirty teeth. To explain
this, 8uppo!<e the numbers of a sixteen hour watch,
wherein the pinion of report is 4, the
dial-wheel 32, the great wheel 55, the 4)32( 8
pinion of the second wheel 5, &c. The
number of the notches in the crown- 5)55(11
wheel 17, being multiplied into 6336, 5)45( 9
(the product arising from the continual 5) 40 ( 8
multiplication of the quotients 8,1 1,9,8,)
* gives 107,712, for half the numberof 17
beats in one turn of the dial-wheel ; for
8 times 17 is 136, which is half the number of
beats in one turn of the contrate-wheel 40 ; and
9 times 136 is 1224, the half beats in one turn
of the second wheel ; and 11 times 1224 is 13,464,
the half-beats in one turn of the great wheel 55 ;
and 8 times 13,464, makes 107,712. Multiply
this by the two pallets, L e. double it, it gives
215,424, which is the number of beats in one turn
of the dial wheel, in 12 hours. To know how
many beats this watch has in an hour, divide the
beats in 12 hours into 12 parts, and it gives 17,952,
which ib called the train of the watch, or the
beats in an hour. If this be divided into 60 parts,
it gives 299 and a little more for the beats in a
minute, and so you* may proceed to seconds or
thirds. By the beats and turns of the fusee, the
hours that any watch will go may be found, thus :
As the beats of the balance in one hour axe to
the beats in one turn of the fitsee, so is the num-
ber of the turns of the fusee 1 , to the continuance of
the watch's going. Thus 20196 : 26028 : : 12 : 16.
To find the beats of the balance in one turn of the
fusee, say, as the number of turns of the fusee,
to the continuance of the watch's going in hours,
so are the beats in one hour, to the beats of one
turn of tlie fusee ; i. e. 12 : 16 : ; 20196 : 26928.
To find the beats of the balance in an hour, say,
as the hours of the watch's going to the number
pi turns of the iiisee, so are the beats in one turn
of the fiisee, to the beats of an hoar ; tftus,
16 : 12 : : 26928 : 20196. Derham's Jri^iaai
Clack Maker, p. 14, &c. and 22. See also Cijocs-
MAKING.
To Beat an Alarm, in military affain, is td
give notice by beat of drum of some sudden
danger.
To Beat a Charge, is to give the signal to&U
upon the enemy.
To Beat the General, is to give notice to
the forces that they are to march.
To Beat the Reveille, is to give leave, by
beat of drum at day-break, to come out A
quarters.
To Beat the Tattoo is to give notice to all
to retire to their quarten.
To Beat the Troop is to give notice to all to
repair to their colors.
To Beat upon the Hand, or to Chack, in
the menage, is spoken of a horse, when his bead
is not steady, out he tosses up his nose and
shakes it all of a sudden, to avoid the subjectioo
of the bridle. Turkish horses are very subject to
this fault. When they beat upon the hand nei-
ther the best bits, nor the best nand, can fix their
heads. Croatian horses-are also very apt to beat
upon the hand ; their bars being too ^arp and
ridged, so that they cannot bear the pressure of
the most gentle bit. It is from this excess of sen-
sibility of the mouth that a horse is apt to chack;
but in order to secure bis head it is only necessary
to put a small flat band of iron, beat ardi-ways,
under his noseband, which answers as a martin-
gale. This will hinder him to beat upon the hand,
but will not break him of the habit ; for, as soon
as the martingale is taken off, he will hll into the
same vice again.
' BEATA, Lat. i. e. the blessed, one of the many
titles given to the Virgin Mary by the Roman
Catholics.
Beater, in manufacturing, is applied todivei*
sorts of workmen, whose business is to hammer
or flatten certain matters, particularly metals.
Thus, 1. Gold-beaters are artisans who, by
beating gold and silver with a hammer on a mar-
ble, in moulds of vellum and bullocks* guts,
reduce them to thin leaves, fit for gilding, or
silvering of copper, iron, steel, wood &c. Gold-
beaters differ from flatters of gold or silver; as
the former bring their metal into leaves hj the
haminer, whereas the latter only flatten it by
pressing it through a mill preparatory to beating.
2. Tin- beaters are employed in the looking-
glass trade, whose business is to beat tin on laige
blocks of marble, till it be reduced to thin leaves,
fit to be applied with quicksilver behind look-
ing-glasses. See Foliating and Gold-beat-
ing.
BEATH, Ang.-Saz. bethian, bathian, to
steep, dip, or bathe. In Suffolk and Norfolk,
beathing or bathing wood by the fire, means
straitening unseasoned wood by heat ; and this
is much the same as Spenser's meaning in the-
example. To bathe or warm in fire so as to-
harden.— T(M2(fs J^Aiison.
And in hit hand a tall young cake he bore
Whose knottie snagt were shaipen'd all aforr.
And betUh*d in fire for Steele to be insted.
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BEATI'FICAL,N From beatut, beatificOf
Beati'fically, f to be happy; to make
BsA'TiFicATioVy V happy with the completion
Beatz'fick, Coi celestial enjoyment. It
Be'atify, 1 is used only of heavenly
Beatx'ttm>e. ^ fruition after death. Bea-
tification is an acknowledjipfnent made by the
pope, that the person beatified is in heaven, and
therefore may be reverenced as blessed ; but is
not a concession of the honors due to saints,
-which are conferred by canonisation. .
BmUifieaIfy to behold the face of God, in the fal-
neee of wiadom, righteootness, and peace, ii bleaaed-
neas no way incident unto the creatures beneath man.
Haketvm,
If at the conversion of a sinner there is joy before
the beaHJied spirits, the angels of God, and that is the
consununiUion of onr pardon and our consignation to
felicity ; then we may imagine how great an evil it
is to grieve the spirit of God, who is greater than
the angels. Jttmmf Tojfhr,
In midst of this city celestial.
Where the eternal temple should have rose.
Lightened the idea beatifical
End, and beginning, of each thing that grows.
Gilet Fletcher.
Admiring the riches of heaven's pavement
Than aught divine or holy else, enjoy'd
In vision beaiifidi, Millon,
About him all the sanctities of heav'n
Stood thick as stars, and from his sight received
BeatUade past utterance. Id.
It is also their felicity to have no faith ; for enjoy-
ing the beatifical vision in the fruition of the object of
faith, they have received the full evacuation of it.
Brown^t Vidgar Erroun.
He set out the felicity of his heaven, by the delights
of sense ; sightly passing over the accomplishment of
the soul, and the heaiitude of diat part which earth
and visibilities too weakly affect. Id,
Wc shall know him to be the fullest good, the
nearest to us, and the most certain ; and consequently
the most beati/jfing of all others. Broum.
We may contemplate upon the greatness and
stiangeness of the beatifick vision ; how a created eye
should be so fortified, as to bear all those glories that
stream from the fountain of uncreated light. South.
The obedient, and the men of practice, are those
sons of light, that shall outgrow all their doubts and
ignorances, that shall ride upon these clouds, and
tritmiph over their present imperfections, till persua-
sion pass into knowledge, and knowledge aidvance
into assurance, and all come at length to be com-
pleated in the beatijick vision, and a full fruition of
those joys which God has in reserve for them, whom
by his grace he shall prepase for glory.
South't Sermont.
Tins is the image and little representation of hea-
ven ; it is beatitude in picture. Taffior.
The use of spiritual conference is unimaginable and
unspeakable, especially if free and unrestrained, bear-
ing an image of that conversation which is among
angels and beatified sainu. Hammomd.
I wish I had the wings of in angel, to have as-
cended into Paradise, and to have beheld the forms
of those beatijkd spirits £rom which I might have co-
pied my archangel. Dryden.
Over against this church stands an hosintal erected
by a shoemaker, who has been beatified, though never
Additon.
For you alone his raptures can describe.
And stem the impetuous joys that rise
Within your breasts when all unveil'd you view.
The wonders of the beatific sight. Mn. Rowe,
Beatification, in ecclesiastical affairs, an act
by which the pope declares a person beatified, or
blessed, after his death. It is the first step
towards canonisation, or raising any one to the
honor and dignity of a saint. No person can be
beatified till fifty years after his or her death.
All certificates or attestations of virtues and mi-
racles, the necessary qualifications for saintship,
are examined by the congregation of rites. This
examination often continues for several years;
after which his holiness decrees the beatification.
The corpse and relics of the future saint are from
thenceforth exposed to the veneraiion of all good
Christians; his image is crowned with rays, and
a particular office is set apart for him ; but bis
body and relics ave not carried in procession.
Indulgences likewise, and remissions of sins, are
granted on the day of his beatification ; which,
though not so pompous as that of canonisation, is
however very splendid. Beatification differs from
canonisation in this, that the pope does not act as
a judge in determining the state of the beatified,
but only grants a privilege to certain persons to
honor him by a particular religious worship,
without incurring the penalty of superstitious
worshippers; but in canonisation the pope speaks
as a judge, and determines, ex cathedra,upon the
state of the canonised. Beatification was intro-
duced when it was thought proper to delay the
canonisation of saints, for the greater assurance
of the truth of the steps taken in the procedure.
Some particular orders of monks have assumed to
themselves the power of beatification. Thus
Octavia Melchiorica was beatified with extraor-
dinary ceremonies by the Dominicans.
Beating, in book-binding. See Book-
binding.
' Beating, in English law. See Battery.
Beating, in hunting, a term used of a stag,
which runs first one vray and then another.
He is then said to beat up and down. — ^The noise
made by conies in rutting time is also called beat-
ing or tapping.
Beating, or Pulsation, in medicine, is ap-
plied to the reciprocal agitation or palpitation of
the heart and pulse, or arteries. Some physi-
cians distinguish eighty-one different kinds of:
simple beatings, and fifteen compound ones^
Th^ compute sixty beats in the space of ^
minute as the proper number in a. temperate*
man ; but, in fact, we generally find a greater
number.
Beating, in navigation, the operation of ma-
king a progress at sea against the direction of
the wina in a zig-zag line, or traverse, like that inr
which we ascend a steep hill. See Tackiik}.
Beating, in paper-making, signifies the beat-
ing of paper on a stone with a heavy hammer,
with a large smooth head and a short handle, in
order to render it more smooth and uniform, and
fit for writing. Engines driven by water are now
used.
Beating Flax, or Hemp, is an operation in
the dressing of these substances, to render them
more soft and pliant. When hemo has been
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swingled a second time, and the hards laid by,,
they take the strikes, and, dividing them into
dozens and half-dozens, make them up into large
thick rolls, which, being broached on long strikes,
are set to dry ; after which they lay them in a
round trough made for the purpose, and there
beat them well with beetles till they handle both
without and within as pliant as possible, with-
out any hardness or roughness to be felt: that
done, they take them from the trough, open and
divide die strikes as before, and, if any be found
not sufficiently beaten, they roll them up and
beat them over again. Beating hemp is a pan- ^
isfament that was often inflicted on loose or dis-
orderly persons, in houses of correction, before
the happy invention of the tread-mill 1
fi£ ATiMC, or inflicting stripes, on the person,
was one of tlie most ancient, as well as universal,
ries of punishment. Among the Romans it
ined, under the denomination of verberatio,
fustigatio, tlagellatio, pulsatio, &c. In the East
it still prevails, under the name of Bastonado,
which see.
Beating the Wind was a practice in use in
the ancient method of trial by combat. If either
of the combatants did not appear in the field, at
the time appointed, the other was to beat the
wind, or make so many flourishes with his wea-
pon ; by which be was entitled to all the advan-
tages of a conqueror. Perhaps St. Paul alludes
to this 1 Cor. ix. 26.
Beating Time, in music, a method of mea-
suring and marking the time for performers in
concert, by a motion of the hand and foot up or
down successively, and in equal times. Know-
ing the true time of a crotchet, and supposing the
measure actually subdivided into four crotchets,
and the half measure into two, the hand or foot
being up, if we put it down with the very begin-
ning of the first note or crotchet, and then raise
it with the third, and then down with the begin-
ning of the next measure ; this is called beating
the time ; and, by practice, a habit is acquired of
making the motion very equal. Each motion
down and up is called a time or measure. The
general rule is, to contrive the division of the
measure so, that every down and up of the
beating shall end with a particular note, on which
greatly depends the distinctness; and, as it were,
the sense of the melody. Hence tlie beginning
of every timeor beating in the measure is reckoned
the accented part of it. Beating time is denoted,
in the Italian music, by the term of a battuta,
which is usually put after what they call recitativo,
where little or no time is observed, to denote that
here they are to begin again to mark or beat the
time exactly. The Romans aimed at somewhat
of harmony in the strokes of their oars ; and had
an officer called portisculus in each galleyy whose
business was to beat time with the rowers, some-
times by a pole or mallet, and sometimes only by
his voice. The ancients marked the rhythm in
their musical compositions; but, to make it more
observable in the practice, they beat the measure
or time in different manners. The most usual
consisted in a motion of the foot, which was
i-aised from, and struck alternately against, the
ground, according to the modern method.
Doing thb was. commonly the province of the
master of the music, who was thence called
fuuoxopocy and copv^oioc, because placed in the
middle of the choir of musicians, and in an ele-
vated situation, to be seen and heard more easily
by the whole company. These beaten of. mea-
sure were also called by the Greeks iro^ocmrDc,
and TToloif/i^oc, because of the noise of their feet;
and ffvrrovapiotj because of the uniformity Or mo-
notony of the riiythm. The Latins denominated
them podarii, pedarii and pedicularii. To make
the beats or strokes more audible, their feet were
generally shod with a sort of sandals, either of
wood or iron, called by the Greeks cpovirt^,
icpovTroXa, cpcviri|ra, and by the Latins pedicuia,
scabella, or scabilla, because resembling little
stools or foot-stools. Sometimes they beat upon
sonorous foot-stools, with the foot shod vnth a
wooden or iron sole.* They beat the measure not
only with the foot, but also with the right hand,
all the fingers of which they joined to^lher, to
strike into the hollow of the left. He who thus
marked tlie rhythm, vfas called manudactor.
The ancients also beat time with shells, as oyster
shells and bones of animals, which they struck
against one another, much as the modems now
use castanets, and the like instruments. This
the Greeks called tcpf^/i/SaXta^eiy, as is noted by
Hesychius. The scholiast on Aristophanes speaks
mach to the same purpose. Other noisy instru-
ments, as drums, 'cymbals, citterns, &C., were
abo used on the same occasion. They beat the
measure generally in two equal or unequal times ;
at least, this holds of the usual rhythm of a piece
of music, marked either by the noise of sandals,
or the slapping of the hands. But the other
rhythmic instruments last-mentioned, and which
were used principally to excite and animate the
dancers, marked the cadence after another man-
ner; that is, the number of their percussions
equalled, or even sometimes surpassed, that of the
different sounds which composed the air or song
pljTved.
Beatitude, in divinity, denotes the fruition
of God in a future life to all eternity. Beatitude
is also used in speaking of the theses contained
in Christ^s sermon on the mount, whereby be
pronounces the poor in spirit, those that mourn,
the meek, &c., blessed.
Beatitude, in ecclesiastical affairs, was a title
anciently given to all bishops ; but of latter days
has been restrained to the pope. It appears to
have been sometimes aUo given to laymen.
BEATON (David),archbishopof St. Andrew's,
and a cardinal of Rome, in the early part of the
sixteenth century, was bom in 1494. Pope Paul
III. raised him to the degree of a cardinal in De-
cember 1538 ; and being employed by James V.
in negociating his marriage with the court of
France, he was there consecrated bishop of Mire^
poix. Soon after his instalment as archbi^op
of St. Andrew's, he promoted a furious persecu-
tion of the reformers in Scotland ; but the kini^'s
death put a stop, for a time, to his arbitrary pro-
ceedings, he being then excluded from a&iis of
government, and confined. He raised, howev^,
so strong a party, that, upon the coronatioD of
the young queen Mary, he was admitted m die
council, maae chancellor, and procured a com-
mission as legate h latere from the court of Rome.
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He now began to renew his persecution of here-
tics : and, among the rest, of tne iamous protestant
preacher George Wishart, whose sufferings at the
xtake he viewed from his window with apparent ,
exultation. It is said, that Wishart, at his death,
R retold the murder of Beaton, which indeed
happened shortly after, he being assassinated in
his chamber, May 29th, 1547. Beaton had great
talents, and vices that were no less conspicuous.
Beaton (James), a nephew of the archbishop,
was born at Balfour, in 1530, and raised to the
archbishopric of Glasgow, when about twenty-five
years of age. In 1560 he collected the sacred
vessels and records belonging to his cathedral,
and embarked for France, where he died in 1603.
lie wrote a history of Scotland, but it was nerer
printed.
BEATORUM Insula, in ancient geography,
was seven days journey west of Thebae, a district
of the Nomos Oasites, and called an island, be-
cause surrounded with sand, like an island with
water ; yet abounding in all the necessaries of
life. Some suppose it to have been a third Oasis,
in the Regio Ammoniaca; and the site of the
temple of Ammon answers to the above descrip-
tion, as appears from the writers on Alexander's
expedition thither. Ulpian says, it was a place
of banishment for criminals from which there was
no escape.
BEATSON (Robert), an ingenious and ex-
tensive compiler of books, was born in 1742 at
Dysart, in tne county of Fife. At the age of
fourteen he' entered into the army, but rising no
higher than to the rank of lieutenant, turned his
attention to liter&tiire aj aprofesaion,aud in 1786
published A Political Index to the Histories of
Great Britain and Ireland, of which there have
been three editions. In 1790 appeared his Na-
val and Military Memoirs of Great Brhain, in 3
vols. 8vo., to which he subsequently added three
more; and in 1807 a Chronological Register of
both Houses of Parliament from the Union. He
obtained the degree of doctor of laws from the
university of Edinburgh, and was a member of
the Royal Society of Scotland. He died in 1818.
He was also the author of .an Essay on vertical
and horizontal Windmills.
BEATTIE (James), LL. D., professor of mo-
ral philosophy and logic in the Marischal college,
Aberdeen, was bom in Kincardineshire, in 1735.
His father, who kept a small shop in Laurence-
kirk, and rented a farm in the neighbourhood,
gave him all the education which could be ob-
tained at the parish school, and afterwards sent
him to the university of Aberdeen. There he
pursued his studies with great diligence, and was
soon preferred to a bursary. Having continued
four years at the university, studying philosophy
and divinity, with a view to the established
church, and no prospect opening for him, he ac-
cepted in 1753, of tne office of schoolmaster and
parish clerk in the parish of Fordun. Here he con-
tinued four years, little known or noticed In
1758 he was appointed one of the ushers to the
g^rammar school of Aberdeen, and soon after
gained attention among the men of letters in the
university. In 1760 he^ublisheda smallvolume
of original poems and translations, and the same
year was appointed professor of philosophy ; the
duties of which situatton he continued to dis-
charge till within a short time of his death.
Abenieen could at this period boast of Drs.
Campbell, Gerard, Gregory, and Reid, among
its professors ; and the benefits which their new
associate must have derived from such company,
were rendered still more invaluable, by the har-
monv in which they lived with each other, and
the familiar manner in which they communicated
their sentiments. In a kind of literary club, which
met twice a month, they discussed freely all the
topics of literature and philosophy which occurred
to any of them ; and it was in this society that
those speculations took their rise, which have
since made their names so ^miliar to all who
read for instruction. In 1763 Mr. Beattie visited
London, and in 1765 published his Judgment
of Paris; this year also, he became acquainted
with the poet Gray, and continued in close
friendship with him while he lived. In 1767 he
married a daughter of Dr. Dun, master of the
grammar school ; and about this time seems to
have begun his Minstrel, and his Essay on the
Nature and Immutability of Truth ; the latter of
which was published in 1770. It was designed
particularly to oppose the philosophy of Hume,
who is said to have been so sensible of the
strength of its arguments and popularity, that he
never afterwards could hear the name of Beattie
mentioned without displeasure. In 1771 ap-
peared the first canto of that beautiful poem,
The Minstrel, which was completed in 1774,
and in a very short time ran through several edi-
tions. In a second journey to London, he was
introduced by his friend Dr. Gregory to Mrs.
Montagu, and to all the distinguished literary
society thf n in the metropolis. He visited Lon-
don a third time in 1773, and associated for some
months with Drs. Johnson, ^Porteus, and other
eminent men. About this time he received an ho-
-norary, degree of LLD. from Oxford; and obtained
a pension from the king of £200 per anniyn. He
had also the honor of an interview with tlieir
majesties. This year there was a proposal for
transferring Dr. Beattie to tlie university of Edin-
burgh, but he declined it; and in 1774 two
offers were made him in the church of England,
one of them a living of £500 a year, with views
of further preferment; but these he also declined.
Dr. Priestley at this time made an attack upon
him, of which, however, he took no notice. In
1776 he published a volume of Essays; and in
1783, Dissertations Moral and Critical, in one
volume 4to, At the recommendation of the
bishop of London, in 1786, he published two
small volumes on \he Evidences ot the Christian
Religion ; and in 1790 the Elements of Moral
Science, being the outlines of his academical
lectures. Dr. Beattie was very much tried by
domestic affliction : his wife became the victim
of hereditary insanity, and his two sons, James
Hay and Montagu, died successively, after at-
taining to manhood. The situation of his wife, and
the precarious state of his own health, had sunk
him into an habitual depression ; but the death
of his eldest son James, who had been conjoined
with him in the professorship, was so severe a
shock to him that he never recovered from it.
But the sudden death of his only remaining child
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in 1796, completely unhinged his mind ; the first
symptom of which was a temporary, but almost
total loss of memory, respecting bis son. At this
time, after searching in every room in the house,
he would say to his niece, Mrs. Glennie, * You
may think it strange, but I must ask you if I
have a son> and where he is ? ' She then felt her-
self,' hays Sir William Forbes, 'under the painful
necessity of bringing to his recollection nis son
Montagu's sufferings, which always restored him
to reason. And he would often, with many tears,
express his thankfulness that he had no child,
saying, * How could I have borne to see their
elegant minds mangled with madness 1 ' When
he looked for the last time on the dead body of
hi^ sen, he said, ' I have now done with the
world/ His last publication was An Account
of the life. Character, and Writings of James
liay Beattie. His spirits from tliis period were
nerer restored, and his health continued gra-
dually to decline, till, in 1799, he was struck
witl\ palsy ; and, after being reduced to a state
of permanent insensibility, this excellent man,
all of whose labors tended to enlighten and be-
nefit mankind, expired in June, 1803.
BEAU', "J From the Fr. beauy good, gay,
Beau'ish, Sfine. 'The plural beaux is now
Beau'ship. j Anglicised. A beau is a man of
dress,, whose great' care is to deck his person.
Vulgarly employed to designate a lover, who of
course must be a smart fellow. A be<m was the
dandy of the last dage, as a dandy is the fop of the
present.
Wliat will not beaux attempt to please the fair.
The water nymphs are too unkind
To VilFroy ; are the land nymphs so ?
And fly they all, at once combln'd
To shame a general, and a beau? Prior.
You will become the delight of nine ladies in ten,
and the envy of ninety-nine beaux in a hundred.
Swift,
A youth more glittering than a birth-night beau,
That even in slumber caus'd her cheek to glow.
Pope, Rape of the Lock.
"With varying vanities from ev'iy part.
They shift the moving toy-shop of their heart.
Where wigs with wigs, with sword-knots sword-knots
strive.
Beaux banish beaux^ and coaches coaches drive.
This erring mortals levity may call.
Oh blind to truth! the sylphs contrive it all. Id,
Just at that time of life, whea man by rule.
The fop laid down, takes up the graver fool.
He started up a fop, and fond of show
Look'd Like another Hercules tum'd beau.
CfiurchiU.
Beau (Charles le), a learned French author,
bom at Paris in 1701. He became professor in
the Royal College, and secretary of tne Academy
of Inscriptions. He wrote a history of the Lower
Empire, in 22 vols, which is much esteemed;
also Opera Latins, published at Paris five years
after his death, in 3 vols. 12mo. He died at
Paris in 1778.
Beau (John Lewis le), brother of Charles, was
also a roan of considerable learning. He was
bom at Paris in 1721, and became professor of
flieloric in the college of the Grassins, and mem-
ber of the academy of inscriptions. In 1746 he
published an edition of Homer in Greek and
Latin,- 2 vols: and in 1750, the Orations of
Cicero, 3 vols. : also a Discourse on the Porerty
of the Learned. He died in 1766.
BEAUBASSIN, a bay in the straits of Magel-
lan, on the coast of Terra del Fuego, so named
by Bougainville. ' According to his account,
there is good anchorage in it from forty to twelve
fethoms; the bottom of sand, small gravel, and
shells. Long. 71** 13' W., lat. 54** 22* S.
BEAUCAIRE, a town of France, in the
department of the Gard and ci-devant proviace
of Languedoc, on the Rhone, opposite to Taras-
con, with which it has a communication by a
bridge of boats. The fair of the Magdalen, which
b held July 22, partly in the town, and partly
under tents in an adjacent valley, for seven days,
is one of the most famous in Europe, though of
.late it has declined. Beaucaire is ten miles east
of Nismes. The canal of Aigues Mortes now
extends to this town, where it communicates with
the Rhone. On the Rhone, opposite Tsrascon,
are the picturesque rains of an old castle. Its
population is stated to be 8500. Long. 4'' 39' £^
lat. 43** 50* N.
BEAUCE, one of the former provinces of
France, famous for its fertility in grain. It was
situated between Perche, the Isle of France, the
Blasois, and the Orleanais, Chartnes was its capi-
tal. Beauce now forms a part of the department
of the Eure and Loir.
BEAUCLERC, Port, a good harbour in an
island in the North Pacific, on the west coast of
North America. . Long. 226° 23* E., lat. 56*
irN.
BEAUCLERK (Topham), a gentleman of
whom Dr. Johnson said, referring to his conver-
sational power and &cility of expression, that his
talents were those which he had felt himself more
disposed to envy than those of any whom be bad
known. He was the son of lord Sidney Bean-
clerk, and was bom in December 1739. In
1768 he married lady Diana Spencer, daughter
of the duke of Mariborough, whose previous
marriage with viscount Bolingbroke had two
days before been dissolved by act of pariiamenL
Mr. Beauclerk died at his house in Great Rus-
sell Street, Bloomsbuiy, March 11, 1780, leaving
by his wife a son and two daughters, and a veiy
valuable library. Lady Diana Beauclerk long
survived him, and died in August 1806, at the
age of seventy-four. She was a lady distin-
guished for her tiste and skill in the arts.
BEA'VER. Sax. befer, Dut. bever^ Germ.
biber, Fr. bievre, laX.fibla. An animal, otherwise
named the castor^ amphibious, and remarkable
for his art in building his habitation ; of which
many wonderful accounts are delivered by tra-
vellers. His skin is very valuable on account of
the fur. . Of this fur, hats of the best quality are
manu&ctured, and therefore called beetogrs.
Highe on hora he sat.
And on his he J a Flaundriab beoer hat.
Then ante him al^ monstrcraa beasts retorted.
Bred of two kindes ; as griffons, minotaon.
Crocodiles, dragons beavert, and Centaom.
^pmMT. Mother BtAberi'MTeie^
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Ha! yoa felt the wool of I
Or fwans' down ever ?
Or have smelt o' the bad o' the briar^
Or the Hard in the fire.
Or have tasted the bag of the bee ;
Oh, so white ! Oh, so soft ! Oh so sweet it she !
BenJoiutn.
They placed this invention upon the leaoer, for the
sagacity and wisdom of that animal ; indeed from its
artifice in building. Browne*» Vulgar Erroun,
You see a smart rhetorician turning his hat, mould-
ing it into different cocks, examining the lining and
the button during his harangue : a deaf man would
think he was cheapening a heaoer, when he is talking
of the fate of a nation. ' Addiaon.
The broker here his spacious beaner wears.
Upon his brow sit jealousies and cares. (kty,
Beaver, ) From baviere, French ; bamere,
^BEA VERED. \ says Cotgrave, is the bib, mocket,
or mockcter, to pat before the bosom of a slarer-
ang child ; so that baviere or beaver, is, accord-
ing to the £ncy. Met, that part of the helmet
M^hich lets down to enable tne wearer to drink,
and which receives the drops or dribblings; by
Sliakspeare and others, however, as the editor
admits, it is quite oppositely applied.
His dreadful hideous head.
Close coached on the beaoer, seem'd to throw
From flaming mouth bright sparklet fiery red.
Big Mart seemt bankrupt in their beggar'd host.
And faintly through a rusty beaoer peept. Shalupeare,
1 saw yoong Harry ^ — ^with his beaoer on.
His cuisses on his thighs, gallantly armM,-—
Rise from the ground like feathered Mercaiy,
And vaulted with such ease into his seat.
As if an angel dropp'd down from the clouds.
To turn and wind a fiery Pegasus,
And witch the world with noble horsemanship. Id,
He was slain apon a coarse at tilt, the splinters of
Lis staff going in at his beaoer. Bacon*
His beaoer'd brow a birchen garland heart*
Dropping with infant's blood, and mother's tears.
Pope,
Beaver, in zoology. See Castor.
Beaver Skins are a prodigious article of
trade, being the foundation of the hat manufac-
tory. In 1763 were sold, in a single sale of the
Hudson's Bay Company, 54,670 skins. They
vary in their colors; the finest are black, but the
geneial color is a chestnut brown, more or less
dark: some have been found, but very rarely,
white. They are distinguished by the names of
coat beaver^ which is what has been worn as
coverlets by the Indians: parchment beaver,
because the lower side resembles it ; and stage
beaver, which is the worst, and is that which the
Indians kill out of season, on their stases or
joumevs. Besides hats and furs, in which the
beaver s hair is commonly used, thev attempted
in France, in 1699, to make cloths, flannels,
stockings, &c. partly of beaver's hair, and partly
of Segovia wool. This manufactory, whicti was
set up at Paris, in St. Anthony's suburbs, suc-
ceeded at first pretty well ; and, according to the
geoius of the French, the novelty of the thing
brought into some repute the stufis, stockings,
gloves, and cloth, made of beaver's hair. But
they were found of very. bad wear, and the
colon quickly fiided : when they had been wet^
they became dry and hard, like felt. When the
hair has been cut off from the skins, to be used
in the manu&cture of hats, the skins are em-
ployed by trunk-makers, to cover trunks and
lx)xe8; by shoe-makers;, and by turners, to
make sieves, &c. Merchants distinguish beaver
skins into,
1. Beaver, Dry, which is sometimes called
lean beaver, and which comes from the summer
hunting at the time when these animals lose
part of their hair. Though this is inferior to the
new beaver, yet it ma^ also be employed in fan ;
but it is chiefly used m the manufacture of hats.
The French csdl it summer castor or beaver.
2. Braver, Fat, is that which has contracted
a certain gross and oily humoi^ from the per-
spiration which exhales from the bodies of the
sava^, who wear it for some time. Though
this 18 a better kind than the dry beaver, yet it is
used only in the making hats.
3. Beaver, New, or Whitr Beaver, also
called Muscovy beaver, because it is commonly
kept to be sent into Russia, is that which the
savages catch in their winter hunting. It is the
best, and the most proper for making fine furs,
because it has lost none of its hair by shedding.
Beaver Creek, a river of T^foith America,
which falls into lake Erie at its east end, about
seven miles south-east from Fort Erie. 2. A
river of North America, which falls into the Alle-
gany. Twenty-eight miles north-west from Pitts-
burg. 3. A nver of Kentucky, which runs into
the Cumberland. 4. A river of Georgia, which
runs into the Tennessee.
Beaver Islands, are a remarkable chain of
small islands in lake Michigan, extending about
thirty miles south-west. They appear beautiful,
but the soil is barren.
Beaver Kill, a river of North America,
which falls into the Popachton branch of the
Delaware.
Beaver Lake, in North America, lies in
about 52^ 45' N. lat., and 101** 30' W. long.
Beaver River, so called from the multitude
of beavers ^hich frequent its banks, a river of
North America, which rises on tlie eastern side
of the rocky mountains, and falls into the Yellow-
stone firom the north.
Also a river of North America, which rises in
the ridge of mountains that divides the waters
which discharge themselves into Hudson's bay,
from those which flow towards tlie Northern
Ocean. It falls into Lake la Crosse, in about
56° N. lat. and 108o W. long.
Beaver's Town, a town of the United States
of America, in the western territory, built in
1764. Eighty-five miles north-west of Pittsburg.
BEAUFORT a sea-port of the United States,
in Carteret, North Carolina county. North Ame-
rica. Fif%y-five miles south by east of Newburn.
Long. rrW., lat. 34^47' N.
Beaufort, a town of the United States, in
South Carolina, situated on the island of Port
Royal, at tlie mouth of Coosawhatchie river.
It has an excellent harbonr, and is seventy-three
miles from Charlestown. Long. 80° 55' W.,
bt. 32° 26' N.
Beaufort en Vallee, a town of France, in
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iae department of the Maine and Loire, late pro-
vince of Anjou, with a castle. It contains two
parishes, and formerly had a convent of Recolets.
Beaufort gives the title of a Dnke in England to
the Doble family of Somerset, who are lineally
descended from John of Gaunt, duke of Lancas-
ter, whose duchess resided here. It contains
800 houses, 6000 inhabitants, and carries on an
active trade in grain, wine, and hemp, with
manufactures of linen and woollen stuffs, and
hats. The village of Beaufort en Franchise, or
Beaufort hors la Ville, is separated from this
town by an arm of 'the river Coesnon. fifteen
miles east of Angers, and tliirty-eight west of
Tours.
Beaufort District, a county of South Caro-
lina, which lies on the sea-coast, between Com-
bahee and Savannah rivers.
Beaufort (Henry), brother of Henry IV.
king of England, was made bishop of I^incoln,
whence he was translated to Winchester. He
was also nominated chancellor of the kingdom,
and sent ambassador to France. In 1426
he received a cardinal's bat, and was appointed
legate in Germany. In 1431 he crowned Henry
VI. in the great church of Paris. He died at
Winchester in 1447. He was a haughty, turbu-
lent prelate, and Shakspeare is considered as
giving a true portrait of him, when he describes
his last scene.
Beaufort (Margaret), the foundress of Christ's
and St. John's colleges in Cambridge; the only
daui^hter and heir of John Beaufort, duke of
Somerset, and of Margaret Beauchamp, was born
in 1441. She married in 1456 Edmund, earl of
Richmond, by whom she had king Henry VII.
and died in 1509, after having had two other
husbands, namely, Sir Henry Staffojrd, and
Thomas, lord Stanley, earl of Derby. By her
marriage, according to bishop Fisher, with the
earl of Richmond, and by her birth, she was
allied to thirty kings and queens, within the fourth
degree of either blood or affinity. Besides the
foundation of the two colleges at Cambridge,
before-mentioned, she left salaries for two divi-
nity lecturers, one at Oxford, and the other at
Cambridge; as also for a grammar-school at
Wimborn, and other foundations in support of
learning, of which she was not altogether de-
ficient herself, as appears from some of her works,
namely, 1. The Mirroure of Gold for the Sinful '
Soul; translated from the French version of a
book entitled. Speculum Aureum Peccatorum.
2. A translation of the fourth book of Gerson's
treatise, entitled. Of the Imitation and Following
the Blessed Life of our Most Merciful Saviour
Jesus Christ; printed at the end of Dr. Atkin-
son's English translation of the three first books,
1504. 3. A Letter to her Son, printed in How-
ard's Collection of Letters. She was also pos-
sessed of extraordinary zeal in religion, and
declared that provided she could induce the
princes of Christendom to form a league, and
march against the infidels, she would willingly
attend them as their laundress.
Beaufort (Lewis de), a celebrated writer of
the eighteenth century. He disting:uishe 1 him-
self in the literary world by several valuable
works, and was chosen fellow of the Royal Socieiv
of LoDdon. He wrote the History of Germani-
cus; Dissertation upon the Uncertainty of die
five first Ages of the Roman Republic ; History
of the Roman Republic, or Plan of the Ancient
Government of Rome. He died at Maestricht in
1795.
BEAUFORTIA, in botany, a genus of plants
of the class polyadelphia, and order icosandria.
Its generic characters are five groups of stax.
opposite to the petals: anther, inserted into the
base; bifid at the apex, lobes deciduous: caps.
trilocular one-seeded, connate, included in the
thickened tube of the calyx adnate at the base.
It contains two species, natives of New Holland.
BEAUFRONT, a small town of Northumber-
land, on the Tyne,
BEAUGENCY, a town of France, in the de-
partment of the Loiret, and arrondissemcnt of
Orleans, seated on the Loire. Long. 1° 46* E.,
lat. 47° 48' N. It had formerly the title of
county, has 4900 inhabitants, and is the head of
a canton. It has a considerable trade in wine
and brandy; a few cloth stuffs are also manu&c-
tured, and there are several tanneries. Over the
Loire is a stone bridge. Fifteen miles south-west
of Orleans, and eighteen north-east of Blois.
. BEAUHARNOIS (Alexander de), a French
nobleman, who perished during the revolution,
and who was the first husband of the late em-
press Josephine of France. He was bom at
Martinique, and going early in life to Paris, wai
elected deputy of Blois in the Constituent As-
sembly, in which he joined the popular party.
He proposed equality of punishments for all
classes of citizens, and their eligibility to ail
ofiices. After the attempted flight of Louis XVI.
Beauharnois was appointed adjutant-general to
Luckner, general-iuTchief of the army of the Mo-
selle, in which post he gave many proofe both of
his courage and humanity. He was offered the
place of minister of war, which he refused. Five
days previous to the &11 of Robespierre, he was
condemned by the revolutionary tribunal, and
perished on the scaffold, July 23d, 1794.
Beauharnois (Eugene de), only son of the
preceding, and viceroy of Italy under Napoleon,
was intimately connected throughout life with bis
father-in-law. He is said to have governed Italy
with great judgment and moderation, so as to
conciliate the respect and esteem of the inhabi-
tants in general. In the Russian campaign he
commanded the Italian troops of the grand army.
Napoleon's downfall in 1814 terminated Deaubar-
nois's prosperity. In January, 1806, he married
the princess Augusta Amelia, eldest daughter of
the king of Bavaria, to whose court at Munidi
he retired on the restoration of Louis XVII I.
and died there in 1824.
BEAULIEU, a village of Hampshire, four
miles south-west of Southampton, in which are
the remains of a Cistercian abbey, founded by
king John iii 1204. Its walls afforded an as)'-
lum to Margaret, the queen of Henry VI. after
the battle of Barnet. The celebrated Perkm
Warbeck was protected here in later times;
when their sanctity was so far respected, thai
though surrounded by an armed force, he was nc:
seized, but voluntarily surrendered himself.
Be AC LIEU, a small town of France, on tJte
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right bank of the Indre, in the government of
Touraine. It had forraerty the title of barony;
since the revolution it has been included in the
department of the Indre and Loire. It has 1500
inhabitants, and a few manufactures of linen and
woollen stuffs and hats. Nineteen miles S.S.W.
of Tours.
Beaulieu (Sebastian de Pontault de), a cele-
brated French engineer, and major-general under
Louis XI V. He published plans of all the battles
' and sieges of his master, to which he added his-
torical subjects in perspective. He died in 1674,
BEAUMARCHAIS (Peter Augustin Caron
de)y an ingenious French artist and dramatic
writer, was born at Paris in 1732. His fjither
was a clock-maker, and early in life he applied
himself with great diligence to that occupation.
He invented a new escapement, the honor of
which was contested by another artist, but the
Academy of Sciences determined it in favor of
young Beaumarchais. He also distin^ished
himself by his skill in music, and paiticularly in
playing on the harp ; which recommended him
to the notice of the sisters of Louis XV. who en-
couraged him to attend their concerts and private
parties. In three different great legal causes in
which he was engaged, he displayed his literary
talents so advantageously, as obtained for him a
considerable post under the government. He
wrote, 1 . Memoires centre les Sieurs de Goeti-
man, &,c. 2. Memoire en reponse a celui de G.
Kornmann. 3. Eugenie, a drama. 4. Les deux
Amis. 5. Le Barbier de Seville. 6. Le Marriage
de Figaro. 7, Tarare, an opera. 8. La M^re
Coupable. 9. Memoire en Reponse au Manifeste
du roi d'Angleterre. 10. Memoires a Lecointre de
Versailles. At the commencement of the revo-
lution he retired to Holland, from whence he
came to England, and was proscribed by the
convention, yet he ventured to return to his
country, where he died in 1799. The first ap-
pearance of Le Mariage de Figaro, at the begin-
ning of the revolution, gave rise to a singular
trial of strength between the court and the popu-
lar party. See Antoinette,
BEAUMARIS, or Beaumarsh, Fr. Beau-
marais, the county town of Anglesey in North
Wales, seated on a bay, which affords good
anchorage, and is frequently a refuge for ships in
«torms; having seven fathoms water at the lowest
ebb. It is neat and well built, and has one
very handsome street. • Edward 1. to ovemwe
the VVchh, built a fortress here in 1295, and
fixed on a marshy spot, near the chapel of St.
IVIeugan, that he might have an opportunity of
forming a foss round the castle, and of filling it
-^rith water from the sea. He also cut a canal, to
permit vessels to discharge their lading beneath the
'walls. Within the last century iron rings were
a.f}ixed to them, for the purpose of mooring ships
or boats. The marsh was in early times of tar
greater extent than at present, and covered with
fine bulrushes. The first governor was Sir Wil-
liaun Pickmore, a Gascon knight. The constable
of the castle was formerly captain of the town.
It was garrisoned for Charles I. in the civil wars,
l>ut captured by an overwhelming parliamentary
force. This castle is in ruins, ana the present
government of Beaumaris is vested in a mayor.
recorder, two bailiffs, and twenty-four burgesses*
two sei-geants at mace, a town clerk, four consta-
bles, and a water bailiff : the corporation orriy
electing the member of parliament returned by
this place. Here is a handsome church, contain-
ing some noble monuments : a commodious and
elegant town-hall, having shambles under it, with
iron gates and railings, and a secure prison. In
the hall the corporation business is transacted,
and the assemblies are held. It has been rebuilt
by viscount Bulkeley. The grammar-school and
alms-houses are also respectable establishments.
The ferry, which is near the town, is passable at
low water. The markets on Wednesday and
Saturday are well supplied with all kinds of pro-
vision. It is a chapelry, called the chapel of the
Blessed Virgin, to the parish of Llaudegvan.
251 miles, by Aberconway, from London, and
fifty-nine west by north from Chester ; and con-
tains upwards of 2000 inhabitants. It is near
Beaumaris, over tlie Bangor ferry, that the noble
suspension bridge of Mr. Telford has been
recently erected. The span of the principal arch
is 580 feet, and it is 100 feet above the surface
of the sea at high water, which will allow the
largest vessels that pass the strait to sail beneatli
it. At Plasnewydd, about one mile on the right,
is ^he elegant mansion of the marquis of Anglesey .
BEAUMELLE (Laurence), a French author,
bom at Vallerangue, in Lower Languedoc, in
1727. He was a man of considerable abilities,
and went to Denmark, where he settled for some
time as professor of belles lettres. He wrote a
Defence of the Spirit of Laws ; Letters to Vol-
taire ; Thoughts of Seneca ; a Commentary upon
the Henriade ; a Life of Mad. Maintenon, &c.
but was twice confined in the Bastile for libels
and satires. The king, however, appointed him
his librarian in 1772. He died at Paris in 1773.
Beaumont (Francis), a celebrated dramatic
writer, who flourished in the reign of James L
was descended from an ancient family of his
name at Grace-Dieu, in Leicestershire, where he
was born about 1585 or 1586, in the .reign of
queen Elizabeth. His grandfather, John Beau-
mont, was master of the rolls, and his father,
Francis, one of the judges of the common pleas.
He was educated at Cambridge, and afterwards
admitted of the inner temple. It does not, how-
ever, appear, that he had made any great pro-
ficiency in the law. Out of fifty-three plays,
which are collected together as the joint labors
of Beaumont and Fletcher, (for an account of
their celebrated joint works, see Fletcher), Mr.
Beaumont was concerned in the greater part,
yet he did not live to complete his thirtieth year,
death summoning him away in the beginning of
March, 1615. He was interred in the entrance
of St. Benedict's chapel, Westminster abbey.
He left a daughter, Frances Beaumont, who
died in Leicestershire, and who, having in her
possession several poems of her father*s, lost
them at sea in a voyage from Ireland.
Beaumont (Sir John), the elder brother of
Francis the poet, was bom in 1582, and edu-
cated at Oxford, whence he removed to one
of the inns of court. In 1626 he had the dig-
nity of a baronet conferred on him by king
Charies I. He wrote, The Crown of Thorns, a
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BEA
poem, in eight books; Bosworth Field, and
other poems; Translations from the Latin
Poets ; and several poems on religious and po-
litical subjects: as, on the Festivals; on the
Blessed Trinity ; a Dialogue between the World,
a Pilgrim, and Virtue ; Of the miserable State
of Man; Of Sickness, &c. He died in 1628.
His poetic genius was celebrated by Ben Jon-
son and Michael Drayton.
Beaumont (Mad. le Prince de), a literary
lady, a native of Rouen, -in Normandy, who kept
a boarding school for young ladies at London,
and afterwards at Annecy, in Savoy, where she
died in 1780. Her publications are, Magazin
des Enfans ; Magazin des Adolescens ; Magazin
des Jeuncs Dames; Nouveau Magazin Anglois;
Lettres de Madame du Montier ; and The New
Clarissa.
Beaumont (Elie d'), a French advocate, bom
at Carentan in 1732. He distinguished himself
by his interesting memoir in favor of the unfor-
tunate family of Galas, the effect of which upon
the nation was very great. Besides this, he
wrote several other pieces of considerable merit.
He died in 1786. The much admired novel,
entitled. Letters of the Marquis de Roselle, was
written by his wife, who died in 1783.
Beaumont de Lomagne, a town of France,
in Gascony, with 3700 inhabitants ; the head of
a canton, situated in the department of the Tarn
and Garonne. Here are manufactures of coarse
cloths, hats, and leather. It stands on the small
river Gimone, twenty-eight miles north-west of
Toulouse^
Beaumont le Vicomte, a town of France, in
the province of Maine, and department of the
Sartne. It contains 2400 inhabitants, with ma-
nufactures of woollen stuffs, and lies on the river
Sarthe, fifteen miles north of Le Mans, and fif-
teen south of Alenpon.
Beaumont sua Oise, a small town of France,
with 2150 inhabitants. It is situated in the de-
partment of the Seine and Oise, on the river
Oise, twenty miles north of Paris.
Beaumont sua Vingeanne, atown of France,
in Burgundy, department of the Cote d'Or, ten
miles west of Gray, and thirteen north-east of
Dijon.
BEAUNE, or Beaulne, a town of France, in
Burgundy, included since the revolution in the
department of the Cote d*Or; the head of an
arrondissement of nine cantons. It is tolerably
well fortified, and has a castle, with five suburbs.
The only public establishment deserving men-
tion is the hospital, founded in 1443, by the
chancellor Rolhn. In former times it was the
third town in Burgundy, the seat of a gover-
nor, and other functionaries, and the capi-
tal of the district called from it the Beaunois.
The town is particularly celebrated for its wines,
and lies in an agreeable country, on the right
bank of the Bouzeoise, not fer from the Saone.
Twenty miles S.S.W. of Dijon, and twenty-
three north-east of Autun. Inhabitants about
10,200.
Beaune (James de), baron of Samblan9ai, an
unfortunate financier under Francis I. While
that monarch was contending about the Milanese,
Beaune had seUled matters for sending 300,000
crowns to Lautrec, the commander, for paYiag
the troops ; but the queen mother demaaaea the
money tor herself, threatening to ruin the soper-
intendant if he did not satisfy her demand, and
thus obtained it. In consequence of the army
not receiving the promised supply, they failed in
their design, and laid the blame upon Samblan-
cai, against whom they complained to the kin;.
The baron endeavoured to justify hims^, by
laying before the king the real cause ; but the
queen mother bribed his secretary to deliver to
her the receipts she had granted to him, by which
means he was deprived of the only evidence for
substantiating his innocence ; he was accordmglj
accused of having made use of the money him-
self, and was executed in 1527. He met his
fate with the utmost intrepidity ; and his courage
is commemorated in a beautiful epigram by the
poet Marot.
BEAU-PLEADER, or BEW-PLEAOEa, a writ
on the statute of Marlbridge, whereby it is pro-
vided that no fine shall Ym taken of any man in
any court for fair pleading, i. e. for not pleading
aptly^ and to the purpose.
BEAURAIN (John de), geographer to Lewis
XV. was bom at Aix in 1697. Be»des con-
structing a number of charts, he published a to-
pographical and military description of the
campaigns of Luxemburg, from 1690 to 1694.
three volumes, folJo. He died in 1771.
BEAUREGARD L'Eveque, a town of
France, in the department of the Puy-de-Dome,
has an elegant castle, which, before the revolu-
tion, belonged to the bishop of Clermont. The
memory of the celebrated Masillon is still che>
rished here by the inhabitants. Beauregard is
not far from the AUier. Nine miles east of
Clermont-Ferrand.
BEAURIEU (Gaspard-^juillard de), an inge-
nious French philosopher, bom in the county of
Artois in 1727. His most celebrated woik was
the Pupil of Nature, two volumes. He iell a
sacrifice to the revolutionary storms, being left lo
perish in an hospital in 1795.
BEAUSOBRE (Isaac de), a very learned
French Protestant writer, was bom at Nioit in
1659. He was forced into Holland to avoid the
execution of a sentence, which condemned him
to make the amende honorable, for having bro-
ken the roval signet, which was put npon the
door of a church of the reformed, to prevent the
public profession of their religion. He went to
Berlin m 1694; was made chaplain to the king
of Prussia, and counsellor of the royal consis-
tory. He died in 1738, aged seventy-nine, after
having published, 1. Defense de la Doctrine des
Reibrm^s. 3. A Translation of the New Testament
and Notes, jointly with M. Lenfent. 3. Disser-
tation sur les Adamites de Boheme. 4. Hiatoire
Critique de Manichees, et du Manicheisoiey two
vols, ouarto. 5. Several dissertations in. the
Bibliotneqne Britannique, &c. M. Beausobre
had strong sense, with profound enidition ; he
preached as he wrote, with warmth and spirit.
Beausobre (Lewis), counsellor to the king of
Prussia, was bom at Berlin in 1730. He wrote
Philosophical Dissertations on the Nature of Fire.
Le Pyrrhonisme du Sage; andLesSongesd'Ep^-
cure. He died in 1783.
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BEAUTY, r. h n
Beaute'ous,
Beaute'ously,
Beavteous'ness,
Beauti'pier,
Beauti'ful,
Beatjti'fully,
Beautifvl'ness,
Beauti'pt,
Beautify'iwo,
Beauti'less^
Beauty'warnino, ^
Beoti/e, French ; from
the ancient Latin, bentu,
i. e. bornu; fair; good;
lovely. It is applied to
external objects ; to what-
ever imparts pleasure,
''and comes under the
cognizance of the senses ;
there is also an ideal
world of beauty; the
various qualities of the
human mind and cha-
racter, and the productions of the intellect which
have a relation to taste; beauty of scenery;
beauty of person; beauty of description, of
thoughts, 01 words, of actions.
Bat, for to apekin of her eyin clere !
Lo ! trolly the! writtin that hire seien.
That ParadiB stode formed in hire eien ;
And with hire richd beaute evirmore
Strove love in hire aie which of hem was more.
Chaucer. Trtfiku and Creteide.
Faire Marian, the mnses onely darling s
Whose beantie thyneth as the morning cleare,
With silver dew upon the roses pearling. Spetuer.
lis beaaOjf truly blent, whose red and white
Natore's own sweet and cunning hand laid on.
Shaktpeare,
Beautjf and grace are like those beams and shining
that come from the glorious and divine sun, which
are diverse, as they proceed from the diverse objects,
to please and affect our several senses ^ ' as the spe-
cies of beauty are taken at our eyes, ears, or con-
ceived in our inner soul,' as Plato disputes at large in
his Dialogue de Pulchro, Phaedos, Hyppias; and,
after many sophistical errors are confuted, concludes
that beauty is a grace in all things, delighting the
eyes, ears, and soul itself ; so that, as Yalesius infers,
hence whatsoever pleaseth our ears, eyes, and soul,
must needs be beamtijrdi, fair, and delightsome to us.
Burton, Ana*, MeL
His hair (which the young men of Greece used to
wear very long) was stirred up and down with the
wind, which seemed to haye a sport to play with
it as the sea had to kiss his feet; himself full of
admirable beauty, set forth by the strangeness both.
of his seat and gesture ; for holding his head up full
of unmoved majesty, he held a sword aloft with his
fair arm, which often he waved about his crown, as
though he would threaten the world in that extremity.
Sir Phiiip Sydney. Areadia,
A bed of lilies flower upon her cheek.
And in the midst was set a circling rose ;
Whose sweet aspect would force Narcissus seek
Kew liveries, and fresher colours choose.
To deck his beautwue head in snowy tire ;
But all in vain ; for who can hope t' aspire -
To such a hit, which none attain, but all admire?
Fleteker't Purple Uand.
Ask me no mure where Jove bestows.
When June is past, the fading rose ;
For in your bemutiet orient deep.
These flowers, as in their causes, sleep.
T, Carem,
But likeness soon together drew.
What the did separate lay.
Of which one perfect beauty grew.
And that was Celia. Manett,
O! she hay fteoMly might ensnare
A eonqoeror'p soul, and make him leave his crown
At nmdom, to be scuffled for by ilavei.
Otway, Orphm.
Vol. Ill
Like blossom'd trees o'ertum'd by vernal storms.
Lovely in death, the beauteous vxia lay.
Young, Night Tftoughis:
The lengthened night elaps'd, the morning shines
Serene, in all her dewy beauty bright.
Unfolding fair the last autumnal day.
Thomson. Seasons.
As lamps bum silent, with unconscious light.
So modest ease in beauty shines most bright.
A. HiU.
Perhaps the most complete assembli^e of beautifid
objects Uiat can anywhere be found, is presented by
a rich natural landscape, where there is sufficient
variety of objects ; fields in verdure, scattered trees
and flowers, running water, and animals grazing.
BkAr^s Lectures,
A lady seldom listens with attention to any praise
but that of her beauty. Johnson, Rambler.
The silver light, which hallowing tree and tower.
Sheds beauty and deep softness o'er the whole.
Breathes also to the heart, and o'er it throws
A loving languor, which is not repose. Byron.
Her cheek of youth was beauti^.
Till withering sorrow blanched the bright rose there.
Matunn. Bertram.
Beauty. Locke defines beauty, as, * a certain
composition of color and figure, causing delight
to the beholder.' Mr. Burke, confining his defi-
nition to the merely sensible (qualities of things,
states beauW to be ' that quality, or those qua-
lities, in bodies by which they cause love, or some,
passion similar to it.' Others define it, more
generally, as a term whereby we express a certain
relation of some object, either to an agreeable
sensation, or to an idea of approbation. When,
therefore, we say a thing is beautiful, we either
mean that we perceive something that we ap-
prove, or something that gives us pleasure:
whence it appears, that the idea annexed to the
word beauty is double ; which renders the word
equivocal, and this is the source of most of the
disputes on the subject of beauty.
Mr. Hazlett, in an ingenious dissertation on
the subject, iu the Supplement to the Encyolo-
'psedia Britannica, speaks of it as that property
in objects by which they are recommended to the
power or faculty of taste — ^the reverse of ugliness
—the primary or most general object of love or
Admiration.
We do not regard works of science as alto-
gether suited for dissertations on matters of taste.
We find our space and our attention occupied
with tiie more tangible and better defined objects
of human knowl»lge. But we shall endeavour
to collect the most respectable opinions oa this
disputed subject.
Beauty, says Dr. Reid, (Essay on the Intel-
lectual Powers of Man, ch. iv.) is found in things
so various and so very different in nature, that it
is difBcult to say wherein it consists, or what can
be common to all the objects in which it is found.
Of the objects of sense, we find beauty in color,
in sound, m form, in motion. Hiere are beauties
of speech, and beauties of thought; beauties in
tiie arts, and in the sciences ; beauties in actions,
in affKtions, and in characters. In things so
different, and so unlike, is there any quality, the
same in all, which we may call by the name o.
beauW ? Why then should things so different be
called by the same name? They please, andari
3A
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BEAUTY.
denomioated^^beaatifdl, not in Tirttte of any one
quality commoa to them all, but by means of
several different principles in human nature.
The agreeable emotion excited by them, and
called beauty, is produced by different causes.
However, though there be nothing common in
the things themselves, yet the kinds of beauty,
which seem to be as various as the objects to
which it is ascribed, must have some common
relation to us, or to something else, which leads
us to give Uiem the same name. All the objects
we call beautiful, agree in two things, which seem
to concur in our sense of beauty. First, when
they are perceived, or even imagined, they pro-
duce a certain agreeable emotion or feeling in
the mind ; and, secondly, this agreeable emotion
is accompanied with an opinion or belief of their
having some perfection or excellence belonging
to them. Whether the pleasure we feel in con-
templating, beaut^ objects may have any ne-
cessary connexion with the belief of their ex-
cellence, or whether that pleasure be conjoined
with this belief, merely by the good pleasure of
OUT Maker, Dr. Reiddoes not determine. Beau-
tifiil objects excite an emotion of a soothing and
enlivening kind, that sweetens the temper, allays
angry passions, and promotes every benevolent
affection, and disposes to other agreeable emo-
tioos, such as those of love, hope, and ioy.
' There is nothing,' says Addison, * that makes
its way more direc^y.to the soul than beauty,
which immediately diffuses a secret satisfaction
and complacence trough the imagination, and
gives a finishing to any thing that is great and
uncommon. The very first discovery of it strikes
the mind with an inward joy, and spreads a
cheerfulness and delight through all its faculties.'
This agreeable emotion, produced by beautiful
objects, is accompanied vnth an opinion or judg-
ment of some perfection or excellence of those
objects, adapted by its nature for producing that
emotion ; and this, according to Dr. Reid, is a
second ingredient in our sense of beauty. To
assert, says this writer, that there is in reality no
beauty in those objects, in which all men pei^
ceive beauty, is to attribute to man fallacious
senses ; and thus to think disrespectfully of the
Author of our being ; who has diffused over all
the woriis of nature a profusion of beauties,
which are real, and not nnciful, and thousands
of which our faculties are too dull to perceive.
This author distinguishes our detenninations vrith
regard to the beauty of objects into two kinds,
viz. instinctive and rational. In the former case,
objects strike us at once, and appear beautiful at
first sight, vnthout any reflection, and without
our being able to say why we call them beauti-
fol, or being able to specuy any perfection which
justifies our judgment. Whereas our rational
judgment of beauty is grounded on some agree-
able auality of the object, which is distinctly oon-
oeivea, and maybe specified. Beauty itself makj
be distinguished into original, and derived. It
is natural and agreeable to the strain of human
aentiments and of human language, says Dr.
S«id, that in many cases the beauty which ori-
ginally and properly exists in the things signified,
should be transferred to the sign ; that which is
in the cause to the effect; that ^riiicfa is in the
end to the means ; and that which is in the agent
to the instrument £. G. The beauty of good
breeding is not originally in the external bdia^
viour in which it consists ; it is derived from the
aualities of mind which it expresses ; and though
lere may be good breeding without the amiable
qualities of mind, its beauty is still derived from
what it naturally expresses. Good breeding is
the picture ; these agreeable qualities are the ori-
ginal; and it is the beauty of the original that is
reflected to our senses by the picture.
Dr. Reid is of opinion, that beauty originally
dwells in the moral and intellectual perfectioos
of mind, and in its active powers, and that from
this, as the fountain, all the beauty which we per-
ceive in the visible world is derived. This was
the opinion of the ancient philosophers ; and it
has been adopted by lord Shaftesbury and Dr.
Akenside among the modems.
Mind, mind alone ! bear witneM earth and heaven.
The living fountains in itself contains
Of beauteous and sublime. Here, hand in hand.
Sit paramount the graces. Here, entliron'd.
Celestial Venus, with divinest airs.
Invites the soul to never-failing joy.
Akbwside.
But neither mind, nor any one of its qualities or
powers, is an immediate object of perception to
man. These are perceived through the medium
of material objects, on which their signatures are
impressed. Ine signs of these qualities are im-
mediately perceived by the senses, and by them
reflected to the understanding : and we are apt
to attribute to the sign the b^uty which ujno-
perly and originally in the thing signified. Thus,
the invisible Creator hath stamped on his worics
signatures of his divine wisdom, power, and be-
nignity, which are visible to all men. The works
of men in science, in the arts of taste, and in the
mechanical arts, bear the signatures of those qua-
lities of mind, which were employed in their
production. Their external behaviour or con-
duct in life expresses tlie good or bad qualities
of their minds. In every species of animals we
perceive by visible signs meir instincts, appetites,
affections, or sagacity ; and even in the inanimate
world, there are many things analogous to the
aualities of mind; so that there is hardlj^any
ling belonging to mind, which may not be re-
presented by images taken from the objects of
sense ; and, on the other hand, every object of
sense is beautiful, by borrowing attire from at-
tributes of the mind. Thus, the beauties of
mind, though invisible in themselves, are per-
ceived in the objects of sense, on which their
beauty is impressed. Thus also, in those qua-
lities of sensible objects to which we ascribe
beauty, we discover in them some relatioo to
mind, and* the greatest in those that are most
beautiful. The qualities of inanimate matter, in
which we perceive beauty, are sound, color, form,
and motion : the first being an object of hearing ;
and the other three of sight. These several qua-
lities are particularly iUustrated by Dr. Reid,
with a view of evincing the beautv that respec-
tively belongs to them. Of all the objects of
sense, the most striking and attractive beauty is
perceived in the human species, and paiticulariy
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BEAUTY.
723
in the fair sex. In the following well-known
passage of Milton, this great poet deriTcs the
beau^ of the first pair in paradise from those ex-
pressions of moral and intellectual qualities,
which* appeared in their outward form and de-
meanor.
Two of far nohler »hape, erect and tall, ,
Godlike erect ! with native honor dad.
In naked majegtj, aeemM lords of aU«
And worthy seem'd, for in their looks divine.
The image of their glorioos Maker, shone
IVuth, wisdom, sanctitude severe, and pure :
Severe, but in true filial freedom placM,
Whence true authority in man ; though both
Not equal, as their sex not equal seemM ;
For contemplation he, and valour fonn'd.
For softness she, and sweet attractive grace.
And here we cannot forbear subjoining the ex-
cellent reflections of Mr. Thomson, a late writer
on the subject of beauty : ' If we should 9ee a;
penon employ himself with a sledge hammer to
daflh the enchanting form of the Venus de Me-
dicis to pieces, break her lovely limbs, and de-
face her beauteous features, we should not hesi-
tate a moment to pronounce him a savage
barbarian, without taste, feeling, or sentiment;
though his frenzy was employed only on a sense-
less piece of stone : what then must we think of
the aiabolical savage, who exercises the worst of
all cruelties (because the most lasting and affect-
ing both to body and mind) on the most beauti--
fiil and amiable of all creatures on this Side
heaven ? — made expressly for his happiness, so-
Ikce, and delight ; — by first corrupting and be-
traying her, and then basely abandoning her to
perish with want, wretchedness, and miseiy.'
Dr. Blair (Lectures, vol. i. p. 101, &c.), in his
enumeration of the separate principles of beauty,
in each of those classes of objects, which most
remarkably exhibit it, begins with color, as af-
fording the simplest instance of beauty. With
respect to this, ne observes, that neither variety,
nor nnifbrmity, nor any other principle which he
knows, can be assigned as the foundation of
beauty ; and that it can be referred to no other
cause but the structure of the ^-e, which deter-
mines us to receive certain modifications of the
'^ys of light with more pleasure than others. As
his organ varies in different persons, they have
thRr diflerent respective fevorite colors. In some
cases, he thinks it probable, that association of
ideas has influence on the pleasure which we
receive from color. Green, for instance, may
appear more beautiful, by being connected in
our ideas with rural prospects and scenes ; white
with innocence ; blue, with the serenity of the
sky. Independently of such associations, those
colors chosen for beauty are, generally, delicate,
rather than glaring. Figure opens to us fohns
of beauty more complex and diversified. Under
this head, regularity is first noticed as a source
of beauty. Thus a circle, a square, a triangle,
or a hexagon, please the eye by their regularity,
as beauti^l figures. But regularity is not the
sole, or the chief foundation of beauty in figure.
On the contrary, a certain gracefiil variety is
found to be a much more powerful principle of
beauty. Regularity, according to this author,
expresses beauty chiefly, if not solely, on account
of its suggesting the idea of fitness, propriety,
and use, which have always a greater connexion
with orderly and proportioned forms, than with
those which appear not constructed according to
any certain rule. Nature, the most graceful
artist, hath, in all her ornamental works, pur-
sued variety with an apparent neglect of regula-
rity. Mr. Hogarth, in his Analysis of Beauty,
published about the year- 1753, enumerates, as
elements of beauty, fitness, variety, uniformity,
simplicity, intricacy, and quantity ; and he ob-
serves, that figures bounded by curve lines are,
in general, more beautiful than mose bounded by
straight lines and angles. The beauty of figure
principally depends, in his opinion, upon two
lines which he has selected. One of them is the
* waving line,' somewhat in the form of the letter
S : and this he calls the ' line of beauty,' which
is found in shells, flowers, and such other orna-
mental works of nature, and is also common in
the figures designed by- painters and sculptors for
the purpose of decoration. The other line, which
he chXIb the * line of grace,' is the former waving
curve, twisted round some solid body, and ex-
hibited in twisted pillars and twisted boms, and
in the curling worm of a common jack. Variety
plainly appears, in the instances which he men-
tions, to be so material a principle of beauty,
that he defines the art of drawing pleasing forms
to be the art of varying well ; and, accordmg to
him, the curve line, which is so much the fiivor-
ite of painters, derives its chief advantage from
its perpetual bending and variation from the
stiff regularity of the straight line. Motiony
says Dr. Blair, furnishes another source of
beauty, distinct from figure ; being of itself pleas-
ing, so that bodies in motion are, ceeteris pari-
bus, preferred to those at rest. But the quality
of beautiful belongs to gentle motion, such as
that of a bird gliding through the air, and that
of a smooth running stream. In general, motion
in a straight line is less beautiful than thai in an
undulating direction; and motion upwards is
also commonly more agreeable than motion
downwards. The easy curling motion of flame
and smoke is an object singularly pleasing, and
exhibits an instance of Mr. Flogarth s waving line
of beauty. This artist observes, that, as all the
common and necessary motions for the business
of life, are performed in straight or plain lines,
all the graceful and ornamental movements are
made in waving lines.
Dr. Beattie, in his Dissertations, Moral and
Critical, has introduced, in his digression on
beauty, some ingenious remarks on this subject.
After observing that custom has a perpetual in-
fluence in determining our notions of beauty, he
proceeds to prove, that from associations founded
on habit, many, or perhaps most of those pleas-
ing emotions are derived, which accompany the
perception of what in things visible is called
beauty. With regard to the beauty or awkward-
ness of motion, he observes, that the one will be
found to please, and the other to displease, chiefly
on account of certain disagreeable ideas suggested
by the former, and of certain disagreeable ones
associated with the latter. Motions, that imply
ease, with such an arrangement and proportion
3 A2
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BEAUTY.
of parts in the moving object, as may gi?e reason
to expect its continuance without injury, are
{renerally pleasingr, at least in animals, especially
when they betoken a sort of perfection suited to
the nature of the animal. But motions that
betray infirmity, unwieldiness, imperfection, or
tlie appearance of danger, cannot be called beau-
tiful, because they convey unpleasing ideas.
These observations are illustrated by a variety of
apposite instances. Cicero (de Off. I. i. sect. 36)
blames every motion that alters the countenance,
quickens the breath, or betrays any discompo-
sure. Rousseau observes, that in running, a
woman is destitute of that grace which attends
her on other occasions. Perhaps, says Beattie,
the jutting out of her elbows, the natural effect
of her endeavouring, with lifted hands, to secure
the most delicate part of the human frame, may
give to her motion the appearance of timidi^ and
constraint. Or, perhaps, she may fail in this
exercise, merely because, according to our man-
nets, she cannot be much accustomed to it.
It is not easy to convey, in so few words, so
many charming ideas of beauty, in its several
varieties of color, shape, attitude, and motion, as
Gray has combined in the following image : —
Slow melting strains their queen's approach declare ;
Where'er she turns the graces homage pay :
With arms sublime that float upon the air.
In gliding state she wins her easy way :
O'er her warm cheek and rising bosom move
The bloom of young desire, and purple light of love.
Burke, in his Philosophical Inquiry into the
Origin of our Ideas of the Sublime and Beau-
tiful, excludes from the number of real causes of
beauty, the proportion of parts, fitness, or that
idea of utility which consists in a partes being
well adapted to answer its end, and also perfec-
tion; and he observes, p. 210, that beauty is, for
the greater part, some quality in bodies, acting
mechanically upon the Imman mind by the in-
tervention of the senses. The qualities of beauty,
as they are merely sensible qualities, which ne
enumerates, are the following : they should be
comparatively small, smooth, various in the di-
rection of their constituent parts; these parts
should not be angular, but melted, as it were,
into each other; they should be of a delicate
frame, without any remarkable appearance of
strength; the colors should be clear and bright,
but not very strong and glaring; and any glaring
color that is introduced should be diversified
with others. These are the seven properties
upon which, according to this author, beauty
depends; properties that operate by nature,
and are less liable to be altered by caprice, or
confounded by a diversity of tastes, than any
others. The physiognomy also, says Mr. Burke,
has a considerable share in beauty, especially in
that of our own species. The manners give a
certain determination to the countenance, which,
being observed to correspond pretty regularly
with them, is capable of joining the effects of
certain agreeable qualities of the mind to those
of the b<xly. So that to form a finished human
beauty, and to give it its full influence, the fece
must be expressive of such gentle and amiable
qualities as correspond with the softness, smooth-
ness, and delicacy of th« outward foim. Foi
Mr. Burke's mode of illustrating and confirming
his theory of beauty, the reader is referred to hi
work above cited.
Dr. Savers, in his Disquisitions, Metaphy-
sical and Literary, Svo.in 1793, has given a new
analysis of beauty, conducted on the principles
which were applied by Dr. Priestley, in his Lec-
tures on Oratory and Criticism, and by Mr. Ali-
son, ui his Essays on Taste, to the explanation
of the intellectual pleasures, namely, the doc-
trines of the Hartleyan school. His argument,
summed up in a few words, is as follows : that
individual of a class of objects is justly to be
esteemed more beautiful than the rest, with the
whole of which, or with its component parts,
when properly understood, the greater number
of the excellencies of its class are universally
associated. The 9ame may be asserted of any
species of objects, when compared with any
other species of iU kind ; and that object may
be justly esteemed a ' standard of beauty,' with
the whole appearance, or with the component
parts of which, when properly understood, all
the excellencies of its kind are ' universally' as-
sociated.
Mr. Alison's Essays, Mr. Knight's Analytical
Enquiry, and Mr. D. Stewart's Dissertations on
the Beautiful, and on Taste, in his Philosophical
Essays, are each of them modem works ofsterl-
ing merit, and may be said to contain all the
known truths of this subject.
Mr. Alison contends, that all beauty,- or at
least all the beauty of material objects, depends
on the associations that may have connected*
them with the ordinary affections or emotions of
our nature; and in this, which is the fundamental
point of his theory, we conceive him to be no
less clearly right, than he is convincing and judi-
cious in the copious and beautiful illustratioa.
by which he has sought to establish its truth.
When he proceeds, however, to assert, that oar
sense of beauty consists not merely in the sug-
gestion of ideas of emotion, but in the contem-
plation of a connected series of such ideas, and
indicates a state of mind in which the &cidties,
half active and half passive, are given np to a
sort of reverie or musing, in which they may
wander, though among kindred impressions, fiu
enough from the immediate object of perception,
we confess that he not only seems to ns to ad-
vance a very questionable proposition, but veiy
essentially to endanger the evidence, as well as
the consistency, of his general doctrine. In the
long train of^ interesting meditations to which
Mr. Alison refers, — ^in the delightful reveries
in which he would make the sense of beauty
consist, — it is obvious that we must soon lose
sight of the external object which gave the first
impulse to our thoughts ; and though we may
afterwards reflect upon it, with increased interesl
and gratitude, as the parent of so many charm-
ing images, it is imp<M8ible that the perc^jtion
of its beauty can depend upon a long senes of
various and shifting emotions.
The work of Mr. Knight is more lively^ va-
rious, and discursive, thim Mr. Alison's, hot not
so systematic or conclusive. It is die dererer
book of the two, but not the moit philosophical
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BEAUTY.
725
discfifiiion of the pubject. He ag^rees with Mr.
Alison in holding the most important, and, in-
deed, the only considerable part of beauty, to de-
pend upon association, and has illustrated this
opinion with a great variety of just and original
. ooservations. But he maintains that there is a
beauty independent of association, prior to it,
and more original and fundamental, the primi-
tive and natural beauty of colors and sounds.
Now this we look upon to be a heresy, and a
heresy inconsistent with the very first principles
of catholic philosophy. Language, it is be-
lieved, affords no other example of so whimsical
a combination of difierent objects under one ap-
pellation, or of the confounding of a direct
physical sensation with the suggestion of a so-
cial and sympathetic moral feeling.
Mr. Stewart makes fewer positive assertions,
and enters less into the matter of controversy.
His Essay on the Beautiful is rather philological
than metaphysical. The object of it is to show
by what gradual and successive 'extensions of
meaning, the word, though at first appropriated
to denote the pleasing effect of colors alone,
might naturally come to signify all the other
pleasing things to which it is now applied. In
this investigation he makes many admirable re-
marks, and touches with the hand of a master
upon many of the disputable parts of the ques-
tion ; but he evades the particular point at issue
between us and Mr. Knight, by stating, that it
is quite immaterial to his purpose, whether the
.beauty of colors be supposed to depend on their
organic effect on the eve, or on some association
between them and other agreeable emotions, it
being enough for his purpose that this was pro-
bably the first sort of oeauty that was observed,
and that to which the name was at first exclu-
sively applied. It is evident to us, however,
that he leans to the opinion of Mr. Knight, as
to this beaifty being truly sensual or organic. In
observing, too, that beauty is not now the name
of any one thing or quality, but of very many
different qualities, — and that it is applied to
them all, merely because they are often united
in the same objects, or perceived at the same time
and by the .same organs, — it appears to us that
he carries his philology a little too far, and dis-
regards other principles of reasoning of far
higher authority. To give the name of beauty,
for example, to every thing that interests or
pleases us through the channel of sight, includ-
ing in this category the mere impulse of light
tJiat is pleasant to the organ, and the present-
ment of objects, whose whole charm consists in
awakening the memory of social emotions, seems
to us to be confounding things together that
must always be separate in our feelings, and
giving a far greater importance to the mere
identity of the organ of perception, than is war-
ranted either by the ordmary language or ordi-
nary experience of men. Upon the same
principle, we should give this name of beautiful,
and no other, to all acts of kindness or magna-
nimity, and, indeed, to every interesting occur-
rence ^hich took place in our sight, or came to
our knowledge by means of the eye : nay, as the
ear is also tdlowed to be a channel for impres-
stohs of beauty, tlie same name should be given
to any interesting or pleasant thing that we hear,
and good news read to us from the gazette should
be denominated beautiful, just as much as a fine
composition of music. These things, however,
are never called beautiful, and are felt, indeed,
to afford a gratification of quite a different na-
ture.
Beauty in the Fine Arts. Nothing here has
been decided as to the nature and properties of
abstract beauty itself, even if such a quality be
acknowledged. If an Asiatic artist was to treat
this subject, his principle, it is evident, would
differ from that of a European. This must not,
however, prevent us from studying some prin-
ciples of beauty, as they are the foundation of
the ornamental part of sculpture, painting, and
architecture ; and govern the proportion of the
human figure. Modern artists seem to have
implicitly adopted Grecian ideas ; which circum-
stance may account for the prevalence of the
antique profile in modem pictures, which is cer-
tainly a great inconsistency, when the subjects
are chosen from any other than Grecian history ;
there being one pnnciple of beauty in the form
of the Greeks, another in that of the Romans,
and another in that of the modern Europeans,
and yet they are all beautiful. Professor Cam-
per, in his book upon the different forms of the
human cranium, has endeavoured to trace this
style of the straight or Grecian profile from a
probable source. The projection of the mouth
and depression of the forehead, with a flat nose,
marks that kind of face \vhich is the nearest
allied to the brute creation ; there being but one
degree between a dog, monkey, ape, ourang-
outang, Calmuc, and negro. From the negro tu
the European countenance are many degrees,
which may be traced by an attentive study of
the human species; and again, between the best
modern faces and those uf the antique, there are
also many gradations of form and outline. Per-
haps from the Greeks observing the resemblance
between the lowest class of human countenances
and those of monkeys, may be the reason why
they conceived beauty to be as far as possible
removed from all resemblance to them. As the
lower part of the brutal face pi ejected, in such
proportion they thought the same position of the
liuman face should recede ; and as in the former
there was a descent from the forehead to the
nose, in the latter it should be perpendicular.
As a small space between the eyes gives tbo ap-
pearance of an ape, they made the distance of
man wide. As a great breadth of cranium at
the eyes, ending above in a narrow forehead,
and below in a pointed chin, marked the face of
a savage; they gave a squareness of forehead
and a breadth of face below, to express dignity
of character. Hence, may be the origin of that
ideal beauty, which has created so many schisms
apd feuds in art, and which nothing but a re-
currence to nature can rectify. See Id£ai«
Beauty.
BEAUVAIS (Charles and William), two anti-
quaries. William, bom in 1698, was a member
of the Literary Societies of Orleans, (>ortona,
&c.; he published a work on the Medals of the
Roman Empire in 3 vols. 12mo. 1767, and died
in 1773.
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BEC
Charles Nicholas was a native of Orleaos,
where he was born in 1745. He practised physic
at Montpelier, and is the author of some Essays
on the History and Antiquities of his native
city, a Topographical Description of Mount
Olivet, ana other tracts. His death took place
in 1794.
Beauvais (Vincent de), a friar of the Domi-
nican order, was a native of the diocese of Beau-
vais, in France. Louis IX. supplied him with
the means of prosecuting his great work. It is
a kind of Encyclopedia, divided into four parts :
the first entitled, Speculum Doctrinale, treats of
the sciences in general, from grammar to theo-
logy ; the second Speculum Historiale, contains
a summary of general history from the begin-
ning of the world to the year 1254, of which
there is a continuation by an anonymous author
to 1494; the third part, or Speculum Naturale,
relates to physics, oc natural philosophy; the
foutth, Speculum Morale, is a treatise on vice
and virtue. This last part was completed by
another hand, Beauvais dying in 1224
Beauvais, a city of France, the ancient Bel-
lovacum, in the department of the Oise, and late
province of the Isle of France, on the Therin. The
cathedral is dedicated to St. Eeter^ and is much
admired for its fine architecture, and the extra-
ordinary elevation of the choir. It had formerly
a great number of relics, and a curious library.
There are twelve other churches. The town was
ineffectually besieged by the English in 1443 ;
and by the duke of Burgundy in 1472, with an
army of 80,000 men. In this last siege the
women signalised themselves by sallying forth
against the besiegers, headed by Jeanne Laine,
and under a standard which was loQg after pre-
served in the church of the Jacobins. There
was, before the revolution, a procession on the
10th of July in memory of this exploit. Beau-
vais was long the capital of Beauvoisis, and
the see of a bishop, who was the first of the
three ecclesiastical counts and peers of France.
At the coronation of the king, he carried the
royal mantle. This bishopric was suppressed at
the revolution. It is still a fortified town,
though commanded by several heights, and con-
tains about 12,800 inhabitants. It has several
flourishing manufactures of linen and woollen
cloths, calicos, serges, and fine* tapestry. From
its supposed impregnability, it has obtained the
appellation of La Pucelle. Many eminent men
have been bom here. It is about six leagues
from Paris, in lat. 49° 25' N.,and lone. 2° 19' E.
BEAUVILLIERS (Francis de, duke de St.
Aignan), was bom in 1607, and entered into the
army. He distinguished himself in several en-
gagements ; on which account Louis XIV. raised
him to a dukedom. He was adroit in the di-
rection of the court festivals, and many of his
verses are to be found in the works of Madame
Deshoulieres, of Scarron, &c He died in 1687.
Beauvilliers (Paul, duke de), eldest son of
the above, was first gentleman of the bed-
chamber, minister of state, chief of the royal
council of finance, and governor of the duke of
Burgundy, father of Louis XV. He died in
1714 at the age of sixty-six. This nobleman
was distinguished for his cultivated talents and
probity of cbancter; as well as for his i
m the education of the duke of Burgundy
which he shared with the celebrated Feneton.
BEAUviLLiEas (Paul Hippolitus, duke de St
Aignan), son of the preoeoing, had the rank of
lieutenant-general in the army, the collar of the
royal orders, and was a member of the Frendi
Academy« He was the author of Amusemens
Litt^raires, and a Memoir of the TranaactioDS
of the Academy of Inscriptions, on the cession
made by Andrew Paieologus, of the empire of
Constantinople and Trebizond, to Charies VIU.
of France.
BEAU VOIR sua Mer, a maritime town of
France in the department of La Vendee, and
late province of Poitou; twenty-lhree miles
south-west of Nantes. I^ lies near the aea-ooastt
opposite the Isle of Noirmontier, and had for-
merly the title of marquisate. It contains about
1900 inhabitants, and trades in wood, wool, salt,
cattle, and butter.
BEAUVOISIS,a ci-devant territory of Fninee,
formerly part of Picardy, and afterwards of the
Isle of France. Beauvais was the capital.
BEAUZEE (Nicholas), a Frencb anther,
bora at Verdun in 1717. He became professor
of grammar in the military school ; aiMi wrote
an Universal Grammar, or Exposition of the
Elements of Languages, in two vols. 8vo. ; an
Exposition of the Historical Proo& of Beligion,
and several other works. Having been elected
member of the academy, he wrote the articles
relating to grammar for Uie Encycloposdia; but
though he was thus connected with infidels, he
was himself a faithful churchman. He ooce
asked Diderot how they came to elect him a
member of the academy, being a Christian?
Diderot replied, * Because we had not a gram-
marian among us, and we considered yon an
honest man/
BE'BATHE. Bathe, with the prefix be.
See Bathe.
BEBELINGUEN, or BoBLTNCEV, a town of
Germany, in the duchy of Wirtembuig, sealed
on a lake fiK)m which proceeds the river Wuim,
ten miles north-west of Stutgard.
BE'BLAST. Blast, with the prefix be. See
Blast.
BE'BLED, i Bled and blood, with the pie-
Be'blood. I fix. See both.
BE'BLIND. See Blind.
BE'BLISTER. Blister, with the prefix. See
Blister.
BE'BLOT. Blot, and the prefix. See Blot.
BE'BLUBBER. Blubber, with the prefix.
See Blubber.
BEBRYCIA, in ancient geography, the name
of Bithynia, so called from the fiebryces its in
habitants ; who were afterwards driven oat by
two Thracian nations, the Bithyni and Thyni ;
fix>m whom, in process of time, the oountiy took
the name of Bithynia.
BEC, a town of France, in the departmeoi oC
the Lower Seine, and late orovince of Normandy,
seated on a tongue of land, at the conflaenee of
two rivers.
BECAH, or Bekah, a Jewish coin, being
half a shekel. In Dr. Arbuthnot's table of re-
ductions, the bekah amounts to 13)^ In Dr.
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B E C C A R I A.
727
Piidanrx's oompiitation to li. 7d. Eyery Is-
raelite paid 100 bekahs a-head annually for the
support of the temple.
BE'CALM, ^ Calm, and the pre6x be.
Be'calm INC. $ See Calm. The prefix thus
joined to give emphasis ; to add a syllable in the
verse ; to gif e a ludicrous or endearing force to
the term employed.
BECANCOUR, a river of Lower Canada,
which rises to the south of St. Lawrence, and is
afterwards increased by several tributary streams.
After an easterly course of about forty-six miles,
it diverges to the north-west for about twenty-
one miles, and discharges itself into the St. Law-
rence, seven miles below the town of Three
Rivers.
BECASSINE, in zoology, a name given to the
tringa minor, or sand-piper.
BECASSE, in zoology, a species of woodcock.
BE'CAUSE. Be and cause. Cause being;
there being cause ; because of his sickness ; i. e.
bis sickness is die cause. It formerly also ex-
pressed the motive or end ; but is not now so
used. It has in some sort the force of a prepo-
sition. But because it is compounded ot a
Doun, h^ q/* after it.
His squiers, which that ttoden ther beside^
Excused him becau$e of his sikeaesse.
Which letted him to done hit besinesse. Ohaucer.
God persecateth us bycause we abase his holy Tes-
tament, and bjftaiue, when we knowe the truth, we
folowe it not. TjfndaU'i Wetka,
' Beeauae thou hast, though thron'd in highest bliss.
Equal to God, and equally enjoying
Ctodlike fruition, quitted all to save
A world from utter loss, and most been found.
By merit, more than birthright. Son of God ;
Found worthiest to be so, by being good.
Far more than great or high ; hecauae in thee
Love hath abounded more than glory abounds.
Therefore thy humiliation shall exalt
With thee thy manhood also to this throne ;
Here shalt thou sit incarnate, here shall reign
Both God and Man, for both of God and Man,
Anointed universal king ; all power
I give thee ; reign for ever, and assume
'ilty merits ; under thee as head supreme
Thrones, princedoms, pow'rs, dominions I reduce ;
AVL knees to thee shall bow, of them that bide
In heaven, or earth, or tmder earth, in hell. MUUm,
Why is our food so very sweet?
Bseamaewe earn before we eat.
Why are our wants so very few ?
Becmue we nature's calls pursue.
Whence our complacency of mind ?
Becauu we act our parts aseign'd. Cotton,
BECCABUNGA, brooklirae ; the trivial name
of a species of veronica. See Veronica.
BECCAFICO, in zoology, a small biitl,
scarely so large as the common linnet, and with
a remarkably short body. Its head, neck, back,
wings and tail, are of a greenish gray, and in some
of greenish brown. It feeds on vegetables, berries,
&c. and is common in the north of England,
where, according to Ray, it is called the petty-
chaps.
BECCARI (James Bartholomew), a physician
of Bologna, was bom in 1682. He was professor
of chemistry at his native city many years, and
published, in 1729, a Dissertation on the Impurity
of its Air, and in 1730 a Treatise on the Inter-
nal Motion of Fluids ; &c. He died 1796.
BECCARIA (John Baptist), an ingenious
philosopher of the eighteenth century. He was a
native of Mondovi in Piedmont, and became
professor of philosophy at Palermo, and after-
wards at Rome, from whence he removed to
Turin. The king of Sardinia had a very great
regard for him, and made him tutor to his sons.
He made several important discoveries in electri-
city, and wrote, 1. Experimenta quibus Elec-
tricitas Vindex late constituitur, &c. 4to. Turin,
1771. 2. Electricismo Artificiale, 4to, 1772,
translated into English, 4to. London, 1776; be-
sides an Essay on the Cause of Storms and Tem-
pests, and. several pieces on the Meridian of
Turin, &c. lie died in 1781.
Beccaria (Bonesana Cssar, marquis), was
bom at Milan in 1735, and showed a very early
propensity to philosophical subjects. He first
studied under the Jeruits at Parma, but left col-
lege at seventeen, and became henceforth the
director of his own useful researches. His de-
votedness to the study of Jurisprudence and Po-
litical Philosophy, was first determined by the
Lettres Persannes of Montesquieu ; a production
capable, indeed, of alluring a less epthusiastic
mind. But his industry appears to have been
chiefly stimulated by the patriotic and honorable
desire of diffusing instruction among his country-
men, whom he represents as abandoned to igno-
rance; and who were little prepared for liberal
opinions or political science. Fortunately,
however, lie gained the confidence of Count Fir-
miani, then governor of that part of the Austrian
dominions , a nobleman, who, with comprehen-
sive views of policy, concurred in every plan
which was calculated for improving the state of
the provinces.
Beccaria^s first work appeared in the year
1762, and consisted of Observations on the De-
rangement of the Currency in the Milanese
States. Soon after he established a select lite-
rary society at Milan, which, among other dis-
tinguished men, included the brothers, Alessan-
dro and Pictro Verri. Assisted by these friends,
and patronised by Fermiani, he commenced a
periodical published under the name of the
Caffe, a plan suggested to them by tlie cele.
brity of our English Spectator. But, the
most remarkable production to which this as-
sociation gave rise, and that upon which the
reputation of Beccaria was destined chiefly to
rest, was the treatise on Crimes and Punishments
(Dei Delitti e Delle Pene). This is said to have
been undertaken at the earnest solicitation of
Count Alexander Verri, who then discharged the
functions of Protector of Prisoners (Proteitore
de' Carcerati) at Milan. It was written at the
house of Peter Verri, where the meetings of the
society were held ; and in concert with him the
author, every evening, corrected what he had
written during the day. In this manner this ce-
lebrated work was completed in two months, and
was printed in the course of the year 1764.
The author here breaks up most of the impor-
tant ground that Sir Samuel Romilly, Bentham,
and others, have so well cultivated since : he is
everywhere the advocate of reason, sound po-
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B £ C C A R I A.
licy, and huinanitv; and, by eraniiping the
foundation, objects, and consequent boundaries
of penal law, he exposes the inefficacy as well as
injustice of many provisions in the judicial code
of his own country, and in those of other Euro-
pean nations; — provisions only the more perni-
cious in many cases, as derived from remote
times, and perverting our respect for established
maxims into the most debasing and servile bar-
barism. Six Italian editions were immediately
called for ; and it is computed that it has run
through more than fifty editions and translations.
As a most important conclusion resulting from
this examination, or rather as concentrating a
number of his conclusions, he • closes his book
with the following proposition :— * In order that
punishment may not be an act of violence, of
one, or of many, against an individual member
of society, it is essential that it should be public,
prompt, and necessary, the least possible in the
given case, and determined by the law.'
The prospects which Beccaria entertained as
to the probable influence of his works, appears
from the sentence of Lord Bacon, which he pre-
fixed to some of the editions. ' It is not to be
expected in any difficult undertaking, of whatever
kind, that the same person who sows the seed
should also reap the harvest ; but there must of
necessity, be a preparation and gradual progress
to maturity.' * Never,' says a writer in the Bio-
graphie Universelle, * did so small a book pro-
duce so great an effect.' Tlie medal given by the
academy of Berne was instantly bestowed upon
Beccaria; and the Empress Catharine II. in-
vited him to St. Petcrsburgh, with the offer of
an honorable station at her court ; a proposal
which was the means of procuring him a similar
distinction at home. In 1767 was issued an impe-
rial order for establishing, in the Palatine College
at Milan, a Professorship of Public Law and
Economics, under the title of Scienze Camerali.
To this chair, endowed expressly for him, the
marquis was appointed on the 1st of November,
1768, and commenced the duties of it in the
month of January following. From the preli-
minary discourse (prolusione) which he pro-
nounced on this occasion, and in which he sets
forth the objects of the institution, iX appears
that the only instructions which he received on
his appointment, consisted in an order to deliver
his discourses in the vulgar tongue ; an injunction
as highly honorable to the government as all the
other circumstances of the transaction. His lec-
tures, which he received a special permission to
deliver in his own house, attracted much notice.
They were not published during his life ; but
have since appeared, under the title of Elementi
di Economia Pubblica, in the compilation of the
Scrittori Classici Italiani de Economia Politica,
printed at Milan. One of bis inferences on this
subject is, that * every restriction on freedom,
whether in the case of commerce, or any other,
ought to be a result from the necessity of pre-
venting an actual disorder, not the effect of a
purpose or aim at amelioration.' And he has
repeated the same doctrine under different views,
m various passages.
In 1770 he published an Enquiry into the nature
of Style, part 1. which he never completed. In
the fbllowmg year he was appointed a i
of the Supreme Economic Council ; on the sup-
pression of which he was tiansfened to the Ib-
gistracy of State; and, lastly, by a despotdi of
Sie 17th of January, 1791, was named one of die
Board for Reform of the Judicial Code, dvil and
criminal. His activity in the discbarge of these
important trusts is proved by the drcunistance^
that all the chief matters in those different de-
partments were committed to his direction, oc
guided by his counsels. The most remarkable
of his state papers were, various Ordinances re-
lative to the grain ; a very important Despatch
transmitted to the Court in 1771, ^hich gave
rise to the reform of the public money in 177B;
a Plan, proposed in 1780, for effecting an uni-
formity in tne weights and measures ; and cer-
tain Proposals, in 1786, founded on the tables
of the population.
In 1 776 the marquis made a journey to Paris, in
company withAlessandro Verri, and there passed
about three weeks in the socie^ of D*Alembertt
and other eminent men of letters : on his return
he visited Voltaire. This seems to have been
the only incident which, for a period of twenty-
five years, diversified his manner of life, or in-
terrupted his public duties. lie died of apoplexy
in the year 1793, having been twice marriecL
He has the character of having been stedfost in
his firiendships; modest, but tenacious of his
opinions; and much above jealousy or envy in
regard to other literary men. It is related of him
that the king of Naples, while at Milan, twice at-
tempted to find him at his house ; but that the
marquis found means on both occasions to escape
from his distinguished guest.
BECCLES, a town of Suffolk, seated on the
Waveney. It has an elegant church, with a 1<^
spire ; and two free schools, one of them with ten
scholarships for Emanuel college, Cambridge.
There is a market on Saturday. It lies twelve
miles south-west of Yarmouth, and 109 north-
east of London.
BE'CHANCE, v. ix. adv. Be and chance.
BE'CHARM. Be and Charm. See Chasm.
BECHER (John Joachim), a celebrated che-
mist, bom at Spires in 1645, and connected with
the most learned men in Europe. The emperor,
the electors of Mentz and Bavaria, and other per-
sons of high rank, furnished him with the means
of making experiments in mathematics, natural
philosophy, medicine, and chemistry. He was
mvited to Vienna, where he contributed greatly
to the establishment of several manu&ctnres, a
chamber of commerce, and an India company;
but the jealousy of the ministeis occasioned his
disgrace and ruin. He was not less unfortunate
at Mentz, Munich, and Wurtzburg ; which deter-
mined him to go to Haerlem, where he invented
, a machine for working a great quantity of silk in
a little time, and with few hands; but new mis-
fortunes made him come to England, and he
died at London in 1685. He wrote, 1. Pbysica
Subterranea, which was reprinted at Leipsic in
1703, and in 1739, in 8vo, with a small trestise,
by E. Stahl, entitled Specimen BecheriammL
2. Experimentum Chymicum Novum, Svo. 3
Character pro Notitia linguarum Univenali. 4.
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729
Inititutiones Qiymica, seu Mannductio ad Phi-
iophiam Hermeticam, 4to. 5. Inititutiones
Cnyroictt Prodromi, 12mo. 6. Experimentum
Novum ac Curiosum de Minera Arcnaria Per-
petua,&c.
BECHERA, in botany, a genus of plants,
class, pentandria; order, digynia: cal. five-clefty
with a globular tube : cor. five-petalled : cap.
two-celled and bi-valved. The name is derived
i'rom the reverend John Becher of Southwell
Nottinghamshire, an accurate botanist, to whom
the science is indebted for the discovery of the
crocus nudiflorus. This plant is a native of
Tranquebar.
Bechics, Bechicha, among the old physi-
cians, amount to much the same with pneumo-
Dies, tboracics, expectorants, and pectorals.
BECHIN, a town and circle of Bohemia,
which abounds in salt mines and mineral waters,
and particularly the singular mineral called
Bechin stone. Bechin, the capital, has an an-
cient castle. It vras taken and burnt by general
Bucquoy in 1 619, and was often the scene of con-
flict in the thirty years' war. It b seated on the
river Luschiutz, fifty miles south by west of
Prague.
BECK, r. & n. ) Sax. becken, Fr. bee, head.
Beck'ing. )To make a sign with the
head ; a nod of command, or of intimation.
Bell, book, mnd candle, shall not drive me |»ack,
"When gold and lilver beck me to come on.
Sftahpeare,
Oh thii false soul of Egypt, this gay chann,
Whose eye bec^d forth my wars, and callM thorn
home. Id, Antony and Cleopaira.
Neither the lusty kind showed %ny roughnesa, nor
the easier any idleness ; but still, like a well- obeyed
master, whose beck is enough for discipline. Sidmey,
Haste, thee, nymph, and bring with thee
Quips, and cranks, and wanton wiles.
Nods, and beclu, and wreathed smiles. MtUm,
Then forthwith to him takes a chosen band
Of spirits, likest to himself in guile.
To be at hand, and at his beeh appear. Id.
The menial fair, that round her wait.
At Helen's beck prepare the room of state. Pupe,
Beck, or Beke, a word which imports a small
stream of water issuing from some bourn or
spring. The word is chiefly used among us in
the composition of names of places originally
situated on rivulets; such as Welbeck, Bourn-
beck, &c. The Germans use beck in the same
sense.
BEGKET (Thomas), lord chancellor of Eng-
land, and archbishop of Canterbury in the 12th
century. The story of his birth is as extraordi-
nary as that of his life. His fether, Gilbert
Becket, some time sheriff of London, went on a
pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where being surprised
and enslaved by a party of Saracens, his master's
daughter fell in love with him; and when he
made his escape, followed him to London. So
singuhir an instance of Heroic affection struck
him ; and after consulting with some bishops, he
baptised her by the name of Matilda, from
which marriage proceeded the haughty Thomas
Becket. Being rai:»ed to the archbishopric, he
began the great dispute between the crown and
the mitre, and sided with the pope: at which
King Henry IL was greatly offended ; and calling
an assembly of the bisnops at Westminster,
offered six articles against papal encroachments,
which he urge^ Becket to assent to. Becket, at
the importunities of several lords, signed them *
but relapsing he was ordered to be tried as a
traitor; upon which he fled into Flanders. The
king banished all his relations, and Becket excom-
municated all his opposers. At last, after seven
years, by the intercession of the French king and
the pope, he returned ; but refused to absolve
the bishops and others, whom he had excommu-
nicated : upon this the king grew enraged ; and
is reported to have said, in the presence of his
court, then in Normandy, that he was an unhappy
prince, who maintained a great number of insig-
nificant persons about him, none of whom had
gratitude, or spirit enough, to revenge him on a
single insolent prelate. Hearing these exclama-
tions, four gentlemen of the court started for
Canterbury, determined upon assassinating the
archbishop. They endeavoured to drag him out
of the cathedral, but finding they could not do
this without difliculty, they beat out his brains
there, on the pavement: 29th of December, 1171.
The assassins being now afraid. they had gone too
far, durst not return to the king's court, but
retired to Knaresborough in Yorkshire, and at
length took a voyage to Home; where, being
ad-nitted to penance by Alexander II L, they went
to Jerusalem ; and, according to the pope*s order,
spent their lives in penitential austerities. In
the mean time, king Henry was, or affected to
be, much disturbed at the news of Becket's death,
and despatched an embassy to Rome to clear
himself from the imputation of being connected
with it. Immediately all divine offices ceased in
the church of Canterbury, for a year, excepting
nine days ; at the end of which, by order or the
pope, it was reconsecrated. Two years after,
becket was canonised; and the two following
years, Henry returned to England, went to Can-
terbury, where he did penance, as a testimony of
his regret for the murder of Becket. When he
came within sight of the church where the
archbishop was buried, he alighted off his horse,
and walked barefoot, in the habit of a pilgrim,
till he came to the tomb. Here, after he had
prostrated himself, and prayed for a considerable
time, he submitted to be scourged bv the monks,
and passed all that day and night without refresh-
ment, kneeling upon the bare stone. In 1221
Becket's body was taken up, fifty years after his
murder, in the presence of Henry III. and a
great c6ncourse of the nobility, and deposited in
a rich shrine, erected at the expense ot Stephen
Langton, archbishop of Canterbury. This was
soon visited from all parts, and enriched with
the most costly gifts and offerings: the miracles
said to be wrought at his tomb were so numerous,
that Gervase of Canterbury tells us, two large
volumes, recounting them, were kept in the church.
The monks used to raise his body every year;
and the day on which this ceremony was per-
formed, which was called the day of his transla-
tion, was a general holiday : every fiftieth year a
jubilee was celebrated to his honor, which lasted
fifteen days: plenary indulgences were dicn
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730
BEC
gnntedto all that visited his tomb; and 100,000
pilgrims have been registered at a time in Can-
terbunr. The devotion towards jhim had almost
effacea in this town the adoration of the Deity;
nay, even that of the Virgin. At God's altar,
for instance, there were offered in one year £3
2s. 6d.; at the Virgin's, £63 5s. 6d. ; and at St
Thomas's £832 12s. 3d. But next year the dis-
proportion was still greater: there was not a
penny offered at God's altar ; the Virgin's gained
only £4 Is. 8d.; but St. Thomas's had for its
share £954 6s. 3d. Louis VII. of France made
a pilgrimage to this miraculous tomb, and
bestowed on the shrine a jewel, which was
esteemed the richest in Christendom. Henry
VIII., to whom< it may easily be intagined how
obnoxious a saint of this character would appear,
not only pillaged St. Thomas's rich shrine, but
made the saint himself be cited to appear in
court, and be tried and condemned as a traitor.
He ordered his name to be struck out of the
calendar ; the office for his festival to be expunged
from all breviaries; and his bones to be burnt,
and the ashes thrown in the air. From Thomas
Warton we learn, that Becket was the subject
of poetical legends. The Lives of the Saints in
verse, in Sennet's library. No. CLXV. contain
his martyrdom aind translation. This MS. is
supposed to have been written in the fourteenth
century. The same writer informs us, from
Peter de Blois, that the palace of Becket was
perpetually filled with bishops higlily accom-
plished in literature, who passed their time there
m reading, disputing, and deciding important
questions of the state. These prelates, though
men of the world, were a society of scholars;
yet very different from those who frequented the
universities, in which nothing was taught but
words and syllables, unprofitable subtleties, ele-
mentary speculations, and trifling distinctions.
De Blois was himself eminently learned, and one
of the most distinguished ornaments of Becket's
attendants. We know that John of Salisbury,
his intimate friend, the companion of his exile,
and the writer of his life, was scarcely exceeded
by any man of his time for his knowledge in phi-
lological and polite literature.
BECKETS, in the marine, large hooks, or
circular wreaths of rope, or wooden brackets,
used to confine ropes, tackles, oars, or spars, in
a convenient place till they are wanted. And to
put the tacks and sheets in the beckets, is to hang
up the weather-main and fore-sheet, and the lee-
main and fore-tack, to a little knot and eye-
becket on the fore-mast, main, and fore-shrouds,
when the ship is close hauled, to prevent them
from hanging in the water.
BECKINGHAM (Charles), an English dra-
matic writer, the son of a linen diaper in London,
was bom in 1669; and educated under the .
learned Dr. Smith. He early discovered an
uncommon genius in poetry, two dramatic pieces
of his writing being represented on the stage
before he was twenty years old. The titles of
these plays are, 1. Henry IV. of France; 2. Scipio
Africanus. He wrote, also, several other poems,'
and died 18th Feb. 1730, aged thirty-two.
BECKMANN (John), forty-four years pro-
lessor at Gottingeui a native of Hoya, m the elec-
torate of Hanover, and bom in 1 739. Uk father
was a post-master and receiver of taxes. His
mother became a widow when B«*kmann was
hardly seven years old, and, though left in nar-
row circumstances, sent him, in his fifteenth year,
to the school of Stade, then under the caie of
Gehlen. In 1759 he repaired to Gottingen, to
study for the church, but quitted it, and thisdesi^
together, at his mother's death, in 1762, to fill
the situation of professor of natural philosophy
in the Lutheran academy at St. Petersbui^gh.
Beckroann soon gave up this place, and made a
journey through Sweden to acquire a detailed
knowledge of its mines. Linnaeus receiving him
hospitably at Upsal, he prolonged his stay there.
In 1766 the governors of the university of Got-
tingen appointed him, on the recommendation of
Busching, professor to this celebrated establish-
ment, of which he became one of the chief orna-
ments. His mind, now entirely directed to the
Sractical uses of human knowledge, conceived
le idea of an academical classification of the
arts, both political and domestic. He tberefoie
composed, as a guide, to serve him in this coarse
of instmction, Treatises on Rural Ecooonoy—
On Policy — On Finance — On Commerce, and
other departments of practical knowledge; and
his lectures, which had at the time the reconuneo-
dation of novelty, were attended by the flower of
the youth of the most civilised nations of Europe.
He was in the habit of accompanying them to
the workshops, to give them a knowledge of the
different processes and handicrafts. His notices
on these subjects make five volumes in octavo,
poblished at Leipsic from 1783 to 1805; and
will ftimish the most invaluable materials to the
individual, or to any society who may hereafter
venture to undertake the general history of the
origin and progress of the mechanic arts. Great
merit, also, belongs to his History of the earliest
Voyages made in modem times; of which he
lived only to publish eight numbers. Another
result of the hteraiy application of the industry
of Beckmann was a retum to the studies A
humanity, to which we are indebted to him,
likewise, for editions of the work De Mirabihbiis
Auscultationibus, attributed to Aristotle, 1786;
of the Wonderful Histories of Antigonus Caiyv
tius, 1711 ; and of Maibodius*s Treatise oft
Stones, 1799; publications whidi required the
rare union of physical knowledge and sagacity
with philologies learning. The Royal Society
of Gottingen had, in the year 1772, admitted
him one of its members, and, horn that period
to 1783, Beckmann supplied their proceedings
with several interesting memoirs, among which
are : On the Reduction of Fossils to their Origi-
nal Substances — On the History of Alum — On
the Sap of Madder— On the ftoth of the Sea,
from which the Heads are formed for the Nie»-
tian Fistule— On the History of Sugar. Beck-
mann died, 3rd of February, 1811, a member of
almost all the learned societies of Germany and
the north of Europe.
BECK'ON, V. & n. See to Beck.
Thou blinded god, qnodi I, forgive me this offence.
Unwittingly I went about to malioe thy pretence.
Wherewith he gave a Uek, and thus medum^t be
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BEC 731 BEC
Thv MTTOw ought suffice to puge thy fatOt, if it nrwe current; hence arises to befit; decent; appio-
* ' ^ priate; suitable; and furtlier, graceful; omar
MMMVtm y
The virtue of which sound mine heart did so revive.
That I mcthought was made as whole as any man
alive. '*"'' 9f Sumjf,
For he that will be called with a bech.
Makes hasty suit on light desire.
If ever ready to the check.
And bqznetb In no wasting fiie. Wifoit,
Proceeding to the midst he stil did stand.
As if in mind he something had to say ^
And to the vulgare beckmtg with his hand.
In sign of silence, as to heare a play.
By lively actions he gan bewray.
Some argument of matter passioned ;
Which doeu, he backe retyred soft away.
And, passing by, his name discovered.
Ease, on his robe in golden letters cyphered.
Biihop.
It heckofu you to go away with it.
As if it some impartment did desire
To you alone.
The queen, lair Fancy, past ;
And thro* her rainbow-dnged veil
A glance benignant cast !
Then» ftwAfVun^ to a secret glade,
« Come see,* she cried, ' the train,
Who own beneath this mystic shade
My visionary reign.'
Anon all this rout was brought in silence.
And I by an usher brought to presence
Of Lucifer; then low, as well as I could,
I kneeled, which he so well allow'd
That thus he beck'd, and, by St. Anthony,
He smiled on me well-favour'dly. '
Heywood, The Pardoner.
So throng into the memory.
Of calling 8hi4>es, and hechowng shadows dire.
And aery tongues, that syllable men's names.
On sands and shores and desert wildernesses.
MfiUon,
With this his distant friends he heekem near,
Provokes their duty, and prevents their fear. Dryden,
What heck'mng ghost along the moonlight shade.
Invites my steps and points to yonder glade. Pope.
When he had raised my thoughu by those trans-
porting airs, he beckoned to me, and, by the waving
of his hand, directed me to approach. Addison.
All ether softening, sober evening takes
Her wonted station on the middle air,
A thousand shadows at her beek. First, this
She sends on earth, then that of deeper dye
Steals soft behind ; and then a deeper still.
In circle following, circle, gathers round.
To close the face of things. Thonuon. Summer.
They had not spoken ; but they felt allured
As if their souls and lips each other beckon'd.
Which being join'd like swarming bees they dung.
Their hearts the flowers from whence the honey
sprung. Byron,
BE'CLAP. Be and clap. See Clap.
BE'CLAWE. Be and claw. See ClaW.
BE'CLIP. Be and clip. See Clip.
BE'CLOUD. Be and cloud. See Cloud.
BE'COME, -J Be and come, Aug.-
. BECOM'iNG,n. o^'. >Sax. aanan; Dutch ko-
Becoiiino'ly. jmen; Germ, kommen;
Swed. komma. Bccunum, ingrediy occwrrere, per-
vemrey superveiwre; to go; to enter in; to meet
•with ; to come or attain to ; to come upon sud-
denly : it likewise signifies to convene ; to con-
cur ; and consequently to be convenient or con-
Id.
Id.
Id.
mental. See Ency. Met.
The Lord God breathed into his nostrils the breath
of life, and man beeame a living soul. Gmem, ii. 7.
And unto the Jews I became a Jew, that I might
gain the Jews. 1 Corinih. ix. 24.
Upon that other side Damian
Becomm is the sorwefuliest man
Th^t ever was. ChoMcer.
So soone as she was entred, round about
Shce cast her eies, to see what was become
Of all those persons which she saw without :
But lo ! they streigbt were vanisht all and some ;
Save that same woefull lady ; both whose hands
Were bounden fast, that did her ill become.
And her small waste girt rownd with yron bands
Unto a brasen pillour, by the which she stands.
Spenetr^
She to her sire made humble reverence.
And bowdd low, that her right well became.
And added grace unto her excellence.
Id, Faerie Qusene.
I cannot joy, until I be resolv'd
Wher^ our right valiant father is become.
ShaJupeare.
If I beeome not a cart as well as another man, a
plague on my bringing up. Id,
I would I had some flowers o' th' spring that might
Become your time of day ; and your's and your's.
That wear upon your virgin branches yet
Your maidenheads growing.
Yet be sad, good brothers ;
For, to speak truth, it very well becomes 'you.
Your dishonour
Mangles true judgment and bereaves the state
Of that integrity which should become it.
What is then beeome of so huge a multitude, as
would have overspread a great part of the continent.
lUUeigh,
But I should ill beeome this throne, O peers I
And this imperial sovreignty adom'd
With splendour, arm'd with power, if aught propos'd
And judg'd of public moment, in the shape
Of difficulty or danger, could deter
Me from attempting. MUton,
Perplex 'J with thoughts, what would become
Of mc, and all mankind ? Id,
The first hints of the circulation of the blood were
taken from a common person's wondering what 6c-
came of all the blood that issued out of the heart.
Orawtt.
What will beeome of me then 7 for, when he is free,
he will infallibly accuse me. Dryden,
Why would I be a queen ? because my face
Would wear the title with a better grace ;.
If I become it not, yet it would be
Part of your duty died to flatter me. Id,
Wicherly was of my opinion, or rather I of his ;
for it becomes me so to speak of so excellent a poet.
Id,
Their discourses are such as belong to their age,
their calling, and their breeding ; such as are becom^
ing of them, a^d of them only. Id*
What beeari^oi this thoughtful busy creature, when
removed from this world, has amased the vulgar, and
pusxled the vise. Rogers,
He utterly rejected their fables concerning their
gods, as not beeommg good men, much lesa those
which were worshipped for gjds. SHUingfleet.
Of thee, kind boy, I ask no red and white
To make up my delight.
No odd becommy graces.
Black eyes, or little know-not*whata, in faces.
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BED.
BECSANGIL) the ancient Bithynia, a pro-
vince of Natolia in Asia; bounded on the north
by the Black Sea, on the west by the sea of
Marmora, on the south by Natolia Proper, and
on the east by the province of Boli. The prin-
cipal town is Bursa.
BECSKERECK, Nagy, i. e. Great, a mar-
ket town of Hungary, in the county of Torontal,
the capital of the circle of that name. It sunds
on the Bega, and has a salt office, and the right
of choosing its own magistrate.*
Becskereck, Kis, i. e. Little, a small town
of Hungary, in the county of Temeswar, circle of
St. Andrew.
BECTASH, preacher to Amurath I. sultan of
the Turks, and founder of the sect of Bectasse.
He is also said to have given rise to the order of
Janissaries.
BECTASSE, a sect of religious among the
Turki. All the janissaries belonging to the Porte
are of this sect. The habit of the bectasse is
white : on their heads they wear caps of several
pieces ; with turbans of wood twisted like ropes.
They observe constantly the hour of prayer,
which they perform in their own assemblies,
and make frequent declarations of the unity of
God.
BECURL, be and curL See Curl.
BED, 17. & n. ^ A large family, from one
Bed'ding, etymon ;'Ang. Sax. bed^
Bed'chamber, dian ; Germ, bedden or bet-
Bed'clothes, ten, ttemere, bed ; that is,
Bed'fellow, says the etymologist, in
Bed'maker, the Ency. Met., stratum^
Bed'mate, is the past participle of
Bed'post, this verb; therefore we
Bed'staff, I speak of a garden-bed, a
Bed'presser, I bed of gravel, &c. In the
Bed'stead, Ang.-Sax. bedde is some-
Bed'straw, times used for a table. See
Bed'swerver, Mark iv. 21. From the
Bed'rid, strata of earth where things
Bed'rite, are deposited, &c., and in
Bed'time, which, till disturbed, they
Bed'ward, repose; the word has been
Bed'work. J to whatever bears applied
and supports ; to whatever is spread, or laid out,
or prepared, for the purpose of bearing and sup-
porting. Thus it is more generally applied to a
lodging; to something made to sleep on ; hence,
figurativelv, it is used for marriage. To bed is
to go to bed with ; to place in bed ; to make
partaker of the bed ; to sow or plant in earth ;
to lay in a place of rest or security; to lay in
order ; to stratify ; to cohabit The various deri-
vatives explain, by their application, their own
meaning.
To bed he goth, and with him goth his wife.
As any jay she lyht was and jolif. Chaaieer,
Flora now cnlleth forth echo flower.
And bids make readie Maia's bower.
That newe it upiyst from bedd, Spenmr,
There be no inns where meet bedding may be had,
so that his mantle serveth him then for a bed. Id,
On my knees I beg.
That yonll voachMfe me raiment, bed, and food.
SMkipeare.
Eno. Mine, and moat of oar intiinet, to i
be — drank to bed. J^ffdem, Aat, tmi Ckap,
IROS. There's a palm, preaaget chastity, if aothiag
else.
Char. Even as the overflowing Nilus pmsftrth
iROS. Oo, yon wild bedfiOow, yon cannot soothsay.
Id.
And as the sleeping soldiers in th' alaim^
Your bedded hairs, like life in excrements,
Surt up and stand on end. Id.
She's a bedewerver, even as bad as those
That vulgars give the boldest titles to. Id.
They have married me :
111 to the Tuscan wars, and never bed her. Id.
For he will be swine drunk, and in his sleep he
does little harm, save to his beddothet about him. Id,
He loves your people.
But tie him not to be their bedfeUow^ Id.
Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfeOoKe. Id^
This sanguine loward, this bedpretmr, this hone-
back breaker, this huge hill of flesh. Id.
Lying not erect, but hollow, which is in the makiaf
of the bed; or with the legs gathered up, which is in
the posture of the body, is tlM more wholesome.
There was a doubt ripped up, whether Anhnr was
bedded with his lady. Id.
Herbs will be tenderer and fairer if you take them
out of bedt when they are newly come up, and re-
move them into pots with better earth. Id.
She was publickly contracted, sUted as a bride, and
solemnly bedded; and, after she was laid, Manmi-
lian's ambassador put his leg, stript naked to the
knee, between the espousal sheets. ML
Let coarse bold hands, from slimy nest.
The bedded fish in banks outwrest.
So high as heav'd the tumid hills, so low,
Down sunk a hollow bottom, broad, and deep.
Capacious bed of waters. MOlem.
Rigour now is gone to bed.
And advice with scrupulous head. ML
George, the eldest son of this second bed, was, after
the death of his father, by the singular care and affec-
tion of his mother, well brought up. Clmrtmie^
He was now one of the bed^amber to the prince. Id.
They were brought to the king, abiding them in his
bedchamber, HmgeMed.
First, with assiduous care from winter keep.
Well fother'd in the stalls thy tender sheep ;
Then spread with straw the beddittg of thy fold.
With fern beneath, to fend the bitter cold. I>i9dias.
Arcite retura'd, and, as in honour tied.
His foe with bedding and with food supply'd. Id.
Those houses then were caves, or homely sheds.
With twining oziera fenc'd, and moss their bede. Idm
See hoary Albula's infected tide
O'er the warm bed of smoaking sulphur glide.
AddimHu
What charming bedfeUowi, and companions for life,
men choose out of sudi women. Id.
I was deeply in love with my bedmaker, upon which
I was rusticated for ever. /d.
I came the next day prepared, and placed her
in a clear light, her head leaniqg to a be^nat, an-
other standing behind, holding it steady.
Wie^mm't Sntyeij.
Smfi.
Chimnies with scorn rejecting i
Stools, tables, chairs, and bedeteadt broke.
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733
BED
Bed may be more accurately aefined a con?e-
nience for stretching and composing the body on,
for ease, rest, or sleep ; consisting, generally, of
feathers enclosed in a ticken case, and supported
by a frame work, called the bedstead, standing
on pedestals. Mr. Whittaker in his history of
Manche*ster observes, that it was universally the
practice, in the first ages, for mankind to sleep
upon the skins of beasts. It was originally the
custom of the Greeks and Romans, as- well as
of the ancient Britons, before the Roman Inva-
sion. These skins were spread on the floor of
their apartments. Afterwards they were changed
for loose rushes and heather : the Welsh a few
years ago lay on the former, and many of the
Highlanders of Scotland sleep on the latter to
this day. In process of time, the Romans sug-
gested to the interior Britons the use, and the
introduction of agriculture supplied them with
the means, of the neater convenience of straw
beds. The beds of the Roman gentry at this
period were generally filled with feathers, and
those of the inns with the soft down of reeds.
But for many ages the beds of the Italians had
been constantly composed of straw; it still formed
those of the soldiers and officers at the conquest
of Lancashire; and from both, our countrymen
learnt their use. But it appears to have been
taken up only by the gentlemen, as the common
Welsh nad their beds thinly stuffed with rushes
93 late as the conclusion of the twelfth century ;
and with the gentlemen it continued many a<^es
afterwards. Straw was used even in the royal
chambers of £ngland as late as the close of the
fifteenth century.
In the Highlands heath is generally used as
bedding even by the gentry; and a heath bed has
been celebrated by travellers as a peculiar luxury,
superior to that of down. In France and Italy
straw beds arc frequent to this day. But after
the above period, beds were no longer suffered to
rest upon the ground. The better mode, that
had anciently prevailed in the east, and long
before been introduced into Italy, was adopted
in Britain ; and they were now mounted on pedes-
tals. This, however, was equally confined to the
higher ranks. Beds still continued on the floor
among the common people, and were laid along
the walls of their houses, as one common dormi-
tory for all the members of the family.
Bed, in masonry, a course or range of stones ;
and the joint of the bed is the mortar between
two stones, placed over each other.
Bed, in «ea language, a flat, thick piece of
timber laid under the quarters of casks contain-
ing any liqjaid, and stowed in the ship*s hold.
Bed, Din inc., lectus triclinaris, or discubito*
liuj, that whereon the ancients lay at meals.
The dining or discubitory beds were four or five
leet high. Three of these were ordinarily ranged
by a square table (whence both the table and
the room where they e^t, were called triclinium),
in such a manner th^t one of the sides of the
table remained open and accessible to the waiters.
Each bed woula hold three or four, rarely Ave
persons. They were unknown in Rome before
the second Punic war : the Romans, till thou,
sat down to eat on plain wooden benches, in
imitation of the heroes of Homer, or, as Vanro
expresses it, after the manner of the Lacedemo-
nians and Cretans. See Accusation.
Bed of a great Gun; that thick plank
which lies immediately under the piece, being, as
it were, the body of the carriage.
Bed of a Mortar, with gunners, a soiid
Siece of oak hollowed in the middle, to receive
le breech and half the trunnions.
Bed of Corn, is a heap, flat at top, three or
four feet high, otherwise (ailed a couch. Com,
in granaries, keeps best in beds.
Bed of Justice, in the ci-devant French cus-
toms, a throne upon which the king was seated
when he went to the parliament. The king
never held a bed of justice but for aflairs that
concerned the state, and then all the ofiicers of
parliament were clothed in scarlet robes.
B£DA, commonly called Venerable Bede, one
of our most ancient historians, was born A. D.
672, near Weremouth, in the bishopric of Dur-
ham. He was educated by the abbot Benedict,
in the monastery of St. Peter, near the mouth of
the river Wyre. At the age of nineteen he was
ordained deacon, and priest at thirty. About
this time he was invited to Rome by Pope Ser-
gius ; but it is not certain that he accepted the
invitation. In 731 he published his Ecclesiasti-
cal History ; a work of so much merit, notwith-
standing the legendary tales it contains, that it
were alone sufficient to immortalise the author.
He died A. D. 735, of a lingering consumption,
pro])ably occasioned by a sedentary life, ana long
uninterrupted application to study and literary
compositions, of which he left an incredible num-
ber. He was buried in the church of his con-
vent at Jarrow; but his bones were afterwads
removed to Durham, and deposited in the same
cofiin with those of St. Cuthbert. Bede was
undoubtedly a singular phenomenon in an igno-
rant and illiterate age. His leaiiiing, fur the
times, was extensive, his application incredible,
his piety exemplary, and his modesty excessive.
He was universally admired, consulted, and
esteemed, during his 'ife; and his writings are
deservedly considered as the foundation of our
ecclesiastical history. His language is neither
elegant nor pure, but perspicuous and easy. All
his works are in Latin. The first general collec-
tion of them appeared at Paris in 1544, in three
volumies, folio. They were printed again at
the same place in 1554, in eight volumes. They
were also published in the same size and number
of volumes at Basil, in 1567, reprinted at Co-
logne in 1613, and at the same place in 1688.
Besides this general collection, there are several
of his compositiomi, which have been printed
separately, or amongst the collections of the
writings of ancient authors ; and there are several
MSS. ascribed to him, which are preserved in
the libraries of Oxford and Cambridge.
BE'DABBLE. Dabble, with the prefix be.
See Dabble.
BE'DAFF. Daff, and the prefix be. SeeDAPF
BE'DaGGLE. Daggle, and the prefix be
See Dagole.
BEDAH, or .Vedah, also called Battas or
Waddas, a wild people inhabiting the mountains
and forests in the interior of Ceylon. See Cbt-
LON and Batta.
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734
BED
BEDAL^ a maiket town in the north riding
of Yorkshijrey through which passes a Roman
causeway to Richmond, Banuid Castle, &c.
The parts adjacent are noted for hunting and
road horses. It has a market on Tuesday : and
is six miles from North AUerton, eight from Rich-
mond, and 220 from London.
BEDALACH, in the materia medicsi, a name
given by some writers to the gum bdellium ; but
particularly to that kind of it which was brought
tirom Arabia, and was of a yellowish color, like
wax.
BEDALGENSE, a name given by the Arab
astronomers to a fixed star of the first magnitude,
in the right shoulder of Orion. It is of a ruddy
color, by which it is easily distinguished.
BEDAMUNGALUM, a town of the Mysore.
Hindostan, near the river Palar, which is here
about forty feet wide. It was formerly a con-
siderable place, but is now reduced. Salt
abounds throughout the neighbouring country,
which consists of poor black soil, and low wet
grounds. Long. 78° 24' E., lat 12° 58' N.
J3EDAN, a deliverer, and, probably, a judge
of the Israelites^ mentioned by the prophet Sa-
muel (1 Sam. xii. 11.), in his expostulation with
the people ; but not mentioned particularly else-
where, in Scripture. Some suppose him to be
the same with Barak ; others with Samson, who
was Ben Dan, the son of Dan ; others, that he
was Jair, and named Bedan after his ancestor.
BEDARIDES, a town of France, near the
Rhone, formerly in the papal counW of Venais-
sin ; but, since the revolution, included in the
department of Vaucluse. The population is
about 1700, and the environs are fertile and
beautiful. Five miles north of Avignon.
BE'DARK. Be and dark. See Dark.
BEDARRIEUX, or Bsc du Rieux, a town
of France, on the river Orbe, in the department
of the Herault. It has 3340 inhabitants, with
manufacturesof drugget and woollen stuffs, which
are exported as far as into Germany. ThirW-
three miles west of Montpelier. Long. 3° 15' £.,
lat. 43° &r N.
BE'DASH Be and dash. See Dash.
BE'DAW. Of uncertain etymology. Awake
on the watch. See Adaw, to watch over, to
keep under.
BE'DAUB. Be and daub. See Dabblb and
Daub.
Bbpcbamber, Lords of the, in the British
court, are twelve noblemen who attend in their
turns, each a month; during which time they
anciently lay in the king's bedchamber, and
waited on him when he dined in private.
BEDDAPOLLAM, a town of Hindostan, in
the Mysore, fourteen miles west of Gurram-
conda.
BEDDER, Beder, or Bedr, a valley of Arabia,
where the tribe of Koreish was defeated by Ma-
homet in the first year of the Hejira^ A. D> 622.
Distant forty miles fixHn Mecca, and twenty from
Medina.
BEDDIJAM, a town of Ceylon, eighty miles
south of Candy.
BEDDINGTON, a village of Surry, between
Carshalton and Croydon, adjoining which is Bed-
dington Park^ where queen Elizabeth is said to
have resided. The parish chuich is an aacieot
Gothic building, vrith stalls in the aisle like a
cathedral.
BEDDOES (Thomas), M. D. a physician of
considerable celebrity, was bom at Shiffbal,
Salop, in the year 1760. He was edacated it
Bridgenorth, Oxford, and Edinburgh. In 1786
he took his doctor's degree, and was appointed
professor of chemistry at Oxford ; an appoint-
ment which his political opinions, on the brak-
ing out of the French Revolution, did nolpermit
him to retain. In 1793 he removed to Bristol,
where he began a series of medical and physiolo-
gical researches, experiments, lectures, &c;
which might have established for him a lasting
reputation. He was capable of great things but
aimed at too much. Publications upon a variety
of subjects political, scientific, and medical, came
from his pen in rapid succession, until 1808, when
he was seized with a liver complaint, which proved
&tal in the course of that year. Of his numeroos
works, the principal are; 1. A Translation of
Spallanzani's Dissertations on Natural History,
1784; reprinted in 1790. 2. A Translation of
Bergman's Essay on Elective Attrai^doiis, 1785.
3. Translations of Scheie's Chemical Essays,
1786. 4. Chemical Experiments and Opinions,
extracted from a work published in the last cen-
tury, &c.
BEDE. See Beda.
BEDEAD. Be and dead. Sec Dead.
BE'DECK. Be and deck. See Deck.
BEDELL (Dr. William), a learned prelate,
bom at Black Notley, in .Essex, in 1750, and
educated at Emanuel College, Cambridge, when
he obtained a fellowship in 1593. A&r being
some time minister of St. Edmund's Buy, be
went to Venice, as chapUin to Sir Henry Wot-
ton, thelEnglish ambassador, and continuing eight
years in that city, contracted an intimate ac^
rintance with the famous Father Paul ; durio^
time he translated the English Commoo
Prayer Book into that language ; and drew up
an English grammar for Father Paul, who de-
clared he had learned more from him in dimity
than from any one. At his departure Paul pre-
sented him with his picture, the MSS. of hk
History of the Council of Tnent, his Uistoiy of
the Interdict and Inquisition, with otlier literary
donations. In 1629 Dr. Bedell obtained the
bishopric of Kilmore and Ardagh in Ireland,
and applied himself vigorously to refonning
abuses. He procured an Irish translatioii of the
common Prayer-Book, which he caused to be
read in his cathedral every Sunday. The New
Testament having been translated by archbishop
Daniel, he patronised a ooneqKmding verskm
of the Old Testament; which was afteiwaids
printed at the expense of the great Mr. fioyie.
In 1 624 he published a controversial book against
the Rbman Catholics, which he dedicated to
Charles, prince of Wales ; and assisted the arcb^
bishop or Spalatro in finishing his fiunoos work
De Republica Ecclesiastica. When the rebel-
lion broke out in Ireland, in October 1641, the
bishop at first did not feel the violence <^ its
efiects; for the veiy rebels had ooDoeived a
great veneration for him, and they dedaied he
should be the last Englishman they would drive
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BEDFORD.
736
out of Ireland. About the middle of December,
however, th§ rebels required him to 'dismiss the
people who had taken refuge with him ; and,
upon his refusing to do this, they seised him and
his family, and carried them prisoners to the
castle of Cloughboughter, putting them all ex-
cept the bishop in irons. After being confined
for about three weeks, the bishop and his sons
were exchanged for some of the principal rebels ;
but the worthy prelate died soon after, on the
7th lebruary, 1642, his death being chiefly
occasibned, it is said, by this imprisonment.
The Irish rebel chiefs, and a large part of their
force, accompanied his body to the church-
yard.
BE'DELVE,j Be and delve. See Delve.
Bedelven. S
BEDENGIAN, in botany, a name given by
Avicenna and Serapion to the pomum amoris,
or love-apple, a sort of fruit used in food by the
Italians, and some other nations, and seeming to
be the third species of the strychnos, or solanum,
mentioned by Theophrastus. The author first
describes two kinds of this plart, the one of
which occasioned sleepy disorders, and the other
threw people who eat of it into madness. After
these, which he properly accounts poisonous, he
mentions a third, which was cultivated in gar-
dens, for the sake of the fruit, which, he says, is
large and esculent. This is certainly the same
with bedengian.
BE'DEVIL. Be and devil. See Devil.
BE'DEW, > Ang.-Sax. deawian, to wet, to
Be'dew. 5 moisten.
Both nations shall, in Britalne's royal crowne.
Their difiTring names, the signcs of faction, druwne ;
The silver sircames which from this spring increase.
Bedew all Christian hearts with drops of peace.
Beaumoni Bcnoorth Field.
For never, gentle knight, as he of late.
So tossed was in fortune's craell freakes.
And all the while salt tears bedeaw'd the hearers'
cheaks.
What slender youth bedew'd with liquid odours.
Courts thee on roses, in some pleasant cave ? Milton.
Thrice happy he ! who, on the sunless side
Of a romantic mountain, forest-cruwn'd.
Beneath the whole collected shade reclines ;
Or in the gelid caverns, woodbine wrought.
And fresh hedew'd with ever-spouting streams.
Sits coolly calm. Thom$on.
May all the youths, like me, by \oi^ deceiv'd.
Not quench the ruin» but applaud the doom !
And -when thou dy'st, may not one heart be griev'd.
May not one tear bedew the lonely tomb '. Hammond.
Oo, my boy, and if you fall, though distant, ex-
posed, and unwept by those that love you, the most
precious tears are those with which heaven bedewi
the unburied head of a soldier
Goldtmith. Viear of Wakefield.
BEDFORD (John, duke of), a younger son
of Henry IV., was Shakspeare^s * prince John of
Lancaster.' During the reign oi Henry V. he
took a leading part in the conquest of France ;
and was, after tne death of the king, appointed
regent of that country. ^He displayed great mili-
tary skill in the battle of Vemenil in 1424. The
only blemish in his character is his cruel and
unjustifiable treatment of the maid of Orleans.
He survived tliis event about four years, and
dying at Rouen, in 1435, was buried in tiie ca^
thedral of that city. Bedford deserves notice as
a patron of the arts. A curious proof of his
taste in them is still existing in the Beaford Missal,
a small thick folio volume, highly illuminated,
described by Mr. Dibdin in his Bibliomania,
page 253.
The dukedom of Bedford, now enjoyed by the
Russel family, is perfectly distinct from that of
•this prince. The title has been twice revived
since his time.
Bedford (Francis RuSsel, duke of), an illus-
trious English nobleman, and distin^ished agri-
cultulist; was bom July 23d, 1765. Upon
the death of his grandfather in 1771, he succeeded
to the title and fortunes of his family. He
received the first rudiments of education, we
believe, at Loughborough house, a fiashionable
preparatory school : from this place he was re^
moved at an early age to Westminster-school,
but he did not remain long at this celebrated
seminary. Here it was that, in consequence of
a blow from a cricket ball, he became subject 4o
an inveterate hernia, which proved the ultimate
cause of his premature death. His grace, at the
university, applied to his studies with more
diligence than most young noblemen, and soon
acquired the esteem of his fellow-students,
and of those who superintended his conduct.
Early in life he manifested a strong predilection
for the amusements of the turf, but this was soon
weakened (though not destroyed) in consequence
of a superior attachment to the more rational
pursuits of agriculture. On his first outset in
public life he was connected with Mr. Fox,
and became a firm and disinterested supporter
of the whig principles. It was long before he .
could so fer overcome his natural diffidence as
to speak in public; although, in private com-
pany, the clearness of his judgment, the solidity
of his remarks, . and the strength and accuracy
of his expression, had decidedly proved that
his grace possessed the chief requisites of a
distinguished orator. What the persuasions of
his friends could not effect, was at length un-
expectedly produced by a momentary glow of
inaignation. In a debate in the house of lordo,
the duke imagined himself personally alluded to
by one of the speakers. He rose and defended
himself and his party by a most able and ani-
mated reply. From that period he occasionally
spoke upon the most important questions that
divided the house, and was constantly heard,
even by his political adversaries, with the most
respecuul attention. His eloquence was rather
solid and masculine than brilliant and showy ;
he did not trim up his language with the gaudv
flowers of the rhetorician, but always spoke with '
such accuracy, and digni^ of style ana manner,
as naturally resulted from the profound medita^
tion of an enlarged and cultivated mind.
But the duke of Bedford was not merely
eminent as an orator and politician; he deserved
much regard as an anxious promoter of aericul-
cure, and every art subservient to that highly
important pursuit. The late Mr. Bakewell was
one of his first instnictors in the knowledge of
cattle ; but he soon equalled, if not ezcelledy his
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736
BEDFORD.
master, at least in a knowledge of the subject,
tiottgfa not perhaps in success as an improver of
die different breeos. His improyeraents in &rm-
ing^, as well as grazing, were very considerable.
His experimental farm consisted of about 3000
acres, and it was in a state of cultivation, before
his time, unexampled in this country. In the
practice of irrigation his grace was remarkably
successful, and he evinced its wonderful effects
upon several hundred acres of land. The fai^
mers and graziers for miles round his family
seat at Wobum will long remember his grand
annual sheep-shearings held there ; from which
every one returned pleased with the hospitality
and affability of the noble duke, and with the
prospect of advantage to the agricultural in-
terests of the nation at large, which the pre-
miums here offered were likely to produce.
His grace was never married. His death was
occasioned by the strangulation of the hernia
already spoken of; which was brought on by
playing at tennis. He died March 2d, 1802, in
nis thirty-seventh year.
Bedford, the chief town of Bedfordshire,
is a place of great antiquity, supposed to be an
ancient Roman sution, and by some the Lacti-
dorum of Antoninus ; although Camden is of
a different opinion, from the fact of its not
standing on any of the Roman roads, as also
from no Roman coins having been found in the
immediate vicinity. 1 1 is situated on the river
Ouse, ten miles from Olney, and fifty miles
north of London ; and, according to the census
of 1821, contains upwards of 1070 houses, and
5466 inhabitants.
Bedford is supposed to be the Bedicanford of
the ancient Saxons, called Bedician Forda, for-
tress of the Ford, from its fortifications, which
commanded the river, and rendered the place
almost impregnable. Several ancient battles
were fought here, between the Britons and the
Saxons, particularly one in 572, the obstinacy
of which has been justly celebrated. It has also
been the scene of many severe and bloody con-
flicts with the Danes, and of many other changes
and remarkable events, since the extinction of
the Danish power. Offa, king of the Mercians,
chose this town as his burial place, and his re-
mains were accordingly interrea in a small chapel,
on the brink of tlie river; but both the royal
deposit and the chapel containing them have been
long swept away by a violent inundation. Shortly
after the Norman conquest, William Rufiis gave
the barony of Bedford to Pain de Beauchamp,
who built a strong castle, adjoining the town.
This place, in 1137, stood a siege against king
Stephen and his army, and was afterwards com-
mitted to Faux de Brent, a royal fiivorite. But
this gentleman, having fortified it strongly, set
the royal power at defiance, and having other-
wise rendered himself obnoxious to Heniy III.
the king, in 1224, marched wifli an army to re-
duce him to obedience ; and after a siege of two
months, which forms one of the most curious
detaUs in Enslish history, the place was stormed
by four assaults, and taken, the castle was dis-
mantled, the trenches filled up, and of the site on
which it stood only a few traces are now visible.
Before the conqnest, here was a collegiate church,
dedicated to St. Paul, which was afterwards re-
moved to the parish of Goldington, about a mile
distant. Numerous other religious houses, in the
town and suburbs, were founded at an early
period, of which scarcely any vestiges remain.
A bridge of great antiquity stood over the ri%er,
which is hence navigable to the German Ocean ;
but that edifice being in a state of great decay,
was removed in 1813, and a new and handsome
one was erected on its site, preserving the com-
munication between the northern and aouthem
divisions of the town. Bedford is generally con-
sidered a compact, handsome place, containing
the parishes of St. John, St. Mary, St Cuthbeit,
St. Peter, and St. Paul. It is governed by a
mayor, recorder, aldermen, two chamberlains,
and thirteen common council men. It gives the
title of duke to the fiimily of Russel, and, as
early as 1295, sent two members to parliament,
the election of whom is vested in about 1400
voters, consisting of burgesses, freemen, and
householders not receiving alms. The town is
a borough and corporation by prescription, and
the earliest charter is dated in 1166, 100 yean*
after the conquest. Of the five churches three
are on the north side of the river, and two on
the south. St. Paul's is a very handsome Gothic
edifice with a spire. It has a fine organ, a very
ancieat stone pulpit, and contains an altar tomb
with brass figures of Sir William Harpur and
his lady, the former of whom^ a great Dene&c-
tor of the town, died in 1574. The dissenters
in Bedford are numerous and respectable. There
are three Independent chapels, one of whidi
was built as early as 1707, and a second in 1772.
The celebrated John Bunyan was one of the
pastors of the original meeting-hoose, whidi
preceded both, from 1671 to 1688, and during
the thirty-two years exercise of his ministry in
that place and the neighbourhood, suffered twelie
years imprisonment, in the course of which he
finished his celebrated work entitled The Pil-
grim's Progress. A free grammar school was
founded here in 1556, by Sir William Harpur, a
native of Bedford, who, in the sixteenth century,
was elevated to the dignity of lord mayor of Lon-
don. It was endowed with thirteen acres of land,
which, being now let for building, produces an
improved rent of £6000 per annum, the aurpins
of which is applied to other purposes of a chari-
table nature ; £700 is given in small pi
for the apprenticing of children, and £800 is
given in marriage portions, of £20 eadi, to
forty poor maidens of the town, with restrictioos
that tne young women must be of good reputa-
tion, between the ages of sixteen and fifty, and
married within two months after receiving the
gratuity. An infirmary, capable of recetring
thirty-eight patients, was erected in 1803; to-
waids £e building and endowment of which
Mr. Whitbread, one of the memben of parlia-
ment for the borough, gave £8000. A new gaol
was erected in 1801, tovrards which d»e same
gentleman contributed £500. In 1813 wa
erected an asylum for lunatics. The assiaes an
sessions of the county are held in the Shire
hall, erected in 1753.
The principal mannfrctnie b laoe, but in tiw
house of industry an extensire mannfiMCloix of
Digitized by
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BEDFORD.
737
•flannel has been established, whicli has 9onsider-
ably reduced the poor's rates.
The soil in the neighbourhood is singularly
productive of good "wheat and barley, which are
chiefly sent to the markets of Hitchin and Hert-
ford. There are six annual fairs, besides a' wool
fair, which has been established by the Agricul-
tural Society of the county. There are also
two weekly markets ; one on Saturday, for com,
and another on Tuesday for cattle. A consider-
able trade is carried on in coals, timber, and
iron, which are brought by the river from Lynn
and Yarmouth.
The bailiff of Bedford is a name which the
inhabitants of Ely have from time immemorial
given to the inundations of the Ouse, the waters
of which, afler violent rains, frequently over-
spread the island, so as to suspendall pursuits,
and confine the people prisoners till they are
abated.
Bedford, a county of the United States,
in Virginia, bounded on the north by James
river, east by Campbell, west by Botetourt, and
south by Franklin county. It is thirty-four
miles in length, and twenty-five in breadth.
Chalk and gypsum are met with in this county.
It is agreeably variegated with hills. The chief
town is New London.
Bedford, a large mountainous county of
Pennsylvania, bounded on the north by Hunting-
don, east by the North mountain, west by the
Alleghany mountain,and south by part of Washing-
ton and Alleghany counties, in the state of Mary,
land. It is fifty miles in breadth fit)m north to
south, and fifty-four in length from east to west;
and is divided into nine townships, viz. Bedford,
Woodbury, Hopewell, Dublin, Providence, Bel-
fiaist. Bethel, Colrain, Cumberland valley, and
Londonderry. The chief waters are the Rays-
town branch of the Juniatta, Wills, and Licking
creek. The chief mountains are Wills, Evits,
Warriors, Sideling-hill, Dunnings, &c. and a few
others of inferior magnitude. The valleys between
some of these are extensive, rich, and in many
parts well cultivated. Limestone and iron ore
are found in many places. This county was pur-
chased from the Indians in 1768 by William
Penn, and established in 1771.
Bedford, a ppst town of Pennsylvania, and
capital of the above county, situated on the south
side of the Raystown branch of Juniatta river,
between two small creeks. The town stands on
an eminence, and is embosomed by still loftier
hills on all sides ; that on the west rising to the
altitude of 1300 feet, and that on the east 1100.
It is regularly laid out, and contains a brick
market-house, a stone jail, a courthouse, a brick
building for keeping the records of the county,
and a bank. The inhabitants are supplied with
water from a spring at the distance of half a mile,
which is conveyed by wooden pipes to a reservoir
in the centre of the town. It was incorporated
by an act of the assembly, passed in the winter
session of 1 795, and is governed similar to Chester.
It is ten miles west of Philadelphia. Long.
C"^ 16' W., lat, 40° 0' N.
Bedford New, a sea-port and post town in
the county of Bristol, Massachusetts^ United
tSiJtes of America, is about fifty-two miles south
Vol. III.
of Boston, the capital of thRt province. Seated
pleasantly on an arm of the sta, which stretches
nrom Buzzard's Bay, and forinsthe estuary of the
Accushnet river, it commands an extensive pros-
pect, with a spacious and. commodious harbour-
As late as 1810 Bedford included Fairhaven, on
the opposite side of the estuary, which has since
been mcorporated into a distinct town. Its popu-
lation, after the above division, was computea at
something more than 5000, many of whom are
engaged in commerce. The chief buildings are
a bank, five places of worship, and a library, be-
sides which there is a considerable academy, for
the use of the Society of Friends. The amount
of shipping belonging to the port in 1818 was
24,000 tons. The vessels are employed in the
whale, cod, and other fisheries, with the excep-
tion of a few wl4ch trade to Europe and the
West Indies. The average value of exports from
this port of America has been calculated at
130,000 dollars; the imports are not accurately
known. Ship-building is carried on to a con-
siderable extent, and a weekly newspaper is pub-
lished. The town lies in lat. 41° 38' N., lonir
70** 54' W.
Bedford, a town of the United States in West
Chester, county of New York, thirty-five mileit
N. N, E. of New York. Long. 70° 51* W,
Bedford, a tovrn of Virginia, 100 miles south-
west of Richmond.
Bedford, a town of the United States in the
west end of Long Island, New York. Four miles
north-west of Jamaica bay, and six east from the
city of New York.
Bedford, a township of New Hampshire, in
Hillsborough county. It lies on the west bank
of the Merrimack, fifty-six miles west of Ports-
mouth.
Bedford, Cape, a cape on the coast of Labra-
doir, in Davis' straits. Long. 67** 50' W., lau
67** N.; also a cape at the north-east extremity of
New Holland. Long. 21 4° 45' W., lat. 15° 16' S.
Bedford, New, a town of Massachusetts, in
Bristol county. Fifty-eight miles south of Bos-
ton. Long. 70° 52' W., lat 40° 41' N.
Bedford Level, an extensive tract of low
land, stretching over part of the counties of
Sufiblk,Norfolk,Huntingdon,Lincoln,Northamp-
ton, Cambridge, and the Isle of Ely, including a su-
perficial area of nearly 400,000 acres, or 625 square
miles. It appears from various phenomena,
noticed by different authorities, that the greater
part of this space anciently consisted of dry and
cultivated land, although firom mismanagement,
neglect, or some convulsion of nature, it lost its
fertility, and assumed its present appearance.
Numerous trees of considerable dimensions, re-
mains of buildings, with other natural and arti-
ficial productions, found at various depths below
the surface, sufiiciently evince, that it could no^
always have been a morass ; although they fumis>
no means of ascertaining the original causes and
steps of its deterioration. Dugdale states, that
in draining the isle of Axholme, many oaks, firs,
and other trees were found at the depUis of three,
four, and five feet ; the roots were firm in tlic
earth, and the trunks had been evidently burnt
down, as the ends were reduced to a kind of
charcoal. * The oaks were Ivinsr in multitudes,
3B
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738
BEDFORDSHIRE.
atid of an extraordinary size, being five yards in
compass, and sixteen yards long, and some smal-
ler, of a great length, with a great quantity of
acorns, a!nd small nuts near them/ Coincident
with the above statement, is the foUomng of Mr.
Elstob, in his Historical Account of the Bedford
I^vel. which relates, that ' in 1764, many roots
of trees were found near Boston in Lincolnshire,
in the position in which they had grown, at Ae
depth of eighteen feet below the thin pasturage
of the surface/ But the most remarkable cir-
cumstance is, that not onl^ trees, but the foun-
dations of buildings, a smith's forge, with many
of his tools, several iron articles, horse-shoes 8cc.
have been found near Boston, at sixteen feet depth
in the soil. Tacitus, in his life of Agricola,
states that 'the Britons complained of their hands
and bodies being worn out and consumed by the
Romans, in clearing the woods, and embanking
ihe fens,' in which he is thought to allude more
particularly to the destruction of the forests, which
anciently covered a considerable part of the Bed-
ford Level. Heiury of Huntingdon, a writer of
the time of king Stephen, who reigned from tl36
to 1154, describes this part of the kingdom ' as
very pleasant and agreeable to the eye, watered
witn many rivers which run through it, diversi-
fied with many large and small lakes, and adorned
with many woods and islands.' WiHiam of
Malmsbury, who flourished in the reign of Henry
II., Stephen's successor, describes Sm tract of
country in the most favorable terms, and mentions
with astonishment the size of the trees, by which
many parts of it were adorned. This statement
forms a singular coincidence with those already
given, and is corroborated by &cts and evidences
yet remaining, which furnish, perhaps, the best
illustration of this singular and interesting sub- '
ject.
It is evident, from the above testimonies, that
the inundation, by which this beautifiil country
was converted into the present morass, must have
liappened after the period of the latter historian,
altnough the precise circumstances which led
to it are not determined. This is certain, that the
country was completely overflowed, and that it
was rendered almost impassable, even for boats,
by the sedge, reeds, and mud, with which it was
covered, while the putrid efiSuvia, arising from
the stagnant waters, destroyed the health of the
inhabitants.
The reign of Edward I. was distinguished by
an unsuccessfiil effort to drain these fens, and
several succeeding attempts, in the reigns of
Henry VI. and Charles L, after involving consi-
derable expenses, were alike unfortunate. At
length, in tne year 1634, Francis, earl of Bed-
ford, in conjunction with thirteen gentlemen, un-
dertook the Herculean task, and to a considerable
length succeeded; whence the whole of this
farming district was called after his name. As
a considerable part of the estate of this nobleman
consibted of possessions' in the vicinity of this
marsh, which had been granted to his ancestor
on tlie dissolution of the monasteries, by Henry
VIII ; he prosecuted the work with the greater
assiduity, on the promise of having 95,000 acres
assigned him in case of a successftil accomplish-
ment of his enterprise. The king granted an
immediate charter of incorporation, and widin
three years and a-haif from the before mentioneA
period, the public surteyor, at the instance of tie
commissioners, set out the land. The right d
this corporation was afterwards opposed, and the
earl disposseised of the reward of his services;
but the civil wars giving a new direction to Ote
schemes of political enterprise, William Duke ef
Bedford was, in 1649, restored to the possession
of his rightful patrimony, and under the patron-
age of a new act, operations were continoed upon
an extensive scale ; and in 1653, after an expense
of £400,000, the level was thought to be folly
drained, and the original grant was finally con-
firmed. The new territory was afterwards (for
the better regulation of property), divided into
three districts, viz. the northera, middle, and
southern. A surveyor was appointed for eadi of
the former, and two for the IMfer; numeroos
contentions, litigations, charters, and laws, have
nevertheless issued ; for fiirdier information upon
which we refer the reader to the Beauties of
England and Wales, vol. ii. and Elstob's
Historical Account of the Bedford Levd.
Notwithstanding all that has been done, much
fine land remains undrained in this part of En-
gland ; and, in the winter season, is snbiect to
ftequent inundations. It is the haunt of vait
flocks of waterfowl, which are taken in consi-
derable numbers. As many as 3000 conple are
often sent to the London mark^ in one we^
firom a single decoy, in tiie neighbourhood of
Ely.
BEDFORDSHIRE, a small inland county of
England, bounded on the north and north-wnt
by Northamptonshire, on die east by the counties
of Huntingdon, Cambridge, and Hertford, and on
the west by those of Buckingham and Northamp-
ton. Its limits are winding and irregular, and
the only natural ones are the Ouse, for a short
space on the east and west, and a small rivulet
on the south-west border. Its form is nearly
oval ; it is thirty-six miles in extreme length, from
eighteen to twenty-two in breadth, and 143 t&
circumference.
The total of land in this county has bem
variously calculated. The report of the Board of
Agriculture states the superficial area at 307,200
acres. The returns to parliament, relative to the
poor's rates, make it 275,200 acres; but Dr.
Becke, in his Observations on the Income Tax,
gives the content at 293,059 acres; whilst the
Population Returns of 1821 state the area at 463
sauare miles, which is rather more than the mean
of the three preceding numbers, and is founded
upon the Trigonometrical Survey of England asJ
Wales. According to one, we believe, of ihe
most correct authorities, the superficial content
of land in Bedfordshire is computed at 296,3^
square acres, of which 80,000 are in a course of
tillage, and 168,000 employed in pasturage.
This populated area includes 124 parishes^ with
ten market towns, in which are 13,640 hou^e^
and upwards of 71,000 inhabitants, of whom
4155 tamilies are employed in commerce and
manufactures, and 9431 in agriculture. It is in
the Norfolk circuit, province of Canterbury-, and
bishopric of Lincoln, and is divided into nine
hundreds, viz. Barford, Biggleswade. Cliilon,
Digitized by
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BEDFORDSHIRE.
Vlut, xilanshead, Redbome, Stodden^ Wiliey, and
AVixamtree. Its rivers are the Ouse, the Ivel,
the Lea, and the Ouzel, together with a few others
of ii^ferior note, which come more properly under
the denomination of streams. The Ouse is made
navigable to Bedford, and divides the county
into two parts. Nearly the whole of Bedfordshire
lies upon the . eastern aide of the grand . ridge,
which . separates the waters which flow into the
German Ocean from those which pour themselves
into the Irish Sea: its general inclination is there-
fore towards the east, .and in that direction its
principal rivers flow.
The face of the county is generaUy'varied with
small hills and valleys, few of which aspire to
the height of mountains. There are, nevertbeless,
some of a bolder description. The Chiltem hills,
composed of a vast mass of chalk and flint stoned,
lie along the southern border, and form a lofty
range, which, rising to an unusual altitude, and
irrefoilsLrly projecting over the valleys, gives the
whole landscape a remarkable appearance. The
dav hills are stretched over ti^ie northern part,
and a c^ge of sand bills enters the county from
the west, in a direction towards the north-east.
From the south-east comer to the middle of the
county runs a line of good dairy land ; the
western side is, for ^e most part, flat and sandy.
The north and east portions have a deep soil,
'which produces large crops of com, and is gene-
rally well wooded. The alluyial soils, which pre-
. vail in Bedfordshire, generally consist of yellow
and dark colored clays, which are diversified with
tracts of chalk and saiul. On the south of Luton
and Dunstable particularly, the upper stratum is
chalk, blended with numerous layers of flints and
silicious earth, which is succeeded bv hard chalk
alone. The mineral productions of the county
are limestone, coarse marble, and some coal.
The fuller's earth, which is found so plentifully,
is a kind of mixed day, chiefly <^tamed in the
neighbourhood of Wobura, and is of great-use in
cleansing woollen goods. Mineral springs are
also found in diflerent parts of the county, fd-
though they have not acquired much celebrity.
The chief are those of Barton, Bedford, Bletsoe,
Blunham, Bromham, Bushmead, Clapham,
Cranfield, Holcot, Milton Ernest, Odell, Pertcn-
hall, Riseley, Silsoe, Turvey, and Wrest Garden.
Some of these are saline, and others chalybeate,
whilst several have not been yet analysed.
The climate of Bedfordshire, from its situation
as an inland county, is of a medium temperature
and moisture. From meteorological observations,
made at Leighton-Buzzard, for four years, ending
with 1804, it appeared that the mean monthly
height of the baromf'tpr was 29^52 inches ; that
of the thermometer, with a northern aspect, and
in the open air, observed at eight o'clock in the
morning, was 47^ 2. The average quantity of
rain per month vras 1,93 inches, and the evapo-
ration l'05. Thus, by multiplying these numbers
by 12, we have 23* 16 and 12*6, the former of
which is little more than the average of London.
The most prevalent wind observed during this
period was the south-west. Upon the whole, this
county does not appear to be remarkably salu-
brious, since, from tne late returns of the popu-
lation, fewei instances of longevity were found.
in proportion to the number of inhabitants, than
in many others of the uiiited iangdom.
This county has never been remarkable for th«
extent of either its commerce or manufactures.
The most general employment is the making of
lace, and preparing straw-plat for the manufac-
ture of hats, bonnets, baskets, toys, mats, &c.
The market-towns, for the promotion of internal
commerce, are, Bedford, Ampthill, Dunstable,
Biggleswade, Leighton-Buzzaid, Luton, Potton,
Shefford^Tuddington, and Woburn . Four mem-
bers are sent from this county to parliament, in
vidiichthe Bjussel, Osborne, and Whitbread fa-
milies have a preponderating influence.
When the Romans landed in Britain, A. A. C.
55., this county. was included in the district in-
habited by the Catieuchlani, whose chief, Cassi-
belinus, headed the force of the whole island
against Caesar, .and the year following was totally
defeated. In 310 the emperor Constantine di-
vided Britain into five Roman provinces, when
this county was induded in the third division,
called. Flavia Cesariensis ; in which state it con-
tinued 426 years, when the Romans quitted Bri-
tain, A severe battle was fought at Bedford in
571. or 580y betw.een the Saxons and the Britons.
At the establishment of the kingdom of Mercia
(one of the divisions of the Saxon heptarchy), it
was considered as part of that kingdom ; and
so continued from 582 . to 827, When, with the
other petty, kingdoms of the island, it became
subject to the. West Saxons, under Egbert, and
the vi^hole was named Enghmd. In 889 Alfred
held the sovereignty, when England was divided
into covinties, hunareds, and tythings, and Bed-
fordshire first received its present name.
In the tenth and eleventh centuries, this county
was the seat of various conflicts with the panes,
which terminated in the final expulsion of the
invaders. Many castles had been erected during
these periods, most of which were demolished
by king John^ during his progress to tlie north,
except that of Bedfo^, which was dismantled by
Henry III. ; after which the county is noted for
few remarkable occurrences till the year 1642,
when it entered into an association against
Charles I.
The remains of both Saxon and Gothic archi-
tecture are to be seen in several of the churches,
as also a few specimens of stained glass in their
windows. Roman antiquities, also, are frequently
discovered in the county. It is intersected by
three Roman roads, and interspersed with mili-
tary stations. A fortification, called Tottemhoe
Castle, is seen on the brow of a hill, about two
miles ^om Dunstable, and consists of a lofty cir-
cidar. mound, with a slight vallum around its
base ; at a distance from which is a much larger
one. of irregular form. The other remarkable re-
mains are, a Roman station at Sandy near Potton,
(the Magiovinum of Antoninus,) by others sup-
posed to be the ancient Salens, containing thirty
acres, where many urns, coins, &c. have been
dug up. Another at Madining-bowre, or Maiden-
bower, one mile from Dunstable, containing
about nine acres, which Camden supposes to
have been a Roman station, from the coins of the
emperors having been freouently dug up there,
and calls it Magintum. Leighton-Buzzard ii
3 B 2
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BED 740
-supposed to have been a Iloman camp, and ano-
ther is at Arlesey near Shefford, and a Roman
ampliitheatre may be traced near Bradford Magna.
The lioman road, Icknield-street, crosses this
country; entering at Leighton-Buzzard,. from
ivhence it passes Dunstable, vhere it inclines
northward over Warden hilis to Baldock in Hert*
fordshire. The Watling-street enters this county
near Luton from St. Albans, passes a little north
of Dunntabley where it crosses the Icknield-street,
and from thence to Stoney Stratford in Bucking-
hamshire. A Roman road also enters near Potton,
passes on to Sandy, and from thence to Bedford,
where it crosses the Ouse, and proceeds to New-
port Pagnell in Buckinghamshire. The following
antiquities in this county are well worthy of
attention : Bedford Bridge and Priory ; Chick-
sand Abbey, near Shefford ; Dunstable Priory,
near Luton ; Eaton Park House, or £aton Bray ;
Five Knolls, near Dunstable ; Newnham Priory,
near Bedford ; Northill church, three miles from
Biggleswade; Summeris Tower, near Luton;
Warden Abbey, near Shefford ; Wobum Abbey ;
and Woodhill Castle, or Oddhill Castle, near
Harwood. — John duke of Bedford, third son of
Plenry IV. king of England, commanded the
English army in France in 1422 ; and, after mak-
ing himself master of that kingdom, died at
Rouen in 1435, where a handsome monument
was erected to his memory. One of the courtiers
of Charles VIIL having advised him to destroy
it, the king answered, ' Let him rest in peabe,
who, when living, made all the French tremble.'
BEDIM, be and dim. See Dim.
BEDIZEN, be and dizen. See Dizev.
BED'LAM, n. & adj. ) Corrupted from
Bed'lamite. ) bethlehem, the name
of a religious house in London, converted after-
wards into an hospital for the mad and lunatic.
The adjective, in the sense of mad, is applied to
things as well as persons.
Let's follow the old earl, and get the bedlam
To lead him where he would ■, his roguish madness
Allows itself to any thing. ShaJupeate.
One morning vezy early, one morning in the spzing,
I heard a maid in Bedlam, who mournftdly did slug.
Her chains %hp rattled on her hands, while sweetly
thus sung she,
I love my love, because I know my love loves me.
Prior.
If wild ambition in thy bosom reign,
Alas ! thou boast'st thy sober sense in vain ;
In these poor bedlamites thyself survey.
Thyself less innocently mad than they.
Fitagerald.
At this rate we are wonderfully mistaken when we
speak of Don Quixote as a madman, and of Leonidas,
Brutus, Wallace, Hampden, Paoli, as wise, and good,
and great ! The case it seems is just the reverse ; these
deserve no other names than tl^at of raving bedla-
Beattie, Don Qmjtote.
BED
BEDLIS, or Betlis, a strong town of Asiatic
Turkey in the Pachalic of V&n, lat. 38° 34' N.,
and long. 42° 35' E. It is placed in a narrow
defile, defended by a triangular castle, between
two lofty mountains, and traversed by the river
Kuzur, which joins the J hi Rub^ below. Here
arc many public buildings deserving notice, and
among them several medresehs, or coU^es,
which, together with the list of eminent whti'r^
who have been natives of this place, show that
learning was much encouraged by its former
rulers. The castle contains 300, and the town
about 5000, houses within its precincts. This
fortress submitted to the Mussulman arms under
the caliphate of Omar (A. D. 647), and was con-
quered by the Turks under Sultin Mniiid IV,
(A. D. 1634). Its inhabitants are Ruzegis, a
tribe of Kurds and Armenians, in nearly equal
proportions, who amounted in die middle of die
seventeenth century to about 80,000. The
strength of its position has often enabled them to
maintain a virtual independence of the Porte.
BEDLOE (WiUiam), who assumed the title of
captain, was an infamous adyentarer of low
birth, in the reign of Charies II. He had tra-
velled over great part of Europe under different
names and disguises, as a man of rank and for-
tune. Encouraged by the success of Oates, be
gave an account of Godfrey's murder, and added
many circumstances to the narrative of the for-
mer. These villains had the boldness to accuse
the queen of entering into a conspiracr ag»nst
king Charles I's life. A reward of £500 was
voted to Bedloe by the Commons. He is said
to have asserted the reality of the plot on his
death-bed : but it abounds with absordi^, con-
tradiction, and perjury. He died at Bristol,
August 20th, 1680. Giles Jacob informs ns,
that he was author of a play, called The Excom-
municated Prince, or the False Relict, 1679.
The printer of it having, without the anthoi's
knowledge, added a second title, and called it
The Popish Plot in a Play, greatly exdted the
curiosity of the public, who were, however, modi
disappointed, wnen they found the plan of the
piece to be founded on a quite different story.
Anth. Wood, however, asserts that this plaj wis
written partly, if not entirely, by Thos. Walter,
M. A. of Jesus College, Oxford.
BED-MOULDING, in architecture, nsually
consists of an ogee, a list, a large boiiltine, and
another list under the coronet.
BEDNORE, or Biddakore, a district in the
north-west extremity of the Mysore, Hindostan,
on the summit of the western Ghauts. From
the elevation of the country, the season is a month
later here than on the sea coast The exports
consist of cattle of small size, pepper, betel-nut,
cardamoms, sandal-wood; the imports are salt,
rice, cocoaruuts, oil, turmeric, and cotton doths.
When overrun by Hyder, in 1763, the Bednore
dominions extended over the maritime province
now named Canara, and to the east over a tract
of open country, extending to Sunta, Bednore,
and Hoolukera, within twenty miles of Chin^
droog.
Bednore, or Biddanore, a town of Hindos-
tan, capital of the district of that name, 452 miles
south-east of Bombay, and 187 north-west of
Seringapatam. It was taken by the British in
1783, and retaken soon after by Tippoo Sultan;
but on his defeat and death, in 1799, the town
and its suburbs became subject to the British.
It is said to have been once a well-forti6ed uid
magnificent city, containing 20,000 houses: at
the time of the sulUn Tippoo's death, it
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B E D O W I N S.
741
sisted of about 1 500 houses, besides huts. When
tak6n by Hyder, in 1763, it was eight miles in
circumference, and it is said the plunder actually
realised amounted to twelve millions sterling.
He afterwards changed its name to Hydernagur.
BEDOTE, To doat upon, to pet, to befool;
obsolete.
Tcrbedote thii I ween wu their interest.
BEDOWINS, or Bedwins, the nomade inha-
bitants of the Arabian and African deserts, whose
name, derived from the Arabic bedowi, ' a native
of the desert,' answering to the Arabes scenits
of the ancients, or Arabs dwelling in tents, agrees
"With their mode of living in encampments, pitch-
ing their movable habitations wherever they can
find pasturage, and changing their site as often
as plunder, famine, and o&er circumstances may
require.
They are the purest and best preserved of all
the Arab tribes, tracing their origin to the twelve
tribes of Ishmael, mentioned in Gen. zvi. 11,
xzv. 12; and are the lineal descendants of those
ancient Arabs mentioned by the Greek historians,
"whose site they occupy, and whose customs,
manners, prejudices, and superstitions, they ri-
gorously preserve. These people have been fre-
quently confounded by ecclesiastical writers with
the Edomites, Amalekites, and other neighbour-
ing nations to the Hebrews; but it is evident
that the latter nations, {ilthough branches derived
from the same stock, differ in many important
points from the genuine Bedowins.
Dwelling in the interior of those vast deserts
which extend from the confines of Persia to
Morocco, the true Arabians have had little
foreign intercourse, and have never mixed with
surrounding nations, either by conquest or cap-
ture; few emigrations occurred even at the
epoch of the revolution effected by Mahomet :
on which account, the prophet, in his Koran, is
continually styling the Arabs of the desert infi-
dels and rebels ; nor has the lapse of time since
that period effected any remarkable change in
their national character. They stiil answer the
description given by the angel in prophecy,
'wild men, whose hand is against every man,
and every man's hand against them ;' and their
mode of living, at the present -day, is precisely
the same as that mentioned by Diodorus Siculus,
nearly 2000 years ago. It has, indeed, been
thought remarkable, that Diodorus should ob-
serve silence with respect to their predatory
habits; but it is highly probable that, at that
time, they were so much restrained by the vigi-
lance of die Roman government, as rarely to have
an opportunity of exhibiting that distinguishing
feature of their character.
The wandering life of these people arises in a
great measure from the site tney occupy. To
paint to himself these deserts (says Mr. Volney,)
the reader must imagine a sky almost perpetually
inflamed, and without clouds, immense and
boundless plains, without houses, trees, rivulets,
or hills, where the eye frequently meets nothing
but an extensive and uniform horizon, like tlie
sea, though in some places the ground is uneven
and stony. Naked as it is almost invariably on
all sides, the earth presents nothing but a few
Wild plants thinly scattered, and thickets, whose
solitude is rarely disturbed but by antelopes,
hares, locusts, and rats. Such is the nature of
nearly the whole country, which extends 600
leagues in length and 300 in breadth, stretching
from Aleppo to the Arabian Sea, and from Egypt
to the Persian Gulf. It must not, however, be
imagined that the soil in so great an extent is
everywhere the same; it varies considerably in
different places. On the frontiers of Syriaj for
example, the earth is in general fat and culti-
vable, nay even fruitful. It is the same also on
the banks of the Euphrates : but in the internal '
CI of the country, and towards the south, it
mes white and chalky, as in the parallel of
Damascus ; rocky, as in the Tih and the Hed-
jaz; and a pure sand, as to the eastward of Ye-
men. This variety in the qualities of the soil is
productive of some minute differences in the
condition of the Bedowins. For instance, in the
more sterile countries, that is, those which pro-
duce but few plants, the tribes are feeble and
very distant ; which is the case in the desert of
Suez, that of the Red Sea, and the interior of the
great desert called Najd. Where the soil is
more fruitful, as between Damascus and the
Euphrates, the tribes are more numerous, and
less remote from each other ; and, lastly, in the
cultivable districts, such as the pachalics of
Aleppo, the Hauran, and the neighbourhood of
Gaza, the camps are frequent and contiguous.
In the former instances, the Bedowins are purely
pastors, and subsist only on the produce of their
nerds, and on a few dates and fresh meat, which
they eat either fresh or dried in the sun and re-
duced to a powder. In the latter, they sow some
land, and add cheese, barley, and even rice, to
their flesh and milk diet. In those districts,
where the soil is stony and sandy, as in the Tih,.
the Hedjaz, and the Najd, the rains make the
seeds of the wild plants shoot, and revive the
thickets, ranunculi, wormwood, and kali. They
cause marshes in the lower grounds, which pro-
duce reeds and grass, and the plain assumes a
tolerable degree of verdure. \Vhile the rains
continue, the soil produces great abundance both
for the herds and their masters ; but on the re-
turn of the heats every thing is parched up, and
the earth, converted into a gray and fine dust,
presents nothing but dry stems as hard as wood,
on which neither horses, oxen, nor even goats
can feed. Such is the situation in which nature
has placed the Bedowins, to make of them a race
of men equally singular in their physical and
moral disposition.
The peculiarities of the Bedowin Arabs are so
striking, that their neighbours the Syrians regard
them as extraordinary beings, especially those
tribes which dwell i(i the depths of the deserts,
such as the Anasa, Kaibar, Tai, and others,
which never approach the towns. When, in the
time of Sheik Daher, some of their horsemen
came as far as Acre, they excited the same curi-
osity there as a visit from the savages of America
would among us. Everybody viewed with sur-
prise these men, who were more diminutive,
meagre, and swarthy, than any of the known Be^
dowins. Th^ir withered legs were onW composed
of tendons, and had no calves, llieir bellies
seemed to cling to their backs, and their hair waa
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B E D O W I N S.
friziled almost as much as that of the negroes.
They, on the other hand, were no less astonished
at every thing they saw; tliey could neit«ier con-
ceive how the houses and minarets could stand
erect, nor how men ventured to dwell beneath
them, and always in the same spot ; but above
all, Uiey were in ecstacy on beholding the sea,
nor conld they comprehend what that desert of
water could be. The Arabs of the frontiers are
not such novices ; . there are even several small
tribes of them, who, living in the midst of the
country, as in the valley of Bekaa, that of the
Jordan, and in Palestine, approach nearer to the
condition of Ae peasants ; but these are despised
by the others, wno look upon them as bastard
Arabs and Rayas, or slaves of the Turks. The
Bedowins in general are small, meagre, and tawny,
owing to the heat' of the climate, their con-
tinual exercise, and extraordinary abstinence;
but well formed, active, and alert in a high de-
gree, having expressive countenances, and bright
sparkling eyes. Their beards are remarkably
thin, their hair is black and wiry. The two ends
ef the shawl which forms their turban, hang
down upon their shoulders, and constitute almost
the only distinction between the dress of the Be-
dowins and other Arabs. Their sheiks wear
very wide sleeves to their robes, and girdles
richly embroidered. They also preserve a single
lock from the crown of the head, by which, in
common with other superstitious Mussulmans,
they believe the prophet will carry them up to
Paradise. They are continually stroking and
anointing their beards; to spit upon which is the
greatest possible offence^ and the loss or diminu*^
tion of it will cause an Arab to wander far from
his tribe, and even from his country, to avoid
the derision consequent upon such a catastrophe.
The abstinence of the Bedowins has long been
celebrated ; indeed the inferior classes live in a
state of almost habitual wretchedness and famine,
especially among the tribes of the Naid and the
Hedjaz. It will appear almost incredible to us,
but is an undoubted fact, that the quantity of
food usually consumed by the greatest part of
them does not exceed six ounces a day. Six or
seven dates soaked in melted butter, a little sweet
milk or curds, is the Bedowin's common allow-
ance, and he deems himself happy when he can
add a small quantity of coarse flour, or a little
ball of rice. Meat is reserved for the greatest
festivals; and they never kill a kid but for a
marriage or funeral. A few wealthy sheiks alone
kill young camels occasionally, and eat baked
rice with their victuals. In times of dearth, the
vulgar, always half famished, do not disdain the
most wretched kinds of food : and eat locusts,
rats, lizards, and serpents, broiled on briars.
Hence are they such plunderers of the cultivated
lands, and robbers on the high roads. Habit
undoubtedly has its influence m enabling them
to support this extraordinary abstemiousness, by
preventing the dilaUtion of the stomach, other-
wise common to the human constitution; whilst
the extreme heat of the climate destroys in a
great measure the activity and tone of the diges-
tive organs. When we consider the influence of
climate, custom, and discipline, the real wants of
tJic Bedowin appear few, and easily satisfied ;
and it has been quescbned whether even the
above abstinence arises from choice or necessity.
But, depending for provisions entirely on the
oases, or small islands of verdure, which lie scat-
tered upon tlie desert, the produce of whidi is
often oestroyed by the hot pestilential winds,
his means appear still more contracted than his
exigencies, and leave no doubt that necessity is
the parent motive.
M. Volnev remarked that the sheiks, that is
the rich, and their attendants, were always taller
and more corpulent than the common chus. He
has seen some of them above five feet five and
six inches high ; though in general they do not
(says he) exceed five feet two inches. This dif-
ference can only be attributed to their food, with
which the former are supplied more abundantly
than the latter : the effects of this are equally
evident in the Arabian and Turkic camels, for
the latter, dwelling in countries rich in forage,
are far more robust and fleshy than the fonner.
With respect to their internal constitution and
government, the Bedowins are divided into sepa-
rate tribes, each composed of one or more pno-
cipal families, the members of whidi bear the
tiUe of sheiks, i. e. chiefs or lords* These families
have a great resemblance to the patricians of
Rome, and the nobles of modem Europe. One
of the sheiks has the supreme commana over the
others. Mr. Neibuhr styles him the grand sbeik.
He is the general of their little army ; and some-
times assumes the title of emir, which signifies
commander and prince. The more relations,
children, and' allies he has, the greater is his
strength and power. To these he adds particu-
lar adherents, whom he studiously att^Jies to
him, by supplying all Uieir wants. A number of
small ftimilies also, who, not being strong enough
to live independent, stand in need of protection
and alliances, range themselves under the ban-
ners of this chief; forming by their union the
elementary parts of what is called a kabila, or
tribe. The tribes are distinguished from each
other by the name of their respective chie6, or
by that of the ruling family; and when they
speak of the individuals who compose diem, they
call them the children of such a chief^ ^ough
they may not be all really of his blood, and he
himself may have been long since dead. Thus
ihey say, Beni Temin Oulad Tai, the cfaiklreD
of Temin and of Tai. This mode of expressioa
is even applied, by metaphor, to the names of
countries : the usual phrase for denoting its in-
habitants being to call them the children of such
a place. Thus the Arabs say, Oulad Masr, the
£g3rptians; Oulad Sham, the Syrians; they
would also say, Oidad Fransa, die French ; Ou-
lad Moskou, the Russians ; a remark which is
not unimportant to ancient history.
The principal sheik has an indefinite and
almost absolute authority. He neverdwless
leads a simple life, and commonly studies the
wel^u^ of his subjects. Persons of this descrip-
tion, according to M. Volney, who in 1784
resided with one of the most powerful in the
country of Gaza, may be compared to our sub-
stantial farmers. A sheik who nas the command
of 600 horsemen, does not disdain to saddle and
bridle his own horse, and give him bariey and
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r43
chopped straw. In the tent, his wife makes the
coffee, kneads the dough, and superintends the
dressing of the victuals. His daughters and kins-
women wash the linen, and go with pitchers on
their head, and veils over their iietces, to draw
water from the fountain. These manners are
highly antique, and agree precisely widi the
descriptions of Homer, and the history of Abra-
ham in the book of Genesis.
Every grand sheik considers himself, in a po-
litical point of view, absolute lord of his whole
territories; he exacts duties upon all goods ear-
ned through his dominions, to which impositions
those who send caravans trough the desert to
]\Aecca, are obliged to submit The Bedowins,
on the other hand, keep open the wells for them ;
permit the free passage of merchandise, escort the
caravans, and it they sometimes pillage them, the
baughty perfidious conduct of the Turkish offi-
cers is the invariable cause. The latter affect to
consider the former as lebels, and violate their
engagements. The Arabs take their revenge by
pillaging the caravans. When the famous Ali
Bey conducted the Egyptian canvan to Mecca,
be refosed to defray dX\ the duties on the road,
but promised to pay the rest on his return. This
promise was broken, and the year following, the
Arabs assembled in greater numbers, and obliged
the captain of the caravan to pay for himself and
Ali ^y both. The Turks exclaimed against
this as an act of robbeiy ; yet the Arabs had only
done themselves justice. The conduct of Abdal-
lah, pacha of Damascus, who commanded the
Syrian caravan in 1756, was still more odious.
When the sheiks of the tribe of Harb came to
meet him^ to receive the stipulated toll, he gave
them a friendly invitation to visit him, but
instead of paying the toll, cut off their heads, and
sent them to Constantinople, as a proof of hb
victory over the rebel Arabs. The stroke which
the latter suffered by the death of their chiefe,.
prevented their attempting any thing in revenge
either that or the following year; the caravans
travelled in triumph to Mecca; and the Turks
boasted of the valor and prudence of Abdallah
Pacha. But, in the third year, the dark storm of
vengeance burst over the heads of the aggressors,
when the Arabs, with an army of 80,000 men,
under the command of the sheik of the Anspse
tfibe, routed the Turks with great slaughter, and
confiscated the treasures of a large caravan.
These violent measures, however, may be con-
sidered as only the effects of perfidy and pro-
vocation. Mr. Niebuhr observes, that the
Bedowins are not cruel, and do not murder
those whom they rob, except where the travellers
stand upon the defensive, and in the contest kill
one of their number; in which case the Arabs
proceed according to the law of retaliation. A
mufti of Bagdad, returning from Mecca, says the
same author, was robbed inNedsjed. He entered
into a written agreem^t with the.robbers, who en-
gaged to conduct him safe and sound to Bagdad
for a certain sum, payable at his own house.
They delivered him to the next tribe ; those to
a third, and he was thus conveyed from tribe to
tribe, till he arrived safe at home.
An European, belonging to a caravan which
was plundered, had been infected with the plague
upon liis journey. The Arabs, seeing him too
weak to follow his companions, took him with
themselves, lodged him without their camp,
attended him till he was cured, and then sent
him to Basra. An Englishman, who was tra-
velling express to India, and could not wait for
the departure of a caravan, hired two Arabs at
Bagdad, who were to accompany him to Basra.
By the way he was attacked by some sheiks,
against whom he at first defended himself with
his pistols ; but, being hard pressed by their
lances, was forced to surrender. The Arabs,
upon whom he had fired, beat him till he could
not walk. They then carried him to their camp,
entertained him for some time, and at last con-
ducted him safe to Basra. When Mr. Forskal
was robbed b)r the Arabs in Egypt, a peasant,
who accompanied him,, was beaten oy the robbers
because he had pistols, although he had made
no attempt to defend himself with them. Pil-
laging expeditions amongst the Arabs are con-
sidered as lawful hostilities against enemies, who
would defiraud the nation of their dues, or
against rival tribes, who have undertaken to.
protect illegal traders.
The tribes of the Bedowins are extremely
numerous, and to attempt an enumeration of
them would be a hopeless task. Soydti, in the
fifteenth centu^, collected many interesting
accounts respecting them ; but all investigations
must, from the very nature of the subject, be
exceedingly imperfect. The principal noticed
by modem travellers lie in the following
order :—
I. Those on the southern and eastern side of
the Great Arabian and Syrian Desert, extending
from the province of Nejed and £1 Ahsk to the
banks of the Euphrates.
1. Benl Kh41ed (the chiklren of Kh^led), in
£1 Ahsa.
2. Ben) Kiyikb, on the northern side of the
Persian Gulf, and in Persia.
3. Benl I&m, on the Tigris.
4. Montefic, or Montefij, on the Euphrates,
between Basra and Baghdad.
II. Those on the borders of Mesopotamia (Al
Jezirah), nominally subject to the pach^ of
Baghd&d.
1. Tfii, one of the most ancient and powerfiil
tribes, occupying the fertile plains between Mosul
and Nisibis, and rendered illustrious by one of
its princes named H&tim, the subject of many
well-known romances.
2. Some other tribes which are small and im-
important.
III. Those on the borders of Syria, who
Srovide escorts for the caravans of pilgrims to
lecca.
1. TheMawali.
2. The Ben) S^ker
3. The Fiihili, and
4. A numerous and powerful tribe, master ci
the whole caravan route between Aleppo and
Medinah ; and, during the reign of the Wahh^bis,
one of their most effective adherents. It is di-
vided into five inferior clans, and extends from
Syria to the Nejed.
IV. More than one hundred other tribes have
been mentioned by the writers whose names are
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B E D O W I N S.
ftC the close of this article ; besides which there
are several in Omsin, Hadrama^t, Mahrab, and
other provinces of the Arabian peninsula, who
have never been visited by Europeans. Bedo-
wins also occupy a large portion of Egypt,
stretch along the banks of the Nile, almost to
the confines of Abyssinia, and are found even in
the Siidhn itself, as far as the fifteenth degree of
east longitude. The latter call themselves
branches of the Anezehs, Johainahs, and other
well-known tribes in the Arabian and Sjrrian
deserts. The Bedowins in Sudan retain the
Arab cast, ' both in complexion and features,
bearing no similitude to the negroes, and one of
the Ben) Hassan, established in Dkr Katakii,
near Bom5, whom Burckhardt met at Mecca,
was of a dark brown color, * approaching to a
copper tinge ;' yet ' his features were decidedly
Arab,' having nothing of the Negro in them. —
Burckhardt^s Nubia, p. 477.
Each of the Bedowin tribes appropriates to
itself a tract of land, forming its territorial do-
main ; and collected in camps, which are dispersed
through the country, make a successive progress
over the whole, in proportion as it is exhausted
by the cattle. Hence it is, that within a great
extent few spots are inhabited, and these vary
from one day to another ; but as the entire space
is necessary for the annual subsistence ot the
tribe, whoever encroaches on it is deemed a
violator of property ; this is with them the law
of nations. If, therefoie, a tribe, or any of its
subjects, enter upon a foreign territory, they are
treated as enemies and robbers, and a war breaks
out. Now, as all the tribes have affinities with
each other by alliances of blood or conventions,
leagues are formed which render these wars more
or less general. The manner of proceeding on
such occasions is very simple. The offence made
known, they mount their horses and seek the
enemy ; when they meet they enter into a parley,
and the matter is frequently made up ; if not,
they attack either in small bodies or man to man.
Thev encounter each other at full speed with
fixed lances, which they sometimes dart, not-
withstanding their length, at the flying enemy :
the victory is usually decided by the firet shock ;
the vanquished take to flight full gallop over the
naked plain of the desert, and the night generally
favors their escape from the conqueror. The
tribe which has lost the battle immediately
strikes its tents, removes to a distance by forced
marches, and seeks an asylum among its allies.
The enemy, satisfied with their success, drive
their herds fartlier on, and the fugitives soon
after return to their former situation ; although
the slaughter made in these engagements fre-
(juently sows the seeds of hatreds which originate
future dissensions.
An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth,
was, we know, exacted by the law of Moses ;
and the universality of this Lex Talionis is one
of the distinclive marks of the Bedowin race,
prevailing through the whole extent of the
Arabian deserts. By this law the blood of every
man must be avenged by shedding that of his
murderer. This vengeance is called tar, or re-
taliation; and the right of exacting it devolves
©n the nearest of kin to the deceased. So nice
are the Arabs on this point of honor, Aat if
any one neglects to seek his retaliation he is dis-
graced for ever. He therefore watches every
opportunity of revenge : if his enemy perish^
from any other cause, still he is not satisfied,
and his vengeance is directed against the nearest
relation. These animosities are transmitted is
an inheritance from fiUher to diildren, and never
cease but by the extinction of one of the fiunilies,
unless they agree to sacrifice the criminal, or
purchase the blood for a stated price, in money
or in flocks. Without this satisfaction there ii
neither peace, nor truce, nor alliances, between
Aem, nor sometimes even between whole tribes:
there is blood between us, say they on every
occasion ; and this expression is an insurmoont-
able barrier. Such accidents being necessarily
numerous in a long course of time, the greater
part of the tribes have ancient quarrels, and live
IB an habitual state of war ; which, added to
their way of life, renders the Bedowins a military
people, though they have made no great progress
in war as an art. Their camps are formed in a
kind of irregular circle, composed of a single
row of tents, with greater or less intervals. Th^
tents, made of goat or earners hair, are black or
brown, in which they differ from those of the
Turkmen, which are white. They are stretched
on three or four pickets, only five or six feet high,
which gives them a very flat appearance ; at a
distance, one of these camps seems only like a
number of black spots ; but the piercing eye of
the Bedowin is not to be deceived. Each tent
inhabited by a family is divided by a curtain
into two apartments, one of which is appro-
priated to the women. The empty space within
the large circle serves to fold their cattle every
evening. . They never have any intrenchments ;
their only advanced guards and patroles are
dogs ; their horses remain saddled and ready to
mount on the first alarm ; but as there is neither
order nor regularity, these camps, always easy
to surprise, aSbrd no defence in case of an attack :
accidents, therefore, very frequently happen, and
cattle are carried off every day; a species of
marauding war in which the Arabs are very ex-
perienced. The tribes which live in the vicinity
of the Turks are still more accustomed to attacks
and alarms. The latter never cease to wage
secret or open war against them. The pachas
study on every occasion to harass them. Some-
times they contest with them a territory which
they had let them, and at others demand a tribute
which they never agreed to pay. Should a &mily
of sheiks be divided by interest or ambition,
they alternately succour each par^, and conclude
by the destruction of both. Frequently too
they poison or assassinate those chie& whose
courage or abilities they dread, though they
should even be their allies. The Arabs, on their
side, regarding the Turks as dangerous enemies,
watch every opportunity to <do them an injury,
cut their luurests, carry off their flocks, and in-
tercept their communication and commerce,
making it their study to put them to every in-
convenience, and deprive them of every thing
but life.
Notwithstanding the depredations whidi render
them a terror to those around them, among
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745
themselves Aev are remarkable for a good &itb,
a disinterestedness, and a generosity, which
would do honor to the most civilised people.
The rights of hospitality are scrupulously re-
garded. The tent of a Bedowin is an asylum
amongst all the tribes, and the moment a stranger,
or even an enemy, flying for refuge arrives there,
his person becomes instantly inviolable; from
that moment it would be reckoned an in-
delible shame to satisfy even a just vengeance at
his expense, and all the power of the sultan
would De insufficient to force a refugee from the
protection of a tribe, but by its total extermina-
tion. All Bey (Don Pedro de la Badla), informs
us, that when one of the Bedowins heard that
bis wife had given some food to his enemy, who
by mistake solicited charity at his tent, he replied,
* 1 should probab^ have killed my enemy had I
found bim nere, but I should not have spared
my wife if she had forgotten the law of hospi-
tality/ What little the Bedowin possesses he is
ever generous to divide, he sits at the door of
his tent, and invites passengers to partake of his
repast ; and to observe the conduct of the Bedowin
Arabs towards each other, one would be tempted
to suppose they had all things in common.
Witn respect to their domestic laws, Mr. Ni#»-
buhr tells us, ' that, although the Mahommedans
are permitted to have four wives, the Bedowins,
who are poor, and cannot easily find the means
of subsistence, content themselves with one, for
the most part. Those who are in the easiest cir-
cumstances, and who have two wives, seem to
have married so many, chiefly that they might
superintend their concerns in two different
g laces. The conduct of our sheik of Beni
aid, as well as his conversation, led us to make
this reflection. The disagreement that subsisted
between his two wives afforded an instance of
some of the inconveniences that attend polygamy.
The dress of the females in the desert, although
simpler, is in reality the same as that worn by
the ordinary women of Egypt, although the wira
of one of our sheiks wore an uncommon piece
of dress : brass rings of an enormous size in her
ears. These women living remote from the
world, and being wholly occupied in the
management of their domestic anairs, appear
to be, from these circumstances, less shy and
scrupulous than the other women of the east.
They make less difficulty of conversing with a
stranger, or exposing their faces unveiled before
him.'
The property of the Bedowin, like his wants,
lies within a small compass, and consists of
movables, of which the following is a pretty
exact inventory : — ^A few male and female camels ;
some goats and poultry ; a mare and her bridle
and saddle ; a tent ; a lance sixteen feet long ;
a crooked sibre ; a rusty musket with a flint or
matchlock ; a pipe ; a portable mill ; a pot for
<M>oking; a leatnem bucket; a small coffee
roaster ; a mat; some clothes ; a mantle of black
wool; a few glass or silver rings, which the
women wear upon their legs and arms. If none
of these are wanting their furniture is complete.
But what the Arab takes most pleasure in is his
mare, which is his chief support, and assists him
m his excursions. They prefer the mare on ac-
count of her superior docility, and her milk,
together with the improbability of her neighing,
to the betrayment of the rider. The Arabs trace
the genealogies of their favorite horses to the
mares of Mahoii(iet's stud, or even to those of
Solomon's. The power of enduring hunger and
fatigue in these animals is astonishing. The
Emir visited by the Chevalier d'Arvieux was
saved by a mare, who carried him three days and
nights, without rest or food, and conveyed him
out of the reach of his enemies. The attach-
ment of the Bedowin to his horse Ls almost as
proverbial as the fleemess of the animal itself.
He inhabits the same tent, is treated with the
same care, and is almost as much caressed as the
children of the family ; which gives the Arabian
steeds a docility and tractability which no other
breed possesses. Niebuhr, indeed, speaks of the
Kohl&nlet, or thorough bred Arabian horses, as
not possessing any beauty, or other excellence
than swiftness ; but it is highly probable that he
was deceived by the wretched condition in which
they are commonly kept, from the great difficulty
of procuring fodder. He appears also to have
been equally misinformed, as to the little value
set upon them by the Turks ; since the fact is
certain, that the Turks esteem them highly, and
give immense prices for them, when they can
meet with the genuine Arab breed.
The simplicity of the Bedowins has long been
celebrated, and numerous illustrations of it have
been given. Their love of poetry is well known,
and toe most ancient Arabian poems, containing
the lively descriptions of their customs and
opinions, are the productions of Bedowins. The
book of Job- affords a more ancient picture of
the same nation ; and both its phraseology and
imagery are susceptible of much illustration from
the poems and romances of the early Arabs*
Tales in prose form another part of their favorite
amusements, after the maimer of the Adventures
of Antar and Ablat, and the Arabian Nights.
They have a peculiar passion for such stories,
and employ in them almost all their leisure, of
which they have a great deal. In the evening
they seat tnemselves on the ground, at the thresh-
old of their tents, or under cover, if it be cold ;
and there, ranged in a circle round a little fire
of dung, their pipes in their mouths, and their
legs crossed, they sit a while in silent meditation,
till on a sudden one of them breaks forth with^
once upon a time, and continues to recite the
adventures of some young sheik and female Be-
dowin : he relates in what manner the youth
first ffot a secret eUmpse of his mistress ; and
how he became desperately enamored of her :
he minutely describes the lovely fair; boasts
her black eyes, as large and soft as those of the
gazelle ; her languid and impassioned looks, her
arched eye-brows, resembling two bows of ebon v ;
her waist straight and supple as a lance; he
forgets not her steps, light as those of the young
fiUey ; nor her eye-lashes, blackened with kool ;
nor her lips painted blue ; nor her nails, tinged
with die goloen colored henna; nor her breasts,
resembling two pomegranates ; nor her words,
sweet as honey. He recount! the sufferings of
the young lover, so wasted with desire and pas-
sion that his body no longer yields any shadow.
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B E D O W I N S.
At lengthy after detailing his Tarious attempts to
see his mistress, the obstacles of the parents,
the invasions of the enemy, the captivity of the
two lovers, &c. he terminates, to the satisfaction
of the audience, by restoring them, united and
happy to their paternal tent; and receives the
tribute paid to bis eloquence, in the Ma cha allah
(an exclamation of praise, equivalent to admi-
rably v^ell 1) he has merited. The Bedowins
have likewise their love songs, which have more-
sentiment and nature in them than those of the
Turks and inhabitants of the towns ; doubtless,,
because the former, whose manners are chaste,,
know what love is ; while the latter, abandoned
to debauchery, are acquainted only vrith enjoy-
ment. These tales, together with a few traditional
receipts in medicine, and a practical knowledge
of a few of the constellations, constitute the
whole of their literature ; and their ignorance in
other respects is very remarkable. The following
anecdote by Mr. Niebuhr, has been thought
worthy of insertion. * In one of those expedi-
tions, a few years since, undertaken against the
pacha of Damascus, who was conductor of the
Syrian caravan to Mecca, the tribe of Anisse,
which gained the victory, showed instances of
their ignorance, and of the simplicity of their
manners. Those who happened to take goods
of value knew not their worth, but exchanged
them for trifles. One of those Arabs having ob-
tained for his share a bag of pearls, thought
them rice, which he had heard to be good food,
and gave them to his wife to boil, who, whea
she found that no boiling could soften them,,
threw them away as useless.*
With respect to religion, the freedom of the
Bedowins is remarkable. There is, however, a
striking difference between the Arabs of the
towns and those of the desert. While the former
crouch under the double yoke of political and
religious despotism, the latter live in a state of
perfect freedom from both. On the frontiers of
the Turks, indeed, the Bedowins, from policy,
preserve the appearance of Mahommedanisna;
out so relaxea is their observance of its cere-
monies, and so little fervor has their devotion,
that they are genecally considered as infidels,
who have neither law nor prophet. They even
make no difficulty in saying tnat the religion of
Mahomet was not made for them ;. ' Tor (add
they) how shall we make ablutions who have no
water ? How can we bestow alms who are not
rich ? Why should we fast in the Ramadan, since
^le whole year with us is one continued fast?
And what necessity is there for us to make the
pilgrimage to Mecca, if God be preseoi every-
where V In short, every man acts and thinks
as he pleases, and the most perfect liberty exists
among them«
Their superstitious dread of charms appears
fi'om the following passage of Burckhardt's Ac-
count of his Joumev in the Peninsula of Mount
Sinai. He had made it a rule never to let the
Arabs, among whom he was travelling, see him
write; but *on one occasion hw long absence
from his companions roused their curiosity. One
of them came to look after him, and seeing him
immovably fixed, st^uatted down on the ground,
and closely muffled up, he approached on the
tiptoe, and suddenly lifting up the cloak whiob
skreened him, detected a book in bis hand.
< What is this V exclaimed the Arab, ' What are
you doing ? I shall not make you answanbie
for it at present, because I am your companion ,
but I shall talk further to you about it when we
are at the convent.' When they had returned
to their halting place, Burckhardt, 'requested
him to tell what he had further to say.' To tlus
the Bedowin replied, in a passionate tone, ' ¥o^
write down our country, pur mountains, our
pasturing places, and the rain which falls nom
neaven ; other people have done this before yon,
but I at least will never assist in the rain of my
country.' Burckhardt assured him that he liked
the Arabs too well to wish to injure them. ' On
the contrary,' he added,. < had not I occasionally
written down some prayers ever since we left
Taba, we should most certainly have been all
killed, and it is very wrong in you to accuse me
on account of that, the omission of which woukl
have cost us our lives.' He was startled at
this reply, and seemed nearly satisfied. * Per-
haps you say the truth,' he observed ; ' but we
know that some years since, several men, God
knows who they were, came to this countiy,
visited the mountains, wrote down every thing,
stones, plants, animals, even serpents and spiders,
and since then little rain has &llen, and the game
has greatly decreased.' The same opinions pre-
vail in the mountains as are current among the
Bedowins of Nubia, and they believe that a sor-
cerer, by writing down certain charms, can stop
the rains and traa^r them to his own countiy.
Travels in Si^ and thi Holy Landy p. 519.
Notwithstanding this general ignorance and
credulity, the Bedowins possess coosideraUe
strength of genius; their poems abound with
native similitudes, which emoellish by their force
and variety, and are distinguished by unexpected
epigrammatic turns. The skill, also, with which
they draw an unforeseen inference, or bring out
an unexpected result, shows the acuteness of
their understandings, habituated to a rapidity
of plan and execution. Their talent for repartee
is well known. When one who could repeat
aU tlie Hadith or sayings of Mahomet by heart,
was asked how his memory could retain so manv
different sentences at once, he instantly replied,
'just as the sand in the desert retains ail the
pearly drops that fidl from the heavens without
losing a single one of them.' Amusing sketches
of these people may be found in Volney, Son-
nini, Bruce, and other Asiatic travellers; but
the most accurate are those of the Chevalio*
d'Arvieux, Memoires ; six tomes, in 12mo. Paris
1735, edited by Father Labat, Niebuhr, Bescb-
reibung von Arabien, p. 379. Seetzen, Von
Zachi, Monathliche Correspondenz, 1819, Fe-
bruary and March. Description de TEgrpte,
Memoires par Dubuis et I^arrey ; also in Buick-
hardt's Travels, who, as he took great delight in
ftudying the manners and characters of the Be^
dowins, has left a separate and detailed account
of tliem.
Living constantly, as the Arabs do, under their
camel's hair tents, occupied as they are solely
with the care of their flocks and herds, speiking
nearly the same langu^, and placed many of
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747.
BEE
them in the same re^ons as the Israelites under
Moses, their customs and habits bear in many res-
pects a strong resemblance to those of the Jewish
patriarchs. The Memoires of the Chevalier
(i'Arvieax, already quoted, hare supplied much
curious and useful information on this subject,
the perasal of which will interest the resuler,
and by comparing the articles, as he proceeds,
with the Jewish narrative, he will find nis views
of the patriarchal period, with respect both to
the geography and political incidents of it,
greatly enlarged.
Those who are fond of tracing the effect pro-
duced by local circumstances upon the genius
and national character of a people,, will find
much interesting matter for their consideration
in the detailed particulars of the history of this
remarkable people. For further historical au-
thorities, we refer to the JWcrAor of Soy(U% ; the
great historical works of ^4^ CFeak, Skahriti6nk^
and Makri/i; Pococfu^s Specimen HUtorue Ara-
bum ; Sale's Preliminary discourse to his transla-
iions of the Kordn ; iurckhardt*s 'D^ansUUions
from Aiakrizi (Nubia, Appendix, No. iii.) Quo-
tremhes Mtmoires sur rt^ypteyii. 190 ; Jackson's
Account of Morocco; Sonmni, Voyages en Egypte,
and Volney's Travels, ii. 25.
BED'RAGGLE, be and draggle. See
Draggle.
DE'DRAWE, be and draw. See Draw.
BE'DREINTE, i g^ Drench and Drink.
Be treinte. (
BEDRI, a town and district in the pachalic of
Bagdad, the former surrounded by fine g^irdens.
It is the frontier of the Turkish empire.
BEDRIACUM, in ancieni geography, a vil-
lage of Italy, situated, according to Tacitus, be-
tween Verona and Cremona, but nearer the
latter than the former. From an account given
by that historian, Cluverius conjectures that the
ancient Bedriacum stood in the place where the
town of Caneto now stands. This village was re-
markable for the defeat of the emperor Galba by
Otho, and afterwards of Otho by Vitellius.
BE'DRIBBLE, be and dribble. See Drib-
ble.
BEDRIP, Bedrepe, or Bbderape, the cus-
tomary service which inferior tenants anciently
Said their lord, by cutting down his com, or
oing other work in the field.
BE'DROPT, be and drop. See Drop.
BEDWIN, Great, a town of Wiltshire, six
miles south of Hungerford, and seventy west from
London. It is an ancient borough by prescrip-
tion, and sends two members to parliament It
Ir said to have been a considerable citv in the
time of the Saxons, and that the traces of its for-
tifications are extant. It is situated by the side
of the Kennet and Avon canal. The church is
spacious, with a lofty tower, and is constructed
entirely of flints.
BEE, ^ Ang..Sax. beo. Wachter
BEE-UARDEN,f derives the name from the
Bee-hive, &01d Saxon byan, which sig-
Bee-master. Unifies to build, and to inhabit,
because the animals designated by the term
dwell together under one government, and con-
struct their habitations with great skill and in-
dobtiy.
Houieor Cobweb ; good Moiuieiir, get your wea-
pons in your haad, and kill me a red-hipM humble
hee on the top of a thifttle ; and good Monsieur bring
me the honey bag. Shah^pean,
So work the honey hee».
Creatures that by a ruling nature teach
The art of order to a peopled kingdom. Id.
For that doth wrong must look to be wronged again \
Habet et musca splenem, et formica sua bilis inest.
The least fly hath a spleen, and a litde hee a sting.
An asse overwhelmed a thisselwarps's nest, the little
bird pecked hie gaul'd back in revenge, and the
humble-ftM in the fable Ihzng down the eagle's eggs
out of Jupiter's lap. Bmt4m. Ami, Met.
As heee
In spring dme, when the sun with Taurus ridee.
Pour forth their populous youth about the hive
In clusters ; they among ^sh dews and flowers
Fly to and fro ; or on the smoothed plank.
The suburb of their ptraw built citadel.
New rubb'd with balm, expatiate and confer
Their state afiairs* MiUcn.
They that are hee matten, and have not care
enough of them, must not expect to reap any consi-
derable advantage by them. Mortimer.
A convenient and necessary place ought to ba
made choice of for your apiary or hee-garden, Ji^
To have BfiES in the head. A phrase mean-
ing to be choleric; to have that in the head
which is easily provoked, and gives pain when
it is. Also to be restless. To have ' a bee io.
the bonnet,' is a similar phrase.
But, Wyll, my maister halh heeemhie hmi.
If he fiiid me here pratinge, I am but deade*
Damon and PiOk, O. PK
He has a headfiiU ofhees,
Ben Jemem, Baeth Foer^
Bee, in natural history, a genus of insects, the
characters and habits of whidi are fully giveo
under the general name, apis. The principal
species are there also described. SeeA^is.
Bee, in astronomy. See Apie.
Bee, in metaphorical language, denotee sweet-*
ness, industry, &c. Thus Xenophon is called
the Attic bee, on account of the great sweetness
of his style. Antonius got- the (knomination of
Melissa, or the bee, on account of his collection
of common places. Leo Allatius gave die ap-
pellation of apes urbane, i. e. city bees, to toe
illustrious men at Rome from 1630 to 1632.
Bee, or Bie, in the Saxon language, signifies
a station ; and in this sense mal^ part of the
names of several places in Scotlana; such as
Caimbie, Middlebie, Overbie, &c. Perhaps also
the different Beestons, &c, in England may have
had their names>ftom the same origin.
Beb-biu>. See Colibbi.
Bee-brbad, Beb's-bbbad,. or Beb-olue, the
fiurina of flowers collected by the working bees :
called by the ancients propolis.. See Apis. We
feel, however, the following remarks of Mr. Bon-
ner's loo sensible and important to be omitted
here : — ' The substance, commonly called bee-
bread,' he says, .' is to be found at the bottom of
many of the cells, and is frequently covered over
with honey. The bees carry it home in loads upon
their legs, or rather their thighs. It is generally of
a yellow color, but often takes its color from the
flowers from which it is collected. Various con-
jectures have been made by different authors re-
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748
BEE
specting its use. Some allege that the bees eat it ;
hence the name bee-bread. Others suppose, that
after being taken into their stomachs, it is con-
verted by some peculiar action of their internal
juices into wax, of which everybody knows their
combs are made. But an objection to this hy-
pothesis arises from the consideration, that the
oees, when first put into an empty hive, carry
little or none of this stuff on their legs for some
time, till a great number of combs are made ;
and that after the combs are completed (which
they generally are within two or three weeks after
the swarm have taken possession of the hive), the
bees still continue to carry in this stuff during
ihe whole working season^ To thb, however, it
may be replied, that, perhaps, as Uiey have no
cells to put it into at that time, they carry it
home in tneir bellies, where it probably undergoes
a speedy change in passing through their bodies,
and may thereby be converted into perfect wax,
with which they manufacture their combs. There
is another class of authors, who suppose that the
bee-bread is used by the old bees to fe«d the young
ones in the cells, by the mouth, as pigeons feed
their young ones. To this it may oe objected,
that the young bees surely cannot make use of
all the bee-bread, which the old bees are almost
constantly carrying into the hive, when they are-
at work. Perhaps both these last hypotheses may
be true ; as it may not only serve to feed the-
young bees, but also, by passing through the bo-
dies of the old ones, may be converted into wax ;
with which bees not only build their combs^
when a swarm is newly put into a hive, but also
seal up both their young in the cells, and their
honey in the combs. If this supposition be true,
then the consumption of bee-bread, through the
course of the year, but especially during the
honey and breeding seasons, must be very great ;^
and therefore we need not be surprised at the
quantities imported by the working-bees. But,
whatever trutn may be iu either or both of these
theories, I am certain of one thing, that the bees
do not live on bee-bread alone ; for they will die
of hunger, although there be plenty of it in the
hive, if there be no honey in it ; whereas, when
they have abundance of honey, they will live
without bee-bread, at least for many weeks.
Reaumur, however, says, that it is absolutely
necessary for food to bees. For my part, I have
always observed the bees most busily employed
in carrying in this stuff while the young bees are
breeding ; but when they want a queen^ and
have no eggs to rear anofiier, they immediately
give over carrying it into the hive; thinking
(as it would seem), that as they have no young
bees to feed or seal up in the cells, it would be
an idle business to bring any more of it home;
especially as they do not make much use of it
themselves, and have more already in the hive,
than they will stand in need of, for their own
use.'
Bee-eater. See Meeropis.
Bee-hives. See Apis.
Bee humble. See Bombyliues.
BEEBAN, a pass in the high road between
Algiers and Constantina. The rocks which
cross it are in many cases hewn down like so
many doors, which has led the Arabs to give it
the appellation of beeban, or gates. Six miles
north of Acoaba.
BEECH^ '\ Bece and hoc. Old Saxon ; fmc,
Bee'chen, > and Latin fagus. The j6. and /.
Bee'chy. ) being chang^ into b. The mast
bearing tree in the earliest ages furnished food
for man.
The smooth-leaved bet^shet in the field receive him.
With coolest shades till noontide rage is spent.
Fletcker'a Pnrpie Idam
Black was the forest, thick with heeeh it stood.
With diligence hell serve as when we dine.
And in plain heechen vessels fill our wine. Jd,
I know not why the ftsecA delights the glade.
With boughs extended, and a nrander shad^ ;
Whilst towering firs in conic forms arise.
And with a pointed spear divide the skies. Prior.
Dull are the pretty slaves, their (rfumage dull.
Raggedy and all its brightening lustre lost ;
Nor is that sprightly wUdness in their notes •
Which, clear and vigorous, waxbles from the teecft.
TAomaoft's Ssmpml
Not a pine in my grove is there seen.
But with tendrils of woodbine is bound ;
Not a beech 's more beautiful green.
But a sweet-briar twines it around.
Beech, in botany. See Fagus.
Beecr-Fork, a river of the United States
in Kentucky, and one of the three principal
sources of the river Salt, which rise in tnree aif-
ferent parts of Mercer county; and, winding
westward, unite and form that large navigable
river, about fifteen miles from the Ohio.
Beech Gall, in natural history, a hard
knot on the leaJP of the beech, containing die
maggot of a species of fly. There are some-
times only one of these upon a leaf, some-
times more ; they always grow from the same
point, owing to the fly's having laid so many
eggs in the same spot. Tliey are of an oblong
figure somewhat flatted, and shaped like the stone
of a plum. They are so hard as not to be broken
between the fingers ; their substance seems of
the same nature with that of a nut-shell. In
each gall there is only one cavity inhabited by a
white worm, which in time passes through the
nymph state into that of the fly, to which it owed
its origin.
Beech Mast, the fruit of the beech-tree; a
triangular seed, like an acorn, containing a whitish
oleaginous pith, of a very agreeable taste.
It is used for fattening hogs, deer, &c. It has
sometimes, e?en to men, proved an useful substi-
tute for bread. Chios is said to have endured a
memorable siege by means of it«
Beech Oil, an oil drawn by expression from
beech mast. This oil is veiy common in Picardy,
and used there, and in otiier parts of Fiance,
instead of butter ; but most of diose who take a
great deal of it complain of pains and a heaviness
in the stomach. An attempt was made some
years ago to introduce the raanu^ture of beech-
oil into England, and a patent was granted to
Ae proprietor, but without success ; the country
people turning their mast to better account in
feeding hogs with it, than by selling it to the pa-
tentee for oil.
B££D£R, a province in the Deccan, Ilin-
dostan, now possessed by the Niiam, simate<i
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749
BEE
principally between the sixteenth and eighteenth
degrees of north latitude. To the north it is
bounded by Aurungabad and Nandere ; on the
south by the river Krishna ; to the east it has the
province of Hyderabad ; and to the west the pro-
-viuce of Bejapoor. In length it may be estimated
at 140 milesy by sixty-five the average breadth.
The surface of tnis province is uneven and hilly,
but not mountainous, and it is intersected by
many small rivers which fertilise the soil, and
flow into the Beemah, Krishna, and Godavery.
The country is very productive, and under the
ancient Hindoo government contained a redun-
dant population, but is now thinly peopled.
Beeder, a town in the province ot Beeder,
of wliich it is the capital. Lat. 17^ 47' N., long.
77° 48^ E. It is forufied with a stonewall, a dry
ditch, and many round towers. The wall is
six miles in circumference, and the town which
it enctoses stands in an open plain, except the east
side, which is a rising ground about lOOyardshigh.
The remains of many good buildings are to be
seen in this decayed city. It was formerly noted
for works of tutenague inlaid with silver, and be-
fore the Mahommedan invasion, was the capital
of a Hindoo sovereignty. Travelling distance
from Hyderabad, seventy-eight miles, from Delhi
857, from Madras 430, and from Calcutta 980
miles.
BEEF, n. & adj, "j Fr. boeuf, from the Lat-
Beep'-eater, >bos, hovis, Gr. povg, from
Beef-witted. ) ^w (j3o<fKw). To feed. The
flesh of the ox, bull, or cow, prepared for food.
The plural is beeves. Johnson says, the flesh of
black cattle. Beef-eater, because the commons
is beej\ when in waiting. Mr. Stevens derives
it thus ; beef-eater may come from heaufetierj
one who attends at the sideboard, which was
ancientW placed in a beaufet. The business of
the beefeaters Was to attend the king at meals.
A yeoman of the guard.
Have by the night, accursed thieves, .
Slaine his lambes, or stolne his beeees.
Browne, The Shepherd** Pipe.
A pound of man's flesh
Is not BO estimable or profitable.
As flesh of muttons, heeeei, or goats.
Shahipeare,
'The plague of Greece upon thee, thou mongrel beef-
witted lord. Id.
One way a band select from forage drives
A herd of beeves, fair oxen, and fair kine.
From a fat meadow gronnd. MiUon,
The fat of roasted ftee/ falling on birds, will baste
I hem. Swiji.
On hides of beeves, before the palace-gate.
Sad spoils of luxury ! the suitors sate. Pope.
Beef-eaters, (Beaufetiers), yeomen of the
guard to the king of Great Britain, so called from
being stationed by the sideboard at great royal
dinners. They are kept up rather from state
than for any military service. Their arms are a
sword and lance. They were first raised by
Henry VI [. in the year 1485, and anciently con-
sisted of 250 men of the first rank under gentry,
and of a larger stature than ordinary, each being
required to be six feet high. At present there
are but 100 on constant duty and seventy more
not on duty ; and when any one of the 1 00 dies, his
Slace, is supplied out of the seventy. They go
ressed after the manner of king Henry Vlllth's
time. Their first commander, or captain, was
the earl of Oxford.
Beef-eater, in zoology, the English name of
' the Buphaga Airicana. See B(7phaga.
Beef Islano, one of the smaller Virgin islands .
in the West Indies, between Dog Island on the
west and Tortola on the east, about five miles long
and one broad. Long. 63*» 2' W., lat. 18** 23' N.
Beef Tea, in medicine, the substance of beef,
extracted by boiling it in water, which is now
very generally prescribed, and with great success,
in all diseases of debility, when the stomach is
not able to digest solid food.
Beek (David), an eminent portrait-painter,
was bom at Amheim, in Guelderland, in 1621,
and became a disciple of Vandyck; fitom whom
he acquired a fine manner of penciling and co-
loring. He possessed, besides, that freedom of
hand, and rapidity of execution, for which Van-
dyck was so remarkable. King Charles I. when
he observed his expeditious manner of painting,
was so surprised, that he told him, he supposed
he could paint if he was riding post. He was
appointed portrait^painter to queen Christina of
Sweden ; and by her recommendation, most of
the illustrious persons in Europe sat to him for
their pictures. Having an earnest desire to visit
his friends in Holland, he left the court of Swe-
den much against the queen's inclination, and
died soon after at the Hague, where, it is sus-
pected that he was poisoned. This happened in
1656, when he was only thirty-five. A singular
adventure happened to him, as he passed through
Germany. He was suddenly and violently taken
ill at the inn where he lodged, and seeming to all
appearance dead, was laid out as a corpse. His
servants expressed the strongest marks of grief
for the loss of their master; but consoled them-
selves, while they sat beside his bed, by drinking
very freely. At last one of them said to his com-
panions, ' our master was fond of his glass while
alive, let us give hia one glass now:' and
raised up his master's head to pour the liquor
into his mouth. Beek, on this opened his eyes ;
and by proper management and care recovered
BE^E,« kind of pick-axe, used by the miners
for separating the ores from the rocks in which
they he ; and called a tubber by the miners of
Comwidl. The iron part of it weighs about eight
or ten pounds. Though it is steeled at each end,
it wears out so fast, that it requires n^w points
once a fortnight.
BEELIKE, or BEELiCH,a town of Prussia, in
the duchy of Westphalia, with a Benedictine pro-
vostship. Twelve miles E. N. E. of Aredsberg,
and thirteen north-west of Brilon. Long. 8°
2r E., lat. SI** 30' N.
BEELZEBUB; Beelzebul. See Baal-
ZEBUfi.
BEEMAH, or Bewrah River (Bhima, ter-
rific), rises in the mountains to the north of
Poonah, not far firom the source of the Godaveiy,
and passes within thirty miles to the east of
Poonah, where it is esteemed sacred. It is one
of the principal rivers that join the Krishna,
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BEER.
which it does near the town of Tiiozegur, in the
province of Beeder. The length of. its course,
including: the wiodinf^s, may be estimated at 400
miles. The horses most esteemed by the Mah-
rattasy are those bred on .the banks of the
Beemah.
BEEMEN, or Sheemen, in astronomy, seven
stars of the fourth magnitude, following eacli
other, in the fourth flexure of the constellation
Eridanus.
BEER', -J Ger.andDut.fcier. Oold-
Beer'-hovse, >a8t tlunks from fyrk, beer
Beer'-brewer. J being first made of oears.
Vossius derives it from the Lat. bibere^ to drink ;
Noel from beor, describing a kind of beverage
made from honey. Johnson traces it to bir,
Welsh, and adds, liquor made of malt and hops.
It is distinguished from ale either by being older
or smaller.
Oh, let them come, «nd taste this he^r,
And water haaeefoKth they'll fonwear.
Thenuu Nebb^, m EUii,
Among those that were without the fort, and which
were of the foreaaid company of Captaine Ribaalt,
there waa a carpenter of .threeKorc years olde, once a
bere-b''mper, HaUuyi*» Voyt^get,
Here's a pot of good double beer, neighbour ; d|ink>
Plow. Welsted! flow, like thine inapirer, beer;
Tho' stalf!, not ripe ; tho' thin, yet never clear ;
So sweeny mawVkh, and so smoothly dull ;
Heady, not strong ; and foaming, tho' not full.
Pope^
Beer is perhaps any fermented liquor made
from a fannaceous grain, but generally , from
barley. It is, properly speakinff, the wine of bar-
ley. Under the article Ale, we have entered upon
the sul^ect of brewing that article [>retty generally.
The only other species of beer is porter. See
therefore, Ale, Porter, and Brewing. Small
or Table Beer, we may here add, is usually made,
particularly in quantity and for sale, by mashing
with a fresh quantity of water what is left after
the beer or ale wort is drawn off; and sometimes
from a small quantity of malt brewed on pur-
pose. Two parts of London table beer may be
considered equivalent in strength to one of ale ;
but, according to the legsd distinction, (59. Geo.
III. c. 53. sect. 25.), all beer sold above the price
of 18s. per barrell is deemued ale, or strong beer,
and pays ale duty, viz. 10s. per barrel ; and be^r,
of the price of 18s. per barrel, or under, exclu-
sive of the duty, namely, 2s. per.barrel, is consi-
dered as table beer within the meaning.of the act.
The final gravity of tabic beer wort is usually
from 11 to 12,50lbs. per barrel. Every brewer,
however, fixes that final standard strength, which
he finds most suitable to his trade.
Beer, in weaving, nineteen threads running
through the whole length of the piece.
Beer, in ancient geography, a city twelve
miles north of Jerusalem, on the roadtoShechem ;
where Jotham the son of Gideon concealed him-
self from his bloody brother Abimelech.
Beer, or Beer £lim, a place in the country
of the Moabites, where the Israelites dug wells.
Numbers, xxi. 18.
.•Beer, Beerjick, Bib, or Biradshick, a town
of Asiatic Turkey, in the government of Orfa,
the aqcient Thiar or Barsampse. It standi upon
a lofty eminence on the west bank of the Eu-
phrates, which is here deep and rapid, about
130 yaflds broad. A bridge of boats conveys ca-
ravans from Aleppo to Orfa at this point, for
which privilege a pontage is paid here. Niebnhr
Aays, it consists of 500 houses, protected by a
citadel and a wall ; but the whole place is in a di-
lap^ated condition. It.was long deemed im-
pregnable, and is still consideiied a place of
strength. Pococke notices a collection m ancient
apos and armour, which he saw here. Among
these were various sorts of foil arrows: many
of them pointed with iron, and to the extrenuties
of some, combustible matter, made up .in a
triangular form, was attached, which being ig-
nited was carried into the town wjbidi it was
intended to set on fire. There was another sort
to which iron bottles, or cases filled with similar
combustibles, were fixed, which were inflamed
previous to their dischsj^e. The cross-bows
were straight, and were about five feet long.
There were also a variety of slings. Some writers
are of opinion that tlie arms now described may
have been those of the Romans, ai they veiy well
correspond with the description given of them by
Anuniaims MarcoUinus. Formerly considerable
(trade was carried on to Bagdad by means of ves-
sels descending the river. Beer is sixty-^evni
miles from Oifa; 115 sonth-west of Diarbekir;
and 114 north-east of Aleppo. It. is the great
thoroughfare from Aleppo to Diarbekir and
Persia.
Beer, Eaqer, is used by calico printers,
chemists, lapidaries, scarlet-dyers, vinegar-mer-
chants, white-lead men, &c.
Beer La-ua-roi, in ancient geography, a
place between Kadesh and Shur, south of Canaan,
where the angel appeared to Hagar. Genesis
xvi. 14.
Beer Machines, are contrivances by means
of which tliat liquor is drawn from three or four
casks at once, and delivered from cocks placed
close together in the bar of a tavern or other con-
venient place above the cellar. These madiines
are nothing else than an assemblage of small lift
pumps, whose suction pipes communicate with
the casks containing the beer : they are now veiy
common in Loudon and other large towns. The
internal part of the machine consists of four lift
pumps, nrmly fixed between two blocks of wood,
and m each of whicli semicylindric excavations
are made to contain the barrels: these are held
together and fastencu .^ the case enclosing the
pumps by two screws between each barrel, seen
plainly in the figure. The upper part of the case
of the pumps isa half cylinder, and has four narrow
openings in it, corresponding to the axis of each
pum p ; in these openings the levers which give mo-
tion to the pump buckets move : they are bent, the
angular point being the centre on which they
move : a short arm has the pump rod joined to
it, and to a long one is affixed the handle. The
centre pins of the levers are supported on a piece
of wood fixed in the case nearly in the axis o.
its cylindrtc head ; the pump rod is divided into
two branches ; at their lower ends which receive
a pin, joining them to the bucket rod, throuch
which the pin passes. The rod is continued abore
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761
BEE
as \»eU as below the joint : the lower part goes
into the pump, and the upper slides through a
brass collar tixed to the back of the case; this
collar is included between the two branches of
the pump rod : its use is to confine the bucket
rod to move truly vertical, while the pump rod
being attached to it at only one point can obey
the irregular motion occasioned by the lever de-
scribing a circular arc. The bucket rod passes
through a stuflSng box in the top of the pump,
through which it moves easily, a»d yet without
. permitting the escape of any liquor by it : below
this it is screwed into the branches of the bucket,
which has a valve in it, and is surrounded by soft
leather, which makes it fit the barrel of the pump
without leaking. In the bottom of the barrel
another valve, similar to that in the bucket, is
placed, and a close tube leads from it to a leaden
pipe, bringing the liquor from the casks in the
cellar. At the upper part of each barrel a small
leaden pipe is soldered : these pipes are bent up-
wards, and come through the side of the <iase.
Sometimes the pipes leading from the two first
pumps are brought into one, askl both deliver
through the same spout ; for the convenience of
mixing two kinds of beer. . The operation of the
pumps is exactly the same as Ae common sucking
pump. Some beer-punps (as those invented by
Mr. Rowntree of Blackfriar'v-road) are of a
more complex construction.
BEERING'S or Behring's Bay, is situated
in the sixtieth degree of latitude, on the west
coast of North America, and received this name
from captain Vancouver, in honor of Vitus Beh-
ring, who visited these shores in 1740, and an-
<:hored in a large bay, the position of which was
not correctly ascertained. Captain Cook assigned
this appellation to » different part of this shore ;
but as ne only saw it at a distance, he could not
perceive the tract of low ground tiiat stretches
from the base of the mountains which he sup-
posed to bound the bay. Vancouver found thftt
this low land precluded all appearance of a bay,
in the place which Captain Cook had assigned
to it ; and therefore, as the name was intended
to be applied to the bay in which Behring an-
chored, he transferred it to that which Mr. Dixon
had previously called Admiralty Bay. There
is no other Bay, he tells us, between Cape Suck-
ling and Cape Fairweather, in which Behring
could have found shelter.
Beering's Island, an bland in the North
Pacific ocean, which is sometimes classed with
the Aleutian chain, of which it may be considered
the most western link. It extends 104 miles in
length, by fifteen in breadth ; is mountainous and
sterile. The west coast is elevated, the northern
point low land ; the principal mountains, called
the Hanavoy ridge, consisting of granite and sand-
stone, contam many cavenis. There are two
bays on the coast, wherein vessels in the fur trade
winter, but they are shallow, of dangerous access,
and exposed to the north winds; the climate is ri-
gorous. No wood grows here, but various kinds of
plants are common. Several small streams issue
from the lakes and pools near the shore. Mine-
rals of value are said to have been found, and
pieces of native copper are cast ashore after
storms. The surroundmg seas abound in whales ;
phoce are numerous on the shores, and multi-
tudes of sea otters; black and blue foxes formerly
inhabited the island. The sea cow was an object
of pursuit, but so incessantly sought after, that
the species is either extinct or deterred by danger
from approaching the island, as none have been
seen on it since the year 1708. When the sea
otter, whose numbers have also been greatly di-
minished, disappears in March, it is replaced by
the sea lion, because in the northern regions ani-
mals frequent particular places in the most regular
succession. This island was discovered in 1740,
or 1741, by Vitus Beering, a Dane, a commodore
in the Russian service. The latitude of this
island is about 55* N., and the long. 167* E.
BEEROO, a country of central Africa, to the
south of Bambara, and having Ludamar on the
west. The government is in the hands of the
Moors. It is probably very populous, since
Walet, the capital was reported to be larger than
Tombuctoo ; but the interior is little known.
BEERSHEBA; from "UO, a well, and PdV,
he sware, or njTaV, an oath ; a city to the south
of the tribe of Judea, adjoining to Idumea, where,
anciently, Abraham and Isaac swore friendship
to Abimelech. It stood twenty miles south of
Hebron, and forty-two in the same direction from
Jerusalem. When Eusebius wrote, A. D. 315,
it was still a considerable town, lewfiii fuyiffiyf
garrisoned by Roman soldiers. The boundaries
of the Holy Land are often described in Scrip-
ture as extending from Dan to Beersheba (2 Sam.
xvii. 11); and alter the separation of the king-
doms of Judah and Israel, the boundaries of the
former are mentioned as from Beersheba to
Mount Ephraim. The Beersheba which is de-
scribed by the historian of the Crusades (Jaco-
bus de Vitriaco, Hist. Hieros. 36; Guliehnu»
Tyrius, xiv. 22), as situated ten or twelve mile»
from Ascalon, is a different place.
BEES Head (St.), a lofty promontory, with a
light-house on the top of it, about five miles
from Whitehaven, to which it is connected by
one continued range of rocks rising perpendicu-
larly from the beech.
Bees, Saint, a town in the county of Cum-
berland, between Whitehaven and Egremont,
noted for its public school. It had once a nun-
nery, the church of which is still used, and the
free grammar-school has a good library. The
schoolmaster is appointed by the provost and
fellows of Queen's College, Oxford. The parish
is of great extent, and appears, from its ruins, to
have been fortified by the Romans at all die con-
venient landing places.
BEESTINGS, Breastings, or perhaps more
properly Beastinos, a term used by country
people for the first milk taken from a cow after
calving. The beestings are of a thick consist-
ence, and yellow color, seemingly impregnated
with sulphur. Dr. Morgan imagines them pecu-
liarly fitted and intended by nature to cleanse
the young animal from the recrements gathered
in its stomach and intestines, during its long
habitation in utero. The like quality and virtue
he supposes in women's first milk after delivery ;
and hence infers the necessity of the mother's
suckling her own child, rath<>r than committing
it to a nurse whose first miix is gone.
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762
BEG
r.E'KT, n, s. Lat. beta, the name of a plant.
See Beta.
Beet, in botany. See Beta.
BEETLE, 17. & ».
BEEt'LING,
Beetle'brows,
Beetle'browed,
Beetle'ueaded,
B^etle'stocked.
BeetUf an insect, the
name probably derived
from the word beatf be-
''cause it heavily beats the
air witli its wings. Beetle,
a mallet; a three-man-
beetle, was one so heavy that it required three
men to manage it, two at the long handles, and
one at the head. BeetUheaded, probably in
allusion to this it means a thick and heavy skull.
Beetlebrow is an overhanging heavy brow. To
beetle is to. hang over like the top of a cliff.
The poor beetle that we tread upon.
In corporal auffranoe feela a pang as great
Am wben a giant dies. Shaktpeare.
A whoreson, heetleheaded, flap-ear'd knave* Jd.
Enqmre for the beetlebraw'd critic, &c. Swift.
When by the help of wedges and beetla, an image
is cleft out of the trunk of some well-grown tree ; yet
after all the skill of artificers to set forth such a divine
block, it cannot one moment secure itself from being
«aten by worms, or defiled by birds, or cut in pieces
by axes. StUUnsfieet.
Others come sharp of sight, and too provident for
that which concerned their own interest ; but as blind
as beetlei in foreseing this great and common danger.
KnoOet' Hittory of the Turk*,
The butterflies and heetlet are such numerous tribes,
that, I believe, in our own native country, alone, the
species of each kind may amount to one hundred and
itfty, or more. Ray,
Or where the hawk
High in the heetlmg cliff his eiry builds.
Thommm,
Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight.
And all the air a solemn stillness holds.
Save where the beetle wheels his droning flight.
And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds.
Gny't Eiegy.
Beetle, in entomology. See Attelabuh,
and Scarabjeus.
Beetle, in mechanics, is likewise called a
stamper, and by pavioars a rammer.
BETALL. Be and fall. See Fall.
BETIGHT. Be and fight See Fight.
BE'FIT. Be and fit. See Fit.
BETOAM. Be and foam. See Foam.
BE'FOOL. Be and fool. See Fool.
BETORE, -^ Compounded of be and
Before'uand, Sfore, written differently in
Before'tim e. j different eras of our literature,
as bifore, b^ore, befom, and befome. ' When re-
fernng to time, it signifies anterior or prior ; to
place in front, or in presence of; and to the state
of the mind it expresses preference.
Befofetime in Israel, when a man went to enquire
of God, thus he spake. 1 Sam. ix. 9.
But tell me, lady ! wherefore do you beare
This bottle thus before you with such toile.
And eke this wallet at your backc arreare,
rhat for these carles to carry much more comely were ?
SpeMety
Thou'rt so far before,
Tlie swiftest wing of recompense is slow
To overtake thee. Shahpeore,
His profession is to deliver precepu neeessaiy tr
eloquent speech; yet so, that they which xeceiTe
them, may be taught, beforehand, the skill of speak*
ing. Heeker.
In this realm of England, before Normans, yea, ie-
fore Saxons, there being Christians, the du«F paston
of their souls were bishops. Id. Eccie$. Pei.
Heavenly bom.
Before the hills appeared, or fountain flowed.
Thou with eternal wisdom didst converse. Jfilte.
You tell me, mother, what I knew hrfure.
The Phrygian fleet is landed on the shore.
Dryde^
Your soul has been befonhmd with your body.
And drunk so deep a draught of promis'd bits*.
She slumbers o'er the cup. H.
I have not room for many reflections, the last dted
author has been beforehand with me, in its proper
moral. AdHtoii.
BEFORT, a ci-devant district of France, oi.
the frontiers of Switzerland, now comprehended
in the department of the Upper Rhine. Though
comparatively sterile, it has excellent iron mines;
these, and the forges connected with them, era-
plov a large portion of its population.
Befort, or Belfort, once the capital of the
county, and now of an arrondissement, is a small
but strong town, seated on the Sayoureuse. It w»
ceded to France by the treaty of Westphalia, j.
1648. It is important as being a pass from Al-
sace to Franche Comt^ ; and it is, by its central
position, enabled to carry on a good trade in the
wines of Burgundy and Champagne. It is si-
tuated at the point of meeting of several great
roads, viz. of two from Paris, two from Switzer-
land, one from Strasburg, and one from Lorraine.
The county and town of Befort were ceded by
Austria to France in 1648. In 1659, Loais
XIV. granted them to cardinal Mazarin ; and in
1781 they were obtained by the duke of Valen-
tinois, who lost them at the Revolution. The
fisheries and forests, as well as the mines, are
considered very productive. Befort is about
thirty-five miles south-west of Colmar, and
seventy in the same direction from Stiasburg.
Lat. 47° 38' N., long. 6° 57' E.
BE'FRIEND. Be and friend. See Fric»d.
BE'FRINGE. Be and fringe. See Frxkge.
BEG', V. ^ Ger. beggeretL
Beg'gar, v., n. s., & adj. It is probably
Beg'gable, V, a corruption of
Beg'oart, baggar, becanse,
Beo'ging, n. says the Ency-
Beogar'ino, 1 clop«diaMetro-
Beogau'liness, rpoUtana,beggan
Begoak'ly, adj. & adv. carry with them
Begoar'fear, bag»^ into.wbich
Beggar'maid, dkey putthe alms
Begoar'man, that may be
Beggar'wouan. J bestowed upon
them. To beg, is to ask, to entreat, with a view
to obtain any object. It is the gentle force of
persuasion opposed to violence and demand.
To beggar, is to reduce to a state of dependence
on the gratuitous aid of others. To bring into
the condition of imploring &vor.
^ And she was clad full porely.
All in an old tome cuortpy.
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753
BEG
▲■ fbe were all with dogget tome.
And both behind and eke befbnie
Clouted was she beggerly. Chameer.
He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth
«p the leggar firom the dunghill, to set them among
princes. Samuel.
Touching God himself, hath he revealed that it is
his delight to dwell beggarly f And that he taketh no
pleasure to be worshipped, saving only in poor cot-
tages ? Hooker.
So as their heggmg now them failed quite ;
For none would give, but all men would them wyte ;
Yet would they take no pains to get their living.
But seeke some other way to gaine by giuing.
Much like to legging, but mudi better namM \
For many beg, which are thereof asham'd.
Speiuer. Mother H^Mard's Tale,
On he brought me into so bare a house, that it was
the picture of miserable happiness and rich beggarg,
Sidiieg,
Well, whiles I am a beggar, I will rail.
And say, — there is no sin, but to be rich ;
And being rich, my virtue then shall be.
To say, — ^there is no vice but beggairgl Shaktpeare.
Ifm her person
It beggar'd all description ; she did lie
In her pavilion, doth of gold, of tissue,
CVer-picturing Venus. Id.
I will ever, though he do shake me off
To beggarly divorcement, love him dearly. Id.
Be finds it his best way to be always craving, be-
«aose he lights many times upon things that are dis-
posed of or not b^ggable. Btdler.
thy suppliant
I beg and clasp thy knees ; bereave me not.
Whereon I live, thy gentle look, thy aid,
Thy counsel in this uttermost distress. MUton.
What subjectt will precarious kings regard ?
A beggar speaks too softly to be heard. Ihgden,
These shameful beggan of principles, who give this
precarious account of the original of things, assume
to themselves to be men of reason. TUloteoi^.
Big, a place in Ayrshire, in the parish of
Galston ; celebrated for being one of the retreats
of the patriotic Sir William Wallace, where, in
a rude fortification, attended by only fifty of his
friends, h^ obtained a complete victory over 200
Englishmen.
Beg, or Bey, in the Turkish government. See
Bey. Beg is more particularly applied to the
lord of a Imnner, called in the Turkish language
sangiak beg. A beg has the command of a cer-
tain number of the sipahis, or horsey maintained
by the province under the denomination of tima-
riots. All the begs of a province obey one go-
vernor-general, called begler-beg, or beyler-beg,
q. d. lord of lords, or of the l^s of the pro-
vince.
Begs, or Beghs, of Egypt, generals who
have the command of the militia or standing
forces of the kingdom ; and are appointed to se-
cure the country from the Arabs, as well as to
protect the pilgrims in their annual expeditions
to Mecca. The begs, several of whom are de-
scended from the ancient race of the Mamalukes,
are very rich and powerful, maintaining 500
fighting men each for their own guiird, and the
service oS their court. On discontents, they have
freauently risen in rebellion. They are often at
▼nnaiioe with the bashaw, whom they have more
chan once imprisoned and plundered.
Vol. Ill
BEGA (Cornelius), painter of landscapes, cat-
tle, and conversations, was bom at Haerlem in
1620, and was the disciple of Adrian Ostade
Falling into a- dissipated way of life, he was dis-
inherited by his &tner : for which reason be cast
off his father's name, Begeyn, and assumed that
of Bega ; his early pictures being marked with
the former, and his later works with the other.
He had a fine pencil, and a delicate manner of
handling his colors, so a^) to give them a look of
neatness and transparence ; his performances are
so much esteqxncd in the Low Countries as to be
placed among the works of the best artists. He
caught the plague from a woman with whom he
was deeply enamoured, and died a few days after
her, ag^ forty-four.
Bega, St. an Irish virgin, who is said to have
lived a solitary life of devotion at the spot in the
county of Cumberland, where the town of St.
Bees was afterwards built, and thus named after
her.
BEGALLED, be and galled. See Galled.
BEGAWED, be and gawed. See Gawed.
BEGAY, be and gay. See Gay.
BEGEMDER, a fertile province of Abyssi-
nia, bounded by Dembea on the west, Samen on
the north, Angot on the east, and Amhara on
the south. It includes the dependency of Lasta^
and its length has been stated at 180 miles, and
its breadth at sixty. There is a much greater
proportion of what may be called level ground
nere, than in almost any of the other provinces in
this alpine region. The mountains abound with
iron, and afibnl good ^turage for the noble herds
of cattle, with which Begemder is stocked. Mr.
Bruce was informed that it was csmable of rais-
ing 45,000 effective cavalry, llie southern
boundary is fall of deep and rugged ravines.
BE'GET, -N Be and get. Ang.-Sax. be-
Beoet'ter, # gettan, gettan. To obtain, to
Beget'timg,> produce as effects; to produce
Be'got, ias accidents; to generate, to
Begot'ten. y procreate; to become the father
of, as of children.
A yon^ man called Melibeus, mighty and riche,
begaie upon his wif, that was called Pnidence, s
daughter which that called was Sophie. Chameer.
next he did beget
An infinite increase of angels bright*
All glist'ning glorious in their Maker's light.
Spenaer.
Bat first come the hoars, which we begoi
In Jove's sweet paradise, of day and night.
Which do the seasons of the year allot. Id.
• see here be all the pleasares
That Fancy can begei on yonthfal thoughts.
When the fresh blood grows lively, and returns
Brisk as the April buds in primrose season.
UtUon.
Love is begoi by fancy, bred
By ignorance, by expectation fed. QroneilU,
Mon continue the r*ce of mankind, commonly
without the intention, and often against the consent
and will, of the begetter. Locke.
My whole intention was to beget, in the minds oi
mfjk, magnificent sentiments of God and his works.
Son of the Father, first begotten Son !
Ere the short measuring line of time begun.
The world has seen tliy works, and joy'd to see
The bright effulgence manifest in thee. ParmU.
3C
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BEG
BFX>GHE,(St.), the founder of tbe order of
the Beguards, and probably of that of the Be-
guines. She flourisned about A. D. 680.
BEGHERME, an extensive country in the
eastern part of central Africa, little known. It
is said to have Bomou on the north, Bergoo on
the east, and Cassina on the west, and to be go-
verned by a sultan of its own, dependent on that
of Bomou; according to Dr. Seetxen it has
latelv been annexed to Bergoo, which is also de-
pendent upon Bofnou.
BE'GILT, be and gUt See Gilt.
BE'GIN, V. & n. ^ I began or begun ; I have
Beoin'ner, f begun. Sax. hejinnan.
Beg in'n I NO, & from be, or by to, and jan-
Begin'mnglssa. } san, ^^aan, or jan, to go;
applied to the first motion towards any act, pur-
pose, or design; to enter upon existence, to have
Its original.
Mindes he our tears ; or ever moued hit eyen T
Wept he for rath ? or pitied he par loue ?
What shall I set before, or where begin f Surrey
Thus heaping crime on crime, and grief on grief.
To loss of love adjoining loss of friend,
I mean* to purge both with a third mischief.
And, in my woe's begiimer, it to end. Spenter,
They began at the ancient men which were before
the house. Exekiel.
By peace we wiU begin. Shakipeare.
Ill sing of heroes and of kings.
Begin my muse ! Cowlejf.
They are, to begimtert, an easy and familiar intro-
duction; a mighty augmentation of all virtue and
knowledge in such as are entered before. Hooker,
if ye know.
Why ask ye, and superfluous begin
Your message, like to end as much in vi^f
MUton.
Begin every day to repent; not that thou shouldst
«t all defer it ; but all that is past ought to teem
little to thee, seeing it is so m itself. Begin the next
day with the same zeal, (ear, and humility, as if thou
hadst never begttn before. Ti^flqr,
The air was soon after the fight begm
Far more inflam'd by it than l^ the sun.
MmvOl,
Youth, what man's a^e is like to be, doth show ;
We may our end by our beginning know. Denhmn.
By viewing nature, nature's handmaid, art.
Makes mighty things from small begiminge grow :
Thus fishes first to shipping did impart.
Their tail the rudder, and their head the prow.
J>ryden.
The understanding is passive; and whether or not
it will have these begiwA^, and materials of know,
ledge, is not in its own power. Looke,
These systems are so many enchanted castles;
they appear to be something— 4hey are nothing but
appffarances : like them, too, dissolve the charm, and
they vanish from the sight. To dissolve the charm,
we mutt begin at the beginning of them: the expret-
tion may be odd, but it is significant.
Bolinghroke. Stndg of Hittorg.
Rapt into future dmet, the hard begm,
A virgin shall conceive. Pope
I have taken a litt of several hundred words in a
•emum of a new he^ginnm', which not one hearer could
|i0aaibly nnderstand. Swift.
BE'GIRT, ) Saxon begUrdtmj hegyrdnn,
Be'girted. S tpfrdan; to close in round about ;
be and gird, to bind with a girdle ; to shut in
with a fiege; to beleaguer; to block up.
Begird th' Almighty tknme.
Beseeching, or betiepng. MUtm.
Or should she, confident
As sitting queen adom'd on beauty's throne.
Descend, with all her wuming charms be^,
f enamour. Id,
At home surrounded by a servile crowd.
Prompt to abuse, and in detraction loud :
Abroad begirt with men, and swords, and speaia;
Hit very state acknowledging his feaia. Priar.
BEGLERBEG, a governor of one of the prin-
cipal governments in the Turkish empire, and
next in dignity to the grand virier. To every
beglerbeg the grand seignior gives three ensigns
or staves, trimmed with a horse-tail, to distin-
guish them from the bashaws, who have but two;
and from simple begs, orsangiac begs, who lave
but one. Five of the beglerl^gs have the title of
viziers, vix. those of Anatolia, Babylon, Cairo,
Romania, and Buda. The beglerbegs appear
with great state, an4 a large retinue, especially
in the camp, being obliged to bring a soldier for
every 5000 aspers of rent which they eojoy.
Those of Romania brought 10,000 effective men
into the field. The beglerbegs are become al-
most independent, and have under their jurisdic-
tion several sangiacs or narticular governments,
and begs, agas, and otncr officers, v^ obey
them.
BE6LERBEGLIK, or Beglierbeglie, the
province or government of a beglerbeg. Thee
are of two sorts, viz. 1. Beglerbeelik, basilo,
which have a certain rent assigned out of the
cities, countries, and signiories allotted to the
principality : and are in number twenty-two,
vis. those of Anatolia, Caramania, Diafb^ir,
Damascus, Aleppo, Tripoli, Trebixond, Buda,
Temeswar, &c. 2. Beglerbegiik, salianc, for
maintenance of which is annexed a salary or
rent, collected by the grand seignior's officers with
the treasure of the empire. These are io nank-
ber six, viz. those of Cairo, Babylon, &c.
BE'GNAW. Be and gnaw. See Ghaw.
BE'GGNE. Be and gone. .Decayed or worn.
Far advanced, or sunk deep, either in weal or
woe. Also; the imperative 0€, and the past par-
ticiple gone; as go, depart; generally expressing
impetuosity or displeasure. As, Get oiit of my
sight.
I was a los^ one
And faiie, and riche, and yonge, and well
And witteth ^reli, that one of the
Is with treasoor to foU begone^
That if je happe thereupon.
Ye shall be riche men lor ever.
Begone, I will not hear thia vain eatm
\ut, as thon lov'tt thy life, make speed i
Begone, tha geddeaa cries with itai
Begone! nor dan the htllow'd
She fled, fw ever bawsbM hm
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Uncnttdhl wntck ! hggom, and a
my dwelling with thy bMeaeM ; kigom, umI oever let
me see thee •g^in. Go £rom my doon ; end the <mly
ponishment I wish thee, is' mn alumed conacienee,
which will be a sufficient tormentor. GoUmmth,
BEGONIA, ID botany, a genus of plants of
the polygamia monoBcia class ; the characters of
which are tliese : the flowers are of two kinds ;
the one is the male flower, .composed of four
leaves, some broader, and others narrower ; the
other, which produces the embryo fruit, is of the
rosaceous sort, and is composed of several petals,
arranged in a circular form, and placed on a
foliated cup, which finally becomes a trigonal
alated fruit, divided into three cells, and con-
taining small seeds. Willdenow describes
twenty-five species of this genus, which belong
?rincipaUy to the West India Islands. See
"'rttmactioiu of the LuuuMtn Society, vol. i.
BE'GORED. Be and gwed. See Gore.
BE'GRAVE. Be and grave. See Grave.
BE'GRIME. Be and grime. See Grime.
BE'GRIPE. Be and gripe. See Gripe.
BFGROW. Be and grow. See Grow.
BE'GRUDGE. Be and grudge. SeeGRuncE.
BEGSHEHRI (BeVshehri) a town and cap-
taincy in the Pachalic of Karaman-ili, Anatoha.
The town is protected by a castle built by Al^
ud-din, theSeljiik^ suitan in the twelfth century.
This district contains 122 smaller, and 12 larger
fiefs, called by the Tuiks Zimdrets and Ziy&-
mets.
BEGUARDS, or Beghards, the third order
of the religious of St. Francis in Flanders. They
were established at Antwerp in the year 1228,
mnd took St. Begghe for theur patroness, whence
they had their name. From their first institution
thev employed themselves in making linen cloth,
each supporting himself by his own labor, and
united only by the bonds of charity, without
having any particular rule. But pope Nicholas
rV. having confirmed that of the third order of
St. Francis in 1289, they embraced it in 1^90.
They were greaUy fieivored by the dukes of Bra-
bant, particularly John II. and John III. who
exempted them fipom all contributions and taxes.
See Franciscans.
BEGUE, an old term for the natural mark in
the mouth of a horse, which distinguishes his
age. It is probably derived firom the French, in
which the same word signifies a stutterer.
Begue (Lambert le), the founder or restorer
of the order of the Beguines, flourished about the
end of the twelfth century.
B£'GUIL£»-\ Be and guile. GmU, torn
Be'guilbrs, igewigUan, and wile, from toig-
Be'gviling, i7i«n, to deceive, to allure into a
Be'guilty. J snare ; the worst kind of wick-
edness ; hence the general term guilt. The he-
guUen and the begwled divide 4)ur species, with
the exception of thioee who are abused and hated
by both, because they have wisdom without'
lEnavery, and ffoodness without ft>lly, qualities
equally deteswle to the deceivers and the de-
ceived.
This miUer flfluM at hir lUMtee,
And thought, all this n' is don but lor a wilo.
They jnonen that no nan may hom hegih.
Chmuer.
Vot otfkcn he that will k^gik.
Is guiled with the same guile.
And thus the guiler it beguiled, Octoer.
When we escape from a little wile, and know the
6«^'2er, we thinke that wo are beguiled already with
other greate wiles. Golden Book.
Her lips, most happy eaeh in other's kisses.
From their so wisht imbracements seldome parted.
Yet seem'd to blush at each their wanton blisses ;
Bnt, when tweet words their ioyning sweet disparted.
To th' eare a dainty mosique they imparted^
Upon them fidy sate deli^tfol smiling,
A thousand smiles with pleating stealth beguUing :
Ah, that such shows of ioyet should be all ioyet ex-
iling. Spofuor
And often did beguile her of her tears.
When I did speak of some distressful stroke
That my youth suffered. Shakipeare.
Sweet, leave me here awhile ;
My spirits grow dull, and fain I would beguile
The tedious day with sleep. Id.
By easy commutadons of publick penance, for a
private pecnniaxy mulct, thou dott at once beguiUif
thine own science with sordid bribery, and embolden
the adulterer to conunit that sin again without fear.
Biahop Sand&rtom.
Some cursed fraud
Of enemy hath beguiled thee, yet unknown.
And me with thee hath ruin'd, for with thee
Certain my resolution is to die. ifXlUm^
Whosoever sees a man, who would have begmkd
and imposed upon him by making him believe a lye,
he may truly say, that it the man who would have
ruined me. Souih.
While o'er hit lipt her lovely forehead bow'd.
Won by hit grateful eloquence, which to<^'d
With sweet variety the tedious march,
BeguSing time. Olooer. Leomdne.
B£GUINAGE, the place of residence of a
society of Beguines. See next article. The
finest beguinage in Flanders was that of Malines. ,
That of Antwerp was very spacious, and had
two separate churches.
BEGUINES, a congr^tion of nuns, which
must not be confounded with the Beghards,
founded either by St. Begghe, or by Lambert le
Begue. They were established first at Liege,
and afterwards atNivelle in 1207; and fromdhis
last settlement sprang the great number of Be-
guinages, which are spread overall Flanders, and
which have passed from Flanders into Germany.
In the latter country, some of these religious fell '
into extravagant errors, persuading themselves
that it was possible, in the present life, to arrive
to the bigh^t perfection, even to impeccability,
and a clear view of God ; in short, to so eminent
a degree of contemplation, that there was no ne-
cessity, after this, to submit to the laws of mortal
meoy civil or eodesiastical. The council of Vien-
ne, in 1113, condemned tbeae errors, and abo- *
lished the order of Beguines ; permitting, never-
tbelesB, those among them, who continued in the
true fidth, to live in cbasti^ and penitence, either
with or without vows. It is by favor of this lat-
ter clause, that theie still' subsist (or at least sub-
sisted till lately) so many communities of Be-
guines in Flanders ; who, subsequently to the
council of Vienne, conductedthemselves with so
much wisdom and pietv, that pope John XXll . by
his decretal, which explains that of his predecessor
made in the council of Vienne, took them under
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his protection ; and Boniface VIII. in another,
exempted them from the secular tribunal, and
put them under the jurisdiction of the bishops.
There was scarce a town in the Low Countries in
which there was not a society of Beguines; and
even at Amsterdam there, was a very flourishing
one. These societies consisted of several houses
placed together in one enclosure, with one or
more churches, according to the number of Be-
guines. There was in every house a prioress, or
mistress, without whose leave they durst not stir
out. They made a sort of vow, in the following
terms : < 1 promise to be obedient and
chaste as lone as I continue in this Beguinage.'
They observed a three years noviciate before they
took the habit. They were formerly habited in
different manners ; some in gray, others in blue ;
but of late they aU wore black. When they
went abroad, in Amsterdam, they put on a black
veil. Formerly they had as many different sta-
tutes as there were societies. In the visitations
of the year 1600 and 1601, by the archbishop
Matthias Hovius, they were forbidden, under the
penalty of a fine, to have lap-dogs.
BEHABAN, a town of Persia, in the province
of Pars. It is the capital of the district of Kho-
gilaea, and is pleasantly situated in an extensive
and highly cultivated valley, which is intersected
by the rivers Zab and Jerahi. The walls are three
miles in circumference, and the population is
10,000. It is 153 miles from Shiraz.
BEHALF. This word Skinner derives from
half, and interprets it, for my half; as, for my
Dart. It seems, to be rather corrupted from
behoof, profit; the pronunciation degenerating
easily to behafe ; which, in imitation of other
words so sounded, was vmtten, by those who
knew not the etymology, behalf For my or your
part or share, or sake. Whatever is done in
fevour, for the sake of, either in support or vin-
dication.
Yet tbiB I say m hir beholfe
If Helen were hir leeke.
Sir Paris need not to disdaine
Hir through the seas to seeke. TurheniUe.
He might, in his presence, defy all Aicadiaa
knights, in the hehaifa{ his mistress's beaaty.
Sidney,
Michael this my behest have thoa in chai^.
Take to thee from among the Cherabim,
Thy choice of flaming warriors, lest the fiend.
Or in behalf of man, or to invade
Vacant possession, some new trouble raise ;
Haste thee, and from the paradise of God
Without nmorse drive out the sinful pair. Mihon,
Were imt my heart as naked to the view.
Marcus would see it bleed in his behalf, Addmn.
Never was any nation blessed with mon frequent
interpositions of divine providence in its behalf,
Attarhmy.
BE'HANG. Be and hang. See Hang.
BE'HAPPEN. Be and happen. See Happen.
BE'HATED. Be and hate. See Hate.
BEHA'VE, -^ Beandhavejbeandhaviour.
Beha'ving, SGoth.haban.Ang.-Sax.habban!
BEHA'viouR,>See Have and Haviour.
To govern, to subdue, to discipline, its ancient
and now obsolete sense. To carry, to act, to
eonduct ones* self. Manners, carnage, gesture.
appearance. It is taken in either a good or bad
sense, as he behaved well or ill.
The beautiful prove accomplished, but not a£ gnat
spirit ; and study, for the most part, rather behmhmr
than virtue. Batem^
He who adviseth the philosopher, altogether de-
voted to the Muses, sometimes to offer sacrifice to the
altars oi the Graces, thought knowledge impeifert
without behaoiour. WaUtn.
But who his limbs with labours, and his mit^^i
Behanee with cares, cannot so easy miss.
Faerie Qaeem,
With such sober and unnoted passion
He did behane his anger ere 'twas spent.
As if he had but proved an argument. ■^iiAnnmi.
One man sees how much anoUier man is a fool,
when he dedicates his behanjUmr to love. Shdfapnre.
Get ye all three into this box.tree ; MalvoUo's
coming down this walk ; he has been yonder i'the
sun, practising behanumr to his own shadow, this half
hour : observe him for the love df mockery.
m , Shak^tean.
To their wills wedded, to their errouxs slaves.
No man like them, they think, himself bd»aeet.
We so live, and so act, as if we were secure of the
final issue and event of things, however, we may
behane ourselves. Auerhmr^.
We are not, perhaps, at liberty to take for grsm«d
that the lives of the preachers of Christianity were as
perfect as these lessons ; but we are endtied to con-
tend, that the observable pan of their bdtaeiom must
have agreed in a greater measure with the dotica
which they taught. p^
BEHEAD, 1 Be and head. See Head. "
Beheading, S To head, or behead, b to
take off, cut off, strike off, the head : a GaUican
accomplishment, greatly in vogue during the
Revolution.
His beheading he underwent with all Christian
magnanimity. Ctmemia^
Mary, queen of Scots, was beheaded in the leign
of queen Elizabeth. Adduem.
I think it was Caligula who wished the whole cky
of Rome had but one neck, that he might heiuad them
at a blow. Speeiater,
She (Anne Boleyn) was beheaded by the execu-
tioner of Calais, who was sent for, as more expat
than any in England. Mm^.
On each side they fly.
By chains connext, and, with destructive sweep.
Behead whole troops at once. PMys.
Lord Clarendon relates that he (marquis of Aigyle)
was condemned to be hanged, which was petfoimcd
on the same day ; on the contrary, Burnet, Woodrow,
Heath, Echard, concur in stating that he was ke^
headed; and that he was condemned opcm the Satar^
day, and executed on the Monday. Pale^
Beheading, a capital punishment, wherein
the head is severed from the body by the stroke
of an axe, sword, or other cutting instrument
Decollatio, or beheading, was a military punish-
ment among the Romans. Among them the
head was laid on a dppus, or block, placed in a
pit dug for the purpose ; in the army, without
the vallum ; in the city, without the walls, at a
place near the porta decumana. Prepaiatoiy to
the stroke, the criminal was tied to a stake, and
whipped with rods. In the early ages the blow
was given with an axe, and was but clumsily
performed; but in after-times with a sword,
which was thought the more reputable manner ot'
dying : when the executioneis grew more expert.
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and took oif the head with one circular stroke.
St. Paul thus says that the magistrate ' beareth
not the sword in vain.' In England, beheading
is the punishment of nobles, being: reputed not
w disgraceful as hanging. In France, during
the revolutionary government, the practice of be-
heading by an instrument called a guillotine (so
denominated from its inventor. Dr. Guillot,) was
very general. It resembles an instrument long
ago used for the same purpose in Scotland, called
the maiden, and which is still preserved in Edin-
burgh. See Guillotine and Maiden. It is
doubtless the most speedy, and least painful, of
capital punishments.
BE'HEARD, he and heard, past participle of
the verb to hear. See Hear.
BEH EM (Martin), an eminent geographer of
the fifteenth century, was bom at Nuremberg.
Assuming the existence of a western continent,
he is said to have applied, in 1459, to Isabella,
regent of the duchy of Burgundv and Flanders,
to supply him with a vessel, wiu which he dis-
Govered the island of Fayal, one of the Azores, or
at least established a colony of Flemings there,
for the discovery is claimed for Gonsalvo Velho,
a Portuguese. Afler residing at Fayal for twenty
years, in 1484 (eight years b«fore the expedition
of Columbus), according to letters of nis still
preserved, it is said, in the archives of Nurem-
oerg, he induced John II. of Portugal, to intrust
him with the command of an expedition to the
south-west. He is said, at this time, to have dis-
covered firasil, and even to have sailed to the
Straits of Magellan, which he mathematically
delineated on a map. These letters bear date
I486; and the event is related in the Latin
Chronicle of Hartman Schedl, and by Peter
Mateus, who wrote on the canon law two years
before the expedition of Columbus. His dis-
ooveries are likewise referred to by Cellarius and
Riccioli, the first of whom mentions the service
which his charts afforded Magellan ; and the latter
asserts that Columbus obtsuned direct informa-
tion from Behem in Madeira. He was knighted
by the king of Portugal, and otherwise honored
as a person of great merit ; although these re-
wards some writers attribute to his discovery of
Congo. He died at Lisbon in in July 1506,
leaving no works behing him, except the chart
before mentioned, and a terrestrial globe, still in
the library of Nuremberg, &c. Dr.RoberUon treats
the stoiy of his discovery of America as a legend ;
n is certainly strange that he should leave the
world without more formally claiming it ; but
the memoir of M. Otto, in vol. ii. of the American
Philosophical Transactions, may be profitably
consulted on this curious question.
BEHEMOTH, «. s. Behemoth, in Hebrew,
signifies beasts in general, particularly the
larger kind, fit for service. But Job speaks of
an animal behemoth, and describes its properties.
Bochait has taken much care to make it the
hippopotamus, or river-horse. Sanctius thinks
it 18 an ox. The &thers suppose the devil to be
meant by it. Calmei.
Behold now h^emoth, which I made with thee ; he
cftteth grass as an ox. Job.
Scarce from his mould
Behemoth, biggest bom of earth, epbesvM
His vsstness : ileec'd the flocks and bleating nse
As plants : ambiguous between sea and land.
The river-borse and scaly crocodile. MUton,
Behold! in plaited mail
Behemoth rears his head. Thornton.
Behemoth is generally supposed by commen-
tators, as well as natural historians, to mean
either the elephant or the river-horse. The late
Mr. Bruce endeavours to prove that the rhino-
ceros is the animal meant by this word. Others
think that thb word denotes the same animal with
mammoth, a huge creature, generally supposed
to be extinct ; but whose bones are firequently
found in marshy grounds in Asia and America.
See Mammoth. According to the Jewish rab-
bin, God, in the beginning, created two behe-
moths, male and female ; the female was killed
and salted to be reserved as an entertainment for
the faithful whenever the Messias shall come ;
the male is still living, and when the last day
arrives, God will kill it, and give it to the Israel-
ites, who shall then rise from the dead. Calmet
relates that the Jews are still so convinced of
these extravagant traditions, that it is a common
custom to swear by the share that they are to
have of Behemoth hereafter. Job xl. 15. See
Calmeft Dictionary , and Harmer'i Oinervatiom
on Scripture, vol. ii.
BE'HELD, participle passive from Behold,
which see.
All hail ! ye virgin daughters of the main !
Ye streams, beyond my hopes, beheld again ! Pope,
BE'HEN, ) Valerian roots ; a name of the
Ben. ) silene inflata or bladder campion
BE'HEST, Be and best; Goth. h(utan; A
Shcaan, hatan; Dutch, heien; Germ, heinen,
command ; precept ; mandate ; the declared will
of any personage, power, or sovereignty.
To breken forword is not min entente
Behcet is dette, and I would hold it fayn
All my beheti I can no better sayn. Chaueer.
Her tender youth bad obediently lived under her
parents' behmU, without framing, out of her own will,
the forechoosing of any thing. 8idmey.
To visit oft those happy tribes.
On high behettt his angels to and fro
Pass'd frequent
In heav'n God ever blest, and his divine _
Behettt obey, worthiest to be obey'd. Id,
The plain, by slow degrees, shall rise
Higher than erst had stood the summit hill ;
For time must nature's great beheei fulfil. Prior.
BEHET,
Beui'c
Beho'i
Beho'i
Behe'teer,
Right. Likewise to command ; to adjudge ; to
address ; to intend ; to reckon ; to esteem.
^Xn right ill array
She was with storm and heat, I you behighi (inform).
False fiitour, Scudamour, that hast by flight
And foule advantage this good knight dismay 'd,
A knight much better than thyself Mdjfki (esteemed).
Spemrr.
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The author'* meaming should of right be heard.
He knoweth beet to what emd he enditeth ;
Words sometimes bear more than the heart bek^hitih
(mrans). Mirror for Magitlratet.
Aud him restoring unto living light.
So, brought unto his lord, where he did sit
Beholding all that womanish weake fight ;
Whom soone as he beheld he knew, and thus beMgkt
(addressed). Spmmr.
There it was judged, by those worthy wights.
That Satyrane the' first day best had donne ; —
The second was to Triamond behighi (adjudged). Id»
So taking courteous conge, he befu^ (commanded)
Those gates to be unbarr'd ; and forth he went. Jd,
But now aread, old father, why of lata
Didst thou hehigkt (name) me born of English blood.
Whom all a faeries son do nominate? Id.
That most glorious house that glis'treth bright.
Whereof the keys are to thy hands hM^ (en-
trusted)
By wise Fidelia. Id*
Sir Guyon, mindful of his vow yplight.
Uprose from drowsy couch, and him addrest
Unto the journey which he had hdught (proposed or
premised). Id.
BEHE'W, V. be and hew. See Hew.
BEHIND, nrep. "^ The imper. be, and the
Behind, OCR;. > noun bind. Goth. Aiiufer;
Behinddand. 3 Sax. bekindauy hiiukm,
after. Posterior in time or space, dilatory, too
late. There is a distinction, however, to be ob-
served between the meaning of after and behind:
after respects order; behind respects position:
one runs after a person, or stands behind his
chair. After is used either figuratively pr li-
terally; behind is used only literally. See
Crabbe.
Whan that thou wendest homeward by the mell.
Right at the entree of the dore behind.
Thou shalt a cake of half a bushel find.
That was ymaked of thin owen mele
Which that 1 halpe my fader for to stele.
Chaucer's Canterbmy Tales.
After the overthrow of this first house of God, a
serond was erected ; but with so great odds, that they
wept, which beheld how much tUs latter came behind
it. Hooker.
Therefore the prince, whom great affaires in mynd
Would not permit to make there longer stay.
Was foiced there to leave them both behjfnd
In that good hermit's chaige, whom he did pray
To tend them well, so forth he went his way.
Spemer.
All hurt behind, backs red, and faces pale
With flight and sgued fear ! Mend and chaige home.
Or, by ihe fires of heaven. 111 leave the foe.
And make my wars on you. 8hakq»eare,
And these thy offices.
So rarely kind, are as interpreters
Of my behindhand slackness. Id.
' his ponderous shield.
Ethereal temper, massy, large, and round.
Behind him cast. MUion.
Such is the swiftness of your mind.
That like the earth's, it leaves our sense behind.
Drgden.
What he gave me to publish, was but a small part
if what he left behind him. Pope.
Consider, whether it is not better to be half a
rear behindhand with the fisshionable part of the
irorld, than to strmia beyond his circumstances.
We cannot be sure that we have all the paitiadaH
before us ; and that there is no evidence behind, and
yet unseen, that may cast the probability on the other
side.
In the journey of life some are left I
they are naturally feeble and slow; i
they miss the way, and many because they leave it
by choice, and, instead of pressing onward with a
steady pace, delight themselves with momentary de-
viations, turn aside to pluck every flower and repose
in every shade. Johnson. RaaMer.
BEIilRAT EL Merdj, er Kuotaibe, a lake
of Syria, about seven or eight leagues in drcuai-
ference. It has no visible outlet, and the waten
not exhibiting any sensible increase by the rivers
and the melting of snow which it receivess it n
supposed to discharge them by some sohtena-
neous channel. Distant twenty-oae miles east of
Damascus.
BEHMEN (Jacob). See Boehmbn.
BEHN (Aphra), an authoress, descended fnm
a good family m Canterbury, was bom in the reign
of Charles 1. Her fadier's name vras Johnson,
whoth rough the interest of lord WiU<Kigfaby, to
whom he was related, was appointed lieutenaDt-
general of Surinam. Mr^ Johnson died on die
voyage thither; but his fiunily reaching Smi-
nam, settled there for some yean. Here Aphia
formed an intimacy with the American pnnoe
Oroonoko, and his beloved Imoinda, whose ad-
ventures she relates in her celebrated novel of
that name, and which Mr. Southeme afterwards
made the ground-work of one of the best trage-
dies in the English language. On her return to
London, she became the wife of Mr. Behn, aner-
chant, of Dutch extraction ; but her wit, abilities,
and some less creditable qualifications, haring
brought her into estimation at the court of Charies
II. she was sent over to Antwerp, where, by means
of her influence over Vender Albert, a Datdi-
man of eminence, she, in 1666, sent home in-
telligence of the design formed by De Royter,
to bum the English ships in their nu-boors. In
her return to l^gland she was nearly lost in a
storm. From this period she devoted her lifr
entirely to pleasure and the Muses ; and her wit
gained her the acquaintance of Dryden, Sooth-
erne, and other men of genius. She publi^ed
Miscellaneous Poems; Histories and Novds;
translated Fontenelle's Plumlity of Worlds, aud
annexed a criticism on it ; her Plays make ionr
volumes. The character her plays should main-
tain in dramatic history, it is ^flicolt to deter-
mine, as their &ults vatd. perfections are equally
striking. In all, even the most indilfepeBt oJF
her pieces, there are strong marks of geniiis and
understanding. Her plots are full of bi^anesi
and ingenuity, and ner dialogue everywhere
sparkles with the dazzling lustre of genuine wit
But then she has been accused of interlanlinff
her comedies with the most indecent scenes, and
giving an indulgence in her wit to the most in-
delicate expressions. Pope, in bis characters of
women, alludes to Mrs. Behn nnder her poetical
name of Astrea :
The stage how loosely does Attrea tread.
Who fairly pnts her characters to bed.
Sjpeeiaier. After a life intermingled with nnmeroiis dittp-
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BEH
pointments^ she died Aprril 16, 1689, and lies
interred in Westmioster Abbey.
BEHOXD, ^ Compounded of the in-
Beho'ldkn, / tensive be and hold, it sig-
Beho'loing, > nifies to hold or fix the eye
Beuo'lder, ' m on an object ; it is derived
Beiio'ldingness, J from the Saxon behealdan.
It is sometimes employed as an interjection, in
order to excite attention or admiration. Behol-
den, participle adjective. Dut. Gehouden. To
be held, ana as applied to the mind, to be held
in obligation. Beholdingness expresses the state
of being obliged. Hold in the sense of being
under bond or obligation, is used by Gower,
Conf. Am. book vii. and also in book viii. _ . .
, Behold is used by Wiolif, and some of the elder ^ " ^^^ extraordinary,
writers, in the sense of preference, to look on ^®' y<>" instruction,
with favor.
Maist«re we witen that thou art soth ^t and
thou techiae m treuth the wey of God, and thoa char-
gist not of ony man, for thoa beholdut not the per-
8one of men, therefore seye to us, what it teemeth to
thee. Widif. Matt. chap. zxii.
Thej ihoold consider howe deeply they wer bounden
and beholden to hym, therefore, and with devout
thankes inwardlye remember his ineatimable booty
therin. Sir Tfumaa Man's Workes,
His pleasure was, that for our saluscion we should
to him be hehoUyng, and not to the kepyng of the
lawe.
UdaU, Galathmt. ci^.
This olde Soudannesse
Ordeined hath the feste of which I tolde ;
And to the feste, Cristen folk hem dresse.
In general ya, both yonge and olde
Ther may men fest and realtee behoUe
4nd deintees, mo than I can you devise ;
But all to dere they bought it or they rise.
Chaucer, Cant, TaU$.
Dan Troilus, as he was wont to gide.
His yonge knightis, ledde hem up and downe
In thrlke large temple on every side ;
Beholding aio the laJeis of the toune,
■Tow here, now there ; for no devocioune
Bad he to none, to revin him his rest.
But gan to praise and lackin whom he lest.
Id, Tr&dm and Crcmde,
All sodainely she saw transfigured
Her linnen stole to robe of scarlet red.
And moone-like mitre to a crowne of gold ;
That even she herself much wondehsd
At such a cbaunge, and ioyed to hehM
Hesself adom'd with genu and iewells manifold.
Qpenm,
With him went Hope in rancke, a handsome mayd.
Of chearcful looke, and lovely to hehoid ;
In silken samite she was light array'd.
And her fayrc locks were woven up in gold. • Id,
The king invited us to his court, so as I must ac-
knowledge a beholdtngnem unto him. SOney,
Tn this, my debt, I scem'd loth to confess,
tn that I shunn'd hehcidingma. Dome,
When Thessalians on horseback were beheld afar
off, while their horses watered, while their heads were
depressed, they were conceived by the specutors to
lie one animal. Brown's Vu^ar Brrours.
I found you next, in respect of bond, both of near
and particulsrl) of communicadon in stu-
wherein I must acknowledge mysalf beholden to
Baeom.
Horns, which such as you are fain t^be ftdkdUm to
your wives for. Shahtpeare.
Little are we beholden to your love.
And little look'd for at your helping hands. Id,
For Brutus' sake, I am beholden to you. Id,
But I will haste, and &om each bough and brake
Each plant and juiciest gourd will pluck such cheer
To entertain our angel guest, as he
Beholding shall confess, that here on earth
God hath dispens'd his bounties as in heaven.
MiUon.
When out of hope behold her! not far off.
Such as I saw her in my dream, adom'd
With what all earth or heaven could bestow.
To make her amiable. Id,
The philosophy you have condescended to reveal to
We are beholden to you
Shafiednarg,
Man looks aloft, and, with erected eyes.
Beholds his own hereditary skies. JDryden*
At this the former tale again he told^
With thundering tone, and dreadful to behold.
Id,
The Saviour comes, by ancient bards foretold !
Hear him, ye deaf; and all ye blind behold I Pope,
I think myself mighty beholden to you for the repre-
hension you then gave us. Addison,
We, who see men under the awe of justice, cannot
conceive what savi^e creatures they would be without
it ; and how much beholden we are to that wise con-
trivance. Atterbury,
BEHO'OVE, or^
Beho've, v. & n.
Behoof,
Behove'ful,
Behove'fully,
Behov'able,
Beho'vedly,
Behove'ly.
Sax. behopan, it is a
duty. To be fit; to be
meet: either with respect
to duty, necessity, or con-
venience. It is used only
impersonally with t^
Her majesty may alter any thing of those laws, for
her own behoof, and for the good of the people.
Speneer,
It is veiy behoiKeJid in this country of Ireland,
where there are waste deseru fill of grass, that the
same should be eaten down. Id,
Tell OS of more weighty disUkes than these, and
that may more behoooefulljf import the reformadon.
Id,
Laws are many times full of imperfections ; and
that which is supposed behooveful unto men, proveth
oftentimes most pernicious. Hooker,
For better examination of their quality, it behoooeth
the very foundation and root, the highest well-spring
and fountain of them, to be discovered. Id,
Madam, we have oullM such necessaries
As are behoooeful for our state to-morrow.
Shahspeare*
No mean recompence it brings
To your behoof: if I that region lost.
All usurpation thence expcU'd, reduce
To her original dafkness, and your sway.
Wert thou some star, whirh from the ruinM roof
Of shak'd Olympus by mischance didst fall ;
Which careful Jove, in nature's true behoof.
Took up, and in fit place did reinstall. Id.
Because it was for the behoof of the animal, that*
upon any sudden accident, it might be awakened^
there were no shuts or stopples made for the ears.
Ray,
It may be most isftooorVf for prinees, in matlen
6! ^racc, to transact the lame puUidy ; so it it M
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BEI
and
requisite in matten of judgment, pnnithment,
censure, that (ke same be transacted prirately,
CUuremdoH.
It would be of no behoof, for the settling of go-
vernment, unless there were a way taught, how to
Vnow the person to whom belonged this power and
dominion. Locks.
He did so prudently temper his passions, as that
none of them made him wanting in the offices of life,
which it behoooed or became him to perform.
AUerhnry,
But should you lure the monarch of the brook,
Behoooei you then to ply your finest art, Thammm.
BEHOWL, be and howl. See Howl.
BEJA, or Bexa, an appanage of the queens
of Portugal, in the province of Alentejo, com-
prehending a city, tnree towns, and twenty-one
parishes. The chief place is the city of Beja,
which was raised to the rank of duchy by King
John II., and has a population of 6000 inhabi-
tants. It was anciently the Roman Pax Julia.
It is the see of a bishop, who is suffragan of Com-
postella, and lies on tne side of a hill, in a de-
lightful tract of country, seventy-two jniles
S. S. E. of Lisbon. Long. 7^ 50' W., lat. 37°
55. N.
BEJADE, be and jade. See Jade.
BEJAGUR (Vijayaghar), a district in the
province of M alwah, situated about the twenty-
second degree of north latitude. It is possessed
by different MahratU chiefs. The chief towns
are Awass, Sindwab, and Gherowd.
BEJAPE, be and jape ; perhaps as jabber,
and gibe, from Germ, gabbaren; Fr. gaber; Ital.
gabbare. To joke, mock, deride, delude, jeer.
Thou hast b^aped here dark Theseus
And falsely changed hast thy name thus.
Chaucer,
BEJAPOUR, a city of Hindostan. See Vi-
SXAPOUR.
BEJAR, a town of Estremadura in Spain, in
the district of Placentia, famous for its baths. It
is seated in a very agreeable valley, surrounded
with high mountains, whose tops are always co-
vered with snow. Here the duke of Bejar had
a handsome palace : it was raised to a dukedom
in the house of Zuniga in 1448. In this neigh-
bourhood are forests filled with game, and
watered with fine springs ; also a lake abounding
with excellent fish. It is pretended that this lake
is so much agitated before a storm as to be heard
fifteen miles off*.
BEJASI, or Beiasites, a liberal sect of Ma-
hommedan Arabs.
BEIBENIiE Stellje, a name riven bjr some
astronomers to the principal fixed stars in each
constellation ; otherwise . called corda, though
some distin^ish between corda and beibenis
Stella, restraining the former to stars only of the
first magnitude, and extending the latter to seve-
ral of the second or third. Hermes has a trca^
tise express De Stellis Beibeniis, published by
Junctinus, in his Speculum Astrologicum, and
also in his commentaries upon Jo. de Sacrobos-
co's book De Sphere.
BEICHLINGEN, a county of Saxony, in
Thuringia, on the Lossa, and belonging, since
1815, to the king of Prussia. The castle of
Beicfalingen is situate not far'^rom Kolleda,
eighteen miles north of Weimar, and twoKy
north-east of Erfurt.
BEIDELSAR, in botany, a name by which
some authors call the apocynum Syriacum, or
Syrian dogVbttne, a poisonous plaLt
BEJETZK, or Beshezh, a town of Russia,
in the government of Twer, the capital of a drele
of the same name. Here are 3100 inhabitants ; and
an annual fiair is held here, which lasts five days.
The principal articles for sale are giain, iron,
silk, and cotton stuffs. It is forty-eight miles
N.N. E. of Twer, 260 south-east of St. Peters-
burg.
BEJIGHUR, a tovm in the Mahratta territo-
ries, in the province of Agra, Hindostan, about
seventy miles south-west from Agra. It stands
at the extremity of a low hill, and has an upper
and lower fort. The surrounding country con-
sists of ranges of low hills much covered with
junrie, and separated from each other by inter-
mediate plains, intersected by deep ravines; but
upon the whole, well supplied with water.
BEILD, beeld, shelter. Old Sax. be-hlidan,
to cover, to protect, to shelter.
BEILSTEIN, in mineralogy, axe-stone, a
green stone, remarkable for its toughness, and
used by the South Sea islanders, the New Zea-
landers, for making hatchets, &c. Images of
idols and personal ornaments have also been
made from it; numbers of which have been
brought to this country, and may be seen in both
public andprivate cabinets.
BEIN, Beinn, or Bhein, in the Gaelic lan-
guage, signifies a mountain, and accordingly
makes part of the names of a considerable num-
ber of hills and mountains in Scotland ; particu-
larly,
Bein-an-Ini, in Argyllshire, which has a seam
of coals in it, that has been twice attempted to
be wrought, but from various causes given up.
Bein-an-Lochan, i. e. the hill of the lake, in
Argyllshire, so named from a lake which washes
its base.
BEiK-ARnLANiCH, in Ranoch, in the parish of
Fortingal, Perthshire, about 3500 feet alwve tite
levelof the sea,&c.
BEINASCHI (Giovanni BattisU), historical
painter, vna a Piedmontese, and bom in 1634.
He studied at Rome, under Pietro del Po ; and
some say afterwards under Lanfranc. It is cer-
tain he was particularly fond of Lanfranc's
works, and became so thoroughly acquainted
vfiih his style and manner, that many of his pic-
tures are, at this day, accounted the works
of Lanfranc. He was an admirable designer ;
his invention was lively, and he was not only
expeditious but correct His merits procured
him the honor of knighthood, whence he is
styled cavalier.
BEINHEIM, a fort of France, in the depart-
ment of the Lower Rhine, and ci-devant pro-
vince of Alsace; seated on the Sur, near its
confluence with Uie Rhine.
BEIRA, a province- of Portugal, bounded on
the west by the Atlantic ocean, on the south by
the Portuguese Estremadura; on the south-east
by the Spanish Estremaduia ; on the east by the
Diovincc of Tralos Monies, and Entie-Dwso-e-
Minho ; and on the north by the river Douro.
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It extends in length about thirty-ibur leagues,
and in breadth about thirty leagues, and is di-
Tided into six commarcas. The chief episcopal
city is Coimbra, which is likewise an university ;
and Viseu, also a bishopric, and formerly the
capital of a dukedom. It contains, altogether,
seven episcopal cities, 230 towns, and 900,000
inhabitants. The country is equally agreeable
and fruitful, producing com, wines, &c. in
abundance, and the hills affording excellent pas-
ture to cattle and sheep. Of late, however, the
grain has been said not to be sufficient for
home consumption ; and that the chestnut-trees,
which cover many of the mountains, supply
the place of it to many of the lower orders of the
people. Olive plantations are numerous, and
their produce, with that of the vineyards, forms the
chief exports. Mines, both of silver and lead,
were formerly wrought in the mimntainous dis-
tricts, and rich specimens of ore have been
found near Lamego; but since Portugal ob-
tained her American possessions, the inhabitants
have been prohibited from extracting the precious
metals.
BEIRAM, or Bairam. See Bairam.
BEISCH (Joachim Francis), a painter of
landscapes and battles, bom at Ravensburgh in
Suabia m 1665. He was taught the mdiments
of the art by his father ; and first employed at
the court of Munich in painting the battles of the
emperor Maximilian Emanuel in Hungary,
^hile that prince was absent on some of his
expeditions, Beisch took the opportunity of visit-
ing Italy, and it is a sufficient testimony of the
perfection to which he arrived to say, that even
Solimene copied several of his landscapes. The
scenes of his landscapes are agreeably chosen,
and picturesque : his touch is light, tender, and
full of spirit ; and«his style of composition re-
sembles that of Gaspar Poussin, or Salvator
Rosa. He etched several pleasing views in a
good taste, but these prints are scarce. He died
in 1748.
BEISSKER, in ichthyology, a name given by
Gesner and others to the fish commonly called
mustela fossilis. It is a species of the cobitis,
distinguished by Artedi by the name of the bluish
cobitis, with fine longitudinal lines on each
side. Schonefeldt calls this the pecilia, and
Johnson the piscis fossilis.
BEISTON, a township in the parbh of Bun-
bury and couuty of Chester, distinguished for
the rains of a fortress built in the year 1220, by
Handle Blundeville, earl of Chester. It enclosed
an area of about five or six acres, and viras
guaid/Nl on the accessible side by a vast moat cut
in the solid rock. The other side rose on a mass
of insulated rocks, almost perpendicularly, to the
height of 366 feet. In the time of Henry VIII.
Jiis stately pih> was almost dilapidated : yet in
the civil wars of Charles I.'s reign, we find it in
a state of defence, which rendered it a most im-
portant post ^t was garrisoned for the parlia-
ment, wnen a Oaptain Sandford, a celeWated
cavalier, undertook to scale its perpendicular
side; and having thus gained entrance with
eight men, he intimidated the commander. Cap-
tain Steel, and compelled him to surrender. Steel
was soon afterwards shot for cowardice. The
royalists were then besieged for upwards of four
months. Prince Rupert relieved them ; but the
castle was a second time invested, and a block-
ade of eighteen weeks reduced the garrison to
the most piteous extremity of famine. Never-
theless, after a gallant defence, they obtained
honorable terms, and the castle was immediately
dismantled by order of the parliament.
BEIT-EL-FAKIH (the DoctorVhouse), a
town and district of Arabia, in lat. 14° 31' N.,
long 43** 2' E. It was founded by a Mussulman
saint, named Ahmid ibn Musa, in the seventeenth
century, and is the great emporium of the coffee
trade, the best samples of that article being pro-
duced in the neighbouring mountains. The
quantity carried to Mocha, twenty-five leagues
distant, is about 4000 bales of 313 pounds each,
of which thirteen pounds are allowed for pack-
age, unless the English or French happen to be
there, when it is greater. A bale generally costs
forty-two Spanish piastres, which, with all duties
and expenses, makes the coffee amount to 14^d.
per pound. Several European powers have had
residents at Beit-el-Fakih, and merchants resort
thither from many parts of the east. It is subject to
the im&m of Yemen, and has risen considerably
since the rain of Ghalefkah, a town on the Red
Sea, formerly the port of this part of Arabia.
BEIZA, or BEIZATH, in Hebrew antiquity,
1, a word signifying an egg; 2, a certain mea-
sure among the Jews ; 3, a gold coin, weighing
forty drachms, among the Persians, who gave out
that Philip of Macedon owed their king Darius
1000 beizaths, or golden eggs, for tribute money,
but Alexander the Great refused to pay them,
saying, that the bird which laid these eggs was
flown to another world. 4
BEKESy or Bekesch, a. populous and
thriving market town of Hungary, in the above
county. It is situated on the river Black Ka-
rosch, and was formerly a place of strength. It
is inhabited by aboriginal Hungarians, who pro-
fess the reformed iiith, and have a parish
church.
BEKESCH, acounWof Hungary, bounded
on the north by great Cumania and Bihar, on
the east by Zarand, on the south by Arad, and
on the west by Zolook and Czongrad. It forms
a square of nearly forty miles, and contains four
towns, sixteen villages, and about 55,000 inhabi-
tants, who are composed of Hungarians, Bohe-
mians, Sclavonians, and Walachians, professing
the Greek, the Lutheran, and the Catnolic reli-
gions.
BEKIA, Becouya, or Bequia, a small island
among the Grenadilloes, in about lat. 13® N.,
belonging to Britain, and chiefly valuable for
turtle. It produces also wild cotton and water-
melons. It lies sixty miles north-east of Gre-
nada. The French have called it Little.
BEKISS, be and kiss. See Kiss.
BEKKER (Balthazar), a femous Dutch di-
vine, bora in 1634 at Waithuisen, in the province
of Groningen. In 1679 he was chosen minister
at Amste^am, where he published The World
Bewitched, an ingenious pi^ against the
vulgar notion of spirits, it raisal such a
clamor against him, that he was deposed from
the ministry, but the magistrates of Amsterdam
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782
BBL
oentiiiued his pension. His opinions were» that
the essence ot spirits consists in thinking ; that
therefore spirits cannot act on bodies or other
spirits : and that those texts, which speak of their
actions arc metaphorical. The possessions in
the gospels he ascribes to mental disorders. He
died in 1608.
BEKNOWE, be and know. See Know.
BEL, "7^3, i. e. the Lord, Heb. Cbald. or
Belus, the supreme god of the ancient Chaldeans,
or Babylonians. He was considered as the
foimder of the Babylonian empire; and supposed
to be the Nimrod of Scripture ; the same with
the Phoenician Baal. See Baal and Baby-
lon.
Bel, in botsny^ the name of a plant called by
some the cucumis capparis, or caper cucumber.
This plant b very imperfcMCtly described to us ;
and we find among the Arabian writers, that the
fhrit was called by that name, as well as the
whole plant. Avicenna, who gives the fullest
account of it, says that it was an Indian plant,
resembling in growth the common cucumber,
hot hearing a frait like the caper : he tells us that
this fhiit was the onl^ part ot the plant used in
medicine, and that it was very hot and bitter,
being somewhat like ginger in the fiery taste.
Bel (Matthias), an eminent Hungarian divine,
bom at Orsova iq 1684. He at first studied
physic at Halle, but gave it up for theology, and
jecame rector of the school at Presburg, and
minister to a Lutheran congregation there. He
wrote, among other works, a History of Hungary,
which was so much admired, that the emperor
Charles VL appointed him his historiographer,
and ennobled turn ; and notwithstanding his be-
ing a Lutheran, the pope m 1736 sent him his
picture, and many large gold medab. He was a
member of the ttoyal Society of London, and of
the academies at Berlin and Petersburg. He
died in 1749, aged sixty-five,
Bel (Charles-Andrew, son of Matthias), was
bom at Presburg in 1717. In 1741 he was ap-
pointed professor extraordinary at Leipsic, and
m 1756 professor of poetry, and librarian to the
university, with the title of counsellor of state.
He wrote De Vera Origine et Epocha Ilunnomm,
8cc. 4to. ; besides which he conducted the AcU
Eruditorum from 1754 to 1781. He died in
1782.
Bel and the Dragon, the History of, an
apocryphal and uncanonical book. It was al-
ways rejected by the Jewish church, and is ex-
tant neither in the Hebrew nor the Chaldee
language, nor is there any proof that it ever was
so. St. Jerome gives it the title of the Fable of
Bel and the Dragon.
BELA, a laige town of Hungary, in the
county of Zips. It was one of the sixteen towns
which were mortgaged to Poland in 1412, and is
inhabited bv German Lutherans, who gain a live-
lihood by the tillage of the ground, and a trade
in wine, iron, and tobacco.
BELABOUR, be and labor. See Labor.
BELAC, or Bellac, a city of France, in the
department of the Upper Vienne, and ci-devant
province of Lyonnois ; seated on the Vincon,
twenty miles north of Dmoges^ and 160 south of
Paris. It conlains 3291 inhabitanU.
be and late. See Late.
BELACED, be and laced. See Lace.
BE'LAMIE, > Fr. bd omit, bd amom-; a
Be'lamour. ) friend, a paramour, a galknt,
a consort.
Wiw Socrates
Povr'd out his Itfe, and last philotophy.
To the hit Critiafl, his deaxest beimmie.
FaeH§ Qmme.
ho, lo, how brave she decks her bounteoas bov'r
With silken cortaina and gold coverlets.
Therein to shrood her sompCiums beUumomr. Id.
BEL'ATE,
Bel'atedness.
Fairy elves.
Whose midnight rerels, by a forest side.
Or fountain, some bdaied peasant sees.
Or dreams he sees. JfUtsn's Pm miliai LmL
Or near Fleetditch's oozy brinks.
Belated, seoms on watch to lie. Smjt
BELATUCADRUS, the name of an ancient
British idol, recorded in old inscriptions ; and
supposed by Selden and Vossius to dc the same
with Belenus.
BE'LAY, i Be and lay. To waylay, to lie
Be'laysd. ) in wait, to place in ambosh, to
overlay, to tover.
'Gminst such strong castles needeth greater mi^bty
Than those small forces ye were wont Wjy.
All in a Goodman's jacket he was dad.
Of Lincolne greene, bdayd with silver lace. /d.
The speedy horse all passages helajf.
And spur their smoking steeds to cross their way.
JTvysSH.
To Belay, on board a ship, signifies the same
as fasten. Thus they say, beby the aheet, or
tack, that Is, fasten it to the kevel, by winding it
several times round a last, &r.
To Belay a Rope, a sea term ; to splice : to
mend a rope, by laying one end over another.
Belbeis, a town of Egypt, near the Syrian
frontier, four miles north-west of Suez. It was
formerly well fortified, and the only bulwaik of
the kingdom on this side. Buonaparte, in 1798^
availed himself of it, and strengthened the forti-
fications against the Turks. Its population is now
scarcely a third of what it formerly was, and
does not exceed 5000. It has been suuposed to
be the ancient fiubasturo, but D'Anville ratha
thinks that it was Pharbothus. A junction here
takes place of the canals derived from different
parts of the Nile.
BELCH', V. & n. ) Sax. bealcao. To eject
Belch'ing. ( wind from the stomach; to
eruct. To issue out, as by eructation. To throw
out from the stomach ; to eject from any hollow
place. It is a word implying coarseness, hate-
tulness, or horror.
The bitterness of it I now bekh fimnmy hrmtL
They are all but stomachs, and we all bat feed ;
They eat us hongerly, and, when they're faO,
They beleki»M^ ML
Tl.is thing, nor man, nor beast, tarns al! Us wealth
In drink ; his days, his years, in liquor drenching :
So quafis he sickness down, hy qnalBnx health;
Firing his chaaks vilik qoeBtchiag ; sdaagsly qaenrh
iag
Digitized by
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BEL
763
BSL
mt eyes tridi firing ; dnU oad f arft th«y rollM ;
But, nimble lipt, known things and hid unfold ;
Bekkmgt, oft iips, luge spits point ont the tale he
told. Fktcher't Pwpfe Idmd.
Immediate in a flame^
But soon obeenr'd with smoke, all heav'n appeai'd.
From those deep-throated engines b^eh'd, whose roar
ImbowellM with outrageous noise the air.
And all her entrails tore, disgorging foul
Their devilish glut, chain'd thunderbolu, and hail
Of iron globes. Milton,
The waters boil, and belching from below.
Black sands as from a forceful engine throw.
Dryien.
A triple pile of plumes his crest adom'd.
On which with belching flames Chimaera bam'd.
«.
The symptoms are, a sour smell in their ioBees,
heicMngt, and distensions of the bowels.
Arbuthmoi m AVmmi,
BEXEAGUE, ^ Be and league. Genn.
Be'leaguer, > lagen^ Dut. laegherij be-lae-
Bc'LEAGTTERER.JgAen, Swcd. beieagray Ang.-
Sax. licjan, to lay, to place before, to attach, to
besiege ; to lie before a town, in order to force
it to capitulate.
Their business, whirh they carry on, is the general
concernment of the Trojan camp, then beleaguered by
Tumus and the Latins. Dryden'a Dufremog,
Against beleaguer'd heav'n the gianto move ;
Hills pilM on hills, on moontuns mountains lie.
To make theb mad approaehes to the sky. Dfjfdm,
BE'LEE, v. a. A term used in navigation.
To place in a direction unsuitable to the ivind.
But he (sir) had th' election ;
And I (of whom his eyes had seen the proof
At Rhodes, at Cyprus, and on other grounds
Christian and heathen) must be be-Ued, and calm'd,
By debitor and creditor. Shaktpkare, Othello.
BELEM, a town and fortress of Portugal, in
Estreniadura, about a mile from Lisbon, on the
corth side of the Tagus, and designed to defend
the entrance of the river. Here ail ships that
sail up to Lisbon must bring to. The fortress is
on an island in the middle of die Taigus, and on
the opposite side is the station for quarantine.
After the earthquake of 1755 the royal family of
Portugal removed their residence to this town,
where they occupied a wooden house. On 3d
September, 1758, king Joseph narrowly escaped
assassination in this neighbourhood. The town
was founded by king Emanuel, and contains,
besides the royal palace, an hospital for decayed
noblemen, and a rich monastery of Hieronymites,
the church of which encloses the tombs (n many
kings and princes of the royal femily.
BELEMNITE, in mineral conchology, a
species of fossil organic remains, occurring in
cnalk formations, but very sparingly in the
upper beds of that substance. It is, however,
abundant in the beds immediately below the
chalk : its form is cylindrical, pointed at one end,
and having a conical hollow at the other. The
animal is considered to have belonged to the tes-
taceous molluscs, and to have been contained in
a muHilocular univalve shell ; but the fossil does
Hot present itself in a sufficiently perfect state to
furmsh an accuiate knowledge or iu form. Its
substance is fibrous carbonate of lime, radiating
perpendicularly ftom the axis of the eylittdrical
body. 1b the discritts in which they are kmsA
tfcey have been vul^ly called thunderbolte.
BELEM'NlTfiS, n. f . From jSeXoc, a dart or
arrow, because of its resemblance to the point
of an arrow. Arrowhead, or finger-stone, of a
whitish, and somethnes a gold ccSor. See Be-
LEMNITE.
BELEMNOIDES, or Helenwoides, in
anatomy ; from ptkOQ a dart, and hSoq ft)rm ; the
shooting fbrtli of the bone called alifbrmis, which
is the sixth in the basis' of the scull.
BELENNUS, in ichthyology, the name of a
small anguiliform fish, called by some biennis.
It is a sea fish, and very scarce. It approaches
much in figure to the English bull-head, or mil-
ler's thumb, the cottus of authors.
BELENUS, in mythology, a name which the
Gauls gave to the sun, which they also called
Mithra ; and, as some suppose, the same with
the Baal of Scripture, and the Belus of the As-
syrians.
BELERIUM, in ancient geography, a pro-
montory of the Dumnonii or Damnonii, the west-
most Britons. It is now called the Land's End,
in Cornwall.
BELESIS, or Nak y brus, said by some ancient
historians to have been the founder of the Baby-
lonish empire, and, in conjunction with Arbaces
the Mede, to have put an end to the kin«:dom of
the Assyrians, by the defeat and death of Sarda-
napalus. Belesis is represented both as a hero
and a crafty knave. It is said he was base
enough to endeavour to obtain from his col-
leagues, by treachery, the immense treasures
which had been concealed in the conflagration at
Nineveh. When the secret was discovered , he
was called to an account, and tried by the other
chiefs who had been assistant in the war, and
who, upon his confession, condemned him to lose
hi« head. But Arbaces freely forgave hiro, left
him in possession of the treasure, and also the
independent government of Babylon, saying.
The good he had done ought to serve as a veil to
his crime. Under the successor of Arbaces he
became a man of show and effeminacy; of whom
we hear nothing more that is wortliy of notice.
BELESME, or Bellesme, a town of France,
in the department of the Ome, and ci-devant
province of Perche ; seventy-five miles south-west
of Paris.
BELESTAT, a town of France, in the de-
partment of the Arriege, remarkable for a spring
which regularly (lows and ebbs.
BELEZ, or Belz, a town of Austrian Galicia,
circle of Zokien, not far from the river Bug, with
a castle. It once belonged to Poland, and was
the capital of a circle in Red Russia ; but was
annexed to Austria, at the first partition of Po-
land, in 1772. The town is lai^, but neither
rich nor commercial. It lies in the middle of a
Elain, at the extremity of which is a morass ; the
ouses are of wood, and the only buildings of
note are the churches of the Catholic and Greek
communions. The extensive oak forests in tlie
neigbourhood yield abundance of potash. 148
miles east of Cracow, and 152 S.S.E. of Warsaw.
Long. 24* 12' E., lat. 50° 24' N.
BELFAST, a town of Ireland, on the east
coast of the county of Antrim ; seated on the
Digitized by
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BEL
764 BEL
mouth of the Lagan, at the bottom of Carrickfergus
Bay. It is the chief town and port in this part of
. Ireland, and is connected with the lough Neagh by
means of a canal. Its local situation enables it
to carry on an extensive export trade in butter
and salt provisions, as well |tf in its own manu-
factures of cotton, cambric, sail-cloth, and linen.
Here are also some flourishing sugar and glass-
houses, potteries, distilleries, &c. The govern-
found. He whose trade it is to fband or cast
belU.
Those that make recordert know this, and likewiae
bdfnmdenia fitting the tune of their bella. Bmbm.
BELFRY, Belfredus, is used by militaiy
writers of the middle age, for a sort of tower
erected by besiegers, to overiook and command
the place besieged. Belfry originally denoted a
, ^ , ^ high tower, where sentinels were placed to watch
ment of the town is vested in the marquis of tlie avenues of a place, and prevent surprise from
Donegal, as lord of the castle, the constable of parties of the enemy, or to give notice of fires by
the castle, and twelve burgesses. There is also a ringing a bell. In the cities of Flanders, where
police magistrate. The sister kingdom of Scot- there is no belfry on purpose, the tower of the
land has supplied this town with such a large chief church serves the same end. The word
portion of its inhabitants that it has sometimes belfry is compounded of the Teutonic belly and
oeen called a Scottish colony. The streets are freid peace, because the bells were rung for pre-
broad and regular, and the houses generally of serving the peace. Belfry is now us^ for thai
brick. Among the best of the public buildings part of a steeple wherein the bells are hung. This
are the new church, .the assembly room over the is sometimes called by middle age writers campa-
exchange, and the linen hall, surrounded by a nile, clocaria, and tristegum. It is likewise used
garden. Here also is a good bridge over the for the timber work which susUins the bells in a
Laggan, built of free-stone and consisting of steeple, or that wooden structure to wfaidi th^
twenty-one arches ; and a number of excellent bells in church steeples are fastened.
BELGiE, the ancient inhabitants of Gallia
Belgica, stiled by Csesar the bravest of the Gauls,
being untainted by luxury. See Belgium. The
first migration of the Belgae into Britain took
place at a very early period ; some of the latest
colonies were established here but a short time prior
to the Roman invasion. At that time their mp'm
body inhabited the present Hampshire, Wiltshire,
and Somersetshire. Those on the south coast,
according to Caesar, Com. 1. v. c. 10, had passed
over from different parts, and still retained the
names of the states from which they deseeded.
charitable institutions, to which the gentlemen
of Belfast carefully attend ; also a public libraiy,
and Catholic and dissenting chapelst From its
press occasionally issue scientific works of great
merit, as well as some well-edited newspapers.
In 1798 this town contained only 3107 houses,
and about 18,320 inhabitants. The population
in 1824, inclusive of Ballymacarret, was nearly
double the above number; immcrous streets are
just built, various public buildings efected, and
the public schools are rapidly assuming the
character of a northern university. Above fifly
vessels belong to the port, the united burden of The last by Divitiacus,thekingof the Suessiooes,
which exceeds 8330 tons, and they employ 7200
sailors. The custom-house dues have of late
amounted to £400,000 per annum. Belfast re-
turns one member to parliament ; and is eighty
miles from Dublin, and nine from Carrickfergus.
one of the most powerful Belgic nations of Gaul;
and, having obtained a firm settlement on the
British coast, he continued to exercise his au-
thority on both sides of the channel. The Ro-
mans found in these tribes tlie most powerful
Belfast, a post town of the United States of opponents to their ^arms; and the honor of their
America, in the district of Maine; situated on the final subjugation was reserved for Vespasian,
west side of the Penobscot ; 246 miles from Bos- vvho fought thirty-two battles, and took more
ton, and 591 from Philadelphia. — ^A town of than twenty towns, before he could regard his
Pennsylvania, in the county of Bedford — ^A conquest of them as complete. After this the
township of the United States, in Hancock Romans greatly improvea the country of the
county, district of Maine, on the mouth of the
Penobscot.
Belfast Bay, a bay on the coast of the dis-
trict of Maine, which runs into the land by three
arms.
BELFLOWER, n. s. From bell and flower,
because of the shape of its flower ; in Latin cam-
pana. A plant. There is a vast number of the
species of this plant. 1. The tallest pyramidal
belflower. 2. The blue peach-leaved oelflower.
3. The white peach-leaved belflower. 4. Gar-
den belflower, with oblong leaves and flowers;
commonly called Canterbury bells. 5. Canary
belflower, with orrach leaves and a tuberose root.
6. Blue belflower, with edible roots, commonly
called rampioos. 7. Venus looking-glass bel-
flower, 8cc. — Miller.
BELFORD, a market town in Northumber-
land, north of Wooller, seated on the ridge of a
hill on the Berwick road, twelve miles from
Alnwick, and 319 from London.
BEL'FOUNDER, n. «. From bell and
Beige by their celebrated military ways, the
erection and rebuilding of towns, &c. ; among
the most celebrated of which were Ven» Bd-
garum, the present Winchester, and Aquae Solis,
the modern Bath. See Bath and Wibcmstml
BEL'GARD, n.<. Fr. beUe eganL A soft
glance; a kind of regard; an old word, now
wholly disused.
Upon her eyelids many graces sat.
Under the shadow of her even brows.
Working hdgmrdt, and amorooa letreals.
BELGICA, a town of the Ubii in Gallia Bel-
gica, midway between the Rhine and the Roer :
now called Balchusen, a citadel of Juliers.
Belgica Gallia, or Belgic Gaul, one of
Caesar's three divisions of Gaul, contained be-
tween the ocean to the north, the Seine and die
Mame to the west, the Rhine to the east, bat on
the south at difierent times within difiereDtlimi&
Augustus, instituting everywhere a new oaltitioo
of provinces, added the Sequani and Iklfedi,
Digitized by
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BEL
766
BEL
who till then made a part of Celtic Gaul, to the
Beliric.
BELGINtJM, a town of the Treviri, in Gallia
Belgica : now called Baldenaii, in the electorate
of Triers.
B£LGIUM, in ancient geography, is mani-
festly distinguished from Belgica, as a part from
the whole, by Caesar; who makes Belgium the
country of the Bellovaci; Hirtius adding the
Atrebates. But as the Amhiani lay between the
Bellovaci and Atrebates, we must also add these ;
and thus Belgium reached to the sea, because the
Ambiani lay upon it, and these three people
constituted the proper and genuine Belgse (all
tlie rest being .adventitious, or foreigners); and
were the ancient inhabitants of Beauvais, Amiens,
and Artois. In modem times the name has been
applied by Famianus and others to the whole of
the Netherlands, French, Dutch, and Austrian.
This name was given by the French, during
the revolution, to that tract of country which
was previously called the Austrian Netherlands.
It now forms the southern portion of the king-
dom of the Netherlands. See Netherlands.
BELGRADE, the ancient Alba Graecorum, a
city of European Turkey, the capital of Servia,
seated on a hill a little above the confluence of
the Save and the Danube ; which near this city is
Tery rapid, and the water singularly white. Bel-
grade was formerly large, strong, and populous,
mirrounded with a double wall, flanked with
towers, and defended by a castle, built with square
stones. The suburbs are still very extensive, and
the appearance of the place is imposing. The
dilapidated walls of the fortress enclo.<(e the prin-
cipal mosque, and the residence of the pacha, or
governor, of Servia. Between these walls and the
other portions of the town there is a space of
about 400 paces, the best part of which is towards
the north of these building. The market-place
is large ; and, as Belgrade has always been an im-
portant bulwark on the north-west of Turkey, a
strong garrison is maintained here, and most of
the inhabitants consist of the families of the Janis-
saries, who defend it. The whole population is
estimated at twenty or twenty-five thousand;
and when the town was taken by the Austrians,
in 1789, about 7000 of them were soldiers. It
is, indeed, rather a military depot than a trading
city.
In the fifteenth century it was unsuccessfully
attacked by Amurath II. ; but was taken by Soly-
man, the Ottoman emperor, in 15'22. Being re-
taken by the Imperial army, under the elector of
Bai'ana, in 1688, it reverted again to the Turks
in 1690, with whom it remained till August 1717,
when it surrendered to prince Eugene ; and will
always be famous in military history by the bat-
tle fought at this time in its vicinity, and which
was the last grand victory obtamed by that prince.
It then remained in possession of the Austrians
for twenty-two years, during which they were en-
gaged in repairing and strengthening iUi defensive
works. In 1739, however, it was given up to the
Turks, on condition that these should oe de-
molished ; but so important did the possession of
it always appear to the Austrians, that they again
invested it m 1789, under the command of Field-
manhal Laudohn. The suburbs were all canied
sword in hand, and the garrison sorreadered upon
honorable terms. About 300 pieces of artillery,
and vast military stores, were said to be found in
the fortress on this capture. It was again re-
stored to the Turks however, by the peace of Sis-
tova, in 1791, under whom it has since remained.
Long. 20** IC E., lat. 44** 43' N.
BEi/}RADk, a small town of Romania, on the
strait of Constantinople.
Belgraue, a township of the United States,
in Lincoln county, district of Maine, between the
Kennebeck and the Androscoggin.
BELGRADO, a town, late of Friuli, in the
Venetian territories in Italy. It stands near the
river Tagliamento.
BELGRAM, a town in the Nabob of Gude's
territories, twelve miles north-east from Kanoge,
in lat. «7^ 13' N., long. SO*' 3' E. It is of
considerable antiquity, and is still distinguished
by a ruinous fort and moat. Tlie buildings ap-
pear to have been in the best style of Mogul
architecture..
BELIAL, 'jrSa, Heb. i.e. wicked, worthless,
or unprofitable ; a name given in Scripture to
the devil. Thus the inhabitants of Gibeah, who
abused the Levite*s wife. Judges xix. 22, are
styled sons of Belial. Ilophni and Phineas, the
high priest Eli*s eldest sons, are likewise called
sons of Belial, 1 Sam. ii. 12, upon account of
their crimes. And that the name Belial, denotes
the devil, is evident, from what St. Paul says,
2 Cor. vi. 15.
BEUDES,^ in mythology, the fifty daughtea
of Danaus. See Dan aides.
BELIDOR (Bernard Forest de), a Catalo-
nian engineer in the service of France, member
of the Academies of Sciences at Paris and Ber-
lin, and of the Royal Society of London ; he
was a celebrated mathematician, and author of a
number of military tracts, in which the science
of mathematics is applied to military uses. He
died 1765, aged seventy.
BE'LIE, V. a. From be and lie. To coun-
terfeit ; to feign ; to mimic. To calumniate ; to
raise fahe reports of any man. To give the lie
to ; to charge with falsehood. To give a false
representation of any thing. To fill with lies.
Uncle, for heaven's sake, comfortable words.
Should I do so, I should belie my thoughts.
Thou dost belie him, Percy, thou belieet him j
He never did encounter with Glendower. Id,
^Tis slander, whose breath
Rides on .the posting winds, and doth bdie
All comeit of the world. Id. Cymbeline.
Which durst, wirh horses' hoofii that beat the ground.
And martial brass, beHe the thunder's sound.
Drydem,
The shape of man, and imiuted beast.
The walk, the words, the gesture could supply.
The habit mimic, and the mien beiie. Id,
Sure there is none but fean a future state ;
And when the most obdurate swear they do not.
Their trembling hearts bdie their boasUul tongues.
Id,
Tuscan Valerius by force o'ereame,
And not bei^d his mighty father's
Id,
Digitized by
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BEL 766
BEL
Fafaty ^mUhm, jewdi laid and*.
At night Mtroboman agree
The evening ha* theMay My''»
And PhiUifl u tome forty-^uroe. Prior.
In the dispute what'er I aaid.
My heart was by the tongue Adjj^d,
And in my looks you might haTO vead
How much 1 "aignod on your side. Id.
BELl'EVE, V. ^ The old Sax. Isfan, *e-
BELt'EVE, ft. iyfinif is the EDelish to
Beu'ef, uve, to belive. In Pier^s
Belie'ful, Plouhroan to bring forth
BELifi'puLNESs, >your belyoe is to bring
Bel i'ev ABLE, forth that by which you
Belie'ver, live. It was early applied
Belie\^ing, to Christianity, and to re-
Believ'ingly, J ligion, as the revelation of
life; and as ci editing the divine testimony was
the means of life immortal ; that credit was
called life and belife — Whence to believe. It is
now of much more comprehensive import. Be-
lief is credit g:iven to something whicti we know
not of ourselves, on account of the authority by
which it is delivered. It is likewise the theolo-
gical notice of faith ; the creed and body of
tenets held by the proiiessors of ^ith ; to believe
is the act or habit of the mind ; in reference to
all these a believer is one that gives credit to a
testimony ; a professor of Christianity.
I sey to yoa, if ye hav feith and douten not, alle
thinges wfajitevere ye biUevynge ichalen are in
preier, ye schulen take. Wiclif. Matt, xxi. 2.
For with the heart man beUeoeth unto righteousnesf ,
and with the mouth confenion it made unto salvation.
Romam.
Sire, it is Cristas might.
That helpeth folk oat of the fendes snare.
And so ferforth, she gan our lay declare.
That she the constable, or that it were eve.
Converted, and on Crist made him belMe.
Chauem'.
And though that I. unworthy son of Eve,
Be sinful, yet accepteth my Mms. Id.
As he that readeth Caesar's Commentaries, bdieoimf
the same to be true, hath hereby a knowledge of
Cssar's life and notable acts, because he hetieoeth the
history of Cesar; yet it is not properly said, that he
believeth in Cesar, of whom he looketh for no help
nor benefit, even so, he that bdieoeth that all that is
spoken of God in the Bible is true, and yet liveth so
nngodlily, that he cannot look to ei\joy the promises
and benefits of God ; although it may be said that
such a n>pi hath a faith and belief to the words of
God, yet it is not properly said that he belieoeth in
God, or hath such a fkith and trust in God, whereby
he may surely look for grace, men^, and everlasting
life at God's hand. Hamilif on Faith.
' Infidels thMBselves did discern, in matUrs of U£b,
when beUtmen did well, when otherwise. Hooker.
If he which writeth do that which is forcible, how
should he which readeth be thought to do that, which,
in itself, is of no force to work belief, and to sava
luiieoenf Id.
Discipline began to enter into conflict with
churches, ^iriuch« in extremity, had been beUeoert of
it. Id.
And sundry battels, which she had atehieved
With great successe, that her hath glorifide.
And made her famona, more than is Mi'twrf ;
Na would I it hanra ween'd had I not late it prieved.
Sopexstitioiis ptophodca arc nac oaly the tdhf af
fools, but tho talk sometimes of wise men. Bt
Kow God be praia'd, ihat to bOieoit^ lonk
Gives light in darkness, comfort in dei|Nir.
Horatio says, 'tis but our fantasy ;
And will not let belief take hold of him
Touching this dreaded si^t, twioe seen of as. Id
When suddenly stood at my head a dream.
Whose inward apparition gently moved
My fancy to bdioM I yet had being
And liv'd. lOto.
The action is baptizing or immersing in waters ;
the object thereof, those persons of any nation, whom
his ministers can by their instruction and persoasbB
render disciples ; that is, such as do sincerely beiiete
the truth of his doctrine, and seriously resolve lo
obey his commandments. Bmtom.
Adherence to a proposition which they are pea.
saaded, but do not know, to be true, is not seeing,
but beliowtg. Looko,
Though they are, I baUooe, as high aa most steepfea
in England, yet a person, in his drink, fell down,
without any other hmrt than the breaking of an am.
AdAom om Ilalf.
I could not be ao duped, even by the arch-enemy
himself, as to be made to qneation the divine nataie
of those conforta ; but I have been made lo Mmbt
(which yon will say, is being doped still mo««) thst
God gave them to me in derision, and took them
away in vengeance. Cowper's Corretpomdemee. vol. 2.
Belief, in its general and natural sense, de-
notes, 1. A strong assent of the mind to the
truth of any proposition. In this sense, belief
has no relation to any particular kind of means
or arguments, but may be produced by ai^
means whatever. Thus, we are said to believe
our senses, to believe our reason, to believe a
witliess, &c. And hence, in rhetoric, all sorts
of oiooMfs, from whatever topics deduced, are
called irivcic, because apt to produce bdief or
persuasion touching the matter in hand. 2. Be-
lief, in its more restraiaed and tedmical sense,
invented by the schoolmen, denotes that kind of
assent wfaidi is grounded only on the authority or
testimony of some person or persons, asserting
or attesting the truth of any matter proposed .
In this sense, belief stands opposed to know-
ledge and science. We do not say we believe
that snow is white, or that the whole is eooal to
its parts ; but we see and know them to be «>.
That the three angles of a triangle ate equal to
two right angles, or that ail motion is natvially
rectilinear, are not said to be things eradiUe,
but scientifical ; aad the compiefaenaieo of nch
truths is not belief but science. 3. But when
a ^ng propounded to us is neither a|»peieBt to
our senses, fM>r evident to our undes^anding ;
neither certainly to be collected from any olar
and necessary connexion with the cause from
which it proceeds, nor with the efieoto wfaidi it
nalumlly produces; nor is taken up apon any
real arguments, or relation thereof lo other «&>
knowl^ged truths; and yet, notwithstanding,
appears as true, not by manifestation, but by
an attestation of the truth, and moves us to as-
sent, not of itself, but in virtue of a teatimoDy
given to it — this is said to be properiy eiedible;
and an assent to this is the proper notion ef be-
lief or laith.
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767
Believers, in chuToh history, an appellatioD
giyen, towards the dose of the first century, to
those Christians who had been admitted into the
church by baptism, and instructed in all the
mysteries of religion. They had also access to
all parts of divine worship, and were authorised
to vote in the ecclesiastical assemblies. They
were thus called in contradistinction to the ca-
techumens who had not been baptised^ and were
debarred from these privileges.
BEl TKK, } Be and like. See Like.
Bei rKELY, } Belike in our older writers,
and in vulvar speech, at the present day, is used
for it IS likely, probably, perhaps. It is some-
times used in a sense or irony, as it ma} be
supposed.
There came oot of the same woods a horrible fool
bear, which fearing, fte/iAe, while the lion was pre-
sent, came furioosly towards the place where I was.
Lord Angelo, bdike, thinking me remiss in my
office, awakens me with this unwonted putting on.
Shalupeare.
Jos^phus affirmeth, that one of them remained in
his time j meaning, betike, some ruin or fooadation
th* r«»of.
We think, Mike, that he will aecept what the
meanest of them would disdain. Hooker,
God appointed the sea to one of them, and the
land to the other, because they were so grvat, that
the sea could not hold them both ; or else, belike, if
the sea had b>>f n lai^e enough^ we might have gone a
fishing for elephants. Brtrew, on Lrnig,
BELINGELA, in botany, a name given by
some authors to the malum intanum, or mad
apple.
BELIO, in ancient geography, a river of Lu-
sitania, called otherwise Limxas, Limeas, Limius,
and Lethe, or the Hiver of Oblivion : the boun-
dary of the expedition of Decimus Brutus. The
soldiers refusing, out of superstition, to cross,
he snatched an ensign out of the hands of the
bearer, and passed over, hy which his army was
encouraged to follow. He was the first Roman
who ever proceeded so far, and ventured to pass.
The reason of the appellation, according to
Strabo, is, that in a militaiy expedition a sedi-
tion arising between the Celtici and Turduli
after crossing that river, in which the general
was slain, they remained dispersed there; and
from this circumstance it came to be called the
river of Lethe, or Oblivion. It is now called
Lima.
BELISARIUS, general of the emperor Jus-
tinian's army, who overthrew the Persians in the
East, the Vandals in Africa, and the Goths in
Italy. See Rome. But after all his great ex-
ploits, he was fiilsely accused of a conspiracy
against the emperor. The real conspirators had
been detected and seized, with daggers hidden
under their garments. One of them died by his
own hand, and the other was dragged from the
sanctuary. Pressed by remorse, or tempted by
the hopes of safety, he accused two omcers of
the household of Belisarius ; and torture forced
them to declare that they had acted according to
th« secret instructions of their patron. Posterity
will not hastily believe, that a hero, who in the
vigor of life had diadaioed the feiMst offeia of
ambition and levenge, should stoop to the nuider
of his prince, whom he could not long expect to
survive. His followers were impatient to fly ;
but flight must have been supported by rebellion,
and he had lived enough for nature and for
glory. Belisarius appeared before the counoil
with less fear than indignation: after forty years
service, the emperor had prejudged his guilt ;
and injustice was sanctified by the presence
and authority of the patriarch. The life of Be-
lisarius was spared, but his fortunes were se-
questered; ana, from December to July, he was
guarded as a prisoner in his own palice. At
len(^h his innocence was acknowledged, his
freedom and honors were restored, and death,
which might be hastened by resentment and
grief, removed him from the world about ei<;ht
months after his deliverance. That he was de-
prived of his eyes, and i educed by envy to be<;
nis bread, is a fiction of later times ; which has
obtained credit, or rather favor, as a strange
example of the vicissitudes of foitune. The
source of this idle fable may be derived from a
miscellaneous work of the twelfth century, the
Chiliads of John Tzetzes, a monk. He relates
the blindness and beggary of Belisarius in ten
verses, Chiliad iii. No. 88. 339—318. in Corp.
Poet. Gnec. tom. ii. p. 31 1. This romantic tale
was imported into Italy with the laii;<uatre and
MSS. of Greece ; repeated before- the end of
the fifteenth century by Crinitus, PonUnus, and
Volaterranus ; attacked by Alciat for the honor
of the law, and defended by Baronius, A. D.
561, No. 2, &c. for the honor of the church.
Tzetzes himself had read in other chronicles,
that Belisarius did not lose his sight, and that he
recovered his fame and fortunes. The statue in
the Villa Borghese at Rome, in a sitting posture,
with an open hand, which is vulgarly given to
Belisarius, may be ascribed with more dignity to
Augustus in the act of propitiating Nemesis. —
Winkelman't Hitt, de PArt, tom. iii. p. 266.
BELI'VR. adv. bilive. Sax. probably from bi
and hpe, in the sense of vivacity, speed, quick-
ness. Speedily ; quickly : a word out of use.
By that same way the direful dames do drive
Their monrnful chariot, fill'd with rusty blood.
And down to Pluto^s house are come beliee.
Faerie Qveene.
BELK, one of the Serangani islands in the
Eastern seas, high, and with a bold north coast.
It is partly cultivated, and the inhabitants have
plenty of cocoa nuts and yellow wax. It is the
most northerly of the group, which consists of
three, and ties about twelve miles from JVIagin-
danao.
BELL, V. & n.-^ Bel, Sax. supposed by
Bp.l'fry, / Skinner to come m>m pelvis,
Bel'rope, ^ Latin, a basin; Ang.-Sax.
Bel'rimoer. Jbellan, signifies to bellow,
and to sound a bell. A vessel, or hollow
body of cast metal, formed to make a noise
by the act of a clapper, hammer, or some other
instrument striking against it. Bells are in the
towers of churches, to call the congregation
together. It is used for any thing in the form of
a belly as the cups of flowers. &lfry is a tower
where bells are nong.
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BELL.
G«t thee gone, and dig my grave thyself.
And Ud the meny Mb ring to thy ear.
That thoa art crowned, not that I am dead.
Shaitpeare,
Now see that nnble and most sov'reign reason
Like sweet beUs jangled oat of tone. Td,
Am the ox hath his yoke, the horse his curb, and
the faolcon his bdit, so hath man his desires.
Id. Am You Like It.
Where the bee sncks, there sack I,
In a cowslip's heU I lie. Id, Tmpest.
What time the native bdbnan of the night.
The bird that warned Peter of his fall,
First rings his silver beU t* each sleepy wight.
That should their mindes up to devotion call.
She heard a monstrous noise below the hall.
GpeMMT.
The humming bees, that hunt the golden dew.
In summer's heat on tops of lilies feed.
And creep within their beUt to suck the balmy seed.
Drjfden.
He has no one necessary attention to any thing
but the bell, which calls to prayers twice a-day.
Addmn. Spectator.
How too-like is this (cracked) beU to scandalous
and iil-lived teachers! His calling is honourable:
his noise is heard far enough : but the flaw which
is noted in his life, mars his doctrine, and offends
those ears which else would take pleasure in his
teaching. Bi$hop HaU.
When cockle-shells turn siller bdlt.
And muscles grow on every tree.
When frost and snow shall warm us aw.
Then sail my love prove true to me.
Bum's BaOoA.
But the sound of the church-going bdl
These vallies and rocks never heard,
Never sighed at the sound of a knell.
Or smil'd when a Sabbath appeared. Cowper.
To bear the Bell. To be the first; horn the
wether, that carries a heW among the sheep, or
the first horse of a drove that has bells on his
collar.
The Italians have carried away the beU from all
other nations, as may appear both by their books
and works. Hakewett.
To shake the Bells. A phrase in Shakspeare,
taken from the bells of a hawk.
Neither the king, nor he that lovea him best.
The proudest he that holds up Lancaster,
Bares stir a wing, if Warwick thakeM kit beOe.
Skaktpeare.
10 Bell, v. n. from the noun. To grow
in buds or flowers, in the form of a bell.
Hops, in the beginning of August, hdl, and are
aomeUmes ripe. Mortimer.
Bell-fashioned, adj, from bell and fi&shion.
Having the form of a bell ; campaniform.
The thorn-apple rises with a strong round stalk,
having large heU-foMomed flowers at the jointa.
Mortimer.
Bell. The parts of a bell, are the body or
barrel, the clapper, on the inside, and the ear or
cannon, by which it hangs to a large beam of
wood. The matter of which it is usually made
is a composition called bell-metal. The thick-
ness of a bell's edge is usually one-fifteenth
of the diameter, and its height twelve times its
thickness. The best founders have a diapason,
or bell-scale, wherewith they measure the size,
thickness, weight, and tone, of their bells. For
the method of casthig bells, see Foundry.
The theory of the sound of bells belongs pro-
perly to acoustics, but we may here observe,
that the most sonorous bell, according to & paper
by M. Reaumur (Meir- Acad. Par. 1796), may
be formed of the segment of a sphere. The
sound of a bell, says the Campanalogia, arises
from a vibratory motion of the parts thereof,
much like that of a musical chord. The stroke
of the clapper, it is evident, must change the
figure of the bell, and of round make it oval ;
but the metal having a great degree of elasticity,
that part which the stroke drove &rthest from
the centre will fly back t^n, and this even
somewhat nearer to the centre than before ; so
that the two points, which before were the ex-
tremes of the longer diameter, now become those
of the shorter. Thus, the circumference of the
bell undc^oes alternate changes of figure, and
by means thereof gives that tremulous motion
to the air, in which sound consists. M. Per-
rault maintains, that the sound of the same beil,
or chord, is a compound of the sound of the
several parts thereof; so that where the parts are
homogeneous, and the dimensions of the figure
uniform, there is such a perfect mixture of all
these sounds, as constitutes one uniform, smooth,
even sound : and the contrary circumstances
Eroduce harshness. This he proves from the
elFs difiering in tone according to the part you
strike; and yet strike it anywhere, there is a
motion of all the parts. lie, therefore, considers
bells as composed of an infinite number of rings;
which according to their diflferent dimensions,
have difierent- tones, as chords of diflTerem
lengths have ; and when struck, the vibrations
of the part5 immediately struck, determine die
tone ; being supported by a suflldent number of
consonant tones m the other parts. Mr. Hawks-
bee, and others, have found by experiment, that
the sound of a bell struck under water is a
fourth deeper than in the air : though Mersennus
says, it is of the same pitch in lx>th elements.
This writer has treated largely of the' diiiereot
metals of which bells are formed, o^ their fignre»
crassitude, and degrees of ponderosity, as they
respect each other in a given series.
bells are observed to be heard farthery placed
on plains, than on hills ; and still feather m val-
leys than on plains; the reason of whidi it wOl
not be diflQcult to assign, if it be oonsideiedy
that the higher the sonorous body is, the rarer
is its medium; consequently the less impulse it
receives, and the less proper vehicle it has to
convey it to a distance.
The use of bells is very ancient as wdl as ex-
tensive. We find them among Jews, Gredcs^
Romans, Christians, and Heathens, varkrasly ap-
Elied, as on the necks of men, beaMs, biids»
orses, and sheep: but chiefly hung in build-
ings, either religious, as in diurebes, temples^
and monasteries ; or civil, as in houses^ maneis,
and baths; or military, as in camps and frontier
towns. Among the Jews H was ordained, that
the lower part of the blue tunic which the high
priest wore, when he performed certain reltgions
ceremonies, should be adorned with poougraa-
ates and golden bells| intermixed equally sad aft
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769
equal distances. The sacred historian mentions
the use and intent of them in Exod. xxviii. 33 —
35. * It shall be upon Aaron to minister, and
his sound shall be heard when he goeth in unto
the holy place before the Lord, and when he
Cometh out, that he die not.' The sound of the
numerous bells gave notice to the assembled
people that the most awful ceremony of their
religion had commenced. It was a signal, per-
haps, tiiat they should prostrate themselves at
the moment in which the high priest entered the
sanctuary with a vessel of incense, in order that
their prayers might ascend with the column of
fragrance before the throne of heaven. The
kings of Persia, from a remote period, are said
to have had the hems of their robes adorned
like the Jewish high priests with pomegranates
and golden bells.
The poet, Cowper, gives a moral turn to this
circumstance, worth remembering:
With golden bellf , the priestly vMt,
4nd rich pomegnnmtes bordered round,
The need of holiness expressed.
And called for fruit as well as sound.
The prophet Zachariah, xiv. 20, speaks of bells
hung to war-horses.
Among the Greeks, those who went the nightly
rounds in camps or garrisons, carried with them
a little bell, which they rung at each centry-box
to see that the soldiers on each watch were awake.
A codonophorouS; or bell-man, also walked in
funeral processions, at a distance before the
corpse, not only to keep off the crowd, but to
advertise the flamen diolis to keep out of the
way for fear of being polluted by the sight, or
by the funeral music. The priest of Proserpine,
at Athens, called hierophantus, rung a bell to
call tlie people to sacrifice. There were also
bells in the nouses of great men to call up the
servants each morning. Zonaras assures us, that
bells were hung widi whips on the triumphal
chariots of their victorious generals, to put tnern
in mind that th^ were still liable to public jus-
tice. Beljs were put on the necks ot criminals
going to execution, that persons might be warned
by the sound to aVoid meeting so ill an omen,
as the sight of the hangman, or the condemned
criminal. Maggi has given the print of a wretch
whose neck is weighed down oy an enormous
bell, while his back is exposed to the lash of the
hangman.
The responses of the Dodonsan oracle were
doubtless in part conveyed by bells. The de-
scription of It which Strabo has left (lib. vii.),
the iebetes of Virgil, the pelves of Juvenal, and
the tironkut ahem of Ausonius, admit of no other
interpretation. The bells were of copper, and
so suspended round the temple, that one being
struck put the whole in motion ; and, by the
manner in which the sounds died away, the
priestess framed her revelation. Plutarch men-
tions (Symp. xiv.) a bell in the Grecian fish-
markets, which reminds the writer of this article
of an exactly similar construction in the little
«ea-port town of his bird).
Strabo connects with this custom a curious
tftory. A musician being deserted by his au*
Vot. III.
ditoiy in the town of Jassus, found it was the
fish-bell which had attracted them away. One per-
son alone remained, as if decidedlypreferring his
melody. The grateful harper approached, dianked
his hearer for the honor which he paid to the
art, and congratulated him on the superior pu-
rity of taste which prevented him from accom-
panying the rabble, which had vanished at the
first stroke of the bell. *Has the bell rung?'
answered the other, 'alas I I am deaf; good
morning to you !'
Ornamental bells in building, after the manner
of the Chinese, were clearly in use among the
Romans. Pliny (vii. 45, xxxvi. 13,) mentions
the monument of Porsenna as decorated with
Einnacles, each of which was surmounted by
ells. The dream of Augustus transferred a
similar ornament from the portals to the roof of
the Capitoline Jove, (Suetonius, Oct. xci.)
On the origin of church bells, Mr. Whitaker^
in his History of Manchester, observes, that
bells being used, among other purposes by the
Romans, to signify the tiroes of bathing, weie
naturally applied by the Christians of Italy to
denote tne. hours of devotion, and summon the
people to church.
The first application of them to ecclesiastical
purposes is, by Polydore Virgil and others,
ascribed to Paulinns, bishop of Nola, a city oif
Campania, about the year 400. Hence, it is
said, the names Nole and Campanse were given
them; the one referring to the city, the. other to
the country. Though others say they took the
latter of these names, not from their being in- .
vented in Campania, but because it was here
the manner of hanging and balancing them, now
in use, was first practised. It is obvious, that
during the days of early persecution, any public
summous to the meetmgs of Christians would
have betrayed them to their enemies. In Bri-
tain, bells were used in churches before the con-
clusion of the seventh centui^, in the monastic
societies of Northumbria, and as early as the
sixth, even in those of Caledonia. Th^ were,
therefore, used from the first erection of parish
churches among us. Those of France and Eng-
land appear to have been furnished with several
bells. In the time of Clothair II . king of France,
A. D. 610, the array of that prince was frighted
from the siege of Sens, by the ringing of the
bells of St. Stephen's church. The second ex-
cerption of Egbert, A. D. 750, which is adopted
in a French Capitulary of 801, commands every
priest, at the proper hours, to sound the bells of
nis church, and tnen to go through the sacred
offices to God. And the council of Euham, in
1011, requires all the mulcts for sins to be ex-
pended in the reparation of the church, clothing
and feeding the minister of God, and the pur-
chase of cTkurch vestments, church books, and
church bells. These were sometimes com-
posed of iron in France; and in England, as
formerly at Rome, were frequently made of
brass. As early as the ninth century there were
many cast of a large size and deep note. In*
gulphus mentions, that Turketulus, abbot of
Croyland, who died about A.D. 870, g^ave a
great bell to the church of that abbey, wluch be
3D
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BELL.
named Guthlac ; and afterwards six othen, tiz.
two which be called Bartholomew and Betelin,
two called Turketul and Tatwin, and two named
Pega and Bega, all which rang together; the
same author says, Non erat tunc tanta conso-
nantia campanarum in tota Anglia. Not long
after, Kinseus, archbishop of York, gave two
great bells to the church or St. John at Beverly,
and at the same time provided that other churches
in his diocese should be furnished with bells.
Mention is made by St. Aldhem, and William
of Malmesbuiy, of bells given by St. Dunstan to
the churches in the west. The number of bells
in every church gave occasion to a curious
and singular piece of architecture in the cam-
panile or bell-tower ; an addition, which is more
susceptible of the grander beauties of architec-
ture than any other part of the edifice, and is
generally therefore the principal or rudiments of
it. It vras the constant appenaage to every parish
church of the Saxons, and is actually mentioned
as such in the laws of Athelstan. Tlie Greek
Christians are usually said to have been unao-
auainted with bells till the ninth centuiy, when
leir construction was first taught them by a
Venetian. But it is not true Ubat the use of
bells was entirely unknown in the ancient eastern
churches, and that they called the peopl6 to
. church, as at present, with wooden mallets. Leo
Allatius, in his Dissertation on the Greek Tem-
ples, proves the contrary from several ancient
writers. He says bells first began to be disused
among them after the taking of Constantinople
by the Turks; who, it seems, prohibited them,
lest their sound should disturo the repose of
souls, whidi, according to them, wander in the
air. He adds, that they still retain the use of
bells in places remote from the intercourse of the
Turks, particularly very ancient ones in Mount
Athos. F. Simon thinks the Turks prohibited
the Christians the use of bells, rather from poli-
tical than religious reasons, as the ringing of
bells might serve as a signal for the execution of
revolts, &c.
In the dark ^s bells were constantly baptised
and anointed, oleo chrismatis, as well as exor-
cised and blessed by the bishop ; from a belief,
that when these ceremonies were performed, they
had a power to drive the devil out of the air, to
calm tempests, extinguish fire, and even to re-
vive the dead. The ritual for these ceremonies
is contained in the Roman pontifical; and it
was usual in their baptism to give to bells the
. name of some saint, in Chauncey's' History of
Hertfordshire, p. 383, there is a relation of the
baptism of a set of bells in Italy with great ce-
remony, a short time ^before the publication of
that work : and so late as September, 1782, the
St. James's Chronicle contains an account of
the lovers 6f ecclesiastical ceremonies running
in crowds at Paris, to see the ceremony of
christening the new bells of St. Sulpicius, of which
the king and queen, monsieur, and madame, were
the sponsors. The bells of Osney Abbey, near
Oxford, were very famous ; their several names
were Douce, Clement, Austin, Hautecter, or ra-
ther Hautclerif Gabriel, and John. The bells of
the parish church of Winnington, in Bedford'^
shire, had their names cast about the verge of
every one in particular, with these rfaiming hex-
ameters : —
tfomina Campuiis hme indita •vnt quoqne nortm.
1. Hoc signam Petri palsatar nomine Chriali.
2. Komen Magdalen campana lonate melode.
3. Sit nomen Domini benedictom lemper in ervm.
4. Mnta Raphaelit lonatanribiu ImmanneUs.
5. Sam Rosa polsata mandioae Moria vocaCa.
Hte. Fmu 132.
By an old chartulary, once in the possession of
Weever the antiquary, it appears that the beUs of
the priory of Little Dunmow in Essex, were,
A. D. 1501, new cast, and b^tised by the names
5f St. Michael, St. John the Evangelist, St. John
the Baptist, the Virgin Mary, and the Holy Tri-
nity. Weever further mentions, that bells had
frequently this inscription :
Fonera plango, Fnlgora frango, Sabbata pufo,
Exdto lentoB, ditsipo ventos, Paoo cnientoa.
Durandtts mentions six kinds of bells in the
ancient monasteries, viz. Squilla rang in the
refectory; cymbalom in the cloister; n^ in the
choir; ndula or dupla in the dock; campana in
Ae steeple; and signum in the tower. Beledius
has much ^e same; only that for sqnlUa he pots
tintinnahulum, and places the campana in the
tower, and campanella in the cloister. Otheis
place the tintinnahulum or tinniolnm in the
refectory or dormitory; and add another bell
called corrigiuncula, rung at the time of giving
discipline or to call the monks to be flogged.
The cymbalum is sometimes, also, said to have beea
rung in the cloister, to call the monks to meat.
Abroad, bells are found of great magnitude.
In the steeple of the great churcb at £U>Qen in
Normandy tnere was in modem times a bdl with
the following inscription:
Je suit George de Anbois,
Qoi trente dnqne miUe poit.
Met Ini qui me peteia,
Trente six mille me tnovcfa.
I am G«orge of Amboia,
Thittie five thousand in pois ;
But he that ahall weigh me^
ThiTtie six thousand shall find me.
The great bell at St Peter's in Rome weighs
18,607 pounds. In the Palano Vecdiio at Flo-
rence, is one weighing 17,000 pounds; and it is
raised 275 feet fnm me ground. Great Tom, of
Christ Church, Oxford, wdghs 17,000 pounds;
of Xincoln, 9894 pounds. Thebdlof St. Fanl*s,
London, 8400 pounds.
It is a common tradition that the heOs of
King's College chapel, in the university of Cam-
bridge, were taken by Henry V. fipom some
church in France, after the battle of Agineowt.
They were taken down some years ago, and sold
to Phelps, a bell-founder, in Whitedbapel.
The Musurgia Universalis of Kircher deacribei
a bell at Erfurth, which was east in the year
1497| by Gerard Von de Campis, at the eqMBse
of the citizens, the neighbouring priaoes, and
noblemen. Its thickness is a quarter ami half
quarter of an ell; its heiriit ibur elb and dvee
quarters; its exterior periphery foartecfi db and
a half;. and its wei^^t 252 cwt Twentf^ouT
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771
men tre required to ring it, besides two men
who, on each side, push forward the clapper. Its
sonnd is plainly heard at the distance of three
German leagues. Its iundaroeiital note is D sol
re, but it gives also F faut, making a consonance
of a minor third. But from the above account,
Sir John Hawkins (Hist, of Music, iv, 211) has
doubted whether the bell is ever rung at all ; that
b, whether it is elevated by a rope and wheel.
The action of the twenty-four men is obscurely
described ; but the two are plainly employed not
in ringing but in tolling.
A bell in the church of St. Ivan, at Moscow,
weighs 197,836 pounds. But the wonder of
mveUers is the unsuspended bell in the Krem-
bn of tliat city. It was cast in 1653, in the
ceign of the empress Anne, and a fire took place
in the building erected over it. The metal thus
became hot. Sad the water, which fell upon it
while, in this state, occasioned a fracture, by
which it was rendered useless. Dr. Clarke, in
his Travels, has given the following aooount of
it: — * It reaches from the bottom of the cave to
the roof. The entrance is by atiap-door, placed
even with the surfiice of- the eartn. We found
the steps very dangerous ; some of them were
wanting, and. others broken, which occasioned
me a severe fall down the whole exteut of the
first flight, and a narrow escape for my life in not
being dashed upon the bell. In consequence of
this accident, a sentinel was stationed afterwards
at the trap-door, to prevent people becoming vic-
tims to their curiosity. He might have been as
well employed in mending the steps, as in wait-
ing all day to* say they were broken. The bell
is truly a mountain of metal. They relate that
it contains a vory Urge proportion o( gold and
silver; for that, while it was in fusion, the nobles
and the people cast in, as votive offerings^ their
plate and money. It is permitted to doubt the
truth of traditiooary tales, particularly in Russia,
where people are much disposed to relate what
they have lieard, without reflecting on its proba-
lity. I have endeavoured, in vain, to assay a
small part. The natives regard it with super-
stitious veneration, and they would not aUow
even a grain to be filed off. At the same time
it may be said, the compound has a white shinr
ing appearance, unlike bell-metal in general;
and perhaps its silvery aspect has strengthened,
if not given rise to, a conjecture respecting ^e
richness of iu materials. On festival davs, the
peasants visit the bdl as they would a cnurch,
considering it an act of devotion; and they cross
themselves as they descend and ascend the steps.
The bottom of the pit is covered by water, mud,
and large pieces ot timber, which, added to the
darkness, render it always an unpleasant and
unwholesome place, in addition to the danger
arising from the steps which lead to the bottom.
I went frequently there, in order to ascertain the
dimensions of the bell with exactness. We
applied a strong cord close to die metal in all
parts of its periphecy, and round the lower part
where it touched die ground; taking care at the
same lime not. to stretch the cord. From the
piece of the bell broken off, it was ascertained
that we had thus measured within two feet of its
lower extremity. .The circumferen<ie obtained
was sixty-seven feet and four inches; which
allows a diameter of twenty-two feet, five inches,
and one third of an inch. We then took the
perpendicular height from the top of the bell,
and found it correspond exactly with the state-
ment made by Hanway, namely, twenty-one
feet,' four inches and a half. In the stoutest
part, that in which it should have received the
blow of the hammer, its thickness equalled twenty-
three inches. We were able to ascertain this, by
placing our hands under water where the fracture
nad taScen place, which is above seven feet high
from the lip of the bell. The weight of this enor-
mous mass of metal has been computed to be
443,772 pounds; which, if valued at three shil-
lings a pound, amounts to £66,565. 16s. lying
unemployed, and of no use to any one.
In 1684,, Abraham Rudhall, of Gloucester,
brought the art of bell-founding to great perfec-
tion. His descendants in succession continued
tho business ; and by a list published by them, it
appears, that at Lady-day, 1774, the family, in
peals and odd bells, had cast to the amount of
3594. The peals of St. Dunstan*s in the east,
and St. Bride's, London, and St. Martin's in the
Field's, Westminster, are in the number. See
FOUWDRY.
The practice of ringing bells in change, or
regular peals, is said to be peculiar to £n«;land ;
whence Britain has been termed the bell-ringing
island. The custom seems to have commenced
in the time of the Saxons, and was common
before the conquest. The tolling a bell is nothing
more tlian the producing a sound by a stroke
with the clapper against the side of the bell, the
^11 itself being in a pendent position and at
rest. In ryiging, the bell, by means of a wheel
and a rope, is elevated to a perpendicular; in its
motion to this situation the clapper strikes forci-
bly on one side, and in its return downwards on
the other side of the bell, producing at each
stroke a sound. There were in London, for-
merly, many societies of ringers, particularly one
known by the name of the College Youths: of
this it is said the celebrated Sir Matthew Hale,
was, in his youthful days, a member ; and in the
life of that judge, by bishop Burnet, are some
fiicts that at least prove nis attachment to
such exercises. Hingmg has sometimes claimed
the name of a science, and peals have been com-
posed which bear the name of inventors. Some
of the most celebrated of these were composed
about fifty years ago by one Patrick. This man
was a maker of barometers ; in his advertise-
ments he styled himself Torricellian Operator,
from Torricelli, who invented instruments of
this kind. The ancient peiils do not appear to
have exceeded five in number. Holden, in his
Treatise on the natural grounds of Harmony,
remarks, that ' the completest and most perfect
ring is a peal of six, in which, whether ascend-
ing or descending, the hemitone holds the mid-
dle position, as it does in both the natural and
the durum heic^chord ; in the molle hexachord
the tritonus intervenes.' cap. vi. Stowe, in bis
Survey of Comhill Ward, mentions, diat in
1430, a sixth bell was added to the peal of five
3D2
Digitized by
Googl(
772
BELL
in the church of St. Michael ; after which it was
accounted the best ring of bells, forhannony
and sweetness, in all England.
The theory of ringing may be completely
learned from either the Campanologia (of 1733),
or the Harmonia Universalis (the «Latin hot the
French work) of Mersennus, in which he lias enu-
merated and reduced to musical notation, the
changes of the hexachord, or the Tintinnalo-
gia, or Art of Ringing, (1668), in which every
possible change of diatonic sound, from two
Dells to twelve, is laid down ; and innumerable
passages presented wholly new to musical com-
position. This may easily be imagined, when it
IS recollected, that in the simple arrangements of
natural sound, without the intervention of a
single flat or sharp, twelve bells produce
479,001,600 changes. Not all the changes,
however, if reduced into an air, would be equally
agreeable or practicable; and it is somewhat
remarkable, that in tlie art of rinsring, melody
has never been studied. Mechanical order and
succession has been all in all ; and Dr. Bumey,
from whom we borrow the observation, states,
that even in the clams or collision of two bells
together in counterpoint, no knowledge of har-
mony has ever been displayed.
The number of changes upon a given number
4>f bells is readily calculated : Sz 1x2x3^X4
X n. So that the changes upov .
13345
2 bells are 2
3 —
4 —
5 —
6 —
7 —
8 —
9 —
10 —
11 —
12 —
6
24
120
720
5,040
40,320
362,880
3,628,800
39,916,800
479,001,600
Vo peal, beyond twelve, we believe, has ever been
erected. Ihe churches having twelve bells, in
London, are St. Bride's, St. Martin's in the
Fields, St. Michaers Comhill, St. Leonard's
Shoreditch, St. Saviour's Southwark, St. Giles's
Pripplegate, and Christ Church Spitalfields.
In the country, York Minster, Cirencester, Great
St. Maiy's Cambridge, St. Martin's Birming-
ham, St. Peter's Mancroft Norwich, St. Chad's
Shrewsbury, and Payne Church Gloucestershire,
have the same number.
It is calculated that twelve^changes may be rung
in one minute, that is 720 in an hour. On tliis
computation, all the possible cl\anges on twelve
bells could not be rjang in less than seventy-five
year^ ten months, and ten days.
A peal is the whole number of .changes which
can be rungx>n any given number of bells: and
as the style of each peal differs according to the
variation in the succession of these changes, so
each peal is distinguished by a peculiar name,
as times are in psalmody. The peal of regular
permutations on five bells, is called a granosire.
These permutations are represented in the hl-
iowing diagram.
13542
31254
31524
32145
35142
23415
53412
24.351
54321
42531
45231
45213
42513
54123
24153
51432
B 21435
15342
12453
13524
14235
31542
41253
35124
42135
53214
24315
52341
23451
25431
32541
24313
35214
42153
53124
B 41235
51342
14253
15432
12435
14523
21453
41532
24135
45123
42315
54213
43251
52431
34521
25341
35412
23514
53142
32154
51324
S 32145
15234
13254
12543
13245
21534
25143
52413
54231
45321
43512
34152
B 31425
13452
14325
41352
43125
34215
32451
23541
25314
52134
51243
15423
14532
41523
45132
54312
53421
35241
32514
23154
S 21345
12354
12345
The letter B, in the above example, signifies a
•bob, or an alteration in the direction of the
changes. S denotes single; a term used when
half the peal is rung, and, also, when one change
only remains. A plain bob, grandsire bob, or
single bob minor, is the peal of regular permuta-
tion on six bells. A grandsire treble is the same
4)n seven. A bob major the same on eight
Caters the same on nine. Ten in, or bob royal,
the same on ten. Cinques the same on eleven.
Twelve in, or bob maximus, the same on twelve.
In the grandsire treble complete, there ar^ 5040
changes : to ring through which, admitting 720
changes in an hour (a number which cannot be
kept up), seven hours would be required. It is
plain tiuit this is the most extensive complete
peal which can be rung. The next in order,
the bob major, contains 40,320 changes, and
could not be rung even on a light peal in kss
than twenty-four hours, a lengUi of time during
which no eight men could stand to the labor.
These regular clianges, in which the place of
two bells only is altered in each round, are
called plain changes. Whep the place d more
tlian two bells is altered, and the dianges do not
succeed each other progressively, but by inter-
vals, they are called cross changes. >
. Tne bell, the regular motion of wfaidi guides
the rest, is called the hunt, and it is generally
the treble bell. In the above example, thf Bgutt
1 represents the hunt; it moves from Its own
place into the second's place, and so dn till it
reaches fifth's place, whicn is called fanntiiig up
behind. Herts it strikes two blows, called fay-
ing behind a whole pull; and it then hunts back
again in the reverse order, and so on to the end
Digitized by
Googl(
B E 1. L.
773
of the peal. < The first step/ says the Campa-
nologia, * he (the learner) makes in this art, is
to learn perfectly to set a bell, both back stroke
and fo*-e; and to have it so much at his com-
mand, asT that he may be able to cut it down at
either hand (beinj; the sally or back stroke), and
set it again the next pull; without which he can-
not attain to any perfection or knowledge in this
art. And, to make this the more easy to him, he
must observe to keep the rope tight or stiff, to
stand* upright to his bell, not stirring, or using
any ungenteel posture; which in ringing, as well
as dancing, is very ridiculous. When he is mas-
ter of this, he may then try to ring one round in.
three, four, five, or six bells, and afterwards in
eight or ten, wherein, as in all ringing, the princi-
pal thing to be observed is a true and' exact
compass, which in music is cdled time, other-
wise the ringing becomes very unpleasing and
disturbing to the hearers, and may be compared
to the nauseous music of a country fiddle-player
' oefore a company of boors and peasants gomg to
the celebration of a homely country-wedding.'
p. 11.
In the Low Countries, particularly at Ghent
and Antwerp, is a species of chime termed caril-
lons, playea with great labor by a performer,
the carrilloneuT, upon a number of bells, disposed
in a scale of tones and semitones like a harpsi-
chord. The bass is played by pedals ; the treble
by violent strokes of the hands edgeways upon a
series of projecting sticks, which act as keys.
From this barbarous and unwieldy music, the
term carillon has been applied to a small keyed
instrument, imitating a peal of hand-bells, in
which box hammers are made to strike iron bars
of different lengths. Handel employed this
instrument as an accompaniment in his air, ' 0
let the merry bells ring round,' in L'Allegro;
and to the chorus, * Welcome, welcome, mighty
king,' in Saul. See Chimes.
The Famng Bell was anciently rung for two
purposes ; one, to bespeak the prayers of the mi-
nister and all good Christians for a soul just
departing; the other, to drive away the evil
spirits who were supposed to wait about the
^ouse, ready to seize their prey, or to molest and
terrifv the soul in its passage. By the ringing of
this Dell, for Durandus informs us evil spirits
are much afraid of bells, they were thought to
be kept aloof: and the soul, like a hunted hare,
gainea the start, or had what is by sportsmen
called law. Hence, perhaps, exclusive of the
additional labor, was occasioned the high price
demanded, for tolling the greatest bell in the
church. This dislike of spirits to bells is men-
tioned in the Golden Legend, by W. de Worde.
' It is said, the evil spirytes that ben in the
regyon of thayre, doubte moche when thev here
the belles rongen: and this is the cause why the
bells ben rongen whan it thondreth, and whan
grete tempeste and outrages of wether happen,
to the ende tliat the fiends and wycked spiiytes
shold be abashed and flee, and. cease of the
movynge of tempeste.' Lobiueau observes, that
tJie custom of ringing bells, at the approach of
thunder, is of some antiouity; but that the
design was not so much to snake the air and so
dissipate the thunder, as to call the people to
church, to pray that the parish might be pre-
served from disasters.
Legends Concerning Bellas as mtgnt oe ex-
pected, are endless. The bells at Canterburv are
said to have rung of themselves on the murder of
Thomas ^ Becket : but the influence of bells as
exorcists has occasionally failed. The history
and antiquities of Shrewsbury, by Phillips, con-
tains the following item : * Tliis yere 1533
upon twelffe daye in Shrewsbury, The Dyvyll
appearyd in Saint Alkmondp churche there when
the priest was at high masse, with great tempeste
and darknesse, so that as he passyd througn the
churche, he minted up the steeple in the sayde
churche, tering the wyers of the seid docke, and
put the print of hys clawes upon the 4th bell,
and tooke one of the pynnades away with hym,
and for thetyme stayed all the bells in the church-
es within the said towne, that they could ney-
ther toll nor ringe.' It is clear that this is
simply the reference of a tiiunder storm to
diabolical agency. W& are told of a bell of Sl
David, which cured the King of Dublin of a
mortal disease by applying it to his cheek. This
was preserved in the church of Glascwm in Rad-
norshire. It was portable, and endowed with
great virtue. Giraldus Cambrensis says, that * a
certain woman secretly conveved this bell to her
husband, who was confined in the castle of
Raiderswy near Warthrenia, which Rhys, son of
Gruffydd, had lately built, for the purpose of his
deliverance. The keeper of the castle not only
refused to liberate him for this consideration but
seized and detained the bell ; and in the same
night, by Divine vengeance, the whole town, ex-
cept the wall on which the bell hung, was con-
sumed by fire.' A similar bell, called Baogu,
was kept in all Welsh churches during Popish
times. On the day of a funeral, the sexton took
it to the house of the deceased. When the pro-
cession began a Psalm was sung, and the bell-
man sounded the fiangu in a solemn manner,
till the corpse arrived at the church. Within
the memory of living persons this custom is said
to have prevailed in Wales. We must mention
yet one more marvellous bell in Ireland, which,
unless it were tied fast every night, used to
wander far from home into another church 1 We
read also of a comet, which in the time of Pope
Calixtus III. cast upon the Turks all the mis-
chief which it threatened, in consequence of the
ringing of bells, by order of the pontiff, pre-
cisely at noon. Plat, in vita.
We may finally observe (with Stavely, on
Churches,) that anciently and sometimes besides
the befote specified offices, an extraordinary
and dreadful use was also made of bells, and
that was the cursing by Bell, Book, and Candle :
the manner whereof, he adds, I hope, will not be
altogether impertinent here to relate ; out of an
anciert Festival, and the articles of the general
great curse, found at Canterbury, A. D. 1562.
It was solemnly thundered out otice in every
Quarter ; ' The Fyrst Sonday of Advent, at
comyng of our Lord Jhesu Cryst : the fyrst
Sonday of Lenteen : The Sonday in the Feste of
the Trynyte : and Sonday within tilie Utas (Oc-
taves) of the blessed Vyrgin our Lady St. Mary.'
At which action the prelate stands in the pulpit
Digitized by
Googl(
774
BELL.
in his Aulbe, the cross beSbg lifted up before bim
and the candles lighted on both sides of it, and
begins thus, « By authority, God, Fader, Son,
and Uoly-Ghost, and the glorious Moder and
Mayden, our Lady St. Mary, and the Blessed
Apostles Peter, and Pattl, and all Apostles,
Martyrs, Confessors, Vyrgyne, and the tallows
of God ; All thos byn accursed that purchases
writts, or letters of any leud court, or to let the
f>rocesse of tlie law of holy church of causes that
ongen skilfully to christen court, the which
should not be demed by none other law : And
all that maliciously bereaven hoW chirch of her
right, or maken holy chirch lay fee, that is hal-
lowed and blessed. And also all thos that for
inalyce or wrathe of parson, vicare, or priest, or
of any other, or for wrongfuU cove^e of himself
witholden rightful tylfas, and offerings, rents, or
mortuaries irom her own parish church, and by
way of covetyse Ms lyche taking to God the
worse, and to hemself the better, or else torn him
into another use, then . hem oweth. For all
chrysten man and women been hard bound on
pain of deadly sin, not onlyche by ordinance of
man, but both in the ould law, and also in the
new law, for to pay trulydie to God and holy
chirch the tyth part of all manner of encrease that
they winnen trulyclie by tlie grace of God, both
with her travell, and alsoe with her craftes whatsoe
they be truly gotten.' ' And then concludes all
with the curse itself, thus :' * And now by
authoritie aforesaid we denounce all thos accur-
syd that are so founden guyltie, and all thos that
maintaine hem in her sins or gyven hem hereto
eitlier help or councell, soe they be departed froe
God, and all holi chirch : and that they have noe
part of the passyon of our Lord Jhesu Cryst, ne
of noe Sacraments, ne no part of the prayers
among christen folk : But that they be accursed'
of God, and of the chirch, froe the sole of her
foot to the crown of her hede, sleaping and
waking, sitting and standing, and in all her
words, and in all her werks ; but if they have
noe grace of God to amend them here in this
lyfe, for to dwell in the pain of hell for ever
witbouten end: fiat: fiat. Doe to the boke:
quench the candles: ring the bell: Amen,
Amen.' * And then the book is clapp'd together,
the candles blown out, and the bells rung, with
a most dreadful noise made by the congregation
present bewailing the accursed persons concerned
in that black doom denounced against them.* 236.
The uses of bells were summed up in the fol-
lowing distich, as well as one above mentioned :
liaado Deam Tenim, plebem voco, conjuga cierum,
0efoncto8 ploro, pestem fugo, festa decoro.
Bell, in architecture, is used to denote the
body of the Corinthian and Composite capital,
by reason of its resemblance to the figure of a
bell inverted. It is also called vase and tambour,
and sometimes corl>eil. The naked of the bell
should always be even and perpendicular with
the bottom of the flutings of the column. See
Architecture.
Bell, in chemistry, denotes a glass vessel
placed over some matter in a state of exhalation,
either to collect the vapor or gather the flowers.
Chemical bells are a sort of receptacles chiefly
mod. in preparing the oil or spirit of sulphur, for
gathering and cond^^nsing fumes intoa liqiior.
Bell, Diviko. See Divixo.
Bell (Benjamin), member of the Royal Colle^
of Surgeons, and F. R.S. Edinbufgh, was bor«
at Dumfries, in 1749, and after a classical educa-
tion, under the celebrated Dr. George Chapman,
began his medical studies at Edinburgh, in 1766.
About 1770 he'weiA to Paris, and from thence
to London. Mr. Bellxetufned to Edinbnigk
in 1772, with a design of settling there. His
address and dexterity, and the success df his
cures in the infirmary, were soon observed, bat
his fame was not confined to the circle of prac-
tice : in 1778 he published A Treatise on the
management of Ulcers, &c. which soon pa»ed
through several editions, and was occasionally im-
proved by the author. He afterwards incorpo-
rated it into his System of Surgery, of whi<^ Mr.
Bell published the first volume in t783whi6hwas
well received. He completed it in 1788. Before
the year 1801 it had gone through six editions,
receiving, as they came out, whatever improve-
ments his experience oould add : the 7th edition,
considerably improved, was that year published
in 7 vols. 8vo. In the year 1793 Mr. Bell pub-
lished a Treatise on the Gonorrhcea Vimlenta,
and Lues Venerea, 2 vols. 8vo. which passed to
a third edition. In 1794 appeared a more en-
lareed treatise on The Hydrocele, on Saioooele
or Cancer, and other diseases of the Testes, than
what was contained in his System of Sftfgery.
In 1782 Mr. Bell published the first v(^un)e of
a Series of Essays on Agriculture, with a plan
for the speedy improvement of land in Great Bri-
tain ; the 2d volume of which be vras preparing
for the press immediatdy before his death. He
also sent abroad into the worid several anony*
mous political tiacu. Mr. Bell married a
dau^ter of the Rev. Dr. Hamilton, profiessor of
Divinity ; and some years before his death he
was assisted in his professional pursuits by his
eldest son, Mr. George Bell. He made difierent
tours for the improvement^ his health about ibe
year 1800, but nature continued Uyfiiil, and he
expired without any sympton of pain, on 4tk
April, 1806.
Bell (John), an eminent surgeon of Edin-
burgh, delivered anatomical lectures there, and
published some professional works of oonsideiable
lAiportance. Among these are Discourses on the
Nattire and Cure of Wounds, 8vo ; The Anatomy
of the Human Body, 3 vols. 8vo ; Principles of
Surgery, 3 vols. 4to. A few v^un ago be travel-
led to Italy, and dying at Rome in 1820, left
for tile press a work published in 1825 with the
title of Observations on Italy, 4to.
Bell (Henry Nugent), a student of die Innef
Temple, Of considerable heraldic and genalogi-
cal research. His exertions were the mmm of
the recovery of the dormant Huntingdon Peer-
age. He died October 18, 1822, on the day a
verdict was given against him for a sum of money
advanced to him by Mr. Cooke, an engraver, to-
wards the investigation of a claim to an estue.
He published an account of the claim to the
Huntingdon peerage.
Bell (Elizabeth), of Kinvaid, and her friend
Mary Gray, of Lednock, cdebraied in the weQ
known song, Bessy Bell and Mary Gray, wmt
Digitized by
Googl(
BEL
775
BEL
both natives of_PeTthshire, where these estates
are situated.
is recorded
Monedie,
604; and X. 621.
BELLA (Stefano De la), an eminent engraver,
born at Florence, A.D. 1610. His father was a
goldsmith ; and he began to follow that business,
but whilst learning to draw, Callot's prints fell
into his hands ; with which he was so aeliffhted,
that he prevailed upon his father' to permit him
to apply to engraving ; and he became the dis-
ciple of C&nto Gallioa, the instructor of Callot
Bella at first imitated the manner of Callot, but
soon adopted one, his own, which in freedom
and spirit is said even to have surpassed that of
his fellow pupil. He went to Paris A. D. 1642,
where he formed an acquaintance with Israel
Silvestre, and was much employed by Henriete,
Silvestre's uncle. Some time afler, Cardinal
Richelieu engaged him to go to Arras and make
drawings of Sie siege of that town by the royal
army. After staying a considerable time at
Paris, his femily affairs obliged him to return to
Florence ; where he obtained a pension from the
Great Duke, and was appointed to instruct
Cosmo, his son, in the art of design. He was
subject to violent head-aches, which terminated his
life, A J). 1664, when he was only fifty-four years
of age. He drew ver^ correctly, with great taste,
and vast fertility of mvention. The animation
which appears in his works compensates for their
slightness, which we can hardly be surprised at
when we are told that he engraved 1400 plates.
BELLADONA, in botany the trivial name of
a species of Atropa. See Atropa.
Belladona Lily. See Amaryllis.
BELLAI (William du), lord of Langey, a
French general who signalised himself in the
service of Francis I. He was also ad able nego-
ciator, so that the emperor Charles V. used to say,
that Langey's pen had fought more against him
than all the lances in France. He was sent to
Piedmont in quality of viceroy, where he took
several towns from the Imperialists. His address
in penetrating into the enemy's designs was sur-
prising. In this he spared no expense, and
thereby had intelligence of the most secret of the
imperial councils. It being then the interest of
France to favor the king of England, he was
extremely active in influencing some of the
French universities to give meir judgment
agreeable to the desire of Henry VIU. on the
subject of divorcing Queen Catharine. He was
sent several times mto Germany to the princes
of the Protestant league, and vras made a knight
of the order of St. Michael. He was also a man
of learning, and composed several works; the
most remarkable of which was the History of his
Own Times, in Latin, divided into several parts,
each consisting of eight books ; most of which,
however, have been lost. He died at St. Sapho-
rin, between Lyons and Roan, the 9th January,
1542, and was buried in the chureh of Mans.
BELLAMORESKOY-LEPOROI,aprovince
of Russian Lapland, on the White Sea, whidi is
called in the language of the countiy Bella or
Bidoi More.
BELLAMY (Thomas), was bom at Kingstoor
upon-Thames in 1745, and bred a hosier, became
subsequently a publisher, and also an autho"*.
Among other things, he produced Sadaski, a
novel. Lessons from Life, Miscellanies, and The
Friends, a musical interlude. He was the
original projector and editor of the Monthly
Mirror. He died in 1800.
BELLARDIA, in botany, a genus of plants,
of the class tetandria : order monogynia : cal.
four-cleft: nect. with a four-lobed margin,
surrounding the style: caps, two-celled, two-
partible, many-seeded. One species ; a native
of Guiana.
BELLARMIN (Robert), an Italian Jesuit, one
of the best controversial writers of his time. In
1576 he read lectures at Rome with such ap-
flause, that Sixtus V. sending a legate into
'ranee in 1590, appointed him as an attendant
divine, in case any dbpute should arise in re-
ligion. He returned to Rome, and wa.s 'raised
successively to different offices, till at last, in
1599, he was honored with a cardinal's hat ; his'
acceptance of which, it is said, they were ob-
liged to force, by threatening him with an ana-
thema, in case of refusal. It is certain that no
Jesuit ever did greater honor to his order, and
that no author ever so well defended the Romish
church. Protestants have owned this ; for, during
the space of fifty years, there was scarcely any
considerable divine among them, who did not
fix upon this author for the subject of his books
of controversy. Notwithstanding the zeal with
which he maintained' the power of the pope over
the temporality of kings j he displeased Sixtus V.
in his work De Romano Pontifice, by insisting
that the power which Jesus Christ gave to his
vicegerent was only indirect, and had the morti-
fication to see it put into Uie index of the In-
quisition, though it was afterwards removed. He
left, at his death, one half of his soul to the
Virgin Mary, and the other to Jesus Christ.
BELLASPOOR, a town of Delhi, Hindostan,
on the east side of the Sutubje river, which is
here 100 yards broad. Lat. 31° 35' N., long.
76<> 21' E. It is well built, and exhibits a re-'
gularity not often seen in this part of Hindostan.'
The streets are roughly pa?ed, and the houses
built of stone and mortar. From Bellaspoor,
fertile valleys, though not wide, extend to Bi-
polie ; and it is the residence of the ranny, or
temale ruler of the Calowr territory.
BELLATRIX, in astronomy, a ruddy glittering
star of the second magnitude, in the left shoulder
of Orion. It takes its name from, helium,, war,
as being anciently supposed to have a great
influence in kindling wars, and forming warriois.
BELLE, -V Belle, Fr., from the Latin
Bell'ycue, f belltUf is applied to the female,
Bel'dam, > as beau to the male. Beldwt,
Bel'sire, i now a term of derision and re-
BELL'iBONE.y proach, literally signifies &ir
lady. Bellibone, bonny belle; bonny lass;
BeUvche occurs in Pier's Plouhman. Beldam,
in Ford, simply, as an aged woman; and
Shakspeare applies it to the earth,— shakes the
old beldame earth : he uses it, however, in its
common acceptation. BeUire occurs in Drayton.
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778
BEL
Who this land in aach estate mainuin'd«
As his great belnre Brute from Albion's heirs it won.
DragfUm.
Pan may be proud that ever he begot
Such a hdlibone.
And Syrinx rejoice iht ever was her lot
To bear such a one.
Per. I saw the bouncing heUibone,
Will. Hey, ho. BombeU,
Per. Tripping over the dale alone.
Will. She can trip it very well.
Id. Shepherd's Calendar.
What motive could compel
A well-bred lord t' assault a gentle heUeT
O say, what stranger cau»e, yet unexplor'd^
Could make a gentle hdle reject a lord. Pope,
BELLEAU (Remi), a French poet, bom at
Nogent le Rotrou.' He lived in the family of
Renatus of Lorraine, Marquis of Elbeuf, general
of the French galleys; and attended him in his
expedition into Italy in 1557. This pnnce
highly esteemed Belleau for his courage and
abilities, and entrusted him with the education
of his son, Charles of Lorraine. Belleau was
'one of the seven poets of his time, who were
denominated the French Pleiades. He translated
the odes of Anacreon, but is thought not to have
preserved all the natural beauties of the original.
His pastoral pieces are most in esteem. He
also wrote an excellent poem on the Nature of
Precious Stones ; he died at Paris in 1577, in
the family of the Duke d'Elbeuf.
BELLE PE NuiT, in botany, a name given
by the French to the flower of the jalap.
BELLEFOREST (Frangis de), a French an-
, thor, bom in Guienne in 1530. He was seven
years of age when he lost his father ; but his
mother, though left in poor circumstances, con-
tributed all in her power to his education. He
was supported some ^ears by the queen of Na-
varre, sister to Francis I. Some time after, he
1 went to study at Bourdeaux, then*at Toulouse,
and at last at Paris ; where he became acauainted
with several men of learning, and was honored
with the friendship of many persons of quality.
He wrote, 1. A Iiistory of the Nine Charleses
of France. 2. Annotations on the Books of St.
Augustine. 3. An Universal History of the
World. 4. The Chronicles of Nicholas Gillet
augmented. 5. An Universal Cosmography.
6. Annals, or a General History of France : and
many other works. He died in 1583.
BELLEGARDE, a strong barrier town of
France, in the defuirtment of the Eastern Py-
renees, and ci-devant province of Roussillon, on
the frontiers of Catalonia. It commands a pas-
sage through the Pyrenean mountains. Early in
the revolutionary war it was taken by Spain, and
stood a severe siege by the French in July and Aug.
1794; but was obliged to surrender at discretion
on the 17th of September to General Dugommier,
who named it Sud-Libre. It is four miles South-
east of Ceret, and fifteen south of Perpigan.
Bellegaede, a town of France, in the de-
partment of the Saone and Loi/e, and late pro-
vince of Burgundy, seated on the Saone, fifteen
miles north-east of Chalons. Long. 5° 10' E.,'
lat. 460 57' N.
BELLEISLE, an island of France, called also
Belle-Is^£-£n-Mer, 115 miles from the coast
of the department of the Moibibaiiy m the ci-
devant Bnttany. It is the largest of the French
European islands, bcmg fifteen miles long and
five broad. It is a mixture of craggy rocks and
fertile 6oil ; but the inhabitants are very poor,
and th^ principal trade carried on in it is the
curing of pilchards. There are three hariwuis in
the island, every one of which is defective, either
in being exposed, shallow, or dangerous of en-
trance. Its chief town is Le Ptdais, besides
which it contains three county towns, 103 rillages,
and about 5000 inhabitants. In 1742 it was
erected into a duchy, in favor of Marshal
Belleisle. The town of Palais has a citadel
fronting the sea, fortified principally by horn-
works, provided with twd dry ditches, the one
next the counterscarp, and the other so contrived
as to secure the interior fortifications. This ci-
tadel is divided from the laiger part of the town
by an inlet of the sea, over which there is a
bridge of communication. In this stale was the
island in 1761, when an expedition was under-
taken against it by a British fleet, under tht*
command of Commodore Keppel, having on
board a considerable land force, commanded by
General Hodgson. The fleet sailed from Spit-
head on the 29th of March, and arrived bemre
Belleisle on the 7th of April. The attempt to
land was made in three places with {vreat reso-
lution ; but die British were at last rnralsed,
with the loss of 500 men. It was not before the
25th of April that the weather allowed a second
attempt, which was successful, though the as-
sailants had many obstacles to encounter. The
French were driven into Palais, and (aett die
chevalier de St. Croix, a brave and experienced
officer, resolved to hold out to the last extremity.
It was not till the 7th of June that he capitu-
lated, and the garrison marched out with the
honors of war. At this siege the marine corps,
then newly formed, gave the first signal prooCi
of that intrepidity, discipline, and fideli^, for
which they have ever since been so mndi dis-
tinguished. Tlie island was restored to the
French by the treaty of 1763. Long. 3** C W.,
lat. 47*» 18* N.
Belle-Isle, an island of North America,
lying at the mouth of the strait between New
Britain and the north end of Newfoundland;
whence the passage between them is called the
Straits of Belle-Isle. The bland is twenty-one
miles in circuit, and the nearest land of the La-
brador cbast is sixteen miles distance. It has a
harbour for fishing vessels, and a cove which
will admit shallops. Long. 55° 15' W., lat. 51'
58' N.
BELLENDEN, or Ballantine (William), a
Scottish writer, who flourished in the beginning
of the seventeenth century, was professor of hu-
manity, 01 belles-lettres, at Edinburgh, and
master of the requests to James I. of Eoglaod.
But both appointments are supposed to have
been only nominal, since he appears to hare re-
sided almost constantly at Pans, where, by the
favor of his sovereign, he was ensdbled to live in
easy circumstances. There be published in 1 608
hjs Cicero Princeps, a singular work ; in which
he extracted, from Cicero*s writings, detached
passages respecting monarchial government, with
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777
BEL
the line of conduct to be pursued, and the virtues
proper to be encouraged by the prince himself.
This treatise, when finished, he dedicated to
the son of his master, Henry, Prince of Wales.
In 1612 he published a work of a similar nature,
called Cicero Consul, Senator Senatusque Ro-
manus. He now conceived a plan of a third
work, Dc Statu prisci Orbis, which was to con-
tain a history of the progress of government
and philosophy, to their various degrees of im-
provement under the Hebrews, Greeks, and
Romans. He proceeded so far as to print a few
copies of this work in 1615, when it was
suggested to him that his treatises De Statu Prin-
cipis, De Statu Reipublics, and De Statu Orbis,
being on subjects so nearly resembling each
other, there might be a propriety in uniting them
into one work, by republisning the whole under
the title of Eiellendenus de Statu. With this
view he recalled the few copies of his last work,
and the three treatises appeared together under
the new title in 1616. These pieces were re-
printed by the late Dr. Parr. He inscribed
them to IVfr. Burke, Lord North, and Mr. Fox,
whose talents and virtues he celebrates in a
preface of seventy-six pages, and enters upon a
very free and bold discussion of public men and
measures, undernames borrowed from antiquity.
Bellenden wrote another work, published after
his death, De tribus Luminibus Romanorum,
whom he conceives to be Cicero, Seneca, and the
elder Pliny. Dr. Middleton has been charged
with borrowing not only tlie matter, but the ar-
rangement, of his Life of Cicero, from Bellenden,
without the least acknowledgment.
BELLENDENA, in botany, so called by Mr.
Brown, in honor of John Bellenden Ker, Esq. a
scientific botanist ; class tetrandria, order mono-
gynia : natural order proteacese. Its essential
characters are : pet. four, regular and spreading :
COR. white, and soon falling: stam. inserted
into the receptacle : germ, two-seeded : stig.
simple : CAPS, without wings, not bursting :
SEEDS one or two. 1. B. montana, mountain
bellendena. — ^Ihe only known species; found
by Mr. Bro^n on the mountains ot Van Diemen^s
land, but as yet unknown in our gardens. This
is a perfectly smooth shrub : the leaves are scat-
tered, flat * three-cleft at the extremity : flowers
scattered, rarely in pairs: seed-vessel colored,
furrowed along one edge.
BELLER, Bella Y, or Belley, a town of
France, in the department of the Ain, and capital
of the ci-devant district of Bugey ; seated near
the Rhone, among the hills, on the borders of
Mont Blanc, twelve or sixteen miles north-west
of Chamberry, and 250 south-^ast of Paris.
BELLEROPHON, or Bpllerophontes, in
fabulous history, the son of Glaucus, king of
Epirus, happening accidentally to kill his brother,
he fled to Proetas, king of Argos, who gave him a
hospitable reception : but SUienobea, his queen,
falling in love with him, and finding that nothing
could induce him to injure his bene&ctor, she
accused him to her husband of an attempt to
violate her honor. Prtftus, however, not willing
to infringe the laws of hospitality, sent him to
lobates, king of Lysia, and father of Sthenobea,
with letters desiring him to put him to death ;
whence the proverb, Bellerophontis Hteras aflferet,
equivalent to carrying the letters of Uriah. Iliat
prince, at the receipt of these letters, was cele-
brating a festival, wnich prevented Bellerophon's
destruction. lobatcs, however, sent him m the
mean time to subdue the Solymi, the Amaions,
and Lysians, and thought to get rid of him by
exposing him to the greatest dangers ; but by his
prudence and courage he came off victorious,
lobates next employed him to destroy the Chi-
mera : when Minerva, or, according to others^
Neptune, in consideration of his innocence, fur-
nished him with the horse Pegasus, by whose
assistance he killed the Chimaera. lobates, on
his return, being convinced of his truth and in-
tegrity, and charmed with his heroic virtues
gave him his daughter Philonoe in marriage,
and declared him his successor; which when
Sthenobea heard, she killed herself. Bellerophon
at length growing vain with his prosperity, re-
. solved, by the assistance of Pegasus, to ascend
the skies ; when Jupiter checked his presumption,
by striking him blind ; on which he fell down
to the earth, and wandered till his death in con-
tempt and misery : but Pegasus mounting into
heaven, Jupiter placed him among the constel-
lations.
Belles Lettres. — Of the meaning of this
term no precise definition has yet been given.
It appears to be a vague designation, under
whicn every one may include whatever he pleases.
Sometimes we are told, that by the belles lettres
is meant the knowledge of the arts of poetiy and
oratory; sometimes tnat the true belles lettres
are natural philosophy, geometry, and other
essential parts of learning ; and sometimes that
they comprehend the art of war, by land and
sea. In treating on the belles lettres, some even
talk of the use of the sacraments, &c. See
Rollin on the Belles Lettres. Some comprehend
under the term all those instructive and pleasing
sciences which occupy the memory and the
judgment, and do not make part either of the
superior sciences, or of the polite arts (see Arts),
or of mechanic professions, hence they make
history, chronology, geography, genealogy, bla-
Eoury, philology, &c. the belles lettres. In a
word, it were an endless task to attempt to
enumerate all the parts of literature which dif-
ferent learned meu have comprehended under
this title.
BELLEVILLE, a town of France, in the de-
partment of the Rhone, and ci-devant district of
Beaujolois, seated near the Saone. Wine is its
principal article of commerce.
BELLEVOIS, .painter of sea-pieces, is known
through all parts of Europe, though no parti-
culars have been handed down concerning his
life. He died in 1684. His subjects are views
of havens, sea-ports, shores, calms, and storms
at sea. In his calms he shows peculiar excellence.
His pictures are often in public sales ; and those
of his best style are sold pretty high.
BELHEIM, a large market town in the circle
of the Rhine, and district of Spire, subject to
Bavaria. The population, which amounts to
1500, is partly Catholic, partly Calvinistic, and
partly Lutheran. The first two persuasions have
churches.
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778
BEL
B£LLICA Cohvu^k, in antiquity, a column
n^ar the temple of Bellona, from which the
consuls or feciales threw javelins towards the
enemy's country, by way of declaration of
war.
BELU'CAL, -\ Latin, helium, belliaon,
Belli'cous, f warlike; waging war. Old
Belli'que, i Douglas introduces, in his
Belli'gerekt. J translation of the £neid, the
word bellicai in the sense given. Feltham, in
his Resolves, denominates Cssat ' the bellique
C«sar/
Never mind, brother Toby, he would say, by God's
Uessiag we shall have. another war break out again
tome of these days ; and when it does the beUigereni
powers, if they woidd hang themselves, cannot keep
OS oQt of the play. 8tem§,
BEIXICULI, or Bellirxci Marin i, among
naturalists, denote a species of sea-shells of an
umbilical figure, sometimes of a white color,
spotted with yellow ; and sometimes of a yellow,
sbreaked with black lines.
BELUDUFF, an ancient tumulus, in the
parish of Meigle, Angus-shire, which tradition
says is the spot where Macbeth fell. At some
distance, a stone of granite, twenty tons in
weight, stands almost erect, to commemorate, it
is said, the death of one of his genemls. ' But,
(Dr. PlayflBdr, who records this tradition, observes
them, that he wrote to the republic, ntresting
them .to send him. Bellini accordin^y went to
Constantinople, where he executed many excel-
lent pieces. Amongst the rest, he painted the
decollation of St. John the Baptist, whom the
Turks revere as a great prophet Mahomet ad-
mired the proportion andf shadowing of the work ;
but he remarked one defect in regard to the dun
of the neck, from which the head was separated ;
and, in order to prove the truth of his observation,
he sent for a slave and ordered his head to be
struck off. This sight so shocked the painter,
that he could not be easy till he had obtained his
dismission ; which the grand seignor granted,
and made him a present of a sold chain. The
republic settled a pension upon him at his return,
and made him a knight of St Mark. He died
in 1501.
Bellini (John), brother to Gentil, painted
with more art and sweetness; and died in 1512,
aged ninety.
Bellini (Laurence), an eminent phyaidan,
bom at Florence in 1643. After haying finished
his early education, he went to Pisa, where he
was assisted by the generosity of the grand duke
Ferdinand II. and studied under two of the most
learned men of that age, Oliva and BoreUi. At
twenty years of age he was chosen professor o^
philosophy at Pisa, but had acquired such a repu-
tbat) that tyrant, it is more probable was slain at tation tor his skill in anatomy, that the grand
Lumphanan, in the Meams.
BELLIE, from Beul aith, Gaelic, i. e. the
mouth of the Ford ; a parish of Scotland, situated
in Banf|[shire (except the tovm of Fochabers,
which lies in the county of Murray,) extending
duke procured Tiim a professorship in that sci-
ence. This prince was often present at his lec-
tures. About thirty years after, Bellini, now in
his fiftieth vear, accepted of an invitation to
Florence, where he practised physic widi great
from north to south about six miles, and from success, and vns advanced to be firat physician
east to west nearly four, on the left bank of the
river Spey.= It contains about 1900 inhabitants.
The soil IS abundaiitly fertile in grain, sown grass,
potatoes, and pasturage fi>r cattle. Among its
spontaneous productions is the rare plant, called
aatyrium repens. The town of Fochabers lies
on the other side of the river, and the parish
church is now buih there. A handsome bridge
has been thrown over the Spey at this place by
the duke of Gordon. On a rising ground st(ln(U
Gordon Gastle, the seat of the duke of Gordon,
the front of which is 568 feet in length. Near
this place the duke has a capital salmon fishery
OB the Spey.
BELLING, applied to hops, denotes their
opening and expanding to their customaiy shape,
supposed to bear some relation to that of a bell.
Hops blow towards the end of July, and bell the
latter end of August or the begimiing of Sep-
tember.
BELLINGHAM'S Bitr is on the west coast
of America, in the gulf of Georgia, extends from
north to south about twelve miles, and has every-
where good anchoraffe. The bordering shores
to the grand duke Cosmo III. He wrote is
Latin: 1. An Anatomical Discourse on the
structure and use of the Kidneys. 2. A Speech
by way of thanks to the serene duke of Tuacany.
3. Of the Urine and Pulse, of Blood-letting,
Fevers, and Diseases of the Head and Breasts. 4.
Several Tracts concerning urine^ the motion of die
heart, and bile, &c. He died January 8th, 1703,
His works were read and explained publicly,
during his hfe, by the femous Scotch physiciaD,
Dr. Pitcaim, of Leyden.
BELLINZONA, a district of Switzerland, on
the east bank of the Ticino. It has for boundaries
the country called the Gray League of the Ori-
sons, the lake of Como, and the districts of
Riviera, Locarno, and Lugano, containing 530
square miles, 46,000 inhabitants, and tfventy
parishes. On the re-organisation of the Swiss
republic in 1798, Bellinzona constituted for some
time an independent canton, but was formed in
1801, along with the other Italian districts of
Switzerland, into the canton of tEe Ticino, of
which the town of Bellinzona is capital.
Bellinzona., a town of Switzerland, formeiiy
are high and rocky, but the interior consists of the capital of the preceding district, and now of
beautiful lawns.
BELLINI (Gentil), a Venetian painter, bom
in 1421. He was employed by the republic of
Venice : and to him and his brodier John, the
Venetians are indebted for the beautiful paint-
ings which are to be seen in the councit^hall.
Mahomet II. emperor of the Turks, having seen
some of his performances, was so struck with
the dmton of the Ticino, is at the extremity of a
valley of the same name, where two projecting
rocks leave only sufficient room for the coarse <?
the Ticino, and the road to Milan. Hie town is
built on these rocks, and forms the main rnss on
the Italian side of nount St. Gothaxd. It con>
tains 1500 inhabitants, an old 'citadel (fomeriy
the residence of the governor of the district;, a
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779
BEL
collegiate charch, and tfkree convents. It is well
built, has its own magistrates, and is much bene-
fited by the contimi^ passage of merchandise
between Switzerland and Italy. It suffered much
in the campaign of the French and Russians in
1 799. Twenty-five miles S. S.W. of Como, and
forty south of Zurich.
BELXIRICI Marini See Belliculi.
BELLIS, in botany, the daisy ; a genus of the
syngenesia order, and the polygamia superflua
class of plants ; ranking in the natural method
under the forty-ninth order, composite discoides.
The receptacle is naked and conic ; there is no
pappus ; the calyx is hemispherical, with equal
scales; and the seeds are ovated. There are
three species, and many varieties. 1. B. annua,
with leaves on the lower part of the stalk, is a
low annual plant growing naturally on the Alps,
and the hilly parts of Italy. 2. B. hortensis, the
garden daisy, with a large double flower.. 3. B.
perennis, U.e common daisy, with a naked stalk,
and one flower, grows naturally in pasture lands
in most parts of Europe. It is often a trouble-
some weed in the grass of gardens, and so is
never cultivated.
Bellis Major. See Chrysanthemum.
BELLI UM, in botany, bastard daisy ; a genus
of plants of the class synsenesia, order polyga-
mia superflua. Generic character is receptacle
naked; seeds conical; crown paleaceous^ of
ei^ht leaves; 9wned, and furnished with a pap-
pus : leaflets of the calyx equal. It is a genus
allied to bellis, containing two species, one of
which is a native of Italy, and the other of the
Levant.
Bell-metal, a composition of tin and cop-
per melted together, which is more sonorous
than e\ther of these ingredients taken apaM. The
ordinary proportion is about twenty-two or
twerjiy-three pounds oftin to 100 pounds of cop-
per ; though it varies according to the size of the
bells ; a greater quantity of copper being used in
the greater bells than in the smaller. Some add
lead and brass, others zinc or spelter. Though
tin is specifically lighter than copper, yet the
gravity of the compound is greater than that of
copper. Some speak of a native mineral under
the denomination bell-metal, from which Becher
a£Srms he procured zafier and smalt. See Che^
MISTRY.
BELL-MUSCHUS, in botany, a name given
by some authors to the plant called bamia mos-
chata, the mosch seed.
BELLON, a distemper common in countries
where they smelt lead ore. It is attended vrith
languor, intolerable pains and sensations of gri^*
ping, and generally costiveness. It frequently
proves fatal. Beasts, poultry, &c. as well as
men, are subject to this disorder: hence the term
Bellon uround, for the space round the
smelting l^ouses^ beoiuse it is dangerous for an
amimal to feed upon it.
Blllon, or BcLLONius (Peter), a celebrated
French physician, bom at Caen, in NormaQdy»
was the author of many tracts on botany, natuial
history, &c. and gave name to the genus of
plants called Bellonia.
BELLONA, in Pagan mythology, the goddess
of war, is generally r^onedthe sister of Mars;
some lepiesent her as both his sister and wife.
She is said to have been the inventress of the
needle; and from that instrument is supposed to
have taken her name. BiXov^, a needle. She
was of a cruel and savage disposition, and is
commonly represented in an attitude expressive
of fury; her hair composed of snakes, clotted
with gore, and her garments stained with blood :
thus she drives the chariot of Mars, with a bloody
whip in her hand ; or sometimes holding a light-
ed torch or brand; at others a trumpet She
had a temple at Rome,near the circus Flaminius,
before which stood the column of war, from
whence the consul threw his lance when he de-
clared war. She was also worshipped at Cu-
mana, in Cappadocia: and Camoen observes,
that in the time of the empe-
ror Severus, there was a tem-
ple to Bellona in the city of
York* This goddess is repre-
sented on m^Uds of the Brutii^
&c. as in the annexed figure,
with a shield in both her
hands, and a spear resting on
her shoulders.
BELLON ARII, in antiquiw, priests of Bel-
lona. The bellonarii cut and mangled their
bodies witn knives and daggers, to pacify the
deity. In this they are singular, that they offered
their own blood, not that o£ other creatures, in
sacrifice. In the fiiry and enthusiasm wherewith
they were seized on these occasions, they ran
about raging^ uttering prophecies, and foretell-
ing slau^ter, devastations of cities, and revolu-
tions of states : whence Martial calls them turbai
en^eata Blouse. In alterwtimes they seem to
have abated much of their zeal, and to have
turned the whole into a kind of farce, content-
ing themselves with making signs and appear-
ances of cutting. Lampridius tells us, the
emperor Commodus, out of a spirit of cruelty,
turned the &rce again into a tragedy, obliging
them to cut and mangle their bodies really.
BELLONIA, in botany, a genus of the mono-
gynia order, and pentandria class of plants.
The characters are, the flower is wheel-shaped,
of one leaf with a short tube, but spread open
above, and cut into five obtuse segments; it nas
five stamina, which close together ; the germcD
is situated under the receptacle of the flower,
which afterwards becomes an open turbinated
seed-vesBsel, ending in a point, having one cell
filled with small round seeds. Of this genus
there is only one species known, viz. B. aspera,-
or shrubby bellonia, which has a rough oalm
leaf. It is very common in the waraa islands of
America.
BELLORI (John Peter), of Rome, a cele.
brated antiquary and connoisseur : author of the
lives of the modem painters, architects, and
sculptors, and other works on antiquities. He
died in 1696.
BELLOVACI, a people of Gallia Belgica^
reckoned the bravest of the Beige ; who anciently
possessed that part of France called Beauvoisis,
nefore the revolution in the isle of France.
BEL'LOW, ^ Ang.-Sax. hlowan ; a low-
Bel' LOWER, >ing; a lond roaring noise,
Bellow'ing. 3 like a bolU 9r like the sea in
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BELLOWS.
a stonn; any continued noise that may cause
terror.
Till, at the last, he heard a dreadful soond.
Which thro' the wood loud beUowmg did rebound.
Jupiter became a bull, and heOowed; the green
Neptune a ram, and bleated. ShaMtpean.
He fastened on my neck, and beUaw'd out.
As he'd burst heaven. Id.
The rising rivers float the nether ground ;
And rocks the bellowing voice of boiling seas rebound.
Dryden,
What bull dares bellow, or what sheep dares bleat,
Within the lion's den ? Id,
But now the husband of a herd must be
Thy mate, and beUowing sons thy progeny. Id,
The dull fat captain, with a hound's deep throat.
Would bellow out a laugh in a base note. Id,
This gentleman is accustomed to roar and bellow so
terribly loud, that he frightens us. Tail^,
Bellows are properly defined a machine, so
contrived as to expire and inspire the air by
turns, by enlarging and contracting its capacity.
This machine Is used in chambers and kitchens,'
in forges, funiaces, and foundries, to blow up
the fire: it serves also for organs and other
pneumatic instruments, to give them a proper
degree of air. All these are of various construc-
tions, according to their different purposes ; but
in general they are composed of two flat boards,
sometimes of an oval, sometimes of a triangular
figure. Two or more hoops, bent according to
the figure of the boards, are placed between them ;
a piece of leather, broad in the middle, and nar-
row at both ends, is nailed on the edges of the
boards, which it tlms unites together ; as well as
on the hoops whioh separate the boards, that the
leather may the easier open and fold again:
a tube of iron, brass, or copper, is fastened to the
undermost board, and there is a valve within
that covers the holes in the under board, to keep
in the air
Anacharsis, the Scythian, is said to have been
the inventor of bellows. Their action bears a near
affinity to that of the lungs ; and what we call
blowing in the latter, afTorels a good illustration
of what is called respiring in the former. Ani-
mal life itself may on some occasions be subsisted
by blowing into the lungb with a pair of bellows.
Dr. IIooke*s experiment is remarkable : having
laid the thorax of a dog bare, by cutting away
the ribs and diaphragm, pericardium, &c. and
having cut off the aspera arteria below the epi-
glottis, and bound it on the nose of a bellows, he
found, that as he blowed, the dog recovered, and
as he ceased, fell convulsive ; and thus was the
animal kept alternately alive and dead above the
space of an hour. There are bellows made wholly
of wood, without any leather about them ; one
of which is preserved in the repository of the
Royal Society ; and Dr. Plot describes another
in the copper-works at Ellaston in Staffordshire.
Bellows are in constant use among the apparatus
of the Royal Humane Society, for the recovery
of the apparently drowned : and will enable any
intelligent person to inflate the lungs, and by
ocouional pressure on the breast to imitate the
action of natural breathing.
For the great operations of metallurgy, such as
are of uncommon construction, and great'power,
are found necessary, and have generally assume
the name of Blowing Machines, which see.
Chinese Bellows consist of a box of woor:
about two feet long, and one foot square ; thouirl
the machine may be made of any requisite dimen
sions. The opposite boards are exactly paralle
to each other, smooth, and varnished both on tb*
outer and inner sides. A thick square hoard o
wood, which exactly fits the internal cavity of th<
box, is pushed baickwards and forwards, froir
end to end of the box, by means of a cylindrical
rod of wood, which comes out at an aperture
in the centre of one end of the box, and in ordei
to make the rod move steadily, and prevent the
escape of air, the aperture through which the rod
passes has a wooden tube projected from it to
the distance of a little more than an inch. For
the conveniency of pushing the rod backwards
and forwards, its extremity is furnished with a
handle, or cross bar of wood, like the head of a
gimlet, by which it can be laid hold of. In the
bottom of the box, at each end, there is a small
conical or plug valve, concealed in the upper
board of the box. The two valves below admit
air alternately into the box, while the valves
above alternately discharge the air; and, at the
same time, the valves prevent tlie air from return-
ing the same way it had once passed. The upper
board is double, and the space betwixt them
serves as a reservoir in which the accumulated air
is condensed. Into the side of this reservoir,
between the boards, a metallic pipe is inserted,
which conducts the air, in a constant stream, into
the furnace or forge. It is evident that if the
movable board or piston, within the box, be
pushed by the rod from the end next the handle
to the opposite end of the box, all the air in the
box will he forced up through the valve above
that end of the box ; while the under valve at
tliat edd will shut, and prevent its escape down-
wards : at the same time new air will rush in
through the under valve next tlic handle, and
again fill the box. By pulling out the rod, the
movable board or piston will be drawn in the
opposite direction, and all tlic air in the box will
now be forced up through the upper valve next
the handle, into the reservoir, and from thence,
as it cannot escape by the opposite valve, rush
through the metallic pipe into the furnace. Thus
these valves, by opening and shutting alternately,
as long as the piston or movable board is pushed
or drawn by the rod, backwards and forwards,
from end to end of the box, a constant and pow-
erful stream of air will be blown into. the furnace.
The above description is copied from a machine
of this sort, which the ingenious Dr. lind, of
Windsor, brought from Canton, in China. By
its help he could melt pig-iron in a smaU fur-
nace, consisting of an Austrian crucible, fixed oo
a table. Such bellows are neither so costly, nor
so apt to go wrong, as those composed of leiuher.
They may be made of any dimensions, and may
bo wrought by any power as well as that of the
hand. It is surprising that no attempts have
been made to bring them into use in this
country.
. Bellows, Hydrostatic SeellrDRosTiTics.
Bellows of an Organ are commonly six feet
long, and four broad ; each having an aperture
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BELL. ROCK.
781
of four inchps, that the valve may play easily.
There should likewise be a valve at the nose of
the bellows, that the one may not take the air
from the other. To blow an organ of sixteen
feet, there are required four pairs ofthese bellows.
They are wrought by a man called the blower;
and, in small organs, by the foot of the player.
Bellows, Water, a contrivance to save ex-
pense in the fusion of metals, wherein water,
mlling through a lunnel into a close vessel, sends
from it so much air as blows the fire. See Ftjr-
botany. See Capsi-
KACE.
BELL-PEPPER,
CUM.
BELL-ROCK, or Cape, a dangerous ridge of
sunken rocks,, lying about twelve miles east from
the point of Ftfe-ness, and an equal distance south
from Arbroadi harbour, between the openings of
the Friths of Tay and Forth. The ridge extends
about a mile in length, and half a mile in breadth ;
the top of the rock only being seen a few hours
at low water, in spring tides. This rock not only
renders the navigation of the Tay and Forth very
hazardous, but is also highly dangerous to all ves-
sels navigating coast-wise. Every year, formerly,
vessels of great value were wrecked upon it, and
there is season to suspect that many which were
supposed to have foundered at sea, have suffered
on tnis dangerous reef. It is a remarkable &ct
that hardly a single instance has been known of
a vessel being saved which had the misfortune
Jto strike upon this rock. Captain ^rodie of the
royal navy placed a beacon on it some years ago,
but though the greatest care was taken to have it
properly secured, the first storm broke the chains,
and the beacon was driven ashore. Previous to
the erection of the new and noble light-house
now placed here, it was commonly remarked that
even if it were practicable to erect it upon such
a sunken rock, no one would be found hardy
enough to live in an abode so dread and dreary,
and that it would fell to the lot of the projectors
themselves to possess it for the first winter. The
bill appointing commissioners for this-great under-
taking, however, passed both houses of parliament
.ate in the session of 1806. In the folldwing
summer, a vessel was fitted out as a floating-light,
and moored off the Bell-rock. Captain Brodie
had previously constructed a veiy ingenious
model of a cast-iron light-house standing on pil-
lars ; and Mr. Murdoch Downie, author of se-
veral marine surveys, brought forward a plan of
a light-house, to stand upon pillars of stone.
Mr. Telford, the engineer, was also employed in
some preliminary steps, connected with Mr.
Downie's enquiries, but Mr. Stevenson, engi-
neer for the commissioners of the northern light-
houses, modelled the first design, whict^was sub-^
mitted to the opinion and. advice of Mr. Rennie.
This distinguisned engineer coincided with Mr.
Stevenson .in preferring a building of stone, upon
the principles of the ^Idystone light-house.
The Bell-rock LiOHT-uouse is a circular
building, the Ibundation-stone of which is neariy
on a level with the surface of the sea at bw-water
of ordinary spring-tides; and consequently at
high-water of these tides, the building is immer-
sed to the height of about fifteen feet. The two
first or lower coar<e^ of the masonry are imbed-
ded into, the rock, and the stones of all th^
courses are dovetailed and joined with each other^^
forming one cfonnected mass from centre to cir-
cumference. The successive courses of the work
are also connected by joggles of stone ; and to
prevent the stones from being lifted up by the
force of the sea, while the work was in progress,
each stone of the solid part of the builaing had
two holes bored througk it, entering six inches
into the course immediately below, into which
oaken tree nails, two inches in diameter, were
driven, after Mr. Smeaton splan at the Eddystone.
The cement used at the bcU-rock, like that of the
Eddystone, was a mixture of pozzolano, earth,
lime, and sand, in equal parts, by measure. The
building is of a circular form, composed of stones
of the weight of from two torus to naif a ton each.
The ground course measures 42 feet in diameter,
and the building diminishes, as it rises
to the top, where the parapet-wall of the light-
room measures only 13 feet in diameter. The
height of the masonry is 100 feet, but including
the light-room, the total height b 115 fcet Tlie
building is solid from the ground course to the
height of 30 feet, where the entrv-door is situate,
to which the ascent is by a kind of rope-ladder
with wooden steps, hung out at ebb tide, and
taken into the building again when the water
covers the rock; but strangers to thi& sort of
climbing are taken up in a cnair, by a movable
crane projected from the door, from which a
narrow passage leads to a stone stair-case 1 3 feet
in heigfkt. Here the walls are seven feet in
thickness, but they generally diminish from the
top of the stair-case to the parapet-waU of the
light room, where they measure one foot in thick-
ness. The upper half of the building may be
described as divided into six apartments for the
use of the light-keepera, and for containing light-
house stores. The lower or first, formed by an
inside scarfement of the walls at the top or the
stair-case is chiefly occupied with water tanks, fiiel,
and the other balky articles ; the second floor is
for the oil, cisterns, glass, and other light-room
stores ; the third is occupied as a kitehen ; the
fourth is the bed-room, tne fiftli the library or
strangers' room, and the upper apartinent forms
thclightrroom. The floors of the apartments are
of stone, and the communication is made by
means of wooden ladders, excepting in tlie light-
room, where every article being nre proof, the
steps are made of iron. There are two windows
in each of the three lower apartments, but the
upper have each four windows. The casements
are all double, and are glazed with plate-glass,
having besides an outer storm-shutter, or dead
light of timber, to defend the glass from the
waves and spray. The parapet wall of the light-
room is six feet in height, and has a door which
leads out to the balcony or walk formed by the
cornice round the upp^r part of the building;
which is surrounded by a cast-it on rail, wrought
like net-work. This rail rests upon b^tts of
brass and has a massive coping, or top rail, of the
same metal. In the kitchen, there is a grate or
open fire-place of cast iron, with a smoke tube
or the same metal, which passes throu^ the
several apartments of the light-rooni, and heats
them in ilt passage upwards. This grate and
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chiniiiey merely toocb the Imflding, without
being included or bmlt into thewalUy wfaichy by
^is means, aie neither weakened, nor liable to
be injured by it. The timber of the doors, the
pannelled partitioning of the rooms from the
•tairs, and the bed frames and furniture in general,
are of wainseot.
The light-room, and its apparatus was entirely
prepared at Bdinburgh. It is of an octagonal
ngnre, 12 feet across, and 15. in height, formed
with cast-irpn sashes, glazed with lai^ plates of
polished glass,. measuring^ about 2 feet 6 inches
t>y 2 feet 8 incites, each plate being a quarter of
an inch thick. The light-room is covered with
a. dome roof of copper, terminating in a large
gilded ball, with a vent-hole in the top. The
light of the Bell-rock is very powerAil, > and is
readjty seen at the distance of six or seven leagues,
when the jitmosphere is clear. The light is from
oily with Argand burners placed in tlie focus of
silver pfatted reflectors, measuring 24 inches over
the lips ; the silvered sur&ce or feice being
hollowed or wroughtto the parabolic curve. Thai
ihe Bell-rock l%lit may be easily distinguished
(fora all other lights upon the coast, the reftec^
fors are ranged upon a frame with four &ces or
fides, which, by a' train of machinery, is' made
^o revolve upon a perpendicular axis once in sit
minutes. Between the observer and the reflectors^
Ob two opposite sides of the revolving frame,
shades of red glass are interposed, in such a
manner, -that during each entire revolution of
the reflectors, two appearances, distinctly differ-
ing from each other, are produced; one is the
common bright light famihar to every one, but,
on the other, or shaded sides, the rays are tinged
of a red color. These red and bright lights, in
the course of each revolution, alternate with
Intervals of darkness, which, in a very beaatifiil
and simple manner, characterise this light
In foffgy weather two large bells of about 12
cwt. each, are tolled day and night by machinery.
Vessels who cannot see the lights, thus get
warning to put about. The establishment
at the Bell-rock, consists of a principal light-
keeper, who has 60 guineas per annum, paid
quarterly, a principal assistant, who has 55 gui-
neas ; and two other assistants at 50 guineas each,
besides a suit of uniform clothes, in common
with the other light-keepers of the northern light-
houses^ every three years. While at the rock,
these men get a stated allowance of bread, beef,
butter, oat-meal,* pOt-barley, and vegetables,
besides small beer, and an allowance of fburpence
per day each for the purchase of tea and other
necessaries. At Arbroath, the most contiguous
town on the opposite coast, a suite* of buildinfi
-has been erected, where each light-keeper has
three apartments for his family. Here the master
and mate of the light-house tender, have also
■accommodation for their families ; a plot or piece
of an enclosed garden ground is attached to each
house, and likewise a seat in one of the pews in
the parish church of Arbroath. Connected vrith
these Imildings there is a signal tower erected,
which is about 50 feet in height. At the top of
it, there is a room with an excellent five feet
achromatic telescope, placed upon aetand. From
4hii tower, a set ot corrsaponding signals is
ananged, and kept up with the light-keepers at
the roek< Three of the lightrkeepersare always
at the light-house, while one is aanore on Ubertf,
whose duty it is for the time to attend the signal
room ; and when the weather will admit of the
regular removal of the light-keepers they aie six
weeks at the rock, and a fortnight ashore with
their &milies.
The attending vessel for the BeH-tock, and the
lightr-houses at the isle of May and Inchkeith, in
the Firth of Forth, .is a very handsome little
cutter of about 50 tons register, carrying npoa
her prow a model of the light-house, ana is
appropriately named the Pharos. She is stationed
at Arbroath, and is in readiness to proceed for the
rock at new and full moon, or at spring-tides,
carryingneoessaries, and the light-keeper on leave,
to the rock, and returning vnth another. This
vessel is navigated by four.. men, indnding the
master, and is calculated for oarrjring. a bwt of
16 feet keel, or of sufficient dimensions for lasd-
tng at the rock in moderate weather. The anster
and mate are kept in constant pay, and have
apartments iathe establishment ashore ; the for-
mer, acting as a superintendent, has the chaige
of the buildings ana stores kept at Arfaroatfa.
BELLUL/E, in soology, the sixth order of the
mammalia ; the character of which is, that their
fore teeth are obtusely truncated, ibeix feet hookd
their walk heavy^ and their food vegetables. -See
ZooLooi.
B£LLU<jfA, in ichthyology, a large &h,
accounted a species of stargeon, and cdled by
Artedi, accipenser tuberculis caiens It is like
the sturgeon in shape, but its snout is shorter and
thicker. Of its row or spawn is made cavear,
-and some of them are so large as to yidd 900
weight of it The fish is very common and wy
large in the Volga, near the city of Astracao. It
haa been caught there thirty-six feet long, and
eighteen thick. It is also found in the Dra, ani
other rivers, and in tiM Baltic and Caspian seas.
See AcciPENBBR.
BELLULA Bos, in icthyology, a name giiea
by Paulus Jovius to that species of the ray fish
which was called by the old Greek and Latin
writers bos marinus, uid by the late andwEsraja
oxyrynchus. It is distinguished by Aitedi, by
the name of the variegated ray, with ten prkkly
tubercles on the middle of die back.
BELLUM,. Lat. war; in old law, trial by
combat.
BELLUNESE, a territory of Italy, which be-
longed to the Venetians, till ceded to Aastaa,
by the treaty of Campo Formio. • It now forms
-a part of the LomlMirdo-Venetian kingdom, and
lies between Frioli, Cedorino, Feltrino. the
bishopri«of Trent and Tyrol. It is. diirty miles
long, and twenty-two broad, and produces plenty
of corn, wine^ nruits, &c. besides rearing great
numbers of cattle. It contains besides the cap-
tal, Belluno, 200 towns^ villages,, and lot^ with
40,000 inhabitants.
BELLUNO, a town of Italy, and a bishop^
see; is situated among, the Alp8,^on the river
Piave.
BELLUTUS (Sidnius), a plebeian Bmam,
who, about' the year of Rome S56, headed the
-people in their «^poaition to Ab exodniantpomr
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BEL
Sax. balg; Lat. bulga;
that part of the human
body which reaches from
the head to the thighs,
>>containiDg the bowels;
the womb; any thing
that swells out to a large
capacity. To belly out,
is to swell out; to ixt-
flate; to sketch; to dis-
of the Senate and Patricians ; and under whom
tiiey retired to the Mons Sacer, about three miles
from Rome, intending to form a new establish-
ment for themselves, till, after repeated messages
sent in vain by the senate, Menenius Agrippa
persuaded them to return, by the well known
table of the belly and the other members. On this
occasion the tribune-ship being first instituted,
Bellutus was appointed the first of the five Tri-
bunes, A. U. C. 560. See Rome
BELLY, V. &. n. ") ^ Gothic, balgs; Aug.
Bblly'ache,
Bellt'bound,
Bbllx'cheeb,
Belly'full,
Belly'fare,
Belly'slave,
Belly'god,
Belly'pincbed,
Belly'timber,
Belly'wo&m.
teod.
The body's
RebellM agftinit the heUy ; thus accu'd it : —
That only like a gulf it did lemain.
Stall cOpboarding the viand, never bearingj
Like labour with the xefc
Do yon set down your name in the scroll of yonth,
that an written down old with all the character! of
age? Have yon not a moist eye, a dry hand, a
yellow cheek, a white beard, a decreasing leg, an
mereasing heUjf f Id,
This night, wherein the cabdrawn bear would
couch.
The lion and the beU$f^pinoked wolf
Keep their fur dry; unbonnetted he runs. Id.
Back and side go bare, go bare.
Both hand and foot go cold :
But beUjf, God send thee good ale enough.
Whether it be new or old. fiUff. Old 8(mg.
With Methos, Gluttony, his gutdang brother.
Twin parallels,' drawn firom the self-same line ;
80 foully like was either to the other.
And both most Uke a monstrous M^d swine.
Fletcher. Purple ItUmi.
' What infinite waste they made this way, the only
story of Apicius, a famous hdiifgod, may suffice to
shew. HakeweU.
Thus, by f|egrees, day wastes, signs cease to rise.
For laying esjrth, still rising up, denies
Their light a passage, and confines our eyes.
Creeek'i jfam'tfin.
Loud rattliBg shakes the mountains and the plain,
Heav'n hSlUee dowwirards, and deeeends in rain.
•IHydbii*
'Midst these disports, forget they not to drench
llKmselves with btUg/mg goblets, PkOipt,
The strength of eveiv other member
.Is founded on your he^-tilnber. Prior.
Belly in anatomy, the abdomen. See Ana-
tomy, Index.
Belly, Deacon's, venter draoonis, is used by
tome astronomers to denote the point in a pla-
net's orbit, wherein it has its greatest lalitiide, or
is &rther distant from the ecliptic^ more frequentr
ly called its limit
BELMONTE, a town of Italy, in the hither
Calabria and kingdom of Naples. It is situated
on the coast of the Tuscan sea. It is celebrated
for its fine marbles.
BELOCK, be and lock. See Lock.
BELOE (William), a native of Notwich,
educated at Cambridge. About 1 773 he became
assistant to Dr. Parr, who was then head master
of the Norwich grammar school. He shortly
after obtained the vicarage of Earlham. Re*
moving to the metropolis, he was made master of
Emanuel College, Westminster, and he joined
with Archdeacon Naresin establishing and editing
the British Critic. His connexion with this
work continued till the dose of the fortv-second
volume. He also obtained the living of Allhal-
lows, London-wall, a prebend in St. Paul's, and
the desirable post of a librarian to the British
Museum. Of^the last situation, howevte, he was
deprived, in conseauence of the loss ef some
valuable prints, whicn were stolen by a dishonest
artist. lie died at Kensington in 1817. He
translated Herodotus, and AuUus Gellus,andwas
the author of Miscelhmies, 3 vols. Anecdotes
of Literature and Scarce books, 6 vols. 8vo. The
Sexagenarian (his own memoirs), 2 vols. Bvo.and
some works of minor importance.
BEXOM ANCY, n. f . From /StXoc and itav
rua.
Bdamaneyi or divination hy urrows^ hath been la
request with Scythians, Alans, GennkAs, with the
Afiicans and Turks of Algiers.
Broem'i Vulgar Btremt.
Bblohanct, Belomantia, was practised in
the east, but chiefly among the Arabians, and
in different ways. One was to mark a parcel
of arrows, and put eleven or more of them into
a bag : these were drawn out ; and according as
they were marked or not, they judged of future
events. Another way was to have three arrows,
upon one of which was written, ' God orders it
me:' upon another, 'God forbids it me;' and
upon the third nothing. These were put into
a quiver, out of which one was drawn at ran-
dom ; if it happened to be that with the iifst
inscription, the thing was to be done : if it
chan(^ to be that with the second, it was let
alone ; but if it it proved that without inscrip-
tion, they drew over again. Belomancy is an
ancient practice, and probably that which Ezekiel
mentions, chap. xxi. 21. At least St. Jerome
understands it so, and observes that the practice
was frequent among the Assyrians, and Baby-
lonians. Something like it is also mentioned m
Hosea, chap. iv. only that slaves are mentioned
inst^ of arrows, which is rather tliat of de-
mancy than belomancy. Grotius, as well as Je-
rome, confounds the two tosetlier, and shows that it
prevailed among the Magi, Chaldeans, and Scy-
thians ; whence it passed to the Sdavonians, and
thence to the Germans, who, as Tacitus observes^
made use of it-
BELON (Peter), bom at Mans, in France^
flourished about the middle of the sixteenth
century. He was murdered near Paris by one
of his enemies, in 1565. His principal works
are, 1. De Afboribns Coniferis, 4to. Paris,
1553. 2. Histoire de la Nature des Giseaux,
fol. 1555. 3. Portraits d'Oiseaux, 4to. 1557.
4. Hist6ire des Poissons, 4to. 1551, with plates.
5. De la Nature et Diversity des Poissons, Bvo.
1555.
BEIX)NE, in ichthyology, the trivial name of
a species of esox. See Esox.
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BE'LONG, r. n. . Dutch belangen. To be
the property, provioce, of business of; to ad-
here, appertain, or have relation to.
To light on a part of a field helonging to Boaz. Ruth,
There is no need of such redress ;
Or if there were it not heUm^ to yon.
Shahtpeare,
The declaration of these latent philosophers belongs
to another 'paper. * Boyle.
To Jove the care of heav'n and earth belongt
Dryden,
He went into a desart belonging to Bethsaida.
Luke,
To whom belongeit thou ? whence art thou ?
1 Sanniel.
The faculties belonging to the supreme spirit, are
unlimited and boundless, fitted and designed for in-
finite objects. Cheyne»
He careth for things that behng to the Lord.
1 Corinth,
BELOSTOMA, in zoology, a eenus of insects
of tiie order heroiptera, ikmily hydrocoriss. Its
generic character is, fore feet terminated by a
single hook ; antennae semi-pectinated. There
is no European species.
BELOVED, part. From belove, derived of
love. It is observable, that though the partici-
ple be of very frequent use, the verb is seldom
or never admitted ; as we say ' you are much be-
loved by me,' but not ' I belove you.' Loved ;
dear.
1 tnink it is not meet,
Mark Antony, so well bdmed of C«sar,
Should outlive Caesar. Shaktpeare.
In likeness of a dove
The Spirit descended, while the Father's voice'
Fnom heav*n pronounc'd him his beloced Son.
Miltm,
Each lonely scene shall thee restore.
For thee the tear be daily shed ;
Bdon*d till life can charm no more.
And moum'd till pity's self be dead.
CdUnt' Ditge,
BE'LOViy prep, k adv. 7 Be and low. Low
Be'lowt, v. $ is the past participle
of the Ang.-Sax. verb, licjan, jacere, cubiere.
Behwtj is to treat as a loivt. Under, in place ;
not high ; unbefitting ; unworthy of; in the lower
place; in hell; in earth, in opposition to
neaven.
For all beiow the moon T would not leap.
Shaktpeare.
Hell beat Aufidius* head belcw his knee,
Atid tread upon his neck. Id.
To men standintc below on the ground, those that be
on the top of Paul's seem much less than they are,
and cannot be known ; but, to men above, those below
seem nothing so much lessened, and may be known.
Baoun,
The upper regions of the air perceive the collection
of the matter of the tempests and winds before the
air here Moid ; and therefore the obscuring of the
■mailer stars, is a sign of tempest following. Id,
His sultry heat infects the sky ;
The ground behw is-parchM,the heav'ns above us fry.
Drydon,
Tu much Mmd me on his throne to sit ;
But when 1 do, you .shall petition it. Id* \
This said, he led them up the mountain's brow.
And fihow'd them all the shining fields behw. Id,
The gladsome ghosts in circling troops attend ;
Delight to hover near, and long to know
What bus*ness brought him to the realms bdotr. Id,
When suff*ring sainu aloft in beaau» shall glow.
And prosp'rous traitors gnash their teet^ below.^
TickelL
And let no tean from erring pity flow.
For one that's bless'd above, immortaliz'd bdow.
The fairest child of Jove,
Behfw for ever sought, and bless'd above. Prior.
The noble Venetians think themselves eqnal at
least to Jie electon of the empire, and but one d(»gree
beiow kings. A ddisim.
His Idylliums of Theocritus are as much below his
Manilius, as the fields are below the stars. Felton,
Sieur Gaulard, when he heard a gentleman report,
that at supper they had not only good cheer, bat also
savoury epigrams and fine anagrams, returning home,
rated and beiowtod his copk as an ignorant scullion,
that never dressed him either epigrams or anagrams.
Cwmden.
Father of all above and all beiow,
O great ! and far beyond expression so.
No bounds thy knowledge, none thy power confine.
For power and knowledge in their source are thine.
PcaitelL
BELPECH, a town of France, in Languedoc,
department of the Aude. In 1369 this place
was taken by the English, and among the pri-
soners was isabella, mother of the queen of
France. It is seven miles north-west of Mire-
poiz, and twelve south-west of Castelnaudaiy.
Long. 150° E., lat. 43° 12' N.
BELSHAZZAR, Nabonadius, or Labyki-
Tt7s, the last king of Babylon, is generally agreed
to have been the son of Evil-Merodach, by the
celebrated Nitocris, and grandson of Nebuchad-
nezzar the Great. He succeeded upon the deaths
of his uncle-in-law Neriglisaar, and his in&nt
cousin Laborosoarchod (with whom some authors
<x>nfound him), about A. M. 3393, or, according
to others, 3449. He is said to have reigned
seventeen years, but was so devoted to pleasure,
that nothing is recorded of him, excepting hxi
folly, dissipation, and impiety, till the last day
of his reign and life : when the miraculous vision
of the hand-writing on the wall, denouncing the
immediate overthrow of his empire, alarmed him
and his impious nobles, in the midst of their
guilty festival ; and led him to apply for advice,
when too late, to the long neglected prime
minister and propthetic instructor of his grand-
father. See Daniel, chap. v. Babykm was
taken by Cyrus, Belshazzar slain, and the king-
dom transferred to the Medes and Persians;
A. M. 3410, or 3466, and about A. A. C. 538.
See Babylonia.
BEL'SWAGGER, n,t, A cant word for a
whoremaster.
You are a charitable bekwagger ; my wife cried tnt
fire, and you cried oat for engines. Jhyim.
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