Chapter XXVII: Act 1906: , specifying as it does cheques alone, appears to exclude documents (22)

BASILIDES, one of the most conspicuous exponents of Gnosticism, was living at Alexandria probably as early as the first decades of the 2nd century. It is true that Eusebius, in his _Chronicle_, dates his first appearance from A.D. 133, but according to Eusebius, _Hist. Eccl._ iv. 7 ss. 6-8, Agrippa Castor, who lived under Hadrian (117-138), already wrote a polemic against him, so that his activity may perhaps be set back to a date earlier than 138. Basilides wrote an exegetical work in twenty-four books on "his" gospel, but which this was is not known. In addition to this there are certain writings by his son Isidorus [Greek: Peri prosphuous psuches]; [Greek: Exegetika] on the prophet Parchor ([Greek: Parchor]); [Greek: Ethika]. The surviving fragments of these works are collected and commented on in Hilgenfeld's _Ketzergeschichte_, 207-218. The most important fragment published by Hilgenfeld (p. 207), part of the 13th book of the _Exegetica_, in the _Acta Archelai et Manetis_ c. 55, only became known in its complete form later, and was published by L. Traube in the _Sitzungsbericht der Muenchener Akad._, phil. histor. Kl. (1903), pp. 533-549. Irenaeus (_Adv. Haer._ i. 24 ss. 3-7) gives a sketch of Basilides' school of thought, perhaps derived from Justin's _Syntagma_. Closely related to this is the account in the _Syntagma_ of Hippolytus, which is preserved in Epiphanius, _Haer._ 24, Philaster, _Haer._ 32, and Pseudo-Tertullian, _Haer._ 4. These are completed and confirmed by a number of scattered notices in the _Stromateis_ of Clemens Alexandrinus. An essentially different account, with a pronounced monistic tendency, is presented by the so-called _Philosophumena_ of Hippolytus (vii. 20-27; x. 14). Whether this last account, or that given by Irenaeus and in the _Syntagma_ of Hippolytus, represents the original system of Basilides, has been the subject of a long controversy. (See Hilgenfeld p. 205, note 337.) The most recent opinion tends to decide against the _Philosophumena_; for, in its composition, Hippolytus appears to have used as his principal source the compendium of a Gnostic author who has introduced into most of the systems treated by him, in addition to the employment of older sources, his own opinions or those of his sect. The _Philosophumena_, therefore, cannot be taken into account in describing the teaching of Basilides (see also H. Stachelin, "Die gnostischen Quellen Hippolyts" in _Texte und Untersuchungen_, vi. 3; and the article GNOSTICISM). A comparison of the surviving fragments of Basilides, moreover, with the outline of his system in Irenaeus-Hippolytus (_Syntagma_) shows that the account given by the Fathers of the Church is also in the highest degree untrustworthy. The principal and most characteristic points are not noticed by them. If we assume, as we must needs do, that the opinions which Basilides promulgates as the teaching of the "barbari" (_Acta Archelai_ c. 55) were in fact his own, the fragments prove him to have been a decided dualist, and his teaching an interesting further development of oriental (Iranian) dualism. Entirely consistent with this is the information given by the _Acta Archelai_ that Basilides, before he came to Alexandria, had appeared publicly among the Persians (_fuit praedicator apud Persas_); and the allusion to his having appealed to prophets with oriental names, Barkabbas and Barkoph (Agrippa in Eusebius _Hist. Eccl._ iv. 7 s. 7). So too his son Isidorus explained the prophecies of a certain Parchor ( = Barkoph) and appealed to the prophecies of Cham[1] (Clemens Alexandrinus, _Stromat._ vi. 6 s. 53). Thus Basilides assumed the existence of two principles, not derivable from each other: Light and Darkness. These had existed for a long time side by side, without knowing anything of each other, but when they perceived each other, the Light had only looked and then turned away; but the Darkness, seized with desire for the Light, had made itself master, not indeed of the Light itself, but only of its reflection (_species_, _color_). Thus they had been in a position to form this world: _unde nec perfectum bonum est in hoc mundo, et quod est, valde est exiguum_. This speculation is clearly a development of that which the Iranian cosmology has to tell about the battles between Ahura-Mazda and Angro-Mainyu (Ormuzd and Ahriman). The Iranian optimism has been replaced here by a strong pessimism. This material world is no longer, as in Zoroastrianism, essentially a creation of the good God, but the powers of evil have created it with the aid of some stolen portions of light. This is practically the transference of Iranian dualism to the more Greek antithesis of soul and body, spirit and matter (cf. Irenaeus i. 24 s. 5: _animae autem eorum solam esse salutem, corpus enim natura corruptibile existit_). The fundamental dualism of Basilides is confirmed also by one or two other passages. In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, Basilides saw the proof of _naturam sine radice et sine loco rebus supervenientem_ (_Acta Archelai_). According to Clemens, _Strom._ iv. 12 s. 83, &c., Basilides taught that even those who have not sinned in act, even Jesus himself, possess a sinful nature. It is possibly also in connexion with the dualism of his fundamental [v.03 p.0479] views that he taught the transmigration of souls (Origen in _Ep. ad Rom_. lib. v.; Opp. de la Rue iv. 549; cf. Clemens, _Excerpta ex Theodoto_, s. 28). Isidorus set up celibacy, though in a modified form, as the ideal of the perfect (Clemens, _Strom_. iii. 1 s. 1, &c.) Clemens accuses Basilides of a deification of the Devil ([Greek: theiazein ton diabolon]), and regards as his two dogmas that of the Devil and that of the transmigration of souls (_Strom_. iv. 12 s. 85: cf. v. 11 s. 75). It is remarkable too that Isidorus held the existence of two souls in man, a good and a bad (Clemens, _Strom_. ii. 20 113); with which may be compared the teaching of Mani about the two souls, which it is impossible to follow F, Ch. Baur in excluding,[2] and also the teaching of the _Pistis Sophia_ (translated by C. Schmidt, p. 182, &c.). According to Clemens (_Strom_. ii. 20 s. 112), the followers of Basilides spoke of [Greek: pneumata tina prosertemena tei logikei phuchei kata tina tarachon kai sunchusin archiken]: that is to say, here also is assumed an original confusion and intermingling. Epiphanius too tells us that the teaching of Basilides had its beginning in the question as to the origin of evil (_Haer_. xxiv. 6).

Now, of this sharply-defined dualism there is scarcely a trace in the system described by the Fathers of the Church. It is therefore only with caution that we can use them to supplement our knowledge of the true Basilides. The doctrine described by them that from the supreme God (the _innatus pater_) had emanated 365 heavens with their spirits, answers originally to the astronomical conception of the heavens with their 365 daily aspects (Irenaeus i. 24. 7; _Trecentorum autem sexaginta quinque caelorum locales positiones distribuunt similiter ut mathematici_). When, therefore, the supreme God is called by the name [Greek: Abrasax] or [Greek: Abraxas], which contains the numerical value 365, it is worthy of remark that the name of the Persian god Mithras ([Greek: Meithras]) also was known in antiquity to contain this numerical value (Jerome in _Amos_ 3; Opp. Vallarsi VI. i. 257). Speculations about the Perso-Hellenistic Mithras appear to have been transferred to the Gnostic Abraxas. Further, if the _Pater innatus_ be surrounded by a series of (from five to seven) Hypostases (according to Irenaeus i. 24. 3; [Greek: Nous, Logos, Phronesis, Sophia, Dunamis]; according to Clemens, _Strom_. iv. 25 s. 164, [Greek: Dikaiosune] and [Greek: Eirene] may perhaps be added), we are reminded of the _Ameshas-spentas_ which surround Ahura-Mazda. Finally, in the system of Basilides, the (seven ?) powers from whom this world originates are accepted as the lowest emanations of the supreme God. This conception which is repeated in nearly every Gnostic system, of (seven) world-creating angels, is a specifically oriental speculation. The seven powers which create and rule the world are without doubt the seven planetary deities of the later Babylonian religion. If, in the Gnostic systems, these become daemonic or semi-daemonic forces, this points to the fact that a stronger monotheistic religion (the Iranian) had gained the upper hand over the Babylonian, and had degraded its gods to daemons. The syncretism of the Babylonian and the Persian religion was also the nursing-ground of Gnosticism. When, then, Basilides identified the highest angel of the seven, the creator of the worlds, with the God of the Jews, this is a development of the idea which did not occur until late, possibly first in the specifically Christian circles of the Gnostics. We may note in this connexion that the system of Basilides ascribes the many battles and quarrels in the world to the privileged position given to his people by the God of the Jews.[3]

It is at this point that the idea of salvation is introduced into the system. The confusion in the world has meanwhile risen to such a pitch that the supreme God sends his _Nous_, who is also called Christ, into the world (Irenaeus i. 24. 4). According to Clemens, the Saviour is termed [Greek: pneuma diakonoumenon] (_Strom_. ii. 8 s. 36) or [Greek: diakonos] (_Excerpta ex Theodoto_, s. 16). It is impossible certainly to determine how Basilides conceived the relation of this Saviour to Jesus of Nazareth. Basilides himself (_Strom_. iv. 12 s. 83) knows of an earthly Jesus and denies the principle of his sinlessness (see above). According to the account given by Irenaeus, the Saviour is said to have appeared only as a phantasm; according to the _Excerpta ex Theodoto_, 17, the Diakonos descended upon Jesus at His baptism in the form of a dove, for which reason the followers of Basilides celebrated the day of the baptism of Jesus, the day of the [Greek: epiphaneia]. as a high festival (Clemens, _Strom_. i. 21 s. 18). The various attempts at combination probably point to the fact that the purely mythical figure of a god-saviour (Heros) was connected first by Basilides with Jesus of Nazareth. As to what the conception of Basilides was of the completion of the process of redemption, the available sources tell us next to nothing. According to an allusion in Clemens, _Strom_. ii. 8 s. 36, with the mission of the Saviour begins the great separation of the sexes, the fulfilment and the restoration of all things. This agrees with the beginning of the speculation of Basilides. Salvation consists in this, that that which was combined for evil is once more separated.

Among the later followers of Basilides, actual magic played a determining part. They hand down the names of the rulers of the several heavens as a weighty secret. This was a result of the belief, that whoever knew the names of these rulers would after death pass through all the heavens to the supreme God. In accordance with this, Christ also, in the opinion of these followers of Basilides, was in the possession of a mystic name (Caulacau = [Hebrew: QAW LAQAW] Jes. xxviii. 10) by the power of which he had descended through all the heavens to earth, and had then again ascended to the Father. Redemption, accordingly, could be conceived as simply the revelation of mystic names. In this connexion the name Abraxas and the Abraxas gems must be remembered. Whether Basilides himself had already given this magic tendency to Gnosticism cannot be decided.

Basilides, then, represents that form of Gnosticism that is closest to Persian dualism in its final form. His doctrine is most closely related to that of Satornil (Saturninus). From most of the other Gnostic sects, with the exception perhaps of the Jewish-Christian Gnosticism, he is distinguished by the fact that with him the figure of the fallen female god (Sophia Achamoth), and, in general, the idea of a fall within the godhead is entirely wanting. So far as we can see, on the other hand, Basilides appears actually to represent a further development of Iranian dualism, which later produced the religious system of Mani.

Accounts of the teaching of Basilides are to be found in all the more complete works on Gnosticism (see bibliography to the article GNOSTICISM). The original sources are best reproduced in Hilgenfeld, _Ketzergeschichte des Urchristentums_ (1884), pp. 195-230. See also Krueger, article "Basilides," in Herzog-Hauck, _Realencyklopadie_, ed. 3.

(W. BO.)

[1] = Nimrod = Zoroaster, cf. Pseudo-Clement, _Homil._ ix. 3; _Recogn._ iv. 27.

[2] The materials are in Baur, _Das manichaeische Religionssystem_ (1831), p. 162, &c.

[3] Whether the myth of the creation of the first man by the angels, which recurs in many Gnostic systems, found a place also in the system of Basilides, cannot be determined with any certainty. Philastrius, however, says: _hominem autem ab angelis factum asserit_, while according to Epiphanus xxiv. 2, men are created by the God of the Jews.

BASILISK (the [Greek: Basiliskos] of the Greeks, and _Tsepha_ (cockatrice) of the Hebrews), a name given by the ancients to a horrid monster of their own imagination, to which they attributed the most malignant powers and an equally fiendish appearance. The term is now applied, owing to a certain fanciful resemblance, to a genus of lizards belonging to the family _Iguanidae_, the species of which are characterized by the presence, in the males, of an erectile crest on the head, and a still higher, likewise erectile crest--beset with scales--on the back, and another on the long tail. _Basiliscus americanus_ reaches the length of one yard; its colour is green and brown, with dark crossbars, while the crest is reddish. This beautiful, strictly herbivorous creature is rather common amidst the luxuriant vegetation on the banks of rivers and streams of the Atlantic hot lands of Mexico and Guatemala. The lizards lie upon the branches of trees overhanging the water, into which they plunge at the slightest alarm. Then they propel themselves by rapid strokes of the hind limbs, beating the water in a semi-erect position and letting the long rudder-like tail drag behind. They are universally known as _pasa-rios_, _i.e._ ferrymen.

BASIM, a town of India, in the Akola district, Berar, 52 m. S.S.E. from Akola station of the Great Indian Peninsula railway. Pop. (1901) 13,823. Until 1905 it was the headquarters of the district of Basim, which had an area of 2949 sq. m.; but in that [v.03 p.0480] year the district was abolished, its component _taluks_ being divided between the districts of Akola and Yeotmal. Its western portion, the Basim _taluk_, consists of a fertile tableland, about 1000 ft. above sea-level, sloping down westward and southward to the rich valley of the Penganga; its eastern portion, the _taluks_ of Mangrul and Pasud, mainly of a succession of low hills covered with poor grass. In the Pasud _taluk_, however, there are wide stretches of woodland, while some of the peaks rise to a height of 2000 ft., the scenery (especially during the rains) being very beautiful. The climate of the locality is better than that of the other districts of Berar; the hot wind which blows during the day in the summer months being succeeded at night by a cool breeze. The principal crops are millet, wheat, other food grains, pulse, oilseeds and cotton; there is some manufacture of cotton-cloth and blankets, and there are ginning factories in the town. In 1901 the population was 353,410, showing a decrease of 11% in the decade, due to the famine of 1899-1900, which was severely felt in the district.

BASIN, THOMAS (1412-1491), bishop of Lisieux and historian, was born probably at Caudebec in Normandy, but owing to the devastation caused by the Hundred Years' War, his childhood was mainly spent in moving from one place to another. In 1424 he went to the university of Paris, where he became a master of arts in 1429, and afterwards studied law at Louvain and Pavia. He attended the council of Ferrara, and was soon made canon of the church at Rouen, professor of canon law in the new university of Caen and vicar-general for the bishop of Bayeux. In 1447 he became bishop of Lisieux. He was much involved in the wars between the English and French and was employed by Charles VII. of France, and by his successor Louis XI., at whose request Basin drew up a memorandum setting forth the misery of the people and suggesting measures for alleviating their condition. In 1464 the bishop joined the league of the Public Weal, and fell into disfavour with the king, who seized the temporalities of his see. After exile in various places Basin proceeded to Rome and renounced his bishopric. At this time (1474) Pope Sixtus IV. bestowed upon him the title of archbishop of Caesarea. Occupied with his writings Basin then passed some years at Trier, and afterwards transferred his residence to Utrecht, where he died on the 3rd of December 1491. He was buried in the church of St John, Utrecht.

Basin's principal work is his _Historiae de rebus a Carolo VII. et Ludovico XI. Francorum regibus eorumque in tempore in Gallia gestis_. This is of considerable historical value, but is marred to some extent by the author's dislike for Louis XI. At one time it was regarded as the work of a priest of Liege, named Amelgard, but it is now practically certain that Basin was the writer. He also wrote a suggestion for reform in the administration of justice entitled _Libellus de optimo ordine forenses lites audiendi et deferendi_; an _Apologia_, written to answer the charges brought against him by Louis XI; a _Breviloquium_, or allegorical account of his own misfortunes; a _Peregrinatio_; a defence of Joan of Arc entitled _Opinio et consilium super processu et condemnatione Johanne, dicte Puelle_, and other miscellaneous writings. He wrote in French, _Advis de Monseigneur de Lysieux au roi_ (Paris, 1677).

See the edition of the _Historiae_, by J. E. J. Quicherat (Paris, 1855-1859); also G. du F. de Beaucourt, _Charles VII et Louis XI d'apres Thomas Basin_ (Paris, 1858).

BASIN, or BASON (the older form _bacin_ is found in many of the Romanic languages, from the Late Lat. _baccinus_ or _bacchinus_, probably derived from _bacca_, a bowl), a round vessel for holding liquids. Hence the term has various technical uses, as of a dock constructed with flood-gates in a tidal-river, or of a widening in a canal for unloading barges; also, in physical geography, of the drainage area of a river and its tributaries.

In geology, "basin" is equivalent to a broad shallow syncline, _i.e._ it is a structure proper to the bed rock of the district covered by the term; it must not be confused with the physiographic river basin, although it occasionally happens that the two coincide to some extent. Some of the better known geological basins in England are, the _London basin_, a shallow trough or syncline of Tertiary, Cretaceous and Jurassic rocks; the _Hampshire basin_, of similar formations; and the numerous _coal basins_, _e.g._ the S. Wales coalfield, the Forest of Dean, N. Staffordshire coalfield, &c. The _Paris basin_ is made of strata similar to those in the London and Hampshire basins. Strictly speaking, a structural basin is formed of rock beds which exhibit a _centroclinal_ dip; an elongated narrow syncline or trough is not a basin. "Rock-basins" are comparatively small, steep-sided depressions that have been scooped out of the solid rock in mountainous regions, mainly through the agency of glaciers (see CIRQUE). Lakes sometimes occupy basins that have been caused by the removal in solution of some of the more soluble constituents (rock salt, &c.) in the underlying strata; occasionally lake basins have been formed directly by crustal movements.

BASINET (a diminutive of "basin"), a form of helmet or headpiece. The original small basinet was a light open cap, with a peaked crown. This was used alternately to, and even in conjunction with, the large heavy heaume. But in the latter half of the 13th century the basinet was developed into a complete war head-dress and replaced the heaume. In this form it was larger and heavier, had a vizor (though not always a pivoted vizor like that of the later armet), and was connected with the gorget by a "camail" or mail hood, the head and neck thus being entirely covered. It is always to be recognized by its peaked crown. The word is spelt in various forms, "bassinet," "bascinet," "bacinet," or "basnet." The form "bassinet" is used for the hooded wicker cradle or perambulator for babies.

BASINGSTOKE, a market-town and municipal borough of Hampshire, England, 48 m. W.S.W. from London by the London & South-Western railway; served also by a branch of the Great Western railway. Pop. (1901) 9793. The church of St Michael and All Angels is a fine specimen of a late Perpendicular building (principally of the time of Henry VIII.). The chapel of the Holy Ghost is a picturesque ruin, standing in an ancient cemetery, built for the use of the local gild of the Holy Ghost which was founded in 1525, but flourished for less than a century. Close to the neighbouring village of Old Basing are remains of Basing House, remarkable as the scene of the stubborn opposition of John, fifth marquess of Winchester, to Cromwell, by whom it was taken after a protracted siege in 1645. A castle occupied its site from Norman times. Numerous prehistoric relics have been discovered in the district, and a large circular encampment is seen at Winklebury Hill. Basingstoke has considerable agricultural trade, and brewing, and the manufacture of agricultural implements, and of clothing, are carried on. The Basingstoke canal, which connects the town with the river Wey and so with the Thames, was opened about 1794, but lost its trade owing to railway competition. It was offered for sale by auction unsuccessfully in 1904, but was bought in 1905. The municipal borough is under a mayor, four aldermen and twelve councillors. Area, 4195 acres.

Basingstoke is a town of great antiquity, and excavations have brought to light undoubted traces of Roman occupation. The first recorded historical event relating to the town is a victory won here by Aethelred and Alfred over the Danes in 871. According to the Domesday survey it had always been a royal manor, and comprised three mills and a market. A charter from Henry III. in 1256 granted to the men of Basingstoke the manor and hundred of that name and certain other privileges, which were confirmed by Edward III., Henry V. and Henry VI. As compensation for loss sustained by a serious fire, Richard II. in 1392 granted to the men of Basingstoke the rights of a corporation and a common seal. A charter from James I. dated 1622 instituted two bailiffs, fourteen capital burgesses, four justices of the peace, a high steward and under steward, two serjeants-at-mace and a court of record. Charles I. in 1641 changed the corporation to a mayor, seven aldermen and seven burgesses. Basingstoke returned two members to parliament in 1295, 1302 and 1306, but no writs are extant after this date. In 1202-1203 the market day was changed from Sunday to Monday, but in 1214 was transferred to Wednesday, and has not since been [v.03 p.0481] changed. Henry VI. granted a fair at Whitsun to be held near the chapel of the Holy Ghost. The charter from James I. confirmed another fair at the feast of St Michael the Archangel, and that of Charles I. granted two fairs on Basingstoke Down at Easter and on the 10th and 11th of September. The wool trade flourished in Basingstoke at an early date, but later appears to have declined, and in 1631 the clothiers of Basingstoke were complaining of the loss of trade and consequent distress.

See _Victoria County History--Hants_; F. G. Baigent and J. E. Millard, _History of Basingstoke_ (Basingstoke, 1889).

BASIN-STAND, a piece of furniture consisting of a small stand, usually supported on three legs, and most commonly made of mahogany or rosewood, for holding a wash-hand basin. The smaller varieties were used for rose-water ablutions, or for the operation of hair-powdering. The larger ones, which possessed sockets for soap-dishes, were the predecessors of the ample modern wash-hand stand. Both varieties, often of very elegant form, were in extensive use throughout a large part of the 18th century.

BASKERVILLE, JOHN (1706-1775), English printer, was born at Wolverley in Worcestershire on the 28th of January 1706. About 1726 he became a writing master at Birmingham, and he seems to have had a great talent for calligraphy and for cutting inscriptions in stone. While at Birmingham he made some important improvements in the process of japanning, and gained a considerable fortune. About the year 1750 he began to make experiments in type-founding, producing types much superior in distinctness and elegance to any that had hitherto been employed. He set up a printing-house, and in 1757 published his first work, a _Virgil_ in royal quarto, followed, in 1758, by his famous edition of Milton. In that year he was appointed printer to the university of Cambridge, and undertook editions of the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. The _Horace_, published in 1762, is distinguished even among the productions of the Baskerville press for its correctness and for the beauty of the paper and type. A second _Horace_ appeared in 1770 in quarto, and its success encouraged Baskerville to publish a series of quarto editions of Latin authors, which included Catullus, Tibullus, Propertius, Lucretius, Terence, Sallust and Florus. This list of books issued by Baskerville from his press lends some irony to the allegation that he was a person of no education. These books are admirable specimens of typography; and Baskerville is deservedly ranked among the foremost of those who have advanced the art of printing. His contemporaries asserted that his books owed more to the quality of the paper and ink than to the type itself, but the difficulty in obtaining specimens from the Baskerville press shows the estimation in which they are now held. His wife, Sarah Baskerville, carried on the business for some time after his death, which took place on the 8th of January 1775.

BASKET, a vessel made of twigs, cane or rushes, as well as of a variety of other materials, interwoven together, and used for holding, protecting or carrying any commodity. The process of interweaving twigs, rushes or leaves, is practised among the rudest nations of the world; and as it is one of the most universal of arts, so also does it rank among the most ancient industries, being probably the origin of all the textile arts of the world. Decorative designs in old ceramic ware are derived from the marks left by the basket mould used before the invention of the potter's wheel, and in the willow pattern on old china, and the basket capitals or mouldings of Byzantine architecture, the influence of the basketmaker's art is clearly traceable. Essentially a primitive craft, its relative importance is in inverse ratio to the industrial development of a people.

The word "basket" has been generally identified with the Latin _bascauda_, as in Martial (xiv. 99):--

"Barbara de pictis veni bascauda Britannis:
Sed me iam mavult dicere Roma suam."

But its etymology is unknown, and the _New English Dictionary_ states that there is no evidence to connect basket with _bascauda_, which denotes rather a tub, tray or brazen vessel.

Among many uncivilized tribes, baskets of a superior order are made and applied to various useful purposes. The North American Indians prepare strong water-tight _Wattape_ baskets from the roots of a species of _abies_, and these they frequently adorn with very pretty patterns made from the dyed quills of their native porcupine, _Erethizon dorsatum_. Wealthy Americans have formed collections of the beautiful ware treasured as heirlooms in Indian families, and large prices have been paid for baskets made by the few squaws who have inherited the traditions and practice of the art, as much as L300 having been given for one specimen. It has been computed that baskets to the value of L1,000,000 were recently drawn from California and Arizona within two years. The Indians of South America weave baskets equally useful from the fronds of the Carnahuba and other palms. The Kaffirs and Hottentots of South Africa are similarly skilful in using the Ilala reed and the roots of plants; while the Abyssinians and the tribes of Central Africa display great adroitness in the art of basket-weaving.

Basket-making, however, has by no means been confined to the fabrication of those simple and useful utensils from which its name is derived. Of old, the shields of soldiers were fashioned of wicker-work, either plain or covered with hides. Xenophon, in his story of the Thirty Tyrants at Athens, relates that the exiled Greeks who had seized on the Peiraeus made themselves shields of whitened osiers; and similar weapons of defence are still constructed by modern savages. The huts of the earliest settlers in Rome and in western Europe generally were made of osier work plastered with clay. Some interesting remains of British dwellings of this nature found near Lewes in 1877 were described by Major-General H. L. F. Pitt-Rivers in _Archaeologia_, vol. xlvi. pp. 456-458. Boats of the same material, covered with the skins of animals, attracted the notice of the Romans in Britain; they seem to have been of the ordinary boat-shape. The basketwork boats mentioned by Herodotus as being used on the Tigris and Euphrates were round and covered with bitumen. Boats of this shape are still used on these rivers, and boats of analogous construction are employed in crossing the rivers of India, in which the current is not rapid. Nor have methods of making much changed. The strokes employed in the construction of basket-work found in Etruscan tombs and now exhibited in the Museo Etrusco at Florence, and in similar articles discovered in Egyptian tombs, are the same as those used by the English basket-maker to-day. General Pitt-Rivers, on comparing the remains excavated near Lewes with a modern hamper in his possession, found the method to be identical.

Since about the middle of the 19th century the character of basket-work in England has been greatly modified. The old English cradle, reticule, and other small domestic wares, have been driven out of the market by cheap goods made on the continent of Europe, and the coarse brown osier packing and hampers have been largely superseded by rough casks and cases made from cheap imported timber. This loss has, however, been more than counterbalanced by the production of work of a higher class, such as finely made chairs, tables, lounges and other articles of furniture; luncheon and tea-baskets and similar requisites of travel. In addition to the foregoing the chief categories of English manufacture are: vegetable and fruit baskets, transit and travelling hampers, laundry and linen baskets, partition baskets for wine, and protective wicker cases for fragile ware such as glass carboys, stone and other bottles. Wicker shields or cases made from cane pith, for the protection of shells, have been introduced by the English military authorities. Some evidence of the above-mentioned developments is afforded by a comparison of the wages lists of the London Union of Journeymen Basketmakers issued in 1865 and in 1896. The former consists of 87 printed pages; the latter of 144 pages, and these more closely set.

No machinery is used in basket-making. A considerable training and natural aptitude go to form the expert workman, for the ultimate perfection of shape and beauty of texture depend upon the more or less perfect conception of form in the [v.03 p.0482] craftsman's mind and on his power to impress it on a recalcitrant material. In England at least, he rarely uses a mould; every stroke made has a permanent effect on the symmetry of the whole work and no subsequent pressure will alter it. Wages in London vary from 25s. to 50s. per week according to aptitude. The Basketmakers' Company is one of the oldest craft gilds of the city of London and still exists.

Employment is given by the London Association for the Welfare of the Blind to a number of partially or wholly blind workpeople, who are engaged in the making of some of the coarser kinds of baskets; but the work, which bears obvious traces of its origin, is not commercially remunerative, and the association depends for partial support on the contributions of the charitable, and on supplementary sales of fine or fancy work produced under ordinary conditions and largely imported. Similar associations exist in some English provincial towns, in Edinburgh, in Dublin and Belfast, and in certain European cities.

The materials which are actually employed in the construction of basket-work are numerous and varied, but it is from certain species of willow that the largest supply of basket-making materials is produced. Willows for basket-work are extensively grown on the continent of Europe, whence large quantities are exported to Great Britain and the United States; but no rods surpass those of English growth for their tough and leathery texture, and the finest of basket-making willows are now cultivated in England--in Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and the valleys of the Thames and the Trent. In the early part of the 19th century, considerable attention was given in Britain to the cultivation of willows suitable for basket-making, and the industry was first stimulated by premiums offered by the Society of Arts. Mr William Scaling of Basford, Notts, was a most successful grower and published some admirable pamphlets on the cultivation of willows. The most extensive English willow plantation or salicetum (Lat. _salix_, willow) of the present day is that planted by Mr W. P. Ellmore at Thurmaston near Leicester, and consists of about 100 acres of the finest qualities. Mr Ellmore, a practical basket-maker, successfully introduced some valuable continental varieties (see OSIER).

Willows are roughly classed by the basket-maker into "osier" and "fine." The former consists of varieties of the true osier, _Salix viminalis_; the latter of varieties of _Salix triandra_, _S. purpurea_ and some other species and hybrids of tougher texture. For the coarsest work, dried unpeeled osiers, known as "brown stuff," are used; for finer work, "white (peeled) stuff" and "buff" (willows stained a tawny hue by boiling them previous to peeling). Brown stuff is sorted, before it reaches the workman, into lengths varying from 3 1/2 ft. to 8 or 10 ft., the smallest being known in London and the home counties as "luke," the largest as "great," and the intermediate sizes as "long small," "threepenny" and "middleboro." White and buff rods are more carefully sorted, the smallest, about 2 ft. or less, being known as "small tack," and rising sizes as "tack," "short small," "small," "long small," "threepenny," "middleboro" and "great." Rods of two to three years' growth, known as "sticks," are used to form the rigid framework of the bottoms and lids of square work. In every case, except the last, the stuff is soaked in tanks to render it pliable before use--brown from three to seven days, white and buff from half-an-hour to half a day. The rods are used whole for ordinary work, but for baskets of slight and finer texture each is divided into "skains" of different degrees of size. "Skains" are osiers cleft into three or four parts, by means of an implement called a "cleaver," which is a wedge-shaped tool of boxwood inserted at the point or top end of the rod and run down through its entire length. They are next drawn through an implement resembling the common spokeshave, keeping the grain of the split next the iron or stock of the shave, while the pith is presented to the steel edge of the instrument, and in order to bring the split into a shape still more regular, it is passed through another implement called an upright, consisting of a flat piece of steel, each end of which is fashioned into a cutting edge, like that of an ordinary chisel and adjusted to the required width by means of a thumb-screw.

The tools required by a basket-maker are few and simple. They consist, besides the foregoing, of a shop-knife for cutting out material; a picking knife for cutting off the protruding butts and tops of the rods after the work is completed; two or three bodkins of varying sizes; a flat piece of iron somewhat narrowly triangular in shape for driving the work closely together; a stout pair of shears and a "dog" or "commander" for straightening sticks. The employer supplies a screw block or vice for gripping the bottom and cover sticks of square work, and a lapboard on which the workman fixes the upsetted bottom while siding up the basket. This is the full kit. A common round or oval basket may, however, be made with no other tools than a shop-knife and a bodkin. On the continent of Europe shapes or blocks are in use on which the fabric is in some cases woven.

The technicalities of basket-making may be easily followed by a glance at the illustration here reproduced by the courtesy of the Society of Arts.[1] It will be seen that the "bye-stakes" are merely inserted in the "upsett," whereas the stakes are driven in at each side of the "bottom-sticks" and pricked up to form the rigid framework of the side. When the "bottom-stick" and "stake" are formed of one and the same continuous rod, it is termed a "league." If the bottom is made on a hoop the butts of the stakes are "sliped," _i.e._ cut away with a long cut of the shop-knife, and turned tightly round the hoop; they are then said to be "scallomed" on. The chief strokes used in constructing an ordinary basket are:--the "slew"--two or more rods woven together; the "rand," rods woven in singly; the "fitch," two rods tightly worked alternately one under the other, employed for skeleton work such as cages and waste-paper baskets; the "pair," two rods worked alternately one over the other, used for filling up bottoms and covers of round and oval baskets; and the "wale," three or more rods worked alternately, forming a string or binding course. Various forms of plaiting, roping and tracking are used for bordering off or finishing.

An ordinary oval basket is made by preparing the requisite number of bottom sticks, preserving their length greater than the required width of the bottom. They are ranged in pairs on the floor parallel to each other at small intervals, in the direction of the longer diameter of the basket, thus forming what may be called the "woof," for basket-work is literally a web. These parallel rods are then crossed at right angles by two pairs of the largest osiers, on the butt ends of which the workman places his feet; and they are confined in their places by being each woven alternately over and under the parallel pieces first laid down and their own butts which form the end bottom sticks. The whole now forms what is technically called the "slath," which is the foundation of the basket. Next other rods are taken and [v.03 p.0483] woven under and over the sticks all round the bottom until it 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. This latter part is accomplished by sharpening the large ends of as many long and stout osiers as may be necessary to form the stakes or skeleton. These are forced between the bottom sticks from the edge towards the centre, and are turned up or "upset" 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 intended height, or, more correctly speaking, the depth it is to receive. The edge or border is finished by turning down the ends of the stakes, now standing up, behind and in front of each other, whereby the whole is firmly and compactly united, and it is technically known as the "belly." A lid is constructed on the same plan as that of the bottom, and tied on with hinges formed of twisted rods; simple handles may be made by inserting similar rods by the sides of two opposite stakes and looping them under the border to form rope-like handles of three strands. This is the most simple kind of basket, from which others differ only in being made with finer materials and in being more nicely executed; but in these there is considerable scope for taste and fancy, and articles are produced of extreme neatness and ingenuity in construction.

In addition to willows many other materials are employed in the fabrication of wicker-work. Among the more important of these is the stem of _Calamus viminalis_ or other allied species--the cane or rattan of commerce--which is used whole or made into skains. Since 1880 the central pith of this material, known as "cane-pulp" or "cane-pith," has been largely used in Great Britain and on the continent of Europe in the manufacture of furniture and other finer classes of work. About the same period plaited rush and straw, often coloured, came into use together with enamelled skains of cane. It must be admitted, however, that basket-work in these developments has encroached somewhat on the domain of cabinet-making; for wood and nails are now much used in constructing basket-work chairs, tables and other furniture.

With splits of various species of bamboo the Japanese and Chinese manufacture baskets of unequalled beauty and finish. The bamboo wicker-work with which the Japanese sometimes encase their delicate egg-shell porcelain is a marvellous example of manipulation, and they and the Chinese excel in the application of bamboo wicker-work to furniture. In India "Cajan" baskets are extensively made from the fronds of the Palmyra palm, _Borassus flabelliformis_, and this manufacture has been established in the Black Forest of Germany, where it is now an important and characteristic staple. Among the other materials may be enumerated the odorous roots of the khus-khus grass, _Anatherum muricatum_, and the leaves of various species of screw pine, used in India and the East generally. The fronds of the palm of the Seychelles, _Lodoicea sechellarum_, are used for very delicate basket-work in those islands. Strips of the New Zealand flax plant, _Phormium tenax_, are made into baskets in New Zealand. Esparto fibre is used in Spain and Algeria for rude fruit baskets. Various species of _Maranta_ yield basket materials in the West Indies and South America; and the _Tirite_, a species of _Calathea_, a member of the order _Zingiberaceae_, is also employed similarly in Trinidad. Baskets are also frequently made from straw, from various sedges (_Cyperus_), and from shavings and splints of many kinds of wood.

The chief centres of English basket manufacture outside London are Thurmaston near Leicester, Basford near Nottingham, and Grantham. Large but decreasing quantities of light basket-work are made for the English market in Verdun, in the department of the Aisne, and in other parts of France; and great quantities of fancy and other work are produced in Belgium, in the Netherlands and in Germany, notably at Lichtenfels in Bavaria, at Sonnefeld in Saxony and in the Black Forest.

The import and export values of baskets and basket-ware, and of willows and rods for basket-making, have been enumerated in the Board of Trade returns for the United Kingdom since 1900, in which year basket-ware from foreign countries was imported to the value of L239,402. In 1901 the imports increased to L264,183; then they declined to L227,070 in 1905. The main sources of supply are shown in this comparison of 1900 and 1905:

+----------+---------+---------+---------+
| | 1900. | 1905. | |
+----------+---------+---------+---------+
| Belgium | L72,031 | L77,766 | +L5,735 |
| Holland | 58,214 | 54,407 | - 3,807 |
| France | 55,870 | 27,910 | -27,960 |
| Germany | 33,155 | 22,892 | -10,263 |
| Japan | 8,140 | 25,536 | +17,396 |
| Portugal | 5,066 | 3,971 | - 1,095 |
+----------+---------+---------+---------+

The increase from Japan (for 1904 the value was L52,377) and the decrease from France are remarkable.

The import values of foreign willows increased from L52,219 in 1900 to L62,286 in 1905, the most important exporting countries being:--

1900. 1905.
Germany L22,594 L34,752 +L12,158
Belgium 18,800 11,864 - 6,936
Holland 9,771 12,750 + 2,979

Small British re-exports of willows (L1808 in 1900 and L371 in 1905) and of baskets (L3785 in 1900 and L6633 in 1905) to foreign parts and British possessions are tabulated. No particulars of exports of British produce and manufacture are specified in the returns.

(T. O.)

[1] See the report of a paper by T. Okey, published in the _Journal_ of the Society of Arts, January 11th, 1907.

BASKET-BALL, a game adapted to the open air, but usually played upon the floor of a gymnasium and in the cold season. It was the invention, in 1891, of James Naismith, an instructor in the gymnasium of the Young Men's Christian Association training-school at Springfield, Massachusetts. A demand had arisen for a game for the gymnasium class, which would break the monotony and take the place, during the winter months, of football and baseball, and which was not too rough to be played indoors. The idea of the game was first published in the _Triangle_, the school paper. It soon became one of the most popular indoor games of America, for girls as well as for men, and spread to England and elsewhere.

Basket-ball is played on a marked-off space 60 ft. by 40 ft. in extent, though in the open air the dimensions may be greater. In the middle of each short side and 10 ft. above the floor or ground, is placed a basket consisting of a net suspended from a metal ring 18 in. in diameter, backed, at a distance of 6 in., by a back-board 6 ft. long and 4 ft. high. The object of the game is to propel an inflated, leather-covered ball, 30 in. in circumference, into the opponents' basket, which is the goal, by striking it with the open hands. The side wins that scores most goals during two periods of play divided by an interval of rest. Although there is practically no limit to the number of players on each side, all indoor matches are played by teams of five, in positions opposing one another as in lacrosse, centre, right and left forwards and right and left guards (or backs). A referee has the general supervision of the game and decides when goals have been properly scored, and an umpire watches for infringements of the rules, which constitute _fouls_. There are also a scorer and timekeeper.

The game is started with the two opposing centres standing within a 4-foot ring in the middle of the floor. The referee puts the ball in play by tossing it into the air over the heads of the centres, who jump into the air for its possession or endeavour to bat it towards the opposing goal. From this moment the ball is in play until it falls into a basket, or passes the boundary-lines, or a foul is made. After a goal has been scored, the ball is again put in play by the referee in the centre. Should it be thrown across the boundary, a player of the opposing side, standing on the line at the point where the ball went over, puts it in play by passing or throwing it to one of his own side in any direction, there being no off-side rule--another point of similarity to lacrosse. His opponents, of course, try to prevent the pass or intercept the throw, thus securing the ball themselves. When a foul has been called, a player of the opposing side is allowed a "free throw" for his opponents' basket from a mark 15 ft. distant from it and without interference. A goal scored from a [v.03 p.0484] free throw counts one point; one scored while the ball is in play counts two. Hacking, striking, holding and kicking are foul, but a player may interfere with an opponent who has the ball so long as he uses one arm only and does not hold. A player must throw the ball from where he gets it, no running with it being allowed excepting when continuously bounding it on the floor. Basket-ball is an extremely fast game and admits of a high degree of combination or team-play. The principal qualifications of a good player are quickness of movement and of judgment, coolness, endurance, accuracy and self-control. Good dodging, throwing, passing and team-play are the important requisites of the game, which is looked upon as excellent winter training for outdoor games. Basket-ball, with somewhat modified rules, is extremely popular with young women.

See _Spalding's Basket-Ball Guide_; and George T. Hepbron, _How to Play Basket-Ball_; and _Spalding's Basket-Ball Guide for Women_.

BASNAGE, JACQUES (1653-1723), French Protestant divine, was the eldest son of the eminent lawyer Henri Basnage, sieur de Franquenay (1615-1695), and was born at Rouen in Normandy in 1653. He studied classical languages at Saumur and afterwards theology at Geneva. He was pastor at Rouen (his native place) from 1676 till 1685, when, on the revocation of the edict of Nantes, he obtained leave of the king to retire to Holland. He settled at Rotterdam as a minister pensionary till 1691, when he was chosen pastor of the Walloon church. In 1709 the grand pensionary A. Heinsius (1641-1720) secured his election as one of the pastors of the Walloon church at the Hague, intending to employ him mainly in civil affairs. Accordingly he was engaged in a secret negotiation with Marshal d'Uxelles, plenipotentiary of France at the congress of Utrecht--a service which he executed with so much success that he was entrusted with several important commissions, all of which he discharged with great ability. In 1716 Dubois, who was at the Hague at the instance of the regent Orleans, for the purpose of negotiating the Triple Alliance between France, Great Britain and Holland, sought the advice of Basnage, who, in spite of the fact that he had failed to receive permission to return to France on a short visit the year before, did his best to further the negotiations. The French government also turned to him for help in view of the threatened rising in the Cevennes. Basnage had welcomed the revival of the Protestant church due to the zeal of Antoine Court; but he assured the regent that no danger of active resistance was to be feared from it, and, true to the principles of Calvin, he denounced the rebellion of the Camisards (_q.v._) in his _Instructions pastorales aux Reformes de France sur l'obeissance due aux souverains_ (Paris, 1720), which was printed by order of the court and scattered broadcast in the south of France. Basnage died on the 22nd of September 1723.

Basnage was a good preacher and a prolific writer. His works include several dogmatic and polemical treatises, but the most important are the historical. Of these may be mentioned _Histoire de la religion des eglises reformees_ (Rotterdam, 1690), the _Histoire de l'eglise depuis Jesus-Christ jusqu'a present_ (_ib_. 1699)--both of them written from the point of view of Protestant polemics--and, of greater scientific value, the _Histoire des Juifs_ (Rotterdam, 1706, Eng. trans. 1708) and the _Antiquites judaiques ou remarques critiques sur la republique des Hebreux_ (1713). He also wrote short explanatory introductions and notes to a collection of copper-plate engravings, much valued by connoisseurs, called _Histoires du Vieux et du Nouveau Testament, representees par des figures gravees en taille-douce par R. de Hooge_ (Amsterdam, 1704).