Chapter VII: Part 7

BALKAN LEAGUE, THE. After the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Austria, in 1908, the Balkan League of Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece was formed, apparently at the instigation of the Powers of the Triple Entente, primarily to constitute a bulwark against Austrian aggression towards the southeast. The League, however, directed its activities against Turkey, taking advantage of Turkish embarrassments in Libya and of the success of an insurrection in Albania to attempt in 1912 the overthrow of the Turkish regime in Europe. The declaration of hostilities by the League in Oct., 1912, began the First Balkan War (q.v.). The League was maintained during the two campaigns of the war, but jealousy of Bulgarian pre-eminence led to its disruption in June, 1913, when Serbia, Montenegro, and Greece went to war with their former ally.

BALKAN STATES. See _Bulgaria_, _Greece_, _Roumania_, _Serbia_, _Turkey_, and _Yugo-Slavs_.

BALKAN WAR, THE. The First Balkan War (Oct., 1912-May, 1913) was the effort of the Balkan League (q.v.) to dismember Turkey in Europe. Each member of the League was allotted a definite strategic object, and each gained a considerable measure of success. Bulgaria defeated the Turks at Kirk Kilisseh and Lule Burgas, and drove them behind the lines of Tchataldja. The Greeks captured Salonica; the Serbians forced their way to the sea at Durazzo. The Montenegrins invested Scutari. An armistice in December was followed by indecisive negotiations, in which the Great Powers took part. Renewed hostilities in the spring of 1913 (during which the Turks lost Adrianople) came to an end with the Treaty of London in May. Before its promises could be carried out, Serbia, Greece, and Roumania joined to crush Bulgaria in the Second Balkan War, alleging that her claims to conquered territory in Macedonia were excessive. The Treaty of Bucharest (Aug., 1913) finally concluded the war. The net results were: (1) to confine Turkey to Constantinople and the vilayet of Adrianople; (2) to extend Bulgarian territory to the Aegean and to increase greatly both Serbia and Montenegro; (3) to grant Salonica to Greece; (4) to create an autonomous Albania.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: E. Ashmead-Bartlett, _With the Turks in Thrace_; _The Balkan War Drama_, by a Special Correspondent; D. J. Cassvetti, _Hellas and the Balkan Wars_; Sir J. R. L. Rankin, _The Inner History of the Balkan War_.

BALKASH', or BALKHASH (b[.a]l-_h_[.a]sh'), a salt lake in Russian Central Asia, surrounded by steppes and plains; length about 330 miles, area 8500 sq. miles, depth nowhere more than 80 feet; formerly of much greater area and gradually growing smaller; receives the Ili and other smaller streams.

BALKH (baelk or bael_h_), a city in the north of Afghanistan, in Afghan Turkestan, at one time the emporium of the trade between India, China, and Western Asia. It was long the centre of Zoroastrianism, and was also an important Buddhist centre. In 1220 it was sacked by Genghis Khan, and again by Timur in the fourteenth century. The remains of the ancient city extend for miles. The town is now merely a village, but a new town has been built an hour's journey north of the old, the residence of the Afghan governor, with a pop. of about 20,000. The district, which formed a portion of ancient Bactria, lies between the Oxus and the Hindu-Kush, with Badakshan to the east and the desert to the west. In the vicinity of the Oxus, where there are facilities for irrigation, the soil is rich and productive, and there are many populous villages.

BAL'KIS, the Arabian name of the Queen of Sheba who visited Solomon. She is the central figure of innumerable Eastern legends and tales.

BALL, GAME OF. Ball-playing was practised by the ancients, and old and young amused themselves with it. The Phaeacian damsels are represented in the _Odyssey_ as playing it to the sound of music; and Horace represents Maecenas as amusing himself thus during a journey. In the Greek gymnasia, the Roman baths, and in many Roman villas, a _sphaeristerium_ (a place appropriated for playing ball) was to be found; the games played being similar to those of the present day. In the Middle Ages the sport continued to be very popular both as an indoor and outdoor exercise, and was a favourite Court pastime until about the end of the eighteenth century. In England football and tennis are mentioned at an early date, and a favourite game prior to the English revolution was one in which a _mall_ or mallet was used, hence the name _pall-mall_ (It. _palla_, Lat. _pila_, a ball) for the game and the place where it was played. The most popular modern forms are cricket, base-ball, football, golf, lawn-tennis, fives, and polo.

BALL, John, an itinerant preacher of the fourteenth century, excommunicated about 1367 for promulgating "errors, schisms, and scandals against the Pope, archbishops, bishops, and clergy". He was one of the most active promoters of the popular insurgent spirit which found vent under Wat Tyler in 1381, and the couplet

"When Adam delved and Eve span
Who was then the gentleman?"

is attributed to him. He was hanged, drawn, and quartered on 15th July, 1381.

BALL, Sir Robert Stawell, astronomer, born at Dublin 1840, educated at Chester and Trinity College, Dublin. In 1865 he was appointed Lord Rosse's astronomer at Parsonstown, and subsequently held various official posts, including those of Andrews professor of astronomy in the University of Dublin and Astronomer Royal for Ireland (1874), Lowndean professor of astronomy and geometry in the University of Cambridge and director of the observatory (1892). He became F.R.S. in 1873, and was knighted in 1886. Besides many memoirs and articles, he published _The Story of the Heavens_, _Starland_, _In Starry Realms_, _Time and Tide_, _The Story of the Sun_, _Great Astronomers_, _The Earth's Beginning_, _Popular Guide to the Heavens_ (numerous plates with accompanying text), _Natural Sources of Power_, &c. He died in 1913.

BAL'LAD, a term loosely applied to various poetic forms of the song type, but in its most definite sense a poem in which a short narrative is subjected to simple lyrical treatment. It was, as indicated by its name, which is related to the Low Latin _ballare_ and O. French _baller_, to dance, originally a song accompanied by a dance. The ballad, like the nursery tales and the _Maerchen_, is probably one of the earliest forms of rhythmic poetic expression, constituting a species of epic in miniature, out of which by fusion and remoulding larger epics were sometimes shaped. Their present form is, of course, relatively recent. As in the folk-tales, so in the ballads of different nations, the resemblances are sufficiently numerous and close to point to the conclusion that they have often had their first origin in the same primitive folk-lore or popular tales. But in any case, excepting a few modern literary ballads of a subtler kind, they have been the popular expression of the broad human emotions clustering about some strongly-outlined incidents of war, love, crime, superstition, or death. It is probable that in the Homeric poems fragments of older ballads are embedded; but the earliest ballads, properly so called, of which we have record were the _ballistea_ or dancing-songs of the Romans, of the kind sung in honour of the deeds of Aurelian in the Sarmatic war by a chorus of dancing boys. In their less specialized sense of lyric narratives, their early popularity among the Teutonic race is evidenced by the testimony of Tacitus, of the Gothic historian Jornandes, and the Lombard historian Paulus Diaconus; and many appear to have been written down by order of Charlemagne and used as a means of education. Of the ballads of this period, however, only a general conception can be formed from their traces in conglomerates like the _Niebelungenlied_; the more artificial productions of the Minnesingers and Meistersingers overlying the more popular ballad until the fifteenth century, when it sprang once more into vigorous life. A third German ballad period was initiated by Buerger, under the inspiration of the revived interest in the subject shown in Great Britain and the publication of the Percy _Reliques_; and the movement was sustained by Herder, Schiller, Goethe, Heine, Uhland, and others. The earlier German work is, however, of inferior value to that of Scandinavia, where, though comparatively few manuscripts have survived, and those not more than three or four centuries old, a more perfect oral tradition has rendered it possible to trace the original stock of the twelfth century.

Of the English and Scottish ballads anterior to the thirteenth century there are few traces beyond the indication that they were abundant, if indeed anything can be definitely asserted of them earlier than the fourteenth century. Among the oldest may be placed _The Little Gest of Robin Hood_, _Hugh of Lincoln_, _Sir Patrick Spens_, and the _Battle of Otterbourn_. In the fifteenth century specimens multiply rapidly: ballad-making became in the reign of Henry VIII a fashionable amusement, the king himself setting the example; and though in the reign of Elizabeth ballads came into literary disrepute and ballad singers were brought under the law, yet there was no apparent check upon the rate of their production. Except perhaps in the north of England and south of Scotland, there was, however, a marked and increasing tendency to vulgarization as distinct from the preservation of popular qualities. The value of the better ballads was lost sight of in the flood of dull, rhythmless, and frequently scurrilous verse. The modern revival in Britain dates from the publication of Allan Ramsay's _Evergreen_ and _Tea-table Miscellany_ (1724-7) and of the selection _Reliques_ made by Bishop Percy from his seventeenth-century MSS. (1765), a revival not more important for its historic interest than for the influence which it has exercised upon all subsequent poetry.

The threefold wave discernible in German, if not in British, ballad history, is equally to be traced in Spain, which alone among the Latinized countries of Europe has songs of equal age and merit with the British historic ballads. The principal difference between them is, that for the most part the Spanish romance is in trochaic, the British ballad in iambic metre. The ballads of the Cid date from about the end of the twelfth and beginning of the thirteenth century; and then followed an interval of more elaborate production, a revival of ballad interest in the sixteenth century, a new declension, and finally a modern and still-persisting enthusiasm.

The French poetry of this kind never reached any high degree of perfection, the romance, farce, and lyric flourishing at the expense of the ballad proper. Of Italy much the same may be said, though Sicily has supplied a great store of ballads; and nearly all the Portuguese poetry of this kind is to be traced to a Spanish origin. The Russians have lyrico-epic poems, of which some, in old Russian, are excellent, and the Serbians are still in the ballad-producing stage of civilization. Modern Greece has also its store of ballads, published in several collections. In Greece, Russia, and elsewhere the old habit of improvising song as an accompaniment to dance still exists.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Professor Child, _English and Scottish Popular Ballads_; Professor Gummere, _The Beginnings of Poetry_; Sir W. Scott, _Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border_ (edited by T. F. Henderson); T. F. Henderson, _The Ballad in Literature_.

BALLADE (bal-[.a]d'), the earlier and modern French spelling of _ballad_, but now limited in its use to a distinct verse-form introduced into English literature of late years from the French, and chiefly used by writers of _vers-de-societe_. It consists of three stanzas of eight lines each, with an _envoy_ or closing stanza of four lines. The rhymes, which are not more than three, follow each other in the stanzas thus: a, b, a, b; b, c, b, c, and in the envoy, b, c, b, c; and the same line serves as a refrain to each of the stanzas and to the envoy. There are other varieties, but this may be regarded as the strictest, according to the precedent of Villon and Marot.

BAL'LANTYNE, James, the printer of Sir Walter Scott's works, born at Kelso 1772, died at Edinburgh 1833. Successively a solicitor and a printer in his native town, at Scott's suggestion he removed to Edinburgh, where the high perfection to which he had brought the art of printing, and his connection with Scott, secured him a large trade. The printing firm of James Ballantyne & Co. included Scott, James Ballantyne, and his brother John (who died in 1821). For many years he conducted the _Edinburgh Weekly Journal_. His firm was involved in the bankruptcy of Constable & Co., by which Scott's fortunes were wrecked, but Ballantyne was continued by the creditors' trustee in the literary management of the printing-house. He survived Scott only about four months.

BALLANTYNE, Robert Michael, writer of books for boys, born at Edinburgh 1825, died in Rome 1894, was a nephew of James Ballantyne, the printer of Sir Walter Scott's works. He was for some years in North America in the service of the Hudson's Bay Company, and his experiences there supplied him with materials for some of his earlier books, especially _Hudson's Bay, or Life in the Wilds of North America_ (1848); _The Young Fur Traders_; and _Ungava, a Tale of Eskimo Land_. For many years he continued to produce popular and instructive boys' books, dealing with scenes and subjects of the most varied kind; and he also published a volume entitled _Personal Reminiscences of Book-Making_ (1893).

BALLARAT', or BALLAARAT, an Australian town in Victoria, chief centre of the gold-mining industry of the colony, and next in importance to Melbourne, from which it is distant W.N.W. about 60 miles direct. It consists of two distinct municipalities, Ballarat West and Ballarat East, separated by the Yarrowee Creek, and has many handsome buildings, and all the institutions of a progressive and flourishing city, including hospital, mechanics' institute and library, free public library, Anglican and Roman Catholic cathedrals, &c. Gold was first discovered in 1851, and the extraordinary richness of the field soon attracted hosts of miners. The surface diggings having been exhausted, the precious metal is now got from greater depths, and there are mines as deep as some coal-pits, the gold being obtained by crushing the auriferous quartz. There are also foundries, woollen mills, flour-mills, breweries and distilleries, &c. Pop. 42,252.

BAL'LAST, a term applied (1) to heavy matter, as stone, sand, iron, or water placed in the bottom of a ship or other vessel to sink it in the water to such a depth as to enable it to carry sufficient sail without oversetting. (2) The sand placed in bags in the car of a balloon to steady it and to enable the aeronaut to lighten the balloon by throwing part of it out. (3) The material used to fill up the space between the rails on a railway in order to make it firm and solid.

BALL'ATER, a village and favourite summer resort in Aberdeenshire, on the Dee, at the terminus of the Deeside Railway, about 43 miles from Aberdeen, a centre from which Balmoral, Lochnagar, Braemar, &c., are easily reached. The Pananich chalybeate springs are adjacent. Pop. (1921), 1542.

1. Cistern with ball-cock attached: _a_, rising main; _b_, supply to house. 2. Outside view of valve (cistern full). 3. Piston with rubber disk. 4. Section of valve (cistern full). 5. Section of valve with piston pulled down.]

BALL-COCK, a kind of self-acting stopcock opened and shut by means of a hollow sphere or ball of metal attached to the end of a lever connected with the cock. Such cocks are often employed to regulate the supply of water to cisterns. The ball floats on the water in the cistern by its buoyancy, and rises and sinks as the water rises and sinks, shutting off the water in the one case and letting it on in the other.

BAL'LENTYNE, or BELLENDEN, John, a Scottish poet; was a native of Lothian, and appears to have been born towards the close of the fifteenth century. He was in the service of James V from the king's earliest years, and at his request he translated Boece's _Latin History_, which had been published at Paris in 1526, the translation being printed in 1536. As a reward he was made Archdeacon of Moray and a canon of Ross. He was a bitter opponent of the Reformation, and is said to have died at Rome in 1550.

BALLET (bal'[=a]), a species of dance, usually forming an interlude in theatrical performances, but principally confined to opera. Its object is to represent, by mimic movements and dances, actions, characters, sentiments, passions, and feelings, in which several dancers perform together. The ballet is an invention of modern times, though pantomimic dances were not unknown to the ancients. The dances frequently introduced into operas seldom deserve the name ballet, as they usually do not represent any action, but are destined only to give the dancers an opportunity of showing their skill. The modern ballet was developed and perfected in France, and introduced into England in the eighteenth century. From an artistic point of view, the modern ballet is often a very low-class entertainment.

BALL-FLOWER, an architectural ornament resembling a ball placed in a circular flower, the three petals of which form a cup round it; usually inserted in a hollow moulding, and generally characteristic of the Decorated Gothic style of the fourteenth century.

BALLIA, a town of India, in the United Provinces, on the Ganges, the administrative head-quarters of a district of the same name. Pop. 16,680.

BALLINA', a town and river-port, Ireland, County Mayo, on both banks of the Moy, about 5 miles above its mouth in Killala Bay, with a considerable local and also a little coasting and foreign trade. Pop. 4662.

BALLINASLOE' (-sl[=o]), a town, Ireland, in Galway and Roscommon counties, 15 miles south-west of Athlone, on both sides of the Suck, noted for its cattle fair, from 5th till 9th Oct., the most important in Ireland. The town contains remains of a castle of Elizabethan date. Pop. 5170.

BALLIS'TA, a machine used in military operations by the ancients for hurling heavy missiles, thus serving in some degree the purpose of the modern cannon. The motive power appears to have been obtained by the torsion of ropes, fibres, catgut, or hair. They are said to have sometimes had an effective range of a quarter of a mile, and to have thrown stones weighing as much as 300 lb. The ballistae differed from the _catapultae_, in that the latter were used for throwing darts.

BALLIS'TIC PENDULUM, an apparatus for ascertaining the velocity of military projectiles, and consequently the force of fired gunpowder. A piece of ordnance is fired against bags of sand supported in a strong case or frame suspended so as to swing like a pendulum. The arc through which it vibrates is shown by an index, and the amount of vibration forms a measure of the force or velocity of the ball.

BALLISTICS, the science of the motion of projectiles. _Interior ballistics_ deals with the motion of the shot while inside the gun, and with the results of the explosion of the charge. _Exterior ballistics_ comprises a study of the trajectory or path of the projectile in the air, and the causes which affect the shape of this path, such as the density of the air, shape and weight of the shot, rifling of the barrel, angle of fire and speed of the projectile. If the air-resistance be neglected, it can be shown that the trajectory is a _parabola_. This result, given by Galileo, is of little use in gunnery except when taken along with a knowledge of air-resistance. Robins, in 1742, first measured the muzzle-speed of the shot by firing into a ballistic pendulum and noting the swing of the pendulum. Wheatstone, in 1840, suggested measuring the speed by causing the shot to cut successive wire screens, each of which formed part of an electric circuit. The Boulange chronograph is a modern development of this idea. Rev. F. Bashforth's experiments, carried out between 1865 and 1880, form the basis of our knowledge of air-resistance. He found that the latter was proportional to the square of the diameter of the shot, and that, although the resistance is expressible in terms of a power of the speed, this power changes with the speed. The air-resistance is a maximum at about the speed at which sound travels, viz. 1100 feet per second. Artillerists employ ballistic tables based on the results obtained by Bashforth and others, by means of which, given the kind of projectile, its initial velocity, and angle of fire, they can calculate the range and time of flight of the projectile. See _Gunnery_.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: F. Bashforth, _The Motion of Projectiles_; J. M. Ingalls, _Interior Ballistics_; P. Charbonnier, _Balistique Exterieure_.

BALLOON-FISH (_Tetra[)o]don line[=a]tus_), ord. Plectognathi, a curious tropical fish that can inflate itself so as to resemble a balloon.

BALLOONS, the most elementary form of lighter-than-air air-craft, unprovided with any means of propulsion or steering. Deriving its power of sustentation from the gas contained in the gas-bag, the free balloon is spherical in form. It is usually filled with coal-gas, which has a lifting-force of 35 lb. per 1000 cu. feet. Varying in size from 5000 to 20,000 cu. foot capacity, the gas-bag is covered with a 'net', from which is hung the 'basket' for the accommodation of the aeronaut, or pilot, and passengers. The spherical gas-bag has at the bottom an elongation, known as the 'neck', which is open to the air in order that the gas may escape as it expands during the rise into the rarefied atmosphere of the upper air. A 'valve' is fitted at the top, which may be opened by a cord from the basket when it is desired to allow gas to escape in order to descend. Bags containing sand are carried in order that ballast may be dropped when it is desired to rise. A free balloon is completely at the mercy of the wind, and simply drifts where the wind takes it. Balloons are usually constructed of cotton fabric, though occasionally of gold-beater's skin, in which case they are commonly filled with hydrogen in place of coal-gas. A 'trail-rope' is usually carried, with which the practice of 'trailing' may be effected over open country or the sea. This consists in allowing the end of the trail-rope to drag on the ground. As the balloon rises it raises more of the rope off the ground, the additional weight bringing it down again. _Per contra_, as it falls the weight of the trail-rope is taken by the ground and so lightens the balloon. This tends to maintain the balloon at a uniform height. The greatest height ever attained by a balloon is 37,000 feet, reached by Glaisher and Coxwell in Sept., 1862. Both aeronauts nearly perished from the effects of the cold and rarefaction of the atmosphere. In 1895 Parseval and Siegsfield, two officers of the Prussian army, invented the 'Drachen-ballon' or 'Kite-balloon' (Fr. _Saucisse_). This consists of a captive balloon comprising an elongated gas-bag fitted with an automatic air-chamber, or 'ballonet', for maintaining the pressure, and automatic stabilizers to prevent yawing off the wind, rolling from side to side, and pitching horizontally. This was improved upon by Captain Caquot of the French army, who in 1916 produced an improved type, offering many advantages, which was used in large numbers by the British, French, and American armies and navies during the Great European War of 1914-8. See also _Aeronautics_, _Air-ships_.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: _British Military Manual of Ballooning_; Rev. J. M. Bacon, _The Dominion of the Air_; H. Coxwell, _My Life and Balloon Experiences_; J. Glaisher, _Travels in the Air_; G. Tissandier, _Histoire de mes Ascensions_.

BAL'LOT, VOTING BY, signifies literally voting by means of little balls (called by the French _ballottes_), usually of different colours, which are put into a box in such a manner as to enable the voter, if he chooses, to conceal for whom or for what he gives his suffrage. The method is adopted by most clubs in the election of their members--a white ball indicating assent, a black ball dissent. Hence, when an applicant is rejected, he is said to be _blackballed_. The term voting by ballot is also applied in a general way to any method of secret voting, as, for instance, when a person gives his vote by means of a ticket bearing the name of the candidate whom he wishes to support. In this sense vote by ballot is the mode adopted in electing the members of legislative assemblies in most countries, as well as the members of various other bodies. In ancient Greece and Rome the ballot was in common use. In Britain it had long been advocated in the election of members of Parliament and of municipal corporations, but it was only introduced by an Act passed in 1872.

BALLYME'NA, a town of Ireland, County Antrim, 22 miles from Belfast, with a considerable trade in linens and linen yarns, the manufacture of which is carried on to a great extent. Pop. 11,380.

BALLYMO'NEY, a town of Ireland, County Antrim, 38 miles N.W. of Belfast; linen, chemicals, tanning, and brewing. Pop. 3100.

BALLYSHAN'NON, a small seaport of Ireland, County Donegal, on the Erne, about 1 mile from the S.E. shore of Donegal Bay. Pop. 2471.

BALM (baem; _Melissa officin[=a]lis_), a plant, belonging to the Labiatae;, formerly in great repute for its medicinal virtues. A native of the south of Europe, it is cultivated in English gardens. It is a herbaceous perennial, with an erect branching stem about 2 feet high. The leaves arise with the flower-stems from a thick joint at the extremity of the stalk. The flowers are whitish; they are produced in a round terminal umbel, and appear in June. The stems and leaves are slightly stimulating and tonic. They contain an essential oil of a yellowish colour and with a fragrant smell, called oil of balm.

BALM OF GILEAD, the exudation of a tree, _Balsamodendron gileadense_, nat. ord. Amyridaceae, a native of Arabia Felix, and also obtained from the closely-allied species _Balsamodendron Opobals[)a]mum_. The leaves of the former tree yield when bruised a strong aromatic scent; and the balm of Gilead of the shops, or balsam of Mecca or of Syria, is obtained from it by making an incision in its trunk. It has a yellowish or greenish colour, a warm, bitterish, aromatic taste, and an acidulous fragrant smell. It is valued as an odoriferous unguent and cosmetic by the Turks. It is frequently adulterated for market.--The _balm of Gilead fir_, which produces a turpentine called Canada balsam, is the _Abies balsamif[)e]ra_, a North American species, whose range is from Virginia to Canada. The name is derived from _Jeremiah_, viii, 22.

BALMAIN', a populous western suburb of Sydney, N.S.W., with extensive docks and various industrial works. Pop. 33,000.

BALMER'INO, Arthur Elphinstone, Lord, a Scottish Jacobite, born 1688, executed 1746. He took part in the Jacobite rebellion of 1715, and fought at Sheriffmuir. Having joined the young Pretender in 1745, he was taken prisoner at Culloden, tried at Westminster, found guilty, and beheaded. His title was from Balmerino in Fife.

BALMOR'AL CASTLE, a private residence of the British sovereign, beautifully situated on the S. bank of the Dee, in Aberdeenshire, 45 miles W. by S. of Aberdeen. It stands in the midst of fine and varied mountain scenery, is built of granite in the Scottish baronial style, mainly in two connected blocks, and has an imposing appearance. The estate, purchased by the Prince Consort in 1852 and bequeathed to Queen Victoria, extends to about 40,000 acres, mostly deer forest.

BALNAVES', Henry, of Halhill, a Scottish reformer, was born at Kirkcaldy, educated at St. Andrews, and became a lord of session and a member of the Scottish Parliament in 1538. He was one of the commissioners appointed in 1543 to treat of the proposed marriage between Edward VI and Mary. In 1547 he was one of the prisoners taken in the castle of St. Andrews and exiled to France. Recalled in 1554, he busily engaged in the establishment of the reformed faith, assisted in revising the _Book of Discipline_, and accompanied Murray to England in connection with Darnley's murder. He died in 1579.

BALRAMPUR. See _Bulrampur_.

BALSA, a kind of raft or float used on the coasts and rivers of Peru and other parts of South America for fishing, for landing goods and passengers through a heavy surf, and for other purposes where buoyancy is chiefly wanted. It is formed generally of two inflated seal-skins, connected by a sort of platform on which the fisherman, passengers, or goods are placed.

BAL'SAM, the common name of succulent plants of the genus Impatiens, family Balsaminaceae, having beautiful irregular flowers, cultivated in gardens and green-houses. _Impatiens balsam[=i]na_, native of the East Indies, is a common cultivated species. _I. noli-me-tangere_ grows wild in Britain, but is not native. See _Impatiens_.

BALSAM, an aromatic, resinous substance, flowing spontaneously or by incision from certain plants. A great variety of substances pass under this name. But in chemistry the term is confined to such vegetable juices as consist of resins mixed with volatile oils, and yield the volatile oil on distillation. The resins are produced from the oils by oxidation. A balsam is thus intermediate between a volatile oil and a resin. It is soluble in alcohol and ether, and capable of yielding benzoic acid. The balsams are either liquid or more or less solid; as, for example, the balm of Gilead, and the balsams of copaiba, Peru, and Tolu. Benzoin, dragon's-blood, and storax are not true balsams, though sometimes called so. The balsams are used in perfumery, medicine, and the arts. See _Copaiba_, &c.--_Balsam of Gilead_ or _of Mecca_, balm of Gilead (q.v.).--_Canada balsam_. See _Canada balsam_.

BALSAM FIR. See _Balm of Gilead_.

BALSA'MO, Joseph. See _Cagliostro, Count_.

BALSAMODEN'DRON, a genus of trees or bushes, ord. Amyridaceae, species of which yield such balsamic or resinous substances as balm of Gilead, bdellium, myrrh, &c.

BALTA, a town in the Ukraine, government of Podolia, on the Kodema, an affluent of the Bug, 115 miles N.N.W. of Odessa. Pop. 18,450.

BALTIC, BATTLE OF THE. See _Copenhagen_; _Parker, Sir Hyde_.

BALTIC PROVINCES, a term commonly given to the former Russian governments of Courland, Livonia, and Esthonia (q.v.).

BALTIC SEA, an inland sea or large gulf connected with the North Sea, washing the coasts of Denmark, Germany, Russia, and Sweden; nearly 900 miles long, extending to 200 broad; superficial extent, together with the Gulfs of Bothnia and Finland, 171,743 sq. miles. Its greatest depth is 126 fathoms; mean, 44 fathoms. A chain of islands separates the southern part from the northern, or Gulf of Bothnia. The water of the Baltic is colder and clearer than that of the ocean: it contains a smaller proportion of salt, and the ice obstructs the navigation three or four months in the year. Among the rivers that enter it are the Neva, Dwina, Oder, Vistula, and Niemen. Islands: Samsoe, Moen, Bornholm, Langeland, Laaland, which belong to Denmark (besides Zealand and Funen); Gottland and Oeland, belonging to Sweden; Ruegen, belonging to Prussia; Dagoe and Oesel, belonging to Russia; and the Aland Islands. The Sound, the Great and the Little Belt lead from the Kattegat into the Baltic. The Baltic and North Sea were long connected by the Eider and a canal from it to the neighbourhood of Kiel, but this has been superseded by the great ship canal, starting from the Elbe near its mouth and ending in Kiel Bay.

BAL'TIMORE, a city and port in Maryland, United States, finely situated on the N. side of the Patapsco, 14 miles above Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore takes its name from Lord Baltimore, the founder of Maryland; it was first laid out as a town in 1729; and was erected into a city in 1797. It is well built, chiefly of brick, and is known as the 'monumental city', from the public monuments which adorn it, the principal being the Washington monument. Among its buildings are the city hall, built in Renaissance style, of white marble, with a tower and dome rising 240 feet; the Peabody Institute, containing a library, art gallery, &c.; the Maryland Institute; the custom-house; the post office; the United States court-house and jail, the Johns Hopkins hospital, the Roman Catholic cathedral, &c. The chief educational institution, now one of the most important in the States, is the Johns Hopkins University, endowed with 3,500,000 dollars by its founder (whose name it bears). There is a Roman Catholic archbishop with the rank of primate, and a Protestant episcopal bishop. Industries: shipbuilding; manufactures of iron, wool, cotton, pottery, &c.; sugar-refining, distilling, tanning, the making of agricultural implements, canning oysters and fruits, &c. As a flour market Baltimore is an important centre; and it does an immense trade in exporting tobacco and other products. The harbour is very extensive. Pop. (1920), 733,826.

BALTIMORE, George Calvert, Lord, born in Yorkshire about 1580, died in London 1632. He was for some time Secretary of State to James I, but this post he resigned in 1624 in consequence of having become a Roman Catholic. Notwithstanding this he retained the confidence of the king, who in 1625 raised him to the Irish peerage, his title being from Baltimore, a fishing-village of Cork. He had previously obtained a grant of land in Newfoundland, but as this colony was much exposed to the attacks of the French he left it, and obtained another patent for Maryland. He died before the charter was completed, and it was granted to his son Cecil, who deputed the governorship to his brother Leonard (1606-47).

BALTIMORE BIRD, an American bird, the _Ict[)e]rus Baltimorii_, family Icteridae, nearly allied to the Sturnidae, or starlings. It is a migratory bird, and is known also by the names of 'golden robin', 'hang-bird', and 'fire-bird'. It is about 7 inches long; the head and upper parts are black, the under parts of a brilliant orange hue. It builds a pouch-like nest, very skilfully constructed of threads deftly interwoven, suspended from a forked branch and shaded by overhanging leaves. It feeds on insects, caterpillars, beetles, &c. Its song is a clear, mellow whistle.

BALUCHISTAN (ba-loe'chi-staen), a country in Asia, the coast of which is continuous with the north-western seaboard of India, bounded on the north by Afghanistan, on the west by Persia, on the south by the Arabian Sea, and on the east by Sindh. It has an area of about 135,000 sq. miles, and a population estimated at 834,703. The general surface of the country is rugged and mountainous, with some extensive intervals of barren sandy deserts, and there is a general deficiency of water. Various kinds of grain are cultivated, and there is abundance of excellent fruits. The main body of the inhabitants are divided into two great branches, the Baluchis and Brahuis, differing in language, figure, and manners. The Baluchi language resembles the modern Persian, the Brahui presents points of agreement with the Dravidian languages of India. The Baluchis in general have tall figures, long visages, and prominent features; the Brahuis have shorter, thicker bodies, with round faces and rather flat features. Both races are Mahommedans, hospitable and brave. There are also many Afghans and others in the country. The Khan of Khelat, the nominal ruler of the whole land, in 1877 concluded a treaty with Britain, in virtue of which he became a feudatory of India. Since then Quetta, in the north-east, occupying an important position, and certain portions of territory, have been absolutely annexed, and in 1887 a separate administration was constituted, and British authority established, under the Governor-General's agent. The area of British Baluchistan, including tribal areas, is 54,228 sq. miles; pop. 414,412. The country nominally under the Khan of Khelat has an area of 72,280 sq. miles; pop. 359,086. Under British administration roads and railways have been made, with telegraphs and a postal service. Wool, fruits, &c., are exported, cottons and other goods imported, and there is a fair transit trade.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Floyer, _Unexplored Baluchistan_; T. Thornton, _Life of Sandeman_.

BAL'USTER, a small column or pilaster, of various forms and dimensions, often adorned with mouldings, used for balustrades.

BALUSTRADE', a range of balusters, together with the cornice or coping which they support, used as a parapet for bridges or the roofs of buildings, or as a mere ornament; also serving as a fence or enclosure for balconies, terraces, staircases, &c.

BALUZE (b[.a]-luez), Etienne, French historian and miscellaneous writer, born 1630, died 1718. For more than thirty years he was librarian to M. de Colbert, and was appointed professor of canon law in the Royal College, but displeasing Louis XIV with his _Histoire Generale de la Maison d'Auvergne_, he was thrown into prison and his property confiscated. He recovered his liberty in 1713, but did not regain his position. He left some 1500 MSS. in the national library of Paris, besides forty-five printed works, including _Regum Francorum Capitularia_ (2 vols.) and _Miscellanea_ (7 vols.).

BALZAC (b[.a]l-z[.a]k), Honore de, a celebrated French novelist, was born at Tours in 1799, died 1850. Before completing his twenty-fourth year he had published a number of novels under various assumed names, but the success attending all was very indifferent; and it was not till 1829, by the publication of _Le Dernier Chouan_, a tale of La Vendee, and the first novel to which Balzac appended his name, that the attention of the public was diverted to the extraordinary genius of the author. A still greater popularity attended his _Physiologie de Mariage_, a work full of piquant and caustic observations on human nature. He wrote a large number of novels, all marked by a singular knowledge of human nature and distinct delineation of character, but apt to be marred by exaggeration. Among his best-known works are: _Scenes de la Vie de Province_, _Scenes de la Vie Parisienne_, _Le Pere Goriot_, _Eugenie Grandet_, and _Le Medecin de Campagne_. The publication of this last, in 1835, led to a correspondence between Balzac and the Countess Eveline de Hanska, a Polish lady whom, after about fifteen years, he visited and married. A collected edition of his works, under the title _La Comedie Humaine_, was published in 45 vols., Paris, 1856-9, and another in 1869. In 1899 appeared the first volume of Balzac's _Oeuvres Posthumes_, and in 1906 the second.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: F. Wedmore, _Balzac_; M. F. Sandars, _Balzac_; W. H. Helm, _Aspects of Balzac_; Taine, _Essay on Balzac_.

BALZAC (b[.a]l-z[.a]k), Jean Louis Guez de, French writer, born 1594, died 1654. His writings, which had a great reputation in their day owing to the elegance of his style, are now neglected. The most esteemed are his _Familiar Letters_, _Le Prince_, _Le Socrate Chretien_, and _Aristippe_.

BAMAKO, capital of the French colony of Upper Senegal and Niger since 1904. It is an important trade-centre and the terminus of the Niger-Senegal railway. Pop. 8000.

BAMBA, a district of the Congo, W. coast of Africa, lying to the south of the River Ambriz. It is thickly populated, and is rich in gold, silver, copper, salt, &c.

BAMBAR'RA, a territory of Western Africa, on the Upper Niger, first visited by Mungo Park, now in the French portion of the Sudan. The country is generally very fertile, producing wheat, rice, maize, yams, &c. The inhabitants are of negro or mixed race, and some are Mohammedans. Excellent cotton cloth is made. The chief town is Segou. Pop. estimated at 2,000,000. See _Senegal_.

BAM'BERG, a town of Germany, Bavaria, charmingly situated on several hills, on the navigable River Regnitz, some 3 miles from its mouth in the Main. It is the seat of a Catholic archbishop; the cathedral, founded in 1004 (the present structure dates from 1111), is one of the finest churches in Germany. The royal library contains 100,000 volumes and valuable MSS. Bamberg carries on a large trade; its industries are cotton-spinning, tobacco-manufacture, brewing, &c. Pop. 48,063.

BAMBINO (b[.a]m-b[=e]'n[=o]; It., an infant), the figure of our Saviour represented as an infant in swaddling-clothes. The _Santissimo Bambino_ in the church of Ara Coeli at Rome, a richly-decorated figure carved in wood, is believed to be able to perform miracles and heal the sick. According to popular belief, the painting was miraculously done by St. Luke or by an angel. Bambinos are set up for the adoration of the faithful in many places in Catholic countries.

BAMBOCCIADES (bam-boch-[=a]dz'), pictures, generally grotesque, of common, rustic, or low life, such as those of Peter Van Laar, a Dutch painter of the seventeenth century, who on account of his deformity was called _Bamboccio_ (cripple). Teniers is the great master of this style.

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BAMBOO', the common name of the arborescent grasses belonging to the genus Bamb[=u]sa. There are many species, belonging to the warmer parts of Asia, Africa, and America, and growing from a few feet to as much as 100 feet, requiring much moisture to thrive properly. A peculiarity of the bamboo family is that they flower on reaching a certain age, generally about 130 years. The best-known species is _B. arundinac[)e]a_, common in tropical and sub-tropical regions. From the creeping underground rhizome, which is long, thick, and jointed, spring several round jointed stalks, which send out from their joints several shoots, the stalks also being armed at their joints with one or two sharp rigid spines. The oval leaves, 8 or 9 inches long, are placed on short footstalks. The flowers grow in large panicles from the joints of the stalk. Some stems grow to 8 or 10 inches in diameter, and are so hard and durable as to be used for building purposes. The smaller stalks are used for walking-sticks, flutes, &c.; and indeed the plant is used for innumerable purposes in the East Indies, China, and other Eastern countries. Cottages are almost wholly made of it; also, bridges, boxes, water-pipes, ladders, fences, bows and arrows, spears, baskets, mats, paper, masts for boats, &c. The young shoots may be either pickled or salted and eaten with rice, or candied and preserved in sugar; the seeds of some species are also eaten. The substance called _tabasheer_ is a siliceous deposit that gathers at the internodes of the stems. The bamboo is imported into Europe for various purposes, and is grown in British gardens.

BAMBOOK', a country in Western Africa between the Faleme and Senegal Rivers, about 140 miles in length, by 80 to 100 in breadth. It is on the whole hilly and somewhat rugged. The valleys and plains are remarkably fertile. The natives are Mandingoes, mostly professed Mahommedans ruled by independent chieftains, most of whom acknowledge the supremacy of France. Gold and ivory are exchanged for European goods.

BAMBOOK-BUTTER, shea-butter (q.v.).

BAM'BOROUGH CASTLE, an ancient English castle on the coast of Northumberland, formerly with connected estate the property of the Forsters, and forfeited to the Crown in 1715, both being purchased by Lord Crewe, Bishop of Durham, and bequeathed by him for charitable purposes.

BAMBU'SA. See _Bamboo_.

BAM'IAN, a valley and pass of Afghanistan, the latter at an elevation of 8496 feet, the only known pass over the Hindu Kush for artillery and heavy transport. The valley is one of the chief centres of Buddhist worship, and contains two remarkable colossal statues and other ancient monuments.

BAMO. See _Bhamo_.

BAMPTON LECTURES, a course of lectures established in 1751 by John Bampton, Canon of Salisbury, who bequeathed certain property to the University of Oxford for the endowment of eight divinity lectures to be annually delivered. The subjects prescribed are mainly connected with the evidences of Christianity, and the lecturer must have taken the degree of M.A. at Oxford or Cambridge. The first course of lectures was delivered in 1780, and they have been delivered every year since, with the exceptions of 1834, 1835, and 1841. Among the more remarkable lectures were those by Dr. White in 1784, by Dr. Mant in 1812, by Reginald Heber in 1815, Whately in 1822, Milman in 1827, Dr. Hampden in 1832, H.L. Mansel in 1858, Canon Liddon in 1866, Canon Gore in 1891, J. R. Illingworth in 1894, and W. R. Inge in 1899. A similar course of lectures, the Hulsean, is annually delivered at Cambridge.

BAN, in political law, is equivalent to excommunication in ecclesiastical. In Teutonic history the _ban_ was an edict of interdiction or proscription: thus, to put a prince under the ban of the empire was to divest him of his dignities, and to interdict all intercourse and all offices of humanity with the offender. Sometimes whole cities have been put under the _ban_, that is, deprived of their rights and privileges.

BAN, anciently, a title given to the military chiefs who guarded the eastern marches of Hungary; till 1919 the title of the Governor of Croatia and Slavonia. A province over which a ban is placed is called _banat_, and is equivalent to the German term _mark_. During the European War, Serbia occupied the banat to the south of Hungary, and her claims to that region were disputed both by Hungary and Roumania. The territory is bounded almost entirely by the Danube, Theiss, and Maros Rivers, except on the east, where it is shut in by the Transylvanian Carpathians. The banat was ultimately divided between Yugo-Slavia and Roumania. See _Temesvar_.

BANA'NA, a plant of the genus Musa, nat. ord. Musaceae, being _M. sapientum_, while the plantain is _M. paradisi[)a]ca_. It is originally indigenous to the East Indies, and an herbaceous plant with an underground stem. The apparent stem, which is sometimes as high as 30 feet, is formed of the closely-compacted sheaths of the leaves. The leaves are 6 to 10 feet long and 1 or more broad, with a strong midrib, from which the veins are given off at right angles; they are used for thatch, basket-making, &c., besides yielding a useful fibre. The spikes of the flowers grow nearly 4 feet long, in bunches, covered with purple-coloured bracts. The fruit is 4 to 10 or 12 inches long, and 1 inch or more in diameter; it grows in large bunches, weighing often from 40 to 80 lb. The pulp is soft and of a luscious taste; when ripe it is eaten raw or cooked. The banana is cultivated in tropical and sub-tropical countries, and is the food of millions. It is estimated that in Jamaica alone 40,000 acres are devoted to its culture. Excellent biscuits may be made from banana meal, but it is not suitable for bread. Vast quantities are imported by Britain and the United States. Manila hemp is the product of a species of banana.

BANA'NA, an African port, in Belgian Congo, at the mouth of the Congo.

BANANA-BIRD, a pretty insessorial bird (_Ict[)e]rus leucopt[)e]ryx_), a native of the West Indies and the warmer parts of America. It is a lively bird, easily domesticated, tawny and black in colour, with white bars upon the wings.

BANAT. See _Ban_.

BAN'BRIDGE, a town of Ireland, County Down, 22 miles S.W. of Belfast, on the Bann. The manufacture of linen is carried on to a great extent in town and neighbourhood. Pop. 5101.

BANBURY (ban'be-ri), a town of England, in Oxfordshire, long celebrated for its cheese, its cakes, and its ale; a parliamentary borough till 1885, and now giving name to a parliamentary division of the county. Pop. (municipal borough) (1921), 13,347.

BANCA, an island belonging to the Dutch East Indies, between Sumatra and Borneo; area, 4446 sq. miles; pop. 113,658, of which a considerable proportion are Chinese. It is celebrated for its excellent tin, of which the annual yield is above 6000 tons; but it produces nothing else of any importance.

BANCO, in commerce, a term employed to designate the money in which the banks of some countries keep or kept their accounts, in contradistinction to the current money of the place, which might vary in value or consist of light and foreign coins. The term was applied to the Hamburg bank accounts before the adoption (in 1873) of the new German coinage. The mark _banco_ had a value of 1s. 5-1/2d.; but there was no corresponding coin. See _Bank_.

BAN'CROFT, George, American historian, born near Worcester, Mass., 1800, died 1891. He was educated at Harvard and in Germany, where he made the acquaintance of many literary men of note. In 1823 he published a translation of Heeren's _Politics of Ancient Greece_, and a small volume of poems, and was also meditating and collecting materials for a history of the United States. Between 1834 and 1840 three volumes of his history were published. In 1845 he was appointed Secretary of the Navy, and effected many reforms and improvements in that department. He was American ambassador to Britain from 1846 to 1849, when the University of Oxford conferred on him the honorary degree of D.C.L. He took the opportunity while in Europe to perfect his collections on American history. He returned to New York in 1849, and began to prepare for the press the fourth and fifth volumes of his history, which appeared in 1852. The sixth appeared in 1854, the seventh in 1858, the eighth soon after, but the ninth did not appear till 1866. From 1867 to 1874 he was Minister Plenipotentiary at the Court of Berlin. The tenth and last volume of his great work appeared in 1874. An additional section appeared first as a separate work in 1882: _History of the Formation of the Constitution of the United States_, and the whole came out in 6 vols. in 1884-5. He has also published many essays in the _North American Review_ and other periodicals, a selection from which was published in 1855 under the title of _Miscellanies_.

BAN'CROFT, Richard, born in Lancashire 1544, died 1610, studied at Cambridge, entered the Church, and rose rapidly during the reign of Elizabeth till he obtained the see of London in 1597. James I made him Archbishop of Canterbury on the death of Whitgift. He suppressed the Puritans mercilessly, and they in return never ceased to abuse him.

BAN'CROFT, Sir Squire, English actor, born in London in 1841. After playing in Dublin and elsewhere he made his first appearance in London, at the Prince of Wales's Theatre, in 1865. He married Miss Marie Effie Wilton in 1867, and was knighted in 1897. In collaboration with his wife he has written _The Bancrofts: Recollections of Sixty Years_ (1909).

BANDA, a town and district of India, in the United Provinces. The town stands on a plain on the right bank of the Ken River, 95 miles S.W. from Allahabad, and is a considerable cotton mart. Pop. 22,000.--Area of district 2965 sq. miles. Pop. 660,000.

BANDA ISLANDS, a group belonging to Holland, Indian Archipelago, south of Ceram, Great Banda, the largest, being 12 miles long by 2 broad. They are beautiful islands, of volcanic origin, yielding quantities of nutmeg. Goenong Api, or Fire Mountain, is a cone-shaped volcano which rises 2320 feet above the sea. Pop. 10,000.

BANDAJAN', a pass over a range of the Himalaya, Kashmir State, 14,854 feet above sea-level.

BANDAN'NA, a variety of silk handkerchief having a uniformly-dyed ground, usually of bright red or blue, ornamented with white or yellow circular, lozenge-shaped, or other simple figures produced by discharging the groundcolour.

BANDA ORIENTAL. See _Uruguay_.

BANDEL'LO, Matteo, an Italian writer of _novelle_ or tales, born about 1480, died about 1562. He was, in his youth, a Dominican monk, and having been banished from Italy as a partisan of the French, Henry II of France gave him in 1550 the bishopric of Agen. He left the administration of his diocese to the Bishop of Grasse, and employed himself, at the advanced age of seventy, in the completion of his _novelle_. He also wrote poetry, but his fame rests on his _novelle_, which are in the style of Boccaccio's _Decameron_ and the Queen of Navarre's _Heptameron_, and have been made use of by Shakespeare, Massinger, and Beaumont and Fletcher.

BANDE NOIRE. See _French Revolution_.

BAND-FISH, the popular name of fishes of the genus Cep[)o]la, from their long, flat, thin bodies. _C. rubescens_, a very fragile creature, is sometimes cast up on British shores. Also called _Snake-fish_, _Ribbon-fish_.

BAN'DICOOT (Perameles), a genus of small Australian marsupials. The most common species (_P. nasuta_), the long-nosed bandicoot, measures about 1-1/2 feet from the tip of the snout to the root of the tail. It is not unlike an overgrown rat, and is most destructive to farm-produce.

BAN'DICOOT RAT, the _Mus gigant[=e]us_, the largest known species of rat, attaining the weight of 2 or 3 lb., and the length, including the tail, of 24 to 30 inches. It is a native of India, and is very abundant in Ceylon. Its flesh is said to be delicate and to resemble young pork, and is a favourite article of diet with the coolies. It is destructive upon rice-fields and gardens.

BANDINELLI, Baccio, Italian sculptor, born at Florence 1493, died there 1560. He was jealous of and strove to rival Michael Angelo. Among his works are a _Hercules and Cacus_, _The Dead Body of Christ held up by an Angel_, _Adam and Eve_, &c.

BAN'DIT, It. _bandito_, originally an _exile_, banished man, or outlaw, and hence, as persons outlawed frequently adopted the profession of brigand or highwayman, the word came to be synonymous with brigand, and is now applied to members of the organized gangs which infest some districts of Italy, Sicily, Spain, Greece, and Turkey.

BAND OF HOPE. See _Temperance_.