Part 17

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.

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_.

BAN'DOLIER, a large leathern belt or baldrick, to which were attached a bag for balls and a number of pipes or cases of wood or metal covered with leather, each containing a charge of gunpowder. It was worn by ancient musketeers, and hung from the left shoulder under the right arm with the ball bag at the lower extremity, and the pipes suspended on either side. The name is now given to a similar belt, worn by mounted troops, for carrying cartridges. Another form of the word is _bandoleer_.

BAN'DOLINE, a gummy perfumed substance used to impart gloss and stiffness to the hair.

BAN'DON, a town, Ireland, County Cork, on both sides of the Bandon. Pop. 3122.

BANDS, a small article of clerical dress, made of linen, going round the neck and hanging down in front for a short distance in two pieces with square ends, supposed to be a relic of the amice.

BANEBERRY, or HERB CHRISTOPHER (_Actaea spic[=a]ta_), a European plant, ord. Ranunculaceae, local in England, with a spike of white flowers and black, poisonous berries. Two American species are considered remedies for rattlesnake bite.

BANER (b[.a]-n[=a]r'), Johan Gustafsson, a Swedish general in the Thirty Years' War, born 1596, died 1641. He made his first campaigns in Poland and Russia, and accompanied Gustavus Adolphus, who held him in high esteem, to Germany. After the death of Gustavus in 1632 he had the chief command of the Swedish army, and in 1634 invaded Bohemia, defeated the Saxons at Wittstock, 24th Sept., 1636, and took Torgau. He ravaged Saxony again in 1639, gained another victory at Chemnitz, and in 1640 defeated Piccolomini. In Jan., 1641, he very nearly took Ratisbon by surprise.

BANFF (bamf), county town of Banffshire, Scotland, a seaport on the Moray Firth at the mouth of the Deveron. It is well built, carries on some boat-building, and has ropeworks, a brewery, &c., fishing and shipping. Near the town are the county lunatic asylum, and Duff House, a seat of the Duke of Fife, now public property; on the east side of the Deveron is the town of Macduff, where an extensive fishing trade is carried on. Banff is one of the Elgin burghs, which together return a member to Parliament. Pop. 3517.--The county has an area of 403,053 acres. In the south it is mountainous; but the northern part is comparatively low and fertile; principal rivers, the Spey and Deveron; principal mountains, Cairngorm (4095 feet) and Ben Macdhui (4296 feet), on its southern boundary. Little wheat is raised, the principal crops being barley, oats, turnips, and potatoes. Fishing is an important industry; as is also the distilling of whisky. Serpentine abounds in several places, especially at Portsoy, where it is known as 'Portsoy marble', and Scotch topazes or cairngorm stones are found on the mountains in the south. Banffshire returns one member to Parliament. Pop. (1921), 57,293.

BANFF, a town of N. W. Canada, at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, on the Canadian Pacific Railway, with National Park, hot springs, coal-mines, &c.

BANG. See _Bhang_.

BANGALORE', a town of Hindustan, capital of Mysore, and giving its name to a considerable district in the east of Mysore State. The town stands on a healthy plateau 3000 feet above sea-level, has a total area of nearly 14 sq. miles, and is one of the pleasantest British stations in India. In the old town stands the fort, reconstructed by Hyder Ali in 1761, and taken by Lord Cornwallis in 1791. Under English administration the town has greatly prospered in recent times. There are manufactures of silks, cotton cloth, carpets, gold and silver lace, &c. Pop. 189,485.--The Bangalore district has an area of 3070 sq. miles, of which more than half represent cultivable land. Pop. about 760,000.

BANGKOK', or BANKOK, the capital of the kingdom of Siam, extending for several miles on both sides of the Menam, which falls into the Gulf of Siam about 15 miles below. The inner city occupies an island surrounded with walls and bastions, and contains the palace of the king and other important buildings. The dwellings of the common people are of wood or bamboo, often raised on piles; a large portion of the population, however, dwell in boats or wooden houses erected on bamboo rafts moored in the river, and forming a floating town. Temples are numerous and lavishly decorated. Houses in the European style have been erected in modern times, and the telegraph, telephone, gas, fire-engines, and omnibuses introduced. A university with eight faculties has recently been established. The trade, both inland and foreign, is very extensive, the exports consisting chiefly of rice, sugar, silk, cotton, tobacco, pepper, sesame, ivory, aromatic wood, cabinet woods, tin, hides, &c.; and the imports consisting chiefly of British cotton, woollen, and other goods. Pop. 628,675, of whom about a half are Chinese. See _Siam_.

BAN'GOR, a city of North Wales, in Carnarvonshire, picturesquely situated near the northern entrance of the Menai Strait. It appears to have possessed a cathedral in the sixth century, which was destroyed by the Normans in 1071. The present cathedral--the third--only dates from the reign of Henry VII. It has a college of the University of Wales (founded in 1903), and a Normal College. Bangor has risen into importance as a popular resort; its principal trade is in the export of slates from the neighbouring quarries. Pop. (1921), 11,032.

BAN'GOR, a seaport town, Ireland, County Down, on the south side of Belfast Lough. Principal trade: cotton, linen, and embroideries. Pop. 7776.

BAN'GOR, a port of the United States, in Maine, on the W. side of Penobscot River, a flourishing and pleasantly-situated town, and one of the largest lumber depots in the world. The river is navigable to the town for vessels of the largest size. Pop. (1920), 25,948.

BANGO'RIAN CONTROVERSY, a controversy stirred up by a sermon preached before George I in 1717 by Dr. Hoadly, Bishop of Bangor, from the text "My kingdom is not of this world" (_John_, xviii, 36), in which the bishop contended in the most pronounced manner for the spiritual nature of Christ's kingdom. The controversy was carried on with great heat for many years, and resulted in an enormous collection of pamphlets.

BANGS'RING. See _Banxring_.

BANGWEO'LO, or BANGWEULU, LAKE, in South Africa, the southernmost of the great lake reservoirs of the Congo, heard of in 1798, was reached by Livingstone in 1868, an oval-shaped shallow sheet of water, said to be 150 miles in length along its greater axis, from east to west, and about 75 miles in width, but its exact limits are uncertain. It was first circumnavigated by Poulett Weatherley in 1896. See _Congo_.

BAN'IAN, or BAN'YAN, an Indian trader or merchant, one engaged in commerce generally, but more particularly one of the great traders of Western India, as in the seaports of Bombay, Kurrachee, &c., who carry on a large trade by means of caravans with the interior of Asia, and with Africa by vessels. They form a class of the Vaisya caste, wear a peculiar dress, and are strict in the observance of fasts and in abstaining from the use of flesh. Hence, _Banian days_, days in which sailors in the navy had no flesh meat served out to them. Banian days are now abolished, but the term is still applied to days of poor fare.

BANIAN TREE. See _Banyan_.