Part 20

BANNOCKBURN, a village of Scotland, in Stirlingshire, 2 miles S.E. Stirling, famous for the decisive battle in which King Robert Bruce of Scotland defeated Edward II of England, on the 24th June, 1314. It has manufactures of woollens, such as tartans, carpets, &c.; pop. 4103.

BANNS OF MARRIAGE, public notice of the intended celebration of a marriage given either by proclamation, viva voce, by a clergyman, session-clerk, or precentor in some religious assembly, or by posting up written notice in some public place. Dissent of parents or guardians renders null and void the publication of the banns of minors. In France the banns must be published on two distinct Sundays, and the marriage cannot take place until three days after the second publication. In America the practice is confined to the Roman Catholics, although it is still recognized in the statutes of some of the States.

BANNU, a district in the north-west of Hindustan, traversed by the Indus; area, 3847 sq. miles; pop. 390,000, nearly half being Afghans.

BANQUETTE (bang-ket') in fortification, the elevation of earth behind a parapet, on which the garrison or defenders may stand. The height of the parapet above the banquette is usually about 4 feet 6 inches; the breadth of the banquette from 2-1/2 or 3 feet to 4 or 6 feet, according to the number of ranks to occupy it. It is frequently made double, that is, a second is made still lower.

BANSHEE', or BENSHI', a fairy woman believed in Ireland and some parts of Scotland to attach herself to a particular house, and to appear or make her presence known by wailing before the death of one of the family.

BAN'TAM, a residency occupying the whole of the W. end of the Island of Java. It formed an independent kingdom, governed by its own sultan, till 1683, and the Dutch exercised suzerainty with brief intermission until its formal incorporation by them at the beginning of last century. It produces rice, coffee, sugar, cinnamon, &c. Serang is its capital. The town Bantam was the first Dutch settlement in Java (1595), and for some time their principal mart, though now not so prosperous.

BAN'TAM FOWL, a small but spirited breed of domestic fowl, first brought from the East Indies, supposed to derive its name from Bantam in Java. Most of the sub-varieties have feathered legs; but these are not to be preferred. In point of colour the black and nankeen varieties are the best. A well-bred bantam does not weigh more than a pound.

BANTENG' (_Bos Banteng_ or _Sondaicus_), a wild species of ox, native of Java and Borneo, having a black body, slender white legs, short sleek hair, sharp muzzle, and the back humped behind the neck.

BANTING SYSTEM, a course of diet for reducing superfluous fat, adopted and recommended in 1863 by W. Banting of London. The dietary recommended was the use of butcher-meat principally, and abstinence from beer, farinaceous food, and vegetables. See _Corpulence_.

BAN'TRY, a seaport near the head of Bantry Bay, County Cork, Ireland. Pop. 3159.--The _bay_, one of three large inlets at the S.W. extremity of Ireland, affords an unsurpassed anchorage, and is about 25 miles long by 4 to 6 broad, and from 10 to 40 fathoms deep, with no dangerous rocks or shoals.

BANTU (baen-toe'), the ethnological name of a group of African races below about 6deg N. latitude, and including the Kaffirs, Zulus, Bechuanas, the tribes of the Loango, Congo, &c., but not the Hottentots.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Deniker, _Races of Man_; J. Roscoe, _The Northern Bantu_.

BANU. See _Bannu_.

BANX'RING (genus Tapaia), a quadruped belonging to the Insectivora, inhabiting the Indian Archipelago, bearing some resemblance externally to a squirrel, but having a long pointed snout.

BAN'YAN (_Ficus benghalensis_), a tree of India, of the fig genus. The most peculiar feature of this tree is its method of throwing out from the horizontal branches supports which take root as soon as they reach the ground, enlarge into trunks, and, extending branches in their turn, soon cover a prodigious extent of ground. A celebrated banyan tree has been known to shelter 7000 men beneath its shade. The wood is soft and porous, and from its white glutinous juice bird-lime is sometimes prepared. Both juice and bark are regarded by the Hindus as valuable medicines, and the tree itself is sacred. The banyan tree is described by Southey in his poem _The Curse of Kehama_.

BA'OBAB (_Adansonia digit[=a]ta_) or MONKEY-BREAD TREE, a tree belonging to the nat. ord. (or sub-ord.) Bombaceae, and the best-known species of its genus, which was named after the naturalist Adanson. Though not tall, it is one of the bulkiest of trees, its trunk sometimes measuring 30 feet in diameter, and as the profusion of leaves and drooping boughs sometimes almost hides the stem, the whole forms a hemispherical mass of verdure 140 to 150 feet in diameter and 60 to 70 feet high. It is a native of the African savannahs, and is cultivated in many of the warmer parts of the world. The roots are of extraordinary length, a tree 77 feet in girth having a tap-root 110 feet in length. The leaves are deep green, divided into five unequal parts lanceolate in shape, and radiating from a common centre. The flowers resemble the white poppy, having snowy petals and violet-coloured stamens; and the fruit, which is large and of an oblong shape, is said to taste like gingerbread, with a pleasant acid flavour. The wood is pale-coloured, light, and contains a large store of water, which enables the tree to withstand prolonged drought. The tree is liable to be attacked by a fungus which, growing in the woody part, renders it soft and pithlike. By the negroes of the west coast these trunks are hollowed into chambers, and dead bodies are suspended in them. There they become perfectly dry and well preserved, without further preparation or embalming. The baobab is emollient and mucilaginous; the pulverized leaves constitute _lalo_, which the natives mix with their daily food.

BAPAUME, a French town in the department of Pas-de-Calais. It has been the scene of several battles. In 1793 the French were compelled by the allied troops to abandon the place, and in the Franco-German war one of the most closely-contested battles was fought there on 3rd Jan., 1871. Bapaume, occupied by the Germans in the European War, was recaptured by British troops on 29th Aug., 1918, the great battle of Bapaume having begun on 21st Aug. Pop. (1911) 2917.

BAPH'OMET, the imaginary idol or symbol which the Templars were accused of employing in their mysterious rites, and of which little is known. The word is supposed to be a corruption of Mahomet, to whose faith the Templars were accused of having a leaning. See _Gnosticism_.

BAPTISM (from the Gr. _baptiz[=o]_, from _bapt[=o]_, to immerse or dip), a rite which is generally thought to have been usual with the Jews even before Christ, being administered to proselytes. All that can be said, however, with some certainty is that the Jewish baptism was not of later origin than the Christian baptism. Anyhow, from this baptism that of St. John the Baptist differed, because he baptized Jews also as a symbol of the necessity of perfect purification from sin. Christ himself never baptized, but directed his disciples to administer this rite to converts (_Mat._ xxviii, 19); and baptism, therefore, became a religious ceremony among Christians, taking rank as a sacrament with all sects which acknowledge sacraments. It should, however, be borne in mind that among many peoples a rite is found which has considerable likeness to Christian baptism. In the primitive Church the person to be baptized was dipped in a river or in a vessel, with the words which Christ had ordered, generally adopting a new name further to express the change. Sprinkling, or, as it was termed, _clinic_ baptism, was used only in the case of the sick who could not leave their beds. The Greek Church and Eastern schismatics retained the custom of immersion; but the Western Church adopted or allowed the mode of baptism by pouring or sprinkling, since continued by most Protestants. This practice can be traced back certainly to the third century, before which its existence is disputed. Since the Reformation there have been various Protestant sects called Baptists, holding that baptism should be administered only by immersion, and to those who can make a personal profession of faith. The Montanists in Africa baptized even the dead, and in Roman Catholic countries the practice of baptizing church bells--a custom of tenth-century origin--continues to this day. Being an initiatory rite, baptism is only administered once to the same person. The Roman and Greek Catholics consecrate the water of baptism, but Protestants do not. The act of baptism is accompanied only with the formula that the person is baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; but, among most Christians, it is preceded by a confession of faith made by the person to be baptized if an adult, and by his parents or sponsors if he be a child. The Roman Catholic form of baptism is far more elaborate than the Protestant. This Church teaches that all persons not baptized are damned, and that even unbaptized infants are not admitted into Heaven; but for those whose chief fault was that they had not been baptized, even St. Augustine himself believed in a species of mitigated damnation. Protestants hold that though the neglect of the sacrament is a sin, yet the saving new birth may be found without the performance of the rite which symbolizes it. Naming the person baptized forms no essential part of the ceremony, but has become almost universal, probably from the ancient custom of renaming the catechumen.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: E. B. Tylor, _Primitive Culture_ (vol. ii); S. Baring-Gould, _Origin and Development of Religious Belief_; J. E. Hanaver, _Baptism, Jewish and Christian_; Harnack, _History of Dogma_; article _Baptism_ in _Encyclopedia of Ethics and Religion_; Corblet, _Histoire du Sacrement du Bapteme_; P. Mauro, _Baptism: its place and importance in Christianity_.

BAP'TISTERY, a building or a portion of a building in which is administered the rite of baptism. In the early Christian Church the baptistery was distinct from the basilica or church, but was situated near its west end, and was generally circular or octagonal in form, and dome-roofed. About the end of the sixth century the baptistery began to be absorbed into the church, the font being placed within and not far from the western door. Some detached baptisteries still remain in use, as those of the Lateran, Rome (the earliest in existence), at Pisa, Parma, Ravenna, Aquileia, Siena, Florence, &c., that of Florence being 108 feet in diameter externally, and richly decorated. Baptisteries were dedicated to St. John the Baptist.

BAP'TISTS, a Protestant sect, distinguished by their opinions respecting the mode and subjects of baptism. With regard to the mode, they maintain the necessity of immersion, and with regard to the subjects, they consider that baptism ought not to be administered to children at all, nor to adults in general, but to those only who profess repentance and faith. They are sometimes called _Anti-paedobaptists_, to express their variance from those who defend infant baptism, and who are called _Paedobaptists_. Apart from the special sect of that name, Baptists are to be found equally among Calvinists and Arminians, Trinitarians and Unitarians. The Baptists as a whole adopt the Independent or Congregational form of church government, and their ecclesiastical assemblies are held for the purpose of mutual stimulus and intercourse, and not for the general government of the body, or for interference with individual churches. The Particular Baptists of England (so called from believing that Christ died only for the elect), the Baptists of Scotland and Ireland, the Associated Baptists of America, and some of the Seventh-day Baptists, are Calvinistic. The other classes, such as the General Baptists (who believe that Christ died for all), are Arminian, or at least not Calvinistic. Most Baptists profess to be Trinitarians. The Free-will Baptists, the Christian Society, and most of the General Baptists of England admit of open communion; the other bodies decline communion with any Christians but Baptists. The Associated or Calvinistic Baptists long ranked in the United States as the most numerous denomination of Christians. The Seventh-day Baptists, or Sabbatarians, observe the seventh day of the week. The Free-will Baptists profess the doctrine of free salvation. The Anabaptists of the Reformation period are not to be confounded with the Baptists, by whom their principles were expressly disclaimed. The first regular Baptist Church appears to have been formed in the reign of Elizabeth, but we may date their first public acknowledgment as distinct from the Anabaptists from their petition to Parliament in 1620. The year 1633 provides the earliest record of the formation of a Particular Baptist Church in London. In 1689 a Baptist General Assembly, held in London, formulated a confession of thirty-two articles and a catechism. The Baptist Union, formed in 1832, comprehends the greater number of members of the sect in Great Britain and Ireland. In July, 1905, a world-congress of Baptists was held in London, and the Baptist World Alliance was constituted. The total number of members of Baptist Churches in the United Kingdom was 405,104 in 1922, and 408,029 in 1920. There are nine colleges for training ministers, of which the chief are: Bristol Baptist College; Regent's Park; Rawdon, Bradford; and the Metropolitan Pastors' College. The Regular Baptists in the United States numbered 7,504,447 members in 1922, and nearly 6,000,000 in 1920, in addition to which there are Anti-mission Baptists, Free-will Baptists, and Seventh-day Baptists. In Canada there are in all about 128,730 Baptists.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: H. C. Vedder, _A Short History of the Baptists_; A. H. Newman, _History of the Baptist Churches in the United States_; _The Baptist Handbook_ (annually); _The American Baptist Year-book_ (annually); W. E. MacIntyre, _Baptist Churches, 1500-1914_.

BAR, in law, the railing that encloses the place which counsel occupy in courts of justice; hence the phrase, _at the bar of the court_, that is, in open court. Hence also persons duly admitted as pleaders or advocates before the courts of England are denominated _barristers_ (see _Barrister_), and the whole body of such barristers or advocates are called the _bar_. The enclosed place or dock in which persons accused of crimes stand in court is also called the bar. Near the door of both Houses of Parliament there is also a bar, beyond which none but the members and clerks are admitted, and at which counsel, witnesses, offenders against privilege, &c., are heard.

BAR, in music, is a line drawn through the stave to mark the rhythm of small portions; the notes composing these are also called a bar.

BAR, in heraldry, an ordinary resembling the fesse, stretching like it horizontally across the shield but narrower.

BAR, CONFEDERATION OF. See _Poland_.

BAR'ABA, the name of a great steppe in the West Siberian governments of Tomsk, Akmolinsk, and Tobolsk.

BARABIN'ZIANS, a rude, uncultivated tribe of Tartars, living on the banks of the River Irtish, and subsisting chiefly on the produce of their herds and on fish supplied by the lakes of the Baraba steppe.

BARAGUEY-D'HILLIERS (b[.a]-r[.a]-g[=a]-d[=e]l-y[=a]),Louis, a distinguished French general under the first Empire, born in Paris, 1764. After serving under Custine and other generals he joined the army of Italy, and took Bergamo and Venice, of which he became Governor. He took part in the expedition to Egypt, served in the campaigns in Germany and Spain, and commanded a division of the "Great Army" in the Russian campaign of 1812. He was entrusted with the direction of the vanguard in the retreat, but was compelled to capitulate. Napoleon ordered him to return to France as under arrest, but, overcome with grief and fatigue, he died at Berlin on the way, Dec., 1812.

BARANOVITCHI, a town in Russia, government of Minsk. A battle was fought here between the Russians and the Germans in July, 1916. See _European War_.

BARB, a horse of the Barbary breed, introduced by the Moors into Spain, and of great speed, endurance, and docility.

BAR'BACAN, or BARBICAN, generally an advanced work defending the entrance to a castle or fortified town, as before the gate or drawbridge, and often of formidable size and strength.

BARBA'DOES, or BARBADOS, the most eastern of the West India Islands, first mentioned in 1518, and occupied by the British in 1625. Length, 21 miles; breadth, 13; area, 106,470 acres or 166 sq, miles, about 74,000 being under cultivation. It is divided into eleven Church of England parishes; capital, Bridgetown. It is one of the most densely-populated areas in the world, the population in 1917 being estimated at 186,656, or nearly 1100 to the square mile. The climate is very hot, though moderated by the constant trade-winds; and the island is subject to dreadful hurricanes. The surface is broken, now without forests, and with few streams; the highest point is 1145 feet above the sea-level. There are few indigenous mammals or birds. The black lowland soil gives great returns of sugar in favourable seasons. The chief exports, besides sugar, are molasses and rum; imports: rice, salt meat, corn, butter, flour, &c. Both exports and imports were over L2,000,000 in 1918. Barbadoes has a considerable transit trade, being in some measure the central mart for all the Windward Islands. It is the see of a bishop and the head-quarters of the British forces in the West Indies. There is a railway across the island, also tramways, telephones, &c. The island forms a distinct government under a Governor, an Executive and a Legislative Council of 9 members, and a House of Assembly of 24 members. Liberal provision is made for education both by old foundations and by annual vote.

BARBADOES LEG, a form of elephantiasis.

BAR'BARA, ST., according to the legend, belonged to Nicomedia, in Asia Minor, and was beheaded by her father for having turned Christian, he being immediately thereafter struck dead by lightning. The latter part of this legend caused her, probably, to be invoked in storms, and to be considered the patron saint of artillerists.

BARBARELLI. See _Giorgione_.

BARBARIAN (Gk. _barbaros_), a name given by the Greeks, and afterwards by the Romans, to everyone who spoke an unintelligible language; and hence coming to connote the idea of _rude_, _illiterate_, _uncivilized_. This word, therefore, did not always convey the idea of something odious or savage; thus a Greek character in Plautus calls Naevius a barbarous poet, because he had not written in Greek; and Cicero terms illiterate persons without taste 'barbarians'.

BARBAROSSA ('red-beard'), the name of two famous Turkish corsairs of the sixteenth century, who ravaged the shores of the Mediterranean, and established themselves in Algiers. The elder of the brothers, Aruch or Horuk, was killed in 1518; the younger and more notorious, Hayraddin, who captured Tunis, died in 1546. See _Frederick Barbarossa_.

BAR'BARY, a general name for the most northerly portion of Africa, extending about 2600 miles from Egypt to the Atlantic, with a breadth varying from about 140 to 550 miles, comprising Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya (Tripolitania, Barqa, and Fezzan). The principal races are: the Berbers, the original inhabitants, from whom the country takes its name; the Arabs, who conquered an extensive portion of it during the times of the caliphs; the Bedouins, Jews, Turks, and the French colonists of Algeria, &c. The country, which was prosperous under the Carthaginians, was, next to Egypt, the richest of the Roman provinces, and the Italian States enriched themselves by their intercourse with it. In the fifteenth century, however, it became infested with adventurers who made the name of Barbary corsair a terror to commerce, a condition of things finally removed by the French occupation of Algeria.

BARBARY APE (_In[)u]us ecaud[=a]tus_), a species of ape, or tailless monkey, with greenish-brown hair, of the size of a large cat, remarkable for docility, also called the _magot_. It is common in Barbary and other parts of Africa, and some used to live formerly on Gibraltar Rock, being the only European monkey, though probably not indigenous. It has been the 'showman's ape' from time immemorial.

BAR'BASTEL, or BARBASTELLE, a bat with hairy lips (_Barbastellus comm[=u]nis_), a native of England.

BARBAS'TRO, a city, Spain, Arragon, province of Huesca, with an interesting cathedral, and some trade and manufactures. Pop. 7202.

BAR'BAULD, Anna Letitia, English poet and general writer, was born in Leicestershire, 1743, daughter of a Presbyterian minister named Aikin. She published a small volume of miscellaneous poems in 1772, and in 1773, in conjunction with her brother, Dr. John Aikin, a collection of pieces in prose. In 1774 she married the Rev. Rochemont Barbauld. Her _Early Lessons and Hymns for Children_, and various essays and poems, won considerable popularity. She edited a collection of English novels, with critical and biographical notices; a selection from the British essayists of the reign of Anne, and another from Richardson's correspondence. Her last long poem, _Eighteen Hundred and Eleven_, appeared in 1812. She died at Stoke-Newington, 1825.

BAR'BECUE, a word of West Indian origin, meaning a hog, or other large animal, roasted whole. In the United States the word means a large gathering of people in the open air, for a social or political feast, where whole animals are roasted and eaten.

BARBED WIRE, wire-rope for fencing or other purposes, having fixed in it short bent pieces of wire with sharp projecting points, which serve to keep animals from pressing against it. There is an Act of Parliament (1893) to prevent the use of barbed-wire fences that form a nuisance on a public road or path; and a person employing barbed wire for fencing may render himself liable for damages caused by it to another person who is legitimately using the adjoining ground. Barbed wire plays an important part in the construction of obstacles in modern warfare. During the European War, all systems of trenches were protected by thick belts of wire. This wire was laid out in various different ways, two of the best being known as the Concertina Fence and the Double-apron Fence.

BARBEL (Barbus), a genus of freshwater fishes of the carp family, distinguished by the four fleshy filaments growing from the lips, two at the nose and one at each corner of the mouth, forming the kind of beard to which the genus owes its name. Of the several species the European _Barbus vulg[=a]ris_, common in most rivers, has an average length of from 12 to 18 inches, and in form and habits strongly resembles the pike. Its body is elongated and rounded, olive-coloured above and bluish on the sides, and covered with small scales. The upper jaw, which is much longer than the lower, forms a snout, with which it bores into the mud for worms, insects, aquatic plants, &c. It is common in the Thames, where it gives good sport to the angler; but its flesh is very coarse, and at the time of spawning the roe is dangerous to eat.