Part 26

BASRA, BASSORA, or BASRAH, a city in Lower Mesopotamia, on the west bank of the Shat-el-Arab (the united stream of the Tigris and Euphrates), about 50 miles from its mouth, and nearly 300 miles south-east of Bagdad. It is surrounded by a wall about 10 miles in circuit, from 20 to 25 feet thick; but much of the area enclosed is occupied by gardens, &c. The houses are generally mean. A considerable transit trade is carried on here between the Turkish and Persian dominions and India, and since communication by steamer has been established with Bagdad and Bombay the prosperity of the town has greatly increased. The chief exports are: dates, camels and horses, wool and wheat; imports: coffee, indigo, rice, tissues, &c. The inhabitants are estimated at 80,000; but in the eighteenth century they were said to number 150,000. The substitution of date and wheat cultivation for that of rice has rendered the place much more healthy. The ruins of the ancient and more famous Bassora--founded by Caliph Omar in 636, at one time a centre of Arabic literature and learning and regarded as 'the Athens of the East'--lie about 9 miles south-west of the modern town. The town was occupied by the British on 22nd Nov., 1914. The first through-train from Basra to Bagdad was run in Jan., 1920.

BAS-RELIEF (bae'r[=e]-l[=e]f or bas'r[=e]-l[=e]f) or BASSO-RILIEVO, low-relief, a mode of sculpturing figures on a flat surface, the figures having a very slight relief or projection from the surface. It is distinguished from _haut-relief_ (_alto-rilievo_), or high-relief, in which the figures stand sometimes almost entirely free from the ground. Bas-relief work has been described as 'sculptured painting', from the capability of disposing of groups of figures and exhibiting minor adjuncts, as in a painting. The finest specimen of bas-relief is the frieze around the cella of the Parthenon; large portions of it are to be seen in the British Museum.

BASS (b[=a]s; from the It. _basso_, deep, low), in music, the lowest part in the harmony of a musical composition, whether vocal or instrumental. According to some it is the fundamental or most important part, while others regard the melody or highest part in that light. Next to the melody, the bass part is the most striking, the freest and boldest in its movements, and richest in effect.--_Figured bass_, a bass part having the accompanying chords suggested by certain figures written above or below the notes--the most successful system of shorthand scoring at present in use among organists and pianists.--_Fundamental bass_, the lowest note or root of a chord; a bass consisting of a succession of fundamental notes.--_Thorough bass_, the mode or art of expressing chords by means of figures placed over or under a given bass. Figures written over each other indicate that the notes they represent are to be sounded simultaneously, those standing close after each other that they are to be sounded successively. The common chord in its fundamental form is generally left unfigured, and accidentals are indicated by using sharps, naturals, or flats along with the figures.

BASS (b[.a]s), the name of a number of fishes of several genera, but originally belonging to a genus of sea-fishes (Labrax) of the perch family, distinguished from the true perches by having the tongue covered by small teeth and the preoperculum smooth. _L. lupus_, the only British species, called also sea-dace, and from its voracity sea-wolf, resembles somewhat the salmon in shape, and is much esteemed for the table, weighing about 15 lb. _L. line[=a]tus_ (_Roccus line[=a]tus_), or striped bass, an American species, weighing from 25 to 30 lb., is much used for food, and is also known as rock-fish. Both species occasionally ascend rivers, and attempts have been made to cultivate British bass in freshwater ponds with success. Two species of black bass (_Micropt[)e]rus salmoides_ and _M. dolomieu_), American freshwater fishes, are excellent as food and give fine sport to the angler. The former is often called the large-mouthed black bass, from the size of its mouth. Both make nests and take great care of their eggs and young. The _Centropristis nigricans_, an American sea-fish of the perch family, and weighing 2 to 3 lb., is known as the sea-bass.

BASS (b[.a]s), THE, a remarkable insular trap-rock, at the mouth of the Firth of Forth, 3 miles from North Berwick, of a circular form, about 1 mile in circumference, rising majestically out of the sea to a height of 313 feet. It pastures a few sheep, and is a great breeding-place of solan geese. During the persecution of the Covenanters its castle, long since demolished, was used as a State prison, in which several eminent Covenanters were confined. It was held from 1691 to 1694 with great courage and pertinacity by twenty Jacobites, who in the end capitulated on highly honourable terms.

BASS. See _Basswood_.

BASSA'NO, a commercial city of North Italy, province of Vicenza, on the Brenta, over which is a covered wooden bridge. It has lofty old walls and an old castle, and has various industries and an active trade. Near Bassano, 8th Sept., 1796, Bonaparte defeated the Austrian general Wurmser. Pop. (commune) 17,130.

BASSA'NO (from his birth-place; real name GIACOMO DA PONTE), an Italian painter, born 1510, died 1592. He painted historical pieces, landscapes, flowers, &c., and also portraits. He left four sons, who all became painters, Francesco being the most distinguished.

BASSANO DAM. See _Dams_.

BAS'SARIS. See _Cacomistle_.

BASSEIN (bas-s[=a]n'), a town in Lower Burma, province of Pegu, on both banks of the Bassein River, one of the mouths of the Irawadi, and navigable for the largest ships. It has considerable trade, exporting large quantities of rice, and importing coal, salt, cottons, &c. Pop. 37,081.--Bassein District has an area of 4127 sq. miles and a pop. of 9598 (1911).

BASSEIN (bas-s[=a]n'), a town in Hindustan, 28 miles north of Bombay. At the beginning of the eighteenth century it was a fine and wealthy city, with over 60,000 inhabitants; it has now only about 9598 (1911).

BASSELIN (b[.a]s-lan), Olivier, an old French poet or song-writer, born in the Val-de-Vire, Normandy, about the end of the fourteenth century, died about 1450. His sprightly songs, famous under the name _Vaux-de-Vire_, have given origin and name to the modern Vaudevilles.

BASSELISSE TAPESTRY. See _Hautelisse_.

BASSES-ALPES (baes-[.a]lp; 'Lower Alps'). See _Alpes_.

BASSES-PYRENEES (baes-p[=e]-r[=a]-n[=a]; 'LOWER PYRENEES'). See _Pyrenees_.

BASS'ET, the name of a game at cards, formerly much played, especially in France. It is very similar to the modern _faro_. See _Lansquenet_.

BASSET, or BASSET-HOUND, a smooth-haired dog with short crooked legs, rather large head, and large pendulous ears, thus somewhat resembling a bloodhound and a dachshund. It is sometimes used in packs for hunting hares, or in beating and covert work generally.

BASSETERRE (baes-t[=a]r), two towns in the West Indies.--1. Capital of the Island of St. Christopher's, at the mouth of a small river, on the south side of the island. Trade considerable. Pop. about 9000.--2. The capital of the Island of Guadeloupe. It has no harbour, and the anchorage is unsheltered and exposed to a constant swell. Pop. 8650.

BASSET-HORN, a musical instrument, now practically obsolete, a sort of clarinet of enlarged dimensions, with a curved and bell-shaped metal end. The compass extends from F below the bass staff to C on the second ledger-line above the treble. Mozart wrote several pieces for the basset-horn, and Beethoven employed it in his _Prometheus_ overture.

BASSETLAW, a parliamentary division of the county of Nottingham.

BASSIA, a genus of tropical trees found in the East Indies and Australia, nat. ord., Sapotaceae. The seeds of _B. butyracea_, the Indian butter tree, yield a butter-like substance, which makes good soap. _B. latifolia_, the Mahwa of Bengal, furnishes a valuable hard timber, and has edible flowers, from which a potent spirit is distilled; a gutta-percha is obtained from _B. pallida_.

BASSOMPIERRE (bae-son-py[=a]r), Francois de, Marshal of France, distinguished both as a soldier and a statesman, born 1579, died 1646. In 1602 he made his first campaign against the Duke of Savoy, and he fought with equal distinction in the following year in the imperial army against the Turks. In 1622 Louis XIII appointed him Marshal of France, and became so much attached to him that Luynes, the declared favourite, sent him on embassies to Spain, Switzerland, and England. After his return he became an object of suspicion to Cardinal Richelieu, and was sent to the Bastille in 1631, from which he was not released till 1643, after the death of the cardinal. During his detention he occupied himself with writing his memoirs, which shed much light on the events of that time.

BASSO'ON, a musical wind-instrument of the reed order, blown with a bent metal mouthpiece, and holed and keyed like the clarinet. Its compass comprehends three octaves rising from B flat below the bass staff. Its diameter at bottom is 3 inches, and for convenience of carriage it is divided into two or more parts, whence its Italian name, _fagotto_, a bundle. It serves for the bass among wood wind-instruments, as hautboys, flutes, &c.

BASSORA GUM, an inferior kind of gum resembling gum-arabic.

BASS ROCK. See _Bass_.

BASS STRAIT, a channel beset with islands, which separates Australia from Tasmania, 120 miles broad, discovered by George Bass, a surgeon in the Royal Navy, in 1798.

BASSWOOD, or BASS, the American lime tree or linden (_Tilia americ[=a]na_), a tree common in N. America, yielding a light, soft timber.

BAST, a term originally applied to fibrous tissue external to the cambium; now used in two senses: (1) for Phloem (q.v.); (2) commercially, for the fibre of the lime or linden. The manufacture of lime-bast into mats, ropes, &c., is in Russia a considerable industry, bast-mats for packing furniture, covering plants, &c., being largely exported.

BASTAR', a feudatory State in Upper Godavari district, Central Provinces of India; area, 13,062 sq. miles; pop. 433,310. Chief town, Jagdalpur; pop. 4294.

BAS'TARD, a child begotten and born out of wedlock; an illegitimate child. By the civil and canon laws, and by the law of Scotland, a bastard becomes legitimate by the intermarriage of the parents at any future time. In some of the United States, bastards can be legitimized by subsequent marriage, in addition to which, however, the father must also recognize the child as his. By the laws of England a child, to be legitimate, must at least be _born_ after the lawful marriage; it does not require that the child shall be begotten in wedlock, but it is indispensable that it should be born after marriage, no matter how short the time, the law presuming it to be the child of the husband. The only incapacity of a bastard is that he cannot be heir or next of kin to any one save his own issue. In England the maintenance of a bastard in the first instance devolves on the mother, while in Scotland it is a joint burden upon both parents. The mother is entitled to the custody of the child in preference to the father. See _Legitimation_; _Illegitimacy_.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Bacquet, _Traite de la Batardise_; Nicholls and Mackay, _History of the English Poor Law_.

BASTARD BAR, more correctly _baton sinister_, the heraldic mark used to indicate illegitimate descent. It is a diminutive of the bend sinister, of which it is one-fourth in width, couped or cut short at the ends, so as not to touch the corners of the shield.

BASTARD FALLOW. See _Fallow Land_.

BASTARD SAFFRON. See _Safflower_.

BASTIA (b[.a]s-t[=e]'[.a]), the former capital of the Island of Corsica, upon the N.E. coast, 75 miles N.E. of Ajaccio, on a hill slope; badly built, with narrow streets, a strong citadel, and an indifferent harbour; with some manufactures, a considerable trade in hides, soap, wine, oil, pulse, &c. Pop. 29,412.

BAS'TIAN, Adolf, German traveller and ethnologist, born in 1826, died in 1905. His travels embraced various parts of Europe, the United States, Mexico, Peru, Australia and New Zealand, Southern and Western Africa, Egypt, Arabia, India, South-Eastern Asia, the Asiatic Archipelago, Japan, China, Mongolia, Siberia, &c. His numerous writings throw light on almost every subject connected with ethnology or anthropology, as well as psychology, linguistics, non-Christian religions, geography, &c. Some of his chief works are: _Die Voelker des oestlichen Asien_ (Peoples of Eastern Asia); _Ethnographische Forschungen_; _Ideale Welten_; _Die Voelkerkunde u. der Voelkerverkehr_; &c.

BAS'TIAN, Henry Charlton, English physician and biologist, born at Truro in 1837, died on 17th Nov., 1915. He was educated at Falmouth and at University College, London, where he was assistant curator in the museum from 1860 to 1863. He obtained the degree of M.A. in 1861 from the University of London, graduating subsequently in medicine at the same university (M.B. 1863, M.D. 1866). From 1864 to 1866 he was a medical officer in Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum, and in 1866 was appointed lecturer on pathology and assistant physician in St. Mary's Hospital. In 1867 he became professor of pathological anatomy in University College, subsequently he was also professor of clinical medicine, and in the period 1887-95 he occupied the chair of medicine and clinical medicine. Apart from numerous contributions to medical and other periodicals, and to Quain's _Dictionary of Medicine_, he published _The Modes of Origin of Lowest Organisms_ (1871); _The Beginnings of Life_ (1872); _Evolution and the Origin of Life_ (1874); _Lectures on Paralysis from Brain Disease_ (1875); _The Brain as an Organ of Mind_ (1880); which has been translated into French and German; _The Nature and Origin of Living Matter_; _Evolution of Life_; _Origin of Life_; &c.

BASTIAT (b[.a]s-t[=e]-[.a]), Frederic, French economist, advocate of free-trade, and opponent of protection, born at Bayonne 1801, died at Rome 1850. He became acquainted with Cobden and the English free-traders, whose speeches he translated into French. Whilst combating protectionism, Bastiat was also an opponent of socialism. His chief works are: _Sophismes Economiques_ (1846); _Propriete et Loi_; _Justice et Fraternite_ (1848); _Protectionisme et Communisme_ (1849); _Harmonies Economiques_ (1849).

BASTIEN-LEPAGE (b[.a]s-tya[n.]-l[.e]-paezh), Jules, French painter, born 1848, died 1884. He studied at Paris under Cabanel, and about 1874 began to attract some notice as a realistic painter of subjects connected with the country and everyday life, among his first pictures of note being _Song of Spring_, _Portrait of My Grandfather_, and _The First Communion_. Among his most important works are _The Hayfield_, _The Potato Harvest_, _Portrait of Mme Sarah Bernhardt_, _The Beggar_, and _The Forge_.--Cf. Marie Bashkirtsev, _Journal Intime_; Arnic, J. _Bastien-Lepage, lettres et souvenirs_.

BASTILLE (b[.a]s-t[=e]l'), a French name for any strong castle provided with towers, but as a proper name the State prison and citadel of Paris, which was built about 1370 by Charles V. It was ultimately used chiefly for the confinement of persons of rank who had fallen victims to the intrigues of the Court or the caprice of the Government. (See _Cachet, Lettres de_.) The capture of the Bastille by the Parisian mob, 14th July, 1789, was the opening act of the Revolution. On that date the Bastille was surrounded by a tumultuous mob, who first attempted to negotiate with the Governor, Delaunay, but when these negotiations failed, began to attack the fortress. For several hours the mob continued their siege without being able to effect anything more than an entrance into the outer court of the Bastille; but at last the arrival of some of the Royal Guard with a few pieces of artillery forced the Governor to let down the second drawbridge and admit the populace. The Governor was seized, but on the way to the Hotel de Ville he was torn from his captors and put to death. The next day the destruction of the Bastille commenced. Not a vestige of it exists, but its site is marked by a column in the Place de la Bastille.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: Francois Ravaisson, _Les Archives de la Bastille_; Arnold, _Histoire de la Bastille_; Bingham, _The Bastille_; Funck-Brentano, _The Bastille_; M.J. de Staal, _La Bastille sous la Regence_ (edited by Funck-Brentano).

BASTINA'DO, an Eastern method of corporal punishment, consisting of blows upon the soles of the feet, applied with a bamboo cane.

BAS'TION, in fortification, a large mass of earth, faced with sods, brick, or stones, standing out from a rampart, of which it is a principal part. A bastion consists of two _flanks_, each commanding and defending the adjacent _curtain_, or that portion of the wall extending from one bastion to another, and two _faces_ making with each other an acute angle called the _salient angle_, and commanding the outworks and ground before the fortification. The distance between the two flanks is the _gorge_, or entrance into the bastion. The use of the bastion is to bring every point at the foot of the rampart as much as possible under the guns of the place.

BAST'WICK, John, English physician and ecclesiastical controversialist, born in 1593, died 1654. He settled at Colchester, but, instead of confining himself to his profession, entered keenly into theological controversy, and was condemned by the Star Chamber for his books against Prelacy: _Elenchus Religionis Papisticae_, _Flagellum Pontificis_, and _The Letanie of Dr. J. Bastwick_. With Prynne and Burton he was sentenced to lose his ears in the pillory, to pay a fine of L5000, and to be imprisoned for life. He was released by the Long Parliament, and entered London in triumph along with Prynne and Burton. He appears to have continued his controversies with the Independents and others to the very last.

BASU'TOLAND, a native province and British South African possession, situated between the Orange Free State, Natal, Griqualand East, and the Cape Province. The Basutos belong chiefly to the great stem of the Bechuanas, and have made greater advances in civilization than perhaps any other South African race. In 1866 the Basutos, who had lived under a semi-protectorate of the British since 1848, were proclaimed British subjects, their country placed under the government of an agent, and in 1871 it was joined to Cape Colony. In 1879 the attempted enforcement of an Act passed for the disarmament of the native tribes caused a revolt under the chief Moirosi, which the Cape forces were unable to put down. When peace was restored Basutoland was separated from Cape Colony (1884), and is now governed by a Resident Commissioner under the High Commissioner for South Africa. Basutoland has an area of about 11,716 sq. miles, much of it covered with grass, and there is but little wood. The climate is pleasant. The natives keep cattle, sheep, and horses, cultivate the ground, and export grain. The Basuto ponies, which originally were brought from Batavia by the Dutch in the eighteenth century, are famous. It is divided into eight districts, each under a magistrate. Capital, Maseru. Pop. (European), 1396; (native), 404,507.--BIBLIOGRAPHY: J. Widdicombe, _Fourteen Years in Basutoland_; M. Martin, _Basutoland: Its Legends and Customs_; Sir G. Lagden, _The Basutos_; Rev. D. F. Ellenberger, _History of the Basuto_.

BAT, one of the group of wing-handed, flying mammals, having the fore-limb peculiarly modified so as to serve for flight, and constituting the order Cheiroptera. Bats are animals of the twilight and darkness, and are common in temperate and warm regions, but are most numerous and largest in the tropics. All European bats are small, and have a mouse-like skin. The body of the largest British species, _Vespertilio noct[)u]la_, is less than that of a mouse, but its wings stretch about 15 inches. During the day it remains in caverns, in the crevices of ruins, hollow trees, and similar lurking places, and flits out at evening in search of food, which consists of insects. Several species of the same genus are common in North America. Many bats are remarkable for having a singular nasal cutaneous appendage, bearing in some cases a fancied resemblance to a horse-shoe. Bats may be conveniently divided into two sections--the insectivorous or carnivorous, comprising all European and most African and American species; and the fruit-eating, belonging to tropical Asia and Australia, with several African forms. An Australian fruit-eating bat (_Pter[)o]pus ed[=u]lis_), commonly known as the kalong or flying-fox, is the largest of all the bats; it does much mischief in orchards. At least two species of South American bats are known to suck the blood of other mammals, and thence are called 'vampire-bats'. All the British bats belong to the insectivorous group, the fruit-eating and blood-sucking bats being confined to warmer regions. There are fifteen species on the British list, but of these three are very rare. Among the most noteworthy forms are the greater and the lesser horse-shoe bats, in which the ears are nearly as long as the whole body. As winter approaches, in cold climates bats seek shelter in caverns, vaults, ruinous and deserted buildings, and similar retreats, where they cling together in large clusters, hanging head downwards by the feet, and remain in a torpid condition until the returning spring recalls them to active exertions. Bats generally bring forth two young. The parent shows a strong degree of attachment to her offspring, and, when they are captured, will follow them, and even submit to captivity herself rather than forsake her charge.

BATAILLE, Henry, French poet and dramatist, born at Nimes in 1872. His first volume of poems, _La Chambre Blanche_, appeared in 1895. His other works include _Le Beau Rivage_, _Maman Colibri_, _La Marche Nuptiale_, _La Femme Nue_, _La Divine Tragedie_, &c.

BATALHA (b[.a]-t[.a]l'y[.a]), a village in Portugal, 69 miles north of Lisbon, with a renowned convent of Dominicans, a splendid building.

BATAN'GAS, a town of the Philippines, in the Island of Luzon, capital of a province of same name, 58 miles south of Manila. Pop. 33,131.

BATA'TAS. See _Sweet-potato_.

BAT'AVI. See _Batavians_.

BATA'VIA, a city and seaport of Java, on the north coast of the island, the capital of the Dutch East Indies. It is situated on a wide, deep bay, the principal warehouses and offices of the Europeans, the Java Bank, the exchange, &c., being in the old town, which is built on a low, marshy plain near the sea, intersected with canals and very unhealthy; while the Europeans reside in a new and much healthier quarter. Batavia has a large trade, sugar being the chief export. It was founded by the Dutch in 1619, and attained its greatest prosperity in the beginning of the eighteenth century. Its inhabitants are chiefly Malay, with a considerable admixture of Chinese and a small number of Europeans. Pop. 234,697 (1918).

BATAVIAN REPUBLIC. See _Belgium_; _Netherlands._