The above critical analyses were attacked and rejected by Clemen (Stud. und Krit., 1898, 211 sqq.). He fails, however, in many cases to recognize the difficulties at issue, and those which cannot be ignored he sets down to the conflicting apocalyptic traditions, on which the author was obliged to draw for his subject-matter. Though Ryssel (Kautzsch, Apok. u. Pseud. des A. T. ii. 409) has followed Clemen, neither has given any real explanation of the disorder of the book as it stands at present. Beer (op. cit.) agrees that xxxvi.-xl. and liii.-lxx. are of different authorship from the rest of the book and belong to the earlier date.

Relation to 4 Ezra.—The affinities of this book and 4 Ezra are so numerous (see Charles, op. cit. 170-171) that Ewald and Ryle assumed identity of authorship. But their points of divergence are so weighty (see op. cit. pp. lxix.-lxxi.) that this view cannot be sustained. Three courses still remain open. If we assume that both works are composite, we shall perforce admit that some of the constituents of 4 Ezra are older than the latest of Baruch, and that other constituents of Baruch are decidedly older than the remaining ones of 4 Ezra. On the other hand, if we assume unity of authorship, it seems impossible to arrive at finality on the chronological relations of these two works. Langen, Hilgenfeld, Wieseler, Staehelin, Renan, Hausrath, Drummond, Dillmann, Rosenthal, Gunkel, have maintained on various grounds the priority of 4 Ezra; and Schuerer, Bissell, Thomson, Deane, Kabisch, De Faye, Wellhausen, and Ryssel the priority of Baruch on grounds no less convincing.

Relation to Rabbinical Literature.—A very close relation subsists between our book and rabbinical literature. Indeed in some instances the parallels are so close that they are almost word for word. The description of the destruction of Jerusalem by angels in vi.-viii. is found also in the Pesikta Rabbati 26 (ed. Friedmann 131a). By means of this passage we are, as Ginzberg has shown, able to correct the corrupt reading "the holy Ephod" (vi. 7), [Hebrew: 'PWD HQWDSH] into "the holy Ark," i.e. [Hebrew: 'RWN HQWDSH]. What might be taken as poetic fancies in our text are recounted as historical facts in rabbinical literature. Thus the words (x. 18):

"And ye priests, take ye the keys of the sanctuary, And cast them into the height of heaven, And give them to the Lord and say: 'Guard Thine own house; for lo we are found unfaithful stewards,'"

are given in various accounts of the fall of Jerusalem. (See Ta'anith, 29a; Pesiḳt. R., loc. cit.; Yalquṭ Shim'oni on Is. xxi; Aboth of Rabbi Nathan vii.). Even the statement that the bodies of Sennacherib's soldiers were burned while their garments and armour remained unconsumed has its parallel in Sanh. 94a.

Integrity of the Book.—In lxxvii. 19 it is said that Baruch wrote two epistles, one to the nine and a half tribes and the other to the two and a half at Babylon. The former is found in lxxviii.-lxxxvi.; the latter is lost, but is probably preserved either wholly or in part in the Book of Baruch, iii. 9-iv. 29 (see Charles, op. cit. pp. lxv.-lxvii). On the other hand, it is not necessary to infer from lxxv. that an account of Baruch's assumption was to be looked for in the book.

AUTHORITIES.—The literature is fully cited in Schuerer, Gesch. iii. 223-232, and R. H. Charles, Apocalypse of Baruch, pp. xxx.-xliii. Ginzberg's article in the Jewish Encyclopaedia, ii. 551-556, is a fresh and valuable contribution.

REST OF THE WORDS OF BARUCH. This book was undoubtedly written originally by a Jew but was subsequently revised by a Christian, as has been shown by Kohler in the Jewish Quarterly Review (1893), pp. 407-409. It passed under a double name in the Abyssinian Church, where it was known both as "the Rest of the Words of Baruch" and "the Rest of the Words of Jeremiah." Its Greek name is the latter—[Greek: ta paraleipomena Hieremiou prophetou]. It has been preserved in Greek, Ethiopic, Armenian and Slavonic. The Greek was first printed at Venice in 1609, next by Ceriani in 1868 in his Mon. Sacra, v. 11-18; by Harris, The Rest of the Words of Baruch, in 1889; and Bassiliev, Anec. Graeco-Byzantina, i. 308 sqq. (1893). The book begins like the Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch with an account of the removal of the sacred vessels of the Temple before its capture by the Chaldees. Baruch remains in Jerusalem and Jeremiah accompanies the Exiles to Babylon. After 66 years' exile Jeremiah brings back the Jews to Jerusalem, but refuses to admit such as had brought with them heathen wives. Then follows a vision of Jeremiah which is Christian.

Harris regards the book in its present form as an eirenicon addressed to the Jews by a Christian after the rebellion of Bar Cochba (Barcochebas) and written about 136. Though the original work was dependent on the Apocalypse of Baruch it cannot have been written much before the close of the 1st cent. A.D. Its terminus ad quem is at present indeterminable.

(R. H. C.)

[1] Toy (Jewish Enc. ii. 556) thinks that the "them" in ii. 4, 5 may be a scribal slip and that we have here not the confession of the Palestinian remnant and that of the Exiles, but simply a juxtaposition of two forms of confession.

[2] In ii. 25 we have the word [Greek: apostole] with the extraordinary meaning of "plague" as in Jer. xxxix. (xxxii.) 36.

[3] Ryssel has adopted Charles's restoration of the text in these passages and practically also in xliv. 12. but without acknowledgment.

BARUGO, a town on the north coast of the province of Leyte, island of Leyte, Philippine Islands, on Carigara Bay. Pop. (1903) 12,360. It exports large quantities of hemp and copra, and imports rice, petroleum, and cotton-goods.

BARWANI, a native state of India, in the Bhopawar agency in central India. It lies in the Satpura mountains, south of the Nerbudda. Area, 1178 sq. m.; pop. (1901) 76,136. Many of the inhabitants are Bhils. The chief, whose title is Rana, is a Rajput of the Sisodhyia clan, connected with the Udaipur family. Though the family lost most of its possessions during the Mahratta invasion in the 14th century, it never became tributary to any Malwa chief. The forests are under an English official. The town of Barwani is situated near the left bank of the Nerbudda. The population in 1901 was 6277.

BARYATINSKY, ALEXANDER IVANOVICH, PRINCE (1814-1879), Russian soldier and governor of the Caucasus, was privately educated, entered the school of the ensigns of the Guard in his seventeenth year and, on the 8th of November 1833, received his commission of cornet in the Life Guards of the cesarevich Alexander. In 1835 he served with great gallantry in the Caucasus, and on his return to St Petersburg was rewarded with a gold sword "for valour." On the first of January 1836 he was attached to the suite of Alexander, and in 1845 was again ordered off to the Caucasus and again most brilliantly distinguished himself, especially in the attack on Shamyl's stronghold, for which he received the order of St George. In 1846 he assisted [v.03 p.0456] Fieldmarshal Paskievich to suppress the Cracow rising. From 1848 to 1856 he took a leading part in all the chief military events in the Caucasus, his most notable exploits being his victory at Mezeninsk in 1850 and his operations against Shamyl at Chechen. His energetic and at the same time systematic tactics inaugurated a new era of mountain warfare. On the 6th of January 1853 he was appointed adjutant-general and, on July 5th of the same year, chief of the staff. In 1854 he took part in the brilliant Kuruk Dere campaign. On the 1st of January 1856 he became commander-in-chief of the Caucasian army, and, subsequently, governor of the Caucasus. As an administrator he showed himself fully worthy of his high reputation. Within three years of his appointment, the whole of the eastern Caucasus was subdued and the long elusive Shamyl was taken captive. Baryatinsky also conquered many of the tribes of the western Caucasus dwelling between the rivers Laba and Byelaya. For these fresh services he was created a fieldmarshal. But his health was now entirely broken by his strenuous labours, and on the 6th of December 1862 he was, at his own request, relieved of his post. He spent the last days of his life abroad and died at Geneva, after forty-eight years of active service.

See A. L. Zisserman, Fieldmarshal Prince A. I. Baryatinski (Russ.) (Moscow, 1888-1891).

BARYE, ANTOINE LOUIS (1796-1875), French sculptor, was born in Paris on the 24th of September 1796. Like many of the sculptors of the Renaissance he began life as a goldsmith. After studying under Bosio, the sculptor, and Gros, the painter, he was in 1818 admitted to the Ecole des Beaux Arts. But it was not till 1823, when he was working for Fauconnier, the goldsmith, that he discovered his real bent from watching the wild beasts in the Jardin des Plantes, making vigorous studies of them in pencil drawings worthy of Delacroix and then modelling them in sculpture on a large or small scale. In 1831 he exhibited his "Tiger devouring a Crocodile," and in 1832 had mastered a style of his own in the "Lion and Snake." Thenceforward Barye, though engaged in a perpetual struggle with want, exhibited year after year these studies of animals—admirable groups which reveal him as inspired by a spirit of true romance and a feeling for the beauty of the antique, as in "Theseus and the Minotaur" (1847), "Lapitha and Centaur" (1848), and numerous minor works now very highly valued. Barye was no less successful in sculpture on a small scale, and excelled in representing animals in their most familiar attitudes. As examples of his larger work we may mention the Lion of the Column of July, of which the plaster model was cast in 1839, various lions and tigers in the gardens of the Tuileries, and the four groups—War, Peace, Strength, and Order (1854). In 1852 he cast his bronze "Jaguar devouring a Hare." The fame he deserved came too late to the sculptor. He was made professor at the museum in 1854, and was elected to the Academy of Fine Arts in 1868. He died on the 25th of June 1875. The mass of admirable work left to us by Barye entitles him to be regarded as the greatest artist of animal life of the French school, and as the creator of a new class of art which has attracted such men as Fremiet, Peter, Cain, and Gardet, who are regarded with justice as his worthiest followers.

AUTHORITIES.—Emile Lame, Les Sculpteurs d'animaux; M. Barye (Paris, 1856); Gustave Planche, "M. Barye," Revue des deux mondes (July 1851); Theophile Silvestre, Histoires des artistes vivants (Paris, 1856); Arsene Alexandre, "A. L. Barye," Les Artistes celebres, ed. E. Muntz (Paris, 1889) (with a bibliog.); Charles DeKay, Life and Works of A. L. Barye (1889), published by the Barye Monument Assoc. of New York; Jules Claretie, Peintres et sculpteurs contemporains (1882); Roger Ballu, L'Oeuvre de Barye (1890); Charles Sprague Smith, Barbizon Days (1903).

(H. FR.)

BARYTES, a widely distributed mineral composed of barium sulphate (BaSO_4). Its most striking feature and the one from which it derives its name barytes, barite (from the Greek [Greek: barus] heavy) or heavy spar, is its weight. Its specific gravity of 4.5 is about twice as great as that of salt and of many other colourless, transparent and glassy minerals not unlike barytes in general appearance. The mineral is usually found in a state of considerable chemical purity, though small amounts of strontium and calcium sulphates may isomorphously replace the barium sulphate: ammonium sulphate is also sometimes present, whilst clay, silica, bituminous matter, &c., may be enclosed as impurities.



Crystals of barytes are orthorhombic and isomorphous with the strontium and lead sulphates (celestite and anglesite); they are usually very perfectly developed and present great variety of form. The simplest are rhomb-shaped tables (fig. 1) bounded by the two faces of the basal pinacoid (c) and the four faces of the prism (m); the angle between the prism-faces (mm) is 78deg 23', whilst that between c and m is 90deg. The mineral has a very perfect cleavage parallel to the faces c and m, and the cleavage surfaces are perfectly smooth and bright. The crystals of prismatic habit represented in figs. 2 and 3 are bounded by the domes d and f and the basal pinacoid c; fig. 4 is a plan of a still more complex crystal. Twinning is represented only by twin-lamellae, which are parallel to the planes m and f and are of secondary origin, having been produced by pressure.

Crystals of barytes may be transparent and colourless, or white and opaque, or of a yellow, brown, bluish or greenish colour. Well developed crystals are extremely common, but the mineral occurs also in a granular, earthy, or stalactitic condition. It is known as cawk in the Derbyshire lead mines. The "crested" or "cock's comb" barytes occurs as rounded aggregations of thin lamellar crystals.

Barytes is of common occurrence in metalliferous veins, especially those which yield ores of lead and silver; some of the largest and most perfect crystals of colourless barytes were obtained from the lead mines near Dufton in Westmorland. It is found also in beds of iron ore, and the haematite mines of the Cleator Moor district in west Cumberland have yielded many extremely fine crystals, specimens of which may be seen in all mineral collections. In the neighbourhood of Nottingham, and other places in the Midlands, barytes forms a cementing material in the Triassic sandstones; amber-coloured crystals of the same mineral are found in the fuller's earth at Nutfield in Surrey; and the septarian nodules in London Clay contain crystals of barytes as well as of calcite. Crystals are found as a rarity in the amygdaloidal cavities of igneous rocks.

Artificially prepared crystals of barytes may be obtained by allowing a solution of a soluble barium salt to diffuse slowly into a solution of a soluble sulphate. Barium chloride is present in some natural waters, and when this is the case the interaction of sulphates results in a deposition of barytes, as has occurred in the pipes and water-boxes of the Newcastle-on-Tyne coal mines.

Commercially, barytes is used in the preparation of barium compounds, as a body for certain kinds of paper and cloth, and as a white pigment ("permanent white"). The finely powdered and washed mineral is too crystalline and consequently of insufficient opacity to be used alone as a paint, and is therefore mixed with "white lead," of which material it is also used as an adulterant.

(L. J. S.)



BARYTOCALCITE, a rare mineral found only at Alston Moor in Cumberland, where it occurs as diverging groups of white transparent crystals lining cavities in the Mountain Limestone. [v.03 p.0457] The crystals belong to the monoclinic system and are usually prismatic or blade-shaped in habit. The hardness is 4, and the sp. gr. 3.65. There are perfect cleavages parallel to the prism faces inclined at an angle of 73deg 6', and a less perfect cleavage parallel to the basal plane, the angle between which and the prism faces is 77deg 6'; the angles between these three cleavages thus approximate to the angles (74deg 55') between the three cleavages of calcite, and there are other points of superficial resemblance between these two minerals. Chemically, barytocalcite is a double salt of barium and calcium carbonates, BaCa(CO3)2, thus differing from the orthorhombic bromlite (q.v.) which is an isomorphous mixture of the two carbonates.

(L. J. S.)

BARYTONE, or BARITONE (Ital. baritono, from Gr. [Greek: barutonos], deep sounding), a musical term for the male voice whose range lies between those of the tenor and of the bass—a high bass rather than a low tenor; also the name of an obsolete stringed instrument like the viola da Gamba, and of the small Bb or C saxhorn.

BASALT, in petrology, one of the oldest rock names, supposed to be derived from an Ethiopian word basal, signifying a stone which yields iron; according to Pliny, the first basalts were obtained in Ethiopia. In current usage the term includes a large variety of types of igneous rock belonging to the basic subdivision, dark in colour weathering to brown, and comparatively rich in magnesia and iron. Some basalts are in large measure glassy (tachylites), and many are very fine grained and compact; but it is more usual for them to exhibit porphyritic structure, showing larger crystals of olivine, augite or felspar in a finely crystalline groundmass. Olivine and augite are the commonest porphyritic minerals in basalts, the former green or yellowish (and weathering to green or brown serpentine), the latter pitch-black. Porphyritic plagioclase felspars, however, are also very common, and may be one or two inches in length, though usually not exceeding a quarter of an inch; when fresh they are dark grey with smooth lustrous cleavage surfaces; when decomposed they become turbid, and assume grey or greenish shades. Basaltic lavas are frequently spongy or pumiceous, especially near their surfaces; and, in course of time, the steam cavities become filled with secondary minerals such as calcite, chlorite and zeolites. Another characteristic of this group of rocks is the perfection with which many of them show prismatic or columnar jointing, a structure often called "basaltic jointing."

The minerals of basaltic rocks have a fairly uniform character throughout the whole group. In microscopic section the olivine is pale green or colourless, and is very frequently more or less altered to serpentine. The secondary mineral begins to form upon the surfaces and along the cracks of the olivine, gradually producing a mesh-work in the interstices of which small kernels of olivine remain; and when the process is completed the mesh structure persists in the resulting pseudomorph, giving a clear indication as to its history. The augite is mostly brown, often with a purplish tinge, hardly at all dichroic, but frequently showing zonal or hour-glass structure, and various types of twinning. It weathers to chlorite, uralite, calcite, &c. The plagioclase felspar, if fresh, is transparent and appears simple in ordinary light, but when polarized breaks up into a series of bars of different colours owing to its complex twinned structure. Practically all varieties of this mineral from anorthite to albite are known to occur in basalt, but by far the commonest species are bytownite and labradorite. Weathering destroys the limpid character of the fresh mineral, producing turbid pseudomorphs containing epidote, calcite, white micas, kaolin, &c. When these minerals occur as phenocrysts their crystalline outlines may be very perfect (though, especially in the olivine, corrosion and partial resorption may give rise to rounded or irregular forms).

In the groundmass, or second generation of crystal, not only are the ingredients smaller, but their crystals are less perfect; yet in many basalts small lath-shaped felspars and minute prisms of augite, densely crowded together, form the matrix. With these there may be a greater or less amount of brown, isotropic glass. Olivine rarely occurs as an ingredient of the groundmass. In the vitreous basalts sometimes very few crystallized minerals are observable; the greater part of the rock is a dark brown glassy material, almost opaque even in the thinnest sections, and generally charged with black grains of magnetite, skeleton crystals of augite or felspar, spherulites, perlitic cracks, or steam vesicles. In other basaltic rocks no glassy material appears, but the whole mass is thoroughly crystallized; rocks of this nature are generally known to British petrologists as dolerites (q.v.). Till recent years it was widely believed by continental geologists that the pre-Tertiary basalts differed so fundamentally from their Tertiary and recent representatives that they were entitled to be regarded as a distinct class. For the older rocks the names anamesite, diabase porphyrite, diabas-mandel-stein, or melaphyre were used, and are still favoured by many writers, to indicate varieties and states of more or less altered basalts and dolerites, though no longer held to differ in any essential respects from the better preserved basalts. Still older is the term trap, which is derived from a Swedish word meaning "a stair," for in many places superposed sheets of basalt weather with well-marked step-like or terraced features. This designation is still used as a general term for the whole suite of basaltic rocks by many geologists and travellers (e.g. trap-dikes, the "traps" of the Deccan).

In the early years of the 19th century a great controversy convulsed the geological world as to the origin of the older basalts or "floetz-traps." Werner, the Saxon mineralogist, and his school held them to be of aqueous origin, the chemical precipitates deposited in primeval seas, but Hutton and a number of French geologists maintained that they were really volcanic rocks emitted by craters now extinct (see GEOLOGY: Historical).

Of the less common minerals of basalt, a few may be mentioned. Black hornblende, dark brown in thin sections, and often corroded, is not uncommon, especially in intrusive basalts. Hypersthene occurs also, usually replacing olivine. Black mica (biotite) is not infrequently to be seen. Sapphire, garnet and zircon are rare. Minerals of the felspathoid group occur in a large number of basaltic rocks; nepheline and leucite are the most common, but hauyne is occasionally present. If nepheline entirely replaces felspar, the rock is known as nepheline-basalt; if the replacement is only partial the term nepheline-basanite is used. Similarly there are leucite-basalts and leucite-basanites. The nepheline is in small six-sized prisms, and usually cannot be detected with the unaided eye. Even with the help of the microscope nepheline basalts are not always easy to determine, as the crystals may be exceedingly small and imperfect, and they readily decompose into analcite and zeolites. In some cases only the presence of an anisotropic substance, with weak double refraction and readily attacked by acids (the so-called "nephelinitoid"), can be made out. This substance may be imperfectly crystallized nepheline, or a peculiar glass which is rich in soda. Most nepheline basalts are fine grained, very dark coloured rocks, and belong to the Tertiary period. They are fairly common in some parts of Germany and occur also in Tripoli, Asia Minor, Montana, Cape Verde Islands, &c. Leucite-basalts contain small rounded crystals of leucite in place of plagioclase felspar. Rocks of this group are well known in the Eifel, and other volcanic districts in Germany, also in Bohemia, Italy, Java, Montana, Celebes, &c. The minerals hauyne, nosean, sodalite and melilite tend to occur with some frequency in nepheline and leucite-basalts, though rare in ordinary basalts. Melilite, a lime-alumina-silicate, is characteristic of certain very basic rocks, the melilite-basalts. It is pale yellow or colourless in thin sections, and yields peculiar and characteristic dark blue polarization colours. This rare group of rocks is known to occur in Bohemia, Swabia and South Africa. Perofskite, in small dark brown cubic crystals, is a constant accessory in these rocks. The augite is usually violet coloured, and shows zonal and hour-glass structures. Green augite may occur in the nepheline-basalts, and aegerine (soda-iron-augite) is occasionally found in them.

The distribution of basalts is world-wide; and in some places [v.03 p.0458] they occur in immense masses, and cover great areas. In Washington, Oregon, and Idaho many thousands of square miles are occupied by basaltic-lava flows. In the Sandwich Islands and Iceland they are the prevalent lavas; and the well-known columnar jointed basalts of Skye, Staffa, and Antrim (Giant's Causeway) form a southward extension of the Icelandic volcanic province, with which they are connected by the similar rocks of the Faeroe Islands. In the Deccan in India great basaltic lava fields are known; and Etna and Vesuvius emit basaltic rocks. In older geological periods they were not less common; for example, in the Carboniferous in Scotland.

(J. S. F.)

BASCOM, JOHN (1827- ), American educationalist and philosophical writer, was born at Genoa, New York, on the 1st of May 1827. He graduated at Williams College in 1849 and at the Andover Theological Seminary in 1855, was professor of rhetoric at Williams College from 1855 to 1874, and was president of the University of Wisconsin and professor of mental and moral philosophy there from 1874 to 1887. In 1887-1891 and in 1901-1903 he was lecturer in sociology, and in 1891-1901 professor of economics in Williams College. He retired in 1903. Among his publications may be mentioned: Aesthetics (1862); Philosophy of Rhetoric (1865); Science, Philosophy and Religion (1871); Philosophy of English Literature (1874); Philosophy of Religions (1876); Problems in Philosophy (1885); The New Theology (1891); Social Theory (1895); Evolution and Religion (1896); Growth of Nationality in the United States (1899); and God and His Goodness (1901).

BASE. (1) (Fr. bas, Late Lat. bassus, low; cf. Gr. [Greek: bathus]) an adjective meaning low or deep, and so mean, worthless, or wicked. This sense of the word has sometimes affected the next, which is really distinct. (2) (Gr. [Greek: basis], strictly "stepping," and so a foundation or pedestal) a term for a foundation or starting point, used in various senses; in sports, e.g. hockey and baseball; in geometry, the line or face on which a figure or solid stands; in crystallography, e.g. "basal plane"; in surveying, in the "base line," an accurately measured distance between the points from which the survey is conducted; in heraldry, in the phrase "in base," applied to any figure or emblem placed in the lowest part of a shield.

In chemistry the term denotes a substance which combines with an acid to form a salt. In inorganic chemistry such compounds are almost invariably oxides or hydroxides, and water in eliminated during the combination; but in organic chemistry many compounds exist, especially ammonia derivatives, which directly combine with acids. Chemical bases are consequently antithetical to acids; and an acid is neutralized by a base with the production of a salt. They reverse certain colour reactions of acids, e.g. turn red litmus blue; this is termed an "alkaline reaction."

In architecture the "base" is the lowest member of a column or shaft. In Egyptian and Greek architecture it is the raised slab in stone or cement on which the primitive timber column was placed, to keep it dry. Afterwards it was always reproduced in Egypt, even although the column, being in stone, no longer required it; a custom probably retained because, being of a much larger circumference than the lower part of the column, it gave increased stability. In Assyrian architecture, where it served to carry wooden posts or columns, it took the form of a large torus moulding with enrichments. In Persian architecture the base was much higher than in any other style, and was elaborately carved. In primitive Greek work the base consisted of the stone plinth as found in Crete and Tiryns, and of three small steps at Mycenae. In archaic Greek work it has already disappeared in the Doric order, but in the Ionic and Corinthian orders it is more or less richly moulded, the most elaborate examples being those found in the temple of Apollo at Branchidae in Milesia. For the contour of the mouldings see ORDERS. The Roman orders all have the favourite design known as the Attic base. Romanesque bases were rude but vigorous copies of the old classic base, and were often decorated with projections or spurs (Fr. griffes) at the angles of the square dies, thus connecting them with the square base. In the Early English style, these spurs followed the conventional design of the period, and about the same time the mouldings were deeply sunk and occasionally cut downwards, so that they would have held water if used externally. Later, the base becomes less bold in treatment, but much more complex in its contours, and in the 15th century is given an unusual height with two stages, the lower one constituting a kind of plinth, which is sometimes known as the ground table, or the base course.

A BASE COURT (Fr. basse cour, i.e. the lower court), is the first open space within the gates of a castle. It was used for exercising cavalry, and keeping live stock during a siege. (See ENCEINTE).

THE BASE OF A WALL or GROUND TABLE, in architecture, is the mouldings round a building just above ground; they mostly consist of similar members to those above described and run round the buttresses. The flat band between the plinth and upper mouldings is frequently panelled and carved with shields, as in Henry VII. Chapel at Westminster.

BASE-BALL (so-called from the bases and ball used), the national summer sport of the United States, popular also throughout Canada and in Japan. Its origin is obscure. According to some authorities it is derived from the old English game of rounders (q.v.), several variations of which were played in America during the colonial period; according to other authorities, its resemblance to rounders is merely a coincidence, and it had its origin in the United States, probably at Cooperstown, New York, in 1839, when it is said, Abner Doubleday (later a general in the U.S. army) devised a scheme for playing it. About the beginning of the 19th century a game generally known as "One Old Cat" became popular with schoolboys in the North Atlantic states; this game was played by three boys, each fielding and batting in turn, a run being scored by the batsman running to a single base and back without being put out. Two Old Cat, Three Old Cat, and Four Old Cat were modifications of this game, having respectively four, six, and eight players. A development of this game bore the name of town-ball and the Olympic Town-Ball Club of Philadelphia was organized in 1833. Matches between organized base-ball clubs were first played in the neighbourhood of New York, where the Washington Baseball Club was founded in 1843. The first regular code of rules was drawn up in 1845 by the Knickerbocker Baseball Club and used in its matches with the Gotham Eagle and Empire clubs of New York, and the Excelsior, Putnam, Atlantic and Eckford clubs of Brooklyn. In 1858 the first National Association was organized, and, while its few simple laws were generally similar to the corresponding rules of the present code, the ball was larger and "livelier," and the pitcher was compelled to deliver it with a full toss, no approach to a throw being allowed. The popularity of the game spread rapidly, resulting in the organization of many famous clubs, such as the Beacon and Lowell of Boston, the Red Stockings of Cincinnati, the Forest City of Cleveland and the Maple Leaf of Guelph, but owing to the sharp rivalry between the foremost teams, semi-professionalism soon crept in, although in those days a man who played for a financial consideration always had some other means of livelihood, as the income to be derived from playing ball in the summer time was not enough to support him throughout the year. In spite of its popularity, the game acquired certain undesirable adjuncts. The betting and pool selling evils became prominent, and before long the game was in thorough disrepute. It was not only generally believed that the matches were not played on their merits, but it was known that players themselves were not above selling contests. At that time many of the journals of the day foretold the speedy downfall of the sport. A convention of those interested financially and otherwise in the game, was held in 1867 in Philadelphia, and an effort was made to effect a reformation. That the sport even then was by no means insignificant can be seen from the fact that in that convention some 500 organizations were represented. While the work done at the convention did not accomplish all that was expected, it did produce certain reforms, and the sport grew rapidly thereafter both in the eastern and in the middle western part of the United States. In the next five years the [v.03 p.0459] interest in the game became so great that it was decided to send a representation of American base-ball players to England; and two clubs, the Bostons, who were the champions that year, and the Athletics, former champions, crossed the Atlantic and played several exhibition games with each other. While successful in exciting some interest, the trip did not succeed in popularizing base-ball in Great Britain. Fifteen years later two other nines of representative American base-ball players made a general tour of Australia and various other countries, completing their trip by a contest in England. This too, however, had little effect, and later attempts to establish base-ball in England have likewise been unsuccessful. But in America the game continued to prosper. The first entirely professional club was the Cincinnati Red Stockings (1868). Two national associations were formed in 1871, one having jurisdiction over professional clubs and the other over amateurs. In 1876 was formed the National League, of eight clubs under the presidency of Nicholas E. Young, which contained the expert ball-players of the country. There were so many people in the United States who wanted to see professional base-ball that this organization proved too small to furnish the desired number of games, and hence in 1882 the American Association was formed. For a time it seemed that there would be room for both organizations; but there was considerable rivalry, and it was not until an agreement was made between the two organizations that they were able to work together in harmony. They practically controlled professional base-ball for many years, although there were occasional attempts to overthrow their authority, the most notable being the formation in 1890 of a brotherhood of players called the Players' League, organized for the purpose of securing some of the financial benefits accruing to the managers, as well as for the purpose of abolishing black-listing and other supposed abuses. The Players' League proved not sufficiently strong for the task, and fell to pieces. For some years the National League consisted of twelve clubs organized as stock companies, representing cities as far apart as Boston and St Louis, but in 1900 the number was reduced to eight, namely, Boston, Brooklyn, Chicago, Cincinnati, New York, Pittsburg, Philadelphia and St Louis. Certain aggressive and dissatisfied elements took advantage of this change to organize a second great professional association under the presidency of B. B. Johnson, the "American League," of eight clubs, six of them in cities where the National League was already represented. Most of the clubs of both leagues flourish financially, as also do the many minor associations which control the clubs of the different sections of the country, among which are the Eastern League, the American Association, Western League, Southern Association, New England League, Pacific League and the different state leagues. Professional base-ball has not been free from certain objectionable elements, of which the unnecessary and rowdyish fault-finding with the umpires has been the most evident, but the authorities of the different leagues have lately succeeded, by strenuous legislation, in abating these. Of authorities on base-ball, Henry Chadwick (d. 1908) is the best known.

Amateur base-ball, in its organized phase, is played mostly by school and university clubs as well as those of athletic associations. The first college league was formed in 1879 and comprised Harvard, Princeton, Amherst, Brown and Dartmouth, Yale joining a year later. The Eastern College League, with Columbia, Harvard, Princeton and Yale, followed in 1887. This was afterwards dissolved and at present the most important universities of the eastern states are members of no league, although such organizations exist in New England and different parts of the west and south. Amateur base-ball has progressed along the same lines as professional, although the college playing rules formerly differed in certain minor points from those of the professional leagues.

The following is a general description of the field and of the manner in which the game is played, but as the game has become highly complicated, situations may arise in playing in which general statements do not strictly hold. Any smooth, level field about 150 yds. long and 100 yds. broad will serve for a base-ball ground. Upon this field is marked out with white chalk a square, commonly called the diamond, smooth, like a cricket pitch, the sides of which measure 30 yds. each, and the nearest corner of which is distant about 30 yds. from the limit of the field. This corner is marked with a white plate, called the home-base or plate, five-sided in shape, two of the sides being 1 ft. long and that towards the pitcher 17 in. At the other three corners and attached to pegs are white canvas bags 15 in. square filled with some soft material, and called, beginning at the right as one looks towards the field, first-base, second-base and third-base respectively. The lines from home-base to first, and from home to third are indefinitely prolonged and called foul-lines. The game is played by two sides of nine men each, one of these taking its turn at the bat while the other is in the field endeavouring, as provided by certain rules, to put out the side at bat. Each side has nine turns, or innings, at bat, unless the side last at bat does not need its ninth innings in order to win; a tie at the end of the ninth innings makes additional innings necessary. A full game usually takes from 1-1/2 to 2 hrs. to play. Three batsmen are put out in each innings, and the side scoring the greatest number of runs (complete encircling of the bases without being put out) wins. A runner who is not put out but fails to reach home-base does not score a run, but is "left on base."

Implements of the Game.—The ball, which is 9-9-1/4 in. in circumference and weighs 5-5-1/4 oz., is made of yarn wound upon a small core of vulcanized rubber and covered with white leather, which may not be intentionally discoloured. The bat must be round, not over 2-3/4 in. in diameter at the thickest part, nor more than 42 in. in length. It is usually made of ash or some other hard wood, and the handle may be wound with twine. Three-cornered spikes are usually worn on the players' shoes. The catcher and first-baseman (v. infra) may wear a glove of any size on one hand; the gloves worn by all other players may not measure more than 14 in. round the palm nor weigh more than 10 oz.

The Players.—The fielding side consists of (a) the pitcher and catcher, called the battery, (b) the first-baseman, second-baseman, third-baseman and short-stop, called infielders, and (c) the left-fielder, centre-fielder and right-fielder, called out-fielders.

The pitcher, who delivers the ball to the batsman, is the most important member of the side. In the act of pitching, which is throwing either over or underhand, he must keep one foot in contact with a white plate, called the pitcher's plate, 24 in. long and 6 in. wide, placed 60.5 ft. from the back of the home-base. Before 1875 the pitcher was obliged to deliver the ball with a full toss only, but about that time a disguised underhand throw, which greatly increased the pace, began to be used so generally that it was soon legalized, and the overhand throw followed as a matter of course. As long as the arm was held stiff no curve could be imparted to the flight of the ball in the air, but with the increase of pace came the possibility of doing this by a movement of the wrist as the ball left the hand, the twist thus given causing the ball, by the pressure on the air, to swerve to one side or the other, or downwards, according to the position of the hand and fingers as the ball is let go. The commonest of these swerving deliveries, and the first one invented, is the out-curve, the ball coming straight towards the batsman until almost within reach of his bat, when it suddenly swerves away from him towards the right, if he be right-handed. The other important curves are the incurve, shooting sharply to the left, and the drop, with their many variations, nearly every pitcher using some favourite curve. Change of pace, disguised as well as possible, is also an important part of pitching strategy, as well as variation of the delivery and the play upon the known weaknesses or idiosyncrasies of the batsman. Good control over the ball is a necessity, as four "balls" called by the umpire,—that is, balls not over the base, or over the base and not between the shoulder and knee of the batsman,—entitle the batsman to become a base-runner and take his first base. If the pitcher disregards the restrictions placed upon him by the rules (e.g. he may not, while in position, make a motion to deliver the ball to the batsman without actually [v.03 p.0460] delivering it, or to first-base, while that base is occupied by a runner, without completing the throw), he is said to have made a balk, which permits a base runner to advance a base. In fielding batted balls the pitcher takes all that come directly to him, especially slow ones which the other fielders cannot reach in time. One of his duties is to "back up" the first-baseman in order to stop balls thrown wide, and to cover first-base in place of the baseman whenever that player has to leave his base to field a ground ball. On occasion he also backs up other positions.

The catcher usually stands about 1 yd. behind the home plate, and he must never be more than 10 ft. behind the home plate when the pitcher delivers the ball to the batsman. He generally catches the ball from the pitcher before it strikes the ground, and, when a man of the opposing side has succeeded in getting to a base, must be on the alert to head this opponent off should he endeavour to steal the next base, i.e. run to it while the pitcher is delivering the ball to the batsman. For this reason the catcher must be a quick, strong and accurate thrower. As the catcher alone faces the whole field, he is able to warn the pitcher when to throw to a base in order to catch a runner napping off the base, and by secretly signalling to the pitcher (usually by means of signs with his fingers) he directs what kind of a ball is to be pitched, so that he may be in the proper position to receive the ball, be it high or low, to left or right. Some pitchers, however, prefer to reserve their choice of balls and therefore do the signalling themselves. The catcher wears a mask, a breast-pad, and a large glove, without which the position would be a very dangerous one.



As every batsman upon hitting the ball must run for the first-base, the first-baseman must be a sure catch of balls thrown to head runners off, even those thrown too low, high or wide. A tall man is usually chosen for this position. The second-baseman usually stands about 30 ft. to the right of second-base and back of the line between the bases, and attends to balls batted to his side of the diamond. He also backs up any exposed position and must be ready to cover second-base whenever a runner tries to steal down from first-base, or whenever there is a runner on second-base, a duty which he shares with the short-stop, whose position corresponds to that of the second-baseman on the left side of the diamond. Short-stop must be a quick and accurate thrower and a lively fielder, as he is required to back up second- and third-base. Both he and the second-baseman must field ground balls cleanly and are often called upon to catch fly balls also. The requirements of third-baseman are very similar, but he must be an exceptionally good thrower, as he has the longest distance to throw to the first-base; and as he plays nearer to the batsman than do the second-baseman and the short-stop, the balls batted in his direction are apt to be faster and more difficult to field. One of the third-baseman's chief duties is to be ready to run in towards the batsman to field "bunts," i.e. balls blocked by allowing them to rebound from a loosely held bat. These commonly roll slowly in the direction of third-baseman, who, in order to get them to first-base in time to put the runner out, must run in, pick them up, usually with one hand, so as to be in position to throw without the loss of an instant, and "snap" them to the first-baseman, i.e. throw them underhand without taking time to raise his body to an erect position. Many of these bunts can be fielded either by the pitcher or, if they drop dead in front of the home-plate, by the catcher. The positions of the three outfielders can be seen on the diagram. Their duties consist of catching all "flies" batted over the heads of the infielders (i.e. high batted balls that have not touched the ground), stopping and returning ground balls that pass the infield, and backing up the baseman. The accompanying diagram indicates the territory roughly allotted to the different fielders. "Backing up" is a very prominent feature in fielding. Even the pitcher, for example, should run behind the first-baseman when the ball is thrown to the latter by another, in order to stop a widely thrown or missed ball, which, if allowed to pass, would enable the runner to gain one or more additional bases. Bases vacated by their basemen while fielding balls must often, also, be promptly covered by another player. The general rule of defence strategy is similar to that in cricket, namely, to have as many men as possible at the probable point of attack. There is usually an infield and an outfield captain for the special purpose of calling the name of the player who is to take a certain fly ball, to prevent collisions.

The batsman stands three-quarters facing the pitcher within a parallelogram ("box") 6 ft. long and 4 ft. wide, the lines of which he may not overstep, on penalty of being declared out. His object is to get to first-base without being put out. This he may do in several ways. (1) He may make a "safe-hit," i.e. one that is "fair" but cannot be caught, or fielded in time to put him out. (2) He is entitled to first-base if the pitcher pitches four bad balls, at none of which he (the batsman) has struck. (3) He may be unavoidably struck by a pitched ball, in which case he is given his base. (4) He may, except in certain specified cases, after a third strike, if the catcher has failed to catch the third one, earn his base if he can reach it before the catcher can throw the ball to the first-baseman, and the first-baseman, with the ball in his possession, touch first-base. (5) He may reach his base by an error of some fielder, which may be either a muffed fly, a failure to stop and field a ground ball, a muffed thrown ball or a bad throw. Only balls batted within the foul-lines (see diagram) are fair. All others are "fouls," and the batsman cannot run on them. All foul-struck balls are called strikes until two strikes have been called by the umpire, after which fouls are not counted.

Batting, as in cricket, is a science by itself, although comparatively more stress is laid on fielding than in cricket. A good batsman can place the ball in any part of the field he chooses by meeting the ball at different angles. He may make a safe hit either by hitting the ball on the ground directly through the infield out of reach of the fielders, or so hard that it cannot be [v.03 p.0461] stopped. In the last case a failure to stop and field it does not count as an "error" (misplay) for the fielder, even though it came straight at him, the decision as to errors appearing in the score (v. infra) depending upon the official scorer of the home club. The batsman may also hit safely by placing the ball over the heads of the infielders, but not far enough to be caught by the outfielders, or over the heads of the outfielders themselves, or he may bunt successfully. A hit by which two bases can be made (without errors by opponents) is a "two-base-hit," one for three bases a "three-base-hit," and one for four bases a "home-run." The batsman may be put out in various ways. For example, he is out (1) if he fails to bat in the order named in the published batting-list; (2) if he fails to take his position within one minute after the umpire has summoned him; (3) if he makes a foul hit which is caught before it strikes the ground (a ball barely ticked by the bat ["foul-tip"] does not count); (4) if he oversteps the batting-lines; (5) if he intentionally obstructs or interferes with the catcher; (6) if he unsuccessfully attempts the third strike and the ball hits his person or is caught by the catcher (under certain conditions he is out whether the ball is so caught or not), or, not being caught, is thrown to first-base and held there by an opposing player before the batsman can get there; (7) if a fair ball be caught before striking the ground; (8) if any fair ball is fielded to first-baseman before he reaches the base. The batsman becomes a base-runner the moment he starts for first-base. He may, when he first reaches first-base, overrun his base (provided he turns to his right in returning to it) without risk of being put out, but thereafter can be put out by being touched with the ball in the hands of a fielder unless some part of the runner's person is in contact with the base. When a fair or foul ball struck by a batsman on his side is caught on the fly, he must retouch his base, or be put out if the baseman receives the ball before he can do so. A runner on first-base is forced to run to second as soon as a fair ball is batted, or, being on second with another runner on first, he is forced to run to third. This is called being "forced off his base." In such a situation the forced runner can be put out if the ball is thrown to the baseman at the next base before the runner gets there. He does not require to be touched with the ball. The runner on first is entitled, however, to advance to second without risk of being put out if the batsman becomes similarly entitled to first-base (e.g. on being unavoidably struck by the ball, or on four balls). Frequently, if the ball is batted to the infield while a runner is on first-base, the fielder tosses it to second-baseman, putting out the runner, and the second-baseman has still time to throw the ball to first-base ahead of the batsman, thus completing a "double play." Triple plays are sometimes made when there are runners on two or on all of the bases. Base-running is one of the important arts of base-ball play. A good base-runner takes as long a lead off the base as he dares, starts to run the moment the pitcher makes the first movement to deliver the ball, and if necessary throws himself with a slide, either feet or head first, on to the objective base, the reason for the slide being to make it more difficult for the baseman to touch the runner, having to stoop in order to do so, thus losing time. A base-runner is out if he interferes with an opponent while the latter is fielding a ball or if he is hit by a batted ball. An example of modern base-running is offered by the "double steal," carried out, e.g., when there is a runner on first-base and a runner on third-base. The runner on first starts for second leisurely in order to draw a throw to second by the catcher. If the catcher throws, the runner on third runs for the home-plate, the second-baseman returning the ball to the catcher in order to put the runner out. The play often results in a score, but the runner is frequently caught if the throws are quick and accurate, or when the catcher deceives the runner by throwing, not to the player at second-base, but to a man stationed for the purpose much nearer the home-plate, this man intercepting the ball and returning it to the catcher if the runner on third is attempting to score, or letting it pass to the player on second-base, if the runner on third does not make the attempt.

Team batting is the co-operation of batsman and base-runner. The commonest example is the "hit and run" play, e.g. when a runner is on first-base. After the runner has ascertained by a false start which infielder, whether second-baseman or short-stop, will cover second-base, the batsman signals to the runner that he will hit the next ball. As soon as the pitcher delivers the ball the runner starts for second and the batsman hits the ball to that part of the infield vacated by the fielder who has gone to receive the ball at second from the catcher. If successful this play results in a safe hit, while the runner not infrequently makes, not only second, but third-base as well. Another instance of team batting is when a runner is on third-base and the batsman signals that he will hit the next ball. This enables the runner to get a long start, making his scoring nearly certain if the batsman succeeds in hitting the ball fairly. If the ball is hit without the signal and consequent long start by the runner, the latter is frequently put out at the plate, as the infielder who fields the ball will ignore the batsman and throw the ball to the catcher to head off the runner and prevent a run being scored. In close games the "sacrifice-hit," a part of team batting, is an important element. It consists, when a runner is on base, of a hit by the batsman resulting in his own retirement but the advancement to the next base of the runner. The sacrifice-hit is most frequently a bunt, as this gives the batsman the best chance of reaching first-base safely, besides surely advancing the runner. Another kind of sacrifice-hit is a long fly to the outfield. On such a hit a runner on third-base (as on the other bases) must remain on the base until after the ball is caught, but the distance from the outfield to the home-plate is so great that a fast runner can generally beat the ball and score his run. When men are on bases, coaches are allowed to stand near first and third bases to direct the runners.

One umpire, who has absolute jurisdiction over all points of play, usually officiates in base-ball, but, in important games, two umpires are often employed, one of them standing behind the catcher and calling the good and bad balls pitched, and the other, posted in the infield, giving decisions on plays at the bases.

In cases where the game is tied after nine innings, extra ones are played, the umpire "calling" a game when it becomes too dark to play. In case of rain, play is suspended by the umpire, who calls the game if the rain continues for one half-hour. Should play be permanently interrupted the game counts if five innings have been completed by each side.

Scoring.—The base-ball score shows, in vertical columns, (1) how many times each player has been at bat (bases taken on balls and sacrifice-hits not counted); (2) how many runs he has scored; (3) how many base-hits he has made; (4) how many sacrifice-hits he has made; (5) how many opponents he has put out; (6) how many "assists," i.e. times he has assisted in putting out (e.g. stopping a ground ball and throwing it to first-base); (7) the number of errors he has made, wild pitches and "passed balls," i.e. not held by the catcher, as well as balks and bases on balls, not being counted as errors but set down under the regular columns, together with the record of stolen bases, extra long hits, double and triple plays, batsmen struck out by each pitcher, the number of men struck by each pitcher with the ball, the time of the game and the name of the umpire.

Careful record is kept of the batting, fielding, pitching and base-running averages of both professional and amateur players. To find the batting record of a player, divide the number of hits made by the number of times at bat. To find a fielding record, divide the number of accepted chances by the total chances, e.g. A.B. put 1188 men out, and assisted sixty-four times, while making fifteen errors; his fielding average is therefore 1252 divided by 1267, or 988, 1000 being perfect fielding.

See Spalding's Base-ball Guide, in Spalding's Athletic Library, published annually; How to Play Base-ball, by T. H. Murnane, Spalding's Athletic Library; The Book of School and College Sports, by R. H. Barbour (New York, 1904).

(E. B.)

BASEDOW, JOHANN BERNHARD (1723-1790), German educational reformer, was born at Hamburg on the 11th of September 1723, the son of a hairdresser. He was educated at the Johanneum in that town, where he came under the influence of the rationalist H. S. Reimarus (1694-1768), author of the [v.03 p.0462] famous Wolfenbuetteler Fragmente, published by Lessing. In 1744 he went to Leipzig as a student of theology, but gave himself up entirely to the study of philosophy. This at first induced sceptical notions; a more profound examination of the sacred writings, and of all that relates to them, brought him back to the Christian faith, but, in his retirement, he formed his belief after his own ideas, and it was far from orthodox. He returned to Hamburg, and between 1749 and 1753 was private tutor in a nobleman's family in Holstein. Basedow now began to exhibit his really remarkable powers as an educator of the young, and acquired so much distinction that, in 1753, he was chosen professor of moral philosophy and belles-lettres in the academy of Soro in Denmark. On account of his theological opinions he was in 1761 removed from this post and transferred to Altona, where some of his published works brought him into great disfavour with the orthodox clergy. He was forbidden to give further instruction, but did not lose his salary; and, towards the end of 1767, he abandoned theology to devote himself with the same ardour to education, of which he conceived the project of a general reform in Germany. In 1768 appeared his Vorstellung an Menschenfreunde fuer Schulen, nebst dem Plan eines Elementarbuches der menschlichen Erkenntnisse, which was strongly influenced by Rousseau's Emile. He proposed the reform of schools and of the common methods of instruction, and the establishment of an institute for qualifying teachers,—soliciting subscriptions for the printing of his Elementarwerk, where his principles were to be explained at length, and illustrated by plates. The subscriptions for this object amounted to 15,000 Talers (L2250), and in 1774 he was able to publish the work in four volumes. It contains a complete system of primary education, intended to develop the intelligence of the pupils and to bring them, so far as possible, into contact with realities, not with mere words. The work was received with great favour, and Basedow obtained means to establish an institute for education at Dessau, and to apply his principles in training disciples, who might spread them over all Germany. The name of Philanthropin which he gave to the institution appeared to him the most expressive of his views; and he engaged in the new project with all his accustomed ardour. But he had few scholars, and the success by no means answered his hopes. Nevertheless, so well had his ideas been received that similar institutions sprang up all over the land, and the most prominent writers and thinkers openly advocated the plan. Basedow, unfortunately, was little calculated by nature or habit to succeed in an employment which required the greatest regularity, patience and attention; his temper was intractable, and his management was one long quarrel with his colleagues. He resigned his directorship of the institution in 1778, and it was finally closed in 1793. Basedow died at Magdeburg on the 25th of July 1790.

See H. Rathmann, Beitraege zur Lebensgeschichte Basedows (Magdeburg, 1791); J. C. Meyer, Leben, Charakter und Schriften Basedows (2 vols., Hamburg, 1791-1792); G. P. R. Hahn, Basedow und sein Verhaltnis zu Rousseau (Leipzig, 1885); A. Pinloche, Basedow et le philanthropinisme (Paris, 1890); C. Goessgen, Rousseau und Basedow (1891).

BASE FEE, in law, a freehold estate of inheritance which is limited or qualified by the existence of certain conditions. In modern property law the commonest example of a base fee is an estate created by a tenant in tail, not in possession, who bars the entail without the consent of the protector of the settlement. Though he bars his own issue, he cannot bar any remainder or reversion, and the estate (i.e. the base fee) thus created is determinable on the failure of his issue in tail. An example of this kind of estate was introduced by George Eliot into the plot of Felix Holt. Another example of a base fee is an estate descendible to heirs general, but terminable on an uncertain event; for example, a grant of land to A and his heirs, tenants of the manor of Dale. The estate terminates whenever the prescribed qualification ceases. An early meaning of base fee was an estate held not by free or military service, but by base service, i.e. at the will of the lord.

BASEL (Fr. Bale), one of the most northerly of the Swiss cantons, and the only one (save Schaffhausen) that includes any territory north of the Rhine. It is traversed by the chain of the Jura, and is watered by the Birs and the Ergolz, both tributaries (left) of the Rhine. It is traversed by railways from Basel to Olten (25 m.) and to Laufen (14-1/4 m.), besides local lines from Basel to Fluehen (8 m.) for the frequented pilgrimage resort of Mariastein, and from Liestal to Waldenburg (8-3/4 m.), From 1803 to 1814 the canton was one of the six "Directorial" cantons of the Confederation. Since 1833 it has been divided into two half cantons, with independent constitutions.

One is that of Basel Stadt or Bale Ville, including, besides the city of Basel, the three rural districts (all to the north of the Rhine) of Riehen, Bettingen and Klein Hueningen (the latter now united to the city). The total area of this half canton is 13.7 sq. m. only, of which 11 sq. m. are classed as "productive," forests occupying 1.5 sq. m., but its total population in 1900 was 112,227 (of whom 3066 inhabited the rural districts), mainly German-speaking, and numbering 73,063 Protestants, 37,101 Romanists (including the Old Catholics), and 1897 Jews. The cantonal constitution dates from 1889. The executive of seven members and the legislature (Grossrat) of 130 members, as well as the one member sent to the Federal Staenderat and the six sent to the Federal Nationalrat, are all elected by a direct popular vote for the term of three years. Since 1875, 1000 citizens can claim a popular vote (facultative Referendum) on all bills, or can exercise the right of initiative whether as to laws or the revision of the cantonal constitution.

The other half canton is that of Basel Landschaft or Bale Campagne, which is divided into four administrative districts and comprises seventy-four communes, its capital being Liestal. Its total area is 165 sq. m., of which all but 5 sq. m. is reckoned "productive" (including 55.9 sq. m. of forests). In 1900 its total population was 68,497, nearly all German-speaking, while there were 52,763 Protestants, 15,564 Romanists, and 130 Jews.

The cantonal constitution dates from 1892. The executive of 5 members and the legislature or Landrat (one member per 800 inhabitants or fraction over 400), as well as the single member sent to the Federal Staenderat and the three sent to the Federal Nationalrat, are all elected by a direct popular vote for three years. The "obligatory Referendum" obtains in the case of all laws, while 1500 citizens have the right of "initiative" whether as to laws or the revision of the cantonal constitution. Silk ribbon weaving, textile industries and the manufacture of tiles are carried on.

(W. A. B. C.)

BASEL (Fr. Bale, but Basle is a wholly erroneous form; Ital. Basilea), the capital of the Swiss half canton of Basel Stadt or Bale Ville. It is now the second most populous (109,161 inhabitants) town (ranking after Zuerich) in the Swiss Confederation, while it is reputed to be the richest, the number of resident millionaires (in francs) exceeding that of any other Swiss town. Both facts are largely due to the opening (1882) of the St Gotthard railway, as merchandise collected from every part of north and central Europe is stored in Basel previous to being redistributed by means of that line. Hence the city has an extremely large and flourishing transit trade, despite the rather dingy appearance of its older portions. The city is divided by the Rhine into Gross Basel (south) and Klein Basel (north), the former being by far the larger. There are several bridges over the river, the old wooden bridge having been replaced in 1905 by one built of stone. The central or main railway station is in Gross Basel, while the Baden station is in Klein Basel. The most prominent building in the city is the cathedral or Muenster, built of deep red sandstone, on a terrace high above the Rhine. It was consecrated in 1019, but was mainly rebuilt after the disastrous earthquake of 1356 that nearly ruined the city. The public meetings of the great oecumenical council (1431-1449) were held in the choir, while the committees sat in the chapter-house. Erasmus lived in Basel 1521-1529, and on his death there (1536) was buried in the cathedral, attached to which are cloisters, in which various celebrated men are buried, e.g. Oecolampadius (d. 1531), Grynaeus (d. 1541), Buxtorf (d. 1732). The 16th-century Rathaus or town hall has recently been restored. In the museum is a fine collection of works of art by Holbein (who lived in Basel from [v.03 p.0463] 1528 to 1531), while the historical museum (in the old Franciscan church) contains many treasures, and among them the fragments of the famous Dance of Death, wrongly attributed to Holbein. The university (founded by Pius II. in 1460) is the oldest in Switzerland, and of late years has been extended by the construction of detached buildings for the study of the natural sciences, e.g. the Vesalianum and the Bernoullianum. The university library is very rich, and contains the original MSS. of the acts of the great oecumenical council. There are a number of modern monuments in the city, the most important being that set up to the memory of the Swiss who fell in the battle of St Jakob (1444), won by the French. Basel is the seat of the chief missionary society in Switzerland, the training school for missionaries being at St Chrischona, 6 m. out of the city.

The town was founded in A.D. 374 by the emperor Valentinian, from whose residence there it takes its name. In the 5th century the bishop of Augusta Rauricorum (now called Kaiser Augst), 7-1/2 m. to the east, moved his see thither. Henceforth the history of the city is that of the growing power, spiritual and temporal, of the bishops, whose secular influence was gradually supplanted in the 14th century by the advance of the rival power of the burghers. In 1356 the city was nearly destroyed by a great earthquake. After long swaying between the neighbouring Rhine cities and the Swiss Confederation, it was admitted into the latter in 1501. It later became one of the chief centres of the Reformation movement in Switzerland, so that the bishop retired in 1525 to Porrentruy, where he resided till 1792, finally settling at Soleure in 1828, the bishopric having been wholly reorganized since 1814. As in other Swiss towns the trade gilds got all political power into their hands, especially by the 18th century. They naturally favoured the city at the expense of the rural districts, so that in 1832 the latter proclaimed their independence, and in 1833 were organized into the half canton of Basel Landschaft, the city forming that of Basel Stadt.

See Basler Biographien (3 vols., 1900-1905); Basler Chroniken (original chronicles), (5 vols., Leipzig, 1872-1890); H. Boos, Geschichte von Basel, vol. i. (to 1501) alone published (1877); A. Burckhardt, Bilder aus d. Geschichte von Basel (3 vols., 1869-1882); Festschrift z. 400ten Jahrestage d. ewig. Bundes zwisch. B. und den Eidgenossen (1901); T. Geering, Handel und Industrie d. Stadt Basel (1885); A. Heusler, Verfassungsgeschichte d. Stadt Basel im Mittelalter (1860), and Rechtsquellen von Basel (2 vols., 1856-1865); L. A. Stocker, Basler Stadtbilder (1890); L. Stouff, Pouvoir temporel des eveques de Bale (2 vols., Paris, 1891); R. Thommen, Gesch. d. Universitaet B., 1532-1632 (1889); Urkundenbuch d. Landschaft B. (pub. from 1881), and ditto for the city (pub. from 1890); W. Vischer, Gesch. d. Universitaet B., 1460-1529 (1860); R. Wackernagel, Gesch. d. Stadt Basel (3 vols., 1906 sqq.); K. Weber, Die Revolution im Kanton Basel, 1830-1833 (1907); G. Gautherot, La Republique rauracienne (1908).

(W. A. B. C.)

BASEL, CONFESSION OF, one of the many statements of faith produced by the Reformation. It was put out in 1534 and must be distinguished from the First and Second Helvetic Confessions, its author being Oswald Myconius, who based it on a shorter confession promulgated by Oecolampadius, his predecessor in the church at Basel. Though it was an attempt to bring into line with the reforming party both those who still inclined to the old faith and the anabaptist section, its publication provoked a good deal of controversy, especially on its statements concerning the Eucharist, and the people of Strassburg even reproached those of Basel with celebrating a Christless supper. Up to the year 1826 the Confession (sometimes also known as the Confession of Muehlhausen from its adoption by that town) was publicly read from the pulpits of Basel on the Wednesday of Passion week in each year. In 1872 a resolution of the great council of the city practically annulled it.

BASEL, COUNCIL OF. A decree of the council of Constance (9th of October 1417) sanctioned by Martin V. had obliged the papacy periodically to summon general councils. At the expiry of the first term fixed by this decree, Martin V. did, in fact, call together at Pavia a council, which it was necessary to transfer almost at once to Siena, owing to an epidemic, and which had to be dissolved owing to circumstances still imperfectly known, just as it was beginning to discuss the subject of reform (1424). The next council was due to assemble at the expiry of seven years, i.e. in 1431; with his usual punctuality, Martin V. duly convoked it for this date to the town of Basel, and selected to preside over it the cardinal Julian Cesarini, a man of the greatest worth, both intellectually and morally. Martin himself, however, died before the opening of the synod.

From Italy, France and Germany the fathers were slow in appearing at Basel. Cesarini devoted all his energies to the war against the Hussites, until the disaster of Taus forced him hastily to evacuate Bohemia. The progress of heresy, the reported troubles in Germany, the war which had lately broken out between the dukes of Austria and Burgundy, and finally, the small number of fathers who had responded to the summons of Martin V., caused that pontiff's successor, Eugenius IV., to think that the synod of Basel was doomed to certain failure. This opinion, added to the desire which he had of himself presiding over the council, induced him to recall the fathers from Germany, whither his health, impaired of late, probably owing to a cerebral congestion, rendered it all the more difficult for him to go. He commanded the fathers to disperse, and appointed Bologna as their meeting-place in eighteen months' time, his intention being to make the session of the council coincide with some conferences with representatives of the Greek church, which were to be held there with a view to union (18th December 1431).

This order led to an outcry among the fathers of Basel and incurred the deep disapproval of the legate Cesarini. The Hussites, it was said, would think that the Church was afraid to face them; the laity would accuse the clergy of shirking reform; in short, this failure of the councils would produce disastrous effects. In vain did the pope explain his reasons and yield certain points; the fathers would listen to nothing, and, relying on the decrees of the council of Constance, which amid the troubles of the schism had proclaimed the superiority, in certain cases, of the council over the pope, they insisted upon their right of remaining assembled, hastily beat up the laggards, held sessions, promulgated decrees, interfered in the government of the papal countship of Venaissin, treated with the Hussites, and, as representatives of the universal Church, presumed to impose laws upon the sovereign pontiff himself. Eugenius IV. resolved to resist this supremacy, though he did not dare openly to repudiate a very widespread doctrine considered by many to be the actual foundation of the authority of the popes before the schism. However, he soon realized the impossibility of treating the fathers of Basel as ordinary rebels, and tried a compromise; but as time went on, the fathers became more and more intractable, and between him and them gradually arose an impassable barrier.

Abandoned by a number of his cardinals, condemned by most of the powers, deprived of his dominions by condottieri who shamelessly invoked the authority of the council, the pope made concession after concession, and ended on the 15th of December 1433 by a pitiable surrender of all the points at issue in a bull, the terms of which were dictated by the fathers of Basel, that is, by declaring his bull of dissolution null and void, and recognizing that the synod had not ceased to be legitimately assembled. It would be wrong, however, to believe that Eugenius IV. ratified all the decrees coming from Basel, or that he made a definite submission to the supremacy of the council. No express pronouncement on this subject could be wrung from him, and his enforced silence concealed the secret design of safeguarding the principle of sovereignty.

The fathers, who were filled with suspicion, would only allow the legates of the pope to preside over them on condition of their recognizing the superiority of the council; the legates ended by submitting to this humiliating formality, but in their own name only, thus reserving the judgment of the Holy See. Nay more, the difficulties of all kinds against which Eugenius had to contend, the insurrection at Rome, which forced him to escape by the Tiber, lying in the bottom of a boat, left him at first little chance of resisting the enterprises of the council. Emboldened by their success, the fathers approached the subject of reform, their principal object being to curtail the power and resources of the papacy. This is why, besides the disciplinary [v.03 p.0464] measures which regulated the elections, the celebration of divine service, the periodical holding of diocesan synods and provincial councils, are found also decrees aimed at some of the "rights" by which the popes had extended their power, and helped out their finances at the expense of the local churches. Thus annates (q.v.) were abolished, the abuse of "reservation" of the patronage of benefices by the pope was much limited, and the right claimed by the pope of "next presentation" to benefices not yet vacant (known as gratiae expectativae) was done away with altogether. By other decrees the jurisdiction of the court of Rome was much limited, and rules were even made for the election of popes and the constitution of the Sacred College. The fathers continued to devote themselves to the subjugation of the Hussites; they also intervened, in rivalry with the pope, in the negotiations between France and England which led only to the treaty of Arras, concluded by Charles VII. with the duke of Burgundy; finally, they investigated and judged numbers of private cases, lawsuits between prelates, members of religious orders and holders of benefices, thus themselves falling into one of the serious abuses for which they had most blamed the court of Rome.

The democratic character of the assembly of Basel was the result both of its composition and of its organization; not only was the number of prelates in it always small in comparison with that of the doctors, masters, representatives of chapters, monks or clerks of inferior orders, but the influence of the superior clergy had all the less weight because, instead of being separated into "nations," as at Constance, the fathers divided themselves according to their tastes or aptitudes into four large committees or "deputations" (deputationes), one concerned with questions of faith (fidei), another with negotiations for peace (pacis), the third with reform (reformatorii), the fourth with what they called "common concerns" (pro communibus). Every decision made by three of these "deputations"—and in each of them the lower clergy formed the majority—was ratified for the sake of form in general congregation, and if necessary led to decrees promulgated in session. It was on this account that the council could sometimes be called, not without exaggeration, "an assembly of copyists" or even "a set of grooms and scullions."

Eugenius IV., however much he may have wished to keep on good terms with the fathers of Basel, was neither able nor willing to accept or observe all their decrees. The question of the union with the Greek church, especially, gave rise to a misunderstanding between them which soon led to a rupture. The emperor John Palaeologus, pressed hard by the Turks, showed a great desire to unite himself with the Catholics; he consented to come with the principal representatives of the Greek church to some place in the west where the union could be concluded in the presence of the pope and of the Latin council. Hence arose a double negotiation between him and Eugenius IV. on the one hand and the fathers of Basel on the other. The chief object of the latter was to fix the meeting-place at a place remote from the influence of the pope, and they persisted in suggesting Basel or Avignon or Savoy, which neither Eugenius nor the Greeks would on any account accept. The result was that Palaeologus accepted the offers of the pope, who, by a bull dated the 18th of September 1437, again pronounced the dissolution of the council of Basel, and summoned the fathers to Ferrara, where on the 8th of January 1438 he opened a new synod which he later transferred to Florence. In this latter town took place the momentary union, which was more apparent than real, between the Latin and the Greek church (6th July 1439). During this time the council of Basel, though abandoned by Cesarini and most of its members, persisted none the less, under the presidency of Cardinal Aleman, in affirming its oecumenical character. On the 24th of January 1438 it suspended Eugenius IV., and went on in spite of the intervention of most of the powers to pronounce his deposition (25th June 1439), finally giving rise to a new schism by electing on the 4th of November Amadeus VIII., duke of Savoy, as pope, who took the name of Felix V.

This schism lasted fully ten years, although the antipope found hardly any adherents outside of his own hereditary states, those of Alphonso of Aragon, of the Swiss confederation and certain universities. Germany remained neutral; Charles VII. of France confined himself to securing to his kingdom by the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges, which became law on the 13th of July 1438, the benefit of a great number of the reforms decreed at Basel; England and Italy remained faithful to Eugenius IV. Finally, in 1447 Frederick III., king of the Romans, after negotiations with Eugenius, commanded the burgomaster of Basel not to allow the presence of the council any longer in the imperial city. In June 1448 the rump of the council migrated to Lausanne. The antipope, at the instance of France, ended by abdicating (7th April 1449). Eugenius IV. died on the 23rd of February 1447, and the fathers of Lausanne, to save appearances, gave their support to his successor, Nicholas V., who had already been governing the Church for two years. Trustworthy evidence, they said, proved to them that this pontiff accepted the dogma of the superiority of the council as it had been defined at Constance and at Basel. In reality, the struggle which they had carried on in defence of this principle for seventeen years, with a good faith which it is impossible to ignore, ended in a defeat. The papacy, which had been so fundamentally shaken by the great schism of the West, came through this trial victorious. The era of the great councils of the 15th century was closed; the constitution of the Church remained monarchical.

AUTHORITIES.—Mansi, vol. xxix.-xxxi.; Aeneas Sylvius, De rebus Basileae gestis (Fermo, 1803); Hefele, Conciliengeschichte, vol. vii. (Freiburg-im-Breisgau, 1874); O. Richter, Die Organisation und Geschaftsordnung des Baseler Konzils (Leipzig, 1877); Monumenta Conciliorum generalium seculi xv., Scriptorum, vol. i., ii. and iii. (Vienna, 1857-1895); J. Haller, Concilium Basiliense, vol. i.-v. (Basel, 1896-1904); G. Perouse, Le Cardinal Louis Aleman, president du concile de Bale (Paris, 1904). Much useful material will also be found in J. C. L. Gieseler's Ecclesiastical History, vol. iv. p. 312, &c., notes (Eng. trans., Edinburgh, 1853).

(N. V.)

BASEMENT, the term applied to the lowest storey of any building placed wholly or partly below the level of the ground. It is incorrectly applied to the ground storey of any building, even when, as for instance in the case of Somerset House, London, the ground floor is of plain or rusticated masonry, and the upper storey which it supports is divided up and decorated with columns or pilasters.

BASHAHR, or BISAHIR, a Rajput hill state, within the Punjab, amid the Himalayan mountains, with an area of 3820 sq. m. and a population in 1901 of 80,582. In 1898, the raja being of weak intellect and without heir, the administration was undertaken by a British official. In 1906 there were some local troubles owing to the refusal of the people to pay taxes. The revenue is obtained chiefly from land and forests, the latter being leased to the British government.

BASHAN, a region lying E. of the Jordan, and towards its source. Its boundaries are not very well defined, but it may be said in general to have been north of the territory of Gilead. The name first appears in Hebrew history in connexion with the wanderings of the Israelites. According to Numbers xxi. 33, the tribes after the rout of Sihon, king of the Amorites, turned to go by the land of Bashan; and its king, Og, met them at Edrei, and was there defeated and slain. The value of this narrative is a matter of much dispute. The gigantic stature of the king, and the curious details about his "bedstead" (Deut. iii. 11) are regarded as suggestive of legend; to say nothing of the lateness of all the documents relating to the wars of Og, and the remoteness of Bashan from the regions of the Israelites' wandering. The story, however, had so firm a hold on Hebrew tradition that it can hardly fail to have some basis in fact; and an invasion by Israel of Bashan before coming to Jordan is by no means an improbability.

The great stature of Og is explained in the passage of Deuteronomy mentioned by the statement that he was of the remnant of the aboriginal Rephaim. This was a race distinguished by lofty stature; and in Genesis xiv. 5 we find them established in Ashteroth-Karnaim (probably the same as Ashtaroth, which, as we shall see, was an important city of Bashan). The territory [v.03 p.0465] was allotted on the partition of the conquered land to the eastern division of the tribe of Manasseh (Numbers xxxiii. 33; Josh. xiii. 29). One of the cities of refuge, Golan, was in Bashan (Deut. iv. 43). By Solomon, Bashan, or rather "the region of Argob in Bashan," containing "threescore great cities with walls and brazen bars," was assigned to the administrative district of Ben-Geber, one of his lieutenants (1 Kings iv. 13, compare ver. 19). In the days of Jehu the country was taken from Israel by Hazael, king of Syria (2 Kings x. 33). This is the last historical event related in the Old Testament of Bashan. In the poetical and prophetic books it is referred to in connexion with the products for which it was noted. From a passage in the "Blessing of Moses" (Deut. xxxiii. 22) it seems to have been inhabited by lions. Elsewhere it is referred to in connexion with its cattle (Deut. xxxii. 14; Ezek. xxxix. 18), which seem to have been proverbial for ferocity (Ps. xxii. 12); Amos (iv. 1) calls the wealthy women of Samaria, who oppressed the poor, "kine of Bashan." It is also noted for its mountain (Ps. lxviii. 15), and especially for oaks, which are coupled with the cedars of Lebanon (Isa. ii. 13; compare xxxiii. 9; Zechariah xi. 2). Oars were made from them (Ezek. xxvii. 6).

The boundaries of Bashan may to some extent be deduced from the indications afforded in the earlier historical books. Og dwelt at Ashteroth, and did battle with the Israelites at Edrei (Deut. i. 4). In Deut. iii. 4, "the region of Argob" with its threescore cities is mentioned; Mt. Hermon is referred to as a northern limit, and Salecah is alluded to in addition to the other cities already mentioned. Josh. xii. 4 and Josh. xiii. 29 confirm this. Josephus (Ant. iv. 5. 3; Wars, ii. 6. 3) enumerates four provinces of Bashan, Gaulanitis, Trachonitis, Auranitis and Batanaea. Gaulanitis (which probably derived its name from the city of refuge, Golan, the site of which has not yet been discovered) is represented by the modern Jaulān, a province extending from the Jordan lakes to the Haj Road. Josephus (Wars, iv. 1. 1) speaks of it as divided into two sections, Gamalitis and Sogana. Trachonitis (mentioned in Luke iii. 1 as in the territory of Philip the tetrarch) adjoined the territory of Damascus, Auranitis and Batanaea. This corresponds to the Trachōnes of Strabo (xvi. 20), and the modern district of the Lejā; inscriptions have been found in the Lejā giving Trachōn as its former name. Auranitis is the Hauran of Ezekiel xlvii. 16, and of the modern Arabs. It is south of the Jaulān and north of Gilead. According to Porter (Journal Soc. Lit., 1854, p. 303), the name is locally restricted to the plain south of the Lejā. and the narrow strip on the west; although it is loosely applied by strangers to the whole country east of the Jaulān. The fourth province, Batanaea, which still is remembered in the name 'Ard el-Bathaniyeh, lies east of the Lejā and the Hauran plain, and includes the Jebel ed-Drūz or Hauran mountain.

The identification of Argob, a region of the kingdom of Og, is a matter of much difficulty. It has been equated on philological grounds to the Lejā. But these arguments have been shown to be shaky if not baseless, and the identification is now generally abandoned. The confidence with which the great cities of Og were identified with the extensive remains of ancient sites in the Lejā and Hauran has also been shown to be without justification. All the so-called "giant cities of Bashan" without exception are now known to be Greco-Roman, not earlier than the time of Herod, and, though in themselves of very high architectural and historical interest, have no connexion whatever with the more ancient periods. No tangible traces of Og and his people, or even of their Israelite supplanters, have yet been found.

This fact somewhat weakens the various identifications that have been proposed for the cities of Bashan enumerated by name. Edrei for example is identified with Ed-Dera'a. This is perhaps the most satisfactory comparison, for besides the Greco-Roman remains there is an extensive subterranean city of unknown date, which may be of great antiquity, though even this is still sub judice. The other identifications that have commanded most acceptance are as follows:—Ashteroth Karnaim, also called Ashtaroth and (Josh. xxi. 27) Be-eshterah, has been identified with Busrah (Bostra), where are very important Herodian ruins, but there is no tangible evidence yet adduced that the history of this site is of so remote antiquity. From the similarity of the names, it has also been sought at Tell Ashari and Tell 'Ashtera. The true site can be determined, if at all; by excavation only; identifications based on mere outward similarity of names have always been fruitful sources of error. Salecah is perhaps less doubtful; it is a remarkable name, and a ruin similarly styled, Salkhat, is to be seen in the Hauran. It is inhabited by Druses. Another town in eastern Manasseh, namely Kenath, has been identified by Porter with Kanawat, which may be correct.

In the later history Bashan became remarkable as a refuge for outlaws and robbers, a character it still retains. The great subterranean "city" at Ed-Dera'a has been partially destroyed by the local sub-governor, in order to prevent it becoming a refuge of fugitives from justice or from government requirements (conscription, taxation, &c.). Strabo refers to a great cave in Trachonitis capable of holding 4000 robbers. Arab tradition regards it as the home of Job; and it is famous as being the centre of the Ghassanid dynasty. The Hauran is one of the principal habitations of the sect of the Druses (q.v.).

The physical characteristics of Bashan are noteworthy. Volcanic in origin—the Jebel ed-Druz is a group of extinct volcanoes—the friable volcanic soil is extraordinarily fertile. It is said to yield wheat eighty-fold and barley a hundred. The oaks for which the country was once famous still distinguish it in places.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.—In addition to books mentioned under PALESTINE see the following:—U. J. Seetzen, Reisen durch Syrien, Palastina, Phonicien, &c. (4 vols., 1854); Rev. J. L. Porter, Five Years in Damascus (2 vols., 1855); The Giant Cities of Bashan (out of date, but some of the descriptions good, 1865); J. G. Wetzstein, Reisebericht ueber Hauran und die Trachonen (Berlin, 1860); Sir R. F. Burton and C. F. T. Drake, Unexplored Syria (1872); G. Schumacher, The Jaulān (1888); Abila, Fella and Northern Ajlun (1890); Across the Jordan (1886), (Palestine Exploration Fund); Rev. W. Ewing, A Journey in the Hauran (with a large collection of inscriptions); Palestine Exploration Fund Quarterly Statement, 1895; W. H. Waddington's Inscriptions of Syria may also be consulted; Dussaud (Rene) and Frederic Macler, Voyage archeologique au Safa et dans le Djabel ed-Drūz (1901). In 1900 an important survey of the Hauran and neighbouring regions was made under American auspices, directed by Dr Enno Littmann; the publication of the great harvest of results was begun in 1906.

(R. A. S. M.)

BASHI-BAZOUK, the name given to a species of irregular mounted troops employed by the Turks. They are armed and maintained by the government but do not receive pay. They do not wear uniform or distinctive badges. They fight either mounted or dismounted, chiefly the latter, but are incapable of undertaking serious work, because of their lack of discipline. Their uncertain temper has sometimes made it necessary for the Turkish regular troops to disarm them by force, but they are often useful in the work of reconnaissance and in outpost duty. They are accused, and generally with justice, of robbery and maltreatment of the civil population, resembling in those things, as in their fighting methods and value, the Croats, Pandours and Tolpatches of 18th-century European armies. The term is also used of a mounted force, existing in peace time in various provinces of the Turkish empire, which performs the duties of gendarmerie.

BASHKALA, the chief town of a sanjak of the vilayet of Van in Asiatic Turkey. It is a military station, situated at an elevation of 7500 ft. above sea-level in the valley of the Great Zab river. It stands on the east slope of lofty bare mountains, overlooking a wide valley on the farther side of which flows the Zab. On a knoll above is a ruined fortress formerly occupied by a Kurdish Bey. The population numbers some 10,000, principally Kurds, but including 1500 Armenians and 1000 Jews. The place is important as the centre of the Hakkiari sanjak, a very difficult mountain district to the south-west containing numerous tribes of Kurds and Nestorian Christians, and also the many Kurdish tribes along the Persian frontier. The houses are well built of sun-dried brick, and the streets are wide and fairly clean. Good smiths' and carpenters' work is [v.03 p.0466] done. The bazaar is small, although a thriving trade is done with the mountain districts. Owing to the great elevation the winter is extremely severe, and the summer of short duration. Wheat, barley, millet and sesame are cultivated on the plain, but fruit and vegetables have mostly to be imported from Persia. Roads lead to Van, Urmia in Persia and Mosul through the Nestorian country. The Kurd and Nestorian tribes in the wilder parts of the Hakkiari Mountains are under slight government control, and are permitted to pay tribute and given self-government in a large degree.

(F. R. M.)

BASHKIRS, a people inhabiting the Russian governments of Ufa, Orenburg, Perm and Samara, and parts of Vyatka, especially on the slopes and confines of the Ural, and in the neighbouring plains. They speak a Tatar language, but some authorities think that they are ethnically a Finnish tribe transformed by Tatar influence. The name Bashkir or Bash-kurt appears for the first time in the beginning of the 10th century in the writings of Ibn-Foslan, who, describing his travels among the Volga-Bulgarians, mentions the Bashkirs as a warlike and idolatrous race. The name was not used by the people themselves in the 10th century, but is a mere nickname.

Of European writers, the first to mention the Bashkirs are Joannes de Plano Carpini (c. 1200-1260) and William of Rubruquis (1220-1293). These travellers, who fell in with them in the upper parts of the river Ural, call them Pascatir, and assert that they spoke at that time the same language as the Hungarians. Till the arrival of the Mongolians, about the middle of the 13th century, the Bashkirs were a strong and independent people and troublesome to their neighbours, the Bulgarians and Petchenegs. At the time of the downfall of the Kazan kingdom they were in a weak state. In 1556 they voluntarily recognized the supremacy of Russia, and, in consequence, the city of Ufa was founded to defend them from the Kirghiz, and they were subjected to a fur-tax. In 1676 they rebelled under a leader named Seit, and were with difficulty reduced; and again in 1707, under Aldar and Kusyom, on account of ill-treatment by the Russian officials. Their third and last insurrection was in 1735, at the time of the foundation of Orenburg, and it lasted for six years. In 1786 they were freed from taxes; and in 1798 an irregular army was formed from among them. They are now divided into cantons and give little trouble, though some differences have arisen between them and the government about land questions. By mode of life the Bashkirs are divided into settled and nomadic. The former are engaged in agriculture, cattle-rearing and bee-keeping, and live without want. The nomadic portion is subdivided, according to the districts in which they wander, into those of the mountains and those of the steppes. Almost their sole occupation is the rearing of cattle; and they attend to that in a very negligent manner, not collecting a sufficient store of winter fodder for all their herds, but allowing part of them to perish. The Bashkirs are usually very poor, and in winter live partly on a kind of gruel called yuryu, and badly prepared cheese named skurt. They are hospitable but suspicious, apt to plunder and to the last degree lazy. They have large heads, black hair, eyes narrow and flat, small foreheads, ears always sticking out and a swarthy skin. In general, they are strong and muscular, and able to endure all kinds of labour and privation. They profess Mahommedanism, but know little of its doctrines. Their intellectual development is low.

See J. P. Carpini, Liber Tartarorum, edited under the title Relations des Mongols ou Tartares, by d'Avezac (Paris, 1838); Gulielmus de Rubruquis, The Journey of William of Rubruck to the Eastern Parts of the World, translated by W. W. Rockhill (London, 1900); Semenoff, Slovar Ross. Imp., s.v.; Frahn, "De Baskiris," in Mem. de l'Acad. de St-Petersbourg (1822); Florinsky, in Westnik Evropi (1874); and Katarinskij, Dictionnaire Bashkir-Russe (1900).

BASHKIRTSEFF, MARIA CONSTANTINOVA [MARIE] (1860-1884), Russian artist and writer, was born at Gavrontsi in the government of Pultowa in Russia on the 23rd of November 1860. When Marie was seven years old, as her father (marshal of the nobility at Pultowa) and her mother were unable through incompatibility to live together, Madame Bashkirtseff with her little daughter left Russia to spend the winters at Nice or in Italy, and the summers at German watering-places. Marie acquired an education superior to that given to most girls of her rank. She could read Plato and Virgil in the original, and write four languages with almost equal facility. A gifted musician, she at first hoped to be a singer, and studied seriously in Italy to that end; her voice, however, was not strong enough to stand hard work and failed her. Meanwhile she was also learning to draw. When she lost her voice she devoted herself to painting, and in 1877 settled in Paris, where she worked steadily in Tony Robert-Fleury's studio. In 1880 she exhibited in the salon a portrait of a woman; in 1881 she exhibited the "Atelier Julian"; in 1882 "Jean et Jacques"; in 1884 the "Meeting," and a portrait in pastel of a lady—her cousin—now in the Luxembourg gallery, for which she was awarded a mention honorable. Her health, always delicate, could not endure the labour she imposed on herself in addition to the life of fashion in which she became involved as a result of her success as an artist, and she died of consumption on the 31st of October 1884, leaving a small series of works of remarkable promise. From her childhood Marie Bashkirtseff kept an autobiographical journal; but the editors of these brilliant confessions (Journal de Marie Bashkirtseff, 1890), aiming apparently at captivating the reader's interest by the girl's precocious gifts and by the names of the various distinguished persons with whom she came in contact, so treated certain portions as to draw down vehement protest. This, to some extent, has brought into question the stamp of truthfulness which constitutes the chief merit of this extraordinarily interesting book. A further instalment of Marie Bashkirtseff literature was published in the shape of letters between her and Guy de Maupassant, with whom she started a correspondence under a feigned name and without revealing her identity.