Bacil`lus (lit. a little rod), a bacterium, distinguished as being twice as long as it is broad, others being more or less rounded. See Bacteria.

Back, Sir George, a devoted Arctic explorer, born at Stockport, entered the navy, was a French captive for five years, associated with Franklin in three polar expeditions, went in search of Sir John Ross, discovered instead and traced the Great Fish River in 1839, was knighted in 1837, and in 1857 made admiral (1796-1878).

Backhuy`sen, Ludolph, a Dutch painter, famous for his sea-pieces and skill in depicting sea-waves; was an etcher as well as painter (1631-1708).

Bacon, Delia, an American authoress, who first broached, though she did not originate, the theory of the Baconian authorship of Shakespeare's works, a theory in favour of which she has received small support (1811-1859).

Bacon, Francis, Lord Verulam, the father of the inductive method of scientific inquiry; born in the Strand, London; son of Sir Nicholas Bacon; educated at Cambridge; called to the bar when 21, after study at Gray's Inn; represented successively Taunton, Liverpool, and Ipswich in Parliament; was a favourite with the queen; attached himself to Essex, but witnessed against him at his trial, which served him little; became at last in succession Attorney-General, Privy Councillor, Lord Keeper, and Lord Chancellor; was convicted of venality as a judge, deposed, fined and imprisoned, but pardoned and released; spent his retirement in his favourite studies; his great works were his "Advancement of Learning," "Novum Organum," and "De Augmentis Scientiarum," but is seen to best advantage by the generality in his "Essays," which are full of practical wisdom and keen observation of life; indeed, these show such shrewdness of wit as to embolden some (see supra) to maintain that the plays named of Shakespeare were written by him (1561-1626).

Bacon, Roger, a Franciscan monk, born at Ilchester, Somerset; a fearless truth-seeker of great scientific attainments; accused of magic, convicted and condemned to imprisonment, from which he was released only to die; suggested several scientific inventions, such as the telescope, the air-pump, the diving-bell, the camera obscura, and gunpowder, and wrote some eighty treatises (1214-1294).

Bacon, Sir Nicholas, the father of Francis, Lord Bacon, Privy Councillor and Keeper of the Great Seal under Queen Elizabeth; a prudent and honourable man and minister, and much honoured and trusted by the queen (1510-1579).

Bacsanyi, Janos, a Hungarian poet; he suffered from his liberal political opinions, like many of his countrymen (1763-1845).

Bacte`ria, exceedingly minute organisms of the simplest structure, being merely cells of varied forms, in the shape of spheres, rods, or intermediate shapes, which develop in infusions of organic matter, and multiply by fission with great rapidity, fraught, as happens, with life or death to the higher forms of being; conspicuous by the part they play in the process of fermentation and in the origin and progress of disease, and to the knowledge of which, and the purpose they serve in nature, so much has been contributed by the labours of M. Pasteur.

Bac`tria, a province of ancient Persia, now Balkh (q. v.), the presumed fatherland of the Aryans and the birthplace of the Zoroastrian religion.

Bactrian Sage, a name given to Zoroaster as a native of Bactria.

Bacup (23), a manufacturing town in Lancashire, about 20 m. NE. of Manchester.

Badajoz` (28), capital of a Spanish province of the name, on the Guadiana, near the frontier of Portugal; a place of great strength; surrendered to Soult in 1811, and taken after a violent and bloody struggle by Wellington in 1812; the scene of fearful outrages after its capture.

Badakans, a Dravidian people of small stature, living on the Nilghiri Mountains, in S. India.

Badakhshan` (100), a Mohammedan territory NE. of Afghanistan, a picturesque hill country, rich in minerals; it is 200 m. from E. to W. and 150 from N. to S.; it has been often visited by travellers, from Marco Polo onwards; the inhabitants, called Badakhshans, are of the Aryan family and speak Persian.

Badalo`na (15), a seaport 5 m. NE. of Barcelona.

Ba`den (4), a town in the canton of Aargau, Switzerland, 14 m. NW. of Zurich, long a fashionable resort for its mineral springs; also a town near Vienna.

Bad`en, The Grand-Duchy of (1,725), a German duchy, extends along the left bank of the Rhine from Constance to Mannheim; consists of valley, mountain, and plain; includes the Black Forest; is rich in timber, minerals, and mineral springs; cotton fabrics, wood-carving, and jewellery employ a great proportion of the inhabitants; there are two university seats, Heidelberg and Freiburg.

Baden-Baden (13), a town in the duchy of Baden, 18 m. from Carlsruhe and 22 from Strassburg, noted for its hot mineral springs, which were known to the Romans, and is a popular summer resort.

Bad`enoch, a forest-covered district of the Highlands of Scotland, 45 m. long by 19 broad, traversed by the Spey, in the SE. of Inverness-shire; belonged originally to the Comyns, but was forfeited by them, was bestowed by Bruce on his nephew; became finally the property of the Earl of Huntly.

Badi`a-y-Lablich, a Spaniard, born at Barcelona; travelled in the East; having acquired a knowledge of Arabic and Arab customs, disguised himself as a Mohammedan under the name of Ali-Bei; his disguise was so complete that he passed for a Mussulman, even in Mecca itself; is believed to be the first Christian admitted to the shrine of Mecca; after a time settled in Paris, and wrote an account of his travels (1766-1818).

Badrinath, a shrine of Vishnu, in N.W. India, 10,000 ft. high; much frequented by pilgrims for the sacred waters near it, which are believed to be potent to cleanse from all pollution.

Baedeker, Karl, a German printer in Coblenz, famed for the guide-books to almost every country of Europe that he published (1801-1859).

Baer, Karl Ernst von, a native of Esthonia; professor of zoology, first in Königsberg and then in St. Petersburg; the greatest of modern embryologists, styled the "father of comparative embryology"; the discoverer of the law, known by his name, that the embryo when developing resembles those of successively higher types (1792-1876).

Baffin, William, an early English Arctic explorer, who, when acting as pilot to an expedition in quest of the N.W. Passage, discovered Baffin Bay (1584-1622).

Baffin Bay, a strait stretching northward between N. America and Greenland, open four months in summer to whale and seal fishing; discovered in 1615 by William Baffin.

Bagdad (185), on the Tigris, 500 m. from its mouth, and connected with the Euphrates by canal; is the capital of a province, and one of the most flourishing cities of Asiatic Turkey; dates, wool, grain, and horses are exported; red and yellow leather, cotton, and silk are manufactured; and the transit trade, though less than formerly, is still considerable. It is a station on the Anglo-Indian telegraph route, and is served by a British-owned fleet of river steamers plying to Basra. Formerly a centre of Arabic culture, it has belonged to Turkey since 1638. An imposing city to look at, it suffers from visitations of cholera and famine.

Bagehot, Walter, an English political economist, born in Somerset, a banker by profession, and an authority on banking and finance; a disciple of Ricardo; wrote, besides other publications, an important work, "The English Constitution"; was editor of the Economist; wrote in a vigorous style (1826-1877).

Bagge`sen, Jens Emmanuel, a Danish poet, travelled a good deal, wrote mostly in German, in which he was quite at home; his chief works, a pastoral epic, "Parthenais oder die Alpenreise," and a mock epic, "Adam and Eve"; his minor pieces are numerous and popular, though from his egotism and irritability he was personally unpopular (1764-1826).

Baghelkand, name of five native states in Central India, Rewah the most prosperous.

Baghe`ria, a town in Sicily, 8 m. from Palermo, where citizens of the latter have more or less stylish villas.

Bagir`mi, a Mohammedan kingdom in Central Africa, SE. of Lake Tehad, 240 m. from N. to S. and 150 m. from E. to W.

Baglio`ni, an Italian fresco-painter of note (1573-1641).

Bagli`vi, Giorgio, an illustrious Italian physician, wrote "De Fibra Motrice" in defence of the "solidist" theory, as it is called, which traced all diseases to alterations in the solid parts of the body (1667-1706).

Bagnères, two French towns on the Pyrenees, well-known watering-places.

Bagnes, name given to convict prisons in France since the abolition of the galleys.

Bagra`tion, Prince, Russian general, distinguished in many engagements; commanded the vanguard at Austerlitz, Eylau, and Friedland, and in 1812, against Napoleon; achieved a brilliant success at Smolensk; fell at Borodino (1765-1812).

Bagstock, Joe, a "self-absorbed" talking character in "Dombey & Son."

Baha`mas, The (47), a group of over 500 low, flat coral islands in the W. Indies, and thousands of rocks, belonging to Britain, of which 20 are inhabited, and on one of which Columbus landed when he discovered America; yield tropical fruits, sponges, turtle, &c.; Nassau the capital.

Bahar (263), a town on the Ganges, 34 m. SE. of Patna; after falling into decay, is again rising in importance.

Bahawalpur (650), a feudatory state in the NW. of India, with a capital of the name; is connected administratively with the Punjab.

Bahi`a, or San Salvador (200), a fine city, one of the chief seaports of Brazil, in the Bay of All Saints, and originally the capital in a province of the name stretching along the middle of the coast.

Bahr, an Arabic word meaning "river," prefixed to the name of many places occupied by Arabs.

Bähr, Felix, classical scholar, burn at Darmstadt; wrote a "History of Roman Literature," in high repute (1798-1872).

Bahrein` Islands (70), a group of islands in the Persian Gulf, under the protection of Britain, belonging to Muscat, the largest 27 m. long and 10 broad, cap. Manamah (20); long famous for their pearl-fisheries, the richest in the world.

Bahr-el-Ghazal, an old Egyptian prov. including the district watered by the tributaries of the Bahr-el-Arab and the Bahr-el-Ghazal; it was wrested from Egypt by the Mahdi, 1884; a district of French Congo lies W. of it, and it was through it Marchand made his way to Fashoda.

Baiæ, a small town near Naples, now in ruins and nearly all submerged; famous as a resort of the old Roman nobility, for its climate and its baths.

Baïf, a French poet one of a group of seven known in French literature as the "Pléiade," whose aim was to accommodate the French language and literature to the models of Greek and Latin.

Baikal, a clear fresh-water lake, in S. of Siberia, 397 m. long and from 13 to 54 wide, in some parts 4500 ft. deep, and at its surface 1560 ft. above the sea-level, the third largest in Asia; on which sledges ply for six or eight months in winter, and steamboats in summer; it abounds in fish, especially sturgeon and salmon; it contains several islands, the largest Olkhin, 32 m. by 10 m.

Baikie, W. Balfour, an Orcadian, born at Kirkwall, surgeon in the Royal Navy; was attached to the Niger Expedition in 1854, and ultimately commanded it, opening the region up and letting light in upon it at the sacrifice of his life; died at Sierra Leone (1825-1864).

Bailey, Nathan, an early English lexicographer, whose dictionary, very popular in its day, was the basis of Johnson's; d. 1742.

Bailey, Philip James, English poet, born in Nottingham; author of "Festus," a work that on its appearance in 1839 was received with enthusiasm, passed through 11 editions in England and 30 in America, was succeeded by "The Angel World," "The Mystic," "The Universal Hymn," and "The Age"; he has been rated by some extravagantly high; b. 1816.

Bailey, Samuel, an English author, born in Sheffield, a liberal-minded man, a utilitarian in philosophy, who wrote on psychology, ethics, and political economy, and left a fortune, acquired in business, to his native town (1787-1870).

Baillie, Joanna, a poetess, born at Bothwell, child of the Presbyterian manse there; joined a brother in London, stayed afterwards with a sister at Hampstead; produced a series of dramas entitled "Plays of the Passions," besides many others, both comedies and tragedies, one of which, the "Family Legend," was acted in the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh, under the auspices of Sir Walter Scott; she does not stand high either as a dramatist or a writer (1762-1851).

Baillie, Lady Grizel, an heroic Scotch lady, famous for her songs, "And werena my heart licht I wad dee" is well known (1665-1740).

Baillie, Matthew, physician, brother of Joanna, wrote on Morbid Anatomy (1761-1823).

Baillie, Robert, a Scotch Presbyterian divine, born in Glasgow; resisted Laud's attempt to thrust Episcopacy on the Scotch nation, and became a zealous advocate of the national cause, which he was delegated to represent twice over in London; he was a royalist all the same, and was made principal of Glasgow University; "His Letters and Journals" were published by the Bannatyne Club, and are commended by Carlyle as "veracious," forming, as they do, the subject of one of his critical essays (1599-1662).

Baillie, Robert, a zealous Scotch Presbyterian, tried for complicity in the Rye House Plot, and unfairly condemned to death, and barbarously executed the same day (in 1683) for fear he should die afterwards and cheat the gallows of its victim.

Bailly, Jean Sylvain, an astronomer, born at Paris; wrote the "History of Astronomy, Ancient and Modern," in five volumes; was distracted from further study of the science by the occurrence of the Revolution; elected president of the National Assembly; installed mayor of Paris; lost favour with the people; was imprisoned as an enemy of the popular cause and cruelly guillotined. Exposed beforehand "for hours long, amid curses and bitter frost-rain, 'Bailly, thou tremblest,' said one; 'Mon ami,' said he meekly, 'it is for cold.' Crueller end," says Carlyle, "had no mortal."

Baily, E. H., a sculptor, born in Bristol, studied under Flaxman; his most popular works were, "Eve Listening to the Voice," "The Sleeping Girl," and the "Graces Seated" (1788-1867).

Bain, Alexander, born at Aberdeen, professor of Logic in the university, and twice Lord Rector, where he was much esteemed by and exercised a great influence over his pupils; his chief works, "The Senses and the Intellect," "The Emotions and the Will," and "Mental and Moral Science"; has written on composition in a very uninteresting style; his psychology, which he connected with physiology, was based on empiricism and the inductive method, to the utter exclusion of all a priori or transcendental speculation, such as hails from Kant and his school; he is of the school of John Stuart Mill, who endorsed his philosophy; b. 1818.

Bairam, a Mohammedan festival of three days at the conclusion of the Ramadan, followed by another of four days, seventy days later, called the Second Bairam, in commemoration of the offering up of Isaac, and accompanied with sacrifices.

Baird, James, ironmaster, founder of the Baird Lectureship, in vindication of Scotch orthodoxy; bequeathed £500,000 to support churches (1802-1876).

Baird, Sir David, a distinguished English general of Scotch descent, born at Newbyth, Aberdeenshire; entered the army at 15; served in India, Egypt, and at the Cape; was present at the taking of Seringapatam, and the siege of Pondicherry; in command when the Cape of Good Hope was wrested from the Dutch, and on the fall of Sir John Moore at Corunna, wounded; he afterwards retired (1757-1829).

Baird, S. Fullerton, an American naturalist, wrote, along with others, on the birds and mammals of N. America, as well as contributed to fish-culture and fisheries (1823-1887).

Bai`reuth (24), the capital of Upper Franconia, in Bavaria, with a large theatre erected by the king for the performance of Wagner's musical compositions, and with a monument, simple but massive, as was fit, to the memory of Jean Paul, who died there.

Baireuth, Wilhelmina, Margravine of, sister of Frederick the Great, left "Memoirs" of her time (1709-1758).

Bajazet` I., sultan of the Ottoman Turks, surnamed Ilderim, i. e. Lightning, from the energy and rapidity of his movements; aimed at Constantinople, pushed everything before him in his advance on Europe, but was met and defeated on the plain of Angora by Tamerlane, who is said to have shut him in a cage and carried him about with him in his train till the day of his death (1347-1403).

Ba`jus, Michael, deputy from the University of Louvain to the Council of Trent, where he incurred much obloquy at the hands of the Jesuits by his insistence of the doctrines of Augustine, as the Jansenists did after him (1513-1580).

Baker, Mount, a volcano in the Cascade range, 11,000 ft.; still subject to eruptions.

Baker, Sir Richard, a country gentleman, born in Kent, often referred to by Sir Roger de Coverley; author of "The Chronicle of the Kings of England," which he wrote in the Fleet prison, where he died (1603-1645).

Baker, Sir Samuel White, a man of enterprise and travel, born in London; discovered the Albert Nyanza; commanded an expedition under the Khedive into the Soudan; wrote an account of it in a book, "Ismailia"; visited Cyprus and travelled over India; left a record of his travels in five volumes with different titles (1821-1893).

Bakshish, a word used all over the East to denote a small fee for some small service rendered.

Baku (107), a Russian port on the Caspian Sea, in a district so impregnated and saturated in parts with petroleum that by digging in the soil wells are formed, in some cases so gushing as to overflow in streams, which wells, reckoned by hundreds, are connected by pipes with refineries in the town; a district which, from the spontaneous ignition of the petroleum, was long ago a centre of attraction to the Parsees or fire-worshippers of the East, and resorted to by them as holy ground.

Baku`nin, Michael, an extreme and violent anarchist, and a leader of the movement; native of Moscow; was banished to Siberia, but escaped; joined the International, but was expelled (1814-1876).

Bala, the county town of Merioneth, in Wales. Bala Lake, the largest lake in Wales, 4 m. long, and with a depth of 100 ft.

Ba`laam, a Midianitish soothsayer; for the account of him see Num. xxii.-xxiv., and Carlyle's , essay on the "Corn-Law Rhymes" for its application to modern State councillors of the same time-serving type, and their probable fate.

Balacla`va, a small port 6 m. SE. of Sebastopol, with a large land-locked basin; the head-quarters of the British during the Crimean war, and famous in the war, among other events, for the "Charge of the Six Hundred."

Balance of power, preservation of the equilibrium existing among the States of Europe as a security of peace, for long an important consideration with European statesmen.

Balance of trade, the difference in value between the exports and the imports of a country, and said to be in favour of the country whose exports exceed in value the imports in that respect.

Balanoglos`sus, a worm-like marine animal, regarded by the zoologist as a possible connecting link between invertebrates and vertebrates.

Balata, a vegetable gum used as a substitute for gutta-percha, being at once ductile and elastic; goes under the name of bully.

Bal`aton, Lake, the largest lake in Hungary, 48 m. long, and 10 m. broad, 56 m. SW. of Pesth; slightly saline, and abounds in fish.

Balbi, Adriano, a geographer of Italian descent, born at Venice, who composed in French a number of works bearing on geography (1782-1848).

Balbo, Cæsare, an Italian statesmen and publicist, born at Turin; devoted his later years to literature; wrote a life of Dante; works in advocacy of Italian independence (1789-1853).

Balbo`a. Vasco Nuñez de, a Castilian noble, established a settlement at Darien; discovered the Pacific; took possession of territory in the name of Spain; put to death by a new governor, from jealousy of the glory he had acquired and the consequent influence in the State (1475-1517).

Baldachino, a tent-like covering or canopy over portals, altars, or thrones, either supported on columns, suspended from the roof, or projecting from the wall.

Bald`er, the sun-god of the Norse mythology, "the beautiful, the wise, the benignant," who is fated to die, and dies, in spite of, and to the grief of, all the gods of the pantheon, a pathetic symbol conceived in the Norse imagination of how all things in heaven, as on earth, are subject in the long-run to mortality.

Balderstone, Caleb, the faithful old domestic in Scott's "Bride of Lammermoor," the family he serves his pride.

Baldrick, an ornamental belt worn hanging over the shoulder, across the body diagonally, with a sword, dagger, or horn suspended from it.

Baldung, Hans, or Hans Grün, a German artist, born in Suabia; a friend of Dürer's; his greatest work, a masterpiece, a painting of the "Crucifixion," now in Freiburg Cathedral (1300-1347).

Baldwin, archbishop of Canterbury; crowned Richard Coeur de Lion; accompanied him on the crusade; died at Acre in 1191.

Baldwin, the name of several counts of Flanders, eight in all.

Baldwin I., king of Jerusalem; succeeded his brother Godfrey de Bouillon; assuming said title, made himself master of most of the towns on the coast of Syria; contracted a disease in Egypt; returned to Jerusalem, and was buried on Mount Calvary; there were five of this name and title, the last of whom, a child of some eight years old, died in 1186 (1058-1118).

Baldwin I., the first Latin emperor of Constantinople; by birth, count of Hainault and Flanders; joined the fourth crusade, led the van in the capture of Constantinople, and was made emperor; was defeated and taken prisoner by the Bulgarians (1171-1206). B. II., nephew of Baldwin I., last king of the Latin dynasty, which lasted only 57 years (1217-1273).

Bale, John, bishop of Ossory, in Ireland; born in Suffolk; a convert from Popery, and supported by Cromwell; was made bishop by Edward VI.; persecuted out of the country as an apostate from Popery; author of a valuable account of early British writers (1495-1563).

Balearic Isles (312), a group of five islands off the coast of Valencia, in Spain, Majorca the largest; inhabitants in ancient times famous as expert slingers, having been one and all systematically trained to the use of the sling from early childhood; cap. Palma (58).

Balfe, Michael William, a musical composer, of Irish birth, born near Wexford; author of "The Bohemian Girl," his masterpiece, and world-famous (1808-1870).

Balfour, A. J., of Whittinghame, East Lothian; educated at Eton and Cambridge; nephew of Lord Salisbury, and First Lord of the Treasury and leader of the House of Commons in Lord Salisbury's ministry; author of a "Defence of Philosophic Doubt" and a volume of "Essays and Addresses"; b. 1848.

Balfour, Francis Maitland, brother of the preceding; a promising biologist; career was cut short by death in attempting to ascend the Wetterhorn (1851-1882).

Balfour, Sir James, Lord President of the Court of Session; native of Fife; an unprincipled man, sided now with this party, now with the opposite, to his own advantage, and that at the most critical period in Scottish history; d. 1583.

Balfour of Burley, leader of the Covenanters in Scott's "Old Mortality."

Bali, one of the Samoa Islands, 75 m. long by 40 m. broad; produces cotton, coffee, and tobacco.

Baliol, Edward, son of the following, invaded Scotland; was crowned king at Scone, supported by Edward III.; was driven from the kingdom, and obliged to renounce all claim to the crown, on receipt of a pension; died at Doncaster, 1369.

Baliol, John de, son of the following; laid claim to the Scottish crown on the death of the Maid of Norway in 1290; was supported by Edward I., and did homage to him for his kingdom, but rebelled, and was forced publicly to resign the crown; died in 1314 in Normandy, after spending some three years in the Tower; satirised by the Scotch, in their stinging humorous style, as King Toom Tabard, i. e. Empty King Cloak.

Baliol, Sir John de, of Norman descent; a guardian to the heir to the Scottish crown on the death of Alexander III.; founder of Baliol College, Oxford; d. 1269.

Balize, or Belize, the capital of British Honduras, in Central America; trade in mahogany, rosewood, &c.

Balkan Peninsula, the territory between the Adriatic and the Ægean Sea, bounded on the N. by the Save and the Lower Danube, and on the S. by Greece.

Balkans, The, a mountain range extending from the Adriatic to the Black Sea; properly the range dividing Bulgaria from Roumania; mean height, 6500 ft.

Balkash, Lake, a lake in Siberia, 780 ft. above sea-level, the waters clear, but intensely salt, 150 m. long and 73 m. broad.

Balkh, anciently called Bactria, a district of Afghan Turkestan lying between the Oxus and the Hindu-Kush, 250 m. long and 120 m. broad, with a capital of the same name, reduced now to a village; birthplace of Zoroaster.

Ball, John, a priest who had been excommunicated for denouncing the abuses of the Church; a ringleader in the Wat Tyler rebellion; captured and executed.

Ball, Sir R. S., mathematician and astronomer, born in Dublin; Astronomer-Royal for Ireland; author of works on astronomy and mechanics, the best known of a popular kind on the former science being "The Story of the Heavens"; b. 1840.

Ballad, a story in verse, composed with spirit, generally of patriotic interest, and sung originally to the harp.

Ballanche, Pierre Simon, a mystic writer, born at Lyons, his chief work "la Palingénésie Sociale," his aim being the regeneration of society (1814-1847).

Ballantine, James, glass-stainer and poet, born in Edinburgh (1808-1877).

Ballantine, Serjeant, distinguished counsel in celebrated criminal cases (1812-1887).

Ball`antyne, James, a native of Kelso, became a printer in Edinburgh, printed all Sir Walter Scott's works; failed in business, a failure in which Scott was seriously implicated (1772-1833).

Ballantyne, John, brother of preceding, a confidant of Sir Walter's in the matter of the anonymity of the Waverley Novels; an inimitable story-teller and mimic, very much to the delight of Sir Walter (1774-1821).

Ballarat` (40), a town in Victoria, and since 1851 the second city in the province, about 100 m. NW. of Melbourne; the centre of the chief gold-fields in the colony, the precious metal being at first washed out of the soil, and now crushed out of the quartz rocks and dug out of deep mines; it is the seat of both a Roman Catholic and a Church of England bishopric.

Ball`ater, a clean Aberdeenshire village on the Dee, a favourite summer resort, stands 668 ft. above sea-level.

Balmat, Jacques, of Chamounix, a celebrated Alpine guide (1796-1834).

Balmawhapple, a prejudiced Scotch clergyman in "Waverley."

Bal`mez, an able Spanish Journalist, author of "Protestantism and Catholicism compared in their Effects on the Civilisation of Europe" (1810-1848).

Balmor`al, a castle on the upper valley of the Dee, at the foot of Braemar, 52½ m. from Aberdeen, 9 m. from Ballater; the Highland residence of Queen Victoria, on a site which took the fancy of both the Queen and the Prince Consort on their first visit to the Highlands.

Balmung, the sharp-cutting sword of Siegfried, so sharp that a smith cut in two by it did not know he was so cut till he began to move, when he fell in pieces.

Balnaves, Henry, coadjutor of John Knox in the Scottish Reformation, and a fellow-sufferer with him in imprisonment and exile; afterwards contributed towards formulating the creed of the Scotch Church; born at Kirkcaldy, and educated in Germany; d. 1579.

Balsall, a thriving suburb of Birmingham, engaged in hardware manufacture.

Baltic Provinces, Russian provinces bordering on the Baltic.

Baltic Sea, an inland sea in the N. of Europe, 900 m. long and from 100 to 200 m. broad, about the size of England and Wales; comparatively shallow; has no tides; waters fresher than those of the ocean, owing to the number of rivers that flow into it and the slight evaporation that goes on at the latitude; the navigation of it is practically closed from the middle of December to April, owing to the inlets being blocked with ice.

Baltimore (550), the metropolis of Maryland, on an arm of Chesapeake Bay, 250 m. from the Atlantic; is picturesquely situated; not quite so regular in design as most American cities, but noted for its fine architecture and its public monuments. It is the seat of the John Hopkins University. The industries are varied and extensive, including textiles, flour, tobacco, iron, and steel. The staple trade is in bread-stuffs; the exports, grain, flour, and tobacco.

Balue, Cardinal, minister of Louis XI.; imprisoned, for having conspired with Charles the Rash, by Louis in an iron cage for eleven years (1421-1491).

Baluchistan, a country lying to the S. of Afghanistan and extending to the Persian Gulf. See Beluchistan.

Balzac, Honoré de, native of Tours, in France; one of the most brilliant as well as prolific novelwriters of modern times; his productions remarkable for their sense of reality; they show power of observation, warmth and fertility of imagination, and subtle and profound delineation of human passion, his design in producing them being to make them form part of one great work, the "Comédie Humaine," the whole being a minute dissection of the different classes of society (1799-1850).

Balzac, Jean Louis Guez de, born at Angoulême, a French littérateur and gentleman of rank, who devoted his life to the refinement of the French language, and contributed by his "Letters" to the classic form it assumed under Louis XIV.; "he deliberately wrote," says Prof. Saintsbury, "for the sake of writing, and not because he had anything particular to say," but in this way did much to improve the language; d. 1685.