The Nuttall Encyclopaedia Part 49

BACUP (23), a manufacturing town in Lancas.h.i.+re, 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 b.l.o.o.d.y 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 fas.h.i.+onable 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 Stra.s.sburg, 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-s.h.i.+re; 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 pa.s.sed 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 Konigsberg 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. Pa.s.sage, 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 fis.h.i.+ng; discovered in 1615 by William Baffin.

BAGDAD (185), on the Tigris, 500 m. from its mouth, and connected with the Euphrates by ca.n.a.l; is the capital of a province, and one of the most flouris.h.i.+ng 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 Const.i.tution"; 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 ill.u.s.trious 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).

BAGNeRES, 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.; Na.s.sau 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.

BaHR, FELIX, cla.s.sical scholar, burn at Darmstadt; wrote a "History of Roman Literature," in high repute (1798-1872).