374
BAN
BAM
or artificial. The word balsam originally implied a substancepossessing a certain degree of fluidity : but now there are twoclasses of balsams; the one fluid, and' the other solid and brittle.A balsam possesses the general properties of a resin ; hut, whenheated or digested in acids, yields a portion of benzoic acid. S'eBenzoin.
BALSAMINE, Female. See Impatiens.
I3ALTAGJ, among the Turks, porters, and hewers of wood, inFile court of the grand signior; who ai.-o mount on horseback whenthe emperor rides out.
BALTI1EUS Orionis, the belt of Orion; in astronomy, apart of the constellation of Orion, consisting of three bright >n.rsol the second magnitude, placed nearly in a right line In Orion'sgirdle, and marked by Ba_\er 1, i, and £
BAl/i I A, an island in the Baltic. Sea , which gives name to it.
BALTIC Sea, a great gnlpli surrounded bv Sweden, Russia ,Courland, Prussia, Pomerania, and Denmark . 'I'lns sea neitherebbs nor flows, and there is always a current sets through theSound into the ocean. It is generally frozen over three or fourmonths in the year. Yellow amber is found in plcnlv on thiscoast.
BALTIMORA, a genus of the poiygumia necessaria order,and syngenesia class of plants. The receptaculum is chaffv ;there is no pappus; the calyx is cylindrical and polyphyllous;and the ray of the corolla is quinquellorous. There is but onespecies, a native of Maryland .
BALTIMORE, a large, populous, and well cultivated county of the Western shore of Maryland .
Baltimore, a town of Ireland, in the county of Cork , 5 milesIs 1 . E. of Cape Clear. Lon. 9- 10. W. Lai. 51. 15. N.
Baltimore , the largest and most flourishing commercial townin the state of Maryland , of which it is the capital, and on the N.W. branch of Patapsco river.
BAL'I INGLASS, a town of Ireland, 29 miles S. of Dublin .JLon. 6. 25. W. Lat. 53. 0. N.
BALUCLAYO, or JAMBOL, a sea-port town of Crimea ontiie Black Sea . Lon. 35. 15. E. Lat. 44. 50. N.
BALUSTER, [according to du Cange , from balaustrium, lowI.A;t. a bathing-place,] a small column or pilaster from an inch andtinFe ouarters to four inches square or diameter.
BALUSTRADE, [from baluster,"] an assemblage of one ormore rows of little turned pillars, called balusters, Axed upon aterras, or the top of a building, for separating one part from ano-ther.
BALYUR, or BALIUll, a sea-port of Africa in the kingdomof Dancali, about 14 hours journey \Y. from Babel-Mandel.
BAM, BEAM, being initials in the name of any place, usually'imply it to have been woody : from the Saxon beam, which weuse in the same sense to tiiis day.
BAMAli, a high place in Jerusalem , where there was an idoltemple.
BAMBA, a province of the kingdom of Congo, in Africa .
BAMBARA, a kingdom of Western Africa , northward ofKong, and west of Nigritia or Soudan .
BAMBERG, a large handsome town of Franconia in Ger-many . It has an university, founded in 1585 ; and is situated atthe confluence of the rivers Main and Reidnitz, Lon. 10. 15. E.Lat. 50. 10. N.
Bamberg, a town of Bohemia . Lon. 16. 50. E. Lat. 49.63. N.
BAMBO, in commerce, an East India measure, containing fiveEnglish pints.
BAMBOO , in botany. See Bambosa.
Bamboo Habit, a Chinese contrivance by which a person■who does not know how to swim may easily keep himself abovewater. The Chinese merchants when going a voyage, providethemselves with this simple apparatus, thus constructed; fourbamboos, two before and two behind their bodies, placed hori-zontally, and projected about 28 inches. These are crossed oneach side by two others, and the whole properly secured, leavinga space for their body ; so that they have only to put it over theirheads, and tie the same securely, which may be done in two mi-iimes, and by this simple means they are so secured that they cannotpossibly sink.” The form is represented in Plate X. fig. 12.
BAMBUSA, BAMBOO , in botany, order monogynia, classhcxandria. No calyx; scales three, covering Hie ’spikclets;
glume two-valved ; stylus hilid ; seed one. It has two species,natives of the Indies. »
BAMBYCE, an ancient city of Parthia, called also Ilierapo-Us ; famous for the rich and magnificent temple of Atcrgatis,which was plundered by Crassus .
B.AMFF, a county of Scotland , comprehending Strathdovern,Boy a, Enzie, Strathaven, Balvenie, and part of Buchan, extends5o miles from E. to W. and 30 in breadth from N. to S.
Bamff, tlie capital of the county. Lon. 2. 15. W. Lat. 57. 35. N.
BAM1YAN, a city of Asia , in ZablesUui, ten days journeyfrom Balkh , and eight from Gazna.
BAMPTON, a large town in Oxfordshire , seated on the Isis,12 miles W. of Oxford. Lon. 1.25. W. Lat. 51. 46. N.
Bampton, or Haunt ox, a town of Devonshire, 21 miles N,N. E. of Exeter.
BAN, or BANN, a river of Ireland in the county of Down,which inns through Lough-Neagh in Ulster , and falls into the sg,anear Coleraine .
Ban, {ban, Tent , a public proclamation, as of proscription, in-terdiction, excommunication, public sale,] public notice given ofany thing, whereby any tiling is publicly commanded or forbid-den. This word we use especially in tire publishing matrimonialcontracts in the church, before marriage, to the end that if anvman can say against the intention of the parties, either in respectof kindred or otherwise, they may take their exception in time.And, in the canon law, “ banna sunt procUunatioucs sponsi etsponsse in ecclesiis fieri solili.”
Ban of the Empire, a public censure by which the privi-leges of any German prince were suspended.
Ban, in commerce, a sort of smooth line muslin, which theEnglish import from the East Indies.
13ANAGHER, a town of Ireland in King’s Comity, 15 milesS. of Athlonc.
BANARA, in botany, a genus of the order monogynia, clas*icosandria. Calyx four-cleft, inferior; corolla four-petaled:berry one-celled ; seeds many. One species, a shrub of Ca-yenne.
BANARES, or BENARES , a handsome town in the domi-nions ol the Great Mogul, seated on the Ganges . Lon. 82. 30. E.Lat. 26. 20. N.
BANBURY, a town of Oxfordshire , 17 miles from Oxford.Lon. 1. 11. W. Lat. 52. 4. N.
BANC, or BENC'A, in law, a tribunal, or judgement-seat thence,
Banc, Common, means the Court of Common Picas; and
Banc, King’s, (lie Court of King’s Bench.
BANCA, an island of Asia, between Sumatra and Borneo .
BANCAL, an Fast Indian weight, containing 16^% drachmsAvoirdupois.
BAN CALLS, a sea-port town of Sumatra .
BANCO , an Italian word which signifies bank. It is com-monly used to signify the Bank of Venice.
BANCOCK, a town of the kingdom of Siam in Asia , 40 milesS. of Siam . Lon. 101.5. E. l.al. 13.35. N.
BANDA Islands, a group of islands in the East Indies, be-longing to the Dutch . Three of them claim the distinction obeing the only islands in the world that produce the nutmeg. Ifwe except this valuable spice, the islands of Banda, like all theMoluccas , are very barren. The particular names et these islandsare Banda, Lnntor, Poleron, Rosinging, l’ooiaway, and Gonapi.They lie between 127° and 128° Lon. W. and between 4° and 5"Lat. S.
BANDAGE, in surgery, a fillet, roller, or swathe, used indressing and binding up wounds, restraining dangerous haemor-rhages, and in joining fractured or dislocated bones. See Sur-gery.
BANDER-Congo, a small sea-port in Asia , 80 miles YV. ofGombron.
BANDEROLE, a little flag, in form of a guidon, extendedmore in length than in breadth, used to be hung out on the mastsof vessels, &c.
BAN Dll TJ, robbers who infest the roads in troops, especiallyin Italy, France, and Sicily . Mr. Brydone, in his'Four throughSicily , informs us, that in the eastern part, called Y'ai Demoni,froin tiie devils that are supposed to inhabit Mount ylitna, it has
ever