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person who holds a lee immediately of the king. "Isidore, andafter him Camden, take the word, in its original sense, to signifya mercenary soldier. Messieurs of the Port Royal derive it from/Sag’,', weight or authority. Cicero uses Ixiro for a stupid brutalman ; and the old Germans mention buffeting u baron, i. e. avillain; as the Italians still use tin; word Imroue for a beggar. ;M. de Marca derives baron from the German bar, man, or free-man ; but the most probable opinion is, tiiat it comes from theSpanish two, a stout noble person; whence wives Used to calltheir husbands, and princes their tenants, barons.

Baron and Femme, in English law, husband and wife. 'Theyare deemed but one person ; so that a wife cannot be witness for oragainst her husband, nor he for or against his wife, except in casesof high treason.

Baron and Femme, in heraldry, is when the coats of armsof a man anti his wife are borne par pale in the same escutcheon,the man’s beujg always on the dexter side, and the woman’s onthe sinister ; but here the woman is supposed not an heiress, forthen her coat must be borne by the husband on an escutcheon ofpretence.

Barons of the Cinque-Ports, are sixteen members of theHouse of Commons , elected by the Cinque-ports; two for eachport.

Barons of the Exchequer, four judges in England, andfive in Scotland , to whom the administration of justice is commit-ted, in causes betw een the king and his subjects, relating to mattersconcerning the revenue. They were formerly barons of the realm,but of late are generally persons learned in the laws. Thpir officeis also to look into the accounts of the king, for which reason theyhave auditors under them. See Exchequer.

BARONET, [of baron and et, diminutive termination,] thelowest degree of honour that is hereditary; it is below a baron andabove a knight; antt has the precedency of all oilier knights, exceptthe knights of the garter. The dignity of baronet is given bypatent. The order was found by King .lames I. at the suggestionof Sir Robert Colton, in 1611, when 200 baronets were created atonce ; to which number it was intended they should always berestrained: but it is now enlarged at the king’s pleasure, withoutlimitation.

BARONY, BARONIA, or BARON AGIU M, the honour andterritory which gives title to a baron, whether he be a layman ora bishop. According to Bructon, a barony is a right indivisible ;wherefore, if an inheritance is to be divided among co-heirs,though some capital messuages may be divided, yet if the capitalmessuage be the head of a county or barony, it may not be par-celled ; and the reason is, lest by this division many of the rightsof counties and baronies by degrees come to nothing to the preju-dice of the realm, which is said to be composed of counties andbaronies.

BAROSCOPE, [/Sag®'and Csotteuj,] an instrument to shew theweight of the atmosphere. See Barometer.

BAR DICE, a species of false dice so formed as that the] - willnot easily lie on certain 9ides, or turn up on certain points. Barrdice stand opposed to flat dice, which come up on certain pointsoftener than they should do.

BARRA, in commerce, a long measure used in Portugal andsome parts of Spain , to measure woollen cloths, linen cloths, andserges. There are three kinds; the barra of Valencia, 13 of whichmake 12 and six-7ths yards English measure ; the barra of Castile,seven of which make six and four-7ths yards; and the barra of Arra-gon, three of which make two and four-7th yards English .

Barra, inlaw. See Bar.

BARRABA, or BARRADA, a tract of land in Siberia , lyingbetween the river Irtis and Oby, in the province of Tobolsk . Itis uninhabited, though the soil is excellent for tillage, and part of itmight also be laid out in meadows and pastures.

BARRACAN, or BARAGAN , is something like camblet, butof a coarser grain. It is used to make cloaks, surtouts, &c. tokeep off rain.

BARRACKS, [ baracca, Span.] places for soldiers to lodge in,especially in gavrisons. Barracks were formerly reckoned highlydangerous to the constitution of the realm ; within these last tenyears, however, they have increased so much in number and ex-tent, that there is scarcely a large town in the kingdom, without itsbarracks. However dangerous the rapid increase of barracks mayappear to the liberty of the subject, on the score of morals, it

would be dedrous that all the soldiers in the empire were cpiarteredin the same manner.

BARRATI, BARR ED, an appellation given to the Carmelites ,after they were obliged to lay aside the white cap, and wear cowlsstriped black and white.

BARRATOR. See Barator.

BARAUX, a fortified town of France , six miles S. of Chain-bevvy. Lon. 6. 3U. E. Let. 43. 5. N.

BARRAY, BARRA, or BARA, one of the Western Isles ofScotland , eight miles S. of S. List.

BARREL, [baril, Welch,] a sound wooden vessel for holdingdivers sorts of goods. Abo a particular measure in liquids. Abarrel of wine is thirty-one gallons and a half; of ale, thirty-twogallons; of beer, thirty-six gallons; and of beer-vinegar, thirty-tour gallons. In dry measure, a barrel of Essex butter containsone hundred and six pounds; of Suffolk butter, two hundred andtitty six. A barrel of herrings should contain thirty-two gallons,wine measuYe, holding usually a thousand herrings.

Barrel , in mechanics, a term given by watchmakers to the cy-linder about which the spring is wrapped ; and by gun-smiths tothe cylindrical tube of a gun, pistol, &c. through which the ball isdischarged.

Barrel of a Pump, is the tube, which makes the body of theengine, and wherein the piston moves.

Barrels, Fire, are casks of divers capacities, filled witli bombs,grenadoes, lire-pots, &c. and mixed witli great quantities of towsoaked in petrol, turpentine, pitch, &c. used by the besieged to de-fend breaches.

BARREllIA, in botany’, a genus of the syngenesia monogvniaclass and order. Calyx five-toothed, very small; corolla tive-parted; style short; stigma trifid. There is one species, a nativetree of Guiana , which flowers there in November.

BARRICADE, [^barricade, Fr.] a fortification made in haste,of trees, earth, waggons, or any tiling else, to keep oil’an attack.It is usually formed when time permits, of pales or stakes crossedwitli batoons, and shod with iron at the feet, generally set up inpassages or breaches.

Barricade, in naval architecture, a strong wooden rail , sup-ported by stanchions, extending across the foremost part of thequarter deck.

BARRIER, in fortification, a kind of fence made at a passage,retrenchment, &c. to stop up the entry thereof. It is composedof great stakes, about four or five feet high, placed at the distanceof eight or ten feet from one another, with transunis, or over-thwart ratters, to stop either horse or foot, that would enter or ruslvin with violence ; in the middle is a moveable bar of wood ; thatopens or shuts at pleasure.

BARRINGTONIA , a genus of the polyandria order, andmoiiadelphia class of plants. Natural order Hespeiidai. Calyxsimple, two-leaved, superior, permanent; fruit a dry four-corner-ed drupe, inclosing a nut one to four-celled. It has one species,viz. B. speciosa, a lofty and handsome tropical tree, with thickshady bunches of leaves, and large, purple, and white flowers,every where mixed with them.

BARRISTER, [from bar,'] a person qualified to plead causes,called an advocate or licentiate in other countries and courts.Outer barristers are pleaders without the bar, to distinguish themfrom inner barristers; such as the benchers, or those who havebeen readers, the counsel of the king, queen, and princes, whoare admitted to plead within the bar. A counsellor at law.

BARROW, a river of Ireland , which rises in Queen’s county,and joins the Suir in Waterford Haven.

Barrow, Isaac, an eminent mathematician and divine, wasborn in London in 1630. He was first placed in the Charter-house, and afterwards removed to Felsted school, in Essex fromwhence lie was sent to Trinity college , Cambridge, of which hewas chosen scholar in 1647, and subscribed the engagement; but,repenting of what he had done, he went back and struck out hisname from the list. In 1649 he was chosen fellow of his college,and studied physic ; with a view of making it Ids profession ; but,by the advice of his uncle, afterwards devoted himself to theo-logy and the mathematics. In 1653 he went on his travels, andat Constantinople read over all the works of St. Chrysostom . Oahis return lie was episcopally ordained, and in 166(1 was chosenGreek professor at Cambridge. In 1662 he was appointed Gre-sham professor of geometry ; and the year following was elected

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