BAS
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BAS
the other two in Syriac ; but which of these, or whether any oneof them, be the original, is uncertain.
B.-\ RULES, in church history, heretics, who held, that the Sonof God had only a phantom of a body ; that souls were createdbefore the world, and that they lived all at one lime.
BA HUTfl, an ancient town of Turkey, in Syria . Lon. 34.20. E. ■ Lat. 33. 39. N.
Baruth, an Indian measure, containing 17 gantans: it ought towei-h about 3[ pounds English avoirdupois.
BAllYTES, [B«v;, heavy,] a very heavy mineral; colour fleshy;texture foliated, brittle. U is common in most countries, espe-cially in copper-mines. It was discovered by Scheele in 1774,and "known by the name of ponderous Spar. In 1773, Ghan ana-' lysed this mineral, and found, that it is composed of sulphuric acidand the new discovered earth which Bergman called terra pomle-rosa. Morveau gave it the name of barote, and Kirwan ot ba-rytes: which last was approved by Bergman, and is now univer-sally adopted. Barytes may be obtained in a state of purity, bythe calcination of its carbonate or nitrate. It exhibits, when pure,the following properties: 1. Barytes has a sharp caustic taste,changes vegetable blue colours to green; and serves as the inter-medium between oil and water: in these respects it bears a strongresemblance to alkalies. 2. When exposed to the flame of theblow-pipe on charcoal, it melts; boils violently ; and forms smallglobules, which sink into the charcoal. If perfectly free fromwater, however, it is infusible. 3. If a small quantity ot water beadded to recently' prepared barytes, it is absorbed with great rapi-dity ; prodigious heal is excited ; and the water is completely soli-dified, a sort of hard cement being obtained. A little more waterconverts this mass into a light bulky powder ; and when com-pletely covered with water, the barytes is dissolved. Boilingwater should be employed for this purpose, unless sufficient tem-perature has been produced by the sudden addition of the wholequantity necessary for solution. 4. When the solution, preparedwith boiling water, is allowed to cool slowly, it shoots into regularcrystals. These have the form of flattened hexagonal prisms,having two broad sides, with two intervening narrow ones; andterminated at each end by a quadrangular pyramid. 5. The spe-cific gravity of this earth, according to Fourcroy, is 4, but Ilassen-fratz, with less probability, states it at only 2,374. 6. Barytesdoes not unite with any of the alkalies.
BARYI’ONO, in the Italian music, answers to our commonpitch of bass.
BARYTONUM, [from grave, and rms, accent,] in theGreek grammar, denotes a verb, which having no accent markedon the last syllable, a grave accent is to be understood.
BASALTES , [from basal, “ iron,” or Bao-aXi^iu, diligenterexamino, ] in natural history, a heavy, hard stone, chiefly blackor green, consisting of prismatic crystals, the number of whose sidesis uncertain. It is composed either of particles of an indeterminatefigure, or of a sparry, striated, or fibrous texture. It has a flinty
hardness, is insoluble by acids, and fusible by fire. The specificgravity is by Bergman put at 3-0: by Brisson at 2-86: and byKirwan at 2-98. Before the blow-pipe it easily melts withoutaddition into an opaque black glass. By analysis the constituentparts have been brought out differently by different chemists, butaccording to Klaproth they are as follow :
Silica.44-50
Alumina..16-75
Oxide of iron.20-00
Lime.
Magnesia.
Oxide of manganese..
Soda.
Water.
97-62
The most remarkable property of this substance is its figure, beingnever found in strata like other marbles, but always standing upin the form of regular angular columns, composed of a number ofjoints, one placed upon, and nicely fitted to another, as if formedby the hands of a skilful workman. See Plate XIX. fig. 7. Ba-saltes was origin,.ily found in columns in Ethiopia , and fragmentsof it in the river Tmolus, and some other places. We now haveit frequently both in columns and small pieces, in Spain, Russia ,Poland, near Dresden , and in Silesia; but the noblest store in theVOL. i.— no. 25.
U world is that called the Giant’s Causeway in Ireland, and Staffa ,one of the western isles of Scotland . The origin and formation ofbasaltes are much controverted, some considering it as a crytal-lization in water, others regarding it as a species of lava. Mr.Kirwan is of opinion, that the basaltes owe their origin both to lireand water ; they seem to have been at first a lava: but this, whileimmersed in water, was so diffused or dissolved in it with the as-sistance of heat, as to crystallize when cold, or coalesce into regularforms. That basaltes is not the effect of mere fusion, he concludesfrom comparing its form with its texture. Its fprm, if produced byfusion, ought to be the effect of having flowed very thin ; but inthat case its texture should be glassy ; whereas it is merely earthy,and' devoid of cavities. Hence we may understand how it comesto pass that lava perfectly vitrified, and even water, have beenfound inclosed in masses of basaltes. The largest block of thisstone that ever was seen, was placed, according to Pliny, by Ves-pasian in the temple of peace. It represented the figure of theNile , as a river god, with 16 children playing about him, denot-ing as many cubits of the rise of the river. Basaltes is an excellentmaterial for building houses, and paving streets: it is also em-ployed by lapidaries and statuaries for various productions of art ;as .well as by artists working in gold and silver, for touch or test-stones. Gold-beaters and book-binders, on the continent, maketheir anvils of this firm and massy stone ; which is also used as aningredient in the manufacture of glass, especially for producingthe common window-glass, and green bottles.
BASANITES , or BASANUS, names of the touchstone, usedfor trying gold, See.
BASAIlTSCIilK, a considerable town of European Turkey ,in Romania . Lon. 24. 40. E. Lat. 41, 49. N.
BASARUCO, in commerce, small base coin in the EastIndies, made of very bad tin.
BASC AN I A,in antiquity, ridiculous or grotesque figures hung upby the ancient smiths before their furnaces, as charms against envy.
BASE, in architecture, is used for any body which bears ano-ther, hut particularly for the lower part of a column and pedestal.The base of a column, of whatsoever order, on a pedestal, is thatpart which comes between the top of the pedestal and the bottomof the shaft of the column ; when there is no pedestal, it is thepart between the bottom of the column and the plinth : some haveincluded the plinth as a part of the base; but it is properly thepiece on which the base stands, as the column stands upon that.See Architecture. ’
Base, or Basis, in chemistry, any body, which receiving ano-ther substance, holds it in union and becomes the support of thecompound. Thus, salts with the base of potass, include all thosewhich are formed by the combination of the several acids withpotass.
Base, in fortification, the exterior side of the polygon, or thatimaginary line which is drawn from the flanked angle of a bastionto the angle opposite to it.
Base, in geometry, one side of a figure.
Base of a Conic Section, a right line in the hyperbola andparabola, arising from the common intersection of the secant plainand the base of the cone.
Base oe a Solid Figure, the lowest side, and that on whichit stands.
Base of a Triangle.. Any side thereof is occasionally socalled.
Base, in gunnery, the least sort of ordnance, the diameter ofwhose bore is 1] inch, weight 200 pound, length 4 feet, load *pound, shot 11 pound weight, and diameter one-Sth inch.
Base, in law, is variously used ; thus,
Base-born, born out df wedlock.
Base-Court, [bas cour, Fr] lower court; not the chiefcourt that leads to the house; the back-yard; the farm-yard.
Base Court signifies also any court not of record. Such, e.g.is the Court-Baron.
Base Estates are such as base tenants have in their lands.
Base Fee, a tenure in fee at the will of the lord, as distinguishedfrom soccage, or free tenure.
Base Tenure, bassa Tenmira, holding by villenage, or othercustomary service; as distinguished lrom the higher tenures incapite, of the military service.
Base, in music, see Bass.
Base Knights, the inferior order of knights, as distinguishedfrom barons and banaerets who were the chief or superior knights5 G BASELLA