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entirely impossible, for them to rise into the air. They always suspend themselves by the hooks on their hind feet, whence they readily take wing by relinquishing their hold. The hook at the extremity and anterior edge of the fore-arm corresponds in situation to the human thumb, and the bats use it with peculiar advantage in changing their position, to perform their evacuations, &c. We have observed the smaller species of bat, especially the young of the vespertilio arcuatus (Say), to be exceedingly infested by the common bed-bug (cimex lectularius), and have thence been led to conclude, that bats may be the means of conveying these noisome insects into houses, as they frequently take up their lodgings in chimneys belonging to bed-chambers, to which the bugs thus obtain easy access. Bedbugs are often observed in entirely new houses, into which furniture altogether new has been introduced. On a single bat, obtained in the open air from a large occidental plane or button-wood tree, we have seen a profusion of bugs sufficient to have furnished a stock capable of soon infesting a whole neighborhood. It may be well, occasionally, to smoke such lodgers out of chamber chimneys during summer, to prevent the introduction of their annoying and disgusting companions.Bats generally bring forth two young, and suckle them until old enough to purvey for themselves. While suckling, they remain closely attached to the mother's teats, which are two, situated upon the chest. The parent shows a strong degree of attachment for her offspring, and, when they are captured, will follow them, and even submit to captivity herself, rather than forsake her charge. The voice of the small bats, when irritated, is a sharp, chattering sort of squeak. They bite with much force, and those of considerable age and size can inflict a very severe injury, as their teeth are pointed and keen.

BATALHA; a village, 52 miles from Lisbon, with a convent of Dominicans, founded by king John I, in commemoration of a victory over the king of Castile, near Aljubarota, in the year 1385.

This

convent is one of the most splendid buildings in Europe, erected, in the Gothic style, by an Irishman, named Hacket. The decorations are partly mystical and hieroglyphical, and not yet deciphered. The most difficult of them are on the mausoleum of the founder. Foreign monarchs have also enriched and adorned this convent. The royal sepulchre of the family of Braganza is now at Belem.

BATAVIA; a city and seaport of Java, on the north coast of the island, near the west end; capital of all the Dutch or Netherland East Indies; lon. 106° 54′ E.; lat. 6° 12′ S.: population, about 1780, estimated at 160,000; in 1795, including a circuit of 10 miles, 116,000. In 1816, the population of the city was reduced to 47,217; of whom 14,239 were slaves, 11,854 Chinese, 7720 Balinese, 4115 natives of Celebes, 3331 Javanese, 3155 Malays, 2028 Europeans and their descendants. It was founded by the Dutch in 1619, taken by the British in 1811, but restored to the Dutch in 1816. It is situated on a wide, deep bay, in which are interspersed many low, green islets, within which ships find safe anchorage. It is rather a roadstead than a harbor, but, from its westerly situation and easy access, is the best and most convenient port in the island. The greatest inconvenience is the bar at the mouth, which, at low water, is almost dry, and seldom has six feet water. The town is situated in a low, marshy plain, at the union of small rivers, which are navigable for boats; and in many of the streets are canals filled with water almost stagnant. The miasmata, generated in the putrid mud-banks and canals, render the town exceedingly unhealthy, and subject to an intermittent fever, very mortal to strangers. B., on account of the beauty of its buildings and immense trade, has been styled the Queen of the East. But, within a few years, the town has lost a great part of its splendor. Streets have been pulled down, canals half filled up, forts demolished, and palaces levelled with the dust. The campongs, or quarters of the native population, are of mean appearance. In the part inhabited by Europeans, the streets are more regular, and the houses spacious, but not elegant. The public edifices are neither numerous nor splendid. The principal are the stadt-house, a Calvinistic, a Lutheran and a Portuguese church, several Mohammedan mosques, and some Chinese temples. There are also some charitable institutions. (See Java.)

BATAVIAN REPUBLIC; the name adopted by the Seven United States, soon after the French revolution, and acknowledged by the powers of Europe. The whole republic was declared one and indivisible; all members of society were declared equal in the eye of the law, without respect to rank or birth; all religious societies, acknowledging a Supreme Being, equally protected by law. Feudality was abolished, all fiefs declared allodial, and

possessors of lordships to be indemnified. In 1806, the form of government was changed into a kingdom, under the name of Holland; and, in 1815, these provinces were united with Belgium to form the kingdom of the Netherlands. (See Netherlands.)

BATAVIANS; an old German nation, which inhabited a part of the present Holland, especially the island called Batavia, formed by that branch of the Rhine which empties into the sea near Leyden, together with the Waal and the Meuse. Their territories, however, extended much beyond the Waal. Tacitus commends their bravery. According to him, they were, originally, the same as the Catti, a German tribe, which had emigrated from their country on account of domestic troubles. This must have happened before the time of Cæsar. When Germanicus was about to invade Germany from the sea, he made their island the rendezvous of his fleet. Being subjected by the Romans, they served them with such courage and fidelity as to obtain the title of their friends and brethren. They were exempted from tributes and taxes, and permitted to choose their leaders among themselves. Their cavalry was particularly excellent. During the reign of Vespasian, they revolted, under the command of Civilis, from the Romans, and extorted from them favorable terms of peace. Trajan and Adrian subjected them again. At the end of the third century, the Salian Franks obtained possession of the island of Batavia. After the constitution of the United Provinces was changed by the French, in 1798, they formed the Batavian republic, until Louis Bonaparte became king of Holland (1806).

BATH; a city, in Somersetshire, Eng., 12 miles E. Bristol, 67 S. W. Oxford, 107 W. London; lon. 2° 22′ W.; lat. 51° 23′ N.: population, in 1823, including the suburbs, 38,434; 15,275 males, and 23,159 females. It is beautifully situated on the Avon, in a narrow valley, bounded on the N. E. and S. W. by hills, and widening on the N. W. into rich and extensive meadows. The Avon is navigable from Bath to Bristol. It has borne various names in different ages, all having allusion to its celebrated waters. The Romans called it Aqua Solis, Fontes Calidi, Therma, Bodonia, and Bathonia; the Britons, Caer Badun, or Bladon; the Saxons, Hat Bathun, and Achamannum. The vestiges of the Romans here are still exceedingly numerous, and show the high value which they placed upon the waters.-B. is re

It

markable for medicinal waters, for its various sources of amusement, for the elegance of its streets, and the magnificence of its public buildings. It is accounted the most elegant city in England. The houses are of superior construction, built of freestone, obtained from the hills about the town. The cathedral is in the form of a cross, and is the purest specimen of Gothic architecture in the kingdom. There are three churches and one chapel within the city, and, without the boundaries, three churches and seven chapels; also places of public worship for Methodists, Independents, Baptists, Moravians, Catholics, Unitarians and Quakers. contains the general hospital for the reception of invalids, who desire the benefit of the waters, from all parts of the world; several other hospitals and charitable institutions; the Bath and West of England society; the philosophical society, public grammar school, &c.-There are five public baths, viz. King's and Queen's bath, Cross bath, Hot bath and New Private bath. The temperature of the different springs varies from 93° to 117° Fahrenheit. That of the King's bath is 116°, that of the Hot bath 117°, and that of the Cross bath 111°. They contain carbonic acid, azotic gas, muriate and sulphate of soda, carbonate and sulphate of lime, with a very small quantity of silex and oxycarbonate of iron. They are found of great efficacy in cases of gout, rheumatism, indigestion, palsy, and biliary obstructions. The population of Bath varies greatly at different seasons. It affords a great variety of amusements, and is equally the resort of valetudinarians and votaries of pleasure.

BATH; a post-town and port of entry in Lincoln county, Maine, on W. side of the Kennebeck, 12 miles from the sea; 13 S. W. Wiscasset, 35 N. E. Portland; lon. 69° 49′ W.; lat. 43° 55′ N.: population, in 1810, 2491; in 1820, 3026. B. is pleasantly situated, and has great advantages for commerce, being at the head of winter navigation. The river here is seldom frozen over. It is one of the most commercial towns in Maine, and considerably engaged in ship-building. It contains an academy, two banks, and three houses of public worship.

BATH. Bathing undoubtedly took place first in rivers and in the sea, but men soon learned to enjoy this pleasure in their own houses. Even Homer mentions the use of the bath as an old custom. When Ulysses enters the palace of Circe, a bath is prepared for him, after which he is anointed with costly perfumes, and dress

ed in rich garments. The bath, at this period, was the first refreshment offered to the guest. In later times, rooms, both public and private, were built expressly for the purpose of bathing. The public baths of the Greeks were mostly connected with the gymnasia, because they were taken immediately after the athletic exercises. The Romans, in the period of their luxury, imitated the Greeks in this point, and built magnificent baths. The following description applies both to the Greek and Roman baths:-The building which contained them was oblong, and had two divisions, the one for males, the other for females. In both, warm or cold baths could be taken. The warm baths, in both divisions, were adjacent to each other, for the sake of being easily heated. In the midst of the building, on the ground-floor, was the heating-room, by which not only the water for bathing, but sometimes also the floors of the adjacent rooms, were warmed. Above the heatingroom was an apartment in which three copper kettles were walled in, one above another, so that the lowest was immediately over the fire, the second over the first, and the third over the second. In this way, either boiling, lukewarm or cold water could be obtained. The water was carried, by separate pipes, provided with cocks, from these kettles into the bathingrooms, and a fresh supply was immediately poured into the kettles from a reservoir. Close to the heating-room were three separate rooms on each side, for the hot, the lukewarm and the cold bath. The bathing-rooms had, in the floor, a basin of mason-work, in which there were seats, and round it a gallery, where the bathers remained before they descended into the bath, and where, also, the attendants were. There was also a sweating-room, which was heated by means of flues, and was called laconicum. This room had an opening in the ceiling, through which the light fell, and from which was suspended a brazen plate, that could be raised and let down at pleasure, to increase or lessen the heat. For undressing, for receiving the garments, and for anointing after bathing, there were different rooms; and connected with the bath were walks, covered race-grounds, tennis-courts and gardens. These buildings, together with a number of bathing-rooms, were necessary for a public bath, which was adorned with splendid furniture, and all the requisites for recreation, and resembled, in its exterior appearance, an extensive palace. Roman luxury, always in search of means

for rendering sensual enjoyments more exquisite, in later times, built particular conduits for conducting sea-water to the baths, used mountain snow, and enlarged these establishments in such a way that even their ruins excite admiration. (See Wichelhausen, On the Baths of the Ancients, Mannheim, 1807.)-Among the Europeans, the Russians have peculiar establishments for bathing, which are visited by all classes of the people during the whole year. The Russian bath consists of a single hall, built of wood. In the midst of it is a powerful metal oven, covered with heated stones. Round about there are broad benches. In entering this hall, you encounter such a heat, that one who is not accustomed to it can bear it but a few moments. Those, however, who can endure it for some time, undress, and stretch themselves on a mattress upon one of the benches. Cold water is then poured on the heated stones; a thick, hot steam rises, which envelopes the bather, and heats him to such a degree, that the sweat issues from his whole body. The thermometer, in this steam, usually rises to 40° or 50° Réaumur (122°-142° Fahrenheit). After the Russian has enjoyed his bath in this way, he is gently whipped with wet birch rods, rubbed with soap, in order to lessen the perspiration, and, afterwards, washed with lukewarm and cold water; of the latter some pails-full are poured over his head; or else he leaps, immediately after this sweating-bath, into a river or pond, or rolls in the snow. The Russian of higher rank takes, after his bath, a draught of English ale, white wine, toasted bread, sugar and citrons, and rests upon a bed. The common Russian, after having cooled himself in the snow, drinks some brandy, and goes again to his work. The people regard these baths as a necessary of life, and they are to be found in every village. They are also met with in Finland.Among the Asiatics, baths are in general use. The Turks, by their religion, are obliged to make repeated ablutions daily: besides these, men and women must bathe in particular circumstances and at certain times. For this purpose, there is, in every city, a public bath connected with a mosque; and rich private persons possess private bath-houses, adorned with all the objects of Asiatic luxury. Besides these baths, the Turks have also the dry-bath of the ancients. The buildings, which they use for this purpose, are built of stone, and usually contain several rooms, the floors of which are of marble. These

rooms are heated by means of pipes, which pass through the walls, and conduct the heated air to every part. After undressing, they wrap themselves up in a cotton coverlet, put on wooden slippers, in order to defend the feet against the heat of the floor, and then enter the bathroom. The hot air soon produces a profuse perspiration; upon which they are washed, wiped dry, combed, and rubbed with a woollen cloth. At last, the whole body is covered with soap, or some other application, which improves the skin. After this bath, they rest upon a bed, and drink coffee, sherbet or lemonade. The Turkish ladies daily bathe in this manner; the men not so frequently. A peculiar kind of baths are used in the East Indies, of which Anquetil gives the following account:-An attendant stretches the bather upon a table, pours over him warm water, and begins, afterwards, with admirable skill, to press and to bend his whole body. All the limbs are extended, and the joints made to crack. After he has done with one side, he goes on with the other; now kneels upon the bather; now takes hold of his shoulders; now causes his spine to crack, by moving the vertebræ; now applies gentle blows to the fleshy and muscular parts. After this, he takes a cloth of hair, and rubs the whole body, removes the hard skin from the feet with pumice-stone, anoints the bather with soap and perfumes, and finishes by shaving and cutting his hair. This treatment lasts about three quarters of an hour, and produces the greatest refreshment. An agreeable feeling pervades the whole body, and ends with a sweet slumber of several hours.-Public baths are common in Europe, and there are, at present, few cities without them. Medicine has endeavored to increase the wholesome effects of baths by various compositions and methods of application. Baths are distinguished by the nature of the fluid, by the degree of heat, and by their influence upon the body. They are prepared with water, milk, wine, &c.; are of different temperatures; and herbs, iron, soap, and other substances are mixed with them, as the purpose requires. There are, also, baths of earth, sand, air, vapor, and electric baths. They are applied either to the whole body, or only to a single part. The shower bath affords an agreeable and healthful mode of bathing, and much use is made of it in medicine. Mineral baths are those, the water of which naturally contains mineral ingredients. (See Mineral Wells,

Vapor Baths, Salt Baths and Sea Bathing.)

BATH, KNIGHTS OF THE; a military order of England, concerning the origin of which antiquaries differ. It is certain that Henry IV, on the day of his coronation, conferred the degree upon 46 knights. From that time, the kings of England have bestowed this dignity previous to coronations, after births and marriages of the royal issue, &c. Charles II created several knights of the Bath, but, after his time, the order fell into neglect, till 1725, when George I revived it. By the book of statutes then prepared, the number of knights was fixed at 38, viz. the sovereign and 37 knights-companions. The king allowed the chapel of king Henry VII, in Westminster abbey, to be the chapel of the order. The dean of Westminster is dean of the order. An esquire of the order is allowed to hunt and fish in the king's royalty, and is exempted from serving in the office of high sheriff, and every parochial office. K. B. is the abbreviation for knight of the Bath.

BATHOS (Greek) signifies depth. We now use this word to signify a low, tame and creeping style. This application of the word was introduced by Swift, who, in his Art of Sinking in Poetry, opposes the bathos to the sublime.

BATHURST, Allen, earl, the son of sir Benjamin Bathurst, was born in London, in 1684. He was educated at Oxford, and represented the borough of Cirencester, in two parliaments, during the reign of Anne, whose tory administration he strongly supported; and, in return, was raised to the peerage, in 1711. He was a warm opponent to sir Robert Walpole, and, in 1757, was appointed treasurer to prince George, then prince of Wales, on whose accession to the throne he obtained a pension of £2000 per annum. He received an earldom in 1772. Lord Bathurst is distinguished as the intimate friend of Bolingbroke, Addison, Pope, Swift, Gay, and all the celebrated wits of the age, and was himself a man of bright parts and convivial disposition. He died in 1775, at the advanced age of 91.

BATHURST, Henry, earl, an English nobleman, was, in 1795, appointed one of the commissioners for India, and, in 1809, one of the principal secretaries of state. On the appointment of Canning as prime minister, 12th April, 1827, he was one of the six Anti-Catholic members of the cabinet who sent in their resignations. Lord Goderich succeeded him as secretary of state for the colonies in the new ministry.

He defended his resignation on the plea that the loss of Wellington, Peel and Eldon left a blank which could not be filled in such a manner as to allow him to remain in the cabinet. Jan. 1828, on the formation of the present cabinet, he was made president of the council.

BATHURST; a settlement on the west coast of Africa, formed by the English, within a few years, on the island of St. Mary's, near the mouth of the Gambia; lat. 13° 25 N. It was formed in connexion with the colony of Sierra Leone; the object being to establish an equitable commerce, instead of the slave-trade. Population, in 1819, exclusive of the garrison, upwards of 1000. The settlement has been prosperous. The exports consist of wax, ivory, gold, hides, gum, &c. The duties on the amount exported to England, in 1819, were upwards of £11,000. There is a town of the same name in New Holland, in the region of Botany Bay, 140 miles from Sydney, with which it is connected by a fine road.

BATHYLLUS; a native of Alexandria, rival of Pylades as a pantomime, particularly distinguished in lively and voluptuous representations. He was a slave of Mæcenas, who gave him his liberty, and, according to the testimony of Tacitus, the object of a licentious attachment on his part.-In Anacreon's odes, a handsome boy is mentioned under the name of B. Also, a poet of this name lived in the reign of Augustus.

BATISTE; cambric; a very fine, thick, white, linen cloth. It is made of the best white flax, called ramé, which is cultivated in the French Hainault. In the 13th century, this manufacture is said to have been brought into vogue by Baptista Chambrai, in Flanders, and the linen afterwards received from him the name of batiste, or cambric (toile de Chambrai). Others think that the first appellation is derived from the fine linen which we receive from India, where it is called bastas. Different kinds of batiste are called linons, claires, cambrics, &c., and manufactured not only in France and the Netherlands, but also in Switzerland, in Bohemia and Silesia. The best come from India. (See Cambric.)

BATMAN; a kind of weight, used at Smyrna, consisting of six okes. 40 batmans make a camel's load, and amount to about 720 pounds in English weight. There are four different kinds of this weight-a small and large Turkish one, and a small and large Persian one.

BATON ROUGE; a post-town and capi

tal of East Baton Rouge parish, Louisiana, on the east bank of the Mississippi, 15 miles above Iberville, 150 above New Orleans by the river, 80 W. N. W. in a straight line from New Orleans; lon. 91° 15 W.; lat. 30° 32′ N. It contains a court-house, a jail, a market-house, a Catholic church, a printing office, and upwards of 200 houses. It is pleasantly situated on the first eminence that is seen on the Mississippi, in ascending it from its mouth. The elevation above highwater mark is 25 or 30 feet. On the north side of the town is a piece of ground belonging to the U. States, on which are the remains of the old Spanish fort. Baton Rouge is situated in a district exceedingly fertile, producing abundant crops of cotton, sugar, maize, sweet potatoes, &c.

BATONI, Pompeo Girolamo; born at Lucca, in 1708; died at Rome, in 1787. This famous restorer of the modern Roman school had no rival but Mengs. All his pieces are taken from nature. The manner in which he executed his paintings was peculiar. He covered his sketch with a cloth, and began to paint the upper part on the left hand, and proceeded gradually towards the right, never uncovering a new place before the first was entirely finished. Boni, who compares him with Mengs, calls the latter the painter of philosophy; the former, the painter of nature. B. painted many altar-pieces and numerous portraits; for instance, that of the emperor Joseph and the empress Maria Theresa, in the imperial gallery. His Magdalen, in Dresden, and his Return of the Prodigal Son, in Vienna, are celebrated.

BATRACHOMYOMACHIA (Greek; Bárpaxos, a frog, us, a mouse, and μáxn, a battle); the battle of the frogs and the mice-a mock heroic poem, falsely ascribed to Homer, and, apparently, the Iliad travestied, probably composed by an Alexandrian, in which a war between the frogs and the mice is described with much humor.

BATTA; a country of Sumatra, which stretches along the south-western shore, between Sinkell and Tabuyong, across the island. The whole population is estimated at a million, 2 or 300,000 of whom can read. The soil is fertile, and produces chiefly camphor, gum, benzoin, cassia, cotton and indigo. The language of the Battas is a settled one, and extensively written. They have many neatly-printed books.-There is another Batta, a province in Africa, formerly an independent