Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume II.djvu/240

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

220 BAIJE BAIL l!ll t: (now Baja), an ancient seaport town and watering place of Italy, about 10 m. W. of Naples, on the bay of Baias, between the Lucrine lake and Cape Misenum, and opposite the town of Puteoli. The narrow strip of coast sheltered by a semicircular ridge of hills on which Baise stood was covered with the palaces and baths of the Roman nobles. For want of room they often built out into the sea, and remains of submarine foundations are still visi- ble. The leading attractions of Balsa seem to have been its mild climate, its numerous hot springs, and its delightful scenery. Julius Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Nero, and Caracalla all frequented this spot ; and it was the favorite resort of Horace and most men of wit and fashion in his day. Moralists spoke of it as a hot-bed of vice and luxury. It re- tained its prosperity until the invasion of The- odoric the Goth. With the fall of the empire it ceased to be visited ; its villas were left to decay, and the whole coast is now a desert. The springs, no longer confined, have formed stagnant pools, giving off unwholesome exhala- tions in summer. The ground is strewn with ruined fragments of bricks, marbles, and mo- saics. The only buildings remaining are three or four edifices of a circular form, two of which were in all probability warm baths. Another is believed to have been a temple of Venus. The whole coast has evidently undergone great changes since the time of the Romans, and ap- pears to have sunk several feet below its an- cient level. BAIKAL (Russ. Svyatoe More, holy sea), a lake in the S. W. part of eastern Siberia, on the boundary of the government of Irkutsk and of the new province of Transbaikalia, between lat. 51 and 56 N. and Ion. 103 and 110 E. Its length from S. S. W. to N. N. E. is about 875 m., and its breadth from 20 to 70 m., mak- ing it, next to the Caspian and Aral, the largest inland body of water in Asia. The greatest depth, according to soundings taken in 1872, is over 600 fathoms at the extreme S. W. part of the lake. It is surrounded by desolate shores and by rugged though picturesque mountains, densely covered with forests, from whence issue innumerable streams. The tipper Angara river flows into the lake at its N. end, and the Lower Angara issues from it near the S. end, being its only outlet. The Selenga, flowing into it on the S. E., is its largest tributary. The greatest island of the lake, Olkhon, is separated by a narrow strait from the W. coast. The principal fisheries are in the Angara river, to which many kinds of salmon are carried through the Yenisei from the Arctic, especially the omul (salmo autumnalig or migratorius). Baikal is one of the very few lakes which contain fresh-water seals. Sturgeons abound in the Selenga river. They are captured in large numbers, and their skins exported to China. The golomynka (caly animus Baicalen- iis), a fish 4 to 6 inches long and singularly fat, is never taken alive, but cast dead upon the beach in great quantities, especially after storms. Its oil is sold to the Chinese. The annual value of the fisheries is estimated at 200,000 rubles. The number of sailing vessels is about 50, and there are several steamers ; and the activity in the mines of Transbaikalia, and the trade with the Amoor Country and China, are fast increasing. From November to May the lake is traversed on the ice. The shores of the lake and of the Angara and Selenga rivers are chiefly settled by Russians. There are va- rious tribes which have been incorporated since 1856 under the name of the Baikal Cossacks. The Tunka Alps border the S. shore of the lake, and one of their summits, the snow-clad Kliar- ma Davan, is 6,000 ft. high. The Baikalian mountains proper stretch N. E. from the Lower Angara, and are remarkable for their fantastic peaks, numerous rivulets, volcanic formations, thermal springs, and wealth in gold and silver and various gems. Earthquakes are frequent, and were especially violent in 1861-'2. BAIL (law Fr., lailler, to deliver), in law, the delivery of a person out of the hands of the sheriff or other officer after arrest into the cus- tody of one or more sureties, who undertake to be responsible for such person. The same term was also used to designate the sureties themselves, and this came to be its most com- mon signification. Bail in civil cases is either for appearance, called bail below, or to the ac- tion, called bail above. The sureties in the first give an undertaking to the arresting offi- cer that the defendant shall appear in the cause in accordance with the practice of the court, and, if the case is one requiring special bail, that he shall cause such bail to be duly entered and perfected. For the sufficiency of this bail the officer is responsible, and when it is accept- ed by him the defendant is discharged from his custody. Sureties in bail to the action under- take for the appearance of the party when final judgment shall have been rendered and process shall have been issued thereon to take the body of the defendant in satisfaction. The sureties may be excepted to by the plaintiff, in which case they must justify their responsibility on oath; but if not excepted to in due time, or if they justify after exception, the defendant's appearance is entered and the bail below is discharged. The bail piece is a certificate is- sued to the sureties attesting the taking of bail. Formerly the plaintiff was entitled to bail as of course in most cases, but now by the pro- visions of various statutes it is not generally de- mandable in civil suits, either in England or in the United States, except upon a showing that some tort has been committed to the damage of the plaintiff, or that his demand springs from the official or professional misconduct or default of the defendant, or, if the suit is upon contract, that there was fraud in contracting the debt, or in endeavoring to put property beyond the reach of process for its collection. The showing is by affidavit, and thereupon an order is made by a judge or commissioner that