334 BARRAL BARRE BARRAL, Jean Angnstin, a French chemist and physician, born at Metz in 1810. After receiv- ing his education at the polytechnic school, he became an officer of the regie or government tobacco monopoly. He was the first to extract nicotine from the leaf of that plant, and to demonstrate by experiment its poisonous qual- ities. In 1845 he was made a tutor of chemis- try at the polytechnic school, and in 1851 a professor of chemistry and natural philosophy at the college of Sainte-Barbe. In 1850 he made two ascents in a balloon, which were attended with great danger, for the purpose of taking observations on the temperature, hu- midity, and other conditions of the atmosphere at various heights. He edited for a while the Journal d? agriculture pratique, and has writ- ten many treatises on the application of chem- istry to agriculture, metallurgy, and the arts. BARRAS, Paul Francois Jean Nicolas, count de, a French revolutionist, born at Fox-Amphoux, Provence, June 30, 1755, died at Chaillot, near Paris, Jan. 29, 1829. He served in the East Indies, in the army, returned to France with the rank of captain, wasted his fortune, and, though he had no political opinions, threw himself among the revolutionists, probably in the hope of retrieving his affairs. He took part in the attacks on the Bastile and the Tui- leries, and was elected by the department of Var a member of the convention, where he voted for the death of the king, with neither de- lay nor appeal to the people. In October, 1793, being sent to the south of France with Freron, he succeeded in forcing the anti-revolutionists to submission. He went alone to arrest Gen. Brunei, who was charged with having traitor- ously delivered Toulon into the hands of the English. Returning to that city, he hurried the siege ; and when Toulon was taken, he visited the traitors with the most severe pun- ishment. He was one of the most active in the revolution of the 9th Thermidor, and head- ed the troops who took Robespierre in the hotel de ville. Next day, having resigned his command, he was appointed secretary to the convention, and in November a member of the committee of general safety, when he proved himself at once an ardent persecutor of the montagnards and the emigrants. At the same time he proposed the celebration of the anni- versary of the death of Louis XVI. On Feb. 4, 1795, he was elected president of the con- vention. On the 12th Germinal, when the mob presented themselves in arms, demand- ing "bread and -the constitution of '93," he caused martial law to be proclaimed, and conducted himself with energy. On the 1st Prairial he again beat down the attack of the suburban people. On the 13th Vende- miaire he was intrusted with the command of the troops to protect the assembly, and select- ed as his assistant Gen. Bonaparte, whose vig- orous measures very promptly quelled the roy- alist insurrection. Elected one of the five members of the directory, he used his office as the means of gaining immense wealth and in- dulging his taste for debauchery. On the 18th Fructidor, 1798, he executed the coup d'etat, which changed the complexion of the two councils, and banished the minority of the di- rectory. In the internal revolution which oc- curred in the directory on the 30th Prairial, 1799, he succeeded in maintaining his position, and thenceforth reigned nearly paramount. A series of intrigues and plots then commenced, which ended only when the directory was overthrown by Bonaparte on the 18th Bru- maire. (See DIBECTOBY.) Suspected of cor- responding with the royalists and strictly watched, he was compelled at last to fly to Brussels, where he lived in great luxury. Af- ter the establishment of the empire he was permitted to return to Marseilles. Convicted of participation in Mallet's conspiracy, he was exiled to Rome. He declined serving Murat in 1814, and started for France, but was ar- rested at Turin, and led to Montpellier, where he conspired openly in the interest of the Bourbons. After the restoration he lived near Paris in almost princely style. His memoirs were published in 1873. BARRATRY (It. barrateria, fraud), in mari- time law, fraudulent conduct by the master of a vessel, or by the mariners, to the injury of the owner of the ship or cargo, and without his consent. Gross negligence, or unauthorized acts of the master to the injury of the owner, are also held to constitute barratry. Under the first are included wilful acts, such as de- stroying or carrying off ship "or cargo, or em- bezzling any part of the cargo ; under the sec- ond, deviation from the usual course of the voyage by the master for his own private pur- poses, trading with an enemy, evading port duties, disregard of a blockade, and other acts exposing the vessel or cargo to seizure and confiscation. Barratry is one of the risks com- monly insured against, and the underwriter is liable for loss by any of the acts above speci- fied, with the limitations: 1, that the owner in order to recover must not have consented to the act of the master or crew, but the consent of the owner of the ship will not affect the right of the owner of the cargo ; so also if the vessel has been chartered, the charterer is pro hac vice the owner, and will not be affected by the connivance of the real owner. 2. The un- derwriter is liable for the acts of mariners only so far as they could not be prevented by ordi- nary care on the part of the master. Barratry by the wilful burning, casting away, or other- wise destroying a vessel on the high seas, is a highly penal offence in Great Britain, and in this country if done by a person belonging to the vessel not being an owner, as also if done by an owner with intent to defraud an under- writer, shipper, or other part owner. (See BABBETEY.) BARRE, Antoine Joseph le Fevre de la, a French naval officer, died May 4, 1688. He was ap- pointed governor of Guiana in 1663, and retook
