The best edition is in the Monumenta Germaniae historica. Scriptores, Bd. vii. (Hanover and Berlin, 1826–1892), which contains an introduction by L. C. Bethmann.
See Histoire littéraire de la France, tome viii. (Paris, 1865–1869).
BALDI, BERNARDINO (1533–1617), Italian mathematician and miscellaneous writer, was descended of a noble family at Urbino, in which city he was born on the 6th of June 1533. He pursued his studies at Padua with extraordinary zeal and success, and is said to have acquired, during the course of his life, no fewer than sixteen languages, though according to Tiraboschi the inscription on his tomb limits the number to twelve. The appearance of the plague at Padua obliged him to retire to his native city, whence he was, shortly afterwards, called to act as tutor to Ferrante (Ferdinand) Gonzaga, from whom he received the rich abbey of Guastalla. He held office as abbot for twenty-five years, and then retired to his native town. In 1612 he was employed by the duke as his envoy to Venice, where he distinguished himself by the congratulatory oration he delivered before the Venetian senate on the election of the new doge, Andrea Memmo. Baldi died at Urbino on the 12th of October 1617. He was, perhaps, the most universal genius of his age, and is said to have written upwards of a hundred different works, the chief part of which have remained unpublished. His various works give satisfactory evidence of his abilities as a theologian, mathematician, geographer, antiquary, historian and poet. The Cronica dei Matematici (published at Urbino in 1707) is an abridgment of a larger work, on which he had bestowed twelve years of labour, and which was intended to contain the lives of more than two hundred mathematicians. His life has been written by Affò, Mazzuchelli and others.
BALDINGER, ERNST GOTTFRIED (1738–1804), German physician, was born near Erfurt on the 13th of May 1738. He studied medicine at Erfurt, Halle and Jena, and in 1761 was entrusted with the superintendence of the military hospitals connected with the Prussian encampment near Torgau. He published in 1765 a treatise De Militum Morbis, which met with a favourable reception. In 1768 he became professor of medicine at Jena, whence he removed in 1773 to Göttingen, and in 1785 to Marburg, where he died of apoplexy on the 21st of January 1804. Among his pupils were S. T. Sömmerring and J. F. Blumenbach. Some eighty-four separate treatises are mentioned as having proceeded from his pen, in addition to numerous papers scattered through various collections and journals.
BALDINUCCI, FILIPPO (1624–1696), Italian writer on the history of the arts, was born at Florence. His chief work is entitled Notizie de' Professori del Disegno da Cimabue ... (dal 1260 sino al 1670), and was first published in six vols. 4to, 1681–1728. The capital defect of this work is the attempt to derive all Italian art from the schools of Florence. A good edition is that by Ranalli (5 vols. 8vo, Florence, 1845–1847). Baldinucci’s whole works were published in fourteen vols. at Milan, 1808–1812.
BALDNESS[1] (technically alopecia, from ἀλώπεξ, a fox, foxes often having bald patches on their coats), the result of loss of hair, particularly on the human scalp. So far as remediable alopecia is concerned, two forms may be distinguished: one the premature baldness so commonly seen in young men, due to alopecia seborrhoica, the other alopecia areata, now regarded as an epidemic disease.
Alopecia seborrhoica is that premature baldness so constantly seen, in which the condition steadily advances from the forehead backwards, until only a fringe of hair is left on the head. It is always due to the underlying disease seborrhoea, and though it progresses steadily if neglected, is yet very amenable to treatment. The two drugs of greatest value in this trouble are sulphur and salicylic acid, some eighteen grains of each added to an ounce of vaseline making a good application. This should be rubbed well into the scalp daily for a prolonged period. Where the greasiness is objected to, the following salicylic lotion may be substituted, though the vaseline application has probably the greater value:—℞ Ac. salicyl. ʒi—iv; Ol. ricini ʒii—iv; Ol. ros. geran. m x; Spt. vini ad ℥vi. The head must be frequently cleansed, and in very mild cases a daily washing with soap spirit will at times effect a cure unaided.
Alopecia areata is characterized by the development of round patches more or less completely denuded of hair. It is most commonly observed on the scalp, though it may occur on any part of the body where hair is naturally present. The patches are rounded, smooth and somewhat depressed owing to the loss of a large proportion of the follicles. At the margin of the patches short broken hairs are usually to be seen. Clinical evidence is steadily accumulating to show that this disease may be transmitted. Organisms are invariably present, in some cases few in number, but in others very abundant and forming a continuous sheath round the hair. They were first described by Dr George Thin, who gave them the name of Bacterium decalvens. The disease must be distinguished from ringworm—especially the bald variety; but though this is at times somewhat difficult clinically, the use of the microscope leaves no room for doubt. It must be remembered that for patients under forty years of age, time alone will generally bring about the desired end, though treatment undoubtedly hastens recovery. After forty every year added to the patient’s age makes the prognosis less good. The general hygiene and mode of life of the sufferer must be very carefully attended to, and any weakness suitably treated. The following lotion should be applied daily to the affected parts, at first cautiously, later more vigorously, and in stronger solution:—℞ Acidi lactici ʒ i-℥ i; Ol. ricini ʒ ii; Spt. vini ad ℥ iv.
The loss of hair following acute fevers must be treated by keeping the hair short, applying stimulating lotions to the scalp, and attending to the general hygiene of the patient.
BALDOVINETTI, ALESSIO (1427–1499), Florentine painter, was born on the 14th of October 1427, and died on the 29th of August 1499. He was a follower of the group of scientific realists and naturalists in art which included Andrea del Castagno, Paolo Uccello and Domenico Veneziano, the influence of the last-named master being particularly manifest in his work. Tradition, probable in itself though not attested by contemporary records, says that he assisted in the decorations of the chapel of S. Egidio in Santa Maria Nuova, carried out during the years 1441–1451 by Domenico Veneziano and in conjunction with Andrea del Castagno. That he was commissioned to complete the series at a later date (1460) is certain. In 1462 Alessio was employed to paint the great fresco of the Annunciation in the cloister of the Annunziata, which still exists in ruined condition. The remains as we see them give evidence of the artist’s power both of imitating natural detail with minute fidelity and of spacing his figures in a landscape with a large sense of air and distance; and they amply verify two separate statements of Vasari concerning him: that “he delighted in drawing landscapes from nature exactly as they are, whence we see in his paintings rivers, bridges, rocks, plants, fruits, roads, fields, cities, exercise-grounds, and an infinity of other such things,” and that he was an inveterate experimentalist in technical matters. His favourite method in wall-painting was to lay in his compositions in fresco and finish them a secco with a mixture of yolk of egg and liquid varnish. This, says Vasari, was with the view of protecting the painting from damp; but in course of time the parts executed with this vehicle scaled away, so that the great secret he hoped to have discovered turned out a failure. In 1463 he furnished a cartoon of the Nativity, which was executed in tarsia by Giuliano de Maiano in the sacristy of the cathedral and still exists. From 1466 date the groups of four Evangelists and four Fathers of the Church in fresco, together with the Annunciation on an oblong panel, which still decorate the Portuguese chapel in the church of S. Miniato, and are given in error by Vasari to Pietro Pollaiuolo. A fresco of the risen Christ between angels inside a Holy Sepulchre in the chapel of the Rucellai family, also still existing, belongs to 1467. In 1471 Alessio undertook important works for the church of Sta Trinità on the commission of Bongianni Gianfigliazzi. First, to paint an altar-piece of the
- ↑ The adjective “bald” M. E. “balled” is usually explained as literally “round and smooth like a ball,” but it may be connected with a stem bal, white or shining. The Greek φαλακρός certainly suggests some such derivation.
