Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/684

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BATHTIEST.
598
BATON.

rectors of the notorious South Sea scheme. Bathurst was a determined opponent of Walpole, and on that minister's resignation in 1742 was made a member of the Privy Council. In 1757 he became treasurer to the Prince of Wales, who, as George III., elevated him to an earldom in 1772. He was a generous patron of literature, and the friend of Congreve, Vanburgh, Swift, Prior, Rowe, Addison, Pope, Arbuthnot, Gay, and others. Pope dedicated his Epistle on the Use of Riches to Lord Bathurst, and complimented him in characteristic lines. His son Henry, second Earl Bathurst (1714-94). was Lord Chancellor of England 1771-78. Henry, third Earl Bathurst (1762-1834). son of the second earl, was English Colonial Secretary 1812-28.


BATHURST, Ralpn (1620-1704). The uncle of the first Lord Bathurst, an English physician, prelate, and wit. He rose to eminence in medicine, and in the time of the Commonwealth was appointed physician to the State. After the Restoration he abandoned medicine, took holy orders, was chaplain to the King, and afterwards Dean of Wells. In 1664 he was made president of Trinity College, Oxford, and in 1691 was nominated to the See of Bristol, but declined the place. He was a master of ridicule, and made that his weapon to correct college delinquents. Some of his verses in the Musæ Anglicanæ are excellent of their kind. Consult Warton, Life and Literary Remains of Bathurst (London, 1761).


BATHURST IN’LET. An indentation of Coronation Gulf, in the Arctic Ocean, which projects 75 miles south into Canada, 300 miles northeast of Great Slave Lake (Map: Northwest Territories, H 1).


BATHURST ISLAND. An island off North Australia, about latitude 12° S. and longitude 130° E., 2° due west of Port Essington, with Melville Island between. Its length and greatest breadth are 30 miles. The island is mountainous, and densely wooded, except at the west end.


BATHYÁNI, bot'yii-ne. See Batthyáni.


BATHYBIUS, bii-thibl-us (Gk. βαθύς, bathys, deep + βίος, bios, life). The name given by Huxley, about 1868, to a supposed low form of life found at the bottom of some parts of the deep sea, consisting of formless ooze, or masses of slime without structure. It is no longer considered organic.


BATH'YCLES (Gk. BaSirKX^s). A Greek sculptor, born at Magnesia about B.C. 600. He has become celebrated through a colossal throne which he executed for the Spartans. This throne was decorated with reliefs which have been described by Pausanias. It was carved for the sanctuary of Apollo at Amyclae, and inclosed the rude statue of the god.


BATIGNOLLES, ba'te'nyol'. A former com- mune in the Department of the Seine, France, now a part of Paris, forming with Ternes the Seventeenth Arrondissement. It is the Parisian equivalent for the Whitechapel of Lon- don and the East Side district of New York.


BATISTE, ba-test'. A fine linen or cotton lawn originally made in France, and said to have been named from its inventor, one Jean Baptiste.


BATJAN, bat-ylin'. or BATSHIAN, bat- shyan'. One of the Moluccas, Ij'ing west of Gilolo and east of Celebes. Batjan has a total area of 835 square miles, with a population estimated at 12,000 to 13,000, of which a few hundred are Chinese, Arabs, and Europeans, and the rest Malays or Alfores. The soil is fertile, and the main industry is the cultivation of spices, as on most of the Moluccas. It belongs to the Dutch, but is governed by a native sultan. There are several settlements, and on the west- ern coast is situated Fort Barneveld.


BATLAPI, bat-la'pe. A Bechuana tribe of the Bantu family, living between Taungs and Vryburg; formerly a powerful tribe, now weakened by wars with the Boers and Matabeles. Though still the most numerous of the Bechuana group, they are under British control.


BAT'LEY. A town in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, 8 miles southwest of Leeds, and about one mile from Dewsbury, with which it unites in sending one member to Parliament (Map: England, E 3). The town was incorporated in 1868, has owned its water-supply since that year, and its gas-works since 1873. It also maintains public baths, markets, and a cemetery. There is an ancient grammar school, and a technical school supported by public subscription, with a municipal appropriation. Batley is the centre of the heavy woolen trade, and manufactures army cloth, shoddy, drugget, etc. Population, in 1891, 28,800; in 1901, 30,300.


BATMAN. See Bat.


BATNA, bat'na. The chief town of an arron- dissement, Department of Constantine, Algeria, 62 miles south-southwest of Constantine. It is situated at the foot of Mount Tugurt, which is covered with fine cedar wood. The town is an important military post and trading station between the Sahara and Tell. Population, in 1896, 8381.


BATN-EL-HAJAR, bat"n-el-ha'j;ir (Ar., womb of rocks). A stony district of Nubia, along the Nile, in latitude 21° N., where the river forms its second cataract.


BAT'ON (Fr. bâton, OF. baston, stick). The name of a short staff presented to a field-marshal in foreign armies as a symbol of his newly bestowed authority. It is also the name of the long staff carried by the drum-major of an infantry regiment, of a policeman's stick or club, and of the rod wielded by the conductor of an orchestra.


BATON, or BEND SIN'ISTER. In heraldry, an armorial charge denoting bastardy, commonly but erroneously designated as bastard bar or bar sinister. The charge consists of a bendlet sinister couped — cut off, that is, at each end so as not to touch the extremities of the shield. When used as a mark of illegitimacy the baton is placed over the paternal coat of the bastard. According to early custom, the baton could be neither destroyed nor changed without the consent of the head of the family or of the King: but it was customary for the sovereign to reward distinguished merit by permitting the alteration of the bend sinister to bend dexter. In more recent times it has been the practice to substitute the gobbonated bordure for the baton, especially in the case of the legitimate issue of bastards.