Bass Strait
a channel beset with islands, which separates Australia from Tasmania, 185 miles long and from 80 to 150 miles broad, discovered by George Bass, a surgeon in the Royal navy, in 1798.
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Single-source entries: B (24)
Each of these 11 subjects appears in only one of the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. None is long enough to carry a page by itself, so they are gathered here by letter. Anything that grows moves out to a page of its own.
Bassanio
bas-sa'ni-o, in Shakespeare's comedy, Merchant of Venice, a Venetian gentleman, friend of Antonio. Nerissa speaks of him as "a scholar and a soldier." These words describe the ideal man of the time. Bassanio is Portia's successful suitor, although his part in the play in unimportant. See Merchant Of Venice
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Bassano
a commercial city of north Italy, province of Vicenza, on the Brenta. It has lofty old walls, an old castle, various industries, and an active trade. Near Bassano, Sept. 8, 1796, Bonaparte defeated the Austrians. Pop. about 20,000. BASSEIN. (1) A thriving town in Burma, India, capital of a district of the same name, on the left bank of the Bassein river, one of the mouths of the Irawadi, 90 miles from the sea, but accessible to the largest ships. It is an important center of the rice trade, has considerable trade with Madras, and in a military view also is important, as it completely commands the navigation of the stream. It was captured by the British in 1852. Pop. about 40,000. The district of Bassein has an area of 4,127 square miles, and a pop. of about 500,000. (2) Bassein, a decayed town of about 10,000 inhabitants, 28 miles N. of Bombay. Ceded to the Portuguese in 1534, it was a place of much importance as late as 1720; its remains still point to former splendor. In 1765 it was wrested from the Portuguese by the Mahrattas, and in 1780 surrendered to the British, after a 12 days' siege. BASSES-ALPES Alps). See ALPES, BASSES. BASSES-PYRÉNÉES (bäs-për-nā'), (Lower Pyrénées). See PYRÉNÉES, BASSES.
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Bassareus
A surname of Dionysus, probably derived from bassaris, a fox-skin, worn by the god himself and the Maenads in Thrace. Hence Bassaris was the name of a female
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Basse-Terre
(French, lowland), the name of the capitals of St. island, British West Indies Christopher (pop. about 9,000), and of Guadeloupe, the French West Indian island (pop. about 8,000).
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Basset
a game at cards, played somewhat similar to the modern faro. It is of Venetian inv invention, and was formerly much played in France.
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Basset-Horn
a ment, the tenor of the clarionet family, having more than three octaves in its compass, extending upward from F below the bass stave. Unlike the clarionet it has a bell-mouth of metal.
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Bassett
JOHN SPENCER, American historian, born in Tarboro, N. C., Sept. 10, 1867; graduated at Trinity College, Durham, N. C., in 1888, and took a Ph. D. at Johns Hopkins in 1894. He became professor at Trinity College, and College. His works tutional Beginnings in "Slavery and Servitude in the Colony of North Carolina," "Anti-Slavery Leaders of North Carolina," "Slavery in the State of North Carolina," "The War of the Regulation," "The Federalist System", (190 (1906); "Life of Andrew History U. S." Jackson" (1911); "Short (1916); "Story of the Great War" (1920); etc.
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Bassora
or BASRA, a town of former Asiatic Turkey, the capital of the vilayet of the same name (area, 53,580 square miles; pop. about 785,000), on the W. bank of the Euphrates, here called the Shat-el-Arab, 56 miles from its mouth in the Persian Gulf. The river is divided into a number of channels, and, by evaporation and frequent overflowing, makes the climate very unhealthful. Most of the houses are low huts, built of unburned bricks. The population, which had sunk to a few thousand, greatly increased when the British established the Tigris and Euphrates Steamship Company and is now about 60,000. A good business is done in the exchange of the productions of Turkey and Persia for Indian and European goods, particularly articles of British manufacture. The town has become the principal port of Mesopotamia. Bassors, was founded in 636 by the Caliph Omar, and soon became (bäs-älp), (Lower one of the most famous and opulent cities of the East. The possession of it has been the subject of many contests Nov. 23, 1914, British forces defeated and routed the Turks near the city and occupied Basra. As a result of the treaty of peace with Turkey Basra became part of the independent State of Mesopotamia under a British mandate.
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Basswood
or Linden, a well known softwood tree of the north temperate zone. The European linden is a favorite shade tree. Unter den Linden, the finest avenue in Berlin, took its name from the linden trees which were planted its entire length. The family name of Linnaeus, the eminent botanist, is derived from the linden. Linden is a more poetical name than basswood, and really more fitting to so fragrant and handsome a tree; but basswood, a word derived from the strong cord-like bast that forms the inner part of the bark, is the American name and will persist. Basswood grows quickly, and is a beautiful wood for carving and turning. It has long been a favorite in Europe for wooden ware. The wood cuts admirably into thin sheets for fruit boxes, for which its freedom from taste and odor render it desirable. The flowers are yellowish, and furnish pasturage for bees. "Basswood honey" is one of the finest honeys on the market. The fruit of the tree is spherical and is furnished with a broad wing. In falling, even in calm weather, it whirls to some distance from the parent tree. The basswood is a fine shade tree. If one does not wish to wait for the growth of young trees from seed, fine, strong young trees may be had by heaping a foot of earth around the suckers of an old stump until they take root and are ready for transplanting. See Berlin
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Bastia
the former capital of sisted of 82 old soldiers and 33 Swiss. Negotiations with the governor of the prison having failed, the mob cut the chains of the drawbridge and a contest took place, in which one of the besieged and 150 of the people were killed or severely wounded. The arrival of a portion of the troops which had already joined the people, with four field-pieces, turned the fortune of the conflict in favor of the besiegers. Delaunay, the governor-who had been prevented by one of the officers when on the point of blowing the fortress into the air-permitted the second drawbridge to be lowered, and the people rushed in, killing Delaunay himself and several of his officers. The destruction commenced on the following day, amid the thunder of cannon and the pealing of the Te Deum. This event, in itself apparently of no great moment, leading only to the release of three prisoners, broke the spirit of the court party and changed the current of events in France. The anniversary of the fall of the Bastille has been regularly observed since France last became a Republic.
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