Bashan
a rich, hilly district, lying E. of the Jordan, and between the mountains of Hermon on the N., and those of Gilead and Ammon on the S. The country takes its name ("fat," "fruitful") from its soft and sandy soil. It is celebrated in Scripture for its stately oaks, fine breeds of cattle, and rich pasturage. Modern travelers describe the country as still abounding with verdant and fertile meadows. Bashan was assigned, after the conquest of Og and his people, to the half tribe of Manasseh. From it came the Greek name Batanæa, in modern Arabic El-Bottein. But this latter only included its S. part. The ancient Bashan covered the Roman provinces named Gaulonites, Trachonites, Auranites, Batanæa, and Ituræa.
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Bashkirtseff
MARIE kērts'ef), a Russian author, born in and Russia in 1860; came of a noble and ests wealthy family, went to Italy to study singing, and to Paris to study art. Her Her fame rests on her private " Journal, " Pop begun in her thirteenth year, which also seems to have been written with ultimate publication in view. She died in Paris in 1884.
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Basic Process
A process of making steel by blowing the metal in converters lined with dolomite in place of gannister, as in the Bessmer process. Dolomite is a magnesian limestone, which, being well burned and ground, is mixed with tar to give it consistency. This can then be rammed in the converters, or pressed into bricks for lining with. This basic lining absorbs some of the phosphorous present in the iron, the rest being taken up by the lime, which constitutes about 15 per cent of the charge, and is introduced before the molten iron enters the converter. See BESSEMER STEEL; CONVERTER; GANNISTER; DOLOMITE. Basin is sometimes termed a pouring-basin, or runner, and is a suitably formed reservoir constructed with sand within a wood or iron box-frame. Its purpose is to receive the metal from the pouring-ladle, and connection with the mould is made by down-runners, which lead from its lowest part, either to the mould direct, or to some system of runners which lead to it. See DOWN-GATE; GATES; RUNNER; BASIN. Bath. See TINNING; TIN-PLATE.
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Basic Slag
the slag or refuse matter which is obtained in making basic steel, and which from the phosphate of lime it contains is a valuable fertilizer. labiate plant, ocymum
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Basil (Basilicum a native of India)
a basilicum, a native of India, much used in cookery, especially in France, and known more particularly as sweet or common basil. Bush or lesser basil is O. miniinum; wild basil belongs to a different genus, being the calamintha clinopodium. BASIL I., The Macedonian, Emperor of the East, was of low origin, but obtained employment at the court of the Emperor Michael III., became his chamberlain, murdered his rival, Bardas, then Michael, and succeeded him in 867. He wisely, and compiled a body of laws called the Basilica, which, augmented by his son and successor, Leo the Philosopher, were in force till the fall of the empire. Basil I. deprived Photius of the See of Constantinople, and restored Ignatius, on whose death he recalled Photius. He successfully carried on war with the Saracens. Died in 886. BASIL II., Emperor of the East, was son of Romanus II., and with his brother, Constantine, was first associated in the empire by John Zimisces, and succeeded him in 976. His long reign was a series of wars with his rivals, Bardas, Sclernus, and Phocas, with the Saracens and . The war ended in 1019, by Bulgarians. ns the complete conquest of Bulgaria. Died in 1025.
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Basil (ST surnamed THE GREAT Bishop)
ST., surnamed THE GREAT, Bishop of Cæsarea, in Cappadocia, where he was born about 326. He was studying at Athens in 355. After extensive travels, St. Basil retired to the Desert of Pontus, and there founded an order of monks. He succeeded Eusebius in the See of Cæsarea in 370, and by his opposition to Arian doctrines greatly offended the Emperor Valens. He died in 380.
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Basilan
the largest island of the Sulu Archipelago, Philippine Islands. Basilan is about 36 miles long and situated S. of Mindanao. It is separated from Mindanao by a strait only 9 miles (bäsh- wide. This island is very mountainous, most of it is covered by virgin for- . The soil is extremely rich and produces cotton, coffee, sugar, chocolate, tobacco, indigo, and spices of all sorts. . about 8,000. The name Basilan is applied to the whole group of 34 adjacent islets. The leading port is Isabela, on Basilan Strait.
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Basilica
originally the hall or court-room in which the King administered the laws made by himself and the chiefs who formed his council. When the Christian religion was made the state religion in Rome many of these buildings were given up to the new sect; the arrangement of that portion of the interior where the official business was conducted easily lending itself to the Christian ritual. In some of the oldest basilicas in Rome, e. g., in the subterranean Church of San Clemente, the early development of the Christian arrangement from the Roman is still to be seen. Many of the oldest and most splendid of the Roman churches are built on the plan of the basilica, and are called basilicas in consequence.
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Basilicon
a name of several ointments, the chief ingredients of which are wax, pitch, resin, and olive oil.
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Basilideans
A gnostic sect founded by Basilides of Alexandria, who claimed to huve received his esoteric doctrines from Glaucus, a disciple of the Apostle Peter. The system had three grades-material, intellectual, and spiritual, and possessed two allegorical statues, male and female. The doctrine had many points of resemblance to that of the Ophites (q.v.), and ran on the lines of Jewish Kabalism.
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Basiliscus
an Emperor of the East; lived in the 5th century. He was the brother of Leo's wife, Verina. As commander of a large armament sent against the Vandals, he was defeated (468) by Genseric. In 474 he usurped the throne; but in 476 was defeated, deposed, and imprisoned by Zeno.
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Basilisk
baz'i-lisk, the fabled, eight-legged, lizard-like king of dragons and serpents. It is now considered that the basilisk and the cockatrice were the same superstitious conception under different names. The cockatrice was produced from an egg laid by a very old cock and hatched by a toad. "It inhabited the deserts of Africa, and, indeed, could only inhabit a desert, for its breath burned up all vegetation; the flesh fell from the bones of any animal with which it came in contact, and its very look was fatal to life; but brave men could venture into cautious contest with it by the use of a mirror, which reflected back its deadly glance upon itself." The name has been applied by zoologists to a harmless hooded lizard of South America . Like as the Basiliske, of serpents seede, From powerful eyes close venim doth convay Into the lookers hart, and killeth farre away. --Spenser, Faerie Queene. 2026 Editor's Note: The deadly-gazed basilisk never died in imagination — it slithers through modern fantasy, most famously as the giant serpent of Harry Potter's Chamber of Secrets. A real creature borrowed its name too: the basilisk lizard of the Americas, the 'Jesus Christ lizard,' which can sprint across the surface of water on its hind legs. (Ed: BR 2026-06-27)
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