Battalion
an assemblage of comunit of infantry-that is, the first body and commanded by a field officer (major that is, as a rule, used independently, or lieutenant-colonel). conspicuous in British and Bulgarian
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Single-source entries: B (36)
These 10 listings are so strange that each appears in only one of the 7 encyclopedias we compared. They include such classics as Battalion, Battersea, Battery.
Battersea
a metropolitan borough of Greater London, in situation on the S. bank of the Thames, Surrey, in a low nearly opposite Chelsea, with a fine public park extending over 185 acres. The district is associated with the names of Pope and Bolingbroke, and with the Wellington-Winchelsea duel. Pop. (1918) 149,951.
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Battery
in physics. See ELEC- TRICITY.
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Battery
in law, the unlawful beating of another, or even the touching him with hostile intent. It is legitimate for a parent or a master to give moderate correction to his child, his scholar, or his apprentice. In military usage, a certain number of artillerymen united under the command of a field officer, and the lowest tactical unit in the artillery. In a battery there are gunners who work the guns, and drivers who drive the horses by which these guns are transported from place to place.
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Battery, The
The, a park of twenty-one acres at the southernmost point of the island of Manhattan. It was formerly the site of a Dutch fort. Early prints show that it was surrounded by a large number of aristocratic Dutch residences, some of which may still be seen. Castle Garden, a little island a few feet off shore, at one time occupied by a fortification, and up to 1890 used as reception quarters for steerage immigrants, has been united with the Battery by a filling of earth, and now forms a part of a public park. The new quarters are now devoted to the purposes of a public aquarium and museum. The Battery is a sightly, attractive spot of interest even apart from its historical associations. See New York City; Central Park 2026 Editor's Note: The little fort at Castle Garden the entry mentions was America's first great immigrant landing station — over eight million people entered the United States through it before Ellis Island opened in 1892. Battery Park is now the launch point for ferries to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, at the tip of a Manhattan that soars behind it. (Ed: BR 2026-07-13)
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Battik
an ornamental production of the natives of the Dutch East Indies, who decorate their clothing with it; also made in The Hague for local use and export. A piece of linen is taken and all kinds of designs are outlined upon it with a pencil. When the design is completed, the ornamented parts of the fabric are covered with a liquid which possesses the quality of stiffening after being applied. The parts not ornamented are dyed the color desired. After the entire fabric has been ornamented in this manner, it is boiled in hot water so as to take the hard stuff out of the battik. 'The dyed parts will then hold the dye and the battik is ready. The Hague people were the first to introduce battik into Europe. It is made on linen, silk, velvet, and leather, and is exported to all the principal cities of Europe. In recent years the production of battik has been taken up in the United States to a much greater extent than ever. combat between two
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Batting
raw cotton, or wool, carded into thick sheets or laps, used for bed-comforts, mattresses, and various domestic purposes. Cotton is put up usually in one pound rolls. Wool is often carded in sheets sufficiently large for a bed comfort, a layer of thin cheesecloth being tacked lightly to either side to hold the wool in place and prevent matting. Finely carded cotton batting is sterilized and put up in convenient packages for surgical uses. See Carding
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Battle (Town in Sussex England miles N)
a town in Sussex, England, 6 miles N. W. of Hastings. Encircled on three sides by wooded hills, it consists of one street, extending along a valley from N. W. to S. E. An uninhabited heathland then, Senlac by name, it received its present name from the battle of Hastings, fought here on Oct. 14, 1066, when the Normans, led by William the Conqueror, overthrew the old English monarchy under King Harold. William, to commemorate his victory, founded in 1067, on the spot where Harold fell, a Abbey, which was endowed with all the land within a league of it, and had the privileges of a sanctuary. Battle Abbey now consists of decorated and perpendicular buildings occupying three sides of a quadrangle two sides in ruins, the third converted into a private dwellinghouse. splendid Benedictine
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Battle Above the Clouds
a battle of the Civil War. The reference is to the storming of Lookout Mountain March 24, 1863. It was part of the general battle of Chattanooga. The Federals, under "Fighting Joe" Hooker, advanced up the northern slope of the mountain. All day the mists hid the valley below; and in the afternoon the clouds settled down so thick that the rattle of artillery ceased an hour for very darkness. Hence the name of "Battle Above the Clouds." 2026 Editor's Note: The romantic name stuck, but the entry's date is wrong: the storming of Lookout Mountain happened on November 24, 1863, not March. The misty height above Chattanooga is now a tourist draw, reached by one of the world's steepest passenger railways, with the old battlefield preserved and sweeping views over seven states claimed from the summit. (Ed: BR 2026-07-05)
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Battle Creek
a city in Calhoun co. , Mich .; at the junction of Kalamazoo river and Battle creek, and on several railroads. It is an agricultural, fruit growing and sandstone quarrying region. It contains a college, the headquarters, and the publishing house of the Seventh-Day Adventists; Battle Creek Medical College ; division offices of the Grand Trunk railway; and one of the largest sanitariums in the world. The city is an attractive summer resort, with more than 75 lakes in its immediate vicinity. In recent years it has become important as a manufacturing city. Its cereal foods have now an international reputation. Pop. (1910) 25,267; (1920) 36,164. 36 BATTLEDORE AND COCK. See BADMINTON. SHUTTLEpart built around the top of a fortified BATTLEMENT. (1) A wall or ramto discharge arrows or darts, or fire guns building, with interstices or embrasures through. (2) A similar erection around buildings, where the object was princionly upon parapets, but as ornaments on pally ornamental. They are found not wall built around a flat-roofed house, in the transoms of windows, etc. ( 3) A the East and elsewhere, to prevent any garden. one from falling into the street, area or the roofs of churches and other Gothic heaviest class, designed for fighting in
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